Universal Film Exchanges, Inc. v. Viking Theatre Corp.

20 Pa. D. & C.2d 167, 1959 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 362
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedJuly 30, 1959
Docketno. 5379
StatusPublished

This text of 20 Pa. D. & C.2d 167 (Universal Film Exchanges, Inc. v. Viking Theatre Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Universal Film Exchanges, Inc. v. Viking Theatre Corp., 20 Pa. D. & C.2d 167, 1959 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 362 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1959).

Opinion

Hagan, P. J.,

— This is an action in assumpsit which was tried before the writer of this opinion sitting without a jury, and which resulted in a finding in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $14,437.99, with interest of $2,719.14. Exceptions to the finding of the court were filed by defendant, and these exceptions are now before the court en banc.

The exceptions of defendant are directed to the rulings of the trial judge, and particularly to his rulings in respect to the issues arising from the pleadings and the exclusion of evidence on the ground of irrelevancy to the issues. Therefore, as a fitting prologue to this opinion, we shall analyze the pleadings and the issues which arise therefrom. The complaint averred that plaintiff is engaged in the business of distributing and licensing motion picture films for exhibition at theaters, that defendant is the operator of the Viking Theatre in the City of Philadelphia, that on or about September 7,1955, plaintiff and defendant entered into a written contract, by the terms of which plaintiff licensed or rented to defendant a motion picture film entitled “There’s Always Tomorrow”, that on or about September 7, 1955, plaintiff and defendant entéred into a separate written contract, by the terms of which plaintiff licensed or rented to defendant a motion picture film entitled “Never Say Goodbye”, that the contracted rental of the film “There’s Always Tomorrow” provided for the payment of a guaranteed sum of $17,500, with certain adjustments between the parties as to the gross receipts from the film and the payment of certain advertising costs by plaintiff, that the contracted rental of the film “Never Say Goodbye” provided for the payment of a guaranteed sum of $22,500, with certain adjustments between the parties as to the gross receipts from the film and the payment of certain advertising costs by plaintiff, that defendant exhibited both films, and therefore, in accordance with [170]*170the written contracts, the. minimum guaranteed film rentals of $17,500 and $22,500 became due and owing to plaintiff by defendant, that defendant paid plaintiff the sum of $6,922.74 on account of the film rental due for “There’s Always Tomorrow”, and that defendant made no payment to plaintiff on account of the film rental due for “Never Say Goodbye”, leaving an unpaid balance on the rental of the two films of $33,077.26, and that by reason of advertising allowances defendant became entitled to a credit against the film rentals in the sum of $18,639.27, leaving a balance due and owing by defendant to plaintiff in the sum of $14,-437.99, which was the principal sum for which suit was brought.

Defendant filed an answer containing new matter and a counterclaim. The answer denied that the written contracts for the licensing of the films “There’s Always Tomorrow” and “Never Say Goodbye” set forth the true agreement between the parties, and averred, to the contrary, that the true agreement between the parties was as set forth under the headings of new matter and counterclaim. The answer admitted that an advertising allowance of $18,629.37 was due to defendant by plaintiff, but it denied that any balance was due and owing to plaintiff by defendant, for the reasons set forth in the new matter and counterclaim.

Defendant’s new matter averred that defendant sought to license from plaintiff a film entitled “All That Heaven Allows”, which plaintiff refused to license except on condition that defendant also license from plaintiff three other films, entitled “The Second Greatest Sex”, “There’s Always Tomorrow” and “Never Say Goodbye”, that defendant was forced to license all four films, although it only desired to license “All That Heaven Allows”, because defendant required that film in order to continue its business operations, that plaintiff’s conduct in forcing defendant to license four films [171]*171in order to receive the one it desired was unlawful in that: (a) It violated a certain decree entered on February 8, 1950, in a case brought by the United States of America in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (b) it was part of a conspiracy with other distributors in violation of the anti-trust laws of the United States, and that, as a result of said illegality, plaintiff was barred from making any recovery against defendant in this present action.

Defendant’s counterclaim repeated the averment of the allegedly illegal “tie-in” of films as set forth in defendant’s new matter, and it also averred that at the time of the alleged agreement for the licensing of the four films plaintiff, in order to induce defendant to license all four films, agreed to the following: “(a) That despite the written guarantee contained in each individual license, if the defendant sustained a loss on all four pictures as a group, the plaintiff would waive the written guarantees and instead would reimburse the defendant for all losses; (b) That the defendant would receive thereafter a license for a motion picture distributed by the plaintiff entitled ‘Away All Boats’; (c) That the picture ‘The Second Greatest Sex’ would be available for exhibition at the defendant’s theatre on November 16, 1955.” Defendant further averred that plaintiff, acting through its authorized agent, one Pete Dana, repeated the alleged promise set forth in paragraph 22 (a) of the counterclaim as quoted above, and that this promise was repeated “to induce defendant to continue with the arrangement.” Defendant averred that it had sustained a loss on all four films in the amount of the counterclaim. Defendant further averred that there were other breaches by plaintiff of the terms set forth in paragraph 22 of the counterclaim, for which defendant counterclaimed for damages. Finally, the counterclaim averred that on or [172]*172about March 21,1956, plaintiff, through its authorized agent, promised defendant a minimum of $15,000 to cover the losses allegedly sustained by defendant.

Plaintiff filed a reply to defendant’s new matter and counterclaim, denying all of the factual averments contained therein.

From the foregoing analysis of the pleadings it will be seen that the complaint sets forth two written contracts, and an averment that they were fully performed by plaintiff. The answer does not deny, and therefore admits, the execution of the two contracts and that they were performed, but the answer denies that defendant is indebted to plaintiff because of certain other circumstances pleaded under the headings of new matter and counterclaim. We must therefore examine the averments in defendant’s new matter and counterclaim to determine what, if any, legal defenses are set forth therein to the otherwise valid claim of plaintiff.

From an examination of defendant’s new matter, it will be seen that it contains the factual averment that the two written contracts sued upon by plaintiff, one relating to the film “There’s Always Tomorrow” and the other relating to the film “Never Say Goodbye”, do not represent the actual agreement of the parties, but that, in fact, the licensing of these two films was part of a “tie-in” arrangement which included three other films. Defendant’s legal position in support of this factual averment is that the contracts are illegal and unenforceable for two reasons. The first of these is set forth in a statement in paragraph 16 that the alleged “tie-in” agreement was “in violation of a decree entered against the plaintiff on February 8, 1950, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the case of United States v.

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Bluebook (online)
20 Pa. D. & C.2d 167, 1959 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/universal-film-exchanges-inc-v-viking-theatre-corp-pactcomplphilad-1959.