Variety (February 1951)

Wednesday, February 21, 1951 PICTURES *» •ft* Any early sale by Howards Hughes of his controlling stock in- 1 tcrest in RKO .Theatres was seen removed as a possibility this week following the tentative court order giving him a total of four years for disposition of the shares. Sources close to Hughes said it appeared, on the basis of current trade prospects, that the longer he held the stock the more valuable it's likely to become. While quali- fying this with the observation Hughes is “unpredictable,” it was pointed out the HKQ circuit shares hava been showing gains on the N. Y, Stock Market steadily and no downward turn is in view. Through the Irving Trusl Co. as trustee. Hughes owns 929,000 shares of the chain’s issue. Stock quotation is close to- the five-point mark and it’s figured, Hughes can come out financially on top if he continues the ownership. This would be, of course, strictly for the purpose of investment since he is deprived of all voting power so long as he holds contrdl of the RKO film firm. Z Years to Hughes, 2 to Trustee Court gave Hughes himself two years in which to sell the stock and. in the event there is no sale within that period, the trustee was given an additional two years. However, condition to this was that that Thomas Slack, Hughes’ at- torney, withdraw his argument that the tribunal actually lacked the jurisdiction to inject any such time (Continued on page 15> Wall Streeters Burned Four years granted to How- ard Hughes last week by Fed- eral court in New York to di- vest himself of his RKO The- atres’ or RKO Picture Co. in- terests is burning the big Wall street holders of ,the two Arms’ securities. They’ve been anx- ious for months t\o see Hughes out of the RKO picture on the contention that liis- control is costing the company earnings. Time limit set by the court is felt to make unlikely an early deal by Hughes to swap his theatre stock for picture company shares or to sell either of the blocks of stock. Number of deals have been in the discussion stage with David J: Greene and other Wall Streeters. One of them re- marked following the court decision: “I don’t know how the whole spirit of the decree could have been so lost.” Dietrich Disposes of All His RKO Stock Holdings; Other Trade Transfers Past week’s reports on activity in stock holding transfers was high- lighted by the sale of 1,000 shares of RKO common by Noah Dietrich, the major’s board chairman. Stock disposed of represented his entire RKO holdings. J. Miller Walker, RKO vice-pres- ident, counsel and board member, was on the opposite side of the trading. He bought 2,400 shares of the RKO issue, bringing his share holdings to 3,000. Trader in Paramount shares was Maurice Newton, board member. He sold 6,605 Par common shares, reducing his ownership to 1,000 shares. Corporations dealing in their own issues include 20th-Fox and Universal. Having acquired 600 additional shares of its own $1.50 cumulative, convertible preferred, 20th now holds 51,900 shares of the issue. Same Arm also bought 200 shares of its $4.50 prior pre- ferred, upping its holdings to 800 shares. U removed 1,400 shares of its 4 1 i °o preferred from the N. Y. Stock Exchange listings, bringing the new total to 63,200 shares on the board. Meanwhile, Paramount has dis- closed results so far of its stock- buying program which was placed in effect last year. Film;*in the period from .Tune 30, 1950, to Jan. 31. ’51, acquired 328,794 shares of its own common on the open mar--, ket. .... ■ Par paid a total of $7,033,507 in cash for the securities. It now has 2,271,643 shares outstanding With indications the figure eventually will be brought down to at least 2.000.000, and possibly less, as a means of reducing capital struc- ture. Dietrich, Slack to Coast Noah Dietrich, RKO board chair- man, and Thomas Slack, attorney fur Howard Hughes, return to the Coast tomorrow (Thurs.) following today’s court hearing in N. Y. on disposition of Hughes’ stock in RKO Theatres. Both hopped^to Washington yes- terday on non-film matters for Hughes. Bristol Broderick, Dic- trich’s assistant, who^also had been in N. Y., went back to Hollywood yesterday. More fireworks are in view in the pre-trial maneuvers between Samuel Goldwyn and Fox-West Coast ill the producer’s antitrust suit vs. the circuit. Defendants now are aiming to postpone the ac- tual ‘trial, following numerous de- lays for depositions, while Gold- wyn attorneys will endeavor to keep the case in its regular posi- tion on the San Francisco federal court calendar. If it stays on the calendar, hearings probably will begin around the end of April. Goldwyn lawj r er Joseph Alioto now is in N. Y. to take depositions froraJCeorge Skouras, as president of United Artists Theatres, and 20th-Fox prexy Spyros Skouras. Skirmishing took an unexpected twist last weekend when Alioto sent out a process server seeking td serve the UAT head with a sum- mons to appear Feb. 26 to give his deposition. Spyros Skouras also was slated to testify on the same date, but, according to Alioto, 20th- Fox has stated he will not be avail- able until March 20. Spyros Skou- ras returned to N. Y. from Europe last Saturday (17). While latter is a defendant