Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1938)

4 %depetukftt IXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN NEW YORK TIP-OFF Pleasure-seeking football crowds and the continued Indian summer weather both helped to swell the usual large week-end take at the Broadway first-run box office windows. Lobby hold-outs were noticed the last two Saturday nights at the Roxy, Paramount and Strand Theatres, the youngsters and their best girls seeming to favor these houses because of the added value of stage shows. Business at the Radio City Music Hall perked up last week with "The Young in Heart" after several mediocre weeks at the giant Sixth Avenue theatre. . . . JACKIE COOPER and ANNE SHIRLEY, two of the younger stars, are doubling in film on Broadway at present with Jackie in "That Certain Age" and "Gangster's Boy" and Miss Shirley featured in "A Man to Remember" and "Girls' School." . . . "Titans of the Deep," first of Grand National's 1938-39 releases to play the Main Stem, opens at the Criterion on November 10th. W. RAY JOHNSTON, Monogram president, has returned to the home office after a three months' stay in Hollywood overseeing production. Johnston announced that he expects to spend more than half of his time at the studio in the future. SCOTT DUNLAP, the company's production chief, is also in New York and both will confer with WILLIAM J. GELL, managing director of Pathe Pictures Ltd., of London, and ARTHUR LEVY, Monogram's British representative, regarding a possible production deal to make four Monogram features in England. . . . E. W. Hammons, president of Grand National, has returned from England where he conferred with British producers regarding release of the GN product in Great Britain. . . . S. BARRET McCORMICK, RKO's advertising and publicity head, planed in from the West Coast after a two weeks' absence from the home office. . . . G. F. RACKETT, vice-president and manager of Technicolor, and MORGAN HOBART, New York manager, are back at their Radio City offices after watching DR. KALMUS, president of the color firm, receive the SMPE Progress Award medal at the organization's semi-annual banquet in Detroit. H. N. RICHEY, who recently resigned as director of public relations for the Co-operative Theatres of Michigan, has been appointeed Director of Exhibitor Relations for RKO-Radio and will headquarter in the company's home office here. . . . JOSEPH A. McCONVILLE, in charge of Columbia's home office foreign department, will also head the company's new department for the distribution of European films in the U. S. The company will take over the product heretofore announced for national distribution by B. S. MOSS and PAUL GRAETZ. McConville and JACK COHN, Columbia's vice-president, sailed for Europe on Friday. . . . DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR. and GARY COOPER were on the same boat but several other Hollywood stars, including PAT O'BRIEN, EDDIE CANTOR, HERBERT MARSHALL and LUISE RAINER, are remaining in New York to catch Broadway premieres. LOUIS NIZER, prominent film attorney who delivered a talk on Motion Picture Law at Washington Square College last week, was extremely helpful in arranging the marital reconciliation between Miss Rainer and his client, CLIFFORD ODETS. There's the right kind of a lawyer! . . . CLIFFORD W. SMITH, with ERPI since 1929, will become the outfit's West Coast general manager and will leave for Hollywood late this month. E. .S GREGG replaces him as general foreign manager. . . . DUDLEY MURPHY completed ". . . one third MR. GOLDEN— Editorial (Continued from front page) 20% more product to lake care of that cancellation and will be much worse off than he is now. More cancellation means giving affiliated theatres more right to buy those pictures which an individual exhibitor has the right to cancel out. There is a solution. It lies in the elimination of all harmful practices which have taken root while the industry was developing. The elimination of block booking and the divorcement of theatres from distribution will restore a sound balance and attempts to improve conditions by anything less than these two measures is certain to prove ineffective. If an honest effort is made to put these recommendations into effect, a dependable solution to our problems will be found and all interests in our industry would benefit. Production would be improved, exhibition would gain considerably and the independent exhibitor would be much belter off. The leaders of our industry are sincere in their anxiety to solve our problems. I believe implicitly that our government is sincerely trying to assist our industry in this attempt, and I would like to make the following recommendation to the government as well as to the leaders of our industry. Let us all agree to the selection of a representative state in the union to be used as a testing ground for pictures to be exhibited with block booking eliminated and theatre operation divorced from distribution for a definite period of time. In the results, I believe, our answer will be found. of a nation . . ." at the Astoria Studio here under schedule time and at less than the appropriated budget cost — a record for eastern production. ... At the same studio, WILLIAM K. HOWARD'S feature starring STUART ERWIN and WALLACE FORD has been re-titled "Frankie." . . . Monogram's "Under the Big Top" was given the ill-fitting title of "Dark Crime" by the management of the Central Theatre on Broadway but retained its original handle for the current engagement at the Fox Brooklyn Theatre. . . . Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. reports a net profit of over $200,000 for the quarter ended Sept. 30th and 20th-Fox also reports a consolidated net operating profit of $4,622,000 for the 39 weeks ended Sept. 24th. INDEPENDENT EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN, an Independent Motion Picture Trade Paper published by Film Bulletin Company. Issued bi-weekly on Saturday. Mo Wax, Editor and Publisher. NEW YORK OFFICE: 117 West 48th Street; LOngacre 3-5916. Harry N. Blair, Advertising Manager; Frank Leyendecker, Staff Representative. PUBLICATION-EDITORIAL OFFICES: 1239 Vine Street, Philadelphia, Pa.; RITtenhouse 7424. M. R. Barbour, Business Manager. WEST COAST OFFICE: 1949 North Taft Avenue, Hollywood, California; GRAnite 1891; David J. Hanna, West Coast Editor. BOSTON OFFICE: 28 Fayette; Rudolph Bruce. Subscription rates: ONE YEAR, $3.00 in the United States; Canada $4.00; Europe $5.00. TWO YEARS, $5.00 in the United States; Canada $7.50; Europe $9.00.