Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1939)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Page 4 S H O W MEN'S TRADE REVIEW November 25, 1939 Mutual Protection Seen As Overcoming Radio Giveaway Livingston Plans to Enlist 2,000 Theatres In Pot of Gold Insurance Plan Exhibs Visit Hollywood Following Bob Livingston's offer to match the $1,000 Pot of Gold offered over the radio if the person called was not at home but in his theatre, the owner-manager of the Capitol Theatre, Omaha, said that after a test cov WILL FINANCE N. Y. PRODUCTION Unions Agree To Refrain From Strikes Pursuing his efforts to establish New York as a center of picture production, Mayor LaGuardia of New York announced this week that he had secured a pledge from all unions to refrain from strikes for five years and that as a result he had obtained expressions of interest in financing Eastern production from the Chase National Bank, the Irving Trust Co. and Empire Trust Co. It is understood that the Mayor has been acting as liason man between the banks, the unions and a number of experienced producers Among producers witli whom the Mayor has talked are Gil Boag and John Hunter, former production manager of Paramount. PRE-XMAS CLOSINGS RKO to Shutter 3 Houses, Drop Vaudeville from 2 Under a holiday period policy, three theatres are being closed and vaudeville dropped from two by the RKO circuit, according to J. J. O'Connor, head of operations. In Columbus, O., the Grand will be dark from Nov. 30 to Dec. 24, and in Syracuse, the Strand will shutter from Nov. 29 to Dec. 23. The Trent, Trenton, N. J., piesently operating on weekends, will not be open during the weekends of Dec. 15-17 and 22-24. Vaudeville will be dropped from the Schubert, Cincinnati, Nov. 30 to Dec. 28; from the Colonial, Dayton, Dec. 8 to Dec. 28. ering nine Tuesdays he would en deavor to interest the circuits in a plan for mutual protection. Livingston's idea is to raise $2,000 a week by an assessment of $1 from each of 2,000 theatres. This would form the war chest pot and every participating theatre could offer to reimburse any patron if his name were called while he was in the theatre. Only one theatre can lose the pot and it can buy the entire $2,000 worth of protection for $1. The Omaha theatreman said that he conceived the idea after he saw Sunday night and Thursday night crowds vanish before the draw of the radio. He said his business was better on the Tuesdays following his offer than before. Suit Against Majors Filed in Philadelphia Philadelphia — A ci\'il damage suit for $;1 0,000 against major distributors and three Warner theatre companies was filed in U. S. District Court here this week by owners and operators of the Lansdowne Theatre, Lansdowne. Asking for an injunction, the suit charges unjust discrimination, asks abolishment of the giving of preference to circuit operators. NSS May Handle All Distribs' Accessories Some major companies arc reported to be working out details with National Screen service for a new departure in the distribution of accessories, trailers and stills. The idea is being given serious consideration, but no deals have been closed. The manufacturing and distribution of accessories and trailers, under the reported plan, would be handled by National Screen, thus coordinating the operations now being handled individually by the majors. Ed Rowley and C. V. Jones of the Robb and Rowley Circuit visit the RKO lot in Hollywood and watch scenes from "The Marines Fly High." Richard Dix, the star, posed with them. "GONE" TO HAVE TWIN OPENINGS New York Showings at Astor and Capitol During the fortnight between December 15, when it has its world premiere in Atlanta, and New Year's Day, "Gone With the Wind" will have simultaneous double openings in New York and Los Angeles, and will begin engagements in other key cities throughout the country. Other key city pre-Christmas showings include Cincinnati, Reading and Harrisburg. In New York the Selznick-International Technicolor production will open simultaneously on December 19 at the Astor and Capitol theatres. At the former, seats will be reserved with performances twice daily ; at the latter, the picture will be shown from mid-morning until midnight with seats unreserved. The same plan of a double engagement will be followed in Los Angeles, the picture opening at the Carthay Circle December 28 on a reserved seat basis and on the following day at the LTnited Artists with seats unreserved. State and Orpheum openings, Boston, will take place December 21. Price scale at the Astor will range from 75c to $2.20; at the Capitol, 7Sc matinees. $1.10 nights. Exhibitors, newspapermen and society folk joined a Paramount unit on location filming "Biscuit Eater" near Albany, Georgia last week. Among those who attended were those pictured above. Left to rieht are William K. Jenkins of the Lucas and Jenkins Circuit; Claire McKenzie; Hugh Martin of the Martin Theatres, Columbus, Ga.; Y. Frank Freeman, Jr., production executive; Richard Lane, who appears in the picture; W. E. Griffin, Vienna, Ca., exhibitor C E. Kenner of the Cortatowsky Theatres; Cordell Hickman, who appears in the picture; 0. C. Lam, Rome, Ga., exhibitor; Koberf Wilby of Wilby-Kincey Theatres, Atlanta; Alta Malone; Louis Rosenbaum of Muscle Shoals Theatres, Florence, Ala.; Richard Kennedy of the Wilby-Kincey circuit. MOMAND SUIT DISCONTINUED Exhib Drops Action Against Majors Oklahoma Cit}' — A motion to dismiss its equity action against the Griffith Amusement Co., and the majors without prejudice was filed here last week by attorneys for Oklahoma Theatres, Inc., in spite of the willingness of defense attorneys, led by Harry S. Griffing, to go to trial. Dismissal was granted by Federal Judge Edgar S. Vaught. In the Momand company's suit, the film companies had been charged with failure to book first, second, third or even fourth-run pictures into the Odeon. It was further stated that only the Griffith Amusement Co., operator of two other theatres in Shawnee, get such films there. In Judge Hurrah's court here, Momand still lias a $4,500,000 anti-trust suit still pending. Defendants who had been named in the equity action were 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.; Paramount Film Distributing Corp.; Loew's, Inc.; Vitagraph, Inc.; RKO-Radio Pictures; Universal Film Exchanges, Inc., and Columbia Pictures Corp. Brooklyn Mothers War Against Horror Films A campaign has been inaugurated by Brooklyn mothers, meeting under the auspices of borough's Motion Picture Council, to curtail or eliminate horror and crime films and serials in the neighborhood houses. SHOWMEN'S MOTION PICTURE Trade Vol.31, No. 18 Review Nov. 25, 1939 Title and Trade Mark Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Charles E. "Chick" Lewis Editor and Publisher TOM KENNEDY Associate Editor JOS. H. GALLAGHER Film Adv. Mgr. HAROLD RENDALL Equip. Adv. Mgr. ROBERT WILE Managing Editor WEST COAST OFFICE ANN LEWIS, West Coast Manager Guaranty Bldg., 6331 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, Cal. Tel. HOllywood 1390 CHICAGO REPRESENTATIVE MARSHALL REINIG 612 No. Michigan Ave., Chicago, 111. Telephone: Superior 7646 LONDON REPRESENTATIVE JOCK MacGREGOR, 20 Portsea Place Hyde Park, W., London, Eng. AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE GORDON V. CURIE, 1 Elliott Street Homebush, Sydney, Australia Showmen's Trade Review is published weekly by Showmen's Trade Review, Inc. Publication office, 34 North Crystal St.. East Stroudsburg, Pa. Editorial and advertising offices, 1501 Broadway, New York City. Tel.: Bryant 9-5606. Subscription price in the United States and Canada, $2.00 per year. Foreign $5.00 per year. Single copies, ten cents. Subscribers should remit with order. All contents copyrighted 1939.