Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

The Leading Newspaper of the Motion Picture Industry MOTION PICTURE DAILY Alert, Intelligent and Faithful Service to the Industry in All Branches VOL. 35. NO. 55 NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1934 TEN CENTS Presidential Tariff Liked By Film Men Proposal Regarded As Blow to Quotas Relief from stringent tariff and luota regulations imposed on Ameri:an films by foreign countries is iewed as possible by foreign repreentatives of leading companies in the tvent Congress grants President Roosevelt the authority he has revested to permit him to adjust U. S. ariffs arbitrarily and probably on a eciprocal basis, it was learned yester;lay. Under the President's tariff propofals, reciprocal arrangements might ■■e worked out with other nations by kiiich a liberalization of their tariff ind quota laws would be met with a orresponding liberalisation of American tariffs on imports from such lOuntries. Likewise, nations unwilling d let down tariff and quota barriers {Continued on page 2) Jniversal to Make 12 Features Abroad Universal has scheduled 12 features )r production in Europe this season, ;ight to be made in England and four ,i Vienna, Max Friedland, European Manager for Universal, said last night Bust prior to his sailing for London Doard the Berengaria. 1 Additional features may be scheduled for European production later in Jie season, Friedland said. The first icture on the new schedule to go fto work will be "The Four Masked (.Continued on page 2) luting on Talking Film Rights Upheld Albany, March 7. — A New York upreme Court decision holding that ^nveyance of dramatic rights to a ■ ory prior to the inception of talking ■ictures carried with it the talking j cture rights to the story was affirmed ;re today by the Court of Appeals. The original decision given by the (Continued on page 2) TOA Asks Lowell, Belmont to Meeting Mrs. August Belmont and Dr. A. iwrence Lowell have been invited by fe I. T. O. A. to attend the next ses3n of the unit on March 14. Mayor iGuardia will attend the unit's din (Continued on page 2) Board Choices Stir Memphis Commentators Lightman Status Chief Topic of Discussion Memphis, March 7. — Reaction to personnel of the Memphis code boards has been most peculiar. Question marks rather than exclamation points explain the difference. Film folk hereabouts are not squawking, but they want to know "why" about a lot of things For instance, nobody can understand why M. A. Lightman, whose status differs from that of all the other showmen in the country, will be in a position to practically dictate (Continued on page 4) Loew Men to Answer Intimidation Charge Representatives of Loew's are scheduled to appear before the NRA Regional Labor Board here today to answer charges of intimidation of employes brought by Local 118, Theatre and Amusement Employes' Union, which alleges that resignations of its members were instigated by the employers. Hearings on the same charges against Skouras and Randforce circuits are scheduled for tomorrow, and others may be called later, according to Ben Golden of the Regional Labor Board. Omaha's First Runs Are Now 100% Dual Omaha, March 7. — Adoption of a double feature policy at the Paramount, ace first run house, makes it 100 per cent duals at first runs here. Twin bills are suspended only when a stage attraction is booked, as the present appearance of Ben Bernie's band at the Orpheum and the "Student Prince" unit at the Paramount next week. Simultaneously with double features, the Paramount cut afternoon prices to 25 cents until 6 :30 P.M. Nolan Named Studio Aide to B. B. Kahane Joseph Nolan, assistant secretary of Radio Pictures, has been made assistant to B. B. Kahane, president of RKO Studios, and leaves for the coast in two weeks to assume the new post. A successor to Nolan will be named in the near future. Kahane is scheduled to leave for the coast tonight. Who? What? When? Fourteenth instalment of the biographies of the men who make up the code boards will appear in an early issue of Motion Picture Daily. Board Delays Stir Criticism in K.C. Kansas City, March 7. — Exhibitor members of the grievance and zoning boards for Kansas City and exhibitors who have been awaiting the setting up of local code machinery are openly critical of delays in getting the boards into action. Numerous grievances and pressing local issues, including the important one of the current price war, as well as the drafting of a zoning and protection system, await the operation of the boards. Exhibitor leaders declare {Continued on page 4) Thirty-Hour Week Order Now Impends Washington, March 7. — Reduction of working hours by 10 per cent with a corresponding increase in wage levels by executive order is contemplated. Exceptions will be made for industries which cannot afford the cuts. General Hugh S. Johnson appealed to code authorities assembled here tonight to support the cuts. Cuts by means of a Presidential {Continued on page 4) NRA Confab Held On Free Radio Shows Washington, March 7. — Representatives of the film, legitimate and radio code authorities met this evening with Division Administrator Sol A. Rosenblatt and Deputy Administrator William P. Farnsworth to straighten out the controversy over free shows in broadcasting studios. Those who attended the conference on behalf of the film industry were John C. Flinn, secretary of the Code Authority, Ed Kuykendall and Sidney R. Kent. Review Board Named To Aid Small Units Washington, March 7. — Protection of small enterprises is provided for in the appointment today by President Roosevelt of a National Recovery Review Board headed by Clarence Darrow. It will be the duty of the board to study existing codes and to see wheth (Continued on page 4) RKO's Leases In Radio City Are Approved Court O.K.'s Percentage Payments to $953,972 RKO's lease on the two Radio City theatres was approved yesterday by U. S. District Court Judge William Bondy with the added stipulation, agreed to by Rockefeller Center, the lessor, that annual rent payments by RKO under the percentage payment provisions of the lease shall not exceed $953,972, the amount fixed as annual rental on the two houses by the original lease drawn by RKO and Rockefeller Center in 1930. Under the approved lease, which is for the year ending Aug. 31 and is subject to earlier cancellation by Rockefeller Center, income from the Radio City theatres is to be placed in a special account out of which operating expenses of the Music Hall and Center will be paid first ; next, a working fund of $100,000 will be maintained, and a reserve fund of $25,000 (Continued on page 4) Showdown Brewing On Chicago Reels Chicago, March 7. — -Efforts attributed to Mayor Kelly to force the elimination of riot scenes from news reels promises to bring a general showdown on the local news reel situation in the near future. Undercurrent reports are that the Mayor's edict of last week ordering news reel (Continued on page 2) Says Oregon Allied Will Make No Shift Portland, March 7. — No change in affiliation of the state Allied unit is contemplated, according; to William Cutts, organizer and state secretary. He says formation of the Oregon Exhibitor Ass'n. simply means that this new organization succeeds the M. P. Social Club. Pathe Exchange '33 Profit $386,629.02 Pathe Exchange, Inc., and subsidiaries report a profit of $386,629.02 for the year ending Dec. 30, 1933. This compares with a loss of $114,651.81 in 1932. Much of the improvement was due to increased operations at the Bound Brook Laboratory which in (Continued on page 2)