Variety (April 1953)

Wednesday, April 29, 1953 PICTURES 3 Sen Tobey’s fix Biz Core-All t Washington, April 28. Questions by Sen. Charles W. Tobey (R., N. H.) really startled the picture men at today’s (Tuesday) hearing of the Senate Small Business Committee. Tobey, a member of the committee, had not hitherto attended any of the sessions on the distribution practices of the majors. The N. H. solon, who arrived late, was scarcely ip his seat, when he asked witness Charles J. Feldman, general sales manager of Universal: “Is that admissions tax still in force?” There was-a gasp in the audience, and Feldman replied meekly , 1 “Yes sir.” *. • At* another point, Tobey inquired, -’Hasn't television been a God- send to the film companies in selling some of their old pictures?” “No, sir,” Feldman answered, “it’s no Godsend to the picture business in any form ” Tobey cut in to tell what he thought was wrong with the business. He said the theatres weren’t comfortable enough.* He told of going to a theatre last flight, and finding there wasn’t enough room for his knees to be comfortable. He said there ought to be a law re- quiring the theatres to provide a certain amount of cubic space per customer. “If they would put in the same kind of seats as they have in the Motion Picture Assn.’s Little Academia screening room,” said the Senator, “there would be no theatre closings.” Dbtribs Tell Senate Group Exhibs, Washington, April 28. + Sales managers for two major film companies told the Senate Small Business Committee today (Tues.) their companies were not indulging in widespread pre-re- lease and bidding tactics, as charged by spokesmen for indie exhibitors. Charles M. Reagan, general sales manager of Loew’s, and Charles J. Feldman, sales chief for Universal, asserted further that, their com- panies are not making inordinate profits at the expense of the ex- hibitors, but are operating on small margins. Both said their com- panies favor an arbitration system. They were the first dlstrib wit- nesses to be heard. Other spokes- men for distribs will appear tomor- row (Wed.) and Thursday. Mean- time, a hearing scheduled for Fri- day, it which Dept, of Justice of- ficials were to testify, 1 has been postponed to give the new head of the Antitrust Division opportunity to get the background of the case. Highlights of Reagan’s testi- mony: Loew’s has no individual stock- holder who owns more than 2/10th of one . 1% of the outstanding (Continued -pn page 18) IHoon’ Code Nix Film company presidents, at an upcoming board meeting of the Mo- tion Picture Assn, of America, will hear argument for reversal of the MPAA’s Production Code Admin- istration refusal to give “Moon Is Blue,” Otto Preminger-F. Hugh -Herbert adaptation of the legit play, its seal of approval. Code Administration, headed by Joseph I. Breen, nixed the pic this month, presumably because of the boy-girl romancing in the subject matter, Preminger, now in N! Y., expects to receive a print of the film from Hollywood within ‘ the next day or two. Company, prexies, in their capaci- ties as MPA A directors, will serve as an appeal board. They’ll view the pic prior to weighing oral ar- gument. Film has William Holden, David Niven and Maggie McNa- mara in the leads. Hemingway’s $250,000 Via ’Sea’ Pic Venture 1 ^. ea J is 011 the fire again for Le- J™ Hayward’s takeover of film tQ Ernest.Hemingway’s nov- « e.? 1 ? Man of the Sea,” at a cost of 4158,000 plus $100,000 for the author’s services in prepplng. the scenario. Hayward angled for the "J°ry some time ago, but nothing Materialized. ’ has Spencer. Tracjf in mind for the lead, indicating that JMetro will be in pn the deal since (Continued pm page 78) Split Siamese Act? Whether the film industry is all brotherhood, or a house divided, depended' upon from which angle elements of the trade were viewed in Washing- ton during the past week. . At a Raleigh Hotel conclave, exhibitors . and film company. reps, united, were mapping their campaign against the ad- missions tax. On Capitol Hill, at hearings before the Senate Small Busmess Subcommit- tee, the theatremen and film execs were sounding off against each other anent pic sales policies. 