Variety (Nov 1948)

AGA KHAN'S $6,000,000 TO E? WB's $151,500,000 Keys Biz s Profit Pattern; Gross Down 10%, Net 35% The pattern of profit returns dur-+- Ing fiscal 1948 for tfie major film" companies began talcing ib final shape this Week; when it was dis- closed that Warner Bros, will re- poit an estimated gross take of $151,500,000 for the year. Against this WB scored revenues before de- duction of expenses' of $164,643,060 in '47. Company reached a peak both in grosses and net last year. Warners, which ends Its fiscal year on Aug. 31, is the second among the majors to do so,-Colum- bia heading up the list with a June 30'wlndup. Gross for WB repre- sents a decline of 9% over the '46 record. Its net is considerably off, however, since it slid almost 50% for tlve first nine months when it anioimted to 110,321,000 compared to $19,134,000 for the same period In 1947. > Indicating ' that this summer's business held up with the year ber fore is the fact that Warners' gross fOf tlje last quarter—ending Aug. 31— is an estimated $39,000,000. This represents almost no differ- ence with tlie hot-weather stretch ;*of '46 when the company showed , (Continued on page 18) ■ ; Wall St. No Longer Bearish on Split-Up Motion Picture Corps. After being inclined to be bear- ish on theatre divorcement for year.s,, Wall Street .has done a com- plete about-face in recent weeks and now. is looking favorably . on luch breaking: away of theatres. ' ; New financial approach to this splitup is predicated on previous experience which has shown the Street that breaking up into sev- eral corporations has made them blggei- than the original company setu p. Some experts, both in the trade and in financial circles even •nvision niuch tougher sledding for independent circuits and exr hibitoi-s with a separate theatre Briskin Named Assistant To Par's Henry Ginsburg Hollywood, Nov. 16. Samuel Briskin,: who moved into Paramount with the absorption of Uberty .Films, has been appointed general assistant to Henry Gins- berg,. production chief; Among Briskin's duties is the supervision of forthcoming produc- tions by his old Liberty partners, Frank Capra, William Wyler and George Stevens. In D.C. Linked To Anti-Trust Ruling . Growing .conviction in the in- dustry that the Government anti-: trtist case yi'ill be ended one: way bfe another befoi^e the :end led to the fixing by Theatre Owri- ■.■.ers 'of America of its next - full-' scale bo^i'd meeting ip Washihgtoh; Jan. 28-29. The DC setting was chosen mainly becaiise • it: makes likely the; acceptance, by. the Dept. of Justice of an invitation to ex- plain to gathered exhibs the effect of the anti-trust litigation on ex- hibition generally. As TOA board members how ] see it, results of the anti-trust suit, are going to be kind to exhibition, | which sl;ands to gain most out of a periiianeht; readjustment in the industry. . TOAers are cohvinced that ho iiiakeshift plan, such as .the cbhsettt decree of 19.40, wi^ through. With a radical realign- ment of the .ftim busShess, board :plaiis to <all on Special Ass't At- torney General Robert L. Wright and other Government legalites to clarify exhibition's future. - , , One other reason for the DC site setup not dependent on the pro-, tjip proximity of Wayne Coy, FOR PRODUCTION Eagle Lion will obtain new cred- its of approximately $6,000,000 from Fathe Industries, its par- ent organization, for financing pro- duction in 1949. The new supply of coin is believed to come from the Aga Klian syndicate which closed with EL several weeks ago for joint production-distribution of company's films in six European countries. The fabulously wealthy Khan is spiritual leader of 60,000,- 000 Moslems in India. None of the banks which have already extended considerable amounts to Pathe were involved in' the new ' financial; arrangement. Pathe worked out the deal for fresh cash advanced to it in nego- tiations which Robei-t R. ' Young, Pathe's controlling stockholder; Arthur Krim, :EL prexy, and Rob- ert Benjamin, Young's attorneyj participated. . Under the three-cornered ar- rangement, EL is to devote the $6,r 000,000 to bankroll indie produc- tion in which the company partici- pates, distributes and shares in the profits. The money, intended to grease filmmaking for indies short of cash, is to be used as .j,unior or second loans with banks supplying producers first money. With a deal now closed and to be (Continued on. page 16) Myers Recommending Special Trust Courts To House Committee UA May Pitch for Goldwyn, Disney Wanger Distrib If DOS Deal Jells Sleattle Judge Upholds Censor In 'Rope' Ban Seattle, Nov. 16. N. Y. Superior Court Judge Lawler upheld the Seattle Censor Board in banning "The Rope," holding that the picture "presents scene of revolting violence tending to corrupt-morals." Warners had asked restraining order against the board. Picture has also been barred in Tacoma and Spokane; Majors in Middle OfaO-AFLBattk For H.O. Control Washington: Nov. 16. .Creation of special antitrust courts will be recommended to the House Small Business Committee ^*'L«\L,3^'''".?f^i^'r/''Lrr: BlTn/'orVhe aifidTvitT wuT"gTv; Long and litigous warfare be- tween the'CIO and AFL for dom- ination of the 3,300 whitecollarites in the N.Y. homeoffices shaped up this week with