Motion Picture Daily (July–Sept 1938)

iiday, August 16. 1938 MOTION PICTURE DAILY ledges Pass §900,000 in Big Ad Drive (.Continued from page 1) sought from exhibitors who plan participate in the campaign, -ochibitors in the New Haven area fj meet today to receive details of drive from a committee which ne to New York yesterday to obn complete information on camign plans from Harold B. Frank., campaign business manager. New York metropolitan area exhibits will formulate plans for paripating in the drive at a meeting to held Thursday at the Astor. More an 100 theatre operators are exited at the session at which approxiately 50 "community" committees ' 11 be named to conduct campaign prk in individual neighborhoods roughout the five boroughs, adjoing counties and New Jersey. ^Joseph Seider, Max Cohen, Harry i-andt and Irving Dollinger are coi airmen of the metropolitan area mmittee. Mr. Cohen is treasurer, ;on Rosenblatt, secretary, and Leo brams, chairman of the distributors' mmittee for the area. Committee embers include Jack Bowen, iaurence Bolognino, Arthur Rapf, M. Hirshblond, David M. Levy, ee Newbury, Robert Wolf, Samuel inzler, Edward Bell, Harry Ran;11, Rudolph Sanders, David Snaptr, Samuel Strausberg and others. More Meetings Scheduled Additional regional meetings are heduled for Seattle and St. John, I. B., today, and for Louisville and y oledo later in the week. Martin mith, chairman of the Toledo campaign, is engineering a special exloitation fund for local parades and :reet decorations to plug the drive. Exhibitors in the Dallas territory let yesterday and pledged support to le campaign after hearing detailed lans for the drive from R. E. Griffith, 'lans were made for putting the drive ,n a statewide basis with local com| littees in charge. Montreal exhibitors also pledged neir cooperation to the campaign at 1 meeting yesterday presided over by . J. Fitzgibbons, chairman of the Canadian committee. Kansas City Group Discusses Ad Drive Kansas City, Aug. 15. — A meeting of exhibitors and distributors was held today at the Uptown to discuss the national advertising drive. Speakers included Elmer C. Rhoden, Fox Midwest head ; Clarence A. Schultz, Commonwealth Amusement Corp. ; Glen W, Dickinson, head of the Dickinson circuit, and Ed Dubinsky-Durwood, head of the Dubinsky Brothers circuit. Those not at the meeting Monday will be reached by the committee through the mails. Members of the board of directors of the KansasMissouri Theatres Association attended. The K. M. T. A. directors were scheduled to meet Monday to set a date for their annual convention, which will be before Sept. 1. The national drive will be one of the chief topics of discussion of the convention. Among those here for the meeting today were : John Stapel, Rockport, Mo., president ; Homer Strowig, Abilene, Kans. ; Tom Edwards, Eldon, Mo. ; Frank Cassil, St. Joseph, Mo. ; George Harttmann, North Kansas City, Mo.; and Ed Rolsky, C. A. Schultz and R. R. Biechele of Kansas City. E. B. Danielson of Russell, Kan., and Airs. Charles Barron of Pratt, Kan., were unable to attend. Atlanta Pledges Aid Atlanta, Aug. 15. — A large group of producers, distributors and exhibitors assembled in Atlanta today for a one-day meeting to pledge "unanimous support" to the "Motion Pictures Greatest Year" campaign. Presided over by general chairman Williaxn K. Jenkins, vice-president and general manager of Lucas & Jenkins, Inc., the meeting opened at 2 P. M. with 250 delegates registered. A dinner Monday night in the Civic Room of the Ansley Hotel closed the session. Speakers included Mr. Jenkins, O. C. Lam, of Rome, Ga. ; Roy Martin, of Columbus, Ga., and Robert Mochri, of Atlanta. To Meet in Conn. Today New Haven, Aug. 15.— Allied Thetres of Connecticut and the Connectiut M.P.T.O.A. have called a second general meeting jointly for tomorrow loon at the Hofbrau Haus Restaurant o receive the report of the special .ommittee appointed to confer with j^arold B. Franklin, business manager of the national film campaign, in New York. Maurice Shulman and rving C. Jacocks, Jr., will preside, :md a program will be adopted. Heads Washington Group Washington, Aug. 15.— Frank La Fake, local Warner publicity man, las been named chairman of the publicity committee for the Washington area in the national film drive. Rodley Conger has been appointed to a ike position in the Baltimore district. Paramount's local offices will serve as leadquarters for the campaign. To Set St. Louis Details St. Louis Aug. 15. — A committee of the local M.P.T.O. has fixed Aug. 22 as the date for a luncheon meeting at the Coronado Hotel of the owners of 275 theatres in this territory to complete plans for their participation in the industry advertising campaign. The committee was composed of Fred. H. Wehrenberg, president of the asso ciation ; Harry Arthur, Jr., Fanchon & Marco ; Clarence Hill, Columbia ; Benny Reingold,, Fox, and Clarence Kainann of the O'Fallon Theatre. Stop Cleveland's Ads Cleveland, Aug. 15. — Protests by independents have stopped newspaper advertising on the $250,000 Movie Quiz contest. George J. Schaefer acted after local men had called at tention to advertising by downtown houses in advance of the Sept. 1 date agreed upon here. "Little Orvie" to RKO Hollywood, Aug. 15. — RKO has purchased Booth