Hayutin

Plaintiff Harvey Hayutin appeals from an adverse judgment rendered in favor of defendant and cross-complainant Seymour Weintraub in an action brought for equitable cancellation of an agreement under which the parties had participated in a private auction of their shares of stock in an equally owned corporation named Banner Productions, Inc., Weintraub being the successful bidder; plaintiff also sought a judgment directing reopening of the auction and resumption of the bidding. The court awarded to defendant specific performance upon his cross-complaint.

Appellant’s principal contentions on appeal are that the court erred prejudicially (1) in refusing him leave to file an amended complaint on the day of trial, and (2) in denying his motion for a new trial.

Banner Productions, Inc., was engaged in the business of producing Tarzan feature motion pictures for distribution to theatres; it also owned old feature motion pictures and some such pictures produced specially for television, and generally sought other production opportunities. Banner Films, Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary, was engaged in distributing old feature motion pictures of Banner Productions, Inc., for exhibition…