Motion Picture Daily (July–Sept 1938)

Lnday, July 18, 1938 MOTION PICTURE DAILY 33 Ulas Talking Deal for More RKO Stock (Continued from page 1) J nd on management and directorial .^ointments. (The probability that the RKO reor. >ation may be completed in ad'Ke of the expiration of the option the event Atlas negotiates the ex;ision to the year's end by only a rtial purchase of the RCA holdings, luced the latter to adopt its stand board and management represen" ion, it is said. RCA feels that in : event it is still holding $5,000,000 RKO stock and debentures follow * the reorganization of the company is entitled to a voice in manage "nt and direction even though its ldings continue under option. This !.nd presumably might influence At[ to exercise the option in full this "with. Special Master George W. Alger is aeduled to present his report on the tended RKO plan at a hearing to:y. While approval of the plan in * its major provisions is anticipated, 2 special master is expected to make :ommendations for a few changes minor importance. These may or :!iy not necessitate further hearings ;fore the final report goes to Fed al Judge William Bondy. Judge Leaving Next Month In the event the special master retires no further hearings on the plan, : dge Bondy would initiate hearings Mr. Alger's report immediately, "iobably at the hearing already sched;d for Thursday in his court. Judge ondy plans to leave on his annual jropean vacation some time next Dnth, but could conclude the hearts prior to his departure and hand \\n his decision after his return in ■ptember. If this schedule were fol-wed, there would be a possibility of KO emerging from reorganization October. JA board of directors for the reor1 nized company will have to be , xeed upon and approved by Judge iJondy in advance of the court's final proval of the reorganization plan. esumably, management changes, if jly of importance, would await the jtirt's approval of the new directors' Ue. Warners' 39-Week Net Is $3,282,765 (.Continued from pane 1) standing on May 28 was $29,987,000. A total of 428,706 shares of common stock are reserved for conversion of the debentures and for oayment of interest thereon to maturity. Warners stated that the Federal income tax returns of the companies for the fiscal years ending in 1930 and subsequent years are subject to final settlement with the Government. During the period there were credits aggregating $1,504,247.70 made directly to earned surplus deficit account. New Simplex Sound Goes in 25 States International Projector Corp. has installed 59 Type A and 18 Type B Simplex 4-Star sound systems since these new outfits were placed on the maket some months ago. The installations have been made in 25 states as follows : Arizona, one ; California, nine ; Connecticut, one ; Georgia, one ; Illinois, one ; Indiana, two; Iowa, one; Kansas, 11; Kentucky, three; Louisiana, one; Maine, one ; Maryland, one ; Massachusetts, one ; Michigan, five ; Minnesota, one ; Mississippi, one ; Missouri, two ; New Jersey, five ; New York, eight ; North Carolina, three ; Ohio, eight ; Oregon, two ; Pennsylvania, two ; South Carolina, one ; Texas, four ; Tennessee, two ; Virginia, two ; Washington, two; West Virginia, two; Wisconsin, two. Eastern Guild May Close Memberships ; The eastern branch of the Screen [Ictors Guild will convene its newly ected advisory board within the next w weeks to vote on closing the ew York membership books to new plicants, as has been done in Hollyiod. Members of the new advisory comttee are Stephen Kent, John B. yland, Joseph Mclnerney, Ethel B. -urtis, Bert Wilcox, Florence Auer, dwin Lawrence, Philip N. Ober and >hn Neilan, all of whom were elected r one-year terms. The committee ill assist Mrs. Florence Marston, : stern head of the guild, in all administrative activities. The date for e first meeting of the committee has >t been set yet due to the absence cm the city of a number of the embers. I I Ball Game Feature Of I.T.O.A. Outing A baseball game between teams representing the exhibitors and the Motion Picture Associates will feature the all-industry outing sponsored by the I.T.O.A. at Indian Point July 26. Last year the Associates won the game and gained possession of the cup, which must be won three times for permanent possession. Other events will range from a three-legged race to an egg-balancing contest. A large number and variety of prizes are being lined up for the events. The party will be transported to the Point by the Alexander Hamilton, sailing at 10 A. M. from the foot of West 42nd St. Luncheon and dinner will be served on board. David Weinstock is chairman of the corncommittee and John Manheimer is in charge of ticket sales. He Was! Now it can be told — about Richard Stoddard, NBC engineer who accompanied Howard Hughes on his world flight. When Stoddard applied for a job at NBC in 1929 his interviewer made the following notation on the back of the application: "Quite acceptable Transport pilot's license. Two hundred and fifty hours in the air. Owned his own