The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

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HOLLYWOOD I NEWSREEL Slump Ahoy ! • HELLO, FOLKS! This is WARREN STOKES speaking to you from Hollywood over the JEP network. Now that the weather has warmed up a bit, the flickcrites are already warming up to that seasonal discussion of the Summer Slump. VLc’U get to the present slump later. Some of you will soon be putting the prop icebergs in the lobby and the old paint brush will re-create the familiar “20 degrees cooler inside.” Well — maybe it reads "40.” What’s the difference? You are st. 11 hot under the collar, knowing that you can either fry an egg on the sidewalk or have the picture lay one inside the theatre. Let us ex¬ amine our patient, Mr. Summer Slump , and at¬ tempt some sort of cure before it becomes a General Plague. Kill the Germ • HOLLYWOOD CARBONITIS is really the germ that infects Mr. Box Office. It is extremely contagious to Hollywood producers and it pro¬ duces a slump in business regardless of what the thermometer reads. The disease gathers momen¬ tum through the so-called cycles of celluloid entertainment which contribute to loss of patron¬ age through an overdose of celluloid poisoning. Allow me to illucidate: Last week we pointed with pride to the Warner opus, “Confessions of a Nazi Spy”; we lauded its entertainment value and its patriotic service, arriving at the con¬ clusion it would be a box office smash. Before the picture ended, the spies were all accounted for and, we hoped against hope, that Hollywood would not dig up any more; but, true to form, the film village has become infected with the usual malady of carbonitis and you can look forward to a deluge of Nazi and Bund pictures. The vicious cycle is once again on its way to knock the bottom out of your business and, of course, it will be attributed to the Summer Slump. General Diagnosis • FOLLOWING THE LEADER has always been Hollywood’s pet pastime. Main trouble is a shortage of leaders with enough intestinal forti¬ tude to hoist the banner of originality and stand by it. The movie moguls are always willing to admit that, today, movie patrons are shopping for their film fare more than ever. They have to. This matter of shopping however has been greatly misquoted. The patrons go shopping for something different not merely bargain prices. Variety in celluloid entertainment is really the object of their search and there is no variety under the cycle idea. If every theatre on the main street is confined to the showing of musicals, westerns, railroad yarns or sea stories, at the same time, the shopping list has no variety and there is a general slump at the box office for no other reason. Many good picture shows a loss because of these facts. The best cure for any kind of a slump at the theatre box office, in winter or summer, is more variety in cellulo:d entertainment. Exhibitors ’ Remedy • EXHIBITOR CANCELLATION PRIVILEGE can be utilized to some extent to eliminate day and date showings of typed pictures in an effort to create more variety in competitive situations but the scat of the trouble is really in Holly¬ wood. It might help the exhibitor some if he will enter into a form of cooperative competition SPECIAL FEATURES ADVANCE SHOTS Brief Glimpses of Features, Shorts to Be Reviewed Received too late to be included in this week’s Blue Section were the following subjects. These advance shots are given for the record pending the publication of the next Blue Section. Features GIRL FROM MEXICO, A (RKO-Radio) — Lupe Velez, Donald Woods, Leon Errol, Linda Hayes, Donald McBride, Ward Bond. A pleas¬ ing little programmer, this marks most the re¬ turn of Lupe Velez to the screen, as a fiery Mexican girl who flops on a radio audition, makes good in a night club. GRAND JURY SECRETS (Paramount)*— John Howard, Gail Patrick, William Frawley, Jane Darwell, Porter Hall. 68J4m. A minor bit, this blends into a pleasing story elements of journalism, radio "hams,” with plenty of action. Shorts THE PRIZE GUEST (20th Century-Fox). 6m. A magician registers at a hotel in this Terry-Toon. SAND-HOGS (20th Century-Fox). 