Variety (Dec 1947)

1ir<iM9iM»day/1)eeemI»er 8, 1947 MAJORS m COURT TRAP VS. BIDS JadBon Park ^kam Forces JB&K Into a Niew Flenbk Policy in Chi Chicago, Dec, 2. ^ Conferences between Paramount's homeofftce lawyers and the brass of the Balaban & Katz circuit have re- sulted in a decision on how Chi's top theatre chain will meet the radically new conditions laid down- by the Jackson Park decree. Henceforth, B&K's five Loop showcases will ioJlow a flexible playing policy vary- ing with each individual film. In the main, the situation will be gov- erned by the amount of first-run product available at the time. With the two-week celling on Loop first-runs, 'there'll be times when two or more B&K deluxers will play the same pic day-and-date. Simultaneous bookings will" be adopted when a film is considered strong enough to keep two houses in the Loop busy or when product is so tight that day-and-dates are the only answer. At other times, these show- cases will follow tiieir past habit of each booking diflEerent pix. . Another form of operation will alse be slotted by B&K toppers. That's to play films first-run as regional houses in situations away from the Loop. In such instances, > several of the B&K deluxers may be relegated temporarily to second-run position. ; ■ ' WB'» Edge Two Warner Bros, houges on the southside have corralled an unwit- ting advantage from the decree. Jeffrey and Capitol, along with the Jackson Park,' are now in a position to bid for first-run in that sector. Incidentally, the decree, which offi- cially became operative yesterday (1), was put to the ta«t last week when Paramount offered the Jack- son' Park an opportunity of bidding (Continued on page 18) ♦♦♦♦»♦♦»♦♦♦»♦♦♦»♦«*♦♦♦ " Par Bows Out in Chi Chicago, Dec. 2. "Unconquered," Paramount's Technicolor spectacular which has placed at the United' Artists theatre^ Balaban & Kati: house, .for the past four weeks at ad- vanced admissions, was with- drawn today as the first casualty of the Jackson Park decree. Cecil B. DeMille film will not play anywhere else in the Chi- cago area at upped prices. Decree doesn't bar roadshow scales outright but enjoins de- fendants from forcing an exhib to take a film at hoisted price? tags. While Par's sales force says it's had several' " volun- tary" offers fr'om exhibs, it doesn't think the time's ripe to raise the issue.^^^' Briefs From the lots: i »♦♦♦♦»»»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦» Hollywood, Dec. 2. Warners will; make a two-reel tillter out of "The Grass ][s Always Greener," based on a one-act play by Betty Smitli and Howard Finch . . « Herbert Budley completed his role ia "Casbah" at Universal-Inter- national and moved into Sierra's "Joan." ... First of the'Academy- sponsored flUns about the motion picture ■ industry will be produced at RKQ by Edrar Peterion, execu- tive assistant to Dor'e Soliary . . Cllntom Snndberf draws, a featured part in "Eastei^ Parade" at Metro. B. O. Sprlncsteea will direct "The Heart of 'Virginia," racetrack story, at Republic ; : IVhtt Bissel and Don Beddoe checked in at t^niversal-In- ternertional for roles in "Another Part of the Forest." , . . Phil Ford drew director chores on "Cimarron Trails," starring Allan Xane at Re- public . , , John Emery appears in 6,100 feet of the .Frank Seltzer pro- duction, "Let's Live Again," which iias a total footage of 6,300 . . . Pandro S. Herman draws producer reins on "The Bribe," a magazine yarn by Frederick Nebel, recently bought by Metro. June Havoc will play a Russian girl in "The Iron Curtain" when the troupe returns from Canada to the 20th-Fox lot . . . Una Merkel checked id at Metro for added scenes in "Virtuous." . . . Alan Yoiing signed for one of the leads in "Sweet Sue" at^20th-Fox . . . "Apartment for Peggy" is the re- le4se tag on "Apartment for Susie" at 20th-Fox . . . Wally Cassell .plays a character role in Columbia's "The Loves of Carmen." . . . Jack Votton arrives this week after three years In Europe, where RKO had shut down its production liaison office ... Bob Tansey left for India to film jungle scenes for ''Man-Eaters of Kumaon," which Monty Shaft and Frank RosenberK will produce for Universal-International release. . Francis L. Sullivan, currently playing in Sierra's "Joan," is mull- ing a legit. play on Broadway next spring.. . Stanley Clements, recently released by Paramount, is ■ playing ■ on the same lot in the Paulette Ood- dard starrer, ."Hazard"., .Itoymond ■ Burr checked itt at Eagle Lion iot a tolfe in- "Corkscrew Alley" Wallis'12forPar Winds by Sept. 1 Hal Wallis Productions will wind up its present 12-picture releasing deal with Paramount next Sept. 1, Joseph H. Hazen, Wallis's partner, said Monday (1) on his arrival in New York from Coast buddies with the producer. Negotiations for a new deal have been continuing with Par,execs for a number of months, Hazen said,- and will go on with, the expectation of reaching an agree-t ment before the current pact ex- pires. ■. i." It has been decided to put three pictures into production by spring, which will complete the 12 due. First, which starts lensing Jan. 12, will be. "Sorry, Wrong.