Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1935)

18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD NovtirriDer 16, 1935 Chance Games Still Spreading Viewpoimts « « « [Continued from preceding page] of direction that has left a considerable inripress on the motion picture and upon its acceptance by the British public. Critics ThIERE is developing, apparently, annong a number of newspaper critics of motion pictures, especially among those who practice their art of higher criticism in and about New York City, an enthusiasm which is hardly distinguishable from an hysteria about foreign pictures. An almost mathematical formula seems to be at work in their minds. The worth of a picture, In their eyes, seems to Increase In direct Harry Levey, Rex Pictures Action Settled Out of Court Papers filed in the supreme court in New York in connection with a suit brought by Harry Levey against Rex Pictures Corporation have disclosed that the suit for an accounting and injunction had been settled out of court, after several days of actual trial. Also named as defendants in the suit were M. Sayle Taylor, known as the Voice of Experience, Attorney Elmer A. Rogers, Benjamin K. Blake and Columbia Pictures Corporation. In his complaint Mr. Levey said he was president, director and stockholder of the Voe Pictures Corporation when that company was formed shortly after December, 1934, when he met Mr. Rogers and became acquainted with Mr. Taylor. Later there followed a conference between the three when it was proposed to have Mr. Taylor's book, "Stranger than Fiction," adapted for pictures. After negotiations had been entered into with Columbia, the defendants formed a new corporation. Rex Film Corporation, it was charged, which eventually entered into an agreement with Columbia. Mr. Levey further charged that Voe Pictures should have been the party to that agreement and that the contract entered between Rex and Columbia was the property of his company. Attorneys declined to state the amount of the settlement. Business Flourishing, Reports John D. Clark John D. Clark, general manager of distribution for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, who returned to his office in New York this week after a five-week tour of the company's thirty-seven exchanges in this country and in Canada, reports that theatre business generally is flourishing and that his company's sales are bigger this year than at any time in the last six years, Mr. Clark's trip was made in connection with the company's annual sales drive. W. C. Gehring, leader of the drive, accompanied him. proportion to the distance from the U. S. A. ar which the picture In question has been produced. The critics are probably having a good time In displaying their fine artistic discernment and high cultural tastes. The public when It does, on occasion, see one of these pictures, will probably wonder a little but no great harm will be done provided only that American motion picture producers who are exposed to these critiques do not become subject to a temptation to make pictures for the approval of these critics. The outcome would not be satisfactory; it is the point of origin rather than the picture Itself which creates th^ •enthusiasm. Huge Bridge Beacon Is Rogers Memorial In New York, a giant airway beacon, visible for 64 miles, will be installed on George Washington Bridge as a memorial to Will Rogers. The New York State Aviation Commission is to be the donor. State Senator A. Spencer Feld, chairman, said the beacon will be dedicated November 30. The beacon will be revolving, with 1,800,000candlepower, which will penetrate to an altitude of three miles. In 24 days of flying, Lieutenant Commander Franks Hawks had carried the Will Rogers Memorial message to 60 cities and 25 states. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, director of the memorial commission, announced the following as Commander Hawks' latest report : "A steady pyramiding of enthusiasm is arising throughout* the country for the memorial." Will H. Hays led Indiana contributors to the Will Rogers Memorial Fund with a contribution of $1,000. The Will Rogers memorial stage at the Twentieth Century-Fox studio was to be dedicated on Thursday. SMPE Holds Meeting On Educational Films Members of the Atlantic Coast Section of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers met in New York W'ednesday to discuss the possibilities of educational talking pictures. The meeting was held in Public School No. 11, with Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith as guest chairman, and Rita Hochheimer, assistant director of visual education. New York public schools, as chairlady. The speakers included Dr. Joseph M. Sheehan, associate superintendent of schools ; Mrs. Joseph H. Kohan, vice-president of the United Parents Association, and Albert R. Brand, Cornell University. Several teachers from New York's schools also gave a demonstration of educational films and of the methodology of visual education used in the public schools of Manhattan. Chance games are sweeping the Loew Theatre circuit in the New York metropolitan area, where 33 theatres of this company are now playing either Screeno or Bank Night. Receipts are reported to have picked up noticeably, particularly at the houses playing Screeno, which the circuit began using earlier than it did Bank Night. There are eighteen houses using Screeno and fifteen having Bank Nights. In the field, chance games continue to be the subject of considerable exhibitor interest. In Augusta the fate of Bank Night in Maine will be decided by the verdict in the prosecution of Frank F. Colburn, Jr., manager of the M & P-Publix house at Bath. The defense and the attorney for the county, Ralph Dale, have agreed that it will be a test case under the lottery law. In Boston cash giveaway nights are being held as being principally responsible for the action started against Massachusetts motion picture theatres by the Department of Public Safety for continued practices of overcrowding, blocking exits and encumbering lobbies with displays, etc. Dan Roberts of Atlanta, Ga., was sentenced to a year in jail for using Bank Night in Cordele, Ga., but his sentence has been suspended and a fine of $500 and costs imposed instead. Frank Woods, owner of the theatre, was also given the same sentence. Appeals have been taken in both cases. Sweepstakes, handled in Cleveland by Warren Irons, is now playing three theatres there. In Kansas City the Independent Theatre Owners have passed a resolution opposing all cash giveaway schemes, drawing, etc., at theatres. At the same time, Sho-Keno, a new promotion stunt, is being launched in the territory by R. W. McEwan, who handles Bank Night in Kansas and western Missouri. Charles Washicheck, operator of the Grace theatre in Milwaukee, has filed an appeal to the fine imposed on him for operating a Grocery Night in his theatre. Flint Exhibitors To Keep Dual Bill Pact Local exhibitors meeting in Flint, Mich., decided to continue in force indefinitely their agreement to use double bills on but one change weekly, which has been effective for the past year. The agreement was verbal. This decision came as a surprise as several theatre owners had previously expressed themselves as dissatisfied with the pact and liad said that they would not renew it when it expired this month. The Better Films Council of Milwaukee has adopted a resolution protesting double feature programs. The resolution pointed out that the double feature was "making a demand for quantity rather than quality" and made the "family night program" impossible. The council has been endeavoring to induce exhibitors to have familv night programs the end of the week, which will Drove acceptable to cliildren as well as adults.