Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

26 Motion Picture News N ove m ber 2 9 , 1930 Warners Again Step Out for Theatres In Drive to Be Centered on West Coast Colman Clicks Hollywood— "The Devil to Pay" is the best that this star has made. It is smart, witty and fast moving, appealing screen material, which should click wherever shown. Ronald Colman has a part that fits him well and he plays it with great relish. It hasn't too much talk, and plenty of comedy touches make this a swell picture. CROUCH Fox Weighs Plan For Invasion of Four Texas Keys San Antonio — Fox intends building or acquiring theatres in the four key cities of Texas — San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth. Credence to the report is given by a visit of J. R. Grainger, vice-president of the Fox corporation, to these cities. While in San Antonio, Grainger admitted that he is investigating the Texas theatre situation, with a view of submitting a report to his company on the advisability of entering the field. The Fox franchise at present is held by the RKO Southern Corp., formerly Interstate Amusement Co., but the franchise expires in August, 1931. Lloyd Laughs at Kidnaping Tale Chicago — Harold Lloyd discredited newspaper accounts of a threat to kidnap his daughter, Gloria, while in town this week. "The posting of an extra guard around my estate may have been ordered. If it was, in all probability that is how the kidnaping story originated. It's not unusual for us to put on an extra guard. All the big Beverly Hills' estates have guards about them. I don't know a thing about this reported kidnaping threat." Lloyd was here en route to the Coast from New York. He visited Loop department stores, where he purchased a load of toys for his two daughters, before leaving to begin work on his next picture. A complacent attitude, which evidenced no signs of uneasiness, appeared to verify Lloyd's statements that the kidnaping threat report was unfounded. Lloyd said he intended to appeal the recent court decision finding him guilty of plagiarizing the late H. C. Witwer's story in making "The Freshman." Building at Oakland Oakland — Paramount's position in Coast keys is to be strengthened by invasion of this city, where a 3,500-seat house will be built. $15,000,000 Building Program Mapped; Southwest Moves Planned Theatre expansion in various sections of the country, notably the Pacific Coast, is being resumed by Warners, following consolidation of its sales force with that of First National and the naming of a corps of scouts in the theatre department. Plans call for doubling of the present number of houses. Fifteen million dollars is reported to have been budgeted for the program which aims to build or acquire a theatre outlet in all principal cities of the Pacific Seaboard. An ambitious program of expansion also has been mapped out in the South. Recently, negotiations were under way for a powerful Texas chain. On the Coast, Warners recently opened their new theatre at Huntington Park and are building at Beverly Hills, San Pedro and at Los Angeles. Jack L. Warner declines to say if Fox West Coast is to take over operation of Warner houses in the West. Savings to be effected through consolidation of the Warner and First National production and sales forces will furnish part of the financing in the expansion program. Silver Comes East on Warner Expansion Plan M. A. Silver, general manager of Warners' Pacific Coast theatres, is in the East to confer with home office executives and visit his family. Silver has been in charge of the Warner western theatre chain for the past year. Upon his return west Dec. 8, the new Warner theatre at San Pedro, second in the $15,000,000 expansion program, will be opened. Silver will then continue with other expansion plans now under way. Publix, Too! Continuing the sales spurt begun when he took over the position of general sales manager a few months ago, Phil Reisman has closed with Publix for the Universal product. This follows blanket deals with RKO. Warner, Fox West Coast, Fox Midwesco, Fox Metropolitan and Loew's New York circuit. In addition some 40 smaller circuits, embracing around have signed for Phil Reisman 700 houses, already the product. The larger and smaller circuits combined represent approximately 4.200 theatres throughout the country, it is stated. Stars Hunt Fox Hollywood — When the United Artists stars made their "declaration of independence" against Fox West Coast the meeting was followed by having some still pictures made of the group. When the camera had clicked for the final shot Ronald Colman broke forth with the remark that an appropriate title for the stills would be "The Fox Hunt." Publix Private Show Foiled By Columbia, RKO Detroit — The next time the Publix publicity department arranges a screening for newspaper critics in advance of scheduled release for the public the lesson they learned last week will stand them in good stead. "The Cat Creeps" and "Tol'able David" have been booked and advertised for playdates at the RKO Downtown Theatre. The Publix office, to steal a march on the opposition, whose "Check and Double Check" and "Africa Speaks" the last four weeks have cut deeply into box-office returns, notified the critics that a special private screening would be help on a certain afternoon. Information was passed on to the RKO theatre attaches, with the result that the RKO and Columbia exchanges immediately had the prints brought back to the exchange vaults. Needless to say, the scheduled screening was not held. Detroit Theatre On New Policy Detroit — The Madison, which has been closed for renovation for the past three weeks, reopened Thanksgiving Day with a new price and picture policy. Admission for children at all times will be 10 cents. During the afternoon hours, adult admission will be 25 cents, with an evening rate of 35 cents. Three changes of pictures will be offered each week, as second runs. Publix Has Four First Runs The State, which was closed for a week and which has been running under a new price and picture policy for the past two weeks, is featuring one-week stands of firstrun pictures at 25 and 50 cents. At the present time Publix has only four first-run theatres in the downtown section, the Michigan, Paramount, United Artists and State, against the opposition provided by the Fox and RKO downtown theatres. The Fisher, another Publix house, is situated three miles from the business section.