Variety (December 1950)

PICTITRES Exhibs Warned on Exhibs were being warned by their trade associations during the past week to beware getting hooked for legal fees if they accept the invitation to join in the Philly antitrust suit against National Screen Service. Lawyers for the Philly group have agreed that their only pay will be 40% of what they win—if anything—from NSS, but exhib organizations in other cities are wohdering who foots the tab if , the theatremen lose and NSS asks the court for recovery of costs of defending the action. The warnings on possibly being, tripped for these legal fees w’Cre contained in a growing batch of, evidence during the past couple weeks that the exhib fraternity is. not unanimous in sharing the venom of the Philly group for the accessory and trailer service. Both' the Independent Theatre Owners ^ Assn, of New York and the Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana indi- cated lack of sympathy for the antitrust suit. Nevertheless,, it was said in Philly this week that 300 exhibs ' have aiready signitied their inten -1 tion of joining in the suit. | Philly action w^as filed in Fed-] eral district court there several weeks ago by Rio Haven, Inc., and Max M. Korr Enterprises, of Al- lentowm; Pa. It charges NSS with ''conspiring'’ with the majors to raise prices of trailers and promo- tional .seiwices, and to ‘Torce” ex- hibs to buy trailers they did not need or use. It further alleges a kickback arrangement by NSS to the distrihs. Following filing of the suit three exhibs, including Korr, formed what they have labeled the Na- j tional Independent Motion Picture Exhibitors Protective Committee. | They sent letters to all indie the-' atremen inviting them to join the action’ Serving with Korr on the committee are B. C. Bordonaro, of Glean, N. Y., and J. E. Penning- ton, of Topeka. Indiana Allied organization, in a bulletin to members this week, stated: “It is not our practice to urge any member one way or anr other in a matter of this kind, but we do feel that we should' not en- courage any mass action of such a nature fiuim our ATOI members." Reason for its feeling, ATOI states, is that it has always been able to take up complaints with NSS officials and “get their seri- ous consideration." Pointing out that NSS execs George Dembow and William Brenner traveled to Indianapolis to sit around a table and discuss complaints, bulletin asserts “we were met at least half way on those things that most needed attention." ATOI also urged that action be withheld until completion of the survey on NSS currently being made by a National Allied commit- tee. “After the facts are accumu- lated," bulletin states, “this Allied committee will seek an interview with NSS to try and work out any inequities and grievances that are revealed as common. So we would first like to see what the facts are, then have the opportunity of a meeting with NSS to see if some- thing can’t be done before we think in terms of lawsuits.’’ Both ATOI and the New York indie group headed by Harry Brandt made the warning on court co!5ts. i'TOA, in addition, passed a resolution at a meeting last Week called the suit “harmful to the best interests of independent ex- hibitors." It also moved to see that exhibs throughout the country W’Cre informed of the resolution, Warners to Set Release Plans at 2-Day Sales Sesh Plans for Warners’ forthcoming top releases will be di.scussed to- morrow (Thursday) and Friday at a homeOfflce meeting of the com-i pany’s district managers. Ben Kalnien.spn, veepee in charge of distribution, will preside over the two-day sales ses.sibnv Some nine district managers rep- re.senting the U. S. and Canada are scheduled to be on hand. Among honieoffice execs due. to attend are Maj. Albert Warner, veepee Samuel Schneider, ad-pub chief Mox*t B.'umenstock and vari- ous division sales managers. Sam Morris’WB Suit Back on the Calendar Long pending in N. Y. Federal court, a $250,000 breach-of^con- tract suit brought by ex-Warner yeepe Samuel Morris against War- ner Bros. was restored to the trial calendar last week by Judge Gregory F. Noonan upon submis- sion of new. evidence by the plain- tiff. Action was previously stayed by another jurist until certain vital material could be introduced. Morris claims he has a life pact with Warners which provides for a $300 weekly salary in return for acting as an “adviser’’ for the com- pany