The Film Daily (1946)

riday, July 19, 1946 I. K. Loan to Help PiX LUtUt UeadUims: \\i in Scandinavia (Continued from Page 1) Jill help clear the way again for ihnerican business in his territory — Ifeas^jally Denmark, where England's t _^bt to her will be eased through h -^terchange of currency witfi merica. Business is now returning to prear levels, he pointed out, with weden dropping approximately 27 r cent due to an exodus of a 500, 0 added war-time population. Questioned regarding the current irike of theater personnel in Swe&n, Wallman said that theaters close lere anyway on June 1 and re-open [ue. 15; and he hoped it would be ^ttled by then. There are only five ? the 100 theaters in Stockholm ^hich remain onen for the Summer lonths, he added; but he will not now the status of the situation until p returns there via plane July 24. e cited Ingrid Bergman as being 'lo country's top box office draw. Wellman, who has been with RKO lanv years, serving in the foreign nblicity department and salesman jr several years in the New York '■anch under Bob "Wolff, who is now KO's manager for Great Bintain, iso outlined existing conditions in «nmark, Finland, and Norway, the 'rher territories under his superision at an industry press conferice in the RKO home office yester;ay. Old U. S. Pix in Denmark ' In Denmark: The only American ]ms being shown there at present re the 40 films shown under the ^uspices of the OWI during the war. he reason given for Denmark's re asal to buy American films until ,ow is that they could not buy in U. \. coin and did not wish to run up a ■=bt with the American companies. here are 320 theaters in this terri ny and most of the equipment is ■anidly deteriorating. Films are now jeing shown at an average of 40 nglish, 20 Swedish, for or five anish, and the 40 American films ;ientioned, per year. Theater permits have only been ranted, in the past 20 years, to jmeone honored by the government TWENTIETH-FOX'S "CENTENNIAL SUMMER" at the Roxy Theater Wednesday piled up a phenomenal $16,314 opening day figure for a new house record. • A BUYERS' STRIKE demonstration will be held in the Times Square area by film office and newspaper office workers Tuesday, from noon to 2 P.M. The demonstration is being sponsored by the SPG, the SOPEG, the Newspaper Guild of New York, and the Buyers' Strike Committee. • DUE TO THE BACKLOG created by long runs of Paramount pix at the Paramount Hollywood and Downtown Theaters on the Coast, Paramount has arranged with FWC for a first-run engagement of "The Bride Wore Boots" in Los Angeles and Hollywood. Pic opens Tuesday at the Orpheum, Vogue and El Rey Theaters. • THE NEW YORK SPG has signd a contract with PRC, it was announced by the union yesterday. • NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE of the New York SPG and representatives of the film companies will resume new contract discussions at an all-day meeting scheduled for next Thursday. • A NEWLY DEVISED Motion Picture Guide for the Blind will be used for the first time in connection with the West Coast premiere engagement of Warners "Night and Day," Aug. 1. Special synopses will give necessary elements of plot and action for those unable to see the screen. Players, sets and costumes also will be described. IWIW THEATERS "oylors Open New House i Mountain, Tenn. — The $60,000 'aylor Brothers Theater, 500-seater, 'as opened with William Aston !'ugate, a World War II veteran, as lanager. Theater is owned and operTed by Ralph, Malcolm, and Boscom aylor. Ooytona Drive is Operating * Daytona Beach, Fla. — The new :iaytona Drive-In Theater has been pened. The 10-ramp theater has pace for some 400 autos. Charles I. Lane is owner and manager. Vanguard's Executive Staff Reorganized 16mm. Equip. Production Low-down at NAVED Meet (Continued from Page 1) nounced yesterday. Succeeding Nelson will be Dewey Starkey, who has been assistant manager at RKO Radio. L. M. Eckert, who recently joined the Selznick organization, becomes assistant studio manager for overhead, in charge of all departments not directly concerned with shooting and editing, while Fred Ahern becomes assistant studio manager in charge of departments contributing directly to production. Ahern is now in England directing a second unit filming scenes for Selznick's Alfred Hitchcock production, "The Paradine Case." James Stewart, of Pittsburgh, takes over the newly created post of technical supervisor and will act as general manager of technical departments including sound, music recording, laboratory work, special effects and film editing. Duties of Hal Kern, chief film editor, will