The Film Daily (1931)

intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought II " The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Fourteen Years Old ^CL. LV NC. 129 NEW your, lUESCAy, JUNE 2, 1931 5 €EN¥* Fox Appeals to Supreme Court Over Georgia Tax FIRST-RUN PRODUCTSHORTAGE GETSACUTE Projectionists1 Locals Agree on Summer Rebate The Knockers — are having a feast — By JACK ALICOATE — .... . . Right now. with Whispering salaries being Brigade slashed, staffs being pruned, admission prices being cut and the industry '■rally at a low ebb, we have at least a bull market in rumors, innuendos, and at times semimalicious whisperings. With a sort of every man for himself spirit in the air, industry co-operation, in many spots, is glaringly lacking. That the motion picture industry, along with the rest of the country, must go through its liquidating process, is but good, hard, common sense. From a comparative standpoint the film business stands high among industries hurt by the depression, continuing to show a profit where business in general seems happy to keep out of the red. What the industry seems to need most at this time is sound thinking. * * * We hear very Will Hays little these try And His Work tag days of the work of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. Yet at no time more than in the past 18 months has this organization proven its worth, under the energetic guidance of Will Hays, to every branch of the industry. It is interesting to contemplate what might he the status of the film business today were there not a strong, understanding hand to keep matters under control that might otherwise have a tendency to become unruly. * * * At leasl 'tie head man Killing has had tin courage Retakes take the bull by the horiK and has ordered that there will be no more retakes in so-and-so studio. And this on (Continued on Paffi 2) 10Week Scale Cut To Aid Circuits Favored in National Vote Projectionists' unions throughout the country are understood to have definitely agreed to the plan proposed by William F. Canavan, president of the I.A.T.S.E. and M that their members employed by the six major circuits rebate part of their summer wages. Results of the national vote on the subject now being (Continued on Page 1) ISAAC H. RUBEN DIES; N. W. CIRCUIT PIONEER Minneapolis — Isaac H. Ruben, who with the late M. L. Finkelstein founded the Finkelstein & Ruben circuit, which they sold to Publix a few years ago, died Sunday of heart disease at the age of 63. Ruben and Finkelstein began their film ven (Continued on Paqe 4) Frank Fischer Now Heads Warner Wisconsin Houses Milwaukee — Frank W. Fischer, formerly operator of the Fischer circuit in Wisconsin, has been named general manager of Warner Bros. Wisconsin theaters, succeeding Bernard Depkin, Jr. Fischer comes to (Continued on Page 4) RCA Starts Building Television Stations Several television stations will be built by Radio Corp. of America within the next year, according to plans under way. One will be on top the new RCA building in New York, and another on a still higher building in this city. A third is set for the Pacific Coast, with other locations now being lined up. There will be no conflict between television in the home and motion pictures in the theater, says David Sarnoff, president of RCA, in a statement. J. W. MYERS LINING UP NEW SOUTHWEST CIRCUIT Dallas — J. W. Myers of New York, who has been in the theater business 35 years and who said he owned a grind house in Dallas many years ago is establishing a new circuit di (.Continued on Pane i) Van Hyning Re-elected By M.P.T.O. of Mo.-Kan. St. Joseph, Mo. — E. Van Hyning. Iola, Kan., was re-elected president of the M.P.T.O. of Western Mo. and Kan. at the annual convention here. (Continued on Payc I) Georgia Gross Receipts Tax Held Unconstitutional by Fox Detroit Operators Take 30 Per Cent Reduction Detroit — A reduction of 30 per cent in wage scale has been accepted by the projectionists' union here. The cut follows similar action about a week ago in Cleveland. Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — The Georgia Kr"*s receipts tax law is attacked as unci institutional in an appeal tiled by \ Film in the Supreme Court. The appeal is based on the contention that the law includes receipts from Federal tax and copyright. Rialto, Times Square, To Go Dark First Time in 15 Years Scarcity of first-run produ given as the reason for the closing of the Rialto tomorrow night for at least six weeks, marking the time in 15 years that thiSquare house has been dark. Sb age of go ' cuit officii Film Dai (Continued or. INCREASESliUAiARIES COLUMBIA'S NEXT MOVE Chicago — Next revision of salaries 1 < olumbia will be upward, declared Joe Brandt and Jack Cohn at the opening of the midwest sales convention at the Conyre~ Hotel. The story of Columbia's opp. to salary cuts was carried exclusively in The Film Daily last week. In officially voicing the policy, Cohn said: "More money cm be saved in careful production at the studios than in the minor sums dediv (Continntd on f'atic 4) Tri-State Exhibitors Meet in Memphis June 7 Memphis — Annual convention of the Tri-State MP. I ed uled for June 7 and S .it thi ette. President K. X " ( >\ford will preside. $'n Cleveland Exhib A Has 100' , Membership Cleveland— The Cleveland M. P. Exhibitor's Ass'n now boasts a 100 per cent membership, with every theater in the city repn J. J. Harwood, president, announces. The Washington circuit and the ScoviOe Kssick and Reif circuit k the only houses that did i "n to the organization, joined last week.