The Exhibitor (Nov 1941-May 1942)

14d THE EXHIBITOR "Two-Faced" Now "B" NEW YORK — An announcement last week from the Legion of Decency said: “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has made changes in the motion picture ‘TwoFaced Woman.’ These changes have involved additions and eliminations. The Legion of Decency, after review of the revised version, has deemed the revisions sufficient to warrant the re¬ moval of the picture from the C or ‘Condemned’ classification to the B classification. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is to withdraw the present version and substitute for all future bookings the revised version. The Legion appreci¬ ates the cooperation of Metro-Gold¬ wyn-Mayer in bringing about this re¬ sult.” M, vance Shots Features GIRL FROM LENINGRAD (Artkino). Alexander Abrikosov, Konstantin Adashevsky, Yuri Tolubyev. 92m. Interesting, dramatic Soviet film. War scenes are ex¬ citing and the theme, heroism of Red Cross nurses, is a sympathetic one to Americans, and is well handled here. FIESTA (United Artists — Roach). Ann Ayars, George Negrete, Armida. 45m. Col¬ orful “streamliner” for lower half. The story is negligible, but there is plenty of singing and dancing and the Technicolor photography is beautiful. KINGS ROW (Warners). Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan. 127m. Meritorious production, but it will need intensive selling. A sincere picturization of the best seller, excellently cast, and en¬ acted; it is generally heavy in theme, and deals with a depressing subject — mental illness. MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN THE CARTER CASE (Republic). James Elli¬ son, Virginia Gilmore, Franklin Pangborn. 68m. Mixture of melodrama and comedy will fit into the lower half. Cast is com¬ petent and tries hard; but the script is against them. Shorts CARL HOFF AND ORCHESTRA (Vitaphone-Melody Masters) . 10m. Good. MONSTERS OF THE DEEP (Vitaphone — Broadway Brevities) . 20m. Good. Metro Sets Six NEW YORK — Metro last week an¬ nounced dates for the next six pictures to be trade-shown. “Woman of the Year” and “Joe Smith, American” will be screened in exchange centers throughout the country on Jan. 13; “China Caravan” and “We Were Dancing” on Jan. 14, and “Born to Sing” and “Out of the Past” on Jan. 20. In this city, the first two films will be shown on Jan. 6, and the second two on Jan. 13. Oui Sergeant Mentlik TELLS ABOUT HIS TRAINING Company “B” Officer Candidate Battalion The Infantry School Fort Benning, Georgia. Dear Chief: Long time no write! Seein’ as how I’ve been getting myself used to an entirely new phase of this army game, methinks I’ve got a pretty good excuse for not keep¬ ing you, and whoever else reads this drivel, abreast of Sergeant Lew’s adven¬ tures in khaki. Be that as it may, I've got enough to write about this time to keep you busy for quite a spell. So hang on! Before I start rambling on like a high school kid’s diary, it might be a good idea to give you an idea of how a soldier felt when he heard of the Japs dropping souvenirs on Hawaii, etcetera. On the Sunday it happened, I was looking at one of Jimmy Roosevelt’s juke-box movies (the last time I saw one was at the Waldorf when Roosevelt and Mills tossed that terrific heralding shindig about a year and a half ago) in the Birmingham railroad depot. Suddenly came the news, and all I could think of saying was: “Those slanty eyed b s!” The civilians at the depot were even less outspoken. I imagine they were mighty mad, but their only emo¬ tional expression was one of grimness. It wasn’t until I saw a headline in the At¬ lanta Journal the next day that I found the phrase to describe them: “Quietly Furious.” How the Boys Reacted While driving back to Benning the night Japan declared war, the soldiers in the car with me were sorta unanimous in saying that “those hari-kari kids caught us with our pants down, but we’ll make ’em wish they were still talking peace by the time we get those britches up again.” As I sit pounding away at this, the radio reports show that our britches are getting back in place. Back at the barracks, the boys were sitting around gabbing about the war, and expressing a desire to get a whack at those little buggers. A few days later we were out on the machine gun range planting occasional pot-shots into bulls-eyes when the news came that friend (sic) Hitler had declared war on us for both Germany and Italy. That about did the trick. We were expect¬ ing that, figuring rather correctly that old Heel Hitler’s boot was behind the Japs’ aggression in the first place. Our chief collective emotion was to worry about our parents worrying about us. You can bet your last foot of animated celluloid that those boys around here aren’t cring¬ ing with fear or anything like that. They’re a pretty capable and cocky bunch. Shucks, chief, if the guys who are gonna do the battling when and if the actual battling comes around aren’t worrying, 1 don’t see why in blazes the civilian popu¬ lation should even think of going off halfcocked with fear and worry and make things tougher for all concerned. It also seems like simple horse-sense to me that people shouldn’t take as official those stories coming from “authoritative sources.” I’ve written enough “authoritative source” stories to know that in most the source can be traced no further than the reporter who wrote the copy. Enough about that, chief, except to remind you that we’ve got plenty tough army, navy, and marine forces. And if some “Heiling Heels, De¬ ferring Duces, and Jitterbugging Japs are looking for trouble, they sure as hades found it. ( Concluded next issue) Trenton, N. J. House Makes Its Bow Trenton, N. J. — Mayfair opened last week with a preview showing for 500 or more guests. House manager Charles Sweet opened the affair with a brief introductory talk. New theatre is operated by the H. and H. Corporation, comprising Mrs. Helen Hildinger, president; Frank P. Henry, treasurer; Isaac Levy, secretary; James Lamont, J. Clark Hildinger, directors. Allied Theatre Owners of New Jersey representatives at the affair included Harry Lowenstein, Newark; Lee New¬ bury, Ralph Wilkins, Dave Snapper, Louis Gold, Thornton Kelly, Joe Unger, Morris Ginsburg. Film industry representatives included Jack Engel, Dave Korson, Ben Blumberg, Bill Doyle, Ben Abner, A1 Arnswalder, James J. Brennan, Harry Weiner, Samuel Gross, Clarance Eisman, Sam Rifkin, A1 Davis, Herman Rubin, Ulrik Smith, and others. Under construction for nearly a year, the new Mayfair is equipped with Western Electric sound. Seating capacity is 1,100, including a balcony of 200. Theatre outer lobby is constructed entirely of glass. First Theatre Test Worcester, Mass. — What is believed to be the first theatre air raid blackout test in the east was conducted last week at the M. and P. Capitol here while a capac¬ ity audience filled the house. At 9.20 P. M. manager Elmer Daniels appeared on the stage, gave the patrons their first infor¬ mation that a blackout was to be held, and introduced a deputy air raid warden, who took charge, giving the audience in¬ structions to remain in the theatre until the all-clear signal was given. “Air Raid” signs blinked on the stage to warn of the actual test. The marquee and lobby lights were shut off, ushers guarded the aisles to prevent panic, and the show continued with an emergency light¬ ing plant being used. Kirsch Announces Replies Chicago — Jack Kirsch, temporary chair¬ man of the Motion Picture Industry Con¬ ference Committee, announced last week that he was in receipt of replies from the White House and the office of the Secre¬ tary of the Navy in response to telegrams sent them transmitting the all-out sup¬ port to the government resolution adopted at the all-industry conference held in Chicago on Dec. 9. December 24, 1941