Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1945)

EDITORIALS (Continued from Preceding Page) against the rentals obtained from independent theatre owners and the large independently owned circuits. Thus, the foregoing increase of $8,500,000 will have to be recovered through the medium of more percentage pictures played on more preferred days, and the latter will be brought about, we are informed, through the enactment of federal legislation, to be sponsored by the distributors, which will transform all Tuesdays and Thursdays into Sundays. "Seriously, the thought occurs to the writer that the formation of "Confidential Reports, Inc.' is a bold attempt by the five stockholding companies in the new corporation (Paramount, Universal, RKO, United Artists and Columbia) to obtain and exchange confidential information regarding the gross earning of their customers which will further strengthen their monopolistic hold upon them. Like all dictators and power-drunk overlords, perhaps they have gone just one step too far." It remains for Confidential Reports, Inc., if it is to enjoy the confidence of exhibitors, to make known to the trade all the facts on the manner in which it will function, and to offer theatremen concrete proof of its honorable intentions. A suggestion might be the appointment of several reputable independent exhibitor leaders to the board of directors. THOSE AWARDS! In the happy name of sentiment the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last Thursday perpetrated one of the most grave miscarriages of justice in its honored history when it awarded the "best picture" Oscar to "Going My Way'' and the "best actor" token to genial Bing Crosby. Please understand, we, too, loved Leo McCarey's delightful little yarn about the priests, and Bing has always regaled us with his agreeable insouciance — but on what score other than whimsy (and, incidentally, boxoffice) could those awards have been made in the face of contenders as formidable as Zanuck's magnificent "Wilson1' and Alexander Knox's superb performance in that epic film. Grudgingly, we admit inability to fault the choice of Ingrid Bergman, of Barry Fitzgerald, of Ethel Barrymore and of McCarey (for his original story), as well as most of the minor awards. We might as well admit at this poinr that the Academy persistently has refused to heed our suggestion that it dispense with the old balloting method and allow us to name the rightful winners each year. As long as this difference of opinion exists as to the manner of selecting the recipients of Oscars, we shall consider it a deliberate provocation of our privilege to disagree with the Academy on a maximum number of its selections! BROADWAY NEWSREEL The Midnight Curfew has caused a business drop of from 10 to 15 per cent each week at the majority of Broadway's first-run houses with more than half of this resulting from the lopping off of several late shows on Friday and Saturday night. With several of the biggest film palaces opening an hour earlier, it is expected that grosses will soon jump back to their above-normal figures, especially after the Lenten season is over. Affected least by the Curfew, due to its weekday show breaking at 11:50 instead of 12:30, is the world's largest theatre, Radio City Music Hall, which is now giving only one less stage show on Saturday. The new entry, Columbia's "Tonight and Every Night," followed six highly profitable weeks of the same company's "A Song to Remember." "Tonight" grossed $100,000 for its initial stanza but will finish its second and last week on March 21st in order to bring in Radio City's far-famed annual "Glory of Easter" stage show which will open in conjunction with the world premiere of "Without Love" and play through April... The Roxy, which reports losing $2,000 a night because the length of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" forces cutting one full show a day to make the midnight deadline, can still boast a $100,000 gross for its second week after $107,000 for the initial stanza. With Victor Borge and Joan Edwards heading the stage show, the program is now in its third strong week and is expected to run until after Easter .. .Despite the earlier closing, the combination of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the town's strongest In Person show (Lena Home, Robert Walker and Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra) gave the Capitol a nearrecord gross of $85,000 for its initial week and long waiting lines are still in evidence most of the day during the hold-over stanza. The program is now in its third week and will be followed early in April by David O. Selznick's "I'll Be Seeing You." Warners believes that only the Midnight Curfew prevented "Hotel Berlin" from setting a new house record in its first week-end at the Strand, the business being just a few dollars under the theatre's all-time high. With Peter Lorre and Carmen Cavallaro heading the stage show, business remained excellent for the second week and a third started on March 16th... The Paramount, which has been forced to cut two stage shows and seven film showings during the week, still went to an $80,000 gross for the first week of "Bring On the Girls" and Ella Fitzgerald and The Ink Spots heading an all-colored bill. Picture is now in its third profitable week and will be followed by "Practically Yours" late this month ...For the first time in its history, Loew's State is holding a picture for a third week, this being "Meet Me in St. Louis" which had already played ten weeks first-run across Broadway at the Astor. . .With this, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Keep Your Powder Dry" at the Criterion and "Nothing But Trouble" at the Rialto, M-G-M had four pictures in the Times Square district although the two last named have not been breaking records. The Lana Turner film had a good opening week and is holding for a second but the Laurel & Hardy feature was under-average at the Rialto where the patronage has been used to all-ni.^ht showings of horror pictures and the gross has been badly nicked since February 25. Best of the pictures at the straight-film houses is "Murder, My Sweet," which got off to a fast start and is now in the second week of an expected long run at the Palace, where "Woman in the Window" was a six-week stayer... Two other RKO-Radio releases, "The Princess and the Pirate," which has smashed every existing record during its first five weeks at the Astor, and "The Three Caballeros," which has shattered the Globe's house record and is now in its seventh week, are continuing indefinite runs... "Mr. Emmanuel," which has set a new long-run record at the Gotham, is now in its eleventh week there and it will continue until another British-made U. A. release, "Colonel Blimp," opens with a benefit premiere on March 29th. . .Warners' "The Corn Is Green" will open on the same day at the Hollywood following a not-too-profitable eight week run for "Roughly Speaking".. .Another late March opening will be "The Affairs of Susan," Hal Wallis' initial Paramount release which will come to the Rivoli following the popular price return engagement ■of "The Song of Bernadette". . .Another 20th Century-Fox film, "Thunderhead. Son of Flicka," opened at the Victoria this week after "The Fighting Lady" chilked up a highly successful run of seven weeks and one day. FILM BULLETIN