in California. He charges that he went to the COast shortly before 1947, but was paid only up to November of that year. Depinet-Gamble 1 === Continued from page 5 ==ii=J; , know before the week is out what j -the future of COMPO will be. [ I Should the results he favorable,' ; it is likely that the organizations , l.w’ill be advanced further coin by ! the Motion Picture Assn, of Ahier- ica and various large circuit oper-; ators. It has been living so far on \ about $40,000 advanced by the j MPAA and a dribbling of the 1/lOth of 1% dues from exhibs. On the basis of the telephonic round-robin indicating agreement ' to the new plan, it is believed likely ! that exec v.p. Arthur L. Mayer j would begin slowly expanding his . ■ present skeleton staff and move j into the public relations field on ai wider basis. More concrete action ! by COMPO would also be likely on the three boxoffice promotion ! i plans which were approved by ■ ' its board at the recent session in New York. Gamble Group’s Formula . Gamble committee has a formula ' for increasing representation of TOA on the board, and it has the approval, in general terms, of De- pinet. They’ll go into it in detail, I however, at their powwow this week. Depinet will then have to take it up with reps of the nine other constituent organizations in COMPO, particularly Allied States Exhibitor ASsn., TOA’s rival in the national exhib field. Whether Allied will go for the proposals as finally evolved by Depinet and the Gamble commit- tee (Si Fabian and Gael Sullivan) is the big question. Other groups, it is expected, will go along with- out too much argument, since keeping TOA in COMPO is highly important in income and preser- vation of its all-industry character. Once the ‘‘points of influence" telephoning has been successfully accomplished, it won’t matter too much how long the formal changes in COMPO’s board takes. That would have to await approval by the boards of the constituent or- ganizations and then another board meet of COMPO itself. Meantime, problem of collecting COMPO dues continues; While the directorate recently okayed a proposal for basing assessments on 1949 film rentals, ther^ has been no agreement on the mechanics of collection. It is generally agreed ! that the distribs could do the job best, but salesmanagers are reti^ cent about gratuitously piling fur- ther work on their employes in the field. Mayer has sounded out Andy Smithi of 20th-Fox, chairman of : the salesmanagers committee, and ’ Smith is to discuss the project with j his group. There’s been little urg- ency shown in the matter^ how- ever, since with the TOA dispute ! still in the air there's slim chance! of getting much coin from exhibs. | TOA is not even officially a mem- ; ber of COMPO, so its exhibs are; not expected to pay up dues, And. while TOA members are , not pony- j ing up. Allied can hardly be ex-: pected to. ; I Once the TOA problem appears I to be settled, MPAA will undoubt- edly chance a further loan to COMPO. A number of circuit heads have also volunteered to' make advances on their dues, ■ which would give the organization further operating funds. I North Central Allied Pretldent Benjainin N. Berger reprliei Grassroots Exhibs^ Vexations with the Distribs ah interesting byline fcoture In the forthceming 45th Anniversary Number P^AKIETY SALESMEN CONVENTION MAPS WAGE INCREASES Cincinnati, Dec. 5. Coliseum of Motion Picture Salesnien of America’s fifth annual convention, held here , over the weekend, mapped wage increases and other benefits it will seek for 8Q0 members in new contract ne-. gotiations with distributprs to be opened before April. Attorney David Beznor, Milwau- kee, general counsel, said requests will be for a boost of salaries and expenses, improved employment conditions and to strengthen se- curity . provisions for salesmen. Harris B. Wynn Jr., of Metro in Atlanta, was elected president to succeed Charles L. Dortic, Colum- bia, Albany. Next year’s conven- tion will be held in Denver. Other new officers are: William Warner, United Artists, . Los Angeles, and Ted Mendehnall, Columbia, Omaha, vice-presidents; N, “Pro" Provencher, Eagle Lion, Milwaukee, secretary; Thomas Mc- Kean, Paramount, Oklahoma City, treasurer. Executive board; Will- iam Wink, Warners, Omaha; George Ware St. Louis, 20th; Edgar Shinn. Paramount, New Orleans; David Williams, Eagle Lion, Atlanta; Ross Williams, UA, Cincinnati; Harold Zeltner, Metro, Chicago; Reville Kniff, 20th, San Francisco; Harry Blatt, Universal, Seattle; Floyd Klingsmith, Pitts- burgh, and William C. Bugie, Albany. ^ Catholic Opinion Continued from page knowledge that Garson Kanin au- thored the pic than by the film it- self. Columnist declared: “Appar- ently Mooring is influenced in his criticism because of author Garson Kanin, who, he says, is a supporter of Wallace and a defender of Ger- hart Eisler. 