Motion Picture Herald (Sep-Oct 1941)

18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD October 4, 1941 ZANUCK CITES SOURCES (Continued from preceding page) newspapers, their books and their minds. It would leave the American motion picture as worthless and sterile as those made in Germany and Italy. The daily newspaper has always furnished me and my associates ideas for motion pictures. I made the first gangster pictures which helped uncover the rottenness of the underworld in our various cities. Perhaps some of you saw "Public Enemy No. 1," which was the first expose on the screen of the underworld. We received many protests against that film. I suppose the underworld thought this was unfair propaganda against the gangster, just so some now feel our war pictures are unfair propaganda against Hitler. Hollywood didn't create the underworld, nor did it create Hitler and the Nazis. We have portrayed them no differently than they are pictured daily in newspapers, magazines, books and all other mediums of expression. In fact we have merely portrayed them as they are. The pictures, regarding which so many reckless and unfounded charges have been made, represent only a very small fraction of the Hollywood picture output. It is indeed strange that much effort and public money is being spent at such a crucial time over such a minor part of the industry's program. Nothing at all has been said by this Committee about the vast number of historical, patriotic and religious films the industry has been turning out each year. No word of praise is given for a service that should fill every American heart with pride. Hits "Sabotage" Charge Senators Clark and Nye have both made the charge that Twentieth Century-Fox deliberately sabotaged a picture called "The Great Commandment" because this film preached peace and good will. The fact that both Senators Nye and Bennett Clark have taken pains to put this charge into the record, without the slightest attempt to secure facts, easily available to them, which utterly refutes their charge, indicates the unfairness of the methods being used in this hearing. In reply to this charge let me give you the uncontrovertible facts : We purchased this picture because we felt it had a message — the message of peace and good will — in which the American people would be interested. We paid Reverend Frederick and his clerical associates $150,000, which included a profit to them. We planned to make the picture as a great feature and at great cost. About this time we had released another picture based on a religious theme — "Brigham Young." Our experience with that production convinced us that the public was not in the mood to patronize a religious picture. This despite the fact that "Brigham Young" had the endorsement and official sponsorship of the Mormon Church. We made some changes in the "Great Commandment" and then engaged in a vigorous and expensive campaign to sell it to exhibitors. The "Great Commandment" has played to date in 1,087 theatres in the United States. Last week it played in 49 theatres in 49 different communities, and it is now being booked regularly in an average of 30 theatres per week. We staged an elaborate world' premiere at the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City and we secured the sponsorship of almost all of the religious organizations in that city. The boxoffice result of this showing was the most pitiful in the history of the Uptown Theatre. On Friday. Saturday and Sunday we played to a total admission of $1,010. An ordinary film will usually play to this amount in one day alone without any special exploitation. To cover the Kansas City premiere we sent a special exploitation man who worked there in advance of the opening, and we spent, in addition to the usual theatre advertising, $320 for additional company paid advertisements. The theatre lost money and we ended up by receiving only $350 as our entire share for the engagement at the Uptown Theatre. If you will look at the review of the opening in the Kansas City Times, you will see that we treated the picture with utmost care and exploitation the same as we gave to any of our pictures. We have an investment of $200,000 in the "Great Commandment." Despite unusual efforts we have received back from the American showing less than $33,000. Any statement that we have suppressed this film or the theme it presents, is unqualifiedly false. I would like also to call attention to Senator Bennett Clark's testimony before this Committee. He said that our industry was determined to wreak vengeance on Adolf Hitler by plunging this nation into war in behalf of another ferocious beast, referring to Stalin. Undoubtedly Senator Clark has overlooked the fact that Stalin and Hitler were pals, joined in a non-aggression pact, at the very time all of the pictures belaboring the totalitarian ideology were being made. The Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation is exceedingly proud of its record of picture making and cooperation with its government. I am here to represent it in all of its production phases. I also offer myself as a personal exhibit of one who was able to make among the best of motion pictures as an independent producer. I shall be happy to answer your questions. Archibald Joins RAF; Resigns UA Position George Archibald, United Artists' managing director for Great Britain, has resigned to join the Royal Air Force October 10th. Mr. Archibald was in this country recently, discussing business at the home office, and arranging for his leave which will be "for the duration." His son, Christopher, is attending school here. Mr. Archibald's war service leaves Teddy Carr sole managing director in Britain for UA. Dlouhy Heads Club At the annual election of the Balaban & Katz employees club, held at Chicago September 25th, Edward F. Dlouhy, manager of the Gateway Theatre, was elected president. Other new officers are : Joseph L. Stout, first vice-president; A. Warren Jones, second vice-president ; William Schwartz, third vice-president; Joseph Rehak, treasurer, and Joseph Norbert Miller, secretary. Army to See Film The entire officer and enlisted personnel of the Eighth Army Corps will be made available for the production of "Soldiers in White," two-reel technicolor Service Short, according to a wire received by the Warners from Colonel George C. Beech, commanding officer of the Army Medical Corps Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. The short subject will be the first film story devoted to the varied activities of the Army Medical Divisions. Columbia Calls Three Meetings for Field Force Columbia Pictures this week called a second national sales convention for 1941-42, to be held in three regional meetings, in Chicago, October 3, 4 and 5 ; in New York, October 10, 11 and 12, and in San Francisco, October 24 and 25. Marking a departure from the company's usual policy, Columbia held a first national session in May for top executives only, and now follows with a group of meetings for its entire sales force. A. Montague will preside at all three meetings and a number of home office executives will attend. Present from New York at the Chicago meeting will be Jack Cohn, vice-president ; A. Schneider, treasurer ; Rube Jackter, assistant sales manager; Lou Astor, circuit sales supervisor ; Lou Weinberg, circuit sales supervisor; M. J. Weisfeldt, short subject sales supervisor, and David Lipton, Leo Jaffe, Hank Kaufman, Bernard Zeeman, Maurice Grad, George Josephs, Seth Raisler, Vincent Borelli and Joseph Freiberg. Delegates at the Chicago meeting will include midwestern division manager Phil Dunas ; central division manager Carl Shalit ; southern division manager Sam Moscow, and branch managers and the entire personnel from the following exchanges : Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha, Des Moines, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City. Attending the New York meeting will be mid-east division manager Sam Galanty and New York division manager Nat Cohn, and branch managers and personnel from the following exchanges : Washington, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Albany, Boston, Buffalo, New Haven, New York and Philadelphia. Attending the San Francisco gathering will be western division manager Jerome Safron, and branch managers and personnel of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland. Gene Zukor in Navy Eugene Zukor, associate producer at Paramount, this week was ordered to report for active duty with the Navy. He was to visit with his parents in the East before reporting. Mohme Leaves Fox Gustave Mohme has resigned his Mexico City managership for Twentieth CenturyFox. He had been with the company eight years. Before that, he was manager in Chile for Columbia. Lange in Latin-America Fred Lange, former Continental manager for Paramount, left New York Friday for a Latin-American survey. Guatemala is his first stop. Jones Back Charles Reed Jones, publicity and advertising director for Republic Pictures, will return to the New York home office next Monday, after an absence because of injuries suffered in an automobile accident.