The Film Daily (1943)

; timate in Character nternational in Scope independent in Thought DO NOT REMOVEJ The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Twenty-Four Years Old -1FDAILY <i L. 83. NO. 80 NEW YORK, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1943 TEN CENTS ESSENTIAL WORK" ORDER HITS NEW HAVEN 4ew Easter Attendance Records Established usic Hall and Paramount st New Easter Marks; g NationWide Business Easter week-end business on oadway was regarded as the bigBt in history. Mild weather, plus nillion Easter paraders on Sunday, ye the houses on the big stem *nd-out attendance throughout the I Radio City Music Hall broke all :ords for an Easter holiday period. eater grossed $73,000 from Thursy through Sunday with "Flight t Freedom." It was the second ek for the picture which pulled $110,000 the first week. The Broadway Paramount also (Continued on Page 7) Escape" Pix First \ hoice of Iowa Fans Des Moines, la. — Exhibitors here t "escape" movies as the most .•ored fan type at present, but also ik heavy war dramas as a very se second. 3. Ralph Branton, general maner of Tri-States Theaters Corp., ted "Mrs. Miniver" as the top atldance war pic. in Des Moines and (Continued on Page 6) i ass P. R. Bill Putting >c Trade Under D of A <A bill which would virtually place i motion picture industry in Puerto :o under the Department of Agri^ture and Commerce has been ssed by the legislature and now (Continued on Page 7) Sevan, U.S. Air Hero, Is Missing in lotion Springfield, Mass. — Staff Sgt. Donald J. Bevan, AAF, formerly of the Paramount Theater staff, and nephew of Harry Smith, general manager of Western Massachusetts Theaters, Hue, reported missing in action in the European area. He had been awarded the Air Medal with Oak Cluster for earlier conspicuous service. Chieago Loop lit raters Increase Ad Space, Sending Aeivspitper Lineage Figures Skgivard Chicago — Paced by Loop film theaters, which materially increased their use of advertising space, local daily and Sunday newspapers scored theaterlineage gains totaling 80,349 lines in the first quarter of this year. Gains individually ranged from the 1,628 linesof the Sunday Herald-American (Hearst) to the 16,602 lines of the Daily Sun (Marshall Field). Peak lineage figure was reported by the daily Herald-American, with 207,035 lines of amusement and theater copy for the quarter. Sunday Herald-American was low with 36,801 lines. Figures are those of Media Records, Inc. East Not Included ! Deny Goetz-Selznick In Easier 'Gas' Order Take Option on UA Washington Bureau of THE FILM <DAIL¥ Washington — As indicated by The Film Daily yesterday, OPA has eased the restriction on "in-courseof-work" driving, thereby allowing 250 miles. Film salesmen are covered by this order along with thousands of other types of workers who need the additional mileage. Provision has also been made for the increased tire use called for with the additional mileage. The Eastern shortage, area, where (Continued on Page 4) Schine, Norwalk, O., Asks Clearance Elimination Cleveland — Jerome Friedlander, attorney, has filed an arbitration case with the local board in behalf of Schine's Theater in Norwalk. Relief sought is entire elimination of seven days clearance granted to Warners' Ohio Theater, Sandusky, by M-G-M, Paramount and Vita (Continued on Page 6) West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Authentic sources denied a published report that William Goetz and his brother-in-law, David O. Selznick, have taken an option on the ownership of United Artists and pointed out that Mary Pickford and Charles Chaplin would not grant such an option to any person or company. It is known, however, that UA would welcome Goetz into its fold as a producer. Little credence was given to a pub (Continued on Page 8) Commons Librarian Will Talk on Pix Role in War West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — President Walter Wanger of Academy of M P Arts and Sciences, has invited Hilary St. George Saunders, assistant librarian of British House of Commons and combined operations recorder (Continued on Page 6) To Release 'Prelude to War' Plan Has War Dept. 'Loaning' OW1 150 Prints Fights City Amusement Tax As Revealing Biz Volume Portland — F. C. Weskil, pioneer Colfax exhibitor, objects to the proposed city admissions tax principally because it would make public the volume of his business. At a meeting of Colfax city officials, he (Continued on Page 8) Lt. Col. Frank Capra's "Prelude to War," first of the series of "orientation" films originally made by the War Department Special Services for showing to U. S. troops, will be given a theatrical release on May 27, it was jointly announced yesterday by Francis S. Harmon, WAC executive vice-chairman, and Elmer Davis, OWI director. The announce(Continued orv Page 8) Four Film Men Told to Get War Jobs or be Classified In 1-A; Wide Effect Seen Four industry men in the New Haven territory have been ordered to find "essential" jobs within 30 days, thus creating a situation that may have nation-wide effect on theater and exchange operation. The four men affected by the order are Jack Post, booker for the Fishman circuit, New Haven; Philip Gravitz, M-G-M booker; Sam Hadelman, operator of the Capitol and Colonial Theaters, Bridgeport, and George Miller, of the Bailey the (Continued on Page 8) N. J. Allied to Hold Parley at West End Allied Theater Owners of New Jersey will hold its "24th annual conference of showmen-at-war" at the Hollywood Hotel, West End, N. J., on June 29, 30 and July 1, it was decided at a board meeting yesterday. All branches of the industry will be invited to attend the conference. National Allied leaders are expected to attend the sessions. Harry Lowen stein, president of (Continued on Page 4) Victory Gardening New Hot Weather Competition Add exhibitor woes: Suburban operators have already noted adverse effects from the Victory garden movement. Seems that practically everyone with a piece of ground is (Continued on Page 4) Little Change In Portables Setup Number of portable theaters operated in the U. S. has remained virtually constant during the past three years, according to figures in the 1943 FILM DAILY Year Book. Book indicates 466 portables operating on Jan. 1 of this year. Last year there were 468 and, in 1941, 463.