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Scanned  from  the  collections  of 
The  Library  of  Congress 


Packard  Campus 
for  Audio  Visual  Conservation 
www.loc.gov/avconservation 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


R£\7£\TS 
(/»  Product  Digest) 
The  WoHd  at  War 
The  Rrst  o<  Ik  Fe« 
Give  Out  Sisters 

Desperate  Chance  for 
EJIery  Queen 

TKey  Raid  by  Night 

Riders  of  the  Northland 

Battle  for  Siberia 

Between  Us  Sirls 


INDUSTRY  SELLS  $51,161,250 
IN  WAR  BONDS  IN  FIRST  HOUR 
OF  ITS  BILLION  DOLLAR  DRIVE 

358  Features  are  Designated  by  Ten 
Companies  for  Start  of  1943  Season 

Mandatory  Blocks-of-Five  Selling 
with  Advance  Trade  Shows  at  an  End 


VOL  I48,  NO.  10 


the 


et  1370  5 
a>fr,  25  a 


SEPTEMBER  5,  1942 


THE  PUBLIC'S  GOT  DOUGH! 
M-G-M'S  GOT  HITS! 


Just  when  the  public 
is  rolling  in  dough, 
M-G-M  is  rolling  in 
HITS!  Isn't  it  lovely! 
ONE!  TWO!  THREE! 
.  .  .  Right  off  the  bat 
THREE  GREAT 
M-G-M  HITS  to  start 
the  New  Season.  And 
they're  just  part  of 
Leo's  First  Group,  the 
GREAT  EIGHT! 


with  Robert  Sterling  •  Patricia 
Dane  •  Reginald  Owen  •  Lee 
Patrick  •  Charles  Dingle  •  Screen 
Play  by  Marguerite  Roberts. 
Adaptation  by  Walter  Reisch. 
Based  upon  a  Cosmopolitan 
Magazine  Story  by  Charles 
Hoffman  ■  Directed  by  WESLEY 
RUGGLES  •  Produced  by 
PANDRO  S.  BERMAN  •  A 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture. 


with  "Rags"  Ragland  •  Ben  Blue 
Marsha  Hunt  •  Virginia  O'Brier 
Alan  Mowbray  •  Dan  Dailey,  Jr 
Jackie  Horner  •  Screen  Play  b> 
Jack  McGowan  and  Wilkic 
Mahoney  •  Based  on  the  play  b^ 
Herbert  Fields  and  B.  G.  DeSylva 
Music  and  Lyrics  by  Cole  Porter 
A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 
Directed  by  Norman  Z.  McLeod 
Produced  by  Arthur  Freed. 


with  Marjorie  Main  •  ZaSu  Pitts  •  Aline 
MacMahon  •  Lee  Bowman  •  Guy  Kibbee 
Susan  Peters  •  Virginia  Grey  •  Richard 
Quine  •  Screen  Play  by  Harry  Ruskin 
Adaptation  by  Annalee  Whitmorejacoby 
and  Thomas  Seller  •  Founded  in  part 
on  Stories  by  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart 
Directed  by  S.  SYLVAN  SIMON 
Produced  by  ORVILLE  O.  DULL 
A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 


Keep  in  b 
there  ( 
^Punching! 
a  BILLION 

in  Bonds 
for  Uncle  Sam! 


NOW 
TURN 
PAGE 


ass?* 


JAMES  CAGNEY  n 
YANKEE  DOODLE  DANDY 

BASED  ON  THE  STORY,  LYRICS  AND  MUSIC  OF 

GEORGE  M.  COHAN  with 

JOAN  LESLIE  •  waiter  HUSTON  •  Richard  WHORF 
Jeanne  Cagney  •  Frances  Langford  •  Geo. Tobias 
Irene  Manning  •  Directed  by  MICHAEL  CURT1Z 
Screen  Plav  by  Robert  Buckner  and  Edmund  Joseph 
Original  Story  by  Robert  Buckner 

WARNERS! 


mission  scale  in  all  engagements:  $1.10  evenings,  75c  matinees 


IN  ALBANY,  BUFFALO,  HARTFORD,  MEMPHIS, 
MILWAUKEE,  PHILADELPHIA,  WASHINGTON, 


Directed  by  JOHN  HUSTON 


Screen  Play  by  Richard  Macaulay  •  From  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  Serial  by  Robert  Carson  • 


AND  CHC! 


FOR  USHERS,  TICKET-TAKERS,  DOORMEN, 
SPECIAL  COPS,  EXHIBITORS,  AND  EVERYON 
CONNECTED  WITH  THE  SMASH  SHOWINGS  0 


in 


rr 


ULL  OF  SHOWMANSHIP  BECAUSE  IT'S  FROM 


WARNERS! 


MIT  4  FTC  I? 
AMD  NO*  "CHALK  * 
ANOTHER  SUCCtSS  20th 

ORCHESTRA  WIVES* 

top™  a  n^ip 


GLENN 

MILLER 

AND  HIS  BAND 


f  flil  I'arade  Songs  by 
Cordon  and  Warren 
including  the  .sensa- 
LionaJ'Ttw  Cof  a :  Cal 
in  K«fn»tns<«» 


LYNN  BARI  •  CAROLE  LANDIS 

VIRGINIA  GIIMORE  •  MARY  BETH  HUGHES 
NICHOLAS  BROTHERS  •  TAMARA  GiVA 

Directed  by  Archie  Mayo 
Produced  by  William  Le&aron 

Screen  Ploy  by  Karl  Tunberg  and  Darrell  Ware  .  Original 
Story  by  Jamei  Prindle   *   Dances  Staged  by  Nick  Castle 


2©**  CONTINUES  TO  "SAY  IT  MVITH  PICTURES",' 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  QUIGLEY,  EJitor-m-Cbief  and  Publisher 


Vol.  148.  No.  10 


OP 


PRICES  ARE  LOCAL 

MORE  especially  than  with  any  other  merchandise  "Hie 
value  of  a  motion  picture  at  the  box  office  consists 
entirely  of  the  customer's  state  of  mind  about  it. 
Part  of  that  is  his  evaluation  of  the  motion  picture 
in  general,  as  entertainment  in  a  competitive  market. 

While  the  motion  picture  industry  is  a  national  and  inter- 
national institution  its  retail  outlet,  the  theatre,  is  decidedly 
local.  The  theatre's  patrons  are  decidedly  local  folk,  too.  Their 
lives  are  lived  around  home,  conditioned  by  community  stand- 
ards in  all  aspects,  social  and  economic.  It  is  proclaiming  the 
obvious  to  observe  that  this  determines  what  they  will  buy  and 
what  they  will  pay  for  it.  Most  products  are  made  and 
packaged  and  priced  for  the  many  varying  strata  of  taste, 
buying  power  and  social  habit.  This  is  the  more  markedly  true 
of  the  lesser  items  and  smaller  units  of  luxury  goods. 

The  practises  of  the  motion  picture  industry  as  it  extends 
its  participation  in,  and  control  of,  retailing,  aiming  ever  at 
a  national  pattern,  show  frequent  tendency  to  forget  that  the 
pitcure  show  is  local  merchandise. 

WITH  respect  to  the  better  product,  those  pictures 
which  decide  the  success  of  the  theatre's  total  opera- 
tion, the  exhibitor  may  find  that  he  is  told  a  number 
of  things  about  what  he  may  or  must  do.  He  almost  certainly 
will  be  fold  when  he  will  get  the  picture.  He  may  be  fold  what 
days  he  will  play  it,  how  long  he  will  run  if.  He  may  be  told 
how  he  will  advertise  it  and  at  what  cost.  He  will  be  fold  what 
he  will  pay  for  the  picture  and  may  be  fold  the  minimum  of 
what  he  may  charge  for  it.  He  is  certain  to  be  fold  some  of 
these  things  and  he  may,  and  often  is,  told  all  of  them. 
Ground  rent,  taxes,  insurance,  house  payroll  and  ushers'  uni- 
forms are  his  business,  except  that  as  overhead  they  may  be 
subject  to  some  question  and  examination  in  a  real  argument. 

Pertaining  to  many,  if  not  most  and  all,  of  these  elements 
of  policy  the  local  showman,  the  exhibitor  who  has  survived, 
prospered  and  built  his  house  into  an  institution  rating  such 
attention  from  Distribution,  is  also  decidedly  a  local  expert  and 
authority.  It  is  his  business  to  live  in  and  with  his  community 
continuously  and  to  do  an  over-all  job  which  is  good  for  his 
business,  which  is  the  motion  picture.  That  is  a  long  term  opera- 
tion which  must  consider  the  screen  as  an  entertainer  every 
day  in  the  year.  Among  other  considerations  is  the  practical 
requirement  that  the  very  special  pressures  demanded  in  spe- 
cial sharing  for  any  one  picture  shall  not  destructively  invade 
the  well-being  of  the  theatre  in  its  community  relation.  Impair- 
ment ot  the  status  of  the  theatre  and  any  theatre  is  damage 
to  the  whole  industry. 

THIS  discussion  arises  from  a  number  of  expressions  in  the 
flow  of  The  Herald's  exhibitor  mail.    In  behalf  of  the 
power-and-fhe-glory  of  certain  pictures  and  their  pur- 
veyors, dictations,  especially  of  box  office  prices,  have  raised 
sharp  comment,  and  depressed  local  grosses,  in  key  theatres. 
In  one  conspicuous  case  cited,  a  picture  which  was  to  be 


considered  "a  natural"  for  the  house  in  question  played  to 
considerably  less  than  capacity  because  of  the  enforcement 
ot  a  price  scale  which  was  decidedly  out  of  proportion  to  that 
community's  notion  of  what  any  motion  picture  could  be  worth. 
I  he  pressure  in  this  instance  was  not  directly  for  dollars  but  for 
prestige  and  something  for  salesmen  to  use  for  precedent. 
I  he  device  fell  flat  on  its  nose  and  by  word  of  mouth  in  the 
trade  has  harmed  the  picture  concerned  in  a  wide  region. 

A  numoer  of  factors  have  contributed  to  this  situation  in  this 
special  case  and  to  many  like  it.  One  is  that  there  is  a  school 
or  selling  wnicn  considers  that  the  utmost  will  be  had  by  de- 
manding something  more  than  can  be  had.  Another  element  is 
the  ract  that  decisions  are  made  in  behalf  of  a  single  pro- 
duction without  reference  to  the  long  term  interest  of  either 
tne  motion  picture  or  its  theatre.  There  is  also  indication  at 
times  that  decisions  are  being  made  by  persons  extremely  re- 
mote Trom  the  box  office.  An  executive  whose  tip  at  the 
luncheon  table  in  Fifty-second  street  would  take  a  whole  family 
-„  -_e  e.  _5_  54  --~-e3  ;;5  perspective.  -  sc  -•■•z  c'-s  '- 
a  southern  mill  town  and  a  quarter  among  war-rich  workers  in 
Detroit,  for  instance,  are  not  identical  pieces  of  money.  The 
local  exhibitor  knows. 

Prices  are  local.  The  picture  is  worth  what  it  can  get — there 
is  no  other  measure. 

AAA 

PATENT  RIGHTS 

THE  daily  press  of  late  has  had  some  lengthy  and  ardent 
outgivings  by  Professor  I  hurman  Arnold  of  the  anti-trust 
division  of  the  Department  of  Justice,  criticising  the  con- 
duct ot  American  industry  and  contending  that  patents  are 
privileges,  not  property. 

This  drew  some  argument  from  patent  attorneys  who  heard 
Mr.  Arnold's  observations  at  an  American  Bar  Association 
convention  in  Detroit,  but  the  papers  reported  little  of  the 
argument.  So  it  comes  that  Dr.  Alfred  N.  Goldsmith,  con- 
sultant, scientist  and  considerably  an  inventor  in  the  fields  of 
sound  pictures,  radio  and  television,  has  taken  his  pen  in  hand 
■or  a  letter  to  tne  New  York  Times,  observing  pointedly  the 
differences  in  the  status  of  the  products  of  brawn  and  brain. 

"Brawn,"  remarks  Dr.  Goldsmith,  "which  appeals  even  to  the 
most  primitive  man,  has  readily  won  its  rights,  by  physical 
force  if  necessary.  Brain,  which  involves  an  imponderable  but 
no  less  socially  useful  activity,  has  generally  come  off  a  poor 
second  best.  If  men  deprive  brain  workers  of  their  rights  it 
will  not  be  long  before  the  rights  of  all  will  be  lost." 

With  pleasant  whimsy,  he  also  observes  that  while  an  in- 
ventor gets  seventeen  years  of  ownership,  and  many  of  those 
commonly  spent  on  introduction,  the  composer  of  any  piece 
ot  music  can  have  fifty  years  of  copyright  protection. 

AAA 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  stronger  a  man's  constitution  the 
less  the  attention  he  cares  to  pay  to  the  by-laws. 

— Terry  Ramsay e 


MOTION    PICTURE   HERALD     >  /V 

 ■  ■ 


September    5,  1942 


N  Ft 


####*  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


Pictures,  Ahoy 

PICTURES  of  the  battle  of  Midway  may 
yet  reach  the  nation's  screens — three  months 
after  the  fact.  They  will  not  be  in  the  news- 
reels,  but  in  a  special  two-reel  Technicolor 
issue,  probably  to  be  distributed  by  the  War 
Activities  Committee. 

Wednesday  the  Navy  Department 
screened  the  footage,  made  by  Lieutenant 
Commander  John  Ford,  Hollywood  director, 
for  distribution  executives  at  New  York. 
Afterwards  they  were  asked  to  bid  for  re- 
lease rights  on  a  non-profit  basis.  There 
were  no  takers.  Navy  representatives  and 
Arch  Mercey,  assistant  chief  of  the  Office 
of  War  Information  Film  Bureau,  then  con- 
ferred with  Francis  Harmon,  executive 
chairman  of  the  WAC. 

President  Roosevelt  was  reported  to  have 
desired  personally  that  the  pictures  be 
shown  in  full,  in  color,  via  all  the  news- 
reels.  But  the  film  was  made  in  16  mm  Ko- 
dachrome  and  there  are  vast  economic  and 
technical  problems  in  the  way  of  converting- 
it  fo  35  mm  color  prints  for  theatre  exhibi- 
tion. 

Newsreels  will  be  allowed  to  purchase 
black  and  white  prints  from  the  picture, 
after  its  release,  but  only  for  their  libraries, 
it  was  said. 

Easing  of  restrictions  on  the  14  newsreel 
camera  crews  maintained  with  fighting- 
forces  by  the  newsreel  pool  appeared  to  be 
nearer  this  week.  General  orders  to  all  Navy 
officers  were  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  Frank  Knox,  on  Tuesday,  revising 
regulations  governing  still  and  motion  pic- 
ture photographs.  Officers  were  expressly 
directed  to  aid  in  the  widest  picture  cover- 
age possible.  The  Navy  acknowledged  that 
officers  in  the  past,  by  ordering  still  and 
newsreel  camera  correspondents  to  cease 
photographing  as  action  developed,  had  de- 
prived the  Navy  itself  of  valuable  records 
which  the  pictures  would  have  contained. 

Newsreel  men  were  hopeful  that  similar 
measures  would  be  taken  by  the  Army.  Field 
commanders  in  the  Army  have  been  almost 
as  stringent  in  their  camera  bans. 


Double  Inspection 

A  NEW  formula  for  clearing  export  films 
was  arrived  at  Tuesday,  in  New  York,  at 
a  meeting  of  foreign  sales  managers  of  the 
distributors  and  Federal  censorship  officials. 
The  films  are  passed  in  Hollywood  by  the 
Office  of  Censorship's  Western  review  board, 
headed  by  Watterson  Rothacker,  and  then 
the  titles  in  foreign  languages  are  super- 
imposed in  New  York. 

The  conferees  agreed  on  the  necessity  of 
submitting  all  advertising  material  to  be 
exported  to  the  Eastern  review  board.  For- 
merly, this  material  had  been  given  the 
Postal  Censorship. 

The  new  formula,  it  was  said,  avoids  prin- 
cipally the  submission  of  films  passed  by 
the  Western  board  to  the  New  York  board 


$51,161,250  War  Bond  sale  in  first  hour 
of  drive  Page  13 

BOND  "premieres"  to  add  $100,000,000 
to  campaign  Page  14 

MANDATORY  block-of-five  selling  ends 
for  five  majors  Page  17 

ALL-OUT  war  effort  urged  on  industry  by 
Tom  Connors  Page  34 

10  COMPANIES  list  total  of  358  films  for 
1942-43  Page  35 


DISPUTE  continuing  on  coast  over  status 
of  first  cameramen  Page  38 

MALE  stars  lead  Canada  Stars  of  Tomor- 
row voting  Page  41 

MGM  backlog  for  new  season  comprises 
12  features  Page  42 

IMPACT  of  U.  S.  war  stock  cuts  is  felt  in 
England  Page  45 

SECTION  X  is  used  least  of  all  arbitration 
provisions  Page  51 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  32     Managers'  Round  Table  Page  55 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  40     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me  Page  52 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart  Page  65 


also.  It  will  pass  on  translations  of  titles 
in  New  York  following  Western  approval 
of  the  picture. 

Among  those  at  the  meeting  were  Colonel 
W.  Preston  Cordermen,  head  of  the  Postal 
Censorship  Office ;  Richard  R.  Smith  and 
Perry  Arnold,  of  the  Eastern  review  board ; 
foreign  managers  of  the  distributors,  and 
Carl  E.  Milliken,  acting  head  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Producers  and  Distributors  of 
American  foreign  department. 


Crossroads  Time 

EVER  since  the  turn  of  the  year  the  great 
clock  in  the  Paramount  building  tower,  high 
over  the  crossroads  of  the  world,  has  been 
erratic,  sometimes  making  the  editor  of  The 
Herald  late  at  luncheon.  This  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  protests  and  representa- 
tions which  have  crossed  the  desks  of  Bar- 
ney Balaban,  Neil  Agnew,  Clinton  J.  Scol- 
lard,  Robert  Gillham  and  Al  Wilkie,  result- 
ing in  "no  comment." 

Last  week  the  north  wall  dial,  which  faces 
the  editor's  office  over  in  Radio  City,  was 
corrected.  The  eastern  dial,  however,  also 
visible  from  this  desk,  remained  irregular 
and  in  conflict  with  the  north. 

This  week  further  progress  of  a  most 
radical  sort  was  made ;  both  hands  were 
removed  from  the  eastern  dial,  which  now 
says  nothing. 

Unofficial  and  indirect,  off  the  record,  re- 
port from  Paramount  now  indicates  that 
difficulty  is  being  had  in  a  quest  for  repair 
parts.  This  represents  a  crisis  at  the  cross- 
roads demanding  the  attentions  of  Christo- 
pher Dunphy  of  the  War  Productions  Board 
and  the  Office  of  War  Information.  Re- 
search indicates  that  it  costs  Paramount 
about  $3,500  a  year  to  run  that  clock  and 
mid-town  New  York,  even  in  days  of  crisis, 
is  entitled  to  know  what  time  it  is. — TR. 


No  Free  Acting 

NO  actor  or  actress  may  appear  in  a  film 
without  pay,  or  for  pay  "substantially"  be- 
low that  which  is  normally  received,  under 
a  rule  adopted  Monday  by  the  board  .of 
the  Screen  Actors  Guild  in  Hollywood.  The 
one  exception  is  for  appearances  in  Govern- 
ment training  films.  A  similar  order  applies 
to  radio  performances. 

Kenneth  Thomson,  SAG  executive  secre- 
tary, explaining  the  order,  said:  "Every  in- 
dividual and  group  in  America  is  being- 
asked  to  make  sacrifices ;  but  no  group  is 
being  asked  to  sacrifice  its  livelihood.  If  the 
actor  gives  that  away,  he  will  be  in  no  po- 
sition to  continue  his  contributions  of  time, 
talent  and  money  to  war  activities." 


FROM  the  brave  and  far  little 
isle  of  Malta  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, the  most  continuously 
bomb-blasted  spot  on  the  whole  map 
of  war,  the  circulation  department  of 
Motion  Picture  Herald  this  week  re- 
ceived a  subscription  and  with  it  an 
order  for  the  1942-43  International 
Motion  Picture  Almanac. 

The  order  is  from  Pace  Brothers, 
who  operate  the  Coliseum  theatre 
in  Malta,  through,  during  and  in 
spite  of  bombardments  and  air  raids. 
Earlier  in  the  war  the  lobby  and 
entrance  were  blasted  away,  where- 
upon the  persistent  Paces  opened  a 
back  door  and  made  other  arrange- 
ments for  business  as  usual.  In  Malta 
they  are  like  that. 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


9 


New  United  Artists 

PICTURES  tailored  for  star  talent  will 
be  the  aim  of  the  newest  addition  to  United 
Artists'  roster  of  producers,  a  new  unit  an- 
nounced Wednesday  in  New  York  by  Ar- 
thur Lyons,  head  of  the  A.  &  S.  Lyons 
talent  agency,  and  George  Bagnall,  in 
charge  of  UA  production. 

Mr.  Lyons  announced  that  he  had  com- 
pleted financing  for  two  production  com- 
panies, to  release  through  United  Artists 
and  to  draw  on  his  agency's  clients  for 
acting,  writing  and  production  talent.  The 
talent  pool  also  will  be  available  for  other 
United  Artists  producers,  and  stories  will  be 
planned  for  their  star  value. 

Jack  Benny  is  to  produce  two  pictures 
for  United  Artists,  one  starring  himself, 
and  the  other  from  an  outstanding  stage 
play,  under  the  terms  of  the  deal  completed 
by  Mr.  Lyons.  The  second  unit  will  com- 
bine the  talents  of  Eugene  O'Neill,  Jerome 
Kern,  Cole  Porter,  Rouben  Mamoulian  and 
possibly  Casey  Robinson.  Mr.  Lyons  said 
financial  backing  had  been  secured  through 
the  Bankers  Trust  Company  and  the  Secur- 
ity First  National  Bank  of  Los  Angeles. 

Production  will  get  under  way  before  the 
first  of  the  year.  Mr.  O'Neill  is  now  work- 
ing on  a  story  for  Ida  Lupino.  The  group 
will  do  at  least  three  other  pictures  for 
1942-43,  with  participation  in  profits. 

Mr.  Bagnall  said  that  UA  would  have  at 
least  20  pictures  this  year. 

A  mutual  assistance  pact,  unique  in  film 
history,  whereby  United  Artists  will  buy 
from  10  to  12  pictures  from  Paramount's 
unprecedented  backlog  of  26  pictures,  also 
was  reported  this  week.  Gradwell  Sears  and 
Edward  Raftery,  UA  sales  manager  and 
president,  respectively,  were  on  the  coast 
this  week  looking  at  product  on  the  Para- 
mount inventory.  Barney  Balaban,  presi- 
dent of  Paramount,  on  Wednesday  said  the 
deal  was  "being  discussed"  and  indicated 
that  it  was  by  no  means  confined  to  Para- 
mount's western  releases.  It  was  under- 
stood that  UA  would  handle  the  pictures  on 
a  percentage  plus  cash  purchase  price  basis. 

Recently  Jules  Levey  purchased  "Killers 
of  the  Amazon"  from  Monogram  and  is  now 
re-editing  it  for  UA  release,  as  "Jacare." 


From  Argentina 

QUOTING  Motion  Picture  Herald  on 
the  war  emergency  cooperation  by  distribu- 
tors with  exhibitors  in  the  United  States, 
the  Argentine  film  trade  paper,  Heraldo  Del 
Cinematografista  has  asked  that  the  "help 
offered  exhibitors  in  the  United  States 
should  be  extended  to  Argentinians."  It 
added,  in  a  recent  issue,  "In  our  country, 
although  circumstances  are  different,  the 
war  has  greatly  dislocated  economy,  particu- 
larly the  motion  picture  industry. 

"Many  factors  both  in  our  capital  and 


NEW  PRODUCT  SEASON 

With  this  issue,  the  Product 
Digest  Section — catalogue  of  prod- 
uct information  appearing  weekly  in 
Motion  Picture  Herald — begins  list- 
ing a  new  season's  releases.  It  will 
stress  current  and  promised  product 
of  1942-43,  presenting  showmen's  re- 
views of  new  features,  synopses  of 
coming  attractions  and  a  continuing 
index  of  essential  facts  about  prod- 
uct, easily  accessible  in  alphabetical 
listing.  In  addition,  the  current  issue 
lists,  company  by  company,  all  fea- 
tures designed  for  this  season  and  in 
production  at  the  studios.  For  the 
following  week,  a  compilation  of  the 
new  season's  short  product,  including 
synopses  and  running  time  of  current 
releases,  is  scheduled. 

All  1941-42  product  listings  were 
included  in  the  Herald  of  August 
29th,  which  will  serve  as  a  final  refer- 
ence to  last  season's  releases — 1941- 
42 — and  a  handy  supplement  to  new 
issues. 


in  the  interior  have  caused  losses  to  exhibi- 
tors— the  scarcity  of  pictures,  poor  stock, 
loss  of  audiences — and  all  of  them  result 
directly  from  the  war. 

"The  aid  offered  our  northern  colleagues 
should  be  extended  to  exhibitors  here." 

After  noting  the  frequent  statements  from 
sales  officials  of  our  distributors,  which  have 
remarked  the  necessity  of  keeping  theatres 
open,  and  the  common  destiny  of  all  in  the 
war,  the  Argentine  paper  commented : 

"Apparently,  the  distributors  of  North 
America  are  convinced  of  the  psychological 
value  of  the  motion  picture  for  morale,  in 
the  present  circumstances.  And,  while  we 
are  not  at  war,  the  tragic  problem  has  its 
influence  here,  morally  and  materially." 

PICTURES  ADVERTISED 
THIS  WEEK 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warners,  Page  3 
"Across  the  Pacific,"  Warners,  Pages  4,  5 
"Orchestra  Wives,"  20th-Fox,  Pages  6,  36,  37 
"Somewhere  I'll  Find   You,"   MGM,  Pages 

19  to  30 
"Tish,"  MGM,  Pages  19  to  30 
"Panama  Hattie,"  MGM,  Pages  19  to  30 
"Apache  Trail,"  MGM,  Pages  19  to  30 
"A  Yank  at  Eton,"  MGM,  Pages  19  to  30 
"The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,"  Pages  19 

to  30 

"Cairo,"  MGM,  Pages  19  to  30 
"Seven  Sweethearts,"  MGM,  Pages  19  to  30 
"Wake  Island"  Paramount,  Pages  43,  44 
"Bambi,"  RKO,  Pages  46,  47 


On  Journalism 

THE  EDITOR  of  the  Mirror  and  Journal 
of  Stonington,  way  up  at  the  far  end  of 
Connecticut,  picked  up  the  current  issue  of 
Good  Housekeeping  and  found  an  interview 
with  Mrs.  Elmer  Davis,  summer  resident, 
in  which  it  appears  that  she  made  some  re- 
marks about  the  "local  paper"  and  the  fact 
that  it  had  three  columns  of  display  about 
the  whaleship  Morgan  on  its  first  page  while 
the  announcement  of  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Davis  to  his  Office  of  War  Information  post 
was  tucked  into  an  item  on  the  third  page. 

In  his  response,  the  editor  opined  that  the 
metropolitan  press  had  reported  abundantly 
on  Mr.  Davis,  as  national  news,  ahead  of 
the  country  weekly. 

"...  the  whaleship,  Charles  W.  Mor- 
gan (is)  the  last  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 
Your  husband,  Mrs.  Davis,  is  not — and  for- 
tunately for  this  country — the  last  man  in 
the  world,  even  though  his  mind  is  probably 
one  of  a  kind.  And  so  the  other  reason  Ave 
feel  we  can  excuse  ourselves  for  subordinat- 
ing your  huband  is  that  the  good  ship  Mor- 
gan, 101  years  old,  is  a  museum  piece. 

"Thank  the  Lord,  Mrs.  Davis,  your  hus- 
band is  not." 


$3,000,000  in  Tokyo 

THE  Japanese  impounded  $3,000,000  in 
American  film  company  assets  in  Tokyo 
right  after  Pearl  Harbor,  according  to 
Lewis  E.  Pepperman,  United  Artists  man- 
ager in  Japan,  who  returned  to  New  York 
last  week  aboard  the  liner  Gripsholm,  and 
was  interviewed  by  the  trade  press  in  the 
company's  home  office  Tuesday.  The  bulk  of 
the  $3,000,000  was  in  cash,  he  added,  be- 
cause the  Japanese  had  forbidden  for  some 
while  the  remittance  of  money  to  the  U.  S. 

No  new  pictures  were  on  hand,  and  there 
were  very  few  prints  in  the  Tokyo  ex- 
changes, Mr.  Pepperman  said. 

However,  the  UA  official  said,  American 
pictures  in  the  vaults  were  not  used.  Only 
Japanese,  Axis  and  French  films  had  been 
shown  since  December  7th. 


Plenty  Corio 

CUSTOM  always  has  been  for  a  distribu- 
tor when  selling  or  booking  two  of  his  fea- 
tures into  the  theatre  of  a  double  feature 
customer  for  the  same  program  to  diversify 
the  films'  subject  matter.  The  distributor,  or 
exhibitor  customer,  for  example,  picks  a 
jdrama  and  a  musical,  or  some  such. 

But  not  so  with  O.  Henry  Briggs'  Pro- 
ducers Releasing  Company,  youngest  of  the 
11  distributors.  Mr.  Briggs'  PRC  is  offer- 
ing a  "package"  of  two  pictures  of  similar 
nature,  under  one  title,  like  "Sarong  Re- 
view," consisting  of  "Swamp  Women"  and 
"Jungle  Review,"  both  starring  Ann  Corio. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Ouigley  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  address  "Quigpubco, 
New  York."  Martin  Quigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager;  Terry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor; 
Chicago  Bureau,  624  South  Michigan  Avenue,  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  editor;  Hollywood  Bureau,  Postal  Union  Life  Building.  William  R.  Weaver,  editor;  Toronto  Bureau,  242  Millwood 
Road,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  W.  M.  Gladish,  representative;  Montreal  Bureau,  265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovan,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
4  Golden  Square,  London  W  I,  Hope  Williams  Burnup,  manager;  cable  Quigpubco  London;  Melbourne  Bureau,  The  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne,  Australia, 
Cliff  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbcld  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
Luis  Becerra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  Natalio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  3358, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  coble  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
Audit  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company.  Address  all  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  Quigley  Publications: 
Better  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame, 


10 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


THIS  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


HENRY  SCHOENSTADT  of  Chicago's 
Schoenstadt  &  Sons  circuit,  city  chairman 
of  the  War  Bond  drive,  buys  $40,000  worth 
from  Mary  Ellen  Popel  of  the  "Good  Night 
Ladies"  cast,  for  a  table  of  1 6  at  the  Hotel 
Sherman  luncheon  which  opened  the  cam- 
paign last  Tuesday. 


■  SAM  PINANSKI  of  New  England's  M  &  P  circuit,  now  in 
charge  of  the  War  Bond  drive  in  Boston,  discusses  the  campaign 
with  Harry  Browning,  advertising  chief  for  the  drive.  A  major 
factor  in  the  Boston  sales  is  the  Victory  Booth  on  Boston 
Common  which  has  sold  $1,000,000  worth  of  Bonds  in  a  single 
day  and  is  expected  to  reach  that  total  many  times  during 
September. 


THE  WILKES  BARRE  projectionists'  union, 
Local  B-96,  buys  another  $500  War  Bond 
from  Abbott  and  Costello  to  boost  its 
investment  to  $2,700.  Below,  Ruth  Martin, 
president,  gets  her  receipt  from  Bud 
Abbott. 


MEMORIES  of  World  War  I.  Charles  W.  Koerner,  RKO 
vice-president  in  charge  of  the  studio,  meets  James  Scott,  grip 
on  the  "Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon"  set,  and  remembers  him 
as  a  captain  in  the  13th  Division  under  whom  he  served  as 
lieutenant.   Listening  is  Ginger  Rogers,  who  is  co-starred  in  the 
production  with  Cary  Grant. 


September    5,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


EXECUTIVES  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
in  front  of  the  dais  before  the  New 
York  regional  sales  meeting:  A.  W. 
Smith,  Jr.,  eastern  sales  manager; 
Tom  J.  Connors,  vice-president  in 
charge  of  sales;  William  C.  Sehring, 
western  sales  manager;  W.  C.  Michel, 
executive  vice-president;  Spyros  P. 
Skouras,  president;  Hermann  S.  Place, 
vice-president,  and  Edmund  Reek, 
president  of  Fox  Movietone  News. 


By  Metropolitan 


ROBERT  PELTIER,  below  center,  retiring  as 
owner-manager  of  the  Jewel  theatre  in  Mt. 
Clemens,  Mich.,  after  37  years  of  operation, 
receives  a  memento  of  the  occasion  from  W.  A. 
Slee.  Adolphe  Goldberg,  right,  new  owner 
of  the  house,  looks  on. 


WILLIAM  S.  CANNING,  manager  of  the  Interstate 
Empire  in  Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  chairman  of  the  Bond 
drive  committee,  grins  after  auctioning  an 
autographed  baseball  for  $430  in  War  Stamps.  The 
sale  was  part  of  ceremonies  at  Father  Kelly  Park 
at  which  $10,000  in  Bonds  were  sold. 


f  | 


■  WAITING  for  "Bambi".  Radio 
City  Music  Hall  patrons,  left,  are 
waiting  in  a  line  which  extends 
around  four  sides  of  the  square  block 
in  Rockefeller  Center,  in  which  the 
theatre  is  located.  This  picture,  taken 
on  Wednesday  of  the  second  week 
of  the  engagement,  shows  the  third 
side  of  the  block.  The  Disney  feature 
grossed  $92,000  for  the  first  week. 
(By  error  last  week  we  said  $57,000 
for  the  week,  when  we  should  have 
said  weekend.) 


12 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


Opening  the  Bond  Drive 


By  Acme 


SURROUNDED  by  Hollywood  stars,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  Henry  Morgenthau,  Jr.,  offi- 
cially opened  the  motion  picture  industry 
campaign  to  sell  $1,000,000,000  worth  of  War 
Bonds  in  September.  At  the  ceremony  on  the  steps 
of  the  Treasury  Building  in  Washington,  above,  are 
Dinah  Shore,  Greer  Garson,  James  Cagney,  Ann 
Rutherford,  Irene  Dunne,  Mr.  Morgenthau,  Hedy 
Lamarr,  Martha  Scott,  Ginny  Simms,  Larry  Adler, 
Virginia  Gillmore,  Edward  Arnold,  Lou  Costello  and 
Bud  Abbott.  Demonstrating  their  technique  to  Mr. 
Morgenthau  the  stars  sold  Bonds  worth  $  1 ,528,833.30 
to  the  public  on  the  spot.  From  Washington  they 
began  the  Stars  Over  America  tours  on  which  they 
will  cover  300  cities  and  towns. 


By  Metropolitan 


Above.  The  crowd  of  30,000  Government 
employees  and  Washington  civilians  who 
gathered  at  the  Treasury  Building  for  the 
opening  of  the  campaign. 


IN  NEW  YORK,  left,  industry  leaders,  or- 
ganized as  a  Commando  unit,  gathered  at 
breakfast  at  the  home  of  Stanton  Griffis  to 
hear  reports  from  across  the  country  on 
progress  towards  their  $33,000,000  quota. 
When  the  last  cup  of  coffee  was  poured  the 
total  was  $51,161,250.  Here  are  Adolph 
Zukor,  Richard  C.  Patterson,  Mr.  Griffis, 
Barney  Balaban,  Will  Hays,  Joseph  Hazen 
and  Ned  E.  Depinet. 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


13 


$51,161,250  WAR  BOND  SALES 
IN  FIRST  HOUR  OF  DRIVE 


Sum  Reported  Pledged  at 
Breakfast  in  New  York; 
Star  Tours  Launched 

At  9  o'clock  Tuesday  morning  it  was 
announced  that  $51,161,250  worth  of  War 
Bond  pledges  had  been  reported  at  a 
Commando  breakfast  that  morning  in 
New  York.  From  that  moment  on  the 
reports  came  through  every  hour,  almost 
every  minute:  $1,528,833.30  in  a  few  min- 
utes at  the  opening  ceremonies  in  Wash- 
ington; $6,130,500  in  Philadelphia;  $10,- 
475,000  through  a  seven-hour  radio  pro- 
gram on  the  Blue  Network;  an  estimate 
of  $100,000,000  for  the  first  day. 

The  motion  picture  industry  was  on  its 
way  to  the  $1,000,000,000  quota  for  the 
September  Salute  to  Our  Heroes  drive. 

The  ceremonies  in  Washington  Monday 
afternoon  marked  the  official  opening  of  the 
Stars  over  America  tours  on  which  Holly- 
wood stars,  making  one  night  stands  in  any 
city  or  town  which  promises  to  buy  $1,000,- 
000  worth  of  Bonds,  will  visit  300  cities  and 
towns  during  the  month.  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  Henry  Morgenthau,  Jr.,  made  a 
speech  to  the  assembled  30,000  service  men, 
Government  employees  and  Washington 
civilians ;  Hedy  Lamarr  sold  a  bond  to  the 
Wall  Street  Journal  correspondent  who 
didn't  believe  in  compulsory  savings;  other 
stars  in  the  company  sold  $25  Bonds  at  the 
rate  of  36  a  minute ;  Greer  Garson  held  Mr. 
Morgenthau's  hand;  and  Mr.  Morgenthau 
took  the  whole  company  to  lunch. 

Besides  the  Misses  Lamarr  and  Garson, 
there  were  Irene  Dunne,  Edward  Arnold, 
James  Cagney,  Kay  Kyser,  Martha  Scott, 
Walter  Abel,  Bing  Crosby,  Ann  Rutherford, 
Virginia  Gilmore,  Dinah  Shore,  Ralph  Bel- 
lamy, and  Abbott  and  Costello. 

Tuesday  night  at  9  o'clock  12,000  theatres 
throughout  the  country  opened  the  drive 
with  four-minute  ceremonies  including  the 
entrance  of  a  color  guard  and  speeches  by 
local  Bond  sales  staffs.  State  and  municipal 
executives  issued  proclamations  calling  for 
general  observance  of  the  9  P.  M.  opening. 

Commandos  Report 
Sales  of  $51,161,250 

The  Commando  breakfast  in  New  York  was 
held  at  the  home  of  Stanton  Griffis  and  attended 
by  200  industry  executives  who  were  to  report 
on  the  success  of  their  drive  to  gather  $33,000,- 
000  worth  of  pledges  to  open  the  campaign. 
Instead  the  reports  from  those  present  and 
from  other  Commandos  in  the  field  totalled 
$51,161,250. 

The  total  reported  by  the  executives  present 
was  $13,048,500  to  which  the  out-of-town  phone 
calls  and  wires  added  the  rest. 

Commando  Samuel  Pinanski,  reporting  from 
the  Boston  front,  tossed  $5,482,790  into  the 
hopper. 

A  wire  from  Commando  Ted  Schlanger, 
Philadelphia,  reported  $5,207,075. 

From  Chicago,  Commando  John  Balaban 
wired  $2,129,673. 

The  Minneapolis  zone,  Commando  John 
Friedl  reporting,  listed  $2,516,968  in  sales. 


COMPANIES  ENLIST 
EMPLOYEES'  AID 

All  of  the  major  distribution  com- 
panies and  many  of  the  circuits, 
through  their  chief  executives,  have 
urged  their  employees  to  back  the 
September  drive  not  only  with  per- 
sonal Bond  purchases  but  with  extra 
time  and  effort  devoted  to  pressing 
for  the  campaign's  success. 

Spyros  Skouras,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  president,  addressing  the  com- 
pany's New  York  regional  sales  meet- 
ing last  Friday,  said  he  expected 
every  employee  of  the  company  to 
participate  in  the  War  Bond  drive. 


The  Lone  Star  State  and  Commando  Bob 
O'Donnell  added  another  $2,663,020. 

I.  H.  Hoffman,  Commando  chief  for  the  New 
Haven  area  reported  $753,125. 

Commando  Frank  Ricketson  offered  $602,000 
from  Denver. 

Elmer  Rhoden,  Kansas  City's  Commando, 
telephoned  $1,147,806. 

Earl  Hudson,  rushed  through  $1,375,000  off 
the  Detroit  assembly  line. 

Commando  H.  F.  Kincey,  fighting  on  the 
Charlotte,  N.  C,  southern  front,  came  through 
with  $1,502,200. 

R.  B.  Wilby,  another  Southern  commando, 
added  Atlanta's  $1,670,000. 

From  the  rich  West  Coast  area,  Charles 
Skouras  reported  $7,500,000. 

Commando  A.  H.  Blank,  combing  the  Des 
Moines  and  Omaha  exchange  territories,  wired 
$2,417,775. 

E.  V.  Richards,  holding  the  fort  in  New 
Orleans,  reported  $1,200,000 — "minimum  with 
more  coming." 

Ike  Libson,  Commando  in  Cincinnati,  sent  a 
preliminary  $243,800. 

Company  Heads 
Report  Sales 

Starting  off  the  announcements  by  the  New 
York  Commandos,  C.  C.  Moskowitz,  lieutenant 
for  Commando  Nicholas  M.  Schenck,  reported 
$6,403,000,  representing  Bond  buys  by  Loew, 
Inc.,  affiliated  corporations,  officers  of  the  com- 
pany and  sales  by  Commando  Schenck. 

Barney  Balaban,  Commando  for  Paramount, 
announced  $1,587,500,  exclusive  of  the  Para- 
mount partners,  covered  in  individual  announce- 
ments totaling  $21,770,380. 

Spyros  Skouras,  reporting  as  Commando  for 
20th  Century-Fox  and  its  officers,  employees 
and  affiliates,  added  $1,137,000. 

Commando  Jules  Brulatour  reported  $1,000,- 
000  on  behalf  of  Eastman  Kodak  Company, 
with  another  $100,000  for  Jules  E.  Brulatour, 
Inc. 

Joseph  Hazen,  chairman  of  the  New  York 
Commando,  reporting  for  Warner  Brothers 
came  through  with  $1,000,000. 

Ned  E.  Depinet,  for  RKO  pictures,  swelled 
the  commando  total  by  $786,000. 

Will  H.  Hays,  on  behalf  of  the  Motion  Pic- 
ture Producers  &  Distributors  of  America,  Inc.. 
and  the  Will  Rogers  Memorial  Fund,  reported 
$350,000. 

Commando   Herman  Robbins  on  behalf  of 


National  Screen  reported  $250,000.  Samuel 
Rinzler,  Randforce  theatres,  tossed  in  $200,000. 
Harry  Brandt  reported  $100,000.  Col.  Richard 
C.  Patterson,  New  York  chairman  of  the  War 
Savings  Staff,  handed  over  $75,000;  Albert 
Fink,  Portland,  Ore.,  $500,000;  and  A.  Joseph 
Difiore,  Wilmington,  $100,000. 

From  several  local  unions,  Screen  Publicists' 
Guild,  Screen  Office  &  Professional  Employees' 
Guild,  Motion  Picture  Projectionists,  Motion 
Picture  Camermen,  and  Laboratory  Technicians, 
came  $25,000;  with  another  $35,000  from  "mis- 
cellaneous" purchases  made  between  ham-and- 
eggs  and  coffee  by  the  breakfast  guests. 

Si  Fabian,  national  campaign  director,  in 
wires  to  all  leaders,  again  urged  that  nobody 
become  overconfident.  The  first  day's  burst  of 
speed,  he  said,  was  no  guarantee  that  the  bil- 
lion-dollar quota  would  be  easy. 

Stars  Over  America 
Tours  Launched 

The  Star  Over  America  tours  were  launched 
by  ceremonies  in  San  Francisco,  Fresno,  Dallas, 
Chicago,  Chattanooga,  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  starting  points  of  the  seven  separate 
tours,  the  itineraries  for  which  were  published 
in  Motion  Picture  Herald,  August  22nd.  The 
schedule,  involving  21,000  miles  of  travel  and 
appearances  seven  days  a  week,  was  set  up  by 
Oscar  Doob,  public  relations  director  of  the 
drive  and  S.  Charles  Einfeld,  field  director  of. 
the  300  rallies. 

Last  minute  changes  in  the  schedules  of  the 
stars  involved  program  changes  for  the  tour. 
As  they  started  Tuesday  the  schedule  was : 
Tour  No.  1,  Northwest  and  Coast;  John  Payne, 
Joan  Leslie ;  Tour  No.  2,  Southern  California ; 
Ronald  Colman  and  Lynn  Bari ;  Tour  No.  3, 
Southwest ;  Edward  Arnold  and  Frances  Dee ; 
Tour  No.  4,  Middle  West,  James  Cagney ; 
Tour  No.  5,  Southeast,  Greer  Garson ;  Tour 
No.  6,  Middle  East  and  New  York,  Hedy  La- 
marr for  the  first  six  days  and  Irene  Dunne 
thereafter  to  September  10th ;  Tour  No.  7,  New 
York  and  New  England,  Charles  Laughton, 
Ann  Rutherford  and  Virginia  Gilmore. 

Assignment  of  stars  to  the  second  and  third 
ten-day  divisions  of  the  tours  is  being  hastened 
and  the  star  names  will  be  wired  to  all  tour 
cities  as  they  are  announced.  The  only  schedule 
definitely  set  this  week  was  for  Bette  Davis  who 
will  take  up  Tour  No.  4,  September  11th,  at 
Sedalia  and  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  following 
through  to  Oklahoma  City  on  September  15th. 

$10,475,000  from 
Blue  Network  Show 

Monday  the  industry's  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee in  New  York  announced  that  4,950  the- 
atres had  been  licensed  as  official  Bond  issuing 
agents  by  the  U.  S.  Treasury,  enabling  their 
patrons  to  buy  Bonds  immediately  at  the  the- 
atre box  office  just  as  at  banks  and  post  offices. 
About  500  of  the  licensed  theatres  are  in  New 
York  City,  including  all  of  the  major  circuit 
houses. 

Every  theatre  will  give  Bond  buyers  a  postal 
card  which  can  be  addressed  to  a  man  in  one  of 
the  armed  services,  telling  him  that  the  Bond 
was  bought  in  his  honor.  Two  million  of  the 
cards  have  been  distributed  to  theatres. 

The  Blue  Network  Monday  turned  over  to 
the  Treasury  $10,475,000  in  War  Bond  pledges, 
the  proceeds  of  a  seven-hour  program  last  Sat- 
urday night  in  which  a  host  of  entertainers  ap- 
pealed for  purchases.  Through  a  tieup  with 
W estern  Union  listeners  were  able  to  make 
pledges  by  wire  without  cost.  Others  tele- 
phoned their  pledges  to  local  stations. 


14 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


BOND  PREMIERES'  WILL  ADD 
$100,000,000  TO  CAMPAIGN 


Distributors  and  Exhib- 
itors To  Donate  Rentals 
and  Receipts  for  Shows 

As  the  local  War  Bond  drive  commit- 
tees throughout  the  country  opened  their 
campaigns,  distribution  and  exhibition 
leaders  announced  a  "War  Bond  Prem- 
iere'1 plan  which  was  expected  to  add 
$100,000,000  to  the  sales  for  the  month. 
The  distributors  will  forego  their  film  per- 
centage on  single  performances  for  the 
"premieres"  and  exhibitors  will  forego 
their  potential  boxoffice  returns  on  the 
performances. 

All  11  national  distributors  of  motin  pic- 
tures, composing  the  Distributors'  Division 
of  the  War  Activities  Committee,  will  place 
at  the  disposal  of  exhibitors  desiring  "Bond 
Premieres'"  any  picture  available  for  release 
during  the  month  of  September  in  each  giv- 
en situation. 

The  only  exception  are  the  films — less 
than  6  in  number — for  which  general  ad- 
vanced admission  prices  are  being  charged. 

The  War  Activities  Committee  does  not 
recommend  that  any  theatre  attempt  to  ar- 
range more  than  one  such  bond  premiere 
during  September.  Most  of  the  theatres  al- 
ready committeed  to  the  proposal  are  plan- 
ning evening  performances,  though  some 
special  matinees  are  expected  to  materialize. 
The  WAC  recommends  that  theatres  in  a 
given  city  get  together  and  decide  dates  so 
they  can  avoid  conflicts. 

Through  meetings  in  New  York  and  long 
distance  phone  conferences  some  300  thea- 
tres were  immediately  enlisted  in  the  effort 
and  it  is  expected  that  at  least  1,000  bonds 
openings  will  take  place  in  September.  If 
they  average  only  $100,000 — which  will  be 
disappointing — the  total  would  be  $100,- 
000,000. 

The  United  Detroit  circuit's  Michigan 
theatre  will  hold  one  of  the  bond  premieres 
September  17th  for  Paramount's  "Wake 
Island." 

Exhibitors  interested  in  holding  bond  pre- 
mieres should  contact  their  film  exchange 
managers  at  once. 

Circuit  Heads 
Approve  Plan 

S.  H.  Fabian,  national  director  of  the  bond 
drive,  was  among  the  first  to  approve  the  plan 
and  enroll  his  first-run  theatres  to  open  Sep- 
tember engagements  with  bond  premieres. 

E.  L.  Kuykendall,  president  of  Motion  Pic- 
ture Theatre  Owners  of  America,  said :  "This 
shows  the  most  wholehearted  spirit  of  coopera- 
tion that  we  have  had  in  this  industry  and  I 
congratulate  the  producer-distributor  interests 
that  are  making  these  pictures  available  and  I 
feel  that  every  exhibitor  in  the  country  will  take 
advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  advance  the 
sale  of  war  bonds. 

William  F.  Crockett,  WAC  state  chairman 
for  Virginia,  enthusiastic  over  the  plan,  is  en- 
listing his  theatre  and  others  in  his  state. 

Others  who  immediately  enrolled  their 
houses  are  Walter  Vincent,  A.  H.  Blank  and 
Ralph  Branton,  Walter  Reade,  John  Friedl,  Ed. 
Beatty,  E.  C.  Grainger.  Paramount,  Loew's, 
RKO,  and  Warner  circuits. 

Details  of  the  plan  are  being  wired  to  all 


'CHEESECAKE'  ART 
OUT  FOR  DURATION 

The  War  Activities  Committee  this 
week  notified  all  advance  men,  tour 
managers  and  others  handling  public 
relations  for  the  September  Bond 
drive  that  kissing  stunts,  "cheese- 
cake" photographs  and  other  "un- 
dignified" publicity  ideas  are  pro- 
hibited as  Bond  selling  stimulants. 
The  ruling  was  made  following  an 
offer  from  a  Chicago  man  to  buy 
a  $25,000  Bond  for  a  kiss  from  Hedy 
Lamarr. 


branch  managers  by  the  distributor  home  of- 
fices so  that  complete  information  will  be  avail- 
able for  exhibitors  immediately. 

Local  committees  of  the  War  Bond  drive 
launched  their  month  long  plans  this  week  for 
the  September  campaign,  geared  to  the  Stars 
Over  America  tours  and  to  the  national  com- 
mittee's material,  but  fired  with  ideas  for  pro- 
motion submitted  and  executed  by  almost  every 
individual  in  the  industry.  Reports  for  the 
first  few  days,  not  officially  totalled  because  of 
the  lag  in  reports  of  total  sales  by  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  indicated  sales  meeting  and 
in  many  cases  exceeding  the  official  quota. 

The  first  local  event  of  the  New  York  com- 
mittee, which  has  a  quota  of  $116,000,000  to 
meet,  was  the  Commando  breakfast  at  the  home 
of  Stanton  Griffis  at  which  a  total  of  more  than 
$51,000,000  was  reported. 

Public  rallies  were  held  between  noon  and 
1  o'clock  Tuesday  at  City  Hall,  Manhattan, 
and  the  borough  halls  in  Brooklyn,  the  Bronx 
and  Queens.  Charles  Laughton,  Virginia  Gil- 
more  and  Ann  Rutherford,  starting  Tour  No.  7, 
participated  in  the  rallies. 

Mayor  LaGuardia 
Leads  Rally 

Mayor  LaGuardia,  the  stars,  and  the  consuls 
of  the  United  Nations  took  part  in  the  start 
of  the  Victory  Bondmobile  tour  at  the  Battery, 
in  which  a  motorless  automobile  bearing  effigies 
of  Hitler,  Hirohito  and  Mussolini  was  started 
on  its  way  to  Niagara  Falls.  Each  purchaser 
of  a  Bond  will  be  permitted  to  push  the  car 
a  few  feet  toward  its  destination.  On  the  drive's 
first  day,  Tuesday,  the  Loew  circuit  in  New 
York  sold  $1,355,837  in  bonds  and  stamps. 

Daily  programs  of  nationals  in  United  Nations 
costumes  performing  native  dances  will  be  giv- 
en throughout  the  month  in  the  city.  Wednes- 
day, the  153rd  anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
the  Treasury  Department  was  celebrated  with 
a  rally  on  the  steps  of  the  Sub-Treasury. 

Broadway  theatres  staged  special  programs 
for  the  9  P.M.  opening  of  the  campaign  Tues- 
day. The  Capitol  had  the  U.  S.  Navy  Fife  and 
Drum  Corps,  with  color  guard,  and  the  Blue 
Jacket  Guard  military  band.  Loew's  State  in- 
vited James  J.  Walker  to  make  the  opening  ad- 
dress and  had  30  uniformed  members  of  the 
American  Women's  Volunteer  Service  in  at- 
tendance. Skinnay  Ennis  conducted  the  cere- 
mony at  the  Paramount,  Paul  Ash  at  the  Roxy 
and  Sammy  Kaye  at  the  5<^and.  The  Music 
Hall  featured  a  special  ensemble  production, 
"Salute  to  Our  Heroes."_ 

Chicago,  which  has  given  the  drive  prece- 


dence over  all  industry  problems,  has  a  quota 
of  $50,000,000  for  the  month.  Indications  early 
this  week  were  that  the  figure  would  be  ex- 
ceeded. 

The  $1,000,000  luncheon  at  the  Bal  Tabarin 
of  the  Hotel  Sherman  on  September  1st  was 
oversubscribed  at  $2,500  each,  or  $10,000  a  table. 
James  Cagney  was  toastmaster  at  this  affair, 
with  Lana  Turner  and  Betty  Grable  guests 
of  honor,  and  Mayor  Edward  J.  Kelly  and 
Governer  Dwight  Green  principal  speakers. 

Among  those  who  had  tables  were  Henry 
Schoenstadt,  Harold  Costello,  Sam  C.  Meyers, 
the  Schoenstadt  theatres,  James  E.  Coston, 
John  Smith,  Chicago  Moving  Picture  Operators 
Union,  Mort  Singer,  Aaron  J.  Jones,  Jr.,  Es- 
saness  theatres,  Edward  Silverman,  Jack  Barg- 
er,  The  Showmen's  League  of  America,  Vari- 
ety Magazine,  Billboard  Magazine,  Paramount 
Pictures  and  20th  Century-Fox  Pictures,  and 
many  others.  The  $1,000,000  supper  on  Sep- 
tember 3rd  at  the  Ambassador  Hotel  was  sold 
out  at  $20,000  a  table.  This  supper  was  pro- 
moted by  the  Amusement  and  Recreation  Divi- 
sion of  the  Drive  under  the  direction  of  Hal 
Halperin. 

Illinois'  Quota 
$90,000,000 

Last  Friday  a  meeting  was  called  by  Mr. 
Halperin  at  the  Sherman  Hotel  at  which  over 
forty  amusement  editors,  newspaper  promotion 
managers,  theatre  and  film  exchange  press 
agents  and  trade  paper  representatives  formu- 
lated publicity  plans  and  stunts  for  the  drive. 
Under  the  direction  of  Jack  Hess,  Herb  Ellis- 
berg  and  "Chuck"  Williams,  publicity  commit- 
tee to  Henry  Schoenstadt,  city  chairman  of 
the  drive,  men  were  selected  for  various  duties 
in  connection  with  the  drive.  These  were  : 
Ballroom  tieups,  Emil  Gerber,  Karzas  Ball- 
rooms ;  Radio  Entertainment,  Dan  Goldberg, 
Variety;  Trailers,  Mel  Gold,  Filmack  Trailer 
Co. ;  Special  contests,  Bill  Bishop,  MGM ;  Civic 
Events,  Irving  Yergin,  Warner  Pictures; 
Speakers,  Norman  Kassell,  Essaness  theatres; 
News  Slugs,  Larry  Stein,  Warner's  Theatres ; 
Lobby  Displays,  Eddie  Seguin,  Balaban  & 
Katz;  State  Street  Merchants  tieups,  Archie 
Herzoff,  Balaban  &  Katz;  Radio  Exploitation, 
Hal  Tate,  Associated  Publications  and  Talent 
liaison,  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  Motion"  Pic- 
ture Herald. 

John  Balaban  is  Illinois  chairman  of  the 
drive  and  W.  K.  Hollander,  Balaban  &  Katz 
publicity  head,  is  also  in  charge  of  state  pub- 
licity. Illinois  has  a  quota  of  $90,000,000  in  the 
drive. 

Hedy  Lamarr  Sales 
Total  $6,130,300 

Hedy  Lamarr  sold  $6,130,500  worth  of  bonds 
on  the  opening  day  in  Philadelphia— $4,520,000 
at  a  luncheon  and  $1,610,500  at  a  "Bond  Show" 
at  the  Academy  of  Music.  The  campaign  got 
under  way  on  Tuesday  afternoon  with  a 
luncheon  at  the  Midday  Club  in  honor  of  Miss 
Lamarr.  Admission  was  the  purchase  of  at 
least  a  $5,000  war  bond  and  the  committee  in 
charge  anticipated  raising  $2,000,000.  In  the 
evening,  a  Bond  Show  was  presented  at  the 
Academy  of  Music  with  Miss  Lamarr  and  Paul 
Whiteman's  orchestra  as  the  feature  attractions. 
Admission  was  based  on  the  purchase  of  war 
bonds,  the  lowest-priced  "tickets"  issued  on  the 

(Continue'!  on  page  16) 


ONLY  THE 
U.S.  GOV 
COULD 
DO  IT! 

Factual! 
Realistic! 
Revealing! 

THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT  PRESENTS 

"THE  WORLD 

AT  WAR" 

A  FORCEFUL  FEATURE  DRAMATIZATION 
GIVEN  FREE  TO  THE  NATION'S  SCREENS! 

Most  of  it  comes  from  sources  accessible  only  to  our  Government !  From  secret  film  archives ! 
From  enemy  films  obtained  at  risk  of  life!  From  unrevealed  underground  channels !  A  rnonu^ 
mental  achievement  in  dramatic  screen  revelation  is  this  feature  attraction  which  your  government 
considers  the  most  vital  message  to  give  to  the  American  people  NOW!  A  duty  to  show  it — but  a 
privilege  and  pleasure  too,  because  it  is  absorbing,  showmanlike  with  no  punches  pulled.  Free  in- 
eluding  trailer,  to  all  exhibitors.  Accessories  from  National  Screen  Sendee  provided  below  cost. 


Sponsored  by  the  War  Activities  Committee  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Industry,  1501  Broadway,  New  York  City.  (Room  408) 


BOOK  IT  THROUGH  THE  EXCHANGE  IN  YOUR  TERRITORY  AS  FOLLOWS; 

M-G-M:  Albany,  Boston,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  New  Haven,  New  York.  PARAMOUNT:  Atlanta,  Charlotte,  Chicago,  Dallas,  Detroit,  Memphis.  Nt 
Orleans.  RKO:  Cincinnati,  Des  Moines,  Indianapolis,  Milwaukee,  Minneapolis,  Omaha,  Sioux  Falls.  20th  CENTURY-FOX:  Denver,  Los  Ange 
jjartland,  Salt  Lake  City,  San  Francisco.  Seattle.  WARNER  BROS.;  Kansas  City.  Oklahoma  Citv.  Philadelphia.  Pittsburgh,  SlIouLs  Wash  ma- 


16 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


STARS  DRIVE  SPEARHEAD 


(Continued  from  page  14) 

purchase  of  a  $50  face-value  Bond  with  the  price 
range  upward  to  $10,00  Bonds,  which  gained 
admission  to  parquet  boxes. 

The  28  zones  of  the  Kansas  City  exchange 
area — 17  in  Kansas,  11  in  Western  Missouri — 
were  organized  under  leadership  of  E.  C.  Rho- 
den,  commando,  for  the  September  bond  drive, 
by  meetings  in  each  zone  August  24th  and  the 
promotions  were  under  way  in  some  of  them 
that  same  week.  In  every  case  the  initial  meet- 
ing included  the  exhibitor-chairman  for  the 
exchange  zone,  the  county  chairman  of  the 
Treasury's  war  savings  staff,  practically  all  ex- 
hibitors in  the  zones,  and  leading  business  men. 

In  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Kansas  City,  Kans., 
offices  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  Mer- 
chants Associations  were  joining  in  the  cam- 
paign, as  well  as  the  bond-promoting  commit- 
tees of  business  and  civic  organizations. 

In  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  E.  C.  Rhoden  partici- 
pated in  the  joint  planning  of  civic  and  business 
leaders  for  Jackson  County's  campaign — John 
J.  McManus,  Midland  manager,  being  chairman 
of  the  industry's  War  Activities  Committee  for 
the  bond  drive  for  Jackson  County. 


Newman  Chairman 
In  Washington 

Theatre  executives  of  Seattle  and  the  entire 
state  of  Washington  have  completed  plans  for 
their  campaign. 

Frank  L.  Newman  of  Evergreen-State,  chair- 
man, announced  a  quota  of  $16,000,000  had  been 
set  for  the  state  and  that  all  fraternal  and  civic 
organizations  would  participate.  He  has  ap- 
pointed a  chairman  in  each  county  to  work  with 
the  treasury  department's  county  chairman  in 
raising  assigned  county  quotas. 

John  Hamrick  has  been  named  King  County 
chairman. 

The  start  of  the  campaign  was  at  Seattle's 
Victory  Center  at  noon  September  1st,  where 
a  special  program,  with  numerous  "Minute 
Man"  speeches  was  given.  A  midnight  show 
was  given  at  the  Sth  Avenue  theatre,  with  all 
theatres  and  radio  stations  tieing  in  for  similar 
events.  Specified  amounts  of  bonds  and  stamps 
were  the  admission  to  theatres  instead  of  the 
usual  prices.  Suburban  theatres  planned  spe- 
cial matinees  for  the  children,  who  also  were 
admitted  on  purchasing  War  Savings  Stamps. 

On  September  13th  special  ceremonies  are 
planned,  and  bond  stamp  purchasers  will  re- 
ceive autographed  photographs  by  Joan  Leslie 
and  John  Payne,  who  will  make  personal  ap- 
pearances in  Seattle. 

Mammoth  Parade 
In  New  Haven 

The  campaign  opened  with  a  mammoth  pa- 
rade and  demonstration  on  the  New  Haven 
Green  Tuesday  and  bond  sales  will  be  pushed 
every  day  during  the  month  with  a  well- 
planned  program  of  daily  events,  according  to 
reports  by  I.  J.  Hoffman,  of  Warners,  and 
Harry  F.  Shaw,  Loew-Poli,  co-chairmen.  The 
opening  parade  included  some  50  units  from 
every  field  of  community  life,  including  bands, 
veterans,  Yale,  scouts,  Red  Cross,  factories, 
military  contingents,  dress  groups  of  cowboys, 
Indians,  Pilgrims,  Generals  of  former  wars, 
coaches  and  surreys,  cavalry  and  jeeps,  etc. 
Robert  Portle  was  chairman  of  the  parade, 
together  with  Vincent  Palmeri,  of  WELI,  who 
has  also  had  a  large  hand  in  planning  the  daily 
programs  for  the  entire  month. 

The  drive  was  officially  launched  in  Massa- 


chusetts Monday  night  at  midnight  at  Natick 
Common  by  the  state  committee,  with  "Speed" 
Riggs,  widely  known  tobacco  auctioneer  selling 
the  bonds  and  $1,000,000  as  the  goal.  Assisting 
him  was  Manager  Joe  Cronin  of  the  Red  Sox. 

Judy  Canova,  playing  at  the  RKO  Boston 
Theatre  in  Boston  with  Jackie  Cooper,  led  the 
screen,  radio  and  stage  stars.  The  feature  of  the 
program  was  the  funeral  of  Adolf  Hitler  in 
effigy  which  took  place  on  the  Common  with 
burial  certificate  being  obtained  by  a  Natick 
citizen  named  Winston  Churchill. 

Also,  starting  at  midnight  the  same  night, 
merchandise  donated  by  many  celebrities  was 
auctioned  off  at  the  Motion  Picture  Industry 
Bond  and  Stamp  Booth  on  the  Boston  Common. 
This  auction  continued  for  24  hours. 

Fall  River  Sponsors 
$1,000  Luncheon 

Manager  William  S.  Canning  of  the  Inter- 
state Empire  Theatre  in  Fall  River,  is  sponsor- 
ing a  $1,000  gold  plate  luncheon  for  "Salute  to 
Our  Heroes  Day"  September  11th.  Dorothy 
Lamour  and  several  other  Hollywood  stars  on 
a  Hollywood  Caravan  billing  will  be  in  Fall 
River  that  day  and  will  pack  a  whole  day's  sell- 
ing into  three  hours  in  front  of  City  Hall. 

At  Lowell,  Mass.,  13  different  organizations 
are  aiding  the  local  motion  picture  committee 
stage  a  huge  bond  and  stamp  selling  campaign 
this  month,  by  furnishing  members  to  operate 
the  Victory  Booth  in  the  center  of  the  city 
throughout  the  month.  Nat  Silver,  manager  of 
the  M.  &  P.  Strand,  sought  a  Dorothy  Lamour 
sarong  from  George  Brown,  Paramount  man- 
ager, to  auction  off.  A  proclamation  for  Lowell 
residents  to  observe  the  "Salute  to  Our  He- 
roes Month"  was  issued  by  Mayor  George  T. 
Ashe.  Superintendent  of  Police  Michael  H. 
Winn  and  his  department  are  sponsoring  a  float 
which  is  touring  the  streets  to  remind  the  peo- 
ple all  month  to  purchase  War  Savings  Bonds 
and  Stamps.  Pamela  Hollingworth  of  Dunsta- 
ble, Mass.,  who  was  lost  in  the  North  Conway, 
N.  H.,  wilderness  for  eight  days  a  year  ago, 
did  her  bit  by  making  an  appeal  for  bond  and 
stamp  purchases  in  a  United  States  Treasury 
Department  motion  picture. 


St,  Louis  to  Have 
Show  September  6th 

The  St.  Louis  War  Activities  Committee  has 
nearly  completed  its  plans  for  the  show  Sep- 
tember 6th,  which  is  expected  to  add  $1,375,000 
to  the  city's  bond  total.  The  show  will  be  held 
in  the  Municipal  Auditorium's  Convention  Hall, 
which  has  a  seating  capacity  of  11,000.  The 
house  has  been  scaled  as  follows :  $25,  $50,  $100, 
$500  and  several  boxes,  each  seating  six  for 
$5,000.  Moviegoers  who  purchase  bonds  in  these 
denominations  at  any  of  the  100  theatres  here 
will  receive  a  free  ticket  corresponding  to  the 
amount  of  the  bond. 

Frances  Dee  and  Edward  Arnold  will  be  the 
stars  of  the  revue,  which  will  include  most  of 
the  professional  talent  at  St.  Louis  night  clubs, 
hotels  and  dance  halls.  At  least  five  bands  have 
donated  their  services,  according  to  Rex  Wil- 
liams, chairman  of  the  Arrangements  Com- 
mittee. 

At  least  another  $500,000  worth  of  bonds  is 
expected  to  be  sold  in  an  auction  being  ar- 
ranged by  Joe  Ansell.  Plans  are  being  made 
for  Mr.  Arnold  and  Miss  Dee  to  review  a  state 
legion  parade  Sunday  afternoon,  according  to 
Fred  Wehrenberg,  general  chairman  of  the 
bond  drive  in  St.  Louis. 

Ohio  state  defense  officials,  representatives  of 


retail  stores,  radio  stations  and  others  pledged 
their  cooperation  with  film  theatres  in  the  Sep- 
tember "Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  month  at  a 
luncheon  meeting  held  at  the  Neil  House,  Co- 
lumbus, five  days  before  the  start  of  the  drive. 
Governor  John  W.  Bricker  of  Ohio  and  Trent 
Sickles,  newly-appointed  chairman  of  the 
Franklin  County  War  Stamp  and  Bond  Com- 
mittee, were  principal  speakers. 

Those  present  included :  Ralph  Stone,  acting 
director  of  the  Ohio  State  Council  of  Defense; 
Ford  Worthing,  the  state  council's  publicity 
director ;  E.  T.  Boles,  in  charge  of  large  bond 
sales ;  Pierre  Hale,  secretary  of  the  Columbus 
Retail  Merchants  Association ;  Erwin  Johnson 
of  WBNS;  George  Gray  of  WHKC ;  Harrold 
Eckart,  dramatic  editor  of  the  Ohio  State  Jour- 
nal ;  P.  J.  Wood,  War  Savings  co-ordinator  for 
Ohio,  Michigan  and  Kentucky  and  members  of 
the  War  Activities  Committee. 

Indiana  representatives  of  the  War  Activi- 
ties Committee  of  the  Motion  Picture  Industry 
gave  theatre  men  from  all  parts  of  Indiana  their 
final  instructions  for  the  $1,000,000,000  Septem- 
ber war  bond  drive  at  a  meeting  in  the  World 
War  Memorial  Auditorium,  Indianapolis,  Au- 
gust 27th. 

Special  Bond  Rallies 
In  Preparation 

War  Bond  premieres  of  pictures  and  special 
theatre  rallies  for  picture  openings  will  form  im- 
portant parts  of  the  September  drive.  Para- 
mount is  planning  special  rallies  in  New  York 
and  elsewhere,  one  through  a  tieup  with  the 
Bonwit  Teller  department  store,  for  its  "Wake 
Island."  The  Office  of  War  Information's  fea- 
ture picture  "The  World  at  War"  opened 
Thursday  at  the  Rialto  theatre  in  New  York 
with  each  seat  priced  at  a  $100  War  Bond. 

Among  the  special  press  book  stunts  devised 
by  the  War  Activities  Committee  for  theatres 
during  the  drive  period  is  one  giving  complete 
details  for  the  formation  of  Junior  Commando 
Units.  The  idea  was  developed  by  Everett  C. 
Callow  of  the  Warner  circuit  in  Philadelphia 
in  cooperation  with  the  Philadelphia  Evening 
Bulletin.  Boys  and  girls  are  asked  to  have 
their  parents,  relatives  or  neighbors  pledge  to 
buy  a  War  Bond  during  September.  These 
pledges,  when  presented  at  a  special  Commando 
Saturday  morning  show,  entitle  the  child  to  a 
free  admission  and  to  a  membership  card  and 
button.  Copies  of  the  folder  outlining  the  plan, 
may  be  obtained  from  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee in  New  York. 

Newspaper  Response 
Enthusiastic 

Enthusiastic  response  from  newspapers  was 
reported  this  week  by  the  Donahue  &  Coe  ad- 
vertising agency  which  sent  large  display  adver- 
tisements for  the  War  Bond  drive  to  300  news- 
papers. The  papers  were  asked  to  seek  local 
advertising  sponsorship  for  the  space  and  many 
reported  success.  Many  exhibitors  also  have 
wired  for  mats. 

Major  Benjamin  H.  Namm,  chairman  of  the 
Retail  Advisory  Committee  of  the  Treasury 
War  Savings  Staff,  this  week  wired  all  state 
chairman  of  the  Retail  Merchants  Association 
urging  the  cooperation  of  department  stores, 
chain  stores,  drug  stores  and  other  retail  estab- 
lishments in  the  motion  picture  industry  War 
Bond  drive. 

The  Publicity  Club  of  New  York,  compris- 
ing publicity  managers  for  numerous  industrial 
and  social  organizations,  has  pledged  its  assis- 
tance to  the  drive.  The  club  will  devise  and 
execute  special  Bond  promotion  efforts  in  many 
communities. 


942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


17 


MANDATORY  BLOCK-OF-FIVE 
SALES  END  FOR  5  MAJORS 


Only  MGM  Offers  Larger 
Groups;  Fate  of  UMPI 
Is  Still  in  Doubt 

Mandatory  selling  of  motion  pictures 
in  blocks-of-nve  or  less,  with  compulsory 
advance  trade  she  wings,  ended  :n  Tues- 
day for  :he  five  distributer  s:gnat:r:e  = 
t:  the  New  Ycrk  ::nsent  ietree.  MGM 
Paramount,  RKO  Radio,  Warners  and 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  now  are  at  lib- 
erty to  offer  their  1942-43  pictures  in  any 
grouping  they  des:re 

Only  one  company,  MGM,  which  an- 
nounced that  its  first  block  would  include 
eight  pictures,  subject  to  the  cancellations 
agreed  upon  by  the  United  Motion  Picture 
Industrv,  was  offering  blocks  larger  than 
free  trade  shown  pictures.  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox and  RKO  had  been  selling  their 
in  trial  two  blocks  five  at  a  time  and  War- 
ners and  Paramount  indicated  that  they 
would  ctmtmne  grouping  new  season  product 
in  combinations  of  five  or  less. 

The  fate  of  the  United  Motion  Picture 
Industry,  whose  sales  plan  was  vetoed  by 
the  Department  of  Justice,  was  in  doubt 
this  week.  There  appeared  little  likelihood 
that  a  decision  on  continuing  the  unity 
movement  would  be  reached  this  month. 

William  F.  Rodgers,  chairman  of  the 
UMPI  Committee  of  the  Whole,  on  Tuesday 
said  that  no  date  had  been  set  for  another 
meeting.  He  said  that  none  would  be  called 
until  the  members  had  informed  him  of 
their  wishes  for  the  future  of  the  organiza- 
tion. 

Expect  No  Meeting 
Before  October  1st 

Several  of  the  exhibitor  members  of 
UMPI  said  that  they  understood  there  would 
be  no  meeting  before  October  1st,  The 
Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of  America 
was  polling  its  membership  for  suggestions 
on  the  future  of  the  unity  plan.  Other  ex- 
hibitor groups,  and  their  leaders,  were  pre- 
paring similar  studies. 

Many  of  the  leaders  of  UMPI  were  de- 
voting most  of  their  time  to  the  industry's 
September  billion  dollar  War  Bond  drive 
and  it  was  considered  unlikely  they  would 
be  able  to  give  the  unity  situation  considera- 
tion this  month. 

Still  on  the  UMPI  agenda  were  sugges- 
tions for  regional  conciliation  machinery 
and  for  the  changing  of  the  rules  of  arbi- 
tration to  give  them  greater  scope.  Com- 
mittee members  also  had  suggested  changes 
to  speed  and  sinrplify  arbitration. 

State  tax  committees  also  had  been  set 
up  under  UMPI  and  it  was  probable  these 
would  be  retained,  at  least  as  local  units, 
for  joint  consideration  of  local  tax  prob- 
lems. Reports  were  due  from  the  UMPI 
tax.  arbitration  and  finance  committee. 

The  latter  group  was  expected  to  meet 
in  any  case,  regardless  of  the  action  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole,  to  decide  on  either 
the  liquidation  of  the  present  unity  organi- 
zation, which  maintains  a  secretary  and 
quarters  in  the  Hotel  Astor,  New  York,  or 


NEXT  MGM  FORUM 
IN  PITTSBURGH 

Metro-GoJdwyn-Mayer  will  hold  its 
next  Exhibitors  Forum  to  discuss 
advertising  and  exploitation  at  the 
Roosevelt  Hotel  in  Pittsburgh  on 
October  20th,  H.  M.  Richey,  direc- 
tor of  exhibitor  relations,  announced 
this  week.  The  forum  will  be  on  the 
day  following  the  business  session  of 
the  Allied  of  Western  Pennsylvania 
convention.  The  convention  banquet 
will  take  place  on  luesday  evening 
following  the  Forum.  Speakers  will 
include  advertising  and  publicity  ex- 
perts from  exhibition,  newspapers  and 
the  Metro  home  office.  Bryan  D. 
Stoner,  Pittsburgh  branch  manager, 
is  in  charge  of  arrangements. 


to  agree  on  a  budget  for  continued  opera- 
tion. 

Edward  Kuykendall,  president  of  the 
MPT  OA,  in  announcing  the  poll  of  the  or- 
ganization's directors  and  other  leaders  ex- 
pressed his  personal  doubts  as  to  the  future 
value  of  UMPI,  in  that  the  Department  of 
Justice  rejection  of  the  sales  plan  ''removed 
the  heart  from  UMPI." 

Opinion  at  New  York  was  divided  on 
the  extent  to  which  the  condemnation  by 
Thurman  Arnold,  Assistant  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, of  the  sales  plan  bars  other  coopera- 
tive industry  efforts.  Some  attorneys  for 
the  majors  construe  it,  in  effect,  as  barring 
any  collaboration  or  standardization  on 
trade  practices,  arbitration  or  anj7  other 
matter. 

Exhibitor  groups  were  more  hopeful, 
however,  declaring  that  by  an  exercise  of 
the  good  faith  manifested  in  the  unity  con- 
ferences, distributors  and  exhibitors  could 
still  work  out  much  needed  reforms  which 
would  meet  the  approval  of  the  Government. 

L'mpi  Can  Still  Be 
Useful,  Says  Cole 

"UMPI  has  not  lost  its  usefulness,"  H.  A. 
Cole,  a  member  of  the  Allied  Caravan,  told 
the  convention  of  Northwest  Allied  at  Min- 
neapolis on  Tuesday.  "It  can  still  be  of 
much  value  to  exhibitors  in  insuring  that 
their  deals  with  distributors  are  on  an  equit- 
able basis,"  he  said. 

The  Independent  Exhibitors,  Inc.,  New 
England  exhibitors  association,  hailed  the 
Government  rejection  of  the  UMPI  plan 
as  a  vindication  of  its  stand  against  it.  A 
bulletin  this  week  from  Francis  C.  Lydon, 
president,  said  that  under  the  UMPI  plan 
the  protection  of  the  small,  unaffiliated  ex- 
hibitor had  been  given  too  scant  attention. 

Recapitulating  its  objections  against  the 
plan  the  independent  group  declared  it  would 
have  meant  a  return  of  block  booking.  It 
thanked  the  independent  producers.  Con- 
gressmen and  "various  public  spirited  or- 
ganizations whose  interest  in  the  motion 


picture  industry  and  its  effects  on  the  public 
have  carried  staunchly  and  unremittingly 
through  from  the  days  of  the  Neely  bill'" 
for  their  aid  in  opposing  the  plan. 

New  England  exhibitors  were  asked  to 
report  instances  of  forcing  of  short  subjects, 
and  the  conditioning  of  one  group  of  pic- 
tures on  another,  or  the  resumption  of  any 
large  block  selling.  Mr.  Lydon  said  that 
the  continuance  of  the  decree,  and  the  threat 
of  divorcement  would  deter  "full  line  forc- 
ing" or  blind  selling. 

Protests  Against 
Rentals.  Percentages 

Similar  protests  against  rentals,  and  per- 
centage and  special  admission  price  pictures 
were  contained  in  a  bulletin  to  the  Iowa 
and  Nebraska  Independent  Theatre,  Owners 
mailed  out  last  week  by  Leo  F.  Wolcott, 
president. 

Fifty  per  cent  percentage  deals,  with  50- 
cent  minimum  admissions  frequently  double 
the  customary  price  in  many  small  midwest 
towns,  he  said.  He  urged  members  to  resist 
such  deals. 

The  midwest  owners  were  urged  to  buy 
filras  only  as  needed  and  to  consider  care- 
fully wartime  changes  in  local  populations. 
Mr.  Wolcott  urged  members  to  compare 
sugar  census  figures  with  the  1940  census. 
The  group  also  attacked  the  resumption  of 
blind  checking  and  Mr.  Wolcott  asked  all 
members  to  submit  information  on  double 
feature  policy. 

The  first  visit  of  the  Allied  Caravan  was 
made  to  Minneapolis  on  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  where  the  committee  of  nation- 
al Allied  leaders  appeared  at  the  convention 
of  Northwest  Allied  to  discuss  prices  and 
rental  conditions.  M.  A.  Rosenberg,  H.  A. 
Cole,  Sidney  Samuelson  and  Tack  Kirsch 
were  on  the  visiting  committee. 

Says  Action  on  Anti-Block  Law 
Rests  with  Distributors 

Harold  Field,  chairman  of  the  Northwest 
legislative  committee,  said  that  further  tests 
of  the  Minnesota  anti-blocks-of-five  law 
rested  with  distributors.  Members  author- 
ized the  board  of  governors  to  act  on  an  ap- 
peal of  the  court  decision  which  invalidated 
the  law.  E.  L.  Peaslee,  president,  reported 
successes  in  the  organization's  drive  against 
high  percentage  sales  in  the  territory.  Don- 
ald Guttman  of  Minneapolis  and  Ted  Mann, 
St.  Paul,  were  elected  to  the  board  of  gov- 
ernors. 

Thirteen  other  meetings  in  11  states  had 
been  scheduled  for  the  caravan  through  the 
next  month.  It  was  due  to  visit  Chicago  on 
Thursday  and  Friday-  of  this  week  to  meet 
with  Illinois  Allied  members.  It  will  visit 
Detroit  on  September  9th  and  10th. 

The  Caravan  will  address  a  luncheon  and 
rally  of  independents  from  Connecticut  on 
September  17th,  at  the  Hotel  Garde.  New 
Haven. 

The  recently-organized  Indignant  Exhibi- 
tors Forum,  in  -Cincinnati,  and  the  Greater 
Cincinnati  Independent  Exhibitors  League 
this  week  petitioned  the  Government  to 
place  a  ceiling  on  film  prices  for  producers 
and  distributors  on  the  basis  of  1940-41 
contracts. 


i  a 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


$2,190,894  Net 
For  20th-Fox 
In  26  Weeks 


Twentieth  Century-Fox  Film  Corporation, 
last  Friday,  in  New  York,  reported  a  consoli- 
dated net  profit,  after  Federal  income  tax,  of 
$2,190,894  for  the  26  weeks  ended  June  27,  1942, 
after  providing  a  reserve  for  foreign  assets  of 
$3,100,000.  This  compares  with  a  profit  of 
$861,278  for  the  first  26  weeks  of  1941,  after  a 
comparable  reserve  of  $1,500,000. 

For  the  second  quarter,  ended  June  27,  1942, 
the  consolidated  net  profit,  after  all  charges,  in- 
cluding provision  of  reserve  for  foreign  assets 
of  $2,000,000,  was  $1,349,333  compared  with  the 
first  quarter  profit  of  $841,561,  after  a  reserve  of 
$1,100,000,  and  a  profit  of  $457,189  for  the  sec- 
ond quarter  of  1941,  also  after  providing  a  re- 
serve of  $1,150,000. 

No  portion  of  the  earnings  of  National  Thea- 
tres Corporation  is  included  in  the  figures  since 
no  dividends  were  declared  by  that  corporation 
during  the  first  half  of  either  year,  the  company 
said.  The  provision  for  Federal  income  taxes  is 
computed  at  an  estimated  tax  rate  of  50  per 
cent  for  1942.  The  corporation  is  not  liable 
for  excess  profits  tax  on  the  earnings  for  this 
period  under  any  tax  legislation  so  far  proposed. 

The  profit  for  the  second  quarter  of  1942 
equals  58  cents  per  share  of  common  stock  after 
the  usual  preferred  dividend,  and  for  the  26 
weeks  ended  June  27,  1942,  86  cents  a  share. 

The  board  of  directors  at  a  meeting  Thursday 
declared  a  cash  dividend  of  37  y2  cents  per  share 
for  the  third  quarter  of  1942  on  the  outstanding 
preferred  stock  of  the  corporation,  payable  Sep- 
tember 30,  1942,  to  stockholders  of  record  Sep- 
tember 15th. 

Consolidated  income  account  for  26  weeks 
ended  June  27,  1942,  compares  as  follows : 

20  wks  end  26  wks  end 

June  27, '42  June  28, '41 

Income  from  sales  and  rents...  $28,163,602  $21,035,735 

Total  income                                29,067,062  21,652,127 

Expenses,  etc                               5,883,134  5,295,602 

Res  for  forgn  assets                      3,100,000  1,500,000 

Amort  of  prod  costs                     15,820,928  12,309,345 

Part  in  film  rents                            692,410  1,460,666 

Interest                                              3,700  9,092 

*Dpr  of  fix  assets                             125,936  141,844 

Fedl  income  taxes                        1,250,000  74,300 

Net  profit    2,190,894  $861,278 

*Not  including  depreciation  on  studio  buildings  and 
equipment  absorbed  in  production  casts. 

Ruppel  Leaves  CBS  to  Join 
Collier  Publishing 

Louis  Ruppel,  director  of  publicity  for  the 
Columbia  Broadcasting  system,  announced  his 
resignation  Tuesday  in  New  York,  and  said  he 
would  join  the  Crowell-Collier  Publishing 
Company  October  1st,  as  executive  assistant  to 
the  president. 

CBS  did  not  replace  Mr.  Ruppel  immediately. 
George  Crandall,  assistant  director  of  publicity, 
assumed  his  duties  this  week.  Mr.  Ruppel  came 
to  CBS  in  1938,  from  a  post  as  managing  editor 
of  the  Chicago  Times.  From  1933  to  1934,  he 
was  U.  S.  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Narcotics 
for  the  Treasury  Department. 

Greaza  Given  New  Leave 

Actors  Equity  has  extended  the  leave  of  Wal- 
ter Greaza,  assistant  executive  secretary,  for 
three  months  to  enable  him  to  complete  his 
reorganization  of  the  affairs  of  th«  American 
Guild  of  Variety  Artists.  Equity  will  hold  its 
next  quarterly  meeting  on  September  25th  at 
the  Hotel  Astor,  New  York.. 

Monogram  Signs  Affiliated 

Affiliated  Theatre  Circuit  of  California  and 
Monogram  on  Tuesday  signed  a  contract  for 
the  entire  Monogram  product  schedule  for  this 

season. 


TO  SHOW  FILMS  AT 
PITTSBURGH  RALLIES 

Patriotic  short*  subjects,  produced 
by  major  companies  and  Government 
agencies,  will  be  presented  at  public 
rallies  at  the  Syria  Mosque  in  Pitts- 
burgh every  Monday  for  five  weeks, 
beginning  September  14th.  The  rallies 
will  be  known  as  "Red  Feather 
Nights,"  and  the  programs,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  films,  will  include  radio 
broadcasts  featuring  prominent  per- 
sonalities, a  stage  show,  competitive 
drills  among  service  men  and  a 
dance. 


Sunday  Films  Are 
Voted  in  Knoxville 

Motion  picture  theatres  in  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
will  start  Sunday  afternoon  operation  on  Sep- 
tember 13th.  An  ordinance  passed  by  the  City 
Council  on  final  reading  last  week  legalized 
shows  between  the  hours  of  1  and  6  P.  M.  on 
Sundays. 

One  obstacle  remained  last  week.  A  petition 
with  the  names  of  25  per  cent  of  the  voters  in 
the  last  election,  if  presented  before  the  ordi- 
nance becomes  effective  (17  days  after  pass- 
age), would  force  the  Council  to  rescind  the 
ordinance  or  call  a  referendum.  Such  a  peti- 
tion was  being  circulated  and  ministers  indi- 
cated at  the  Council  meeting  that  they  would 
support  it.  The  influence  of  the  clergy  de- 
feated Sunday  films  in  a  referendum — which 
carried  no  mandate  to  the  Council — two  years 
ago. 


Cincinnati  Play  Season 
To  Open  October  1st 

The  Cincinnati  legitimate  season  will  open 
October  1st,  with  "The  Pirate,"  a  Theatre 
Guild  production,  to  be  followed  by  "Junior 
Miss"  and  "Papa  Is  All,"  on  the  Guild's  sub- 
scription list.  Other  attractions  booked  are: 
"Porgy  and  Bess,"  "This  Is  the  Army," 
"Priorities  of  1942,"  "Lady  in  the  Dark," 
"Blithe  Spirit,"  "Let's  Face  It,"  "Best  Foot 
Forward,"  "Life  With  Father,"  "Arsenic  and 
Old  Lace,"  "New  Hellzapoppin',"  "Sons  o' 
Fun,"  "Spring  Again,"  "My  Sister  Eileen," 
"Star  and  Garter,"  "By  Jupiter,"  "The  Moon 
Is  Down"  and  "Claudia,"  with  other  bookings 
to  follow.  The  schedule  calls  for  25  produc- 
tions, compared  with  a  total  of  20  presented 
last  season. 


Premiere  Honors  Queen 

The  South  American  premiere  of  the  United 
Artists  picture,  "One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Miss- 
ing," was  held  at  Willemstadt,  Curacao,  on 
Monday  night  in  celebration  of  the  62nd  birth- 
day of  Queen  Wilhelmina  of  Holland.  The 
print  was  delivered  by  a  United  Nations 
bomber.  Proceeds  went  to  charity. 


Music  Hall  Benefit 

The  Chinese  Relief  Association  will  benefit 
from  an  affair  to  be  held  at  the  Radio  City 
Music  Hall  the  evening  of  November  25th. 
General  chairman  will  be  Lawrence  Tibbett. 
Among  the  patrons  will  be  Secretary  of  State 
Cordell  Hull  and  Mrs.  Hull. 


Spewack  Flies  to 
Britain  for  OWI 

Samuel  Spewack,  head  of  the  production  unit 
of  the  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures  of  the  Office 
of  War  Information,  flew  to  London  this  week 
to  obtain  special  British  footage  and  background 
material.  His  first  production  for  the  U.  S. 
Government,  "The  World  at  War,"  opened  at 
New  York's  Rialto  theatre  Thursday.  It  is  re- 
viewed in  the  Product  Digest  Section. 

While  in  London  Mr.  Spewack  will  confer 
with  officials  of  the  Ministry  of  Information  and 
study  the  use  of  motion  pictures  in  England  for 
instruction  of  the  public  in  defense  precautions, 
rationing,  and  information.  It  was  reported  that 
he  might  also  fly  to  Moscow  to  obtain  Russian 
background  material  for  the  U.  S.  film  library. 

Phillip  Martin,  technical  director  of  the  OWI 
film  bureau,  and  its  head  when  it  was  the  film 
unit  of  the  Office  of  Emergency  Management, 
has  resigned.  Mark  Asch  succeeds  him  as 
technical  director. 

Musical  direction  for  the  unit  has  been  taken 
over  by  Gail  Kubik,  replacing  Jack  Shaindlin, 
who  resigned  last  week.  Mr.  Shaindlin  is  writ- 
ing a  score  for  the  March  of  Time  feature,  "We 
Are  the  Marines." 

Short  subjects  now  are  being  completed  by 
the  unit  on  Japanese  relocation  in  the  Pacific, 
"Manpower,"  a  report  of  the  program  of  the 
Federal  Manpower  Commission  headed  by  Paul 
McNutt,  and  a  study  of  the  war  activities  of 
colleges.  It  is  understood  that  the  work  of  the 
unit  henceforth  will  be  confined  to  informational 
topics. 


Mark  Hanna  Joins  OWI 

Mark  Hanna,  screen  and  stage  agent,  and 
former  Far  East  manager  for  Paramount  at 
Shanghai,  has  joined  the  Office  of  War  Infor- 
mation as  an  overseas  representative  of  Robert 
Sherwood,  chief  of  the  foreign  branch.  Mr. 
Hanna  will  leave  for  London  within  a  few 
weeks,  where  he  will  supervise  distribution  of 
special  motion  picture  short  subjects  and  radio 
material  prepared  by  the  OWI. 


Gillespie  Joins  UA 
Exploitation  Staff 

David  E.  Weshner,  director  of  advertising 
and  publicity  for  United  Artists,  has  appointed 
James  Gillespie  to  handle  exploitation  out  of 
the  home  office. 

Mr.  Gillespie  has  been  associated  with 
United  Artists  for  the  past  two  and  a  half 
years  as  field  representative  for  the  southern 
territory,  with  headquarters  in  Atlanta.  He  has 
been  identified  for  many  years  with  the  promo- 
tion of  motion  pictures  as  well  as  the  han- 
dling of  name  personalities.  Mr.  Gillespie  was 
Paul  Whiteman's  manager  for  nine  years.  Pre- 
viously, he  was  on  the  exploitation  staff  of 
RKO. 


Major  Hal  Roach  Marries 

Major  Hal  Roach,  Hollywood  producer  who 
now  is  on  duty  with  the  Army  Signal  Corps 
Photographic  Section  at  Wright  Field,  Day- 
ton, O.,  married  Lucille  Prin  of  Los  Angeles  in 
Ohio  Monday  night. 


Herald  Reporter  in  Army 

Harry  McCormick,  member  of  the  staff  of 
the  Dallas  Morning  News  and  Texas  corre- 
spondent for  Motion  Picture  Herald,  enlisted 
in  the  U.  S.  Army  last  week.  A  veteran  of  the 
World  War  and  the  holder  of  a  reserve  com- 
mission for  16  years,  he  enlisted  as  a  private. 


Extend  Janet  Blair  Pact 

The  Columbia  studio  on  Tuesday  extended 
the  contract  of  Janet  Blair,  who  placed  twelfth 
in  Motion  Picture  Herald's  "Stars  of  Tomor- 
row" poll  of  exhibitors.  She  will  appear  next 
in  "Destroyer"  opposite  Edward  G.  Robinson. 


Harry  C.  Doyle  Dies 

Harry  C.  Doyle,  44,  Columbus  booker  and 
formerly  operator  of  the  Doyle  and  Broadway 
theatres  in  Columbus,  died  at  St.  Francis  Hos- 
pital there  on  Monday  night,  August  31st.  His 
wife  survives. 


"Let  me  tell 
you  about  my 
first  group  of 
eight  pictures 
for  1942-43-" 


GREAT  EIGHT! 


We  start  the  season  doing  Miniver  business  with  CLARK  GABLE, 
LANA  TURNER  in  "SOMEWHERE  I'LL  FIND  YOU." 

The  next  release  proves  it's  the  tops  in  all  test  cities: 
"TISH,"  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart's  beloved  character  in  films! 

Three  in  a  row!  Terrific  test  runs  proclaim  another  HIT! 
"PANAMA  HATTIE"  starring  RED  SKELTON,  ANN  SOTHERN. 

We  deliver  a  BIG  Western  in  the  M-G-M  manner! 
"APACHE  TRAIL"— "Big  Classification"  says  Box-Office. 

The  No.  1  Box- Office  Star  does  his  stuff  for  the  fans. 

MICKEY  ROONEY  in  "A  YANK  AT  ETON  "-No.  1  Box- Office  Joy! 

Watch  for  the  nationwide  Kate  Smith  broadcast  Sept.  25th. 

"The  WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  HADLEY"-Newsworthy  as  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

Something  NEW  in  de  luxe  entertainment.  Music  and  Drama! 
JEANETTE  MacDONALD,  ROBERT  YOUNG  in  "CAIRO" 
with  Ethel  Waters. 

A  nationwide  press  stunt.  Premieres  in  7  most  romantic  cities!  "SEVEN 
SWEETHEARTS"  with  Kathryn  Grayson,  Van  Heflin,  Marsha  Hunt. 


Artist's  impression  of  Clark 
Gable  and  Lana.  Then  keep 
going  for  more  details  of 
the  "Great  Eight:1 


"And  there's  a  hundred  million 

others  like  me" 


Off,  MR.  GABLE 


1  ~~~~~Z 


SIZZLING  TEST  ENGAGEMENTS  TELL  THE  TRADE! 

The  First  BIG  New  Season  Hit  is  from  Metro- GOLDMINE- Mayer 

CLARK  GABLE  •  LANA  TURNER  in  "SOMEWHERE  I'LL  FIND  YOU"  with  Robert  Sterling  •  Patricia  Dane  •  Reginald 
Owen  •  Lee  Patrick  •  Charles  Dingle  •  Screen  Play  by  Marguerite  Roberts  •  Adaptation  by  Walter  Reisch  •  Based  upon  a  Cosmopoh'tah  Magazine 
Story  by  Charles  Hoffman   •   Directed  by  WESLEY  RUGGLES   •    Produced  by  PANDRO  S.  BERMAN   •   A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 


«F  MUSICRV 


1 


■ 


Quee°„cked  Broadly 
that  loC^;ences  *»th 

laughter  for  dSUeUoo 
Radio  t'0'  Bombshell 
„j  Blo"de      „,  their 
Tan  Sonera  at  t 

bcstl  A  h^^ptresses 
of  talea\v  Cole  Porter 
atld  tunes  by 
and  otbers. 


V 


X 


!  TARRING 


More  talent  than  in 
10  vaudeville  shows 
including  famed  Berry 


Watch  tor: 
'THE  SON-OF-A-GUN 
WHO  PICKS  ON 
UNCLE  SAM" 

A  Musical  Number 
you'll  be  wild  about! 


TEN 
TOP  TUNES 

including: 

"Just  One  Of 
Those  Things" 

"Let's  Be  Buddies" 

"Son  Of  A  Gun  Who 
Picks  On  Uncle  Sam' 

"Fresh  As  A  Daisy' 

'Good 

Neiohhn 


with  RAGS 

RAGLAND 
BEN  BLUE 

MARSHA  HUNT 
VIRGINIA  O'BRIEN 
ALAN  MOWBRAY 
DAN  DAILEY,  JR. 
JACKIE  HORNER 

Screen  Play  by 
Jack  McGowan  and  Wilkie  Mahoney 

Directed  by  NORMAN  Z.  McLEOD 
Produced  by  ARTHUR  FREED 

A    METRO -GOLDWYN- MAYER  PICTURE 


"TISH" 

A  Proven  Audience  Hit! 

As  the  news  of  the  first  three  sensationally  successful  test  engagements  in  Houston, 
Atlanta  and  Providence  swept  through  every  Film  Row,  a  comparison  was  made 
between  "Tish"  and  that  memorable  comedy  "Caught  Short."  Marjorie  Main  in 
her  excruciating  interpretation  of  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart's  famed  fiction  char- 
acter is  truly  reminiscent  of  the  great  Marie  Dressier.  And  the  hilarious  comedy 
"Tish"  which  is  now  convulsing  audiences  nationwide  and  repeating  its  test  business 
has  caught  the  public  fancy  with  the  same  sweeping  success.  Promote  "Tish"  with 
every  resource  at  your  command.  Its  box-office  power  has  been  proved  by  its  test 
runs  which  have  beaten  such  top  grossing  hits  as  "Ship  Ahoy,"  "Tortilla  Flat," 
"Courtship  of  Andy  Hardy"  and  others. 

"TISH"  with  Marjorie  Main,  ZaSu  Pitts,  Aline  MacMahon,  Lee  Bowman,  Guy  Kibbee,  Susan  Peters, 
Virginia  Grey,  Richard  Quine  •  Screen  Play  by  Harry  Kuskin  •  Adaptation  by  Annalee  Whitmore 
Jacoby  and  Thomas  Seller  •  Founded  in  part  on  Stories  by  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart  •  A  Metro-Goldwyn- 
Mayer  Picture  •  Directed  by  S.  SYLVAN  SIMON  •  Produced  by  ORV1LLE  O.  DULL 


"APACHE  TRAIL" 

A  Great  M*G*M  Western  Drama 

M-G-M  set  out  to  answer  the  demand  for  outdoor  action  pictures  with  a  production 
worthy  of  Culver  City  standards.  Based  on  a  Collier's  Magazine  story,  it  tells  of 
twenty-four  thrill-packed  hours  at  an  isolated  stage  station  during  the  days  of 
Apache  warfare.  The  trade  critics  have  given  it  a  rousing  reception,  as  will  your 
patrons.  "Big  classification" — Box  Office  Magazine.  "Meat  for  fans" — Film  Daily. 
"You  can  recommend  without  reservation" — Showmen  s  Trade  Review.  You  may  be 
sure  that  when  Leo  invades  the  Western  scene  he  rides  high,  wide  and  handsome. 

"APACHE  TRAIL"  with  Lloyd  Nolan,  Donna  Reed,  William  Lundigan,  Ann  Ayars,  Connie  Gilchrist, 
Chill  Wills  •  Screen  Play  by  Maurice  Geraghty  •  A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 
Directed  by  RICHARD  THORPE  •  Produced  by  SAMUEL  MARX 


"THE  WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  HADLEY" 

A  timely  theme  from  the  producers  of  "Mrs*  Miniver " 

Selected  for  the  Kate  Smith  nationwide  broadcast  on  September  25th  as  one  of  the 
most  important  of  new  season  pictures,  this  production  is  already  one  of  the  most 
discussed  among  Fall  attractions.  For  the  millions  who  loved  "Mrs.  Miniver"  it 
tells  of  another  war-time  mother  who  does  not  realize  the  impact  of  the  world 
struggle  until  it  reaches  her  frivolous  life.  But  then  she  rises  with  a  magnificence 
that  is  a  tribute  to  American  womanhood.  Great  performances  by  Edward  Arnold, 
Fay  Bainter,  Richard  Ney  (of  Miniver  fame)  and  others.  Far  from  the  beaten  track 
in  content  and  a  natural  for  promotion  make  this  a  show  for  showmen. 

"THE  WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  HADLEY"  with  Edward  Arnold,  Fay  Bainter,  Richard  Ney,  Jean 
Rogers,  Sara  Allgood,  Spring  Byington,  Van  Johnson,  Isobel  Elsom,  Frances  Rafferty,  Dorothy  Morris 
Original  Screen  Play  by  George  Oppenheimer  •  A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 
Directed  by  HAROLD  S.  BUCQUET  •  Produced  by  IRVING  ASHER 


(continued) 


"MUSIC  HATH  CHARM" 
And  these  two  romances  with  melody 
add  variety  to  M-G-M's  Great  Eight! 

JEANETTE  MacDONALD 
ROBERT  YOUNG 

in  "CAIRO"  with  Ethel  Waters 

A  sly  and  racy  travesty  on  spy  plots  that  will  be  a  refresh- 
ing change  of  pace  for  modern  audiences.  It  kids  the 
menaces  delightfully.  The  stars  are  at  their  top  form  and 
the  addition  of  torch-singer  Ethel  Waters  repeating  her 
stage  triumphs  is  a  stroke  of  smart  showmanship.  The  pro- 
duction spares  nothing  in  ultra  magnificence.  It  is  a  de  luxe 
show  with  a  roster  of  talent,  hit  songs  and  desert  sirens 
that — in  the  words  of  Daily  Variety — "audiences  will 
thoroughly  enjoy." 


and  Reginald  Owen  •  Grant  Mitchell  •  Lionel 
Atwill  •  Edward  Ciannelli  •  Screen  Play  by 
John  McClain  •  A  Metro -Goldwyn- Mayer 
Picture  •  Directed  by  Maj.  W.  S.  VAN  DYKE  U 


SEVEN  SWEETHEARTS  starring 

KATHRYN  GRAYSON  •  VAN  HEFLIN  •  MARSHA  HUNT 


with  Cecilia  Parker  •  Peggy  Moran 
Diana  Lewis  •  S.  Z.  Sakall  •  A  FRANK 
BORZAGE  Production  •  Original  Screen 
Play  by  Walter  Reisch  and  Leo  Townsend 
Directed  by  FRANK  BORZAGE 
Produced  by  ]OE  PASTERNAK 
A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 


The  newspapers  are  accepting  the  challenge  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  "Which  are  the  Seven  Most  Romantic  Cities  in  Amer- 
ica?" They  will  be  honored  with  simultaneous  Previews  of  this 
glorious  entertainment.  And  never  did  a  show  better  deserve  the 
nationwide  publicity.  Pasternak's  first  for  M-G-M  has  all  the 
charm  and  musical  beauty  that  brought  him  praise  for  his  Deanna 
Durbin  successes.  And  another  singing  star  zooms  to  fame,  pretty 
Kathryn  Grayson  with  the  golden  voice.  And  another  hit  for 
Van  Heflin.  A  prediction:  It  will  be  the  box-office  sweetheart 
of  this  new  season! 


The  artist  captures  Mickey 
in  his  hilarious  "Yank  At 
Eton."  Then  read  further 
about  your  rosy  future! 


The  BIG  New-Season  Hits  are  from 

Metro -GOLDMINE -Mayer 


and  if  you  keep  your  ear  to  the  ground— 

As  we  go  to  press .  .  .  from  the  note-book  of  M-G-M 's  Preview  Reporter  just  returned  from 
California  . . .  Eye-witness  account  of  the  wonders  of  coming  M-G-M  attractions  . . .  How  they 
applauded  "RANDOM  HARVEST  "  that  brings  back  Mrs.  Miniver  (Greer  Garson)  quickly 
to  her  adoring  public  and  co-starred  with  the  one  and  only  Ronald  Colman.  They  saw  a 
picture  that  reaches  the  heights  in  drama,  in  artistry,  in  human  heart-beat,  a  proud  addition 

to  the  mighty7  pictures  of  M-G-M  history  "FOR  ME  AXD  MY  GAL"  starring  Judy 

Garland  (with  George  Murphy  and  sure-hre-newcomer-from-the-stage  Gene  Kelly)  takes  its 
place  among  the  greatest  musical  productions  this  industry  has  ever  known  . . .  that  cheering 
audience  lived  through  every  wonderful  moment  of  its  heart  story,  its  great  musical  numbers, 
its  sweeping  patriotic  emotional  surge  . .  .Judy  is  supreme  . . .  and  her  picture  will  be  headline 
news  from  now  on  .  .  .  "WHITE  CARGO"  is  a  showman's  dream  .  .  .  the  audience  "oh'd" 
and  "ah'd"  when  Hedv  Lamarr  appeared  in  her  lurong . . .  and  praised  another  tine  job,  too, 
for  Walter  Pidgeon .  .."WHISTLING  IX  DIXIE"  the  Red  Skelton  riot  is  already  famous... 
not  since  "Tillie's  Punctured  Romance"  have  audiences  been  so  apoplectic  without  let-up  as 
they  were  at  Huntington  Park,  California  (also  at  Loew's  New  Rochelle  Preview  in  the  East.) 
...Tip-off  about  another  winner  "EYES  IX  THE  NIGHT"  (Edward  Arnold,  Ann  Harding): 
the  Preview  audience  literally  sat  on  the  edge  of  their  seats  ...  its  tense  excitement  and  sus- 
pense is  something  you'll  cash  in  on!  .  .  .  And  that  new  Hardy  picture,  "ANDY  HARDY 
STEPS  OUT,"  is  joy  unconfirmed  .  .  .  the  audience  at  Inglewood,  California,  with  its  shrieks 
and  applause  is  a  guarantee  for  money  in  the  bank!  .  .  .  Of  the  picture  "JOURNEY  FOR 
MARGARET,"  let  it  be  said  here  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  soul-stirring  human  stories  of 
these  times,  its  likeable  people  are  courageous,  the  children  they  shield  from  the  storm  are 
marvelous  and  its  high,  hearty  humor  mingled  with  tears  will  litt  even-  audience  to  the  skies 
...look  for  it. ..treasure  it!.. .and  that's  not  all. ..bear  in  mind  "THE  MAN  OX  AMERICA'S 
CONSCIENCE"  (title  will  be  changed)  .  .  .  it's  an  epic  dramatization  of  the  life  of  Andrew 
Johnson  and  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  biggest  attractions  of  our  life-time  .  .  .Van  Herlin, 
Lionel  Barrymore,  Ruth  Hussey  and  a  notable  cast  contribute  Academy  Award  performances 
...this  picture  with  its  pulse-stopping  power,  its  compelling  story,  its  magnitude  of  production 
is  truly  of  road-show  stature  .  .  .  bear  it  in  mind  I 

Of  course  we're  enthusiastic!  You'll  be  too! 

(and  take  our  advice  on  next  page) 


Chinese  Epigram: 

SOW  EARLY  AND  YOU 
WILL  REAP  EARLY" 


American  Epigram: 

"M-G-M  Pictures  are 
best  in  the  long  run!" 


:  - : 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


31 


"Wake  Island" 
Opening  Aids 
Red  Cross 


ere— ere  a 
-    :  e  : 

behalf  of  _ 
i=v  the  rti 


3ac 

S  -  -  - 

:oer 


Rd 
Ac 

Mr 

Le: 
L, 


*       \  r  

: .  o  h  _  i*  -c r 


a^e  Island"  nad  its  omcia, 
•oli  theatre.  New  York,  Tues- 
11  out  benefit  performance  or 
ican  Red  Cross.  On  Wecr.es- 

a  regular  mn  at  the  theatre, 
:seb  for  a  number  cf  weeks 
sued  under  the  j  oint  sponsor- 
1  Artists  theatre  circuit  and 

Th  wsTtr.enSrl 

star  of  the  operatic,  concert 
the  screen,  appeared  at  the 

io  attended  were:  J.  Robert 
le  Warner,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
.  and  Mrs.  Barney  Balaban, 
n  Hertz,  Jr.,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
:.  Zrioaoier    Hereral  Robert 


P.  A.  Gapron.  Martin  Qtrigley,  Rear  Admiia] 
L.  C  FarwelL  Oscar  Morgan,  Xeil  Agnew, 
Sonja  Heme,  Robert  Gfllham,  Arthur  Israel 

The  film,  which  stars  Brian  Donleyv  and 
Robert  Preston,  opened  on  Wednesday  night  at 
the  Orpheum,  Tulsa,  Okla.,  as  part  of  the  Sep- 
:e— . ber  War  Bond  drive  oererr. rnies  in  that  eity. 
L.  W.  Grant,  Tulsa  County  War  Bond  adminis- 
trator, who  brought  in  $1,000,000  in  Bond  sales 
at  the  premiere  in  Tulsa  of  "Mrs.  Miniver,"  was 
in  charge  of  the  "Wake  Island"  opening. 

"Talk  of  Town"  Launches 
Hollywood  Canteen 

Columbia's  ''Talk  of  the  Town"  had  its  Hol- 
lywood premiere  last  Saturday  night  at  die 
launching  of  the  Hollywood  Canteen,  patterned 
after  l\ew  York's  Stage  Door  Canteen,  which  is 
operated  by  me  Arr. eriear.  -  Iteatre  Wir.g  War 
Service.  The  opening  was  held  at  the  Four 
star  theatre,  at  which  Betce  Davis  —  aie  an  ad- 
dress and  John  Charles  Thomas  sang  the  na- 
tional anthem. 

United  Artists  announced  on  Tuesday  that  a 
preview  of  "Moon  and  Sixpence,"  produced  by 
David  L.  Loew  and  Albert  Lewin,  was  to  be 
held  this  Saturday.  Sep  tern ber  5th.  in  Z-ooar- 
town,  Mass..  summer  home  of  W.  Somerset 
Maugham  author  of  the  original  novel.  In  ad- 
diticn  t:  Mr.  Maugham.  su:h  well-known  resi- 
dents of  this  summer  colony  as  Katharine  Cor- 
r.ell.  ._arr.es  Cagney.  Thomas  Har:  Eentcn.  Fran- 
cis Hackett  Emily  Post,  I.  A.  R.  Wylie,  Fran- 
cis B.  Sayre  and  Mrs.  Dwight  Morrow,  Jr.. 
were  expected  to  attend  the  premiere.  A  dele- 
gation of  newspapermen  and  film  critics  from 
Xew  York  and  Boston  also  were  to  be  present. 

MGM  announced  this  week  that  the  premiere 
of  "The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley'  wfll  take 
place  September  24th  a:  the  Capitol  theatre. 
Washington. 

"5310605,"  the  new  Walt  Disney  musical  fea- 
ture, opened  simultaneously  last  week  in  five 
theatres  of  the  Castro  circuit.  Rio  de  Tare::: 
Brazil.  The  film  was  presented  under  its  Portu- 


■■•Alo  Ami 


Proceeds  of  the 
nda,  Astoria,  Opera 
a  charirv  so:r.s:_ed 


ent. 

Disney,  foliow- 


"Saludts"  was  produced  by 
ing  his  tour  of  South  Ame 
operation  with  the  Coordinator  of  Inter-Ameri- 
can Affairs. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  announced  this  week 
that  "The  Loves  of  Edgar  Allen  Poe"  will  have 
its  first  Xew  York  showing  at  the  Little  Car- 
negie theatre  following  the  current  attraction. 


Zanuck  Granted  Leave  from 
20th-Fox  for  Army  Service 

Colonel  Darryl  F.  Zanuck,  vice-president  _^ 
in  charge  of  production  for  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox, has  been  granted  a  leave  of 
absence  without  compensation  at  his 
own  request  to  devote  his  full  time  to 
the  Army.  The  announcement  was  made 
in  New  York  on  Monday  by  Spyros  Skouras, 
president  of  the  company,  following  a  spe- 
cial meeting  of  the  board  of  directors. 
Colonel  Zanuck  also  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion as  vice-president  and  member  of  the 
board,  it  was  disclosed. 

Colonel  Zanuck  has  been  appointed  to 
the  executive  staff  of  Major  General  Daw- 

sc-  Z  ~i~ezz   C-.'e-  S'g-£   Z—zs-  z  5 

Army.  He  will  be  connected  with  the 
War  Department  in  Washington  and  with 
-_e  re500_5""e"s  :~  --5  S'g-.a  Zz-zi  de- 
tachment of  the  Research  Council  of  the 
Academy  of  Motion  Picture  Arts  and 
Sciences  in  Hollywood. 

As  chairman  of  the  council,  he  has  been 
active  during  the  past  year  in  the  produc- 
tion of  training  films  for  the  Army.  He 
has  been  a  reserve  officer  in  the  Signal 
Corps  since  1939  and  has  been  in  England 
and  Alaska  as  a  military  observer.  Re- 
cently, he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Colonel.  During  World  War  1  he  enlisted 


at  the  age  oi  lb  and  served  with  the 
-~e-':_-  -Xp__-_-5r  Fo-ce. 

During  his  absence  from  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  studios  on  Army  assignments, 
Colonel  Zanuck  delegated  much  studio 
production  to  the  general  supervision  of 
William  Soetz,  vice-president  in  charge  of 
studio  operations.  Colonel  Zanuck  was  in 
Washington  this  week  for  conferences  and 
~c   a- e~c  5    •'•  a"  Tecs  —        ~ev'ev.  o~ 


1 1 


COLONEL  DARRYL  F.  ZANUCK 

15  new  reels  of  training  films  made  in 
Hollywood. 

Colonel  Zanuck  began  his  career  as  a 
writer.  In  1929-30  he  became  general 
executive  in  charge  of  Warner  Brothers 
pictures.  In  1931  he  was  named  chief 
executive  of  al!  Warner  Brothers  and  First 
National  productions,  in  association  with 
Jack  L  Warner.  Two  years  later  he 
formed  Twentieth  Century  Productions  in 
association  with  Joseph  M.  Schenck.  In 
1 935,  Twentieth  Century  combined  with 
Fox  Film  and  Colonel  Zanuck  became  vice- 
president  of  Tv/entieth  Century-Fox  in 
charge  of  production. 


Film  Conservation  Plans 
Given  Further  Study 

The  industry  took  steps  this  week  to  give 
the  Sponable,  Shearer  and  other  methods  of 
film  conservation  their  first  real  technical  ex- 
amination. Committees  for  this  purpose  were 
formed  in  both  New  York  and  Hollywood 
while  the  Projection  Practice  Committee  of 
the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers  fol- 
lowed a  demonstration  Tuesday  evening  of  the 
Sponable  method  with  an  executive  session  for 
the  purpose  of  preparing  a  report  on  the  tech- 
nical problems  involved  in  all  of  the  schemes 
thus  far  advanced  for  conserving  film  by  mak- 
ing the  radical  changes  in  the  film  frame  with 
attendant  revision  of  both  production  and  pro- 
jection equipment.  Release  of  the  report  awaits 
approval  of  Society  officials, 

The  special  industry  committees  appointed  to 
conduct  further  study  of  the  various  methods 
submitted  were  headed  by  Gordon  Mitchell,  for 
Hollywood:  and  Joseph  Hazen.  in  Xew  York, 
with  Charles  Francis  Coe  of  the  MP  PDA  as 
secretary  and  coordinator  of  both  groups. 

Other  members  of  the  eastern  committee  are 
W.  C.  Michel,  Twentieth  Century-Fox:  Wil- 
liam F.  Rodgers  and  Lester  Isaac,  MGM :  Paul 
Raiboum,  Paramount:  Joseph  W.  Co  ft  man, 
C:ns  sllrlaceo  Fi'.rr.  Lab  oratorio;,  and  R;b-ert 
Wolff.  RKO. 


Lefkowitz,  Warner  New  York 
District  Manager,  Resigns 

Sam  Lefkowitz,  Xew  York  MetropoUtan  dis- 
trict manager  for  Warner  Bros.,  has  resigned 
effective  some  time  within  the  next  two  weeks, 
it  was  announced  in  Xew  York  Tuesday  by  Ben 
Kalmenson,  general  sales  manager. 

Mr.  Lefkowitz  had  been  with  Warners  since 
1932.  Before  his  promotion  to  district  man- 
ager last  year,  he  was  manager  of  the  Xew 
York  exchange.  A  successor  to  Mr.  Lefkowitz 
will  be  selected  following  the  return  of  Mr. 
Kalmenson  from  a  southern  business  trip,  it  is 
understood 


Holden  +0  Wilby-Kincey 

Earle  M.  Holden,  for  the  past  nine  years 
manager  of  the  Capitol  theatre,  Atlanta,  re- 
signed to  accept  a  position  in  the  booking  de- 
partment of  the  Wilby-Kincey  organization  in 
Charlotte.  He  assumes  his  new  duties  Sep- 
tember 14th. 


GE  Declares  Dividend 

General  Electric  last  week  declared  a  divi- 
dend of  35  cents  per  share  on  common  stock 
payable  October  24th  to  stockholders  of  record 
Serterr.ber  25th. 


32  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    5,  1942 

ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By   JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 


City  desks  and  editors  of  news  and  trade 
press  can  take  the  stream  of  press  releases 
which  pours  from  National  Broadcasting's 
press  room  in  New  York  with  a  grain  of 
salt — at  least  for  the  summer. 

To  beat  the  heat,  the  NBC  management 
has  installed  a  dandy  salt  dispenser  in  Room 
400,  bailiwick  of  the  NBC  press  agents,  in 
the  RCA  Building  at  Rockefeller  Center. 
That's  right.  Salt.  Plain,  ordinary  dinner- 
table  variety  (calcium  chloride,  NcCi)  in 
neat  little  tablets  the  size  of  an  aspirin. 

"Salt  Tablets  for  Heat  Fag,"  the  wall  dis- 
penser is  labeled.  "Take  one  tablet  at  a  time 
with  a  full  drink  of  water — Swallow  Whole." 

It's  less  expensive  than  air  conditioning. 
And  works  pretty  well,  say  the  NBC  press 
agents,  who  sweat  so  much  salt. 

V 

"She  Has  Bars  on  Her  Shoulders  and  Stars  in 
Her  Eyes,"  a  new  song  dedicated  to  our  new 
women  soldiers,  has  been  zvritten  by  Private 
Charles  Murray,  USA,  of  Fort  Bragg,  North 
Carolina.  It  will  be  featured  in  "We're  All  In 
It,"  the  Army  Emergency  Relief  Fund  Show,  at 
New  York's  Madison  Square  Garden,  on  Sep- 
tember 30th. 

World  War  II' s  "She  Has  Bars  on  Her  Shoul- 
ders and  Stars  in  Her  Eyes"  reminds  of  the 
little  ditty  of  World  War  I:  "Would  You 
Rather  Be  a  Colonel  with  an  Eagle  on  Your 
Shoulder  or  a  Private  with  a  Chicken  on  Your 
Knee." 

V 

Leon  Henderson's  latest  Office  of  Price 
Administration  order  places  U.  S.  control 
over  bird  calls,  game  carriers  and  decoys, 
mufflers,  shoulderette  pads  and  knee  warmers. 

V 

The  Metropolitan  Theatre,  in  Seattle,  still  ad- 
vertises, in  its  daily  newspaper  ads,  the  motion 
picture  industry's  "$250,000  Movie  Quiz"  con- 
test of  four  years  ago.  (See  Seattle  newspapers 
of  August  25th.) 

V 

Milt  Harris,  of  the  Drive-in-Theatre,  at 
Miami,  Florida,  sends  word  that  the  latest  idea 
in  movie  exhibition  in  his  sector  is  the  "Share 
Your  Show  with  a  Soldier  or  Sailor."  The  plan 
is  to  have  patrons  of  the  Drive-in  invite  service 
men  to  see  the  show  from  their  parked  cars.  A 
good  idea.  But  the  slogan,  "Share  Your  Show 
with  a  Soldier  or  Sailor"  bids  fair  to  replace 
that  tongue-twister  of  World  War  I :  "Sister 
Susie's  Sewing  Shirts  for  Soldiers." 


Mail  for  Those 
Captured 


Radio-and-Film  player  Lois  January  de- 
scribes an  Army  "top-kick"  (a  sergeant)  as  a 
"Corpulent  Connoisseur  of  Corny  Cracks  and 
Constantly  Crabbing  Crony." 

V 

Jesse  L.  Lasky,  producer  for  Warners,  in 
California,  has  sent  Richard  Lemen  from  the 
service  of  Lasky  advisor  on  "The  Adventures 
of  Mark  Twain,"  back  to  the  Mississippi  and 
Lemen's  former  job  as  steersman  on  the  old 
river  steamboat,  "Tom  Green,"  plying  between 
Cincinnati  and  Louisville. 

V 

Citizen  Elmer  Bruffy's  hobby  is  hanging 
himself.  He  planned  to  do  that  (safely)  on 
Hobby  Lobby,  the  other  night,  on  the  Co- 
lumbia Broadcasting  show.  At  rehearsal,  he 
slipped  off  a  ladder  while  the  leather  noose 
was  around  his  heavily  muscled  neck.  He 
nearly  did  hang  himself,  was  unconscious  for 
eight  minutes  after  being  cut  down. 


rITH  THE  PROBABILITY 
that  an  extension  of  military  and 
naval  approach  will  lead  to  the 
capture  of  some  from  among  the  hun- 
dreds of  the  motion  picture  and  allied 
industries  serving  in  the  Armed  Forces, 
the  following  information  on  the  routing 
of  mail  to  U.  S.  Prisoners  of  War — re- 
ceived by  Actors  Equity,  in  New  York, 
from  the  United  States  Navy — may  well 
be  kept  in  mind  by  those  desiring  to  send 
mail  to  a  war  prisoner: 

Simplification  of  plans  for  the  routing  of  mail 
to  prisoners  of  war  and  civil  internees  in  the  Far 
East  was  completed  by  the  Prisoners  of  War 
Board  of  the  Navy  Department  in  conjunction 
with  officers  of  the  International  Red  Cross  and 
the  Universal  Postal  Union  at  Bern,  Switzer- 
land. 

The  Universal  Postal  Union  has  organized  a 
postal  service  for  the  benefit  of  prisoners  and 
internees  between  Basle  and  Tokyo  via  Istan- 
bul, Tiflis  and  Siberia.  This  service  at  present 
contacts  points  in  Japan,  Korea,  Formosa,  Sak- 
haline,  Kwantung  territory,  Shanghai,  Hong 
Kong  and  other  occupied  territories.  Service  to 
other  territories  occupied  by  the  Japanese  forces 
is  in  preparation. 

For  the  purpose  of  expediting  mail  to  per- 
sons in  the  prison  camps  Army  officials  have  set 
up  in  Chicago  a  censorship  office  through  which 
all  mail  of  this  type  must  be  cleared. 

Correspondence  for  prisoners  and  internees  in 
camps  of  which  the  address  has  already  been 
communicated  should  be  sent  direct  to  those 
camps. 

Correspondence  for  prisoners  and  internees  in 
territories  where  this  postal  service  has  been  es- 
tablished but  where  the  camps  are  not  yet  known, 
but  which  are  supposed  already  to  be  in  exis- 
tence should  be  addressed  to  the  Japanese  Red 
Cross,  Tokyo. 

To  facilitate  censorship  all  correspondence 
should  be  written  in  a  clear  and  brief  manner 
and  as  far  as  possible  should  be  typed. 

The  notation  "Prisoners  of  War  Correspond- 
ence" (Service  des  Prisonniers,  de  Guerre) 
should  be  placed  on  the  envelope  to  prisoners. 

Clearance  of  cable  message  to  prisoners  and 
internees  is  to  be  made  through  the  American 
Red  Cross. 

In  order  to  comply  with  instructions,  mail 
should  be  addressed  as  follows  if  the  name  of 
the  prison  camp  is  known : 

Lieutenant  John  Doe,  United  States  Navy. 

Zentsuji  Prison  Camp, 

Island  of  Shikoka,  Japan. 

Mail  to  a  prisoner  or  civil  internee  in  a  known 
locality  where  the  name  of  the  camp  is  not 
known  should  be  addressed  as  follows : 

Lieutenant  John  Doe,  United  States  Marine 
Corps, 

(Formerly  of  Wake  Island) 
Shanghai,  China, 
c/o  Japanese  Red  Cross, 
Tokyo,  Japan. 

The  notation  "Prisoners  of  War  Correspond- 
ence" should  be  written  in  the  upper  left  hand 
corner  of  the  envelope  and  at  the  bottom  under 
the  address,  "Via  Chicago,  Illinois,"  should  be 
written.  In  the  upper  right  hand  corner  should 
be  written  the  word  "FREE." 


Little  Gordon  McArthur,  of  New  London, 
Conn.,  was  observing  his  ninth  birthday  the 
other  afternoon.  He  counted  nine  dollars  in 
gift  monies  and  told  his  father  he  wanted  to 
buy  a  War  Bond  from  Hollywood's  Tyrone 
Power,  who  was  conducting  a  bond  rally  at 
Walter  Murphy's  nearby  Capitol  Theatre. 

Young  McArthur  asked  the  elder  McArthur 
how  large  a  bond  he  could  buy,  to  which 
McArthur,  senior,  said,  jokingly,  anything  up 
to  $1,000. 

The  McArthurs  went  to  the  Capitol  Thea- 
tre, and  at  the  call  by  Tyrone  Power  for  bond 
buyers  in  the  audience,  the  youngster 
marched  to  the  stage,  shook  hands  with 
Power  and  whispered  that  he  was  in  the  mar- 
ket for  a  thousand-dollar  bond.  Power  made 
loud  announcement  of  the  boy's  name  and 
patriotism  as  a  thousand-dollar-bond-buyer. 

At  about  that  second  a  gulp  could  be  heard 
from  the  direction  of  McArthur,  Senior,  fur- 
ther back  in  the  auditorium.  Next  day  Mr. 
McArthur  visited  Capitol  Manager  Murphy, 
handed  him  $750  in  currency,  and  walked 
away  with  a  thousand-dollar  War  Bond. 
V 

One  of  those  who  returned  the  other  day  to 
New  York  and  the  U.  S.  A.,  with  1,450  others, 
aboard  the  exchange  ship  Gripsholm,  from  the 
Far  East,  was  Harold  S.  Dunn,  who  had  been 
Far  Eastern  manager  for  Warner  Brothers.  He 
was  held  by  the  Japs,  with  30  other  prisoners,  in 
a  room  15  by  17  feet,  for  64  days  running,  where 
they  were  fed  only  a  short  ration  of  rice  twice 
a  day.  Some  of  Mr.  Dunn's  fellow  passengers 
were  treated  more  liberally.  The  Japs  gave 
them  rice,  eel  stew  and  boiled  alfalfa. 

V 

Gainesborough  Pictures,  in  London,  is  pro- 
ducing a  feature  picture,  starring  Greta  Gynt 
and  Jack  Train.  The  story  concerns  a  quiet 
little  country  village  named  "Foaming-at-the 
Mouth."  And  "Foaming-at-the-Mouth"  is 
going  to  be  the  title  of  the  feature  picture. 
V 

Police  of  Caracas,  Venezuela,  are  looking  for 
a  man  who  has  made  theatre  pilfering  history. 
They  will  recognize  him  by  a  1,500-pound  chan- 
delier, a  replica  of  Aladdin's  Lamp  which  he 
removed  from  the  center  arch  of  the  Maracay 
Theatre  in  Maracay. 

The  showplace  of  South  America  when  Juan 
Vicente  Gomez  ruled  Venezuela,  the  theatre  in 
recent  years  has  been  a  motion  picture  house. 
One  of  its  glories  was  the  great  chandelier, 
valued  at  $30,000,  which  was  unveiled  in  the 
Caracas  Theatre  on  the  occasion  of  the  100th 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  Simon  Bolivar  in 
1930.  When  the  Maracay  Theatre  was  built  a 
few  years  later  it  was  transferred. 

V 

There  was  confusion  in  profusion  this  week 
among  telephone  users  in  the  film  industry  in 
New  York,  when  to  take  care  of  increased  war 
loads  the  Telephone  Company  shifted  many 
numbers  from  the  CHickering  4  exchange  to 
BRyant  9. 

Paramount,  long  at  CHickering  4-7040,  had 
its  number  changed  to  BRyant  9-8700.  Any 
■similarity  to  Metro's  BRyant  9-7800  was  purely 
coincidental  the  'phone  company  said. 

V 

The  Army  can't  accuse  us  of  revealing  Army 
locations.  This  department,  the  other  week, 
had  a  li'l  piece  about  something  or  other  going 
on  at  Camp  Robinson,  Louisiana.  "PLEASE!" 
wrote  John  G.  Emerson,  of  the  Malco  Theatre 
Circuit,  in  the  South,  "Camp  Robinson  is  in 
ARKANSAS,  not  Louisiana." 


M-G-M  TRADE  SHOWINGS 


DAY,  DATE  AND  HOURS  OF  SCREENING 


CITY 

PLACE 

ADDRESS 

(A)  EYES  IN  THE  NIGHT 

and 

(B)  FOR  ME  AND  MY  GAL 

fCj  THE  OMAHA  TRAIL 

and 

(D)  WHITE  CARGO 

BANY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1052  Broadway 

FRI. 

9/11 

77. 

A.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

77 

A.M. 

JLANTA 

RKO  Screen  Room 

191  Walton  St.,  N.W. 

FRI. 

9/11 

70:30 

A.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

70:30 

A.M. 

C 

)STON 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

46  Church  St. 

FRI. 

9/11 

70 

Also  2:15 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

10:00 

A/so  2.75 

A.M. 
P.M. 

UFFALO 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

290  Franklin  St. 

FRI. 

9/11 

1:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7:30 

P.M. 

:harlotte 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

308  South  Church  St. 

FRI. 

9/11 

1:30 

P.M. 

MON. 

9/14 

7:30 

P.M. 

■IICAGO 

H    I      1  n  a    c  Srro&n  Pnr> m 

11.    \_  .    1      Ci  1    JLI  CCI  1    I\UU!  1  ! 

HOI   S    Wnhnsh  Ave 

1  %J  W  I    O.    )T  UUU^II   A\V  c . 

THURS.  9/10 

1 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

I 

P.M. 

NCINNAT1 

RKO  Screen  Room 

16  East  Sixth  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

:leveland 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

2219  Payne  Avenue 

FRI. 

9/11 

1 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

5ALLAS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1803  Wood  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

(A) 
(B) 

10:30 
2:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

(C)  70.30 

(D)  2.-30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

>ENVER 

Paramount  Screen  Room 

2100  Stout  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

1:15 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7:75 

P.M. 

)ES  MOINES 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1300  High  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

1 

P.M. 

TUES, 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

)ETROIT 

Max  Blumenthal's  Sc.  Rm. 

2310  Cass  Avenue 

FRI. 

9/11 

1:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7:30 

P.M. 

NDIANAPOLIS 

yfl  +  n-  F/^v    ^  /-  r  o  o  n  m 
^L/lll    ivJA    OI.I  CCll  IaVJLHfI 

326  No.  Illinois  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

9 

A.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

9 

A.M. 

KANSAS  CITY 

zuin-rox  ocr cen  rxoorn 

3444  Broadway 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

.OS  ANGELES 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

2019  S.  Vermont  Ave. 

FRI. 

9/11 

(A) 
(B) 

70:30 
2:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

(C)  70:30 

(D)  2:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

MEMPHIS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

151  Vance  Avenue 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

MILWAUKEE 

Warner  Screen  Room 

212  W.  Wisconsin  Ave. 

FRI. 

9/11 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7:30 

P.M. 

v\INNEAPOLIS 

20th-rox  Screen  Room 

1015  Currie  Avenue 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

MON 

.  9  14 

7 

P.M. 

^EW  HAVEN 

Or*^il_    Z  —        C  -  -  —  -        0      —  .  . 

^Uth-rox  ocreen  Koom 

AO  Whitmn 

YrniTiny  or. 

FRI. 

9/11 

70 

A.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

70 

A.M. 

nIEW  ORLEANS 

200  South  Liberty 

FRI. 

9/11 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

n  /i  c 

9/15 

7:30 

P.M. 

^JEW  YORK  / 
MEW  JERSEY  j 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

630  Ninth  Avenue 

TUES.  9/8 

9:30 

Also  1:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

9:30 

Also  7:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

OKLA'MA  CITY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

iu  Norm  Lee  orreei 

FRI. 

9/11 

10 

A.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

70 

A.M. 

OMAHA 

20th-rox  Screen  Koom 

1  jUz  uavenporx 

FRI. 

9/11 

1:15 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7:75 

P.M. 

PHILADELPHIA 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

1233  Summer  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

(A) 
(B) 

77 
2 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

(C)  77 

(D)  2 

A.M. 
P.M. 

jPITTSBURGH 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

1631  Blvd.  of  Allies 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

PORTLAND 

B.  F.  Shearer  Screen  Rm. 

1947  N.W.  Kearney  St. 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

ST.  LOUIS 

S'Renco  Screen  Room 

3143  Olive  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

216  East  First  St.,  South 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

S 

FRANCISCO 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

245  Hyde  Street 

FRI. 

9/11 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7:30 

P.M. 

SEATTLE 

Jewel  Box  Preview  Theatre 

2318  Second  Avenue 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

WASHINGTON 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

932  New  Jersey,  N.W. 

FRI. 

9/11 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

9/15 

7 

P.M. 

"Eyes  In  The  Night"—  Edward  Arnold,  Ann  Harding  •  "For  Me  And  My  Gal" — Judy  Garland,  George  Murphy,  Gene  Kelly 
"The  Omaha  Trail"— James  Craig,  Pamela  Blake,  Dean  Jagger  •  "White  Cargo"— Hedy  Lamarr,  Walter  Pidgeon,  Frank  Morgan 


34 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


All-Out  War  Effort 
Urged  by  Connors 


Tells  20th-Fox  Sales  Staff 
of  First  30  Pictures  to 
Be  Sold  for  1942-43 

All-out  cooperation  with  the  nation's 
war  effort  is  the  primary  duty  of  every- 
one associated  with  the  motion  picture 
industry,  was  the  message  given  to  64  ex- 
change representatives  attending  the 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  regional  sales 
meeting  at  the  Blackstone  Hotel,  Chi- 
cago, Monday,  by  Tom  J.  Connors,  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  sales.  The  group 
attending  the  meeting  comprised  district 
managers,  branch  managers,  salesmen  and 
bookers  from  nine  midwest  exchanges. 

Mr.  Connors  stressed  the  fact  that  the 
film  industry's  contribution  to  the  war  ef- 
fort must  mean  more  than  the  mere  pres- 
entation of  screen  entertainment  to  main- 
tain the  general  public's  morale.  He 
pointed  to  the  vast  production  job  the 
industry  was  doing  in  the  making  of 
training  films  and  of  the  special  16mm 
films  which  supply  the  best  in  entertain- 
ment to  our  armed  forces. 

The  opening  day's  sessions  were  devoted  to 
outlining  sales  plans  for  the  company's  news- 
reels,  March  of  Time,  Terrytoons  and  other 
short  subjects  for  the  coming  season.  Speakers 
included  William  C.  Gehring,  Western  sales 
manager,  who  presided  over  the  meeting  in 
conjunction  with  New  York  officials  of  the 
company;  A.  W.  Smith,  Eastern  sales  mana- 
ger; Hal  Home,  director  of  advertising  and 
publicity,  and  William  Clark,  short  subjects 
sales  manager. 

It  was  indicated  by  Mr.  Gehring  that  "Tales 
of  Manhattan"  would  be  sold  on  an  increased 
admission  price  basis. 

Morale  Maintenance 
Cited  by  Skouras 

At  Tuesday's  Chicago  meeting,  Mr.  Gehring 
and  Mr.  Connors  outlined  the  first  30  pictures 
to  be  sold  for  the  1942-43  season  and  discussed 
selling  plans.  Spyros  Skouras,  president  of 
Twentieth  Century-Fox,  who  joined  the 
branch  managers,  salesmen  and  home  office  ex- 
ecutives at  the  sessions,  following  his  attend- 
ance at  a  special  meeting  of  the  company's 
board  of  directors  in  New  York  Monday,  spoke 
on  the  important  role  played  by  all  companies 
in  maintaining  morale  not  only  of  America  but 
of  all  the  United  Nations. 

On  Friday  and  Saturday,  at  the  Baker  Hotel, 
Dallas,  six  southern  and  southwestern  branches 
convened,  and  on  September  6th  and  7th,  next 
Sunday  and  Monday,  the  last  of  the  four  re- 
gional will  be  concluded  at  the  Ambassador 
Hotel,  Los  Angeles,  for  the  six  western  ex- 
changes. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  announced  in  New  York 
that  a  new  divisional  and  district  realignment 
in  the  company's  field  sales  force  had  been  set 
by  Mr.  Connors.  The  new  lineup  is  as  fol- 
lows :  Eastern  Division-Metropolitan :  New 
York  City;  Northeast:  Albany,  Boston,  New 
Haven ;  Atlantic :  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh, 
Washington ;  Mid-East :  Buffalo,  Cincinnati. 
Cleveland ;  Southeast :  Atlanta,  Charlotte, 
Memphis ;  Southwest :  Dallas,  New  Orleans, 
Oklahoma  City. 

Western  Division-Great  Lakes :  Chicago,  De- 
troit, Milwaukee  :  Prairie  :  Des  Moines,  Minne- 
apolis, Omaha;  Mid-West:  Indianapolis.  Kan- 


sas City,  St.  Louis ;  Coast :  Denver,  Los  An- 
geles, Portland,  Salt  Lake  City,  San  Fran- 
cisco, Seattle;  Canada:  Calgary,  Montreal,  St. 
John,  Toronto,  Vancouver,  Winnipeg. 

Mr.  Smith  has  named  Clarence  H.  Hill  as 
his  assistant.  Edwin  H.  Collins  and  Ted  A. 
Shaw  are  assistants  to  Mr.  Gehring. 

The  company's  third  block  of  five  features 
was  announced  last  Friday  by  Mr.  Connors 
at  the  two-day  eastern  regional  meeting  at  the 
Hotel  Astor  in  New  York.  The  group  in- 
cludes :  "Girl  Trouble,"  "Manila  Calling,"  "The 
Man  in  the  Trunk,"  "Young  Mr.  Pitt"  and 
"Springtime  in  the  Rockies,"  the  last  in  Tech- 
nicolor. Tradeshows  will  be  held  within  the 
next  two  weeks  and  the  pictures  will  be  avail- 
able for  October  playdates. 

Mr.  Connors  opened  the  sessions  with  a  trib- 
ute to  the  memory  of  the  late  Sidney  R.  Kent 
and  to  Twentieth  Century-Fox  employees  now 
in  the  armed  forces.  Mr.  Skouras,  president, 
introduced  new  exchange  heads  and  distribu- 
tion personnel. 

Number  of  Shorts 
To  Be  in  Color 

Mr.  Smith,  who  presided  at  the  meeting,  told 
the  130  delegates  that  a  substantial  number  of 
shorts  to  be  distributed  by  the  company  would 
be  in  color.  The  program  includes  26  "Terry- 
toons"  of  which  14  will  be  based  on  estab- 
lished characters,  in  color,  six  will  be  based 
on  the  newspaper  comic  strip  character 
"Nancy"  and  four  will  be  in  black  and  white 
with  Terry  characters.  Movietone  News  will 
produce  four  "Magic  Carpets"  in  color,  six 
sport  shorts  by  Ed  Thorgersen,  four  shorts  in 
color  edited  from  the  Thaw  expedition  shots, 
five  "Adventures  of  a  Cameraman,"  two 
"World  Today"  and  one  Father  Hubbard,  the 
last  in  color. 

Three  defense  reels,  two  of  two-reel  and  one 
of  one-reel,  will  be  produced  by  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  for  the  Government  and  released 
without  profit,  it  was  announced.  Movietone 
News  also  has  a  crew  in  Alaska  making  two 
color  shorts  about  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

"The  FBI  Front,"  the  first  March  of  Time 
subject  to  be  released  through  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox, set  for  September  14th,  was  dis- 
cussed by  John  Wood,  treasurer  of  March  of 
Time.  Three  other  issues  are  in  preparation, 
one  about  the  Free  French,  another  on  air 
power  and  the  third  about  the  strategic  im- 
portance of  Spain. 

Exchange  Personnel 
In  Attendance 

Exchange  members  in  attendance  at  the 
Blackstone  Hotel  were :  Detroit — Lester 
Sturm,  A.  D.  Knapp,  E.  A.  Westcott,  Roy 
Carrow,  Floyd  Keillor  and  L.  Sanchie ;  In- 
dianapolis— George  T.  Landis,  K.  Dotterer,  J. 
R.  Neger,  H.  L.  Hancock,  T.  McLeaster, 
Harry  Richardson  and  Frank  Moneyhun ; 
Kansas  City — Ward  Scott,  George  W.  Fuller, 
W.  J.  Kubitski,  Joe  F.  Woodward,  Charles 
Knickerbocker,  H.  Kinser  and  M.  A.  Tanner; 
St.  Louis — B.  B.  Reingold,  William  Thomas, 
J.  A.  Feld,  George  H.  Ware,  A.  Eskin,  Ar- 
thur McManus  and  Florence  Patke;  Des 
Moines— S.  J.  Mayer,  H.  Gottlieb,  L.  C.  Paul- 
son, Pearl  Stanwell  and  E.  Jacobs ;  Minne- 
apolis—J.  M.  Podoloff,  M.  A.  Levy,  Earl  Lo- 
rentz,  Louis  Cohen,  J.  S.  Cohan,  N.  F.  Hall 
and  P.  Lundquist;  Omaha— J.  E.  Scott,  Gor- 
don F.  Halloran,  H.  P.  Ironfield,  Harry  Levy 
and  Irving  Mills ;  Milwaukee — Jack  Lorentz, 
Meyer  Kahn,  Morris  Horowitz,  Al  Levy, 
George  Edgerton  ana  Carl  Mitchell ;  Chicago- 


Herman  Beiersdorf,  Clyde  Eckhardt,  Ernie  P. 
Grohs,  H.  Goodamote,  M.  Simon,  Harold 
Loeb,  A.  M.  Van  Dyke,  Sol  Edwards,  E.  P. 
Orsenigo,  Arnold  Monette,  Jack  Eckhardt  and 
Al  Schauer. 

The  New  York  delegation  included  Mr.  Con- 
nors, Mr.  Skouras,  Mr.  Smith,  Mr.  Home,  Ed- 
ward Collins,  Aubrey  Schenck,  Roger  Ferri, 
Mr.  Clark,  Felix  Jenkins,  Mr.  Gehring,  Mr. 
Wood  of  March  of  Time,  and  Harvey  Day, 
Terrytoons. 

Among  the  home  office  executives  who  at- 
tended the  New  York  meeting,  in  addition  to 
those  named,  were : 

Herrmann  G.  Place,  W.  C.  Michel,  Sydney 
Towel,  William  Kupper,  Martin  Moskowitz, 
Jack  Sichelman,  Ted  Shaw,  Clarence  Hill,  Jack 
Bloom,  L.  M.  Lincer,  Harry  Mersay,  Eugene 
McEvoy,  Morris  Caplan,  Harry  Buxbaum,  Ray 
Moon,  Arthur  Abeles,  Sam  Epstein,  Harry 
Reinhardt,  Hetty  Gray  Baker,  Maurice  Good- 
man, Nat  Brower,  Edmund  Reek,  Jack  Dar- 
rock,  Russell  Muth,  Tony  Muto,  Ed  Thorger- 
sen, Lowell  Thomas,  Harry  Lawrenson,  Max 
Youngstein,  M.  D.  Howe,  Lou  Shanfield,  Mor- 
ris Kinzler,  Richard  Condon,  Charles  Schlaifer, 
Joseph  Shea,  Edward  Hollander,  Jerry  Novat, 
Irving  Maas,  Leslie  Whelan,  Albert  Cornfield, 
Edwin  S.  Fraser,  Paul  Terry,  William  Weiss 
and  Ed  Eschman. 

Field  Men  Present 
At  Meeting 

The  following  men  from  the  field  were  present : 
Albany — H.  Armstrong,  Fred  Sliter,  Ben  Dare, 
D.  Houlihan ;  Boston— E.  X.  Callahan,  M.  A. 
Grassgreen,  J.  M.  Connolly,  J.  A.  Feloney, 
Frank  Drew,  M.  Simons,  S.  Berg,  N.  E.  Mur- 
ray ;  Buffalo — Sydney  Samson,  W.  C.  Rowell, 
G.  F.  Dickman,  George  Sussman;  Cleveland — 
George  Roberts,  F.  J.  Hunt,  E.  R.  Bergman, 
Ray  Schmertz,  T.  C.  Alley,  S.  N.  Lichter ; 
New  Haven — B.  A.  Simon,  Sam  Germain,  E. 
Wright;  Cincinnati— J.  J.  Grady,  James  Neff, 
J.  A.  Needham,  L.  J.  Bugie,  E.  C.  Naegel, 
Irving  Sochin,  Robert  Laws,  E.  A.  Burkhart; 
Philadelphia — Sam  Gross,  Edgar  Moss,  W.  G. 
Humphries,  B.  R.  Tolmas,  J.  Howard  Smith, 
Al  Davis,  H.  Gable,  L.  Mintz,  F.  J.  Kelly,  J. 
Forscher;  Pittsburgh— Ira  Cohn,  C.  C.  Kellen- 
berg,  E.  Thorpe,  J.  B.  Hanna,  Joseph  David- 
son, George  Moore  ;  Washington— Sam  Wheel- 
er, F.  B.  Klein,  J.  A.  Murphy,  S.  Diamond,  J. 
M.  Cohan,  C  G.  Norris,  Ira  Sichelman,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Young;  New  York— J.  J.  Lee,  Morris 
Sanders,  Charles  Goetz,  Joe  St.  Clair,  Mor- 
ris Kurtz,  Wm.  Schutzer,  Abe  Blumstein,  Sey- 
mour Florin,  G.  Blenderman,  Al  Mendelson, 
Louis  Kuttler. 


Therese  Carlo  Resigns 

Therese  Speratore  Carlo,  in  the  film  indus- 
try in  New  Haven  for  the  last  24  years,  the 
last  11  of  which  were  spent  as  booking  man- 
ager of  United  Artists,  has  resigned.  She  is 
succeeded  by  Henry  Bruenig,  shipper  at  United 
Artists  for  several  years  while  Jerry  Weber, 
of  National  Screen  Service,  has  taken  Mr. 
Bruenig's  place,  and  Vincent  Esposito  has  gone 
to  National  Screen  Service. 


Buy  Theatre  in  Detroit 

Martin  J.  Lewis  and  Henry  S.  Rosenwald, 
directors  of  the  Thalia  theatre  and  Fifth  Avenue 
Playhouse,  New  York,  have  taken  over  opera- 
tion of  the  Cinema  in  Detroit,  on  a  long  term 
lease. 


Curtiz  To  Direct  "Moscow" 

Michael  Curtiz  has  been  assigned  by  Warner 
Bros,  to  direct  the  film  version  of  "Mission 
to  Moscow,"  based  on  the  book  and  private  pa- 
pers of  former  Ambassador  Joseph  E.  Davies. 


Ameche  Returning  to  Air 

Don  Ameche  will  return  to  radio  Sunday, 
September  6th,  on  the  Edgar  Bergen-Charlie 
McCarthy  Chase  &  Sanborn  hour,  over  the  Na- 
tional Broadcasting  Company  network. 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


35 


10  COMPANIES  LIST  TOTAL 
OF  358  FILMS  IN  1942-43 


Expect  Consenting  Majors 
to  Trade  Show  Product; 
Policies  Indefinite 

With  the  announcement  from  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer  last  weekend  that  26  fea- 
tures for  1942-43  are  completed  or  in  pro- 
duction, the  total  number  of  pictures  of- 
ficially designated  to  date  for  the  com- 
ing season  by  10  companies  is  358.  Pre- 
viously Columbia  had  announced  48; 
Monogram,  32;  Producers  Releasing  Cor- 
poration, 42;  Republic,  66;  Universal, 
55 ;  Paramount,  a  backlog  of  30 ;  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox,  313  and  RKO  Radio, 
45,  of  which  14  already  are  completed. 
Warner  Bros,  announced  the  first  10  re- 
leases for  the  new  season  and  all  five  con- 
senting distributors  have  already  held 
trade  showings  for  the  first  blocks  to  be 
offered  exhibitors. 

Although  restrictions  on  the  sale  of  fea- 
tures to  blocks  of  five,  requirements  for  trade 
showings  and  prohibition  against  long-term 
franchises  under  the  Federal  consent  decree 
expired  at  midnight  Monday,  it  is  understood 
the  consenting  distributors  who  have  been 
selling  their  new  season  product  since  August 
1st,  would  abide  by  the  Government's  im- 
plied warning  that  films  must  be  tradeshown 
before  they  are  offered  to  exhibitors.  In- 
dications are  that  all  five  would  continue 
trade  screenings  of  1942-43  releases. 

By  its  terms  and  in  the  absence  of  any  uni- 
form sales  plan  under  the  decree,  the  Govern- 
ment now  permits  the  consenting  companies  to 
adopt  their  own  methods  of  selling.  The  decree 
stipulated  that  the  signatories — MGM,  War- 
ner Bros.,  RKO,  Paramount  and  Twentieth 
Century-Fox — would  be  relieved  of  restrictions 
on  selling  unless  the  other  three  defendant 
companies  in  the  New  York  anti-trust  suit  were 
ordered  to  abide  by  the  same  terms  before 
June  1st,  1942,  or  entered  their  consent. 

Arbitration  of  disputes  and  prohibition  of 
theatre  expansion  by  the  big  five  _  as  _  well  as 
other  decree  provisions  will  remain  in  effect 
until  November  20th,  1943. 

Sales  Policies  Not 
Officially  Set 

How  distributors  would  take  their  wares  to 
market  was  the  primary  subject  of  discussion 
this  week  in  industry  circles.  Since  the  United 
States  Department  of  Justice  rejected  the  sell- 
ing plan  proposed  by  the  United  Motion  Pic- 
ture Industry  none  of  the  five  consenting  com- 
panies have  announced  officially  what  sales  pol- 
icy would  be  pursued  for  the  forth- 
coming season. 

William  F.  Rodgers,  vice-president  in  charge 
of  distribution  of  MGM,  however,  said  on 
Tuesday  that  the  company  would  offer  its  first 
block  of  eight  pictures,  allowing  for  the  can- 
cellation of  two  films  from  the  block,  in  accord 
with  the  UMPI  plan.  MGM,  he  said,  also 
would  continue  to  offer  the  sliding  scale  to  ex- 
hibitors which  has  been  in  effect  a  number  of 
years.  Whether  or  not  Metro  would  continue 
a  policy  of  blocks-of-eight,  Mr.  Rodgers  as- 
serted, had  not  been  decided,  but  the  sales  pack- 
aging would  depend  entirely  on  the  supply  ol 
pictures  ready  for  trade  showing. 

Paramount  and  Warner  Bros,  have  indicated 
they  would  not  allow  cancellation  from  their 
small  blocks  and  it  is  understood  that  both 


Paramount  and  20th  Century-Fox  will  continue 
to  show  their  features  to  the  trade  and  group 
them  in  blocks-of-five. 

Features  scheduled  for  the  coming  season, 
already  trade  shown  by  the  five  distributors, 
are : 

MGM:  "Apache  Trail,"  "A  Yank  at  Eton," 
"Tish,"  "Cairo,"  "Somewhere  I'll  Find  You," 
"Seven  Sweethearts,"  "Panama  Hattie,"  "War 
Against  Mrs.  Hadley,"  all  eight  in  MGM's 
first  block.  Paramount :  "Wake  Island," 
"The  Major  and  the  Minor,"  "The  Glass 
Key,"  "Priorities  on  Parade"  and  "The  Wild 
Cat."  RKO :  "The  Magnificent  Ambersons," 
"Journey  Into  Fear,"  "They  Flew  Alone,"  "The 
Big  Street,"  "Highways  by  Night,"  "The  Pride 
of  the  Yankees,"  "Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant," 
"Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon,"  and  "Here  We  Go 
Again."  20th-Fox :  "Footlight  Serenade,"  "A- 
Haunting  We  Will  Go,"  "Little  Tokyo, 
U.S.A.,"  "Pied  Piper,"  "The  Loves  of  Edgar 
Allen  Poe,"  "Orchestra  Wives,"  "Berlin  Cor- 
respondent," "Careful,  Soft  Shoulders,"  "Just 
Off  Broadway,"  "Iceland."  Warner  Bros. : 
"Desperate  Journey,"  "Across  the  Pacific," 
"The  Busses  Roar,"  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy," 
"Now,  Voyager,"  and  "Secret  Enemies."  War- 
ners also  will  trade  show  next  week  the  fol- 
lowing five:  "The  Hard  Way,"  "George  Wash- 
ington Slept  Here,"  "You  Can't  Escape  For- 
ever," "Flying  Fortress"  and  "The  Hidden 
Hand." 

MGM  Schedules  Trade 
Shows  for  Four  More 

Titles  of  the  26  features  scheduled  or  planned 
for  release  by  MGM  in  the  new  season  were 
announced  by  Mr.  Rodgers  last  weekend.  These 
are  in  addition  to  the  eight  films  which  the  com- 
pany already  has  trade  shown  and  is  now 
selling.  Ten  other  features  are  either  com- 
pleted or  nearly  so  and  another  group  is  in  pro- 
duction, with  the  studio  far  advanced  on  the 
1942-43  program,  he  reported. 

Pictures  listed  for  release  are :  "For  Me  and 
My  Gal,"  "Random  Harvest,"  "Journey  for 
Margaret,"  "Gambler's  Choice,"  "Eyes  in  the 
Night,"  "Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out."  Also  "White 
Cargo,"  "Men  o'  War,"  "Whistling  in  Dixie," 
"Pilot  No.  5,"  "Reunion,"  "Tennessee  John- 
son," "Keeper  of  the  Flame,"  "Dr.  Gillespie's 
New  Assistant,"  "Salute  to  the  Marines," 
"Three  Hearts  for  Julia,"  "Starlight,"  "Omaha 
Trail,"  "Women  in  Uniform." 

Among  musical  productions  scheduled  or 
planned  are  "DuBarry  Was  a  Lady,"  "Pre- 
senting Lily  Mars,"  "Cabin  in  the  Sky,"  "Best 
Foot  Forward,"  "Anchors  Aweigh,"  "I  Dood 
It,"  "Meet  Me  in  St.  Louis." 

On  Wednesday  in  New  York,  MGM  an- 
nounced schedules  of  trade  showings  of  four 
more  1942-43  pictures,  as  follows :  "Eyes  in  the 
Night"  and  "For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  September 
9th  and  "The  Omaha  Trail"  and  "White 
Cargo,"  September  15th. 

78  on  MGM  Shorts 
Schedule  for  1942-43 

Pointing  out  that  the  Government's  interest 
in  short  subjects  as  a  wartime  information 
medium  has  served  to  bring  greatly  increased 
attention  to  shorts  from  producers,  patrons  and 
exhibitors  alike,  William  F.  Rodgers,  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  distribution  of  MGM, 
announced  in  New  York  Tuesday  that  the  com- 
pany's short  subjects  program  would  be  main- 
tained with  no  reduction  in  releases  for  the 
forthcoming  season. 

MGM  will  produce  a  total  of  78  subjects  in 
addition  to  104  issues  of  News  of  the  Day,  Mr. 
Rodgers  said.    Heading  the  program  will  be 


six  two-reel  specials  on  subjects  of  current 
news  interest,  including  at  least  two  Crime 
Does  Not  Pay  pictures.  The  remainder  will  be 
of  one  reel,  as  follows :  14  Pete  Smith  Special- 
ties ;  10  John  Nesbitt's  Passing  Parade ;  10  Our 
Gang  Comedies ;  10  MGM  Miniatures,  includ- 
ing several  to  be  narrated  by  Carey  Wilson ; 
16  MGM  cartoons  in  Technicolor  and  12  James 
FitzPatrick  Traveltalks  in  Technicolor,  all  de- 
signed to  promote  better  Pan-American  rela- 
tions. 

