The Film Daily (1945)

10 W'^ DAILY : Friday, August 17, M Population Shifts Major Peace Puzile (Continued from Page 1) Government affecting, or likely to affect, their business fortunes. Every report and action dealing with reconversion, materials' availability, price and wage controls, taxation, and domestic and foreign commerce, as well as manpower, is being followed as a prophetic part of the peace-time pattern. But of prime concern at the moment, and likely to ''Scare SchooV Film industry officials yesterday joined many representatives of American business in expressions of their belief that the reconversion period would demand patience and untiring efforts on the part of everyone in the nation, but, at the same time, deplored the already great amount of "calamity shouting" already apparent in some quarters. One ftlm leader called the calamity shouters "The Scare School,'' and predicted that America will take peacetime hurdles "in better stride than most of us expect." remain in the forefront, is the matter of employment, inseparably linked to which is the major question of population shifts. Such shifts and the prospects of jobs are the two factors held to be the most likely to have a bearing on the box-office, aside from the over-all consideration of prosperity. Detroit Apprehensive Detroit reports show that that city is preparing for the full impact which is to follow the displacement of an estimated 250,000 workers, and industrial production is slashed to some 30 per cent of the war contracts era. Many observers foresee a serious economic explosion in the sudden cut-backs. Such a situation is scarcely calculated to aid boxoffice health. What is true of Detroit ou a grand scale will be proportionately tilie of scores of other communities, larg-e ^nd small in the mid-West, particularly Chicago, Cleveland. Toledo, Toung'stown, and other heavily industrialized sectors. If 250,000 workers are displaced within the next few days or weeks, the national total of unemployed will reach at least 1,750,000, topping by a considerable figure the estimates of WMC this week. San Francisco surveys disclose that the shift to peace-time pursuits will be of even greater hardship on the West Coast than in any other area. One bright spot in the largely black picture is that reconversion should be quicker, because most of the goods made for war are the same as those made for peace, by and larg-e. These include aircraft, ships. UJEDDinC BELLS Hancock-GomUey Sanford, N. C. — Frances Hancock, of Movie Story Magazine, was married here Sunday to Cadet Midshipman Arthur Gormley. HOLLYWOOD SPEAKING By RALPH W1U HOLLYWOOD I EONARD FIELDS, former Republic pro^ (fucer, just out of the Navy, has been signed by Paramount to a producer's berth. • • Ray Milland, will be starred by Paramount in "Take This Woman," a screen story by Ladislas Fodor which deals with a Victorian era romance. • o Yvonne DeCarlo will be co-starred by Universal in "Heat Wave," a story about Rimsky-Korsakoff and his music by Walter Reisch, former M-G-M scenarist. Pic will be photographed in Technicolor, the author will direct it and Edward Kaufman will produce. S. James Andrews, former radio advertising executive, joins Para.'s production staff on Sept. 10. • • Steven Richards has been re-named Mack Stevens by RKO and gets the lead opposite Joan Fontaine in the forthcoming "All Brides Are Beautiful." • • Universal plans to star Maria Montez in "Tangier," a spy melodrama by Steve Fisher. • • Republic has bought for $25,000 the screen rights to "Four Hours From Chi," a magazine serial by William Porter. Studios Expect No Marked Changes in Production (Continued from Page 1) policies due to peace. Production experts point out that they have been planning for the post-war period for several months. It is believed the trend now will be towards comedies and dramas. For some time the tendency has been to avoid wholesale production of war pictures, which prevailed at one stage of hostilities. However, an occasional big important war production is expected to do good business at the box office. Until recently the greater portion of work at the Walt Disney Studio was devoted to training" films for the armed services and educational and health subjects for other Governmental agencies, but Disney now has two features, "Make Mine Music," and "Uncle Remus" in production. "Aweigh" Gets $400,000 In 4 Weeks at Capitol Metro's "Anchors Aweigh" played to 500,000 persons and grossed $400,000 during the first four weeks of its run at the Capitol Theater, Broadway. Picture is slated to remain 12 weeks, thereby nosing out the record of "Gone With the Wind" which stayed 11 weeks and two days.. Cuban "Flesh" Demand Will Be Amended (Continued from Page 1) cree, the Government was considering the seizing of all theaters and placing its own managers in the houses. Performing artists, who would have benefitted by the decree because it ordered flesh shows in all first-runs daily and in second-runs twice a week, held a mass meeting in Central Park Tuesday and demanded that the Government seize the theaters. Several exhibitors who had closed their theaters were arrested, while distributors who allegedly held up the delivery of film