Variety (Dec 1944)

1« WAR ACTIVITIES Wcaaesdayf Decenb«r 13, 19i t All Bonds Sold in Dec. Go to Credit Of Pix Biz Quota; to Continue Stunts Bonds sold during Uie enliie noiilli of December will be credited (0 (he nlm industry's quota for the Sixth War Loan canipaisn, accord- ing to Harry Brandt, national chair- m»n for the industry, in a wire to ilate exhibitor chairmen and ex- hibitors, urRing them to continue llicir bond-selling efTorts throush- o\it lliis month. Consensus of opinion '»t a meet- inii of the nationa^l committee la.^t | week was' that additionat bond i prcoms. Icid matinees and other events instrumental in the sale at\ bonds woxild raise- acWitional mil-; lion.-i. .;nul aid tlic Treasury Dept. to i JO over its announcad quota. Meanwhile. rc.Tult.s of national Tree Movie Day held in practically •very theatre througluuit the coun- try Dec. 7. U-icklin« in to N. Y. headquarleri;, indicate that amount of bontl.'i .<oW. and total realized, will exceed results of a siir.ilar event during tlie Fifth War Loan drive by at least lO'v. In Wa.<hington. Loew's Palace, •nri Warners' Colony and Metro- politan have already exceeded their oiiotas lor the Sixth, in addition to the Earle and Columbia theatres ^tiich were previously reported. Projection room preenis keep mounting, also, latest being the $1,000,000 event being stased by O. J. Miller, Oregon exhibitor state ■chairman for City of Portland em- ployee.i. Feature will be Metro'n, '•Meet Me in St. Louis." Dee. 7 Sales on B'way In I* -theatres in the Bro^idway .sector of New '^ork City, more than I2.SO0' bonds were sold on Dec. 7. The maturity value of these bonds wei-e approximately .$57.1.000. Loew's theatres in New York ac- counted for tlic sale of 11.246 bonds, with a maturity yalue of $844,825. ■ 9t,9M,9M /Bend "rreem" The .■so-e»Iled "proxy" premiere of 'Hollywood Canteeir" at the Strand, .Mbaiiy. Friday night tir». concur- lent with opening of Ihe picUne at the Strand, N. Y., lias resulted in the piuchase of a $100,000 l)ond each by 30 .-Mbany citizens who, tluougli lhe.<e buys, are permitted to occupy seats that otherwise would be occu- pied by 30 cast members. Gag \v».<! not to bring ca.st member.'; ea.«t, the "proxy" thing being a new kind of cxoloitation. ■ in addition to the $100,000 bond for each of the Albany citizens, for total of $3,000,000,. they p»y admis.iion of $1 per. For others, purchase of a war bond (If any denomination, plus $1. 'Baccy Beat! Booz« Hollywood, Dm, 18.- Gentlemen of the presi prefer cigarels 10 liquor, according to a poll conducted by »n Indle pub- licist to learn what the boyi wanted for Christmas, Nicotine beat alcohol by a dozen lengths. entitles them to attend the opening at Albany, DerineCK OKalloni Ned Depinet, retiring chairman ol the distributors' division ot the War Activities Committee,- an- ncrtmced that district and. distributor chairmen not previously recognized would receive » citation and plaque commemling their war activities. Pl.'iques. to be presented before the end ot the year, are sin-iilar to those distributod by William F. Rodders and William Scully, who were previously WAG distributor chairnicn. 306G rroj. Room B.O. Philadelphia, Dec. 12. A projection room preview of Par- amoiml's "Practically Yours" before an audience ot 40 netted $306,2S0 worth of bonds. Paramount projection room screening was sponsored by a group of society women headed by Mrs. Jerome H. Louchheim. Sr.. and Mrs. D. Fred Guthrie, in cooperation with Earle W. Sweigcrt, Par district man- ager in this area. y^p;;^||^P h« improved! RATHVON'S EXEC AIDES FOR RED CROSS WEEK K, Petsr Rathvon, national chair- man o( Red Crois Movie Week lor 194B, last week appointed an execu- tive italt to' aiilst In the drive. Major L. B, Thompson will serve at nattonal •xccutive coordinator; Laon J. Bambarzer, national cani- palgn director; S, Barrett McCormick and Harry Mandel, publicity