Variety (May 2, 1951)

y. t. 1 W 1 H&arrf 6 WAIT-AND -SEE 1 ON EX-COMMIES Par Sales Convention Stresses Prod. Investment of $62,000,000 for 50 Pix cmphUk M* .. , rnMMIr ... durflM iild pffMTtUM VIor r 1 h JI * Wf pBMH I pcowl of ^ » v m Q i dUtrlbutkofl f". . u iL- 1227 4 U for ik. is wnmtt appeared aitr^rd they re *P- » cnarte « OTiwm Vi feat urea are I® the llayup Tall la ^em f ndfo ^ M ^ »i j _ far limv#nal mv orvtaa aa »■ X"***" * ,V7tmiSS ** ■<•<" * • **-MklU««. to toBM hj lb* ll nmitoir l MltoMl HlM nmaa »to^ lo »10»«00 ^ — — T b« rtonn la kto |»l( m **? by V; Fr TT a *. * *^1 * 7 W ' ln t’hr'.Mm [nVndinV iw. ■*** * the ( omimaist Party and Aa Scully explains H. prWr and itudio ('Olft» ea§ told dIstrt- ® ^HP OMTNpHflM POtMO ®€ w_ .«— ^ j o t a Li t•> t>u %rmi retlremmt by ha* l-i- —• sucTw •sr™ 0 ""”* - ^ ^ * t *** 4 J* MMftali > •» tlitJti. they're offered new rwplsymeot tfce TTa. Now that fce fcaa anore Rep»227GQtr. .. mm Mere than _lepefctte reported a net pcoAt ram RESULTS Major Distribs Reported Prepared To Foot Industry Arbitration Bill Hollywood to on what to | wltH Ha Wfclle Alan I Bill ScuHjr’o Enigma William A. Scully v p. I® charge of distribution for Universal. While there hoe been no trtba. it Is tatiee aou r e e e that they are willing to foot the lab for the ap e r a t t n® of a new arbitratloo ayatem to settle lo view of Par’s pi P and a display of In tbe future of the £~ Exhibs Demand Early Showdown tie Lorry Parka. Sterling Hayden and Mare Lawrence—ap- parently have few practical mam- mi A- H? P* * at this time. for Un rnce-rixmg — — _ _ I panV’a release schedule for period of July through December of this Fifteen pi*, representing a of $21 000 00 $. art | Misted to hU the screens during the itvmmlli span. Col® outlay for the 15-pir Mock was reported to r e pr e - | w " ■ * • vince the actor told the Nonas Un sent a hike of between $5 000.000 ^ . _ - Amerkno Activities Committee of and $$000 000 over program re »how®own on early pricing mi ** onetime political affiliation leased In the last half af 1050 pi*, an that Indie exhibs ran play Porks left N Y far the Coast last It’s estimated that the com p any ! oo availability. la in the offing weekend with pa complete absence a III have to gross between $20 000 * 1 ■ eshib i-. i— of bids from any of the studios i *.)0 oo the ala th vsed to break even , — I -Ijm,* |, the Tfi. Now that he r |o ha Ml-1 “h »h that officials of the plv | •■Pliably * **• tted party membership I M la u n de r stood that the r * as the one they A nance and set up to l$41 the original foment decree to tho tribunals to 21 cities, plus admluiatrative a If L coat the defendants to the I$41 to l$4d I of the to halt Lake City. A W. ftcfcwalberg pres of Paro- **to$ nf rentals as sooa a Film Distributing Corp after release dales have $2,100,000 Record Biffings for Wk. rHl- Reported by U Up*«tM *• UM**r»*lk nttow ZJJi'bJ nL rT UH...‘i ‘. .‘I'TtoSS CMrtlaued throucti th* IMI tot-1 Motion PVrlurr iMtu.tx ll/MPH NWtotly «topM«4 i quarter. wMrfc nM MmmU> ■’*•*•*>' r»1»to»l lmp*r with I.... _^ ^ « ( I would he on coil la F.xhib of hold tag arbitration roots lo a minimum If a to he enerrised for the sales do scribed the hypoed as meeting nhU i better " Under the average will from one-ond-a-half pis a th to twa and-a-half a mouth, or Ave every $0 days, largest num- ber in Par’s recent history. but there division of tad theatl While sales staff was given a thorough bneffng oo the and potentialities of Continued oo page 20* Licbtnu Gds Hike Ot $2,000, to 3G Wkly. in New 20tk Contract given Elisabeth Taylor at Metro, has a 1 sue poc a-year deal with Columbia to he a but there was oo Indication af when a bov e " the Arst 12-week distribs this wouk* be fulAlled. Metro mr it bility of i meanwhile, to withholding of "Love la Better " ■ill »"*' M I* seduce. Indications are that the . . . _ _ ^ be kicked around at the Allied 94 * t “ dk * States Assn, board umetlog In Kan- , tC i lib ^ Z. "> Allied mi "complete Ms Arst lion mi so and Its Aaan.b mind" oo the with a is expected 27) sas