Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1938)

t ay, March 8, 1938 MOTION PICTURE DAILY eely Bill Won't Work, States Kent {Continued from page 1) hed product. It will add millions he inventories of every company e business, and instead of helpthe exhibitor operating one or I theatres against the circuit will do i opposite. The circuits can and ! maintain buyers in every exchange :er out of which they are served will have to. Their added cost be bad enough. Non-circuit exItors will have to do the same g. Does anyone think producers afford to wear out 300 or 400 ts shipping them out to be screened re they are purchased to every one jthe thousands of accounts they re? Certainly not. But how else : to be done? ailed Worse Than British Law ^t has been said that this bill is as drastic as the English law. In opinion it is twice as drastic in its ilts. There you can hold a trade x which serves the purposes of the [ Under this bill the producer, to iisafe, must screen each picture for •y buyer. A trade showing for brs will not comply with the law, II see it, for the exhibitor who n't seen the picture. He must be lished with a synopsis. A picture ht have played in a thousand thers and yet, under this bill, you Idn't lease it without screening it every account that hasn't seen it still furnish a synopsis. No comly can maintain and service its acnts as it is now doing. 'Where are all these exhibitors who (it or are going broke under block king? I can name all the leaders porting this bill and most of them e been in their organizations for r 20 years and have more theatres ay than they had 20 years ago. ;re are major producing and exiting companies still in the courts reorganization, but how many inj endents are in the court or went "bugli them during the last three or jr years? This company, for which Jpeak, serves over 10,000 accounts 1 I know the great and overwhelmmajority we sell to prefer to buy • product as they are now buying it. is is a minority bill, worked up a minority with punitive purposes mind. Back of it is the old false of 'let the community choose your 'duct.' Will any exhibitor consult community before he buys a picje? Moral Issue a "Smoke Screen" 'The origin of this bill was founded :h a background of morals behind yet morals in motion pictures are issue today and every exhibitor and r-minded member of the community dws it. This bill will not prohibit exhibitor from running any pice he wants to run, so the moral ue is a smoke screen. There are iusands of exhibitors who bought their own accord the picture :stasy,' which did not pass some of : state censor boards and couldn't : a seal of approval of the industry ; d how about the socalled social hy;ne pictures being shown around s country today without the ap proval of the industry Production Code Administration? AH these were bought singly, not part of any block, and have been shown in thousands of theatres. "We have the same old clique with us who want to do anything to destroy the distributor-producers, when, in my opinion, the real destruction will be in the exhibitor ranks if this bill goes through. "There are only a certain few companies, including this one, which can survive this bill if enacted, but there are certain other companies, in my opinion, that cannot survive because they lack the finances required to double their present inventories, as they will be compelled to under its machinery. Sees Film Supply Hit "There are thousands of independent exhibitors who can never maintain their present position by buying their pictures one at a time, as I say they will be forced to under this act. You will find in a year or two that the supply of pictures, which you already complain is insufficient in number, will be much less in number than it is today. Any independent exhibitor who believes that this bill is a triumph for the independent is writing his own bankruptcy, in my opinion, and I am very careful in expressing any opinion upon any legislation of this or any other kind and am not careless in my statements." Mother of Mannix Dies Mrs. Elizabeth Mannix, 72, mother of E. J. Mannix of M-G-M, died yesterday at her home in Fort Lee, N. J. Mannix was at his mother's bedside when she died. The funeral will be held tomorrow at Madonna Church in Fort Lee. McKeever Mulvey's Kin Stephen W. McKeever, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who died Sunday, was the father-in-law of James Mulvey, eastern representative for Samuel Goldwyn, and a director of the baseball club. Mulvey was present when McKeever died. Rites for Gerety Today James Edward Gerety, father of Tom Gerety of M-G-M's advertising department, will be buried this morn ing after funeral services at St. Agnes Church, Rockville Center. Still Seek Stewart Body The body of Lemuel L. Stewart, veteran film executive who lost his life in the California floods last week, is still being sought by authorities on the coast, it was stated here yesterday by Fred Stewart, his brother. "Chicago" Grosses $8,054 in 8th Week "In Old Chicago" grossed $8,054 in its eighth week of the roadshow engagement at the Astor. It is scheduled to open April IS at the Roxy, following the close of the run at the Astor, but the definite date will depend on the length of previous runs of "Mad About Music," which will go into the Roxy Friday, and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm," which will follow. "Women in Prison" proved a strong grosser at the Rialto. It was held an extra day and finished last night at $10,000 for eight days. This is the theatre's best figure in several weeks. Two other prison films are doing well on Broadway, "Penitentiary" at the Globe and "Prison Nurse" at the Criterion. "The Rat" gave the Globe $5,500, below the theatre's average. 