The Film Daily (1941)

w DAILY Wednesday, December 31, 194lj Exhibitor Forums in Memphis, St. Louis (Continued from Page 1) efforts is more apparent than ever and that the sessions will be unusually timely. The Memphis forum will be held at the Peabody Hotel. The St. Louis meeting will be at the Coronado. Richey has sent invitations to approximately 1,000 exhibitors in the two territories. Co-sponsors in Memphis will be R. X. Williams and M. A. Lightman. Fred Wehrenberg will assist in the St. Louis forum. Success of the first forum at Columbus is expected to be repeated at the coming sessions. Speakers will include Joseph X. Gooris, western sales manager of the Bureau of Advertising of the American Newspaper Publishers Association, who will give an illustrated talk on "Some Broad Points of Newspaper Advertising"; Besa Short, of the Interstate Circuit of Texas, who will lead a round table discussion on merchandising the junior features; Billy Ferguson who will discuss exploitation ideas and present samples of 80 proven aids; Ed Salzberg, Bluefield, W. Va., exhibitor, who will discuss closer contact with the community. Richey will preside at all sessions. He will be assisted in St. Louis by Branch Manager J. Frank Willingham and in Memphis by J. X. Quinn, branch manager. A luncheon in honor of Jack Quinn, recently appointed Central division manager, will be held in St. Louis. Mike Simons will handle details. •k Happy New Year! -k Blackburn to Co-ordinate Coast Pix Red Cross Drive (Continued from Page 1) yesterday was appointed co-ordinator between the film industry and the American Red Cross for the war relief drive which H. M. Warner will head in Hollywood. Blackburn was designated at a conference yesterday attended by Norman Davis, Sloan Color and G. Stewart Brown of the Red Cross, Edward Arnold, of the SPG, William German and Harry Maizlish. •k Happy New Year! -k First MPICC Parley In New York Jan. 21 (Continued from Page 1) be formed and chairmen appointed by that time. The general committee, composed of industrial leaders in the exhibition and distribution branches, is expected to put in motion the various points agreed upon at the organizing meeting in Chicago earlier this month. •k Happy New Year! -k Metro Buys Two Stories West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Metro has acquired "The Stranger" by Clarence Upson Young and "Comin' at You" by Borden Chase. Wf N.Y. Film Critics Pick "Kane Ford, Cooper and Fontaine Also Get Awards (Continued from Page 1) top actress for her work in "Suspicion." John Ford, last year's winner, was selected as 1941's leading director for his work on "How Green Was My Valley," his last assignment before taking up his post as commander in the Navy. Orson Welles was runner-up for the bestdirection award. Awards at Private Dinner Welles, producer and star as well as director of the winning film, which was released by RKO Radio Pictures, will be awarded the New York Film Critics' bronze plaque at a private dinner to be given by the reviewers on Jan. 10 at Leone's Wine Cellar. Annual cocktail party which usually marks the event has been cancelled because of the war. Plans for a Coast-to-Coast broadcast, including scenes from the winning film, are being made, however. Cooper, Miss Fontaine and Commander Ford will be awarded parchment scrolls, but none has yet indicated whether he or she can accept the awards in person. The critics voted Monday afternoon in the private dining room at the N. Y. Times. Eighteen members cast votes, two of them by proxies. "Citizen Kane," on the sixth and final ballot of tbe poll to name the year's best picture, won 10 votes. "How Green Was My Valley," the 20th Century-Fox production of the Richard Llewellyn novel, was the runner-up with seven votes. The only remaining vote was cast for "Sergeant York," Warners' biography of the World War hero. New Rule Limited Balloting Under a new rule to limit balloting, the two-thirds majority requirement was suspended after the fifth ballot, and the candidate with the greatest number of votes on the sixth ballot was declared winner. Candidates polling only one vote on a second ballot were automatically eliminated. Last year's acting awards went to Katharine Hepburn for "The Philadelphia Story" and to Charlie Chaplin, who did not accept, for "The Great Dictator." The best film of 1940 was Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath." "Wuthering Heights" was the prize-winner in 1939. There was neither a best-foreignfilm award nor a special-recognition award offered this year as there had been in previous years. Gary Cooper polled 14 votes, more than the two-thirds majority, on the initial ballot while Orson Welles drew two for his portrayal of Citizen Kane, and Robert Montgomery and Cary Grant drew