Variety (Nov 1948)

PICTUBRS Wcdneflda^f Novemlier 17« 1948 Par,MMoveto'Save'5(lil'Bkptcy; And 'Hard^' Partnerships A critical battle will be waged —' by Paramount and 20th-Fox to'^ f^, . cj-» tt » u^^^^ save some 500 theatres involved , Dane LlarK &ez We HOpeS in "bankruptcy" partnerships wJicn Warner BrOS. FirCS Hiwi Minneapolis, Nov. 16, Dane Clark, under suspension the Government anti-trust action gets off -to: renewed hearings Nov, 29.-Both companies are now pre-, oaring an exhaustive list of affi-, from Warner Bros., stated here he's davits from partners in lieu of trying to get himself flred so that personal testimony to back the , he'll be free to make a deal with newly-raised defense contention i another studio. Clark, who flew that partnerships springing from , to Minneapolis from Hollywood on the majors' past financial difficul- his own hook to emcee a CARE ties should be exempt from, divorcement. At Stake so far as the gigantic Paramount holdings are concerned ' are that company's interests in the ; E. V. Richards' chain of 57 houses; MuUih & Pinanski's 86 theatres; A. H. Blank circuit of 78 theatres; and Hunter Perry chain of 13.' Also on the griddle would be part i of the Wilby-Kinccy 101-theatre chain,: as well as a portion of the , -Lucas & Jenkins' 20. partnered houses. Situation for 20th is somewhat; more obscure so far as the number ■ Is concerned.'. However, company i. ■ took on a; number of partnerships » when it went into a series of reor* i ganizations in : 1929v Similarly to Paramount, these partner.ships i were formed under financial | duress to help bankroll the com-1 pany-during the red-ink era. : j Supreme Court's Distinction i Par-20th stand represents a sud- , den shift, in strategy wlvich is' hoped will pay off by saving the hundreds of theatres for the com- panies. U. S. Supreme Court, it's noted, distinguished between ' the ordinary merger of interests which led to joint theatre holdings and the hardship partnerships which came about ■ beeause: of . film com- (Continued on page 16). :: rally, has been suspended three j times in nine months by Warners, I the latest tiff occurring when he refused to make a picture called "Amboy Dukes'' on a loan-^out deal,: He stated that he balked taking the role after reading the film's script. Earlier suspensions were caused by similar trouble, Clark claimed. He said he's tired of having tlie studio putting him in inferior pic- tures, but that lack of income, dur- ing six of the past nine monthsi necessitates his: finding «raployr ment soon. He also asserted his' deal with Warner's is "pretty rough," hence his wish to break off relations. James J. Geller hot •Htli«rt4 « h«mw«Ht ih^rt ttery witk • Hellywaed «9«rton«, "The Knockout'' * * * OH Miitorial f««tiir« in th* upcomlnf 43d Annivermry Number •f Par Openly Sells Away from N.O. Theatre Partner M-G Reclaims LA, Frisco Showcases As Offset to Republic Joining Up, Some Indies May Bolt Export Corp. Metro will, move into a showcase | policy on the Coa.st In its first far.j west operation Dec,. 1 when .the f Company takes back from the FoX', West Coast circuit control over | Loew's State, Los Angeles, and the j Warfield, San Francisco. Metro has notified F-WC that month'to-month leases held on the two first-run deluxers are terminated as of the end of November. The action has 1 been inspired by the ban on tlie- :atre tieups: between, majors im- t posed by the U. S., Supreme Court. I Heretofore, 'Metro has not been {operating any house further west .than Kansas City. Termination of the FrWC leases is believed to fore-1 shadow increased showcase opera- j itions by Metro as well as other ! jcompanies. In various settlement j ! negotiations the Government has i privately conceded the legality of ' Betty Garrett Denied M-G OK for Concert Hollywood, Nov. 16. Metro nixed permission JEor Betty Garrett to appear as vocalist