Variety (January 1951)

\ PICTURES P^niEff Wednesday^ January 17, 1951 Italo-American Film Problems To Be Probed at Wasbington Meet Korean Film Continued from page 3 I sales and promotion » campaign, I “for which the entire UA sales • network has been alerted.” Actual j producers of “Woman” are Mort Leave Policies Continued from page 3 j Briskin and Robert Smith, who ■ cel the booking were vehemently , worked under the Popkin banner. \ state any employee who completes denied by Loew’s execs, who ’ Film costars Robert Young and ; his military service satisfactorily i claimed that most of those criti! Betsy Drake. i and applies for reinstatement wit h ' cizing the picture had not even i Meanwhile, argument that prod in 90 days after his discharge. The 'seen it. Department of Defense, ! uct is endangered by the uncer-employer must return him to a meanwhile officially denied in j tainties confronting UA is dis1 job equal in seniority, status and s I Sale of 2,600 ! Lr»,? S i of Independent "Motion T^i/^t-urpc f’nTn si nar eom1 •. pni1 The IMen and So Young, So An Italian film industry delega-^' Ota. !;nforsecr;ury Par Bd. Member Reports I „,eamvhile, -officially deni ernr inviiciiiuii iiufii me j I. i * A.ssn, of America and the Society ’ Sale of 2,600 shares of Para Despite that denial, the Worker T_j -vr^nr.Ti Picture mount Pictures Corp. $1 par comi e^jj^orialized ip a Hollywood col Producers to attend a conclave in mon stock last month by Maurice j penned by David Platt that Washington, where mutual prob Newton, a member of the com} “Helmet” offers “further proof of Icms will be threshed out. pany’s board, was reported over : savagery of the U, S. war Composed of government and the Nveekend by the Securities & ^ against the Korean people.” Dsr film olfiehals the Italian group is Exchange Commission. He re. spite the Government’s denial of Bad” and claims to be still equipped to do the same for other pix. XJA’s Reissues Hollywood, Jan. 16. Faced with serious product shortage, United Artists is reissuing two Benedict Bogeaus 1944 expected to ’ arrive in the U. S. tained 9.605 shares. Report covers having okayed the picture, the around the end of February or “insider” transactions for the ; worker picked up previous reports carlv March. While the junket has monthly period from Nov. 11 to ; of ^ Governmental approval to been in the wind for some time. Dec. 10. 1950. Daniel M. Sheaffer, further its propaganda line. Workit did not become definite until member of Univei*sal Pictures gr’s editorial was picked up by Andi'eotti's interest was fanned in hoard, sold 800 shares of that stu; n, Y. Daily Mirror labor editor the trip It was his belief that the dio’s SI common in eight separate , victor Reisel, whose column is syn V. S, govcnuiient should have ex Iran.sactions during the month. He , Skated by Hearst, for an attack , „ . Lbui. Calhern Blanche tended the invitation rather than now ha.s only 107 shares.’ i against Samuel Fuller, Prixiuccr1 Yurka ^and mLld Woods pi ivate indu.stry associations. Harry Brandt made a gift of 900 j director-writer of the film. However the U. S. State Dept, shares of Translux Corp. common i In his first column on the^ pic reportedly pointed out that there slock which had been, held in the 1 lire, Reisel declared that if Kolly ment, a firm cannot fire, him without cause. Gael Sullivan, executive, director of Theatre Owners of America, said TOA could not adopt a uniform plan for its theatres. \ Aside from Hie framework of the basic practices, he said he believed member theatres would fall in line with practice of giving going-away bonuses. In order to bring exhibs up to films, “Dark Waters” and “Bridge ' j r of San Luis Rey.” Fomier stars , rpinrH ii Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone and ; Peff Wood "se^ Thomas Mitchell. Latter toplines ! '\To.v;mrv.T« T Tt 1 o «/%}■> k» 1 re tary of Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, sent out a bulle Re issues are set for February. was no precedent for Washington itself to invite such a delegation. It’s recalled that although French Forei.gn Minister Leon Blum negotiated the Byrnes-Blum Agreement Brandt Foundation, Inc., thus wiping out the Foundation’s holdings. Brandt himself owns 99,115 shares wood turned out films of which the Communists could make propagah1 da capital, then filmites should not of Tran.sliix; his wife has another ] object to Government investiga 17.700 in her name; Brandt’s ' tions of alleged Red activities in | action seeks damages of $3,900,000. i in service. Trust Suits Continued from page 7 tin to his members. Plans of Rexall Drug Co. and Lane Bryant stores were outlined as possible models. Rexall’s Plan Rexall grants military leaves of absence and credit for time spent Group