Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1937)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Tuesday, January 26, 1937 Many Houses Are Shut As Floods Rage {Continued from page 4) are dark as a result of the floods now raging along the Ohio, lower Mississippi, St. Francis, Black and Little Rivers. Three houses at Cairo, 111., have closed although the levee there was still holding today. Three houses are closed in Paducah, Ky., which is about 50 per cent affected by the flood. Other towns in which theatres have closed are Charleston, New Madrid, Senath, Kennett, Hornersville, Cardwell and East Prairie, in Missouri ; Shawneetown, Caveinrock, Galconda, Metropolis and Rosiclare in Illinois, and Bardwell, Wickliffe, Morganfield, Dixon and Wheatcroft and Marion, in Kentucky. Railway Express and truck line embargoes have been placed on many of these towns and adjacent territories. Cincinnati Area Badly Hit Cincinnati, Jan. 25. — With the Ohio at 79 feet and still rising, every Cincinnati theatre, affiliated and independent, has been closed indefinitely and street car service suspended in an effort to conserve electric current. Power has been discontinued in all industrial plants and in all stores except food and drug establishments. Citizens have been asked to suspend all nonessential activities until further notice. A weekend survey by Motion Picture Daily of flood conditions in the Cincinnati trade territory — heretofore impossible on account of the few open communication lines being congested by relief messages — discloses approximately 200 theatres closed by being inundated or lack of current and other operating facilities. Reports filtering through by mobile telegraph and telephone units, manned by intrepid volunteers who braved the swirling currents shows a partial list of houses which have suspended. These are in East Liverpool, New Boston, Steubenville, P o m e r o y , Marietta, Zanesville, Gallipolis, Ripley, Portsmouth, Manchester, Lancaster, New Richmond, South Charleston, Ironton, Bellaire, Martins Ferry and Bridgeport, in Ohio ; Frankfort, Augusta, Catlettsburg, Carrolton, Ashland, Paducah, Augusta, Maysville and Manchester, in Kentucky ; Aurora, Lawrenceburg, Vevay and Hazleton, in Indiana ; and Parkersburg, Kenova, Huntington and Martinsburg, in West Virginia. Some of these situations are completely isolated from the outside world. -Other situations are yet to be heard from. Four City Blocks Flooded Four Cincinnati business blocks are inundated. The Albee, the theatre nearest to the path of the flood, is in no danger because of its high elevation. Among the darkened theatres, the Albee was showing "Beloved Enemy" ; the Palace, "God's Country and the W oman" ; the Shubert, "Country Gentleman" ; "Capitol, "Camille" ; the Lvric, "The Plainsman" ; the Grand, "One in a Million" : the Family, "Emnty Saddles" and Keith's, "Great Guv." Station WLW, an eight-story build 4 Purely Personal ► DAVE PALFREYMAN has gone to Miami to aid Ed Kuykendall with arrangements for the M.P.T.O.A. national convention to be held there March 16-18. He is due back in a week. • Jimmie Levy, son of Jules, bids fair to rival Bobby Breen. Accompanied by his sister, Audrey, yesterday, Jimmie sang "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?" in Barret McCormick's office. Howard Benedict, head of the RKO studio publicity force, was present and may bring back some ideas to Hollywood. • Edward L. Klein may not sail on the Manhattan tomorrow. He has been trying to get in touch with his wife's relatives in Louisville by telephone, telegram and air mail for the past few days without success and will not leave the country until he gets definite word they are safe. • Clinton White, assistant to George W. Weeks at G.B., who at present is visiting exchanges, yesterday met Reg Wilson in Detroit. The two will visit exchanges in Wilson's territory, which embraces Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. • Bill Sussman got back from an extended vacation in Miami. Ira Cohn, Pittsburgh manager of the 20th Century-Fox exchange, arrived yesterday from a West Indies cruise and will leave for the Smoky City today. Ned E. Depinet and Jules Levy plan to leave the coast today or tomorrow on their return to New York. Leo Spitz is remaining at the RKO studio for another week or 10 days. • Robert Schless, Warner foreign representative with headquarters in Paris, will sail Feb. 6 on the Paris for home after spending several weeks here conferring with home office executives. Pete Wood, business manager of the I.T.O. of Ohio, was compelled Meet April 1 Allied's national convention will be held in Milwaukee with April 1 the probable date. It all depends on hotel accomodations. to cut his Gotham stay short because of illness and has returned to Columbus. • Kurt Weill, who wrote the music for "Johnny Johnson" and "The Eternal Road," left Sunday for Hollywood on a film assignment. He'll be gone 10 weeks. • John Scully, northeast district manager for G.B., has returned to his headquarters in Boston following a trip to exchanges