Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1944)

VOL. 56. NO. 74 MOTION PICTURE DAILY NEW YORK, U.S.A., TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1944 TEN CENTS Distributors Agree on Films For 6th Drive Hertz Names 49 State Aides on Publicity Ned E. Depinet, chairman of the distributors' division of the industry's campaign for the Sixth War Loan drive, yesterday announced the agreement of all distributors on films for exhibitor bond premieres during the campaign, opening Nov. 20 and running through Dec. 16. At the same time, John Hertz, Jr., national industry publicity director for the drive, announced that 49 field publicists had consented to serve, to coordinate local war bond advertising, publicity and exploitation campaigns of exhibitors. Agreement of the distributors in furnishing pictures for bond premieres follows : Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 16, the distributors will furnish for one per(Continued on page 11) $130,000 for 'Parkington' "Mrs. Parkington," garnering $80,000 on its first four days at the Radio City Music Hall, is headed for a $130,000 week, ending Wednesday, to lead Broadway's current box-office parade and bid for a place among alltime high grossers at the house, according to the management. Chief public, press and police attention in the Times Square district was (Continued on page 11) Balaban Pledges 20 Millions to 6th Barney Balaban, president of Paramount, yesterday pledged a $20,000,000 bond purchase for his company in the Sixth War Loan campaign, it was reported here by Neil Agnew, chairman of Eastern division bond sales for the War Activities Committee. This is the first film company commitment for the sixth drive. Paramount pledged $15,000,000 in the Fifth War Loan drive. Films Will Be in Strongest Position In Postwar: Cowdin The film business will emerge from the war with greater stature as anindustry than ever before, in the strongest financial condition in its history, and with an increased number of "film fans" in both this co u n t r y and abroad, J . Cheever Cowdin, chairman of the board of Universal Pictures, Inc., declared in a letter to stockholders released here yesterday discussing postwar prospects of the industry. Pointing out that the industry has an outstanding record of service to pur Armed Forces, Cowdin declared (Continued on page 10) J. Cheever Cowdin Altec Shows 2-Way Theatre Speaker Hollywood, Oct. 16. — A 'Duplex' speaker, for which a frequency range of from 38 to 15,000 cycles is claimed, was demonstrated today for delegates attending Altec's annual meeting here. It was part of a display of electronic equipment developed in wartime for the war but not available until the (Continued on page 7) Court Fails to RuleonSIMPP Crescent Move Box Offices Will Decide Video Future Washington, Oct. 16. — The U. S. Supreme Court here today failed to act on the motion of Morris L. Ernst, attorney for the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, Hollywood, for leave to intervene in the Crescent Amusement Co. case. The motion was filed late last week after Ernst had attempted unsuccessfully to secure the consent of both sides to the submission of a brief, a circumstance which, in the great majority of cases, leads to rejection of such motions by the Court. In his petition for leave to allow the SIMPP to intervene, Ernst told the Court that the Government, at the trial of the case, placed emphasis upon (Continued on page 7) WPB Urges Making Projector Parts Manufacturers who have the material, equipment and manpower to make urgently needed projection equipment parts may now secure authorization to make such parts under the War Production Board's 'spot authorization' order PR-25, Allen G. Smith, head of the theatre equipment section (Continued on page 10) Films Getting More Space In Nation 9s Newspapers! Curtailment of less than 10 per cent in the amount of newspaper space devoted to films and film theatres, compared with 18 months ago is observed in newspapers of 125 large cities in a survey by Motion Picture Daily field correspondents, and this despite the continuing overall shortage of available newsprint. This is considered more unusual in view of the fact that in many cases advertising space available to films had been cut by 25 per cent or more. The consensus in the report attributes this milder overall curtailment to the recognition of the high news value placed on film news in general and upon Hollywood personalities in particular. The chief curtailment has been in Saturday and Sunday editions of the papers, which show an average reduction of about 25 per cent in film space. In recent months, theatres and film companies have been allowed to place advertisements in general news sections when they were not able to obtain large enough space accommodation in amusement pages. Although film companies' and theatres' advertising space is allocated in newspapers in many cities, extended film holdovers have enabled them to accumulate a space backlog to provide a new film opening with a good spread in advertising columns. Widespread participation of Hollywood personalities in USO domestic and overseas entertainment tours for members of the Armed Forces has also enabled the industry to obtain more space in news sections. Austrian Tells SMPE Exhibitor Has Answer "Television is too big, too allencompassing, too international in scope to be controlled by group interests and must not be thought of as the exclusive instrument of the broadcasting industry, or, as a matter of record, of any other industry," Ralph B. Austrian, executive vicepresident of RKO Television Corp., told 250 members of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers at yesterday afternoon's session of their threeday 56th semi-annual technical conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania here. "Film exhibitors," Austrian said, "are not going to let (Continued on page 10) Schine Sale Is Confirmed Buffalo, Oct. 16. — Following confirmation of sale of four of its theatres in Virginia and Kentucky to A. Charles Hayman of Niagara Falls, Schine Chain Theatres today has only five more houses to sell in order to have completely complied with a court order of May, 1942, requiring the circuit to divest itself of 15 properties it acquired since filing of the Government's anti-trust charges in 1939. Hayman has purchased the State (Continued on page 11) Shanklin Warns of New US Tax Threat Charleston, W. Va., Oct. 16. — The 10th annual convention of the West Virginia Managers Association will open here tomorrow at the Daniel Boone Hotel, with Ed Kuykendall. president of the MPTOA, addressing (Continued on page 11) Reviewed Today Review of "And Now Tomorrow," Paramount, will be found on page 7; also "The Man in Halfmoon Street," Paramount, and "Law of the Valley," Monogram, on page 14.