Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Tuesday, January 2, 1934 MOTION PICTURE DAILY (Registered U. S. Patent Office) Vol. 35 January 2, 1934 No. 1 Martin Quigley Editor-in-Chief and Publisher MAURICE KANN >|£j Editor JAMES A. CRON Advertising Manager Published daily except Sunday and holidays by Motion Picture Daily, Inc., subsidiary of Quigley Publications, Inc., Martin Quigley. President; Colvin Brown, Vice-President and Treasurer. Publication Office: 1790 Broadway, New York. Telephone Circle 7-3100. Cable address "Quigpubco, New York." All contents copyrighted 1934 by Motion Picture Daily, Inc. Address all correspondence to the New York Office. Other Quigley publications: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, BETTER THEATRES, THE MOTION PICTURE ALMANAC and THE CHICAGOAN. Hollywood Bureau: Postal Union Lite Building, Vine and Yucca Streets, Victor M. Shapiro. Manager; Chicago Bureau: 407 South Dearborn Street, Edwin S. Clifford, manager; LoiMon Bureau: 1021 A Finchley Road, Golders Green, Bernard Charman, Representative; Berlin Bureau: Berlin-Tempelhof, Kaiserin-Augustastrasse 28, Joachim K. Rutenberg. Representative; Paris Bureau: 19, Rue de la Cour-des-Noues, Pierre Autre, Representative; Rome Bureau: Viale Gorizia, Vittorio Malpassuti, Representative; Sydney Bureau: 102 Sussex Street, Cliff Holt, Representative; Mexico City Bureau: Apartado 269, James Lockhart, Representative; Glasgow Bureau: 86 Dundrennan Road. G. Holmes, Representative; Budapest Bureau: 11 Olaaz Fasor 17, Endre Hevesi, Representative. Entered as second class matter January 4, 1926 at the Post Office at New York City, N. Y., under Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates per year: $6 in the Americas, except Canada $15 and foreign $12. Single copies: 10 cents. Free Parking Up As Code Board Issue {Continued from page 1) or indirectly lower or tend to lower such announced admission prices and which are unfair to competing exhibitors or tend to deceive the public." Some code interpreters hold that the latter part of the clause would ban any and all forms of gratuities, even the serving of free coffee to patrons, while others are of the opinion that practices which do not actually lower the price of admission charged by a theatre do not come under the code ban. Final settlement of the question is expected soon. Authority Finance Problems Up Today (Continued from page 1) ity is expected to last from two to three days. Various reports of the six committees appointed by the body at the first session will be passed on during the meeting. Definite action is expected on rules of Code Authority, the secretaryship and headquarters, while others are expected to be discussed and tabled for the following session, to be designated at the close of the conference. The board will meet at the Bar Ass'n. Bldg., at 2 P.M. next Thursday. Clearance Group Meeting S. R. Kent, Charles L. O'Reilly, George J. Schaefer, W. Ray Johnston and Nathan Yamins, the Code Authority committee on clearance and zoning and grievance boards, meet today to discuss a preliminary report. Dr. Lowell Declines By MARTIN QUIGLEY (Continued from page 1) the continuance of the practice of block-booking would have rendered futile any efforts which he might have put forth. In assuming this attitude, Dr. Lowell adds weight to our initial conclusion relative to his selection for the code authority which was that he did not know enough about the subject matter to be of any definite use to the public or to the industry. Dr. Lowell would have block-booking eliminated so that the exhibitor would be called upon to assume full responsibility for the character of the pictures shown. In other words, he would transfer full responsibility for the character of the product from a handful of the principal producing executives to the many thousands of exhibitors located in cities and towns throughout the land. He would drop the principle of eliminating the evil at the source and resort to an effort to have the necessary regulation effected at the many thousands of individual out lets to the public. Had Dr. Lowell, at any point, given his customary thought and study to the question we are sure he would have reached a different conclusion ▲ TT IS, of course, a fact that the practice of block-booking involves *■ certain arresting problems. In the industry there is one school of thought entirely against it and another which is entirely for it. But in no correct sense is it a question which should have commanded the attention which it has received from Dr. Lowell because, obviously, his principal concern is the maintenance of right moral values in motion pictures and, again obviously, the one place where this can and should be done is at the source. Any other scheme multiplies the difficulties and minimizes the chances of good results. It would be very