The Film Daily (1928)

February 16, 1928 —JXI^ DAILY BLIND AND BLOCK ING BAN IS OUTLINED the second of a series of urveying the British film prepared by the M. P. Sece Dept. of Commerce, from Assistant Trade CommisGrant Isaacs, London. itish films act has briefly cts — to prevent blind bookevent block booking and to le showing of a fixed and increasing proportion of ictures on the screens of itain. The act deals with king as follows: up a system of registration, to be administered by the trade, and starting Jan. 1, libited anyone from entering anjigrecment to rent any new re iless it has been registered, do not apply to pictures which '^"'1 shown (either to the trade blic) before start of the act. ire cannot be registered unbeen trade shown, this preid booking. deals with block booking by pro Ixioking of any picture for more ed period in advance of the date ing agreement. The period is a .il.yilecreasing one, viz: r aeements made before 3<^, 1928 12 months r MMments made betvreen Tctl, 1928, and Oct. 1, 9 months cements made after . 1930 6 months of this provision, coupled with at blind booking, will be that the will be able to dispose of picare actually made and available and he will not be able to book exhibitor in numbers which will last date on the list go beyond specified in the act. In this way ng will be prevented and block luced to "reasonable properties." Tl Stl l,s. ■lino 'as ex se; 'ee' tl the [e< bar Hope Seen For X Cuts This Year ontinued from Page 1) for $65,000,000 more than set by the treasury, and opriations this year will be ally heavy, greater danger, however, Republican point of view, ill the threat of the Demoattach a tariff provision to f it ever gets on the floor nate. Such a provision, it d, might be forced through, action would result in the the measure by the Presit is this, the Democrats vhich will keep the bill in e until next session. oolidge in Favor of Tax ons at Present Session t Bureau of THE FILM DAILY ngton — Pres. Coolidge wants cts tax reduction at the preson of Congress. He is said :hat Congress should follow treasury's recommendations Proposed tax cut. es not feel, it is claimed, that reduction program has been ied by the delay until DAILY TIPS vnoCU MEAN DOUAOS FOR SHOWMEN "Her Wild Oat" (First Nat'l There is in Hollywood an old swaybacked nag, a film "actor" who has only to appear on the screen to get a laugh. The horse has been seen in many a feature picture. Arranged to use this horse as a ballyhoo "artist." Hitched to a "skeletonized" buggy, the horse was driven about and got a laugh from every passerby. People invariably waited for the horse and buggy to pass so they could read the banner advertising "Her Wild Oat" which was tacked to the back of the seat and to the rear axle. — Milt Arthur, Figeroa, Los Angeles. "Les Miserables" (Universal) For two hours around noon when the factories were at recess and when the greatest number of people were on streets, a trolley car was used to broadside the Victor Hugo classic during its run. Never before in VVaterbury had a street car been used for this piirpose and the huge signs on either side of it created quite a sensation. — M. Leggerio, Rialto, Waterbury, Conn. "Love" (M-G-M) A shadow box was made up to contain a one-sheet mat set off by a black border with a small platform at the bottom. The box itself was entirely black and small torch lamps appeared on either side. In the place for the mat was a cardboard piece with the letters of the stars and title cut-out and backed by colored paper. The word "Love" was in red letters which appeared to be in flame due to shadow effects from an electric fan blowing streamers. Another light was used to illuminate the stars' names. This was on a flasher button which added considerably to its appearance.— T. R. Earl, Imperial, Asheville, N. C. "The Patent Leather Kid" (First Nat'l) Love interest rather than war angle was emphasized in the advertising which was begun with a series of 50-line single-column teaser ads a week in advance. Even in the publicity stories, which began to appear on the same day, romance and love theme were stressed as much as possible. At the request of picture editors two long feature articles were prepared on the history of the tanks, and a description of the making of the battle scenes. Advantage was taken of the fact that the Wampas had elected Molly O'Day one of its baby stars for 1928, and several stories on her were published. — Metropolitan, Washington, D. C. Rowland Leaves for Coast Richard A. Rowland, general and production manager and his assistant, Ralph D. Poucher, of First National, left yesterday for the Coast. BRANDT FINDS EXHIBITORS FAVORING INDEPENDENTS Breakdown of exhibitor apathy toward independent product, providing in measures up from the standpoint of quality, is reported by Joe Brandt, who says Columbia is writing more business this year than ever before in its history. The company, which hit its stride last year in a sensational rise to prominence, is convinced it is on the right track, and will continue under the policy outlined by Brandt. This is due to the fact that exhibitors are ready to "say it with playdates" so far as the independent is coacerned, provided he can "deliver the goods." Syracuse Seen Facing Bitter Patronage War (Continued from Page 1) lina St., and a $125,000 theater on the same street near Warner Ave. "It is certain that none of the established theaters intend to sit idly by and sufifer a loss of business," Bahn states, "whether that loss be fatal or otherwise. Local managements have already started to entrench, witness program additions and innovations. The struggle, of course, is not one for interests with small financial resources. They cannot long withstand the double attack from lowered receipts and increased expenditures." M-G-M Delegates Report Sales Jump (Continued from Page 1) pected, they stated. Arthur Loew is chairman of the meetings. The delegates were welcomed by Nicholas M. Schenck, president of the company, and by Gov. Carl E. Milliken. representing Will H. Hays. David Bernstein of Loew's, Howard Dietz, W. F. Rogers, and William Orr of M-G-M, were among home office executives who addressed the conference. Foreign delegates who made reports are: Allen M. Byre. France; P. M. Brinch, Central Europe: F. Currioni, Italy; Raoul LeMat, Sweden; J. C. -Squier, England; Benjamin Fineberg, Brazil; George Forman, Chile; J. J. Letsch, Belgium, F. L. D. Strengholt, Holland. o Exhibitors Daily ReminOer Prepare special numbers for Washington* s Birthday Thursday, Feb. 16, 1928 ';!|.::: Four Fox Specials on Broadway Soon (Continued from Page 1) its run while at the Times Square, "Sunrise" continues. The pictures will have special prerelease runs in key cities. In this connection, it is reported a deal has been made with the Shuberts for theaters. Fulton Starts Expansion; Handling German Machine (Continued from Page 1) German projector. The machine, it is stated, will be mantjfactured in this country under supervision of German engineers, and will retail for a price equivalent to that of the Powers, Simplex and Motiograph. Billionth of Second Photo Tested in Experiments New Haven, Conn.--Photographs with exposures of a billionth of a second Ire claipied possible with a camera being developed at the Sloane Physics Laboratory. A revolving disc has been devised which attains a speed of 360,000 revolutions per minute, said to be the greatest velocity ever attained. This disc is being used to study extremely short flashes of light. WANTED First class cartocn comedy animator. For interview write letter stating experience, salary and all other informiation. WINKLER PICTURES 220 West 42nd Street New York