Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1936)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY 'Hollywood Hotel 9 A ir Show To Warners for a Musical /ednesday, October 28, 1936 Radio Chains ( Going Limit On Election (Continued from page 1) lection returns to NBC and CBS, via he Press Radio Bureau. Mutual will ie fed by Transradio. Remote pick-ups will be made by all etworks from the Democratic Nationil Headquarters in New York, from ^resident Roosevelt's Hyde Park wme; from Republican National headquarters in Chicago, and from Governor Landon's home in Topeka. Commentators handling CBS asignments will be the veteran H. V. Caltenborn, Bob Trout, and Hugh Conrad. Dave Driscoll, Vincent Conlolly, Gabriel Heatter and Raymond jram Swing will bring the results and nterpret the news for Mutual. Gralam McNamee and John B. Kennedy vill act similarly for NBC. WOR and Mutual election returns vill be sponsored. Chevrolet will pay 'or the early evening bulletins beginling 7:15 P.M. and concluding at 10:50 P.M. From 11:15 until the ;lection has been conceded, the Modern Industrial Bank of New York will provide the news flashes. The Mutual network will air a 30minute sustainer, from 10:15 to 10:45 P.M. News and election results will be picked up by remote control from Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Chicago. The Chicago Tribune, owners of WGN, the Mutual station jn the Loop City, will furnish the news lor its station exclusively, f The three chains will probably carry messages from the elected and defeated candidates. Report N. D. Station Deal i New Orleans, Oct. 27. — It is reported that former Governor Noe is dickering for one of the independent broadcasting stations in New Orleans, with a view to establishing an independent chain among the smaller stations in Louisiana, part of Texas and Mississippi. The former governor, it is said, is financially interested in a number of the smaller stations in the territory. Shift NBC Denver Station Denver, Oct. 27. — NBC is now putting its blue network programs into Denver over KVOD, part-time station. The programs have been in Denver several years through KOA, leased by NBC from General Electric. All commercial stations here now have chain affiliations, with KLZ the Columbia outlet, and KFEL tied up with Mutual. Charlesworth Retained Toronto, Oct. 27. — Hector Charlesworth of Toronto, chairman of the old Canadian Radio Commission, has been retained in an advisory capacity by the new Canadian Broadcasting Corp., which controls radio in the Dominion. Charlesworth is a former dramatic critic and film reviewer. Reward Mystery Solvers Kansas City, Oct. 27.— W9XBY is giving cash prizes for the first solution to a murder mystery every Saturday night at 7:30 P.M. Listeners telegraph their solutions. The program goes on at 10:15 P.M. the same night. The rights to "Hollywood Hotel," important Friday night radio musical, have been acquired by Warners, who will convert the air opus into a film musical. This, of course, will not affect the radio program. Dick Powell and Frances Langford, the program's stars, will be featured in the film, along with Jeanne Madden, Warner contract player, who appeared with Powell in "Stage Struck." Miss Langford, it is understood, is being loaned to Warners by M-G-M and Walter Wanger, who jointly hold her contract. Bill Bacher, director of the radio program, will assist in the adaptation and direction of the picture. This is the second instance of a radio program being converted into a film. Paramount recently purchased the rights to "One Man's Family," popular radio serial. 33 Banks Taking to Air Thirty-three banking institutions in as many cities will cooperate in sharing the expense of a new program which begins Friday, Nov. 13. The program, as yet untitled, will be fed to the 33 Columbia stations serving the banking area. Locally the program will be heard over WABC, under the sponsorship of the Chase National Bank. The program will feature the music of the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy and talks on public services performed by the financial institutions concerned. The banks in the sponsoring group include Chase in New York ; Pennsylvania Commercial, Philadelphia ; First National, Chicago ; the Marine Midland group ; First National, St. Louis; First National, Pittsburgh; Fifth Union Trust, Cincinnati ; Ohio Citizens Trust, Toledo ; Bankers Trust, Des Moines ; Rhode Island Hospital Trust, Providence ; Lincoln National, Fort Wayne ; American National Bank of Indianapolis; Marshall and Isley Trust, Milwaukee ; The Detroit Bank, Detroit ; and the Delaware Trust of Wilmington. Wessel and Co. of Chicago, negotiated the deal. No Rush on Radio News Theatre owners are not exactly falling over themselves in a rush to sign contracts for a news bulletin service in theatres, it was admitted yesterday by Herbert Moore, president of Transradio News Service, an independent agency now supplying several hundred radio stations with daily news dispatches. Nothing concrete has been accomplished to date, according to Moore, who indicated that exhibitors are exhibiting a discouraging lack of enthusiasm for the plan. The plan is not a new one. The movement is now three years old and by turn has gone forward, been abandoned, and revived many times. Moore attributes the present renewal in activity to the proximity of the national election, which has made theatre owners news-conscious. This has merely resulted in bringing in subscriptions for election night bulletins. While Moore refused to comment about the attitude of the exhibitors, he stated he viewed adoption of such a service in theatres as inevitable. In the meantime, it appears that the immediate prospects for news bulletin They're At It Lincoln, Oct. 27.