The Film Daily (1945)

Tuesday, January 2, 1945 DAILY Reeting 'BoundWASHINGTON Bt ANDREW H. OLDEB = WASHINGTON jTHE year beginning finds pix business, and the men that make it up, ace high in opinion of our Government. No indus as given more and asked less. Despite the activities of the Department of Justice, merit of which we are not passing upon, this industry has never been in higher regard here. Even the anti-trust suits are against features of the industry organization, with the men prosecuting them in agreement with the rest of Washington that the men making up this organization yield to none in the furtherance of our national purpose. . . For 1945, let's look forward to sustaining this devotion and zeal. And may it be THE year! • • \A/HEN Robert Petoravitch, chairman of ' ' the Alaska March of Dimes committee, gets back to his home in Klawock he can tell his neighbors there of a personal chat with the President. For, although FDR had just concluded one of the most difficult of recent press conferences and had only a few hours earlier had to plead with Senators closest to him to call off the filibuster on his State Department nominations, the President was a completely charming host as the industry's 87 March of Dimes callers visited him recently. He joked and laughed with them, and talked at some length with the Alaskan exhibitor, whose trip to Washington took him exactly 14 days. Petoravitch and the President discussed Alaska, and the President insisted upon knowing just where in Alaska Petoravitch lived. • • TONY SUDEKUM, who was in the March ' of Dimes group, only a week after the devastating Supreme Court decision upholding the Government and ripping his circuits apart, told of meeting Tennessee publisher Siliiman Evans on the train coming in to Washington. . . Evans was recovering from an embarrassing situation. . . He had been sitting in the club car with a friend discussing mutual acquaintances in Nashville. . . He remarked that one Wurtzelschnitzel (to spare Evans further embarrassment, we're not using the actual name) is a fine chap, "But if I were he I'd certainly change that name. . ." Whereupon a total stranger sitting across the car arose, remarking, "My name happens to be Wurtzelschnitzel — and I don't intend ^o change it." \A/ASHINGTON area theaters came ^ through in fine fashion during the Sixth War Loan. Nearly all topped their quotas, with many doubling and one or two tripling the goals. Every downtown theater made its quota well before the end of the drive, with Kogod-Burka and the other local circuits all piling up excellent records. . . Frank LaFalce, whose desk at Warners is one of the busiest in all Washjington, did his usual fine publicity job for all the theaters. ^^Dimes^^ Pledges Top S^OOO Delaware 100%; Pledges Ahead of 1944 Barrage of pledges pouring in from theaters eager to participate in the 1945 March of Dimes drive kept workers in the Hotel Astor headquarters typing and tabulating through the rimes Sq. din of New Year's Eve and on the holiday, and reports to I National Chairman Nicholas M. Schenck disclosed that the pledgedoheaters had passed the 5,000 mark and that nearly 5,000,000 seats were enrolled. This is far ahead of last I year's schedule. Delaware is first state to report 100 per cent participation, with all its 22,632 seats pledged. Alabama, Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Arizona, Nebraska, West Virginia and South Dakota showed distinct trends toward exceeding their 1944 totals. Actually Alabama has topped its setup already in point of theaters enlisted. Printing of 13,000 appeal trailers, starring Greer Garson, starts this week in both East and West Coast laboratories. National Screen Service branch managers at 31 key points are working closely with State Chairmen to facilitate complete trailer coverage. Sees Video in Theater As Supplementing Tele The engineering and technical problems of television have been whipped and programming experiments, which have been under way for many years, already point the way to what we will use to hold audiences' attention to their television receivers, it was said Saturday by Samuel H. Cuff, general manager of DuMont station WABD. Speaking before the Women's Press Club at the Hotel Pennsylvania, Cuff said that theater television will probably supplement, rather than replace, television. Television already has perfected some revolutionary newsreel filming techniques. Cuff said, pointing out that within a few minutes of the time the motion picture is made, it is ready to be shown on the television screen. A plane, he explained, visiting the scene of an important news event can film the occurrence. It can be pi'ocessed while the plane is in flight to its base