Warner  Circuit  in 
Midwest  Meetings 

Warner  circuit  managers  of  Chicago  and 
Milwaukee  met  with  home  office  executives  last 
Thursday  and  Friday  to  discuss  plans  for  the 
new  season.  Harry  Kalmine,  assistant  general 
manager  of  Warner  Theatres,  presided  at  both 
midwest  meetings  and  remained  in  Chicago 
Monday  and  Tuesday  of  this  week  to  continue 
talks  on  forthcoming  plans.  Other  circuit  ex- 
ecutives from  the  home  office  who  were  present 
at  the  midwest  sessions  were  W.  Stewart  Mc- 
Donald, Harry  Goldberg  and  Leonard  Schles- 
inger.  James  E.  Coston,  zone  manager  for  Chi- 
cago, participated  in  the  Milwaukee  meeting. 

Subjects  of  a  patriotic  nature  head  the  list 
of  22  Warner  Bros,  short  subjects  scheduled  for 
release  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  new 
season,  according  to  an  announcement  this  week 
in  New  York  by  Norman  H.  Moray,  short 
subjects  sales  manager.  Six  of  the  films  will  be 
produced  in  various  government  agencies,  and 
12  subjects  will  be  in  Technicolor. 

Among  the  subjects  are:  "A  Ship  Is  Born," 
Technicolor  two-reeler  describing  the  activities 
of  the  merchant  marine  building  program  ;  "The 
Spirit  of  Annapolis,"  two-reel  film  shot  at  the 
U.  S.  Naval  Academy ;  "The  Spirit  of  West 
Point,"  two-reel  subject  featuring  the  Military 
Academy  corps  of  cadets ;  "Sniffer  Soldiers," 
one-reel  Technicolor  subject  filmed  at  Fort 
MacArthur,  the  training  station  for  dog  patrol 
work ;  "Army  Air  Force  Band,"  and  "United 
States  Marine  Band,"  both  Melody  Master 
band  reels  filmed  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  schedule  also  includes  one  Service  Spe- 
cial in  Technicolor,  three  two-reel  Broadway 
Brevities,  three  Sports  Parades  in  Technicolor, 
two  Hollywood  Novelties,  three  Melody  Master 
bands,  five  Merrie  Melodies  cartoon  in  Techni- 
color, and  three  Looney  Tune  cartoons,  two  of 
which  are  in  color. 

Columbia,  Griffith 
Talk  Product  Deal 

E.  E.  Griffith,  president,  and  Ray  Higdon. 
film  buyer  of  the  R.  E.  Griffith  circuit,  were  in 
New  York  last  Friday  to  discuss  a  circuit  deal 
for  Columbia  product  with  Rube  Jackter,  as- 
sistant general  sales  manager.  Also  present  for 
the  negotiations  were  B.  C.  Marcus,  Columbia 
Kansas  City  branch  manager,  and  J.  B.  Under- 
wood, Dallas  branch  manager. 

Smalley  circuit,  operating  15  theatres  in  up- 
state New  York,  has  signed  for  1942-43  Mono- 
gram product,  it  was  announced  last  Thursday. 
Warner  Bros,  circuit  in  the  same  territory  also 
has  signed  for  Monogram  product,  it  was 
learned. 


Davidson  with  Warners 

David  Davidson,  New  York  film  and  radio 
exploitation  man,  has  joined  the  Warner  studio 
publicity  department  to  fill  the  vacancy  created 
by  the  departure  of  Ben  Cohn  for  the  army. 
Mr.  Davidson  will  work  under  Alex  Evelove. 


ann  RUTHERFORD 
cesar  ROMERO 


WILL  ROLL  UP 
EXCEPTIONAL 

©ROSSES 


MILLER 


AND  HIS 

BAND 


LYNN 


CAROLE 


LANDIS 


VIRGINIA  GILMORE  •  MARY  BETH  HUGHES 
NICHOLAS  BROTHERS  •  TAMARA  GEVA 
Directed  by  ARCHIE  MAYO  •  Produced  by  WILLIAM  LeBARON 

Screen  Play  by  Karl  Tunberg  and  Darrell  Ware  •  Original  Story  by  James  Prindle  •  Dances  Staged  by  Nick  Castle 


2o* 

CENTURY- FOX 


38 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


Fight  Continues  on 
Cameraman  Status 


ASC  in  Dispute  with  Coast 
Local;  Senate  Asked  to 
Probe  Petrillo  Action 

The  Hollywood  dispute  over  jurisdic- 
tion on  "first  cameramen"  at  midweek 
showed  no  sign  of  abating.  The  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Cinematographers  was  to 
meet  for  a  report  from  its  president,  Fred 
Jackman,  who  returned  late  last  week 
from  New  York,  where  he  conferred  with 
officials  of  the  International  Brotherhood 
of  Electrical  Workers  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor. 

The  ASC,  in  disagreement  with  the 
Studio  Photographers  Local  659,  recent- 
ly obtained  a  charter  from  the  electrical 
workers'  union.  It  had  been  independent. 
Local  659  is  chartered  by  the  Internation- 
al Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage  Employ- 
ees. Its  efforts  to  force  ASC  members 
to  surrender  their  independence  reported- 
ly compelled  the  latter  to  favor  the  IBEW 
affiliation. 

Mr.  Jackman  said  in  New  York  he  had 
received  assurance  from  IBEW  officials 
that  they  would  back  the  ASC  claim  to 
jurisdiction  over  studio  first  cameramen. 
He  added  he  had  discussed  the  dispute 
with  Richard  F.  Walsh,  IATSE  presi- 
dent, but  that  the  discussion  had  not 
changed  the  situation. 

According  to  Mr.  Jackman,  the  first 
cameramen  will  "make  a  stand  for  the 
first  time  in  the  industry's  history,  and 
will  refuse  to  be  pushed  around  any 
longer."  Previously,  IATSE  and  Local 
659  officials  had  reiterated  their  desire 
for  "unity"  in  cameramen's  ranks ;  that 
"unity"  being  representation  by  only  one 
union. 

The  ASC  board  Tuesday  night  approved 
transfer  to  the  IBEW,  as  Local  1,318, 
and  it  asked  a  nominating  committee  to 
name  new  officers  for  an  election  shortly. 

Mr.  Jackman  will  retire,  it  is  believed. 
The  charter  is  "open,"  with  several  sub- 
divisions of  workers,  with  each  group  to 
have  its  autonomy,  and  officers. 

Will  Arbitrate 
SOEG  Dispute 

In  New  York,  the  negotiations  between  the 
distributors  and  the  Screen  Office  Employees 
Guild,  representing  exchange  workers  in  Los 
Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  were  expected  to 
be  saved  from  an  impasse  this  week  by  elec- 
tion of  three  men  to  arbitrate  the  disputed 
points,  chiefly  centering  about  wages. 

The  distributors  Monday  named  C.  J.  Scol- 
lard  their  arbitration  representative.  He  is 
executive  assistant  to  Neil  Agnew,  Paramount 
vice-president  in  charge  of  sales.  The  union 
named  Glenn  Pratt,  its  business  representative. 
A  third  impartial  member  then  was  sought. 
Negotiations  probably  will  be  held  on  the  coast. 

Submission  to  arbitration  followed  two  un- 
successful conferences,  one  on  the  coast  and 
the  other  in  New  York,  three  weeks  ago. 

In  New  York,  too,  hearings  were  completed 


on  petitions  to  the  National  Labor  Relations 
Board  by  the  Screen  Office  and  Professional 
Employees  Guild,  Local  109,  CIO,  for  appoint- 
ment as  collective  bargaining  agent  for  the 
clerical  workers  in  the  Paramount  New  York 
home  office,  exchange,  newsreel,  and  music 
company. 

There  will  be  elections  in  each  unit,  under 
NLRB  auspices.  On  the  ballot  with  the 
SOEPG  in  the  exchange  election  will  be  Local 
B-51,  IATSE  exchange  workers'  union. 

Chicago  Meeting  on 
Wages  Delayed 

Meetings,  scheduled  for  last  week,  between 
theatre  managers  and  the  wage  scale  com- 
mittee of  the  Chicago  Moving  Picture  Opera- 
tors Union,  have  been  postponed  until  next 
Thursday.  Operators  are  asking  for  a  10  per 
cent  increase  and  a  six-day .  week  with  seven 
days'  pay. 

Detroit  stagehands,  members  of  IATSE 
Local  38,  this  week  and  last  sought  renewal 
of  working  contracts  which  expired  Tuesday. 
The  discussions  were  amicable,  and  it  was  said 
the  only  disputes  might  be  over  terms  for  some 
houses  considering  introduction  of  stage  shows 
this  Autumn. 

For  the  first  time,  New  Haven  "white  col- 
lar" exchange  workers  were  invited  by  IATSE 
representatives  from  New  York  to  attend  a 
meeting,  at  the  Hotel  Garde,  Tuesday.  Ship- 
pers, poster  clerks  and  inspectresses  have  been 
organized  under  the  IATSE  there  for  six 
years. 

Mary  McCall  was  elected  Tuesday  night,  in 
Hollywood,  to  the  presidency  of  the  Screen 
Writers'  Guild.  She  succeeds  Sidney  Buch- 
man.  He  resigned  because  of  expected  eleva- 
tion to  an  executive  post  at  Columbia,  it  was 
reported.  Miss  McCall  will  serve  until  the  an- 
nual election  in  November. 


Senate  Inquiry  on 
Petrillo  Sought 

The  ban  on  record  manufacture  by  members 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Musicians  may 
bring  a  Senate  investigation  of  the  union,  and 
its  chief,  James  Caesar  Petrillo.  On  Friday, 
August  28th,  Senator  D.  Worth  Clark  of 
Idaho  asked  for  an  inquiry  into  Mr.  Petrillo's 
activities  by  the  Senate  Interstate  Commerce 
Committee.  He  asserted  the  ban  threatens  na- 
tional morale. 

Mr.  Petrillo,  his  union,  and  its  officers,  are 
being  sued  by  the  Department  of  Justice,  under 
the  anti-trust  laws,  and  face  hearing  in  Chi- 
cago Federal  Court  September  16th.  Cited  in 
this  suit  are  not  only  the  recording  ban,  but 
various  disputes  with  networks. 

The  Federal  Communications  Commission  is 
"investigating"  Mr.  Petrillo  and  the  AFM. 
Several  weeks  ago,  the  Office  of  War  Informa- 
tion, through  Elmer  Davis,  director,  asked  that 
the  ban  be  rescinded. 

At  the  time,  Mr.  Petrillo  pointed  out  that 
any  recordings  necessary  for  national  welfare 
would  be  made  by  musicians,  and  that,  at  all 
times,  recordings  directly  for  the  armed  or 
affiliated  national  services,  were  being  made  by 
his  men. 

He  repeated  the  argument  of  the  musicians 
that  recordings  which  support  the  nation's 
thousands  of  tavern  and  grill  "juke-boxes" 
were  depriving  his  men  of  livelihood. 

Monday,  Mr.  Petrillo  was  hit  by  still  another 


opponent,  the  National  Federation  of  Music 
Clubs,  which  appealed  directly  to  President 
Roosevelt  against  the  recording  ban,  which  it 
called  "the  most  serious  blow  struck  thus  far 
at  American  musical  culture." 

Mr.  Petrillo  meanwhile,  continued  his  long 
feud  with  the  Boston  Symphony,  which  re- 
fused to  be  "organized."  It  was  reported  the 
orchestra  was  deprived  of  its  December  con- 
cert in  Rochester,  because  the  city's  Civic 
Music  Association  feared  retaliation  from  Mr. 
Petrillo. 

Publication  of  new  songs  is  suffering  be- 
cause the  AFM  recording  ban  makes  song  ex- 
ploitation difficult,  Neville  Miller,  president  of 
the  National  Association  of  Broadcasters, 
charged  Monday.  He  added  the  public  had  not 
noticed  the  publishing  slowdown  because  there 
existed  a  stockpile  of  songs. 

The  Philadelphia  musicians'  union,  Local  77, 
announced  a  15  per  cent  increase  in  the  exist- 
ing wage  scale  for  the  1942-43  season,  starting 
Labor  Day.  The  increase  will  affect  every  type 
of  musical  employment. 

In  Philadelphia,  Jerry  Wallace  has  succeeded 
Frank  Richardson  as  president  of  the  American 
Guild  of  Variety  Artists'  local.  Mr.  Richard- 
son resigned  because  of  other  duties.  Mr. 
Wallace  had  been  first  vice-president. 

Screen  Paralysis  Drive 
Total  $1,338,059 

The  National  Motion  Picture  Theatres  Com- 
mittee collected  a  total  of  $1,338,059  through 
the  nation's  motion  picture  and  legitimate  the- 
atres, in  the  campaign  sponsored  by  the  Com- 
mittee for  the  Celebration  of  the  President's 
Birthday,  on  behalf  of  the  National  Foundation 
for  Infantile  Paralysis,  it  was  reported  last 
week. 

The  grand  total  raised  during  the  campaign 
was  $3,908,310,  a  new  record  figure  for  the  an- 
nual drive.  The  expenses  of  the  committee,  it 
was  reported,  amounted  to  $207,889,  or  five  per 
cent  of  the  total.  The  Motion  Picture  Theatres 
Committee  was  headed  by  Nicholas  M.  Schenck 
and  Harry  Brandt. 


Summer  Stock  Program 

Summer  theatre  offerings  in  Connecticut  in- 
clude "Ring  Around  Elizabeth,"  in  its  second 
week  at  the  Show  Shop  Theatre  Tent,  West 
Hartford  Center,  and  "Love  Rides  the  Rails," 
an  old-time  melodrama  presented  by  the  Thea- 
tre-in-the-Dale,  Inc.,  New  Milford.  Francis 
Lederer  has  been  in  New  London  appearing  at 
Milton  Stiefel's  Ivoryton  Playhouse  in  the 
Bulkeley  Auditorium  in  "Watch  on  the  Rhine." 


Discuss  War  Films  on  Radio 

The  Mutual  national  network  was  to  feature 
Sunday  on  the  "American  Forum  of  the  Air" 
a  discussion  on  "How  Can  the  Movies  Best 
Contribute  to  the  War  Effort?"  Participating 
in  the  8  to  8:45  show  will  be  Rosalind  Rus- 
sell, Irving  Pichel,  Sidney  Buchman,  Darryl  F. 
Zanuck  and  Arthur  Ungar. 


Boros  Promoted 

George  Boros,  former  assistant  manager  of 
the  Cleveland  Telenews  theatre,  has  been  pro- 
moted to  manager  of  Buffalo's  Telenews  thea- 
tre, succeeding  Mitchell  Liner,  who  has  been 
shifted  to  Cincinnati  to  be  manager  of  Telenews 
there. 


Tivoli  Reopens 

Joseph  Blumenfeld,  operator  of  the  United 
Artists,  Orpheum  and  Esquire  in  the  downtown 
San  Francisco  area,  has  signed  a  long  lease  on 
the  old  Tivoli  theatre  there,  and  has  reopened  it 
with  vaudeville  and  single  features. 


Howe  Promoted  by  RKO 

Karl  Howe  has  been  appointed  branch  man- 
ager for  RKO  in  Omaha,  succeeding  C.  W.  Al- 
len, resigned.  Mr.  Howe  formerly  was  salesman 
at  Kansas  City. 


=  - : 


3? 


Allocations  of 
Film  Raw  Stock 
Are  Awaited 


WPB's  first  reli- 
ed "nan-essential" 

:r  passible  rariaer 
m  of  TSW  'fij^n  fol- 
irier  ::  aw:  weeks 

irrerrial  pictures, 
le  identification  of 


r;rrrs  sn:w  a  raaa 
use.  all -.carl  :ras  far  sura  ~ul 
This  Trill  :-ene£r  the  eaterrai: 
try.  :t  was  sai  i-  sur re  its  r  r 
as  essential. 

_ae  ~  "    — s  near." 

ing  to  adhere  to,  and  impron 
of  film  conservation ;  a  progr, 
edhj  -will  slash  consumption  11 
tarea  rtirh  last  years. 

The  Association  of  Mora 
dncers,  Hollywood,  was  to  n 
this  week  to  collaborate  wi 
Council  of  the  Academy  of 
Arts  aai  Sciences  a:  inalen 
ti:a  saheaule. 

The  WPB  on  Wednesday 
theatre  construction  in  exces 
'rev:;  us  zr-~.     :~  was  ;r..'_ 

naeaeaaerr  ari  ::  ertia 

aastruaarr-rs  ana  lab:  rat:"-  rji 
protested  dais  week  to  the  WI 
ing  order  will  force  them  oat  at  tsn 
c:nrrirre-e  reareseraara  the  ::m er.a 
then,  selves  the  3: — :  rree  ::r_aae  ?: 
of  die  Independent  Motion  Picture 
; -arrreyea  :ran  I\e~_i:r;:  ::  ■'•  asr 
Tuesday,  assistea  by  aerrr a—  Mayer 
tomey. 

They  told  the  WPB  that  they  roig 
rer-rerti:r  zy  the  reierai  ::urts.  ana 
relief  arm  Har:li  H:aaer.  ahiei  ::  "1 
films  division,  and  other  WPB  oSkaa! 

Mr.  Mayers  asked  the  board  last 
an  increase  La  the  all;— err  ::  hlra  : 
tier,  tirrure  ir.aa.5try.  as  esseartal  ::r 
ness  of  small  independent  prodc 
laboratories,  many  of  whom  thrive  « 

Mr.  Hopper  remarked  Tuesday  ti 
the  new  WPB  regulations,  even  i 
Navy,  aai  are  rrieral  r;-eraraear 
arrliaati:as  f:r  alra. 

Of  commercial  film  manufacturer 
observed  in  Washington  that  the  be 
:a  such  raa~  be  tirrunveatea  :-  a: 


hat  if  are 
n-essentiai 
it  sharply, 
lira  la  l  a  5- 


Cerearcn 
ricrure 


The 


that  the  freer 


tire  ar- 


te :us:- 
rs  art 


Theatres  Will  Sel 
Kaltenborn  Book 


be: 
aa: 
rl:: 
I:: 


Ctraaarrr.  It  is 
rarer;  :f  the  sh: 
aires.  Inc.,  of  X 
arre;.  la:  .  re~ s: 


Government  Gives  Theatres 
Tour  Important  War  Jobs' 

hour  important  war  jobs  for  exhibitors  were  set  forth  this  week  by  the  Office  of 
Civilian  Defense  at  Washington,  in  a  "Handbook  for  War",  in  which  it  outlined 
the  ways  in  which  individuals  in  all  walks  of  life  might  participate  in  the  national 
eirorr. 

t:e:'"  :a  .   "5  ZZZ  z~  e;  .:r  e-"'a'";_:  iz  tz  -i  e'-  z~  zzer~~'z~ 

to  provide  entertainment  for  night  war  workers,  show  documentary  war  films,  take 
care  ol  men  3n  uniform  and  assure  staffs  and  patrons  of  protection  against  air  raids. 

"You  can  do  four  important  war  ]cbs."  the  exhibitors  were  told. 

"I.  Make  a  point  of  showing  documentary  films  which  tell  people  about  the 
war.  about  cur  fior.tinc  rarces  and  our  Allies,  about  the  great  work  ot  our  war 
factories  and  tarmers  and  about  civilian  defense.  Consult  your  Detense  Council 
about  securing  such  films. 

"2.  See  that  your  theatre  gives  the  greatest  possible  service  to  the  community. 
With  war  factories  operating  24  hours  a  day,  many  war  workers  have  no  chance 
for  the  relaxation  and  amusement  which  they  need.  Adjust  your  hours  to  give 
both  night  and  day  workers  a  chance  to  relax  at  the  movies.  Co-operate  with  other 
theatres  and  with  your  Defense  Council  in  arranging  a  schedule. 

"3.   Give  special  facilities  to  men  in  uniform. 

"4.  Like  retail  merchants,  you  have  a  serious  responsibility  for  the  protection 
of  your  employees  and  customers  against  possible  air  raids.  If  you  have  not  already 
-=,  e-  fhe  necessary  precautions  it  would  be  well  to  do  so  right  away.  Your  local 
He-e-;e  Ccu-ci  ■■• '    ac'se  .  r_  - :    ~z  r-ga-lue  ■       -s_e-=  '~z  t  :"-er':- 
how  to  blackout  your  theatre,  and  how  to  handle  an  audience  in  case  of  emergency." 

Actors  and  entertainers,  the  booklet  suggested,  could  participate  "in  civilian 
defense  rallies,  war  bond  campaigns,  town  meetings  and  in  plays,  pageants  and 
-=a'r  c-cg-s—s  a:--ected  with  the  war.  USO  clubhouses  need  good  entertain- 
ment. Local  camp  commandants  would  welcome  volunteer  entertainment  units." 

V-s'c'a-s  a  --air  others  eea'  a:  —  --'-.  z  =  'Zi  a-o  ara-_sec  =  ~z  re  c 
organize  entertainment  in  the  military  camps;  photographers  could  take  pictures 
showing  approved  methods  of  first  aid,  fire  fighting,  etc.,  for  valuable  use  in 
traininq. 


J.  S.  Thomson  New 
Head  of  CBC 

Dr.  James  S.  Thomson,  president  of  the 
University  of  Saskatchewan,  and  a  member  of 
the  board  of  governors  of  the  Canadian  Broad- 
csstirig  Corporation,  has  been  named  CBC  gen- 
eral manager,  it  ha«;  been  announced  by  Rene 
Marin,  board  chairman.  Dr.  Thomson  will 
assnsae  his  new  post  MoTember  2d  ai  an  initial 
salary  of  $15,000  annually. 

A  aev,-  r-:;a  thai  of  director-general  of  broad- 
rasrlaa  far  Zzz.ziz   aas  beer,  rrearta  far 
jor  Gladstone  Mnrray,  former  general  man- 
ager. La  arrrraaare  with  the  recommendation  of 
a  special  House  of  Gomnjons  comrniiiee. 


Disney  To  Produce 
Record  Footage 


Advertising  Board  Cites 
"Wake  Island"  Ad  Copy 

York  premiere  of  Paramount's  "Wake  Island," 
using  the  word  "hell''  as  a  catch-line  has  been 
cited  by  the  Advertisers'  Advisory  Committee 
of  the  Motion  Pictnre  Producers  and  Distribu- 
tors of  America.  The  Committee  met  Wednes- 
day to  study  the  alleged  violation  of  the  Adver- 
tising' Code.  Action  was  deferred,  however, 
ttttpI  the  full  board  of  directors  of  the  MPPDA 
meets  for  its   quarterly  session   on  Sepiem- 


The  Walt  Disney  studio  during  the  coming 
year  is  expected  to  turn  out  between  200,000 
and  300.000  feet  of  film,  nearly  10  rimes  the 
footage  it  has  produced  in  any  12 -month  per- 
iod, the  company  said  last  week.  Three-fourths 
of  the  footage  will  be  for  the  Army,  Nary  and 
Governmental  agencies.  All  Government  fflnn 
are  being  made  at  cost  by  Disney. 

The  Disney  studio  also  plans  this  year  to 
augment  the  regular  entertainment  program  with 
several  features  based  on  South  American  re- 
publics. One,  "Saludos,"  already  has  been  re- 
leased in  South  America.  Mr.  Disney  also  is 
filming  Major  Alexander  P.  de  Seversky's 
book.  "Victors-  Throueh  Air  Power." 


Frank  Eaton  Appointed 
Pathe  Publicity  Head 

Frank  Eaton  on  Tuesday  was  named  publicity 
director  for  Pathe  News,  with  headquarters  at 
the  New  York  office.  He  came  from  Cue 
magazine,  where  he  resigned  as  art  editor. 
Previously,  he  had  been  art  director  and  man- 
aging editor  of  Stage  magazine. 


R.  G.  Somervell  Here 


:a  _  tlir.e-.vs   .  he- 


R.  G.  Somervell,  of  the  tihn  division  of  the 
British  Board  of  Trade,  arrived  in  Washington 
■thiit  -week  from  London,  on  a  mission  reported- 
ly connected  with  currency  arrangements  be- 
tween the  American  film  companies  and  the 
British  Triifa— a 


Fox-Midwest  Promotes  Lawler 

Senn  Lawler.  for  10  years  publicity  director 
for  Fox-Midwest,  has  been  appointed  district 
manager  of  the  company  for  Kansas  Chy.  He 
succeeds  James  T.  Long,  who  was  inducted  into 
the  Army.  Mr.  Lawler,  who  will  be  assisted 
by  Frank  Patter,  manager  of  the  company's  Isis 
theatre,  will  continue  to  direct  pubheity. 


40  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    5,  1942 

THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 

By  WILLIAM  R.  WEAVER,  Hollywood  Editor 


Important  Roles 

Cast  on  Coast  46  Features  Shooting 


Hollywood's  production  level  stood  at  46  features  in  shooting  stage  at  the  weekend, 
10  having  been  finished  and  I  I  started  during  the  the  preceding  seven  days.  The  features 
taken  from  the  stages  as  camera  work  was  finished,  thence  to  cutting  and  scoring  rooms, 
averaged  a  higher  investment  and  name  content  than  those  which  were  started. 

Following  are  the  attractions  reported  in  the  various  stages  of  preparation  by  the 
studios  named: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

Junior  Army 
How  Do  You  Do? 

Desperadoes 

Monogram 

Bowery  at  Midnight 
War  Dogs 

PRC 

Boss  of  Big  Town 
Republic 

X  Marks  the  Spot 
Universal 

Cheyenne  Roundup 
Warner 

Mysterious  Doctor 
Watch  on  the  Rhine 

STARTED 

Columbia 

Silver  City  Raiders 

Monogram 

West  of  the  Law 


Paramount 

Buckskin  Empire 
PRC 

Outlaws  of  Boulder 
Pass 

Republic 

Valley  of  United  Men 
20th-Fox 

Brasher  Doubloon 
Quiet  Please,  Murder 

Universal 

Pittsburgh 
Nightmare 
Passing  the  Buck 
Corvettes  in  Action 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

City  Without  Men 
Frightened  Stiff 
Something  to  Shout 

About 
Commandos  Come  at 

Dawn 


Goldwyn 

They  Got  Me  Covered 
MGM 

Lassie  Come  Home 
Dr.    Gillespie's  New 

Assistant 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 
Keeper  of  the  Flame 
Reunion 

Monogram 

Neath  Brooklyn 
Bridge 

Paramount 

Night  Plane  to 

Chungking 
High  Explosive 
Lucky  Tordan 
Crystal  Ball 
For  Whom  the  Bell 

Tolls 

RKO  Radio 

Tarzan  Triumphs 
Stand  By  to  Die 


Republic 

Johnny  Doughboy 
20th-Fox 

Over  My  Dead  Body 
Crash  Dive 
Undying  Monster 
My  Friend  Flicka 
Life  Begins  at  8  :30 
Meanest  Man  in  the 
World 


Uni 


3| 


Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Arabian  Nights 
Forever  Yours 
Flesh  and  Fantasy 
Sin  Town 

Warner 

Edge  of  Darkness 
Adventures  of  Mark 

Twain 
Princess  O'Rourke 
Air  Force 
Desert  Song 


Samuel  Goldwyn  has  accepted  Lillian 
Hellman's  original  screenplay  concerning 
the  effects  of  the  war  on  the  children  of  a 
small  Russian  village,  and  has  cast  Teresa 
Wright  in  the  leading  role.  Mr.  Goldwyn 
plans  to  put  the  picture  into  work  during 
the  winter.  Miss  Hellman  will  return  to  the 
Coast  from  New  York  in  a  few  weeks  to 
complete  the  script  of  the  film,  which  as  yet 
is  untitled. 

This  marks  Miss  Hellman's  first  attempt 
at  writing  directly  for  the  screen,  although 
she  already  has  prepared  the  scripts  of  sev- 
eral of  her  successful  plays  for  production 
into  motion  pictures,  notably  "The  Chil- 
dren's Hour,"  "The  Little  Foxes"  and 
"Watch  on  the  Rhine,"  now  in  production 
by  Warners. 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  has  compleced  the 
casting  for  William  Saroyan's  "The  Human 
Comedy,"  with  the  assignment  of  Lionel 
Barrymore,  Fay  Bainter,  Spring  Byington 
and  Dorothy  Morris  to  leading  roles. 
Mickey  Rooney,  Van  Johnson,  Gene  Kelly, 
Marsha  Hunt  and  Henry  O'Neill  already 
had  been  cast  for  the  film,  which  will  be 
directed  by  Clarence  Brown. 

Herbert  Marshall  Is 
Signed  by  RKO 

Herbert  Marshall  has  been  engaged  by 
RKO  for  "Stand  By  to  Die,"  with  Rosalind 
Russell  and  Fred  MacMurray,  under  the 
directorship  of  Lothar  Mendes.  Eduardo 
Cianell  has  been  signed  for  a  supporting 
part. 

Paramount  has  named  Betty  Jane  Rhodes, 
a  singer  recruited  by  the  studio  from  radio, 
for  a  role  in  the  screen  version  of  "Let's 
Face  It,"  with  Bob  Hope.  Production  will 
start  in  October. 

Columbia  has  engaged  Glenda  Farrell  to 
replace  Claire  Trevor  in  "City  Without 
Men,"  because  Miss  Trevor  is  still  occupied 
with  her  role  in  the  studio's  "Desperadoes." 
Directorial  assignments  at  Columbia  in- 
cluded William  Seiter  to  "Destroyer,"  an 
Edward  G.  Robinson  vehicle,  and  Alfred  E. 
Green  to  "What's  Buzzin'  Cousin." 

Columbia  has  bought  an  untitled  screen 
story  by  Horace  McCoy  as  a  vehicle  for 
Rita  Hayworth  and  Humphrey  Bogart,  the 
latter  having  been  borrowed  from  Warner 
Brothers  for  one  picture. 

Claudette  Colbert  has  been  named  by 
Paramount  for  the  leading  role  in  "So 
Proudly  We  Hail,"  a  photoplay  dealing  with 
the  exploits  of  the  nurses  who  served  on  the 
Bataan  Peninsula.  Miss  Colbert's  assign- 
ment to  the  film  was  made  possible  by  the 
postponement  of  RKO's  "China  Sky,"  for 
which  she  had  been  committed. 

Background  sequences  for  Samuel  Gold- 
wyn's  RKO  Radio  release,  "They  Got  Me 
Covered,"  which  show  various  points  of  in- 
terest in  Washington  are  the  first  to  be 
checked  by  the  Government  under  a  military 
ruling.     The  order  requires  that  no  mili- 


tary installation  of  any  kind  be  shown  on 
the  screen  without  authorization. 

Natalie  Visart,  stylist,  has  been  signed 
by  Hunt  Stromberg  as  wardrobe  designer. 
Miss  Visart,  who  has  been  awarded  a  long 
term  contract,  will  begin  work  at  the  Strom- 
berg studio  as  soon  as  she  completes  her 
current  assignment  on  Cecil  B.  DeMille's 
"The  Story  of  Dr.  Wassell."  Forthcoming 
Stromberg  productions,  "Guest  in  the 
House,"  "Dishonored  Lady"  and  "G- 
String  Murders,"  will  be  released  by  United 
Artists. 

Irving  Reis  will  direct  "Hitler's 
Children,"  the  Edward  A.  Golden  produc- 
tion for  RKO  Radio  release.  The  story  is 
based  on  "Education  for  Death,"  by  Gregor 
Ziemer. 

Monogram  to  Do 
Granlund  Revue 

Monogram  has  signed  Nils  T.  Gran- 
lund's  revue,  currently  appearing  at  the 
Florentine  Gardens  in  Hollywood,  and  will 
use  the  principals  and  the  chorus  for  its  most 
ambitious  musical,  "Bye,  Bye,  Baby."  Syd- 
ney M.  Williams  will  produce. 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  has  purchased 
"See  Here,  Private  Hargrove"  written  by 
Sergeant  Marion  Hargrove,  as  one  of  the 
first  books  by  a  soldier  about  this  war. 

Paramount  tentatively  has  set  Zorina, 
Bruce  Cabot  and  William  Bendix  in  top 


roles  of  "Hostages,"  from  Stephen  Heym's 
story  of  Czechoslovakia  terror. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  has  exercised  its 
option  on  Stan  Laurel  and  Oliver  Hardy  for 
another  year,  for  two  pictures.  Two  stories 
are  in  preparation  for  them,  one  with  a 
military  background  and  the  other  burlesque 
of  the  old  west. 

Laurel  and  Hardy,  however,  will  do  "Air 
Raid  Wardens"  for  MGM,  that  company 
confirmed,  in  Hollywood,  last  week. 

Warners  to  Do  Film 
Of  "Banjo  Eyes" 

Warner  Brothers  has  announced  that  Ann 
Sheridan,  George  Raft  and  Dennis  Morgan 
will  appear  in  "Thank  Your  Lucky  Stars," 
the  screen  version  of  "Banjo  Eyes."  The 
cast  will  include  Errol  Flynn,  Eddie  Can- 
tor, Ida  Lupino,  Humphrey  Bogart,  Joan 
Leslie,  Dinah  Shore  and  Jane  Wyman. 
David  Butler  will  direct,  starting  on  Octo- 
ber 1st. 

The  film  will  take  the  form  of  a  musical 
revue,  and  the  players  will  make  brief  spe- 
cialty appearances,  with  Cantor,  who  did 
the  show  on  Broadway,  providing  continuity 
in  the  photoplay.  Melville  Frank  and  Nor- 
man Panama  are  adapting  the  stage  play  to 
the  screen.  Also  at  Warners,  Nancy  Cole- 
man has  been  assigned  to  "Edge  of  Dark- 
ness," and  Julie  Bishop  to  "Action  in  the 
North  Atlantic." 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


41 


MALE  STARS  LEAD  CANADA'S 
STARS  OF  TOMORROW  VOTE 


First  Six  of  Top  Ten  Are 
Men,  Headed  by  Bracken 
and  Van  Heflin 

by  ELIZABETH  CUNNINGHAM 

Editor,  Product  Digest  Section 

The  exhibitors  of  Canada  are  in  sub- 
stantial agreement  with  their  fellow  show- 
men across  the  border,  according  to  re- 
turns in  the  "Stars  of  Tomorrow"  poll 
conducted  by  Motion  Picture  Herald.  The 
chief  difference  would  seem  to  lie  in  the 
predominance  of  men  in  the  top  ten  list- 
ing for  Canada.  The  combined  poll  of  the 
exhibitors  of  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, presented  in  last  week's  Herald, 
showed  four  male  players,  occupying 
first,  second,  fourth  and  fifth  places.  A 
separate  tabulation  of  the  Canadian  vote 
is  marked  by  masculine  solidarity  in  the 
first  six  places. 

The  difference  is  chiefly  one  of  emphasis. 
Seven  of  the  Canadian  favorites  are  among 
the  first  ten  in  the  combined  poll.  Eddie 
Bracken  leads  here,  however,  with  Van 
Heflin  in  second  place.  This  reversal  of  po- 
sitions may  be  attributed  in  part  to  the  pop- 
ularity of  comedy  in  the  Dominion. 

Alan  Ladd  takes  third  place  and  John 
Carroll  fifth,  as  against  fifth  and  fourth  re- 
spectively in  the  combined  ranking.  Be- 
tween them  is  the  English  player,  John 
Loder,  whose  designation  here,  in  spite  of 
long  experience  in  British  and  American 
films,  would  suggest  growing  popularity  and 
the  desire  of  Canadian  exhibitors  to  see  him 
in  greater  roles. 

Most  Names  Are  in 
General  List 

Richard  Whorf,  who  missed  the  top  ten 
by  a  few  percentage  points,  was  named  in 
sixth  place  by  the  showmen  of  Canada. 

Jane  Wyman  again  leads  the  women,  a 
group  of  four  including  Lynn  Bari  and 
Xancy  Kelly,  who  also  reached  top  ranking 
with  the  collaboration  of  American  exhibi- 
tors, and  Ann  Miller,  who  achieved  13th 
place  in  the  combined  ranking. 

Following  closely  upon  them,  in  the  next 
group  of  fifteen,  are  ten  women  and  five 
men.  The  names  are,  in  the  main,  those 
appearing  on  the  general  list.  Leading 
them,  however,  is  Michelle  Morgan,  the 
French  actress  whose  pictures  previous  to 
"Joan  of  Paris"  featured  a  language  with 
which  some  of  our  Northern  neighbors  are 
more  familiar. 

Similar  Ranking 
For  Other  Players 

Paul  Henreid,  who  appeared  with  Miss 
Morgan  in  her  Hollywood  debut,  was  also 
voted  among  the  next  fifteen  by  the  exhibi- 
tors of  Canada.  With  them  are  James  Craig, 
Gloria  Jean,  Brenda  Joyce,  Jack  Carson, 
Philip  Dorn,  William  Tracy,  Janet  Blair  and 
Ellen  Drew,  who  achieved  similar  ranking 
in  the  general  tabulation ;  Betty  Hutton  and 
Teresa  Wright  from  the  top  ten,  and  three 


Comparative  Ranking 


Per 

Combined  U.  S. 

Per 

Canadian  Vote 

Cent 

and  Canadian 

Cent 

1. 

Eddie  Bracken 

53. 

1. 

Van  Heflin 

64. 

2. 

Van  Heflin 

47. 

2. 

Eddie  Bracken 

45. 

3. 

Alan  Ladd 

39. 

3. 

Jane  Wyman 

36. 

4_ 

John  Loder 

36. 

4. 

John  Carroll 

32.8 

5. 

John  Carroll 

30. 

5. 

Alan  Ladd 

32.5 

6. 

Richard  Whorf 

29.5 

6. 

Lynn  Bari 

29. 

7. 

Jane  Wyman 

29. 

7. 

Nancy  Kelly 

26.8 

8. 

Lynn  Bari 

28.5 

8. 

Donna  Reed 

26.7 

9. 

Ann  Miller 

28. 

9. 

Betty  Hutton 

26.6 

10. 

Nancy  Kelly 

27. 

10. 

Teresa  Wright 

25.5 

The 

next  fifteen  youthful 

players  in  order  of 

pref 

erence  in  each  of  the 

tabulations 

are  as 

follows: 

Per 

Combined  U.  S. 

Per 

Canadian  Vote 

Cent 

and  Canadian 

Cent 

i  i . 

Michelle  Morgan 

ZO.J 

txicnarci  vvnorT 

ZD. 

12. 

James  Craig 

26. 

12. 

Janet  Blair 

24. 

13. 

Gloria  Jean 

26. 

13. 

Ann  Miller 

23.6 

14. 

Brenda  Joyce 

25. 

14. 

William  Tracy 

23.2 

15. 

Jack  Carson 

23.5 

15. 

Jack  Carson 

21.2 

16. 

Philip  Dorn 

23. 

16. 

James  Craig 

21. 1 

17. 

Paul  Henreid 

23. 

17. 

Philip  Dorn 

20.9 

18. 

William  Tracy 

22. 

18. 

Ellen  Drew 

20.8 

19. 

Berry  Hutton 

20. 

19. 

Patricia  Dane 

19. 

20. 

Janet  Blair 

19. 

20. 

Gloria  Jean 

18. 

21. 

Jane  Frazee 

17.5  - 

21. 

Dana  Andrews 

17. 

22. 

Patricia  Morison 

17. 

22. 

Alexis  Smith 

16.3 

23. 

Teresa  Wright 

17. 

23. 

William  Lundigan 

16.2 

24. 

Ellen  Drew 

16. 

24. 

Brenda  Joyce 

15.8 

25. 

Gloria  Warren 

16. 

25. 

Mary  Lee 

15.4 

newcomers,  Jane  Frazee,  Patricia  Morison 
and  Gloria  Warren. 

Out  of  a  field  of  100  nominations,  to 
which  the  exhibitors  of  the  United  States 
added  20  more,  the  names  of  the  ten  Cana- 
dian favorites  appeared  on  more  than  a 
quarter  of  the  ballots  received  from  the  Do- 
minion and  Provinces.  The  next  fifteen 
names  were  found  on  at  least  15  per  cent 
of  the  returns. 

This  spread  of  vote  and  concentration  of 
choice  were  characteristic  of  the  general 
tabulation  as  well,  and  remarkably  similar 
to  the  results  of  last  year's  poll — the  first 
presentation  of  exhibitors'  nominations  for 
future  stardom.  In  that  poll,  too,  the  United 
States  and  Canadian  exhibitors  agreed  on 
seven  of  the  first  ten  names,  although  the 
Canadians    split   their  votes   between  the 


sexes  while  this  country's  showmen  favored 
the  men,  six  to  four.  Laraine  Day,  last 
year's  winner,  was  an  easy  first  among  the 
exhibitors  of  both  countries. 

Such  coincidence  of  opinion  would  seem 
to  suggest  that  geography  has  no  great  bear- 
ing on  the  judgment  of  exhibitors.  Sectional 
differences  occur,  and  reasonably  so.  But 
the  box-office  is  an  international  standard, 
with  common  factors  wherever  the  motion 
picture  is  a  medium  of  public  expression. 
They  are  factors  which  the  showman  has 
learned  to  recognize. 


Rogell  Producer-Director 

Repubic  has  signed  Albert  S.  Rogell  as  pro- 
ducer-director. He  takes  up  his  new  duties 
after  finishing  direction  of  "Hit  Parade  of 
1943." 


42 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    5,  1942 


12  FEATURES  COMPRISE  MGM 
BACKLOG  FOR  NEW  SEASON 


"Random  Harvest"  Heads 
List;  at  Least  4  Seen  as 
Top  Quality 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's  marketing  of 
eight  features  in  departure  from  the 
block-of-five  pattern  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  representing  a  depletion  of  the  com- 
pany's backlog  of  product.  Nine  other 
features  were  in  completed  form  (meaning 
between  end-of-shooting  and  start-of- 
screenings)  when  William  F.  Rodgers, 
vice-president  selected  his  line  of  mer- 
chandise for  immediate  sale.  Three  more 
have  been  completed  since. 

Four  of  the  12  features  now  comprising 
the  MGM  stockpile  stack  up  as  A-calibre 
goods,  and  some  of  the  others — notably  the 
Hardy  Family  item,  which  Hollywood  rates 
as  B  product  in  spite  of  the  earnings  record 
of  the  series — figure  to  collect  A-calibre 
grosses  from  a  public  which  doesn't  evaluate 
its  entertainment  in  terms  of  budget  but 
shops  for  what  it  likes. 

Topping  the  list,  on  points,  is  "Random 
Harvest,"  just  off  the  production  line  and 
tailored  to  the  measure  of  today  and  today's 
interests.  It's  from  the  novel  by  James 
Hilton  ("Lost  Horizon,"  "Goodbye  Mr. 
Chips")  and  co-stars  Greer  Garson  ("Mrs. 
Miniver,"  "Blossoms  in  the  Dust")  with 
Ronald  Colman  ("Talk  of  the  Town,"  "Lost 
Horizon")  in  a  cast  including  Reginald 
Owen,  Philip  Dorn,  Edmund  Gwenn,  Susan 
Peters,  Henry  Travel's  and  others  of  like 
rating.  Sidney  Franklin,  who  produced 
"Mrs.  Miniver,"  and  Mervyn  Leroy,  who 
directed  "Blossoms  in  the  Dust,"  are  guar- 
antees of  proficiency  behind  the  camera,  and 
the  story,  concerning  a  soldier  of  World 
War  I  and  a  girl  he  marries  while  afflicted 
with  amnesia,  is  in  line  with  demand.  Every- 
thing in  the  record  book  augurs  this  pro- 
duction a  hit. 

"Me  and  My  Gal" 
On  Musical  List 

"For  Me  and  My  Gal"  is  an  Arthur 
Freed-Busby  Berkeley  musical  ("Babes  on 
Broadway,"  "Babes  in  Arms,"  "Strike  Up 
the  Band")  starring  Judy  Garland  (Money- 
Making  Star  of  1942  by  exhibitor  ballot  in 
the  Motion  Picture  Herald  poll)  with 
George  Murphy  ("Mayor  of  44th  Street") 
and  Gene  Kelly  (Broadway  stage,  "Pal 
Joey")  opposite.  It's  a  story  of  the  era 
prior  to  and  during  World  War  I  and  has 
to  do  with  the  traditions  of  vaudeville,  late- 
ly revived  in  the  cities.  Produced  in  the 
manner  of  its  predecessors  and  full  of  song 
and  dance,  it  seems  to  have  everything  a 
showman  needs. 

"Clear  for  Action"  produced  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  offers  Robert 
Taylor  ("Waterloo  Bridge,"  "Johnny  Eag- 
er"), Charles  Laughton  ("Mutiny  on  the 
Bounty,"  "Tales  of  Manhattan"),  Brian 
Donlevy.  ("Great  McGinty,"  "Billy  the 
Kid")  and  Walter  Brennan  (three  Academy 
Awards)  in  a  story  about  convoy  duty 
which  includes  a  battle  between  an  Ameri- 


can destroyer  and  a  Japanese  battleship. 
Commander  Harvey  S.  Haislip,  U.S.N., 
wrote  the  story  in  colaboration  with  R.  C. 
Sherriff,  and  it  contains  humor  and  pathos 
as  offsets  to  the  grand-scale  action  which  is 
its  major  content.  Robert  Z.  Leonard  di- 
rected, with  O.  O.  Dull  as  a  co-producer. 
Names,  timeliness  and  production  auspices 
warrant  forecast  of  impressive  success. 

Plenty  of  Names  in 
"White  Cargo" 

"White  Cargo"  contains  plenty  of  names 
with  which  to  get  them  in  and  what  happens 
after  that  is  for  time  and  test  to  tell.  Wal- 
er  Pidgeon  ("Mrs.  Miniver,"  "How  Green 
Was  My  Valley")  is  at  the  peak  of  his  pop- 
ularity and  Hedy  Lamarr  appears  no  less 
than  a  people's-choice  for  the  role  of  the  se- 
ductress. Producer  Victor  Saville  gave 
them  such  dependables  as  Frank  Morgan, 
Reginald  Owen,  Henry  O'Neill  and  Rich- 
ard Carlson,  for  support,  and  Richard 
Thorpe  (the  "Tarzan"  series)  to  direct. 
Described  by  the  studio  as  "sensational," 
and  publicized  as  the  picture  in  which  Miss 
Lamarr  wears  "specially  created  'lurongs' 
of  gossamer  silk  jersey  weighing  less  than 
eight  ounces  each — the  most  revealing  cos- 
tume Hedy  has  ever  worn  for  a  film  role," 
this  item  scans  as  an  entry  in  that  thinning 
list  of  attractions  on  which  an  exhibitor 
takes  his  own  chances. 

"Journey  for  Margaret"  treats  of  the  war, 
somewhat  as  did  "Mrs.  Miniver,"  in  terms 
of  its  effects  upon  the  lives  of  a  family,  in 
this  case  a  man  and  wife,  denied  parenthood 
when  a  bombing  injures  the  wife  during  ex- 
pectancy, who  adopt  two  children  orphaned 
by  the  war.  Robert  Young  ("H.  M.  Pul- 
ham,  Esq.,"  "Cairo")  and  Laraine  Day 
(named  a  star  of  today  in  last  year's  Stars 
of  Tomorrow  poll  conducted  by  Motion 
Picture  Herald)  portray  the  man  and  wife 
with  Fay  Bainter,  Maxine  O'Brien,  Nigel 
Bruce,  Haliwel  Hobbes,  Signe  Hasso  and 
others  in  support.  It's  from  the  book  by 
William  L.  White,  assertedly  factual,  and 
was  directed  by  W.  S.  Van  Dyke  II  for 
producer  B.  P.  Fineman. 

Melodrama  With 
Locale  in  Java 

"Skyway  to  Glory"  offers  Franchot  Tone 
("Ladv  Takes  a  Flier,"  "Mutiny  on  the 
Bounty")  and  Marsha  Hunt  ("Seven 
Sweethearts,"  "Joe  Smith,  American")  as 
names  with  which  to  draw  customers  to  see 
a  melodrama  which  opens  and  closes  on  a 
shell-raked  airfield  in  Java,  whence  an 
American  pilot  takes  off  to  meet  certain 
death  in  air  combat  with  the  enemy,  his  bud- 
dies recounting  their  several  and  contrasting 
versions  of  his  life  and  character  while  he's 
gone.  The  other  players  are  Gene  Kelly 
(Broadway  stage),  Van  Johnson,  Dorothy 
Morris,  Steve  Geray,  Alan  Baxter  and  Dick 
Simmons.  Produced  by  B.  P.  Fineman  and 
directed  by  George  Sidney,  it  stands  to  pros- 
per on  the  strength  of  today's  interest 

"The  Man  on  America's  Conscience"  is  a 


biography  of  President  Andrew  Johnson  di- 
rected by  William  Dieterle  ("Life  of  Emile 
Zola,"  "Juarez,"  "All  That  Money  Can 
Buy")  as  his  first  picture  for  MGM,  with  J. 
Walter  Ruben  producing.  Van  Heflin 
(Number  One  in  Motion  Picture  Her- 
ald's Stars  of  Tomorrow  poll,  "Johnny 
Eager,"  "Kid  Glove  Killer,"  "Seven  Sweet- 
hearts") and  Ruth  Hussey  ("H.  M.  Pull- 
ham,  Esq.,"  "Married  Bachelor"),  last 
year's  Motion  Picture  Herald  Stars  of 
Tomorrow  poll,  portray  President  Johnson 
and  the  girl  he  marries,  with  Lionel  Barry- 
more  ("Dr.  Kildare"  series),  Marjorie 
Main,  Grant  Withers,  Noah  Beery,  William 
Farnum,  Regis  Toomey  and  Harry  Worth 
in  support.  The  rising  popularity  of  Van 
Heflin  may  mean  more  in  terms  of  box 
office  than  might  be  expected. 

"Eyes  in  the  Night" 
Has  Name  Power 

"Whistling  in  Dixie"  continues  the  career 
of  the  radio  detective  played  by  Red  Skel- 
ton  in  "Whistling  in  the  Dark,"  which 
turned  out  to  be  so  profitable  generally  that 
the  studio  decided  to  provide  more.  Ann 
Rutherford  again  is  seen  as  the  girl  oppo- 
site Skelton,  S.  Sylvan  Simon  again  is  the 
director  and  George  Haight  the  producer, 
with  a  long  list  of  regulars  also  present. 

"Eyes  in  the  Night"  packs  plenty  of  name 
power,  with  Edward  Arnold  ("Meet  John 
Doe,"  "Unholy  Partners,"  "You  Can't  Take 
It  With  You")  and  Ann  Harding  ("When 
Ladies  Meet,"  "Holiday")  heading  a  cast 
which  includes  Reginald  Denny,  Donna 
Reed,  Allen  Jenkins,  John  Emery  and  Barry 
Nelson.  It's  a  melodrama  depicting  the  ad- 
ventures of  a  blind  detective  and  it  deals 
with  spies.  Production  is  by  Jack  Chertok 
and  direction  by  Fred  Zinnemann.  The  film 
looks  like  solid  material  in  its  field. 

"Andy  Hardy" 
Goes  to  College 

"Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out"  presents 
Mickey  Rooney,  Lewis  Stone,  Fay  Holden, 
Cecilia  Parker  and  Ann  Rutherford,  all  the 
regulars  and  some  additions,  in  a  story  that 
takes  the  young  man  up  to  the  beginning  of 
his  college  career.  Directed  as  usual  by 
George  B.  Seitz,  this  is,  by  all  past  records 
and  current  portents,  the  outstanding  nat- 
ural in  the  MGM  backlog. 

"The  Omaha  Trail"  is  a  Western  with  its 
roots  in  history,  having  to  do  with  the 
wagon  trains  which  preceded  the  locomo- 
tives to  Omaha,  and  their  bosses  who  op- 
posed the  idea.  James  Craig  ("Kitty 
Foyle"),  Dean  Jagger  ("Brigham  Young"), 
Pamela  Blake,  Edward  Ellis,  Chill  Wills, 
Donald  Meek  are  the  names  provided  by 
Jack  Chertok,  producer.  Eddie  Buzzell  di- 
rected the  number,  his  first  Western,  from 
a  script  by  Jesse  Lasky,  Jr. 

"Gambler's  Choice"  is  an  action  film  as- 
signed Joe  Newman,  director,  as  his  first 
feature  picture.  It's  about  two  boys  in  the 
far  North  who  grow  up  to  be  a  gambler  and 
Northwest  Mounted  Policeman,  respectively, 
clashing  over  various  things. 


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story,-8  Sanely  ?f  seen.  T?e 


if  en*  wither  0venvheJm    s  /orce 


JS  a  c^Pte?o?Ulrt  a"d  Fili  ng  a 
recountinger°feP'cperSoniaS  There 

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lvhfch  the  2"  And  the  °  man«ed 
^^iono^^es  u-0rl-Saec^  in 


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Jf'8  ^  ^^hotofth 
harbor  he  ,  hose  death    he  av''a- 

arti/ier/ard-bitten,  u„yn  t/le  Part 
^i/lfam  Raj0r"  Robert  p6rsta^iri 

^I11*2  stag*, ne„  ate  a* 


^'cSd?6  c^a?2PlSt  about    h>  eneS  J*****  ^afo?  ^  »  a"< 

z&J^s^  P^B^}^:  gpak***^* 
t^SaStty?  asfas^ssa*^  *3^^££s? 


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has  ^  fQa  C?nsu^ate  K  hhurnan 

F&EiSs a  s^t  0ftssi0n  to 

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ny  you 


WAKE  ISLAND  w/fh  BRIAN  DONLEVY 

MACDONALD  CAREY  •  ROBERT  PRESTON 

Albert  Dekker  •  William  Bendix  •  Walter  Abel 


Screen  Play  by  W.  R.  Burner!  and  Frank  Butler 
Directed  by  John  Farrow  •  A  Paramount  Picture 


"  'WAKE  ISLAND'  is  a  trium- 
phant testament  to  the  courage 
and  resourcefulness  that  will 
smash  the  axis  .  .  .  will  leave 
you  with  a  more  profound  faith 
than  ever  in  the  things  we 
stand  for  ...  a  great  motion 
picture,  in  addition  to  being 
the  best  war  film  I've  yet  seen!" 

—Liberty  MagaziK 


"  'WAKE  ISLAND'  is  terrifying 
but  inspiring;  it  catches  for  this 
new  and  terrible  war  what  'All 
Quiet  on  the  Western  Front' 
caught  for  World  War  I  — bul 
we  had  to  wait  until  1930  for 

that  picture." — Cleveland  Plain  Dead 


"  'WAKE  ISLAND"  catches  all  the 
dramatic  intensity  inherent  in 
the  heroic  defense  of  the  little 
Pacific  outpost  in  the  early 
days  of  American  participa- 
tion in  World  War  II  .  .  .  carries 
a  tremendous  impact,  which 
should  be  reflected  in  boxoffic 
terms  straight  across  the  coun- 
try!" — Showmen's  Trade  ftev/ev 


"  'WAKE  ISLAND'  has  magnifi 
cently  caught  the  spirit  of  the 
brave  defenders;  one  of  the 
most  striking  pictures  of  the 
year.  It  will  do  dandy  business 
everywhere  . . .  Paramount  has 
made  a  picture  that  is  equal 
in  its  way  to  the  exploit  itself!" 

"  —  Variety 


'WAKE  ISLAND'  is  a  stirring 
epic  which  will  thrill  the  nation 
ranks  among  the  top  attrac 
Hons  currently  .'.  .  doesn't  pul 
punches,  but,  it  will  pull  irre- 
sistibly at  the  boxoffice!" 

,  .  jt-film  Da'A 


"  'WAKE  ISLAND'  Tsf  a  highly 
emotional,  wallop-packed  re 
production  of  a  brilliant  chap 
ter  in  the  history  of  this  war; 
there  ought  to  be  money,  and 
lots  of  it,  in  this  one!"  —  Boxoff/c 


on  Kie  screen.' 


'Wake  Island'  is  the  most  dramatic,  the  most  gripping,  the  most 
thrilling  and  exciting  story  to  come  out  of  this  war;  a  stirring 
inspiration  to  every  American  who  sees  it!  Should  do  outstand- 
ing business!"— So  says  Showmen's  Trade  Review.  Every  pre- 
view audience,  every  trade  or  magazine  critic,  has  written  or 
spoken  in  a  similar  way. 


The  Red  Cross  ...  the  United  States  Marines  ...  the  Marine 
Corps  League  ...  the  Treasury  Department's  Advisory  Com- 
mittee for  War  Bond  sales— all  are  working  closely  with 
Paramount  for  local  "Wake  Island"  campaigns,  as  well  as  for 
the  New  York  Premiere  September  1st.  Paramount  follows 
through  with  national  advertising  in  smashing  four-color 
layouts  .  .  .  with  the  biggest,  most  comprehensive  Press  Book 
campaign  ever! 


September  5 


:  - : 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


45 


IMPACT  OF  U.  S.  RAW  STOCK 
CUT  IS  FELT  IN  ENGLAND 


British  Industry  Facing 
Need  of  Overhauling  Its 
Release  Machinery 

by  AUBREY  FLANAGAN 

in  London 

Few  developments  in  the  machinery 
and  waging  of  war  fail  to  have  effects  on 
other  fields  of  action.  Similarly  wartime 
developments  within  the  U.  S.  industry 
are  likely  to  have  repercussions  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Economies  in  the  use  of  raw  stock  and  a 
cut  in  production  schedules  inevitably  will 
have  their  effects  in  Britain.  Already  the 
impact  of  the  blow  has  been  felt. 

Following  decisions  on  the  part  of  the 
American  organizations  to  cut  their  sche- 
dules by  what  would  seem  to  be  approxi- 
mately 20  per  cent,  and  the  voluntary  deci- 
sion thus  to  effect  economies  in  the  use 
of  raw  stock,  trade  organizations  and  lead- 
ers here  have  been  faced  with  the  certainty 
not  only  of  fewer  pictures  for  their  screens, 
but  of  a  need  to  overhaul  and  reorganize  the 
machinery  of  distribution  and  release.  These 
events  have  been  foreshadowed  in  these 
pages  and  later  developments  have  consoli- 
dated the  forecast. 

Some  Economies 
Already  Made 

Economies,  of  course,  already  have  been 
made  within  the  British  industry  and  fewer 
prints  are  being  used  and  circulated  than 
was  the  case  before  the  war.  The  economies 
were  made  following  approaches  not  from 
the  Government  but  from,  the  raw  stock 
manufacturers,  who  at  one  time  were  faced 
with  a  critical  position  following  the  way 
in  which  the  Battle  of  the  Atlantic  had  been 
going.  Sinking  of  ships  and  the  uncer- 
tainties of  transport  threw  a  gloomy  cloud 
across  the  trade  horizons.  Voluntarily  the 
renters  effected  some  economies,  with  not 
inconsiderable  results. 

Each  of  the  major  distributing  concerns, 
following  a  suggestion  that  a  20  per  cent 
cut  was  necessary,  agreed  to  lower  their 
printing  orders  for  one  month  by  300,000 
feet.  This  was  done  by  an  adjustment  of 
releases,  and  by  delaying  printing  orders  by 
approximately  a  month.  Most  of  the  renters 
missed  one  February  release,  or,  alternative- 
ly, did  not  print  it  until  a  month  or  so  later 
than  they  would  have  done.  Early  this  year 
there  was  a  belief  abroad  that  the  Board  of 
Trade  was  considering  appointing  a  con- 
troller of  raw  stock  and  fears  existed  that 
some  sort  of  rationing  system  might  be  im- 
posed in  order  to  tackle  the  serious  situa- 

A  minor  economy  has  been  ertected  by  the 
changing  over  of  the  Ministry  of  Informa- 
tion scheme  under  which  exhibitors  showed 
a  five-minute  film  each  week  to  one  under 
which  they  showed  a  longer  film  each 
month.  Precisely  what  economy  this  would 
effect  is  not  easy  to  see. 

As  reported  in  Motion  Picture  Herald 
last  July,  the  British  Board  of  Trade  put  into 


U.  S.  FORCES  IN  BRITAIN 
GET  MORE  FILMS 

United  Slates  forces  now  are  get- 
ting film  service  in  all  parts  of  the 
British  Isles,  following  the  recent  visit 
of  Joseph  Seidelman,  Universal  for- 
eign manager,  to  London,  it  is  re- 
ported from  England.  Forty  features 
now  are  in  circulation  to  Army  sta- 
tions. Mr.  Seidelman  set  up  distribu- 
tion machinery  for  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  and  a  committee  repre- 
senting all  American  companies  is 
functioning. 

British  distributors  have  advised  ex- 
hibitors that  they  no  longer  would  im- 
pose a  two-mile  zone  in  protecting 
theatres  while  supplying  service 
camps  with  product. 


operation  an  order  of  some  time  previously 
to  prohibit  the  further  import  to  this  coun- 
try of  sensitized  stock.  Although  most  of 
the  coating  of  stock  is  done  on  this  side, 
the  move  was  significant. 

Nowr  have  come  from  the  U.  S.  further 
indications  of  economies  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic.  It  has  reached  the  ears  of 
the  industry  here  that  Hollywood  is  to  save  . 
200,000,000  feet  of  raw  stock  by  cutting  its 
production  schedules.  The  report  here  is 
that  the  offer  to  do  so  has  been  a  voluntary- 
one  submitted  to  the  U.  S.  Government  and 
following  approaches  made  by  the  raw  stock 
manufacturers.  It  is  felt,  however,  inevi- 
tably that  the  use  and  issue  of  raw  stock 
on  the  American  side  must  be  followed  by 
restrictions  of  exports  to  Britain  and  by 
economies  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Services  Xot  Expected 
To  Curtail  Use 

The  cut  in  product,  if  it  is  to  be  a  cut  in 
product,  and  not  merely  a  cut  in  the  footage 
of  films,  is  naturally  one  with  which  the 
exhibitor  and  distributor  will  be  concerned. 
However,  it  would  not  seem  to  present  as 
serious  a  prospect  as  the  more  material 
problem  of  a  cut  in  celluloid  raw  stock. 

The  consumption  of  raw  stock  here,  par- 
ticularly by  the  Services  and  the  Ministry 
of  Information,  is  considerable.  It  is  not 
likely  that  these  sections  will  be  willing  to 
economize  to  any  notable  degree ;  the  weight 
will  have  to  be  borne  by  the  industry. 

With  a  certain  holiday  inactivity  through- 
out the  industry  here  and  major  organiza- 
tions suspending  their  meetings  for  at  least 
a  month,  no  official  consideration  has  been 
given  and  no  formal  decisions  taken.  It  is 
obvious,  however,  that  both  the  Kinemato- 
graph  Renters  Society,  the  distributor 
group,  and  the  Cinematograph  Exhibitors 
Association  will  have  the  matter  in  the  fore- 
front of  their  discussions  at  their  meetings 
in  September. 

A  solution  of  the  problem  would  seem  to 


lie  not  so  much  in  minor  economies,  such  as 
the  cutting  of  credit  titles  and  main  leads, 
or  the  infinitesmal  economies  effected  by 
the  abolition  of  the  censor's  certificate,  but 
by  a  complete  re-examination  and  overhaul 
of  the  release  system. 

In  Britain  the  number  of  prints  used  per. 
film  naturally  varies  according  to  the 
strength  of  the  product.  The  average  Xo.  1 
top  film  generally  is  distributed  from  an  av- 
erage of  60  copies.  The  figure  sometimes 
drops  to  50,  or  in  "B"  pictures  to  lower  and 
occasionally  in  pictures  of  the  calibre  of 
"Gone  with  the  Wind,"  "How  Green  Was 
My  Valley"  and  "49th  Parallel"  goes  up  to 
80.  • 

The  figure  is  based  upon  the  North  Lon- 
don release.  First  releases  are  always  in 
the  North  London  area  for  one  week,  with 
the  South  London  area  following  the  next 
week,  and  then  to  the  suburbs,  provinces, 
and  further  afield.  Thus  the  average  60 
copies  form  the  nucleus  whence  distribution 
is  made. 

An  adjustment  of  this  system  was  dis- 
cussed some  time  ago.  when  the  first  need 
for  economy  was  made  manifest  and  very 
little  tangible  was  done.  Some  adjustments 
and  changes  in  first  run  halls  were  made, 
but  the  sum  totals  were  not  affected  greatly. 
It  is  now  possible  that  discussion  may  be 
launched  and  will  probably  materialize  in 
the  sub-division  of  London  into  three  or 
more  release  areas,  as  well  as  the  transfer- 
ring of  some  provincial  halls  to  later  runs 
than  they  are  at  present  given. 

Laboratories  Working 
At  Top  Pressure 

There  are  other  problems  here,  to  some 
extent  extra-territorial  to  the  industry,  the 
problem  of  obtaining  a  chemical  base  neces- 
sary for  sensitizing  and  cutting  films.  There 
is  not  necessarily  a  profusion  of  this,  al- 
though probably  the  matter  is  not  immedi- 
ately urgent.  One  of  the  greatest  problems, 
however,  is  the  competition  of  units  of  the 
Services. 

Although  approximately  6,000.000  feet  of 
film  are  printed  every  week  to  the  order 
of  the  industry,  another  3,000,000  feet  are 
used  by  the  Services  for  training,  education- 
al, instructional,  and,  to  some  extent,  propa- 
ganda films.  Probably  the  Ministry  of  In- 
formation's activities  account  for  nearly  an- 
other million  feet.  British  laboratories  now 
are  working  at  top  pressure,  printing  in  one 
instance  1,500,000  feet  per  week;  in  two 
other  instances  over  a  million  feet. 


Phillipson  Retains  Post 

Percy  Phillipson,  managing  director  and 
member  of  the  board  of  Automaticket,  Ltd., 
London,  has  not  resigned  as  managing  direc- 
tor of  the  company,  as  was  published  recently. 
Mr.  Phillipson  has  retained  that  post,  but  is 
not  continuing  in  active  participation  in  com- 
pany affairs,  serving  in  an  advsory  capacity. 
He  has  retained  his  position  on  the  board  also 
of  London  Computator.  Ltd.,  Sesame  Fasten- 
ers, Ltd.,  Bell  Punch  Taximeters,  Ltd.,  Aron 
Taximeters,  Ltd..  Addo  Company  (Britain^ 
Ltd.,  and  Anglo-American  Publicitv.  Ltd. 


LINES  COMPLETELY  AM 

ON  THE  LAST  DAY  OF  1 


FIFTH 


Corner  of  51st  St.  and 
Rockefeller  Plaza 

51st 

STREET 


Corner  of  Sixth  Ave. 
and  51st  St. 


WAR  BONDS 


SIXTH 
a    y    #-v  AVENUE 

RADIO 

PICTURES  Photo-diagram  show] 
end  of  line  which  meets 
itself.  More  than  3- hour 
wait  at  this  point. 


ND  MUSIC  HALL  BLOCK 

E  RUN! .  ■  Crowds  such  as  Radio  City  sees 

only  once  in  years ! . .  Thousands 
waiting  in  line  as  long  as  three 
hours! . .  More  thousands  turned 
away-and  many,  many  more 
MILLIONS  waiting  for  this  tremen- 
dous attraction  to  open  in  YOUR 
CITY  and  the  rest  of  the  country! 


vrner  of  Rockefeller 
aza  and  50th  St. 


WALT  DISNEY'S 


MULTIPLANE 

TECHNICOLOR  FEATURE 


w 


ear  the  box  office 
the  corner  of 
xth  Ave.  and 
th  St. 


W 


A  GREAT  LOVE  STORY 


From 
Felix  Salter  $ 
Best  Seller 


(These  photographs  were 
taken  at  11  A.M.  Wednesday 
August  26th  — the  fourteenth 


48  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    5,  1942 

in  BRITISH  STUDIOS 

 ■  rmTBirr—TrtiiiinTiWMiHwi  ■■■iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii«iwim«Miiiiiii  ■■iiimih  ■■■■ 

By  AUBREY    FLANAGAN,   in  London 


Escapist  Films 
Increasing 

The  tendency  manifest  in  recent  months 
on  the  part  of  the  British  public  to  go  war- 
ily in  the  matter  of  war  films,  duly  recorded 
on  this  page,  has  made  some  difference  to 
the  plans  of  British  film  producers.  The 
small  percentage  of  escapist  subjects  is  slow- 
ly, but  appreciably,  increasing  in  British 
studios.  None  the  less  the  vast  preponder- 
ance of  war  films  on  the  programmes  of 
British  producers  suggests  that  it  is  going 
to  be  a  difficult  job  for  popular  taste  to 
move  them  from  their  original  plans. 

No  more  significant  weathercock  has  been 
observed  in  this  regard  than  in  the  recent 
list  of  titles  registered  by  the  British  Film 
Producers'  Association.  On  this,  British 
producers,  attached  to  the  B.F.P.A.,  have 
recorded  the  names  of  those  films  they  in- 
tend, or  at  least  hope,  to  make  in  the  imme- 
diate future.  The  flavour  is  markedly  a  war 
flavour. 

Of  a  list  of  34  subjects  issued  20  of  these 
are  methodically  and  unequivocally  war 
subjects,  most  of  them  with  a  more  or 
less  documentary  flavor.  Nor  is  comedy 
too  highly  favored,  for  only  four  comedy 
titles  have  been  registered. 

It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  some  of 
these  will  be  shelved;  nor  is  the  list  com- 
plete. It  does  not  include  films  in  current 
production,  or  ready  for  trade  showing. 
Nor  does  it  include  films  being  made  by 
companies  which  are  not  members  of  the 
B.F.P.A. 

Some  War  Films 
May  Be  Shelved 

A  survey  of  films  at  present  on  the  stu- 
dio floors  indicates  a  discernible  nervous- 
ness on  the  part  of  some  British  producers 
with  the  war  as  a  subject  of  screen  enter- 
tainment. At  least  two  pictures  on  the 
floor  at  the  moment  have  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  the  war.  Each  of  these, 
plus  one  other,  is  a  comedy. 

A  lesson  would  seem  ready  for  the  learn- 
ing in  the  success  of  motion  pictures  on  the 
screens  of  British  cinemas  during  the  Aug- 
ust holiday  month,  when  the  "Holidays  at 
Home"  movement,  a  movement  from  which 
the  exhibitor  had  profited  markedly,  had 
been  operated.  Within  the  West  End  at  the 
present  moment,  though  "Mrs.  Miniver"  is 
probably  one  of  the  keenest  money  takers 
in  its  run  at  The  Empire,  the  successes  with 
the  holiday  seeking  public  of  "Pardon  My 
Sarong,"  "Bambi"  and  "Holiday  Inn" 
should  leave  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  pro- 
ducers as  to  where  the  current  interest  of 
the  film  going  patron  lies.  Each  of  these 
pictures  is  way  up  on  top  of  others  on  show 
in  the  Central  London  area  at  the  moment. 

Gainsborough  pictures,  most  generous  in 
their  numbers,  being  planned  for  production, 
include  "We  March  Beside  You,"  a  story 
of  the  W.A.A.F.'s;  "This  Breed  of  Men," 
a  tale  of  the  Merchant  Navy;  "Miss  Lon- 
don," a  story  dealing  with  provision  for 
wartime  holiday  makers;  "Commando"; 
"Doomed  Battalion,"  a  story  of  the  British 


Army  left  in  Crete;  "We  Dive  at  Dawn," 
a  submarine  drama. 

Against  these  six  war  subjects  Gainsbor- 
ough plans  four  of  a  different  calibre :  "Ma- 
donna of  the  S  even  Moons,"  "Man  in 
Grey,"  a  Regency  story  about  the  Rohan 
family  and  made  in  Bath;  "Fanny  by  Gas- 
light," dealing  with  the  West  End  in  the 
sinister  seventies;  and  "London  After 
Dark,"  a  comedy  thriller  set  in  a  London 
Mews.  Also  registered  for  production  by 
the  same  company  are  "Adam  Bede,"  "Rob 
Roy,"  "Little  Savage,"  "Shirley,"  "Last 
Days  of  Pomeii"  and  "Little  Dorrit."  The 
registration  of  these  titles  is  probably  pro- 
tective rather  than  prospective. 

"The  Glory  That  Is  Greece"  is  planned  by 
D.  &  P.  Studios. 

"Chetnik,"  on  the  Ealing  Studios'  roster, 
deals  with  the  Serbian  guerrillas ;  and,  still 
sticking  to  Jugoslavia,  "The  Mountains 
Clap  Their  Hands"  will  be  made  by  Two 
Cities,  and  "Nightmare,"  about  Czechoslo- 
vakia, by  the  same  organization. 

Story  of  Malta 
To  Be  Filmed 

A  story  of  Malta  will  be  made  by  British 
Aviation  Pictures  with  the  title  "Malta,  G. 
C."  (George  Cross)  ;  and  Hong  Kong  will 
inspire  another  British  Aviation  production, 
"Remember  Hong  Kong." 

"Somewhere  on  Leave,"  to  be  produced 
by  Butchers  Film  Service,  is  a  war  come- 
dy. The  same  company's  "Variety  1943" 
and  "Rose  of  Tralee"  are  deliberately  es- 
capist. 

Ealing  Studios,  which  almost  have  for- 
saken the  world  that  existed  before  the  war 
and  the  world  that  will  exist  after  the 
war,  are  making  "San  Demetrio,"  and  will 
make  a  story  of  Libya,  "Umpity  Poo"  and 
"Find,  Fix  and  Strike,"  the  motto  of  the 
Fleet  Air  Arm.  They  also  have  registered 
"My  Learned  Friend,"  a  manslaughter 
story. 

Two  Cities  also  have  registered  "The 
Bells  Go  Down,"  dealing  with  the  Auxiliary 
Fire  Service  during  the  blitz,  and  "Flying 
Colours,"  a  Belgian  drama. 

The  prospective  programme  of  films  in- 
cludes "John  Churchill,  Duke  of  Marlbor- 
ough," a  Conqueror  film,  which  probably 
will  be  supplanted  by  "Dear  Octopus," 
which  Conqueror's  chief,  Paul  Soskin,  has 
announced  his  intention  of  making  in  the 
immediate  future. 

"Colonel  Blimp"  Is 
Ambitious  Venture 

One  of  the  most  ambitious  pictures  in 
current  production  is  the  Archers  Film 
production,  "The  Life  and  Death  of  Colonel 
Blimp,"  which  cannot  be  said  to  be  direct- 
ly a  war  drama,  although  it  has  a  bearing 
upon  present  conditions.  This  is  a  sardonic 
saga  of  the  British  military  mind,  which 
Michael  Powell  and  Emeric  Presburger  are 
making  at  Denham  in  all  the  glories  of  war- 
time Technicolor. 

Mr.  Powell's  record,  whilst  of  consider- 
able artistic  and  production  merit,  shows  no 
box  office  flops.  His  "The  Invaders"  regis- 
tered record  money  for  a  British  picture 


on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  A  detached 
survey  of  the  film  now  in  production,  and 
a  glimpse  of  the  rushes,  indicate  that  the 
film  bids  fair  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
"The  Invaders"  and  "One  of  Our  Air- 
craft." 

Considerable  attention  has  been  given  to 
period  detail  and  the  use  of  color  and  cos- 
tumes, together  with  an  entirely  imaginative 
treatment  of  sound  and  drama,  and  suggests 
that  the  picture  when  shown  will  arouse 
the  interest  of  both  critics  and  public.  De- 
borah Kerr  is  said  to  have  registered  a 
superlative  performance.  Roger  Livesay,  as 
Colonel  Blimp,  and  Anton  Walbrook  have 
leading  roles. 

Fire  Auxiliary  Work 
Inspired  Picture 

^  Ealing  Studios'  production,  "The  Bells 
Go  Down,"  in  which  comedian  Tommy 
Trinder  is  playing  the  leading  role,  was 
inspired  by  the  heroic  work  of  the  Auxiliary 
Fire  Service  during  the  1940-41  blitz  of 
London.  The  film  is  in  current  production 
at  Ealing,  where  also  "Chetnik,"  the  Ser- 
bian guerrilla  story,  directed  by  Sergei  Nol- 
bandov,  is  now  in  its  early  stages. 

So  that  whilst  in  one  part  of  the  Ealing 
Studios  the  plebeian  atmosphere  of  London's 
East  End,  with  its  saloon  bars,  working 
class  streets,  cafes  and  fire  stations  pro- 
vides a  background  for  some  Trinder  come- 
dy, elsewhere  the  mountains  of  Jugoslavia 
and  the  grimmer  business  of  guerrilla  war- 
ware  is  being  translated  into  screen  terms 
by  the  director  of  "Ships  With  Wings." 
Much  location  work  already  has  been  done 
on  this  film  in  and  among  the  Welsh  moun- 
tains. 

Keeping  an  eye  upon  the  film  and  col- 
laborating upon  script  and  production  is  Dr. 
Milosh  Sekulich,  a  leading  spirit  until  re- 
cently in  the  Serbian  Underground  Move- 
ment and  who  was  one  of  the  three  couriers 
who  penetrated  the  enemy  cordon  to  reach 
England  from  his  home  country. 

Film  Is  Based  on 
Radio  Program 

Ealing's  "They  Came  in  Khaki,"  directed 
by  Cavalcanti,  and  dealing  with  a  village 
community  under  the  shadow  of  parachute 
invaders,  has  now  been  retitled,  finally,  it 
is  believed,  "Went  the  Day  Well." 

At  Gainsborough  a  picture  in  direct  con- 
trast to  the  war  subjects,  "It's  That  Man 
Again,"  screen  version  of  wartime  radio's 
most  popular  programme,  is  now  in  its  third 
week,  with  comedian  Tommy  Handley, 
leading  lady  Greta  Gynt,  Jack  Train  and 
others  from  the  radio  team  at  work  on 
"Foaming-at-the-Mouth,"  of  which  village 
Handley  is  the  Mayor.  The  subject  is  sheer 
extravaganza  deliberately  exploiting  the 
popularity  of  the  radio  programme  to  which 
it  is  loyal  in  generality  and  detail.  Ted 
Kavanaugh,  author,  who  was  responsible  for 
the  radio  scripts,  is  working  at  Shepherd's 
Bush  with  Howard  Young  on  the  screen 
version.  In  the  film  a  new  Gainsborough 
player,  20-year-old  Joan  Carr,  makes  her 
screen  debut. 


<V&$  REEL 


OLDEST  SINGLE  REEL 
...BUT  WINGER  THAN 
EVER  IN  BOX-OFFICE 
STRENGTH...  LAUGH- 
PACKED  VITALITY' 


\  1  li 


ijpi 

I  J P|  A 

'J  S  A 


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ONE  RELEASED  EACH  MONTH— A  TONIC  FOR  YOUR  BOX-OFFICE! 


.  .  .  And  don't  forget  that  war  bond  and  stamp  drive  .  .  .  your 
ace  attraction  in  September/' SALUTE  TO  OUR  HEROES  "Month! 


50 

Holdovers  Big 
In  Milwaukee, 
Other  Cities 

Recent  holdovers  in  Milwaukee,  reflecting  the 
holdover  runs  recorded  in  key  situations  through- 
out the  country  were :  "The  Gay  Sisters"  and 
"Hayfoot,"  held  for  a  second  week  at  the  War- 
ner theatre ;  "Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon"  and 
"True  to  the  Army,"  second  week  at  Fox's  Pal- 
ace ;  "Footlight  Serenade"  and  "The  Man  Who 
Wouldn't  Die,"  which  ran  for  two  weeks  at  the 
Wisconsin.  "Mrs.  Miniver"  is  now  in  its  seventh 
week.  It  opened  simultaneously  at  Fox's  Wis- 
consin and  the  Palace,  held  for  an  additional  four 
weeks  at  the  latter  house  and  then  switched  to 
Fox's  Strand. 

Other  holdovers  reported  by  some  of  the  dis- 
tributors this  week  were  as  follows  : 

"Talk  of  the  Town,"  Columbia ;  second  week 
at  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  New  York ;  second 
week  holdovers  at  the  following  theatres  ;  Colon- 
ial, Allentown,  Pa.;  Bijou,  Springfield,  Mass.; 
Liberty,  Seattle ;  Rochester,  Rochester  ;  Orph- 
eum,  Des  Moines ;  Earle,  Washington ;  Ambas- 
sador, Washington ;  Midland,  Kansas  City ; 
State,  Providence  and  Warner,  Atlantic  City. 

"Holiday  Inn,"  Paramount ;  began  its  fifth 
week  at  the  Paramount,  New  York,  on  Wednes- 
day, marking  the  second  time  in  the  theatre's  17- 
year  history  that  a  film  played  five  consecutive 
weeks.  "Northwest  Mounted  Police"  was  the 
other  five-week  picture  there.  According  to 
Paramount,  the  film  has  been  seen  by  575,000 
in  the  last  four  weeks. 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warner  Bros. ;  in 
the  first  two  days  of  its  14th  week  at  the  Holly- 
wood, New  York,  topped  all  but  one  of  the  last 
seven  weekends,  according  to  Warners.  "Dandy" 
had  gone  into  a  third  week  in  Hartford,  Phila- 
delphia, Los  Angeles  and  Hollywood.  As  a  re- 
sult of  deals  already  closed  with  the  Paramount, 
Fox,  Midwest,  Loew's,  RKO,  Schine,  Fabian, 
Reade  and  Wilmer  &  Vincent  circuits,  in  addi- 
tion to  Warner  Bros,  the  picture  would  open  in 
125  more  spots  this  month,  it  was  said  on  Tues- 
day. All  deals  were  for  showing  at  $1.10  admis- 
sion at  night  and  75  cents  for  matinee. 

"Bambi,"  Disney-RKO ;  third  week  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  where,  according  to  RKO,  it  con- 
tinued to  equal  the  high  mark  set  there  by  Sam- 
uel Goldwyn's  "The  Pride  of  the  Yankees."  Sec- 
ond week  holdovers  were  set  at  Augusta  and 
Portland,  Me.,  and  Dayton  and  Marion,  Ohio. 
At  Provo,  Utah,  a  new  box  office  record  was 
established  for  that  town  with  "Bambi,"  RKO 
reported,  and  big  opening  days  were  recorded 
in  Harrisburg  and  Reading,  Pa.  The  Disney 
film  opened  at  the  RKO  Palace,  New  York,  and 
RKO  Albee,  Brooklyn,  on  Thursday.  On  Fri- 
day, it  went  into  the  RKO  metropolitan  circuit 
of  40  theatres.  Next  week  the  picture  will  be 
shown  in  the  circuit's  Brooklyn  houses. 

"Pride  of  the  Yankees,"  Goldwyn-RKO  ;  in  its 
seventh  week  at  the  Astor  New  York,  where  it 
grossed  an  estimated  $25,500  for  its  sixth  week. 

"Pardon  My  Sarong,"  Universal ;  second  week 
holdover  at  the  Criterion,  New  York,  where,  ac- 
cording to  the  management,  it  is  playing  to  the 
"best  business"  in  the  theatre's  six-year  history. 

"The  Gay  Sisters,"  Warner  Bros. ;  third  week 
at  the  Strand,  New  York,  where  good  grosses 
for  the  second  week  were  reported  by  the  man- 
agement. 


Delay  "Bambi"  Opening 

Although  advance  publicity  and  advertising 
had  already  gone  out  on  "Bambi,"  the  Philadel- 
phia opening  of  the  Walt  Disney-RKO  feature 
has  been  postponed,  the  local  Warner  circuit 
failing  to  close  the  deal.  The  picture  was 
originally  scheduled  to  reopen  the  Aldine  the- 
atre on  August  26th  and  it  is  understood  that 
Disney  held  up  its  release,  seeking  a  playing 
time  when  the  public  schools  are  in  session. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  102,  Vol.  24.-1,000  bombers 
in  raid  on  Germany  and  France. ..  .India  in  turmoil 
as  Gandhi  calls  for  independence  Americans  ar- 
rive  on   the   Gripsholm   from   Japan  Abbott  and 

Costello  visit  Mayor  LaGuardia. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS — Vol.  103,  Vol.  24.— Allies  raid 
Dieppe. ..  .Ambassador  Grew  warns  Americans  of 
Japan's    strength. ..  .Stars    open    War    Bond  drive 

in  Washington,  D.  C  Uniforms  for  WAVES.... 

Amateur  dancers  at  the  Harvest  Moon  Ball. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  300,  Vol.  13. — RAF  blasts 

Nazis  Latest  India  crisis  Review  of  the  life  of 

the  Duke  of  Kent  Army  doctors  in  training  for 

oversea   duty  Americans   back   from   Japan  after 

internment    LaGuardia   entertains   Abbott  and 

Costello. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  301,  Vol.  13.— Battle  of 

Dieppe  Churchill  in  surprise  visit  to  Middle  East 

....WAACS  win  bars.... WAVES  don  Navy  uni- 
forms Russian  guerilla  girl  visits  U.   S  Stars 

start  War  Bond  drive. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  1.  —  Americans  return 

from    Japan  Reporter    tells    of    mistreatment  at 

Japanese  hands  Junior  Minute   Men  aid  salvage 

drive  Ten-year-old   boy   is   mascot    at  recruiting 

station  Turmoil   in  India  RAF   steps   up  sky 

front. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  2.— Chicago  Bears  trim 

College  All-Stars  Russian  heroine  visits  U.  S  

WAVES  get  uniforms  WAACS  graduate  Stars 

open  Bond  drive  in  Washington. ...  Raid  on  Dieppe. 

RKO1  PATHE  NEWS— No.  1,  Vol.  14.— Civil  dis- 
obedience in  India  Americans  back  from  Japan  

RAF  over  Europe. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  2,  Vol.  14.— Raid  on  Dieppe 

....Ambassador  Grew  warns  of  Japanese  strength  

Stars  open  billion  dollar  drive. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.   114,   Vol.  15.-1,000 

British  planes  raid  Bremen  India  riots  kill  scores 

 Americans  back  from  Japan. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.   115,   Vol.   15.— Film 

stars  open   Bond  drive   in   Washington  Churchill 

visits   the   Middle    East  Russian   girl   guerilla  in 

Washington  Raid  on  Dieppe. 

Goldman  Gets 
Post  in  RKO 

David  Goldman,  Atlas  Corporation  financial 
statistician,  has  been  given  an  untitled  post  with 
RKO  by  its  president,  N.  Peter  Rathvon. 

It  also  was  learned  last  week  in  New  York 
that  the  RKO  directors  have  created  a  special 
auditing  committee,  comprising  Raymond  Bill, 
Frank  Zinn,  John  Whitaker. 

The  board  also  is  said  to  have  appointed  a 
committee  to  inquire  into,  and  recommend,  exec- 
utive salaries. 

Mr.  Rathvon  has  been  designated  by  RKO  its 
representative  on  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Distributors  of 
America.  He  is  to  be  elected  at  the  quarterly 
meeting  next  Wednesday,  in  the  New  York 
MP  PDA  office,  and  will  replace  George  J. 
Schaefer,  former  RKO  president. 

Variety  Clubs  Set 
Golf  Tournaments 

The  Cincinnati  Variety  Club  will  hold  its  an- 
nual golf  tournament  at  the  Summit  Hills 
Country  Club  September  25th.  Harold  Bern- 
stein and  Peter  Niland  are  co-chairmen. 

The  Buffalo  Tent  will  hold  its  gold  tourna- 
ment this  month  at  the  Meadowbrook  Country 
Club.  Chairman  is  Dewey  Michaels,  exhibitor. 

The  Michigan  Variety  Club  on  Sunday  was 
to  begin  a  series  of  entertainment  programs  for 
the  armed  forces  at  the  Book  Cadillac  Hotel, 
Detroit.  Entertainers  from  shows  in  the  city 
will  be  invited  to  volunteer  each  week. 


Club  Gives  Ambulance 

The  Baltimore  Variety  Club  is  presenting  an 
ambulance  to  the  American  Field  Service. 


September    5,  1942 

Report  on  Legion 
In  South  America 

Catholic  motion  picture  groups  similar  to  the 
Legion  of  Decency,  organized  to  classify  mo- 
tion pictures  on  moral  grounds,  operate  effi- 
ciently in  10  countries  of  South  America  in 
close  cooperation  with  the  Legion  in  the  United 
States,  the  Rev.  John  J.  McClafferty,  executive 
director  of  the  Bishops'  Committee  on  Motion 
Pictures,  told  the  Motion  Picture  Department 
of  the  International  Federation  of  Catholic 
Alumnae  at  the  Federation's  15th  annual  con- 
vention last  weekend  at  the  Robert  Treat  Hotel 
in  Newark,  N.  J. 

Father  McClafferty's  discussion  of  the  South 
American  organization  was  one  of  several  held 
on  the  general  subject  of  the  Legion  during  the 
meeting.  He  explained  the  operation  of  the  Le- 
gion in  Argentina,  Brazil,  Chile,  Colombia, 
Cuba,  Ecuador,  Mexico,  Peru,  Venezuela  and 
Uruguay  and  said  that  the  national  classification 
list  published  for  the  United  States  was  used 
exclusively  in  those  countries,  even  where  the 
list  was  supplemented  by  a  local  reviewing  staff. 

An  important  factor  in  the  cooperation,  he 
said,  was  the  title  service  set  up  in  the  United 
States  through  which  distributors  here  notify 
the  Legion  of  changes  in  the  titles  of  pictures 
for  export. 

Papers  were  read  at  the  meeting  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  Legion,  by  the  Rev.  Paul  Facey, 
S.J.,  of  Holy  Cross  College ;  on  the  war  and 
the  motion  picture  industry,  by  Miss  Mary 
Sheridan,  assistant  chairman,  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam A.  Dalton,  New  York  State  chairman  of 
the  department ;  on  the  Legion  and  the  indus- 
try, by  Mrs.  James  Looram,  chairman  of  the 
Department,  and  Mrs.  George  H.  Bradford, 
president  of  the  Federation ;  on  the  locai  or- 
ganization of  the  Legion,  by  the  Rev.  John  P. 
Fallon,  diocesan  director  of  the  Legion  for 
Camden,  N.  J. ;  and  on  the  Legion  and  the 
Catholic  press,  by  Richard  Reid,  editor  of  the 
Catholic  News. 


Orpheum  Subsidiary 
Dissolved  by  RKO 

Orpheum  Circuit  Booking  Corporation  has 
filed  dissolution  of  its  incorporation  with  Mi- 
chael F.  Walsh,  Secretary  of  State,  at  Al- 
bany, through  Radio-Keith-Orpheum  Corpora- 
tion, New  York. 

Buffalo  Drive-In  Theatres,-  Inc.,  incorpo- 
rated in  Ohio,  has  filed  surrender  of  authority, 
while  Theatrical  Projects,  Inc.,  has  filed  disso- 
lution papers.  National  Theatre  Premiums, 
Inc.,  incorporated  in  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, has  filed  change  of  name  with  New 
York's  Secretary  of  State  to  National  Unit 
Distributors,  Inc. 

Lela  Theatres  Corporation,  Batavia,  N.  Y., 
has  filed  papers  of  incorporation  to  build  and 
operate  theatres  and  amusement  places,  with 
100  shares  of  stock. 


Wiener  Leaves  UA 
For  Universal 

Alec  Wiener,  formerly  branch  manager  for 
United  Artists  in  Albany,  has  resigned  to  take 
a  post  as  special  representative  for  W.  A. 
Scully,  Universal  vice-president  and  general 
sales  manager. 

United  Artists  said  that  no  replacement  of 
Mr.  Wiener  will  be  made  immediately.  It  is 
reported  that  the  company  is  considering  dis- 
pensing with  an  Albany  exchange. 


Film  Salesman  in  War  Work 

Ralph  Unks,  salesman  for  Producers  Releas- 
ing Corp.,  Philadelphia,  covering  the  upstate 
Pennsylvania  territory,  resigned  this  week  to 
enter  war  work.  He  is  succeeded  by  Herbert 
Given,  Jr. 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


51 


SECTION  X  IS  USED  LEAST  OF 
ARBITRATION  PROVISIONS 


Only  14  Complaints  Invoke 
Specific  Run  Clause,  or 
6%  of  Total  Cases 

Least  used  of  all  the  arbitration  provi- 
sions of  the  Consent  Decree  is  Section 
X,  which  permits  independent  exhibitors 
to  seek  relief  from  the  preferred  buying 
power  of  circuits. 

In  operation  for  a  year  on  September  1st, 
this  "specific  run"  clause  of  the  decree  has 
resulted  in  only  14  complaints  before  the  re- 
gional motion  picture  tribunals  of  the  Amer- 
ican Arbitration  Association.  They  have  ac- 
counted for  less  than  six  per  cent  of  the  243 
cases  filed  since  decree  arbitration  began  on 
February  1,  1941. 

Four  of  the  specific  run  cases  filed  under 
Section  X  of  the  consent  decree  resulted 
in  victories  for  the  complaining  exhibitor 
and  at  least  two  of  these  brought  important 
interpretations  from  the  Appeal  Board  of 
the  right  of  circuits  to  use  their  combined 
buying  power  to  exclude  independents  from 
a  designated  run. 

Two  of  the  specific  action  complaints 
were  dismissed.  Three  were  withdrawn  by 
the  complainant  and  five  are  pending.  The 
Appeal  Board  is  considering  two,  one  of 
which  was  appealed  by  an  exhibitor  and 
the  other  by  the  distributor. 

Section  X  Became 
Effective  September  1st 

Section  X  of  the  consent  decree  became 
effective  on  September  1,  1941,  when  the 
new  system  of  blocks-of-five  selling  or- 
dained by  the  Government  was  started.  It 
was  designed  to  provide  relief  for  indepen- 
dent exhibitors  who  complained  that  a  dis- 
tributor had  refused  to  license  a  requested 
run  because  that  run  had  been  sold  to  a 
circuit  theatre. 

The  action  is  circumscribed  by  the  most 
complicated  set  of  conditions  in  any  of  the 
decree's  arbitration  sections.  Theatres  must 
prove  their  independent  status,  that  the  re- 
fusal persisted  for  at  least  three  months,  that 
they  have  insufficient  product  available  to 
operate,  that  they  previously  operated  on  the 
run  now  held  by  the  circuit,  and  other  con- 
ditions. Arbitrators  are  empowered  only  to 
order  that  the  run  requested  be  sold  to  the 
theatres  of  the  circuit  by  separate,  uncondi- 
tioned contracts. 

First  Complaint  Filed 
By  Detroit  House 

Prior  to  the  inauguration  of  the  blocks-of- 
five  system  and  the  operation  of  Section  X 
it  was  expected  that  a  large  number  of  thea- 
tres in  competition  with  circuits  would  file 
specific  run  complaints.  They  failed  to  do 
so,  however,  and  film  attorneys  since  have 
declared  that  the  section  is  too  limited  by 
conditions,  and  offers  inadequate  relief. 

The  first  Section  X  complaint  was  filed 
on  September  12,  1941,  by  Erving  A.  Moss, 
for  the  Parkside  theatre,  Detroit.  Winning 
an  award  from  Wilbur  H.  Brucker.  it  was 
carried  to  the  Appeal  Board,  which  on  Au- 


APPEAL  BOARD 
DECIDES  SIX 

The  Appeal  Board  of  the  motion 
picture  arbitration  system  wrote 
opinions  on  six  arbitration  cases 
during  August.  Twelve  are  still 
pending  before  the  board.  Settled 
during  August  were  the  Erving 
A.  Moss,  Parkside  theatre  (Detroit 
No.  6),  Caroline  Perriello,  Clyde 
Playhouse  (Buffalo  No.  10),  Parkside 
theatre  (Philadelphia  No.  II), 
Wheaton  theatre  (Chicago  No.  13), 
Lakeview  theatre  (New  Orleans 
No.  5)  and  Colonial  theatre  (Bos- 
ton No.  I  I). 


gust  12th,  11  months  later,  upheld  the  arbi- 
trator's decision.  Another  important  vic- 
tory was  won  by  John  E.  Feeney,  Tulsa, 
Okla.,  exhibitor,  who  received  a  specific  run 
award  against  the  Griffith  Amusement  Com- 
pany for  his  Gem  and  Cozy  theatres  on 
August  1st. 

Three  of  the  specific  run  actions  were 
combined  with  clearance  demands,  and  two 
of  these,  both  in  the  New  York  tribunal, 
are  now  before  the  Appeal  Board.  In  one, 
Case  No.  23,  the  Cameo  theatre,  Jersey 
City,  plea  was  dismissed.  The  Waverly  the- 
atre, New  York,  in  Case  No.  24,  won  its 
specific  run  demand  but  lost  the  clearance 
and  some  run  portion  of  its  case. 

Boston 

The  Appeal  Board  in  decision  No.  36, 
dated  August  26th,  modified  the  award  of 
Frederick  W.  Bliss,  Boston  arbitrator,  to 
give  further  clearance  relief  to  Frank  M. 
Deane,  operator  of  the  Colonial  theatre  at 
Manchester  Depot,  Vt,  on  Loew  and  RKO 
product. 

The  Board  overruled  Mr.  Bliss'  dismis- 
sal of  RKO  from  the  case,  declaring  that  by 
its  own  testimony  it  had  acknowledged 
granting  a  clearance  in  effect  to  Rutland 
and  Bennington  theatres.  The  Board  found 
that  the  Manchester  Depot  theatre,  serviced 
from  Boston,  as  is  Rutland,  is  not  competi- 
tive as  to  area  with  the  General  Stark  the- 
atre in  Bennington. 

It  ruled  that  there  was  no  reason  why 
Bennington  should  be  granted  a  playing  po- 
sition in  between  Manchester  and  Rutland, 
or  that  the  Colonial  in  Rutland  should  suffer 
from  playing  delays  by  the  Bennington  the- 
atre. Also  it  held  that  a  maximum  of  one 
dav  was  reasonable  clearance  for  the  first 
run  Paramount  and  Grand  theatres  in  Rut- 
land over  Manchester. 

The  award  by  Mr.  Bliss  had  granted  the 
Colonial  the  right  to  play  immediately  after 
first  run  Rutland  and  Bennington  and  an 
availability  of  not  more  than  14  days  after 
Rutland.  The  appeal  was  filed  by  the  Rut- 
land Enterprises,  Inc.    Costs  were  divided 


among  complainant,  distributors,  and  the 
two  intervenors.  The  B.  B.  Theatrical 
Corp.  operates  the  General  Stark  in  Ben- 
nington. 

Albany 

The  Schine  Circuit,  Inc.,  of  Gloversville. 
intervenor  in  the  third  Albany  case,  has  ap- 
pealed the  award  by  Judge  Joseph  Roach 
directing  the  five  distributors  to  cut  the 
clearance  of  Schine's  Colonial  theatre,  Nor- 
wich, N.  Y.,  over  William  Smalley's  Sid- 
ney, N.  Y.,  theatre  from  14  to  three  days. 

Kansas  City 

Hearing  is  set  for  September  4th  in  the 
fifth  case  before  the  Kansas  City  tribunal, 
that  of  Simon  Galitzi,  on  clearance,  for  his 
Co-Ed  theatre,  Topeka,  Kan.  John  Rhodes, 
a  lawyer,  is  arbitrator. 

St.  Louis 

A  motion  by  the  plaintiff  to  reopen  the 
tenth  St.  Louis  case  has  been  granted  by  the 
arbitrator,  Claude  Pearcy,  who  last  week 
granted  the  Beverly  theatre,  St.  Louis,  a  one 
day  margin  behind  the  Wellston  theatre.  A 
new  hearing  will  be  held  on  September  25th 
"to  correct  inadvertent  error." 

Mexican  Film 
Awaits  Release 

"Baja  California  en  Guardia,"  a  three-reel 
documentary  film  produced  by  Frank  Z. 
Clemente,  will  be  released  by  Grovas  y  Cia 
shortly  after  the  producer's  return  to  Mexico. 
It  portrays  the  reaction  in  Lower  California 
to  the  news  of  war,  the  entry  of  the  United 
States  into  the  conflict  and  the  Mexican  dec- 
laration. Scenes  of  preparations  for  coastal  de- 
fense were  filmed  with  the  consent  and  co- 
operation of  civil  and  military  authorities,  said 
Mr.  Clemente. 

Mr.  Clemente,  who  has  been  in  New  York 
conferring  with  major  distributors,  is  returning 
to  Mexico  to  work  on  Government  training 
films  for  the  armed  forces. 


"Army"  to  Play  Mastbaum 

The  Mastbaum  theatre,  Philadelphia,  will  halt 
its  picture  showings  on  October  26th  for  at  least 
two  weeks  to  house  Irving  Berlin's  all-soldier 
show,  "This  Is  the  Army."  Although  there  are 
four  regular  legitimate  theatres  in  the  city, 
Army  officials  sought  the  Mastbaum  because  of 
its  large  seating  capacity  of  5,000.  No  picture 
will  be  shown  during  the  limited  run  of  the 
Army  show,  which  will  play  on  a  reserved-seat 
policy  at  regular  legitimate  theatre  prices. 

Child  Ban  Enforced 

Police  in  Norristown,  Pa.,  have  been  in- 
structed to  enforce  strictly  an  old  curfew  law 
for  children  under  16  years  of  age.  It  forbids 
children  to  appear  on  the  streets  between 
9 :30  P.M.  and  5 :30  A.M.  unless  accompanied 
by  an  adult.  From  October  1st  to  March  31st 
the  curfew  goes  into  effect  at  9  P.M. 

Club  Aids  War  Relief 

The  Variety  Club  of  Washington,  tent  No.  11. 
has  contributed  $4,400  for  two  ambulances  for 
the  American  Field  Service ;  $500  to  Russian 
War  Relief  and  $513  to  United  China  Relief, 
the  latter  representing  proceeds  from  the  club's 
"Night  in  China,"  it  was  reported  this  week. 


52 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


// 


WHAT  THE 

PICTURE  DID  FOR  ME 


Columbia 

GO  WEST,  YOUNG  LADY:  Penny  Singleton, 
Glenn  Ford — Good  comedy,  played  to  nice  weekend 
business.  Play  it. — H.  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chat- 
ham, Ontario. 

WIFE  TAKES  A  FLYER,  THE:  Joan  Bennett 
Franchot  Tone — More  of  comedy  than  anything  else. 
Two  good  stars  that  are  good  marquee  drawers. 
Played  on  Bond  nights  to  a  very  good  crowd.  Fran- 
chot Tone  is  not  much  of  an  actor.  The  patrons  that 
saw  the  picture  thought  it  was  good,  but  it  would 
have  been  better  without  Tone.  Played  Wednesday, 
Thursday,  August  5,  6— Conrad  H.  Tapia.  Chief  Thea- 
tre, Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

TWO  LATINS  FROM  MANHATTAN:  Joan  Davis, 
Jinx  Falkenburg — Played  this  on  a  double  bill  with  a 
western.  Our  farm  lads  enjoyed  it  immensely. — Har- 
land  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ontario. 

TWO  YANKS  IN  TRINIDAD:  Pat  O'Brien,  Brian 
Donlevy,  Janet  Blair — Very  far-fetched.  Didn't  please 
the  few  cash  customers  that  did  come.  Played  Fri- 
day, Saturday,  July  10,  11.— Paul  McBride,  Avalon 
Theatre,  Fillmore,  Utah.  Small  town  and  rural  pat- 
ronage. 


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

BORN  TO  SING:  Virginia  Weidler,  Ray  MacDon- 
ald — A  'teen  age  story  with  a  considerable  amount  of 
talent.  Was  well  received  although  it  seemed  they 
became  restless  during  the  lengthy  "Ballad  for 
Americans"  finale.  It  is  so  absurd  to  think  a  bunch  of 
kids  like  these  could  put  on  such  an  elaborate  af- 
fair. Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  August  19,  20. — 
Horn  &  Morgan,  Inc.,  Star  Theatre,  Hay  Springs, 
Neb.    Small  town  patronage. 

BUGLE  SOUNDS,  THE:  Wallace  Beery— Up  to  the 
Beery  standard,  a  good  production  and  very  timely, 
as  it  introduces  the  life  of  a  soldier  recruit  from  the 
time  of  his  enlistment  until  he  is  a  finished  tank  driv- 
er. Plenty  of  action  and  entertainment.  Play  it  and 
get  some  gravy.  Played  Saturday,  August  15.— A.  L. 
Dove,  Bengough,  Saskatchewan,  Canada.  Rural  and 
small  town  patronage. 

BUGLE  SOUNDS,  THE:  Wallace  Beery— This  is  a 
fair  picture.  However,  do  not  consider  it  in  the  same 
class  as  "Twenty  Mule  Team."  Business  not  up  to 
average.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  July  3,  4.— Paul 
McBride,  Avalon  Theatre,  Fillmore,  Utah.  Small 
town  and  rural  patronage. 

THIS  TIME  FOR  KEEPS:  Ann  Rutherford,  Vir- 
ginia Weidler,  Robert  Sterling— It  pleased  on  family 
night  but  it  was  too  old  and  business  was  light. 
Played  Tuesday,  August  18.— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 

TORTILLA  FLAT:  Spencer  Tracy,  Hedy  Lamarr, 
John  Garfield— This  was  a  little  more  pleasant  than 
one  would  expect  from  a  John  Steinbeck  story.  But. 
while  it  did  better  than  average  business,  it  did  not 
please  our  patrons  to  any  extent.  Frank  Morgan 
really  stole  the  picture.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  Au- 
gust 16,  17.— Horn  &  Morgan,  Inc.,  Star  Theatre,  Hay 
Springs,   Neb.     Small   town  patronage. 


Paramount 


LAS  VEGAS  NIGHTS:  Constance  Moore,  Phil  Re- 
gan, Bert  Wheeler— A  light  musical  that  took  very 
well.— Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  On- 
tario. 

MAD  DOCTOR,  THE:  Basil  Rathbone,  Ellen  Drew, 
John  Howard— Another  horror  picture  that  did  busi- 
ness. Public  seems  to  go  for  these  occasionally.— 
Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ontario. 


Republic 


COUNTRY  FAIR:  Eddie  Foy,  Jr.,  June  Clyde, 
Guinn  Williams— A  nice  program  picture  that  brought 
a  lot  of  laughs.— Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham,  Ontario. 

CYCLONE  KID,  THE:  Don  "Red"  Barry— Good 
action  western  which  pleased  on  Friday  and  Saturday. 
Played  August  21,  22— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
in  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald. 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


DOWN  MEXICO  WAY:  Gene  Autry— Doesn't  make 
much  difference.  If  it's  a  Gene  Autry  feature,  it 
does  just  about  so  much  business  and  this  is  usually 
above  average.  This  was  a  good  Autry  western  with 
good  music  thrown  in  for  those  who  do  not  care  much 
for  westerns.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  August  14, 
15. — Horn  &  Morgan,  Inc.,  Star  Theatre,  Hay  Springs, 
Neb.    Small  town  patronage. 

MAN  FROM  CHEYENNE:  Roy  Rogers,  George 
"Gabby"  Hayes — Roy  Rogers  is  still  the  top  star  of 
this  town.  With  Roy  is  another  good  western  star, 
George  Hayes.  Played  with  a  second  run  picture, 
"Moonlight  in  Hawaii,"  good  musical  and  entertain- 
ing. Drew  the  crowd  for  Friday  and  better  for  Satur- 
day. Patrons  that  saw  the  features  enjoyed  them. 
Played  August  7,  8.— Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre, 
Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

RED  RIVER  VALLEY:  Roy  Rogers,  George  "Gab- 
by" Hayes — A  nice  weekend  western  that  paid  divi- 
dends.— Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  On- 
tario. 

WESTWARD,  HO:  Bob  Steele,  Tom  Tyler,  Rufe 
Davis — A  western  that  sitsfied  our  weekend  patrons. 
— Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham.  Ontario. 


RKO 

SING  YOUR  WORRIES  AWAY:  Bert  Lahr,  Bud- 
dy Ebsen,  Patsy  Kelly — Not  a  big  show  but  a  pleasing 
little  musical  comedy.  Played  it  on  Sunday  and  had 
no  complaints.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  August  16. 
17. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small 
town  patronage. 

WEEKEND  FOR  THREE:  Dennis  O'Keefe,  Jane 
Wyatt,  Philip  Reed — This  type  of  picture  is  better 
to  play  on  a  double  bill.  The  business  was  very  good 
because  it  played  on  "Wahoo"  night.  The  picture  is 
nothing  extra  to  brag  about,  nothing  but  a  waste  of 
film.  Played  Tuesday,  August  11. — Conrad  H.  Tapia, 
Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

Twentieth  Century- Fox 

SONG  OF  THE  ISLANDS:  Betty  Grable,  Victor 
Mature — Did  outstanding  midweek  business  on  this. 
Everyone  enjoyed  it  immensely. — Harland  Rankin, 
Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ontario. 

TEN     GENTLEMEN     FROM     WEST  POINT: 

George  Montgomery,  Maureen  O'Hara — A  good  pic- 
ture which  failed  to  draw  more  than  average  business. 
Those  who  came  liked  it.  Played  Wednesday,  Thurs- 
day, August  19,  20. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

WILD  GEESE  CALLING:  Henry  Fonda,  Joan 
Bennett — Did  surprisingly  well,  more  than  anticipated. 
—Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ontario. 


United  Artists 


DUDES  ARE  PRETTY  PEOPLE:  Marjorie  Wood- 
worth,  Jimmy  Rogers — A  fair  light  comedy.  Rather 
weak,  but  got  by  on  a  dual  bill. — H.  Rankin,  Centre 
Theatre,  Chatham,  Ontario. 

GENTLEMAN  AFTER  DARK,  A:  Miriam  Hop 
kins,  Brian  Donlevy — A  smart  detective  story  that 
was  thoroughly  enjoyed.  Business  fair. — Harland  Ran- 
kin, Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ontario. 

SHIPS  WITH  WINGS:  John  Clements,  Leslie 
Banks — Everybody  liked  this  picture.  Did  extra  busi- 
ness, was  most  timely. — H.  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham,  Ontario. 

TO  BE  OR  NOT  TO  BE:  Jack  Benny,  Carole  Lom 
bard — Did  not  do  business  in  Tilbury  t^at  we  dM  in 
Chatham  on  this  picture.  Business  only  fair. — Har- 
land Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ontario. 


Uni 


niversal 

WOLF  MAN,  THE:  Lon  Chaney,  Jr.,  Claude  Rains 
— This  is  a  very  poor  picture.  No  entertainment  value 
whatever.  Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  August  5,  6, 
— Paul  McBride,  Avalon  Theatre,  Fillmore,  Utah. 
Small  town  and  rural  patronage. 


Wa 


rner 


Broth 


ers 


ALWAYS  IN  MY  HEART:  Kay  Francis,  Walter 
Huston — Gloria  Warren  was  good.  I  would  say  this 
is  perfect  entertainment.  Play  it,  it  means  business. — 
Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ontario. 

JUKE  GIRL:  Ann  Sheridan,  Ronald  Reagan— They 
like  Ann  Sheridan  in  Tilbury  so  they  came  to  see  her 
and  brought  extra  cash  customers.  That's  what  we 
like. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  On- 
tario. 

KINGS  ROW:  Ann  Sheridan,  Ronald  Reagan,  Rob- 
ert Cummings — This  is  more  of  a  picture  for  adults, 
although  it  played  to  a  very  good  crowd  on  a  preview 
and  better  crowd  on  Sunday,  fair  crowd  on  Monday. 
Business  is  always  slow  on  Mondays.  Robert  Cum- 
mings is  a  better  actor  than  Ronald  Reagan,  although 
Reagan  played  a  good  part.  Played  Saturday-Mon- 
day, August  8-10. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre, 
Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Short  Features 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

FOR  THE  COMMON  DEFENSE:  Crime  Doesn't 
Pay — Another  excellent  subject  for  this  series. — Horn 
&  Morgan,  Inc.,  Star  Theatre,  Hay  Springs,  Neb. 

GOING  TO  PRESS:  Our  Gang  Comedeis— The  gang 
is  getting  big  and  not  as  good  as  before.  Good  pat- 
ronage.— Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Gran- 
de, Ariz. 

SELF  DEFENSE:  Pete  Smith  Specialists— Good 
reel  on  how  to  defend  yourself  in  case  of  robbery. — 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

THIS  IS  THE  BOWERY:  Passing  Parade— Good 
for  small  town  people  and  also  for  big  town.  Well 
produced,  interesting. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Thea- 
tre, Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

WEDDING  WORRIES:  Our  Gang  Comedy— Just 
another  Gang  comedy  for  the  kids. — Al  L.  Dove, 
Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Saskatchewan. 


Paramount 


HEDDA  HOPPER'S  HOLLYWOOD:  No.  5— En- 
tertaining Hollywood  reel. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


RKO 


SNOW  EAGLES:  Sportscope — Entertaining  sport 
reel. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey, 
Okla. 

WEDDING  BLITZ:  Leon  Erroll— People  don't  go 
much  for  Leon  Errol.  He  is  better  in  features  than 
in  comedies.  Too  silly  and  not  interesting. — Conrad 
H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

GANDY  GOOSE  IN  THE  OUTPOST:  Terrytoon- 
(Continued  on  opposite  page) 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


12 


(Continued  from  opposite  page) 

Good  black  and  white  cartoon — E.  31.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

GUARDIANS  OF  THE  SEA:  Adventures  o£  a 
Xews  Cameraman — Average  filler.— E.  II.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey.  Okla. 


Universal 

HAMS  THAT  COULDN'T  BE  CURED.  THE:  Col- 
or Cartune — Good  cartoon,  very  good  music  and  well 
produced. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre.  Casa 
Grande,  Ariz. 

SCREWDRIVER,  THE:  Color  Carttme— Very  good 
Technicolor  cartoon.  Kept  the  children  and  adults 
laughing.  Technicolor  cartoons  are  the  only  type  of 
cartoons  the  kids  go  for. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Cnief 
Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

WINTER  SERENADE :  Musicals— Gcc-i  musical 
comedy,  but  people  don't  go  much  for  Gloria  Jean. 
Universal  can  make  better  musical  comedies  than 
this  one.  Too  much  singing  like  Deanna  Durbin. — 
Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Vitaphone 


ARGENTINE  HORSES:  The  5_t:-:s  Parade— Go; 
sport  reel  in  fine  color. — E.  il.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

TORTOISE  BEATS  THE  HARE,  THE:  Merrie 
Melodies — Good  color  cartoon. — E.  M.  Freiburger. 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


Serial 
Republic 


JUNGLE  GIRL:  Serial— A  very  well  produced  serial 
and  enjoyed  by  the  people  that  saw  it.  Asking  to 
bring  it  back  again.  Very  good  patronage. — Conrad 
EL   Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande.  Ariz. 


Artkino  Censor  Action  in 
Pennsylvania  Settled 

A  compromise  out  of  court  was  reached  by 
the  Pennsylvania  State  Board  of  Motion  Pic- 
ture Censors  and  Lewis  F.  McCabe,  attorney 
for  the  Artkino  Corporation,  it  was  disclosed 
last  Thursday  by  Mrs.  Edna  R.  Carroll,  chair- 
man of  the  board.  A  suit  in  equity  had  been 
filed  in  July,  1941,  by  Artkino  in  the  Philadel- 
phia Court  of  Common  Pleas  to  set  aside  a 
censor  ban  on  two  Russian  pictures,  "The  Red 
Army"  and  "Soviet  Frontier.''  According  to 
the  arrangements  made,  a  seal  of  approval  was 
granted  ''Red  Army,"  while  "Soviet  Frontier" 
still  is  being  withheld. 

The  original  reason  for  banning  both  pictures 
in  Pennsylvania,  said  Mrs.  Carroll,  was  that 
they  showed  the  massing  of  Russian  military 
strength  at  a  time  when  Russia  was  aligned 
with  Germany,  and  hence  would  encourage  sub- 
versive elements.  Xow,  that  objection  is  re- 
moved and  the  intent  of  "The  Red  Army"  is  in 
keeping  with  the  Allied  effort,  she  said.  Isio 
reason  was  given  for  continuing  the  ban  on 
"Soviet  Frontier,"  merely  stating  that  the  set- 
tlement, resulting  in  the  court  action  being 
dropped,  was  a  compromise. 


Kunkis  Plans  Short 

S.  R.  Kunkis  in  New  York,  plans  production 
of  a  short  subject,  "It's  the  Law,"  from  the 
book  by  Richard  Hyman  of  King  Features. 
Louise  Wilcher  wrote  a  musical  score  for  the 
subject  and  John  Brown  will  provide  the  nar- 
ration. Telenews  will  handle  the  first  release. 
The  subject  is  the  first  of  a  series.  Mr.  Kunkis 
said. 


Set  "Grand  Street"  Film 

Boris  Morros  and  S.  P.  Eagle  have  placed 
on  their  production  schedule  at  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox "The  Grand  Street  Boys,"  story  of 
the  New  York  benevolent  society. 


Named  Issuing  Agent 

Rugoff  &  Becker,  Xew  York  circuit,  has  been 
appointed  by  the  U.  S.  Treasury  as  official 
\Var  Bond  issuing  agent  in  its  theatres. 


Married,  Bothered  and 

CorDt;pi;  ii 


Corpses  in  bed, 
gangsters  in  the 
closet,  cops  at  the 
1  keyhole  and  a 
blonde  chasing 
the  groom! 

GUARANTEED 

to    make  you 


8  hour  honeymoon  — 
he  joins  the  army  in 
the  morning! 


MONOGRAM  PICTURES 


r  NIGHT 


BEAL 


with  Wanda  McKAY 


"Exceptionally  good  comedy!" 

—Harrison's  Reports 

"Great  for  all  audiences!" 

—  Film  Daily 

Hilarious  ...  a  sleeper." 

—  Box  Office 

"Would  be  hailed  as  a  hit  by 

Paramount  or  Metro!" 

— Film  Bulletin 


Produced  by  A.  W.  HACKEL 

Directed  by  WILLIAM  BEAUDINE  •  Original  Screenplay  by  JOSEPH  HOFFMAN 


54 


Launch  Parent 
Review  Guide 

A  new  reviewing  service  and  guide  to  film 
suitability  for  children  has  been  launched  in 
the  National  Parent-Teacher,  official  magazine 
of  the  National  Congress  of  Parents  and 
Teachers.  The  magazine  will  preview  films  in 
Hollywood  through  a  parent-teacher  committee 
and  rate  pictures  according  to  "theme,  story, 
production  quality  and  ethical  value"  in  rela- 
tion to  juvenile  audiences. 

The  magazine  is  published  in  Chicago.  Ruth 
B.  Hedges  is  editor  of  the  film  section  of  the 
publication,  which  goes  to  school  parent-teacher 
association  members  throughout  the  country. 
In  a  foreword  to  the  new  film  reviews  in  the 
September  issue  she  wrote :  "Films  should  be 
considered  an  occasional  treat,  and  as  such 
should  be  carefully  selected." 

By  reviewing  the  pictures  at  the  studio  be- 
fore release,  but  following  approval  by  the 
Production  Code  Administration,  the  magazine 
hopes  to  present  reviews  to  parents  before  pic- 
tures reach  neighborhood  and  subsequent  run 
theatres  generally  patronized  by  youngsters. 
Pictures  are  classified  by  age  groups  from  eight 
to  14  years,  14  to  18  years,  and  adult. 

Dunn,  Shathin  Return 
From  Far  East 

Harold  Dunn,  Warner  Brothers  Far  East- 
ern supervisor  with  headquarters  in  Shanghai, 
and  Michael  Shathin,  who  made  his  headquar- 
ters in  Tokyo  as  the  company's  manager  for 
Japan,  returned  to  New  York  last  week  aboard 
the  Gripshohn,  after  having  been  released  by 
the  Japanese  in  an  exchange  of  nationals. 

Hilton  Kinless,  formerly  of  the  Warner  legal 
department  at  the  home  office,  is  now  in  Aus- 
tralia with  the  American  armed  forces,  ac- 
cording to  word  received  last  week  in  New 
York.    He  is  now  a  corporal. 


Manager  On  Leave 

Paul  Murphy,  manager  of  Loew's  Ziegfeld 
theatre,  New  York,  has  been  granted  a  leave 
of  absence  due  to  illness,  and  is  staying  at 
Southampton,  Long  Island. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 


Week  of  August  list 
CAPITOL 

America  Sings  Columbia 

Romance  in  Celluloid  MGM 

Feature:  Somewhere  I'll  Find 

You  MGM 

CRITERION 

Women  at  the  Plough  Universal 

Juke  Box  Jamboree  Universal 

Crater  City  Universal 

Feature:  Pardon  My  Sarong.  .  Universal 

PARAMOUNT 

Tulips  Shall  Grow  Paramount 

Quiz  Kids,  No.  4  Paramount 

Feature:  Holiday  Inn  Paramount 

RIALTO 

Personality  Plus  Paramount 

Popular  Science,  No.  2  Paramount 

Hedda  Hopper's  Hollywood, 

No.  4  Paramount 

Feature:  Just  Off  Broadway.   20th  Cent.-Fox 

ROXY 

All  Out  for  V  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Guardians  of  the  Sea  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Mail  Trouble  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Feature:  The  Pied  Piper  20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Divide  and  Conquer  Vitaphone 

Bugs  Bunny  Vitaphone 

Argentine  Horses  Vitaphone 

Feature:  The  Gay  Sisters  Warner  Bros. 


Perlman  with  Filmack 

Harold  J.  Perlman,  recently  manager  of  the 
Dickerman  circuit's  Roxy  theatre,  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  and  previously  manager  of  several  Mil- 
waukee theatres,  has  joined  the  staff  of  the 
Filmack  Trailer  Company,  Chicago,  as  editor 
of  Inspiration,  the  company's  monthly  publica- 
tion. 


September    5,  1942 

U.  S.  Films  Lead 
Caracas  Gross 

First  run  grosses  in  the  city  of  Caracas,  in 
Venezuela,  during  the  first  six  months  of  1942, 
were  led  by  "Blood  and  Sand"  and  "Fantasia," 
according  to  reports  from  the  Venezuelan 
capital. 

The  Mexican  picture,  "Ay  Jalisco  no  te 
Rajes,"  which  broke  all  gross  records  and 
still  continues  to  bill  the  neighborhood  houses, 
was  third  in  first  run  grosses.  "Blood  and 
Sand"  and  "Fantasia"  are  third  and  fourth  in 
Caracas  all-time  grosses.  The  Mexican  "Alia 
en  el  Rancho  Grande"  was  second.  "Blood  and 
Sand"  grossed  Bs.  73,101  ($21,930.30)  in  its 
first  run.  "Fantasia"  did  Bs.  66,906.50  ($20,- 
071.95)  and  "Ay  Jalisco"  grossed  Bs.  43,628.50 
($13,088.55). 

Twentieth  Century-Fox,  with  16  pictures, 
outgrossed  all  other  distributors  for  a  total  of 
Bs.  244,647  ($73,394.10)  on  first  runs  in  the 
first  six  months.  RKO  Radio,  which  ran  sixth 
a  year  ago,  soared  to  second  with  Bs.  209,199 
($62,719.70)  with  13  pictures,  scoring  the  high- 
est average  per  picture. 

The  showing  of  the  Mexican  and  Argentine 
films,  which  ran  third  and  fourth  is  significant. 
The  Mexicans  grossed  Bs.  184,015  ($55,204.50) 
with  14  pictures  and  the  Argentines  Bs.  118,693 
($53,607.90)  with  20  pictures.  Their  totals  are 
even  more  impressive  since  they  are  more  popu- 
lar than  North  American  pictures  in  neighbor- 
hood houses. 

Others,  in  order,  were  MGM,  13  films,  Bs. 
158,992;  Warner  Bros.,  15  films,  125,700;  Uni- 
versal, 23  films,  120,134;  Columbia,  24  films, 
114,171;  independent,  19  films,  109,894;  United 
Artists,  eight  films,  94,064;  Paramount,  10 
films,  48,585;  Republic,  24  films,  40,084. 

The  number  of  films  which  grossed  Bs.  15,000 
or  more  in  first  run  engagements  were :  more 
than  Bs.  50,000,  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  one, 
RKO,  one;  from  Bs.  30,000  to  50,000,  U.  A., 
one,  Universal,  one,  Mexican,  two;  from  20,000 
to  30,000,  Argentine,  two,  RKO,  two,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox,  two ;  from  15,000  to  20,000, 
Metro,  four,  Universal,  two,  U.  A.,  one,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox,  two,  RKO,  Mexican,  two, 
Warner  Bros.,  two,  Argentine,  one. 

Lee  Marcus  Signed  as 
20th-Fox  Producer 

Lee  Marcus  has  been  signed  by  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  to  a  term  contract  as  a  producer. 
His  first  assignment  in  the  new  post  will  be 
announced  shortly. 

Mr.  Marcus  has  been  in  the  motion  picture 
industry  since  1921.  He  was  vice-president  of 
RKO  Radio  Pictures  when  he  was  named  pres- 
ident of  RKO  Pathe.  Later  he  was  assigned 
to  a  liaison  post  between  the  east  and  west 
coast  for  RKO  Radio.  He  resigned  in  1933, 
and  later  became  an  associate  producer  and 
producer.  He  was  given  a  leave  of  absence 
from  RKO  in  April,  1941. 


Seek  Chiang  Permission 

Paramount  is  seeking  permission  from  Gen- 
eralissimo Chiang  Kai-Shek  to  portray  him  in 
"The  Story  of  Dr.  Wassell."  If  agreement  is 
obtained  through  the  Chinese  Embassy  in  Wash- 
ington, Chiang  will  be  the  first  of  the  United 
Nations  war  leaders  to  be  impersonated  by  an 
actor  in  a  feature  production,  it  is  said.  Cecil 
B.  DeMille,  producer  and  director,  will  not  cast 
anyone  in  the  role  unless  the  Generalissimo  ap- 
proves the  choice. 


To  Film  Churchill  Life 

The  life  story  of  England's  Prime  Minister, 
Winston  Churchill,  will  be  filmed  by  Warjiers. 
Lt.  Col.  Jack  L.  Warner  has  assigned  Jesse 
Lasky  to  film  the  screen  biography.  Assign- 
ments have  not  been  made  as  yet. 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


55 


MANAGERS4 


ROUND  TABLE 


<An  international  association  of  showmen  meeting  weekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 

.wm  r-   r  ...  GERTRUDE  MERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


BOB  WILE,  Editor 


OP 


Don't  Try  to  Hog  the  Show 

ALTHOUGH  September's  War  Bond  and  Stamp  Drive 
is  being  conducted  largely  through  the  theatres,  the 
fact  that  achievement  of  the  goal  is  not  going  to 
redound  to  the  ultimate  benefit  of  anyone  but  Bond  buyers 
themselves  must  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  theatremen.  We 
must  remember  that  in  any  effort  put  forth  to  sell  Stamps  and 
Bonds  the  cooperation  of  every  individual  and  every  enterprise 
is  to  be  encouraged. 

This  thought  is  aptly  expressed  in  the  press  book  on  the 
drive  prepared  by  the  Iowa  War  Activities  Committee  and 
sent  to  us  by  Dale  MacFarland  of  Tri-States  Circuit.  "Envy 
and  jealousy,"  it  says,  "are  two  of  the  most  destructive  emo- 
tions of  the  human  mind,  and  these  malignant  diseases  must 
not  be  allowed  to  hinder  the  success  of  the  motion  picture 
industry's  War  Bond  drive  in  September." 

"By  the  very  nature  of  our  business,  showmen  must  be  con- 
stantly in  the  public  eye,  but  the  man  who  uses  the  September 
campaign  for  personal  glory  or  gain  is  a  selfish  man  indeed. 
We  are  all  working,  sweating,  fighting  for  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  to  put  billions  of  dollars  into  the  war  chest  of 
our  beloved  country.  We  have  common  cause  with  I  30,000,000 
fellow  Americans — the  butcher,  the  baker,  the  lawyer,  the  clerk, 
the  shoe-shine  boy,  the  truck  driver. 

"What  does  it  matter  who  gets  credit  for  Bond  sales?  The 
only  real  credit  goes  to  our  boys  on  the  fighting  fronts.  We 
give  of  our  time  and  effort,  they  give  their  lives.  How  small 
indeed  shall  be  those  of  us  who  demand  a  halo  of  glory 
because  we  merely  worked  or  worried  or  sacrificed  some  of 
our  wordly  goods." 

Real  Success 

SOME  of  us  measure  success  by  the  amount  of  worldly 
goods  we  accumulate.  Others  feel  that  happiness  is  the 
sole  measure  of  success.  But  to  a  theatreman,  who  leaves 
his  post  for  a  better  one,  perhaps  the  crowning  achievement 
which  denotes  success  is  the  genuine  regret  of  his  community 
that  he  is  leaving. 

It  is  the  good  fortune  of  Earle  M.  Holden  who  has  managed 
the  Capitol  Theatre  in  Atlanta  for  the  past  eight  and  a  half 
years  to  have  that  measure  of  success.  Upon  announcement 
of  his  leaving  that  spot  to  take  a  post  in  the  booking  depart- 


ment of  Wilby-Kincey  Theatres  in  Charlotte,  Ernest  Rogers, 
columnist  of  the  Atlanta  Journal,  expressed  the  regret  of  the 
community  ac  Earle's  departure  and  to  wish  him  luck  in  his 
new  venture. 

"Film  Row  and  Peachtree  Street  regret  losing  Mr.  Holden 
because  he  has  been  more  than  an  able  theatre  manager," 
said  Mr.  Rogers.  "He  has  been  a  good  citizen,  an  amiable 
companion,  an  efficient  executive.  He  is  president  of  the 
Atlanta  Lions  Club  and  his  civic  spirit  has  been  a  constant 
inspiration  to  his  service  club  and  others  with  whom  he  came 
in  close  contact." 

Earle  has  been  a  member  of  the  Managers'  Round  Table 
almost  since  its  beginning.  The  membership  wishes  him  well 
in  his  new  undertaking  and,  what  is  more,  congratulates  him 
on  the  success  he  has  attained. 

Still  Another  Joiner 

LATEST  to  join  the  string  of  "Joiners"  who  have  written  us 
since  May  30  is  Bud  Kornblite,  manager  of  the  Capitol 
theatre,  Waverly,  N.  Y.  Bud  adds  his  name  to  the  many 
who  have  approved  the  Round  Table  editorial  of  that  date 
suggesting  that  it  was  a  wise  policy  for  the  theatreman  to  have 
outside  interests  in  local  organizations. 

"In  times  like  these,"  says  Bud,  "I  believe  that  it  is  important 
for  the  theatre  manager  to  be  connected  with  all  of  the  civic 
and  civilian  defense  work  that  he  possibly  can.  In  my  case,  I 
am  chief  air  raid  warden  of  the  block  that  my  theatre  is  in, 
and  have  taken  the  entire  air  raid  warden's  course  so  that  I 
can  be  of  service  (if  need  be)  to  my  customers  as  well  as  my 
town.  Further,  along  with  two  others  on  our  staff,  I  am  a 
U.S.  Army  Air  Corps  observer.  We  all  take  four  shifts  one 
night  a  week  after  the  theatre  closes  from  I  1:15  to  3:15  A.M., 
watching  for  planes  at  the  local  observation  post.  For  a  time, 
between  my  air  raid  warden's  work  and  the  four-hour  observa- 
tion job,  I  was  spending  15  to  20  hours  a  week  in  work  out- 
side of  the  theatre.  I  still  had  plenty  of  time  to  get  my 
theatre  work  done  and  still  was  able  to  be  active  in  civic  work. 
Besides  this  I  was  local  chairman  of  the  Polio  Drive,  and 
Mr.  T.  J.  Cary,  district  manager,  whose  office  is  here,  was 
chairman  of  both  the  U.S.O.  and  the  Red  Cross  drives. 

"So  you  see  that  in  small  towns  the  theatremen  who  'join' 
can  make  a  name  for  themselves  and  earn  a  great  deal  of 
respect  for  their  theatres  by  doing  so." 

—BOB  WILE 


56 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


HOW  TO  SELL  BONDS 

Photos  on  this  page  Depict  some  of  the  Methods  found  Successful 


By  Fred  Hess  &  Son 

Effective  and  eye-arresting  was  the  Bond  Booth  set  up  in 
the  lobby  of  the  Warner  theatre,  in  Atlantic  City,  by 
Bill  Huffman,  manager.   Animation  was  supplied  through 
the  use  of  concealed  fans  which  caused  the  flags  to 
wave  in  the  breeze. 


By  The  Richardson  Studio 

This  photo  shows  part  of  the  aggregation  of  Boy  Scouts 
that  paraded  to  the  Uptown  theatre,  in  Cleveland,  as  part 
of  Julius  Lamm's  activities  in  connection  with  his  Bond  and 
Stamp  Drive.  The  parade  stopped  at  busy  intersections 
to  make  sales. 


Ed  Harris,  of  the  Slendale 
theatre,  Glendale,  Calif.,  obtained 
the  services  of  two  boys 
recuperating  from  wounds  suf- 
fered while  they  served  on  the 
Lexington  in  the  Battle  of  the 
Coral  Sea.    The  boys  sold 
War  Bonds  in  the  lobby 
of  the  Slendale. 


Brooklyn's  War  Mothers  pay 
tribute  to  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes" 
month  by  buying  War  Bonds  to 
honor  their  sons  in  the  service. 
The  picture  at  the  left  shows 
four  mothers  buying  Bonds  at 
Loew's  Metropolitan  theatre  in 
Brooklyn. 


By  Jay  Sharp 


Suggested  by 
Harry  Wareham 
was  window  at 
Dodge  City,  Kan. 
and  executed  by 
the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  in 
their  window. 
Photos  of  local 
servicemen  were 
featured  in  the 
display. 


September    5,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


57 


Bullet 
Tops  Brien's 
'  'Eager 9 '  Drive 

Outstanding  among  the  ideas  used  to  pro- 
mote "Johrmy  Eager"  by  Lige  Brien  at  the 
Belmar  theatre,  Pittsburgh,  was  the  use  of 
5,000  empty  bullets,  each  in  an  envelope  im- 
printed, "Is  this  the  fatal  shell  that  killed 
Johnny  Eager — See  'Johnny  Eager'  at  the 
Belmar  Sunday."  The  empty  shells,  for  the 
information  of  any  theatreman,  may  be  ob- 
tained at  any  shooting  gallery  or  rifle  range 
for  the  asking. 

Lige's  campaign  also  entailed  the  use  of 
2,500  tabloid  heralds  distributed  by  boys 
yelling  "Extra"  for  three  days  in  advance 
of  showing.  One  of  the  boys  got  on  a  street 
car  and  passed  out  30  of  the  heralds  before 
he  was  ejected  by  the  motorman.  It  got  a 
laugh  and  then  the  passengers  read  the  her- 
ald. 

Three  thousand  fan  photos  were  im- 
printed on  the  back  with  the  playdates,  some 
selling  copy  and  a  merchant's  name  and  dis- 
tributed to  the  Belmar's  patrons  a  week  in 
advance  of  the  opening.  The  merchant's  ad 
paid  for  the  entire  cost. 

The  shooting  gallery  from  which  Lige  ob- 
tained the  bullets  carried  a  series  of  stills 
and  some  posters  in  exchange  for  which 
Lige  offered  a  pass  for  the  highest  scorer 
of  the  day. 

Teaser'  cards — 10,000  altogether — were 
distributed  for  a  week  in  advance;  some 
were  given  to  school  students,  others  to  pas- 
sersby  on  the  street. 

Comic  books  which  the  kids  read  so 
avidly  were  given  out  to  them,  but  Lige 
had  a  sticker  on  the  cover  of  each,  urging 
the  kids  to  see  "Johnny  Eager." 

Another  stunt  Lige  used  was  to  arrange 
with  a  6ve  and  ten  store  whose  scales  de- 
liver cards  bearing  the  photographs  of  movie 
stars  to  the  weighees  to  give  a  pass  to 
anyone  whose  card  bore  a  picture  of  any  of 
the  stars  in  "Johnny  Eager."  It  was  a  sim- 
ple stunt  and  cost  only  12  passes. 


May  Plants  Contest 
On  "In  This  Our  Life" 

The  center  column  of  the  front  page  of 
his  local  paper  was  devoted  to  a  contest 
arranged  by  Ed  May  at  the  Russell  Thea- 
tre, in  Maysville,  Ky.,  as  part  of  his  ad- 
vance exploitation  on  "In  This  Our  Life. 
Theatre  passes  were  awarded  for  the  best 
answers  to  the  question  "Would  you  forgive 
another  woman  for  stealing  your  husband, 
if  that  woman  was  your  sister?"  Special 
heralds  were  printed  and  distributed  house- 
to-house  as  were  cards,  the  backs  of  which 
carried  the  title  with  the  line  "You  Can't 
Live  Forever."  This  was  followed  by  in- 
surance statistics  proving  these  figures. 


Selet+e's  Novel  Blotter 

Eve-arresting  was  the  blotter  distributed 
bv  Eddie  Selette  at  the  Strand  theatre  in 
New  Bedford,  Mass.,  the  upper  part  of  which 
was  a  ruler  and  the  lower  portion  a  calen- 
dar. The  center  space  was  devoted  to 
Selette's  picture  copy,  Kiddie  Kartoon  Kar- 
nival  and  institutional  copy. 


Giveaway 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

\The  material  below  reflects  press  books  now  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
view  of  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.} 

TALES  OF  MANHATTAN  (Twentieth  Century- Fox):  With  the  great  number  of  stars 
in  the  picture,  star  power  is,  of  course,  one  of  the  leading  selling  points.  Their  names 
should  be  used  in  all  advertising  and  publicity;  if  it  takes  more  than  usual  space,  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  such  a  picture  probably  deserves  more  than  usual  advertis- 
ing space.  The  words  "all  star  cast"  should  be  avoided  since  they  have  been  so  much 
abused;  in  fact,  they  have  lately  connoted  a  no-star  cast.  The  humorous  ad  drawn 
by  William  Steig  and  published  in  Motion  Picture  Herald  issue  of  August  15th 
is  one  which  might  be  reproduced  as  a  publicity  still  for  the  local  newspapers  or  for 
program  use.  A  six-day  contest  is  suggested  in  the  press  book  for  use  in  cooperating 
newspapers  in  which  readers  are  asked  to  cast  the  picture  after  they  are  given  descrip- 
tions of  the  roles.  Walter  Winchell  made  the  trailer  for  the  picture;  so,  if  his  column 
appears  in  your  local  paper,  a  slug  ad  at  the  bottom  would  be  appropriate,  using  a 
quote  from  his  dialogue,  which  is  reprinted  in  the  press  book.  Since  the  picture  is 
concerned  largely  with  the  adventures  of  a  dress  suit,  an  interesting  suggestion  would 
be  to  blow  up  a  still  of  one  of  the  characters  in  a  dress  suit  to  life  size,  and  after  cut- 
ting off  the  head  mount  it  on  a  board  and  place  it  in  the  lobby.  Amateur  photogra- 
phers can  be  invited  to  take  pictures  of  their  friends  who  would  thus  look  as  though 
they  wore  dress  suits.  A  commercial  photographer  might  be  induced  to  take  the 
pictures  in  the  hope  that  he  could  sell  the  prints.  Another  contest  suggested  is  a 
revival  of  one  that  was  popular  years  ago;  faces  of  stars  are  cut  into  three  sections 
and  the  sections  are  scrambled.  Prizes  are  offered  for  correct  identification  of  all 
three  stars  in  each  of  the  layouts.  This  is  a  good  picture  on  which  to  use  post  cards 
from  a  New  York  hotel  on  which  personal  messages  can  be  imprinted.  Managers' 
Round  Table  will  be  glad  to  furnish  them  without  charge.  There's  a  novelty  herald 
suggested  in  the  form  of  a  ration  card  which  can  be  used  to  put  the  picture  over. 
The  house  staff,  whether  girls  or  boys,  could  be  dressed  in  tails  in  advance  of  the 
picture's  opening  and  during  its  run. 


Conner  Cooperates  On 
Newspaper  Charity 

Since  the  Capitol  Times  annual  charity 
campaign  is  in  the  form  of  a  kiddie  camp 
fund  to  send  kids  to  summer  camp,  Marlowe 
Conner  at  the  Capitol  theatre,  in  Madison, 
Wis.,  cooperated  with  the  paper  in  putting 
over  the  event.  The  paper  placed  bottles  all 
over  town  on  counters  to  gather  pennies  for 
the  fund. 

Conner  built  a  display  for  them  with  bot- 
tles which  was  animated  by  a  cutout  of  a 
clown  balancing  a  bottle  of  milk  on  his  nose. 
The  copy  read:  "Let's  help  the  underprivi- 
leged kids  to  a  balanced  life.  Fill  these  bot- 
tles for  the  Capitol-Times  Kiddie  Camp 
Fund.  Did  the  cashier  give  you  pennies  in 
change?  Put  'em  here,  Pal."  The  bottles 
were  lettered  to  spell  out  "Kiddie  Camp." 
The  newspaper  came  through  with  stories 
and  art  on  the  tieup. 

Moyer  Promotes  Cooperative 
Ad  Page  on  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

A  full  page  of  cooperative  ads  was 
planted  in  the  Hanover  (Pa.)  Evening  Sun 
by  Charles  Moyer,  manager  of  the  State 
theatre,  to  celebrate  his  engagement  of 
"Mrs.  Miniver."  The  headline  read,  "Uncle 
Sam  is  as  proud  of  the  women  of  Hanover 
as  we  are  of  'Mrs.  Miniver'."  In  each  of 
the  cooperating  merchants'  ads  were  the 
names  of  the  two  local  women.  Upon 
identification,  those  whose  names  were 
mentioned  received  tickets  to  see  "Mrs. 
Miniver". 


Salesgirls  Enlisted  by  Kline 
To  Sell  "We  Were  Dancing" 

Approaching  the  heads  of  22  stores  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Orpheum  Theatre,  in  Phila- 
delphia, R.  Lee  Kline  sold  them  on  the  idea 
of  having  their  sales  girls  aid  in  putting 
over  "We  Were  Dancing."  The  girls  dis- 
tributed a  ballot  to  each  customer  to  vote 
for  them  by  purchasing  a  War  Bond  or 
Stamps  in  the  lobby  of  the  theatre.  The 
prize  was  a  weekend  trip  to  Atlantic  City 
with  all  expenses  paid.  The  trip  was 
supposedly  given  by  Norma  Shearer  and 
Melvyn  Douglas. 

Front  page  stories  were  landed  in  two 
of  the  local  papers,  a  lobby  setpiece  built 
up  the  contest  in  advance,  and  announce- 
ments were  made  over  the  radio  in  addition 
to  a  special  trailer  prepared  for  the  occa- 
sion. The  22  cooperating  stores  featured 
windows  in  which  were  planted  22  x  28 
cards  saying  that  the  girls  were  in  the  con- 
test. In  addition  counters  and  tables  in  the 
stores  carried  announcement  cards. 

For  lobby  attention,  three  large  jigsaw 
puzzles  were  planted  depicting  a  scene  still. 
Patrons  had  to  purchase  a  War  Stamp  be- 
fore trying  to  reassemble  the  puzzle,  guest 
tickets  were  awarded  to  those  completing 
the  puzzle.  Other  contests  were  landed, 
one  asking  readers  to  identify  former  pic- 
tures of  Norma  Shearer,  the  other  planted 
on  three  different  pages  of  the  paper  asked: 
"Can  a  Secret  Marriage  Survive  Separa- 
tion?" For  street  attention,  a  boy  and  girl 
danced  through  the  streets  with  back  ban- 
ners reading  "We  are  on  our  way". 


58 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


HALL'S  DRIVE  SELLS 
IN  BONDS.  CRACKS 


The  Daily  Tribune  and  The  Johnstown 
Democrat  of  Johnstown,  Penna.,  are  hard 
papers  to  crack.  But  Walter  Hall,  manager 
of  the  Majestic  theatre,  got  a  break  when 
he  ran  his  War  Bond  and  Stamp  campaign. 
The  hard-boiled  newspapers  editors  decided 


that  since  Hall  was  doing  so  much  for  the 
war  effort  that  they  could  help  him  out,  too, 
so  they  gave  him  a  break  on  his  shows,  as 
well. 

In  the  week  of  Walt's  most  intensive 
drive,  Tony  Pastor's  band  was  on  the  stage ; 


Walter  Hall's  campaign  at  the  Majestic  theatre,  in  Johnstown,  Pa.,  culminated  in  a  rally 
held  in  front  of  the  theatre  with  Tony  Pastor,  who  was  in  the  stage  show  then  current 
at  the  Majestic,  as  the  star  attraction.  That's  Pastor,  above  left,  starting  off  the  rally  by 
the  purchase  of  a  One  Hundred  Dollar  Bond.  Directly  beneath  is  illustrated  the  way 
the  Round  Tabler  ran  his  bond  sales  in  an  attractive  lobby  display.  At  the  right  above 
is  Bob  Leiford,  formerly  an  usher  at  the  theatre,  now  an  Air  Corps  cadet,  as  he  stood  on 
the  platform  and  urged  his  listeners  to  "Buy  War  Bonds".  The  picture  below  "sold 
plenty  of  Stamps",  says  Hall. 


$600 
PAPERS 


not  only  did  all  the  ads  carry  underlines 
about  buying  Bonds  and  Stamps  but  they 
kept  plugging  the  monster  sidewalk  Bond 
rally  which  was  held  as  the  culmination  of 
the  ceremonies.  As  a  result  there  was  pub- 
licity not  only  on  the  Bond  rally  but  on  the 
current  attraction  at  the  Majestic  as  well. 

Tony  Pastor  himself  started  off  the  rally 
by  buying  a  $100  Bond.  He  was  right  up 
on  the  stage  in  front  of  the  theatre  where 
a  pianist  played  tunes  to  entertain  the  crowd. 
Bob  Leiford,  formerly  an  usher  in  the  thea- 
tre, now  a  flying  cadet  in  the  U.  S.  Army, 
appealed  to  the  crowd  to  buy  Bonds  and  that 
started  a  new  wave  of  purchases  by  the  on- 
lookers. 

One  of  Walt's  stunts  was  the  erection  of 
a  gibbet  from  which  hung  an  effigy  of  Hit- 
ler. Anyone  who  bought  a  25  cent  Stamp 
was  entitled  to  give  the  hanging  dictator  a 
yank.  Stuffed  effigies  were  also  on  display 
together  with  a  baseball  bat.  One  10  cent 
Stamp  entitled  the  purchaser  to  swat  at  Hit- 
ler, Mussolini  or  Hiroh'ito,  while  for  a  25 
cent  purchase  he  could  swat  all  three. 

An  autographed  photo  of  Tony  Pastor 
was  given  to  every  purchaser  of  $1.00  or 
more  in  Stamps.  Another  gift,  alternative- 
ly, was  a  copy  of  "Any  Bonds  Today," 
theme  song  of  the  campaign,  written  by 
Irving  Berlin. 

The  result  of  all  this  was  the  sale  of 
$600  in  War  Stamps  and  Bonds  in  front  of 
the  theatre. 


Rubber  Drive  Gets  Special  Show 

Tying  in  with  the  Elks  on  a  rubber  drive, 
Raymond  C.  Langfitt  at  the  Orpheum,  in 
Fergus  Falls,  Minn.,  secured  a  print  of 
"Dive  Bomber"  which  was  used  at  a  spe- 
cial 10  A.M.  show.  Anyone  bringing  one 
pound  of  rubber  to  the  theatre  was  admitted 
free.  The  Elks  appointed  a  committee  of 
which  Ray  was  chairman,  and  went  to  town 
in  putting  over  the  show  by  air,  screen  and 
telephone  campaign.  The  money  received 
from  the  collection  was  turned  over  to  the 
Red  Cross  and  USO. 


Amateur  War  Poster  Contest 

To  help  a  local  group  to  further  promote 
the  sale  of  war  savings  bonds  and  stamps, 
Joseph  Engel,  owner  of  the  Plains  theatre, 
in  Plains,  Pa.,  sponsored  an  amateur  poster 
contest.  The  award,  in  war  stamps,  was 
made  for  best  sketches  of  General  Douglas 
MacArthur.  Judge  John  P.  Walsh  pre- 
sented the  first  prize  on  the  stage. 


Publicizes  $500  Bond  Sale 

Morris  Rosenthal  at  the  Majestic,  in 
Bridgeport,  arranged  to  open  his  drive 
with  the  sale  of  a  $500  bond.  A  press  pho- 
tographer was  on  hand  to  cover  the  event 
with  a  story  and  art  work.  Rosey  tied  in 
with  the  other  local  theatres  for  a  street 
parade  and  radio  coverage  was  landed  on 
all  stations  with  a  five-minute  talk  the  day 
before  the  drive  opened. 


September    5,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


59 


BOND  SALESMEN 

These  showmen  have  reported  on  their 
campaigns  to  sell  Bonds  and  Stamps  dur- 
ing the  past  fortnight.  The  next  Ws]  of 
Bond  salesmen,  swelled  by  the  September 
drive,  will  probably  be  much  larger. 
They're  all  out  for  that  Quigley  War 
Showmanship  Award. 

FRANK  BICKERSTAFF,  Palace,  Athens.  Ga. 

CARROLL  BRADLEY,  Hoosier,  Whiting,  Ind. 

CHRIS  CHAMALES,  Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 

KENNETH  COLLINS,  LEONARD  TUTTLE,  Indiana, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

TED  EMERSON,  Omaha,  Omaha,  Neb. 

HERBERT   GRAEFE,   Wisconsin    Rapids  Theatres, 
Wisconsin  Rapids,  Wis. 

ED  HARRIS,  Glendale,  Glendale,  Calif. 

MILT  HARRIS,  Drive-ln,  Miami,  Fla. 

GUY  HEVIA,  Seneca,  Salamanca,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  HUFFMAN,  Warner's,  Atlantic  City 

SIDNEY  H.  KLEPER,  Poli-Bijou,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

JULIUS  LAMM,  Uptown,  Cleveland,  O. 

LESTER  POLLOCK,  Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

EDWARD  SELETTE,  Strand,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

HARRY  SHAW,  LOU  BROWN,  Loew's  New  Eng- 
land Theatres 

LESTER  STALLMAN,  Astor,  Reading,  Pa. 


MayHugh  Holds  Victory 
Pageant,  Bond  Rally 

Arranged  by  Charles  MayHugh  at  the 
Virginia  theatre,  in  Somerset,  Ky.,  was  a 
Victory  Pageant  and  Auction  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  sale  of  bonds  at  his  house. 
The  pageant  consisted  of  two  parts,  the 
crowning  of  a  Victory  Queen,  the  girl  who 
sold  the  most  bonds  and  stamps,  and  the 
auction  of  six  promoted  pipes,  dedicated  to 
and  intended  for  a  hero  of  the  present  war. 

Ten  of  Somerset's  most  attractive  girls 
were  candidates  for  the  title  of  Queen,  each 
being  sponsored  by  a  local  merchant.  The 
selection  of  the  queen  was  determined  by  the 
total  amount  of  bonds  and  stamps  bought  for 
each  candidate  by  people  in  the  audience. 
The  queen  was  crowned  on  the  stage  by  the 
Chairman  of  the  War  Savings  Committee 
and  presented  with  a  twenty-five-dollar  bond 
given  her  by  the  theatre.  According  to  the 
stories  run  in  the  local  papers,  the  pipes 
donated  by  MayHugh  brought  a  total  of 
$15,100  in  war  bonds. 


Baker  Has  Old  Rubber 
Matinee  for  Pleasantville  Kids 

Reported  as  turning  out  highly  successful 
was  the  old  rubber  matinee  held  at  the  Rialto 
theatre,  in  Pleasantville,  N.  J.,  by  Howard 
Baker.  The  collection  netted  a  goodly 
amount,  which  was  turned  over  to  the  USO 
committee  to  help  their  drive.  The  papers 
came  through  with  stories  and  art  work  on 
the  show. 


Chamales  Has  Club  for 
Bond  and  Stamp  Buyers 

Among  the  patriotic  exploitation  stunts 
featured  by  Chris  Chamales  at  the  Roxy 
theatre,  in  Delphi,  Ind.,  is  the  distribution 
of  small  three  by  four  inch  cards  which  are 
handed  to  his  patrons.  The  copy  on  the  card 
reads :  "Stars  and  Stripes  Forever  Ameri- 
canism Club.  No  Dues.  Roxy  Theatre, 
Sponsor."  Space  is  then  left  for  the  hold- 
er's name  and  is  followed  by :  "Is  a  De- 
fense Bond  or  Stamp  Holder." 

Another  card  distributed  reads :  "National 
U.S.O.  Campaign  for  soldiers  and  sailors. 
Don't  let  the  SEASON  PASS  without  aid 
to  Stars  and  Stripes."  The  same  card  is 
used  for  other  drives  of  a  like  nature.  Cha- 
males also  ran  a  "MacArthur  Week"  recent- 
ly with  cooperative  ads  in  the  paper,  which 
featured  a  cut  of  the  General  and  copy :  "A 
Fighting  General  for  Fighting  Mad  Peo- 
ple. The  Roxy  Theatre  and  All  Delphi 
Hail  MacArthur." 


Series  of  Photos  Helps  Sell 
Janssen's  Bond  &  Stamp  Sale 


yams  slow  mma 


KEWfJGHfOfr'MASM 

4" 


BONDSi/STAMPS 


Bickerstaff  Invites  Wardens 
To  "Your  Air  Raid  Warden" 

When  Frank  Bickerstaff  at  the  L&J  Pal- 
ace, in  Athens,  Ga.,  played  the  Civilian  De- 
fense short,  "Your  Air  Raid  Warden," 
Frank  was  able  to  promote  quite  a  bit  of  ad- 
ditional publicity  by  way  of  newspaper,  ra- 
dio, lobby  display,  cards  in  various  windows. 

When  booking  the  short.  Bicker  staff 
asked  for  an  extra  print  for  a  special  show- 
ing for  the  Civilian  Defense  Director  and 
a  number  of  the  Air  Raid  Wardens.  The 
screening  was  held  in  the  morning  and  the 
director  had  an  article  in  the  newspaper  the 
same  day  calling  attention  to  the  short. 


Displays  Medals  in  Lobby 

To  aid  the  sale  of  War  Stamps  and 
Bonds,  Earle  Holden  at  the  L.  &  J.  Cap- 
itol, in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  planted  two  cases  of 
medals  in  his  lobby,  one  of  which  were 
awarded  to  U.  S.  Marines,  the  other  show- 
ing such  medals  as  the  Distinguished  Flying 
Cross,  Congressional  Medals,  etc.  The  cases 
were  loaned  by  the  Marine  Recruiting  of- 
fice and  are  surrounded  by  selling  copy  on 
the  Bond  sale. 


Aids  Air  Raid  Services 

William  Briemann  at  the  Ambassador, 
in  Baltimore,  uses  the  front  cover  of  his 
program  to  good  advantage  each  with  some 
institutional  of  war  message.  One  of  the 
latest  to  come  to  our  attention  is  headed : 
"What  to  do  in  an  Air  Raid."  The  entire 
page  is  given  over  to  excerpts  from  the  of- 
ficial publication  of  the  Committee  on  Civ- 
ilian Defense. 


Special  Benefit  for  U.S.O. 

In  connection  with  the  local  USO  drive, 
Jim  Cattell  at  the  Park  Theatre,  in  Mans- 
field, Ohio,  promoted  a  special  benefit  show 
on  his  stage,  the  highlight  of  which  was  an 
array  of  novel  dance  divertissements  pre- 
sented by  child  students  from  a  local  dance 
studio.  The  entire  proceeds  from  the  show 
went  to  the  USO  and  the  newspapers  came 
through  with  stories  and  art. 


Janssen's  lobby  board  calls  attention  to 
war  headlines  as  they  are  at  present  and 
as   we   would   like    them    to    be  shortly. 


To  aid  in  getting  his  Bond  and  Stamp 
message  before  his  patrons,  Anton  Janssen  at 
the  Loring  theatre,  in  Minneapolis,  has  got- 
ten out  a  series  of  displays.  One  of  which 
features  a  table  in  his  lobby  with  a  large 
card  reading :  "Get  the  habit.  Lick  a  stamp 
to  Lick  a  Jap.  You  Can  Buy  Them  Here 
Regularly."  Below  this  was  one  of  the  gov- 
ment  war  posters.  In  addition  Janssen  fea- 
tures the  message :  "Buy  War  Stamps  and 
Bonds  Here"  on  his  marquee. 

For  the  featurette  "Mr.  Gardenia  Jones," 
Janssen  used  a  lobby  easel  with  the  title  and 
copy  "See  what  the  money  you  gave  to  the 
U.  S.  O.  does  for  our  boys  in  camp."  On 
"Winning  Your  Wings,"  Anton  planted  a 
large  board  outside  which  featured  a  small 
photo  of  Jimmy  Stewart.  The  copy  here 
read :  "Jimmy's  back  in  the  movies !  Lieu- 
tenant James  Stewart  in  'Winning  Your 
Wings.'  Thrill  to  your  favorite  movie  hero 
in  the  story  of  America's  men  of  the  air." 