in the . (Continued on page 18) SIMPP TO MEET ON NEW UA CONTROL Meeting of the Society of Inde- pendent Motion Picture Producers to consider the shift of United Artists control is slated to take place early next month. SIMPP prexy Ellis G. Arnall is due in Los Angeles on March 1 and plans to call the conclave shortly after his arrival. Agenda, it’s said, Will he light, with the indies expected to engage in a swapping of views regarding UA, rather than mapping any plans, for collective action. . Arnall; will be. in Washington to- day (Wed.) and will continue on to his home in Atlanta Thursday. He’ll be in San Francisco early next month bn matters concerning his private law Arm, and then will go to L. A. U-I Sets Sinatra Pic Hollywood, Feb. 20. Frank Sinatra will return to Hoi-, lywood in June to s.tar in U-I’s “Meet Danny Wilson,” to be pro- duced by Leonard Goldstein from a screenplay by Don McGuire. | Studio holds a non-exclusive op- tion on Sinatra’s Aim services over a period of three iycarsi.' ■ , 1 Foreseeing the naturally conserv- ative attitude of- bankers toward their new regime at United Artists, Arthur B. Krim and associates have set themselves up coin-wise so they will not have to call on the financial institutions for aid in backing indie production until they have thoroughly established the stability of the company. They hope that point will have been reached in six or seven months. Result is expected to be that the hew UA setup will provide a hefty hypo to indie production. Along with the fact that financing! will be available to filmmakers with ac- ceptable packages, trade observ- ers see the Krim organization mov- ing in on UA at a time which is both psychologically and economic- ally fortunate to obtain a maxi- mum quantity of indie production. UA’s problem has traditionally been a lack of quality product on which it could count well in ad- vance. That problem has been compounded in the recent past by the intertwining hurdles of a gen- eral decline in the Aim market, the uncertain position of UA itself and the unwillingness of banks to lend coin to indies. < . B.o. has, already shown signs of improvement, and general econom- ic outlook is such that continued upswing is generally forecast. That gives the new UA regime basic strength. Secondly, this improvement in business conditions, plus new high taxes, has many players, directors, writers and producers again casting (Continued on page 18) ‘Kane’ Slot for 15G Author Ferdinand; Lundberg’s $250,000 plagiarism suit against RKO, Orson Welles and Herman Mankiewicz, over RKO’s 1941 pro- duction of “Citizen Kane,” .was settled out of court Monday (19) for $15,000. Settlement followed an order by U. S. District Judge Edward Weinfeld directing defend- ants to produce all statements, re- ports and memoranda of Mankie- wicz and John Houseman, writers of the script, relating to the first draft and later scripts of the pic- ture. Lundberg had charged that por- tions of his book, ^Imperial Hearst,” had been used in the screenplay of “Citizen Kane.” Case went to trial last November and ended in a hung jury on Dec. 8 after a 30-day court session, which set a record for a plagiarism trial. Following the jury disagreement, Gustave B. Garfield and Charles Trynin, attorneys for Lundberg, moved that the Mankiewicz and Houseman statements be produced (Continued on page 15) HARRY BRANDT SUED FOR 400G ON LEASE Harry Brandt, head of the Brandt circuit, failed to go through with a theatre lease deal in Coral Gables, a Florida realty Arm charged in a $400,000 damage suit filed in N. Y. federal court this week, Lu- jacks, Inc., a Coral Gables broker, claims that on the strength of Brandt’s ..promise to execute a lease upon completion of a theatre in Coral Gables it made all necessary preparations for construction of the house. When the Anal contract was pre- pared in June, 1950,. Lujacks al- leges in its complaint, Brandt re- fused to sign. Plaintiff asserts Brandt’s renege violated a promise and agreement the circuit exec made with it in November, 1949. Action Was disclosed when Brandt’s attorney petitioned for transferral of the suit from N. Y. supreme court to N. Y. federal, court, since the Lujaek out At is a Florida cor- poration.! v . • i , . Legion Frowns on ’Mister’ National Legion of Decency last week placed three Alms in its Class ‘^’’classification. “Call Me Mis- ter,” 20th-Fox’s Betty Grable-Dan Dailey stafrer, “reflects the accept- ability of divorce; has suggestive costuming and situations.” “Second Face,” an Eagle Lion Classics release, was described as “reflecting the acceptability of di- vorce” while Oxford Films’ German import, “Film Without a Name,” was rapped for its tendency to “condone immoral actions” among other things. Must Be Active Mary Pickford and (Charles Chap- lin will each have a place on the United Artists board if they so de- sire. They will have to fill the seats themselves, however, rather than naming proxies to sit in for them, That’s believed to be the position taken by the Arthur B. Krim syndi- cate which assumed control of UA this week. Krim group’ holds voting control of the UA stock owned by Chaplin and Miss Pickford. Board and voting trustees held their