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SifeiueeAuYi April 3, 1946 riCTURBS AUTOMATIC 16M NEWSREELERS Indies Seek N. Y. Mayor ODwyer's Aid in Recapturii^ Par (L L) Studio Croup of indies releasing through*; United Artists are asking the aid tiiis week ot New York's Mayor William. F. O'Dwyer in making the lonncr Paramount studio at Astoria, Looe Island, available for major pro- duction. Plaiit is now occupied by the Army Signal Corps* Photographic Unit and O'Dwyer's intcrcessTon is being sought to have the war De- parlnicnt evacuate it if it is not vilally needed." SI)ou)d Hizzoncr succeed, . indie producers ara willing to commit themselves to start, film-making at once on the Long IsUind lot. Al- though other studio space is now avuilablc in and around New York, producers feel that Hie former Pal- c-ilablishmcnt is the only one large enough and sulticichtly equipped at Ihc moment to handle a:.full-scale- pioductibn—especially in view of the modernization job and extensive equipment installed by the Signal Corps : . A New York attoriiey has been contacted by the producer.?, it has bcch learned, to present their views to the Mayor. They feel he. should ■ be symp;Uhetic, in light of the long campaign staged by his predecessor, Fiorcllo LaGuardiu, to bring pro- duction east. They admit that their present ahxicty for working in New .York is wholly occasioned by the .shortage of studio siuice; which is creating ^ crisis in indie production. However, they point-out, once large- scale picturcmaking has commenced here and been demonstrated, it is \'cry possible that feature produc- tion on a more pcrnianent basis will .rollow. One o[ Uic reasons the Astoria plant Is favored over other New York possibilities is the hew clamp- down on set building. Astoria has a large backlog of inuterials for con- >tructlon of sets, garnered over the years by Par. and augmented by the Sl^'ual Corps. Producers flgure New York pro- duction will be considerably more expensive than on the- Coast, since tliey intend to bring many of their own tcchniciaits cast with thein if a plai\ Is worked out for the studio a^pace. ■ ■ . Rafttfry Comniiitiiig Asain Edward C. Roftery, United Art- ists president, left New York Mon- day (1) for the Coast. He'll be west about two weeks. Trip is being made at the behest of UA board, wl>ich has designated Raftery to make a study of the stu- dio space situation and report back at the next directors' meeting April 10. JAN;S Ui. TAX TAKE OF ^31466^72 CUES BIG B.0 Wa.shinfiton, April 2. Amusement biz hit another top month at the boxofftce last January on the basis of Internal Revenue Bureau figures announced over the weekend. The admis.sions take for the entire countiy was $31,400,372, or more than $5,000,000 above the same month of 1945. However, the total fclKmore than »2,000.000 below the sock $33,741,349 reported for December, 1945, one of tl>o best show business mbuths on record. Broadway, itself, had » busy time •"t.ihe turastiles in January. Col- ^ctions ror Uie 3d Internal Revenue D.S net of New York, all ot Man- hattan above 23d street, totaled $5.- "ol.oas, roughly $1,000,000 better than Janu.nry. ,lB45j although $1,700.- 000_ under tt-e ttrrific December, 191a. flgure.i, • CoL Placates Donglas Hollywood, April 2. Columbia handed a new role to Melvin Douglas, who had turned Hown a part in, that studio's forlh- comipg muKical, '-Rio." This lime the actor, whose contract IS .sliared by Metro and Columbia, is slated to play opposite Ro.