The Film Daily (1945)

) iMonday, September 10, 1945 IK' •^ DAILY ; I JACK L. WARNER More Mature Films [oming-Jack Warner Hollywood product "which is more aature and more cultivated than ever efore in our history" is foreshadowed by present trends, according to Jack L. Warner, WB executive p r 0 d u c er, writing in yesterday's New York Herald Tribune. Warner, commenting that the same people who opposed war pictures are now campaign mg again, this time against continued n'oduction of "more serious picures," declared that "the -war may 5e over, but our troubles aren't," and expressed his belief that the motion jicture will not ignore "such major leadaches as world peace, economic stability, full employment, stamping )ut intolerance." "Anyone who believes that the American people ought to be pro;ected or insulated from the issues ;hey have to face should visit Gernany and see the tragic after-effects jf a diet of propaganda and censorship," Warner wrote. The WB studio head voiced the belief that television and the expected development of the non-theatrical Sim market "are on our doorsteps," but added that "neither development will seriously affect the economic position of the film industry." [ersey City Trust Suit Against 23 Is Settled (Continued from Page 1) five circuits, for alleged inability to get product has been settled. A companion suit had been brought by the Camrel Co., owner of the Cameo, against the eight major companies. Product and better runs for the Cameo will be negotiated under the terms of the settlement, but it was agreed that the Fulton Theater would have seven daj's clearance over the Cameo. S. Ohlbaum, attorney, represented the plaintiffs. WANTED — MOTION PICTURE LETTERER AND ARTIST Mediocre men need not apply. Must be fast and good. Good salary. Write: BOX 400 THE FILM DAILY 1501 Broadway. New York U, S. Pix Tops in _ Preferred Entertainment There, Says Nathan (Continued from Page ]) al, having arrived Wednesday for his i standpoint first visit in two years. Nathan said that from January through August of this year, a total of 109 American features were released, 101 of which were from the majors and eight from independents. During the same period native Argentine product and Mexican Spanish-language features each accounted for 12 released pictures. A total of 10 Russian features, but only one French picture, were released during the same period, while British and Spanish features were practically nil. No (Jerman product has been imported in more than four years. One of the most constructive steps in Argentinian exhibition, Nathan emphasized, is the new agreement on programs. In past years, programs frequently consisted of triple, quadruple and quintuple features. Under the new understanding, it has been agreed that the maximum number of films for a program should be two pictures. Nathan said that Paramount was in its biggest year in the Argentine. Four Paramount pictures alone occupied the unprecedented total of 26 weeks of first-run playing time, with "Going My Way" doing more than half of the total. "The Hitler Gang" was the first strongly antiNazi picture to be released there and it played 21 days first-run. There was no adverse audience reaction, Nathan said. Paramount released 17 features in the first eight months of 1945, seven more to be distributed for the year. Nathan said that a Government decree which required all national product be played on a percentage basis caused the majority of the American companies to do their selling on the same basis. Paramount's outstanding success during the current year came largely as a result of this policy, he stated, for with top percentages, preferred playing time and correct holdover figures the company's success was in direct proportion to the high quality of the product. Approximately 50,000,000 admissions are paid into Argentina's 1,354 film theaters annually by the film-going audiences of the country's 13,000,000 inhabitants, Nathan estimated. First run orchestra admission prices range from 50 to 75 cents and subsequents scale down to 10 cents, American money. Censorship from an ideological Delson in Law Firm Out of the Army after more than three years' service, Robert Delson, formerly associate general counsel for Consolidated Film Industries and Republic Pictures, has joined the law firm of Delson, Levin &. Gordon, 270 Broadway. has been lifted almost completely, with the exception involving "For Whom the Bell Tolls" which has been banned at the request of the Franco government. In neighboring countries, however, the picture has been doing stand-out business and Nathan predicted that Argentina eventually would lift the ban. Spanish re-dialogued pictures so far have not been doing satisfactory business in Argentine first-runs, although they are doing well in the key cities of the interior. Nathan observed thai confidence in the growing future of the motion picture business was demonstrated by the country's nation-wide building activities. Most active in theater construction is the Lautaret, Cavallo, Cordero & Coll circuit, which operates 122 theaters in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Production activities are on a limited scale, Nathan said, although national product is more popular than Mexican pictures. Very few theaters devote themselves entirely to national pi-oduct as there has not been enough product for such a policy. Surplus Equipment Slated for Schools (Continued from Page 1) excluded, an SPB spokesman said. The Office of Education is responsible for determining what communities have greatest need and best plans for use of surplus equipment. How many films and projectors will eventually become surplus is not known. Approximately, 40,000 16mm. sound projectors have been ordered by the military services so far— 14,000 by the Navy, 9,000 by Army Air Forces and about 17,000 by Army ground forces — but only a small percentage of these is ever expected to become surplus. Many of the projectors that are declared surplus will require servicing and repairs. The number of prints to be turned over for civilian use is another factor that could be determined now "only by taking a cumbersome and costly world-wide inventory," SPB said. Both projectors and film prints will undoubtedly be declared surplus in small, continuous dribbles rather than in large lots, SPB said. Educational institutions will be requested in the near future to submit their plans to the proper state and Federal educational authorities. THE BIGGESTSTATUE IN U.S.A. IS STATUE OF LIBERTY BIGGEST MOTION PICTURE EVER PRODUCED . . . te ry