Variety (December 1950)

Wedne«dayt December 20, 1950 PICTURES WSE WHYS B.O. DIP Series of N. Y. circuit op con- claves on ways and means of bolstering business continued yes- terday (Tues,); with discussion primarily centered bn jointly-spon- sored campaigns to promote the industry institutionally in the N. Y, territory. Participants at the session were In agreement on the need for joint effort, largely through cooperative advertising and merchandUlng. Suggestion was made that the vari- ous circuits contribute a portion of their ad budgets to the overall bid for now patronage but machin- ery for this and a public service enterprise/ which also was taken up, was not fully determined. Meetings began last Thursday 04), as called by Fred Schwartz, Ccritury Theatres y.p. and general manager. Participating are reps of almost all other major circuits in the N. Y. area, including Loew’s, RKO. Fabian, Brandt, Joelson, Randforce. ' Cinema, Prudential, Rugoff & Becker and Readei Yesterday’s meeting, which was at the Hotel. Astor, began in late afternoon, recessed for dinner, and continued through late in the eve- ning. The conferences parallel on a local leyel the nation-wide con- fabs of theatremen, sponsored by S. H. Fabian, which were held for an exchange of views on how to combat current boxofflce fatigue. in Taking advantage of its currently strong cash position and the de- pressed market value of its 3^/4% . sinking fund debentures. Universal during November went on a money-. saving spree of buying the securi- j tics up in advance. It acquired $498,000 of the bonds at a cost of $481,102. Anticipatory buying of the series, which runs until March 1, 1959, is in keeping with U policy. It acquired $679,000 worth of the de- bentures at a cost of $643,923 dur- ing the year ended Oct. 28 in an- ticipation of future sinking fund requirements. ‘ , Between regular and advance re- tirement of the bonds, U reduced the issue from $5,430,000 oh Oct. 29, 1949, to $3,897,000 as of Nov. 30. 1950. That’s $1,533,000 for the 13 months. I'or the fiscal year ended last 28, ordinary requirements by acquisition of $356,- 000 worth for $325,455 in cash. 1 nese, together with $258,000 worth (which cost V $203,838) held in the treasury as of Oct. 29, 1949, were retired. In addition, $299.- 000 worth of the debentures pur- chased in advance Were used to sidisfy the March 1, 1951, sinking fund obligation.. , Of the Noveinber advance buy- mg. plus the debentures in the Ieas'Ury, $599^000 worth w'cre re- Vo- f ahticipation of Sept, h and March 1, 1952, obliga- to'Jlf’o a/? still left a balance of rJ.OOO in debentures iii the treas- iir.\ _;in anticipation of needs. ^ U has also reduced slightly the ‘|niount of its 4^/4 cumulative pre- jerred. outstanding. As .of Dec. 14, 1 iK'ld 4,200 shares in its treasury, /oinpnrod with 4,120 the previous month. ; ^ C olLimbia, Warner Bros, and 20thr ^ere strengthening lUMr fniaiicial position by reduc- jng the quantity of securities . on 10 market. Col increased its treas- jn y holdings of its $4.25 cumula- Preferred during November 3,870 shares to 4,170. War- riors acquired 125,000 shares of its oipn-ion for its treasury, currently hcilding 495,000 shares, h been buying in ^ SI oO and $4.50 preferred, re- orted that it had reduced the Himbor of shares of the $1.50 listed 1 York exchange by 2,- ' leaving a new total of 128.935. , ' iiiso acquired 200 shares for its ' I'oasuiy, novV holdiiig 48,500 1 HeilywdodI SerlptRr Ken Englund vndtr. th« Reman iRflutnce, notobly of director Viftorle de Sleo'i '7he Bicycle Thief,“ lets him^ •elf ge with cemplete Helly- weed obonden In o letlre en The Cadillac Thief on omuting byline piece In the upcoming 45th Anniversary ISumber of ■ Philadelphia, Dec. 19. While a number of exhibitors throughout the country are now shuttering their theatres in the wake of a dipping boxoffice, Wllr Ham Goldman, indie Philadelphia exhib, launches his third new mid- town deluxer Saturday (23). With these three houses, Goldman is moving steadily forward with his project, which is backed by the local Chamber of Cominerce and a number of businessmen's groups, to relocate Philly's entertainment centers in the heart of the city. Exhib has been able to open the three new houses through his abil- ity to buy first-run prbduct for them, which was granted him after two lengthy anti-trust suits in the U. S. district court here. He won not only the right to preferred product hut also collected heavy damages for his then-closed Er- langer. New theatre Is tagged the Mid- town and preems with ParamOunt’s “Goldbergs.” Other two houses are the Randolph and Goldman, with all three strung along Chestnut street, Philly’s main shopping cen- ter. Exhib decided to put his three houses in that sebtion on his theory of “Impulse buying”—^that enter- tainment lures shoppers and shop- pers are potential film patrons. Philly's other film houses are scat- tered over various centers and, to date, there has been no coordinated entertainment district. Goldman plans to operate his three theatres as separate ventures. Each will play a certain type of film and cater to a different