HOLLYWOOD CONTRACT BLUES By Thomas F. Brady The law of contracts in the motion picture business, much of which has been written in travail and anguish at Warner Bros., was revised this week when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alfred Paonessa ruled in a demurrer proceeding that Joan Leslie, a Warner property since 1940, is now a free agent. Miss Leslie's latest contract with Warners, approved by the court in 1942, when she was 17, carried the usual six-month optional clauses. The studio regularly exercised these, until she was receiving $1,250 a week, which would have risen to $1,500 at option time last March. She was working in her latest picture, "Two Guys from Milwaukee," when she became 21, last Jan. 26. She completed the film and then notified the studio through her lawyer, Oscar Cummins, that she disaffirmed her minority contract. Warners answered the challenge by formally exercising its option on her services and then suspending her from salary. Miss Leslie, in turn, announced that she was going to play the leading role in "The Chase," a Seymour Nebenzal production for United Artists release. Warners countered by obtaining an injunction restraining her from going to work for Nebenzal. Miss Leslie's lawyer demurred as Judge Paonessa voided the injunction. The studio is now preparing an appeal to the California Supreme Court, while Miss Leslie has announced that she will make "Personal Column" for James Nasser, United Artists producer. Basic Questions Aside from the interest which a good Warner fight always engenders, Judge Paonessa's decision raises a new question in California contractual law. Under the Common Law a minor could disaffirm a contract at will until a reasonable time after his majority. A California statute specifies, however, that a minor cannot disaffirm a contract if it is approved by the Superior Court. Judge Paonessa's decision, which he described as a "two-pronged opinion," augments the law by stating first that optional rights under an approved contract are not part of the original contract and must be approved severally as they are exercised, and second, that the California statute, as written, does not prohibit a contracting party from disaffirming a minority contract after he reaches his majority. The statute, Judge Paonessa says, changes the Common Law only with respect to minors and does not affect the Common Law's "reasonable time" after majority provision. The result is that most Warner term contracts involving minors now have dubious validity with respect to options and no binding force which extends beyond a minor's twenty-first birthday. Favorite Joan Leslie Film Select your favorite Joan Leslie film here. High Sierra The Great Mr. Nobody The Wagons Roll at Night Sergeant York The Male Animal Yankee Doodle Dandy The Hard Way This Is the Army The Sky's the Limit Thank Your Lucky Stars Hollywood Canteen Where Do We Go From Here? Rhapsody in Blue Too Young to Know Cinderella Jones Two Guys from Milwaukee Repeat Performance Northwest Stampede The Skipper Surprised His Wife Man in the Saddle The Woman They Almost Lynched Flight Nurse Jubilee Trail Hell's Outpost Other Current Results [Sign My Guestbook] [View My Guestbook]