Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1939)

4 Motion Picture Daily Monday, October 30, 1939 1,000 Frolic At Pittsburgh Variety Fete Pittsburgh, Oct. 29.— Industry leaders and notables of the political, social and civic life of Pittsburgh made merry tonight in a circus atmosphere at the William Penn Hotel. The occasion was the 11th annual banquet of the local club, Tent No. 1 of the Variety Club, honoring the retiring officers of the local tent. More than 1,000 members and guests attended. John H. Harris was chairman of the affair. With more than 20 separate vaudeville acts on the entertainment menu, and plenty of courses on the banquet menu, the crowd pronounced it a swell show. The local club introduced a new ward, George V. Barker, III, at the banquet. Other charities of the club are the annual Milk Fund for underprivileged children, the Father O'Donnell boys' camp, baby incubators for hospitals, traveling films for children's institutions and monthly shows for the Veterans' Hospital in suburban Aspinwall. The 17th floor of the William Penn Hotel was made over for the festivities into a replica of a circus, with sawdust on the floor, a sideshow, animals and pink lemonade. At the speakers' table were : Rev. Edward Flanagan, of Boys' Town, Neb., who again was honored as recipient of the Variety Club's first national Humanitarian Award ; Edward Everett Horton, Dr. Harry Hagen of the "True or False" radio program ; Joe McCarthy and Bill McKechnie, baseball managers ; Bill Conn, light-heavyweight boxing champiion ; Gus Van, Coach Bill Kern of Carnegie Tech ; United States Senators Joseph Guffey, James J. Davis and Rush Holt, and former Gov. Harold Hoffman of New Jersey ; Coach Elmer Layden of Notre Dame, and Rudy Vallee. Among industry leaders who were in attendance were : Ned E. Depinet, Eddie McEvoy and H. M. Richey, RKO; T. J. Conners and Edward Saunders, M-G-M ; George Dembow, National Screen Service ; William A. Scully, Universal ; Gradwell L. Sears, Warners ; Abe Montague, Columbia ; Frank C. Walker, head of the Comerford Circuit and newly elected general counsel of the M.P.T.O.A. The retiring officers of the local tent, who were honored at tonight's festivities, included: Ira H. Cohn, chief barker; Harry Seed and Jules Lapidus, first and second assistant chief barkers, respectively; Al Weiblinger, secretary ; Mike Shapiro, treasurerC. J. Latta, Al Weiss, Harry Feinstein, Jacob Soltz, Joseph Misrach and C. C. Kellenberg. Hellinger on Radio Mark Hellinger, associate producer and author of the Warner film, "The Roaring Twenties," will be interviewed by Bing Crosby on the Kraft Music Hall hour over a national NBC-Red hookup, Thursday, Nov. 2, at 10 P. M. Further exploitation for the film will come when Hellinger appears on the Lux program over a coast to coast and Canadian CBS hookup. Hollywood Reviews "The Cat and the Canary" (Paramount) Hollywood, Oct. 29. — Producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr., director Elliott Nugent and screen playwrights Walter DeLeon and Lynn Starling are entitled, each and severally, to a vote of thanks from the mystery fans, the comedy addicts and the great host of unclassified entertainment seekers for accomplishing here a wedding of laugh and thrill so neatly contrived as to equal, virtually, a new film formula. They have produced this first and best of the thrill plays handsomely and with slight departure from the stage original. They have placed smack in the middle of it the glibly comic Bob Hope and supplied him with the best sequence of gags he's had in any recent screen or radio appearance. The result is a most unusual and altogether effective motion picture, alternately inducing shrieks of terror and shrieks of laughter to create a state of suspense infrequently arrived at by a straight drive through the center of any line. The story is, as originally, about heirs who assemble in a lonely man sion at midnight to hear the reading of a will. Bodies fall out of the walTsytTghts go on and off, wierd sounds are given horrific significance as expected. The interjection of Hope's gags give each old thrill new edge and the ensemble is as new as his lines. Paulette Goddard, John Beal, Douglas Montgomery, Gale Sonder gaard, Elizabeth Patterson, Nydia Westman and George Zucco are the other principals, each appropriate to his assignment and expert in it. Running time, 75 minutes. "G."