The Film Daily (1935)

Intimate in Character International in Scope /Independent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Seventeen Years Old VCL. LXVII, NO. 113 new yccr, TLcscAy, may 14, 1935 1€ CENTS 1 Allied Is Expecting 800 at Convention in Atlanta ATLAS CORP. WORKING ON RKO REORGANIZATION Centering Production in Hollywood Favored by Critics 0 Few Advantages Seen in Scattering Studio Activities That it is more desirable to have production centered in one spot like Hollywood, rather than scattered iround the country, is the opinion of i majority of the several hundred :ritics participating in The Film Daily's third annual Critics' Forum. Principal advantage of this concenration, it is pointed out, lies in the ibundance of talent, materials and general facilities that are thus >rought together and made convenently available to all, and in the {Continued on Page 9) TWO FEATURE SERIES PLANNED BY FUTTER Two feature series, divided into six action stories with exploitation lackgrounds and five historical westerns starring Tom Keene, are planled by Walter A. Futter for the iniependent market. First of the jroup of six, "Hongkong Nights", s already completed and will be reeased June 15. Cast is headed by om Keene, Wera Engels, Warren {Continued on Page 4) tobert Menches Heads New Akron Exhib Unit Akron, 0. — -Robert Menches of the liberty theater is president of the hewly organized Akron Independent theater Owners Ass'n, which sucIjeeds the defunct former organization. Other officers are: Willard part, vice-president; J. G. Deetjen cretary; A. P. Botzum, treasurer. Ascap Suits Gets Preference Federal Judge John C. Knox yesterday granted the government's motion for a preference in its anti-trust suit against the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers and fixed June 10 as the date of trial. THOSE EXPANSIVE SETS "Stage presentation and night club sets in pictures should be curtailed to more nearly normal size. Some of them now being shown couldn't be staged in a baseball park. "All advertising films should be killed. And always repeat a cast at the end of a film-" — W. W. DUNKLE, South Bend, Ind., Tribune. CYCLES RETURN "It seems that producers still haven't rid themselves of the cycle mania. Look how many G-men pictures are in production now! "I also had intended to say something about those wearying trick-shot production ensembles, but I guess somebody likes them." —LUCY MEUER, Catholic Daily Tribune, Dubuque, la. AND PEANUTS "My squawk this year is against audiences. It's terrible, when you want to hear a dramatic offering, adult audience type, and are constantly annoyed by a bag of peanuts right back of you. This eating in the theater business seems to be growing. Why, oh why, must they bring their lunch. If Mr. DuPont wants to wrap all the candy bars on earth in cellophane, he ought to be made to furnish a silencer. And some Mr. Burbank would confer an everlasting favor upon theater audiences by perfecting crackless popcorn and a peanut whose odor blows back in the face of the chewer instead of all over the audience." —HARRY T. BASEHART, Zanesville, 0., Sunday Times Signal FOR FANTASY "I hope Hollywood will do more delving into the realm of fantasy. The screen has infinite possibilities for the imaginative and creative mind." —HARRY L. MARTIN, Memphis Commercial Appeal. ORIGINALITY "The same quarrel with Hollywood still exists. The overproduction phase has been mentioned. Then there is the rose colored attitude the studios take towards life, the {Continued on Page 9) Attendance of 800 Expected At Allied Confab in Atlanta Two U. S. Courts Enjoin Bans on "Bank Night" Des Moines — Enforcement of a "bank night" ban by the local grievance board against Two Don Thornburg houses in Marshalltown, la., was blocked in a temporary injunction issued Saturday by Federal Judge Charles A. Dewey. Hearing was set for May 17. Midwest Film Distributors of Kansas City had {Continued on Page 3) Atlanta — Advance reservations indicate a crowd of about 800 for the Allied convention at the Hotel Piedmont, May 20-23, according to A. Jules Benedic, convention secretary. Reservations are now arriving in blocks of ten rooms at a clip. Overflow will be quartered at the Robert Fulton and other nearby hotels. Latest feature of the convention is the promise that Bobby Jones, golf champ, will tee off with the golf {Continued on Page 4) RKO Books Being Studied by Atlas Before Formulating Plan Atlas Corp., largest investment company in the United States, is working on a plan of reorganization for the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp., with the consent of the Radio Corp. of America, the principal RKO stockholder, The Film Daily is authoritatively informed. Atlas accountants are now going over the books of RKO and Atlas officials are studying the company in preparation for formulation of a plan. The sponsoring of a reorganiza {Continued on Page 3) NEW BRITISH PROJECT IS AFTER U. S. TIEUP A tieup with an American producing and distributing company for mutual interchange of product and of stars is expected to be completed shortly by the recently formed Anglo-American independent producing {Continued on Page 9) Test of Anti-Dual Clause Seen in N'Orleans Booking New Orleans — What may be the first attempt to carry out Allied of Louisiana's program to force the issue on anti-dual clauses in standard contracts, is seen in the action of the Coliseum, subsequent run house, in booking United Artists' "Private Life of Don Juan" on a bill with a western. The Coliseum is under the direction of Allied president Henry Lazarus. 90 in New Wi< -nsin Unit Milwaukee — lr >nt Theaters Protective Associat* -.: oi 'isconsin, organized early th: ear ?s an outgrowth of the former ,i,i'.T.i). of Wisconsin and Upper ".cliigan and the Allied Independent Theater Owners of Wisconsin, now has an active membership of over 90 theaters, with new exhibitors joining the ranks monthly.