Variety (Jul 1947)

Wednesday, July 2, 1947 1,530 THEAITIES UP FOR DIVORCE Yates' Good Earmngs at Republic Tones Down Any Gpetz 'Opposition' iTa^lfy Goetz-Herb Yates battle-f over operation, of Republic has •witched from a slugfest to a Icid aloves affair. One of the priipe reasons is uncertainty by Goetz on how much support he can" count on from the BruJatour Interests in Rep if a real knock-down-drag-out fight • Mhbuld develop. « Evidence was seen at the direc- tors meeting last Thursday (26) of Goetz' toned-down approach since he entered^he arena against the Rep prexy last February. Board con- •' clave was gentle and polite through- , out with Goetz and his attorney, Samuel Becker, offering no resolu- tions that would embarrass or force replies certain questions they . want answered. Goetz and Brulatour interests each have three directors on Rep's 14-man board, the others being Yates appointees. Between them, Goetz {irid Brulatour. have more stock than Yates, but the three group.? all told have fewer than 500,000 of the ' 1,800,000 shares outstanding. In dis- put among insiders is whether Goetz |ind Brulatour could muster enough proxies from other stockholders to beat down those, that' Yates could gather in his naturally more advan- tageous position of presently being to control of the company. . 'In any case, the possible disaffec- tion of William J. German, admin- istrator of the Brulatour stock, has slowed up Goetz. Goetz and Becker ■ were "certain" that German was on their sfde when they went in last February and demanded^and got— six. board seats froqi Yates. Since : that time> however, German has been (Continued on page 18) 450 RKOers TO AHEND IGTHANN'L SALES MEET Some 450 homeoffice and visiting RKOers will diow up at the com- pany's 16th an?iual.sales meet^which curtain - raises at the Waldorf - As- toria, N. Y;, Monday (7). Three-day session will be presided over by Robert Mochrle, sales chief, while Ned E. Depinet, exec veepee, and Dore Schary, veepee in.-charge of the' studio, will deliver talks. Besides regular RKOers, meet will also be attended by reps of Walt Disney Productions, Samuel Gold- wyn Productions, Argosy Pictures, Robert Riskin Productions, Sol Les- ser, Hakim Bros., and RKO Pathe. Winners of the Ned E. Depinet Drive will be announced during the con- vention. Reismsin and RKD British Aides Land for N.Y. Meet Phil Reisman, RKO foreign chief, returned from an eight-Week junket abroad Monday (30) aboard the Queen Elizabeth. Accompanying him were George Dawson, RKO's United Kingdom secretary and direc- tor,_ and David Jones,* publicity di- ffficfor for the same area. Both are primarily here to attend the com'^ P»ny's 16th annual sales conclave at the Waldorf-Astoria Motel, N. Y., July 7-9. _Dawson, who plans to remain in the U; S. for three or four weeks Molared he would attend hom«- §Hice Qonferenoes on the company's ^ritish picture program as well as nnancial conditions in England, i^irra recently produMd "So Well Remembered" In association with A Arthur Bank. Due to the wairm weather, Dawson .said, there's been * Might decline in the b.o. - With a greater allotment of news- print now going to British dailies, paper allowance tor film companies posters has been curtailed, accord- wg to Jones. •Ho said RKO's ad Mmpaign in Britain's national maga- anes IS now in its seventh month • Wa after breaking the ice in that jneaium last winter, Paramount and wetro later used the mags also but ,';, ? lesser scale, Jones iSiid. Fol- , the convention he will train mrrl^ ^'^^^^ °" ^"^y ^1 alonff with production head Dore Schary, ""?"',,P"blicity head Perry Lieber a>.K, ? ****** returns to Britain «wut Aug. 1. Stan Kramer-Geo. Glass Get Their Bankrolling Stanley Kramer and George Glass, who recently formed a new indie production unit, completed financing plans and talked releasing deals with several distribs while in New York l.ast week. They were ac- companied by writer Carl Foreman, who will script their initial pic and have a participating interest. Trio returned' to the Coast over the weekend. Unit owns rights to a; group of Ring Lardner stories. Initialer will be his "Big Town." which is tenta- tively being relabeled "A Great Place to Visit." Pathe's Large Loan For E-L Looks Se t Revolving bank loan whi'Ch Pathe Industries is setting up to finance production by its wholly-owned subsid, Eagle-Lion, during the next year, has been trimmed from the $9,000,000 originally contemplated to $8,500,000. Reduction is said to be due to banking technicalities and. have no significance. ■ Serge Semenenko, v.p. of First National of Boston, who is arranging the loan and will manage it for the participating banks, has it virtually set. Institutions in it are Semenen- ko'i^ own bank, the Bank of Man- hatta'n Co., N. Y., Marine - Midland Trust, N. Y., Continental Bank, N. Y., and Empire Trust, N Y. Donald Nelson Hits Rack at Rep. Rankin's Attack on'Dnel ln Sun' Washington, July 1. Rep. Donald L. Jackson (D>,.Cal.) tijis afternoon (Tues.) inserted into- the appendix of the Congressional Record a letter received by him from Donald Nelson, prexy of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Pro- ducrs, denouncing Rep. John E.