Variety (May 1941)

4 PICTURES Wednesday, May 14, 1941 RKO Sets Tantasia' Into 15 Houses, Single Sound Track; Other Pix Deals RKO has booked Walt Disney's Tantasia' into 15 theatres where the picture will be shown with the single sound track developed by Disney engineers and claimed to retain many of the finest features incorporated in the elaborate system used when the picture first wes released. With all the sound elements combined on the' Rep. Readies Dozen To / Compete Against Tives Hollywood, May IS. Republic is speeding up its produc- tion schedule to turn out 10 to 12 fea- single track, RKO is able to offer^the 11^.^^ before the opening of the new selling season Aug. 1. While not Wrong St«er Hollywood, May IS. Warners bad an unscripted stampede on the Calabasas ranch when a sudden wind atonn caused 400 steers In 'Bad Men of Missouri' to forget their lines and gallop Into the motor high- way nearby. Dennis Morgan and several film buckaroos,were bruised be- fore the stampeders were herded back into focus. production to exhibitors without elaborate, costly installations or changes in their regular projection booth. technically affected by the consent I decree, Herbert J. Yates, board Initial engagement in Cijizda ioi \ has ordered at least 10 I?''^'^'''^r„'^iVL'l''»?L'5R n^*V«n'i^2 1^^^ "adled for competi- thectre, Montreal, May 26 or June 2. l^-j^^ ^^^^.^^ Shooting will be done during June and July. - First of the new program is 'Hur It began Its reserved-seat run at the i ^'.:f.J^='V."5: National, Washington, yesterday (Tuesday), as well as at the Apollo, Indipapolis. Tomorrow (Thursday), the Sim opens in l<ouisville, Hartford and Baltimore. It also hcs been set lor Reading, Harrisburg, Memphis, Ouluth, Seattle, Cincinnati, Elmira, LaCrosse and Portland. PANS irWOOD'S BRUSHOFFTO THE PRESS RCA s Hieatre Television On Large Screen Not Overiy Impressive ricane" Smith,' to be produced by Robert North, who is eIso preparing 'There Goes My Wif#.' Armand Schaefer has four on his production schedule; 'Big Bonanza,' 'Mercy Island,' and two untitled. Four to be produced by Albert J. Cohen are ni.t»t»r> In Minn 'Memphis Belle,' 'Pardon My Stripes,' DIeUtor in Mino. ^^^^ ^^^j p^^^ q^, .^^^ ^^^^ Minneapolis, May 13. Eyte.' First of the Don Barry west- Minnesota Amus. Co. (Paramount) lMl-42 will be The Oregon finally has made a deal with United ! xrail,' to be produced by George Artists, for "The Dictator' and pic- Sherman, tare will go into the Minneapolis and St. Paul Orpheums this month at regular admission prices.' UA's 80% demand was the. hitch that kept the parties apart until last week. Minnesota Amus. held out for a les- «er split and understood a compro- mise was reached. The same thing happened with 'Gone With the Wind' for its second pop price runs. Metro's 50% de- mand was a stumbling block for sev- eral months and the distributor finally made concessions before Par •losed for the film. ™E'2-A-DAY DISAPPOINTING Enlarged WB Sales Dept Causes Sharp Home-Office Re?anip ■ ft Because of plans for enlarging the sales department, Warner Bros, is shitting departments around at the home, office on West 44th Street Blaine-Thompspn agency, which had several offices on the second floor, will move out of the Warner build- ing and be centered in Sardi build' ing. Space fonAerly occupied by the WB clubrooms also may be taken over and a realignment of publicity department office^ is in prospect. New equipment and large desks for the increased sales staff is mak- ing the changes necessary. , High hopes held at RKO that 'Citl- ■cn Kane,' the new Orson Welles coibposite biographical, would quali- ' fy «s « two-a-day roadshow picture mt advanced admissions had • seri- ous jolt during the week on reports tiom opening^ away from Broadway. Film now is in its second week at the Palace, New York, and although not a smash, it is doing well. Same is not true in Los Angeles and Chicago. Showmen In both cities are critical of the method of handling the engagements. On the Coast it was lined up in two houses. El C^pitan, on Hollywood boulevard, which never previously had played a picture aq^.