Variety (March 1952)

Wednesday, Marefc S, 1952 PICTURES But Mercer Plan Ready m 6 Week Decision as to the form the Universal-Decca Records merger will take is expected within six weeks. Committee of U board members assigned to explore the possibilities has completed its pre- liminary studies arid made its Te- port to the individual directors. Meantime- ‘U, in a renewal of its. Securities & Exchange Commis- sion registration this week, denied that it was controlled by Decca, though; the Milton. R.‘ Rackmil- headed disk company owns 24.7% of the common stock and warrants for purchase of an. additional 32,- 500 shares. “There has been no election of directors of Universal since Decca acquired the common stock and Warrants (last November), and to date Decca has .riot attempted to direct or cause direction of man- agement or policies,” company in- formed the SEC. “Decca will be entitled to vote the shares, cu- mulatively, as provided in the cer- tificate of incorporation,. at the next election,of directors. The de- sirability of combining business of the two companies through an ac- - (Continued on page 4) Johnston 111; Cancels After Dallas Break-In Following address in Dallas Mon- day (3), series of speeches by Eric Johnston, Motion Ficture Assn, of America prexy, on behalf of Broth- erhood Week were cancelled when Johnston came dowri with a cold. However, Kenneth Clark, MPAA’s chief hack, will carry on for John- ston and will read the latter’s speeches in the cities scheduled. National Conference of Christians and Jews * sponsoring Brother- hood Week, of which -Johristori is general chairman. Johnstpn’s Dallas Warning ' Dallas, March 4. Eric Johnston, Motion Picture Assn, of America prexy, teeing off a series of addresses this week in behalf of Brotherhood Week, spon- sored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, last night (Mon.) attacked self-appointed vigilantes who seek to dictate what films the public shall see. He spoke at a dinner sponsored by the Dallas Chapter of the NCCJ. Speaking in his capacity as gen- eral chairman . of Brotherhood Week, MPAA chief warned that “counterfeit Americans” and “bogus patriots,” who use the pre- tense of fighting Communism to impose their views on the com- munity, are a threat to our reli- gious liberties, to American ideals and to our basic rights as citizens. MPAA prexy called attention to the contribution American pictures have made to the religious life of the nation and in fostering demo- cratic ideals at home and abroad. Johnston said that although the self-appointed vigilantes used the protective coloration of. the flAg and acted in the name of patriot- ism, “it is the spurious American- ism of the -Know-Nothings. Veteran showman Pat Casey, now 78, has snowballed his patented nine-hoie golf course business into 10 such links in the U.S, arid Cana- da. He has sold franchise rights to 22 such operations. Steve Fitz- gibbott, v.p. and g.m* of Casey En- terprises, handles the outdoor game but Casey is also actively Concerned and is .currently in Hol- lywood supervising the new Cren- shaw Park Fairways in the Cren- shaw sector of Los Angeles, Milton Reach; /manufacturer of the official American League base- t>all and the non-lacing basketball, and one-time partner in the A. G. Spalding sporting goods business, (Continued on page 22 ) British Acad Head Set For U.S. Film Lectures Techniques and characteristics peculiar to : British films will be discussed by Roger Man veil, direc- tor of the British Film: Academy, in a six-week lecture tour of the U. S. and Canada this spring. He arrives in New York March 29, Lecture Series will get underlay at the Museum of Modem Art, N. Y!, April 7, when Manvell will speak on “British arid American Films” before an invited audience. (I.S. Uses Texas Department? of Justice yesterday (Tues.) again soug'.t to balk United Paramount Theatres’ N. Y, Federal Court petition for extending: by two years the deadline on disposition of 198 theatres. Department filed an. Film-makers today are breaking away from the traditional tensing patterns. This is evidenced on a variety of fronts, including the ari- nouncement that “The Thief,” next from the Clarence Green-Russell Rouse Combo, will be devoid of dialog. Ballet, long regarded as commer- cially unacceptable on the screen,: is getting a heavy play. Multiple- part