Variety (April 1953)

> Yates Sees New Klondike for Rep Via TV, Raps Exhibs’ “Short Money 0 Television represents a vaAt, new* «ales fieltf for Republic Pictures’ 1 products, prexjf Herbert 3 Yates told stockholders yesterday (Tues.) nt the company’s annual meet in New York. He cited FCC reports to show that with the recent lift of the TV station freeze between <150-400 outlets would be operating In the U. S. by the end of the year. Along with the domestic TV mar- ket Yates declared, when commer- cial video comes to Europe, South America and other world markets “I wouldn’t consider an offer of $25,000,000 for. our old pictures and I see more profit for our com- pany in the next two years than we’ve ever had before—even 'better than with the jam-packed houses during the war years. ' Reviewing operations of Rep’s TV subsidiary, Hollywood Televi- sion Service, Yates disclosed that the firm’s total contracts in its first 15 months in business averaged $4,000,000. Vintage of HTS prod- uct runs from 1935 through 1943. Moreover, the Rep chief added, “we anticipate collecting around $3,000,000 this year.” Aside from selling old films to TV, Yates noted that the company is reaping hefty revenue from laboratory operations in servicing TV pic producers. A new plant will open o.n the Coast May 1 to handle lab business while another has been functioning in New York for the past eight months and is “averaging $1,250 weekly profit.” “Isn’t it' true,” a stockholder asked “that there have been ex- hibitor complaints about the com- pany’s sale of films to TV?” Yates (Continued on page 15) Polaroid Vs. Depix Corp., Alvin M. Marks in Action On Patent Infringement! Depix Corp. and Alvin M. Marks were named defendants in a patent infringement suit filed against them in U. S. District Court at Cambridge, Mass. Monday (6) by Polaroid Corp., manufacturers of Polaroid viewers used in seeing 3-D pix. The action followed a similar infringement charge filed in the same court last February by Depix and Marks against Polaroid. Marks holds a 1938 patent on the polar- ized sheet material from which the glasses are manufactured. Matthew Fox, who controls De- pix, disclosed in N. Y. yesterday (Tues.) that Depix was considering going to the Justice Dept, with its complaint against Polaroid' which, he said, was trying to monopolize the market. Polaroid could not supply the current demand for viewers, he held, and should wel- come relief. 'Polaroid is currently turning out about 12,4)00,000 throwaway glasses a month. The Depix capacity is i stepped up from the current 100,000 a day to where it’s ex- pected to turn out 1,000,000 a day by the end of April, according to Fox. Depix viewers are adjustable. The Polaroid suit charged in- fringement of U. S. letters patent 2 ’ 23 V,567, No. 2,328,219, No. *,454,515 and reissue No. 23,297. Jt further alleged that the Depix trademark, "Polalite,” constitutes an infringement on the Registered trademark, Polaroid. Suit, describ- ing infringements as willful and deliberate, asks treble damages. BANK’S BACKLOG OF 20 FORECLOSED PIX Bank of America now has a back- log of 20 old theatrical pictures, lle result of foreclosures. Most recent are Robert Rfckin’s ‘‘Magic Edward J. Leven’s “Second ^ounce and “The Fabulous Dor- Another of the bank’s foreclosed -VArch of Triumph,” which Artists is distributing in r'\ but no domestic, distric- ting deal has been set. - Airy Drive-Ins Air-conditioned drive - ins may be the next ozoner im- provement to plague ops of conventional houses. Equipment manufacturers reportedly are working on individual cooling units, oper-, ated from a central system,* which can be placed in each car similar to the sound units currently employed. Heat- waves, in the past, have oc- casionally dented ozoner biz. Metro Still Mum On Screens, 3-D Although committed to 20th- Fox’s Cinemascope, Metro is main- taining silence in the 3-D and wide- screen sweepstakes. According to veepee and treasurer Charles Mos- kowitz, the studio “is still studying various processes.” In addition, Moskowitz added: “I’m waiting for the studio to advise me.” A Coast report indicated that production chief Dore Schary, just back from a vacation, would spend time examining footage prepared by studio technicians in the various new screen developments. Despite consistent reports that M-G would film in Cinemascope “Knights of the Round Table,” slated for film- ing later this month in England, there were indications that an offi- cial decision had not yet been de- termined. Metro, it’s noted, has experimented with other wide- screen methods as well. Metro’s course in 3-D with specs is also uncertain. It has completed in its own MetroVision process, “Arena,” billed as the first three- dimension western. Company pre- viously announced that it would make another picture, “Rope’6 End,” in this process, too. How- ever, there have been reports that (Continued on page 22) C0MP0 Exhib-Piroducer Confab Off Till Fall Symposium on exhib-producer problems and how the two sides can work together, as planned by the Council of Motion Picture Or- ganizations, now appears off until about the end of the year. Origin- ally set for last February, the get- together had .been put off tempo- rarily. By pushing the conclave back another six to nine months, it’s felt, there will be a better chance of