Variety (January 1950)

ITedncgday, Janniiry ll, 15>S0 picmiBs Newly - Wrthed United Parar ,rtount ‘circuit lias big pians for lafge^screcn theatre, television. Na- tional hookup of UP houses, fed either through a closed^ circuit ot channels opened tp exhibition by “the Federal Communications Com- niissionv is the ultimate aim of the chain's toppers, according to Iiepn- afd Goldenson, UP prez; Robert G'Brien, secretary-treasi^er named to head all video activities; arid Robert' M. Weitman, UP division chief, who will act as consultant to O^Brien bn talent and program- ■•ining-a ' ^ ' . ■. ■ ■ Both Goldenson and O’Brien gauge theatre television “as a po- tentiar that may possibly be as significant as sound was in the '20si it may re-energize the indus- try and give it the same shot^in- ; the arm that sound did in the past'*- Trio of UP toppers announced^ the filing of applications with the Fee for television stations in Bos- ton and Detroit; If granted, these two new statipns would supple- nient WBKB, the Balaban’ & Katz station in: = ChicagOv currently in operatipri. Additionally, UP is; getting set to install large-screen facilities in theatres in Detroit, Boston, San Francisco and Minne- G;pldensbn sets no limit on the number of theatre TV sets Ulti- mately tp be operated by the- cir- cuit. Larger: cities will first get installations followed by all key- city situations.“Conceivably, we may put theatre televisiort in every one of Our houses,^' UP prexy said. “Maybe we will confine it to every key City. By kinescoping the prtn grams, we could get .them to the smaller houses in a matter of min- utes. When the four theatre TV sets (Continued bn page 18) N.Y. Exhibs Balked No UDion Trouble New York operators are still Up a tree as to who might be stench- bombing their theatres in the wake of ail onslaught of malodor- ous bombing throughout the iiietro- ppiitan area. House managers in both the Broadway deluxers and nabe theatres are convinced that there have been too many occur- rences for the bomb-dumping to be written off to rowdyism but are at a loss as to who’s doing it and for what reasons. Two theatres in the Bronx and one in Newark received the treatment Monday (9), after fivb. other houses were bombed in preceding two weeks. Managers questipned denied the existence of any labor trouble. Projectionists Local 306 has been negotiating with the indie c;§;^af- filiated circuits since September for a pay hike but the negotia- tion.s are. how stalemated through ihahility pf the two sides to reach .ia COmprorhise: Aecordihg to uniOh ’.s prez, Herman Gelber, the union plans to continue negotiations and, if it can’t woi:k out a settlement, will take its gfievahces to the pa- rent union. ; Consensus /among , the theatre managers was voiced by Robert Weitman, managing director of the Broadway ParamPuht. He opined that the bombings had happened too often to be mere coincidences but said the vhewspapef reports have had no adverse effects oh the boxoffice. Theatres can take few precautionary steps dgainst the culprits but several have started making all patrons, check package.s before entering the theatre. . Usual technique of the steheli- Jossers was tp leave bottles con- taining obnoxious fluids under- neath seats.. Prior tp Monday’s oc- curences, thp Broadway Strand the Park Aveiiue had received the bombs Friday (6), and two were placed in Radio City Music ftnll last Wednesday (4). One was left in the Broadway Astor Christ- mas Evp and in the Paramount ^evv Year’s Eve, Pair Switch Phenomenally fast conver* sion of old ■ Paramourit com- mon stock ihto stock of the h e w production - dirtf ibutioh cbmpany ahd certificates of in- terest iri“lhited Paramouht theatres is reported by the iBank of New York & Fifth • l^ehuir^bahk'^te trustee named by the. Federal / court to handle the transac- tiori. ;ln the phe wreek since the two new cbmpahies started on their own, over 1,750,000 shares of Par common have been turned in for the new issues. Conversion, it was said, *4s much faster, than expected.’