Variety (January 1950)

January II, 1950 FlCmilBS Complete swing of all majors tp4 acetate (non-flammable) film by ' Jan 1.1951* Was agreed upon yes- terday (Tties.) at a meeting of the companies called by Eastman Kodak, manufacturer of the safety rawstock,.. ■ ;-7 h was sparked by a tlneatened crackdown by state arid local authorities who ; have been urging the complete change- oyer from combustible nitrate; to reduce fire: perils, ' - Several of the companies indi- cated at the iheeting that they would make the 100% conyersion to acetate within the next couple of months. EK, has. speeded Up its production of the rawstock so as to be able, to service the companies at a faster pace. Decision setting the Jari. 1; 1951, deadline presents a quickening of the original time- table, which called for completion of the switch'|n two years. Decision to tnake the cpmpiete switch follows experimental use of acetate by the majors for the] past year:, During that time, ap-^ proximately 50% Of all prints biive been turned out in non-flam rawstock, although packaging and treatment have been the same as for nitrate. Because the mixed handling of both types of raw- stock have cbmplicated exchange and theatre operations, the early change is being made; Meanwhile, series of reductions in the post of acetate rawstock is paving the way for the movement. When first produced several years ago. EK fixed a price some $4 per reel higher than nitrate. Succes-* sive reductions have now brought the tab to the point where it is on^V $1 per reel higher. One problern discussed at the meeting is that of salvage, dif- ficulties oh . acetate. Material re- quires a dissolvant which is peril-.] ously explosive whereas nitrate film does riot present the same hurdle. While theatres have been serv- iced acetate prints f or many months now, no indication of that has been given to exhibs. Majors have shied away from labeliing acetate as such because frequehtly trailers attached.to the feature are in nitrate, pi’ substitute prints are liv that fiarrimable rawstpek. Hence; identical handling will be required until the complete switch is made, S DISTRIBS NADin) IN San vAntonio Lew i^n Antonio, Jan. 10. M Jack White has an- nouneed that the city’s brief flier into the motion pic biz is over, blit definitely. It all started with the reve- lation by the city payhiaster : that the . city had v apparently helped sponsor the .exhibitiori ; Dec. 12-14 of the pic, “Carne- gie Hall.” The pay master list- V ed the city’s receipts as $57> and said that he already had at bill for projectionists of . $100.60. riiayor arin.ouhced : he hadn’t: known about the project, that there Would be no repetition^ . V \ ; Showing Was at the Munici- pal auditoriurii, National Exhibitors Film Corp, is currently some $300,000 away from its $2,000,000 starting goal as a backer of indie production. Figures were aired at a meeting staged last week among Si Fabian, NEFC prez; Samuel Pinanski, board chairman; Ted . Gamble, George Skouras and Robert Coyne, in which the local backers of the hew company talked over the unit’s progress in garnering exhib stock subscriptions. Minimum of $2,000,000 is fixed in the^ NEFC charter as pre-requisite capital be- fore buying into indie product. : Gommitnients for the $300,000 still required have already been made by exhibs, it is said, as a re- sult of a number of local exhib meetings staged in Detroit, Boston and Chicago, Either Fabian or Pinanski attended these meets to explain. NEFC aims. Fabian will trek to Cincinnati later tliis month for another exhib rally which circuit operator Mau- rice White is caUing. When the $2,opo,0OO has been collected in full, NEFC toppers plan holding a general meeting of subscribers in New York before the company is activated. Chicago, Jan. 10. Attorney Seynipur Simon filed suit in equity last week in Chi fed* eial district court against eight ma- jor filnidistributprs on behalf of, operators of two Cleveland outdoor theatres. The