The Film Daily (1941)

10 91 DAILY Tuesday, December 9, 1941 450 Honor Silver At Albany Dinner Albany, N. Y.— More than 450 film biz friends of Moe Silver, formerly WB zone manager here and recently promoted to the Pittsburgh zone, paid tribute to the popular Warner Theaters executive here at the Hotel Ten Eyck last night. Silver, installed earlier in the day at the Variety Club luncheon as Tent Nine's first chief barker, was presented by Si H. Fabian of New York, chairman of the testimonial, with a desk set, scroll and motion pictures of the entire affair in 16 mm. setting. The proceeds of the dinner above expenses were also presented to Silver, who turned them over in their entirety to the Varietly Club for its charitable ventures. Gov. Herbert H. Lehman, called to New York by pressing state affairs, was represented by his secretary, Walter T. Brown. Jimmy Walker, former Mayor of New York, was emcee. Speakers included Attorney General John J. Bennett, Mayor Herman Hoogkamp of Albany; A. J. McDonald, publisher of the Knickerbocker News and the following film figures: Joseph Bernhard, Harry Kalmine, George J. Schaefer, Neil Agnew, Si Fabian, C. J. Latta, Jack Cohn, E. K. "Ted" O'Shea, Joseph Vogel, Ned E. Depinet, John H. Harris and Robert J. O'Donnell of the Variety Club; Admiral Yates Stirling, Jr., J. Meyer Schine, Louis Schine, Lou Golding, Herman Robbins, Jack O'Connor, Sam Rosen. Special parlor cars containing friends of Silver entrained from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, while a Moe Silver special pulled in from New York at 6:55 p.m. New Yorkers present included in addition to those named: Clayton Bond, Frank Phelps, Sam Morris, Leonard Schlessinger, Harry Goldberg, Jules Girden, Harry Kaplowitz, Roy Haines, Arthur Saxon, Ben Worth, Max Brockman, E. J. Ullberg, Louis Kaufman, W. Stewart McDonald, Harry Mayer, Harold Rodner, Frank Damis, Mort Blumenstock, Joseph Feldman, Jack Shea. Also, Jay Bernison, Ben Amsterdam, Edward Goldstein, Al Reid, Clarence Hill, Charles O'Reilly, Ben Sherman, E. C. Grainger, Al Manheim, John Turtletaub, Abe Rachlin, Joe Vogel, Herman Robbins and Harry Seed. Among the out-of-towners were: Joseph Feldman, Ira Cohen, Pete TO THE COLORS! Cleveland — Proctor Jones of the Warner theater publicity department, has enlisted in the air corps WB Drive to Open on Dec 21 M Will Run 16 Weeks; $25,000 in Awards^Set {Continued weeks, ending April 11, it was learned yesterday. Campaign will be dubbed "Vitagraph's Drive of Champions." Benjamin Kalmenson, Warners nual stockholders meeting here yesterday. sales chief, in a telegram to all district and branch managers, advised from Page 1 ) I that $25,000 in prize money will be | distributed among the four winning district managers and the 10 branches making the best showing for the full 16-week period. Rules under which the awards will be made and quotas for the various branches will be forwarded to all WB managers this week. SPG Volunteers Services To Civilian Defense Offices (Continued from Page 1) tions in telegrams sent yesterday by Prexy Joe Gould to the Office of Civilian Defense, the Office of Emergency Management and the Office of Defense Information. The Guild placed itself at the disposal of these organizations following a special luncheon meeting of the union's National Defense Committee and unanimous approval by the Guild's home office units. Text of the message follows: "I have been authorized by the Screen Publicists Guild of New York, which comprises skilled publicists and exploiteers with excellent contacts on newspapers, magazines and radio, as well as advertising and poster artists, to place our collective talents at the disposal of your committee to assist in the education of the American public to the important activities and contributions of your committee to the defense of our nation. An authorized representative of our union is prepared to call on you to discuss methods by which our services can be placed into effect immediately." New Auxiliary Will Implement "Fighting Fund" of N. Y. SPG A plan for implementing the New New SFD Rate Schedule Approved by State PSC Albany — Under an amendment to the tariff of State Film Delivery, Inc., New York, N. Y., filed with and approved by the Public Service Commission, present weekly contract rates between New York and points in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester county, between Albany and points in Columbia, Greene, Sullivan and Ulster counties are cancelled, and new rates are put into effect as of Dec. 5, on a per item basis. The new rates will effect increases or decreases, according to the number of items