Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1939)

111. Governor Trusts Veto Pov/er Secure Springfield, III. — Gov. Henry Horner has expressed confidence that the supreme court will rule that he has ten days after bills reach him to pass on them. Such was the substance of a statement he had issued through his office here. Numerous politicians and others have contended that the governor’s vetoes of certain bills were invalid since he did not act on the bills within ten days after the legislature adjourned, as provided in the state constitution. Included among those bills would be the bill that would have limited film program presentations in Illinois to two hours and 15 minutes, and which the governor vetoed the day before starting his summer vacation. The statement of the governor: “If the ten-day period commences with the sine die adjournment the General Assembly can easily destroy the power vested in the governor to veto measures by merely failing to present them to him until ten days after adjournment. “This delay can be accomplished by an officer of the General Assembly or an employe. This is well illustrated by the facts of the last session. According to my record, 161 bills were presented to me after the ten days had elapsed. In other words, they were law, if the Speaker is right, even before they were given to me for consideration.” Chicago Move Against Duals Is Held in Abeyctnce Chicago — Nothing else has been heard of for the time on the rumored city ordinance to limit theatre programs to 2 hours and 15 minutes. It is understood, however, that local independent exhibitors, who favor such an ordinance, are marking time until such action may be favorable elsewhere. They have two other spots to watch. Milwaukee exhibitors are understood preparing' a similar ordinance, while in Minneapolis, A1 Steffes, Allied leader in the northwest, is said to be readying a similar bill for presentation to the city council there. Exhibitors and legislators in other territories, too, are understood to have written Representative E. C. Sandquist for a copy of the bill he introduced in the state legislature at the last session, which would have made shows longer than two hours and 15 minutes illegal in Illinois. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Henry Horner. Should nothing happen, however, in Milwaukee or Minneapolis, within the next month or so, local exhibitors are expected to prepare the local ordinance and present it anyway to the city council for consideration. Last year a similar bill to outlaw double bills was turned down by the city council. At that time, women’s clubs throughout the city campaigned unsuccessfully for the ordinance. Engle Signed to Script Hollywood — Sam Engle will do the screenplay for “Law West of the Pecos,” Sol Wurtzel production for 20th CenturyPox. BOXOFFICE :: August 26, 1939 C Promotes Five Fins For a Rival Chicago-— Ben Cohn, manager of the Warner Frolic Theatre, ma'y be instrumental in making tieups for the circuit, but his most recent one boomeranged on him. Cohn made the tieup -with Royal Cro'wn Cola ■whereby several of the Warner houses gave oway bicycles to kid patrons. A provision of the tieup was that the manager who turned in the most R. C.-Cola crowns would receive a $25 cash prize. Cohn turned in a lot of cro-wns, but he came out second best, with Steve Fitzgerald winning the $25 with the largest total. Testimonials Provide Funds for Relief Chicago — More than $1,000 has been distributed for aid to needy persons in the motion picture industry in Chicago from the Chicago Film Relief Fund, which was started with the proceeds of the Jack Kirsch Testimonial Dinner last December. Current report by Kirsch, who at that time turned over proceeds of $2,850.28 from the dinner given him to such a fund, shows that additional funds have since been added. From the original amount, $1,140.94 was expended, leaving $1,709.34. To that amount has been added proceeds from three other testimonials, as follows; Jack McPherson Dinner $199.00 Felix Mendelssohn Dinner.... 28.01 Clyde Eckhardt Dinner.... 319.82 The total at present is now $2,256.17. Administering the funds with Kirsch are Jack Osserman, RKO branch manager; Henri Elman, Capitol-Monogram Pictures; Johnny Mednikow, and Henry Herbel, district manager, Warner Bros. Pictures. Schlaifer, B&K, Great States Deal Chicago — Jack Schlaifer of United Artists was here working on next year’s deals with B&K and Great States executives. A Quiz Game Deluge May Follow Ruling Chicago — The Windy City may be in for a rash of theatre quiz games, now that Master in Chancery Daniel A. Covelli has ruled — in effect — that the “Dr. I. Q.” radio broadcast, which has been presented from the stage of the Chicago Theatre every Monday night, is not a game of chance but rather a contest of skill. Master Covelli so ruled in hearing the case for Municipal Court Judge Philip Finnegan. He was sitting to hear testimony on the temporary injunction that had been granted to the Grant Advertising Agency, which handles the radio show for the Mars Candy Co. In his ruling, he said that the case would have to be heard in regular court session on its merits and continued the injunction. though at the same time ruling that from the testimony he had heard, the program is not a lottery. Several games similar to the “Dr. I. Q.” show have been shown about Filmrow but have been withheld from offering to the exhibitors, because of the city’s action on the radio program. With all the shouting over about the “Dr. I. Q.” show, the program moved this week from Chicago to Pittsburgh and will open Monday night, August 28, at the Stanley Theatre. Anti-Discrimination Bill Passes Wis, Assembly Madison, Wis. — The Rubin civil rights bill, designed to protect Negroes from discrimination in places of amusement, hotels, restaurants and taverns, was passed by the state assembly last week by a 63 to 17 vote. The measure, which boosts from $5 to $25 the minimum damages which a person may collect in civil suit for discrimination against him because of race, color, creed or nationality, now goes to the senate for action. Studio Visitors From Chicago — William F. O’Connell, operator of the Highland Theatre in Chicago, and Mrs. O’Connell meet Jane Wyman at the Warner studio in Burbank. 79