Variety (Sep 1940)

Weclnesdayr September 4, 1940 , - Systern. t>eing-use^, by W?iltz Dis- iiey for recordfirig the: rriusic Tan- t^sia^'-.his IpHhcbmiitg - feature, em- ploys: ' ine. .sc^parate- .«oU^ Bottv.. te^ pen-and-ink outfit and KCA, v\vh (developed the record- ing -methbd coUabbration^/Witli Disney's: engineetsi, have b'eieh . ob- ;sieryirig. . scrupulous secrecy on/ the ■ system, pe.ndinii[; release of; the -pic- tUtie/. : -/ '■■ ; ■ . Bevy of soundtracks runs; down the; sidfe of. the film In sirnilar man- ner to the ordinary. singk^^^ system;; However, it is understood,, this -makes the; film wider than: the ■ vsual 35 mm., 'which- is one of the reasons why / special . '. projectibn equipment js^beeded. Theatres, will have to. be shiittered. Itibout a. Week prior to the 'tantasia' en^agemeht. >for installation: of the prbjectbr and" anipiifterSi. DiSney is having 12 of th.e systems built, which- wilt limit to that .number—for the present, -at leasf--.the .:theatres in .which. Tan- ..tasia*. can. simultarieously: play. ■:■ The. nine soundtracks, it is. said, SlantrEyed \ '. . - Hollywood.. Sept, S.:; , Keye Luke- stacts . his - Oriental sleuthiiig Sept. 9, in ia .series' df four features : to: be produced by. - Paul Malvern for Monogram, release.: - Ciurrehtiy. Luke is working, at Pni- versai in 'Jhe Greeri' Hornet Strikes in.':- ; V. ; ; . v W Milwaukee, ;Sept;^ 3;.: ■■ It had to come, of course, but few , expected It would be thls^ ^^^^ .give UTiiclu^ ■ fldelitr to^th^ ^^^h of ybiing ihen tPiarrny, navy^ 306 Su<e$ 2 B'klyh Houses For Ifceinstateineni of Ops Joseph p. Basson, as pfesident of Local 306 of the lATSE, together with Abraham Sluder, Renold Mor- reale, Ernest: Moi-reale; Wforrjs Hplz- maxi, Frank Av Ftrtitta Thnmerroari, filed a N. Y/ supreme , court siiit yeste^-day (tues.) for breach of contract ^against IST. & B. Theatres, Inc., Louis, .N^ Irving Benner, Parkshire Ridge Amuse. Cbr^p., Siannael and Solomon StraMS- berg, Williamsburg Photoplays Corp;, Photo AhiUS; Corp.; Metsun AiYius. Corp. and Frank and Faiy Qelber. The plaintiiffs qlaim that the die- , feridants iare all niembers of . the i ITOA, which on ;Jan,-30, 1937; signed, 7 a' contract with 30(B guaranteeing to ' emiiiby piily 306,; nien; In case an ownier disposed, of his. theatreVhe.wiss to make sufei the futurei owner car- ried oiil the contract: It is clairned that two -theatres,, the Me^ Sun, both in Brbbklyn,. Were dis- posed by some of the defehdants and acquired .by others, and that 306 itieh. who were ^employed: at. the. theatres were lei,but. v - ^'.':'. . • Ah injunction agaiitist the employr meht of any but 306 men, damages, and the salaries 'of the discharjgied fneri from June 22, .1940, When th^y Were -let put, as weU. a^^^ statement, is;sought the Philadelphia Orchestra, which .. , . . Tecorded the mUsic for the . cartoon and aviation service, would feature.: Each choir' of ;the orch—|back!::ushe^e^^ to' the theatre. ,, .It's Buch a!5- woodwinds, brass,. tyitiparti,. j^gjypg^j„^ here, -with' the Fox Pialkce :jS?liaKS'?io?Sd'sS'!-:«**%^ ^then took . .these and. synchronized Uhfe xprnmpn; ^practice. in., the first them , .he wished. : ,.^^^^^^^^ ibr rwprld: 'War days.... Irt' spite.