The Canadian Motion Picture Exhibitor (Aug 1, 1941)

~ _A Semi-Monthly SUMMARY of World-Wide Motion Picture NEWS CA V Ole 77: NO.:15. NADIAN MOTION PICTURE XHIBITOR Toronto, August Ist, 1941. N-E Sask Exhibs Pass Tax ‘ Appeal At a recent lens of the Northeastern Saskatchewan Independent Motion Picture Exhibitors Association a petition calling upon the government to lower the tax in rural areas was forwarded to¢ Ottawa. The organization is a comparatively new one. It was founded in late May of this year by a general meeting of exhibitors of the area held in the Winston Hotel, Melfort. Fred Walkner of Tisdale was elected president and B. R. Johnson of Nipawan became its secretary-treasurer. The resolution reads: “Whereas our revenue comes entirely from the agricultural classes and whereas this class is faced with a steadily declining revenue due to war ‘conditions and whereas our best patrons, the younger generation, are moving to the industrial and training centres in very (Continued on Page 2) Somer Sails and Melzer Mutters Jack Melzer, Theatre Holdings ad chief, is fretting these torrid days because his vacation plans were kayoed. And back of the disappointment is another item of news. Somer James, one of his henchmen, was due back before Jack could light out. The day came but not Somer. Instead there came a letter. Young James, on vacation, stood on the docks of an ocean city and began dreaming of the world away. Must have got into a go hither-dither. Anyway, the wanderlusty lad signed on with a tramp steamer and headed towards the far horizon. Now Mr. Melzer looks out of his office window at the busy world below iand also dreams— of babbling brooks and fourpound bass. “Somer,” Mr. Melzer intones archly, “must have seen ‘The Sea Wolf’ and thought he’d ‘run into Ida Lupino!” You May Be Right But Not Wholly, Roly Roly Young, screen scribe of the Toronto Globe and Mail, takes a hefty whack at our editorial of the last issue, |" “Bingo, By Jingo! “Nuts!” And blends the thump with a fruity Roly goes on record against any kind of extra cinema activity. All this and Bingo too. We were talking about Bingo in Canadian theatres as a broadening of its present purpose—the serving of church, charitable and patriotic work. To that Roly says this: “I think the suggestion is all wet both specifically and in principle. Specifically, people attend movie theatres to see movies and there are a large number of them who do not play bingo and who aren’t interested in watching other people play bingo. Personally I have no use for it, have never seen it or played it, and would make a point of staying away from a theatre which incorporated it as an alleaqed part of the enter tainment. Let them as wants to play bingo go to bingo parlors, but for the love of Pete let’s keep the movie theatres for patrons who want to see movies! “In principle. one of the worst mistales the movies ever made was when they stopped worrying about their entertainment and tried to lure patrons in with various forms of bribery, which ranged all the way from crockery and silverware to Photonite. Bank Nite and the sundry other premium propositions. In my humble opinion they degraded the movies, reflected . on their quality and value and completely lost any dignity the business had attained. I think that any theatre which can’t keep going by selling entertainment ought to close up instead of becoming a halfbaked imitation of a department store bargain base ment. (Continued on Page 2) 20th C T Kid & Mag Jamboree Toronto’s 20th Century Theatres group, the Brock, Kenwood, Midtown, Oriole, Crown and Community, tied up with the Active Service Magazine Depot to gather periodicals for the boys in khaki. Youngsters were offered admission to the theatres on Wednesday, July 30th for six magazines and the total haul amounted to something like 30,000. Radio and newspaper publicity helped let the kids know of the movie grab-bag, which consisted of a feature picture, comedy and cartoon. Not only did the kids get candy gratis but two model aeroplanes were won in each house by lads lucky enough to get the right seats. Mason, president, Official Organ of the INDEPENDENT THEATRES ASSOCIATION $5.00 Per Annum Maritimes Body Slow in Growing Formed as a aeaeaate theatre body, the Maritimes Booking and Buying group is not finding it easy to get under way. A. J. of Springhill, N.S. and M. E. Walker of Halifax, N.S., vice-president, are working overtime to try and line up exhibitors. The initial meeting in Amherst, N.S., was somewhat disappointing from an attendance standpoint but those present were determined to go ahead and elected officers. So far a sufficient number of exhibitors have not been signed to make immediate action possible. The seating capacity represented by the present membership is not great enough to warrant setting up offices and engaging a staff. It is likely, however that the group will function soon. Mason: is highly-regarded in the Maritimes theatrical field and Walker, (Continued on Page 2) Warners Tell of Policy and Product The recent national convention of Vitagraph, Ltd. at the Mount Royal Hotel, Montreal, yielded interesting news of that company’s intended activities for the coming period as well as details of its powerful production schedule. Vitagraph, Ltd. distributes the product of Warner Brothers, First National and Vitaphone in Canada. Hightlights of the convention were the announcement of selling policy for 1941-42 by Wolfe Cohen, Canadian district manager, and an (Continued on Page 2) Local Record MGM’s “The Great Waltz’ has played the Strand, Toronto, eight times and still requests keep coming in. The seventh unreeling did better than the first. It looks as though the Strauss waltzer is good for a long time. Patrons argue with others as to who has seen it more times.