appraising 3-D and widescreen trends. It would be difficult*to give a meeting of that type at this time any direction because of the con- fusion over 3-D and the various and conflicting plans mapped by the studios. Key exhibs from all parts of the country are expected to attend the seminar, which is slated ^ to take place in Hollywood. Studio heads and producers also will sit in. Broidy to Huddle on Sales Meet With AA’s N.Y. Brass Allied Artists prexy Steve Broidy is scheduled to arrive in New York today (Wed.) to confer with sales chief Morey Goldstein, veepee Ed Morey and foreign chief Norton V. Ritchey on the company’s interna- tional sales convention slated to be held May 18-20 at the Roney-Plaza Hotel in Miami. Broidy made the trip east via Chicago and Washington. During his Chi stopoff he huddled with AA exchange manager Nat Nathan- son. Meantime, ad-pub head John Flinn arrived in town over the weekend after a brief Miami stay to lay the groundwork for the up- coming 'conclave. He'll probably head west with Broidy tomorrow (Thurs.) or Friday. With 3-D uncertainties cutting down on production schedules and summer once again around the. corner, the distribs are getting ready/to give their oldies another whirl. Reissues have been set by a number of the majors, with RKO and Metro pacing the field and 20th-Fox not far behind. Compa- nies are more careful than in previous years to pick only sure- fire winner for re-release, and in line with this reasoning are doing extensive testing in the field be- fore setting pix for national re- lease. . According to William C. Gehring, 20th sales exec, it’s a mistake to revive films that have had a medi- ocre run at the b. o. “It only makes sense to reissue hits. There’s no use hoping to make up for book- ings a picture didn’t get on its original run,” he said. * Gehring intends to reissue 12 pix during 1953, broken up in packages of two complimentary ,films at a time. Unusual duo slated for May, for instance, will be “Gentlemen’s Agreement” and “The Snake Pit.” July package (Continued on page 20) B’way "Entry of Majors’ Stereopix Seen Big Test Of 3-D With Polaroids What appears to shape up as the first important test of the 3-D sys- tem requiring tjie use of Polaroid specs is the opening this week on Broadway of a pair of stereopix from two major companies—Co- lumbia and Warner. Bros. Col’s en- try, “Man in the Dark,” a sepia effort, preemed yesterday .(Tues.) at the Globe Theatre, while the Warner contender, “House of Wax,” a tinter in WarnerColor plus WarnerPhoniq sound, debuts . tomorrow night (Thurs.) at the Paramount. Pulling power of these films will be observed carefully by trade- sters to determine if 3-D with specs is a novelty or if it ban be set down as & longrange product for the industry. With the increas- ing number of widescreen devel- opments being announced each day, there has been a tendency to downbeat stereopix. However, Jack L. Warner, WB production chief, has been extremely high on -this process, terming it the only true three-dimension process despite the claims of the widescreen ad- herents. His confidence in the polaroid-type 3-D was further pointed up this week with the an- nouncement that the Alfred Hitch- cock screen version of “Dial M for Murder” will be filmed in 3-D in the Warners’ own-developed process. ‘ * Although burned at Col's rush- (Continued on page 18) King Bros. Acquire U.S. Rights to German 3-D Hollywood, April 7. King Brothers will distribute in the United States a new German 3-D process developed by the Zeiss Icon company of Stuttgart, prexy Frank King reported on his return from a month's trip to Europe, New process uses only, a "singlfe strip film, single projector. It re- quires Polaroid glasses. Camera uses prism instead of mirrors. Special device attached to projec- tor lens gives the 3-D effect. King said Zeiss is still perfecting stereophonic sound to go with the photographic process, declaring that it will be ready within 60 days. Kings will use the process first on “Two-Headed Spy,” which they’ll produce in Germany after finishing “Carnival,” which rolls in Munich June 1. “Carnival,” to be made both in English and German versions, will be filmed in an American 3-D process, since the Zeiss system won’t be ready in time. 20th Mgt, Green Group Trade Blows; Both Sides Fde Proxies With SEC Grudge-Fight? Personal grudge element ap- parently enters into the Charles Green proxy fight at 20th-Fox. As Green told it last week, he and his wife were visiting the Coast last summer and wanted to tour the 20th studio. Harry Brand, 20th studio ad-pub head, refused, saying, according to Green: “Do you think we can do this' for every stobkholder?” After some verbal jousting, Brand finally remarked: “If you don’t like it, go get control of the company.” - * “That kind of put the idea in my head,” said Green. i « Green Girds For May 5 Showdown Legal right of 20th-Fox to call a special stockholders’ meeting at Wilmington, Del., May 5, to vote on the elimination of cumulative voting from the corporation’s by- laws, will not be contested by Charles Green, minority share- holder who has challenged man- agement to a proxy fight. Spokes- man for Green said in N. Y. Mon- day (6) that it would be the lat- ter’s strategy to go to Wilmington to fight management’s proposal which, if