Variety (Jan 1949)

CoL May Expand Oiitstamlnig Common By 14029 Shares, Prospectus Shows Possible exipatifiion of Columbia'sf outstanding common stock capital- ization by 148,329 shares was sig- nalled this week when the company published a prospectus for the pro- liosed issue. The current total of outstanding common amounts to 654,311 shares. Of the block, some 70,935 shares are available to preferred stock- holders who have the right to ex- Acad Votes Jan. 20 Hollywood, Jan. li: Ballots for the 21st Oscar Der- by go out Jan. 20, with nine days permitted for the return of the votes". Nominations will be an- nounced Feb. 14. Final ballots will be mailed March 1, to be returned M^rch ercise warrants granted with their j 15. Awards will be made on a stock. Issuance of these shares, prospectus states, depends;,, on the.se stockholders buying in at $30 per share. Sale of the balance will mean no proceeds to the company Itself, prospectus states, since it involves offering of shares by com- pany officers . obtained either through stock dividends or pur- chase warrants. Stock dividends to Barry and Jack Cohn, company prez and exec veepee respectively, which would be put on the block come to 25,746 shares. Balance of 51,648 shares would be derived from the warrants. sound stage on the Warner lot March 24. Bucfaman s Wd Tops Col. Wages; Harry Cohn 2d Producer Sidney Buchman drew OfFpvpri for raifi woiild be 35 404 !*^ highest pay of any officer or .v,?i;f in wJrv rohn Tick employee of Columbia Pictures Cohn's bfic^'Sts o?' 5 827 during 1948. Buchman, prospectus , S.t"es. "Nal'e sSoV^dS of the c^ veepee, is offering 9,000 shares and i $250,000. He toPPe^^^^'/y ^o""; f/fir• ' pay=jacrcx: ''c^irpreLident is the .^ggest stockholder in the company, cur- g^^^^ gg employees who received rently owning 143,895 shares or jjO.OOO or more cut up $3,849,768. 22% o£ the total outstandmg. Jack ^^^^^ ^j^jg ^^^^ 17 officers who Cohn has 49,168 shares or 1Vi% j^^^ ^ ^^^^^ salaries of $1,056,- of the totali 1821, Total to top-drawer personnel of $4,906,589 Was an increase oveir the X947 salai^r hut of $4,510,800,; • In / the fourth p^ in the salary derby was Abe Montague, Col's distribution veepee, who was GEORGE GIVOT Now Playing TIC TOC, Montreal "Givot is currently entertaining the customers no end at the Tic Toe I. . . and easy style arid well-re- I hearsed stories keep .his- audience {chuckling delightedly throughout. I Mr. Givot offers a straight vocal I rendition 'Glory Road' which has I his. listeners howling , for more." Montreal Gazette. Openrng. Jan. 19 CLUB BAGATELLE, New York Pointing Up Sexy Angles Of Femme Star in Ads Spices Nipiips on Col. Reveals Plight of B s Plight of the B's which have pro- gressively lost their b.o. pulling power over the course of . the last few years, is amply demonstrated in an unusual breakdown of nega- tive costs and grosses included by Columbia in its new. stock prospec- tus. Figures submitted by Colum- bia show that over the period from 5^2 MiDion Sliced by Warners From 6add(% During 1947-48 ' ' , y The big push currently being H, . , . {staged by the majors to cut top- WAAII l.haritV LaffS heavy, film inventories amasS'ed WUUU UWIIiy liaga over recent years Is paying off in Hollywood, Jan. ll._ I j-jie case of Warner Bros. Reversing Fourth Annual Appeal, the jj^g ^rmd of the more immediate single charity collection agency postwar era, WB has sliced $5,558.