Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1942)

August 1, 1942 S H O AI E N ' S TRADE REVIEW 27 SHORTS SHOPPING Record for Timeliness Set by Movietone's Prophetic Shorts; Ice Cream Matinees Profitable Looking back several months, even before Pearl Harbor, one can get an idea of the record for timeliness set by Fox Movietone in its topical short subjects. Anticipating the attack on Pearl Harbor, Producer Edmund Reek, who had spent three years in the Far East, kept Staff Cameraman Al Brick in Hawaii for nine months to have the only competent lensman in Honolulu when the Japanese put over their sneak punch. Here was an opportunity for Movietone to score the greatest scoop ever attained by a newsreel, but Brick's film, naturally, was confiscated by the Government. Reek tried unsuccessfully to have it released immediately, was told it wasn't good policy to do so. Not until two months later, when the war spirit was not quite what it should be, was Reek appealed to, not only to release the pictures, but to give them to all other newsreels in order that they might get the widest possible publicity. Because it was the patriotic thing to do, Reek assented. The prophetic nature of Movietone editors was evident in these pre-Pearl Harbor short subjects: "American Sea Power," "Soldiers of the Sky" and "Uncle Sam's Iron Warriors," released one after the other as the Government was directing the public's attention to our Navy, paratroops and tanks, in order named, the topics of the above productions. In the midst of the President's Good Neighbor campaign, exhibitors were provided v^ith "Highways of Friendship," the picture of the great InterAmerican highway which will link Canada with the Argentine. Other subjects anticipating the direction of world events were "Courageous Australia," "Gateway to Asia" and "India — the Golden." Certain other companies also "called their shots" via pre-Pearl Harbor short subjects, but we have singled out Movietone in this instance as conclusive proof that the industry, ever-alert to see responsibility in keeping the public informed, has been performing its task admirably these past several months, evert before that fateful December 7. Now in his second year as a screen star in Paramount feature shorts, Superman, the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient idol of millions of youngsters, has had his voice lowered. The new speech style of the man of tomorrow will be heard for the first time in the new Technicolor cartoon, "Volcano," eighth in the Superman series. The National Headliners Club, which makes an annual award to the newsreel company which depicts the outstanding news story of the year, has presented its 1941-42 award to MGM's biweekly News of the Day for that newsreel's exclusive and graphic depiction of the FBI's round-up of Nazi spies. Way down south in the state of Texas, Manager Joe Jackson of the Varsity Theatre, Dallas, has licked the summer slump with his "Ice Cream Matinee." Every Wednesday (Continued on Page 31) See Success for Victory Pledge Plan Paramount's Dollar-a-Day Rental for Victory Films Viewed as the Shortest Route to Government's Goal for Quick, Wide Circulation Paramount's Victory Pledge, an abbreviated form of contract to cover the exhibition of that company's quota of four Victory Shorts, while widely divergent from the usual method of industry Oscar Morgan merchandising, gives great promise of being the shortest possible route to the desired Government goal of quick and penetrating national coverage on these subjects. The Victory Pledge, brain-fathered by Barney Balaban, president ; Neil .A.gnew, vice-president in charge of distribution, and Oscar Morgan, short subject sales manager, makes no discrimination as to size, location or clearance restrictions in offering the reels to one and all at the uniform price of a dollar per day per subject on a "first come first served" basis. Paramount is absorbing all expense of distribution, advertising and overhead and, in keeping with the agreement of all producers and distributors handling Victory Shorts, are turning any surplus above the actual cost of prints and production to the War Activities Committee for donation to war charity by that organization. It is barely possible that some exhibitors, in small towns and subsequent-run situations, might question the placing of their operations on a cost par with the deluxers, but the slightest deliberation brings the inevitable conclusion that the consideration of cost or profit are tot BETWILN f.XflfHl l"ORS or THE UNiTfD STA IES AND PAKAMOUNT ally at variance with the intent of the entire project. These reels have been made at the request of the U. S. Government who has asked that they be given every preference in booking and exhibition. The shorts contain Droduction and star values of feature equivalent; they are being offered without regard to clearance commitments and, in the extremely rare instances where the nominal rental may be a trifle high, the exhibitor can find solace in the fact that he is doing his patriotic duty and that all excess pennies find their way to deserving war chests. This week the Victory Pledge, accompanied by a personal letter from Neil Agnew, is being mailed to all of the nation's theatres from various Paramount branch offices, who, according to Oscar Morgan, are already making requests for additional blanks to fill demands. Following the West Coast confab between producers and Lowell Mellett, representing the U. S. Government, when the plans for the making of 26 shorts to acquaint the public with the nation's war aims and to impress, in entertaining and understanding manner, the need for prompt and wholehearted response to the various projects for successful prosecution of the war, the matter of devising ways and means of fast and thorough distribution was turned over to the WAC. This body appointed a subcommittee consisting of three distributor representives and three theatremen who decided that each company should set up its own system of charging and handling the subjects it had volunteered to make. The Victory Pledge is Paramount's answer — but it is not binding on any other distributor. The first of Paramount's Victory Shorts, "A Letter From Bataan," features Susan Hayward, (Continued on Page 28) Above is a reproduction of Paramount's Victory Pledge, something new in exhibition contracts. 185 Shorts Set by RKO for 1942-43/ Four New Series Highlighted by four new series, short subject releases on the RKO-Radio 1942-43 program will total one hundred and eighty-five, including one hundred and fifty-five single reels and thirty two-reelers, it was announced by Harry Michalson, short subject sales manager at the company's annual sales meeting in New York this week. Heading the new series is "This is America," described as "a vital moving story of America ... its people, its machines, its heart and soul . . . dealing with timely and topical matter of deepest concern to all." The two-reel subjects will be released at the rate of one every four weeks. Another new addition to the company's short {Continued on Page 31)