at trio of concerts Dave Rose's 40- picce orch will present here. She'd agreed to terms oft'ered by KFWB diskjock Gene Norman, who is pro- moting ventures, but studio, to which she's under contract, nixed it. Norman still trying to get Andre Previn, pianist-arranger under con- tract to Metro, ..as cleffer. Looks possible since he,-unlike Miss Gar- rett, is under pact for services other than strictly: visual perform- ances. Ro.se crew will appear at Phil- harmonic Aud here Nov. 24; Long Beach Aud. 25; Aud, Pasadena,: 27. UA's Pub-Ad Letouts Prelude to Distribs New New Orleans, Nov. 16. I After holding out for a number i distribs owning first-run houses in l of months, Paramount is now' large cities as a valid way of mer- ! openly {cuding With E. V. Richards.'''''"'"'ising new' product. I . , , , ,. Both the State and Warfield are ;its theatrt partner who runs the o^^ncd by Metro but operated by Richards-Saengor circuit. Par has | . (Continued on page Sa) ' suddenly decided to sell its product i away fi'om Richards to competing UMJ' .jJ ji^ jp^^^^ houses even though it means a I ™'f«*''e jQ With Prods, . collateral kick4n-the-pants since Firing last Friday (12) of vir-' - ^^^^^^ dividends from the CH'Cuit in . which it part- Policy tually the entire United Artists publicity-advertising •staff, except "department lieads, was the initial move, in a radical change of the distributing company's policy on pub-ad service ■ to producers. In- stead of: l;he pubrad work being British Distrib With Easing of Hecht Ban London, Nov. 16. Partial relaxation of the Ben I Hecht ban, imposed by British ex- ncrs..:';.;: . : • ' :■ I ' pecisioti was rnade last week t when a number-of Paramount pix, prpyiously shelved until a deal , hi^s a month: ago. wiU allow iin-, could be worked out with Richards, hampered: distribution of RiCb'S: thrown in eratis with the distribu-■ T,'^'''' 7 '"'^"Miracle of the Bells" currently tnrown in gratis witn me aistri du- ; jsector as well as flickenes ol ,howine on the Rank rircnit anH tion fee paid the company by indie » „„mi,er of indie exhibs. At the at^^lV^ with whTch ^he Sr h ' employing freelance publicists and ■dmen to work on his films. Tliirtcen employees were sacked , In the move and five clurks and' secretaries, were transferred to other departments. Three perma- : nent field exploiteers were also let i out. All the h.o. staffers fired were ■ given double severance pay as pro- < vided lor under the company's Screen Publicists Guild contract which expired last September, - Some got as much as 26 weeks' salary. Axing -was described as :"an economy move in line with circum- stances facing the industry today." i It was said that it uliced about S2.-| 000 a week from the $.'5,000 it had :been costing to operate ,the de- partment. . UA figured that the service being given was an intangi- ble that was not vital to attracting . new indies to its fold. Department under pub-ad chief | • Howard LeSieur now comprises! publicity chief AITamariti and two aides, Te.ss Michael and Charles Handel; ad manager Francis Wmi-: kus, field exploitation chief Mori Krushen,: promotion and tieup di- rector Leon Roth and art depart- ment topper Herb Jaediker. r Those let go were Caswell Adams, Lou Melamed. Phil Cowan, i Rosellen Callahan, Lew Barasch, Vera Gomez;, Barbara Sapinsly, .John Matson, Joel:. Rose. ... ... Cinematograph Exhibitoi's Assn., now in New Orleans dickering with its meeting Wednesday <W to the Paramount partner. modify its attitude, and to limit the DisSpute between Reagan: as sales ban to forthcoming productions' i chief and Richards is purely that i Modification was ;tgreed after-j of terms on fUms. Richard wants to General Secretary W. R. Fuller ! pay flat rentals on certain Para- had pointed, out that the employ-i mount product while Reagan is in- ment of Hecht occurred befdre he ' sisting on percentage. On