Canadian Film Weekly (Jun 20, 1945)

Page 10 — Canadian FILM WEEKLY June 20, 1945 — —$—$—$—_—$—_—$—$_—$_SS——— Simon Speaks Right Out OST theatre managers M know that from-frying pan tofire feeling that comes with either permission to hold a Sunday charity show in the theatre or a refusal. Such requests usually come from the community’s leading citizens and objections are made by the clergy. The wishes of both are worthy of respect. In the city of Windsor, Ontario, Simon Meretsky, managing director of Windsor Paramount Theatres, has sponsored Sunday evening charity shows on occasion for troop comfort and other causes. These, joined in by leading entertainers appearing in Detroit, have won the support of the entire community. Not so long ago the very active Rev. George G. Webber, general secretary of the Lord’s Day Alliance, criticized the shows. Meretsky, famed in the industry for his verbal vigor, replied in interesting fashion by letter. Here is his answer, as it appeared in the Windsor Daily Star: “IT have received your letter of May 21 and I am somewhat surprised that you bring the matter of cost into your letter. “Let me point out to you, sir, that when the government rents the theatre from us we charge $650 per day, and they have rented it on several occasions during the war for the Army Show and the Navy Show. “And if it wasn’t for charity, nobody would get the theatre from me regardless of how much they paid. How would you like me to tell you, Mr. Webber, that from every $100 we get for the use of the theatre, the government gets $84, and all we have left is $16. “Do you think I can keep the theatre open, use up one and a half or two tons of coal, pay $11 for cleaning, water, and G. Weltner Named Hicks’ Successor George Weltner has _ been named successor to the late John W. Hicks, Jr., as president of Paramount International Films, Incorporated, overseas distributor of Paramount pictures. Executive assistant to Hicks since 1934, Weltnmer served as vicepresident and member of the board of directors of Paramount’s overseas subsidiary since it was formed in 1944. He first came to Paramount in 1922 as a student trainee immediately after his graduation from Columbia University. No one has as yet been appointed to replace Hicks as a director of Famous Players Canadian Corporation. Question of Sunday Charity Shows Brings Vigorous Defence from Leading Windsor Showman light, wear and tear—don’t you think I am actually out all the money? The reason the government gets $84 is that we are in the excess profits bracket and SIMON MERETSKY every dollar we make over what we made in the period from 1936-39 goes to the government, so that ought to convince you that at no time is Simon Meretsky trying to make any money when he rents the theatre. “Mr. Webber, you don’t belong to a union. Every time the theatre is open for some purpose, the union demands that a stage hand be there, whether he works one hour, two hours or three hours. “And, Mr. Webber, the manager has to be on the job to see that the theatre is in shape at 9 o’clock. He has to be there at 6 o’clock to turn on the lights, and he has to be there at 8.30 o’clock to open the doors to let the people in after church. Nothing is ever allowed to start before 8.30, so that nothing will interfere with the: churches. Believes In Humanity “If any man believes in God, and in the principles of humanity, Simon Meretsky is one. The synagogue we have in our town stands me tens of thousands of dollars of my own money to see it through. And I have helped every denomination there is in the community, regardless of creed, color or race. “The reason I am writing you this is that you can write to any pastor, whether he be Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian or United Church, and ask them who Simon Meretsky is— his character and his reputation, and they will tell you that at no time is it a matter of making money when I give the theatre. “The clergy is fighting on all battlefields. The rabbis are fighting on Saturday, the Catholics and Protestants are fighting on Sundays, for freedom and liberty, Crowd Catching Stunt Students of the Ontario College of Art competed for three prizes offered to those who created the most interesting and technically skilfull impressions of MGM’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.’’ Thousands saw them during the time they worked in Eaton’s College Street store in Toronto, many being attracted by the ads in the store’s daily newspaper page. put it over. Dewey Bloom of MGM and Jack Clarke of Loew's First prize was a $50 Victory Bond, the second $15 in War Savings Certificates and the third $10 in the same medium. Dewey Bloom promoted for Regal and MGM. so that people may enjoy future living without being murdered. “Tf I can help the starving Poles, the starving Chinese, the starving Russians, the starving Greeks and the starving Slovaks, I certainly will help them. “And I do think that if the clergy would encourage this across the country of Canada, and have these benefits on Sunday nights after church is out, the gospel would do more for humanity than ever. “At one gathering in the Capitol and Palace theatres, on a Sunday night, I got up and spoke and we raised $8,000 from the audience in the two theatres. I made a plea. I did everything except cry. This was the Russian relief. “Our quota in Windsor for the Overseas Smokes Fund is $40,000 and some of the affairs have turned their entire proceeds over to this worthy cause. Doing As Much As Clergy “Aren’t our boys to be considered? Can’t they smoke a cigaret for what they are doing for us? I honestly think, Rev. Webber, that I am doing as much good as any clergy is doing from the pulpit, for the wonderful cause our boys are fighting for—freedom and liberty. “Thank God we are rid of that ignoramus Mussolini and that idiot Hitler. We have two down and one to go. And with the help of the Almighty God we will get rid of Tojo. So many of our brilliant men are making the supreme sacrifice to fight such ignorant savages. The Lord will be with us and it won’t be long before it is over. But we will have a big job on our hands to help those countries in the future. We may have to do a lot more for them 'than we are doing now.” RKO Earnings Down in 1944 Net earnings of Radio-KeithOrpheum Corporatign dropped by more than $1.75 millions in 1944 according to the figures revealed in the annual report. Attributed to the operations of RKO-Radio Pictures, the producing and distributing subsidiary, net profit dropped from $6,964,004 in 1943 to $5,206,378 for the year ended December 31, 1944, after all charges and taxes were deducted. Explaining the falling off in profits, N. Peter Rathvon, RKO president, said in the annual statement that ‘no single picture produced in 1944 showed as good results as several made in 1943 at a relatively low cost.” cy J