* Roscoe Williams "Little Accident" (Universal) Hollywood, Oct. 29. — Baby Sandy's third feature picture has been built for and around and in behalf of Baby Sandy. The infant has more to do than in earlier starts and, having aged normally, adds an occasional dash of dialogue to her performance (incidentally, she is referred to as she in this one, clearing up that matter of gender). She drew chuckles and laughs from a Hollywood preview audience which also found a paper-hanger routine by Edgar Kennedy individually amusing. Although derived from and titled for a risque stage play by Floyd Dell and Thomas Mitchell, which had a considerable Broadway vogue, the screenplay by Paul Yawitz and Eve Greene is completely appropriate for family observation so far as moral aspects are concerned. As produced and directed by Charles Lamont, it is quite frankly a return to the slapstick comedy form, employing such devices as falling ladders, runaway carriers, and winding up in a sequence wherein the lost baby, wrapped in a bundle of soiled linen, narrowly escapes disaster in a steam laundry. Hugh Herbert, Florence Rice, Ernest Truex, Richard Carlson, Joy Hodges, Fritz Feld, Howard Hickman and Etienne Giradout, among others, carry the adult side of the story, competently to the extent of their opportunities. Running time, 65 minutes. G."* Roscoe Williams Kuykendall's Hope — More Concessions *"G" denotes general classification. Kyser Premiere Nov. 15 Governors of North and South Carolina will participate in the world premiere Nov. 15 of Kay Kyser's new picture, "That's Right, You're Wrong," at Rocky Mount, N. C, Kyser's birthplace. Film Condemns War The new French film, "That They May Live," being distributed in this country by Arthur Mayer and Joseph Burstyn, is a severe condemnation of war. Directed by Abel Gance, the film will go into the Filmarte after "The End of a Day." Artie Shaw Sued Artie Shaw, orchestra leader, was named defendant on Friday in a $30,000 suit filed in N. Y. Supreme Court by Eli E. Oberstein for alleged breach of a publicity service contract. New Charleston Station Columbia, S. C, Oct. 29— Atlantic Coast Broadcasting Company,' of Charleston, has received a charter to conduct a radio broadcasting station under capitalization of $50,000. Officers : Robert S. Manigault, president ; Edward Manigault, vice-president ; Robert E. Bradham, secretary, and Hall T. McGee, treasurer. Heeds Broadway Call Hollywood songwriters are answering Broadway calls. Latest to be called is Jimmy McHugh, who will fly here to work with Harry Kaufman on a new Shubert show. McHugh works at Paramount. Associates Meeting Meeting of the Motion Picture Associates will be held tomorrow at the Hotel Astor. Business pertinent to the forthcoming dinner and dance will be discussed. (.Continued from page 1) would be resumed if action on concessions did not occur within reasonable time. r Kuykendall said he had been a#" vised that 20th Century-Fox and Par* amount would make concessions similar to those made by Warners and M-G-M, but that no formal announcement had been received from either company. The M.P.T.O.A. president reported that the national organization had authorized appointment of an insurance committee to negotiate more favorable fire and liability rates for theatres. He emphasized that the move was not designed to promote cooperative insurance buying in order to realize commissions for the organization's treasury but was intended solely to obtain better insurance rates for exhibitors. Members of the committee are: Arthur Lockwood, chairman ; Lewen Pizor, Charles Hayman and Mitchell Wolfson. In particular, he said, the committee will endeavor to equalize fire insurance ratings as between theatres and department stores. The latter, it is argued, could be considered an even greater fire risk than theatres, yet enjoy a lower insurance rate. The committee will endeaver to negotiate a return to the old basis for determining liability rates by the number of seats rather than by the average annual patronage, as has been the case since 1932. Not only would this result in better rates, it was said, but it would also eliminate a condition which calls for the divulging of vital information on individual theatre operations. Kuykendall is deferring for the time being appointment of an M.P.T.O.A. fact-finding committee to investigate the extent of foreign revenue losses due to the European war and its possible effect on the quality of future productions. This was authorized by the board of directors, but Kuykendall indicated that he is not convinced that the study should be undertaken immediately. Kuykendall said the M.P.T.O. of Northern California will be the first regional organization to try out the parent organization's plan to establish local speakers' bureaus to educate civic and social organizations on industry activities and to counteract unfavorable publicity which might hurt either theatre business locally or the industry itself. The California organization will systematically cover meetings and functions in its territory with friendly speakers. Other M.P.T.O.A. units throughout the country are expected to follow suit within the near future. Kuykendall left for his Columbus, Miss., home yesterday. Score Shorts Today Two short subjects, the second of the "Going Places" and "Stranger Than Fiction" series, produced by Joseph O'Brien and Tom Mead for Universal release, is being scored today at the Eastern Service Studios by a symphony orchestra conducted by Jack Schaindlin, with William J. Moore, assisting.