Variety (May 1950)

We4nes4«yt S^,1950 H<mywppd, toy 2. 'f' HPllywodd labor ia not backing down from its adamant stand agaiiistv tindtie U. S. production abroad or the freezing of funds that iiO!ioesl;auch^ production. That was'the decision of the American federation of La- bor Filip Codncil last night (Mon- day)- ip naming a committee to clarify the; ;^?dunc4’8 position ^bn foreign ptbduetion, , Coipinittee will meet tomorrow to decide oh concrete action to as- sist Eric Johnston, Ellis G. Arnall and James A. Mulvey in the ner gotiationb that begin with ithe Brit- ish May. 15 for a renewal of ^ the Anglo^U. S. lllms pact. Roy BreWr er, chairman of the Council, w^s also named chairman of the for- eign committee^ ^ AFL action followed a talk to the Council by Arnall, , prez of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers. = He reassured the labor -group that the negoti- ators will take a hfm stahee in Britain against a fund freeze that hurts Hbllywood’s crafts ahd guilds by forcing overseas production. Craft unions and guilds rose vociferously to protest Hollywood film-making abroad about two ihonthS ago, and their reps held Sessions with * JOhhston. in New York: and Hollywood. They were given an understanding of thb necessity of some production abroad to unfreeze foreign funds. Thisr it was said, would insure greater prosperity fOr the XT. S. (Continued on page 22 > Metro Ilses Frozen lire For Plane Fares^ L^iaUre Working one pf the angles aimed at using frozen currency for the production of ‘‘.Quo Vadis,” Metro’s: epic-sized pic to be lensed in Rome, the major has turned over 2,000,- 000 ($3,400) iced lire to Trans- World Airliiies in return for pro- viding transportation to 50 Cpast Studioites ,to-and-from Italy. Most of the group has already taken the' TWA route to the Continent. Air route will not apply to Ed- ward J. Mannix, exec producer; Beborah Kerr, one of the pic’s stars; or producer Sam Zimbalist^ Miss Kerr sailed Friday (28), w'hile Mannix and Zimbalist embark bn the He de France Thursday (4), Latter duo are currently in New "York. Large number of other Metroites are either eh route tO Rome or will be before the week is up; These include Morgan Hudgins, Miklos Rozsa, Buddy Baei', Wil- liam Skall, Ralph Winters, John Scanovini, William Cannon, Charles Masciota and Tom Long. In an unusual move for Metro, separate corporation has been formed under the label Quo Vadis, Ltd., for the ^ilm. Step was taken (Continued on page 22) EL in Rel^sihg heal For ‘Tillie’s Romance’ Hoilywbod; May 2. Edward L. Alpersbn has closed a deal with Eagle Lion for nationlal re-release late in May of ‘’Tillie’s Punctured Romance,’* starring Charles Ghapliii, Marie Dressier and Mabel Normand. Alperson, who’s owned rights for several years, has edited the comedy down to 40 minutes, added musical Score, hew main titles and sub- titles.';, _ With no hational distribution deal set up, producer earlier this year booked film in present con- dition for first-run playdates in a nutnber of horthwestern cities in- cluding Portland, Seattle and Spokane. Film also received scat- teved bookings five years ago when released by an indie outfit. Produced In 1918 by Mack Sennett, cast includes Mack Swain, Hank mann and the rest of the Keystone Cops. Ukelele Hank Revived Current ' ukulele . c r a z e. ~ sparked by Arthur GOdfrey^s impromptu; lessons on tele- vision; is' pouring some unex- pected money into the pockets of Henry A, Linet, Universal’s : advertising chief, ; Linet, some 20 years ago, worked for Robbins Music Co. . as a press agent and general faetotuih. In the course' of his job he wrote a number of in- : > struction books on the uke as well as arrangements for “Ukelele Ike” (Cliff Edwards). Linet is how collecting roy- alties bn several of these books, revived to meet tile present big demand. Inci-, ; deiitally, he did not know how to play the uke when he wrote the treatises. And still doesn’t. J. Arthur Rank, chief British producer/ is now methodically turhihg out the bUik of his film lineup at a ceiling of 150,000 pounds ($420,000) per pic, it has been learned in the wake of his visit to the U. S. None of his studios’ last eight films has exceeded the 150,000-pound figure. This ceiling is flexible only to the bxtent that a pic can exceed the top sum by apprbxi|nately 10,000 pounds. First of the new batcli of lower- cost pix to reach the U^ Sv is “Blue Lamp,’’ which Eagle Lion is ready- ing for early release* It is Rank’s avowed intention to keep .produc- ing pix at the 150,000-pound level as the mainspring in his production comeback. These films are all be- ing made priniariy .for the British market-with the hopes but not the necessity that some will score sol- idly in the U. S. and overseas gen- erally.; Big reduction in production nut, running to almost 65% is the out- come of tremendous axing of costs in which John Dayis, Rank’s prime aide, supervised the lopping. Brit- ish stars are still being used for (Continued on page 15) 71AJ0RS DO SWITCH IN TOWNE Chicago, May 2. The seven major companies that bre defendants in Towne theatre anti-trust case have changed their tactics and will now appeal the entire decree laid down April 14 by Chi Federal district judge John P. Barnes, their attorneys ah- nOunce, During course of hearings; the defense had acknowiedged the firidings of fact in the case