Cohn  Takes  Films 
Of  Flag  Dedication 

To  put  over  his  campaign  on  Bond  and 
Stamp  sale,  Howard  R.  Cohn  of  the  Elm 
theatre,  in  Brooklyn,  arranged  for  a  motion 
picture  to  be  taken  of  a  parade  and  dedica- 
tion of  a  service  flag,  the  pictures  to  be 
shown  for  a  week  following  at  the  theatre. 
The  cooperation  of  the  AWVS  was  enlisted, 
with  12  girls  in  full  uniform  marching  in  the 
parade  and  manning  three  booths  for  the 
sale  of  stamps.  The  merchants  in  the  neigh- 
borhood were  approached  by  Cohn,  who  sold 
them  on  the  idea  of  decorating  the  theatre 
block  with  pennants  and  flags. 

Charninsky's  Big  Lobby  Sign 

To  put  over  his  stamp  sale  at  the  Capitol 
Theatre,  Dallas,  Texas,  Louie  Charninsky 
uses  a  dignified  sign  in  his  lobby  that  reads : 
"Buy  a  Share  in  America.  Defense  Savings 
Bonds  and  Stamps."  This  against  a  back- 
ground map  of  the  United  States. 


60 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


Edwards'  Movie  News 
A  Frank  Discussion 


Every  month,  Tom  Edwards,  who  runs 
the  Ozark  theatre,  Eldon,  Missouri,  gets 
out  a  calendar  program.  There's  nothing 
unusual  about  that  in  itself;  but  Tom's  pro- 
gram is  decidedly  unusual  and  it  might  be 
worth  copying  in  a  different  way  in  a  larger 
community. 

On  the  one  side,  Tom's  is  a  more  or  less 
conventional  calendar  program  of  the  bet- 
ter type.  He  has  four  changes  of  program 
a  week  and  he  illustrates  all  the  two-day 
shows  with  small  mats. 

But  the  reverse  side  is  called  "Tom's 
Movie  News".  Here's  a  sample  issue: 
"Dear  Folks: 

"I  really  picked  out  a  good  one  to  start 
this  month  out  with.  ...  It  is  'Kings  Row' 
and  it  is  definitely  marked  for  one  of  the 
ten  best  of  the  year.  It  is  a  story  about  a 
town  they  talk  of  in  whispers  and,  just  be- 
tween us,  girls,  the  author  of  the  story, 
Henry  Bellaman  is  from  Fulton,  Mo.,  and 
the  story  made  Fulton  blush,  so  you  can 
draw  your  own  conclusions.  .  .  .  Anyway, 
don't  miss  'Kings  Row'.  And  that  is  just  a 
starter  for  your  August  vacation  with  the 
stars  at  the  Ozark.  Don't  forget  it  is  the 
best  Summer  resort  in  the  country  and  so 
close  to  you.  .  .  .  So-o-o-o  make  your  plans 
right  now  to  attend  this  theatre  twice  a 
week  at  least  and  be  transported  on  our 
Magic  Carpet  to  Movie  Vacation  Land. 
You  can  spend  a  darn  swell  evening  on 
August  5  or  6  and  see  Barbara  Stanwyck 
and  Joel  McCrea  in  'Great  Man's  Lady'. 
You  remember  these  two  in  'Union  Pacific'. 
Then  don't  miss  Joel  as  the  Silver  Giant 
of  the  old  West  and  Barbara  as  the  Queen 
of  the  Gambling  Halls,  in  one  of  the 
greatest  outdoor  romances  of  the  ages. 

"Got  a  letter  from  a  cousin  of  mine  last 
week  (he  is  the  one  whose  parents  tried  to 


Boyle  Greeting  Pidgeon 
Good  for  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

Since  Walter  Pidgeon,  of  "Mrs.  Miniver" 
was  passing-  through  Norwich,  Conn.,  re- 
cently while  Joe  Boyle  at  the  Poli-Broad- 
way  was  playing  that  picture,  the  theatre- 
man  went  down  to  the  station  to  greet  the 
star,  which  was  good  for  art  work  and  pub- 
licity in  the  local  papers. 

A  three  day  contest  in  the  Bulletin  to 
select  a  local  "Mrs.  Miniver"  brought  the 
anticipated  attention  and  was  climaxed  with 
art  and  story  on  the  selection  of  the  winner 
attending  a  theatre  party  and  being  pre- 
sented with  a  bouquet  of  roses. 


Samartano's  Essay  Contest 
Sells  "The  Real  Glory" 

In  connection  with  the  opening  of  "The 
Real  Glory"  at  the  Palace,  in  Meriden, 
Conn.,  Joe  Samartano  planted  an  essay  con- 
test in  which  war  savings  stamps  and  guest 


send  him  back  and  keep  the  stork)  but  he 
says  to  see  'Torpedo  Boat'  on  Friday  and 
Saturday,  Aug.  7  and  8,  starring  Richard 
Arlen  and  Jean  Parker.  They  are  1942 
heroes  of  the  fleet.  See  this  thriller  about 
new  additions  to  the  Navy. 

"If  your  name  appears  anywhere  in  this 
calendar,  you  will  receive  a  free  pass  to 
see  'In  This  Our  Life',  starring  Bette  Davis 
and  Olivia  de  Havilland,  on  Wed.  or  Thurs., 
Aug.  12  or  13.  This  is  another  picture  that 
is  headed  for  one  of  the  ten  best  of  the 
year  and  is  breaking  records  in  all  cities 
at  this  time.  .  .  .  Who  is  the  dentist  in 
Eldon  who  was  fixing  a  flat  on  his  car  and 
when  he  took  out  the  tire  tool  said,  'This 
is  going  to  hurt  a  little'?  Bud  Simpson  of 
Pittsburg,  Kansas,  is  now  back  in  Eldon  on 
the  Rock  Island  and  hasn't  had  a  pass  to 
the  Ozark  since  he  got  married.  That's 
nothing,  he  hasn't  given  me  a  pass  on  the 
Rock  Island  since  I've  been  in  Eldon." 

That's  just  one-quarter  of  Tom's  Movie 
News  for  August.  A  little  further  along  he 
lists  some  names  (those  are  the  people  who 
will  get  a  pass  to  see  "In  This  Our  Life"). 
He  also  points  out  that  it  is  wise  to  save 
the  calendar  with  Movie  News  on  the  back 
"because  during  the  week  of  Sept.  1.2 
(after  a  new  one  is  already  out)  we  will 
call  at  25  homes  and  if  they  can  produce 
said  calendar  within  two  minutes  they  will 
be  given  a  free  pass". 

Tom  deems  it  advisable  to  let  the  pub- 
lic in  on  some  of  his  business,  as  witness: 
"I  had  so  many  requests  to  bring  back  a 
Will  Rogers  picture  that  I  am  going  to 
try  it  on  Tuesday,  August  18.  It  is  one  of 
his  best,  'In  Old  Kentucky',  so  come  on, 
you  Will  Rogers  fans  and,  if  it  does  all 
right,  I'll  arrange  to  bring  back  some 
others." 


tickets  were  awarded  to  those  submitting  the 
best  letters  on  "What  America  Means  to 
Me." 

A  tieup  was  also  effected  with  the  classi- 
fied section  of  one  of  the  local  dailies,  guest 
tickets  going  to  the  first  10  people  paying 
cash  for  a  classified  ad. 


Rollins  Gets  Summer  Resort 
Folk  to  Attend  His  Shows 

Lloyd  Rollins,  who  is  manager  of  Smal- 
ley's  theatre,  Hensonville,  N.  Y.,  up  in  the 
heart  of  the  resort  country,  took  advantage 
of  his  situation  recently  during  his  engage- 
ment of  "Sergeant  York."  He  made  ar- 
rangements with  local  taxi  drivers  to  carry 
patrons  of  the  nearby  hotels  to  the  theatre 
at  the  rate  of  25  cents  each  in  parties  of 
six  or  more.  The  scheme  worked  out  ex- 
ceedingly well,  Lloyd  reports. 

In  addition,  he  had  some  letters  printed 
extolling  the  picture  and  addressed  one  to 
each  hotel  guest  in  the  vicinity,  whose 
names  were  obtained  from  the  clerks. 


"TALK  OF  THE  TOWN" 
GETS  BIG  NEW  YORK  BREAK 

"The  Talk  of  the  Town",  which 
opened  at  the  Radio  City  Music  Hall 
this  week,  got  an  unusual  break  when 
Saks  Fifth'Avenue,  one  of  New  York's 
swankiest  stores,  took  a  full  page  ad 
in  which  it  mentioned  the  picture  sev- 
eral times  and  the  cast  and  playdates 
as  well.  The  idea  was  that  the  mer- 
chandise advertised  was  also  "The 
Talk  of  the  Town".  In  addition,  the 
store  took  four  windows  to  emphasize 
the  same  theme.  It's  the  first  time 
the  store  has  consented  to  so  exten- 
sive a  promotion  and  should  lead  the 
way  to  similar  tieups  in  other  cities. 
Columbia's  exploitation  department 
made  the  arrangements  with  the 
store. 


Street  Parade  Features 
"Real  Glory"  for  Cooper 

Held  during  the  peak  hours  of  traffic  on  a 
Saturday  night  was  the  street  parade  ar- 
ranged by  M.  J.  Cooper  at  the  Poli  Strand, 
in  Waterbury,  Conn.,  ahead  of  "The  Real 
Glory."  Led  by  the  East  End  Community 
Fife  and  Drum  Corps,  the  aggregation  pro- 
ceeded from  one  end  of  the  business  section 
to  the  other;  through  the  main  street  past 
the  theatre  district  to  outgoing  routes  and 
back  to  the  theatre,  where  it  pasued  for  the 
band  to  play  a  rousing  march.  An  eight 
foot  banner  with  bold  copy  carried  by  two 
ushers  heralded  the  opening. 

On  the  opening  day,  the  theatre  front  was 
appropriately  and  gaily  decorated  with  an 
abundance  of  pennants  and  bunting.  Candy 
kisses  were  promoted  and  inserted  in  en- 
velopes bearing  the  following  copy:  "A 
kiss  from  Andrea  Leeds  in  The  Real  Glory. 
A  thrill  drama  of  the  American  heroes  in 
the  Philippines,"  etc.  Numerous  window  dis- 
plays were  promoted  and  daily  readers  were 
landed  in  the  paper  throughout  the  run  of 
the  picture. 


Stoltz's  "Fantasia"  Activities 

To  usher  in  "Fantasia"  at  the  Avon  the- 
atre, in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  Arnold  Stoltz  promot- 
ed one  of  the  leading  music  stores  for  re- 
cord bags,  the  fronts  of  which  were  utilized 
for  picture  copy  and  featured  three  cuts 
of  scene  stills.  The  same  store  also  paid 
for  the  mailing  to  their  list  of  customers, 
a  government  postcard  which  carried  pic- 
ture copy  on  the  correspondence  side  and 
where  the  sender's  address  would  be  on  the 
front  the  words,  "A  message  from  Leopold 
Stokowski."  The  cooperating  merchant 
also  came  through  with  a  four-column  ad. 


Shaffer  Gets  Rooney  Spread 

For  his  advance  on  "Miss  Annie  Rooney" 
at  the  Dixie  theatre,  in  Staunton,  Va., 
Frank  Shaffer  promoted  two  local  dalies  for 
a  full  page  break  on  Miss  Temple.  The  page 
was  devoted  to  cuts  of  the  star  showing  her 
in  various  roles  through  the  years,  leading 
up  to  large  photos  of  Shirley  as  she  appears 
in  her  present  role,  together  with  picture 
copy  on  each. 


9  4 : 


MAN  A 


RS"    ROUND  TABLE 


61 


SALUTATIONS 


August  29th 

Ea~ s  N.  Ba'  e . 
Er-es- -t-u 


September  1st 


"C  w  .  0  -~  «•  ~ 


3-d 


=  La.-V 
William  J.  Proudkm 
3  Irr 


Sep'e-ze- 


:-= 


AJ 

<5 


3 

S.  Milo 
i  H.  Leahy 


Mr.  &  Mrs.  Bill  Carbaugh  Team 
In  Theatre  as  Well  as  at  Home 

tionists.  but  few  who  in 
wires  to  assist  then  it 


also  serve  as  pi 
addition  have  t 


1928,  when  he  was 
months  later  he  was 
two  months  saw  h 
Hie  next  year  he 
license  and  worked 
four  years.  Then  he 
Lyric  theatre.  Ship 
and  operator.  Two  yt 
atre  circuit  purchase 
went  to  work  tor  t! 
working  as  his  ass 
"everything  is  worki 


Jra_,  is  lortunate  m 
this  respect.  And, 
what  is  more,  Mrs. 
Carbaugh  takes  care 
of  the  three  Car- 
iaugh  chatter,  be- 
sides. 

3iH  ;tar:ei  a  =  ;ar_- 
itor  in  the  Victor 
theatre,  Shippens- 
i_rg.  ra..  ir.  Varch. 
30  years  of  age  Two 
rev.-irtiir.g  ar.i  anther 
m  assistant  operator, 
obtained  his  class  A 
as   projectionist  for 
started  working  in  the 
jensburg.   as  manager 
ars  'a:er  the  State  the- 
d  the  Lyric  and  Bffl 


He's  in  the  Army  Now 


print  others. 


te  r.rs: 
is  pic- 
fad  to 


LINDA  ANN  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edwin 
Gage.  The  mother  h  tl>e  daughter  of 
Walter  Reade,  New  York  circuit 
owner, 

Ledbetter,  Born  and  Reared  in 
Show  Business,  and  Shows  It 

Born  and  reared  in  the  show  business, 
Willis  Henry  Ledbetter  is  now  a  specialist 
in  theatre  exploitation.  He  is  practicing 
his  specialization  at  the  Lanze  Theatre,  at 
the  Black  Hills  Ordnance  Depot,  Provo, 
South  Dakota,  one  of  the  F.  A.  Gorman 
Circuit, 

Willis  was  born  at  Pleasonton,  Kansas, 
June  2,  1903.  He  turned  to  the  motion 
picture  early  in  life  and  in  due  course  be- 
came a  theatre  manager.  Among  the 
houses  he  handled  were  the  Delharco  at 
Ctrctriia.  Xar.5..  tie  Aulancer  at  Aulancer, 
N.  C,  and  the  Noel,  Noel,  Mo. 

He  produced  and  directed  stage  shows  on 
Fox  Theatre  Circuits  for  about  four  years 
ar.i  ah:  ha;  rtar.ajtei  :rches:ra;.  beer.  ir. 
radio  exploitation,  served  as  an  announcer, 
master  of  ceremonies,  etc,  He  worked  on 
newspaper  advertising  and  as  an  advance 
man  for  vaudeville  acts  and  repertoire  stock 
c:~taries. 


Ed  Allen  Reverses  the  Trend; 
From  Hollywood  to  Exhibition 

tive  ambitions  to  enter  what  they  thmk  is 
the  glamorous  part  of  the  motion  picture 
industry — production.  Here  is  a  Round 
Tabler  who  has  had  his  fill  of  that  and 
turned  to  exhibition.  If  s  Edward  E.  Allen, 
who  is  now  manager  of  the  Mount  Vernon 
Open  Air  Theatre,  Alexandria,  Va. 

Ed  started  in  the  business  in  Holhywood, 
working  as  unit  manager  on  various  picture 
productions.  From  there  he  went  to  work 
for  the  Schall-Mariyn  Agency  as  a  talent 
agent.  He  came  to  Boston  to  visit  his  fam- 
ily and  decided  to  remain  there.  So  he  went 
to  work  for  E.  M.  Loew's  Theatres  under 
Larry  Lasky.  During  the  winter  months  he 
handles  the  National  theatre  in  Boston  and 
in  the  Summer  he  goes  to  Alexandria  to 
handle  tie  0 ten-Air. 


Edws-d    E.   Allen,   manager  c- 
O  pen-Ait   Theatre,   poses  m& 
e  —  p '  c  y  e  e  s,     Note  th« 
-'•  "-  =  =  --e  employees. 


the  Mt.  Vernon 
a  c 'i - o  c  -  j 
used    by  Oce-- 


OCTOBER 

A  HARVEST  MONTH 
OF  SHOWMEN'S  DATES 

1st      Missouri  Day 

4th     Ba~  e  of  Germantown,  Pa. — 1777 

5th     Wright  Brothers  Tate  First  Long  Distance 

Flight  in  1905 
6th     Statue  c*  Liberty  Unveiled— 1 886 
7th     First  Cc!on'al  Congress  Met  in  New  York— 

1765 

James  WhHcomb  Riley's  Birthday — 1852 
9--      .Vash'ngten  Monument  Opened — 1884 

Battle  of  Sa-atcga— 1777 
[Dth     U.S.  Naval  Academy  Opened — 1845 
!2th     Columbus  Day 

I  3th     Cornerstone  of  the  White  House  La'd — 1792 
[4th     William  Penn  Born— 1644 
18th     Alaska  Day 

22nd    First  Wireless  Across  Atlantic— 1 9 1 5 
27th     Theodore   Roosevelt   f 26th   President)  Born 
—  1858 

Navy  Day 
3  I  sr  Hallowe'en 

Nevada  Admitted  to  Union — 1864 


Paul  Barker's  Latest  Idea 
Staging  of  Junk  Rally 

Paul  Barker's 
sketch  of  his  career 
is  succinct  to  say  the 
least.  Asked  to  give 
a  brief  summary  of 
his  activities  from 
the  time  he  started 
in  show  business  to 
the  present,  he  said, 
"28  3-ears  in  the 
show  business."  Paul 
is  just  a  little  over 
47,  having  arrived 
in  this  world  Aug. 
3,  1895,  at  Lynn, 
Mass.  He  is  the  father  of  four  children. 

He  is  now  the  manager  of  the  State  the- 
atre in  Madison,  Maine.  The  State  is  one 
of  the  links  in  the  Lockwood  and  Gordon 
Circuit. 

Among  Paul's  recent  activities  is  the  junk 
rally  held  at  the  theatre  in  cooperation  with 
the  Madison  Kiwanis  Club.  Over  10  tons  of 
metal  was  collected.  It  was  sold  to  the  local 
junk  dealer  and  the  proceeds  were  turned 
over  to  the  U.  S.  O. 


In  Neic  Posts 


PRANK  V.  KING,  manager  of  the  Mid- 
iar.i  ar.i  Aucittriurr.  theatres,  ir.  Newark, 
Ohio,  has  joined  the  Navy  with  rank  of 
Chief  Specialist. 

EMIL  BONDESON,  former  manager  of 
the  Alcazar,  in  San  Francisco,  will  man- 
age the  reopened  Tivoli  theatre  there. 

EARLE  M.  HOLDEN,  formerly  man- 
ager of  the  L&J  Capitol,  in  Atlanta,  after 
eight  and  one-half  years  at  that  post  has 
resigned  to  enter  the  booking  office  of  Wil- 
bv-Kincev.  with  headquarters  in  Charlotte, 

m  c. 

BEN  SCHWARTZ,  manager  of  the 
Warner  theatre,  in  Canton,  Ohio,  has  been 
inducted  into  the  Armv. 


62 

IN  THE  COURTS 

Paramount  Stockholders 
Action  Dismissed 

Judge  John  Bright,  in  New  York  Federal 
Court,  this  week  dismissed  as  without  merit 
a  stockholders'  derivative  accounting  action  filed 
October  30,  1941,  against  Paramount  Pictures, 
Inc.,  its  officers  and  directors,  based  upon  a 
charge  of  illegal  payments  totaling  $100,000 
to  William  Bioff. 

The  defendants  contended  that  the  payments 
resulted  from  extortion  demands  and  were 
made  to  prevent  the  calling  of  industry-wide 
strikes,  threatened  by  the  convicted  labor  leader, 
now  serving  sentence  in  Federal  prison. 


Hammons  Action  Filed 

A  suit  for  a  total  of  $7,593  damages  was  filed 
this  week  in  New  York  supreme  court  against 
Earle  W.  Hammons  by  Maurice  W.  Uhlmann 
and  Lee  F.  Uhlmann,  trading  as  Uhlmann  and 
Company,  and  Jay  Cartoon  and  Company,  for- 
mer stockholders  of  Educational  Pictures,  Inc. 
Plaintiffs  claim  they  purchased  stock  to  the 
value  of  $7,593  on  the  request  of  Mr.  Ham- 
mons, then  president  of  Educational.  Plaintiffs 
charge  that  Mr.  Hammons  misrepresented  the 
financial  condition  of  Grand  National  Pictures, 
a  subsidiary,  by  stating,  it  is  claimed,  that  it 
was  operating  at  a  substantial  profit. 


Autry  Sues  Promoters 

Gene  Autry,  Republic  western  star,  now  in 
the  Army,  has  filed  a  $3,800  damage  suit 
against  H.  Binns  and  Dick  Truitt,  Ada.,  Okla., 
rodeo  promoters,  charging  unauthorized  use  of 
his  name  in  a  promotion  at  the  rodeo  involv- 
ing use  of  stock  advertised  as  being  from  his 
Oklahoma  Flying  A  ranch. 


Dismiss  Patent  Suit 

The  appellate  court  in  Cincinnati  has  dis- 
missed the  suit  of  the  Hazeltine  Corporation, 
Jersey  City,  against  the  Crosley  Corporation, 
Cincinnati,  charging  infringement  of  patents  re- 
lating to  vacuum  tube  radio  receivers  and  cov- 
ering a  wave-length  signaling  system.  The  plain- 
tiffs appealed  for  a  reversal  of  the  decree  from 
the  U.  S.  district  court  and  a  judgment  declar- 
ing the  patents  valid. 


WANTED 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

ASCAP  Is  Set  Back  in 
Wisconsin  Law  Fight 

The  American  Society  of  Composers,  Au- 
thors and  Publishers  on  Saturday  lost  its  fight 
against  the  Wisconsin  law  which  requires  a 
license  fee  of  agents  who  issue  permission  to 
play  copyright  music. 

Federal  Judge  Lewis  B.  Schwellenbach  dis- 
missed suits  in  Milwaukee  Federal  court  by 
ASCAP  and  five  members  against  six  Wis- 
consin tavern  keepers  and  ballroom  proprietors. 
The  court  stated  that  neither  ASCAP  nor  its 
members  had  heeded  the  Wisconsin  law.  The 
interpretation  was  that  neither  the  Society  nor 
its  members  would  be  able  to  collect  on  copy- 
righted pieces,  or  even  sue,  until  a  license  was 
obtained  from  the  Secretary  of  State. 

4  San  Francisco  Houses 
Increase  Admission 

Four  downtown  San  Francisco  theatres  have 
raised  their  admissions  from  25  to  35  cents  to 
30  and  40  cents.  They  are  the  Embassy,  Strand, 
Downtown  and  Regal,  owned  by  independents. 
The  Golden  Gate  circuit's  neighborhood  the- 
atres are  reported  planning  a  similar  increase. 

The  RKO  Orpheum,  Des  Moines,  has  discon- 
tinued its  balcony  admission  of  30  cents  for  all 
seats  at  all  times.  The  price  is  now  the  same 
as  that  of  the  orchestra. 

Radio  Analysis  Unit 
Is  Incorporated 

The  Cooperative  Analysis  of  Broadcasting 
has  become  a  non-profit  corporation,  its  man- 
ager, A.  W.  Lehman,  informed  subscribers  this 
week.  The  organization  was  formed  12  years 
ago  and  is  engaged  in  research  into  the  listen- 
ing habits  of  radio  audiences. 


Dinner  for  Callahan 

Edward  X.  Callahan,  former  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox branch  manager  in  Boston,  and  re- 
cently named  Northeastern  district  manager, 
will  be  tendered  a  testimonial  dinner  by  the 
Variety  Club  of  New  England  at  the  Cocoanut 
Grove  in  Boston,  on  September  15th.  State  and 
city  officials  are  expected  to  be  present.  Edward 
M.  Fay  of  Providence  will  be  toastmaster. 


Barrymore  on  NBC 

Beginning  this  Sunday,  and  continuing  for 
four  weeks,  until  the  return  of  Jack  Benny 
on  October  4th,  the  NBC  spot  from  7  to  7:30 
P.  M.,  formerly  occupied  by  "The  Remarkable 
Miss  Crandall,"  will  be  taken  over  by  Lionel 
Barrymore  in  a  new  dramatic  series,  "The 
Mayor  of  the  Town." 


Protest  Tampa  Taxes 

Several  Tampa,  Fla.,  theatres  have  protested 
the  assessments  placed  on  the  buildings  by  the 
tax  assessor,  to  the  County  Commissioners. 
The  Tampa  theatre  was  assessed  at  $483,000 
but  the  owners  of  the  building  claim  that  the 
assessment  should  not  exceed  $450,000. 


On  UMPI  Tax  Unit 

George  N.  Hunt,  Jr.,  manager  of  Loew's  the- 
atres in  Louisville,  Ky.,  has  been  elected  chair- 
man of  the  UMPI  tax  committee  for  Ken- 
tucky, succeeding  Samuel  J.  Switow,  who  re- 
cently joined  the  Army  Air  Corps. 


Marks  25th  Year 

William  J.  Doyle,  Universal  salesman  in 
Philadelphia,  marked  his  25th  year  in  the  in- 
dustry last  week.  Starting  as  a  booker,  he  is 
the  only  one  of  the  old  Goldwyn  office  still  on 
Philadelphia's  film  row. 


Variety  Saturday  Parties 

The  Charlotte  Variety  Club  has  designated 
Saturday  night  parties  to  be  .sponsored  by 
barkers  of  different  exchanges,  their  wives  act- 
ing as  hostesses. 


September    5,     I  V  4  2 

OBITUARIES 

John  Willard,  Author, 
Dies  in  Hollywood 

John  Willard,  57,  actor  and  novelist,  best 
known  for  his  melodrama,  "The  Cat  and  the 
Canary,"  died  August  31st  of  a  heart  attack 
at  Hollywood  Hospital,  Hollywood.  Mr.  Wil- 
lard had  done  work  for  the  screen  and  had 
written  many  books,  the  last  of  which  was  on 
China.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  Army  Air 
Corps  in  the  first  World  War. 

He  was  an  actor  as  well  as  a  writer  of  plays 
and  novels,  and  appeared  in  the  role  of  Harry 
Blythe  in  his  greatest  success,  "The  Cat  and 
the  Canary,"  during  its  long  run  in  New  York 
in  the  season  of  1921-22.  Among  his  other  plays 
were  "Sisters,"  "Adventure,"  "The  Green  Bee- 
tle" and  "Thou  Shalt  Not." 


Guillermo  Fox  Dies 

Guillermo  Fox,  Paramount's  advertising  and 
publicity  director  in  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina, 
for  the  last  20  years,  died  there  August  20th, 
according  to  word  received  at  the  Paramount 
home  office. 


Mrs.  Will  Palfreyman 

Mrs.  Will  A.  Palfreyman,  mother  of  David 
Palfreyman,  in  charge  of  theatre  relations  for 
the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Distributors 
of  America,  died  August  25th  at  Angola,  Ind. 
Mr.  Palfreyman  was  summoned  to  Angola  from 
the  west,  where  he  was  engaged  in  field  liaison 
work  for  the  industry  War  Activities  Commit- 
tee on  the  September  bond  drive. 


Pablo  Boehm 

Pablo  Boehm,  for  13  years  accountant  at  the 
Argentina  headquarters  of  Paramount  Pictures 
at  Buenos  Aires,  died  there  recently,  according 
to  word  received  by  the  company  in  New  York. 


Thomas  Slowey 

Thomas  H.  Slowey,  28,  of  Brockton,  Mass., 
former  assistant  manager  at  the  Interstate  Co- 
lonial theatre,  who  resigned  to  go  with  the 
New  England  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, died  August  27th  at  the  Morton  Hospital, 
Taunton,  Mass.,  from  injuries  received  in  a 
fall  from  a  tree  August  14th. 


Ralph  Ripley 

Ralph  L.  Ripley,  69,  of  Dorchester,  Mass., 
dean  of  Boston  theatre  men  and  manager  of  the 
M.  &  P.  Codman  in  Dorchester,  died  there 
August  27th.  He  formerly  managed  two  old- 
time  Boston  theatres,  the  Lyceum  and  the  St. 
James.  He  at  one  time  was  president  of  the 
Theatre  Managers'  Association  of  Boston. 


Miss  Leah  Kohler 

Miss  Leah  Kohler,  52,  who  with  her  two  sis- 
ters formed  the  Kohler  instrumental  trio  which 
toured  the  country  on  the  Orpheum  circuit  sev- 
eral years  ago,  died  August  18th  at  her  home 
in  Danbury,  Conn. 


James  T.  Costello 

James  T.  Costello,  84,  who  retired  in  1937 
after  50  years  in  the  theatrical  business  in  New 
York,  chiefly  as  a  box  office  man  or  an  asso- 
ciate of  ticket  brokers,  died  August  29th  at  his 
home  in  Canadaigua,  N.  Y. 


Robinson  in  Boston 

Kenneth  Robinson,  former  branch  manager 
for  Paramount  at  Buffalo,  has  joined  the  sales 
staff  at  the  Boston  exchange. 


Given  First  Role 

The  first  film  in  which  Lois  Andrews  will 
appear  under  her  new  contract  at  Twentieth 
Century-Fox,  will  be  "Dixie  Dugan." 


Sales  Representatives 

Men  with  film  or  theatre 
background  to  contact  the- 
atre managers  and  exhibi- 
tors. Commission  basis. 
Part  or  full  time.  Must  have 
car.  State  background  and 
experience  in  first  letter. 

BOX  lOt 
Motion  Picture  Herald 
Rockefeller  Center,  N.  Y. 


September 


5  ,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


63 


CLASSIFIED 

ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION   PICTURE   HERALD,   Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


THEATRES 


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FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  Df  SEVERAL  STATES. 
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WANTED  TO  BUY  OR  LEASE  THEATRE  LX 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia.  BOX  1557, 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


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EARLY  FALL  EDITION  ANNIVERSARY  SALE 
bulletin  ready.  Ask  for  yours  1  Typical  values,  spot- 
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BOOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING— 
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and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
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rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs. 
'This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  the 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  S6.50  postpaid. 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONING, 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
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and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well  as 
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feller Center,  Xew  York. 


PRESS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BRIEN,  IXC. 
XEW  TORK,   F.   S  i. 


Starting  in  this  issue 

The  Product  Digest  on  all  new  and  coming 
pictures  for  the  season  of 1942-43 

1.  Advance  synopses 

2.  Casts 

3.  List  of  features  (under  respective  companies) 
in  order  of  release  with  coming  attractions 

4.  Showmen's  reviews 

5.  Reviewers'  ratings 

6.  Cumulative  alphabetical  Release  Chart 

7.  Production  numbers 

8.  Running  time 

9.  Audience  classification 

10.  Synopses  of  short  subjects 

1 1.  Cumulative  "shorts"  release  chart 

12.  Legion  of  Decency  ratings 

13.  Index  to  Managers'  Round  Table 

A  permanent,  living,  growing  catalogue,  with  first 
and  fullest  information  on  the  pictures 

KEEP  YOUR  FILE  COMPLETE 


September    5,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


The  First  of  the  Few 

(Leslie  Howard  -  General  Film) 
Biographical  Drama 

_  No  _  single  word — not  even  "commando"  or 
"invasion" — has  more  inspiring  an  effect,  proba- 
bly, on  the  British  imagination  than  the  bi- 
syllable  '"Spitfire."  Out  of  the  conception  and 
birth  of  this  deadly  instrumnet  of  war,  and 
the  life  and  death  of  its  creator,  R.  J.  Mitchell, 
Leslie  Howard  has  made  a  film  exactly  timed 
to  the  mood  of  the  moment,  which  is  Likely  not 
only  to  entertain  and  thrill  British  audiences, 
but  no  less  to  inspire  them. 

Mr.  Mitchell's  life — if  this  is  a  fair  picture — 
was  a  heroic  and  altruistic  one,  one  which  he 
ultimately  gave  for  his  country  as  surely  as  any 
fighting  pilot,  and  the  film  is  personal  rather 
than  epic,  not  without  its  criticism  of  British 
inertia,  moving,  restrained,  and  withal  gripping. 
The  presence  of  Leslie  Howard,  and  the  divert- 
ingly  urbane  David  Niven,  added  to  the  timeli- 
ness of  subject  and  spirit,  plus  excellent  pro- 
duction qualities,  suggest  unusual  box  office  fac- 
tors and  there  should  be  no  doubt  about  the 
film's  wide  appeal  both  here  and  in  the  U.  S. 

The  picture  re-creates  Mr.  Mitchell's  work  as 
a  designer,  the  failures  and  successes  of  his 
craft  in  the  Schneider  Trophy  contests,  the  in- 
difference of  industrialists,  and  the  utter  inertia 
of  Governments,  his  realization  in  newly  Nazi- 
fied  Germany  that  the  need  for  a  British  fight- 
ing machine  was  urgent,  his  ultimate  success 
in  getting  his  Spitfire  built,  and  his  readiness 
to  work  himself  literally  to  death  for  his  coun- 
try sooner  than  see  his  dream  demolished. 

The  picture  opens  and  closes  during  the  bat- 
tle of  Britain,  with  Niven,  the  ex-test  pilot, 
who  saw  Mitchell  through  his  battles,  telling 
the  tale  behind  the  Spitfire.  These  scenes  are 
but  a  frame  into  which  is  fitted  the  story  of  the 
quiet,  unruffled  designer,  and  his  fight  against 
odds.  It  is  unemotionally  handled,  save  in 
one  or  two  scenes,  and  Niven's  inconsequent, 
philandering  personality  punctuates  it  with 
flashes  of  quiet  comedy.  The  Schneider  Tro- 
phy scenes  are  well  reconstructed,  and  original 
aircraft  are  used.  The  Battle  of  Britain  se- 
quences, with  pilots  of  the  Fighter  Command 
in  action,  offer  some  spectacular  moments.  The 
cast,  in  general,  is  better  than  good,  with  Rosa- 
mund John  a  quiet  but  quite  English  wife,  and 
Anne  Firth  as  Mitchell's  efficient  but  unbend- 
ing secretary.  One  of  the  best  comedy  char- 
acter cameos  is  given  by  Fillipo  Del  Giudice. 
film  executive,  as  a  Galvanic  Fascist  with  an 
impregnable  faith  in  II  Duce.  Another  film 
chief,  John  Sutro,  likewise  does  well  in  a  minor 
role. 

George  Perinal's  camera  work  is  lucent  and 
definitive.  Harry  Miller's  sound  realistic  and 
exciting,  and  the  editorial  treatment  by  Douglas 
Myers  unusually  fluent,     The  screenplay  by 


NEW  SEASON 

This  is  the  first  issue  of  the 
1942-43  product  season.  All 
product  is  this  season's  unless 
otherwise  identified. 


Anatole  de  Grunwald  and  Miles  Malleson  was 
a  first  rate  achievement. 

Shown  to  an  audience  of  critics,  exhibitors 
and  trade  conglomerates,  the  film  obviously  held 
attention  throughout  most  of  its  118  minutes. 
Tears  of  the  audible  variety  marked  the  more 
personally  emotional  passages,  and  applause 
more  than  exceptionally  long  was  given  the 
film  at  its  close.  The  press  men  in  general, 
whilst  critical  of  occasionally  slow  passages, 
seemed  to  find  it  a  Serious  contribution  to  the 
screen,  and  exhibitors'  opinion  was  that  the 
film's  timeliness  and  the  dual  star  appeal  al- 
ready paved  the  way  to  profits.  Reviewer's 
Rating  :  Excellent. — Aubrey  Flanagan. 

Release  date,  September  14.  1942.  Running  time, 
118  min.     General  audience  classification. 

R.   J.   Mitchell   Leslie  Howard 

Geoffrey    Crisp   David  Niven 

Diana    Mitchell   Rosamund  John 

Miss  Harper   Anne  Firth 

Fillipo  Del  Giudice.  Erik  Freund,  Tonie  Edgar  Bruce, 
Roland  Culver,  T.  H.  Robrts.  Derrick  de  Marney, 
Herbert  Cameron,  Gordon  McLeod,  F.  R.  Wendhaus- 
en,   Brefni  O'Rorke,   Gerry  Wilmot,   Jack  Peach. 


Give  Out  Sisters 

(Universal) 

To  Listen  to  and  Laugh  At 

This  is  without  question  the  best  of  the 
minor  musicals  which  have  rolled  in  unspec- 
tacular succession  from  the  sound  stage  of 
Universal  under  the  Blumberg  management. 
It  manufactures  laughs  from  situations  and 
lines  fabricated  in  plain  view  of  the  audience 
but  given  to  experienced  comedians  to  handle, 
and  it  supplies  five  song  numbers  and  some 
dance  routines  which  satisfy. 

Top  billing  is  given  the  Andrews  Sisters, 
who  sing  four  numbers  in  their  accustomed  but 
this  time  improved  manner,  and  also  do  a 
spot  of  acting,  but  the  star  of  the  story  and 
the  personality  around  whom  it  is  wrapped 
is  Grace  McDonald,  here  given  a  chance  to 
show  the  customers  the  talent  and  personality 
which  accounts  for  the  studio's  promoting  her 
to  a  role  in  "Flesh  and  Fantasy."  Opposite  her, 
with  less  to  do  but  managing  it  ably,  is  Dan 


Dailey.  Jr.,  borrowed  from  MGM  for  this  and 
another  picture,  then  borrowed  from  both  by 
Uncle  Sam  for  a  performance  which  will  oc- 
cupy him  for  the  duration. 

Comedians  Charles  Butterworth,  Walter 
Catlett  and  William  Frawley  carry  the  burden 
of  the  humor  on  their  veteran  shoulders,  drop- 
ping it  nary  a  time,  and  a  large  cast  of  com- 
petents  attends  to  remaining  responsibilities. 
The  script,  whipped  up  by  Paul  Gerard  Smith 
and  Warren  Wilson  from  a  story  by  Lee  Sands, 
concerns  an  heiress,  niece  of  three  spinsters, 
a  cabaret  act  in  which  she  performs  under  a 
pseudonym  which  doesn't  conceal  her  identity 
from  an  eager  press  agent,  a  doctor,  a  pro- 
ducer, an  agent  and  sundry  others.  It's  de- 
signed solely  to  make  people  laugh  and  it 
does. 

Edward  F.  Cline  directed  the  picture,  top- 
ping his  recent  efforts,  for  Bernard  W.  Burton, 
associate  producer. 

Previewed  at  the  Hill  Street  theatre,  dnwn- 
town  Los  Angeles,  where  an  audience  which 
had  come  in  to  see  "Pride  of  the  Yankees"  re- 
mained to  laugh  uproariously  at  this  bit  of  froth. 
Reviewer's  Rating :  Good.  —  William  R. 
Weavek. 

Release  date.  September  11,  1942.  Running  time, 
65  min.    PCA  No.  8576.   General  audience  classification. 

The  Andrews  Sisters  Themselves 

Gracie  Waverly  Grace  McDonald 

Bob  Edwards   Dan  Dailey,-  Jr. 

Charles  Butterworth,  Walter  Catlett,  William  Fraw- 
ley, Donald  G~*Connor,  Peggy  Ryan.  Edith  Barrett. 
Marie  Blake,  Fay  Helm,  Emmett  Vogan.  Leonard 
Carey.  Richard  Davies,  Irving  Bacon,  The  Jivin' 
Jacks  and  Jills. 

Battle  for  Siberia 

(Art  kino) 
Russia  vs.  Japan 

Here  is  a  reissue  of  a  Russian  film,  concerned 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  Bolshevik  guer- 
rillas of  1917  defeated  the  attempt  of  the  Japa- 
nese, with  the  help  of  the  White  Russians,  to 
take  a  vast  area  of  Siberia  after  creating  an 
incident  to  justify  the  original  encroachment 

The  film,  produced  by  Lenfilm  Studios  of 
Leningrad,  offers  a  certain  timeliness  in  the 
engagement  of  Japanese  and  Russian  forces 
in  Siberia,  possibly  forecasting  what  is  to  come 
in  the  present  conflict.  The  film's  chief  weak- 
nesses lie  in  a  lack  of  smooth  continuity  and 
in  technical  inadequacies. 

Dmitri  Shostakovich,  noted  Russian  compos- 
er, has  contributed  an  effective  musical  score, 
and  the  cast  includes  a  number  of  excellent 
performances.  George  and  Sergei  Vassiliev. 
whose  most  notable  job  of  direction  was  on 
"Chapayev,"  directed  this  film.  The  picture  of- 
fers an  account  of  guerrilla  activities  which 
is  said  to  have  been  based  on  authentic  per- 
sonal experiences.     The  film's  market  value 


Product  Digest  Section  889 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


appears  to  be  limited.  Super-imposed  English 
subtitles  are  employed. 

A  sympathetic  audience  at  the  Stanley  the- 
atre in  New  York  gave  the  film  close  attention, 
reacting  as  expected  to  references  to  Japanese 
treachery.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — Charles 
S.  Aaronson 

Release  date,  August  26,  1942.  Running  time,  90 
min.    General  audience  classification. 

Masha   Barbara  Miasnikova 

Andrei   Nikolai  Dorokhin 

Colonel   Usuzhima  Lev.  Sverdlin 

Lenka   Andrei  Apsolon 

Fedor  Chagin,  Alexei  Matov,  Boris  Khaidarov,  Boris 
Chirkov,    Iuri    Lavrov,    Vassili  Gushchinski, 

The  World  at  War 

(War  Activities  Committee) 
Documentary 

"The  World  at  War"  was  produced  by  the 
Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures  of  the  Office  of 
War  Information  and  is  the  United  States 
Government's  first  officially  sponsored  feature 
length  motion  picture.  The  story  it  has  to  tell 
is  a  documentary  history  of  a  decade  of  war 
that  led  to  the  attack  on  Pearl  Harbor. 

It  traces  the  pattern  of  aggression  by  Ger- 
many, Italy  and  Japan.  It  starts  with  the  attack- 
on  Pearl  Harbor  and  then  goes  back  to  the  in- 
cident which  led  to  the  Japanese  invasion  of 
Mukden,  China,  in  1931.  It  records  the  march 
of  the  invader  nations  through  the  10-year 
period  up  to  December  7,  1941. 

Much  of  the  film  incorporated  into  the  feature 
was  taken  from  Axis  films  confiscated  by  the 
United  States  Government  and  from  newsreel 
libraries.  The  confiscated  film  was  used  by  the 
Axis  to  intimidate  conquered  and  unconquered 
nations  by  showing  the  efficiency  of  the  Ger- 
man armies,  in  the  blitz  in  Poland,  Holland, 
Belgium  and  France.  Even  in  the  heaviest 
fighting  no  German  soldier  is  shown  dead  or 
wounded. 

A  lot  of  the  film  is  a  compilation  of  what 
newsreels  have  been  showing  day  in  and  day 
out.  The  bombing  of  Britain,  the  Russian 
stand,  the  U.  S.  as  the  arsenal  of  democracy, 
and  the  like.  As  history  it  is  incomplete  and 
actually  touches  surface  matters  only.  As 
propaganda  it  appears  to  be  effective. 

The  film  will  be  nationally  released  Septem- 
ber 18th  jointly  by  five  of  the  major  companies 
under  the  auspices  of  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee in  31  key  exchanges.  The  companies  are 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,  RKO  Radio,  Twenti- 
eth Century-Fox,  Warners  and  Paramount. 

The  film  was  written  and  produced  by  Sam- 
uel Spewack,  war  correspondent,  playwright 
and  scenarist,  under  the  guidance  of  Lowell 
Mellett,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures 
of  the  OWL  Gene  Milford  was  the  film  editor 
and  Paul  Stewart  the  commentator.  Gail  Ku- 
bik  wrote  the  original  musical  score,  which  was 
conducted  by  Alexander  Smallens. 

Previewed  in  the  OWI  projection  room  in 
New  York.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — Paul 
C.  Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  September  18.  1942.  Running  time, 
66  min.    General  audience  classification. 

A  Desperate  Chance  for 
Ellery  Queen 

(  Columbia  ) 
Mystery  Melodrama 

The  exploits  of  the  mystery  fiction  writer 
and  amateur  detective,  "Ellery  Queen,"  are 
continued  in  this  story  of  marked  money  and 
murder.  The  story  opens  in  New  York  but 
shifts  to  San  Francisco  for  the  murder  and  the 
climax.  Although  "Ellery"  has  to  contend  with 
his  father,  Inspector  Queen  of  the  New  York 
Police,  and  the  San  Francisco  police  as  well  as 
the  mystery  at  hand,  he  solves  it  without  great 
trouble. 

William  Gargan  plays  the  role  of  "Ellery" 
in  capable  manner.  He  is  a  successor  to  Ralph 
Bellamy  in  the  role.    Margaret  Lindsay,  who 


has  played  the  secretary,  "Nikki  Porter,"  from 
the  start,  continues  in  that  part.  Also  con- 
tinuing in  the  series  are  Charley  Grapewin  as 
"Inspector  Queen"  and  James  Burke  as  "Ser- 
geant Velie." 

A  bank  embezzler  and  his  show-girl  wife 
decide  to  go  to  San  Francisco  to  spread  the 
marked  money  when  New  York  becomes  too 
"hot"  for  them.  It  so  happens  that  "Ellery" 
and  his  secretary  are  also  bound  for  San  Fran- 
cisco. "Ellery"  is  hunting  for  a  man  who  had 
been  believed  dead  until  a  short  while  before. 
He  finds  his  man,  a  circumstance  that  leads 
him  to  the  marked  money,  the  bank  embezzler, 
who  is  murdered,  and  the  show  girl  wife. 

Larry  Darmour  produced  and  James  Hogan 
directed. 

Seen  at  the  RKO  Jefferson  theatre  in  New 
York.  The  audience  appeared  to  enjoy  the 
offering  in  a  mild  sort  of  way.  Reviewer's 
Ratings  Fair. — P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 

Release  date,  May  7,  1942.  Running  time,  70  min. 
PCA  No.  8204.     General  audience  classification. 

Ellery  Queen  William  Gargan 

Nikki  Porter  Margaret  Lindsay 

Inspector   Queen  Charles  Grapewin 

John  Litel,  Lillian  Bond,  James  Burke. 


They  Raid  by  Night 

(Producers  Releasing  Corp.) 
Commandos  in  Norway 

Recent  adventures  of  British  and  American 
Commando  forces  at  Dieppe  have  sharpened 
public  interest  in  these  fighting  forces.  "They 
Raid  by  Night"  deals  with  a  fictional  incident 
of  daring  accomplished  by  England's  Commandos 
in  occupied  Norway.  Lacking  star  material 
and  production  values  which  can  be  translated 
quickly  into  show-case  material  for  the  show- 
man, the  film  depends  entirely  on  the  timeliness 
of  its  subject  matter  to  attract  patron  attention. 

Under  direction  of  Joseph  Kane,  associate 
producer,  the  picture  features  Lyle  Talbot,  who 
has  been  seen  on  the  New  York  stage  these  last 
two  years,  chiefly  in  the  play,  "Separate 
Rooms."  Mr.  Talbot  this  week  enlisted  in  the 
Army  Air  Corps  and  currently  is  completing 
screen  work  before  entering  the  Air  Force. 
June  Duprez,  English  actress  remembered  for 
her  roles  in  "Four  Feathers"  and  Alexander 
Korda's  "The  Thief  of  Bagdad,"  for  United 
Artists,  has  the  feminine  lead.  Victor  Varconi 
has  the  unpleasant  task  of  representing  a  Nazi 
officer,  brutal,  cunning  and  uncompromising. 

Talbot  plays  a  British  Commando  captain 
who  is  sent  to  Norway  to  effect  the  escape  of 
a  Norwegian  general  imprisoned  by  the  Nazis. 
English  officials  believe  his  release  could  do 
much  to  further  the  free  Norwegian  movement. 
Talbot  and  his  two  companions,  a  radio  wire- 
less operator  and  a  young  Norwegian,  encoun- 
ter many  hair-raising  adventures  which  mo- 
mentarily forecast  their  doom.  However,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Commando  forces  which  come  to 
their  rescue  after  achieving  a  successful  raid 
on  military  objectives  in  a  Norwegian  seacoast 
town,  the  three  men  finally  get  the  general  to 
safety  and  to  England. 

Although  the  plot  drags  and  the  suspense 
could  have  been  heightened  more  dramatically, 
the  picture  is  entertaining  for  the  most  part. 
All  members  of  the  cast,  with  particular  men- 
tion of  Varconi  and  Charles  Rogers,  as  the 
radio  operator,  perform  well.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  beginning  of  the  picture  which 
has  as  its  musical  background  the  stirring  open- 
ing measures  of  Beethoven's  Fifth  Symphony, 
now  synonymous  with  Victory,  there  is  a 
noticeable  lack  of  music  throughout  the  film. 

Viewed  at  the  New  York  theatre,  New  York 
City,  where  a  large  matinee  audience  indicated 
its  enjoyment  of  the  picture  by  favorable  com- 
ment throughout  and  enthusiastic  applause  at 
the  end.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — Jeanette 
E.  Samuelson. 

Release  date,  June  26.  1942.  Running  time.  72  min. 
PCA  No.  8398.      General  audience  classification. 

Captain   Robert   Owen   Lyle  Talbot 

Tnga   .....June  Dunre? 

Victor  Varconi,  George  Neise,  Charles  Rogers,  Paul 
Baratoff. 


Riders  of  the  Northland 

(Columbia— 1941-42) 
Western  in  the  North 

A  couple  of  Texas  Rangers  pursue  the  enemy 
a  good  many  degrees  of  latitude  north  of  their 
usual  haunts.  To  be  specific,  the  action  takes 
place  somewhere  in  Alaska.  Strange  to  say, 
however,  the  scenery,  climate  and  cattle  are 
exactly  the  same  as  are  raised  in  Texas. 

The  story  concerns  three  Texas  Rangers  who 
go  to  Alaska  to  investigate  the  death  of  a 
rancher  upon  whom  the  Government  had  relied 
for  reports  of  enemy  activity.  The  Rangers 
find  that  a  gang  had  made  an  airplane  runway 
under  the  supervision  of  the  captain  of  a  U- 
boat  which  has  been  lying  offshore.  Of  course, 
the  Rangers  triumph  in  the  end,  killing  or 
capturing  the  enemy  and  the  saboteurs  as  well. 
There's  plenty  of  action  for  the  western  fans, 
although  not  so  much  credibility. 

Charles  Starrett  and  Russell  Hayden  have 
the  principal  roles.  Cliff  Edward,  noted  for 
his  performances  under  the  name  of  Ukelele 
Ike,  does  not  sing  a  note.  William  Berke  di- 
rected the  picture.    Jack  Fier  produced. 

Reviewed  at  the  New  York  theatre,  where  a 
voeekday  matinee  audience  consisting  largely 
of  men  laughed  in  the  wrong  places.  Reviewer's 
Rating :  Mediocre. — Bob  Wile. 

Release  date,  June  18,  1942.  Running  time,  58  min. 
PCA  No.  8284.    General  audience  classification. 

Steve  Bowie  Charles  Starrett 

Lucky   Laidlaw  Russel  Hayden 

Shirley  Patterson,  Cliff  Edwards,  Bobby  Larsen, 
Lloyd  Bridges,  Kenneth  MacDonald,  Paul  Sutton. 

Between  Us  Girls 

(Universal) 

Gangway  for  Another  Barrymore 

Diana  Barrymore,  daughter  of  the  late  John, 
herewith  proves  her  right  to  be  billed  in  lights 
as  representative  in  her  generation  of  all  the 
tradition  inherited  with  her  name.  Don't  let  her 
fledgling  performance  in  "Eagle  Squadron" 
temper  your  exploitation  of  this  number,  in 
which  she  tackles  acting  chores  to  test  the  met- 
tle of  the  veteran  and  handles  them  in  a  manner 
to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  of  her  forbears. 

There  are  plenty  more  names  to  bill  the  pic- 
ture with — Kay  Francis,  Robert  Cummings  and 
John  Boles,  plus  Henry  Koster  as  producer  and 
director — but  the  burden  of  its  success  as  en- 
tertainment is  upon  Miss  Barrymore  all  the 
way,  and  she  carries  it  with  never  a  slip-up  or 
stumble.  A  preview  audience  to  which  it  was 
submitted  without  notice  in  the  wake  of  "Pride 
of  the  Yankees"  drowned  out  sections  of  dia- 
logue with  its  laughter. 

The  screenplay  by  Miles  Connolly  and  True 
Boardman  opens  with  Miss  Barrymore  playing 
a  stage  scene  as  Queen  Victoria,  reveals  her 
then  as  an  actress  aged  20  who,  going  home  to 
visit  her  mother  (Kay  Francis)  and  finding 
that  lady  courted  by  a  man  who  doesn't  know 
her  age,  pretends  to  be  a  child  of  12,  to  promote 
the  match,  creating  complications  of  diversified 
and  humorous  kind  before  reverting  to  adult- 
hood for  purposes  of  romance. 

The  subject  gives  the  star  a  75-year  range 
for  her  talents  of  portrayal,  which  she  takes  in 
stride,  but  is  by  no  means  a  mere  concoction 
of  thespian  hurdles  set  up  for  her  to  jump  over. 
On  the  contrary,  it's  a  solid  and  steadily  dy- 
namic comedy,  with  able  performances  from  all 
members  of  the  cast  contributing  to  the  whole. 
Don't  let  this  one  slip  by  without  compaigning 
it  to  the  limit. 

Previewed  at  the  Pantages  theatre,  Holly- 
wood, without  notice  to  the  cas'h  customers, 
who,  having  come  in  to  see  "Pride  of  the  Yan- 
kees" and  enjoyed  a  good  cry,  found  themselves 
in  tears  once  again  from  laughter  that  rose 
and  fell  like  waves  upon  a  seashore.  Reviewer's 
Rating:  Excellent. — William  R.  Weaver. 

Release  date,  September  5,  1942.  Running  time.  89 
min.    PCA  No.  8717.    General  audience  classification. 

Caroline   Diana  Barrymore 

Robert  Cummings.  Kay  Francis,  Andy  Devine,  John 
Boles,  Ethel  Griffies. 

{Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 


890     Product  Digest  Section 


Seotember    5,    19  42 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


FEATURES 

in  order  of  releases,  as  set, 
also  others  to  come 


COLUMBIA 

Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

 Cemrter    Espionage   Sep.    3, '42 

 The  Spirit  ef  Stanford  Sep.  [0,'42 

 A   Man's  World  Sep.  I7.'42 

....  Lucky  Less   Not  Set 

 The    Cotst    Girl  Not  Set 

....  Stand  By  All  Networks  Not  Set 

 A  Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Not  Set 

 Smith  ef  Minnesota   Not  Set 

  Lav  ef  the  Badlands  Not  Set 

  Boston  Btaekie  Gses 

Hollywood   Not  Set 

 Yea  Were  Never  Lovelier  Not  Set 

 The   Desperadoes  Not  Set 

 The  Daring  Young  Han  Not  Set 

 The  Boogie  Man  Will  Get 

Yon   Not  Set 

 The   Fighting   Buekareo  Net  Set 

  Laugh  Year  Blues  Away  Not  Set 

 Something  to  Shoot  About. ..  Not  Set 

 Commandos  Came  at  Dawn. .  .Not  Set 

 Underground  Agent   Not  Set 

  Law  of  the  Northwest  Not  Set 

 Hew  Do  Yen  Do  Not  Set 

 The  Frightened  StrS*  ..Not Set 

  Ride,    Mountie    Ride  Not  Set 

 Junior   Generals  Not  Set 

 City  Without  Men  Not  Set 

 Sihrer  City  Raiders  Not  Set 


For  1941-42  feature  product  in  sequence  of  release, 
company  by  company,  see  pages  S7S-*79. 


GOLDWYN 


. ..  They  Got  Me  Covered  Net  Set 


MGM 


.  Apache  Trail   Not  Set 

..  A  Yank  at  Eton  Not  Set 

..  Tish   Not  Set 

..  Semewhers  I'll  Find  You  Not  Set 

. .  Seven  Sweethearts   Not  Set 

..  Panama  Hattie   Not  Set 

..  For  Me  and  My  Gal  Not  Set 

. .  The  War  Ajai-rt 

Mrs.  Hadley  Not  Set 

..  Eyes  in  the  Night  Not  Set 

..  Ox  Train   Not  Set 

..  Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  Not  Set 

dom  Harvest   Not  Set 

to  Cargo   Not  Set 

■ico   Not  Set 

ney  for  Margaret  Not  Set 

stling  in  Dixie  Not  Set 

i  en  America's  Conscience. Not  Set 

. .  Clear  for  Action  Not  Set 

. .  Gamblers  Choice   Not  Set 

--  Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant.  Not  Set 

. .  Presenting  Lily  Mars  Not  Set 

. .  Skyway  to  Glory  Not  Set 

.  Lassie   Come   Home  Nut  Set 

..  Keeper  of  the  Flame  Not  Set 


MONOGRAM 


.  One  Thrilling  Night  Jane   5, '42 

.  Isle  of  Missing  Men   Sept.  I8.'42 

.  Foreign  Agent   Oct  9,'42 

.  Texas   to   Bataan  Oct  1 6, '42 

.  Crime   Reporter   Oct.  23/42 

.  Bowery  at  Midnight  OeL  30, '42 


froa.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

 West  of  the  Law  Nov.  2/42 

  Homicide  Squad   Not  Set 

....  War  Dogs   Not  Set 

 'Neath   Brooklyn    Bridge  Not  Set 


PARAMOUNT 

Block  I 

  Wake  Island   Not  Set 

 The  Major  and  the  Minor. .  .Not  Set 

 The   Glass   Key  Net  Set 

....  Wildest   .........Met  Set 

  Priorities  on  Parade  Hot  Set 

  Henry  Aldrieh,  Editor  Net  Set 

  American  En-pin   Met  Set 

  Pain  Beat*  Story  ,  .Net  Set 

....  I  Married  t  Witch...  Net  Set 

  Read  to  Maneee....  .  Net  Set 

....  Mrt,  WHu  ef  tbt  Cabaaji  Pate*. 

Net  Set 

  My  Heart  Bales  at  tt  Daddy. .  Net  Set 

 Street  ef  Ghanee  Net  Set 

 The  Ferert  Raster*   Net  Set 

  Yo*aif  and  WHIim. . . . . . .  Net  Set 

  Hapey  6*  Lucky...  ..Net  Set 

  Border  Patrol   Not  Set 

 Wreeklnj  Crew   Not  Set 

...  Silver  Queen   Net  Set 

  Great  Without  Glory  Not  Set 

  For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Net  Set 

....  Lady  Bodyguard   Not  Set 

  Ne  Time  for  Lcve  Not  Set 

....  Missing  Men   Not  SEt 

 Submarine  Alert   Not  Set 

 Lost  Canyon   Not  Set 

 Leather  Burners   Not  Set 

 Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Not  Set 

 The  Crystal  Ball  Not  Set 

  Lucky  Jordan   Not  Set 

 Hoppy  Serves  a  Writ  Not  Set 

  Henry  Aldrieh  Gets  Glamour.. Not  Set 

  Buckskin  Empire   Not  Set 

  High   Explosive   Not  Set 

  Night  Plane  to  Chungking  Not  Set 


PRODUCERS  REL 
CORP. 

...  A   Night  for  Crime  Sep.  15/42 

...  Tomorrow  We  Live  Sep.  29/42 

...  Baby  Face  Morgan  Oct.  12/42 

...  The  Yanks  Are  Coming  Oct  26/42 

...  City  of  Silent  Men  Nov.  9/42 

...  Secrets  cf  a  Co- Ed  Not  Set 

...  Hiss  V  from  Moscow  Not  Set 

...  Boss  of  Big  Town  Not  Set 


RKO 

...The   Magnifieent  Ambersons. .July  10/42 

...  The  Big  Street  Sep.  4/42 

...  Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant. .Sep,  11/42 

...  Wings  and  the  Woman  Sep.  18/42 

. . .  Bandit   Ranger   Sep.  25/42 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  Highways  by  Night  Oct.  2/42 

...  Here  We  Go  Again  Oct  9/42 

...  Journey  Into  Fear  Not  Set 

...  Army  Surgeon   Not  Set 

...  Seatterjeod  Survives  a  Murder  Not  Set 

...  The  Navy  Csmes  Through  Not  Set 

...  Pride  ef  the  Yankees  Not  Set 

...  Once  Upcn  a  Honeymoon  Not  Set 

...  The  Falcon's  Brother   Not  Set 

...  Seven  Days  Leave  Not  Set 

...  Ladies  Day   Not  Set 

...  Seven  Miles  from  Aleatraz  Not  Set 

...  Cat  People   Not  Set 

. . .  Tarzan  Triumphs   Not  Set 

...  Stand  By  to  Die  Not  Set 

...  Bombardier   Not  Set 


REPUBLIC 


201  Hi.  Neighbor  July  27/42 

271  Sombrero  Kid   July  31/42 

202  The  Old  Homestead   Aug.  17/42 

261  Shadows  on  the  Sage  Aug.  24/42 

...  Youth  on   Parade  Sep.  24/42 

...  Ice-Capades  Revue   Not  Set 

...  X   Marks  the  Spot  Not  Set 

...  Outlaws  on  Pine  Ridge  Not  Set 

...  Johnny  Doughboy   NotSet 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

Block  I 

301  Footlight  Serenade   Aug.  1/42 

302  A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  Aug.  7/42 

303  Little  Tskyo,   U.S.A  Aug.  14/42 

304  The    Pied    Piper  Aug.  21/42 

305  Laves  of  Edgar  Allan  Pee  Aug..  28/42 

Block  2 

308  Orchestra  Wives   Sep.  4/42 

311  Berlin  Correspondent   Sep.  11/42 

312  Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  Sep.  18/42 

310  Just   Off   Broadway  Sep.  25/42 

306  Iceland   Oct.    2, '42 

...  Thunder  Birds   NotSet 

...  The  Black  Swan  NotSet 

...  The  Man  in  the  Trunk  NotSet 

...  Girl  Trouble   NotSet 

...  The  Ox-Bow  Incident  NotSet 

...  Springtime  in  the  Rockies. ..  Net  Set 

...  Manila  Calling  NotSet 

...  China  Girl   NotSet 

...  That  Other  Woman  NotSet 

...  He  Hired  the  Boss  NotSet 

...  My  Friend   Flicka  NotSet 

...  Dr.  Renault's  Secret  NotSet 

...  Crash  Dive   NotSet 

...  Undying  Monster   NotSet 

...  Life  Begins  at  8:30  NotSet 

...  The  Meanest  Man  in  the 

World   NotSet 

...  Over  My  Dead  Body  NotSet 

...  Brasher  Doubloon   NotSet 

...  Quiet  Please,  Murder  NotSet 


UNITED  ARTISTS 

...  One  of  Our  Aircraft 

Is  Missing   NotSet 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  Lav*  *•  the  Del*  Net  Set 

...  The  Key*  ef  the  Kingdom  Net  Set 

...  Th*  Meen  and  Sixpence  Net  Set 

...  Mr.  &  Mrs.   BreoWya  NotSet 

...  The  Devil  with  Hitler  NotSet 

. . .  Calaboose   Not  Set 

...  The  Big  Blockade   NotSet 

...  Taxi,   Mister   NotSet 

...  Prairie  Chiekens   NotSet 

...  Fall  In   NotSet 

...  Nazty  Nuisance   NotSet 

. . .  Jaeare   Not  Set 


UNIVERSAL 


...  Between  Us  Girls  Sep.  4/42 

...  Give   Out  Sisters  Sep.  11/42 

...  Half  Way  to  Shanghai  Sep.  18/42 

. . .  Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice 

of  Terror   Sep.  18/42 

. . .  Sin  Town   Sep.  25/42 

...  Get  Hep  to   Love  Oct.  2/42 

...  Destination  Unknown   OeL  9/42 

...  Arabian  Nights   OeL  16/42 

...  Nightmare   Oct.  23/42 

...  Forever  Yours   Oct  30/42 

...  The  Great  Impersonation  NotSet 

...  Destiny   Net  Set 

...  Strictly  in  the  Grove  NotSet 

...  The  Lone  Star  Trail  NotSet 

...  The  Mummy's  Tomb   NotSet 

...  Who  Dene  It?  NotSet 

...  Little  Joe  the  Wrangler  NotSet 

...  Off  the  Beaten  Track  NotSet 

...  Raiders  of  San  Joaquin  NotSet 

...  Night  Monster  ..-  NotSet 

...  On  the  Beam  NotSet 

...  Moonlight  in  Havana  NotSet 

...  Shadow  of  a  Doubt  NotSet 

...  Flesh  and   Fantasy  NotSet 

...  Tenting  Tonight  on  the  Old 

Camp  Ground   NotSet 

...  The  Old  Chisholm  Trail  NotSet 

. . .  Sherlock  Holmes  in 

Washington   NotSet 

...  Passing  the  Buck  NotSet 

...  Corvettes  in  Action  NotSet 

...  White  Savage   NotSet 

...  Pittsburgh   NotSet 

...  Cheyenne  Roundup   NotSet 


WARNER  BROS. 

202  Across  the  Pacific  Sep.  5/42 

203  Busses  Roar   Sep.  19/42 

204  Desperate  Journey   Sep.  26/42 

...  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  NotSet 

..  Seeret  Enemies   NotSet 

..  The  Hard  Way   NotSet 

..  George  Washington  Slept  Here.NetSet 

..  Now,  Voyager   NotSet 

..  You  Can't  Eseape  Forever  Net  Set 

..  Casablanca   NotSet 

...  Gentleman  Jim   NotSet 

..  Wateh  on  the  Rhine  NotSet 

..  Princess  O'Roorke   NotSet 

..  Adventures  of  Mark  Twain. .  .Not  Set 

...  Flying  Fortress   NotSet 

...  The  Hidden  Hand   NotSet 

...  Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  NotSet 

...  Edge  of  Darkness  NotSet 

 The  Mysterious  Doctor  NotSet 

..  The  Desert  Song   Net  Set 

..  Air   Force   NotSet 

. .  The  Constant  Nymph   Net  Set 


Product  Digest  Section     89  I 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 

Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product.  All    page    numbers   on   this   chart   refer   to   pages   in  the 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail-  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD, 

able.  Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change.  Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for  on  pages  874-876. 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers'  Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 

Round  Table  Exploitation.  by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  891. 

r~  REVIEWED  — > 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Service 

Proa. 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Title 

Company 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

•  ABOUT  Face 

UA-Roach 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer 

Apr.  17, '42 

43  m 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

Across  the  Pacific 

WB 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor 

Sept.  5,'42 

98m 

Aug.  22/42 

853 

726 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The 

MGM 

245 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson 

Aug.  '42 

66  m 

May  23/42 

673 

613 

756 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force 

WB 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young 

Not  Set 

•Alias  Boston  Blackie 

Col. 

3029 

Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara 

Apr.  2,'42 

67m 

575 

A-Haunting  We  Will  Go 

20th-Fox 

302 

Laurel  and  Hardy 

Aug.  7,'42 

67m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

•Almost  Married 

Univ. 

6024 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee 

May  22,'42 

65m 

Mar.  7/42 

554 

American  Empire 

Para. 

Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo 

Not  Set 

871 

Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone 

Not  Set 

796 

Apache  Trail 

MGM 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed 

Not  Set 

66m 

June  27/42 

737 

726 

Arabian  Nights 

Univ. 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall 

Oct.  I6,'42 

872 

•  Are  Husbands  Necessary? 

Para. 

•ii  3 1 

Ray  Milland-Betty  Field 

Block  7 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

663 

873 

Arizona  Stagecoach 

Mono. 

The  Range  Busters 

Sept.  4.'42 

Army  Surgeon 

RKO 

James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt 

Not  Set 

701 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace 

WB 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane 

Not  Set 

•Atlantic  Convoy 

Col. 

3045 

John  Beal-Virginia  Field 

July  2,'42 

66m 

July  1 1/42 

765 

751 

BABY  Face  Morgan 

PRC 

Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell 

Oct.  12/42 

65m 

July  25/42 

793 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills 

Col. 

3207 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Aug.  I3,'42 

•  Bambi  (color) 

RKO 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon 

Aug.  21, '42 

70m 

May  30/42 

685 

Bandit  Ranger 

RKO 

Tim  Holt 

Sept.  25/42 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The 

RKO 

221 

Lum  and  Abner 

Apr.  24,'42 

77m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

487 

795 

•  Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

Chinese  Feature 

Not  Set 

61m 

July  5/41 

840 

(formerly  Kukan) 

Battle  for  Siberia 

Artkino 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin 

Aug.  26,'42 

90m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano 

Rep. 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 

Sept.  I5,'42 

872 

Berlin  Correspondent 

20th-Fox 

311 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore 

Sept.  1 1  ,'42 

70m 

Aug.  15/42 

838 

797 

Between  Us  Girls 

Univ. 

Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings 

Sept.  4,'42 

89m 

Aug.  29/42 

890 

772 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses, 

Caroline) 

•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)  Para. 

4130 

Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 

Block  6 

76m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

795 

•  Big  Shot,  The 

WB 

135 

Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 

June  13, '42 

80m 

June  6/42 

714 

648 

756 

Big  Street,  The 

RKO 

Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 

Sept.  4.'42 

87m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

701 

•  Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

Aug.  21, '42 

•  Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns  PRC 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

May  29,'42 

58m 

Aua  77  '47 

854 

648 

Black  Swan,  The 

20th-Fox 

Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 

Not  Set 

855 

•  Blondie's  Blessed  Event 

Col. 

3018 

Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 

Apr.  9,'42 

69m 

July  4/42 

750 

575 

•  Blondie  for  Victory 

Col. 

3019 

Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 

Aug.  6,'42 

70m 

772 

Bombadier 

RKO 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne  Shirley     Not  Set 

•Bombs  Over  Burma 

PRC 

208 

Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 

June  5, '42 

65m 

July  18/42 

781 

648 

•  Boothill  Bandits 

Mono. 

Corrigan-King-Terhune 

Apr.  24,'42 

58m 

613 

•  Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Aug.  21, '42 

Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollyw 

ood  Col. 

Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 

Not  Set 

794 

•Bride  of  Buddha 

Hoffberg 

R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

Apr.  22,'42 

75m 

May  13/33 

634 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•  Broadway 

Univ. 

6009 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 

May  8.'42 

91m 

May  9/42 

645 

756 

Busses  Roar 

WB 

Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 

Sept.  19/42 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

CAIRO 

MGM 

Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young 

Not  Set 

101m 

Aug.  15/42 

838 

Calaboose 

UA 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

Call  of  the  Canyon 

Rep. 

131 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 

Aug.  5,'42 

7im 

Aug.  22/42 

853 

800 

•  Calling  Dr.  Gillespie 

MGM 

247 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn 

Aug.,  '42 

84m 

June  2C/42 

725 

715 

873 

Careful,  Soft  Shoulders 

20th-Fox 

312 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison 

Sept.  I8,'42 

69m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

Casablanca 

WB 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman 

Not  Set 

China  Girl 

20th-Fox 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney 

Not  Set 

872 

City  of  Silent  Men 

PRC 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang 

Nov.  2,'42 

Clear  for  Action 

MGM 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor 

Not  Set 

871 

•Come  On,  Danger 

RKO 

285 

Tim  Holt 

June  5, '42 

•Corpse  Vanishes,  The 

Mono. 

Bela  Lugosi 

May  8,"42 

63  m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

Counter  Espionage 

Col. 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore 

Sept.  3,'42 

t  .:: 

871 

Cover  Girl,  The 

Col. 

Jinx  Falkenburg 

Not  Set 

•  Crossroads 

MGM 

244 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr 

July,  '42 

84m 

June  27/42 

737 

663 

873 

•Cyclone  Kid,  The 

Rep. 

177 

Don  "Red"  Barry 

May  31/42 

56m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

701 

•  DANGER  in  the  Pacific 

Univ. 

6056 

Dick  Foran-Leo  Carrillo 

July  10/42 

56m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

Daring  Young  Man,  The 

Col. 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 

Not  Set 

87  i 

892     Product  Digest  Section 


September    5,     I  9  4  2 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


•  REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 
Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'l 
Desert  Song,  The  WB 
Desperados,  The  Col. 
•Desperate Chance  for  ElleryQueen  Col. 


Desperate  Journey 
Destination  Unknown 
Destiny 

Devil  with  Hitler,  The 

•  Devil's  Trail,  The 
•Dr.  Broadway 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way 

•  Down  Texas  Way 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo 


WB 
Univ. 
Univ. 
UA-Roach 
Col. 
Para. 
Col. 
Mono. 
Univ. 

•EAGLE  Squadron  Univ. 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen  Col. 
•Escape  from  Crime  WB 
•Escape  from  Hong  Kong  Univ. 

Eyes  in  the  Night  MGM 

•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•Fantasia  (color)  (Revised  RKO 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 

•  Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 

(British) 

•  Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 
Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 

•Flying  Tigers  Rep. 

Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 

Foreign  Agent  Mono. 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 

Forest  Rangers,  The  Para. 

For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 

For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Para. 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French)  English 

•  Friendly  Enemies  UA 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 

•GALLANT  Lady  PRC 

•Gay  Sisters,  The  WB 

Gentleman  Jim  WB 

George  Washington  Slept  Here  WB 

Get  Hep  to  Love  Univ. 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The  Rep. 
Girl  Trouble  20th-Fox 

•Give  Out,  Sisters  Univ. 

Glass  Key,  The  Para. 

•  Gold  Rush,  The  UA 
Goose  Steps  Out,  The  Ealing-UA 

(British) 

•Grand  Central  Murder  MGM 

Great  Impersonation,  The  Univ. 

•Great  Man's  Lady,  The  Para. 

Great  Without  Glory  Para. 

•Guerrilla  Brigade  Artkino 

HALF  Way  to  Shanghai  Univ. 

Happy  Go  Lucky  Para. 

Hard  Way,  The  WB 

•Hello  Annapolis  Col. 

Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  Para. 

•  Henry  and  Dizzy  Para. 
•Her  Cardboard  Lover  MGM 

Here  We  Go  Again  RKO 

Hidden  Hand,  The  WB 

Highways  by  Night  RKO 

•  Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg  Mono. 
Hi!  Neighbor  Rep. 

•Holiday  Inn  Para. 
•Home  in  Wyomin'  Rep. 
•House  of  Errors  PRC 

ICE-Capades  Revue  Rep. 

Iceland  20th-Fox 

•I  Live  on  Danger  Para. 

•I  Married  an  Angel  MGM 

I  Married  a  Witch  Para. 

•In  Old  California  Rep. 

•Inside  the  Law  PRC 

•In  This  Our  Life  WB 

•Invaders,  The  (British)  Col. 

•Invisible  Agent  Univ. 

Isle  of  Missing  Men  Mono. 


227 


292 
6065 
232 


3012 


301 


Prod.  Release 

N7tmber                 Stars  Date 

....         Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr  Not  Set 

....         Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning  Not  Set 

....         Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford  Not  Set 

3032        William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay  May   7, '42 

....         Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan  Sept.  26, '42 

....  Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan  Oct.  9, '42 
....         Richard  Dix-Wendy  Barrie-Lon  Chaney        Not  Set 

....         Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth  Not  Set 

3214        Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  May  14/42 

4128         Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips  Block  6 

3205        Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Apr.  23, '42 

....        Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy  May  22, '42 

6040        Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson  July  1 7, '42 

....         Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore  Not  Set 

3038        Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan  July  30, '42 

137        Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis  July  25, '42 

6054        Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine  May  1 5, '42 

....         Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding  Not  Set 

George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari  May  29, '42 

George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph  Not  Set 

William  Tracy-Jean  Porter  Not  Set 

Disney-Stokowski  Apr.  I0,'42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Apr.  1 7, '42 

Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day  Apr.  '42 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven  Not  Set 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford  July  9,'42 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee  Not  Set 

John  Payne-Betty  Grable  Aug.    I, '42 

John  Sheldon-Gail  Storm  Oct.  9, '42 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder  Not  Set 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard  Not  Set 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Not  Set 

Gary  Cooper-Vera  Zorina  Not  Set 

Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco  Apr.  I  I  ,'42 
Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles       June  26, '42 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis  Sept.  4,"42 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer  May  29,'42 

Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent  Aug.    I  ,'42 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith  Not  Set 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan  Not  Set 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige  Oct.  2, '42 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker  Apr.  1 6, '42 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett  Not  Set 

....         Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies  Sept.  I  I, '42 
Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan  Ladd        Block  I 

....         Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music  Apr.  1 7, '42 

Will  Hay  Not  Set 

237  Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane  May,  '42 
....  Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers  Not  Set 
4121        Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea  Block  5 

Joel  McCrea-Betty  Field  Not  Set 

Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat  Apr.  1 3, '42 

....         Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor  Sept.  1 8, '42 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee  Not  Set 

....         Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan  Not  Set 

3037        Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown  Apr.  23, '42 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Not  Set 

4125        Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Block  5 

241         Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor  June  '42 
Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie"  Oct.  9, '42 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser  Not  Set 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph  Oct.  2, '42 

....         Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan  Aug.  14/42 

201         Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker  July  27/42 

4143        Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire  Block  7 

146        G.  Autry-S.  Burnette  Apr.  20/42 

216        Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers  Apr.  10/42 

....        Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague  Not  Set 

306        Sonja  Henie-John  Payne  Oct.  2/42 

4135        Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker  Block  7 

238  Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonald  June  '42 
Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake  Not  Set 

103        John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes  May  31/42 

218        Wallace  Ford  May  8/42 

132        Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland  May  16/42 

3101        Howard-Massey-Olivier  Apr.  15/42 

6049        Nona  Massey-Jon  Hall  July  3 1  ,'42 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland  Sept.  18/42 


219 
138 


117 


Running 
Time 
98m 


63m 


90m 


86m 
95m 


63m 
108m 


62m 

71m 
90m 
76m 

63m 
63m 
72m 
101m 
67m 
65m 


M.  P. 
Herald  ' 
Issue 
May  23/42 


Product 
Digest 


673 


May  9/42 


646 


81m 
57m 
80m 
1  18m 

Nov.  16/40 
May  23/42 
Mar.  14/42 
Sept.  5/42 

494 
674 
549 
889 

78m 
109m 

June  27/42 
June  27/42 

751 
737 

80m 

July  11/42 

765 

May  2/42  634 


Apr.  25/42 
June  27/42 


June  6/42 


622 
738 


697 


Aug.  1/42 

Mar.  21/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 

Aug.  8/42 
Aug.  8/42 

July  25/42 
June  13/42 

May  2/42 


810 

563 
686 
869 

827 
827 
794 
713 
633 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 

872 


797 

635 
871 
796 
2 

364 
526 


772 
715 


872 
751 
855 

726 


648 

663 

871 


75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

855 

65m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

869 

72  m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

795 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

72  m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

756 

90m 

Mar.  21/42 

561 

396 

795 

73  m 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

797 
796 

663 
443 
648 


715 
794 
772 
663 

539 

797 


Service 
Data 
Page 


70m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

109m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

873 

61m 

715 

67m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

873 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

873 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

590 


873 


756 


873 


795 


79m 

Aug.  15/42 

837 

797 

73m 

June  13/42 

713 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 
797 

873 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

62  m 

613 

97m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

795 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

67m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

772 

Product  Digest  Section 


893 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    5,  1942 


reviewed  ■ 


Title  Company 
•It  Happened  in  Flatbush  20th-Fox 
»l  Was  Framed  WB 


Prod. 
Number 
248 
130 


Stars 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 
Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop 


Release 
Date 
June  5, '42 
Apr.  25,'42 


Running 
Time 
80m 
61m 


M.  P. 
Herald 

Issue 
May  30,'42 
Apr.  1 1, '42 


Product  Advance 
Digest  Synopsis 


Page 
686 
599 


Page 
674 
574 


Service 
Data 
Page 


•  JACKASS  Mail 

MGM 

243 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main 

July  '42 

80m 

June  20/42 

726 

715 

795 

•  Joan  of  Ozark 

Rep. 

104 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown 

Aug.    1  .'42 

80m 

July  25,'42 

793 

Journey  for  Margaret 

MGM 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day 

Not  Set 

Journey  Into  Fear 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio 

Not  Set 

69m 

Aug.  8,"42 

827 

796 

•Juke  Girl 

WB 

133 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan 

May  30,'42 

90m 

Apr.  1 1,'42 

597 

464 

873 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color) 

UA 

Sabu 

Apr.  3,"42 

1  15m 

Mar.  28,'42 

573 

396 

873 

•Jungle  Siren 

PRC 

203 

Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe 

Aug.  21  ,'42 

68m 

Just  Off  Broadway 

20th-Fox 

310 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

Sept.  25,'42 

65  m 

Aug.  I5,'42 

840 

797 

•KID  Glove  Killer 

MGM 

230 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt 

Apr.  "42 

74m 

Mar.  I4,'42 

551 

495 

873 

•King  of  the  Stallions 

Mono. 

Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien 

Sept.  1 1/42 

63m 

Aug.  29,'42 

870 

800 

•Kings  Row 

WB 

120 

Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings 

Apr.  I8,'42 

130m 

Dec.27,'41 

429 

320 

705 

•LADY  Gangster 

WB 

134 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop 

June  6,'42 

62m 

Apr.  1  1/42 

599 

574 

•  Lady  in  a  Jam 

Univ. 

6008 

Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles 

June  19.42 

83m 

July  4/42 

749 

613 

795 

•Land  of  the  Open  Range 

RKO 

284 

Tim  Holt 

Apr.  17/42 

60m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

•Larceny,  Inc. 

WB 

131 

Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman 

May  2,'42 

95m 

Mar.  7/42 

538 

795 

Let  the  People  Sing  (British) 

Anglo 

Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney 

Not  Set 

100m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

599 

•Let's  Get  Tough 

Mono. 

East  Side  Kids 

May  29/42 

62  m 

May  16/42 

662 

648 

Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A. 

20th-Fox 

303 

Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce 

Aug.  14/42 

64m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

•Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice 

Prod. 

265 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John 

June  2 1/42 

60m 

Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The 

20th-Fox 

305 

John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell 

Aug.  28/42 

67m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

751 

Lucky  Legs 

Col. 

Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris 

Not  Set 

797 

•Lure  of  the  Islands 

Mono. 

Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery 

July  3/42 

61m 

800 

•MAD  Martindales,  The 

20th-Fox 

245 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray 

May  15/42 

65m 

Apr.  18/42 

622 

•  Mad  Monster,  The 

PRC 

209 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel 

May  15/42 

79m 

June  6/42 

699 

613 

Magnificent  Ambersons,  The 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello 

July  10/42 

88m 

July  4/42 

749 

507 

756 

•  Magnificent  Dope,  The 

20th-Fox 

249 

Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari 

June  12/42 

84m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

o  /  J 

•  Maisie  Gets  Her  Man 

MGM 

240 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 

June  '42 

86m 

May  30/42 

687 

648 

/  00 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The 

Para. 

Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland 

Block  1 

100m 

Aug.  29/42 

869 

•Male  Animal,  The 

WB 

126 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland 

Apr.  4/42 

101m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

464 

795 

Man  in  the  Trunk,  The 

20th-Fox 

Lynn  Roberts-George  Holmes 

Not  Set 

Manila  Calling 

20th-Fox 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

Not  Set 

87 1 

Man  on  America's  Conscience,  The  MGM 

Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 

Not  Set 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The 

20th-Fox 

243 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

May  1/42 

65m 

Aor  18  '42 

610 

Man's  World,  A 

Col. 

M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright 

Sept.  17/42 

•Mayor  of  44th  St. 

RKO 

224 

George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley 

May  15/42 

86m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

487 

•  Meet  the  Mob 

Mono. 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor 

Apr.  17/42 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts 

Col. 

3014 

William  Holden-Frances  Dee 

May  28/42 

73m 

May  23/42 

674 

705 

•Men  of  San  Quentin 

PRC 

201 

J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston 

May  22/42 

78m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

•  Men  of  Texas 

Univ. 

6010 

Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne 

July  3/42 

82m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

773 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant 

RKO 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 

Sept.  1  1/42 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

230 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 

June  26/42 

69m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

873 

•Miss  Annie  Rooney 

UA 

Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan 

May  29/42 

85m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

873 

•Mississippi  Gambler 

Univ. 

6034 

Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford 

Apr.  17/42 

60m 

Apr.  18/42 

61  1 

•  Mokey 

MGM 

231 

Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed 

Apr..  .'42 

88m 

Mar.  28/42 

574 

•Moonlight  Masquerade 

Rep. 

120 

Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr. 

June  10/42 

67m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

•Moon  Tide 

20th-Fox 

247 

Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains 

May  29/42 

94m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

795 

Moon  and  Sixpence,  The 

UA 

George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall 

Not  Set 

Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian 

Artkino 

Documentary 

Aug.  15/42 

55m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  Brooklyn  UA-Roach 

Arline  Judge-Max  Baer-William  Bendix 

Not  Set 

•Mrs.  Miniver 

MGM 

260 

Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon 

Not  Set 

133m 

May  16/42 

661 

527 

795 

Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Pa 

tch  Para. 

Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee 

Not  Set 

663 

Mummy's  Tomb,  The 

Univ. 

Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox 

Not  Set 

•Murder  in  the  Big  House 

WB 

125 

Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson 

Apr.  1 1/42 

59m 

Apr.  11/42 

598 

575 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde 

Para. 

4123 

Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll 

Block  5 

78m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

561 

542 

756 

•My  Favorite  Spy 

RKO 

228 

Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew 

June  12/42 

86m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

873 

My  Friend  Flicka 

20th-Fox 

Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster 

Not  Set 

•My  Gal  Sal  (color) 

20th-Fox 

244 

Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature 

May  8/42 

103m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

795 

My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy 

Para. 

Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll 

Not  Set 

871 

•My  Sister  Eileen 

Col. 

Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne 

Sept.  24/42 

772 

•Mystery  of  Marie  Roget 

Univ. 

6022 

Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez 

Apr.  3/42 

6im 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 

597 

507 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The  RKO 

•  Native  Land  Frontier 
Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 
Night  for  Crime,  A  PRC 

•Night  in  New  Orleans  Para. 

•  North  of  the  Rockie  Col. 
•Not  a  Ladies  Man  Col. 

No  Time  for  Love  Para. 

Now,  Voyager  WB 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track  Univ. 

Old  Homestead,  The  Rep. 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  RKO 
One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British)  UA 

One  Thrilling  Night  Mono. 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 

Orchestra  Wives  20th-Fox 


4127 
3213 
3042 


202 


308 


Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott  Not  Set    715 

Documentary  on  Labor  May  11/42  80m  May  16/42  662 

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam  Not  Set  100m  June  6/42  698 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot  Sept.  15/42  78m  Aug.    1/42  809 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison  Block  6  75m  May  9/42        647  635 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  Apr.  2/42  60m    575 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray  May  14/42  60m    613 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray  Not  Set  ....    ...  855 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid  Not  Set  I  19m  Aug.  22/42  853 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce  Not  Set  ....    ...  794 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry  Aug.  17/42  67m  Aug.  29/42        870  855 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant  Not  Set  ....   

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman  Not  Set  110m  Apr.  11/42  598 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay  June  5/42  69m  July  4/42        750  662 

838  797 


George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford    Sept.  4/42         97m        Aug.  15/42 


894     Product  Digest  Section 


September    5,     1942  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Title  Company 

•  Orders  'from  Tokyo  Aimo 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood  Col. 
Ox-Bow  Incident,  The  20th-Fox 
Ox  Train  MGM 


Prod. 

Number 

3208 


Stars 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook 
Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 
Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes 
James  Craig-Dean  Jagger 


Release 
Date 
Not  Set 
Sept.25,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 


t—  REVIEWED  -> 

M.  P.        Product  Advance  Service 

Running          Herald        Digest  Synopsis  Data 

Time  Issue  Page  Page  Page 
80m        Aug.    I  ,'42  810 

 '. ".        ...  872 

  796 


•  rAOIMO  Rendezvous 

MAM 

IVl  ^  IVl 

Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers 

76m 

23  '42 

673 

648 

ralm  Beach  otory,  l  he 

rara. 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea 

MOT  J6T 

663 

Panama  nattie 

MOM 

Ann    C„iL0.n    D  „  J  CL«Urtn 

/\nn  jOTnern-r\ea  oneiTon 

IN  OT  jei 

79m 

lulu  ?R  '4? 

793 

396 

•  ranTner  s  wiaw,   i  ne 

PRC 

217 

S  i  ri  now    RlAr*lrmpr-l  unn  S^^rr 
~J  1  *_J  1 1  tr  y     uiat,MMtri    Lynn     Jioi  1 

Apr.  1 7, '42 

70m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

•  Parachute  Nurse 

Col. 

3044 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman 

June  1 8/42 

63m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

701 

•Pardon  My  Sarong 

Univ. 

Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce 

Aug.  7,"42 

84m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French) 

Better  Films 

John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance 

Apr.  4, '42 

92m 

Apr.  1  1/42 

599 

•  Phantom  Killer 

Mono. 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury 

Oct.  2,'42 

6lm 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen 

Rep. 

167 

Three  Mesquiteers 

June  I6,'42 

65m 

Pied  Piper,  The 

20th-Fox 

304 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall 

Aug.  2 1, '42 

87m 

July  1  1/42 

765 

751 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains 

MGM 

246 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey 

Aug.  '42 

66m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

•  Police  Bullets 

Mono. 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh 

Sept.  25,'42 

800 

•Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The 

20th-Fox 

252 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce 

July  3,'42 

69m 

May  30/42 
May  9/42 

687 

•  Powder  Town 

RKO 

226 

Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien 

June  I9,'42 

79m 

647 

Prairie  Chickens 

UA-Roach 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

•  Prairie  Gunsmoke 

Col. 

3215 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

July  I6,'42 

56m 

Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The 

RKO 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright 

Not  Set 

1 20m 

July  18/42 

781 

Priorities  on  Parade 

Para. 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 

Block  I 

79m 

July  31/42 

810 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan 

PRC 

204 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael 

July  22,'42 

64m 

July  4/42 

750 

715 

•Private  Buckaroo 

Univ. 

601 1 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran 

June  I2,'42 

68m 

June  6/42 

699 

873 


873 


RANDOM  Harvest 

MGM 

Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson 

Not  Set 

796 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color) 

Para. 

4137 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard 

Special 

124m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

574 

408 

795 

•  Red  Tanks 

Arkino 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur 

June  5/42 

64m 

June  13/42 

713 

•Remember  Pearl  Harbor 

Rep. 

134 

Fay  McKemie-Don  Barry 

May  1 1/42 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

Reunion 

MGM 

Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John 

Wayne      Not  Set 

872 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland 

Col. 

3206 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

June  18/42 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

•  Riders  of  the  West 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Aug.  2 1/42 

60m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

•  Rio  Rita 

MGM 

233 

Abbott  and  Costello 

Apr.  '42 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

Road  to  Morocco 

Para. 

Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy 

Lamour      Not  Set 

872 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide 

PRC 

253 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes 

Apr.  24/42 

60  m 

635 

•  Romance  on  the  Range 

Rep. 

156 

May  18/42 

63  m 

June  6/42 

697 

•Rubber  Racketeers 

Mono. 

Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortex 

June  26/42 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

•  SABOTAGE  Squad  Col. 

•  Saboteur  Univ. 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt .-Anglo-Am. 

•  Scattergood  Rides  Again  RKO 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

•  Secret  Agent  of  Japan  20th-Fox 
Secret  Enemies  WB 
Seven  Days  Leave  RKO 
Seven  Sweethearts  MGM 
Shadows  on  the  Sage  Rep. 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror  Univ. 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back  Univ. 

•She's  in  the  Army  Mono. 

•  Ship  Ahoy  MGM 
Ships  With  Wings  (British)  UA 

•Silver  Bullet  Univ. 

Silver  0ueen  Para. 

Sin  Town  Univ. 

•Smart  Alecks  Mono. 

Smith  of  Minnesota  Col. 

Sombrero  Kid,  The  Rep. 

Somewhere  I'll  Find  You  MGM 
•Song  of  the  Lagoon  UA-Roach 

•Sons  of  the  Pioneers  Rep. 

•SOS  Coast  Guard  Rep. 

•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma  Mono. 

Spirit  of  Stanford,  The  Col. 

•Spoilers,  The  Univ. 

Springtime  in  the  Rockies  20th-Fox 

•Spy  Ship  WB 

Stand  By,  All  Networks  Col. 

Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Para. 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage  Para. 

•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx  Univ. 

•Strangler,  The  PRC 

Street  of  Chance  Para. 

Strictly  in  the  Grove  Univ. 

Submarine  Alert  Para. 

•Submarine  Raider  Col. 

•Suicide  Squadron  (British)  Rep. 

•  Sunday  Punch  MGM 
•Sunset  Serenade  Rep. 
•Sweater  Girl  Para. 
•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet  Col. 

•  Syncopation  RKO 


3046       .Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris  Aug.  27/42 

6047  Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane  Apr.  24/42 
Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway  Not  Set 

223         Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore  May  8/42 

Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes  Not  Set 

240         Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bar!  Apr.  3/42 

Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson  Not  Set 

Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson  Not  Set 

261         Three  Mesquiteers  Aug.  24/42 

Basil  Rethbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  "42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

6066        Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

Constance  Bennett-Brad  Crawford  Sept.25,'42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Not  Set 

271         Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  31/42 

Clark  Gable-Lana  Turner  Not  Set 

Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot  May  22/42 

157        Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

123        Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 
Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

6048  Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
Betty  Grable-John  Payne  Not  Set 

139        Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice  Not  Set 
Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  M  oore    Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

6036         Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne  Apr.  17/42 

229        Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Not  Set 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Not  Set 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

3043        John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

119        Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray  Apr.  20/42 

234        William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May,'42 

....         Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

4129        Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

3027        Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  21/42 

226        Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


64  m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

756 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

66m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

542 

72m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

872 

98m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

63m 
95m 
91m 
61m 


June  20/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Dec.  20/41 
Aug.  8/42 


726 
610 
686 
826 


855 
648 
574 

726 


66m 

June  27/42 

738 

797 

56m 

796 

107m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

726 

61m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

69m 

Apr.  18/42 

61 1 

62  m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

796 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

855 

62m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

797 
855 


795 
795 


873 


873 


65m 

May  30/42 

687 

66m 

Apr.  4/42 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

751 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

61  1 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

Product  Digest  Section  895 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    5,  1942 

i—  REVIEWED-^ 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Servia 

Prod. 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Title 

Company 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

•TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling 

Para. 

4126 

Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Block  6 

93m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

873 

Take  My  Life 

Toddy 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  1 1/42 

767 

Tales  of  Manhattan 

20th-Fox 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

701 

Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

•Talk  of  the  Town 

Col. 

3001 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 

Aug.20,'42 

1  18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

701 

•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure 

MGM 

242 

Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 

June, '42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 

Not  Set 

•Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Poir 

t  20th-Fox 

251 

Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

June  26/42 

103m 

May  30/42 

685 

677 

795 

Texas  to  Bataan 

Mono. 

King-Sharpe-Terhune 

Oct.  16/42 

•Texas  Trouble  Shooters 

Mono. 

Range  Busters 

June  I2,'42 

55m 

699 

•There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 

6043 

Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

June  26, '42 

60m 

•  They  All  Kissed  the  Bride 

Col. 

3006 

Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

June  1  l,"42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

873 

They  Flew  Alone  (British) 

RKO 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

(nowWingsand  the  Woman 

) 

They  Got  Me  Covered 

Goldwyn 

Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 

Not  Set 

872 

•They  Raid  by  Night 

PRC 

212 

Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 

June  26,'42 

72  m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

.  .  > 

•This  Above  All 

20th-Fox 

253 

Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 

July  24,'42 

1  18m 

May  16/42 

661 

795 

•This  Gun  for  Hire 

Para. 

4124 

Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 

Block  5 

80m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

527 

705 

This  Is  the  Enemy 

Artkino 

Russian  Documentary 

Not  Set 

74m 

July  1  1/42 

766 

Those  Kids  from  Tdwn  (British)  Anglo 

Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 

Not  Set 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

•Three  Wise  Brides 

Mono. 

Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 

Apr.  15/42 

635 

•  Thru  Different  Eyes 

20th-Fox 

250 

Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 

June  19/42 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

Thunder  Birds 

20th-Fox 

John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 

Not  Set 

796 

•  Thundering  Hoofs 

RKO 

286 

Tim  Holt 

July  24/42 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

•  Timber 

Univ. 

6057 

Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

Aug.  14/42 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

Tish 

MGM 

Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

Not  Set 

83m 

July  25/42 

793 

772 

•Tombstone 

Para. 

4132 

Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

Block  7 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

Tomorrow  We  Live 

PRC 

Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 

Sept.  29/42 

•Top  Sergeant 

Univ. 

6055 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

June  12/42 

64m 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle 

Col. 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

Not  Set 

•  Tortilla  Flat 

MGM 

236 

Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

May/42 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

62  i 

613 

873 

•  To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color) 

20th-Fox 

241 

Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne 

Apr.  10/42 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

•  Tough  as  They  Come 

Univ. 

6019 

Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

June  5/42 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

•  Tower  of  Terror 

Mono. 

Wilfred  Lawson-Movita 

Apr.  1/42 

62  m 

lulu    4  '4? 
u  u  ly       t l 

/  OU 

AO.C 
OSO 

•True  to  the  Army 

Para. 

41  99 

Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller 

D|  1  c 

block  5 

7Am 

/  om 

Mar   71  '4? 

rvi ar.  l  i ,  1 1- 

R97 

o  /  J 

•Tumbleweed  Trail 

PRC 

9EA 

B>*ll    D    ..A    L    L    T\      •     1           a  II 

Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell 

July  10/42 

o  /  m 

•Tuttles  of  Tahiti 

RKO 

999 

("L,,L,    1  ,  ,,„Ll  l_-  l_J-.il 

narles  Laugnton-Jon  nail 

May  1/42 

0  1  m 

7  i  m 

\Ji*r  91  '49 
mar.  l  i ,  ^ l 

SA9 

DO- 

: y)  -J 

•  Twin  Beds 

UA 

George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 

Apr.  24/42 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

Not  Set 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

•  Undercover  Man 

Para. 

4140 

William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 

Block  6 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

•United  We  Stand 

20th-Fox 

254 

News  Documentary 

July  10/42 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

795 

Unpublished  Story  (British) 

Col. 

Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 

Not  Set 

91m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

598 

•Unseen  Enemy 

Univ. 

6053 

Devine-Carrillo-Terry 

Apr.  10/42 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

•  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 

Col. 

09  1  A 
SL  1  0 

Dill    CM'   ii  D'l- 

bill  tlliott-lex  Kitter 

Sept.  3,  42 

WAKE  Island 

Para. 

Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston 

Block  1 

78m 

Aug.  15/42 

837 

772 

War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  Tr 

e  MGM 

Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold 

Not  Set 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

797 

Watch  on  the  Rhine 

WB 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas 

Not  Set 

•Westward,  Ho! 

Rep. 

166 

Steele-Tyler-Davis 

Apr.  24/42 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

•Where  Trails  End 

Mono. 

Tom  Keene 

May  1/42 

55m 

635 

•  Whispering  Ghosts 

20th-Fox 

246 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle 

May  22/42 

75  m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Whistling  in  Dixie 

MGM 

Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford 

Not  Set 

White  Cargo 

MGM 

Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon 

Not  Set 

871 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler? 

20th-Fox 

242 

Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr. 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

•Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The 

Col. 

301 1 

Joan  Ben nett-Fra nchot  Tone 

Apr.  30/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

Wildcat 

Para. 

Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge 

Block  1 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

Wings  and  the  Woman 

RKO 

Anna  INeagle-K.  Newton 

Sept.  18/42 

Y4m 

May    x,  4/ 

O  JO 

(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 

•Wings  for  the  Eagle 

WB 

1  0  L 
1  30 

Ann  bheridan-Dennis  Morgan 

July  1 8,  42 

oom 

June  o, 

07/ 

00/ 

Q70 
0  IS 

World  at  War 

WAC 

Documentary 

Not  Set 

oom 

OYU 

Wrecking  Crew 

Para. 

Kicnard  Arlen-v_.nester  Morns 

Not  Set 

YANK  at  Eton,  A 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 

Not  Set 

87m 

Aug.  15/42 

837 

726 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

WB 

James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

699 

674 

873 

•  Yank  in  Libya,  A 

PRC 

220 

H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 

July  31/42 

67m 

772 

You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

WB 

George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 

Not  Set 

•  You're  Telling  Me 

Univ. 

6041 

Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Col. 

Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 

Not  Set 

796 

Young  and  Willing 

Para. 

William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 

Not  Set 

663 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 

20th-Fox 

Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

July  4/42 

749 

Youth  on  Parade 

Rep. 

John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 

Sept.  24/42 

872 

•Yukon  Patrol 

Rep. 

i  24 

Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  891. 


896    Product  Digest  Section 


OP 


As  necessary  as 
your  telephone,  and 
just  as  handy! 


new  1942-43  Interna- 
tional Motion  Picture  Almanac 
is  on  the  press.  The  forthcoming 
edition  will  be  more  important 
than  ever  before.  Included  be- 
tween its  covers  will  be  more  than 
1,250  pages  of  vital  information 
covering  every  phase  of  produc- 
tion, distribution  and  exhibition. 
The  Who's  Who  section,  an  ex- 
clusive feature  of  the  Almanac, 
will  contain  over  12,000  complete 
biographies  of  players,  directors, 
writers,  technicians  and  executives. 
In  addition,  it  will  also  include  im- 
portant factual  information  on 
radio  and  television. 

No  showman  should  be  without 
the  Motion  Picture  Almanac  .  .  . 
it  is  the  indisputable  reference 
authority  of  the  industry. 

Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye 


ESERVE    YOUR    1942-43    MOTION    PICTURE    ALMANAC    NOW!    $3.00    THE  COPY 


3UICLEY  PUBLICATIONS 


OCKEFELLER  CENTER 


NEW  YORK 


OP 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(in  Product  Digest) 

For  Me  and  My  Gal 

Sherlock  Holmes  and 
the  Voice  of  Terror 

Sunset  Serenade 

City  of  Silent  Men 

Eyes  in  the  Night 

Deep   in  the 
Heart  of  Texas 

Find,  Fix  and  Strike 

LATE  REVIEW 

(in  News  Section) 

The  Moon  and  Sixpence 


Independent  Exhibitors  in  Seven 
States  Move  Against  Film  Prices 

$129,784,000  War  Bond  Sales  in 
First  Five  Days  of  Industry  Drive 

U.  S.  Speeds  Best  of  Hollywood 
Films  to  Our  Soldiers  in  England 

—by  AUBREY  FLANAGAN,  in  London 

Uncle  Sam,  with  114  Productions 
is  No.  One  War- film  Producer 


VOL  148,  NO.  I  I 


SEPTEMBER  12,  1942 


Entered  as  second-class  matter,  January  12,  1931,  at  the  Post  Office,  at  Xew  York  City,  V.  S.  A.,  under  the  act  of  March  3,  1879. 
Published  weekly  by  Quigley  Publishing  Co.,  Inc.,  at  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York.  Subscription  prices: 
$5.00  a  year  in  the  Americas,  $10.00  a  year  Foreign.  Single  copy,  25  cents.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing 
Company. 


Really  remarkable!  One,  Two,  Three!  Our 
First  Group  starts  with  THREE  BIG  HITS 
IN  A  ROW!  Read  and  Reap! 

M-G 


In  a  Nutshell! 

CLARK  GABLE  •  LANA  TURNER 
,n  SOMEWHERE  I'LL  FIND  YOU 

with  Robert  Sterling  •  Patricia  Dane  •  Reginald  Owen  •  Lee  Patrick  •  Charles  Dihgle  •  Screen  Play  by 
Marguerite  Roberts  •  Adaptation  by  Walter  Reisch  •  Based  Upon  a  Cosmopolitan  Magazine  Story  by 
Charles  Hoffman  •  Directed  by  WESLEY  RUGGLES  •  Produced  by  PANDRO  S.  BERMAN  •  An  M-G-M  Picture 

Continues  to  top  "Mrs.  Miniver"  in  many  spots  and  close  to  it  elsewhere!  Public  interest  in 
Clark's  latest  picture  is  tremendous,  resulting  in  extended  runs  everywhere.  Far  ahead  of  "Honky 
Tonk"  his  previous  co-starring  hit  with  Lana  Turner  and  out-of-sight  of  the  biggest  M-G-M 
hits  of  the  past  season.  A  real  showman's  attraction  for  which  schedules  should  be  held  wide 
open  for  extra  time. 


PANAMA  HATTIE" 


starring 


RED  SKELTON  •  ANN  SOTHERN 

with  "Rags"  Ragland  •  Ben  Blue  ■  Marsha  Hunt  •  Virginia  O'Brien  •  Alan  Mowbray  •  Dan  Dailey,  Jr. 
Jackie  Horner  •  Screen  Play  by  Jack  McGowan  and  Wilkie  Mahoney  •  Directed  by  NORMAN  Z.  McLEOD 
Produced  by  ARTHUR  FREED  •  A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 

To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  sizzling  pace  set  by  this  Queen  of  Musical  Shows  in  its  first  engage- 
ments. The  business  at  New  Orleans,  Providence,  Syracuse,  Richmond  and  Nashville  tops 
"Babes  on  Broadway"  and  "Honky  Tonk"  and  in  Wilmington  it  beat  the  advanced  price  busi- 
ness of  "Boom  Town."  A  hold-over  natural  and  what  a  follow-up  for  M-G-M  showmen  who 
start  1942-43  season  with  "Somewhere  I'll  Find  You." 

Mary  Roberts  Rinehart's  Famed  Character 

"TISH"  Portrayed  by  Marjorie  Main 

with  ZaSu  Pitts  •  Aline  MacMahon  •  Lee  Bowman 'Guy  Kibbee  •  Susan  Peters  •  Virginia  Grey  Richard  Quine 
Screen  Play  by  Harry  Ruskin  •  Adaptation  by  Annalee  Whitmore  Jacoby  and  Thomas  Seller  •  Founded  in 
part  on  Stories  by  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart  •  Directed  by  S.  SYLVAN  SIMON  ■  Produced  by  ORVILLE  O.  DULL 

A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 

One  of  those  rare  word-of-mouth  shows  that  starts  Big  and  finishes  Big.  For  example  Norfolk 
opened  at  228  per  cent,  and  finished  at  259  per  cent.  Baltimore  opened  at  162  per  cent,  and 
finished  at  168  per  cent.  Houston  opened  at  128  per  cent,  and  finished  at  150  per  cent.  Atlanta 
opened  at  151  per  cent,  and  finished  at  148  per  cent.  Providence  opened  at  134  percent,  and 
finished  at  133  per  cent.  The  third  solid  hit  to  start  your  M-G-M  season  and  that  gives  you  an 
idea  of  what  you  get  in  the  First  Group,  the  Great  Eight! 

EST  IN  THE  LONG  RUN! 


V-trV 

Let  s  make  ^, 

BILLION  ^ 

for  Uncle 


September! 


THE  FIRST  GREAT  ADVEN 


slugging,  battering,  shooting,  flying,  knifing,  dynamiting 


RE  STORY  OF  THE  WAR! 

FLYNN 


i  " 

i  \ 

LI 

1 

m  1 

it  -strewn  highway  from  London  to  Berlin  —  and  hack!— •  in 


•\  \/ / 


W  W  /I 


20th  century- fox  PRESENTS 

PIPER 


thBIG 

week! 


NOHTYVlOOUEY-  RODDY  HcDOWAiT 
MINE  BAXTER. OTTO «,S 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  QUIGLEY,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher 


Vol.  148,  No. 


OP 


September  12,  1942 


SO  VERY  INGENIOUS 

A PERFECT  Pandora's  box  of  complications  would  be  ahead 
for  all  departments  of  the  already  war-perplexed  motion 
picture  industry  should  certain  "film  saving"  proposals 
offered  by  inventor-technicians  be  adopted. 

The  special  provocation  comes  from  restrictive  orders  and 
rationing  of  film  by  the  War  Production  Board.  In  some  all  too 
simple  arithmetic  the  project  promises  to  reduce  film  consump- 
tion by  about  one-fourth.  This  would  be  achieved  by  reduction 
of  the  height  of  pictorial  images  so  that  each  frame  would 
carry  three  sprocket  holes  instead  of  four.  That  is  all  there 
is  to  it  except  the  consequences. 

The  adoption  of  such  a  system  would  entail  the  making  over 
of  most  of  the  mechanism  of  motion  picture  production.  In  the 
theatre  it  would  require  a  new  set  of  sprockets  and  sundry 
adjustments  in  each  projection  machine,  of  which  there  are 
about  thirty  thousand  in  the  theatres  of  the  United  States 
alone.  The  cost  per  theatre  has  been  estimated  at  from  about 
sixty  to  two  hundred  dollars  a  house,  assuming  that  the  installa- 
tion would  be  done  by  the  projectionist.  The  making  of  the 
parts,  according  to  one  manufacturer's  estimate,  would  take 
about  125,000  manhours — "if  we  had  the  material."  All  exist- 
ing spare  parts  in  this  category  would  be  made  obsolete. 
Also  the  sound  systems  of  the  theatres  would  require  various 
modifications  and  adjustments  for  a  recorded  track  traveling 
at  about  sixty-seven  feet  a  minute  as  opposed  to  the  present 
standardization  at  ninety  feet. 

FOR  the  distributor  there  would  be  the  multiple  problem  of 
supplying  prints  on  two  systems  or  standards,  since 
obviously  the  twenty  thousand  houses  abroad  and  in  all 
parts  of  the  world  cannot  be  changed  over  in  a  state  of  war. 
Also  all  reissues  would  have  to  be  reprinted  and  rerecorded. 

In  the  studios  everything  from  camera  to  movieolas,  measur- 
ing machines  and  the  like,  wherever  the  ribbon  of  film  runs, 
would  be  subject  to  change.  Library  film  would  be  available 
only  by  the  intricate  processes  of  optical  printing  and  duping. 

Film  libraries,  including  the  vast  array  of  government  films 
now  made,  would  be  made  obsolete,  save  as  salvaged  by 
optical  reduction  processes  for  new  prints.  Newsreels,  with 
their  cameras  scattered  around  the  world,  would  be  especially 
handicapped. 

More  than  forty  years  of  experience  and  experiment  have 
been  had  in  the  making  of  motion  pictures  and  in  arriving  at 
today's  established  physical  standards  for  materials  and 
mechanisms.  All  manner  of  film  dimensions  and  screen  propor- 
tions have  been  tried.  When  sound  arrived,  disturbing  the 
technology,  the  technicians  had  opportunity  to  make  radical 
changes  in  standards.  All  they  finally  elected  to  do  was  to 
make  room  for  the  sound  track.  This  was  at  some  cost  in 
pictorial  area,  invasive  of  quality,  but  finding  compensation 
in  improving  photomaterials  and  photography. 

The  machinery  of  the  motion  picture  can  now  do  with  a 
lot  of  thoughtful  letting  alone. 

It  is  said  that  the  current  "film  saving"  project  is  enjoying 


a  considerable  attention  and  encouragement  in  Washington. 
It  still  has  a  distance  to  go  with  the  technical  experts  of  the 
industry,  and  after  that  to  seek  executive  approvals. 

The  final  decision  is  one  to  be  made  by  the  motion  picture 
industry. 

AAA 

SILLY  SEASON 

THE  newspapers,  the  magazines  and  their  trade  press  are 
making  much  these  days  of  argument  about  the  essential 
nature  of  advertising  and  how  it  must  go  on  now,  even 
in  the  face  of  rationed  merchandise  and  lines  discontinued 
under  priorities. 

Meanwhile,  in  advertising,  the  lay  press  is  doing  a  con- 
spicuously silly  job  for  itself,  nearly  as  silly  as  some  of  the  radio 
copy.  Worst,  perhaps,  are  some  of  the  extraordinarily  stupid 
conversations  "ballooned"  into  illustrations.  Rather  nice  look- 
ing young  women  are  portrayed  in  conversations  about  their 
metabolisms  in  indelicate  detail.  The  "unmentionables"  of  the 
years  agone  are  pictured  In  full  color,  discussing  the  effect  of 
"undie  odor"  on  romance.  Ridiculous  and  loquacious  animals 
deliver  dissertations  on  whiskey.  Implausible  testimonials  strew 
the  magazine  pages,  and  debutantes  and  actresses  who  never 
saw  a  skillet  are  signing  recipes. 

Advertising  is  unselling  itself;  publications  of  once  high 
status  are  aiding  the  process  by  lowering  their  standards. 

AAA 

ON  "RAVE  REVIEWS" 

A  NY  time  now  promotion  literature  in  this  industry  can  lay 
/\  aside  that  threadbare  cliche  about  "rave  reviews."  Such 
I  \  reviews  are  exceedingly  rare,  and  when  had  are  incompe- 
tent. Ravings  are  the  expressions  of  unbalanced  moods  and  minds, 
and  if  concerned  with  pictorial  product  can  be  considered 
of  extremely  slight  guidance  to  the  exhibitor  customer,  who 
may  be  expected  to  have  had  a  bit  of  experience  in  that  realm 
of  expression  before.  This  editor  has  heard  many  a  raving 
about  pictures  from  reviewers,  none  of  which  would  be  con- 
sidered promotional  material.  Useful  praise-words  are  those 
which  come  from  persons  in  their  right  minds. 

AAA 

FOR  a  sidelong  glimpse  at  today's  movements,  forebodings 
and  anticipations  regard  the  fact  that  heavy  lumbering 
for  wartime  shipbuilding  is  in  progress  within  fifty  miles 
of  New  York  City,  even  within  the  circle  of  view  from  the 
offices  of  Rockefeller  Center.  Great  estates  have  become 
great  liabilities  and  among  the  processes  of  liquidation  is  the 
cutting  of  ancient  and  once  priceless  trees.  At  a  certain  yard 
where  minesweepers,  all  of  wood  and  non-magnetic,  are  under 
construction,  a  beam  of  perfect  oak,  14  by  14  inches  on  a  side 
and  40  feet  long,  was  delivered  from  Westchester  the  other 
day.  Its  like  had  not  been  seen  by  timber  experts  in  a 
generation. 

— Terry  Ramsaye 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


RENTAL   prices   attacked    by   owners  in 
seven   states  Page  12 

UNCLE  SAM,  with   114  films,  No.  One 
war  producer  Page  13 

$197,734,000  recorded  In  first  eight  days 
of  Bond  drive  Page  14 

U.  S.  FORCES  in   Britain  get  cream  of 
entertainment  Page  16 

CANADIAN    exhibitors   fight   change  in 
price   control  Page  23 


MAJOR  companies  complete  new  season 
sales  policies  Page  25 

"BATTLE  of  Mid  way"  reviewed;  released 
by  WAC  Page  29 

NAME  three  majors  in  arbitration  clear- 
ance case  Page  30 

AFM    bans    radio    discs;    Petrillo  faces 
Senate  Page  36 

20TH-FOX  enters  season  with  I  I  films  in 


backlog 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  32     Managers'  Round  Table 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  41  Obituaries 

Late  Reviews  Page  29     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart 


Page  37 

Page  49 
Page  57 
Page  47 
Page  61 


Uncle  Sam,  Exhibitor 

BESIDES  being  the  country's  No.  1  pro- 
ducer of  War  Films  (see  page  13),  the 
United  States  Government  stands  today  as 
an  exhibitor  of  motion  pictures  topped  only 
by  the  Paramount  circuit  interests. 

The  largest  directly  controlled-and-oper- 
ated  theatre  circuit  in  the  nation,  however, 
is  maintained  by  the  United  States  War  De- 
partment, and  is  the  most  important  of  the 
recreational,  educational  and  welfare  ser- 
vices maintained  for  the  U.  S.  soldier  of 
World  War  II,  it  was  learned  in  Washing- 
ton this  week. 

By  the  end  of  this  year,  the  U.  S.  Army 
will  have  821  theatres  in  operation,  with 
a  seating  capacity  of  585,168,  and  will  be 
giving  an  average  of  5,300  shows  a  week,  it 
was  declared  in  a  report  by  the  Joint  Army 
and  Navy  Committee  on  Welfare  and  Recre- 
ation. 

The  committee's  study  was  confined  to 
what  the  Army  calls  its  "in-camp"  service, 
as  distinguished  from  the  welfare  and  recre- 
ation programs  which  are  conducted  by  civ- 
ilian agencies,  and  which  are  in  addition. 

"The  backbone  of  soldiers'  entertainment 
in  posts  and  camps  is  provided  by  the  Army 
Motion  Picture  Service  which  now  oper- 
ates the  largest  single  theatre  circuit  in  the 
United  States,"  the  Army-Navy  board  de- 
clared. 

"Through  cooperation  with  motion  pic- 
ture producers  and  distributors,  the  man 
in  service  may  see  a  film  in  the  camp  the- 
atre before  his  younger  brother  sees  it  on 
Broadway,"  added  the  board. 

"There  are  now  501  theatres  in  280 
Army  posts,  camps,  and  stations,  with  a 
seating  capacity  of  353,690  persons  at  a  sin- 
gle showing.  As  of  July  1st,  the  average 
number  of  showings  weekly  reached  a  to- 
tal of  3,302,  each  one  consisting  of  a  feature, 
with  either  two  short  subject  or  one  short 
plus  a  newsreel.  By  the  end  of  1942,  week- 
ly showings  will  average  5,305  in  821  thea- 
tres operating  in  436  posts,  camps  and  sta- 
tions. They  will  have  a  seating  capacity 
of  585,168,  which  means  that  more  than  a 
million  men  may  'go  to  the  movies'  daily. 

"Soldier-owned  and  self-supporting,  the 
Service  charges  extremely  low  prices  —  a 
book  of  10  admissions  costs  $1.40.  A  part 
of  operating  surpluses  is  used  to  maintain 
service  at  smaller,  unprofitable  theatres,  buy 
new  equipment,  and  improve  the  service." 


Political  Priorities 

FILM  for  political  campaigns  became  a 
thorny  problem  for  the  War  Production 
Board,  at  Washington,  this  week  when  New 
York  City's  gang-busting  Thomas  E. 
Dewey,  Republican  candidate  for  governor, 
asked  Harold  Hopper,  chief  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Section  of  the  WPB  for  raw  stock 
for  a  one-reel  campaign  film,  this  in  view 
of  prioritv  restrictions  on  film  stock. 
Through  Harold  Keller,  campaign  press 


agent,  Mr.  Dewey's  headquarters  petitioned 
for  enough  35mm  film  to  make  15  prints 
of  the  one-reel  campaign  picture.  Com- 
piled by  Fox  Movietone  News,  largely  from 
newsreel  clips,  the  story  chronicles  Mr. 
Dewey  as  a  racket  busting  district  attorney, 
his  work  as  head  of  the  United  Service  Or- 
ganization and  other  phases  of  his  career. 

The  Dewey  petition  appeared  to  Wash- 
ington observers  to  have  given  the  WPB 
cause  for  new  thought.  Action  on  it  was 
still  pending  at  midweek  and  it  was  report- 
ed that  the  motion  picture  branch  of  WPB 
had  passed  on  to  "higher  ups"  the  decision 
on  giving  politicians  film.  Political  cam- 
paigners already  have  been  granted  extra 
gasoline  rations. 

Dewey  campaign  managers  hope  to  show 
the  picture  at  rallies,  from  street  trucks  and 
"possibly  in  a  few  theatres." 


Bad  Press 

LISBON  was  not  impressed  by  the  Nazi 
propaganda  newsreel,  "How  We  Dealt  With 
the  British  at  Dieppe,"  shown  there  on 
Tuesday  to  invited  guests  at  the  German 
legation  in  Portugal,  the  Associated  Press 
reported.  Neutral  Portuguese  critics,  said 
AP,  called  it  "a  poor  show  which  could  not 
convince  even  those  who  know  little  about 
movies." 

Augusto  Fraga,  described  by  AP  as  a 
leading  Lisbon  critic,  detected  fake  studio 
sequences  and  makeup,  and  said  the  com- 
mentary was  unconvincing  and  in  contra- 
diction to  the  visible  scenes.  The  Nazi 
camera  corps,  he  concluded,  were  taken  by 
surprise  and  "were  unable  to  produce  one  of 
their  first-class  newsreels." 

At  the  same  time,  the  British  Ministry  of 
Information  pictures  released  through  regu- 
lar newsreel  channels  in  New  York  were 
showing  the  raid  from  the  Allies'  side. 


Box  Office  Boom 

TIRED  ushers,  doormen  and  managers  in 
metropolitan  centers  across  the  country  re- 
ported Monday  night  the  best  Labor  Day 
holiday  weekend  business  in  years.  Typical 
reports  were:  Chicago,  750,000  patrons  in 
Loop  theatres ;  Los  Angeles,  one  of  the 
best  days  in  history;  Baltimore,  record- 
breaking  in  spite  of  cloudy  weather ;  Boston, 
marked  increase  over  last  year's  Labor  Day ; 
Omaha,  strong;  Indianapolis,  heavy  grosses 
despite  rain;  Buffalo,  excellent;  Kansas 
City,  extra  good ;  St.  Louis,  capacity. 

New  York  had  3,000,000  visitors,  it  was 
estimated  by  police  and  railroad  and  bus 
officials.  The  influx  was  felt  at  box  of- 
fices, hotels,  ball  parks,  restaurants  and 
night  clubs.  New  York's  midtown  area 
was  thronged  Saturday,  Sunday  and  Mon- 
day nights.  Sunday  was  the  peak  for  film 
theatres. 


'Rangers '  for  Marquee 

THE  ALLIED  raid  on  Dieppe,  with  the  re- 
sultant publicity  about  the  American  Rang- 
ers who  participated  in  it,  has  brought  a 
rush  of  titles  featuring  the  Rangers  to  the 
Title  Registry  Bureau  of  the  Motion  Pic- 
ture Producers  and  Distributors  of  Ameri- 
ca. Practically  all  of  the  major  companies 
have  registered  one  or  more  titles  for  a  total 
of  about  a  dozen  to  date. 

In  addition  to  listing  the  title,  "American 
Rangers,"  Paramount,  wasting  no  time,  has 
assigned  Maurice  Clark  to  start  work  on 
the  screenplay.  Walter  MacEwen  will  pro- 
duce. The  picture  will  show  the  arduous 
special  training  of  this  group  of  volunteers, 
will  recreate  their  attack  on  Dieppe  and 
"other  raids  which  are  believed  certain  to 
follow." 


September     12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


9 


Building  Is  Out 

FURTHER  theatre  construction  for  the 
duration  was  practically  eliminated  last  Fri- 
day by  the  "War  Production  Board  at  Wash- 
ington when,  in  an  amendment  to  its  con- 
struction limitation  order  Xo.  L-41,  it  re- 
duced from  $5,000  to  S200  the  maximum 
amount  which  might  be  expended  without 
specific  authorization  upon  the  construction 
of  film  or  entertainment  structures. 

The  order  also  limited  repair  work,  on 
which  there  is  no  monetary  limit,  by  ex- 
cluding reconstruction  and  restoration  of 
construction  damaged  or  destroyed  by  fire, 
flood,  tornado,  earthquake  or  public  enemy. 

It  further  provided  that,  in  every  instance 
where  estimated  costs  were  under  the  limit 
set.  the  owner,  before  he  began  construction, 
must  have  had  enough  material  to  complete 
the  project  without  priorities  assistance. 

Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  YVPB 
amusement  section,  said  the  order  would  re- 
quire exhibitors  to  use  maximum  care  in 
theatre  maintenance. 

"This  just  means  one  more  nail  in  the 
situation  that  theatre  owners  must  face," 
he  said. 

The  WPB  has  rejected  an  appeal  of  the 
Massachusetts  Life  Insurance  Company  for 
permission  to  complete  the  proposed  Shea 
motion  picture  theatre  in  the  Teck  theatre 
site  in  Buffalo.  However,  the  WPB  will 
permit  the  company  to  finish  the  stores  and 
to  complete  the  exterior  and  roof  of  the  the- 
atre portion,  to  make  it  waterproof. 


Trucking 

EFFECTIVE  November  15th  every  motor 
truck  in  the  country,  including  those  trans- 
porting film,  and  all  busses  and  taxis  will 
require  a  certificate  of  war  necessity  for 
continued  operation,  Joseph  B.  Eastman,  di- 
rector of  transportation,  announced  Tues- 
day. The  order,  aimed  at  saving  machines, 
tires  and  gasoline,  will  stipulate  the  maxi- 
mum mileage  that  may  be  operated  and  the 
loads  carried  by  every  vehicle  certified. 
Without  a  certificate,  no  operator  will  be 
able  to  get  gasoline,  tires  or  parts. 


Plea  for  Decency 

DECLARING  that  "motion  picture  pro- 
ducers in  the  United  States  are  a  tremen- 
dous power  throughout  the  world."  Bishop 
Miguel  de  Andrea  of  Buenos  Aires,  who 
is  attending  the  Inter-American  Seminar  on 
Social  Studies  at  the  Park  Lane  Hotel,  New- 
York,  in  a  statement  to  the  press  Wednes- 
day, issued  a  plea  for  "decent  and  moral 
films"  to  further  "the  cause  of  hemispheric 
solidarity." 

The  Bishop's  statement  read  in  part: 
"Many  (American)  films  have  furthered  the 
moral  betterment  of  mankind.  .  .  American 
motion  pictures  which  undermine  moral 
standards  are  an  affront  to  decent-minded 


persons  in  Latin  America  as  well  as  the 
United  States.  It  is  hoped  that  the  industry 
will  be  alert  to  the  wisdom  and  necessity  of 
producing  decent  films  and  quick  to  discern 
that  moral  films  will  serve  the  cause  of 
hemispheric  solidarity." 

Bishop  de  Andrea  also  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  work  of  the  Legion  of  Decency  in 
nine  Latin  American  countries  '"will  be 
more  closely  correlated  and  coordinated 
with  their  sister  organization,  the  Legion  of 
Decency  of  the  United  States." 

The  Bishop  further  said,  "I  wish  to  offer 
my  personal  thanks  to  the  Bishops  of  the 
United  States  for  the  establishment  and 
work  of  the  Legion  of  Decency.  I  have  been 
encouraged  by  the  leadership  displayed  by 
the  Bishops'  Committee  on  Motion  Pictures. 
I  thank  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States 
and  all  who  have  joined  with  them  in  this 
crusade  for  the  decision  and  courage  they 
have  manifested." 


Pooling  for  Goodwill 

SOUTH  AMERICAN  coverage  by  U.  S. 
newsreels  will  be  pooled,  with  the  United 
States  Government  helping  to  pay  costs. 
The  five  U.  S.  newsreels  and  the  U.  S. 
Coordinator  of  Inter-American  Affairs  have 
completed  arrangements  for  joint  Latin- 
American  coverage.  Expenses  of  three 
camera  crews  will  be  shared  by  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  newsreels.  The  crews  will 
take  assignments  from  all  of  the  reels 
through  their  home  news  desks  in  New  York 
and  the  Government  looks  for  more  and 
better  pictures  in  consequence,  to  further  its 
"Good  Neighbor"  policies. 

John  Dored,  of  Paramount  News,  will 
continue  to  work  out  of  Rio  de  Janeiro : 
Fox  Movietone  News  is  sending  Fernando 
Delgado  to  Buenos  Aires:  Pathe  News  will 
assign  a  crew  to  Santiago,  Chile,  to  cover 
the  South  American  west  coast. 

The  U.  S.  Coordinator  is  to  pay  50  per 
cent  of  the  expenses  of  the  pool  and  will 
use  the  professional  camera  crews  for  spe- 
cial news  and  short  subjects  assignments. 


PICTURES  ADVERTISED 
THIS  WEEK 

"Somewhere  I'll  Find  You,"  MGM,  2nd  cover, 
Page  3 

"Panama  Hattie,"  MGM,  2nd  cover,  Page  3 
"Tish"  MGM,  2nd  cover,  Page  3 
"Desperate  Journey,"  Warners.  Pages  4,  5 
"The  Pied  Piper,"  20th-Fox,  Page  6 
"Wake  Island,"  Paramount,  Pages  19  to  22 
"I  Live  on  Danger,"  Paramount,  Pages  27,  28 
"Orchestra  Wives,"  20th-Fo.r,  Page  35 
"The  Spirit  of  Stamford,"  Columbia,  Pages  38. 
39 

"Smith  of  Minnesota,"  Columbia,  Pages  38.  39 
"The  Big  Street,"  RKO,  Pages  42,  43 
"Baby  Face  Morgan,"  PRC,  Page  45 
"Tomarro-w  We  Live,"  PRC,  Page  45 
"The  Yanks  Are  Coming,"  PRC,  Page  45 
"A  Man's  World,"  Columbia,  4th  cover 


More  "Co-op"  Buying 

RIVALRY  between  two  New  York  City 
circuits  to  head  the  first  booking  combine 
in  the  up-state  territory  was  seen  this  week 
with  the  disclosure  that  several  upstate  ex- 
hibitors were  conferring  with  Max  A.  Cohen, 
head  of  the  New  York  City  Cinema  Cir- 
cuit, with  a  view  to  having  Mr.  Cohen  buy 
film  for  them. 

The  Goshen  theatre,  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  al- 
ready has  signed  with  Mr.  Cohen  for  a  buy- 
ing and  booking  service.  Another  upstate 
theatre  has  approached  Mr.  Cohen  asking 
him  to  do  as  Harry  Brandt  of  the  Brandt 
Circuit  had  offered — to  buy  and  book  for 
a  fee.  Mr.  Brandt  books  for  the  Music 
Hall  in  Tarrytown  and  some  others  up-state, 
a  total  of  120  there  and  in  and  around 
New  York  City. 

Mr.  Cohen  headed  Allied  Theatre  Own- 
ers of  New  York  when  its  membership  in- 
cluded up-state  theatremen.  They  left  the 
organization  when  it  split  with  national 
Allied  States  Association. 


U.S.  on  the  Air 

SECRET  plans  are  being  worked  out  in 
Washington  for  a  Government  world-wide 
short-wave  radio  network  to  carry  propa- 
ganda and  news  broadcasts.  It  is  said  to 
involve  the  purchase  of  all  time  on  the 
14  short-wave  stations  now  privately  owned 
and  to  contemplate  construction  of  22  new 
transmitters. 

The  Office  of  War  Information,  Coordi- 
nator of  Inter- American  Affairs  and  the 
Federal  Communications  Commission  are 
working  on  plans  for  the  short-wave  system. 
Operation  of  stations  would  remain  with 
private  broadcasters,  it  was  said.  The 
OWI  would  prepare  scripts  and  guide 
policy.  The  36-station  network  could  be 
operated  for  $5,000,000  a  year  and  new 
construction  would  cost  about  56.000,000. 

The  new  stations  would  be  constructed 
from  frozen  stocks  of  radio  supplies,  in- 
cluding shipments  which  had  been  destined 
for  England,  it  was  understood. 


Watch  It  and  Like  It 

THEATRE  audiences  in  unoccupied  France 
will  have  to  watch  newsreels  with  the  house 
lights  up  from  now  on  under  an  order  is- 
sued by  the  Vichy  Government  forbidding 
demonstrations  during  such  showings.  As- 
sociated Press  reported  from  Vichy,  on 
Wednesday.  The  brighter  lights  are  sup- 
posed to  make  more  certain  the  identifica- 
tion of  any  demonstrators. 

The  Vichy  Government  this  week  with- 
drew the  French  naturalization  of  Max 
Glass,  motion  picture  producer,  whose  last 
film,  "Entente  Cordiale,"  celebrated  French- 
British  amity.  The  60-year-old  Vienna 
born  producer  was  listed  as  being  without  a 
"present  known  address."  said  the  AP  dis- 
patch. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Ouigley  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  address  "Cuigpubco, 
New  York."  Martin  Ouigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager:  Terry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor; 
Chicago  Bureau,  624  South  Michigan  Avenue,  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  editor;  Hollywood  Bureau,  Postal  Union  Life  Building.  William  R.  Weaver,  editor;  Toronto  Bureau,  242  Millwood 
Road,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  W.  M.  Gladish,  representative;  Montreal  Bureau,  265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovan,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
4  Golden  Square,  London  W  I,  Hope  Williams  B"rr»JP,  manager;  cable  OuigP^bco  London;  Melbourne  Bureau,  The  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne.  Australia, 
Cliff  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Ena'ean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
Luis  Bece'ra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  Natclio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Jcneiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  3358, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Ma'rinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Membe- 
Audit  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  0"'gley  Publishing  Company.  Address  all  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  0L'igley  Publications: 
Better  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame. 


iO 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


THIS  WEEK  the  Camera  observes: 

y§ 


■  MAJOR  HENRY  G.  STEIN, 
former  exhibitor  partner  of  the 
R.  E.  Griffith  Amusement  Com- 
pany in  Texas  and  now  special 
services  officer  of  the  Army 
Gunnery  School  at  Harlingen, 
Tex.,  explains  the  operation  of 
an  airplane  machine  gun  to 
Maxwell  Shane.  Mr.  Shane,  hud- 
dled in  the  cockpit  of  the  train- 
ing plane,  plans  a  story  to  be 
called  "Aerial  Gunner"  to  be 
produced  by  Pine-Thomas  for 
Paramount. 


MORT  BLUMENSTOCK,  in 
charge  of  advertising  and 
publicity  for  Warners  in  the 
east,  visits  the  Burbank 
studios  with  Mrs.  Blumen- 
stock.   The  couple  are 
shown  with  Jesse  Lasky, 
producer  of  "The  Adventures 
of  Mark  Twain",  and  Fredric 
March  as  Mark  Twain. 


By  Metropolitan 


NEW  YORK  CRITICS 
went  to  Edgartown 
on  Martha's  Vineyard 
last  weekend  as  the 
guests  of  United 
Artists  to  see  "The 
Moon  and  Sixpence". 
Here  are  Seymour  Poe, 
representing  David  L. 
Loew,  the  producer; 
W.  Somerset 
Maugham,  author  of 
the  novel,  and  Rose 
Pelswick  of  the  N.  Y. 
Journal- American. 


By  Staff  Photographer 


SIDNEY  ALEXANDER,  advertising 
agency  executive,  who  last  week 
joined  the  Columbia  advertising 
department  under  David  Lipton. 


September    12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


BILL  HENDRICKS,  of  the  publicity 
department  or  United  Detroit  Theatres,  is 
sworn  into  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corps,  below,  by 
Lt.  Com.  J.  E.  McGraw. 


■  A.  H.  BLANK,  head  of 
Tri-States  theatres  at  Des  Moines, 
tots  up  his  War  Bond  sales. 
Through  personal  solicitation  since 
August  I  Oth  he  has  sold  $920,875 
worth.  Other  sales  in  the  area 
total  $1,750,000. 


By  Staff  Photographer 

LEON  von  HAVERBECK,  former  Bangkok  film 
importer,  arrived  with  Mrs.  von  Haverbeck  from 
Japan  on  the  liner  GripsJwlm.  Story  on  page  40. 


By  Staff  Photographer 

LEWIS  E.  PEPPERMAN,  former 
United  Artists  manager  in 
Japan,  who  arrived  in  New 
York  last  week  on  the 
Gripsholm,  told  the  press  that 
the  Japanese  had  impounded 
nearly  $3,000,000  of  American 
motion  picture  funds  in  Tokyo. 


N.  PETER  RATHVON,  president 
of  Radio-Keith-Orpheum 
Corp.,   arrives  with  Mrs. 
Rarhvon  in  Hollywood. 


■  PREMIERE,  right.   Cary  Grant, 
Harry  Cohn,  president  of 
Columbia;  Mrs.  Barbara  Hutton 
Grant,  a-nd  Mrs.  Harry  Cohn, 
the  former  Joan  Perry,  at  the 
benefit  opening  of  Columbia's 
"Talk  of  the  Town"  in  Hollywood. 


'2 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


RENTAL  PRICES  ATTACKED 
BY  OWNERS  IN  7  STATES 


Allied  "Caravan  Commit- 
tee" Spearhead  of  Exhib- 
itor Protests 

Exhibitor  protests  against  increases  in 
film  rental  gained  momentum  this  week 
as  organizations  in  seven  states  in  the 
middle  and  north  west,  New  England, 
New  York  and  the  southeast  voiced  offi- 
cial disapproval  of  high  levels  and  warned 
against  any  further  rise.  The  "Caravan 
Committee"  of  executives  of  Allied  States 
Association  is  touring  the  country  discus- 
sing, in  closed  sessions,  several  phases  of 
exhibitor-distributor  relations,  including 
rentals. 

The  Allied  committee  met  in  Chicago  last 
week  and  was  scheduled  to  meet  in  New 
Haven,  September  17th.  According  to  an 
outline  plan  laid  before  members  of  Allied 
of  Illinois  at  the  Chicago  meeting  a  con- 
certed effort  to  check  what  the  chiefs  of  the 
organization  claim  is  a  steady  increase  in 
film  rentals  would  be  made.  The  plan,  pre- 
sented by  M.  A.  Rosenberg,  national  presi- 
dent; Col.  H.  A.  Cole,  Sidney  Samuelson 
and  Jack  Kirsch,  Illinois  president,  was  re- 
ported to  have  been  received  enthusiastically. 

Preceding  the  membership  meeting,  the 
directors  of  the  Allied  unit  approved  the  plan 
and  appropriated  their  share  of  funds 
toward  financing  the  committee  for  one  year. 
Among  exhibitor  leaders  at  the  meeting 
were  William  L.  Ainsworth,  president  of 
the  Independent  Theatres  Protective  Asso- 
ciation of  Wisconsin  and  Upper  Michigan ; 
Edward  G.  Zorn,  president  of  United  Thea- 
tre Owners  of  Illinois;  Fred  Strom,  execu- 
tive secretary  of  Allied  of  the  Northwest, 
and  Abram  F.  Myers,  chairman  and  general 
counsel  of  national  Allied. 

"Caravan  Committee" 
Itinerary  Set 

The  "Caravan  Committee,"  including  Mr. 
Myers,  Mr.  Rosenberg,  Colonel  Cole,  Mr. 
Kirsch  and  Mr.  Samuelson,  met  in  Detroit 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday  and  from  there 
was  to  go  to  Philadelphia,  September  14th 
and  15th;  Trenton,  September  16th;  New 
Haven,  September  17th ;  an  undetermined 
Ohio  city,  September  22nd  to  24th ;  Balti- 
more, September  25th ;  Pittsburgh,  Septem- 
ber 28th  and  29th ;  Milwaukee.  September 
30th  and  October  1st;  Indianapolis,  October 
5th,  and  Dallas,  October  7th  and  8th. 

The  "Caravan"  plan  for  protesting  rental 
increases  also  was  approved  unanimously  by 
the  members  of  Northwest  Allied  at  a  meet- 
ing in  Minneapolis  September  2nd.  Funds 
were  subscribed  for  the  purpose.  E.  L. 
Peaslee,  reelected  president  of  the  unit  at 
the  meting,  said  the  plan  called  for  close 
cooperation  of  all  Allied  units.  A  resolu- 
tion passed  at  the  meeting  said  advances  in 
rentals  were  contrary  to  the  Government's 
efforts  to  control  inflation. 

Members  of  the  Greater  Cincinnati  Inde- 
pendent Exhibitors  League,  meeting  with  the 
recently  organized  Indignant  Exhibitors 
Forum  in  Cincinnati  September  2nd,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  ask  the  anti-trust 


CENSUS  CHECK  SHOWS 
RENTAL  BASIS 

Exhibitors  are  advised  to  check 
1940  census  figures  against  reports 
of  the  sugar  rationing  boards  in  their 
areas  to  determine  whether  they  are 
entitled  to  adjustments  on  film  rentals, 
in  a  bulletin  issued  by  Leo  F.  Wolcott, 
head  of  Allied  Independent  Theatre 
Owners  of  Iowa  and  Nebraska.  Mr. 
Wolcott  said  the  sugar  figures  would 
show  population  losses  of  1 0  to 
30  per  cent  in  the  rural  areas,  with  a 
corresponding  loss  in  potential  theatre 
patronage. 


division  of  the  Department  of  Justice  to 
impose  a  ceiling  on  film  rentals  on  the  basis 
of  1940-41  contracts.  Willie  Vance  is  chair- 
man of  the  committee  and  members  are 
Maurice  Chase  and  Harold  Bernstein.  An- 
other committee  also  was  appointed  to  ne- 
gotiate with  distributors  on  allocations  and 
prices. 

New  England  Unit 
Warns  of  Action 

In  a  bulletin  issued  to  its  membership  this 
week  Independent  Exhibitors,  Inc.,  New- 
England  exhibitor  unit  which  recently  with- 
drew from  Allied,  said :  "If  the  distributors 
of  motion  pictures  continue  with  their  de- 
mands for  higher  film  rentals,  if  they  per- 
sist in  their  practice  of  forcing  exhibitors 
to  change  their  admissions  from  time  to 
time,  or  if  they  persist  in  demanding  ex- 
tended playing  time,  there  is  nothing  left 
for  this  organization  to  do  except  to  spon- 
sor such  action  as  may  be  necessary  to  se- 
cure a  ceiling  on  film  prices  and  on  admis- 
sion prices." 

Government  regulation  of  the  industry, 
the  bulletin  said,  although  it  had  never  been 
favored  by  the  unit,  was  preferable  to  "being 
strangled  to  death  by  the  motion  picture 
monopoly." 

Gratitude  was  expressed  by  the  unit  to 
the  Senators  and  Congressmen  and  to  or- 
ganizations "whose  interest  in  the  motion 
picture  industry  and  its  effect  on  the  public 
has  carried  staunchly  and  unremittingly 
through  from  the  days  of  the  Neely  bill." 

Carolina  Exhibitors 
Hit  Price  Rises 

The  bulletin  asked  exhibitors  to  be  on  the 
watch  for  any  forcing  of  short  subjects  or 
newsreels  with  features  or  any  attempted 
linking  of  blocks  during  the  selling  of  1942- 
43  product.  The  unit  is  to  meet  in  Boston 
September  15th. 

The  Theatre  Owners  of  North  and  South 
Carolina  last  week  atacked  "attempts  to  ad- 
vance admission  prices  on  attractions  which 
do  not  merit  it."  A  bulletin  issued  by  the 
organization  said,  "While  now  and  then  an 


outstanding  attraction  may  warrant  addi- 
tional tariffs,  yet  these  super-colossals  are 
so  few  that  we  need  not  expect  them  often 
enough  to  alarm  anyone.  .  .  .  We  hope  to 
remain  in  business  for  many  years.  If  any 
distributor  is  so  short-sighted  as  to  cause 
the  public  to  lose  faith  in  quality  pictures  at 
fair  prices,  then  it's  up  to  the  exhibitor  to 
save  his  own  hide  and  the  industry.  The 
whole  principle  of  motion  picture  merchan- 
dising was  founded  upon  the  idea  of  offering 
entertainment  to  the  masses  at  prices  they 
can  afford  to  pay.  Why  take  advantage  of 
them  at  a  time  like  this  ?" 

New  York  ITO 
Protests  Advances 

The  resolution  pointed  out  that  it  had 
been  the  experience  of  the  unit's  members 
that  advanced  admissions  hurt  the  theatre's 
return  both  preceding  and  following  the  spe- 
cial showings.  The  cooperation  of  all  mem- 
bers in  protesting  the  practice  was  urged  by 
Roy  Rowe,  president,  and  Mrs.  Walter  Grif- 
fith, secretary  of  the  organization. 

The  New  York  Independent  Theatre 
Owners  Association,  meeting  in  New  York 
last  week,  passed  a  resolution  protesting 
what  were  said  to  be  higher  rentals  being 
asked  for  1942-43  product.  The  unit  also 
called  for  the  continuation  of  the  United 
Motion  Picture  Industry  committee  despite 
the  fact  that  the  new  sales  plan  has  been 
vetoed. 

Bernstein  May  Return 
To  MOI  in  London 

Sidney  Bernstein,  former  British  theatre  of- 
ficial who  has  been  associated  with  the  British 
Ministry  of  Information  in  its  documentary 
films  division  for  the  last  several  years,  may 
resign  to  accept  a  new  MOI  assignment  in 
London,  according  to  word  from  London. 

Mr.  Bernstein  has  been  in  the  United  States 
for  the  last  several  months  in  connection  with 
a  mission  to  obtain  playing  time  in  American 
theatres  for  certain  of  the  MOI  subjects.  In 
the  event  of  his  resignation,  it  is  further  re- 
ported, George  Archibald,  former  joint  man- 
aging director  in  London  for  United  Artists, 
who  also  is  in  Government  service  now,  may 
be  named  to  replace  him. 

Mr.  Bernstein  is  now  in  Washington  fol- 
lowing a  recent  Hollywood  visit. 


Smith  Named  Aide 
To  Dunphy  in  WPB 

Appointment  of  A.  G.  Smith,  former  man- 
ager of  the  National  Theatre  Supply  Company 
at  Kansas  City,  as  coordinator  of  motion  pic- 
ture theatres  and  assistant  to  himself  was  an- 
nounced this  week  by  Christopher  J.  Dunphy, 
chief  of  the  amusements  section  of  the  War 
Production  Board. 

Mr.  Smith  will  take  the  position  formerly 
held  by  Paul  Short,  who  has  been  commis- 
sioned a  lieutenant,  senior  grade,  in  the  Navy. 


Raise  Price  in  Omaha 

The  Brandeis,  Mort  H.  Singer's  1,200-seat 
first  run  house  in  Omaha,  has  increased  its 
evening  price  for  Saturday,  Sundays  and  holi- 
days  to   SO  cents   from  44  cents. 


September    12,    19.42  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  13 

UNCLE  SAM,  WITH  114  FILMS, 
IS  NO.  1  WAR  PRODUCER 


Raw  Stock  Curtailments  Do 
Xot  Affect  U.S.  Product; 
Footage  Not  Disclosed 

Uncle  Sam  is  the  country's  No.  1  pro- 
ducer and  distributor  of  motion  pictures 
in  the  War.  Already  the  Government  has 
turned  out  114  war  films.,  in  sound,  in 
'.f rr. rr.  or  :r  both,  for  public  prop- 

aganda consumption,  for  the  training  _of 
its  armed  forces,  for  workers  or  for 
American  industry. 

Priori tv  curtailments  of  raw  stock  do  not 
applv  to  Government  filming,  as  it  now  is 
in  effect  for  the  motion  picture  industry  and 
allied  commercial  branches.  Film  stock  was 
•■frozen"  on  August  20th.  Existing  motion 
picture  companies  must  get  written  permis- 
sion from  Donald  Nelson's  War  Production 
Board  to  obtain  film  for  continuing  normal 
production  operations.  New  companies  or 
new  individual  producers  cannot  obtain  film 
unless  thev  can  prove  to  the  WPB  that  they 
have  releasing  arrangements  completed  with 
one  of  the  existing  11  distributors.  The  re- 
strictions practically  have  eliminated  certain 
branches  of  the  trailer  and  advertising  film 
business. 

Meanwhile  millions  of  feet  of  raw  film  are 
going  into  the  production  of  features  and 
short  subjects  by  almost  every  branch  ol 
the  Government.  Official  Washington  will 
not  disclose  the  amount  of  footage  consump- 
tion, nor  would  the  raw  film  manufacturers, 
or  their  agents.  '"  Military  secret"  was  the 
general  reason  given  for  withholding  the 
consumption  total.  It  is  understood,  how- 
ever, that  the  Government  is  using  as  many 
as  500  prints  of  a  single  subject,  specifically 
one  on  agriculture  and  food. 

Repositories  for 
Films  Listed 

The  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures  of  the 
\   Office  of  War  Information,  in  "A  List  of 
I  War  Films,"  made  public  last  week,  records 
and  describes  the  114  Government  war  films 
produced  to  date;  and  scores  more  were 
coming,  from  or  for  the  L  nited  States  Arm}". 
United  States  Navy,  the  Coast  Guard,  Ma- 
rine Corps,  Office  of  the  Coordinator  of 
j   Inter-American  Affairs,   Federal  Security 
'    Agency's  National  Youth  Administration, 
.    United"  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Federal   Security  Agency's  Public  Health 
Service,  Office  of  Civilian  Defense,  War 
Departments   Office  of,   Civilian  Defense, 
United  States  Army  Signal  Corps,  Indus- 
trial   Training    Office.    Federal  Security 
Agency's  Office  of  Education,  Office  of  Bitu- 
minous Coal  Consumers,  Department  of  the 
Interior's  Bureau  of  Mines,  Office  of  War 
Information's  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures, 

The  Government's  official  war-film  cata- 
logue listed  universities,  state  libraries,  com- 
mercial and  other  film  repositories  whence 
the  pictures  might  be  obtained. 

The  films  listed  by  the  Bureau  of  Motion 
Pictures  of  the  OWI  were  divided  into  two 


main  categories,  films  for  the  armed  forces 
and  informational  films,  not  so  directly  con- 
nected with  the  war  effort. 

The  OWI  bulletin  advised  that  the  Gov- 
ernmental films  might  be  obtained  through 
the  appropriate  agency,  each  with  its  own 
method  of  distribution.  Some  of  the  agen- 
cies of  the  Government  provide  the  films 
to  potential  exhibitors  without  charge,  but 
for  others  fees  are  asked.  Virtually  all  re- 
quire that  the  exhibitor  pay  the  transporta- 
tion costs  of  the  films.  It  was  suggested 
that  definite  dates  be  indicated  in  the  re- 
quests for  films,  and  that  requests  be  made 
at  least  three  weeks  in  advance  of  proposed 
playdates. 

U.  S.  Coast  Guard 
Had  Four  Films 

Most  films  were  said  to  be  available  in 
either  1 6mm  or  35mm  widths.  The  U.  S. 
Army  Recruiting  and  Induction  Service 
films  are  available  free  of  charge,  for  exam- 
ple, and  may  be  borrowed  by  schools  and 
other  civic  groups  from  a  group  of  Army 
Recruiting  Stations  located  within  the  vari- 
ous Service  Commands,  stretching  across 
the  country.  There  are  nine  Service  Com- 
mands, with  10  films  in  16mm  listed  in  the 
OWI  bulletin. 

The  United  States  Coast  Guard  has  four 
films,  with  16mm  and  35mm  prints  available, 
obtainable  at  the  district  Coast  Guard  offices 
in  the  14  U.  S.  Naval  Districts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  Marine  Corps  offers  six  films, 
obtainable  from  the  Marine  Corps  School  at 
Quantico,  Va.,  without  charge,  and  the  Navy 
Department  lists  nine  films,  which  may  be 
obtained  from  the  U.  S.  Navy  Recruiting 
Stations  in  36  cities. 

The  Office  of  Civilian  Defense  lists  one 
film,  obtainable  at  the  offices  of  the  nine  re- 
gional offices  throughout  the  country.  The 
War  Department  lists  a  group  of  training 
films,  which  may  be  acquired  on  loan  from 
the  nine  Arm}-  Service  Commands.  The 
group  contains  22  titles  in  the  Office  of  War 
Information  bulletin. 

Inter-American  Affairs 
Offered  21  Titles 

Under  the  heading  of  industrial  training, 
the  Federal  Security  Agency,  through  the 
Office  of  Education  of  the  United  States, 
presents  a  list  of  pictures  on  16mm  film 
obtainable  through  Castle  Films,  New  York, 
with  the  OWI  urging  that  the  films  be  pur- 
chased by  rental  libraries  to  bring  about 
wider  distribution.  The  films  in  this  divi- 
sion include  26  titles  on  mechanical  training. 

The  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  lists 
five  films  which  may  be  obtained  from  de- 
positories located  for  the  most  part  in  col- 
leges and  universities  in  all  sections  of  the 
country.  Most  of  these  depositories,  it  is 
explained,  charge  a  nominal  service  fee  for 
the  use  of  the  films. 

The  Office  of  the  Bituminous  Coal  Con- 
sumers' Counsel  offers  one  film  in  16mm 
and  35mm  widths. 

An  important  user  of  the  screen  medium, 
the  Office  of  the  Coordinator  of  Inter- Amer- 


ican Affairs  lists  24  titles,  for  the  most  part 
one  and  two-reel  subjects,  obtainable  with- 
out charge  from  the  Office  of  the  Coordi- 
nator in  New  York,  or  from  the  various 
University  extension  film  libraries,  and 
other  repositories.  These  pictures  are  dis- 
tributed by  the  Coordinator  in  the  United 
States  to  improve  understanding  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  of  the  peoples  of 
the  Latin  American  nations. 

The  Federal  Security  Administration  also 
offers  four  films  concerned  with  the  Na- 
tional Youth  Administration,  and  which  may 
be  obtained  from  the  various  NYA  regional 
offices. 

The  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service  has  two 
films  listed  in  the  OWI  bulletin,  and  the 
Bureau  of  Mines,  it  was  indicated,  has  a 
great  many  films,  both  sound  and  silent,  in 
16mm  and  35mm.  showing  mining  opera- 
tions and  related  manufacturing  processes. 

The  Office  of  War  Information,  through 
its  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures,  lists  16  pic- 
tures, for  the  most  part  one  and  two  reels  in 
length,  which  mscy  be  obtained  through  a 
list  of  authorized  distributors  covering  all 
sections  of  the  country. 

Four  Newsreel  Men 
With  Government 

Robert  Collier,  formerly  of  Paramount  News, 
and  Herbert  Miller  of  Pathe  News  have  joined 
the  staff  of  Low-ell  Mellett,  in  the  Office  of 
War  Information  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures. 
They  will  assist  Harold  Jacobs  in  the  newsreel 
division. 

Theodore  Richter,  News  of  the  Daj^  camera- 
man, and  Fred  Fordham.  from  Universal  news- 
reel,  have  joined  the  motion  picture  unit  of  the 
Army  Air  Corps  bureau  of  public  relations. 


Accessories  for  "War" 

National  Screen  Service  has  prepared  a  com- 
plete line  of  accessories  for  use  with  bookings 
of  the  U.  S.  Government  film.  "The  World  at 

ar,"  which  it  is  making  available  to  ex- 
hibitors at  less  than  cost,  it  was  said. 


Bronson  to  Censor  Office 

Edward  H.  Bronson,  assistant  manager  of 
WCOL,  Columbus,  Ohio,  has  joined  the  Office 
of  Censorship  and  will  serve  in  the  broadcast- 
ing division,  it  has  been  announced  in  Wash- 
ington by  John  H.  Ryan,  assistant  director. 


Bombed  Theatre  Reopens 

The  Rialto  theatre,  in  the  heart  of  London's 
W  est  End.  closed  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war  because  of  bombing  damage,  has  reopened 
on  a  general  first  run  policy  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Lou  Morris. 


Of  UMPi  Tax  Committee 

Chester  T.  Currie,  president  of  Currie  &  Har- 
mon, Inc.,  operating  The  Darlton  theatre  in 
Paw-tucket.  R.  I.,  has  accepted  a  place  on  the 
UMPI  tax  committee  for  Rhode  Island. 


To  Honor  Folliard 

A  testimonial  dinner  for  Robert  Folliard.  re- 
recently  appointed  RKO  district  manager,  will 
be  held  at  the  Willard  Hotel.  Washington,  on 
September  18th. 


14 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


$197,734,000  WAR  BONDS 
SOLD  IN  FIRST  8  DAYS 


Trade  Holds  to  Own  Quota 
of  $1,000,000,000  on  Basis 
of  Star  Sales 

The  industry  this  week,  well  past  the 
first  fevered  opening  days  of  the  $1,000,- 
000,000  War  Bond  drive,  settled  down  to 
the  steady  day-to-day  pressure  upon  which 
executives  of  the  campaign  base  their 
hopes  for  record  sales  during  September. 
On  Wednesday  official  sales  for  the  first 
eight  days  of  the  month,  announced  by  the 
Treasury  at  $197,734,000  showed  an  aver- 
age rate  equivalent  to  the  Treasury  quota 
of  $775,000,000  but  $7,000,000  a  day  behind 
the  industry's  own  quota.  The  difference 
is  attributed  to  the  fact  the  Treasury  fig- 
ures, made  up  only  after  the  Bond  cash  is 
in  the  Federal  Reserve  Banks,  are  five 
days  behind  the  actual  sales.  Total  for 
the  first  five  days  was  $129,784,000. 

Reports  from  the  field,  not  totaled  by 
drive  headquarters  in  New  York  because 
many  of  them  would  be  duplicated  and  be- 
cause few  of  them  distinguished  between 
pledges  and  actual  sales,  gave  committee 
heads  solid  reasons  for  predicting  that  the 
$1,000,000,000  goal  would  be  reached. 

The  Stars  Over  America  tours  showed 
excellent  results,  particularly  in  the  payroll 
allotment  plans  in  factories  and  offices. 
Figures  wired  to  Oscar  A.  Doob's  office 
in  New  York  showed  a  total  of  $7,600,000 
for  one  day's  sales  by  the  15  stars  now  on 
tour.  Totals  over  the  holiday  weekend  were 
not  completed  early  in  the  week  but  were 
expected  to  pass  this  daily  rate. 

