The Film Daily (1940)

EQUIPMENT NEWS 0 *\ DAILY : Friday, November 22, 1940 =4/iS^?DAILY A Second Section of THE FILM DAILY comprehensively covering the equipment field, published every second Friday, except holidays, bv Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc., 1501 Broadway, New York City. John W. Alicoate, Publisher; Donald M. Mersereau, General Manager; Chester B. Bahn, Editor; George H. Morris, Equipment Editor. West Coast Bureau, 6425 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Cal., Ralph Wilk, Bureau Chief. COmiflG and GOIflG WILLIAM A. GEDRIS, president of Ideal Seating, has returned to Grand Rapids for the Thanksgiving holiday, following a business trip to New York. WALTER E. GREEN, NTS president, has returned to headquarters here from a visit to company's branches in the Mid-West and South. CLIFFORD SMITH, vice-president in charge of West Coast operations for Erpi, has been visiting company headquarters in New York and expects to return shortly to Hollywood. ROY RUMMEL of Hertner Electric Co. returned to Cleveland this week from a visit to New York on company business. FRED MATTHEWS of Motiograph was in New York this week visiting Joe Hornstein. KARL BRENKERT of Brenkert Light & Projection Co. left New York on Wednesday for Detroit headquarters. UDA B. ROSS of Erpi, who has been in New York for several weeks from the Far East territory, is expected to leave shortly for further service :n company's foreign territories. DREW EBERSON, of the architectural partnership of John and Drew Eberson, has returned to his desk here from Texas. A. F. BALDWIN, associated with the sales promotion department of NTS, is back in town from Albany, N. Y. J. W. SERVIES, of NTS sales promotion department, has returned to New York from the MidWest. JOE HORNSTEIN. head of Joe Hornstein, Inc., returned to his desk this week after a visit to Florida. New Theater Supply Co. in Conn. New Haven — Certificate of incorporation has been filed in this state by Capitol Theater Supply, Inc. Kenneth R. Douglass and Leon L. Foster of Needham, Mass., who operate the Boston Capitol Theater Supply Co., and Frank M. Gray of West Roxbury, Mass., are named as incorporators. Amount of commencing business is $1,000 and amount of authorized capital, 500 shares, no par value. Brotman Receives Permit Moline, 111. — Building permit for construction of a 600-seat house in Moline has been issued to M. Brotman & Sons who operate several houses in Moline and Rock Island, 111., including the Paramount and Roxy in Moline. The house will be located in a two-story building estimated to cost $30,000 for construction. urnnuii THEATRE SUPPLY COMPANY "GET IT FBOM MATIONAL" Coolidge and Crocker Are Named G-E Officers Schenectady — Charles E. Wilson, General Electric's president, has announced appointment of Dr. W. D. Coolidge, research laboratory director, and Stuart M. Crocker, manager of the company's refrigeration and air conditioning department at Bloomfield, N. J., as vice-presidents. Dr. Coolidge has been on the research laboratory staff since 1905 and a director since 1932. Mr. Crocker was appointed manager of the Bloomfield department in 1939, and has been a vice-president of International General Electric Co. for 10 years. Dividend Rise Is Voted To G-E's Stockholders A dividend of 80 cents a common share has been declared by directors of General Electric Co. The disbursement is payable Dec. 20 to stockholders of record Nov. 22. The company previously paid 35 cents on Oct. 25. The payment of 80 cents for the fourth quarter, together with $1.05 a share for the first nine months, makes a total of $1.85 a share for 1940, compared with $1.40 in 1939. Knowlton Gets Contract Norwalk, O. — Contract has been awarded the C. L. Knowlton Co. of Bowling Green, O., for the construction here of a one-story and balcony theater building, 66 x 172, brick steel and concrete, at an estimated cost of $150,000. New theater is owned by the Norwalk Theater Corp., a subsidiary of the Schine Enterprises, Gloversville, N. Y. Work will be started on the new movie house immediately. Purchases Walker Screen Louisville, Ky.— The Fourth Avenue Amusement Co. has purchased a new Walker Plastic Molded Screen for the Strand Theater here. Flater Chooses Royal Chrome Spencer, Ind. — Claude L. Flater, operator of the Tivoli Theater here has refurnished his lobby with Royal Chrome furniture. Automaticket for Pantheon Vincennes, Ind.— Adler Lyons, operator of the Pantheon Theater here has installed an Automaticket register. Conrad House Underway Wichita— R. E. Conrad, who formerly operated the Ritz, Burlingame, Kan., is building a new theater in this city. Heard Improves Palace Farmerville, La.