The Film Daily (1945)

^esday, Juiy 17, 1945 "afe roduction Costs avor Britain-Rank (Continued from Page 1) onomical shooting of attractions in itain. His statement highlighted a press nference in the Sherry Netherland, eparatory to his departure today r England, following a stay of apoximately two months here and Canada. Cost items which are chiefly in iVor of his group currently, Rank iclared, are wages of technicians id other studio labor, as well as conruction of sets. He pointed out lat living standards in Britain today e lower than in the U. S. because ' the rigors of war and attendant ;onomic factors. Two With RKO Commenting on his deal with RKO adio, he said that the pact, which as announced yesterday in the •ade, calls for two features. "That's efinite," he asserted, and added that hat will develop from the associaQ|l.on with RKO "nobody can say," nplying that if the contract works ut to the advantage of that organiation and the Rank group, further evelopments may be expected. Rank's pacts, in addition to that nth RKO Radio, are with UA, which las seven in all with two "on the i ray," and with 20th-Fox for "The J Vay Ahead" and one more. "Caesar nd Cleopatra" will be here in Deember, and Rank said that he had a alk on Friday night with a "promilent American distribution execuive" who declared that this attracion will gross $10,000,000 in the J. S. 'Henry the Fifth," he stated, will )e roadshown hei-e and has broken :11 records in two situations in Engand. Four Due Here Completed and awaiting distribuion in the U. S. are "about four" pictures, he said. He intends putting out "Blythe Spirit" in Techni;olor at the end of this year. Rank declared that as a result of his probe of U. S. audience tastes that he has "a very aifh view of the public intellisence" here, and knows that "Henry the Fifth" will be highly successful. He told his press conference that (1) the Producers Association of which he is president is in favor of quota, but that this did not necessarily represent his view, since he believes that quality on the screen is essential: (2) most U. S. producers making pix in Eng-land will join the Association, but the bylaws will have to be amended to grive them adequate voice; (3) now that continuity oJ production is at hand in England, stars can be put under long-term contracts in competition with Hollywood: (4) some 20 stars are now pacted by his group, two of whom are of the Gable-Cagney type and capable of outgrossing either of the U. S. luminaries in Britain: (5) there is some fine star talent in England, and British and American stars should be interchanged: (6) he has closed no production deals in France; 17) British sttidio equipment is antiquated in comparison to that in the U. S.. but that wonders have been performed with these limited facilities: (8) he hopes to get another star from Selznick, who loaned him Vivian Leigh; (9) he expects to return to the U. S. in another 12 or 14 months: and (10) he foresees no difficulty ^getting first-runs in the U. S. for his group's product. IN NEW POSTS A. V. DUKE, assistant sales manager, Zenith Corp., Chicago, DEL WAKEMAN, advertising manager, Magnavox. Fort Wayne, Ind. DON C GREEN, operator, Priscilla, Detroit. ARTHUR SHELLEY, operator, Arcadia, Detroit. |AY HOTCHKISS, operator, Lyric Theater, Detroit. IRVING B. WHEATON, supervisor of production, Ross oy. Inc., Detrot. , WILLIAM STRICKLAND, booker, Columbia Pictures, Detroit, House Com. to Send Prober to Hollywood (Continued from Page 1) Representative John Rankin claims are so popular in the film capital. Ominously, Wood's appointment has met with the apparent complete approval of Rankin. Wood insisted that he intended to keep the study within bounds, and would not permit a smear campaign to be carried through in lieu of an honest investigation. If the committee investigator finds nothing, he said, there will be no hearings. (Actually, it was believed that at least one and possibly two investigators were already in Hollywood or on their way at the time of Friday's meeting.) Following the committee meeting, a delegation of California Congressmen, headed by Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas, former screen star, conferred with Wood briefly. They reportedly told him of their conviction that Rankin had picked upon Hollywood as a scene for witch hunting because he was certain this was a way to gain publicity, and urged extreme caution upon him. Metro to Send Selected Sales Execs, to So. Amer. (Continued from Page 1) ranged by mutual invitations between Arthur M. Loew, president of Loew's International, foreign distributors of M-G-M Pictures, and William F. Rodgers, vice-president and general sales manager of M-G-M. It is designed to cement intramural relations within the motion picture industry. Interchange of distribution methods and common understanding of international problems are believed by Loew and Rodgers to be essential to the development of an industry which caters to all peoples in all countries. The selection of the men to take the journeys will be a source of competition among the members of the U. S. and Latin-American distributing organizations. Rodgers announced the interchange plan at the concluding session of the conference of district and national sales executives now under way at the Blackstone Hotel, Chicago. Blanket Paramount Films During 33rd Anniversary (Continued from Page 1) mount will be sti-ongly represented on their screens during Pax'amount Month, Aug. 26 to Sept. 29, Charles M. Reagan, vice-president in charge of distribution, announced yesterday. With the amount of playing time already assured or pledged at this early date, indications are that the company's "One Third of a Century" celebration will see Paramount product played in virtually every one of the 17,000 theaters in the United States during the five-week period, Reagan said. Indicative of the exhibitors' cooperation, the Loew circuit nationally has pledged that a Paramount feature, short subject or newsreel will play in every Loew theater during the week of Sept. 2 to Sept. 8, even in situations where the theater may be in opposition to the regular Paramount account. Abe Weiner Joins PRC; To Head a New District Abe Weiner, former Republic branch manager in Boston, has been named a PRC district manager, unassigned, Harry H. Thomas, vicepresident and general sales manager, announced. Expand Youth Clubs To Include Americas (Continued from Page 1) was decided to change the name of the clubs to the Youth Cinema Clubs of the Americas. One of the purposes of the clubs will be to' combat vandalism and delinquency and to promote good theater behavior among children, as well as to expand education through motion pictures. Co-operation on the plan has been pledged by a large number of organizations. Kodak-Pathe Increases Raw Stock Production (Continusd from Page 1) duction to four million meters (about 13 million feet) of positive film. March total was three and a half million meters. Negative film production, always a smaller item, has averaged 200,000 meters monthly since September. Imports from the U. S. are practically non-existent at the present. Balance of France's pre-war film needs was supplied by Gevaert, Agfa and Lumiere. Seven New Pix to Start Hollywood — Seven pictures go into production this week, making total of 41 shooting.