Trouble in Paradise

In Hollywood's old, closed circle of major producers the conversation was heavy with trouble. An alarming number of actors, company-bound producers, directors, and even $2,500-a-week writers wanted to become independent producers, too. The reasons were plain: 1) taxes had taken the meaning, and the lure, out of high salaries; 2) the booming war market had made it a near impossibility to lose money on any cinema, no matter how inept; 3) the discontented wanted more creative freedom than is offered by the major producers.

The battle was not yet fully joined; the rising independents had their own problems, too. Where, they mourned, was a new producer to find name players (the real instrument of power in wartime Hollywood) and where the scarce, raw film? And if these should be found, as they can, be, how was the producer to find a Broadway theater to spotlight his pictures for the rest of the country?

To this last and most troublous question of all, two of the oldest and foxiest independent moviemakers last week gave an answer that may give other independents an idea. To insure a Broadway outlet for their productions, Producers Samuel Goldwyn* and David Selznick leased Manhattan's famed, 40-year-old, 1,140-seat Astor Theater from the owner-operator, City Investing Co. Major C. I. request:" Goldwyn & Selznick keep the Astor as well supplied with pictures as did former tenant Loew's Inc.

Inevitable Growth. Even the independents are ready to admit that this control, which extends to vast chains of theaters all over the U.S., was an inevitable outcome of the growth of. the movies. Nevertheless, this close harmony has caused the old & new independents to cry "monopoly." The U.S. Department of Justice has heard them, and filed an application aimed at forcing the big distributors to sell their theaters within three years, Goldwyn's The Princess and the Pirate, made last summer, has shown in many a U.S. tank town, and in India and China. But, because of the tight grip of M.G.M., 20th Century-Fox, RKO, Paramount and Warner Brothers and their theater chains on Manhattan's first run houses, it has yet to appear on Broadway. thus parting the golden circle. But the final breakthrough will depend on the independents themselves.

Their forward echelon is composed of Selznick, Goldwyn and International (a holding corporation for a number of the newer lone hands, such as Writer Nunnally Johnson, Director Sam Wood and Actor Gary Cooper). Other front-rankers are Hunt Stromberg, and (potentially) crack Producer-Writer-Director Preston Sturges.

Then come the tried and money-wise axis of Walter Wanger, Sol Lesser and Edward Small; the Crosby, Cagney and Leo (Going My Way) McCarey companies; and many of the profitable B producers. And perennially on the verge of making another picture are such formidable pioneers of independence as Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, who helped found United Artists Corp.

Plugging the Leaks. The majors, grimly aware that they are being drained of their most valuable talent, have taken measures to plug the leaks. In self-defense, Paramount has been forced to welcome the independent producing companies of Hal B. Wallis, Cecil B. De Mille and Buddy DeSylva within the parent organization. All now use Paramount's technical facilities, and players. All release through Paramount, which collects about 50%, instead of all of the profits.

M.G.M., still rich with 20 such stars as Hedy Lamarr, Greer Garson and Judy Garland, has evolved a fancy, expensive pension plan for stars and top executives, in an attempt to turn tax losses into benefits, to the extent of financing them well into eternity (TIME, July 10).

But despite these maneuvers, and more to come, the majors are beginning to wonder. The war, taxes and the Department of Justice may yet combine to bring cutthroat competition back to Hollywood.

* Goldwyn's The Princess and the Pirate, made last summer, has shown in many a U.S. tank town, and in India and China. But, because of the tight grip of M.G.M., 20th Century-Fox, RKO, Paramount and Warner Brothers and their theater chains on Manhattan's first run house, it has yet to appear on Broaway.

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