The Film Daily (1930)

—. &2W DAILY Monday, June 2, 1930 100 FOX THEATERS WILL 8E REMODELED More than 100 Fox houses east of the Mississippi, in the group supervised by Oscar S. Oldknow and Harry Arthur, will be remodeled this summer. About 20 will be closed for this purpose and reopened as de luxers. Morris Kutinsky, formerly New Jersey division manager for Fox Metropolitan Playhouses, now is in charge of purchasing and disposition of all Fox theaters other than those operated by West Coast Theaters. Cartoon Series in Color Lined Up by Universal Universal has bought the rights to the syndicated newspaper cartoon, "Strange As It Seems," by John Hix, and will picturize it in a series of 13 talker shorts, done in color, for he 1930-31 short subject program. Silent House for Philly Philadelphia — Foreign Films Co., in which Amkino is believed to be interested, is reopening the Little with a silent policy. The company has taken a one-year lease on the house. Manager Buys House Janesville, Wis. — The Meyer, formerly the Janesville opera house, has been purchased by John M. Thompson, Menominee, Mich., and R. C. Wheeler formerly manager of the Lloyd at Marinette, Wis. The Lloyd lease, which has been under the control of the Lloyd estate, is expected to be transferred shortly to Cyrus S. Lloyd, one of the heirs. James Zanias formerly owned the Meyer. Warners Opening Exchange Bldg. Philadelphia — Warners are opening up their new exchange building on Vine St. Structure houses Warner Bros., First National, Vitaphone and the Censor Board. Two stories are empty, but one of them will be taken over by Warners for some purpose. Dorland Gets W. W. Post Charlotte, N. C. — Jack Dorland has been appointed local manager of the World Wide exchange, succeeding E. F. Dardine. Dorland formerly was with Paramount. Werner Succeeds Mrs. Young Washington — George Werner, formerly assistant booker at the Fox exchange, has succeeded Mrs. Sarah Young as booker in that office, and H. M. Clark, formerly with the Lust Theaters, has taken over Werner's duties. Fox After 2 in Wis. Milwaukee — Fox Wisconsin Theaters are reported to be planning to take over the Parkway and the Eastwood theaters at Madison. 49 More Houses Added to Growing Warner Chain (Continued from Page 1) berg, who holds the other 25 per cent, is expected to continue with the properties under the supervision of Spyros P. Skouras. Publix also had been after this chain and there was some spirited bidding for the Virginia houses, which include the New Virginian, Harrisonburg; Lyric and New, Lexington; Strand and New, Staunton; Colonial, Capitol and Little Winn, Winchester, and Masonic and New, Clifton Forge. Option on the Warner-Equity theaters was acquired by Stanley, controlled by Warner Bros., a year ago. The outright control goes into effect immediately. Official confirmation of the Schine Circuit buy, first reported exclusively in THE FILM DAILY two weeks ago, is expected shortly. Warners now is understood to be dickering for some important holdings in Chicago. James E. Coston, head of a booking circuit of 68 houses in that area, has been in New York apparently conferring on a deal. Another Chicago theater group also is reported in negotiations. Ben Amsterdam, head of Equity and one of its founders, joins the Warner office in New York. The rest of the office moves over to the Stanley quarters in Philadelphia. Philadelphia — Warner Bros, has purchased the minority interests of Marcus Benn and Samuel Shapiro in their Philadelphia houses. Benn and Shapiro were formerly Stanley partners who became Warner partners when the Warners bought Stanley. Suit for an accounting had been begun against Stanley by Benn but inasmuch as he has already settled for cash, suit is probably dropped. THEATER EVERYWHERE IS (Continued from Page 1) houses will continue until the circuit covers the entire territory served by Warner pictures. Among the reasons given for the advisability of having a big circuit, Warner said that the theater manager, rather than the public, is the chief problem of the industry today. Warner also spoke on the intentions of his company to expand its activities in the legitimate theater, where it is now feeling its way. He said players with exceptional characterization ability eventually will take precedence over most stars, and that television like radio, will create a desire for more entertainment rather than hurt the theater. Pictures that do some good, as well as amuse, must have more consideration in future, Warner declared, and this can be accomplished partly by the use of backgrounds with educational value. The films have taught the public to think for itself and producers now must find out what interests the public most, he said. Shapiro, a builder, became the Stanley partner through construction of several neighborhood de luxe houses. This gives the Warners 100 per cent control of practically every house in the Warner-Stanley chain. Owen J. Roberts, recently appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, represented Shapiro in the transaction. Canadian Houses Must Pay Music Tax Same As U. S. (Continued from Page 1) on the same basis as paid in the U. S., or 10 cents per seat per year, instead of a percentage of the boxoffice receipts as is paid in England, France and other European countries. Under the agreements between Electrical Research Products, RCA Photophone, manufacturers of sound devices, and John G. Paine, as agent and trustee for the music publishers, all Canadian theaters showing pictures under these processes must obtain a license from the Canadian Society. Distributors whose product is exhibited with ERPI or RCA equipment have been advised that they must furnish pictures only to theaters complying with this license requirement. The reorganization just concluded provides that the American Society shall own and control half of the fleers elected were: Henry T. Jamieson, president; Gene Buck, vice president; Holmes Maddock, secretary, and Louis Bernstein, treasurer. Major James Annand has been appointed general manager, with offices in the Royal Bank Bldg., Toronto. Failure of the Rinfret Bill to pass at Ottawa had nothing to do with the reorganization of the Canadian Society, which has been in the course of negotiation for a number of years, Rosenthal says. American copyright owners comply with the provisions of the Canadian law and register their works as required by Section 40. No. Tonawanda Houses Sold No. Tonawanda, N. Y. — the Riveria has been acquired by Publix and the Avondale has been purchased by the Avondale Theater Corp. RELEASES IN ENGLAND GAINED INF1RST QUARTER London — Two hundred and twenty feature pictures, 134 sound and 86 silent, came under official censorship in Great Britain during the first quarter of the current year, according to statistics just made public by the British Board of Censors. This figure compares with 206 in the similar period of 1929. Sixty-four features, 40 sound and 24 silent, were censored in March, the report states. Expect Quick Settlement in Makeup Union Situation Wage scale and working conditions applying to makeup artists, who recently formed a union, are expected to be worked out with little delay, according to August G. Volz, of the Scenic Artists' Union, who is handling the negotiations. General Talking Moves Atlanta — General Talking Pictures has moved its offices to 204 Silvey Bldg. Will T. Richards is in charge. On June 1 district headquarters will be moved to New Orleans. Lande in Charge Pittsburgh — Radio Pictures, Inc., now has Harry A. Lande, formerly manager of Progress Film Service, Inc., as its district manager. Organist Now Manager East Liberty, Pa. — With appointment of Dick Brown to manager of the four Warner houses in Fairmount, W. Va., Frank Roberts, organist at the Enright, has been elevated to manager. Bastin Retires from Business Marionville, Mo. — C. T. Bastin has retired from operation of the Electric with leasing of the house to Harold H. Jenkins. Hayes Gets Fox Promotion Herrin, 111. — Earl Hayes has been promoted to general manager of Fox theaters in this city. He was last assistant general manager of Fox Midwesco theaters in Topeka, Kan. TEN YEARS AGO TO-DAY IN Next year's schedule announced by First National plan 60 productions from 15 producing units. Associated Producers will have 30 productions. * * * Metro signs eight prominent authors.