MPAA

Talenf Quest'
(Continued from preceding page)
received a $50 participation prize, and the
nine members of those acts each were presented
with a custom-made watch.
Winners were selected by audience applause
and by a council of judges at Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, the judges including Ivan
Kahn and Milton Lewis, talent scouts for
20th Centiu-y-Fox and Paramount, respectively,
and John Kingsley, president of the
Hollywood chamber of commerce.
For the guidance of NT personnel engaged
in staging the various "Talent Quest" preliminaries,
the circuit prepared an elaborate
brochure containing detailed information as
to how the event should be handled in each
theatre. Among helpful hints worthy of being
passed on to other exhibitors are such suggestions
as:
1. It is not a one-man show. To present
it right will take the facilities of your screen,
your lobby and advertising plus the cooperation
of a newspaper and radio station.
2. The more attractive your prizes and
awards, the more attracted to your "Talent
Quest" will be contestants.
3. The master of ceremonies should be
supplied a short introduction for each contestant
and cautioned to avoid wise-cracking
at the expense of any entrant. He should
play it straight and not waste time being
funny or performing himself, even for laughs.
4. You cannot sit back in anticipation of
sufficient voluntary performers. The best
will have to be searched for.
5. Every applicant must be auditioned before
appearing on your stage.
6. Avoid embarrassing any contestant and
give them all a fair chance to display their
talents.
7. The ideal show should be from eight te
ten acts and should not rim more than 30 to
35 minutes. No encores should be permitted.
8. Judging must be fair and must present
a clear-cut reflection of audience reaction to
the performers.
CUCH are among the rules devised by NT
as a blueprint designed to achieve the most
in the way of audience and contestant satisfaction,
increased revenue and community
good-will, and to hold to a minimum any
possible accusations of "partiaUty" or poor
showmanship.
The recent NT "Talent Quest" stemmed
from a similar contest first introduced in the
Fox Inter-Moimtain chain in the summer of
1948. It was presented in 24 houses with
newspaper and radio co-sponsorship, and the
idea snowballed almost from the start, proving
so popular that the decision was reached
to duplicate it on a nationwide basis by the
parent circuit.
As to the profits and benefits deriving
therefrom, these are viewed on a long-range
basis by NT executives rather than from the
standpoint of quick, short-term profits. In
the words of Dick Dickson, southern California
district manager for FWC, who was active
in staging the Hollywood finals:
"Business conditions throughout the country
are so mercurial that it would be difficult to
reduce the 'Talent Quest' into terms of dollars
and cents. We are, however, certain of
one thing—that it afforded a splendid opportunity
for yoimg people to demonstrate
their hitherto unexploited talents and that,
therefore, as a medium for building goodwill
among the public it had very substantial
results."
Charles Nelson (center) of Salina,
Kas., receives the felicitations of Sid
Grauman, veteran showman, after Nelson
was voted the winner of National Theatres'
"Talent Quest" contest. Another
star performer, Shirley Temple, is the
smiling onlooker.
Fi-om Dickson's comment and other information
gleaned from NT spokesmen,
several salient factors become apparent:
In the southern California area, particularly
in Los Angeles and Hollywood—where
the semi-finals and finals were held—the
increase in theatre attendance was below expectations.
This Dickson attributes primarily
to the well-established fact that the sector
is considerably more blase and sophisticated
than elsewhere, since it is the entertainment
center of the world; and, consequently, it is
vastly more difficult a task to excite the public
about new and imtested talent.
Results were progressively bettter in areas
farther and farther away from Hollywood,
and were considerably more satisfactory in
communities such as San Francisco, Denver,
Seattle. San Diego and Phoenix.
Further, Dickson pointed out, FWC and
NT shouldered a heavy burden in the Los
Angeles-Hollywood area, since it was necessary
to supply suitable promotional and advertising
material, in large quantity, for the
contest finals.
It has not been determined whether or not
the "Talent Quest" will be repeated. NT
executives are, however, giving the matter
"serious consideration" because circuit officials
were well pleased with the results.
Charles Skouras
Dick Dickson
Charles Skouras, president of National
Theatres, who guided the "Talent Quest"
project and Dick Dickson, southern California
division manager for Fox West
Coast.
UA and RKO Settle
'Champion' Battle
HOLLYWOOD—Legal
pyrotechnics involving
RKO Radio's allegation that sequences
in its prizefight melodrama, "The Set-Up,"
were pirated and incorporated into another
story of the squared circle, "Champion," came
to an abrupt end via an out-of-court settlement
wherein certain deletions are being
made in the footage of the latter picture.
Mutual agreement was reached by attorneys
representing RKO Radio and the defendants.
Screen Plays, Inc., and United
Artists, producer and distributor, respectively,
of "Champion." As recommended by Federal
Judge Peirson M. Hall, who viewed both films
during the course of the lawsuit, approximately
100 feet of film, representing about
a minute's running time and including only
two words of dialog, is being scissored from
"Champion."
UA has about 250 prints of the film in
distribution, which are to be revised within
two weeks.
Originally RKO Radio had filed suit seeking
an injunction to restrain the distribution
of "Champion" and asking $500,000 in damages
on the grounds Screen Plays and UA
had violated the copyright on "The Set-Up."
As part of the settlement, Screen Plays
does not acknowledge that it may have
"pirated" any story material from "The
Set-Up," while RKO Radio pledged it will
bring no damage actions against any exhibitors
for having shown the uncut version.
Moreover, until the indicated cuts have been
made in release prints of "Champion," exhibitors
may book and run the picture as is.
MPEA and Army Talk Over
Film Problem in Orient
NEW YORK—Termination of the present
Motion Picture Export Ass'n contract for
fUm distribution in Japan and Korea is now
being discussed with U.S. army heads in
Washington. The present contract expires
July 1. MPEA brought the matter to a head
May 19 when its directors voted disapproval
of the army's action in blocking yen balances
and dollar remittances, allowing American
companies to recover only the amount of
their expenses in distributing films in those
two countries. The amoimt they have been
permitted to withdraw since the end of the
war is only about $185,000.
MPEA is understood to be receptive to a
new contract permitting arrangements for
taking some profits out of the countries but
won't go along under the old plan, putting
it up to army brass hats as to whether they
wish the Japs and Koreans to continue to
see American films. Not long ago the far
east command of the army congratulated
Charles Mayer, MPEA representative in
Japan, on the public relations job he was
doing with filins. It could be that the army
had had the tipoff then on the action now
taken by MPEA.
RKO Advances Ed Stokes
NEW YORK—Robert Mochrie, vice-president
and general sales manager of RKO,
appointed Ed Stokes assistant to Frank
Mooney, RKO Radio North-South division
sales approval manager. Stokes was formerly
assistant to Irving Cane, head of the contract
department.
22 BOXOFFICE :: May 28, 1949