* As for the exchange pf certifi-r ; cates pf interest in UPT fpr common stock, no real activity. has been yet generated. No volume is : expected u,n t i 1 March when the first . UPT dividend Lalls due. . Owners pf GI’s jnJJPT can Pnly couVert on proof that they have sold their pfoductioni - distribution shares. Only half dividends are paid on UPT rtock until the stockholder unloads his pictufe company interest. On-agaih, pff-again hegptiations between Malcolm KingSberg, head of the RKO chain, and Walter | Reade for a settlement pf their partnership differences in 14 the- atres of the Trenton-New Bruns- wick chain have come a-cropper again. Talks seeking an avenue for an amicable breakup pf joint holdings in the circuit have ended without reaching a sblution. As a result, the' Kingsberg-Reade dif- ferences appear to be heading for the courtSi Reade, who trekkjBd from Flor- ida several weeks ago for the re- newed confabs, has headed south again. Reportedly, a new deal'fell through when a Chase National Bank veepee, repping a minor | stockholder in the circuit, refused to go along on any compromise which would permit RKO to fix a selling price for its 50% . interest in excess of the stock’s book value. Banker maintained that a clause in the. partnership agreement, which fixes book Value as the stock * price of a selling pard, would be ; upheld by the courts. It has been j RKO’s con.sisfent claim that this, clause is illegal. RKO mu,st: break lip; the partnerrtVP under the anti-; trust consent .decree 'signed last. year with the .Op.ve^^^^^ ^ 1 . Reade previously • had; mainfain- ed that the , bopk 7 value: proviso ' came intp .. eJfTect . in any negotia- tions for a sate of RKO’s interest, : Circuit' op, however, reportedly had softened his stand in renewing talks with Kiiig.s.berg. Undoubted-, ly, he Vyill now go ahead, with his. preyiously arinpunced intention of (GontihUed oh page 1$) 5 New Birecl^ In Bow at Metre . Hollywood, Jahi 10, j Five directors vull make their bows at Metro this year in keepi ing. with the. studio’s policy of using new talent in that field... , Richard Brooks will direct his , own screenplay, “Crisi.s.’’ Joseph ! Lewis’’, fir.rt assignment is, '‘Visa.’’ | Gerald I layer and Robert Pirosh will break in with two. pictures still untitled: Charles ' Vidor, who recehtly moved over from Golum- bia, will make his Culver City debut with .“Runmng of the Tide.*’ Tyith divorcement yirtually acr complished by Rafamdunt and looming for the other major film companiesj there Is increased be- lief among industry execs, both in exhibition ahd distrlbutioh, that bne of its chief effects will be the release of . ihore' top-quality pic- tures. While only 20th-Fox is of- fieially on record ais predicting a RGost--iu-Uie_.humbeiL-o£^ms-/bfi fered to the market, the fact that all studios are starting off pro- duction activities with more than double the number of pictures planned lart january indicates their emphasis on building the requirtte backlog: General consehsUs among the major company sales managers was outlined recently by 20th sales veepee Ahdy W. Smith, ;Jr;, .wh^^ pointed, put. that divbrtement, will, automatically intensify, epmpetitioh both among theatres for top prod- uct and among distfibs for the best playdates in each situation. This, coupled . with the fact that few pictures how enjoy a: run of more than two weeks even in the key cities, will necessarily create a need for more releases. As fbr the smaller companies, a .Coluin- bia spokesman noted his studio has upped its . production of A prod^ uct from four last year to 14 in 1950, and indicated upcoming dL vofeement among the majors was one of the reasons behind the boost: Exhibitors’ feelirig on the ques- tion was detailed this week by Al- lied . States Exhibitors’ general counsel Abram F. Myers, In a state- ment to members of the Associat- ed“rheatre—Owners-4)L-Indiana; Myers lashed out at pre-divorce- ment practices which, he said, had “starved'’ the market. He ex- plained : “The producers fed their pictures to the affiliated prior-run theatres where, by extended runs (Continued on page 18) 50 TECHNI fix IN’5« VIA