Variety (Apr 1948)

it $11 Brit First tharp dUIemiice of oi;>iniofi-t' between- m«Jdwi Uidjies over, ^vvy of thft dollar pool resulting from the p.tv Britisjt films agree- inent came ISsfc yireek. It followed presentation of what the Indies have dubbed the "Balaban Plan." Suggctated by Paramount prctxy Barney Balaban to the conference ' 6f forelgil .depalrtmeni «xecs vrho have be^n meett]|ig almost dally on ^e new pact, plan pitevides that all U. S' income from. British pictures bought outriight by A>»e!rl<^ com- panies be t^wn in^ .fb« dollar pool. , Indies, who have been counting on these outright buys!, of ffi[ms as 4m important'jtaethod tif disposing ' of their frozen British pounds, Im- inedlately'countered that they'd go gong with Balaban's plan only if wa& agreed that U. S, income 'from puc made in Britain by American companies alsO be tossed into the pool. Since that's an un- thinkable proposition to the ma- iota, the issue is deadloc}c^d. It hasn't been voted on as yet, wWcb Is true of all the matters that have come up so far a|t the Kew Voric huddles. As a matter of Itct, however, the issue isn't seri- .bw ttom the standpoint of stale- ■ mijng the present talks, since, < 'without unanimous agreement, the ; VSalaban Plan" will undoubtedly , lust be miletly dropped. ^«i^av prexy's idea would ItniiPVBtit^ Adding another facet to ihe, A^O^Ut • 5. agreement. as it . nbiiir Stand*," A« generally inter- preted, ^te PAct provides that only (Ck»ibQued on page 6) Prague, April 6, Despite rising tide of antl-U. S, propaganda, CzechoslovaMan mo< nopoly .censors have lifted release restrictions on BKO's "This Land Is Mlnci" Pro-democratic pic was ordered withdrawn last month after it played one day in two Prague thieatres. Previously, pic ran into similar trouble in Hungary and Poland but was. finally .okayed for release after passing new, "ideology" .test in east- ern European <k»intnes. Being Eased in England London, April 6. , Eric Johnston is negotiating an Additional clause to be written into tiie Anglo-American film agree- ment <«Sth Harold Wilson of the Board of Trade. This concerns the admittance of high-ranking Holly^ wood executives, producers and dl- tectors, Into this cotmtty and was one of the many items left over at the time tho deal was made, to be psrked o«t in greater detail. If the Americans are to step up . production in this country, John&' ton argues they should have a greater number of their own top >. technicians in charge and in asking for this clause he. is smoothing the way for the limited invasion Wil- ' son is likely' to allow. British Film Producers Assn., . representing 28 companies, operate . a 10% quota of admission for for- eign executives, producers and di- rectors in conJuqcUon with, the Ministry of Labor. Seven foreign ^fUrectors and seven producers will ' (Continued on page 18) fix POINT FOR PHILLY CONVENTION BOOKINGS • Philadelphia, April 6. . Presaging a possible rush on the part of the majors to sew up top bookings in Philadelphia for the forthcoming political conven- tions, 20th-Fox has scheduled both Street With No Name" and "Walls . Of Jericho" to preem there In June. - "Street," which co-stars Mark Stevens and Richard Widmark, opens at the Fox here June 16, five days before the Republican con- .eiave tees ofl". "Walls," starring Cornel Wilde, Linda DarneU and Anne Baxter, opens at the same ™"se June 30, several days before the Demos start their convention; xwo films will also play the board- walk in Atlantic City shortly after iiielr preems, under 20th's assump- non that most of the politicos will HT 5"^ relaxing at A,C. Metro has already scheduled an ?TJ^"?,®,°P^*>ing "State of the ,7o^?" Pl'Uly before the con- fif",*iOns start. Neither of the 20th ^^^r f^^^ a PoUtical theme as does "Union." hibs-AdiiMnCool CM ItlAs Trailer To 1%$ Big Pix . Individual members of the Ad* vertisiftg and Publicity Directors Committee of the Motion Picture' Assn. of America are privately ex- pressing very little enthusiasm for the idea of an all-industry trailer. They announced officially as' a group last week that they bad a plan' for such a promoftton^ stunt luider consideration. LtLck of enthusiasm stems from the feeling of most members of the committee that there are so many problems connected with the making and exhibition of such a trailer that it will never be pro*^ duced or widely exhibited. One- reeler, plugging the pix of all com- panies without studio identifica- tion, was the idea of the Theatre Owners of America. If it's made, it will be in cooperation of the Ad-Pub . group with the TOA. APDC members met Monday (5) to give further consideration to the,trailer idea. .They had be- fore them a response from Tech- nicolor to a query last week on (Continued on page 22) $8,m Boost in iins' Fen!