The Film Daily (1948)

FILE Iniimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought hSESSSSSB The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Thirty Years Old -IFDAILY VC':^4, NO. 27 NEW YORK, MONDAY. AUGUST 9. 1948 TEN CENTS RCGBin 70 16mm PRinrssToicn fROflummy Met. Film Biz Climbs to Best Level in Weeks Better Pictures, Cooler Weather Are Stimulants; i'Nabe Grosses Move Up Exhibitors in the metropolitan area were wreathed in smiles at the weekend as they watched theater g-rosses climb to their best levels of recent weeks. The cambination of cool weather and better pictures proved once again that the industry was basically quite healthy. Although inclined to give the weather its rightful credit for the (Continued on Page 4) J. J. linger Reported Resigning UA Post (^ Joseph J. Unger, for the last two and a half years general sales maniiager of United Artists, and prior to that the company's Western sales manager, was reported at the week end to have submitted ' 1 "^fPI^ VP^ ' ^^^ resignation. ^^ Ung-er was not available for a statement, and United Artists toppers could not be reached for a confirmation. The resignation IPP^I^Hk'^^^H would leave UA with two top sales UNGER berths open, Mau ry Orr recently having resigned as Western division manager. Reports have been current for several weeks that the latter post may go to Fred .Jack, at present Southwestern district manager. High Livinff Costs Trim Cunudian BO Toronto — Increased costs of living has affected theater box office returns with the result attendance is decreasing across the Dominion, a spokesman declared. "People are being pinched between their incomes and the cost of living — and this is affecting attendance at movies," he said. r^ w M The Film Daily presents today the sixth installnteni of a selection of the opinions of newspaper and radio commentators on the cinema from the more than 300 anstvers in the 1948 Critic's Forum, an annual symposium in which leading critics and commentators are invited to comment on topics currently of major industry interest. A summary of the critics' answers will be published at a later date. Question Number 1 In your opinion, what will he the effect of Coast-to Coast television, when it conies, upon the motion picture and the motion picture theater? r^OAST-TO-COAST television's effect on the morion picture industry will be in exact ratio to the excellence of television itself. Good reception and programming may hurt motion pictures temporarily, but when the curiosity value has worn off, naturally gregarious Americans will go back to their movie houses. I believe television is no threat at present, and will never be until television sets are as cheap as radios. Even then, I think that television will be merely a competitor, not a serious threat to films. EDITH LINDEMAN Times-Dispatch and WLEE, Richmond, Va. ♦ TiROBABLY will improve product to be shown in public theaters — to entice the customers. IRENE THIRER N. Y. Post ♦ (^ONTRARY to pu''-lic opinion, there are many, many people who have never seen more than one or two movies a year. Perhaos this new outlet will enable them to become more interested in this form of entertainment. BERTON SONIS WCHS, Charleston, W. Va. r'OAST TO COAST television is bound to have some effect on the box office, even as a novelty. But after the novelty has worn off, the public will get tired of looking at the four walls of its own home, and will come back to movie-going again. It's up to the film industry, at that time, to make that return worth while. It'll never recapture this public with the same old stuff it had been dishing out before the advent of television. LEO MISHKIN Morning Telegraph, New York, N. Y. ♦ 'T'ELEVISION, when perfected, won't be too much worse than films on a movie screen; perhaps never as good, but not too much worse. An evening at home — no theater admission charge, no bad weather to contend with, no parking problems, pretty much same principle — a play with moving character. ELWIN G. GREENING News-Dispatch, Michigan City, Ind. ♦ ''TELEVISION cannot but help cut into the already dwindling motion picture business. The process will be slow at first, to be sure, but as video processes itnbrove, Hollywood is going to ^et down to brass tacks. There will be no room for so-called "B" films. All productions must necessarily be of 'A" prade hi order to preserve as much business as possible. DICK McCRONE Evening News, Harrisburg, Pa. 4 TF THE TIME comes when movies can be had in the home, I believe television will hurt theaters. Think what a relief it will be to push a button and avoid B pictures, serials and (ConHnued on Page 1\ FBI Discovers Cache in San Francisco; Includes Pix Made by Signal Corps Over 70 16 mm. prints of 66 feature films furnished by the film industry during the war for the entertainment of the Armed Forces have been recovered by the Fedei-al Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco. The films were found in the possession of a merchant seaman. The man is being held for illegal possession and violation of Federal copyright statutes. Included in the haul were a num( Continued from Page 6) Worl(ing Arbitration Favored by D of J H cisliuiiiton Bureau of THE FILM D.4ILV Washington — "The Department of Justice would just as soon see an arbitration system kept functioning in the event the New York statutory court finally proposes a system of voluntary arbitration. No voluntary arbitration proposal (Continued on Page 5) Dallas Exhib. Asks 41 G's In Trust Suit vs Distribs. Dallas— H & B Theaters of Temple, operating the Strand here are suing major film producers and distributors for 141,000 damages. The suit was placed for hearing in Fed(Continued on Page 4) Sydney Pix Fetver; Single Bills Gaining Sydney (By Air Mail) — The average long run for the City for the year ending June 30 was 3.58 weeks compared with 3.47 weeks last year. Total of 286 features was released against 355 a year ago, a decrease of 69. There were 84 single feature bills this year against 72, giving an increase of 28 weeks single feature showing. There has been a distinct increase in revivals of pix released many years ago. They have usually been box office successes; even old silent pix have packed some theaters.