Variety (Nov 1938)

6 VAKJETY PICTURES Wedncfi^T^ November 2, 193^ INDUSTRY LEADERS POU AIRING TRADE OPINIONS MPTOA Conclave a Vivid Forum—Sundry Expres- sions by Film Spokesmen Manifest Vital Concern in Welfare of tbe Biz —^ Oklahoma City Con- vention a Success in Many Ways By AKTHUB TJNGAR Oklahoma. City, Nov, 1. Oklahoma City has done itself proud in the handling of the leth annual MPTOA convention. This is first town that Hollywood has given the nod for an exhib meet, with plenty of talent on hand for the film ball at Municipal Auditorium tonight (1). Metro sent Blickey Kooney; Warner delegation has Marie Wil- fioo, John F^asme, Olivia de Haviland, Margaret Lindsay and Jane Bryan; 20th-Fox supplied Brian Donlevy and Marjorie Weaver; Gene Atitry, Tex Hitter -and Jade Hoxie were the horse oprey contingent, with BQl Boyd, Weaver Bros. «nd iSvira, ZaSu Pitts and Gene Austin also coming in lor the festivities. Every contingent .of the screen vis- itors were met at either train or plane by delegations of shooting cowboys headed byL. C. Griffith and T. B. Noble, three or four bands in- cluding a contingent of 60 girls form- ing a Scots Kiltie Band, police. Gov- ernor's aides and what not. Pic people also foimd plenty of welcome wherever they went Radio stations gave them time, tiieatres iiad them making personals with many of them to remain over to go to Claremore, Okla., Priday.'lor dedica- tion of the Will Bogers Memorial. Morris Lowenstein, MPTOA in charge, had &e town decorated from stem to stem, his «ntertainment kept everyone on the jump from time of arrival to departure, with Chief of police giving immunity to the dele- gates. Latter could park cars any- place, any time and. were even im- mune in case tbey tcafiEicked in boot- leg liquors in this otherwise dry community.. Arrivals here were early, starting Friday (28) with more than 300 on hand for the Sunday receittion held by President Ed' KuykendalL Mon- day they started arriving from all adjacent territories, and though around ^0 registered at $10 a head, dose to l,t)dO were on hand :for the Mond^ sessions and'festivities. ^Entire Slate Scelected Entir-e iKM^er of MPTOA off icers were reelected for the ensuing year by ^ board of diiKctors at the in- 'itial board mecftiaag Sunday. Those who got.1^ nod were Kuykendall, pre:^; M. E, Comeilord, Scranton; M. A.' Lightman, Memphis; £. C. S63(tfy, Viebeoit; Mitdiell Wolfson, Miami, and A. J. Biylawsldr vice- pivesklents; Morris Lowenstein, Okla- homa City, secretaiy; Walter Vin- cent, txieasaseti E. G. Levy, New Haven, jgeneral counsel^ and Fred Wehrenbei£, St Louis, i^airman of board directors. .Seventeen of the 28 board members attended this ses- sion. Wiwe-floor WMbte Clkeen The 18th convention, Oct 80-Nov. 2, drew more faiterested exhibitors to' its sessions than any previous meet. With registrations well oyer, the 400 mark. The Civic Room of the Hotel Biltmore was crowded, for tbe initial session Monday (31). Highlight, of the entire meet was information sent A. Julian Brylaw- ski by .Calvert MaoGruder, counsel general for the W^e and Hour lawmakers, that motion picture the- atres did not come xuidev the pro- visions of the law. When Biylawski read his communication there was plenty of -good cheer anoong the ex- hibs as the^attitude of the wage and hour division on this point means a savings of at least $4,009^000 in theatre operations a ^ear. At the same session, Ed. Kuyken- dall, elected for sixth Mme to head the organisation, made his annual report in which he blamed the New Deal, Allied Theatres, and meddlers or self-appointed reformers for the dissension and chaos the film indus- ti. has-on all sides. He pointed out that the biz must pull together and; mend its fences'before t^e• Govern- ment comes into the job at an un- predictable cost which might be disa^rous to the biz in jgeneral. Hariy Sherman, only Hollywood producer here for the'.ottening ses- sion, discussed tlie situation ■ there, how labor,costs have gone up and the toU that the industry has had to pay as result Costs are up al- most 4.9%;. he stated, and necessi- fated incn^dsini^ of allotihent fdr his 'HopaLdng Cassidy*' series of $20,- 000 from $65,000 to $85,000. Sher- man closed his oration with the dec- laration that producers and direc- tors should get in closn touch with the movie-goers else the public may become less "Hollywood-conscious" and' pass up the theatres for other forms of entertainment. Nat« D. Golden, chief of Motion Picture Division, U. S. Department of Commerce, talked on the foreign market He declared tiiat danger signals lie ahead for the industry if they are not counteracted that may lead to a serious curtailment of for- eign revenue. With 40% of total take coming from foreign market and 70% of American product used in those countries that some meas- ures would have