Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1939)

January 14, 1939 FCC to Report on the Investigation of ATT A report on the three-year $1,500,000 investigation of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company activities, including those in the motion picture business, will be sent to Congress this session, the Federal Communications Commission stated this week in its annual report. The telephone report probably will not be ready until late this spring. The FCC, the annual statement revealed, is making a study of methods of organizing all communications facilities, including radio, telephone and telegraph services, to provide for their prompt and efficient use in the event of any sectional or national emergency. MOTION PICTURE HERALD Cite Role of Film and Radio In Educational Needs Motion pictures and radio must both play an increasingly important role in modern education, with the solution perhaps to be found in the encouragement of Hollywood, by educational commissions, in the making of suitable films with a market guaranteed them. That, in the opinion of Dr. Elizabeth Laine, author of the volume on motion pictures and radio, one of the 10 studies published by the Regents Inquiry into the Character and Cost of Public Education in the State of New York, may help solve some of the problems confronting educators. Dr. Laine's book was presented to the trade press at a luncheon on Monday, presided over by Dr. Luther Gulick, director. 27 Commerce Bureau Changes A waited In JVashington by FRANCIS L. BURT in Washington Appointment by President Roosevelt of Harry Hopkins, formerly relief administrator, as head of the Department of Commerce to succeed Secretary Daniel C. Roper, retired, may be the forerunner of a new reorganization of that branch of the Government, it is believed in Washington. Thoroughly changed in 1933 as the Roosevelt Administration sought to eradicate all vestiges of the Hoover regime, the Department of Commerce during the past five years has decidedly not been a potent force in the building up of U. S. foreign trade, although Secretary Roper, in his final report, cited an "appreciation" of $50,000 in profits to the film industry through the efforts of his foreign service in securing changes of attitude by foreign censors toward specific motion pictures. More recently, the department has been further stripped of importance by setting up as independent agencies two formerly outstanding branches, the Maritime Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Authority. With the departure of Secretary Roper, an opportunity is seen for the State Department to realize its long-time ambition of having the foreign service of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce transferred and made a part of the consular service, which took over much of the former's work several years ago. Consular officials and commercial attaches are engaged in much the same type of work, it is pointed out, that of protecting American business interests and finding opportunity for increased American sales abroad. The State Department never has been satisfied with the division of the field, holding that frequently the commercial agents have worked at cross-purposes with the consular officials. Both departments have worked diligently and well for the motion picture industry. The Department of Commerce, through its motion picture division and its agents abroad, has kept the industry abreast of foreign developments ; the State Department repeatedly has interested itself in the difficulties encountered by the industry as a result of quota, tariff and other barriers, particularly in Europe. Transfer of the commercial foreign service to the State Department, it has been emphasized, would mean no diminution in the efforts of the Government to protect our film or other trade, but would bring about a coordination of effort which, with even the best intent, has not been possible under the present setup. ' Eastern SMPE Observes Daguerre Centenary The Atlantic Coast Section of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers met Wednesday at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York for their first meeting of the year. The meeting marked the centenary of the announcement to the French Academy of Sciences of Daguerre's contribution to photography. The speakers were Edward Epstean, noted collector of photographic libraries, who spoke on "The Centenary of Photography and the Motion Picture," and Beaumont Newhall, author and librarian and acting curator of photography of the Museum of Modern Arts, who spoke on "Daguerre's Contribution to Photography." U. S. Cinema Is Strangling Itself, Nichols Says at Awards Broadcast Censuring Hollywood in his presentation of the annual New York newspaper film critics' awards, Dudley Nichols, president of the Screen Writers' Guild, in a broadcast from New York last Sunday, said, "Hollywood, in its fear of losing profits by making enemies, in its mad desire to appease the prejudices of every group, has submitted to an ever tightening censorship under which it becomes impossible to deal with reality. The field of picture writing has been fenced in until the pasture is dry. The American cinema is strangling under a rope which it helped to put around its own neck and it seems to me that it is up to the critics to cut it down and make it live again." Acting as master of ceremonies in the NBC broadcast, Mr. Nichols awarded prizes on behalf of the critics to the English-made "The Citadel," for the best picture; to "Grand Illusion," for the best foreign language film; to Alfred Hitchcock of London, for the best direction, in "The Lady Vanishes" ; to James Cagney, "best actor of the year" for his work in "Angels with Dirty Faces"; to Margaret Sullavan, "best actress" for "Three Comrades," and to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" which received a special prize as it was not eligible to compete for the "best picture" title because it was a cartoon. After Mr. Nichols' announcement of the awards, the program was switched to Paris, whence Jean Renoir and Erich von Stroheim, who directed and acted in "Grand Illusion," respectively, were heard. Then Alfred Hitchcock read a scene from "The Lady Vanishes," from London, after which the program returned to New York, where Cagney acted a scene from "Angels with Dirty Faces." Switching to Hollywood, the show presented Miss Sullavan, who read a scene from "Three Comrades." In conclusion, Walt Disney came on the air to add "All I can say is, thanks a lot." The broadcast and formal presentation of the awards over the air came as the culmination of a cocktail party given by the critics in the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, and attended by more than 400. Present as members of the critics circle were Howard Barnes, New York Herald Tribune; Frank Nugent and Bosley Crowther, of the New York Times; Kate Cameron (Loretta King), Wanda Hale and Dorothy Masters, all of the Daily News; Leo Mishkin, Morning Telegraph; Archer Winsten and Irene Thirer, Post; William Boehnel, World-Telegram; Bland Johaneson, Daily Mirror; Herbert Cohn, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and David Piatt, The Daily Worker. Among the screen and stage notables present were Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Luise Rainer, Elsa Lanchester, J. Edward Bromberg, Rex O'Malley, Nancy Carroll, fames Cagney, Robert Morley, Walter Abel, Richard Carlson and Zorina. Mr. Nugent in the Sunday Times said of the critics' awards: "To say that these awards represent final truth and final justice is as absurd as attributing those qualities to any or all lists of the best ten. The verdict of eighteen newspaper critics is no more reliable than the verdict of one of them, although it may carry more authority. Proof of the matter is that no award was made by a unanimous vote. Mr. Hitchcock won on the first ballot and so did "Snow White," but nine ballots -were, required to give Mr. Cagney the necessary two-thirds majority, it took seven to elect "Grand Illusion," four to choose "The Citadel," four to give Miss Sullavan her scroll. There were valiant challengers in each competitive class and the log-rolling, lobbying and vote-trading that went on in the traditional smoke-filled room were shameful and very funny."