-allnd Has- ••■ell. with Virginia Van.Upp as pro- ducer. Warners Mulling WB Pension Plan? Jack L. Warner and his wife re- tui-n to Hollywood tire end of this wtek after three weeks east, fol- lowing a Hot Springs, Ark., vaca- tion. While here the three Warner brothers—Harry M. came east—re- portedly discu."y!ed a proposed pen- sion plan for the company.. Major Jack Warner, Jr., recently out of the service, is also in New York and will remain in N. Y. an- other week or so, picking up his car and motoring back to Burbank where he has resumed in a studio production -capacity at WB. Mrs; j; L. Warner, incidentally. Is now recovered from a bad cold and sinus ailment which marred her N. Y. slay. Agnew's Coast Quickie Back east from Coast huddles onlv 'wo wceK-s, Neil F. Agnc-.v, v.p. of vai.yuard over distribution, planed nut Thursday (28) for additional confen-mR in Hollywood with David *J. Sclznick, heud of Van»uard. Agncw - is due 'bau-k tomorrow AThursdayK • , Vets'Super-Rights' Doe For Supreme Court Test Washingi t , April 2. Supreme Court ycfsterday (1) agreed to hear (he test case on whether a veteran of this war has "super-.<;eniority" rights to his pre- war job.' Decision will- affect thou- sands of jobs in show bii; in union- ized trades, and may result-in labor troubles in case the high court up- holds the act. The unions have fought the law throughout, because it might often result in forcing out men with yeans of seniority in order to. create- jobs for the yets. The tftst case involves a Brooklyn welder. • He was upheld in- his '•super-rights". by a N. Y. federal district' court, but the U. S. .Court of Api>eals in N. Y. ruled that the Se- lective Service Act does not give greater seniority to a veteran of this war than to a man who has served more ye.-»rs in the job. 50Q SMALL-GAUGE HOUSES BEING SET By HERB GOLDEN - Revolutionary wrinkle in the film industry is a plan—already well in work—for 500 18m newsreel thea- tres, entirely automatic in operation and requiring only a. one-man staff. Equipment is' already being made and deals being set by developers of the project. National Industries, Inc., of Chicago.: world's largest manu - facturers of beauty shop apparatus. Automatic newsreel ;theatre scheme revolves around a lOm projector de- veloped by National. Industries en- gineers that wjll repeat a 45-min- ute show without any more atlen- lion than turning it on in the morn- ing, off at night and piling it every three days. Turnstile device is be- ing developed to go -with it to ob- viate the necessity of a cashier. Edward Leven, chief of the mo- tion picture division of - National Industries, claims he has made a deal for product—newsreels and shorts—with a major ' company.! Basis of the deal is that althousli the Ulms will be lOm, it will be le- gitimate competition with estab- lished houses, since full-scale ad- mission will be charged commensu- rate with the type and length of show beinjg given. Leven hopes to get the operation started as quickly as the projection machines roll off the assembly line. He believes his best, chance is in getting going at once, before new theatre building is permitted, since a store or auditoriurn - of any kind can be converted into an automatic theatre with very little material. No booth or excessive live protec- tion is required, as the projector comes in a large, attractive cabinet and ICm film is non-inflammable. All that is actually needed arc the seat.s—and a National Industries sub- sid is ready to supply thcni. Leai.<ie Equipment Natco — the outHt's projection equipment subsidiary—will, not sell its. macliines, but lease them on six (Continued from page' 4) U. S. BiOingTapital-GamsV Fibers Peremptorily for Dodging RealTaxesi The Big'A V Third Trip Hollywood, April 2. Edward Small is readying a third .<;crecn version of the old Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, "The Scarlet Let- ter," with Robert Thoren doing the screenplay. Metro filmed the New England talc in silent days as a starrer for Lillian GIsh.