Variety (Jul 1948)

14 WedbudU^, July 7, 1941 Schiinr's B^^petfira a Slq^ To Resigoatioa of production tiiieff- Dore SdMry busi week came as a shock to the distribution staif at the BKO homeoffice. Exec pro- dtHSer enjoyed great pvestige witii the sales tone, reflecting the tai^ •tandins in «liich' eidhibs fadd the product, made in the ^st 18 months under. Me regime. Tim was ' just .beginning to be &lt in better terms moA i^lasing time. . Fear "Qiat the Sdtaiy overfxim might )|e foilowed bjr cfaanees in the distribution setup lias all eyes on the series of huddles, includiog a directors' meeting, that wiU take place on the Coast this week. It is thought that if new owner Howard Hughes and Ned Depinet, exec v.p., who tops the distribution end, see eye-to-eye through thMe . sessions, the sale$ end will be in 'a good position to retain autonomy and status quo—^for the time being, ■■ anywa^y. .,,.„■ j , Huglies ai3d Depinet,, it is i Hxtmra autAwritaUveily, have gotten along very well so far. Bepin^t was reportedly burned, however, In not being consulted or informed on last week's action regarding Schary. He was in jD«U«s attend- ing the funend -of iwst -exMlntior William G. UodeiWQOd when Ik heard the new& So far there lias been autt 4!ae slightest sign isa ^ taiA Chat, tbe controlling stock ownership bad passed into sew Jtands. Uepmet ' and sales chief. Eoibeit Moclme liave been mnning things exactly as before< Depinet and tlie' otiher diFectors- in New York ££arted taking off yesterday (Tuesdajr) for the series- of Coast haiMihw ftaat begun todar and wind up Snaday It was emphasized .jrt tiw iMmieofiice this week Vl^t Vm ounent meetings had beeii planned more than a ' month ago and were nowise in the nature af emeigency .sessions. Sometime towards tiie end the wec3c ibe group is sticadasce at the huddles will constitute itself formally into a board of directors and hold a meeting. One of the most important things .tbat the coacSave must ^hibeoMas^ aside frem a suioeessar to Stixas, is .a slate of directas to xe^oe Offinm and ius leps on the board, unless HujEi9ie» invites some of tbem to stasr ea. Wbatever xiames are de- cided 4m &ir tbe new board; will be included In 13)s -^im^ irtatement for the next stockholders' meeting, which mm tentatively sidied- uled for Atig«^ - It is loaig over- due, according to provisions of the by-laws, jaaving been postpiHiied pendii^ Hnjpus' decaslea on bis directorate. . AccompaniFiog Desdnet via plane yesterday wira^- dinctocs 'Frederick L. £htman asd Geoise.Sbaw. Od- ium went out In Ms private plane. 1,. Lawrence Green is going by train and Harry M. Durning is heading west later in the week. Prexy N. Peter Rathvon is already on the Coast, completing the slate of directors who will attend the sessions. Malcolm Kingsberg, BKO Theatres prez, who is not a direc- tor, is also going out to sit in on the meetings. Most of those at- teinding, including Depinet, are ex- pected back in New York next Tuesday (13). Kew Brit. TmIe Continued Immu vast % _ exhibitors. Thus budgets weie cut and spectacles eiimioated. Rank will stiil make an effort to sell his films abroad, but it won't necessarily be a maoey-laemg ef- fort, as before. As he tjuilds tip domestic audiences for his films, he can make them more expeosive- ly and better, and lUus compete on a dnn bams both in Biitain and «b»MdL Ihete's also a.realin- tiiW.tbat beadog flidiigywaod ont of its Jinn posi^ in tbe forrign maT- lait, if it can .be idiMie at all, wda^t be Ml, a agMday «n»der hxS9, but graduaUy o«ier « loug pcsind .