The Film Daily (1941)

Thursday, February 20, 1941 W DAILY Pittsburgh BBB Asks Bank Night's Ending Pittsburgh — Citing court decisions holding Bank Night to he a lottery, the Better Business Bureau has sent letters to the 132 motion picture the• ater owners in Alleehenv County ? ig them to abandon this practice \ Itarily, statin? that Pittsburgh is the only major citv in the state in which the Bank Nis-ht type of theater promotion nrevails. The Better Business Bureau contends that the continued operation of this lottery has had the effect of encouraging' widespread promotion of other tvpes of commercial lotteries, including Bineo, and that many * law-abiding businessmen, theater owners and retailers have been olaced at a competitive disadvantage bv those who resort to il'eeal devices to attract patronage and trade. It further claims that another result of this condition is that the substitution of "chance" for "merit" in modern merchandising has encouraged lower standards of business ' ethics, as well as merchandise and • • service, which are contrary to the best interests of the public. 4 WilliamsDort. Pa. — Order from the office of District Attorney Charles S. Williams outlawed Bingo in Lycoming County. . Columbia Still to Decide On State Conclave Plans (Continued from Page 1) 'sales manager, but that determination will be reached shortly. When asked if Columbia would sell in blocks-of-five, pending adjudication of the Government's action aeainst the so-called "Little Three," Montague said that his company has had a definite selling policy in the past: has one currently; and what the future will bring forth he is unable to prophesy. He expressed himself as "sitting on the sidelines, carefully observing." Canadians Buy U. S. House it St. John, N. B.— The Savoy, Fort A Kent, Me., on the border line, is now [in the Mitchell Bernstein and Joe 'it Lieberman string. "Doe" Availability Prime Exhib. Query Exhib. inquiries on the availability of the CapraRiskin "Meet John Doe" have inundated the Warner sales department, it was said yesterday by Grad Sears. Total as of last night stood at 649, which the home office called a record. Scores of exhibs. reported that their inquiries stemmed from a similar flow of requests from fans. Exhib. interest in availability is made the more noteworthy by the fact that there have been no trade showings for exhibs. ▼ ▼ W • • • EMMA arrived in New York yesterday by plane from Paramount's Coast studios fresh from her screen debut in "Lady Eve" Already, love lyrics are being penned about her charms — this being the first instance of the native Manhattan language being effectively used in verse For example a couplet typically descriptive of Emma reads: "There was a little goil and she had a little coil" for Emma happens to be a King Snake Nothing like her has been seen around these diggin's for symmetry and gliding grace although some of our local beauty judges contended that she's too long-waisted and lacks the skin you love to touch The latter point is sharply pooh-poohed by Dr. Raymond Ditmars curator of reptilia hereabouts who has a deep, abiding affection for snakes and will even act as one of her escorts this afternoon when this sweet member of the Squamata family is tendered an official reception by Paramount at the Copacabana Club, 10 East 60th St. T ▼ ▼ • • e DURING Emma's current New York stay she will be chaperoned by Tom Waller and Herb Berg acting upon the executive order of Bob Gillham The reception today will be heavily attended by local news "hawks" who will be distracted from their natural prey by the presence of three pul chritudinous "Eves" of various sizes The largest will be arrayed in elephant leaves the smallest in spinach leaves the thinnest in banana leaves while Lawrence Gould, consultant psychologist, will attempt to prove via the trio of lovelies "why Eve must be collective and of composite physical lines; that this fact may be found in the great variety of women taken to wife by American men" Between this lecture, and the problem of etiquette involved (how to shake hands with a hostess like Emma) plus the unique hospitality and beverages a la Monte Proser (Copacabana Club's proprietor) the position of Emma should be far less horizontal than that of the guests T ▼ V • • • THERE being no performance of the stage play "Tobacco Road" on a Monday night the footlight cast ■will cast themselves footloose on Feb. 24 to witness the Zanuck picturization of the opus Roger (20th-Fox) Ferri avers that some four male stars who have played "Jeeter" Lester in various companies will be present 'mong others at the shadow version. . . • Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" played the Music Hall, his "Foreign Correspondent" the Casa Dunn (Rivoli), and now the latest Hitchy coup, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," will revert to the Music Hall commencing today ... • The Rutgers Neilsons' favorite Saturday night sport is Jai-Alai consisting of knotting on the bib at that Spanish restaurant Prof. Neilson is proud of the versatility of his Are-kayo staffites particularly of Jack Level who is ligurin' on entering the goose-calling contest at the current Sportsmen's show The lowdown is that if Level can lure geese — Neilson won't have to eat in restaurants V ▼ ▼ • • • RUSS Holcomb, Altec engineer in the Los Angeles sector, claims to be the daddy of "the world's smallest engineer" His son, who weighed two-pounds-seven-ounces at birth, has just emerged from an incubator and is now, Russ says, on his way to becoming "the world's huskiest engineer" • Herb Drake, Orson Welles' purveyor of publicity , was dreaming in snow-flecked Manhattan yes'day of getting his tootsies back on the desks of his 44-foot craft "lone". . . • Visiting Jack Hively is also hot-stove-leaguing until he gets back to blue Pacific's boating advantages. . . La. Drive-In Files Arbitration Case (Continued from Page 1) esting one inasmuch as the question of whether a drive-in theater comes under the classification of a regular theater will have to be settled insp far as: ±he interpretation of the consent decree is concerned. Arbitrators will have to refer to Section VIof the decree which prevents a distributor from refusing to license for exhibition its pictures in a theater on some run. If Paramount has sold drive-in theaters in other territories, observers believe that the New Orleans house might be considered a victim of discrimination, but if Paramount sells no drive-ins as a matter of policy, the issue becomes more delicate, The New York case was filed by Albert Margulies, secretary of the Hilary Theater 1 Corp., operator of the Regent Theater in Brooklyn. Margulies named the five consenting distributors and asked that the Regent be allowed to play day-anddate with the Apollo Theater which now enjoys a seven-day clearance over the Regent. He claimed that prior to the NRA, the Regent and Apollo played dayand-date but that under the code the Apollo was given seven days' protection, even though the Regent charges five cents more than its competitor. Meet Monday on Short Wave Program for S. A. (Continued from Page 1) • heads Tuesday at the MPPDA office, a sub-committee was appointed to draw up an outline of a revised plan, inasmuch as the original proposals did not meet with the approval of all present. Serious consideration is being given to a plan submitted by Dave Blum of M-G-M. This calls for the making of discs which would be sent to South American stations for longwave broadcasts. The sub-committee consists of Blum, Ken Clark of the MPPDA, Jerry Kaisor of Warner Bros., and Fortunad Baranet of Universal. Music Hall Summons The Smiths, Et Al Former Governor Alfred E. Smith will head a family circle of Smiths in a Smith party which will see "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" at the Radio City Music Hall tonight. Sales Manager Andy Smith of RKO Radio will be host to Al's clan and other personalities with that appellation. With the former governor will be Mrs. Alfred E. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Smith, Alfred E. Smith, Jr., Mrs. Francis Quillinan (nee Katharine Smith) and Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Mooney.