Variety (February 1950)

16 FICTURES yeJiieaijay^ Febiiniiry 22, 1950 New Yotk filjifi industry execs, ShowBizReps : Continued from pa^e t materials and equipment had de- clined more-than the general ayeiv age for business. : Also testifying ini behalf of rer peal were Harry G, Batt* proxy Of the National Assn, of Amuseinent Parks, Pools and Beaches; B. ^ G. Brooks, of the. Roller Skating Rink hit most sharply by the advent of I pperators Assn.; Laurence V, Cole- video, are making a new pitch to eongressional leaders for repeal of i Bodds, :director -of. the New York the Fede^l admission tax on the f state Fair. ^ basis of ending a competitive, in- j During his appearance as a Wit- equity. They are pointing out that - ness last week, 'Johnston told the Ways and Means Committee: “f never heard it argued that d man shouldn’t object to being; unfairly While thO pix industry' is saddled with both a 20% a'dmission tax and a 15% raw stock bite, the video inr | treated untU he can supply a sub- dustry is getting off without pay- y stitute victim whose sufferings wiR • ' be more justified. ’ This, said dohnston, was his answer to the Administration demands that no excise taxes be lifted until other taxes are voted to take their place. “The mdtioh picture,” he con- tinued, -'is a medium Qt express Sion, like. the newspaper, t h e liig ^ penhy in imposts. Pesigned to encourage ah Infant Industry, the Government has: ex- empted the yideo portion of; receiv- ing sets. from ail taxes, although the: radio parts are tagged fpr 10%. All Coitnmunicatipn arid telephone; magazine and the book. We in the lines are similarly slapped with a hmotioq picture industry feel the 259ib bite, bui ^ coaxial cables, arid t f same equality of; treatment as its telephone lines specifically em- ployed for radio are aisO exempt As a result, filmites are claiming that their petition for repeal; be- longs in a special category apart / from the claims of such industries as jewelry, furs, luggajge, etc. Pix spokesmen contend that nothing is threatening to take the place: of thb latter industries, but films are cur- rently struggling for survival with the new medium of video which Utock is the ^tiori picture indus- grew up after the 20% tax was : try what newsprint is to the news- Initially leyied. ! paper, or paper is to-the hook or Along these lines, Joseph H. sister media, we feel the admis- sions tax discrimirtates; against us, and any discriminatory fax is an Unfair tax. There is; rio Federal excise on; newspapers, bn ; maga- iines or books. . “We strongly ’ heiieve tjhat as a medium of expressiori the motion pictrire is discriminated against in another respect. There’s a 15% tax bn taw film stock. Film raw Ireland Will Pay Off To Cohn on Col. Pact Hollywood, Feb. 21. John Ireland obtained release from his Columbia contract, with fliiaricial strings attached. Actor must pay Harty Cohn 25% of his earnings for thd next five years, the duration of the pact. Irelandf an Aeadeiny Award nominee, had been I*' l^e Colum- bia doghouse since his refusal to play a small role in a“B” produc- tion, “One Way Out.” Hollswqod, Feb. 21. Billie; Burke postponed her trip east to take the motherdn-law role in the 1. G. Gioldsmith production, “Three Husbands,’’ on a loanout deal from Metro V . . Hank Mann and Eddie Borderi, cbmics Of the silent film era, drew comic roles in 1 the Bbris Petroff indie production, ^‘Phantom of the Sea” ... George P’llanlon; will narrate ; as well as star in a Warners hriefie,“Anyr thing for Laughs,” which he wrote . . . Warners will release "‘Young Man With a Horri’V in Europe as “Young Man of Music.’’ .Same studio’s “Perfect Strangers’’ will be distributed in Latin America as Columbia’s ""Jolson Sings Again” grossed a total ol about $560,000 on the Loew’s circuit iri metropolitan New York. That conipai'es with $800,000 taken at the b.o: by the film's.predecessor, ""The’Jolson Story.” Ratio tends to confirm VARiETy''s estimate, made in the issue of last Jan. 4, that total domestic (U. S. and Ganadiari) rentals for the film would be between $5,500^000 and $6,000,000.' The brigmal Jblson pic grossed ^8*000,000. \ . Differences between the grosses of the two films is abcourited for in part by the decline in general boxoffice returns since “Jblson story” was released iri 1946, It iS generally frue^ also, that sequels don’t;do so well as originals. . However, Gol was surer of what it had in this case than it was with the earlier pic and begari lirimediately striving for better terms, which compensated somewhat. fricideritallV, Al Jplson and Columbia share equally in the profits of “Sirigs Again,” with each Of fhem giving 5% of their share to Sidney BUchman,''the^producer,.; . Pre-Opening;ad on “Stromboli,’' ^hich hbs cajUsed