/

Z^cec44ilue
West: Louis B. Mayer returned to Metro
after a trip to New York and Washington.
In Gotham he conferred with Nicholas
Schenck. president of Loew's, Inc., and in
the nation's capital he appeared briefly at
the contempt trial of scenarist Dalton Trumbo.
Mayer was accompanied by Howard
Strickling. studio publicity director.
* *
East: Director Andre DeToth planed in
from Australia after huddles "down under"
with Sam Snyder, exhibitor and financier,
regarding plans for making a series of Samuel
Bischoff productions in the Antipodes utilizing
frozen American capital. Definite commitments
hinge upon the outcome of legal
obstacles now being studied by Attorney Herbert
Silverberg.
* * *
East: Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount producer-director,
left for Washington, where
he was scheduled to be the first witness before
a house labor committee opening sessions
May 11. DeMille planned to spend
additional time in New York before returning
to the coast.
* * *
West: William B. Levy, world sales supervisor
for Walt Disney Productions, checked
in from a month's trip to Europe.
* * +
West: To discuss future cooperative production
in France, Robert Guillemard, Pathe-
Cinema production chief in Paris, and Jacques
Chabrier, his American representative,
arrived at RKO.
* * *
East: Ed Lurie, eastern exploiteer for Allied
Artists, left for Chicago after local conferences
with Louis S. Lifton, advertisingpublicity
director.
* * *
West: Due within two weeks from Gotham
is John Woolf, managing director of General
Film Distributors, a J. Arthur Rank subsidiary.
Woolf, en route from London, will
stop off at Universal-International during a
nationwide tour of U-I officers. Returning
from a two-week junket to New York was
Irving Brecher, U-I producer. Producer
Nunnally Johnson also trained in after two
weeks in the east.
* * *
East: William Pine of the sharecropping
Pine-Thomas unit headed for Manhattan for
discussions with Paramount toppers concerning
a possible new distribution deal.
^n4juuele/i4>
West: George A. Hirliman, independent
producer releasing through Screen Guild,
came in from New York for huddles with SG
executives concerning the script for the first
of two films he will make in the east.
East: Edwin Knopf. Metro producer;
Howard Strickling, studio publicity director;
and Spencer Tracy were slated to leave over
the weekend for Manhattan, en route to London,
where Knopf will prepare for the filming
of a Tracy starrer at the company's
British studios.
* * *
West: Orson Welles planed in from Italy
and reported to Republic to begin work on the
final score and editing of "Macbeth," his
producing-directing-starring vehicle, made in
association with the Charles K. Feldman
group.
* * *
East: Following brief studio conferences,
N. C. Leharry, general manager for Columbia
in Calcutta, India, planed for his headquarters.
* • •
East: James R. Grainger, Republic sales
chief, planed for New York after a week of
studio conferences concerning new product.
* * *
West: Due in early next week is Gradwell
Sears, United Artists president, accompanied
by Joseph Unger, sales manager. They will
hu^le with various UA producers on pictures
currently in work and product due for
early release.
Triple-Chore Pact Signed
By 20th-Fox and Sturges
HOLLYWOOD—Preston Stm-ges has signed
a new thi-e»-way writer-director-producer
deal at 20th-Fox and will function in that
triple capacity in the making of "The Beautiful
Blonde From Bashful Bend," to star
Betty Grable. Sturges recently wound up
"Unfaithfully Yours" for the company.
'India' Goes to Columbia
HOLL'YWOOD—Release through Columbia
was set by Albert S. Rogell for "Song of
India," first vehicle to be produced by his
recently formed Gibraltar Pi'oductions. It
will star Turhan Bey and Sabu, with Rogell
as producer-director. From an original
screenplay by Art Arthur and Jerome Odlimi,
"India" is slated to roll early next month.
NEW RADIO-VIDEO HEADQUARTERS—First television outlet
on the air in the
U.S. and operating constantly in the Los Angeles area since 1931, the Mutual-Don Lee
broadcasting system will formally dedicate its new $3,000,000 combined radio-video
headquarters in Hollywood in September. Lee's television operation was recently
granted its commercial license by the Federal Communications commission and will
shortly change its call letters from the experimental W6XAO to commercial KTSL.
Studio Locals Reject
Counterproposals
HOLL'YWOOD—Rejecting counter offers of
major producers on their wage demands,
lATSE studio locals empowered Roy Brewer,
international representative, to ask President
Richard Walsh to intercede "immediately" in
an effort to reach a satisfactory adjustment.
The producers' offer to maintain a present
cost of living bonus with provision to review
it if and when living costs rise more than 15
per cent was unanimously thumbed down by
all lATSE workers. The union seeks an additional
7.75 per cent cost of living boost.
Action is the second wherein producers and
labor groups have failed to reach an agreement
in recent weeks. Some time ago the
Screen Actors guild armomiced negotiations
for a new contract had been abandoned because
producers allegedly refused to discuss
several important new demands. The actors
hinted strongly at the possibility of strike
action when their present agreement expires
in August.
* * *
Threats of eastern "leftwing groups" to
boycott showings of 20th-Fox's "The Iron
Curtain" were officially condemned by the
local oentral labor council of the AFL. W. J.
Basset^, council secretary, said the organization
had adopted a resolution branding those
group* "not affiliated with the AFL" who
have threatened to boycott the Roxy Theatre
in New York for a year if "Curtain" is
screened.
Producers have been offically notified by
the Screen Publicists Guild that the blurbers
are ready to open discussions concerning a
renewal of their contract. The publicists wUl
seek a "cost of living" increase in wages and
other adjustments, all of which have already
been approved by the SPG's executive board.
Two Auditoriums, 1 Booth
For Robert Lippert House
NORTH HOLLYWOOD—A double theatre,
comprising two auditoriums serviced from
a single projection booth between them, will
be constructed here shortly by Robert L. Lippert,
northern California exhibitor and executive
of Screen Guild.
Lippert's venture will be the first of its
type to be undertaken in the southland since
19S9, when the James Edwards circuit remodeled
the Alhambra in Alhambra, adding
an annex. The Edwards policy at that time
was the booking of an A feature, with short
subjects, into the annex, while the same A
and a companion pictui'e were being screened
in the larger auditorium.
The arrangement proved unsuccessful,
however, and Edwards later reverted to showing
the same dual program simultaneously
in both auditoriums.
Ground will be broken almost immediately
for the Lippert venture. Lippert has tentatively
named it the Duo, but as yet has not
decided whether to play the same features
in each auditorium or vary the bookings, perhaps
in much the same way as did Edwards
when his experiment got under way. The
Lippert showcase will have a total of 1,300
seats.
Comed'y Role to Comedian's Son
Son of a comedian, Joe Cook jr., will play a
comedy bellhop in Universal's "You Gotta
Stay Happy."
;
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58 BOXOFFICE :
: May
15, 1948