to be taken to conciliate matters on these fields, or the American exhibitor would have .to carry the.load. Amortize Prod. Costs He stated he Ihad two ways to fig- ure if this was the case. First pic- ture costs would be reduced so that companies could amortize the costs from domestic sales to get a rear sonable profit or the producer could continue 'to make the same kind of pictures now being shown with the exhibs being compelled to pay in- creased rentals. He pointed out tbe generally bad legislative situations in the European countries and told of how U. S. films have been banned from Japan since September, 1S37. Said he understood that the Japa- nese embargo is to be lifted under condition that American companies leave their money in the Nipponese domain for three years, without in- terest, before withdrawing it from tliat country. Civic Interest M. A. Lightman, of Memphis, head of Malco Theatres, spoke on 'Im- portance of the Exhibitor in the In- dustry.* Lightman stated that the exhibs should be leading citizens in their community, a chamber of com- merce by themselves for the. indus- try. He pointed out pictures bou^t must be sold and .that they ediould not let down exploiting the interme- diate pictures. I4ghtman stated there were too many in the business to chime in with Its critics and that it was biz of the operators to repel any attacks or criticism against- the industry; that they had an educa- tional task to perform witii their patrons, and should shush any al- leged scandal goissip. ^■e stated the private lives of people in the indus- try were their own, tiiat it should be Tespected and not publicized. Lightman concluded by stating thai double-billing of great pictures . at cheap prices is tbe ivorst phase of motion picture promotion and. if not stopped, is bound to irrepairably in- jure the business. Wehrenberf's Addscss Subject matter fo r Fr ed Wehren- berg, chairman of MPTOA board of directors who hails from S^. Louis, was 'Public Relations for the Local Theatre Operator,' He told of for- mation of 'Better Films Council' m«iny ^ears s^o to develop high standards in picture-making and the benefits its work has accomplished in the industry. He spoke on labor legislation and how the law-maken will be ready to cut an exhibitor's throat to gain labor votes. He said that lAISE is entirely out of line with its demands in Missouri^ cuch as hot and cold water in projection booths, separate rewinding rooins, etc., and that it is the duty of ex- hibs around country 'to fight sudi unjii^ demands of unions even though iegislative enforcement is at- tempted. That only way exhibs could keep from getting this type qf legislation and demands would be to pay employees a living wage com- mensurate with the biz they do,-and not to use the sutiterfuge that the cashier,, usher and ticket-taker will work for anything just as long as they see the show free. Closing the Monday session was Charlie Casanave of National-Screen Service who spoke of advdtice ot display advertising in anr" outside of theatres. Tuesday's Session Tuesday's session had as its high- light sx>eakers .George J. Schaefer, Bill Rogers and Eddie Golden, who went into industry problems and dis- 4.cuss«d pros and cons of industry conditions. Harold Rodner informed delegates the Will Rogers Memorial Fund was now completely self-supporting and out of d^ through operation of its -endowment fund. He told of Saranac Lake and the French hospital han- dling and how patients are built up until recovered. He insisted em- ployers must guarantee patients their jobs back to take away any mental distress, and asked exhibs in- terest selves only in cases of em- ployees who may become patients. Eddie Golden (Monogram) assert- ed self-regulation and Government interference are not the solution to industry problems; also that the elimination of score charges, music chd^es and non-forcing of short bookings, with features, will not make matters any healthier. That it is just like treating a cancer with vaseline. Onty solution he could see for whole matter is elimination of block booking and divorcement of theatres. Plcer'« Pan Lewen Pizor of Philadelphia had as his subject the 'Contractual Rela- tions Between Distributor and Ex- hibitor.' He declared there is an ex- tremely pessimistic attitude toward present contractual relations; that contracts should represent meeting of two minds, but due to economic position exhib has virtually nothing to say in making contract; that ex- hibs, therefore, must work undei'. terms set up by distribs. Therefore, distrlbs can demand and receive 'ex- orbitant and unfair' prices by hold- ing up product and that exhibs must give in to be able to operate. He in- sisted contracts should .provide that distribs furnish certain nuhiber pic- tures at specific terms, instead of the means used at