Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1945)

10 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW > September ]. 1945 MEET TO DISCUSS POSTWAR POLICIES. National Screen Service district managers met with the home office executives in New York this week to discuss postwar policies in the fields of operations, sales and administration. Shown here at the three-day session (Aug. 27-29) are: Front row (1-r) — J. R. McPherson, home office; Leo Abrams, northeast district manager; J. L. Kaufman, home office; Herman Robbins (seated), president; Lou Patz, midwestern district manager; William Bein, central district manager; Jack Cohen, eastern district manager. Back row (1-r) — William B. Brenner, vice-president in charge of operations; Bernie Wolf, west coast district manager; George P. Dembow, vice-president in charge of sales; CJharles Lester, southeast district manager. Reeves Espy In Charge At PRC Stud lo as Leon Fromkess Resigns Post as President Leon Fromkess, president and one of the founders of PRC, this week resigned from the company following reported differences of opinion regarding" production and other company policies with the Robert Young interests, financial backers of PRC. Leaving the company with Fromkess were Ben Schwalb, executive producer ; Harry Sauber, producer, and Don McElwaine, director of advertising and publicity. The Fromkess resignation was handed to Kenneth M. Young, chairman of the PRC board of directors, in Hollywood. Following announcement of the resignation, it was announced that production matters supervised by Fromkess since 1942 would be taken over by Reeves Espy, who entered the industry as a theatre circuit executive with the Skouras interests and later became associated with production with Samuel Goldwyn and Buddy Desylva. Espy has been general manager of the Myron Selznick Agency. The change in the PRC top command was not received as entirely unexpected news in either Hollywood or New York film circles. For some time there has been rumor of dif¥ererices_of opinion between Fromkess and the financial interests behind the company's production and distribution operations. It was said by Kenneth Young to trade reporters last fall that the Young interests would make PRC a top company if they had to spend "$25 million to do so." It was not indicated whether any change would be made in the program of productions announced by PRC recently. It is believed that 300 'Blonde^ Bookings Approximately 300 key theatres throughout the country will play "Incendiary Blonde" during the Labor Day hohday, Charles M. Reagan, Paramovmt vice-president in charge of distribution, announced last weekend. This represents maximum capacity of the Technicolor prints, and demand from exhibitors for bookings has exceeded the available print supply. Theatres are signalizing Paramount Month, which started August 26, with promotion campaigns featuring decorated lobbies and fronts, special newspaper and radio advertising, the home office announced. a statement on that phase of the company's immediate plans will be forthcoming from Harry Thomas, vice-president in charge of distribution, who was on the coast this week when the Fromkess and other resignations were handed in. Thomas joined PRC last April. PRC's previously announced schedule for 1945-46 included 34 features and 16 westerns at a cost of $8,000,000. Allied Co-Operative Theatres Is Formed by Toronto Independents Twenty-five independent theatres in Toronto and the vicinity have formed Allied Co-operative Theatres in a move to protect and further the efforts of individual theatre owners. The organization is intended to be province-wide and possibly include the entire Dominion in its scope. Ben Freedman, Toronto, is president ; Garson Soloway, secretary and William Weiss, managing director. Freedman stated that the organization was formed to establish unity among individual theatre owners and as protection against absorption into the circuit field. He said the independent theatre owner would enhance his value to the producer and distributor by strengthening his trading values as a group, rather than by dealing as a separate entity. Crystal on Survey Trip for Paramount International Clement S. Crystal, head of the foreign theatre department for Paramount International Films, Inc., will leave New York tomorrow (Friday, August 24) for a seven weeks' theatre survey which will take him to Cuba, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Peru, Panama and Jamaica. His longest stop-over will be in Cuba, where he will remain for two weeks inspecting the company's theatre interests, where Paramount has a long-term partnership agreement with Circuito Cobian covering twelve houses. Mutual Leases Maryland Theatre Mutual Theatre Corp., of New York, has leased the Maryland Theatre, Baltimore, for bookings of legitimate, musicals, Broadway tryouts and road shows. Consolidated to Vote On Republic Merger A special meeting of the stockholders of Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. has been called for September 28, 1945, to vote upon a plan of merger and consolidation of Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. and Republic Pictures Corporation with ■ Setay Company, Inc., which is to be the surviving corporation and shall thereafter be known as "Republic Pictures Corporation," all as more fully set forth in the Proxy Statements being mailed to all stockholders. The authorized capitalization of the consolidated corporation surviving the merger will consist of 600,000 shares of $1 cumulative preferred stock with a par value of $10 each, each such share being convertible 'into one share of common stock; 2,750,000 shares of common stock with a par value of 50 cents each; and $5,200,000 principal amount of 4 per cent cumulative Income Debentures due June 30, 1965. All of the debentures, 400,000 shares of the newpreferred stock, and 1,818,664 shares of the newcommon stock, will be issuable upon the consummation of the plan. If the stockholders approve the merger, Herbert J. Yates, Sr. will be president of the company, with James R. Grainger, executive vicepresident; Walter L. Titus, Jr., Edward L. Walton and Walter W. Vincent, vice-presidents ; Herbert J. Yates, Jr., treasurer, and Joseph E. McMahon, secretary. Directors will be Carleton A. Connell, president of Lackawanna Mills, Scranton ; William J. German, vice-president of J. E. Brulatour, Inc.; James R. Grainger; Albert W. Lind, partner in Sterling Grace & Co.; John J. O'Connell, president of Consolidated Molded Products Corp.; James E. MacPherson, president of Framingham News; Frederick R. Ryan, partner in McCombs & Ryan, attorneys ; Walter P. Stevens, chairman of the board of the Scranton Life Insurance Co. ; Walter L. Titus, Jr. ; Walter W. Vincent, chairman of the board of Wilmer & Vincent Corp.; Edward L. Walton and Herbert J. Yates, Sr. and Jr. 'Rio' Drive Judges Named Three judges — Edward M. Saunders, assistant general sales manager; Edwin W. Aaron, circuit sales manager, and Alan F. Cummings, in charge of exchange operations and maintenance— have been named by MGM to select the district and branch managers who will make a trip to South America after the first of the year as part of the company's "On to Rio" drive. A like number of foreign executives will be chosen by Arthur Loew and his associates to make a trip to this country. Columbia's Chicago Sales Meeting Columbia will hold a three-day sales meeting at the Drake, Chicago, from September 11 to 13, at which time the annual discussion of product, selling and promotional policies for 1945-46 will be discussed. Jack Cohn, executive vice-president, and Abe 'Montague, general sales manager, will preside. 'None' Tradeshow Sept. 4 Twentieth Century-Fox will hold tradeshowings of Popular Pictures' "And Then There Were None" in all exchange centers on September 4. Man Bites Dog Situation of a motion picture company contacting a business firm for a tieup was reversed this week when the makers of Chateau Martin wine requested MGM for an exploitation tieup on "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes."