The Film Daily (1938)

MOT PIC lJ HC) 13 & ID I ST 2 3 W 44 T H ST NYC 2 I S T FL 3*2? Thursday, December 1, 1935 Lincoln Local "10 Best" Contest Tieups Set Record Trip to Hollywood Will Be First Award; All Theaters Co-op Lincoln, Neb. — The fanciest tieup in the United States with The Film Daily's Ten Best poll on record has been effected here by all theaters and the Sunday Journal and Star. Idea has been promoted by Barney Oldfield, the newspaper's theater editor and radio commentator. Top prize for the general fan poll will be an all expenses paid jaunt to Hollywood, where the winner will be guest one day at Metro, one day at 20th-Fox and one day at Warners. Winner will be an accredited representative for the paper and send back a story each of the three days on the trip. Bob Taplinger, Harry Brand, and Teet Carle agreed to care for the winner at their own plants. In addition to the top prize, there will be eight annual passes given, eight for six months, eight for three months, eight for a month, and a flock of trip passes. Should there be ties for the top prize, there will be a final examination given on KFOR with Oldfield doing the quizzing. Theaters — J. H. Cooper Enterprises, Nebraska Theaters, Inc., and Bob Livingston's independent Capitol— are putting up the money for the jaunt. Newspapers will carry two daily bally stories each week and one on Sunday until the contest closes, Dec. 31. Judgment will be on the basis of The Film Daily critics' poll. "Birth of Baby" Case Goes to N. Y. Appellate Division Albany, N. Y.— Opinion of "The Birth of A Baby," handed down by Supreme Court Justice Russell at Troy upholds the contention by counsel for the Board of Regents that the case should be transferred to the Appellate Division. Hence pleas for a review by a jury in the Supreme Court special term was not granted. The ruling hinged on article 78 of the Civil Practice Act. Construction by Judge Russell was that the film was substantially the entire evidence to be considered by the reviewing court. Trial by jury on a court review was sought by Producer Sam Citron and the American Committee on Maternal Welfare, Inc., represented by Ellis Staley, came a few months after the Board of Regents refused to override Censor Irwin Esmond on his denial of application for the issuance of a license to the film. Action was for an order against the twelve regents. The scene is now scheduled to shift to the Appellate Division, Third Department, at Albany, with no further action likely until early in 1939. SHORT SHOTS f ROfl) EflSKRn STUDIOS By SID WEISS i MILTON SCHWARZWALD swings into action again on Dec. 12 at the Eastern Service studios on five shorts featuring as impressive an array of talent as he's yet assembled. Among the "names" he's signed are Gus Van, J. Harold Murray, Minor & Root, Lucky Millender's ork, The Remacs, Tex Lewis and his Cowboy Band, Bernice Parks, The Virginians, Karavaeff, Luba Malina, Robbins Bros. & Margie, The Two Mammy s, The Eight Razzle Dazzles, Rosita Ortega, Sisters Virginia, The Three Wiles, Five Ames Sisters, Bob Parker, Ruth Day, Mary Jane Barton's Harp Ensemble, Gloria Grafton, Moscow Gypsy Choir and Codalban and his Gypsy Orchestra. Joe Gershensen is musical director and Jack Schaindlin does the arrangements, to correct a recent misquote. Among the newcomers to film ranks: Margretta Hamill, daughter of former Rep. James A. Hamill of Jersey City who makes her debut under the name of Cecily Francis — Harry Cordero, son of a millionaire Havana tobacco planter — and Fred Catania, Maxie Baer's former sparring partner. Personality sketch . . . Bernard P. Arons, bus. mgr. for Odessco Prod. . . . Has been in every dept. of the motion picture field with the exception of the camera and exhibition. . . . Has been cashier for Pathe — assistant director on the "Tweedy" comedies — casting director for Selznick — directed eastern sequences for Screen Snapshots — and for five years was personal assistant to the late Roxy. ... He recently completed a 105,000 word novel tagged "Dead Man's Auction" and a play, "Whispers of Warning." ... Is a regular genius at installing cost and budget systems and has devised a breakdown chart for daily production that is a revelation on control of cost. . . . Helen Louise Linken's play, "Four Letter Man," which was presented last summer by the Morningside Players at Columbia U. will have another showing in January. Play has been considerably tightened up and will be offered for Broadway consumption. Notes on the cuff . . . Bill Howard's picture is in its final week of production on the Astoria lot and from what this observer has seen it should be a honey. ... It will be a Paramount release. . . . Ben Schwalb has returned from Washington where he directed one of the "Washington Parade" series for Columbia. . . . Bill Miller did the camera work. . . . Incidentally, Miller has returned to Washington to photograph one of Metro's "Crime Doesn't Pay" series. . . . Sylvia Sidney may do another feature in the East. . . . Sam Marino starts next week on "All Girl Football," the third in a series of variety shorts he is producing. . . . He recently completed "All Girl Lifeguards" and one on "Jai-Alai" . . . Wally Ford is adding to his stable; he just bought another thoroughbred. . . . Hans Pommer and Florence Califano are assisting Jack Murray in the editing of Bill Howard's pix. . . . "Childbirth From Life" Barred by Writ In N. C. Charlotte — Permanent injunction barring the motion picture, "Childbirth from Life," from showing in North Carolina under its present title and advertising phraseology was obtained Tuesday in Superior Court here by the owners and sponsors of "The Birth of a Baby." After a two-day hearing the restraining order was signed by Judge Hubert E. Olive, who fixed bond for the defendants at $3,000. The defendants may, under North Carolina law, demand trial by jury, and they are expected to take that course, although the picture would be barred pending the result of the jury trial, which would be several months hence. Scratch "Birth of Baby" St. Louis— "The Birth of a Baby," tentatively set for the Ambassador tomorrow, has been scratched by Fanchon & Marco as a result of protests against its public presentation. 20th-Fox Contract List Now Contains 229 Names West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Twentieth CenturyFox's studio contract list now numbers 229 names, Darryl F. Zanuck, vice-president in charge of production, announces. The list includes 59 stars, featured and principal players; 54 writers; 18 directors; nine associate producers; 24 young women who are stock players; eight assistant directors; 14 cameramen and technicians; nine composers and lyric writers. Jimmy Durante On Coast West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Jimmy Durante trained into town where he will remain about six days before returning to New York where he goes into "Swing To The Left," Dwight Wiman's musical. Durante is here to confer with Hecht & MacArthur and if arrangements can be made Durante will still go into their picture "Song of The West" which M-G-M is making. DUPONT BEGINS SUIT IN PATHE FILM DEM (Continued from Page 1) that stock cannot be sold or tr ">s f erred to anyone else before (,ils~i{ offered to the plaintiff company 'f o: purchase. Action states that the plaintiff i: willing and able to purchase all oi any part of the 3,500 shares unde: the terms of its contract. The sui asks that the court restrain th< transfer unless stock is first offeree to the du Pont company for pur' chase on terms equal to plan o: transfer to stockholders. It is further asked that in th< event the court will not enjoin th< liqudation proceedings, that th< stock be stamped to the effect tha' it is subject to the contract betweei,' Pathe and the plaintiff. It is ex pected that the plaintiff will mak< a motion asking for a temporary injunction pending trial to preven liquidation vote by stockholders. Violation of the Pathe-du Poni contract is threatened by the stock-; holders' meeting, action asserts. Th(j complaint indicates du Pont does not want the transfer made as stock1 would subsequently be sold on ai open market, allowing stockholders to vote and establishing a widespread distribution of the stock. DuPont's Move Will Be Resisted, Briggs States! Pathe Film Corp. will resist any attempt by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., to limit in any way its stockholders' rights to the du Pont Film Manufacturing Co, stock it owns, it was stated yesterday by O. Henry Briggs, Pathe prexy. Statement issued by Briggs said that the original contract entered into by the two companies, which stipulated that the du Pont stock could not be "sold or otherwise disposed of," had since been superseded by later contracts which stipulated that the stock could not be "sold." Statement declared that a sale would not take place, only a transfer of ownership. The du Pont complaint does not seek to enjoin the liquidation plan of Pathe, the statement said. Suit of Pathe stockholders seeking to restrain liquidation vote will be contested by Pathe in court on the basis that the plaintiffs have no standing in the court, and have based their complaint upon the erroneous theory that it is the direct tors who are voting to dissolve,1 whereas, it is the stockholders. Has "Birth of a Nation" Amos Paglia, 630 Ninth Ave., is now distributing "Birth of a Nation."