Variety (February 1950)

WedilefldaTv Februmy 1)^ 1950 By HERB GOLDEK The BrUish quota could be low^ ered considerably without maidng any practicable difference how to British producers, Sir vAlexahder Korda told Variety in New Vprk last week. Producer added* hbw- eyer, that the quota Should not be Teniovcd entirely because “it is necessary to protect the British industry against itself.”-. • ^‘Abolition of the quota would be very harmful,” he explained in answer to a query oh the effect bf such actibri. “We must have some quota to protect the British industry against Itself. If there were no quota, independent pro- ducers in England would be out of business because they couldn’t get their product .played on the circuits.',- . “The major circuits,’V .K^ went on, ‘Vould play the films Of their associated production cbmpa- hibs and give, all the rest Of their time to American pictures.' We wouldn’t^haye a chance.’’ ■ (5f the three maljor British cir- cuits, two—Qdeoh arid Gaumont- British—are owned hy J. Arthur Rank., The third. Associated Brit- ish, is likewise tied up with a production company and is partly owned • by Warner Bros.) ■?Why shouldn’t the British cir- cuits prefer to play British prod- uct rather than American if the (Continued on page 18) Morros ; m Paris, Jan. 81; Film producer Boris Morros is currently in Moscow; phoned friends here from the Rus- sian capital saying that he is clos- Ihg a deal for the sale of educa- fiohal films, : He expects to be back here next week. > Producer has a family in Russia, including tWo brothbrs who are high in the Soviet hierarchyv ; In Brihin With Exhilh London, Jan; 24. Exhibitbr objections having been withdrawn, the controversy over tJniversal-Interriational p i c t u r e, ’■Sword in the Desert/’ Is oydr for the time being. The pic opens for a season at the New:, Gallery on Feb, 2 and will probably follow on release on one of the Rank circuits. On its original^ press screening last August, the film was criticized for its glorification of Jewish ter- rorists and was consequently not regarded as suitable by the' Gine- tnatograph Exhibitors Assn. A re- cent viewing panel set up. by the CEA agreed a few days back, how- ever, that Js the Palestine cam- paign wais over and virtually for- gotten, the ban should not be maintained. Breaks Haifa Record Tel Aviv, Jan. 24. “Sword in the Desert” (U), which opened last week at the Ar- hion theatre in Haifa, has broken all existing records in this country. The picture,^ which deals-with the Israeli fight for independence and the illegal immigration during the (Continued on page 24) : Mrs, Gtoldwyn Subs ; Fpr Mate as Speaker Samuel .Gbidwyn’s wife, Frances, prpved mch success in her maid- en effort at speechmakihg Monday (3()) that she had another engage- ment by the. fonowing morrUngt and she’ll probably take bn further dates this week: Her initial talk was the result. of a last-minute substitution when her husband came down with a virus infection. With Goldwyn unable to go .to Boston to accept a scroll from the Women’s City Club at a luncheon there Monday, Mrs. Goldwyn was pressed into service. The couple have been* in New York on: a pub- licity mission for “My Foolish Heart.” Although MrSi Goldwyn Is a for^ mer acttess (Frances Howard), she had never before made a speech. Her talk in accepting the scroll and in answering femme questions about Hollywood won a great re- sponse. As a result; with her hus- band still in bed yesterday, she appeared in his stead on the Betty Crocker n^yvork tadio show. She’s expected to go oii filling his dates for the rest of the week. sPLLrnNfi# INDE^^ , Spyros Skpuras, prez of 20thr Fox, and Charles P. SkouraSi Na- tional Theatres chief, may be per^. mitted to go their, separate ways in a spUtup of the company, into .pro- duction-distribution and theatre wings. High-level talks between 20th toppers and Dept, of Justice officials, already held in - Washing- ton, are believed to have set this pattern in anti-trust decree which would include ironclad proyisions against interlocking control. Agreement in principle is said to have been reached in a 2pth offer setting the pattern for a decree. Announcement by 20th this week of imminent divorcement talks adds credence to - insider reports that important theatre interests of the Skouras brothers need nbt be unloaded. In this regard/ both Charles and George Skouras, third member of the clan, have no iriten-; tioU of Selling their lucrative the- atre holdings. Talks with the Government on a workshop level commence im- mediate after inking of a Warner Bros, decree. Government discus- sions with