Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

Nove n, her 2 2 , 1 930 M o I i o ii P i <' / ii r c A i' w s 31 Fox Set to Take Over Warner Theatres On Coast; Deal for Publix Is Pending rJ*fl£ Los Angeles — Further sewing up of the Coast territory, by virtue of the proposed Fox West Coast-Warner deal. Plot is seen here as a strategic move to head off the proposed -., , • , circuit of Harold B. Franklin and of members of United Thickens Artists. Both Franklin and United Artists are planning a rival chain in Pacific Coast states in an offensive against Fox West Coast, and the Warner deal is expected to "make it tough" for both operators. Fox West Coast recently took over operation of the RKO house at San Diego. 1,281 Sound Sets Junked for W. E., Company Claims Twelve hundred eighty-one theatres throughout the world have been forced to scrap unsatisfactory reproduction equipment, which has been replaced by Western Electric systems, the company states. There now are 7,170 world installations: 4,701 are in the United States. Sixteen cities of the nation have 20 or more installations. The list is headed by New York City with 356. The other cities are as follows: Chicago, 166; Los Angeles. 86; Philadelphia, 82; Detroit. 76, Cleveland, 51: St. Louis, 46; San Francisco, 41; Baltimore. 40: Kansas Citv, i2; Cincinnati. 32; Milwaukee, 30; Seattle, 29; New Orleans. 26; Buffalo, 26; and Pittsburgh, 22. There are 23 cities that have between 1 1 and 20 installations, totaling 341 Western Electric wired houses. In 75 cities there are from five to 10 installations, the theatres involved numbering 75. Forty-eight cities have four each and include 192 theatres, while there are 113 cities with three installations. These total 339 theatres. Britons See Stimulus For Films in Empire London — Enthused by a message from the King. British producers staged their gala all-British film show here for delegates to the Imperial Conference. A packed house was on hand, with opinion prevailing that the event would stimulate British production throughout the Empire. Kaplan's Union Plans 17th Birthday Party Seventeenth anniversary of the organization of Local 306 of the M. P. Machine Operators' Union will be celebrated with a dinner and dance Jan. 17 in the grand ball room of the Hotel Astor. A committee of arrangements consisting of the officers of the union with Sam Kaplan, president, acting as chairman ex-officio, has been appointed to arrange the event. $150,000 Cost of United Artists' Chain Theatres Hollywood — United Artists will spend an average of $150,000 on construction of its chain of 25 houses planned in its offensive against Fox West Coast Theatres, according to Joseph M. Schenck. Work on the first is to start soon at Santa Ana. he says. All major Fox West Coast strongholds will be invaded, except where there is strong competition to the circuit. Five houses are planned for Los Angeles. Claude Neon Sales Increase During Year Consolidated reports of the Associated Claude Neon Companies throughout the United States give sales for the first ten months of 1930 amounting to $14,326,062, as compared with $12,603,619 for the same period of 1929, an increase of 14 per cent. Business during October continued steady, within ten per cent of the average for the first nine months of the vear. October sales totaled $1,323,731. U. S. Slang Doesn't Mean A Thing to British Fan Hollywood — Sidney L. Bernstein. British showman, is here with a petition to producers to discontinue slang in talkers which may be unintelligible to British audiences. Something is to be done about the matter, it is stated. A Hand Jameson Thomas deserves real credit for his fine performance in "The Hate Ship," one of the best of the British films to be imported into America. He is a polished actor of the Adolph Menjou type, comparing favorably with that veteran actor. His work and the beauty and ability of Jean Colin stand out in the picture. They should find favor with American audiences. H A G E Sewing Up of Pacific Slope Territory Is Objective; Paramount Denies Los Angeles — Fox West Coast is to take over all Warner theatres on the Coast, except the Hollywood and Downtown. M. A. Silver, Warner western theatre chief, professes to know nothing about the proposed transfer of the theatres. Under the plan. Fox West Coast will use 60 per cent of its playing time for Warner product. The new house at Huntington Park, just opened, is to be included in the arrangement. Warners have nine theatres outside Los Angeles situated as follows : Four at Santa Barbara and one each at Huntington Park, San Pedro, Whittier, San Bernardino and Fresno. The firm also has the Forum here, which, it is understood, would be included in the deal. Deal of Fox West Coast for operation of the Warner Coast theatres is part of the plan to sew up the Coast territory, which calls for inclusion of the Paramount houses at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. Fox-Paramount Deal Fox West Coast, as exclusively reported by Motion Picture News, and denied vigorously by Paramount, has a deal pending for operation of the Paramount theatres, which have been hard hit by the keen competitive battle waged by the two circuits in western key cities. The showmanship battle which is reported to have put theatres of the two firms into the red in the various situations concerned has raged ever since Paramount resumed operation of the houses at the suggestion of the Department of Justice. Paramount has turned over its theatres to P'ox West Coast and was reported dissatisfied with their operation. Accordingly, the firm is reported to have "suggested" to the Department of Justice that the dominance of Fox West Coast on the Pacific Slope was more or less fraught with danger, so far as the anti-trust laws are concerned. The government, after Paramount's reported "suggestion." fell in line with the idea, and asked Fox West Coast to turn back the theatres. Kidnap Scare on Coast When Plots Are Learned Hollywood — The film capital has been going through the throes of a kidnap scare, following uncovering of a plot by New York and Chicago gangsters to kidnap celebs or their children and hold them for ransom. Police guards were established at the home of Lottie Pickford and Harold Lloyd, when it was learned that plots against their children had been framed. L. L. Mills Returns Albany — L. L. Mills, manager of First Graphic exchange, distributors of Big 4 product, who has been ill in a hospital here for the past two months with typhoid, returned to his office this week.