plane. May be of use in airplane jobs of the future." Regional Meeting of Warner Bookers Ends Safier May Get Post As G. N. Sales Head Alexander Names Porrett Fred Porrett of Port of Spain, Trinidad, has been named distributor for Alexander Film Co. in British and Dutch West Indies, following conferences here with Charles Light, export manager. Mr. Porrett also distributes independent films and equipment. "Tough Guy" Starts Fast In a wire to Nate Blumberg, Universal president, Victor Meyer, manager of the Orpheum, New Orleans, reported * that "Little Tough Guy" grossed a strong $1,721 on its opening day, the best take, he said, since the "Snow White" opening. (Continued from page 1) this week will complete a survey of branches during which he made two changes. These were the appointment of Harry Asher, formerly Universal franchise holder in New England, as Boston branch manager, succeeding John J. Scully, and Maurice Sherman as Philadelphia branch head, succeeding Jack Bachman, who took charge in Charlotte for Warners. Mr. Safier left for Washington over the weekend. He will visit the Atlanta exchange en route to the coast. He formerly was central division manager for United Artists. Eastern Service Has Big Production Gain (Continued from page 1) as material for Columbia and Audio Productions, Inc. The shorts business averages $25,000 a week. Paramount has one series of 15, shooting at intervals. Four pictures are coming from Harold Orlob's newly formed company. Two -have been named. The first is the Triple A Production, "One Third of a Nation." Bernard Steele is said to be negotiating for two pictures to be budgeted at around $200,000 each. The Rowland group of Spanish films will amount to about $250,000 for the six negatives planned. U. S. to Intervene In RKO Proceedings (Continued from page 1) proposed amendments, claiming among other things that Section 77B was unconstitutional. These objections were referred to Special Master George W. Alger, and on June 20, 1938, the court, pursuant to law, issued a certificate to the Attorney General stating that Section 77B was challenged. The Government's intervention was made upon receipt of this certificate. Fight on Censoring Aim of Omaha Group Omaha, July 17. — An anti-censorship organization, made up entirely of private citizens not connected with the theatre, is being formed here. The group hopes to offer resistance to "pressure groups," the City Welfare Board and city officials who have banned films without a public hearing. San Francisco, July 17. — The second in the series of four Warner regional bookers and ad salesmen meetings wound up a two-day session at the Empire Hotel here today. Attending delegates left for their offices in Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle.Calgary and Vancouver. The local branch was also represented. A. W. Schwalberg, who conducted the meeting, and Stanley Hatch and I. M. Dolid, also home office executives, will leave tomorrow for Chicago for the third convention which will be held next Saturday and Sunday at the Blackstone Hotel. New Labor Outburst U psets Mexican Trade (Continued from page 1) all domestic production as well as the exhibition of any domestically-produced picture for which members of the National Studio Workers' union are employed. The latest outburst results from the effort of the Federation group to make itself the sole labor organization in the motion picture industry. Both contesting unions are part of the Confederation of Mexican Workers, the most powerful labor organization in the country, which is striving to settle the serious factional dispute amicably. Paramount Finishes Three on New List Paramount's release schedule for the first quarter of the new season beginning Sept. 2 will include 21 features, Neil F. Agnew, distribution head, reported on Saturday. Of this number, three pictures have been completed already, nine are now in production, work on three more is scheduled to begin this week and the remaining six are in preparation. This production status places the company in a favorable position on new season releases almost to the year's end, Mr. Agnew pointed out. GB Committee to Meet London, July 17— The Nordon Committee, representing a group of stockholders of Gaumont British, will meet in a few days to consider the company's financial statement, the resignation of John Maxwell from the directorate and the relation of both these factors to the proposed investigation of company affairs under the auspices of the Board of Trade. English Exports Drop London, July 17. — The export of exposed positive film from England during June, 1938, totaled 1,820,785 feet, a drop of 201,056 feet from June last year, according to the Board of Trade. The value dropped £188 to £12,717. Imports of exposed positive film in June, 1938, totaled 1,283,295 feet, a decrease from June, 1937, of 666,895 feet. Two Weeks for "Beware" "Professor Beware" has been booked for two weeks by the Paramount and will start the second week Wednesday. It will be followed by "The Texans." I