Tarkington's "Little Orvie" and will star seven-year-old Peter Holden in the title role. The child is now in the Broadway cast of "On Borrowed Time." George Haight will produce. Urge Loew Managers To Get Behind Drive Full cooperation of every Loew manager with the industry's business promotion drive was urged at a meeting at the Ziegfeld Theatre at midnight last night attended by Loew's district managers, managers and assistant managers in the metropolitan area. C. C. Moskowitz, in charge of operations in the metropolitan district ; Marvin Schenck and Oscar A. Doob explained details of the campaign and urged every Loew theatre not only to put on a drive of its own but to cooperate with other theatres in each neighborhood so that the industry aspects of the drive will get full play. "There are some four or five million moviegoers in this area," Mr. Moskowitz said. "We must let everyone of them know about our new season pictures and the Movie Quiz contest. -And in every community Loew managers should work closely and unselfishly with their fellow exhibitors so that the celebration will be 100 per cent for all." Ask Coordination of Government Pictures London, Aug. 15. — The suggestion that the confused and disunited production of films by Government departments should be coordinated through an advisory committee, is made in a report issued by the Select Committee on Estimates. It suggests that such a council should be set up to advise and guide the departments on the making or procuring of films for Government publicity purposes. Divers methods are adopted by various departments at present. The Admiralty provides facilities for a selected firm, which limits the expenditure to the purchase of copies and the purchase and conveyance of a projector. The council criticises this procedure, called inadequate, inefficient and uneconomical, and incidentally declares that not enough attention is paid to making sure that the films should reach a wide public audience on their own entertainment merits. Studio Wages To Remain at Present Level Names Advisers on British Films Act London, Aug. 15. — Sir Samuel Hoare, Home Secretary, has completed the personnel of the new advisory committee on the administration of the Cinematograph Act of 1909. It contains representatives of County Councils and licensing bodies all over England and Scotland. Among those selected to sit on its panel, representing the London County Council, is Reginald Stamp, chairman of the London Council entertainments committee and author of the seat price rule. One of the first subjects to be tackled by the committee will be the issuing of theatre licenses in advance of construction. (Continued from page 1) end of the week. Major companies were represented at the session by Barney Balaban and Austin Keough of Paramount ; Earle W. Hammons, Educational ; Sidney R. Kent, 20th Century-Fox ; Nate J. Blumberg, Universal ; Eugene Picker, Columbia ; Harry D. Buckley, United Artists; Nicholas M. Schenck, Loew's ; Leo Spitz, RKO, and Albert W. Warner, Warners. The unions were represented by Joseph N. Weber, American Federation of Musicians ; George Browne and William Bioff, I.A.T.S.E. ; Jack Flynn, representing William Hutchinson of the Carpenters & Joiners International, and James Castle for Daniel Tobin of the Teamsters & Chauffeurs International. Ten Studios Given Nylander Summons Hollywood, Aug. 15. — New formal steps in seeking collective bargaining contracts with producers were taken today in the interests of the Screen Directors Guild and the Screen Writers Guild. Dr. Towne Nylander, regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, today issued formal complaints to 10 studios, charging they refused to bargain collectively with the directors' organization and ordering them to appear on charges, August 22, when the directors' petition to be declared the bargaining agency for directors, assistants and unit managers will be heard. Dr. Nylander cited the N.L.R.B. ruling that the film industry is engaged in interstate commerce and therefore under Wagner Act jurisdiction. Leonard Janofsky, attorney for the writers guild, today sent notices of certification of the guild as the writers' bargaining agency to 13 studios and declared, "We expect an early reply as to your attitude on this question." "Sinners" Sets Record "Sing You Sinners" on Sunday set a new house record at the Community, Saratoga Springs, according to advices received at the Paramount home office. The film had its world premiere at the theatre Saturday night. Look for $80,000 2nd. "Band" Week (Continued from page 1) given as follows : Friday, 23,908 ; Saturday, 31,790; Sunday, 23,735. Attendance totaled 79,433. Grosses for the same days were, consecutively : $11,003; $15,484; $11,235, a total of $37,722 for the three days. Saturday's attendance was 4,491 greater than that of the biggest day recorded for "The Cock-Eyed Worjd," which held the previous house record. At 3 P. M. yesterday the attendance reached 10,718, topping the figure at the same hour for Friday and Sunday of the second week. Ten key cities similarlv reported record-shattering business on the picture, with reports coming in from Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Portland, Ore., Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlantic City. 1