Variety (April 1953)

PiUtEETT Wednesday, April 22, 1953 ABC Ready to Pilch Institutional Not Pic to Sponsors; Delay Seen American Broadcasting Co.± would like to be able to start pitch- m t 1 * _ f ing the pilot film of the Motion fllfiiYCy L2S6S If 018*1*0 JS, picture* Assn, of America’s rnstitu- j: t ional TV show. “Hollywood Pa-j rade.” to prospective sponsors by MavlS- Net is all set to go ahead; and film the Initial stanza, with uel Goldwyn Productions, appears; Cecil Barker ABC western pro- easing up on his work sked. He*has j sram director, set to supervise. hired a new assistant, Marshall; Proposed format for a 13-week, Wor t man, to take over some of ms Honor Fabian, Roses S. EL Fabian and Sam. Bosen, „ president and veepee, respectively, " of both Fabian Enterprises and Stanley Warner, will be honor i; guests at the “annual luncheon of : the amusement industry division of the United Jewish Appeal, set for > May 26 at the Hotel Plaza, N. Y. ij At a meeting last week Adolph Universal counsel. Schimel, Universal counsel, was Trade ia Bir&day Salute JamesMiilvey, president of Sam- 0 r 50®© over last year. series'was discussed in N- Y. last office chores and is now mapping week ft 17) by the MPAA’s adver- a vacation in Ireland this summer, * tising-pubiicity Erectors commit- Hell be abrfiad about two months, tee which decided to have another j. Wortman, incidentally, a major m meet with ABC reps to iron out the U. S. Air Force, is now await- some details. Since approval ofing his service release, the whole idea in ins final form li About 40 execs and trade press To Widescreen 4 Metro, although still uncom- •JK.’SS !m £ from I editors attended - aluneheon ‘Mon-Emitted officixily in the 3-D v«- S? £££*£«, * *;*?.•»* **«>*==» of dubbed ^ _ _ MetroVi- 15 Those joining in the salute included “ sion, but this trade name has been . . . Samuel Eosenman, attorney for the i; quietly shifted to its own wide- One oftbem^ GcJdwvn office; Jfed E. Depinet, ^reen process. Jems is the choice of i former' HKO president, and Phil j Company has completed -one t° be used oa ea ^ i Reisman, RKO’s former foreign film, “Arena,” in 3-D. First an- hour stanzas. It s planned to nave wito ^ now a vp . of Joseph P. 1 nouncement said it would be made three clips on each Program.^ Tne Kennedy industries. In a brief ad- in MetroVision. However, present ad-pubbers see ^ me dress, Goldwyn lauded the honored [: bally only lists the film as “the agreement on who get^on integrity over the years and fe first 3-D western.” Early plans when imd with wl^t film, an the high esteem in which he S called for a second film, "Hope’s they d like Jfrjs ^ae^cm seffl held tu^ng^t the industry. jj End ” for 3-D treatment, but latest before they give their fin a l oaay. - N.Y. Dab News’ Pix Pitch Daily News, N, Y. mass-circulation tabloid, gave its entire two- column editorial space Monday (20) to an upbeat treatment of the film business and a pitch for removal of the’ admissions tar. “For our part,” it said, "we hope all these dreams (about a prosperous future via 3-D, etc.) come true, and that the movies may indeed have a gold-crusted rebirth with the assistance of 3-D. At their best, the movies are great art. At their best and worst, they’ve given worlds of pleasure to billions upon billions of cus- tomers. It would be tragic, we think, for them to be cut down permanently to half rations, skimpy productions and sparse audi- ences. In which connection, we'd like to focus a special suggestion on the House Ways and Means Committee in Washington. * “That honored body is now considering a proposal to recommend that Congress cut out the"Federal tax of 20% levied these long, weary years on movie theatre admissions. It always was a big burdensome tax, and may easily have something to do with the decline in movie attendance. Wouldn’t this be an excellent time to boot the thing overboard, and thereby give the movies a still better chance to be born again via 3-D?” Senate Group to Sap Distribs, But Won’t Ann Antitrust Bill at Majors Mexican Unions Won't Handle Red-Spiced ‘Salt’ U M ! Which Indie exhibitors charged a Boy M. Brewer told the Holly- j var j e ty 0 f pressures were being Washington, April 21, The Senate Small Business Com- mittee will probably refuse to rec- ommend new antitrust legislation aimed at the big film companies. This was indicated last weekend after three days of hearings, in variety of pressures were being f. mo ^- j 5S D 3SSn D iS£2£! wood AFL Film Council that "Salt | on them in violation of the the Queen \ reports from the studio indicate 5 _ _ „ Red4inged ^ ^ J decrees. - , - - _ . _. Goldwyn sails on uic v i^;puiu> tiuiiX uic Aiuuxu — — committee,. Pickman, Charles Simooelli and Si Seadler, for another session with ABC. Chances are that Rodney Bush of 20th, who last week suc- ceeded Seadler as chairman of the committee for siv months, will also sit in on the discussions. Unique problem in connection with Use show is being faced by (Continued on page 6) in Bahha 4 Katz ’52 Net In Slight 17G Dip To $1,629,508; Dimes $5.75 Chicago, April 21. & Katz’s net income Teclrni Splits Stock To Hypo Investor Interest; Fulton, Lyon to Board Moving to widen investor inter- i est in the company, the Technicolor ; board last week (15) voted to split the corporation s stock at the rate ^ Charles C. Moskowitz of two Glares for one. Stock-,* told stockholders that it would not holdera win be asked to approve j ^ gteir t>enefit to know the ar- the action at their annu al meet May«rangements the company had with 18. Techni also declared a divi- 20 th. However, Moskowitz indi- dend of 50c per share payable May y ^ Metro helped develop it. 12, stockholders of record April 27. jj- . Board elected Hugh Fulton, Company also has a comitment 5 unions. Picture was made in New to urge the Jmtice Deprt to make With 20th-Fox to make films In j Mexico by unfriendly witnesses in |» thoro ngh s tgdy of exhibitor com- CinemeScope. Howerer. it hadn't the Un-American probe. ,12^ E^ll officially announced any films for! Brewer said he had been P r °in-| 1, ]f. r *?I^““*5 1 ?.^?™L decrees thic process, although 20th sources j ised by Louis Sanchez-Tello, leader; against the big distributors. say M-G will film “Kiss Me Kate” of the Mexican technical workers,« jj and "Knights of the Bound Table” that they will keep hands off the Cinemascope. Metro has re- j picture. Bala ban & Katz's net income i wa™ T! n >.n , a slipped again last year, but not senior nartner of the law firm of JJq]} { fOrgCt VU& J-ISI n. 11 ^ ^t. w <wq *avo oc 5 FViTfrin Wnlter & Halie v as a direc- 8 __ “ 0 TV, TaxaiioB, Court Trial, Wolf son Warns Exhibs markedly, with net $1,623,508 as Fulton, Walter & Halley as a direc- against $1,646,637 in 1951. How- tor. Leonard Lyon, Sr., senior ever, shareholders got only a $5.75 J member of Lyon & Lyon, Los An- dividend as against $6.28 last year, jjgeles patent attorneys and long as- Annual meeting today (21) also dis-1 sociated with Techni, joined the closed that B&K had $3,488,645 in j board of Technicolor Motion Pic- cash and working assets-of $5,965,- ’ ture Corp. Stockholders will be asked to fused to divulge details of the deal l it has with 20th for CinemaScope, _ . £SS£ Hendncks Named As WB Publicity Director, Evelove Quits on Pay Cnt Hollywood, April 21. Bill Hendricks has been named studio publicity director of War- ner Bros., succeeding Alex Eve- love, who resigned last weekend after 24 years of service with the company. Hendricks, who was as- sistant to Evelove, has also been with the company for 24 years. According to Evelove, the de- parture followed his refusal to • take a salary cut. He said that he ^ Seattle, April 21. "We should not let the caco* | phony of 3-D drown out the urgent 551. Company has total assets of $20,637,920, with current liabilities J approve proposals involving the | npp^aic of the 3-Ts — Television, j was given no indication that the of $2,180,903. | c hangin g of the share s, no paryalue j Taxation and Trial in Court,” said «cut was temporary. Evelove indi- Circuit has 262.630 shares of j! to a par value of $1; elhnination of j Mitchell Wolfson, past president of cated that he resigned two weeks common stock outstanding, of which jj preemptive rigits, and reduction«Theatre Owners of America today ago, but stayed on to complete the United Paramount Theatres owns j of corporation s capital to the | tTues.) at a meeting of the Theatre j campaign on the local “House of Ulicu M CUOIUVIUIL Jk uv«u.v*l v D • t £ h« « f — —j-——« — — — — § < w— 25917. Capital stock amounted tofP 3 ^ '■ **£ “ ew shares. It s j Owners of Washington, Northern | Wax*' preem. He had been pub- $18^77 626. rihaiw made $4,628,399 e believed that that reclassification j and Alaska. "The first of j Ucity chief of the studio for the in 1952* with other income of $68,-1 sbare par value will result “ these we need, and the other two j past 12 years, being upped to the 830 boosting $4,697,280. Company noted, without toe towTto j” lower taBsfer taxe by share- ! holders on transfer of their shares. J Addressing the board, prexy Dr. com “ 5 Herbert T. Kalmus cited Techni ex- I are this industry’s worst blight.' Pointing out that theatre tele- vision’s potential is as great as jj ever, Wolfson charged that it has ment, that it had 62 rental leases I "5 *” in recent years ^wTwhidi ? k * V K wh-Hh t*rnire three years hence and P^^ 011 m recent years on v. men , b eeil almost relegated to obscurity ye f r l 7 J?JZj, l the corporation has expended some «k v our sudden stain Dede to trv which, in 13o2, amounted to $1,424,-1 $6,0^.000 to raise its "capacity in | fc/cash inon two motion picture \ post when Bob Taplinger exited in 1941. Evelove was first with War- (Continued on page 14) STBi-K'to^et'a^Bge^num^of I ^ Yeet’ 5 °releasfprtats'to°u^! wmen nave oeen mown toese lapse, was not disclosed. , • 6 M ,^0 C^. fS. Th^ h^ ! ‘° 1,3 fOT 501116 bme ‘ Wolison said Company realizednet gam of ^ ^d, represents a growth of xfrom $4.200,00 0 m the^.OOO.OCO sale of. 3 Q features to more than . 100 a station WBKB-TV facilities toj vear WBBM-TV in January of this year, j ~ A * portion of the $6,000,000 in Stockholders got a $15.25 extra capital expenditure will enable dividend after this sale. : Techni to handle the various new David Wallerstein, general man-, processes, Kalmus stated, adding ager and veepee, was upped to di-1 that "with the present Technicolor rectorial board. | facilities, all of these methods of I photography can be used by Tech- •it ( . » 0 _ ” | nicolor to. deliver release prints j Tax Angle Seen Spar To 1 made by t!ie n ? ual TechDical dye New Beeca-U Merge Talk transfer method.’ Universal pVexy, that there still was a possibility of a Decca and U merger, came as a surprise to U execs. Latter insist they know of no such move in the v/orks, but admit it might become advisable for tax purposes. Raekmil told Decca stockholders that, while there were no merger plans “at this moment.” certain Statement last week by Milton ,New Stockholder Suit B. Raekmil, Decca , Records and g __ _ _ Y$. RKO, Hughes, Depinet Los Angeles. April 21. Second suit by RKO minority stockholder Milton Friedman against Howard Hughes and Ned Depinet was filed here in Superior Court. It followed a similar action filed recently in Federal Court here, and it is likely that another impending changes could alter the i suit will be registered in the Las situation. Originally, before Dec- j Vegas Federal Court to assure jur- ca bought so heavily into U, amal- isdiction. gamatfop of the two companies | Friedman charges 4he defend- had been envisioned: Later, with 5 ants with “complete disregard of Decca owning 42% of V, the idea jj their fiduciary duties to RKO.” was dropped, with Raekmil'saying His action is based on the sale of it was no longer necessary. j controlling stock to the Ralph It’s believed at U that, should