present. Present method, he contends, allows distribs to defer release dates until contracts with exhibs run out, and that dis- tribs have the right to make reallo- cations of pictures in different classi- fications as to rentals. Pizbr opined that the trade conferences have failed to produce a complete under- (Continued on page 25) Drive's 2-Reeler The World la Ours,' two- reel short to ballyhoo the 'Createst picture year* cam- paign» was previewed in N. Y. last week and released to ex- hibs. More than 1,000 -prints were made available. Series of early sUent «film shots build to biggest laugh in film. Subject is a surprise entry in that it is first-rate entertain- ment and at the same time ex- plains briefly the' inner-work- logs of the business. One. pun- gent point made Is the .manner in which the average film thea- tre dollar is split so that 63c re- mains in the community. Pro- duction staff was headed by Frank Whitbeck. Part of short is narrated by Truman Bradley. Cast comprising typical U. S. famity ihdudes Dorothy Peter- son, Anne Shirley, Samuel S. Hinds, Charlie Grapewin and Johnny Walsh, with about 40 past and preaent-day stars ap-. pearing for flash closeups. £4-0, ELF. KEITH m $318,400, %mjm Net profit for Keith-Albee-Or- pheum Corp. and subsidiaries for the first 39 weeks, ending Oct. 1, dipped approximately $318,000 below com- parable period last year; while B. F. -Keith and subsids, in same period, dipped nearly $300,000. The Keith net is $368,281 for 39-week period this year. Unusual feature of Keith-Albee earnings statement Issued last week was that although profit before pro- vision for depreciation and income taxes was $1,335,034, or only $346>000 below the saime period in 1937, net ptroflt was $596;049, as against $914,- 672 in the preceding year. Company showed $994,140 net for 52 weeks ending Oct. 1, or $1S.46 on 64,304 ^ares of convertible preferred. For the 39 weeks, the company earned $9J26 on the preferred, against $14.22 same ]period of 1937. B. F. Keith report showed net profit 6t $368,281 in 39-week period ending Oct. 1, as compared with $663;946 in similar period last year. The net profit in 52 weeks ended Oct 1 totaled $754,363. S(M€f Ciis 'Best Ertertaiameiit' dim Ae Musby s Top C« Oklahoma City, Nov. 1. George J. Schaefer, in his address before tiie MPTOA, opened jocularly that he's present uiider a sli^t mis- representation, having been invited as a v.p. of United Artists, but he's now there as president of RKO. He got serious pronto, with a review ot how bad the picture business had been, until the organization of the < 'Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment' campaign. He said that such elements as the depression, beat wave and loose talk by several executives, ais well as in- ternal dissension within the industry, had caused 135,000,000 people to wonder what was wrong, as well as having an influence on production brains—'such as they may be*. Schaefer continued that the pix executives had built up the finest campaign that the industry has ever had, and there should be some sort of a similar stunt pulled again -next year, and every year. Schaefer stated that the primary initial advertisit^g was based on the principle that the' industry was a better story to advertise than the $250,000 giveaway — meaning tbe Movie Quiz—so they sold the In- dustry in the newspapers, and the Movie Quiz stunt via the screens. He observed there was some con- fusion thr<iugh commentators criti- cizing the Quiz, but that; after ex- planation, this was stopped and eo- operatidn is being Shown by the ether chatterers. Schaefer stated here, and there some feci that 'we have not gotten the results that ithey anticipated,' but that he did not think or intend to make the contest a con- tinuous banknite. It simply is for the purpose of attraction attention to theatres by the public and will show results in the long pulL, Seme Statistics He felt that they had recaptured the public interest as well as that of the press, which is now more favor- able to the industry than ever before. Schaefer declared that $165,000,000 a y<iar is the budget for production with a $1,500,000 weekly Hollywood payroll to sxqiply film for 18,000 U. S. theatres and a total of 85,000 in the world. Said the load is back-break- ing for Hollywood to furnish a sched-. ule of 350 pictures a season and make tiiem all great Stated that Belasco and the Shuberts were contented with two hits a season, while picture exhibs feel they must have 350 be- cause the public expects more from picture productions than it ever did from tiie stage. Pointed out that only one out of three pictures pays off to the producer.' He told of the shrinkage of foreign markets and that currently no coin at all comes from Spain, Austria, Germany, Russia, China and Japan, with other countries having quotas