^ Taiie Seen TiaERP, New D.C. Bill Chaplin's 'Vcrdoux' Gets ExhilK Brash With Only 1,000 Dates in 1st Year Charles Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux," which went into release almost a year , ago, has achieved the phenomenally low record of less than 1,000 playdates in that time. Rentals have amounted to under $300,000. Didiculty has resulted mainly from inability of United Artists, the distrlbs, to line ■ up circuit bookings for the film. It has played no major chains at all, excjept for a few houses. As a ntatter*of fact, it was on this score that Chaplin urged UA execs recently to bring suit on a dharge that the circuits were con- spiring to keep the film off the screen. Distrib toppers talked down the idea, pointing out the (Continued on page 22) Current staleotate. between. New York theatre circuits and television broadcasters over the right to use regularly-scheduled tele shows for theatre video; may soon be re^ solved. A test suit to that effect is being mapped. Clincher in the situation is the fact that the ad agencies, originally taking their cue from broadcasters and' nixing theatre pickups of their shows, have had a change of at- titude. Agencies now visualize a niuch wider audience for spon- sored shows by making them avail- able to tilieatre -audiences, as well as bqme-viewers.! Broadcasters, as a Tesult, hav6 become much more amenable to the Ide^ also. Paramount may become the first major theatre operator in the east to utilize theatte tele. «Par video diiief Paul Raibotirn Is reportedly i«Ady to toss the situation into the opeil by transmitting a network snow ,,to the screen of the Para- mount thejatre, K. V., via the Par intermediate film method. System, which involves 'the .filming of tele images pff the' fpSce of a receiving tube, running the film through a rapid developing process and then flasliing it on the screen via regu- lar projectors in a matter of 66 sec- onds, has already been demonstrat- ed ,successfully to the trade. This could become the guinea pig for classification of the issues pre- (Contlnued on page 18) Foy Bows Out As E Prod. Topper Hollywood, April 6. Bryan Foy has asked Eagle Lion to relieve him of all general ex- ecutive. duties beginning May 15. Proxy Arthur .Krim takes over as executive production head, with Aubrey Schenck as assistant. Foy is remaining with the company and will produce foiur pix yearly for three years. He retains stock in company and will get a percentage on the pix he produces. They'll be budgeted between $750.000-$800,- 000 each. " " . Walter Wanger has a deal to make the same number of pix yearly for EL. S'wonderhd Anyway Margaret Ann Young, title scru- tinizer for the Johnston office in New York, did a double take When she received 20th-Fox's "That Won- derful Urge." She requested a copy of the script and, after giving it the O.O., put her okay stamp on the label. Nobody yet, however, either at 20th or the Johnston office, seems to be sure of exactly what the "wonderful urge" is, But appar- ently it's legitimatct. JOLSON CALLS OFF DEAL FOR METRO BIOG SEQUEL . Hollywood, April 6. Al Jolson called off his deal for a Metro sequel to the "Jolson Story" (Col). He couldn't have signed anyway before May 28 due to a Columbia obligation. He won't make any pic this summer due to certain commitments, namely sev- eral appearances for the United Jewish Appeal. Comedian is to appear in Denver at a memorial dinner to General Maurice Rose, killed in tile war, at $1,000 a plate. There's a possibility Jolson might ink an- other deal later in the year with Columbia, where Sidney Buchman, exec producer on "Story," has a thorough understanding of Jolson's life, etc. Buchman presumably would also produce the sequel. B.O. Average At New Peak, 50.4c Bat Can't Be Cut Hollywood, April 6.- Cross-section survey of the' na- tion's theatres, conducted by Audi- ence Beseaicb, Inc. (George fGal- lup), shows admission prices boosted again during four months ending in March, . . ,. ' Average adult evening price, in- cluding Federal, state and local taxes is 50.4c. Last November it was 49c.. Survey, covered not only all sections but towns and cities of all sizes, including flrstruns and nabes. • ' Average "price index remained the same in the East only, but boosted in the other three major sections. Greatest boost was in the western states, where average went from 54.4c. to 57.7c. . - Figures for November, 1947, to (Continued on page 22) HARRY COHN'S NEW CQL. DEAL INCLUDES STOCK Special meeting