Variety (January 12, 1955)

PICTURES \VednM<lay, January 12, 1955 MARILYN MONROE, GIRL PRESIDENT, TELLS OF HER CONTRACT DEMAND Delaney’s Views Crux of the contract issue involving Marilyn Monroe ap- pears to be the manner, if any, in which the original contract was terminated. It runs to 1958. with yearly options. As Delaney explained it Monday (10'. 20th picked up its ’54-'55 option, but the letter inform- ing Miss Monroe of that fact included a reference to the two pix—•‘Showbusiness*’ and •'Itch'’—as coming under the “new” contract which, at that time, was in the negotiation stage. Eventually, Miss Mon- roe repudiated the new docu- ment. and it was never signed. It's Delaney’s contention that the studio's letter repre- sented an admission on the part of the studio that it con- sidered the old contract in- valid. He claimed that 20th had subsequently agreed that the star had made her last two films for the studio with- out any contract, a contention that is strenuously denied by 20th execs. Delaney also pointed out that, on the basis of her S1.500 a week. Miss Monroe actually got only $22.- 500 for "Seven Year Itch,” out of which she’d have to pay her agent. Charles Feldman, his percentage. Feldman, he said, is understood to have a cut of the pic. Delaney continued his in- sistence that Miss Monroe's contractual difficulties would be worked out "to mutual sat- isfaction” with her studio where she is one of the strong- est marquee - names on the contract list. Miss Monroe left for the Coast over the week- end to finish up "Itch” and in- tends to return East after that. Her differences with the stu- dio will be put to a legal test, it appears, when she's handed her next assignment. By FRED HIFT Clad in white satin and wrapped in ermine, a demure Marilyn Mon- roe in N. Y. last week <7* had a surprise script ready for 20th-Fox. Plot involved her "Declaration of Independence” from the studio and from the type of roles she’s been playing to date. Looking fit after a "rest” of sev- eral weeks at a friend’s Connecti- cut hideout. Miss Monroe told a mob of jostling reporters that in mid-December she had formed her own producing company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, Inc. Purpose of the new outfit, she explained rather vaguely, was to make "bet- ter pictu-es" and also to spread her talents into other media, pri- marily television. Apart from that, the actress. J whose entire career has been at 20th and whose popularity is based to a large part on her sexy por- tray a Is, said she was looking for roles more apt to bring out her j talents as a dramatic performer. Towards that end. in any new con- , tract with 20th. she'd want di-1 rector and script approval, she in- sisted. Both Miss Monroe and her new attorney. Frank Delaney, at whose swank eastside house the press powwow was staged, maintained that the actress at the moment is not under contract to 20th: that her last two features for 20th— “The e's No Business Like Show- business” and "The Seven Year Itch”—were made without an op- erative contractual arrangement with the studio, and that no new deal with 20th had been signed or was in the wind. Delaney supplemented the star’s , remarks further, stating it would be "a great mistake" to assume she still had a contract with 20th. He declared that there had been mu- tual agreement between Miss Mon- roe and 20th to terminate the con- tract which was signed in 1951. No question of money was involved, he said. 20th Denial — All of this found a hollow echo rui p n . at 20th. whose reps were not at i film LOUDCll KCSCIltS the press confab, and who weren't prepared for the bombshell. Ac- cording to Lew Schreiber, 20th stu- dio exec w ho was in N. Y. last week (he said it wasn’t on account of Miss Monroe', the star’s exclusive Hollywood, Jan. 11. contract with 20th still has four The Hollywood AFL Film Coun- years to go and. as far as the stu- cil and the Permanent Charities dio is concerned, is binding. He Committee are aligned against Ra- flatly denied any agreement to ter- dio - Television - Recording - Ad- minate the 1951 deal. vertising Charities. Inc., in a juris- The Monroe interview for the j dictional battle over charity collec- most part consisted of a mad , tion rights in the ranks of televi- scramble on the part of photogs. i sion workers. No Serial Number on Stub; New Ticket Thwarts Any ‘Checkers’ of Attendance Minneapolis, Jan. 11. . North Central Allied in its cur- rent bulletin calls attention to a new type of admission ticket now- being manufactured which is de- signed to thwart checking of the boxoflfice through ticket numbers. The ticket is serially numbered, the bulletin says, but the patron receives only an unnumbered por- tion. "There are plenty of reasons why people want to check your busi- ness,” the bulletin points out. "They may concern the raising of I your rent, film rentals and union wage scale, the imposition of a ! local admission tax. the building of an opposition theatre or the bidding against you for product. "This new ticket is perforated i lengthwise. The numbered por- tion remains in the machine, while , the patron is given the unnum- bered part. These tickets will fit 1 into the General Register or the Gold Seal ticket machines. All you need is a special magazine for $10 i each.” To Marilyn: Sorry, No Dostoievsky Hollywood, Jan. 11. On Jan. 8. 