-jiBd been used ex- clusively tor .' stock and occasional road legit, and the RKO HiUstreet, In the downtown' section. iLatter house never had played a film at upped admissions. Befdre the week was over the film was pulled at the Hillstreet and the run confined to KI Capltan, where receipts were • very disappointing. In. Chicago, the film was day-and- dated at the Palace and the Woods. Neither house got a good s'art and the picture was pulled from the Pal- ace before the week's end, in the hope that business at the Woods would improve. Only other bookings immediately In prospect are Boston, at the Ma- jestic, following 'Fantasia,' and in San Francisco, at the Geary,-, legiter. - Trade comment is that 'Kaxie' is made to order for the regular re- leases, but not strong enough for roadshow policy at $1.65. Showing film in two competing theatres also Is considered an unnecessary show- manship hazard, particularly after recent experiences of 'Meet' John Doe.* 'Gone w;th the Wind' hurdled the dual theatre scheme- a year ago. Broadway showmen.. comment is,' 'Orson Welles is good, but he isn't ithett Butler.' 5 mi: ALUMNI NOW SET FOR HOUYWOOD Detroit, May 13. Taking up the cudgel in behalf of its Hollywood correspondent, Harold Heffernan, who also is syndicated via N.A.NA., the Detroit News takes some lusty wallops at film producers f or blacking out the picture pre'vlews for the West Coast correspondents, Pointing out that. newspapers had paid the pictures the iiilelligent com- pliment of sending out correspon- dents who lifted the Hollywood ma- teriel from the plant of inane chat- ter to a useful section of the press, it pointed out that commercial amuse- ment, whatever the type, depends on public good will. Drawing a parallel out of baseball it was indicated that if club owners became so ridiculous as to bar writers from the training camps, the game- would wither within a few weeks from lack of interest. 'Only thf impetus of pre-«rousing public curiosity can send a film off to a flying start,' the News observed. 'It . is always f^cinating, if a little gruesome to see an enterprise which exists by the public's favor in the act of cutting its own throat.' Large screen (18x20 feet) theatra television as revealed Friday (9) at the New Yorker theatre, West 84th street. New York, Is intended by Its authors, the Radio Corp. of America, to be a service for or a supplement to regular film exhibition. "RCA's Thomas F. Joyce made it sun-clear that RCA will confine itself to the manufacture and sale (or lease) of equipment and will expect others, outsiders, to produce, stage; book and deliver sports events or other items of boxoffice appeal. Theatre television conveyed from point of origin by coaxial telephone lines directly to the theatre or thea- tres on the circuit is a 'private' serv- ice as distinct from the 'home' tele- vision that goes out over the air un- der FCC license and. in which o(>era- tion RCA-NBC presumably will con- tinue, along with other and competi- tive companies, to provide actual program service. Emphasis was made in the cere- monies Friday, of the fact that Madi- son Square Garden (N. Y.) has some 65 public events each year, all of them, it was suggested, appropriate fbr and presumably available to fu- ture theatre television. A provocative publicity stunt at the New Yorker theatre was large display frames using sports montages to visualize the idea, each display marked "Coming—On RCA Theatre Television.' iUjm to Equip The estimated present cost of tele- vision equipment for theatre is $30,- UA ALMOST SET ON ITS 1941-42 LINEUP Five members of the cast of Orson WeUes' <atiten Kane' have obtained film pacts or are negotiating for them as result of their \»ork in the RKO picture. Three of the five had never appeared on the screen be- fore. Newcomers ' to Hollywood who have been handed term contracts are Joseph Cotten, who has bein signed by Alexander Korda and makes his debut under the letter's label in 'Illusions,' and Ruth Warrick, signed by RKO and "lees off in 'True to Form' and 'Two on an Island.' Wil- liam Alland, another novice to cel- luloid, is understood to have a deal set with another studio. Dorothy Comlngore, who had previously appeared in