The Film Daily (1948)

><;, 'ednesday, February 25, 1948 Wl«£ one First Run Plan m "Northside 777" (Continued from Page 1) nes on a basis of competitive nego ;■'. ation, would be subject to modifica i)",Vjon the basis of experience in , »i= — ron. Experience from "Ken ■ ai,M" and "Castile," it was stated by pj ^rentz, demonstrated the essential ..!,[ undness of the plan as a fair, fluid i;ven jethod of licensing. The plan for "Northside," Lorentz id, was in harmony with the an^unced company policy of having a Br i txible distribution method in Chi(go. | Changes include creation of a new EMy zone on the South Side which will Jaco)jpbrace the Jackson Park, Tower, aia a Iffrey, Shore, Ray, Hamilton, Kimapioi|rk theaters. The Tivoli, Midway, Astoijt'k, and Maryland are being includpresj in a zone with the Metropolitan, ad. Pgal and others. Additional sub JiroJfy zones are being set up with receitianges in theater groupings. Comthe fflfny policy, Lorentz said, was to refamlijew operation after release and lentjli&ke subsequent desirable changes [Jd adjustments. T&T East-Midwest Video ink Set for This Year jy J (Continued from Page 1) jpipns to provide additional intercity ,:tr; twork facilities extending from the Pali :lantic Ocean as far West as the Mississippi River. adeik Network plans, to utilize both coial cable and radio relay, include , "T1:*)00 miles of video channels in the Brazpidwest, from Buffalo to St. Louis, ej| be available in time for this year's ty wjotball season. In addition, the exping Eastern network from Boston — ! Washington, will be increased and tended in time for the national poJical conventions in Philadelphia ijis June. With two channels now ailable between Washington and iw York, two more will be added June so that three separate proams could be sent from Philadelia during the conventions. Two channels will be provided in rly October to connect Cleveland, ;|iledo, Chicago and St. Louis, and lie channel will be available from I is network to Buffalo. In December the Midwestern and istern networks will be linked by i j-iinnecting Philadelphia and Cleve' ind with coaxial cable, thus convicting television stations from Bosn to St. Louis. Sen ti (Birthday. | Qreetinad Vo — | Feb. 25 |.| Frank Marshall Warren Hymer jj{ William D. Kelly Zeppo Marx £ Helen Jerome Eddy «•♦ Margaret Mary Scheidegger ft $ GQo*q-&l \f<rW/ ">M pHIL M DALY Mid-Week Memos • • • DIDJA KNOW that Woodbury College of Los Angeles is engaged in a nation-wide survey of motion picture advertising? Questionnaires have been dispatched to "10.000 people of importance," equally split into four groups — people in journalism, in motion pictures, in advertising, in civic affairs NYU, State University of Iowa, Virginia's College of William and Mary, and Boston University are participating with Woodbury The question: "Tell us simply — What do you think of movie advertising? How can it be improved?" ▼ Y ▼ • • • WHEN ROBERTS PRODS, sends "Tucker's People" into production as a John Garfield starrer, Abraham Polonsky will direct Present plans call for shooting in New York. ... • Warners, by the way, will film backgrounds here, in Chicago and in Rio for "The Fountainhead". ... • Baburao Patel, editor of Filmindia, of Bombay, is in New York with his wife, a star of the India screen, and daughter, en route to the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., for surgery It's a bad ulcer. ... • As the "Fall Guy" of the day, Maurice Chevalier got the works yesterday at the Waldorf-Astoria. ... • Add Signs o' the Times: Tele receiver production in January hit a new high, registering an increase of about 40 per cent over the monthly average for '47. ... • Blast at "Raintree County," winner of Metro's novel prize, by Fr. A. J. Barret of Fordham, is countered by the publishers. Houghton Mifflin, with the contention that the novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr., presents the question of sex and love "in the dual light in which it exists in the world of humanity". ... • Congratulations are in order to John Devine, now a vice-president of Anderson Davis; & Platte, handling the Alexander Smith Carpet Co. advertising. ▼ T ▼ • • • EAGLE LION is counting on a $2,000,000 domestic gross for "T-Men" Pic is said to have cost $420,000 to produce That's one way to get into the black — and stay there. ... • Press Photographers Association of New York will stage its annual exhibit March 20-April 18 at the Veterans Center, 500 Park Ave. ... • Realart will send out "Hellzapoppin" and "Argentine Nights" as a comedy package. ... • Sir Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" will bow in London within 60 days, premiere in New York shortly afterwards. ... • Joy Theater, N'Orleans, observing its first birthday, advertised "your money back with a smile when you leave the theater if our anniversary show fails to please you". ... • Thought-in-Passing Dep't.: Why wouldn't it be a good idea to film some of the better New York benefit programs and make 'em available for strictly charity shows elsewhere? Can you imagine how the hinterlands, for instance, would go for such a show as the recent "Heart Night at the Copacabana," for instance? ▼ T T • • • U-I's MAURICE A. BERGMAN, had occasion over the Washington's Birthday week-end to wire the "A Double Life," daily grosses at the Radio City Music Hall to the studio When he gave the operator the wire covering Friday's business, even before she repeated it over the telephone, she asked him whether it was good business! Bergman assured her that it was On Monday morning, wiring Saturday and Sunday's figures, Bergman encountered another interested operator She told him that the figure included her admission Who said the public is not interested in the economics of the motion picture industry? ▼ ▼ ▼ • • • QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Hollywood must know, and so must Mr. Eric Johnston, that they cannot jointly boss our Government, which is dictated by hard necessity and has the country solidly behind it." — William Grimshaw Riley. British industrialist and backer of Filippo del Guidice's Pilgrim Pictures, in a letter to the N. Y. Sunday Times Republic Net Profit Down to $570,200 (Continued from Page 1) dividends, compared with 38 cents per share in the former 12 months. It was pointed out by Herbert J. Yates, Republic president, that domestic film rentals increased last year by 17.5 per cent in excess of rentals for the preceding fiscal period. Yates also said that company's income from Great Britain was seven per cent less than in the preceding 12 months.: Net sales and net income from film rentals and royalties are reported at $29,581,911.45 last year, compared with $24,315,593.37 in the previous year. Ratio of current assets to current liabilities increased during the year to 2.3 to one, as compared with 1.8 to one at the end of the 1946 fiscal year. Bank loans were reduced by $750,000 during the 1947 fiscal year, and it is planned to trim these obligations by approximately $1,250,000 during 1948. During 1948, Yates said, benefits from the company's economy program will manifest themselves. Pictures recently completed, and those planned for future production, will represent substantially lower costs, he stated, and will therefore acquire lower amortization charges when placed in distribution. Senate Extends Theater Building Controls 14 Mos. (Continued from Page 1) Federal controls over theater construction. An amendment by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin was passed yesterday to insert into the bill language continuing present controls over amusement and recreation construction, even though the Senate Banking and Currency Committee had earlier agreed to let these controls slide. The House is not due to act upon the matter until next month. A temporary extension of rent control will go through this week, but the controls over theater building are in force until March 31, anyhow. UJEDIBHG BELLS Boyd-Semenenko Ginni Boyd and Sergei Semenenko, Boston banker, will wed March 13 in the mid-west. Dixon-Saxton Baltimore — William K. Saxton, city manager for the Loew Theaters in Baltimore, will be married today to Marian Dixon, who conducts a fashionable dancing studio here. Robb-O'Brien Big Springs, Tex. — Janet Robb. daughter of J. Y. Robb, an official of the Robb & Rowley circuit was married here to George O'Brien.