Variety (Jan 1943)

148 mTBRMATIOMAL Th'irty-seventh ^fj/Bfr Anniversary January 6, 1943 In the lliird Year of War, British Fihn Stocks V^orous and Paying Kvidends Bv FRANK TILLEY London, Dec. 15. The upward trend over the last year in the resources and prospects of the nation in the third year of war is strangely and satlsfyingly re- flected in the condition of the film stock markets. Before reviewing the financial history of the past 12 months, just look at this comparative list of prices. The pound is figured at $4. and the prices are those current at the first week in November in both years. 1941 African Theatres, common $7.90 Assoc. Brit. Pic. Corp., $1 common 1.50 Assoc. Brit. Pic. Corp., 6% pref 3.75 Assoc. Brit. Pic. Corp.. i'.'a debs 392.00 A.S.SOC. Prov. Pic. Houses, common 1.65 British & Dominions -10 British Lion, pref. common 1.20 Capital & Prov. News Th 15 Gaumont-British, common .90 Gaumont-Britlsh, A common .45 Gcumont-Brltish, 6%% 1st pref 2.55 Gaumont-British, 4%% new debs 330.00 General Theatres, pref .00 General Theatres, 6^%, 1st mort. debs 318.00 Tussands, 20c. def 1214 Tussands, pref. common .60 Moss Empires, common 3.65 Moss Empires, cum. pref 3.20 Odeon, common 1.40 Odeon, 6% pref 2.75 Odeon, 8% debt 354.00 Prov. Cine. Theatres, 7Vi% part. pref. common 3.10 Prov. Cine. Theatres, cum. A pref 4.12i,4 Prov. Cine. Theatres, cum. B pref 3.90 Prov. Cine. Theatres, 7% pref 4.35 Sound CVCj, 0% pref 45 20th Century, common .15 Stoll Theatres Corp 40 Union Cinemas, common .10 Union Cinemas, lat pref IJO Union Cinekqas, 2nd pref 70 1942 $11.65 2.65 4.40 410.00 3.35 .60 1.70 .80 2.55 1.20 3.65 386.00 2.00 386.00 .15 1.70 5.45 3.85 2.00 3.93 404.00 5.20 S.4B S.SO 4.90 1.00 .20 1.90 .50 4.50 3.9S Rise $3.75 1.15 .65 18.00 1.70 .90 .30 .63 1.65 .75 1.10 56.00 1.10 68.00 .02% 1.10 1.80 .65 1.90 1.20 SO.OO 2.iq 1.32% I.IS .59 M .90 1.30 .40 2.75 3.25 r PheBomenal Increases AXIS SHARPENS ITS AXES IN SO. AMERICA Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 3. Using every means at their dis- posal—radio, newspapers, stage and screen — Axis propagandists have been working double time in South America since Dec. 7, 1941, made allies instead of .simply good neigh- bors of Uncle Sam's hemisphere co- tenants. And while officially banned from most countries south of the border, their attempts to sow disunity and break the AU-Amerlcan front have become more subtle, more insidious and more dangerous in the past year, and from present indications, look as if they're going to be even more potentially harmful In 1943. Axis propaganda takes many lines and uses many fronts. But its cen- tralization and control stem princi- pally from Nazi headquarters in a big stone office building on Callc Leandro Alem in Buenos Aires, which, in turn, takes orders from Berlin. Rome and Tokyo the other corners of the triangle, are doing their share of propagandizing in 5. A. but It's supposedly 'still neutral' Francisco Franco who is carrying a good share of the load, particularly in the fields of radio. Alms and legit. Spanish Falangists, not unnaturally, have been able to get entry and spread the Goebbels-inspired gaft in places where Hitler and Mussolini's aijents have Veen kayoed. Mex Varieties Did Well in 1942 By DOUGLAS L. CRAHAME Jauvet Brathoff Coincidentally with all this has been the acquisition of wider and wider control by J. Arthur Rank, both of cinemas and production. He has, of course, also interests In distribution, notably through control of General Film Distributors Co., handling Universal product on this side. A swift and brief survey of the last 13 months shows further cause for this terrific stock market Improvement. When in October last year the Ostrers sold control of Gaumont-British to J. Arthur Rank for between $3,000,000 and $3,250,000, paid for 3,100 votihg stock in Metropolis & Brad- ford Trust, holding company controlling GB, Rank went on the board as chairman. About this same time there was a row at Associated British annual njeeting, with Sir Ralt>h Wedgewood, new chairman, presiding, be- cause of no dividend with $14,000,000 in reserve, and criticism of pay- ments of directors' fees. A month later Associated Provincial Picture Houses, a GB subsidiary, paid 3% on its common against 2% the previous year, on a gross profit of $304,124. net $78,684. Odeon gro.ss profits also came out at $2,972,000, and were $679,124 above the last year, but with income and excess profits taxes came down to $781,960, actually $12,000 lower than the former year. Debenture and loan interest took $491,188 and there was no dividend Oscar Deutsch was absent from the annual meeting and died shortly after- wards, Dec. 5. Associated Talking Pictures' profit was $244,680 against the previous year's $227,100, with the net at $144,326. Stoll Corp.'s credit balance was up by $5,200 and no dividend as usual. Bank As Odeon Bd.'s Chairman The actual year 1942 opened in January by Rank going to board of Odeon as chairman; he also at this time became chairman of Provincial Cinemas, a G-B controlled company. Sir Oswald Stoll died, and the Littlcrs came in, with Sir Douglas McCralth as chairman. British & Dominions' report showed small profit of $640, compared with previous year's loss of $29,716. By end of January, all film stocks were rising, but slid again a little on pront-taking by weak holders and then recovered on resumption of