the major com-, panics In the middle. The rival unions. Screen Office & Profes- sional Employees Guild, CIO, and Local H-63i AFL, are currently battling before the National Labor Relations Board for bargaining rights' . petitions at Paramount, RKO and DeLuxe labs; formerly under SOFEG's control. SOPEG's recent reversal of jts non-compliance stand toward the Taft-Hartley law, by agreeing to sign the non-Communist affidavits, and aimed at halting H-_63's walk- over victories in the homeoffices ♦ Should the currently pending deal between United Artists and David O; Selznlck be consummated —and it Is far from in the b*g— company reportedly will make an effort to nail Samuel Goldwyo^ Walt Disney, Walter WHnger and a few other top producers to simi- lar agreements. Hope is to recon- stitute the company along the lines on which it was founded 30 years ago as a distributing organization for the product of a small and select group of independents. Selznick deal Is now under con- sideration by the UA board. Soni* of the members will give it their approval, they Informed Vamety/ only if H can be made the basis for attracting some of these other top producers into the setup and permanently realigning the com- pany on a solid foundation. They: see liitla value' in the deal and will vote against it if management cannot promise that it will be mors than an isolated effort at getting additional product. ' Meantime, Grad Sears, UA prez, and Arthur W. Kelly, exec v.p.; are slated to accompany Mary: Pickford to the Coast later this week to lay the SelzniclC proposition before Miss Pickford'a co-owner in UA, Charles Chaplin. This action follows discussion of (Continued on page 21) ducing-distrlbuting end or the parent corporation. : RKO is th^ first major company to step out with a separate theatre corporation and a separate distri- buting-producing coropration, with present common shareholders to I'eceivB: an equal number of theatre shares and stock in the distribution company, being spit on basis of 100 each for every 100 shares now held. Paramount, which is expected to ask a consent pact and divorcement nuuli the same way as RKO did, a I .so wou I d divide up stock when ; and if the arrangement is set. INDIES AGAIN TEL OFF JOHNSTON ON NO CO-OP A second session-between indie pi'Dducers and Eric Johnston, prexy ■ of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, was held last week. This meeting, and the first one, the pievious week, grew out of John- ston's request for cooperation by the indies with the MPAA to give the industry a united front in world; markets. Johnston was infoz-n)ed at the (Continued on page 20) EINFELD SIGNING HIS 20TH-FOX PACT THIS WK. Charles Einfeldi recently named v.p. in charge of publicity and ad- vertising for 20th-Fox, will remain east about 10 more days for cur- rent Consultations with company execs. During his stay in New York he is also expected to ink his 20th contract, which has been agreed to in principle. It is a twor year deal calling lor $2,500 a week with options.. Eihfeld plans to divide his time between the Coast and New York, but mostly will be in the east. He will retain his house in California, however. He held a session with the h.o. publicity-advertising staff Monday (15) at which he assured Jhe mem- bers that he knew their records and was satisfied with them, so-^ at the. moment, anyhow—foresaw no changes. He denied reports that Robert Taplinger, who aided him at Warner Bros, and Enter- prise, would join him at 20th. In the meantime, it was officially initial conclave that the independ- | announced that Charles Schlaifer ents felt no obligation to cooper-1 resigned as pub-ad chief at ale. since they were not consulted', Schlaifer is expected to set beloi e pacts with foreign govern-1 „p 'o,. jo,n an ad agency which nients were signed. They raised would handle the company's ac- , _ . a number of specific saiiawks on Lount He also has bids from two ASCAP has filed its notice of ap-.i The- crippling injunclion fast sel and board chairman of: the Allied States Exliibitors. Myers hopes to appear before the commit- tee the latter pari of this week when he would also testily about complaints of independent exhib- itors against operations of the film distrilnitors. : Creation of special courts to han- dle anti-trusl mailers would mean a speedup of motion picture anti- trust actions in the future, but would not afl'ect the cases now be- ing handled In the Federal courts. The House Small Business Com' mittee will be continued next year, according to an announcement over the weekend by Bep. Wright Pat- man (D., Tex.).. Patman would be- come chah-man next week, Among; those appearing before the com- mittee at hearings yesterday (15) and today vccre: Thurman Arnold and Wendell Berge, both former assKstanl attorneys general in charge of the anti-trust division; and Joseph Borkin, former anti- trust division economist. All were! active in the big picture: anti-trust cases. ; SOPEG equal footing with Local H-63 in utilizing the NLBB ma- chinery;.- which. . already has in^ stalled the latter , union at United Artists. SOPEG is' now throwing all possible legal blocks at the; NLRB hearings in ordei- to gain time for T-H law compliance be- Germans Have Field Day Via Warners' 'Rhapsody' Frankfurt. Nov. 10. Music and pei-sonality of George Gershwin has; taken over FrSnkr furt this weejc, whiett.