Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

October 7, 1944 S H O M E N ' S TRADE REVIEW 9 Ten RKO Features Now Ready for Release RKO Radio now has 10 pictures ready for release or in final stages of processing. At this time the studio has one of the strongest backlogs of features in its entire history. "Experiment Perilous," Hedy Lamarr, George Brent and Paul Lukas starring vehicle, is now nearing completion. "The Woman in the Window" and "Belle of the Yukon," two of the four International Pictures features to be released this season by RKO Radio, are completed. Samuel Goldwyn's "The Princess and the Pirate," starring Bob Hope, is completed. Walt Disney's production of "The Three Caballeros" is well advanced. The ten RKO Radio features are "None But the Lonely Heart," "Having Wonderful Crime," "Farewell, My Lovely," "The Brighton Strangler," "Pan-Americana," musical, "Betrayal From the East," "Girl Rush," "Two O'Clock Courage," "Nevada" and "The Falcon in Hollywood." Warners Make Promotions In Foreign Organization Harry M. Warner, president of Warner Bros., has announced that Joseph S. Hummel, who has been foreign sales manager, will assume complete charge of Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, Palestine and Syria and that Wolfe Cohen, formerly Canadian general manager, will take charge of Mexico, South America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. Max Milder, managing director of Warner Bros, interests in Great Britain, will continue as head of all the company's activities in that territory, working directly under the supervision of Warner as in the past. Republic Opens Mexican Office Republic Pictures will begin operation next Monday in Mexico City under the subsidiary name of Republic Pictures de Mexico, Inc., it was announced this week by Morris Goodman, in charge of foreign sales. Carl Ponedel will manage the new branch. Classics Gets Cincinnati Office Albert Bezel, franchise holder for Film Classics in Detroit and Cleveland, this week opened an office in Cincinnati, which goes under the name of Film Classics of Cincinnati. The branch is under the management of Louis Van Baalen. FILM TRAVEL LOG James E. Coston and Alex Halperin of Chicago Warner Theatres, Nat Wolf and Tony Stern of WB in Cleveland, and L. S. Gran of the Milwaukee office were all in New York this week for home office conferences. Making his first visit to the United States since 1934, Carl P. York, general manager in Scandinavia for Paramount International, has arrived in New York for conferences with resident John W. Hicks, Jr. Hal Horne, Charles Schlaifer, Louis Shanfield, and W. J. McHale of 20th-Fox have all arrived on the coast from New York, although they did not make the trip together. Cliff Work, general manager of Universal, is in Manhattan from the coast for general conferences at the home office. Oscar Morgan, Paramount shorts sales manager, left Tuesday on a week's trip through the south. He will visit the Charlotte, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Memphis territories. Rodney Bush, 20th-Fox exploitation manager, spent the week in Chicago and Omaha setting up campaigns for "Wilson." It's Come to This The wartime employment problem among Chicago theatres is so acute that some managers are hiring ushers away from competitors. When one circuit house discharged a couple of ushers for some small neglect of duty, another house in the same circuit gobbled them up. Even the bowling alleys find it difficult to get pin boys, what with school under way. Some owners, according to Louis Peterson of the Chicago Bowling Proprietors Association, wait outside rival alleys at the hours pinsetters arrive for work, spring out, offer the boys higher pay, practically hi-jack them, carry them off in triumph to their own alleys. Tom Connors Joins 20th-Fox Officials in Coast Conference Tom Connors, vice-president in charge of sales of 20th Century-Fox, left New York Tuesday for the company's West Coast studios. He was accompanied by Edmund Reek, production head of Movietonews. Mr. Connors will spend some time with studio officials, Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck, together with President Spyros P. Skouras. Hal Horne and Charles Schlaifer, advertising-publicity-exploitation executives, are already there. New product and forthcoming production plans will be discussed during the next week or two. One-Sheets, Bulletins To Herald 6th War Loan A special one-sheet, ,pre-press book bulletins, in addition to the regular wealth of campaign material will be features of the Sixth War -Loan, John Hertz, Jr., ad and publicity chief