Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1944)

if ode's Wallop AL HODE of Columbia has done a book, kt published by Gold Label Books, Inc., enfled "This Hero Business," which is a whimpally humorous consideration of the fight 'jme, as seen through the antics of a prize 'ioss-eyed palooka, who always saw two op>nents in front of him and hit in between — 'ith spectacular results. It is enjoying a heavy " e-publication sale. For the benefit of those who came in late, it ji to be set down that Mr. Hode really started career in the prize ring. One night at the ,edford Athletic Club in Brooklyn, when he [as but fifteen years old, which is to say about '*04, young Mr. Hodes knocked out a very big jd very black person by the name of Isaac ■ iley, full count, round three. The late Wilim T. Rock, better known to fame as '"Pop" ock, one of the prospering founders of Vita•aph, was at ringside with a bet on the boy. al was substantially snatched from the prize tig into movieland, right there. Under Rock-Vitagraph auspices Hal became /ojectionist, plumber's helper, and extra play ■ at the Vitagraph studios. He knows about Jiis industry. ifew Quota Test \ondon Bureau \ view of greatly increased wartime labor ;ists the British Board of Trade, in a raeraondum distributed Tuesday in London to probers, distributors, exhibitors and trade lions, recommended that upward revision in "e-war labor cost test figures might be neces.ry. The board said that unless a new statory order on film quota percentages was • ade and approved by Parliament before the id of December, the present wartime per•ntages should be dropped and the higher perntages prescribed by the 1938 Quota Act rain should become effective. Distributor rcentages for feature pictures would rise iom 20 to and exhibitor percentages from b to 20j^. For shorts, the present percentages re 15 for distributors, \2y2 for exhibitors. | is understood the board favors increasing the bor cost test figures to 25 shillings, about .5 per foot. lore Insurance Washington Bureau ii XTENSION of the Federal unemployment (>mpensation law to bring every employer and (very employee under its provisions will be abated in Congress possiblv this autumn, as tie of several measures dealing with the postar economic problems. So far as the film inustry is concerned, such an extension would ring in several thousand theatres, exchanges id other offices where less than eight persons Ijre employed. I Before the Senate recessed June 23, a report jrging extension of the law was filed with it jjy the special committee on post-war economic >licy and planning. The effect of such a step ould be to bring under the unemployment impensation measure a number of exhibitors throughout the country who are now exempt from the unemployment taxes because they employ less than eight persons. On the other hand, it would extend protection to many thousands of workers who now are not eligible for unemployment relief. At present, approximately 30,400,000 workers are covered by the Federal law. The current labor force is approximately 54,000,000 persons, and while several millions are agricultural workers and domestic employees to whom it is considered impractical to extend the law, it is indicated that other millions might be brought under its protection by extension to all employers and all employees in industry, distribution and trade. Grant Takes Earle WARNERS' Earle theatre building, the only film house in downtown Philadelphia which features stage shows and the city's last link with vaudeville, was sold last Thursday for a reported price of $1,650,000, by the StanleyCompany to the W. T. Grant Realty Corporation. The Grant company, which operates a nationwide chain of five-and-dime stores,' eventually will build a four-story department store on the site. The building, assessed at $2,563,000, originallv erected in 1923 at an estimated cost of $5,000,000 by Stanley and B. F. Keith, was named for the late George H. Earle, Jr., who had a financial interest in the Stanley company. The theatre at one time was considered one of the finest vaudeville houses in America, ranking close to Broadway's Palace. The Earle building comprises the 3,000-seat theatre, a six-story office building housing the headquarters of the Warner theatre circuit in the area, several theatrical agencies and groundfloor shops. Warners will continue operation of the theatre, stores and offices until the contemplated Grant project can get under way, probably immediately after the war. Screen Biography HARRY SHERMAN, one of the best known of producers of Western pictures, is planning to bring back to life one of the best known of western stars, Tom Mix, friend and hero of countless youngsters of all ages. The life of Tom Mix before entering pictures had all the elements of a grouping of all the best of the Western film fare. While still in his teens he first experienced the smell of gunpowder as a scout in the Spanish-American war, in Cuba and later in the Philippines, and went on from there to join in the battle of Tientsin in