- of the film industi-y, reports a tO;- o62 from 4ts film backlog for Die tal to date of $928,068, or 29% ' jj^gal yeai which ended Aug. 31, short of its goal of $1,303,720. Biggest bite into inventory was Individual subscriptions w ^ade on pix completed but unre-. this time amount to 14,680. Labor, ^^j^g^^ ^jjjgj, totaled $15,101,689, unions and guilds have made 12,-i j^g^j^^j $24,391,622 in films-in-the- 813 subscriptions for a total ot | gj^se of fiscal '47. $301,439. In the higli-salaried j striking decrease in inventory brackets the totai is $626,640, wiin .^^,^^ turned Up this week in War- 1,867 pledges. I ners' annual report, which showed a net of $11,837,000 for the year against $22,094,000 for the previous seniestei*. Grosis revenues dwinr died to $l4t,057,<!(li0, a dip of $17,- Si86,000 for the year. Equivalent stock earnings leveled off at $1:;62: per share oh 7,295;000 shares out- standing against 1947's $3.02 per ■share.: ■ , ; Indicating the big , reyefse iti backlog^ W^irners' entire'celluloid stock totiaied $39,577i404 against $45,135,466 &t the end of '47. Pre- Wai-ner Bros.' top-management, viously, inventory had steadily salary nuf for 1948 tilted slightly \ mounted, increasing, for example, over '47 under the pressure of i fjom $42,500,000 in 1946 to a peak H. M. Warner's $182,D Tops WB Salaries mandatory pay. boosts in employ- ment cont!racts with officers and directors. Total amount paid to officer-directors by WB during the 12 months which curtained Aug, 31 camfe to $1,167,000 against $1,135,- 000 for the previous semester. Biggest pay envelope went to Harry M. Warner, company prez, whose stipend was' $182,300. Jack L. Warner, production chief; was a shade below with $182,100 while the third spot was shared by Ben' jamin Kalmenson, distribution vee- pee, and Harry M. Kalmine, thea- $45,135,466 figure in '47, While the net take dived almost 50%, several favorable factors (Continued on page 18) . 11944-1948, low-cost pix (under. r--, - - - I paid $130,000, Veepee B, B. Ka-135500,000 in Col's bracketing) have I tre veepee. Latter two each took hane follows with $104,000. I steadily declined as a source of $117,000 . Salaries to other officer-directors i profit to the company. Col, of Unusual picture being used in ! were as follows: Abe Schneider, | course, is traditionally one of the •*ds -for Samuel Goldwyn's "En-1 veepee and treasurer; $93,600; Nate , V ^,,..1. .„ i spingold, ad-pub veepee, $83,200; Chantment" has brought on a spate tester W. Roth, veepee, $78,000; ..of aHjistic comment from public i Joseph A. McConville, foreign Chief, $73,200; Louis J. Barbano, veepee. $46,540; Leo Jaffe, assist^ ant treasurer* $33,700; Mortimer Wormser, assistant treasurer, $30,- 100, chief producers of B's. Albert Warner Buys 300 WB Common; Jack Cohn Unloads ; , ' '':■'] ^t?^i4ihinglon, Jan 11. Albert Warner ia c q u i r e d 300 ' shares of WB commoh last month in one; of i the*;: dtillerv nioirths , flOr , ,„ J show biz insider, stock transactions, Maj. Albert Warner, veepee ^nA \ ^^^^^^^^^ reports of the Seciiri- treasurer, was handed $104,700. | ^j^g Exchange Commission. War- ^i'PJ",?^ ""'^y ''^^'=l«"sw«4«!ner increased his holdings to 444,. Most remarkable aspect of the 1 $91,850 apiece tp Robert v W. relatldns-minded observers both )vUhin and without the industry. Art work is a: mammoth-bosomed portrait of Teresa, Wright, .star of the picture, in a clinch with Farley Granger. Spotlight effect is used to play'up the points tliat count. Ned Depinet, prexy of RKO, which is distributing the film, blew " up when he saw the ads and ordered them killed. Charles Skouras, National Theatres topper, j $32,909. is also reported to have squawked I Under a new five-year ticket to the producer. By that time, how- i given McConville in June, Colum- ever, it was too late to do anything j bia exec received stock options on about tbe national mag campaign, I 