- Rankin (D., Miss.) for his recent attack on "Duel In the Sun" and its producer, David O. Selzniek. Rankin lashed out at the picture and Selzniek as the film closed a four-week run in the capital, term- ing it a vile story and proposing that it be banned from DiC,. screens. "I feel Mr. Rankin has done this motion.picture and Mr. Selzniek a grave injustice," Nelson declared, adding that as prez of SIMPP, "each of whose members feel-as I do, I wish strongly to protest this injus- tice. Mr. Selzniek is conceded to be one of the most outstanding and dis- tinguished producers in the motion picture business. He has a world- wide reputation. . . . If Congress- man Rankin had taken {the time to ascertain the facts' before making so unfair a charge on 'Duel In the Sun' and consequently on the char- acter and reputation of Mr. Selzniek, he would have found that Mr. Selz- niek approached the subject of this production in good faith ... he has comported himself with propriety." Nelson pointed out that the film carried t>e seal of approval of the Motion Picture Assni of America and of various local and state review boards. . -Zweig^s-'Letters^-Set As Rampart Initialer Hollywood, July I. Rampart Productions, new indie company organized by William Dozier and Joan Fontaine, will start producing Aug. 18 with "Letters from an Unknown Woman," based on a yarn by Stefan Zweig. John Houseman will produce and Max Ophuls will direct, with Miss Fontaine starring. Picture will be released through Universal-Interna- tional. BUT BIG 5 IN'I SELL TILL FORGEB Up-to-the-minute reports, ' filed yesterday (Tues.) in the N. Y. fed- eral court by the Big Five, showeyl 1,530 domestic theatres subject to divestiture and operational breakup under the present anti-trust decree. Detailing the activities of the past half-year to clean, up partially- owned situations, the quintet de- clared that there was no intention of carrying out. these provisions of the decree^except in, scattered in- stances—until the U. S. Supreme Gouft has ruled oh the question. ' : . Returns were made under a decree proviso which requires half-year re- ports by the Big Five during the two-year period in which dissolu- tions must be completed. Top casualty under partial - divorcement proviso is Paramount which item- ized 1,034 situations subject to the axe. RKO came second with 275 theatres. Of these, however, 136 were bunched in the Metropolitan Playhouses (N.Y.) circuit in. which the company owns 20% of the Glass A stock, and 112 in the Butterfleld (Mich.) chain, 10% held T?y RKO. National Theatres, 20th-Fox sub' sid, followed with 167 houses either^ (Continued on page 22) Sample of What Majors Face In Buyout Attempts Payoff on the sort of difficulties which the majors must face in dick- ering to buy or sell partly-held theatre interests is outlined by RKO in its attempt to clean up the Tren- ton-New Brunswick Theatres situ- ation. RKQ. has a 30% interest in the circuit which owns four houses and leases eight more, all located in New Jersey. RKO offered to sell its stock or, in the alternative, to buy out its co- owners, Trenton Theatre Building Co., and Long Park, Inc., for $1,600,- 000. It was promptly informed that the offer was not in accordance with the stockholders' agreement which required a sale or purchase at the "hook value." Negotiations conse- quently, fell through. The book value, ^KQ declares, is (Continued on page 16) Paramount's Theatre Pards Disclose Inclination to Sell Out to Parent Co. Nine Units Work on 7 WB Fix, New. High for Year Hollywood, July 1. Nine production units are working on seven pictures at Warners this week, a new high for the year on the Burbank lot. ■ --A x : ■' - - ; - Three units are busy on "Romance in High C," and pne each on "Ever the Beginning," "Silver River," "Mary Hagen," "Treasm-e of the Sierra Madre" and "Need For Each Other." . Meanwhile, test's are in progress on "To the 'Vietoi"," slated to start in three weeks, with part of the picture filmed in Paris. U-Lloyd Discuss Suit Settlement . Hollywood, July 1. An* out-of-^court settlement is be- ing made with Harold Lloyd in his three piracy suits against Universal, 4t was learned. U will not appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court the $55,000 award made to Lloyd for raids al- legedly made on his "Movie Crazy" comedy material. Film company will also pay up on two other pictures on which suits are pending. The Ninth Circuit Court of Ap- peals recently affirmed the judgment of the U. S. district court giving Lloyd $40,000 damages, $10,000 at- torney fees, and $5,0D0 accumulated interest fees not yet paid off on "Movie Craisy" because of discus- sions now under way to settle for "The Freshman," for which "he asked $1,000,000, and "Welcom? Danger," for which $300,000 was asked. Deal embracing the trio of films is ex- pectied to be cleaned up this week. Hersholt Heads Pix Fund for 11th Year Hollywood, July 1. Jean Hersholt was reelected prexy of the Motion Picture Relief Fund for the nth consecutive year. Other officersi Ralph Morgan, first veepee; Mary McCall, Jr., sec- and veepee; Sol Lesser^ third vee- pee; Mitchell Lewis, fourth veepee; George Bagnall, treasurer, and Wil- ma Bashor, executive secretary. -f Paramount's partners Want to sell out their interests in the 1,034 co- owned theatres to the parent com- pan.