The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-12-30
Promising Pictures Feature Programs Of Local 7eaters
Loud Walls From Movie-Makers
Business Offices See GriefAhead M 1889
By PAUL HARRISON

NEA Service Staff Correspondent
 Hollywood-When the moviemak- CTS get down to business, they will have plenty to talk about from 1888 and plenty of problems awaiting solution in 1889. The next 12 months especially with the threat of war, promise to be the most critical time in the history of the fourth largest industry.
 war or no war, the position of American pictures is becoming ridiculous and almost hopeless in most countries except the British Empire and South America, and the latter is current object of con- quest.
 Trouble Begins
 At Home
 Meanwhile, the domestic problems of the major studies are almost as bad. Biggest headache with the least publicity is the governments suit under the antitrust laws to force the picture producers to divest themselves of their theaters. In 1l9 pages of complaints it is charged that eight major companies domi- nate the industry and are freezing out the independents.
 The Wagner labor relations act and the federal wage and hour law have given picture companies plenty to worry and fight about. The year 1888 was 8 time for unionization and guild organization from top to bottom of the studios. The thou sands of pages of proposed codes and labor contracts, placed end to end, all reached for higher wages, shorter hours and protection against layoffS.
 Driving Elm
 Cr-a-a-Zy
 The results, as they affect the studios so far, are reported by studio heads to be an increase In picture production costs of about II per cent and a costly and almost hopeless clerical tangle in trying to keep the records straight. AS just one example, every employe whose salary is less than $1,000 a week is supposed to punch time clock. But the players, especially, simply will not take the ruling seriously.
 According to Marie Wilson's
 time card, she apparently made
 one picture without ever going
 to the studio; and more re-
 gently it appears that she spent
 1s days and nights on the set
 without even checking out to
 visit the studio restaurant. The
 husiness Office-in fact, all busi-
 ness offices-are going crazy.
 ctOrs' Contract
 Highlight
 The years truly important de-
 llopment in unionization was the
 cognition and contract won by ,e Screen Actors Guild. All play
 s from extras to stars got inn
 owed working conditions, and
 inor players got more money.
 The minimum check for mob ex-
 IS has jumped from $3.20 to $50. -sy-the-day players get $25 instead of $15. Throughout the intricate classifications of lower-bracket play CTS there have been financial gains. Hours of work have been restricted and overtime is paid, thus correct ing notorious abuses-especially by uuickie companies, whose definition of a days work was 16 or 18 hours. or as much as human endurance could bear.
 The guiding of the actors, the organization reports, has not re- suited in much of spread of em- ployment. Players regularly em- ployed are making more money, ex- cept that players in the $4OO to sl,OOO-a-week bracket are, in gen. eral, having a harder time of it. Economy minded studios have been dismissing dozens of these people as their contracts expire and now hire them only when needed.
 Lesser actors, especially extras, have attained much more security.
 Tn the year before we got our contract" said an executive of the guild, 23O00 different people got jobs of day or more through Gen. tral Casting. Most of them had no right to be considered actors, and almost none of them made decent Ifvfr,O from pictIIreS"