The Film Daily (1938)

Intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought *e:rviov*» The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Twenty Years Old Vf» 74, NO. 93 NEW YORK, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1938 TEN CENTS Italian Gov't May Block Monogram and Republic Deals KAO NETT9H140; B . TTjCEITH CORP.J/54,363 750 Attendance Indicated for MPTOA Convention First Delegates Due to Arrive in Oklahoma City Today By ERNEST W. FAIR FILM DAILY Staff Correspondent Oklahoma City — Attendance mark of at least 750 for the MPTOA convention opening at the Biltmore Hotel here Sunday was confidently predicted last night by Morris Loewenstein, convention chairman. First convention visitors are due to arrive during the day and by tomorrow night, it is expected that several hundred theater men will be in town. Prexy Ed Kuykendall will be 'one of those training in tomorrow from his Columbus, Miss., home. At least a single Pullman of dele(Continued on Page 3) WARNERS, SHEA SET UA PRODUCT DEALS United Artists yesterday announced the closing of two important circuit deals for the company's entire lineup of 1938-39 releases. The new pacts were made with the Warner Bros, and Mort Shea circuits. The Warner deal calls for the (Continued on Page 6) Pittsburgh Variety Club Dinner Calls Film Execs. Pittsburgh — Annual banquet of the local Variety Club at the William Penn Hotel Sunday will attract the largest delegation of New York industry leaders and execs, in history, it was predicted yesterday by John H. Harris, general chairman. James Crowley, head coach of (.Continued on Page 8) McConville Sails Nov. 4 to Discuss Foreign Setup J. A. McConville, general foreign manager for Columbia, sails for Europe Nov. 4 on the Queen Mary to confer with the company's foreign (Continued on Page 7) Italian Exit to Cost 17. S. Majors Plenty American film companies will have to pay an indemnity to its employees in Italy when, and if, the distributors disband their Italian branches. Under Italian law, each employe must be paid one month's salary for every year he has been employed. In some cases these indemnities will run into large amounts of money inasmuch as many of the Italian representatives have been in the employ of a single American company for 15 years. Trade Stand Against Punitive Foreign Practices Probably Justified — Golden While the U. S. pix industry conforms readily to rational and moderate foreign requirements, "it may be justified in taking a positive stand against merely narrow-minded or punitive practices abroad," Nathan D. Golden, chief of the MP Division of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, told a New York University audience yesterday. Due to the existing Italian situation especially, Golden's statement aroused lively interest in foreign department circles yesterday. Golden, who spoke before the film course of the NYU School of Education, filled a second speaking engagement here last night when he appeared before the Metropolitan Motion Picture Council, also meeting at NYU. Both talks concerned the film export market. The Washington Department of (Continued on Page 8) Appeal in 20th-Fox Copyright Case is Authorized London (By Cable) — The Privy Council has granted the music publishing house of Francis Day and Hunter special leave to appeal a decision of the Ontario, Canada, Court of Appeals which favored 20th Century-Fox Corp. and Famous Players Canadian Corp. The appeal raised the point whether the title of the song "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" was original and distinctive and whether the use of that title for a motion picture constituted an infringement of copyright. Lord Atkin asked if " 'Keep the Home Fires Burning' (the great war (Continued on Page 3) Republic and Monogram Italian Deals Imperiled as Permits Are Withheld Italy to Purchase Pix in London, Paris, Berlin Rome (By Cable) — A film commission has been appointed by the Italian Government to buy films in London, Paris and Berlin to fill the gap that will be left in theater programs by the complete withdrawal (Continued on Page 8) Following recent edict of the Italian government setting up a film monopoly it is unlikely that Republic and Monogram will fulfill recent contracts made with indie Italian distribs. for release of their product in that country, it was learned yesterday. Republic has signed a contract (Continued on Page 8) Profits of Both Companies Under Figures Reported For Last Year A net profit of $994,140.39 for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 1 was reported yesterday by Keith-Albee-Orpheum Coi-p. and subsidiary companies. At the same time, the B. F. Keith Corp. and subsidiary companies reported a net profit for the same period of $754,363.41. In both instances, the figures represent the profits after all charges except surtax on undistributed profits applicable to the 13 weeks' period ended Dec. 31, 1937. K-A-O's net profit is equal to $15.46 per share on the 64,304 shares of 7 p.c. cumulative convertible preferred stock and shows a drop of $555,192.45 under the 1937 53-week net which was $1,549,332.86. B. F. Keith Corp.'s net is $465, (Continued on Page 6) UNAFFILIATED GROUPS FINISH REFORM TALKS Unaffiliated exhibitor unit representatives have completed their trade reform discussions with the distributors for the time being but may hold further meetings at a later date. Several of the delegates (Continued on Page 6) Reservations for SMPE Fall Parley in Detroit at 350 SMPE Fall convention, opening Monday at the Hotel Statler, Detroit, will attract upwards of 350 engineers and technical men from all branches of the industry, reser (Continued on Page 8) Col. Registers Stock Reserved for Options Washington Bureau of THE FILMDAILY Washington — Columbia Pictures Corp. yesterday filed a registration statement with the SEC covering 37,500 shares of no par value com (Continued on Page 7)