Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

NDUSTRY 1944 WAR EFFORT :ONTRIBUTION $15,000,000 hird Report of WAC Cites Widespread Nature of Service to Nation "he motion picture industry, in the donation shows, in the sponsoring of various patri; efforts, in distributing free trailers and ernmental short subjects, in production at llywood studios of propaganda shorts, and manifold other aspects, contributed $15,000,• during 1944 in support of the war effort, e sum is entirely apart from War Bond chases by companies and personnel, n addition, the industry during that year itributed films to overseas troops, the value which is estimated in excess of $24,800,000. n theatre war support alone, cancellation of ular shows, sponsoring of some 15,110 free ws, Bond and children's premieres, and 2 movie days are estimated to have cost libitors $4,500,000 in admissions. lume III Is Comprehensive port of War Effort ["he figures are from a comprehensive recion of the industry at war in 1944, entitled ovie> at War, Vol. Ill," issued this week a. 44-page illustrated brochure, to newspaper tors, and film critics, educators, public ofals and others active in public opinion, and the production, distribution and exhibition nches of the industry, including some 16,000 atres, the vast majority of which are con:ently pledged to support varied war efforts the film industry's War Activities Commit rhe brochure is distributed by the WAC, 1 was compiled by Walter Brown, its pubty director. Illustrated profusely, it repress a departure from previous reports, rhe booklet, this year of all years, and in ,-ance of the Seventh War Loan, scheduled May, is designed to catch the eye. The tures and text in red, white and blue, are arlged in attractive format which, in contratinction to previous reports, emphasizes pices rather than text. Some 45,000 copies have :n printed, and more may be printed. On : inside back cover is a striking illustration the most attractive and popular ballyhoo fice yet built by the WAC, the Statue of serty replica in Times Square, New York, ;d during the Sixth War Loan, used again ring the Red Cross appeals, and now to be id for the Seventh War Loan. ,867 Feature Prints ipplied for Overseas Most unusual of the American film indus''s contributions to the war effort, one little blicized because its effect is almost entirely be perceived by the soldiers overseas, is the ntribution of 16mm films, entirely without arge. The report observes that by the end 1944, the industry had provided 24,867 ints of feature films, and 26,341 prints of ort subjects — all of which play to an estiited audience of 1,450,000 in service. Showings each day total 3,500, the report ds, listing 21 exchange centers as follows : "ance, Italy, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Fiji, ew Guinea, Australia, India, Alaska, Edmonn, Canada, North Atlantic Army Transport >mmand, Iceland ; Newfoundland, Caribbean rmy Transport Command, South Atlantic WAC REPORT HEADINGS SIGNIFY VARIED SERVICE The manifold service by the motion picture industry to the nation at war is represented in the section headings listed in the WAC's "Movies At War, Volume 3, 1944". The listing: Films Follow the Flag; G.I. Joe's Neighborhood Circuit; Foxhole Premieres; Bonds . . . and Bullets; Salesmen of Liberty; The "Pitch" Is Patriotism; The Greatest of These Is Charity; March of Dimes; History Is Their Raw Stock; 50th Anniversary Stamp. The Screen — Weapon of Democracy; Trade Press Points the Way; Just What the Doctor Ordered; War Brothers — Press, Radio, Movies; Commandos of WAC; Hollywood, Everybody's Main Street; Making Good Neighbors Better Friends; Films and the Future; Movies and Morale. Army Transport Command, Accra, Africa, Egypt, Iran, Panama, -Bermuda and Greenland. The conditions under which these exchange centers show features are such that the report terms them "foxhole premieres"; and it remarks that a few days after our troops passed the beaches at Normandy, they enjoyed premieres of world exploited pictures. Premieres are held for service men not only under battle conditions, but at air bases, in Quonset huts, outdoor clearings, and under all sorts of backof-battle conditions. "Everywhere, the American fighting man gets the best Hollywood entertainment, and he gets it first," the report comments. Many Newsreel Subjects Were Devoted to War More than 1,100 of 2,241 subjects in the newsreel releases to service men during 1944 were of the war, the WAC booklet notes. Thirty-four per cent were of the European struggle; 14 of the Pacific. Only eight per cent of the footage shown the troops dwelt on the election; less than six per cent was of sports. There is a major notation on the role of the trade press in marshaling forces of exhibition in support of the war. It is noted that since May, 1943, 13 trade papers contributed 833>< pages of advertising to the film industry efforts in the war — and that, in dollars, this represents in advertising $272,934. The trade press also gave 13,554 columns of news to the same topic, the report adds. Hollywood 'at war is another topic receiving attention. Hollywood at war is the personnel contribution of the production part of the industry; and it is cited that one-third of the industry's 6,000 workers have entered the service. From the Screen Actors Guild alone, the representation is 1,501, the report notes. Of these actors, 49 are regarded as stars. Continuing its statistical outline of Hollywood at war, the report adds that 132 men members of the Screen Directors Guild, and 230 from the Screen Writers Guild entered service. In the industry at large, and including the Hollywood sector, the report says that probably 40,000 are in service. The industry's indirect but important service of entertainment of service men by personal contact is outlined. Soldiers and sailors during 1944 were entertained by no less than 94 of the industry's highest ranking stars, who, it is said, averaged 50 appearances daily, and during 1944 achieved a total of 18,331 appearances in 2,363 events. These appearances were at bases, many times near the front, in hospitals, staging centers, and all other sectors where the motion pictures ordinarily were screened. The appearances, furthermore, were on every front. Notes Screen Organization Before Pearl Harbor The WAC booklet in foreword notes that the film industry "enlisted for service in the United States before Pearl Harbor"; and it cites the organization of leaders of the industry 18 months before Pearl Harbor. This establishment, it reminds, was the antecedent to the War Activities Committee, which is now in seven national divisions and in 31 key exchange centers, enlisting in addition the personnel services of the Hollywood Victory Committee, responsible for the personal appearances of performers on the fronts. "This volume," the report states, "is dedicated to those who serve; those in uniform, those in mufti." Testimony to the films shown combat troops is represented in the report by excerpts from letters from the troops, in a pictorial chart showing the many and far flung exhibition outposts. Testimony to the effectiveness of the motion picture, especially in the theatre, as an agent for morale and the sale of War Bonds, is represented in excerpts from letters from Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., who remarks that "the work of the Motion Picture Industry with the War Finance Division has resulted in a closely coordinated and patriotic program for war financing," and from Ted Gamble, director of the Treasury's War Financing division, who says : "The motion picture industry in the sale of War Bonds has done the greatest single public relations job any industry has performed " Depicts Two Highlights Of Bond Campaigns In showing pictorially two great 1944 Bond selling events, the arrival of. the Fourth War Loan's "Honored Hundred"" showmen on the steps of the Capitol, and the huge cash register in New York's Times Square during the Fifth War Loan, the report states that the 16,768 film theatres of the country are "salesmen of liberty" and the Treasury's "Town Crier of War Bonds." Space in the report, pictorial and text, is given the film industry's support of the Red Cross and March of Dimes anti-infantile paralysis campaigns. There are letters of appreciation from the President, for the March of Dimes drive; and also, in the section detailing exhibition of Governmental documentaries, from Major General A. D. Surles, of the Army public relations section. OTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 7, 1945 19