< Number.'V with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster,'' directed . by Anatole Litvak. It's from a widely known radio Suspense drama by Lucille Fletcher, which has been repeated on the air five Mmes and has been (Continued on page 16) JaekBon Park^ Chi, Gets 1st Nabe Clearance Pic Chicago, Dec. 2. First direct nabe cleatance since Jackson Park anti-trust decision is that Of "Dark Passage," which opened last week in the Warner Bros, circuit houses, Capitol and Jeffery, day-and-dating with the Jackson Park. Pic is on a percentage deal, With film row wondering whether or not Warners-might use grosses to find -whether picts play- ing day-and-date with Jackson Park will bring in favorably comparable grosses. One of the major points in the suit was the loss of revenue through controlled bookings in WB circuit houses. Other clearance switch was ihe booking of "Forever Amber" into the indie lioop house, Rialto, Dec. 3 s FiOM TEST SILES With the; U. S. Supreme Court scheduled to tee off hearings in the film industry's anti-trust suit during the week of Jan. 12, it's been learned that the majors have com^ piled reams of evidence to prove that the competitive bidding system incorporated in the original decree is of no benefit to either exhibitor or distributor. ' Since the original suit was filed against tlie majors for their alleged: restraint of trade practices, the com- panies are certain that the Court will come through with some form of selling that will insure a free and open market. Bidding, however; is not the answer, they'll claim, arid their legalites are expected to throw the book of evidence at the Court to prove their point. ' Chief fault found with bidding by the majors who've conducted ex- perimental tests with the system is the practice of many exhibs in of- fering bids way. over their |ieadS.' Most of these, it's been found, are; desperately in need of product and so feel they can afford to gamble by bidding more than they can hope to pay. Too often, however, such exhibs have come pleading to the film companies that they can't meet the terms of their contract and some of them have even gone so far as to ask for a ' rebate, if a picture didn't do the business it was. expect- ed to do. - ' Drawback, according to the ma-' jors, is that they must take-the loss; in such situations; Under the auction systeih as set up by the courts, there's no security to back ,up an exhib's bid and consequently no pro- tection for the distrib. Most majors Jiave merely taken their loss, crossed the recalcitrant exhib off tiieir books for future bids and - kept a record of the entire transaction to be used as evidence ' bet&re the Supreme Court' ■ • . •, ' Majors claim they've experiment- ed, with bidding in some 150-200 situations In which product-oinched exhibs could prove. they rwete in competition with another theati^e and so had the right'to bid for films. Only a few of the bidders have lived up to tlie terms of their con- tracts, it's claimed. In most such cases, moreover, the majors have been forced to sell away from- their old customers. * WB TALENT DEPT. ON COAST RESUMES JAN. 15 . Hollywood, Dec. 2. .Warners' talent- department re opens Jan, 15 when department top- per Sophie Rosenstein returns after three-month layoff. Her, pact with studio calls for no more than tbree- moi^th shutdown annually. It's expected that studio's re- cently announced program of low budgeters will get under way shortly after her return. National Allied Trams Guns On MedScales, ASCAP in M wlee Conv. Drive-Ins Benefited One group of exhibitors that has benefited plenty from com- petitive bidding for films is the drive-in. Since theirs ' is considered a marginal operation by most of the majors, the majority oi the 2S0-odd drive-fn operators in the country have found' it al- most impossible to obtain cur- rent product. Under the bidding system, however, all they must do is prove they're in direct competition with a regular the- atre and they get a chance to compete for product on the auc- tion block. . Most of the competition es- tablished has been with nabe and subsequent ' run hcuses, which doesn't give the drive-ins a chance for any first-run films. They're still much better ofE than previously, however, when the; best they could get were reissues or films a year or more old.