also were placed under arrest. The arrested men, however, were released. One group tried to set fire to the Payret Theater and several persons were injured in the attack. Exhibitors had announced that they would liquidate their theaters, claiming that it would be impossible to pay an equal amount for films and stage shows. Newspapers and the Chamber of Commerce backed up the theaters in their protests. The decree was issued as a means of giving work to actors and musicians. and the production of lumber, wuodpulp. paper, power and gas. oil. and the activities comprising transportation, — ocean shipping-, railroads, etc. Agriculture, while a basic form of oommeroe, is expected ■ to be slinrpl,v affected. N'Orleans Little Woi-ried Down on the Gulf Coast, and in the socalled Deep South and the Southwest, the economic status presents air unbalanced picture. New Orleans is' conceded to be the Gulf city most likely to traverse a, smooth road, as trade is mounting enormousl.v with Latin America. Some of the Gulf shipyards even now are short of labor, while in other locales unemployment is certain to mount. In the Eastern sector, another unbalanced picture looms. Thousands of plants, of all sizes and in all sections, will soon be cutting back in earnest, iind only a fraction of the groods of peace-time will be turned out in the next few months. Meanwhile, unemployment is expected to be heavy. Standing out as a vital matter in the labor market is the puzzling question of where the ■workers are eroing-. Yestei'day. the War Manpower Commission stuck to its forecast that unemployment mig-ht reach 5.000.000 during the next three months, and rocket to a pos Lew Lefton Joins Republic Pittsburgh — Lew Lefton, who recently resigned as branch manager for PRC has been appointed sales manager for Republic here. sible 0.200.000 by midDecembcr, and perhaps 7.000,006 by Oiristmas. The wave of the migrator.v unemployed cannot be acciiratol.v anal.vzed. Capital authorities say frankl.v, but film interests, in conimoji with other seg-ments of U. S. industry, can gaug-e the magnitude of the problem by citation of the figures, covering the 18 States which showed greatest population g-ains during the war. along with the statistics covering the five States which were greatest population losers. Tlie .States showing net hicrease durinc the war were, anil still are: California. 1 ,.'i(>8,000 ; Mlchisan. 280,000; Washuiston, :2H,i)00; Maryland, 23.5,400; Ohio. ;i;31.000; Florida. 187,700; Xew .Jersey, 181,900; Virginia, 1.51.700; Orpg;on. 138,200; Connecticut, 127,100; Indiana, 79,000; Arizona, 76,700; Ulinois, (58,000; Massachusetts. 37,000; rtah 32,100; Rhode Island, 29,500; Xevada. 2(5,900; Delaware, 19,100; and the District of Columbia, 205,000. Five biagest losers through migration were and are: New York, 223,000; Arkansas, 225,100; Kentucky. 262,700; Nortli Carolina, 2(52,800; and Oklahoma, 303.500, See Decenlraiizatioi As Boon to Film Biz (Continued from Page 1) said that the organization plans least five plants outside the Det] area, and officials of General E. trie, including Charles Wilson, fir president, called attention to p chases of new sites for plants, well as current construction others, in such widely separated cales as Syracuse, N. Y., Ashtabi 0., and in California. Wilson clared: "Whenever possible, as expand facilities, we want to ; these plants down in relativj smaller towns." It was reliably reported yestert, that Western Electric has bl printed plans for plant units in i' announced sectors where emph rosters will range between 2,000 i 3,000 workers. Policies of both General Motor; and WE, augmented by numer ous other pronouncements bj industrialists for decentraliza' tion, now that woirld peace is here, found New York Film Row execs, hailing the possibilities. II was pointed out that this would increase the number of operat ing theaters in the nation by several thousand, and extend the scope and consequent rev enue of producers, distributors and exhibitors. Film theater architects, who ha been consistent advocates of dect tralization ever since the war coi menced, see great possibilities, n only for themselves, but for the tra and the public, in providing a great number of exhibition outlets. E centralization will also provide spur to the film equipment trade, is pointed out. A particularly reassuring aspect decentralization is that it would pr vide screen entertainment for ai and all shifts of population. Film Industry Returns To Normal Operations Throughout the country, the fil industry resumed normal operatioi today, following the two-day hoi day which was generally though u officially observed in celebration victory over Japan, marking tl demise of World War II. Executivt and employes of studios, distributio and exhibition, as well as equipmei factories, now plow into the comple and difficult era of reconstructioil with the industry comparative!] well-geared to meet problems. BACK IN CIVVIES Honorably Discharged HARRY KREBS, from Army to rejoin M-C-M pressbook editor AMES ROOSEVELT, eldest son of the late Presi dent Franklin D. Roosevelt, from the US'MCI ROBERT FISHER, from the Navy to resum operation of his independent roadshow fill distribution, Detroit,