«f B}^ cutting down the cost and suee of his films. Rank eaa make more tlwm In;'flat same'^amanmt of iSemt amd tims sme io teiwete Hol- lywwid's product mtt of Britain, that's the reason for the 45% <l«oU and Hank's beHisercnce in :TefusDDg more than mimmum play- .•atag time to li. S. pix on Jiis Odeon l:4m.GaunHwt-Biitish dicuits, it is Schary and Selznick trould split the profits. (Ueantime, Schary declai;«d in Hollywood: "My plan.? are indef- inite. I am going to take- a deep breath and do some serious think- ing. I want to come to some basic decisions .before X make any plans.") When Sdiaxy was with Selznick before, it was as apratdneer on the lot However, theu: leSaitoa^p was very c!ose—and has remained so—and Sdiaiy Iwd a good bit of autonomy in his productions. One thing being good-naturedly said since Schary announced his resignation as RKO production topper la^^^week is ihat "no one need vratxs' abiaut bsia,f Producer aoquired such- a repntaiion as a quality picturemaker with a b.o. touch that his services are in high demand. He could undoubtedly get a favorable deal at another studio, bud; it is andensbood. he prefers to maume his. association. with Selz-' nidt, whidi adso promises to be more jHttStable than a studio tieup, siiice he will be able to take ad- vantage <o£° the capital gains pro- vifocms of the tax law on some of bis income fmm. his own unit. Hollywood. July 6. After being on, Ms schedule for sevetai yeaiSj RKO has decided to drop "The Bobe," which Frank Ross was to make and the latter will now seek independent finan- cing. Approximately $750,000 was put into the pic by RKO. The com- pany figured the cost to be too lugb for cfflntinuance on its schedule, especially >5ith coin already spent Victor Fieannig m!ay direct the pic, with iHx^'dity it would be made in Italy, if and when a new deal is set PbHi I I page s sBsa,' sa CMctiaocd hrom page to meet current problems, it «»- tinixes to be .discussed by toppKS because .no one has up with anything better. lExem- tive committee of the board of dir rectors of the Motion Ftetore Ex- pott Assn. spent almost the entire 90 9( ks very hmMwi^ session in New York last Thnrsday (1) discussing the plan. Eaee com- mittee consists only of the pceaa- dent or top ranking exec available of each company, pliu Eric John- ston, ItlPEA and Motion V^iAure Assn. of America prez, and James A. Mul'vey, vepping the Sod^ of Indepeadecd; Motion Ptetnra Pro- ducers. Ea^rt corporation ictea took conshAerably moi« form at the ses- sion, following the vague outlines of the .scheme presented at ilie jHevious coBc3ave two weeks ear- lier. However, despite the ioigthy discussions of' organization and method, it is understood Hme is grave doubt-whether the plan will ever materialize. 0:Hiosi&)n to it is very strong from some quarters, with Spyros Skomras, 20th-Fox prexy, the lead- er of the againsters. Lined up in the comer for the plan is Barney Balaban, Paramount chief tain, who has the active support of- Grad Sears, United Artists bossman, and Jack Cohn, executive veepee of Cp- lumhia. , Universal presents a further complicalioa, since it has a con- tractual relationship with Rank that commits it to conSinue sup- plying Mm with film. Nate Blum- berg, tJ proxy, has ex^?essed no desire to join, in the export plan, even if a way around the contract could be found, dcsfate the fact that his tienp with Rank gives him no, advantage whari^ver over other compani^ l^erms of the Anglo-U. a fihas agreement pro- vides that it ^pkisedes-eonlUcting cianses of proviiMis coiiltnuBts en- tcxed ii^ wiOi Briti^ corpora- tSons.' 