one each for their characterizations in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and "Suspicion," respectively. Fontaine Won on Fifth Ballot Miss Fontaine won a two-thirds majority on the fifth ballot, her sister, Olivia de Havilland, polling three votes as her closest competitor. On the third ballot Miss Fontaine and Miss de Havilland were tied with six votes each. Miss de Havilland was a candidate on the basis of her appearance in "Hold Back the Dawn." Greta Garbo and Dorothy Comingore, the former for her acting in "Two-Faced Woman," the latter for her role as the second Mrs. Kane in the Welles picture, were also represented in the final ballot. Other candidates in the best-film balloting, in addition to "Citizen Kane," "Sergeant York" and "How Green Was My Valley," were: "The Stars Look Down," "The Little Foxes," "Lady Eve," "Blossoms in the Dust," "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and "Major Barbara." In the best-direction group, which was decided on the sixth ballot, Ford polled 10 to Welles' eight, the closest contest in the voting. Other directors nominated on the first ballot were: John Huston for "The Maltese Falcon," three votes; Howard Hawks for "Sergeant York," two votes, and one vote each for Alfred Hitchcock for "Suspicion," Carol Reed for "The Stars Look Down," and Alexander Hall for "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." Preston Sturges drew two votes on the second ballot for "Lady Eve," Ford and Welles were tied with five votes each on the first ballot, Ford gaining a lead of three on the second count. Among the actresses considered on the first ballot in that classification, Bette Davis in "The Little Foxes" and Joan Crawford in "A Woman's Face" drew two votes each. Represented with one vote each were Sara Allgood for "How Green Was My Valley," Ida Lupino for "Ladies in Retirement," "Claudette Colbert for "Remember the Day" and Vivien Leigh for "That Hamilton Woman." Miss Comingore and Miss Fontaine had three each in the first tally and Miss Garbo and Miss de Havilland had two each. 18 Met. Reviewers Voted The eighteen reviewers from metropolitan New York papers who voted are: Cecelia Ager, PM; Howard Barnes, Herald-Tribune; William Boehnel, World-Telegram; Kate Cameron, Daily News; Herbert Cohn, Eagle, secretary; Bosley Crowther, Times; Wanda Hale, Daily News; Louise Levitas, PM; Dorothy Masters, Daily News; Leo Mishkin, Morning Telegraph, president; Rose Pelswick, JournalAmerican, David Piatt, Daily Worker; Edgar Price, Citizen; Thomas M. Pryor, Times; Theodore Strauss, Times, and Irene Thirer, Post. Robert W. Dana of the Herald-Tribune and Archer Winsten of the Post voted by proxy. 300 N. E. Theaters Join Dimes Drive (Continued from Page lj for the industry's 1942 March of Dime campaign. M. J. Mullin, NewEngland chairman, reports over 300 theaters enrolled in that section to make lobby collections Jan. 22-23. Mullin's county chairmen inckj^' MAINE: C. J. Russell, Bangor r^-. Stoddard, Houlton; Charles Brooks, Ashland. MASSACHUSETTS: Hy Fine, Boston; J. Goodwin, Lynn; R. Sternberg, Boston; F. McManus, Brighton; H. Wasserman, Mattapan; John J. Ford, Boston; A. Garbose, Athol; Mr. Peterson, Boston; Nathan Goldstein, Springfield; Louis M. Gordon, Boston; Irving Green, Watertown; Max Melincoff, Boston; Charles E. Kurtzman, Boston; Samuel J. Kurzon, Boston; Max L. Levenson, Boston; E. M. Loew, Boston; Francis C. Lydon, Dorchester; Joseph Mathieu, Winchendon; Harry McDonald, Boston; George A. Ramsdell, Maiden; Herman Rifkin, Boston; Charles Morse, Boston; Philip Smith, Boston; Ralph E. Snider, Boston; Al Somerby, Boston; E. Harold Stoneman, Boston. RHODE ISLAND: W. Spragg, Pawtucket. CONNECTICUT: Harry F. Shaw, New Haven. NEW HAMPSHIRE: John B. Eames, Littleton; E. Fahey, Manchester. •k Happy New Year! -k Coplan Takes UA Can. Spot; Col. Names Glazer (Continued from Page 1) who is resigning as UA's Canadian general manager after an association of 19 years. Coplan joined Columbia in Detroit in 1926, later becoming Montreal manager and shifting to Toronto in 1932. He also is a member of the National Film Board of the Canadian Government. Glazer joined UA as a salesman in 1923, having been formerly with Regal Films. ■k Happy New Year! -k Astor and Criterion Open All Night New Year's Eve The Astor Theater, playing "The Shanghai Gesture," and the Criterion playing "Sundown," both United Artists releases, will remain open all night tonights — New Year's Eve — it was announced late yesterday. •k Happy New Year! -k Producers Offer SPG Ten Per Cent Pay Jump West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Producers' counterproposal to the Screen Publicists Guild's request for a 25 per cent increase is 10 per cent on basis of salaries effective Jan. 5, 1942.