Outstanding  among  the  reports  from  the  field 
of  sales  made  by  the  stars  was  one  from  Blue- 
field,  West  Va.,  on  Greer  Garson's  itinerary, 
where  $425,000  worth  of  Bonds  were  sold,  an 
average  of  $165  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child  in  the  community.  The  story  was  the 
same  in  essence  in  every  town  visited. 

Assignments  for 
Second  Star  Group 

The  Hollywood  Victory  Committee  this  week 
announced  assignments  for  part  of  the  second 
group  of  stars  to  take  the  road  starting  Septem- 
ber 10th.    They  are : 

Bette  Davis— Kansas  City,  St.  Joseph,  Mob- 
erly,  Springfield  and  Joplin,  Mo. ;  Tulsa,  Mus- 
kogee and  Oklahoma  City,  Okla. 

Gene  Tierney  and  Chester  Morris — -Madi- 
son, Wis. ;  Rockford,  Peoria,  Springfield  and 
Decatur,  111. ;  the  territory  from  Danville,  111., 
to  Terre  Haute,  Ind. ;  and  territory  from  Pa- 
ducah,  Ky.,  to  Hopkinsville,  Ky. 

Fred  Astaire,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Astaire, 
and  Hugh  Herbert  and  Ilona  Massey — Toledo, 
Cleveland  and  suburbs,  Lorain,  Akron  and  Can- 
ton, Ohio ;  the  territory  from  Zanesville,  Ohio, 
to  Parkersburg,  W.  Va. ;  Columbus,  Spring- 
field, Dayton  and  Hamilton,  Ohio ;  the  terri- 
tory from  Mansfield  to  Marion  and  Lima,  Ohio ; 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  Covington,  Ky. 

John  Payne,  Jinx  Falkenburg  and  Jane  Wy- 
man — Newport  News,  Portsmouth,  Norfolk, 
Petersburg,  Richmond,  Rocky  Mount  and  Wil- 
son, Va. ;  Raleigh,  Durham,  Burlington,  Greens- 
boro and  Winston-Salem,  N.  C. ;  Spartanburg, 
Greenville  and  Columbia,  S.  C. ;  Augusta,  Ga. ; 
and  Wilmington,  N.  C. 

Dorothy  Lamour — Fall  River,  New  Bedford, 


"YOU  FELLOWS  CAN 
DO  IT"— TREASURY 

The  Treasury  Department,  announc- 
ing its  official  quota  of  $775,000,000 
sales  of  War  Bonds  for  September, 
paid  tribute  to  the  industry  in  men- 
tioning the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  its 
own  lower  quota,  it  believed  the 
industry  might  reach  its  optimistic 
quota  of  $1,000,000,000.  "You  fel- 
lows can  do  it.  You  can  do  any- 
thing," one  official  was  quoted  as 
saying. 

The  Treasury's  figures  for  the  first 
five  days  of  September  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

1st  -  $19,162,000 
2nd  -  24,558,000 
3rd  -  27,702,000 
4th  -  28,482,000 
5th  -  29,880,000 
The  figures  are  five  days  behind 
actual  sales. 


Brockton,  Quincy,  Boston  and  suburbs,  Lynn, 
Haverhill,  Lawrence  and  Lowell,  Mass. ;  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H. ;  Portland,  Augusta  and  Bangor, 
Maine ;  Concord,  Manchester  and  Nashua,  N. 
H. ;  Keene,  N.  H.,  and  territory  to  Rutland  and 
Battleboro,  Vermont. 

Still  other  stars  will  be  assigned  routes  as 
rapidly  as  their  various  studios  assure  the  Vic- 
tory Committee  of  their  availability. 

Distributors'  Plan 
Brings  Response 

Announcements  that  distributors  would  co- 
operate with  exhibitors  who  desire  to  stage  a 
"Bond  Premiere"  of  September  picture  engage- 
ments has  brought  enthusiastic  response.  Ex- 
hibitors in  all  parts  of  the  country  are  con- 
tacting exchange  managers  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  opening  performances  at  which  the 
admission  price  will  be  Bond  purchases.  A.  H. 
Blank  of  Tri-States  Theatres  wired  the  War 
Activities  Committee  guaranteeing  sellouts  for 
premieres  in  Des  Moines,  $350,000 ;  Davenport, 
$200,000;  Cedar  Rapids,  $175,000;  Waterloo, 
$75,000,  and  Burlington,  $200,000.  Other  Bond 
shows  with  name  bands  are  planned  for  another 
$1,000,000,  according  to  Mr.  Blank. 

Distribution  of  the  Navy's  "Battle  of  Mid- 
way," two-reel  subject  by  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  is  expected  to  boost  Bond  sales. 
The  picture  names  and  shows  in  closeups  a 
number  of  American  pilots  whose  planes  bear 
the  "meatball"  insignias  which  indicate  downed 
Japanese  planes.  The  names  and  addresses  of 
these  men  will  be  supplied  to  War  Bond  com- 
mittees in  any  territory  so  that  special  rallies 
may  be  staged  for  the  heroes  pictured  in  con- 
nection with  showings  of  the  picture  and  War 
Bond  sales. 

The  Labor  Day  weekend  was  no  holiday  for 
the  stars  on  the  road.  On  the  third  day  of  her 
eastern  tour  Hedy  Lamarr  shook  hands  with 
each  of  the  thousand  employees  of  the  York 
Lock  &  Safe  plant.  Having  already  subscribed 
an  average  of  12  per  cent  of  their  weekly  salary 
for  Bonds,  the  employees  pledged  an  extra 
$20,000  during  the  visit.    In  the  evening  Miss 


Lamarr  was  guest  of  honor  at  a  "million  dollar 
Bond  dinner"  at  the  York  Country  Club  and 
she  then  went  on  to  Newark  and  Elizabeth, 
N.  J. 

James  Cagney's  straight-from-the-shoulder 
talks  to  thousands  of  workers  in  Cary,  Ham- 
mond and  East  Chicago  steel  mills  brought  an 
earlier  average  of  four  per  cent  savings  enroll- 
ment up  ahead  of  the  10  per  cent  mark.  In 
Michigan  City,  12,000  Studebaker  and  Bendix 
workers  signed  12,000  pledges  after  Mr.  Cag- 
ney's visit. 

Talks  By  Stars 
Boost  Purchases 

Walter  Pidgeon,  Joan  Leslie  and  Adolphe 
Menjou  produced  equally  heartening  results  at 
the  giant  Kaiser  shipyards  in  Salem,  Ore. 
Charles  Laughton,  Ann  Rutherford  and  Virginia 
Gilmore  promoted  an  enormous  increase  of  10 
per  cent  salary  allocations  in  the  New  Haven, 
Hartford  and  New  Britain  areas. 

Immediate  results,  on  an  unanticipated  scale, 
were  reported  after  Edward  Arnold  and  Fran- 
ces Dee  had  addressed  1,000  personnel  directors 
at  a  luncheon  at  the  Peabody  Hotel  in  Mem- 
phis. After  the  visits  of  the  same  stars  to  East 
St.  Louis,  111.,  salary  pledges  jumped  from 
8.2  per  cent  to  12.4  percent,  a  45  per  cent 
increase. 

Another  striking  development  of  the  drive, 
this  time  through  the  efforts  of  Miss  Lamarr, 
was  reported  in  Newark,  N.  J.  Col.  Franklin 
D'Olier,  president  of  the  Prudential  Insurance 
Company,  pledged  that  Prudential's  20,000  sales- 
men would  be  given  quotas  and  act  as  "Com- 
mandos" in  the  Bond  drive. 

Theatre  goers  in  New  York  State  are  buying 
War  Bonds  and  Stamps  at  the  rate  of  $6,000,000 
a  day,  it  was  announced  this  week  at  Max 
Cohen's  state  headquarters  in  New  York.  The 
total  early  this  week  had  passed  $36,000,000 
against  a  quota  for  the  month  of  $160,000,000. 
A  Times  Square  rally  with  Irene  Dunne  lead- 
ing the  program  and  representatives  of  Chinese 
organizations  sponsoring  the  Bond  sales  was 
held  Tuesday  night.  Tuesday  evening  Miss 
Dunne  reviewed  a  mile-long  parade  in  Mount 
Vernon  and  concluded  her  day  at  a  rally  in 
New  Rochelle  High  School. 

In  170  of  800  theatres  in  the  Metropolitan 
area  $322,510  worth  of  Bonds  and  Stamps  were 
sold  over  the  holiday  weekend.  The  Rialto 
theatre  in  Times  Square  announced  that  start- 
ing September  9th  any  purchaser  of  a  $25  Bond 
would  be  admitted  to  the  theatre  free  between 
8  :30  A.  M.  and  1  P.  M.  The  theatre  is  show- 
ing  "The  World  at  War,"  sponsored  by  the 
Government.  At  its  premiere  last  week,  $60,- 
000  worth  of  Bonds  were  sold. 

St.  Louis  Bond  Total 
In  High  Brackets 

The  Independent  Theatre  Owners  of  South- 
east Missouri  started  the  drive  with  a  free 
show  August  31st,  at  which  all  patrons  had  to  , 
buy  a  Bond  or  Stamp.    Thirteen  theatres  sold 
a  total  of  $28,220.50  worth  of  Bonds. 

A  rally  at  the  Municipal  Auditorium  in  St.' 
Louis  last  week  netted  $1,377,530.    Tickets  to; 
the  rally  were  distributed  in  100  theatres  in  the 
city  to  each  purchaser  of  a  $25  Bond.  More 
than  10,000  attended,  buying  a  total  of  $1,137,- 
275  in  Bonds  for  tickets.    Auctions  of  every-; 
thing  from  champagne  to  a  season  pass  to  any  | 
theatre   in  the  city  brought  $240,075.  Fred 
Wehrenberg,  St.  Louis  chairman  of  the  War] 
Activities  Committee,   spent  $40,500  to  lead 
the  bidding,  buying  Frances  Dee's  shoes  and!1 
Edward  Arnold's  suspenders  and  a  book.  Samj 

(Continued  on  opposite  page) 


September    12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


15 


QUOTAS  EXCEEDED  IN  FIELD 


HEDY  LAMARR  with  Edgar  Scott,  Philadelphia  banker,  left,  who  was  chairman 
of  the  committee  for  that  city's  drive  opening  Bond  luncheon,  and  Benjamin  Ludlow, 
state  administrator  of  the  War  Savings  Staff.  Each  of  the  bonds  Miss  Lamarr  has 
spread  out  in  her  hand  for  Mr.  Scotfs  inspection  is  for  $10,000. 


(Continued  from  opposite  page) 

Komm,  another  exhibitor,  bought  a  pass  for 
§15,500  and  then  sold  it  back  for  another 
$15,000. 

Theatres  in  the  city  sold  $376,600  worth  of 
Bonds  last  Thursday  night.  Loew's  led  the 
city  with  $68,000.  Paul  Krueger,  son-in-law 
of  Fred  Wehrenberg,  manager  of  the  LeMay 
and  Southway  theatres,  sold  $10,000  to  Fred 
Schneider,  union  business  agent. 

The  rally  plus  Bond  and  Stamp  sales  in  thea- 
tres during  five  days  of  the  campaign  brought 
the  St.  Louis  total  to  $1,429,928. 

Indianapolis  theatres  got  off  to  a  good  start 
on  opening  night.  The  highest  total  of  spot 
sales  was  at  Carl  Niesse's  Vogue  theatre,  where 
$11,000  was  sold.  Sales  totaling  §4,000  were 
tabulated  at  Loew's.  The  highest  community 
sales  reported  were  $20,000  by  the  Carole  Lom- 
bard Victory  Unit  No.  1,  sponsored  by  the 
Fountain  Square  theatre,  of  which  Earl  Cun- 
ningham is  manager. 

Theatre  owners  of  the  Carolinas  reported 
one-tenth  of  the  $15,000,000  tabulated  in  the 
two  states  on  the  opening  day  of  the  drive. 
E.  E.  Wade,  operator  of  the  Iris  and  Gem  the- 
atres at  Belmont,  N.  C,  reported  to  Mrs.  Wal- 
ter S.  Griffith,  secretary,  that  his  theatres  sold 
$70,150  the  first  day. 

Sales  in  Chicago 
Hold  Rapid  Pace 

The  War  Bond  Drive  opened  with  a  tremen- 
dous impetus  in  Chicago  and  the  state  of  Illi- 
nois and  continued  at  such  a  rapid  pace  that 
figures  on  the  first  week's  sales  had  not  been 
tabulated  at  press  time.  It  is  said  that  the 
total  on  the  first  week  is  well  into  the  millions. 

James  Cagney,  following  his  Chicago_  ap- 
pearances, appeared  at  a  luncheon  at  Whiting. 
Ind.,  sponsored  by  the  Indiana-Illinois  Thea- 
tres circuit,  last  Friday  and  $135,000  in  Bonds 
were  sold  among  200  present,  which  was  $35,- 
000  over  the  quota  set.  At  Michigan  City,  Ind., 
that  evening  he  appeared  at  a  Victory  Dinner, 
also  sponsored  by  the  same  organization,  at 
the  Spaulding  Hotel,  at  which  over  $300,000 
in  Bonds  were  sold.    The  quota  was  $250,000. 

Balaban  &  Katz,  in  conjunction  with  the  U. 
S.  Treasury  Department,  will  hold  a  special 
performance  of  "Wake  Island"  at  the  Roosevelt 
theatre,  Chicago,  on  September  15th.  Admis- 
sion will  be  by  War  Bond  only  with  the  prices 
scaled  at  $500,  $1,000,  $2,500  and  $5,000.  The 
showing  is  expected  to  net  at  least  $5,000,000  in 
War  Bond  sales. 

About  300  buyers  of  $5,000  Bonds  will  be 
guests  of  Irene  Dunne  at  a  WAC  luncheon 
September  16th  in  the  William  Penn  Hotel, 
Pittsburgh,  sponsored  by  140  industrialists  from 
19  western  Pennsylvania  counties. 

War  Mothers  to  Be 
Guests  at  Bond  Show 

In  The  Gardens  the  same  night,  an  all-star 
show  featuring  Miss  Dunne  and  Jackie  Cooper 
and  Gertrude  Niesen  will  be  staged,  with  gen- 
eral admission  a  $25  Bond  and  boxes  for  pur- 
chasers of  $10,000  Bonds.  More  than  100  war 
widows  and  mothers  will  be  honor  guests  at 
The  Gardens  show.    The  theatre  seats  10,000. 

Beginning  September  8th,  four-hour  rallies 
are  being  held  daily  in  "Bond  Square,"  a  down- 
town parking  lot  converted   into   a  rallying 
ground  by  decorative  bunting  and  platform. 
Martin  Burnett,  Loew's  Penn  manager,  and  Ir- 
;  win  D.  Wolf,   vice-president   of  Kaufmann's 
:  Department  Store,  are  co-chairmen  of  "Bond 
;  Square."    M.  A.  Silver  and  Frank  Harris  are 
co-chairmen  of  the  Gardens  show. 
War  Bonds  totaling  $15,000  in  value  were 


sold  the  opening  night  at  Edward  L.  Reed's 
Strand  theatre  in  Providence,  with  Mr.  Reed 
and  Archibald  Silverman,  president  of  the  the- 
atre, conducting  the  15-minute  program.  Jack 
Martin  of  the  Providence  Journal  editorial  staff, 
spoke  at  the  RKO  Albee  theatre  on  the  open- 
ing program,  which  was  conducted  by  William 
Morton  of  the  theatre  staff.  Bonds  totaling  $1,- 
025  were  sold.  At  Loew's  State  theatre  with 
Jack  Simons  in  charge,  $21,000  in  Bonds  were 
purchased.  Jack  Toohey  of  the  Carlton  thea- 
tre reported  sales  totaling  $500,  while  at  the 
Majestic  theatre  with  Albert  J.  Clarke  in 
charge  sales  totaled  $4,000.  The  audience 
pledged  $1,775  at  Fay's  theatre.  Maury  Lowe 
of  the  radio  spoke  at  the  Avon,  Bijou  and  Em- 
pire theatres. 

Harry  Browning,  publicity  representative  for 
the  M  &  P  Theatres,  estimated  that  Bond  buy- 
ing in  Boston  theatres  the  opening  night  totaled 
$2,500,000.  Boston's  advance  sale  of  bonds 
and  stamps  totaled  $5,482,790,  according  to 
Chief  Commando  Samuel  Pinanski.  The  Capi- 
tol theatre  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  reported  $35,- 
000  sales,  while  $15,000  worth  were  sold  in  a 
program  outside  the  Inman  Square  theatre, 
Cambridge.  Paul  Robeson,  Negro  baritone, 
sold  more  than  $2,000  worth  at  a  Central 
Square,  Cambridge,  meeting. 

Boston's  Theatre  Committee  estimated  that  a 
total  of  $2,000,000  in  Bonds  was  sold  during 
the  first  24  hours  of  the  intensive  drive  at  its 
Bond  and  Stamp  booth  on  Boston  Commons. 

Posters  and  Booths 
Used  in  Kansas  City 

Many  exhibitors  in  the  Kansas  City  area,  be- 
sides displaying  posters  to  boost  Bond  and 
Stamp  sales,  maintaining  booths  in  theatres  for 
such  sales,  and  also  selling  Stamps  at  box 
offices,  are  using  part  of  their  paid  space  in 
newspapers  to  urge  the  public  to  purchase. 
The  phrase  used  by  many  in  these  ads  is  "Buy 
a  Bond  Today  to  Honor  Every  Mother's  Son 
in  Service,"  sometimes  varied  a  little. 

First  reports  of  Bond  sales  for  opening  day 
of  the  September  campaign  showed  an  estimated 
$75,000  for  New  Haven,  with  high  receipts 


continuing  all  through  the  first  week,  in  thea- 
tres, by  solicitation,  at  theatre-inspired  pro- 
grams on  the  Green,  and  especially,  at  the  rally 
in  honor  of  the  visiting  Caravan  of  Stars,  in- 
cluding Charles  Laughton,  Ann  Rutherford, 
Margaret  Gilmore,  and  Robert  Young.  Start- 
ing with  a  two-hour  parade,  the  week  was  no- 
table for  Salute  to  Heroes  programs  on  thea- 
tre stages,  special  children's  morning  shows 
staged  by  theatres,  a  dinner,  and  many  special 
revues  and  programs. 

L.  J.  Hoffman,  Warner  zone  head,  and  Harry 
F.  Shaw,  Loew-Poli  division  manager,  reported 
incomplete  figures  which  had  been  gathered  for 
the  state  by  the  end  of  the  first  day  would  place 
the  state  total  a  well  over  $275,000. 

Believing  results  would  be  more  far-reach- 
ing, the  dinner  honoring  the  Caravan  of  Stars 
at  the  Hotel  Taft  was  tendered  to  various  em- 
ployers of  labor,  key  union  men,  and  some 
film  representatives  in  an  attempt  to  further  the 
10  per  cent  wage  deduction  plan,  rather  than 
to  purchasers  of  $500  bonds  only.  First  day's 
receipts  for  the  Warner  circuit  here  totaled 
$55,000,  and  for  the  Loew-Poli  circuit,  $125,585. 
Exchange  men  raised  $40,000  in  a  concentrated 
solicitation  drive. 

Florida  Quota  Is 
Increased  for  Drive 

The  September  drive  started  strong  at  Tam- 
pa, Fla.,  and  seemed  to  be  getting  stronger 
daily.  The  monthly  quota  of  $7,000,000  for  the 
state  of  Florida  has  been  raised  to  $14,000,000 
for  September,  and  Tampa's  share  has  been  set 
at  $1,300,000. 

The  Tampa  theatre  was  made  an  official  issu- 
ing agency  of  the  Treasury  for  the  sale  of 
Bonds.  A  booth  was  erected  in  the  lobby 
and  two  attendants  will  be  on  hand  day  and 
night  during  the  month  to  sell  and  deliver  the 
Bonds. 

Cooperating  in  the  campaign,  San  Francisco 
theatremen  were  preparing  to  stage  a  gigantic 
War  Bond  Rally  and  Auction  in  the  Civic 
Auditorium.  Successful  bidders  for  Bonds  will 
be  rewarded  with  free  merchandise  prizes  do- 
nated by  leading  merchants,  with  show  people 
providing  the  entertainment  talent. 


16 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


U.  S.  FORCES  IN  BRITAIN  GET 
CREAM  OF  ENTERTAINMENT 


Best  of  Screen  and  Stage 
Shows  Rushed  to  Men; 
Stars  Tour  Camps 

by  AUBREY  FLANAGAN 

in  London 

From  the  British  scene,  as  it  faces  the 
U.S.  soldier,  sailor  or  airman  attached  to 
the  European  Theatre  of  Operations, 
more  than  one  home  comfort  may  be 
missing.  Not  easily  will  he  find  chilled 
beer,  sweet  corn,  Idaho  potatoes,  shower 
baths,  and  fresh  paint  on  the  porch.  Slow 
to  melt  may  he  find  the  English  reserve, 
which  covers  a  warm  hearted  and  at  time 
embarrassing  friendliness. 

But  one  thing  he  will  find  with  no  dif- 
ficulty, and  a  great  deal  of  satistfaction ; 
screen,  stage  and  radio  entertainment — 
in  addition  to  athletics,  social  facilities 
and  attendant  recreations. 

American  thoroughness  and  American 
warm  heartedness  already  have  translated 
themselves  into  action,  so  that  the  numerous 
— how  numerous  cannot  be  divulged — U.  S. 
troops  in  Great  Britain  are,  within  the  in- 
evitable phvsical  limits  imposed  by  war  con- 
ditions and  camp  life,  getting  snap-up-to- 
the-minute  motion  pictures  and  front  rank 
stage  and  vaudeville  shows  as  regularly  and 
as  thoroughly  as  they  are  getting  their 
morning  bacon  and  eggs  and  their  monthly 
paychecks. 

Films  no  sooner  are  received  here  by  the 
U.  S.  distributors  than  they  are  reduced 
to  16mm  positives  and  screened  at  the  Army 
camps  throughout  the  British  Isles.  Al- 
ready Hollywood  feature  players  have  "clip- 
pered"  their  way  across  the  Atlantic  to  en- 
tertain the  U.  S.  Forces — and  British  muni- 
tion workers — here.  Others  are  to  follow 
in  regular  succession.  Not  an  American 
artist  here  but  is  spending  practically  all 
his  or  her  spare  time  in  traveling  the  coun- 
try, giving  stage  shows  to  the  doughboys. 

Radio  Receiving 
Special  Consideration 

British  units,  operating  through  the  Enter- 
tainment National  Service  Association,  the 
official  body  equivalent  here  to  Camp  Shows, 
Inc.,  are  likewise  collaborating.  The  radio,  to 
which  particular  importance  is  attached  by  the 
War  Department  in  Washington  also  is  being 
given  special  consideration.  Further  reference 
will  be  made  in  these  columns  when  certain 
arrangements  have  been  completed. 

Although  to  a  great  extent  this  has  been 
made  possible  by  goodwill,  mainly  on  the  part 
of  American  concerns  and  individuals  resident 
here,  the  British  offices  and  members  of  the 
Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Distributors  of 
America,  and  American  stage  and  screen  art- 
ists working  in  Great  Britain,  it  obviously 
could  not  have  materialized  without  consider- 
able foresight  and  organization  on  the  part  of 
General  Eisenhower's  staff  and  its  Washington 
headquarters.  Already,  in  the  comparatively 
brief  time  in  which  the  American  Forces  have 
been  in  Britain,  machinery  has  been  set  up 
under  which  the  shows  are  planned,  commis- 
sioned and  physical  distribution  arranged. 

Virtual  parent  body,  quartered  in  London, 
is  the  Special  Services  Section,  whose  functions 


BRITISH  WEIGHING 
RETURN  TO  SINGLES 

Interest  in  film  trade  circles  in  Eng- 
land is  turning  toward  a  return  to 
single  features  as  a  means  of  con- 
serving raw  stock,  according  to  re- 
ports from  London.  The  Board  of 
Trade  as  well  as  trade  officials  are 
understood  to  be  studying  the  situa- 
tion, and  discussion  has  been  held 
with  distributors  relative  to  the  prac- 
ticability of  such  a  change  from 
their  standpoint. 


and  duties  are  wide  and  cover  the  general  wel- 
fare of  uniformed  men  and  women  of  the  U.  S. 
Forces  here.  It  is  the  S.S.S.  which  devises 
and  plans  entertainment  policy,  and  arranges 
for  the  physical  provision  of  entertainment 
throughout  the  camps  and  Army  and  Air  Corps 
Stations  here.  For  the  Entertainments  Sec- 
tion of  the  Service  of  Supply  of  the  U.  S. 
Army,  they  get  shows,  arrange  traveling  and 
billeting  facilities  and  send  them  out. 

Through  a  linked  pattern  of  contacts  de- 
scending through  the  various  Commands  or 
Base  Sections,  through  Districts,  Divisions, 
Regiments  and  Camps,  the  shows  are  routed 
and  sped  on  their  way.  They  are  given  in  gar- 
rison theatres,  in  local  halls,  in  big  tops,  in 
ramshackle  huts,  on  open  air  stages,  in  large 
garrisons  and  on  lone  outposts,  wherever  there 
are  American  uniforms  and  men  to  be  enter- 
tained. As  many  as  three  or  four  shows  a  day 
sometimes  are  given. 

Shows  for  Services 
Of  High  Calibre 

That  the  shows  are  of  a  calibre  just  as  high 
as  is  physically  possible  is  evident  in  that  they 
are  arranged  and  given  under  the  banner  of  the 
American  Overseas  Artists,  a  body  spontane- 
ously formed  this  year,  on  which  are  practically 
every  American  screen,  stage  and  radio  artist 
here.  Under  the  presidency  of  Ben  Lyon,  with 
such  notables  as  Vic  Oliver,  Teddy  Brown, 
Carroll  Gibbons,  Frances  Day  and  Constance 
Cummings  among  the  executives,  the  A.O.A. 
forms  individuals  units  and  sends  them  around 
the  country  under  the  official  banner  of  the 
Special  Services  Section. 

Transportation  is  provided  but  they  billet 
themselves.  Artists  tied  up  during  the  week 
give  Sunday  shows.  An  all-colored  unit  has 
been  formed,  mainly  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  colored  troops  here.  Audiences  vary  in  size 
according  to  the  importance  of  the  unit  visited, 
but  an  audience  of  1,000  is  a  fair  one.  They 
do  not  vary  in  enthusiasm. 

This  week  of  reporting  a  party  of  five  Holly- 
wood artists,  sent  by  the  USO,  Merle  Oberon, 
Patricia  Morison,  Al  Jolson,  Frankie  McHugh 
and  Allen  Jenkins  came  here  by  Clipper  and 
will  spend  the  next  four  weeks  touring  the 
British  Isles,  through  the  facilities  of  the 
A.O.S.  and  through  the  official  channel  of  the 
Special  Services  Section,  giving  shows  to  the 
U.  S.  troops  here.  They  are  the  first  of  a  regu- 
lar wartime  supply  of  American  players,  who 
have  volunteered  to  make  the  trip  to  Britain 
to  entertain  their  fellows  in  khaki  and  navy 
blue. 

The  troops  also  are  being  encouraged  to  or- 
ganize and  give  their  own  shows,  and  already 
considerable  talent     in  the  U.  S.  Army  and 


Air  Force  has  been  discovered  and  is  being 
developed.  Naturally  there  are  vaudeville  and 
other  artists  in  battle  dress  in  the  U.  S.  Forces 
as  well  as  in  the  British. 

Arrangements  for  motion  picture  entertain- 
ment are  not  dissimilar  to  those  obtaining  in 
regard  to  live  artists.  Here  a  British  section 
of  the  War  Activities  Committee  of  the  U.  S. 
industry  is  governing  and  maintaining  film  sup- 
plies. On  it  all  the  leading  American  com- 
panies are  represented. 

Conditions  as  yet  are  not  as  satisfactory 
from  a  viewpoint  of  completion  as  is  desired, 
due  mostly  to  an  insufficiency — a  temporary 
one,  however — of  projectors.  Some  American 
apparatus  has  been  sent  and  is  being  used,  but 
the  figure  is  nearer  a  minimum  than  a  maxi- 
mum. Thanks  to  the  teamwork  of  the  Min- 
istry of  Information,  the  Directorate  of  Army 
Kinematography  and  E.N.S.A.,  a  reasonable 
figure — it  would  be  impolitic  for  security  rea- 
sons to  be  specific — is  in  circulation,  although 
the  figure  aimed  at  probably  would  be  four 
times  the  present.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  S.S.S. 
to  have  all  units  mobile,  thus  to  aid  rapid 
distribution. 

Shows  Exclusively 
For  Soldiers 

A  recent  visit  by  Joseph  Seidelman  of  Uni- 
versal resulted  in  the  creation  of  special  ma- 
chinery and  the  launching  of  a  London  sub- 
committee of  the  MPDDA  War  Activities 
Committee. 

Now,  thanks  to  a  distributor  policy  of  giv- 
ing two  16mm  prints  of  each  new  film  as  soon 
as  it  arrives,  together  with  shorts,  some  40 
features  have  been  passed  over  to  the  S.S.S. 
Each  company  is  giving  a  minimum  of  five 
features  with  shorts.  Reduction  to  16mm  is 
done  here  by  such  organizations  as  Olympic 
Laboratories,  the  Paramount  subsidiary. 

As  with  the  stage  shows,  the  motion  picture 
performances  are  strictly  confined  to  troops. 
No  civilians  are  admitted. 

As  already  reported  in  Motion  Picture 
Herald,  there  have  been  minor  breezes.  U.  S. 
troops  in  Northern  Ireland,  when  they  first 
arrived  there,  raised  objection  to  the  fact  that 
they,  so  to  speak,  were  fobbed  off  with  films 
on  the  E.N.S.A.  screens  that  they  had  seen 
long  ago  in  the  U.  S.  As  already  reported, 
this  was  remedied  by  provision  direct  to  the 
U.  S.  Forces  of  the  latest  U.  S.  films,  even 
before  they  had  been  shown  here.  Features, 
even  West  End  pre-released,  now  are  being 
seen  by  the  Americans  in  Great  Britain. 

Exhibitors  Grumble 
At  Competition 

There  is,  of  course,  a  charge  at  the  British 
Army  cinemas,  but  none  at  the  U.  S.  variety. 
Despite  the  two-mile  limit  imposed,  exhibitors 
have  been  known  to  grumble  at  up-to-date  film? 
being  shown  to  the  "brutal  and  licentious  sob 
diery,"  claiming  it  takes  custom  away  fron 
their  box  offices. 

Determination  of  the  distributors  here  to  le1 
nothing  stand  in  the  way  of  giving  either  Brit-, 
ish  or  American  Forces  the  very  best  of  film? 
under  the  best  possible  circumstances  has  beer 
reflected  in  the  decision  on  the  part  of  tin 
Kinematograph  Renters  Society  to  tell  the  ex- 
hibitors that  they  now  are  going  to  ignore  th« 
two-mile  bar.  In  future,  they  will  impose  no 
restriction  on  the  showing  of  films  in  militar; 
camps,  contending  that  the  welfare  of  th< 
armed  forces  and  their  recreation  are  more  im 
portant  than  constitutional  or  statutory  ob 
servance  of  such  details  as  distance  limits. 


ARE  WE 
MICE  OR 
MEN! 


September  Bond  Drive 

TREASURY 
QUOTA: 
$775,000,000 


September  Bond  Drive 

OUR 
QUOTA: 
$l,000,000,000 


They  can't  stop  us— not  if  we  fight! 
We  won't  accept  a  quota  below  a  Billion! 
Spread  the  word  everywhere! 
Tell  every  loyal  worker  in  the  Bond  Drive! 
Impress  it  on  Treasury  officials  near  you! 
When  you've  reached  your  official  quota 
Set  by  the  Treasury  for  your  locality- 
Hit  for  25%  more  and  you'll  be  a  hero 
In  the  Salute  to  Our  Heroes  month! 
They  say  we  can't  reach  a  Billion! 
To  the  everlasting  glory  of  Film  Business 
Let's  reply: 

"A  BILLION  OR  BUST! 


Sponsored  by  the  War  Activities  Committee  of  the  Motion  Picture  Industry, 
150 1  Broadway,  New  York  City.  (Room  408) 


18 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


THE  FARNOL  CASE 


Goetz  in  Charge 

Of20th-Fox 

Production 

Production  at  the  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
studios  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Wil- 
liam Goetz,  vice-president  in  charge  of  studio 
operations,  on  Tuesday  by  Spyros  Skouras, 
president.  Mr.  Goetz  takes  over  all  the  produc- 
tion duties  formerly  handled  by  Colonel  Darryl 
F.  Zanuck. 

Colonel  Zanuck,  now  on  active  duty  with  the 
Motion  Picture  Section  of  the  Army  Signal 
Corps,  is  on  leave  of  absence  from  Twentieth 
Century-Fox.  Mr.  Skouras  said  that  the  post 
of  vice-president  in  charge  of  production  will 
not  be  filled  during  Colonel  Zanuck's  absence. 

Mr.  Goetz  has  been  actively  supervising  most 
production  operations  for  a  large  part  of  the 
past  year  during  Colonel  Zanuck's  absences  on 
missions  for  the  Signal  Corps.  Colonel  Zanuck 
submitted  his  resignation  as  vice-president  and 
member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  last  week. 

Since  1937  Mr.  Goetz  has  been  an  assistant 
to  Colonel  Zanuck.  Last  winter  he  was  elected 
to  the  board  of  directors  and  made  vice-presi- 
dent in  charge  of  studio  operations.  He  became 
an  associate  producer  for  20th  Century  Produc- 
tions in  1934,  and  was  made  a  vice-president 
shortly  after  20th  Century-Fox  was  formed. 

Mr.  Goetz,  who  is  39,  is  a  native  of  New 
York.  He  left  college  to  enter  the  film  business 
and  for  three  years  was  an  assistant  producer 
for  Corinne  Griffith.  He  subsequently  worked 
at  MGM  and  Paramount  in  various  production 
capacities.  In  1930  he  joined  the  Fox  Film 
Corporation  as  an  associate  producer  and  as- 
sistant to  Sol  Wurtzel. 

British  Exhibitors  Get 
Training  Commissions 

Exhibitor  and  labor  union  nominees  have  re- 
ceived King's  commissions  in  England  to  di- 
rect the  Home  Guard  training  plan  in  various 
Army  commands.  Under  the  plan,  all  theatres 
are  avalable  for  showing  training  films,  and 
cooperate  in  Home  Guard  training. 

Leading  representatives  of  the  Cinemato- 
graph Exhibitors  Association  named  as  majors 
include  :  L.  G.  Hill,  southern  command ;  Charles 
Metcalfe,  northern ;  D.  Bostock,  eastern ;  Ran- 
dolph Richards,  southeastern ;  W.  J.  Speakman, 
western,  and  R.  J.  McLaughlin,  Scotland. 


Orders  Study  of  Books 

Inspection  of  the  books  and  records  of  Gen- 
eral Aniline  &  Film  Corp.  by  George  Hirli- 
man,  independent  producer,  was  ordered  this 
week  by  New  York  supreme  court  Justice  Ken- 
neth O'Brien.  Mr.  Hirliman  is  suing  General 
Aniline  and  its  subsidiaries,  Agfa  Ansco  Corp. 
and  Agfa  Raw  Film  Corp.,  for  allegedly  sup- 
plying him  with  poor  raw  stock.  Plaintiff 
claims  damages  of  $300,000.  The  court  would 
not  permit  Mr.  Hirliman  to  have  his  film  ex- 
perts examine  back  stock  of  the  company. 


New  Victory  Film  Ready 

The  War  Activities  Committee  on  Labor 
Day  released  its  latest  Victory  Film,  "Out 
of  the  Frying  Pan  Into  the  Firing  Line,"  a 
subject  about  conservation  of  waste  fats,  and 
starring  Minnie  Mouse  and  Pluto  the  Dog. 
Production  was  by  Walt  Disney.  Distribution 
is  by  RKO  under  WAC  auspices. 


Aids  Canteen 

Ben  Amsterdam,  head  of  Atlantic  Theatres, 
independent  circuit  of  Philadelphia,  heads  the 
industry  committee  for  the  collections  to  be 
taken  up  in  theatres  there  September  llth-13th, 
for  the  Stage  Door  Canteen. 


The  case  of  Major  Lynn  Farnol  again  illus- 
trates the  anxiety  on  the  part  of  a  certain 
type  of  newspaper  writer  and  public 
speaker  to  hurl — without  reason  or  justi- 
fication— criticism  and  complaint  against 
motion  pictures  and  motion  picture  people. 

The  case  which  recently  received  wide 
publicity  involves  the  issuance  of  a  press 
story  and  photographs  which  purported  to 
reveal  an  instance  of  grave  sabotage  but 
which  as  the  result  of  a  sound  and  enter- 
prising investigation  initiated  by  the  Wash- 
ington Star  proved  to  be  a  gross  imposi- 
tion upon  the  public's  credulity. 

That  the  incident  called  for  disciplinary 
action  was  evident.  Immediately  that  it 
was  known,  however,  that  Major  Farnol 
was  the  public  relations  officer  at  Mitchell 
Field,  New  York,  from  which  source  the 
material  was  released  to  the  press — and 
that  Major  Farnol  formerly  had  been  a 
motion  picture  advertising  and  publicity 
executive — the  floodgates  of  abuse  were 
opened.  The  headlong  conclusions  of  these 
critics  found  adequate  explanation  of  all 
that  happened  in  the  fact  that  Major 
Farnol  had  been  a  "movie  press  agent" — 
this  simple  fact  being  submitted  as  proof 
of  many  things,  all  unworthy  and  unde- 
sirable. 

Motion  picture  publicity — let  it  be  once 
more  stated — is  entitled  to  enjoy  and  does 
enjoy  an  enviable  reputation  in  the  eyes 
of  competent  observers.  This  is  the  result 
of  the  most  painstaking  effort  which  has 
been  accorded  any  similar  undertaking  in 
the  American  scene.  Major  Farnol  is  a 
product  of  this  school  of  publicity  which 
has  demonstrated  a  keen  responsiveness  to 
the  public  welfare — and  this  in  dealing  with 
a  type  of  subject  matter  which  provides 
not  only  abundant  opportunities  for  the 
wrong  thing  but  strong  pressures  as  well. 

The  fact  that  through  last  week's  order 
of  the  military  authorities  Major  Farnol  has 
been  returned  to  inactive  status  is  gleefully 
accepted  by  industry  critics  as  justification 
of  their  attacks.  This  does  not  happen  to 
be  true  in  any  right  or  reasonable  shape, 
form  or  manner. 

Major  Farnol  did  not  create  the  ma- 


Enforce  Old  Curfew  Law 

Norristown,  Pa.,  police  have  been  instructed 
to  enforce  strictly  an  old  curfew  law  for  chil- 
dren under  16.  The  law  forbids  children  to 
appear  on  the  streets  after  9  P.M.,  unless  ac- 
companied by  an  adult. 

Canadian  Reported  Missing 

Sergeant  Wireless  Air  Gunner  Joseph  Atkin- 
son, formerly  employed  by  the  Associated 
Screen  Studios,  in  Canada,  has  been  reported 
missing  in  action  overseas. 

Eldridge  in  New  Post 

Donald  Eldridge  has  been  appointed  director 
of  audio-visual  education  for  the  New  Haven 
public  schools. 


terial  which  resulted  in  that  imposition  upon 
the  public  which  was  so  rightfully  resented 
by  various  important  newspapers.  It  is 
equally  true  that  he  did  not  have  the 
authority  either  to  issue  or  to  withhold  the 
material.  He  was  the  issuing  agent,  re- 
sponsible only  for  its  release  in  a  form 
compatible  with  ordinary  publication  prac- 
tice. All  of  the  material,  text  and  illustra- 
tion, was  supplied  to  him  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  operations,  and  all  bore  the 
competent  authorization  for  release.  An 
examination  of  pertinent  documents  makes 
these  facts  very  clear. 

Bearing  such  authorization  we  see  no 
justification  for  attributing  blame  to  Major 
Farnol  for  his  assumption  that  the  material 
was  in  fact  what  it  purported  to  be.  We 
fail  to  see  how  under  the  circumstances  the 
public  relations  officer  at  Mitchell  Field 
would  have  either  the  authority  or  the 
temerity  to  make  any  other  assumption. 

We  venture  no  explanation  as  to  why  in 
view  of  the  known  facts  he  was  made  the 
target  of  disciplinary  action  other  than  to 
point  out  that  a  gesture  of  appeasement 
was  due  to  the  public  and  to  the  news- 
papers and  that  the  late  public  relations 
officer  at  Mitchell  Field  was  ready  of 
access. 

Major  Farnol  has  been  for  many  years  a 
respected  and  responsible  member  of  the 
industry  personnel.  As  a  civilian  at  a  time 
when  to  many  the  war  seemed  a  long  way 
off  he  dedicated  his  services,  at  consider- 
able personal  sacrifice,  to  the  public  weal. 
His  reward  at  this  point  is  to  have  suffered 
a  loss  not  only  of  his  military  status,  but  a 
considerable  impairment  of  his  professional 
status  as  well. 

Officially,  perhaps,  the  case  is  closed. 
Obviously  it  is  so  amongst  those  sharp- 
tongued  critics  to  whom  the  sacrifice  of 
"a  movie  press  agent"  was  entirely  ac- 
ceptable. 

It  is  such  as  these  who  for  all  their 
assumed  wisdom  have  failed  to  observe 
that  the  material  in  question  was  elsewhere 
originated   and   elsewhere   approved  for 

release. 

— Martin  Ouigley 


Camera  Book  Published 

Duell,  Sloan  and  Pearce  will  publish  "U.  S. 
Camera  1943"  in  October,  at  $4.50,  it  was  an- 
nounced in  New  York  this  week.  "U.  S.  Cam- 
era 1943"  will  be  similar  in  size  to  last  year's 
issue — one  large  volume.  It  is  again  edited  by 
T.  J.  Maloney. 

Stephani  Leaves  MGM 

Frederick  Stephani,  who  produced  the  Nick 
Carter  and  Tarzan  pictures  for  MGM,  has 
completed  his  contract  at  the  studio.  He  is 
expected  to  announce  a  new  affiliation  shortly. 

Georgia  House  Opens 

The  Wink  theatre,  Dalton,  Ga.,  has  opened. 
It  is  operated  by  Manning  and  Wink  Theatres. 


Paramount's  masterful  screening 
of  "Wake  Island"  is  an  unforget- 
table experience.  I  believe  that 
every  American  should  see  it— for 
here  is  recorded  the  magnificence 
of  men  who  have  died  for 
America.  Paramount's  simple 
story,  without  ever  actually  say- 
ing so,  says  in  every  line  that  be- 
sides such  sacrifice,  any  sacrifice 
we  may  be  called  upon  to  make 
is  small  by  comparison. 


Kate  Smith's  praise  of 
"Wake  Island"  is  but  one  of 
hundreds  of  tributes  from 
trade  and  newspaper 
critics  and  the  public: 
here  are  typical  excerpts- 


HflSilf 


THE  PICTURE  OF  THE  WAR. 

"this  is  THE  picture  of  the  war;  a  film 
that  will  make  your  spine  bristle,  your 
blood  boil  and  your  brain  and  heart 
clamor  for  suoer  all-out  action  aaainst 


see  it/' 

—EDITH  WERNER,  N.  Y.  Daily  Mirror 


TERRIFYING  BUT  INSPIRING! 

'Terrifying  but  inspiring;  it  catches  for 
this  new  and  terrible  war  what  'All 
Quiet  on  the  Western  Front'  finally 
caught  for  World  War  I — but  we  had 
to  wait  until  1930  for  that  picture." 


to  wait  until  1930  for  that  picture." 

— W.  WARD  MARSH, 
Cleveland  Plain-Dealer 


'You  come  away  stunned  and  awed; 
to  the  depths  of  your  soul  you  are 
shaken.  You  are  proud,  terribly  proud. 
This  is  the  one  picture  of  this  war 
every  American  should  see.'' 


BEST  OF  THE  WAR! 

"A  picture  for  everyone  to  see,  as  no 
American  can  view  this  heroic  action 
without  bursting  with  pride.  Fine  per- 
formances from  the  entire  cast.  The 
best  and  most  exciting  picture  of  the 


BE  SURE  YOU  PLAY  IT! 

'A  splendid  achievement.  Glory  to 
the  producers,  cast  and  craftsmen 
who  made  'Wake  Island'  real  by 
sticking  to  the  facts.  Play  it  ahead  of 
your  opposition  if  possible.  Play  it 
second,  third  or  fourth  if  necessary, 


COMPLETELY  SUCCESSFUL! 

'Hollywood's  first  intelligent,  honest 
and  completely  successful  attempt  to 
dramatize  the  deeds  of  an  American 
force  on  a  fighting  front." 

— Newsweek 


DRAMATIC  AND  HEROIC! 


— v.ue  Magazine 


OVERWHELMING  POWER! 

'It's  high  time  a  Hollywood  motion 
picture  stirred  up  this  kind  of  spirit. 
There  hasn't  been  anything  like  it 
since  'Mrs.  Miniver.'  And.; 'Wake 
Island' has  even  more  physical  sock  >';  :  1 
than  that  great  film.  It  has  the  over^  A  ;',';-  , 
whelming  power  of  the  real  thing— .  •:  :  )  T,: 
the  grime,  smoke,  flame,  shock  and,  ;,  v,[?j<i; 


raramoum  nas  proaucea  nor  oniy  a 
story  of  dramatic  and  heroic  action 
but  one  which  may  well  be  a  near 
factual  account  of  an  outstanding 
episode  in  modern  warfare.  Direc- 
tion makes  the  most  of  the  cumulative 
drama."  — Motion  Picture  Daily 


,  ,.,  debris  or  actual  oanie.  it win  ignite,  n 


WILL  THRILL  THE  NATION! 

'A  stirring  epic  which  will  thrill  the 
nation;  ranks  among  the  top  attrac- 
tions currently  .  .  doesn't  pull 
punches,  but  will  pull  irresistibly  a? 
the  boxoffice!"  —Film  Daily^ 


u 


WAKE  ISLAND"  WILL  BE  E XHIBI T E D 


¥ 


Paramount  knew  "Wake  Island"  was  World  War  IPs 
greatest  picture.  Weeks  ago  exhibitors  learned  it— after 
trade  screenings  and  sneak  previews  brought  unanimous 
praise.  Now  — with  capacity  crowds  thrilling  to  "Wake 
Island"  daily  at  the  New  York  Rivoli— the  WORLD  knows! 
Without  exception/  every  critic  — newspaper,  trade  and 
magazine  — has  said  "THIS  IS  IT!"  Here  are  excerpts  — 


TAUT  WITH  ACTION  1 

"Here  is  a  film  which  should  surely 
bring  a  surge  of  pride  to  every  patri- 
ot's breast.  And  here  is  a  film  for 
which  its  makers  deserve  a  sincere 
salute.  Credit  John  Farrow  for  giving 
the  film  much  brutal  suspense;  for 
drawing  the  story  taut  with  scream- 
ing action  and  intervals  of  breathless 
quiet." 

— BOSLEY  CROWTHER,  N,  Y.  Times 


TREMENDOUS  IMPACT! 

"All  the  dramatic  intensity  inherent  in 
the  heroic  defense  of  the  little  Pacific 
outpost  has  been  caught;  carries  a 
tremendous  impact,  which  should  be 
reflected  in  boxoffice  terms  straight 
across  the  country." 

— Motion  Picture  Herald 


STIRRING  INSPIRATION  i 

"The  most  dramatic,  the  most  grip- 
ping, the  most  thrilling  and  exciting 
story  to  come  out  of  this  war;  a  stir- 
ring inspiration  to  every  American 
who  sees  it!  Should  do  outstanding 
business!"  — Showmen's  Trade  Review 


LEAVES  ONE  EXALTED! 

'At  once  a  rousing  battle  cry  and  a 
first-rate  motion  picture;  leaves  one 
numb,  then  angry  and  finally  exalted. 
As  a  war  picture  it  is  in  a  class  by  it- 
self; within  its  stirring  and  tragic  frame 
Paramdunt  has  wrought  an  extremely 
human  and  even  humorous  story  of 
leathernecks  at  peace  and  war.  Grip- 
ping .  .  .  challenging  .  .  .  overpower- 
ing dramatic  tension;  as  close  to  per- 
fect as  one  could  possibly  ask.  A 
memorable  motion  picture." 

—HOWARD  BARNES, 

N.  Y.  Herald  Tribune 


AT  REGULAR  ADMISSIOI 


VIVID  AND  EXPLOSIVE! 

"Makes  onlookers  proud  to  be  Ameri- 
cans; as  a  vivid  and  explosive  dis- 
play off  modern  warfare  it  hits  the 
peak  of  cinematic  presentation;  will 
blast  top  grosses  in  all  bookings.' 

— Daily  Variety 


'Magnificently  catches  the  spirit  of  the 
brave  defenders;  one  of  the  most 
striking  pictures  of  the  year.  It  will 
do  dandy  business  everywhere.  Para- 
mount has  made  a  picture  that  is 
equal  in  its  way  to  the  exploit  itself!" 

— Variety 


THIS  IS  NOT  A  MOVIE! 

'As  far  as  any  spectator  is  concerned, 
this  is  not  a  movie  set.  ft  is  really  that 
dot  in  the  pacific  Where  a  few  hun- 
dred Marines  held  off  the  Japanese 
until  ammunition  ran  Out." 

—ARCHER  WINSTEN,  N.  Y.  Post 


Your  theatre  is  on 
the  front  line  of  the 
war  in  September 
.  .  .  "Salute  to  Our 
Heroes"  month  must  sell  a  billion 
dollars  in  bonds  and  stamps! 


September    12,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE    H  ERALD 


23 


CANADA  EXHIBITORS  FIGHT 
CHANGE  IN  PRICE  CONTROL 


Object  to  Plan  to  Advance 
Basic  Period  on  Price 
and  Rental  Ceilings 

by  W.  M.  GLADISH 

in  Toronto  ■ 

Rumblings  of  discontent  on  the  part  of 
independent  theatre  owners  toward  the 
new  policy  of  the  War-time  Prices  and 
Trade  Board  broke  into  a  verbal  roar 
when  a  joint  meeting  of  the  National 
Council  of  Independent  Exhibitors  of 
Canada  and  the  organized  independents 
of  Ontario  was  held,  last  week,  to  discuss 
the  new  code  of  the  Government  Board. 
It  has  not  yet  been  made  effective.  There 
was  disapproval  of  the  intended  move  to 
advance  the  basic  period  for  admission 
and  rental  ceiling  from  the  four-week 
period  of  September  16  to  October  11, 
1941,  so  that  film  contracts  to  come  would 
be  pegged  on  the  basis  of  1941-42  agree- 
ments which  were  not  in  effect  at  the  time 
of  the  original  index  period. 

The  unaffiliated  theatre  owners  also 
protested  vigorously  against  buying  re- 
strictions which  would  compel  indepen- 
dent houses  to  buy  from  those  distribu- 
tors with  whom  they  had  rental  contracts 
in  1941-42,  the  independents  claiming  that 
compulsory  buying  is  not  being  enforced 
by  the  Dominion  board  in  any  other  in- 
dustry. Their  argument  is  that  choice 
of  product  is  the  prime  essential  because 
the  caliber  of  product  from  any  one  com- 
pany is  not  constant  from  year  to  year — 
and  films  are  not  a  standardized  commod- 
ity like  sugar.  Spokesman  for  the  in- 
dependents said  that  the  removal  of  a 
choice  of  product  from  season  to  season 
would  inflict  a  needless  deprivation  on 
self-controlled  theatres  and  their  patrons 
"and  would  only  serve  to  underwrite  the 
sale  of  bad  product." 

Demand  Appeal  Unit 
On  Board  Decisions 

The  organized  independents,  under  Bar- 
nett  Laxer  as  president  of  the  Ontario  as- 
sociation and  Henry  Falk,  also  of  Tor- 
onto, as  president  of  the  National  Coun- 
cil of  Independents,  introduced  a  new- 
angle  at  their  combined  meeting  in  Toron- 
to when  they  demanded  a  Board  of  Ap- 
peal for  a  review  of  decisions  by  the 
Toronto  officials  of  the  Wartime  Prices 
and  Trade  Board,  namely  R.  G.  McMullen, 
Administrator  of  Theatres  and  Films,  and 
James  Stewart.  Administrator  of  Services, 
both  of  whom  have  jurisdiction  over  the- 
atres and  distributors  all  over  Canada. 

Under  the  permanent  policy  of  the  Fed- 
eral authorities  as  laid  down  in  Orders 
in  Council,  there  is  no  recourse  to  law 
in  decisions  and  orders  of  the  Wartme 
Board  and  there  is  no  place  to  which  an 
appeal  from  a  ruling,  blanket  or  isolated, 
can  be  taken.  The  independent  exhibi- 
tors fear  that  setup  and  say  so  plainly, 


declaring  that  even  the  Toronto  Admin- 
istrators can  make  mistakes. 

Government  in  Canada  has  become  bu- 
reaucratic, with  the  establishment  of 
countless  boards  and  tribunals,  but  what 
the  Government  heads  have  intimated  is 
that  this  is  wartime,  minutes  are  precious, 
the  boards  are  intended  to  take  action 
without  delay,  their  decisions  are  to  be 
final  and  complete  and  above  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  law  caurts  to  avoid  cluttaring  by 
legal  proceedings  such  as  injunctions,  mo- 
tions and  appeals.  It  has  been  admitted 
that  some  persons  or  interests  may  be 
hurt  in  the  process  but  this  is  war  and  the 
policy  is  a  part  of  the  war  effort. 

Independents  on 
Advisory  Council 

According  to  the  Laxer-Falk  group, 
however,  "the  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade 
Board  in  Ottawa  seemed  to  take  kindly  to 
the  independents'  proposal  that  an  appeal 
authority  be  established,  to  which  appeals 
from  decisions  made  by  the  Service  Ad- 
ministration could  be  taken,"  to  quote  the 
official  statement  of  the  joint  Toronto 
meeting. 

With  regard  to  the  proposed  code  of 
Administrators  McMullen  and  Stewart, 
which  obviously  has  been  held  back  be- 
cause of  complaints,  although  the  new 
booking  season  is  already  under  way,  it  is 
an  interesting  fact  that  the  organized  in- 
dependents know  exactly  what  they  are 
talking  about  because  they  have  official 
representatives  on  the  Motion  Picture 
Advisory  Council  which  was  organized  to 
discuss  trade  problems  with  the  Admin- 
istrators. Those  representatives  com- 
prise Mr.  Laxer,  Mr.  Falk  and  Tom  Wal- 
ton, a  veteran  downtown  theatre  owner 
in  Toronto,  present  writh  delegates  from 
the  circuits  and  the  distributors  when  the 
Board's  proposals  were  discussed  at  so- 
called  secret  meetings.  What  happened 
at  those  meetings  is  now  practically  pub- 
lic property  because  of  the  independents' 
protests  against  things    to  come. 

Nothing  has  been  said  by  President  J. 
J.  Fitzgibbons  of  Famous  Players  Can- 
adian Corporation,  who  is  chairman  of  the 
Advisory  Council,  apart  from  repeated 
public  declarations  that  his  company  of- 
fers 100  per  cent  cooperation  and  support 
in  all  Government  measures  and  cam- 
paigns. 

Exchanges  Urge 
Speed  for  New  Rules 

Other  circuit  representatives  now  on 
the  Advisory  Council,  including  H.  M. 
Masters,  general  manager  of  Odeon  The- 
atres of  Canada,  have  made  no  comment 
and  have  revealed  nothing.  Representa- 
tives of  the  film  exchanges  have  exclaim- 
ed :  "Let's  have  the  new  regulations  so 
that  we  can  get  along  with  business.  As 
soon  as  we  have  the  word,  the  new  con- 
tract will  be  sent  out." 

The  unaffiliated  exhibitors  through  Mr. 
Barnett  and  Mr.  Laxer,  have  urged  the 
Government  to  retain  the  original  Orders 
in  Council,  maintaining  the  original  basic 


period  which  would  include  the  1940-41 
contracts  as  the  basis  for  future  film  deals 
and  enable  the  exhibitors  to  have  a  choice 
of  product,  and  to  enforce  the  regulations 
exactly  as  they  are  applied  in  other  in- 
dustries which,  among  other  things,  would 
erase  the  proposed  compulsory  buying 
clause. 

Newfoundland 
Grosses  Big 

By  VICTOR  SERVICE 

in  St.  John,  N.  B. 

Business  at  motion  picture  theatres  on 
Newfoundland  is  reported  at  record  vol- 
ume. Vital  factors  in  this  are  war  con- 
struction, maintenance  of  American,  Can- 
adian, British,  Free  French,  Russian  and 
Norwegian  naval  and  merchant  marine 
sailors,  soldiers  and  airmen,  and  a  big  im- 
provement in  the  markets  for  Newfound- 
land fish.  There  are  eight  theatres  in  St. 
John,  the  largest  community,  and  all  have 
been  sharing  in  the  prosperity.  There  are 
5,772  seats  in  the  St.  John  theatres,  rang- 
ing from  250  to  1,100-seat  houses.  Pat- 
ronage at  the  other  Newfoundland  pic- 
ture houses  has  been  good,  with  three  at 
Cornerbrook,  and  one  each  at  Botwood, 
Buchans,  Grand  Falls,  Deer  Lake  and 
Bell  Island.  Cornerbrook  is  a  pulp  and 
paper  producing  center,  and  the  three  the- 
atres involve  1,150  seats.  Grand  Falls  is 
also  a  pulp  and  paper  town. 

Exhibitor  in  Dieppe 
Raid  Reports 

Mrs.  Lillian  Parker,  of  Yarmouth,  N.S., 
who  is  temporarily  on  the  staff  of  the 
Capitol,  St.  John,  N.B.,  while  her  husband, 
Captain  Harold  F.  Parker,  is  overseas, 
has  received  a  cable  from  Captain  Parker 
that  he  came  through  the  raid  on  Dieppe 
unscathed.  Before  joining  the  Canadian 
army  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  as  a  lieu- 
tenant, he  was  manager  of  the  Capitol 
at  Yarmouth  for  some  years.  Previously, 
he  was  on  the  staff  of  a. picture  distribu- 
tion branch  at  St.  John.  He  has  been 
given  leave  of  absence  from  the  Yarmouth 
Capitol  for  his  wrar  service,  and  went  to 
England  soon  after  the  beginning  of  hos- 
tilities between  the  Axis  and  Britain.  Since 
then,  he  has  been  training  in  England 
with  a  Nova  Scotia  regiment.  Prior  to 
the  war,  he  was  a  member  of  Canadian 
rifle  shooting  teams  sent  to  Britain  to 
compete  in  British  Empire  competitions, 
including  one  at  Bisle)'.  In  Canada  and 
Britain  he  won  a  number  of  shooting 
events,  being  a  crack  marksman  with  a 
rifle  since  his  teens.  His  wife  has  been 
on  the  staff  of  the  St.  John  Capital  about 
a  year. 

Motion  to  quash  a  police  by-law  in 
Hamilton,  Ont.,  prohibiting  Sunday  mid- 
night shows  there  was  dismissed  in  Toron- 
to Civil  Court  last  w-eek.  Accordingly, 
late  performances  are  now  banned  in  all 
Hamilton  theatres. 


24  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


Seek  Exhibitor  Aid 
For  WPB  Protest 


New  Independent  Group 
Says  Raw  Stock  Order 
Will  Force  Them  Out 

Campaigning  to  enlist  the  support  of  in- 
dependent exhibitors  in  seeking  relief 
from  the  recent  War  Production  Board 
order  "freezing"  raw  stock,  the  newly  or- 
ganized Committee  for  the  Preservation 
of  the  Independent  Motion  Picture  Indus- 
try met  in  New  York  Tuesday,  at  its  first 
membership  meeting,  to  consider  the  pro- 
posal that  exhibitors  be  asked  to  join  the 
group.  The  Committee  was  formed  at 
the  Waldorf-Astoria  Hotel  last  Thursday 
and  includes  about  65  small  producers, 
distributors,  laboratories,  recording  stu- 
dios, exporters,  importers  and  others,  all 
of  whom  believe  that  the  WPB  order  will 
put  them  out  of  business. 

According  to  provisions  of  the  WPB  rul- 
ing, raw  stock  now  is  available  only  to  the 
1 1  established  producing  companies.  Un- 
less modified,  it  will  force  out  of  business 
for  the  duration  the  small  independent  pro- 
ducers and  distributors  as  well  as  the  mak- 
ers of  commercial  advertising  films,  it  is 
said. 

At  Tuesday's  meeting  of  the  Committee, 
members  were  asked  to  consider  a  proposal 
to  place  their  newly  organized  group  on  a 
permanent  basis  to  deal  with  various  prob- 
lems and  to  instruct  representatives  who 
were  to  meet  Wednesday  with  Harold  B. 
Hopper,  chief  of  the  WPB  motion  picture 
section.  Bertram  Mayers,  counsel,  who  was 
engaged  to  represent  the  Committee,  said 
last  week  that  he  warned  Mr.  Hopper  that 
unless  relief  were  granted  the  independents, 
"we  would  petition  the  Federal  court  for  a 
review  of  the  WPB's  action."  He  said  he 
was  "amazed"  by  the  "discriminatory"  at- 
titude of  the  Board,  since  all  of  the  indepen- 
dent producers  and  distributors  combined 
would  not  need  more  than  "two  per  cent"  of 
the  total  film  allotted  to  the  11  companies 
in  order  to  remain  in  business. 

Charges  Order  is 
Discriminatory 

Mr.  Mayers  also  termed  it  unfair  that 
"South  American  producers  can  get  all  the 
film  they  want  whereas  independents  can 
get  none."  He  estimated  that  all  but  three 
of  the  country's  laboratories,  and  virtually 
all  independent  producers  would  be  forced 
out  of  business.  He  also  said  between  600 
and  700  theatres  dependent  principally  on 
foreign,  states  rights  and  independent  film 
would  be  forced  to  close. 

Mr.  Mayers  further  asserted  the  organiza- 
tion would  seek  a  rationing  base  similar  to 
that  fixed  for  major  producing  companies 
and  that  it  would  fight  the  move  to  deny 
raw  stock  to  any  independent. 

At  last  Thursday's  meeting,  Charles  Hir- 
liman  of  Major  Film  Laboratories  was 
elected  president ;  Douglas  Rothacker,  Acus 
Productions,  vice-president ;  Nat  Sanders, 
Sanders  Films,  secretary ;  J.  H.  HofFberg, 
Hoffberg    Productions,    treasurer ;  Melvin 


Hirsh,  Crystal  Pictures,  chairman  of  the 
organizing  committee,  and  Max  J.  Rosen- 
berg, Classic  Films,  chairman  of  the  public 
relations  committee. 

Mr.  Rosenberg  reported  Tuesday  that  let- 
ters had  been  sent  to  independent  interests 
throughout  the  country  asking  for  member- 
ship enrollments,  which,  it  is  hoped,  would 
reach  the  1,000  mark. 

Meanwhile,  in  New  York  last  Thursday, 
a  group  of  advertising  and  industrial  film 
producers  met  to  discuss  the  fate  of  their 
field  in  view  of  the  WPB  order.  H.  Coe- 
lin,  Jr.,  publisher  of  Business  Screen,  re- 
ported that  Mr.  Hopper  will  appoint  an  ad- 
visory committee  of  industrial  film  produc- 
ers to  confer  with  him  in  Washington  on 
September  14th.  It  is  estimated  that  reve- 
nue to  motion  picture  theatres  throughout 
the  country  from  advertising  films  amounts 
to  $2,000,000  a  year. 

Ban  May  Be  Eased 

For  War  Training  Films 

Non-theatrical  producers,  meanwhile,  are 
expected  to  be  alotted  raw  stock  under  the 
WPB  order  if  the  product  is  in  the  interest 
of  the  war  effort  or  an  aid  to  national 
morale.  As  Motion  Picture  Herald  report- 
ed recently  most  of  the  commercial  produc- 
ers had  converted  their  operations  to  the 
war  effort  and  since  last  February  had  been 
turning  out  war  training  films  for  industrial 
firms,  in  addition  to  training  films  for  the 
Navy  and  other  Government  agencies. 

It  is  understood  that  these  producers  may 
file  an  affidavit  of  their  proposed  pictures 
with  Lowel  Mellett,  chief  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Division  of  the  Office  of  War  In- 
formation, who  may  issue  a  permit  for  raw 
stock  or  reject  the  request,  depending  on 
the  nature  of  the  film.  Under  the  present 
setup,  and  unless  next  Monday's  meeting 
with  Mr.  Hopper  in  Washington  results  in 
contrary  action,  no  raw  stock  will  be  made 
available  for  industrial  pictures. 

Asks  Trailers  Not 
Be  Discontinued 

Independent  Theatre  Owners  Association, 
meeting  at  the  Hotel  Astor  in  New  York 
last  Thursday  following  a  summer  recess 
unanimously  passed  a  resolution  and  sent  a 
telegram  to  Mr.  Hopper  urging  that  "trail- 
ers not  be  discontinued  entirely  even  though 
the  length  of  same  may  be  reduced."  The 
telegram,  signed  by  Harry  Brandt,  presi- 
dent, said  that  wires  were  to  be  sent  to 
MGM  and  Warner  Bros,  "suggesting  that 
they  discontinue  their  personally  produced 
and  released  trailer  production  for  the  dura- 
tion as  a  patriotic  duty  in  an  effort  to  avoid 
duplication  in  trailer  production  and  thus 
conserve  raw  stock." 

In  Washington  last  week,  the  War  Pro- 
duction Board  eased  its  regulations  on  solu- 
ble nitrocellulose  film  to  permit  unrestricted 
distribution  of  undissolved  film  scrap,  except 
where  specific  instructions  are  issued  by 
the  director  general  for  operations.  Un- 
dissolved scrap  originally  was  placed  under 
strict  control,  with  distribution  regulated  by 
the  WPB. 


HE  BUILDS 
IN  WARTIME 

Wartime  building  and  priority  conditions 
being  what  they  are,  a  special  interest 
attaches  to  the  performance  of  Robert  L. 
Lippert  of  Affiliated  Theatres,  Inc.,  of 
San  Francisco  in  the  heart  of  the  ship- 
building region  and  the  three  cities  of 
Richmond,  Vallejo  and  Alameda  in  Cali- 
fornia.  A  letter  from  Mr.  Lippert  records: 

"On  February  14th,  I  completed  the 
Grand  theatre,  Richmond,  690  seats, 
built  of  brick  and  Class  B  construction, 
in  91  days. 

"On  May  21st  I  leased  a  grocery  store 
in  the  heart  of  Richmond  and  in  exactly 
three  weeks  opened  this  as  a  theatre;  seats 
428,  operates  24  hours  a  day.  Name, 
The  Studio. 

"June  12th,  I  commenced  remodeling 
of  the  old  Point  theatre  at  Richmond  and 
installed  a  balcony  to  seat  100  and 
renovated  the  house  from  front  to  back. 
Total  seats,  450.  Opened  this  theatre 
August  15th. 

"The  Studio  and  Point  theatres  were 
completed  under  the  $5,000  limitation 
set  by  the  War  Production  Board. 

"Commenced  work  five  weeks  ago  on 
the  Times  theatre,  Richmond,  seating  575, 
and  will  open  this  house  on  Septem- 
ber Nth.  A  priority  was  granted  on  this 
project.  This  was  formerly  the  Nash 
Automobile  Agency. 

"On  July  5th,  commenced  work  in 
Vallejo  on  the  former  Studebaker  Auto- 
mobile Agency  and  completed  this  in 
four  weeks.   It  seats  664. 

"From  there  I  took  over  the  old  library 
building  in  Alameda  and  transformed  this 
into  a  theatre.  I  opened  this  last  week. 
It  seats  299.  The  name  of  this  theatre  is 
the  Times." 

This  is  entertainment  service  to  war 
workers,  and  a  valiant  meeting  of  special 
opportunity. 


Open  Camp  Theatre 

Captain  N.  W.  McMillan,  camp  theatre  offi- 
cer, has  announced  that  the  first  of  some  five 
theatres  has  been  opened  at  Camp  White,  Med- 
ford,  Ore.  The  initial  theatre  seats  1,038.  The 
second  house  will  be  opened  shortly  and  the 
others  before  the  end  of  the  year.  Fifteen  cents 
is  the  admission. 


Pal  Signs  New  Contract 

George  Pal,  producer  of  the  Puppetoon  series 
of  short  subjects  for  Paramount  release,  has 
signed  a  new  contract,  calling  for  eight  pictures 
for  the  1942-43  season.  All  of  the  pictures 
will  be  done  in  Technicolor. 


New  War  Worker  Shows 

The  Tri-States  circuit's  Paramount  theatre, 
Des  Moines,  has  adopted  "swing  shift"  shows 
for  late  war  workers.  The  shows  accommo- 
date three  shifts. 


Duggan  Promoted 

William  Duggan,  formerly  of  the  Paramount 
and  Monogram  exchanges  in  Portland,  Ore., 
has  been  named  manager  of  the  Mayfair  Thea- 
tre there. 


September    12,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


25 


DISTRIBUTORS  COMPLETING 
SEASON  SALES  POLICIES 


UA  Promises  Release  of 
20  Films;  Others  Hold 
Regional  Meetings 

Swinging  into  the  first  lap  of  the  new 
season,  major  distributing  companies  this 
week  were  completing  production  and 
sales  plans  for  1942-43.  United  Artists 
announced  that  it  will  distribute  at  least 
20  pictures  during  the  season  and  that  it 
nas  a  substantial  backlog  of  other  prod- 
uct commitments  from  its  member  and 
ndependent  producers.  The  company  al- 
;o  anounced  formation  of  two  new  pro- 
iuction  units  and  its  name  was  linked  in 
i  reported  purchase  deal  with  Paramount 
or  10  to  12  films  from  the  latter's  backlog 
of  26. 

Discussion  of  new  product  and  sales 
policies  was  held  or  contemplated  at  re- 
gional sales  meetings  by  Universal,  Twen- 
ieth  Century-Fox  and  Columbia.  Pro- 
luction  conferences  were  held  this  week 
n  Hollywood  by  RKO.  Warner  Bros., 
neanwhile,  announced  that  in  addition 
jo  the  18  films  already  completed  for  1942- 
k3  and  seven  currently  before  the  cam- 
eras, the  studio  now  has  12  in  preparation 
■or  early  shooting. 

With 'the  fate  of  the  United  Motion 
°icture  Industry  still  undecided,  follow- 
ing the  Department  of  Justice's  rejection 
j>f  the  UMPI  sales  plan,  and  with  manda- 
ory  selling  of  pictures  in  blocks-of-five 
jpr  less  with  compulsory  advance  trade 
howings  ended  as  of  September  1st,  the 
ive  distributor  signatories  to  the  New 
kork  consent  decree,  MGM,  Paramount, 
-IKO  Radio,  Warner  Bros,  and  Twentieth 
Tentury-Fox,  will  continue  to  offer  their 
iiew  season's  product  in  any  grouping 
hey  desire. 

3agnall  Outlines 
Release  Schedule 

j  United  Artists  says  it  positively  will  distribute 
It  least  20  pictures  from  its  member  producers 
!uring  the  1942-43  season  and  has  a  substantial 
acklog  of  other  product  commitments  from  its 
nember  and  independent  producers, 
i  George  Bagnall,  chairman  of  the  UA  produc- 
jion  committee,  outlined  the  first  part  of  the 
lew  release  schedule  in  New  York  last  week. 

He  was  in  the  east  to  conclude  arrangements 
lor  two  new  UA  production  units  organized  by 
j\rthur  Lyons,  head  of  the  A  &  S  Lyons  Talent 
'\gency.    The  first  unit  would  be  headed  by 
ack  Benny,  and  will  make  at  least  two  pictures, 
i  second  unit  combines  the  talents  of  Eugene 
D'Neill,   Cole   Porter,  Jerome   Kern,  Rouben 
lamoulian  and  Casey  Robinson,  when  the  lat- 
2r's  writing  contract  with  Warners  expires, 
"hey  will  contribute  at  least  four  pictures. 
The  first  unit  will  draw  on  the  talent  lists 
f  Mr.  Lyons'  agency  and  will  plan  pictures  to 
it  particular  stars,  he  said.    It  will  form  the 
ruckus  of  a  star  and  production  talent  pool 
Inch  will  be  available  to  all  other  UA  pro- 
ucers.  ■ 

Pictures  classified  by  Mr.  Bagnall  for  UA  re- 
■ase  included : 

"Hello  Beautiful,"  a  -  Charles  Rogers  musical 
arring  George  Murphy,  Priscilla  Lane  and 


Carole  Landis,  with  Benny  Goodman's  orchestra, 
now  shooting. 

"The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  Somerset  Mau- 
gham story  with  Herbert  Marshall  and  George 
Sanders,  completed. 

"One  of  Our  Aircraft  is  Missing,"  British, 
with  Eric  Portman  and  Godfrey  Tearle,  com- 
pleted. 

"In  This  we  Serve,"  British,  Noel  Coward, 
completed. 

"Jacare,"  Mayfair  Productions,  formerly 
"Killers  of  the  Amazon"  purchased  from  Mon- 
ogram and  reedited  by  Jules  Levey. 

Jack  Benny,  in  a  picture  starring  himself  and 
a  second  to  be  produced  by  him,  probably  from 
a  stage  success.  Arthur  Lyons  is  negotiating 
for  film  rights  to  the  George  Gershwin  musical, 
"Porgy  and  Bess."  It  may  be  produced  by  Mr. 
Benny. 

"Dishonored  Lady,"  produced  by  Hunt  Strom- 
berg  with  Barbara  Stanwyck ;  to  start  in  De- 
cember. He  also  will  produce  "G  String  Mur- 
der" and  "Guest  in  the  House." 

Two  Are  Expected 
From  Cagney 

Two  from  James  Cagney,  the  first  of  which 
will  be  an  action  picture  to  go  into  work  in 
December. 

"Stage  Door  Canteen,"  a  Sol  Lesser  produc- 
tion now  being  written. 

Edward  Small's  picture  on  the  life  of  Rudolph 
Valentino. 

"Girl  From  Leningrad,"  a  Gregor  Rabino- 
vitsch  picture  which  will  go  before  the  cameras 
on  October  15th. 

An  Arnold  Pressburger  production,  directed 
by  Fritz  Lang,  which  goes  into  work  in  mid- 
October. 

Benedict  Bogeaus  will  produce  a  picture  in 
January. 

Additional  pictures  are  expected  from  David 
Selznick,  Alexander  Korda,  Edward  Small  and 
Hal  Roach. 

Financing  for  the  Benny  unit  has  been  con- 
cluded with  the  Bankers  Trust  Company  in 
New  York  and  Security  First  National  Bank 
of  Los  Angeles,  Mr.  Bagnall  said.  He  also  an- 
nounced that  Samuel  Bronston  had  joined  the 
roster  of  independent  proucers  of  UA.  Mr. 
Bronston' s  first  production  for  the  company  will 
be  "The  Life  of  Jack  London"  which  starts  No- 
vember 1st.  He  also  owns  the  film  rights  to  the 
book  "Billv  Mitchell."  Currently,  he  is  pro- 
ducing "City  Without  Men"  and  recently  he 
completed  "The  Adventures  of  Martin  Eden." 
During  the  past  year  he  headed  a  production  unit 
for  Columbia  and  previously  he  was  associated 
with  United  Artists. 

Arthur  Kelly  in 
New  U.  A.  Post 

Simultaneously  with  the  announcement  about 
Mr.  Bronston,  United  Artists  reported  that  Ar- 
thur W.  Kelly,  UA  vice-president  and  finance 
committee  chairman,  had  been  assigned  to  the 
general  supervision  of  the  company's  foreign  af- 
fairs. The  new  apnointment,  it  was  said,  did 
not  affect  the  status  of  Walter  Gould,  UA's 
foreign  manager,  or  that  of  T.  P.  Mulrooney, 
foreign  sales  manager.  The  appointment  was 
described  as  nart  of  a  realignment  of  the  suoer- 
vising  activities  of  the  ooeratinp-  officers  of  the 
company,  under  which  each  member  of  its  board 
would  supervise  a  specific  department  of  United 
Artists. 

Anent  the  report  last  week  that  Gradwell 


Sears,  vice-president  in  charge  of  distribution 
for  UA,  was  completing  negotiations  with  Para- 
mount for  the  purchase  of  10  to  12  pictures  from 
the  latter's  backlog  of  26,  no  official  announce- 
ment had  come  from  either  company  this  week 
pertaining  to  the  deal.  Both  Mr.  Sears  and 
Barney  Balaban,  Paramount  president,  indicated 
last  week  that  the  deal  was  in  progress  and  it 
was  understood  that  UA  would  acquire  for  dis- 
tribution the  Paramount  pictures  on  a  percentage 
plus  cash  purchase  price  basis. 

Universal  Holding 
Week  of  Regionals 

In  announcing  the  first  of  a  series  of  regional 
sales  meetings  which  began  on  Wednesday  and 
will  extend  over  a  period  of  one  week,  William 
A.  Scully,  vice-president  and  general  sales  man- 
ager of  Universal,  said  the  purpose  of  the  meet- 
ings, "is  primarily  to  bring  our  entire  sales  de- 
partment in  closer  touch  with  studio  activity,  es- 
pecially in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  already  can 
speak  definitely  of  our  release  through  the  first 
of  the  year."  Present  studio  plans,  he  said,  for 
the  balance  of  the  1942-'43  program  are  so  well 
formulated  that  "we  can  definitely  indicate  to 
the  sales  force  just  what  may  be  expected  in 
the  next  few  months." 

Mr.  Scully  said  further  that  the  present  up- 
ward trend  in  box  office  receipts,  together  with 
the  fact  that  general  business  conditions  were 
subject  to  change  over  night,  prompted  the  con- 
stant reappraisal  of  these  conditions  in  various 
sales  territories. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday  and 
was  conducted  by  Fred  Meyers,  Eastern  division 
manager,  in  Cleveland,  with  representatives  from 
the  Pittsburgh,  Buffalo,  Albany  and  Cleveland 
offices.  Mr.  Scully  attended  the  Boston  meeting 
on  Thursday,  at  which  district  and  branch  man- 
agers of  the  Boston  and  New  Haven  offices  were 
present.  He  was  scheduled  to  return  to  New 
York  for  a  similar  meeting  on  Friday  and  then 
to  go  to  Washington  and  Philadelphia  for  addi- 
tional sessions. 

On  Saturday,  September  12th,  William  Heine- 
man,  assistant  general  sales  manager,  was  to 
conduct  a  meeting  in  Salt  Lake  City  with  repre- 
sentatives from  the  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco, 
Seattle,  Portland,  Denver  and  Salt  Lake  offices. 

At  the  same  time,  E.  T.  Gomersall,  Western 
division  manager,  will  preside  at  the  meeting  in 
Chicago,  including  managers  from  St.  Louis, 
Kansas  Citv,  Des  Moines,  Omaha,  Minneapolis, 
Detroit,  Milwaukee  and  Chicago. 

F.  J.  A.  McCarthy,  Southern  division  man- 
ager, will  preside  at  the  Atlanta  meeting  with 
managers  from  Oklahoma  City,  Atlanta,  New 
Orleans,  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  Memphis.  Dal- 
las and  Charlotte. 

20th-Fox  Holds 
Final  Meetings 

Last  of  the  four  regional  sales  meetings  which 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  had  been  holding  to 
discuss  1942-43  product  and  selling  plans,  was 
held  at  the  Ambassador  Hotel,  Los  Angeles,  on 
Sunday  and  Monday  for  the  six  western 
branches.  In  addition  to  the  37  branch  man- 
agers, salesmen  and  bookers  and  the  10  New 
York  home  office  executives  who  left  New  York 
for  Hollywood  last  week,  all  of  the  producers 
were  invited  to  attend  the  opening  day's  session 
last   Sundav.     William   C.   Gehring,  Western 

(.Continued  on  following  page) 


26 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


SPEED  PRODUCTION  PLANS 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

sales  manager,  presided,  and  the  order  of  busi- 
ness was  substantially  the  same  as  reported  in 
Motion  Picture  Herald  last  week  for  the  New 
York  and  Chicago  regionals. 

The  Loe  Angeles  meeting  concluded  with  an 
announcement  by  Spyros  Skouras,  president, 
that  no  more  "B"  or  program  films  will  be 
made  after  the  first  of  the  year  and  that  the 
total  budget  will  be  increased  by  $5,000,000 
over  last  year.  Mr.  Skouras  said  that  14  fea- 
tures have  been  completed  and  15  others  are  in 
various  stages  of  work. 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Skouras,  Tom  J.  Connors, 
vice-president  in  charge  of  sales ;  A.  W.  Smith, 
Jr.,  Eastern  sales  manager ;  John  Wood,  trea- 
surer of  March  of  Time ;  Hal  Home,  advertis- 
ing and  publicity  director,  and  Harry  Brand, 
studio  advertising  and  publicity  director,  ad- 
dressed the  delegates.  Mr.  Skouras  was  expected 
to  remain  on  the  West  Coast  this  week  for  con- 
ferences with  William  Goetz,  vice-president  in 
charge  of  studio  operations.  He  was  scheduled 
to  return  to  New  York  next  Monday.  William 
Kupper  was  to  remain  in  Hollywood  to  com- 
plete a  1942-'43  product  deal  with  Fox  West 
Coast  Theatres.  Mr.  Connors  and  the  other 
New  York  executives  planned  to  leave  Holly- 
wood on  Wednesday  night  to  return  to  their 
New  York  offices  by  Monday,  September  14th. 

In  addition  to  those  named,  the  New  York 
contingent  to  the  final  regional  included  Aubrey 
Schenck,  National  Theatres,  and  Harvey  Day 
and  Ed  Eschman,  representing  Terrytoon. 

Exchange  Staffs 
Represented 

Exchange  personnel  included :  Denver — R.  J. 
Morrison,  Hugh  Rennie,  G.  W.  Tawson,  George 
Dillon,  C.  A.  Larson,  Clarence  Hake ;  Seattle — 
H.  Edmond,  Joseph  Brooks,  Archie  B.  Holt,  J. 
E.  Miller,  L.  L.  Raatz ;  Los  Angeles— J.  N. 
Dillon,  B.  F.  Robison,  Morris  Sudmin,  A.  S. 
Bailey,  W.  T.  Wall,  Paul  Moyer,  J.  J.  O'Leary ; 
Portland— W.  M.  Peterson,  C.  F.  Powers,  C.  L. 
Robinett,  C.  G.  Epperson ;  San  Francisco — 
Herman  Wobber,  J.  W.  Flanagan,  G.  M.  Bal- 
lentine,  Al  Laurice,  John  M.  Erickson,  F.  C. 
Bernard,  Jack  Marpole,  Anthony  Hartford. 

Six  exchanges  were  represented  at  the  third 
regional  sales  meeting  of  20th  Century-Fox 
which  was  held  at  the  Baker  Hotel,  Dallas,  last 
Friday  and  continued  for  three  days.  Home 
office  executives  and  40  members  of  the  field 
force  were  present,  among  them :  Atlanta — Paul 
Wilson,  H.  Ballance,  M.  Mitchell,  R.  G.  Mc- 
Clure,  Fred  R.  Dodson,  R.  H.  Fairchild,  W.  W. 
Doris,  Robert  Newman,  R.  H.  Ford,  Hill  Huff- 
man, Jr.,  D.  M.  Coursey ;  Charlotte — Phil  Long- 
don,  J.  E.  Holston,  G.  E.  Ebersole,  J.  O.  Mock, 
George  C.  Graves,  H.  L.  Schlesinger,  Lawrence 
C.  McCommons  ;  New  Orleans — C.  E.  Peppiatt, 
H.  P.  Shallcross,  G.  R.  Pabst,  E.  P.  Claire,  M. 
Johnston ;  Dallas — E.  V.  Lanaiche,  W.  S.  Mil- 
ler, J.  E.  Gribble,  N.  B.  Houston,  A.  W.  Love, 
T.  Hendrix,  Harvey  B.  Day,  Jr.,  T.  P.  Tidwell. 

15  Offices  Share 
In  $4,000  Awards 

Announcement  was  made  at  the  Dallas  re- 
gional that  15  20th  Century-Fox  exchanges 
would  share  in  prize  awards  for  the  best  rec- 
ords in  short  sales  in  the  drive  recently  com- 
pleted for  the  Terrytoon  and  Fox  Movietone 
News  sales  units.  It  was  reported  that  10  offi- 
ces shared  the  $3,000  in  the  shorts  field  and 
five  offices  won  the  $1,000  in  the  Movietone 
drive. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  announced  this  week 
that  extended  engagements  at  the  New  York 


Roxy  theatre  of  the  company's  features  released 
at  the  end  of  the  1941-42  season  had  created  a 
backlog  of  six  productions  among  the  first  on 
the  new  season's  schedule.  This  has  resulted 
in  three  pictures  being  placed  in  other  Broad- 
way theatres,  it  was  said,  including  "Tales  of 
Manhattan." 

The  run  of  "The  Pied  Piper"  at  the  Roxy 
was  cut  after  four  weeks  to  make  way  for 
"Footlight  Serenade,"  which  opened  Wednes- 
day. Now  awaiting  first  run  dates  at  that 
theatre  are  the  musicals,  "Orchestra  Wives" 
and  "Iceland,"  the  latter  starring  Sonja  Henie. 
"Tales  of  Manhattan"  is  scheduled  to  open  at 
Radio  City  Music  Hall  September  17th  or  24th. 
"Berlin  Correspondent"  opened  last  Thursday 
at  the  RKO  Palace.  "The  Loves  of  Edgar 
Allen  Poe"  will  open  September  19th  at  the 
Little  Carnegie  and  "Just  Off  Broadway"  also 
opened  last  Thursday  at  the  Rialto. 

RKO  President  in 
Product  Talks 

N.  Peter  Rathvon,  recently  elected  president 
of  Radio-Keith-Orpheum  Corporation,  was  in 
Hollywood  this  week  conferring  with  Charles 
W.  Koerner,  vice-president  in  charge  of  the 
RKO  Radio  studio,  on  the  production  program 
for  the  current  vear  and  outlining  plans  for 
the  company's  1943-44  product. 

S.  Barret  McCormick,  director  of  advertis- 
ing and  publicity  for  RKO  Radio,  left  New 
York  last  Friday  for  the  coast  to  set  advertis- 
ing plans  for  new  season  product,  it  was  said. 
Mr.  McCormick  was  conferring  with  Mr. 
Koerner  and  with  Perry  Lieber,  studio  publicity 
chief,  on  large  scale  campaigns  which  the  com- 
pany plans  to  launch  on  the  following  releases : 
"Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon,"  starring  Cary 
Grant  and  Ginger  Rogers ;  Samuel  Goldwyn's 
"They  Got  Me  Covered,"  starring  Bob  Hope 
and  Dorothy  Lamour ;  "Look  Out  Below,"  star- 
ring Fred  Astaire,  and  other  pictures  currently 
nearing  completion. 

RKO  announced  over  the  weekend  that  a 
deal  was  closed  with  the  entire  Fox  West  Coast 
circuit  for  Samuel  Goldwyn's  "The  Pride  of 
the  Yankees,"  It  was  reported  that  the  deal 
was  negotiated  by  Ned  E.  Depinet,  president  of 
RKO  Radio  and  Charles  Skouras,  president  of 
National  Theatres,  involving  more  than  500 
theatres  of  the  circuit. 

12  New  WB  Films 
In  Preparation 

In  addition  to  the  18  pictures  already  com- 
pleted for  1942-43  release  and  seven  currently 
before  the  cameras,  the  Warner  Bros,  studio 
has  12  productions  now  in  nreparation  for  early 
shooting,  it  was  announced  over  the  weekend 
in  Hollywood  by  that  company.  The  latter 
group  included : 

"Mission  to  Moscow,"  from  the  book  by 
former  Ambassador  Joseoh  E.  Davies :  "This  is 
the  Army,"  the  Irving  Berlin  all-soldier  revue; 
"Thank  Your  Lucky  Stars."  using  practically 
all  the  stars  and  featured  players  on  the  War- 
ner lot,  with  David  Butler  directing  ;  "Brooklyn. 
U.S.A.,"  from  the  Broadway  play ;  "Old 
Acquaintance,"  starring  Bette  Davis,  George 
Brent  and  Miriam  Hopkins ;  "The  Patent 
Leather  Kid,"  starring  John  Garfield ;  "Lawes 
of  Sing  Sing"  ;  "Bov  Scouts  of  America"  and 
"Winston  Churchill,"  two  Jesse  L.  Lasky  pro- 
ductions, and  "A  Night  at  Tony  Pastor's,"  "Life 


of  Marilyn  Miller"  and  "Rhaosody  in  Blue,"  all 
on  Jerry  Wald's  production  schedule. 

Pictures  now  shooting  are:  "Princess 
O'Rourke,"  "Adventures  of  Mark  Twain," 
"Edge  of  Darkness,"  "Air  Force,"  "Action  in 
the  North  Atlantic,"  "Background  to  Danger" 
and  "Murder  on  Wheels." 

Warner  Bros,  announced  in  New  York  on 
Tuesday  that  its  next  group  of  five  1942-43  re- 
leases will  be  trade  shown  as  follows :  Thurs- 
day, September  17th:  "The  Hidden  Hand"  and 
"George  Washington  Slept  Here."  Friday, 
September  18th :  "You  Can't  Escape  Forever," 
"Flying  Fortress"  and  "The  Hard  Way." 

Columbia  Holds 
Branch  Meeting 

These  dates  apply  to  all  of  the  company's  ex- 
changes with  the  exception  of  Des  Moines  and 
Indianapolis,  where  all  five  pictures  will  be 
shown  the  same  day,  September  18th,  and  in 
Omaha,  where  "George  Washington  Slept 
Here"  and  "The  Hidden  Hand"  will  be  shown 
on  Monday,  September  21st,  and  the  other  three 
films  on  September  22nd. 

Branch  managers  of  Columbia's  Mid-East  di- 
vision met  in  Cleveland  on  Thursday  to  discuss 
sales  plans  for  forthcoming  releases. 

Rube  Jackter,  assistant  general  sales  manager 
for  the  company,  left  New  York  on  Monday  for 
Cleveland,  where  he  joined  Sam  Galanty,  Mid- 
East  division  manager,  in  product  negotiations 
with  William  Skirball  for  the  Skirball  Brothers' 
circuit.  Mr.  Jackter  remained  in  that  city  for 
the  branch  meeting,  which  also  was  attended  bv 
A.  H.  Levy,  Pittsburgh  manager,  A.  S.  Moritz, 
Cincinnati  manager,  and  L.  Zucker  of  Cleve- 
land. 

Salary  Increase 
Voted  for  Rathvon 

N.  Peter  Rathvon,  president  of  RKO,  has 
been  given  a  salary  increase  to  $78,000  yearly, 
according  to  word  from  Hollywood.  The  in- 
crease, it  was  said,  was  recommended  by  a 
special  committee  of  board  members  recently 
created  to  study  executive  salaries.  Richard 
Patterson,  chairman  of  the  board,  heads  the  I 
committee. 


Theatre  Party  for  Lodge 

Cinema  Lodge  of  B'nai  B'rith,  New  York, 
instead  of  holding  its  usual  annual  banquet,  this 
year  will  sponsor  a  theatre  party,  Irving  H. 
Greenfield,  president,  announced  Tuesday.  The 
Lodge  had  reserved  Tuesday  night,  October 
13th,  at  the  46th  Street  Theatre  where  mem- 
bers and  guests  will  see  "Beat  the  Band,"  mu- 
sical comedy. 


Shaw  Joins  PRC 

Allan  Shaw  has  resigned  from  the  Warner 
circuit  in  Cleveland  and  will  become  office 
manager  there  for  Producers  Releasing  Cor- 
poration. He  succeeds  Bernard  Rubin,  who 
joins  the  armed  forces  shortly. 


Elrod  Joins  Warners 

Benjamin  Elrod  has  joined  the  sales  staff  of 
the  Milwaukee  Warner  Bros,  exchange.  He  is 
handling  the  southern  territory  in  the  Milwaukee 

area. 


Williams  Succeeds  Bell 

Allen  E.  Williams,  Jr.,  has  been  named  man- 
ager of  National  Screen  Service's  Oregon 
branch  in  Portland,  succeeding  Howard  Bell, 
who  has  left  for  California. 


"A  whirlwind  addition  to  the  successful  Pine-Thomas  action  series!' 

(BOXOFFICE  DIGEST) 


Your  theatre  is  on 
the  front  line  of  the 
war  in  September 
.  .  .  "Salute  to  Our 
Heroes"  month  must  sell  a  billion 
dollars  in  bonds  and  stamps! 


MORRIS 


JEAN 


Elisabeth  Risdon 
Edward  Norris  •  Dick  Purcell 
Douglas  Fowley  •  Roger  Pryor 

Directed  by  Sam  White  •  Screen  Play  by  Maxwell 
Shane  and  Richard  Murphy  and  Lewis  R.  Foster 


"Pine-Thomas  haven't  missed  yet. 
Crammed  with  action,  given 
punchy  direction,  and  will  place 
high  in  the  ranks  of  the  consistent 
money-makers  they  turn  out." 

— Hollywood  Reporter 


'Fast  moving  story  and  good  mix- 
ture of  adventure,  romance  and 
thrills;  should  more  than  satisfy. 
Sell  it  as  top-ranking  adventure. 
It's  really  good!" 

— Showmen's  Trade  Review 


'A  dish  of  events  which  should 
keep  the  action  fans  in  high  gear. 
Pine  and  Thomas  have  hit  upon  a 
newsworthy,  but  seldom  -tapped 
source  of  exciting  material!" 

— BoxorT/c* 

PRINTED  IN  U.  S.  A. 


12,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


LATE  FILM  REVIEWS 

For  other  reviews  see  Product  Digest  Section, 
starting  on  page  61. 


Asks  Code  OK  on 
Miscegen  a  Hon 

The  third  quarterly  meeting-  :r  the  btari  c: 
directors  of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and 
Distributors  of  America  was  held  Wednesday 
3.rterr.;or.  at  headquarters.  25  ".Vest  —  th. 
Street,  New  York.  The  principal  topics  were 
the  industry's  billion-dollar  War  Bond  drive 
and  a  plea  by  an  independent  non-member, 
Matty  Radin,  for  a  change  in  the  Production 
die. 

The  Board  reviewed  progress  to  date  of  War 
Bond  selling  in  September  under  industry 
sponsorship,  and  heard  the  official  U.  S.  Treas- 
ury report  of  S197.734.000  of  actual  sales  for 
the  first  eight   days   of  the  drive. 

Mr.  Radin,  who,  for  years,  conducted  the 
Cameo  Theatre,  near  Times  Square,  as  the 
American  '"show-window"  of  Soviet  films,  ap- 
peared personally  before  the  Hays  Board  to 
request  that  the  clause  in  the  industry's  Pro- 
duction Code  prohibiting  Code  seals  for  sub- 
jects of  miscegenation  be  eliminated  to  allow 
him  to  obtain  a  seal  for  a  10-year-old  feature, 
titled  "Blonde  Captive."  It  is  a  story  telling 
about  a  white  woman  living  with  black  natives 
of  the  Australian  bush-country. 

"Blonde  Captive"  was  filmed  by  what  was 
called  the  Northern  Australian  Expedition,  led 
by  Dr.  Paul  Withington,  and  was  originally 
released  by  William  Pizor's  Capital  JrOms, 
New  York  which  now  seeks  to  reissue  it,  and 
for  which  a  Production  Code  seal  has  been 
sought,  and  refused.  Mr.  Radin  is  interested  in 
the  reissue. 

Mr.  Radin  was  interviewed  at  the  Hays  Of- 
fice after  bis  appearance  before  the  board,  by 
the  New  York  newspaper  PM  and  by  New 
Amsterdam  News,  of  Harlem.  The  Hays  Of- 
fice took  Mr.  Ralir.  ;  retttirr.  urtier  aivtse- 
—  ejtt. 

The  MPPDA  directors,  according  to  a  press 
spokesman,  did  not  get  around  to  the  recent 
action  of  their  Advertising  Advisory  Council 
in  condemning  the  display  of  the  word  "Hell" 
in  New  York  newspaper  advertisements  for 

\  <fWake  Island,"  described  in  the  ads  as  a  story 
about  "14  days  of  Hell  and  Heroism." 

Meanwhile  the  MPPDA  has  expanded  the 
duties  of  Arthur  DeBra,  executive  of  com- 
munity relations,  to  include  public  relations,  and 
to  act  for  Charles  Francis  Coe,  MPPDA  vice- 
o resident  in  public  relations  matters  when  Mr. 
"Coe  is  in  Hollywood.  Under  the  MPPDA's 
comparatively  new  policy,  either  Will  Hays, 
president,  or  Mr.  Coe  is  to  be  on  the  coast  most 

'  of  the  time.  Mr.  Coe  went  to  Hollywood  Friday. 

Parole  Granted 
Joseph  Schenck 

Joseph  M.  Schenck  was  released  last  Tues- 
day from  the  United  States  correctional  insti- 
tution at  Danbury,  Conn.,  after  having  served 
1  four  months  and  five  days  of  a  one  year  and 
one  day  sentence  on  a  plea  of  guilty  to  a  per- 
■ury  charge. 
Because  Mr.  Schenck  aided  the  Government 
I  in  prosecuting  Willie  Bioff,  ex-labor  leader, 
j  and  George  E.  Browne,  former  president  of  the 
'  IATSE.   who   were   charged   with  extorting 
,  $1,000,000  from  motion  picture  companies,  he 
was  allowed  to  plead  guilty  to  a  perjury  charge 
last  April  and  given  a  suspended  sentence  on 
a  previous  three-year  sentence  for  tax  evasion. 

Blumberg  Leaves  Warners 
To  Join  Hosiery  Firm 

Lee  Blumberg,  head  of  Warner  Bros,  field 
exploitation,  has  resigned  to  become  director 
of  "advertisine  and  promotion  of  the  Lycoming 
Hosierv  Co.  of  New  York  Mort  Blumen- 
,  stock  in  charge  of  Eastern  advertising  and  pub- 
-itityj  announced  that  Paul  Lazarus,  head  of 
sales  advertising,  temporarily  will  supervise 
Warner  field  exploitation. 


The  Battle  of  Midway 

(War  Activities  Committee — 
Distributed  by  20th  Century-Fox) 
Special  Short  Subject 

The  official  U.  S.  Navy  pictures  of  the 
Battle  of  Midway  last  June,  photographed  in 
color  by  Lieutenant  Commander  John  Ford, 
former  Hollywood  director,  and  released  this 
week  through  the  War  Activities  Committee, 
make  one  of  the  best  newsreel  war  sequences 
so  far  released  in  a  war  notable  for  its  lack 
of  footage  of  actual  battle  scenes.  The  two- 
reel  special  subject  also  supplies  exhibitors 
with  War  Bond  selling  ammunition. 

The  subject  opens  w_ith  peaceful  shots  of 
Midway  Island's  only  natives,  the  goney  birds, 
and  moves  quickly  into  the  excitement  of  the 
Tune  dawn  alarm,  the  takeoff  of  the  Flying 
Fortresses,  the  bombing  of  the  island  by  Japa- 
nese planes,  the  anti-aircraft  guns  in  action,  an 
enemy  plane  brought  down  in  flames,  and  the 
turning  :t    re  cf  the  U.  S.  hangars. 

Subsequent  scenes  show  the  action  at  sea  and 
the  tracking  down  of  the  remnants  of  the  scat- 
tered Japanese  fleet.  Qoseups  of  many  of  the 
returning  fighter  pilots  follow  and  then  scenes 
of  the  rescue  of  plane  crews  downed  at  sea,  of 
funeral  services  for  those  who  died  in  action, 
and  closeups  of  the  commanding  officers,  in- 
cluding Major  James  Roosevelt. 

The  pictures  were  shot  on  16mm  Koda- 
chrome,  but  prints  have  been  made  on  35mm 
Technicolor  at  a  cost  to  the  Navy  Department 
of  $59,000  for  500  prints.  The  finished  prints 
compare  favorably  with  original  Technicolor 
footage. 

The  editing,  score  and  dialogue  added  by 
Commander  Ford  in  Hollywood  were  designed 
to  give  the  picture  dramatic  unity  but  their  in- 
trusion conflicts  with  the  swiftness  of  the  ba- 
sically newsreel  material.  The  dialogue,  spoken 
by  Donald  Crisp,  Henry  Fonda  and  Jane  Dar- 
well.  is  at  its  best  when  it  confines  itself  to 
strict  news  elaboration  of  the  pictures  on  the 
screen.  Similarly  the  editing  is  below  the  gen- 
erally excellent  average  when  it  changes  the 
pace  of  the  picture's  inherent  action.  Lnsteady 
frames  caused  by  bomb  explosions  near  the 
camera  are  left  in  the  picture  to  emphasize 
proximity  to  the  action  but  the  point  may  be 
lost  on  general  audiences. 

A  message  from  Francis  Harmon,  executive 
vice-president  of  the  WAC,  this  week  asked  all 
exhibitors  to  book  the  picture  for  War  Bond 
promotion.  The  committee  will  supply  the  names 
and  addresses  of  fliers  shown  in  the  picture. 
Physical  distribution  will  be  through  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  exchanges.  Running  time  is  17 
minutes. — James  D.  Iters. 


The  Moon  and  Sixpence 

(Loeic-Leidn— United  Artists) 
Tragedy 

David  L.  Loew  and  Albert  Lewin's  latest  ef- 
fort for  United  Artists  release,  "The  Moon  and 
Sixpence."  is  a  picture  the  merits  of  which  can 
best  be  determined  by  each  individual  exhibitor 
after  he  sees  it,  to  judge  it  from  all  aspects. 
There  are  various  items  of_  consideration  in- 
volved in  the  film,  which  brings  to  the  screen 
W.  Somerset  Maugham's  noted  story  of  the 
iconoclastic  painter  whose  views  on  life,  and 
especially  women,  deviate  from  the  norm.  The 
marquee  names  in  the  film  are  George  Sanders 
and  Herbert  Marshall. 

The  plot  has  a  man  suddenly  break  up  his 


home,  leave  his  wife  and  two  children  to  fol- 
low an  irresistible  desire  to  paint  He  destroys 
the  love  of  a  married  couple,  the  woman  com- 
mitting suicide  when  he  leaves  her  after  living 
with  her  for  some  time.  Later  he  becomes  a 
great  arist,  finding  a  brief  happiness  and  love 
when  he,  doomed  to  die  a  leper,  realizes  the 
depths  of  the  love  that  his  Tahitian  wife  has 
for  him. 

The  device  used  to  tell  the  story  is  that  of 
the  narrator  and  flashback,  Marshall  enacting 
the  role  of  a  famous  writer  who  upon  the  art- 
ist's death  sets  out  to  depict  the  type  of  person 
he  really  was.  First  pointing  out  that  he 
thought  "'Strickland"  (the  artist)  a  contempti- 
ble fellow,  the  author  then  proceeds  to  tell 
what  he  knows  about  him. 

As  he  writes,  he  tells  of  Strickland's  study- 
ing in  Paris,  his  pointed  insults  to  acquaint- 
ances, the  affair  with  the  wife  of  the  couple 
that  rescued  him  from  starvation,  her  suicide 
when  he  departs  after  living  with  her,  and  un- 
dying love  of  the  husband  for  his  errant  spouse, 
Strickland's  going  to  Tahiti,  his  marriage  of 
convenience,  his  being  stricken  by  leprosy,  and 
his  painting  of  his  greatest  works  which  he 
has  had  destroyed  on  his  death. 

Mr.  Lewin,  who  directed,  also  wrote  the 
adaptation  of  the  Maugham  story,  retaining 
much  of  the  original  dialogue.  Supporting  Mar- 
shall and  Sanders  are  Steve  Geray,  outstanding 
as  the  Dutch  painter  whose  wife  the  artist 
steals ;  Elena  Verdugo,  equally  so  as  the  Ta- 
hitian girl ;  Doris  Dudley.  Eric  Blore,  Albert 
Basserman,  Molly  Lamont,  Florence  Bates. 
Heather  Thatcher,  Robert  Grieg,  Kenneth 
Hunter,  Irene  Tedrow.  Deri  Dja  and  her  Bali- 
Java  dancers  appear  in  the  South  Seas  se- 
quence. 

Sepia  tint  is  used  for  the  island  scenes,  with 
Kodachrome  footage  inserted  in  the  shots  show- 
ing the  artist's  work  Producer  Loew  and  his 
associate,  Stanley  Kramer,  gave  the  film  an 
expensive  mounting. 

A  press  program  footnote  says :  'Tor  the 
first  time  nude  figures  will  appear  on  the 
screen  in  these  paintings.  After  the  Hays  office 
saw  the  part  they  played  in  the  picture,  they 
passed  the  paintings  with  only  one  request — 
that  the  backside  of  one  figure  have  a  leaf  or 
flower  over  it" 

Seen  at  a  Hollywood  projection  room.  Re- 
viewer's Rating:  Fair. — Vance  Kestg. 

Release  date,  cot  set.  Running  time,  89  min.  PCA 
_Co.  8541.   Adult  audience  classification. 

Strickland    George  Sanders 

Geoffrey  Wolfe    Herbert  Marshall 

Dirk  Stroeve    Sieve  Geray 

Doris  Dudley.  Eric  Blore.  Albert  Basserman,  Mollay 
Lamont.  Elena  Verdugo.  Florence  Bates.  Heather 
Thatcher.  Robert  Grieg.  Kenneth  Hunter,  Irene  Ted- 
row. 

Buchman  Takes  Post 
At  Columbia  S+udio 

Sidney  Buchman,  writer,  has  assumed  the 
production  post  at  the  Columbia  studio  in  Hol- 
lywood vacated  by  Sam  Briskin.  Mr.  Buch- 
man will  share  supervision  of  production  with 
Harry  Cohn.  president  of  the  company,  it  was 
said.  Mr.  Briskin  is  now  in  Washington  in 
the  Army  Signal  Corps  with  the  rank  of  ma- 
jor. 


Universal  Votes  Dividend 

The  board  of  directors  of  LTniversal  Pictures 
Company.  Inc..  has  declared  a  dividend  of  52  per 
share  on  the  first  preferred  stock  payable  Oc- 
tober 1st.  1942.  to  holders  of  record  Seotember 
25th. 


30 


MOTION    PIOTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


Name  Three  Majors 
In  Clearance  Case 


Memphis  Action  Combines 
Clearance  Plea,  Demand 
for  Specific  Run 

The  first  September  arbitration  action, 
filed  at  Memphis  last  Friday  by  C.  N. 
Jenkins,  operator  of  the  New  Theatre,  in 
Benton,  Ark.,  named  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  Warner  Brothers  and  Paramount  in 
a  combined  clearance  and  Section  X  de- 
mand for  a  specific  run.  He  also  cited  the 
Benton  Amusement  Company,  a  circuit. 

The  complaint  asserted  that  the  three  dis- 
tributors had  refused  to  sell  the  New  thea- 
tre second  run  at  any  price,  granting  it  to 
the  Benton  circuit's  Victory  theatre.  The 
New  had  been  operating  since  December  13, 
1941.  Mr.  Jenkins  also  said  the  same  cir- 
cuit's Bauxite  theatre  in  Bauxite,  Ark.,  was 
granted  an  unreasonable  clearance  over  the 
New,  and  asked  a  reduction. 

St.  Louis 

Harry  G.  Erbs,  arbitrator  of  the  12th  St. 
Louis  complaint,  on  Thursday  dismissed  the 
some  run  demand  filed  by  E.  R.  Gillette, 
operator  of  the  Stadium  theatre  in  Car- 
ruthersville,  Mo.,  against  MGM.  John  X. 
Quinn,  St.  Louis  manager  for  MGM,  testi- 
fied that  the  company  had  considered  the 
Stadium  theatre  a  new  situation  and  had  set 
a  rental  accordingly.  He  declared  the  com- 
pany was  willing  to  revise  it  downward  if 
the  theatre's  actual  operating  revenue  war- 
ranted. The  Gem  and  Rodgers  theatres, 
operated  by  the  Rodgers  circuit,  were  inter- 
ested parties.  Complainant  must  pay  the 
costs. 

Chicago 

The  right  to  bid  for  product  on  a  competi- 
tive basis  in  Freeport.  111.,  has  been  grant- 
ed to  the  Freeport  theatre  in  a  specific  run 
award  by  Arbitrator  Arthur  J.  Goldberg. 
The  complainants,  Steve,  Leo  and  Joseph 
Bennis,  had  contended  that  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  Publix-Great  States  Circuit 
had  prevented  them  from  getting  first  runs 
for  tbeir  Freeport  theatre. 

Mr.  Goldberg  allowed  the  motion  of  the 
Paramount  Pictures  to  be  dismissed  under 
Section  17,  as  an  affiliate,  but  ordered  that 
Loew's,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  War- 
ners sell  their  product  to  other  Freeport 
theatres  by  separate  contract  regardless  of 
circuit  buying  power. 

"Without  affecting  the  licenses  to  exhibit- 
ing features  now  under  license  to  the  Patio 
theatre,"  the  award  read,  "the  arbitrator 
awards  that  the  defendants  Loew's,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox  and  Vitagraph,  Inc., 
shall  be  prohibited  from  hereafter  licensing 
their  features  for  exhibition  in  the  Patio 
theatre,  first  run,  or  in  the  Freeport  theatre, 
first  run,  otherwise  than  by  separate  con- 
tract or  agreement  which  shall  not  be  a 
part  of  any  contract  or  agreement  for  the 
licensing  of  features  for  exhibition  in  any 
other  theatre,  or  conditioned  upon  the  li- 


censing of  features  for  exhibition  in  any 
other  theatre." 

The  Oriental  theatre  case  in  Chicago  has 
has  been  postponed  to  September  29th. 
Perry  M.  Chadwick,  attorney  for  the  thea- 
tre, said  early  in  the  week  that  although  ten- 
tative agreements  had  ben  reached  for  a 
consent  award,  details  of  it  will  be  submit- 
ted to  arbitrator  Hayes  McKinney.  The 
case  was  filed  in  August,  1941. 

Henry  and  Arthur  Schoenstadt  have  in- 
tervened for  the  Shakespeare  theatre  in 
Case  No.  20,  clearance  action  of  the  Ken 
theatre. 

Kansas  City 

At  Kansas  City,  stipulations  agreeing  to 
clearance  changes  signed  by  all  parties  in 
the  case  of  Simon  Galitzki,  operator  of 
'the  Co-ed,  Topeka,  were  filed  with,  the 
arbitrator,  John  Rhodes,  at  the  hearing  on 
September  4th.  The  four  companies  were 
Paramount,  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  RKO 
and  Warners.  Mr.  Galitzki  had  withdrawn 
his  case  against  Loew's. 

New  York 

The  Hobart  theatre,  Woodside,  L.  I.,  in- 
tervener in  the  36th  New  York  case,  has 
appealed  the  elimination  of  its  clearance 
over  the  Cameo  theatre,  Astoria,  granted 
last  week  by  Vincent  J.  Malone  in  an  award 
to  the  Stilson  Realty  Corporation.  He  found 
the  theatres  were  not  in  competition. 

Samuel  W.  Tannenbaum  will  arbitrate  the 
40th  New  York  case,  clearance  action  of 
Rhinehook  Theatres,  Inc.,  for  its  Lyceum 
in  Red  Hook,  N.  Y.  William  P.  Cava- 
naugh  is  arbitrator  of  Case  39  for  the  same 
circuit's  Star  theatre  in  Rhinebeck,  N.  Y. 
Abraham  S.  Robinson  is  arbitrator  of  the 
41st  New  York  case,  clearance  demand  of 
the  Astor  theatre,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Philadelphia 

The  Ambassador  Theatre  Company,  op- 
erator of  the  Ambassador,  a  Philadelphia 
neighborhood  house,  lost  its  clearance  case 
against  RKO  and  the  Warner  circuit  on 
Tuesday  when  A.  E.  -Southgate,  arbitrator, 
dismissed  the  complaint.  He  found  the  clear- 
ance of  the  Cross  Keys,  Lenox  and  Warner 
circuit  to  be  reasonable.  Costs  were  assessed 
against  the  complainant,  RKO,  and  the 
Warner  Circuit.  Morris  Spiers  had  inter- 
vened for  the  Lenox.  The  case  was  the  18th 
in  Philadelphia. 

Minneapolis 

Leroy  E.  Matson  will  arbitrate  the  clear- 
ance demand  of  the  Engler  Brothers,  Hop- 
kins, Minn.  It  is  the  sixth  Minneapolis 
case. 


Des  Moines  Changes 

Harry  Lyons,  salesman  at  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  exchange  in  Des  Moines,  has 
joined  the  Army.  Evan  Jacobs,  office  manager 
and  head  booker,  succeeds  him.  Pearl  Stan- 
sell,  formerly  assistant  booker,  is  now  head 
booker. 


Stage  Shows  Big 
In  Tri-States 

"Good  attractions  can  obtain  eight  weeks  of 
bookings  in  theatres  of  western  Pennsylvania, 
eastern  Ohio  and  West  Virginia,"  Joseph  Hil- 
ler,  manager  of  the  National  Theatrical  Ex- 
change in  Pittsburgh,  said  last  week.  He  books 
name  bands,  variety  acts  and  miscellaneous 
talent  into  approximately  50  houses  in  the  Tri- 
State  area.  As  chief  barker  of  Variety  Tent 
One,  he  also  handles  entertainment  for  most 
of  the  benefit  shows  in  the  district. 

Top  grossing  spots  are  Pittsburgh's  Stanley, 
the  Palace  in  Canton,  and  theatres  in  Johns- 
town, Greensburg,  Wheeling,  Huntington, 
Clarksburg,  Morgantown,  Charleston,  New 
Kensington,  Sharon,  Ambridge,  Marion  and 
Middletown,  Mr.  Hiller  said. 

Best  drawing  attractions  for  the  circuit  dur- 
ing the  summer  have  been  Alvino  Rey,  Guy 
Lombardo,  "The  Little  Tough  Guys,"  Leo 
Reisman,  Johnny  Davis,  Teddy  Powell,  George 
Hamid's  Revue,  Johnny  McGee,  and  Patsy 
Montana,  he  said. 

Ballroom  business  in  the  territory  has  been 
slow  this  summer,  compared  to  other  years,  it 
was  said.  The  Trianon  in  downtown  Pitts- 
burgh, the  Elms  in  Youngstown,  the  Coliseum 
in  Greensburg  and  Carroltown  have  been  the 
steadiest  customers  for  name  bands. 

Hollywood  Subject 
Of  Radio  Forum 

"How  Can  Movies  Best  Contribute  to  the 
War  Effort?"  is  the  question  posed  for  this 
Sunday's  American  Forum  of  the  Air,  directed 
by  Theodore  Granik.  The  program  will  or- 
iginate from  Station  KHJ  in  Los  Angeles  over 
the  Mutual  Broadcasting  System,  from  8:00  to 
8:45  P.M.,  September  13th. 

Colonel  Darryl  F.  Zanuck,  Rosalind  Russell, 
Irving  Pichel,  Sidney  Buchman  and  Artbur 
Ungar  are  the  Hollywood  personalities  who 
will  appear  as  the  panel  for  this  radio  forum. 


Latham  in  Radio  Post 

The  appointment  of  Jack  Latham,  formerly 
executive  vice-president  of  the  American  Net- 
work, as  assistant  sales  manager  for  the  Mutual 
Broadcasting  System  was  announced  following 
an  executive  committee  meeting  of  Mutual  at 
the  Hotel  Ambassador,  New  York,  last  week. 
It  also  was  decided  to  expand  office  space  in 
New  York. 


Starts  Film  Policy 

The  Metropolitan  theatre,  Seattle  legitimate 
house,  has  begun  a  motion  picture  policy,  to 
fill  the  gap  between  stage  presentations  and 
take  advantage  of  the  extra  business  now  avail- 
able from,  new  residents  in  the  area.  Film  suc- 
cesses of  past  seasons  are  being  shown  on  a 
single  bill  at  40  cents  top. 


Probe  Theatre  Incendiary 

Fire  Chief  Thomas  W.  Hurley  of  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  is  investigating  an  attempt  made 
last  week  to  set  fire  to  the  Calvin  theatre, 
owned  by  Western  Massachusetts  Theatres, 
Inc.  A  popcorn  box  in  which  a  handkerchief 
and  a  lighted  cigarette  had  been  stuffed  was 
discovered  before  any  damage  had  been  done. 


Owns  Equipment  Company 

Charles  Cohen  is  now  the  sole  proprietor  of 
the  Penn  Theatre  Equipment  Company,  author- 
ized RCA  dealer  in  the  Philadelphia  area. 


Fair  Is  Cancelled 

The  80th  annual  fair  of  the  Wayne  County, 
Pa.,  Agricultural  Society,  scheduled  for  this 
month,  has  been  cancelled. 


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32  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    12,  1942 

ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By   JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 


Periodically  during  the  day,  RKO's  agents 
at  its  branch  in  Calcutta,  India,  are  in  a 
dither.  Seems  a  bulky  Indian  sacred  bull 
hobbles  down  the  thoroughfare  every  day 
and  invariably  picks  the  sidewalk  in  front  of 
the  RKO  office  to  spread  out  and  plant  its 
carcass.  No  one  dares  disturb  a  sacred  bull 
in  India,  for  two  reasons.  One  reason  is 
that  he's  a  bull,  a  bull  who,  at  times,  displays 
the  traits  of  a  Spanish  fighting  bull  raging 
in  front  of  a  red  cape.  The  second  reason 
is  that  he's  a  sacred  bull.  And  one  just  does 
not  disturb  a  sacred  bull  in  India.  The  RKO 
people  in  Calcutta  are  complaining  to  their 
bosses  in  New  York. 

V 

Comparatively,  the  motion  picture  industry's 
billion-dollar  War  Bond  drive  is  gaining  much 
from  persons  who  are  buying  bonds  for  the 
privilege  of  driving  nails  into  "coffins"  of  Hit- 
ler, Hirohito  and  Mussolini.  The  coffins  are 
on  the  street  in  the  triangle  of  New  York's 
Times  Square.  Movie  actor  Charles  Laughton 
hit  home  the  first  nail. 

V 

Girls  stationed  in  the  lobby  of  the  Capitol 
Theatre  on  New  York's  Broadway  will  paint 
"stockings,"  as  stocking  substitutes,  on  the  legs 
of  ladies  for  a  25-cent  contribution  to  the  USO 
Fund.  They  use  that  new-fangled  leg  liquid. 
V 

United  Press  reports  that  a  truly  ardent 
Southern  prohibitionist  in  Tennessee  is  con- 
ducting a  campaign  for  pledges  from  drys 
not  to  ride  on  tires  made  of  alcoholic  rubber. 

V 

The  current  Screen  Actors  Guild  magazine,  in 
Hollywood,  carries  a  good-sized  advertisement 
by  "Nick  Harris  Detectives — Personal  Body- 
guards— Plenty  Big." 

V 

Donald  P.  Cole,  of  the  Fall  River  (Mass.) 
Herald-News,  sends  the  following  physical 
hygiene  dispatch:  "Superman  Mayo  J.  Kaan, 
said  to  be  the  possessor  of  the  world's  most  per- 
fect body,  and  featured  in  the  newspaper  comic 
strip  'Superman,'  is  touring  New  England  thea- 
tres in  connection  with  the  motion  picture  cam- 
paign to  sell  War  Savings  Bonds." 

V 

Washington,  D.  C,  restaurants  have 
stamped  a  bit  of  wartime  showmanship  on 
their  butter  squares.  Each  bears  the  imprint: 
"Remember  Pearl  Harbor,  Buy  War  Bonds." 
All  remind  that  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try in  this  month  of  September  is  the  official 
conductor  of  a  Billion  Dollar  War  Bond  sales 
campaign. 

V 

Citywide  attention  in  Cincinnati,  in  this  Sep- 
tember of  film  industry  billion-dollar  war  bond 
selling,  centers  on  a  hut,  called  "Demolition 
Depot,"  embellished  with  bombs,  sand  bags  and 
similar  objects  of  war,  erected  on  Fountain 
Square  in  the  heart  of  the  business  district,  by 
radio  station  WCKY,  a  CBS  affiliate.  Each 
purchaser  is  privileged  to  autograph  or  impress 
his  fingerprint  on  a  missle  or  implement  of  war. 
Heading  the  list  is  an  Army  tank,  "selling"  for 
a  $10,000  bond. 

For  two  ten-cent  stamps,  one  50-caliber  ma- 
chine gun  bullet  may  be  autographed,  while  a 
25-cent  stamp  entitles  the  purchaser  to  sign  a 
20  mm.  projectile.  Other  "buys"  are:  50-cent 
stamp,  one  37  mm.  high-explosive  shell,  $1.50  in 
stamps,  one  37  mm.  armor-piercing  bullet,  $3.50 
in  stamps,  one  81  mm.  trench  mortar  high-ex- 
plosive shell,  $6.50  in  stamps,  one  105  mm.  shell 
or  one  100-pound  chemical  bomb. 

An  $18.75  bond  is  good  for  signature  on  a 
general  purpose  bomb.  All  shells  and  bombs  are 
to  be  sent  to  the  front — where  else? 

The  hut  bears  a  sign  reading :  "Let's  Put  Ants 
in  Hitler's  Pants." 


Rummaging  through  old  files  containing  relics 
of  the  days  long  ago  when  some  of  the  large  cir- 
cuits conducted  theatre  operations  in  the  field 
from  charts,  rules,  proclamations  and  regulations 
plotted  on  a  home  office  desk,  an  RKO  Circuit 
executive,  the  other  day,  happened  across  a  docu- 
ment of  "Don'ts  for  Managers"  of  the  early 
swivel-chair  era.  There  were  exactly  101  don'ts, 
and  many  of  them  were  rare,  indeed,  even  for 
those  days. 

"Don't"  No.  1  warned  the  house  manager : 
"Don't  correspond  with  any  Home  Office  De- 
partment. Correspond  only  with  your  Division 
Manager." 

"Don't"  No.  2  came  right  back  and  told  the 
manager :  "Don't  write  letters  to  your  Division 
Manager." 

And  "Don't"  No.  3  said:  "Don't  neglect  to 
write  a  weekly  letter  to  your  Division  Manager." 

Another  "Don't"  warned:  "Don't  admit  juries 
gratis.  The  county  or  state  pays  for  their  en- 
tertainment." 

"Don't"  No.  17  advised:  "Don't  abuse  boys 
caught  stealing  into  the  theatre.  Decide  whether 
to  turn  them  over  to  the  police." 

One  "Don't,"  under  "Don'ts  for  Advertising- 
Publicity,"  warned :  "Don't  hold  advertising 
campaigns  on  pictures  you  do  not  play  in  your 
theatre."  Still  another :  "Don't  fake  (exploita- 
tion) photos.  If  an  exploitation  stunt  has  not 
been  done,  why  lie?" 

"Don't"  No.  62 :  "Don't  order  anything  over 
$10";  and  "Don't"  No.  69:  "Don't  purchase 
cleaning  supplies  from  any  company  except  Col- 
gate-Palmolive-Peet" — which  one  will  remember 
was  the  "Keep  That  Schoolgirl  Complexion" 
company. 

Some  slight  confusion  came  from  "Don't" 
No.  84:  "Don't  okeh  or  pay  bills  from  ADT  or 
NTD,"  and  "Don't"  85:  "Don't  withhold  any 
bills.    Pay  them  promptly  as  received." 

"Don't"  No.  88  advised :  "Don't  sign  checks  in 
blank.    This  is  just  plain  business." 

"Don't  rent  pianos,"  demanded  "Don't"  No.  90, 
with  a  bang  and  a  couple  of  thumps. 

And  then  there  was  the  "gentle"  little  re- 
minder :  "Don't  forget  to  explain  any  difference 
in  Bank  Reconciliations." 

All  of  which  were  concluded  by  the  "Don't" 
of  "Don'ts" :  "Don't  Neglect  to  Read  All 
"Don'ts" ! 

V 

United  Press  headline  in  the  New  York 
Daily  News: 

OFFICE  OF  PRICE  ADMINISTRATION 

GRANTS  RISE  FOR  APPLESAUCE 

V 

Few  outside  of  Hollywood,  and  his  own  cir- 
cle know  that  the  cigar-puffing  Bronx-born 
Milt  Gross,  funnyman  cartoonist,  is,  on  the  side, 
a  painter  of  serious  subjects;  a  person  of  the 
fine  arts.  The  creator  of  such  comic-strip  sagas 
as  "Dave's  Delicatessen,"  "That's  My  Pop!" 
and  "Count  Screwloose  of  Tooloose,"  and  other 
nutty  imaginations,  has  sold  many  a  serious 
painting  to  Hollywood ^stars  and  producers. 

One  of  the  editors  of  Rockefeller  Center 
magazine,  community  publication  in  this 
Rockefeller  Center  sector,  used  to  ride  up  in 
the  elevators  occasionally  a  couple  years  ago 
with  a  young  man  who  worked  for  an  engi- 
neering outfit  in  the  Center.  He  was  said  to 
be  a  good  engineer  and  pretty  soon  he  got  a 
good  offer  of  a  job  down  in  Trinidad — sal- 
ary, $10,000  a  year.  He  was  heard  from  off 
and  on,  and  after  about  eight  months,  it  was 
learned  he  was  coming  back  to  New  York. 
He  hated  Trinidad  so  much  he  said  he 
wouldn't  work  there  any  longer  even  if  he 
got  $25,000  a  year.  Shortly  after  he  got 
back,  his  draft  board  tapped  his  shoulder 
and  today  he's  back  in  Trinidad — salary,  $50 
a  month. 


One  way  to  get  into  the  Indiana  Theatre, 
Indianapolis,  free  is  to  buy  a  war  bond. 

For  the  past  few  weekends,  a  certain  pri- 
vate from  Indiana's  Camp  Atterbury  has 
been  stepping  up  to  the  bond  window,  pay- 
ing cold  cash  for  an  $18.75  bond  and  proudly 
marching  into  the  theatre  with  a  free  pass. 

Last  weekend  when  the  soldier  appeared 
on  schedule,  Leonard  Tuttle,  assistant  man- 
ager, could  no  longer  restrain  his  curiosity. 

"Pardon  me,"  said  Tuttle,  "Do  you  mind 
telling  me  how  you  manage  to  buy  a  bond  a 
week?  Most  men  in  civilian  life  are  lucky 
if  they  can  buy  one  a  month.  How  do  you 
do  it?" 

The  soldier  grinned,  reached  into  his 
pocket  and  extracted  a  standard-sized  pair 
of  freckled  cubes. 

"Next  month,"  said  the  soldier,  "I  hope  to 
buy  two  bonds  a  week.  We're  getting  a 
bunch  of  new  recruits." 

V 

Warners  report  to  the  press  that  Jesse  L. 
Lasky,  for  32  years  a  producer,  but  never  an 
actor,  will  turn  actor  in  his  own  production  of 
"The  Adventures  of  Mark  Twain."  "He-  will 
appear  as  a  gold  prospector,"  advises  Warners. 

Jesse  Lasky  WAS  a  gold  prospector.  He  was 
one  of  the  very  first  to  migrate  from  his  native 
San  Francisco  to  Alaska  at  the  time  of  the 
earliest  gold  rush.  He  was  one  of  the  first  100 
to  reach  Nome.  Went  up  as  a  gold  prospector 
but  returned  as  a  ukelele  player. 

V 

Columbia  Broadcasting's  press  department  in 
New  York  is  trying  to  cajole  the  nation's  press 
into  publishing  the  fact  that  Phil  Baker  calls 
his  dog  "Eversharp,"  and  Phil's  explanation 
that  "That's  only  the  dog's  pen  name." 

V 

George  Kallman,  whose  name  appears  on 
the  recent  list  of  1,500  foreigners  interned  by 
the  Japanese,  managed  the  RKO  Radio  or- 
ganization in  the  Philippine  Islands  up  to 
the  time  of  the  fall  of  Manila  and  is  now 
reported  held  in  a  concentration  camp. 

Mr.  Kallman's  activities  in  foreign  coun- 
tries started  in  1928  when  he  became  mana- 
ger for  United  Artists  in  Argentina.  Two 
years  later  he  resigned  to  enter  another  line 
of  business,  but  in  1933  he  rejoined  UA  as 
manager  for  Mexico.  In  1936  he  became 
sales  manager  for  the  then  newly  estab- 
lished RKO-Radio  branch  in  Argentina,  and 
in  1937  he  was  assigned  by  Phil  Reisman 
to  open  the  Chile  branch  which  he  man- 
aged until  the  Spring  of  1940  when  he  was 
promoted  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  a  larger 
territory,  with  headquarters  in  Manila.  A 
year-and-a-half  later  came  the  Japs. 

V 

Paramount  Pictures  announces  from  its  home 
office  that  Regina  Wallace,  who  appeared  in 
"The  Male  Animal,"  has  been  cast  as  "a  scat- 
ter-brained society  woman"  in  the  company's 
"The  Crystal  Ball." 

V 

Joseph  Loree,  formerly  of  the  Capitol  Thea- 
tre, a  Famous  Players  Canadian  operation  at 

Guelph,  Ontario,  is  making  headlines  in  his 
home  town. 

Loree,  who  is  attached  to  the  Royal  Air  Force, 
in  the  Middle  East,  made  a  bet  with  two  Can- 
adian and  two  Australian  pilots  traveling  with 
him  on  the  transport  over,  as  to  who  would  be 
the  first  of  the  group  to  bring  down  a  German 
plane  in  the  East.    The  boys  each  bet  a  pound. 

Joe  is  now  four  pounds  richer  and  the  Luft- 
waffe is  one  plane  shorter.  In  his  first  engage- 
ment Joe  was  at  the  controls  of  a  bomber  that 
dived  on  a  German  Junkers  88. 


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34 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


Good  Response 
To  Scrap  Drive 
Is  Reported 

The  industry's  campaign  to  aid  the  Govern- 
ment's scrap  drive  has  met  favorable  response 
in  most  key  points  throughout  the  country,  ex- 
hibitors report.  Many  scrap  matinees  and  spe- 
cial programs  have  brought  substantial  collec- 
tions. 

In  Los  Angeles  and  vicinity,  however,  the- 
atres have  had  difficulty  in  collecting  scrap  be- 
cause of  fire  ordinances  prohibiting  piling  of 
scrap  in  lobbies.  Houses  in  that  section  have 
been  urging  public  support  of  the  salvage  drive 
through  trailers. 

The  Fanchon  and  Marco-St.  Louis  Amuse- 
ment Company  drive  for  scrap  iron  and  rubber 
netted  729,232  pounds  of  iron  and  65,570  pounds 
of  rubber.  The  18,000  children  who  collected 
this  scrap  and  turned  it  into  the  29  theatres  of 
the  circuit,  received  free  tickets  of  admission 
for  an  all-Western  film  program  last  Saturday. 

Patrons  attending  108  Brandt  theatres,  New 
York,  during  a  recent  five-day  drive  turned  in 
206,000  pounds  of  rubber,  copper,  tin  and  iron 
scrap.  All  scrap  has  been  turned  over  to  au- 
thorized salvage  dealers,  it  was  said,  and  the 
proceeds  will  be  converted  into  War  Bonds, 
which  are  to  be  given  as  prizes  to  managers 
who  obtain  the  largest  Bond  and  Stamp  sales 
during  the  September  drive. 

More  than  750  children  contributed  5,600 
pounds  of  scrap  at  a  special  matinee  held  at  the 
Capitol  theatre,  Danville,  Pa.,  last  week.  One 
boy  not  only  gave  the  300  pounds  of  scrap  car- 
ried on  a  metal  wagon,  but  donated  the  wagon, 
too.  In  nearby  Bloomsburg,  about  two  tons  of 
scrap  were  collected  at  the  Capitol  theatre  there. 

Ushers  of  Shea's  Great  Lakes  theatre,  Buf- 
falo, have  turned  in  their  steel  lockers  to  aid 
the  scrap  metal  drive. 

Howard  Baker,  manager  of  Warner's  Rialto 
theatre,  Pleasantville,  N.  Y.,  reports  that  1,066 
pounds  of  rubber  were  salvaged  at  a  special 
matinee  recently. 

Ten  Allentown,  Pa.,  theatres  holding  special 
matinees  for  the  scrap  metal  salvage  campaign 
raised  30,000  pounds  of  scrap  metal  from  chil- 
dren, Charles  Bierbauer,  manager  of  the  Colo- 
nial and  chairman  of  the  industry  drive  there, 
reported.  Cooperating  theatres  were  the  Colo- 
nial, Rialto,  State,  Boyd,  Cinema,  Earle,  Mid- 
way, 19th   Street,  Transit  and  Franklin. 

The  Broad  theatre,  Nazareth,  Pa.,  one  of  the 
Lewen  Pizor  houses,  collected  more  than  three 
tons  of  scrap  metal  during  a  matinee  for  that 
purpose,  Mr.  Pizor  reported. 

Pieces  of  rubber  were  admission  tickets  at 
Edward  O'Donnell's  State  theatre  at  Webster, 
Mass.,  at  a  special  children's  matinee  recently. 
A  similar  program  was  staged  by  Manager 
Richard  Owens  at  his  Loew's  Plymouth  theatre 
in  Worcester,  Mass.  Manager  Harry  Horgan 
of  the  Opera  House  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  realized 
several  truckloads  of  rubber  to  add  to  the  city's 
rubber  salvage  pile  with  a  special  children's 
show  recently. 

A  public  collection  of  scrap  was  held  in  the 
parking  lot  adjoining  the  Roxy  theatre,  New 
York,  Wednesday,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Industries  Salvage  Committee,  co- 
operating with  the  theatre. 


Now  Moveover  House 

After  failing  to  make  the  grade  as  a  com- 
bined vaudeville  and  film  house,  the  old  Tivoli 
theatre,  reopened  three  weeks  ago  in  San 
Francisco  by  the  Joseph  Blumenfeld  theatre  in- 
terests, has  been  converted  into  a  moveover 
house  for  the  downtown  Orpheum  and  United 
Artists  Theatres,  also  operated  by  Mr.  Blu- 
menfeld. 


DUNPHY  ADVISES 
ON  SCRAP  DRIVES 

In  a  letter  from  C.  J.  Dunphy,  chief 
of  the  Amusements  Section,  Services 
Branch  of  the  War  Production  Board, 
to  members  of  the  Motion  Picture 
and  Speaking  Stage  Theatres  Indus- 
try Advisory  Committee,  concerning 
theatre  drives  for  salvage  of  scrap, 
exhibitors  are  advised: 

"A  charity  may  be  called  in,  should 
the  theatre  wish  to  handle  the  drive 
in  this  manner.  Included  in  this  group 
are  the  Salvation  Army,  Volunteers 
of  America,  Good  Will  Industries 
and  others  of  a  kindred  nature.  Boy 
Scouts,  Girl  Scouts,  Red  Cross,  etc., 
are  other  organizations  through  whom 
the  theatre  may  function  on  a  dona- 
tion basis. 

"If,  however,  the  theatres  prefer 
selling  their  materials,  it  is  suggested 
to  them  that  they  call  in  the  nearest 
junk  dealer  who  will  pay  them  for  the 
copper  scrap  which  they  have  col- 
lected. It  is  the  function  of  the  dealer 
to  collect,  grade,  clean,  sort  and  pre- 
pare waste  materials  for  shipment  to 
the  dealers  who,  in  turn,  supply  to 
consuming  mills.  Rubber  scrap  is 
handled  in  the  same  way.  ..." 


Roy  Rogers  in  Top 
Rodeo  Spot 

Roy  Rogers,  Republic  Western  star,  will  be 
featured  this  year  for  the  first  time  in  the  17th 
annual  'World  Championship  Rodeo"  opening 
at  Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York,  Octo- 
ber 7th  for  19  days.  He  will  appear  with  his 
horse  "Trigger." 

Rogers  takes  the  place  of  Gene  Autry,  also 
a  Republic  Western  star,  who  is  now  on  active 
Army  duty.  Autry  was  featured  in  the  1940 
and  1941  rodeos.  Following  the  New  York  en- 
gagement, Rogers  will  appear  with  the  rodeo 
at  the  Garden  in  Boston,  the  first  stop,  begin- 
ning October  30th  for  13  days,  and  in  Buffalo, 
at  the  Arena,  beginning  November  13th  for 
nine  days. 


War  Film  Courses 

Expansion  of  the  program  of  the  Institute 
of  Film  Techniques  at  City  College,  New  York, 
to  meet  the  increased  need  for  war  film  person- 
nel has  been  announced  by  Irving  Jacoby, 
supervisor  of  the  Institute.  With  the  start  of 
the  department's  second  year,  September  24th, 
workshop  courses  in  the  production  and  use 
of  public  information  and  training  films  will 
be  added,  Mr.  Jacoby  said. 


"Arsenic"  in  San  Francisco 

Off  to  a  good  start  with  "Arsenic  and  Old 
Lace"  at  the  Geary  Theatre,  the  San  Francis- 
co legitimate  theatre  operators  plan  to  import 
nearly  a  score  of  important  plays  during  the 
autumn,  winter  and  spring  months.  Opening 
later  this  month  at  the  Curran  will  be  "Watch 
on  the  Rhine,"  with  the  original  New  York  cast. 


McCormick  Joins  WB 

William  W.  McCormick,  formerly  sports 
writer  on  the  Washington  Post,  has  joined  the 
Warner  Brothers  home  office  publicity  depart- 
ment. 


Writer  Defends 
Films,  Farnol 

Defending  motion  pictures  as  "one  of  our 
greatest  industries"  and  "generous  supporters  of 
newspapers,"  Florence  Fisher  Parry,  Pittsburgh 
Press  columnist,  attacked  the  press  in  general 
and  the  U.  S.  Army,  for  allowing  Major  Lynn 
Farnol  "to  take  the  rap"  for  the  nationally  pub- 
licized "arrow  hoax"  about  an  Army  air  field. 

"Prejudice  in  its  ugliest  form"  was  displayed 
by  editorial  writers  and  columnists  who  stressed 
Major  Farnol's  professional  capacity  of  "motion 
picture  press  agent,"  and  so  implied  that 
"hoaxes  are  right  up  the  alley  of  the  movies," 
Mrs.  Parry  contended  in  the  second  column  she 
has  written  for  the  Scripps-Howard  daily  on 
behalf  of  Farnol  and  motion  pictures. 

Maintaining  that  "the  breakdown  in  inter- 
office communication  which  made  the  mistake 
possible  .  .  .  may  be  a  reflection  upon  the  Army 
setup  in  public  relations  but  in  no  way  impli- 
cated its  functioning  officers,"  the  writer  said, 
adding  that  "the  smear  was  not  Major  Farnol's 
alone  to  resent  and  suffer  by.  The  smear  was 
directed  at  one  of  our  greatest  industries.  The 
stimulation  that  the  movies  have  given  circula- 
tion, advertising  and  general  news  interest  is 
incalculable.  They  have  been  the  newspapers' 
best  customers  and  have  got,  in  return  for  this 
prodigious  support,  the  most  undignified,  sensa- 
tional and  damaging  news  playups  of  every  un- 
fortunate 'news-break'  that  has  come  out  of 
Hollywood."  Grave  injury  has  been  done  "the 
press,  because  some  newspapers  permitted  an 
innocent  man  to  be  called  guilty  before  he  was 
tried,"  she  added. 

Lauding  Major  Farnol  further,  Mrs.  Parry 
reported  that  "in  his  15  years  as  a  movie  press 
agent  he  did  exactly  one  'publicity  stunt,'  and 
on  that,  in  order  to  avoid  misleading  anyone, 
he  labeled  it  so  clearly  as  a  stunt  that  he  got 
fabulous  space  for  it.  He  has  never  been  a 
stunt  man ;  was  known,  by  all  familiar  with  his 
incomparable  work,  as  one  meticulous  and 
scrupulous  about  all  news  releases." 

Asserting  that  "there  was  no  room  in  Major 
Farnol  for  dishonesty,"  the  former  actress  who 
became  a  columnist  about  12  years  ago,  rejoiced 
that  "now  my  righteous  indignation  has  given 
place  to  that  even  more  righteous  sentiment : 
Vindication." 

One  Play,  Ice  Show 
Open  on  Broadway 

One  new  play,  Alec  Coppel's  mystery  drama, 
"I  Killed  the  Count,"  opened  on  Broadway  last 
week.  The  cast  includes  Louis  Hector,  Doris 
Dalton,  Clarence  Derwent,  Ruth  Holden,  LeRoi 
Operti,  Edgar  Kent,  Ethel  Morrison,  Rafael 
Corio,  Bertram  Tanswell  and  Robert  Allen.  It 
opened  at  the  Cort  theatre  last  Thursday. 

On  Friday  evening,  "Ice  Capades  of  1941" 
was  to  open  at  Madison  Square  Garden.  In- 
cluded in  the  cast  of  the  ice  spectacle  are  Donna 
Atwood,  Vera  Hruba,  Robert  Dench,  Rosemary 
Stewart,  Phil  Taylor,  Red  McCarty  and  others. 


Cartoon  to  Precede  Feature 

Gregor  Zeimer's  book,  "Education  for 
Death,"  which  is  being  made  as  a  feature  by 
Edward  Golden  for  RKO  Radio  release  under 
the  title,  "Hitler's  Children,"  also  will  be  the 
subject  of  a  Walt  Disney  cartoon  which  RKO 
will  release  several  weeks  in  advance  of  the 
feature. 


Set  "Yankee"  Deal 

RKO  Radio,  through  Robert  Mochrie,  gen- 
eral sales  manager,  has  closed  a  deal  for  Sam- 
uel Goldwyn's  "The  Pride  of  the  Yankees"  with 
the  Warner  Circuit.  The  pact  involves  more 
than  400  theatres,  including  first  and  subse- 
quent runs. 




^  ,heoeggea  ft  sn,osh 

VorUty  who  said  "» 

h',,'"  Du  o  ex  ept^ono.  grosses" 
will  roll  up  excepTi 

and  Hollywood  Reporter,  who 
tabbed  it  "boxoffice  hit.'' 


Directed  by  Archie  Mayo.  Produced  by  William  LeBaron.  Screen  Play  by 
Karl  Tunberg  and  Darrell  Ware.  Original  Story  by  James  Prindle.  Lyrics  and 
Music  by  Mack  Gordon  &  Harry  Warren.  Dances  Staged  by  Nick  Castle. 


2o* 

CENTURY-FOX 


36 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


AFM  Now  Bans  Discs; 
Petri  Ho  Faces  Senate 


Sub-committee  Hearings  to 
Open  Monday  with  Davis 
as  First  Witness 

James  Caesar  Petrillo,  president  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Musicians,  on 
Tuesday  extended  his  ban  against  music 
recordings  by  members  to  include  elec- 
trical transcriptions  used  only  once  and 
then  broken  by  radio  stations. 

The  new  order  from  the  music  czar  will 
be  noticed  by  the  public  almost  immedi- 
ately. Many  top  radio  shows  are  dis- 
tributed in  transcriptions  to  avoid  network 
wire  charges  and  time  difficulties.  Adver- 
tisers and  radio  men  indicated  that  the 
programs  will  be  forced  off  the  air  by  the 
Petrillo  order.  Small  stations  will  be  hit 
the  hardest,  it  was  said. 

At  the  time  of  the  union's  order  halting 
record  making  by  its  musicians  Mr.  Pet- 
rillo specifically  exempted  the  radio  tran- 
scriptions, asserting  that  they  did  not 
jeapordize  the  Federation's  members  if 
they  were  used  only  once. 

Hearings  on  the  resolution  calling  for 
an  investigation  of  orders  by  Mr.  Petrillo, 
banning  the  making  of  records  by  mem- 
bers of  his  union,  will  open  before  a 
special  sub-committee  of  the  United 
States  Senate  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mittee at  Washington  on  Monday,  with 
Elmer  Davis,  chief  of  the  Office  of  War 
Information,  as  the  first  witness.  Several 
weeks  ago  Mr.  Davis  was  unsuccessful  in 
an  effort  to  have  Mr.  Petrillo  rescind  the 
ban. 

The  sub-committee  will  be  headed  by  Sen- 
ator D.  Worth  Clark  of  Idaho,  author  of 
the  resolution,  and  will  include  Senators 
Hill  of  Alabama,  Andrews  of  Florida,  Gur- 
ney  of  South  Dakota  and  Tobey  of  New 
Hampshire.  Senator  Clark  was  chairman 
and  Senator  Tobey  a  member  of  the  sub- 
committee which  a  year  ago  investigated  the 
alleged  interventionist  activities  of  the  mo- 
tion picture  and  broadcasting  industries,  an 
inquiry  which  bogged  down  of  its  own 
weight  after  representatives  of  the  industry 
appeared,  and  folded  up  entirely  when  the 
first  bomb  dropped  on  Pearl  Harbor. 

NAB  To  Continue 
Fight  on  Ban 

Senator  Clark  said  his  hearings  on  the 
resolution  would  be  as  short  as  possible, 
since  they  are  designed  to  determine  wheth- 
er the  inquiry  should  be  pushed  further, 
rather  than  to  make  an  investigation,  but 
it  was  indicated  that  representatives  of  the 
broadcasters,  transcription  manufacturers 
and  others  affected  by  Petrillo's  order  would 
be  given  a  chance  to  testify  and  Petrillo 
himself  would  be  permitted  to  appear  if  he 
so  desired. 

In  a  bulletin  mailed  to  members  over  the 
weekend,  the  National  Association  of  Broad- 
casters indicated  it  planned  to  continue  the  cam- 
paign against  the  ban.  The  bulletin  said  that 
more  than  12,000  clippings  on  the  Petrillo  ban 
have  been  received  and  that  more  than  1,000 
newspapers  have  carried  editorials  "excoriating 


Mr.  Petrillo  in  terms  usually  reserved  for  the 
Axis  dictators  and  their  satellites."  NAB  had 
issued  a  compliation  of  press  editorials  on 
"Petrillo  and  the  Press"  and  plans  a  similar 
printing  of  "Petrillo  in  Pictures,"  a  reproduc- 
tion of  cartoons  on  the  subject. 

The  bulletin  also  pointed  out  that  NAB  was 
cooperating  with  all  Government  agencies  in- 
terested in  the  subject  and  that  research  was 
being  conducted  into  various  aspects  of  the  sub- 
ject. 

Cameraman  Dispute 
May  Go  to  AFL 

The  jurisdictional  dispute  over  first  camera- 
men between  the  International  Alliance  of  The- 
atrical Stage  Employees  and  the  American  So- 
ciety of  Cinematographers,  the  latter  now  affili- 
ated with  the  new  INEW  local,  No.  1318,  may 
be  carried  to  the  Seattle  convention  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  it  was  indicated 
in  Hollywood  last  weekend. 

With  officers  of  both  the  IATSE  and  IBEW 
reported  closely  following  the  Hollywood 
wrangling  in  the  dispute,  the  convention  was 
expected  to  hear  a  resolution  from  the  IA  re- 
affrming  its  jurisdictional  lines  claimed  thus 
far. 

Final  details,  meanwhile,  of  the  ASC  mem- 
bership merger  with  the  newly  created  IBEW 
local  were  being  ironed  out  and  preparations 
were  being  made  for  election  of  officers  of  the 
new  local.  According  to  Fred  Jackman,  presi- 
dent of  the  ASC,  some  delay  had  been  caused 
by  the  legal  steps  which  the  ASC,  a  California 
corporation,  must  take  before  it  could  dissolve. 
The  disposal  of  the  Society's  property,  consist- 
ing mainly  of  a  large  clubhouse  and  grounds, 
also  must  be  accomplished,  it  was  said. 

At  its  last  convention,  the  IATSE  voted  to 
give  full  aid  to  Photographers  Local  659  in 
the  cameramen's  jurisdictional  dispute.  Mean- 
while, the  studios  were  seeking  to  place  camera- 
men under  seven-year  personal  service  con- 
tracts, it  was  learned,  because  of  their  fear  of 
a  shortage  of  first  cameramen  due  to  the  draft 
and  enlistments. 

New  Move  to  End 
"Permit  System  99 

Another  step  toward  the  elimination  of  the 
"permit  system"  used  for  many  years  by  the 
Chicago  Moving  Picture  Operators'  Union, 
Local  110,  was  made  last  week  when  the  new 
constitution  and  by-laws,  drafted  by  the  com- 
mittee headed  by  Smith  King,  were  submitted 
to  the  memebrship  for  consideration.  Accord- 
ing to  union  rules  they  must  be  read  at  two 
more  meetings  before  being  adopted.  All  provi- 
sions will  be  open  to  full  debate.  The  second 
reading  probably  will  be  made  at  the  regular 
meeting  on  October  1st,  said  Peter  Shayne, 
president  of  the  local,  with  a  special  meeting 
to  be  called  shortly  afterward  for  final  voting 
and  adoption. 

The  by-laws  committee  had  proposed  that  all 
operators  who  had  been  working  on  temporary 
permits  be  permitted  to  become  regular  mem- 
bers upon  payment  of  an  initiation  fee  of  $400, 
the  applicant  to  pay  $100  down  and  the  re- 
mainder in  allotments  of  10  per  cent  of  his  pay. 
This  proposal  was  subject  to  membership  vote. 

In  the  meanwhile  Chicago  exhibitor  leaders 
and  circulit  operators  had  been  meeting  to  dis- 
cuss the  demands  made  by  the  union  for  a  10 
per  cent  increase  in  wages  and  a  six-day  week. 
Last  week  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  Black- 


stone  Hotel  attended  by  Sid  Spiegel,  Essaness 
Theatres ;  Jack  Kirsch,  representing  Allied 
membership ;  Louis  Reinheimer,  representing 
several  houses ;  James  E.  Coston,  Warner  The- 
atres ;  Henry  Schoenstadt,  Schoenstadt  circuit ; 
Tom  Gorman,  RKO,  and  Morris  G.  Leonard, 
Balaban  &  Katz. 

United  Theatrical  and  Building  Service  Em- 
ployees Union,  CIO,  announced  last  week  that 
it  was  seeking  designation  as  the  collective  bar- 
gaining agent  for  cashiers,  doormen,  ushers, 
matrons,  cleaners  and  porters  employed  by  the 
Warner  circuit  in  Hudson  County,  N.  J.  The 
International  Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage  Em- 
ployees was  contesting  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
CIO  union,  it  was  learned. 

Walter  Kennedy,  president  of  the  CIO  local, 
said  last  Thursday  that  his  union  had  just  con- 
cluded an  agreement  with  Warners  covering 
front  of  the  house  employees  in  Warner  the- 
atres in  Passaic  County.  A  meeting  between 
Donald  Jacocks,  northern  New  Jersey  zone 
manager  for  the  circuit,  and  Mr.  Kennedy  was 
held  last  Thursday  night  for  a  "cross  check" 
of  union  application  cards  with  the  employment 
rolls. 

Union  Developments 
In  the  Field 

C.  J.  Scollard  of  Paramount,  who  was  desig- 
nated distributors'  arbitrator  in  the  effort  to 
agree  on  a  wage  scale  for  Screen  Office  Em- 
ployees' Guild  members  at  the  Los  Angeles  and 
San  Francisco  exchanges,  left  New  York  last 
Thursday  for  Hollywood,  where  the  arbitration 
hearings  are  to  be  held.  Mr.  Scollard  and 
Glenn  Pratt,  business  agent  of  the  SOEG,  who 
had  been  designated  the  union's  arbitrator  will 
attempt  to  agree  on  a  third,  impartial  member 
for  the  arbitration. 

Film  deliveries  in  Cincinnati  were  not  affected 
by  a  strike  in  progress  there  by  some  600 
members  of  Truck  Drivers  Local  100  of  the 
Teamsters  Union,  AFL,  asking  an  increase  to 
90  cents  per  hour  from  the  75-cent  rate  in  ef- 
fect under  a  contract  which  expired  August 
1st.    The  contract  is  still  effective. 

Members  of  the  New  England  Projectionists' 
Association  attended  a  meeting  in  Hartford  last 
Thursday  night  at  which  William  McDaniel, 
projectionist  at  the  Capitol  Theatre,  Lynn, 
Mass.,  association  president,  presided. 

Michael  J.  Mungovan,  business  agent  of  the 
stagehands'  union  in  Rochester,  was  reelected 
a  vice-president  of  the  State  Federation  of 
Labor,  it  was  reported  this  week.  Mr.  Mun- 
govan represents  the  Theatrical  Crafts  of  New 
York  State. 

Local  77  of  the  Musicians  Union  in  Phila- 
delphia announced  last  week  that  a  15  per  cent 
increase  over  the  existing  wage  scale  went 
into  effect  for  the  1942-43  season,  beginning 
Labor  Day.  The  increase  would  affect  every 
type  of  musical  employment,  it  was  said. 


Nathanson  Named  Manager 

Carl  Leserman,  general  sales  manager  for 
United  Artists,  this  week  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  Nat  Nathanson  as  Milwaukee 
branch  manager,  to  fill  the  post  left  vacant  by 
the  resignation  of  James  Abrose.  Mr.  Nathan- 
son had  been  with  United  Artists  since  1937, 
with  headquarters  in  Chicago  and  San  Fran- 
cisco. 


Hold  Luncheon  for  Dunn 

Harold  Dunn,  Warner  Far  Eastern  super- 
visor, who  returned  to  this  country  recently 
in  an  exchange  of  nationals  between  the  U.  S. 
and  Japan,  was  tendered  a  luncheon  by  Warner 
home  office  executives  last  Friday  in  the  com- 
pany's private  dining  room.  Following  the 
luncheon,  Mr.  Dunn  left  for  the  coast  to  confer 
with  H.  M.  Warner. 


W.  E.  Sets  Dividend 

At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  of  the  Western 
Electric  Company  held  Tuesday,  in  New  York, 
a  dividend  of  25  cents  per  share  on  its  common 
stock  was  declared,  payable  on  September  30th, 
to  stock  of  record  on  September  25th. 


September    12,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


37 


20th- FOX  ENTERS  SEASON 
WITH  11  FILMS  IN  BACKLOG 


Six  Appear  To  Be  Grade  A 
Product;  "Black  Swan" 
Is  Top  Attraction 

Six  of  the  11  pictures  in  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  backlog  as  the  selling  sea- 
son swings  free  of  fetters  which  have 
influenced  preparations  for  marketing  are 
to  be  reckoned  A-grade  attractions,  on 
the  basis  of  precedent  and  prospect,  and 
at  least  one  of  the  five  others  produced 
for  less  money  figures  to  displace  some 
more  expensive  product  in  programming 
position  if  its  screening  bears  out  reports 
circulated  during  its  filming. 

The  11  pictures  considered  here  are 
those  on  which  camera  work  has  been  com- 
pleted but  which  have  not  been  trade  shown 
for  exhibitors  or  previewed  for  the  press. 
Three  of  the  six  pictures  in  the  A-group 
are  Technicolor  jobs. 

Costliest  of  the  six  and  regarded  as 
stocked  with  personalities  aggregating  peak 
drawing  power  is  "The  Black  Swan."  It 
is  a  Darryl  F.  Zanuck  production,  although 
producer  credit  may  go  to  his  associate, 
Robert  Bassler,  directed  by  Henry  King 
("Remember  the  Day,"  "In  Old  Chicago") 
with  the  technical  crew  which  served  him 
on  "Lloyds  of  London"  again  collaborating. 
Tyrone  Power,  Maureen  O'Hara,  Laid  Cre- 
gar,  Thomas  Mitchell  and  George  Sanders 
head  a  cast  that  runs  to  length  and  strength. 
It's  a  Technicolor  filming  on  large  scale 
of  Rafael  Sabatini's  novel  about  the  pirate 
Henry  Morgan,  and  as  full  of  fight  as  he 
was.  All  the  signs  point  to  big  grosses  for 
this  enterprise. 

Strong  Cast  Is  Set 
For  "Springtime" 

"Springtime  in  the  Rockies,"  another 
Technicolor  number,  is  from  the  William 
LeBaron  unit  ("Footlight  Serenade," 
"Weekend  in  Havana")  with  Irving  Cum- 
mings  ("Louisiana  Purchase,"  "That  Xight 
in  Rio,"  "Down  Argentine  Way")  directing 
a  cast  of  entertainers  experienced  in  musi- 
cals. 

