The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

5 West Springfield Bars New Open Air Theatre Church Protests Factor In Ban Springfield — West Springfield board of selectmen last week revoked th.> amusement license of the General Thea¬ tre Company which intended to operate a drive-in outdoor theatre on Riverdale Street. Prime reason for the revocation was the appearance of numerous ob¬ jectors, headed by the community’s out¬ standing religious leaders. Their ire at the thought of an outdoor theatre was aroused because a season of two ago, an outdoor theatre, operated in a com¬ munity near West Springfield by a com¬ pany other than the General Theatre organization, was held to be unsuited to the town. A petition against the proposed motor-park theatre was also presented, and it was stated that the enterprise would have been in violation of the town’s zoning laws. The theatre company is operated by Samuel Bennett, Springfield, and several days previous to the revocation asked for and was granted an amusement per¬ mit, and subsequently a building per¬ mit for erection of the screen. He also leased the property. New Haven "Bingo” Delay New Haven — "Bingo” playing here is unlikely until August, providing Gov¬ ernor Raymond Baldwin signs the new bill, passed by the House and Senate, a survey showed last week. Joseph T. Rourke, member of the Board of Aldermen, will present the petition at the June meeting. Although some effort may be made at the June session to obtain unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of the bill, it is expected that the demands for a public hearing will override all such efforts. The public hearing would then be held prior to the July meeting, a com¬ mittee which holds the hearing will re¬ port at the July meeting, and the bill then could be printed in the Aldermanic Journal and passed at the August meet¬ ing. It would become law 10 days after being signed by the mayor. Rhode Island Court Hears Protest on Fees Woonsocket Houses Fighting Increase Woonsocket — Hearings on the peti¬ tion of four local theatres for a reversal of the action of the city’s police com¬ mission boosting license fees from $12 to $30 weekly were scheduled before the Rhode Island Supreme Court June 5. Court action came after Woonsocket exhibitors had ineffectually protested to the city government concerning the in¬ crease in theatrical license fees, ordered by the commission in January. Attorney John R. Higgins, represent¬ ing the Bijou Amusement Company, the Laurier Theatre, Inc., the Olympia The¬ atre, Inc., and Rialto, Inc., in petitioning the Supreme Court to have the fee in¬ crease set aside, termed the additional charges arbitrary, confiscatory, prohibi¬ tive, illegal and as constituting an un¬ authorized tax upon private enterprise for the purpose of raising revenue. Montpelier House Under Way Montpelier, Vermont — Climaxing a two-hour discussion with C. J. Shaw of Boston, representative, Maine-New Hampshire, the Montpelier City Council voted permission last week to the con¬ cern to proceed with reconstruction plans and submit them to Building Inspector Sidney F. Lawson. Lawson has been authorized to obtain advice from compe¬ tent building engineers to see that the structure will be satisfactory from a safety viewpoint before a permit will be granted to build in Montpelier. Billboard Measure Moves Hartford — Substitute for the anti¬ billboard bill passed last fortnight by the lower House of the Connecticut legislature gives the commissioner of state police authorization to license all bill¬ boards in the state for a fee of 2 5c per billboard, to attach a metal license annu¬ ally as proof of the registration. Bill also empowers the commissioner to order the repair or replacement of any outdoor advertising signs which, in his opinion, are unsightly. Vermont Companies File $125,000 Legal Actions Interstate , Distributors Named in Complaint Saint Johnsbury, Vermont — Tegu’s Palace Theatre, Inc., here last fortnight filed a $125,000 anti-trust action against the Interstate Theatre Corporation, Bos¬ ton, its affiliated exhibitors as well as several motion picture producers and distributors. Palace seeks $100,000 damages, and the Gem, Lyndonville, Vermont, $2 5,000 for alleged violations of the Sherman and Clayton Anti-Trust Acts. It is charged that Interstate, through "combi¬ nation and conspiracy” with other de¬ fendants, has eliminated competition in 32 cities in which it is operating except Brockton and Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Saint Johnsbury, where it conducts the Star. The complaint further charges Inter¬ state with attempting by "threats and coercion” to compel Palace to close or be turned over to the Rockingham Oper¬ ating Company of Bellows Falls, a Ver¬ mont corporation allegedly controlled by Interstate. To prevent the Palace and Gem from obtaining an adequate supply of film of necessary commercial value, charges the complaint, Interstate and Rockingham contracted for substantially all the val¬ uable films of the distributors among the defendants, and cancelled those un¬ used at the end of the season, delaying their use by the plaintiff. Defendants named were: Interstate, Rockingham Operating Company, Graves Theatre, Inc., of White River Junction, Vermont; Vitagraph, Inc., Loew’s, Inc., Paramount Pictures Dis¬ tributing Company, Inc.; United Art¬ ists Corporation, Universal Film Ex¬ changes, Inc., and Columbia Pictures Corporation of New York. Alliedmen to Minneapolis Boston — Local Alliedmen this week were getting set for a trip to Minne¬ apolis June 13-15 to attend the annual convention of Allied States Association. In addition to the official delegates from the local and New Haven areas, members and wives are expecting to combine business with pleasure and hop out to the annual confab. Conn. Publicity Bill Signed Hartford — With the idea of develop¬ ing Connecticut as a vacationists play¬ ground and getting nation-wide public¬ ity to this cause, the act establishing a new Connecticut Development Commis¬ sion was due to have been signed last week by Governor Raymond F,. Baldwin. June 7, 1939 N. E.