The Film Daily (1937)

THE Wednesday, June 9, 1937 DAILY n inNEW'S ADDRESS TO LAUNCH PARA/S MEET (Continued from Page 1) company's studios in special cars where they will be greeted by company executives. Following the official welcome message, the entire staff will meet at the company's studio where several productions, already completed, will be screened. The company's convention schedule follows: Tomorrow: Welcoming address by Neil F. Agnew, vice president in charge of distribution, at 9:30 a.m. at the Ambassador Hotel. J. J. Unger, eastern division manager, will discuss the 100 Per Cent Club. Charles Reagan, western division manager, will present the winning district and branch managers and salesmen with the awards they won in the recent Adolph Zukor Silver Jubilee sales drive. George Weltner will address the foreign delegates after which there will be a recess for lunch. The afternoon session, starting at 2:30 p.m. will be devoted to talks by Louis Phillips of the legal department; Lou Diamond, head of short subject sales, and A. J. Richards, editor of the Paramount Newsreel. In the evening, the conventioneers will attend a special screening at 8 p.m. Friday: Adolph Zukor will offer the opening address for the production department and will introduce William LeBaron, A. M. Botsford and Russell Holman. Following luncheon, Neil F. Agnew will review the company's new product and general sales policy for 1937-38. R. M. Gillham, director of advertising and publicity, will talk on advertising as will Alec Moss and A. 0. Dillenbeck, of the Buchanan Company. Don Velde, head of ad sales, will talk on ad sales. In the evening additional screenings of new product will be held at the studio. Saturday morning will be devoted to separate meetings with district and branch managers only. Following lunch at the studio, delegates will be given a preview of all studio activity. In the evening the conventioneers will meet at the studio for a buffet dinner which will be attended by all Paramount stars. Diamond Joins Proser Monte Proser announces the association of Jack Diamond in his New York and Hollywood publicity enterprises, commencing June 15. Diamond, formerly a feature writer with the Chicago Daily News and more recently United Press columnist in New York, has just returned fiy?«a a trip around the world. 0 Thief" to Play Rialto "When Thief Meets Thief," a Criterion Films production starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and directed by Raoul Walsh, will have its U. S. premiere at the Rialto Theater next Monday. a ntmr (n»» "Mo ft By RALPH WILK HOLLYWOOD yiRGINIA BRUCE has been borrowed by 20th Century-Fox from M-G-M for a stellar role in "Wife, Doctor and Nurse." Warner Baxter, who recently completed "Slave Ship," and Loretta Young have the other two star roles. Barbara Stanwyck originally had been scheduled for the cast, but conflicting dates between the start of production of "Wife, Doctor and Nurse" and the completion of another picture which she is making elsewhere made it necessary for her to withdraw from the role. Walter Lang will direct the picture, based upon an original story by Kathryn Scola and Darrell Ware. T T T Victor Schertzinger, Grand National producer-director, has engaged Archie Gottler in an advisor capacity for the James Cagney musical, "Something to Sing About," which starts June 14. Gottler, formerly a director at Columbia, has spent the last year in England as supervisor for Gaumont British on the Jessie Matthews features. t ▼ T Samuel Goldwyn, has purchased the film rights to "Sweet Land of Liberty" for a musical picture to be built around the WPA's Federal Theater Project. Story is by George Bradshaw, magazine writer, and Joseph Bigelow, newspaper man. Casting assignments: Paramount — Bing Crosby, Franciska Gaal, Edward Everett Horton, Ben Blue, "And Then Came Spring"; Betty Grable, John Howard, '"College Swing"; Warners — Beverly Roberts, "Expensive Husbands"; Dorothy Tree, Chester Clute, "The Great Garrick"; 20th-Fox — Ann Sothern, "Danger — Love at Work." Henry Fonda, Walter Wanger star will return to the Broadway stage under the Arthur Hopkins aegis. Fonda will play the lead in "Blqw Ye Winds," a new drama by Valentine Davies. Rehearsals are scheduled to begin Aug. 15. A F OF M TO TAKE UP SYNCHRONIZATION BAN News o' the day: M-G-M has retitled "General Hospital" as "Between Two Women" . . . Hal Roach has signed Patsy Kelly and Lyda Roberti to new pacts . . . RKO has signed Charley Chase as special assistant to Pandro S. Berman on Fred Astaire's solo pix . . . Sam Goldwyn has assigned Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell to do special dialogue for "The Goldwyn Follies" . . . RKO has signed Jack Carson, stage actor . . . M-G-M has acquired rights to "Hell on Wheels", by Thornton Martin ... 