considerable com- ment both in and out of mdustry circles, is said by RRO execs to bave been iprepared by Howard Hughes hiniself. Hughes is RKO’S controU- irig stockholder. Ad'was headed “Raging island . . , Raging Pasribns!” Some of the RKOites objected to the Avording “Bergman Under the Inspired Direction of Rossellini/' hut were forbidden to ch^inge a single .word df It.' Hughes has always shown a great interest in the advertiririg of his films and his touch is seen in current copy and^^ “^he Outraw Hughes was in a major hassle with the l^btion Picture Assn', of' A over previous “Outlaw’' ads. Dispute wound up With withdrawal of . his code seal on the film and. his filing of a multirmilliOri dbllar ariti-; trust suit against the MPAA. Suit is still pending, but part bf the deal by vvhich: the seal was resmred provided court action'would not be pushed if certain ads were approved; Hazen, partner in the Wallis-Hazeri production, unit, wrote to Rep. Frederic R. CpUdert (R./ 1*^. Y.) that “commercial motion pictures, for which the public must pay an admission, capnot successfully com- pete with television entertainment for* which no admission is charged nor any tax paid.” Hazen pointed but that the cost differential to the consumer between the two media “places the motion picture at a dis- tinct and destructive disadvan- ^ magazine publisher. “There is no tax on newsprint. The niagazinb publisher isn’t taxed for his paper. Neither is the book publisher. But the excise taX on our basic raWslock costs pur Indus- try $3,500,000 annually.” Hub's Petition Avalanche . Boston, Feb. 2i. Hub theatre patrons are putting up strong fight to urge repeal of i 20% theatre tax With 238,000. . x. *,1. ! patrons forwarding petitions tp ® j I Congress seeking repeal. Petitions bsthe 20?fc tax would restore some are being out .to all pa- of the competitive balance, he j arid campaign will continue claimed- ■ until corigresSmen are snowed un- Hazen also pointed but to Gou- ■ der with 1,000,000. Also rallying to the cause w^ere player option for another year Yvonne DeCarlo’s next ^tarrer at UI Will . be “Desert Hawk,” with Leonard Goldstein producing . , . Will Geer plays the Wyatt Earp role in “Winchester 73’’ at UI. Kurt Neuniann signed a writer- directbr-producer ticket with Lipf pert Productions, starting with his own story; “None Came Back” .. . . Jane Greer plays the femme lead in “The, Wall Outside,” a John Houseman production at RKO with John CronlLweU directing . V . Rob- ert Walker will star in Metro’s sea drama, “The Running’ of the Tide/' to be directed by ChaTleS Vidor . . Robert' Miichum is set for i RKO’s “Johnny Broderick; Story,” but choice for the name rblie is still up in the air , jimmy Stewr art will start “Harvey” at UI im- mediately after he finishes “Win- chester 73,” after which he will take a world tour in his own plane Fred Quimby is keeping his ‘‘Marvin, the Successful Ghost” appeared to \yin the laurel for the most ;Unusual title registered with the Motibn Picture Assn, of Arnerica “Cbnflictos Humanos” . . . Samiiel [during the past week- Glaim to If:'^ Warner Bros. It's Goldwyn picked up Joan Evans’I the labei of a published story by Ed McNamara. ■ " * Other •registTatioris iricluded“The Scarlet Letter/’, by Edward Small; “U-Boat Commander,” by Warner Bros; “The Devil’s General/’ by David O. Selznibk; “H Bottib,” by Kay Productions arid Columbia; "‘Lonely Hearts, Inc.,’’ by Republic; “King Sblombri and His Thousand Wives,” by Joseph Kaufman, and “Democrat-Republican Story,” “Re- publican-Democrat Story” and “Hollywood to Washington, D. C /’ by Jack Goldberg; Mervyn LeRoy is the Cautious type when it comes tp transpoitatioh. He doesn’t like to fly. $o \Vhen he went to Europe recently pn “Quo Vadis” business, he utilized the Queen EUzribelh,. When he got to England, he disclosed bn his return to New Mohday ;(20), hb was one mass of bruises. Skipper called the trip the roughest in his 30 years at sea, with over 150 reported hospitalized, Planes, meanwhile, had been skimming over the rough stuff w'ithout a quaver. Now LeRoy’s not sure which mode of transportation is the I'safer.. '' ' dert that the reduction of domestic i revenues bn top of the severe drop in foreign remittances has been ari- other major threat to the film in- dustry. Partially due to high ad- mission prices, Hazen said “public attendance has declined precipi;- tously” during the last six months. He added that “our. Government, unlike practically all other national • Teels governments, has paid scant atten-i tiori to and has shown little or no [ appreciation of the great yalue 1 which the motibn picture industry j renders our hatiori.” ; Asserting that the industry is several hundred teen-;ager$, mem- bers of. movie fan clubs, who