Variety (May 1946)

24 PICTURES Wednesday, May 29, 1946 Several New Branch Managers Named; Other Exchange Briefs Mark Sheridan, Jr., promoted by William J. Kupper, 20th-Fox sales chief, to manage New Orleans ex- change. Formerly salesman in At- lanta exchange, he . succeeds E. V. Landaiche,-resigned. Fartlow's Promotion J. R. Partlow promoted to Uni- versale branch manager in Atlanta, succeeding Nick Lamantia, resigned to enter t>iz for . himself. Partlow formerly was Oklahoma City branch manager. H. H. Martin named to succeed Partlow. Laird Heads UA in Dallas - Dallas. T. E. Laird named manager of United Artists' branch here. He succeeds Forest F. Nine, resigned. Laird formerly operated out of the Dallas branch as traveling aide to Fred M. Jack, southern district man- ager. He joined the company as booker in 1938. .Russell I. Brown named sales man- ager here for Republic. William F. Bugie,. former sales manager, has been named, rep for north Texas and Dallas. He replaces Herman Abrams, resigned. Raymond Willis. Jr., son of Inter- state Theatres assistant general man- ager, named office manager of the local PRC exchange by George Gill, in charge of exchange, operations. Charles Dees was moved up . from salesman to sales manager. Resigna- tion of branch manager J. E. Mitchell also was announced. Ross McCaiisland, of the Telenews Theatre,: Denver, succeeds Fred Mc- Fadden as manager of the Telenews here. The Lucas, new independent nabe, opened by Roy Lumpkin, a new- comer to showbiz. Seats 700. Loew's N. T. Shifts Four managers in Loew's houses in N. Y. have been shifted to new spots by Eugene Picker, chief of the company's operations in the city. Shifts include David Schiller from Loew's 167th St. to the Dyckman; Robert Rosen from Sheridan to 107th St.; Walte r a e ligman fr o m Post Road to Sheridan; Leon SIdoskv from the Fairmount to Post Road, and Irving Schwartz, from the Dyck- man to. the Fairmount theatre. Universal Aids Servicemen Brady, Tex. Bob Shanks, former Air Corps captain, operating the Texas, here, first in a group of houses franchised by Universal Pictures, which offered franchises to servicemen and others interested in opening houses in a specified list of towns. ITOA Re-elects Brandt At a meeting of Independent The- atre Owners Assn. in N. Y. last week, Harry Brandt, who operates the largest circuit in N. Y. area, was re-elected president: He is founder of ' the organization and buys and books for many of its members. Other officers are David Weinstock, first v.p., and Max A. Cohen, second v.p.; Leon Rosenblatt, treasurer, and Joshua Goldberg, secretary. Dervln Upped by Rep . James R. Grainger, Republic's sales manager, promoted Frank P. Dervin, Boston branch manager, to be New England district head. Be- fore joining Republic last year, Der- vin was in sales for Universal. Suc- ceeded in Boston by Thomas Duane. Fix Bid for Ozark Town Kansas City. Rowe E. Carney. Rolla,. Mo., ex- hibitor and part owner of . the Tiger hotel, Columbia, who recently pur- chased the Ozark town of Arlington, Mo.,, has refused an offer of a major picture producer to buy the town outright. Carney disclosed only that the of- fer came from a "Culver City, Cal., company" which is believed to want the site as a location spot for shoot- ing outdoors and westerns. Arlington was bought for $10,000 at a recent sheriff's sale. The site is virtually a ghost town with'six cabins, a nine-room house, a five- room house, two four-room houses, four three-room houses, a brick building and a filling station. It is situated on' the slope of an Ozark hillside uvmluuklng t l ie Oasmuiiada New York Theatres Am SHEIIDAN - Doaah MORGAN Jock CARSON - Almdt SMITH Jom WYMAN ' In Warner Bros. Hit "ONE MORE TOMORROW" In Person TOMMY TUCKER AND HIS ORCHESTRA Plus THE THREE ROSS SISTERS STEVE EVANS B'way at 47th St. STRAND it BETTE DAVIS ' In Warner Bra. Hit A STOLEN LIFE BUY L0MBMD0 SWIjLjMMNWt WUWtMtt MNMMT HCKtY ARITQL"- Maareea Dick. Harry O'HARE • HAYMES • JAMES "DO YOU LOVE ME" PLUS ON STAGE COtNT BASIE ORC. PETERS SIS. EXTRA! GENE SHELDON RAVV TUl Ave. St W .r*. ■ ■ v»h Ht. With Gknn HMD • Dan* ClARK Walter MENNAN • Charli* RUOCUS Directed by Curtis Bernhardt HOLLYWOOD Contlaaons B'way at Hit Street and Plney rivers. With its scenery and sway-backed shacks it is figured ideal for local color site, but Car- ney has refused all offers claiming he has a development of his own in mind and will disclose fate of the Huddle on WB Ann I Part to be played by Warner the- atres in spearheading nation-wide exhibitor participation in the 20th anniversary of sound celebration which comes to a climax in August was discussed at a special meeting of WB theatre zone advertising, publicity heads at homeoffiiie, Mon- day (27). Harry Goldberg, circuit s ad-publicity director, presided, while Harry Kalmine, general manager Warner Theatres; Ben Kalmenson Warner general sales manager, and Mort Blumenstock; v.p. over pub- licity-advertising addressed the scs- Elman Sells Chi PRC Franchise Chicago. Sale of his PRC franchise an- nounced here by Henri Elman. One of the eight original organizers of the corporation, Elman goes to Cali- fornia to live. Sole remaining in- terest here is Capitol Film Exchange of Illinois, for which he is currently looking for a manager. Elman has been in show biz here 40 years, starting with Jones, Linick & Schae- fer in 1906. Variety Clubs'Pic Stays With Short Paul Short, former chief barker of the Variety Clubs of America, still has the authority to make a feature film based on the story of Variety Clubs. It has not been turned over to Bryan Foy, as recently reported, for the latter to produce in conjunc- tion with Short. Clarifying the situation, national chief barker. Robert J. O'Donnell, before heading back to Dallas last week, after presiding at VCA's 10th annual convention in N. Y., public- ized a statement by Foy, in which the latt e r d i sclaime d that , while with Inside Stuff-Pictures Warners' celebration of the 20th anniversary of sound, now gelling under way, brings out this incident related by Dr. Lee De Forest, one of the talking picture's pioneers, showing the kind of opposition encountered 1 by sound in its early days, While returning from Europe on the Berengaria the year before Warners premiered "Don Juan," Dr. de Forest learned that William Fox was a fellow passenger. He tried to see Fox to tell him about the new developments in talking pictures but.Fox refused. When Fox arrived back in New York and learned that during his absence, pho- nofllm had been installed in half a dozen of his theatres, he peremptorily ordered them all taken out—without even witnessing a demonstration But. n. year or so later, after Vitaphone began to astonish the world, Fox lost no time in getting aboard the sound-wagon. J; Arthur Rank this week joined the -Motion Picture Assn's Title Regis, tration Dept. as a member. Acceptance of Rank for membership in the dept. adds a British producer to the title registration roster for the first time since the inception of the service. By joining, Rank binds himself and his organization to recognize priority rules on titles and to arbitrate all disputes over the picture labels. Understood that Rank will still have a free hand on titles to his films which are not earmarked for U. S. distribution. Fox Movietone is currently taking steps to move distribution-of its news- reel clips back into China after the wartime hiatus. At its New York stu- dios, Movietone is employing a Chinese commentator to handle the back- ground narration for the reels aimed at the Orient. Use of native com- mentators is a departure from ,the pre-war practice of sub-titling in Chi- nese. Due to the high Illiteracy rate in China, exhibitors there frequently supplemented the sub-titles with a live narrator. Fox is attempting to hypo ' its Chinese sales potential by eliminating the need for the latter. As a safeguard against transportation difficulties, 20th-Fox has sent out a colossal motor van, 35 feet long and with the carrying capacity of a freight car, to haul props and equipment for the production of "13 Rue Madeleine" on eastern locations. Sixteen-ton van will work out of Boston and cover location sites in New England, Quebec and