Variety (April 1953)

PICTURES Pimeff Wednesday, April 15, 1953 Censor Law; Strong Press Support Columbus, O., April 14. 4 Hearings on a bill calling for re- peal of the state’s film censor- ship law get under way here on April 20. Legislative committee, welching measure introduced by _ . .. . SSfe Sen Charles A. Moser, has First N. Y. demonstration of scheduled evening sessions. Hear- 20th-Fox’s Cinemascope is tenta- ings expected to last for two days, tively slated for the ROxy Theatre will hear a large delegation of im* x on or about April 23. There may 'be simultaneous showings Of the N.Y. CinemaScope Preem Set for Roxy April 23 portant Ohio citizens _ widescreen system at '{he 20th . OW® 5 . P re “, is o P en d Mosher !ent h'omeofflce screening room in N. Y:, 5Sf“ edU to emphasize the adaptability o t UVAIinnu _ ■ a fnria^^uWiSied ^"hi^^eFlin the unit for smaller auditoriums; News’ Tribune on^Marbh 26, to * CinemaScope unveiling origi- every editor in thV state with an mally was slated for N. Y., but later accompanying appeal to support was shifted to the Coast. Roxy, his censorship repealer. Some of expected to be the showcase for them reprinted the editorial. 20th’s “The Robe,” is currently re- Others aired their own views, but wiring for stereophonic sound. R. In every instance the editorials h. McCullough, Fox .West Coast were favorable. technical head, is In N. Y. to super- Peculiar thing about this situa- vise installation of the Cinema- tion is that no opposition, organ- Scope unit, ized or otherwise, has as yet been favorable,'leading AlliedMs High CoWt fhflt ifid Mnch»p Mil TTIftV slm 1 ^ - - For Right to File Brief Supporting Milw. Towne tion that the Mosher bill may slip through the; legislature and cen- sorship repealed before its oppOr nents can get organized.^. Ohio censor hoard has’ been one of the most active in bluepencilling films. It has been the prime target Three*French Pix Slated For U.S. Indie Release ThVee French films have been acquired this week for U. S. re- lease by as many distributors. Times Film Corp., headed by Jean Goldwurm, picked . up “Trois Femmes” (“Three Women”). Eng- lish titles for this Silver Films production have been completed by Herman G. Weinberg. Frank Kassler, Indie distrib, snared rights to “Mile. Desiree.” Import has Genevieve Guitry, Gaby Morlay, Jean-Loiiis Barrault and Sacha Guitry in top roles. Third French pic, “Napoleon,” will be reteased by Regent Pictures, Inc. Film Was lensed within the Louvre in Versailles. Glamor Gals, No Iceberg, Welcome Operation Titanic’ at Va. Preem Brit Govt Turns Down Better Major Studio Pix Puf Trans-Lux in Black Norfolk, Va., April 14. This huge Ndval base is still husy digesting the events of the _ ■■ __ m past-weekend, which saw a large FyIIiIk PIm (III Taxes group of show biz*personalities, LrAlllUo 11 va UU lOAva accom p an i e d by a contingent of London, April 14.. lay and trade press newsmen, "hit The Chancellor of the Exchequer the beach” and accomplish the ob- snubbed the show biz industry hi jectives of “Operation Titanic” to tonight’s (Tues.) budget by failing everyone’s satisfaction. . . to - mention the trade’s plea for ad- Highlights of the busy two days* mission tax relief, although. offer- activities, which emerged as a bit of fine cooperation between the Navy and 20th-Fox, included the world premiere of 20th’s “Titanic” at the Shelton Theatre; a mock ing tax exemption to amateur dramatics at an annual cost. of $600,000; The exhibitor claifn would have cost the treasury $10,- 000,000 annually. It was primarily amphibious - assault landing m designed to improve thr lot of which the ’ glamor gals happily small operators and was Tiased on participated, and the Navy Relief _ _ M , previous chancellor’s estimates of Ball with Its impressive show FOl 52 u6Z Prez Furbor Potential theatre grosses which emceed by Ed Sullivan •Availability -oUbetter major-stu- Industry takes small comfort dominantly from Hollywood,’ ?on- dto product for its flrst-run houses from other concessions, which will verged on the b ase where th ; got in Washington, Philadelphia, and increase purchasing power by shay- - New York is credited by Trans-Lux | ing income and sales taxes. Corp. board chairman Percival E. Furber as a contributing factor in "substantially increasing” compa- ny earning* last- year. Net for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 1052, he revealed in his annual report ’last week, was $311,002, compared with a $30,648 loss in 1051. Furber pointed^ out that “in gen- eral,. business condition^, in the _V4 f _v. __l_i i *v 1 - 1 M 4 ■‘A a rousing reception; Talent in- cluded Anne Franfcis, Debra .Paget, Ryron Palmer, Charles Coburn, Billy deWolfe, Nanette Fabray, Jimmy Nelson, Jeffrey Hunter and Eileen O’Dare. The group partici- Washington, April 14. Allied States Assn, petitioned in recent test -cases originated by the Supreme Court yesterday the industry. However, the Indus- (M on.> for permission to file an mdUdn pictwe. W&Wtov im try to date hasn’t 'been able to .win amicus- curiae brief in support of continued thO downward tren<l for a cleareut victory because of tech- Milwaukee Towne Corp. against most theatre companies.” But, he nical aspects ^)f the law* For exr .the majors. Milwaukee Towne Js added, Trans-Lux houses were able ample, in* Toledo, a municipal appealing a lower court ruling to reverse this' trend dUe to “sue- of state , law the ruling was effec- in that area: 1 • • • - - • •« r (UA) ’ and tive only in Toledo. Ip it* petition and brief. Allied i(20th).‘ Diplomatic Courier* Ohio Exhibs Too Busy With m* 1 # n W*' 1 *' ' n "UVVH V Ifvup pjQJL wu* Censorship, 3-D to Rap Distribs at IT0O Meet w,t h h „ Columbus^ April jl4. yocalizing. ,-Ventriloquist Nelson Distributors, -who usually come £pt th® as did* Coburn, who in for a‘ thorough pasting at ex- stuck to telling couple Of stpries. hibito.rs* 1 meetings, got off if airly' DeWolfeand Palmer alsb pleased lightly at the l8th annual conven- Jh® crowds. When Sullivan was tion of the Independent Theatre temporarily, laid low, by a, cold. Owners of Ohio,-.held in t*e Desh- CaptaJn B. N Wev volunteered for. ler Wallich Hotel here last Tne«p- m,c. duty at the N premiere and had day and Wednesday (7-8). Ejphibs\*be «obs laughing, with his. relaxed seemed more interested in finding P*H er * ... * , - 6ut everything thebe was to know . Mrs. Wev-was chairman of the Relief 'Ball. Leo^Bfllpt,: special. won kudos [>f v keeping smoothly. • to oner testimony, waxegy is oer -errtd further in establishing com*, m erasing the division’s 1D51 trouble for the distrib*. C, F. Pfis- “—: in* devised by Manning (Tim) pulspry competitive, bidding In p et losscf*$6«7i)infavor^f *465- tek, Ttoy, O., asked; "Wfiat hath ailv J . P„). , Clagttt of the MPAA and Bob direct .contravention^of this .courts’: the .-distributor - vraWgbt?” ihd AllltU IQ SW* oWUie Wile, e xec secretary of ITO O. holding in U. S remount P^- ‘"onwlfdaSd ^Uet: f***i ••pr.-reie«ii,g> 75-30 tyrms «•, i p j, - . n ‘ ^ , turbs, Inc., reiecting comm*l8ory.. . l |^, e ^ disetdee*. dpeifetUig ejxpensd* end forced^ gelling. Mertin ^G.. . • HClp iOr. ITQpCr ll. 01 J. IAT5E Rep Basson in To ; for independent tiiea. But although the 1852 > I r SS Mcttg, Sez Rembusch B fc NY U M H Strike tr * The ie ^ S * ‘ - ■* - - gross eased off-to *$1,245,560. ex- message that We- are gathered w Deadlock Vs, Distribs An attempt to break lock between distribs and exchange unions will be made by Louisville, April 14. Continuing exhlb attack on dis- trib sales policies, Trueman Rem- busch, prexy of"-Allied" Theatre Owners of Indiana, told a Kentucky exhib groOp today (Tues.) that Allied will ask the Senate Small e/Dept. carried over into the general ses- Allied will ask the Senate Small B«t S on7int«^on;r^ ^ ^/“^.lly “S«fth°? S V d*d 7r.p u*p Bii Commits to'prod th. Hept tentative 1 of the Intern»tion*l' All!