The Film Daily (1938)

T 5ji Tuesday, November 1, 1938 THI DAILY JAPAN MAY ADMIT OVER 80 U. S. PIX (.Continued from Page 1) merit than that recently predicted unofficially each year. Under discussion currently, it is declared, is a proposal which may lead to many more than 80 U. S. features coming into this country anmially. What the boost will be is no* #et determinable, however. : Griffith Circuit Employes Retirement Plan Approved (Continued from Page 1) tors and partners of the Griffith companies after more than a week of discussions. The plan will allow employes to quit at the age of 65 years on two-thirds of their salaries. Employes will pay in 3% of their salary, with the Griffith companies contributing the difference necessary for the John Hancock and Phoenix-Mutual insurance companies to guarantee the payments. The retirement fund is provided for men only, since the women employes of the theaters usually work such a short time that it could not be applied to them, stated Claude 0. Fulgum, division manager. An employe may retire at the end of five years of operation of the new system and receive about 17% of his salary, or one-fourth of the accrued benefits. At the end of 20 years' service, the employe would receive the entire accrued benefit. Richey Joins RKO; Will Direct Exhib. Relations (Continued from Page 1) troit, to the post of Director of Exhibitor Relations for the Company. Appointment becomes effective next week, with Richey headquartering at the Home Office in New York. Richey, one of the best known contact men in exhib. circles, recently quit as director of public relations for the Co-operative Theaters of Michigan. Richey has been in practically every contract drafting committee including that drafting the motion picture code. In 1924 he organized the exhibitors of the United States for the purpose of doing away with the amusement tax. He is a past chief barker of the Variety Club. Best wishes from to the following THE FILM DAILY on their birthday NOVEMBER 1 Laura La Plante M. E. A. Tucker Ernest Rovelstadt ALCNG THE with PHIL M. DALY • • • OVERLOOKED a pie-sold audience of several million fans book fans who read these Big Little Books sold in the five-and-tens throughout the nation there are 25 million of these little 10-cent books sold yearly each book averages 300,000 circulation there are dozens of titles in the library the youngsters eat 'em up, boys as well as girls and the publisher's survey shows that 30 per cent of the customers are male adults who go for the adventure series such as "International Spy," "State Trooper," and "Mack of the Marines" then there is another series Fast Action sold exclusively on the newsstands mostly to adults which is building an enormous following T T ▼ • • • THE POINT is that the Hollywood producers are suckers for a so-called popular book that sells a few thousand or a Broadway play that has a sensational run of three weeks to pass-loaded audiences for which properties they pay heavy jack and so far this fertile field of the heavy-selling little books in the nickeldimeries has been passed up why? they only print 100,000 of each book to start with and common report has it that these five-and-ten merchant princes don't order 100.000 of anything unless they know they are going to sell it T Y ▼ • • • IT IS really wonderful what you can learn about our biz by talking to some gent who isn't in it we were as dumb about this fertile field as you probably are until we talked to Stephen Slesinger over in his offices on Park Avenue each of these books is printed with a special "visual" technique to catch the eye with pictures as well as with the printed word words on the left-hand page illustration on the right if you riffle the pages quickly you get an entire movie as the picture pages on the right flash by the eye if you read the book (about 17 minutes actual reading time) you have read the complete scripts of as actionful and exciting a story as any producer in Hollywood would crave to turn into celluloid a lot of juves are probably sitting home riffling their movie entertainment because Hollywood doesn't give 'em the type of pictures they really want to see ▼ ▼ ▼ 6 • • ANOTHER item of interest that we knew little about is the comic and action-strip in the newspapers Slesinger handles the strips of NEA service we learned that "Major Hoople" is the record-holder on newspaper circulation by the way, there is a natural for W. C. Fields nose 'n every thin' it circulates 15 million every day of the week how's that for a presold audience? in 750 newspapers coming along is a new strip the first NEA has put out in five years so it must be good their serials have an average life of 15 years they are scientifically built up before any attempt is made to sell them to the newspapers this new one "Red Ryder," is a western action wow drawn by a real cowboy Fred Harmon we predict that when it starts to get going among the Western fans, it will revolutionize the making of the horse operas boy, this Red Ryder MOVES what we mean, Real Action with a lot of cowboy slants that the routine Western films never touch ▼ ▼ T • • • GUEST Nate Blumberg, the Universal prexy, will be the spotlighted figure at a business meeting and luncheon of Motion Picture Associates at the Astor on Thursday . TO MEET SALES QUOTA-JOHNSTON (Continued from Page 1) quality brand of accounts than in the past; and that company's budget has been currently increased in keeping with its bigger pictures policy. Johnston asserted that Monogram has set a studio schedule calling for the making of one feature each week commencing as of Oct. 7, last, and continuing, according to present plans, up to Jan. 1, and, further, that the lineup of 42 full length films will be finished by June, next, and 22 will have been turned out by Dec. 30. He confirmed the fact that conferences leading to a production-distribution deal with Pathe Pictures, Ltd., will be held upon the arrival here of that company's head, W. J. Gell, aboard the Queen Mary on Thursday. Latter will be accompanied by Arthur Levey, Monogram's British representative, who is also a member of the board of Scophony, English television firm. Scophony's managing director, S. Sagall, is also on the same ship. The deal, which has been discussed in a preliminary way, calls tentatively for Monogram and Pathe, Ltd., entering a four pictures pact, with possibly U. S. stars journeying to England to make the attractions. Gell, Levey and Sagall will remain for some two weeks in New York, it is expected. Scott R. Dunlap, Mono's studio chief, arrives from the Coast tomorrow to participate in the British pact conferences. Joint financing of the proposed deal has been suggested in preliminary exchange of views. Discussing the foreign situation, Johnston revealed that Monogram is now represented with strong setups in all South American countries with the exception of Peru, and that several deals have been completed recently for marketing product in other countries of the world, including South Africa where a pact has been effectuated with South African Commercial Educational Film Service, Ltd., of Johannesburg. He admitted that Monogram has been "balked" in Italy where the culling of any sales monies is rendered virtually impossible, unless some indirect method such as barter in other commodities is resorted to, and that this is highly unsatisfactory. In the future, Johnston's time will be divided 75-25 between the Coast and the home office, with the larger increment spent at the studio. 43 Pix In WorU West Coast Bur., THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Forty-three pictures are in production with M-C-M leading with eight. Paramount is making six. RKO, 20th Century-Fox, Universal and Warners are making five each. Columbia, Republic, Small, Sherman, Monogram, Darmour, Fine Arts, Dario and Coronado are down fcr one each.