The Film Daily (1934)

Intimate in Character International in Scope ndependent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of M otion Pictures ffi$sll^en years old /CL. LXV. NO. 1C8 Its NEW yOCr, WEDNESDAY, MAi9 <S CENI1 Price, Quantity Not Attendance-Factors, Critics Say STUDIOS CAN'T STAND PAY HIKE, COMMjJTEE FINDS White House May Hold Up Darrow Report Indefinitely 'ti ) i ma; in; lei tequest is Made That NRA Recovery Review Board Work Jointly By WILLIAM SILBERBERG FILM DAILY Staff Correspondent Washington — The White House as not yet made public the findings f the Recovery Review Board on ight codes, including the movie ode, and some believe the report lay be delayed indefinitely pending 1 request made to NRA that the itafloard work in cooperation with it istead of as an independent board s it has done in the past. It was revealed that Lowell Ma ion, Board counsel, had made a re {Continued on Page 4) 10 PRODUCTIONS SET FOR IRVING THALBERG 'est Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — In addition to four ictures now in work, following the ecent release of Norma Shearer's Riptide," Irving Thalberg has six aore productions set at M-G-M. ?he four under way are "The lerry Widow," co-starring Maurice {Continued on Page 4) CRITICS' n si H^ FORUM QUESTION NO. 6 in your opinion, what brings patronage to the box-office (mark in order of importance) : admission price, quantity of entertainment— double features, type of picture, star? RESULTS OF CRITICS' REPLIES Type of picture — 41%. Star — 41%. Admission price — 12%. Quantity— 6%. :ourt Test of Ticket Tax •s Planned in New Mexico Santa Fe, N. M. — Constitutionalty of the state's newly passed 2 per ent general sales tax is to be tested i the courts, according to exhibitor titerests. Since passage of the bill, :0uses have been adding a cent on {Continued on Page 4) Blondell Wins Wampas Cup West Coast Bur., THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Joan Blondell, Warner star, has been selected by a vote ot more than two to one over all other competitors as the winner of the C. W. Nash Wampas Achievement Trophy. The cup was donated for the best accomplishment of any Wampas baby star since 1931. IT WILL probably come as a big shock to the double-feature advocates and the price' war initiators, to learn that more than 400 of the country's leading film critics contend that admission price and quantity of entertainment (double features) together constitute only an 18 per cent factor in drawing attendance to the box-office, while type of story and star exert 82 per cent of the pull. Answering this question in the FILM DAILY'S second Critics' Forum, 41 per cent of the critics said the type of production is the chief drawing card; another 41 per cent said it's the star, while only 12 per cent rated price of admission as first, and a meager 6 per cent credited quantity of entertainment as the principal magnet. The obvious deduction from these figures is that the bulk of moviegoers want what they want when they want it, and are willing to pay for it. In case the tie here between star and type of story should create a confusion in view of the fact that, in reply to the first question in the Forum, a majority of the critics said the story is more important than the star, the explanation is that in the first instance the film scribes meant the story is more important from the standpoint of achieving good entertainment, while the star, as many critics pointed out at that time, is frequently the major box-office influence. Among the few comments offered on this subject, John Rosenfield, Jr., of the "Dallas News" suggests that patronage should be stabilired by the institutional appeal of the theater. "Unfortunately," he adds, "the theaters recently have not been administered by the same management long enough to build up institutional followings." Tomorrow the critics will put Hollywood on the pan. Report on Coast Wages and Hours is Being Submitted on Friday That the studios cannot stand the increase in overhead that would be caused by a 10 per cent boost in wages and a reduction in working hours, as recommended for all industries by President Roosevelt, is understood to be the finding of the Code Authority committee appointed to survey conditions on the Coast. The report will be submitted to the (Continued on Page 5) FIVE MUSICALS LIKELY ON NEW W.B. LINEUP Warner-First National will make four or five musicals for 1934-35, said Hal B. Wallis, associate executive at the studio, in New York yesterday. Company is delivering six musical features this year. The studio intends to have 12 features on its new season schedule ready by Sept. 1, stated Wallis. Two are now in work. These pictures (Continued on Page 5) New K. C. Zoning Plan Expected to Raise Prices By KENNETH FORCE FILM DAILY Staff Correspondent Kansas City — New clearance schedule for greater Kansas City effected yesterday by the local grievance and zoning board, to start June 10, is expected to raise first run admissions materially. The schedule specifies first runs, 25 (Continued on Page 4) First Overbuying Case Heard by New York Board Charging the Skouras Capitol theater in Port Chester, N. Y., with "buying more pictures than it can use and having too frequent changes of program," and claiming that all major distributors with the exception of Paramount have been, and are discriminating against the Em(Continued on Page 5) Charles Regan Appointed Para. Western Sales Mgr. Neil F. Agnew, new Paramount general sales manager, has appointed Charles Regan, Chicago district manager, as Western division sales manager, the post left vacant when Agnew was named to his new execu(Continued on Page 5) Fineman Joins RKO West Coast Bur., THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — B. P. Fineman has joined RKO Radio Pictures as associate producer. He formerly was associate producer with M-G-M.