-. * Government suit. It hys however, In the clinics (drive-ins, of Justice to projperly police distrib .d' i modified the decree without any complexion is iuriner . iViRAAfiRmf RMtfl em •ll iAttmel I l&lOS OrSCtiCCS, ance of 'Theatrical Stage Em- ployees. He entered the pact negotiations this week, following a strike threat by Local H-63, rep- ping white collarites, and Local B-51, speaking for shippers and examiners. Basson will attempt to set up a modified the decree without any complexion w xuruxer aitesicu iu s ‘Jh S g au g n t' r u ns « n d, small towns) “illegal” sales practices. of distribution . . . ^ ' ? “j ~ v ““~ * j -| on Profit for this wing last vear oacKing repeal* oi umos tu-year- decrey w»s entered have changed t o“*31d S88 as ae Ilnst «id censorship law. In its lone, amounted to 12% of that invested ,nhi non met , as aga ns | resolution, unanimously adopted, U n t* 1 ® industry as compared to in any respect. , nh1 “.The result of the modification $271,232 in 1951. gives! the conspirators unsupervised "During 1952,” Furber’s report power* to dispense their monopoly- stated, "some 41,600 shares of the .. , , .. ,, ... .held product under a compulsory company’s stock were purchased on new meeting between the distribs bidding system replete with oppor- the open, market and placed in the * - -- - treasury; and to date, 8,200 addi- tional shares have been purchased. All shares were acquired by the company at prices less than $3 per share.” Of 1,000,000 common r», « * | shares authorized, 785,160 were is- rum Export to Israel sued;.Treasury hold., 160,157, lesv- .... r . ing 625,003 outstanding. Attempts are currently under and the laborites.. He' will sit in on the talks as a rep of IA prexy Richard Walsh. IA’s Intervention in the hassle averted a strike'll the exchange workers planned for last Friday (10) morning. Walkout was called off late Thursday night. Unionites are burned at distribs* adamant nixing of demands for a wage hike. Distribs are willing to renew for a similar period the two-year pact, which expired .last November, but have refused to grant any new con- ditions. Unions had asked for strike per- mission from Walsh, but had re- ceived no reply. Before the parent trinities for abuse which would be well high impossible to prove.” Pix Tax Still Snarls U.S. exhibition's 88%, Rembusch noted that it.was not generally realized to what extent "the distributor tail is wagging the exhibitor dog.” Speaking before the Kentucky Assn, of Theatre Owners, an un- affiliated exhib org, Rembusch charged that the distrib^ have de- P .• nil • a ii veloped "sales gimmicks upon sales tourt III Baldwin Appeal gimmicks.” Terming these prac- a'*.*>; i u tices illegal, the Allied leader said Washington, April 14. they had the effect of addi|lg to the ITOO pledged Its support to the Mosher bill, a repealer of the soissoring act which Is now in the (Continued on page 26) F&M Bypasses Circuit way to break the deadlock with Israeli authorities ovpr the taxa-| tion of American pix which, since last December, has kept U.S. dis- tribs from sending their films into Israel. Americans are adamant on the -need for elimination of the Israeli ad valorem tax before ship- ments are resumed. .Tax trouble in Israel dates back DEVINE PREPS INDIE ’BABES’ IN IRELAND ^oo operato^of ^ cist of th;atre oper^on*He particularly attacked the use of the l C ™Li Fr iL da ^ pre-release system of selling pix ® p . pe J l tJ n a I and the extended clearance policy, treble damage suit against Para- Tn thgk th* UA, 20th, National Theatres and Radio producer-director Jerry Fox-We§t Coast. * Devine sailed on the S.S. America Fanchon & Marco, charging a last week to embark on an in- conspiracy among the distributors dependent film, production ven- to bar the Baldwin from first-run ture in Ireland. He’ll he accom-’ product, lost their case in the U. S. TT , , i In the exhib fight against the terms R . K 2: Universal, | for . Teter p° n ;- Rembusch de- dared that "evidently Disney and RKO do not know the law as per- union’s entrv into the fight there * * rC w ‘ , '*r* ture m Ireland. He'll be accom- pruuuci, iosi meir case in me u. b. were indications that the two locals | P.anied by Harold Shuster, who will District Court. The_ Friday action were considering bypassing and walking out sans an okay. lMe.