China. From the wars he returned to this continent, to the southwest, and became a Texas Ranger. He once bagged no less than 55 rootin' tootin' two gun bandits, but he did not take all of them alive. Later he became a United States marshal, and from there went into pictures, to become one of the great stars of Western drama. Born in 1880, Tom Mix died in October of 1940 near Florence, Ariz., when his car got out of control and crashed. He always had his horses and guns well under control. Early Bird ONE of the first newspapers in the country to enter the television field is Walter Annenberg's Philadelphia Inquirer, morning paper, which has filed an application for a commercial television license. Publisher Annenberg is known to have negotiated for the purchase of a local radio station, and his application for a television license follows closely the purchase of WPEN in Philadelphia and its FM adjunct by the Evening Bulletin. Last October Mr. Annenberg purchased a plot of ground right next door to the present Inquirer building and at that time indicated that a number of projects were in mind for post-war construction. It is understood that the proposed television station will be built on the plot. Marshall Field, millionaire playboy and publisher of PM and the Chicago Sun, has filed application with the Federal Communications Commission for the purchase of radio station WSAI, one of the twin stations in Cincinnati owned by the Crosley interests. Under the FCC rule against multiple ownership, Crosley had been ordered to divest itself of one of the stations. WLW, being the most powerful in the midwest, the company offered WSAI for sale. Look Looks LOOK magazine, the pictorial weekly owned by Gardner Cowles, Jr., Iowa publisher, and his brothers, is eyeing the radio and motion picture fields. The magazine, in conjunction with the Embassy and Telenews newsreel theatres, is sponsoring a series of topical short subjects, based on articles appearing in the magazine. They are being produced by Newsreel Distributors, Inc., and have been sold to about 40 theatres, it is reported. Three television shows are also being produed by Look for presentation over WRGB, the General Electric station in Schenectady. They are under the supervision of Al Perkins, film and radio editor of the publication. Look is also looking into the film industry war activities, planning to publish an illustrated book on the subject. Candy Output Cut SHORTAGES of cocoa beans, employees and packing materials are preventing the candy industry from supplying much more than half the needs of the armed forces and about onequarter of the civilian demand, including product for candy machines in film theatres, Irving C. Shaffer, president of the Association of Manufacturers of Confectionery and Chocolate, announced in New York last week. He estimated that the supply of cocoa beans in the U. S., as of June 1, 1944, was 1,370,000 bags of 140 to 160 pounds, while the normal supply based on the average of 1938 to 1940 was 3,500,000 to 3,750,000 bags. In manpower, the industry had only about 60 per cent of the normal number of employees and needed at least 150 per cent, with better than 50 per cent of production going to the armed forces. I'OTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Rockefeller Center, New York City, 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address "Quigpubco, New [ ork." Martin Quigley, President; Colvin Brown, Vice-President; Red Kann, Vice-President; T. J. Sullivan, Secretary; Terry Ramsaye, Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Ray Gallagher, •. .dvertising Manager; Chicago Bureau, 624 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 5; Hollywood Bureau, Postal Union Life Building, Hollywood, 28. William R. Weaver, editor; Toronto Bureau, I "-2 Millwood Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, W. M. Gladish, correspondent; _ Montreal Bureau, 265 Vitre St., West, Montreal, Canada, Pat Donovan, correspondent; London Bureau, I Golden Square, London W I, Hope Williams Burnup, manager; Peter Burnup, editor; cable Quigpubco London; Melbourne Bureau, The Regent Theatre, 191 Collins St., Melbourne, Australia, l-liff Holt, correspondent; Sydney Bureau, 17 Archbold Rd., Roseville, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia, Lin Endean, correspondent; Mexico City Bureau, Dr. Carmona y Valle 6, Mexico City, uis Becerra Celis, correspondent; Buenos Aires Bureau, J. E. Uriburi 126, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Natalio Bruski, correspondent; Rio de Janeiro Bureau, R. Sao Jose, 61, C. Postal 834, Rio le Janeiro, Brazil, Alfredo C. Machado, correspondent; Montevideo Bureau, P. O. Box 664, Montevideo, Uruguay, Paul Bodo, correspondent; cable Argus Montevideo. Member Audit Bureau f Circulations. All contents copyright 1944 by Quigley Publishing Company, Address all correspondence to the New York Office, Other Quigley Publications: Better Theatres, Motion Picture aily, International Motion Picture Almanac, and Fame. IOTION PICTURE HERALD, JULY 8, 1944 9