10 m. First of the one-clip Adventures of a Newsreel Cameraman, this has Lew Lehr (without dialect) narrating on under-river tunnel digging. with his fellow showmen. By checking each others advance bookings they can perhaps be shuffled to create a better variety of product within a certain area. An overdose of the same type of product in any one area cannot help but stifle patronage. When Hollywood sends an overdose throughout the entire country however there is little one can do about it. Copy-Cats • STOPPING THE CYCLE menace and creat¬ ing more originality in Hollywood can only be accomplished through protest from the exhibi¬ tors. Collectively they can do much to im¬ prove the Hollywood output, and, last but not least, much to discourage the cycle idea which is a fallacy to begin with, a bad disease for a producer to become afflicted with, and a breeder of celluloid poisoning this industry can eventu¬ ally end with. In conclusion, I do not hes'tate to state that Hollywood is turning out better product, Hollywood is even making better car¬ bon copies as far as the quality of production goes but it is sorely lacking in originality, not for lack of talent; the town is full of creative brains, young brains that should be given the opportunity to develop writing talent. The story end of this industry is its weakest spot. It is old and formulated, they all have carbonitis, they take the easiest way out. Joe Doakes clicks with a railroad picture they all make a copy of it and tell you it is the new cycle. They are actually beginning to believe that celluloid en¬ tertainment is a seasonal product like bathing suits or the latest popular type hot water bottles. Its time to kill the cycle idea and put new life into Hollywood. The watchword of this in¬ dustry is Variety, and more of it. You can even give the customers an overdose of patriot¬ ism. And that brings us to the end of another f™1?" ,°f y0Ur H°Uywood Newsreel. This is V. ARREN STOKES, saying, "So Long, Folks.” It’s Still Work Paramount has changed the title of its forth¬ coming MARY BOLAND, CHARLIE RUGGLES, DONALD O’CONNOR picture, from "Home Work” to "Night Work.” If the censors still object we might suggest "Domestic Science.” Word of Mouth Eighteen-months old twins are being used in scenes in "Winter Carnival” at the Walter Wanger studio. When director CHARLES RIESNER asked the mother how they could be told apart, she replied: "It’s easy. Molly has teeth and Susan hasn’t. If you put your finger in Susan’s mouth and she bites you, it’s Molly.” Bars and Stripes EDWARD G. ROBINSON has signed with Metro to star in “Blackmail.” This is a story of a Southern chain gang. Robinson will play an escaped convict who leads an upright life for several years, marries, becomes a father and then, through his picture in a newspaper, is blackmailed, discovered and sent back to prson. He escapes again to prove the blackmailer the real criminal. Wayne on Loan JOHN WAYNE, Western star who clicked in WALTER WANGER’S "Stagecoach,” has been borrowed from Republic by PANDRO S. BER¬ MAN for the major role in RKO Radio’s "Pennsylvania Uprising.” Story depicts the up¬ rising of the early Pennsylvania settlers against the British crown 10 years before the battle of Lexington. Boyd Goes Hollywood HARRY SHERMAN, producer, Hop-a-long Cassidys for Paramount, is wearing a big smile because two of his westerns, "Silver on the Sage,” and "Sunset Trail,” starring WILLIAM BOYD, have been booked into the Egyptian, marking the first time this Hollywood Boulevard house has played any of the series. Newcomer Set BETTY FIELD, member of Paramount’s Gol¬ den Circle of new faces, gets the feminine lead opposite JACKIE COOPER on BOOTH TARKINGTON’S "Seventeen.” Part went to Miss Field after studio executives gandered girl’s first p eture work in "What A Life.” Wanger Signs Loretta WALTER WANGER’S first production on the 193 9-40 program for United Artists will be "Whose Wife,” original by GENE TOWNE and GRAHAM BAKER, with LORETTA YOUNG in the femme star spot. Corrigan Rides Again Ray Corrigan is back at the Republic fold after five weeks of personals. He joins JOHN WAYNE and RAYMOND HATTON in the next "Mesquiteer,” "Oklahoma Outlaw.” Hatton is a new member of the trio replacing MAX TF.RHUNE. May 17, 19)9