for the drive, announced over the weekend, following a meeting Friday with industrj' publicit3',__ advertising and exploitation heads. A committee of the press book editors of all the companies was formed with Charles Schlaifer named chairman, which will concentrate on the preparation of showmanlike work sheet for exhibitors. Schlaifer will work with Sumer Singer, general chief of press book preparation for the campaign. Following a telegraphic canvass of leading theatre exploitation men a pre-press book bulletin containing their "this is my best" bondselling selections will be readied and sent to exhibitors. MGM Managers Visit Home Office With the return from the Coast of William F. Rodgers, general sales manager, home office visits of MGM district and branch managers liave been resumed. In New York this week were Sam Shirley, midwestern district manager with headquarters in Chicago, D. C. Kennedy, Des Moines manager, and H. A. Friedel, Denver head. Two Premieres for 'Climax' Premieres of "The Climax," Universal Technicolor starring Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey and Boris Karloff, will be held on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts October 11. "The Climax" will be shown at RKO Keith Memorial Theatre, Boston, and the Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco. Pre-Release for 'Have Not' "To Have and Have Not," new Warner picture with Humphrey Bogart, will have its world premiere October 11 at the Hollywood Theatre, New York. The film is not scheduled for general release until January. First Runs at Any Price, Says Public Reports of record attendance at key city first runs emphasizes the continued sweep of the trend which set in when the so-called war boom first evidenced itself nearly three years ago. The situation is changing the entire complexion of picture selling and is also having its effects on production. For with the spotlight on the initial first runs, Hollywood naturally sets its sights on the type of operation and theatre policy in force at the de luxe houses of the country — for that's where the money is, since vast numbers of the picture-going public choose to see pictures at first run even if the admission price is higher than at neighborhood theatres nearby. There are reports from all sections of the country showing that the initial runs of big pictures continue, almost incredibly, to set new attendance records. From New York to the West Coast the condition is similar in nearly all the important first runs. Thus, while Paramount finds "Frenchman's Creek" setting new gross and attendance marks in its second, as well as its first week, at the Rivoli in New York, Universal adds up figures on "The Merry Monahans" and gets a total showing that the Donald O'Connor-Peggy Ryan starring vehicle is grossing better than 25 per cent over the strongest previous picture with these stars. RKO theatres in the New York metropolitan district are rolling up new highs with "Wilson." Reflecting the general character of the trend are figures on the same picture's box-office performance in different key cities. "Arsenic and Old Lace" in its fifth week at the Strand in New York, where it has held a pace of record business, finds similar profitable going in San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, and other cities. "Kismet," "Since You Went Away," "Casanova Brown" and other current big pictures show the same strong pull established by them at premiere engagements when they open in other territories. Al Wilkie's Father Dies Albert L. Wilkie, father of Al Wilkie, Paramount publicity manager, died on Monday in Hollywood Hospital, Hollywood, following a brief illness. Funeral services will be held at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Wheeling, W. Va., next Monday. Al Wilkie will attend the funeral services. In addition to him, another son, Charles, survives. Kennedy Joins MGM Talent Staff Marvin Schenck announces that Bob Kennedy, formerly of Lyons and Lyons agency, has joined the talent staff of MGM in New York. Thompson Chosen Again Major Leslie B. Thompson, vice-president of the RKO Corporation, will serve as chairman of the Stage, Screen and Radio Section of the War Finance Committee for New York, U. S. Treasury Department, for the forthcoming Sixth War Loan campaign, it was announced this week. Major Thompson served in the same capacity during the Fifth War Loan. In a statement accepting the chairmanship, Thompson said he was confident the entertainment world would respond to the Sixth War Loan in the same patriotic manner that has characterized its efforts in all previous drives.