a ; Stolkin syndicate, a deal which merger still come about, it would i eventually collapsed. He charges be in the form «f a financial ar- j that Hughes 2 nd Depinet profited rangement only, and would in no J "excessively” on the deal while way interfere with U as a corpor- j RKO lost money, and demands an ate unit. -1 accounting. processes which have been known to ns for some time.” Wolfson said that while fiat screens and flat pic- tures may become a thing of the past, "the love that the people have for immediacy will never be re- placed.” He declared that theatre television, once established, "would be like the creation of a new major producer, offering us new and ap- (Continued on page 6) Cong. Preps 2 Antifrust Pic Bills in 1 Package - " Washington, April 21. Two bills of great interest to the motion picture industry will * probably wind up in the same legis- ' lative package when they are of- fered to the HcfUse of Representa- tives for action. This was indi- cated last Thursday (16) by the House Judiciary Committee, when it considered the measures. One is a measure by Rep. Ken- neth Keating (R., N.Y.) to set a five-year statute of limitations on private antitrust suits and also to permit the Government to sue for damages in some antitrust cases. The other, by Rep. Chauncey W. (Continued on page 6) GOLDEN ON FIX FINANCE Herb Golden, member of Bankers Trust Co/s amusement industries division, will discuss film and tele- vision financing at New York U. next Tuesday (28). He'll address combined motion I picture and economics classes. * PRODUCTION SLOW, BUT WARNER LOT IS TUNEFUL Hollywood, April 21. Although film production is at a low ebb on the Warner lot, its music department, headed by Ray Heindorf, is working at top ca- pacity on the scores of 11 pictures, four of which are musicals. Tunefilms are "Calamity Jane” “So This Is Love,” “Three Sailors and a Girl” and "The Eddie Cantor. Story.” Others in the scoring mill are "The Charge at Feather Riv- er,” “So Big.” "The Boy From Oklahoma ” "Blowing Wild,” “Rid- ing Shotgun,” "South Sea Para- dise” and “The Monster From 20,000 Fathoms.” N. Y. to Europe Ernie Anderson Tom Avera Vivian Blaine Geraldine Brooks Richard Brooks Leslie Caron Gary Cooper B. G. Davis Samuel Goldwyn William Kapell Frank King Maury King Louis Lips tone Kurt Neumann Sheldon Reynolds David Rose Joseph Ruttenberg J. Milton Salzberg < Robert Taylor Jules B. Weill Robert M. Wolfe Senate group is also figured to put out a stinging report, slapping recent distribution policies in the industry. Nearly all the witnesses last week represented the Allied States Assn. Their testimony added up to an appeal to Congress to jab the Justice Depti’s Antitrust Divi- sion into doing something to pro- tect them from unfair squeezes. Number of witnesses are still to be heard. According to the revised hearing schedule announced last week, officials of TOA will appear next Monday (27) to speak for an industry arbitration plan as a solu- | tion to the large majority of the distributor - exhibitor headaches. Alfred Starr and Walter Reade, Jr., will carry the ball for TOA, with I Herman Levy, general counsel, also * on band. Levy was present at last (Continued on page 16) L. A. to N. Y* Laurie Anders Sir Michael Balcon Dorothy Bromley Richard Brooks Gaby Bruyere .Leslie Cardn John Carroll Jack Chertok John R. Clark, Jr. Hal Cook Bob Crosby Alfred Crown Audrey Dalton Joseph S. Dubin Joan Edwards Sam Fuller Bob Goodfried Sheilah Graham Abner Gresbler Ted Haworth F. Hugh Herbert Victor Jory Joseph Kaufman Edwin Knopf Carol Levene Isidore Lindenbauia Harold Lloyd Joe DiMaggio Gene Mann Jeff Morrow Gene Nelson William Omstein Otto Preminger Joseph Ruttenberg Arthur Schwartz Don Taylor Ben Thau N. Y. to L. A. Gene Autry Arlene Dahl Marilyn Erskine Fernando Lamas Gus Lampe George Rosen M. H. Shapiro Spencer Tfcacy Europe to N. Y. Stell Andersen Robin Chandler Morton Downey Edna Ferber Jeffrey Lynn Molly Picon Jerome Thor