transmitter and the film negative can be reversed electronically and projected onto the movie camera which converts the film strip into a television broadcast. The press women were told that they would have a new client for their resourcefulnesss. N. Y. Area Theaters Sell $41,284,464 in 6th "EV (Continued from Page 1) Drive, and Malcolm Kingsberg, industry area chairman, expects the last and final week to add considerably to the new high. The total sales by boroughs and counties through Dec. 24 follows: Brooklyn, $15,396,257; Manhattan, $9,462,962; Bronx, $6,420,150; Queens, $5,635,393; Nassau, $1,124,785; Westchester, $1,119,849; Suffolk, $993,175; Sullivan, Ulster, Rockland, Dutchess and Lower Orange combined, $671,443; and Richmond $460,450. 126 on Para. Contract Roster Sets New Mark IVest Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Paramount's studio starts the new year with a roster of stars and contract players reaching an all-time high mark of 126. The star galaxy numbers thirty-two, including certain stars with whom the studio has non-exlusive deals. Kedzie Files on Clearance Chicago — Kedzie Theater Annex filed an arbitration case against Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th-Fox, RKO and Loew's asking more reasonable clearance from B & K's Senate Theater. Dorothy Lindau is manager of the Kedzie Theater. American Theater Staff Leads Individual Sales Loew's theaters' accounting department revealed on the week-end that as of the night of Dec. 25, the American Theater staff, headed by Gil Marbe, had the edge on the Pitkin insofar as sale of individual "E" Bonds was concerned, but that the latter house is far ahead in "E" Bond maturity value with $905,325. Al Weiss, Pitkin's "Smashing Sixth" genei-alissimo, insists he and his staff will exceed the $1,000,000 mark. Tabulation of sales by "in-town" theaters of the chain shows $10,408,495 in E" sales and $2,168,855 in "F" and "G" sales. Out-of-town houses have vended $5,734,300 in "E" issue and $763,550 in the "F" and "G" issues. Thus total sales as of Dec. 25, in the evening, stand at $19,075,200. Indies May Escape Raw Stock Cut (Continued from Page 1) day at the invitation of the WPB to discuss with Stanley B. Adams, assistant to Lincoln V. Burrows, film chief, the status of the independents insofar as their raw stock requirements are concerned. Sanders will request that the NAMPI be allowed a voice at all future meetings of the WPB at which raw stock cuts are contemplated. Sanders told The Film Daily that he had been approached by members of the association to represent them, prevent discrimination and to clarify disputes that may be raised regarding the categories into which the independents fall. "No discrimination has been shown by the WPB against the smaller users of film," Sanders said, "but the scheduled meeting in Washington will be used as a precautionary measure." Raw Stock Allocation Decision Again Held Up Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Final decision on the raw stock allocation for the first quarter of this year — expected for Friday by Film Chief Lincoln V. Burrows — failed to materialize on that dc-y and will probably carry over to this week. In the meantime. Burrows revealed that he sent out on Friday authorization to all distributors and producers for withdrawal of 50 per cent of the stock allowed tliein under their quotas for 1944. This is a stop-gap authorization, he said, designed simply to "keep the wheels turning." There has apparently been no change in the general situation, and slicing of four or five per cent from the 1944 quota level — 75 per cent of 1941 consumption — is still to be expected. Film Nazi Prisoners' Escape West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Jack L. Warner has announced the immediate production of "Escape in the Desert," a new film inspired by the recent escape of Nazi prisoners from an Arizona desert prison camp. Alex Gottlieb will produce. The film will star Helmut Dantine. WooUey to Play Himself West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Monty Woolley has been assigned by Jack L. Warner to play himself in "Night and Day," the story of Cole Porter and his music. Woolley has been a life-long friend of the composer and attended Yale with him. Chessman Adds Another Macclenny, Fla. — E. D. Chessman, operator of the local Macclenny, and theaters in Lake City, Callahan and Hilliard, has added a new theater located in Jacksonville to his chain. RFS Boosts Supervision Forces Six more supervisors to work out of various branches have been added to the staff of Arthur Jaeger, in ' charge of Ross Federal Field Supervisors. I nn BIRTHDAY (iREETIKS TO.. January 2 W. Ray Johnston Walter A. Putter Moe Silver