Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1947)

Pictures Again Are No. 1 Steamer Relaxation Since the post-war resumption of passenger travel on steamship lines, the motion picture again has become the most popular shipboard entertainment medium and today Movies en Route, Inc., New York, is booking films for large and small theatres aboard 69 ships plying the seas. According to George Barnett, president of the company, pictures are due to play an increasingly important part in modern transportation. So far his company's main business is still with the shipping concerns, but indications point to much wider horizons. Pan American Airways has experimented with 16mm projection on some of its planes and so has Robert Young's Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, which is building special cars for the sole purpose of exhibiting motion pictures to the passengers. Other Railroads Interested At present the C. & O. is the only railroad to do so, but others are understood to be interested. Pan-American Airways' 16mm experiments have come to a temporary halt. The installations on the majority of the ships are of the narrow-gauge type. Of the 69 ships s'erviced by Movies en Route, 50 use 16mm product and the rest 35mm. Except for one company, Warner Brothers, all of the majors' product is available in 16mm. An interesting situation exists on the larger ships where passengers are often treated to pictures un-released in the U. S. Mr. Barnett explained that the availability of prints in advance of their general distribution here made these pre-releases possible. Movies en Route services most of the big domestic and foreign passenger lines with ports-of-call in the United States. It also books films for the cruise ships which are slowly emerging from wartime paint. Among the lines on the company's list are the United States Lines, Robin Lines, United Fruit, American Export, Grace Lines, French and Spanish Line, East Asiatic Line, Swedish-American Line, Holland-American Line and others. Cunard White Star ships, the Mauretania and the Queen Elizabeth, are serviced independently from England. On Rental or Purchase Basis Movies en Route installs projection equipment on either a rental or a purchase basis. Since passengers pay no admission to see films aboard, pictures are rented to the lines on the basis of the number of passengers on the boat and the length of the voyage. The average ship offers a program a day. The America, for instance, takes with her six programs on each trip to Europe. The same program is repeated on the homeward journey. The largest number of prints ever booked for a boat by Movies en Route was for the Stella Polaris when it went on a long American Express cruise to Rio de Janeiro. The liner's vault held 12 prints for that trip. Ships of the Mississippi Shipping Companyoperated Delta Line, which are out 47 days on South America runs, take on 10 program each time they go out. The Flomarce Line, operating between Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon, is the only line with no American port-of-call where pictures can be taken aboard. It is serviced from the local American branches in Rio. With most of the post-war travelers American, Hollywood faces little competition on the high seas. On a number of runs, however, chiefly to South America, Spanish-titled films are used. One or two lines take on short subjects and cartoons and occasionally present special children's programs, Mr. Barnett said. Build Two Halifax Houses On Old Theatre Sites Two old theatre buildings in Halifax, Nova Scotia, both of them formerly Baptist churches, will give way to modern, brick and steel houses of a much larger seating capacity. The theatres are the Orpheus, converted for theatre use some 35 years ago, and to be renamed the Paramount, seating 1,200, and the Community, converted about 26 years ago, which will have a stadium design and will seat about 1,000. The Community already has been demolished. Its new name will be determined by competition. Its patrons will be able to purchase candies, fountain drinks and ice cream in the lobby of the new house. Franklin & Herschorn are the owners of the new building. The Orpheus, owned for the past six years by Famous Players Canadian Corporation, seated 879 in the past. It also will be of the stadium type. To allow for the expanded seating capacity, several neighboring theatres were bought by Famous Players and torn down before a start was made on the former church. Film Classics Realignment Film Classics announced this week four changes in the personnel of its distribution department. Louis Bernhard, booker, has been transferred from St. Louis to New Haven as salesman. Stephen Justus has been appointed salesmen for St. Louis. George Lefko has been appointed branch manager for Indianapolis. Ralph Peckham, former Indianapolis branch manager, is on a roving assignment. Rank-Universal Sta ff A bsorbed The special field sales force of the Rank division of Universal-International has been absorbed by the U-I distribution force, William A. Scully, U-I vice-president and general sales manager, announced in New York Monday. This move is in line with U-I policy of concentrating upon the distribution of the J. Arthur Rank product to the same extent as the company's Hollywood-produced films. Among those who have assumed key positions in the U-I sales force are Lester Zucker, who has become branch manager in Cleveland, succeeding Max Cohen, resigned; Joseph Gins, who has become U-I branch manager in Buffalo, succeeding J. J. Spandau, also resigned ; and Joseph Oulahan, who is special distribution representative in Washington. Jules Weill, who was special representative on the Rank pictures handled by U-I, has resigned, effective immediately, it was announced. Reade Theatres Show Television in Lounges A deal under which the Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, Inc., will deliver custom-built television sets for use in the lounges of Walter Reade theatres in New York and New Jersey was announced last week. Two of the sets now are being installed, the first in Reade's St. James theatre, Asbury Park, N. J., and the second in the Freehold, N. J., Strand. The policy of presenting television broadcasts in theatre lounges was first applied by Mr. Reade in his Park Avenue theatre in New York. The receivers are of the largescreen type and are being installed flush with the walls. Stating that "this is no longer an experiment with us," Mr. Reade said the speciallydesigned television lounges would be operated as an. added feature to the regular motion picture programs in line with the public's increasing awareness of television's entertainment value. "Our's is the first motion picture circuit in the area to actually offer a full television schedule and first run motion pictures with the purchase of one admission ticket," he said. British Censors Viewed 1,543 Subjects in Year London Bureau The British Board of Film Censors announced this week that 4,435,562 feet of film, comprising 1,543 subjects, were submitted for censorship during the year ended December 31, 1946. Features accounted for 526 of the total number of subjects while 304 were short subjects and 700 cartoons. Exception was take to 160 sub-« jects, of which 19 are still outstanding. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 21, 1947