Canadian Film Weekly (Mar 25, 1942)

March 25th, 1942 Sidney R. Kent, Fox Head, Dies (Continued from Page 1) Film Corporation as vice president 10 years ago after serving 14 years “= with Paramount Pictures as vice president and distribution manager. A month later he was made head of the reorganized company, then in financial difficulties. In 1935 Fox merged with 20th Century, and Kent became its head, one of the biggest units in the entertainment industry. He was also a director of Madison Square Garden and of the Columbia Broadcasting System. A native of Nebraska, he went to work at the age of 14 in a greenhouse, which paid $5 a week. A few years later he joined six engineers of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. in exploring industrial possibilities in .Wyoming. Kent joined the American Druggists’ Syndicate in 1912 and three years later was virtually in charge. Then an enthusiastic friend interested him in the growing movie industry. Kent moved into the Vitagraph Corp. He was primarily a salesman and financial manager. When the old General Films Corp. was inpes dicted under the Sherman AntiZz Trust Act and had judgments of more than $25,000,000 against it, Kent was hired to straighten the tangle. He did the job, then walked into the office of Adolph Zukor and told him he was willing to work for nothing and take his chances of making good. He thus rose to the top of Famous Players-Lasky and then Paramount-Publix Corporations. When he switched to Fox his record was one of constant success in persuading creditors that they had more to gain by having confidence in the movie industry than by foreclosing. Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, said: “The death of Sidney Kent is a public loss and a personal grief. Others must continue his work, but no one can take his place. He was immensely loyal in friendship, wise and upright in business and a great Amercian. Always he retained qualities of the solid strength of the Midwest, where he was .;born, and of the invigoration of Wyoming, where he spent his early ~~ life. In that pioneer country men built their own roads and, later in life, no one did more than Sidney Kent to build the road by which the motion picture industry has reached its present heights. His personality and achievements form a lasting monument.” The Battle of Stratford Canadian FILM WEEKLY on . on Sa m, a Se 8 “ > Be {onthe Squar Theatre managers bent on promotion ask big things and do big things. When things work out well they’re something for the town to remember. When things go wrong it’s usually far from a minor matter. Not just the patrons are put out but civic dignitaries as well. Take the case of Walter Helm, the roly-poly manager of the Avon, Stratford. Walter had “Sergeant York” and decided to get in some high-class promotional licks. He invited the lads of the Perth Regiment Reserve Force to the first showing. And created a military problem. Up came the worst storm of many a year. The soldier lads braved it and staged one of their best parades to the theatre. They got in all right, enjoyed the show and got out all right. But they didn’t get home. You see, many of the men came from nearby towns for the event. When they hit the street the storm was worse than ever. The outlanders got as far as_ the city limits in their cars before they surrendered to the storm and turned back. After a struggle they reached the Stratford Armouries. There were 40 of them. It looked as though Walter might have to take care of his guests by opening the theatre overnight and calling on the Ladies Aid for coffee and sandwiches. But Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Harry Davenport got permission from Lieutenant-Colonel Rice to put the boys up in the Armouries. The Officers’ Mess took care of some and the YMCA the rest. Don’t think for a2 moment that Walter was caught with his stance down. Those well-upholstered fellows are hard to faze. We hear that Walter intends taking up the study of Quartermastering —or whatever you call it—as part of his job. The Bowowery Frank Meyers of EBA felt pretty blue the other day when a long-time pal passed away—his famed thoroughbred Pekinese, Chang. Frank’s aristocratic pooch had reached the end of the canine trail, being 15 years old. Chang, says Frank, lived gracefully and died peacefully. . . . Another sorrowful note in the matter of a-man-and-his-dog doings comes with the news of the death of Win Barron’s aged champion police dog, Wales, who was also 15. Wales and the Paramount press man have travelled around the world together twice. The dog, who was inseparable from Win in the public eye and mind, was ill for a few days before he started out for the Valhalla of Dogdom. Win’s four little girls were very fond of Wales and took his illness to heart. One of them, during her pre-bedtime prayers, was heard to say: “Please, God, if it’s all right with you, we’d like to have Wales for a while yet.” Probably the best-known dog in the local film trade is Sam Bloom’s Doberman-Pinscher, a gift from J. J. Fitzgibbons. Sam’s pal has a great loyalty to him and a fierce antipathy to outsiders. So many a funny tale is heard about it and the best of these come from Sam, who considers no gathering perfect without one tale of the capers of his canine partner. The Latest Step The biggest audience laugh in the new Russian reels called ‘Defence of Moscow” comes with a shot of captured Nazis. Halffrozen, the pathetic creatures are hopping up and down in the snow. ‘ “This,” cracks the announcer, “is what Moscow did to the Nazi Goose Step!” Will-o’-the-Whispers Pat Drohan visited his soldier son on Niagara-on-the-Lake the other Sunday. The lad is a sergeant. Pat also has a boy in the RCAF. .. . Incidentally, the projected club of film folk in the Chatham area, in which Pat and Harland Rankin were interested, has faded out. . . . Abe Wilkes is looking at the world through One paper these days. An irksome sty led to a patch. Can’t drive his car and hasn’t found his legs yet. So if you notice any locomotion on his part, don’t get the wrong idea ... Universal spread the glory of St. Patrick On the Square when the 17th came along. Handed out lapél harps with a sprig o’ green attached and such famed Irishman as Raoul Auérbach sported them. 4 Page 3 {Hollywood Buys Many Stories (Continued from Page 1) period last year. With 40 books and plays acquired in January, the year’s total has already reached the 105 figure. The outstanding buys were “Let’s Face It,” the current Broadway musical hit; ‘‘Dragon Seed,” Pearl S. Buck’s best seller, and “The American Way,” the Kaufman-Hart success of three seasons back. A total of $430,000 was paid for the above mentioned purchases; $225,000 for “Let’s Face It,’’ $100,000 for “The American Way,” and $105,000 for “Dragon Seed.” Neither so expensive nor so popular, but which rank high in quality, are Somerset Maugham’s “Moon and Sixpence,” and W. C. Clark’s “The Oxbow Incident,” two February acquisitions. It was just announced that Universal Pictures has acquired the the screen rights to the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, and film them as a series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce portraying the Holmes-Watson roles. If it is of any encouragement to the would-be-screen writers, statistics show that 40 of February’s stories were unpublished originals. A word of discouragement: Most of the authors are well-known motion picture or magazine writers. Claims Single Name Helps War Effort Jinx Falkenburg, 23, actress and model, wants to be known legally only by her first name because elimination of the last from theater marquee lights would save power for war production. Jinx and her attorney, S. S. Hahn, appeared yesterday before Judge Emmet H. Wilson for a hearing. Hahn tried to explain. He said enough electrical power could be saved by eliminating Falkenburg from theater marquees to produce 26,000 pounds of aluminum or supply electricity for a city of 105,000. “Mr. Hahn, Wilson asked, “did you ever hear of a person who had one name legally?” Hahn admitted he had not. “Well,” the Judge said, “if you can find any precedent in legal history, I wish you would present it to me.” Rooney's Next MGM is preparing to go to work on “A Yank at Eton,” Mickey Rooney’s next _ starrer. Norman Taurog will direct and John W. Considine will produce.