Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1945)

10 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW May 5, 1945 Allen Named MGM 'OilUnger' Sets Record District Manager John S. Allen With the announcement by William F. Rodgers, vice-president and general sales manager of MGM, of the promotion of John S. Allen, Washington branch manager, to district manager in charge of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Washington areas, the new managerial setup recently introduced by MGM has been completed. Purpose of the new sales organization, Rodgers reiterated in announcing Allen's promotion last weekend in New York was to effect a closer relation with the exhibitors and thus assure the company of greater responsiveness to any changes which may develop in the postwar era. Allen's elevation comes as a reward for his service of 18 years with the company. Rodgers said that he and his company took pride in the fact that for a number of years the policy of promotion from within the ranks had obtained at MGM. Under the new divisional arrangement, Allen's territory and that of John P. Byrne, whose district includes Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis and St. Louis, are under the supervision of John J. Maloney, central sales manager with headquarters in Pittsburgh. Maurice N. Wolf's Boston district, John J. Bowen's district, consisting of New York and New Jersey ; Herman Ripps' district, comprising Albany, Buffalo and New Haven ; and Robert Lynch's Philadelphia district are under the supervision of Edward K. O'Shea, eastern sales manager with headquarters at the home office. Ripps will also continue to manage the .A.lbany exchange in addition to his district supervision over Buffalo and New Haven. Sam A. Shirley's Chicago district ; Ralph W. Maw's district, comprising Des Moines, Milwaukee and Minneapolis ; and Henry A. Friedel's district, made up of Denver, Omaha and Salt Lake City, are under the supervision of John E. Flynn, western sales manager with headquarters in Chicago. In addition to Friedel's district supervision over the three exchanges, he will also continue as manager of the Denver exchange where he makes his headciuarters. Astor to Distribute 'Caldonia' Worldwide distribution for the first Louis Jordan musical, "Caldonia," has been acquired by Astor Pictures Corp., according to R. M. Savini, president. Deal for the picture, which will be released immediately, was made through Berle Adams, manager of Louis Jordan productions. June Reissue for 'Destry' Universal announced this week that the company would make available to exhibitors during June its "Destry Rides Again," starring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. Reason : the limited number of westerns currently available, especially of top-budget quality. Gerstein Associates Closing Closing of their publicity offices at 9 Rockefeller Plaza on May 5 was announced this week by Evelyn Gerstein Associates. Miss Gerstein will continue as U. S. representative for the National Film Board of Canada on the World in Action films distributed by United Artists. House record of the Victoria Theatre was broken last week with the opening of Monogram's "Dillinger," which continues to draw excellent business. In its first day the picture broke the record held by "The Fighting Lady," with a gross of $1,540 despite the curfew. "Dillinger" played to 8,116 persons the first day, giving ten performances in all, while the house seats but 700. Columbia District Managers in B-Day Conference at Chicago Columbia district managers, and the managers of the branches without district supervision, met with home office executives at the Drake Hotel, Chicago, this week to plan in advance distribution methods of the 1945-46 product and to discuss the distribution of "A Thousand and One Nights," "Over 21" and "The Fighting Guardsman" (all to be released as part of the 1944-45 program). Another point of importance brought up at the meeting was the re-distribution of prints on all future pictures to meet the current raw stock shortage. In addition, ways and means of furthering the Montague 20th Anniversary Campaign were discussed. Division managers present included Nat Cohn, Sam Galanty, Jerome Safron, Carl Shalit, B. C. Marcus, R. J. Ingram and J. Underwood. Branch managers included H. E. Weiner, I. H. Rogovin, B. J. Lourie and Oscar Ruby. A. Montague, general sales manager, who presided, and Rube Jackter, assistant general sales manager, headed the home office delegation which also included Louis Astor, Louis Weinberg, M. J. Weisfeldt, Maurice Grad, H. C. Kaufman, George Josephs, Vincent Borelli, Irving Sherman, Seth Raisler, Joseph Freiberg and William Brennan. Ohio Anti-Bingo Bill Seen Causing Fireworks in Legislature Anti-bingo bill, recommended for