10% Col Stock Lester Martin, head of the N. Y. investment company bearing his name, this Week claimed he has bought up 30,000 additional shares of Columbia stock, bringing his control to 60,000 shares, or close to 10% of the tqtal outstanding. Sources close to Col’s finances confirmed that Martin has been ah active purchaser of the company’s stock issue. At the Col annual stockholders’ meeting held in N.Y. early this year he owned, or had proxies for, 32,000 shares. Although situation in some ways parallels the Charles Green posi- tion' at 20th-Fox, where Green is an active minority shareowner, Martin said this week he’s interested in Col only for investment purposes. He stated he believes the entire (Continued on page 20) yuaut iiiiivu I i hu woij Stereo, Shipping, Boost Exhibs’ 3-D Rent Tab 50$ Although actual production costs for making early 3-D films Has been economical in comparison;.to coin outlays for many flat pictures, distrib costs for 3-D continue to mount with each new innovation. These factors alone are seert as justifying 50% rental charges, which exhibs have been accepting so far without beefs. Addition of stereophonic sound, necessitating two extra film sound tracks, has more than quadrupled cost of the prints. A complete, 3-D film show, plus stereophonic sound, costs about $1,700 as compared to $400 for a single Technicolor prints In addition to the extra prints, there’s added expenditures for shipping cases; large-size reels, han- (Continued on page 13) Key Exhibs Wage Door-to-Door’ War Vs. Green (or 26th Proxies; Salesmen In Exchange Centres Join Battle — ——- i —— ——*—-—'-+■ Group of the most influential exhibs in the east coast area are going to war against Charles Green Washington hearings on methods of licensing films to theatre owners has numerous executives fearing even a greater voice in pic indus- try affairs on the part of the U.S. Federal Courts. Even some exhibi- tors, whose complaints anent film company business habits cued the current Senate Small Business Subcommittee sessions, in some in- stances are growing wary that the “relief” they’re seeking might turn out to be new, objectionable con- trols. \ The two sides—exhibitors and distributors—are in strong dis- agreement on the basic issues, of course,. Theatremen allege that the pic companies are acting iny con- travention of the antitrust decrees entered by the courts to govern the companies’ business behavior. The theatre operators are demanding a tighter policing job by the Dept, of Justice. Distributors are answering with, general denialsradding that if cer- tain types of injustices do crop up in the buying and selling of films they could be adequately corrected by a system of industry arbitration. Privately-stated comment-heard in distrib circles is that “selfish inter- ests” are at work, that is, the com- plainant theatre operators simply are maneuvering for a way to buy their film product cheaper. Regardless of the validity of the pros and cons, there’s wide feeling that the Justice Dept., as spurred (Continued on page 26) Hollywood’s 400 (Male) Laud, Lolligag Louella On 30th Audi as Scribe Hollywood, April 28. The town’s top males, 400 strong, turned out Thursday night (23) to honor their favorite date, Louella O. Parsons, on the occasion of her 30th anni as a Hollywood scriv- ener. Testimonial, tossed by the Masquers, revolved around good .food and good humor, with the guest of honor receiving kudos and kidding during a three-hour pro- gram. * It was the first of the Masquers’ testimonial dinners ever to boast a built-in theme song. Ditty “Louella, Louella, Louella,” defied by. Jim- my McHugh and Harold Adamson, provided the evening’s keynote. When the ribbing subsided, Miss Parsons was given a plaque for her “contribution to the motion picture industry and because we love her.” Pat O’Brien was toastmaster and presided over a dais that Paced by “House of Wax” (WB) and stout holdover product, cur- rent session is generally brisk in key cities covered by Variety. Warm, sunny weather irk a number of situations tended to draw the public out on the highways but on the whole .exhibitors appear to be handling better - than - average trade. “Wax,” whose b.6. power was in- dicated last week by smash per- formances in several scattered cities, bounded to.'the top this week via sensational business racked up in some 11 keys.. 3*D i entry rahged from huge in Min- neapolis to terrific in Philadelphia. Runner-up is “Moulin Rouge” (UA). Although a Holdover in al- most all situations , this Jose Fer- rer starrer is demonstrating tre- mendous staying power. Third spot goes to. “Salome’’ (Col) which Con- tinues to spin the wicket hand- somely in extended runs. It copped first place laurels last week. “Call Me Madam” (20th), de- spite spotty grosses, is • holding comfortably in fourth position af- ter finishing third a week’ ago. Roz Nixes Pic Rosalind Russell, star of the legit musical, “Wonderful Town,” stated yesterday (Tues.) that she has definitely decided' against making a film in the near future, in order to remain with the show. Miss Russell, whose Contract permits her to take a leave of absence for one pic assign- ment, had been slated to ap- pear in her husband’s, Fred- erick Brisson’s next production. ACTs Stand On Technicians Halts Yank 3-D Prod. London, April.28. Hollywood’s gradual