Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

Canada Picture Pioneers Hold Annual Party by W. M. SLADISH in Toronto Film veterans of the Dominion cast off their years as they celebrated the sixth birthday of the Canadian Picture Pioneers with an assembly for business and pleasure at the King Edward Hotel, Toronto, February 27, with 100 present. During the business program, the members reelected all the old directors, then found they must shuffle the ballots again because the constitution said four new faces are required each year on the board. The repeaters were: Ray Lewis, only woman in the Pioneers' pack; L. M. Devaney, Ben Cronk, Jack Arthur, Earl Lawson, Oscar R. Hanson and Clare Appel. The new directors are J. L. Hunter, Joe Garbarino, William Reeves and Charles Mavety, all of the Toronto area. After two years, Mr. Devaney stepped down as president, succeeded by Mr. Hanson, one of the original prime-movers. Vicepresident is Jack Arthur, and Ray Lewis is secretary-treasurer. Other officers are: public relations, J. J. Fitzgibbons; solicitor, D. J. Ongley; assistant treasurer, George H. Beeston. The Pioneers found themselves with approximately $16,000 in the Benevolent Fund, earmarked for the care of needy film people anywhere in Canada. Chief addition to the fund during the past year was the $6,000 which came from the Pioneers' Ball and Carnival at Toronto's Royal York Hotel last autumn. In control of fund disbursements are the following trustees : Mr. Hanson, Miss Lewis, Mr. Beeston and Mr. Mavety. The Old Boys were so busy with reunion fun and parley on the convention day, February 27, that appointments to the numerous standing committees were left over. It was decided delegates from each of the Provincial branches would meet in executive session on a national basis at Montreal on a date to be selected. As his final presidential act, Mr. Devaney inducted 22 new members, with George Oullahan of Toronto assisting in the ceremony. Prizes left over from the Movie Ball were brought out for an auction conducted by Miss Lewis, and the result was an additional S125 for the Benevolent Fund. Special presentations were made to Dave Ongley and Johnny Poole of Toronto for performance of duties during the past 12 months. CEA Rejects KRS Saving Plan, Offers Another The executive committee of the British Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association, meeting in London to discuss possible means of saving 1,500,000 feet of film weekly, this week rejected the suggestion of the Kinematograph Renters' Society that the number of release prints be cut. Because of the serious film shortage, brought about by the coal and power shortage, the whole industry has been concerned with ways and means of conserving the available supply of film. The CEA's scheme, offered for Government consideration, proposes that the newsreels save 350,000 feet of film a week, the studios save 250,000 feet a week and that the balance of 900,000 feet be saved weekly by the Government from its weekly usage of 2,500,000 feet. In the event the newsreels prove difficult, CEA is prepared to cancel their showing completely. Sues Essaness Circuit A $5,000 damage suit has been filed against the Essaness Theatre Circuit in Chicago Circuit Court by Mrs. Sarah Glickman, who claimed she suffered a fractured rib during a melee following an explosion at the circuit's northside Vogue October 1, 1946. Portugal House Rejects Quota by JOAO DE MORAES PALMEIRO in Lisbon After three days of discussion the Portuguese National Assembly rejected the Film Quota Law published December 27 and February 25 referred the bill to the Portuguese Corporative Chamber for revision and amendment. The Chamber then will refer the bill back to the Assembly. Judging from the discussions, the revisions will not greatly affect the relationship between Portugal and the U. S. as outlined in the original bill. The original contained these major provisions : each theatre shall play one week of Portuguese product for each five weeks of foreign product; special licenses must be obtained from the Board of Public Entertainments for all pictures imported; a special fund is established to protect the national industry; no Portuguese theatre may be owned or exploited by any foreign interests ; all Portuguese-dubbed features, with the exception of Brazil, must be dubbed in Portugal. A highlight of the Assembly discussions was the plea from Deputy Mendes Correia that the Quota Law should defend and aid only the best of the national product — not all features. He pointed out that the expansion of Portuguese industry depended upon obtaining. raw materials and chemicals from abroad and thus it was expedient to maintain good relationships with foreign countries. The fund to protect the industry also came in for criticism, the prevailing opinion being that the taxes to be levied to provide the fund were too high and that the fund should not only be controlled by the National Of• fice of Information, but also by the Home, the Economic, the Cultural and the War Offices. Deputy Jorge Moniz severely criticized the law on the ground that it had not been submitted to the various branches of the industrv for consideration. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 8, 1947 45