in New Haven, Albany and Buffalo. • Joe Vogel has joined Leopold Friedman in Miami. Marvin Schenck will leave for the same resort next month. • Alfred Harding of Actors' Equity Ass'n has returned after a six-month study of the stage and theatre in Central Europe. • Max Gordon left for Hollywood yesterday for a month. From there the producer will go to Miami. He plans a European trip in the spring. • Bob Faber of the National Screen editorial staff has written an original on the flood disaster. Script is being handled by the William Morris agency. • David Sussman, assistant production manager for Major, is en route here to take background shots for "End of Adventure." • Walter J. Hutchinson, Twentieth Century-Fox foreign manager, returns Monday on the Bremen from a six months' world tour. • Howard Benedict, publicity generalissimo of the Radio studio, arrived from the coast yesterday to remain a week. • Charles Stern, U.A. district manager, will leave tomorrow for Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Washington and Boston. • Herman J. Mankiewicz is expect ing of offices and studios, has been destroyed by a fire which leveled four blocks. Broadcasting of the city's proclamations emanates from the downtown studio of the station. At the present time electric power is being furnished hospitals, fire and police departments, telephone exchanges and newspapers. Business at Middletown, Ohio, is at a standstill. The city's seven theatres are dark and a six o'clock curfew is being enforced. Film exchanges serving Northern Kentucky are idle. Water supply in the flooded areas has been discontinued except for two-hour intervals in the morning and at night. Homes are allowed the use of only one electric light. Seven suburbans, The Americus, Valley, Riverside, Freeman, Queen Anne, Broadway and Jackson have been forced to close because of water in the lobbies. In the Americus, lo cated in Northside, the water covers the tops of the seats in the orchestra. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 35,000 have been thrown out of work as a result of the flood. Theatres, Radio Darken Louisville, Jan. 25. — Half of the Louisville area is flooded, with New Albany and Jeffersonville also under water. All theatres have been closed. The Kentucky, National, Drury Lane, Uptown and Ohio have been turned over to authorities for the sheltering of flood refugees. Power was cut off at midnight Sunday, and radio communication established with WSM. Nashville ; WCKY. Covitiffton : WLAP. Lexineton. and WFBM, Indianapolis for WHAS to continue flood bulletins. Station WGRC, Jeffersonville, Ind., has been inundated by 10 feet of water since Thursday. All planes have been grounded. ed the end of the week. It has to do with a new play of his called "The Meal Ticket." • Raymond Bond, from out Hollywood way, arrived yesterday to attend rehearsals of a new play, "Thirsty Soil." He wrote it. • Francine Larrimore will return to New York Thursday after completing a role in Paramount's "John Meade's Woman." • Al Lichtman has gone to Miami. William F. Rodgers is back from Hollywood, Fla., after acquiring a deep tan in three weeks. • A. W. Smith, Jr., returned from Chicago over the weekend, but had to make the trip from Detroit by rail after being grounded in that city. • Y. Frank Freeman and Louis Phillips of Paramount are expected back from Atlanta in a day or two. • Paul Lazarus of United Artists is planning a West Indies cruise to start in about a week. • Vladimir Sokoloff, European player, leaves today for the coast and work at the Warner studios. • Charles C. Moskowitz and Oscar Doob were in Washington yesterday on Loew business. • Rube Jackter will leave for Miami about Feb. 20. He sent his family to the winter resort Sunday. • H. J. Yates, Sr., will be in Hollywood for at least another week. • Milton Berle left for the RKO studios yesterday. Joe Moskowitz leaves Hollywood for New York Wednesday. Lew Golder, Columbia associate producer, is in town for a few days. • Sig Wittman is expected back from Washington Thursday. • Borris Morros, musical director of the Paramount studio, is in New York. • Al Cohn is here for a few days, looking at shows, etc. Board Disapproves Birmingham Censor Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 25. — The appointment of Pettersen Marzoni, former film critic, by the City Commission as director of amusements supervision here, has been disapproved by the Civil Service Personnel Board. At the same time the board approved the transfer of Mrs. Harriett B. Adams, former city amusement inspector, to the newly-created position of assistant director of amusements supervision at a monthly salary of $138.90; effective as of Jan. 15. Board members explained that, in effect, this retains Mrs. Adams as amusement supervisor, although an ordinance adopted by the City Commission abolished her old job and directed she become assistant to Marzoni, as director. The movement to demote Mrs. Adams and appoint Marzoni as her superior was attributed to her censorship of the Mae West film, "Go West, Young Man."