65 p. c. of all scenes in Columbia pix now before cameras are being filmed in the open. Warners Set Six Features For Release During July Warners will release six features during July, Gradwell L. Sears, the company's vice-president and general sales manager, said yesterday. Two of the releases, "Ever Since Eve" and "The Singing Marine," are "specials." The six are: "The Singing Marine" (WB) starring Dick Powell with Doris Weston (July 3); "Public Wedding" (WB) with Jane Wyman and William Hopper (July 10); "Empty Holsters" (FN) with Dick Foran and Patricia Walthall (July 10); "Ever Since Eve" (FN-Cosmo) costarring Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery (July 17); "Talent Scout" (FN) with Donald Woods, Jeanne Madden, Fred Lawrence, and Rosalind Marquis (July 24); and "Marry the Girl" (WB) with Mary Boland, Frank McHugh and Hugh Herbert (July 31). Crown Corp. Moves The Crown Motion Picture Supplies Corp., formerly located at 311 W. 44th St., has moved into new air-cooled quarters at 614 9th Ave. Firm, established in 1904 by Ike Katz, is now operated by his two sons, Wallace and Julius. Latest innovations in theater interiors are on display in their new showroom, which has been designed as an intimate miniature theater. Calif. Preferred Pictures Gets Rights to Rep. Films West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Los Angeles — Preferred Pictures, Inc., new independent film exchange incorporated by Sam Klein and Jack Zamsky, has purchased the distribution rights to 103 pictures formerly released by Republic, in addition to the features which will be released as first-runs in Northern and Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and the Hawaiian Islands. The latter group will include 12 outdoor musicals produced by C. C. Burr and 12 in the "Special Agent K-7" series. Preferred Pictures has also secured the western district distribution rights for Franco-American Pictures and will distribute the entire Franco output of U. S. titled French films. Ban on synchronization of music with films and on recordings will be taken up at the annual convention of the American Federation of Musicians opening June 14 at the Ken j tucky Hotel, Louisville, it was said i yesterday by George B. Henderson, I A F of M president. The ban on synchronization of mu I sic will be considered in conjunction with a proposal that orchestras be employed in theaters as a consideration for not instituting such a prohibition, it is understood. Re-election of Jos. N. Weber as president of the A. F. of M. is regarded as certain. Film Delivery Drivers In Omaha Exchange Union Omaha — Drivers for companies delivering film out of Omaha have joined the union being organized by exchange workers to prevent a tieup in deliveries threatened by the strike of 2,500 employes of commercial trucking lines here. Organizers of the exchange union were persuaded by M. G. Rogers, head of the Film Transport Co. of Omaha, to permit his drivers and those of other truckers to join their union. Before all had joined, flying squads of pickets from the transport union stopped drivers for the Iowa Film Delivery of Des Moines and H. & W. Film Delivery of Pierce, Neb. They were not released until they joined the exchange union and presented a clearance order from the organizer. Drivers for the Mills Film Transport of Lincoln, the Rapid Film Delivery System of Grand Island, Neb., and the Film Transportation Co. of Des Moines also have affiliated locally. Disney, Back on Coast, Pushes "Snow White" Work West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Walt Disney, back from New York, will immediately plunge into work connected with the current production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", slated for RKO's 1937-38 schedule. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" will be Disney's first feature-length production, and the first Disney in which humanized characters, not caricatures, will receive his consideration. The entire feature will be filmed in Technicolor. Birmingham Exhib. Meet Bids Kuykendall to Speak Birmingham — South Eastern Theaters Owners Association is slated to hold its annual convention here June 27-29. Ed Kuykendall, MPTOA president, has been invited to speak and is expected to attend. Imperial Closes Two Homer Blackwell of Kansas City, Mo. has been granted a five-year Imperial Picture franchise for the K. C. territory. The Imperial franchise has been given to John Golder of Philadelphia for the territory of Eastern Pa. and So. New Jersey. Ugo Checchi Dead Florence, Italy (By Cable) — Ugo Checchi, 77, Florentine theatrical director, is dead here. Howe Opens Neb. House Utica, Neb. — The Empire, a newly-equipped 312-seat house, has been opened here by C. N. Howe.