1 do not know Kanin's political affiliations, but if there are any pink Ideas infiltered into 'Born Yesterday’ they are way over my head." Kenneth Clark, director of in- formation for the MPAA, sent a wire over the weekend to all pa- pers subscribing to Mooring’s re- views. MPAA exec said, “I feel very deeply and sincerely that the picture gives warmth and positive support to the democratic ideals, principals and institutions of America." Clark asks editors to see the pic themselves. “Born" has not yet been rated by the Legion of Decency, Catholic church reviewing group, incidental- ly, last week placed “The Sinners," French drama, in its “C or Con- denmed" category. Written and di- rected by Julien Duvivier, the film is being released in this conutry by Lopert Films. It has already played its New York first-run. Allied Stotft Proxy [ Trueman T. Reml»usch voices the current •xhibiter perspective and concluder My Theatres Are Not For Sale # O' ■ * one of the mony editpridi feotiires In the upcoming 45til Anniversary Number WedueBclay, December 6, 1950 One of the aspects of Howard Hughes’ management of RKO that is equally baffling to large Wall street shareholders and the com-* pany’s distribution execs was pointed up in the 1951 product an^ nouncemetit released Monday (4). It states that 75% of the pix for next year are already completed. Big question is why, with 24 finished films available, Hughes has refused to allow RKO to distribute anything jnore than a mere trickle of product during the past four months. Result of holding back releases has cost RKO a fortune, losses of the distributing company having mounted to more than $100,000 during some weeks. No one has much doubt that the RKO topper has some aim in piling up losses for this year and product for next, but the question is—^what? Alperson Buys Rights To ^Star/ ‘Young in Heart’ Hollywood, Dec. 5. Negatives and full rights to “Star Is Born" and “Young In Heart" have been purchased from David p.^Selznick by Edward L. Alper- sori, who’ll probably remake “Star" at a later date. Pic stars Fredric March and Janet Gay nor. Latter also toplines"Heart," with Douglas Fairbanks^ Jr., and Paulette God- dard. 1 Re-release is possible, but Alper- sort says plans are still very ten- tative. RKO Buyers Continued from pace 3 s i sSiSm Corp., which would actually ac- quii'e the houses, is understood to have $1,000,000 in cash available to swing the deal. Hitclv is whether Hughes w’ould accept this against the total price of about $6,500,000 for his stock. He -owns 929,000 shares for which the Brandt syndicate is offering $7 per. The balance of the total pur- chase price w’ould be paid Hughes over the liext three years. Warner, according to Wall street reports, went to the Coast for huddles with C. J. Tevlin, one of Hughes’ principal lieutenants. War- ner is said to have no association with a syndicate of Canadians who were reported last week to have been in negotiations with Hughes on buying production-distribution company control to the extent of drawing up a contract. Price men- tioned was $6i500,Q00, Other Potential Buyers No further word was available on reports that after the Canadian deal had definitely fallen through some six weeks ago, the group again had reps on the Coast for talks with Hughes’ execs last week. It has since been learned, incident- ally, that the Hughes toppers have also talked to other potential buy- ers for the picture company aside from the unidentified Canadians and Warner. • Most important of the Wall street shareholders in RKO is David J. GreCne. He reportedly controls more than 300,000 shares, making him easily the second larg- est holder to Hughes. While some- what perturbed at Hughes’ man- ner of operating, the company* Greene is believed to be concilia- tory in his attitude. He is under- stood to feel that such radical ac- tion as a proxy fight into which Hughes might well pour millions of dollars—is uifmecessary. He