Warners are fust near- ing the windup. Only a scattering of divestiture questions on in- dividual theatres remain to bp Avorked oiit. There is.a possibility that the 20th dicketings may wa the return of Phillip Mhreus, ass’t U. S. attorney In charge of the de- cree section, from t h e Coast within two weeks. Charles Skouras was in Wash- ington last week with the Fox-West Coast attorney, John Bertero, to iron (mt a number of theatre pari- ' nershfp splitups. Skouras also (Continued on . page 18) : Before many months are up; the new paramount prbductibn-distri- butibn company will have a grand- slam total of $48,000,000 in cash deposits without a single bUnk loan or other outstanding pbligation against it. Already jokingly re- ferred to by its own top brsiss as the “Paramount Bank & Trust Co ,” Par will be in the most liquid' Condition of any film vcompany in the industry’s history. That conviction was expressed this week by a cbmpahy Spbkesitiah who diselosed that Par how ha$ $28*00^00 in cash. When the cortir ; pany closes for the sale of its class “B” DuMont television Stock in current hegotiations and also sells its Times S,q: homeofficb building, Par Will have another $20,000^000, exec\ribted*^.;•■...,^'; ■ Compapy is getting set to launch new dickerings for sale of the building, Ayhich also houses the showcase flagship of tJnited Para- mount Theatres. It expects a price in the yicinity of $9,500,000-$10,- 000,000 on sale of the buildihg. When the , DuMont and building sales are niade, -Par’s, cash treasury [will almost equal the total price ( Continued on page 22) Metro Votes Marck M Oil Btoyer, Rubin Pacts . Metro has set MaTch 23 as the date of its annual stbckhblder meeting when the cbmpahy . w call for a show bf hands bii pro- posed new eniplbyment tickets for Louis B. Mayer: M-G first yeepee/ and J. Robert Rubin, veepee and general Counsel. Meet had beep originally .slated for /Feb. 23 and then postponed; / Board meet to. be held within the current week is expected 'to approve the proxy statement and rule that stbckholder.s of . record Feb. 7 be entitled to vote. Reyersihg previous decision to withheld support of the annual awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts &. Sciences, board of the Motion Picture Assn, of America voted yesterday (Tues.) to give financial backing to this year’s Oscar presentations. New decision was taken bn the recom- mendation of Hollywood studio execs of the major cbmpanies which will put tip $75,000 for the presehtatiohs on March 23. Holly wood productioh chiefs are responsible for bringing the change in > prexies’ viewpoint; chiefly by emphasizing the wbrld recognition accorded IN “Samsph and Delilah,” bn which muCh of the industry has a sharp eye .peeled because of^ its high negative cost and the big-money pub-ad campaign put behind it, ap- pears to date to. be justifying the Paramount expenditure. It will have piled lip by today (1) better than $1*000,000 in b.o. gross in its first 15 engagements. Coming into the field with con- siderable -less fanfare. than the Cecil B. PeMille epic,’ but coh- tinuirig to prove a surprise whirl- wind . .at the wickets is Republic's “Sands of Iwo Jima/’ It appears certain to do almost $^,000,000 in domestic rentals, which will make it easily the biggest grosser in Rep history. “Samson** cost slightly over (Continued bn page 22) Deutsch Aides Schary HoUywood, Jan; 31. Armand Deutsch: is serving as part^ime executive assistant to Dore Schary at Metro. Meanwhile, he also is working on production of “Right Gross.’’ 4- . Hollywood . studio persohnei will get another inside; view ijiii yeai* of the fi$cal status of the in- dustry, with particular regard to quota and financial restrictions abroad. Eric Johnston arid other Motion Picture Assn, of America officials will journey to the; Coast in rriid-Merch for presentation of the .data;-' ; Sessions will be similar in all respects to those iristituted last year. At that tiirie there wbs a mbeting. of i 10 top studio execs, at which the johiistoriites present- ed the factual material, This was followed up with visifs by the MPAA group to. each of the stu- dios, where large numbers of em- ployes were, invited to hear some of the same data, Idea will be the same this year as it was in 1949^tb impress on Holly wood the need for buckling down arid hblding costs to a mini- mum in light of market conditions in this ebuntry and abroad. Last year’s sessions are considered to have had a very beneficial effect, as reflected in cost figures of all the studios. Johnston Is credited with con- ception of the idea ais a means of enlightened