type audience. The Goldman will con- tinue playing general top product; the Randolph is to concentrate on pictures with special appeal to women, and the new Midtown will serve as a showcase for long-run product, : With film industry execs be- moaning the way some of their old customers have apparently lost the | film-going habit, there's increasing pressure in the trade for a per- sonalized, door-bell ringing survey to ascertain the reasons. General belief among most industry top- pers is that“we’ll never know why people aren't going to their thea- tres the way they used to unless we | go out and ask them in person.” Backers of such a survey do hot specify how such a research project should be financed, or vvhether re- sults of the survey should be made public. (Council of Motion Picture Organizations . r e c e n 11 y turned down an offer by the Univ. of Michigan to do the job when the University insisted that it have the right to publicize the answers it came up withv) Buti according to one industry spokesman,“let’s do a thorough, honest job, without trick questions which will bring in answers to soothe but not cure.” He added: “We spend money to test titles, to learn audience reac- tion via comment cards. That’s all very well, but now let’s get out to the different sex and age groups and ask some down-to-earth ques- tions.” Survey, as visualized by this ex- ec, would ask adults: (a) how often do you go to filmeries? (b) how often did you go three or. four years ago? Ten years ago? If less now, why? Public would be asked, “Is it television, the cost-of-living, inconvenience of parking, trouble getting baby-sitters (and the cost of that), radio, double features, starting times, or what?” This in- dustryite would also ask youngsters whether they like pictures, if TV Is keeping them at home or if their parents discourage their go- ing to their nabe filmeries. “Let’s ask people in all walks of life their Impression of movies, of Hollywood, what , kind of pictures they like and dislike and what they’d like to see on the screen,” the exec said. “Are the old stars something they’ve grown weary of? Is the story more important than the stars? Let's find out whether people go to the movies just for recreation without know- ing about the pictures, whether they depend on critics (especially in key cities), word-of-mouth, radio commentators or some other medium?” Same exec declared that such a survey would also reveal the de- leterious effect that pressure groups, religious organizations, etc., have had on Hollywood prod- uct. In line With this, he noted that the motion picture is up against unfair competition when it opposes TV, “because our product is heavily restricted and censored, whereas television is not.” Philip punning woxtf iqtirteal In O ' ■ What Next? (Meaning, in Show Bix, of Courie) * * * enn of the many byline fedtiirti In the forthcoming 45th Anniversary Number ■. of On Additional Fees Of Pix Sold to ’51 Expansion Plan Hbllywood, Dec. 19. Republic is budgeting $2,000,000 for an expansion program in 1951, the result of a suryey of business conditions here and in Europe. Ap- proximately $lj500,00() will be spent on the hoine lot and the rest in the British Isles. Company recently established sales and distribution branches in London. Gardiff, .Dublin. Belfast, Manchester, Glasgow, ^ Newcastle, Liverpool Leeds and Birniinghanil J. E. Perkins to Coast . James E. Perkins, Paramount managing director in England, cur- rentiy visiting the states, left N. Y. yesterday (Tues.) for the Coast on personal affairs. . , Also visiting the U. .S. is Pilaclc ! Levi, major’s general manager ini Italy. 1 Hollywood, Dec. 19/ James C. Petrillo, prexy of Anier- ican Federation of Musicians, ..has | nixed offers of indie producers to pay to AFM additional fees on films subsequently sold to video. 1:. E. Chadwick, head of Independent Motion Picture Producers Assii,,. reportedly offered video payment of 25% of original musicians’ fee, plus about 5%;of video income for AFM welfare fund. ^ Chadwick had been endeavoring to reach solution with Petfillo since Monogram was barred from using musicians after being accused of disposing of films with AFM sound- . Chicago, Dec. 19. Product shortage now looms ^ likely in the Chicago Loop due to tracking to video. Petrillo, here for |the two-week liniitation on picts. Shortages Jan. 10 Washington, Dec. 19. As the rearmament program steps up, show business Is begin- ning to feel the shortage of mate- rials all along the line, with indi- cations ; that other shortages are due. Among steps of the past few days: > 1. Nathan D. Golden, chief of National Production Authority’s motion picture and photographic section, sent out invitations to leaders in the motion picture equipment field to serve on a Gov- ernment advisory committee. First meeting will be held here Jan. 10. It will be an organization session during which industry problems and needs will also be discussed. 