Washington, D. C. Paramount is holding back releases on "The Blue. Dahlia" in spots where it has not been shown and' substituting "O. S. S." Idea is to get the jump oh the forthcoming Warners production, "Cloak and Dagger, which also deals with the wartime work of the Office of Strategic Services. "O. S. S." was originally slated for release in late August. Skouras' Talk ; Continued from page 7 5 SMNEL NUWTI Ktueu DANNY KAYE * DoonOsm •«*■ i'way at i ; 3o o.V ASTOR *>*> «■ /^Toii Tomorrow's Mexico' Paramount Presents Alan Veronica William LADD - LAKE . BENDIX "THE BLUE DAHLIA" A George Marshall Production In Person DUKE ELLINGTON And HU Orchestra 6TLMP ti STUMPY Eitra—THE MIIXS BROS. PARAMOUNT, Times Square "FUN, FANTASY, KAUTVI -Doi/y New. WALT DISNEY'S ■ COMEDY MUSCAX KATUtE f , i GLOBE I ncNHtcotot no Paramonnt presents • PATJLETTE HAT GODDARD • MILLAND "KITTY" A MITCHELL LEI8EN Production Doors Open SIUAI I B'way A • :30 A.M. "I ' I 49th St. ON BCBEEN fThurs.. Moy 30 Bin! CROSBY Bab HOPE I Derettiy LAMOUR In FtriiuounL's "ROAD TO UTOPIA" IN PEBSON Frank PARKER The Stale Bretheri Extra! Adrian. ReJIIsl PALACE B WAY & 47th St. GINGER ROGERS "HEARTBEAT" with Jttn Pierre Aunent AselpHe Meajeu R«lea«ed by HKO RADIO Pictures 20th-Fox, he had signed the deal with Short. O'Donnell also declared that the question of which company was to produce the film was entirely in the hands of Short. Since Short was formerly affiliated with Para- mount's Interstate Circuit, it's be- lieved probable that the picture, to be based on Short's recent Reader's Digest article, "Deep in the Heart of Show Biz," may be produced under Par's aegis. Foy declared in his statement that he had negotiated with Short last Feb. 22 to produce the Aim but had not concluded any deal. As a Va- riety Club rep, he said, he. had of- fered Short $125,000, in addition to a share in the profits, which would "approximate another $126,000." Short was also offered the assign- ment of producer on a salary basis, plus another $25,000 for story treat- ment on his magazine article. Short, apparently, turned down the com- plete offer. . Foy denied having said that George Jessel, who has also asked for rights to produce the film, would turn out a better picture than Par. "As a life member of Variety Clubs and familiar with all its ramiflca tions and activities," Foy declared, "I know that the entire membership is back of Short." O'Donnell disclosed at the conven tion that Jessel had offered to pro duce the film either as an indie pro duction or as one of his productions for iOth-Fox. If he obtained the deal on the former basis, the producer would have turned back a share of the profits into Variety's charitable funds. So long as Short still has full rights, however, Jessel's offer was turned down for the present. Short has not indicated when he expects to begin production. Both Metro and Jules Levey at one time had considered filming the Variety Club's story but both subsequently dropped the idea. investment in the film that drew the crowds. In my opinion, both theories are wrong." Skouras urged cooperation "with every worthwhile movement in the ndustry" and an "effective program of compromise, conciliation and ar- uilialiuii as lit nude practice dlti- RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL "TO EACH HIS QWN" SpeKtocator Sloej* Production PROBABLY STILL DEAF TO PERCENTAGE TERMS Pittsburgh,; May 28 Tom Hickes, who owns a . theatre at nearby Saxton, Pa., has had to be shouted at for years by film sales- man and associates on account of his I hearing. He's been nearly deaf for ' some time. Now he can detect even a slight whisper. Several weeks ago he suffered an agonizing roaring in his ears and i when the roaring stopped. Hickc 1 found he had perfect hearing. putes.". Major disputes, he added, were becoming more and more be- tween two exhibitors rather than between, an exhibitor and distribu- tor. "We cannot, in the years to come, move our business from film ow to the court house," he said. Turning his guns on Allied itself, Skouras said: "I urge upon you that Allied should not be simply a nega- tive, opposition