Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Alert, Intelligent and Faithful Service to the Industry in All Branches rOL. 35. NO. 56 NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1934 TEN CENTS Expect Early O.K. on Deal In St. Louis "hange May Be Effective On Sept. 1, Next St. Louis, March 8. — Approval by e court of the F. & M. deal with the -st mortgage bondholders for the issouri, Ambassador and Grand Cenal is expected shortly. The houses, nv being operated by Central Theaes Corp., a Skouras subsidiary, will ange management Sept. 1. In snaring the trio of downtown thetes from Skouras, F. & M. are ex cted to line up Warner product, nich is absent from the houses now. rith "Wonder Bar" opening at the ialto on March 31, Warners will (Continued on page 4) *ickford Deplores Plight of Indies Declaring that "the industry is con)lled by a few individuals and inpendent producers cannot exist un;s tied in with major companies," ary Pickford yesterday deplored the :k of cooperation from "the big fell)vs." She decried the fact that inpendent film men cannot borrow tal (Continued on page 8) iPTOA Men to Meet Before Convention Two meetings of M. P. T. O. A. icials will be held April 9 prefacing E three-day annual convention of the ,;anization in Los Angeles. The {.Continued on page 4) Special MPT OA Fare Railroad rates of a fare and one-third for the round trip to the coast have been negotiated for the M. P. T. 0. A. convention, with special west bound service from several points. The New York Central. Pennsylvania and Southern railroads will run special cars from various cities to connect with two special trains, one leaving Chicago and the other New Orleans the night of April 6. The specials arrive in Los Angeles the morning of April 9. Return trips can be made by any route the ticket holder chooses. End of Free Admission to Radio Shows Is Foreseen Discontinuance of free admissions to radio broadcasts from theatres leased by radio chains is anticipated as a result of the meeting of film and legitimate theatre Code Authority committees with a committee representing the radio Code Authority, Ed Kuykendall said yesterday on his return from Washington where the radio committees met this week. The radio committee will report back to the Code Authority of that industry which will, in turn, male? known its recommendations to Deputy NRA Administrator William P. Farnsworth. Resolutions were adopted pointing out the dangers of free shows by various local, state and national agencies and the matter of free radio shows will be investigated and further joint meetings between the three committees will be held. The radio committee consisting of (Continued on page 4) Jersey NRA Bills Worry Exhibitors Trextox, March 8. — Theatre owners in this state, including Allied of New Jersey, are admittedly worried by the progress on three bills designed to set up and finance state boards for enforcement of NRA codes on intrastate business. Two of these bills, one providing for a state appropriation for a recovery board and the other to permit assessment of industries for financing the board, have passed the House and are pending in the Senate. A third, designed to permit the use (Continued on page 4) Consolidated 1933 Net Up to $909,358 Consolidated Film Industries, Inc., reports a gain in profits for 1933 over 1932. The 1933 net was $909,358, after depreciation, interest. Federal taxes and other charges. The 1932 net was $862,228. This year's net takes care of the $2 cumulative participating preferred, the report states, and provides 21 cents a share on the common. Sales and royalties totalled $8,095,532. Costs, expenses and depreciation were $6,921,462. Smith, Sears Going To Coast for Talks A. W. Smith, Jr., and Gradwell L. Sears leave for Hollywood next Wednesday to discuss next year's lineup (Continued on page 4) Deadline Nears Code assent forms must be signed and dropped in the mail to carry a postmark not later than midnight, March 10, if those who have not complied want to swing under the deadline. This means final assent total cannot be computed by Code Authority until mail from far western points reaches New York. With bad weather prevailing, a week after deadline is computed a reasonable estimate. MonogramMay Go From 36 to 20 Next Year Monogram is the first producer to actually make a definite move toward curtailment of product next year, in spite of all the discussion that has taken place on both coasts in recent months, and has under consideration a reduction from 36 to 20. It was originally planned to make the higher figure next season, but W. Ray Johnston is considering the possibility of giving greater care to each release on a reduced schedule. He has gone to Atlantic City to make plans for the annual sales convention which will be held at the Ambassador April 4-7. Loew-Union Talks Set for Saturday Preparations for negotiations between Loew's, Inc., and Local 118, Theatre and Amusement Employes' Union, were made yesterday at a meeting before the NRA Regional Labor Board here attended by David Bernstein and Charles Moskowitz, Loew's ; (Continued on page 4) Elliott Takes Union Row to the Capital Hollywood, March 8. — Seeking some kind of drastic action that will end the conflict between the I. A. T. S. E. and I. B. E. W. locals here, William Elliott, I. A. T. S. E. head, (Continued on page 4) Last 10 Code BoardsLooked For on Monday More Impartial Names Also Expected Division Administrator Sol A. Rosenblatt is expected to announce additional impartial members to the various clearance and zoning and grievance boards when the Code Authority meets again Monday. It is expected personnel of the remaining 10 boards will be completed at a meeting of the committee Monday morning and approved by the authority later in the day. Rules for all boards are completed and will come up for approval Monday. Nathan Yamins and Harold Bareford are expected to have ready a plan on financing. The two had lengthy sessions in Washington on the matter earlier in the week. Boards Please All In Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, March 8. — No word of criticism has been heard in this territory on the code board appointments. Independents as well as circuit and distributor representatives give unreserved praise. District Manager Harry David of (Continued on page 4) Few Board Changes Coming, Kuykendall Few changes, if any, will be made in clearance and zoning and grievance board setups as a result of protests coming into headquarters of Code Authority, Ed Kuykendall, president of the M. P. T. O. A. and a member of (Continued on page 4) Seattle Calls Off Nazi Film Showing Seattle, March 8. — Preview of "S. A. Mann Brand," Herman film, which is said to glorify the Hitler storm (Continued on page 4) Who? What? When? Fourteenth instalment of the biographies of the men who make up the code boards appears on page 7 today.