Canadian Film Weekly (Aug 4, 1943)

Page 8 a eleasing lumited Flic en ay [H. J. ALLEN, President] President Current Releases PAYOFF Lee Tracy and Tina Thayer THE YANKS ARE COMING Henry King’s Orchestra Mary Healy, Jackie Heller BOSS OF THE BIG TOWN John Litel, Florence Rice H. B. Warner MISS V FROM MOSCOW Lola Lane, Noel Madison, Howard Banks GHOST AND THE GUEST James Dunn and Florence Rice DEAD MEN WALK George Zucco and Mary Carlisle CORREGIDOR Otto Kruger and Elissa Landi Producers Releasing Corporation LIMITED Executive Offices: 277 Victoria St., Toronto, 2, Ont. Canadian FILM WEEKLY Seagoing Cireuit Gets Under Way A brief ceremony held at an east Canadian port one day last week marked the inauguration of the Royal Canadian Navy’s seagoing film circuit, the details of which were announced in Canadian Film Weekly during March. Rear-Admiral L. W. Mur ray, RCN, presented a projector and films to Lt.-Comm. J. C. Littler, RCNR, former cap tain of corvette Brandon, first ship to join the Royal Canadian Naval Film Society. The plan was made public officially in an announcement which followed the ceremony. The honorary manager and organizer of the Society is Lieut. Dave Rubin, RCN motion picture officer, who was formerly manager of the Westdale Theatre, Hamilton, Ontario. The suitability of the films are passed on by Lieut. Rubin. The films are the latest issued. They are 16 mm. The problem of supply is reduced greatly by the fact that ships usually work in groups. Ships in company will exchange films and new product will be picked up on making port. The distributors and the National Film Board are co-operating in a fashion that is winning praise from naval Officers. The men pay five cents for each performance and the officers 25 cents. The Society is self-supporting and independent of the other service groups supplying films. Because of the special problem of sea showings the Navy had to solve its own troubles. The Navy’s film section, mainly concerned with training films, will supervise the scheme. Offices are maintained at major ports and these are generally managed by former film and theatre men. Some of the ex-filmites now with the Navy film section are Leslie A. Allen, Brock Farrow, Dave Axler, Irwin Steinhart and WHarry Paige. The prints are leased from the exchanges, the Navy carrying insurance on them. In the case of films lost at sea, these will be replaced by the exchanges for the cost of the print alone. A similar scheme is being used in the British and USA navies. Arbitration Ends Theatre Dispute Arbitration of a labor dispute between the projectionists’ union of Vancouver and the Lyric Theatre ended abruptly last week when the arbitrators discussed matters informally in Judge A. M. Harper’s chambers after hearing Manager Robert A. Scott’s side of the case. Canadians Hear Republic Plans Republic’s film rental gross has reached a new high, Herbert J. Yates told executives and exchange men in his opening address to the company’s eastern quarterly sales conference in New York. Yates said this was due to the careful work of the production and sales departments, and the company’s willingness to go all-out in co-operating in exhibitor advertising and exploitation campaigns. Republic Canadian distributors were represented at the confab by A. W. Perry, Paul Nathanson and A. J. Laurie. American exchange men from the eastern district were there, among them Maxwell Gillis, eastern district sales manager, and Sam Seplowin, central district Sales manager. President J. R. Grainger presided and discussed new campaigns. He reported that the gross receipts on Roy Rogers big budget special productions were 100 per cent higher than last year, due to the increased advertising budgets and the great exploitation campaign put on for Rogers Westerns. Grainger outlined the campaign being planned for “In Old Oklahoma,” which stars Martha Scott, John Wayne and Albert Dekker. Radio spot announcements, cooperative advertising and 24-sheet posting will back up simultaneous openings in 20 important key situations throughout the country, in addition to local exploitation. A campaign similar to that used for Roy Rogers, will be started soon for Mary Lee, Grainger announced. The release of her next picture, ‘‘Nobody’s Darling,’ will be followed by several other roles prior to her starring in Republic's “Hit Parade of 1944.” Republic is planning a_ radio program to be built around the studio’s talent roster which will be broadcast over a national hook-up. Through this broadcast, Republic hopes to be able to build up advance publicity for such new productions as “Fighting Seabees,” “Man From Frisco,” ‘Atlantic City,” “Gay Blades,” and “The Old Waldorf.” The program will also serve to introduce new film talent to a national audience. Republic product is distributed in Canada through Empire Universal Films. August 4, 1948 Plastic Plates Now Being Used (Continued from Page 1) plates on order. The charge right now is ten per cent less than that of electros, according to Charlie Cashman, though comparatively few are being made. Plastic plates, explained Archie Caisley of Photo-Engravers, are much lighter than electros, even harder on the surface and can be mortised for type insertions. Electros shipped from one branch to another involve high express charges and the substitution of plastic may revise these kind of costs favorably. In most cases mats are shipped from head office which are cast at their destination. Casting facilities are not always good in smaller places. If plastic proves light enough it may pay to ship the unmounted plates, cast in the cities where home offices are, instead of the mats. One metal plate, it is said, weighs more than ten plastic ones of the same area. The plastic plates are being used in many places, the United States Office of War Information shipping out 20,000 every month. The material used in them is largely the same as that which is popular in molding aeroplane bodies. Though many printers shy away from them as an unknown quantity, they have been pronounced superior to metal plates in many ways. They will stand rougher handling than metal plates, will not break or scratch easily on the surface. No special instructions are necessary to the printer. When war restrictions are lifted there may be a saving of time in casting that will be very valuable to those racing a deadline. SGT. ALLAN GRAYSTON of Montreal, former cameraman with Associated Screen News, was one of the first Canadians ashore in the invasion of Sicily.