City. May I4JS. Bom* distribs assert they real set an early price an a pic until they've bad experience with It to the Arst rum to determim Its draw- | log power It’s claimed that If a Aim la priced too low and does a hefty gross, the advantage is all to the theatre On the other hand, a Aim with a high price tag which lakes a nmedtve usually results la a demand for aa adjustment by the exhib. Indie theatremen contact ad last week la N. Y. claim that this atti- tude by the distribs Is s utoterfuge, Years mi experience, exhibs say, have taught sales departments to determine well in advance what a picture is worth One indie circuit topper said he had yet to book a picture at a tos-kw price. Court Row Seen If Popkin Ankles UA only $12,024 to the to the for the week Him bed to United Artists’ differences with cer Harry Popkin assy to other distribs to the event there’s m agreement with Popkin on delivery of "Tbs Well" and "Magic Face. UA Intends to try and enjoio any other distrib from handling either pic. On the other hand. Popkin and Columbia already have agreed m gg ffflgf | 1 Al I "■ h 0 * ntoug au net nc Hvum a pUa depends oo reoctloA to re- *■ i port of Abram F. Myers, general log counsel, as result of talks with major distribs ir _ neys. Humors that Allied was op- w • posed to re-oslabtlahment af a ays- greateU to the history of the ror- ^ u iron out exblhdistnb so far as domestic billings squawk* a p peared to be dispelled It eaa claimed ky Myers’ statement to Vaaimr on Saturday <2A». I r Myers, wbo huddled last week In $2,100 A 00 C ompa n y's previous jg, y with legal toppe r s of ' • ■ IM H Uh NMWn W • Ml* < 11 *«*•»» >• , „ n -dim* <i\> m •>* * .( MBBOT MMOt mm- tMB * and that be aod topper William A Scully New peak came at the conclusio n However. Myers* approval af the af a oew sy s t e m to ay commits the national exhib to a new setup Ea- Wtndup nf the tales push was iCnattoued an page 2t* celebrated by U execs at a dinner by prexy Nate J. <27* at tbe lawyers of the sales ■ARCH FIJI DIWY Off New employment deal 20th-Fox exec A1 Lirhtman pro- vides him with s weekly salary boost af close to $ 2,000 weekly and extends his fulltime, active status with the company from one year to Ave years. Urktmoa originally Joined 20th oo March 7. 1$4$. under an agreo- ment which gave him $00 000 for the Arst year, during which ho was lo serve the composv oo foil time. He was to servo os a sultant for the next four at $15 000 annually, to the by a new contract calling for a weekly salary of $ 2,000 for Ave years during which he will "»4 lkli 000 s 2 uth hts exclusive servtona. This tmm ite BAJA 1 ww am proas a not ne ar ssneo. i sgomu ■ •• ^www^. — , , , hill he followed by Ave years of holdrlV ^lon r *ught during the under operatioo Ot the Arthur B hand In order to stem United Art- CoWoegs hU advisory service at $1,700 weekly month of 10 VJ U 8 Depart Krun syndic ale the distribs trade MU' deficit operation shapes up aa th-| ^ Only others outranking him. sal- , . ( ’ rrDOrted lA4t snd AnancUl position has been con- the key topic for discussion at com- ary-wiae. are prexy Spyros P t ^ siderably bolstered paays sales coo vent Ion which Bhnoras. who mrnw i- »- i *> In ^ ^ * I in event. UA Is Insist.! _ •■!»*-»'»* Thm% 1 W. and f ■ j- " to terms for that outfit's distribu- f . .turn of "Magic Face” Col. how- y . | ever, is holding off oo closing the f ?j} V bers are being deal to view af the possible squab ^ C *'■ u icing to pre- bie with UA Popkin reportedly "V, * ., '■<ivr- -ring ) ;jii- ^ 1 pushed hack ts last-run. i triha. including RKO. ** 1 Popkin has had both pix to the can for some time but has refused to turn them over to UA. Issue dates hack to the quondam Paul > TO $4,609,000 FROM ’50 QUICE PLAYOFFS TO CUE Wskhtngton. May I. t • l<, • position to give his prop — '* 1 ^ March Aim industry dividends proper sales handling Reason for his reluctance to p..njr'a g.