Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1938)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY 4 20th-Fox New Season Sales Top Last Year {Continued from page 1) Harry G. Ballance at Atlanta, and the Dallas branch, managed by H. R. Beiersdorf, are the leaders in their respective classifications in new season contract volume. Seven-eighths of the contracts obtained by the Dallas branch represent franchises. Southern and eastern branches were prominent in early selling also last year. The distribution department anticipates that more than a third of the company's total of 11,800 possibilities will be sold by mid-April. For 1938-'39 the company is expected to announce a minimum of 56 to 58 features, to be supplemented by pictures made in England and possibly others. Fifty-two of the features on the current program are from the Movietone studio, and it is understood this number will be increased to balance Sol Lesser's "Tarzan" and "Outdoor" films, which total six currently. Expect 100 at Meeting Close to 100 will attend the Kansas City sessions, which will be held at the Muehlebach Hotel. Clark and Charles E. McCarthy, advertising and publicity director, who have been attending studio conferences, will arrive from the coast. The studio will be represented by Harry Brand, publicity manager, and Mike Leshing. There will be no screenings, the entire time being scheduled for meetings. The conference will open Friday morning and that night there will be a banquet. Business sessions will be held all day Saturday. The home office and eastern group, comprising 50, will leave at 11 :35 o'clock tonight from Grand Central Station and will be joined by 16 others at Chicago. Delegates will leave Kansas City Saturday night, returning to their offices on Monday. Local Men to Attend In addition to those who will come from the coast, home office representatives at the conference will include : Felix A. Jenkins, secretary and general counsel ; Division Managers William Sussman, William C. Gehring and W. J. Kupper ; William J. Clark, short subjects manager; Dan Michalove, Jack Sichelman, Martin Moskowitz, Edwin H. Collins, Clarence A. Hill, Ted A. Shaw, Jack Bloom, Harry Mersay, George Sussman, Sam Epstein, Eugene McEvoy, Isadore Lincer, E. W. Holmberg. Arch Reeve, advertising manager ; Earl Wingart, publicity manager ; Morris Kinzler, Rodney Bush, Truman H. Talley, producer of Movietone News ; Lew Lehr, Paul Terry, producer of Terry-Toons ; Harvey Day, Lee Balsly, manager of ad sales ; Edward Hollander, W. W. Caldwell, Jerry Novat, Don Reed; Walter J. Hutchinson, foreign manager ; Edward F. Lomba, assistant to Hutchinson; Irving A. Maas, foreign service manager ; Leslie Whalen, foreign publicity manager, and Charles Mayer, Batavia (Java, Netherlands East Indies) branch manager. Division delegates are the following: Eastern division : District manag Heads Drive Again James P. O'Loghlin, Canadian district manager for 20th Century-Fox, will again lead the S. R. Kent Drive in 1938. He had the double distinction of leading the 1937 drive and winning the president's prize, a platinum watch, for having placed his district in first position in the last drive. O'Loghlin will receive his prize at the Kansas City sales conference on Friday and will pass out checks to managers of the branches that won prizes in the campaign. ers — Edgar Moss, George A. Roberts and Tom H. Bailey; Branch managers— Harry H. Buxbaum, New York ; Edward X. Callahan, Boston ; Moe Grassgreen, Albany; Benjamin A. Simon, New Haven ; Sam Gross, Philadelphia ; Ira H. Cohn, Pittsburgh; Samuel N. Wheeler, Washington ; Sydney Samson, Buffalo ; I. J. Schmertz, Cleveland ; James J. Grady, Cincinnati ; Sales managers — Harry S. Alexander, Boston ; Joseph J. Lee, New York, and Alfred J. Davis, Philadelphia. O'Loghlin, Levy Coming Central Division : District managers— James P. O'Loghlin and M. A. Levy ; branch managers — Clyde W. Eckhardt, Chicago; Lester Sturm, Detroit ; Joseph M. Podoloff , Minneapolis ; Stanley J . Mayer, Des Moines ; Jack H. Lorentz, Minneapolis ; George T. Landis, Indianapolis ; Harry J. Bailey, Toronto ; Edward English, Montreal ; James E. Patterson, Vancouver ; Verne M. Skorey, Calgary ; Joseph H. Huber, Winnipeg ; Reginald G. March, St. John, and A. M. Van Dyke, Chicago, office manager. Western division: District managers— Herman Wobber, Harry C. Ballance and Ward E. Scott ; Branch managers— George W. Fuller, Kansas City; Charles W. Clark, Oklahoma City; Benjamin B. Reingold, St. Louis ; Paul N. Wilson, Atlanta ; Phil Longdon, Charlotte ; Ernest V. Landaiche, New Orleans ; Thomas W. Young, Memphis ; Herman R. Beiersdorf, Dallas; R. James Morrison, Denver ; Charles L. Walker, Salt Lake City; Herndon Edmond, Seattle; Charles F. Powers, Portland; George M. Ballentine, San Francisco ; John N. Dillon, Los Angeles. National Theatres Men Will Meet Here Division heads of National Theatres will meet here Thursday and Friday to make plans for the 1938-'39 film buying season and to discuss business prospects, box-office drives and matters of general operation. _ The conferences will be held with Spyros Skouras and S. R. Kent, president of 20th Century-Fox. Attending the meeting will be Charles Skouras, head of West Coast operations; Arch Bowles, San Francisco; E. C. Rhoden, Kansas City; Rick Ricketson, Denver; H. J. Fitzgerald, Milwaukee, and Frank Newman, Seattle. J. J. Sullivan, West Coast film buyer, is already here and will also sit-in, as