Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

NYE WINS CIRCUIT CONTEST FOR MOST QUICLEY AWARDS New American Newsreel to Go To 52 Countries An American newsreel, to be narrated in 24 languages and distributed to 52 foreign countries, went into production last week at RKO Pathe in New York, it was announced by Hamilton McFadden, associate chief of the Department of . State International Motion Picture Division, and Walton C. Anient, president and general manager of RKO Pathe, Inc. Although the physical production of the subjects will be handled by RKO Pathe, the production and distribution costs will be paid by the State Department as part of its international information program. Titled "The News Magazine," the onereel subjects will be released by the State Department's Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs, and will present pictorial events that influence and reflect the lives of the people in the United States. The newsreel will be under the direction of Jack Connolly, newsreel liaison for the International Motion Picture Division. The picture gathering facilities of RKO Pathe, plus its library, will be utilized in preparing the news release. Heading the production staff are Harold Bonafield, editor, and Robert Youngson, script editor. Distribution will be in 35mm and 16mm, to foreign theatres and schools throughout the world. Subjects will be concentrated under three departments : people, science and sports, and each subject will be scored in Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Polish, Roumanian, Cervo-Croat, Slovak, Swedish, Turkish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Danish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Persian, Portugese, Spanish, Thai, Russian, Cafitonese and Mandarin. Clark, Bradley and Lake Win Paramount Drive M. R. Clark of Dallas was the winningdistrict manager of Paramount's "34th and Greatest Year" sales drive, it was announced last week. Other winners: Gordon Bradley, New Orleans, branch manager division; Samuel Lake, New York, salesmen; Kitty Flynn, New York, bookers; Leonard Allen, New Orleans, field representatives. Special prizes went to personnel of the three leading branches : New Orleans, Seattle and Dallas. Republic Schedules Three Sales Sessions in April Republic will hold three regional sales meetings in April, with Herbert J. Yates, president, addressing each session. The first will be held in New York at the Athletic Club April 2-3; the second in Chicago at the Hotel Blackstone April 8-9; the third at the company's North Hollywood studio the week of April 14. Louis Nye, manager of the Hoosier theatre in Whiting, Ind., has won the contest conducted by the Manta & Rose circuit to determine which member of the circuit could win the most Quigley Showmanship Awards for the final quarter of 1946. Mr. Nye had eight mentions and one scroll of honor. Mr. Nye was followed by John Misavice, Ritz theatre, Berwyn, with eight mentions and one citation. Seventeen other M. & R. district and theatre managers participated. The circuit operates 29 theatres in Indiana and Illinois. Commenting on the winners, the circuit management said: "We have held this competition for Quigley Awards because they are the public recognition for good work accomplished. A good workman takes pride in his work and we, as the employers, derive a great deal of pleasure and pride in such recognition. Not only does this signify good work done but, in order to get it, a manager must go to extra work to prepare the campaign book to send it to Quigley. The list of winners really speaks LOUIS NYE for itself, not only as to the effort expended but also as to the possibilities in the smaller and subsequent run theatres." Motion Picture Foundation To Mail 22,000 Booklets A 22-page booklet titled "Digest of Information" and dealing with the Motion Picture Foundation, now is being printed for distribution to all industry branches and allied industries. The booklet is the result of recommendations made by the temporary public relations committee which submitted a report to the Foundation's steering committee following the organizational meeting in New Orleans December 3 and 4. Some 22,000 copies will be sent out and should be received shortly. MGM Open the Metro, Valparaiso Theatre The Metro theatre, new 2,500-seat MGM house in Valparaiso, Chile, was to have been inaugurated with a gala opening Friday night, according to "Morton A. Spring, first vice-president of Loew's ' International Corporation. The President of Chile and other Government officials were to have attended. The Metro boasts a completely new air-conditioned building. The picture selected for the theatre's debut was MGM's "Bathing Beauty." "Citizen Saint" Opens April 12 "Citizen Saint,'' a biographical featurelength film on the life of St. Frances Cabrini, will open April 12 at the 4,000-seat Constitution Hall, Washington, D. C. Following the premiere the feature will be roadshown. Clyde Elliott produced. Noel Meadow is distributing. British Films Now Accepted: Wolff American audiences will increasingly accept British-made pictures even though they have no American names, Robert Wolff, managing director for RKO in the United Kingdom, said in New York this week. He said this was due to the American public's ability to "smell out'' a good personality as well as to the fact that British producers were turning out films with good U. S. market potentialities. RKO's British production plans so far embraced only two films, Mr. Wolff said. One, an adaptation of John Hilton's "So Well Remembered," with an Anglo-American cast, is finished. The other remains to be made. It will be either "The White Tower" or an alternate. It will fulfill RKO's commitment to make two with J. Arthur Rank. Later RKO's British producing subsidiary may continue to make films in Britain, Mr. Wolff said. In France, RKO, in conjunction with Pathe Cinema, has just finished work on the Maurice Chevalier film, "The Man About Town." The film will receive special handling in the U. S. to make it acceptable to American audiences. RKO is about ready to enter the 16mm field in Great Britain and considers it capable of wide expansion, Mr. Wolff stated. So far there are about 800 16mm installations in the country, he said, many of them serviced by mobile units. RKO has already deceided on its first three programs. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 29, 1947 27