4 IMro and 'VSM y s nc— l it ai llick Scberad^ Metro proz, and Jilaiw Albert Waxner, Wamec Bros, veepee, have romained noo- eommittal on the ejq^associaihm idea, smte'^tfaeir films plwr the As- sodaied British Ciccnit, «f wludi WB is part .owaier. xadher tha& «ther of the Bank chains. Ned De- pinet, BKO exec v.p., is believed leaning toward the "get tough" crowd; While it is not being admitted, aim in setting up the cssport cor- poraiioa would be in «nlKEC8o sell- ing to Bank if he doesn't ease up on bis efforts to shoulder U. S. pix oiit of his home&'Idea would oe to sell only to ABC or to indie theatres and, by guaranteeing them product, organiie them into a orcuit in opposition to Bank. Being foroed to play miiy. iiis own BJms against tiie widespread com- petition of ilhe populv American pix in opposition houses, it is thought he'd soon become amdsns to louver his si^ts from the liO- 65% British films he has stated it is bis desoe to plagr in bis hs& Slii--fictaiies Selznick Releasing Organization Is finding it a hard pitdi to sell exhibs on the reissue of "tatenaemj," but the pic in many spots is racking up greater grosBes tlaan wlien it played the same houses on original release in 1939. it turned in $700,000 domestic glasses thai, while .at the present »te the .roissue is expected to lnhig in about $800,000. However, the playoff is veiy slow and expected to take a long time. SRO prexy Neil Agnew feds the additional coin on the re-release reflects the tremendoosiy bos^r boxoffi.ce level <even with the reces- sion since 1946) over the pre-war years. Likewise, it is thought, that the pvH of Ingrid Bergman,-the film's star, has greatly increased smce "39, accounting for some of the additional busaness. Busiest film lot in Hollywood is, Wamers, with eight, pictures in pro- duction and swarms of tourists demanding, penaus$ioa to ngt^the actois at work. No less than 24 parties made tours of the s«h; in one day last week. Reason is that fihrang in general is slack and executives on other lots are detouring their touri^ to Warners, whero there is plenty to ogle. Alex Evelove, publicity chief, is up against a labor pitjblem with so many of his unit men guiding visitors aroimd the lot Uut thev can't find time to write plugs. • - RKO's ponderous picture, ^'Mourning Becomes Electra," has gone through its third reduction process in the hope of making it ^ort enough for boxoffice appeal. Running tune when ficst roleased was t»«o hours and 56 minutes, later it was cut to two hoars and 25 min- utes but was stiU toi» long. Third shearing brings it. down td lis Temperament on U«> set of an expensive picturo on a major lot vemlted in the hiring of two cameramen who can't see lens to lens. Pemme ^ inintx ni one of them and the producer-director insists ^''IfH*^.- "PS?** ««MiMman shooting te- ta!^ iKWe tb* prodocer-dnector'ii lensec went riiSbt ma the Johnston office is pressuring Entetprise to find another title for ^Th* Numbers Racket." which lotted out m 'n-ucker s PeSte" IAm L that Oie word "racket" has a felonious taint and should hot be emphasiaed on marquees, even though the picturo deals with racketcen. "^^^ Wrigley Fierd in IjOs Angeles underwent a facelifting oMsmtinn tb *i,A««i,f K T —^ P'*^ Grounds in "IntertSeL*^^^ «? .thought by many American films ^ pro football. The new look includes signboard, S^'kioskf and I other Harlem landmarks, but no Coogaii's Bluff. '"'"^s ana Pmfure Groses SEATTLE (Continued-fixHn page 10) West" (UA) and Cobra Strikes" (EL). So so, $7.