will William Powers, National Theatre's film buyer. Treasurers' Union After Film Houses With the signing of a closed shop contract with the League of New York 1 heatres covering employes at legitimate houses, the Theatrical Managers, Agents and Treasurers Union has organized groups in Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Cleveland areas, in addition to the branch recently established in Philadelphia. In New York, the union plans to get a campaign under way shortly for closed shop agreements with film houses, covering managers, assistant managers, press agents and box-office cashiers. A number of theatres are said to be unionized. The out-of-town groups intend to organize film and legitimate theatres, circuses and sports arenas. Thomas Roche is chairman of the Boston group, with Edward Spellman vice-chairman and Thomas Spillane treasurer. Edward Keller is temporary chairman of the Baltimore branch which takes in . Washington and surrounding territory. For the Cincinnati area, which includes Dayton, Springfield, Louisville and Indianapolis, Morris Zaidins is temporary chairman. Daniel Brin is temporary head of the Cleveland branch, which embraces Akron, Toledo and Youngstown. Will Organize Chicago Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit are next on the list where branches are to be set up, with organizing also in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Wage agreements are being signed by individual stage producers in New York following ratification of the closed shop agreement by the League's labor committee, which is said to have power of attorney for a majority of the producers. Negotiations with the League started in January after a strike at a number of houses. Under the minimum wage agreement, company managers will receive $100 a week, chief treasurers $75 and assistant treasurers $50. A graduated scale for press agents provides a guaranteed weekly minimum of $150 if they handle one show. If there is a second show, an assistant must be added at $75 weekly. The assistant will receive $100 if the press agent handles a third show. If a press agent represents four shows, he must hire a second assistant, who, in turn, receives a $25 raise for a fifth show. Warner Historical Shorts to Continue Warners' series of historical shorts in color will be continued in 1938-'39 and the new season's shorts schedule will also include several musicals, it was said yesterday upon the return of Norman H. Moray, head of short subject sales, from a nine-week swing around the country. Moray visited a number of exchanges en route to the coast and on his return trip to obtain exhibitor reaction on this season's shorts. His survey will form the basis for the new program. While at the studio he conferred with Jack L. Warner and Hal B. Wallis on the production of tworeelers in Technicolor. Further plans on the new lienup will be discussed this week in conferences between Moray and Sam Sax, head of the Vitaphone studio. Tuesday, March 29, 1938 F.&M. Will Center Work at St. Louis (.Continued from page 1) are being made to transfer five employes, centralizing this work under Grover Kirley, comptroller, who has always made his headquarters in St. Louis. Arthur will continue to make periodic trips to New York for^.lm buying. Wj Jack Partington will remain as Head of the eastern offices which will continue to handle the agency and roadshow operations and others now centered here. In addition, there is a west coast division which handles production. The circuit's offices in the Fox Theatre Building, St. Louis, are being enlarged and air conditioned. In addition to 32 theatres in St. Louis, the circuit operates the Paramount, Los Angeles; Orpheum, San Francisco ; Palace, Worcester, under an arrangement with E. M. Loew, and the Art, Springfield, Mass., under a lease from Fox. Sennett to Be Honored Hollywood, March 28. — T h e Masquers will pay tribute to Mack Sennett at a testimonial dinner, March 30. William Collier, Sr., a former Mack Sennett feature comedy star, will act as toastmaster. Invitations have been extended to all former male Sennett comedy stars. Guests will include Jesse L. Lasky, Frank Capra, W. C. Fields, Herbert Mundin, Judge LeRoy R. Dawson, Hal Roach, Pat O'Brien, Gene Fowler, Mark Hellinger, Harold Lloyd, Edward Arnold, Joe Cunningham, Edward Everett Horton, Adolphe Menjou and Andy Devine. Eureka Seeks Review Washington, March 28. — In another effort to obtain a determination of the validity of the New York censorship law Eureka Productions, Inc., has petitioned the U. S. Supreme Court for review of a decision of the District Court for Southern New York upholding orders against "Ecstasy." Briefs in the case have not yet been filed. Erpi Licensed by Dyer Erpi, on behalf of itself and Western Electric, has been licensed by Frank L. Dyer to use the latter's patents on long-playing records, the inventor stated yesterday. Dyer is a former associate of Thomas A. Edison and was once president of General Films. No Cuts in 100 Reels Cincinnati, March 28. — A newall-time low for eliminations was reached by the Ohio division of film censorship at Columbus for the week of March 25, when a total of 100 reels was reviewed without a single elimination. Livingston-Cooper Split Lincoln, March 28. — Bob Livingston, who has been getting second run product through an arrangement with J. H. Cooper for the past 57 weeks, has severed relations with Cooper and has closed a contract with Paramount.