The Film Daily (1929)

THE &IW, DA{LY Friday, October 11, 1929 5,000 THEATERS SEEN REPRESENTED AT MEMPHIS {Continued from Page 1) and he will insist on definite action along this line at the convention. Changes in ownership and personnel are very rapid and are at times bewildering, it is pointed out. Interlocking situations confuse and as these proceed, a lack of business confidence naturally results. A sense of security is essential to the success of any business he believes, and unless the theater owners, who, after all, develop every dollar of revenue in this business, is satisfied, there can be no maximum earning effort. This to a degree accounts for the so-called slump in many places. When a theater owner is dissatisfied he is not a good showman and only good showmen can produce results in this business. "Big bankers, big manufacturing and service corporations are now in control of a considerable part of the picture business, it is stated in an announcement issued. Sonie of these changes from previous ownerships have been brought about with a speed some believe to be hardly in keeping with business conservatism. But that is the way American business frequently operates. Sometimes it may seem better in attaining an ultimate goal to crash through in the march for posse sion and settle the details later. "The 'crashing' has been going on and uncertainty has supplanted confidence in many places, and this is not so good for the business. Those who are directing these movements know what is happening, have definitely in mind what they want, and have their program' for readjustments and developments well in hand. "There is a central figure in all of these mammoth transactions for the control of our great industry. Who is he? He can tell the story which will set doubt at rest, eliminate uncertainty and restore essential business confidence so that his group and all Dthers will get a square deal. "President Lightman is on his .trail. It is to the interest of all concerned — vitally so to thoce having big investments — that the operating forces in theater ownership, who have the only direct contacts with the public, be satisfied. The banker must have this contact in harmonious working order, or he fails to realize his purpose. He may seek to own the theater and be his own contact and if that is the ultimate purpose, let it be known, and handled in a way which will bring about results in as equitable a manner a? possible; for after all, the American public must also be satisfied." P-F-L QUARTERLY NET UP MORE THAN 115% {Continued from Page 1) Paramount, than the profits for the same quarter in 1928. A comparison of the same quarter's earnings for 1927, 1928 and 1929 follows: Third 1929 1928 1927 Quarter's Earnings *$4,600,000 $2,102,000 $2,118,000 Per Share Earnings 'S1.74 1.02 1.13 'Estimated The estimated profits for the first nine months also created a record for the company, being 63% ahead of 1928, the previous record first nine months of the company, and being over One Million Dollars ahead of the full year's njofits for 1928, which was the previous record year in the history of the company. Sound Picture Progress Abroad Rapid, Says Nathan D. Golden This is the second instalment of a series of papers prepared by Nathan D. Golden, assistant chief of the M. P. Division of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, dealing ivith the effects of sound in different countries abroad. This chapter deals with Great Britain and France. GREAT BRITAIN In proportion to the number of theaters, sound motion pictures in this country are progressing as rapidly as in the United States. It is estimated that there are over 4,000 theaters in Great Britain, of which 680 have a seating capacity over 1,000 and 2,231 with seating capacity ranging between 500 aim 1.000. At the present time there are about 400 sound-reproducing installations in the theaters of Great Britain. While this figure is small as compared with the 7,000 or more installations in the United States, other theaters are being equipped as rapidly as the apparatus can be received in Great Britain. The advent of sound pictures has brought about a situation in the Quota System, unlooked for at the time of its framing. It is understood that there is a movement afoot in Great Britain to modify the Film Act, the promulgation of which, 18 months ago, led to the formation of a number of British film companies with the object of producing a large part of Great Britain's requirements. Had the trade developed along expected lines, the formation of these companies would have been justified, and the British industry would have been in a thriving condition. But. nobody dreamed that in the short space of 12 months the demand for pictures would be reduced from 700 features to 300 or 400 per year. The leading theaters in the country have gone in for the talkers almost exclusively, and the silent picture is fast disappearing from the British market. British Producers Reorganizing Their Production Activities Producers in Great Britain are losing no time in reorganizing their studios and reshaping their production schedules to cope with a situation similar to the one that existed in the United States 18 months ago, when all the producers began laying plans for the production of sound pictures on a large scale. British International Pictures has under pro duction its first sound picture. Gainsborough Pictures. Nettlefold, and various other com panies have under actual production sound feature films. The Blattner Sound System which operates entirely different from al' others, the sound being recorded on a metal tape, is to be used by Max Rhinehart in all his feature stage shows. Rhinehart intend" *o include scenes in sound and color film in these productions the first of which is now in process of production. A new company has recently been formed to turn silent films into =vnchronized form, probably with dialogue This firm has secured a studio within easy reach of London, for which a complete American recording ■ apparatus has been ordered A large number of British and other film* which are now being offered as silent fea tures, will thus be available in sound and talking form. Multi-Language Talkers Under Way By Producers Production of talking pictures in several 'ancruages is taking on large proportions British press reports indicate that at the Twinchenham Studios ambitious plans for 'he making of two 100 per cent talking pictures will shortly be under way. They will be made in English. French, and German. the English version by an English director, the French by a French director and the German by a well known German. Another press report informs us of the extensive plans of another producer for the creation of an international talker studio, which is to have 20 stages, to be built near London with the latest devices and manned by the best tech nicians that Great Britain and the world can supply. It is the plan of this multilingual film center to produce the English version of the picture with the continental nroducers present, with whom arrangements for cooperation are to be made. When the English version is completed the first of the=e producers will bring over