-v', preliminary- discussions-have- disclosed. What's more, Par's report in the Ni Y. federal court declares, the company is thoroughly in accord with this sentiment Since it "Would not be in the best corporate inter-' ests" for Par to sell its holdings to its partners. "In the discussions which Para- mount executives have had with numerous of the co-owners of such joint interests," Par states, "there have been no indications from them- of a desire to buy Paramount's in- terests and there has been no offer-, o£ any kind towards that end. On the contrary, the discussions have indicated a desire on the part of ; such co-owners to sell their joint in- terest to Paramount subject, ot course, to obtaining the prior ap- proval of this court.'* In the present development of th» • anti-trust litigation with, an appeal pending. Par continues, it's "utterly impractical" for the company to make any commitments—conditional or otherwise-^to buy out its part- ners. It's equally impractical, com- pany adds, to attempt to sell its jointly held intergsts, "necessarHy involving prices and terms which would be barons for the pur- chasers but would represent a sub- stantial sacrifice of value for Para- mount." Company also referred to the com- plexity of the various corporate structures as a further reason why it cannot outline how it proposes to comply With the provisions Of the decree until an appeal is decided. ALLIED'S NATl CONFAB NOV. 10 IN MILWAUKEE Washington, July 1. The 1947 national convention of the Allied States Association of Mo- tion Picture Exhibitors will be held at Milwaukee, Nov. 10-12. Allied exec committee has accepted the in- vitation of the Independent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan who will host. In charge of arrangements will be William L. Alnsworth, of Fond du Lac, Wis,, treasurer of National Al- lied. CSU Willing to Abidb by Any Labor Arbitration Pat Casey May Decide Hollywood, July ir An offer to accept Pat Casey as sole arbitrator for. settlement ot the 10-month studio labor fight was made over the weekend by the Con- ference of Studio Unions. The offer carries agreement to abide by any decision Casey might make, and guaranteeing no interference with the decision from the Internationals of the locals involved.: Gasey, who has not yet received copy: of the letter, stated that, although his de- sire is to get away for a rest at this time, he stands ready to do any- thing possible to aid a settlement and get all the'men back to work, l^itter was addressed to Y. Frank Freeman, the producers' association chairnian, and to Richard Walsh, president of the lATSB. Herbert K. Sorrell, CSU prexy, pointed out the CSU has always fa- vored arbitration and believes it should be in the hands of someone thoroughly acquainted with the in- dustry. Letter stated that if Casey "could be prevailed upon to" act as an arbitrator in the. present con- troversy, which producers claim is a jurisdictional fight, which we claim is a lockout, we stand ready to ac- cept him as sole arbitrator in this matter. We will positively abide by any and all decisions he might make. Pat's Picket-less Gift Hollj^wood, July 1. A watch that"" "strikes every hour but- never pickets" was presented to Pat Casey by Jo- seph I. Breen on behalf of his staff over the weekend, prior to the vet labor negotiator's takeoff •for New Yoil:k and retirement. ' Casey will close his Broad- way office before beginning his •rest." ■ • We believe that this will remove the sole obstacle which the producers have stated stands in the way of settlement of the present lockout. We stand -ready to return to work immediately upon its acceptance. In- sofar as our locals are concerned, we guarantee that none of our In- ternationals will interfere in any manner whatsover with any deci- sions reached." News of the offer was revealed to CSU membership by Sorrell at a mass meeting Sunday (29) night. He also told members a suit is being prepared for filing this week against the -major studios In which back wages totaling millions of dollars will be asked. , 255 Plasterers Threaten H000,000 Worth of Pix London, July 1. Dissatisfied with a . new wage agreement, some 255 plasterers, con- sidered 'keymen in the film industry, threatened a strike next weekend which will halt production on 27 pictures In soAie 14 studios. As a* precautionary measure, the Rank- controlled Denham and Pinewood studios have given a week's' notice to all workers engaged in set con- struction. Pictures that would be affected in the event that a work stoppage de- veloped are "Oliver Twist," Oscar Wilde's "Ideal Husband" starring Paulette Goddard, "Anna Karenina"' starring Vivien Leigh, as well as Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet." These four pix alone involve an invest- ment of more than $4,000,000. Schaefer Back in N. Y. After Ent Coast Huddles George J. Schaefer, Fnterprise veepee over sales, is huddling with United Artists homeoffice executives this week, following the windup of Ent's planning meet last week on the Coast. Schaefer returned to New York Monday (30V night and con- ferred yesterday (Tuesday) and to- day with J. J. Unger, UA general sales jnanager, and Paul Lazarus, Jr., ad-pub chief. Schaefer brought back with him release dates on forthcoming £!nt pictures, as set up at iitm Ctfast meet. "Other Love" is scheduled for nationwide distribution July 15, with "Body and Soul" slated to follo-yr one month later. "Arch of Triumgh" will be roadshown, probably in Os- tober.