Seeks Accounting
Suit Faces Theater In Magna
Salt Lake Tribune, 3 July 1974, page 10
An order requiring the accounting of all box office and concession receipts of the Gem Theatre in Magna is being sought in a civil suit filed against the operator of the theater.
The suit - naming theater operator James P. Piepenburg, Don G. Walls, Linda Tolliver and First Security Bank of Utah as defendants - was filed by Thomas R. Blonquist, attorney for Kenneth L. Randall, James M. Hardman and Leland C. Rowser, doing business as Uinta Investment Associates.
The suite alleges on Feb. 21 the plaintiffs - along with defendants Piepenburg and Walls - formed a de facto partnership to rent motion picture theaters to test public acceptance of motion pictures.
Leased Theater
On May 16, the partners leased the Gem Theatre in Magna in the name of Mr. Piepenburg, doing business as the Gem Theatre and Western Amusement.
According to the suit, the group agreed that any active partner would receive $288 a week as salary and all funds brought in by films exhibited would first go to pay expenses of showing the movie and pay salaries of active partners, with any funds remaining to be divided up among the partners.
Starting Juen 12, the partners began exhibiting the film "Deep Throat," but the plaintiffs claim in their suit that they have not recieved an accounting of money received.
Taking Over
Furthermore, the action alleges, Mr. Piepenburg, on June 22, informed plaintiff Hardman that the owners of the film "Deep Throat" were taking over the operation of the theater and the plaintiffs were to be paid off.
Claiming that future revenues from the movie were to be divided among defendants Wall and Piepenburg, the owners of "Deep Throat" and Gerald H. Kinghorn, the partners' attorney, the suit alleges that on June 27 the plaintiffs were told by the defendants they no longer had an interest in money generated by the film.
In addition to the order requesting an accounting of all receipts, the plaintiffs also ask the court for an accounting of deposits made to the First Security Bank account in the Magna branch and for the damages suffered by the plaintiffs.