-of this iiiStahce,' atile to. make thie fine quaU.; |p:^^.g - ^rgg :populatioh of: foireign Uy; bf :a single Mdle 10. times^ loud .as the whole brass :?ection,-:prl:««^raci|ori. .. , , o > ah: isolated ;liute: to^Jhe. entire 100- there has been such;,an unlopked lor piece drchestra.v .play.irig . .at. ;full I early rush : of, .voluntary .ehiistmehts strength. I (they're ^hOt^ wa fbr ' the: draft) Bell' Labs' . Process : , V;; that uisher service has bee ■■"r^■■''■^'^^■' iWk Tiicnpv <5oiihd bandicapped. Heirietofore lorig Wait- ,^?S'S?of a'f ud li^t^of ^pUcani.;have. dwmdl^ Sid tSrS LboJatories Sd^? ■ Westerh: Electric). • :Bell poV'er.is already^scarce, ., ,: , , ^ S^st^erriployahg three, sepa. K ^QX exeqs s^t^d recruiting qt the r^te sSSaKlit Was rdfembri- U^rnme help this past^yreek and^. are laie sounqti^Liv.. la Jur- building up a reserve, they may draw. l\. *i. J- -Jw.^rir«,q T,At onlv on its needed. All gals must.coriform strict- uSe. which^ virtually . knocked the least high school gradua es- j^l, 18 nf their seats RCA's years or oyej^ m age, all 5. feet 6 f 1^^^ weight... .Uniformity IS required, not *^ Another Innovation in" 'Fantasia*: for . regimentatioh. but to. facilitate Se^ieS^of a newly-de^U^^ . fiUing. or uni^. velobS Oil paint; givirig th^^^ break, JSv ^ fi^cS ai^ r^movipd^ essen- limifatiOns of coloring use^ . . ^ S" 'r^aditSS^^iill bave one W^^^ at the .Palace Eve- -paayer^-Deenis- " Taylor--^^ . wiU^ never actually be: seen; Only cpuplfe of weeks hence will be tr^ns- iVi^ chadoW will appear on the ferred tp other houses, so: none will his snaao^y : -pp ibse. jobs on account of the. switch -T^e is no running plot through and the same pbUcy Will.bevfbllow^d the^eature; Instead,: eight -separate oyt as becpnies necesswy for oth^r Triusical compositibns recorded by houses m ^e big. ^h^in to make nhe the Philly Orch will be cartboried in [ change t o femme help the rriaiiner ..Disney visualizes th^i .. .,: ■:..; :. : story told by. the composer in each pf them. Giving continuity tp the^Va-. rious • sections Will: be ^ Taylor s shadow and vcommentary. in the in- terims. .:; , ■ . Disney flack department, which, i: has been :running in . low gear, switch took Warner expected to shift Into high .on an- 2^.^^^: .flowing Gold' out of the tasi ' with . return from^th^-.coast, g^ygj^^j^ Y., - Where ; it bad be^n this week of Richard E, ^.onaon, i^^^^^j^^^ for the past two weeksi publicity head. He'^ been .J^est^^bout deposited it at the indie Globe. Only Hfejpe^^to Biz Lies WiUi^^ Says 1^ WB's 'Flowing Col^ Beats M-G 'Bocmi toVfii^ to B'way Gnrie, O'Neil Set : :■ .■.':/■.••;•:V. ■ .:HOllywpod,'' i5ept,-v8. ..• Siigrid Gurie and Bai'bara O'Neil get lead toles In 'Strfeets of Cairo' which starts at U.niversal this weekr :<nd...;;' Joseph G. Sanford is producipg the mystery, meller with L^ jtardbs directing. ' • ■,, :■:. to a month conclaving and other execs on the with: Disney campaign I .jj^^ the Strand this Friday, (6), biit tor the highly un\isual film which, i ^^j^^^ the Brandt house: instead It is expected, wiirbe r<J]eased_abovit^ v ? inid-November, Original plan: to rtlease ho publibity. .stills pvior tp the ;P!:eem is being strapped, .it Is understood. FOR DUALING IN CHI ,:^::'': Chicago. Sept. 3. ' . After building up steadily to dou- ble features and: triples, the break- ing point has at least been reached and there is a trend in the opposite direction with Balaban & Katz sud- denly decidihg to eliminate its triple policy: at the northside Belmont and return to the: relatively conserva- tive twin-bill policy. B, & K. will revert to doubles in. the Belmpnt on Sept. 13.' • John^Balaban. has taken personal cognizance - of the situation and in chasing the tiriples out of his theatres Insists that tripling was forced upon liLs circiiit by compietitive theatreis.. The competitive houses, on their side, insist