carried. York SPG's "Fighting Fund" was one of the highlights of the first meeting of the union's newly-organized Auxiliary at the Hotel Piccadilly late last week. Auxiliary meeting also set up a National Defense Committee and sent a resolution to Senators Wagner and Mead of New York urging them to oppose the anti-labor Smith Bill and any other proposed legislation of this type. Principal speaker at the meeting was Mrs. Mabel Pollock, president of the New York Newspaper Guild Auxiliary. Dana, Jim Balmer, Buck Stone, Herb Greenblatt, Jack Maloney, Harry Yund, Pittsburgh; Jack Berkson, Phil Fox, A. C. Hayman, Ralph Crabill, Sid Samoson, Elmer Lux, Ralph Maw, Buffalo; Bob McDonald, Dallas; I. F. Hoffman, George Lynch, Bernie Mills, Seymour Morris, Ralph Pielow, Budd Rogers, William Smalley, Joe Unger, Myron and Sid Kallet, Bernie Granze, Jules Levy, Morris Wolf. Silver Installed; Turns Over Reins to Goldberg Albany — Tent Nine, Variety Club's first officers, were installed here at a luncheon in the Ten Eyck Hotel yesterday as 150 guests, many of them in town for the Moe Silver testimonial banquet last night, applauded completion of the reorganization procedure. On hand to make the installations were John Harris of Pittsburgh, national president of the Variety Clubs, and James G. Balmer. Silver, now zone manager of War ner Theaters in the Pittsburgh area, was lauded for his work as head of the temporary committee which brought a Variety Club into being in this territory. Installed as the club's first chief barker, Silver announced that he was turning the reins over to Louis R. Golding, Fabian Theater divisional head, who had been named first assistant barker, inasmuch as his duties in the Pittsburgh area would preclude his serving in Albany. Installed along with Silver and Golding, who automatically moves up to chief barker, were Clayton G. Eastman, Paramount branch manager, assistant barker; Herman Ripps, M-G-M branch manager, property master; Charles A. Smakwitz, Warner Theaters district manager, dough guy; and Si. H. Fabian, Fabian Theaters, J. Meyer Schine, Schine Circuit, Gloversville, Moe Grassgreen, 20th Century Fox branch manager, William Smalley, Smalley Circuit, Cooperstown; Sam E. Arnowitz, Albany film attorney and Fred I. Archibald, publisher, Albany Times-Union as canvassmen. Arbitration Results Meager— Kuykendall The arbitration system set up as a result of the New York consent decree has thus far achieved only "meager" results, Ed Kuykendall, MPTOA prexy, declared in a bulletin released here yesterday. Kuykendall, branded the dec: "the light that failed," and asserted that "the stability of supply, economies and price advantages of quantity or wholesale buying are largely destroyed by the new system" (of selling under the decree). In his criticism of the arbitration setup, Kuyknedall declared: "One important advantage of commercial arbitration, denied to us in the decree arbitration system, is the hearing before a "friendly court" composed of those who by personal experience, occupation and training understand the business and the subject matter of the complaint, and thereby are in a position to render an intelligent final decision on its merits without delay or unnecessary expense, employment of counsel to argue the complaint, or appeals to New York for a final decision. "No organized effort is provided to adjust complaints by voluntary agreement prior to fighting it out before the arbitrator, with the exhibitor's lawyer matching wits and arguments with counsel for the distributors and for the other exhibitors. The numerous restrictions in the decree on jurisdiction of the arbitrator, on what complaints can be arbitrated, what exhibitors can arbitrate, what relief can be provided if you win, the uncertainties of appeal on every decision, the cost of fees, transcripts, briefs, and of virtually indispensable legal advice and counsel, discourage the use of this arbitration in place of a lawsuit. The results achieved to date are indeed meager. . . . "Instead of quick, inexpensive method of adjusting complaints, the record indicates that decree arbitration is really slow, uncertain and costly to the industry as a whole, little better than court procedure in any respect, and that the grievance is liable to wind up in court anyhow. The complaints arbitrated are confined almost entirely to clearance and run, but a fair comprehensive zoning plan is impossible to establish by arbitration." OUTOFUMFORM Chicago — Bob Haley, formerly publicity manager for RKO Palace here, has been mustered out of Army service and is now in Kansas City, where he is handling publicity for the Orpheum theater.