pix, based on short stories, are coming into vogue. Arthur Freed and Gene Kelly plan to break with convention Via “Invita- tion to the Dancej’’ which will not follow the usual story line. Sidney Franklin’s next production at Metro will be a musical version of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.” Stanley Kramer’s upcoming “Fourposter,” like the legit play from which it was adapted, has only two char- acters. In short, Hollywood is treading the offbeat. Green and Rouse for about a year have been promising la big switch from standard techniques, in “The Thief;” They disclosed Monday (3) that the film’s story would be told via visual effectir with the complete absence of ya-ta- ta; They’ll make it under the Harry Popkin banner for release by United Artists; A special 11-minute ballet Stevens Exits Par April 12 Upon ‘Shane’ Completion Producer-director; George Stev- ens exits Paramount bn April 12 upon completion of final work on his most recent pic for the studio, “Shane,” Alan Ladd starrer. Stevens Was One of the original owners of Liberty Films, entire stock of which was taken oyer by Par -ini 1948. He and Far have had differences lensing policies, leading to his bowout. , Ronald Reagan, president of the Screen Actors Guild, has a chance of becoming the next president of the Council, of Motion Picture Or- ganiations. it’s admittedly a long shot and obviously all depends on whether Spyros P. Skouras; Who ♦ Industry attorneys who have been doubtful about seeking a basic test of film censorship before the Supreme Court found further qualms yesterday (Tues.) in the bevy of actions which the tribunal announced the previous day. All were well On the conservative side, giving rise to further industry fears that the court may likely uphold the legality of censorship by states and municipalities, Such a decision would; undoubt- edly encourage additional govern- mental units to adopt bluenose laws! A number of them have been on the yerge and would need only such Supreme Court backing to make the move. Only seven states have censorship statutes now. Meantime, however, the legal committee of the Motion Picture Ass of America, decided last Thursday (28) to give MPAA sup- port in the impending Gelling case; Philip O’Brien, -MPAA at- torney, is being dispatched to Aus- tin, Texas, this , week to help in presentation of an Order to the, Texas Court of Appeals as a step (Continued On page 12) MGM’s ‘Vadis’ Of With 'Gone’ Biz affidavit by I. B. Adelman, opera- tor of theatres in Houston, Fort Worth and Dallas* who charged that UPT holds the same monopoly in the three Cities as Interstate Thea- tres had exercised before its split with UPT. Adelman asserted that the Inter- state-UPT breakup was intended to create competition, but this never materialized. The Texas theatre- man also said that even Leonard GoldenSon, UPT. president* has re- frained from declaring that com- petition has been established in the area. UPT bid for more divestiture time, which the Justice Depart- ment is contesting, will be argued before the court Friday (7). Par Dishes Out 50G National Ad Drive Paramount Will be the leadoff company' in the Council of Motion Picture Organization’s 1952 na- tional advertising campaign. Par has Appropriated $50,000 for the special advertising, which will ap- pear during the month of April. Pub-ad managers’: committee, Which has been working out the COMPO-sponsored campaign, held another meeting yesterday ( Tues ), Session further solidified the plan by which the larger arid better- heeled companies would take newspaper space on their own, while some Of the‘ smaller com- panies might band together and use joint advertising. Par has not Worked out its copy yet, but Jerry FickmAn, company’s pub-ad v.p., is understood planning to devote about 25% of the space in each insertion to institutional copy for the industry and the rest to about thiee of the company’s top upcoming pix* Metro, 20th-Fox and Warner Bros! are understood planning to place similar copy at intervals of about a month. That Will mean that the nation’s newspapers will be carrying in- stitutional advertising ‘ through much of the year and the indus-’ try will profit through repetition (Continued on page 19) quence was added to M-G’s “Sing- in’ ‘ the Rain/’ apparently in- fluenced by the applause given the toe-art material in