initial meetings in New York yesterday (Tues.). .Both sessions were perfunctory, since UA is a closed corporation. Chaplin designated his attorney, Loyd Wright, as his delegate to the five-man committee holding voting trust certificates. Miss Pickford represented herself. Krim group, on the other hand, will have three voting trustees, giving it the balance of power on the committee. They are Krim, Matty Fox and Seymour Peyser. Fox is former Universal v.p. and director and is a member of the Krim syndicate. Peyser is Krim’s law partner in the firm of Phil- lips, Nizer. Benjamin & Krim. Robert S. Benjamin, a member of the Arm and of the syndicate, will serve neither as a voting trustee nor board member. This is at his own request to avoid (Continued on page 22) SUMMER RELEASES MULLED BY RODGERS Extending Metro’s release sked through all of next summer is be- ing considered by sales chief Wil- liam F. Rodgers. Releases now are set only up to May. Rodgers said in N. Y. yesterday (Tues.) he’s considering setting dates for new product but first must consult with his M-G asso- ciates. He’ll also have to check with the studio on availabilities, he. added. Distrib topper additionally has in mind calling of a sales session but here again nothing , definite has been set. Rodgers explained he’s just back from a Florida vaca- tion and hasn’t had time to map specific plans. He returned to the M-G homeoffice on 'Monday. Rodgers figures on staying in N. Y. about a month. Following this he’ll be off on his annual stu- dio visit. William J. Heineman will in all probability take over as general salesmanager of United Artists March 5, He is committed to re- main at Eagle Lion Classics until March 2. He will accede to a longer delay, if asked by ELC prexy William C.,MacMillen, Jr., hut such request is thought unlikely. Actually, no deal has been worked out between the ELC sales chief and Arthur B. Krim, new UA topper. However, talks between them got under way officially this week and no difficulties a^e fore- seen. Heineman will take no con- crete step, however, until Mac- Millen returns to New York from the Coast over the weekend. While past association between Krim and.Heineman had led to widespread trade speculation that the ELC distrib. topper' would join Krim at : UA, the start of actual negotiations awaited the clearing" of protocol between Krim and MacMillen. Krim refused to talk on a solid basis until he had dis- cussed the matter with the ELC prexy. He received word from MacMillen over the weekend that he would not stand in Heineman’s way if the latter, could make a better deal. Actually, of course, ELC has no legal hold on its sales boss, since his contract with the company ex- pired last Saturday (17). However, Krim was anxious to avoid hard feelings and thus sought MacMil- len’s blessing before offering Heineman a deal. Krim also refused to make an actual offer until he was in the (Continued on page 20). Dick Powell as ’Cowboy Hollywood, Feb; 20. Dick Powell, who always wanted to gallop on the screen, had to be- come an indie producer to make his wish come true. His Arst ride will be in “The Cowboy,” in .which he will star, and probably direct, as well as produce. Screenplay is* being written by Blake Edwards, who scripts Pow- ell’s radio shdw-vi 1 . ■ \ Into UA Fold, Now Aims For Sales Force Vigor New United Artists regime is off to an unhesitating start in lining up new independent product. Al- though only at the helm officially two days, prexy Arthur B. Krim yesterday (Tues.) announced con-, summation. Of deals for three pix, two of which already are com- pleted and set for delivery to UA this week. Third, location shooting of which is slated to start in Afrifa on April 1. is “African Queen,” to co-star Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Sam Spiegel will pro- duce for Horizon Pictures, with John Huston to direct. r Spiegel is a friend of Krim and. his partner Robert S. Benjamin. Producer provided an assist... in their negotiation of the UA deal. Two pix already lensed are “He Ran All the Way,” costarring John Garfield and Shelley Winters, and “The First Legion,” starring Charles Boyer. “All the Way” was produced by Bob Roberts- with financing ar- ranged by Krim and Benjamin. John Berry directed. “Legion” was produced and directed by Douglas Sirk. Meanwhile immediate aim of the Krim syndicate is to overcome. the sales inertia which has gripped the company during recent months and get maximum coin out of product currently in release. Staffers were given that word at an introductory session Monday (19) and Krim further conveyed it in a wire to UA’s field forces. Recognizing that even with the immediate delivery by indie pro- ducers of the films they’ve been (Continued on page 22) ' Lothar Wolff’s Pic 'Lothar Wolff, producer for RD- DR Corp., Louis de Eochemont company, is back from Europe where he set up units for produc- tion of documentary films to im- plement Marshall Plan policies. Wolff was overseas for 18 months on leave of absence to head the film information program for Eco- norfiic (Cooperation Administration 1 in Paris. Wolff has been assigned by. ! de Rochemont to produce an un- I disclosed film. , > <> it- . , r f ,»; U