Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1946)

4 Motion Picture Daily Wednesday, November 27, 1946 Newsreel Parade THE soft-coal strike is highlighted in three of the five current newsreels. Chile's inauguration of a new president and Britain's memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt also are treated; football runs through all of the reels. Complete contents follow: MOVIETONE NEWS, No. 26— John L. Lewis stands trial for contempt. British leaving Egypt. New president of Chile. Sculpture, astronomy, engineering. Football: Notre Dame-Tulane, Yale-Harvard, UCLA-Southern California, Illinois-Northwestern. NEWS O'F THE DAY, No. 224— Highlights of coal strike: John Lewis goes to court. British to build F.D.R. memorial. U. S. honors war correspondents. Desert auction. Chile's new president. France rededicated. Football: UCLA-Southern California, Illinois -Northwestern. PARAMOUNT NEWS, No. 27— Bow] fever: UCLA -Southern California, Illinois Northwestern War on intolerance. The days are flying toward Christmas. RKO PATHE NEWS, No. 2»-Inaugurate new Chilean president. British plan memorial to F.D.R. War correspondents honored by Army. Supplies by plane to weather station in Alps. Football: UCLASouthern California, Yale-Harvard. UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL, No. 558^Lewis cited for contempt in mine strike. Cattle-boat capsizes. Chile's new president installed. Britain's Roosevelt memorial. Animals in the news. Football: Yale 27, Harvard 14. Warner Prizes to 16 of its Field Men For outstanding field public relations work in the company's 1946 sales drive, as well as in connection with the "20th Anniversary of Talking Pictures," 16 Warner field men have been presented with prizes, distributed by Mort Blumenstock, vicepresident in charge of advertisingpublicity, as follows : George Bannari, Dallas ; George Fishman, Philadelphia ; Allan Kohan, Omaha ; Glenn Ireton, Toronto ; Art Moger, Boston ; Richard Stephens, Buffalo; Edward C. Benjamin, Minneapolis ; Vernon Berg, Cincinnati ; Ira Epstein, Indianapolis ; Tom Gorman, San Francisco ; Jack Leewood, Seattle ; Lucia Perrigo, Chicago ; Herb Pickman, New York; Don Walker, Kansas City; George Wood, St. Louis ; J. D. Woodard, Atlanta. QP Basketball Tonight Quigley Publications' basketball team will meet National Broadcasting's quintet at the Rockefeller Center Institute gymnasium here tonight. Trans Lux Starts Post-war Expansion Trans-Lux's first new theatre in its post-war expansion program will be called the Trans-Lux Prado Theatre, situated in the New Prado Hotel in Mexico City. The hotel, which has the theatre as an integral part, was built at a cost of over $4,000,000 by the Mexican Government. P. N. Furber, chairman of the board of Trans-Lux, and Norman Elson, vice-president, left New York yester day for Mexico City; they plan to re turn about Dec. 15. Famous Players in Last of 5 Meetings Toronto, Nov. 26. — Famous Players Canadian Corp. is winding up its country-wide series of regional conferences for managers and partners with a two-day rally of its Central Ontario forces in the Royal York Hotel, here, today and tomorrow, which is also being attended by a large contingent of headoffice executives. The same agenda is being followed throughout the conferences, which originally got under way one month ago at Winnipeg where Western 1 division general manager Larry I. Bearg conducted sessions, while Eastern division manager Morris Stein called the managers together at Halifax, Montreal and Windsor, before taking over the Toronto meeting. At Windsor, where a two-day program has just been concluded, there were round-table talks on theatre operations and a presentation of company policy, plus discussions on advertising, children's shows and theatre confection sales. Stein's Assistants Assisting Stein were district managers Jack Arthur and Dan Krendel ; James Stevenson and Neil Troy of Theatre Confections, Ltd., a Toronto subsidiary of Famous Players. A forum on advertising was conducted by James R. Nairn, headoffice director of advertising-publicity, while Bert Brown covered children's shows. The Windsor assembly broke off for entertainment diversions for which the host was Simon Meretsky, managing director of Windsor Paramount Theatre. A special visitor there was Earl Hudson, managing director of United Detroit Theatres. More Screen Time To UK Independents Hollywood, Nov. 26. — Speaking as honor guest at a Independent Motion Picture Producers Association dinner here last night, Ernest Fredman, publisher of the The Film Renter, London, told IMPPA members that the British trade and the government are determined to increase the apportionment of screen time to independent product in the United Kingdom, both by practice and tacit agreement, lr not by legal regulation. He s/ ^jji*1 American independent producers V should visit England personally to 1* gain a full understanding of the character of the rapidly expanding market in order to fashion pictures to earn maximum grosses in England. IMPPA president I. E. Chadwick, presiding at the meeting, was highly praised by representatives of Monogram, PRC and SGP, for maintaining labor relations which have kept independents out of the current studio strike. Toronto, Nov. 26. — Famous Players Canadian Corp. has declared a dividend of 20 cents, plus an extra five cents for the final quarter of 1946, payable Dec. 31, on its newly-split common shares, the total payment being an increase of 10' cents over previous quarterly dividends and amounting to 70 cents for 1946. Early in the year the company split its common three-for-one and the annual rate on the old stock stood at $1 so that the first-year's payment on the new common represents an increase. Famous Players issued 375,000 shares of new common early in 1946 to retire its bonded indebtedness. It is stated the company is in a strong position for the extensive expansion program contemplated. Sachar Urges More Campus Foundations Dr. A. L. Sachar, national director of B'nai B'rith's Hillel Foundations, urged expansion of the organization through the establishment of more chapters on the campuses of American colleges and universities, in a talk last night at the Hotel Astor at a meeting of Cinema Lodge, B'nai B'rith. An audience of several hundred from the motion picture and allied entertainment industries attended the lodge's "Hillel Night." A 12-minute color film, entitled "There Is So Much to Do," preceded the talk by Dr. Sachar. Canadian Pioneers To Frolic Tonight Toronto, Nov. 26.— The Canadian Picture Pioneers will gather at the Royal York Hotel, here, tomorrow night for a ball and carnival to aid its benevolent fund. With thousands of tickets sold for the function, the fund is expected to attain substantial proportions after being established last year with a $10,000 basis. A ticket-selling campaign was directed by Oscar R. Hanson and champion seller was Ray Lewis, only woman member of the Canadian Pioneers, who has been secretary of the organization since its start five years ago. Trustees of the fund are Charles Mavety, Ray Lewis, Hanson and George H. Beeston and under their care come those in Canadian film circles who experience problems of age, illness or distress. Universal To Take Reade's 'Park' Theatre Universal will take over the operation of Walter Reade's new Park Avenue Theatre in a deal which in all probability will be closed by next Monday, and thus will put Reade in the unique position of having monies paid in advance on a subscription basis by customers, for a theatre which he no longer operates. When negotiations first began it was understood that Reade was not interested in leasing the house, but rather in providing the film company with a first-run outlet for its British product. The subscription revenue will, of course, be returned to the customers, when "U" takes over. Six from Wurtzel For 20th in 1947 Hollywood, Nov. 26. — Sol M. Wurtzel will produce six features for 20th Centpry-Fox for release during the coming year, under a contract completed after conferences with Spyros Skouras, company president, yesterday. Wurtzel produced the same number for the distributor this year.