and the existence of the conspiracy. They had submitted their own decree, which not only acknowledged the conspiracy . but had in their pro- posed decree outlawed use of any zoning plan similar tb the; one found to exist in Milwaukee by the court. The biily major not a defendant is UA, which is 25% owner of the Towne. Defendants have until Miay 14 to file their; appeal. They will ap- peal the judgment of. over $1,600,- 000 in triple damages and attor- ney fees at the same; time. Ap- peal of the judgment requires them to post a bond of $2,000,000; They will have to post anxaddi- tionai bond, as yet undetermined, upon their appeal of the decree. Former is to protect , the judg- ment, latter to protect Towne against any possible losses in- volved in staying the decree dur-^ in g term of the appeaL Yank nejgotia(tdFs, .whbTi take off for London next week on renewal of the Anglo-U. :S. film agreemeht, are anticipating a bonsidera'bly tougher battle , vdth the British than: when they eitgiiteered tthe present pact two years ago. The English are in a much more favors able position to bargain now than the last time, when an American boycott had kept Hollywood prod- uct out of British theatres for eight months. Negotiating team, incidentally, will be pretty mueh the same as it was in March, 1948,: wl^co the original agreement was drawn up*. Plan by the Motion: Picture Assn, of . America to sehd a five-man committee of company toppers has been abandoned. . Repping the U; S. wiirbe Eric Johnston, MPAA prez; Ellis G. Arnall,: Society of Iiidependent Mo- tion Picture Produpers topper, and James A‘ Mulvey, prexy of Sam- uel ; ' Goldwyn ; Productions and chairman of tha eastern distribu- tion committee of SIMPPi John- ston and Mulvey handled thb 1948 negotiations; ; MPAA some months ago named( a five-man team that was supposed to go to London arid work but a pact With the British after John- stori and Arnall made an explora- tory foray. Members ware to have been Spyros Skouras, Ned E. Depi- net, Nicholas M. Scheiick, Barney Balaban and Joseph H. Hazen. Under the new order, it is ex- pected that the negotiations will be handled similarly to the plan of two years ago. Johnston and Mul- vey, as their talks with Harold Wilson, prez. of the Board of Trade* progressed, kept in constant touch with their principals in the U. S, by phone and cable. Thus the company proxies and indie pro- (Gontinued on page 17) . *D;OA,’ Tricfe Stunt Neat Exploitation angle wris rigged by p.a. Berriie Kamber last week'for Harry Pppkiri’s “b.O.A.,’’ which preeiried at the Griterion, N.; Y.,; Saturday (29); Iriltials in the title are standard police terminology for -‘Dead on Arrfval.” Mel; Allen; in his baseball broadcasts all week, was call- ing players “D.6,A.” instead of “out at first” when they failed to make the initial sack. Hestra, WmA FeDd Pd .n Uni Mouliw Charlton Heston, who became the hottest new player in Holly- wood last week when it was learned he was the focal point of a feud that resulted in Music Corp. of America’s being barred from the Warner lot, has been in a rasslin’ match for months with Hal Wallis and Joseph Hazen- over his name. Pair, who have him under contract to their indie unit, have been beg- ging, cajoling, demanding, persist- ing that he change his tag to sonie- thirig more euphonious and easily remembered. Heston wonT budge That’s his right name, and he’s determined to stick to it. WaUis-Hazen put the actor under a seven-year pact for two-a-year, incidentally, without having actu- ally seen him.* They saw him-— but they couldn’t tell what he actu.- ally looked like because he. had a briish . grown for “Portrait in a Stained Glass Window,’’ flop le- giter . in which he was rehearsing at •the time he was inked. He originally came to the atteri- tion of Irerie Lee, New York story and. talent rep for Hazen and Wallis, as a result of a TV show. He had previously been in a num- ber of telC roles. Unit signed him for pix prior to making a test, both Hazen and Wallis being so certain he had the desired qualities. He made himself twice as attractive by not playing very anxious to get into films-^a technique Similar to that which shot Montgomery Clift to jstardorii with one picture.^ Heston is currently working in his; initial pic, “Dark Cityr in a rolb .that Wallis-Hazen had origi- nally intended for Burt Lancaster, w’ho is also urider contract to theiti. Heston has the prmlege of making one-a-year outside/ which was the^ major point in the W^B-MCA dlS-. putc; Warners wanted him for “Ethari Ffonie,’’ blit only if he’d sign to give them the one outside film a year for seven years. H6 refu.sed, which apparently led the studio to believe that the agency had doubie-erpssed it With the Warner Bros, consent decree okayed by the government and now before the U. S. TrCasuiY Dept, on tax questions. Dept, of Justiee has turned its attention to a pfopoSed settlement of its case againsj; 20th-Fox.; Talks have been renewed, it is understood,, with John F,. Rdyall, former U, S. Sec^ retary of the Army, acting as the major’s spokesman. While the proposals being made by. 20th. have not been disclosed; it is believed that no decree, will get Government approval if it calls for Spyros Skouras, company prexy, staying with production-dis- tribution while Charles P. Skouras, head of National Theatres, keeps his Bold' on the