Motion Picture Daily (July–Sept 1938)

Monday, July 18, 1938 IMonda Big Industry Ad Campaign Is Discussed MOTION PICTURE DAILY (Continued from page 1) uring presentation of Ampa awards, was preceded, also on Thursday, informal meeting of advertising nMors and national circuit operalofTin the offices of Spyros Skouras, .t which the specific idea of a conerted industry advertising campaign Evas discussed in detail. Formal approval of such a campaign Mas obtained from the representatives >t all major companies at the M. P. P. }. A. meeting the next day. Schaefer Heads Distributors The working committee, which will ineet today for the first time, will prepare plans for the entire national 'campaign, in conjunction with a disributors' committee headed by George I. Schaefer of United Artists. A producers' committee will be designated (n the near future to cooperate with he eastern committees on all phases )f the campaign. Nicholas M. ochenck, president of Loew's, is en i.route to Hollywood where he will nake preliminary arrangements for oroducer participation. Mr. Hays, ,vho plans to leave New York for the :oast today or tomorrow, will aid him n this work on his arrival in Hollyi.vood. Among the functions of the HollyWood committee will be the production of special short subjects and railers calling attention to and supplementing the campaign. Among the arrangements for the :ampaign to be completed by the com"Tiittees will be the designation of a lame for the national business drive. Dpposition has been voiced to early plans for describing the campaign as 'The Greater Movie Season," and a commemorative or anniversary desiglation may replace this. The committees will also determine the appropriation for the campaign and its apportionment among participating :ompanies ; they will decide the extent and type of advertising to be >ased, as well as its placement and dis:ribution, its starting time and duralion. It will probably begin in September. It appears certain that newspapers will be the principal media, with radio, billboards, magazines and trade papers used in supplemental opacities. Plan Full-Time Director Present plans provide for the designation of a full-time director to carry out the committees' plans and several industry names have been advanced in this connection. The selection will be made by the working committee. Each najor company will lend a member A its advertising department to the campaign director to comprise a working staff. In addition, an outstanding advertising agency will be retained for general advisory service on copy and space buying. Among those who attended the Friday meeting at M. P. P. D. A. headquarters were Neil F. Agnew and Y. Frank Freeman, vice-presidents of Paramount ; Mr. Gillham ; Mr. Schaefer; Lynn Farnol, United Artlists' advertising and publicity direc Program Shaping Up On Trade Practices A report of the progress made to date by the distributors' committee on trade practice regulation was made to the board of directors of the M. P. P. D. A. by Nicholas M. Schenck and Ned E. Depinet, alternate chairman and member of the committee, respectively, on Friday. The substance of the report was said to have indicated that the distributors' working committee, of which William F. Rodgers and A. Montague are also members, is nearing a phase of its work at which it will be possible to call in exhibitor representatives for preliminary discussions of the plan of industry self-regulation. How soon this will be is still a matter of conjecture, it was said. "It may be within a day or two and again it may be a week or more," one informed source declared. The M. P. P. D. A. board formally approved the industry's participation in the N. Y. World's Fair with the production of a feature titled "Cavalcade of America," which will depict the history of the United States up to the present and will be shown free in a 500-seat theatre on the Fair grounds. Chicago Stagehands Balking Over Cuts Chicago, July 17. — Balaban & Katz and RKO so far haven't been able to get the stagehands' union to take cuts in spite of the fact that operators have already agreed to do so. The janitors and engineers' union will meet tonight to discuss the circuit proposals. Arthur Cole to Aid Drive Kansas City, July 17. — Arthur Cole of Paramount has been renamed to head the publicity committee of the Allied Charities Campaign for the film industry during the 1938-39 period. Set Dates on Kent Drive The overseas S. R. Kent Drive will be started Sept. 4 by 20th CenturyFox, continuing for 15 weeks to Dec. 17. The domestic drive will start Aug. 14, terminating the same time. tor ; Mr. Schenck, Mr. Dietz, Oscar Doob; Ned E. Depinet, J. J. O'Connor and S. Barret McCormick of RKO ; Gradwell Sears and Mort Blumenstock of Warners ; Jack Cohn and Maurice Bergman of Columbia ; Nate Blumberg and Louis Pollock of Universal ; Mr. McCarthy and Herman Wobber of 20th Century-Fox; Spyros Skouras, National Theatres, and Gordon White, Educational Pictures, in addition to Mr. Hays, who presided. The official statement on the meeting issued by the M. P. P. D. A. said: "Discussed and formulated were preliminary plans for a concerted effort by the motion picture industry to bring to the public's attention the impressive array of important pictures being prepared for early showing. Forthcoming announcements will give in detail the various