that they Were bbliged. to iisiB triples to offset the highly pro- tected double features used by the prior run B. & K. houses. \, *Nb Time for Comedy,' also a WB pic, is going into : the: company's Broadway flagship in; place of 'Gold.' Reason for the change, it is under- stood, was that Metro's 'Boonri Tpwn' is. set to open at the bppbsition Capi- tol tomorrow, (Thursday), Both 'Bobni Towr)' and 'Flowing Gold' deal with oil, and it:was felt by the,WB management that 'Gold,' with John Garfield, Pat O'Brien and Frances Farmer, could hardly . Compete against 'Boom Town's' quintet of top ■ names—Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Glaudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr^^^^ Frank Morgan. :,'No Time for Comedy' will give the: Strand Rosalind Russell, James Stewart, Charley. Buggies and Gerter vieve Tbbin ;in" a,.former sOcciessful ■ Broadway . legiter. •') '■ •;'.."..■: Los Angeles, Sept. Picture industry faces avcrisis: that only exhibition can stave off, Spyros Skburas, president pf National Thea- tres, told, the annual Fox-We^t Coast managerial convention here, Skouras, here, from New York to latinch the fifth annua) National Theatres busi- ness drive,• • said' that :cohditibns, if permitted .to continu'e, would para-: lyze thie industry, but that proper ap- proach -to exhibition problems during the next six months could prevent such: collapse. National Theatres * prexy called upon the entirev exhibition -world tb enlist for preparedness, holding that the future of motion pictures, par- ticularly exhibition, must be made more secure, irtd every possible step takeh tb prevent a total collapse. A: few of the avenues suggested by Skouras were higher ;admissions;and extended playing time for all ,worth- :while , pictiares. ' The public, he stressed, would lend its aid in such a movement, . !We, as exhibitprs, .have an but- standing: re.sponsit)ility,'.Skouras told the F-We managers. 'We must make our theatres 100% . for, national. der fense. They are Am'erican institu- tions, . intended for an American in- dustry. Frbni now on every person within the. industry must play his part. ••;'.,'::■ ^ 'We; cannot live on past lalireK We must prepare ourselves to meet any crisis; Admissions must go »up •and we must give meritoripUs : pic- lures every possible day of playing time; "This is the only way we can escape destruction.:. ^'Let us have an American batk- ground. This business belongs to us: let us keep tip to the times so as not to be thrown out pf it.' Skouras painted a rosy picture of the Natibnal Theatres financial struc- ture, stating that company has a $6,000,000 ca.sh balance, placing it in a , most;: advantageous: position to carry on its workJuring: the erisuihg year. -■■,■.' ' {.y, ■ Fifth National Theatres drive con- tinues through Dec. 28. Competing divisions will again be:.Milwaukee, Kansas ; City. Denver, / Seattle, San Francisco; and Los Angeles. New York's latest heW'sreel ppera- tibn,; th6 Airlines News theatre,, is being pushed to completion so rap- idly that opening date has: been.'ten^ tatively set for Sept. 26. Theatre is housed in the new Airlines Terminal building on East 42d street opposite Grand Central R. R. terminal. House Will be Operiated. by: the same group which runs the Grand Central New's.- reel. theatre. -David Dubin, manager- pf G. C, wilt be managing director for both theatres. Airlines,' News theatre wili ■ have tures without regard to availability. St. Louis, Sept. S. Charging that Warner Bros, vio- lated its contraiot by permitting the. screening ■ of fllma in the Rio, a St.