accepted, would'diminish his chances of electing *a director to the 20th board. The May 5 meet will be fol- lowed by the regular annual stock- holders meeting in N. Y. May 19. At the Wilmington powwow, man- agement must get 51% of the vote to win its point. Cumulative vot- ing has been in effect-at 20th since 1935, when Fox Films entered into a merger with 20th-Century Film Co. Under the cumulative voting procedure* a stockholder can mul- tiply his shares by the number of directors on the board and then vote the total either for one man or spread it over the rest. Since the death of Seton Porter, the 20th board is made up of nine men. From time to time there have been: -discussions to expand it. It’s believed that, as long as cumulative voting prevails, Green may be able to elect at least one or two directors to the board. New Stockholder Suit Filed Against Hughes Hollywood, April 7. Another derivative stockholder suit has been filed as a rqsult of Howard Hughes’ abortive sale of RKO control to the Ralph Stolkin syndicate. Plaintiff,. Milton Fried- man, owns 1,000 shares RKO com- mon: Suit names Hughes, former RKO prexy Ned Depinet, and RKO as defendants, and demands that the corporation get more than $1,000,000 which the pair are said to have realized from stock sales last September. It states that Hughes owns 27%, Depinet 2%, with the remainder “spread thin” among 15,000 stock- holders the world over. It adds that Hughes, “owning by far the largest single block of stock, has control of the corporation, and that being in the driver's seat, as he is, it gives the defendants inside information on stock trading which is not available to other stock- holders.” 1st Indie on CinemaScope Indie producer W. R. Frank says he’ll be the first indie to use Cine- mascope. He has pushed back start of his “Sitting Bull’ from May 20 to late July, at which time Cinema- Scope system will be available to him. Boris Karloff has the title role of the Technicolor film, with Den- nis Morgan co-starred. + Proxy battle between minority stockholder Charles Green and the 20th-Fox management was joined yesterday (Tues,) as both Green and the company filed their proxy statements with the Securities & Exchange Commission in Washing- ton. Unless the SEC asks for re- visions or clarifications, Green and 20th will be free to send out their proxy letters within 10 days, or by April 17. SEC is also free to authorize start of proxy solicitation at an earlier date. Last week, Green and 20th got set for their big showdown. De- velopments were these: Green filed suit seeking to nul- lify the employment contracts of 20th prexy Spyros P. Skouras and production head Darryl F. Zanuck as “excessive and exorbitant.” He also charged 20th execs had re- ceived “huge sums” under 'the heading of corporate expenses, even though the latter were “fictious.” Twentieth directors met and de- cided to call a special meeting of stockholders at Wilmington, Del., May 5. The issue: Elimination of cumulative voting from the corpo- ration’s bylaws. Green called a press conference at ,which he voiced his grievances against the 20th management in general terms but refused to be pinned down, pleading it would be unlawful for him to speak out until his proxy letter had been filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission. He also gave his ver- sion of his discussions with Skou- ras on, a proposed compromise and he insisted that, while he was a candidate for the board, he was (Continued on page 18) Raibourn in Encore * With Wall Streeters As Pix Nostradamus * 4 Paul Raibourn, Paramount v.p., has been invited to address the Customers Brokers Assn., Wall St. financial group, at an April 16 luncheon session. to discuss the role of motion pictures in the future. It’s to be an encore turn for the .exec and he’s been asked, in effect, to bring the same crys- tal ball he used when talking be- fore them two years ago. In 1951, Raibourn told the Wall Streeters of the excitement which would be whipped up by panoramic screens and specifically predicted the stir created by Cinerama. In an address last September, Rai- bourn told a Chicago meeting of communications engineers about third dimensional effects and stressed that “standardization prob- lems do exist.” Standardized 3-D has been spotlighted in recent months as one of the trade’s big- gest questions. At that same session, incident- ally, Raibourn related that scien- tists had “seriously discusSed” with him research on how new vicarious experiences can be brought to the- atregoers via the “feelies” ap- proach. By holding one of a num- ber of knobs, the patron would experience the emotions of the screen character under the “feel- ies” idea. U’S FIRST-QUARTER UP BY 64G OVER YEAR AGO First quarter of Universal’s fiscal year, ended Jan. 31, 1953, showed a net of $475,888, an increase of $64,453 over the corresponding period in 1952. The 1953 earnings were after provision for an esti- mated'$675,000 in federal income and excess profits taxes. Net of $475,888 is equivalent to 43c per share on the 961,698 shares of common stock outstanding and after deduction .of dividends on the preferred stock. Net for the first 13 weeks in 1952 was $411,435, equivalent to 37c per share on the 960,498 shares of common then outstanding. All figures are pre- liminary and subject to a year-end audit.