The Film Daily (1931)

Intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought The Dail y N ewspaper Of Mot i o n Pi ctures Now Fourteen Years Old .VOL. LV NO. 39 new yopr, Monday, PcccoAcr 16, 1931 5 CENTS Sound-Film Now Beats Disc, Says W. B. Engineer SPORTJUBJECTS NEWVOGUE-100 PLANNED Allied Exhibs Expect $250,000 in Year From Industrials Hanson Expects To Sign 2,500 Houses for "Ad" Films Exclusive exhibition rights for industrial and sponsored pictures, not to total more than 104 reels annually, have been given by 400 exhibitors affiliated with Allied States Ass'n to Oscar R. Hanson. Details of the twoyear agreement, made at the Allied meeting at Chicago last week, were announced Saturday by Hanson upon iiis (v*Ji'T to Vew York. According to the agreement all reels shall be approved by a committee representing Allied or its regional associations and in such reels "entertain (Continued on Page 8) PENNSY EXHIBS MEETING TO DISCUSS SUNDAY BILLS Philadelphia — Pennsylvania exhibitors will meet here early this week to examine the provisions of five Sunday opening bills introduced in the State Legislature. Although none of the measures is sponsored by exhib organizations, theater men are interested in determining which one of the measures would prove most advantageous if passed. Yankee Enterprise . Olathe, Colo. — This town of 500 closed its only theater last May when sound-equipped theaters in nearby cities killed patronage. The merchants found a big slump in Saturday shoppers as ai result. So they formed a non-profit organization, and opened the house for Friday and Saturday shows. The manager donates his services. Besides the benefit to store biz, over $400 has been earned since July) in this 360-seater at 10 and 15 cents admission, playing silents. M.P.T.O.A. Directors Meet in N. Y. March 10 Date for the spring meeting of the M.P.T.O.A. board of directors is scheduled for about Marchl 0 in New York, it was decided Saturday following telegraphic communications between President M. A. Lightman and M. J. O'Toole. Members of the organization will be asked to help {Continued on Page 8) Says Exhibs Miss Big Opportunity In Not Selling Dialogue to Public Kansas City — One of the best picture selling angles is being consistently muffed because too many exhibitors advertise their shows as plain, common movies, instead of as realistic, human-voiced talkers, in the opinion of F. C. Souttar, director of publicity and advertising for the Midland circuit. Souttar says: "Will Rogers serves to demonstrate. Rogers was a falling star in the cinema's days of muteness. He had something, but the technical lim itations of the silents muzzled him. And then came the conversational films and he clicked in his proper magnitude. And yet, 1931 ads boosting a Roger's vehicle have no selling copy on the talkie angle 1 Just a muffed ace-in-the-hole! In other words one of our best selling arguments is being left out of newspaper ads. The first simple principle of merchandising, calling for a rally of strong points to be sold to the public, has been parked in the alley! As {Continued on Page 8) 80 Features and 100 Shorts On Paramount 's Paris Schedule Paris — Paramount's new production program at the Joinville studios near here calls for approximately 80 features and 100 short subjects in various languages to be produced this year. "The General," French dialogue^ got under way last week. Another French production, and three in French, Spanish, German and Portuguese, also are in preparation. Derr, Sullivan Start West Coast Bur. THE FILM DAILY Hollywood— E. B. Derr and Charles E. Sullivan joined the Howard Hughes organization Saturday as production heads. 'Noiseless' System Advances Sound-onFilm Recording Sound on film is expected to produce much better results this year than that obtainable on records, in the opinion of Porter H. Evans, chief engineer of the Warner Vitaphone studio in Brooklyn. "In audible picture history, the vear 1930 will also be designated as the year when the reproduction of sound from film became as good as that obtainable from records. Since then, film recording has shown a steady improvement, with greater advances promised. "The recent perfection of the socalled noiseless recording represents (Continued on Pane 8) Two Features in Athletic Vein Also Being Produced With the Grantland Rice "Sportlights" holding the field of sport shorts with practically no competition for the last 12 vears, the new selling season about to be ushered in will bring to exhibitors more than 100 short subjects pertaining to (Continued on Page 8) PATHE PLAYERpiRECTORS RECEIVE NEW CONTRACTS West Coast Bureau. THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — AU directors and stars who have been under contract to Pathe have been signed to new agreements, according to Hiram S. Brown, president of Radio Pictures who left for New York on Saturday. The announcement follows the adjustment, last week, of Constance Bennett's contract and the signing of a new (Continued on Page 8) "Cim" Pulls 65,000 Into Mainstreet, K. C. Kansas City — Attendance records went through the sky at the Mainstreet during the past week when RKO's "Cimarron" drew a total of more than 6'5,000 admissions, accompanied by unprecedented publicity from all angles. The picture is being held over. "Dracula" Draws 50,000 In Two Days at Roxy In the first two days at the Roxy, Universal's "Dracula," vampire thriller, drew approximately 50,000 paid admissions, it is announced. Dismiss DeForest Suit Ottawa — i DeForest Phonofilm's suit against Famous Players Canadian, user of Western Electric sound system, for alleged patent infringement has been dismissed by the Exchequer Court.