-. Louis Amiusement Co. (Fanchon & Maroo) de luxe: nabe, before they . were available for his chain in the .same part of town, Clarence: H.■ Kai- . mann, vet exhib, -has notified G rad- well L. .Sears, general sales mahager, that he' has cahcelled bbokings-'for his entire circuit. of those pix ' that are allowed to play at tWe, Rib riot in • strict conipliance with his contract,. ■ JCaimann's registered let ler : to: Sear^ states; 'Having contracts with : ■your company,: we WbuldAlike to be informed just what we can expect frOm you regarding the fulfilling of the contractual obligations. For yOur Vbecoming better , acquainted with the question, a brief history fpl-: lows: For many yearis, our, r^jatioiis^i" with your company have been .Very happy,' and I hope you have found it to be mutual;. We hav:e had a run of;fil|rhs; oh;,an arrangement that, has been iri- practice for many., many ■years, but since the; eirection of; ' the Rip Thea;tre in ourv localily, the product .hais been "fu''"i'"'bed to.; them prior to our; showing undier the pretext of their operating a strictly week-run de luxe^pblicy, with; the same established admission prices and date bf: availability js in ; effect in the other seven-diay houses' of the St, Louis : AmuSernent Co.; ;hOwe'veir,-: the' Rio . abandoned this ';pqlicy quite some; time a^^^^^ a lesser adrhissibn and playing pic- 528 seats ahd sanrie. scale ais the- G. C. N.eWsreel. ' • HellmaD's Drive-In •. >lbany, N, Y., Sept. 3. ' Albany area will h^ve its second drive-ih- theatre when- Harry..Hell- man a;iid his son, Neil, open one. next spring on ;-Albany:-Saratoga, r<>ad| north Of Latharn (about five miles from Albajiy and within easy reach of Troy and Schenectady). They have taken a long-term lease on 10 acres of giround. Neir Hellman will manage. Space ^will be provided for 600 automobiles, spot ready for op- eration April 1. TTlie Hellmans. now :run the Para- mount and ; Rpyai, Albany, and. the Palace, Troy, all subsequent runs. ' New Bouse lii yirslnla Lynchburg, Sept, S. .■ Hiiriter Perry, president pf Domin- ion Theatres, has announced work is to start within 30 .days.bh e.OO-seater in .Hilton! yillagie, suburban section of Newport News, Va. ■. ,-■ ' Plans for the rnoderhistic hoiise are' neairing completion and bids, will be taken within a; ffew days;: .: -. Jupiter Kicks : Off Hollyvvood. Sept, 3. Jupiter Films, ; Inc., hew outfit headed by Irving Applebaum. starts its first picture, '30, Boys and a Girl,' at the Talisman studio this, week for Mphograrn release. Applebaum produces and diriects the film, which features. St, Brenr dan's Choir. 1st Pegree Indictments For Mgr.'is Murderers South Bend, Ind.. Sept 3 ; ' First degree murder indictments were filed last weejc in St, Joseph Gircuit Gburt against Richard Klo- wbtter. 24,oNiies, Mich:, and Mervin' Cag]e, :21, .Palmyra, 111., held ih con- nection with the hitch-hike robbery- slaying.; of Walter Ebeling, 31-year- old manager Of the Garden in York-'. viile section of New York City. %M indictments, ; each containing tWo counts, were returned by > a special session ■ of the grand jury,. ;■ ; The youths are liable to the death penalty if found guilly on either count Prosecutor Arthur F. Scheer said he would ask the ex- treme sentence.' L. & , Jv Open . Another .: :■ ' :. Atlanta, Sept, 3. Lucas i. Jenkins; Inc., Fj-iday (Aug. 30) unveiled its de luxe Gor- dpri with appropriate ; dedicatibn Ceremb.riies participated in by prortii- nent We.st -End dignitaries, in. which this 1,200-seater is located. "Talks were also made by Arthur Lucas, prez of L&J; William K. Jenkin.