Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1940)

April 6, I 940 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 23 10 AUTOS, $5,000 IN ONE GIVEAWAY; PHILADELPHIA HAS AIR PRIZE PLAN Patrons Suggest Titles for Pictures in Fox Midwest Circuit Project; Pennsylvania Legislative Sanction Sought A record theatre giveaway is now in full swing in Kansas City. In ten weeks, starting last week and running to May 30th, the Fox Midwest theatres will give away 10 automobiles and $5,000 in cash. Described in the territory as the biggest promotion since "bank night" began to blanket the area, the wholesale giveaway was inaugurated by the National Theatres-Fox Film-Chase Bank circuit subsidiary at Kansas City's Uptown and Esquire firstrun houses, and at their subsequent and others in nearby territories. Weekly prizes include a Ford V-8, two prizes of $50 each, 20 prizes of $10 each, 40 prizes of $5 each and 100 pairs of tickets, for a total of 163 individual prizes a week. Titles for Pictures Awards are being made on the basis of suggested titles for motion pictures, not over five words long. Participants can enter as many titles as they wish. Entry blanks, obtainable at Fox Midwest houses, must be used, and must be accompanied by two adult tickets stubs when the patron deposits the entries in a lobby box. The contest closes each Thursday night. The judges are Jack Moffitt, motion picture critic of the Kansas City Star; Mae Claussen, chairman of the Kansas State Board of Movie Reviews (Censors), and Senn Lawler, advertising manager of Fox Midwest Theatres. Participating, besides the Uptown and Esquire, are the Plaza, Rockhill, Warwick, Madrid, Vista, Linwood, Isis, Waldo, Gladstone and Brookside. Game Developments In Other States The Pennsylvania State legislature will be asked to legalize bingo and other socalled chance games at the special session next month. Petitions requesting this action are being circulated in Lancaster county. A county jury ruled that bingo is gambling when it convicted Richard Landis of Rothville on the charge of maintaining and setting up gambling devices. Mr. Landis headed a committee of the Neffsville fire department which arranged the bingo game for the test case. The question whether Bank Night is legal in Ohio is to be decided shortly when the courts settle the case of the Troy Amusement Company. The company operates the Mayflower theatre in Troy. A theatre patron filed a civil suit in a justice's court in Troy asking for a refund of admissions paid and discontinuance of Bank Night. It was said that the action was caused by the manager's refusal to permit the plaintiff's daughter to sign registration cards for three adult members of the family. The jury returned a verdict for the theatre company and a temporary injunction was granted preventing the plaintiff, Andrew Attenweiler, from seizing Bank Night equipment as evidence under a search and seizure warrant. The temporary injunction obtained by Hoy Simons and Alice Smoots Payne, operators of the Fayette theatre at Washington Court House, Ohio, restraining city manager Edwin Dulcy and police chief Jack Wolfe from stopping Bank Night, will continue in force pending the final decision in the Mayflower theatre case. Mean MAYOR RESCINDS BAN ON GIVEAWAYS Reversing his previous decision after 65 merchants at Bowling Green, Ohio, attested that "bank night" increased their business by attracting patrons from the surrounding territory, Mayor Alva W. Bachman is permitting the Cla-Zel theatre to resume the game. He had ordered it discontinued last December after having fined the management $400 on a charge of operating a lottery. while city solicitor Norman L. McLean at Washington Court House filed a demurrer to plaintiff's petition and awaited the precedent to be established in the Mayflower theatre case which will be decided by the Ohio state supreme court. The Paramount, the largest of the three Northio theatres in Hamilton, Ohio, has been holding a game called Sweepstakes weekly for five years without interruption. The series was started on April 10, 1935. A number of Wisconsin theatres are operating games of various sorts even though the supreme court refused to review its decision that bingo is illegal. Other Chance Games H. J. Hirsch's Oriental and Tower theatres, neighborhood houses in Milwaukee, are now offering Movie Kwizzo, Warner's Rialto at Racine has inaugurated "Mu$ico" and Eskin's Rialto at Kaukauna has announced Bank Quiz Nites