Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1945)

First in MOTION PICTURE DAILY Alert, Picture Industry OL. 57. NO. 43 NEW YORK, U.S.A., MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1945 TEN CENTS New Checking Organization Opens April 2 Five Companies Join Confidential Reports Completion of organization of Confidential Reports, Inc., new national theatre-checking organization, scheduled to begin operations April 2, was announced on Friday at a luncheon at the Hotel Astor here, attended by representatives of member companies, the trade press and officers of the new organization, headed by John J. O'Connor, president pro tern, and Jack H. Levin, vice-president and general manager. Initial members of the new organization are : Columbia, Paramount, RKO, United Artists and Universal. Organized on a non-profit basis, its services will be available to all pro (Continued on page 7) W. B. Quarter Net Up to $2,368,565 Net operating profit of $2,368,565 for the quarter ended Nov. 25, 1944, was reported by Warner Bros, on Friday. Result compares with profit of $1,981,730 for the corresponding quarter of the preceding year. Gross income for the period last (Continued on page 6) May 14-June 30 Is . Set for 7th Loan Washington, March 4. — Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., has announced that the Seventh War Loan Drive will be held from May 14 to June 30, with an overall goal of $14,000,000,000. Of this amount, $7,000,000,000 worth will be available for individuals and other nonbanking investors. The "E" bond goal, highest since the campaigns began, is $4,000,000 000. All sales of "E," "F" and "G" bonds and Series "C" savings notes presented to the Federal Reserve Banks between April 9 and July 7 will be credited to the drive. Morgenthau said there is every evidence that Federal expenditures will continue at a high level for some time. Gov't Chances for Early Decree Trial Seen Here as Slim Possibilities of an early trial date being set today for the Government's action to obtain a new consent decree embodying provisions for affiliated theatre divorcement and other revolutionary trade practice revisions are regarded in Federal court circles here as very slim. When the Department of Justice, last Dec. 20, asked for a June trial date for its new decree hearing, Federal Judge "Henry W. Goddard made it plain that, even should his trial calendar permit, he was unsympathetic to (.Continued on page 6) McConville Heads Col. International Columbia International Corp., incorporated last July 1, has announced officers, as follows : Joseph A. McConville, president ; Louis J. Barbano, vice-president ; Jack Segal, treasurer ; David Fogelson, secretary ; Bernard E. Zeeman, assistant treasurer ; Bernard Birnbaum, controller. The board of directors consists of (Continued on page 7) KEY CITIES BOOM, DESPITE CURFEW Navy Sets a Record With Iwo Pictures Washington, March 4. — Swift execution of carefully worked out plans enabled the Navy to bring newsreel footage of the Iwo Jima invasion to the American public in record time, according to Lt. Comdr. John W. McClain, USNR, officer in charge of the Navy picture coverage of that operation. He was the first person to return to the States since the invasion started. Comdr. McClain brought the footage to the Navy Photographic Services in Washington five days after he left the beachhead of Iwo Jima on a Navy seaplane. Describing the motion picture coverage of the operation, Comdr. McClain said : "Several weeks before the actual operation, we were given access to the Iwo Jima operation plan. After studying it, we wrote a script of the operation, blue-printing our photographic mission. We assigned approximately 60 cameramen to the job, including several to the fast carrier force that bombed Tokyo." AFM 'Stand-By' Fees Hit Recorded Film Promotions Film industry procedure of taking instrumental music and songs off the sound tracks of musical films and placing them on waxed transcriptions for radio paid-ad promotions, has been dealt what is described as a severe blow by the American Federation of Musicians' demand for 'stand-by' orchestra fees from producers wherever this procedure is utilized. And, rather than organize any widespread protest against the AFM demand, film companies are generally abandoning the procedure and are using small orchestras for recording music for spot announcements for radio advertising. _ The move against these transcriptions has been gradual, according to film company advertising promotion representatives. It started when James Petrillo's AFM curbed the taking off of instrumental music and songs from sound tracks for transcriptions which were sent to radio stations gratis in the hope that they would be featured, free, along with the stations' regularly played transcriptions. As many as 350 to 400 stations at one time gave free 'plugs' to films by using the promotional recordings besides the spot announcements sent to stations as part of an advertising campaign. Paramount is the latest to feel the brunt of the new AFM procedure. Seeking to record portions of the sound track to promote "Bring on the Girls," the studio discovered that it would have to re-record the musical sequences desired, with an AFM orchestra, or pay stand-by charges of the equivalent of 42 musicians. This would have doubled the cost of the 'platter'. Other companies making spot announcement discs for film promotions have been recording the music they desire in New York rathe* than attempt to use sections of the sound track and be forced to pay the standby fees. $18,373 Average Per Theatre for Week After Midnight Closing First actual dollars-and-cents report on results of the Government's midnight curfew on film theatres, and all other places of amusement, discloses that not only was box office business unaffected adversely, as anticipated by many, but business during the first week of the midnight closing was among the heaviest in years. Motion Picture Daily field correspondents report a weekly average gross of $18,373 for the first curfew week, at 134 downtown first runs in widely scattered cities, nearly $1,000 above per theatre average in the previous week and about $2,000 per theatre over the same week one year ago. While relatively few theatres were obliged to restrict performances be (Continued on page 3) Hays Marks 23rd Year with MPPDA Today is the 23rd anniversary of Will H. Hays as president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. He resigned as Postmaster General in 1922 to join the MPPDA at the invitation of industry leaders. At the organization's fi r s t meeting, on the occasion of the public introduction of Hays to the industry, were : William E. A t k inson, Robert H. Cochrane, Win h. Hays R u f u s Cole, William Fox, Samuel Goldwyn, Earle (Continued on page 7) Reviewed Today Reviews of "Earl Carroll Vanities" and "I Love a Mystery" appear on page 7.