Exhibitors Herald (1927)

46 EXHIBITORS HERALD December 24, 1927 Year 1927 Passes in Review ( Continued from page 43) theatre expansion. * * * February Loew plans $10,000,000 theatre construction program in South. * * * Sidney R. Kent announces the organization of a short feature department by Paramount with Emanuel Cohen as production manager and editor of Paramount News. * * * E. W. Hammons, president, announces the closing of negotiations which will give Educational complete ownership of its exchanges and which will consolidate the producing units making a large part of the Educational program. * * * “Better Theatres” campaign to aid the small town exhibitor is endorsed. * * * Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announces the acquisition of the Hal Roach short features for distribution, and the production of M-G-M News by the Hearst organization. ■%, ;Jc % Kansas admission tax bill is killed. * * * Arbitration in the motion picture industry in 1926, disposed of 12,566 claims totaling $2,712,000. * * * The first annual reoorfc of the Central Casting Bureau in Hollywood reveals that it filled 259,250 jobs during the 12 months period following its inception. * * * March Paramount buys the screen rights to “Abie’s Irish Rose.” * * * l* Texas exhibitors win in blue law fight when bill calling for Sunday closing is tabled by the legislature. Admission taxes on tickets up to 25 cents are eliminated in Ontario. . * * * Stanley Company of America increases its box office receipts from $9,567,682 in 1925 to $20,529,936 in 1926. * * * Fox-Case launches production on Movietone. * * * United States Attorney General Sargent to make thorough investigation of the merits of Frank J. Rembusch’s complaint against the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors of America. * * * Ray Coffin is elected president of the Wampas. * * * Harold B. Franklin leaves Publix to become president of West Coast Theatres. * * * Stage bandshows reach the refining period. Rough edges are wearing off. Middle West sets pace for bandshow productions. * * * Stanley Company of America acquires control of First National. Deal involves interests amounting to upwards of $100,000,000. * * * Paramount transfers all production to West Coast studio. * * * Admission tax and censorship bills are defeated in Oregon. Connecticut gets local option on Sunday shows. * * * Universal discards' three-division in favor of two-division sales plan. Earl Kramer in charge of Eastern and Southern division, while Henry M. Herbel heads the enlarged Western territory. * * * Trade welcomes Herald campaign for better accessories. * * * Stanley-West Coast-First National merger gives impetus to theatre buying, with Chicago the stormy petrel in the struggle for houses. * * * Paramount’s net profits for 1926 total $5,600,815. * * * Exhibitors urge distributors to use trade paper ads rather than circulars in their sales campaigns. * * * The supreme court of the United States upholds the South Carolina admission tax law. * * * The motion picture lecture course at Harvard university is opened by Joseph P. Kennedy. :Je if: ;jc “Better Theatres” presents ways and means of financing theatres. * * * Jake Wells, prominent Southern theatre owner, takes own life. * * * Eli Whitney Collins, after disposal of his theatres, resigns as president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America. R. F. Woodhull succeeds him. * * * Ned Depinet is appointed general sales manager of First National. Ned Marin is named assistant general production manager. * * * Paramount’s general offices move into the new Paramount skyscraper at the Crossroads of the World. * * * Charles Emmett Mack is killed in automobile crash. * * * April William Fox purchases the new Roxy theatre in New York. Management of the house continues under the direction of S. L. Rothafel. * % ^ Educational’s romance production, “The Vision,” wins the Hugo Riesenfeld gold medal for 1926, as the most novel short feature released during the year. * * * Five studios on Coast, those operated by Paramount, M-G-M, Warner Brothers, Fox and First National, are closed to visitors. This action is expected to save thousands of dollars weekly. * * * Will H. Hays urges a new constitutional amendment for a free screen. * * * Sidney R. Kent’s signs new five-year contract with Paramount to become effective at the termination of his present contract, which has 18 months to run. * * * The United States board of tax appeals rules that the life of a modem theatre is 33 1/3 years. It holds that 3 per cent a year is a reasonable reduction for depreciation. * * * A 10 per cent admission tax bill, sponsored by the governor of Missouri, is defeated in the legislature. A bill before the Indiana legislature to prohibit block booking is defeated. * * * Balaban & Katz has greatest year in 1926, with earnings of $1,857,701, a gain of $354,011 over 1925. * * * The name of Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, by a vote of the stockholders, is changed to Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. if: sfc Saxe Amusement Enterprises of Wisconsin affiliates with Publix. * * * William Le Baron, formerly with Paramount, takes charge of production activities for F B O. * * * John C. Eisele, treasurer of Fox Film Corporation, dies. * * * Joseph M. Schenck is elected president of United Artists, to fill the vacancy left by the death of Hiram Abrams. A1 Lichtman is elected vice president. * * * During the first four weeks of operation, the Roxy theatre in New York grossed $479,425, with the attendance totaling $567,484. * * * John J. McGuirk, president of the Stanley Company of America, is elected president of First National, succeeding Robert Lieber, who becomes chairman of the board. * * * Warner Brothers acquire full ownership of Vitaphone. * * * I > # Floods close theatres in Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi and Kentucky. Hundreds of thousands of dollars lost to industry. * * * The M. P. T. O. of Michigan bars theatre broadcasting by its members between 7 and 11 p. m. * ^ ^ Distinguished audience attends opening of “King of Kings” at the Gaiety theatre in New York. * * * Six-day measure before the Illinois legislature is defeated. * * * Earle Williams, long prominent on the screen, dies. * * * Pathe and subsidiaries have net income of $899,677 for 1926. * * * Warner Brothers reorganizes sales system. Arthur Abeles is placed in charge of the Eastern area, while Claude Ezelle is assigned to the Western territory. * * * S. L. Rothafel installs third dimension projection in the new Roxy theatre in New York. * * * The Herald issues its spring edition of “The Box Office Record and Equipment Index.” * * * May F B O production announcement appears exclusively in the Herald. * * * President Coolidge designates May 7 as flood relief day in the theatres of the country. Entire industry aids in raising funds. Many thousands of dollars raised. * * * Sol Raives is elected president of the Theatre Owners Chamber of Commerce of New York City, succeeding Charles. L.