on Fridays and Saturdays. The Griffith Brothers Amusement Company circuit's weekly goodwill cash award is not a violation of the Nebraska state lottery laws, according to Judge T. S. Morton. The judge held that three things are necessary, under the Nebraska laws, for a lottery: prize, chance and consideration. He ruled that only money spent is consideration. In another court action some time ago Bank Night was ruled illegal because the registration of a contestant's name was held to be a consideration. Under the goodwill award offered by the Griffith circuit a prize is given whether the winner is present or absent, has or has not an admission ticket. Massachusetts Test Case Although the Massachusetts supreme court gave a decision which seemed to mean that Bank Night is illegal, a test case is being planned in Lowell. Games are being permitted until a case is decided. Theatre men from Lowell, Cambridge and Somerville have conferred with Robert F. Bradford, district attorney, in East Cambridge, Mass. Philip Berger, manager of the Treat theatre in Newark, was arrested and equipment for what the police called a variation of bingo was seized. The game was called "Pay Me" and the raid was made after an audience of 700 had played. A test case is planned to determine whether the game comes under the ban placed on bingo by county prosecutor Wachenfeld. "Tally and Darts" is another game which has been ruled illegal in New Jersey. The Marina theatre in St. Andrews, N. B., is presenting bingo two nights each week. Under the plan, if the winner is not in the theatre when his name is called, $10 is added for the next drawing. Sixty five Independent Exhibitors Would Join in Sponsoring "Movie Bank Night"; Five Cases to Justice Department Far exceeding, numerically, Kansas City's new 10-autos, $5,000 cash giveaway (see adjoining column) is the plan for a "gigantic movie bank night" radio program now on the fire in Philadelphia, which 65 independent exhibitors jointly would sponsor. Five Cases to Justice Department An influencing factor might be the Federal Communications Commission's new attack against "radio lotteries," the FCC this week turning in five stations conducting such "games," two of them in Philadelphia, to the Department of Justice for possible action. The FCC some weeks ago submitted to the Department of Justice the case of exhibitor complaints against radio's "Pot o' Gold," the $1,000 Horace Heidt weekly cash award. The Department has net yet acted on the case. Meanwhile another radio station has discontinued "Pot o' Gold." Station WDAF, of the NBC-Kansas City Star, abandoned the program in view of the controversy. Continuing its campaign against radio lottery programs, the Federal Communication Commission this week referred to the Department of Justice the following five programs, which, it was alleged, violated the lottery provisions of the Communications Act : "Mu$ico," at WGN, Chicago ; "Songo," WIP, Philadelphia ; "Especially for You," WFIL, Philadelphia, "Sears' Grab Bag," WISE, Asheville, N. C, and "Dixie Treasure Chest," KRLD, Dallas, Tex. In all five cases, the Commission charged, winners of money awards or merchandise prizes are selected by lot or chance in one of several ways. 65 in Philadelphia Plan Plans for a "movie bank night" radio program with 65 independent exhibitors in the Philadelphia area jointly sponsoring are understood to have progressed to the point where the participating operators already have been signed for the proposed program and the promoters have arranged for the necessary time on a local station. Attorneys for the station, unnamed, were studying the program as to any possible violations of the lottery law, although the show is said originally to have been cleared on those phases by a law firm representing the exhibitors, also unnamed. The "movie bank night" program was intended to circumvent the local ban on bingo games and "bank nights" in film theatres, and at the same time strike at the "Pot o' Gold" program. The intention was to have the program broadcast to coincide with the Horace Heidt show, paying cash prizes to names selected from the local telephone directory provided the party was in one of the participating movie houses at the time. The program was to be heard in all the theatres. Trendle Fire Commissioner George W. Trendle is the new president of the Detroit Board of Fire Commissioners. He was formerly president of the United Detroit Theatres, now headed by Earl J. Hudson.