only two majors not tuentioned in. the complaint are Loew’s arid Paramount. Complaint, filed before Judge Elwyn Shaw, .asks relief froiii what plaintiffs chiarge are; “exorbitant rentals” and excessive clearance. Plaintiffs, operators of Euclid Ave. jnd ; Fairview outdoor theatres, Cleveland, claim that while Para- jnbunt arid Loew’s iicensed pic- tiu’es 35 days after first .fun, pthcr . distributors. Would riot license uiitil ihucli later or at “exorbitant rent- als.” Supreme Ct. Firm pn & Walnut Nix TTc c. A^^^shington, Jan. 10^/ 1 VSupreme Cpurt is stickirig Alts I’efusal to hear an appeal :b.v ^ ^Amus. Go; in its -.-._!I!.y-tni.st . action agairist the High Court .handed week^pf a plea rGcousideratiori of ItV previous appeal. Denial winds protracted litigation. Walnut, headed by tin kk? wartz,; operates the Na- wnvn <^atre, Louisville. Majprs with steering tjieir a competing lowiv,,^ house. Majors won in both iow or courts. * I. SET FOR VIDEO SALE ! Series of nine feature films with I name players and , a serial have ; been: acquired by Television Fifiri ; Booking Office, N. y., for. sale to video stations, pistrib is .the TV adjunct recently set up by Irving Lesser arid Seymour Poe to their Producers Representatives, Inc,, unit.. Latter supervises sale.s and^ distribu.tion of indie product to theatres. [ . Among, the nine features Which ;.will be released under the overall label, . “Musical. Sketchbook.” are ; “Make a Wish,” with Basil Rcith- ' bone and Leon Errol, ’ “Hawaii Calls” With Ward Bond . arid Ned Sparks; “Breaking'the Ice,” with Ghaflos Ruggles., Dolores Costello. ,and BUiy Gilbert; and :“Way Down /' South.” with Ralph; Morgan, Alan i Mowbfay and Sally Blan.e. !'»'The pix . were acquired from ! Aiuorigo Benefico. operator rif Vaijely /Tilm Dislributors. Inc.; which had bought thenv out right from the original producers some years ago. Tlie serial which TV- FBO is handiing is a- j2-pafter,' “The Reiium of Chandu;” with a feature length, pie. “Chandu .on the- /Magic Island,*’ for the 13th install- ment. ^ , X ; Lcs.ser went to the Cpa.st last week and' will be thercabQut.s about a morilh lining up additional TV product and' confabbing; with Sol Lesser. Waiter Wanger and other iproduce.fs .Repi’esentatives clients. The need for big pix to bulwark a distrib’s entire season’s product is reversing the costrsaving pro- duction maneuvers of the past couple of years. Because, seyefal distribs have now decided that: it takes the big ones to sell the smalL. er features in today’s hot cQiripeti^, five market; these companies, after shying away fforii costly celluloid in favor of exploitation product only,, are swinging; into expensive pfoduct again; Reversal is being led by Univer- sal and Republic in Significant de- velopments of the past cpuple of weeks. Under a recent decision of U’s boardv the coiripany will boost its overall 1950 produrition budget, soirie 20% over the Siashed-tb-the- hone figure in ’49. Rep,, for its. part, is taking on the John Ford- Meriari C. Cooper Argosy'Produc- tions as its pfoductiori veRicie for more expensive films.. In both instances; the ^ change comes after an attempt'. to; get along solely on less costly output. , U is lifting the $1,000,0.00 ceiling figure on the negative Cost of any orie pic to iricorporate in its up- coming schedule at least six films in the more than $l,000.i00l) brack- et. Rep will do two-three heavy- coin pix yearly after eschewing such operations because of bad losses on a number of expensive weakies. Argosy pix will be in the $lj250,000 range. Rep’s action follows the prom- ising showing of “Sands of Iwo Jima.” it cost the company about $1,000,000, and now looks to gross $2,500,00(). Both U and Rep see the need for bigger pix to pad out a gerieral lirieup of exploitation films arid act as “leaders” in bring- ing on heavier bookings in the en- tire lineup of product. The big pix (Continued on page 22) AVBV Fisb. 21 Meet Warner Bros, dbuble^bar- relled .negotiations With the Dept, of Justice for a eprisent ; decree and with Lehman Bros, oh sale of the Warners’ stock ■ will cpriie up for stpckhplder attention pn Feb. 21. 