passage by the Judiciary committee of the Ohio Senate at Columbus, is now up for consideration by that body. The bill, sponsored by Sen. George G. Shurtz (R.) of Newcomerstown, won a six-totwo approval in the nine-member committee on its hearing last week. Backed by Ohio church federations and opposed by fraternal organizations and other groups interested in bingo, the bill is seen by observers as sure to cause fireworks in both branches of the Ohio legislature. Sen. Shurtz challenged opponents of the bill to test the constitutionality of the law under which bingo is now being permitted. He produced a decision of last July by Common Pleas Judge David Jenkins of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in holding that the bingo section is unconstitutional. More Key-City 'Flame' Dates Additional key-city engagements have been announced by Republic on "Flame of Barbary Coast" as follows : Criterion Theatre, Oklahoma City, May 23 ; Riverside, Milwaukee, May 25 ; Uptown, Esquire and Fairway, Kansas City, Tune 7 ; Fox, Atlanta, June 7 ; Saenger, New Orleans, June 9; Malco, Memphis, June 14; Palace, Jacksonville, June 16. The film is current at the Woods in Chicago and at the Imperial in Charlotte, N. C. Two WB Releases in June Warner Bros, release schedule for June will include two features, "Pillow to Post," with a cast headed by Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet. William Prince and Stuart Erwin (June 9), and "Conflict," starring Humphrey Bogart (June 30). Producers See Strike No Longer as Threat In a statement released over the weekend by the major producers, the current studio strike is regarded as no longer a real threat to the industry. A spirit of cooperation on the part of workers has made possible the resumption of nearly-normal operations, it is noted, and at the end of the strike's seventh week pictures are being started and finished on schedule, the statement points out. Last Friday about 100 carpenters, electricians and machinists at Technicolor were pulled out by strikers, thus threatening to close the laboratory within the next few days. Operations continued normal, according to Technicolor heads, as the balance of the company's 1200 employes continued to go through picket lines. All color release print footage now going through the plant would be killed should a shutdown be necessary. Meanwhile, former studio workers who claim they lost their film work through no fault of their own as victims of the strike have appealed for unemployment insurance at hearings started by the California Department of Employment. Opposition to the move was voiced by counsel for the producers on the grounds that jobs are available in the studios and that therefore the complainants are not entitled to compensation. No strikers are asking for insurance payments, representatives of the Conference of Studio Unions declare. Net Profit of 20th Century-Fox Soars to $12,480,491 Consolidated net profit of 20th Century-Fox soared to $12,480,491 for the 53 weeks ended Dec. 30, 1944, equivalent to $6.04 on the 1,771,364 shares of common stock outstanding against net profits of $10,901,768 for the 52 operating weeks in the comparable period in 1943 when the earnings on the common stock amounted to $5.35. This was revealed in the company's annual report issued this week showing that the net profit included payment of Federal income and excess profit taxes and voting-controlled subsidiaries including National Theatres Corp., and Roxy Theatre, Inc. Gross income from sales and rentals of films together with theatre receipts amounted to $172,624,529 in the 53-week period in 1944, an increase of $18,278,580 over the gross receipts in 1943 which totaled $154,345,949. The report points out that income from film rentals and theatre admissions reached the highest point in the company's history. 20th-Fox Stockholders to Be Asked to Ratify Options May 15 Ratification of agreements granting stock options to certain executives, election of 15 directors and the transaction of such other business as may come up will be asked of 20th Century-Fox stockholders at a meeting May 15. Options to purchase common stock at $25% per share have been granted studio executives Lew Schreiber, 4000 shares ; William Perlberg, 4000; Harry Brand, Fred Metzler and Ray Klune, 2500 shares each. Moskowitz N. Y. WAC Chairman Charles C. Moskowitz, vice-president of Loew's, was appointed chairman of the New York War Activities Committee, succeeding Fred Schwartz, who is resigning to take up his duties with the Office of War Information in Europe. Sam Rinzler, who has served for several years with Schwartz as co-chairman, will continue to serve with Moskowitz in the same capacity. William White, Skouras Theatres, was chosen to succeed Schwartz on the steering sub-committee.