committees and the plans to that end." Papers in La Crosse Suit Are Sent Out (.Continued from page 1) out of business. The complaint alleges that the La Crosse company had difficulty in obtaining sufficient pictures and was required to pay exorbitant prices for any available film since refusing to sell out to Minnesota in 1934. The defendants named in the action in addition to Minnesota Amusement are Wellworth Theatres of Wisconsin, Inc., a Minnesota subsidiary; Ed Ruben, Minneapolis, president of Wellworth ; Paramount, 20th Century-Fox and United Artists. Attorneys for the companies named defendants in the action withheld comment when queried on the La Crosse company's suit. They explained they had not seen copies of the complaint and were unfamiliar with the charges. Court Orders Action On Midland's Setup Kansas City, July 17. — Judge Albert L. Reeves in U. S. District Court has instructed the Security Service Co. of Chicago to proceed with the reorganization of the Midlahd Investment Co., owner of the Midland Theatre. Judge Reeves approved the reorganization plan, which calls for payment by Loew's of $90,000 per year for 10 years. Midland Investment asked for reorganization under 77-B early this year, but the plan submitted did not get the approval of some bondholders. It was revised to shift some of the control to bondholders away from common stockholders, to contain a more definite leasing arrangement with Loew's and to include some other changes asked by a bondholders' committee. Denies Plea for Details Federal Judge Murray Hulbert has denied the request of 20th CenturyFox for an order directing William L. Gross, as assignee of the Theatre Magazine Co., to file a bill of particulars of his claim against 20th Century-Fox. Mr. Gross's suit is based on a charge that 20th CenturyFox plagiarized the August, 1929 cover of the Theatre Magazine in the picture, "George White's 1935 Scandals," and asked for an injunction, accounting and damages. Denies Writ Against Columbia Application for a writ of mandamus against Columbia Pictures, Inc., to compel it to produce its books and records from 1934 to date, has been denied by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Rosenman without opinion. Betty Davis, alleged holder of 162 shares of voting trust certificates of Columbia, had made the application in conjunction with a stockholder's suit. Time Signs Guild Pact "March of Time" and affiliated Time enterprises have signed a contract with the New York Newspaper Guild covering 350 editorial employes of Time, Inc., throughout the country. Minimum wages established in the contract range from $25 a week for office boys to $75 a week after two years' experience for writers and photographers. A five-day 40-hour week is also provided. To Ask Additional Defendants in Suit George Picker, plaintiff in a $50,000 damage suit against Ben Bernie, will ask the N. Y. Supreme Court today to be permitted to add the U. S. Rubber Co. and Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., as additional defendants. At the same time Mr. Bernie will make a cross application to dismiss Mr. Picker's suit on the ground that there is no valid cause of action against him. Mr. Picker charged in his suit that in a broadcast on March 30, 1938, Mr. Bernie ridiculed his reputation in a sketch in which his name was allegedly used. He seeks to add U. S. Rubber as the sponsor of the broadcast, and Columbia as the station broadcasting the program. Sets Lord Action Date Federal Judge John C. Knox has ordered the trial of the suit of Phillips H. Lord against Pathe News, Inc., to proceed on Oct. 3. The order was in compliance with a decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals which reversed a decision of the District Court dismissing the suit after trial and ordered a new trial. Mr. Lord had brought suit seeking $50,000 damages and charged breach of a contract whereby he was to take pictures in conjunction with Pathe News on a projected trip around the world. New M-G-M Division Maurice Silverstein, formerly in charge of M-G-M offices in Latin America, will head the new Far Eastern division of the organization, with headquarters in Singapore. He is now conferring here and will visit the studios en route to his new headquarters. Film Folk Due Today Lafayette Allport, London representative for the Hays office ; Leon S. Snider, Australian theatre operator, and Peggy Wood, Sheila Barrett and Jacqueline Paige, London actress, are due to arrive on the Queen Mary today. Wall Street Stocks Have Short Gains Net Open High Low Close Change Col . 1554 15*4 15 15*4 + *4 Col. pfd. . 33!4 3354 3354 3354 -y» .. 154 154 1J4 m +3/8 E. K. ... .170 173/s 170 173{/8 E. K. pfd. .171 171 171 171 G. T. E.. . 14 1454 14 1454 + 54 . 5154 S23/& 5154 52*4 +154 Para .. 11% 1154 11*8 + 54 Para. 2 , . 11*4 11*4 11*4 n*4 Pathe . 754 . 2*4 7*4 754 7'A RKO ... 2*4 2*4 2*4 + 54 20th Fox . 2554 25/2 25 2554 + *4 20th pfd. .. 36 36 36 36 +154 W. B. ... . 7 754 7 754 + 54 Trans-Lux Rises on Curb Net Open High Low Close Change G. N *4 *4 *4 Ys Sonotone . . 1*4) 1*4 1*4 1*4—54 Tech 2254 2254 2254 2254 Trans-Lux 254 254 254 254 + 54 Bonds Generally Increase Net High Low Close Change Loew 354s '46 10054 100 IOO54 + 54 Para. Pict. 6s '55 96 96 96 + *4 Para. Pict. '47.... 8154 8154 8154 — 54 RKO 6s '41 70 70 70 W. B. 6s '39 79 79 79 (Quotations at close of July 15)