employe (and exec) re- lations. At last year’s pbwwows, (Continued on page 47) Pa. Deutsch . fills in on job uAtil academy presentations i Schary replaces Mary Rechner, and potent commercial value to the entire industry. Producers (Continued on page 55) who leaves post as Schary’s as-r sistaht to marry radioite Bob Hawk. Biz Continues Uneven But 'Samson* Smash Topper With Two Jima’ Wow 2d; 'Battleground’ 3d Raymond Polniaszek, GleVi Lyon, Pa., undertaker, who sought to smack 13 filhi companies, circuits, radio networks, sponsors and book publishers with a total of $4,00(),000 in damages for claimed libel in Russell Janriey’s “Miracle bf the Bells,” has dumped all 13 actions after a court bout with the first on the lineup. Polniaszek took it on the. chin in the. New York supreme court last week in a three-day trial in which he was gunhing for $750,000 damages. against Janney, (Continued on page 54) TO SEU DA STOCK Charles Chaplin, ;, currently in New York, ha.s been, Veiling his friends there that he is still an- xious to; sell his Unff stock. Chaplin is co-owner of the ’distribution company With Mary Pickford; . Ghapllh has meritiohed no price, but he: previously had been ;repbrt- ed seeking $2,()00*00() for hi.s share of HA hplding.s. It is believed he might take even less if a buyer could be found with whom a sat- isfactory deal could be worked out. His principal diffieulty is that Miss jPicfcford doesn’t Want to sell her shares; That means that the buyer of Chaplin’s holdings would hecessarily have her as a partner. Any potentialv purchaser .wahts to have a clear right to run the com- pany as he sees fit without coh- sultation with a partiiei*. Chaplin has . been east several weeks with his wife, Oona. He has had a number of confabs at his hotel with UA prexy Gfad Sears, but has otherwise indicated no active interest iii the compariy: Miss Pickford, who generally keeps dose watch bn it; has been on the Coast She returns east Friday (3). Firstrun business continues cur- • rently sluggi.sh with severe storms . in one sector and extremely mild weather ; in pthers cutting into ' trade. Despite this, “Samson and Ddilah” (Par), “Sands of Iwo ; Jima!’ (Rep) and “Battleground” i (MrG) continue smash. And these Lthi-ee . pix ire slugging it out. foir ; top laurels, with total business /fairly evenly divided ampng the /"trip;;' ■' : . , '‘Samson” is pushing into first i place as a result pf terrific show- ! ings in spme eight big key cities : covered; by VARjETY, Besides harig- ;! ing up a new record in Denver, i GecU B. DeMille opus currently, j nowhere is dropping belo\\’ a big i classificdipn. [ “Iwp Jima” vyill wind up in sec- ! Ond . position; several holdover arid extended-rujn sessions cutting into its total take. “BrittiegrOund” is finishing up in third, same as last week; ‘“Polish Heart” (RKO) will take fourth mohey with uniformly strong showings in about five keys. Fifth spot goes to “Eiffel Tower” ! (RKO), just being launched this stanza. “Ambush” (M-G) is taking over sixth slot while “Mrs. Mike” (UA> j shows enough strength to capture Seventh, “Red Shoes” (EL), “South Sea Sinner” (U) and “All King’s Men” (Col) round out the Big 10 in that prdeir. Best runner-up pix are “Malaya” (M-G),“Hasty Heart” (/WB), ‘'Ne- \radart” fCol), “WhirlpooW (2()th) arid“pancing in Dank” -(20th). “Hasty” has been running counter- wise to giowing criX. praise, al- though pieking up this stanza. “12 O’clock High!’ (20th) shapes as putstahdihg new film, being cla.ssed terrifie in Philly and big in N:: Y. / “Dear . Wife”; (Par), into N. Y. Paramount ; this week, is rated great in Philly. “Willie Comes Marching Home” (20th), also . new, looms only fair this round ip petroit. “Deadly Is Female’’ (UA) rates as disappoint- ing brt initial playdate in i L.A. “Dakota Lil” 120th )/fair in Seattle, looks neat in Providence. •“Woman in Hiding” (U) is nice in L.A, “Heiress” (P’ar) is doing bkay in three keys. “Adam’s Rib’^ (M^G, mildish in benver, is smooth in Montreal.: “Jolson Sings Again’,’ (GoP Is landing smash totals bn two Ca- nadian k e y d ate s currently. “Thelma Jofdpn” (Par) is sturdy in Chi but modest in k g. “Pinky” (20th), big in Louisville, shapes socko in Indianapolis. “Fal- len Idol” (SRO), okay in Frisco, looms big in N. Y; ; (Cotnpleie Boxoffice Reports on Ropes 10-11.) ; [ ; Trade Mark Re^stered FOUNDED BY SIME SILVERMAN Published Weekly by VARIETY, In^ . Sid SUverman, President 154 West 46th .St„ New York 19, N Y Hollywood 21 6311 Yucca Street . Washington 4 1292 National Press Building Chicago 1 360 No.. 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