Betty  Grable,  John  Payne,  Carmen  Mi- 
randa, Cesar  Romero,  Charlotte  Greenwood, 
Edward  Everett  Horton  and  Harry  James 
and  his  orchestra,  tops  just  now  in  the 
dance  band  field,  are  names  to  exploit.  Four 
songs  by  Mack  Gordon  and  Harry  Warren 
can  be  counted  on  to  include  at  least  one 
hit,  and  the  story  about  show  people  and 
their  troubles  commands  the  regard  due 
the  pen  of  Philip  Wylie  ("Second  Honey- 
moon. "  "Charlie  Chan  in  Reno").  Mr. 
LeBaron's  record  of  consistency  in  the  de- 
livery of  profitable  musicals  since  joining 
this  studio  warrants  plenty  of  confidence  in 
exploiting  this  one. 

"Thunderbirds" .  tells  in  Technicolor  a 
story  of  the  training  of  war  pilots — Ameri- 
can,'British  and  Chinese— on  the  Thunder- 
bird.  Falcon  and  Luke  flying  fields  in  Ari- 
zona, where  it  was  produced  by  Lamar 
Trotti,  who  produced  'To  the  Shores  of 
Tripoli"  with  similar  advantages  of  location 
authenticity  at  the  Marine  Base  in  San 


Diego.  It  was  directed  by  William  Well- 
man  ("Beau  Geste,"  "Men  With  Wings") 
from  Mr.  Trotti's  script,  American,  British 
and  Chinese  cadets  appearing  as  themselves. 
Gene  Tierney,  Preston  Foster,  John  Sut- 
ton, Jack  Holt,  Reginald  Denny,  George 
Barbier,  Dame  May  Whittey  and  many 
other  well  known  players  are  in  the  cast. 
Designed  to  duplicate  or  excel  the  success 
of  "To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli,"  it  appears 
to  possess  all  the  requirements. 

Ameche  Stars 
In  Comedy 

"Girl  Trouble"  is  a  comedy  with  a  hemi- 
spheric-solidarity aspect,  produced  by 
Robert  Bassler  ("My  Gal  Sal")  and  di- 
rected by  Harold  Schuster  ("Wings  of  the 
Morning,"  "Small  Town  Deb,"  "Yerv 
Young  Lady").  It  co-stars  Don  Ameche 
and  Joan  Bennett  ("Lady  Takes  a  Flier," 
"Twin  Beds,"  "T  Married  a  Xazi")  with 
Frank  Craven  ("Our  Town"),  Billie  Burke 
("They  All  Kissed  the  Bride"),  Alan  Dine- 
hart,  Helene  Reynolds  and  a  dozen  others 
in  support. 

It's  a  tale  about  a  Latin  who  arrives  in 
Manhattan  and  meets  a  girl  who  masque- 
rades as  her  maidservant,  developing  humor 
as  it  goes  along.  The  names  index  the  item 
as  plus  or  minus  for  the  individual  show- 
man, according  to  his  experience  with  them. 

"The  Ox-Bow  Incident"  stars  Henry 
Fonda  ("Tales  of  Manhattan,"  "Magnifi- 
cent Dope,"  "Grapes  of  Wrath")  in  a  pro- 
duction of  the  novel  by  Walter  von  Til- 
burg  Clark  filmed  under  the  Lamarr  Trotti- 
William  Wellman  auspices.  It's  a  tale  of 
violence  and  strife  in  the  old  West  and 
the  support  includes  Dana  Andrews,  Mary- 
Beth  Hughes,  Harry  Davenport,  Florence 
Bates.  Anthony  Quinn,  Yictor  Kilian,  Ted 
North,  Marc  Lawrence  and  William  Lyme. 
The  film  appears  dependent  upon  the  fame 
of  Fonda  and  the  repute  of  the  novel  for 
first  draw. 

Melodrama 
About  Burma 

"China  Girl"  features  George  Montgom- 
ery ("Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point," 
"Roxie  Hart")  and  Gene  Tiernev  with 
Lynn  Bari  ("We  Go  Fast,"  "Magnificent 
Dope,"  Motion  Picture  Herald  Stars  of 
Tomorrow  poll)  and  Yictor  McLaglen 
("Captain  Fury,"  "South  oi  Pago _ Pago") 
in  support,  under  the  direction  of  Henry 
Hathawav  ("Sundown,"  "Shepherd  of  the 
Hills,"  "Brigham  Young").  It's  a  melo- 
drama concerning  the  experiences  of  a  news- 
reel  cameraman  in  Burma  prior  to  and  end- 
ing with  the  attack  on  Pearl  Harbor,  writ- 
ten and  produced  by  Ben  Hecht,  as  his  first 
producing  venture  for  the  studio.  The 
Hecht  record  at  large  has  taught  observers 
in  general  not  to  predict  good  or  bad,  and 
never  to  expect  average,  where  his  ample 
but  erratic  talent  is  a  factor. 

"Manila  Calling"  tops  the  second  flight 
of  backlog  material  and  is  expected  to  do 
top  flight  business.  Produced  for  Sol  Wurt- 
zel  for  about  $300,000  and  directed  by  Rob- 
ert I   Leeds  ("Blue.  White  and  Perfect," 


"Ride  On,  Yaquero,"  "Romance  of  the  Rio 
Grande"),  it's  a  story  by  John  Larkin  about 
a  dozen  radio  company  employes  on  the  Is- 
land of  Mindanao  following  the  attack  by 
the  Japanese.  Lloyd  Xolan  (Michael 
Shane,  Detective,  series)  and  Carole  Lan- 
dis  ("Weekend  in  Havana,"  "My  Gal  Sal," 
"Orchestra  Wives")  are  the  exploitable 
names,  with  James  Gleason,  Cornel  Wilde, 
Martin  Kosleck,  Ralph  Byrd,  Charles  Tan- 
nen  and  others  in  support.  Title,  timeliness 
and  satisfaction  with  the  quality  of  the  pic- 
ture last  week  prompted  the  studio  to  an- 
nounce that  it  will  be  offered  exhibitors  on 
percentage  basis. 

Horror  Film  Is 
Scheduled 

"Dr.  Renault's  Secret"  also  is  a  Sol 
Wurtzel  production,  offering  J.  Carrol 
Xaish  ("Tales  of  Manhattan,"  "Mr.  Dvna- 
mite,"  "That  Xight  in  Rio"),  John  Shep- 
perd  ("Rings  on  Her  Fingers,"  "Loves  of 
Edgar  Allen  Poe")  and  Lynne  Roberts 
("Last  of  the  Duanes")  in  a  tale  about  a 
scientist  who  succeeds  in  making  an  ape 
talk  and  act  like  a  man  and  gets  killed  after 
melodramatic  episodes.  Direction  by  Harry 
Lachman  ("Castle  in  the  Desert,"  "Charlie 
Chan  in  Rio,"  "Dead  Men  Tell")  gives  a 
measure  of  assurance  as  to  the  qualification 
of  the  item  for  a  supporting  spot. 

"He  Hired  the  Boss,"  another  Wurtzel 
number,  depends  for  draw  upon  Stuart  Er- 
win  ("Adventures  of  Martin  Eden," 
"Drums  of  the  Congo")  and  was  directed 
by  Thomas  Z.  Loring  ("Through  Differ- 
ent Eyes").  It's  a  modernized  version  of 
"$10  Raise."  under  which  title  it  started  in 
production,  a  comedy  about  a  meek  book- 
keeper, rejected  by  his  draft  board,  who 
becomes  an  air  raid  warden  and  wins  the 
raise  and  girl. 

Virginia  Gilmore  and 
Ellison  Paired 

"That  Other  Woman"  pairs  Yirginia  Gil- 
more  ("Berlin  Correspondent,"  "Loves  of 
Edgar  Allen  Poe")  and  James  Ellison 
("Careful,  Soft  Shoulders,"  "Anne  of 
Windy  Poplars")  who  shared  top  billing 
in  "Mr.  District  Attorney  in  the  Carter 
Case."  It's  a  variation  of  the  story  about 
the  business  man  who  sees  his  secretary 
only  as  a  worker  until  she  makes  him  recog- 
nize her  as  a  girl  with  whom  to  fall  in  love. 
Direction  by  Ray  McCarey  ("It  Happened 
in  Flatbush,"  "Gentleman  at  Heart,'*  "Pef- 
fect  Snob")  suggests  proficiency  of  treat- 
ment. Produced  by  Walter  Morosco,  with 
Dan  Duryea,  Janis  Carter,  Alma  Kruger 
and  talent  of  that  level  in  support,  it  prom- 
ises laughs  for  the  lower  panel  of  a  double 
bill. 

"The  Man  in  the  Trunk"  departs  from 
the  routine  of  murder  mysteries  to  the  ex- 
tent of  enabling  the  murderee's  astral  body 
to  roam  around  and  facilitate  detection  of 
the  murderer.  It  has  Lynne  Roberts  and 
J.  Carrol  Xaish  as  names  for  billing  and 
it's  another  Walter  Morosco  job,  directed 
by  Malcolm  St.  Clair. 


TIMED  PE 


STANFORD'S  #UXX/CM£/ 


Hitting  the  line  for  a  touchdown! 
Knocking  the  gals  for  a  goal ! 


#\B1T  OF 


1 


CTLY  FOR  THE  FOOTBALL  SEASON! 


INNESOTA'S  WW 


W0. 


Hurtling  out  of  the 
heart  of  today's  fight- 
ing young  America! 


WNNESOtt 


with 


DDIIPT  OMITU  ALL-AMERICAN 

DnUUL  olYilln  halfback) 

Arline  Judge  •  Warren  Ashe  •  Don  Beddoe  •  Kay  Harris  •  Robert  Stevens 

^  OrigtRai  screen  ploy  by  Robert  D.  Andrews  •  Directed  by  LEW  LANDERS  •  Produced  by  JACK  FIER 


~7 


MAKE  IT 
A  BILLION 

N  WAR  BONDS  AND 
STAMPS  IN  SEPTEMBER, 
"SALUTE  TO  OUR 
HEROES"  MONTH 


40 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


New  Color  Process 
Is  First  in  Mexico 


Known  as  Mexicolor;  Used 
on  Interpretive  Dance 
Film  by  Esquero 

by  LOUIS  BECERRA  CELIS 

in  Mexico  City 

Something  new  in  Mexican  pictures,  "Ex- 
travaganza Mexicana,"  announced  as  a  film 
interpretation  of  this  country  by  means  of 
pantomime  dancing,  is  being  produced  for 
California  Film  by  Carlos  Esquero,  at  Az- 
teca  Studios  here.  The  picture  is  being  dif- 
rected  by  Juan  Jose  Segura,  noted  Mexican 
artist,  who  founded  a  new  school  of  impres- 
sionistic painting  several  years  ago.  Mr. 
Segura  did  the  scenery  and  is  supervising 
the  dances,  which  are  being  performed  in 
the  modernistic  expressionless  masks. 

This  film  is  introducing  a  recently  devel- 
oped color  process,  called  Mexicolor,  the 
first  in  Mexico.  The  process  is  doing  so  well 
in  this  picture,  it  is  said,  that  it  probably 
will  be  adopted  by  other  producers.  Cali- 
fornia Films  and  Mr.  Esquero  have  already 
completed  plans  for  following  this  initial 
production  with  "Extravaganza  Torera" 
which  is  to  be  a  bull  fight  picture,  inter- 
preted by  Seguraesque  dances  and  native 
scenery. 

Set  English  Version 
Of  Mexican  Film 

For  the  first  time  in  Mexico,  a  picture  is 
to  be  produced  in  English  by  Mexican  in- 
terests. This  will  be  "El  Mexicano"  ("The 
Mexican"),  produced  by  Promesa  Films, 
S.  A.,  recently  organized  here  by  Manuel 
Reachi,  who  for  some  time  was  the  Mexi- 
can Government's  representative  in  Holly- 
wood. The  English  version  will  be  directed 
by  Dudley  Murffey  and  is  to  have  a  Holly- 
wood actor  in  the  lead.  This  player  is  now 
being  selected.  The  English  version  will  be 
produced  simultaneously  with  a  Spanish  ver- 
sion. 

Both  sections  of  the  picture  are  scheduled 
to  start  in  production  about  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember. 


Felipe  Gregorio  Castillo,  chief  of  the  Fed- 
eral Film  Supervising  and  Censorship  De- 
partment, is  expanding  his  production  ac- 
tivities. He  is  now  preparing  a  documentary 
short  subject  in  the  style  of  "The  March  of 
Time."  Release  is  expected  to  begin  in  Sep- 
tember. 

Mr.  Castillo  also  plans  "Maria  Cristina," 
a  musical  comedy.  He  intends  to  make  of 
this  an  elaborate  production. 

A  film  is  to  be  made  for  the  first  time  of 
the  colorful  Mexican  feminine  national  cos- 
tume, "China  Poblana,"  an  integral  part  of 
which  is  the  white  lace  petticoat.  This  pic- 
ture is  being  prepared  for  early  production 
by  Ixtla  Film,  S.  A.  Chano  Urueta,  promi- 
nent writer  and  director,  will  direct. 

Tito  Guizar  has  returned  here  by  plane 
from  Brazil  to  play  a  leading  role  in  "Que 
Lindo    es    Michoacan"    ("Michoacan  the 


Beautiful"),  the  first  feature  film  to  be  made 
in  color  in  Mexico,  which  the  Rodriguez 
Brothers  are  to  start  producing  shortly. 

Mexican  radio  stations  will  be  able  to 
carry  on  at  par  for  at  least  another  year, 
in  the  opinion  of  managers  of  the  leading 
local  stations,  thanks  to  their  early  stocking 
of  material  and  equipment  that  must  be  ob- 
tained in  the  United  States.  Nevertheless, 
there  are  fears  that  some  of  the  smaller  sta- 
tions soon  will  feel  the  lack  of  servicing 
and  that  probably  before  long  they  must 
curtail  functions  or  perhaps  totally  suspend. 


Salvador  Toscano,  engineer  who  was  one 
of  the  fathers  of  production  in  Mexico,  has 
been  accorded  an  unique  memorial.  A  sec- 
tion of  picturesque  highway,  a  breath-taker 
for  American  tourists,  between  Mexico  City 
and  Puebla  City,  has  been  called  "Tosca- 
nito"  ("Little  Toscano"),  as  the  engineer- 
film  man  was  affectionately  known. 

Labor  Officials 
Tour  Country 

With  the  intention  of  making  film  labor  out- 
standing in  backing  the  national  war  effort,  a 
tour  of  Mexico  is  being  made  to  line  up  these 
workers  for  this  endeavor  by  Salvador  Car- 
rillo,  secretary  general  of  the  National  Cine- 
matographic Industry  Workers,  and  other 
leaders  of  that  union,  with  Fidel  Velazques, 
chief  of  the  Confedration  of  Mexican  Work- 
ers, which  is  this  country's  strongest  labor  or- 
ganization. 

V 

Radio  Station  XERA,  which  was  of  180,000 
watts  and  the  largest  in  Mexico,  at  Villa  Acuna, 
on  the  American  border,  expropriated  last  sum- 
mer because  the  Government  considered  it  was 
breaking  Mexican  law  and  embarrassing  Mex- 
ico in  the  United  States  with  its  medical  treat- 
ment propaganda,  now  definitely  belongs  to  the 
Government  as  the  result  of  an  odd  verdict  of 
the  supreme  court. 

The  court  granted  Ramon  D.  Bozquez,  for- 
mer owner  of  XERA,  an  injunction  against  the 
expropriation.  But  that  was  a  mere  technical- 
ity, on  the  ground  that  the  expropriation  was 
ordered  against  the  station's  operating  company 
but  not  against  Mr.  Bozquez.  The  Government 
recently  ordered  payment  of  $52,500  to  Mr. 
Bozquez  as  compensation  for  the  expropria- 
tion. That  sum  was  fixed  by  Government 
evaluators.  Equipment  of  the  station  is  to  be 
brought  here  to  form  part  of  a  large  station 
the  Government  is  preparing  and  which  is  ex- 
pected to  be  inaugurated  about  the  end  of  this 
year. 

V 

Albert  Saltiel,  general  manager  of  Panameri- 
can  Films,  S.A.,  important  producers  with  head- 
quarters at  Calle  de  Las  Artes,  No.  28  here, 
has  gone  to ,  the  United  States  in  connection 
with  the  company's  new  production  program. 

V 

What  amounts  to  a  chamber  of  commerce  has 
been  organized  by  the  commercial  radio  com- 
panies of  Mexico.  This  is  the  Camara  Nacional 
de  la  Industria  de  la  Radiodifusion  (National 
Chamber  of  the  Radio  Broadcast  Industry.) 
The  chamber  is  at  Paseo  de  la  Reforma,  No. 
35,  Mexico  City,  and  is  in  charge  of  Jose  Luis 
Fernandez. 


Reports  Japs 
Seized  40% 
Of  Receipts 

Forty  per  cent  of  theatres  gross  receipts  in 
territories  seized  by  the  Japanese  was  taken 
by  them,  according  to  reports  which  reached 
American  internees  in  Bangkok,  and  which  was 
repeated  in  New  York  last  week  by  Leon  von 
Haverbeck,  Bangkok  circuit  manager  and  im- 
porter. 

Mr.  von  Haverbeck,  of  Belgian  descent,  an 
American  citizen,  and  long  a  resident  of  the 
Far  East,  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  diplo- 
matic liner  Gripsholm. 

Since  1933,  he  had  resided  in  Bangkok,  go- 
ing there  from  Manila.  On  December  7th  the 
Japanese  seized  Bangkok,  Thai  capital,  and 
on  December  8th,  Mrs.  von  Haverbeck,  who 
with  her  mother  accompanied  her  husband 
here,  went  to  the  bank  in  Bangkok  where  their 
savings  were.  It  was  closed — one  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  Japs.  This  was  followed  by  in- 
ternment at  home  from  December  14th  to  the 
23rd ;  and  in  a  police  encampment  from  De- 
cember 23rd  to  June  29th,  when  the  three  board- 
ed the  Asama  Maru,  Japanese  liner,  which 
took  them  to  Lorenco  Marques,  East  Africa, 
where  they  then  boarded  the  Gripsholm. 

The  von  Haverbecks  were  treated  well  during 
their  internment,  he  said,  but  they  lost  all  their 
property  and  money.  The  Thai's,  only  a  small 
minority  of  whom  were  described  as  pro- Japan- 
ese, seized  Westerners'  property  outright  and 
auctioned  it  under  Japanese  compulsion,  he 
said. 

The  war  resulted  for  Mr.  von  Haverbeck 
in  the  collapse  of  a  large  theatrical  enterprise. 
He  had  resigned  in  1939  as  managing  director 
of  the  United  Cinema  Company,  a  circuit  of 
42  theatres  owned  by  the  late  King  Prajahdi- 
pok,  to  form  his  importing  company. 

He  then  had  become  interested  in  the  build- 
ing by  Prince  Chau  Amara  of  a  large  Bangkok 
theatre,  the  Pathanakorn.  It  was  completed, 
and  was  to  have  been  operated  by  Mr.  von 
Haverbeck  but  the  war  intervened. 

Last  week  he  related  that  the  prince  had 
visited  them  several  times  during  the  intern- 
ment at  home,  bringing  food  and  news ;  but  not 
at  all  during  the  internment  in  the  police  camp. 

Mr.  von  Haverbeck  said  that  during  his_  di- 
rection of  the  United  Cinema  circuit,  American 
pictures  dominated  the  screen,  British  pictures 
"did  not  go — they  didn't  have  action" ;  and 
Saimese  films  were  shown  only  under  compul- 
sion by  the  Government. 

In  internment,  he  heard  that  the  Japanese, 
in  addition  to  seizing  40  per  cent  of  theatres' 
gross  receipts,  brought  to  Bangkok  films  taken 
from  the  Singapore  offices  of  American  com- 
panies, and  played  them,  including  "That  Ham- 
ilton Woman,"  an  Alexander  Korda  British 
production. 

Buys  Mexican  Theatre 

Eugenio  Lafarga,  Spanish  boot  and  shoe 
store  operator  of  Mexico  City,  now  is  the  sole 
owner  of  the  Cine  Margerit,  leading  first  run 
theatre  there.  Antonio  Santos,  also  a  Spanish 
businessman,  sold  out  his  interests  in  the  thea- 
tre to  Mr.  Lafarga  for  a  reported  $10,000.  The 
Magerit  is  the  newest  first  run  theatre  in  the 
city.    It  opened  last  year. 

Air  Express  Anniversary 

The  air  express  division  of  the  Railway  Ex- 
press Agency  marked  its  15th  anniversary  on 
September  1st.  It  was  on  that  day  in  1927 
that  four  airlines  joined  with  the  predecessor 
of  the  Railway  Express  Agency  to  offer  ship- 
pers a  coast-to-coast  air  shipping  service. 
Among  the  leading  items  handled  by  the  ser- 
vice is  films. 


September    12,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  41 

THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 


By  WILLIAM  R.  WEAVER,  Hollywood  Editor 


44  FILMS  IN  WORK 


finished,  nine  started  and  44  in  work.  In 
:h  films  pass  for  release  preparation)  were  67. 


The  production  score  this  week  stood  at 
the  cutting  rooms  (that  stage  through  whicl- 
Fifty-six  were  being  prepared. 

MGM  started  five  pictures  to  become  the  leader  in  the  race  to  get  more  films  in 
work.  The  tally  follows: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

Silver  City  Raiders 
Monogram 

West  of  the  Law 
'Neath  Brooklyn 
Bridge 

Paramount 

High  Explosive 
Lucky  Jordan 

Producers  Releasing 

Outlaws  of  Boulder 
Pass 

Republic 

Valley  of  Hunted 
Men 

20+h  Century-Fox 

The  Undying  Mon- 
ster 

Life  Begins  at  8:30 
The  Meanest  Man  in 
the  World 

Warners 

The  Desert  Song 


STARTED 
MGM 

Assignment   in  Brit- 
tany 

DuBarry  Was  a  Lady 
Cabin  in  the  Sky 
The  Human  Comedy 
Three  Hearts  for 
Julia 

Monogram 

The  Living  Ghost 
Republic 

Heart  of  the  Golden 
West 

Universal 

Lone  Star  Trail 
Warners 

Action  in  the  North 
Atlantic. 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

Something  to  Shout 
About 


The  Frightened  Stiff 
City  Without  Men 
The  Commandos 
Come  at  Dawn 

Goldwyn 

They  Got  Me  Cov- 
ered 

MGM 

Lassie  Come  Home 
Dr.   Gillespie's  New 

Assistant 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 
Keeper  of  the  Flame 
Reunion 

Paramount 

Buckskin  Frontier 
Night  Train  to 

Chungking 
The  Crystal  Ball 
For  Whom  the  Bell 

Tolls 

RKO 

Stand  by  to  Die 
Tarzan  Triumphs 


Republic 

Johnny  Doughboy 

20th  Century-Fox 

The  Brasher  Doub- 
loon 

Quiet,  Please,  Murder 
Over  My  Dead  Body 
Crash  Dive 
My  Friend  Flicka 

Universal 

Pittsburgh 
Nightmare 
Passing  the  Buck 
Corvettes  in  Action 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Arabian  Nights 
Forever  Yours 
Sin  Town 
Flesh  and  Fantasy 

Warners 

Edge  of  Darkness 
Adventures   of  Mark 

Twain 
Princess  O'Rourke 
Air  Force 


RKO  has  acquired  an  option  to  film  the 
life  of  Sister  Elizabeth  Kenny,  Australian 
nurse  who  discovered  a  treatment  for  in- 
fantile paralysis,  a  previously  announced 
deal  between  United  Artists  and  the  nurse 
having  been  permitted  to  lapse,  it  was 
learned.  Rosalind  Russell,  who  was  to 
have  appeared  in  the  United  Artists  pic- 
ture by  Sister  Kenny's  demand,  also  is  in- 
cluded in  the  RKO  plans,  having  inter- 
ested the  latter  studio  in  the  project  when 
the  United  Artists  arrangement  fell 
through. 

Mary  McCarthy,  who  has  worked  on  the 
scenario  for  the  United  Artists  producer, 
Benedict  Bogardus,  has  been  engaged  by 
RKO  to  continue  writing  the  screenplay. 

Dorothy  Lamour  has  been  named  by 
Paramount  for  one  of  the  leads  in  "Dixie," 
with  Bing  Crosby,  replacing  Barbara  Brit- 
ton.  The  cast  will  include  also  Marjorie 
Reynolds,  Billie  De  Wolf  and  Lynne  Over- 
man. A.  Edward  Sutherland  will  direct, 
starting  next  month. 

Major  de  Seversky 
In  Disney  Film 

Major  Alexander  P.  de  Seversky,  author  of 
"Victor}-  Through  Air  Power,"  will  appear 
in  Walt  Disney's  cartoon  adaptation  of  the 
work,  speaking  a  prologue  for  the  film,  Mr. 
Disney  has  announced.  Major  de  Seversky 
is  now  in  Hollywood  collaborating  on  the 
picture. 

Cole  Porter  has  been  signed  to  write  the 
songs  for  Warner's  "Mississippi  Belle," 
which  Everett  Freeman  is  adapting  from 
the  Clements  Ripley  novel.  The  musical 
romance  will  be  made  in  Technicolor  and 
will  star  Ann  Sheridan. 

Annabella,  French  film  actress  who  has 
been  inactive  since  1939,  will  return  to  the 
screen  in  "Project  47,"  a  Commando  story 
at  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  the  studio  has 
announced.  John  Brahm  will  direct  the  pic- 
ture from  a  screenplay  by  Rohama  Lee  and 
Arthur  Caesar. 

Jeff  Donnell  in 
"City  Without  Men" 

The  contract  with  the  French  star  in- 
cludes options  for  subsequent  films.  The 
studio  brought  her  to  this  country  in  1937 
and  she  made  several  pictures  in  the  next 
two  years,  the  last  of  which  was  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer's  "Bridal  Suite"  in  1939. 
She  retired  soon  after  her  marriage  to  Ty- 
rone Power. 

At  Columbia,  Miss  Jeff  Donnell  has  been 
added  to  the  cast  of  "City  Without  Men." 
Republic  has  named  John  Hubbard  and  Vir- 
ginia Grey  for  the  leading  roles  in  "The 
Corpse  Came  C.  O.  D,"  with  William  Mor- 
gan directing.  The  story,  written  by  Geof- 
frey Holmes,  deals  with  War  Stamp  counter- 
feiting. Gloria  Dickson,  who  recently  com- 
pleted "The  Affairs  of  Jimmy  Valentine" 
at  Republic,  has  been  signed  to  a  three- 
picture  contract  by  the  studio. 

Paramount  has  announced  that  the  scripts 
of  two  films  have  been  submitted  to  Rosalind 
Russell  in  an  effort  to  obtain  her  services 
for  leading  roles.     The  stories  are  "Four 


from  Coventry,"  by  Clare  Boothe,  and  "Bill 
of  Goods,"  by  Charles  Brackett  and  Billy 
Wilder.  The  studio  has  tested  Simone  Si- 
mon for  the  feminine  lead  in  "Five  Graves 
to  Cairo,"  with  Franchot  Tone. 

Fred  MacMurray  will  play  the  leading 
role  in  "Mistress  Mary,"  a  comedy  which 
Robert  Pirosh  and  Rene  Clair  are  writing 
for  direction  by  Mr.  Clair.  The  studio  has 
abandoned  plans  for  production  of  "The 
Man  Who  Had  No  Private  Life,"  an  un- 
produced  play  by  Otto  Furth,  which  Mr. 
Clair  was  to  have  directed,  and  "Mistress 
Mary"  will  replace  it  on  the  schedule.  The 
Furth  play,  which  Paramount  has  owned 
for  some  years,  will  be  put  aside. 

Stars  Set  for 
"Caribbean  Patrol" 

Brian  Donlevy  has  been  named  by  Para- 
mount to  replace  MacMurray  in  "Caribbean 
Patrol,"  a  story  by  James  Edward  Grant 
formerly  titled  "Decoy."  Alan  Ladd  will 
appear  in  the  film  with  Donlevy,  and  Sol 
C.  Siegel  will  produce,  starting  next  month. 
The  story  deals  with  America's  armed  mer- 
chantmen. 

At  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,  Robert  Young 
has  been  assigned  to  the  lead  in  "Nothing 
Ventured,"  with  Lana  Turner,  supplanting 
Gene  Kelly.  Wesley  Ruggles  will  direct  the 
comedy. 

MGM  has  confirmed  the  assignment  of 


Greer  Garson  to  the  title  role  in  "Madame 
Curie,"  which  will  be  the  actress'  first  film 
under  a  new  seven-year  contract  with  the 
studio. 

Margaret  Lindsay  has  been  signed  by  Col- 
umbia for  the  feminine  lead  in  the  first  of 
the  new  Columbia  melodrama  series,  "The 
Crime  Doctor,"  starring  Warren  William, 
which  will  be  taken  from  the  CBS  radio  pro- 
gram of  the  same  name. 

V 

David  O.  Selznick  has  purchased  the  full 
contract  of  Robert  Stevenson,  director,  from 
RKO  Radio.  Mr.  Selznick  has  a  deal  for  one 
picture  a  year  with  Mr.  Stevenson.  "Jane 
Eyre"  will  be  his  first  film  under  the  new  ar- 
rangement. 

V 

Republic  is  changing  the  picture  announced 
as  "Yankee  Girl/'  which  would  have  told  of 
the  American  WAAC,  to  "Thumbs  Up."  which 
will  deal  with  the  British  WAAF. 

V 

Gene  Tierney's  contract  has  been  renewed  by 
Twentieth  Century-Fox.  She  has  completed 
the  film.  "Thunder  Birds,"  and  has  been  cast 
tentatively  in  "Bird  of  Paradise,"  "Army  Wife" 
and  "Tampico." 

V 

Colonel  Jason  Joy,  public  relations  director 
at  the  Twentieth  Century-Fox  studio,  has  been 
given  a  new  two-year  contract.  He  has  been 
with  the  company  since  1932. 


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THE  BIG  STREET 

one  of  the  first  five  pictures  from 
RKO  RADIO  for  1942-43.  The  others: 

HERE  WE  GO  AGAIN 
WINGS  AND  THE  WOMAN 
MEXICAN  SPITFIRE'S  ELEPHANT 
HIGHWAYS  BY  NIGHT 


SEPTEMBER  IS  SALUTE  TO  OUR  HEROES  MONTH.  SELI 
A  BOND  TO  HONOR  EVERY  MOTHER'S  SON  IN  SERVICE 


44 


RKO  Morning 
Premiere  Set 
For  Picture 

A  "Morning  World  Premiere"  unique  among 
film  openings,  will  be  held  for  RKO's  "Here 
We  Go  Again,"  in  RKO  theatres  from  coast  to 
coast  on  Saturday,  October  10th,  at  9  :30  A.M. 
The  picture  stars  Fibber  McGee  and  Molly, 
Edgar  Bergen  with  Charlie  McCarthy  and 
Mortimer  Snerd,  the  Great  Gildersleeve  and 
Ginny  Simms.  As  added  features,  there  will 
Tim  Holt  in  an  outdoor  feature  and  a  Walt 
Disney  cartoon  in  Technicolor. 

Admission  for  the  shows  will  be  uniform 
throughout  the  circuit,  35  cents  for  adults  and 
25  cents  for  children.  No  adult  will  be  admit- 
ted unless  accompanied  by  a  child.  Tickets  will 
be  sold  in  advance  but  no  seats  will  be  reserved. 

The  idea  for  this  coast-to-coast  morning 
premiere  originated  with  Edward  L.  Alperson, 
general  manager  of  RKO  Theatres.  It  follows 
closely  the  recent  opening  of  Samuel  Gold- 
wyn's  "The  Pride  of  the  Yankees"  in  40  RKO 
Metropolitan  New  York  houses  simultaneously 
with  the  picture's  Broadway  debut  at  the  Astor. 
Approximately  100,000  persons  attended  this 
multiple  showing,  it  was  reported. 

RKO  estimates  that  more  than  250,000  pa- 
trons will  be  present  at  the  "Here  We  Go 
Again"  premiere,  to  be  held  at  36  houses  in 
the  Metropolitan  New  York  area,  and  19  in 
other  cities. 

Out-of-town  houses  include  the  Iowa  theatre, 
Cedar  Rapids ;  Virginia,  Champaign ;  Palace, 
Columbus ;  Orpheum,  Davenport ;  Orpheum, 
Denver ;  Orpheum,  Des  Moines ;  Orpheum, 
Dubuque;  Orpheum,  Kansas  City;  Keith's, 
Lowell ;  Strand,  Marshalltown ;  Rivoli,  New 
Brunswick ;  Orpheum,  New  Orleans ;  Albee, 
Providence ;  Palace,  Rochester ;  Orpheum, 
Sioux  City j  Keith's,  Syracuse ;  Capitol,  Tren- 
ton ;  Brandeis,  Omaha,  and  Orpheum,  Water- 
loo. 

Maugham  Speaks  at 
"Moon"  Premiere 

Premiere  of  "The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  the 
David  Loew-Albert  Lewin  production,  released 
by  United  Artists,  was  held  last  Saturday  night 
in  Edgartown,  Mass.,  Martha's  Vineyard,  at  the 
Playhouse.  Newspaper  and  trade  press  repre- 
sentatives from  New  York  and  Boston  attended. 
W.  Somerset  Maugham,  author  of  the  novel  on 
which  the  picture  is  based,  spoke  at  the  show- 
ing. Mr.  Maugham  had  been  spending  the  sum- 
mer in  Edgartown.  Alfred  Hall,  owner  of  the 
theatre,  and  Henry  Beetle  Hough,  publisher  of 
the  Vineyard  Gazette,  also  spoke. 

With  every  seat  in  the  house  sold  two  days 
in  advance,  the  War  Bond  premiere  of  Para- 
mount's  "Wake  Island,"  at  the  Orpheum,  Tulsa, 
Okla.,  was  held  last  Wednesday  night. 

Double  features  will  be  discontinued  at  the 
Roosevelt  theatre,  Chicago,  on  September  16th, 
when  "Wake  Island"  opens  a  dual  run  with  the 
Apollo  on  the  same  day.  The  engagement 
marks  the  first  effort  by  Balaban  &  Katz  to 
re-establish  the  theatre  as  a  run  house,  as  it 
has  been  on  a  double  feature  policy  for  several 
months. 

Highlight  of  the  reserved  seat  opening  in 
Cincinnati  of  Samuel  Goldwyn's  "The  Pride  of 
the  Yankees,"  released  by  RKO,  at  the  RKO 
Shubert  last  Thursday  night  was  the  "blind 
dates"  for  which  Ruth  Lyons  of  Station  WLW 
introduced  at  the  Hotel  Gibson  50  local  girls  to 
50  service  men  who  were  invited  to  be  guests 
at  the  opening.  Proceeds  from  the  premiere 
were  donated  to  the  USO  in  Cincinnati  and 
nearby  Fort  Thomas,  Ky. 

The  film  began  a  regular  engagement  at  the 
Shubert  the  following  day,  when  the  house  re- 
opened after  having  been  dark  all  summer. 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 

FROM  READERS 


URGES  GREATER. CARE 
IN  HANDLING  PRINTS 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald: 

The  conservation  brought  on  by  the  war  is 
not  helping  the  print  conditions.  Every  print 
that  we  are  receiving,  regardless  of  the  source, 
is  scratched,  and  sprocket  holes  pulled.  It 
seems  that  at  this  time,  of  all  times,  efforts 
should  be  made  to  keep  projectors  in  good  con- 
dition, for  we  all  know  that  prints  are  going  to 
be  worked  on  more  runs  before  they  are  re- 
tired. The  cost  is  so  little  to  replace  the  parts 
that  cause  this  damage.  It  is  the  exhibitor's  re- 
sponsibility solely  on  this  damage,  and  he 
should  realize  that  he  is  not  only  harming  him- 
self but  subsequent  runs. — A.  E.  Hancock, 
Columbia  Theatre,  Columbia  City,  Ind. 


ASCAP  Members  Meet 
In  Hollywood 

Hollywood  members  of  the  American  Society 
of  Composers,  Authors  and  Publishers  met  at 
the  Beverly-Wilshire  Hotel  Wednesday  night  for 
their  semi-annual  dinner  and  general  business 
meeting.  John  G.  Paine,  general  manager  of 
the  Society,  who  arrived  on  the  coast  with 
Oscar  Hammerstein,  II,  for  the  event,  presided. 
Deems  Taylor,  ASCAP  president,  was  unable 
to  attend. 

Under  ASCAP's  new  bylaws,  both  the  east- 
ern and  western  divisions  of  the  Society  are 
required  to  hold  two  such  meetings  a  year,  with 
the  west  coast  session  coming  30  days  before 
the  New  York  gathering. 

Heads  Warners 
Checking  Area 

R.  C.  Lightfoot  has  been  placed  in  charge 
of  a  newly  created  territory,  embracing  St. 
Louis  and  Des  Moines,  in  the  Warner  Bros, 
film  checking  service.  He  will  make  his  head- 
quarters in  St.  Louis. 

D.  S.  Ramsdell,  who  has  been  supervising 
Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  Des  Moines,  with  head- 
quarters in  Chicago,  hereafter  will  handle  the 
Chicago  and  Milwaukee  territories.  The  latter 
formerly  was  handled  from  Minneapolis.  R. 
P.  Hagen,  manager  of  the  Warner  checking 
service,  has  just  returned  from  a  six-week  tour 
and  reports  that  the  organization  now  is  func- 
tioning on  a  nationwide  basis. 

MGM  Sets 
"Sweethearts" 

Seven  cities  have  been  selected  by  MGM  for 
simultaneous  premieres  of  "Seven  Sweethearts," 
it  was  announced  by  the  company  in  New  York 
Tuesday.  The  cities  are :  Houston,  Hartford, 
Baltimore,  Cleveland,  Miami,  Salina  and  Grand 
Rapids.  The  film  will  make  its  debut  in  these 
cities,  plus  Holland,  Mich.,  the  week  beginning 
September  23rd. 


Kelly  Joins  Pacific  Net 

Andrew  Kelly  has  been  named  publicity  di- 
rector of  the  Columbia  Pacific  Network  by 
Donald  W.  Thornburgh,  vice-president  of  CBS. 
Mr.  Kelly  fills  the  post  vacated  by  Hollister 
Noble,  now  in  the  Marine  Air  Corps.  Mr. 
Kelly  formerly  was  director  of  publicity  for  the 
Chrysler  Corporation  on  the  coast  and  recently 
was  on  Arch  Reeves'  staff  handling  public  re- 
lations for  the  Association  of  Motion  Picture 
Producers. 


Theatre  Company  Formed 

The  Hartford  Theatre,  Inc.,  has  filed  cer- 
tificate of  incorporation  with  the  Connecticut 
Secretary  of  State,  naming  Clark  Hinman, 
Laura  Hinman,  and  Augustus  S.  Horn,  all  of 
Hartford,  as  incorporators,  and  beginning  busi- 
ness with  $8,000. 


September     12,  1942 

RCA  Raises 
War  Loan 

RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  to 
finance  war  production  contracts,  has  arranged 
with  Bankers  Trust  Company  and  34  other 
banks  for  a  $60,000,000  credit  for  a  _  term  of 
three  years,  G.  K.  Throckmorton,  chairman  of 
the  executive  committee,  and  Robert  Shannon, 
president  of  RCA  Manufacturing  Company, 
announced  jointly  this  week. 

This  loan  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  so  far 
negotiated  in  the  New  York  Federal  Reserve 
District.  The  present  intent,  according  to  the 
announcement,  is  to  make  use  of  the  entire  sum 
in  connection  with  the  performance  of  war 
production  contracts. 

The  following  banks  will  participate  in  the 
credit:  New  York — Bankers  Trust  Company, 
The  Chase  National  Bank,  Guaranty  Trust 
Company,  The  National  City  Bank,  Central 
Hanover  Bank  and  Trust  Company,  Irving 
Trust  Company,  Manufacturers  Trust  Com- 
pany, The  New  York  Trust  Company,  J.  P. 
Morgan  &  Company,  Incorporated,  Chemical 
Bank  &  Trust  Company,  Bank  of  the  Manhat- 
tan Company,  The  Marine  Midland  Trust 
Company,  Bank  of  New  York,  The  Commercial 
National  Bank  and  Trust  Company,  The  Public 
National  Bank  and  Trust  Company. 

Chicago — The  First  National  Bank,  Con- 
tinental Illinois  National  Bank  and  Trust  Com- 
pany, Harris  Trust  and  Savings  Bank.  Phila- 
delphia— The  Philadelphia  National  Bank, 
Pennsylvania  Company  for  Insurance  on  Lives 
and  Granting  Annuities.  Indianapolis— Ameri- 
can National  Bank,  Fidelity  Trust  Company. 
San  Francisco — Bank  of  America  National 
Trust  and  Savings  Association,  Crocker  First 
National  Bank.  Pittsburgh— The  Union  Trust 
Company,  Farmers  Deposit  National  Bank, 
Mellon  National  Bank.  St.  Louis — Mercantile- 
Commerce  Bank  &  Trust  Company.  Boston — 
The  First  National  Bank,  The  National  Shaw- 
mut  Bank.  Camden  (N.  J.) — First  Camden 
National  Bank  &  Trust  Company.  Cleveland 
— The  National  City  Bank.  Lancaster,  (Pa.)  — 
The  Conestoga  National  Bank,  Lancaster 
County  National  Bank.  Harrison,  (N.  J.)  — 
Harrison  National  Bank. 

Chinese  Film  Star 
At  Student  Meeting 

Yung  Wang,  China's  foremost  screen  star, 
said  this  week  in  Washington  that  the  youth  of 
China  will  fight  until  the  last  Jap  is  driven 
from  Chinese  soil,  but  must  have  assurances 
they  will  not  be  "cheated"  in  the  post-war 
world. 

Miss  Yung  flew  to  Washington  from  Chung- 
king to  participate  in  the  International  Student 

Assembly. 


Alaska  Highway  Filmed 

Complete  newsreels  of  the  building  of  the 
Alaska  highway,  expected  to  be  completed  and 
ready  for  travel  by  December  1st,  will  be  re- 
leased shortly  in  "The  Road  to  Tokyo,"  latest 
issue  of  "The  World  in  Action,"  now  being 
prepared  for  distribution  by  United  Artists. 
"The  Road  to  Tokyo"  was  made  by  Stuart 
Legg  for  the  National  Film  Board  of  Canada. 


Ruth  Campbell  with  Columbia 

Ruth  Campbell,  formerly  with  the  Des 
Moines  National  Screen  Service  office,  has 
been  appointed  biller  at  the  Columbia  exchange 
there,  replacing  Mrs.  Joan  Clayton,  resigned. 


Named  Casting  Aide 

Russell  Trost  has  been  promoted  to  assistant 
to  Philip  Friedman,  Warner  casting  director, 
replacing  Irving  Kumin,  now  in  the  Army  Air 
Force. 


THE  Kid  STEPS  OUT 
OH  HIS  THIRD 


15  h°bby 


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fofant  » v  *  *  **** 


YANKSareCOMIN 


Ss'sr, 


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HENRY   KING   and   HIS  ORCHESTRA 

Directed  by  ALEXIS  THURN-TAXIS  •  Music  by  LEW  POLLACK  and  TONY  STERN  •  lyrics  by  HERMAN  RUBY  and  SIDNEY  CLARE 


PRODUCERS      R  III  A  SI  N  G      COR  P  O  R  A  T  I  O  N 


i-6 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


WAR  SERVICES  TAKE  MANY 
MORE  FROM  INDUSTRY 


Several  Leading  Players 
Called;  All  Branches  of 
Trade  Are  Affected 

The  war  continues  to  tap  the  motion 
picture  industry's  manpower.  Scores 
more,  from  all  branches  of  the  industry, 
have  gone  to  serve  in  the  Army,  Navy, 
Marines  or  Coast  Guard.  During  August, 
two  of  Hollywood's  consistent  "money- 
making  stars,"  Clark  Gable  and  Gene  Au- 
try  joined  up.  Tyrone  Power  entered  the 
Marine  Corps  as  a  private  and  Henry 
Fonda  became  an  apprentice  seaman  in 
the  Navy.  The  singing  cowboy  star  was 
inducted  into  the  Army  Air  Corps  as  a 
flight  sergeant  and  has  reported  to  the 
Army  air  base  at  Santa  Ana,  Cal.,  for 
basic  training. 

Richard  Ney,  the  young  player  who  ap- 
peared in  MGM's  '"Mrs.  Miniver"  and  that 
studio's  "The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley," 
is  at  Notre  Dame  University  for  naval 
training. 

Tim  Holt,  young  RKO  Radio  star,  son 
of  Jack  Holt,  who  had  an  important  role 
in  "The  Magnificent  Ambersons,"  the  Or- 
son Welles-RKO  production,  is  in  the  Army 
Air  Corps  and  has  bowed  out  of  pictures 
for  the  duration,  at  a  time  when  his  screen 
career  appeared  most  promising.  Jack 
Briggs,  another  young  RKO  player,  recently 
enlisted  in  the  Marine  Corps. 

Binyon,  Screen  Writer, 
In  Signal  Corps 

Recent  addition  to  the  armed  forces  from 
Hollywood's  writing  sector  is  Claude  Binyon, 
scenarist,  who  joined  the  Signal  Corps  with  the 
rank  of  first  lieutenant.  Mr.  Binyon  wrote  the 
screenplay  for  Paramount's  "Holiday  Inn,"  the 
Irving  Berlin  musical. 

Wesley  Barry,  child  actor  of  the  silent  screen, 
was  inducted  into  the  Navy.  Stewart  Sargeant 
Barthelmess,  son  of  actor  Richard  Barthelmess, 
recently  was  sworn  into  the  Naval  Reserve  at 
Norfolk.  Ya.,  by  his  father,  now  a  lieutenant 
in  the  Reserve. 

From  the  studios  have  gone  Fred  Fox,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox  studio  production  manager, 
first  lieutenant,  Army  Signal  Corps,  and  Nate 
Slott,  second  assistant  director  at  RKO,  who 
reported  for  duty  with  the  Coast  Guard. 

William  Shirley,  Republic's  singing  actor,  is 
in  the  Army.  C.  Felix  Jenkins,  son  of  Felix  A. 
Jenkins,  general  counsel  of  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox,  is  now  with  the  American  Ambulance 
Field  Service,  serving  with  the  British  forces 
in  the  Near  East ;  Glenn  Haines,  21-year-old 
son  of  Roy  Haines,  Warner  sales  executive, 
Army  Air  Force  and  Sam  Waxman,  RKO's 
studio  physical  instructor,  Army. 

Home  office  personnel  who  joined  the  mili- 
tary forces  during  August  include :  Milton  Co- 
hen, formerly  of  Warners'  Brooklyn  Vitaphone 
Studio  and  more  recently  an  inspector  in  the 
theatre  department,  now  serving  as  a  civilian 
member  of  the  Signal  Corps,  stationed  in  As- 
toria, L.  I.,  under  Captain  Frank  E.  Cahill,  Jr., 
former  chief  of  sound  for  Warner  Theatres 
and  now  on  active  duty.  Milton  Marks,  artist 
in  Warner  Bros,  home  office  advertising  depart- 


THEATRE  MEN  IN 
CANADIAN  FORCES 

Latest  among  Canada's  theatremen 
who  answered  the  call  to  the  colors 
during  the  past  month  are: 

Ernest  Warren,  manager  of  the 
Midtown,  Twentieth  Century  circuit, 
Toronto,  enlisted  in  the  R.C.A.F.,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Al  Perley,  manager 
of  the  Kenwood.  Gordon  Shea,  as- 
sistant manager  of  the  Midtown,  re- 
signed to  enlist  in  the  Canadian  Army 
and  was  replaced  by  Allen  Smith. 
W.  J.  Burke,  manager  of  the  Capitol, 
Sarnia,  Ont.,  of  Famous  Players 
Canadian  Corporation,  enlisted  in 
the  Army  and  was  succeeded  by 
Thomas  Dunbar.  Myer  Axler,  man- 
ager of  the  Victory,  Toronto,  joined 
the  R.C.A.F.  Murray  Mitchell,  as- 
sistant booker  of  Empire  Universal 
Films,  Toronto,  joined  the  Royal 
Canadian  Navy. 


ment,  is  a  lieutenant  in  the  Army  Air  Corps, 
assigned  to  map  drawing.  Robert  E.  Matthews, 
general  manager  of  Progress  Films,  Inc.,  and 
director  of  Lloyds  Film  Storage,  also  is  in  the 
Signal  Corps.  Robert  Fleischer  of  the  Warner 
foreign  department,  is  in  the  Navy.  Ben 
Washer,  former  eastern  advertising  and  pub- 
licity representative  for  Samuel  Goldwyn,  has 
been  assigned  by  the  Army  to  "This  is  the 
Army,"  the  all-soldier  review  on  Broadway. 

From  exchanges  have  gone  the  following : 
Lawrence  Peretta,  office  manager  for  Mono- 
gram, Pittsburgh,  Army ;  Frank  Childs,  RKO 
salesman,  Denver,  Army ;  Max  Shabason,  chief 
booker,  MGM's  Pittsburgh  exchange,  Army ; 
William  Williams,  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
salesman,  St.  Louis,  Army  ;  Jack  Carroll,  Com- 
erford  booking  office,  Scranton,  Army ;  Victor 
Beattie,  booker,  Warner  Toronto  branch, 
R.C.A.F. ;  Max  Bonier,  assistant  cashier, 
Twentieth  Century-Fox,  Chicago,  Air  Corps. 

Booker  and  Aide 
Both  in  Army 

Also :  L.  H.  Andrews,  head  booker,  Uni- 
versal's  Memphis  exchange,  and  R.  W.  Wilkin- 
son, assistant,  both  in  the  Army ;  Fred  Curd, 
Paramount  booker,  Memphis,  Army ;  Ernest 
Reeves,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  Dallas  ex- 
change, Navy ;  J.  A.  Carruth,  salesman,  War- 
ner exchange.  Memphis,  Army ;  Ed  Cruea, 
Monogram,  Seattle,  Signal  Corps ;  Edward 
Fitzpatrick,  head  inspector,  Pittsburgh  MGM 
exchange,  Coast  Guard  ;  C.  Peacock  and  Harry 
Purdy,  Atlanta  office.  Twentieth  Century-Fox, 
Army ;  Ed  Van  Schassen,  Warner  branch 
booker,  Milwaukee,  and  Erhardt  Meske,  ad- 
salesman  in  that  office,  both  in  the  Army ; 
Ernest  Glover,  shipper,  Loew's  Memphis  ex- 
change, Army ;  Don  West,  head  booker  and 
buyer  for  Central  States  Theatre  Corp.,  Des 
Moines,  Army  ;  Merle  Wagner,  shipping  clerk, 
St.  Louis  branch  of  National  Screen  Service, 
Army;  Sam  Meltzer  of  the  RKO  exchange 
poster  department,  Chicago,  Army ;  Joseph 
Szymik,  formerly  in  charge  of  the  specialties 
department,     National      Screen,  Pittsburgh, 


Army ;  and  Samuel  Rosen,  for  the  past  18 
years  operator  of  the  Rosen  Film  Delivery, 
New  Haven,  Army. 

From  the  exhibition  field  to  the  armed  forces 
the  following  have  gone :  Wallace  Hay,  man- 
ager, Roxy,  Tampa,  Army ;  John  B.  Owens, 
manager,  Summit,  Clarks  Summit,  Pa.,  Navy ; 
Paul  M.  Burke,  manager,  Orpheum,  Wilkes- 
Barre,  Navy;  Joe  Kelly,  manager  for  Warners 
at  Aberdeen,  Wash.,  Army;  Dan  McLean,  op- 
erator of  the  Embassy,  San  Francisco,  Coast 
Guard ;  Jack  Rosenberg,  Evergreen  circuit,  Se- 
attle, Coast  Guard ;  George  J.  Stamos,  assist- 
ant manager,  Commercial,  Chicago,  Army ;  An- 
drew Anderson,  head  of  Photoplay  Theatres, 
Kentucky,  Army ;  Cyril  Grody,  manager,  Da- 
vidson, Milwaukee,  Army ;  Stan  Goodman, 
manager,  Sterling  Theatres,  Seattle,  Army ; 
Joseph  Sloan,  manager,  Broad,  Columbus,  0., 
Volunteer  Officers  Training  Corps. 

Theatremen  Answer 
Call  to  Color 

Also :  Ancil  Whitlow,  manager,  Memphian, 
Memphis,  Army ;  J.  Harold  Rupp,  assistant 
manager,  Orpheum,  Madison,  Wis.,  Marine 
Corps ;  Henry  Price,  manager,  Interstate  Bou- 
levard, Revere,  Mass.,  Army ;  Jack  Blumenfeld, 
assistant  manager,  Orpheum,  San  Francisco, 
Coast  Guard ;  Lester  Markosi,  Proven  Pictures 
Theatre,  Hartford,  Army ;  Joseph  Goldstein, 
manager,  Victory,  St.  Louis,  Army ;  Marshall 
Adams,  Warner  Strand,  Hartford,  Navy ; 
Thomas  Kastern,  manager,  Empress,  Chicago, 
Army ;  Sam  McGill,  Warner  Strand,  Hart- 
ford, Navy ;  Ronald  E.  Sellers,  manager, 
Strand,  Montgomery,  Ala.,  Army ;  Charles 
Bradshaw,  formerly  at  the  E.  M.  Loew's  Thea- 
tre, Hartford,  Army. 

Kenneth  Means,  manager  of  the  RKO  Pal- 
ace, Cleveland,  Army ;  Gil  Fradeneck,  man- 
ager, Capitol,  York,  Pa.,  Army  ;  Leonard  Kap- 
lan, operator  in  Iowa  City  and  Waterloo,  la., 
Army ;  Anthony  DeCarro,  formerly  with  the 
Capitol,  Springfield,  Mass.,  Navy  ;  Jerry  Beck- 
er, assistant  manager,  Trans-Lux,  Philadelphia, 
Navy;  Vincent  Monks,  operator,  Capitol,  Mil- 
ford,  Conn.,  Navy ;  Harry  D.  Cohen,  manager, 
Embassy,  Lewistown,  Pa.,  Army ;  Daniel 
Schwartz,  assistant  manager,  Strand  Holyoke, 
Army ;  Mervyn  Mooney,  assistant  manager. 
Fox,  Coast  Guard ;  Glen  Eldredge,  manager, 
Florence  and  Circle  theatres,  Seattle,  Army ; 
Ira  Beck,  assistant  manager,  Loew's  Rochester, 
Rochester,  Navy ;  John  Hodge,  assistant  man- 
ager, Strand,  Providence,  Army ;  Harry  F. 
Harris,  brother  of  John  H.  Harris,  head  of  the 
Harris  Amusement  Co.,  and  former  manager  of 
the  Senator  Theatre,  Pittsburgh,  Army ;  How- 
ard Nelson,  Warners  Hamilton,  Chicago,  Army. 

Managers  Called 
From  All  Sections 

Frank  King,  former  manager,  Colonia,  Ak- 
ron, Navy ;  George  W.  Otte,  former  manager 
of  the  American  and  State  theatres,  East  Liver- 
pool, O.,  Army ;  Franklin  L.  Ramsey,  manager, 
Warner  Lenox,  Hartford,  Army  Air  Corps ; 
Roth  Hook,  West  Alabama  circuit  owner, 
Army ;  William  Rosenfeld,  assistant  manager, 
Warners'  Variety,  Cleveland,  Army ;  Ray  Sum- 
mers, assistant  manager,  Manor,  San  Mateo, 
Calif.,  Army  Air  Corps ;  Tom  Manning,  man- 
ager, Coral,  Coral  Gables,  Army  Air  Corps ; 
Martin  Miller,  Warner's  Ritz,  York,  Pa.,  Army 
Air  Corps ;  Floyd  Rice,  manager,  Belmont, 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  Army. 

Charles  Rossi,  eldest  of  the  Rossi  brothers 
operating  the  Strand  and  Paramount  theatres, 
Schroon  Lake,  N.  Y.,  reported  for  Army  service 
September  1st. 


Sec-e 


12,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


47 


// 


WHAT  THE 

PICTURE  HID  FOR  ME 


\\ 


A.  T.  P. 

I  SEE  ICE:  George  Formby._Kay  Walsh— Usual 
Formfoy  slapstick  arad  usual  good  Formlby  crowds.  Out- 
grissed  "Sergeant  Y:rk"  and  —is"  other  specials — 
p.  5L  Jc-hnscr.  Rrsy  Thsatre.  Nijawiri,  Sask.,  Canada. 
Rural  carrcnagr. 

Mefro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

BUGLE  SOUNDS.  THE:  Wallace  Been-.  Mar:orie 
Main — A  eood  Beerv  and  nleased— C.  L.  Niles,  Niles 


JOE  SMITH.  AMERICAN:  Riot—  V curg.  Marsha 
Iimt — Very  timely  and  well  HiirF^.  This  -picture  had 
eal   direct!  — — C.  Niles.  Niles    lnearre,  Anamosa. 


RIO  RITA:  Albert  and  Ccstelic.  .1  chn  Carroll  Kath- 
ryr  '-raysm — Accealrd  ti  y  cur.  gs : 1- r 5 .  but  did  net  get 
the  adults.  Aadirticr  mostly  students  and  clcdldren.  I 
wonder  —  --: — C-  ~—  Nilts.  Niles  Xneatre.  Anam  :si. 
ic  wa. 

_ VANISHING  \TRGINIAN,  THE:  Frank  Morgan, 
Kathryn  Grayson — This  is  one  oS  the  finest  pictures 
that  I  ha— e  ever  shewn  or.  —7  screen.  Was  deserving 
of  a  loo  —ore  easiness.  This  picture  is  ideal  for  ~:or 
—  :'j  night.  _?layed  Wednesday.  Xciirsday.  .  0  7  11. 
3?. — Paial  McBride,  Avalosi  Theatre,  Fillmore,  "Utah. 


Paramount 


FORCED  LANDING:  Richard  Arlen— Nice  action 
aierure  that  did  business — Harland  Parkin.  Plata  Fhe- 

HENRY  AND  DIZZY:  F-,-7  Lydcrc  Charlie  Smith 
— Very  good  and  a  Eamral  for  small  towns.  This  series 
•1=  :te  ::'  rrj  best  decs  and  we  cannot  see  why  it  should 
not  be  j.jy.  for  any  siauatdcn — P.  R  .  :tt;:o  Rosy 
Theatre,  Nipawiu,  Sa.sV,  Canada. 

LOUISIANA  PURCHASE:  hod  Piece  Vera  Zcrina. 
Victor  Moore — Enjoyable  picture  to  good  business. 
Weather  spoiled  attendance  cut  tkese_  that  canoe  —ere 
well  satisfied— P.  R-  Johnson,  Bcixy  Theatre,  Nipawin, 
Sask..  Canada. 

MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Boh  Hope,  Madeleine 
Carroll — DeHcjooslT  entertaining-  with  favorable  box 
odiice  reactions— Harland  Banhdn.  Plaza  Theatre.  Til- 


_  NIGHT  IN  NEW  ORLEANS :  Preston  rister. 
Patricia  Morrison — _  can  saiely  say  that  from  the 
title  the  public  expected  something  entirely  dilterent 
ircm  a  mttrder  mystery.  However.  is  tetter  that  a 
lot  that  we  have  run.  Ix  may  he  the  war,  buz  we 
have  never  encountered  s:  much  grilling  on  the  -  : 
of  pictures  as  we  are  eoroeriencing  at  this  time.  Ano 
it  is  no:  fust  isclated  oases  11  :s  general--A.  r_.  rtan- 
cc-ch.  Ccltircbia  -neatre.  Columbia  City.  Ind. 

TAKE  A  LETTER,  DARLING:  Fred  MacMnrray. 
Rcsaliud  Russe-. — smart  clever  comedy  that  will  fit  in 
anywhere.  Did  average  business  and  we  are  satisfied. 
These  small  towns  are  losing  a  lot  of  patrons  to  the 
war.  Every  week  we  miss  faTnJKav  faces. — A.  E.  Han- 
cock, Columbia  Theatre,  Columbia  City,  Ind. 


Republic 


Hi:  NEIGHBOR:  lulu  Belle  and  croorty — Good  pic- 
ture icr  small  :—  auocerce  and  cosiness  was  very 
good.  These  radii  stars  our  draw  some  :i  the  highly 
advertised  ■'First  Ten  at  the  pin  .'nice."  Played 
Friday,  Saturday.  August  3S.  29 — £..  M.  Freibnrger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small  town  patroa- 
age. 

HOME  IN  WYOMING  Gene  Aniry,  Smiley  Bnmetxe 
— Antry  is  tudte  popular  with  our  patrons  here.  We 
ran  a  beauty  contest  with  this  picture  and  enjoyed 
above  average  bnsiness— Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Thea- 
tre, Chatham,  Ontario. 

OLD  HOMESTEAD:  Weaver  Brothers,  Elviry— 
Good  cloture  and  rec-d  business  out  some  folks  com- 
plained that  it  did  not  have  enough  Itdulbillv  music  and 
comedy  Jn  it.  ?layed_  Sunday.  Monday.  August  23.  24— 
E.  M.  Freiborger.  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


SOUTH    OF    SANTA    FE:    Roy    Rogers,  George 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitor!1  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916, 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
form  a  nee  of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


"Gabby"  Hayes — Rogers  is  coming  into  his  own  as 
a  western  star.  Republic  is  in  a  class  by  itself  on 
Westerns — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa, 
Iowa. 

STAGECOACH  EXPRESS:  Don  "Bed"  Barry.  Lynn 
Merrick — A  good  western  for  a  double  bill — Harland 
Rankin.  Park  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ontario. 


RKO  Radio 


UNITED  WE  STAND:  News  Documentary— This  is 
a  good  show  if  you  can  get  them  to  come  in  and  look 
at  it.  It  is  made  up  of  newsreel  clips  showing  the 
highlights  from  the  last  war  to  the  present  one,  and 
what  brought  on  this  new  world  war.  Teachers  will 
go  for  it  but  kids  will  hate  it.  Business  was  fair. 
Played  Tuesday.  August  25 — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

WE  GO  FAST:  Lynn  Bari,  Alan  Curtis— About  the 
poorest  thing  we  have  ever  shown.  Never  should  have 
been  made — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 


LAND  OF  THE  OPEN  RANGE:  Tim  _Holt— Our 
parrons  like  these  Holt  Westerns — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles 
Theatre.  Anamosa.  Iowa. 


Twentieth  Century-Fox 

MOONTIDE:  Jean  Gabin,  Ida  Lupino— Very  strong 
picture  that  seemed  to  please  well  Acting  excellent 
from  all  members  of  cast — P.  R.  Johnson,  Roxy  Thea- 
tre. Nipawin.  Sask..  Canada.  Rural  patronage. 


United  Artists 


BOMBAY  CLIPPER:  William  Gargan.  Irene  Hervey 
— Good  action  picture.  Double  billed  with  Charles 
Starrett  Western  on  weekend — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza 
Theatre,  Tilbury.  Ontario. 

FRIENDLY  ENEMIES:  Charles  Winninger.  Charles 
Ruggles — Just  a  program  picture  and  business  'way 
(Continued  on  jolloTvina  page,  column  2) 


Winning  the  War  is  all  that  Matters! 

Today,  When  America's  vast  war  effort  demands 
that  every  muscle  be  strained  in  the  interests  of 
Victory,  Railway  Express  is  trying  to  do  its  part. 

Railway  Express 

AGENCY  INC. 
NAT  SON-WIDE     RAIL-AIR  SERVICE 


48 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


Charles  House  announces  the 
completion  of  the  most  timely 
picture  of  the  year  — 

HITLER- 
DEAD  or  ALIVE 

starring 

WARD  BOND 
DOROTHY  TREE 

and  a  great  supporting  cast 

Warren  Hymer  -  Paul  Fix 
Russell  Hicks  -  Felix  Basch 
Bob  Watson-Bruce  Edwards 
Frederick  Giermann 

HITLER- 
DEAD  or  ALIVE 

Produced  by  BEN  JUDELL 
Directed  by  NICK  GRINDE 

It  is  the  story  of  three  American 
gangsters  who  accept  the  offer 
of  $1,000,000  by  an  American 
business  man  to  kill  or  kidnap 
Hitler. 

It  packs  more  punch  than  all 
the  other  anti-Nazi  films  ever 
made.  Every  person  in  America 
will  want  to  see  what  happens 
to  Hitler  when  the  gangsters 
track  him  to  his  lair! 

For  information  about  this  film, 
contact 

BEN  JUDELL 

Hotel  Astor,  New  York  City 


(Continued   from    preceding  page) 
below  average.    However,  you  need  not  be  ashamed  of 
the  picture,  if  you  can  get  them  in — F.  R.  Johnson, 
Roxy  Theatre,  Nipawin,  Sask.,  Canada. 

GHOST  OF  FRANKENSTEIN:  Cedric  Hardwicke, 
Lon  Chaney — Played  in  conjunction  with  beauty  con- 
test; did  outstanding  business — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza 
Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ontario. 

REAL  GLORY,  THE:  Gary  Cooper,  Andrea  Leeds— 
A  reissue  that  did  business  two  days,  Sunday  and 
Monday — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

SUNDOWN:  Gene  Tierney,  Bruce  Cabot— A  very 
nice  picture  that  pleased  in  midweek  —  C.  L.  Niles, 
Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

TURNED  OUT  NICE  AGAIN:  George  Formby, 
Peggy  Bryan — A  very  entertaining  Formby  picture, 
but  delightfully  refreshing.  I  thought  one  of  his  better 
pictures.  Business  good — Harland  Rankin.  Centre  The- 
atre, Chatham,  Ontario. 


Universal 

BACHELOR  DADDY:  Baby  Sandy,  Edward  Everett 
Horton — Everybody  liked  this  picture.  Baby  Sandy 
seems  quite  popular — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham,  Ontario. 

LITTLE  BIT  OF  HEAVEN:  Gloria  Jean— Although 
I  played  this  late  my  patrons  thought  that  this  was 
a  very  good  production,  comedy  and  music  combined 
with  a  good  cast — A.  L.  D'ove,  Bengough  Theatre, 
Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada.  Rural  and  small  town  pat- 
ronage. 

MAD    DOCTOR    OF    MARKET    STREET:  Una 

Merkel,  Claire  Todd — These  horror  pictures  do  business 
every  six  or  eight  weeks.  This  combination  did  very 
well. — (Played  with  "White  Zombie.") — Harland  Ran- 
kin, Park  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ontario. 

PARIS  CALLING:  Elizabeth  Bergner,  Randolph 
Scott — Personally  I  thought  it  so  far  fetched  as  to  be 
stupid  but  the  public  seemed  to  like  it  and  it  did  busi- 
ness.— P.  R.  Johnson,  Roxy  Theatre,  Nipawin,  Sask., 
Canada.    Rural  patronage. 

SOUTH  OF  TAHITI:  Brian  Donlevy,  Broderick 
Crawford — I  don't  know  why  but  this  picture  did  big 
business  and  seemed  to  please  the  farmers.  Personally 
I  thought  it  very  silly  but  the  box  office  said  other- 
wise— P.  R.  Johnson,  Roxy  Theatre,  Nipawin,  Sask., 
Canada.    Rural  patronage. 

UNFINISHED  BUSINESS:  Irene  Dunne,  Robert 
Montgomery — Just  a  fair  picture  and  business  not  good 
— P.  R.  Johnson,  Roxy  Theatre,  Nipawin.  Sask.,  Can- 
ada. 


Warner  Bros. 

FLOWING  GOLD:  John  Garfield,  Pat  O'Brien— Nice 
weekend  western  that  we  played  second  run  to  a  satis- 
factory weekend  business  —  Harland  Rankin,  Park 
Theatre,  Chatham,  Ontario. 

IN  THIS  OUR  LIFE:  Bette  Davis,  Olivia  de  Havil- 
land,  George  Brent — Good  picture  but  Bette  D'avis  is 
no  draw  in  a  small  town.  Played  Wednesday,  Thurs- 
day, August  25,  27 — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

MALE  ANIMAL,  THE:  Henry  Fonda,  Olivia  de 
Havilland — A  nice  comedy  that  took  very  well.  Suit- 
able for  any  situation — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Thea- 
tre, Chatham,  Ontario. 


Short  Features 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

FOR  THE  COMMON  DEFENSE:  Good  two-reel 
subject  from  "Crime  Doesn't  Fay"  series — E.  M.  Frei- 
burger, Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

WEST  POINT:  Fitzpatrick  Traveltalk — A  fine  colored 
Fitzpatrick  Traveltalk ;  timely  and  pleased  all — C.  L. 
Niles,  Niles  Theatre.  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

Paramount 

VOLCANO:  Sunerman  cartoon — The  usual  Superman 
cartoon  in  color — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

Twentieth  Century- Fox 

TIRE  TROUBLE:  Cartoon— Good  black  and  white 
cartoon — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey, 
Okla. 

Universal 

CLASS  IN  SWING:  Musical— A  very  good  musical 
reel  with  some  very  clever  dancing  numbers — A.  L. 
Dove,  Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada. 

HOLLYWOOD  MATADOR:  Color  Cartoon— These 
color  cartoons  as  good  as  any  on  the  market.  Woody 


the  Woodpecker  a  riot — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre, 
Anamosa,  Iowa. 

Vitaphone 

FRESH  HARE:  Cartoon — Good  color  cartoon,  with 
Bugs  Bunny — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
D'ewey,  Okla. 

HORTON  HATCHES  THE  EGG:  Merry  Melodies— 
An  exceptional  color  cartoon.  Our  audience  in  an 
uproar.  Give  it  your  best  time — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles 
Theatre,  Anamosa.  Iowa. 

Serial 
Republic 

PERILS  OF  NYOKA  NO.  1:  Serial— This  new  serial 
from  Republic  started  ofi  well,  and  looks  like  another 
winner — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre.  Dewey, 
Okla. 

National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  17  Films 

Of  17  pictures  classified  by  the  National 
Legion  of  Decency  in  its  listing  for  the  past 
two  weeks,  10  were  approved  for  general  pa- 
tronage, six  were  listed  as  unobjectionable  for 
adults  and  one  was  condemned.  The  picture 
condemned  was  the  J.  H.  Hoffberg  reissue  of 
Alexander  Korda's  "The  Girl  from  Maxim's," 
originally  released  in  1936. 

Class  A-l,  Unobjectionable  for  General  Pa- 
tronage: "Between  Us  Girls,"  "Cairo,"  "Coun- 
ter Espionage,"  "Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas," 
"For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  "George  Washington 
Slept  Here,"  "Get  Hep  to  Love,"  "Here  We 
Go  Again,"  "Little  Joe,  the  Rangier,"  "Riding 
Through  Nevada."  Class  A-2,  Unobjection- 
able for  Adults :  "Careful,  Soft  Shoulders," 
"The  Glass  Key,"  "Iceland,"  "Just  Off  Broad- 
way," "Man's  World,"  "Wildcat."  Class  C, 
Condemned :  "The  Girl  from  Maxim's." 

Republic  Gets  Rights 
To  Russian  Film 

■  Republic  Pictures  this  week  announced  it  had 
signed  a  contract  with  Artkino,  Inc.,  distributor 
of  Russian  films,  for  distribution  of  "Moscow 
Strikes  Back,"  latest  Soviet  war  picture  which 
is  currently  in  its  fourth  week  at  the  Globe  the- 
atre, New  York.  Republic  will  begin  nation- 
wide distribution  by  October  1st,  it  was  said. 
Details  of  the  deal  were  not  disclosed,  but  it 
was  understood  that  Artkino  would  share  on 
a  percentage  basis. 

Last  week,  it  was  reported  in  New  York  that 
Edward  Small  was  negotiating  with  Artkino 
for  distribution  of  the  film  through  United 
Artists. 

PRC  Names  Eddy  Public 
Relations  Consultant 

The  designation  of  Arthur  Eddy  as  public 
relations  consultant  of  Producers  Releasing 
Corporation  was  announced  this  week  by  Leon 
Fromkess,  in  charge  of  production.  Mr.  Eddy, 
who  has  had  long  experience  in  the  trade  paper 
and  publicity  fields,  will  continue  to  operate  his 
own  publicity  agency  in  Hollywood  under  the 
arrangement.  Jack  Harrower  continues  as  di- 
rector of  PRC  publicity  in  Hollywood. 


No  Crew  in  Alaska 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  announced  last  week 
that  its  trade  press  release  of  August  28th  list- 
ing short  subjects  for  the  1942-43  season  was 
incorrect  in  stating  that  Fox  Movietone  News 
had  a  crew  in  Alaska  filming  two  Technicolor 
subjects.  Furthermore,  it  was  said  that  Father 
Hubbard  is  not  now  in  Alaska. 


Completes  Tour 

Ray  Whitley,  RKO  Radio's  cowboy  player, 
has  concluded  a  personal  appearance  tour 
which  has  taken  him  through  West  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  Arkansas  and  Texas. 


September    12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


49 


MANAGE 


ROUN 


TABLE 


<J[n  international  association  of  shozvmen  meeting  zveekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 


BOB  WILE,  Editor 


GERTRUDE  MERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


OP 


Selling  Air  Raid  Precautions 

The  Middle  West  has  now  had  its  first  blackout;  the  im- 
minent rationings  will  shortly  bring  the  realities  of  war  even 
closer  to  the  mountain  states.  The  war  will  penetrate  more 
and  more  into  the  consciousness  of  every  American. 

And  that  brings  up  again  a  problem  which  has  been  tossed 
aside  by  many  circuits  or  has  been  handled  with  indifference. 
Should  the  theatre  advertise  to  the  public  the  precautions  it 
has  taken  toward  protecting  the  public  from  the  dangers  of 
air  raids?  Or  should  it  take  every  precaution  but  hold  the 
attitude  that  the  theatre  is  a  place  of  escape  and  therefore  do 
nothing  to  remind  the  public  of  the  possibilities  of  air  raids? 

The  problem  has  given  concern  to  many  theatremen.  Your 
editor  was  surprised  to  find  that  there  was  some  doubt  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  publicity  on  the  subject  in  the  minds  of  representatives 
of  National  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  who  are  selling  a  large  part  of 
Air  Raid  Precautions  equipment.  They  were  in  doubt  about  it. 

Arguments  have  been  advanced  on  both  sides.  Those  in 
favor  of  publicity  point  out  that  the  public  is  fully  aware  of 
the  dangers  of  enemy  action  in  most  sections  of  the  country. 
Therefore,  it  would  be  wise  to  demonstrate  just  what  precau- 
tions have  been  taken  for  safety.  On  the  other  hand  it  is 
pointed  out  that  Civilian  Defense  in  some  cities  has  been 
handled  somewhat  inexpertly  with  the  result  that  there  are  wide 
variances  of  opinion  as  to  the  precautions  to  take.  Those 
people  who  held  an  opinion  contrary  to  that  of  the  theatreman 
might  feel  that  he  had  ignored  their  well  meant  advice. 

It  is  an  interesting  subject.  The  Round  Table  would  welcome 
expressions  from  its  members  on  how  they  have  handled  it. 

War  Bond  Showmanship 

War  Bonds  and  Stamps  seem  to  be  uppermost  in  the  minds 
of  most  showmen  this  month,  and,  as  this  is  written,  it  seems  the 
campaign  will  achieve  the  goals  set  for  it.  Some  of  the  indus- 
try's best  brains  have  been  devoted  to  organizing  this  drive; 
everyone  from  top  executives  and  stars  to  the  clerks  and 
shippers  in  the  exchanges  and  through  the  ranks  of  exhibition 
has  a  vital  part  in  it. 

It  is  an  unparalleled  example  of  cooperation;  cooperation  of 
one  branch  of  the  industry  with  another;  cooperation  of  the 
industry  with  leaders  in  their  communities,  and  finally  the  co- 
operation of  the  public  itself,  without  whom  the  campaign 
would  fail. 

Sometimes  we  forget  the  customers.   We  look  upon  them 


as  the  subjects  of  our  endeavors.  If  they  respond  we  ascribe 
it  to  our  own  astuteness;  if  they  don't  we  are  inclined  to 
sneer  or  belittle  or  blame  someone  else. 

Now  we  are  confronted  with  an  opportunity  really  to  test 
our  showmanship.  The  public  no  longer  needs  to  be  sold  on 
the  merits  of  War  Bonds  and  Stamps.  The  past  few  months' 
endeavors  have  convinced  most  every  one  that  they  are  an 
investment.  But  it  is  our  job  to  convince  that  same  already 
sold  public  that  it  hasn't  enough  of  this  good  investment; 
that  it  must  buy  and  buy  and  buy;  and  finally  we  must  con- 
vince them  that  we're  the  boys  who  are  going  to  sell  them 
these  Bonds  and  Stamps. 

Lastly,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes 
Month",  a  fine  idea,  is  but  a  stimulus  to  urge  the  public  to 
buy  more  this  month  than  before.  When  October  comes, 
we've  got  to  keep  on  selling  them  War  Bonds  and  Stamps. 

And  in  between  we've  got  to  continue  our  own  showmanship. 

*  *  * 

Sometimes,  contact  with  people  outside  of  our  industry  gives 
us  an  illuminating  picture  of  just  what  our  advertising,  publicity 
and  exploitation  accomplish.  It  further  shows  us  something  of 
what  the  public  thinks  of  us.   The  picture  is  often  confusing. 

Recent  Round  Table  visitors  have  told  us  that  on  the  one 
hand  some  people  detest  waiting  in  line  for  a  show  and  feel 
highly  resentful  when  they  have  to  do  so.  On  the  other  hand 
some  patrons  will  go  only  to  those  theatres  which  are  crowded 
on  the  assumption  that  where  the  largest  crowd  goes  must 
be  the  best  show. 

*  *  * 

Among  the  unusual  promotions  to  come  our  way  recently 
is  that  engineered  by  Charles  Moyer  of  the  State  theatre, 
Hanover,  Pa.  Upon  learning  that  a  new  bus  line  would  be 
started  between  Hanover  and  neighboring  Littlestown,  he  got 
the  consent  of  the  operators  to  establish  a  bus  station  adjoin- 
ing the  theatre.  Charles  and  the  bus  company  jointly  appeared 
before  the  City  Council  and  now  bus  riders  from  Littlestown 
and  points  between  are  discharged  right  at  the  door  of  the 
State  theatre. 

*  *  * 

And  here  is  another  "joiner".  "Operating  a  theatre  in  a 
small  suburban  town  (pop.  6,784)  is  a  24-hour  a  day  job", 
says  Harry  C.  Thorns  of  the  Slencoe  theatre,  Glencoe,  III. 
"I  have  been  here  about  one  year  and  eight  months",  he  writes, 
"and  am  vice-president  and  program  chairman  of  the  Rotary 
Club,  a  member  of  the  Community  Council  and  also  write 
publicity  for  the  O.C.D.  and  the  Women's  War  Bond  Group." 

—BOB  WILE 


50 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


THEATRES  CO  ALL-OUT  IN 
WAR  BOND.  STAMP  DRIVE 


Hot  Springs  Ark.  Pop.  21,370 

W.  Clyde  Smith,  city  manager  for  Malco 
Theatres,  arranged  a  Victory  Bondaree 
Dance.  The  cooperation  of  the  local  Marine 
recruiting  office  and  the  Garland  County 
board  were  obtained  for  the  promotion  of 
Bond  and  Stamp  sales.  Music  for  the  dance 
was  promoted  gratis  through  the  courtesy 
of  "The  Skyliners,"  a  local  band.  Guest 
artists  included  five  local  radio  entertainers. 
Twenty-five  girls  were  chosen  Honorary 
Marine  Marionettes  to  sell  Bonds  and 
Stamps  at  the  dance.  Smith  promoted  a 
huge  truck  that  was  bannered  in  keeping 
with  the  drive  and  used  for  a  street  bally- 
hoo as  well  as  a  stand  for  the  orchestra. 
A  thirty  minute  broadcast  of  the  dance  was 
carried  on  Station  KWFC.  The  station 
also  carried  five  daily  spot  announcements. 
Smith  put  out  200  window  cards  in  the  best 
available  places.  Arrangements  were  made 
with  the  local  airport  for  5,000  circulars  to 
be  dropped  from  two  airplanes  which  flew 
over  the  city  the  day  of  the  dance.  The 
Malco  Circuit  in  Little  Rock  issues  a  publi- 
cation called  "Movie  News";  the  front  page 
carried  stories  a  week  in  advance.  The  net 
result  was  that  the  total  Bond  and  Stamp 
sales  were  in  excess  of  $5,000. 


Memphis,  Tenn.  Pop.  292,942 

To  accelerate  the  sale  of  War  Bonds  and 
Stamps,  Maurice  Druker  at  Loew's  theatre 
coerced  members  of  the  local  contingent  of 
Women's  Defense  Corps  of  America  to  as- 
sist the  theatre  in  its  campaign.  The  or- 
ganization, which  numbers  a  little  more  than 
one  hundred  members,  contacted  all  local 
business  and  social  organizations,  making 
speeches  at  various  functions  to  urge  the 
sale  of  bonds  and  stamps  in  the  theatre. 

In  connection  with  the  personal  appear- 
ance of  Johny  Sheffield  (Tarzan,  Jr.),  on 
his  national  tour  of  "Buy  Tanks  for  the 
Yanks,"  Druker  arranged  for  a  welcome 
to  the  city  by  Commissioner  Boyle,  Vice- 
Mayor,  who  presented  the  star  with  the  key 
to  the  city.  Sheffield  then  visited  Victory 
House  and  made  a  round  of  all  bond  sales 
booths  in  department  stores  and  street  cor- 
ners and  assisted  in  the  presentation  and 
raising  of  a  U.  S.  Treasury  Department 
minute  man  flag.  This  was  followed  by  his 
appearance  on  the  stage  of  the  theatre  for 
an  appeal  to  purchase  bonds  and  stamps. 


SO  Glad  When  People  Don't 
Buy  War  Bond -Thank  You 


COR  the  month  of  September,  the  Motion  Picture  Industry  will 
1°  lead  the  drive  for  intensification  of  the  sole  of  WAR  BONDS 
and  STAMPS  .  .  .  September  is  our  BILLION  DOLLAR  BABY  .  .  . 
September's  the  month  we're  going  OVER  THE  TOP  .  .  .  Come  on 
and  join  up  with  your  Uncle  Sam's  Home  Front  Forces.  BUY  A 
BOND  TODAY  .  .  .  ond  keep  on  buying  them  as  often  as  you  can  . .  . 
BUY  A  BOND  to  honor  every  Mother's  Son  In  The  Service  ...  Let's 
all  join  in  making  this  the  Biggest  BIG  PARADE  of  ALL  .  .  .  lot's 
make  it  the  parade  that'll  give  tie  axe  to  the  axis  .  .  .  right  where 
it'll  do  the  most  good! 

Buy  Your  War  Bonds  from  Cincinnati's  "Minute  Maids"  in 
Bond  Booths  of  Downtown  Theatres  ...  or  from  the 
Service  Staffs  in  many  of  your  Neighborhood  Movie  Houses. 

■  advertisement  tportsored  by  RKO  Cincinnati  Theatre*) 


Cincinnati,  O.  Pop.  455,610 

This  all -industry  ad  was  arranged  by 
E.  V.  Dinerman  of  RKO  Theatres  and 
published  in  all  Cincinnati  papers. 


Glencoe,  111.  Pop.  6,825 

With  a  very  successful  Junior  Minutemen 
club  under  way  at  the  Glencoe  theatre, 
Harry  C.  Thorns  learning  recently  that 
Marjorie  Weaver  was  visiting  in  a  nearby 
town,  contacted  her  and  asked  her  if  she 
would  present  the  first  month's  prizes  to 
the  winners.  The  star  graciously  consented 
and  in  addition  sold  War  Bonds  and  Stamps 
in  the  theatre's  lobby  booth  and  with  each 
sale  made,  she  gave  an  autograph.  While 
Miss  Weaver  was  giving  the  prizes,  a  grouo 
of  Junior  Minutemen  presented  her  with 


Rochester,  N.  Y.  Pop.  324  975 

An  advance  parade  was  held  by  all  downtown  and  neighborhood  theatres  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.  A  banner  was  donated  by  Local  2  5,  Stage  Hands  Union.  The  pennants  stressed 
"Buy  War  Bonds  in  September"  and  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes  Month''. 


an  honorary  membership  in  the  local  corps. 
In  addition  to  the  grand  prize  for  the 
most  sales  that  is  presenetd  each  month, 
Thorns  has  promoted  six  weekly  prizes  from 
local  merchants  to  stimulate  the  sales  as  he 
goes  along.  Thorns  reports  that  for  the 
month  of  August,  these  youngsters,  rang- 
ing from  six  to  14  years  of  age,  sold  $12,- 
500  in  War  Bonds  and  Stamps. 


Washington,  Ind.  Pop.  9,312 

Rufe  Davis  happened  to  be  nearby  so  A. 
J.  Kalberger,  manager  of  the  Indiana  thea- 
tre, obtained  his  services  for  a  Bond  and 
Stamp  rally.  Kal  found  that  the  town  fath- 
ers were  at  first  a  bit  averse  to  this  sort 
of  thing  but  he  sold  them  on  the  idea  and 
then  followed  it  right  through. 

Kal  had  his  own  employees  decorate  the 
city  hall,  prevailed  upon  the  firemen  to 
move  seven  more  decks  and  chairs  with 
typewriters  to  city  hall  lawn,  lined  up  all 
the  banks  in  the  city  to  have  representatives 
there  to  sell  Bonds  and  the  postmaster  to 
sell  Stamps.  The  local  high  school  band 
paraded  from  the  theatre  to  the  city  hall  and 
Boy  and  Girl  Scouts  as  well  as  the  Ameri- 
can Legion  color  guard  participated.  Kal 
promoted  the  speakers,  too.  A  tremendous 
amount  of  publicity  was  obtained.  Real 
results  were  recorded  in  the  sale  of  $10,140 
worth  of  Bonds  in  one  hour. 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Pop.  2,857,000 

A  slightly  different  angle  and  of  local  in- 
terest is  the  service  flag  board  featured  in 
the  lobby  of  the  Fortway  theatre  by  Chester 
W.  Friedman.  The  ingenious  slant  here  is 
that  the  center  of  each  star  carries  a  photo 
of  the  serviceman,  together  with  his  name, 
rank,  branch  of  service  and  home  address. 
Through  a  tieup  arranged  with  a  local  mer- 
chant a  fifty  dollar  bond  was  awarded  to 
a  lucky  theatre  patron,  who  in  turn  had  the 
privilege  of  selecting  any  one  of  the  boys 
names  listed  on  the  flag,  who  was  also  to  be 
the  recipient  of  a  twenty-five  dollar  bond. 

The  flag  board  was  built  in  the  theatre 
with  materials  on  hand  and  constructed  by 
Chet  and  his  porter.  The  color  scheme  is 
a  white  field  with  a  red  border,  the  stars 
are  blue  with  the  photos  in  a  white  circle. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  managers,  Lou 
Preston,  division  manager,  asked  all  em- 
ployes to  volunteer  as  blood  donors.  So 
complete  was  the  response,  that  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  the  Red  Cross  to  have 
a  mobile  unit  at  the  theatre,  patrons  being 
urged  to  act  as  donors,  too. 


Philadelphia,  Pa.  Pop.  1,931,334 

Recently  instituted  by  Joseph  D.  Nevison 
at  the  Bromley  theatre  and  sponsored  by 
cooperating  merchants  is  his  "General  Mac- 
Arthur  Victory  Club."  A  Decoration  Day 
War  Stamp  Matinee  was  held  to  inaugurate 
his  lobby  booth  for  the  sale  of  War  Stamps 
and  Bonds.  Free  admission  was  given  to 
the  first  500  children  members  of  the  club 
upon  the  purchase  of  a  War  Stamp.  A 
parade  of  members  with  banners  was  ar- 
ranged, with  copy  on  the  banners  reading : 
"We  are  on  our  way  to  inaugurate  Brom- 
ley's Victory  Booth,"  etc.    The  booth  itself 

(Continued  on   opposite  page) 


September    12,  1942 


MANAGERS 


ROUND  TABLE 


-: 


NOVEL  IDEAS  AS  WELL  AS 
STANDARD  SELLING  USED 


(.Continued  from  opposite  page) 

was  dedicated  on  the  stage  by  a  member  of 
the  American  Legion,  with  members  of  the 
MacArthur  Club  presenting  the  colors. 

The  cooperating  newspapers  carried 
stories  on  the  event  and  featured  coupon 
application  forms  for  membership,  which 
required  each  child  applicant  to  purchase 
a  war  stamp.  Signed  applications  pledged 
members  to  buy  stamps,  eat  proper  foods, 
conserve  vital  materials,  study,  observe  rules 
i  of  safety  and  fair  play,  be  loyal  to  Flag  and 
Country,  cooperate  to  win  the  war  and  con- 
duct ones  self  in  a  manner  to  make  Mac- 
Arthur  proud.  Membership  cards  which 
were  distributed  carried  spaces  to  be 
punched  for  MacArthur  buttons,  photos,  life 
stories,  flag  buttons,  etc. 


Waterbury,  Conn.  Pop.  99,314 

In  his  effort  to  get  ample  publicity  for  the 
industry's  billion  dollar  Bond  and  Stamp 
drive,  Ed  Fitzpatrick  at  Loew's  Poli  theatre 
j  persuaded   all   the    local    dailies    to  plug 
]   "Salute  to  Our  Heroes''"  month  via  a  special 
line  to  be  incorporated  into  all  newspaper 
ads,  etc.    In  addition,  Fitz  also  promoted  a 
full  page  in  the  American  and  another  in 
the  Republican,  both  "saluting  Heroes"  and 
calling  attention  to  the  month's  Bond  Drive. 
For  the  past  few-  weeks  the  Round  Tabler 
has  also  been  planting  special  stories,  art. 
i  etc. 


LaPorte,  Ind.  Pop.  16,180 

To  usher  in  his  Junior  Minutemen  Club 
!   at  the  LaPorte  theatre,    Wayne  Sweeney 
planted  stories  in  the  local  dailies  offering 
boys  and  girls  the  opportunity  to  assist  in 
the  national  war  effort  through  the  sale 
of  Bonds  and  Stamps.  The  club  got  under- 
way through  a  giant  rally  and  free  show  at 
the  theatre  with  Buddy  Ebsen  and  Skeets 
!   Gallagher  participating.     Official  member- 
ship cards  were  distributed  and  the  corps 
oath  taken.    Each  boy  and  girl  promised  to 
sell  at  least  a  dollars  worth  of  Stamps  a  day. 
which  had  to  be  purchased  at  the  theatre. 
I  and  Sweeney  reports  that  the  first  tew  days 
!  brought  the  purchase  of  S425  in  Stamps. 


Glendale,  Calif.   Pop.  82,582 

In  order  to  add  impetus  to  his  local  drive, 
|   Ed  Harris  at  the  Fox  Glendale  theatre  start- 
J  ed  off  a  few  days  sooner  to  get  off  to  a  last 
:   start.  This  was  timed  with  the  official  open- 
I  ing   of   the   Victory    House,    which  was 
manned  by  the  theatre  personnel.  News- 
paper coverage  included  the  full  program  of 
designating  special  weeks  in  "Salute  to  the 
'   Glendale  Heroes."  serving  in  all  branches 
|  of  the  service,  with  the  request  to  back  them 
i  up  through  the  purchase  of  Bonds.  Quotas 
i  were  set  each  week  to  purchase  equipment 
and  to  act  as  an  incentive  to  stimulate  sales. 
This  also  allowed~T6r  numerous  exploita- 
tion activities  staged  by  the  various  civilian 
organizations  and  the  theatres. 

The  merchants  joined  the  band  wagon  by 
furnishing  the  theatres  with  sufficient  mer- 
chandise to  conduct  Victoiy-  Auctions  once 
a  week  in  every  theatre  with  leading  city 
officials  doing  the  barking.    A  trial  auction 


in  all  theatres  brought  an  aggregate  sale 
of  $40,000,000.  A  specially  decorated  house 
trailer  on  wheels  to  resemble  a  Victory 
House  will  visit  all  war  plants  during  lunch 
hour  and  will  be  manned  by  female  person- 
nel from  the  theatres.  The  first  trial  trip 
made  last  week  brought  sales  of  $5,000. 
Planning  daily  trips  during  the  month  with 
entertainment,  it  is  estimated  that  approxi- 
mately 8150,000  will  be  sold. 


Xeic  Bedford  Mass.  Pop.  110,341 

In  conjunction  with  the  War  Bond  cam- 
paign during  September,  Eddie  Selette,  at 
the  Strand  Theatre  offered  a  $25  bond  to 
the  first  child  born  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
theatre  one  minute  past  midnight  of  August 
31st.  The  infant,  whose  birth  had  to  be 
verified  by  a  doctor,  could  be  born  either  at 
a  hospital  or  at  home.  In  addition,  a  prize 
of  a  82,000  War  Bond  was  offered  in  the 
name  ot  the  motion  picture  industry  for  the 
first  pair  of  twins  born. 


Hollidaysburg,  Pa.  Pop.  5,910 

A  full  page  of  cooperative  ads  and  headed 
"Hollidaysburg  joins  the  motion  picture 
industry-  in  their  billion  dollar  Bond  Sale 
Drive"  was  promoted  by  Douglas  W.  Mel- 
lott  and  Charles  Coussoule  of  the  Blair  the- 
atre. The  center  of  the  page  was  devoted  to 
a  scroll,  the  center  of  which  carried  five 
reasons  why  folks  should  purchase  bonds. 
The  contributing  merchants'  names  were 
listed  on  the  lower  half  of  the  page. 


Saranac  Lake,  X.  Y.  Pop.  7,138 

A  well-rounded  campaign  has  been 
launched  by  Clayton  Cornell  at  the  Pontiac 
theatre  to  usher  in  his  "Salute  to  Our 
Heroes  Rally."    The  theatre's  activity  con- 


sists of  supervising  all  arrangements  with 
the  cooperation, of  the  Village  Administra- 
tor, awarding  a  courtesy  pass  to  each  bond 
buyer  at  the  theatre  from  September  1  to  5. 
A  month's  pass  will  also  be  awarded  to  the 
carrier  boy  selling  the  most  stamps  during 
the  period. 

The  retail  stores  are  cooperating  by  dis- 
playing the  one-sheet  slogan  and  theme  of 
the  Drive  in  their  windows  during  the 
month.  The  American  Legion  is  also  co- 
operating and  will  serve  as  color  bearers 
at  the  evening  rally,  and  will  also  take  over 
the  victory  booth  in  the  lobby  on  September 
13th,  General  Pershing's  birthday.  The  Fife 
and  Drum  Corps  will  be  present,  all  mem- 
bers appearing  in  uniform,  while  the  post 
commander  will  give  a  one  minute  address 
from  the  stage. 

All  seirice  clubs  have  been  contacted  and 
their  activity  includes  commandeering  the 
victory  booth  in  the  theatre  lobby  one  night 
of  the  month  and  conduct  stamp  sales  on  the 
streets  for  a  quarter  hour  period  at  noon. 


Norwich,  Conn.  Pop.  23,652 

Joseph  Boyle  at  Loew's  Poli-B roadway, 
in  Norwich,  Conn.,  broke  the  dailies  with 
a  story  to  the  effect  that  the  theatres  on  a 
certain  night  between  the  hours  of  seven 
and  eight  would  doubtless  sell  the  millionth 
bond.  Each  Loew  patron  purchasing  a  bond 
from  twenty-five  dollars  up  was  given  as  a 
bonus  a  courtesv  ticket  to  see  the  next  show. 


Whiting.  Ind.  Pop.  10,307 

With  the  ladies  from  local  organizations 
aiding  in  the  sales  of  Bonds  and  Stamps  at 
his  theatre.  Carroll  Bradley,  at  the  Hoosier. 
reports  sales  amounting  to  S11.S03.15  for 
the  week. 


Salamanca,  X.  Y.  Pop.  9.011 

Guy  W.  Hevia  (center),  manager  of  Scbine's  neiv  Seneca,  Salamanca,  X.  Y.,  printed 
up  this  huge  ticket  which  was  auctioned  off  for  War  Bonds.  So  were  four  others.  A 
War  Stamp-a-Dance  Stomp  was  held,  with  dances  sold  for  10  cent  Stamps.  A  parade  was 
held,  of  which  the  photo  shows  a  part.  The  five  tickets  and  a  special  reserved  section 
for  the  opening  night  were  sold  for    527,000  in  War  Bonds. 


52 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  below  reflects  press  books  now  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
view  of  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.] 

BAMBI  (Disney-RKO):  As  much  of  the  campaign  as  possible  should  be  directed  at 
adults;  the  picture  is  a  natural  draw  for  children.  For  example,  there  are  two  coloring 
contests  suggested.  One  is  directed  to  adults,  the  other  to  children.  There  are  a 
number  of  books  available  on  which  tieups  can  be  arranged.  Displays  might  be 
obtained  in  bookstore  windows  and  on  counters  in  stores  which  have  book  depart- 
ments. This  suggests  the  use  of  bookmarks  for  distribution  to  libraries,  schools  and 
through  stores.  The  pressbook  has  an  illustration  of  one  which  is  also  adaptable  for 
use  in  department  store  billings,  as  laundry  stuffers,  etc.  To  possibly  attract  those  who 
favor  action  in  their  pictures,  fronts  can  be  built  which  emphasize  the  forest  fire  scenes. 
These  can  be  animated  and  also  accentuated  by  the  use  of  red  cellophane.  A  photo- 
graphic contest  can  be  arranged  with  prizes  for  the  best  snapshots  of  a  deer,  a  cotton- 
tail rabbit,  and  a  skunk,  the  three  leading  characters  in  the  picture.  Special  letters 
to  Nature  Study  Clubs,  Audubon  Societies,  Parent-Teacher  Associations  and  Conserva- 
tion groups  can  be  sent  out  by  the  management,  thus  reaching  people  who  would  be 
especially  interested  in  the  picture.  The  term  "twitterpated"  is  used  in  the  picture 
to  indicate  the  state  of  mind  of  anyone  in  love.  This  suggests  a  number  of  promo- 
tional ideas  which  would  make  use  of  the  term.  For  example,  a  contest  for  pictures 
of  twitterpated  people  would  be  appropriate.  There's  a  list  of  lines  in  which  the  term 
is  used  in  the  pressbook;  they  can  be  reproduced  on  mailing  pieces,  throwaways,  etc. 
A  comedy  contest  can  be  arranged  in  which  twitterpated  women  would  tell  how  they 
got  their  men  to  propose.  The  iron  deer  from  the  front  lawns  should  be  collected  by 
the  theatre  playing  "Bambi"  and  with  appropriate  ceremony  turned  over  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  music  can  be  used  in  obtaining  radio  station  tieups,  window  displays  in 
music  stores  and  announcements  by  orchestra  leaders  in  hotels  and  night  clubs.  For 
lobby  display  purposes,  it  may  be  possible  to  obtain  a  young  fawn  to  portray  Bambi. 
The  rabbit,  Thumper,  is  easy  to  get.  The  skunk  may  well  be  dispensed  with.  The  short 
title  suggests  the  possibility  that  cards,  each  bearing  one  letter,  can  be  tacked  on 
fences  and  in  other  locations  where  they  would  act  like  a  teaser.  There  is  available 
an  invitation  with  clever  wording  and  space  for  playdates  which  can  be  used  as  a 
herald  or  mailing  piece. 

TALK  OF  THE  TOWN  (Columbia):  A  teaser  campaign  is  suggested  by  the  title  of 
this  picture.  There  are  available  some  two-column  cartoon  ads  with  comedy  slants 
which  can  be  used  in  any  part  of  the  newspaper  as  advance  teasers.  They  can  also 
be  used  in  enlarged  form  as  lobby  art.  Similarly,  the  title  can  be  used  imprinted  on  a 
Benday  background  (available  in  the  pressbook),  tacked  up  on  poles  and  fences. 
Another  teaser  idea  is  to  have  a  film  can  beribboned  and  placed  on  a  pedestal  in 
the  lobby  with  a  sign  reading,  "When  this  is  opened  it  will  be  the  'Talk  of  the  Town'." 
A  "hush"  poster  has  been  prepared,  copy  on  which  says,  "Don't  let  America's  secrets 
become  the  Talk  of  the  Town".  This  poster  also  has  illustrations  of  the  three  stars 
and  room  for  theatre  imprint.  A  Venetian  blind  could  be  installed  in  an  empty  store 
window;  on  one  side  copy  could  read,  "It's  the  Talk  of  the  Town",  and  on  the  other 
side  the  playdates.  There's  a  four-day  contest  suggested  which  sells  the  stars  and  the 
director;  the  idea  is  to  have  newspaper  readers  state  the  name  of  the  picture  which 
brought  fame  to  each  of  the  stars,  given  an  illustration  to  help.  Including  the  director 
makes  the  contest  sufficiently  difficult  to  be  intriguing.  There  are  a  number  of  stills 
which  are  available  for  local  exploitation  purposes.  One  of  Jean  Arthur  using  the 
telephone  might  be  placed  in  the  telephone  company's  business  office.  Another,  in 
which  she  is  seen  in  Ronald  Colman's  pajamas,  could  be  used  in  men's  store  windows 
with  emphasis  on  the  fact  that,  while  these  particular  ones  don't  fit  Miss  Arthur,  the 
store  has  pajamas  to  fit  anyone.  There's  a  still  of  Cary  Grant  busy  in  the  kitchen 
which  can  be  used  to  promote  kitchenware.  The  fact  that  borscht  figures  prominently 
in  the  picture  can  be  used  to  get  space  on  the  woman's  page  to  list  a  recipe  (given 
in  the  pressbook).  A  cooperative  page  with  merchants  each  calling  their  wares  "The 
Talk  of  the  Town"  seems  feasible.  Neither  Ronald  Colman  nor  Cary  Grant  has  ever 
played  in  a  picture  in  which  they  did  not  win  the  girl;  obviously  this  is  a  first  for 
Colman.  Newspaper  or  program  readers  can  state  whether  they  think  Jean  Arthur 
made  a  wise  choice,  with  prizes  for  the  best  answer.  In  the  picture  Jean  Arthur  plays 
the  role  of  a  secretary,  suggesting  the  possibility  that  local  secretaries  can  be  cir- 
cularized by  means  of  a  herald  written  in  shorthand — Gregg  on  one  side  and  Pittman 
on  the  other.  The  title  phrase  can  be  used  by  the  newspaper  as  a  peg  on  which  to 
hang  photos  of  past  events  which  were  the  talk  of  the  town  in  bygone  days. 


Druker  Ties  "This  Above  All" 
To  Local  Bond  Drive  Contest 

To  launch  his  date  on  "This  Above  All" 
at  Loew's  State,  in  Menphis,  Maurice  Druck- 
er  tied  in  with  the  local  competition  spon- 
sored by  the  Junior  Chamber  of  Commerce 
and  the  local  daily  to  choose  "The  Girl  We 
Fight  For."  Drucker  purchased  one  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  bonds  in  the  name  of  Joan 
Fontaine  and  Tyrone  Power  to  count  as 
votes  for  the  first  two  entries  in  the  contest. 

The  paper  came  through  with  art  work 
and  reprinted  the  wire  received  from  the 
stars  which  read  :  "Have  just  been  informed 
through  our  Memphis  representative  that  the 
Junior  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Press- 
Scimitar  are  undertaking  a  splendid  new 
bond  sale  promotion.  We  want  to  help.  Buy 
the  first  bonds  in  our  names  and  give  the 
votes  to  the  first  two  nominees." 


Search  for  Perfect  Man 
Heralds  "Tarzan"  Date 

Reporting  on  the  opening  of  "Tarzan's 
New  York  Adventure"  at  the  Riviera,  in 
Rochester,  Bud  Silverman,  city  manager, 
stresses  a  contest  whereby  each  of  the 
theatres  made  a  search  for  the  city's  most 
perfect  man.  Outstanding  in  connection  with 
the  contest  was  the  tieup  effected  by  the 
boys,  whereby  Sears  has  been  promoted  for 
prizes,  with  the  winner  outfitted  from  head 
to  toe.  For  the  second  prize,  the  theatre 
awarded  a  twenty-five  dollar  war  bond. 
Sears  came  through  with  a  window  display 
of  a  model  dressed  in  the  clothes  to  be 
given  to  the  winner.  In  addition,  radio  an- 
nouncements were  planted  with  stories  in 
the  daily  paper. 


Rockwell  Offers  Stamps 
In  a  "Mr.  V"  Search 

A  contest  angle  was  injected  in  Ken 
Rockwell's  "Mr.  V"  ad  for  that  date  at  the 
Steuben  theatre,  in  Hornell,  N.  Y.  A  box 
was  included  in  the  ad  reading  "Win  five 
dollars  in  war  stamps.  Mr.  V.  will  appear  on 
Main  Street  for  one-half  hour  at  1  P.  M. 
All  you  have  to  do  is  tap  him  on  the  shoul- 
der with  a  copy  of  today's -Tribune  and  say: 
'You  are  Mr.  V.'  If  you  are  the  first  to  do 
this  correctly,  you  will  receive  five  dollars 
in  war  savings  stamps.  If  you  are  second, 
third  or  fourth,  you  will  receive  two  guest 
tickets  to  see,"  etc.  In  addition,  the  paper 
also  read  readers  on  the  stunt. 


Deering's  "Tish"  Contest 

Five  dollars  in  war  savings  stamps  and 
guest  tickets  to  runnersup  were  awarded  by 
Francis  Deering  at  Loew's  State,  in  Hous- 
ton, in  connection  with  a  newspaper  contest 
ahead  of  "Tish."  Head  outlines  of  Marjorie 
Main,  Zazu  Pitts  and  Aline  MacMahon 
were  run  in  the  cooperating  paper  and  folks 
were  requested  to  fill  in  funny  faces  for  the 
prizes. 


"Jackass"  Hitching  Post 

A  jackass  was  hitched  to  a  parking  light 
meter  and  carried  a  sign  saying:  "I'm  the 
biggest  jackass  in  town !  I  can't  see  Wal- 
lace Beery  in  'Jac^ass  Mail' !"  as  a  feature 
of  the  campaign  for  the  picture  put  over 
by  Oscar  Nvberg,  Fox,  at  the  Spokane, 
Wash. 


Sept 


ember    12,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


53 


Show  and  Brown 
Run  Spectacular 
New  Haven  Rally 


THEY'RE  OUT  FOR  AWARDS 


The  showmen  listed  below  have  submitted  material  withi 
Quigley  Awards.  The  Third  Quarter  is  now  well  under 
mit  material. 


n  the  past  two  weeks  for  the 
way;  there  is  still  time  to  sub- 


LISE  BRIEN 

Belmar,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


EDGAR  GOTH 

St.  George,  Staten  Island,  N.  Y. 


MICHAEL  PICCIRILLO 
Globe,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 


CHRIS  CHAMALES 
Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 


TED  KIRKMEYER 
Egyptian,  Ogden,  Utah 


HARLAND  RANKIN 

Centre,  Chatham,  Ont.,  Canada 


LOUIS  CHARNINSKY 
Capitol,  Dallas,  Tex. 


SIDNEY  KLEPER 

Poli  Bijou,  New  Haven,  Conn. 


JACK  ROBERTSON 
Capitol,  Victoria,  B.  C. 


BENJAMIN  COHN 
Hamilton,  Chicago,  III. 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

EDGAR  DOOB 

Aldine,  Wilmington,  Del. 

BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

DICK  FELDMAN 
Paramount,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

ARNOLD  GATES 

Loew's  Park,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

SAM  GILMAN 


BUD  KORNBLITE 
Capitol,  Waverly,  N.  Y. 

ARTHUR  KROLICK 
Century,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

JOSEPH  LONGO 

Loew's  State,  Boston,  Mass. 

ED  MAY 

Russell,  Maysville,  Ky. 

DOUGLAS  MELLOTT 
Blair,  Hollidaysburg,  Pa. 

FRANK  MURPHY 

Loew's  State,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

MILLARD  OCHS 


Loew's  Regent,  Harrisburg,  Pa.       Strand,  Akron,  Ohio 


LEO  ROSEN 
Troy,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

BUD  SILVERMAN 
JACK  HAMILTON 
Riviera,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

JOSEPH  SAMARTANO 
Poli  Palace,  Meriden,  Conn. 

boyd  scon 

Grand,  Holdenville,  Okla. 

CLYDE  SMITH 

Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

HARRY  STEARN 

KEN  CARTER 

Manring,  Middlesboro,  Ky. 


The  September  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes" 
1  drive  is  just  a  continuation  of  the  campaign 
that  started  May  30  and  even  before  in  most 
of  the  theatres  of  the  country  and  since  then 
has  developed  so  that  the  showmen  are  the 
nation's  best  Bond  salesmen.  Most  of  the 
ideas  developed  earlier  in  the  Summer  are 
just  as  applicable  to  this  month's  drive. 

For  instance,  the  campaign  put  on  in  New 
Haven  by  Harry  Shaw,  division  manager, 
and  Lou  Brown,  publicity  director,  of  the 
Loew  New  England  theatres,  is  worthy  of 
attention  for  this  reason. 

New  Haven  was  designated  by  the  Treas- 
ury Department  as  the  city  for  the  final  of- 
ficial rally  of  National  Retailers  for  Vic- 
tory Month.  The  merchants  in  town  saw 
that  the  job  was  too  big  for  them  to  handle 
alone,  so  they  called  in  Harry  to  handle 
the  entertainment  and  program  and  Lou  to 
arrange  the  publicity  not  only  in  New 
Haven  but  throughout  the  state. 

Festivities  in  Yale  Bowl 

The  celebration  was  arranged  for  the 
Yale  BowL  Incidentally,  this  was  the  first 
time  Yale  University  has  ever  permitted 
use  of  the  Bowl  for  any  type  of  rally. 

The  fact  that,  as  Lou  put  it,  "Jupiter  Plu- 
vius  opened  up  the  spigots  and  it  rained 
cats  and  dogs,"  did  more  than  dampen  the 
crowd  unfortunately;  the  rain  was  so 
heavy,  the  whole  affair  had  to  be  called  off. 

But  the  program  was  such  that  it  can 
be  copied,  at  least  in  part  by  any  showman 
who  desires  to  stage  a  similar  rally  during 
''Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  month. 

The  program  was  arranged  by  Harry 
5 haw  and  Lou  Brown  arranged  to  have  it 
carried  as  a  full  page  ad  in  the  New  Haz-en 
Journal  Courier.  Four  well  known  arm- 
ament manufacturers  sponsored  the  ad  in 
cooperation  with  the  Journal-Courier. 

Tickets  Given  with  Bond  Purchases 

The  affair  was  held  at  5 :30  in  the  after- 
noon. The  portals  were  opened  at  4  p.m. 
Free  tickets  were  given  with  every  purchase 
of  War  Stamps  or  Bonds.  All  downtown 
stores  and  municipal  offices  closed  at  4  p.m. 
to  allow  employes  to  go  to  the  Bowl.  The 
affair  was  called  a  "City  of  New  Haven 
Event  sponsored  by  its  government,  its  civic 
organizations,  its  business  concerns,  and  put 
on  by  the  United  States  Treasury  Depart- 
ment as  the  official  nation-wide  climax  of 
the  'Retailers  for  Victory'  Campaign  to  sell 
$1,000,000,000  worth  of  War  Bonds." 

A  military  parade  comprised  the  prologue 
of  the  affair  with  the  following  units  par- 
ticipating: United  States  Infantry  Band: 
U.  S.  Infantry  troops;  Connecticut  Foot 
Guard  Band;  U.  S.  Naval  escort;  U.  S. 
Coast  Guard  unit;-U.  S.  Army  color  guard; 
Yale  University  naval  unit  color  guard; 
United  States  war  heroes,  etc. 

An  invocation  was  pronounced  by  the 
Rev.  Father  Charles  M.  Kavanagh.  The 
masters  of  ceremony  were  Walter  O'Keefe 
and  Bert  Lytell,  who  both  appealed  to  the 
crowd  to  buy  Bonds.    An  augmented  or- 


chestra of  the  New  Haven  Federation  of 
Musicians  Local  plajred  an  overture  follow- 
ing which  James  W.  Hook,  general  chair- 
man, and  Thomas  S.  Smith,  State  Admin- 
istrator of  the  Treasury  Department,  were 
introduced.  Mayor  John  W.  Murphy  wel- 
comed the  visiting  celebrities  each  of  whom 
spoke.  Among  them  were  Irene  Dunne, 
Pola  Negri,  Henry  Hull,  Rose  Marie  (who 
sang),  Carol  Bruce  and  Pierre  J.  Huss,  war 
correspondent.  Each  of  them  urged  the  huge 
audience  to  buy  War  Bonds.  In  addition 
there  was  a  demonstration  by  the  Yale 
Physical  Fitness  Group,  selections  by  some 
of  the  bands  and  songs  by  some  noted  sing- 
ers. The  war  heroes,  a  Connecticut  war 
mother  and  some  well  known  Connecticut 
people  were  all  introduced.  The  ralty  closed 
with  a  benediction  by  Rabbi  Louis  Green- 
berg. 

Lucy  Monroe  opened  the  ceremonies  sing- 
ing '"The  Star  Spangled  Banner."  The  rain 
came  down  at  that  time  and  the  newspaper 
published  a  picture  on  its  front  page  of 
Harry  Shaw  holding  an  umbrella  over  the 
singer. 

This  huge  program  was  arranged  b}r 
Harry  Shaw  and,  take  it  from  Harry,  it  re- 
quired some  arranging. 

The  publicity  was  terrific.  Front  pages 
were  obtained  with  the  greatest  of  ease,  of 
course,  but  nevertheless  the  material  had 
to  be  supplied. 

From  time  to  time  in  advance,  different 
firms  sponsored  full  page  ads  announcing 
various  features  of  the  program.  Even  the 
sports  pages  were  cracked  for  publicity  stor- 
ies as  such  sporting  figures  as  Gene  Sara- 
zen  were  named  as  among  those  slated  to 
appear.  Editorials  appeared  in  the  papers, 
too. 


Educational  Exhibit 
Launched  by  M-G-M 

Life  masks  taken  directly  from  the  faces 
of  a  group  of  leading  stars,  along  with  origi- 
nal fashion  sketches,  original  charcoal 
sketches  of  movie  sets  and  other  colorful 
material  used  in  preparation  of  a  film,  will 
comprise  an  elaborate  Travelling  Educa- 
tional Exhibit  shortly  to  be  launched  on  an 
extensive  tour  by  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

The  exhibit  will  be  displayed  at  leading 
universities,  schools,  department  stores, 
civic  and  educational  societies  and  at  other 
points  where  it  can  be  inspected  by  the 
public. 

Open  Forum  to  Be  Featured 

Accompanying  the  exhibit  will  be  Fran- 
ces Parker,  lecturer  and  radio  speaker,  who 
will  deliver  an  explanatory  talk  on  the  ex- 
hibit at  local  showings  and  also  over  the 
air.  Following  her  talk  she  will  answer 
questions  from  her  audiences  on  the  uses 
made  of  the  material  included  in  the  exhibit. 

The  tour  was  devised  by  Howard  Dietz, 
M-G-M  vice-president  in  charge  of  adver- 
tising and  publicity,  and  will  be  supervised 
on  the  road  by  W.  R.  Ferguson,  director 
of  exploitation. 


Lobby  Bride  Kisses  for  Bonds 

J.  Lester  Stallman,  manager  of  Schad's 
Astor  Theatre,  Reading,  Pa.,  sold  both  pic- 
tures and  war  bonds  in  "They  All  Kissed 
the  Bride."  A  model  dressed  as  a  bride  was 
stationed  in  the  lobby,  with  the  "bride"  kiss- 
ing everyone  making  a  purchase  of  a  war 
bond. 


54 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


Cornell  Holds  Rally 
For  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

In  connection  with  his  opening  of  "Mrs. 
Miniver"  at  the  Pontiac,  in  Saranac  Lake, 
N.  Y.,  Clayton  Cornell  sponsored  a  War 
Rally,  conducting  a  Bond  Sale  on  the  stage 
of  the  theatre.  The  postmaster  assisted  and 
resided  at  the  Rally.  Speakers  were  a  county 
judge  and  present  on  the  stage  was  the  local 
Civilian  Defense  Chairman  and  a  representa- 
tive of  the  bank,  who  took  the  signed  appli- 
cations. 

Cornell  secured  the  gratis  services  of  an 
organist,  a  local  soldier  in  uniform  home  on 
furlough.     The  program  opened  with  him 


at  the  organ  playing  "America"  and  at  this 
time  the  grand  drape  was  opened  and  the 
stage  set  with  standee  flags  and  palms.  A 
10  by  20-foot  American  flag  was  lowered 
from  the  flies  into  full  view  of  the  audience 
as  the  foots  and  overhead  borders  came  up 


Cohen's  Pennies  for  Bonds 

Nate  Cohen,  manager  of  the  Apollo  The- 
atre, Atlantic  City,  flooded  the  town  with 
thousands  of  small  cards,  each  bearing  a 
shiny  penny,  as  the  highlight  of  his  cam- 
paign on  "Mrs.  Miniver."  The  copy  read: 
"Mrs.  Miniver  wants  her  friends  to  buy  war 
bonds.  She  contributes  this  penny  toward 
the  purchase  of  your  next  bond." 


Ed  Harris,  who  has  been  manager  of 
the  Glendale  Theatre,  Glendale, 
Calif.,  this  week  joined  the  Marines. 
The  photo  above  shows  him  receiv- 
ing a  Citizenship  medal  from  the 
Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars  for  his 
efforts  to  sell  War  Bonds  in  Glendale. 
The  presentation  was  made  in  con- 
nection with  a  farewell  get-together 
of  Civic  and  City  officials  upon  the 
occasion  of  Ed's  entering  the  service. 
He  received  considerable  newspaper 
publicity;  one  paragraph  cited  his 
Round  Table  achievements — "Twice 
winner  (within  the  last  two  quarters) 
of  the  coveted  Quigley  Showmanship 
Plaque  presented  by  Motion  Picture 
Herald,  and  this  year's  'outstanding 
citizen'  in  the  eyes  of  Glendale  Vet- 
erans of  Foreign  Wars,  Harris  has 
maintained  an  unbroken  string  of  pro- 
motional victories  in  the  field  of 
motion  picture  and  civic  endeavor." 


Left — George  Seed,  city  manager  for 
Fabian  Theatres  in  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  in 
town  for  a  brief  stay,  paid  a  visit  to 
the  Round  Table  office.  Above — 
David  Fineman  of  the  Shapiro-Fine- 
man  Circuit  of  Pittsburgh,  who  was 
in  town  celebrating  with  Mrs.  Fine- 
man  their  13th  wedding  anniversary, 
was  another  Round  Table  visitor. 
Right — Rowland  Lloyd,  booker  for 
the  Aaron  Goldberg  Circuit  of 
San  Francisco,  dropped  in  while  on  a 
combined  business  and  pleasure  trip. 

Photos  by  Staff  Photographer 


Six  Editorials  Landed 
By  Longo  for  "Miniver" 

A  press  agent's  dream  came  true  for  Joe 
Longo  of  Loew's  State  and  Orpheum  thea- 
tres, in  Boston,  when  for  a  reported  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  city  a  motion  pic- 
ture received  six  editorials,  this  for  "Mrs. 
Miniver."  Additional  newspaper  coverage 
was  landed  when  Longo  held  a  special 
screening  for  the  Governor,  Mayor,  Police 
Commissioner  and  other  local  bigwigs. 

A  "Lucky  Horseshoe"  with  20  holes  con- 
taining test  tubes  with  water  and  a  "Min- 
iver" rose  was  planted  in  the  lobby.  A 
large  display  card  in  the  center  of  the  horse- 
shoe advised  patrons  that  the  first  25  wom- 
en to  purchase  tickets  to  see  the  picture 
would  receive  one  of  the  roses.  This  stunt 
also  broke  in  the  newspapers. 

An  elaborate  and  dignified  dinner  was 
held  for  the  press  of  both  Boston  and  Provi- 
dence papers  to  meet  Walter  Pidgeon,  who 
was  making  a  personal  appearance.  Im- 
mediately after  the  dinner  the  star  was  giv- 
en a  police  escort  to  Station  WEEI,  where 
he  made  a  recording  to  be  broadcast  by 
short  wave  over  WRUL  to  Europe.  Pid- 
geon's  appearance  on  the  stage  was  the  sig- 
nal for  a  record  sale  of  Bonds  and  Stamps. 
He  finally  wound  up  by  selling  his  handker- 
chief for  $80  worth  of  Bonds  and  Stamps. 
Advance  stories  and  pictures  were  landed  in 
all  papers  announcing  the  star's  arrival  and 
inside  and  front  page  layouts  with  stories  in 
all  papers  after  his  appearance  on  the  stage 
of  the  theatre. 


Ey+inge's  Lobby  Contest 

A  special  contest  in  the  lobby,  asking 
patrons  to  guess  the  names  of  the  pictures 
in  which  John  Boles  had  appeared,  was  ar- 
ranged by  Henry  Ey tinge,  manager  of  the 
Vernon  Theatre,  Philadelphia,  for  "Road  to 
Happiness."  Stills  from  films  the  star  had 
appeared  in,  placed  on  a  40  x  60,  served  as 
clues  for  the  patrons. 


September    12,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


55 


Halifax  Manager 
Must  Cater  To 
Seamen  Patrons 


Favorite  Blond  Contest 
Used  By  Bob  Kessler 


By  Zev  Pressman 

Bob  Kessler,  manager  of  the  Betin  theatre,  Philadelphia,  poses  with  his  section's  favorite 
blondes  selected  as  part  of  the  exploitation  campaign  on  "My  Favorite  Blonde".  The 
girls  sold  War  Stamps  for  kisses.    The  cup  for  the  winner  is  at  the  right  of  the  booth. 


A  recent  visitor  to  the  Round  Table  depart- 
ment of  the  Herald  reports  that  managing  a 
theatre  in  Halifax,  now  one  of  the  leading 
ports  of  the  world,  is  not  without  its  vicissi- 
tudes. In  the  first  place,  the  men  who  attend 
the  shows  are  hungry  for  amusement,  having 
been  at  sea  for  periods  of  a  month  or  more. 

One  of  the  first  things  the  crew  of  a  mer- 
chant ship  is  up  against  is  a  local  law  prohibit- 
ing the  sale  of  draft  beer.  Beer  is  as  dear  to 
the  heart  of  a  seaman  who  has  been  without  it 
as  it  was  to  Americans  during  Prohibition. 
So  the  seaman  hies  himself  to  a  package  store 
where  he  shares  a  case  with  a  buddy.  Looking 
for  a  place  to  imbibe  they  choose  the  nearest 
movie  house,  regardless  of  the  screen  attraction. 

From  then  on  the  picture's  various  scenes  are 
punctuated  by  the  rhythmic  dropping  of  the 
bottles  as  they  are  methodically  emptied  by  the 
thirsty  seamen.  The  length  of  the  patron's  stay 
in  a  Halifax  cinema  is  thus  governed  not  by 
the  length  of  the  show  but  rather  by  the  rapid- 
ity with  which  the  patrons  can  imbibe. 

Wash  Room  Supplies  Disappear 

One  of  the  managers'  difficulties  in  Halifax 
is  the  propensity  of  seamen  to  remove  toilet 
paper  in  quantities  suggesting  that  it  might 
be  a  case  of  forearming  on  their  part.  Liquid 
soap  also  disappears.  It  is  pointed  out  that  the 
intentions  of  the  seamen  are  not  larcenous : 
Their  reasoning  follows  the  tortuous  channel 
that  they  are  entitled  to  wash  their  hands  as 
often  as  they  like  while  in  the  theatre ;  not 
being  of  a  nature  which  would  prompt  such  fre- 
quent ablutions,  they  feel  that  they  are  justly 
entitled  to  remove  the  soap  which  they  do  not 
consume  in  the  exercise  of  the  aforementioned 
privilege.  r 

The  kleptomania  of  seamen  also  veers  toward 
the  artistic  side  at  times,  our  informant  says. 
For  example,  in  one  theatre  there  was  a  beauti- 
ful pewter  tray  hanging  on  the  wall  as  a  decora- 
tion. The  first  time  it  was  appropriated  to  dig- 
nify some  seaman's  bunk,  the  shore  patrol,  upon 
learning  of  its  size,  merely  stationed  a  man 
at  the  gangway  of  each  ship.  'When  a  man 
with  outsize  bulges  appeared,  they  examined  the 
cause  and  found  it  to  match  the  description  of 
the  pewter  tray  as  given  by  the  manager.  Sub- 
sequently on  the  four  or  five  occasions  when 
the  tray  has  again  gone  seaward,  the  manager 
merely  called  the  patrol  and  said,  "It's  gone 
again."  They're  keeping  a  score  and  making 
book  on  the  tray  now;  as  soon  as  a  ship  comes 
in  the  odds  on  its  removal  go  down. 

Types  Letters  in  Lobby  for 
"Take  a  Letter  Darling" 

As  an  attractor  ahead  of  "Take  a  Letter, 
Darling"  at  Schine's  Riviera  theatre,  in 
Rochester,  Bud  Silverman  and  Jack  Hamil- 
ton planted  their  secretary  in  the  lobby 
seated  at  a  desk  with  her  typewriter  and 
copy  reading:  "Take  a  Letter,  Darling." 
Remember  a  boy  in  the  service  and  drop 
him  a  line.  Our  secretary  will  type  it  for 
you  now." 

In  addition,  1,000  penny  postcards  were 
available  with  a  message  printed  on  them 
reading:  ''We  are  visiting  a  Schine  theatre 
tonight.  Sorry  you  can't  be  with  us.  Trust 
that  you  are  well  and  that  we  will  see  you 
soon."  Space  was  left  for  the  sender's  sig- 
nature and  the  cards  were  mailed  by  the 
management. 


Bob  Kessler,  manager  of  the  Penn  The- 
atre, Philadelphia,  sold  "My  Favorite 
Blonde"  by  running  a  contest  to  determine 
who  was  the  favorite  blonde  in  his  section 
of  Philadelphia.  Fourteen  prizes  were  pro- 
moted from  neighborhood  stores  for  the 
winners  and  Herb  Gellis,  representing  the 
House  of  Westmore,  was  on  hand  to  pre- 
sent the  winner.  A  House  of  Westmore  tie- 
up  enabled  the  theatre  to  give  a  coupon 
worth  25  cents  to  every  lady  who  attended 
the  show  during  the  run  of  "My  Favorite 
Blonde."  Names  of  Westmore  outlets  were 
printed  on  the  back. 


Bob  gave  out  5,000  novelty  trick  heralds 
10  days  in  advance  of  the  contest.  Publicity 
was  obtained  on  the  front  page  of  "the  local 
newspaper  and  even  the  Philadelphia  Daily 
News,  a  metropolitan  paper,  gave  the  con- 
test a  break  on  the  amusement  page  :  this 
was  regarded  as  quite  a  feat  for  a  neighbor- 
hood theatre.  The  local  newspaper  continued 
its  cooperation  right  up  to  the  day  of  the 
contest  and  afterward  with  front  page  sto- 
ries, plenty-  of  art  and  the  printing  of  an 
entry  blank. 

The  blondes  sold  war  bonds  in  the  lobby 
later  offering  a  kiss  to  each  purchaser. 


JUN& 


^  v:::::::::-V-:       I*  ■  •>:  .,.0— 


ANN  CQRID  "JUNGLE  SIREIT  BUSTER  CRABHE 
PLUS  .  "PRISONER  OF  JAPAN"  £3  SIxTER 


Loti  Mayer  had  the  honor  of  playing  a  double  bill  of  two  PRC  pictures  at  their  world 
premiere.    Here  is  the  front  he  devised  for  the  date  at  the  RKO  Temple,  Rochester. 


56 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


Matilda  Pysyk,  New  Assistant 
To  Boyle  at  Loew's  Norwich 

Matilda  J.  Pysyk, 
a  new  member  of  the 
Managers  Round  Ta- 
ble, is  assistant  to 
Joe  Boyle  at  Loew's 
Poli  theatre,  Nor- 
wich, Conn.  She 
started  as  cashier  in 
February  of  this  year 
and  when  Russell 
Grant,  who  had  been 
assistant  manager, 
was  promoted  to  the 
assistant  manager- 
ship of  Loew's  State, 
Norfolk,  Va.,  she  was  promoted.  Joe  says 
she  is  doing  a  fine  job. 


In  New  Posts 


HAPPY  BIRTHDAY 


A.  ALBERT  COHAN,  former  manager  of 
the  Apex  theatre,  in  Washington,  D.  C,  has 
been  promoted  to  the  Senator  theatre  there. 

WALTER  ROONEY,  manager  of  the  Hart 
theatre,  in  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  has  been 
transferred  to  the  Orpheum  theatre,  succeed- 
ing Paul  M.  Burke,  who  is  in  the  Navy. 
Curtis  Homnick,  assistant  manager  of  the 
Comerford  theatre,  has  been  advanced  to 
manager  at  the  Hart. 

J.  H.  RADABAUGH  is  now  in  charge  of 
Hunt's  Indian  theatre  and  the  Rose  theatre, 
in  Roseburg,  Ore. 

WELDON  W.  PARSONS  is  now  house 
manager  at  the  Interstate  Majestic  theatre, 
in  San  Antonio.  Other  circuit  changes  in- 
clude Mary  Grimes  going  in  as  assistant  at 
the  Prince  theatre  and  Beulah  Green  as 
assistant  at  the  State. 

GUY  HEVIA,  formerly  manager  of 
Schine's  Hippodrome  theatre,  in  Glovers- 
ville,  N.  Y.,  has  been  appointed  manager  of 
the  circuit's  Seneca,  in  Salamanca,  N.  Y. 

HIAWATHA  M.  TAYLOR  has  been  ap- 
pointed assistant  manager  of  the  Pearl  the- 
atre, in  Philadelphia. 

JOHN  LATIMER,  manager  of  Warners' 
Lansdowne  theatre,  in  Philadelphia  moves 
over  to  the  Waverly,  succeeding  Abe  Gold- 
smith, who  transferred  to  the  Karlton. 

ARTHUR  PICCOLA,  manager  of  the 
RKO  Family  theatre,  in  Cincinnati,  has 
been  transferred  to  the  RKO  Shubert  there. 
Joseph  Hansberry,  of  the  suburban  RKO 
Orpheum,  has  been  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Family,  while  Elwood  Jones,  manager  of  the 
RKO  Paramount,  will  also  handle  the 
Orpheum. 

RICHARD  LYNDENBERG  is  now  as- 
sistant manager  at  Loew's  theatre,  in  In- 
dianapolis. 

BOYD  F.  SCOTT,  formerly  at  the  Broad- 
way theatre,  in  Lubbock,  Tex.,  is  now  at 
the  Grand,  in  Holdenville,  Okla. 

HARRY  GANS  is  now  handling  publicity 
for  the  Beverly  theatre,  New  York  City. 


September  5th 

Edwin  G.  Austin 
Fred  Naify 
Herman  B.  Abrams 
John  B.  Tucker 
Mort  Rosevold 
Maurice  M.  Meet 
6th 

Harry  Sefton 
Rockwood  Bailey 
James  A.  Kakley 
Clarence  A.  Turbin 
Joseph  M.  Rubenfield 
William  J.  Burke 
7th 

Jack  L.  Johns.on 
Herbert  Hairrell 
Robert  G.  Patterson 
H.  R.  Hellerich 
8th 

Bert  Gildersleeve 
Ralph  C.  Ressler 
Richard  Bauke 
Art  Weber 
Herbert  C.  Lewis 
Sidney  Selig,  Jr. 
Pete  Egan 


September  9th 

.  Frank  D.  Solomont 
Sam  Rothstein 
Morris  Simms 
Sam  Schiewtz 
Earle  C.  Potter 
Albert  E.  Crowder,  Jr 

I  Oth 

Robert  J.  Rydeen 
Alan  Peters 
Ben  Blackmon 
Frank  Boucher 
Bill  C.  Miller 
Harold  Turner 
Robert  Duberstein 
Sidney  Grill 
Clifford  Mowry 
Herbert  Graefe 
Budd  Guttman 
Perry  Reavis 
Clifford  H.  Reid 
Leonard  C.  Herbert 

I  Ith 

Mike  Guttman 
Wesley  R.  Griffith 
Vincent  F.  O'Leary 


Walter  Goldstein  Climbed  from 
Usher  to  Assistant  to  Manager 

Walter  Goldstein,  manager  of  the  Am- 
bassador Theatre  in  Brooklyn,  is  one  of  the 
newest  members  of  Managers  Round  Table. 
Wally,  as  he  is  known  throughout  the  city 
of  churches,  has  been  an  active  showman  for 
a  long  time,  however. 

He  came  up  through  the  ranks,  having 
started  as  an  usher,  progressed  to  assistant 
manager  and  finally  reaching  the  manager- 
ship itself.  Among  the  theatres  at  which  he 
has  served  in  one  capacity  or  another  are 
the  Stadium,  Riviera,  Supreme,  Ambassa- 
dor, Benson  and  Carroll,  all  Randforce 
houses.  Wally  is  33  years  old  and  married. 
He  and  Mrs.  Goldstein  are  anticipating  the 
arrival  of  their  first  child. 


By  Albert  Colan 

Walter  Goldstein,  manager  of  the  Ambassador 
Theatre  in  Brooklyn,  stands  before  the  huge  pile 
of  scrap  rubber  he  collected  at  a  special  rubber 
matinee.  Three  of  the  donors  are  shown  with  him. 


G.  Clanton  Envied  by  Showmen; 
Owns  Theatres  and  Newspaper 

Many  a  treatreman  has  wished  he  also 
owned  the  newspaper  in  his  town.  So  many 
of  his  problems  would  then  be  solved.  But 
take  it  from  George  C.  Clanton,  t'ain't  so. 
George  runs  the  Daw  theatre  in  Tappahan- 
nock,  Va.,  as  well  as  the  Reed  Theatre  in 
Reedville,  Va.  He  was  born  in  Danville, 
Va.,  Jan.  22,  1911.  He  entered  the  motion 
picture  business  in  1940.  "I  like  the  business 
fine,"  he  says.  The  Daw  theatre  is  regarded 
as  the  most  beautiful  playhouse  in  tidewater 
Virginia. 


Fadal,  Now  in  Valley  Mills, 
Wants  House  in  Home  Town 

E.  Wilson  Fadal,  known  as  Eddie  to  his 
pals,  is  now  the  owner-manager  of  the  Ritz 
theatre,  Valley  Mills,  Texas.  It  is  quite  a 
way,  but  not  too  far 
from  his  birth  place 
of  Waco.  The  great 
event  took  place  on 
September  22,  1918. 
Eddie's  ambition  is 
to  own  a  theatre  in 
his  home  town, 
equipped  with  the 
best  machinery  on 
the  market — the  fin- 
est projectors,  lamps 
and  sound. 

Eddie  is  a  gradu- 
ate of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, where  he  studied  speech  and  acting 
and  directed  several  plays.  He  has  always 
been  interested  in  theatres,  so  on  graduation 
he  bought  the  Ritz. 

Eddie  is  a  firm  believer  in  showmanship 
and  he  follows  the  Round  Table  assiduously 
to  learn  how  other  showmen  are  conducting 
their  houses.  Among  his  activities  is  to 
prominently  display  the  flag  in  the  lobby  at 
all  times,  to  run  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner" 
on  all  programs  and  to  run  all  Victory 
Films.  He  has  given  free  admissions  at  vari- 
ous times  to  those  who  brought  scrap  iron, 
old  auto  license  plates  and  rubber.  A  kid- 
dies matinee  is  on  his  schedule  for  each  Sat- 
urday. From  time  to  time  he  conducts  a 
house-to-house  canvass  asking  people  what 
is  the  attraction  at  the  Ritz.  If  they  can 
name  the  picture  and  stars  they  are  awarded 
guest  tickets.  Eddie  is  a  member  of  the 
Lions  Club  and  the  Episcopal  Church  and 
always  cooperates  with  them  on  special 
shows.  He  sells  War  Stamps  at  the  box 
office  and  conducts  a  lucky  seat  night  each 
week  when  the  winner  receives  War  Stamps, 
groceries  or  passes.  Each  year  he  honors 
the  local  football  team  and  their  dates, 
whether  the  team  is  victorious  or  not.  Ed- 
die's hobbies  are  writing  ads  for  weekly 
papers  and  keeping  a  collection  of  them ; 
other  interests  are  exploitation,  dogs  and 
horses. 


Miguel  Ortiz  Has  Widely  Varied 
Career  in  Own,  Circuit  Theatres 

Miguel  R.  Ortiz  is  one  of  the  latest  of 
the  many  showmen  on  the  island  of  Puerto 
Rico  to  join  the  Round  Table.  He  is  man- 
ager of  the  Broadway  theatre  at  Ponce  for 
the  Habana-Delicias  Circuit.  Miguel  was 
born  May  15,  1904,  at  Sabana  Grande. 

His  theatrical  career  started  in  1927  while 
a  high  school  student,  when  he  worked  as 
assistant  manager  of  the  Oriente  theatre  at 
Sabana  Grande.  Later  he  was  promoted  to 
the  managership.  From  this  position  he  re- 
signed in  order  to  lease  the  Borinquen  the- 
atre in  the  same  town.  He  worked  there  un- 
til 1930  when  he  sub-leased  the  house  and 
went  to  New  York  where  he  spent  two 
years.  In  1932,  he  resumed  operation  of  Bo- 
rinquen and  continued  there  until  1936.  In 
that  year  he  leased  the  Puerto  Rico  theatre 
at  Guayanilla  and  worked  there  until  Oc- 
tober, 1940,  when  he  was  appointed  man- 
ager of  the  Capitol  Theatre,  Santurce.  He 
resigned  that  post  in  March  of  last  year  to 
accept  his  present  one,  which  is  at  a  larger 
theatre. 


September     12,  1942 

OBITUARIES 

Bernard  Hyman 
OfMGMDies 

Bernard  Hyman,  who  had  been  associated 
with  the  MGM  studios  since  1924  and  had  been 
a  member  of  the  executive  staff  for  the  past 
four  years,  died  at  his  home  in  Los  Angeles, 
September  7th,  of  a  heart  attack.  He  was  45. 
Mr.  Hyman  recently  had  discontinued  activities 
as  a  producer  to  devote  his  entire  efforts  in  an 
advisory  capacity. 

Mr.  Hyman  was  born  in  Grafton,  W.  Va., 
August  20,  1897.  He  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  New  York  and  later  attended 
Yale  University.  In  1919  he  became  associated 
with  S.  A.  Lynch,  distributor  for  Triangle,  as 
a  salesman.  He  subsequently  entered  the  state 
rights  field,  representing  Phil  Goldstone  pro- 
ductions, and  in  his  spare  time  wrote  scenarios 
and  story  treatments.  He  joined  the  Universal 
Studios  as  a  reader.  His  first  effort  for  that 
studio  was  a  treatment  of  the  Louis  Vance 
novel,  "The  Black  Bag,"  in  1921. 

He  came  to  the  attention  of  studio  executives 
and  particularly  the  late  Irving  G.  Thalberg, 
at  that  time  general  manager  of  Universal.  Mr. 
Hyman  was  selected  as  Mr.  Thalberg's  assis- 
tant and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  latter 
left  Universal  and  became  aide  to  Louis  B. 
Mayer  at  the  MGM  studios.  In  1924  Mr. 
I  Thalberg  named  Mr.  Hyman  a  production  ex- 
ecutive. Among  Hyman's  productions  were 
"Conquest,"  "Saratoga,"  "San  Francisco,"  "I 
Live  My  Life"  and  "Escapade." 

He  is  survived  by  his  widow. 


John  C.  Mosher 

John  Chaplin  Mosher,  film  critic  of  The  New 
Yorker  magazine,  died  September  3rd  of  a 
heart  ailment  at  Doctors  Hospital,  New  York. 
He  was  50. 

Mr.  Mosher  was  one  of  the  oldest  staff  mem- 
bers of  The  New  Yorker.  He  joined  the  maga- 
zine in  June,  1926,  and  became  its  motion  pic- 
ture critic  two  years  later.  A  collection  of 
sketches  about  "Mr.  Opal"  were  reprinted  from 
The  New  Yorker  and  edited  in  book  form  by 
him  under  the  title  "Celibate  at  Twilight." 
They  were  published  in  June,  1940. 

Mr.  Mosher  was  born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in 
1892  and  attended  the  Boys'  Academy  there. 
He  was  graduated  from  Williams  College  and 
served  in  the  World  War  with  the  American 
Medical  Department,  attached  to  a  shell-shock 
I  ward  of  a  base  hospital  overseas.  After  the 
war  he  taught  English  at  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity.   He  was  unmarried. 


Oliver  Edwards  Dead 

Oliver  C.  Edwards,  63,  former  manager  for 
27  years  of  theatres  in  the  Poli  circuit  in  New 
Haven  and  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  recently  ad- 
vertising manager  of  the  Poole  dry  goods  store 
in  Springfield,  Mass.,  died  August  30th  at 
Mercy  Hospital  there. 


Harry  Doyle 

Harry  C.  Doyle,  44,  who  operated  a  theatri- 
cal booking  office  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  died  in 
St.  Francis  Hospital  there  September  1st.  He 
formerly  operated  the  Doyle,  now  known  as  the 
Uptown  theatre. 


Paul  Lastayo 

Paul  H.  Lastayo,  44,  president  and  general 
manager  of  the  Bremer  Broadcasting  Company, 
owner  of  Station  WAAT,  died  September  5th 
at  his  home  in  Jersey  City. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

M.  M.  Paggi  Dies 
In  Plane  Crash 

The  death  of  M.  M.  Paggi,  42,  former  chief 
sound  recorder  for  Twentieth  Century-Fox  in 
England,  and  serving  as  a  ferry  pilot  since 
1939,  has  been  announced  by  the  British  Min- 
istry of  Information. 

Well  known  as  a  sound  technician  in  Holly- 
wood before  his  transfer  abroad  by  Twentieth 
Century-Fox,  Mir.  Paggi's  death  occurred  in  a 
plane  crash. 


/.  Walter  Ruben 

J.  Walter  Ruben,  motion  picture  producer 
under  contract  to  Metro-Goldwyn-M-ayer,  died 
September  4th  in  Good  Samaritan  Hospital, 
Hollywood.    He  was  43. 

Mr.  Ruben  began  his  motion  picture  career 
as  a  scenario  writer  in  1924.  Among  his  earliest 
scenarios  were  "Under  the  Tonto  Rim,"  "Dead 
Game"  and  "Check  and  Double  Check." 

Born  in  New  York  in  August,  1899,  Mr. 
Ruben  was  graduated  from  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, where  he  specialized  in  psychology,  philoso- 
phy and  drama.  Soon  after  his  graduation,  he 
was  playing  junior  roles  in  stage  productions. 
He  then  turned  to  writing  publicity  and  vaude- 
ville material  and  eventually  to  scenarios. 

By  1932  he  was  widely  known  as  a  director 
and  had  earned  a  reputation  as  a  "mystery  spe- 
cialist" with  his  direction  of  such  RKO  Radio 
pictures  as  "Secret  Service,"  starring  Richard 
Dix,  and  "The  Roadhouse  Murder,"  with  Eric 
Linden  and  Dorothy  Jordan. 

In  1935,  he  directed  "Java  Head,"  and  in  the 
same  year  collaborated  on  the  story  and  di- 
rected "Public  Hero  No.  1."  He  became  a  pro- 
ducer in  1939.  Among  the  pictures  he  pro- 
duced that  year  were  "Maisie,"  and  "Thunder 
Afloat,"  both  for  MGM. 

Other  films  he  produced  in  recent  years  in- 
cluded "20  Mule  Team"  and  "The  Bad  Man," 
both  starring  Wallace  Beery,  the  Maisie  series 
and  "Flight  Command." 

Mr.  Ruben  married  Virginia  Bruce,  actress 
on  December  18,  1937. 


Leonard  Bergman  Dies 

Leodnard  E.  Bergman,  57,  legitimate  stage 
manager  and  producer,  died  September  4th  at 
Doctors  Hospital,  New  York,  after  a  long  ill- 
ness. He  was  a  nephew  of  the  late  A.  L.  Er- 
langer.  Mr.  Bergman  received  an  interest  in 
the  Erlanger  enterprises  in  1926  and  later  be- 
came general  manager. 


Sidney  Schubach 

Sidney  Schubach,  48,  for  six  years  booker  at 
the  Columbia  exchange  in  Seattle,  died  Septem- 
ber 6th  in  Portland,  Ore.  He  formerly  was  an 
exhibitor  in  Portland. 


Lieut.  Charles  Preston 

Lieut.  Charles  J.  Preston,  21,  son  of  Jack 
Preston,  film  writer,  died  in  the  crash  of  an 
Army  bomber  at  Barksdale  Field,  Va.  Before 
joining  the  Army  he  had  appeared  in  several 
screen  musicals  as  a  musician. 


William  Black 

William  J.  Black,  45,  owner  of  the  Star 
theatre,  only  neighborhood  house  in  East  Liver- 
pool, Ohio,  died  September  4th. 


Missing  in  Action 

Maurice  Daly  has  been  reported  missing  in 
action  in  the  Pacific,  where  he  had  been  on 
duty  with  the  Marines.  He  is  the  son  of  Mi- 
chael Daly,  Hartford,  Conn.,  exhibitor. 

Theatre  To  Mark  Policy 

'  The  New  York  Strand  theatre  this  month 
celebrates  the  fourth  year  of  its  present  policy 
combining  an  "in  person"  presentation  with  films. 


57 

IN  THE  COURTS 


Fox  Seeks  to 
Alter  Plea 

William  Fox,  former  motion  picture  execu- 
tive and  founder  of  the  Fox  Film  Company, 
contended  in  a  petition  filed  with  the  U.  S.  su- 
preme court  September  4th  that  he  should  be 
permitted  to  withdraw  a  plea  of  guilty  to 
charges  of  conspiracy  to  obstruct  justice  be- 
cause the  United  States  Attorney  General  had 
agreed  to  this  action  and  because  the  case 
against  two  alleged  co-conspirators  had  been 
dropped. 

Mr.  Fox  said  that  he  consented  to  plead 
guilty  and  to  testify  for  the  Government  after 
Hugh  A.  Fulton,  a  special  assistant  to  the  At- 
torney General,  agreed  that  the  plea  might  be 
withdrawn  if  the  co-defendants  should  not  be 
convicted. 

He  told  the  supreme  court  that,  even  though 
the  Attorney  General  joined  in  the  request,  the 
Federal  district  court  at  Philadelphia  had  re- 
fused to  permit  withdrawal  of  his  plea  and  had 
sentenced  him  to  a  year  and  a  day  in  a  Federal 
penitentiary  and  fined  him  $3,000. 

The  indictment  charged  that  Mr.  Fox  con- 
spired with  Federal  Circuit  Judge  J.  Warren 
Davis  of  Philadelphia  and  Morgan  S.  Kaufman, 
bankruptcy  referee,  to  obstruct  justice  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Fox's  bankruptcy  proceedings. 

Court  Halts  Company's 
Radio  Production 

In  the  first  court  action  of  its  type,  Federal 
Judge  Samuel  Mandelbaum  last  week  signed  a 
consent  decree  at  the  request  of  the  War  Pri- 
orities Board  forbidding  the  continued  illegal 
production  of  radios  and  phonographs  by  Rec- 
ord-O-Vox,  Inc.,  and  its  president,  Samuel 
Solat.  The  decree  also  forbids  the  sale  or  dis- 
posal of  radios,  phonographs  and  materials  and 
parts  usable  in  their  production. 

According  to  the  Department  of  Justice  fur- 
ther action  in  the  case  is  being  considered.  Be- 
cause of  the  "flagrancy"  of  the  violation,  the 
WPB  said,  the  usual  procedure  of  holding  a 
hearing  before  the  Regional  Compliance  Com- 
missioner was  omitted  and  direct  recourse  to 
the  court  was  taken.  Record-O-Vox  had  been 
authorized  to  produce  1,114  radio  sets  from 
January  23  to  May  31,  1942,  a  release  stated, 
but  the  firm  produced  and  sold  in  excess  of 
9,000  sets  above  its  quota.  Materials  in  the 
hands  of  the  company  are  being  investigated  and 
will  be  directed  to  essential  war  production, 
the  WPB  declared. 


Witmark  &  Sons  Sued 

M.  Witmark  &  Sons  last  week  filed  applica- 
tion in  the  New  York  supreme  court  for  an 
order  directing  Buddy  G.  De  Sylva  and  Joseph 
Meyer  to  submit  to  an  examination  before  trial 
in  the  latter's  $50,000  damage  suit  against  the 
music  publishing  concern.  Mr.  De  Sylva  and 
Mr.  Meyer  assert  that  the  defendant  sold  per- 
formance rights  to  their  song  "California,  Here 
I  Come"  to  Twentieth  Century-Fox  Film  Corp. 
for  the  film  "Rose  of  Washington  Square"  for 
the  inadequate  sum  of  $150  after  allegedly  tak- 
ing a  secret  profit  on  the  deal. 


Sues  Over  Radio  Title 

Claiming  exclusive  right  to  use  the  name 
"Star  Spangled  Theatre"  in  radio,  Ted  Lloyd 
last  week  filed  suit  for  an  injunction,  account- 
ing and  damages  against  Standard  Brands,  Inc., 
and  Arthur  Kudner,  Inc.,  in  the  New  York 
supreme  court.  The  defendants  are  charged 
with  unfair  competition  in  the  selection  of  the 
name  "Star  Spangled  Vaudeville"  for  a  weekly 
broadcast  over  the  Red  network  on  Sundays 
between  eight  and  eight  thirty  o'clock. 


o8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


Harrison  Fiske 
Dead  at  81 

Harrison  Grey  Fiske,  famous  theatrical  pro- 
ducer, champion  of  independent  management  of 
stage  enterprises  against  the  theatrical  "trusts" 
of  the  early  part  of  the  century  and  husband  of 
the  noted  actress,  the  late  Mrs.  Minnie  Mad- 
dern  Fiske,  died  of  a  heart  attack  September 
2nd  at  his  home  in  New  York.    He  was  81. 

Mr.  Fiske  also  was  well  known  as  a  manager, 
playwright  and  journalist.  He  had  produced 
more  than  140  plays,  one  of  the  most  notable 
having  been  "Kismet,"  in  which  the  late  Otis 
Skinner  starred  in  New  York  in  1911. 

Mrs.  Fiske,  whom  he  married  in  1889,  died 
in  1932.  Her  husband  was  her  manager  for 
many  years,  directing  her  plays  and  producing 
many  of  them,  including  Ibsen's  "Ghosts."  He 
also  produced  Shakespearean  plays. 

During  the  last  10  years  Mr.  Fiske  had  been 
in  semi-retirement,  although  he  had  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  writing  his  memoirs,  which 
have  not  yet  been  published. 

Mr.  Fiske  was  adjudged  a  bankrupt  in  1914. 
His  liabilities  exceeded  his  assets  by  $16,000. 
A  year  later  he  had  paid  off  his  creditors  and 
started  anew.  Looking  back  over  that  troubled 
period,  Mr.  Fiske  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
war  in  Europe  and  the  rise  of  motion  pictures 
cast  a  pall  over  the  American  theatre,  from 
which  it  never  fully  recovered. 


Ned  Wayburn 

Ned  Wayburn,  the  dance  director,  who  had 
charge  of  many  productions  for  Klaw  and 
Erlanger,  the  Shuberts  and  Florenz  Ziegfeld, 
died  at  his  home  in  New  York,  September  2nd, 
after  an  illness  of  eight  months.    He  was  68. 

Mr.  Wayburn,  who  changed  his  name  from 
Edward  Claudius,  directed  and  staged  more 
than  600  musical  comedies,  plays,  revues,  pan- 
tomines  and  dancing  shows  in  his  41  years  as  a 
stage  executive.  He  was  the  most  prominent 
director  in  the  development  of  the  modern 
American  musical  comedy  with  its  emphasis  on 
color,  dancing  and  tuneful  melody. 

Besides  his  work  on  the  stage,  Mr.  Wayburn 
had  maintained  a  dancing  school  for  37  years, 
emphasizing  a  shift  from  the  old-fashioned 
waltz  of  earlier  musical  shows  to  the  modern 
speed  of  acrobatic  and  tap  dancing. 

At  his  death  he  was  interested  in  television, 
believing  that  it  would  be  the  greatest  enter- 
tainment medium  of  the  future.  He  had  been 
associated  briefly  with  motion  pictures  in  the 
early  days  of  the  screen,  but  returned  from  Hol- 
lywood to  New  York  with  the  conviction  that 
substance  was  greater  than  shadows.  His  best 
known  shows  were  the  "Ziegfeld  Follies.' 


File  Tax  Liens 

Income  tax  liens  against  21  persons  in  Holly- 
wood for  amounts  ranging  from  $488  to  $43,- 
576  were  filed  in  Los  Angeles  this  week.  The 
$43,576  is  demanded  on  the  1941  earnings  of 
Busby  Berkeley.  Others  named:  Basil  Rath- 
bone,  $17,773,  and  his  wife,  $18a008;  Dean  Jag- 
ger  and  his  wife,  $1,886  each ;  Seymour  Felix, 
$1,281  ;  Allan  Jones,  $7,069,  and  his  wife,  Irene 
Hervev,  $8,429  ;  Jeanie  MacPherson,  $1,596; 
John  Meehan,  $2,258;  Eddie  Moran,  $2,279; 
Roger  Pryor,  $2,262;  Wolfgang  Reinhardt, 
$1,926;  Bob  Steele,  $488;  Ralph  H.  Blum,  $5,- 
245;  Carmel  Myers,  $5,245;  Eric  Blore,  $2,- 
655:  Jerry  Cady,  $6,216;  William  Dieterle, 
$15,831,  and  Maria  Ouspenskaya,  $2,763.  Slim 
Somerville  also  was  named  in  liens  for  1936- 
37  demanding  $1,152  and  $1,066,  respectively. 


MGM  Transfers  Morris 

Theodore  Morris,  Metro  -  Goldwyn  -  Mayer 
exploitation  representative  in  Indianapolis,  has 
been  transferred  to  the  company's  Hollywood 
studios. 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  September  7th 
ASTOR 

How  to  Play  Baseball  RKO  Radio 

feature:    The    Pride    of  the 

Yankees  RKO  Radio 

CAPITOL 

America  Sings  Columbia 

Romance  in  Celluloid  MGM 

Feature:  Somewhere  I'll  Find 

You  MGM 

CRITERION 

Women  at  the  Plough  Universal 

Juke  Box  Jamboree  Universal 

Crater  City  Universal 

Feature:  Pardon  My  Sarong  Universal 

PARAMOUNT 

Tulips  Shall  Grow  Paramount 

Quiz  Kids,  No.  4  Paramount 

Feature:  Holiday  Inn    Paramount 

RIALTO 

Stroke  of  Twelve  Vitaphone 

Art  of  Skiing.  .  RKO  Radio 

Feature:  World  at  War   U.S.  Government 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  bland  Paramount 

ROXY 

Blabbermouth  MGM 

All  Out  for  V  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Community  Sing,  No.  I  0 ...  Columbia 
Feature:  Footlight  Serenade     20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Fresh  Hare  Vitaphone 

Spirit  of  Annapolis  Vitaphone 

Blabbermouth  MGM 

Sweeney  Steps  Out  Vitaphone 

Feature:  Across  the  Pacific.  .  Warner  Bros. 

James,  Cowboy 
Writer,  Dies 

Will  James,  writer  of  Westerns  and  painter, 
died  September  3rd  at  Hollywood  Presbyterian 
Hospital.  Author  of  more  than  a  score  of  self- 
illustrated  books  and  uncounted  short  stories 
and  articles,  Mr.  James  had  been  in  ill  health 
for  months,  but  entered  the  hospital  only  a 
week  ago.    He  was  50. 

Born  in  a  covered  wagon,  William  Roderick 
James  was  a  writer  of  Westerns  who  knew  all 
about  the  cow  country  from  personal  experi- 
ence. Mr.  James  went  to  Hollywood  about  a 
year  ago.  He  accepted  a  film  writing  assign- 
ment, but  as  a  friend  described  it,  "he  and  the 
studios  didn't  get  along  very  well,"  and  it  was 
soon  terminated.  His  first  disagreements  were 
over  his  conception  of  the  West  in  comparison 
to  the  Hollywood  version.  He  objected  to 
black-mustached  villains,  cutting-up  in  saloons 
and  singing  troubadours. 

Cruze  Estate  Valued 

The  superior  court  in  Los  Angeles  was  in- 
formed that  the  estate  of  James  Cruze,  direc- 
tor, who  died  August  3rd,  was  valued  at  only 
$1,000,  when  his  will  was  filed  for  probate  by 
his  widow,  Mrs.  Alberta  Beatrice  McCoy 
Cruze. 