— J. M. Heard, operator of five Louisiana theaters, is modernizing his Palace here. Johnson's Vogue Opens As Film Folks Assist Friend, Neb. — Wally Johnson's new Vogue Theater, a 252-seat house, opened last week in bitter cold to a full house. It was designed by Architect Gus Marishka, Dorchester, Neb., and material was furnished by Frank Van Husan's Western Theater Supply, of Omaha. Program for the opening included the presence and spoken word from such filmites as Leon Mendelson, Warners; Ike Rubin, of Paramount; Otto Siegel and Bill Flynn, of Universal; and Barney Oldfield, film editor of the Lincoln, Neb., Sunday Journal and Star. Many Orders Call for Ashcraft Projection Demand for Ashcraft projection lamps in all sections of the country is exemplified by the large number which have been purchased recently by houses in New York State. Kallet Theater, Inc., are using this type of lamp in order to present highly effective screen images, as are other exhibition outlets including those owned and operated by the Basil Brothers, Morris Slotnick, B. A. Inderbitzen, A. Francis, and others. Bigelow-Sanford Status Income account of Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Co., Inc., for nine months ended Sept. 28, 1940, follows: Net sales $19,347,723; costs and expenses $16,974,070; operating profit $2,373,653; other income $8,254; total income $2,381,907; depreciation $604,770; interest, etc., $28,367; Federal income taxes $450,000; net profit $1,298,770; preferred dividends $118,813; common dividends $627,218, surplus $552,739. New House For Greenville Greenville, Miss.— The Lake Theater, capacity 400, a new local movie house now under construction, is scheduled to open Dec. 1. The new house is located on the site of the old Bijou. The seating of the house will offer a local innovation in the "love seats," one and a half times the normal size, scattered through the house. 1000-Seater For Dayton Cincinnati— Maury White and Nick Schaefer, United Theaters, are erecting a new 1,000-seat theater, to be called the Davue, Salem Ave., Dayton, O. Launch 500-Seat Clark Winchester, Ky.— Doris Meyer and Harry Schwartz have opened their new 500-seat theater here called the Clark. Smith Breaks Ground Cincinnati— Pete Smith, operator of the Sylvia, Dayton, Ky., has broken ground for a new theater in the same neighborhood. PLAIN TALK . . . about equipment -By GEORGE H. MORRIS; Equipment Editor, THE FILM DAILY OME sage once said that a good opportunity is seldom presented, — and is easily lost. It appears that today is a goodi opportunity for theatermen to build new™ houses as well as to improve existing ones. To delay is to court opportunity's easy loss. At least that's the way that a lot of astute circuit and individual theater operators feel j about it. Their convictions must rest on J some sort of logical foundations. Not the least of the cornerstones seems j to be the consciousness that an era of in | creased public buying power has already set j in, and that this ability to purchase is very likely to grow to even more substantial pro | portions. In the case of the vast majority of American families you will find the item of entertainment in their expenditures, — and it's a matter of record that the entertainment item most generally includes movies. EN our domestic pastures, theatermen are ' learning that it's an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody good. That somebody is the domestic theaterman operating his interests in the continental U. S. exclusively. The ill wind of war on foreign strands is wafting him benefits. He experiences the good effects of the entire motion picture business here at home working in unprecedented style and unison to make the domestic mart produce the absolute maximum revenue. In this task, the public psychology is a valuable ally, because a mind disturbed is a mind ripe for "escape," and there is no more attractive means of escape than the film theater program. Conditions now are significantly ripe for the domestic theaterman to improve his holdings, — be it a circuit or one house. Investment now in new construction or remodeling is no mere move for present-day profits. Even more than that, it's the road to revenue year after year. Nicholas M. Schenck once said: "There is nothing wrong with this industry that good pictures won't cure." It is only to strengthen that statement that we interpose: "and good theaters." /^OOD times present the opportunity to ^^ create good theaters. The natural queTy is: "Are times now good?" Well, after all, the two elements which determine prosperity in the exhibition field (aside from the active factor of the field itself) are power of product and power of the public to purchase. Only one index is needed, we think, to tell the story both ways, and that is the financial situation of big film producing companies. Their income and money position reflect mass entertainment purchase, and the power of product to cause mass purchase. So, we refer you to the expanding health of such organizations as Paramount, Loew's-Metro, Universal, 20thFox (which you should observe wrote off some $2,200,000 for reserve against foreign assets), and Columbia (which turned a loss into a profit), — to name a few. On this, and a mass of other strong evidence, it is logical to conclude that now there exists a good opportunity to build and remodel. If must not be easily, — carelessly lost.