The Film Daily (1940)

<?!{< DAILY Thursday, February 1, 1940 IOWA-NEB. UNIT ASKS PERCENTAGE CEILING (Continued from Page 1) the exhib. unit opposed increase of admission prices and higher theater taxes, advised members against making deals with distribs. which will not negotiate "short deals," reaffirmed support of the Neely bill, and called upon members who find radio's "Pot o' Gold" damaging to file complaints with the FCC. Leo F. Wolcott of Eldora was reelected president. W. B. Franke of Hulboldt was named vice-president, W. A. Dutton of Manchester, secretary. Directors named, in addition to the officers, were E. M. Garbett of this city and E. W. Mason of Osage. Rex, Shinnston, Burns; Operator Will Rebuild Pittsburgh — The Rex Theater, Shinnston, W. Va., owned and operated by Miss L. B. Monroe who also has the Princess and Columbia Theaters there, was completely destroyed by fire. Work will begin immediately on the reconstruction of the Rex, and in the meantime Miss Monroe will recondition and reopen the Columbia Theater which has been closed for some time, for showing pictures which were schedulde to play at the Rex. Hoffberg and Affiliate Open N. Y.-Chi. Offices Chicago — Midwest Film Exchange, Inc., affiliate of Hoffberg Productions, Inc., has opened its new office here at 1325 S. Wabash Ave. Arthur Benjamin and Bob Snyder are in charge of the office. "Escape From Yesterday" has been set by Midwest for a first-run at the Clark Theater. Hoffberg Productions, Inc., has opened its new offices at 1600 Broadway in New York. Charlotte Leads Mono. Drive The Charlotte Monogram branch is in the top spot at the end of the first week of the "March for Monogram" drive. New Orleans is in second place and Oklahoma City is the runner-up. Radio Poll Victory for Metro's "Cliips" Echoing the results of THE FILM DAILY'S recent "Ten Best Pictures" symposium, Metro's "Coodbye, Mr. Chips," was the best picture of 1939, according to a radio poll conducted by Sam Taylor, film commentator for WHN, on the "Hollywood Sound Stage" program. More than 50 pictures were mentioned among the 2142 ballots cast. CWTW was ineligible in both THE FILM DAILY and WHN polls. nCUJS Of TH6 DAY Cleveland — L. H. Walters, manager of the local office of National Theater Supply Co. announces that his company will erect its own building just East of its present location in the Film Bldg. Work on the one-story structure will be started as soon as the weather permits. Cleveland — Don Marcus, RKO ad sales manager, is being retained by AA, Inc. as shipper. Chicago — Liberman Brothers and A. Shanes have organized the TalkaPhone Manufacturing Co. with offices and plant at 1847 S. Millard Ave., to manufacture electrical and radio equipment. Pittsburgh — The Avenue Theater, Brackenridge, Pa., has been purchased by Melvin Holford from the Alleghany Theatrical Enterprises, Inc. to join Skouras theaters staff. Edward Peskay is in charge at Stamford temporarily. Linden, Ala.— The new Dianne, a 250-seater has opened here. T. L. Williams is manager. Brundidge, Ala. — A new theater, now under construction on Main Street, will be opened in February. Atlanta, Ga. — C. E. Kessnick, of Atlanta, district manager in the South for Loew's, Inc., is visiting branch offices in New Orleans, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Memphis. Stanford, Conn. — George Rich, manager of the Palace, has resigned Springfield, 111. — S. N. Bonansingna, business agent of the IATSE union, has been elected president of the _ Springfield Federation of Labor. Center, Tex. — R. A. Gill, owner of the Cartex Theater at Carthage, Texas, has purchased the Fred Kyle building here and will remodel it into a theater immediately. Gala Miami Beach Opening for "Little Old New York" (Continued from Page 1) mediately before the showing, Abe Lyman and Joan Abbott were inducted into office as mayor and mayoress, respectively, of Miami's "Little Old New York" by Everett Sewell and John Levi, respective Mayors of Miami and Miami Beach. Roman candles flared, kleigs blazoned, and a 175-piece fife-and-drum corps blared as a crowd of thousands thronged Lincoln Road to watch the arriving celebs, who were announced as they drove up. Stars of screen, stage and radio, many of the candidates in the "mayoralty election," which was conducted by the Miami Daily News, lent a gala air to the occasion. Among them were Tony Martin, Joe E. Lewis, Alan Cross, Henry Dunn, George E. Price, Abe Lyman, Sheila