The Film Daily (1928)

Kennedy Signs for Five Years with First National ('/FILMDOM AHDWEEKLY FILM DIGEST DL. XLV No. 36 Sunday, August 12, 1928 Price 25 Cents FORECAST BY TELEVISION Pittsburgh^ — Revolution of entertnment is predicted here by Merlin 'jill Aynesworth, president of the I'ltional Broadcasting Co., following cmonstration of television developed t Dr. Frank Conrad of the Westiifhouse Electric and Manufacturi,r Co. Regular broadcasting of tevision pictures is planned in a fv weeks by KDKA, Westinghouse badcasting station. ,rhe experiment here Aynesworth ciracterizes as "an interesting deyopment which holds great promi,' for the future in the fields of ectrical transmission of sound and vion." OV'T TO REGULATE PICTURE TRANSMISSION 1 shington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY A'^ashington — Commissioner O. H. (Idwell and Harold Lafont have bin designated to draft regulations gi^erning the radio transmission of t'tures. This step has been taken t the government because it is feare that extensive use of picture t'nsmission may seriously interfere v;h reception of audible programs. I is possible that a ban may be r|,ced on radio pictures. ladio Pictures Fail to Worry Studios on Coast i.st Coa<t Bureau, THE HLM DAILY iollywood — Studios here refuse to b worried by advent of radio pict'-es. Few here see television as a sious competitor of the theaters. "'(:il B. de Mille says that not only *' size and method of presenting jptures in the home but the psyjp,)logy of the theater will preclude 3V great reduction of attendance ' ause of radio pictures. i ( irine Auditorium in L.A. 5 World's Largest House 1st Coast Bureau. THE FILM DAILY 'OS Angeles — This city now has t world's largest picture theater ven the Shrine Auditorium opened ';fday, dumping 457 additional s ts into the already overseated sityjion here. "Dressed to Kill" and ' le Fair Co-Ed" were doubleI'lured the opening week. Evening s ws and Saturday and Sunday •'tinees are the house's policy. DERR TO HANDLE OPERATION OF F. N. UNDER JOE KENNEDY British Fearful London (By Cable) — A period of stagnation is faced by British distributors in the opinion of "The Film Renter," because of the new film law, which reduces advance booking to six months in two years. A number of small independents may be forced out of business, because of the law, the paper believes. Advance busing is limited to nine months starting Oct. 1. SEES MANY MERGERS IN TALKING PICTURE FIELD A cycle of mergers in the sound picture field is predicted by "The Wall Street Journal" which finds that the welter of gossip surrounding picture companies and the talking movies is getting so involved, including consolidations and new inventions, that the Street has a hard (Continued on Page 4) BUHERFIELD SEES COST AS DETERMINING RENTALS Detroit — Negative cost will be the determining factor in picture rentals, regardless of quality, in the opinion of W. S. Butterfield, operator of a circuit of Michigan houses. "When a producer has a 100 per cent customer, no matter whether it is a circuit of theaters in which they are financially interested, or only a lone exhibitor who is taking 100 per (Continued on Page 4) American Seat. Net Drops From $236,869 to $36,951 Net income of $36,951, after charges, before Federal taxes, is reported by American Seating Co. for the first six months, ended June 30, 1928. This is equivalent to 16 cents a share on the 230,000 shares of capital stock outstanding, as compared with $236,869, or $1.29 a share during the same period one year ago. Sales for the first six months of this vear totaled $3,305,037, against $3,652,894 in the first half of 1927. Option to Buy 25 Per Cent Interest Within 5 Years Held by Kennedy Joseph P. Kennedy will direct affairs of First National for five years, under terms of a contract signed yesterday. E. B. Derr, secretary and treasurer of FBO, is to be in charge of operations of the company. The Kennedy contract was closed at a meeting of company directors in New York. Kennedy, as previously stated, has an option to buy a 25 per cent interest in the company any time within period of the contract. Production economies instituted at the studios, where a 40 per cent reduction in negative costs is planned, were outlined at the meeting by Kennedy, who has just returned from the Coast. Turning Back the Calendar MONDAY : It started when a lot of us wore short pants. If the past establishes a basis on which to judge the future, who knows if there will be a witness alive to take the stand in the Government's block booking case against Paramount. You'd be surprised the obstacles Paramount's legal artillery can throw in the path of the opposing Federal forces. Looked last week as if this block booking action, which, in its broader aspects, involves the whole industry, would reach the docket in a hurry. But it appears slightly dififerent now. And, after all is said and done. Paramount is priming itself to quit only when ihe Supreme Court of the land is reached. If and when the tribunal of last appeal rules against block booking the company will accept. You should count the years ! . . . Your staid, conservative Englishman may not be spurred into decision as quickly as his American cousin, but once J. Bull gets started, he carries on. Which draws attention to the state of aflfairs in Lunnon town where the panic toward sound is fast grasping hold. This company and that will use device thus and so. If you think this market is cluttering itself with a lot of equipments which only an encyclopedia can keep straight, take a peek at what's going in London. {Continued on Page 3) EXPECT FOX STOCK TO EARN $3^5 A SHARE Earnings of Fox Film Corp. for the six months ended June 30 last, will aggregate about $3.25 a share on the combined 767,216 shares of "A" and "B" common, according to "The Wall Street News" which predicts that "for the third quarter. Fox Film will experience profits equal to around $2 a share on the common stock, and net income for the fourth quarter will show a material advance over that of anv three months of "28.'' Columbia Plans "Scarlet Lady" as First Roadshow Columbia is planning to roadshow "The Scarlet Lady," Lya de Putti starring vehicle, which is to open Aug. 14 for a run at the Embassy, New York. This will be the first picture roadshowed by the company. 5 Fox '^Talkers" West Coast Bur. THE FILM DAILY Hollywood— By Jan. 1, 1929, Fox Will have completed five all-talking pictures. It is expected that long before that date, plans will be ready for future so^md film production.