Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1931)

April 11, 19 3 1 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 45 THE $H€RT fEATUCE COMEDIES TOP YEAR'S SHORT OUTPUT NEWS PICILCES FOX MOVIETONE NEWS— No. 55— President Hoover hailed on visit to West Indies — Nevada revives "good old" diys — C. C. Woods of Buffalo win's $^,360— Here's the latest in Austrian glovesTroops of Poland drill on skis — Wild kangaroos caught for pets. FOX MOVIETONE NEWS— No. 56— Northern racing begins at Bowie track — Princes of Britain leave Argentina — Aviation conquers darkest Africa — Movietone explores New York at dusk — Cops cf Mexico are rough riders — Everybody cooks in Germany— Marines in American Samoa, oddest soldiers of the L'nited States. HEARST METROTONE NEWS— No. 254— Metrotone goes back 14 years — Race for world's squealing title at Hermosa Beach, Cal. — Knute Rockne dies in airplane crash — Samoan Islands look backward — Great earthquake in Nicaragua — Ann Pennington demonstrates new dance — Australian racers battle for life in surf. HEARST METROTONE NEWS— No. 255— German veterans hold huge rally — Philadelphia man, blind since birth, sees at 22 — Grand National thrills 300,000 — Washington, D. C. pohce try new bullet proof vest — Earthquake disaster in Nicaragua. PARAMOUNT SOUND NEWS— No. 71— Bobby Jones in charity match at Agua Caliente — Hoover ends tour — Buffalo man wins $886,360 — Elephants perform in final circus w-orkout — Dirigible mast on Empire State building completed — Rockne's last game. PARAMOUNT SOUND NEWS— No. 72— Easter throngs out in Washington — Rockne marches on — Mayor Walker discusses Rogers for president at Palm Springs — Grand National thrills — First earthquake pictures from Nicaragua. PATHE NEWS— No. SO-Hoover is acclaimed in Porto Rico — "We" fly again in new speed plane — 10,000 face famine after Balkan quake wipes out 20 towns — The latest in Easter hats from New York — Idaho's "babe in arms," a state military officer — New York's Jimmy Walker meets California's Jimmy Rolph. PATHE NEWS— No. 31— Hoover returns home after trip — Nicaragua quake destroys capital — Italian royalty reviews Fascists — Miss Devoe, formerly Qara Bow's secretary, out of jail — Eastertide throngs in St. Augustine, Fla. — Brooklyn father has a bargain in geniuses — Empire State dirigible mast is completed. PATHE NEWS— No. 32— Russia's gigantic five-year plan — Nicaragua dazed by quake leaving Managua in ruins — New York parrot called a wise bird — Official pictures of Grakle winning Grand National. UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL— No. 28— World mourns passing of Knute Rockne — Silesia celebrated 10th anniversary of post-war secession — Early risers in New York greet arrival of circus — News Paragraphs — Police seize Burke, murder suspect— French grand prize fair opened by President Doumergue — Young daredevils in thrilling auto dim ). UNIVERSAL NEWSPAPER NEWSREEL— No. 29— 2,000 dead as earthquake wipes out Nicaraguan capital — Army display celebrates United States entry into war — Royalty at celebration of Fascist birthday — Mayor Walker back in New York — Throngs pay tribute to Rockne — New York hails arrival of circus — Hoovers in sunrise worship at Arlington — Sensational finish marks Grand National. Screen As An Ad Media Discounted By Agency Chief Limitations of the screen as an advertising medium are very definite, in the opinion of Richard E. Strobridge, secretary of Newell-Emmett, national advertising agency, who believes the screen "is dedicated to the duty of entertaining those who pay their admission at the box-office, and, therefore, it can offer nothing but entertainment if it is to keep faith with the public." "This fact alone," Strobridge states, "places it at once in the category of secondary advertising media, for its sole purpose, that of entertainment, bars its use for direct advertising or sales appeal." In making this statement, to Printers' Ink, Strobridge said he was voicing no new thought in expressing his conviction that the screen can in no way be substituted for newspapers or magazines. "We see no escape from the basic principle," Strobridge concluded, "that the advertiser must please and entertain his audience. If we can place pictures on the screen that bring sufficient pleasure to theatre audiences, the fact that these pictures are sponsored by an advertiser, far from causing hostility, should arouse a feeling of gratitude to the manufacturer responsible for a new entertainment." Ten to Co on Educotionors Current Lineup Hollywood — With 46 completed, and six in work, ten more two-reelers remain to be produced on Educational's 1930-31 schedule of 62 short comedies. Sennett has two to go, Lloyd Hamilton has completed his series, and Educational is preparing for the final Ideal. The eighth and final Mermaid comedy is slated for immediate production, while at Metropolitan, Educational-Christie units are working on a rush schedule. At Christie's plant, a new Sterling comedy is working, and also a new Vanity. Shooting has started on the next -Tuxedo, with one more coming. Frank Moser and Paul Terry have completed 19 of the TerryToons, with seven more to complete the series. Lyman Howe's Hodge Podge unit still has a few to finish. The Burns Detective Mysteries and the Romantic Journeys, both one-reelers, will continue through next season. Warners Take Over Two Lima, O. — Warners have taken over the State and Sigma from Ad Ritzier. Buy the Outstanding Shorts Book Them Sensibly Advertise Them Properly And Cash In On Those Shorts Comprise 60 Per Cent of Product for 1930-31 Promote Spirit of Friendship and Act As Elixir for 27 Nations, ; Says Wunder Hollywood — Sixty per cent of the short subjects made last year were comedies. The remainder being travelogues, sport features and educational subjects, Clinton Wunder, executive manager of the Academy of M. P. Arts and Sciences, told the Los Angeles Breakfast Club. "Motion picture comedy is of value because it produces a spirit of friendship within an audience and subsequently spreads into factory, shop, office and home," Wunder said. "Wide smiles on the part of individuals mean wide smiles for the masses. These smiles have helped weather the financial depression." He said picture comedies acted as an elixir for 27 nations. English Film Man to Start A French Newsreel CircuitParis — Sam Ford, once head of Fordys Films, plans a chain of French newsreel theatres, starting in this city and expanding later to the provinces. He is also understood to have bought the "Kermesse" theatre in the Saint Denis district of Paris. Cartoon Comedies from Levene Hollywood — Behn Levene now has in preparation a series of short reel animated comedy cartoons, for release on the state rights market. Make Washington Film Warners will make a $60,000 film depicting the city of Washington, as a contribution to the Bicentennial next year. Vitaphone Short for Camera Primo Camera, boxer, has been signed for a short subject by Vitaphone, to be made at the Eastern studio. FitzPatrick Due Soon James A. FitzPatrick will return to New York soon to edit his world tour travel series, nearly completed. Get Mascot Foreign Rights J. H. Hoffberg Co., Inc., have acquired exclusive foreign distribution rights on Mascot serials, which they had last year.