Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1940)

17 londay, April 8, 1940 MOTION PICTURE DAILY F-M Frequency Allotment Facing Delay Until May 1 Double Crossed Kansas City, April 7.— After advising first run theatre managers to appear at a certain time if they wished to protest, the City Council granted the National Walkathon Derby Co. a permit for a 12-week stretch at Pla-Mor 45 minutes before the time set for theatremen to appear. I It sent John McManus, manager of the Midland; Jerry Zigmond of the Newman, and E-=S. Hitter of the Uptown ~ )Fox Midwest away talking to themselves. y. P. Canadian Elects All Officers at Meet ■ Toronto, April 7. — Officers and directors were reelected at the shareholders' meeting of Famous Players 'ianadian Corp., in Toronto, when reports for the past year were adopted, "resident N. L. Nathanson declaring j|nat receipts for the first three months ijf 1940 were highly encouraging. He inferred to the prospect of increasing Uxation because of the war, declaring le corporation profits tax had repremted an increase of approximately 38,000 even in 1939. Net profit for he fiscal 12 months was $904,324, bwn slightly from 1938, but the finanal position of the company had imroved. '! J. J. Fitzgibbons was reelected vice1 resident and directors include Barney ' alaban, Y. F. Freeman, Hon. W. D. loss, F. B. McCurdy, A. E. Dyment, 1. P. Holt, T. J. Bragg and R. W. olstad. Balaban attended the meeting. 1 tychaefer Heads Film Drive for Yeshiva I George J. Schaefer, RKO president, las named chairman of the Motion fjcture Industry Scholarship Fund of ,1'eshiva College over the weekend. |he Fund will seek to raise $5,000 for lie education of refugee students at me college. j The fund was begun last year under he chairmanship of W. G. Van j'jchmus, managing director of the lusie Hall. Funds raised by the injustry provided for the tuition and jaintenance of 10 refugees last year. i Havana Bans 'Beast' 1 Havana, April 7— "Hitler, Beast r Berlin," an American film, was liken off the screen of the Comedia heatre here on Friday following a prong protest by the German Minister fj» the Cuban State Department. The Jm had been previously approved by le censors. It was shown here under le title "The Modern Inquisition." Chicago Banned Seven Chicago, April 7.— The Chicago pnsor board rejected seven of 411 fealires during the first three months of "is year. Thirteen films were given Slult certificates and the board made ) cuts in films. A total of 1,828,000 et was reviewed. | Roosevelt, Mills Sign I Chicago, April 7. — James Rooseflt signed a contract with the Mills ovelty Co. over the weekend, to provide shorts for coin film machines. I tarting June 1, Roosevelt will supply K 300-foot subjects weekly. Decision on permission for commercial programs on frequency modulation stations and allotment of frequencies probably will be delayed until May 1, according to F-M proponents who have returned from Washington after the hearings. The television hearings which start today are expected to delay the F-M verdict. F-M broadcasters sought the band from 30-50 m.c, and the consensus among them appears to be that the 41-50 band definitely will be granted to F-M, with a good chance that the entire 30-50 frequencies will be assigned to them. This would mean that RCA would lose the number one channel for television, 44-50 m.c, and the hearings which start today may have considerable effect on the commission's decision. At any rate, unless the commission assigns an F-M channel immediately adjacent to the present 41-44 band, all the present F-M sets will be useless as far as getting any broadcasts from the new bands are concerned. Unlike the television receivers, the F-M sets are not equipped to cover a broad range in the higher frequencies. The frequencies issue is the only one on which any opposition was presented. Requests for commercial programs and permision for higher powered stations up to 50,000 watts were unopposed. Meanwhile, WOR, which operates W2XOR on F-M, was delighted with the reception during the sun spot bombardment and the first of the spring storms. F-M reception was, of course, unaffected. W2XOR has increased its operating schedule to 15 hours daily, from 9 A.M. until midnight. Personalities in the News Milton Berle, Teddy Hart and William Lynn will appear in a radio dramatization of "Three Men on a Horse" during "Command Performance" over Mutual on Friday a t 9 :30 P.M.... Anita Louise mil appear on "Hollyzvood Playhouse" over NBC-Red on Wednesday at 8 P. M. . . . Betty Jane Rhodes will replace Martha Mears as vocalist on "It Happened in Hollyzvood" for two' weeks beginning April 15. The program is heard Mondays through Fridays at 5 :30 P. M. over CBS. . . . Yvette, NBC songstress, who has just completed a short for Paramount, steps into another medium on Wednesday when she makes her television debut over W2XBS. . . . Edward G. Robinson will receive an award from the National Safety Council on Thursday in recognition of his radio activities in behalf of accident prevention. The bestowal of the award will be carried by CBS at 10:45 P. M. . . . Talent Quest Ends in Week "Uncle Don'' will end his third annual talent quest for the boy and girl in the metropolitan area with the best screen possibilities next Monday with 20 contestants vieing for the honor. Prizes are roles in a forthcoming Monogram production and an air trip to Hollywood via United Airlines. The show will last from 3 to 6 P. M. and will be broadcast from the Mutual Playhouse. Heading the list