Variety (December 1951)

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DmcmW OS, 1951 AmasowntStock Qaobtieas For the Week ending Monday (24). N. X Stock Exchsrige ABC/,.•• • mm *••• *••••• • • * • • Cb^Pic.. «•••••«•• * • • • • • * Decca Loew’s . • • * ^ Paramount • • .• « • * • fj> e RCA; - . n •» » RKO Picture*.«. . . ....... Weekly^ Weekly. Weekly Vol. in High Low 100 s 31 57 23 32 62 138 41 467 72 * •VTTrr'T’" ” " • » RKO Theatres.......... .i£73 . ■ • i. *» - * "Jk o 11 % 34% 34% 12 % 9 17% 25% 24. 3% 4: 4% 10 % 20 19% 123* 57 14% 11 % 33% 33% 12 % 8 % 17 25% . 22 % 3% 8 %. 4%. 10 19 19% 11 % 56% 14% Republic ....... . ..... i *. 4® Rep.; pfd ; »■. . »> . * » -7 20tta-Fox ...*v.*••••.•• « o v 179 'iJn* Par.' Th . ...«•. *■». .■ • • • 212-. Univ."..../.V..., 69 Univ., pfd "<•••.••*•■ .♦>•. *6 Warner ''Bros.-.•. * * • .112 N. y: curb KMhfaie Monogram *•.... •. •■31 ^ 3% Technicolor ,».♦ •• * 49 22% O7er4he-Coimber Securities Cinecolor * • « < •.. • *.:-».»• •............ 2% Pjithe .m..*•»*»... ..........-..•* 3% UA' Theatres:..<.... 6$& Tues. Close 11% 34% 34 12 % 9 17 25% 23%** ' 3% 4 ; 4% 10 20 19% 12 % 56% Net Change for week v, * — % + % + M — %. — % + + % % % 3% 21 % Bid Walt Disney 8 , r ... r . .................. . V i {Quotations furnished by Dreyfus & Co.) 3%« 22 % Ask 2 % 4- 7% 9 + % — % + % +1% — % + % -r- % — % * — % Continued from pace a evidenced by. a discriminatory zoning for clearance set up^by the board to favor the Paramount houses: The Lebedoffs are claiming that the $500,000 damages, was suffered, by their Homewodd Theatre in con- sequence of the north Minneapolis first-run being taken away from it and given to Steffes’ Paradise, and also by virtue of the'fact of .clear- ance discrimination in the Para- mount- theatres' favor and against the Homewood. -The latter, how- ever, : never had the paramount circuit's availability, later granted Steffes, even when it was first-run in|the area, being . seven days be- hind the Paramount houses. Martin Lebedoff previously had exploded a bombshell by testifying that Workman, had instructed him to write a letter ~ falsely reporting grosses on! some pictures for which the Homewood desired rental ad- justments. This. Would better en- able Workman to induce his home- office to grant the adjustments, he told Lebedoff, according to the latter’s testimony.. . Workman's;Denial . “I never made such statements to Martin Lefifedoff,” declared Workman, under questioning of David Shearer of ^defense Counsel. “That's absolutely false,” \ % Workman was president of the Minneapolis' film . board of trade when it existed hack in 1932. On. cross-examination’ he denied that any'deal had keen., made with Steffes for the latter’ to drop his suit against . Metro in return for north Minneapolis - firstrun and Paramount circuit clearance for the Steffes Paradise theatre. This was in the face Of the evidence that Steffes did get the rim from M-G and the other companies, and then had his suit dismissed, and that the Paradise'became the city’s only independent' theatre to have a Paramount circuit run. “I did not..giyo any Considera- tion to Ihe Steffes * shit when I decided to take the Hhmewood run away and givC' itUo 'the Paradise and . to . place the fatter, on the same clearance ba^ls.ag Paramount cir- cuit theatres;?*. testifte$ Workman On cross-exemlnhrtOn. rW I Was in- fluenced solely by', the desire to find a market for my company’s product at the best terms which : I could^ Obtain, 'My . decision was based on the amount of film rental revenue, to be derived from the two houses and Being able to hold on to such revenue, instead of having to return it in adjustments.'’ Workman testified that on his solicitation the Paramount theatre circuit agreed to Waive in its con- tract the provision giving it clear- J^e oyer the> Paradise. He and branch manager witnesses testified that they themselves made decision to take away the Homewood- firstrun clearance.. and E?ve it to the Paradise, and the Reason was because the latter threw iu ^ lr h rental revenue to 2L hey hot act under any omeoffice instructions, they said. declared ma ^ er °* ®Q onom ics, they Defense testimony, has been to the. effect that the Htimewood always has been a marginal opera- tion, that thd Lebedoffs bought the theatre from the Paramount cir- cuit for $9,500 after the latter during its final year of operation lost $2,775, that the Lebedoffs have consistently minimized its grossing potentialities and have under-reported grosses on percent- age and. flat pictures,, and have re- peatedly sought rental adjustments. The defense brought out that after the Lebedoffs were granted the earliest 28-day clearance for the Homewood and the house en- joyed such availability for a period, they had it returned to the 56-day slot because “it was losing so much money.” However, they later had the house put back in the 28-day position which it now occupies; It’s indicated that the trial will be finished next week after being resumed tomorrow (Wed.) follow- ing a . Christmas recess. Before niaking his decision, Judge Nord- bye will have to study and digest the voluminous transcript, com- prising thousands of pages, and this likely will take several months. * Hockey Competish Eases For Maritime Theatres St. John, N. B„ Dec. 25. Hockey Is less opposition, to the- atres in the eastern* provinces so far this Season than at any time during the phst 20 years. Each hockey season has been getting longer and now prevails from mid- October to early April. For the 1951^52 season, the Mari- time Hockey League has extended the number of games to a record 90, much higher even than in. the National Hockey League; which has 60. WB Extends McLerie Option of Allyn McLerie, who played tee femme lead opposite Ray Bolger in the stage and screen Versions of “Where’s . Charley?”, has been extended by Warner Bros. Extension will enable the actress to continue in the London stage production of “To Dorothy, A Son” until April before reporting to the Warner studio, Par, DPT Lone Pix Stox Active Only picture company stocks in which there has,, been activity by shorts interests during the past two months are Paramount and United Paramount Theatres. Shorts holdings in .both outfits declined during the 60-day period ending Dec. 14, New York Stock Exchange report last week disclosed. ..Shorts trading, in contrast to or- dinary transactions, are made with the hope of turning a profit by the stocks going down, rather than up. Heavy short activities normally in- dicates lack of confidence in a specific company or industry or lii th§ market im general During tee October-Novemfaer Period, Paramount shorts interest declined from 2,755 shares to 540 shares. There; was no activity at all during the November-December semester. As for ynited Para- mount, there was an increase dur- ing October-November from 8,080 shares to 8,535, During Novem- ber-December there was a drop to 7,120 shares, indicating'that some of the shorts traders had run for cover. Famou$ Players^Canadlan Chief J. J. Fitzgibbons fovorc th« Return to That Public Theatre ‘Service* one of th* many bylini plocoi In tho npcomlng 46th Anniversary Number of PSM&rr OUT NEXT WEEK Howard Hughes has called a halt, at least temporarily, to his pur- chases of additional RKO Pictures common stock pn the open market. ■ Studio > boss and controlling stockholders original holdings amounted to 929,020 shares, which he purchased in 1948 from Atlas Cprp. Last September he bought up 35,600 shares, and increased this the following month y/ith the acquisition Of 48,800, bringing his total to 1,013,420 shares. . Report on N. Y. Stoclr Exchange transaction this week disclosed that Hughes did not purchase, or sell, any RKO stock during November. Backlog Films Continued from page 7 same week last year. However, the prospect that releases may be cut down a bit in 1952 will tend to rebuild the backlog a little. Another particularly strong rea- son why last year’s backlog was an exceptionally hefty oiie was the strike threat of the Screen Writers Gqild which faced the majors in December, 1950. While the issue of a minimum basic agreement was later adjusted, the top Studios took no chances that they’d be caught without product In case the script mill ceased grinding.; At that time