is thought to believe that the large minority stockholders can get pretty much what they want with- out a big fight. Hughes, is under obligation of an antitrust decree to divorce the pro- duction-distribution from the the- atre circuit operation of RKO by Jan. 1 . While other stockholders will get a share in each of the two new companies formed after di- vorcement, Hughes must give up his holdings in one or the other. He has informed the New York statutory court that heard the anti- trust proceedings that he will, give up his theatre interest. However, it is believed (hat his decision is not irrevocable, although the action on the picture company sale more likely means that he is getting out of ^ RKO altogether rathen than switching his interest to the circuit. WitJi the Jan. 1 deadline nearing, Brandt group figures time is work- ing on its side in forcing Hughies to sell to it. However, Noah Die- trich, Hughes’ chief lieutenant, told Variety some weeks ago that plan was to put the theatre shares in trusteeship. _ While Brandt cohorts maintain that trusteeship would be disad-1 vaniageous to Hughes in that he’d' lose control of the stock, Dietrich ' said it would be favorable, since It i vyould enable him to continue get- ^ ting the theatre income. i B.0; Rivals in Legit, Play Next Door as Pix Two legit shovvs which vied for top boxoffice honors in. N. Y. a couple of seasdns back* will renevv the rivalry shortly on Broadway, but in film form. Universal, which paid $1,000,000 for thcs screen rights,will open its adaptation of ‘•Harvey" at the Astor on Dec. 20. Columbia’s "Born Yeslerday" will move into the competition five days later when it tenants the Victoria next door. Rights to the latter film cost Columbia $750,000. Slated as another entry for the Broadway b.o. sweepstakes at the holiday season is 20th-Fox’s “Mud- lark," which recently earned Com^ mand Performance honors in Eng- land.' Film preems at the RlvoU on Dec. 21. L U’s Harmony Continued from page 4 reported recently as exercising the whip hand in U. Actually, the in- ternal workings of the setup have been relatively smooth considering the diversity of interest of the Brit** ish producer, the American man- agement and the Spitz-Goetz group, which got its stock through merger with U of its International produc- tion unit. Rank, it is said, has “asked for nothing that he hasn’t received,” vvliile the American group has re- ceived the same treatment from him. Spitz, Ijt is agreed, has been playing an increasingly important role in top-echelon decision-mak- ing, but not a dominant one and not‘one that isn’t in harmony with that of Blumberg and Rank. Giving rise to the more recent reports that Rank was trying to dominate was undoubtedly the withdrawal of Joseph Seidelman as foreign chief some months ago and more recent appointment of Daff to the worldwide sales post. Seidel- mari’s resignation was admittedly ! the result of ill-feeling between him and John Davis, Rank’s chief lieutenant. Daff, it is equally true, is un- doubtedly favored by Rank and Davis. However, refuting the idea that this means he is not similarly approved by the Spitz and Blum- berg groups is the fact that he was originally suggested for the world- wide job by Spitz. Feldman’s appointment last week involved a lower-echelon political situation that resulted in resigna- tion of A. J. O’Keefe. Latter had been as.sistant general salesman- ager for the past five years and it was originally supposed that he would become domestic sales chief wheh-William A. Scully left.; Scully decided to go into a semi-retire- ment consultant status about six weeks ago. . Mariagemeht’s naming of Feldr , man to the Scully vacancy is be- lieved to have influenced O’Keefe’s decision to Walk. Feldman was under O’Keefe as eastern salesman- ager for the past year. Before that he was western sales manager for four years. He joined U in 1929 as a salesman and was rsoon pro- moted to manager of the Denver office, with regular advancements Since then. v O’Keefe was with U for 20 years, risipg from branch to district to western salesmanager priol to his appointment as assistant general salesmanager: Technically, the new domestic sales topper won’t actually fill Scully’s shoes. Scully was v.p. in charge of distribution, a post that is unfilled, inasmuch as Daff was jumped from foreign chief to the newly-created post of worldwide sales head.