5,000. shares, prospectus further since ads were already appearing. J disclosed. As of June 30, Monta-] New York and Los Angeles art is I gue held options on 10,686 shares. prospectus table submitted by Co- lumbia is that B's'dropped as prof- it-makers during the banner years of the company. In 1946, for in- stance. Col's . films budgeted at $500,000 or under brought in $3,- 376,000 over negative costs'°'<while 500 shares, plus anoljier 21,000 Schwartz & Frohlich, counsel for I the 1944 profit "was $4,933,000. Columbia, racked up legal fees of ■ By the same token, the continued $80,600. Mitchell, Silbcrberg & i b.o. strength of A's through the Knupp. studio counsel, were handed $78,000. Accountants Price, Waterhouse ii Co., drew understood to have been toned down, but.the campaign is. meeting with considerable favor from hih-. terland exhibs and they are using the original. Monroe Greenthal agency pre- pared the ads, which were approv- ed by Goldwyn, PAR SPENDS 875G TO REGAIN 41.700 SHARES Kahane on 10,506, Roth on 5,253 Irving Briskin, 3,677 and Gerald Rackett, 1,050. five years is demonstrated in the Columbia breakdown. For instance, seven top pix in '44 earned $9,262,^ 000 while Six in ^47 cleared $8,- 790,000. Following Is the table submitted by Columbia: Total Total Year Ncff. Cost Grossed • 1944—28 B'S.$6,029,000 $10,962,000 Relief Fund Received 10 Million on 'Army' Army Emergency Relief re-i ceived almost $10,000,000 from the { film and live versions of Irving I Berlin's "This Is the Army," it I 1945- 1946- 1947- 1948- 7 A's. 7,4 -31 B's. 5,407,000 8 A's. 9,281,000 -25 B's. 4,357,000 9 A's. 8.331,000 r-24 B's. 4,739,000 6 A's. 9,029.000 -,19 B's: 3,675,000 5 A's. 9,010,000 16,728,000 9,803,000 18,825,000 7,733,000 22.154,000 7,733,000 17,819,000 No figure No figure In-its biggest buying activity to was- learned this week. Legit Buchanan's Influence Liberal travel leave plan aired date. Paramount took "over a giant musical gave AER $2,000,000, while I ^^.^"'^''''"f'J.*^ *^°'i ^8enc han- its own the Warner Bros.' picture earned ■ fij"" accounts block-of 41,700 shares of its own the Warner Bros.' pictmv camcu i - .„„^,: „ . . <. j „ common slock in December to $7,553,000 for the fund from its [ i^^^ I'i'L'LV'P "iJoj^l'*")^ push the total of shares held in its ' worldwide .showings, treasury to 789,233. Hitting the ! the agencies. Number of Bucha- j going to AKR. available al any lime. . . .. .. ,nan's competitoirs^ Sre eurrently . A . - 1 Another snow biz wartime con-1 n^lititf fh^ ' nlnn with- th»" ^ top figure in two years of stock! tribution, "Stage Door Canteen,'' ?|uowing throueh with Slar SmarNfl^^'s oo'rf dr.Hnf I f^'^ Lesser, made $2,000,- \ Ltvl^ for theT em&es "Sev' proximate $875,000 during last | OOO for the Amer can Theatre pral have askeH Biiphanan fnr Hp TaX V'-'c'^^^Jl^J^'nZ^l' " "'^^ ''''''''' ' - tre^'h^eme "devised by thrlnlue of r.fnrk in Kr« "^^s Is the Army" film version , John Hertz, Jr., board chairman. comIstosomeS18 200 L^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ $1.-^00,000 to produce and, Under the plan of "broadening- P.t\ont c,.