The Film Daily (1930)

THE ME NEWSPAPER DF FILM DOM ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME VOL. LIII No. 20 Thursday, July 24, 1930 Price 5 Cents Projectionists To Ask For 20 Per Cent Increase QUIZZING CANDIDATES REFORESTING Circuits Using Musical Discs for Programs and Ads The Mirror — a column of comment MINIATURE GOLF is on the tvay to stampeding the theater business. It already seems to have nade even some of the major cir ruits forget that they are in the Vim business, and not in the sport ng field. This midget golf thing s just an epidemic. One of those fads like Mah Jong. As usual, the uccess attained by one is causing hundreds of others to jump into the same thing, and in a short time these ourses will be so thick that the very sight of them will give folks a sick Feeling. Perhaps that is what the jig circuits have in mind when they Dlan their wholesale conversion of :heaters into golf emporiums. The howman with foresight and wis lom, however, will not sink much )f his good money into a venture hat promises to be killed off as peedily as the outlook indicates for his fad. * * # THEATER EXPANSION is being •esumed by the Fox forces at a time when other major circuits talk of :urtailing acquisitions. But there is lothing in the Fox program to indi:ate that its campaign will be conlucted with the reckless abandon hat has characterized theater deals generally in the last few years. Sane nd consistent growth is necessary o the health of any institution. * * * ERMANY'S KONTINGENT, alowing importation of from 90 to 110 ound pictures and 120 silents, is not t all bad for American producers. Mthough the quota of silents is so ligh that the companies over here nay have a hard time filling it from he current season's product, there re plenty of good silents, held back rom Germany in late years because f the kontingent being completed, hat can be sent over now. Theater Exploitation Broadcasts Also Under Way Wired houses with sound-on-disc apparatus are going strong for a recent innovation in the form of especially recorded 33-1-5 r.p.m. musical discs being put out by the Checker Music Corp., of which Albert H. Shayne is president. Publix and several other big circuits already have closed contracts for the product to be used in their theaters. The releases include overtures, marches, in(Continued on Page 4) PUBLIX-SAENGER GETS SEVEN CAROLINA HOUSES Charlotte, N. C. — Seven theaters representing investments of approximately $750,000, have been acquired in Eastern North Carolina by Publix-Saenger. Two of the houses are in Rocky Mount, one in Greenville, two in Burlington and two in Goldsboro. Fox Promotes Tom Olsen for Good Work Upstate In view of his good work under Harry Goldberg, Tom Olsen, publicity and exploitation man for Fox New York upstate theaters, is being brought to the home office for a promotion. Joe Brandt To Talk Joe Brandt, president of Columbia Pictures, will be the honored guest at today's A.M. P.A. luncheon in the Blue Ribbon Restaurant. With the big strides being made by Columbia these days, Brandt is expected to have plenty of interesting things to tell the advertising boys. M.P.T.O. to Ascertain Film Views Before Elections St. Louis — An expeditious method of forestalling harmful legislation for the film industry has been instituted by the M.P.T.O. of St. Louis, Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, in taking steps to ascertain the film views of all candidates for member(Cantinued on Page 4) Georgia Sunday Shows Illegal Even if Charity, Court Rules CUT IN DUES IS VOTED BYKAN.-MO.M.P.T.A. Kansas City — A cut in dues from lj^c to lc per capita for independent exhibitors in towns of 600 or more population has been voted by the board of directors of the M.P.T. Ass'n of Kansas and Western Missouri. Independent houses in towns of less than 600 population will pay only $1 a year. Chain theaters will continue to pay IJ/2C per capita. Exhibitors with two or more houses will be classed with the circuits. New York Operators' Union Will Ask 20 Per Cent Raise Western Relic Tour Six pioneer wagons and many of the Indians appearing in Fox's "The Big Trail," directed by Raoul Walsh, will be sent to London, England, and Sydney, Australia, for exploitation use preceding special showings. An increase of 20 per cent in the projectionists' wage scale will be asked by Local 306, New York, when the present contract expires on Sept. 1. Officials of the operators' union and representatives of the exhibitors are scheduled to hold a meeting next week, at which time an effort will be made to effect a compromise some kind. Atlanta — Operation of a picture theater on Sunday in Georgia, even where a portion of the proceeds is donated to charity, is unlawful in all cases where admission is charged, the Georgia Supreme Court has just held in affirming by an evenly divided court a case appealed from the Dougherty Superior Court, involving the operation of a picture theater in Albany, Ga. Justice Hill wrote an opinion stating that the operation of a picture show on the Sabbath is a violation of the law because it is a work neither of necessity nor of charity. He pointed out that the admission charge in the Albany case went primarily to pay employes of the the {Continucd on Pag* 4) Dazzling Premiere For the Broadway premiere of "Hell's Angels" at the Criterion on Aug. 11, Howard Hughes plans the greatest turnout of film celebrities and the most dazzling electrical display that ever accompanied an event of this kind. About $100,000 is to be spent on lighting effects alone. Another $50,000 will go for special sound and projection equipment.