clfcuit. Any set- tlement woiild be parallel to War^ ners in the sense that it would provide: for a. shortening of the three-year period for divorcement granted in the present decree, Meanwhile,. . Government has okayed another extension of the time for! 20th to liquidate its the- atre partnerships. It is believed no further delay will be granted. New York Federal district court this week signed an order stalling breakups in some houses untjl (Continued on ^age 20) MAP U.S. BALLYHOO Trio of French film execs slated to arrive in the U. S. today (Wednesday) at invitation of the Motion Picture Assn, of America are planning to set up an office in New York for promotion of French films in America. Setup will be financed by Unifrance-Film, semi- govemmental organization of pro- ducers and disti'ibutors created fen* trie purpose of pushing French pix in foreign countries. Marcel Aubry will head the New York office. He has been in this country for sonie time repping French publisher.s and film firms, President of Unifrarice-Filni is George Lourauj who will lead the delegation of (Saltic pic execs ar- riving on the lie de France today. With Lourau will be J; P. Fro- gerais, who heads the French Film Producers Assn.r and Robert Cra- venne, exec director of Unifrance; They comprise the second delega- tion of foreign film men to come to; this country at the MPAA’s in- vitation; First was Italian. MPAA recently sef up a foreign film advisory service to help over- seas producers find arid improve their market in the U.Sr B, Ber- nard Kreisler, who heads the unit; will go down the bay in New York today to greet the Frenchmen and win take them on -a round qif busi- ness arid social activities in New York, Washington and on the Coast. Aim is to demon.$trate the desire of the Yank industiY to be cooperative; It is hoped that for- eign producers will thus be ericour- aged to keep fi’om having their own government piit the heat on. the U. S, industry abroad. When the Council of Motipi^Pic* ture O.rgariization$ meets in Chi* cago Monday (8) for the start of a two-day session, Theatre Gwriers of America- will veto any inclusioii of the broad trade practices field in the COMPO charter. The TQA - stand, which is expected to be con- / firmed today (Wed.) at a conclave of the theatre group*s directors in New York, ends the possibility^ of COMPO launchirig .a campaign to solve exhib-'distfib Ills and thereby irianeuver tO slice the volume ;of crippling anti-trust suits. TO A’s toppers are firmly Opposed to a proposal, first Voiced last week by William.F. Hodgefs, Metro’s dis- tribution veepee, and seconded by other distrib exeCs, that COMPO consider the establishment of an industry arbitration system. The theatre group, for that matter; will not brook any trade practices juris- diction by COMpO. Since any member of the all-industry org has ;, the right of veto,: it, alone, can beat a move to take on trade problems. TOA’s Erectors irieet today with Gael Sullivan, exec director of the group; to kive him his last iristruc- tiohs on questions likely tb . arise in; Chi. Sullivan is the theatre unit’s permanent rep at COMPO meetirigs* Understood that Sulli- van thinks along the same lines as the directors Of his org. As rep of TOA, Sullivan will go to Chi* with the proposal that COMPO limit itself to public rela- tions matters almost exclusively. Group will take its stand as being (Continued on page 61) MOT’S 1948 Film Bdng Updated; De Rochemont Abroad March of Time is winding up Work bn a feature dpcuinentaiT on the Vatican which it plaris to have . ready for release within the riext 45 days. Tagged “Holy Year at the Vatican,” it incorporates some of the footage from. MOT’s 1940 feature on Vatican City. New mat- ter includes recently-ppened grot- tos, pictures of Cardinal Spellmari making his pilgrimage and a com- plete new score. Running little more than a hour, “Holy Year” is designed for pre- dominately Catholic communities. MOT also is finishing up a feature documentary on.India, with Lowell Thomas as narrator. Richard de Rochemont, M.OT producer, is going to France May 17 on one of his twice-a-year treks; He Will confer with Jean Benoit- Levy on possible production in France of “Beauty on Earth.” Benpit-Levy, foririerly head of the film division of United Nations, now is consultant for the MOT on foreign matters. He is also mak-- ing available some of his French story properties, of which “Beauty” is the first. He. would direct this if current plans go through. Such a production alignment would enable MOT to put some of its currently impounded coin in France, to use. De^Rochemont also may set up some production for the ECA in France. He will be gone from his N. Y; headquarters; about eight weeks. Sears to the Coast To Clear "E.A.-Area Snags ; (irad. Sears, United Artists preixy, trained to the Coast . from New York over the weekend for a stay of TO days or more. Mean- time; < his exec * aide, Paul N. Lazarus, Jr,, returned to his desk in. New York yesterday (TpCsday) after a week in Hollywood and Chicago. ' “■ ,• Main purpose of Sears’ trip is to clear the difficulty being en- countered by UA in booking pix in the Los Angeles area. UA head will likewise look into the same problerii in Chicago on his way east. Lazarus also scrutinized the situations iii the two cities, as well as conducted sales meets iri L, A' dUd Chi.