20th-Fox issued the following official statement: Marilyn Monroe has a firm contract with 20 th Century Fox for her exclusive services until Aug. 8 of 1958. Miss Monroe asked for and was offered a new contract, which she and her representatives and legal advisers agreed to, but which she has not signed. Naturally, this leaves her current long term contract in full force and the studio will use every legal means to see that she lives up to every provision of it. When Miss Monroe first came to the studio in August of 1946. she received a salary of $125 a tceek. Miss Monroe under her existing contract is receiving $1,500 per w^ek. In the next period of her contract she will receive $2 000 a week to be followed by $2,500 a week and during the last year of her contract she will receive $3,500 a week. The new contract which Miss Monroe has failed to sign calls for a salary not less than $100,000 per picture Before Miss Monroe was signed to her present long term con- tract. she had tried her talents at tiro other major studios, neither of which retained her on a long-term deal. Since she has been at 20th Century-Fox Miss Monroe was given every consideration, surrounded by the finest creative talent available and cast only in multi-million-dollar productions and given a careful and world- wide publicity campaign. - 20th Century-Fox is very satisfied with both the artistic and financial results from the pictures in which Miss Monroe has ap- peared. Among others these include, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “How to Marry a Millionaire.” “River of No Return,” “There's No Business Like Show Business ” and “The Seven Year Itch.” 20 th Century-Fox has no intention of granting Miss Monroe’s request that she play in “Brothers Karamazov ” by Dostoievsky. Censor Board Jobs As 'Plum ’ MEMPHIS STANDS PAT WARNERS RELEASING Binford at 88 Reappointed Chief Censor—He’s Commended Memphis, Jan. 11. Lloyd T. Binford hfis been reap- pointed chief censor of this mu- , nicipality. At 88, there had been I AIT\ ‘fflNFinFNTlAI 1 talk that Binford might be put to L/1II O 1/VllIlUUlimL | pasture. He himself suggested he Warner Bros, has closed a deal might not complete another term, with Edward Small to distribute By OTTO PREMINGER Hollywood. Ever since those censors, in full cry, started .baying at the film ver- sion of "The Moon Is Blue," I not only have been hitting back, I have done a bit of exploratory work. My wonderment now is why there are not more state and municipal cen- sors? It certainly supplies some of the juiciest plum-picking ever devised by politicians. Last spring when the U. S. Su- preme Court overruled New York the Clarence Greene-Russell Rouse production of "New York Confi- dential.” film suggested by the title of the book by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer. Small has been dickering with The job of chief censor pays $200 a month, not sumptuous, but the ' an “ Ohio censors, and in rather a headlines are wonderful. Other four censors, of which three are women, labor for purity gratuitous- ly. All were reappointed, too. Mayor Frank Tobey commended turgidly phrased opinion hinted that all state film censorship might well be unconstitutional, many of us in the film industry and 'allied endeavors emitted a small whoop ** *«*«.** , ma> ui x i aim a u ut j vuiiiiuv. uuv u - i i • n . , y. a number of distribution companies the censors for performing their delight. But the Court stopped Air-Ad-Phono Boys’ Charity Collections reporters and assorted friends and relatives of the Delaneys to get within at least hearing distance of the gal. Questioning started on the second floor, with Miss Mon oe RTRA interference, according to the Film Council, in a long resolu- tion voted at its weekly meeting, has resulted in a hampering of PCC’s annual collections, and caus- to take on the United Artists Metro reportedly also had the pic- ture under consideration. WB’s success with similar type films may have been a factor in the selection of the Burbank studio. The company chalked up socko returns with Jack Webb’s "Dragnet” and previously with “Them,” another indie-made ex- ploitation-type picture. "New York Confidential” was produced by Greene and directed by Rouse with the pair collaborat- ing on the original screenplay. It stars Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte. Anne Bancroft. J. C. Car- roll Naish, and Marilyn Maxwell. film, including j duties "with integrity, efficiency Columbia and i and in the public interest.” There has not been any notice- able inclination in Memphis to re- gard the bluenose exploits as re- ported throughout the nation, and there; the state censors blithely did not. They weren't going to surrender such lush political plums. And now it doesn't look like the Court is going to press the matter. Six states and a few cities—such Uruguay Festival Party Hollywood. Jan. 11. Fourteen Hollywood personalities plane tomorrow for Punta Del Este. Uruguay, as official reps of whispering to a group of reporters ing confusion among both employ- the Association of Motion Picture bestselling Morton Thompson forming a tight little circle around ers and employees. The resolution Producers at the Uruguayan Film novel. Kramer hired a man and. at hen this proved unsatisfac- asserts RTRA has refused to con- Festival* Jan. 14-30. his own expense had him make (Continued on page 24) fine its solicitations to live tv, ra- Party will comprise Delmer i the rounds of big department dio. recording and advertising Daves. Dean Jagger. Van Johnson, I stores all over the country to pro- fields. John Lund. Fletcher Markle. Mer- \ mote the book. Purpose of course To this charge. Bert Zinn. exec cedes McCambridge, Dorothy Me- is to keep interest in the tome secretary of RTRA. replied that the Guire. Wayne Morris. Pat O'Brien, I alive until the film bows in the attack on his org was unjust, since Walter Pidgeon, Lizabeth Scott, | theatres, the Film Council had been advised Elaine Stewart, Claire Trevor and by his group that none of its mem- May Wynn. Sponsored by the South bers would be solicited by RTRA. I American country’s government, even in Europe, as doing any dis-, . w .. credit to the reputation of Mem- f s . Chlca f.