Promoted  by  Warners 

Henry  Mulbauer  has  been  promoted  to  ad 
salesman  in  the  Pittsburgh  Warner  exchange, 
succeeding  Robert  Munn,  who  joined  the  Army. 


Radio  Dispute 
Back  in  Court 

The  reopening  of  the  law  courts  for  the  fall 
sessions  heralds  the  renewal  of  the  action  of 
the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System  and  the 
National  Broadcasting  Company  against  the 
Federal  Communications  Commission  to  re- 
strain enforcement  of  the  network  monopoly 
rules.  Although  the  FCC  won  the  first  round 
in  this  suit  from  a  three-judge  statutory  Fed- 
eral court  in  New  York  by  obtaining  a  dismissal 
on  jurisdictional  grounds,  the  U.  S.  supreme 
court  reversed  the  decision  and  sent  it  back 
for  trial. 

The  FCC,  however,  is  now  asking  for  a  de- 
cision on  its  motion  for  dismissal  of  the  suit  on 
the  law.  Briefs  were  filed  by  the  FCC  three 
weeks  ago,  the  networks  are  scheduled  to  file 
their  opposition  briefs  shortly,  and  a  hearing 
has  been  set  for  October  8th  or  9th. 

A  decision  either  way  probably  will  be  ap- 
pealed, but  if  the  motion  finally  is  decided  in 
favor  of  the  networks  a  trial  on  the  merits 
will  follow,  with  probable  appeals  thereafter. 


Raw  Stock  Order  Halts 
Elman  Company 

Henri  Elman,  Chicago  exchange  man  who 
recently  announced  the  proposed  formation  of 
a  new  producing  company  to  be  known  as 
Premier  Pictures,  Inc.,  said  on  his  return  from 
California  last  week,  that  plans  were  being 
withheld  until  more  was  known  about  the  raw 
film  stock  situation. 

If  the  Government  adhered  to  its  ruling  that 
no  film  stock  would  be  issued  to  new  film  com- 
panies this  would  automatically  prevent  forma- 
tion of  Premier  Pictures.  It  was  planned  to 
produce  films  for  distribution  through  state 
rights  exchanges  and  all  finances  were  said  to 
have  been  completed  when  the  Government 
order  on  film  stock  was  issued. 

DeLapp  to  Universal; 
Smith  Joins  MGM 

Terry  DeLapp  has  been  appointed  studio  pub- 
licity director  at  Universal  by  John  Joseph,  na- 
tional director  of  publicity  and  advertising  for 
the  company.  He  succeeds  Lou  Smith.  Mr. 
DeLapp  for  the  last  two  years  headed  his  own  \( 
publicity  advertising  agency.  Prior  to  that  he 
was  studio  publicity  director  for  Paramount.  I 

Mr.  Smith  resigned  from  Universal  to  take  i 
an    executive   position    with    Howard    Dietz,  | 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  director  of  publicity  and 
advertising. 


SPG  News  Wins  Award 

The  SPG  News,  monthly  newspaper  of  the 
Screen  Publicists  Guild  of  New  York,  local 
114,  United  Office  and  Professional  Workers  of 
America  (CIO),  this  week  won  the  award  for 
the  best  local  union  publication,  at  the 
UOPWA's  fourth  constitutional  convention 
in  Albany.  The  paper  was  selected  for  the 
honor  from  among  16  entered  in  a  contest. 


Dunn  Joins  20th-Fox 

James  Dunn,  formerly  at  the  Rivoli  theatre, 
New  York,  has  joined  the  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  publicity  department  as  New  York  news- 
paper contact.  He  was  at  the  Rivoli  10  years, 
five  years  as  house  manager  and  for  the  last 
five  years  as  publicity  director. 


Loew  Dividend  Voted 

The  board  of  directors  of  Loew's,  Inc.,  on 
September  2nd  declared  a  dividend  of  50  cents 
per  share  on  the  common  stock,  payable  Sep- 
tember 30th,  to  stockholders  of  record  on  Sep- 
tember 18th. 


i 


Sept. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


59 


CLASSIEIEL 

ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION   PICTURE   HERALD,   Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


THE4TBES 


WANT  TO  BUY.  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
i  milling-  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   BOX  1555- A.  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1556-A  MOTIOX  PICTURE  HERALD. 


THEATRES  WAX  TED.  WESTERN  PENNSYL- 
rania  or  Eastern  Ohio,  buy  or  lease.  Independent 
Eih:::t:r.    BOX  15:-.  MOTIOX  PICTURE  HERALD. 


HELP  »4NTEB 


SALESMEN"  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  S73  to  $100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
BOX  1506.  MOTIOX  PICTURE  HERALD. 


THEATRE  MAXAGER  BETWEEX  AGES  OF  21 
and  35,  preferably  single,  draft  deferred  status,  if  pos- 
sible, to  manage  theatre  in  -vicinity  of  Washington, 
D.  C.  Good  opportunity.  Reply  at  once  stating  age, 
qualifications,  experience,  references,  salary  expected, 
and  date  can  start.  Address  reply  to  SIDNEY  LUST, 
1  Thomas  Circle.  X.W..  Washington,  D.  C 


BOOKKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MAXAGEMEXT  RECORD  AND  TAX 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  finest 
book  of  its  kind  erer  made  available  to  an  exhibitor. 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  it  is 
simple — so  much,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an  ac- 
curate, complete  and  up- to- minute  record  of  the 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  price  is 
ocry  S2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rocke- 
feller Center.  New  York. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP  - 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


FAMOUS  SIMPLEX  SP  SOUND  PROJECTORS, 
including  amplifier,  loudspeaker,  cables,  ready  for  im- 
mediate showing.  $393.00.  R.C.A.  Photophone.  DeVry, 
Holmes,  Weber  Syncrofilm  Sound  Projectors,  from 
5139.30.  Send  for  bulletin.  S-OlS.  CINEMA  SUPPLY 
CORPORATION,  New  York. 


ADVANCE  POPCORN  MACHINE.  PROGRESS 
Model.  good  as  new.  $73-00  cash.  LUCY  B. 
CRUTCHER.   Nicholasville,  Kentuckv. 


SALE:  ONE  PAIR  POWERS  6-B.  FATR  COXDI- 
tion.  Argus  sound  heads,  less  motors.  STAR 
THEATRE.  Bluffton.  Ohio. 


WANTED:  THEATRE  ORGAN  CONSOLE  WUR- 
litzer  or  similar.  Give  description,  price,  in  first  letter. 
M.  MAYNARD.  11  Kramer  Avenue,  Caldwell,  N.  T. 


NEW  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


EARLY  FALL  EDITION  ANNIVERSARY  SALE 
bulletin  ready.  Ask  for  yours!  Typical  values,  spot- 
light carbons.  80%  discount;  Underwriters  Fire  Ex- 
tinguishers, $11.25;  Exciter  lamps,  32c  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 


BOOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING — 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its  ar- 
rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs. 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  the 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  $6.50  postpaid 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  COXDiriOXTNG. 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
able for  theatre  owners  contemplating  engineering 
changes.  Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  charts 
and  covers  every  branch  cf  the  industry  as  well  as 
codes  and  ordinances  regulating  installation.  Order 
now  at  $4.00  a  copy  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


READY  SOON,  NEW  1942-43  MOTIOX  PICTURE 
ALMANAC.  Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.  The  indus- 
try's most  complete  "Who's  Who."  More  than  11,000 
biographies  and  over  1,100  pages,  chock  full  of  refer- 
ence information.  Everyone  in  the  motion  picture 
industry  should  have  a  copy.  Be  sure  to  send  in  your 
reservation  today.  $3.25  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP, Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


A  HANDY  TOOL  IN  THE  BOOTH,  SOUND 
trouble  shooting  charts  S1.00,  postpaid.  QUIGLEY 
BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


BUSINESS  BOOSTEBS 


BINGO  CARDS.  DDE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75. 
S2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  care 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

TRKSS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BBTEX.  IXC. 
XEW  YORK.   F.   S.  A. 


60 


Pennsylvania 
Parks  Slump 

Business  in  Pennsylvania  amusement  parks 
this  season  has  been  considerably  under  last 
year,  excepting  isolated  instances  such  as  Wil- 
low Grove  and  Woodside  in  Philadelphia,  ac- 
cording to  the  consensus  of  operators  at  the 
annual  summer  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Amusement  Parks  Association,  held  August 
19th  and  20th  at  the  Hotel  Schenley  and  Keny- 
wood  Park  in  Pittsburgh. 

Gasoline  rationing  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Pennsylvania,  tire  shortages  everywhere,  the 
ban  on  chartered  buses  and  trains,  departure 
from  civilian  life  of  thousands  of  men  now  with 
the  armed  forces,  and  unfavorable  weather  dur- 
ing much  of  the  summer,  combined  to  cause 
decreased  attendance  and  grosses  at  one  of 
warm  weather's  big  theatre  competitors. 

Swimming  pools  have  been  well  patronized 
due  to  the  cut  in  normal  vacations,  created  by 
transportation  problems.  Ballrooms  have 
dropped  in  attendance  due  to  so  many  younger 
men  being  in  military  service.  Rides,  conces- 
sions and  other  attractions  have  dropped  in 
most  sites,  parallel  with  the  over-all  decline. 

Family  trade,  especially  on  Sunday,  because 
of  men  working  longer  hours  on  week  days, 
has  picked  up  in  many  parks.  The  gain  has 
failed  to  offset  the  loss  of  many  chartered  out- 
ings that  were  the  nucleus  of  usual  seasons, 
however.  Service  men  customers  of  the  parks 
have  been  above  the  average  in  orderliness  and 
neatness,  it  was  said.  The  general  practice  is 
to  allow  service  men  in  uniform  half  price  ad- 
mission to  rides,  pools  and  ballrooms.  Busi- 
ness has  been  concentrated  in  the  evening  more 
than  in  previous  years,  the  operators  have  re- 
ported. 

Inland  parks  removed  from  cities  have  been 
hardest  hit,  because  of  the  transportation  prob- 
lems. Philadelphia  parks  have  been  exceptions 
because  many  of  the  eastern  Pennsylvania  peo- 
ple who  ordinarily  travel  to  New  Jersey  coastal 
resorts  have  stayed  closer  to  home.  Service 
men  stationed  around  the  state's  biggest  city 
and  transients  also  have  helped. 

KRS  Fails  to  Agree 
On  Sunday  Bookings 

A  long  discussion  of  the  Sunday  bookings 
situation  last  week  by  the  Kinematograph  Rent- 
ers Society  in  London  failed  to  develop  a  formal 
policy  despite  recent  talks  with  the  circuits.  It 
resulted,  however,  in  decisions  of  some  indi- 
vidual distributors  that  there  will  be  no  further 
Sunday  bookings. 

Discontent  at  the  circuit  associations  of  cer- 
tain KRS  members  and  the  failure  of  the  Soci- 
ety to  formalize  a  policy  was  apparent  at  the 
meeting.  It  was  reported  that  no  conclusion  had 
been  arrived  at  in  the  recent  talks  with  J. 
Arthur  Rank  and  associates. 

Nevertheless,  three  major  distributors  indi- 
vidually said  that  there  would  be  no  more  Sun- 
day bookings  and  two  others  tentatively  prom- 
ised support  where  possible. 


Chance  Games  Net  $152,701 

Chance  games  licensed  in  Cincinnati  during 
July  grossed  $201,261,  compared  with  $199,903 
in  June,  according  to  a  report  submitted  to  City 
Manager  C.  O.  Sherrill  and  based  on  sponsors' 
figures.  There  were  225  games  last  month  with 
total  attendance  of  273,974 ;  prizes  amounted  to 
$46,580,  leaving  a  net  of  $152,701. 


Himmelein  Back  with  Paramount 

John  Himmelein,  recently  a  theatre  manager 
for  the  Gordon  circuit,  Cleveland,  has  joined 
Paramount's  sales  force  in  that  city.  He  had 
been  its  manager  there  before  joining  the  Gor- 
don enterprises. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  104.  Vol.  24.— Roosevelt 
answers  Jap  taunts  at  dedication  of  Naval  Medical 
Center.  .  .  .  Malta  convoy  gets  through.  .  .  .  Launch- 
ing ot  Iowa.  .  .  .  Kaiser  speeds  "bridge  of  ships", 
.  .  .  Bondmobile.  .  .  .  Army  relief  game  in  Los  An- 
geles. .  .  .  Training  commando  style  at  Villanova. 
.  .  .  Doggy  patriots  join  Army. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  1,  Vol.  25.— President  talks 
to  American  boys  fighting  overseas.  .  .  .  Convoy 
battle  in  the  Mediterranean.  .  .  .  Making  Bofors 
guns.  .  .  .  Testing  giant  air  bombs.  .  .  .  Hedy  La- 
marr  spurs  Bond  drive.  .  .  .  Tyrone  Power  joins 
Marines.  .  .  .  Tennis.  .  .  .  The  capture  of  the 
Solomons. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  302,  Vol.  13.— Convoy 
arrives  at  Malta.  .  .  .  President  tells  enemies  Navy 
victories  "just  a  starter."  .  .  .  Kaiser  does  it  again. 
•  .  .  Iowa  launched.  .  .  .  Canine  corps  drafted.  .  .  . 
Bondmobile  pushed  in  New  York.  .  .  .  Rangers  train 
in  England.  .  .  .  Villanova  trains  team  commando 
style. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  303,  Vol.  13.— Marines  in 
Solomons.  .  .  .  Battle  of  Malta  convoy.  .  .  .  Air 
Corps  tests  block  busters.  .  .  .  Hedy  Lamarr  spurs 
War  Bond  sale.  .  .  .  Roosevelt  speaks.  .  .  .  U.  S. 
troops  around  world.  .  .  .  Tennis.  .  .  .  Notre  Dame 
gridders  report. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  3.— Message  from  work- 
ers. .  .  .  Launch  Iotva.  .  .  .  Kaiser  sets  cargo  ship 
record.  .  .  .  Navy  gets  new  hospital.  .  .  .  Film  Bond 
drive  gets  big  push.  .  .  .  Dogs  join  WAGS.  .  .  . 
Rangers  training.  .  .  .  American  girl  tells  of  Jap- 
anese internment. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  4.— More  Mosquito  boats. 
.  .  .  FDR  calls  labor  chiefs.  .  .  .  Air  Force  symbol. 
.  .  .  Army  mails  first  checks.  .  .  .  FDR  speaks  to 
youth  of  world.  .  .  .  Meat  rationing.  .  .  .  Sky  guns 
in  peak  output.  .  .  .  Two-man  plant  wins  honors. 
.  .  .  English  sailors  retreat  on  Hudson.  .  .  .  AEF 
gets  service  club. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  3,  Vol.  14.— President 
answers  question:  "Where  Is  Navy?"  .  .  .  Battleship 
Iowa  launched.  .  .  .  Kaiser  launches  24-day  ship. 
.  .  .  Trujillo  now  Dominican  President.  .  .  .  Bonds 
send  Axis  heads.  .  .  .  WAVES  train  at  Smith  Col- 
lege. .  .  .  WAGS  train  at  Fort  Royal.  .  .  .  Football. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  4,  Vol.  14.— Marines  in 
Solomons.  .  .  .  FDR  addresses  world  youth.  .  .  . 
Churchill  returns  from  Russia.  .  .  .  Malta  convoy 
heavily  bombed.  .  .  .  Hedy  Lamarr  sells  War 
Bonds.  .  .  .  Sky  guns  made  in  rubber  plant.  .  .  . 
WPB  displeased  by  "Zoot  suits." 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  116,  Vol.  15.— Malta 
convoy  attacked.  .  .  .  FDR  dedicates  Navy  hos- 
pital. .  .  .  Football.  .  .  .  Rangers  in  training.  .  .  . 
Iowa  launched.  .  .  .  Canines  join  the  WAGS.  .  .  . 
Film  Bond  rallies  top  quota. 

UNIVERSAL     NEWSREEL— No.     117,     Vol.  15.— 

Marines  take  Solomons.  .  .  .  Army  tests  one-ton 
bombs.  .  .  .  Churchill  arrives  home.  .  .  .  Making 
Bofors  guns.  .  .  .  Bulkeley  helps  launch  PT-boats. 
.  .  .  Stunting.  .  .  .  FDR  speaks  to  service  men. 
Girls  paint  war  slogans  on  legs. 


PRC  Is  Moving  to 
Talisman  Studios 

Producers  Releasing  Corporation  will  move 
its  Hollywood  headquarters  to  the  Talisman 
Studios  from  1440  N.  Gower  Street,  September 
15th.  The  company  will  continue  to  use  its 
studio  at  1440  N.  Gower  Street,  the  move  to 
Talisman  being  dictated  by  need  for  more  space, 
it  is  said. 


Fair  Ground  to  Army 

The  U.  S.  Government  has  leased  the  Reading- 
Fairground,  comprising  76  acres  at  Reading,  Pa. 
It  will  be  taken  over  on  October  1st,  10  days 
after  the  close  of  the  28th  annual  Reading  Fair, 
which  opens  on  September  13th  for  eight  days. 
The  leasing  of  the  fair  grounds,  which  will  be 
used,  it  is  said,  as  a  remounting  station  by  the 
Army,  will  in  no  way  interfere  with  this  year's 
exposition,  which  will  be  the  last  one  for  the 
duration. 


Thompson  to  Fox  West  Coast 

Edward  Thompson,  author  of  the  novel, 
"Listen  for  the  Laughter,"  and  New  York 
Daily  News  writer,  has  been  appointed  assistant 
to  Seymour  Peiser,  head  of  the  Fox  West 
Coast  Theatres  publicity  department. 


September     12,  1942 


Altec  Lists  New 
Service  Deals 

Exhibitors  are  becoming  increasingly  con- 
cerned with  the  necessity  of  conserving  war  ma- 
terials, L.  W.  Conrow,  president  of  Altec  Ser- 
vice Corporation,  said  this  week,  in  announcing 
new  service  and  replacement  agreements. 

Sound  service  and  projection  room  replace- 
ment parts  agreements  have  been  signed  with 
the  following  theatres : 

Madison  theatre,  Madisonville,  La. ;  State 
and  Palace,  Thomasville,  N.  C. ;  Gordon,  West- 
wego,  La.;  Carolina  and  Orpheum,  Oxford, 
N.  C. ;  Royce,  Royston,  Ga. ;  Farini,  Scranton, 
Pa.;  Strand,  Fayetteville,  N.  C. ;  Park,  Woon- 
socket,  R.  I. ;  Lake,  Lake  George,  N.  Y. ;  Opera 
House,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.;  Laurel  and 
Lido,  Long  Beach,  L.  I. 

Capitol,  Bend,  Ore.;  Rio,  San  Leandro,  Cal. ; 
Empire,  Los  Angeles;  Studio,  Richmond,  Cal.; 
Grand,  Bremerton,  Wash. ;  Princess,  Prosser, 
Wash.;  Victory,  Pueblo,  Colo.;  Dresden,  Se- 
quim,  Wash. ;  Roxy,  Shelby,  Mont. ;  American, 
Los  Angeles,  and  Seville,  Inglewood,  Cal. 

New  Keyser,  Keyser,  W.  Va. ;  Lincoln,  Ham- 
lin, W.  Va. ;  State,  Big  Springs,  Tex.;  La 
Rita,  Dalhart,  Tex. ;  Overton,  Overton,  Tex. ; 
Cadet,  Claremore,  Okla. ;  Belvedere  and  Evans- 
ton,  Cincinnati,  O. ;  Satte  and  American,  East 
Lierpool,  O. ;  Ritz,  Kansas  City,  Mo. ;  Rex, 
Sinton,  Tex.;  Orpheum,  Pipestone,  Minn.; 
Oak,  Manistique,  Mich. ;  Omro,  Omro,  Wis. ; 
Strand,  Stuttgart,  Ark.;  Star,  West  Point, 
Miss. ;  Dublin,  Dublin,  Va. 

Hastings,  Hastings-on-Hudson,  N.  Y. ; 
Globe,  Holyoke,  Mass. ;  Parkway,  Mt.  Vernon, 
N.  Y. ;  American  Movies,  New  York,  N.  Y. ; 
Lyric,  Riverside,  R.  I. ;  Rustic,  Sacandaga 
Park,  N.  Y. ;  Storm  King,  Cornwall,  N.  Y. ; 
Webster,  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  Strand,  Seymour, 
Conn. ;  Victory,  New  York  City. 


Emanuel  Silverstone 
Handling  "Outlaw" 

Emanuel  Silverstone,  formerly  general  sales 
manager  for  Alexander  Korda,  has  been  named 
sales  representative  for  the  road-showing  of 
Howard  Hughes  picture  "The  Outlaw,"  it  was 
announced  this  week  by  Russell  Birdwell,  per- 
sonal representative  for  Mr.  Hughes.  Mr.  Sil- 
verstone will  make  his  headquarters  in  the 
Birdwell  offices  in  New  York.  He  plans  to 
leave  soon  on  a  tour  of  midwest  cities  before 
setting  the  first  engagements  for  the  picture. 

Mr.  Silverstone  entered  the  industry  in  1931 
in  the  sales  department  of  the  Samuel  Goldwyn 
New  York  office,  after  having  been  associated 
with  J.  and  W.  Seligman  and  Company,  Wall 
Street  brokers.  He  later  joined  United  Artists 
and  was  branch  manager  for  the  company  at 
Panama.  He  subsequently  became  associated 
with  Mr.  Korda  and  in  1938  was  elected  to  the 
United  Artists  board.  In  1940,  he  was  elected 
vice-president  and  a  director  of  Alexander 
Korda  Films. 


Two  Theatres  To  Open 

Despite  priorities  on  building  materials,  two 
new  theatres  are  expected  to  open  soon  in  the 
San  Francisco  area.  At  Richmond,  site  of  two 
of  the  Henry  J.  Kaiser  shipyards,  Robert  Lip- 
pert,  who  recently  opened  the  Studio,  is  remod- 
elling a  store  building  for  another  house.  The 
Lark  at  Larkspur  is  being  dismantled  and  moved 
to  Sausalito,  where  another  shipyard  is  now 
under  construction. 


Writes  Foreword  to  Book 

Oveta  Culp  Hobby,  director  of  the  Women's 
Army  Auxiliary  Corps,  has  written  the  fore- 
word to  Russell  Birdwell's  "Women  in  Battle 
Dress,"  to  be  published  by  the  Fine  Editions 
Press  iate  in  September. 


September    12,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


[THE  ELEASE  CHART 
SHOWMEN'S  REVIEWS. 


Reviews 

This  department  deals  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


For  Me  and  My  Cal 

(Metro-Goldwyn-M  ayer) 
Vaudeville  in  World  War  I 

It's  a  big  show  thai  MGM  has  put  together 
around  the  voice  and  charm  of  Jud5'  Garland — 
big  and  varied  enough  to  have  dwarfed  the 
talents  of  a  lesser  artist — but  the  young  lady 
who  was  twice  voted  among  the  top  ten  box- 
office  stars  in  the  annual  Herald-Fowj^  poll 
carries  it  in  grand  style. 

Not  that  "Tor  Me  and  My  Gal"  is  a  one- 
girl  film.  It  is  not  restricted  even  to  one  theme 
or  one  plot.  But  as  a  combination  of  life  in 
vaudeville's  hey-day,  wartime  drama  and 
dogged  romance  it  adds  up  to  excellent  enter- 
tainment, nostalgic  but  not  without  pertinence 
today. 

The  background  is  show  business  in  the  years 
1916-1919,  with  the  war  which  marked  those 
years  insinuating  itself  into  the  lives  of  the 
hopeful  transients  whose  heaven  was  a  week 
at  the  Palace.  The  characters  are  principally 
a  girl,  a  man  who  loves  her  and  the  man  she 
loves.  The  course  of  romance  can  be  traced 
in  the  succession  of  familiar  but  welcome 
melodies  of  another  day,  sung  by  the  prin- 
cipals, solo  and  duet :  "Oh,  You  Beautiful 
Doll,"  "For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  "After  You've 
Gone,"  "Til  We  Meet  Again,"  "How're  You 
Gonna  Keep  'em  Down  on  the  Farm,"  "When 
Johnny  Comes  Marching  Home"  and  once 
again  the  title  song  for  the  fadeout.  But  this  is 
not  just  a  musical  love  story.  The  film  ap- 
proaches genuine  dramatic  conflict  as  a  man 
who  had  sought  to  insure  his  personal  goal 
finds  himself  excluded  from  a  bigger  battle  and 
labeled  a  coward  by  the  girl  who  loved  him. 

With  the  shift  of  scene  from  Broadway  to 
Paris,  where  war  is  a  series  of  montage  shots 
between  confetti- strewn  arrivals  and  hectic 
furloughs,  the  semblance  of  reality  is  lost.  But 
even  here  Judy  Garland  remains  entirely  be- 
lievable as  the  darling  of  the  A.E.F. 

Gene  KehV,  as  the  ambitious  hoofer  who 
achieves  maturity  with  the  collapse  of  his  self- 
centered  world,  turns  in  a  moving  performance. 
George  Murphy,  too,  rises  above  the  stock 
character  of  the  faithful  friend  by  fine  acting 
and  superb  dancing.  The  supporting  cast,  of 
which  Ben  Blue,  Marta  Eggerth  and  Kennan 
Wynn  deserve  special  mention,  is  completely 
satisfactory- 
It  is,  however,  as  a  salute  to  vaudeville  that 
'Tor  Me  and  My  Gal"  will  be  warmly  re- 
membered. For  Busby  Berkeley,  the  director, 
has  managed  to  recapture  some  of  the  unique 
charm  of  that  almost  legendary  profession.  He 
rarely  patronizes  or  sentimentalizes ;  yet  he  does 
not  miss  the  subtle  humor  of  its  time-honored 
conventions.  Arthur  Freed,  who  produced  it, 
deserves  congratulations  for  a  sincere  approach 
to  what  might  easily  have  degenerated  into 
slapstick.   It  was  entertainment  then  and  still 


is,  as  millions  of  customers  in  these  days  of 
World  War  II  will  attest. 

Previewed  at  the  home  office  projection 
room.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. — E.  A. 
Cunningham. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running-  time.  104  min.  PCA 
No.  8464.    General  audience  classification. 

To  Hayden  Judy  Garland 

Harry  Palmer  Gene  Kelly 

Jimmy    Metcalfe  George  Murphy 

Ben  Blue.  Marta  Eggerth,  Lucille  Norman.  Keenan 
Wynn,  Horace  McNally.  Richard  Quine. 

Sherlock  Holmes  and  the 
Voice  of  Terror 

(Universal) 
Sherlock  Holmes,  1942 

Howard  Benedict,  producer,  John  Rawlins, 
director,  and  their  screen  writers  have  accom- 
plished deftly  the  transplantation  of  Sir  Arthur 
Conan  Doyle's  characters,  "Sherlock  Holmes," 
and  "Dr.  Watson,"  from  their  bindings  to  the 
present  day  of  the  war  between  the  United 
Nations  and  the  Axis.  In  "Sherlock  Holmes 
and  the  Voice  of  Terror,"  first  of  three  mod- 
ernized versions  of  the  Doyle  subjects,  Uni- 
versal has  prepared  for  its  1942-43  season,  the 
famous  detective  without  his  customary  garb 
is  called  upon  to  solve  the  mystery  of  a  mysteri- 
ous broadcast  from  Germany  which  tells  of 
sabotage  attempts  almost  as  they  are  happen- 
ing. By  a  series  of  deductions  for  which  he 
is  famous — and  also  by  some  physical  action, 
the  detective  solves  the  riddle  and  prevents  an 
invasion  of  England  by  the  Nazis. 

Basil  Rathbone  and  Nigel  Bruce  appear  in 
their  respective  roles  of  "Holmes"  and  'Wat- 
son," this,  however,  being  their  first  such  ven- 
ture for  Universal.  They  are  supported  ably 
by  Evelyn  Ankers,  who  does  well  with  her 
role  of  a  Limehouse  girl  who  aids  in  rounding 
up  the  Nazis  in  England ;  Reginald  Denny, 
Thomas  Gomez,  Montagu  Love,  Henry  Daniell, 
Olaf  Hytten  and  Leyland  Hodgson. 

Veteran  Doyle  fans  will  find  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  period  enjosrable;  addicts  of  melo- 
drama will  find  it  more  than  adequate. 

Lynn  Riggs  and  John  Bright,  who  wrote 


the  screenplay,  and  Robert  D.  Andrews,  who 
did  the  adaptation  of  "His  Last  Bow,"  a  Doyle 
story,  leavened  the  conversation  neatly  with 
humor  and  action. 

Previewed  at  the  Universal  studio  projec- 
tion room.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — Vance 
King. 

Release  date.  September  18.  1942.  Running  time. 
65  min.    PCA  No.  8457.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Sherlock  Holmes  Basil  Rathbone 

Doctor   Watson  Nigel  Bruce 

Kitty  Evelyn  Ankers 

Reginald  Denny,  Thomas  Gomez,  Montagu  Love. 
Henry  Daniell.   Olaf  Hytten,   Leyland  Hodgson. 


Sunset  Serenade 

(Republic) 
Western  Musical 

Following  in  the  tradition  of  its  "stream- 
lined" Westerns,  Republic  offers  another  smooth 
saga  in  "Sunset  Serenade"  for  the  legion  of 
film-goers  who  like  the  wide-open  spaces  on 
the  screen.  This  one  stars  Roy  Rogers,  third 
on  the  1941  Herald-Fowi*  poll  of  western 
stars,  and  George  "Gabby"  Hayes.  It  features 
such  well-known  players  as  Helen  Parrish, 
Onslow  Stevens  and  Joan  Woodbury. 

Under  the  direction  of  Joseph  Kane,  asso- 
ciate producer,  the  picture  is  fast-paced  and 
pulls  no  punches  in  the  hard-hitting  scenes  of 
the  hero  grappling  with  the  villain.  The 
photography  is  good  and  the  musical  interludes, 
directed  by  Morton  Scott,  are  adroitly  woven 
into  the  plot,  with  no  time  out  for  lagging 
action.  For  those  who  like  their  melodramas 
served  up  with  well-delivered  tunes,  there  are 
six  biting  saddle  ballads  sung  by  Rogers  and 
Bob  Nolan  and  the  Sons  of  the  Pioneers.  They 
are :  "Song  of  San  Joaquin,"  "Mavourneen 
O'Shea,"  and  "I  Am  a  Cowboy  Rockefeller"  by 
Jim  Spencer;  "Home  Corral,"  "Sandman 
Lullaby,"  and  "He's  a  No  Good  Son  of  a  Gun" 
by  Bob  Nolan. 

Rogers  plays  the  part  of  a  ranch  hand  who, 
with  cowpunching  pals,  rescues  Helen  Parrish, 
a  personable  ingenue,  from  the  machinations  of" 
Onslow  Stevens  and  his  friend,  Joan  Wood- 
bury. Helen  is  guardian  to  an  infant  who  falls 
heir  to  the  ranch.  Stevens  tries  to  steal  the 
property,  but  Roy  and  his  colleagues  fail  him  at 
every  turn. 

The  plot  is  inconsequential,  but  the  western 
adherents  won't  mind  a  bit.  There  is  plenty  of 
action  and  good  entertainment  contained  in  this 
Rogers  vehicle. 

Previewed  before  a  trade  press  audience  at 
Republic's  home  office  projection  room.  Re- 
viewer's  Rating:  Good. — J.  E.  Sahuelson. 

Release  date,  September  14.  1942.  Running  time.  58 
min.   PCA  No.  15S.    General  audience  classification. 

Ray   Roy  Rogers 

"Gabby"   ''Gabby"  Hayes 

Helen  Parrish,  Bob  Nolan  and  the  Sons  of  the 
Pioneers.  Joan  Woodbury,  Onslow  Stevens. 


Product  Digest  Section  897 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


Eyes  in  the  Night 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  ) 
Spy  Melodrama 

Here  is  another  melodrama  that  has  espion- 
age for  its  theme.  Axis  agents  in  the  guise  of 
a  butler,  a  feminine  stage  director,  who  is  the 
head  of  the  spy  ring ;  a  ladies  maid,  an  actor 
and  sundry  other  characters  attach  themselves 
to  the  household  and  family  of  an  inventor 
who  has  perfected  a  new  war  device.  Their 
carefully  laid  scheme  for  obtaining  posession  of 
the  plans  is  thwarted  by  a  blind  detective  and 
his  "seeing  eye"  dog. 

The  blind  detective  is  played  by  Edward 
Arnold  and  the  accomplished  canine  is  named 
"Friday."  The  inventor  is  Reginald  Denny,  his 
wife,  Ann  Harding,  and  his  daughter  by  an- 
other marriage,  Donna  Reed.  The  two  prinGi- 
pal  espionage  agents  are  played  by  Katherine 
Emery,  as  the  stage  director,  and  Stanley  C. 
Ridges,  as  the  butler. 

The  spy  ring  gets  its  first  setback  when 
one  of  their  number,  an  actor,  John  Emery, 
becomes  enamoured  of  the  daughter,  Miss  Reed. 
The  actor  is  promptly  "rubbed  out."  The 
daughter  accuses  her  stepmother  of  the  murder, 
and  she  seeks  advice  from  the  blind  detective. 
While  tracking  down  the  murder  clues,  the 
detective  comes  abreast  of  the  spy  ring  and  the 
battle  of  wits  begins.  The  denouement  occurs 
in  the  home  of  the  family  with  the  detective 
stalling  the  agents  while  "Friday"'  sets  out 
for  aid. 

It  was  produced  by  Jack  Chertok  and  direct- 
ed by  Fred  Zinnemann. 

Previewed  at  the  company  New  York  ex- 
change projection  room.  Reviewer's  Rating : 
Fair. — Paul  C.  Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  79  min.  Gen- 
eral audience  classification. 

Duncan  MacLain   Edward  Arnold 

Norma  Lawry   Ann  Harding 

Barbara  Lawry   Donna  Reed 

Horace  McNally,  Allen  Jenkins,  Stanley  C.  Ridges. 

Find,  Fix  and  Strike 

(Ealing  Studios— A. B.F.D.) 
War  Documentary 

A  straightforward  factual  documentary,  this 
epitomises  the  training  and  work  of  the  Fleet 
Air  Arm,  the  flying  sailors  who  find  the  enemy, 
and  fix  him,  when  the  Navy  sets  out  to  strike. 
The  picture  with  its  realist  subject  matter, 
spotlighting  vividly  a  section  of  the  war  about 
which  the  public  is  constantly  curious,  and  with 
its  excellently  photographed  and  inspiring  fly- 
ing sequences,  looks  like  a  completely  safe 
proposition  for  the  wartime  screen,  in  England 
at  any  rate. 

Its  painfully  Oxford  accents — from  both  the 
commentator  and  the  characters — are  likely  to 
irritate  American  audiences,  but  if  they  can 
stomach  this  they  will  find  the  film's  pictorial 
qualities  and  its  sense  of  gusto  and  action  of 
considerable  appeal. 

The  film  traces  the  training  of  a  pilot  in  the 
Fleet  Air  Arm,  takes  the  commissioned  pilot 
right  on  to  the  aircraft  carrier  and  sets  him 
forth  on  the  track  of  the  enemy.  Its  conclu- 
sion is  abrupt,  and  when  interest  is  highest, 
the  story  ends  without  any  but  a  distant  glimpse 
of  the  enemy. 

But  the  aerial  passages,  with  some  rousing 
photography  of  naval  planes,  the  training  in 
landing  on  the  carrier,  and  the  routine  aboard 
the  craft  itself,  keeps  the  interest  high  through- 
out. None  but  F.  A.  A.  officers  and  men  ap- 
pear in  the  film;  the  locations  are  authentic 
and  the  camera-work  and  cutting  are  of  the 
highest  quality. 

Trade  shown  to  a  mixed  audience,  the  film 
obviously  held  interest  throughout  even  with 
the  older  generation,  with  exhibitor  opinion 
leaning  towards  the  conviction  that  it  was  nci 
only  good  propaganda  and  even  better  recruit- 
ing ballyhoo  but  good  honest  interest  matter  as 
well.  Reviewer's  Rating  :  Excellent. — Aubrey 
Flanagan. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time.  37  min.  Gen- 
eral audience  classification. 


Reviews  received  too  late  for 
this  Section  are  printed  in  the 
regular  news  pages  of  the 
Herald  and  are  reprinted  the 
following  week  in  Product 
Digest  for  their  reference  value. 


Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas 

(Universal) 
Western 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  and  Tex  Ritter  share 
starring  honors  in  this  typical  Western,  set  in 
the  Texas  of  the  days  immediately  following 
the  Civil  War,  and  involving  the  abortive  at- 
tempt of  a  self-styled  dictator  to  set  up  a 
"private  republic"  in  the  Rio  Grande  country. 

The  dictator  happens  to  be  the  father  of 
Brown,  and  the  latter  succeeds  in  making  his 
father  see  the  light,  with  the  help  of  Ritter  and 
Fuzzy  Knight,  his  partner.  William  Farnum 
plays  the  would-be-dictator,  and  Jennifer  Holt 
provides  the  romantic  interest. 

The  title  of  the  film  obviously  has  been  util- 
ized chiefly  to  capitalize  on  the  current  popu- 
larity of  the  song,  "Deep  in  the  Heart  of 
Texas."  The  piece  offers  a  substantial  portion 
of  action,  inclusive  of  gun  battles  and  fist 
fights,  and  should  be  quite  satisfactory  to  the 
large  numbers  of  patrons  who  like  their  screen 
action  fast.  Ritter  sings  "The  Cowboys  La- 
ment" and  the  Jimmy  Wakely  Trio  contribute. 

Elmer  Clifton  directed  for  Oliver  Drake, 
associate  producer. 

Seen  in  the  Universal  home  office  projection 
room.  Reviezver's  Rating :  Fair. — Charles  S. 
Aaronson. 

Release  date,  September  25,  1942.  Running  time,  -62 
min.    PCA  No.  8617.    General  audience  classification. 

Jim  Mallory   Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Brent   Tex  Ritter 

Happy   Fuzzy  Knight 

Nan  Taylor   Jennifer  Holt 

William  Farnum,  Kenneth  Harlan,  Earle  Hodgins, 
Harry  Woods,  Pat  O'Malley,  Jimmy  Wakely  Trio. 


City  of  Silent  Men 

(Producers  Releasing) 

Melodrama 

Rehabilitation  of  ex-convicts  through  the 
co-operation  of  a  cannery  forms  the  back- 
ground of  "City  of  Silent  Men,"  a  good  melo- 
drama produced  by  Dixon  R.  Harwin  and  his 
associate,  Bartlett  Carre,  for  Producers  Releas- 
ing Corp.  Given  a  cannery  by  the  mayor  of 
a  small  town  who  goes  against  the  opposition 
of  a  newspaper  publisher  and  other  townsfolk, 
the  convicts  face  mob  violence  when  a  girl  is 
found  murdered  near  the  plant.  However,  to 
clear  themselves,  the  felons  use  third  degree 
methods  on  one  of  their  members  to  obtain  a 
confession. 

Frank  Albertson,  Emmett  Lynn,  William 
Gould,  June  Lang,  Jan  Wiley,  Richard  Clarke, 
Dick  Curtis,  Barton  Hepburn,  Frank  Jacquet 
head  the  cast. 

The  story  is  paced  in  a  somber  mood  by 
William  Nigh,  director,  who  builds  to  a  strong 
climax.  Joseph  Hoffman  wrote  the  script  from 
an  original  by  himself  and  Robert  E.  Kent. 
Added  exploitation  campaigns  are  justified  by 
the  picture. 

Previewed  at  the  RCA  projection  room,  Hol- 
lywood. Reviewer" s  Rating  :  Good — V.  K. 

Release  date,  November  9,  1942.  Running  time,  64 
min.    PCA  No.  8534.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Frank  Albertson,  June  Lang,  Jan  Wiley,  Richard 
Clarke,  William  Gould,  Emmett  Lynn,  Dick  Curtis, 
Barton  Hepburn,  Frank  Jacquet,  Frank  Ferguson, 
Richard  Bailey.  Jack  Bailey,  William  Kellogg,  Charles 
Jordon,  Pat  Gleason. 


THE  ROAD  TO  TOKYO  (UA) 

World  in  Action 

The  strategic  position  of  Canada  in  the  Paci- 
fic War  is  surveyed  in  this  product  of  her 
National  Film  Board.  The  training  of  special 
task  forces  out  of  Canada's  relatively  small 
man-power  supply,  is  shown  as  part  of  the 
basic  Pacific  plan  of  action — to  secure  the 
coastal  defenses  and  to  equip  a  force  to  strike 
into  enemy  territory.  In  this  sense,  the  Alaska 
Highway  has  become  a  "road  to  Tokyo,"  clear- 
ing a  path  for  supplies  from  the  industries  of 
America  to  reach  Russia  and  China  over  the 
Northern  Seas. 

The  treatment  of  the  subject  and  the  com- 
mentary of  Stuart  Legg  are  marked  with 
dramatic  vitality  and  a  pleasing  lack  of 
solemnity. — E.  A.  C. 

20  minutes 


INSIDE  FIGHTING  CHINA  (UA) 

World  in  Action 

The  Canadian  National  Film  Board's  release 
on  China  in  the  war  is  the  story  of  the  rise  of 
a  new  nation  from  the  land  of  the  oldest  civili- 
zation in  the  world.  It  is  the  story,  also,  of 
the  aggressor  whose  ruthless  execution  of  long- 
cherished  plans  made  the  transformation  pos- 
sible. The  subject  is  a  picturesque  and  inspir- 
ing one,  and  the  commentary,'  as  written  by 
Stuart  Legg  and  spoken  by  Lome  Greene,  is 
calculated  to  point  up  the  dramatic  qualities  of 
the  pictures.  The  spirit  of  China  and  its  new 
leaders  is  presented  graphically,  while  the  cause 
of  her  fight — ten  years  longer  than  ours— be- 
comes identified  with  our  own.  The  material  is 
not  new,  but  the  presentation  is  the  pointed,  in- 
telligent work,  characteristic  of  the  "World  in 
Action"  series.— E.  A.  C. 

20  minutes 


FEATURE  SYNOPSES 


SIN  TOWN 
(Universal) 

Outdoor  Special 

PRODUCER:  George  Waggner.  Directed  by  Ray 
Enright. 

PLAYERS:  Constance  Bennett,  Patric  Knowles, 
Brod  Crawford,  Anne  Gwynne,  Andy  Devine,  Leo 
Carrillo,  Ward  Bond. 

SYNOPSIS 

A  high  budget  action  picture,  "Sin  Town"  is 
the  story  of  an  oil  town  inhabited  on  one  side  by 
confidence  men,  gamblers  and  thieves  and  on 
the  other  by  a  reform  element  headed  by  a 
newspaper  editor.  Miss  Bennett  and  Crawford 
enact  the  roles  of  swindlers  who  in  turn  are 
swindled  by  others,  help  bring  about  the  down- 
fall of  the  criminals,  and  obtain  a  new  stake  by 
fleecing  the  man  who  fleeced  them. 

YOU  CAN'T  ESCAPE  FOREVER 
(Warner  Bros.) 

Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  To  be  credited.  Directed  by  Jo 
Graham. 

PLAYERS:  George  Brent,  Brenda  Marshall,  Gene 
Lockhart,  Roscoe  Karns,  Edward  Cianneli,  Paul 
Hervey,  George  Meeker. 

SYNOPSIS 

Thelma  Strabel's  Cosmopolitan  magazine 
story  of  the  newspaper  world  and  newspaper 
people  furnished  source  for  this  metropolitan 
melodrama  in  which  the  reporter  encounters 
adventure  and  love  in  about  equal  quantities 
and  under  equivalent  conditions  of  risk. 


898     Product  Digest  Section 


September    12,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


SHORTS 

advance  synopses  and 
information 


WELL-ROWED  HARVARD  (20+h-Fox) 

Sports  Review  (3301) 

The  scene  is  Cambridge — the  Newell  Boat- 
house  on  the  Charles  River.  Head  Coach  Tom 
Bolles  and  Freshman  Pilot  Harvey  Love  scan 
the  turnout  of  freshman  and  varsity  veterans. 
To  Bolles  falls  the  task  of  harnessing  the  Har- 
vard man-power,  building  the  endurance.  In- 
struction begins  with  lowliest  fundamentals,  and 
youth  slowly  grasps  the  art  of  oarsmanship. 
How  to  pull,  then  feather,  go.  to  the  reach,  then 
pull  again.  The  training  is  over  a  period  of 
seven  months  and  the  high  spot  of  the  oars- 
man's season  is  the  annual  race  with  Yale. 
Release  date,  August  14,  1942  8  minutes 

OLD  BLACKOUT  JOE  (Col.) 

Phantasy  Cartoon  (3705) 

The  problems  of  a  Negro  air-raid  warden 
during  a  blackout  are  described  in  this  short 
subject.  His  sector  includes  a  street  light 
without  a  sense  of  civic  duty  which  keeps  blink- 
ing on  and  off  and  other  annoying  problems. 
Release  date,  August  27,  1942  6  minutes 

CANVAS  CUT-UPS  (Col.) 

World  of  Sforts  (3810) 

This  is  a  wrestling  jamboree  with  matches 
to  twos  and  fours,  Poles  and  Americans,  and 
even  a  bout  between  two  feminine  wrestlers,  re- 
plete with  groans  and  grimaces,  brawn  and 
action. 

Release  date,  August  27,  1942  10  minutes 

TEDDY  POWELL  AND  ORCHESTRA  (Col.) 

Famous  Bands  (4951) 

The  first  of  the  1942-43  Columbia  Band 
shorts  presents  Ted  Powell  and  his  orchestra, 
introduced  by  Allan  Courtney  of  radio's  "1280 
Club."  Musical  numbers  include  "San  Cul- 
lottes,"  "My  Little  Cousin"  and  "Joltin'  Joe 
Di  Maggio,"  the  last  two  sung  by  Tommy  Tay- 
lor and  Peggy  Mann. 

Release  date,  August  27,  1942       9j4  minutes 

YANKEE  DOODLE  SWING  SHIFT  (Univ.) 

Color  Cartune  (7242) 

The  Zoot  Suit  Swing  Cats  have  lost  their 
instruments  to  Uncle  Sam's  priorities  and  join 
the  Swing  Shift  of  a  defense  plant.  Their 
enthusiasm  carries  over  to  the  new  work,  and 
quantities  of  war  material  are  turned  out  by 
the  Hep  Cats. 

Release  date,  September  21,  1942      7  minutes 

TROUBLE  SPOT  OF  THE  EAST  (Univ.) 

Variety  View  (7351) 

The  title  refers  to  Ceylon,  gateway  to  India. 
The  city  is  one  of  strange  contrasts,  modern 
office  buildings  and  native  huts,  business  effi- 
ciency in  a  setting  of  East  Indian  mystical 
beauty. 

Release  date,  September  7,  1942  9  minutes 
THE  SECRET  CODE  (Col.) 

Serial  (4120) 

Columbia's  first  serial  of  the  new  season  is 
the  story  of  a  mysterious  spy  ring  and  the  gov- 
ernment agents  whose  duty  it  is  to  break  it.  A 


Synopses  Indexed 

Page  numbers  on  short  subject 
synopses  published  in  Product  Digest 
are  listed  in  the  Shorts  chart,  Prod- 
uct Digest  Section,  pages  900-901 


formula  for  the  production  of  synthetic  rubber 
is  the  prize  sought  by  the  saboteurs.  Paul  Kelly 
plays  the  police  lieutenant  charged  with  round- 
ing up  the  group  and  is  supported  by  a  cast 
including  Anne  Nagel,  Clancy  Cooper,  Alex 
Callam,  Trevor  Bardette,  Robert  Davis,  Greg- 
ory Gay  and  Louis  Donath.  A  special  feature 
of  the  serial  is  the  code  used  for  communication 
between  the  spies.  In  this  connection,  Columbia 
has  added  a  three-minute  short  to  each  episode 
entitled  "How  to  Code  and  Decode  Secret  Writ- 
ings." The  material  is  presented  by  Major 
Henry  Burton  of  the  Military  Intelligence  de- 
partment. 

Ralph  Conn  produced  the  serial  and  Spencer 
Bennet  directed.  The  first  episode  rims  for  30 
minutes,  while  the  following  chapters  are  20 
minutes  each. 

Release  date,  September  4,  1942       15  episodes 


THE  KITCHEN  QUIZ,  No.  I  (Col.) 

(Series  3)  (4601) 

The  radio  housewife  helper  screens  another 
group  of  hints  to  enliven  things.  Ed  East  and 
Polly  show  you  how  to  frost  a  cake  without 
sugar  by  substituting  a  chocolate  bar;  how  to 
darn  socks;  how  to  hammer  tacks  without 
smashing  fingers ;  how  to  make  children  like 
bread  by  cutting  it  into  fancy  shapes ;  how  to 
remove  inkstains  with  moistened  matches ;  how 
to  induce  canaries  to  bathe  by  sprinkling  seeds 
in  the  bird  bath;  how  to  save  wear  on  rubber 
gloves,  and  many  more. 

Release  date,  August  21,  1942  10  minutes 


WESTERN  WHOOPEE  (Univ.) 

Variety  View  (7353) 

Las  Vegas,  New,  has  become,  with  the  aid 
of  irrigation  a  desert  paradise.  Dude  ranches 
dot  the  country  and  furnish  much  of  the  life 
of  the  town.  Nearby  Boulder  Dam  furnishes 
the  power  and  Nevada's  liberal  laws  offer  the 
opportunity  for  "Western  Whoopee." 
Release  date,  October  5,  1942  7  minutes 


PHONY  CRONIES  (Col.) 

El  Brendel  (4421) 

Brendel  and  Kennedy,  partners  in  many  a 
fantastic  venture,  have  a  try  at  the  moving  busi- 
ness. Things  move  from  bad  to  worse  until  the 
final  sequence  in  a  haunted  museum  where  the 
business  partners  are  delivering  a  crate,  unex- 
pectedly containing  two  thugs. 
Release  date,  August  27,  1942         17  minutes 


A  WEDDING  IN  BIKANER  (20+h-Fox) 

Magic  Carpet  (Color)  (3152) 

At  the  court  of  a  maharajah  of  Hindustan, 
marriage  festivities  are  a  pageant  of  power  and 
splendor.  The  native  princes  who  rule  their  do- 
mains under  British  sovereignty  have  their  own 
traditional  armies.  Hence,  at  a  regal  wedding,  a 
review  of  the  armed  forces  has  an  inevitable 
place.  The  principality  of  Bikaner  is  in  north- 
ern India,  in  the  territory  of  Rajputana.  Be- 
cause of  the  military  display,  this  wedding  in 
Bikaner  has  a  point  with  relation  to  the  war. 
If  the  enemy  should  come  they  would  fight 
along  with  the  regular  British  India  Army.  The 
wedding — the  granddaughter  of  the  maharajah 
is  getting  married — is  solemnized  at  the  court. 
Release  date,  August  28,  1942  8  minutes 

SMOKE  PAINTER  (Univ.) 

Stranger  Than  Fiction  (6385) 

In  this  issue  of  the  series,  George  P.  Fayko, 
Jr.,  paints  pictures  with  lighted  matches,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ;  Mrs.  Leona  Felter,  with  but  one 
arm,  creates  knitted  pieces,  West  Palm  Beach, 
Fla. ;  strange  magnetic  force  repeals  all  laws 
of  gravity,  Santa  Cruz  Mountains ;  strange 
brook  turns  to  stone  anything  thrown  in  it, 
Pine  Gulch,  Cal. ;  Ed  Leedskalnin  carves  fur- 
niture out  of  coral,  Miami,  Fla.,  and  students 
study  marine  life  under  water,  Rainbow 
Springs,  Fla. 

Release  date,  August  31,  1942  9  minutes 

JIVIN'  JAM  SESSION  (Univ.) 

Sonnv  Dunham  Musical 

Sonnv  and  his  orchestra  are  rehearsing  for  a 
show  in  a  new  musical  featurette.  The  numbers 
include  "Memories  of  You,"  "I  Never  Knew," 
"From  One  Love  to  Another"  and  "Lunceford 
Special."  Jimmie  Dodd  sings  a  cow-boy  version 
of  "Don't  Go  West,  Young  Man."  Acrobatic 
and  tap  dances  complete  the  entertainment. 
Release  date,  September  22,  1942     15  minutes 

TRUMPET  SERENADE  (Univ.) 

Harrv  James  Musical 

This  musical  featurette  presents  Harry  James 
and  his  Music  Makers  and  features  the  dancing 
of  Grace  McDonald,  a  vocal  by  Helen  Forrest 
and  a  jitterbug  routine  by  the  Jivin'  Jacks  and 
Jills.  Two  trumpet  solos  by  the  conductor  are 
included. 

Release  date,  September  9,  1942       15  minutes 

SERENADE  IN  SWING  (Univ.) 

Musical  (7123) 

The  music  of  Jan  Savitt  and  his  orchestra  is 
supplemented  by  the  talents  of  Martha  Tilton, 
Kenny  Stevens,  Six  Hits  and  a  Miss,  and  the 
Rhythm  Rascals  in  the  presentation  of  a  swing 
session  of  eight  lively  musical  numbers. 
Release  date,  October  14,  1942  15  minutes 

AMERICA  SINGS  WITH 
KATE  SMITH  (Col.) 

Kate  Smith  (4751) 

Columbia's  new  song  series  features  the  popu- 
lar voice  of  Kate  Smith,  radio  songstress.  The 
first  release  is  devoted  to  patriotic  airs,  includ- 
ing the  songs  of  the  armed  forces,  Army,  Navy 
and  Marine.  The  audience  is  encouraged  to 
join  in  the  chorus. 

Release  date,  August  21,  1942  10  minutes 


Product  Digest  Section  899 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


SHORTS  CHART 


Production  Numbers 
Release  Dates 
Running  Time 


COLUMBIA 

Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

ALL  STAR  COMEDIES 
(Average  17  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

3430  Yoo   Hoo    General  3-12-42  602 

(Billy  Vine) 

3431  What  Makes  Lizzy  Dizzy  3-28-42  587 

(Langdon-Ames) 

3432  Groom  and  Bored  4-8-42  652 

(Downs) 

3406  What's  the  Matodor  4-23-42  653 

(Stooges) 

3433  How  Spry  I  Am  5-7-42  784 

(Clyde) 

3412   A  Study  In  Seeks  5-21-42  700 

(Glove  Slingers) 

3434  Tire  Man,  Spare  My  Tires. 6-4-42  784 

(Langdon) 

3435  Olaf  Laughs  Last  6-18-42  784 

(Brendel) 

3436  All  Work  and  No  Pay  7-16-42  859 

(Clyde) 

3407  Matrl-Phony   7-2-42  784 

(Stooges) 

3408  Three  Smart  Saps  7-30-42  856' 

1942-  43 

4421  Phony    Cronies  8-27--42  899 

(Brendel) 

4422  Carry  Harry   9-3-42 

(Langdon) 

4401    Even  As  IOU  9-18-42 

(Stooges) 

4423  Kiss  and  Wake  Up  10-2-42  .. 

(Downs) 

4424  Sappy  Pappy   10-30-42 

(Clyde) 

COLOR  RHAPSODIES 
(7  Minutes) 
1841-42 

3506  Concerto  In  B-Flat  Mlnor-3-20-42  587 

3507  Cinderella  Goes  to  a 

Party   6-3-42  700 

3508  Woodman  Spare  That  Tree. 6-19-42  784 

1942-43 

4501  Song  of  Victory  9-4-42 

4502  Tito's  Guitar   10-9-42  .. 

PHANTASIES  CARTOONS 
(Average  9  Mln.) 
1841-42 

3762    Dog  Meets  Dog   3-27-42  625 

3704  The  Wild  and  Woozy  West. 4-30-42  700 
3703    A  Battle  for  a  Bottle  5-29-42  784 

3705  Old    Blackout   Joe  8-27-42  899 

1942-43 

4701  The  Gullible  Canary  9-18-42 

4702  The  Dumb  Conscious  Mind.  10-2-42 

FABLES 
(8  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3754  Wolf  Chases  Pig  4-30-42  704 

3755  The  Bulldog  and  the  Baby 

7-24-42  856 

COMMUNITY  SING  (Series  6) 
(10  Minutes) 
1841-42 

3658  No.  8  (Sweetheart  Songs).. 3.27-42  625 

3659  No.  9   4-30-42  704 

3660  No.  10  (Songs  of  the  Times) 

6-5-42  700 

1942-  43 
(Series  7) 

4651  No.  I — Rhumba  and  Conga 

Hits   8-15-42  859 

4652  No.  2— "Yankee  Doodler"  .9- 17-42  .. 

(Baker) 

QUIZ  REELS 
(Average  10  Mln.) 

1841-  42 

3605    So  You  Think  You  Know 

Music  No.  2  (Series  2). 3- 13-42  625 

1842-  43 
(Series  3) 

4001    Kitchen  Quiz  No.   1  8-21-42  899 


For  short  subject  synopses  turn  to  the  Product  Digest 
Section  pages  indicated  by  the  numbers  which  follow 
the  titles  and  release  dates  in  the  listing.  For  1941-42 
short  subject  releases  prior  to  March,  1942,  see  pages 
874-876. 


Prod. 

No. 


Title 


Rel. 
Date 


P.D. 
Page 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

PANORAMICS 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3905    Health  for  Defense  (Gallup 

Poll    No.   2)  3-13-42  602 

1942-  43 

4901  Cajuns  of  the  Teche  8-13-42  856 

(Quaint  Folks  No.  I) 

4902  Oddities   (La  Varre)  10-8-42 

TOURS 
(10  Minutes) 

1942-43 

4551  Journey  to  Denali  (La  Varre) 

8-5-42  877 

4552  Old  and  Modern  New 

Orleans   10-2-42 

SCREEN  SNAPSHOTS  (Series  21) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3857  Ne.  7   3-6-42  387 

3858  No.  8   4-10-42  653 

3859  No.  9   5-8-42  700 

3860  No.  10   6-19-42  755 

1942-  43 
(Series  22) 

4851  No.    I   8-7-42  859 

4852  No.  2   9-11-42  .. 

WORLD  OF  SPORTS 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3807  Wrestling  Octopus   3-26-42  832 

3808  Fit  to  Fight  5-22-42  755 

3809  Tennis  Rhythm   7-3-42  784 

3810  Canvas  Cut-Ups   8-28-42  899 

1942-  43 

4801    Trotting    Kings   9-11-42 

KATE  SMITH 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4751    America  Sings  With 

Kate  Smith   8-21-42  899 

FAMOUS  BANDS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4951  Ted  Powell  (1280  Club) .  .8-27-42  899 

4952  Hal  Mclntyre   10-23-42 


M-G-M 


TWO  REEL  SPECIALS 
(20  Minutes) 
1941-42 

A-304  For  the  Common  Defense. 6-20-42  613 
A-305    Mr.   Blabbermouth   8-8-42  877 

FITZPATRICK  TRAVELTALKS  (Color) 
(9  Minutes) 
1841-42 

T-319  Land  of  the  Quintuplets. 3-14-42  602 
T-320    Glacier   Park  and  Waterton 

Lakes   4-11-42  852 

T-321  Picturesque  Patzcuaro. .  .5-23-42  729 
T-322    Exotlo   Mexlce   6-13-42  755 

PETE  SMITH  SPECIALTIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

S-368    Acro-batty   3-28-42  652 

S-367   Victory  Quiz   5-9-42  729 

S-368    Pete  Smith's  Scrapbook.  .5-23-42  700 


Prod. 

No. 


Title 


Rel.  P.D. 
Date  Page 


S-369    Barbee-Cues   5-30-42  700 

S-370    Self    Defense   7-25-42  856 

S-371    It's  a  Dog's  Life  8-22-42  877 

PASSING  PARADE 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

K-384  The  Woman  in  the  House  5-9-42  704 
K-385  The  Incredible  Stranger. 6-20-42  755 
K-386    Vendetta   7-18-42  813 

MINIATURES 
(18  Minutes) 
1941-42 

M-333    Lady  or  the  Tiger  3-28-42  652 

M-334    Soaring  Stars   4-25-42  704 

M-335    Further  Prophecies  of 

Nostradamus   5-9-42  700 

W-336   The  Greatest  Gift  9-5-42 

OUR  GANG  COMEDIES 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

C-395    Going  to  Press  3-7-42  587 

C-398    Don't  Lie   4-4-42  652 

C-397   Surprised    Parties..  5-30-42  700 

C-398    Doln'  Their  Bit  7-18-42  813 

C-399    Rover's   Big    Chance  8-22-42  856 

TECHNICOLOR  CARTOONS 
(8  Minutes) 
1841-42 

W-345    The    First   Swallow  3-14-42  587 

W-346    The  Bear  and  the  Beaver* 

3-28-42  652 

W-347    Dog  Trouble   4-18-42  852 

W-348    Little  Gravel  Voice  5-16-42  700 

W-349    Puss  'N  Toots  5-30-42  754 

W-350    Bats  In  The  Belfry  7-  4-42  813 

W-351    The  Bowling  Alley  Cat  . 7-18-42  813 

W-352   The  Blitz  Wolf  8-22-42  .. 

W-353   The  Early  Bird  Dood  It  8-29-42  .. 


PARAMOUNT 

SPECIAL  COLOR  CARTOON 
(Two  Reels) 
1941-42 

FFI-I    The  Raven   4-3-42  825 

UNUSUAL  OCCUPATIONS  (Color) 
(II  Minutes) 
1941-42 

LI-4    No.  4    4-19-42  825 

LI -5    Ne.  5   6-26-42  754 

LI-6    No.  6   8-21-42  877 

BENCHLEY  COMEDIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

Sl-S   The  Witness   3-20-42  602 

SI-4    Keeping  In  Shape  6-12-42  754 

St -5    The  Man's  Angle   8-14-42 

FASCINATING  JOURNEYS  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

Ml -2    Indian    Temples   9-4-42 

SUPERMAN  COLOR  CARTOONS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

WI-5    Superman  In  the  Bulleteers 

3-27-42  625 
WI-6    Superman  In  the  Magnetic 

Telescope   4-24-42  653 


WI-7   Superman  in  Electric 

Earthquake   6-5-42  754 

WI-8   Superman  in  Volcano  7-10-42  856 

WI-9    Superman  in  Terror 

on  the  Midway  8-28-42  877 

HEDDA  HOPPER'S  HOLLYWOOD 
(18  Minutes) 
1941-42 

ZI-4    No.  4   6-19-42  754 

ZI-5    No.  5   8-14-42  877 

ZI-6    No.  6   9-18-42 

HEADLINERS 
(I*  Minutes) 
1*41-42 

AI-3    Carnival  In  Brazil  3-6-42  578 

A I -4    Hands  of  Victory  5-22-42  653 

Al-5    Nightmare  of  a  Goon  5-1-42  653 

A I -6   The  McFarland  Twins  and 

Their  Orchestra   8-28-42 

MADCAP  MODELS  (Color) 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

U  1-3   The  Sky  Princess  3-27-42  578 

UI-4    Mr.  Strauss  Takes  a  Walk. 5-8-42  653 

UI-5   Tulips  Shall  Grow  6-26-42  813. 

U 1-6   The   Little  Broadcast. ..  .9-18-42  .. 

POPEYE  THE  SAILOR 
(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

EI-6    Fleets  of  Stren'th  3-13-42  625 

EI-7    Pipeye,  Pupeye,  Poopeye  & 

Peepeye   4-18-42  652 

EI-8    Olive  Oyl  and  Water  Don't 

Mix   5-8-42  729 

El -9    Many  Tanks   6-5-42  755 

EI-IO  Baby  Wants  a  Bottleship.  .7-3-42  856 
El- 1 1  You're  a  Sap,  Mr.  Jap... 8-7-42  859 
El- 12    Alona  on  the  Sarong  Seas  9-4-42 

POPULAR  SCIENCE  (Color) 
(18  Minutes) 
1841-42 

J I -4    No.  4    4-3-42  625 

J 1-5    No.  5   6-12-42  755 

JI-6    No.  6   7-31-42  856 

SPEAKING  OF  ANIMALS 
(8  Minutes) 
1841-42 

YI-4    In  the  Circus  5-29-42  729 

YI-5    At  the  Dog  Show  8-28-42 

SPORTLIGHTS 
(9  Minutes) 
1941-42 

RI-8   Timing  Is  Everything  3-28-42  625 

RI-9    Personality  Plus   4-17-42  653 

RI-IO    Hero  Worship   5-15-42  729 

Rl-ll    Parachute  Athletes  6-19-42  754 

RI-12    Let  'Em  Go  Alive  7-17-42  856 

RI-13   Timber  Athletes   9-11-42 

QUIZ  KIDS 
(II  Minutes) 
1941-42 

QI-4    No.  4   4-17-42  652 

QI-5    No.  5   3-22-42  729 

QI-6    No.  6   7-31-42  859 


RKO 


MARCH  OF  TIME 
(Average  20  Mln.) 
1941-42 

23.108  The  Argentine  Question. 3-13-42  554 
23.189    America's  New  Army  4-18-42  587 


900     Product  Digest  Section 


September    12,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Prtd.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

23.110  India  In  CrlsU  5-8-42  547 

23.111  India  at  War  6-5-42  714 

23.112  Men  In  Washington- 1942.7-3-42  751 

23.113  Men  of  the  Fleet  7-31-42  794 

WALT  DISNEY  CARTOONS  (Color) 
(8  Mi  notes) 

1941-42 

24.101  Symphony  Hour   3-20-42  587 

24.102  Donald's  Snow   Fight. .  .4- 10-42  625 

24.103  Donald  Gets  Drafted  5-1-42  653 

24.104  The  Army   Mascot  5-22-42  700 

24.105  Donald's    Garden   6-12-42  754 

24.106  The  Sleepwalker   7-3-42  856 

24.107  Donald's   Gold   Mine  7-24-42  856 

24.108  T-Bone  for  Two  8-14-42  856 


INFORMATION  PLEASE 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

24.2*5    No.  5    John    Carradine. .  .4-3-42  623 

24.206  No.  6    Howard    Lindsay. 4-24-42  704 

24.207  No.  7    Cornelia  Otis  Skinner 

5-22-42  700 

24.208  No.  8    Russell  Crouse. .  .6-19-42  767 

24.209  No.  9    John  Gunther  7-17-42  813 

24.210  No.  10    John   Carradine .8- 14-42  877 


SPORTSCOPE 
(Average  9  Min.) 
1941-42 

24.308  Public  Sport  Nt.  One. .  .3-20-42  602 

24.309  Cruise  Snorts   4-17-42  653 

24.310  Byron    Nelson   5-15-42  700 

24.311  Cinderella  Champion  6-12-42  767 

24.312  Polo   Pony   7-10-42  856 

24.313  Retord  Breakers   8-7-42  877 


PICTURE  PEOPLE 
(10  Mlnrtee) 
1941-42 

24.408  Palm   Springs   Weekend. 3-27-42  602 

24.409  Star  Portraits   4-24-42  704 

24.410  Hollywood  at  Home  5-22-42  700 

24.411  All   Around   Hollywood.  .6-19-42  767 

24.412  Hellywood  Starlets  7-17-42  813 

EDGAR  KENNEDY 
(Avenge  18  Mln.) 
1941-42 

23.403    Inferior  Decorate*   4-3-42  602 

23.406    Cooks  and  Crooks  6-5-42  729 

LEON  ERROL 
(Average  19  Min.) 
1941-42 

23.704  Wedded   Blitz   3-13-42  652 

23.705  Framing    Father  5-15-42  700 

23.706  Hold  'Em  Jail   8-26-42  767 

RAY  WHITLEY 
(Average  15  Mln.) 
1941-42 

23.503  Cactus    Caper*  4-23-42  653 

23.504  Range    Rhythm  7-17-42  813 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

ADVENTURES  N  EWSCAM  ER  AM  AN 
(Average  9  Mln.) 


1941-  42 

2205  Wlngi  of  Defense  4-10-42  6V12 

2206  Guardians  of  the  Sea  7-17-42  767 

1942-  43 


3201    Along  the  Texas  Range. . 10-9-42 
MAGIC  CARPET 


(9  Minutes) 
1941-42 

2104   Jewel  of  the  Paeifle  3-27-42  511 

2106  Heart  of   Mexico  5-1-42  704 

2107  Gateway  to  Asia  5-8-42  700 

2108  India  the    Golden  6-19-42  755 

1942-43  (Color) 

3151    Desert  Wonderland   8-1-42  856 

JI52    Wedding    in    Bikaner  8-28-42  899 

3153  Valley  of  Blossoms  9-25-42 

3154  Royal  Araby   10-23-42 

3155  Gay  Rio   11-20-42 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.  Title  DaU  Page 

SPORTS  REVIEWS 
(8  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

2306    Setting    the    Pace  4-24-42  729 

1942-  43 

3301    Well-Rcwed     Harvard  8-14-42  899 

3351    Neptune's  Daughter   11-6-42 


TERRYTOONS  (TECHNICOLOR) 
(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

2559  Sham   Battle  Shenanigan .  .3-20-42  329 

2560  Gandy  Goose  in  Lights  Out 


4-17-42  652 

2561  Ne-ek   and   Neck  5-15-42  700 

2562  All  About  Degs  6-12-42  755 

1942-43 

3551  All    Out  for   "V"  8-7-42 

3552  Life  with  Fido  8-21-42  .. 

3553  School   Daze   9-18-42 

3554  Night  Life  in  the  Army.  10-2-42 

3555  The  Mouse  of  Tomorrow. .  10-16-42 
3558    Nancy   in   Doing  Their 

Bit   10-30-42 

3357    Frankenstein's  Cat   11-27-42 


TERRYTOONS  (Black  4.  Whitej 
(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

2508    Eat  Me  Kitty  Eight  to  the 


Bar   3-S-42  509 

2509  Oh  Gentle  Spring   ...4-3-42  625 

2510  Gandy  Goese  In  Tricky  Business 

5-1-42  704 

2511  Tki   Stork's    Mistake  5-29-42  700 

2512  Wilful  Willie   6-26-42  755 

2513  Gandy  Geose  In  the 

Otrtjest   7-10-42  755 

2514  Gandy  Goose  In 

Tire    Trouble   7-24-42  767 

1942-43 

3501  The   Big   Build-Up   9-4-42 

3502  lekJe  Meets  Pickle  11-13-42 

THE  WORLD  TODAY 
(9  Minutes) 
1941-42 

2404    Hub  of  the  World   3-13-42  602 

2465    CoerageoBs  Australia   S-5-42  754 

2406    Men  »f  West  Point  7-3-42  754 

1942-43 

3401    Alaska   9-11-42 


UNITED  ARTISTS 

WORLD   IN  ACTION 


(Two  Reels) 
1941-42 

  Churchill's   Island   4-3-42  599 

  This  is  Blitz   5-1-42  539 

  Food — Weapon  of  Conquest. 6-5-42  599 

  The  Battle  for  Oil   539 

  New  Soldiers  Are  Tough   699 

  Inside  Fighting  Russia   784 

  Hitler's  Plan    854 

  Road  to  Tokyo   898 

  Inside    Fighting    China   898 


UNIVERSAL 

TWO   REEL  SPECIALS 
1941-42 

6111    Monae*  of  the  Rising  Sun. 4-8-42  612 

COLOR  CARTUNE 
(Average  7  Mln.) 
1941-42 

6247    The  Hams  That  Couldn't  Be 


Cured   3-2-42  587 

6248  Mother  Goose  on  the 

Loose   4-13-42  652 

6249  Good  Bye  Mr.  Moth  5-1  [-42  653 

6250  Nutty    Pine    Cabin  6-1-42  755 

6251  Ace  in  the  Hole  6-22-42  755 

6252  Juke  Box  Jamhoree  7-27-42  767 

6253  Pigeon    Patrol  8-3-42  813 

1942-43 

7241  Andy  Panda's  Vietory 

Garden   -  9-7-42 

7242  The  Loan  Stranger  10-26-42 

SWING  SYMPHONIES 

1942-43 

7231    Yankee  Doodle  Swing 

Shift   9-21-42  899 


Prod. 

Rel. 

P.D. 

So 

Title 

Date 

Page 

STRANGER   THAN  FICTION 

(9  Minutes) 

1941-42 

6378 

Desert  Ghosts   

3-9-42 

587 

6379 

Pussy   Cat  Cafe  

4-20-42 

653 

6380 

Tom  Thumb  Church  

5-18-42 

729 

6381 

Mysterious  Fountain 

of  Health   

6-15-42 

755 

6382 

Master  Carver   

7-6-42 

767 

6383 

Women  at  the  Plough .. . 

7-20-42 

813 

6384 

Mile  of  Dough  

8-10-42 

877 

3385 

Smoke  Painter   

8-31-42 

899 

PERSON — ODDITIES 

1942-43 

7371 

Human  Sailboat   

9-14-42 

7372 

Jail  Hostess   

9-28-42 

VARIETY  VIEWS 

(9  Minutes) 

1941-42 

6359 

3-23-42 

602 

6360 

Thrills  of  the  Deep  

3-30-42 

602 

6361 

Sports  In  the  Roekies 

4-6-42 

625 

6362 

Call  of  the  Sea  

5-4-42 

729 

6363 

6-8-42 

755 

6364 

7-13-42 

755 

6365 

Crater  City   

8-17-42 

859 

1942-43 

7351 

Trouble  Spot  of  the  East 

-.9-7-42 

899 

7332 

Canadian  Patrol   

9-21-42 

7353 

Western  Whoopee   

10-5-42 

899 

MUSICALS 

(Average  16  Mln. 

1941-42 

6228 

Tune  Time  

3-18-42 

554 

6229 

Gay  Nineties   

4-15-42 

309 

6230 

Swing  Frolie   

5-13-42 

653 

6233 

Rainbow  Rhythm   

6-10-42 

755 

6232 

Merry  Madcaps   

7-15-42 

813 

6231 

Shuffle  Rhythm   

8-19-42 

877 

1942-43 

7121 

Trumpet  Serenade  

.9-9-42 

899 

7122 

Serenade    in  Swing  

0-14-42 

899 

7123 

Jivin'  Jam  Session  

899 

VITAPHONE 

TECHNICOLOR  SPECIALS 
(Average  20  Min.) 
1941-42 

7005  Spanish   Fiesta  5-16-42  700 

7004    March  On  America  6-27-42  755 

7006  Men  of  the  Sky  7-25-42  856 

BROADWAY  BREVITIES 

(20  Minutes) 
1941-42 

7107  Wedding   Yells   3-7-42  662 

7108  Maybe  Darwin  Was  Right. 3-21-42  602 

7109  California  Jr.  Symphony. .  4- 1 8-42  663 

7110  Paeifle   Frontiers   5-30-42  729 

7111  Daughter  of  Rosie  O'Grady 

7-11-42  767 

7112  "Divide  and  Conquer"  8-29-42  794 

HOLLYWOOD  NOVELTIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

7306    There  Ain't  No  Such 

Animal   5-9-42  653 

THE  SPORTS  PARADE 

(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 


7406  Shoot  Yourself  Some  Golf 

(color)   4-4-42  625 

7407  Rocky  Mountain  Big  Game. 5-2-42  704 
7403    Hatteras  Honkers   6-13-42  755 

7409  Hunter's  Paradise   7-18-42  859 

7410  Argentine    Horses   8-8-42  877 


MELODY   MASTERS  BANDS 


(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

7507  Richard   Himber  k   Orch.. 4-1 1-4  2  652 

7508  Don  Cossack  Chorus  4-25-42  633 

7509  Emil   Coleman   4.   Orch. .  .6- 13-42  754 

7510  Glen   Gray  &.  Band  8-13-42  877 

LOONEY    TUNES  CARTOONS 
(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

7608  Saps  in   Chaps  4-11-42  652 

7609  Daffy's  Southern  Exposure.  .5-2-42  653 

7610  Nutty  News   5-23-42  700 

7611  Hobby  Horse  Laffs  6-8-42  754 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.  Title  Date  Pie 

7612  Gopher  Goofy   6-27-42  755 

7613  Wacky    Blackout   7-11-42  877 

7614  The   Duektator   8-1-42  859 

7615  Eatin'  on  tile  Cuff  8-22-42  877 

7616  The    Impatient   Patient  9-5-42  877 


MERRIE   MELODIES   CARTOONS  (Celor) 


7715  Horton  Hatches  the  Egg  . 4-11-42  653 

7716  Dog  Tired   4-25-42  7»4 

7717  The  Waeky  Waibit  5-2-42  784 

7718  The   Draft  Horse  5-9-42  700 

7719  Lights  Fantastic   5-23-42  700 

7720  Hold  the  Lion.  Please  6-6-42  754 

7721  Double   Chaser   6-20-42  755 

7722  Bugs  Buuny  Gets  the 

Bird   7-11-42  856 

7723  Foney   Fables   8-1-42  856 

7724  The  Squaw  kin'  Hawk   8-8-42  877 


(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

77  i 4    The   Wabbitt   Whe   Came  to 


7722    Bugs  Buuny  Gets  the 


V 

OFFICIAL   U.  S.   VICTORY  FILMS 
iDistributed  by  Various   Major  Exchanges) 

Bomber    509 

Pots   to    Planes   509 

Food   for    Freedom   509 

Red    Cross   Trailer   509 

Women   in   Befense   509 

Safeguarding    Military    Information   509 

Tanks    509 

Any  Bonds  Today    509 

Ring  of  Steel    587 

Fighting    Fire    Bombs   587 

Lake  Carrier    715 

United    China  Relief  

Winning  Your  Wings   S74 

Keep    'Em    Rolling   874 

Mr.  Gardenia  Jones   674 

Your  Air  Raid  Warden   771 

Vigilance   771 

U.  S.  TREASURY  DEPT. 
(Released  Through  National  Screen) 

The  New  Spirit   529 

MISCELLANEOUS 
Your  Ringside  Seat  with  Tex  MeCrary 

(Newsreel   Distributors)    497 

Soviet   Women    (Artkino)   612 

Movie  Quiz,  No.  I  and  2   854 

(Movie  Quiz  Distributing) 

Shock  Troops  for  Defense   871 

(Brandon  Films) 

Scrap  for  Victory   871 

(Brandon  Films) 


V 

SERIALS 


COLUMBIA 

1 94 1 -  42 

3180    Perils  of  tfle  Royai 

Mounted   5-29-42  715 

(15  Episodes) 

1942-  43 

4120    The  Seeret  Code  9-4-42  899 

(15  Episodes) 

REPUBLIC 

1941-  42 

183  Spy  Smasher   4-4-42  566 

(12  Episodes) 

184  Perils  of  Nyoka  6-27-42  7S7 

( 15  episodes) 

1942-  43 

281    King  of  the  Mounties. ..  10-10-42  .. 
(12  episodes) 


UNIVERSAL 

1941-  42 

6581-93    Gang   Busters   3-31-42  529 

(13  Episodes) 

1942-  43 

7881-92    Junior  G-Men  of  the 

Air   6-30-42  784 

(12  episodes) 
77SI-95    Overland   Mail  9-22-42 

(15  episodes) 


Product  Digest  Section      90  I 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


Just  Off  Broadway 

(20th  Century-Fox) 
Shayne  Does  It  Again 

This  adventure  of  Michael  Shayne,  detective, 
is  tops  for  the  series  or  thereabouts.  It  excels 
all  or  most  of  the  others  in  nicety  of  plotting, 
steadiness  of  development  and  in  humor. 

A  socialite  is  about  to  be  convicted  on  testi- 
mony of  a  night  club  singer.  A  witness  is  or- 
dered to  the  stand.  Locked  up  for  the  night  in 
a  hotel  room,  Shayne  lets  himself  out  by  the 
fire  escape,  is  joined  by  the  girl  reporter, 
whereupon  they  spend  the  night  tracing  clues, 
incidentally  discovering  a  third  murder  related 
to  the  first  two. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. 

Michael  Shayne  Lloyd  Nolan 

Judy   Taylor  Marjorie  Weaver 

Phil  Silvers,  Janis  Carter,  Richard  Derr,  Joan 
Valerie,  Don  Costello,  Chester  Clute,  Francis  Pierlot. 

Complete  review  published  August  15,  1942 

The  War  Against  Mrs. 
Hadley 

C  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ) 
Silver  Cord  in  1942 

Stella  Hadley  has  been  playing  ostrich  all 
her  adult  life.  This  fact  is  recognized  and  tol- 
erated by  her  two  children,  Patricia,  played  by 
Jean  Rogers,  and  Theodore,  in  the  person  of 
Richard  Ney,  whose  performance  of  the  elder 
Miniver  son  was  hailed  by  film  critics  and  audi- 
ences. 

Following  December  7th,  her  way  of  life 
subtly  becomes  changed  and  the  picture  sets 
out  to  show  how  Mrs.  Hadley's  resistance 
against  being  drawn  into  the  war  is  finally 
broken  down  by  a  pivotal  experience  which  at 
long  last  achieves  emotional  maturity  for  the 
lady  who  has  been  escaping  "unpleasantness"  all 
her  life. 

The  picture's  humor,  true  characterizations 
and  lack  of  heavy-handed  propaganda  speeches 
make  it  enjoyable.  It  is  a  family  picture  for  the 
family.  Fay  Bainter,  Edward  Arnold,  Jean 
Rogers,  Richard  Ney  and  Sara  Allgood  are  ex- 
cellent. A  newcomer  to  the  screen,  Van  John- 
son, remembered  for  his  role  in  George  Ab- 
bott's Broadway  musical  comedy,  "Too  Many 
Girls,"  is  appealing. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Elliott    Fulton  Edward  Arnold 

Stella   Hadley  Fay  Bainter 

Theodore   Hadley  Richard  Ney 

Patricia  Hadley  Jean  Rogers 

Sara  Allgood,  Spring  Byington.  Van  Johnson,  Isobel 
Elsom,  Halliwell  Hobbes,  Connie  Gilchrist. 

Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 

Seven  Sweethearts 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ) 
Tuneful  Romance 

MGM  gives  a  group  of  its  brightest  new 
faces  starring  roles  in  this  tuneful  romance 
set  against  a  heritage  of  the  Dutch  in  America. 

Van  Heflin,  already  established  as  a  con- 
tender for  honors  among  the  stars  of  tomor- 
row, plays  the  role  of  Henry,  reporter  cover- 
ing Little  Delit's  tulip  festival.  He  arrives  at 
the  inn  kept  by  Van  Maaster,  an  eccentric 
old  Dutchman,  to  find  that  it  is  run  by  his 
seven  daughters,  all  bearing  masculine  names. 
Vna  Maaster  had  expected  all  his  children  to 
be  boys. 

Miss  Grayson  displays  her  voice  to  advan- 
tage in  several  lilting  songs  at  the  tulip  festival 
and  in  the  inn.  S.  Z.  Sakall,  heretofore  seen 
in  bits,  makes  Van  Maaster  a  grumpy  but 
lovable  parent  with  a  skill  and  humor  which 
should  win  him  wider  attention. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Billie  Van  Maaster  Kathryn  Grayson 

Henry  Taggart  Van  Heflin 

Regina   Marsha  Hunt 

Van  Maaster  S.  Z.  Sakall 

Cecelia  Parker,  Peggy  Moran,  Diana  Lewis.  Isobel 
Elsom,  Carl  Esmond,  Louise  Beavers,  Donald  M>»1' 

Complete  review  published  August  15,  1942 


Tabloid  Reviews 

Reviews  appearing  on  pages  902 
and  903  are  condensed  versions  of  re- 
views of  1942-43  product  appearing 
in  Product  Digest  prior  to  the  issue 
of  September  5,  1942.  They  are  car- 
ried for  their  reference  value. 


Now,  Voyager 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Study  in  Psychiatry 

Showmen  who  inform  their  customers  that 
this  picture  gives  Bette  Davis  opportunity  to 
display  her  versatility  to  the  utmost  in  a  story 
that  they're  not  going  to  forget  will  have  done 
her  followers  a  service. 

Miss  Davis  enters  the  story  as  the  daughter 
of  a  Boston  socialite  who  resented  her  prior 
to  birth  and  has  dominated  her  since.  A  psy- 
chiatrist leads  the  girl  out  of  her  confusion  and 
sends  hear  on  a  cruise  alone.  She  meets  an 
unhappy  husband,  father  of  another  unwanted 
child,  and  they  fall  in  love,  spend  a  few  days 
together  in  South  America  and  separate,  pre- 
sumably forever. 

She  returns  to  the  phychiatrist's  sanitarium 
and  is  attracted  to  an  unhappy  child  which 
turns  out  to  be  the  daughter  of  her  shipboard 
sweetheart.  She  befriends  the  child,  becomes 
the  psychiatrist's  assistant,  finding  happiness 
finally  in  dedicating  her  life  to  the  child's  up- 
bringing in  platonic  collaboration  with  its  fa- 
ther. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Charlotte  Vale  Bette  Davis 

Terry  Durance  Paul  Henreid 

Dr.   Jaquith  Claude  Rains 

Gladys  Cooper,  Bonita  Granville,  Ilka  Chase,  John 
Loder,  Lee  Patrick,  Franklin  Pangborn. 

Complete  review  published  August  22,  1942 


Iceland 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Sonja  Henie  at  the  Peak 

Superbly  staged  skating  sequences  with 
Sonja  Henie  at  her  best  make  this  offering 
by  the  Norwegian  star  well  worth  playing. 

The  story  creaks  from  repetition  and  slows 
down  the  picture,  but  is  of  little  consequence 
when  balanced  by  the  superb  skating  of  Miss 
Henie  and  entourage.  It  has  to  do  with  the 
manipulations  of  the  skater's  family  to  marry 
her  off  in  a  hurry  to  the  first  taker  so  that  her 
younger  sister  by  "Icelandic"  tradition  may  be 
free  to  marry  the  wealthy  son  of  a  herring 
merchant. 

There  is  a  skating  sequence  which  rivals  and 
to  this  corner  surpasses  all  the  others.  It  is 
in  three  parts,  China,  Panama  and  Hawaii. 
Some  of  the  finest  "dance"  skating  Miss  Henie 
has  ever  done  and  some  of  the  most  attractive 
costumes  ever  seen  on  an  ice  floor  make  this 
sequence  something  to  remember. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. 

Katina  Jonsdottir  Sonja  Henie 

Corporal  James  Murfin  John  Payne 

Slio  Riggs  Jack  Oakie 

Felix  Bressart,  Osa  Massen,  Joan  Merrill,  Fritz  Feld. 

Complete  review  published  August  15,  1942 


Somewhere  Til  Find  You 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 
Gable,  Turner  and  Bataan,  Too 

In  this  script,  written  by  Marguerite  Roberts 
in  complete  conformity  with  precedent,  the  girl 
is  hot  in  pursuit  of  Gable's  attentions  from  the 
opening  gong  with  no  holds  barred  or  condi- 
tions stipulated,  but  he  finds  out  his  young 
brother  is  in  love  with  her  and  spends  the  pic- 
ture doing  everything  but  the  obvious  to  prove 


to  the  boy  that  the  girl  is  no  good,  a  point  he 
waives  in  favor  of  presumable  matrimony  after 
the  boy  dies  for  his  country  on  Bataan.  The 
three  are  reporters  for  the  same  New  York 
newspaper  which  sends  them  to  cover  Indo- 
China,  whence  they  drift  to  Manila  and  finally 
Bataan.  Robert  Sterling  plays  the  brother  and 
gives  the  character  a  lot  more  than  the  script 
did. 

Pandro  Berman  produced  the  picture  and 
Wesley  Ruggles  directed  it,  both  concentrating 
on  the  "sexcitement"  content. 

The  paying  gu-ests  laughed  delightedly  at  a 
number  of  comedy  stretches.  The  passionate 
passages  got  Some  rises  from  the  adolescents  in 
the  balcony,  but  the  crowd  cooled  down  when 
repetition  set  in.  Then  everybody  got  interested 
in  the  Bataan  sequence,  which  comes  at  the  end 
and  takes  the  slack  out  of  the  tale.  Reviewer's 
Rating:  Good. 

Johnny   Davis  Clark  Gable 

Paula  Lana  Turner 

Junior  Davis  Robert  Sterling 

Patricia  Dane.  Lee  Patrick.  Reginald  Owen,  Charles 
Dingle. 

Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 

Wake  Island 

(Paramount) 
Heroic  Defense 

The  page  which  a  small  garrison  of  United 
State  Marines  at  Wake  Island,  in  the  Far  Pa- 
cific, wrote  into  the  splendid  history  of  the 
Corps  has  been  translated  into  the  language  of 
the  screen  with  magnificent  results. 

Completely  devoid  of  romance,  it  is  basically 
a  day-by-day  factual  record  of  the  terrible  on- 
slaught of  the  Japanese  sea  and  air  forces, 
vastly  superior  in  numbers,  upon  the  garrison. 
However,  there  are  humorous  moments,  chiefly 
supplied  by  William  Bendix,  pugilistic  type, 
who  is  the  butt  of  the  garrison's  jokes. 

There  is  little  to  choose  in  performance  qual- 
ity among  the  players,  from  Brian  Donlevy, 
as  Major  Caton,  who  takes  up  his  post  just 
prior  to  the  Japanese  attack,  down  through  the 
list,  including  Robert  Preston,  Macdonald 
Carey,  Albert  Dekker,  Walter  Abel,  Damian 
O'Flynn  and  Frank  Albertson. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Major  Caton  Brian  Donlevy 

Toe  Doyle  Robert  Preston 

Lt.  Bruce  Cameron  Macdonald  Carey 

Shad  McCloskey  Albert  Dekker 

Barbara  Britton,  William  Bendix.  Mikhail  Rasummy. 
Walter  Abel,  Damian  O'Flynn.  Bill  Goodwin. 

Complete  review  published  August  15,  1942 

The  Big  Street 

(RKO  Radio) 

Damon  Runyon  in  Top  Form 

It  is  another  story  from  Damon  Runyon, 
produced  by  him.  It  brings  again  to  the  screen, 
in  a  warm,  human  tale  of  a  bus  boy's  love  for 
a  night  club  star,  the  genuinely  improbable 
characters  and  language  of  the  Broadway  smart 
money  set  for  whom  he  has  been  laureate  for 
25  years.  Runyon's  many  readers  should  wel- 
come this  chance  to  see  his  characters  in  a 
film  which  nears  the  par  set  by  "Lady  for  a 
Day"  or  "Little  Miss  Marker." 

Henry  Fonda  is  excellent  as  Little  Pinks,  the 
bus  boy,  who  loves  and  aids  Gloria  Lyons. 
Lucille  Ball,  as  the  singer,  is  contemptuous  of 
the  bus  boy  as  adversity  forces  her  to  depend 
on  him  and  his  Broadway  pals. 

Eugene  Pallette,  Agnes  Moorehead,  Ray  Col- 
lins and  Sam  Levene  are  excellent  in  support- 
ing parts,  as  are  most  of  the  cast  selected  by 
Runyon.  Interest  is  sustained  and  Irving  Reis' 
direction  contributes  many  laughs.  Leonard 
Spigelgas  wrote  the  screenplay  and  Green  and 
Revel  contributed  a  tuneful  song. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Little  Pinks  Henry  Fonda 

Gloria   Lyon  Lucille  Ball 

Nicely   Johnson  Eugene  Pallette 

Violette  Shumberger  Agnes  Moorehead 

Ray  Collins,  Sam  Levene.  William  Orr.  Barton  Mac- 
Lane,  Louise  Beavers,  George  Cleveland. 
Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 


902     Product  Digest  Section 


September    12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


The  Pied  Piper 

(20th  Century-Fox) 
About  People  in  Wartime 

The  experiences  of  an  Englishman  whose 
fishing  holiday  in  the  south  of  France  is  in- 
terrupted by  the  fall  of  that  nation's  army  in 
1940  are  told  here  in  terms  of  people  with  that 
power  which,  Hollywood  is  now  learning,  sur- 
passes that  of  melodramas  which  dramatize  the 
war  itself  rather  than  the  human  characters 
caught  up  in  its  effects. 

Monty  Woolley  portrays  with  assurance  the 
Englishman  who,  deciding  his  place  is  at  home 
now  that  England  is  threatened  with  invasion, 
sets  out  for  the  Paris  that  is  falling,  taking 
with  him  two  children  he  has  promised  to  safe- 
guard on  their  way  there.  Other  children  join 
him  at  various  points  of  his  difficult  trip.  Fi- 
nally on  the  point  of  escaping  by  a  hired  boat, 
the  party  is  apprehended  by  Nazis  who  accuse 
him  of  espionage. 

The  picture  depicts  the  ruthlessness  of  the 
Nazis  in  terms  of  deeds  rather  than  words, 
although  it  uses  those  also,  and  it  places  in  con- 
trast the  merits  of  the  democracies,  likewise 
without  shouting. 

Howard   Monty  Woolley 

Ronnie   Roddy  McDowall 

Nicole   Anne  Baxter 

Major   Diessen  Otto  Preminger 

J.  Carrol  Naish,  Lester  Matthews.  Jill  Esmond.  Ferike 
Boros,  Peggy  Ann  Garner,  Merrill  Rodin. 

Complete  review  published  July  11,  1942 


Wings  and  the  Woman 

(RKO  Radio) 
Biographical  Chronicle 

Continuing  his  contributions  to  the  screens' 
biographical  archives,  Herbert  Wilcox,  with  the 
aid  of  Anna  Neagle,  here  directs  his  attentions 
to  the  British  woman  flier,  Amy  Johnson. 

The  film  is  biography  rather  than  drama,  a 
chronicle  record  of  Amy's  life  and  career,  her 
schooldays — with  Amy  in  pigtails  and  a  gym 
skirt — her  determination  to  fly,  her  trip  to 
Australia,  and  the  one  to  the  Cape,  her  unsuc- 
cessful marriage  with  Jim  Mollison,  and  her 
death  while  ferry  piloting  during  the  War. 

Anna  Neagle  is  sympathetic  and  sincere  as 
the  woman  flier,  though  her  semi- Yorkshire 
accent  is,  the  realists  know,  neither  Yorkshire 
nor  Amy  Johnson.  Robert  Newton's  perform- 
ance as  Mollison  is  flawless  in  its  creation  of 
an  elusive,  impulsive  playboy,  with  little  attrac- 
tive to  commend  him.  The  inference  cast  upon 
a  living  character  propounds  an  odd  problem 
for  the  showman.  Edward  Chapman,  as  Amy's 
father,  tries  hard  to  infuse  the  breath  of  York- 
shire life  into  all  too  scanty  material,  and 
Brefni  O'Rourke  calls  for  mention  for  his 
work. 

Amy  Johnson  Anna  Neagle 

Jim  Mollison  Robert  Newton 

Mr.  Johnson  Edward  Chapman 

Mrs.   Johnson  Joan  Kemp-Welch 

Brefni  O'Rourke,  Muriel  George,  Martita  Hunt,  An- 
thony Shaw,  Ian  Fleming. 

Complete  review  published  May  2,  1942 


Journey  into  Fear 

(RKO  Radio) 

Spy  Intrique  in  Turkey 

A  story  of  spy  intrigue  in  Turkey  is  Orson 
Welles'  third  Mercury  production.  Into  it  he 
packs  many  of  the  tricks  which  distinguished 
his  radio  thrillers  and  left  a  distinct  mark  on 
his  previous  films.  But  technique  and  mood  are 
not  quite  enough  to  link  episodes  into  a  smooth 
melodrama. 

Joseph  Cotten  carries  the  action  as  Graham, 
an  armament  engineer,  whose  life  is  sought  by 
Nazi  agents.  His  difficulties  in  a  strange  land, 
and  uncertainty  as  to  who  among  the  weird 
characters  are  his  friends  should  hold  interest. 
But  the  tale  lags  when  he  flees  on  a  tramp 
steamer  followed  by  Nazi  agent  and  hired 
killer.  Suffice  it  to  say  they  are  outwitted  by  the 


Turkish  secret  police,  or  Welles  in  person  as 
Colonel  Haki,  and  Graham  safely  returns  to  his 
wife,  Ruth  Warwick.  Meantime,  a  Eurasian 
dancer,  Dolores  del  Rio,  guides  and  solaces  him. 
The  climax  is  a  chase  on  a  rainswept  cornice. 

Previewed  at  a  customs''  screening  in  New 
York.  The  inspector  and  an  office  boy  zvcrc 
puzzled.     Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. 

Graham   Joseph  Cotten 

Josette  Doloses  del  Rio 

Stephanie   Ruth  Warrick 

Colonel  Haki  Orson  Welles 

Agnes  Moorehead.  Tack  Durant,  Eustace  Wyatt. 
Frank  Readick.  Edgar  Barrier,  Jack  Moss. 

Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 

One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is 
Missing 

(UA) 
War  Drama 

Emeric  Pressburger,  and  Michael  Powell, 
who  documented  the  case  for  the  democracies 
against  Nazism  in  such  vivid  dramatic  form 
in  "49th  Parallel,"  have  once  again  scored  a 
box-office  bullseye  in  this  vivid  and  convincing 
story  of  British  fliers  grounded  in  Holland  and 
escaping  with  the  aid  of  the  Free  Dutch.  It  is 
as  realistic  in  its  treatment  and  detail  as  its 
eminent  predecessor,  lacking  maybe  the  same 
swift  phantasmagoric  movement,  but  no  less 
heartening  and  truthful  in  its  message. 

The  picture  tells  of  a  British  air  crew  and 
their  raid  on  Stuttgart,  how  they  have  to  bale 
out  over  Holland,  are  cared  for  and  protected, 
and  at  last  helped  to  escape  to  England  again. 
The  last  sequence  shows  them  taking  off  again 
in  a  bomber,  this  time  bound  for  Berlin. 

There  are  no  marquee  names  in  the  film,  but 
the  front  line  players,  Eric  Portman,  Hugh 
Williams,  and  Bernard  Miles,  for  instance, 
make  their  characters  live. 

A  packed  trade  audience  in  London  gave  the 
film  a  wrapt  attention,  and  a  vigorous  hand  at 
the  close. 

Sir  George  Corbett  Godfrey  Tearle 

Tom  Earnshaw  ..Eric  Portman 

Frank  Shelley  Hugh  Williams 

Emrys  Jones,  Pamela  Brown,  Goggie  Withers,  Ray 
Petrie,  Robert  Helpman,  Peter  Ustinov. 

Complete  review  published  April  11,  1942 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

(Warner  Bros.) 

Flags,  Romance  and  George  M.  Cohan 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  is  a  wartimely  in- 
spiration. 

It  has  been  correctly  calculated  to  play  not 
only  upon  every  normal  emotion,  but  also  to 
rouse  the  patriotic  fervor  of  any  American. 
The  material  at  hand,  the  life  of  George  M. 
Cohen,  is  perfect  for  the  purpose  and  Hal  B. 
Willis,  executive  producer,  and  William  Cag- 
ney,  associate  producer,  have  used  it  to  the  full. 

The  picture  is  one  of  Hollywood's  finest. 
Photographically,  musically,  and  in  choreogra- 
phy, too,  it  is  well  nigh  perfect.  Sight  and 
sound  have  been  blended  to  make  a  screen  mas- 
terpiece. 

James  Cagney,  star  of  the  picture,  demon- 
strates his  versatility  as  he  sings  and  dances 
his  way  through  it  and  plays  emotional  scenes 
as  well.  There  is  a  long  distance  from  the  Cag- 
ney of  'Angels  With  Dirty  Faces"  to  the  Cag- 
ney of  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy."  Walter  Hus- 
ton and  Rosemary  DeCamp  capably  enact  the 
roles  of  Jerry  and  Nellie  Cohan.  A  showman- 
like touch  is  the  casting  of  James  Cagney|s 
sister,  Jeanne,  in  the  role  of  Josie  Cohan,  his 
screen  sister. 

A  projection  room  audience  of  reviewers 
gave  the  picture  marked  attention,  laughed  at 
its  sallies  and  applauded  at  its  conclusion. 

George  M.  Cohan  James  Cagney 

Mary   Joan  Leslie 

Jerry   Cohan  Walter  Huston 

Sam  Harris  Richard  Whorf 

President  Roosevelt  Capt.  Jack  Young 

Irene  Manning.  George  Tobias,  Rosemary  DeCamp. 
Jeanne  Cagney,  Frances  Langford,  George  Barbier. 

Complete  review  published  fane  6,  1942 


Baby  Face  Morgan 

( Producers  Releasing ) 
Gangster  Comedy-Drama 

A  cast  of  dependables  whose  names  bulk  up 
in  billing,  plus  a  story  that  avoids  the.  common- 
place in  situation  and  point,  sets  this  comedy- 
drama  of  gangsterism  apart  from  and  above  the 
flow  of  moderately-budgeted  product. 

The  script  by  Edward  Dein  and  Jack  Rubin, 
from  a  story  by  Rubin  and  Oscar  Brodney,  is 
about  a  small  town  boy,  son  of  a  big  town 
gangster,  deceased,  whose  former  followers 
draft  the  youth  to  leadership  of  their  mob,  find 
him  unsuited  to  the  job  and  keep  him  under 
cover  while  they  use  his  name  to  terrorize 
transportation  companies  via  the  protection 
racket.  The  boy  utilizes  an  insurance  company, 
maintained  by  the  mobsters  as  a  front,  to  in- 
sure the  transportation  companies,  with  the  re- 
sult that  money  collected  from  them  by  the 
gangsters  is  returned  to  them  in  compensation 
for  damage  administered.  Right  comes  out 
right  and  wrong  wrong  at  the  finish,  naturally. 

Richard  Cromwell  as  the  boy  and  Robert 
Armstrong  as  the  chief  mobster  stand  out  in  the 
cast,  with  Warren  Hymer,  Vince  Barnett  and 
Ralf  Herolde  leading  the  support. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. 

Baby  Face  Morgan  Richard  Cromwell 

Virginia  Clark  Mary  Carlisle 

Robert  Armstrong.  Chick  Chandler,  Warren  Hymer, 
Charles  Judels,  Vince  Barnett,  Ralf  Herolde. 

Complete  review  published  July  2  5,  1942 


Busses  Roar 


(Warner  Bros.) 
Sabotage  Melodrama 

Warners'  "Busses  Roar"  is  a  melodrama 
dealing  with  the  attempts  of  a  Jap  spy  ring 
to  plant  a  time  bomb  on  a  bus  going  through 
a  military  zone  in  order  that  the  resultant  fire 
might  guide  the  shells  of  a  submarine  off  the 
California  coast  to  their  oil  field  target.  Slow 
to  start,  the  picture  goes  through  to  an  action- 
packed  climax,  then  fades  as  a  Marine  sergeant, 
the  hero  of  the  story,  delivers  some  patriotic 
speeches. 

All  the  standard  ingredients  of  such  stories 
are  used — a  murder,  a  counter-espionage  agent 
posing  as  a  panhandler,  fights  and  the  chase. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. 

Sergeant  Ryan  Richard  Travis 

Reba  Richards  Julie  Bishop 

Charles  Drake,  Eleanor  Parker.  Elisabeth  Fraser. 
Richard  Fraser,  Peter  Whitney,  Frank  Wilcox. 

Complete  review  published  August  22,  1942 


A  Night  for  Crime 

(Producers  Releasing) 
Exploitation  Feature 

In  addition  to  the  names  of  Glenda  Farrell, 
Lyle  Talbot  and  Lina  Basquette  to  sell,  this 
Lester  Cutler  production  supplies  showmen  a 
variety  of  materials  for  featuring  in  exploita- 
tion. 

It  is  a  picture  about  Hollywood,  written  by 
a  Hollywood  columnist,  Jimmy  Starr,  and  in- 
cludes himself  and  three  other  columnists,  Ed- 
win Schallert,  Harry  Crocker  and  Erskine 
Johnson,  in  the  cast,  portraying  themselves  in 
plain  view  of  their  readers.  It  returns  Miss 
Farrell  to  the  role  of  newspaper  woman,  this 
time  a  Hollywood  newspaper  woman,  and  it 
ensnares  her  in  a  series  of  distressing  incidents 
which  impede  for  a  proper  length  of  time  her 
ultimately  successful  effort  to  unravel  the  mys- 
tery of  a  disappearing  film  star  suspected  of 
murder. 

Reviezver's  Rating:  Good. 

Susan   Glenda  Farrell 

joe   Lyle  Talbot 

Mona   Lina  Basquette 

Donald  Kirke.  Ralph  Sanford.  Forrest  Taylor.  Lynn 
Starr,  Ricki  Vallin,  Edna  Harris,  Marjorie  Manners. 

Complete  review  published  August  1,  1942 


Product  Digest  Section  903 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     12,  1942 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 


Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product. 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail- 
able. Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change. 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers' 
Round  Table  Exploitation. 


All  page  numbers  on  this  chart  refer  to  pages  in  the 
PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 
on  pages  900-901. 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 
by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  891. 


■  REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

•  ABOUT  Face  UA-Roach 
Across  the  Pacific  WB 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The  MGM 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force  WB 

•  Alias  Boston  Blackie  Col. 
A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  20th-Fox 

•  Almost  Married  Univ. 
American  Empire  Para. 
Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  MGM 
Apache  Trail  MGM 
Arabian  Nights  Univ. 

•  Are  Husbands  Necessary?  Para. 
Arizona  Stagecoach  Mono. 
Army  Surgeon  RKO 
Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  WB 

•Atlantic  Convoy  Col. 

BABY  Face  Morgan  PRC 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills  Col. 

•  Bambi  (color)  RKO 
Bandit  Ranger  RKO 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The  RKO 
•Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

(formerly  Kukan) 

Battle  for  Siberia  Artkino 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano  Rep. 
Berlin  Correspondent  20th-Fox 
Between  Us  Girls  Univ. 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses,  Caroline) 

•  Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)  Para. 

•  Big  Shot,  The  WB 
Big  Street,  The  RKO 

•Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC 

•Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns  PRC 

Black  Swan,  The  20th-Fox 

•Blondie's  Blessed  Event  Col. 

•Blondie  for  Victory  Col. 

Bombardier  RKO 

•Bombs  Over  Burma  PRC 

•Boothill  Bandits  Mono. 

•Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa  Univ. 

Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood  Col. 

•Bride  of  Buddha  Hoffberg 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•Broadway  Univ. 

Busses  Roar  WB 

CAIRO  MGM 

Calaboose  UA 

Call  of  the  Canyon  Rep. 

•  Calling  Dr.  Gillespie  MGM 
Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  20th-Fox 
Casablanca  WB 
China  Girl  20th-Fox 
City  of  Silent  Men  PRC 
Clear  for  Action  MGM 

•Come  On,  Danger  RKO 

•  Corpse  Vanishes,  The  Mono. 
Counter  Espionage  Col. 
Cover  Girl,  The  Col. 

•Crossroads  MGM 

•  Cyclone  Kid,  The  Rep. 

•  DANGER  in  the  Pacific  Univ. 
Daring  Young  Man,  The  Col. 


Prod. 
'Number 

202 
245 


3029 
302 
6024 


4131 


3045 


3207 


221 


311 


4130 
135 


260 

3018 
3019 

208 


6009 
203 


131 
247 
312 


285 


244 
177 

6056 


Release 

Stars  Date 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer  Apr.  1 7, '42 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor  Sept.  5, '42 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson  Aug.  '42 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young  Not  Set 

Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara  Apr.  2, '42 

Laurel  and  Hardy  Aug.  7, '42 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee  May  22, '42 
Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo  Not  Set 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone  Not  Set 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed  Not  Set 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall  Oct.  1 6, '42 
Ray  Milland-Betty  Field  Block  7 

The  Range  Busters  Sept.  4,'42 
James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt  Not  Set 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

John  Beal-Virginia  Field  July  2, '42 

Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell  Oct.  1 2, '42 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Aug.  1 3, '42 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon  Aug.  2 1, '42 

Tim  Holt  Sept.  25,'42 

Lum  and  Abner  Apr.  24,'42 
Chinese  Feature  Not  Set 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin  Aug.  26, '42 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Sept.  1 5, '42 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore  Sept.  I  I, '42 
Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings       Sept.  4,'42 


Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 
Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 
Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne 
Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 
Corrigan-King-Terhune 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 
R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 
Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 


Block  6 
June  I3,'42 
Sept.  4,'42 
Aug.  2 1, '42 
May  29.'42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  9,'42 
Aug.  6,'42 
Shirley  Not  Set 
June  5, '42 
Apr.  24,'42 
Aug.  21/42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  22.'42 


Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young 
Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 
Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 
Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn 
Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison 
Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman 
George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney 
Frank  Alperson-June  Lang 
Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor 
Tim  Holt 
Bela  Lugosi 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore 
Jinx  Falkenburg 
William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr 
Don  "Red"  Barry 

Dick  Foran-Leo  Carrillo 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 


May  8,'42 
Sept.  I9,'42 

Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Aug.  5,'42 
Aug.,  '42 
Sept,  I8,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Nov.  9,'42 
Not  Set 
June  5, '42 
May  8,'42 
Sept.  3, '42 
Not  Set 
July,  '42 
May  3 1, '42 

July  10/42 
Not  Set 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

43  m 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

98m 

Aug.  22/42 

853 

726 

66m 

May  23/42 

673 

613 

67m   

67m  July  1 1/42  766 

65m  Mar.  7/42  554 

66m  June  27/42  737 

79m  June  13/42  714 

66m  July  II  ,'42  765 

65m  July  25/42  903 

70m  May  30/42  685 

77m  Mar.  21/42  563 

61m  July  5/41  840 

90m  Sept.  5/42  889 

70m  Aug.  15/42  838 

89m  Aug.  29/42  890 

76m  May  9/42  646 

80m  June  6/42  714 

87m  Aug.  8/42  902 

58m  Aug.  22/42  854 

69m  July  4/42  750 

70m   

65m  July  i8,'42  78  i 

58m   

75m  May  13/33  634 

91m  May  9/42  645 

61m  Aug.  22/42  903 

101m  Aug.  15/42  838 

7im  Aug.  22/42  853 

84m  June  20/42  725 

69m  Aug.  15/42  839 

64m  Sept.  12/42  898 

63m  Apr.  18/42  611 

84m  June  27/42  737 

56m  Aug.  15/42  840 

56m  Aug.  8/42  827 


575 


871 
796 
726 
872 
663 

70  i 

75  i 


487 


872 
797 
772 

527 
648 
701 

648 
855 
575 
772 

648 
613 

794 


800 
715 


872 
871 

871 

663 
701 

87  i 


Data 
Page 


756 


873 


795 


795 
756 


756 


873 


873 


904    Product  Digest  Section 


September    12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


REVIEWED 


Title  Company 

Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'I 

Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas  Univ. 

Desert  Song,  The  WB 

Desperados,  The  Col. 

•  Desperate  Chance  for  Ellery  Queen  Col. 
Desperate  Journey  WB 
Destination  Unknown  Univ. 
Destiny  Univ. 
Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

•  Devil's  Trail,  The  Col. 
•Dr.  Broadway  Para. 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way  Col. 

•  Down  Texas  Way  Mono. 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo  Univ. 

•  EAGLE  Squadron  Univ. 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen  Col. 
•Escape  from  Crime  WB 

•  Escape  from  Hong  Kong  Univ. 
Eyes  in  the  Night  MGM 

•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•  Fantasia  (color)  (Revised  RKO 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•  Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 

(British) 

•  Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 
Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 

•  Flying  Tigers  Rep. 
Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 
Foreign  Agent  Mono. 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 
Forest  Rangers,  The  Para. 
For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 
For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Para. 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French)  English 

•  Friendly  Enemies  UA 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 

PRC 
WB 
WB 
WB 
Univ. 
Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Univ. 
Para. 
UA 

Ealing-UA 

MGM 
Univ. 
Para. 
Para. 
Artkino 

Univ. 
Para. 
WB 
Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
MGM 
RKO 
WB 
RKO 
Mono. 
Rep. 
Para. 
Rep. 
PRC 

Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Para. 
MGM 
Para. 
Rep. 
PRC 
WB 
Col. 
Univ. 


•GALLANT  Lady 
•Gay  Sisters,  The 

Gentleman  Jim 

George  Washington  Slept 

Get  Hep  to  Love 
•Girl  from  Alaska,  The 

Girl  Trouble 

•  Give  Out,  Sisters 
Glass  Key,  The 

•  Gold  Rush,  The 
Goose  Steps  Out,  The 

(British) 
•Grand  Central  Murder 

Great  Impersonation,  The 
•Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Great  Without  Glory 
•Guerrilla  Brigade 

HALF  Way  to  Shanghai 

Happy  Go  Lucky 

Hard  Way.  The 
•Hello  Annapolis 

Henry  Aldrich,  Editor 
•Henry  and  Dizzy 
•Her  Cardboard  Lover 

Here  We  Go  Again 

Hidden  Hand,  The 

Highways  by  Night 
•Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg 

Hi!  Neighbor 
•Holiday  Inn 
•Home  in  Wyomin' 
•House  of  Errors 

ICE-Capades  Revue 

Iceland 
•I  Live  on  Danger 
•I  Married  an  Angel 

I  M  arried  a  Witch 
•In  Old  California 
•Inside  the  Law 
•In  This  Our  Life 
•Invaders,  The  (British) 
•Invisible  Agent 


Here 


Prod. 
'Number 


3032 
204 


3214 
4128 
3205 

6040 


3038 
137 
6054 

227 


292 
6065 


232 
3012 
301 


219 
38 


17 


237 
4121 


3037 

4125 
241 


201 
4143 
146 
216 


306 
4135 
238 

103 
218 
132 
3101 
6049 


Stars 

Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 
Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 
William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 
Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 
Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 
Richard  Dix-Wendy  Barrie-Lon  Chaney 
Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 
Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 
Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 
Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 
Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 
Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 

Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 
Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan 
Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 
Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 
Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari 
George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph 
William  Tracy-Jean  Porter 
Disney-Stokowski 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 

War  Documentary 
Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day 
Leslie  Howard-David  Niven 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford 
Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann 
John  Wayne-Anna  Lee 
John  Payne-Betty  Grable 
John  Sheldon-Gail  Storm 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder 
Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard 
Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 
Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman 
Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco 
Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles 
Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer 
Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent 
Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith 
Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan 
Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige 
Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker 
Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett 
Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies 
Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan 
Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music 
Will  Hay 

Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 
Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 
Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea 
Joel  McCrea-Betty  Field 
Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat 

Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor  Sept.  1 8, '42 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee  Not  Set 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan  Not  Set 

Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown  Apr.  23, '42 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Not  Set 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Block  5 

Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor  June  '42 
Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie"  Oct.  9, '42 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser  Not  Set 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph  Oct.  2,'42 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan  Aug.  I4,'42 

Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker  July  27,'42 

Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire  Block  7 

G.  Autry-S.  Burnette  Apr.  20,'42 

Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers  Apr.  I0,'42 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague  Not  Set 

Sonja  Henie-John  Payne  Oct.  2, '42 

Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker  Block  7 

Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonald  June  '42 

Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake  Not  Set 

John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes  May  3 1, '42 

Wallace  Ford  May  8,'42 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland  May  I6,'42 

Howard-Massey-Olivier  Apr.  15/42 

llona  Massey-Jon  Hall  July  3 1, '42 


Release 
Date 
Not  Set 
Sept.  25, "42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
May  7,'42 
Sept.  26,'42 
Oct.  9,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
May  1 4, '42 
Block  6 
Apr.  23,'42 
May  22,"42 
July  I7,'42 

Not  Set 
July  30,'42 
July  25,'42 
May  I5,'42 
Not  Set 

May  29,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  I0,'42 
Apr.  I7,'42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  '42 
Not  Set 

July  9,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Aug.   I, '42 
Oct.  9/42 

Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  1 1, '42 
June  26,'42 
Sept.  4,'42 

May  29,'42 
Aug.   I  ,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Oct.  2,'42 
Apr.  I6,'42 
Not  Set 
Sept.  1 1, '42 
Ladd       Block  I 
Apr.  I7,'42 
Not  Set 

May,  '42 
Not  Set 
Block  5 
Not  Set 
Apr.  I3,'42 


Running 
Time 
98m 
62  m 


70m 
109m 


90m 

104m 

86m 
95m 

63m 
108m 


71m 
90m 
76m 

63m 
63m 
72m 
101m 
67m 
65m 


M.  P. 
Herald 

Issue 
May  23,'42 
Sept.  12/42 


Sept.  5.'42 
Aug.  22,'42 


Product    Advance  Service 


Digest 
Page 
673 
898 


890 
854 


May  2,'42 

Sept.  12/42 

Apr.  25/42 
June  27/42 

June  6/42 


634 

897 

622 
738 

697 


62m        Aug.  1/42 


Mar.  21/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 

Aug.  8/42 
Aug.  8/42 
July  25/42 
June  13/42 
May  2/42 


810 

563 
686 
869 

827 
827 
794 
713 
633 


Synopsis 


872 
871 


Data 

Page 


872 
751 
855 

726 


648 
663 

87  i 


797 
796 

663 
443 
648 


715 
794 
772 
663 

539 

797 


61m 

7is 

67m 

May  7,  4z 

LA  L 

646 

COT 

bit 

oti 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

873 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

63  m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

871 

796 

81m 

Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

590 

57m 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

37m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

80m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

1  18m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

78m 

June  27/42 

751 

109m 

June  27/42 

737 

772 

80m 

July  11/42 

765 

715 

873 

75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

855 

65m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

869 

72m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

795 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

72  m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

756 

90m 

Mar.  21/42 

56  i 

396 

795 

73  m 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

795 


79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

73  m 

June  13/42 

713 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 
797 

873 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

62m 

613 

97m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

795 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

Product  Digest  Section  905 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    12,  1942 


REVIEWED 


Title 

Isle  of  Missing  Men 

•  It  Happened  in  Flatbush 
•I  Was  Framed 

•  JACKASS  Mail 

•  Joan  of  Ozark 
Journey  for  Margaret 
Journey  Into  Fear 

•Juke  Girl 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color) 

•  Jungle  Siren 

Just  Off  Broadway 

•  KID  Glove  Killer 

•  King  of  the  Stallions 
•Kings  Row 

•  LADY  Gangster 

•  Lady  in  a  Jam 

•  Land  of  the  Open  Range 

•  Larceny,  Inc. 

Let  the  People  Sing  (British) 

•  Let's  Get  Tough 
Little  Tokyo.  U.S.A. 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice 
Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The 
Lucky  Legs 

•  Lure  of  the  Islands 


Company 
Mono. 
20th-Fox 
WB 

MGM 
Rep. 
MGM 
RKO 
WB 
UA 
PRC 
20th-Fox 

MGM 
Mono. 
WB 

WB 
Univ. 
RKO 
WB 
Anglo 
Mono. 
20th-Fox 
Prod. 
20th-Fox 
Col. 
Mono. 


•  MAD  Martindales,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Mad  Monster,  The  PRC 
Magnificent  Ambersons,  The  RKO 

•  Magnificent  Dope,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Maisie  Gets  Her  Man  MGM 
Major  and  the  Minor,  The  Para. 

•  Male  Animal,  The  WB 
Man  in  the  Trunk,  The  20th-Fox 
Manila  Calling  20th-Fox 
Man  on  America's  Conscience,  The  MGM 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The  20th-Fox 
Man's  World,  A  Col. 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St.  RKO 

•  Meet  the  Mob  Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts  Col. 

•  Men  of  San  Quentin  PRC 

•  Men  of  Texas  Univ. 
Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant  RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

•  Miss  Annie  Rooney  UA 

•  Mississippi  Gambler  Univ. 

•  Mokey  MGM 
•Moonlight  Masquerade  Rep. 

•  Moon  Tide  20th-Fox 
Moon  and  Sixpence,  The  UA 
Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Artkino 
Mr.  &  Mrs.  Brooklyn  UA-Roach 

•Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 

Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House  WB 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 
•My  Favorite  Spy     -  RKO 

My  Friend  Flicka  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•  My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 

•  Mystery  of  Marie  Roget  Univ. 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The  RKO 

•Native  Land  Frontier 
Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 

Night  for  Crime,  A  PRC 

•Night  in  New  Orleans  Para. 

•  North  of  the  Rockie  Col. 

•  Not  a  Ladies  Man  Col. 
No  Time  for  Love  Para. 
Now,  Voyager  WB 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track  Univ. 

Old  Homestead,  The  Rep. 

Omaha  Trail  MGM 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  RKO 
One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British)  UA 

One  Thrilling  Night  Mono. 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 


Prod.  Release 
Number                Stars  Date 
  John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland  Sept.  I8,'42 

248  Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis  June  5, '42 

130  Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop  Apr.  25,'42 

243  Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main  July  '42 

104  Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown  Aug.   I, '42 

....  Robert  Young-Laraine  Day  Not  Set 

....  Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio  Not  Set 

133  Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan  May  30/42 
....  Sabu  Apr.  3,'42 

203  Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe  Aug.  2 1, '42 

310  Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver  Sept.  25,'42 

230  Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt  Apr.  '42 

....  Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien  Sept.  1 1,  '42 

120  Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings  Apr.  I8,'42 

134  Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop  June  6,'42 
6008  Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles  June  1 9,*42 

284  Tim  Holt  Apr.  I7,'42 

131  Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman  May  2/42 
....  Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney  Not  Set 

East  Side  Kids  May  29/42 

303  Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce  Aug.  14/42 

265  George  Houston-Al  St.  John  June  21/42 

305  John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell  Aug.  28/42 

....  Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris  Not  Set 

....  Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery  July  3/42 

245  Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray  May  15/42 

209  Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel  May  15/42 

....  Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello  July  10/42 

249  Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari  June  12/42 
240  Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  June  '42 

....  Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland  Block  I 
126  Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland  Apr.  4/42 
....  Lynn  Roberts-George  Holmes  Not  Set 
....  Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis  Not  Set 
  Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey  Not  Set 

243  Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver  May  1/42 
M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright  Sept.  17/42 

224  George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley  May  15/42 
  Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 

3014  William  Holden-Frances  Dee  May  28/42 

201  J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston  May  22/42 
6010  Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne  July  3/42 
....  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  Sept.  1 1  ,'42 

230  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  June  26/42 
....  Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan  May  29/42 
6034  Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford  Apr.  17/42 

231  Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed  Apr..  .'42 
120  Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr.  June  10/42 
247  Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains     May  29/42 

....  George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall  Not  Set 

....  Documentary  Aug.  15/42 

....  Arline  Judge-Max  Baer-William  Bendix       Not  Set 

260  Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon  Not  Set 

....  Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee  Not  Set 

....  Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox  Not  Set 

125  Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson  Apr.  11/42 

4123  Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  Block  5 

228  Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew  June  12/42 

....  Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster  Not  Set 

244  Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature  May  8/42 

  Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll  Not  Set 

....  Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne  Sept.  24/42 

6022  Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez  Apr.  3/42 

  Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott  Not  Set 

....  Documentary  on  Labor  May  11/42 

....  Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam  Not  Set 

  Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot  Sept.  15/42 

4127  Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison  Block  6 

3213  Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  Apr.  2/42 

3042  Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray  May  14/42 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray  Not  Set 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid  Not  Set 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce  Not  Set 

202  Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry  Aug.  17/42 
James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant  Not  Set 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman  Not  Set 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay  June  5/42 


M.P. 

Running  Herald 
Time  Issue 
67m       Aug.  15/42 
80m        May  30/42 
61m        Apr.  11/42 


Product  Advance  Service 
Digest     Synopsis  Data 


80m 
80m 

69m 
90m 
I  15m 
68m 
65m 

74m 
63m 
130m 

62m 
83m 
60m 
95m 
1 00m 
62m 
64m 
60m 
67m 

61m 

65m 
79m 
88m 
84m 
86m 
1 00m 
101m 


61m 


80m 
1 00m 
78m 
75m 
60m 
60m 


9m 


67m 


0m 
69m 


June  20/42 
July  25/42 

Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  I  1/42 
Mar.  28/42 

Aug.  15/42 

Mar.  14/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Dec.  27/41 

Apr.  1 1/42 
July  4/42 
Dec.  13/41 
Mar.  7/42 
Apr.  11/42 
May  16/42 
July  11/42 

July  ii/42 


Apr.  18/42 
June  6/42 
July  4/42 
May  30/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Mar.  7/42 


65m        Apr.  18/42 


86m  Mar.  21/42 

62m  Apr.  25/42 

73m  May  23/42 

78m  Apr.  18/42 

82m  July  1 1/42 

64m  Aug.  8/42 

69m  May  9/42 

85m  May  30/42 

60m  Apr.  18/42 

88m  Mar.  28/42 

67m  June  27/42 

94m  Apr.  18/42 

55m  Aug.  15/42 

133m  May  i  6/42 


59m  Apr.  11/42 

78m  Mar.  2 1/42 

86m  May  9/42 

103m  Apr.  18/42 


Apr.  1 1/42 


May  16/42 
June  6/42 
Aug.  1/42 
May  9/42 


Aug.  22/42 
Aug.  29/42 


Apr.  1 1/42 
July  4/42 


'age 

Page 

Page 

840 

772 

686 

674 

599 

574 

726 

715 

795 

793 

903 

796 

597 

464 

873 

573 

396 

873 

902 

797 

551 

495 

873 

870 

800 

4Z9 

320 

705 

599 

574 

749 

613 

795 

301 

538 

795 

599 

662 

648 

766 

766 

75  i 

797 

800 

oil 

699 

613 

IVi 

756 

686 

677 

873 

687 

648 

756 

ooV 

537 

464 

795 

855 

871 

610 

563 

487 

622 

574 

674 

705 

610 

766 

773 

Oil 

646 

635 

873 

686 

677 

873 

L  1  1 

61  1 

574 

738 

701 

609 

795 

840 

661 

527 

795 

663 

598 

575 

561 

542 

756 

646 

635 

873 

609 

795 

871 

772 

597 

507 

662 
698 
903 
647 


902 


870 


903 
750 


715 


635 
575 
613 
855 


794 
855 
796 


662 


906     Product  Digest  Section 


September    12,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


REVIEWED 


Title  Company 

Orchestra  Wives  20th-Fox 

•  Orders  from  Tokyo  Almo 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood  Col. 
Ox-Bow  Incident,  The  20th-Fcx 
Ox  Train  MGM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous  MGM 
Palm  Beach  Story,  The  Para. 
Panama  Hattie  MGM 

•  Panther's  Claw,  The  PRC 

•  Parachute  Nurse  Col. 

•  Pardon  My  Sarong  Univ. 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French)  Better  Films 

•  Phantom  Killer  Mono. 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen  Rep. 
Pied  Piper,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains  MGM 

•  Police  Bullets  Mono. 

•  Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Powder  Town  RKO 
Prairie  Chickens  UA-Roach 

•  Prairie  Gunsmoke  Col. 
Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The  RKO 
Priorities  on  Parade  Para. 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan  PRC 

•  Private  Buckaroo  Univ. 

RANDOM  Harvest  MGM 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color)  Para. 

•  Red  Tanks  Arkino 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor  Rep. 
Reunion  MGM 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland  Col. 

•  Riders  of  the  West  Mono. 

•  Rio  Rita  MGM 
Road  to  Morocco  Para. 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide  PRC 

•  Romance  on  the  Range  Rep. 

•  Rubber  Racketeers  Mono. 


Prod.  Release 

Number                 Stars  Date 

308  George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford    Sept.  4,'42 

....  Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set 

3208  Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Sept.  25, "42 

....  Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set 

....  James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set 


239  Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers  June  '42 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea  Not  Set 

....  Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  Not  Set 

217  Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr  Apr.  1 7, '42 

3044  Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman  June  1 8, '42 

....  Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce  Aug.  7, '42 

....  John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance  Apr.  4,'42 

  Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury  Oct.  2, '42 

167  Three  Mesquiteers  June  I6,'42 

304  Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall  Aug.  2 1, "42 

246  John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey  Aug.  '42 

....  John  Archer-Joan  Marsh  Sept.  25, "42 

252  Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce  July  3,'42 
226  Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien  June  I9,'42 

....  Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

3215  Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  July  16/42 

....  Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright  Not  Set 

....  Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna  Block  I 

204  Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael  July  22,'42 

6011  Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran  June  12, '42 

....  Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson  Not  Set 

4137  Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard  Special 

  A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur  June  5,'42 

134  Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry  May  1 1, '42 

....  Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John  Wayne      Not  Set 

.3206  Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  June  I8,'42 

  Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy  Aug.  2 1, '42 

233  Abbott  and  Costello  Apr.  "42 

....  Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy  Lamour      Not  Set 

253  Bill  (Radio)  Boyd  Apr.  24,'42 
156  Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  May  18/42 

....  Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez  June  26/42 


Running 
Time 
97m 
80m 


76m 

79m 
70m 
63m 
84m 
92m 
61m 
65m 
87m 
66m 

69m 
79m 

56m 
120m 
79m 
64m 
68m 


M.  P. 
Herald 
Issue 
Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  1/42 


July  25/42 
Mar.  2 1  ,'42 
Aug.  1/42 
Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  1 1/42 
Aug.  22/42 

July  1 1/42 
June  20/42 

May  30/42 
May  9/42 


July  18/42 
Aug.  1/42 

July  4/42 
June  6/42 


Product 
Digest 
Page 
838 
810 


May  23/42  673 


793 
563 
810 
825 
599 
854 

903 
725 

687 
647 


781 
810 
750 
699 


Advance 
Synopsis 

Page 

797 


872 
796 


648 
663 
396 

701 


751 
715 
800 


715 


796 


Service 
Data 
Page 


873 


873 


124m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

574 

408 

795 

64m 

June  13/42 

713 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

872 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

60m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

872 

795 

60m 

635 

63m 

June  6/42 

697 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

•SABOTAGE  Squad  Col. 

•  Saboteur  Univ. 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt .-Anglo-Am. 

•  Scattergood  Rides  Again  RKO 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

•Secret  Agent  of  Japan  20th-Fox 

Secret  Enemies  WB 

Seven  Days  Leave  RKO 

Seven  Sweethearts  MGM 

Shadows  on  the  Sage  Rep. 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror  Univ. 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back  Univ. 

•  She's  in  the  Army  Mono. 
•Ship  Ahoy  MGM 
•Ships  With  Wings  (British)  UA 
•Silver  Bullet  Univ. 

Silver  Queen  Para. 

Sin  Town  Univ. 

•  Smart  Alecks  Mono. 
Smith  of  Minnesota  Col. 
Sombrero  Kid,  The  Rep. 
Somewhere  I'll  Find  You  MGM 

•  Song  of  the  Lagoon  UA-Roach 
•Sons  of  the  Pioneers  Rep. 
•SOS  Coast  Guard  Rep. 
•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma  Mono. 

Spirit  of  Stanford,  The  Col. 

•Spoilers,  The  Univ. 

Springtime  in  the  Rockies  20th-Fox 

•Spy  Ship  WB 

Stand  By,  All  Networks  Col. 

Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Para. 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage  Para. 

•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx  Univ. 

•Strangler,  The  PRC 

Street  of  Chance  Para. 

Strictly  in  the  Groove  Univ. 

Submarine  Alert  Para. 

•Submarine  Raider  Col. 

•Suicide  Squadron  (British)  Rep. 

•Sunday  Punch  MGM 

•Sunset  Serenade  Rep. 

•Sweater  Girl  Para. 

•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet  Col. 

•Syncopation  RKO 


3046 
6047 

223 

240 

261 

235 
6066 

27i 


157 
123 


6048 
139 


6036 
229 


3043 
119 
234 

4129 
3027 
226 


Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris  Aug.  27/42 

Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane  Apr.  24/42 

Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway  Not  Set 

Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore  May  8/42 

Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes  Not  Set 

Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bar!  Apr.  3/42 

Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson  Not  Set 

Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson  Not  Set 

Three  Mesquiteers  Aug.  24/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

Constance  Bennett-Brad  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Not  Set 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  3 1  ,'42 

Clark  Gable-Lana  Turner  Not  Set 

Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot  May  22/42 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 
Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 

Betty  Grable-John  Payne  Not  Set 

Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice  Not  Set 
Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Moore    Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne  Apr.  17/42 

Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Not  Set 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Not  Set 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray  Apr.  20/42 

William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May/42 

Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  2 1  ,'42 

Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

756 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

66m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

542 

72m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

872 

98m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

855 

63m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

795 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

61m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

726 

898 

66m 

June  27/42 

738 

797 

56m 

796 

107m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

726 

873 

61m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

69m 

Apr.  1 8/42 

611 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

796 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

873 

855 

62m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 
797 
855 

65m 

May  30/42 
Apr.  4/42 

687 

66m 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

75  i 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

Product  Digest  Section 


907 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    12,  1942 

r~  REVIEWED  -> 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Servic 

Prod- 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Title 

Company 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

•  TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling 

Para. 

4126 

Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Block  6 

93m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

873 

Take  My  Life 

Toddy 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  1 1/42 

767 

Tales  of  Manhattan 

20th-Fox 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

701 

Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

•Talk  of  the  Town 

Col. 

3001 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 

Aug.20,'42 

1  18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

70  i 

•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure 

MGM 

242 

Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 

June, '42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 

Not  Set 

•Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 

251 

Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

June26,"42 

103m 

May  30/42 

685 

677 

795 

Texas  to  Bataan 

Mono. 

King-Sharpe-Terhune 

Oct.  I6,'42 

•Texas  Trouble  Shooters 

Mono. 

Range  Busters 

June  12, '42 

55m 

699 

•  There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 

6043 

Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

June  26,'42 

60m 

•  They  All  Kissed  the  Bride 

Col. 

3006 

Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

June  II, '42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

873 

They  Flew  Alone  (British) 

RKO 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

(now  Wings  and  the  Woman 

) 

They  Got  Me  Covered 

Goldwyn 

Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 

Not  Set 

872 

•  They  Raid  by  Night 

PRC 

212 

Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 

June  26,'42 

72  m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

•  This  Above  All 

20th-Fox 

253 

Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 

July  24,'42 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

795 

•  This  Gun  for  Hire 

Para. 

4124 

Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 

Block  5 

80m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

527 

705 

This  Is  the  Enemy 

Artkino 

Russian  Documentary 

Not  Set 

74m 

July  1  1/42 

766 

Those  Kids  from  Toiwn  (British)  Anglo 

Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 

Not  Set 

75  m 

May  2/42 

633 

•  Three  Wise  Brides 

Mono. 

Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 

Apr.  15/42 

635 

•Thru  Different  Eyes 

20th-Fox 

250 

Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 

June  I9,'42 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

Thunder  Birds 

20th-Fox 

John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 

Not  Set 

796 

•Thundering  Hoofs 

RKO 

286 

Tim  Holt 

July  24,'42 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

•  Timber 

Univ. 

6057 

Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

Aug.  I4,"42 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

Tish 

MGM 

Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

Not  Set 

83m 

July  25/42 

793 

772 

•  Tombstone 

Para. 

4132 

Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

Block  7 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

Tomorrow  We  Live 

PRC 

Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 

Sept.  29,'42 

•Top  Sergeant 

Univ. 

6055 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

June  I2,'42 

64m 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle 

Col. 

Russell  Hayd«n-Bob  Wills 

Not  Set 

•Tortilla  Flat 

MGM 

236 

Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

May,"42 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

62  i 

613 

873 

•  To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color) 

20th-Fox 

241 

Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne 

Apr.  I0,'42 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

•  Tough  as  They  Come 

Univ. 

6019 

Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

June  5,'42 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

•  Tower  of  Terror 

Mono. 

Wilfred  Lawson-Movita 

Apr.   1  .'42 

62m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

•  True  to  the  Army 

Para. 

4122 

Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller 

DIOCK  O 

76m 

Mar  21  '42 

IVI  □  1  i  L  1  |     l  Aw 

562 

527 

873 

•  Tumbleweed  Trail 

PRC 

254 

Rill     R/\ufj    A  r4-     riauic    1  n  rt  Psnu/aII 

Dill  DOya-MTT  uavis-Lee  roweii 

lulu  I  ft  •A") 
July  1  U,  *iL 

57m 

•Tuttles  of  Tahiti 

RKO 

r-u.L,  i  -..-Lj.--  |-_  Wall 
v^naries  Laugnton-Jon  nan 

Maw       1  '49 

May   1 ,  t-z 

91m 

Mar  21  '4? 

IVI  dls  11,     I  L. 

562 

/  uo 

•  Twin  Beds 

UA 

George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 

Anr  94  M? 
r\pr.  LrTy 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

Not  Set 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

•  Undercover  Man 

Para. 

4140 

William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 

Block  6 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

•  United  We  Stand 

20th-Fox 

254 

News  Documentary 

July  10/42 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

795 

Unpublished  Story  (British) 

Col. 

Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 

Not  Set 

91m 

Apr.  11/42 

598 

•  Unseen  Enemy 

Univ. 

6053 

Devine-Carrillo-Terry 

Apr.  I0,'42 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

•  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 

Col. 

V)\  A 

Rill  PIU^44  Tov  r;uop 
diii  ciiioTT- 1  ex  Mirer 

oepr.   j ,  tz 

WAKE  Island 

Para. 

Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston 

Block  1 

78m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

772 

War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The  MGM 

Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold 

Not  Set 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

797 

Watch  on  the  Rhine 

WB 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas 

Not  Set 

•  Westward,  Ho! 

Rep. 

166 

Steele-Tyler-Davis 

Apr.  24,'42 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

•  Where  Trails  End 

Mono. 

Tom  Keene 

May  l,'42 

55m 

635 

•  Whispering  Ghosts 

20th-Fox 

246 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle 

May22,'42 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Whistling  in  Dixie 

MGM 

Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford 

Not  Set 

White  Cargo 

MGM 

Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon 

Not  Set 

871 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler? 

20th-Fox 

242 

Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr. 

Apr.  1 7,'42 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The 

Col. 

301 1 

Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone 

Apr.  30/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

Wildcat 

Para. 

Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge 

Block  1 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

Wings  and  the  Woman 

RKO 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

Sept.  18/42 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 

•Wings  for  the  Eagle 

WB 

\  Jo 

Ann  oheridan-Uennis  Morgan 

JUly  1  O,  *r£ 

83m 

lnnn       i\  *  A?) 

j  uric     u,  Tfi. 

AO  7 

O  7  / 

AR7 
OO  / 

0/3 

World  at  War 

WAC 

II     f ,  1  m  o  nfa  r-w 

L/uuuuicnrary 

^t*M    1  ft  '4? 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Wrecking  Crew 

Para. 

Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris 

IN  Or  06T 

YANK  at  Eton,  A 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 

Not  Set 

87m 

Aug.  15/42 

837 

726 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

WB 

James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

873 

•  Yank  in  Libya,  A 

PRC 

220 

H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 

July  31/42 

67m 

772 

You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

WB 

George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 

Not  Set 

898 

•  You're  Telling  Me 

Univ. 

6041 

Hugh  Herbert-Anne  ©wynne 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Col. 

Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 

Not  Set 

796 

Young  and  Willing 

Para. 

William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 

Not  Set 

663 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 

20th-Fox 

Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

July  4/42 

749 

Youth  on  Parade 

Rep. 

John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 

Sept.  24/42 

872 

•  Yukon  Patrol 

Rep. 

i24 

Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  891. 


908     Product  Digest  Section 


CONFIDENCE 


\^  ITH  the  spotlight  on  production  econ- 
omies, directors  and  cameramen  have 
complete  confidence  in  the  dependabil- 
ity of  Eastman  negative  films  with  their 
special  abilities,  wide  latitude,  and  ex- 
ceptional uniformity.  Eastman  Kodak 
Company,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

J.  E.  BRULATOUR.  INC.,  Distributors 
Fort  Lee  Chicago  Hollywood 


PLUS-X  SUPER-XX 

for  general  studio  use  tchen  little  light  is  available 

BACKGROUND  -X 

for  backgrounds  and  general  exterior  work 


EASTMAN  NEGATIVE  FILMS 


RELEASED  SEPTEMBER  17th 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(In  Product  Digest) 

My  Sister  Eileen 

George  Washington 
Slept  Here 

Bells  of  Capistrano 

Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa 

The  Hidden  Hand 

Spring  Song 

Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed 

Foreign  Agent 

Not  a  Ladies'  Man 

Soliga  Solberg 

Manila  Calling 

The  Man  in  the  Trunk 

LATE  REVIEWS 

(In  News  Section) 

Girl  Trouble 

White  Cargo 

The  Hard  Way 

Omaha  Trail 

Half  Way  to  Shanghai 


—  i  n 


128  Films  in  Production 

to  Rush  Record  Backlog 
■ 

Independents  Push  Fight 
for  Raw  Stock  &  Survival 
■ 

Industry  Puts  on  Pressure 
for  Billion  Bond  Goal 
■ 

U.  S.  Works  to  Get  Our 
Films  on  Soviet  Screens 


ettenlhedtres 


Auditorium  Planning  for  Good  Vision 


VOL.  148,  NO.  12 


!n  Two  Sections  —  Section  One 


SEPTEMBER  19,  1942 


Entered  as  second-class  matter,  January  12,  1931.  at  the  Post  Office,  at  .V«ro  i  ork  ^tfy,  U.S.A.,  unacr  the  act  of  Marc 
weeklv  by  Quigley  Publishing  Co.,  Inc..  at  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  i  ork.    Subscription   prices:   $5.00  a  y 
Americas    $10  00  a  year  Foreign.    Single  copy,  25  cents.    All  contents  copyright   1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company. 


1879.  Published 
car   in  the 


He's  leaving  all  companies  behind- 


k  1 


ONE,  TWO,  THREE 
BIG  HITS  in  a  row 
to  start  your  Metro- 
GOLDMINE-Mayer 
season.  Bigger 
'  ones  coming 


Metro- 

GOLDMINE 

Mayer 

FOR  THE 
BEST  TIME! 


Make  it  a 

BILLION 

for  the 
U.S.A.  in 
September! 

 v  


7 


JAMES  CAGNEYin 
YANKEE  DOODLE  DANDY 

BASED  ON  THE  STORY.  LYRICS  AND  MUS'C  OF 

GEORGE  M.  COHAN  with 
joan  LESLIE  •  Walter  HUSTON  •  Richard  WHORF 
Jeanne  Cagney  »  Frances  Langford  •  Geo.  Tobias 
Irene  Manning  •   Directed  by  MICHAEL  CURTIZ 

Screen  Play  by  Robert  Buckner  and  Edmund  Joseph 
Original  Story  by  Robert  Buckner 

WARNERS! 


aced  by  the  Past. 


Stfitfe  our-  GET  IN  THE  GROOVi 

fiuit?1* ' R0MERO 

ORCH  ESTR4  WIVES 


THE  NATION'S**  BAND 

YEAR'S*!  MU5ICAL  ROMANCE! 


Well,  hep  cat,  I  suppose  this  is  your  idea  of  a  jam  session 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


128  FILMS  in  production  as  studios  hit 
record  pace  Page  12 

INDUSTRY  puts  on  pressure  for  billion 
Bond  goal  Page  13 

U.  S.  working  to  get  our  films  on  Soviet 
screens  Page  16 

WPB  orders  10  to  24  per  cent  raw  stock 
reduction  Page  17 

CANADA'S  National  Service  rules  theatre 
jobs  Page  19 


TOP  film  salaries  to  Mayer,  Cagney,  Gable 
and  Schenck  Page  23 

SENATE  starts  inquiry  into  rule  of  Petrillo 
in  music  union  Page  26 

CONSERVATION  is  saving  voice  of  radio, 
says  Fly  Page  27 

WINS  clearance  cut  by  consent  award  in 
arbitration  Page  30 

BRITISH  circuits  are  growing  in  power  and 


unity 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  31      Managers'  Round  Table 

In  British  Studios  Page  38  Obituaries 

Late  Reviews  Page  54     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart 


Page  39 

Page  45 
Page  40 
Page  43 
Page  55 


Whither  Unity? 

WHETHER  the  United  Motion  Picture  In- 
dustry is  to  continue  with  projects  on  its 
agenda  other  than  the  sales  plan,  which  was 
abandoned  on  the  advice  of  the  Department 
of  Justice,  or  to  dissolve  with  renewed  ex- 
pressions of  continued  high  esteem  from  all 
sides  was  put  squarely  up  to  exhibitors  this 
week  by  William  F.  Rodgers,  chairman  of 
the  committee  of  the  whole,  in  a  letter  to  all 
committee  members  announcing  that  motions 
on  the  fate  of  UMPI  were  in  order. 

Regardless  of  the  decision  taken  by  the 
committee,  Mr.  Rodgers  said  he  could  not 
continue  as  chairman,  but  promised  "every 
assistance  possible  to  whomever  is  selected 
in  case  you  develop  plans  for  continuance." 

Mr.  Rodgers  reported  the  view  of  some  in 
the  industry  that  UMPI  should  be  continued 
to  encourage  better  industry  understanding, 
and  said  that  he  had  discussed  the  matter 
with  representatives  of  five  of  the  major  dis- 
tributors, including  his  own  company.  One 
of  the  first  considerations,  he  said,  was  the 
matter  of  financing.  So  far  $22,500  had 
been  paid  into  UMPI,  of  which  $3,000  was 
contributed  by  exhibitors  and  the  rest  by 
distributors.  Of  the  total,  Mr.  Rodgers 
pointed  out,  $12,707.20  was  paid  for  ex- 
penses of  exhibitor  members. 

Distributor  reaction  to  his  request  for 
opinion,  Mr.  Rodgers  summarized  thus: 

"Mr.  Schenck  (Nicholas  M.  Schenck, 
president  of  Loew's,  Inc.)  was  very  cog- 
nizant of  the  importance  of  UMPI  and  de- 
sirous to  continue  it  and  to  continue  the 
company's  share  of  the  financing,  although 
feeling  that  it  was  most  desirable  that  ex- 
hibitors assist  in  the  expense  of  the  organ- 
ization, too. 

".  .  .  Mr.  T.  J.  Connors  of  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox expressed  the  same. 

"Discussion  with  Mr.  Ned  Depinet,  presi- 
dent of  RKO  Radio  Pictures,  brought  a 
promise  of  his  support. 

"In  view  of  the  previously  announced  po- 
sition of  Paramount  and  Warner  Bros.,  I 
regret  that  they  are  unwilling  to  assist  fur- 
ther with  financing  or  to  participate  further 
in  UMPI  activities." 

The  letter  pointed  out  that  attorneys  of 
Columbia,  United  Artists  and  Universal  had 
disapproved  of  their  participation  and  again 
emphasized  the  seriousness  of  the  financial 
problem. 

Mr.  Rodgers  said  he  could  no  longer  con- 
tinue as  chairman  and  thanked  the  member- 
ship for  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  and 
the  cooperation  extended. 

Opinion  among  exhibitor  leaders  had  not 
crystallized  on  the  question  of  continuing  the 
committee  but  executives  of  Allied  States  As- 
sociation had  expressed  themselves  bluntly 
on  the  subject.  Colonel  H.  A.  Cole,  presi- 
dent of  Allied  of  Texas,  in  Philadelphia 
Tuesday  said,  "UMPI  is  dead,  not  so  much 
because  of  the  rejection  of  the  sales  plan  as 
because  of  the  refusal  of  the  distributors  to 
negotiate  on  our  points  of  the  UMPI  aerenda. 
especially   film   prices."     Max   A.  Cohen, 


president  of  Allied  Theatre  Owners  of  New 
York,  not  affiliated  with  national  Allied,  said, 
"This  month  we're  not  thinking  of  anything 
but  War  Bonds."  Edward  Kuykendall, 
piesident  of  the  MPTOA,  had  indicated  that 
the  decision  was  up  to  his  board  of  directors. 


Help  for  Elmer 

DISCLOSURE  of  appointments  to  the 
spreading  press-radio-film  war-news  organ- 
ization of  Elmer  Davis'  U.  S.  Office  of  War 
Information,  comes  from  some  strange 
places.    But  never  from  the  OWL 

The  real  estate  columns  of  the  New  York 
Times  of  Tuesday,  for  example,  reported 
that  Manuel  Komroff,  writer  and  lecturer,  is 
"assistant  to  Mr.  Davis."  And  the  New 
York  Herald  Tribune,  in  a  copyrighted  dis- 
patch from  Geoffrey  Parsons,  Jr.,  in  London 
on  Tuesday  told  how  Richard  Watts,  Jr., 
former  Herald  Tribune  stage  and  cinema 
critic,  was  due  in  Dublin  Wednesday  to  open 
in  neutral  Eire  a  branch  of  the  OWL 

The  Times  mentioned  Mr.  Komroff's  as- 
sociation with  Mr.  Davis  in  connection  with 
his  leasing  of  an  apartment  in  New  York's 
East  Fifty-second  street.  His  published 
books  started  with  "The  Grace  of  Lambs," 
in  1925.  Twenty-six  followed  in  six  years. 
Additionally,  Mr.  Komroff  edited  the  Trav- 
els and  Contemporaries  of  Marco  Polo,  Mod- 
ern Library,  Library  of  the  Living  Classics, 
and  Black  and  Gold  Library.  He  also  lec- 
tured on  the  technique  of  the  novel  at  Col- 
umbia University. 

The  Herald  Tribune's  dispatch  on  its  for- 
mer critic  reported  that  he  would  serve  both 
the  OWI  and  as  press  attache  of  the  Ameri- 
can Legation  at  Dublin. 

"Thus  for  the  first  time,"  said  the  dispatch, 
"the  United  Nations  will  have  in  Eire  some 
one  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  tell- 
ing the  Irish  about  the  Allied  cause." 


Those  Fight  Pictures 

AN  INDICTMENT  charging  evasion  of 
Federal  taxes  on  incomes  for  1936  and  1937 
allegedly  derived  from  the  illegal  exhibition 
of  prizefight  pictures,  was  filed  Wednesday 
in  New  York  by  United  States  Attorney 
Matthias  F.  Correa  against  Jack  Dietz,  who 
was  charged  with  evading  the  payment  of 
$105,315  in  income  taxes  for  1936  and 
$94,932  for  1937. 

In  a  prepared  statement  Mr.  Correa  said 
that  the  indictment  followed  a  lengthy  in- 
quiry in  which  it  was  disclosed  that  Mr. 
Dietz  had  a  monopoly  in  the  distribution  of 
pictures  of  various  world  championship  fights 
promoted  by  Mike  Jacobs. 

Following  the  repeal  in  1940  of  the  Fed- 
eral law  banning  fight  film  distribution,  Mr. 
Dietz  lost  control,  according  to  the  Govern- 
ment. The  defendant  will  be  arraigned  next 
week. 


Talent  Worries 

STAGE  producers,  film  and  radio  interests 
will  be  called  to  a  conference  shortly  by 
Actors  Equity,  in  New  York,  to  induce  all 
to  sponsor  stock  companies  in  an  effort  to 
develop  acting  talent  to  replace  the  antici- 
pated shortage  of  young  actors  during  the 
war. 

Officials  of  Actors  Equity,  it  is  said,  be- 
lieve that  a  sufficient  number  of  young  men 
with  physical  defects  which  prevent  their 
service  in  the  armed  forces  can  be  developed 
for  acting  roles  provided  they  have  an  op- 
portunity to  learn  how  to  act  in  stock  com- 
panies. 

More  than  500  Equity  members  are  now 
with  the  armed  forces  and  stock  companies 
have  largely  vanished  from  the  scene, 
Equity  points  out. 


September    19.  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


The  OWI  Criticizes 

THE  morion  picture  industry  is  steadily 
moving  in  the  direction  of  giving  the  Ameri- 
can public  a  better  understanding  oi  the 
nation's  war  problems  but  many  gaps  still 
exist,  according  to  the  Hollywood  motion 
picture  bureau  of  the  U.  S.  Office  of  War 
Information,  which  is  making  a  survey  of  all 
features  and  short  subjects  released  since 
March  1st  and  those  in  production  or  pro- 
posed. 

"The  emphasis  in  the  entire  industry,"  said 
an  OWI  report  to  Hollywood  last  week,  "is 
still  too  much  on  the  exciting  blood-and- 
thunder  aspects  of  war  and  too  little  on  the 
equally  important  problems  arising  in  civilian 
life  and  dealing  with  basic  issues  of  the  war 
and  peace  to  come. 

"The  OWI  is  hopeful,"  continued  the  re- 
port, "that  such  gaps  will  be  closed  not  only 
by  production  of  new  pictures  dealing  with 
these  subjects  but  also  by  persuading  pro- 
ducers and  distributors  of  the  necessity  of 
juggling  dates  on  pictures  already  completed 
or  approaching  completion  so  as  to  present  a 
more  balanced  program  for  the  theatre-going 
public" 

Pointing  out  that  31  pictures  released  by 
the  end  of  August  dealt  with  espionage  and 
sabotage,  the  OWI  said:  '"Although  the 
Federal  Bureau  of  Investigation  and  Gov- 
ernment counter-espionage  agencies  have  in- 
dicated that  there  has  been  suprisingly  little 
enemy  action  of  this  type,  the  heavy  prepon- 
derance of  such  films  on  the  screen  has 
tended  to  give  the  public  an  exaggerated  idea 
of  this  menace." 

Strictly  from  the  viewpoint  of  contributing 
most  toward  the  war  effort,  the  OWI  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  "more  pictures  deal- 
ing with  the  issues,  the  home  front  and  the 
production  front,  admittedly  much  more  diffi- 
cult to  dramatize,  would  be  useful.  .  .  ." 

The  OWI  believes  the  future  calls  for 
"fewer  and  better  war  pictures  with  a  bet- 
ter over-all  balance  between  the  important 
topics  to  be  covered." 


Bossing  the  War 

URGING  the  "opening  of  that  Second 
Front  now,"  the  League  of  American  Writ- 
ers, from  its  offices  way  down  in  New 
York's  Astor  Place  this  week  issued  an- 
nouncement of  a  list  of  authors  who  "in 
devoting  their  talents  to  winning  the  war, 
are  convinced"  that  a  western  front  "is  the 
vital  keystone  for  victory."  The  expression 
comes  from  Dashiel  Hammett,  president  of 
the  League  and  author  of  the  "Thin  Man" 
stories. 

Names  included  are:  Donald  Ogden 
Stewart.  John  Howard  Lawson,  John  Mox- 
ley,  Irwin  Shaw,  Aben  Kandel,  Asa  Bor- 
dages,  Albert  Maltz,  Albert  Bein,  Martin 
Berkely,  Herbert  Biberman,  Allen  Boretz, 
Herman  Boxer,  Norman  Burnside,  Richard 
Collins.  Armand  DTJsseau.  Edward  Elison, 
Carl  Foreman,  Fanya  Foss,  Morton  Grant, 


David  Hertz,  Leo  Hurwitz,  H.  S.  Kraft, 
Frederic  Arnold  Kummer,  Robert  Lees,  Jay 
Leyda,  Johnston  McCulley,  Mortimer  O  fi- 
ner, Kenneth  Perkins,  Gertrude  Purcell, 
Maurice  Rapf,  Frederic  Rinaldo,  Waldo 
Salt,  Viola  Brothers  Shore,  George  Sklar, 
Wessel  Smitter,  Paul  Strand,  Robert  Task- 
er,  Shepard  Traube,  Michael  Uris  and 
Frank  Turtle. 


Television  Deal 

THE  Rauland  Corporation  of  Chicago,  man- 
ufacturer of  amplifiers,  this  week  sent  an- 
nouncement to  the  press  of  its  acquisition  of 
the  American  interests  and  patent  rights  in 
America  of  the  British  television  S3'stems  of 
Gaumont-British  Picture  Company,  Cinema 
Television,  Ltd.,  and  Baird  Television,  all  of 
London. 

"The  move  is  .  .  .  concerned  with  the  prac- 
tical development  of  television  projection  for 
motion  picture  houses" — after  the  war,  said 
the  statement,  which  was  issued  by  George 
Brodsky,  advertising  agent,  of  520  North 
Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago. 

So  far  as  is  known  there  had  been  no  pre- 
vious public  indication  here  that  the  Gau- 
mont  and  Baird  interests  had  am-  intention 
of  turning  over  their  ambitions  for  develop- 
ing television  in  this  country.  Both  had  at- 
tempted to  promote  their  respective  s}Tstems 
in  the  U.  S.  in  the  few  years  preceding 
England's  entrance  into  World  War  II  in 
September,  1939.  But  the  war  stopped  both, 
as  it  likewise  called  a  halt  to  their  com- 
paratively limited  public  telecasts  around 
London,  and  as  it  also  returned  American 
television  development  to  the  laboratory  for 
the  duration. 


British  Troop  Problem 

REMOVAL  of  all  distance  and  time  re- 
strictions on  the  showing  of  films  to  British 
troops  in  the  British  Isles,  on  the  same  basis 
as  that  now  in  effect  for  United  States  forces 
stationed  there,  was  demanded  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Kinematograph  Renters  Society  (dis- 
tributors) in  London  on  Tuesday. 

Exhibitors  opposed  lifting  the  restrictions, 
and  the  distributors  recognized  that  an 
agreement  between  the  Cinematograph  Ex- 
hibitors Association  and  the  British  War 
Office  on  a  two-mile  limit  presented  difficulty. 


