Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1941)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY First in 50. NO. 80 NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1941 TEN CENTS orced to Be riendly with Biof f : Warner ustin Keough to Testify At U. S. Trial Today I considered Mr. Bioff a man .10 shook our company down for 100,000. For the power that he d — as a matter of good business — the surface at least — I had to on good relations with him." In those words, Harry M. Warr. president of Warner Bros., plained in Federal Court yestery during the trial of William A0t( and George E. Browne, why maintained a friendly relationiip with Bioff. Warner continued, however, with a cital of how he took precautions rainst bodily harm when he was tryg to delay an answer to Bioff's mand for $20,000. This, according Warner, took place immediately (Continued on pane 13) v .B.AppealsNewark Lward on Clearance Warners and the Stanley Co. yes•rday filed a notice of appeal to the ational appeals board from the arbi| -ation award in the Paustan Enterrises clearance case at the New York oard. The appeal is the 16th to be ded. Paustan, operating the West End '"heatre. Newark, on Oct. 1 received u award reducing the clearance over held by the Ritz and Broadway, (Continued on page 14) 15 Pa. Towns to Vote On Sunday Pictures Philadelphia, Oct. 21.— The Sunday film question will be decided in only 15 communities in Pennsylvania at the Nov. 4 election. Rules for the referendum were changed at the last session of legislature with the result that 20 per cent of the electorate vote is required to file a petition, which accounts for the small number of towns bringing the matter to the voters this year. Previously, only five per cent of the registered voters were required to file a petition. United Front, Taxes Are Major Issues, Myers Tells AMPTO By MORT FRANK Pittsburgh, Oct. 21. — Three major issues face exhibitors between now and next June, the deadline for continuing the industry consent decree. Abram F. Myers, chairman and general counsel of Allied States, told the Allied M. P. T. O. of Western Pennsylvania in convention here today. These issues, he said, are: "1. Shall we unite all trade organizations on a common front for solving problems ai Hng from the consent decree? 2. Should the influence of organizations such as Allied be exerted toward conferring with the distributors on new selling methods ? 3. Taxation." Myers also held that "this seems to b ■ the pattern for the future conduct of exhibitor organizations : they can justify their existence if they can save exhibitors from excessive taxation, if (Continued on pope 13) Kosiner Named Aide To Haskell Masters Harry Kosiner, Eastern representative for Walter Wanger for many years, has been appointed executive assistant to Haskell M. Masters. United Artists Western sales manager. Kosiner will assume his new position on Nov. 15, when Wanger's New York office will be closed. Skouras, Century Extend Pooling Deal A 17-year extension of the existing pooling arrangement involving approximately 20 Century Circuit houses, mostly on Long Island, with a comparable number of Skouras Theatres houses has been closed, it was learned yesterday. The current arrangement has nearly three years to run. The renewal agreement extends the arrangement for another 20 years. Delay Decision on UA President Until Meetings on Coast Selection of a president for United Artists will not be made bv the company's owners for some time, it was learned yesterday from official sources. The selection will be made in the course of meetings to be held on the Coast following the return to Hollywood of Mary Pickford and David O. Selznick in about a week. The meetings, originally scheduled to be held here, have been called off due to the inability of Charles Chaplin to come East for the sessions and owing to Alexander Korda's produc (Continucd on page 14) Critics on Coast Upset Press Previewing Rules By ROSCOE WILLIAMS Hollywood, Oct. 21. — Uncertain whether to be angered or amused, but deciding by nightfall in favor of the latter, Hollywood's 300 resident correspondents awoke this morning to discover that Edwin Schallert and Virginia Wright, motion picture editors of the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles News, respectively, had reviewed "How Green Was My Valley," 20th Century-Fox picture, in today's editions, although the film is not scheduled for trade showing until Oct. 28. Disbelieving their eyes they read and re-read the Schallert explanation that his 250-word hymn of praise and prediction for the picture was "in no sense a preview of the picture." Ditto Miss Wright's concluding remark, ending a 250-word rhapsody describing the film as "undisputed contestant for the Academy award this year," (Continued on page 3) Arthur Not to Drop Triples in St. Louis St. Louis, Oct. 21. — Harry C. Arthur, Jr., vice-president of Fanchon & Marco, has said here that he has no intention of discontinuing triple features, used in several of the neighborhood houses F & M operates for the St. Louis Amusement Co. Arthur likened triple bills to large Sunday newspapers and said patrons may see as much of the program as they like. He declared triples have been popular here. To Ask Arnold Appearance in Senate Probe Committee Will Decide on Hearings Next Week By BERTRAM F. LINZ Washington, Oct. 21. — Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold will be invited to appear before the Senate propaganda investig a t i o n subcommittee when hearings are resumed early next month, it was disclosed today by Chairman D. Worth Clark of Idaho. Clark said he intended to call his group t o g e t h er as soon as Senator Tobey of New (.Continued on page 14) Thurman Arnold Fox Sentenced to One Year in Prison Philadelphia, Oct. 21. — William Fox, motion picture pioneer and star witness for the Government in the conspiracy trials of Federal Judge J. Warren Davis, was sentenced today to serve a year and a day in Federal prison and was fined $3,000 for conspiracy to obstruct justice and defraud the Government during his bankruptcy. Martin Littleton, attorney for Fox, (Continued on page 14) Donovan Reports on Propaganda Abroad Washington, Oct. 21.— Col. William J. Donovan, Coordinator of Information, today made a first-hand report to President Roosevelt on the European propaganda situation. As Coordinator of Information, he has for some weeks been engaged in an exhaustive study of NaziFascist propaganda directed at the United States by radio, press reports, motion pictures and other media.