Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

April 26, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 15 Trade Practice Codes Facing Attack by Federal Commission Change in Policy Threatened After Lashing from Congress Conferences Merely “ Amos and Andy Meetings ” Says Texan , Charging Board with “Organizing Monopolies’* By FRANCIS L. BURT WASHINGTON, April 22. — Radical changes in the attitude of the Federal Trade Commission toward the so-called codes of trade practice ethics adopted by various industries are expected to be announced soon. Approval of a number of these trade practice agreements is likely to be withdrawn by the commission, which is understood to have been advised that the rules are contrary to the Sherman law. Retail Merchants Of Ohio Check on Sunday Show Cities ( Special to the Herald-World) COLUMBUS, OHIO, April 22. — Because of the great interest being shown by merchants in the smaller cities and towns in Ohio on the matter of Sunday moving picture performances, George V. Sheridan, executive director of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, has prepared a list of cities and towns in which Sunday shows are permitted. The list is constantly enlarging and merchants generally favor the Sunday theatre as it boosts' their communities as trading centers. Following are Ohio cities where Sunday shows now are operating: Amsterdam, Akron, Andover, Ashtabula, Barberton, Bainbridge, Baltimore, Bucyrus, Bedford, Cleveland, Chagrin Falls, Crestline, Cincinnati, Clarksville, Cuyahoga Tails, Carey. Celina, Columbus. Cantan, Conneaut, Circleville, Dayton, Delta, Deshler, Delphos, Elyria, Fairport Harbor, Fremont, Findlay, Fort Recovery. Franklin. Gibsonburg, Galion. Girard, Germantown, Grafton, Greenfield, Georgetown; Hebron, Hillsboro, Hamilton, Hamler, Jefferson, Kent, Kenmore, Lorain, Lodi, Lancaster, Logan, Lima, Lowellsville, London, Lyons Lynch bur^ Mansfield, Middletown, Marion, Massillon, Minster, Medina, Miamisburg, Mt. Orab, Newark, N. Baltimore, Newton Falls, Norwalk, Nevada, New London, Napoleon, Niles, New Washington, Ottawa, Oak Harbor, Perrysburg, Portsmouth, Port Clinton, Ravenna, Rossford, Sandusky, Shelby, Swanton, Sabina, Sherwood. Sylvania, Somerset, Tiffin, Upper Sandusky, Urbana, Wauseon, Westerville, Wadsworth, Willard, Wilmington, Warren, Washington Court House, Youngstown, Zanesville, Van Wert, Sidney, Dover, Coshocton, Mt. Vernon, Kenton and Bellevue. $3, 000, 000 House For Albany; RKO Leases Long Term (Special to the Herald-World ) ALBANY, April 22. — This city is to have a new 3,500 seat theatre costing approximately $3,000,000. Negotiations, which have extended over a period of several weeks, were concluded last week when Simeon Fabian, well known theatrical magnate of Paterson, N. J., came to Albany and closed the deal. The house will be leased to RKO for a long period of years and will serve to replace the old structure formerly owned by Proctor and which will probably continue to be run as a theatre. Bandits Take Him Back For Keys; Lose Nerve (Special to the Herald-World) MARSHALL, MO., April 22.— On the night of April 16, H. L. Gollidav, manager of the Auditorium theatre, was forced to enter a car and go along with two masked men, who attempted to force him to give over the receipts from the night’s show. Golliday had gone to his room and was about to retire when the honking of a car called him out to the front of the house and the two men commanded him to enter the car. He told them that he would have to go back into his room to get the keys to the theatre. The men drove around with him, apparently debating what to do, and finally let him return to his room with the provision that he would get the keys and stand on the corner fifteen minutes later. That was the last Golliday saw of the men. Rumors of possible changes in the commission’s policy have been in circulation for some time, and it is known that the matter has received serious consideration by members of the commission. Basis has been given the suggestion by recent intimations that the rules drawn up by an important industry and submitted to the commission for approval were dismissed as unsatisfactory. Commission’s Counsel Busy Officials of the commission refuse to comment on the situation, but it is known that the comission’s counsel has given the matter considerable thought. In view of attacks recently made upon the trade practice conference work in Congress, it is probable that the commission will attempt to minimize the importance of its change in attitude by calling into conference industries whose rules are to be rejected in order that they may “amend” their codes so as to eliminate all provisions which might be violative of the law. It is intimated in Washington that hardly any of the trade practice rules which have been drawn up by industries are fully in accord with the anti-trust laws, and it may be that the commission, in an effort to make perfectly plain its attitude toward those laws, will issue a statement revoking its approval of a number of codes, but to do this would lay the commission open to bitter attack from its enemies in Congress. “Amos and Andy Meetings” The whole matter of trade practice conferences was laid before the house of representatives recently by Congressman Wright Patman (Dem.) of Texas, who characterized them as “Amos and Andy meetings” and asserted that “the members of an industry do not care anything about the Federal Trade Commission ; all they want is to get the stamp of approval of that commission.” Congress, he asserted, has three times refused to give its annroval to the wo^k which the commission is doing, once when the origi nal bill creating the commission was under consideration in 1914, again in 1922 and still again in 1929. “Notwithstanding these repeated refusals of the duly elected representatives of the people of the United States to authorize the holding of trade practice conferences,” Representative Patman declared, “the Federal Trade Commission, without authority of law, is now holding and, if not prevented, will continue to hold trade practice conferences for every industry that can organize itself to the extent that a sufficient volume can be controlled to create a monopoly. “Never in the history of our country before has a Government board so grossly and flagrantly abused the power intrusted to it. It is organizing trusts and monopolies when its duties are to destroy trusts and monopolies.” New Orleans Houses Do Good Business During Lent; Slack in Albany ( Special to the Herald-World) NEW ORLEANS, April 22.— Lent just closed had no apparent effect on the theatrical business as whole in this city, all houses reporting a satisfactory business ; both vaudeville and film. Good Friday was no exception to the rule, though several of the neighborhood houses closed-out in respect for the religious holiday. Lenten Slack at Albany ALBANY, N. Y., April 22.— Without any of the exhibitors doing anything to stimulate business, last week proved the worst in several months at the motion picture theatres of the city in both first and second run houses. Many of the pictures shown were of the low calibre, and this together with the fact that it was Holy Week placed more than one house in the red. Paramount 1st Quarter Net 86 Per Cent Above 1929 Mark; $4f800f000 Is Estimate (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, April 22. — Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation estimates its consolidated net profits for the first quarter of 1930, including earnings of subsidiary companies and after all charges and taxes, to be $4,800,000. This amounts to $1.79 per share on 2,685,313 shares, which is number of shares outstanding at the end of the quarter. The profit for the first quarter of 1930, as estimated, is approximately 86 per cent greater than the profit for the corresponding quarter of 1929, the previous record first quarter in the history of the company. The profit per share of $1.79 on 2,685,313 shares compares with a profit of $1.17 on 2.206,505 shares for the corresponding quarter of 1929, or an increase per share of 53 per cent.