of Columbia Pic- tures stO(^older$ is slatied'for Fri- day. (9) to consider a proposed em-' ployment contract for Harry Cohn, company prez, for a five-year pe- riod beginning March 27 last. Meet will also consider an agree- ment granting Cohn. an option to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an initial price of $l6 per share. : ■ s ■ Washington, April 6. American companies are hoping to increase their returns from overseas by a total of about $8,000,* OOO as a result of the European Recovery Plan bill,, okayed last week, and the Smith-Mundt meas- ure, -covering informational serV' ices abroad: ERP provides that up to $15,000,- 000 may be spent the first year to aid-.films, magazines, newspapers, etc, which' have money frozen abroad -by currency restrictions. Smith-MUndt act allots $28,000,000 for informational'services provided by films, radio and publishers. Both pieces of legislation permit the administrator to determine what share shall g6 to each bf the media, so.itis net-'certain to inrhat extent films will profit. No request for a definite amount for films was made in the ERP bill, but $10,000,- 000 was suggested' as the sum re- quired to do an acceptable job un- der the Smith-Mundt act. There's little expectation, however, of get- ting that much. Actually, the industry, it's underr Stood, would feel that the Motion (Continued oa.\^page 23) t TALKS ANEW ANENTRKO BUY Loyd Wriglit, Coast attorney representing Jloward Hughes, ar- rived in New York over the week- end to continue negotiations with Floyd Odium in Hughes' efforts to acquire control of RKO. Odium, president of Atlas Corp., which holds controlling, stpck interest in the company, came east last week> Authoritative sources said yes^« terday (Tuesday) that it was "im- possible to appraise" the chances for success of the deal. However, it was indicated that this week should be critical in the negotia- tions and it's likely they'll either succeed or be dropped altogether in the next few days. Hughes remains on the Coast, where he had been taking a per- sonal hand in the talks with Odium during the ■ past'couple months. Wright is uncertain how long he'U be held in Mew York. National Boxoffice Survey Biz Still Solid in Many Keys—'Naked/ 'Mama,' 'Sit- ting','.'Showeiis/'Agreement'Pace Field Many' theatres over the country still are profiting by the Easter Week biz * upbeat in current ses- sion, this situation being reflected even where many pictures are holdover. Week will see four cur- rent 'solid coin-getters finish the week with more than $200,000 each to their credit in key cities cov- ered by 'Variety. Setting pace is "Naked City" (U), with "Remember Mama" (RKO) hotly contesting leadership. "Naked," which was a close second last week, really came into its own with many additional playdates. "Mama," big in the few locations played previously, also is benefit- ing from a long line of added dates. Third in the select 200G class is "Sitting Pretty" (20th), which slipped back from top position. "April Showers" (WB) shapes sturdy fourth place winner, with more than 17 playdates. "Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) finished fifth, a drop from third slot of previous week. "Saigon" (Par), a winner many recent weeks, is down to sixth. Same is true of "Daring Daughters" (M-G), in sev- enth spot. Others in Big 10, in order of showing, "are "lincon- quered" (Par), "Miracle of Bells" (RKO) and "Double Life" (U). Top runners-up are "Call Northslde" (20th), ^'Big Clock" (Par) and "Fugitive'' (BKO). ' Shaping up as best of the crop of newcomers are "Fort Apache" (RKO), "All My Sons" (U), "Song of Love" (M-G) and "m. Bland- ings" (SRO) on basis of showings this round. Another newcomer, "Big Clock" looks okay in St. Louis, solid in Buffalo and hefty in Frisco. "Double Life" moved higher via several additional dates predicated on added interest because its star, Ronald Colman, was Oscared.' While "B. F.'s Daughter" (M-G) did well in second N. Y. week, it is making only a modest showing in Cincy. "The Flame" (Rep) is having a big session in Seattle. "Mourning Becomes Eleetra" (RKO), playing near capacity in Detroit, is on mild side in Minneapolis. (Complete Boxoffice Reports on Pages 13-15) Brown Would Exit M-G? Hollywood, April 6. Clarence Brown, Metro director, is reported trying to get out of his contract to the studio. He's been in 'ill health lately, but is dissatisfied with his Metro setup and hasn't made a picture in the last year. Tcadv Murk Registered ' FnDUshed Weekly by TABIETir, Inc. Sid Silverman, President IS* West 46tH St., mw York 19, N. T. 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