organization. We hear too often of the things which Allied is against. We hear that Al- lied is against percentage pictures. Allied is against preferred playing time. Allied is against local check- ers. "What we must hear, if this in- dustry is to go forward, is an af- firmative program which recognizes the* economic problems of the pro- ducers—which recognizes the rights and economic problems of the estab- lished theatre operators of the coun- try—which recognizes the rights of every free man to enter our busi- ness, and seeks to harmonize them all." Skouras took the opportunity to laud the exhibs for their efforts.in national charity drives. The industry had profited by its cooperation , with organizations such as the Red Cross, he said, because its name was now "linked with charity and civic re- sponsibility." 0 Foreign Censors Continued from page 11 '— ably. Number of recently released American films passed the trade board of censorship easily despite such sequences. Foreign execs are inclined to believe that even horror pix. oncjg ,.-strictly out, would make Prods. Ready to Ink 150G Flack Back Pay Hollywood, May 28. Screen Publicists Guild and the major lots are ready to sign con- tracts giving the flacks approxi- mately $150,000 in retroactive pay. Contracts cover a period from Oct. 9, 1943, to Jan. 1, 1946. Meanwhile, contest between SPG and Motion Picture Publicists Local 798 to determine the bargaining agency for all flacks is still to be settled. In the interim, retroactive pay will go to members of both or- ganizations. Entire new set of officers will take over control of the Screen Publi- cists Guild at its annual election June 18. Current officers, at the nomination meeting, declined to run again. Nominees are Jack Diamond and Chip Cleary for president; John Strauss and Bob Sill, veepec; Anne Myers and Jim Luntzel, recording secretary; Jack Adams and Earl Donovan, financial secretary; Harold Mendelsohn and Paul Harrison, treasurer; Bill McGrath, • Walter Seltzer, Jack Cooper, Bill Ferguson I and Lesley Mason, trustees. the grade. Chief exception in Brit- ain is the gangster theme'*which is still nixed. British trend started during the war when "In Which Wc Serve," the Noel Coward film about a destroyer, used the word "bloody" and got by with eyebrow-raising and nothing else. Since then the word has been used when the context demands it. British film production has profited by the trend. Latest illustration Is J. Arthur Rank's "Madonna of the Seven Moons" in which both "hell" and "cheap slut" are used. Such ex- pressions, it Is said, could never have been used before the war. Film also depicts a female's boudoir defense of virtue, another ex-taboo. Other parts of the United King- dom evidence a similar censorship letup. Chief gainer has been Ameri- can slang which is now readily ac- ceptable on the screen. Influx of GIs to all parts of the UK and a popu- larization of the Americanisms is considered the No. 1 factor in this regard. In South America almost all bans have been eased. Foreign depart- ment execs rarely had met trouble on the subject of morality hut politi- cal subjects had been always eyed askance by the Latins. As things now stand, only the SA taboo against mob scenes is as rigidly enforced as ever. In Moslem countries, officials still hew to the line on religious topics. Ordinary American clowning in the Abbott & Costello film "Lost in a Harem" in which the characters slap each other in the back of the head violated a religious rule of conduct and was snipped. But the morality and political restrictions, officials say, have not been enforced nearly so narrowly as In pre-war times. Billing and Shipping CUrk BMIitgalit StMalsfc-Esrglltb. mH* •acod | B tin sMpplag. Good op- pwtmity. Writ* fttlly to Boi 357, Variety. 154 Wtst 461* Street. New York 1*. N. V. WANTED BY Motion Pictures E*port Compaq MANAGER* EXPEDITER. suallned li. lull thane: owd orpaninr: thareuahly » miliar with natlas picture bu.lneti. P'"'' ably wit* knowledge at Spanlih. ->■■'',,!; perlenee, reference* and »«lary Reply ts Bo« 3»». Variety, IJ« West »•■ New Yark IS, N. Y.