Boxoffice-March.06.1948

COURT SEES VTTER DISREGARD'
FOR TERMS OF CHICAGO DECREE
'Do It the Way I Advise/
Judge Igoe Suggests in
Interpreting Orders
By JONAS PERLBERG
Chicago Bureau. Boxoffice
CHICAGO — Judge Michael L. Igoe of
federal district court, who is liearing the
petition of Jackson Park Theatre owners to
cite defendants in the Chicago antitrust
suit for alleged violation of the decree he
handed down gave every indication this
week that he is considerably irked by the
actions of the defendants.
In an outburst during the hearing on
Tuesday, he declared that the proceedings
so far "clearly indicated an absolute disregard"
for provisions of the decree.
"The difficulty with the whole proceeding,"
he said, "is that you gentlemen did not go
any place to find out what the decree meant.
You just went ahead and advised your clients
what you thought it meant. Now you are
trying to justify what you thought it meant."
FOLLOWS ATTORNEY'S STATEMENT
Judge Igoe's outburst came after Ed Johnston,
counsel for Paramount, informed the
coui-t that he had advised his clients regarding
the meaning of the decree in reference
to the roadshowing of "Unconquered."
When the attorney pointed out that defendants
could have brought in a petition
for interpretation of the decree, the judge
declared that "is exactly what they are doing
now, after all the trouble has been
brought down on your heads."
"You go ahead and do it the way I advise
you to," 'he said. "The decree is pretty plain.
A lot of this evidence clearly indicates an
utter disregard of the decree and everything
it stands for."
Johnston denied that his clients had been
advised to proceed with intention of violating
the decree.
Judge Igoe's startling comments, however,
were interpreted by some as an ominous
warning on how he intends to rule on the
petition for the citations.
On the stand during the week's hearings
was Jack Donahue, Paramount's central division
manager, who defended clearances on
"Where There's Life," "Road to Rio" and
"Golden Earrings" as essential to prevent
chaos in bookings in some 15,000 theatres in
the coimtry.
FILM TO NET 8-9 MILLION
In accounting for the roadshow status of
"Unconquered." he disclosed that Paramount
will garner between eight and nine million
dollars on the picture. He said that the original
production cost was $4,500,000, and that
the print cost was $800,000 and advertising
upwards of $900,000.
Donahue said that although there were no
fixed admission prices in Paramount's contract
for the picture, the company "suggested"
advanced admission prices, averaging $1.20 on
Final
Judge Still
Arguments Find
Caustic
CHICAGO—Summation of arguments
in the Jackson Park contempt case began
Thursday.
Thomas McConnell, counsel for the
Jackson Park Theatre, lashed out at the
defendants, contending that they had
not at any time tried to comply with
the provisions of the decree. He reviewed
the charges against Paramount,
Balaban & Katz, 20th Century-Fox,
Loew's, Warners and RKO and declared
that by their action it is shown that
"we are dealing with national, not local
conspiracy."
He softened, however, when he said
that RKO had tried to comply with the
decree, and that the only complaint was
that the company imposed clearance
on the picture "Tycoon."
Ed Johnston. Paramount and B&K
counsel, denied chai-ges made against
his clients as to double featuring, clearances,
advanced admission prices and
the withdrawal of the picture "Unconquered"
from the Chicago area. He read
into the record various opinions in an
attempt to show that the contempt
charges could only be civil in that no
agent of the government was involved
that would make it criminal.
Judge Michael Igoe interjected: "Apparently
your position is that if conspiracy
is broken up, that element of evil
can be continued individually, wliich
was quite apparent from the final evidence."
The judge also asked what provision
of the decree did not apply to
"Unconquered" and Johnston replied
that the section on waiting time did not.
Otto Koegel, counsel for 20th-Fox,
speaking in behalf of that company, said
that if there was a violation of the decree
it was nonintentional and that any
acts, if the court construed them as
wrongful, would be corrected immediately.
He said that if the 20th-Fox
zoning plan for bidding on films was declared
unlawful, it would be dropped immediately.
a roadshow basis. The film is being released
nationally for general run April 9.
John Balaban. secretary-treasurer of the
B&K circuit, testified that it was the decree
which forced the company to cut short the
run of "Unconquered" at the United Artists
Theatre. The picture was pulled on December
2. Judge Igoe's decree went into effect on
November 19.
Balaban said he had been too busy with
Near East relief and his television station to
notice whether he was in contempt of court
on the "Unconquered" booking. He knew
that the United Arti.sts Theatre was charging
$1.20 for tlie picture, but explained that
the theatre had to pay Paramount 60 per
cent rental which necessitated
price.
the Increased
He told the court that he did not realize
B&K had booked "Where There's Life" with
provision for a 21-day clearance period between
the end of the Loop run and release
to outlying theatres. The picture ended its
run at the Chicago Theatre December 4 and
did not become available to neighborhoods
until December 25. Balaban said the first he
knew of the forbidden 21-day clearance provision
in the contract was when the Jackson
Park contempt petition was filed in January.
COSTON TAKES THE STAND
Another witness during the hearing was
James Coston, Warner Bros. Theatres zone
manager, who took the stand to deny any
allegation that he had threatened Eagle Lion
that if the Jackson Park Theatre played EL's
"Lost Honeymoon" it would not have been
booked into WB houses. He said that the
reason the picture was pulled from the Avalon
Theatre was to clear for other product.
The film has since played Warner theatres.
He also denied that the company had participated
in any clearance or zoning agreements
with distributors. He said there was no
agreement on admissions with Balaban &
Katz theatres.
Sam Gorelick, RKO district manager, was
on the stand to tell of the system of zones
worked out for the selling of films.
Cooper, Paramount Settle
Ownership of Theatres
NEW YORK—Paramount has ended its
long drawn-out controversies with the Cooper
Foundation through a cash payment by the
Cooper group, the amount of which has not
been disclosed. Under the terms of the agreement
Paramount drops its claims for one-half
interest in the Stewart and Nebraska theatres
in Lincoln, Neb., in the Ute Trail and
Tompkins theatres, Colorado Springs; in the
Main and Uptown theatres, Pueblo: in the
Sterling and Park theatres, Greeley, and in
the Cooper and Joy theatres. Grand Junction.
Also Paramount has sold to the Cooper
Foundation its one-half interest in the corporation
operating the Lincoln Theatre,
Lincoln, Neb., and six theatres in Oklahoma
City.
MPF Trustees Meeting
Is Postponed to April
NEW YORK—The scheduled meeting of
the board of trustees of the Motion Picture
Foundation has been postponed from March
16-18 to April. A definite date will be set
shortly. The postponement was made public
by E. V. Richards jr.. president of the
Foundation.
Richards said the session had been postponed
because the board of directors of TOA
is meeting on the coast March 9, 10.
BOXOFFICE : : March 6, 1948