The Film Daily (1931)

DAILY Sunday, April 12, 1931 256 Shorts, Including News, on New Pathe Program Three Van Beuren Series in Lineup for Next Season KKO-Pathe will distribute 256 shorts, including 104 issues of Pathe News, said Ned E. Depinet, vicepresident and general sales manager, yesterday in discussing pre-convenlion plans. The line-up will include the Van Beuren trio comprising Aesop's Sound Fables, Grantland Rice Sporthghts and the Vagabond Adventure series. Of the total to be released, 208 will be single reelers including the News, Review and the Van Beuren subjects. Forty-eight two-reel comedies will complete the lineup. "Star Spangled Banner" Fine Music Week Short President Hoover's signing of the Act of Congress on March 4, making "The Star Spangled Banner" our official national anthem, and the consequent action of the National Music Week Committee in making the singing of the Francis Scott Key composition a highlight of its annual observations, attaches particular interest to the RKO Pathe short film picturing high-lights of the life of Key and the events leading up to the creation of the anthem. To permit this film to play its part in bringing "The Star Spangled Banner" directly to the people at this time, RKO Pathe is making available to theaters this picture made by Pictorial Clubs, who have made some scores of pictures of both educational and entertainment interest. This film of one of the most dramatic episodes in American history traces the highlights of Key's career from boyhood to the War of 1812. The words superimposed upon the waves of the Chesapeake Bay conclude the reel. The fact that this film is a silent one makes it particularly suitable for the National Music Week programs as it permits local clubs to supply vocal and instrumental accompaniment in conformance with their community observations. Nagel and Flemming Reach Algiers Curtis F. Nagel, co-producer of the Educational-Romantic Journeys, and Claude Flemming, featured actor and announcer in the series, have arrived in Algiers and will immediately commence shooting the first Journey thev will make on this trip to Northern Africa. Serial for Newsreel Pathe News has adopted the serial idea in connection with pictures of present conditions in the Soviet Republic and the working out of the Five-Year Plan. On Closing Your House \By ARTHUR M. LOEW. A FTER long, arduous and painstaking research, my experts report the following methods guaranteed to darken any cinema. (1) Make your patrons uncomfortable. (2) Provide bad projection. (3) Run your feature backwards. (4) Give 'em uninteresting or bad short stuff. An admirable method of providing for the discomfort of your patrons is to substitute pine-boards for upholstered seats. Another method is to stop all ventilation — especially when (and if) your house is crowded. Bad projection may be achieved by providing your operator with a box of fat seegars, smoked glasses, and a non-synch machine that will play jazz for him while the picture is running. Running your feature backwards might be hailed as "art" by the highbrows. To insure their disliking your program, decide by "eenie, meenie, meinee, mo" which reel will follow which. This should have the desired effect. As to bad short stuff — students in the art of darkening houses are unanimously of the opinion that this is not only the best method, but the one n most common use. It is the choice of all exhibitors expert in the study of closing houses. M-G-M is apparently woefully negligent in the art of keeping patrons from theaters, especially abroad in the matter of short subjects. A glaring example of M-G-M's backwardness in this respect is the number of short subjects made in various languages other than English, for patrons who do not understand English. Of course, success in keeping patrons away could be attained by supplying Italian exhibitors with French short subjects, and German exhibitors with Spanish short subjects, etc. Political crises might even be provoked if our German and French short product were so distributed that Berlin would show French subjects and Paris, German. However, this policy has not yet been introduced. In line with its backward methods in the dandy art of darkening cinemas is the M-G-M distribution in Spanish-America and Spain of the Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chase, Our Gang and Harry Langdon short features, all in the Spanish language. In addition, M-G-M dog comedies bark in Castilian, in the Latin countries, and Senor Burton Holmes has made his one-reel travelogues using Spanish exclusively. For France and countries using the French language, we now havt all-French Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chase and Our Gang comedies, and French all-dog comedies, and Monsieur Burton Holmes has given us his travelogues in French. In German and Italian, we, likewise, have Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and Harry Langdon comedies, besides the M-G-M all-dog comedies, and Herr Burton Holmes and Signor Burton Holmes have given us travelogues in each language. This M-G-M method of giving exhibitors what the public wants in the particular language of that public, has been tremendously successful. In addition to an M-G-M feature in the language of the country, the patrons find shorts also in their language. Something will have to be done about it. Exhibitors showing M-GM shorts are entirely too prosperous to be interested in the fine art of darkening houses. Crowds of kiddies milling around the entrance to the Ceo. M. Cohan Theater, New York, waiting for the opening of the first chapter of the Universal serial, "Spell of the Circus." The caps worn by the children are a regular accessory on this chapter play. NEW PATHE NEWS REGIME WORKING TODtTEND SCOPE Under its new management, headed by Courtland Smith, Pathe News is extending its scope and making every effort to continue turning out a modern newsreel. The executive personnel of the Pathe News organization includes the following line-up: Courtland Smith, president; J. S. Connolly, general manager; Edward Percy Howard, editor; Thomas Chalmers, associate editor; Harold E. Wondsell, assistant editor; Claude R. Collins, news editor; Ted Smith, assistant news editor; Ruth Nichols, aviation editor; Carle L. Weagant, yachting editor; Mary K. Browne, women's editor; William G. O'Brien, European representative; Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, science editor; Captain Bob Bartlett, special feature editor; Joseph O'Brien, sporting editor; R. E. Mann, chief technical department; Walter Scott, chief of photographers; Bert Kalisch, title writer; Charles Del Moos, chief of laboratories; BL1 Baer, in charge of home negative laboraB tory; Jack McCarron, chief of title department; A. J. McPhail, auditor? James Darst, Mid-West director? Chicago; Edgar L. Kaw, West Coasi director; Albert Holland, Washington manager; Marvin Mclntyre, Washington editorial representative. Major Ross D. Whytock heads the contact department. Mascot Is Only Company Specializing in Serials Mascot Pictures, of which Nat Le-d vine is president, is the only coml pany specializing in the production of serials. Four all-talking chapter plays, all in 12 episodes, will be made this year. First will come Rex in "The Vanishing Legion," scheduled for June 10 release. Breezy Eason is directing it, and Frankie Darrow has one of the leading roles. Another important Mascot serial will be "The Galloping Ghost," with Red Grange, famous football star. This will be released next fall. The third will have Rin-Tin-Tin, and the other will be "The Eagle's Shadow," detective mystery. Eddie Lambert in "Humanette" I Eddie Lambert has been assigned to play the lead in the next Leigh Jason "Humanette," Radio Pictures novelty short feature. The "Humanette" series are produced by Frank Newman. Back on Old Job Ned E. Depinet is back where he started — from one angle. Recently appointed general sales manager of RKO Pathe, he is again selling Pathe News, which he peddled for the General Film Co. when the Pathe rooster was only a chicken.