the same stu- dio’s “An American in Paris,” Samuel Goldwyn’s “Hans Christian Andersen,” now shooting, will spot- light tour-jete specialists in a lengthy scene./ Paramount will release “Encore” shortly. This is a J. Arthur Rank production in three parts, each based on a Somerset Maugham short story. It’s a followup to Maugham’s similarly produced “Trio” and “Quartet.” M-G has entered the trilogy field with “Story of Three Loves,” how rolling. Jan Lustig, and George Froeschel did the screenplay from three short stories: “Equilibrium” by LaszlO Vajda, “Mademoiselle” by Arnold Phillips and “Why Should I Cry” by I. A. R. Wylie. Players include James Mason, Agnes Moorehead, Pier Angeli, Farley Granger; Ethel Barrymore! Leslie Caron, Moira Shearer and Zsa-Zsa Gabor. Gene Kelly now is in Vienna scouting talent and ideas for “In- vitation.” ' He’ll be the star and director, with Freed as producer. Freed, who was in N. Y. recently, has stated the pic will not convey any plot material along conven- tional lines but he decline^/to dis- cuss what form the departure will take. Des Moines, March 4. Ibwa premiere last week of “The Greatest Show on Earth” (Par), held at Swan, a community of 194 population, fulfilled promise made to the township by the Ring- ling: circus 68 years ago. When, Tri-States.. Theatre Corp. heard the story of a Ringling prom- ise of a free show that never came off, it got in touch with Cecil B. DeMille, who wired the mayor of Swan: “It gives me great pleasure to invite the residents of Swan to be my guests ... in appreciation of the support given to the Ringling brothers in Swan, 68 years <igo, and [ (Continued on page 75) hAs been formally elected to the job, accepts it. SkourRs, Who’s been in Zurich, Switzerland, over the past two weeks* is expected back in N. Y. today (Wed ). He’s been resisting all bids to take the COMPO reiris so far because of business pressure. However, the industry’s toppers Will waif on the 20th-Fox prexy to Urge his fronting COMPO. That there’s sentiment favoring Reagan was evidenced at the COMPO meeting, in N. Y, two weeks ago. Skouras was the unan- imous first choice. But the absence of full assurance from the 20th- Fox prez that he would take on the COMPO responsibilities led to some discussion of other possible candidates, including Reagan, however small. There’s 'also some speculation (Continued on page 12) Arthur Mayer Just Can’t Get Away From Metro’s practice of publishing boxoffice grosses raked in by “Quo Vadis” across the country and« showing comparisons with “Gone With the Wind’- has Comp to an abrupt halt. Company had been boasting that “Vadis” was running ahead of “GWTW” in most situa- tions. Reason, for discontinuing. the published reports in advertising copy is understood to be a protest from the Motion Picture Assn, of America. Various film companies, through MPAA, for years have had a standing rule against giving out b.o. reports. M-G got by with spot- lighting the “Vadis” figures in a few rounds of trade-press inser- tions before the. MPAA clamped down. Arthur L. Mayer, exec v.p. of the Council of Motion Picture Organi- zations, apparently just can’t resign. With the belief that he’d be finished with his COMPO chores following the membership meeting in February, he booked passage to Europe for March 11. When the membership: failed to elect a suc- cessor, he pushed the date back to March 31. Yesterday (Tues;), taking cogni- zance of the fact that March 31 is “less than four weeks Away,” he admitted he’d haVe to let that booking go. by, too., Present; plan is to give up his idea of a restful sea voyage to Europe and instead fly in April directly to Rome. Mayer said he “just couldn’t Walk out. under present circum- stances/’ but that he was as ada- mant as ever on leaving the COMPO post as soon as possible, He figures he’ii have to stay, on at least a few weeks even after his successor is named, to show the new man the: ropes* Exec v.p. appointment is being left until problem of a prexy for COMPO ‘ decided* Trade Mark Registered FOUNDED BY SIME SILVERMAN Published Weekly by VARIETY, INC. Harold Erichs, President. 134 West 4Sth St. New York 30, Pf. Y. Hollywood 21 6311 Yucca Street Washington 4 1202 National Press Building Chicago 11 612 No. Michigan Ave. 'London WC2 8 St. Martin’s PI.. 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