— The first freak election bet has appeared here, Barney Oldfield, who runs the "Theatre Topics" column in the Sunday Journal Star, challenging Bruce Nicoll, who pens the "Behind the Mike" department in the same paper. Should Landon win, Nicoll must walk a block on Lincoln's main street at high noon the Saturday following election, clad only in shoes, sox, shorts and a barrel. Should Roosevelt win, Oldfield must remove his shoes and walk a half block on his hands, same time, place and day. readings in theatres are rather remote. NBC Plans 10th Anniversary NBC yesterday revealed its plans for a monster banquet to be held at the Waldorf in commemoration of the chain's 10th anniversary. Nov. 9 is the evening and about 1600 guests will attend, the guests including the most distinguished European radio officials ever assembled in the United States. They include Robert Jardillier, the French Minister of Communications ; Maurice Rambert, president of the International Broadcasting Union ; Eric Mattson and Dr. Carl Anders Dymling, heads of the Swedish Broadcasting Co. ; Chamberlin C. Lerche, head of the Danish Broadcasting Co.; M. Pellenc, Inspector General of the French Broadcasting Co., and 20 other radio potentates representing practically every country in the world. Most of them are already en route to America at the personal invitation of Lenox R. Lohr, executive head of National Broadcasting. Fidler Picks Up Nov. 10th After an absence of several months from the airwaves, Jimmy Fidler returns with his Hollywood Gossip program over the NBC red network on Nov. 10, at 10:30 P. M., in the interest of Ludens Cough Drops. The broadcasts will emanate from the NBC studio in the film colony. Films Come to Berle Milton Berle, currently featured on a Community Sing, bent efforts for months to secure a film contract. None came along, however, and so he signed a 39-week radio contract. Last week M-G-M offered a contract which Berle was compelled to turn down because of his radio commitment. Radio Forum Resumes Nov. 9 The National Radio Forum returns to the air Nov. 9, over NBC's blue network, from 10:30 to 11 P. M., E. S. T. Oliver Kuhn, managing editor of the Washington (D. C.) Star, will conduct the forum. Kostelanetz, Cassel, Et Al Short Shots: Andre Kostelanetz will present his orchestra in a Carnegie Hall concert some time next month . . . Walter Cassel, NBC sing 13 er, expects an heir momentarily . . . With the new Ford models due on the market soon, H. L. McClinton, in charge of the Ford account at N. W. Ayer, is making three trips a week to Detroit . . . Burns and Allen, radio zanies, begin a new program for Grape Nuts on April Fool's day, of all things ! . . . George Gove succeeds Deems Taylor as musical consultant at N. W. Ayer . . . Freddie Rich's film short, "Parade of Hits," made by Paramount, will be released late in November . . . Cab Calloway begins a short at the Vitaphone studio today . . . C. J. Buckner has been selected to head the newly opened Irving Mills office in Dallas . . . Eddie Conrad has signed for a guest appearance on the Vallee hour . . Jimmie Melton has signed as guest star for Dick Himber's Nov. 2 broadcast . . . The same night brings Gary Cooper to the Lux Radio Theatre in "The Virginian." Noel Suit Up in November Kansas City, Oct. 27.— Trial of an equity suit of Sidney Q.' Noel, president of First National Television, Inc., which controls Station W9XBY, against Kansas City Power and Light, in which Noel asks that 1,025 shares of First National stock be delivered to him, will be heard in the November term of the Circuit Court by Judge Ben Terte. Noel alleges that on Sept. 23, the power company offered him the shares at $50 each if the deal were closed by Oct. 8. Noel wrote six stockholders, including A. B. Church, head of the Midland Broadcasting Co., which operates KMBC, offering them a chance to participate in the purchase. They declined. On Oct. 8 Noel claims he personally paid in a check of $51,250, the full amount, in payment for the shares. The power company returned the check Oct. 13, with a letter from its president, Joseph F. Porter, who said the company did not consider it advisable to sell to Noel personally and to outside associates, it is claimed. In their answer, the defendant asks the court to determine if Porter's Sept. 23 letter constitutes a binding obligation. F.C.C. Licenses 3 Stations Washington, Oct. 27. — Licenses were issued today by the Federal Communications Commission for three new broadcasting stations to be located in St. Paul, Minn., Rochester, N. Y., and Sherman, Tex. Two of the stations are limited to 100 watts power during the day. One station — that at St. Paul — will be permitted to operate at night, it being given 100 watts for night operation and 250 watts for daytime use. The Commission also granted to Station WSMB, New Orleans, permission to increase its power from 500 to 1,000 watts and authorized Station KMA, Shenandoah, la., to increase its day power from 2,500 to 5,000 watts, its night power remaining unchanged at 1,000 watts. London to Televise Daily London, Oct. 19.— The British Broadcasting Corp. will begin regular daily television transmissions on Nov. 2, from the Alexandra Palace in North London, which has approximately a service area of 25 miles. During a trial program transmission today by E.M.I., an archery demonstration in the grounds of Alexandra Palace' was put over, and studio items included a scene from T. S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral."