Wyler

Claiming fraud and failure of consideration plaintiff Leopold S. Wyler sued to rescind a limited partnership agreement, under which as limited partner he invested $1.5 million in the production of a motion picture on the early life of French singer Edith Piaf. The jury found for the defendants, and the trial judge awarded them $125,000 in attorney’s fees. Wyler appeals the adverse juiy verdict and asserts as reversible error: the insufficiency of the evidence; the nonsuit on plaintiff’s mismanagement cause of action; the jury instructions on failure of consideration; and the inconsistency of the jury’s special verdict and its general verdict.

Facts

Defendants Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, associated as Feuer and Martin Productions, Inc. (FMPI), have been successful producers of Broadway musical comedies since 1948. Their first motion picture, “Cabaret,” produced by Feuer in conjunction with Allied Artists and American Broadcasting Company, received eight Academy Awards in 1973. Plaintiff Wyler is president and largest shareholder of Tool Research and Engineering Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange company based in Beverly Hills. Prior to 1972 Wyler had had no…