life insurance in A.mcrica the diplomat was al Broadway. Inc,, has 750; and his j their industry. He followed that j Defendants listed are Paramount, , js continued for 30 days after en ready here on*an international mat Harday, Inc., has 1,400. tor and the film accord was later taken up merely as a side issue. But in deference to Andreotti, the U. S. government has agreed to a.ssign an observer who will sit Hughe$-RK0 Continued from page 3 up With a second column com M-G, RKO, WB, 20th, UA, Para, tering militaiy service and then pletely devoted to Army denials mount-Richards, E. V. Richards, ! cancelled. However, the employee of cooperation with Fuller. He United Theatres, and. Columbia, quoted Army officials as having ; turned down Lippert’s request for i an Army band to publicize the I film’s L. A. preem, and concluded: in on the forthcoming sessions. . , . , ^ ^ ; 46t> 4. *. 4u j r .n. Meanwhile, the MPAA and SIMPP ^^^ent is not being adequately ob, But that s not the end of the Irive already reaiiested the Italian served. i Army’s interest in this Fuller man. i ep.s to work out an agenda cover Other developments may inter | anhyhow? Hollywood ing their proposals and likewise vene, however, before either of the i leaders, amongst others, are the U. S. industry organizations D. of J. investigation is completed j ha\e prepared counter-proposals. (it reportedly will take a month) Italian industry is pressing for or a beef is made to the New York Robert Montgomery, in his ABC newscast, attacked “Helmet” from ! a different angle. According to Second new action was in San Francisco, where eight distribs, National Theatres, Fox West Coast, Blumenthal Enterprises and North Coast Theatres were hit with a $6,000,000 complaint. Charging mo is urged to participate in the National Service Life Insurance plan. Upon return to the employ of the company, the employee will be reimbursed for the premiums paid to the Government on an amount of I insurance equal to that carried un nopoly of firstrun exhibition in the i der the company’s group plan suit are Daniel O. McLean and Le ' land C. Dibble, who operate the Lane Bryant stores have revived their former practice of giving Embassy theatre,. San Francisco. monthly payments to employees I ^he armed services. Those with $11,000,000 suit filed in 1946 by I vpar’c pmninvmpnf receive between the non-dumLin<-“of Yank nroduct court. What may happen is some i ^ „ /vetuxurnK to : um/.uuw sux,. xxi x^-xu y ,g employment Tilt non aumpm» or laim proaucL. him, Hollywood was allowed to Jack Berman, operator of two spots oc<v Hiffprpnpp This would probably be accom ■‘^ort of deal between Hughes and i t wp 1 In San Die^o Cal He charged the difference plislied by means of a quota, but the Greene group or a concrete ad ^uilen^ov freedom of t^hrfilms in ' eLht distrfbs and National Thea earnings and peir mili obviously Hollywood will vigorous vance by the RKO topper toward ! j Those with five years* 1.. u « cenittrt xi-ioofT-o in jinib Louniiy. ine pioaucers or ireb wiin ui&cxiinxiiduuii. r>dbib ux |.ppp,vp px the Jy oppose such a limitation. Also ciue to be taken up at the meet are questions of remittances and censorship. selling the theatre shares now in : rr^+ tiusleeqhin Tffere are movec on' Steel Helmet gotsomestockfoothm'h .Vnnf, “" age from the Army, but they cer 0 n iionis. tainly didn’t get the Army’s ap i and National providing about half Greene and his attorney, Isidore i proval for their film. Army Pic ! that amount. the settlement was payment of $140,000 to the plaintiff, with 20th Particularly vexing to American J. Kresel, have been in contact for j film companies is the practice of .<^01116 time with Hughes’ principal the Italian , government in holding aide, Noah Dietrich. One of the off on censorship permits. By the plans under discussion is the swap officials’ failure to process U. S. ping of the picture company shares • duced.” product more rapidly, it’s charged held by the Greene syndicate for 1 that an artificial limitation on im tlieatre shares held by Hughes, j ports is created. Another sore thu.s giving Greene clear control. ' point with the Yanks stems from There are several variations of i the government’s invocation of a this deal under consideration, it is rental ceiling last August on all believed, one of them entailing a torial Section officers were amazed when they saw the script. But it wasn’t for the Army to say whether the film could or couldn’t be pro American pix. .shrinkage of the number of pic UA-Popkin Continued from page 4 Adjustments in availability of runs were agreed to by the four distrib defendants in the action brought by the Centre theatre, Centreville, Md., as the basis for settlement. However, the case still is pending against two