Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1940)

Monday, January 29, 1940 Motion Picture Daily 9 Theatre and Personnel Notes Whitney in Denver Post Denver, Jan. 28. — Gerald Whitney, ii_ manager for Fox at La Junta, K_3^been moved to Denver where he will manage the Jewel and Gothic for Atlas theatres. The present managers of the houses, Ed Ward and Ralph Hamilton, will remain as assistants to Whitney. Elwood Voorhees, city manager for Fox at McCook, Neb., has been sent to the La Junta job, and Ray Search, assistant at McCook, was promted to city manager. Stiefel Plans New House Philadelphia, Jan. 28. — Sam Stiefel, who operates Fays, here, plans another house just a half block away from his Roxy in the Roxborough section. Tear Down Frisco House San Francisco, Jan. 28. — Historic old Alcazar Theatre, recently purchased by Murphy Herschberg, will be torn down to make room for a downtown parking lot. Plan California Theatre San Mateo, Cal., Jan. 28. — New $100,000 theatre will be built this Spring on property recently purchased from the old DeLaveaga estate, between this community and Burlingame. Plans to Rebuild Houses Kansas City, Jan. 28. — C. B. McAleer is planning to rebuild the Orpheum at Parsons, Kan., destroyed by fire early this month. Ferri Goes South For 'Old New York' Roger Ferri, editor of the Dynamo, 20th Century-Fox house organ, left Friday night for Miami in connection with the world premiere of "Little Old New York" at the Lincoln Theatre Wednesday night. He will publish a special edition of Dynamo there. Christy Wilbert of Charles E. McCarthy's staff is in Miami preparing for the opening. Delaware Outlaws Bingo as Lottery Wilmington, Del, Jan. 28. — Bingo was outlawed as a lottery and will be regarded as a violation in Delaware corresponding to sale of lottery tickets, in a ruling handed down by the Attorney-General's office. An order of Atty-Gen. James R. Morford of Wilmington compels all policemen in Wilmington to warn operators of the games that it is illegal. 3 Companies Formed Albany, Jan. 28. — Incorporated here have been East Coast Animation Co., Inc., by Byron Rabbitt, Jack Rubin and Sam Morganstern, New York; Justine Theatres Corp., Bronx, bv David L. Minkoff, Paul P. Weiss and Andrew Kreiss, and Bergere Pictures Corp., by Charles Ettinger, Miriam Tobias and Pauline Scharf, New York. Radio Fund Appeals To Help Save Opera Radio came to the aid of the campaign to save the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday when David Sarnoff, RCA president and chairman of the board at NBC, made the initial address during the broadcast of "Lohengrin." Sarnoff told the radio audience the opera had been broadcast for nine years without appeals for funds and stated that the Met now needs aid. Direct appeals for funds on sustaining programs on the network are rarely made, except during the March of Dimes campaign and similar drives. CBS has raised considerable funds for the New York Philharmonic orchestra by direct appeals to the radio audience. Opera officials contemplate remodeling of the Opera House, including airconditioning and improved seating. It is planned to make the Opera House a year-around civic center. Indianapolis Case Dismissal Ordered Order for dismissal of the Indianapolis Amusement Co. anti-trust suit against major distributors will be entered in Federal District court at Indianapolis within the next few days, thus bringing the long pending action to an end without a trial. An agreement on a settlement of the case was reached by parties in interest last week. Settlement involves payment to the plaintiff, Rorie R. Bair. Bair operates a small circuit in Indianapolis. The action was brought in 1931 and involved complaints arising out of the old arbitration clauses, now outlawed. Zanuck, Markey Returning to Coast Darryl F. Zanuck, 20th CenturyFox production chief, left Saturday for the Coast with Mrs. Zanuck, Gene Markey and Hedy Lamarr, after a week in New York. They arrive at the studio tomorrow. Joseph M. Schenck, board chairman, who arrived with Zanuck, also left for the Coast Saturday. In addition to attending openings of "The Blue Bird" and "The Grapes of Wrath," Zanuck conferred with company officials on the 1940-'41 production program. Zanuck plans a vacation in Sun Valley beginning early in March and may come to New York during that month to complete program details. Production for 1940-'41 will start in March. Last of the current season's major films to go before the cameras will be "Maryland," in color. Taplinger to Studio Bob Taplinger, Warners studio publicity head, left for the Coast yesterday by plane after conferring with S. Charles Einfeld, advertising and publicity director, on forthcomingcampaigns. Taplinger accompanied to New York a group of Hollywood newspaper men who covered the 165th Regiment dinner at which "The Fighting 69th" was shown. The writters left Saturday, accompanied by Blake McVeigh, of the studio publicity staff. Hays Finds Answer On Dual Features Will H. Hays thinks double features "are terrible" but he "can't do anything about them," he told an audience at the New Rochelle Presbyterian Men's Club recently. "Is there a single person here who likes them?" he asked his audience. "I do," confessed one young lady. "I guess it's because you get more for your money." "That must be the answer to why we have them," Hays observed. Eight Shows Today For "69th" at Strand Warners' "The Fighting 69th," having broken the opening day record at the Strand on Broadway Friday, today will be given eight showings at the theatre, two more than usual. Also, this is the first time for the Strand to have six stage shows on a Monday. The show features Paul Whiteman. The theatre will open at 8:15 A. M. The same schedule was maintained Saturday, with seven showings of the film and five stage shows Sunday. Backed by a big campaign, the film at the opening drew a line of 2,000 persons before the doors opened at 8:30 A. M. By 10 A. M. a line estimated at 3,000 was outside the 2,800seat house, despite the cold weather. Boycott Theatres In Mexican Fight By JAMES LOCKHART Mexico City, Jan. 28. — A boycott which prevents them receiving pictures has been declared against exhibitors in Morelos and Zacatecas states by the National Cinematographic and Allied Workers' Union which took this action to force the exhibitors to change their mind about reducing personnel. The union asserts that such dismissals of workers is unjustified. The exhibitors aver that depressed business conditions make such action necessary. Exhibitors have appealed to State and Federal officials to break the boycott. Cosmos Films, producing company organized by Miguel Contreras Torres, who has worked in Hollywood, and Armando Vargas de la Maza, newspaperman-director, has started making the first of four films. Lupe Velez, not Dolores del Rio, is to play the lead in a new version of "Santa" ("Saintess"), famous Mexican novel which was the basis for the first talking film made in this country in 1930 by Antonio Moreno. The best box-office grossers among native Mexican pictures of 1939 in Mexico were : "Caballo a Caballo" ("Horse to Horse"), which grossed $25,000 in five weeks ; "Los Enredos de Papa" ("Papa's Intrigues"), $20,000 in five weeks and "La Tia de las Muchachas" ("The Girls' Aunt"), $24,100 in 10 months.