staged a“Second Boston Tea Party” Sat- urday morning when they dumped .barrels of ticket stubs into Boston Harbor from Hub’s famed T Wharf, Stunt was staged by local pic execs and hit all the dailies and riews- CoritinUed freim page S neither asking nor seeking Govern- [ of RKO he is administering, on ment subsidies and protective legis- lation, Hazen said “all that we ask one hand, the present distributibn of the Ingrid Bergmari-Robertb of our. Government is the abolition ■ Rossellini'film, “Stromboli,” which a n 4 TJ a Ii ’e.. Ji. rf* __e- _...J _ ' of discriminatory taxation.” He also contended that repeal of the admission tax might result iri larger theatre attendance and consequent higher income taxes on profits from theatre and production operations. On the other hand; Hazen warned,, "Tf the adniiissibris tax remains in force,, and theatre attendance con- tinues to decline, .the loss in in- come tax On profit and tax credits on thb carry-back of losses, will has been the focal centre of prob- ably more unfavorable industry public relations than anything in its mistory.'* Depinet, at the same time^ is chairman bf COMPO; charged with formulating an over- an. public relations program. 'There’s nb\, criticism whatsoever of the RKO topper Avithin the in- dustry. Mpst; execs, regard his plight with the same grim' amuse- irient which he hiftiself Views it. more than wipe but the admissions [ They just point to it as the in- tax collected.” j evitable clash betweeri high pirin- ciple and the hard business propo-; sitiori of an important investment that must be liquidated^ In devising a plan for COMPO, therefore, it is said that adequate , corisideratibn must be given to the Trail” is now in the can and Will j hiriorical fact that much of the Holt’s Switch Continued from page . 9 represent his last film under the 20th banner. Only other indie film presently contracted for by 20th is "Fireball,” Mickey Rooney staiTer produced by Bert Friedlob and di- rected by Tay Garnett. That pic- ture is only on a onerfilm deal. Hollywood publicity that is mOst strenuously criticised is. exactly what attracts patrons into theatres. It has been that way since the in* dustryys beginriirig. it is thus argued that a balance must be sought in the COMPO Following Skouras’ announce-1 program , to avoid hypocrisy and riflent of a boost in production, 20th execs declared they wbuld be amenable to taking bn films of bther indie producers, providiiig the pictures were of sufficiently high quality to meet the coiripany’s current emphasis on .only A prod- uct. It was emphasized, however, nanciiig deals with the* indies, but that 20th will enter into no co-fi- exclusive national and world-wide Will talk business only when the sales and distribution of the new finished product ii available for [ Fiberglas Glasbreen to motion Inspection. »picture theatres. yet devise a public relations plan that will improve the. public atti- tude toward the industry. The problem is admittedly a tbugh ope. Nu Screen In Bistrib Deal Nu Screen Corp, has pacted with National Theatre Supply whereby the accessory company will handle tendered. Paramount kids its own prexy In a" special trailer made on the conii- pany lot to bally the coming personal appearance of Bob Hope at the N. Y. Paramount theatre. Trailer, now playing in the Times Sq. show- case, shows Hope, making a speech. When the comic coughs and then asks for a glass of water, an anonymous; band passes it to him, ‘"Tluinks, Mr. Balaban.” Hope quips in response; ’Three-minute trailer which also-^draws on a number of newsreel, clips of important events as a buildup to the Hope appearance was .scripted by Jack Mclnernev, the- atr#publicist. ‘ Samuel Goldwyn, whose resignation from the Motion Picture Assn, of America became effective Jan, 17, will nevertheless continue io use the services of the MPAA’s title registration bureau. Janies A. Mu Ivey, prexy Of Goldwyn Productions, has signed a rion-nvember title registra- tion agreement with the association. Goldwyn submitted his resignation from thfe MPAA in January, 1949, _ in a inuch-publicized exchange of letters with MPAA prez Eric John- cartoon program Up to date with ston, Bow-outs from the trade orgaiiizatiori become effective one year “The Cat’s; Flying-Saucer.” i^ Warners bought “Breakthrough,” a war yarn authored by Joe Breeii, Jr., and Bernard Gerard, for pro- duction by Bryan Foy . . . Dennis Day checked in at 20thTFox for his role in “I’ll Get By,” his /first film in six years ... Marjorie Reynolds drew the femme lead in “Firefight- ers”; at Columbia. . . . Mark Steyehs and Edmond p’Brien play the top spots in “Prowl Car” at Columbia . i ; Jerome Cowan; signed for a role in“The Fuller Brush Girl” at Columbia .;, Margaret Phillips checks in