be expanded to include preproduction editing and work on scripts. Kern has been with Selznick for 15 years as the film editor of every picture made by the producer. (Continued from Page 1) devoted to conference group meetings, with general sessions scheduled for the afternoons. Convention will be held at the Hotel Continental, Aug 5-7. National trade show will be housed in the hotel's exhibit halls daily through the meetings, while the annual NAVED banquet will be held in the grand ballroom the last night. The Photographic Industry Co-ordinating Committee will hold a quarterly meeting during the sessions and there will be a general meeting of the Film Council of America. A number of manufacturers are expected to disclose their plans for production of 16 mm. equipment during the trade show so that potential users may get some idea of when projectors and other visual aids will be available. Ray S. Baker Dead Amherst, Mass. — Ray Stannard Baker, 76, official biographer of the late President Woodrow Wilson, and technical adviser on 20th-Fox's "Wilson," died of a heart attack at his home here. as a special award. The recipient can, of course, turn this permit down, or else must buy the property from the estate of the last owner. There is no inheritance where theaters are concerned in Denmark. A 30 per cent limit for rental on all films has been established by the government with absolutely no contracts or hold-over figures governing the agreement between the distributor and the exhibitor. Copenhagen, with one million population has only 10 first-ran situations and 50 subsequent-runs. They could use a few more, Wallman said. Norway has 320 Theaters In Norway: All 320 theaters are community owned, with a managing director elected by a board of direc tors. Films are sold here on a "noncontract" basis with a sliding scale upwards to 35 per cent. Theater equipment is sorely needed in this territory for replacement. In Finland: Distributors are selling here against frozen assets. Inflation prevails, and theater admissions average 90 cents for the firstruns with 40 cents for the subsequents. There are 220 theaters in this territory. All films here are superimposed with Swedish and Finnish titles, with an average of 10 Russian, 80 American, 15 Swedish and 20 English films shown yearly. Wallman concluded his interview with the remark that 16 mm. films will help solve the "underseated" situation in Norway and Finland. -Fox Planning Production (Continued from Page 1) Fox president, to New York. Skouras conferred with a number of government heads while in Mexico, and was one of the first U. S. film men to greet Miquel Aleman after his victory in the recent presidential elections. Company's plans to produce Spanish-language films will be announced late this year or in early 1947, Skouras said before leaving. He noted that 20th-Fox plans a number of pictures that should particularly interest Latin-American audiences, the first of which, "Carnival in Costa Rice," is already completed. Mrs. Skoui'as and his daughter, Daphne, accompanied the 20th-Fox president, on his one-week visit. Appeal Board Reverses Lust's Clearance Award (Continued from Page 1) houses, the same as the Village Theater, operated by Louis Bernheimer Theater Co., has been reversed by the Appeal Board and Lust's complaint is dismissed. Award was appealed by Bernheimer and each of the five distributors. Arbitrator held that clearances granted the Village and another Bernheimer house, the Newton, were unreasonable and should be eliminated. Board, however, held that distributors have the right to determine for themselves what runs shall be granted to theaters in a competitive area. Boston Clearance Complaint Settled by Stipulation Boston — Clearance complaint filed by Thompson Square Theater Co. has been settled by a stipulation. Under the agreement clearance is reduced to 42 days after Boston first-run on Paramount pictures, and RKO and Loew's agree not to grant any existing theater clearance which would prevent the Thompson Square from getting films later than 42 days after first-run. Film Truck Service Will Extend Peninsular Runs Detroit — Film Truck Service is planning to extend its film transport sei-vice throughout the lower Peninsula. A new route will be added to serve the North Central part of the state on Aug. 1. A further additional route will be added to cover the Northeastern part of the state just as soon as suitable personnel can be obtained. According to Jack Stewart, general manager of Allied Theaters of Michigan, the new routes are being added through the initiative taken by Allied.