Columbia was out in front numerically with 25. pic- tures awaiting release, 20 in the editing stages .and five In produc- tion. RKO was next with 28 of its 1951 release program of .32 pictures already completed plus ahother five editing and three shooting,' The Hughes lot also had about 25 scripts in preparation. Col’s 8 Completed Rundown a year later shows Co- lumbia only has eigjht , completed arid awaiting releasg. Curiously, another 20 are in vatioUs stages of editing and scoririg, ssune amount as at the,, end of I95ff;' > Only one Col film is nOW before"^he cameras. Rko currently * hW completed and ready for release? eight in vari- ous stages oftediting and one shoot- ing. Other lots have, their tallies siriiilarly reduced with the excep- tion of '20th-Fox, which' last year had 10 finished, five .cutting and seven in production^ Comparable period this year finds it with 17 either awaiting release or editing plus seven shooting. End of '51 slate shows Par has 20 completed or editing; Metro 14 completed, ight editing, six shoot- ing; Universal 19 completed and five shooting; Warners 14 ready for release plus two in production; Re- public nitie. ready for,the distribu- tion hopper, three editing and three shooting. Moriogram wound Up the year with a backlog of 13 pix arid one Western lerising. Overall compilation does riot in- clude Monogram, United Artists, Lippert arid miscellaneous indies which have around 40 pictures completed and awaiting release after the first of the year. While film issues on the N. Y. Stock Exchange have been rela- tively# quiet, Universal common was seen hypoed by the company’s disclosure that gross business for fiscal 1951 climbed to, $64,783,789, compared With last' year’s total of $55,591,081, Total revenue for the final quarter (14 weeks) was listed at $20,750,000, up from the 1950 corresponding period’s total of $16,450,000. ' . U’s common stock jumped a full point on Monday (24), closing at $12,75. Total of 5,100 shares changed hands. Investment Co. Twentieth-Fox execs who took a voluntary^ 4ut in. salary ranging ’from 25 Yo to 50% because of the outfit’s adverse. earnings will col- lect sums covering the full deduc- tions on Saturday (29). Profits advance during the flrial six months of this year permitted the resto- ration of salary reduction for the toppers, Spyros P. Skouras, presi- dent, announced. Earnings for the first six months of the year were down to $1,071,- 113, representing the most slug- gish business for 20th for a like period in years. Balance of the year is bringing an increase.. . Total of 130 N. Y. and Coast execs agreed to the plan which called for reductions of 25% on weekly salaries of $500 to $1,000, 35% on $1,000 to $2,000, and 50% on over $2,000. Toppers ■ received a 50% participation in the corpora- tion’s profits up to but not exceed- ing the salary reduction. . The plan Is to continue through 1953 with , the top wage earners to collect the; deductions from their salaries if earnings permit under the same formula, Skouras said. In line with this,.the prexy said he was optimistic regarding the future “with every executive con- tinuing his participation in the plan and working as effectively as he has in the past six months.” How- ever, he added, the conipany is still faced with difficulties. “Pro- duction costs are still excessive in . relation to prevailing boxoffice levels,” he commented. Col Ad Pitch I Continued from page 7 average filmgoers in its ad cam- paign, making use of mass media such as Life, Look,, etc., and sup- plementing these ads With a five- day video saturation of spot an- nouncements. Ads in the “highbrow” publica- tions are of the prestige type. Copy reads: “Stanley Kramer, pro- ducer of “Champion,” “Home of the Brave,” “The Men,” ‘Cyrapo de Bergerac,” brings to the screen the play that won the. Pulitzer Prize, the N. Y. Drama Critics Circle Award, starring the distin- guished American actor, winner of the Academy Award for ‘The Best Years of pur Lives, Fredric March in the greatest performance of his career.” Columbia’s wooing of these au- diences is in contrast to the think- ing exhibited by Warner Bros, in