direc- tor*, W. C. Michel, 20th-Fox execu- tive v.p., has been named chairman of the Corporate Gifts Committee. Rathvon, currently in Hollywood, will name committees lor various brancheif ot uie industry upon his return to N. Y. Leo Brecher has tjeen appointed a.s.iociate national director of Red Cross Movie Week tor IfM.") by Rath- von. Lesser's Paris Trek For 'Canteen' Backgrounds Hollywood. Dec. 12. Sol Lesser, luoduccr ot the forth- coming picture, 'Paris Cnntecn," hopes to leave for Franco early in Januar.v to supervise backgrovuid shots and other details of produc- tion, in cooperation with the .'kniori- can Theatre Wing. Film will be a sequel to "Stage Door Canteen," wtih a French location. Seven productions make up Lcs- ser's .schedule tor 1044-4.5. In addi- tion to "Canteen." they are "The Silver Flame." "Alarum and Excur- sion," "Civilian Clothes." "God's Front Porch," "Crazy to Dance" and Tarzan and the Intruder. " FOSTER, KORVIN TEAM Hollywood. Dec. 12. Susanna Foster and Charles Kor- vin draw co-star spots in the Uni- versal musical, "Once Upon a Dream," slated for an early Spring start. Picture will be co-produced by Michael Fessicr and Ernest Pagano, who are doing the screenplay. F.D.R. to Huddle With Film Industry Heads On 1945 Dimes Drive Wa.shinfttoii. Doc. ll>. Nearly lOO motion' pictuie indus- try toppers will huddle with the President at the White House next Tuesday (I9> on the indu.<try's'con- tribution to the 1945 March ot Dimes Campaign. Nicholas M. Schenck will head the delegation which will be composed mainly ot .state chairmen and the national executive committee ot the industry's participation in the fund raising drive. It is the first time FDR has invited all the picture peo- ple at the head ot the job to confer Willi him. Mr. Roo.scvclt \VilI be given an outline of the industry's plans and will emphasize to Schenck and the others the importance of the motion picture effort. Preceding the Wliilc House visit, : there will be a lunchoon and cam- paigr, business meeting at the : Statler Hotel here. Executive com- ! mittee members expected to attend I are Barney Balaban, .loseph Bern- I hard. Harry Brandt, Tom Connors, Oscar A. Doob. Ernest Emerling, j Cus Ey.sscll, Si H. Fabian, Leonard ! Goldcnson, Harry Kalmine. Mal- ' colm Kingsbcrg, C. C. Mo.skowitz. Herman Robbins, Spyros Skouras, i Walter 'Vincent. Joseph R. Vogcl and Richard Walsh. Greer Gars*n's Encore Greer Garson, who made the ap- peal during the 1944 March of Dimes drive, will a.i:ain be featured in the trailer to be made for the campaign this year, chairman Nichola."; M. •Sj-henck has announccdl Film, titled "The Miracle of Hick- ory." will be direcCTl b.y Frank Whit- beck of Metro, and will be distribu- ted gratis to all theatres by National Screen Service exchanges. Her ap- pearance on some 12,000 screens Inst year resulted in iM.G67.000 collec- I ion.". Vast Changes i Continued from page 3 defendant companies to go before the District Court in Tennessee on any new theatre acquisitions to prove that these acquisitions would not violate the provision.s of the decree. H'wood Benefits Because 5 States Too Sewed Up rVoik.weii|»ii§iilMlioD pictmii tftmmjllfil^yk'^tm jo«il remember'Ait onjr Mond wa»|MM!l«ipk4»llMw «rowJ« to ihMtiaK. ' Tbt pnbUo thoW^ tb'it early towd mm graa)—and it laphtvlSpiMf Ik aMN recwd^ L«AjM| MiK « aiMMa. la lMni,:f-«t»m Hayirfa {»/ -':<' Jim MK. mim' 1ftiw_ riM |j i | |J^ RecorJiaf-'tkal McceMfbUy laok- care of evetytbiDg from a wbitparto an eanbqnalu. Tbc Best M«p alkml nas Minophonic Sound Recording wkiA-kragbtSlill greatar aatnralneM of tonal quality to 'ibe«crctn. |k€MBe tbese cbaagie* iMva cohc gradually, it'a Lard to nialiaaibowllremendou'a ihviMpravemenIt have been. Bnt jwt kaow 192* lani^ wonMn't diaw any crowd* in 1M4. Hm soHfid recording MU H htA its peak of fctfection «tajr? Vcatan ElcMife c^^Meta of tbe Elecukal lk«ca(cli AaaAaeta IHririaa