<H», Palomar (Sterling) fl,350; 45-80) —"On Island With You' (M-G) and "Lightmng m Forost" (Bep). Good $7,000. Last week <2d) "Big City" (M-G) and *«Id Los Angles" <Hep), Good $7,000. Last we^ (2d) «B« City" ai-GJ and "Old Los Angeles" (Hep). Okay at $5,400. _ , ^SSmoimt (H-E) (3.(S9; 45^) —"Saihara" (Col) and D^troycr" (Col) (reissues). Slow $6,008. Last week, "Raw Deal" (EL) and "Man From Texas" (EL). Wcjik at $6,100 ■awsevelt (SterUng) (800: 43-M) —"Pirate" (M-G) and "Exposed" (Rep). (Srdwfc^. Big $5,000. Landed nice at $S,100 last stanza. DX. MAKES COMEBACK; ISLAND' UISH $3^,000 Washington, July 6. Improvement in the weather and the July 4 holiday weei^nd, which spelled a Monday at advance prices, hypoed the midtown all along the line to a sharp upbeat from last week's '.'dying swai" rou- tine for the flickers. "Island With You" and strong vaude bill aro drawing top coin, while "Street With No Name'' is also playing cash register music "Best Years , of Our Lives," back for a second round of first run here, doing a fat job at pop prices. Estimates far tlas Week Capitol (Loew's*) (2,434; 44-80)— "Oa an Island With You" (M-G) with vaude. Heading for some-; Ihmg close to a sock'^,Oe0. Lasst I wedi:, "Big City" (M-G) with vaude.' Almost reached $18,000. Cafannbia (Loew's) (1,263: 44-70) —"Summer Holiday" (M-G) ^2d xnn>, nice $7,000. Last week, '"Blood and Sand" (20th) (reissue), fine $7J500. D«Nnt (F. W. Mann) (44: 50- SS)—-'The Idiot" (Indie) looks like big $4,000 for this house and holds. Xostweek, "Farrebique" (JSritsky) < <2d wk) fair $2,500. Beith's (RKO) (1,939; 44-74) —! "BMt Years of Our Uves" mKO). Nearly $14,000, a strong sho«naig: for this pic which now returns at popular prices. Last week, "Up in Central Park" (O) abouU; $12,000. Metropolitan (WB) (1,163; 44-70) —"Fuller Bmsh Man" (Col) (2d run). Fine $7,000 for its second week here, lost week, excellent $9,500. Palace (Loew's) (2,370; 44-74) — "Street With No Name" (20th) handsome $25,000. Last week, "AU My Sons" (01. Tolerable $14,000. Warner (WB) (2,154; 44-74) "Romance on the-ffij^i Seas" (WB) Cozy $15,000. Last week. "Hacsard" (Par). Little better . than $10,<»00. MINNEAPOLIS (Continued from page 11) coming" (M-G) (3d wk), okay $5- 000, givmg it satisfactory $22,000 ■for run. t- . Lyric (Par) (1,000; 50-70)—"Arch of Triumph" (UA) (m.o.). Here ^L^'S State first week. Sour f4,000. Last Week, "'Slatini! of Millie" (Col) (2d wk), fair$5W. Radio City (Par) (4,400; 50-70)— .'■Emperor Waltz" iPas). Biggest at- traction to hit town in months and skyrocketing to huge $22,000. Last week, "Romance on Hieh Sea.<5" (WB), light $13,000. ^ r,^^?^^"9'"'**'"'n (RKO) (2,800- 50-70)—"Silver River" (WB) Pi": lure not exciting too much enthu- siasm. LouiVWalcott fight pictures held over Big $13,000 in prospect. hr^u To^A^^\7l^^^''.^'^^^ Man" days after smash ' $16,000 first stanza. -.J!'!?*''?^^" '^KO) <1.600; 50-70)— J^^l^"iShJiAxBL" (Col) <3d wk). cott fi^t pictures held over. Last w«Ek, "Another Part of Forest" (U), hght $7JI00 m six days State (Par) (2,300; 50-70)—"Ladv from Shanghai" (Col), Divided «» picture less«img Hay- wprth-WeUes- maniuec mmt ^"""P*^" <UA), good «T^!Sl!'^ (Par) (1,000; 44-60)- ««»t nei^ilmriie^ showing. Fair W,500 hidicated. Last weet "««£' „_*^«ri<?, (Mann) (350; 50-85)— fe.^y ?^^J^ BrSiy" «Oth) (m.o.), Thud stand and week $2!oo6.