minor parts in a lew films with Uttle notice, has been added to RKO rolls also and starts in 'Valley of the Sun.' Gus Schilling, who had likewise been in piji several times before, and had a very minor part in 'Kane,' haS been working steadily ever since in small roles at a number of studios. U Expects to Have Of Its 1941-2 Program Completed by Sept 1 Rushing production plans. Uni- versal expects to have 50% of its entire program for the 1941-42 sea- son completed by Sept. 1. Total of S2 plx will be ready for delivery or in the cutUng room by I^abor Day, studio execs declare. U, at its sales conclave in Febru- ary, announced 65 films, including three Frank Lloyd productions, seven Johnny Mack Brown westerns,' seven a'ctioners 'with Dick Foran and Andy Devine. and four serials. Among important productions skedded for sumrfler camerawork , hre 'Almost an Angel,' co-starring the twice-postponed regional sales Deanna Durbin and Charles Laugh- meetings. United Artists wUI have its 1941-42 product lined up and ready to an- nounce next Mondav (19), v.p. Ar- thur W. Kelly declared yesterday (Tuesday), following his return from two weeks on the Coast Kelly said he would also have de- termined by Monday the dates for Hearst's Anti-Wefles 4 Drive Upped Air Show "Free Company' program, which recently went off CBS after com- pleting its scheduled 13 weeks. 000. A. T. & T. cable fees and other royalties and maintenance charges ar« additional. Also added^are th« terms for righti to sports events, etc. No information seems available at the moment as to what kind of straight fees or percentage-wise con- tracts the sports promoters have in mind. Sports fraternity was much in evi- dence at this experimental event, of which the middleweight champion- bouts between Billy Soose and Ken Overlln was the high point and the . raison d'etre^ An audience of 1,200 persons also witnessed several items sent out of the NBC telev^^sion stu- dios at Radio City. This included emceeing by Ray Forrest, news by Lowell 'Ehomas, an appearance by John Bples, a 'Parker Family' .sketch with Taylor Holmes, 'Violet Heming, William Lynn, Helen Claire and Leon Janney. ' A/ Pathe newsreel and a sign-off (Lucy Monroe singing 'The Star Spangled Banner') were also included. " As regards the IS-rotind fight, it came through surprisingly well. Not as clear as a good newsreel, but it was pretty consistently easy to catch most of the nuances with the excep- - tlon of facial expressions. A pink canvas was used at the Garden, this being the only apparent production change required l>y television. Deflelcneln ' Several observations are war- ranted: 1. Television continues to carry an clement of eye-strain. 2. The coiutant explodino of newt- I paper cameramen't flash bulbs at the moment of maximum mixino it up uiill detract from tnjoyrnent, espe- ciaUy if theatre-voers hereafter latf it on the line to watch. It tuiU' be the public versus the publishers, with both sides probably annoyed. 3. Sports personages make indif- ferent sales promotion advance agents for a new medium requirino busi- ness respectability and confidence as basic conditions. 4. The job of the announcer, is especially difficult in television. The oudience on this occasion teas fre- quently and audibly in disapreement totth the comment Btoiio-by-blow description of Jack Fraser suffered the handicap of immediate conflict with contrary impressions. The be- tween-the-rounds filler of William Spargrovt was inconclusive, just so much rambllny gab without an au- thoritative air. That the Soose win ton; 'Hellzapoppin,' Jules XiCvey's pic with. Olsen and Johnson; 'Ride "Em Cowboy,' new Abbott and Cos-, _ .i,-. . tello starrer; 'Heartbeat' co-starring ' over Overlm wos on unpopular ver- Charles Boyer and Margaret Sulla- van, and W. C. Fields' 'Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.' Fr«dDctl«n . Shnirie Hollywood, May 13. New shuffle in Universal's produc- doubled it rating during the two ti^„ department advances four execs' ^"ce'* ottcnfion. diet at the Crarden found an odd parallel at the theatre. There, too, it looked like Soose had failed to es- tablish a valid claim to the cham- ptonsh^}. ft seems proboble that the accidental circumstance of o peculiar kind of fight and an UTtsatisfying kind of verdict distracted the oudi- HOLDEN INTO PO&T Hollywood, May 13. William. Holden's next top role is In 'Channel Port' slated to start July 1 at Paramount Fred Kohlmar is associate pro- ducer. weeks the Hearst press was attack- ing it for alleged radicalism. Ac cording to a specfal Gill survey, the rating went from 2.1 to 4.5 during that period. Hearst papers ganged up on the wald and Joe Gershenson. Recon- struction of the staff was made dur- i J- j.» I in« recent huddles by J. Cheever ^Itli 4?.nl" "lVT/.L=?