2. Silver Sensitized Good Indus- try Advisory Committee—the raw film manufacturers—met last week to warn that any sharp increases in Government rawstock demands would have to result in civilian cutbacks, some of these affecting the motion picture industry. It was disclosed that the raw film in- dustry is operating at virtual ca- pacity today and that any major expansion in facilities would take about two years. 3. The NPA photographic ap- paratus and equipment advisory committee met with Government officials to protest the base period chosen by NPA from which to cut back allowable light metals. The group represents manufacturers of cameras, ^ lenses, projectors and similar equipment. It also urged war contracts quickly for its mem- bers; otherwise, it said, when the cutbacks come its skilled labor will drift away to other fields. 4. Radio- and TV were given more to worry about when NPA said it was preparing to cut back civilian Use of cobalt. This will probably reduce production of sets in 1951. Cobalt is used in mahu- facture of magnets for radio and TV speakers as vvell as othef in- strumehts. Cutback order is due Within the next fevv weeks. 5. While the President’s prpcla- matioh of a ktate of emergency has no immediate effect pn show busi- ness, the indication is that price controJs and w^age ceilings will be arriving soon. (Construction of amusement buildings has already been halted, except for hardship 'leases, “ Despite recent stock market de* dines, film company Issues were given substantial recommendation this week by Arnold Bernhard & Co., investment advisers and pub- lishers of a widely-used mar- ket analysis service. Published survey by the firm declares that the competitive effects of tele- lished survey by the firm declares vorcement resulted in the past month's downward trend. How- ever, the firm adds, neither of these will • “adversely affect the basic long-term earning power and the intrinsic value of these com- panies,'' Investment firm states it “espe- cially” recommends purchase of Columbia Pictures, United Para- mount Theatres, Universal and Warner Brbs. Subsequent recom- mendations are Loew’s, Techni- color, 20th-Fox and Paramount Pictures. Bernhard outfit concedes teler vision has made some, inroads on motion picture attendance but con- tends the movie-going habits of the American public still are not likely to change. Films, it was said, constitute one of the “cheap- est forms of entertainment and, as such, we believe, will continue to attract good attendance at the box- office.” Firm notes there was a signifi- cant, contraseasonal revival of in- terest, in film, entertainment during July and August, which reflected increased consumer incomes, im- proved quality of pix and lesser entertainment value of summer re- placements on television. Uptrend in theatre attendance, it was added, held through October but thereupon turned downward be- cause of increased teevee set own- ership and Improved video enter- (Continued on page 19) NPA OK s Bldg. To funeral of Joe Weber, ex-AFM I The rapid-fire turnover has seen all prez, conferred with Coast rep J, W. Gillette on the indie producefs’ plea for deal, and stated Mono- gram situation remains status quo top-quality product slated for 1950 release run the gamut here. 2()th has the highest lii-and^out record, booking nine films dovvh- Only outside contributing produc- j towm since Oct. 22. Paramount has erS, like Hal E. Chester and Jan I played five and Warpers four. And Gripp6, can secure' services of in the past five weeks Metro has AFM members for music scores.. . i squeezed ip five, . Washington, Dec. 19. Since the theatre construction freeze went into effect Oct. 26, Na- tional Production Authority has given the okay to 12 hardship cases and has rejected one, NPA disclosed yesterday (18). Construc- tion w^ork ^approved amounts to about $800,000. Six Of the projects involve drive-in theatres, six standard picture houses, and one is for a community playhouse. Following 13 cases were dis- posed of: Plaza theatre, Salem, Mass., finally okayed for repairs after an initial refusal, amiount not given; Loew’s Orpheum, Boston, okayed for $10,000 of alterations to theatre building; New York Life Insurance Co, okayed for work bri; a theatre part of a commercial structure in New York City, loca- tion and amount not^given; Spring- field ’Theatre Guild, Inc.r okayed for construction of $100,000 com- munity theatre playhouse; James B. Cagle, Peil City, Ala., okayed for $15,000 w^O.rk on a drive-in, 411^ niiles north of Pell; Milford L. Miller, Panatna City, Fla., okayed to: build drive-in there, amount not given; Giddens & Reston, Mobile, Ala., okayed for $65,000 theatre in Chickasaw, Charles . F. Vat- terott approved to. continue on. $178,180 theatre in village Of St. Anne Theatre, near St. Louis. Also, Great Plains Anius. Co., Kansas City, approved for $105,000 drive-in at Lincoln, Neb.; Copper Foundation,. Lincbln, Neb., ap- proved for work oh $150,000 the- atre building in Oklahoma City; Modern Theatres, Inc.,: Tulsa, okayed for $120,000 drive-in there; Lippert PrpducLions, Hollywood, approved for $30,000 of work, on a drive-in in San Francisco. Only rejection was handed out to. Mundo Enterprises, Little, Rock, Ark., which W'anted to do .$45,000 of wi'ork on a theatre in Alamo, Texas.