Boxoffice-May.03.1952

Brandt, Weisman Keep
Trans-Lux Control
NEW YORK—Harry Brandt and Milton C.
Weisman retained control of the management
of Trans-Lux Corp. Friday (25) when the
board of directors received 325.064 votes as
against 215,575 for a board nominated by a
stockholders committee trying to oust them.
The winning slate is composed of Chester
Bland, Brandt, Robert Daine, Jay Emanuel,
Percival E. Furber, Percy N. Furber, Aquila
Giles, Herbert E. Herrman, Edison Rice, Lee
Shubert, Jacob Starr, Joseph Viertel, Ralph
Wiener and Weisman.
SEEKS TO VOID ELECTION
H. Gardner Ingi-aham. attorney, who led
the attack for the stockholders committee, has
appealed to the Securities and Exchange
Commission to void the entire April 25 election
of the Trans-Lux board. Ingraham, who
represents George G. Mason, a member of
the stockholders committee, said that the
SEC had been furnished exhibits and affidavits
which seek to show that the Trans-Lux
management used soliciting material for proxies
alleged to be false and misleading, in violation
of the commission's proxy rule. Ingraham
requested a re-solicitation of proxies
and a new election.
In addition to Mason, others on the stockholders
committee are: Mrs. Elizabeth King
Black, Norman W. Elson, Peter H. Mortenson,
Walter Siemers, Jerome B. Ross and
Eugene R. West. Ingraham claimed that a
four-to-one ratio of individual stockholders
sending proxies to the committee showed dissatisfaction
with the management "amounting
to a grassroots revolt." He said the incumbent
directors and their families and known
friends or relatives and employes owned more
than 30 per cent of the outstanding shares.
READING DEFERRED A YEAR
The committee also lost out on a proposal
for an investigation by the board of specific
charges of mismanagement, but another proposal
calling for the reading of the minutes
of preceding annual meetings was carried by
a vote of 217,781 to 211,805. Ingraham then
asked Percival E. Furber, chairman of the
board and president, to have the minutes of
the last meeting read so that "any grave
omissions or inaccuracies" could be corrected.
PXirber said the vote meant they would be
read next year, not then. Weisman said the
idea was not to prolong the meeting, which
had opened the previous day, and that minutes
were not read at most corporation meetings.
He said they would be supplied stockholders
individually. It was then voted to
defer the reading.
Weisman said the company had weathered
an economic storm and that he hoped dividends
would be resumed soon. He spoke of
a "grave recession" in the industry, with "all
companies steadily going downhill in the past
four years," and attributed it to television, a
lack of pictures and installment buying. Ingraham
asked for a reduction in administrative
expenses, which he said had risen, and
said that Guild Enterprises theatres operated
by Elson, whom the committee had wanted
to manage Trans-Lux, had been doing an
Increasing business.
Your help appreciated—run the Cerebral Palsy
trailer. Avoiloble from May IS to July 1.
TV Patents Declared
Safe in UPT Merger
WASHINGTON — Paramount Television
Vice-Piesidcnt Paul Raibourn concluded his
third appearance during the course of the
long-drawn-out FCC hearings on the proposed
ABC-UPT merger with a denial that
Paramount would have any reason for attempting
to suppress theatre television patents.
FCC Counsel Arthur Gladstone, on top of
earlier accusations by FCC lawyers to the
effect that Paramount had sought to suppress
Scophony's theatre TV and subscriber
TV patents, indicated his belief that Paramount
had used the same suppression
methods on the DuMont Laboratories, operators
of the DuMont Television Network.
Raibourn said that Paramount was very
much interested in the development of theatre
television and that he, himself, had always
felt large-screen TV would prove to be
"of immense advantage" to theatres.
ABC and DuMont followed the lead of CBS,
which on the day before had submitted its
film rental figures covering 1951 for the hearing
record.
DUMONT FILM EXPENDITURES
DuMont during 1951 said it had spent
$533,098 for all types of films, of which $240,-
500 went for rental of motion picture features:
$286,147 for films made especially for
TV, and the balance for other types of film.
During 1951, ABC spent a total of $1,310,195
for films, of which $884,259 went for rentals of
feature motion pictures and the balance for
other types of film. ABC was the only one
of the three TV networks which did not devote
more of its investment for films to those
especially made for television than to the
Hollywood product. ABC reported it had
shown no specially made films during the
year, although it had produced two such films
on a "pilot" basis.
Balaban anci Blank
Excused at Hearing
WASHINGTON—The FCC hearings on the
proposed ABC-UPT merger limped along last
week through mountains of ancient letters
which FCC counsel had secured from Para-
mount and United Paramount Theatres files
and which were offered as Indlcatloas that
during the late 208 the Balaban & Katz chain
had tried to suppress competition illegally in
the Chicago area.
Tlie witne.s-s, until Friday afternoon, was
Paramount Pictures President Barney Balaban,
and many of the letters had been written
by or to him, or to third parties with
copies to Balaban. He .said he failed to remember
almost all of the 25-year-old correspondence.
JOHN BALABAN ILL
On Friday, the witness was advised that his
brother John Balaban was seriously ill In
Chicago and he was excu.sed for a time. No
date ha.s been set for his return. UPT Director
A. H. Blank's appearance was postponed
on somewhat similar grounds. His wife Ls
.seriously ill.
Paramount television Vice-President Paul
Raibourn took the stand on Friday. Hearings
were recessed over Monday and Tuesday
and resumed on Wednesday with Raibourn
still the witness, as he will likely be until the
end of this week. Raibourn was again quizzed
about the Scophony theatre television and
subscriber television patents, with the FCC
attorneys still trying to establish an attempt
on the part of Paramount to suppress TV
patents. Arthur Levey, Scophony president,
is tentatively scheduled to appear Monday to
tell the Scophony side of the Paramount-
Scophony relationship.
Columbia Broadcasting System on Wednesday
(30) put into the hearing record the
figures on film rentals it had paid during
1951.
UPT Executive Tours
NEW YORK—Edward L. Hyman, vicepresident
of United Paramount Theatres, and
Bernard Levy, his assistant, left Tuesday (29)
for visits to Chicago, Salt Lake City, Los
Angeles and San Francisco. Hyman will attend
the MGM "Seeing Is Believing" conference
in Los Angeles May 8-10 and discuss
plan.s for the Memorial day reopening of the
Paramount Theatre after improvements. He
is expected to return May 27.
AT OPENING OF LUXURY THEATRE—Among those who attended the invitation
opening of the Beekman Theatre, new Rugoff & Beciier house at 66th street on Second
avenue Monday were, left to right: Irving Lesser, produoor's representative, with Mrs.
Lesser, and S. Barret McCormick, director of advertising for RKO, with Mrs. McCormick;
Edward N. Rugoff, co-owner of the Beekman; Greer Garson, MGM star, and
Leo McCarey, Paramount producer-director of "My Son John."
BOXOFHCE May 3, 1952 N 37