EXPANSION HOVE A recently completed $3,500,000 expansion program in Hollywood, along with improved facilities at its British plant. Will enable Tech- nicolor, Inci to boost its coior- processing substantially, in 1950, pr. Herbert T. Kalmus, the com- pany’s president and general man- ager, declared in New York yerter-: day (Tues.). Arriving on the Queen Mary after a three-month European trip, he said some 50 fea- tures are scheduled to he handled on the Coast this year, compared to 45 in the last semester. British Technicolor, Kalm^u^^ closed, will run between 10 and 15 features through its plant in 1950 as against six last year. Demand for. color films in both the U. S; and Bntain contiriues brisk, he ob- serveid, and gs a' result: the cqm- paiiy’s facilities in. both countries are w^orking at ^capacity. .Firm has been considering the addition of a plant in either Paris or Rome.. Before going to the Coast in a; few day.s Kalmu.s will' attend: sev- eral compa ny board meetings fin New York to report on current af-: fairs of the fiimi. . Also'returning with the exec Was his Wife, the former Eleanore ^ King, beauty coiuninist for- King Features Syndi- cate. Couple.was wed last fall and the European .junket in which they visited London. Paris and Rome was in the. nature of a .honeymoon.: : Other arrivals included actor Robert Cummings, back from ;a month’s European vrtation; arid several members of the British play, “The Cbcktail Party,’’ wbich Gilbert Miller .will.. present at Henry Miller’s theatre, N. Y„ Jan. 21. They are Alec Guinness, Irene Worth and Grey Blake. protocol oii Spot Preview of “The Third Man” in New York last week called for: the services of a striped- pants aide to chief Selznick flack Bob Gillham, Protocol for royalty, he had been told, . called for the show to. begin as soon as Their Ma jesties;,arrived “ahdJiad_ taikeh their seats. ^ . Thus when~ix-King Peter of~ Yugoslavia and his queen set- tled themselves to see the pic, ;. Gillham found himself bn the royal, spot. The Duke and > Duchess of Windsor hadn't ar-: rived yet;, and .Gillham wasn’t sure which of the couples. it would be protocol to slight. He . finally cbmpromised on a five- minute wait: Luckily it Wasn’t longer, because the Windsors never did get there; de Rochement Deal rtgned by Louis de Roche- mOnt With . Columbia last week greatly. simplifies the producer’s problem in financing his pix. Col. made arrarigements for production coim to be loaned him by Bankers Trust, N. Y., and itself ig putting up completion guarantees, Under the setup, de Rochemont is committed to make a minimum of three films for Col. in the next three years; and may make up three more during thgt period if he desires. He arid the distrib share eqauly in the returris on the- pix after costs have been recouped. Deal is understood to be similar in its fin^ancial aspects to that Which pi'exy Harry Cohn has been negotiating with Edward Small on the Coast. Small would make a miniiniim of two and maximum of six in a two-year period; While the success of his “Lost Boundaries’’ makes bankrolling of his future production comparative- ly easy, de Rochemont had such difficulties in raising coin for “Boundaries’’ that he is understood to have welcomed the ease of fi- haheirtg that the Col. deal offered. It alsp has many other unusual as- pects in his favor, which influenced his accepting it, from among a number of others offered. One'thing he demanded and re- ceived-.is complete autonomy in choice of story, Writers, cast and director. He has to submit his se- lections to Col . for approval, but in the event that that is not forth- coming there is ah arbitration ar- .rarigemeri.t and an escape .clause for the producer. . Another'", unusual CG.rtce.ssiQrt is that budgets are .to. include no (Continued on page 13) Hollywood, Jan. 10. WhetbbT the Society bf Inde- pendent Mbtidii Picture producers Will be iooklnug. for a new presi- dent next summer remains a ques- tion mark. It hinges on the def^ cision—^w'hich prexy Ellis G. Ar- nali says he hasn't: made yet—-ks to whether he'll run for election again