aay, "Kal" They are confitec due mtw farovrlcdga |at» J m tbeir year* of war workwIB IcW I* •till finbr mmmI i« the {tietvet of tomonrotr. mi From one angle Hollywood bcnc- flta by the new ruling. Case brought out that Tony Sudekum and his Crescent group had the flvc-state area so tightly .icwed up that dis- trlbs were virtually forced to deal on-Crescent's terms in order to get their product on screens in more than 70 towns. With the monopoly broken up and the right to do busi- ness with Crescent's competitors protected, distribs arc expected to get better pricen on much product. However, decision leaves the Big Five—Metro, RKO, Warners, 20th- Fox and Paramount—worse oil in the fight to prevent divorcement o£ their theatres. Two points are im- portant in this connection: sma.shing of a group of theatre circuits despite their plea of resultant hardship, and high court endorsement of the the- ory that exhibition chains need Fed- eral Court approval of new acquisi- tions. As a result, the anti-trust division is now pepped up to the extent where it is more confident than ever that it will win the Big Five case. This means that in seeking an in- terim decree, pending final Supreme Court action on the main case, the anti-trust-division will demand suff- er terms than it would have accepted a few months ago, as predicted- by "Variety" some time back. In the Scbine Tlieatres case, in which trial was completed, a few weeks ago, the nnti-trust division is now in a strategic position. Both the Crescent and 'Schine situationa aie similar, and the D. of J. ofriclala believe they have made an even stronger case In the ScUhe matter. When the trial Judge'Is the Schine -.c m B lt»- «to wn to-writ* My 4tiakm with Bie- Crestent verdict })fitoje hta, K : dfO<Ai-l)» vejjr h«|^ t» the QoverntBeKfa eftorts to force dlves- tftwe of certain theatre* and cut down tb* Schine circudt Ruling In.th* CrMcent suit was Ave to one Jmtiee Owen J. Roberts was the oole dlaaeatar. Three Jus- ticaa took bo part—reHx rrankfui-- Uce, Frank Marpbj Md Roljert H- iTackson. PURPLE HEARTEES TOUR U. S. CAMPS, HOSPITALS "Egg In liCour Beer." GI show writ- ten by men recovering from battle woiuids and performed abroad by combat vets or Purple Heart win- ners. Is now touring this country entertaining at camps and hospitals, for tbe first GI show produced over- seas to be rctm-ncd to the United States. Show opened March, IB44,4ti Bt- 7.eite and played North Afi-ica and Italy. Ot 38 men in cast, 13 liava received Purple Heart for wounds in action and 18 wore awarded Com- bat Infantryman's Badg^. Lambs Clnb's Bold Rally Led by Jimmy Walker James J,- Walkdr headed a delega- tion ot theatrical personalities fiom the .Lambs' Club who. entertained yesterday -(Tuesday) at 'the Statue of Liberty in Times Square on be- half of the Sixth War Loan drive. Besides Dean Hudson's orch, and the Music Hall Glee Club, Joa Laurie, Jr.. Harry Hershfleld, i C. Nugent, John .Mexander, Jack Smart, Joe 'Verdi, 'Vaughn Qlaser, Jed Prouty, William Kelly, Jaclc Whiting, Irving Fisher, Hy Mayor and Jay Jostyn also appeared dur- ing the event which was called "Lambs' Day," Iceberg Troupers Home Hollywood, Dec. 12. Chill Wills and troupe of five en- tertainers returned from 37,000 miles of USO-Camp Shows touring In Labrador, Greenland, Bafflnland and Iceland, Traveling with Wills were Lynn Arlen, singer; Theresa Rudolph, bal- let dancer; dernie Dolen, band leader, and The Trouts, juggling duo. McDonald's Son Escapes Death Cpl. Harry W. McDonald, »on of Charles B. McDonald. H[. Y. divi- sional theatre manager for RKO, narrowly csdiped deatii durlnf .the invasion of the P'hU^iMncs some weeks- ago, his parents have just learned - , Though iA the Air Corps, he was oii -Jf landing ship when an explosion blew him off the ship into the ocean. AU he had oa when picked up .was one and a pair of roeary beads around bi> neck. He war .laid up Ave weeks. ■