The Film Daily (1944)

r Tuesday, August 29, 1944 TNI DAILY 150 Gift Features For Troops in France (Continued from Page 1) ichief of the Army Pictorial Service, :ion his recent return from a tour of '.the invasion coast. Colonel Lund said that an average fjof 530 film shows a night are being presented on the northern French front alone, in some cases within ia few miles of the enemy lines. Some 700 projectors are in use, serving Sfiudiences ranging from 80 to 500, i with more than 150 different features available, some of which have not yet been shown in the U. S. A film exchange has been set up in a tent south of Cherboui'g to receive weekly shipments of films from England and to distribute them to smaller Special Services units throughout Normandy, and to mobile distribution units that move forward as the Army drives ahead. As the mobile units move up, news of their arrival is flashed by word of mouth and dispatch and soon men from throughout the area arrive asking the whereabouts of the "movies." Often the "theater" is out^cf-doors, or in a tent, old building or stable, with slit trenches and fox holes ready for use by the audience in case of enemy attack. Hart Succeeds May As CMPE's Director (Continued from Page 1) University's Department of Education where a permanent staff of research consultants will function in carrying out the purposes of the MPPDA grant to the Commission. The Commission's program for the coming year is now being formulated. Hart is expected to take over his new duties as head of the project this week. It is understood that Dr. May, who for many years was director of the Institute of Human Relations at !Yale, accepted the chairmanship of the motion picture commission on a temporary basis and until a permanent appointment could be made. Robert Bird Dead Chicago — Robert J. Bird, veteran projectionist and one of the founders of the Chicago Operators Union, is dead. Survivors include his widow and two sons. SEP BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO... August 29 George Montgomery Mack Liftman R. A. McGuire R. M. Savini Hanah (Caas All in the Day's News • • • CUFF NOTES: First under the wire with the announcement of a pic based on the liberation of Paris is Gregor Rabinovitch who says he'll make "Latin Quarter" as his next ior UA Puccini's "La Boheme" score will provide the musical background. . . • Didja know that the D of I now has 114 anti-trust suits pending? Yep, misery loves company. . . • New York Times' Fred Stanley is authority for the statement it cost Sam Goldwyn $30,000 to put on "Up in Arms" in that Reno dance hall But, also says Br'r Stanley, the same pic in the Woods, Chi. indie house, has brought Goldwyn $175,000 for his share of the house receipts "against the $25,000 to $30,000 he previously got for the Chicago showing of one of his films.". . • Incidental intelligence: The Better Vision Institute reports that a study of "Wilson" shows that "spectacles are a very important part of the make-up of most of the leading characters." • Speaking of "Wilson," the eminent Emil Ludwig has been moved to challenge (in the Sunday N. Y. Times) the thesis that Wilson was right at Versailles and Clemenceau was wrong Nothing like a controversy to help the b.o Not that "Wilson" needs it, of course. • Well Lester Cowan has ruled (on the advice of exhibs. and critics) that "Tomorrow the World" in pic guise will be released under that title rather than "The Intruder" But wait until the critics and the public find that the stage play has been materially changed in the screen transition! . . . • Times sure do change Loew's old Seventh Ave. Theater, closed for some time, has been taken over by a Negro congregation ▼ ▼ ▼ • • • AVENGE PEARL HARBOR! Lantz to Enter Commercial Field After the War West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Walter Lantz, cartoon producer, will enter the field of commercial pictures after the war. He has several deals to produce for leading manufacturing companies pending, and plans to go to New York late next month to conclude these arrangements. In entering the commercial field, Lantz will utilize the experience he has acquired while producing subjects for the Navy, including the use of his new transparent-plastics process known as plastograph. Gertz Fined on OP A Charge Chicago — Gertz Distributing Co. Theater concessionaires was fined approximately $15,000 in settlement for price ceiling violations. OPA waived triple damages, with the approval of Federal Judge Michael Igoe. Kincey Named Campaign Head Charlotte, — H. F Kincey, manager of Carolina Theaters, Inc., has been named chairman of the Charlotte War and Community Chest campaign. Mort Rosen Hospitalized Baltimore — Morton Rosen, owner of the Windsor and Monroe Theaters, Baltimore, is a surgical patient at Sinai Hospital. Academy Prohibits Extras From Voting on Awards West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Four thousand extras will be prohibited from voting on future Academy of M. P. Arts and Sciences awards as a result of action taken by the Academy's board of governors. Henceforth number of nominations for bust production awards will be reduced from 10 to five and all pictures nominated will be screened by the Academy prior to the final voting. "SYWA" Breaks Record David O. Selznick's "Since You Went Away" set records at two other key city openings over the weekend, United Artists reported yesterday. Picture did the greatest weekend in the history of the United Artists Theater, San Francisco and the largest opening day ever recorded by the Mayfair, Trenton, N. J. "U" Will Ask New Trial West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Attorneys for Universal plan to make a motion for a new trial in the Robert Cummings case, it was revealed at the week-end. Company points out that Judge Hollzer did not deny Universal's right of appeal, and that if the motion for a new trial is denied, company will take an appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals. Sees Demand ior Theater Television (Continued from Page 1) television construction and programming will be relatively high and that the medium will be slow in achieving profitable operation. He noted that experience in foreign countries indicates that the public may become interested in theater television. "The broadcaster," he said, "should be ready to undertake this service. If not, someone else will. Ways and means to co-ordinate broadcasting to the home as well as to the theater must be planned." Craven expressed the opinion that the establishment of the new broadcast services of the future would require a period of at least 10 years of construction and organization before attaining a sound economic operation on a national scale. 17 Metro Pix Based On "Best Sellers" (Continued from Page 1) "Marriage is a Private Affair," by Judith Kelly; Louis Bromfield's "Mrs. Parkington"; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," by Capt. Ted W. Lawson; "National Velvet," by Enid Bagnold; "Meet Me in St. Louis," by Sally Benson and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Canterville Ghost," by Oscar Wilde. "Gentle Annie," by MacKinlay Kantor, is before the cameras while the following are in preparation: "The Valley of Decision," by Marcia Davenport; "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes," by George Victor Martin; 'If Winter Comes," by A. S. M. Hutchinson; "The Sun is My Undoing," by Marguerite Steen; "The Last Express," by Baynard Kendrick; "Taps for Private Tussie," by Jesse Stuart, "The Green Years," by A. J. Cronin, "Red Shoes Run Faster," by Henry Bellamann, the latter two as yet unpublished, and the $175,000 "novel of the year," "Green Dolphin Street," by Elizabeth Goudge. Pincer Movement Witts For Exhibs Patrons Percy, III. — All is once more peace and light here. Differences between H. E. Webster and the village fathers have been settled, so the former has "undarkened" his Princess Theater. He squawked at levy of $25 per year license fee when visiting carnivals, circuses, et al, got off "for free." He shuttered his theater, and that made the townfolks squawk. Now the itinerant competition must pay $15 license fee per day.