„lT^t'l!cowdin, Nate Blumberi William A who have been, hitherto working in I But perhaps the greatest compli- the background. They are Milton ment to RCA theatre television's first H. Feld, Jack Gross, Milton Schwarz- | semi-public trial is that the audience ' was so annoyed with the descrip- tions and so piqued by the decision that it' did not pause very long to. Orson Welles, whose 'His Honor the Mayor' program was one of the in-I stallments. Hackel's 2-Pic Mono Deal give the accomplishment of theatre television itself its appropriate 'tskt tskt,' although at one early point .in the ceremonial part there was a salvo of acclaim at the mention of David Sarnoff's name. Hollywood, May 13. A. W. Hackel closed a deal to pro- , duce two features for the 1941-42; program at Monogram. . | First Is 'Murder By Appointment' and second is 'The Man With Many Faces.' Director is Phil Rosen. Studio Prod. Overflow Hollywood, May IS. Production is so heavy on the Cieneral Service lot that two pro- ducers, ■ Edward Small and Alexan- der Korda, shifted over temporarily to the Goldwyn studio. Small Is making 'International {Ady' uid Korda 1b filming 'Ulu- ■lons.' Other News Pertaining to Pictures Hungary's U.S. film ban Page 14 U.S. and British quota ....Page 14 WB-Hoyts split in Aussie ... .Page 14 Radio reviews: Jack Benny, Elsa Maxwell .Page 32 ASCAP Page 43 Kenneth Thomson quits at AGVA. JPage 45 AGVA elections ..Page 45 New Acts: Victor McLaglen, Eddie Bracken Page 47 Equity council Page 46 More 'Arsenic' dlwy Page 40 Dramatlsts-managen near agreement Page SO Scully, Cliff Work. Matty Pox and others. ' 1 Feld takes over productive super- vision of the company's biggest films,' including the Abbott and . Costello ' comedies, which h^ve become the 1 The audience was predominantly highest money-makers on the lot, | a film, sports and Broadway mob and the Mayfair Productions (Jules | rather than radio. It was significant Levey). Gershenson is advanced to | that many Broadway gamblers were a supervisory post over pictures present to get an advance hint of turMd out by Paul Malvern, Mar- j this new development in sports. shaU Grant and Will Cowan. Gross , xhey paid particular attention to the supervises a^new unit with George sample of horse-race stuff that was Waggner and Joseph Bernhardt Jr., I given early. Land, as associates, and takes under his and wing -the W. C. Relds comedy, •Never Give a Sucker an Even break,' 'Bad Lands of Dakota,' The Yukon Trail,' -The"Ghost of Frank- Exhlbs' O.O. Television In line with a bulletin sent out by New York Allied, of which Max A. 1 -n. . > ,^ ' Cohen is president, regarding the enstem,' The WoU Man' and 'Cap- ; possibility of Government regula- t.vo w.w ■ur/^n,=n• c.>K™=™™,.ij Qvcr telcvision in theatres, Ed tive Wild Woman.' Schwarzwald collaborates with Ken Goldsmith In the production of the Dead End vij. T -111 fn 1.'- <i I up a special i Klds-Little Tough Guys group, the j^j^ situation. Hugh Herbert pictures and a num ber of musicals. ' L. Kuykendall, head of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America, has set up a special committee to U tips Salarlea On* of the results of the switches and U's favorable earnii^ statements was salary Increases to minor execs on both Coasts. It will be a 'fact-flndirtg dommlttee and has been instructed to prepare a report on television as relating to the film industry for the June con- vention of the MPTOA. C^hen is chairman, other two members being Leonard Goldenson, Par thoatre executive, and Arthur Loclcwood, theatre op -of Boston.