PICTURES  ADVERTISED 
THIS  WEEK 

"Tishf  MGM,  2nd  Cover,  Pages  20,  21,  22 
"Panama  Hattie,"  MGM,  2nd  Cover,  Pages 
20,  21,  22 

"Somewhere  I'll  Find  You,"  MGM,  2nd  Cover, 

Pages  20.  21,  22 
"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warners,  Page  3 
"Orcliesira  Wives"  20th-Fox.  Page  6 
"My  Sister  Eileen,"  Columbia,  Page  25 
"Bambi."  RKO,  Pages  32,  33 


Next  Month,  Scrap 

INDUSTRY  leaders  engrossed  in  the  billion 
dollar  War  Bond  drive,  next  month  will 
turn  their  attention  to  collecting  scrap  for 
their  country.  At  the  request  of  the  War 
Production  Board,  through  Monroe  Green- 
thai,  former  United  Artists  advertising  and 
publicity  director  and  now  a  WPB  scrap 
coordinator,  the  industry  will  undertake  to 
high  pressure  all  citizens  to  search  their 
closets  and  attics  for  old  rubber  and  metal. 

Organization  of  the  drive  was  discussed  by 
advertising  and  publicity  directors  of  major 
distributors  this  week  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Eastern  Public  Relations  Committee  in  New 
York.  Arthur  Mayer  is  industry  chairman 
for  the  drive  and  David  Lipton,  Columbia 
advertising  and  publicity  head,  will  direct 
public  relations.  Mr.  Lipton  has  requested 
personnel  loans  from  the  advertising  depart- 
ments of  the  film  companies  and  assignments 
will  be  made  later. 

The  drive  for  scrap  will  not  be  new  for  the 
industrj',  except  in  concentration  of  effort. 
Theatres  have  been  conducting  scrap  drives 
for  many  months  and  in  several  territories 
have  organized  successful  local  drives.  The 
Roxy  theatre  in  New  York  this  week  col- 
lected two  tons  of  scrap  with  a  kiss  from  a 
Roxyette  for  each  contributor. 


Solomonic  Decision 

AN  OLD  FEUD  between  the  RKO  and 
Skouras  circuits  was  dissolved  this  week  by 
decision  of  William  F.  Rodgers,  Loew's  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  distribution,  who,  sit- 
ting as  arbitrator  in  the  matter,  ruled  that 
the  two  circuits  should  alternate  the  manage- 
ment of  the  new  Midway  theatre  in  Queens 
between  them  in  periods  of  two  years  each. 
The  question  of  operation  of  the  theatre,  a 
first  run  erected  at  a  cost  of  $700,000  by 
RKO,  was  overlooked  in  the  articles  of 
agreement  drawn  up  by  the  two  parties  when 
its  construction  was  planned.  Other  points 
in  the  controversy  which  had  lasted  for  two 
years  included  a  long  term  franchise  for 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  product.  Mr.  Rod- 
gers was  nominated  arbitrator  by  George  J. 
Schaefer,  former  RKO  president,  who  de- 
clined to  serve. 


The  Listeners 

THE  age  group  between  30  and  44  pre- 
dominates among  those  who  sit  home  by  the 
radio  to  listen  to  the  night  ball  games,  ac- 
cording to  a  door-to-door  survey  reported  by 
the  Pulse-of-New  York  organization.  They 
found,  too,  that  the  night  games  drew  a 
smaller  proportion  of  men  than  daytime 
games,  attributing  that  to  woman's  influ- 
ence over  the  evening  hours.  The  night 
games  seem  to  interest  few  under  20,  and, 
due,  of  course,  to  the  draft,  the  20-29  age 
bracket  is  found  to  be  but  slightly  repre- 
sented. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  address  "QuigpuOco. 
New  York."  Martin  Owgley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager;  Terry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor; 
Z-  zzzz  i.-iz.    62-4  Sc.--  Micnigor  Avenue    :.  Longdor.  Morgan,  ez'-z-;  Hoi  --zzz  Bureau   Post:    „•-':-  _'-=  ;.:  :  -a.  A     '.  =  -  -..  >'>e;.=-  ~z-z~z  i.-tz.   2-2  '■'  ~zzz 

Road,  loronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  W.  M  Gladish,  representative;  Montreal  Bureau,  265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovan,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
4  Golden  Square.  London  W  1,  Hope  Williams  Burnup,  manager;  cable  Ouigpubco  London;  Melbourne  Bureau,  The  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne,  Australia, 
Cliff  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
Luis  Becerra  Cells,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  hjatalio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  3353, 
Rio  de  Janeiro.  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
r.-z'.-  ;_-e;_  z-  Z'-z.  ;-  ;-£.  A  rc--e--s  zzz.-'z--  '.--2  c.  ;.":=,  ?.c'--:-;  Co-oar  ■•.  Acc.-e-s  z  correspondence  the  New  Yc-k  OFce.  Z'~i-  C.':t,  : . ;  ' zz-'z- s : 
Better  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame. 


10 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


THIS  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


■  FALL  RIVER,  Mass.,  citizens 
crowded  a  downtown  street  last 
week  to  buy  War  Bonds  from 
Dorothy  Lamour,  who  is  the  center 
of  attention  in  the  picture  at 
left.  The  street  rally  was  staged 
by  William  C.  Canning,  manager 
of  the  Interstate  Empire  theatre 
and  city  chairman  of  the  Bond 
drive,  and  was  followed  by  a 
$1,000  a  plate  Bond  luncheon. 
Total  cash  sales  of  Bonds  were 
$683,100. 


JULES  LAPIDUS, 
newly  appointed  New 
York  metropolitan 
district  manager  for 
Warner  Brothers. 
Formerly  eastern 
district  manager  for 
Universal,  Mr.  Lapidus 
takes  up  his  new 
post  next  Monday, 
September  2  I  st. 


OSCAR  DOOB,  in  an  untypical  moment 
from  his  busy  schedule,  relaxes  with 
Irene  Dunne  in  the  Waldorf  Astoria, 
New  York,  before  Miss  Dunne  started 
on  her  Bond  tour.  Mr.  Doob,  presently 
on  leave  of  absence  from  his  job  as 
Loew  Theatres  director  of  advertising 
and  publicity  to  devote  full  time  to 
the  Bond  drive,  is  chairman  of  the 
publicity  committee  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee  and  chairman  of 
WAC  War  Bond  publicity. 


OSCAR  WOEMPNER,  Minnesota  circuit  owner,  is 
awarded  a  flag  by  two  University  of  Minnesota 
co-eds  representing  the  American  Legion,  for 
his  purchase  of  $3,250  in  War  Bonds. 


September     19,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


ROSANNA  KENNEDY, 
at  the  RKO  New  York  exchange 
for  16  years,  resigned  last  week  to 
join  the  Women's  Auxiliary 
Army  Corps. 


*  DAVE  LUTZER,  above  left,  Texas  exhibitor  and  Universal 
Pictures  representative,  gets  a  pre-induction  handshake 
from  R.  J.  O'Donnell  of  Texas  Interstate  before  leaving  for 
the  Army.  Standing  in  the  background  is  John  Adams, 
secretary  to  Mr.  O'Donnell  and  Karl  Hoblitzelle. 


By  Metropolitan 


THE  ARMY-NAVY 
production  pennant 
awarded  to  Eastman 
Kodak  is  held  by  William 
J.  Lehle,  Kodak  Park 
machinist,  and  Thomas 
J.  Hargrave,  president  of 
the  company,  after  the 
presentation  in  Red 
Wing  Stadium  before 
20,000  Kodak  employees. 


CLAUD  MORRIS,  left, 
this  week  became 
advertising  and  publicity 
director  of  Fox-Midwest 
after  13  years  in  the 
midwestern  division  of 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

BIRTHDAY.  Loew's  State 
theatre  in  New  York  marks  its 
21st  anniversary  with  a 
cake  on  the  stage.  Left  to 
right  are  Ed  Sullivan, 
columnist  and  master  of 
ceremonies;  Al  Rosen, 
manager  of  the  theatre,  and 
Eddie  Cantor. 


i 


m 


?*  *  v 


12 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    19,  1942 


128  FILMS  IN  PRODUCTION  AS 
STUDIOS  HIT  RECORD  PACE 


Total  in  Work  at  New  High 
Despite  Heavy  Backlog 
of  All  Companies 

from  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 

Despite  a  collective  record  of  the  great- 
est backlog  of  pictures  in  the  history  of 
the  industry,  Hollywood  will  have  worked 
on,  or  put  in  work,  more  pictures  for 
1942-'43  during  the  30  days  of  September 
than  during  any  other  month  in  recent 
times. 

Usually  a  busy  month  in  all  other  years, 
due  to  the  start  of  the  selling  season,  Sep- 
tember of  1942  will  see  some  56  more  pic- 
tures started,  in  addition  to  21  already  put 
into  work  during  the  last  two  weeks.  A 
total  of  45  is  now  in  work,  and  24  have  been 
finished  in  the  last  two  weeks,  making  a 
grand  total  of  128  films  in  work,  worked  on 
or  prepared  for  starting  during  the  month. 

The  tally  by  studios  shows : 


Fi 

nished 

In  Work 

Preparing 

Tota 

Columbia   

4 

4 

5 

13 

MGM   

0 

10 

3 

13 

Monogram   

4 

1 

3 

8 

Paramount   

2 

4 

4 

10 

PRC  

2 

0 

5 

7 

RKO   

3 

3 

9 

15 

Republic  

2 

2 

5 

9 

20th  Century-Fox 

3 

5 

8 

16 

United  Artists.  .  . 

0 

1 

3 

4 

Universal  

1 

10 

12 

23 

Warners   

3 

5 

2 

10 

24 

45 

59 

128 

Scheduled  to  roll  at  Columbia  are :  the  new 
George  Stevens  production  co-starring  Jean 
Arthur  and  Joel  McCrea ;  "One  Dangerous 
Night,"  formerly  "The  Lone  Wolf  Goes  to 
a  Party,"  starring  Warren  William ;  "Hail 
to  the  Rangers,"  a  Jack  Fier  production ; 
"Destroyer,"  starring  Edward  G.  Robinson, 
Janet  Blair  and  Glenn  Ford  with  Lou  Edel- 
man  producing;  "Reveille  with  Beverly," 
based  on  the  career  of  a  woman  singer  on 
an  early  morning  radio  program  and  taken 
from  the  program  of  the  same  name ; 
"What's  Buzzin',  Cousin?"  with  Alfred  E. 
Green  directing;  "Robin  Hood  of  the 
Range,"  another  Fier  western ;  "Power  of 
the  Press,"  featuring  Guy  Kibbee,  and  an 
as  yet  untitled  film  featuring  Humphrey 
Bogart  and  Rita  Hayworth  which  Howard 
Clurman  will  produce. 

Shooting  are  "The  Frightened  Stiff," 
"Silver  City  Raiders,"  "City  Without  Men," 
"Something  to  Shout  About"  and  "The 
Commandos  Come  at  Dawn."  Those  fin- 
ished were  "Junior  Army,"  "How  Do  You 
Do?,"  "The  Desperadoes,"  and  "Under- 
ground Agent." 

MGM  is  having  an  unusual  production 
boom,  having  started  five  pictures  to  make 
a  total  of  10  in  work.  Those  started  are: 
"Assignment  in  Brittany,"  with  Jeanne 
Pierre  Aumont,  Susan  Peters,  Signe  Hasso, 
Richard  Whorf ;  "DuBarry  Was  a  Lady," 
Lucille  Ball  and  Red  Skelton ;  "Cabin  in  the 
Sky,"  with  Negro  talent  led  by  Ethel  Wat- 


ers, Lena  Home,  "Rochester,"  Duke  El- 
lington and  Louis  Armstrong;  "The  Human 
Comedy,"  from  the  William  Saroyan  story, 
with  Mickey  Rooney  and  Lionel  Barrymore 
heading  a  strong  cast ;  "Three  Hearts  for 
Julia,"  Ann  Sothern  and  Melvyn  Douglas. 
Others  in  work  are  "Lassie  Come  Home," 
"Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant,"  "Present- 
ing Lily  Mars,"  "Keeper  of  the  Flame," 
"Reunion." 

Monogram,  having  finished  "West  of  the 
Law,"  "  'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge,"  "Bowery 
at  Midnight"  and  "War  Dogs,"  now  has 
"The  Living  Ghost,"  with  James  Dunn  and 
Joan  Woodbury,  in  work.  Going  in  will  be 
"Dead  Men  Don't  Ride,"  second  of  the  sea- 
son's Range  Buster  westerns,  "Bye,  Bye, 
Baby,"  the  company's  most  ambitious  musi- 
cal and  starring  Nils  T.  Granlund  and  the 
show  from  the  Florentine  Gardens,  Ted 
Fio-Rita  and  his  orchestra;  "Silver  Skates," 
ice  extravaganza;  "Little  Mobsters,"  fea- 
turing the  East  Side  Kids. 

Paramount  To  Start 
Five  More  Films 

Paramount  with  four  in  work  and  another 
two  already  finished  this  month,  plans  to 
start  five  more,  several  of  which  will  be 
top  budget  productions.  Those  in  work  are 
"Buckskin  Empire,"  Harry  Sherman  out- 
door special ;  "Night  Train  to  Chungking," 
with  Ellen  Drew  and  Robert  Preston;  "The 
Crystal  Ball,"  Paulette  Goddard  and  Ray 
Milland;  "For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls,"  the 
Gary  Cooper  vehicle.  Finished  were  "High 
Explosive,"  Pine-Thomas  action  picture, 
and  "Lucky  Jordan,"  Alan  Ladd  feature. 

Slated  to  go  before  the  cameras  are : 
"True  to  Life,"  with  Mary  Martin,  Fran- 
chot  Tone,  Dick  Powell  and  Victor  Moore; 
"The  Miracle  of  Morgan's  Creek,"  Pres- 
ton Sturges'  picture  with  Eddie  Bracken 
and  Betty  Hutton  in  the  leads;  "French- 
man's Creek,"  in  Technicolor  with  David 
Lewis  as  the  producer;  the  musical,  "Lady 
in  the  Dark,"  starring  Ginger  Rogers  and 
Ray  Milland  in  Technicolor,  and  "Henry 
Aldrich  Does  His  Bit." 

Producers  Releasing,  embarking  on  an 
ambitious  production  program,  already  has 
finished  13  pictures  of  its  new  schedule,  on 
two  of  which,  "Boss  of  Big  Town"  and  "Out- 
laws of  Boulder  Pass,"  shooting  has  been 
completed  during  the  last  two  weeks.  The 
company  plans  sending  six  to  the  post  this 
month. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox 
Has  Five  In  Work 

"X  Marks  the  Spot"  and  "Valley  of 
Hunted  Men"  were  finished  at  Republic, 
leaving  "Johnny  Doughboy,"  Jane  Withers 
vehicle,  and  "Heart  of  the  Golden  West," 
Roy  Rogers  special,  the  latter  starting  last 
week.  Planned  are  five,  to  be  taken  from 
the  following : 

An  untitled  mystery  melodrama  which 
Leonard  Fields  will  produce  with  John 
Howard  in  a  top  role ;  "Hit  Parade  of 
1943,"  musical  to  be  directed  by  Albert 
S.  Rogell ;  "Eleven  Were  Brave,"  feature 
with  a  cast  headed  by  Donald  M.  Don 


("Red")  Barry;  "G-Men  Versus  the  Black 
Dragon,"  a  serial;  "Sundown  Kid,"  a  Bar- 
ry western,  and  "Thumbs  Up,"  story  about 
the  English  WAAF. 

Its  regional  sales  convention  over,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox  is  photographing  five  pic- 
tures now — "The  Brasher  Doubloon," 
"Quiet  Please,  Murder,"  "Over  My  Dead 
Body,"  "Crash  Dive,"  and  "My  Friend 
Flicka." 

RKO  Completes 
Three,  Starts  Three 

Being  prepared  are:  "Seventh  Column," 
story  of  the  Yugoslav  revolt  against  the 
Nazis;  "Dixie  Dugan,"  first  of  the  series 
starring  Lois  Andrews  from  the  comic  strip 
of  the  same  name;  "Four  Star  Murder 
Case,"  "Project  47,"  story  of  the  Com- 
mandos for  which  Annabella,  wife  of  Ty- 
rone Power,  has  been  set;  "The  Imposter," 
"Hello,  Frisco,  Hello,"  with  Betty  Grable 
heading  the  cast ;  "The  Immortal  Sergeant," 
starring  Henry  Fonda  in  his  last  picture 
before  reporting  to  the  Navy,  and  "Coney 
Island." 

RKO  Radio  with  "Tarzan  Triumphs," 
"Stand  By  to  Die,"  and  "They  Got  Me 
Covered"  (Goldwyn)  in  work,  RKO  will 
start  "Bombadier,"  with  Pat  O'Brien,  Ran- 
dolph Scott  and  Anne  Shirley;  "The  Great 
Gildersleeve,"  and  "Hitier's  Children,"  Ed- 
ward A.  Golden  production  from  Gregor 
Zeimer's  book,  "Education  for  Death." 

Universal  has  set  a  production  record  with 
10  pictures  in  work.  Before  the  cameras  are: 
"Pittsburgh,"  starring  Marlene  Dietrich, 
Randolph  Scott  and  John  Wayne;  "Night- 
mare," starring  Diana  Barrymore  and  Bri- 
an Donlevy;  episodes  of  "Flesh  and  Fan- 
tasy," Charles  Boyer-Julien  Duvivier  ven- 
ture; "Sin  Town,"  with  Constance  Bennett 
and  Broderick  Crawford;  "Forever  Yours," 
Deanna  Durbin  vehicle;  "Passing  the 
Buck,"  Ritz  Brothers;  "Shadow  of  a 
Doubt,"  Alfred  Hitchcock  melodrama  with 
Joseph  Cotten  and  Teresa  Wright;  "Cor- 
vettes in  Action,"  Howard  Hawks  produc- 
tion of  North  Atlantic  anti-submarine  cam- 
paigns ;  "Arabian  Nights"  and  "Lone  Star 
Trail,"  a  Western. 

Twelve  In  Preparation 
At  Universal 

Twelve  pictures  are  in  the  preparation 
hopper  at  Universal,  and  what  films  start  in 
what  order  cannot  be  determined  until  the 
stages  are  cleared. 

Warners  has  five  in  work  at  present: 
"The  Adventures  of  Mark  Twain,"  Fredric 
March  and  Alexis  Smith;  "Princess 
O'Rourke,"  Olivia  de  Havilland  and  Robert 
Cumrrtings ;  "The  Edge  of  Darkness,"  Errol 
Flynn  and  Ann  Sheridan ;  "Air  Force," 
John  Garfield,  Gig  Young  and  George  To- 
bias; "Action  in  the  North  Atlantic," 
Humphrey  Bogart,  Raymond  Massey,  Julie 
Bishop,  Alan  Hale. 

Some  three  productions  are  being  pre- 
pared for  an  early  start  by  United  Artists 
producers,  with  only  one  company,  Charles 
R.  Rogers  Productions  currently  shooting. 
That  picture  is  "The  Powers  Girl." 


1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


13 


INDUSTRY  PUTS  ON  PRESSURE 
FOR  BILLION  BOND  COAL 


15-Day  Total  8345,606,000; 
Stars  Extend  Tours  to 
Increase  Sales 

Spurred  by  the  official  U.  S.  Treasury 
Bond  sales  figures,  which  daily  showed 
the  national  total  lagging  behind  quotas 
and  expectations  the  industry  this  week 
began  calling  up  reserves  in  the  battle 
to  sell  a  billion  dc liars  worth  of  War 
Bonds  before  the  month  is  out. 

Instead  of  alibis  for  the  figures,  lower 
than  expected,  leaders  of  the  campaign 
worked  day  and  night  evolving  means  of 
increasing  the  sales  pressure  in  areas  where 
the  peak  momentum  of  the  drive  showed 
signs  of  slackening.  Hollywood  players  on 
the  Stars  Over  America  tours,  following 
such  grueling  schedules  now  that  one  of 
them,  Greer  Garson,  was  hospitalized  for 
a  complete  rest  after  10  days,  agreed  to 
extend  their  appearances  in  some  terri- 
tories; plans  were  charted  to  make  Septem- 
ber 22nd  a  "Free  Movie  Day"  throughout 
the  country  for  purchasers  of  Bonds;  hun- 
dreds of  theatres  arranged  Bond  premieres 
for  other  dates;  and  a  special  drive  was  be- 
gun to  have  campaign  workers  follow  all 
pledges  effectively. 

The  Treasury's  total  sales  figures  for  the 
first  15  days  of  September  were  announced 
as  5345.606,000,  a  dailv  rate  of  about  S23.- 
050,000.  A  daily  rate 'of  $26,000,000  is  re- 
quired to  meet  even  the  Treasury's  official 
quota  of  $775,000,000  for  the  month.  Larg- 
est single  day's  sales  for  the  first  half  of  the 
month  were  $48,890,000  for  September  14th. 

Many  Reported  Sales 
Not  Completed 

In  a  communique  addressed  to  all  drive 
workers  early  this  week,  campaign  leaders  said 
it  was  apparent  that  many  of  the  reported 
sales  had  not  been  completed  and  that  thou- 
sands of  pledges  remained  unfulfilled.  A  tabu- 
lation of  pledges  reported  following  the  star 
rallies  in  150  cities  visited  on  the  first  half  of 
the  month's  schedule,  showed  a  total  of  887,- 
189,131. 

"The  only  way  this  drive  can  succeed  now 
is  to  make  every  sale  an  actuality,"  Si  Fabian, 
chairman  of  the  drive,  said.  "Our  job  is  not 
done  if  we  merely  get  pledges  and  announce 
fancy  figures.  Like  real  salesmen  we  must 
complete  the  deal  and  make  certain  the  money 
is  sent  through.  If  we  fail  in  this  detail,  all 
the  magnificent  showmanship  displayed  so  far 
will  be  wasted  .  .  .  We  are  on  trial;  let's 
follow  through.  There  is  still  time,  but  not 
too  much." 

In  Washington  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Henry  Morgenthau  clarified"  a  widely  circulated 
statement  he  had  made  on  the  necessity  of  re- 
placing the  volunteer  sales  with  compulsory 
savings.  This,  he  said,  "was  an  injustice  to 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  devoted  volunteers 
who  are  working  night  and  day  to  enlist  the 
nation's  savings  for  the  war."  He  explained 
that  he  had  said  that  the  voluntary  sales  would 
have  to  be  supplemented  by  the  proposed  tax 
on  spending  to  meet  the  swiftly  rising  war  ex- 
penditures and  to  help  close  the  gap  between 
money  available  for  consumer  spending  and  the 
supply  of  goods  available  for  civilians. 

"To  our  hundreds  of  thousands  of  War  Bond 


J  I TAT I O X 

IN  RECOGNITION  OF  SERVICES  AND  COOPERATION  VITAL 
TO  THE  NATION  IN  ITS  PROSECUTION  OF  THE  WAR, 

^AuxBoe,  Inhibitor 

AND  THE  PUBLIC  ATTENDING  THIS  THEATRE  ARE  HEREBY 
COMMENDED  FOR  THEIR  PATRIOTIC  EFFORTS  IN  THE  SALE 
AND  PURCHASE  OF 

U.  S.  WAR  STAMPS  and  BONDS 


(/         V—/  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASU7Y 


War  Acttritres  Comrrvfl  e*  Motion  Pic*y/»  ti*dtsfrjr 


Tl>e  War  Activities  Committee  and  the  Treasury  Department  this  week  prepared 
this  citation  to  be  awarded  to  those  theatres  which  have  sold  more  than  $100  worth 
of  War  Bonds  and  which  report  their  sales  regularly  to  the  WAC.  It  carries  the 
signatures  of  Joseph  Bernhard,  chairman  of  the  theatre  division  of  the  W AC,  and 
of  Henry  Morgenthau,  Jr.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


volunteers,"  he  added,  "I  should  like  to  say 
that  the  nation  is  counting  on  them  more  than 
ever  to  cany-  on  the  magnificent  work  in  which 
they  are  so  unselfishly  engaged.  To  you  who 
are  doing  such  a  magnificent  job  for  us  in 
September,  let  me  add  that  we  at  the  Treasury 
appreciate  all  your  efforts  and  that  we  are 
counting  on  you  to  continue  the  work  you  have 
so  well  begun." 

Following  an  announcement  sent  by  the  War 
Activities  Committee  of  the  industry  to  state 
chairmen,  circuit  heads  and  hundreds  of  theatre 
operators,  the  plan  for  a  special  day  during 
September  to  stimulate  War  Bond  purchases 
by  offering  a  free  ticket  to  Bond  buyers  on 
September  22nd,  met  with  wide  approval. 

Indications  this  week  were  that  thousands 
of  theatres  would  join  in  the  day's  celebration 
and  amplify  the  free  ticket  idea  with  special 
salute  programs.  The  special  day  idea  is  an 
extension  of  the  Bond  premieres,  hundreds  of 
which  are  scheduled  for  the  next  two  weeks. 
In  Boston  a  $12,000,000  gross  in  Bonds  at  the 
Metropolitan  was  expected  Million  dollar  per- 
formances are  set  for  Loew  theatres  in  Wash- 
ington and  Baltimore.  In  Atlanta  the  Fox 
theatre  expects  a  $700,000  opening  for  'Wrake 
Island." 

To  assist  exhibitors  who  are  planning  one 
of  the  Bond  premieres  the  War  Activities 
Committee  has  published  a  manual  on  the 
proper  way  to  stage  them.  The  material  was 
prepared  by  Mort  Blumenstock  of  Warners 
and  is  based  on  the  experience  of  the  Warner 
publicity  staff  in  staging  the  "Yankee  Doodle 
Dandy"  premieres  in  New  York  and  Holly- 
wood. 

The  Bond  drive  committee  early  this  week 
started  a  treasure  hunt  to  persuade  banks  and 
other  financial  institutions  to  convert  trust 
funds,  estate  accounts  and  other  holdings  where 


possible,  into  Bonds.  The  drive  will  be  con- 
ducted b}'  the  treasurers  of  the  major  distribu- 
tors. The  committee  includes  David  Bern- 
stein, Loew's ;  M.  F.  Gowthorpe,  Paramount ; 
E.  A.  Brown,  Paramount ;  R.  J.  Paucher,  Con- 
solidated ;  S.  Machnovich,  Universal ;  Leon 
Goldberg,  RKO ;  J.  J.  O'Connor,  Universal ; 
A.  Schneider,  Columbia;  Samuel  Schneider, 
Warners ;  Sidney  To  well,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox,  and  Francis  Harmon,  Si  Fabian  and  Os- 
car Doob  of  the  drive  committee. 

Stars  of  the  C  group  of  the  Tours  Over 
America,  who  will  take  up  the  routes  for  the 
last  ten  days  of  the  month,  starting  Monday, 
September  21st,  were  named  this  week  as  fol- 
lows : 

Route  No.  1,  opening  Monday  at  Des  Moines, 
Claire  Trevor  and  Walter  Abel ;  Route  No.  2, 
opening  at  Corpus  Christi,  Tex.,  Ginger  Rog- 
ers ;  Route  No.  3,  opening  at  Nashville,  Tenn.. 
Vera  Zorina  and  Andy  Devine :  Route  No.  4, 
opening  at  Parkersburg  and  Point  Pleasant, 
West  V a.,  Rita  Hayworth :  Route  No.  5,  open- 
ing at  Charleston,  S.  C,  Veronica  Lake ;  Route 
No.  6,  opening  at  Frederick.  Hagerstown  and 
Cumberland,  Md..  Paulette  Goddard  and  Wil- 
liam Gargan.  Norma  Shearer,  originally  sche- 
duled to  take  up  Route  No.  7  at  Montpelier, 
Vt.,  is  ill  and  a  substitute  appointment  had  not 
been  made  at  midweek. 

The  second  wave  of  Hollywood  players  took 
up  the  B  series  of  the  Stars  Over  America 
tours  last  weekend.  Tean  Parker  and  Richard 
Arlen  opened  on  1-B  in  Helena  and  Butte, 
Mont.,  and  Bette  Davis  took  up  2-B  for  five 
days,  starting  in  Sedalia  and  Kansas  City.  Mo. 
On  September  16th,  Janet  Gaynor.  Basil  Rath- 
bone  and  Nigel  Bruce  took  over  2-B.  starting 
at  Amarillo.  Tex. 

Gene  Tierney  and   Chester  Morris  started 

(Continued  on  follozcing  page) 


'4 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


FIELD  FORCES  SPUR  DRIVE 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

the  3-B  route  Sunday,  visiting  LaCrosse,  Por- 
tage and  Beaver  Dam,  Wis.,  while  Fred 
Astaire,  Hugh  Herbert  and  Ilona  Massey  were 
at  Toledo,  O.,  Saturday  on  the  4-B  route. 

Jane  Wyman  and  John  Payne,  teamed  for  the 
5-B  tour,  opened  September  11th  in  Norfolk, 
Portsmouth  and  Newport  News,  Va.,  and  Irene 
Dunne  started  the  same  day  on  6-B  in  New 
York  State's  southern  tier,  visiting  Bingham- 
ton,  Johnson  City  and  Endicott.  Dorothy  La- 
mour,  assigned  to  7-B,  started  last  Friday  at 
Fall  River  and  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  and  closed 
her  tour  in  Rutland,  Vt,  on  the  19th. 

Complete  itineraries  for  the  tours  all  month 
were  published  in  Motion  Picture  Herald 
August  22nd. 

Field  Reports  Show 
Good  Results 

Reports  from  the  field  continued  to  show 
splendid  sales  results.  At  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
Irene  Dunne  was  credited  with  a  sale  of  $209,- 
000  at  a  Sunday  night  rally  at  the  Eastman 
theatre  attended  by  more  than  3,400  people. 
At  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  a  dinner  for  James 
Cagney  brought  about  a  sale  of  $302,575  com- 
pared with  a  full  month's  quota  of  $180,000  for 
the  city  of  26,000  population. 

Bond  premieres  in  Iowa  were  credited  with 
the  following  sales :  $72,000  at  the  Paramount, 
Waterloo ;  $165,000  at  the  Iowa,  Cedar  Rapids ; 
$275,000  at  the  Capitol,  Davenport ;  $350,000  at 
the  Orpheum,  Des  Moines,  and  $300,000  at  the 
LeClaire  theatre,  Moline,  111.,  and  the  Fort, 
Rock  Island,  111.  Hall  C.  Houpe,  manager  of 
the  Canova  theatre,  Conover,  N.  C,  achieved 
a  $30,050  sales  through  an  auction  at  his  thea- 
tre in  the  town  of  1,250  population.  A  300-seat 
theatre  operated  by  Mrs.  Bertha  Dixon  and 
her  son,  Fred  Qift,  in  Grant  County,  Oregon, 
sold  $11,814. 

A  luncheon  at  Kansas  City,  attended  by  Bette 
Davis,  resulted  in  a  sale  of  more  than  $200,000, 
and  a  carnival  at  Municipal  Auditorium,  real- 
ized another  $200,000  in  sales.  Rides  in  six 
Army  jeeps  for  bond  buyers  brought  in  $16,- 
000  in  the  same  city.  At  Wichita,  Kan.,  a  bond 
dinner  produced  over  $500,000  in  sales. 

In  St.  Louis,  110  theatres  reported  a  total 
sale  to  date  of  $1,500,000.  Century  Circuit's 
Long  Island  theatres  have  set  a  goal  of  $1,- 
000,000  for  themselves.  Block  parties  sponsored 
by  the  circuit's  houses  produced  $301,000  in 
Rockville  Center  and  $180,000  in  Freeport. 
Another  will  be  held  in  Rockville  Center, 
Sept.  24. 

Charles  P.  Skouras  reported  that  Fox  West 
Coast  solicited  Cosgrove  &  Co.,  Los  Angeles 
insurance  brokers,  and  sold  them  $32,000  worth 
of  Bonds  to  make  up  their  ceiling  of  $100,000 
for  this  year,  and  then  induced  the  company  to 
give  $6,000  in  bonds  monthly  to  employes  of 
the  insurance  company. 

Chicago  Bond  Sales 
Hold  Rapid  Pace 

The  drive  in  Chicago  theatres  and  surround- 
ing territory,  continues  at  a  rapid  pace  and 
the  response  has  been  so  great,  managers  say, 
that  they  have  not  had  time  to  report  their 
total  sales  to  Henry  Schoenstadt,  city  chair- 
man. Balaban  &  Katz  officials  claim  that  their 
theatres  have  been  so  busy  issuing  Bonds  it  will 
be  at  least  another  week  until  they  can  tabulate 
the  sales. 

Among  the  theatres  and  circuits  that  have 
reported  to  date  are  the  Schoenstadt  circuit, 
$52,000;  H  &  E  Balaban  circuit,  $20,000;  Lou 


THEATRES  WARNED  ON 
TAKING  CHECKS 

All  War  Bond  buyers  do  not  have 
bank  accounts  on  which  checks  can 
be  collected,  the  Federal  Reserve 
Bank  this  week  warned  exhibitors 
whose  theatres  have  been  licensed  as 
Bond  issuing  agents.  Many  checks 
presented  by  purchasers  have  been 
returned  and  the  Reserve  Bank  has 
warned  that  it  cannot  be  responsible 
for  Bonds  issued  under  such  circum- 
stances. 

One  national  circuit  headquarters 
has  instructed  its  theatres  not  to 
accept  checks  on  out-of-town  banks 
and  to  make  every  effort  to  have 
checks  certified  or  at  least  to  deter- 
mine from  the  local  bank  whether 
they  are  collectible.  Postponement 
of  delivery  for  five  days  is  advised 
when  unknown  persons  present  checks. 

The  Bonds  are  non-negotiable,  non- 
transferable and  cannot  be  cashed 
until  one  month  after  their  purchase, 
sufficient  time  to  post  the  numbers 
of  invalid  purchases. 


Reinheimer  houses,  $4,000 ;  Warner  theatres, 
$25,975,  and  Loop  independent  theatres,  $34,750, 
representing  but  a  fraction  of  the  sales  already 
made. 

Topping  everything  for  the  week  was  the 
patriotic  celebration  promoted  by  Jack  Rose 
and  Alex  Manta,  of  the  Illinois-Indiana  circuit, 
in  Maywood,  111.,  last  Saturday.  The  program, 
built  around  the  unveiling  of  a  huge  mural  in 
the  lobby  of  the  circuit's  Lido  theatre,  in  honor 
of  the  192nd  Tank  Battalion,  composed  mostly 
of  Maywood  boys,  resulted  in  the  sale  of  over 
$300,000  in  Bonds  during  the  day,  known  as 
"Bataan  Day."  Art  Wartha,  manager  of  the 
Lido  theatre,  worked  with  a  committee  of  100 
citizens  of  the  town  to  plan  the  program. 

Balaban  &  Katz  Plan 
Midnight  Show 

Balaban  &  Katz,  in  conjunction  with  Leon 
M.  Zimmerman,  former  song  writer,  will  hold 
a  midnight  show  at  the  Central  Park  theatre 
on  September  28th,  at  which  Pat  O'Brien, 
Lana  Turner,  Betty  Grable,  Mischa  Auer  and 
other  stars  are  expected  to  be  present.  Main 
floor  seats  have  been  scaled  at  $100  in  Bonds 
and  balcony  seats  are  $50. 

A  mass  meeting  attended  by  350  film  ex- 
change employees  was  held  at  the  Warner 
Club  last  week  and  those  in  attendance  were 
urged  not  only  to  buy  more  Bonds  but  to  sell 
them  as  well.  Clyde  Eckhardt,  manager  of  the 
20th  Century-Fox  exchange,  and  Arthur  Fisher 
of  the  U.  S.  Treasury  Department,  conducted 
the  meeting. 

Lou  Reinheimer,  operator  of  the  Roseland- 
State  theatre,  is  giving  away  a  $500  Bond  at  the 
end  of  the  month.  One  chance  is  given  with  each 
purchase  of  a  $25  face  value  Bond  at  the  thea- 
tre during  the  month. 

In  New  York  the  local  committee  headed  by 
Max  Cohen  put  on  extra  pressure  for  sales 


this  week,  which  was  designated  in  a  proclama- 
tion by  Mayor  LaGuardia  as  "Carole  Lombard 
Memorial  Week."  Rallies  staged  by  and  for 
various  foreign  language  groups  in  New  York 
City  were  reported  by  Mr.  Cohen  to  have  con- 
tributed nearly  $1,000,000  in  War  Bonds. 

Bronx  and  Queens  rallies  with  a  combined 
goal  of  $2,000,000  in  sales  are  being  organized 
by  Skouras  theatres.  Two  rallies  were  held 
in  Bronx  on  Thursday  and  two  more  were  set 
for  Queens  on  September  23rd.  The  circuit 
also  appointed  special  committee  of  managers 
to  canvass  each  borough  for  the  sale  of  F  and 
G  series  Bonds  prior  to  the  rallies. 

A  surprise  rally  at  the  Radio  City  Music 
Hall  last  Thursday  night  netted  $59,375  in 
Bonds  as  150  uniformed  members  of  the  Ameri- 
can Women's  Voluntary  Service  canvassed  the 
theatre  during  the  finale  of  the  special  Minute 
Man  stage  show. 

The  Caravan  of  Stars  was  directly  respon- 
sible for  the  sale  of  almost  $8,000,000  in  Bonds 
and  Stamps  in  its  13  personal  appearances  in 
four  days  in  Connecticut.  Charles  Laughton, 
Ann  Rutherford  and  Virginia  Gilmore  includ- 
ed Stamford,  Norwalk,  New  Haven,  New  Lon- 
don, Bridgeport,  Meriden,  Waterbury,  New 
Britain  and  Hartford. 

The  rally  at  the  Hartford  Times  Building 
netted  the  largest  single  figure,  $4,000,000.  I.  J. 
Hoffman,  Warner  zone  head,  and  Harry  F. 
Shaw,  Loew-Poli  division  manager,  who  was 
in  charge  of  the  Caravan,  are  now  proceeding 
with  new  plans  for  the  city  and  state,  to  in- 
clude premieres  of  pictures  in  various  towns, 
to  which  admission  will  be  by  Bond  only. 
The  first  such  is  planned  for  September  24th 
at  the  Paramount,  New  Haven,  which  will  show 
"Wake  Island,"  with  all  theatres  and  film  men, 
merchants,  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  others 
cooperating. 

Bette  Davis  Leads 
Kansas  City  Drive 

Results  of  the  drive  in  the  Kansas  City  ter- 
ritory have  been  splendid,  most  reports  indi- 
cate, with  several  communities  having  held 
special  events,  they  and  others  planning  to 
continue  beyond  the  end  of  the  month. 

In  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  September  11th  was  a 
high  spot,  with  Bette  Davis  at  a  Chamber  of 
Commerce-sponsored  luncheon,  where  more 
than  $200,000  of  Bonds  were  bought —  a  paint- 
ing of  Miss  Davis  by  Keith  Martin,  director  of 
the  Kansas  City  Art  Institute,  being  auctioned 
several  times  for  $15,000  to  $50,000.  At  night, 
12,000  people  attended  the  Victory  Bond  Carni- 
val at  Municipal  Auditorium,  where  merchan- 
dise and  even  a  parachuteer  were  "sold"  or 
"auctioned"  to  bring  in  around  $200,000  in 
Bond  sales — admission  having  been  by  ticket 
given  on  Bond  and  Stamp  purchases.  It  was 
Miss  Davis'_  first  appearance  on  her  Missouri 
assignment  in  this  area. 

"We  are  just  starting,"  said  John  J.  Mc- 
Manus,  chairman  for  the  Kansas  City  zone  of 
the  War  Activities  Committee,  under  Com-  • 
mando  E.  C.  Rhoden.  "We'll  have  other  pro- 
motions to  keep  up  the  drive  the  rest  of  the 
month." 

Large  Attendance  at 
Wichita  Dinner 

Wichita,  Kan.,  put  on  a  Million  Dollar  Bond 
Dinner  September  9th,  diners  having  qualified 
by  buying,  in  most  cases,  $1,000  Bonds.  At- 
tendance was  800.  At  the  Forum,  later  in  the 
evening,  about  $10,000  in  Bond  and  Stamp 
sales  were  credited  to  the  4,000  who  attended; 
Ronald  Colman  and  Lynn  Bari  were  chief 
salesmen  at  the  Forum  gathering,  where  ex- 
tensive entertainment  was  provided.  About 
$100,000  of  pledges  to  buy  were  additionally 
recorded. 


"Our  Flag  Was  Still  There" 

FRONT  SEAT  AT  A  NAVAL  VICTORY 


Last  June  when  the  Japs  attacked  Midway  Island,  Commander 
John  Ford  and  his  cameras  were  luckily  on  the  spot.  At  risk  of 
life,  he  and  his  associates  (several  were  wounded!)  got  the 
flaming  record  on  film—  and  in  Technicolor!  You  are  the  one 
who  will  bring  this  most  amazing  document  to  your  patrons. 
Through  your  theatre  men,  women  and  children  will  share 
the  joy  and  thrill  of  seeing  our  heroes  in  one  of  the  greatest 
naval  victories  of  our  history-THE  BATTLE  OF  MIDWAY! 
Give  it  to  them  NOW!  Let  them  be  inspired  to  go  forth  and 
match  the  heroism  of  Midway  with  their  own  participation  in 
the  war  effort  of  our  countrv.  For  immediate  release. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  MIDWAY 

TWO  REELS  IN  TECHNICOLOR  TO  THRILL  AMERICA! 

Filmed  in  action  under  the  supervision  of  Commander  John  Ford.  Commentary  spoken  by 
Donald  Crisp,  Henry  Fonda,  Jane  Darn  ell   A  U.S.  NaiT  Film  released  by  the  W 'ar  Activities 
Committee  of  the  Morion  Picture  Industry  through  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 


16 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


U.  S.  WORKING  TO  GET  OUR 
FILMS  ON  SOVIET  SCREENS 


OWI  Film  Section  To  Aid 
in  Current  Negotiation 
for  Russian  Distribution 

The  United  States  Government  is  work- 
ing to  bring  Hollywood  and  Russia  to- 
gether after  a  separation  of  many  years, 
and  return  Hollywood  films  to  screens  in 
the  Soviet. 

Through  the  Motion  Picture  Section  of 
the  Overseas  Branch  of  the  Office  of  War 
Information,  under  the  direction  of  Rob- 
ert Riskin,  the  U.  S.  Government  is  "help- 
ing and  hastening"  negotiations  between 
the  Soviet  Union  and  American  motion 
picture  producers  for  the  purchase  of  a 
number  of  films  which  depict  our  way  of 
life,  for  distribution  in  Russia — a  market 
which  virtually  has  been  closed  to  major 
distributors  for  about  eight  years,  it  was 
said  this  week  by  Nikola  Napoli,  head  of 
Artkino  Pictures,  Inc. 

No  official  comment  was  forthcoming 
from  Mr.  Riskin's  office,  but  it  was  indica- 
ted that  the  U.  S.  Government  "is  eager  to 
do  everything  possible  to  spread  the  circula- 
tion of  our  films  in  Russia,  as  well  as  in 
Britain,  China  and  other  United  Nations, 
in  addition  to  the  neutral  countries." 

It  also  was  reported  this  week  that  the 
Motion  Picture  Section  of  the  Overseas 
Branch  of  OWI  is  contemplating  "sending 
to  Russia  shortly  as  many  Victory  Films  as 
possible,  for  widespread  distribution  there." 
This  is  in  line  with  that  department's  func- 
tion of  utilizing  the  motion  picture  as  a  me- 
dium to  bring  about  better  understanding  be- 
tween the  Allied  Nations. 

Russian  Commission 
Sought  Pictures 

The  report  that  Russia  wanted  to  buy 
American  films  was  published  by  Motion 
Picture  Herald  on  June  6th,  1942,  in  an 
interview  with  Gregor  Irsky,  chief  engi- 
neer of  motion  pictures  in  the  USSR  and 
head  of  the  official  film  commission  from 
Russia,  which  had  been  in  this  country  since 
August,  1941. 

Mr.  Irsky  said  at  that  time  that  in  addi- 
tion to  purchasing  much-needed  equipment, 
he  was  considering  for  outright  acquisition, 
pending  final  approval  of  his  Government, 
the  following  pictures :  "Manhunt,"  "Yank 
in  the  RAF,"  "Night  Train,"  "Four 
Songs,"  "Man  I  Married,"  all  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  product;  Samuel  Goldwyn's 
"The  Little  Foxes,"  RKO  release,  and  "The 
Great  Dictator,"  United  Artists  release. 
About  a  year  ago,  he  said,  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment purchased  three  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox films :  "Three  Musketeers,"  "Un- 
der Your  Spell"  and  "In  Old  Chicago." 
Prior  to  that,  other  outright  buys  included: 
Chaplin's  "Modern  Times"  and  "City 
Lights" ;  Warners'  "Cabin  in  the  Cotton" 
and  MGM's  "The  Great  Waltz."  The  latter 
picture  currently  is  being  shown  through- 
out Russia,  according  to  Artkino. 

A  number  of  Anti-Nazi  pictures,  includ- 
ing "Confessions  of  a  Nazi  Spy,"  produced 


by  Warner  Bros,  and  other  distributing 
companies,  have  been  reported  under  con- 
sideration by  Russian  officials  during  the 
past  year  or  two. 

According  to  Mr.  Napoli,  the  number  of 
films  to  be  purchased  has  not  been  deter- 
mined, but  it  is  understood  that  those  select- 
ed will  be  based  on  the  proper  portrayal 
of  American  ways,  customs  and  culture, 
with  emphasis  on  war  themes.  Mr.  Napoli 
said,  "every  type  of  picture  is  being  con- 
sidered, not  only  war  subjects  but  musical 
comedies  as  well.  Every  producing  com- 
pany has  been  asked  to  submit  prints  for 
consideration  because  we  don't  want  to  over- 
look anybody." 

Committee  to 
Select  Films 

A  committee  of  Artkino  and  Russian  of- 
ficials will  select  those  films  which  it  thinks 
are  suitable  for  distribution  in  the  USSR, 
but  final  decision  will  rest  with  Moscow. 
Dupe  negatives  or  lavenders  will  be  sent  to 
Moscow  and  prints  will  be  made  there. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Napoli  reported  that  Art- 
kino is  expecting  two  important  pictures 
from  Russia,  "Siege  of  Leningrad"  and 
"Black  Sea  Fighters,"  which  depicts  the 
Russian  marines  in  recent  Black  sea  en- 
counters. He  said  also  that  he  anticipates 
"very  good  results"  from  the  distribution 
deal  recently  signed  with  Republic  for 
"Moscow  Strikes  Back,"  now  in  its  fifth 
week  at  the  Globe  theatre  in  New  York, 
and  which  is  scheduled  for  general  release 
by  Republic  on  October  1st. 

Artkino  currently  is  editing  and  prepar- 
ing a  series  of  short  subjects,  numbering 
six  or  seven,  in  connection  with  Russia's 
war  effort,  which  will  be  released  shortly, 
Mr.  Napoli  said.  The  subjects  are  compiled 
from  newsreel  and  documentary  clips  sent 
to  the  U.  S.  since  Russia  entered  the  war 
last  year  and  the  subjects  include  Red  Cross 
activities  at  the  front,  particularly  hospital 
work,  as  well  as  the  exploits  of  guerilla 
fighters. 

Plan  Remake  of 
"Potemkin"  for  U.  S. 

Other  plans  in  connection  with  Russian 
films  now  on  Artkino's  schedule,  said  Mr. 
Napoli,  are  a  re-make  of  "Potemkin,"  origi- 
nally produced  in  Russia  but  now  under- 
going dubbing  and  other  treatment  which 
would  make  it  suitable  for  American  distri- 
bution, and  "Mother  Russia."  Artkino  cur- 
rently is  negotiating  with  Hollywood  writ- 
ers for  the  dialogue  assignment  on  "Potem- 
kin," he  said,  and  the  entire  production  is 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Szekely,  former 
French  film  producer. 

"Mother  Russia,"  said  the  Artkino  head, 
is  a  "cavalcade"  of  parts  of  all  the  best 
Russian  pictures  showing  the  patriotism  and 
fighting  spirit  of  the  nation  from  the  time 
of  Alexander  Nevsky  to  the  present  day. 
Joseph  Burstyn,  of  Mayer-Burstyn,  Inc.,  is 
connected  with  Artkino  in  this  enterprise, 
he  said.    It  is  expected  that  both  the  "Po- 


temkin" re-make  and  the  latter  film  will  be 
ready  for  release  within  two  or  three 
months. 

Artkino  does  not  expect  to  suffer  from 
the  recent  War  Production  Board  order  on 
raw  film  stock,  insofar  as  film  for  prints 
and  new  releases  are  concerned,  it  was  in- 
dicated by  Mr.  Napoli.  He  said  that  the 
WPB  thus  far  "had  given  Artkino  what- 
ever had  been  needed  in  the  way  of  print 
equipment."  The  average  Russian  picture 
now  being  distributed  in  the  U.  S.,  he  said, 
had  about  20  prints,  compared  to  five  prints 
per  picture  used  last  year.  Current  releases 
of  Artkino  product,  he  said,  are :  "This 
Is  the  Enemy,"  "Red  Tanks,"  "The  Battle 
for  Siberia,"  "Musical  Story,"  "Spring 
Song,"  and  "Moscow  Strikes  Back,"  all  of 
which  "are  doing  very  well." 

Records  Are  Made  of 
Russian  Film  Songs 

A  phonograph  record  tieup  with  the  cur- 
rent Artkino  picture,  "Moscow  Strikes 
Back,"  now  at  the  Globe  theatre,  New  York, 
was  announced  this  week  by  Stinson  Trad- 
ing Co.  of  New  York,  distributors  and  man- 
ufacturers of  Soviet  records.  The  selec- 
tions appear  in  an  album  bearing  the  name 
of  the  picture,  and  an  introduction  to  the 
album  was  written  by  Noel  Meadow. 

Titles  of  the  songs,  all  recorded  by  Rus- 
sian choirs,  including  the  Moscow  and  Len- 
ingrad Military  Choirs,  the  Red  Army  Song 
Ensemble  and  the  Bolshoi  Theatre  Group, 
are:  "Red  Moscow,"  "Sport  March,"  "Pa- 
rade of  the  Tanks,"  "Song  of  My  Native 
Land,"  "Do  Not  Touch  Us,"  "Life  Is  Bet- 
ter," "Forward  to  Victory"  and  "Song  of 
My  Fatherland." 


Make  Army  Medical  Films 

The  Coordinator  of  Inter-American  Affairs 
has  assigned  the  production  of  two  medical  films 
about  the  U.  S.  Army  to  Gordon  Knox,  producer 
for  the  Princeton  Film  Center.  The  stories, 
"An  Army  of  Specialists"  and  "The  Army 
Medical  Corps,"  were  assigned  to  the  Film 
Center  by  Philip  Dunne,  in  charge  of  stories 
for  the  Coordinator's  motion  picture  division. 
They  will  be  distributed  in  Latin  America  in 
16  and  35  mm. 


Show  Documentary 

"The  World  We  Want  to  Live  In,"  nine- 
minute  documentary  film,  designed  to  counteract 
intolerance,  is  being  shown  at  RKO  theatres 
in  the  New  York  area,  it  was  announced  this 
week  by  the  National  Conference  of  Christians 
and  Jews,  for  which  the  film  was  made.  Wendell 
Willkie,  Al  Smith  and  Eddie  Cantor  are 
featured. 


Army  Sports  Subject 

American  sports  and  games  which  are  used 
in  conditioning  fighting-  men  will  be  filmed 
by  Warner  Bros,  as  a  Technicolor  special  two- 
reel  film  titled  "Victory  Sports."  It  will  be 
directed  by  Del  Frazier,  with  Gordon  Hollings- 
head  supervising. 

Form  Theatre  Company 

Alexander  Blue  of  McAlester,  Okla.,  in  part- 
nership with  Robb  &  Rowley  of  Dallas,  has  in- 
corporated McAlester  Theatres,  Inc. 


September    19,     1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  17 

WPB  ORDERS  RAW  STOCK 
CUT  10  TO  24  PER  CENT 


U.  S.  Anxious  to  Keep  Theatres 
Open,  Equipment  Dealers  Told 

Ray  G.  Colvin  of  St.  Louis,  secretary  of  the  Theatre  Equipment  Dealers  Protective 
Association,  this  week  sent  a  message  to  members  of  the  organization  informing 
them  that  the  Government  was  anxious  to  keep  theatres  open  and  suggesting  that 
they  urge  exhibitors  to  use  War  Production  Board  Form  PDIX  in  applying  for 
permits  for  new  equipment. 

"Remind  exhibitors  to  get  rid  of  their  scrap  materials  and  inform  them  that 
you  can  get  them  necessary  parts  for  repairs  needed  to  keep  the  show  going," 
Mr.  Colvin  told  the  33  members  of  the  organization. 

Mr.  Colvin  returned  from  Washington  after  conferring  there  with  Christopher 
Dunphy,  chief  of  the  Amusement  Section  of  the  WPB.  He  said  Mr.  Dunphy  told 
him  all  the  WPB  demanded  was  that  when  equipment  dealers  used  Form  PDIX  they 
were  required  only  to  make  out  an  inventory  on  items  listed  in  the  form  and  not 
to  make  a  complete  inventory  of  their  stock. 

Mr.  Colvin  quoted  Mr.  Dunphy  as  saying  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  WPB 
to  penalize  any  dealer  who  might  have  stocked  up  on  certain  items.  Mr.  Dunphy 
also  emphasized  the  importance  of  scrap  metals  and  urged  dealers  to  have 
their  theatre  clients  contribute  every  ounce  of  scrap  that  they  could  to  the  nation's 
reserve.  Mr.  Colvin  said  it  was  possible  for  a  motion  picture  exhibitor  to  purchase 
new  projection  and  sound  equipment  and  also  obtain  repair  parts  in  line  with  the 
Government's  policy  to  keep  theatres  open  for  morale  purposes. 


Sliding  Scale  Set  for 
Industry;  Independents 
Organize  to  Fight 

by  FRANCIS  L.  BURT 

in  Washington 

Cuts  of  10  to  24  per  cent  under  the 
1941  consumption  of  raw  stock  are  im- 
posed on  producers  and  distributors  in  a 
"statement  of  policy"  issued  Thursday  by 
Harold  Hopper,  chief  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture and  photographic  section  of  the 
War  Production  Board,  covering  the 
allocations  to  be  made  under  the  "freez- 
ing" order,  L-178,  issued  August  20th. 

The  cuts  in  the  amount  of  film  to  be  al- 
lowed individual  companies  are  based  on  the 
linear  footage  consumed  in  1941,  with  the 
heaviest  reductions  imposed  on  the  largest 
consumers.  Producers  or  distributors  using 
less  than  75,000,000  feet  of  35mm  film  last 
year  will  be  cut  only  ten  per  cent,  but  those 
using  150,000,000  or  more  feet  will  be  cut 
24  per  cent. 

Despite  the  magnitude  of  the  cuts,  Mr. 
Hopper  said  there  should  be  no  change 
either  in  the  quantity  or  length  of  films  to 
be  produced.  "Voluntary  conservation 
measures  put  into  effect  by  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry  should  make  possible  the  same 
production  volume  as  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to,"  he  explained. 

No  Restrictions  for 
U.  S.  War  Films 

The  present  policy  for  administration  of 
order  L-178,  it  was  announced,  will  be  to 
impose  no  restrictions  on  the  allocation  of 
film  for  the  armed  services ;  for  pictures 
approved  by  the  Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures 
of  the  Office  of  War  Information ;  for  es- 
sential scientific  purposes  and  research,  or 
for  newsreels. 

Producers  and/or  distributors  of  enter- 
tainment films  for  the  theatres  who  used 
150,000,000  linear  feet  or  over  during  the 
year  1941  will  be  cut  to  76  per  cents  of  that 
figure  for  the  coming  year ;  between  125,- 
000,000  and  150,000,000  feet  to  77  y2  per 
cent;  between  100,000,000  and  125,000,000 
feet  to  80  per  cent;  between  75,000,000  and 
100,000,000  feet,  to  82^  per  cent,  and  under 
75,000,000  feet,  to  90  per  cent. 

Producers  or  distributors  who  furnish 
prints  to  the  theatres  of  the  armed  services 
will  be  allowed  an  additional  allotment  of 
50  per  cent  of  the  film  actually,  used  in  those 
theatres. 

Film  will  be  allowed  in  most  instances 
to  complete  pictures  of  all  types  in  produc- 
tion at  the  time  L-178  became  effective.  By 
"in  production,"  it  was  explained,  is  meant 
that  production  negative  on  the  picture  has 
actually  been  photographed. 

Re-releases  will  be  allowed  only  to  those 
producers  or  distributors  who  were  active 
in  that  field  in  1941  and  they  will  be  allowed 
to  re-release  only  the  same  number  of  pic- 
tures re-released  last  year  and  will  not  be 
permitted  to  exceed  in  amount  the  total 


positive  35mm  footage  used  in  1941.  Mr. 
Hopper  pointed  out  that  any  cases  of  special 
hardship  would  be  subject  to  review  and  re- 
consideration. Also,  he  said,  any  films  not 
falling  into  any  of  the  approved  categories 
will  be  given  consideration  if  the  Bureau 
of  Motion  Pictures  certifies  that  they  have 
particular  morale  or  propaganda  value. 

Independents  Unite 
To  Fight  Ruling 

Struggling  to  preserve  their  business 
in  the  face  of  war's  priorities  and  the  War 
Production  Board's  orders  limiting  film  con- 
sumption, unaffiliated  independent  distribu- 
tors, producers  and  laboratory  owners 
this  week  in  New  York  formed  a  perma- 
nent protective  committee,  the  National  As- 
sociation of  Motion  Picture  Independents. 

The  group,  including  about  30  leaders  in 
those  fields  in  the  city,  for  two  weeks  past 
had  been  protesting  the  WPB's  asserted 
lack  of  consideration  for  their  business, 
some  of  them  even  traveling  to  Washington 
for  talks  with  Harold  Hopper,  chief  of  the 
WPB's  motion  picture  division. 

Two  weeks  ago  the  group  formed  the  Com- 
mittee for  the  Preservation  of  the  Independent 
Motion  Picture  Industry.  Last  week,  plans 
for  the  new,  permanent  organization  were 
drawn,  and  officers  elected.  These  were : 
Charles  Hirliman,  Major  Film  Laboratories, 
president ;  Douglas  Rothacker,  Acus  Produc- 
tions, vice-president ;  Nat  Sanders,  Sanders 
Films,  secretary;  J.  H.  Hoffberg,  Hoffberg 
Productions,  treasurer ;  Melvin  Hirsch,  Crystal 
Pictures,  chairman  of  the  organizing  commit- 


tee ;  Max  Rosenberg,  Classic  Films,  Inc.,  chair- 
man of  the  public  relations  committee. 

It  was  said  that  Mr.  Hopper  assured  the 
group's  representatives  of  consideration  for 
their  problems,  and  that  the  small  companies 
would  be  permitted,  like  the  11  larger  com- 
panies first  designated  by  the  WPB,  to  use  the 
same  amount  of  film  this  year  as  last,  and  that 
if  cuts  were  ordered,  there  would  be  no  dis- 
crimination against  them. 

Headquarters  for  the  new  group  opened  this 
week  at  729  Seventh  Avenue,  New  York,  with 
Mr.  Sanders  as  executive  secretary.  Bertram 
Mayers,  general  counsel  for  the  committee, 
was  appointed  counsel  for  NAMPI  at  the 
meeting.  Minimum  membership  dues  were  es- 
tablished for  the  present,  it  was  reported,  but 
later,  a  graduated  scale  of  membership  dues 
would  be  set. 

Wednesday,  the  NAMPI  ratified  its  charter 
and  by-laws  and  approved  sending  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Hopper  asking  him  to  advise  them  of  all 
future  rulings  affecting  raw  stock  consumption. 

Lapidus  Heads  Warner 
New  York  District 

Jules  Lapidus,  eastern  district  manager  for 
Universal,  resigned  to  become  New  York 
Metropolitan  district  manager  for  Warner  Bros. 
The  appointment  was  made  by  Ben  Kalmenson, 
Warner  Bros,  general  sales  manager. 

A  successor  to  Mr.  Lapidus  at  Universal 
was  expected  to  be  appointed  shortly.  At 
Warner  Bros.,  he  will  succeed  Sam  Lefkowitz, 
who  joined  United  Artists  last  week  as  New 
York  branch  manager. 

Leo  Jacobi,  recently  appointed  New  York 
branch  manager  for  Warner  Bros,  will  continue 
in  that  post,  Mr.  Kalmenson  said. 

Mr.  Lapidus.  who  had  been  in  the  business 
15  years,  was  Universal  branch  manager  in 
Pittsburgh  before  becoming  eastern  district 
head  two  and  a  half  years  ago. 


18 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


United  Artists 
To  Hold  Sales 
Meet  Sept.  28 

United  Artists  will  hold  an  international  sales 
convention  in  Chicago  starting  September  28th 
and  ending  September  30th,  Carl  Leserman, 
general  sales  manager,  announced  tnis  week. 
It  is  expected  that  at  least  20  pictures,  includ- 
ing 10  to  be  acquired  from  Paramount  in  a 
deal  now  pending,  will  be  announced  for  re- 
lease during  the  1942-43  season.  Gradwell  L. 
Sears,  vice-president  in  charge  of  distribution, 
and  Mr.  Leserman  will  preside. 

Producers  who  will  be  represented  at  the 
meeting  are  Mary  Pickford,  Charles  Chaplin, 
Alexander  Korda,  David  Selznick,  William 
Cagney,  Hunt  Stromberg,  Jack  Benny,  Edward 
Small,  David  Loew-Albert  Lewis,  Charles  R. 
Rogers,  Sol  Lesser,  Mayfair  Productions,  Eal- 
ing Studios  of  England,  Noel  Coward,  British 
National,  Arnold  Pressburger,  Samuel  Bronston, 
United  Artists  Productions,  Hal  Roach  and 
Benedict  Bogeaus.  Mr.  Korda  and  Teddy  Carr, 
managing  director  in  Great  Britain,  are  ex- 
pected to  attend  the  meeting. 

Edward  C.  Raftery,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, and  Mr.  Sears  this  week  were  in  Holly- 
wood discussing  negotiations  with  several  prod- 
uct sources. 

Involved  are  10  Paramount  pictures,  four  from 
the  new  Arthur  Lyons  cooperative  production 
unit,  and  one  or  two  from  Orson  Welles.  Mr. 
Lyons  arrived  in  Hollywood  last  week  with 
George  Bagnall,  chairman  of  the  UA  product 
committee,  for  final  negotiations  on  the  deal  by 
which  his  new  production  company  would  de- 
liver to  UA  four  pictures  annually  for  a  term 
of  years. 

The  10  Paramount  pictures,  it  was  learned, 
would  consist  of  two  top  budget  features,  two 
outdoor  specials  and  six  "Hopalong  Cassidys." 

The  top  features  are  the  Preston  Sturges  pro- 
duction, "I  Married  a  Witch,"  starring  Frederic 
March  and  Veronica  Lake  and  directed  by 
Rene  Clair,  and  "The  Crystal  Ball,"  starring 
Paulette  Goddard  and  Ray  Milland. 

The  outdoor  specials,  produced  by  Harry 
Sherman,  are  "American  Empire,"  featuring 
Richard  Dix,  Leo  Carrillo,  Preston  Foster  and 
Frances  Gifford,  and  "Silver  Queen,"  featuring 
George  Brent,  Priscilla  Lane  and  Bruce  Cabot. 
These,  with  the  "Cassidy"  westerns,  which  are 
completed,  comprise  practically  all  of  the  Sher- 
man product  planned  for  Paramount's  new  sea- 
son. 

Army's  New  York  Photo 
Center  to  Be  Dedicated 

In  the  making  for  several  months,  the  United 
States  Army  Signal  Corps  Photographic  Cen- 
ter at  the  former  Paramount  Studio,  in  Long 
Island  City,  New  York,  will  be  dedicated  for- 
mally next  Tuesday  by  Maior  General  Dawson 
Olmstead,  Chief  Signal  Officer. 

New  York  newspaper,  magazine  and  film 
trade  press  writers  will  attend,  and  will  tour 
the  establishment.  Their  host  will  be  Colonel 
Melvin  E.  Gillette,  the  Center's  commanding 
officer. 


Republic  Playdates  Gain 

Republic  has  a  record  number  of  advance 
playdates,  and  now  has  more  playing  time  than 
ever  before,  Herbert  J.  Yates,  president  of 
Consolidated  Film  Industries,  parent  company, 
said  in  Hollywood  Tuesday. 


Heads  PRC  Branch 

Arthur  Greenblatt,  general  sales  manager  of 
Producers  Releasing  Corporation,  has  named 
Harry  Stern  as  manager  of  the  Los  Angeles 
exchansre,  succeeding  Bjorn  Foss,  who  has 
joined  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 


SAILORS  PREFER 
ACTION  FILMS 

Most  sailors  want  cowboy  pictures 
and  film  fare  with  lots  of  action, 
according  to  Chief  Electrician's  Mate 
R.  F.  McCall,  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  who 
with  four  enlisted  men,  handles  the  ex- 
change of  films  for  the  Atlantic  Fleet. 
He  said  the  films,  which  are  handled 
as  a  standard  part  of  a  ship's  sup- 
plies along  with  food  and  ammuni- 
tion, are  selected  with  an  eye  to 
proper  balance  among  musicals, 
dramas,  comedies  and  action  films. 


Altec  to  Work 
For  the  Navy 

Expansion  of  the  war  service  activities  of 
Altec  Service  Corporation,  involving  the  crea- 
tion of  a  new  division,  has  been  brought  about 
through  the  designation  of  Altec  Service  to 
produce  a  new  electronic  device  for  the  U.  S. 
Navy.  Appointment  of  Altec  to  manufacture 
and  install  the  devices,  whose  description  and 
function  are  a  military  secret,  was  announced 
Wednesday  by  L.  W.  Conrow,  company  presi- 
dent, in  New  York. 

For  the  manufacture  and  testing  of  the  de- 
vices, Altec  has  taken  over  and  is  equipping 
a  plant  at  Lexington,  Mass.  C.  S.  Perkins  has 
been  appointed  manager  of  the  new  division. 

In  addition  to  manufacturing  and  installing, 
the  division  has  been  assigned  to  a  nationwide 
training  program  for  the  instruction  of  Navy 
personnel  in  the  operation  of  the  devices.  Altec 
field  men  will  inaugurate  this  program  at  a 
training  school  at  the  Lexington  headquarters. 

Hepburn  Approves 
Dieppe  Films 

Premier  Mitchell  Hepburn  of  Ontario,  after  a 
special  screening  of  the  American  newsreels  al- 
legedly playing  up  participation  of  U.  S.  troops 
in  the  Dieppe  raid,  said  he  saw  nothing  objec- 
tionable in  the  films. 

He  said:  "After  all,  there  is  no  use  trying 
to  belittle  the  Americans  because  we  are  en- 
tirely dependent  on  the  U.  S.  war  effort  and 
we  should  realize  it."  The  Premier  said  the 
provincial  censor  would  take  no  action. 

Toronto  theatre  patrons  complained  to  the 
censor  board  about  the  newsreel,  charging  that 
the_  part  the  Canadians  played  in  the  Dieppe 
action  was  subordinated. 

Ballentine  20th-Fox 
Coast  District  Manager 

_  George  Ballentine  has  been  appointed  Pa- 
cific Coast  district  manager  for  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox. He  had  been  San  Francisco  branch 
manager  for  10  years.  His  new  territory  in- 
cludes Seattle,  Portland,  San  Francisco  and 
Los  Angeles.  His  immediate  superior  is  Her- 
man Wobber,  division  manager. 

Succeeding  Mr.  Ballentine  in  the  San  Fran- 
cisco office  is  Alfred  Laurice,  who  was  sales 
manager  there. 

Extra  Week's  Salary 

Shea  Enterprises  this  week  announced  the 
payment  of  an  extra  week's  salary  to  all  em- 
ployees not  under  contract,  for  the  third 
auarter.  This  is  similar  to  action  taken  bv 
the  company  during  the  second  quarter.  E.  C. 
Grainger,  president  of  the  circuit,  has  ure^d 
that  all  emplovees  invest  this  extra  week's 
salary  in  War  Bonds  or  Stamps. 


Wanger  Urges 
All-Out  Effort 

An  "all  out"  war  effort  in  which  the  people 
must  stop  blaming  their  leaders  and  instead 
educate  themselves  to  a  "realistic  way  of  life" 
was  urged  by  Walter  Wanger,  producer,  and 
president  of  the  Academy  of  Motion  Picture 
Arts  and  Sciences,  who  spoke  Thursday  night  in 
a  "Town  Hall  of  the  Air"  forum. 

Mr.  Wanger's  companions  in  the  forum  were 
Eric  Sevareid,  Phillip  Bastedo,  Douglas  South- 
all  Freeman,  and  George  V.  Denny  Jr.,  the 
"moderator."  The  broadcast  was  over  the  Blue 
Network,  9 :00  to  9 :55  P.M.  EWT,  and  was 
from  the  Mosque  Auditorium,  Richmond,  Va. 

'We  must  stop  blaming  it  all  on  Washington," 
Mr.  Wanger  declared ;  "if  there  are  too  many 
Throttlebottoms  in  Congress,  we,  the  people, 
sent  them  there." 

He  added :  "Let's  face  it.  We've  done  won- 
ders since  Pearl  Harbor  when  we  became  aware 
that  the  United  States  had  a  responsibility  in 
this  world  other  than  making  money,  but  we 
still  have  to  overcome  20  years  of  self-inflicted 
escapist  regimentation  that  convinced  us  the 
rest  of  the  world  could  go  its  way  and  we  would 
take  the  high  road ;  that  anybody  could  do  any- 
thing to  anyone  because  it  would  not  affect  us. 
Our  regimentation  for  escapism  was  very  effec- 
tive neded.  Some  of  us  pretended  we  were 
peace-loving.  This  was  not  true.  Peace  in- 
volves responsibilities.  These  we  avoided.  We 
practiced  escapism,  which  is  getting  away  from 
everything — especially  responsibilities.  And  20 
years  of  playing  hookey  doesn't  earn  a  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  key. 

"We  must  demand  unvarnished  truth  and  ed- 
ucate ourselves  to  be  the  best  informed  nation 
in  the  world  if  we  are  to  assume  our  necessary 
place  in  this  war  and  fulfill  our  post-war  obli- 
gations. We  have  the  best  communications  in 
the  world ;  the  press,  the  radio  and  the  motion 
picture,  so  if  we  want  the  truth  and  the  educa- 
tion, we  can  get  it  more  quickly  and  more  effi- 
ciently than  any  other  nation.  We  must  take  a 
completely  new  attitude  toward  education.  My 
hat's  off  to  Henry  Luce  for  taking  the  sugar 
coating  off  the  news  in  Time,  Life,  Fortune  and 
The  March  of  Time." 

Seek  Reduction  of 
Roxy  Assessment 

Proceedings  to  compel  a  reduction  of  $1,000,- 
000  in  assessed  valuation  of  the  Roxy  theatre 
were  filed  this  week  by  Roxy  Theatre,  Inc., 
against  the  New  York  City  Tax  Commission. 
The  valuation  placed  upon  the  Roxy  by  the 
Commission,  according  to  the  petition,  was 
$3,950,000  for  1942-43  taxes,  which  is  allegedly 
$1,000,000  over  the  price  that  a  sale  of  the 
theatre  would  bring.  The  petitioner  points  out 
that  while  the  house  is  14  years  old  no  depre- 
ciation has  been  allowed  by  the  Commission. 


Seven  for  Hellinqer 

Mark  Hellinger  started  shooting  tests  this 
week  for  "One  More  Tomorrow,"  first  of  seven 
pictures  lined  up  for  him  to  produce  under  his 
new  contract  at  Warner  Bros.  Other  stories 
on  his  schedule  include  "Thank  Your  Lucky 
Stars,"  "I  Wasn't  Born  Yesterday,"  "Melan- 
choly Baby"  (the  life  of  Helen  Morgan), 
"Lawes  of  Sing  Sing,"  "The  Patent  Leather 
Kid"  and  "Mississippi  Belle." 


Asks  Writ  Against  Feist 

Claiming  that  a  grant  of  publishing  and  me- 
chanical reproduction  rights  to  a  song  made 
before  the  inception  of  commercial  broadcast- 
ing did  not  include  broadcasting  rights,  Karc- 
zag  Publishing-  Co.,  Inc.,  this  week  filed  suit 
for  an  injunction  and  accounting  against  Leo 
Feist,  Inc.  Complaint  seeks  to  restrain  Feist 
from  granting  broadcast  licenses  on  the  music 
of  the  opera  "Blossom  Time"  to  ASCAP. 


1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


CANADA  NATIONAL  SERVICE 
RULES  JOBS  IN  THEATRES 


Registration  Required  for 
Job  Change;  Exhibitors 
Are  Concerned 

by  W.  M.  GLADISH 

in  Toronto 

Canada  has  had  universal  manpower 
control — the  regulating  of  employment  by 
the  Government — since  September  1st 
and  the  outcome,  thus  far,  has  been  a 
welter  of  confusion,  delays  in  hiring  new 
employees  the  disappearance  of  employ- 
ment advertisements  in  all  newspapers  ex- 
cept those  for  farm  hands  and  teachers, 
unless  inserted  by  the  National  Selective 
Service  headquarters,  the  appearance  of 
long  lines  of  information  seekers  outside 
the  Government  offices,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  fear  on  the  part  of  workers  to 
make  a  change  for  self-advancement. 

If  a  theatre  wants  a  doorman  or  cashier 
or  projectionist,  application  must  be  made 
to  the  nearest  office  of  the  Government's 
National  Selective  Service,  where  lists  show 
available  workers  and  their  qualifications. 
No  one  is  listed  without  registration  or 
without  formal  "clearance"  from  his  last 
job,  and  employment  can  be  arranged  only 
'  under  permit.  If  no  listed  person  is  suitable 
for  the  theatre  position,  the  exhibitor  can- 
not insert  an  advertisement  in  any  news- 
paper on  his  own  account,  nor  can  be  ap- 
proach any  employed  person  with  an  offer. 

All  negotiations  must  be  made  through  the 
National  Selective  Service,  which  is  in  ef- 
fect a  glorified  employment  agency.  One 
apparent  difficulty  is  the  fact  that  the  new 
regulations  went  into  effect  before  the  Ser- 
vice had  had  a  chance  to  get  organized  and 
before  the  new  Government  staffs  had  the 
opportunity  for  test. 

Labor  Situation 
Is  Solidified 

One  effect  is  that  theatre  and  film  ex- 
change employees  are  not  quitting  for  quit- 
ting's  sake,  on  the  chance  of  someihing  bet- 
ter. The  general  labor  situation  has  became 
solidified,  apparently  through  fear  of  conse- 
quences, including  red  tape.  There  are  also 
indications  that  managers  will  not  be 
switched  around  in  any  shakeup  move  for 
which  the  film  business  is  noted.  For  the 
time  being,  at  least,  workers  will  stay  where 
they  are,  it  appears.  Men  and  women  are 
continuing  to  join  the  colors,  on  which  there 
is  no  restriction  except  medical  standards, 
but  employees  otherwise  are  staying  put  be- 
cause of  a  realization  that  they  may  find 
themselves  in  an  occupation  which  may 
prove  to  be  undesirable  but  from  which  there 
may  be  no  escape  until  the  war's  end. 

To  the  average  worker,  the  situation  now 
appears  very  complex,  even  mystifying,  de- 
spite assurances  from  official  sources  that 
the  Government  does  not  want  to  stop  any 
person  from  improving  his  position  within 
certain  limitations.  At  the  moment,  there 
is  no  concise  conception  on  the  part  of  many 
average  workers  as  to  how  to  quit  a  job  and 


WARNERS  CALL  SALES 
MEET  FOR  CANADA 

Warner  Brothers  will  holds  ifs  an- 

territory  at  the  King  Edward  Hotel, 
Toronto,  September  28th  and  29th. 
Ben  Kalmenson,  general  sales  man- 
ager, will  preside. 

Wolfe  Cohen,  Ca-ac  a-  ;Vr  r 
manager,  wiil  head  the  Dominion 
delegates  at  the  meeting,  which  will 
include  personnel  of  Calgary,  Mon- 
treal, St.  John,  Toronto,  Vancouver 
and  Winnipeg  branches. 

Home  office  executives  attending 
also  will  include  Joseph  Bernhard, 
vice-president  and  general  manager: 
Mort  Blumenstock,  in  charge  of  ad- 
vertising and  publicity  in  the  east, 
and  Roy  Haines,  Arthur  Sachson  and 
A.  W.  Schwalberq,  sales  executives. 


how  to  go  about  getting  new  work  except  to 
go  to  the  National  Selective  Service  and 
take  a  chance  with  the  operations  of  the  new 
bureau. 


Exh  ibitors  Else wh ere 
Equally  Disturbed 

by  PAT  DONOVAN 

in  Montreal 

National  Selective  Service,  Canada's  new 
war-time  labor-distributing  mechanization, 
designed  to  speed  production  of  munitions 
and  war  supplies  in  Canadian  arsenals,  is 
being  viewed  with  alarm  by  Quebec  exhib- 
itors in  industrial  districts,  already  sorely 
hit  by  the  manpower  shortage. 

The  draft,  which  has  been  blowing  hard 
through  Canada  for  a  considerable  rime, 
long  since  has  made  itself  felt  in  the  lobbies 
and  aisles  of  Canadian  theatre  houses,  hav- 
ing drawn  wholesale  numbers  of  male  the- 
atre employees.  Girls,  now  in  great  demand 
in  munitions-making  plants,  also  are  being 
considered  by  exhibitors  to  fill  the  gaps  left 
by  draftees  and  volunteers  now  in  the  Ca- 
nadian armed  forces.  However,  National 
Selective  Service,  it  is  thought,  seeking 
feminine  labor  for  war  industry,  will  lessen 
the  volume  of  employee  opportunities  avail- 
able to  exhibitors. 

Well  over  100  doormen,  ushers,  projec- 
tionists and  other  male  theatre  employees 
from  the  five  first  run  houses  in  Montreal 
alone  already  have  been  drafted,  or  have 
volunteered. 

Montreal's  key  houses,  the  Palace.  Capi- 
tol, Loew's.  Orpheum  and  Princess  fought  a 
losing  battle  in  trying  to  keep  pace  with  the 
workings  of  the  Dominion  Government's 
compulsorv  service  bureau,  and  this,  to- 
gether with  the  inexperience  and  irrespon- 


sibility of  extra  help  finally  brought  about 
the  introduction  of  feminine  help  in  the- 
atres. 

The  Palace,  Montreal's  St.  Catherine 
Street  single  bill  house,  was  the  first  Up- 
town theatre  to  experiment  with  girl  ushers, 
and  it  was  felt  that  the  time  was  not  far 
distant  when  the  rest  of  the  street  would 
follow.  A  few  neighborhood  houses  intro- 
duced girls  some  time  ago.  but  the  new  pol- 
icy at  the  Palace  was  regarded  generally, 
and  in  the  opinion  of  managers,  as  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  trend  which  would  con- 
tinue for  the  duration. 


Theatres  Go  Dark  in 
Ontario.  Quebec 

Blackout  of  advertising  signs  of  all  types 
was  decreed  this  week  for  metropolitan  dis- 
tricts of  Ontario  and  Quebec  by  C.  D. 
Howe,  Munitions  Minister  for  Canada.  The 
new  order,  which  would  become  effective 
Sunday,  September  20th.  also  included  cur- 
tailment of  street  and  highway  lighting  and 
other  types  of  "superfluous"  outdoor  illumi- 
nation. 

The  shortage  of  electric  power  for  in- 
creasing war  demands  has  become  so  seri- 
ous, Mr.  Howe  declared  in  an  announce- 
ment from  Ottawa,  that  unless  the  public 
cooperates  to  reduce  consumption,  enough 
power  might  not  be  available  for  vital  in- 
dustries. 

Approximately  190  film  houses  in  Mon- 
treal and  Toronto  alone  would  come  under 
the  blackout  order.  The  shortage  of  power 
was  estimated  by  Mr.  Howe  at  400,000 
horsepower. 

Householders  are  being  urged  to  cut 
home  consumption  of  electric  energy  by 
about  20  per  cent.  Thus  both  indoor  and 
outdoor  lighting  in  homes  and  business  es- 
tablishments is  due  for  a  sharp  reduction. 
Theatre  marquees  will  be  blacked  out  en- 
tirely, according  to  the  order,  and  lobby 
and  inside  lighting  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Theatre  managers  felt  that  business  was 
not  likely  to  be  affected  by  the  order.  It 
was  believed  that  with  the  expense  of  elec- 
tric bills  sharply  reduced,  extra  savings 
could  be  devoted  to  more  extensive  news- 
paper advertising  to  balance  the  loss  of  il- 
luminated, outdoor  ads. 

Uptown  Montreal  theatres  were  endeav- 
oring to  obtain  permission  to  operate 
dimmed  marquees  until  the  last  evening 
show  had  commenced.  Neon  and  electric 
bulb  name  signs  would  be  blacked  out  and 
lighting  would  be  provided  by  flood  lamps, 
effecting  considerable  savings.  This  was 
the  plan  submitted  to  the  Government.  The 
outcome  of  the  appeal  was  unknown. 

Wattage  on  one  Montreal  theatre  marquee 
was  estimated  at  6.000.  This  is  equivalent 
to  about  eight  horsepower.  Considering 
five  horseoower  an  average  consumption  for 
each  of  190  theatres  in  Montreal  and  To- 
ronto, the  blackout  of  marquees  would  ef- 
fect a  saving  of  950  horsepower. 


PANAMA 
H  ATT  IE 
AND  RED! 


KNOCKIN' 
'EM  DEAD! 

for  a  2nd  golden  week  in: 

New  Orleans,  Atlanta,  Dayton,  Wilmington,  Reading,  Harrisburg, 
Memphis,  Waterbury  and  more  hold-overs  every  minute! 

Red  Skelton  and  Ann  Sothern 

in  the  marvelous  money  musical 
"PANAMA  HATTTF" 

A  XXJL  ^(  XVIVJLjLX  JLJLLJlJL  A  JLJLv  with  "Rags"  Ragland  •  Ben  Blue  -  Marsha 
Hunt  •  Virginia  O'Brien  •  Alan  Mowbray  •  Dan  Dailey,  Jr.  •  Jackie  Horner  •  Screen  Play  by  Jack 
McGowan  and  Wilkie  Mahoney  •  Based  on  the  Play  by  Herbert  Fields  and  B.  G.  DeSylva  •  Music 
and  Lyrics  by  Cole  Porter  •  Directed  by  NORMAN  Z.  McLEOD  •  Produced  by  ARTHUR  FREED 


THEY 
WON'T 
LET  GO! 

4th  Week: 
Capitol,  New  York 


3rd  Week: 

more,  Washington. 


Cleveland.  Balti- 


2nd  Week  :  Dayton,  Harris- 
burg,  Reading,  New  Orleans,  Wilming- 
ton, Richmond,  Atlanta,  St.  Louis, 
Houston,  Pittsburgh,  Springfield,  Mass. 
Kansas  City,  Memphis,  Louisville, 
Akron,  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Syracuse, 
Indianapolis,  New  Haven.  Columbus, 
Bridgeport,  Hartford,  Evansville,  Wor- 
cester, Waterbury,  Norfolk,  Boston 
(day  and  date  at  2  theatres),  Providence. 
Chicago,  Toledo,  Lincoln,  Nebr.  and 
more  as  we  go  to  press! 


Such  goings  on!  Gay  ads  for  a  long  and  happy  run. 


It's  a  ClORIOUS  4th  Week 

FUN  ond  FIREWORKS  by 

I  Lf-TURNER 

ylw^an  armful  of  dynamite  in  MG'M's 

^  WNiv"  ROBERT  STERLING  .   \J 


rift.  ROBERT  STERLING 

LEE  PATRICK  •  REGINALD  OWEN 
PATRICIA  DANE  •  CHARLES  DINGLE 
Directed  by  WESLEY  RUGGLES 
Produced  by  PANDRO  S.  BERMAN 
A  Metro-Goldwyn-Miyer  Picture 


"Salute  to  Our 
Heroes  Month" 
Buy  a  Bond  for 
Every  Mother's 
Son  in  Service. 

On  Sale  Here! 


CAPITOl 

B'WAY  AT  5  1st  ST, 

CVTDH  Filmed  under  fire  In  technicolor  "The 
LA  I  r\H  Battle  of  Midway"— a  U.  S-  Navy  Film 


(and  more  on  next  page) 


TISH  IS  DELISH! 

After  topping  "Woman  of  the  Year"  and 
"Tortilla  Flat"  in  test  runs  it's  waltzing 
merrily  to  big  business  everywhere! 


(Below)  Teaser  Tack  Cards 


WHO  IS 


u 


TISH 


u 


TISH 

IS 
COMING 
TO  TOWN 

H 

IT'S  A 

LAUGH 


LEO,  THE 

SHOWMAN,  SAYS 
IT'S  A  JOY 
TO  PROMOTE! 

On  this  page  is  just  a  sample 
of  the  fun  they  had  exploiting 
Tish  in  its  test  runs.  Easy  to 
duplicate!  Theatres  are  using 
M-G-M's  live-wire  campaigns 
with  marvelous  results! 

BROADSIDE 

WE  MAILED  YOU 
THE  BROADSIDE 
WITH  COMPLETE 
CAMPAIGN ! 

Here's  how  business  builds: 
Norfolk  opened  at  228%,  fin- 
ished at  259%.  Baltimore  went 
from  162%  to  168%.  Houston 
from  128%  to  150%. 

THREE  IN  A  ROW! 

"Tish"  follows  "Somewhere 
I'll  Find  You"  and  "Panama 
Hattie"  in  M-G-M's  Hit  Parade. 
You  ain't  seen  nothing  yet! 


A  BOX-OFFICE  DISH! 

"TISH"  with  Marjorie  Main  •  ZaSu  Pitts  •  Aline  MacMahon  •  Lee  Bowman  •  Guy  Kibbee  •  Susan  Peters  •  Virginia  Grey  •  Richard  Quine 
Screen  Play  by  Harry  Ruskin  •  Adaptation  by  Annalee  Whitmore  Jacoby  and  Thomas  Seller  •  Founded  in  part  on  Stories  by  Mary  Roberts 
Rinehart  •  Directed  by  S.  SYLVAN  SIMON  •    Produced  by  ORVILLE  O.  DULL  •  A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 


September  19 


1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


23 


TOP  FILM  SALARIES  TO  MAYER 
CACNEY.  CABLE.  SCHENCK 


Bing  Crosby  Also  Among 
Those  Receiving  More 
Than  $300,000  in  1941 

Louis  Burt  Mayer  was  paid  §704,425 
in  1941  by  Loew-MGM — $13,546.63  per 
week.  Mr.  Mayer  continues  in  the  posi- 
tion he  has  held  for  many  years  as  re- 
cipient of  the  highest  compensation  paid 
to  any  executive. 

Payments  to  the  production  general  of 
the  Loew-Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Studios 
at  Culver  City,  Cal.,  were  $7,377  greater 
in  1941  than  in  1940.  But  in  1937  they 
totaled  $1,296,503. 

Without  calling  attention  to  the  Federal 
and  State  tax  payments  to  which  the  high 
brackets  are  liable,  the  United  States  Treas- 
ury Department,  on  Monday,  made  available 
to  the  press  of  the  country,  for  publication 
Thursday  afternoon,  its  annual  report  on  in- 
dividuals receiving  from  corporations  com- 
pensation for  personal  services  in  excess  of 
$75,000  a  year. 

America's  No.  2  recipient  of  corporate 
compensation  in  1941  was  Thomas  J.  Wat- 
son, president  of  International  Business 
Machines  Corporation.  His  8546,294  was 
SI  58,000  less  than  Mr.  Mayer's  $704,425. 

Only  Four  Topped 
$300,000  in  Year 

While  1941  film  salaries  in  six  figures 
this  year  were  many,  only  four  topped  $300,- 
000:  James  Cagney,  receiving  $362,500 
from  Warner  Brothers;  Clark  Gable,  $357,- 
500  from  Loew-MGM ;  Nicholas  M. 
Schenck,  president  of  Loew-MGM,  $334,- 
204,  and  Bing  Crosby,  who  crooned  $302,- 
314  worth  for  Paramount  in  the  twelve- 
month. 

The  Treasury  Department  in  some  in- 
stances reported  on  certain  heretofore  miss- 
ing salary  listings  for  1940;  in  others,  the 
Government  listed  1940  salaries,  but  did  not 
report  on  those  for  1941. 

Columbia's,  Loew-MGM's  and  Univer- 
sal's  salary  payments  above  $75,000  were 
listed  bv  the  Government  for  the  vears 
1941  and  1940;  1940  had  been  omitted 'from 
last  year's  reports.  Payments  for  1940 
only  were  made  known  for  Paramount, 
RKO  Radio  and  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
Payments  for  1941  only  were  reported  for 
Warner  Brothers.  And  similar  variations 
appeared  for  smaller  companies. 

Columbia  Pictures  paid  salaries  above 
$75,000  to  10  persons  in  1941,  and  to  nine 
in  1940,  ranging  in  1941  from  $75,166  paid 
to  John  Stahl,  director,  to  $145,600  listed 
for  Harry  Cohn,  president;  and  in  1940, 
from  $76,666  paid  to  Jack  Cohn,  vice-presi- 
dent, to  S206,250  paid  to  Cary  Grant,  star. 

In  1941,  salaries  paid  by  Loew-MGM 
ranged  from  $75,316  received  by  George 
Sc'tz.  director,  to  Mr.  Mayer's  $704,425; 
and,  in  1940,  from  Mr.  Seitz's  $75,150.  to 
Mr.  Mayer's  $697,043.  Loew-MGM  paid 
salaries  above  $75,000  to  72  persons  in  1941 


U.  S.  Lists  Film  Salaries 


The  United  States  Treasury  Department  in  Washington  this  week  released,  for 
Thursday  afternoon  publication,  salary  payments  exceeding  S75,000  to  persons  in 
the  motion  picture  industry  in  1941  and  1940.  Certain  1940  salaries  omitted  from 
last  year's  reports  were  made  public,  while  in  other  cases  1941  payments  were  not 
disclosed.    The  Treasury's  report  on  film  compensation  follmvs: 


CHARLES   CHAPLIN    FILM.  CORPORATION 


Charles  Chaplin,  producer,  play- 


COLUMBIA  PICTURES 


Jean  Arthur,  player  

Year    ended   June   30,  1940. 

Claude  Binyon,  writer   

Samuel  Bischoff,  executive  

Year    ended    June    30,  1941. 

Samuel  J.  Briskin,  producer. . . 

Harry  Cohn,  executive  

$130,000  salary  and_  $15,600 
other  compensation  for  1941; 
$134,166  salary  and_  $15,600 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Jack  Cohn.  executive  

$78,000  salary  and  $10,400 
other  compensation  for  1941. 

Irene  Dunne,  player   

Cary  Grant,  player   

Alexander  Hall,  director  

Wesley  Ruggles.  director  

John  Stahl,  director  

George  Stevens,  director  

Loretta  Young,  player  


EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY 


1941 


121,041 


118,800 
145.600 


88.400 


135.0CO 
131,250 

91.666 
120.3S4 

75.166 
174.359 


1941 


1940 

$163,000 


1940 

5110.833 

94,500 


89.200 
149,766 


76,666 


206,250 
98.665 
199.9S9 


Frank  W.  Lovejoy,  executive...  S  

$150,000  salary  and  $13,125 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

V 

FOX  WEST  COAST  AGENCY  CORPORATION 


1940 

$163,125 


Charles  P.  Skouras,  executive. 


1541 


1940 

78.000 


SAMUEL  GOLDWYN,  INC.,  LTD. 


Walter  Brennan,  player. . . 
Gary  Cooper,  player  


1941  (a  I 

S  80.458 
287,671 


(a)  Reports  are  for  year  ending  June  30,  1941 
LOEWS,  INC. 


Fred  Astaire,  player  

Year  ended  August  31,  1940 

Lionel  Barrymore,  player  

Wallace  Beery,  player  

Busby  Berkeley,  director  

Pandro  S.  Berman,  producer. . . 

David  Bernstein,  executive  

93,600  salary.  $122,522  bonus 
and  $10,400  other  compensa- 
tion for  1941. 

S93,600  salary.  $10,400  com- 
mission and  $113,329  other 
compensation  for  1940. 


1941 


251.250 
101.958 
156,000 
226.522 


1940 

$133,333 

79,875 
278,750 


217,329 


1941 

Frank  Borzage,  director   169,000 

Milton  H.  Bren,  produce-    

Clarence  Brown,  director   220,000 

Eddie  Cantor,  player   78,000 

Jack  Chertog,  producer  '.   78,000 

Edward  Chodorov.  writer    

J.  J.  Cohn   104,000 

Claudette,  Colbert,  player    

J.  W.  Considine,  jr   172,000 

Jack  Conway,  director   182,000 

Joan  Crawford,  player   266^538 

George  Cukor,  director   189,975 

Jack  Cummings,  director   92,625 

Melvin  Douglas,  player   150,749 

Nelson  Eddy,  player   177,750 

Victor  Fleming,  director   142.000 

Sidney   Franklin,   director   182,000 

Clark  Gable,  player   357,500 

Greta  Garbo,  player   203,333 

Judy  Garland,  player   100.902 

Cedric  Gibbons,  art  director. . .  91,000 

Benjamin  Glazer,  producer    

Ben  Goetz.  executive   104.000 

Cary  Grant,  player   125.000 

B.  H.  Hyman.  executive   26S.9S9 

$208,000    salary    and  $60,989 

bonus   for  1941. 

S216,409    salary    and  S49,7S9 

other  compensation  for  1940. 

Sam  Katz,  executive   277.979 

$156,000    salary    and  £121,979 

bonus  for  1941. 

$156,000    salary    and  S96.356 

other  compensation  for  1940. 

Robert  Z.  Leonard,  director   20S.OOO 

Mervyn  LeRoy,  producer   IS2,000 

Al  Lichtman,  executive   247.484 

$156,000    salary    and  S91.4&4 

bonus  for  1941. 

$156,650    salary    and  S/2,267 

other  compensation  for  1940. 

Louis  TJ.  Lighton,  producer   147.000 

Arthur  II.  Loew.  executive   182.000 

Anita  Loos,  writer   91,000 

Myrna  Loy,  player   138.166 

Jeanette  MacDonald..  player. .  173,333 

John  Lee  Mahin,  writer   96,250 

Joseph  Mankiewicz.  producer..  156.000 
E.  J.  Mannix,  production  exec- 
utive   280.579 

S15S.60O    salary    and  S121.979 

bonus  for  194i. 

S105.555    salary    and  $96,336 

other  compensation  for  1940. 

Chico  Marx,  player    83,141 

Groucho  Marx,  player   83,141 

Harpo  Marx,  player    83,141 

T.  G.  Mayer,  studio  executive. .  7S.O0O 

Louis  B.  Mayer,  executive   704.425 

$156,000    salary    and  $548,425 

bonus  for  1941. 

$156,000    salary    and  S541.04S 

other  compensation  for  1940. 

James  McGuinness.  producer...  SI, 125 
{Continued  on  follovAng  page) 


1940 

169,000 
100.000 
201,666 
119,600 

'78!666 
104,000 

:  ; . ' 

130,000 
182.000 
318,365 
182,000 
91,000 
113.583 
164,500 

177,708 
298,544 


91,000 
93,333 


266,198 


252.556 


203.941 
182.000 
228.917 


156.000 
182,000 
91.000 
160.666 
300,000 
116,791 
156.000 

201.912 


78.000 
697.048 


78.000 


and  to  64  persons  in  1940  —  making  the 
Loew-MGM  top-bracket  payrolls  the  largest 
in  the  motion  picture  business  and  one  of 
the  largest  of  personnel  in  the  country. 

Paramount,  in  1940,  paid  salaries  exceed- 
ing $75,000  to  22;  its  1941  payments  were 
not  issued  by  the  Treasury  Department.  The 
1940  payments  ranged  from  $75,812.  re- 
ceived bv  Charles  Brackett,  writer,  to  Har- 
ry L.  (Bing)  Crosby's  $302,314. 

RKO  Radio's  1941  top-brackets  were  not 
reported.  In  1940,  eight  checks  exceeded 
S75.000  for  the  year.  Harry  Edginton.  pro- 
ducer, received  $76,500;  Ginger  Rogers, 
player,  got  $254,416. 

Nor  were  Twentieth  Centurv-Fox's  1941 


payments  disclosed.  In  1940.  that  company 
had  17  on  its  payrolls  receiving  more  than 
$75,000,  ranging  from  $78,416  paid  to  Tack 
Oakie.  to  Henry  Fonda's  $172,208. 

Universal,  in  1941,  paid  salaries  exceed- 
ing $75,000  to  20  persons,  and.  in  1940.  to 
only  eight.  The  range  in  1941  was :  $78,750. 
to  Margaret  Sullavan,  and  S291.905.  to  Bud 
Abbott  and  Lou  Costello:  1940's  range: 
$76,666.  to  Victor  McLasden.  and  $255,000. 
to  W.  C.  Fields. 

Warner  Brothers'  1941  payroll  listed  30 
receiving-  compensation  of  more  than  $75,- 
000 :  there  was  no  report  for  1940.  Warners' 
1941  range  was:  $76,000.  to  N.  R.  Raine, 
writer,  and  $362,000.  to  Tames  Casmev. 


24 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


U.  S.  LISTS  TOP  SALARIES 


(.Continued  from  preceding  page) 


1941 


Robert  Montgomery,  player  

Frank  Morgan,  player  

Jane  Murfin,  writer  

Walter  Pidgeon,  player  

Eleanor  Powell,  player  

William  Powell,  player  

Harry  Rapf,  production  execu- 
tive   

$81,941  salary  and  $30,494 
bonus  for  1941. 

$114,400  salary  and  $24,089 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Edward  G.  Robinson,  player... 

William  Rodgers,  executive  

Mickey  Rooney,  player  

J.  Walter  Rubin,  executive  

J.  Robert  Rubin,  executive  

$88,400  salary,  $100,308  bonus 
and  $15,600  other  compensa- 
tion for  1941. 

$88,400  salary,  $15,600  com- 
mission and  $12&,070  other 
compensation  for  1940. 

Rosalind  Russell,  player  

Victor  Saville,  producer,  director 

N.  M.  Schenck.  executive  

$105,300  salary,  $204,204  bonus 
and  $24,700  other  compensa- 
tion  for  1941. 

$105,300  salary,  $24,700  com- 
mission and  $188,881  other 
compensation  for  1940. 

George  Seitz,  director,  writer.. 

Norma  Shearer,  player  

Herbert  Stothart,  director  

Hunt   Stromberg,  director  

$200,000    salary    and  $77,409 
bonus  for  1941. 
$260,000    salary    and  $72,267 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Margaret  Sullavan,  player  

Norman   Taurog,  director  

Robert   Taylor,  player  

Benjamin  Thau,  executive  

$91,000    salary     and  $60,989 
bonus  for  1941. 
$91,000     salary     and  $48,178 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Richard  Thorpe,  director  

Spencer  Tracy,  player  

W.  S.  Van  Dyke,  director  

King  Vidor,  director  

Laurence  Weingarten,  producer 
$164,583  salary  and  $30,494 
bonus  for  1941. 

$156,000  salary  and  $24,089 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Carey  Wilson,  writer  

Charles  Winninger,  player  

Robert  Young,  player  

V 


MARCUS  LOEW  BOOKING  AGENCY 

1941  (a) 

Leopold  Friedman,  executive... 

Charles   C-    Moskowitz,  execu- 
tive   

$87,100  salary  and  $16,900 
other  compensation  for  1940. 


$  83,200 
104,000 


1941 

1940 

211,416 

191.25P 

99,691 

99,72o 

82,333 

79,333 

-9,833 

256,250 

267,500 

112.436 

138,489 

100,000 

104,000 

104^000 

172,416 

94,583 

91,000 

204,308 

232,070 

80,333 

104,000 

87,200 

334,204 

318,881 

75,316 

75,150 

150,000 

150,000 

78,000 

78,000 

297,409 

332,267 

113,933 

156,000 

156,000 

197,490 

199,999 

151,989 

139,178 

94,625 

101,239 

247,383 

208,000 

201,583 

229,750 

155,250 

117,250 

195,078 

180,089 

89,858 

86,800 

82,000 

113,208 

87,208 

(a)  Reports  are  for  year  ending  August  31,  1941 
V 

NATIONAL  THEATRES  AMUSEMENT  CO.,  INC. 

1941  1940 

Spyros  P.  Skcuras,  executive..       $   $135,500 

$78,000  salary  and  $57,500 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

V 

PARAMOUNT  PICTURES,  INC. 


1941 


Jack  Benny,  player   

Frank  Russell  Butler  

Madeleine  Carroll,  player  

Claudette  Colbert,  player  

Harry   L.    (Bing)    Crosby,  jr., 

player   ..  

Y.  Frank  Freeman,  executive.. 
Edward  H.  Griffith,  director... 

Henry  Hathaway,  director  

Bob  Hope,  player  

Arthur  J.  Hornblow,  producer. 
William      LeBaron,  executive 

producer   

$185,500  salary  and  $62  other 

compensation  for  1940. 
James  Mitchell  Leisen,  director 

Fred  MacMurray,  player  

Frederic  March,  player  

Raymond  Milland,  player  

Mark  Rex  Sandrich,  director... 
Preston  Sturges,  writer-director 
Anthony  DeWolfe  Veiller.  writer 


1940  (a) 

$125,000 
81,041 
98,599 
150,000 

302,314 
106.000 
126,707 
144,250 
120,083 
159,000 

185,562 


143,750 
248,333 
104,166 

84,682 
103,125 
147,583 

84.250 


William  A.  Wellman,  director. 

Adolph  Zukor,  executive  

Charles  Brackett,  writer  

Barbara  Stanwyck,  player  


1940  (a) 

119,169 
106,000 
75,812 
75,937 


(a)  Paramount  reports  are  for  year  ending  January 
4,  1941 

V 

RKO  RADIO  PICTURES,  INC. 


1941 


Irene  Dunne,  player  

Harry  Edington,  producer. 

Garson  Kanin,  writer  

Charles  Laughton,  player. . 
Lewis  Milestone,  director.. 
Erich  Pommer,  director... 

Ginger  Rogers,  player  

Sam  Wood,  director  


1940 

$  90,000 
76,500 
97,500 
170,496 
102,500 
95,500 
254,416 
80,000 


V 


DAVID  O.  SELZNICK  PRODUCTIONS,  INC. 


David  O.  Selznick,  producer... 
Alfred   Hitchcock,  director  


1941  (a) 

$182,000 
157,375 


1940 


(a)  Reports  are  for  year  ending  October  31, 
V 

TWENTIETH  CENTURY-FOX 

1941 

Sidney  R.  Kent,  executive  (de- 
ceased)   $  

Don  Ameche,  player    

$146,666  salary  _  and  $1,157 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Harry  Joe  Brown,  producer....   

Irving  Cummings,  director    

Richard  W.  Day,  designer   ...  

Alice  Faye,  player    

$157,458  salary  _  and  $500 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Henry  Fonda,  player    

Nunnally  H.  Johnson,  writer..   

Henry  King,  director    

William  Koenig,  executive    

Walter  Lang,  director    

Kenneth  MacGowan,  producer..   

Paul  Muni,  player    

Jack  Oakie,  player    

Tyrone   Power,  player    

$121,458  salary  and  $47,550 
other  compensation  for  1940. 

Lamar  Trotti,  writer    

Sol  M.  Wurtzel,  producer    

V 

UNITED  ARTISTS  CORPORATION 

1941 

Maurice  Silverstone,  executive.  $  

V 

UNIVERSAL  PICTURES  COMPANY 

1941 

Bud  Abbott  and  Lou  Costello, 

players    $291,905 

For  year  ended  October  31, 
1941,  $202,829  salary  and 
$89,076  other  compensation 
for  1941. 

N.  J.  Blumberg,  executive   144,467 

$87,850  salary,  $56,042  bonus 
and  $575  other  compensation 
for  1941. 

Charles  Boyer,  player   220,833 

J.  Cheever  Cowdin,  executive.  175,992 

$119,000  salary,  $56,042  bonus 

and  $950  other  compensation 

for  1941. 

Bing  Crosby,  player    

Year  ended  October  31,  1940. 

Marlene  Dietrich,  player   88,645 

Irene  Dunne,  player   137,500 

Edna  Mae  D-urbin,  player   203,166 

W.  C.  Fields,  player   140,000 

Matthew  Fox,  executive   87,697 

$59,895     salary     and  $27,801 

bonus  for  1941. 

Hugh  Herbert,  player   79,666 

Henry  Koster,  director   145,041 

Bruce  Manning,  writer   91,362 

Victor  McLaglen,  player    

Joseph  Pasternak,  director   132,208 

Charles  D.  Prutzman,  executive  90,781 

$59,460  salary,   $30,321  bonus 

and   $1,000  other  compensa- 
tion for  1941. 

William  A.  Scully,  executive..  104,121 

$73,800     salary     and  $30,321 

bonus  for  1941. 

Joseph  Seidelman,  executive. . . .  88,521 

$60,720     salary     and  $27,801 

bonus  for  1941. 

William  Seiter,  director   183,250 

Margaret  Sullavan,  player   78.750 

Franchot  Tone,  player   125.694 

Cliff  Work,  executive   99,921 

$72,120     salary     and     $27,801  . 

bonus  for  1941. 


1941 


1940 

$150,000 
147,824 


123,333 
162,350 
79,500 
157,958 


172,208 

89,000 
157,500 

79,500 
107,916 

97,583 
120,000 

78,416 
169,009 


78,750 
146,500 


1940 

$156,000 


1940 


150,000 
100,312 


209,833 
255,000 


134,583 


76,666 
132.500 


78,125 


VITAGRAPH,  INC. 

S.  Charles  Einfeld,  executive. 
$91,000  salary  and  $13,000 
other  compensation  for  1941. 

Gradwell  L.  Sears,  executive. 
$91,000  salary  and  $13,000 
other  compensation  for  1941. 


1941  (a) 

$104,000 

104,000 


(a)  Reports  are  for  year  ending  August  31,  1941 

V 

WALTER   WANGER  PRODUCTIONS,  INC. 

1941  (a)  1940 

Walter   F.    Wanger,  executive, 
producer    $130,000  $  


(a)  Report  is  for  year  ending  June  30,  1941 
V 

WARNER  BROS.  CIRCUIT  MANAGEMENT  CORP. 

1941  (a)  1940 

Joseph  Bernhard,  executive   $130,000  $  

$104,000  salary  and  $26,000 
other  compensation  for  1941. 


(a)  Report  is  for  year  ending  August  31,  1941 

V 

WARNER  BROS.  PICTURES,  INC. 


1940 


1941  (a) 

Lloyd  Bacon,  director  $192,000  $  

Henry  Blanke,  executive   99,750   

George  Brent,  player   127,000   

James  Cagney,  player   362,500   

Lenore  Coffee,  writer   78,000   

Michael  Curtiz,  director   187,200 

Bette  Davis,  player   271,083   

Marlene  Dietrich,  player   100,000   

Errol  Flynn,  player   240,000 

Leo  Forbstein,  music  head   78,000 

Bryan  Foy,  producer   156,000   

Edmund  Goulding,  writer-direc- 
tor   91,500   

Howard  Hawks,  producer   110,766   

William  Keighley,  director   133,166   

Anatole  Litvak,  director   115,000 

Robert  Lord,  producer   142,325   

Fredric  March,  player   100,000   

Jack  Oakie,  player   82,812   

Merle  Oberon,  player   85,000   

N.  R.  Raine,  writer   76,000   

Casey  Robinson,  writer-director  109,791   

Edward  G.  Robinson,  player   171,416   

S.  Schneider,  executive   78,000   

$65,000  salary  and  $13,000 
other  compensation  for  1941. 

Max  Steiner,  music  director   81,150   

H.    B.    Wallis,   executive  pro- 
ducer   260,000   

Raoul  Walsh,  director   97,750 

Albert   Warner,   executive   104,000  $  

$91,000  salary  and  $13,000 
ether  compensation  for  1941. 

H.  M.  Warner,  executive   156,000   

$130,000  salary  and  $26,000 
other  compensation  for  1941. 

J.   L.   Warner,  executive   182,000   

$156,000  salary  and  $26,000 
other  compensation  for  1941. 

Sam  Wood,  director   99,166   

(a)   Reports  are  for  year  ending  August  31,  1941. 
V 

Other  Reports 

ATLAS  CORPORATION 


1941 


1940 

$100,000 


Floyd  B.  Odium,  executive   $  

V 

COLUMBIA   BROADCASTING  SYSTEM 

1941  1940 

William  S.  Paley,  executive...       $   $204,319 

Edward  Klauber,   executive     100,679 

V 

GENERAL  ANILINE  &  FILM  CORPORATION 

1941  1940 

Dietrich  A.  Schmitz,  executive      $   $90,550 

$90,000  salary  and  $550  other 

compensation  for  1940. 
R.   Hutz,   executive     85,550 

$85,000  salary  and  $550  other 

compensation  for  1940. 

V 

RADIO  CORPORATION  OF  AMERICA 

1941  1940 

David  Sarnoff,  executive   $   $100,240 

$100,000  salary  and  $240  other 
compensation  for  1940. 


OF  INTEREST  TO 
THEATRES  EVERYWHERE! 
THE  RELEASE  DATE 

OF 


4AS  BEEN  SET  FOR 
SEPTEMBER  30& 


26 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


Senate  Starts  Inquiry 
Into  Petrillo  Rule 


Similar  Inquiry  Planned 
by  FCC;  Federal  Suit 
Is  Delayed  at  Chicago 

James  Caesar  Petrillo's  first  tussle  with 
the  United  States  Government  was  sched- 
uled to  begin  Thursday  in  Washington,  at 
hearings  before  a  Senate  Interstate  Com- 
merce Committee  subcommittee,  on  a  res- 
olution by  Senator  D.  Worth  Clark, 
Idaho,  for  investigation  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Musicians  president  and  of 
his  union. 

A  similar  investigation  by  the  Federal 
Communications  Commission  is  planned.  The 
FCC  chairman,  James  L.  Fly,  said  Monday 
he  would  testify  Friday  before  the  sub-com- 
mittee. Mr.  Fly  added  that  Mr.  Petrillo's 
recent  banning  of  broadcasts  by  non-union 
school  and  conservatory  orchestras  had  in- 
creased the  gravity  of  a  situation  already 
serious  because  of  the  union  president's  ban 
on  recordings  and  transcriptions. 

Meanwhile,  hearings  in  the  Department  of 
Justice  anti-trust  suit  against  Mr.  Petrillo, 
the  union  and  other  officers  were  postponed 
from  Wednesday  to  October  12th.  The  suit 
was  in  Chicago  Federal  Court,  and  com- 
plained against  the  recording  ban,  coercion 
against  radio  networks  because  of  union 
disputes  with  local  affiliates,  and  other  phases 
of  the  Petrillo  rule  which  the  Department 
termed  monopolistic. 

Elmer  Davis  First 
Senate  Witness 

First  witness  at  the  Senate  hearing  was 
to  be  Elmer  Davis,  director  of  the  Office  of 
War  Information,  one  of  the  first  to  protest 
Mr.  Petrillo's  recording  ban.  This  protest 
was  in  the  form  of  a  public  letter,  which 
stressed  the  dependency  of  small  radio  sta- 
tions on  recordings. 

Other  witnesses  were  to  be  Assistant  At- 
torney General  Thurman  W.  Arnold,  and 
radio  network  chiefs.  It  was  thought  pos- 
sible that  Mr.  Fly  might  disclose  the  first 
results  of  the  FCC  investigation,  during 
which  affidavits  had  been  taken  from  num- 
erous radio  station  officials  and  employees. 

Postponement  of  the  Federal  case  until 
October  12th  was  granted  at  the  union's  re- 
quest, which  asked  delay  so  that  Joseph 
Padway,  American  Federation  of  Labor 
chief  counsel,  might  represent  it.  Both 
sides  must  file  initial  briefs  by  October  1st 
and  final  briefs  in  reply  by  October  8th. 
The  Government's  suit  sought  a  temporary 
injunction  to  restrain  the  union  from  en- 
forcing its  recording  ban.  It  also  asked  a 
permanent  injunction. 

Last  week,  Mr.  Petrillo  banned  broad- 
casts over  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  Sys- 
tem by  the  Cincinnati  Conservatory  of  Mu- 
sic. The  broadcasts  were  to  begin  October 
1st,  starting  their  ninth  year.  The  action, 
reminiscent  of  Mr.  Petrillo's  July  ban 
against  broadcasts  by  the  National  Music 
Camp,  at  Interlochen,  Mich.,  was  followed 


Monday  by  an  order  against  broadcasts  by 
the  Eastman  School  of  Music,  Rochester. 

Musicians'  locals  are  negotiating  new 
contracts  in  key  cities.  In  New  York  con- 
tracts were  expected  to  be  signed  this  week 
providing  a  10  per  cent  wage  increase. 

New  York  Local  802,  one  of  the  largest, 
this  week  brought  the  "musicians'  case"  to 
the  public,  in  newspaper  advertisements, 
which  said  that  only  35  per  cent  of  musi- 
cians were  steadily  employed ;  that  95  per 
cent  of  the  music  heard  was  "canned";  that 
of  approximately  800  radio  stations,  500  did 
not  employ  even  one  musician. 

It  also  said  that  an  average  of  only  seven 
minutes  of  each  24  hours  of  radio  time  was 
"live"  music ;  that  Mr.  Petrillo's  ban  against 
recordings  was  the  decision  of  518  delegates 
to  the  last  convention,  expressing  the  will  of 
the  entire  AFM  membership. 

"Justice  demands  that  the  musician  should 
not  be  compelled  to  make  'canned  music'  for 
commercial  industries  which  grow  rich — 
while  he  walks  the  streets  without  a  job," 
the  advertisement  said. 

UOPWA  Promises  No 
Strikes  for  Duration 

"No  strikes  for  the  duration,"  and  full 
support  of  the  War  Labor  Board,  were  two 
decisions  of  the  United  Office  and  Profes- 
sional Workers  of  America,  CIO,  at 1  its 
annual  convention  last  week  in  Albany.  It 
also  asked  Hollywood  to  devote  greater  ef- 
forts and  resources  to  the  war. 

Important  union  in  the  UOPWA  is  the 
Screen  Office  and  Professional  Employees 
Guild,  representing  employees  at  distribu- 
tors' home  offices. 

Asserting  that  they  were  in  interstate 
commerce,  14  workers  in  729  Seventh  Ave- 
nue, New  York,  filed  suit  against  their 
employer  last  week  in  New  York  federal 
court  for  $7,000  in  overtime  pay  and  dam- 
ages, under  the  Fair  Labor  Standards  Act. 

The  building  houses  United  Artists,  Co- 
lumbia and  other  motion  picture  home  offices. 
The  workers  in  the  building  said  that  be- 
cause their  duties  had  important  relation  to 
those  companies,  they  were  related  to  in- 
terstate commerce. 

In  St.  Louis,  the  new  International  Al- 
liance of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees  ex- 
change union  elected  Alfred  Coco  president. 

St.  Louis  Operators 
Get  Increases 

Also  in  St.  Louis,  Local  143A,  projection- 
ists, won  wage  increases  of  $2.50  per  week, 
in  a  new  four-year  contract,  following  the 
strike  of  16  Negro  operators  at  the  Comet, 
Douglass,  Regal  and  Laclede  theatres. 

Initial  meetings  among  the  wage  scale 
committee  of  the  Chicago  operators  union 
and  theatre  heads  were  held  last  week  and 
attended  by  Tom  Gorman,  RKO;  James  E. 
Coston,  Warner  Theatres;  Jack  Kirsch,  Al- 
lied Theatres  of  Illinois;  Morris  B.  Leon- 
ard, Balaban  &  Katz,  and  Sidney  Spiegel, 
Essaness  theatres.  Discussions  were  to  be 
resumed  this  week. 


Two  Broadway 
Shows  Open 

Two  legitimate  stage  shows  opened  on 
Broadway  this  week.  They  were:  "New 
Priorities  of  1942"  at  the  Forty-Sixth  Street 
theatre,  which  opened  Tuesday  night  with 
Harry  Richman,  Bert  Wheeler,  Carol  Bruce, 
Hank  Ladd  and  Henry  Youngman  heading 
the  cast,  and  "This  Is  Show  Time,"  a  vaude- 
ville production,  which  opened  Wednesday  night 
at  the  Broadhurst  with  a  cast  headed  by  George 
Jessel,  Jack  Haley,  Ella  Logan,  the  DeMarcos 
and  the  Berry  Brothers. 

Stuart  Erwin  was  signed  to  play  the  leading 
role  in  "Mr.  Sycamore,"  first  play  on  the 
Theatre  Guild  roster  for  this  season.  Lester 
Vail  is  directing  the  Ketti  Frings  play  which 
went  into  rehearsal  this  week.  The  production 
will  have  trial  runs  in  New  Haven  and  Boston. 

"Strip  for  Action,"  the  Howard  Lindsay- 
Russel  Crouse  comedy,  will  open  in  New  York 
September  30th.  It  will  have  played  in  Pitts- 
burgh and  New  Haven  by  then. 

Eddie  Dowling  will  present  a  two-play  com- 
bination on  Broadway  the  week  of  September 
28th.  He  and  Julie  Haydon  have  the  leading 
roles  in  both  plays  on  the  bill — "Hello  Out 
There"  by  William  Saroyan,  and  G.  K. 
Chesterton's  "Magic." 

Jolliffe  Now  RCA 
Vice-President 

Dr.  Charles  Byron  Jolliffe,  assistant  to  the 
president  of  the  Radio  Corporation  of  America, 
and  chief  engineer  of  RCA  Laboratories,  has 
been  appointed  vice-president  and  chief  engineer 
of  RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Camden,  N. 
J.,  according  to  a  joint  announcement  by  G.  K. 
Throckmorton,  chairman  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  Robert  Shannon,  president  of 
RCAM. 

Dr.  Jolliffe  was  graduated  from  West  Vir- 
ginia University  with  a  B.Sc.  degree  in  1915, 
and  took  an  M.S.  degree  at  West  Virginia  in 
1920,  and  received  the  honorary  degree  LL.D. 
there  in  1942.  He  was  awarded  the  Ph.D.  in 
1922  at  Cornell  University  where  he  was  in- 
structor of  physics  from  1920  to  1922.  From 
1922  to  1930  he  served  as  a  physicist  in  the 
radio  section  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  and 
left  that  post  in  1930  to  accept  the  appointment 
of  chief  engineer  of  the  Federal  Radio  Com- 
mission, the  position  he  also  held  under  the 
Federal  Communications  Commission  in  1934. 

Hoffay  Feature  Editor 
Of  International  Group 

The  International  Film  Relations  Committee 
designated  Michael  Hoffay,  foreign  publicity 
director  of  RKO,  as  editor  of  its  feature 
service  at  the  meeting  held  at  the  office  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Distributors 
of  America  this  week.  He  succeeded  Albert 
Deane  of  Paramount  under  the  IFRC's  system 
of  rotating  editors.  Each  serves  for  approxi- 
mately one  month. 

Wilbur  Morse  of  the  Office  of  War  In- 
formation attended  the  meeting  at  the  invita-  [ 
tion  of  the  committee  to  confer  on  Current 
assignments  that  members  of  the  IFRC  are 
carrying  out  for  his  agency.  Discussion  of 
wartime  problems  relating  to  foreign  publicity 
brought  out  the  fact  that  IFRC  members  have 
cut  their  material  to  bare  essentials  for  the 
duration  to  conserve  transportation. 


Jack  Bernhard  Pilot 

Jack  Bernhard,  former  producer  at  Universal 
and  a  son  of  Joseph  Bernhard,  Warner  Bros, 
vice-president  and  general  manager,  has  been 
commissioned  a  pilot  officer  in  the  Royal  Air 
Force,  somewhere  in  England,  according  to  ad- 
vices received  in  New  York  this  week. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


27 


CONSERVATION  IS  SAVING 
VOICE  OF  RADIO,  SAYS  FLY 


Tube  Situation  Seen  Crux 
of  Problem  of  Service 
Maintenance 

Maximum  conservation  of  materials  by 
broadcasters  and  the  concerted  efforts  oi 
Government  agencies  were  seen  this 
week  by  James  L.  Fly,  chairman  of  the 
Federal  Communications  Commission,  as 
eliminating  any  hr-mediate  necessity  Eoi 
silencing  stations  or  even  for  limiting 
their  operations^ 

However,  Mr.  Fly  indicated,  some  sugges- 
tions for  changes  in  operating  practices 
night  be  laid  before  the  C -~~.':n:ir.  within 
the  week  by  the  domestic  broadcasting  sub- 
committee, now  studying  the  results  of  a 
Questionnaire  on  tubes  recently  distributed 
to  all  broadcasters. 

The  tube  situation  was  the  crux  of  the 
whole  problem  of  maintaining  broadcasting 
service,  the  chairman  explained.  Up  to  the 
present  time,  the  War  Production  Board 
had  been  able  to  supply  all  stations  with 
the  necessary  tubes  and  could  continue  to 
do  so  for  an  indefinite,  but  substantial  pe- 
riod, the  length  of  which,  however,  depend- 
ed upon  military  demand,  broadcaster  co- 
operation in  making  im-riinmn  use  of  sup- 

Question  of  Manpower 
Being  Considered 

Mr.  Flv  criticised  unidentified  "subordi- 
(  nate  officials"  who  had  been  talking  about 
curtailment  of  broadcasting  as  a  conserva- 
tion measure,  declaring  their  statements 
should  be  disregarded  since  it  was  evident 
that  for  a  substantial  period  means  could  be 
found  to  keep  stations  in  service,  while  the 
question  of  restrictions  on  broadcasting  was 
one  of  national  policy  and  would  be  decided 
on  that  basis  and  not  by  subordinate  officials 
in  other  agencies,  but  by  the  responsible 
men  in  charge  of  that  problem. 

The  question  of  manpower  also  was  under 
consideration,  Mr.  Fly  said,  and  it  was  the 
hope  of  the  several  agencies  interested  that 
ways  might  be  found  of  maintaining  the 
skilled  labor  supplv  of  the  communications 
industry. 

Questionnaires  which  would  show  the  ex- 
act situation  at  each  station  and  in  each 
branch  of  the  communications  industry  had 
been  sent  out,  as  a  basis  for  further  studies 
»   to  be  made,  it  was  said. 

.4//  Short  Wave  Time 
To  Be  Bought  by  U.  S. 

Purchase  of  all  time  on  14  short  wave 
stations  here,  and  construction  of  22  addi- 
tional transmitters,  is  planned  by  Govem- 
j  ment  communications  and  informational  di- 
rectors, according  to  Washington  report. 
The  directors  include  Elmer  Davis,  director 
of  the  Office  of  War  Information;  Nelson 
Rockefeller,  Coordinator  of  Inter-American 
Affairs,  and  T.  A  M.  Craven,  Federal  Com- 
munication Commission  member,  according 

The  assumption  of  the  time,  and  erection 
of  new  outlets  is  to  meet  criticism  of  this 
country's  short  wave  broadcasts  to  foreign 


countries,  it  is  said.  That  criticism  asserts 
the  broadcasts  are  inadequate. 

It  is  expected  the  new  stations,  with  one 
exception,  will  be  on  properties  already  used 
for  radio  senders.  The  exception  is  a  new 
station  in  southern  California,  to  reach  the 
Philippines  and  the  Far  East. 

The  program  will  allow  station  licensees 
to  retain  control,  it  is  said.  However,  broad- 
casts would  be  prepared  by  the  OWI  and 
the  Rockefeller  office.  The  36-station  net- 
work probably  wtII  cost  §5,000,000  yearly, 
it  is  estimated. 

Appeals  Court  Favors 
Broadcasters 

The  District  oi  Columbia  court  of  appeals 
on  Monday  held  that  Station  KOA,  Denver, 
and  the  National  Broadcasting  Company- 
were  improperly  deprived  of  an  opportunity 
to  protect  their  interests  before  the  Federal 
Communications  Commission  when  it  was 
considering  the  application  of  Station 
WHDH,  Boston,  for  an  increase  of  power, 
and  held  thai  broadcasters  had  an  absolute 
right  to  a  complete  presentation  before  the 
commission  in  all  matters  in  which  they  may- 
be adversely  affected. 

By-  a  four-to-two  opinion,  the  court  over- 
ruled the  contention  of  commission  counsel 
that  the  rights  of  KOA  were  adequately 
served  by  permitting  it  to  appear  at  licens- 
ing hearings  on  the  'WHDH  application  as  a 
"'friend  of  the  court." 

KOA  and  NBC,  with  which  it  is  affiliated 
had  appealed  to  the  court  for  a  ruling  on  the 
commission's  right  to  limit  their  submission 
of  evidence  intended  to  show  that  an  in- 
crease of  power  for  the  Boston  station 
would  interfere  with  reception  in  the  Den- 
ver station's  secondary  area. 

The  court  agreed  that  they  had  a  substan- 
tial interest  and  had  a  right  to  intervene 
in  the  proceedings  after  the  commission 
had  handed  down  its  proposed  findings  of 
fact,  in  which  it  indicated  it  favored  the 
increase  of  power. 

CBC  To  Study  Value 
Of  U.  S.  Programs 

The  Canadian  Broadcasting  Corporation 
has  been  asked  by  a  special  House  of  Com- 
mons committee  on  broadcasting  to  ex- 
amine more  closely  broadcasts  originating 
in  the  United  States  and  relayed  through 
Canadian  outlets  such  as  CKLW,  Windsor. 
CFCF  and  CKAC,  Montreal,  and  CFRB. 
Toronto. 

The  committee  urged  the  CBC  to  con- 
sider whether  such  relays  w-ere  in  the  in- 
terests of  Canadian  broadcasting.  A  CBC 
official  added  Monday  that  any  new  outlets 
for  American  networks  now  will  be  nego- 
tiated by  the  corporation  rather  than  by 
the  privately  owned  stations.  The  result 
will  be  elimination  of  any  programs  or  ten- 
dencies the  CBC  thinks  inimical. 

New  problems  created  by  the  war  and 
various  financial  and  engineering  questions 
were  discussed  at  a  meeting  of  Blue  Net- 
work executives  in  New  York  Monday. 

Those     participating     included  Mark 


Woods,  president;  Edgar  Kobak,  executive 
vice-president;  Keith  Kiggins,  vice-presi- 
dent in  charge  of  stations;  Phillips  Carlin, 
vice-president  in  charge  of  programs;  Don 
E.  Oilman,  vice-president  in  charge  of  the 
Western  division;  E.  R.  Boroff,  vice-presi- 
dent in  charge  of  the  Central  division; 
Charles  E.  Rynd,  treasurer;  Fred  M. 
Thrower,  general  sales  manager ;  Robert 
Saudek,  assistant  to  the  executive  vice- 
president;  John  McNeil,  WJZ  manager; 
Charles  Barry,  eastern  program  manager ; 
G.  W.  Johnstone,  director  of  newrs  and 
special  features;  George  Benson,  eastern 
sales  manager;  Bert  J.  Hauser,  sales  pro- 
motion manager;  Edward  F.  Evans,  re- 
search manager;  William  Ryan.  KGO,  San 
Francisco  manager:  Kenneth  Berkeley. 
Washington  manager. 

Top  Radio  and  Film 
Stars  Offer  Services 

Among  radio  and  film  stars  who  have 
offered  their  services  to  the  Government 
through  the  Office  of  War  Information  thus 
far  are :  Jack  Benny,  Edgar  Bergen,  George 
Burns,  Grade  Allen,  Nelson  Eddy.  Clifton 
Fadiman,  Jean  Hersholt.  Frank  Morgan, 
Hal  Peary,  Lanny-  Ross  and  Major  Edward 
Bowes,  the  OWI  announced  last  week  in 
Washington. 

A  plan  under  which  these  stars  may  be 
used  has  been  submitted  by  Kay  Kyser,  or- 
chestra leader,  who  has  formed  a  "Commit- 
tee of  25,"  including  leading  radio  per- 
formers. 

This  group  was  to  meet  this  week  in  New- 
York  with  officials  of  the  OWI,  networks, 
and  advertising  agencies.  Other  meetings 
are  to  be  in  Chicago  and  Hollywood. 


Elected  CBS  Vice-President 

Dr.  Frank  Stanton,  director  of  research  and 
acting  director  of  sales  promotion  for  the 
Columbia  Broadcasting  System,  has  been 
elected  a  vice-president.  It  was  said  the  elec- 
tion will  mean  no  immediate  change  in  Dr. 
Stanton's  activities  but  that  it  looks  toward 
the  future  development  of  research  as  a  factor 
of  CBS  operations  in  many  areas  through  a 
research  division  that  will  report  direct  to  ex- 
ecutive officers.  Dr.  Stanton  has  been  with 
CBS  since  1935. 


Heads  NBC  Promotion 

Charles  B.  Brown  was  appointed  director  of 
promotion  and  advertising  for  the  National 
Broadcasting  Company  to  succeed  Ken  R. 
Dyke,  who  resigned.  Mr.  Dyke  is  in  Govern- 
ment service. 


Hold  "WAMPS"  Luncheon 

The  "WAMPS,"  organization  of  women 
emnloyees  of  film  company  and  theatre  adver- 
tising and  publicity  departments  in  New  York, 
held  its  first  luncheon  of  the  season  at  the 
Hotel  Abbey  in  New  York  Wer'nes^-. 
Luncheons  will  be  held  even."  other  Wednesday. 


To  Broadcast  Ceremonies 

The  dedication  ceremonies  for  the  Motion 
Picture  Relief  Fund's  Country  House  in  Holly- 
wood, set  for  September  27th.  will  be  broad- 
cast nationally  by  CBS. 


ACKED  SERIAL  THRILLERS! 


rv 
A. 


Original  screen  play  by  Basil  Dickey,  Leighton  Brill,  Robert  Beche 
Directed  by  SPENCER  G.  BENNET 
A  COLUMBIA  CHAPTER  PLAY 


Attraction  \ 

APOED  ATTRAd  ^ 

A  o«  each  epUoao  fc  a  short 

den,onsu-«on                    ^  messo9es 
tode  exports  b'e°kdswithwiclemoSsOPPea» 
Sock  oducotiono'  "  


30 


MOTION    PICTURh  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


Wins  Clearance  Cut 
By  Consent  Award 


Pennsylvania  Exhibitor  Is 
Granted  Partial  Relief, 
Seven-Day  Clearance 

Partial  relief  in  clearance  reduction  was 
granted  an  exhibitor  this  week  when  Har- 
pur  M.  Tobin,  arbitrator  settled  a  com- 
plaint filed  by  Joseph  Engel,  operator  of 
the  Plains  theatre,  Plains,  Pa.,  by  entry  of 
a  consent  award  between  the  plaintiff  and 
Warners  at  the  Philadelphia  tribunal.  It 
was  Philadelphia's  17th  case. 

The  arbitrator  dismissed  the  complaint  as 
to  Paramount  and  Mr.  Engel  discontinued 
the  action  against  Loew's.  Costs  were  di- 
vided equally.  The  consent  award  with 
Warners  set  the  maximum  clearance  of  the 
Sterling  theatre  at  seven  days  over  the 
Plains,  but  not  later  than  42  days  after 
Wilkes-Barre  first  runs.  A  similar  complaint 
filed  by  Mr.  Engel  against  the  three  distribu- 
tors, but  naming  the  Parsons  theatre,  Par- 
sons, Pa.,  was  withdrawn  last  April. 

The  arbitrator's  findings  were  as  follows : 
"The  complainant  having  discontinued  pro- 
ceeding as  to  the  defendant,  Loew's,  Inc., 
and  having  conceded  that  the  defendant 
Paramount  Film  Distributing  Corp.,  did  own 
at  the  time  of  said  consent  decree,  and  ever 
since  owned,  a  financial  interest  in  the 
management  and  operation  of  the  theatres 
operated  by  the  intervenor,  Comerford  Pub- 
lix  Theatres  Corp.,  and  that  under  the  terms 
of  said  consent  decree,  and  particularly  Ar- 
ticle XVII  thereof,  said  defendant  is  there- 
fore entitled  to  have  the  complaint  herein 
dismissed  as  to  it." 

Conceded  Clearance 
Was  Reasonable 

He  concluded:  "The  complainant  having 
further  conceded  that  42  days  clearance  in 
favor  of  the  first  run  Wilkes-Barre  theatres 
over  the  Plains  theatre  is  reasonable  and 
that  seven  days'  clearance  in  favor  of  the 
Sterling  theatre  over  the  Plains  is  reason- 
able." He  added  that  Comerford,  having 
conceded  "that  in  no  event  shall  the  Plains 
theatre  be  required  by  reason  of  the  clear- 
ance applicable  to  it  to  play  the  pictures  of 
the  defendant  Warners  later  than  42  days 
after  completion  of  the  first  run  of  such 
pictures  in  Wilkes-Barre." 

The  clearance  complaint  of  Thornton 
Theatres'  Orpheum,  Saugerties,  N.  Y.,  has 
been  dismissed  at  the  New  York  board  by 
John  C.  Perberton,  arbitrator. 

The  award  held  that  the  14  days'  clear- 
ance of  the  Kingston  and  Broadway  theatres, 
Kingston,  N.  Y.,  is  reasonable  as  the 
Orpheum  is  in  competition  with  the  two  in- 
tervening theatres.  Paramount  was  dis- 
missed from  the  case  during  the  hearings 
due  to  the  fact  that  it  had  no  contract  with 
plaintiff's  theatre.  The  four  other  consent- 
ing distributors  were  involved  in  the  case, 
which  was  transferred  to  the  local  board  for 
hearing  after  having  been  filed  originally  in 
Albany. 

An  appeal  has  been  filed  by  the  Bountiful 
theatre,  Bountiful,  Utah,  and  two  interven- 
ing theatres,  from  an  award  granting  partial 


clearance  relief  to  the  Bountiful  which  was 
entered  at  the  Salt  Lake  City  tribunal  Au- 
gust 17th,  by  Robert  L.  Judd,  arbitrator. 
It  was  Salt  Lake's  second  case.  The  Mur- 
ray and  Southeast  theatres  were  intervenors. 
The  case  involved  all  five  signatories  to  the 
consent  decree  but  was  dismissed  as  to 
Paramount,  whose  Intermountain  Circuit 
theatres  at  Salt  Lake  City  were  named  as 
interested  parties.  Beverly  S.  Clendenin, 
attorney,  represented  all  three  appellants. 
J.  N.  Bliss,  operator  of  the  Bountiful,  origi- 
nally sought  reduction  of  60-day  clear- 
ance of  first  runs  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

Buffalo 

A  complaint  seeking  reduction  of  the 
present  30-day  clearance  in  favor  of  three 
Schine  houses  in  Auburn  to  seven  days,  was 
filed  at  Buffalo's  arbitration  tribunal  Mon- 
day, naming  the  five  consenting  companies. 
Ruben  C.  Canter,  operator  of  the  Colonial, 
Skaneateles,  N.  Y.,  is  the  complainant.  The 
case  is  Buffalo's  16th.  Mr.  Canter  seeks 
clearance  reduction  over  Schine's  Palace, 
Auburn,  and  Jefferson,  all  in  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
and  charges  that  the  existing  clearance  is 
"unfair,  unreasonable  and  unnecessary." 

Albany 

Joseph  Jarvis,  operator  of  the  Delmar 
theatre,  Menands,  N.  Y.,  filed  a  clearance 
and  designated  run  complaint  Monday  at 
the  Albany  tribunal  against  Loew's  and 
Warners.  He  charged  that  the  Delmar  was 
offered  an  availability  of  seven  days  after  the 
Delaware  theatre,  Albany,  run  and  asks  for 
reestablishment  of  its  former  availability  of 
30  days  after  Albany  first  run  instead.  This 
is  Albany's  eighth  case. 

Dallas 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  filed  an  appeal  at 
the  Dallas  tribunal  Monday  against  an 
award  which  fixed  clearance  of  first,  second 
and  third  runs  in  Bastrop,  Tex.  The  award 
was  given  in  August  by  arbitrator  C.  F. 
O'Donnell.  It  was  Dallas'  sixth  case.  Ed- 
ward Joseph,  operating  the  Texas  Theatre, 
originally  filed  a  clearance  complaint  which 
resulted  in  the  arbitrator  fixing  first  run 
clearance  over  second  run  at  15  days  and 
for  second  run  over  third  run  at  15  days. 

Chicago  . 

Hearing  in  the  Bartelstein  Bros.  Annetta 
theatre,  Chicago's  12th  case,  has  been  post- 
poned until  November  20th.  James  A. 
Sprowl,  attorney,  is  the  arbitrator.  Com- 
plainant is  seeking  clearance  reduction. 

St.  Louis 

Wilbur  B.  Jones,  St.  Louis  attorney,  has 
been  named  arbitrator  in  the  "unreasonable 
clearance"  and  designated  run  complaint  of 
the  Marre  Theatre  Co.,  operators  of  the 
Rivoli,  against  all  five  consenting  com- 
panies. It  is  St.  Louis'  13th  case.  Charles 
Goldman,  Julius  Leventhal,  of  the  Marvin 
Amusement  Co.,  owners  of  the  opposition 


Lyric  and  Senate  in  downtown  St.  Louis, 
were  named  as  interested  parties. 

A  designated  run  complaint,  New  York's 
42nd  case,  was  filed  Tuesday  by  Newark- 
Lyric,  Inc.,  operators  of  the  Lyric  in  New- 
ark, N.  J.,  against  all  five  companies.  Com- 
plainant claims  that  the  defendants  have 
"arbitrarily"  refused  a  license  on  the  run 
requested  by  the  complainant,  whose  theatre 
was  in  existence  on  the  date  of  the  entry  of 
the  consent  decree.  He  also  charges  that 
the  defendants  had  licensed  their  features 
on  the  run  he  requested  to  the  Broad,  Essex, 
Rialto  and  Cort  theatres,  all  circuit  houses 
in  Newark  and  all  in  competition  with  the 
Lyric.  He  seeks  an  award  prohibiting  each 
distributor  from  licensing  its  features  either 
in  any  of  the  competing  circuit  theatres 
mentioned  on  the  run  requested  by  him  or  in 
the  Lyric  theatre  on  the  said  run,  other- 
wise than  by  separate  contracts  or  agree- 
ments. Complainant  named  the  four  New- 
ark theatres  as  interested  parties. 

Rathvon  Heads 
RKO  Theatres 

N.  Peter  Rathvon,  president  of  Radio-Keith- 
Orpheum  Corporation,  was  elected  president  of 
the  company's  theatre  subsidiaries,  Keith-Albee- 
Orpheum  Corporation  and  B.  F.  Keith  Corpora- 
tion, at  recent  meetings  of  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  two  theatre-operating  companies,  it  was 
learned  last  week. 

The  presidency  of  the  two  companies  had 
been  vacant  since  the  resignation  of  George  J. 
Schaefer,  former  RKO  president,  several 
months  ago. 

Other  officers  of  K-A-0  and  B.  F.  Keith 
Corporation,  remain  the  same.  They  are : 
Malcolm  Kingsberg,  executive  vice-president ; 
Gordon  Youngman,  vice-president  and  general 
counsel ;  Leon  Goldberg,  treasurer ;  J.  Miller 
Walker,  secretary,  and  Garrett  Van  Wagner, 
comptroller. 

Mr.  Rathvon,  who  had  been  at  the  RKO 
Radio  studio  for  conferences  with  Charles  W. 
Koerner,  returned  early  this  week  to  the  home 
office. 

Honor  Cincinnati  Men 
Following  Promotions 

James  J.  Grady,  new  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
district  manager  for  Cleveland,  Buffalo  and 
Cincinnati,  was  given  a  testimonial  dinner  by 
the  exchange  staff  at  the  Hotel  Alms  in  Cin- 
cinnati last  week. 

Also  honored  were  George  A.  Roberts,  re- 
tiring district  manager,  who  returned  to  the 
home  office  for  reassignment ;  Leavitt  J.  Bugie, 
former  city  sales  manager,  who  was  named 
branch  manager  succeeding  Mr.  Brady ;  Irvin 
Sochin,  West  Virginia  salesman  who  replaced 
Mr.  Bugie,  and  Joseph  C.  Saladin,  branch 
cashier,  who  left  to  enter  the  Army. 

Fox  Midwest  Holds 
Annual  Convention 

With  Charles  Skouras,  National  Theatres 
president,  scheduled  as  guest  of  honor,  the  Fox 
Midwest  circuit  held  its  annual  convention  Wed- 
nesday and  Thursday,  at  the  President  Hotel, 
Kansas  City. 

The  convention  was  under  the  direction  of 
Elmer  C.  Rhoden,  divisional  head. 


Pace  in  Seattle 

Cecil  Pace  has  been  shifted  to  Seattle  to  take 
over  the  eastern  Washington  sales  territory  for 
United  Artists.  He  formerly  was  associated 
with  United  Artists  in  the  Denver  territory. 


September    19,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  31 

ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By   JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 


When  the  Navy  "E"  pennant  was  hoisted 
over  the  M.  L.  Bayard  machine  shop  at  20th 
Street  and  TnrKana  Avenue,  in  Philadelphia,  the 
ghosts  of  many  an  oldtime  movie  star  must 
have  taken  a  bow.  The  Bayard  factory  is 
boosed  in  the  same  building  that  was  once  Phil- 
adelphia's own  private  Hollywood — the  Lubin 
Film  Studios,  originally  built  in  the  pre-World 
War  I  era  to  compete  with  the  "big  four"  of 
that  day — Biograph,  Vitagraph,  Selig  and  Es- 
senay.  Fact  is,  much  of  the  old  Lubin  building 
still  stands  and  boring  machines  and  turret 
lathes  whirl  and  hum  where  movie  cameras 
used  to  grind  while  draftsmen  plot  blueprints 
for  World  War  II  against  walls  that  once  held 
movie  props.  Like  the  Hollywood  edifices  of 
today,  the  old  Lubin  studio  was  enclosed  by  a 
high  wall  which  still  stands. 

Marie  Dressier  was  the  most  famous  of  the 
Lubin  players,  and  made  "'Tillie's  Tomato  Sur- 
prise" in  that  very  building.  Raymond  Hackett 
took  juvenile  parts  at  Lubin's,  where  his  mother, 
Florence  Hackett  was  a  featured  player.  Harry 
Myers  received  his  early  screen  training  there 
and  Mary  Carr  played  those  mother  roles. 
Ethel  Clayton,  John  Halliday,  Walter  Long, 
Tom,  Owen  and  Matt  Moore,  Raymond  Hitch- 
cock and  countless  others  drew  pay  checks  from 
the  window  of  the  building  that  now  houses  a 
war  machine  shop.  Both  Mary  Pickford  and 
Billy  Sunday  went  there  to  discuss  contract 
possibilities  with  Siegmund  Lubin,  but  both  de- 
manded more  money  than  Lubin  could  pay. 

When  demand  exceeded  production,  Lubin  ex- 
panded to  Betzwood.  Pa.,  converting  a  500- 
acre  farm  into  a  studio.  Lubin  made  and  lost 
several  fortunes  during  his  eventful  life.  One 
of  the  most  sensational  Philadelphia  fires  con- 
sumed his  profits  when  the  Lubin  Company  film 
exchange  burned  on  January  13,  1912.  Lubin 
started  in  Philadelphia  in  1896. 

V 

Irving  Mills,  the  Broadway  music  publisher, 
has  five  sons  in  service :  Richard,  with  the 
Army,  in  Maine:  Sidney,  with  ihe  Signal 
Corps  at  Fort  Monmouth,  N.  J.;  Paid  and 
Robert,  in  the  Marines,  and  Warren,  a-sailing 
the  high  seas  with  the  Navy. 

V 

Anyone  who  disbelieves  the  acuteness  of 
the  tire-and-gas  situation  in  this  war  might 
well  take  a  look  at  Cecil  Blount  DeMille, 
now  61,  riding  a  motorcycle  along  Holly- 
wood Boulevard  to  his  production  berth  at 
the  Paramount  Studio. 

The  DeMille  of  the  old,  sleek  directorial 
puttees,  directorial  megaphone  and  golden 
bathtubs,  drives  a  motorcycle  with  a  sidecar 
holding  his  chauffeur,  who  takes  the  con- 
traption back  to  the  DeMille  estate  after  the 
producer  is  deposited  at  the  studio.  But,  then, 
they  say,  that  Betty  Hutton  travels  the 
mile  and  a  half  to  her  studio  on  roller  skates. 
V 

The  Press-Union  Newspapers  in  Atlantic 
City,  N.  J.,  have  gone  all  out  in  conservation 
for  the  war.  They  no  longer  use  periods  in  their 
columns.  To  save  space,  they  say. 

V 

New  Hampshire  State  police  and  FBI  agents, 
investigating  a  report  that  a  German  flag  was 
being  displayed  at  a  London  farmhouse,  found 
that  the  emblem  was  British. 

V 

For  a  recent  double  Jtorror  program  of  "The 
jhost  of  Frankenstein"  and  "Among  the  Liv- 
ing," Manager  Dick  Fitsmaurice,  of  the  St. 
Louis  Theatre,  Fanehon  and  Marco  house,  set 
up  a  "grave"  in  his  lobby,  substituted  green 
floods  for  the  ordinary  bulbs  in  the  marquee 
2nd  house  lights,  and  arranged  his  box  office 
to  resemble  a  tomb. 


Buried  inconspicuously  in  the  columns  of 
British  trade  papers  in  these  days  of  war  and 
bombings,  one  finds  such  little  matter-of-fact 
items  as  this  one,  in  Kinematograph  Weekly, 
London : 

Business  at  several  Midland  Kinemas  suf- 
fered interruption  last  week  as  the  result  of 
the  latest  enemy  raids  on  the  West  Mid- 
lands. 

In  one  of  the  leading  industrial  centres 
a  1,250  suburban  kinema  belonging  to  an 
independent  was  destroyed  as  the  result  of 
a  direct  hit  by  a  high  explosive  bomb,  and 
the  manager,  Lionel  Jennings,  who  was 
engaged  on  firewatch  duty,  lost  his  life. 

Minor  damage  by  blast  or  precautions 
owing  to  presence  of  unexploded  bombs  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  caused  the  tempo- 
rary closing  down  of  a  central  and  one  or 
two  suburban  houses  in  the  same  town. 

In  a  neighboring  town  possessing  seven 
kinemas  a  circuit  house  was  badly  damaged 
by  blast. 

V 

John  Benjamin  Powell,  newspaperman 
from  Missouri,  while  relating  some  of  his 
experiences  at  the  hands  of  the  Japs,  in 
Shanghai,  for  the  New  York  Evening  Jour- 
nal, told,  the  other  day,  how  he  was  literally 
thrown  into  a  Jap  prison  stockade  room 
which  was  already  crowded  to  suffocation. 
There  was  no  place  to  sit.  Finally  an  Ameri- 
can prisoner  on  the  floor  beckoned  Powell  to 
join  him,  asking  a  couple  of  Chinese  next  to 
him  to  move  so  that  Powell  might  rest.  The 
American  told  Powell  he  obtained  his  sitting 
place  when  a  Korean  died  the  night  before  of 
blood  poisoning. 

The  American  who  aided  Powell  was 
Rudolph  Mayer,  brother  of  Louis  Mayer, 
head  of  Loew-Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Stu- 
dios in  Hollywood,  and  No.  One  on 
America's  list  of  salary  recipients. 

V 

Stanton  Griffis,  Paramount  Pictures  and 
Madison  Square  Garden  executive,  keeps  500 
chickens  on  his  farm  up  at  New  Canaan,  Con- 
necticut. He  sent  400  eggs,  the  other  morning, 
to  feed  those  industry  bigwigs  who  were  at  that 
Billion  Dollar  War  Bond  breakfast  served  at 
the  Griffis  apartment  in  New  York. 

From  a  breakfast  of  400  eggs  Mr.  Griffis 
hatched  $55,000,000  in  War  Bond  pledges. 

V 

N.  Peter  Rathvon,  big  New  York  banker  and 
president  of  Radio-Keith-Orpheum  Corporation, 
was  on-ce  a  lawyer  for  a  group  of  U.  S.  mining 
interests  in  ihe  Orient.  In  Japan  he  married  the 
daughter  of  Chicago's  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  A. 
Hall,  married  her  three  times,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  at  about  the  same  time. 

They  were  married  in  the-  American  Embassy 
in  order  to  be  married  on  American  soil.  A 
marriage  in  an  American  Embassy  in  a  foreign 
country  is  considered  the  same  as  a  marriage  in 
this  country.  Next  they  had  a  religious  cere- 
mony, performed  in  the  Cathedral  in  Tokyo. 
Then  they  had  a  Japanese  ceremony,  which  en- 
abled ihe  Rathvons  to  own  property  in  Japan. 

V 

Victor  Jurgins,  March  of  Time  cameraman, 
who  has  filmed  for  MOT  in  China,  Japan  and 
elsewhere,  was  sent  on  an  assignment  to 
South  America,  more  than  one  year  ago.  Be- 
fore leaving  New  York  he  left  a  leather  jacket 
for  cleaning  in  a  midtown  cleaner's  shop. 
Returning,  just  one  year  and  ten  days  later, 
Jurgins  visited  the  shop  to  reclaim  his  jacket. 
He  found  that  it  still  had  not  been  cleaned. 


The  Free-French  weekly  newspaper,  Pour 
La  Victoire,  published  in  New  York,  "guaran- 
tees to  be  authentic,"  a  little  tale  from  "a  col- 
league in  Hollywood,"  about  how,  in  a  Holly- 
wood story  conference  on  the  underground 
movement  in  Europe,  "a  great  producer"  pro- 
posed an  opening  sequence  of  a  motion  picture 
"showing  the  Czechs  acclaiming  their  king  as 
he  enters  Munich." 

Timidly,  an  underling  suggested  that  the  capi- 
tal of  Czechoslovakia  is  Prague,  not  Munich, 
and,  besides,  the  Czech  Government  is  a  repub- 
lic, not  a  monarchy. 

"Makes  no  difference,"  said  the  producer. 

"And,  in  conclusion,"  continued  the  producer, 
"great  crowds  of  Free  French  will  be  shown 
surging  through  the  streets  of  Paris  singing 
the  Mavonnaise." 

V 

Royal  and  American  Air  Force  bombers, 
please  note: 

The  British  Broadcasting  Company  re- 
ports that  Joseph  Goebbels,  Nazi  Propagan- 
da Minister,  has  arrived  at  Venice,  "at  the 
invitation  of  the  Italian  Government  to  at- 
tend the  opening  of  a  so-called  International 
Exhibition  of  Cinema  Art." 

V 

Warner  Brothers  have  just  appointed  R.  C. 
Lightfoot  to  be  their  chief  bcx  office  checker- 
upper  in  St.  Louis  and  Des  Moines. 

V 

Miss  Cash  is  Payroll  Department  Head  at 
Hal  Roach  Studios,  Inc.,  in  California. 

V 

The  rapidity  of  local  draft  boards  these  days 
in  speeding  up  induction,  and  the  fewness  of 
rejections  on  physical  grounds,  reminds  cf 
Leonard  Lyons'  story,  of  some  weeks  ago,  about 
the  young  man,  classified  in  1-A,  who  was  ex- 
amined by  a  New  York  beard's  doctor.  "Does 
this  mean  I'm  in  the  Army?"  he  asked.  "Me — 
with  my  bad  eyes?" 

"You're  in"  said  the  doctor,  "unless  they 
flunk  you  at  the  Army  Medical  Office  at  the 
Governor's  Island  induction  center." 

"How  bad  must  my  vision  be  before  they 
flunk  me  at  Governor's  Island?" 

"The  way  they're  taking  'em  new,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "if  you  can  find  Governor's  Island, 
you're  in!" 

V 

Hollywood  and  British  actor  Leslie  Fenton 
is  back  in  London,  from  a  raid  with  British 
Commandos,  and  is  reported  to  be  doing  rather 
nicely  with  a  shell  splinter  in  his  leg.  Lieutenant 
Fenton  has  been  awarded  the  D.S.O. 

V 

The  motion  picture  industry  is  controlled 
in  the  War  Production  Board  through  the 
WPB's  Division  of  Industry  Operations. 
The  WPB's  Division  of  Industry  Opera- 
tions also  has  a  Goatskin  division. 

V 

Acting  more  mysteriously  than  even  the 
cliaracter  of  the  mystery  film  on  the  screen 
inside,  a  stranger  handed  a  $100  bill  to  Man- 
ager Harry  Oppenlieimer,  of  the  Colonial  The- 
atre, Seattle. 

The  unusual  person  pressed  the  century  note 
into  his  hand  at  2:30  AM.  and  said  "I'll  be 
back  in  a  minute."  The  minutes  ran  into  hours 
and  the  stranger  did  not  return.  The  mystery 
is  still  unsolved. 

V 

To  the  question  "Hobbies?"  Actor  Lionel 
Atwill  returned  his  biography  for  the  1942-43 
Motion  Picture  Almanac  with  the  notation: 
"Attending  Murder  Trials." 


am 

IN  DENVER... 

Terrific  opening  to  better  business 
than  opening  of  top  pictures  of 
past  months. 


IN  SALT  LAKE . . . 

Three  weeks  of  smash  business 
following  biggest  opening  and 
second  weeks. 


IN  DES  MOINES... 

Crashing  through  to  smack  be- 
ginning and  set  for  top-bracket 

grosses. 


IN  KANSAS  CITY... 

topping  recent  high -spot  open- 
ings by  wide  money  margin. 


IN  HARRISBURG, 
IN  READING,  IN  NEW  YORK, 
IN  BROOKLYN . . . 


WALT  DISNEY'S 


MULT1PLANI 

TECHNICOLOR  FEATURE 


DISTRIBUTED    BY    RKO    RADIO    PICTURES,  INC 


34 


Allied  Caravan 
Expands  Its 
Itinerary 

National  Allied  States  Association's  Caravan 
met  with  local  units  in  Philadelphia,  Tuesday ; 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  on  Wednesday ;  New  Haven, 
Thursday,  and  Baltimore  on  Friday,  and  was  to 
continue  its  travels  next  week  with  meetings  in 
Cincinnati  next  Wednesday,  Cleveland  on  Thurs- 
day, and  Indianapolis  the  following  day.  Allied 
leaders  were  traveling  through  the  field  in  the 
Caravan  to  discuss  pertinent  trade  problems 
with  member  units.  Visits  to  Pittsburgh,  Mil- 
waukee and  Dallas  will  follow. 

Endorsement  of  the  Caravan  was  voted  at  a 
meeting  in  Detroit  last  week  with  Michigan 
Allied,  whose  directors  approved  the  Caravan 
as  a  way  to  "meet  the  ever  impending  problem 
of  increased  film  rentals  and  producer  demands 
for  higher  admissions  on  specific  pictures." 

The  Pittsburgh  stop  would  be  in  conjunction 
with  the  22nd  annual  convention  of  Allied  of 
western  Pennsylvania,  October  19th  and  20th, 
at  the  William  Penn  Hotel. 

Included  in  the  Caravan  are :  M.  A.  Rosen- 
berg of  Pittsburgh,  national  Allied  president, 
chairman;  Colonel  H.  A.  Cole  of  Dallas,  past 
president ;  Sidney  Samuelson,  Philadelphia, 
business  agent  of  the  Eastern  Pennsylvania  Al- 
lied ;  Jack  Kirsch,  president  of  Illinois  Allied, 
and  Abram  F.  Myers,  national  general  counsel. 

Prior  to  the  Detroit  meeting  last  week,  con- 
ferences had  been  held  in  Minneapolis  and  Chi- 
cago, where  attendance  and  response  were  said 
by  Allied  executives  to  have  been  immediate 
and  favorable. 

The  Detroit  meeting  attracted  approximately 
100.  The  Philadelphia  meeting  drew  110,  rep- 
resenting 250  theatres. 


Greenblatt  Signs 
New  PRC  Pact 

O.  Henry  Briggs,  president  of  Producers  Re- 
leasing Corporation,  announced  this  week  that 
Arthur  Greenblatt  had  signed  a  new  contract 
with  the  company  as  vice-president  in  charge 
of  sales  and  distribution.  Mr.  Greenblatt  also 
would  have  supervision  of  sales  throughout  the 
world,  Mr.  Briggs  said. 

Mr.  Greenblatt  joined  PRC  in  April,  1941, 
as  general  sales  manager.  Under  his  direction 
the  field  force  had  been  considerably  reinforced. 
According  to  the  announcement,  sales  had  in- 
creased 200  per  cent  since  he  took  charge. 