^th^^o^cal'exchange™ unions NY ‘ share P Whtn'IsraePSineVltl I, P??“ w WU1 .irTh 1952^ Pel?dine Jan - 5 ‘ Uatinf with the film companies on SSwS^'tax to wtfere^it™™* be th Jwfl *“*?“ th f‘ an individual hade Although talks RnS*# i SS i? v u K W3S made later tlus y ear * 0x1 the cur * thC tnal acted contrary to have been hefd in eteh zole ho! SEM? «nt trek, they'll remain in Ire- the law as laid down by the Su tains to the fixing' of admission prices.” Allied exec said another "illegal” practice becoming more prevalent "is the forcing of pictures.” He said these violations would, be disclosed the Senate body which opens hearings in Washington tomorrow (Wed.). a single pact has been signed, tax went up to 75%, but the U.S Walkout of exchange workers distribs generally ignored it. could cause the closing of theatres, Hassle developed in November, since film would not be delivered. ’52 when Israeli authorities slapped In addition, if the IA permits a on a 20% ad valorem duty in addi- walkout, it’s likely that projection- tion to the tax. Calling this com Supreme Court Asked To Reject Balto Nabe Suit Washington, April 14. U. S. Supreme Court was urged ists would honowthe walkout and refuse to run pictures. Outcome of N. Y. talks is being awaited by other exchange locals to determine their future action. WAPPAUS JOINS UA Herb Wappaus, formerly head of the contract department at the RKO homeoffice, has joined United Artists, effective this week. . He’ll work in UA’s contract de- partment under John Hughes. bined tax weight "prohibitive,” dis- tribs slapped on a ban on imports pending further "study” of the situation. SMPTE’s 3-D Report 7V£% °f remittances. In 1949, the | j and about six weeks. preme Court in the Big Five. anti- Devine is producer-director of trust case. Document explains the "This Is Your FBI” air series that prior to the opening of the and other radio shows, Baldwin on Aug. 10, 1949, F&M "made requests of each and all of by the major distributors last the eight picture distributors, in- Thursday (9) to reject an appeal eluding respondents, to license by Theatre Enterprises, Inc,, oper- feature pictures for first-run use ating the Crest, ‘ a neighborhood Exhaustive report on various to open the theatre. All refused, thedtre in Baltimore. 3-D and wide-screen systems, of From time to time thereafter, until The Crest last Jan. 5 asked the photography and projection is cur- shortly be'fore the trial of this High Court to take jurisdiction in Mim/cv daw tj-\ nv rently in preparation by the So- case in 1951, petitioner continued a suit seeking monetary carnages mULvcY BACK IO N.Y. ciety of Motion Picture and Tele- its effort to procure pictures from and injunctive relief against the James Mulvey, president of Sam- vision Engineers. Survey, being the distributors for first-run use.- distributors for alleged conspiracy uel Goldwyn Productions, returned Allen P. Snody, Will be request was . denied. The iq refusing to sell first-run product to N, Y. yesterday (Tues.) after a quickie hop to the Coast. Exec said he had trekked west on routine studio matters. in booklet form. Done from the distributors qjso unanimously re- to the Indie nabe house/ Theatre layman’s point-of-view, it will con- fused to license pictures except for Enterprises has lost twice—in the tain illustrations in color. second-run exhibition, subject to a U. S. District Court, and in the It should be ready for distribu- clearance of 21 days in favor of Circuit Court of Appeals which tion soon, the first-run exhibitors. upheld the trial court.