Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

November 15. 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 29 PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 13. BROADWAY went on a rampage this week and leaped the Hudson and Delaware rivers to settle down at Ninth and Chestnut streets in the Quaker City for the annual confab of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America. % % % The place was the Benjamin Franklin Hotel and there wasn't one complaint on service. Even the house sleuths were regular. Off-the-record honors went to Oscar Hanson, Al Selig and Joe Rivkin of Tiffany, the triumvirate which last week staged one of the film industry's greatest parties in New York. Do they know their parties? Ask a couple of hundred exhibitors, him salesmen and press representatives. sfc *£ ^ The Benjamin Franklin could have used a dozen more elevators Monday night. M. A. Lightman's dance on the mezzanine and Hanson's twelfth floor rendezvous kept the "lift" boys busy. They automatically stopped at two floors. One of the prise jokes of the convention was told by Arthur Hirsch and corroborated by Jack Miller. It concerned Al Capone, who, it seems, has projection caitipment in his Chicago hotel suite. Here a few days ago, according to this story, one of his men went to Paramount for a picture. "What picture do you want?" asked the booker or whoever was handling it. "Manslaughter," replied Al's right bower. * * * For no good reason — or maybe there was — people this country over have had the wrong slant on Major General Smedley Butler of the Marines. He probably analyzed it in his own words when he said at the convention banquet that these opinions all develooed "while I was a cop" in Philadelphia, referring to the period during which he was brought here to "clean up" the town. Between five and six hundred men and women found at the banquet that they had him wrong. After hearing him talk and after meeting him one can readily understand why he is a Major General in Uncle Sam's Marines. % ^c 5^ May we say the following in the true spirit of friendship and as a tribute to a man who deserves it: M. A. Lightman is one of the £nest personalities in the motion picture business. Cooperating with him in directing the national organization is a man who is held in the highest respect by the producer, the distributor, the affiliated and the unaffiliated exhibitor, and that man is M. E. — and though we are his junior we would rather call him Mike Comerford. * * * The esteem in which Mike Comerford is held in official and civic life can be compared only to the esteem in which a person holds his father. The convention this week has been a tribute to him. * * * Southern hospitality will make itself apparent on November 30 and December 1 at the Peabody Hotel, Memphis, when the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee meet. Jeff Norman will be in charge of all convention arrangements. See Jeff. ^ % ^ Gar O'Neill of Pathe, does not realize the trouble he caused the trade press. Everybody stopping at the Benjamin Franklin outside of the industry, that is — wanted a set of his beautiful prints on Pathe star photographs, and for some reason all these people came to the trade press. It is an even bet that Gar's prints got the widest circulation of any accessories in the hall. National Theatre Supply, National Carbon, Heywood-Wakefield, and Jimmy Cameron headquartered on the fifteenth floor. Popular hosts here were Ben Blumberger and Gordon L. Smith of National Theatre, Bill Kunzmann, George H. Mayer and Frank Hohmeister of National Carbon, Donald McRae of Peerless Lamps, and L. H. Francis of HeywoodWakefield. * * * Trailers played their important role in enlivening the convention. Pat Garyn was kingpin in the National Screen Service booth, with every registrant zvearing his fresh carnation each day, a walking delegate for Advance Trailer. Morton Van Praag of Advance had a charming dispenser of red and white flozuers at each session with the banquet thrown in. * % H* It was our pleasure to meet again William Smale of American Seating, with whom we spent many pleasant hours a year ago at Memphis. We learned for the first time that Bill was one of the survivors of the North Shore wreck in Chicago and for several months had lain at death's door. * * * This convention brought new faces into the National Exhibitor Organization. Among these were R. X. Williams, Jr., of Oxford, Mississippi, secretary of the Tri-State Theatre men ; R. E. Christiansen of the LaSalle theatre, Chicago and Van Hyning of Kaysee — MGM's Warning KEEP Within the Law! Compliments o/ MLT70-GoMu-vn-Mavi7 Keep if for extra playing time. It's Joan Crawford's newest Big One! Xcralb ^aS3£*arribune and not to forget Ed Kuykendahl, who has many pronounced opinions on the problems of the small town exhibitor. * * * In stating this convention brought new faces into the exhibitor organization, we neglected the name of T. Harold Cohen, one of Mike Comerford's most promising young men. He was a member of the important Pennsylvania delegation which included two men without whom no convictions would be complete — Bill and Jerry Cadoret. * * * "We'll always have politics in our business :" — Comerford. * * % Every one knew that once you got Frank Walker on his feet he could talk, but it was not until after his remarks at the opening session that the reason for his splendid oratory was disclosed. He is an attorney. * * % The dance Monday night and the banquet and dance Tuesday night were made more pleasant by the presence of three charming women — Mrs. Lightman, Mrs. Biechele and Mrs. Oscar Hanson, the latter coming over from New York to be present Monday night at Oscar's glorious party. * * * No one was busier during the convention than Jay Emanuel, whose duty it was to see that the clockworks ran smoothly. Ably assisting him was Paul Greenhalgh. * ♦ * "Europe wants pictures made in American." — Comerford. * * * Irving Lesser of General Talking Pictures was called on Wednesday at the open forum with the suggestion made that he tell why he had come to the convention. He said : "I have been asked to tell why I came to the convention. I'll tell you. I came over to have a good time and I have not been disappointed." Kansas and Western Missouri set their own little record with all presidents of the organization since its inception, barring one, in attendance. Dick Liggett, Morton Van Praag, Dick Biechele and E. Van Hyning comprised this unusual aggregation. * * * It would have been a pleasure to have had Jack Miller at the open forum but unfortunately it was necessarv for him to rush out Tuesday afternoon so that he might be in Chicago Wednesday when 30 fire ordinance cases were on the docket. •m * * Walter Eberhardt, who forgets business care for the next few weeks so that he may get the lowdown on Rome, Paris, and London, was an interested spectator Tuesday when a resolution complaining of Western Electric's service and part charges was offered. It looked like fireworks for a while, with Jack Miller and Willard Patterson supplying the powder, but Walter Vincent saved the day by offering the suggestion that R C A be included in the resolution.