Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1944)

Theatres'^ Red Cross Week Mar. 23-29 MOTION TURE DAILY Theatres' Red Cross Week Mar. 23-29 L. 55. NO. 60 NEW YORK, U.S.A., MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1944 TEN CENTS May Request Exhibitors to Ease Demands Step Seen After Clark, Kuykendall Talk By BERTRAM F. LINZ Washington, March 26. — Possibilities that exhibitors may be asked to lighten some of their demands in order that a mutually satisfactory consent decree revision may be developed were seen here following a conference yesterday between U. S. Assistant Attorney General Tom C. Clark and Ed Kuykendall, president of the MPTOA, who last Tuesday submitted his association's recommendations for basic provisions. The film chief of the Department of Justice and the head of the exhibitors' organization talked for some {Continued on page 11) New Trial Asked in Jackson Park Case Chicago, March 26. — Distributor and exhibitor defendants in the Jackson Park Theatre anti-trust suit filed a motion for a new trial in Federal district court here on Friday. Petitioners have 10 days in which to file briefs in support of the motion, and Judge Michael Igoe has set April 21 for a hearing. A jury recently awarded the exhibitor plaintiff triple damages of $360,000 at the conclusion of trial of the suit here. If the motion for a new trial is denied, it appears certain that the defendants will take an appeal to the U. S. Circuit Court. First U. S. Films In Italy Since 1938 Information on American film exhibition in Italy is being compiled by the Office of War Information and will be made public soon by that agency, with the exception of military information, an OWI official disclosed here at the weekend. Italy is seeing Hollywood product for the first time since 1938. Robert Riskin, director of the OWI overseas film division, abroad since November, is expected to return to the U. S. shortly. He is currently reported conferring with Lacy Kastner, OWI European operations head, in London, and with British Ministry of Information officials and American and British Army officers. Raw Stock Makers File Delay Actions With Draft Boards Washington, March 26. — With a view to holding their employes until the present muddled situation with respect to the ending of deferments for men between 18 and 26 is clarified, raw stock manufacturers are filing delay actions with local draft boards which make mandatory a review of all deferment cases. Representatives of the manufacturers who visited Washington last week to discuss the situation with Lincoln V. Burrows, chief of the WPB film section, also disclosed that lists of critical occupations in the industry have been developed for the use of local War Manpower Commission and Selective Service agencies, which thev are hopeful will be considered in passing on skilled men in the film-producins: plants. Meanwhile, a special committee under the chairmanship of Paul V. (Continued on page 11) Make-Up Artists Want 5% Increase The producers' studio labor representatives and company heads will get the contract proposals of IATSE Local 706, representing studio make-up artists and hair stylists, when their sessions resume here this morning at the office of Pat Casey, producers' labor contact. Among the proposals is understood to be a demand for a five percent wage (Continued on page 11) Allied Armies in Joint Production Actual joint production and compilation of motion pictures on and from the battlefields by American and British film services, as witnessed in the new "Tunisian Victory," will be continued, it is revealed here by the New York bureau of the British Ministry of Information. Newest action in this connection was the recent arrival of Britain's Lt. Col. Geoffrey Keating, from the Italian battles, to work with the U. S. Signal Corps here on incoming material from the Italian campaigns. War pictures earmarked for theatre distribution will be released simultaneously in the United States and England. Cracks Down On Film Scrap Local film exchanges plan no test of a New York City Fire Department regulation requiring the removal of scrap film from all exchanges here twice daily but, rather, will take under consideration a proposal to establish a "community" film vault in which to store the scrap, at a meeting of the New York Film Board of Trade on Wednesday, Clarence Eiseman, Warner New York branch manager and chairman of the board's fire prevention committee, has informed Motion Picture Daily. The Board's executive committee, Eiseman said, will meet (Continued on page 11) 100,000,000 Reduced Servicemen's Tickets from 16 Theatres Here An estimated 100,000,000 cut-rate tickets have been sold to service men and women by some 16 first-run film theatres in New York's Times Square area since the policy began, according to Harry Brandt, chairman of the theatre committee on the Mayor's Recreation Committee for New York. Figured on the basis of an overall average 25-cent reduction, the theatres have contributed some $25,000,000 to the entertainment of members of the armed forces. Theatres like the Roxy, Paramount, Capitol and Strand have contributed most to this overall figure in view of both their seating capacities and the fact that the reduced servicemen's admission at those houses is about 30 cents while general admission prices reach as high as $1.25. In some instances the percentage of servicemen's admissions may run as high as 60 or 70 percent of the total admissions of a particular show, depending upon the picture being shown, or it may drop to 10 per cent, or even lower, it was said. Theatres in addition to those mentioned above are the Hollywood, Rivoli, State, Astor, Criterion, Mayfair, Rialto, Victoria, Globe, Central, Palace and New York. WAC Pledges Aid for Fifth Loan Drive Industry Also Promises To Help Wac Recruiting The motion picture industry has been pledged to participate in the forthcoming Fifth War Loan drive, understood to be set for some time in June, for which Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., has set a goal of $16,000,000,000. The industry has also pledged to aid in recruiting women for the Women's Army Corps. Both pledges were made at the joint annual meeting of the War Activities Committee's theatres division executive committee and the WAC coordinating committee, held at the Hotel Astor Friday, with George J. Schaefer, WAC chairman, presiding. The luncheon meeting followed a morning session of the theatre division, led by Si Fabian, chairman. Joseph McConville, Columbia executive, was elected chairman of the (Continued on page 11) Asks 125 Circuits For 2d R.C. Week More than 125 circuits over the weekend received telegraphic appeals from Joseph Bernhard, national industry chairman of the Red Cross drive, asking them to extend the collections-at-every-performance through a second week. All independents are also being appealed to. Bernhard's appeal followed a request from Leon Fraser, national chairman of the Red Cross 1944 drive. Bernhard declared he was confident theatres would meet quotas through extension of the collections. 20th-Fox Donates $143,574 to R. C. Twentieth Century-Fox contributions to the Red Cross drive will reach $143,574, the company announced at the weekend. Recently, each of 31 20th-Fox exchanges in the U. S. contributed $500 to local Red Cross chapters. Additionally, contributions of $1,000 from each branch office will be made to local chapters in keeping with the company's pledge that any monies received in rentals from 'Victory' shorts, in excess of actual production costs, would be donated to a war charity.