- GoldwynBuysIn On Hub Showcase A substantial interest in the As- tor (formerly the Tremont) theatre in Boston has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn, it was disclosed yesterday - (Tuesday). Goldwyn's Bishop's Wife" .will open there Christmas Day, as one of a series of pre-release engagements at ad- vanced admission price. Producer will be partnered with Don Jacocks and others in owner- ship of the Astor. the 1,365-seater has just been; cbmpldtely renovated.. It gives Goldwyn his first financial interest in a theatre and will per- mit in Boston the same type of long- run pre-release engagement to build up national interest as the producer enjoys through arrange- ments with the Astor, N. V., and Woods, Ghicago.- James Mulvey, Goldwyn distribu- (Continued On page 18) House to Press Probe Oil Browne-Bioflf Aides Washington, Dec. 2. The House Committee on Ex- penditures in Executive Depart- ments will press its Investigation into the recent paroles, of Paul Ricca, ' Xjovdi . Campagnai Philip D'Andrea and Charles Gioe, Rep.* Clare Hoffman (R^, Mich.), commit- tee chairman) tpld the .House last Friday (28). The four were sentenced in -con- nection with the -Browne-Bioff ex- tortion of almost $1,000,000 from the industry. . Sentenced to 10 years, they were paroled on Aug. 13, after serving- 8: little -more - than three years apiece. Milwalkee, Dec. .2, National Allied States' opened on Monday (1) its three-day convention at the'Schroeder hotel with its big- gest siege guns trained on the .twin topics of increased admission scales? and ASCAF. After producers had been sub- jected to a severe raking, the ap- proximately 400 delegates endorsed Unanimously the .declaration of pol- icy on upped scales which the a's- - sociation's board of directors had adopted in Detroit six weeks previ- ous. Slated for airing at this after- noon's (Tuesday) meeting was the exhibitors' attitude toward Commu- nism, a topic which seems to have been added to the convention agenda at almost the last minute. Explanation given by masterminds of the convention for bringing up Communism is that members had re- ported they had been object of criti- cal comment from customers as a result of the recent Washington hearings. Exhibitors will be told from the platform to advise the public that all theatremen do is to play what producers give them and exhibitors cannot be responsible for what happens' in Hollywood. Keynote of the first, day's oratory was mainly "monopoly.!': Distrib- utors were accused of - expanding their monopolistic methods of de- creasing the supply of pictures and increasing admission prices. ASCAP was likewise charged with having a monopoly on music used in pictures and, through.this monopoly,'"goug- ing" exhibitors via increased rates. After several oratorical blasts in which exhibs were urged to refuse to sign any more ASCAP contracts, convention tabled the subject until Wednesday (3), when the board will report on suggestion from Monday's floor tliat Allied units set up a joint sinking fund to protect individual > (Continued on page 22) OUT SOON! The 42nd Anniversary Number Forms closing shortly Usual Advertising rates inevvll Special exploitation advantages Copy and space reservations may be sent to any Variety pffice NCW YORK If 1S4 W. ilMh ». HOLLYWOOD U «311 YaeeaSt. CHiCAOO 1 tiO N. .MicMsoa Av*. LONDON, W. e. t tSt, Mwria'snm TrdfoHiar: NATl ALLIED'S DRIVE PARALLELS TOA MOVE Presaging a new battle for hegem- ony among exhib organizations, Kational Allied has launched a-mili- tant drive in several territories to pull uhaftiliated indie outfits undei^ its fold. Chief spur to Allied is fact that the Theatre Owners of America has also begun a organizational cam- paign along similar lines. .Initial objective for Allied is the Kansas and Missouri area, where an organizing committee has been set up to plug Allied's simon-pure indie structure' as against TOA's major circuit affiliations. Drive will cul- minate in aA organization convention in Kansas City, Dec. 16-17', where main agenda point will be alleged discrimination in film price charges a'^ainst non-affiliated circuit thea- tres. ' Allied currently has 17 independ- ent exhibitor organizations in vari- ous states linked to its kite,- Earlier this year it won over exhib* outfits in Iowa and Nebraska and orgaiii^ed indie theatre owners in West Vir- ginia. Big Ad Budget Condidon Of Trans-WB Distrib Deal Stipulation in the two-picture re/ lease pact made! a couple weeks , ago- with 'Warner Bros, by Alfred Hitch- cock-Sidney Bernstein' Transatlantic unit is that the distrib spend a total' of $1,000,000 for advertising-public- ity-exploitation of the films. Albert Margolies, pub-^ad chief for the indie outfit) heads for the Coast from New York late this week to confab on expenditure of the coin.- Both Hitchcock and Berstein are noted as showmen. Bernstein's Gran- - ada circuit in England, consisting of about SO houses, reportedly speitds more on advertising than any chain twice its size in that country. Overall budget for the initial pic, "Rope," will be $1,300,000. Second, "Under Capricorn," to be made in England' with Ingrid Bergman Starred, will be biidgeted at $2,500,- 000. Fixat Starts Feb, 1 and second iSxyX.