The Film Daily (1938)

n This Issue: Industry Drive News front ^y^ywhere OV|[^ Page 7) The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Twenty Years Old NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1938 TEN CENTS olitical Situation In Europe Is Big Industry Problem EXPECT MOVIE QUIZ TO PULL 8,000,000 ANSWERS National Theaters May Drop Giveaways at Early Date :WC's Experiment With Elimination Successful, Says Circuit Head "Giveaways have been completely [eliminated throughout the entire I Fox West Coast chain, with their elimination probable throughout the ■ entire National Theaters circuit in the near future as the results of this move have been most encouraging," Spyros Skouras, president of NT, told The Film Daily yesterday. "Business has not been hurt; it has held its own or has been better (Continued on Poor t) LOCAL 306 TO ABSORB MEMBERS OF EMPIRE? Negotiations between Local 306, operators' union, the Century Circuit and Empire State Motion Picture Operators' Union, an independent organization, looking to Empire's absorption by Local 306, with its members retaining their jobs throughout the Century Circuit, may be concluded within the (.Continued on Page 8) Kent to Coast Saturday; Two-Week Stay Expected Sidney R. Kent, president of 20thFox, leaves for the Coast Saturday for conferences at the studio with Darryl F. Zanuck, production head, and Joseph M. Schenck, board chairman. Kent will probably look over (Continued on Page 8) Century Board Meets Today To Name Schwartz Successor Board of directors of the Century Circuit is scheduled to meet this afternoon for the purpose of electing a successor to the late A. H. Schwartz, president, who died Friday at Lake Placid. Two men loom as possibilities for (Continued on Page 7) Broadway, Hollywood Blvd. tit Exchange Broadway becomes Hollywood Boulevard for one hour tomorrow when Borough President Stanley M. Isaacs formally changes the name of the famous thoroughfare in honor of the industry business drive. At the same time, Hollywood Boulevard in the film capital will be designated as Broadway for a period of 24 hours. The namechanging ceremony in New York is scheduled for noon and is being sponsored by the West Side Association of Commerce. GB Plans Own Ad Drive and Contest; $200,000 Appropriation in Prospect Gaumont British will inaugurate a nation-wide advertising and publicity campaign for six of its features, with appropriation of around $200,000 for the drive to be made, if preliminary tryouts of the campaign, which features a cash award contest, prove successful, it was announced by the company yesterday. Contest will be tested in four keys, which have not been selected as yet, and if successful, and there is no confliction with the current U. S. industry campaign, it will be launched nation-wide, it was stated. It will be stressed by the company that theater patrons will compete (Continued on Page 7) Lewen Pizor Will Fill Comerford Executive Post Philadelphia — Lewen Pizor, president of the UMPTO and prominent exhib. leader, has sold his Hollywood Theater at Pottsville to the Comerford circuit, it was announced yesterday. House is a first-run Pizor now becomes associated with Comerford circuit in an executive capacity. However, he retains operation of 14 houses which he has been directing for many years. In addition, he had indicated that he is to expand further, having three Philadelphia houses added to his list this season. They are the Ace, Ti (Continued on Page 7) War Scares and New Italian Decree On Films Confronting Major Execs. u. S. Co.'s Meet in Paris on Italian Film Decree Paris (By Cable) — A meeting has been called here of all American distributors doing business in Italy to discuss the Italian government decree providing for a semi-official agency to handle all foreign films in that country, it was learned yesterday. The distribs. will attempt to (Continued on Page 7) Increasing gravity of the European situation as a result of the Nazi-Czechoslovakian crisis and, additionally, an Italian move to establish a government distribution monopoly, yesterday confronted major execs, with the most serious foreign problem in many years. At the same time, there was a comparatively minor but important headache on this side of the Atlantic, resulting from the action of the (Continued on Page 8) Biz Gains in S. Calif. Exceed Fondest Hopes, Says C. P. Skouras On the basis of interest manifested throughout the U. S. and Canada to date, contest experts yesterday predicted that the replies to the industry's $250,000 "Movie Quiz" contest, part of the "Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment" campaign, will hit the 8,000,000 mark. This figure is predicated upon the big demand for the "Quiz" booklets in the opening weeks of the contest as compared with that experienced in like periods in other contests (Continued on Page 7) ASCAP BOARD MAY GET PACT KICKS SEPT. 29 Ascap's board of directors, it was declared yesterday, will meet on Sept. 29 to consider objections which may exist among a small number of the organization's members with respect to the new 10-year contracts which are proposed to supersede! the current agreements between the Society and its roster of individual (Continued on Page 3) N. M. Schenck Deposition Will be Taken Sept. 23 Resumption of taking of depositions in connection with a suit brought by a group of Loew's stockholders who seek to restrain the company from putting a profit-sharing plan into effect is scheduled to ( Continued on Page 7) Loew's Using 40-Piece Ork To Solve Baltimore Puzzle Inauguration of a "musical divertisements" stage policy at Loew's Century, Baltimore, this week represents a circuit attempt to solve a local problem and should not be in(Continued on Page 8)