frorri N. Y. this week for her film bow in the Lana Tiir- rier starrer, “A Life of Her Own,” at Metro . . . Jimmy Hunt drew the moppet role in “Louisa” at UI , * . .Tohn Dehner plays the heavy In “Texas Dynamo” at Cplunibia. Tay Garnett signed Tracey Rob- erts for one of the top roles in his j indie, “Torch in the Wind” . Charles Drake drew a featured role in “Winchester 73’’ at Ul . . . Mary Happy, four-year-old thesp, makes, her screen bow in the next “Joe Palooka” film at Monogram . . . Paiil Lees j oined the “My Friend Irma Goes West” cast at Paramount . . Cornell Produc- tions, beaded by Franchot Tone arid Burgess Meredith, bought the Gerald Kersh novel, VSong of the Flea.” for prodiiriiori in London . Robert Smalley sold his story, “Mari Tracks,” to Francis D. Lyon for filming in Australia , . Oliver Blake and Teddy Hart, play comic Indians in “Ma and Pa: Kettle Back Home” at UI... Eddie Albert ioined the “Fuller Brush Girl’’ troupe at Gol umbia . . . Tod An- drews plays the male lead iri“No- body’s Safe,” to be produced by Fillriakers for RKO release. Colunibia bought “The Barefoot Mailmiari/’ a novel by Theodore Pratt, who will do the screenplay for production by Robert Cohn . . . Hollywood Bowl Assn, okayed the Metro cartoon, “Tom and; Jerr>' in the Hollywood Bowl” :. . Rich- ard Benedict plays the heavy in ‘‘Firefighters” at Columbia . \ , Gary Gray drew the moppet role in Metro’s “The Next Voice You Hear” . . ; Minor,'Watson will play Branch Rickey role in “The Jackie Robinson Story” at Eagle Lion . . . Vincente Minelli. is bringing in “Father of the Bride” at' Metro this week 10 days ahead of sched- ule . . Ann Baxter renewed for a year by 20th-Fox, with “All About EVe” as her next picture . . . Mala Powers^ minor contract with RRO, approved by L. A. Superior court. Squires, A,ustralian-born wife of a Pan American Airways staffer, Sam Squires, is being„;HQllyw6od-tested as result of a Hedy Lamari^ contest in San Francisco, tied in vvith “Samson and Delilali;” Brought; to Hollywood to pose in some of the star’s clothes. Paramount studio chief photog,; Whitey Schaefer, made some tests of her, i41an Ladd’s agent-wife, Sue ..Garpl,. wa^ struck by :JHiss Squires’ potentiali- ties and got Rhonda Fleming’s manager, Henry Wilson, to represent her. Several studios are curreritly testing Miss Squires. Claimed as a first of its kind, Catholic Digest, publication headed, by Father Paul Bussard, is publishing the shooting script of “Guilty of Treason, in book form. The 128-page paper-covered volume will sell, for 25c per copy; Film, iri current release by Eagle Lion, depicts the case for Cardinal Mindszenty. In announcing the project. Father Bussard predicts that the. new sort of reading, “half way between a play and a novel wi.U demonstrate considerable popular appeal. Report that Jerry "Wald may join Paraniount was denied last .week by pr^xy. Barney Balaban. He said there had been no .negotiations regarding the Warner Bros, producer. Coiitlinued from. page 4 copy filiri biz tephriiqiies is one of I Despite the reasons 'the. MPAA has dorie no horriblowirig on the success of its operations. Publicity on the amourit of foreign, coin converted to dollars is likewise felt probable to have undesired effects in Holly- Wood, where economy Is being drilled into the Industry, partially on the basis of poor Overseas re- turns, anifi in It is for these reasons that no accurate figure is available at the moment On the quantity of urirri- mitables now frozen, Johnston’s last public reference to the figufe, some months ago, was $40,000,006. That was said by Inriders to be much tod high then and it is known now that the sun\ can be no larger than a minor /fraction of that, Among recent deals, for instance, were two in Italy for clearing 1,- 000,600,000 lire each. When com- pleted they will give the American companies about $2,600,000 and leave nothing blocked In Rome. Johnston’s.; infcrcnct that there is no coin, frozen iii Engr land now, foreign itianagers Dpined that there was. Some compairiiei are known to have cleared eveiy- thlng ^ particularly 20th - Fox while bthers have dope very little, Parairiourit is notable in the latter categdry. Lari report had about $7,006,000 frozen there by all com- panies,. but that is believed to have been considerably reduced in J'®- cent months'. . Internatlonri depaririient execs tended also to blacken one other angle of the fdreigri pldture. They pointed put that a; good deal of the mdney has been unthawed/but that in every case it has had to be done by diriounting on the rate of ex- change. Therefore, the cdnip^'*’*®? are not getting the full amount they’re entitled to or the full in- come they’d receive if restriction* were removed and convertibility was at the legal rate.