* n- n. ally, who's oo a consultative basis with U. trekked to N Y from his Plori- for the festivities ;;i cn UA SAUS AGENDA duato Ui^Hulumailt H* m. Quirk liquid.liun o( produc t Ml ,*J" H. k. Cole Recoonesfs loshtihcw! fids Fur bin try n FAi Pbf s DolU*. May t. In what he refers to as a ary a. -dloo." H. A. mi Allied Theatres af T imends that t ha atm the major part af their Inch of to year Oo this who's listed as a sales exec, to only to Skouras on the buai end mi the corporation Annual stockholders meeting has art for May 15 to N. Y„ with the 1 $ present board membrrs all candidates for reelect ion They are L Sherman Adams. Robert L. t iarksoa. Wilfred J. Eadie. Daniel O. Hastings. Donald A. Henderson. Robert Lehman. William C. Michel Porter. Murray SUversion* Par Ups Bhmfitsrl Sid HI u me ns lor k was B national Nw rector mi advertising, publicity and exploitation at conclusion of com- pany s sales convention to N. Y. At the convention Jerry Plck- publicity director Blumcnstock Joined Par to 1$4$ as advertising manager and will continue la that capacity bUh hia For the Arst quarter mi this total pix dividends aggregated $$.- 7H0.0U0. contrasted with $7,575,000 for the same quarter last year. However, the 1$51 drop appears to be ooly on the surface Most of it to attributable to two factors. First. Stanley Co. of Aaaerica War- ner Bros, subsidiary, which paid a dividend to January, has not yet reported Ha total. Inst year th* figure was $ 22*000 Second. Paramount Pictures, while paying Its regular dividend has been buying Into its own out -1 standing stock Result Is that while the dividend rat* to unchanged, the total paid out to the stockholders | of its was $500,000 less than was paid during th* sam* period last practices, the lion s share mi any extra business developed by the that the tww films he delivered to it Com pony to backing up demand wttb a threat of court cago While UA to oo th* with new ma a hefty lineup of exhib goes to the distributors via ° their sliding-aral* deals, percent- age splits snd "other gimmicks ** I . - ■ t -- _— Com claim*- ! '< *! £>.*!!-* ifca tioa aimed to restrain any other weekly losses were around $40000 . ai syo daily In si- to pany from handling Popkin s pr»oa to takeover of Eagle Ltoo film that will be dead* • Continued on page 06* Classics Former operating nut nf * ■ ^ ^ ^ k * w a k ik a ww United Par Parduscs LarfeSacea Ydet Eqmpt. for 22 Hoascs ****** WkA *M * in ^ rnost oI th* multini additional personnel u My Tagged "Blueprint Far Tomnr- rowrthe sales parleys are slated to result to new sales policies to be outlined by William J. Heine aaa. vireprei and tales chief and programs mapped by Max E veepee In C' arflr nf publicity and eipi<»4ta- that the publicly reported dlvi- I principally to midwest theatres dends to the industry are about Purchases Include 20 seders from •0 to 05' • nf all dividends actually RC*A. the two other i being of the osid to the induatrv Paramount iotermed'ale Aim type ouch as now used to the N. Y. Paramount and UPT homes to 72 Shorts for WB Chicago Detroit and Minneapolis Hollywood. May 1. I Leonard Goldenson. UPT prexy Warners will make a total nf 73 said yesterday *Tuea.) circuit swoop. United P this week TV equipment for 22 . *? n ^l tkm Thirty-eight pix are set for ber nf UPT stands to which during the Arst eight circuit will present television. months of this year N*w "ju.povn. «W b* .MUIMI | A . W tv . MlvMuki campaigns for Stanley Kramer s Aon slit ut Iona I ■ | to the panirs " He Mated the In- far aa theatre operation to As for the Aim commeoted that if they emp* «'i n their ami then let them pay for It. Par Pdb Molly’s Strofs lo tho event Par; IP. % a will be pre- Goldbergs " proved sufAciewlly seated at tbe convention Joae Per- ressfuJ Aim romp*a« sppare tlly rer. star af "Cyrano." will address wag ^y to do a sequel, the delegates on Saturday *7* via But the pic’s a n drst h**xwfAce from New MHnmaa has resw'tcd lo a York 1051-52. to-j would cwntiaoe to buy eluding 42 shqrts and 2$ iToT additional iheaim- Invited by He toe man to iattepd Urn Chicago meyttog. change of plans. Par has ottltdrawn tho title "Moll) Pulls the Strings " seen registered with the Picture < *4 V •