The Film Daily (1931)

Intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Fourteen Years Old VOL. LV NO. 7C NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MACCti 2<5, 1931 <S OENTS Paramount Stepping Up Coast Production Activities 2 OPERATOR UNIONS FIGHTING FOR CONTROL Screen Ad Users Want Circulation Over More Circuits The Mirror — a column of comment INDICATIONS are that the new selling season will start without the new standard exhibition contract in operation and instead distributors will use their individual agreements. . .According to the general impression distributors take the attitude that in view of the Supreme Court decisions banning the old arbitration and credit systems, legality of the new contract is questionable. Assuming this to be the correct motive, you can hardly blame them for marking time in the matter of putting into operation the new distribution machinery— an expensive undertaking. As long as this situation continues to exist, however, the theater man accumulates the bulk of the headaches. A standardized contract is plenty tough enough to digest. But a dozen individual agreements is, well, 12 times worse. Additionally, under current circumstances the exhib is minus a number of benefits he would receive via the new contract. From a number of sources have come recommendations that the contract be submitted to the Department of Justice for its okay. Such action would mightily help clear the beclouded atmosphere. • A COMPILATION of court decisions concerning the film industry is being made... A volume of this sort should possess considerable value. It no doubt will serve to more comprehensively define the rules by which the film game must be played. A PENNSYLVANIA exhib signs up with local neivspaper as movie critic . . .An idea which might be sold by enterprising operators to other papers lacking a regular picture editor. It's a grand double-barreled service thought. National Advertisers Not Satisfied With One Theater Group Working on the theory that 50 per cent of the movie patrons of the country do not attend more than one theater each week, national advertisers are demanding greater circulation for sponsored short subjects than can be obtained through the m,edium of only one circuit, The Film Daily learns. According to (Continued an Page 6) FOUR 12 PART SERIALS ON MASCOTS PROGRAM Mascot Pictures Corp., will produce serials exclusively for the 1931-32 season according to Nat Levine, president, who leaves for the coast today. Four all-talking serials, of 12 episodes each, have been set as the production schedule which will be put into work as soon as Levine reaches (Continued on Pane 6) Columbia Earnings Drop; $282,409 for HalfYear Net profit of Columbia Pictures for the six months ended Dec. 27 amounted to $282,409, compared with $479,129 reported for the corresponding period of 1929. RKO's 'Noiseless" Device A recording device that is said to eliminate about 98 per cent of the "frying" and "spitting" ground noises in sound reproduction has been perfected by Hugh McDowell, young recording engineer at the RKO studios in Hollywood. The process, which is to be used in all Radio pictures, makes all but the speech lines opaque, so there is no possibility of dirt or abrasions being translated into crackling sounds. EIGHT MYSTERY DRAMAS PLANNED 8Y MOUNT A series of dramas taken from popular detective and secret service novels and magazines, to be known as "The Supreme Eight", will constitute the production schedule of Richmount Pictures, according to (Continued on Pane 8) S.M.P.E. Committees To Study Projection Three committees have been appointed by the Society of M. P. Engineers to conduct a specialized study of all phases of projection. The Pro ( Continued on Pane 6) Seven Productions a Month To Be Turned Out by Para. Welcome Back! Kansas City — A "return of good times" golf tourney will be held the last week in May by exhibs belonging to the local Film Board of Trade. Harry Graham of Universal, Robert Withers of Midwest and E. S. Olsmith of Tiffany are handling the arrangements. Local 306 Battling With Empire State Group in New York Area An intensive battle for the control of the projectionist situation in the New York metropolitan area is being waged beween Local 306, identified with the I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. O., and the unaffiliated Empire State M. P. Operators Union. Empire is backed by former union (Continued on Page 8) HARRY CAMPBELL DIES AFTER BRIEF ILLNESS Boston — Harry Campbell, Fox district manager for New England and identified with that company for 17 years, died at 7:40 o'clock yesterday morning at his home at Newton Highlands, following a brief illness. (Continued on Page 8) Robert Edeson Dead From Heart Disease West Coast Bureau. THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Robert Edeson, veteran stage and screen actor, died at his home early yesterday of heart disease. He had been ill for several (Continued on Page 8) West Coast Bureau, THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — A production program that will mean turning out an average of seven pictures a month for the next four months is being launched at the Paramount studios here in the most ambitious schedule undertaken within the last seven years. More than 400 workers have been engaged to construct about 100 new settings, and from 1,700 to 2,100 persons, exclusive of players and extras, will he employed <l;iilv. Twisted Kansas City — Latest change in opening day of the Pantages has this town stumped. Years ago the houses started their new bills on Sunday. Then it was changed to Saturday. So the Pan. moved its opening to Friday. The other houses soon followed suit, and one day the Pan. went to Thursday. Not wanting to be too persistent imitators, the other houses let it go at that. But now the Pan. has shifted its opening to Monday, and what local showmen are trying to figure out is whether this is the Monday ahead of them or the Monday behind their Friday opening I