salesmen, Columbia’s Charles Kingfield and 20th’s F. B, Klein, who were codefendants. Centreville complaint had sought damages of $150,000. employment receive of the difference. Maximum monthly payment is $250. Minimum is $5. A goingaway bonus of a week’s pay, plus accrued vacation pay, is given to those with a year or more employment. Under a year of store service entitles an employee to a half-week’s pay upon entering the armed services. and I. G. Goldsmith’s “The Scarf.” $165,000 More Goes To U.S. Pix From Germany ture company shares outstanding | Others which could go on an early by sale of some of the Greene 1 release sked include Irving Allen’s group holdings to the company j “New Mexico,” Stillman’s ‘Queen 20th’s Bonus Plan Hollywood, Jan. 16. Employees of 20th-Fox who enter the armed services will byi paid bonuses up to $400 in addition to reimbursement on their life insurancci Four weeks’ salary. Settle Illinois Suits Chicago, Jan. 16. Two antitrust suits with a com. not to exceed $100 per week, will treasury. There is said to be cash ! for a Day,” S. P. Eagle’s “The | bined damage demand of $2, , be given to workers employed 12 available for this purpose. j Prowler” and W. Lee Wilder’.s , 535,000 were swept off courtroom j months or more. Two weeks’ pay Greene, it is thought, is not cer ^ “Three Steps North.” i dockets last week after attorney | will go to those with a record of tain be wants to go through with ! Recognizing the possible conse! Seymour Simon announced that six months’ employment, any jsuch plan — just as he has been | quences of the situation, attorneys j settlements had been effected with | Studio will pay the employees* loathe to accept a position on the j for the other indies releasing ! plaintiff distribs. 'The two cases premium for National Washington, Jan. 16. Supplemental media guarantees ■ totaling $165,000 to U. S. film com' loathe to accept a position on the i tor the otner indies releasing ! uisinus. xxie uvo eases ; premium for National Life Insur panies for pictures shown in Ger1 board — because he feels that he ' through UA went into a Coast hud ' were filed by the Lawndale thea ance, not to exceed the amount of many were announced Sunday (14) niay be able to get control without 1 die yesterday iTues.) for a gen ■ l^e here, asking $1,545,000, and by | insurance they carried while work by the Economic Cooperation Ad' giving up or buying more stock as I eral discussion of methods bf pro ' Ibe Isle theatre, Aurora, 111., ask j ing on the lot. ministration. i a result of the D. of J. or court 1 tecting their clients in any eventu ’ $990,000. Amount of settle1 Monogram was granted an addi action. It is believed probable that 1 ality. ; ment in both cases was not lional $28,000 to cover out-of-pocket ‘ at least the outcome of the anti 1 Placed under consideration was i divulged. expenses in getting “Sunbonnet ■ tru.st department’s inquiry will be ' a plan to launch one or a group | Lawndale case was filed by Sue” ready for German exhibition. : awaited before any other deal is ^ of legal actions against UA as a ! Simon in 1948 for injuries suffered It was the only feature covered. ■ made. ! means of “protection.” Indies are j by the indie from 1939 to 1947, duri For shorts. Universal get $74,500,' At the same time, Blair, Rollins , especially concerned over reports ■ ing which time the majors had sub RKO received $60,250 and Warners & Co., big Wall street investment : the distrib is opei'ating at a heavy ; ordinated its position on Chi’s west $2,750, ECA exchanges American house, is continuing to show inter j weekly loss. | side. The Isle case, which was dollars for the guaranty amount of , est in the RKO theatre shares. It If Popkin persists in his refusal : filed last August, named the dis is now analyzing figures on opera j to approve playdates for the film, j tribs and Great States circuit for tion and earnings preparatory to ! the ensuing battle obviously would \ allegedly conspiring to keep first taking an active position to buy ' center around contract terminolHughes’ trusted shares if returns ' ogy. Producers with UA distribulook .satisfactory. " j tion commitments generally have a One of the problems faced by maximum of 60 days in which to Hughes in selling the stock is the i deliver negative prints. frozen coin in Germany. Warners was for the entertainment .short, “Rhapsohdy in Rivets.” RKO was awarded $10,0000 apiece for the following— “Border Without Bayonets,” “TVA,” “County Fair,” “Oiir DRily Bread,” and ri;i.