Canadian Independent (Dec 15, 1937)

he CANADIAN /SSUED FOR THE BENEFIT OF x J yy Grand National has released “Something To Sing About” to the following Canadian houses: The Elgin, Ottawa; the Rialto, Edmonton; the Grand, Calgary; and the Vanity, Windsor. Effective campaigns, with 24 sheets and distinctive exploitation, were put on by Mr. Paul, manager of the Elgin and Mr. Barron of the Grand. Paramount has exercised six months’options on three of its young contract players. They are Betty Grable, who has just finished a featured role in ‘Thrill of a Lifetime,’ Terry Ray and John Payne. When Gerston Allen discovered that when the epidemic had closed Simcoe theatres, the ‘Louis Farr’ Pictures had not been shown in Simcoe. After taking over the Lyric Theatre, he arranged immediate dates. Exhibitors all over Canada are arranging return engagements of these truly great fight pictures. Port Credit is to be congratulated on its new Vogue theatre. Mr. Farrow put over his opening by advertising in all adjacent towns. A. R. Davis, now operating the Belmont, Toronto, has arranged for the Grand National program. His first show included ‘Small Town Boy” and “Song of the Harold Kay at the Fox theatre, Toronto, has changed his policy to 3 changes weekly. He will have to add more seats soon. George Houston, appearing in the “Wallby Jim of the Island’”’ series, for Grand National, has a grand personality and voice. He sang two of the songs from the first picture Sunday night over the NBC radio and he was wonderfully received. This is one of Grand National’s early releases. INDEPENDENT THEATRE OWNERS hE ey % A od LITPE, sa a aa y y, We UYogyey HIGTSTIF Lp 7 SEINE T L142 yy Py J 4 eA “if “yg Z Conrad Nagel, he of ‘“‘Yellow Cargo’, Grand National, appears each Sunday on the radio as Master of Ceremonies. “Tex Ritter’ in ‘Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts,’ now showing at the Central theatre, New York. We look for these pictures to make their appearance in Canada soon, Tex Ritter has Personality (sh-h we hear the ladies love him) and his voice is ideal. On his recent personal appearance tour he wowed them Genial Dr. Buzz Stewart of Hamilton was in town, just setting some Grand National dates — reports business excellent. “Great Guy,” Grand National’s first ‘Cagney’ picture, has finally landed in Pt. Arthur and Ft. William, a natural for those cities, Cagney tops as a Box Office attraction throughout Western Canada. Sharpe of Calgary has now arranged for the “Louis: Farr Fight’ pictures to play the balance of his circuit. Fine judgment, especially now that all exhibitors are arranging return engagements for this great fight picture. These pictures have played from New Foundland to Yukon territory and seem to go on and on. Luis Alberni has been signed for a Prominent role ie! “Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife” which Paramount will put into production shortly with Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper costarred under the direction of Ernest Lubitsch, PATRONIZE THE ADVERTISERS WHO MAINTAIN IT. a , DALLAS CASE (Continued from Page 1) bigger than the woodpile itself. Allied has taken up the fight to have a rider removed from the decree, supposedly slipped in by the defendants, without the court’s full knowledge of the possible application of such provisions. It reads “This decree does not affect the legal right of any distributor, without understanding or agreement with any other distributor or exhibitor, for the exclusive exhibition of his copy-righted motion pictures or time of exhibition.” Reduced to everyday English, this paragraph gives distributors the right to exclusive selling and playdate designation, two rights hitherto not specified by law or contract. Production Studios To Cut Costs The major Hollywood studios are sharpening their pencils and narrowing their eyes in a move to cut production costs. It seems to have suddenly been brought home to them that increasingly collosal expenditures are not warranted either by the condition of the home market or by the state of the European market. The English quota and the Fascist bloc againstAmerican product has given them pause. There will be fewer million dollar pictures than originally planned it would seem. Production costs have SUBSCRIPTION BLANK ITALY OUTS MGM THEATRES (Continued from Page 1) U.S. films and distributors is in the offing. It looks as if the Italian market will be the price paid for the lack of welcome accorded to Mussolini’s son by certain Hollywood factions. The Hay’s office is being importuned for an emissary to protect American interests in Rome. Partly to offset this loss, American producers are considering plans to dub Hollywood pictures in Spanish. The Latin-American market is considered ripe for good pictures in its own tongue. United Artists is testing this field with three Mexican-made talkies. ‘Victoria’ Grosses In London “Victoria the Great” has started on the 8th week of its run in the Leicester Square theatre outstaying all | other films at that the atre, mounted approximately 41 percent in the past two years. A close check will be kept from now on, on the box-office value of stars. Those who fail to gross, will be offered contracts with adjusted salaries when options expire. Others will be dropped altogether. The pessimistic mood in home offices was slightly lifted due to Thanksgiving holiday grosses, which were deey higher than expected. The Canadian Independent Support the Cause of the Independent Exhibitor The Managing Editor, The Canadian Independent, 21 Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada. Please enroll me as a Subscriber to your Magazine. I enclose herewith the swum of $5.00—1 yr. NAME ADDRESS $2.50—6 mos. ASRS Os AMEE MARNE ashen S sitlah Nana ERa vets ey aes eRe heheh AS pAemEEe Kida hin $1.25—3 mos, a A Ls A TN NR Ae oe em