The Film Daily (1934)

Intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought The Da ly N ewspc i p er Of Mo t i o n Pict u res Now Si> :teen Years Old VOL. LXV. NC. 2C NEW y©!2K, WEDNESDAY, JANliACY 24, 1934 5 CENT/ Salary Probe "Secondary", Rosenblatt Tells Coast CODE MACHINERY SOON SET TO START FUNCTIONING Photophone to Protect Licensees in Tri Ergon Action RCA Expects High Court to Rule Favorably on Patent In answer to inquiries from exhibitors regarding the letter sent them by American Tri-Ergon Corp. as a result of the Scranton district court decision upholding its flywheel patent, the Photophone Division of RCA Victor Co. has written all its licensees assuring them that they wi'l be protected under their sound contracts, and intimating that TriErgon is unlikely to be upheld in {Continued on Page 7) ERPI LICENSEES ALSO PROTECTED Electrical Research Products is re-assuring its exhibitor licensees that it will protect them, up to the amount of their investment, in event appeals taken from the Scranton U. S. District Court decision, finding infringement upon flywheel patents controlled by American TriErgon Corp., are lost. Exceptions to this protection occur in a number of recently-made Erpi contracts in which exhibitors, in consideration (.Continued on Page 7) Business 10% Improved On A. E. Lichtman Circuit Business over the Lichtman circuit in the District of Columbia and Virginia this month is between 10 and 15 per cent better than a year ago, A. E. Lichtman told The Film Daily yesterday in New York. He (Continued on Page 7) Lobby Singers Click Chicago — Management of the Southtown, Balaban & Katz house, has found lobby singers a popular feature with patrons. They have a popular singing team, Allison and Fields, appearing in the lobby and they have made such a hit the policy has been adopted as a permanent one. NRA Still in Dark on Allied's Suit Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — General Johnson up to last night had received no official notification of a suit filed against the Code Authority by Allied, he stated. Other NRA officials likewise had no notice of it. No comment was made. Definite plans for the meeting of all Code Authorities here late next month are now being worked out, Johnson stated. PHILLY MPTO URGES FULL ASSENT ON CODE Philadelphia — At a meeting at which Lewen Pizor was re-elected president, the M.P.T.O. of Eastern Penna., Southern N. J. and Del. yesterday urged its members to sign code assents without qualifications. Other officers for the ensuing year were named as follows: vice-presi (Continued 011 Page 6) M.P.T.O.A. Convention Scheduled for April 10 Tentative date for opening of the annual M. P. T. 0. A. convention in Los Angeles has been set as April 10, President Ed Kuykendall stated yesterday upon his arrival in New York from the South. The gathering, which will run four days, will take the form of an industry convention, at which various problems arising from the code will be considered by members of all groups, and ways determined for more effective compliance with the NRA. HOBLITZELLE JOINS PARA. THEATER BOARD Karl Hoblitzelle is the third appointee on Paramount's theater operating advisory committee, it was announced yesterday by Ralph A. Kohn. Hoblitzelle, who joins E. V. Richards and N. L. Nathanson, was chosen at last week's Dallas meeting which also was attended by Joe Clemmons, Saul Gordon, John Fannin, M. A. Lightman, W. J. Lvtle, M. S. McCord, Harry Nace, Bob O'Donnell, E. V. Richards, H. B. Robb and Ed Rowley. Lighting Firms Merge; Charles Ross as President Charles Ross, president of the Motion Picture Service Co., largest lighting equipment company in the east, announces the consolidation of his firm with Motion Picture Lighting Co. of Long Island City, controlled by M. W. Palmer and H. D. (Continued on Page 6) Study of Producer Practices Rosenblatt's Chief Aim on Coast ITOA Wage Scale Issue Expected to Go to NRA Belief that the negotiations for a basic wage scale between Local 306 and the Independent Theater Owners Ass'n will be thrown into the lap of the NRA Labor Board in ten days because of the hopelessness of reaching any satisfactory agreement was expressed yesterday at the (Continued on Page 7) By RALPH WILK West Coast Manager of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Division Administrator Sol A. Rosenblatt is "primarily concerned with what are fair or unfair methods of competition between producers in obtaining the services of stars and other valuable employes," he declared yesterday on his arrival from the east. The matter of allegedly excessive salaries is "of secondary importance," he (Continued on Page 8) 4,502 Exhibitor Assents Already in, Says Code Authority at Meet Work of setting up the motion picture code machinery went forward at a meeting of the Code Authority yesterday when announcement was made that unqualified assents received so far from exhibitors total 4,502. Sixty distributors have returned unqualified notices of compliance and 29 producers, virtually including all major companies, have also signified complete assent, it was stated. Deadline for filing assents is Jan. 31. Nominations received for local zoning and grievance boards and secretaries total 930. Posts to be (Continued on Page 8) ALLIED GOT RULING ON QUALIFIED ASSENT In a retort to the statement of Ed Kuykendall, M.P.T.O.A. president, that Allied had been misleading exhibitors with advice that they could appeal to code boards even though they did not sign 100 per cent code assents, Sidney E. Sam(Continued on Page 8) Firnkoess Joins Warners In District Manager Post Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — John Firnkoess, formerly with RKO as division manager in Ohio, has joined the Warner circuit as district manager for Virginia and Maryland, it is announced by John J. Payette, general zone manager here. NRA Orders 6 Rehired Reinstatement of six discharged theater employes was ordered yesterday by Ben Golden, executive secretary of the NRA Regional Labor Board, after hearing complaints by the Theater & Amusement Employes Union charging that circuits were discriminating against employes who joined the union.