Variety (November 1954)

Wednesday, Novemlier 24, 1954 PICTU1IBS 15 gbrship states—six if one includes Massachusetts which has Sunday Censorship only—are skedded to meet in 1055 and are expected to consider amendments to their bluepencilling statutes at that time. States involved are Maryland, Ohio, Kansas, Pennsylvania and New York. In the light of. the 1964 U. S. Supreme Coiirt deci- sion re “La Ronde" and “M,” which forced a revamp of the N. Y. statute and a tightening of varK ous definitions of terms in it, these states are seen adopting the N. Y, pattern. Specific proposals for hew cen- sor laws are already on the docket in: Maryland and in Ohio. In the latter state, State Senator Charles Mosher has been reelected by a comfortable majority and ..ex- pected to continue his fight against censorship -which ha$ already re- sulted in the elimination of news- reel scissoring there. Tim Clag-r gett, the Motion Picture Assn, of America’s p.r. rep N. Y./ has gone to Ohio to discuss strategy re- censorship with Robert Wile of the Independent Theatre. Owners of Ohio. In Maryland, a special meet of a legislative council subcommittee was urged last- week, that censor- ship be continued, but on a re- stricted basis; Under the revised statute, the three categories under which a film could be banned or scissored are obscenity, intention to debase or corrupt morals, and intention to incite to crime v While the censor boards are Ob- viously handicapped' by the Su- preme Court ruling, which re- duced their Scope, distribs of foreign pix particularly say the boards are as tough as ever, New York being the possible exception. Board of Regents iwnAlbany is cur- rently mulling an appeal from a hi:. Y. censor nix on a film involv- ing a scene showing the birth of a baby. If the Regents Uphold the censor, the case is expected to go to court. . In Pennsylvania, legislative ac- tion oh censorship is likely. In a recent decision re the Pennsylvania board banning of ‘-She Should Said No,” Judge Edwin O. Lewis stated that the present statute Was unconstitutional and that only a new law, “clearly drawn, designed and applied” would give the board the right; to ban obscene and inde- cent pix. KEEPING UP WITH BINFORD 1 1' 1 i. it • ‘Jones’ .lx Commended—But Ingrid Bergman 10(1% Banned Memphis, Nov. 23. Memphis censor Lloyd Binford, who some years ago banned the film ‘‘Curly” because it showed a Negro 'boy... at play with white youngsters, has endorsed 20th- Fox’s “Carmen Jones,” which has a complete Negro cast. The blue- pepciller was quoted as saying the latter film is a fine entertainment and he has no objections to raise concerning it. Binford, in: another decision, lowered the b'oom on Ingrid Berg- man with a firm nix on any pix in which she appears because, sic,;: “she is a notorious character.” He communicated this to the local Warner office which is reissuing “SaratogaTfunk” As a result of the tabu, the film probably will play nearby West Memphis. Market in U.S. Exhibitors could do a great deal more with foreign pix Were they to cultivate and seek the support f of foreign nationality groups in their areas, Munio. Podhorzer, im- porter and distrib of German films, opined in N, Y. this week. Podhorzer, Who heads up Casino Film Exchange and also United German Film Enterprises, said theatres are shortsighted in con- centrating only on pix with a gen- eral. market appeal “There is a very considerable market—prac- tically untapped—in the neighbor- hoods where foreign-born are con- centrated,” he observed. “It's an audience which isn’t , being catered to. properly?’ If prior attempts to reach the Itali^n-language groups haven’t been successful, it’s because these' Italo features /are being shown on tvv Podhorzer felt. He pointed out in reference to German films that there are many areas ini the country where there is a considerable German element: in the community, citing specifical- ly St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwau- kee, etc; “There are some towns in Texas where 90% of the popu- lation are of German origin. They represent a great potential mar- ket fox’ German films,” he said. Podhorzer cited as an example a house in Philadelphia which started booking German pix as an experiment on a once-a-month Allen Rivkin makes -wills. HiaJ’Wsm#*’ hi Maybe ItU Fate •r amHsJiif iyilRs piece In 49th Annivenary Number of P^MRIETY If Unproduced By 1957, ‘Paint Your Wagon’Pays If no Cinerama version of the legit musical, “Paint Your Wagon,” is made or contracted for by Jan. 1, 1957, Cinerama Productions has agreed to pay board chairman ’Louis B. Mayer $30,0Q0 as partial reimbursement of his buyout of the percentage interests held by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, the authors. I Mayer paid $62,500 for the 5% interest in the film exhibition rights held by Lefner and LoeWe. Had it been for. a non-Cinerama film, it’s pointed-out that Mayer could have, obtained the . pair’s percent- age for $32,500. Since 5% of a Cinerama engagement Would have run into a large sum, Mayer had to come up with an additional. $30,000. Under the agreement with Stanley Warner? the theatre chain, if it wants, can make a Cinerama version of "Wagon.” The notice to stockholders