his native stars and make the talking version for that country. He in turn will be followed by another continental producer, and so on. In this way talkers for France, Italy, Spain. Sweden and other continental nations will be made. By using the same story, sets, costumes, etc., and with each of these continental producers paying his share of the expenditure, it is felt that the cost of production of the first version will be from 30 to 40 per cent lower than for a picture made for Great Britain and Empire distribution only; and at the same time the continental versions will have been produced at correspondingly lower costs. British Market at Present Plentiful With Sound Devices The number of British sound-reproducing apparatuses at present on the market are too numerous to mention. Several of them have proven their interchangeability with American sound pictures, but opinions of those in the trade is ihat they do not have the quality of tonal reproduction credited to our American devices. Prices for the various Englishmade synchronizers range anywhere from $945 to $2,500. FRANCE The development of sound films in France has lieen at a standstill owing to the protracted delay ill settling the regulations for the administration of the French Film Control Decree for the film release season 192930. Coupled with the decision of American distributors to withhold contracts for the 1929-30 product in view of the uncertainty of the number of films which could be imported into the country under the terms of the new French Film Regulations, the leading American sound-film equipment manufacturers, last March, ceased making contracts for the delivery of either recording systems or reproducing apparatus. The fundamental demand expressed by the theater-goers themselves has already forced three of the Boulevard first-run theaters to install sound equipment. Concerning the potential demand for this equipment, however it is safe to predict that it will be severa1 years before there will be as many sound installations in France as there are in the United States at present, in proportion to the population or to the number of theaters. The majority of French exhibitors are either too conservative to try out this invention before their public advises them to do so, or else the investment looks larger to them than it really is. As regards the potentiality of reproducing equipment sales, it is believed by those wel' versed in French film circles that the wiring of a great many houses other than the so called first-runs, will depend upon the sup nly of French dialogue films. Foreign talk ies, either in part or full, or the straightaway sound-synchronized films, will not induce thf owners of these neighborhood and small town cinema* to invest in expensive house wiring. Exhibition leaders in France are outspoken in the'r claims that the provincial cinema-goin;' public generally will not tolerate the substi tution of synchronized sound for orchestra' music; nor will they be expected to absorl foreign dialogue films. American superpro ductions, however, with short dialogue se quences and box-office names, or strictly cound synchronized in manufacture, will con tinuc for a long while to attract capacity aud'ences in French first-runs. At the pres ent time there are about ten theaters in France wired for showing sound pictures, and it is estimated that there are close to 350 theater^ in France with a seating capacity over 1,000 and 1 300 theaters with a capacity from 500 to 1,000 which are potential talkie houses. Two French Studios Now Equipped With Sound Apparatus There are at present but two French studios equipped to record sound-films. These are the Menchen studio at Ep-'nay (just out side Paris), which is controlled by Les Films Sonores Tobis. the French subsidiary of the Tonbild Syndikat of Germany (Tobis) ; and the Gaumont studio in Paris. Although it is said that plans are under way to equip for sound-film purposes the studios at Billancourt and at Neuilly (immediately O'CONNOR AND BURR TO I PRODUCE TOR STATE RIGHTS IVest Coast Bureau, THE FILM DAILY Los Angeles — Frank O'Connor and C. C. Burr have organized Pickwick Pictures here to produce four pictures a year for state rights release through B. & H. C. C. Burr will supervise all production. O'Connor is president and Burr vice president of the newly formed company. Philadelphia Bars "Freedom" "Freedom," the film transcription of the life of Martin Luther, now on view at the Fifth Avenue Playhouse, haas been barred from Philadelphia theaters on the ground that it "will tend to incite to riot," according to word reaching New York. Huey to Manage Publix House Pensacola, Fla. — Bill Huey, former assistant manager of the Riveria, Knoxville, Tenn. has been named as manager of one of the Publix houses here. Talkers for Milton, W. Va. Milton, W. Va. — Sound equipment has been installed at the Picture Garden. Britt Thomas has purchased an interest in the house and now is sssociated with M. Ryalls in its operation. adjacent to Paris) the information, however, is not authentic. While no American recording enuipments have been delivered in France to date it is felt certain that, with the settlement of the French film controversy and the resumption of trade activities of American interests, several orders for recording equipment will be placed with American companies. The only equipment announced as available for purchase in France is ToVs-Klangfi'm. This recording apparatus is installed at :he Menchen studio, but so far nothing from this studio has been exhibited. The Petersen-Poulsen System, a Scandinavian invention, which is being fostered in France by the Gaumont Company, has been used more extensively for short films, one feature is also known to have been released. In this system, sound is recorded on a second fi'm, similar to that of Br'tish Acoustics. The results have not been satisfactory, according to this trade and little hope is he'd that the system will be much in favor. The Cinevox process is being sponsored by a well-known French producer and distributor, but little is said about this system, except that it is sound-on-film; it should offer no real comnetition for American outfits. In view of the unsatisfactory credit conditions in film circles, and the heavy demands made on sales of recording equipments, :t is probable that only the few larger producers will be able to contract for the exnensive American installations. So far as the numerous smaller producers are concerned, they will either be obliged to rent space in equipped studios, or to confine their activities to silent film production as in the past. Sound Devices Not Crowding French Market Several American companies and representatives of Tobis, Petersen-Poulsen Cinevox, and Melovox are in the French market for sales or reproduction equipment. The Thomson-Houston Company is advertising a non-synchronous reproduction device; companies selling the Bona apparatus, Ampliphonaubert, Survox, Erkaphototone, and Synchrophone are reported to be in the formative stage. Subsequent instalment of N. D. Golden's paper regarding sound situations in other foreign countries will appear in a later issue of THE FILM DAILY.