20th-Fox Finishes 44 of 51 Features Hollywood, March 7. — Forty-four of the 51 films scheduled for production by 20th Century-Fox in Hollywood for 1937-'38 have been completed, and the other seven will be finished by the end of May, according to present plans. Darryl Zanuck officially will start new season production on March 14, with vehicles scheduled to go before the cameras at the rate of two a week through the month of April. "Tarzan Speaks" will be the second in Sol Lesser's "Tarzan" series for 20th Century-Fox. A late June or early July release is planned. No Film Men Ask to Share Treaty Talks Washington, March 7. — Publication today by the Committee for Reciprocity Information of its schedule for the hearings on the proposed reciprocal trade agreement with the United Kingdom, to open next week, discloses that as yet no representatives of the film industry have asked to be heard. The only witness scheduled for any branch of the industry is F. H. Coregan of RCA Manufacturing Co., who will appear March 18 to discuss the situation with respect to radio, pho nograph and film sound equipment. Plan Adventure Series Hollywood, March 7. — M-G-M is planning a series of adventure mystery features similar to its Judge Hardy group. Chester Franklin will direct. While Spitz Waited While Leo Spitz, president of RKO, was waiting on the 16th floor of the RKO Building on Saturday night for Pandro Berman and O. C. Doering, attorney for the Irving Trust Co., a uniformed building guard stopped them in the lobby and told them they could not go up. The reason was that Berman did not have a little green pass required of those ascending to the RKO floors after hours, and issued to RKO employes. Berman and the attorney had an appointment with Spitz to confer on Berman's producing contract, but it made no difference to the guard. "I have my orders," he insisted. Berman finally put in two telephone calls to Spitz's office and after a short wait a young man came down and verified that he had business to transact at RKO. Phil Reisman Says RKO Gaining Abroad RKO business abroad is up considerably over last year, reported Phil Reisman, general foreign manager, on his arrival yesterday on the Queen Mary. He was gone two months, during which he set a deal on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" with the Gaumont British circuit and presided over a meeting of European representatives in Paris. Reisman brought back with him bulging scrap books indicating that the press in England gave "Snow White" a great reception. He attended the opening of the picture at the New Gallery in London, where it is guaranteed a minimum of 20 weeks. It is being presented at an admission top of $2.25. The film will be generally released in Europe in the fall and will be dubbed in every important foreign language, Reisman said. He will confer on the extent of the dubbing with Roy Disney, business manager for Walt Disney studios, who is due here this week en route to Europe. Reisman said theatre business has improved generally abroad, and that his own observation in London and Paris was that the international tension has eased and that war is now more remote, especially since England is seeking to patch up its differences with Germany. No successor has as yet been appointed to C. E. Hilgers, RKO managing director in France, who resigned recently. Hilgers submitted his resignation before returning to New York. Berman West Today; RKO Contract Closed With his revised contract designating him RKO production head formally closed yesterday, Pandro S. Berman will leave New York by train today. He will be accompanied by J. R. McDonough, RKO Pictures vicepresident. Leo Spitz, RKO president, and Jules Levy, sales manager, left on the Century yesterday and will make stopovers in Chicago today. The quartet will confer at the studio on RKO's new season production plans and will arrange for the company's annual sales meeting. Ned E. Depinet, vice-president and distribution head, is at the studio awaiting their arrival. Berman's departure reportedly was delayed by the necessity for having the approval of the Irving Trust Co., RKO trustee, for his revised contract, the terms of which were agreed upon late on Saturday. "Snow" Chicago Smash Chicago, March 7. — "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" opened here Saturday in the worst sleet and snow storm of the year to record business. By noon the gross was $700 ahead of any previous Saturday, with a gross of $9,000 estimated for the day. Eddie Silverman Wed Yuma, Aeiz., March 7. — Eddie Silverman, Chicago Essaness executive, was married here this afternoon to Velma Talbert, artists model. The couple left following the ceremony for a honeymoon at Palm Springs.