Barrett, Hildegarde, Frances Daye, Joan Abbott, Paul and Grace Hartman, Vilma and Buddy Ebsen and Lou Holtz. Film executives present included Louis B. Mayer, A. H. Blank, Maj. Albert Warner, N. L. Nathanson, M. B. Shanberg, Sam Pinansky, Col. Abe Hallow, Harry Brandt, Leo Spitz, George W. Weeks, Louis Frisch, Sidney Meyer, Mitchell Wolfson, Robert Mochrie and Max Stuart. Representing 20th Century-Fox were Harry Ballance, Southern district manager; Paul Wilson, Atlanta branch manager; I. J. Schmertz, Cleveland branch manager; Christy Wilbert, Harry Mersay and Roger Ferri of the home office. Jack Kuhne, Movietone News cameraman, photographed the event for the Fox newsreel, while station WIOD broadcast it. Detroit Censor Rejects and Scissors Fewer Films (Continued from Page 1) from five to two, and eliminated footage slumped from 8,915 to 3,442. Detroit's municipal censor passed on a total footage of 5,698,000 as against 5,733,000 in 1938, but features increased from 495 in 1938 to 521 and shorts from 762 to 863. Foreign films passed dropped sharply, going from 177 in 1938 to 98. Aggregate of foreign footage last year was 1,153,000 feet as compared with 1,363,000 in 1938. Foreign films showed some dramatic changes, with Chinese pictures leaping from zero to top place, due to many benefit screenings, Polish, German, Hungarian, Swedish, Greek, and Slovak films all showed decreases, while French films increased notably. Russian films lost out when the Cinema Theater refused to show them last Fall, while Spanish and Mexican films dropped out of their leading position to a low, with the closing of the Latin Theater. Many of these changes reflected conditions due t othe war, notably the appearance of Finnish films here for the first time. Yiddish pictures also dropped. Liftman's Theater adopted a legit policy. Kyne Story for Sherman West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — "The Parson of Panamint," Satevepost story by Peter B. Kyne, has been purchased by Paramount and will be produced by Harry Sherman. Alabama Theater Burns Uniontown, Ala. — Uniontown Theater was destroyed in a $25,000 fire, originating in a defective flue. NO MORAL ISSUE NOW IN NEELY FIGHT-COLE (Continued from Page 1) the Neely Bill desirable, Cole said yesterday. Prison and gangster pictures usually have a good mor?1,. he continued, and the patrons m|£ enjoy them occasionally. But when a theater has to play six gangster or prison pictures in a row, the customers get "fed up," he declared. Greater selectivity would cure such a situation, he added. Felix Jenkins, counsel for 20th Century-Fox, who opposed Cole in a debate on the measure before the Montclair, N. J., Motion Picture Counsel, Monday night, said that he was "both pleased and surprised at Mr. Cole's admission as to the moral issue, since the bill had been sold to the women's organizations throughout the country almost entirely on the false moral issue." Cole at the debate admitted that the block-booking system did not force immoral and obscene pictures on exhibitors. Jenkins devoted most of his time to an attack on the synopsis and criminal provisions of the bill. Mason New Pres. of SPG West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Leslie Mason was elected president of the Screen Publicists Guild yesterday. Indicted for Giveaway Mobile, Ala. — Ricardo Cortez, manager of the Saenger Theater, was indicted by the county grand jury on a lottery charge, in connection with operation of the theater's giveaway. Cleveland P. A. for Lamour Cleveland— Nat Holt, RKO Great Lakes division manager announces that Dorothy Lamour will be the headline stage attraction at the RKO Palace, for the week of March 8. Charles C. Fead Dead Detroit — Charles C. Fead, 75, president of the Port Huron Theater Co., which operated the Ritz, died suddenly. Two brothers and a sister survive. Burial was in Lexington Cemetery. Governor Urges All Ohio to View GWTW Columbus, O. — Gov. John W. Bricker of Ohio in a letter to Clinton Wander, manager of Loew's Broad Theater, expressed the hope that every citizen of the state see "Gone With the Wind," in his own words: "a dramatization of a great crisis in our national history so ably written by Margaret Mitchell." Canton, O. — Objecting to "Cone With the Wind" because it assertedly portrays Abraham Lincoln as a "backwoods fool and ignoramus," the Canton Workers' Alliance asked the City Council to prohibit its showing here. The Council refused to act.