of the annual meeting of Cinerama Pro- ductions on Dec. 7 reveals that the hoard of directors has granted, “as inducements to their continued em- ployment,” to v.p, and general counsel Theodore R. Kupferman and treasurer Ira S. Stevens op* tions on 5,000 shares each and to assistant treasurer IrVing N. Mar- golin on. 2,500 shares at $2.25, be- ing 859o of the market price of 2% at the time, of the grant of the options on May 7, 1954.. These op- tions are exercisable at any .time after Dec, 1, 1955, and not later than Dec. 1, 1958; Five directors will be elected at the annual meeting, in addition to Mayer, president Lowell Thomas, Dudley Roberts Jr.,. and Milo J. Sutliff, each of whom has been on the board for more than two years, the board recommended Allan L. Melhado for the fifth directorship to replace Merian C. Cooper who resigned as production v.p. Mel- hado, who owns and represents a substantial, mount of Cinerama Productions, stock, is a financial ‘ adviser and a member of the N. Y. Stock Exchange. Los Angeles, Nov. 23. Three antitrust suits filed •gainst the eight major film com- panies, with demands aggregating more than $9,100,000, were settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, said by plaintiff sources to be “the largest settlement ever at- tained. in California.” In the original suits, filed. in, 1951, the Hawaiian .Theatre sought $5,223,126; Galston and Sutton Theatres $1,879,200, and the Wol- verine Investment Co. $2,031,618. AH three are commonly owned. Gotham Version B^sis of settlement for the three Coast actions involved a “nominal amount of cash,” according tq film company reps. One legalistic, spokesman said the cost of trying the case; exclusive of any possible damages award, if it were, allowed to go. through litigation, would have exceeded the amount his company is required to pay under the out-of-court accord. Dave Bader Heads AMPA David Bader, v.p, of Common- wealth Films, was elected presi- dent of Associated Motion Picture Advertisers at a N* Y. meeting Monday (22). He succeeds Lige Brian, of United Artists exploita- tion department. Martin S. Davis, assistant ad- pu.j director of Samuel Goldwyn Production, was named v.p*' basis. “Today that theatre is. com- pletely converted, to German-lan- guage productions,” he reported. Podhorzer, who through UGPE reps number of the important German producers and distribs, such as Omnia, in this country, added that the-influx of German- speaking DPs into the U. S.^ also should be an incentive to exhibs to reexamine the language-compo- sition of their audience. Arbitration mm' Continued from page 3 tee, in turn, appointed. Herman M., Levy, Theatre Owners of America general counsel, and Adolph SchirneJ, Universal’s general coun- sel, to provide the wordage’ for the arbitration draft. There have been numerous reports of the progress the pair have been making but no indication when further dis- cussions will be. held. The subject of arbitration, once a hot industry issue, has played a Secondary role in recent film busi- ness discussions. Although TOA has been one of the staunch ad- vocates of this method of settling disputes, it was hardly mentioned at the exhlb org’s recent Chicago convention. Allied States Assn., of course, has long opposed arbitra- tion, especially since the distrib- utors have refused to include film rentals as a subject Of arbitration* SEEKING ARBITRATION Cinerama Productions and Cin- erama Inc,, the equipment and li- censing company, have not settled a longtime , controversy involving payments and it’s planned to sub- mit the matter to arbitration. Cinerama Productions’ account receivable from Cinerama Inc., in- cludes. $105,000 in billings which have riot been entered the books of Cinerama Inc. and a pro- posed adjustment of license' fees previously .. paid to Cinerama Inc, amounting to ,$80,000. On the Productions , company’s b o o k s there’s a sum pf $141,000 listed as payable to- Ciperania Inc. . The productions company, has not agreed to accept all of these charges, nor has it agreed to ac- cept an additional $90,000 in bill- ings hot listed On the current bal- ance sheet. The obligation for li- cense fees is based upon theatre operating income through Aug. 9, 1953, the date Stanley Warner took over the exhibition and pro- duction rights. to the medium. AS a result of the agreement among SW, Cinerama Productions, and Cinerama Inc., $125,000 payable to Cinerama Productions has been placed in escrow pending settle- ment of the accounts with Ciner- ama Inc. .7 at SWEDISH TITLE FUSS Then . St. Louis Papers Won’t Ac- cept Word ‘Illicit’ Swedish film “Illicit Interlude” has been leading something of a double life. The Arthur Davis release origin- ally was called “Summer Inter- lude.” That had to be changed be- cause it conflicted with another Sv^edish pic, “One Summer of Hap- piness.” Davis then polled exhibs and came: up with “Illicit Inter-- lude;” In St. Louis, when the pic . was booked into the Shady Oaks The- atre, the papers refused to accept ads for anything with the word “Illicit” in the title; It was changed. to “Ballet Interlude” for the ads. At the theatre, however, it was ballied as “Illicit Interlude.” Memphis, N.ov. 23. Tennessee