Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1939)

Motion Picture daily Studios Push Production As War Anxieties Fade 37 Pictures Now in Work Tuesday, September 12, 1939 Old Flickers Prove Good Chicago Stunt By WILLIAM F. CROUCH Chicago, Sept. 11. — Old fashioned films presented as they were 20 years ag{j proved a good box-office attracti-^Jfor Marlowe Conner, manager of ' theTchodes, last week. Old films and | slides were presented in a 20-minute ''show that had the audience in hysterics. The operator went through all the old stunts of using slides for reel changes, advice to the audience, etc. Conner plans to run another similar show soon. Hollywood stars at the Blackstone in Chicago over the weekend were Norma Shearer, William Holden and Gloria Jean. Miss Shearer dodged reporters at the train. Holden made several appearances in connection with "Golden Boy" while Miss Gloria Jean was en route to the coast after a personal appearance trip in the east. Betty Grable and Rochester have been booked into the Chicago Theatre, starting Sept. 29. "The Old Maid" will be the screen attraction, according to present indications. Now that the old Capitol building is history and a two-story "taxpayer" is being built where the 25-story structure once stood, Balaban & Katz have painted a huge sign on the South wall of the adjoining Chicago Theatre, which can be seen by thousands of persons daily. The Telenews theatre now under construction next door to the Chicago is expected to open about the first of December. The Balaban & Katz Employes Club staged their annual golf tournament at Bunker Hill Country Club on Tuesday. More than 85 competed in the meet, which was one of the largest the club has held. Rose Tied and Helen Reese, Chicago girl winners in the "Typical Daughters" contest staged by Warners and the Chicago Herald-American, axe. in Hollywood, guests of the Lane sisters. While on the coast the girls will be given screen tests by Warners. While standing in front of the Colfax theatre in Gary last week, Norman Pyle, M-G-M exploiteer, saw a woman customer come to the boxoffice. The cashier said, "How many, please ?" "Two humans and one child," the woman replied. "My Dear Children," the stage play starring John Barrymore, is slated to close shortly. Barrymore has not been in the best of health and has missed several shows of late. Declares Dividend Toronto, Sept. 11. — Marcus Loew's Theatres, Ltd., here, operating Loew's Yonge Street and leasing the Uptown to Famous Players Canadian Corp., has declared a further payment of dividend arrears on the preferred shares of the company, the latest distribution, payable Sept. 30, being the interest of 2l/2 percent for the halfyearly period ending June 30, 1937. Hollywood, Sept. 11. — Weekend saw Hollywood recovering a balance temporarily lost when outbreak of hostilities abroad sent studio executives into conference on ways and means of procedure. From only one lot, 20th Century-Fox, came news of important immediate reduction of personnel. From three, Warners, Paramount and Roach, came assurance of adherence to present production and employment schedules. Elsewhere there was rumor, good and bad, little official information. Unofficial Hollywood was something else again. Perhaps not even New York's population is so interested in overseas developments, so directly conscious of connotations, so hard put to maintain the neutrality proclaimed by the Government. Here are nationals of all the belligerent nations, probably totaling a larger proportion of the population than in any other American city, and these are, for the most part, intelligent, coherent and by no means undiscursive persons. The demand for maps, colored pins with which to mark the tide of conflict, has been terrific. Radios are everywhere, in offices, on sets, wherever people gather. The war is waged step by step, and disputed, with peace and the prospects thereof a topic of heated debate on every hand. Knowledge that picture personnel would not be called to the colors immediately, if at all, reduced executive concern on that point, but this was at most a small factor. How long the war will last, which side will win, whether America will be drawn in, what will happen to foreign grosses, these are the items of chief concern, each the subject of endless discussion, as the work week drew to a close. Your correspondent, in the interests of neutrality, refrains from reporting the present state of sentiment in the community but deems it no breach to remark that Cancellor Adolph Hitler of Germany hadn't been a Hollywood hero for a long time before he anschlussed Austria. War Safety Measure In Ontario Theatres Toronto, Sept. 11. — As a wartime precaution, all Ontario theatres have been ordered to install immediately an independently-operated electric lighting system