^^^^^^^^^ {racked up a worldwide grcss of through-travel," all Buchanan em- UanThv P^y iT^ JLn^Za^^^^ Wamers charged only . ployees with five years' service are inrr,.. .h^ . ^ loughly J, nominal 20% distribution fee i entitled to six-week's treks with ?hV*;ittUnro7San7inTcom"^°^ "'^"^ ^ake ' pay and part expenses. Vacation is mon stock. Well over 10% of Par's publicly-held stock has been bought back, exclusive of large blocks already devoted to the pur- chase of Liberty Films and Rain- bow Productions. : The approxi- mately 200,000 shares paid out in those two deals are-additional to the 789,233 still held by the com- pany. Par has steadily built up its activities on the N. Y. exchange In the past five months to hit the peak in December. Total of buy- ups in November came to 41,500 shares, the then top figure, while October's total was 40,500 shares. Stock acquisitions in September toted, to 32,500 shares; August to 22^00; and July to 31,000. i Perkins, veepee and general coun- ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ set, and Samuel Schneider, veepee; I . . ^. $65,750 to Stanleigh P. Friedman, ^ I" three separate transactions, veepee; and $50,670 to Samuel I Jack Cohn unloaded 2,000 sliares Carlisle, controller. of Columbia pix no par common _. . u 4 1- I „ „ .-.held in a trust account. He still 20,157 in the trust account, and for re-election at the annual stock- i i.'i j _ < i r. I.m i lowns another 49,168 shares. Jack, holders'meet, Feb. lS in Wilming-lKapp, of Decca Records, added ton. These are Carlisle, Friedman, ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ j^j^ holdings of Schn'eider, . Charles S. heimer and Morris Wolf, -Guggen- N. Y. to L. A. Neil Agnew Otis T. Bradley Charles Casanave ■Vltalis Chalif J. Cheever Cowdin Cy Feuer David Golding Hal Home Anne Jeffreys Arthur W. Kelly Howard Le Sieur Harry Levine Jules Levey Dan Michalove E. ,C. Mills Harry MuUer Paul O'Brien A. J. O'Keefe William A. Scully Gradwell Scars Charles Schwartz Harold Weill Paul White Europe to N. Y. A. V. Colon William Dleterle Myra Hess Sid'Hyams William J. Kupper Charles Laughton : Benrio Moiseiwitch Jack Segal Francis L. Sullivan Max Thorpe Maurice Winnick Decca 50c common and now his 44,560. . In three sales, Earle G. Hines got rid of 600 shares of Generat- Precision Equipment, leaving him- self with 500 shares. Loew'$,-Inc.. still quietly picking up odd lots of- Loew's' Boston Theatres'. $25 par common, managed'to buy another-- 458 shares during the month. The (Continued on page 19) Col. Shows Americans Big Foreign Rally Tremendous rally scored by the American film business in foreign countries other than England following the end of the war is demonstrated in a pro.spectus issued by Columbia this week. Detailed breakdown by Columbia of the sources for its film rentals" for the past five years shows a resurgence of over.seas business which drove up the total of Col's take to ah all-time high fr6m beyond-the-border markets.. At the same time, the British market, before the Anglo-American film pact, showed a consistent level for the five years despite the wholesale departure of V. S. armed forces. '44 '45 '46 '47 '48 Domestic $23,479,000 $22,677,000 $30,091,000 $28,457,000 $28,718,000 Canada ....... 1,263,000 1,329,000 1,538,000 1,671,000 1,703,000 England 7,847,000 7,329,000 7,427,000 7,311,000 6,112,000 Other foreign.. 4,512,000 4,848,000 7,951,000 10,494,000 9,160.000 Other rev 871,000 891,000 842,000 899,000 1,206,000 Total $37,972,000 |37,074,000 $47,849^000 $48,832,000 $46,899,000 L. A. to N. Y. Irene Agay Jean Arthur Max Alexander Carlton Alsop Joseph Bernhard Eddie Bracken Irving Brecher Bill Burton ' JohnCIaar '« Nat Cohen ^ Helen Coltop , Melvyn Douglas William Elliott Martin Field Gene Fowler W. R. Frank Jacques Grinleff Sidney Komheiser Arthur Kurlan Jack Lait Robert L. Lippert Frank Loesser Tony Martin John Payne William Pine Eleanor Powell ; Brian Roper Steve Sekely Irene M. Selznick William Spencer ; James Stewart William Thomas Jane Wyatt N. Y. to Europe Jack Buchanan Robert J. Engler Lee Ephraim Paul Graetz Aian Gundelflnger Kay Harrison Henry Hathaway Louis Lighton Lauritz Melchior Adele Dixon Abe Steinberg Bamon Vinaj^ ,