Boxoffice-March.06.1948

: March
Ascap Will Consider Yearly Pacts,
But Will Reject 30-Day Deals
NEW YORK—The American Society of
Composers, Authors and PubUshers will issue
special exhibitor licenses covering one
year, if necessary, according to an executive
of the organization, but no license will be
issued on a month-to-month basis. This
type of deal would cost too much time and
trouble,
he explained.
Tlie Ascap official made these statements
after learning that some Allied members are
considering short-term agreements under
which they would pay the new performance
fees, which go into effect March 15. The
new contract forms are now on their way
to Ascap customers.
TOA UNITS READY TO SIGN
During the three-day Washington meeting
of the Allied board of directors last month,
several directors suggested that Allied members
should try to get monthly, quarterly or
annual contracts from Ascap. The agreement
worked out between Ascap and the
TOA calls for a ten-year period with increases
ranging from 2',;. cents per seat to 5
cents for theatres seating more than 500.
Most TOA members have said they will sign
the new contracts.
Allied members realize that they have to
work out some sort of an agreement with
Ascap if they want to exhibit sound films.
They prefer to wait for the outcome of the
house committee hearings on the Lewis bill,
backed by Allied, to be held March 22. This
bill is designed to amend the copyright law
so that the producer instead of the exhibitor
will pay the public performance rights for
copyrighted material. Alli^^ also wants to
wait for a decision in the antitrust case filed
by the ITOA of New York against Ascap
and which has just been tried before the
federal district court of New York. The new
rate schedule goes into effect March 15.
SEVERAL ALLIED IDEAS ON FEES
Some Allied members say they will not
sign the new contracts b-ut will send in
checks to Ascap at the new rate at the end
of each quarter. With these checks will be
letters of protest against paying any fees to
Ascap. Members of Allied Independent Theatre
Owners of Kansas and Missouri have
been cautioned not to sign any agreements
sent out by Ascap, but to make monthly
payments on a special form which refers to
the Lewis bill and the antitrust case. The
form states that the payment is being made
under protest.
The Ascap official said that no action will
be taken against any customer who delays
his payments in good faith. He indicated
that those who intentionally hold up their
payments may be in for trouble. Exhibitors
have had plenty of time to consider the
situation, he added.
Atlas Stockholders to Act
NEW YORK—Stockholders of Atlas Corp.
will be asked to authorize reduction of the
capital stock by 53,682 shares at the annual
meeting April 7. These shares are now held
in the treasury. The proxy statement shows
that Floyd B. Odium has increased his holdings
by 8,000 shares over a year ago. He now
holds 74,820 shares.
Myers Predicts
New Suits
Over Ascap's Schedules
WASHINGTON — Abram F. Myers,
Allied board chairman and general co\msel,
re-entered the Ascap discussion Tuesday
(9i by pointing out that a U.S. supreme
court decision barring use of crosslicensed
patents for price-fixing pm-poses
could open the way for more suits
against the authors' organization.
He specifically referred to a warning he
issued some months ago that if the TOA
reached an agreement with Ascap on
rates, exhibitors not parties to the agreement
could file triple-damage suits
against these organizations. When the
results of the TOA negotiations were announced
regional Allied members began
to act on their own.
TOA was careful not to sign any agreement
with Ascap. It simply reached an
understanding and recommended its acceptance
by individual members of regional
units.
In expressing his opinion on the implications
of the supreme court decision
early in the week Myers said : "It appears
certain that a great copyright pool issuing
uniform licenses at uniform rates
amomits to a price-fixing conspiracy.
When films moving in interstate commerce
are burdened by that conspiracy
the applicability of the Sherman act becomes
apparent."
Cagneys Settle With UA
For 'Time of Your Life'
HOLLYWOOD—The
on - again - off - again
liaison between Cagney Productions and
United Artists is on again, with William
Cagney disclosing his company has reached
an "amicable settlement of its difficulties"
with UA as the result of long-distance negotiations
with Gradwell Sears, UA president,
in New York.
Pending litigation by UA against the Cagneys
has been halted, and UA will release
William Saroyan's "The Time of Youi- Life,"
over Which all the trouble started. That
film was completed by the Cagneys last fall,
shortly before they served notice on UA that
their distribution pact was being terminated,
at which time a new Cagney-Warner Bros,
tieup was effected and it was announced
"The Time of Yom- Life" would go with the
Cagneys in their new affiliation. UA promptly
served notice it expected delivery of the
picture and the litigation began.
An unusual feature of the peace terms
gives Cagney Productions the right to make
its next picture for distribution by another
company—not specified in the announcement,
but probably Warners—with its third to be
released tlu-ougti UA.
Cagney said he was "delighted with the
solution" and with the "opportimity to continue
his association" with the Sears company.
Selznick: You Can Cut
Production Costs
NEW YORK—"Hollywood can cut production
expenses," says David O. Selznick, "but
where should it begin?" Not on star salaries;
there are only about 25 stars with top boxoffice
value, and their salaries will go higher
before they go lower.
"Has anybody figured out what proportion
of the costs go to union labor? Here is one
of the biggest items.
"So what should we do? We should spend
more time in preparation of shooting schedules.
We should do more rehearsing. We
should insist that directors know what they
want in a picture before shooting. We should
stop taking long shots, medium shots and
closeups of every scene and rolling up ten
times more footage than we require.
CITES THE HITCHCOCK METHOD
"It is a lot cheaper to reconstruct a set
for a camera angle and make a retake of a
scene at a cost of a few thousand dollars, if
we find something missing, than it is to spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars on protection
shots that we know in advance we are
not going to use.
"Some directors can do this." He named
Alfred Hitchcock as one.
Selznicks remarks were made in a frank
discussion of production problems with the
press at his Hampshire House apartment before
leaving for the coast last week.
The discussion ranged from an appraisal
of star values, best-seller values and title
values through "the pseudo scientific research
on audience tastes" to the way exhibitors
handle the pictures after they get
them.
When he was asked what he thought of
current surveys to test public reaction to
titles and story types in advance of production
he chuckled.
"Suppose," he suggested, "the researchers
had gone out to test the value of 'Gone With
the Wind' as a title before it became a bestseller.
The answer would have been: 'It's no
good.'
"Suppose somebody had made a survey to
find out if the public wanted a story of the
civil war. What would the answer have
been?"
ON SHORTER PICTURES
Should pictures be shorter? he was asked.
"I can't decide in advance how long a picture
should be," he responded. "Pictures
have to rmi long enough to tell the story.
I have to test them to see where the interest
lags, and I have to spend days and days
taking film out by inches, or filling in gaps."
He admitted some producers had made
pictures long on the theory that long pictures
were important pictures, but could see
no excuse for this.
Sales values in pictures crept into the discussion.
Selznick is a strong believer in the
value of star names and in best-selling
novels.
'"When you take an unknown story and an
unknown cast you are banging right up
against the antagonism of sales departments
and exliibitors. You are lucky it you get
your money back. Sometimes these pictures
start catching on; they even become hits,
but the selling pressure isn't applied until
after they have demonstrated their value as
attractions. Every producer has to consider
these
factors."
14
BOXOFFICE
;
13, 1948