the promotion of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” also a Pulitzer Prize^-winning play' converted’ to the Screen. Warner ads were strictly pitched at the mass audi- ence, the feeling being that' the “elite” audiences would come au- tomatically since they had already been influenced by the Broadway run and the prestige, of a Tennes- see William's play. ; Vet Whodunit Author John Roeburt does an exposition on Prlybte Eyes, Leering Ladles, et al. In a kid- ding-6n-the-square piece entitled How to Be Hardboiled * an editorial feature in the 46th Anniversary IS umber of UAhiety OUT NEXT WEEK Some increase in gross revenues and slight upping of profit margins are seen for the majority of film companies in 1952 by Arnold Bern- hard & Co., N, Y. investment ad- visers. In its Value Line report to clients, Berrihard outfit singles ,out United Paramount Theatres stock as “especially recommended, gives Columbia, Universal and Warner Bros, issues a “buy-hold” endorse- riieriti and suggests that Loew’s, Paramount Pictures, Technicolor and 20th-Fox stock, “iriay be held;” At the same time, research de- partiriCnt of E. F. Hutton & Co. cited v UPT for its 10% dividend •rate, mentioned Loew’s “currently depressed” market position and listed Col as a low-priced stock for speculative purposes. Bernhard’s Value Line appraisal, sizes up the state of the trade, sq far as investors are concerned, this way; “Motion Picture stocks as a group turned in an erratic market performance. during the past three months, Most of them have re- traced the price bulge which curred in October, Despite the un- certainties of the future, it is 'riur • opinion that the problems current- ly being faced by the industry will not permanently impair the basis long-term earning power of the in- trinsic value of leading companies... Financially, most of the coriipanies are in excellent condition. Current and estimated future dividends provide exceptionally generous yields. In the main the companies undei* review are welt protected from excess profits taxation;” Berrihard omitted from its re- port the securities of RKQ Pic- tures, RKO Theatres and Republic, which also are traded on the N. Y. Stock Exchange’s big board, Value Line report estimates that Col will reach $1 per share divvies in 1952. Earnings of $2.40 per share are seen on gross revenues of $60,000,000. ^oew’s $1.50 annual dividend rate “appears secure.” The effect' of operating economies . should be reflected in widening of the profits margin, says Bernhard. Par’s $2 annual ..rate and antici- pated; improvements in 1952 art 'ted by Bernhard. Operating profits are expected to rise next year but smaller capital gains may cut earnings for UPT, Bernhard figures. UPT is “espe- cially recommended for substantial appreciation arid exceptionally gch- erous yield." Techni’s expansion program augurs revenue gains but the 82% excess profits tax may limit the earnings increase io 25c per share, Bernhard reports: Sizable capital gains via theatre sales and lowered production costs should boost 20th’s revenue and earnings in ’52, the investment firm notes. Wider domestic market, im- proved foreign income and tighter operations economy make U’s '52 prospects “quite good,” Bernhard comments. WB is “demonstrating a com- mendable ability to cut its produc- ing and distributing costs.” Per share earnings^ are expected to jump from, an estimated $1.45 in 1951 to $1.80 in 1952. ‘Bert Turtle’ Cartoon As CD Guide to Kids Origihal film cartoon character, “Bert the Turtle;” ‘ being used by. Federal Ciyil Defense Adminis- tration to demonstrate to school kids how to protect themselves should eriemy A-bombs hit cities. Film, titled “Duck and Cover,” was produced by Archer Produc- tions, Inc., a New York outfit', in cooperation with the FCDA and the National Education Assri. Film, which runs 10 minutes, is skedded to be released, this month, and will be distribbed by Castle Films Di- vision of United World Films, Inc. Cartoon character is also fea- tured in a 16-page, booklet. Tran- scribed radi program, featuring “Bert,” also is being distributed' to state civil defense directors.