divi dend paying by Associated British Picture Corp., which declared 7%% interim on the common. Around end of February most stocks had slumped on bad war news, but film counters remained steady. Next month Moss Empires paid 5% interim on their common, which made 10% for the year, which was the same as the last. General Theatres, a G-B control, paid 4% interim on its participating preferred ordinary, having missed a dividend the year before. Later budget increases of taxation, especially seat tax, caused a minor slump, which lasted around two weeks and recovered bn revived and sustained good business by the end of April. African Theatres made a net profit of $617,192, compared with $542,596 the year before, and paid a 20% dividend. Vichy France has also been put to use by the Axis, particularly in the theatre field, and the fact that many Latins have always considered France as their spiritual home has permitted the Laval stooges to work on sympathies long since closed to Berlin. Senor and Senora Juan Q. Pueblo haven't fallen for this too strongly and, in some cases, especi- ally that of long-time No. 1 French actor Louis Jouvet. there have been actual boycotts. While at this writing governments of 19 of the 21 American republics have ordered Axis dj£lomats to pack up their bags and git, Argentina and Chile are still holding on. U. S. entry into the war only served to increase Axis propaganda efforts through films and radio. Dif- ficulty in getting their films from Europe after the stoppage of the Condor LAXl airline between Italy and Brazil made things difficult, and when Brazil entered the war the Vargas government actually took over the Condor line. But picts are still arriving, mainly through Span ish and Portuguese boats, and gener- ally they're smuggled in as passen- gers' baggage so they won't appear on the .ship's manifest and thus be subject to seizure by the British. Discovery in Buenos Aires some time ago of an outright attempt to smuggle in some 40 feature films pi as a quantity of newsreels from the Portuguese vessel, Serpa Pinto, rC' vealed the system to those who were not already aware of what was up. I General Eiscs Just before the mid-year a steady demand for film stocks set in and rises became general. Sir Ralph Wedgwood resigned from ABPC and was replaced by A. G. Allen. The Prince Littler Cpnsolidated Trust was formed as a stock-holding concern with a nominal capital of $410,400, fol- lowing Liltler's joining the board of the Stoll Corp. and acquiring the Stoll family holdings. Union Cinemas, an ABC subsidiary, made a profit of $660,000, which was mainly put to contingencies account; dividend was In arrears since 1937 on pref. stock. Associated British Picture Corp. meeting in August yielded a final dividend of 7%%, making 15% for the year, with a record trading profit of $6,318,200, and a net profit of $1,632,272 compared with a net of $769,052 the year before. British Lion (releasing Republic product here) made S.'>52.520 gross. $201,732 net, against previous year's net of $116,296, and paid SO""; on its 20c common. Another record was made by Provincial Cine. Theatres, G-B controlled company, with a profit of $2,624,952, which was $1,057,840 above the previ ous year's profit. Odeon Properties. Ltd., was registered with a capital of S6.000.000 to 'acquire all or part of the undertakings of 80 Odeon com panics' for the purpose of clarifying finances and absorbing local under takings. Odeon's profit, announced in September, for 13 months was $6,122,156, which was $3,598,000 above previous, and a dividend, the first for three years, of 10% was paid. In October J. Arthur Rank bought for around $1,600,000 the 250,000 B non-voting shares in Metropolis & Bradford Corp. from Associated British Cinemas which had originally been acquired by the late John Maxwell This stock gets the income from 711.000 Gaumont-British common, which, in November, received a dividend of 6%. the first since 1935. During the past financial year G-B made a trading profit of $6,857,164, which was $1,555,988 up on the previous year. Net profit after all deductions was $1,341,862, better by $269,016 than the year before. Statement of combined assets of subsidiaries totalled $28,263,276, a valuation of which, according to Rank, would show a much higher figure. Canada Looks Good By C. W. LANE Montreal. Jan. .1. Sitting back at the close of 1042 for a look at the year's pix business in this city both review and outlook are much above the standard of what was visible and seemed probable at the end of 1941. In resume, the pic- ture is in much more lively colors and there is to start with a !;cncr:il consensus of opinion that g^o^'ses for 1942 show an increase over 1941 of at lenst 25?!