Motion Picture Herald (Sep-Oct 1936)

68 MOTION PICTURE HERALD October 10, 1936 BERNSTEIN IS ADDING 16 LONDON THEATRES Circuit Will Be Increased to 40 Houses Under $5,000,000 Program; 10 Already Begun by BRUCE ALLAN in London Bernstein Theatres, Ltd., has announced a building program which, by the end of 1937, will bring the circuit of large capacity "Granadas" in the Greater London area to more than 40. Involved in the plan is the expenditure of £1,000,000 ($5,000,000) and the addition of 30,000 seats, largely in rapidly developing new residential neighborhoods. Ten of the theatres are already in erection and the complete program involves the following new theatres with capacities and opening dates indicated : Wandsworth, South West London. 2500. October, 1936. Woolwich, South East London. 3750 February, 1937. Cheam, South London. 2000. March, 1937. North Cheam. 1500. March, 1937. Greenwich, South East London. 2000. April, 1937. Harrow, North West London. 2000. April, 1937. Clapham, South West London. 3000. September, 1937. Bow, East London. 3000. December, 1937. Greenford, Middlesex. 2000. September, 1937. Woking, Surrey. 1750. December, 1937. Plumstead, S. E. London, Woodford (N. E.), Enfield Wash (North) and Gidea Park, Essex, are to have 1500 seaters. Houses are also scheduled for Welling, Kent, and East Molesey, Surrey. All of these theatres are to be completed in 1937. V Robert T. Kane and other executives of New World Productions, with Alexander Korda as an interested guest, saw a roughcut print of "Wings of the Morning," the first all-color feature to be made in England, in the private projection theatre of the Denham studios this week. An official statement from New World declared Mr. Kane to be satisfied that the picture "will reveal a further development of the Technicolor process," while Mr. Korda is reported as describing the results as "brilliant." It is common knowledge that Mr. Korda suspended his own color plans until he had seen the results of "Wings of the Morning," which is a racing picture ; the first color shots ever taken of the race for the Derby and a sequence of Irish hunting scenes are its high spots. Technicolor, Ltd., announced that it had assured the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association that a complete color record of next year's Coronation procession would be produced and that special arrangements would be made to rush prints so that theatres would be able to play the film as an all-color news feature. Interest in this statement is keen, it being a matter of universal agreement that fh* Coronation will be the big newsreel event of the year in all parts of the United Kingdom and that color would further greatly increase its drawing power. Establishment on an efficient basis of the Technicolor London processing plant will be necessary ; at the present moment processing is still centralized in Hollywood, which handled the "Wings of the Morning" print. The report and accounts of General Theatres Corporation, Ltd., show a net profit for the year ending March 31st of £275,969 ($1,379,845). There is a carry-forward, after the allocation of £12,500 for a final 9 per cent dividend on the participating preferred ordinaries (making 12 per cent for the year) of £50,834. The accounts show £1,450,833 written off as "capital lost or unrepresented by available assets," in accordance with the scheme of rearrangement which confirmed the Gaumont-British management of the company. No provision, it is stated, has been made for the debenture stock sinking fund, which was suspended as part of the reconstruction scheme, but £20,000 has been credited to new reserve. Also part of the rearrangement, an issue has been made to GaumontBritish of £148,803 second debenture stock bearing interest at Sy2 per cent. Reopening of the rebuilt Capitol, Haymarket, London, is announced for January, 1937. V The Kinematograph Renters' Society urges reduction of the distributors' quota to one-third and makes the general statement that the present quota obligation is "so heavy as to be practically impossible of effective performance." The suggestions are embodied in two memoranda included in the second volume of the minutes of evidence heard by the Moyne Committee. V Oscar Deutsch, head of the Odeon Circuit, probably England's fastest growing chain, will invade the West End of London with acquisition of the Alhambra in Leicester Square. He plans to rebuild it into a deluxe theatre. V Earl St. John, director of Paramount Theatres in England, said Charles Penley, previously in charge of Paramount London Theatres, had been appointed general manager of all theatres. Tony Reddin has been transferred from the Paramount, Liverpool, to head office as circuit supervisor. Leslie Holderness, recently supervisor, is now controller for Union Cinema Co., Ltd., with which Paramount recently made a joint management deal. Researchers To Make Preservative Tests Arrangements have been completed by the Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to conduct a series of field tests on the various film preservative processes now available to companies. Starting next week a test reel containing several 150-foot sections of film, each section treated by a different preservative process, will be taken into each of approximately 150 theatres and projected from three to six times to determine the comparative effects of field service Membership of the committee handling the tests consists of Harris Ensign, chairman ; George Crane, Fred Gage, Hugh McClung, Sidney Lund, J. M. Nickolaus, John Swain, A. U. Guerin and Gordon S. Mitchell. Cinema Arts Appears In "Preview" Copies A "Preview" issue of Cinema Arts, new publication of film activities and interests, has been published. According to its sponsors, B. Griffith Grey, president, and E. A. Tropp, publisher, the publication "aims to reflect the new mode of motion pictures" and will be a quality motion picture magazine for discriminating readers. A painting of Jean Arthur occupies the cover and 19 pictures receive special editorial treatment. There are articles by Rouben Mamoulian, Ralph Rolan, Benjamin de Casseres, Homer Croy and Norman Anthony, among others. Stanley Hand Promoted On Erpi Sales Staff Stanley W. Hand, until recently in charge of midwest activities for Electrical Research Products, Inc., has been made assistant general sales manager under C. W. Bunn, with headquarters in New York and Chicago. Mr. Hand has been associated with the industry for more than 20 years. He pioneered in the sound technique with Erpi and has held many responsible positions in the company. New Firm Opens Offices Hollywood Famous Pictures, Inc., which was recently registered by S.E.C., has opened offices in the Spring St. Arcade, Los Angeles. According to Henry S. Orozco, vice-president and director, the company will make no production plans for at least two months, the present concern being the sale of stock. Loew Dividend on Preferred The regular dividend of $1.62^ a share was declared Wednesday by Loew's, Inc., on the 6 per cent cumulative preferred stock, payable November 14th to stockholders of record October 28th. McCarthy Joins Republic L. J. McCarthy, formerly associated with Fox Midwest at Kansas City, has joined Republic Pictures as production assistant to Nat Levine. Templin Shifted to London E. W. Templin of the Hollywood staff of Electrical Research Products, Inc-, has been transferred to the engineering staff of the London office. Buddy Cantor on Coast Buddy Cantor, film commentator for WMCA, is in Hollywood on a six weeks leave of absence to gather material for future broadcasts.