of judges are W. Ray Johnston, Monogram president ; Scott R. Dunlap, vice-president in charge of production ; Louis Lifton, director of advertising and publicity ; Stan Lomax, WOR sportscaster, and Dave Driscoll and Alvin Josephy of the Mutual special events department. Program Notes A series of dramatic programs based on stories published in Story Magazine will be presented over WHN on Tuesdays at 9:30 P.M., with the initial program scheduled for this Wednesday. Rex Stout, the author, will be guest of honor on the first show, John Gunther on the second, and different authors each zveek thereafter. It zvill be a sustainer. . . . Music and artists of all nations will be featured in a new WEVD shoiv, "The Musical Melting Pot" which will be heard Fridays at 10 P.M. . . . Ben Bernie will introduce a new quiz in the form of a musical mock trial over CBS this Wednesday. Prosecution and defense zvill plead their cases zvith the use of songs and the jurors zvill be required to identify the tunes. . . .. "Here's a Job!" a program devoted to vocational guidance for the unemployed will replace "The Voice of the Unemployed" over WCNW tonight at 9. Humanity Guild is directing the program. . . . Radio Television Institute of New York has signed a 13-week contract for participations in the Johnny Prentiss " H ouse party" show over WHN. . . . Emil LengyeJ , foreign correspondent, will join Mirko P. de Dominis, Yugoslav journalist, in a weekly series, "This Week in Europe" over WEVD on Tuesdays at 10 P. M., starting next zveek. . . . General Foods will, sponsor "Young Dr. Malone" over 69 CBS stations, starting April 29. It will be heard Mondays through Fridays at 2 P. M. Benton & Bozvles is the agency. No Mid-Day Rest for Taylor The mid-day hours, from 12:30 to 2 P. M., are generally devoted to rest and lunch, but Reese Taylor has adopted one of the most hectic schedules for those 90 minutes in the CBS Chicago studios. At 12:30, he appears in "The Romance of Helen Trent," at 12:45, he gets in a half-hour rehearsal on "Right to Happiness" and goes on the air with that show at 1:30. At 1:45 he dashes for another studio, where he appears in "Road to Life" at 1:46. Plan Television Exhibit Pittsburgh, April 7. — A greatly enlarged television exhibit will be featured at the eighth annual Allegheny County Free Fair, Commissioner John J. Kane announced here. In 1939, the television installation by KDKA recorded more visitors than any other attraction. Colored motion pictures of public work projects in the county will also be shown on a huge outdoor screen. Slater Elected Mayor Kansas City, April 7. — H. N. Slater, who operates the Rialto at Smithville, Mo., was elected Mayor of that city in the recent election. The defeated incumbent had been mayor 16 years. DuMont Offers Video Set Safe From Changes Allen B. DuMont Laboratories undertook over the weekend to market its television receivers with unconditional guaranties against obsolescence. The move is expected to have considerable significance at the F.C.C. hearings on video which start today in Washington. In a letter to all DuMont dealers, it was pointed out that television standards have not yet been adopted, but that standards might be set within a year. DuMont is therefore guaranteeing that it will make all changes in the present sets necessitated by any change in standards, free of charge up to Jan. 1, 1942, and at cost, thereafter. Defending the F.C.C. action against the present sales promotion plans, Allen B. DuMont, president, declared that present television images "can be made far better," especially in the field of special events and sports. At only a slightly higher manufacturing cost, he said, DuMont is manufacturing flexible receivers which can receive from 400 to 900 lines, at from 15 to 30 frames per second. DuMont declared that the synchronization of transmitter and receiver can now be improved, and that the retentive quality of the screen can be increased to eliminate flicker even at 15 frames per second. He said that the frequency band could be cut from six m.c. to four, or less, by some improvements, but recommended the retention of the present six m.c. band to permit greater refinements in the image. DuMont Reports 1939 Net Loss of $95,105 Allen B. DuMont Laboratories reported a net loss of $95,105 during 1939. Assets totaled $706,758, of which $345,018 represents cash on hand or in banks. Fixed assets are valued at $100,570, and patents and patent applications at $89,174. Net sales during the year were $117,010. Cost of sales, before deductions for extraordinary manufacturing expenses, was $85,577, the latter expenses were $22,717, and general, administrative and selling expenses were $88,261, resulting in an operating loss of $79,546. Allen B. DuMont, president, declared that increased volume of sales of television receivers and experience gained during the past year should provide "a much better showing this year." W2XVT, the company's television station was on the air approximately 400 hours last year for test purposes. Brokers to Launch Ticket 'Strike' Today Associated Theatre Ticket Agencies, organization of independent brokers, are scheduled to move into the first phase of their "strike" against the League of New York Theatres today when tickets for "The Man Who Came to Dinner" will be refused by the brokers. The stoppage is due to be extended to all Broadway houses next week for a period of two weeks. The League, in turn, has threatened to revoke all allotments to independent brokers if the stoppage is carried out.