Evening star., 1946-08-18
HOLLYWOOD,

HOLLYWOOD.
Just In case you haven't paiC
heed, this business of making mo.
ton pictures Is now In the midst
Of the greatest dog -eat-dog battle
in It's history. Turmoil has Away,
been synonymous with flicker.
making but today It's actually 8
death struggle.
Briefly, 1t all revolves around
this point: Stars, directors and
writer's are demanding a percent
age Of the profits their labors and
names produce. The studies say no
And so now the fur really is flying
The conflict actually started
about two years ago and has gained
momentum daily. One major pro.
ducer said, "The outcome will de-
termine whether the stars or the
studios will run the motion picture
industry"
The big tycoons are opposing thi.
share-the-wealth project with every
ounce Of power and finesse, mostly
power. A few stars have succeeded
In wrestling profit-sharing conces-
sions from the majors, who are
panicked by the prospect of extend
ing this deal all the way down the
line.
Looked Like the Answer.
frankie Sinatra's situation Is
typical. frankie says that of the
81 900, 900 he crossed last year, Uncle
Sam let him keep $1O0, 900, half OF
which went for living expenses.
The capital gain" plan seemed
the answer to the prayers of the
tax-ridden players. Under this
setup a group consisting of, say. q
star, or two stars, g. director and
a writer could form a corporation
TO produce single picture. After
a six months wait they could dis
solve the corporation, pay the Gov
ernment rs per cent Of their profits
as capital gain and keep the rest
However. the Bureau of Internal
Revenue poured several gallons ol
Ice water on this plan a Short time
ago when 1t was declared an evasion
OF tax payment. AS result of this
announcement, the major producers
think maybe they're going te
breathe more easily. The small
prof1t-sharing units, on the othe,
hand. feel that they are on safe
ground and that the courts will not
uphold the bureaus contention.
II Frankie Sinatra had ACQUIRED
his 81 ,000, 900 on capital gain basis
he'd have been able to keep $3.50 Oot
to divide with his agent, his credi.
tors and his relatives.
Many New Companies.
Clark Gable has made only one
picture for MGM since he returned
from the service year ago. Mos
folks agree he'd stop tossing script.
back at his employers If they'd cut
him in on the profits of his pictures
Dorothy Lamour is conducting q
similar debate at Paramount. There
isn't a studio in town that hasn'
been squabbling with it's name play.
ers on the same subject.
The share-the-wealth trend ha,
brought swarm of new companie.
into the independent field. There
are now IS producing units in Holly.
wood. Ten years ago there were the
handful OF big studios and 4 few
others.
Now. in addition to the old line
lots. there are such outfits as Liberty
Films, United States Productions
Federal, Comet, Enterprise, Van
guard, Nero Pictures, independent
Artists, United World, Quality
Group. Apex. Golden Gate, Green
Tree, Iona Vista, Mars, Planet, and
Others So many. in fact, that new
outfits are offering prizes for ap-
propriate corporate names.
Eagle-Lion Films, a new COMPANY
rapidly assuming major stature
quickly read the handwriting on the
wall. The result is that this outfit
has been receptive to certain highly
desirable percentage deals.
Backers include Robert Young
president Of the Chesapeake AND
Ohio Railroad, and j. Arthur Rank
who heads his own distributing EN-