thawing of frozen coin via production in Eng- land ran into a new frost which, in view of the switch to 3-D, could chill American production oh Brit- ish soil for several months, .although it won’ t affect “fia t” pix. _ New roadblock was thrown up by Assn, of Cine Technici'ahs, which 'announced opposition to any changes in regulations governing the importation of American tech- nical personnel. It’s known that Hollywood feels, fofr the time being at least, that there aren’t enough British technicians sufficiently fa- miliar with 3-D to handle produc- tion requirements. Ironically, 3-D shorts were produced in England long before Hollywood began its current conversion. ACT stand came in. case of “Hell Below Zero,” Alan Ladd starrer being made under the Warwick banner for Columbia. Union says it was requested to okay change in regulations to permit importa- tion of five Hollywood technicians so the film could be shot in 3-D. Warwick insists it never had plans for anything but “flat,” In any event, ACT has come out flatly against‘any 3-D applications from American companies because, of the number of technicians involved, because “at most there is only a case for one foreign technician, a technical consultant to accompany (Continued on page 18) “Desert Legion” is climbing to fifth on the strength of fancy re- turns in some seven situations. “Hans Christian Andersen” (RKO), another stout b.o. per- former, eased off . to . sixth in a string of holdover playdates. “Man In the Dark,” Columbia’s 3-D con- tender, is winding up at seventh. “Little Sheba” (Par) is eighth, “Girls of Pleasure Island” (Par), ninth and “By The Light of the Silvery Moon” (WB). tenth. Golden Dozen is completed by “Trouble Along the Way” (WB) and “City Beneath the Sea” (U) in that order. Of the newcomers, most impres- sive is “Shane” (Par) with an ex- cellent initial date in New York. “Titanic” is holding well in its sec- ond round in L.A. “Never Let Me Go” (M-G) . is smash in Chicago, “Pony. Express” (Par), looks great in Omaha, but fair in Denver. “Fair Wind to Java” (Rep) is tepid in Boston. “Hitch- Hiker” (RKO) is nice in Frisco and fair in Cleveland. (Complete Boxoffide Reports on . Pages 6 and 18.) via solicitation of 20th-Fox stock- holder proxies voting in favor of that company’s management. Sparking the move primarily are George J. Schaefer, former prexy of RKO, who’s now in the business end of independent production, and Harry Brandt, head "of Brandt The- atres. On another front, 20th salesmen and other field reps across the country are being enlisted in the fight. They are contacting stock- holders of the corporation as part of the overall campaign to bring out a heavy vote in favor of man- agement. Schaefer has provided, the thea- tremen rallying to the side of 20th prez Spyros P. Skouras with a list of stockholders in their respective territories. The exhibs are taking , it from that point with cdlls upon the investors to urge their voting support of 20th’s Incumbent man- agement. In view of the exhib “names'* (Continued on page 20) 25G CScope Fee 4 Apart from reserving fight to pass on suitability of stories, 20th- Fox is charging producers $25,000 per pic to use its CinemaScope widescreen lens, it was learned in N. Y. Monday (27). For thqt amount a producer gets not only the “tak- ing” lens, but a pair*of Cinema- Scope projection lenses and a screen, to view’his rushes. According to A1 Lichtman, 20th director of sales, only deal made so far is a 10-year one with Metro, under which M-G has the right to (Continued on page 25) . Trade Mark Registered * FOUNDED BY SIME SILVERMAN Published Weekly by VARIETY, INC, Harold Erichs, President 154 West 46th St. New York 36, N.Y. Hollywood 31 6311 Yucca Street Washington 4 1292 National Press Building Chicago 11 612 No. Michigan Ave. London WC2 8 St. Martin’s PI., Trafalgar Sq. SUBSCRIPTION Annual .... $10 Foreign $11 Single CoRles 25 Cents ABEL GREEN. Editor Vol. 190 ejgjajpi? 0 No. 8 INDEX Bills 68 Chatter 77 Film Reviews 6 House Reviews ........ 69 Inside Legit 72 Inside Music ............ 56 Inside Pictures ......... 13 Inside Radio ........... 47 Inside Television ........ 46 International ............ 10 Legitimate . ...........,. 71 Literati ,. 76 Music 49 New Acts ............... 70 Night Club Reviews...... 62 Obituaries ............ 79 Pictures 3 Radio-Television 28 Radio Reviews .......... 39 Record Reviews .50 Frank Scully .......... 76 Television Reviews ...... 32 TV-Film ....,......,..... 27 Unit Reviews ........... 68 Vaudeville 59 ‘ DAILY VARIETY "" (Published in HoUyWood by Daily Variety, Ltd.) $15 a Year. $20. Foreign (Continued on page 20) National Boxoffice Survey 3-D Demonstrates Pull; ‘Wax’ Leading, ‘Rouge’ 2d, ‘Salome’ 3d, ‘Madame’ 4th, ‘Legion’ 5th