'That date V was fixed this week by Warners Hs the time fpr the cbmpany’s annual stpckhojder riieet in Wiirnington, Del. Stpckholders of reeprd Jan. 16 are priyileged to vote for officers and, unr . doubtedly, on a consent decree if it is coiripleted by then. ■ Should a deal be cibsed by theri with .Lehman Brbs. for sale of Harry, Jack aneV Major Albert Warner’s .25% iriterest in the theatre chain; anribunce- ■ ment will probably be iriade then to the stockholders. Arthur Miller Doing For N.Y. Indie Prod. Original screenplay which Ar- thur Miller. expects to have com- pleted iri about a month will be produced by him in association with Kei’mit Bloomgarden and Elia Kazan; who will direct, the writer said this week. He declared at his Brooklyn horne, where he has been working on the yarn for several months, that there is very little definite about production plans aside from the certainty that the film will be lerised in New York. . Miller is author of the smash legiter, “Death of a Salesriian,”. which Bloomgarden produced (with Walter Fried) and Kazan directed. The screenplay hasn’t even a defi- nite title a$ yet, Miller said, but is localed hi. a Waterhorit area that might be typical of any port city. Budget, financirig or distributm^ plans have not beeri set, pending completiori of the script: One pf the . methpds of bankrolling that reportedly has been discussed, however, calls for sale of $5,000 . pieces, to a requisite number of in- : vestors, pos.sibly 100, to raise $500,- 000. It riiight bC' on the basis of a limited partriership; which is the. way plbys are generally finance^^^^^ 1 . \ \ . ■ ■ ■ ^ ‘ . Judge Okays Distribs’ ; 0.0. of Voiks’ Books Minneapolis, Jari. M^ Federal Judge Gv Ji Nordbye ha issued liis order permitting eight major . distributors tb examine ' books of: tb re e V ol k bi’O.t her s’ AI iri' .neapolis neighbbrbbbd theatres. Nile. .GamUeri- and Falls, in suit to ’feebver sums allegedly duo b^' cause of false returns ori percent- age pictures; At same time, the judge declined to, permit; in.spcc- tion of' books of Riverview, Yo.ik.s’ newest theatre here, income tax returns. Auditors’ work papers and; all other, records of every kind, as requested by tlio disti’ibutprs. Non-jury trial Of JJuit is sched- uled for March. lie- Washingtori, Jan. 10. Speedup on negotiations tween Warner Bros. and the Dept, of Justice for a consent decree has now brought the two parties, with- in a shade of reaching firial agree- 4- Still burriirig; oyer the “backdoor bari’- difeeted against their acquisi- tion of theatres^ the Little Three are cbritemplating another appeal of the anti-trust suit to the U. S. Supreme Court. Appeal action by Metro, only holdout among the Bfg Five pri the anti-trust settlemeht front, would probably lead to similar action by; United Artists, Columbia arid Universal; If Mptrio, however, drops the. idea, the little compahies would prbbablj’ fbilpW suit.- . A Metro appeal: Would reopen the entire case since that conipariy , has been hit by all: parts of the New york Federal court’s decisiori. In that eyririt, the Little Three could raise the liniited riumber, of questioris whieh they; want re- corisidered, chief Pf them ■ being the denied right to acquire showcases. Little Three attorneys are; riiull- ing the appeal because the Para- rriount arid RKO consent decrees block theatre aCquisitioris by Col,, U and -U iri a “backdoor maneuver.” Iri effect, these decrees, prohibit Par or RKO from selling any of their houses to any der fendarit. That, of course,, includes ' ' the non-theatre owning riiajors: i Point was vainly argued by I Little Three lawyers when the Par I and RKO decrees were under con- sideratiori by the N* Y. court. Addi-. tionaily, error is claimed in the lower court’s ruling that longterrii franchises ;can