- It was made in sound later by Majestic with Colleen Moore in the top role. ■ Metro Releases 2 Prods. Hollywood, April 2. Cliff Reid and Arthur Field, metro producers, have been let-.put from'contracts at Mudio. Reid's last two-pictures were "Hoodlurn Saint" and "They Were Expendable,' former-still unreleased. Field's final chore was "Cantcr- vllle Ghost" and he had been in- active for some- time following that. 400,000 Newcomers A Boon to Chi B.O. Chicago, April 2. Theatres in Chicago are profiting heavily from the added patronage of some 400,000 newcomers, -workers and their families, who came to Chi- cago to work in war plants and arc making their stay permanent. Be- cause of the diversified' nature of Chicago industry which includes meat packing, steel, metalcraft, rail- roads and thousands of allied enter- prises, cutbacks were not drastic and workers laid, off were able to shift quickly to service industries and the production of consumer goods. . Loop theati'es and B hou.';cs here are getting their share of the new patronage but real bonanza is going to small houses located in areas that have been losing .residents. There has been a steady trek of residents from the three-mile area circum- serlbing the Loop. Warehouse and factories have been leasing space there since 1S)33. As a result small theatres in this area had been taking it on the chin, doing a poor business from the transient trade. With the terrific housing shortage, however, lhe.<;e districts were rapidly filled up with workers, who had little choice and .had to live where they could find room. Thus theatres located in these areas are now running full time iu- .•itead of grinding only in the eve- ning, and in. some cases, only four times a week. In many instances business has been .fo good, because of the new inhabitants, that theatres are'looking for new seats and generally repair- ing run-down houses. One such the- atre, the Schindler's, formerly an old vaude house constructed in the 80s, has just installed a new marquee— first one in its long history. Uppcd business there has been a- direct re- sult of the infidw of new residents. Washington, April 2.- Internal Revenue Bureau is said to be quietly billing Hollywood in- die producers, stars and directors for extra- taxes on plx which they have incorporated to beat the high personal income levies.- While the tax people are doing no talking, it is understood that they are, cracking down on; those who switched over from the personal in- come to the lower capital gains base for tax purposes in violation of the revenue regulations. Treas- ury has frowned on the practice of incorporating single pictures in' or- der to beat the game and has been conducting a probe on the Coast for months. Joseph Nunan. chief of the Rev- enue Bureau, was on the . Coast himself last summer, looking into the situation which had gone hog wild, with directors and stars in- corporating single pictiu'cs and pay- ing only the 25% 'ciipital gains tax on their incomes. Instead of the^ much higher personal income taxes on salaries. . ' Treasury people refuse any com- ment on whether they expect to pub- licize the situation by an expose, featuring a few "horrible examples," but this is a possibility. Advan- tage- of such an action, from In- ternal Revenue's point of vie-w, is that it would scare others from, fol- lowing the trend. CHAS. VIDOR REP0R11D SUING TO END COL. PACT Hollywood, Api-il 2. ■ Cliarlcs Vidor is reported ordering attorneys Martin Gniig and Dava Tannenbaum to prepare suit termi- nating his directing contract with Columbia.- Complaint of megger, it's understood, is that he feels attitude of Columbia, executives toward him is sufficient to violate fegal require- ments of employer and employe re- latiohship. Speaking for Harry Cohn' Colum- bia- prexy, Frank Rosenbergs pub-- licity director, said the relationship - between Tidor and the studio-was "friendly", and tbat he would be given another film to. d'lrect. Lent and Weather Easing Some B.O.s But 'Trunk,' 'Adventure, * 'Utopia - Big Spotty bi-/. over the country ig .the main exhibitor problem this week. It's largely seasonal. In Los Ajigeles the number of holdovei-s. largely is . triinniing^ thi overall total. Holdovers and Lent also denting New York. San Fjian- cisco is sulTering from stormy weath- er which cut into the preem ot "This Day Forward" (RKQ). This new entry, however; rales stro'ng there and also in Cincinnati. Lent is blajned tor offbeat in Pitt.'iburgh. Seattle Is currently sloughed by the outbreak of small- pox. Kansas City, too, is offish while St. Louis holds the hot weather re- spon.