desirable to have the exhibitor completely responsible for what he shows on his screen. In fact, there should not be at any time any interference with the exhibitor's right to conduct his theatre, in all respects, just as he sees fit, being held accountable only to his public and his public's laws. But the one certain and effective way of regulating the character of the product is to regulate it at the source which, of course, is in the studio. Dispatches from Boston report that Mrs. Frederick H. Bagley, head of the motion picture committee of the Massachusetts Civic League, has also declined appointment to the Code Authority and for the same reason advanced by Dr. Lowell. ▲ THESE declinations are unfortunate because they reflect adversely on the industry in that they have resulted in certain unfavorable publicity which only serves to confuse the public mind in that the refusals to serve are predicated on a misunderstanding of the objective to be reached and the best means with which it may be reached. A little more real knowledge of the situation would have been helpful to the public interest and would have saved the industry a criticism which is not in order. Roy Haines Returns Roy Haines, metropolitan district manager for Warners-First National, returns today from Cincinnati, his home town, where he spent the holidays. Sam Lefkowitz, office manager of the local branch, is vacationing in Miami. G. F. Lord Joins Castle George F. Lord, advertising and sales executive, has joined the New York staff of Castle Films. Lord has been director of advertising for I. E. du Pont De Nemours & Co. of Wilmington and advertising manager for Chevrolet. Trading Light — Eastman Up One Net High Low Close Change Consolidated Film Industries, pfd lOJi 10& 103/S — Vs Eastman Kodak 81 80§4 81 +1 Loew's Inc 28J4 28M + J4 Pathe Exchange M 1H Wi — lA Pathe Exchange "A" 11 10^ 11 — J4 RKO 2J4 2*A 2Va. Warner Bros 5*4 5 554 + % Curb Market Issues Steady Net High Low Close Change Technicolor 9 8% 9 Trans Lux 2Vt 2H ZVs Bonds Up, With Warners Leading Net High Low Close Change Keith B. F. 6s '46 5254 52 5254 +V/2 Loew's 6s '41 ww deb rights 85U 85& 8554 —1 Paramount F. L. 6s '47 3054 30 30J4 + V% Paramount Publix S'As, '50 30 30 30 Warner Bros. 6s '39 wd 4354 41J4 4354 +1H Sales 100 200 1,700 100 200 200 1,800 Sales 200 100 Sales 2 1 2 4 86 Former Pathe Men In Liquor Concern (Continued from page 1) Pathe foreign manager, is treasurer, and P. J. Scollard, former executive vice-president of Pathe, is president of Interstate Distributing Corp., an allied concern which has New England territory sales rights. Both Somerset and Interstate are reported to be affiliated with National Distillers Corp. With Scollard in the New England concern are Ed Ballantyne, formerly in charge of Pathe exchange operations, and John MacAloon, former assistant general sales manager for Pathe. Somerset is distributor of Haig & Haig and John Dewar Scotch whisky. Kennedy is reported to have completed arrangements for handling these brands with Distillers Co., Ltd., of Edinburgh, in the course of his recent European trip. Federation to Set Producing, Ad Codes (Continued from page 1) L. Glett and Harry Thomas, president of the Federation. The new executive committee of the Federation will hold its first meeting tomorrow. The finance committee meets shortly thereafter to perfect plans for permanent financing of the organization. One plan reported to be favored fixes dues for distributor members at $50 per year for each zone in which the member operates, and for producer members at $5 per negative reel release, with a $50 minimum. Expect Federation To Name Alec Moss Alec Moss in all probability will be named permanent executive secretary of the Federation of the M. P. Industry by a committee comprising Jack Bellman, Edward Golden and Harry Thomas, president. Headquarters are likely to be in the RKO building in Rockefeller Center. New Fox Met. Plan Looked for Feb. 18 (Continued from page 1) not completed by that time a move will be made to continue the receivership before Federal Judge Mack. Recently four houses have been turned back to owners by Simon Fabian and Irving Trust Co., co-receivers. They are the Kismet, State and Sumner, Brooklyn, and the Victoria, Elmhurst, L. I., leaving about 95 houses in the circuit. New Chicago Union Claims 100% Lineup (Continued from page 1) Building Service Employes' Union, who is also president of the Flat Building Janitors' Union. Moran said satisfactory arrangements had been reached with B. & K. and other circuits, but said no progress had been made with independents. Aaron Saperstein says his houses have not been approached by union representatives. Reopen Bayonne House Reopening of the Opera House Bayonne, N. J., by Feiber & Shea is I playing havoc with theatres in that § town. Initial attraction was "The H Bowery."