Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)

8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD , M H >U July 3, 1943 THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS Zanuck in Charge DARRYL F. ZANUCK returns to the Twentieth Century-Fox studio in Hollywood Jul}' 6th to take charge of production and "devote himself to producing pictures of national and international significance, the first of which will be 'The Story of Woodrow Wilson,' " Joseph M. Schenck, executive production chief of the company, announced Wednesday. Mr. Zanuck told the press following the announcement, "I feel greatly honored in being entrusted with 'Wilson'. Pictures of this type are tremendously important today and for the post-war world. I am convinced they have not only vital meaning but at the same time contain dramatic elements that make for entertainment. I wish to thank all who carried on so magnificently in my absence for their loyalty and efficiency which helped to maintain the success and prestige of Twentieth Century-Fox product." He retired from active service as a colonel in the Signal Corps two weeks ago. Mr. Zanuck was commissioned a lieutenant colonel early in 1941 to take charge of production of training films. Later he went overseas to supervise camera crews on the battlefronts. He was in charge of the fourreel picture, "At the Front," which recorded the early stages of the American campaign in Tunisia. W illiam Goetz formed International Pictures, Inc., on Wednesday, entering business on his own, with Leo Spitz as board chairman. They will open an office in Beverly Hills next Tuesday, with Mr. Goetz on deck, marking his immediate retirement from Twentieth Century-Fox. Steady Work STUDIO managers are having a hard time hanging on to their laborers and skilled workers. Daily the competition for workers grows more intense. Typical of the inducements offered to even an artisan of pick and shovel was a help wanted notice for grave diggers at Los Angeles' most fashionable cemetery. "Steady work, no layoff ... a permanent job, not dependent on the war," Forest Lawn Memorial Park advertised. Brush vs. Camera 'FEWER and bigger' policy brings more selling Page 13 ON THE MARCH — Red Kann answers charges by Pegler Page 14 CIRCUIT heads and WAC see manpower crisis as past Page 17 WAR themes in pictures cutting British gross, says David Rose Page 22 already charged with recording military h tory on film. The committee was also unimpressed with the fact that all other major armies have their official painters and that American artists have been sent to record every war. John Trumbull and Winslow Homer were among them. Pegler Edited RED KANN, while reading the Los Angeles Times the other day, came upon a piece by Westbrook Pegler which discussed various elements of war relief fund assessments among the trade unions and included a number of critical observations about the Hollywood Victory Committee. That will be found discussed in Mr. Kann's "On the March" in this issue. Meanwhile, examination of the files of the New York World Telegram, which also presents Mr. Pegler's syndicated "Fair Enough" column, reveals no such expression. In the issue of June 21st he has a piece on the labor union matters aforementioned, but there is no word or shred of reference to the Hollywood Victory Committee. Apparently somebody edited the New York version, while Los Angeles readers BRITISH showmen protest against too many war films Page 23 U. S. finds monopoly exists in ad film industry Page 29 WARNERS hold first regional sales meeting in New York Page 30 STUDIOS headed for cycle of juvenile delinquency Page 31 Page 51 Page 58 Page 49 Page 46 Page 1403 Page 1405 MASTER barbers throughout the country are preparing a campaign to boost the price of a haircut to $1.25, according to R. A. Hennessy, editor of the Barber's Journal, business magazine of the clip and shave trade. Price of a shave is going up, too. Not long ago the barber and beauty shop publications were brimful of gratitude to Paramount's Miss Veronica Lake who trimmed back her long, eye-covering tresses in response to a War Production Board plea that long hair endangered women war workers. A hair cutting boom ensued. Now, perhaps, Alan Ladd, or some other star of suitable popular calibre, should be induced to let his hair grow. It could be of public service to the patrons of the tonsorial art, who already have quite enough rising cost of living with which to contend. Giveaway SOMEWHERE in sweltering New Guinea, Private Lewis Janoff lazily turned the pages of Life Magazine. He stopped at a picture of the intrepid St. Louis woman who several months ago sat in the Fox theatre there, alone, at midnight, and saw "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man." She had won thereby a War Bond. Private Janoff hunted pen and paper and wrote to Harry C. Arthur, Jr., general manager of the Fanchon and Marco circuit, which operates the Fox. If Mr. Arthur will sit in a New Guinea slit trench alone, at midnight, during an enemy air raid Private Janoff will award him a War Bond. Mr. Arthur did not say when he would go. CONGRESSMEN on the House Appropriations Committee prefer the motion picture camera to the painter or sketch artist for coverage of the war, it appeared last week at hearings on the Army supply bill. The Army, with approval of Generals MacArthur and Eisenhower, according to the New York Daily News, asked for $130,000 with which to send prominent artists to battlefields. One committee member asked why bother, inasmuch as the Signal Corps was got the original, complete. New Service RIVERSIDE, California, theatres have their "sleepers." But they are not pictures. They are soldiers, who have crowded into the area on weekends, and have found no place to lay their heads at night. The local Lions Club is collecting pillows for them. SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Hollywood Scene Page 37 Managers' Round Table In British Studios Page 44 Picture Grosses In the Newsreels Page 59 Shorts on Broadway Letters from Readers Page 40 What the Picture Did for Me IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 1401 Release Chart by Companies Advance Synopses Page 1402 The Release Chart 1S m Just a Trim