The Film Daily (1939)

3% DAILY Wednesday, September 13, 1939 THEA. INVESTMENTS BAR PIX CURTAILMENT (Continued from Page 1) tion in the industry and in financial circles, Schenck said that he, personally, had refrained from forming any snap judgment but "had chosen to await developments so that I could see our way ahead more clearly," before making a statement. "Furthermore," he continued, "I believe that the orders closing theaters in England and France will gradually be relaxed as conditions permit, so as to make possible the furnishing of needed entertainment to the civilian population of the warring nations. However, should our foreign losses exceed present expectations, we will at that time consider ways and means of meeting the emergency." AFA Executive Council Says It Will Not Dissolve (Continued from Page 1) dissolve and would continue as exclusive bargaining agent for its members with a strong possibility reported last night that the union might affiliate with the CIO, further confusing the organization of the variety field and directly threatening the recent peaceful settlement of the actors' unions jurisdictional dispute. With the AFA refusing to quit, despite revocation of its charter by the IATSE which followed revocation of a previous charter from the AAAA, what the results of this action will be could not be determined last night. AFA executives yesterday asserted that the union "was by no means through and had a plan as the rank and file membership in a large majority refused to stand for the dissolution of the union." In an official statement from the AFA last night it was pointed out that the union had not been consulted when the AAAA and the IATSE entered into their agreement, and therefore refused to be a party to it. They accused AGVA of being an illegally chartered union and in letters to all AFA members implored them to pay no attention to attempted organization by any other union and continue their membership in the organization. Best wishes from THE FILM DAILY to the following on their birthdays: SEPTEMBER 13 Al Adams Jesse L. Lasky Edwina Booth Claudette Colbert !=4LCNGTIiE T ▼ T • © • LONG, long before old man Aesop ever wrote his iables .... with a pre-O. Henry twist in the form of a so-called "moral" this type of trite practice existed i.e. moralizing Today ethical advice is happily more sugar-coaled, as witness Uncle Don getting the kiddies to bed on a national scale and covering them over with good counsel Then, of course, there is Popeye the Sailor with his spinach-will-help-you-fhrow-yGur-creditors-downstairs implication There are myriad other examples of moralizing and nearly all are pretty tart to taste ▼ ▼ T • • • NEVERTHELESS, we feel impelled to shift the camera for a moment to Burton, Ohio where one Irving Field a gent in his early twenties runs the 500-seat Opera House and making a "go" of it via personal contact the job being somewhat simple 'cause the townfolk aren't much more numerous than the seats in the Opry House What Field does is to make personal calls on the nabe families. . . .introduces himself chats awhile invites the folks old and young to patronize his theater (which operates Fridays and Saturdays only) and even has them leave notes at the b.o. telling what pix they would like to see Yezzir, the Field system grabs results. ▼ ▼ T • 9 • OKAY, — and now for the moral in the form of a query Isn't personal contact fwixt the pix house of today and its customers lamentably on the wane as compared to the yesteryears? Once upon a time, we recall, one could barge into a community and say: "Who-all runs your movie house?" and you could get the answer he was a personality much closer to the wants of the people and hence their pocketbooks than is currently the case Ah, you say, filmland has grown up! Sure it has, but alas!, personal contact hasn't grown proportionately with it and it should for methods can be devised which are just as big as the problem which is to be met Take, f'rinstance, the biggest personal contact problem of all the relationship of the industry to the public Why have we no high-geared, effective and efficient Public Relations Bureau? a group of young Mr. Fields whose "field" would be the nation not just Burton, Ohio T T T 9 • • CROSSING the personali-tees, as it were members of Loew's publicity-ad depts. tendered a tasty testimonial tidbit yes'day to Anna D. Ellmer, office manager because she's only been with The Friendly Company for 25 years! a luncheon it was. . . • Up Bridgeport way there were more Congrats via Connecticut's Governor Raymond E. Baldwin who best' wished Matt Saunders, manager of Loew's Poli 'twas house's nth birthday. . . • If you have 11 minutes and 5 seconds of reading "running time" suggest that you grab current issue of mag Liberty wherein (starting on page 25) you will find "an exciting, authoritative look ahead at the wonder of movie magic in 1950" author Will H. Hays title? Living Pictures Tomorrow: A Hollywood Prophecy T T T • • • ANOTHER article of extra-industry interest is christened Walt Disney's Donald Duck A Chronicle A Career Disseminator of the biog of the flat-foot duckie is RKO-Radio's Rutgers Neilson If you have a theater, a duck farm, a brood of youngsters, or anticipate appointment as Secretary of Agriculture by all means annex a copy « « « » » » PRODUCTION IN EAST UNAFFECTED BY WAR (Continued from Page 1) war, Frank Speidell, president, stated yesterday. Two deals, calling for three features each, will be carried through to completion, he said, and negotiations are reported to be und *'ay for additional eastern-made pv.iiact. The Jack Wildberg-Jack Skirball pact for three pictures to be released by Columbia and the Lee Garmes commitment for three to be distributed by RKO are set definitely for production this season. Meanwhile, there is some indicaion that certain pictures which had been designated by the majors for production in England may be shifted to Eastern Service Studios. While no negotiations thus far have been started, it is understood that the Hollywood studios will be pressed to capacity in turning out this seal's programs and it is possible that at least part of those pictures which had been slated for the English studios will be made in New York. Alliance 12-Pix Schedule to be Unaffected by War (Continued from Page 1) liance, yesterday announced that he will not curtail his schedule in any way and that he will release one picture a month as originally planned. "Dead Men Tell No Tales," "Black Limelight," and "Housemaster" are already in the theaters and October will see a melodrama of espionage in the British Navy, "North Sea Patrol," on the market. "Just Like A Woman" is set for November release and following that "Spies of the Air," "One Night In Paris," "The Hidden Menace," "The Terror," "Little Miss Molly," "Black Eyes," and "Mystery of Room 13" will be readied for distribution. Wisconsin Indies to Open Milwaukee Meet Sept. 27 Milwaukee, Wis. — The Independent Theaters Protective Association of Wisconsin has scheduled its annual convention here for Sept. 27-28. An all-industry outing under the auspices of the Association will be held at Lake Geneva, next Monday. Irving Dashkin, manager and film buyer of the Savoy Theater, Jamaica, L. I., and Sylvia Sagrans of Philadelphia, were married in Philadelphia Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Dashkin are spending several days in Atlantic City and are planning a delayed honeymoon during the winter months.