and blocked currency. And on top of all this grief the industry is fur- ther hampeited by unnecessary can- cellations of pictures, with the indus- try trying to tear itself apart as we!J. "Schaefer explained that he is be- hind the conciliation plan and ex- pects much of the trade practice: conferences. Bill Rogers explained at the after- noon session what had transpired at the trade meetings and what c6uld be expected in general. Edward G. Levy spoke on important Qoiirt de- cisions cf the year. Tonight (Tuesday) is thfe occasion for ti>e mm ball, with all of the Hoi- lywood contingent expected to be on hand to give the locals a chance to look them over at the Municipal Coliseum, which will be packed to its capacity of 15,000 and with many turned away. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the final day of the sessions, at which .com- mittee reports will be made and open forum discussions will be held. Con- vention winds up in the evening with a dinher dance at-the Oklahoma City Golf and Country .Club. HA-F-P.-Can. Truce Creates a S«uabbk Among 2 Nabe Chains Montreal, Nov. 1. Following r^umption of booking of United Artists product by the Famous Players-Canadian chain, the two dominant neighborhood chains here, in which N. L. Nathanson has partnership interest, are squabbling over priority bookings. Confedera- tion theatres, smaller chain, claims that United Amusements, with 15 houses, should not get first bookings of UA film because it (Confed) gave up the UA franchise only because of intervention by Nathanson. Nathanson obtained interest in United Amusements chain some time ago, later getting a slice in Confed- eration 6hain also. Confederation had United Artists product then but when Nathanson fell out with George J. Schaefer, erstwhile UA iales exec. Confedera- tion stopped booking UA product also. With resumption of dealings with United Artists it is reported that Nathanson pencilled in UA product for United Amusements, the larger chain of nabes. N. Lawand, head of Confederation, last week took his plea to Nathanson, in Toronto, point- ing out that it would be unfair to deprive him. of product which he had given up only because of Fa* mous Players-Canadian intervention. It is understood that an arrange- ment is to be made whereby Nathan- ,soa will allow Confederation houses priority on United Artists pictures, but where United -Amusements houses are not close to Confederation the United theatres will show UA films at about the same time. Where United houses, are consid- ered opposition to Confederation then UA film will be given first to Confederation. N. Y. Indies Impressed With Distribs' Sincerity After the first week's trade prac- tice committee's discussions with ex- hibitor groups in New- York, con- siderable progress is reported, but what has actualty been accomplished is shrouded in mystery. Participants are sworn not to discuss matters. However, the leader and president of the LT.O of N. Y., Harry Brandt;, states: 'I am impressed with the sin- cerity of the distributors we sat down with this past week, who ar« really anxious to clean up the mud- dle. How far they will go remains to' be seen.' Whatever points have been agreed upon, however, are up for some wide-open discussion in Oklahoma City at the MPTOA convention this week, and out of these talks will come a clarification of whatever con- cessions are to be incorporated into a new standard exhibition contract mMeetEmk Detroit, Nov. 1. After a busy three-day sesh. So- ciety of Motion Picture Engineers will close its annual conclave at the Hotel Stafler here, tomorrow (2). Total of 32 technical papers, cover- ing sound recordiajg, studio lighting, theatre practice, film processing, et al, will be x>resented during the ses- sion. Conclave officially opened yes- terday noon (Monday) at luncheon with address of welcome by Mayor Richard Readiixg, and talks by Jamison Handy, prez of Jam Handy commercial pix company; George W. Trendle, head of United Detroit Theatres (Par), and C. E. Kettering, director of General Motors research. Late film releases "were screened at Monday night's sesh. Banquet climaTsed today's session, the highlight being presentation of the SMPE Medal and the' Journal Award, £iven for £ignifikumt techno- logical contributions and outstanding papers published, respectively. 'Ranger' Bundled Hollywood, Nov. 1. Republic is trimming its sagebrush cliffhanger, 'The Lone Ranger,' from serial to feature length. Robert Bache, associate producer, is doing the revising. He will also handle the new cliffhanger, 'Lone Ranger Re- turns,' due to start in two weeks. Rap puts four new ones into pro- duction this week, 'Red River Range,' 'AH Their Tomorrows,' 'Federal Man Hunt* and 'Shine On, Harvest Moon.' 'Wagons Westward,' big budgeter, may get the gun next week if casting is completed.