The Film Daily (1930)

THE Sunday, July 20, 1930 "IrftJ^ 0/ DAILY Timely Topics A Digest of Current Opinion €) Sees Exchanges as future Shipping Depots PREDICTIONS are being made that in a short time the exchanges will diminish into a series of shipping stations presided over by some executive paid, perhaps, $4,000 or $5,000 a year and with practically no sales staff, selling being done through the home office. Even the moderately small theaters are now being acquired by the producers, and when they are released to the original owners, as presently they no doubt will be, they will carry certain booking conditions which will greatly limit their demands for contracts. In a sense the too-loyal managers and salesmen have cut their own throats. Year after year they have fought to get the highest possible prices from the theaters, promising adjustments should it be found that the rentals were excessively high. The result has been that a majority of the theaters have paid high prices for service and have been unable to acquire working reserves. Now with business bad and the exchange managers forced to stand pat on their contracts, the exhibitors must lose their houses either to the chains or the sheriff, and the former is slightly more profitable. Working too hard for the big boss, the salesmen have so weakened the theaters that they are no longer able to offer resistance to the encroachment of the chains, and the salesman has about chiseled himself out of a job. — Jay Emanuel MANY HAPPY RETURNS Best wishes and congratulations are extended by THE FILM DAILY to the following members of the industry, who are celebrating their birthdays : July 19 and 20 Edward Sloman Dennis Murray Edna Mae Cooper Joe Brandt Lily Damita Charles Alan Along The Rialto with PhilM. Daly {^\NCE IN awhile a gent with real creative publicity ideas slams over a lulu so we doff our beret to Ed Corcoran, creator of the Hollywood Museum now bringing 'em thru the turnstile at the Atlantic City boardwalk at the rate of 20,000 a day the wax figures of film stars exhibited are so lifelike that visitors go up to the replicas and engage 'em in conversation Doug, Mary, John Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, and many others are there among the authentic exhibits are personal trinkets of the stars, studio props, costumes, sound equipment a unique display is a large bust sculptured from a 200-pound cake of soap depicting that exponent of Clean Entertainment, Paul Whiteman established as a permanent exhibit on the Steel Pier, but Ed has received flattering offers to tour the Exhibit throughout the country * * * * AT LAST a Californian admits that New York has something! he is Alfred C. Blumenthal, who told Louis Sher win in an interview that "In the East, once they accept you, they're loyal, but in the West, if you do get by, they'll throw rocks at you" A. C. B. in the last four years since hitting New York ain't done so tough, having promoted transactions amounting to $500,000,000 he had a hand in such deals as inducing Billy Fox to settle his argument for $25,000,000 negotiating the Fox deal with Loew's and M-G-M he put over the deal for purchase of the Roxy purchased the Metropolitan circuit for $60,VOO,000 he has always dodged personal publicity, and has a yen for wire-haired terriers and million-dollar deals * * * * "D OBERT WOOLSEY, comedy cut-up in "Half Shot At Sunrise," after purchasing a house and garage in H'lywood, discovered that the garage was too small for his massive car now he is considering switching the car to the house and sleeping in the garage Harry Tierney is the first known human to tote a full sized grand piano on location he is with an RKO company in the San Fernando Valley, sitting in his tent keeping the natives up nights listening to his compositions as he tickles 'em from the ivories * * * * "CDWARD CLINE, vet director, discloses in an interview to Hal Hall in the current "Cinematographer," that no less a personage than President Hoover is responsible for the creation of the Sennett Bathing Beauties when the president was Food Administrator during the war he assigned the Sennett studio to make a propaganda picture advocating eating more fish so Sennett told Eddie to get the old bean working so Eddie took the stock company girls down to a fish market to buy fish, dressed as bathing beauties, then he shot 'em fishing, and finally staged 'em in a baseball game Chaplin saw the preview and sez: "Mack, it's a great idea — make a series of Bathing Beauty comedies" and that, gents, is how great ideas are born so give President Hoover and Eddie Cline a hand * * * * JOHN HOBBLE has written a wow blackout spoofing the Earl Carroll "Vanities" scandal court trial it appears in the new revue, "Who Cares?", at the Chanin the big kick comes when the judge orders the fan dancer to drop her fan the cutie lets the feathers fall and reveals an abbreviated brass costume evidently a brassiere tut-tut, as District Attorney Tuttle might say Doubleday-Doran has a unique announcement for Beth Brown's new novel, "Wedding Ring," in the form of a wedding announcement card with a ring attached Glendon Allvine reveals a new racketeer, who poses as a Fox director operating from a boarding house in New York and offering jobs in pictures for a consideration the gent has vanished, leaving his board bill * * * * rVHEY SAY that tight-rope walking originated in Scotland. EXPLOITETTES A Clearing House for Tabloid Exploitation Ideas — o— Masked Employees Were Benson Murder Suspects ' A T the Publix Coronado theater Rockford, 111., Rudy Born put all of the ushers and the doorman in black masks the week ahead of "The Benson Murder Mystery." When curious patrons asked the why of the masks, the employee would lower his voice and confidentially inform the patron that the entire theater staff was under suspicion of having murdered Anthony Benson, but that Philo Vance would clear up the mystery the following week. At the same time a card with further sales talk was slipped the patron. This might not work so well in a larger place, but it was a small sensation in Rockford. — Epea Sargent Tied In With Department Store Picnic A NOVEL tieup was worked out to tie in with Florodora Girl by Floyd Maxwell, manager of the Fox Broadway in Portland, Ore. Contacting H. Liebes & Company, Maxwell told them the idea of having a dozen or more of the feminine employees appear at the store's barbecue picnic attired in garments of the vintage of '88. Working on the premise that all department stores or women's stores emphasize contrasts in styles and are naturally anxious to break into publicity whenever possible, Maxwell encountered no difficulty. The result of his idea materialized into a splendid three-column art break showing the "Gay Gals of the Ws." In addition, the "Daily Journal" ran a good sized story telling all highlights of the Liebes frolic. —"Now" Of 10,050 Chicago school children examined, 90. per cent of them expressed a preference for films over books.