as governor of Georgia.; He served in that post from 1943 to 1947.;. ^Atrt?rli"adTnittedlrete“thaL lie-had-’ asked "Attorney General Eugene Cook of Georgia for an official; opinion as to his eligibility to run this year. He said this week (1) that he has received no answer as yet from Cook; (2) that in any case he has come to no decision as to ■Whether he’ll toss his chapeaiu in the ring against, present goyembr Herman Talmadge, arid (3) that if arid when he does make ai decisioriv -he will not be in a position to talk, about it for sorrie time. Arnall, who joined the Society about a year ago, has proved high- ly popular With its members, Who eprisider him to have been highly effective in their cause. . He^ in turn, has expressed to intimates considerable enthusiasm for his duties. Part of his effectiveness has been due to his Continued po- litical associations iri Washington, andv whether or: not he actually runs for . the governorship of his home state, it is felt that the wide- spread publicity he is getting as a contender will erihance his value. to SIMPP. It keeps him active in = the political arena on a working level, Which is known tp have en- abled him tp pull some wires for CGontiriued on page 13) . I > Mark SPC Wiii By 64-62 on (ioast / Hollywood, Jan. lOi Screen. Publicists Guild won NLRB; bargaining election, 64-62, when ballots were counted Friday. (6). Challenge of three votes may hold up bargaining certification for some time until Washington NLRB rules on disputed votes, Ghal- leriged were two votes by. Goldwyn flacks on ground Goldwyn is no longer a riniember Of AMPP. Elec- tion. was limited to major lots.. Third ballot was that of flack at Paramount in siipervispry capacity, with right to hire and fire- If Washington rules that the challenged ballots c a n n o t be counted, SPG will proceed to ne- gotiate a contract with the majors. This is the second time SPG won over iA as bargaining agency for flacks: First NLRB election was held in '46, covering Ml publicists, with Guild winning by 30 votes. r t '.at' , Holly wood,. Jan. :i0.^ ‘‘CATS/’ a story of The; Civilian. Actors Technician ./Service.,’’ ’w be incorporated intp. “CaU Me .Mis- ter,’’. Which Fred Ko.hlmar will, pro- duce at: 2()th-Eox, with Betty Gra- hie arid Dari Dailey, penciled in as the ;.leads..//' . Studio is sending a: camera crew: to Japan for Grierital background.Sv Actual shooting will start* in April. Werker Accoladed Hollywood, Jan. 10. Screen Directors Guild ha.s giyeri its. quarterly directorial achievement award to Alfred Wefk- er for “Lost Boundaries.’* : Film Classics releases. Autry’s 1 st for /’SO; - HoilyWood, Jan. 10; : s Autry, currently gallppirig thataway pn a perspnal appearance tpur, will start his 1950 film prp- gram with :“Blazirig Sun/’ based on' a yarn by Jack Townley. Autry’s contract with Cpluitibia calls for six westerns this'year^ Maitles In SPG Walkin .Reelection pf Sig: Maitles, Metro ! flack,: as . prexy... of the easterii Screen Publicists: (auild In the . guild’s anniial electiori.s of new .of- ficers today ■(Wed/ has beeri: as- sured by the, absence of \ any. bp-. position, carididates iri ' the race. MauriceSegal,', of' PararnoUh^ is ! also slated . for a. .walk-in .with no;; • rivals, for the po.st of .secretary. ; :. Fir.st vice’-prexy post. will be .a . t.hree-Way race among Harry .Hb.ch- . : field,. 20th-;Fox' publicist and iri-; Gumbent; Lariiar Baker, RKQ, and Herb Steinberg, Paramourit. -A i contest for the second vicerpre.si- i dericy Inyplve.s Seymour Roman; ; Cplumbiai and Fred ;Goldberg* ; Paramount. Leo Israel, 20.th-Fox, ' will run Against James Prpccacini». j for the treasurer’s post. .. ! New officers will face two major, problems .following iheir installa- tion later this nidnth. First will be Selection of a new business agent to replace Leri Goidsniith, Who resigned several morith.s\;ago.: Second probleiri will be to define the uriion’.s attitude tow'ards the parent union, the United Office & Professipnial AVorkers of America, which has been brought up on charges by the CIO of pro-Com- inunist activities.