theatremen are mar- shalling their forces to prevent the state’s legislature from placing an additional tax burden on theatres. In this state. It has been recom- mended by the legislative council that an additional 1% gross tax would be helpful to meet the state’s tax needs. Series of meetings, under the auspices of the Tennessee Theatre Owners Assn., have been set to outline plans for combatting the threat of the new . tax. It ‘ ex- pected that the proposed tax will be introduced at the 1955 session of the legislature. Stacy Wilhite; TOA prexy; Morton Tune, veepee; Walter Mor- ris, unit’s rep to the parent The- atre Owners of America, and George Gaughan, TOA field rep, will attend each of the: regional meetings; The schedule of meet- ings follows: Nov. 29, Jackson; Nov. 30, Memphis; Dec.. 1, Nash- ville; Dec. 2, Cookeville; Dec. 3, Knoxville; Other subjects up for discussion include exhibitor financing of pro- duction to increase the number ol‘ pictures, with a full explanation of TOA’s activities in this field; and a discussion of Government control of film rentals. . Toll-TV Prelim 'SmSSm Continued from patfe 7 CS5S5 held. If proceedings decided on, it’s estimated here, it would be at least six months before they could be held. Major obstacle in authorizing 'toll.-tv is a bill pending in congress by Rep, Carl Hinshaw (R.-CalJ Which would place the service in tire .common carrier; classification. This would mean that the FCC would have jurisdiction over rates? It’s expected that any moye by the commission.; on the pay-tv front Would be countered by a demand by Hinshaw, a ranking member of the. House Interstate Commerce Committee, for Congressional hear? ings. Attitude of the National Assn, of Radio and Television Broadcast- ers.may be a key factor in govern- ment action on pay tv. Organiza- tion has been traditionally opposed to any departure from the “free; system” of broadcasting. , RCA, hoard chairman David Sarnoff is one important voice in the broad- casting industry which has spoken out against , ai subscription service, However, the plight of UHF mem- bers may result in a hands-off posi- Ition by the NARTB.; By ROBERT A. McSTAY Toronto, Nov. 23. For the first time in recent months, the Canadian section or. the Catholic Legion of Decency has cracked down on a film,; This is “We Wanted a Child,” a Danish film with English subtitles, which advertises the actual birth of baby, with attendance restricted to those over 18. Film is doing smash biz at two Famous'/P’ljayers houses here, Tivoli and Capitol in double combo. According to Rev. John J, Moyer, general secretary of the Canadian Legion of Decency, this film condemned for Catholic audiences, This includes local pulpit, admoni- tions. Father Moyer told Variety that announcement of this con- demnation hasn’t been released to the. Toronto dailies' because “We do not want to give this foreign film, any publicity that light in- duce more people to see it.? While Legion of Decency has. been quiet in Canada since “The Outlaw,” it did come out recently against “The Moon Is Blue” and “The French Line.” J. J. Fitzgib- bons, president of Famous Players (Canadian) who. is a leading Cath- olic layman, voluntarily refused to release both these two films in the 460 trans-Canada houses controlled by Famous but was Unable to baii the films in certain FPC' partner- ships because of b o. potential. Also condemned by the Legion in Canada is “The Egyptian,” ac- cording to Father Moyer, because of “certain lurid and objectionable sequences dealing particularly with the. house of prostitution scenes. Again Legion here avoids public censure lest this give the film a bigger b.o. draw. Kramer Group s Columbia this Week bought out: the interests of Stanley Kramer, Sum Katz, George Glass and Sai 7 ,agon in.the 11 pictures which t’h Stanley Kramer Co. had made in partnership, with the film company. The four ’ pards surrendered all right to the product, which in- cludes, the highly successful “The Caine Mutiny.” Although a few of the earlier films came out commercially on top, the first 10 as a group repre- sented a hefty loss. “Caine” alone is wiping put that deficit and chalking up enough coin to. turn the Col-Kramer tieup into a profit- able operation, Buyout deal was finalized last Monday (22) in N. Y. by Zagon, who is an attorney, and Coi execs. Zagon returned to his Coast head- quarters on a l'.a.m. plane. Unaffected by the stock purr chase is Kramer’s present status as an indie filmmaker linked with United Artists. He's now inking “•Not As a Stranger” for UA re- lease. Glass also is on his own an an indie producer. ‘Darkest Hour’ For Ladd Hollywoody Nov. 23. “The Darkest Hour,” a novel. by William P. McGivern, has been set as the next film project of,Alan Ladd’s Jaguar Productions. It’ll be released by Warner Bi os, The Ladd outfit and Warnera recently completed a nCw longterm deal for a number of pictures to be distributed by the studio. Deal was made upon completion of “Drum Beat,” which WB is cur- rently releasing* . Before starting “Darkest Hour” under his own banner, Ladd will star with June Ally son in the. War- ner production, “The McConnell Story,” -based on the life Of the triple jet ace Joseph McConnell, %