^^ble for the b.o. woakne.ss. Indianapolis is" shaping a bit lower than in recent weeks, as is Omaha. Plethora of long-runs is slowing lip Portland. Ore. In contrast, strong fave is putting Miinieapolis ba^c in winning stride; Providence is okay: Bo.ston is back in the groove and ievcrylhing i.-; okay in Loui.sVllle. Phi1adel))hia will be helped by big pictures, "Road to Utopia" (Par) filling the vast Mast- biium for. a smash week. "Walk in the Sun" (20th), whicli drew crix ruvos there, also is outstanding en- try in Pliilly. Current big gro.ssers i i« c I u d c "Walk." "Utopia," "A d v e n t u r e" (M-Co.). "Scarlet Street ' (U). "Spi- val Staircase" (RKO). —Abilene Town" (UA), "Saratoga Trunk" (WB), "Dakota" (Rep),"Bandit ot Sherwood Forest"' (Col). . "Lost Weekend" (Par), "Tomorrow Is For- ever" (RKO). "My Reputation'-" I WB), and "The Outlaw" (UA). La.Kl named ha.s been goiiig great guns in Chicago (helped largely by ,)une ilu.'iseirs s.a. aiu) p.a.) and other scattered .s'pots, but hasn't Inl many of the larger keys. Besides, these, other strong entries just cbii- cluding tbeir slay.s in principal ke.y. cities take in '"Leave Her to Heaven'" (20lh), "Spellbound" (Selznick-UA), ■ Bells of St. Mary's"' (RKO), "Har- vey Girls'' (M-G) and '-Because ot Him" (Ui. Laller Dm-bin item has not shaped up as strong as expected ill several locations.. "Bells".' has come near Crosby's p.evious big en- liy. "Ociing My Way" (Pan. or has topi)ed it where plaj'ed. Picture i.< playing right through ■ llie Lenleit season with its staying ptiwers hardly disturbed. At present, outstanding exhib in- tere.'<l focuses on. the. great swath b(:ing cut by ''Saratoga. Trunk," "Adventure," "Utopia" and "Lost Weekend'' plus to a lesser . extent, " Staii-case." "Tomorrow," "Bandit" and "Walk In Sun." If "Day For- ward ' pans out a.s well as early, test dales indicate, RKO will have three hits, with its "Tomorrow" and "Stair- ca.'-e," playing key situations. Crosby-Hope-Lamour com1>o in "Utopia" is clicking at such rate that it shapes up as the strongest "Jload" picture to dale. Return of Gable opposite Greer Garson has made "Atlvenlure" sock vyherever played. Not the best story and po.s.sibly rushed out sooner than usual by Me'lrb it has xcl new records and long^-ruDS de.s-pitc erix barbs in .some .>:pol.<. The biz being done, by "Lost Weekend" and the free ads it gets on the radio is Well-known. ' Plugging of Cornel .WiUle Is cred- ited as largely responsible tor the »i-eat bi-/. being done- by "Bandit." "Dahot*" v.-hith ca.silywill be Re- public's biggest grosser this sea-son, likel.v will ))ecbnie the company's ouisl-anding coin-collcctor to date, I "tnH* Marie ReclBterefl FOtJNnEU BI BIME i>ILVKR.V.«K fublkhcil Wwkl; bj VARIRTr, lac Bid Silverman, Preaiaent 1S4 Went 4CIII St., Nen.Tork 1^ N. X SUi<.SCUli'T10.N Annual $10 CorelKn $11 tUirelB Co|il(.H... il CfBtJt Vol. 103 t^jglSf? No. 4 INDEX Bills 54 Chatter &i Film Reviews J2 Foreign .... .... ■ 15 House Reviews 55 Inside Legil ....: 56 Inside Masic 48 Inside Orchestras . .....48 IiVside Pictures ............,. 24 Legitimate Literati '. 61 Milton Berle ....... ... 2 Music 42 New Acts ..., ..... 54 Night Club Revie-.vs 52 Obituary ..., 62 Orchestras ....-. 42 Pictures 3- Radio .,.23 Radio Reviews ............. 34 . Frank Scully 61 Television .... 30 Vaudeville '': ... 50 ■Wa.x Works 42 it.di.y'v.^itiKti (I'uli1i.''i''i1 In IfoUj-wnnd bj Dail.v VaVlH.i.-. l.(il.> $10 V(ai^$li- V'^ielgn