^'AhSpsody J^. BW wB) ojpeiied at a Gelonaii theatre here; Practically .all :per? formances are SRO, with audiehca raving over Getshwin's; rhythms. Few weeks ago, Berlin cbnCertgoe^s went Wild the same; way .When * gsila Gershwin; eoniert was jite-. sented at ithe''ritisth^^ Gershwin music was tabu in. Nazi tore collective ba'iVining'eiections because of his "non- (Continued on page 18> Aryan" background, and very few,; people here knew Gershwin music; Forgetting the past quickly, Ger- I mans now go and see ''Rhapsody" ' several times. While "discovering" Gershwin, I some people recalt Countess Wal- I deck's book, "Athene Palace," writ-. Johnston's Book Plugs . Eric Johnston's book, "We're All in It," sold 10,000 copies last week, its Initial stanza' in the stalls. That is considered an unusually high , - . , j ^ the author number for a serious non-fiction ' ^" ''^^^^ ™ ""^""^ volume. Motion Picture Assn. of America prexy did considerable personal plugging , on the tome. He was in New York several days during which he made several radio guest appearances set for him by the [ MPAA publicity staff. MPAAites ! also pitched in on the publicity for | the book on various .other fronts It is being published by Dutton. I quotes a high Nazi official as say- J ing: "Every one of us (top Nazis) has a few Gersh win records hidden in gur homes." LeibelFs Harsh Injunction Blocks ASCAP Again, Unless Appeal Is Won Aincrican Societ.v of Composers,.i torney for the suing' theatre men. Authors & Publishers as;ain took told Jud^e Hand. He also argued it on the chin yesterday (Tueg.) that ASCAP was not entitled to when V. S. Circuit Court Judge . the order because it had put for- Augustus N: Hand in chambers, re-1 ward no real defenstt to "flaerrant fused to grant the Society an In-! anti -trust violations." Adolpli terim stay of tite Federal court i Kaufman appeared with : Weisman injunction banning collection of in the argument, performing riglits from theatre?; MAJOR WAllNER ADDS STOCK which Johnston was given more ■ other pieliiie companies. ; light; at the second meeting; . It Was attended only by reps of Gold- w'yn and Disney, who acquainted , ; , . . xr ..v. the MPAA topper with some of : Washington, Nov. 16 their own problems which are typi- i Ma.jor Albert Warner, veepee cal of those facing all indies. 1 Johnston agreed that greater consultation with indies was desi)'- able. and promised to work out a hicUiod. Those present, in addi- tion to the MPAA chief, were James A; Mulvey, prez, and Alfred ' and treasurer of Warner Bros., has uvn:"a,!crS msneT'^z.^'and Mul^ samelime; he gifted 7,500 i«/or both producers and ^.lh.,,n Levyrforeign%oVv for.sha.es lo an unidentified benefici-^ exh,..s^if «|e^„^a>^/^^^^^^^^^^ edged u]) his holdings in the com- pany to a total of 444,200 shares of common in his own name and 21,- 000 in trust. He is the largest single ">« n« "am stockholder in the company. j !„' 4;"""^*^" Warner boosted his holdings by ; Junction, buying an additional 15,500 shares. Chaos would result to the film peal to tlie Circuit court and will ened on the American Society of renetv its.plea for a stay when the 'Composers, Authors & Publishers full three-judge bench sits Nov. 29. by Judge Vincent T. Leibell in The interim stay would have iN.Y. federal court put an end to all kept the status quo until the 1 hopes by thf society of softening Nov. 29 date. It was urged on ' the effects of the original decision Judge Hand by former Secretary [by any other means short of out- of War Robert P. Patterson, rep- right reversal on appeal. Nixinff ping the Society; wlio maintained both ASCAP's proposed injunction _ ^ tliat no harm could result from and an application for a stay pend- \ gales chief,' and"Gold\Vyn himself holdup on the in- ing an appeal, the court moved lo i ^eal Goldwyn nixed was stant GOLDWYN, FOX-WC KISS ¥ MAKE UP Hollywood, Nov. 16. Samuel Goldwyn and Fox-West Coast have kissed; and. made up ■, after a whirlwind campaign during , the past five weeks of selling away from F-WG houses by the Goldwyn sales organization. Films involved are the new. Danny Kaye starrer, ;''A Song Is iBorn," and the regular release ; of "Best Years of Our Lives." ... James A. Mulvey, Goldwyn ! prexy, refused ■ to , accept what he I labeled ''formula" terms olfered by the Charles Skouras-controUed chain. As a result he sent sales,: chief Arthur Sachson and western salesmanager Beri Fish on a flying; trip through F-WG territory, ink- ing indie houses and circuits to deals for the two films. They came back with a fistful of contracts, having sold about one-half the sit*; nations Where F-WC had competi-' lion. Charles P. Skouras, F-WC boss, agreed to buy the two films last ; week for all of his situations where . Ihey are still available. Compro- mise; was worked out at a session of Skouras, Robert Mochrie, HKO block any loophole Which would give ASCAP seat tax revenues on performing rights. ASCAP must now apply to the j sold awar''Red "Riw^^^^ . (Continued oil page 18> ' rcf-usal to accept these terms. stand- ard F-WC policy of 20-40% on a sliding scale and 50% over a split figure. United Artists also recently