with lamps placed to illuminate the whole interior of the building. The order gives until Sept. 30 for the installation of the complete emergency lighting equipment, which will be approved by Government inspectors. Failure to obey the order will result in drastic action by the department, it is warned. Already there has been one unintentional blackout in Ontario, when the hydro-power service was cut off by an electrical storm. It was pointed out that the sudden darkness, in the midst of war scares, caused considerable excitement in the theatres. Acquires Irish Film William Alexander has obtained the American and Canadian rights to "Blarney," Irish film starring Jimmie O'Dea. The film will open at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, on Sept. 17. Charles Chaplin's "The Dictators" went before the cameras on Saturday. Producers Pictures Corp. announces start of production of "Hitler — the Beast of Berlin," Sept. 14, describes it as "an eloquent and timely story of German patriots working underground to pry the fatherland loose trom under the iron heel of Nazi dictatorship." Wayne Davis, production manager of Arizona Western Pictures, has announced production of seven historical western shorts commencing Sept. 15. James Allen has been appointed radio director to produce broadcasts exploiting "Swift Family Robinson" and other Towne-Baker pictures for RKO release. Linda Ware, featured in "The Star Maker," will star in "A Glimpse of Heaven," Charles R. Rogers' next for Paramount. Marjorie Weaver has been given the feminine lead in "The Adventurer," first of the 20th Century-Fox Cisco Kid features with Cesar Romero. Julius Tannen, veteran vaudeville star, will play a prominent role in Monogram's "Scouts of the Air." Brenda Marshall is to receive one of those far-reaching Warner publicity buildups on account of her showing in "Espionage Agent," which is not, as some have assumed, a propaganda picture. Ida Lupino's contract has been continued by Paramount. Lucille Ball has been assigned the spot opposite Kay Kyser in RKO's swingfilm, "That's Right, You're Wrong." Virginia Weidler has been given a new M-G-M contract on account of her work in "The Women." Frances Langford comes back to pictures in Republic's "Hit Parade of 1940." Form Theatre Companies Albany, Sept. 11. — Lincoln Amusements, Inc., Schenectady, has been formed by Sidney Dwore, who has opened the Lincoln after renovation. Also incorporated here was Exclusive Playhouse, Inc., Yonkers, by John G. Wiener, Leah Ackerman and Louis Greifei . In Hollywood Hollywood, Sept. 11. — Thirtyseven pictures were before the cameras this week, 11 having been started and 14 having been finished. Twenty were being prepared, and 81 were in the cutting rooms. Started were : "Renegade Law," Columbia ; "Scouts of the Air," Monogram ; "The Farmer's Daughter," "Strange Money," Paramount ; "Jeepers Creepers," Republic ; "Rebecca," Selznick ; "The Blue Bird," 20th Century-Fox ; "Little Accident," "The Green Hornet," "Destry Rides Again," Universal ; "Invisible Stripes," Warners. In addition to these, shooting were : "The Incredible Mr. Williams," "Blondie Brings Up Baby," Columbia ; "Raffles," Goldwyn ; "Remember," "Northwest Passage," "Broadway Melody of 1940," "Patsy," M-G-M ; "Remember the Night," "Typhoon," "Victor Herbert," 'Emergency Squad," "Campus Wives," Paramount ; "Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Vigil in the Night," "Abe Lincoln in Illinois," "Reno," RKO ; "Abraham Lincoln Boggs," Republic ; "Of Mice and Men," Roach ; "Rebecca," Selznick; "Swanee River," "20,000 Men a Year," 20th CenturyFox ; "First Love," "Tower of London," "Green Hell," Universal ; "Send Another Coffin," Wanger ; "Four Wives," "Gambling on the High Seas," Warners. Finished were : "Beware, Spooks," Columia ; "Fast and Furious," M-G-M; "Dr. Cyclops," "Untamed," "Diamonds Are Dangerous," Paramount ; "Allegheny Frontier," RKO ; "High School," "The Simple Life," 20th Century-Fox ; "Rio," "Man from Montreal," "The Galloping Kid," Universal ; "The Roaring Twenties," "We Are Not Alone," "State Cop," Warners. No short subjects are shooting. Two were finished at Columbia, and one at M-G-M. Open Army Theatre Motion picture division of the United States Army has opened a new 900-seat theatre on Governors Island, N. Y. The new house, said to have cost $150,000, will show pictures seven nights a week. I Designed and priced for theatres of every size! WW RCA PH0T0PH0NE MAGIC VOICE of the SCREEN with Rotary Stabilizer— plus SHOCK-PROOF DRIVE ENABLES YOU TO PRESENT THE KIND OF /f^OP SOUND YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT TO HEAR Better sound means better box office-and RCA Tubes mean better sound RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. 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