other had expressed the view* Which ; pix, Richards is balking at the cut aroused such intense resentment, I on the grosses that Paramount is and the banning of the pix already I demanding. made wouldn't cause him any I Battles over rentals are nothing M orry. Ho had been paid outright i new to Richards who has strong lor his work and retained no in- > views on the subject. Both Metro ; terest in tlie money which the films 1 and Universal have broken away ::earned for their owners, from the circuit and are selling' Revised resolution agreed by other iheatres after they failed tO: exhibs last Wednesday read; "This come to terms with; tlie theatre association strongly objects to any man. facilities being given for llie ex-1 ' hibition of films with which Ben I Hecht is !H -future concerned, and:j that; members be informed in f u-! ture of the titles of such films and advised not to show them." Export Corp. May Technically Solve Foreip Problem Necessity for the major com- panies to make common decisions on overseas matters without being charged with conspiracy under the domestic anti^trust laws may lead to the formation, after Jan. 1, of a new industry-wide corporation sim- ilar to the Motion Picture Export Assn. New outfit, like MPEA, will be organized under terms of the Webb-Pomerene act, which permits: U.S. firms to. combine for. overseas operations. Conspiracy danger has been avoided to* date by industry toppers via a technicality. They ordinarily meet as members of the Motion Picture Assn.. of America. However,^ when it - is necessary to come to common decision on foreign mat- ters—such as the embargo on ship- ments to Britain last year or approval of the Blum-Byrnes revi- sioui^they figurativelv turn their hats around and constitute them- selves a.t^ members of the Motion Picture Export Assn. This satisfies the provisions of: the law, but is a, considerable annoyance to MPEA execs, to whom it is both time-consuming and costly. They must, for techni- cal reasons, preside at the meetings and their attorney must take the minutes. Thus the MPEA is charged with legal fees and other expenses regarding: territories with which it is not: concerned. It is in order to get around this that MPAA counsel has recommended the compromise of setting up,an additional corpora- tion. - . ' In contrast to the strengthening of the industry's overseas front by the addition of Republic last week to membership in the Motion-Pic- ture Export Assn., a number of independent producers are cx^ pected to pull their product from MPEA when their contracts expire, : Qfters being made t* the indies for outright sale of their pix in some of the 13 territories serviced by MPEA is one of the things, luring them away. Republic becomes the MPEA's ' 10th' member company and the second distrib to join the: overseas: sales co-op since it was chartered - early in 1946 by the eight majors.-. Monogram-Allied Artists joined up: in August, 1947. Rep was voted into the organization by the MPEA board last week after a lengthy: pitch by Eric Johnston, MPEA prexy; Irving Maas, v>p. and g.m^;'. and Francis Harmon,-v.p. ■ Adherence of Hep to the Asso- ' elation is important, in eliminating ■■. another, source of: product which could ': be sold : independently against MPEA's pix in its territo- ' ries. It is already suffering con* siderably in some areas by the re- { fusal of such important indies as I Samuel Goldwyn* David O. Selz- i nick and Walt Disney to: sell their : ' films through it. I Other indies, particularly those I distributing through United Art- i Ists, who went along when the lat- . (Continued on page 16) Set Own Quiz Shows To Fight Air Competish, Indiana Exhibs Hear Indianapolis, Nov. 16. Proposal that exhibitors set .up their own quiz shows, replete with : prizes, to fight radio competition was made by Joseph F. Finneran;' of Columbus,. Ind..' at fall conven-i tion of Associated Theatre Owners of Indiana last we^k. Plan created : stir among Hoosier indies and won approval of convention, provided: minimum of 125 .theatres could be signed up for it. More than 100 were said to be in: line before the convention closed. Finneran's idea is 1o <!