^*' Surrenders" (U), light CINCY WHHTS SHN ASfiiNGNABSmOO' Ciaclnnati, July- 6 ' It's good to solid biz at every major house this weelc; one M Cincy's biggest for some time. Of four first mns, "Emperor Waltz" and "On Island With You." aro hi the upper jstrata, the Crosby flidcer topping by a big margin. Bstinutes for This Week Albee (RKO) (3,100; 50-75)-, "Emperor Waltz" (Pjir). Sensa^ tional $26,000 and a Cincy high for some time. Last week, "Mr, Blan- dings" (SRO), nifty $15,000. Capitol (RKO) (2,000; 50-75) —i "On Island With You" (M-G). Lush $20,000. Holds. Last week, "Pirate" ai-G) (2d wk), okay $7,500. Grand (RKO) (1,400; 50-75) — "River l^ady" (U). Good' $9,000,' Last week, "Hatter's Castle'* (Par), average $7,500. - -Keith's (City Inv.) (1,542; 50-75) —"Best Years" (RKO) (2d wk). Strong $8,500. Pat ^,500, first round. Holds for third week. Lyric (RKO) (1,400; 50-75»—"On Our Mewy Way" (UA) and Louis- Walcott clips (m.o). Solid $6,500. Last week, "Fuller Brush Man" (Col), &mr days in sbcBh downtown' fling, and "Sea Spoilers" (Indie) and "Masaificient Brute" (Indie) (reissues), par $5,500. Fadaee (RKO) (2,600; 50-75) — "fighting Father Dunne" (RKO). Average $U,OO0i. jLast week, "On Merry Way" WA) pins Louis-Wal- cott reels, sodc $is,000. WSoffmSsAo,2IG; 206 t Baltimore, July 6. . Ideal weather ov&e the long holi- day weekend provided ample com* petition to current downtown list, taut strong product is overcoming some of the bite. "The Emperor Waltz" is solid at the Stanley, and ' "The Fuller Brui;fa Man," with vamle at the Hippodrome, is also monnting a good fignre. Estimates far Week. Centmr (Loew's-UA) (20-60)— "On Island With You" (M-G). Nice $i7,<M}0. last wecii; "Our Meny Way" (UA), mild ^706. IfipvodrUM! (Bairpaport) (2,240: 20-70)—"Puller's Brmsh Man" (Col) plus vaude. Peak $20,000. Last week, "^"So Well Beraemberod" (EL), Louis-Walcott films and vaude, fair $13,300. Keith's (Sdunbei«er) <2,460; 20- 60)—"Up in Central Paris" (UI). Opening tomorrow (Wed.) after week of "Dream Girl" (Par). Disir appointing $6,400. "Batter's CasUe" (Par), ^eceduig, failed to click at $5,200. Mayfair (Hijcks) (980; 25-55)— "Dade Goes West" (Mom)). Above- average $6,000. last week, "So This Is New York" (UA), fair $4,- 800. ■ New (Mechanic) (1,800; 20-60)— "Blood and Sand" (20th) (reissue). Mild $7,OQ0. I^st week <2d), "Give Regards to Broadway" (20th), nice $7,6ffl). Stanley (WB) (3J80; 25-75)— "Emperor Waltz" (P!a-». Topptag town witii big $21,060. last week, "Big Punch" (WB), a dud at $6,300. Town (Happaport) (1,500; 35-65) —"Best Years" <RKO) (2d wk). Return nm at pop prices holding well at $10,000. last week, pleas- ing $11,100. DETROIT (CTontinued from page 10) and the Woman" (WB) (reissues). Good $14,000. Last week, "Green Grass^' (20th) and "Anna Karenina (20th), average $12,000. Downtown (Balaban) (2,863; 70- 9.5)—"Gung Ho!" (U) and "Eagle Squadron" (U) (reissues). F-i'^J $9,000. Last week, "Fort Apache (RKO) (5th wk). oke $5,000. Fox (Fox-Michigan) (5,100; '70- 95)—"Ilomecomhur* <M-G) (3d wk). Rising $25,000 nOer dip to $19,000 in second atamn. MicUcan m-J» (4.039; 70-85)— "River laOs^ m-^) .bolstered by stageshow headed by Billy Wolfe. Terrific $40,000. Last week. Central FatK" <U) and aiWr Olbmn). trim Up hi "Fighting $20,600. Mtam flJ-D) (J,716: '70-05)— "BeUhi Exmrnu'' (BKO) and l«viis- Walcotf plctoMS. Neat $16,000. Last week, "Crusades^ (Par) (re; issue) and "Assigned to Danger (EL) (2d wk). good $14,000. United ArSsta (U-D) (2.976; 7<)- 95)—"The Empiaor Waltz" <Pai;). Knockout $36,000. last week, "Another Part of Forest" IV) and "Secret Service Investigator" (Bep)» fair $12,000.