Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

The Leading Daily Newspaper ii n jit it of the Motion Picture Industry MOTION PICTURE DAILY Alert, Intelligent and Faithful Service to the Industry in All Branches )L. 35. NO. 44 NEW YORK, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1934 TEN CENTS ays Denies Interest in Film Boards PPDA Connection Only "Indirect," He Says The M. P. P. D. A. was interested iy "indirectly"' in Film Boards of Ifade. Will H. Hays testified Wedjeday at the trial of the Frank Reinjpch anti-trust suit against major Vnpanies now under way before dge Alfred M. Coxe in U. S Dis pct Court here. •'Hays said he was "not familiar" Eth the functions or duties of the tin Boards, being aware of their opations in only a general way. When own what was purported to be a py of a report on the boards sub!'tted to the board of directors of ; M. P. P. D. A., Hays said that (Continued on page 12) asurgents Oppose Kansas City Pacts Kansas City. Feb. 22. — Efforts to l,d the downtown price war here by ifeans of an agreement among suburBs to eliminate giveaways. 10-cent tkets and other practices may hit e rocks because of the opposition of ir houses. A majority of the houses have aljady signed an agreement, according j a committee in charge of gathering (Continued on pane 12) W andF &M Call Off Theatre Dicker Los Angeles, Feb. 22. — Because of fferences arising from an operatg arrangement in San Francisco. ).\ West Coast has called off its deal Kh Fanchon & Marco, whereby the , rmer would turn over seven houses j the latter for operation. As a result of the dropping of the (Continued on pane 12) Story Buy "Snowbound," a saga of the cold country, written by Charlie Einfeld and dealing with his winter hibernation in the wilds between Scarsdale and Larchmont, probably will appear on the Warner schedule next season as a super-super. It ought to be hot. Relief of Authority Members From Legal Liability Planned Washington, Feb. 22. — Amendment of all codes to relieve members of code authorities from responsibility for acts of their fellow members is planned by the National Recovery Administration. A provision for inclusion in codes relieving authority members of responsibility for all but their "own wilful mis-feasance or non-feasance" has been drafted by the legal division of the administration and laid before a number of industries for consideration. The new clause provides that "nothing contained in this code shall constitute the members of the code authority partners for any purpose, nor shall any member of the code authority be liable in any manner to any one for any act of any other member, officer, agent or employe of the code authority; nor shall any member of the code authority, or any agent thereof, exercising reasonable diligence in the conduct of his duties hereunder, be liable to any one for any action or omission to act under this code, except for his own wilful mis-feasance or non-feasance." Imports Hold NRA Awaiting Up in Face of Onslaught of Nazi Upheaval Code Critics Washington. Feb. 22. — In spite of all the turmoil incident to Nazi reorganization of the German film industry, American film imports reached 213 features for 1933, an increase of three over 1932 and 69 below the total for 1931. These figures are contained in a summary of German conditions sent to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of (Continued on page 2) Washington, Feb. 22. — To what extent critics of the film code — especially Allied — will avail themselves of Administrator Hugh S. Johnson's invitation to lay all cards on the table here Feb. 27 is a subject for speculation. Observers agree that the whole subject has been laid wide open for further discussion, although specific complaints about the workings of the film (Continued on pane 8) Who? What? When? rHIRl) in the series of biographical sketches of tlic men in the field who zvill keep the code going. Already published have been data on boards in Cincinnati, Denver. Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Seattle. Today's instalment covers Dallas, Indianapolis and St. Louis. Dallas Dallas, Feb. 22. — Leroy R. Bickell, representing affiliated national distributor on the Dallas grievance board, has romance in his business background. He first became interested in pictures while running a locomotive on the Louisville and Nashville out of Birmingham, Ala. In 1907, which is a couple of centuries as this business goes, he opened Oklahoma City's second theatre. The date may be historically significant; it was on Feb. 11. On Hallowe'en Night (Continued on page 6) Indianapolis Indianapolis, Feb. 22. — J. HIarold Stevens, representing affiliated national distributors on the Indianapolis grievance board, entered the employ of Paramount in the Boston exchange on June, 1925, as a booker. Two years later he was made a salesman. In 1929 came an appointment as branch manager covering Maine. In October, 1932, came his transfer to Indianapolis where he has since remained in charge of the company's exchange. Floyd Brown, representing unaf (Continued on page 6) Allied's Suit Reported Off; Myers Says No Rumor Code Qualification Rule May Be Changed Reports were current Wednesday that Allied's suit against Code Authority had been "virtually settled" and signing of out-of-court agreement hinged on one point. The suit, slated to come up in the U. S. District Court today, according to reports, will not be heard and is set for another postponement if the reputed settlement is not reached this morning. The suit of the Congress, Newark, an Allied member, pivots about signing code assents with qualifications. It is understood that if the action is settled out of court, the qualification angle will be modified, but to what extent could not be learned late Wednesday. Spokesmen for Code Authority de (Continued on page 8) Report Rosenblatt Wants ITO A Roster Division Administrator Sol A. Rosenblatt is understood to have requested from Harry Brandt a bona fide list of all members in the I. T. O. A. Rosenblatt, it is understood, is seeking this data before he sits down with Brandt and attempts to formulate a basic wage scale for local houses. A meeting on the local operator question is tentatively set for Monday. M. P. Daily's Flash First in Cincinnati Cincinnati, Feb. 22. — Official appointments to the local grievance and zoning and clearance boards, as flashed here by wire from Motion Picture (Continued on page 8) 250,000 Daily Approximately 250,000 persons attend theatres in New York City daily, Paul Hollister, vice-president of Macy's, told the Ampa Wednesday. He said the figures were supplied by the Hays organization. Daily attendance at Macy's, he said, averages from 100,000 to 150,000.