Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1935)

70 MOTION PICTURE HERALD April 6 , 193b Corpus Christi, Texas DEAR HERALD: We got here last night, and having just gotten here, and having seen no one on the road down here we, of course, don't have anything to write about, but we are going to do a little kicking just the same. Shine Mason, the Longhorn who runs the theatres at McAllen, said he was going to write the boy who has charge of the theatres here that we were coming down here and for him to look out for us and to have everything locked up. He must have done it, for when we got here w^e found everything locked up but one fishhouse and a filling station. He had the mayor, the city council and two brass bands out to meet us but we came in on a side street and were ushered to a chili joint by a Mexican fisherman. Gulf Is Full of Fish We don't know how big Corpus Christi is, but would judge it to be about the size of Muskegon, Michigan, and Muskegon, Michigan, is a pretty good sized town, and if Corpus Christi has as many fine people in it as Muskegon has we ought to get along all right, but there is one thing about Corpus Christi we have observed already, and that is that there are more fish here in the Gulf than there are in the Platte river in Nebraska. We haven't met any of the theatre boys here yet, probably because we haven't called on them, but most likely because they are all out fishing. Before coming here we drove down to Harlingen to call on J. C. King again. J. C. runs both theatres in Harlingen, which accounts for the reason why the people of Harlingen wear such a contented look all the while. A well managed theatre will come about as near curing this depression as anything we know of. People must have something to think about besides mortgages and I.O.U.'s. While we were down to Harlingen calling on J. C. King we met E. F. Brady, who operates the Rivoli and Palace theatres at San Benito. E. F. is the champion golfer of the Rio Grande valley and has held the belt for several years, and he came up there to Harlingen to play golf but King winked at him and shook his head at him to warn him not to play us, presumably because he wanted him to hang onto that belt. Not knowing, we presume most people would take E. F. to be a Pennsylvania Dutchman but that's a mistake, his parents were raised just three miles northeast of Belfast, Ireland, and they came to this country to help make it what it is, and that's why they sent E. F. down to San Benito to build up southeast Texas. They put Bob Smith and his Mission theatre up at the west end of the valley and E. F. Brady with his theatres at San Benito at the east end and then filled in with McAllen, Pharr, San Juan, Alimo, Donna, Weslaco, Mercedes, Laferia, and Harlingen between, and that's what makes the Rio Grande valley such an important place. E. F. says that havalenas don't stay SAM RIDGE, 61, SEES FIRST FILM For a good many years, for he admits, when pressed, to 61, Sam Ridge, county commissioner of Fort Scott, Mo., has resisted the wiles of screen femininity, the red blood of film action, and the spectacle of the modern screen, but he finally fell last week, and it was the diminutive Shirley Temple who did it. It is expected in Fort Scott that Mrs. Ridge may have something to do with it. Whatever the reason, Mr. Ridge went to see Shirley in Fox's "The Little Colonel", thoroughly enjoyed it, by his own admission, and apparently did not damage in the slightest degree his "democracy" , whatever that might be. around San Benito because they are afraid of the street cars. V Miles of Red Tape The San Antonio Express, in today's issue, has this to say : "When Miss Ada Erler, employe of a clothing store in New Ulm, Minn., was advised by a doctor treating her for stomach trouble to rest after meals, she asked her employer for an extra half hour for lunch." Her employer petitioned the NRA advisory board for permission to grant her an hour and half for lunch. The petition went to all NRA advisory boards and the national retail code authority, the research and planning division, the legal department, the consumers advisory board, and having passed all, was signed by the acting division administrator and sitting deputy administrator, and permission was granted seven weeks after the application had been made. Some people get huckleberry pie, others get red tape. We are a little surprised to read this criticism of the Red Tape department in a Texas newspaper. V After the government gets to work on that "shelterbelt" and finds out that a tree on section four needs some water, they will call a special session of the advisory committee to inquire into the matter and they will then refer a complete record of the case to Washington, which in turn will refer it to the "Brain Trust" and after due consideration they will wire Bill Jones to put a bucket of water on the aforesaid tree. All of which makes a well man pretty damsick when he thinks about it. V Here in Corpus Christi they have one dock that is said to be nearly a half mile long, and there is tier upon tier of lead bars piled up in one shed pretty near the entire length of it, ready to be shipped across the water. It begins to look at this time like they would need it, but if they shoot all this lead away there won't be enough of 'em left to put in the garden, and should they shoot it all away what will we do when duck season opens? That's what worries us. V Jobs for the Party When we left the valley we put a box of grape fruit in our car. They told us that we couldn't get by a quarantine station above Edenburg with it unless we had an inspection tag on the box, so we were sent to a packing house to get one and they gave us a half a pad of them and we put one of them on the box. When we got to the inspection station the officer in charge waved us to go on. He didn't even stop us to inquire what we had. All of which convinces us all the stronger that the whole thing is a lot of bologna. But then, somebody has to have a job, under these depressing times, especially if he belongs to our party. V Last night a party in the next room to us turned on their radio and got a symphony orchestra program from San Antonio. This station usually puts on a high-class program and we thought we were in for an enjoyable evening and that we wouldn't hear a love song crooner, but pretty soon one started and then the dogs began to howl. V Gala Week for the Town This week is to be a sort of a homecoming week for the Longhorns down here in Texas. It is said to be an agricultural fair of some kind, but what we'd like to know is where are they going to get their agricultural products for a display. If they show any Nebraska stuff down here we are going to make a kick about it. This would be a fine place for a fish carnival. Betcha the theatre lobbies will all have a display of red fish. We are going to hang around here and see what they will do. Up home our agricultural fairs usually consisted of six pumpkins, three Hubbard squashes and a "boss trot" with Cy Buck leading the race with "Old Smooky" that could trot a mile in thirty minutes without stopping for oats more than twice. This is probably going to be a gala week for Corpus Christi. Maybe we'll tell you about it next time. We told you at the start that we didn't have anything to write about and now we ha,ve proven it. COLONEL J. C. JENKINS The herald's Vagabond Colyumnist Start Better Films Group A Better Films Council is being formed at Hamilton, Ohio, where the Parent-Teachers' Association is organizing a motion picture division. Receivership Lifted Federal Judge Robert R. Nevin, in Cincinnati, has lifted the receivership on the Shubert and Cox theatres, in effect since August, 1934, with Ben L. Hiedingsfeld as receiver.