«, outfit's secretary-treasurer, and Ray Jett, L&J's. nabe city mgr. Gordon is first of gtoup of new nabe houses to be opened in Atlapta: suburbs by; L&J, who own and op- erate sprne 50 houses throughout Gebrgia, They have under construc- tion at pi-esent. 1,000-seait Euclid, on Euclid avenue, Little Five Points sector; SSO-seat Dearborn, on .East Lake .driye, and: State; 50p-seater. ,oh Capitol avenue, ; :.';.;;. vV; In. addition, .L&J is remodeling its beKalb, in Decatur, boosting seating capacity from 500 to 850; seats. While DeKalb is being rebuilt, L&J is. servr ing its patrons in Depatur City Aude, :; ■.KopIa;r's-House.-:: The Rio was built by Nat Koplar and Dr, J, G. Prbbstein and entered- into a ; booking r pact with the St, Louis Amusement Co, Recently Kaimann merged h is chain of 12 nabes located in North " St, Louis with those of Fired W^bren- berg, prez of MPTOA of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois,; in the Greater; Independent Circuit for : the purpose bfvbhta:ihing better book- ing arrangements for the 25 houses. Other indie talker houses h'av.ie beeji invited to join. Film row observers saw in the merger ;the .girding of the indies '. to battle with Fanchon & ■ Marco, Which,, operates the Amuse-: ; merit ,iCo.'s string of nabes under tt-. cpntract, for supremacy in; the nabe / field here and in St. Louis County. .; : Several weeks ago Wehrenberg, representing a group of indie ppr erators, failed in an efTort; tb curtail triple feature programs in a pow- wow with Hairry C. Arthur,-Jr.. and gen. irigr. of F&M's interests here. Threats of a buyers' strike by the Indies Were made When - it be- came known that Arthur demanded , that all giyea^yays be stopped iminer diately before he would'-agree; tp any proposal by the indies. Kaimann received. letter from Sears Saturday (31) which the WB prexy said the complaint had been isent. tb the St, Louis branch office for inyestigatibh; and instrucr tions to report to the New YoKk headquarters, • NOW IT'S FREE ROOT BEER AS GIVEAWAY . . -' y. Hollywood, Sept, 3, , Hugh-Hatman drew a renewal as cartoon producer at Metrb. ;^ Universal, handed Shemp Howard a player ticket. 20th-Fox picked up Robert Ster- ling's actor; option. ; . Ralph Spence inked a writer deal at Metro..' ' .• ' ; , Roger Mobre's • player- : option hoisted by Metro. '' ■ RKG signed, James' Ellison to one- year contract. , : : , Minneapolis, Sept. 2. . Free/root beer is the latest thea- tre: giveaway here... cyi-il;:^^^^^^ Homewood. mariageir, intrpduced-lt.. "Through a tieup with local manu- facturer of the beverage, he was en- abled to distribute a coupon good for. a six-bottle carton to l evei-y person purchasing two nt admissibri tickels to his theatre. • '...',;\ --v'. ■:'; ..; Names of dealers who Will redeem coupons are flashed on screen .and listed on, advertising dodger.. Interstate Book Nights .; . Dallas, Sept. 3. Interstate'Circuit, Inc;, is working a new distribution on sets of eh- cylopedia. Called 'Enclyclo-Nights.' the sets are sold to thfe customers at nominal prices, phe yolume at a tirne. The stunt is being worked. ;, 19 locations Over the; circuit although the ipallas. houses have hot .iDC.en; de- termined; -.:;.;. . Ford's fRogiie Male- \ Holly wood,. Sept. 3. ,. John Ford gets the directing job on 'Rogue Male,' based on the Geo/I- rey HouseholtJ novel, at 20th-Fox, Filming starts in ; January, with Kenneth Macgowaij as associate pro- dticer. ■