prily be granted to indie exhibs. An Upset of that stricture would be sought, if ari appeal is made, on the conteritiori that the high court intended to ment on the ultimate form that the compromise will take^ Substantial ; legalize any franchise which fur- differerices have been ironed out thered competition over the number and identity of] When the decree comes up for theatres which must be divested by ' argument next Tuesday (17 1 , Little (Continued. on page 22) the riBw theatre company; Only divestiture on iriinor situations ,re- mairis an issue. .Meanwhile, iri New York, talks betweeri Lehman Bros., investmeht firm, and Harry, Jack and Major Albert Warner,, on sale of the trio's stock hoMtags^ in % new cii-cuU, Charlotte, N, C:, Jan. lo! are being pushed. Spokesman fpr . ti c r a V . the Wall street cbricern insisted . , - - this week that while “we have an appeal by ' understanding in pririciple,” ex-; Ihe Peiselman Theatres against a ploratory talks are being staged to! court s refusal to issue a pre- determine which pf a ninriber of riminary anti “ trust ^ injunction finaricirig alternatives will be aSi^mst major distributors, adopted. H. B., Meiselmari, Charlotte exr The deal, whereby the Lehmans bibitOr, charged the majors wer« would take over 1,800.000 shares i steering their top product to the (Continued bn page 15) Wilby-Kincey circuit. . Appeal was argued here Friday (6), w’ith Rob- ert L. Wright, former motion pic- CCI 7Mirir CUflTrUrC ! ture specialist for the anti-trust uCLLniLli uVf I division, and John Clagett, both of DROPS TRIP David o: Selznick has reportedly ; brief," VWght Sid*of the revised his Plan to yctum to.appellees are apparentlv Europe this month and will ^ lip service to the m this c^ntry unUl ^ri^. ^Pro- theatre^by- ducer, who returned tP the. ; theatre coinpetitiori between .inde- from . Londori Iri, iBid-December, : theatres arid ; affiliated was slated to go abroad again next theatres in the Government’s suit, WeeK. ; but quite Uriwtllirig to permit any Jenriifer Jones, Selznick’s wife, ' concrete, local . application of the Who was sche.duled to go;with him, , principle : which win threaten .a is Understood to have . brought . first-run theatre monopoly held bv about his change of planS; She ; an affiliated exhibitor. This court was in England continuously for should not countenance appellees’ many ; riiontllS making “Gone to;* attempt to repudiate :iri Charlotte Eai’th” for Selznick and Sir Alex- fbeir formally declared policy to andCr Korda; She returned . with i license films competitively every" the producer last riibnth and is said where.” :to prefer to remain iii this: country ; — ,. ... . ■ :fpr:a; whilCv DOS is sending to Europe in his Ferrer tO Goast FoT : : / stead attorney : Louis T. , Stone. ; ; l\/fpfrn-GrrinK‘rt*ik:l^’ whom he recently; named his exec - . v^iio assistant. Stbhe will haridic nc- Jose Ferrer, whose second film, gotlations in Erigland. France and' “Whirlpool” (20thi,i iri which he ap^ Italy that Selznick has . alrGady pears . with. Geria X^^^^ .started for co-production of' nimS, the Roxy, N. YA Friday .(14), fleW'; there. Producer will go over him-: to the Coast Sunday with his wife; self when deals.4uie^mnipimod. ami-Phvllis Hill tb .start work on M(vt- pix are mcar the actual lensing ro’s “Crisis,” in which he'll be cor stage, starred With Gary . G : It is uncertain yet whether Stone He’ll follow “Crisis” with “Cy- will attempt to smooth out the cur- rapp de Bergerac,” for , Stanley rent battle between Selznick arid Kramer Productions, then go to Korda by himself, or whether he France, to maike “TJie Baker’s will be accompanied by DOS’ staff Wife” in English, under Rene ;counsel on the Coast,. Robert Dann., Glair’s direction.; Last-name'd p'c ; Latter was in oil the negotiations may be distributed in the U. B. by I betweeri the producers that broke Motion Picture Sales . Corp., which 1 down in London last .mqnt.h. ) inay also share .in the financing.