Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 4, 1942)

” ~~ VOL. 8, NO. 6 FEB. 4th, 1942 Ne DLE ENROAE IS Tg sete Me embed HYE BOSSIN, Managing Editor Published by Film Publications of Canada, Limited, 5th floor, Hermant Building, 21 Dundas Square, Tor onto, Ontario. Phone ADelaide 4310. Printed at 78 Wellington Street West, Toronto. Price 5 cents each, or $2.00 per year Address all communications to The Managing Editor CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 21 Dundas Square Toronto, Canada SS 28 Here Is Raid Warning Plan z, | | (Continued from Pnoge 1) partment will notify the Telephone Service Company manager, 112 Yonge street, Adelaide 9121. They will in turn notify: (a) Tivoli Theatre for Famous Players—ELgin 4341. (b) Paradise Theatre for Odeon Circuit—LAkeside 7211. (c) Hollywood Theatre for Premier Operating—HYland 0304. (d) Victory Theatre for 20th Century Theatres — WaAverley 5006. (e) Various theatres, probably six in number, will notify the forty Independents mot covered in one way or another by the above. Temporarily the six theatres are: Embassy Theatre — KIngsdale 5701. Allenby Theatre — GLadstone 2953. Royce Theatre — LLoydbrook 2731. Guild Theatre—HArgrave 1230. Circle Theatre—MOhawk 6765. Centre Theatre—WAverley 9555. The first phone signal will be: “Aid Raid Warning—yYellow.” It when the “Air will be followed later, sirens sound, with Raid Warning—Red.” The best way of keeping theatre traffic orderly and normal during the blackout is being decided upon now. Indie Producers (Continued Irom Page 1) production openators have also signified their willingness to enter the new setup. Lloyd Wright will become president and James Allen, who formerly handled public relations for the Department of Justice, will head the Washington bureau. Papers are being filed now for the new group, which will be supported by yearly assessments. Canadian FILM WEEKLY eae PPP Pack up, men. Liquidate your assets. business. Notify the milkman and the gasman and all the rest that that’s all there is, there isn’t any more. Load your covered wagon and hit the trail for new frontiers. That’s what you'll do if you believe Bayard Veiller, author of “Within the Law,” “The Trial of Mary Dugan” and other stage plays of the past. Mr. Veiller has a burning love of the living drama, which suffered none by his service as a screen writer. Mr. Veiller is over 70 and has just turned out an autobiography called “The Fun I’ve Had.” (Reynal & Hitchcock: NY). In it he has this to say about motion pictures: “And right here I am going to say something which will probably earn the enmity of every picture actor and actress in America who knows how to read. The actors themselves have discarded the theatre for an easier and more indolent medium. Complete exhaustion now follows the completion of a picture, to the building of which they have contributed nothing but their faces and their bodies and their voices. And they call it art. At the risk of being put in jail for heresy, even possibly burned at the stake, I firmly believe that the radio will prove a greater form of entertainment than the screen has ever provided and here is the reason. “Over the radio we are told the name of the play, and the people appearing in it, and very briefly what it is about; and then without the aid of scenery, and also without the distracting influence of scenery, we are given a play which not only interests us but stimulates our imagination, which is what the theatre always did, and what the pictures have never been able to do. “Pictures drug their audiences. Go to the ordinary picture and hear theim snore! A radio play excites them, arouses their interest and: teaches them to think. Did you ever see a movie audience think?” However, Mr. Veillard, in passing his three-score-andten, left some of his consistency behind. In the book he sums up all the great Juliets he has watched and he names Norma Shearer, for her film performance, as second only to Jane Cowl’s stage role. Like us, you are probably awed by the overwhelming unimportance of what Mr. Veillard thinks about motion pictures. Film Statistics (Continued from Page 1) Employing 193,600 persons in production, distribution and exhibition, the three largest cuts in the box-office melon totaled a $322,000,000 payroll with $139,000,000 going to the production division, also a new high for the industry. There’s a seat for every 12 1-2 people in the nation. Weekly attendance was estimated at 50,000,000, about twothirds of the population of the country, also an increase over the previous year, said the Hays office. The average admission paid was 25.2 cents, of which 80 per cent was taken in between 7.30 and 8.30 in the evening, 45 per cent on the week-end shows. Exhibition accounts for 94 per cent of the capital investment of the industry. It employs 75 per cent of the workers, pays 50 per cent of the salaries. In the field of production the investment is relatively small, about 5 per cent, and the number employed is 18 per cent of the entire industry, but the payroll, the large item in production costs, is 43 per cent of the motion picture's yearly salary check. Distribution involves little more than 1 per cent of the invested capital, hires 7 per cent of the workers and pays 7 per cent of the salaries. The studio’s share of the theatre admission is about 25 per cent. In 1941 this amounted to $250,000,000, against a total production cost of $215,600,000, according to the Association’s estimate. The major disbursement here is for talent, with sets, direction and stories accounting for more than 10 per cent each. Get out of February 4th, 1942 Circuits Shift Managers (Continued from Page 1) the Pantages and featured vaudeville. Knevels had been ill for some' time and the Hamilton venture marks his return to the theatrical wars. Ernest Warren, whom Purves succeeds at the Tivoli, Hamilton, moves into the 20th Century setup as manager of Toronto’s Midtown, which house was handled by Harry Dahn until his resignation. Jim Simmons of the Grand, London, switches from 20th Century to Famous in becoming manager of the Grand, Galt, replacing Jim McDonough, who takes over the Royal, Guelph, of Famous. The Royal has been without a house manager since Stan Andrews went to Timmins. Vernon Hudson, who has been managing the Palace in Galt and keeping an eye on the Royal, will confine himself to the former theatre. The Grand, London, spot will be filled by Douglas Keyes, currently assistant manager under Jim Simmons. In the 20th Century Theatres group Garnet Heatherly of the Centre, London, replaces Frank Reid at the Park, Sarnia. Reid takes over from Len Herbert at the Park Theatre, Chatham. Herbert moves to the Centre, London. Keith Wilson, formerly with Sterling Films, has become manager of the Tivoli, Kingston, a 20th Century House. Ten Worst (Continued from Page 1) son’s Bay,” ‘Wild Geese Calling,” “Belle Starr,” ‘Navy Blues,” ‘Honky Tonk,” “You Belong to Me,” “This Woman Is Mine,” “Lady Be Good,” ‘“Aloma of the South Seas,” and “Smilin’ Through.” The Lampoon also said ‘The Feminine Touch” had “the worst script of the year,” and “H. M. Pulham, Esq.” was the “most poorly cast’”’ picture. Formbys in USA Astor Pictures have acquired distribution rights for USA of George Formby’s ‘‘George Takes the Air.” It’s <Astor’s second Formby. Bob Savini, president of Astor closed the deal. Complete Theatre Equipment” and Supplies COLEMAN ELECTRIC CO. 258 VICTORIA ST., Toronto, Ont. ©