°. ant * Memphis main- phis 11 a l n politician-manned censor Picture Problem: Close Time Gap of Release Based on Bestseller With lots of bestsellers on their production skeds, film companies are looking for closer ties with publishers so as to exploit the lit- erary properties to mutual ad- vantage. Story - department execs in N Y. have been frankly impressed with the job done by Stanley Kramer on Not As a Stranger,” based on the WORLDLY GLAMOUR HARD TO COME BY Hollywood. Jan! 11. Start of 20th-Fox’ "Lord Van- ity" has been set back to June, fol- lowing casting of French actress Martine Carol, new pactee, for femme star role. Film originally was slated to roll last Nov. 1, but. studio reports, "when it appeared impossible to find anyone else with ‘sufficient worldly glamour’ to fill the demands of the role, it was de- cided to delay the picture until Miss Carol became available.” boards. To put it bluntly, but necessarily plainly, these groups are not shears-sw inging brigades of righteous watch men protecting public morals. They are politicians collecting, and living off, taxes. Taxes scooped not out of the pock- ets of the general public, but out of the coffers of the film distribu- tion companies. These civic censors pass upon the "fitness” of films to be shown (Continued on page 20) and to his knowledge been so solicited. none had Sues Lasky Inc. on ’47 Note Covering ‘Miracle’ Hollywood. Jan. 11. ALLIED ARTISTS SETS BANK REVOLVING FUND Hollywood. Jan. 11. Allied Artists has closed a one- year deal with the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles and the Bankers Trust Co., N. Y., for a revolving loan of a maximum of $1,750,000. expiring Jan. 1, 1956. x .. _ ., , ... I Arrangement also permits guaran- T {?, . •• p A. J’ TP be filme d partially in Hong event is similar to last year’s Bra- zilian and Argentine festivals, to which Hollywood also sent delega- tions, and will be attended by film groups from most of the world's film industries. Three American films will be en- , tered, including Columbia's "The Caine Mutiny.” Paramount's I "Sabrina” and Walt Disney's “The Living Desert.” William Holden inked by 20th to star in "A Many Splendored Problem faced by the companies is the gap between the purchase of a book and release of the pic based on it. In many instances, public interest in the novel has lagged by the time the film reaches the screen. There have been cases, and 20th-Fox’s "The Egyptian” is one, (Continued on page 20) Jesse L. Lasky Productions. Inc., tees up to $500,000 covering bank loans to indie producers releasing through AA. Pact, disclosed by prexv Steve Broidv and exec veepee-treasurer George D. Burrows, supplants pre- still owes S188.797 28 on a promis- sory note for $1,472,696.47. plus $53,214.35 repping A'} interest. Bank of America National Trust & Savings Assn, claims in a suit filed Jan. 5 in L A. Superior Court. Ad- vious loan agreement with sanuj ditiorallv. hank is out to collect $2,615 in attorney fees. Film firm signed note June 30. 1947. complaint states, for "The Miracle of the Bells" financing. Pic- ture. on which bank received a chattel mortgage, subsequently was nual amounts of $70,000 s<:d by bank for $85,000, which go towards financing was applied to principal. banks, which allowed up to $1.- 250.000 loan maximum. Deal also has been negotiated with DeLuxe Laboratories. Inc., of N Y, effective last Nov. 26. for loan of $350,000. payable over five-year period in an- j Coin will A A s ex- Kong. , panded production program. I Europe to N.Y. Geraldine Brooks Claude Dauphin Dino deLaurentiis Paulette Goddard Huntington Hartford Witold Malcuzynski Y'ehudi Menuhin Amru Sani Marjorie Steele Elizabeth Taylor Michael Wilding Alan Young N. Y. to l. A. Walter Abel George Brandt Frederick Brisson Glenn Denning Nat Dorfman Herb Golden Sidney Gross Reub Kaufman I-isa Kirk Joshua Logan Charles C. Moskowitz Gene Nelson James P. O'Neill Harriet Parsons Jack Rose Jane Russell Nicholas M. Schenck Lew Schreiber Melville Shavelson Jean Simmons Peter Witt Adolph Zukor L. A. to N. Y. Pier Angeli Art Baker Mort Blumenstock Dagmar Dennis Day George Durgora Dan Duryea Frank Fine Eddie Fisher Jackie Gleason Lew Grade Bonita Granvills Don Hartman Larry Kent King Sisters Robert E. Kintner Dorothy Kirsten Connie Krebs Robert F. Lewine Rudy Mate Marie McDonald William Perlberg Cesar Romero Helen Rose Frank Rosenberg Natalie Schafer George Seaton Don Segal George T. Shupert George Sidney James Stabile Walter Wanger William Wyler N. Y. to Europe Harry Adler Joy Batchelor John Halas Richard Mealand Steven Pallos Val Parnell Fthel Linder Reiner Harold Steinmun Max Weinberg George Weltner