Showmen's trade review (Jul-Sep 1942)

.■August <V. 79^2 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 15 Warner Sales Heads To Confer at Studio Following Wednesday's windup of the two-day regional sales meeting held in Memphis for the Southern Division, Warner Bros, home office executives headed by Ben Kalmenson left for the company's studios in Burbank, where they will confer with H. M. Warner, Lt. Col. J..L. Warner and S. Charles Einfeld before proceeding to San Francisco for the next regional conference. In the group with Kalmenson are Mort Blumenstock, Norman H. Moray, Arthur Sachson and Howard Levinson. Roy Haines was called back to New York by urgent business and will rejoin the home office contingent later. Joseph Bernhard went direct to the coast from the Chicago meeting. Meanwhile, Kalmenson announced that Ralph McCoy, Southern district manager ; Wolfe Cohen, Canadian district manager ; Robert Smeltzer, mid-Atlantic district manager, and Harry Seed, Central district manager, finished in that order in the nine district annual sales drive. 20th Plans 30 'A's'; Eight in Technicolor 2Uth-Fox is planning to release 30 pictures in the "A" classification on its 1942-43 schedule, eight of which are to be made in technicolor. Cost of production on these "A" films will range from $600,000 to $2,000,000. To date 27 of the pictures have been delivered, in production or being cut and it is estimated that December will see the finish of the entire season's allotment. The eight technicolor features are, "Thunder Birds," "Springtime in the Rockies," "Crash Dive," "The Black Swan," "Hello, Frisco, Hello," "Police Gazette Girl," "Coney Island" and "Greenwich Village." University Will Test Influence Of Films on Juvenile Minds An effort to determine the influence of films on the child mind will be put in operation next fall at the University of Oklahoma. The extension division, under direction of Thurman White, will sponsor a children's movie institute for youngsters from five to eight years of age. A series of six or more hour to an hour-and-ahalf showings on cartoons and other shorts will have trained observers in the audience noting the kids' reactions. As a supplement to the showings, parents are to be sent questionnaires to be filled out asking that the institute be advised of the nature of the children's conversation when they returned from the shows, whether or not nervousness interfered with eating or sleeping habits, what kind of games they played on their return, etc. No Westerns of the "shoot-'em-up" order or other "emotional" films will be shown. 'Big Street' Premiere Aug. 13 Damon Runyon's "The Big Street" will have its world premiere on the big street this month when the RKO Radio picture opens Thursday, Aug. 13, at the RKO Palace, just a stone's throw from the colorful corner which is the springboard for the picture's opening sequence. Projectionists Vote to Strike At a meeting of Local 306, operators, this week, a resolution to call a strike of projectionists in local studios and screening rooms, both home office and private, was passed. Date is to be set later. Gives 150 Books Considerable impetus was lent to the United Motion Picture Industry's drive for books for the men in service this week when MGM's H. M. Richey, assistant to W. F. Rodgers, donated 150 volumes to the cause. This is the largest single donation yet, according to Leon Bamberger, UMPI secretary. Tom Connors Reveals Sales Force Changes Harry Ballance of Atlanta, Ga., has been promoted from Southern district manager of 20th Century-Fox to division manager of the newly enlarged Southern territory. Paul S. Wilson steps from the Atlanta branch managership to the post of district manager and Fred Dodson, Florida salesman, becomes head of the Atlanta branch. In addition to the above, Tom Connors, vicepresident in charge of sales, announces several other promotions and changes, including the appointment of H. R. Biersdorf, Dallas branch manager, to Great Lakes district manager in charge of Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee offices ; E. C. Landaiche, New Orleans branch manager, to the Dallas post ; and C. E. Peppiatt, formerly United Artists manager in New Orleans, takes over the 20th-Fox office in that city. In New England, E. K. Callahan, formerly Boston branch manager, becomes New England district manager supervising Albany, New Haven and Boston. He succeeds Tom Baily, who resigned. Moe Grassgreen, present Albany branch manager, takes over the Boston office. Harry Alexander, Boston sales manager, is named to the managership of the Albany branch and James M. Connolly, Massachusetts salesman, becomes sales manager in Boston. Frank Drew, previously with Metro and United .