The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-06-28

.HO1LYWOOD,. June. @6-Some days ago, a Federal Court handed down it's final decision in the long, fought suit, filed by Uncle Sam, to divorce picture production from picture exhibition. Many of the pro- visions in the decree are of impor- tance only to the movie industry. but there is one ruling that should be of vital interest to theater-goers in general.
 It was decreed that theater-own- CTS shall have the right to bid for pictures in an open market, and tlaat exhibitors must be permitted to see pictures before booking them.
 In the past, your neighborhood theater-owner has, as a general rule, been forced to deal in pigs in pokes." In order to assure himself of enough bookings to keep his his theater in operation, he has had to contract for pictures far in advance-pictures which he, him. self. had never seen. No matter how thoroughly he may have known the entertainment tastes of his reg ular patrons, he was not able to use that knowledge in predeternin- ing his programs.
 In the future, unless the major companies find some way of circum- venting the decree-the aforesaid independent theater owner can have litle excuse for failing to give his particular customers the par ticular kind of pictures that they prefer. He needs only one thing in order to do so-and that one thing is frank opinions from his clien- tele, It's always been good practice for fans to make their likes and dislikes known to their exhibitor, from now in 1t will be better prac- tice than ever before.
 Memories That Bless And Burn: when Paramount bosses spent thousands of dollars redecorating a deluxe dressing room for their new European star, Pola Negri - and Pola on arriving, immediately de- manded that it be completely re- done becouse the color scheme "de- pressed" her. When Van John son, broke and with no studio jobs in sight, offered a Hollywood agent A half interest in his future earn ings for 8 loan large enough to h. nance him for six months. When friends of Edmund Lowe, learning that he was on a diet that required him to drink a gallon of sauerkraut juice each day, got even for prac- tical jokes he had played on them by inviting him for dinner and serving raut and weiners.
 Speaking of practical jokes, Ed ward c. Robinson achieved mas terpiece on the No Tresspassing set the other day. One Peewee Will Imam. an electrician working with that troupe, has been victinnzing everyone on the set for weeks with his practical gags and Rooinson determined on revenge. For nVe days proceeding the big pay-oft, he made 1t a point to hand his 1n- evitable cigar to Willman, just De- fore he went into his scenes, avd ask him to take care of it. On the sixth day, when he reclaimed a cigar from the unSuspecting Pee- wee. he lit it and 1t promptly ex- nloded with @ resounding bang. Robinson faked a temperamental centrum, accused Willman of hand irac him a loaded cigar, and de- narded the he be fired. The d1- rector, c party to the whole pro- ceeing, agreed. The producer, claim ing that Willn,an might have bind ed Robinson, said he'd have him driven out of the industry. It all ended in a laugh of course, but Willman is in no mood to continue his career as a practical joker.
 Tn a studio cafe, I was chatting with Nina KoschetZ, a former diva of the Moscow Opera who's now uuesting for screen stardom, when one of the studios glamour girls, seated a few tables away, began to berate her waitress for a mistake. "What am I doing in HollywoodP" murmured the famous singer. 'sThere are too many prima donnas here already!"
 From Zion National Park. where he's locationing in 'Ramrod," Joel McCrea has been keeping me post ed about the progress of a soft ball team which he and Preston Fos- ter organized among the members of the cast and crew. Two weeks ago, he informed me that 1t was a pretty classy outf1t-so good we've decided to keep 1t together and