The Film Daily (1924)

^« brAastreet iif FILMDOM ^recochizei Authority XXX No. 2 Thursday, October 2, 1924 Price 5 Cents blasts; By DANNY ire are coming these days. what the Michigan M. P. circular says. About "play ' And the "understand reached by large distrib As to corralling these. ; e they know something out lichigan. They're a lot of (t\' smart boys out there. But '■re is any "understanding" t to get business. And hold It is pretty hard to find ' old Broadway. reason the larger concerns are ■ lay dates is simple. Experilas proven this: that unless ates come in with contracts ■rage cost of selling is way 1 per cent. And no distribm operate with such an exBlock booking with play •'•res isn't an easy matter. It's ty hard for an exhibitor to I and arrange dates for a i^e quantity of bookings. But larger concerns insist on b^ck bookings. And their anser as to why is simple: they they cannot do business oierwise. •* us tried the idea. Of selling by picture. But gave it up. a costly experiment. The oncerns usually have learned iing picture by picture doesn't nd so block booking has come In large and small blocks. ^ may be all right from the dis r angle. Even if the exhibit i is otherwise. But what be tbe expense of sc.ling. Plus g play dates. Plus some other 5. Such as allocation of pro tc. This entire distribution oks sick. nd on top of all this comes howl. From exhibitors. As vhat the independent (?) ributors do. To them, in they get a chance. The akigan crowd talks about And in the same mail et a yelp. From C. C. fin. Way out in Oakland, f. says the independents. Want (Continued on Page 2) Old Tickets Good Exhibitors Can Consume Supply On Hand, Under New Treasury Department Ruling Washington The Treasury Department has removed the expiration limit on the use of tickets printed by exhibitors before the admission tax up to 50 cents was removed. Exhibitors can now sell the old form of ticket until their present supplies are exhausted. The extension is made known in a letter sent by Deputy Commissioner R. M. Estes to the M. P. Prod, and Dist. Ass'n in New York, which reads in part: "You are now advised that the time limit on the use of these tickets has been removed. Theater proprietors having on hand tickets of admission (.Continued on Page 2) Lloyd-Famous Reports drifted in New York from the Coast yesterday to the effect that Harold Lloyd had made some sort of an arrangement with J. D. Williams and that at the expiration of the existing contract, with Pathe that Lloyd would release through Famous Players. The Davises Coming from England (Special to THE FILM DAILY) London — Israel Davis, proprietor of the Marble Arch Pavilion and other important English theaters, together with his son, Capt. Edward Davis has left for the States on the Baltic. They will remain in New York two weeks, make an extended trip through America and end in Los Angeles for a three weeks' sojourn. The Baltic is due in New York on iviondav. Hall to Remain Here Frederick Mordannt Hall, wellknown and well liked motion picture editor of the New York Times will remain in this country permanently. He has abandoned his intention of going to London to handle publicity for the Capitol, the new WoodsBlumenthal picture theater now being built. Selznick Revamped New Company Forming Out of the Old— Two Year Note Holders Figure In It W. C. J. Doolittle, president of Selznick yesterday announced completion of tentative plans for the organization of a new company "to finance, deal in and distribute motion pictures." In the new company, the note holders and other parties interested in the Selznick Dist. Corp. will receive recognition and be allowed to participate. The company expects to start with $500,000 fresh capital and an additional $500 000 authorized; and expects to fund for ten years the existing Selznick notes, tt is expected that the new capital will l)e devoted mainly to financing nevv prodtictions for distribution through Selznick. Doolittle made it plain that the new company was to be a permanent org.Tnization. entirely separate from (Continued on Page 2) 'Agreement' Unknown No Knowledge Here of Reported "Understanding" Among Producers on Play Dates Word from Michigan indicating that a "certain group of producers are reported to be in a perfect understanding and are making a determined effort to corral play dates" found no echoing response in New York yesterday. Inquiries made from the more important sales managers were not productive of results. In all cases, the assertion made by the Michigan M. P. T. O. was openly discounted by everyone approached. One official at Famous declared he didn't think the matter of sufficient serious import to warrant a statement from the company. At First National, it was learned that both R. A. Rowland and E. A. Eschmann had received telegrams on the block booking situation from H. M. Richey. (Continued on Page 4) Goin^ Ahead Paul Lazarus' Withdrawal from Imperial Won't Interfere With Plans, Says A. C. Herman Abe C. Bcrman declared yesterday that the withdrawal of Paul M. Lazarus president of Imperial Pictures will make no difference in the plans of that company. A meeting of the hoard of directors will be held some time this week to select Lazarus' successor. Berman stated production plans are making satisfactory progress and that the first picture will be placed in work shortly. The original plan called "The Desert Healer" as the initial production. "The Thief" May Close Oct. 18 "The Thief of Bagdad" which was booked at the Liberty for six months was due to close on Sept. 18. Arrangements were made to extend one month. Therefore, unless some other theater can be found, the picture will close Oct. 18, after a rtm of 32 weeks. F. B. O. Theater Deal Closed F. B. O. has contracted with the Bethlehem Engineering Corp. builders of the eighteen story office building at 1556-1560 Broadway and 159165 W. 46th St., to include a 600 seat theater in the structure. The lease will run for IS years at an annual rental of $80,000. Exclusive announcement of the proposed theater was made in THE FILM DAILY on Sept. 26. Tyiey Resigns Editor of Kine. Weekly Leaves English Publication, Following Split on Editorial Policy (Special to THE FILM DAILY) London — Frank A. Tilley, editor of Kinematograph Weekly for some time has resigned, owing to a difference of opinion on editorial police'. Tilley's stand on the .'Knglo-American question has been featured in recent numbers of Kine. Wceklv. Manv years ago he declared that the worth while pictures of the future would be the result of a combination of the creative skill of the two comitries. His new affiliation will be announced in two weeks. Loew's State Leads in Value The Department of Taxes and Assessments yesterday issued its assessment values on city property. Heading the list of picture theaters is Loew's State with an appraised valuation of $4,150,000. The Capitol is iield at $2,050,000; Criterion, $3,580.000; Rialto $2,150,000; Rivoli, $1,440,000 and Strand, $3,025,000. The "Potash" Contract Tt is understood that "In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter" is the last Potash picture to be delivered to First National by Samuel Goldwyn under the present contract. Orient Never Better Far Eastern Buyers Paying Better Prices — Japan in Theater Build ing Frenzy, Says H. T. Clarke With 175 000 miles of Oriental territory behind him, 35,000 of which he covered in the past nine months in the interest of First National, Horace T. Clarke, Far Eastern representative of the organization now (Continued on Page 7)