Exhibitors Herald (1927)

December 24, 1927 EXHIBITORS HERALD 47 O’Reilly who had served in that capacity for four consecutive terms. % % Jjc John McCormick resigns as general manager of production at First National’s West Coast studio. jJ: H1 sji Einar Hanson, motion picture actor, is killed in automobile accident. * * * West Coast Theatres takes over 300 houses in a $2,500,000 deal with Publix and North American Theatre Corporation. * * * Educational moves its general offices to the Paramount building in New York. £ * * Paramount closes deal for the entire output of Christies. * * * Universal adopts 24 sheet suggested in “The Theatre” department of the Herald by Exhibitors Digney and Carey. ❖ * * Jesse L. Lasky issues ultimatum to stars and directors, warning them that they must deliver or get out. Sidney R. Kent announces at sales convention that only through economy within organizations can the maximum return of earnings be attained. # * * Motion Picture Theatre Owners of the Northwest vote to launch a school for projection. A1 Steffes is re-elected president. * * * Dan Michalove is appointed general manager of Universal Chain Theatrical Enterprises. ifc H4 sj« John Hammell is appointed new Middle Wesl division manager by Paramount, succeeding Phil Reisman. * =t= * “Better Theatres” survey discloses that the idea that theatres must close in the summer has been exploded. Campaign is on to make the summer profitable. * * * Pathe-P.D.C.-Keith-DeMille merger is approved by Pathe stockholders. Plan is under way to recapitalize and expand. * * * Ben Berenstein is re-elected president of the M. P. T. O. of Southern California. * * * First Annual Motion Picture Golf Tournament is held on the West Coast under the auspices of the Herald. George Marshall wins Herald Cup. * * * The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is launched by studio people with Douglas Fairbanks as president. * * * Anton T. Kliegel, inventor of stage and studio electrical devices, dies. ❖ sjc sfc Producers and theatres vie for the services of Col. Charles A. Lindbergh following his successful hop across the Atlantic. * * * Sid Grauman opens his new Chinese theatre in Hollywood. ❖ ❖ ❖ Publix Theatre Managers School graduates 21 in third class. H« % jjj _ Jesse J. Goldburg announces the formation of First Division Distributors, Inc., an independent releasing organization. • * * * Tiffany acquires a new third dimension camera with which to produce many of its features. June The United States supreme court rules that the Federal Trade Commission exceeded its authority in ordering the Eastman Kodak Company to dispose of three laboratories acquired by the company. ❖ ❖ ❖ Fred Wehrenberg is elected president of the M. P. T. O. of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois. Arthur H. Lockwood is elected president of the M. P. T. O. of Connecticut. R. R. Biechele is re-elected * * * Secretaries of the Film Boards of Trade hold their first convention at French Lick Springs, Ind. ❖ ❖ The Herald celebrates its twelfth anniversary of service to the motion picture industry. ❖ ❖ ❖ R. F. Woodhull is re-elected president of the M. P. T. O. A. Vote to admit producers-owned theatres ends long fight. Reports have Judge Ben Lindsey as probable choice to head theatre men. 5*S J. J. Murdock is elected president of Pathe ; Elmer R. Pearson, first vice president ; and John C. Flinn, second vice president. Phil Reisman becomes sales manager. * * * C. E. “Doc” Holah, prominent in sales and promotion, dies in Los Angeles. * * * James R. Grainger signs new five year contract to direct sales for Fox. * * * Clara Bow and Norma Shearer tie in popularity vote among readers of the Herald’s “What the Picture Did for Me.” ^ ^ ^ JuIy Jesse L. Lasky announces that all studio salaries in excess of $50 a week will be cut from 10 to 25 per cent. Other studios also plan pay reductions. Actors Equity becomes active at studios. Following conferences reduction is delayed to August 1. * ❖ ❖ Joseph M. Seider is elected president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of New Jersey. H. A. Cole is re-elected for his fifth term as president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Texas. South Carolina exhibitors organization theatre association with George Parr of Lancaster as president. North Carolina exhibitors rejoin the national organization. ^ jj: Watterson R. Rothacker is elected vice president of First National Productions Corporation and is appointed managing director in charge of all activities at the Burbank studio. ❖ ❖ ❖ Motion Picture Club of New York becomes a reality with the filing of an application for a charter by Nathan Burkan. * * * Exchanges grant moratorium on debts to exhibitors in the flooded districts of the Mississippi valley. Hi ❖ ❖ Publix forms bandshow circuit with Chicago as the base of operations. H< * * Jack S. Connolly resigns from the Hays organization to join Fox. Burt New succeeds him at the Washington office of the M. P. P. D. A. ❖ ❖ ❖ United Artists purchases half interest in Rivoli and Rialto, Paramount houses, in New York. Company gets booking in more than 400 Paramount theatres. * * * E. E. Fulton Company is reorganized. Nation-wide chain of equipment houses is formed. * ❖ ❖ Federal Trade Commission, after hearings lasting five years, rules against Paramount, its decision prohibiting block booking, acquisition of theatres for the purpose of intimidation and conspiracy to lessen competition. ❖ ❖ ❖ Michael I. Clofine is named editor-inchief of M-G-M News. H» *!' H' Mrs. Fanny E. Mastbaum, mother of the late Jules E. Mastbaum, dies. H: ❖ ❖ Stanley Company of America is building 13 theatres to cost $15,000,000. Twenty houses acquired this year bringing the total number to 231. * * Scrimaphone, the creation of Albert Brown, organist of Marks Brothers theatres, Chicago, is introduced as new form of presentation. Hi * * Five thousand players are now working in presentation, Herald survey reveals. Two hundred theatres have adopted the stageshow policy. ❖ H» ❖ Canon William Sheafe Chase, blue nose leader, attacks President Coolidge and asks film quiz for federal control of pictures. He also urges the dissolution of the Hays organization. * * * Differences between John McCormick and Colleen Moore and First National are settled. * * * Pictures with a predominance of comedy prove popular during summer months, Herald survey discloses. Hi ❖ ❖ Actors Equity drops “closed shop plan in Hollywood. ❖ ❖ * War on booking combines hit at B & K and Saenger circuits. Circuits told by distributors to limit bookings to own houses. * * * August Studio pay cut is definitely dropped. All branches vote harmony as new plan is evolved for ecomony in production. * * * Twenty producers pledge Will H. Hays to take objectionable features from pictures. H« ❖ ❖ Distributors endeavor to establish a 15-cent minimum for admissions. * * * June Mathias, noted scenarist, dies in New York. s»s ❖ ❖ J. E. McAuley, of J. E. McAuley Manufacturing Company of Chicago, is elected president of the Equipment Association. H: H^ H= More protection is demanded by big exhibiting interests. Hs H* * “Buyers’ strike,” so apparent at beginning of the season, is diminishing, Herald survey reveals. * * * Will H. Hays protests foreign barriers against American pictures. ❖ ❖ ❖ A. Entwisle is elected president of the Independent Theatre Owners’ Association of Alberta. ❖ * * Southern writer contends that New York ownership of theatres robs man( Continued on page 49)