(>lect con- testants :from draw of ticket .stubs.: and stage quiz show at central loca- tion in Indianapolis, transmitting-' program to theatres throughout state via telephone hookup. Au* dienccs also would listen in on draw for following program, for : which all who bought tickets would be eligible. Theatres would be as- sessed for giveaways. JENNIFER'S 'EARTH' VICE TOS' IN ENG. David :G. Selznick and Sir Alexri J ander Korda, who have a four- picture deal lor production in. Eng- | land, last week substituted "Gone j to Earth" for "Tess of the d'Urberr ' villes" as the second film on their ; schedule; "Tess" may be? done later or entirely dropped. - . Jennifer Jones, Selznick Con--1 tract star, will head for London . to appear in "Earth'' immediately ! Alan following completion of her next, Jaediker, Simon Wolf, Harry Sus-, "Madame Bovary," at Metro kind and Stanley Namm. "Earth," from a novel by Mary Other companies in (he past Webb, will be produced in Tech- year or so have reduced staffs, but nicolor .under direction of Michael this is believed to be the greatest Powell and Emeric Pressburger. .'Wholesale firing yet. ; , In a deal which has no connec- At W'arner Bros., two more pub- tion-with the four-film: production Heists were sliced from the pay-1 arrangement, Selznick bought roll in a renewed economy drive.: western ■ hemisphere distribution The flacks, Helen Gwynn and Hi ■ rights from Korda to "The Eye- Hollinger, received severance pay, witness," produced in England urt- undcr terms of the former pact; der the label "Lost Illusion." Pic, with the Screen Publicistis Guild, directed by Carol Reed, stars Sir although Warners has refused to Ralph Richardson and Michele I negotiate a new SPG contract. Morgan. 1 Aussie Exhibs Blase On Hecht-British Question Sydney, Nov. 2. Exhibs here won't nix Ben Hpcht pix because of his outbursts against the British on the Palestine i.i, tion. Only two Hecht pix are on the urban circuit, "Miracle of the Bells" (RKO) and "Ride the Pink Horse" fUD. Former flopped in the keys and little coinage is ex- pected from the urbans. "Horse" is finishing its circuits to so-so biz, Hechl's "Spectre of the Rose" I Rep); was a flop here. Europe to N. Y. Jacques Path Dr. Rcnato Gualino .Arthur Hornblow, Jr. Eddie Mannix :: Lorraine Miller ' William Morris, Jr. William Roach Carleton Smith N. Y. to L. A. Joan Bennett ^Morris E. Cohen Sylvia Fine Sheridan Gibney Dorothy Hirsch Jennifer. Jones Danny Kaye ' Arthur W. Kelly '' Arthur Krim Ahe Lastfogel Edwin Lester Paul MacNamara James A. Mulvey Mary Pickford Pat O'Brien Dan O'Shea Leo Robin Robert J. Rubm Grad Sears David O. Selznick Dwight Taylor Jerry Wald Walter Wanger Herbert Yates Max E. Youngslein . N. Y. to Europe Sue Cai-ol Joan Caul fiel d Billy De Wolfe Anthony Haveloek-AUan Irene Hilda May Johnson , . . . Alan Ladd . , Virginia Mayo Anna Neagle Patricia Neal • Michael O'Shea Ronald Reagan Herbert Wilcox Al Wilde L. A. to N. Y. Larry Adler Mel Blanc A. Pam Blumenthal: Willet Brown Judy Canova Armand Deutsch William Dozier Maury Foldare Will Geer William Hebert Karl Herzog Ella Kazan Joe Kirkwood Dorothy Kirsten Edward Lachman Arthur Loew Sid Luft Margo Stephen McNally Rudy Monteglas : 'ferry Moore Eduardo Noriega Morris S. Novik Tom Page Elizabeth Patterson Jane Powell Paul Raiboiu:n : Al Ramsen , • Charles M. Reagan Betty Rhodes Joe Rines Mike Rosenberg- Irving Salkow Dore Schary Stanley Shuford Morris Simpson Charles P. Skouras Sidney N. Strotz Harry S. Thomas George Tobias Marta Toren Niles Trammell Benay Venuta Glenn Wallichs Ben Washer Ralph Wheelwright