Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1945)

THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS 1^3 BOOM film year is reflected in major company ledgers Page 13 HIGH and low of stock trading for five years recorded Page 14 SEARS appointed distribution chairman of War Activities Committee Page 17 MUSIC Hall record gross paces Broadway in big holiday week Page 17 ON THE MARCH— Red Kann discusses new star personalities in studios Page 20 GOVERNMENT and the screen is dominant theme of headlines of 1944 Page 2! CANADIAN court rules courts cannot control film rental or exhibition Page 29 RAW stock is cut 20,000,000 feet for first quarter of 1945 Page 32 BRITISH industry facing serious problem in raw stock and carbon supply Page 32 BYRNES' call for 4-F's seen having slight effect on industry Page 33 ARTHUR Rank plans to produce features for child programs only Page 36 JAMES Mason is top ten winner in poll of British exhibitors Page 45 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Hollywood Scene Page 39 Picture Grosses Page 46 In the Newsreels Page 38 Shorts on Broadway Page 33 Managers' Round Table Page 47 What the Picture Did for Me Page 42 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2257 Short Subjects Chart Page 2260 Short Subjects Page 2258 Service Data Page 2262 Advance Synopses Page 2259 The Release Chart Page 2263 Flying Ambassador E. T. CARR, head of Eagle-Lion Films, Ltd., in England, the J. Arthur Rank distributing company organized last year, returned to London at midweek from France. He contemplates returning to Paris, then a hop to Sweden and later, perhaps he will go to Russia. The Paris mission concerned Mr. Rank's plans to form "a trading association" with French circuits. It was said in London a deal had been made by Mr. Carr with one of the large circuits and that the agreement had been approved by the French Government. Guarantee of French film distribution in Rank theatres in England may have been the winning argument and this overture may lead to similar deals in Sweden. French Government officials in London are understood to have expressed the view that France will not tolerate American or British companies seeking control of exhibition in the country. Mr. Carr has the distinction of being the first film company representative to be granted a visa to Paris. Mr. Rank this week, meanwhile, took over operation of the Regal theatre in London. Fiorello to the Rescue BROADWAY'S hero this week is Fiorello H. LaGuardia. New York's Mayor averted a series of legal battles and restored Broadway to normal Tuesday when he urged License Commissioner Paul Moss to rescind the ban on the sale of hit-show tickets by brokers. His action culminated a week of confusion on the Great White Way which began when Commissioner Moss decreed that brokers no longer could handle tickets to hit shows. Twelve members of the board of governors of the League of New York Theatres, theatrical managers association, met .with the Mayor in City Hall Tuesday to seek his intervention in the fracas. In his statement announcing the ban was called off, the Mayor warned brokers that "drastic action," presumably license suspension, would be taken in the event they exceeded the 75-cent commission allowed them by law and he outlined machinery for closer enforcement of laws against ticket scalping. Threats of legal action were dropped by producers, managers and brokers who had risen to a man to argue that Commissioner Moss' order would have increased rather than eased, the difficulties arising from the fact that the demand for theatre seats exceeds the supply. Governor Aids Sales A GOVERNOR participated in the start of RKO Radio's Ned E. Depinet Drive honoring the film company president. Governor-elect Maurice J. Tobin of Massachusetts and John Shephard, III, chairman of the board and general manager of the Yankee Network, took part in the festivities in Boston Tuesday. On hand with Mr. Depinet for the occasion also were Robert Folliard, drive captain ; Nat Levy, eastern division manager ; Harry Gittleson, assistant to the western division sales manager, who will aid Mr. Folliard ; Gus Schaefer, northeast ern district manager, and branch managers R. C. Cropper, Boston; B. Pitkin, New Haven; M. Westebbe, Albany; E. Lux, Buffalo, and their sales staffs. Mr. Folliard and Mr. Gittleson spent the latter part of the week in Canada, conferring with M. Plottel of Toronto, H. F. Taylor of Montreal and H. H. McArthur of St. John's. They will continue their tour through the United States and Canada. Warning WILL ROGERS, Jr., former Congressman from California who left Capitol Hill to become a second lieutenant in the Army, injected a sardonic note, somewhat reminiscent of his father, the late Will Rogers, last week in the grim business of war. According to a United Press dispatch. Lieutenant Rogers was with a reconnaissance company of the 7th Armored Division somewhere in France on December 23. The Germans were charging down the road? He took time to write the following notice which he pinned on a tree : "Beware ! We will be back in two weeks with our new secret weapons !" Nazis fleeing France when the Allies invaded had left similar signs along the roads. Prophetic THE TIEUP between marquee signs and developments proved too warm for comfort at the Strand theatre in Clinton, la. One evening the stagehands fitted letters into the brackets spelling out the title of the coming attraction, "It Happened Tomorrow." The next day a fire caused damage to the stage and its sound equipment. Shooting at the ''Wind'' RIVAL claimants for residence in the stratospheric niche so cozily occupied by "Gone With the Wind" balloon upward in the warm currents of distributor enthusiasm. Neil F. Agnew, vice-president of Vanguard Films, predicts that David O. Selznick's "Since You Went Away" will be the greatest grosser since "Wind" blasted a path of broken records across the land. "Based solely on the 1,405 engagements which the picture has played to date, which represents less than 10 per cent of its potential playing time in this country, box office receipts point to a new high for the year now ended," Mr. Agnew declared. He works for Mr. Selznick. Charles Reagan stoutly maintains that Paramount's "Going My Way" will nudge "Wind" records more sharply than any other motion picture ever made. He works for 'Paramount, as vice-president in charge of distribution. It depends on the point of view. Bingo Ban CLEVELAND'S city fathers were encouraged last week by War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes' ban on horse racing for the duration. They were inspired to introduce a measure proposing the banning of all Bingo games in the city. Although Bingo is legal in Ohio, where a percentage of the take goes to charity, Cleveland's City Council expressed the view that it should go the way of all gambling on the ground that it hinders the war effort by inviting unnecessary use of gasoline and manpower. 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 6, 1945,