-rinnr “ Tf tfo+c Cl ^100 theatre Company earnings Producer thereupon has the right oiainour street.. It gets _?1,5UQ , drastically in 1950. o£ re, lection of any e* apiece for “San Franciscot’’ “Oper at ion White Tower,” “Girls in White,” “491h Slate,” and “My Pal Wolf”; and $2,750. for “MerBabies,” Univer.sal gels $10,000 apiece nortediv were nartrciilarVv for the documentary shorts — were paiticiuany poor, I xy aiJuiLa fi-om an income standpoint. Whereas the pro forma report for 1949 show^s profits of about $6,100,000, the 1950 returns areunderstood to be only about $1,600,000. Last November and December re “Living in a Metropolis,” “In^ du.strial Lake Port,” “Water for BfcDiy Lands.” “Lumber States,” ■ “Cattle and Corn Bdt,” “Changing W Cotton Land,” and “Maine Harbor Town.” U also received $1,500 each for '“Fortunes, Mines and Waterways,” “Riches of the Veldt” and “Nomad of the Jungles.” D. of J. Pushes Stock Sale Washington, Jan. 16. Howard Hughes would be given a niaximum of one year to sell j Announcement of the “Woman” his trusteed stock in RKO Thea-irelea.se was made by sales chief exhib licensing deal for a period of three days after the deal is presented to him. It’s known the “out” for the producer could be to stall on print delivery, with consideration of a title change given as the reason. Alternative could be simply the rejection of any deals with exhibs. UA, so far, has held still for extensive maneuvering of this type, but is appai'ently getting impatient. tres under an order to be sought by the Department of Justice this week. Motion for the order, filed rie. w. T i Department, will be argued Kodak s Common Issue in federal statutory court, N. Y., Eastman Kodak has issued 1. on Feb. 15. 366.349 neTV common shares to , If. in the event there is no vsale stockholders, pursuant to recent in this period, Department deboard of directors action declar; mands that the trustee, Irving ing a dividend of one share for * Trust Co., should seek a purchaser eacli 10 held. . fo: the stock. Time limit on this, Previously. EK had 13,667,503 which is sought by the Depart! after Jan. 1.” common shaies outstanding, plus ment, would be tw^o years after • Sears’ press statement asserted 42.522 held in treasury. Il)e^ initial onq-ye^jT^perio^i.. ^ ’ ‘ ” Gradwell L. Sears. He also notified all exchanges that maximum bookings around the Feb. 9 date, at top terms, were w'arranted. Controversy with Popkin, however, docs not involve Sears for the reason he acted on the instructions of prexy Frank L. McNamee. Latter’s po.sition, it’s understood, was that Popkin, last fall, authorized release of the film “sometime run pix out of the Isle, and routing them instead into the Palace and Princess theatres, two Aurora Great States houses. The.se two cases presumably clean Simon's desk on local suUs, leaving but one case, the Starview Drive-in complaint agaimst the majors, yet to be settled. Simon, however, has several Outof-town cases left to be cleared. Tom McConnell, other local film attorney, is in the proce.ss of cleaning up the Tower and Congress theatre cases against Balaban & Katz and the distribs. Both suits are for alleged Circumvention of rentals and re-routing of pix into houses which the circuit owns itself. B&K has been leasing both theatres on a percentage-of-rental basis. A third case handled by McConnell is also awaiting hearing in Chi federal court. This is another restraint of trade case brought to bear by the Arthur Schoenstadt circuit for six of its houses, naming B&K and the majors. McConnell is also awaiting a decision on the Towne-United Artists stock case, in which the Milwaukee indie is seeking to invalidate the sale of one-third in N. J. Allied Continued from pufe 5 ^ 4 . AVOjiitl be .backed >by a full .terest in. the tlieatre ta UA. . dren in each N. J. theatre, with a regular theatre employee assigned to supervise. Juves would be permitted to attend theatres unaccompanied by adults until 7 p.m. in summer months and until 6 p.m. rest of the year. As law now stands, exhibs face grand jury trial for permitting unaccompanied children in their theatres. Proposed law would elim^ inate grand jury angle. While no action was taken on Phonevision, New Jersey exhibs held a lengthy discussion on new competitive threat. Feeling was that industry leaders should do something to sidetrack of stall progress of the new system before it becomes a commercial reality. Members said they realized Chicago telecasts were only a test, but they expressed opinion something should be done to protect theatre Interests before “something happens.” Theory was that Government would step in with a tax gimmick of some kind as no allowance for amusenient levy has been suggested for Phonevision. Government would face heavy loss in admission tax collections if Phonevision should become universal entertainment medium, exhibs said. Wilbur Snaper, Allied unit prexy, presided at sessions. He urged full cooperation with Council of Motion Pictui’e Organizations. .... ...