Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1928)

March 3, 1928 EXHIBITORS HERALD and MOVING PICTURE WORLD 21 Fox Deal for Stanley Control Reported to be Well Under WayWould Merge 635 Houses; Mean Domination of F-N Sunday Campaign In "Better Theatres" Publication of the complete campaign of Youngclaus & Latta, which resulted in a victory for Sunday shows at Perry, Iowa, must be foregone for one week because of the necessarily large amount of space which is required in this issue for the printing of the new Standard Exhibition Contract and the Rules of Arbitration, which appear on Pages 16 to 19, inclusive. The Sunday show campaign positively will be printed in full in the next issue of Better Theatres, which will appear as Section II of the March 17 issue. FBOto Distribute Series of Tom Mix Argentine Pictures (Special to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World) NEW YORK, Feb. 2S. — F B O has acquired distribution of a series of productions to be made starring Tom Mix, according to announcements from Joseph P. Kennedy, president of FBO, who has just completed negotiations with Fred Kley and James S. Douglass, trustees of the Hollywood-Argentine Cinema company. The series, said to be planned on a more lavish scale than former Mix pictures, will be filmed in the Argentine against scenery never before used in motion pictures. The entire company, including the star, director, players and technical staff will leave for the Argentine the first of June, following a 10 weeks' tour of the Orpheum circuit. Headquarters of the company will be established in Buenos Aires. Tom Mix Three Bandits Rob Manager of $127 . (Special to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World) GLOUCESTER, N. J., Feb. 28.— A. D. Koeneman, manager of the Apollo and Leader theatres, was held up by three men and robbed of $127, part of one night's receipts, as he was turning it over to Philip Kalikman, one of the owners of the theatres, in the latter's store. The bandits have not been captured. Named Branch Manager (Special to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World) NEW YORK, Feb. 28.— Phil E. Meyers has been appointed branch manager of the Tiffany Stahl New York exchange, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dave Brill. Botsford Calls Paramount-Fox Deal as Likely as King George Love-Feast with Kaiser (Special to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World) NEW YORK, Feb. 28. — Long and intricate negotiations between the Fox Film Corporation and the Stanley Company of America apparently are coming to a head. Unless unforeseen developments suddenly force a change in plans, the Fox interests will take over the 270 theatres owned and controlled by Stanley as an addition to its imposing string already stretching from Coast to Coast. Will Control First National A highly significant feature of the deal will be the fact that with control of Stanley, Fox also will gain control of First National. No verification could be had from the offices of the companies involved, for obvious reasons. At the same time there were no official denials. A. M. Botsford, of Publix Theatres, denied vigorously recent rumors that an amalgamation or agreement was being reached between Paramount and Fox. Such an arrangement, he said, was about as likely as a love feast between King George and the Kaiser. Botsford said the rumors might be traced to the expected acquisition of Finkelstein & Ruben by Fox, inasmuch as F. & R. is a partner of Publix in some Western cities. Some crystal-gazers probably saw the prospect of close harmony between Paramount and Fox. The Fox and Stanley deal would set at rest the generally accepted report that Fox and the Stanley Company of America were engaged in a race for control of First National. With papers reported to be practically ready for acquisition of the Finkelstein & Ruben chain in the Northwest by William Fox, it had been thought that the control of First National would go to either Fox or Stanley, according to which would be first to buy up the few individual shares which held the balance of power. Now, if the Fox-Stanley deal goes through, William Fox will control First National by the direct route of gaining the 25 per cent which Stanley is supposed to hold in F-N. Fox gained 28 per cent by the Wesco deal. Thus the two deals would assure Fox of control, regardless of the F&R shares. If all of Fox's recent plans reach maturity, and the opinion seems to be unanimous that they will, a new force of tremendous power will have arisen in the industry. It is noted also that a number of changes now are being effected in the Stanley organization, bringing in new blood. The Fox-Stanley deal would make William Fox the outstanding figure in theatre ownership, in the opinion of Wall Street leaders, not even second to Paramount or Loew's. The theatres under Fox control are said to total 365 through the acquisition of Wesco and affiliated chains a month aeo, which brought 250 houses into the fold. Stanley theatre holdings are estimated at 270, making a total of 635 houses. William Fox in South William Fox was in the South and his visits to Atlanta, Augusta, Ga., and New Orleans have given rise to reports that he is planning additional theatres there. During his absence, other Fox officials would contribute no information regarding the negotiations with Stanley, but one trustworthy source declared that "some negotiations have been made in respect to Fox's acquisition of Stanley, al though nothing definite has been arranged." Wall Street says the holdings that would be merged by the deal would total $300,000,000, one-third of which was brought in by the Wesco transaction. Holding Company Seen Reports also are current to the effect that a holding company will be organized to take over the operation of the Stanley houses and those of the Fox Theatres Corporation in the event the merger goes through. Fox would have both the Fox Film Corporation and First National as producing organizations for its theatres. A number of construction projects are said to have been held up by both Fox and Stanley pending the outcome of the negotiations. The merger would give Fox theatre holdings in a hundred cities in ten to fifteen states, irrespective of the extensive projects already begun in several parts of the country. Fabian Succeeds Boyd As Stanley Vice-President (Special to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World) PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 28. — Foremost among changes made as part of a plan to reorganize the personnel of the Stanley Company of America, announced at a meeting of the board of directors Friday, was the stepping out of Alexander H. Boyd as vicepresident and director of the company in favor of Simon H. Fabian, of the Fabian chain of theatres in Jersey, which was acquired by the Stanley Company a year or more ago. Frank W. Buhler, managing director of the company, Louis Sablosky, at one time treasurer, Alfred W. Fleisher, real estate dealer and former partner of the late Jules E. Mastbaum, and Morris Wolf were dropped from the directorate of the board and were succeeded by Louis J. Kolb, Philadelphia capitalist; E. C. Jameson, president of the Globe & Rutgers Insurance Co. ; Lessing J. Rosenwald, vice-president of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Mrs. Jules E. Mastbaum. The (Continued on page 30)