\rtists, is added to the Boston sales staff. Claire Hilgers, for many years with the Fox organization and more recently operator of a theatre in Albany, Ga., is named to head the Oklahoma City office recently vacated through the resignation of Charles Qark. Arthur Abeles, recently with Warners' foreign department, has been appointed special home office sales representative. CSC of MPE to Hold First Board Of Governors Meet in September The new Central States Conference of Motion Picture Exhibitors, recently formed in Minneapolis, will have its first Board of Governors meeting early in September, according to Fred Strom, executive secretary. The new conference includes Allied Theatre Owners of the Northwest, the Nebraska-Iowa group. South Dakota group and Wisconsin group. All have approved the conference with the exception of the Wisconsin contingent. It is expected that the governors of the new conference, composed of one member of each of the groups comprising the new organization, will go into session immediately following the regular meeting of Northwest Allied in Minneapolis Sept. 1-2. Harold Field of Minneapolis, operating a string of houses in Iowa, has been named governor from that state. The new conference is an outgrowth of the recent Northwest Allied session held in Minneapolis. Form Mass. UMPI Tax Committee The Massachusetts U.AI.P.I. Tax Committee has been formed with Stanley Sumner of the University Theatre, Cambridge, as chairman and Charles E. Kurtzman of Loew's Theatre and A. M. Kane, Paramount branch manager, both of Boston, as members. See Raw Film Stock Schedule Receiving Approval of theWPB The negotiations of last week wherein 11 producing companies decided on a schedule of raw film stock conservation amounting to approximately 200,000,000 feet, is expected to meet with WPB favor, according to sources close to the voluntary reduction plan. The voluntary slashes will entail considerable sacrifices on the part of the producing organization, but the companies afifected are cognizant of the vital necessity of helping the Government at any cost. The plan^ if accepted, will become effective through a directive on September 1, but it is not expected that the WPB will formally act on the proposals, as far as a decision is concerned, until some time next week. This probability is based on a report that there is need for some internal "smoothing" to do in regard to viewpoints expressed at the meeting when the proposals were framed. It is reported that Universal wants a smaller cut than the 17i/2 per cent requested on the premise that their consumption was cut one per cent in 1941 while other companies increased footage seven per cent. It is interesting to note that the proposals make no attempt to regulate conservation on a picture-to-picture basis. Each company may elect the amount of raw stock to be used on any one or more productions, so long as the total consumption is in line with the 1941 footage, less the prescribed percentage cut set for 1942 use. 'Dandy' All-Night Shows For Defense Workers To enable all Dayton, O., defense workers to see the picture, "Yankee Doodle Dandy," which opens one of its limited test engagements at the Victory Theatre on Aug. 14, will receive special all-night showings on Aug. 18 and again on Aug. 21. On these two days, the picture will be shown continuously from 1 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. next day. If the experiment is successful, it is e.xpected to be adopted for other attractions at the \'ictory. James Cruze. Pioneer Director, Succumbs in Hollywood at 58 One of the most colorful careers in the industry came to an end last Tuesday with the death of James Cruze, 58, in Hollywood. Cruze was a picture pioneer, having entered the business along with Mary Pickford, Theda Bara and John Bunny. After starring in serials and features he became a director and achieved the peak of fame in 1926-1928 when he was named among the world's ten best directors. Among the outstanding productions on which Cruze wielded the megaphone were : "The Miracle Man," "The Covered Wagon," "Old Ironsides," "Merton of the Movies," "Ruggles of the Red Gap," "The Old Homestead." "The Pony Express," and many others. More Promotions Announced in RKO Radio Field Sales Force Two more promotions from the ranks in the RKO Radio sales department were announced Wednesday by general sales manager Robert Mochrie. J. B. Brecheen, branch manager of the Charlotte office since 1939, has been moved up to the branch managership of the Washington office. His successor at Charlotte is R. F. Branon, promoted from salesman in the same office.