—more than that in the single pic theatres and perhaps a little less in the duals. Changes in the theatre setup here have also worked for the better and will do so in the coming year. One is the switch of the French pix house Cinema de Paris to Russian pix and newsreels since the first of the year. This was no real blow to French pix exploitation in this French city since the St. Denis, a 2,300-seater in the centre of the city, catered fully to all possible require- ments while France-Film was begin- ning to feel the shortage in French supplies at that time and it is of course much more acute today. This is being met by reissues and con- siderable repeats of pictures found to be popular and also by conserving the supply by putting on French plays with local talent starring from time to time. BossUb Pix la Vogae As to the newsreel house that has taken the place of the Cinema de Paris, newsreels were hard to come by and at first consequently of in- sufficient interest. Within the last two months they have been supple- mented by Russian pix which arc having a great vogue. The other change which started Christmas Day is the venture of His Majesty's into British pix at 3Sc to SOc. Tliis 1.600-seat house is doing well on its first week and may con- tinue to make money during the year. The public has evidently assimi- lated the very high taxes that hit the theatres here, totalling 30^ of the original ticket cost. Also they have shown a digestion good enough to take in holdovers sometimes ox- tending over six weeks a.s in the case of 'Mrs. Miniver' and there have been plenty four and three weeks repeats. These virtually all in the single-pic houses. Freezing of salaries and positions and draft into war services during the year have increased the troubles of the pic theatres but they are all in train to surmount them, while substitution of men ushers by girls is working well. FREDDY MORGAN SEASON'S GREETINGS TO ALL MY FRIENDS (Remember Me, the Better Looking One of Morgan and Stone' P.S. • If Stone reads this, I'm Only Kidding. SOLE REPRESENTATIVE: LEN MITELLE, 2/5, OLD BOND STREET, LONDON, W. 1. Mexico City, Jan. 3. The year 1042, Mexico's first year of a foreign war in nearly a century, was a pretty fair one for the revue and nitery branch ot show busine.ss. At the time of Pearl Harbor, it was feared that this phase of the biLsine.ss woul^ fall off. But such was not the ca.se. Trade held up well during the winter and spring;, though, with regard to the niteries, there wa:> a sharp slump in the number of some of their best customers, namely, the good-spending tourists. Revue the- atres did well during all season.s. When Mexico went to war in May, fears of a tough deprcFsion popped up again. They were not sustained. The lighter division uf the stage attracted even more patrons. The public, in lai'ger num- bers, sought surcease from war worries there. Mexico getting into the conflict ended a su.spensc that had not been so good for these theatres. The two leading ones here, the Follies Bcrgcrcs and the Teatro ^irico, definitely kept uut of the red. On tlie whole, their .sca.sons were among the best they had ever enjoyedV~-~Jfhe lesser re- vue spots also got a nice play. So did many of the tent shows. Legit theatres, especially tVe Teatro Ideal, specializing in comedies, comedy- dramas and light dramcs, did welL Prices at the revue theatres wer« maintained at a relatively high level—$2 to $3 (Mex.) (44 to e5c U. S.). In 1941, about the highest top these shops could command was $1.50 (Mex.). The Ideal, too, was able to get more coin—$1.30 and even $2 (Mex.). as compared with the $1 that was the general rule in 1941. Better shows were presented. The Follies underwent a thorough facelifting in appointments and pro- grams. Niteries got a good play, so much .so that they were able to maintain their 1941 tariffs, which some of them felt they would not be able to do. The El Patio, one of the ace clubs, for instance, is holding to its table d'hote supper charge of $6 (Mex.) (about $1.50), drinks extra, at>out last year's rates. Two major niteries opened, one of them. Giro's, at a $22.50 (U. S.) couvert. SUx Beflect Conditions 'Conditions of the revue and corn- ed.- theatres and night spots here is more or less reflected in the big provincial towns, particularly Mon- terrey, eastern Texas border indus- trial center, and Guadalajara, in the far west, Mexico's second largest city. Revue and comedy road com- panies are doing pretty well, but are rather limiting themselves to the larger town.s. Circuses, not a.s much as a busi- ne.ss in Mexico a.s in the U. S.. had no kick about trade in 1942. Only two such shows played here this year, the Argentina, backed by Ar- gentinians but with an international troupe, and the Beas. a standard Mexican show that has played this and some other Latin Americiui lands for more than 25 years. The Circo-Teatro Continental, a conti- nental-type circus-vaude outfit, did pretty well in theatres here and on the road. Impresario.s in these field.s figure that 1943 will be about like the past year for them. But one head.nche, though, has developed for the revue houses and niterie.s—the increasing paucity of American performers. It is getting harder and harder for these spots to obtain such talent. There is so much of a demand for their services north of the Rio Grande, in the armed forces, or in the profession, as entertainers for civilians or the uniformed folk. This situation, of course, has been a big break for Mexican talent, which, thus far, has not been much affected by the war. It has made Mexicans improve their material and delivery. Cameras An Urgent Need of Mex Producers Mexico City, Jan. 3. An urgent current need of the pic industry is cameras. There are now only 15 of these available, and pro- ducers are worrying about how they can get priorities for more from the U. S., from whence they must all come from. More cameras are necessary if the Mexican industry is to fulfill its 1943 production schedule, currently flg- -.ned at between 40 and 60 pix.