With  the  sales  policy  for  1942-43  product  set 
in  a  series  of  regional  sales  meetings  which  Mr. 
Greenblatt  had  conducted  in  the  last  two  months 
throughout  the  country,  the  sales  head  was  in- 
augurating an  advertising  and  exploitation  cam- 
paign. . 

The  first  three  of  the  42  pictures  on  the 
1942-43  program,  in  order  of  release,  are: 
"Baby  Face  Morgan,"  with  Mary  Carlisle, 
Richard  Cromwell  and  Robert  Armstrong; 
"Tomorrow  We  Live,"  starring  Ricardo  Cortez 
and  Jean  Parker,  and  "The  Yanks  Are  Com- 
ing," featuring  Henry  King  and  his  orchestra, 
with  Mary  Healy,  Little  Jackie  Heller,  Parkya- 
karkus,  Maxie  Rosenbloom,  and  Dorothy  Dare. 

Milestone  on  Russian  Film 

Samuel  Goldwyn  has  signed  Lewis  Milestone 
to  direct  the  untitled  picture  about  Russian  life, 
which  Lillian  Hellman  is  now  writing,  and 
which  will  star  Teresa  Wright. 


Alliance  Circuit  Meeting 

Managers  and  executives  of  the  Alliance  cir- 
cuit will  meet  at  the  Columbia  Club,  Indian- 
apolis, on  Friday. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


"PRIDE  OF  YANKEES" 
CHOICE  OF  ARMY 

"The  Pride  of  the  Yankees"  was  the 
outstanding  picture  from  a  box  office 
standpoint  for  August  at  the  War 
Department  theatres  for  the  armed 
services,  it  was  announced  last  week 
by  the  U.  S.  Army  Motion  Picture 
Service.  The  five  pictures  listed  in 
order  of  rating  following  "Pride  of 
the  Yankees"  were:  "Pardon  My 
Sarong,"  "Jackass  Mail,"  "Tarzan's 
New  York  Adventure,"  "Footlight 
Serenade"  and  "Talk  of  the  Town." 


Atlas  Buys  More 
RKO  Stock 

Acquisition  of  4,600  shares  of  Radio-Keith- 
Orpheum  common  stock  by  the  American  Com- 
pany of  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  giving  it  a  total  of 
304,830  shares,  was  the  largest  of  several  film 
stock  transactions  reported  by  the  U.  S.  Se- 
curities and  Exchange  Commission,  at  Phila- 
delphia, Thursday  in  its  July  summary.  The 
American  Company  is  a  subsidiary  of  Floyd 
Odium's  Atlas  Corporation,  a  principal  stock- 
holder of  RKO. 

The  next  largest  transaction  was  the  acqui- 
sition of  3,000  shares  of  Warner  Brothers  com- 
mon by  Albert  Warner,  vice-president,  New 
York,  giving  him  a  total  of  106,848  shares. 

A  report  on  Paramount  Pictures  showed  that 
Stanton  Griffis,  chairman  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, purchased  400  shares  of  common  direct 
and  another  600  shares  through  the  T.  G.  La- 
Touche  Trust,  raising  his  holdings  to  5,200 
shares  direct  and  6,000  through  the  trust,  to- 
gether with  15,000  held  through  three  other 
trusts. 

In  a  series  of  sales,  David  Bernstein,  treas- 
urer, disposed  of  1,900  shares  of  Loew's,  Inc., 
common  held  through  a  corporation,  reducing 
its  portfolio  to  25,350  shares,  and  J.  Robert 
Rubin,  vice-president,  disposed  of  700  _  shares 
of  the  same  class,  reducing  his  holdings  to 
6,765  shares.  A  further  four  shares  of  Loew's 
Boston  Theatre  common  were  bought  by 
Loew's,  Inc.,  giving  it  a  total  of  119,325  shares. 

Reports  on  the  holdings  of  persons  becoming 
officers  or  directors  of  registered  corporations 
showed  that  Leonard  H.  Goldenson  held  900 
shares  of  Paramount  common  when  he  became  a 
vice-president  on  June  25th. 

RKO  Sets  London 
Sales  Meeting 

RKO  Radio's  United  Kingdom  sales  organi- 
zation will  hold  its  annual  convention  in  Lon- 
don September  30th  to  October  2nd  inclusive. 

The  sessions  will  take  place  at  Grosvenor 
House  with  Ernest  Simon,  general  sales  man- 
ager for  the  United  Kingdom,  presiding. 


Edmund  Grainger  In  Army 

Edmund  Grainger,  Republic  associate  pro- 
ducer, has  left  Hollywood  to  report  as  a  first 
lieutenant  in  the  Army  Signal  Corps. 


Monogram  Stockholders'  Meeting 

Monogram  stockholders  will  hold  their  annual 
meeting  October  7th  in  Hollywood. 


Ted  Haclcley  Enlists 

Ted  Hackley,  Seattle  shipper  for  Universal 
Pictures,  has  enlisted  in  the  Army. 


September     19,     I  942 

Three  New  Film 
Premieres  Set 

Three  premieres  of  new  season  product  were 
scheduled  for  next  Wednesday,  September  23rd, 
in  Washington,  Columbus  and  Hollywood. 

Columbia  will  open  "My  Sister  Eileen,"  at 
Loew's  Ohio  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  on  that  date. 
It  was  reported  that  the  city  was  selected  at  the 
request  of  Mayor  Floyd  F.  Green,  who  pointed 
out  that  Columbus  was  the  home  of  Ruth  Mc- 
Kenney,  author  of  the  stories  on  which  the  play 
and  the  film  were  based. 

A  War  Bond  rally  will  feature  the  debut  of 
MGM's  "The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,"  next 
Wednesday  night  at  Loew's  Capitol  in  Wash- 
ington. The  theatre  will  be  scaled  from  $25  to 
$25,000  on  a  reserved  seat  basis  for  the  premiere, 
and  it  was  expected  that  $1,000,000  in  Bonds 
would  be  collected  that  night.  The  management 
is  donating  the  theatre's  personnel  and  facili- 
ties for  the  occasion.  "Mrs.  Hadley"  will  open 
its  regular  run  the  following  day. 

Paramount  announced  this  week  that  a  mili- 
tary premiere  would  be  staged  for  "Wake  Is- 
land" at  the  Paramount  theatres  in  Hollywood 
and  Los  Angeles  on  September  23rd.  The  en- 
tire proceeds  of  the  opening  will  be  donated  to 
the  Marine  Corps  Fund.  Premiere  seats  will 
be  reserved  at  the  Hollywood  theatre,  with  seats 
scaled  up  to  $2.20,  while  the  opening  in  Los 
Angeles  will  be  at  popular  prices. 

"Wings  and  the  Woman,"  the  Herbert  Wil- 
cox production  for  RKO  Radio,  dealing  with 
the  Air  Transport  Auxiliary  of  Britain,  was 
screened  in  Wilmington,  Del.,  Monday  night  at 
the  Newcastle  Army  Base  for  Colonel  Baker, 
commandant,  and  Mrs.  Nancy  Harkness  Love, 
commander  of  the  new  Women's  Auxiliary 
Ferrying  Squadron,  and  their  staffs.  The  picture 
was  given  a  "swing  shift"  premiere  at  the  Cali- 
fornia Theatre,  San  Diego,  on  Tuesday.  Anna 
Neagle  made  a  personal  appearance,  and  Army 
and  Navy  representatives  attended. 

Twin-theatre  openings  for  "Yankee  Doodle 
Dandy,"  in  Chicago  and  Boston  were  announced 
by  Warner  Bros,  this  week.  The  film  will 
open  at  the  Chicago  and  Roosevelt  theatres  in 
Chicago  on  October  2nd,  and  at  the  Paramount 
and  Fenway  in  Boston,  October  1st.  All  will  be 
at  the  advanced  scale  of  75  cents  matinees  and 
$1.10  evenings. 

Peyton  Gibson  to 
Enter  Air  Corps 

Peyton  Gibson,  secretary  of  Universal  Pic- 
tures, will  report  to  the  Army  Air  Corps  shortly 
for  assignment. 

Mr.  Gibson,  a  World  War  I  flyer  and  former 
major  in  the  Air  Corps  Reserve,  was  rejected 
following  a  physical  examination  several  months 
ago.  He  appealed  the  ruling  and  was  approved 
by  the  Surgeon  General's  office  following  a  re- 
cent examination.  He  will  receive  a  commis- 
sion as  first  lieutenant. 


Sign  Tallulah  Bankhead 

Tallulah  Bankhead  has  been  signed  to  appear  , 
in  Sol  Lesser's  production,  "Stage  Door  Can- 
teen." The  picture  is  slated  to  go  before  the 
cameras  November  1st  and  will  be  filmed  from  I 
the  screenplay  by  Delmar  Daves.  Other  stars 
who  will  appear  in  the  picture  include  Katha- 
rine Cornell,  Katharine  Hepburn,  Kay  Kyser, 
Helen  Hayes,  Gertrude  Lawrence,  Edgar  Ber- 
gen and  Charlie  McCarthy. 


WPB  Advisory  Committee 

An  advisory  committee  for  the  "photographic 
film  producers  industry"  was  among  nine  ad- 
visory committees  announced  this  week  by  the 
War  Production  Board.  Members  were :  A.  E. 
Marshall,  Binghamton,  N.Y.,  and  L.  Dudley 
Field,  A.  K.  Chapman  and  J.  R.  Wilson, 
Rochester. 


Sepfember    19,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


3£ 


PRODUCERS  BUY  52  STORY 
PROPERTIES  FOR  1942-43 


C onsiderable  Gain  Over 
Year  Ago;  Monogram  in 
First  Package  Deal 

The  tempo  of  story  acquisitions  in- 
creased sharply  this  August  over  August 
of  1941.  Usually  a  slow  month,  along  with 
July,  August  of  this  year  accounted  for 
52  story  buys  for  1942-43,  compared  to 
only  17  for  the  month  a  year  ago.  It  also 
was  an  increase  over  the  40  of  July  and 
compared  favorably  with  the  55  story  pur- 
chases recorded  in  June. 

A  notable  purchase  for  the  month  was 
Alexander  Korda's  acquisition  of  dramatic 
and  film  rights  to  a  new  stage  version  of 
Tolstoy's  "War  and  Peace."  This  version, 
performed  with  success  in  Moscow,  was 
written  by  L  Sudakov,  a  director  of  the 
Malik  Theatre  group  of  Moscow. 

Monogram  obtained  its  first  package  deal 
with  the  acquisition  of  the  film  rights  to 
the  Columbia  Broadcasting  S\-stem  serial, 
"The  Adventures  of  Cosmo  Jones."  The 
company  is  planning  two  pictures  on  the 
material  with  options  on  more.  The  deal 
was  set  by  Harry  WurtzeL 

Properties  Purchased 
During  August 

Adventure  of  a  Ready  Letter  Writer,  mag- 
azine story  by  Blanche  Brace,  purchased  by 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  The  story  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post. 

Adventures  of  Cosmo  Jones,  The.,  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System  serial,  film  rights  of 
which  were  purchased  by  Monogram.  The 
deal  includes  the  rights  to  the  sen-ices  of 
Frank  Graham,  radio  player ;  Walter  Gering, 
radio  writer,  and  film  director,  James  Tinling. 
Lindsley  Parsons  will  produce. 

Battle  Stations,  original  by  Jack  Andrews, 
purchased  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  for 
production  by  Milton  Sperling. 

Best  Foot  Forward,  musical  comedy  with 
book  by  John  Cecil  Holm  and  George  Abbott, 
and  music  and  lyrics  by  Hugh  Martin  and 
Ralph  Blane,  purchased*  by  MGM. 

Bor  Scouts  of  America,  The,  original  screen- 
play by  Harry  Chandlee  and  Dean  Franklin, 
obtained  by  Warner  Bros. 

Broken  Journey,  play  by  Andrew  Rosenthal, 
purchased  by  Warner  Bros. 

Cobra  Woman,  The,  original  by  Scott  Darling, 
purchased  by  Universal. 

Come  On,  Marines,  based  on  a  story  by  Philip 
Wylie,  purchased  by  Paramount.  Cast  in- 
cludes Robert  Preston  and  William  Bendix. 

Corvettes,  original  by  Edward  Chodorov,  pur- 
chased by  Universal. 

Damned  Don't  Cry,  The,  original,  purchased 
by  Warner  Bros.  Abem  Finkel  has  been  as- 
signed to  write  the  screenplay. 

Deep  Valley,  novel  by  Dan  Totheroh,  who  also 
will  do  the  screenplay,  purchased  by  Warner 
Bros.  Ann  Sheridan,  Humphrey  Bogart  and 
John  Garfield  will  be  starred. 

Dixie  Dugan,  newspaper  comic  strip  charac- 
ter, purchased  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
Ray  McCarey  will  direct.  Lois  Andrews  will 
play  the  title  role. 

Flying  Shamrock,  The,  original  based  on  the 
life  of  Brendon  (Fatty)  Finucane,  acquired 
for  production  by  Edward  Small. 

Food  Front,  original  b\-  Irwin  Braun,  pur- 
chased by  MGM. 


STORY  PURCHASES 
OF  YEAR  COMPARED 


Month 

Originals 

Boob 

Plays 

Tota 

September,  1941 

3! 

17(a) 

2 

50 

October 

20 

15(b) 

4 

39 

November 

20 

16(c) 

3 

39 

December 

16 

10(d) 

26 

January,  1942 

27 

9(e) 

4 

40 

February 

44 

18(f) 

3 

65 

March 

40 

15(g) 

2 

57 

April 

43 

8(h) 

5 

56 

May 

30 

M(i) 

5 

46 

June 

35 

I6(i) 

4 

55 

July 

24 

I2(k] 

4 

40 

August 

35 

13(1) 

4 

52 

TOTALS  FOR 

12  MONTHS 

365 

1  60(m) 

40 

565 

(a)     Including  3 


(d) 
(e) 

[f] 

(g) 

(h) 


(I) 


Including 
Including 

Including 
Including 

Including 

Including 

Including 

Including 

Including 

Including 

Including 

Including 


published  magazine  stories, 
newspaper  comic  strip  and 
film. 

published  magazine  stories, 
published  magazine  story  and 
musical  composition, 
published  magazine  stories, 
film  and 
song. 

published  magazine  stories  and 
song. 

published  magazine  stories  and 

musical  compositions. 

published  magazine  stories  and 

newspaper  comic  strip. 

published  magazine  stories  and 

radio  scripts. 

magazine  story, 

song  and 

poem. 

films, 

radio  script  and 
song. 

magazine  stories, 
newspaper  comic  strip  and 
radio  serial, 
magazine  stories, 
newspaper  comic  strips, 
radio  scripts, 
films, 

musical  compositions, 

poem  and 

song. 


Grand  Street  Boys,  The,  original  story  idea 
by  Boris  Morros  and  S.  P.  Eagle,  to  be  pro- 
duced for  Twentieth  Century-Fox  release. 

Guerilla,  original  by  Sid  Davidson,  purchased 
by  Universal. 

Hands  of  Mercy,  original  by  Mark  Sandrich 
and  Allan  Scott,  bought  by  Paramount.  The 
story  concerns  Army  nurses  at  Bataan.  Will 
be  released  under  the  title,  "So  Proudlv  We 
Hail." 

Her  Heart  in  Her  Throat,  mystery  novel  by 
Ethel  Lina  White,  purchased  by  Paramount. 

Hi,  Buddy,  original  by  Warren  Wilson,  pur- 
chased by  Universal. 

Immortal  Sergeant,  The,  novel  by  John  Bro- 
phy,  purchased  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
The  theme  will  be  the  heroism  of  British 
patrols  in  the  Libyan  Desert.  Lamar  Trotti 
is  preparing  the  script  and  Henry  Hathaway 


will   direct.     Cast   includes   Henry  Fonda, 
Maureen  O'Hara  and  Thomas  Mitchell. 
Incomparable  Alfred,  The,  original  screen- 
play by  F.  Hugh    Herbert,    purchased  by 
Paramount. 

Keeping  Fit,  original  by  Paul  Huston,  pur- 
chased by  Universal. 

Buying 

Broadway  Musical 

Leave  It  to  Me,  Broadway  musical  comedy  of 
1938,  with  book  by  Samuel  and  Bella  Spe- 
wack,  purchased  by  Gregory  Ratoff  and 
Harry  Goetz  for  Columbia  release. 

Life  of  Winston  Churchill,  The,  original 
screenplay  by  Walter  Doniger,  obtained  by 
Warner  Bros.,  for  production  by  Jesse  Lasky. 

Lord  Arthur  Saytle's  Crime,  by  Oscar 
Wilde,  purchased  by  Universal  for  use  as  a 
sequence  in  the  Charles  Bo}rer  production, 
"Flesh  and  Fantasy." 

Man  Who  Had  No  Private  Life,  The,  un- 
produced  play  by  Otto  Furth,  purchased  by 
Paramount.    Rene  Clair  will  direct. 

Miracle  of  Morgan  Creek,  The,  original  by 
Preston  Sturges,  purchased  by  Paramount. 
Betty  Hutton  and  Eddie  Bracken  will  be 
starred. 

'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge,  original  by  Harvey 
Gates,  purchased  by  Sam  Katzman  of  Ban- 
ner Productions. 

Necrophile,  The,  original  by  Charles  Chris- 
tiansen, purchased  by  Universal. 

Night  Plane  from  Chungking,  original  by 
Lester  Cole,  obtained  by  Paramount.  Ellen 
Drew,  Robert  Preston  and  Albert  Dekker 
to  be  cast. 

No  Surrender,  novel  by  Martha  Albrand. 
which  appeared  in  serial  form  in  the  Sat- 
urday Evening  Post,  purchased  by  MGM. 

Original  by  William  L.  White,  foreign  cor- 
respondent, concerning  the  torpedo  boats 
which  took  General  MacArthur  safely  from 
Corregidor,  purchased  by  MGM. 

Original  Screenplay,  about  General  De 
Gaulle  and  the  Free  French,  by  William 
Faulkner,  obtained  by  Warner  Bros. 

Over  My  Dead  Body,  adapted  from  the  novel 
by  James  O'Hanlan,  purchased  by  Twentieth 
Century-Fox.  for  production  by  Walter  Mo- 
rosco.  Edward  James  is  writing  the  screen- 
play and  Mai  St.  Clair  will  direct.  Milton 
Berle  to  head  the  cast. 

Pentacle,  The,  murder  melodrama  with  a  psy- 
chological background,  by  Alfred  Xeuman 
and  Robert  Siodmak,  purchased  by  Warner 
Bros.,  for  production  by  Henry  Blanke. 

Quiet  Please,  Murder,  adapted  from  the 
nrystery  novel,  "Death  from  the  Sanskrit," 
by  Lawrence  G.  Blochman,  purchased  by 
Twentieth  Century-Fox.  John  Larkin  will 
write  the  script  and  direct.  Ralph  Dietrich 
will  produce.  Cast  includes  George  Sanders 
and  Gail  Patrick. 

Robe,  The,  novel  by  Lloyd  C.  Douglas,  pur- 
chased by  Frank  Ross,  independent  producer. 

Shadow  of  a  Doubt,  original  by  Thornton 
Wilder,  purchased  by  Universal  for  produc- 
tion by  Alfred  Hitchcock. 

Six  Lives  of  Sally  Jean,  The,  original  by 
Bob  Faber,  purchased  by  RKO  Radio. 

Starlight,  original  by  Jacques  Thiery,  pur- 
chased by  MGM,  for  William  Powell  and 
Hedy  Lamarr. 

Talk  in  a  Blackout,  article  by  Louis  Adamic, 
ourchased  by  MGM. 

Tin  Fish,  original  by  Jacob  Nelson,  dealing 
with  the  exploits  of  Navy  aviators,  purchased 
(.Continued  on  following  page') 


36 

Purchase  54 
Properties 
for  1942-43 

{Continued  from  preceding  page) 

by  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  for  production  in 
color  by  Walter  Morosco. 

True  to  Lile,  original  by  Ben  and  Sol  Barz- 
man  and  Bess  Tafel,  purchased  by  Paramount 
for  Mary  Martin,  Dick  Powell  and  Victor 
Moore.  The  story  concerns  two  radio  writers. 

Two  Against  Tomorrow,  original  by  Peter 
Viertel,  purchased  by  MGM,  for  production 
by  Edgar  Selwyn. 

Vengeance  of  the  Earth,  original  by  Erskine 
Caldwell,  purchased  by  MGM.  The  story 
also  is  known  as  "All  Night  Long." 

Venus  Ascending,  original  by  Jacques  Thiery 
and  Leslie  G.  Landau,  purchased  by  MGM. 

Viva  Zapata,  published  in  1941  under  the  title 
"Zapata,  the  Unconquerable,"  by  Edgcumb 
Pinchon,  purchased  by  MGM. 

War  and  Peace,  new  stage  version  of  the 
Tolstoy  novel  written  by  I.  Sudakov,  direc- 
tor of  the  Malik  Theatre  Group  of  Moscow, 
dramatic  and  screen  rights  to  which  have 
been  purchased  by  Alexander  Korda. 

War  Girls,  original  by  Charles  Rodney  Gel- 
ston,  purchased  by  Producers  Releasing  Cor- 
poration. 

We've  Never  Been  Licked,  original  by  Nor- 
man Reilly  Raine,  purchased  by  Universal. 

Whistling  in  Brooklyn,  original  baseball 
comedy  by  Everett  Freeman,  Boris  Ingster 
and  Samuel  Ornitz,  purchased  by  MGM,  for 
production  by  George  Haight. 

You're  Out  of  Order,  Dear,  original  by  Win- 
ston Miller  and  Maurice  Geraghty,  purchased 
by  Universal. 


New  War  Film  Courses 
On  College  Program 

The  Institute  of  Film  Techniques  of  the  Even- 
ing Session  of  the  City  College  of  New  York 
will  inaugurate  several  new  courses  for  the  au- 
tumn term  beginning  September  24th.  Out- 
standing is  the  course  on  audience  analysis  to 
be  given  by  Richard  Ford,  Film  Officer  of  the 
British  Press  Service.  The  students,  working 
in  theatres,  defense  training  centers,  and  air 
raid  warden  meetings,  will  conduct  surveys  of 
the  effectiveness  of  public  information  and  train- 
ing films  on  local  audiences. 

In  another  new  course,  advanced  production 
students  will  write  and  produce  a  short  war 
film  under  the  supervision  of  Irving  Lerner,  di- 
rector of  "A  Place  to  Live"  and  chief  of  the 
photographic  staff  of  "The  Land." 

The  three  basic  courses  are :  "The  Film  at 
Work,"  given  by  the  Institute's  supervisor, 
Irving  Jacoby ;  "The  Fundamentals  of  Film 
Production,"  given  by  Willard  Van  Dyke,  co- 
director  of  "The  City"  and  director  of  "Valley 
Town,"  and  "Trends  of  Film  Progress,"  given 
by  Theodore  Strauss  of  the  New  York  Times. 


Universal  Regional 
Held  in  Chicago 

Attending  the  Universal  regional  meeting  at 
the  Blackstone  Hotel,  Chicago,  last  Thursday, 
which  was  presided  over  by  E.  T.  Gomersall, 
western  sales  manager,  were  J.  E.  Garrison, 
district  manager  with  headquarters  in  Kansas 
City ;  M.  M.  Gottlieb,  central  district  manager, 
Chicago,  and  the  following  branch  managers : 
Barney  Rose,  Chicago;  Edward  Heiber,  De- 
troit; Frank  Mantzke,  Milwaukee;  L.  J. 
Miller,  Minneapolis ;  Jack  Langan,  Kansas 
City ;  Harry  Hynes,  St.  Louis ;  Lou  Levy,  Des 
Moines,  and  H.  B.  Johnson,  Omaha. 


MOTION    PIOTURE  HERALD 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  September  14th 
ASTOR 

Battle  of  Midway  Island  WAC- 

20th  Cent.- Fox 

Feature:    The   Pride   of  the 

Yankees  RKO  Radio 

CAPITOL 

America  Sings  ...Columbia 

Romance  in  Celluloid  MGM 

Feature:  Somewhere  I'll  Find 

You  MGM 

CRITERION 

Battle  of  Midway  Island  WAC- 

20th  Cent.-Fox 

Juke  Box  Jamboree  Universal 

Feature:  Pardon  My  Sarong.  .Universal 

PARAMOUNT 

Quiz  Kids,  No.  6  Paramount 

Popular  Science,  No.  6  Paramount 

Mr.  Strauss  Takes  Over  Paramount 

Feature:  The  Major  and  the 

Minor  Paramount 

RIALTO 

Stroke  of  Twelve  Vitaphone 

Battle  of  Midway  Island  WAC- 

20th  Cent.-Fox 

Feature:  World  at  War  U.S.Gove  rnment 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party  ....  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  Island  Paramount 

ROXY 

Battle  of  Midway  Island.  .  .  .  WAC- 

20th  Cent.-Fox 
Feature:  Footlight  Serenade.   20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Battle  of  Midway  Island ...  .  WAC- 

20th  Cent.-Fox 

Fresh  Hare  Vitaphone 

Spirit  of  Annapolis  Vitaphone 

Sweeney  Steps  Out  Vitaphone 

Feature:  Across  the  Pacific ..  Warner  Bros. 


Zanuck  Honored  at 
Farewell  Party 

William  Goetz,  now  in  charge  of  the  Twenti- 
eth Century-Fox  studio,  last  week  gave  a  fare- 
well party  to  Colonel  Darryl  F.  Zanuck  al 
the  Cafe  de  Paris  in  Hollywood,  attended  by 
all  executives  and  studio  department  heads. 

Two  films  which  were  to  have  been  produced 
by  Colonel  Zanuck  have  been  turned  over  to 
others.  Lamar  Trotti  will  produce  "The  Im- 
mortal Sergeant"  and  Nunnally  Johnson,  "The 
Moon  Is  Down." 


"Mrs,  Hadley"  Bond  Sale 

The  first  weekend's  War  Bond  sale  of  $400,- 
000  was  reported  from  Washington  Tuesday 
for  the  $1,000,000  Victory  World  Premiere  of 
MGM's  "The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley"  at 
Loew's  Capitol  there  next  Wednesday.  The 
largest  sum  of  $125,000  was  purchased  through 
the  D.  C.  Bankers  Association,  with  the  Wash- 
ington Board  of  Trade  close  behind  with 
$100,000,  and  Loew's  theatres  reporting  the 
sale  of  $60,000.  Fay  Bainter  and  Edward  Ar- 
nold will  be  on  hand  for  the  premiere. 


Reopen  New  Haven  House 

The  1,700-seat  Shubert,  legitimate  house  in 
New  Haven,  has  reopened  with  "New  Priori- 
ties of  1943"  as  the  attraction. 


September    19,  1942 

Holdovers  Are 
Strong  in  Week 
On  Broadway 

"Talk  of  the  Town,"  Columbia  comedy  star- 
ring Cary  Grant,  Jean  Arthur  and  Ronald  Col- 
man,  on  Thursday  began  its  fourth  and  final 
week  at  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  New  York.  A 
number  of  other  holdovers  were  reported  on 
Broadway  for  the  week.  According  to  Colum- 
bia, the  film  was  "more  than  living  up  to  its 
promise  to  become  Columbia's  biggest  money- 
maker, as  holdovers  and  grosses  continue  to 
pile  up." 

Two-week  holdovers  reported  for  "Talk 
of  the  Town"  were :  Earle  and  Ambassador 
theatres,  Washington ;  Warner,  Atlantic  City ; 
Iowa,  Cedar  Rapids;  E.  M.  Loew's,  Hartford; 
Palace,  New  Haven ;  Ohio,  Columbus ;  Albee, 
Cincinnati,  and  Strand,  Portland,  Me. 

Other  Broadway  holdovers  included:  "Some- 
where I'll  Find  You,"  MGM,  third  week  at  the 
Capitol ;  "Pardon  My  Sarong,"  Universal, 
fourth  week  at  Loew's  Criterion. 

"Holiday  Inn,"  Paramount,  concluded  a  six- 
week  run  at  the  Paramount,  and  was  succeeded 
by  "The  Major  and  the  Minor"  which  opened 
Wednesday  night.  "Wake  Island"  Paramount, 
began  a  third  week  at  the  Rivoli.  "Footlight 
Serenade,"  20th  Century-Fox,  began  its  second 
week  at  the  Roxy  Tuesday  night. 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warner  Bros.,  was 
in  its  16th  week  at  the  Hollywood  on  a  two-a- 
day  reserved  seat  policy.  Warners  report  more 
than  $1,000,000  has  been  garnered  by  the  pic- 
ture in  its  first  41  advanced-price  dates.  Of  this 
sum,  over  $300,000  was  taken  at  the  Holly- 
wood theatre.  When  the  film  leaves  that  house, 
it  may  have  its  first  subsequent  showing  in  the 
New  York  area  at  the  Strand,  Brooklyn,  it 
was  indicated.  According  to  the  company, 
"Yankee,"  in  10  additional  openings  last  week 
at  advanced  prices  "continued  to  top  the 
comparative  engagements  of  'Sergeant  York' 
from  40  to  80  per  cent."  Latest  premieres  in- 
cluded Utica,  New  London,  Atlantic  City,  El- 
mira,  Torrington,  Lancaster,  Danbury,  Chester- 
town,  N.  Y.,  and  Lake  Geneva,  Wis. 

"Pride  of  the  Yankees,"  Goldwyn-RKO,  be- 
gan its  ninth  week  at  the  Astor,  New  York ; 
sixth  week,  at  the  Allen,  Cleveland ;  fifth  week, 
Keith  Memorial,  Boston ;  third  week,  Palace, 
Chicago.  "Moscow  Strikes  Back,"  Artkino,  was 
in  its  fifth  week  at  the  Globe,  New  York. 

"Bambi,"  Disney-RKO,  had  second-week 
holdovers  at  the  Orpheum,  Kansas  City;  Or- 
pheum,  Denver,  and  Orpheum,  Des  Moines. 
"Across  the  Pacific,"  Warner  Bros.,  began  its 
third  week  at  the  Strand,  New  York,  on  Friday. 
Warners  reported  all  box  office  records  for  the 
film  were  smashed  in  its  first  week,  with  one 
exception,  "In  This  Our  Life." 

Venezuelan  Company 
Buys  Equipment 

The  newly  formed  Bolivar  Films  Company 
of  Caracas,  Venezuela,  has  purchased  the 
equipment  of  the  defunct  Avila  Studios. 

The  company  is  awaiting  the  arrival  of  a 
shipment  of  material  before  entering  produc- 
tion on  several  documentary  films.  Price  paid 
for  the  Avila  equipment  is  said  to  be  thirty- 
three  thousand  bolivares  ($9,900). 

Boston  Film  Row 
Honors  Callahan 

His  associates  in  Boston's  film  industry  paid 
tribute  to  Edward  X.  Callahan,  Tuesday  night 
at  a  dinner  in  the  Hotel  Statler  there. 

Mr.  Callahan  recently  was  appointed  North- 
eastern district  manager  for  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox. The  toastmaster  was  Edward  M. 
Fay  of  Providence. 


Uncle  Sam 
Demands — 


1.  Accurate  Record  o£  Defense  Tax  Collections 

2.  Accurate  Record  of  Daily  Income 

3.  Accurate  Record  of  Admission  Ticket  Numbers 
4-  Accurate  Record  of  Daily  Disbursements 

5.  Accurate  Record  of  Payments  to  all  Employees 

6.  Accurate  Summary  of  All  Expenditures 

7.  All  This  and  Many  Other  Records 


Theatre  Management  Record 
and  Tax  Register 


Provides— A  Practical  and  Simple  Accounting 
System— Requires  no  Bookkeeping  Experience 
—Eliminates  Tax  Headaches— Daily- 
Weekly— Monthly— Defense  Tax  Record- 
Meets  All  Bookkeeping  Requirements 


MAIL 
COUPON 


SOLD  WITH  A 


9UIGLEY  BOOKSHOP, 
ROCKEFELLER  CENTER,  NEW  YORK 


Here  is  my  check  for  $2.00  Send  me  "Theatre 
Management  Record  and  Tax  Register." 


NOW 


MONEY  BACK 


Name 


GUARANTEE 


Theatre 


Address 


38  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  September    19,  1942 

in  BRITISH  STUDIOS 


By  AUBREY    FLANAGAN,   in  London 


One  of  the  favorite  devices  of  British 
motion  picture  producers  seeking  that 
ever  elusive  but  immeasurable  factor, 
Fame,  has  been  borrowing  from  the 
radio.  In  pre-war  and  present  times  stars 
of  the  radio,  who  have  climbed  from  ob- 
scurity or  lesser  popularity  to  topline  pull- 
ing power  over  the  radio  transmitters  of 
the  British  Broadcasting  Corporation, 
have  been  taken  and  translated  into  mo- 
tion picture  money  makers. 

The  success  of  vaudevillians  and  dance 
orchestras  inspired  Sam  Smith,  producer, 
currently  busy  over  the  distribution  of  the 
film  of  the  year,  the  Two  Cities-Noel  Cow- 
ard opus,  "In  Which  We  Serve" — to  muster 
in  pre-war  days  many  of  them  into  films. 
Many,  made  on  modest  budgets,  netted  re- 
cord grosses  at  box  offices  all  over  the  coun- 
try, films  bearing  the  names  of  radio  pro- 
grams, such  as  "In  Town  Tonight"  and 
"Soft  Lights  and  Sweet  Music." 

Since  then,  radio-made  names  like  Arthur 
Askey,  Arthur  ("Old  Mother  Riley")  Lu- 
can,  Ben  Lyon,  Bebe  Daniels  and  now  Tom- 
my Handley,  have  proved  easier  solutions 
of  the  producers'  problems  than  would  lie 
in  the  creation  of  stars  from  raw  material. 

Most  of  these,  however,  have  been  names 
known  in  the  lighter  side  of  radio  entertain- 
ment. It  has  been  left  to  Donald  Taylor, 
documentary  producer,  of  Strand  Films,  to 
take  the  more  serious  side  of  British  radio 
and  translate  it  into  screen  entertainment. 

Radio  Program  Filmed 
With  "Brains  Trust" 

Mr.  Taylor,  under  the  wing  of  British 
National,  has  now  filmed  one  of  the  most 
serious  but  one  of  the  most  popular  of  war- 
time radio's  programs,  "Any  Questions,"  a 
general  knowledge  feature  played  by  the 
"Brains  Trust,"  Professor  Julian  Huxley, 
Dr.  Cecil  E.  M.  Joad  and  Commander 
Campbell,  with,  as  guest  "brains  trusters," 
ex-M.P.  Miss  Jennie  Lee  and  erstwhile 
Cabinet  Minister,  doctor  and  distinguished 
academic  topliner,  Colonel  the  Right  Hon- 
orable Walter  Eliot,  M.P. 

The  Brains  Trust,  which  Sunday  by  Sun- 
day, until  a  recent  vacation,  spontaneously 
over  the  air  had  answered  questions  sent  in 
by  listeners  all  over  the  world — "Does  a 
fly  land  with  a  roll  or  a  loop  ?"  "What  Is 
Happiness  ?"  "Should  women  have  equal 
pay  with  men  ?"  and  "Is  swing  music  low- 
brow ?" — last  week  went  into  vocal  session 
at  Elstree  before  three  cameras  and  a  couple 
of  microphones,  registered  a  complete 
hour's  filming  without  any  rehearsal,  an- 
swered spontaneously,  under  Question  Mas- 
ter Donald  McCullough,  a  mixed  bag  of 
questions,  registered  one  complete  take  of 
eight  minutes  and  57  seconds  and  never 
fluffed  a  line. 

The  shooting,  without  script  or  rehearsal, 
proved  a  successful  experiment,  though  no 
surprise  to  Howard  Thomas,  BBC  produc- 
er, who  sat  in  on  the  takes  with  Mr.  Taylor. 
The  result  will  be  woven  into  a  two-reel 
subject  to  be  released  by  Anglo  American. 
If  the  success  of  the  film  parallels  that  of 


the  radio  series,  which  is  top  listening  hour 
on  Sunday  afternoons,  it  should  be  one  of 
the  box  office  successes  of  the  year. 

Battling  valiantly  against  the  difficult  odds 
engendered  by  limited  studio  space,  short- 
age of  materials  and  continued  recruiting 
of  technical  staffs  to  the  Forces,  U.  S.  pro- 
ducers here  are  still  bent  on  beating  the 
band  and  maintaining  production.  RKO 
Radio's  production  executive,  Victor  Han- 
bury,  having  concluded  work  on  one,  an  ac- 
tion drama  with  Eric  Portman  and  Ann 
Dvorak,  is  now  completing  details  of  an- 
other for  that  company,  and  plans  to  start 
work  on  it  in  the  immediate  future. 

U.  S.  Producers  Busy 
Despite  Obstacles 

Metro-British,  to  whose  directorial  board 
Irving  Asher  recently  has  been  recruited, 
likewise  have  gone  to  work  at  the  Gains- 
borough Studios,  Islington,  on  a  Robert 
Donat  subject,  "Sabotage  Agent,"  and  with 
Mr.  Asher  in  charge  and  Harold  Bucquet 
directing,  have  concluded  two  weeks  exactly 
on  schedule.  Despite  the  difficulties  facing 
producers  in  Britain,  Mr.  Asher  is  deter- 
mined that  "Sabotage  Agent"  shall  attain 
the  high  standard  set  by  Metro-British  films 
on  the  world  markets.  He  even  has  brought 
over  to  support  Mr.  Bucquet  the  Hollywood 
script  writer,  John  Lee  Mahin,  writer  of 
"Boom  Town." 

Planned  on  a  big  scale,  "Sabotage  Agent" 
gives  Donat  a  role  as  a  British  officer  sent 
to  Czechoslovakia  to  sabotage  a  Nazi  poison 
gas  factory.  Donat  plays  a  similar  type  of 
character  to  his  "Richard  Hannay"  in  "The 
39  Steps."    Valerie  Hobson  plays  opposite. 

Skoda  Arms  Works 
Reproduced 

England,  Rumania,  Hungary  and  Czecho- 
slovakia form  the  story  background.  The 
Skoda  arms,  works  and  the  famous  "Beer" 
town  of  Pilsen  with  its  subterranean  beer 
cellars  will  be  reconstructed  for  the  film. 
Assistance  in  local  detail  is  being  given  by 
the  Czechoslovakian  Ministry  of  Informa- 
tion. 

London  scenes  which  form  a  preface  to 
the  mid-European  locale  of  the  story,  show 
St.  Thomas'  Hospital  during  the  blitz  and 
the  interior  of  the  War  Office  where  Donat 
is  dispatched  on  his  dangerous  secret  mis- 
sion to  Czechoslovakia.  Casting  to  date  in- 
cludes Josephine  Wilson,  Aubrey  Mallalieu, 
James  Knight,  Edgar  Driver,  Bryan  Her- 
bert, Arthur  Denton,  John  Rhodes,  Maurice 
Rhodes,  Laurence  O'Madden  and  Frederick 
Leister  and  Glynis  Johns. 

V 

A  Script  Writers  Section  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Cine-Technicians  has  been  formed. 
Objects  of  the  new  section  are: 

( 1 )  To  control  conditions  and  entrances 
into  the  scenario  profession. 

(2)  To  provide  adequate  legal  advice  and 
help  on  copyright  problems. 

(3)  To  create  a  pool  of  trained  script 
writers  to  meet  the  present  shortage  in  the 
industry. 

(4)  To  ensure  that  the'  type  of  scripts 


handled  are  directly,  or  indirectly,  beneficial 
to  the  National  effort. 

Chosen  from  among  300  candidates,  Sally 
Ann  Howes,  juvenile  prodigy,  has  been 
selected  by  John  Argyle  for  the  title  role 
in  "Thursday's  Child,"  which  Rodney  Ac- 
land  is  directing  at  Welwyn. 

V 

Stage  and  ex-screen  comedian  Tom  Walls 
returns  to  the  camera  in  a  character  role 
in  "Chetnik,"  the  drama  of  the  Serbian 
guerilla  warriors  which  Sergei  Nolbandov 
is  directing  at  the  Ealing  Studios. 

V 

The  seven  women  stars  of  "We're  Not 
Weeping"  have  completed  shooting — and 
training — at  the  A.T.S.  camp,  and  with 
Leslie  Howard,  director,  in  charge,  have  re- 
turned to  Denham  for  studio  sequences.  Les- 
lie Howard  himself  will  have  a  role  in  this 
Two  Cities-Concanen  production. 

V 

Apart  from  the  foregoing,  other  British 
films  in  current  production  are:  "The  Bells 
Go  Down,"  at  Ealing;  "Its  That  Man 
Again,"  at  Shepherds  Bush;  "Old  Mother 
Riley,  Detective,"  at  Elstree,  and  two  Arch- 
ers Film  productions,  "Colonel  Blimp,"  at 
Denham,  and  "The  Silver  Fleet,"  on  loca- 
tion. 

Squiers  Retires  from 
MGM  English  Post 

James  Squiers,  general  manager  in  England 
for  MGM  for  the  past  30  years,  will  retire 
from  active  service  next  month,  according  to 
a  cable  received  at  the  foreign  department  of 
the  MGM  home  office,  from  Sam  Eckman, 
managing  director  for  Metro  in  England. 

Mr.  Squiers,  however,  will  remain  as  a  di- 
rector of  MGM's  English  companies.  He  is  a 
well  known  distributor  representative  in  Great 
Britain.  No  successor  has  been  named.  A 
native  of  London,  Mr.  Squiers  was  connected 
with  the  photographic  industry  before  joining 
the  Butcher  and  Tyler  companies.  He  later 
became  managing  director  of  the  Globe  Film 
Company,  London. 

Archibald  Succeeds 
Bernstein  Here 

George  Archibald,  former  joint  managing  di- 
rector for  United  Artists  in  London,  has  been 
appointed  director  of  the  British  Film  Service 
in  New  York,  succeeding  Sidney  Bernstein,  the 
British  Ministry  of  Information  announced  at 
London  last  week. 

Mr.  Archibald  has  been  in  the  British  Govern-  • 
ment  service  for  the  past  year.  He  will  leave 
shortly  for  New  York.  Mr.  Bernstein,  who  came 
to  the  United  States  several  months  ago  on  a 
mission  connected  with  distribution  in  the  United 
States  of  British  Ministry  of  Information  films, 
will  be  reassigned  in  London.  A  prominent  cir- 
cuit official,  Mr.  Bernstein  has  been  in  the  Gov- 
ernment service  since  shortly  after  the  outbreak 
of  the  war. 


Writing  Churchill  Life 

Walter  Doniger  has  been  assigned  by  War- 
ner Bros,  to  write  the  screenplay  on  the  life 
of  Winston  Churchill  which  Jesse  L.  Lasky  is 
scheduled  to  produce,  his  father,  Henry  W. 
Doniger.  Union  City,  N.  J.,  exhibitor,  revealed 
this  week. 


September  IV 


19  4  2 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


39 


BRITISH  CIRCUITS  CROWING 
IN  POWER  AND  UNITY 


Sales  Changes  Impending 
as  Era  of  Collaboration 
in  Trade  Begins 

by  AUBREY  FLANAGAN 

in  London 

With  three  years  of  war  now  past,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry  on  the  battle- 
front  of  Britain  surviving,  with  weakness 
in  one  section  and  strength  in  another, 
and  normalcy  elsewhere,  it  probably 
would  be  too  much  to  expect  the  next 
three  years  to  pass  without  changes  in 
its  structure  and  processes.  Indications 
are,  as  the  fourth  year  of  war  opens,  that 
new  moulds,  born  to  a  great  extent  of 
war  conditions,  but  to  some  extent,  too, 
over  and  above  them,  are  already 
evolving. 

Not  least  of  the  looming  shadows  which 
appear  on  the  horizons  of  the  trade  is  that 
of  the  theatre  circuit.  It  is  clear  that  the 
circuits  not  only  are  becoming  increasingly 
powerful,  but  that  the  days  of  competitive 
operation  and  inter-mutual  suspicion  are 
past,  and  an  era  of  collaboration,  the  extent 
and  degree  of  which  it  is  as  yet  difficult 
accurately  to  assess,  alreadv  has  begun.  The 
circuits,  in  fact,  move  closer  every  dav  in 
the  direction  of  virtually  one  theatre  group — 
no  matter  what  at  present  are  their  individual 
entities  and  foundations. 

To  some  extent  bound  up  with  this  gradual 
but  emphatic  movement,  but  born  also  of 
other  factors,  is  the  certainty  that  some 
drastic  alteration  is  likely,  not  only  in  the 
present  system  of  film  releases,  but  probably, 
too,  in  the  existing  form  of  picture  house 
programmes.  War  conditions  have  impelled 
this  potential  change — the  circuits  no  doubt 
j  will  direct  it. 

Arthur  Rank  Rated 
Dominant  Figure 

The  three  theatre  groups  which  still  retain 
a  superficial  appearance  of  individual  inde- 
pendence are  Associated  British,  Gaumont- 
British  and  Odeon.  Although  the  latter  two 
are  directed  and  managed  as  individual 
organizations,  they  both  are  under  the  chair- 
manship of  J.  Arthur  Rank,  chief  of  General 
Film  Corporation,  distributors  here  of  Uni- 

1  versal  product  and  controllers  of  the  Gau- 
mont  British  News,  Denham  and  Pinewood 
Studios,  and  other  attendant  organizations 

'  and  interests. 

The  commonality  of  interest  between  the 
two  long  has  been  known,  even  before  the 
death  of  Oscar  Deutsch,  and  the  acquisition 
of  control  by  Mr.  Rank,  yclept  by  a  British 
financial  journal  "the  new  Napoleon  of  the 
industry."  Precisely  to  what  degree  it  ex- 
tends in  the  purelv  financial  sphere  is  not 
known  formally.  The  unity  of  oolicv  and 
close  collaboration  on  film  bookings  and 
policy  are  known. 

There  would  seem  to  be  no  financial  or 
formal  link  between  the  Rank  interests  and 
Associated  British,  bev^nd  that  both  hoM 
blocks  of  shares  in  the  Metropolis  ar.d  Brad- 


SEEK  RAW  STOCK 
CUT  IN  ENGLAND 

The  British  Board  of  Trade  is  under- 
stood to  be  determined  that  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  use  of  film  raw  stock  in 
England  is  necessary  in  view  of  the 
acute  situation,  according  to  reports 
from  London.  It  is  reported  also  that 
the  Board  of  Trade  is  convinced  that 
great  economies  are  possible  in  the 
service  departments,  which  officials 
have  indicated  are  using  excessive 
footage.  Newsreels  are  not  expected 
to  be  greatly  affected. 


ford  Trust,  the  financial  corporation  con- 
trolling Gaumont-British.  Over  the  shares 
in  this  crucial  organization  there  has  been  a 
long  and  complex  history  of  purchase  and 
counter-purchase.  The  present  situation  is 
that  51  per  cent  of  the  voting  shares,  erst- 
while property  of  the  Ostrers,  is  now  held  by 
Mr.  Rank,  and  the  other  49  per  cent  bv 
Twentieth  Centurv-Fox,  which  also  owns 
750,000  non-voting  shares.  A  total  of  250,000 
non-voting  shares  also  was  owned  by  the  late 
John  Maxwell,  former  chief  of  Associated 
British,  and  50  per  cent  of  whose  widow's 
holdings  were  bought  some  months  back  by 
Warner  Brothers. 

Unity  of  Purpose 
Shown  Recently 

Beyond  that  interest  there  would  seem  to 
be  no  formal  or  corporate  link  between  the 
two  groups,  Gaumont-Odeon  with  its  645 
theatres  and  Associated  British-Union  with 
its  450  houses. 

Recent  moves,  however,  have  resulted  in  a 
unity  of  purpose  and  interest  which  makes  it 
certain  that  henceforward,  on  matters  of 
high  policy  and  trade  interest,  the  groups 
are  as  one,  and  it  is  likelv,  with  the  interests 
of  the  vast  bulk  of  independents  well  within 
their  mind. 

By  direct  appeal  to  the  circuits — on  the 
matter  of  Sunday  booking — over  the  head  of 
the  Cinematograph  Exhibitors  Association, 
it  would  seem  that  the  distributors'  groun 
has  achieved  a  directly  opposite  result,  and 
brought  about  a  solid  phalanx  of  exhibitor 
force  they  may  well  find  it  hard  to  contest. 
The  circumstances  already  have  been 
recorded  in  these  pages,  now  the  Kinemato- 
graph  Renters  Society,  rebuffed  by  the  CEA 
on  the  suggestion  that  exhibitors  cease  book- 
ing films  for  Sundav  onlv.  and  plav  features 
on  a  four  or  seven-day  basis,  annealed  to  the 
circuits  and  were  turned  down  flatlv. 

The  results  have  been  more  far  reaching 
than  that.  Never  before  have  the  circuits 
been  anything  but  competitive,  never  have 
thev  gotten  together  on  a  common  basis  in 
a  matter  of  common  interest.  The  seed  was 
sown,  and  the  plant  is  alreadv  sprouting. 
Never  again,  it  is  said,  will  the  theatre 
groups  make  any  major  move  without  con- 
sultation and  complete  apreement.  nor  will 


thev  make  any  move  unless  it  is  in  complete 
consonance  with  CEA  policy. 

Although  the  KRS,  as  a  society,  charac- 
teristically has  failed  to  reach  any  agreement 
on  a  policy  to  eliminate  Sunday  bookings, 
at  least  three  important  members,  MGM, 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  United  Artists, 
declare  they  will  refuse  any  further  to  book 
films  for  Sunday  only.  Others  have  promised 
to  follow  suit  when  it  is  practicable.  Others, 
the  majority,  will  make  no  such  guarantee. 
There  is,  too,  a  definite  move  on  the  part  of 
certain  renters  not  to  consider  flat  rate  book- 
ings at  all. 

Dispute  Sunday 
Film  Booking 

It  is  extremely  unlikely  that  the  theatre 
circuits  will  play  ball  in  this  game.  It  is 
open  to  them — and  it  is  likely — to  refuse  to 
trade  with  distributors  as  long  as  they  im- 
pose any  such  conditions.  Any  such  move 
probably  would  have  the  backing  of  the  CEA, 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  a  recommendation 
on  these  lines  might  be  made  to  exhibitors 
generally.  There  are  smaller  renters  who 
could  supply  enough  films  to  fill  the  British 
picture  houses  on  Sunday. 

How  far  the  struggle  between  the  de- 
termination not  to  supplv  Sunday  films  un- 
less they  are  all-week  films,  and  the  equal 
determination  not  to  trade  at  all,  would  and 
could  extend  ist  of  course,  in  the  realm  of 
hypothesis.  It  might  well  prove  a  bitter 
struggle. 

Alreadv  in  the  more  clandestine  corridors 
of  Wardour  Street  the  sinister  words  "book- 
ing holiday"  have  bee"  heard.  The  threat 
may  be  in  the  minds  of  some,  but  it  scarcelv 
can  be  taken  seriouslv,  for  it  may  easily  be 
manipulated  into  the  suggestion  of  restraint 
of  trade.  U.  S.  distributors,  at  any  rate,  are 
under  moral  obligation,  under  the  exchange 
agreement,  not  to  withhold  film  supplies,  and 
an-"  move  in  that  direction  may  quite  easilv 
have  Parliamentary  repercussions. 

Much  of  the  foregoing  is  naturally  hypo- 
thetical, but  much  of  it  is  categorically 
factual.  The  situation  does  not  wear  a 
roseate  complexion. 

Release  System  Change 
Seems  Necessary 

That  there  must  be  some  change  in  the 
release  system  and  machinery  follows  di- 
rectly from  the  raw  stock  situation.  Short- 
age of  product — which  is  an  increasing 
difficulty — almost  certainly  will  entail  an 
adjustment  of  the  release  system  and  the 
alteration  of  many  early  runs  to  later  ones. 
It  may  be  necessary  one  day  for  films  to  run 
for  longer  periods,  and  there  should  be  no 
moral  or  commercial  objection  to  worthy 
product  being  booked  on  a  seven-dav  basis. 

One  American  chief  here  suggests  an  ex- 
tension of  the  seven-dav  run  may  be  neces- 
sary. Incidentally,  the  Board  of  Trade,  no 
doubt  concerned  at  the  raw  stock  situation, 
have  been  investigating-  the  present  two- 
feature  programme  svstem  and  the  more 
courageous  prophets  have  been  hinting  at 
Government  intervention  in  this  re.gard. 


40 


MOTION    PJCTURE  HERALD 


September     19,     19  4  2 


IN  THE  COURTS 

New  York  Gets  $500 
From  Fox  Tax  Claim 

Liquidation  of  the  bankrupt  estate  of  Wil- 
liam Fox,  former  motion  picture  producer, 
moved  a  step  nearer  completion  this  week  when 
Allen  B.  Endicott,  Jr.,  Federal  referee  in  bank- 
ruptcy, allowed  New  York  State  $500  on  an 
income-tax  lien  of  $19,007. 

William  Elmer  Brown,  attorney  for  Hiram 
Steehnan,  trustee  in  bankruptcy,  conceded  that 
Mr.  Fox  owed  the  $500.  Mr.  Endicott  disal- 
lowed credit  in  excess  of  the  $500.  The  de- 
mand, Mr.  Brown,  said,  was  based  on  deduc- 
tions filed  by  Mr.  Fox  in  paying  his  1932  in- 
come tax  and  which  the  state  later  ruled  im- 
proper.   The  matter  was  never  adjudicated. 

Hearings  on  five  other  claims  opposed  by  the 
trustees,  which  total  $70,250,  were  scheduled 
for  Thursday  of  this  week. 

File  New  Interrogatories 
In  Greenwich  Case 

Interrogatories  concerning  policy  as  to  Green- 
wich and  Port  Chester  theatres,  operations, 
organization  and  the  like  have  been  filed  by 
the  plaintiffs,  operators  of  the  Pickwick  theatre, 
Greenwich,  in  their  $5,000,000  anti-trust  suit 
against  the  eight  major  film  companies  in  the 
U.  S.  district  court,  New  Haven. 

Last  November  similar  interrogatories  were 
filed  against  Twentieth  Centurv-Fox,  which 
have  not  yet  been  answered.  The  new  inter- 
rogatories are  addressed  to  Columbia,  Warners, 
Paramount,  United  Artists,  Universal,  Loew's 
and  RKO. 

Bioff  Coast  Action 
Off  Court  Calendar 

The  trial  of  William  Bioff,  former  Inter- 
national Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage  Em- 
ployees' representative  in  Hollywood,  on  two 
counts  of  income  tax  evasion,  has  been  stricken 
from  the  court  calendar  in  Los  Angeles.  Bioff, 
now  serving  a  term  in  Federal  prison  for 
extortion,  will  be  tried  when  available,  officials 
said. 


WANTED 

Sales  Representatives 


Men  with  film  or  theatre 
background  to  contact  the- 
atre managers  and  exhibi- 
tors. Commission  basis. 
Part  or  full  time.  Must  have 
car.  State  background  and 
experience  in  first  letter. 

BOX  101 
Motion  Picture  Herald 
Rockefeller  Center,  N.  Y. 


Forming  Circuit 
Of  Art  Houses 

William  Alexander,  vice-president  and  general 
manager  of  Adventure  Films,  Inc.,  and  Dwain 
Esper  of  Hollywood  are  forming  a  circuit  of 
art  theatres  to  cover  the  United  States,  they 
said  this  week.  The  circuit  will  be  known  as 
the  United  Art  Theatres,  Inc.,  with  the  home 
office  at  165  West  46th  Street,  New  York. 

The  theatres  will  be  classified  in  four  groups. 
Class  A  will  be  New  York ;  Class  B,  Chicago, 
Philadelphia,  Los  Angeles,  Detroit,  and  Boston ; 
Class  C,  Cleveland,  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  Pitts- 
burgh, Washington,  San  Francisco,  Milwaukee, 
Buffalo,  New  Orleans,  Minneapolis,  Cincinnati 
and  Newark ;  Class  D,  Indianapolis,  Houston, 
Seattle,  Rochester,  Denver,  Louisville,  Colum- 
bus, Portland,  Atlanta,  Oakland,  Dallas,  To- 
ledo, San  Antonio,  Omaha  and  Syracuse. 

Product  will  be  bought  for  a  flat  sum  for  the 
entire  circuit  and  each  house  will  pay  accord- 
ing to  its  classification,  it  was  said.  The  first 
production  will  be  ready  for  release  November 
1st,  the  second  on  December  1st.  There  will  be 
eight  productions  the  first  year,  they  said. 

Asks  for  Commissions  for 
Disney  Financing 

Suit  for  $70,000  commissions  allegedly  due 
for  arranging  the  financing  of  Walt  Disney  was 
filed  Wednesday  in  New  York  supreme  court 
by  Michael  Myerberg  against  Walt  Disney 
Productions,  Inc.,  and  the  financial  house  of 
Kidder,  Peabody  and  Company.  Mr.  Myer- 
berg claimed  to  have  recommended  the  finan- 
cial house  to  Mr.  Disney  and  to  have  obtained 
a  promise  of  compensation  for  aid  in  negotia- 
tions. 

The  complaint  alleges  that  in  April,  1940, 
Kidder,  Peabody  and  Company  marketed  150,- 
000  shares  of  preferred  stock  and  obtained 
$3,750,000  for  Disney.  Both  defendants  have 
filed  answers  generally  denying  the  charges. 

Hollister  Heads 
CBS  Promotion 

Paul  M.  Hollister,  who  resigned  last  month 
as  vice-president  of  J.  Stirling  Getchell,  Inc., 
this  week  was  appointed  vice-president  in  charge 
of  advertising  and  sales  promotion  by  the 
Columbia  Broadcasting  System. 

Mr.  Hollister  has  had  a  wide  background 
in  radio  and  advertising.  He  formerly  was 
'associated  with  H.  K.  McCann  Company ; 
Batton,  Barton,  Durstine  and  Osborne,  and  was 
executive  vice-president  and  publicity  director 
for  R.  H.  Macy  and  Company  for  eight  years. 


Bowes  in  Seventh  Year 

Major  Edward  Bowes  on  Thursday  night  over 
the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System  began  the 
seventh  year  of  his  Amateur  Program  on  that 
network.  The  sponsor  remains  the  Chrysler 
Corporation. 


Paramount  vs.  Universal 

The  Paramount  home  office  baseball  team 
was  to  meet  Universal  in  a  championship  play- 
off match  of  the  New  York  Motion  Picture 
Baseball  League  at  McCombs  Park,  the  Bronx, 
Saturday  afternoon. 


UA  Shifts  Salesman 

Cecil  Pace,  who  has  been  with  United  Artists 
in  Denver  for  some  months,  has  been  named 
eastern  Washington  salesman  for  United 
Artists. 


Reed  on  Tax  Committee 

Edward  L.  Reed,  managing  director  of  the 
Strand  Theatre,  Providence,  will  serve  on  the 
UMPI  tax  committee  for  Rhode  Island. 


OBITUAR  If  S 

Albert  Hill,  Theatre 
Architect,  Dies 

Albert  Douglas  Hill,  an  architect  who  de- 
signed more  than  150  theatres  in  various  parts 
of  the  United  States,  died  September  8th  at 
his  home  in  Haverford,  Pa.,  after  a  brief  ill- 
ness.   He  was  58,  years  old. 

Mr.  Hill  leaves  a  widow,  Mrs.  Vivian 
Stuckey  Hill ;  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Joseph  K. 
Shoemaker,  Jr.,  of  Wayne,  Pa.,  a  brother, 
Percy  Hill  of  London,  and  a  sister,  Mrs.  George 
Devil  le  of  Nottingham. 


George  Hood 

George  T.  Hood,  62,  died  September  11th  in 
Seattle  after  an  illness  of  several  years.  Mr. 
Hood  was  born  in  Seattle  and  was  originally 
associated  with  the  Grand  Opera  House.  In 
1930  he  became  Pacific  Coast  manager  for  Fan- 
chon  and  Marco,  and  later  was  Hollywood 
manager  for  Henry  Duffy's  stage  productions. 
His  last  connection  was  as  head  of  the  Fed- 
eral Theatre  Project  in  the  Pacific  Northwest. 


Florence  Gerald 

Florence  Gerald  84,  character  actress,  who 
made  her  first  stage  appearance  in  1898  under 
the  management  of  Charles  Frohman  in  "The 
Girl  from  Maxim's,"  died  September  6th  at 
the  Hotel  St.  James,  New  York.  In  more 
recent  years  she  played  in  "Tobacco  Road"  on 
tour. 


Thomas  Gilleran 

Thomas  F.  Gilleran,  employee  of  the  Comer- 
ford  circuit,  died  at  his  home  in  Dunsmore,  Pa., 
September  2nd  after  a  brief  illness.  He  was 
president  of  the  Scranton,  Pa.,  stagehands 
union  for  16  years.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  stage  manager  of  the  Granada  theatre 
in  Olyphant,  Pa. 


Dudley  Mason 

David  Durley  Mason,  47,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  French  at  the  Pennsylvania  State 
College  and  for  10  years  dramatic  coach  of 
the  Penn  State  Players,  died  September  13th 
at  State  College,  Pa.  Professor  Mason  had 
been  directing  motion  picture  production  for 
the  college's  engineering,  science  and  manage- 
ment war  training  program  since  June,  1941. 


Charles  A.  Lewis 

Charles  A.  Lewis,  55,  assistant  director  of 
public  relations  for  General  Motors,  died 
September  12th  in  New  York  after  a  long 
illness.  He  was  in  charge  of  the  GM  shows 
now  being  presented  for  employees  in  13  states. 


Theodore  Dobbratz 

Theodore  H.  Dobbratz,  Sr.,  operator  of  a 
motion  picture  theatre  in  Watertown,  Wis.,  died 
September  12th  in  Milwaukee. 


Rubin  OWI  Consultant 

Edward  Rubin,  RKO  publicist,  who  was  ) 
placed  in  charge  of  the  new  talent  department 
at  the  studio  last  week,  has  been  named  con- 
sultant to  the  radio  bureau  of  the  Office  of 
War  Information  and  will  serve  as  adviser  to 
Nat  Wolff,  OWI  deputy  chief. 


Skouras  Back  in  New  York 

Spvros  Skouras,  president  of  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox, returned  to  New  York  City  this  week 
after  a  visit  to  the  company's  studio  in  Holly- 
wood. He  was  accompanied  by  his  assistant, 
Aubrey  Schenck. 


Foy  Assisting  Goetz 

Bryan  Foy  will  assist  William  Goetz,  who 
has  succeeded  Colonel  Darryl  F.  Zanuck  as 
production  chief  for  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 


j 


September     19,     I  942 

IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  2,  Vol.  25.— President  de- 
mands  action  by  Congress  to  halt  inflation.  .  .  . 
Yanks  parade  in  London.  .  .  .  Rommel's  troops  cap- 
tured. .  .  .  Brazil  united  in  war.  .  .  .  Paratroops 
in  Panama.  .  .  .  Navy  transport  burns  at  sea,  all 
saved.  .  .  .  Fashions  in  Mexico.  .  .  .  Carnival  on 
ice. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  3,  Vol.  ZS.— Reports  from 
Capitol:  Survey  committee,  Leon  Henderson.  .  .  . 
U.  S.  expedition  to  Australia.  .  .  .  Christmas  mail 
for  boys  abroad.  .  .  .  Tanker  launched.  .  .  .  RAF 
in  mass  review.  .  .  .  Miss  America,  1942.  .  .  .  Re- 
ligion. .  .  .  Sports.  .  .  .  James  Cagney  reads  mes- 
sage from  Secretary  Morgenthau. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  200,  Vol.  14.— President 
demands  war  against  inflation.  .  .  .  Nazi  prisoners 
taken  in  Libyan  Desert  roundup.  .  .  .  All  saved  in 
transport  fire.  .  .  .  U.  S.  troops  reviewed  by  Bra- 
zilian officers.  .  .  .  Sailors  use  pants  as  life  belts. 
.  .  .  Yanks  parade  in  London.  .  .  .  Women  defense 
workers  in  beauty  contest.  .  .  .  Ice  carnival.  .  .  . 
Schroeder  wins  tennis  title. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY — No.  201,  Vol.  14.— Yanks  on 
Aleutian  front.  .  .  .  Nationwide  gas  rationing  urged 
in  rubber  crisis.  .  .  .  RAF  in  prayer  for  victory. 
.  .  .  Early  Christmas  mailing  for  Army.  .  .  .  Miss 
America.  .  .  .  Racing.  .  .  .  Football.  .  .  .  Convoy 
system  making  history. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  5.— Winter  ice  preview. 
...  17  million  tons  of  scrap  wanted.  .  .  .  All  saved 
in  transport  fire.  .  .  .  Congress  tackles  inflation. 
.  .  .  Highlights  from  President's  speech. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS — No.  6.— Air  Force  gliders 
training  detachment  graduates  at  Lamesa,  Tex.  .  .  . 
Recruits  form  insignia  at  aviation  technical  center. 
.  .  .  Early  Christmas  mailing  for  Army.  .  .  .  Rubber 
report.  .  .  .  Baseball.  .  .  .  Football.  .  .  .  James  Cag- 
ney in  War  Bond  trailer. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  5,  Vol.  14.— Fort  Meade 
honors  Brazilians.  .  .  .  Roosevelt  warns  of  inflation. 
.  .  .  174  ships  launched  in  one  day.  .  .  .  Kermit 
Roosevelt  gives  home  to  seamen.  .  .  .  Ice  show. 
.  .  .  Schroeder  wins  tennis  title. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  6,  Vol.  14.— U.  S.  planes 
and  troops  in  Alaska.  .  .  .  RAF  observes  day  of 
prayer.  .  .  .  War  enthusiasm  high  in  Brazil.  .  .  . 
Rubber  report.  .  .  .  Fire  engines  from  oil  trucks. 
.  .  .  Football.  .  .  .  Racing. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  118,  Vol.  15.— Presi- 
dent tells  Congress  to  stabilize  farm  prices.  .  .  . 
Ice  show.  .  .  .  Sergeant  pilots  show  skill.  .  .  . 
Yanks  parade  in  London.  .  .  .  Kin  sees  S.  S. 
Gompers  launching.  .  .  .  Atlantic  City  beauty  con- 
test. .  .  .  Chinese  sponsor  War  Bond  rally.  .  .  . 
New  water  tricks  for  Navy  men. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  119,  No.  15— U.  S. 

troops  guard  Alaska.  .  .  .  Rubber  report.  .  .  .  Mail 
soldiers'  gifts  early.  .  .  .  120,000  pray  for  victory 
at  Holv  Name  Hour.  Chicago.  .  .  .  Brazil  speeds 
war  effort.  .  .  .  Willow  Run  Bridge  opened  in 
Chicago.  .  .  .  RAF  marks  fourth  year  of  war.  .  .  . 
Miss  America  contest.  .  .  .  Football.  .  .  .  James 
Cagney  in  War  Bond  drive  trailer. 


Regular  Scales  for 
'Wake  Island" 

"Wake  Island"  will  be  sold  by  Paramount 
ifor  exhibition  at  regular  admission  scales,  the 
i  company  has  announced.  Paramount  wants 
the  widest  circulation  possible  for  the  Marine 
Corps  story  of  the  Jap  attack  on  the  Pacific 
outpost. 

Proceeds  from  its  New  York  premiere  at  the 
Rivoli  were  donated  to  the  American  Red  Cross 
land  the  picture  now  is  showing  there  at  the 
theatre's  established  scales.  The  film  has  been 
widely  used  for  War  Bond  premieres  during 
the  current  bond  drive. 


Keith  Declares  Dividend 

The  board  of  directors  of  Keith- Albee- 
Drpheum  Corporation,  in  New  York,  on 
Wednesday  declared  a  dividend,  out  of  operat- 
ing surplus,  of  SI. 75  per  share  on  the  seven 
)er  cent  cumulative  convertible  preferred  stock 
tor  the  quarter  ended  September  30,  1942,  pay- 
ible  October  1.  1942,  to  holders  of  record  Sep- 
ember  25,  1942. 


To  Open  Midway 

RKO's  new  Midway  theatre,  Forest  Hills, 
-ong  Island,  will  open  next  Thursday  evening, 
/ith  James  Burke,  Queens  Borough  President, 
<n  honored  guest. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

Mississippi  August 
Revenue  at  New  High 

A  new  all-time  monthly  peak  for  collections 
of  taxes  on  theatre  admissions  was  set  in  Mis- 
sissippi during  August,  when  $52,355  was 
brought  in  by  the  graduated  levy  scale  which 
runs  to  a  maximum  of  15  per  cent  on  admis- 
sion of  $1  and  more.  The  August  figure  com- 
pared with  $40,731  in  August,  1941. 


Schneider  Joins  Morris 

Albert  Schneider,  formerly  business  manager 
for  Orson  Welles  and  Mercury  Productions, 
has  joined  the  William  Morris  Agency  as  head 
of  the  literary  department  in  New  York. 


41 

Pressburger  Charges 
Plagiarism 

Arnold  Pressburger,  now  a  United  Artists 
producer,  has  filed  suit  in  Federal  district  court 
in  Los  Angeles  against  Warner  Bros,  and  num- 
erous John  Does  Seeking  $200,000  for  alleged 
plagiarism. 

He  charged  that  in  "The  Great  Lie,"  Bette 
Davis  film  released  last  year,  Warner  Bros, 
used  parts  of  "Dark  Angel,"  novel  by  Gina 
Kaus,  the  film  rights  to  which  Mr.  Pressburger 
claims  he  owns.  He  said  he  produced  a  film  in 
France  titled  "Conflict"  from  the  Kaus  novel 
in  1938.  He  asked  $100,000  actual  and  $100,000 
punitive  damages. 


FASTEST-BUILDING  BOX  OFFICE 
SERIES  ON  THE  SCREEN  TODAY! 


42 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


Summer  Theatre 
Season  Good 


Despite  dimouts,  gasoline  and  tire  rationing 
and  other  wartime  factors,  summer  theatres  in 
operation  during  the  season  just  closed  pros- 
pered, according  to  Actors  Equity  Association, 
which  last  week  reported  that  the  percentage 
of  failures  in  the  straw-hat  circuit  dropped 
sharply  this  year.  Although  there  were  49  sum- 
mer stock  houses  under  Equity  jurisdiction  this 
season  compared  to  71  last  year,  only  four  fail- 
ures were  counted  in  1942,  while  during  past 
summers  12  or  more  theatres  usually  dropped 
out  of  the  straw-hat  circuit  after  the  first  week. 

According  to  Equity,  theatres  which  trans- 
ported their  operations  from  the  country  to  the 
city,  such  as  Theron  Bamberger's  Bucks  County 
Playhouse  which  moved  from  New  Hope,  Pa., 
to  the  Bellevue-Stratford  Hotel  in  Philadelphia 
this  summer,  did  a  "prosperous"  business.  It 
was  understood  that  the  hotel  management  is 
interested  in  Mr.  Bamberger's  continuing  oper- 
ation through  the  winter,  beginning  an  autumn 
season  in  November. 

Approximately  SO  per  cent  of  the  summer 
theatres  operated  schools  for  apprentice  players, 
Equity  reported,  thus  having  been  assured  of 
an  income  without  depending  entirely  on  vaca- 
tion trade.  Other  playhouses  developed  regular 
subscribers  among  residents  of  summer  resorts 
and  it  is  reported  that  this  year  those  subscrip- 
tion lists  were  not  materially  decreased  as  a 
result  of  the  war. 


National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  Eight  Films 

Of  eight  films  classified  by  the  National  Le- 
gion of  Decency  in  its  listing  for  the  current 
week,  three  were  approved  for  general  patron- 
age, three  were  listed  as  unobjectionable  for 
adults  and  two  were  found  objectionable  in 
part. 

Class  A-l,  Unobjectionable  for  General  Pat- 
ronage :  "Sheriff  of  Sage  Valley,"  "Sunset 
Serenade,"  "Whistling  in  Dixie."  Class  A-2, 
Unobjectionable  for  Adults:  "Lucky  Legs," 
"Lure  of  the  Islands,"  "Secrets  of  a  Co-ed." 
Class  B,  Objectionable  in  Part:  "40,000  Horse- 
men," "The  Hard  Way." 


FROM  READERS 


DOES  "RIGHT  WELL" 
IN  BOND  DRIVE 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

In  the  current  issue,  September  5th,  are  some 
reports  of  Bond  sales  campaigns  and  their  re- 
sults, which  I  have  been  comparing  with  ours 
on  September  1st. 

We  are  a  small  (278-seat)  theatre  in  a  small 
(1,500-population)  town  and  on  the  first  day  of 
September  we  sold  $2,300  in  Bonds.  The 
American  Legion  Drum  Corps  marched  into 
the  theatre  and  promptly  at  9  P.M.  began  play- 
ing. Our  Congressman's  secretary  and  others 
spoke,  American.  Legion  members  took  subscrip- 
tions down  for  us  and  we  closed  with  the 
audience  singing  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner," 
with  the  words  and  flag  in  color  on  the  screen. 

In  addition  to  the  above  amount  on  the  first 
day  the  people  have  been  coming  and  calling 
up  all  week.  On  Saturday  night  we  sold  $175 
in  Bonds  and  $20  in  Stamps. 

We  think  we  did  "right  well"  for  a  little 
house. — T.  J.  Price,  Home  Theatre,  Oblong,  111. 


Kelley  Manager  of 
Research  Council 

William  F.  Kelley  has  been  appointed  man- 
ager of  the  Research  Council  of  the  Academy  of 
Motion  Picture  Arts  and  Sciences  in  Holly- 
wood, succeeding  Gordon  Mitchell,  who  as  a 
captain  in  the  Signal  Corps  Reserve  is  being 
called  to  active  duty. 

Mr.  Mitchell  has  been  manager  of  the  Re- 
search Council  for  the  last  10  years.  He  has 
been  closely  associated  with  the  Signal  Corps 
Training  Program  in  Hollywood.  Mr.  Kelley 
has  been  Mr.  Mitchell's  assistant  at  the  Re- 
search Council  for  the  last  seven  years. 


Shift  Interstate  Men 

In  a  realignment  of  Interstate  Circuit  theatre 
managers  at  Houston,  Tex.,  Raymond  Jones, 
manager  of  the  Majestic,  takes  over  direction  of 
the  Hollywood  at  Fort  Worth ;  Edward  Bremer 
moves  from  the  Kirby  to  the  Majestic  and  Ray- 
mond Hay  moves  from  the  Tower  to  the  Kirby. 
In  addition,  Mr.  Jones  will  have  other  duties 
with  Interstate  in  Fort  Worth. 


Giveaway  Test 
Ban  Success 

The  first  two  weeks  of  games  and  giveaway 
eliminations  at  Washington  Heights  neighbor- 
hood houses  in  New  York  City  have  proved 
successful  with  little  or  no  effect  on  the  box 
office,  independent  circuit  operators  said  this 
week. 

It  was  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  reaction 
would  not  be  fully  known  for  a  number  of  weeks 
and  that  grosses  would  be  studied  carefully  dur- 
ing that  period.  Grosses  actually  had  increased 
above  the  levels  previous  to  the  elimination  on 
August  31st,  it  was  said,  but  this  was  largely 
due  to  the  huge  Labor  Day  weekend  and  no  ade- 
quate comparison  was  available. 

However,  it  was  noted  that  the  first  area 
tested,  125th  Street  east  of  Fifth  Avenue,  had 
been  operating  without  games  or  giveaways  for 
seven  weeks  and  that  no  adverse  effect  was  ob- 
served. 

In  any  event,  games  and  giveaways  would  not 
be  returned  to  either  area,  it  was  said,  as  the 
savings  would  more  than  offset  a  possible  drop 
in  patronage. 


Orders  Examination 

Buddy  De  Sylva  and  Joseph  Meyer  were 
ordered  this  week  by  Justice  Ferdinand  Pecora 
in  New  York  supreme  court  to  submit  to 
examination  before  trial  on  September  22nd 
on  application  of  M.  Witmark  &  Sons,  music 
publishing  house.  Examination  is  sought  by 
Witmark  in  reference  to  a  $50,000  damage  suit 
brought  against  the  publishing  house  by  Mr. 
De  Sylva  and  Mr.  Meyer,  who  claim  that  the 
defendant  sold  performance  rights  to  their  song 
"California,  Here  I  Come"  to  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox for  the  film  "Rose  of  Washington 
Square"  for  the  alleged  inadequate  price  of 
$150. 


Discuss  Wartime  Projection 

"Maintaining  Projection  Standards  in  War 
Time"  was  the  subject  of  a  meeting  of  the 
Atlantic  Coast  Section  of  the  Society  of  Mo- 
tion Picture  Engineers  at  the  Hotel  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  York,  Thursday  evening. 

It  also  was  the  title  of  the  paper  read  by  the 
chief  speaker,  Lester  B.  Isaac,  director  of  sound 
and  visual  projection  for  the  Loew  circuit. 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT 

i 

A  Wartime  Service  for  Exhibitors 

5  Are  you  looking  for  something  you  can't  buy?  Got  something  you  don't  need?  Then  tell  the 
Herald,  and  we'll  tell  the  world. 

'  I; 

f  This  service  is  offered — free  to  exhibitors,  of  course — to  further  the  conservation  of  those 
resources  upon  which  theatres  must  depend,  with  less  and  less  replenishment,  for  some  time  to 
come.  According  to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  WPB  amusements  section,  only  the 
strictest  policy  of  conservation  throughout  the  theatre  business  can  assure  the  continued  operation 
of  our  theatres.  Everything  usable  must  be  used,  as  needed,  by  the  fellow  who  needs  it. 

5  If  you  have  something  to  swap,  describe  it  fully  enough  to  give  the  other  fellow  an  idea  as  to 
its  applicability  to  his  need,  and  similarly  describe  what  you  are  looking  for.  This  information 
will  be  published  promptly  in  the  Herald,  without  charge.  Write  to — 

SWAP  DEPARTMENT,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N  Y. 


September    19,     1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  43 

"what  the  vv 
picture  dih  for  me 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York.  N.  Y. 


Columbia 

ADVENTURES  OF  MARTIN  EDEN:  Glenn  Ford, 
Claire  Trevor— Nothing  to  this  picture.  Played  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  August  17,  18.— Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr., 
Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa.  Small  town  patron- 
age.   Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 

LADY  IS  WILLING,  THE:  Fred  MacMurray, 
I  Marlene  Dietrich — Fair  percentage  of  a  very  small 
population  got  lots  of  laughs  out  of  this.  It  is  a 
good  picture,  especially  some  of  the  dialogue.  Played 
Thursday,  Friday,  August  20,  21.— W.  Varick  Nevins, 
III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  col- 
lege town  patronage. 


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

HER  CARDBOARD  LOVER:  Robert  Taylor,  Nor- 
ma Shearer — It's  a  pity  to  waste  such  stars  on  this 
trash.     Played   Monday,    Tuesday,   August    10,    11. — 
Frank  A.   Orban,   Jr.,   Savoy   Theatre,  Hooversville, 
j|    Pa.    Small  town  patronage. 

|i  JACKASS  MAIL:  Wallace  Beery,  Marjorie  Main— 
My  patrons  said  they  wasted  their  time,  but  I 
didn't  because  I  had  all  I  wanted  in  the  first  20 
minutes.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  September  4,  5.— 
Frank  A.   Orban,   Jr.,   Savoy   Theatre,  Hooversville. 

J    Pa.    Rural  small  town  patronage. 

JOHNNY  EAGER:  Robert  Taylor,  Lana  Turner- 
Swell  picture.  Good  story  and  acting.  Title  doesn't 
draw  but  all  who  saw  it  were  well  pleased.  Played 
Monday,  Tuesday,  August  31,  September  1. — W.  R. 
Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen,  Saskatchewan, 
Canada.    Airport  Hall  and  rural  small  town  patron- 

ij  age- 

LIFE  BEGINS  FOR  ANDY  HARDY:  Judy  Gar- 
land, Mickey  Rooney — Good  picture.  We  played  it 
late  but  did  fair  business.  Played  Thursday -Satur- 
day, July  30,  August  1. — H.  B.  Narfason,  Foam  Lake 
Theatre,  Foam  Lake,  Saskatchewan,  Canada.  Rural 
■  patronage. 

RIO  RITA:  Abbott  &  Costello,  John  Carroll,  Kath- 
\  ryn  Grayson — Well,  we  were  not  expecting  as  much 
J    as  the  last  time  we  had  this  story.     Guess  it  was 

because  talking  musicals  were  fairly  new  then.  And 

it  did  not  come  up  to  the  former  version  either.  A 
5  little  too  much  slapstick  and  a  normal  patronage 
fi    seemed  to  like  it.     Played  Sunday-Tuesday,  August 

2-4.— Horn    &    Morgan,    Inc.,    Star    Theatre,  Hay 

Springs,  Neb.     Small  town  patronage. 

WHISTLING  IN  THE  DARK:  Red  Skelton,  Ann 
,  Rutherford — Fair  picture  but  it  did  not  draw  for  us 
and  the  comments  were  divided.  Played  Thursday - 
Saturday,  August  6-8. — H.  B.  Narfason,  Foam  Lake 
Theatre,  Foam  Lake,  Saskatchewan,  Canada.  Rural 
patronage. 


Paramount 

FLEETS  IN,  THE:  Dorothy  Lamour,  William 
Holden — If  you  don't  do  business  on  this  one,  close 
up  and  go  home.  Best  musical  I  ever  played  and  my 
patrons  agree.     Played  Sunday,  Monday,  August  16, 

j  17. — Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England,  Ark.  Small 

J   town  and  rural  patronage. 

MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Bob  Hope,  Madeleine 
Carrol — Wonderful  show  went  over  big  in  both  spots, 
j  Bob  Hope  great  favorite  with  British  boys  here  for 
j  training.  Also  gives  the  farmers  a  much  needed  laugh 
in  rural  spots.  Played  Monday,  Tuesday,  August 
24,  25.— W.  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen. 
Saskatchewan,  Canada.  Airport  Hall  and  rural  small 
town  patronage. 

RIDERS  OF  THE  TIMBERLINE:  William  Boyd, 
Andy  Clyde  —  These  Westerns  are  O.  K.  but  no 
better  than  others.  This  one  had  the  lowest  gross 
of  the  summer,  too.  Played  Thursday-Saturday,  Au- 
gust 20-22.— Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England,  Ark. 
Small  town  and  rural  patronage. 


Producers  Releasing  Corp. 

CRIMINALS  WITHIN:  Eric  Linden,  Ann  Doran— 
This  company  is  O.K.  with  this  sort  of  picture,  so 
give  them  a  break,  boys.  They  help  us  all  stay  in 
business.  O.K.  for  action  and  double  bills.  Played 
Thursday-Saturdav.  August  20-22.— Terry  Axley,  New 


Theatre,  England,  Ark.  Small  town  and  rural  pat- 
ronage. 

RKO  Radio 

LITTLE  FOXES,  THE:  Bette  Davis,  Herbert  Mar- 
shall— If  this  picture  will  do  business  for  you  in  small 
situations,  you  have  a  good  town.  Lowest  Sunday 
matinee  in  a  long  time.  Played  Sunday,  Monday, 
August  30,  31.— Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England, 
Ark.     Small  town  and  rural  patronage. 

SUSPICION  Cary  Grant,  Joan  Fontaine— Just  fair. 
Either  the  title  or  the  stars  kept  them  away.  We 
hardly  took  in  film  rent.  Played  Thursday,  Friday, 
August  27,  28.— H.  B.  Narfason,  Foam  Lake  Theatre, 
Foam  Lake,  Saskatchewan,  Canada. 


Republic 

SIS  HOPKINS:  Judy  Canova— Judy  is  well  re- 
ceived in  small  town  and  boys  at  Airport  Hall  went 
for  her,  too.  The  old  Sis  Hopkins  story  is  much 
modernized  but  it's  a  swell  show  for  any  audience. 
Played  Friday,  Saturday,  August  21,  22.— W.  R.  Pyle, 
Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen,  Saskatchewan,  Canada. 
Rural,  small  town  and  Airport  Hall  patronage. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

RINGS  ON  HER  FINGERS:  Henry  Fonda,  Gene 
Tierney — Not  so  good.  Business  poor — Ray  Peacock, 
Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Logger  and  mill 
worker  patronage. 

SECRET    AGENT    OF    JAPAN:    Preston  Foster, 


Lynn  Bari — Just  what  you  would  expect.  Pleased  our 
people,  who  seemed  to  be  quite  intent  on  the  many 
exciting  angles  which  appeared  one  after  the  other. 
Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  August  5,  6.— Horn  & 
Morgan,  Inc.,  Star  Theatre,  Hay  Springs,  Neb. 

SONG  OF  THE  ISLANDS:  Jack  Oakie,  Betty 
Grable,  Victor  Mature — A  swell  picture  in  beautiful 
color.  And  we  did  good  business. — Ray  Peacock,  Ona- 
laska Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Logger  and  mill 
worker  patronage. 

TEN  GENTLEMEN  FROM  WEST  POINT:  George 
Montgomery,  Maureen  O'Hara — Swell  show  that  did 
only  fair  business.  Played  it  September  1st,  the  night 
the  War  Bond  drive  opened.  Don't  know  if  the  picture 
got  my  patrons  or  if  they  were  in  a  buying  mood, 
because  in  this  town  of  1,400  we  sold  more  Bonds 
than  any  other  theatre  in  the  county.  Played  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  August  31,  September  1. — Frank  A. 
Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa. 

United  Artists 

CORSICAN  BROTHERS,  THE:  Douglas  Fair- 
banks, Jr.,  Ruth  Warrick — Costume  pictures  usually 
are  not  good  here,  but  this  one  is  okay.  Don't  be 
afraid  of  it.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  August  9,  10 — 
Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England,  Ark.  Small  town 
and  rural  patronage. 

SHANGHAI  GESTURE,  THE:  Gene  Tierney, 
Victor  Mature — My  operator  and  I  both  aeree — t.hev 
should  save  film  on  this  one.  'Twas  a  pity,  too,  with 
such  a  cast.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  August  2,  3 — 
Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England,  Ark.  Small  town 
and  rural  patronage. 

SUNDOWN:  Gene  Tierney— Didn't  go  over.  Played 
{Continued  on  following  page) 


44 


MOTION    Pl.CTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
Friday,  Saturday,  August  28,  29—  W.  R.  Pyle,  Dream- 
land Theatre,  Rockglen,  Sask.,  Canada.  Airport  Hall 
and  rural  small  town  patronage. 

Universal 

SABOTEUR:  Priscilla  Lane,  Robert  Cummings— A 
spy  picture  that  did  not  click.  Seems  like  our  patrons 
are  tired  of  propaganda  pictures.  No  business. — Ray 
Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Logger 
and  mill  worker  patronge. 

Warner  Bros. 

CAPTAINS  OF  THE  CLOUDS:  James  Cagney, 
Brenda  Marshall — Very  good.  We  played  it  late,  but 
they  came  from  all  directions  to  see  it  and  were  very 
well  satisfied.  One  of  the  season's  best  grosses.  Played 
Thursday -Saturday,  August  13-15 — H.  B.  Narfason, 
Foam    Lake    Theatre,    Foam    Lake,    Sask.,  Canada. 


Short  Features 
Columbia 

WHAT'S  THE  MATADOR:  Three  Stooges— Weak- 
est Stooge  we  ever  played.  The  female  in  this  short 
is  terrible. — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre, 
Hooversville,  Pa. 


Metro-Gold  wyn-Mayer 

BATS  IN  THE  BELFREY— Cartoon— Very  poor,  in 
my  opinion. — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre, 
Hooversville,  Pa. 

COME  BACK,  MISS  PIPPS:  Our  Gang  comedy- 
Very  good.  Was  very  interesting  and  the  comments 
were  very  good. — H.  B.  Narfason,  Foam  Lake  The- 
atre, Foam  Lake,  Sask.,  Canada. 

FIELD  MOUSE,  THE:  Cartoon— Closest  to  a  Dis- 
ney we've  ever  run.  These  MGM  cartoons  are  really 
coming  up. — W.  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rock- 
glen, Sask.,  Canada. 

LADY  OR  THE  TIGER:  Very  interesting— Ray 
Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

PASSING   PARADE:   Haven't  played   a  poor  one 


yet — W.  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen, 
Sask.,  Canada. 

PETE  SMITH  SHORTS:  Every  one  sure-fire  en- 
tertainment— W.  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rock- 
glen, Sask.,  Canada. 

PETE  SMITH'S  SCRAPBOOK:  This  reel  of  best 
shots  from  Pete's  other  shorts  is  good,  but  misses 
fire  as  we  grew  tired  of  so  many  wonders  at  once — 
W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

SOARING  STARS:  Nothing  to  it  but  film— Frank 
A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa. 

VENDETTA:  Passing  Parade— Excellent.  The  Pass- 
ing Parade  series  is  one  of  the  best  shorts  series  to- 
dav — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hoovers- 
ville, Pa. 


Paramount 

FLEETS  OF  STRENGTH:  Popeye  Cartoon— Aver- 
age Popeye — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Ona- 
laska, Wash. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS:  Good  newsreels,  but  things 
happen  so  fast  these  days,  if  you  don't  get  an  early 
release  it's  a  laugh.  We  don't — W.  R.  Pyle,  Dream- 
land Theatre.  Rockglen,  Sask.,  Canada. 

RAVEN,  THE:  Cartoon— Very  good— Ray  Peacock, 
Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 


RKO  Radio 

DISNEY  CARTOONS:  We  play  these  in  Airport 
Hall  and  they  are  great  favorites — W.  R.  Pyle, 
Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen,  Sask.,  Canada. 

Twentieth  Century- Fox 

GATEWAY  TO  ASIA:  Magic  Carpet— A  good  pic- 
torial, in  color — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Ona- 
laska, Wash. 

MEN  FOR  THE  FLEET:  Fair— Ray  Peacock,  Ona- 
laska Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

Victory  Film 

LAKE  CARRIER:  Interesting  and  easy  to  look  at— 


W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred, 
N.  Y. 

Warner  Bros. 

,  CAGEY  CANARY:  Merrie  Melody  Cartoon— Very 
good — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska, 
Wash. 

DOUBLE  CHASER:  Color  cartoon— Swell  cat  and 
mouse  color  cartoon.  Very  funny — W.  Varick  Nevins 
III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

U.  S.  C.  BAND  AND  GLEE  CLUB:  Melody  Mas- 
ter— Excellent — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Ona- 
laska, Wash. 


Ten  Million  See 
Mine  Unit  Films 

More  than  10,000,000  persons  saw  motion 
pictures  distributed  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Mines  during  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1942,  Dr.  R.  R.  Sayers,  director,  disclosed  in 
his  annual  report,  issued  by  the  Department 
of  the  Interior  this  week. 

The  unit  reported  that  it  had  the  largest 
number  of  bookings  in  history  for  its  16  and 
35  mm  films  on  industrial  operations,  safety 
and  vocational  training.  The  pictures  are  dis- 
tributed by  the  Bureau  to  Schools,  the  armed 
services,  factories  and  training  centers  for  de- 
fense workers. 

One  of  the  largest  lists  of  bookings  was  re- 
ported for  the  Bureau's  films  on  the  production 
and  fabrication  of  aluminum.  Dr.  Sayers  esti- 
mated that  they  were  seen  by  600,000  workers. 

The  Bureau  now  has  more  than  6,000  reels 
in  circulation  from  its  central  experiment  sta- 
tion at  4800  Forbes  Street,  Pittsburgh.  Dr. 
Sayers  estimated  an  increase  of  at  least  10  per 
cent  in  the  number  of  bookings  for  this  year. 

Such  films  as  "Modern  Metalworking  with 
the  Oxyacetylene  Flame,"  "Aluminum :  Fabri- 
cating Processes,"  "The  Story  of  Copper," 
"Lead  Mining,  Milling,  Smelting  and  Refin- 
ing," "Alloy  Steels,"  "Nickel  Mining,"  "The 
Making  and  Shaping  of  Steel,"  "The  Story  of 
Petroleum,"  "The  Evolution  of  the  Oil  Indus- 
try," "The  Story  of  Gasoline,"  and  "The  Story 
of  a  Spark  Plug"  are  especially  in  demand,  the 
Bureau  reported. 

Heffner  Takes  Astor 
Pictures  Franchise 

Roy  E.  Heffner  has  taken  over  the  Astor 
Pictures  franchise  for  the  New  England  terri- 
tory, succeeding  Marcel  Mekelburg. 

Current  Astor  product  includes  "Keep  'em 
Laughing,"  starring  Jack  Benny,  and  other  Ed- 
ward Small  reissues ;  "Krakatoa,"  the  South 
Pacific  underseas  volcano  film,  and  "Scarface," 
"Hell's  Angels"  and  "Sky  Devils." 


Report  Bookings  on  Series 

A  total  of  5,555  bookings  in  the  United 
States  have  been  reported  up  to  September  5th 
for  the  first  five  issues  of  "The  World  in  Ac- 
tion," the  series  of  two-reel  war  films  produced 
by  the  National  Film  Board  of  Canada  and 
released  here  monthly  since  March,  1942,  by 
United  Artists.  Of  these  bookings,  173  are 
in  New  York  City,  it  is  said. 


Mayer,  Strickling  in  East 

In  New  York  for  conferences  with  home  of- 
fice executives  this  week  were  Louis  B.  Mayer, 
vice-president  in  charge  of  MGM  production, 
and  Howard  Strickling,  the  company's  studio 
publicity  director. 

Larry  Kent  Skouras  Aide 

Larry  Kent  has  been  appointed  executive  as- 
sistant to  Spyros  Skouras,  president  of  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox.  He  had  been  film  buying 
chief  for  the  Fox  West  Coast  circuit.  He  is 
succeeded  there  by  Fred  Stein. 


SURE,  YOU  CAN 


lour  war-time  responsibilities  mount  high  and 
higher.  We  ably  shoulder  them  in  places  where 
the  trained  engineer's  know-how  can  help  you 
best.  You  can  depend  on  Altec  to  help  you  in 
your  great  contribution  to  the  war— morale— by 
keeping  your  machinery  performing  in  a  steady, 
waste-free  way.  You  can  depend  on  Altec  to  safe- 
guard your  theatre  as  only  Altec  can. 


SERVICE  CORPORATION 


250  West  57th  Street 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


QUR  KNOW-HOW   •    •    •    OUR  KNOW-WHY   •    •    •   ARE  YOUR  FAITHFUL  ALLY 


Z  A  2 


45 


MANAGERS' 

ROUND  TABLE 


zAn  international  association  of  shozvmen  meeting  weekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 


IZl  _E 


OP 


Notes  on  Showmanship 

The  Government  Is  appreciative  or  the  eirorrs  or  snowmen.  should  Temper  his  s=  esmanship  with  good  judgment  and  reserve 

This  week  the  Navy  Department  sent  Louis  Charninsky  ot  the  his  praise  for  those  attractions  thai  are  worthy  of  it. 

Capitol  theatre,  Dallas,  a  certificate  of  appreciation  ior  his  In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  recall  a  recent  example  ot  a 

work  in  enlisting  440  men  in  the  Navy  in  3 1  days.  picture  for  which  a  trailer  had  been  showing  what  purported 

While  every  shov/man  cannot  earn  a  Navy  certificate,  those  to  be  the  manager  of  the  theatre  stepping  out  personally 

r  us  who  are  putting  all  our  efforts  this  month  into  the  sale  recommending  the  film  himself.  Without  regard  to  the  merit 

of  War  Bonds  and  Stamps  will  nevertheless  earn  the  apprecia-  of  the  attraction  thus  advertised  and  endorsed,  the  audience 

tion  of  the  Government.  The  showmen  of  the  country  have  which  had  just  seen  "Mrs.  Miniver"  could  not  help  but  feel 

done  what  was  expected  of  them  in  making  a  success  of  that  it  must  be  great  indeed  for  the  manager  to  endorse  it 

"Salute  to  Our  Heroes  Month".  while  he  refrained  from  doing  as  much  for  "Mrs.  Miniver". 

But  the  real  showman  needs  no  appreciation  for  his  patriotism  And  they  are  likely  to  recall  that  "Mrs.  Miniver"  was  touted 

or  his  work  on  behalf  of  the  Bond  Drive.  Every  shot  at  a  Jap  ss  one  of  the  ten  best  pictures  of  all  time  and  so  named 

or  a  Nazi  is  his  reward.  by  the  critics. 

>z             >z             x  ■* 

i    ii  „  .  .  r  ,                     •■[,  =          •  „:_;i„  •    iL .  When  times  are  good,  the  merchant  can  take  advantage 

In  the  course  ot  conversation  wnh  a  recem  visiior  iO  ihe  r   .    f      \.t        ....  ,.         ,  P. 

d      JT  li          A.  I  iL_       =l  „„cri-„o  "n„,.,'   D„r-  „r9"  ot  The  siTuaTion  and  recriTy  cerrain  ousiness  Dracrices  which 

Kound  I  able  we  asked  The  usual  quesnon,    Hows  Business.''  .  .          . .         ,            /      .            .          ■     .  . 

■•n   -       -  j.    -uu  "           .i   '  I    "l.j.       .  w^„|j  „_,,  might  cost  him  customers  whose  oss  can  ce  ever  ooked  Decause 

business  is  terrible,    came  The  reply,    bur  whaT  would  you  .  =  .                                    .         ,  -     ,        t        T        ■  ■ 

•ii         .-       _          i-i           i     „  l^j  ot  nis  prosperiTy.   ror  example,  cerrain  srores  have  lonq  had 

expect  with  corvnnuous  rain  like  we  have  had  tor  The  pasr  ,  . r     r     7                 r . 

r          in  on  their  books  customers  who  paid  their  accounts  semi-annually. 

■ew  weeks.  _,      _                            ,  ,,■  ,         ,.  .- 

A  r                                  -  -.           ■           i  r   i     -   Ihe  foovernment  srooped  mat  pract ce-  reoulanons  require 

A  "e.-.  oe.s   ~s'  =-c— e-  .  s -c  ;:::::e:  ~c~          =  •    -  ,  ,    ,            ,rrlL    r  ,■             ,        ti   r  n  • 

/    -ii      i_  r       lip            „   i   „  >.  i    „  i  •  ^  i  paymenT  before  The  Tenth  of  the  second  month  Tollowinq  pur- 
see-  -  -c_c"  w  —  js  ce-ce.      ve  cee~  ;:  c-i.      -  -xc  =  "cc  .,,,„.,.,.        ,           ,,           i  , 

■  .             -r-   i              o  .  !■        .  " i  -  chase.   Ihus,  witnouT  otrendinq  nis  cusromers  The  merchant  can 

— e  —eat-as  a -a  c:  "  a  -e-'  -  c  cjs  -ess.  2--  .  ~  "c-  c  =:~.  \r.c  ,  .  .            ,           i  .- 

j--  x    -j.  \*/  ■     l   i  ti    u    .     i„_     -   xi  ,  ,„  i j  l„u  rerurn  his  business  to  sound  pracrice. 

crediT  tor  it.  Weve  -  =  c  —  e  ces~  se  es~-  =  -   -  me  v/orld  help-  c                 ,              i  i   r                          r  .L     i-  l  i  - 

-  ..  bo  can  The  showman.  He  can  now  qer  out  ot  The  dish  ousi- 

nq  us — the  rain.  .               •  ,.      ■          3  , 

ness,  stop  running  a  gambling  nouse,  and  cease  Trying  to  Tire 

his  patrons  out  by  a  succession  of  ideas  entirely  unrelated  to 
"When  I  advertise  a  picture  heavily,  if  is  tabbed  by  my  the  motion  picture, 
oatrons  as  a  bad  one,"  writes  an  exhibitor.  "Their  reasoning  is:  Now  is  the  time  to  return  to  the  principles  which  built  this 
Tf  the  picture  is  any  good  he  wouldn't  have  to  advertise  it  industry  and  made  some  of  its  leaders  successful.  Such  hypo- 
so  big'."  dermics  as  were  considered  necessary  during  the  depression 
If  would  seem  that  this  exhibitor's  public  has  possibly  beer,  can  be  discarded  in  favor  of  straight  showmanship  devoted 
misled  occasionally  by  heaps  of  extravagant  advertising  spent  entirely  to  selling  the  attractions  which  are  available  for  the 
on  attractions  unworthy  of  if.  theatre  screens. 

Our  suggestion  is  that  a  picture  be  sold  to  the  public  as  It  always  appeared  somewhat  paradoxical  that  the  motion 

oefrrs  its  merit.  If  a  piece  of  merchandise  is  unattractive  to  picture  exhibitor  has  been  ready  to  fight  any  attempt  by  the 

-he  merchant  and  if~he  thinks  if  will  not  attract  his  customers,  merchants  to  show  pictures  yet  the  merchants  whose  living  was 

:  he  doesn't  buy  if.  It  is  unfortunate  that  in  our  business  we  made  out  of  selling  goods  were  unable  effectively  to  prevent 

cannot  always  discriminate  to  that  extent;  furthermore,  some  purveyors  of  entertainment  from  giving  out  premium  mer- 

>  audiences  are  conspicuously  hard  to  please.  But  the  exhibitor  chandlse.                                                      — BOB  WILE 


46 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


SMART  SHOWMANSHIP 

Texas,  Canada,  Chicago,  New  England,  other  Showmen  show  their  skill 


Ed  Fitzpatrick  used  a  news  ticker  in  the  lobby  of  Loew's  Poli  theatre,  Waterbury, 
Conn.,  for  the  engagement  of  "Somewhere  I'll  Find  You".  It  wasn't  a  real  one 
but  the  newspaper  supplied  the  tape  for  pasting  on  the  board. 


Jack  Robertson,  manager  of  the 
Capitol  theatre,  Victoria,  B.  O, 
arranged  this  Wurlitzer  juke  box  tieup 
in  connection  with  his  showing 
of  "Juke  Girl". 


By  Webb  Studio 


This  auto-plane  ballyhoo  was  used  . by  "Doc"  Estes  at  the 
Gem,  Childress,  Tex.,  in  connection  with  Old  Settlers'  Day. 


By  Robert  J.  Arnold 

These  huge  cut-out  heads  of  the  stars,  five  time  life  size, 
were  used  over  the  entrance  of  Loew's  State,  Syracuse, 
managed  by  Frank  Murphy. 


Under  the  sign,  "We're  waiting  to  see' 
Ben  Cohn  of  the  Hamilton  theatre, 
Chicago,  used  II  by  14  cards  adver- 
tising the  coming  attractions.  The 
figures  are  beautifully  colored. 


Leo  Rosen  used  this  institutional  set  piece  in'  the  lobby  of  the  Troy,  Troy,  N.  Y. 


Sepiember    19,    I  942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


47 


Fall  Activities 
Suggested  in 
Schine  Manual 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  below  reflects  press  books  now  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
view  of  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.] 

HOLIDAY  INN  (Paramount):  Irving  Berlin  has  written  13  tunes  for  this  picture,  which 
suggests  that  special  attention  be  paid  to  the  possibility  of  using  the  music  to  sell  the 
picture.  These  songs  have  been  preserved  on  records  of  the  largest  companies;  the 
sheet  music,  of  course,  carries  pictures  of  the  stars  and  the  picture's  title.  Music  stores 
can  be  asked  to  cooperate  by  placing  covers  on  windows  and  counters  and  also  the 
special  music  poster  furnished  by  Paramount.  Radio  tieups  can  be  made  by  using  the 
music  coupled  with  playdate  announcements.  Arrangements  might  be  made  with 
operators  of  juke  boxes  to  carry  the  records  on  their  machines  and  also  to  have  a 
poster  next  to  it  indicating  that  the  picture  from  which  these  tunes  were  taken  will 

be  at  the  theatre  on  The  press  book  devotes  considerable  space 

to  radio  announcements  and  previews  which  are  especially  suitable  on  a  musical  pic- 
ture in  which  the  star  is  a  well  known  radio  actor.  There  are  5,000  stores  selling  a 
Holiday  Inn  cutout  book.  List  can  be  obtained  from  the  press  book.  Since  the  Fall 
season  has  the  greatest  number  of  holidays,  there  will  be  a  number  of  opportunities 
for  merchants  to  cooperate.  In  addition  to  using  the  title  itself  for  cooperative  ads, 
the  titles  of  the  songs  can  be  handled  the  same  way.  There  are  a  number  of  stills 
which  can  be  readily  employed  by  merchants  of  various  types  of  goods — for  example, 
greeting  cards,  jewelry,  flowers,  hammocks  and  porch  and  garden  furniture.  The  lobby 
display  possibilities  on  the  picture  are  wider  than  usual;  depending  upon  the  season, 
the  showman  can  use  a  prevailing  motif  in  the  lobby  pointing  to  the  particular  holiday 
nearest  at  hand.  Several  contests  are  suggested,  including  one  in  which  the  titles  of 
songs  are  scrambled  and  newspaper  readers  are  asked  to  identify  hits  made  by 
Astaire,  Crosby  and  Berlin.  The  various  partners  with  whom  Astaire  has  danced  his 
way  through  pictures  are  a  subject  for  contests,  one  of  which  is  a  one-shot  good  for 
program  use.  A  tieup  might  be  made  with  any  nearby  resort  suggesting  that  it  is 
a  good  place  to  spend  a  holiday  and  that  the  next  week  will  see  a  holiday  at  the 
theatre  when  "Holiday  Inn"  plays.  The  Round  Table  will  furnish  post  cards  from  a 
New  York  hotel  for  this  purpose. 

SOMEWHERE  I'LL  FIND  YOU  (MGM):  The  title  suggests  a  number  of  contests 
involving  a  search.  First  to  mind  comes  the  blind-date  idea  which  can  be  run  with 
servicemen,  war  workers  or  the  few  ordinary  citizens  left.  The  title  can  also  be  applied 
to  a  street  identification  stunt  whereby  a  man  or  woman  is  described  and  prizes  are 
awarded  to  anyone  who  walks  up  to  them  and  correctly  identifies  them.  A  similar 
idea  can  be  arranged  with  photographs  of  various  people  in  the  lobby  who  are  to 
match  up.  Still  another  idea  is  to  obtain  photographs  of  servicemen  from  sources 
other  than  their  families;  those  who  identify  their  men  would  be  awarded  passes. 
This  scheme  can  also  be  applied  to  classified  ads  with  names  and  'phone  numbers 
hidden  in  them;  newspaper  promotion  managers  can  be  asked  to  cooperate  in  run- 
ning a  contest  of  this  kind.  Photographs  of  the  five  or  six  leading  players,  unidentified, 
could  be  placed  in  various  store  windows,  with  prizes  to  those  who  locate  all  of  them. 
A  cooperative  ad  page  with  a  picture  of  a  masked  girl  is  suggested;  the  girl  would 
shop  in  each  of  the  advertised  stores  at  certain  hours.  Those  who  spotted  her  would 
be  awarded  prizes.  The  cooperative  ad  idea  can  be  altered  to  include  misspelled 
words  or  jumbled  phrases.  There  are  several  slants  suggested  in  the  press  book  which 
might  be  utilized  with  profit — one  plays  up  the  fact  that  Lana  Turner  is  the  sweetheart 
of  36  fraternities;  another  points  up  the  fact  that  she  is  the  Navy's  favorite  blonde. 
Still  another  brings  out  a  new  hair-do. 


A  manual  numbering  some  thirty  pages 
and  filled  with  ideas  which  may  be  adopted 
by  theatremen  elsewhere,  has  just  been  pre- 
pared by  Seymour  Morris  of  the  Schine  Cir- 
cuit, in  Gloversville. 

Concentrating  on  kid  patronage,  among 
the  slants  suggested  are  cartoon,  pet,  kiddie 
fashion,  amateur  and  circus  shows.  While 
along  the  contest  angles,  such  slants  as  har- 
monica, costume,  cracker  eating,  pie  eating, 
marble  shooting,  balloon  breaking,  cartoon 
coloring,  star  resemblance,  amateur  magi- 
cian, loudest  yelling,  shoe,  baby  milk  bottle 
drinking  and  threading  contests  are  also 
mentioned. 

Tieups  for  any  of  these  shows  would  in- 
clude contacting  all  stores  selling  school  sup- 
plies to  get  them  for  window,  counter  and 
store  displays.  They  also  could  be  promot- 
ed for  note  books,  pencil  boxes,  rulers,  etc., 
to  be  used  for  prizes  for  the  stage  activities. 
An  inexpensive  herald  could  be  made  up 
on  cheap  news  stock  to  carry  advertising  for 
the  short  show,  feature,  stage  activities, 
giveaways  or  anything  else  that  would  be  of 
interest  to  the  kids. 

Two  Saturdays  prior  to  the  show,  the 
children  should  be  addressed  from  the  stage 
and  informed  of  the  great  things  that  are 
in  store  for  them  at  the  special  show.  The 
largest  school  suppfy  store  in  town  might 
go  for  the  idea  of  buying  a  block  of  kiddie 
tickets,  advertising  the  fact  that  every  child 
purchasing  a  dollars  worth  of  school  sup- 
plies would  receive  one  free  ten  cent  ticket 
to  the  theatre. 

In  connection  with  the  Star  Resemblance 
Contest,  arrangements  should  be  made  with 
a  group  of  local  merchants  and  the  newspa- 
per to  find  kiddies  who  resemble  the  differ- 
ent child  stars.  Each  store  is  to  sponsor  one 
of  the  stars.  The  night  they  appear  on  the 
stage  each  should  arrive  separately,  with  a 
fake  microphone  in  the  lobby  and  an  an- 
nouncer telling  of  the  local  celebrities  and 
"stars"  as  they  enter.  A  carpet  on  the 
sidewalk  from  the  curb  to  the  door  with 
spots  and  flood  lights  will  also  add  to  the 
gala  event.  The  stars  will  be  chosen  from 
the  stage  by  audience  applause. 


Dillenbeck  Issues 
Teaser  Herald 

As  an  attractor  ahead  of  "My  Gal  Sal"  at 
the  Rialto  theatre,  in  Bushnell',  111.,  D.  M. 
Dillenbeck  distributed  11  b)T  9-inch  teaser 
heralds  in  certificate  form.  The  copy  on 
the  front  read :  "Liar's  License.  Be  it  known 
that  Joe  Doakes  is  now  a  fool-fledged  mem- 
ber of  the  BSLSXEL  (Benevolent  Society 
for  Long-Suffering  and  Not  Believed 
Liars)  and  is  hereby  given  the  privilege  of 
lying  whenever  he  pleases  about  crap  shoot- 
ing, poker,  golf,  horse  racing  or  fishing. 
May  God  have  Mercy  on  His  Soul."  The 
certificate  was  signed  by  "Ima  Lyertwo. 
Vice  President." 

The  reverse  side  read :  ''This  is  no  lie ! 
Here's  a  Swell  Show.  Rita  Hayworth,  Vic- 
tor Mature.  John  Sutton  and  Carole  Landis 
in  'My  Gal  Sal',"  etc. 


"Reap  the  Wild  Wind"  Tied 
To  Library  System 

During  the  absence  of  John  Makemson, 
manager  of  the  Van  Wert  Theatre,  in  Van 
Wert,  Ohio,  his  assistant,  Bill  Humrick- 
house,  for  "Reap  the  Wild  Wind,"  promoted 
the  local  libraries  for  a  display  of  charts 
depicting  scene  stills  from  the  picture.  In 
addition  book  stores  were  tied  in  on  similar 
displays  covering  entire  windows  for  two 
weeks  ahead  of  the  opening. 

For  further  attention,  Bill  posted  a  six- 
sheet  to  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  theatre, 


while  the  boxoffice  was  paneled  with  show- 
selling  copy.  All  newspaper  ads  were  un- 
derlined two  weeks  in  advance,  the  press- 
book  coloring  contest  was  planted  and  the 
special  comic  herald  was  mailed  to  country 
box-holders. 


Cartoon  Contest  Sells 

Cartoon  drawings  of  the  principal  charac- 
ters of  "Tortilla  Flat"  were  planted  in  a 
local  newspaper  by  Perry  Hoeffler,  of  the 
Washington  theatre,  Quincy,  111.,  and  guest 
tickets  awarded  to  the  first  50  persons  cor- 
rectly identifying  them. 


48 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September     19,  1942 


SALUTE  TO  OUR  HEROES 

Stage  Observances,  Novel  booths  and  Ballyhoos  sell  War  Bonds,  Stamps 


"Salute  To  Our 
Heroes"  was  ob- 
served at  the  Cri- 
terion in  New  York 
with  a  large  group 
on  the  stage.  In  the 
photo,  right,  are  the 
A.W.V.S.;  N.V.A. 
Post  690,  American 
Legion;  American 
Nautical  Cadet 
Band;  Stan  Shaw  of 
Milkmen's  Matinee. 


Martin  Block,  one  of 
radio's  best  Bond 
salesmen,  was  asked 
by  Zeb  Epstin,  man- 
ager of  the  Strand, 
New  York,  to  ap- 
pear on  the  stage. 
He  is  seen  at  the 
left  with  Dick  Jur- 
gens  and  twenty 
members  of  the 
A.W.V.S.  They  sold 
$30,500  in  War 
Bonds  in  I  5  minutes. 


Arsene  Stu.lin 


Ben  Blumberg,  manager 
of  the  State  theatre, 
Philadelphia,  stands  by 
his  Bond  booth.  Note 
his  "thermometer"  in 
background  with  $50,000 
quota. 


Dick  Walsh,  publicist  of 
the  Lafayette,  Buffalo,  in 
addition  to  ballyhooing 
"The  Talk  of  the  Town" 
with  this  girl,  got  plenty 
of  attention  for  War 
Stamps.  The  girl  had 
1 ,000  War  Stamps  on  her 
costume.  Her  sign  says, 
"You  can  also  become 
'The  Talk  of  the  Town' 
by  buying  War  Stamps 
and  Bonds." 


Secfember    19,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


49 


Show  and  Bond  Rally 
Staged  by  Kornblite 

Since  Bud  Kornblite  at  the  Capitol  theatre., 
in  Waverly,  N.  Y.,  didn't  have  any  stars 
to  launch  his  Bond  Drive,  he  decided  to  put 
on  his  own  Rally  and  immediately  ap- 
proached the  owners  of  two  local  night  spots 
and  promoted  them  for  orchestra,  lour  teams 
of  square  dancers  and  a  vocalist  From  then 
on  it  was  easy  sailing  and  the  Round  Tabler 
began  to  advertise  a  vaudeville  show  and 
War  Bond  Rally  at  his  theatre  for  the  open- 
ing night  of  the  drive.  Advertising  included 
three-sheets,  one-sheets,  a  slide  on  the  screen, 
stories  in  the  paper  and  a  sound  truck  to 
cover  the  area. 

Bud  then  went  to  work  to  get  some  in- 
portant  guests,  the  list  finally  including 
Mayor  Fred  D.  Gillan,  Postmaster  Mabel 
Baldwin  and  other  prominents.  The  Amer- 
ican Legion  Color  Guard  and  12  Boy  Scouts 
in  uniform  opened  the  proceedings  with  the 
presentation  of  their  fiasrs  and  the  Pledge 
of  Allegiance.  This  was  followed  by  the 
National  Anthem  after  which  the  volunteer 
square  dancers  opened  the  floor  show.  At 
the  end  of  the  show,  an  inspiring  "War  Bond 
message  was  delivered  by  a  local  minister 
and  the  sale  of  Bonds  and  Stamps  proceeded. 
The  program  itself  was  closed  with  the 
singing  of  "God  Bless  America."' 


Bond  and  Institutional  Copy 
Used  on  Easson's  Programs 

Under  the  heading  "Two  Timely  Mes- 
sages," Allan  Easson  at  the  Oakwood  the- 
atre, in  Toronto,  Ontario,  recently  carried 
institutional  and  war  copy  on  the  front  page 
of  his  program. 

Set  in  a  box  directly  under  a  small  cut 
of  the  Union  Tack,  Easson's  war  copy  read : 
"Your  Government  ever  alert  .  .  .  always 
watching  to  protect  the  democracy  that  we 
must  have  to  worship  as  we  please,  to  vote 
as  we  please  and  do  as  we  please,  without 
fear  of  a  dictator.  To  do  this,  your  coun- 
try needs  money  to  build  ships,  guns,  tanks, 
planes  and  ammunition,  and  to  feed  and 
clothe  those  who  are  fighting  for  that 
democracy  we  now  enjoy.  A  few  pennies  a 
day  out  of  your  pay  invested  in  your  own 
Government,  will  help  him  protect  you. 
Think  it  over.  Buv  Stamps  and  Bonds 
Now." 

The  institutional  copy  had  to  do  with  the 
fine  entertainment  presented  by  the  Oak- 
wood  in  comfortable,  healthful  surround- 
ings, etc. 


Strachan  Plants  First 
Coop  Page  in  Cleveland 

A  full-page  cooperative  ad — the  first  ever 
obtained  for  a  motion  picture  in  Cleveland — 
was  arranged  by  J.  Knox  Strachan  for  the 
|  engagement  of  '""Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  at 
the  Hippodrome  theatre.  There  were  16 
advertisers,  including  the  newspaper  itself, 
which  took  space  to  plug  the  sale  of  war 
bonds  with  the  line  "Support  Your  Yankee 
Doodle  Dandy"  bv  buving  wTar  bonds." 


Walsh  Hosts  Cadets 

Bill  Walsh  of  the  Comerford  Theatre,  in 
Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  received  wide  publicity 
for  me  short,  ''"Men  of  the  Sky."  Just  before 
a  group  of  18  Army  Aviation  Cadet  Corps 
recruits  departed  for  training  at  San  An- 
tonio, they  were  guests  of  the  management 
at  a  showing  of  the  picture  at  the  theatre. 


JUNIOR  COMMANDOS 
GET  PLEDGES 

The  Junior  Commando  idea  for 
selling  Bonds  and  Stamps,  organized 
by  Everett  Callow  of  Warner  Bros. 
Theatres  in  Philadelphia,  has  spread 
to  other  cities.  The  idea  is  to  have 
boys  and  girls  ask  their  parents,  rela- 
tives or  neighbors  pledge  to  buy  a 
War  Bond  during  the  month.  These 
pledges  when  presented  at  a  special 
Commando  Saturday  morning  per- 
formance entitle  the  child  to  a  free 
admission,  a  membership  card  and 
button. 


Schlanger's  Men  Line  Up 
Stores,  Banks  to  Sell  Tickets 

Ted  Schlanger  and  the  Warnermen  in 
the  Philadelphia  area  handled  their  cam- 
paign on  the  "Salute  to  Heroes"  month  by 
working  right  with  the  War  Savings  Staff 
of  the  Treasury  Department  and  lining  up 
all  the  largest  department  stores  and  banks 
in  the  city  to  sell  tickets  for  the  highest 
priced  show  ever  to  play  in  Philadelphia. 

The  show  itself,  at  the  Academy  of  Music 
was  headlined  by  Hedy  LaMarr  and  Paul 
Whiteman  and  his  Orchestra.  Admission 
to  the  theatre  was  by  the  purchase  of  War 
Bonds  onry,  seats  running  from  $50,000 
to  $10,000  for  parquet  boxes.  It  was  es- 
timated that  approximateh"  51,860,000  in 
War  Bonds  was  sold. 


Marine  Parade  Helps  Sell 
"Tripoli"  for  Kalberer 

For  his  opening  night  show  of  "To  the 
Shores  of  Tripoli,"  A.  J.  Kalberer.  at  Swi- 
tow's  Indiana  theatre,  in  Washington,  Ind., 
was  fortunate  in  securing  a  contingent  of 
some  40  U.  S.  Marines  to  march  up  to  the 
theatre  in  full  uniform.  Both  the  local  news- 
papers covered  the  event.  Kalberer  also 
arranged  for  an  after-theatre  lunch  and 
refreshments  with  the  assistance  of  the  local 
Knights  of  Columbus. 


Vicar's  Speech  Sold 

For  War  Savings  Stamps 

To  usher  in  "Mrs.  Miniver"  at  Loew's 
theatre,  in  Indianapolis,  Bill  Elder  offered 
to  present  a  copy  of  the  Vicar's  speech  from 
the  picture,  to  each  patron  purchasing  a 
twenty-five-cent  War  Stamp  during  the  en- 
gagement. JSIewsstand  coverage  included  the 
posting  of  cards  advising  that  the  pocket- 
book  edition  of  ''Mrs.  Miniver."  For  his 
lobby  display,  giant  cutouts  of  Walter  Pid- 
geon  and  Greer  Garson  were  featured,  while 
cards  after  closing  hours  were  placed  in 
windows  throughout  town  reading,  "Closed, 
gone  to  Loew's  to  see,"  etc. 


Brien's  "Jungle  Book"  Ballyhoo 

An  effective  street  ballyhoo  used  by  Lige 
Brien  at  the  Belmar,  in  Pittsburgh,  for  his 
date  on  "Jungle  Book"  was  a  face  mask  of 
Sabu  with  turban,  which  was  worn  by  a 
member  of  the  theatre  staff.  The  lad  also 
carried  a  sandwich  sign  reading:  *T  am 
Sabu.    See  me  in  Tungle  Book." 


Freund  Uses  Hitler  Dart  Game 

To  speed  up  his  sales  in  the  lobb}7  of  the 
Kingsway  Theatre,  in  Brooklyn,  Len 
Freund  set  up  a  giant  easel  with  a  cutout 
of  Hitler.  Patrons  purchasing  stamps  were 
invited  to  step  up  and  try  their  skill  at  tak- 
ing shots  at  the  figure  with  rubber  darts. 
At  a  table  manned  by  AWVS  volunteers, 
the  stamps  were  sold. 


Steam's  "V"  Warning 

Printed  in  red  with  black  gold  type  was 
the  novelty  card  distributed  by  Harry 
Stearn  ahead  of  "Mister  V"  at  the  Manring 
Theatre,  in  Middlesboro.  Ky.  The  card  bore 
copy  reading:  "Warning  to  all  Gestapo 
Agents.  Watch  out  for  Mister  V.  Here's  a 
tip.  He'll  be  at  the  Manring  Theatre  Tues- 
day and  Wednesday  in  the  most  amazing, 
amusing,  romantic  thriller,"  etc. 


The  management  of  the  Normandie  Theatre  in  New  York  City,  a  class  house  located  on 
Park  Avenue,  went  all-out  for  tlx  Governmen's  scrap  drive.  Tor  one  week  anyone  who 
brought  two  pounds  of  rubber  or  one  pound  of  copper  was  admitted  free.  James  Melton, 
radio  star,  -who  has  a  fine  collection  of  used  cars,  drove  one  of  the  original  Model  T 
Fords  down  to  the  tlxatre  to  inaugurate  the  drive.  Tlx  stunt  was  engineered  by  Dai  id 
A.  Nolan,  manager,  and  Carol  Lynn,  publicity  representative. 


50 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


THEY  SALUTED  OUR  HEROES 

The  showmen  whose  names  are  listed  below  are  among  those  who  have  submitted 
campaigns  on  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes  Month".  They  are  all  contenders  for  the  spe- 
cial Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award. 

JOE  BOYLE 

Poli  Broadway,  Norwich,  Conn. 

LIGE  BRIEN 
Belmar,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CHRIS  CHAMALES 
Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 

KEN  COLLINS 
LEONARD  TUTTLE 
Indiana,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

HOMER  COMER 
Capitol,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

ALLAN  EASSON 


TED  EMERSON 
Omaha,  Omaha,  Neb. 

ED  FITZPATRICK 


CHESTER  W.  FRIEDMAN 

1                Li  ATI   A  W 

JACK  MAILAC^K 

rui  I  Wdy,   Ml  WJiy'i,   1  >  •  1. 

Hunt  Theatres 

Medford,  Ore. 

WALTER  GOLDSTEIN 

Ambassador  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

ED  MAY 

Russell,  Maysville,  Ky. 

HERB  GRAErE 

Wisconsin  Rapids  Theatres 

HARRY  NACE 

Wisconsin  Rapids,  Wis. 

Rickards-Nace  Theatres 

Phoenix,  Ariz. 

ED  HARRIS 

Glendale,  Glendale,  Calif. 

JIM  O'DONNELL 

Haines,  Waterville,  Me. 

GUY  W  HEVIA 

Seneca,  Salamanca,  N.  Y. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 

Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

ARNOLD  JOHNSON 

Iowa,  Anawa,  la. 

FRANCIS  B.  SCHLAX 

Kenosha,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

A.  J.  KALBERER 

Switow's  Indiana 

ED  SELETTE 

Washington,  Ind. 

Strand,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

BUD  KORNBLITE 

WAYNE  SWEENEY 

Capitol,  Waverly,  N.  Y. 

LaPorte,  LaPorte,  Ind. 

JULIUS  LAMM 

HARRY  C.  THOMS 

Uptown,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Glencoe,  Glencoe,  III. 

Cornell  Sells  "Yankee  Doodle" 
As  Northern  New  York  Premiere 

Selling  "Yankee  Doodle"  as  the  Northern 
New  York  premiere  and  carrying  this  line 
in  all  his  ads,  Clayton  Cornell  at  the  Pon- 
tiac theatre,  in  Saranac  Lake  launched  his 
campaign  with  a  lobby  interview  over  Sta- 
tion WNBZ.  Cutouts  of  Cagney  were  sus- 
pended from  the  marquee,  while  a  lobby  dis- 
play featured  a  set  of  black  and  white  stills, 
a  set  of  color  stills  and  spreads  from  Life 
Magazine  and  the  American  Weekly.  Spe- 
cial heralds  were  distributed  to  local  homes 
and  inserted  in  out-of-town  Sunday  papers. 

Outstanding  was  the  lobby  one-sheet  dis- 
play of  President  Roosevelt  awarding  the 
Congressional  Medal  of  Honor  to  Cohan. 
Cornell  also  hosted  a  group  of  local  selec- 
tees leaving  for  the  army  and  introduced 
them  from  the  stage. 


to  the  girl  and  handing  her  one  of  the  her- 
alds would  receive  a  guest  ticket.  Window 
cards  were  planted,  announcement  board 
in  lobby  and  plugs  landed  over  both  radio 
stations  calling  attention  to  the  stunt.  In 
a  special  tieup  with  local  beauty  salons,  all 
windows  displayed  special  blowups  of  Tur- 
ner illustrating  her  new  "Victory"  hairdo. 


Identification  Slant  Aids 
"Somewhere  I'll  Find  You" 

Since  Clark  Gable's  entry  into  the  Army 
coincided  with  Ed  Fitzpatrick's  "Some- 
where I'll  Find  You"  playdates  at  the  Loew 
Poli  theatre,  in  Waterbury,  a  flock  of  good 
newspaper  publicity  was  promoted  in  addi- 
tion to  picture  plugs  on  local  news  broad- 
casts which  carried  the  item. 

Also  reported  by  Fitz  as  being  highly  suc- 
cessful was  an  identification  stunt  with  a 
local  masked  girl  circulating  around  the 
town  at  special  stores,  etc.,  on  certain  speci- 
fied days.  In  conjunction  with  this  stunt, 
5,000  heralds  were  distributed  with  copy  to 
the  effect  that  the  first  10  persons  in  each  of 
the  stores  named  on  the  herald,  walking  up 


Coussoule's  "V"  Pennants 
Get  Newspaper  Mention 

A  little  boat  named  "Ship  Ahoy"  was  one 
of  the  high  spots  of  Charles  Coussoule's 
campaign  on  that  picture  at  the  Manos  The- 
atre, Hollidaysburg,  Pa.  The  little  boat  was 
appropriately  bannered  and  stood  in  the 
lobby  until  opening  day  when  it  was 
brought  out  to  the  sidewalk.  Also  a  pilot 
wheel  was  affixed  to  the  box  office  and 
pennants  forming  the  letter  "V"  were  hung 
from  the  marquee.  This  brought  mention 
in  the  newspaper. 

Charlie  also  gave  out  little  cards  on  which 
it  was  pointed  out  that  one  had  all  too  little 
time  to  enjoy  life,  using  insurance  statistics 
to  prove  it  and  that  he  might  as  well  forget 
the  world  for  two  glorious  hours  seeing 
"Ship  Ahoy." 


O'DonnelPs  Inductees 

For  his  recent  date  on  "Shores  of 
Tripoli,"  Jim  O'Donnell  at  the  Haines  Thea- 
tre, in  Waterville,  Maine,  arranged  for  a 
Marine  Corps  enlistment  progam  to  be  con- 
ducted from  his  stage.  A  Veteran  of  For- 
eign Wars  opened  the  ceremony  which  was 
well  attended  and  covered  by  the  local  paper. 


MGM  To  Award  War  Bond  on 
"Seven  Sweethearts"  Contest 

A  $25  War  Bond  will  be  awarded  by 
M-G-M's  Exploitation  Department  to  the 
theatre  manager  using  the  seven  most  out- 
standing ideas  in  the  premiere  campaigns 
of  "Seven  Sweethearts." 

The  picture  will  be  opened  the  week  of 
September  23  in  the  nation's  seven  most 
romantic  cities,  selected  after  an  extensive 
survey.  These  cities  are  Houston,  Hart- 
ford, Baltimore,  Cleveland,  Miami,  Grand 
Rapids  and  Salina,  Kansas.  Because  of  its 
similarity  to  the  picture's  locale,  the  film 
will  also  receive  an  early  opening  in  Hol- 
land, Michigan,  on  September  28. 

The  contest  is  open  only  to  managers 
handling  one  of  the  premiere  engagements. 
Ideas  will  be  judged  on  originality  and  ef- 
fectiveness and  must  be  authenticated  with 
tear  sheets,  photographs  and  other  mate- 
rial. 


By 


Front  Page  Story  Promoted 
Samartano  for  "Miniver" 

A  special  front  page  story  was  planted 
in  the  Meriden,  Conn..  Journal  ten  days  in 
advance  of  Joe  Samartano's  opening  of 
"Mrs.  Miniver"  at  the  Poli-Palace  theatre. 
Special  five-column  art  was  landed  on 
"Meet  the  Minivers,"  while  ribbon  heads 
were  used  in  the  movie  pages  of  both  dailies, 
and  teaser  ads  of  endorsement  from  such 
people  as  Deems  Taylor,  Jack  Benny,  etc., 
were  used  the  week  before  opening. 

For  a  street  ballyhoo,  Samartano  planted 
40  bags  filled  with  sand  on  the  curb  out 
front  with  a  12-foot  oilcloth  banner  pro- 
claiming the  opening.  Special  critics'  quotes 
were  used  in  front  of  the  theatre,  while 
the  bottom  line  in  front  of  the  marquee  was 
devoted  to  the  picture  title.  "Miniver"  roses 
were  promoted  for  the  first  200  ladies  at- 
tending the  opening  morning  show,  news- 
trucks  were  appropriately  bannered  and 
bookshops  cooperated  by  featuring  displays 
of  the  book  along  with  scene  stills. 


Goldstein  Overprints  Page 
From  "Reap  the  Wild  Wind" 

Purchasing  eight  cheaper  editions  of 
"Reap  the  Wild  Wind,"  Joe  Goldstein  at  the 
Cameo  Theatre,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  ripped 
the  books  apart  and  overprinted  each  page 
in  red  with  copy:  "This  is  but  a  page  from 
the  sensational  story,  'Reap  the  Wild  Wind,' 
starring  Paulette  Goddard  and  John  Wayne 
in  glorious  technicolor,"  etc. 

Securing  500  copies  of  Liberty  Magazine, 
which  carried  the  story  on  De  Mille  and 
copy  on  the  picture,  Joe  pasted  a  special 
sticker  on  the  book  and  gave  them  out  at 
the  theatre  well  ahead  of  the  opening.  Stills 
were  used  to  good  advantage  in  vacant  store 
windows,  a  four-day  contest  was  landed  in 
the  German  paper  replete  with  scene  mats 
and  special  charts  from  Paramount  were 
pasted  and  shellaced  to  the  lobby  floors  for 
added  attention. 


Silverman's  "Crossroads"  Signal 

As  an  advance  on  "Crossroads"  at  the 
Riviera,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Bud  Silver- 
man and  Jack  Hamilton  secured  a  real  street 
traffic  light  from  the  city  authorities  and 
planted  it  in  front  of  the  theatre.  Copy  on 
the  pole  read:  "Slow  Down,  Crossroads." 


Seciember    19,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


5 


Aircraft  School  Display 
Aids  "Flight  Lieutenant" 

An  eve  attractor  for  "Flight  Lieutenant"' 
at  the  RKO  Albee,  in  Providence,  was  the 
lobby  display  promoted  from  the  American 
Aircraft  School  by  Bill  Morton  and  George 
French  consisting  of  large  airplane  motors 
and  their  component  pans.  All  parts  were 
labeled  and  proved  of  great  interest  to  the 
patrons.  All  flight  lieutenants  from  the 
nearby  airport,  which  has  been  taken  over 
by  the  Army,  were  guests  of  the  manage- 
ment on  the  opening  night 

A  telegram  from  Pat  O'Brien  came 
through  from  the  coast  and  was  mounted 
with  stills  in  a  six-foot  display  in  the  Postal 
Telegraph  office  window,  menu  tieups  with 
leading  downtown  restaurants  brought  men- 
tion and  a  tieup  with  one  of  the  leading 
markets  brought  the  insertion  of  heralds  in 
all  outgoing  packages. 

Feldman  Promotes 
Wide  Radio  Coverage 

In  connection  with  the  opening  of  "Men 
of  Texas"  and  "Joan  of  Ozark"  at  the  Par- 
amount, in  Syracuse,  X.  Y.,  Richard  Feld- 
man secured  excellent  free  radio  coverage. 
WSYR  gave  40  spots  and  a  deal  was  made 
with  WAGE  whereby  they  gave  40  spots 
gratis  before  and  after  their  daily  Farm 
Program  in  exchange  for  a  short  trailerette 
on  the  screen  plugging  their  program. 
WOLF  played  a  full  half  hour  of  Texas 
songs  on  the  opening  day.  In  addition,  Feld- 
man invited  any  men  from  Texas  visiting 
Syracuse  during  the  week,  and  showing 
proper  proof,  to  be  guests  of  the  manage- 
ment to  witness  "Men  of  Texas." 


Smith  Exploits  "Kiss  the  Bride" 

To  help  his  date  on  "They  All  Kissed  the 
Bride"'  at  the  Paramount  in  Hot  Springs, 
Ark.,  Qyde  Smith  had  his  entire  staff  wear 
arm  bands  with  title,  one  week  in  advance. 
At  a  nominal  cost  18  spot  announcements 
were  landed  over  Station  KAYFC,  and  a 
4  by  42-foot  valance  was  used  under  the 
marquee. 


Coolick's  "Miniver"  Display 

A  giant  lobby  display  was  constructed 
through  the  efforts  of  Sam  Coolick,  Loew's 
Brooklyn  publicity  department  for  "Mrs. 
Miniver''  which  consisted  of  a  blowup  of  a 
picture  of  Greer  Garson  and  Walter  Pid- 
geon.  This  was  surrounded  by  tear  sheets  of 
praises  from  the  press,  in  addition  to  about 
20  scene  stills  from  the  picture. 


Radio  Aids  on  "Ship  Ahoy" 

For  his  advance  on  "Ship  Ahoy"  at  the 
Paramount  Theatre,  in  Hot  Springs,  Ark., 
Qyde  Smith  promoted  Station  KWFC  for 
the  gratis  running  of  a  fifteen  minute  rec- 
ord which  included  theatre  credits  and  play- 
dates  by  the  announced  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  record.  At  a  nominal  cost  18  spot  an- 
nouncements were  also  received. 


Estes'  Heralds 

Mimeographed  heralds  with  attractive  art 
work  are  distributed  weekly  by  Dot  Estes 
at  the  Palace  Theatre,  in  Childress,  Texas. 
One  of  the  latest  features  caricature  heads 
of  Red  Skelton  with  copy  reading  "Even  a 
Sour  Puss  Can't  Keep  from  Laughing  at 
'Ship  Ahoy/  " 


Tlx  "Ml"  at  the 
left,  was  issued  by 
Capitol  Amusement 
Co.,  distributed  by 
Marlowe  Conner  for 
"Are  Husbands  Nec- 
essary" at  the  Cap- 
itol theatre,  Madi- 
son, Wis.  The  upper 
left  hand  corner  of 
the  envelope  bore 
copy:  "Statement 
Enclosed.  Notice.  If 
you  don't  intend  to 
pay  the  enclosed  bill, 
give  H  to  your  near- 
est relative." 


. 

RAY 
f  MILLAND 


Capitol  Amusement  Co. 


267-213  St»te  St. 
Pboae  3. 

ruiameiit  So  *  ice  A f  1cm co c  uid  Etc- nix. f 


STATEMENT 

PLEASE  REMIT — Your  Prompt  Attention  wiO  be  greatly  appreciated 
by  you  as  well  as  us. 


1001  LAUGHS  44 

DISC0UHT  U0TICE! 

If  Paid  Before  6p.m.  Any  Tee>day  .30 


Prompt  Payneat  of  thU  hSl  will  uuwcr  the  qnwtion — ARE  HUSBANDS  NECESSARY  7 
— Which  it  the  popular  itory  of  Mr.  and  Mn.  Curat,  who  cr*m.  Eke  many  others  a  horat 
fxmitcre  tad  a  car  is  pcrtaerxhip  vith  the  Finance  Co.  If  you  have  bill*  (rrtd  whs  dotra't) 
let  Betty  FtelsJ  show  j-oo  how  to  handle  them.  If  you  have  old  flame  trouhle  Ray  MiUaad 
will  show  yon  the  ccra.  File  thii  hiD  with  all  your  others  in  the  waste  haaket  and  zo  to  see 


"Are  Husbands  Necessary?"  at  the  Capitol  Theatre,  Starting  FrL,  Aug.  21st 


Morton  Ties  "Ambersons" 
To  Library  System 

A  15-minute  radio  program  was  arranged 
for  "The  Magnificent  Ambersons"  by  George 
French,  manager,  and  Bill  Morton,  publicist 
at  the  RKO  Albee,  in  Providence,  with 
Clarence  E.  Sherman.  Chief  Librarian  of  the 
Public  Libraries,  giving  a  talk  on  the  back- 
ground and  life  of  Booth  Tarkington  and 
then  a  s3"nopsis  of  the  picture.  Part  of  the 
synopsis  was  also  dramatized  for  the  radio 
audience.  The  eight  libraries  had  still  dis- 
plays and  one-half  sheet  tiein  cards  in  addi- 
tion to  their  distributing  2,500  bookmarks. 

A  tieup  was  made  with  the  summer  classes 
with  Brown  University  radio  network 
which  goes  into  every  dormitory  and  fra- 
ternity house  on  the  campus,  whereby  they 
got  four  plugs  a  day  for  an  entire  week 
previous  to  the  playdate.  Passes  were  also 
awarded  in  connection  with  a  "guess"  con- 
test held  by  the  network  station,  and  tieups 
arranged  with  the  leading  bookstores  with 
credit  cards,  still  displays  and  bookmarks 
being  featured. 


Rankin  Features 
Beauty  Contest 

Held  in  conjunction  with  the  local  Fire- 
men's Field  Da}"  was  the  annual  beauty  con- 
test held  by  Harland  Rankin  at  the  Centre 
theatre,  in  Chatham,  Ontario.  Daily  read- 
ers were  run  in  both  the  local  and  city 
newspapers  one  week  in  advance.  Pictures 
of  the  entrants  were  run  and  also  pictures 
of  the  winners.  The  judges  were  from  the 
outside.  Rankin  also  had  a  tap  dancer  do 
a  short  flash  on  the  stage.  Sixteen  co- 
operating merchants  donated  prizes,  each 
contestant  receiving  a  prize. 


Williams'  Co-op  Page 

To  celebrate  Loew's  Theatres  18th  anni- 
versar3%  Rex  Williams  in  St.  Louis  promot- 
ed the  local  merchants  for  a  full  page  of 
congratulatory  ads  with  banner  line  across 
the  top  reading  '"Loew's  18th  Anniversary 
Jubilee."  Photos  of  the  various  stars  were 
featured  in  addition  to  a  large  ad  on  the 
current  attraction,  "Crossroads."  Also  list- 
ed were  the  titles  of  attractions  following 
the  opening  anniversary  campaign. 


Merchant  Takes  Ad 
To  Sell  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

Unusual  is  the  word  for  an  angle  of  "Mrs. 
Miniver"  promotion  that  occurred  in  York, 
Pa.,  during  the  film's  engagement  at  Paul 
Harvey's  Strand  Theatre.  A  local  mer- 
chant who  saw  the  picture  was  so  impressed 
that  he  took  an  ad  for  the  picture  in  a  local 
paper.  In  the  ad,  he  expressed  his  faith  in 
our  ultimate  victory  and  explained  that  his 
thoughts  were  inspired  by  "Mrs.  Miniver." 
To  top  that,  he  purchased  a  SI  .000  War 
Bond  in  the  lobby  of  the  theatre  ! 


Scott's  Hotel  Calendar 

Through  the  cooperation  of  one  of  the 
leading  hotels  in  Harlan,  Ky.,  Leon  B. 
Scott  has  made  arrangements  to  get  his 
weekly  calendar  placed  in  each  room.  The 
only  cost  to  the  theatre  is  a  pass  each  week. 


THE  PICK 

OF  THE  PICTURES 
WEEK  BEGINNING  AUG.  31 

MON. 
TUES. 

HENRY  FONDA-GENE  TIERNEY 

"RINGS  ON  HER  FINGER" 

Plus  "ML'RDER  K  THE  BIC  HOUSE" 

WED. 
THUR. 

Tyrone  Power — Joan  Fontaine 

"THIS  ABOVE  ALL" 

FRI. 
.& 
SAT. 

LLOYD  NOLAN— CAROLE  LANDIS 

"It  Happened  in  Flat  Bush" 

PLUS  DONA1D  BARRY  in 

"Death  VaUey  Outlaws" 

:  BLAIR  THEATRE : 

September~"SaIute  to  Our  Heroes" 
A  Bosd  for  Every  Mother's  Son  in  the  Senice 

TMs  gag  novelty  card  was  distributed  by 
Douglas  Mellott  of  the  Blair  theatre,  in 
Hollidaysburg,  Pa.,  to  sell  Jjis  current  attrac- 
tions. Holes  punched  through  the  top  of 
each  card  carried  a  toothpick. 


52 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


Carol  Lynn,  Modeling  Authority 
Now  at  Normandie,  New  York 

Bringing  with  her  an  unusual  background 
and  a  wide  experience  in  many  fields,  Carol 
Lynn  has  been  named  assistant  manager 
and  publicity  repre- 
sentative    for  the 
Normandie  theatre 
at  Park  Avenue  and 
53rd  Street  in  New 
York.  Miss  Lynn  is 
the  author  of  "Mod- 
eling   for  Money," 
and  also  of  "You're 
Over  Thirty.  .  .  So 
What?"  soon  to  be 
published.     She  is 
recognized  as  an  au- 
thority on  the  mod- 
eling profession  and 
mannequin   training.    She   was   a  musical 
comedy  prima  donna,  in  dramatic  and  mu- 
sical stock  and  in  vaudeville.  She  sang  over 
the  radio,  appeared  in  various-  night  clubs 
and  in  motion  picture  presentations. 

Her  association  with  the  business  end  of 
theatre  dates  back  a  hit,  too.  Through  fam- 
ily connections  she  was  quite  familiar  with 
the  operation  of  Paramount  Publix  theatres 
in  the  South.  She  herself  was  with  Para- 
mount for  five  years  and  handled  the  Sparks 
Circuit's  radio  program  over  Station 
WJAX.  She  wrote  all  her  own  scripts  re- 
viewing pictures. 


Jed  Prouty,  Theatre  Manager, 
Has  Short,  Interesting  Career 

Jed  Prouty  is  a  well  known  screen  player. 
He  probably  doesn't  know  that  he  has  a 
namesake — Wendall  R.  Prouty,  known 
everywhere  in  New  England  as  Jed.  So 
on  this  page  from  now  on  when  we  speak 
of  Jed  Prouty,  we  are  referring  to  the  man- 
ager   of    the    Colonial    theatre,  Belfast, 

Jed  was  born  June  28,  1912,  at  Lancas- 
ter, New  Hampshire.  He  started  at  what 
he  terms  "the  ripe  old  age  of  14"  as  an 
usher  for  the  Moe  Mark  chain  at  the  Capi- 
tol theatre,  Everett,  Mass.  He  was  later 
advanced  to  chief  usher  and  then  went  to 
the  Washington  Street  Olympia  in  Boston. 
From  there  he  became  assistant  to  George 
Ramsdell  at  the  Granada,  Maiden,  Mass.,  and 
later  was  promoted  to  house  manager.  From 
there,  Jed  went  to  the  Crown  theatre  in 
Lowell  as  manager  and  then  to  the  Uni- 
versity theatre  in  Cambridge  as  house  man- 
ager for  Stanley  Sumner.  That's  where  he 
acquired  the  "Jed."  After  a  stay  in  close 
proximity  to  the  Harvard  halls  of  learning 
he  went"  to  Springfield  as  manager  of  the 
Jefferson  theatre  and  it  was  from  there  that 
he  obtained  his  present  position  with  the 
Graphic  Circuit.  He  is  the  proud  father  «of 
Dick  and  Joan  Prouty. 


-M 

S-* — 

 % 

mm 

"SONNY"  SHEPHERD  on  Saturday,  Aug. 
8.  The  groom  was  formerly  manager  of  the 
Lincoln  theatre,  in  Miami,  Fla.,  and  is  now 
at  the  Naval  Air  Station,  in  Corpus  Christi, 
Tex. 


BIRTHDAY  GREETINGS 

September  12th 

September  15th 

Charles  Brown 

J.  Ramos  Defontaine 

W.  H.  Hall 

J.  H.  Berlinger 

L.  O.  Daniel,  Jr. 

G.  A.  Romaine 

Rotus  Harvey 

Leonard  Goldberg 

Irvin  A.  Moffitt 

Irving  Levine 

Harry  Sayer 

Martin  Simpson 

George  E.  Livingston 

Harold  Goldman 

Harold  C.  Spero 

Jarrell  B.  Rhea 

Samuel  Stepanian 

H.  Gordon  Bason 

13th 

Leroy  J.  Boudreau 

Thomas  R.  King 

Thomas  B.  Shannon 

Robert  Menches 

William  A.  Bowers 

Harry  Beencken 

Edmund  B.  Noonan 

Al  Bartolot 

16th 

R.  H.  Hightower 

Robert  O.  Robison 

Jimmie  L.  Redmond 

Jack  Huwig 

John  L.  Link 

A.  G.  Buchanan 

Jerome  Greenbaum 

Harry  Sanders 

Maurice  Crew 

George  M.  Aurelius 

Ralph  L.  Trathen 

W.  A.  Gallemore 

14th 

Norman  T.  Cohen 

William  Truesdell 

Dozier  B.  Roberts 

Lee  Naify 

W.  L.  Thornton 

H.  B.  McFarling 

17th 

Reid  L.  Crow 

Fred  Bixby 

Joseph  Feldman 

R.  V.  McGinnis 

John  A.  Mier 

C.  L.  Hollister 

James  H.  Nicholson 

Stuart  Tomber 

Paul  S.  Schoon maker,  J 

r.    J.  E.  Spencer 

In  New  Posts 


AL  REH  is  now  managing  the  newly  re- 
opened Mastbaum  theatre,  in  Philadelphia. 
The  theatre  is  under  the  supervision  of 
Maurice  Gable,  district  manager. 

EDDIE  SNIDERMAN,  manager  of  Proc- 
tor's RKO  theatre  in  Newark,  has  been 
promoted  to  assistant  division  manager  in 
the  metropolitan  area.  Ansel  Weinstein,  for- 
merly manager  of  the  RKO  58th  Street  the- 
atre, succeeds  Sniderman  in  Newark. 

DAVE  FLAMM  is  the  new  manager  of 
the  Harris-Senator,  Pittsburgh,  succeeding 
Robert  Taylor,  who  has  been  transferred  to 
the  Perry. 

LIONEL  WASSON,  formerly  with  Tri- 
States,  in  Des  Moines,  is  now  managing  the 
Palomar,  in  Seattle. 

MIKE  CULLEN,  district  manager  for 
Loew's  in  the  middle  west,  is  now  in  the 
Army. 

GUY  HAMMITT,  formerly  manager  of  the 
Strand  theatre,  in  Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  has 
joined  the  Marchesi  Brothers'  circuit  as 
manager  of  the  Roxy  theatre,  in  Lockport, 
111. 

ERNEST  L.  HICKEY,  former  manager 
of  the  Interstate  Colonial  theatre,  in  Brock- 
ton, Mass.,  has  been  named  manager  of  the 
Nathan  Yamins'  Park  theatre,  at  Fall  River, 
Mass.,  succeeding  James  McNamara,  who 
has  assumed  similar  duties  at  the  Morse 
and  Rothenberg  Empire  theatre,  at  New 
London,  Conn. 

ROY  WILLIAMS  is  now  managing  the 
Colony  theatre,  in  Winter '  Park,  Fla. 


Henry  Eytinge,  Schooled  by 
Showmen,  Rose  Through  Ranks 

Henry  Eytinge,  manager  of  the  Vernon 
theatre  on  Germantown  Avenue  in  Philadel- 
phia started  with  Warner  Bros,  in  1931  as 
a  Friday  and  Sat- 
urday usher  and 
has  risen  right 
through  the  ranks  to 
attain  his  present 
post.  He  ascribes 
his  success  in  part  to 
the  training  he  had 
under  such  showmen 
as  Lee  Kline,  Stan- 
ley Benford,  Lou 
Davidoff  and  Steve 
Barutio.  Henry  was 
born  in  Baltimore 
in  1911  but  moved 
away  when  he  was  six  years  old. 

He  started  at  the  Logan  theatre  and 
went  through  every  post  in  the  house — ush- 
er, doorman,  chief-of-service,  cleaner,  night 
watchman,  assistant  and  then  manager.  Re- 
cently he  won  one  of  the  War  Bonds  offered 
as  prizes  for  an  advertising  contest  on 
"Road  to  Happiness." 


Mark  Cadle  Was  Pumper 
For  Theatre  Player  Piano 

In  the  city  of  Hi- 
awatha, Kan.,  the 
theatre  could  have 
no  more  appropriate 
name  than  "Chief" 
and  the  Chief  could 
not  have  a  better 
manager  than  J. 
Mark  Cadle,  who 
has  been  in  the  busi- 
ness for  20  years. 
Mark  was  born  in 
Cherryville,  Kan.,  in 
1909  and  started  in 
the  Royal  theatre 
there  as  doorman.  Later  he  took  over  the 
job  of  pumping  the  player  piano,  then  op- 
erated for  14  years.  He  turned  to  manage- 
ment six  years  and  previous  to  his  post  at 
the  Chief  he  has  handled  the  Peoples  at 
Pleasant  Hill,  Mo.,  and  the  Kiva  at  Slater, 
Mo.' 


Jane  Meisel,  Once  a  Secretary, 
Now  an  Assistant  Publicist 

Miss  Jane  Meisel,  assistant  to  the  public- 
ity director  of  Warner  Theatres  in  the 
Cleveland  zone,  is  one  of  the  many  of  the 

  fair    sex    who  are 

now  enga 


showmanship.  She 
started  four  years 
ago  as  secretary  of 
the  late  Sid  Dan- 
nenberg  in  the  ad- 
vertising department 
of  Warner  Theatres 
in  Cleveland.  Then 
she  worked  in  the 
same  position  for 
F.  C.  Pearlstein  and 
J.  Knox  Strachan. 
On  May  1  of  this 
year  she  was  promoted  to  assistant  and 
now  handles  publicity  for  all  the  Warner 
Theatres  throughout  the  Ohio  zone,  con- 
centrating on  the  Hippodrome  in  Cleveland. 


September     19,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


53 


CLASSIFIED 

ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


THEATRES 


WANT  TO  BUY,  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
running  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   BOX  1555-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1556-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


HELP  WANTED 


SALESMEN  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  $75  to  $100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
BOX  1506,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


PROJECTIONIST  WANTED,  MUST  BE  ABLE 
to  service  his  equipment.  Could  use  combination  man, 
keep  few  books,  relieve  the  operators,  good  job,  good 
pay.  Prefer  Texas  man.  Give  reference,  experience, 
salary  expected.  Write  LYNN  D.  BROWN,  Queens- 
Gem  &  Ritz  Theatre,  Brownwood,  Texas. 


POSITION  WANTED 


MANAGER  OR  ASSISTANT.  GOOD  AT  DETAILS. 
Five  years  theatre,  radio  experience.  References. 
Married.  4F  draft.  Florida  or  South.  BOX  1565, 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


BUSINESS  BOOSTERS 


BIN  GO  CARDS.  DIE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75. 
S2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  care 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP  - 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell.  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


FAMOUS  SIMPLEX  SP  SOUND  PROJECTORS, 
including  amplifier,  loudspeaker,  cables,  ready  for  im- 
mediate showing,  $395.00.  R.C.A.  Photophone,  DeVry, 
Holmes,  Weber  Syncrofilm  Sound  Projectors,  from 
$139.50.  Send  for  bulletin.  S.O.S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY 
CORPORATION,  New  York. 


ADVANCE  POPCORN  MACHINE,  PROGRESS 
Model,  good  as  new.  $75.00  cash.  LUCY  B. 
CRUTCHER,   Nicholasville,  Kentucky. 


WANTED  18  INCH  JEN  SON  AUDITORIUM 
speaker.    STATION  B,  BOX  14,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


FOR  SALE:  TWO  MOTIOGRAPH  MACHINES 
with  lamps.    STATION  B,  BOX  114,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


PRINTING 


SPEEDY  PRINTER  $15.  SET  PRINTS  CARDS, 
heralds,  etc.  PEKAS  DUPLICATOR  CO.,  Lester- 
ville,  Scuth  Dakota. 


NEW  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


EARLY  FALL  EDITION  ANNIVERSARY  SALE 
bulletin  ready.  Ask  for  yours!  Typical  values,  spot- 
light carbons,  80%  discount;  Underwriters  Fire  Ex- 
tinguishers, $11.25;  Exciter  lamps,  32c.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 


BOOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING— 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its  ar- 
rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs. 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  the 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  $6.50  postpaid. 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONING, 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
able for  theatre  owners  contemplating  engineering 
changes.  Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  charts 
and  covers  every  branch  cf  the  industry  as  well  as 
codes  and  ordinances  regulating  installation.  Order 
now  at  $4.00  a  copy  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


READY  SOON,  NEW  1942-43  MOTION  PICTURE 
ALMANAC.  Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.  The  indus- 
try's most  complete  "Who's  Who."  More  than  11,000 
biographies  and  over  1,100  pages,  chock  full  of  refer- 
ence information.  Everyone  in  the  motion  picture 
industry  should  have  a  copy.  Be  sure  to  send  in  your 
reservation  today.  $3.25  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP, Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


A  HANDY  TOOL  IN  THE  BOOTH,  SOUND 
trouble  shooting  charts  $1.00,  postpaid.  QUIGLEY 
BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


BOOKKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MANAGEMENT  RECORD  AND  TAX 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  finest 
book  of  its  kind  ever  made  available  to  an  exhibitor. 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  it  is 
simple — so  much  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an  ac- 
curate, complete  and  up-to-minute  record  of  the 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  price  is 
only  $2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rocke- 
feller Center,  New  York. 


PRESS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BRIEN.  INC. 
NEW  YORK.   U.   S.  A. 


54 


MOTION    P-ICTURE  HERALD 


LATE  FILM  REVIEWS 

For  other  reviews  see  Product  Digest  Section, 
starting  on  opposite  page. 


The  Hard  Way 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Powerful  Drama 

"The  Hard  Way"  is  a  gripping,  powerful 
drama  of  a  hard  woman  who  uses  every 
means  in  order  to  establish  her  younger 
sister  as  a  stage  star.  Her  pushing  her 
sister  to  the  top,  her  zealous  and  jealous  watch- 
ing and  planning,  only  to  have  her  pyramid 
tumble  because  of  love,  and  her  subsequent 
suicide  give  the  emotions  a  workout  seldom 
equalled  on  the  screen. 

It  is  not  a  happy  story,  although  there  are 
moments  of  comedy. 

In  one  of  her  outstanding  performances,  Ida 
Lupino  appears  as  the  woman  who,  hating  the 
dull  drab  life  of  a  coal  mining  town,  rules 
her  sister's  affairs  in  such  a  manner  that  she 
arranges  her  marriage  to  an  actor  in  order  to 
leave,  breaks  up  the  marriage  when  the  girl's 
husband  is  no  longer  useful,  virtually  claws  the 
way  for  her  sister  to  the  top  and,  at  the 
end,  has  nothing  but  unrequited  love — as  even 
her  sister  turns  against  her. 

Joan  Leslie  appears  as  the  sister  and  Dennis 
Morgan,  Jack  Carson,  Gladys  George,  Faye 
Emerson  and  Roman  Bohnen  head  an  ex- 
tremely capable  cast.  Carson  has  the  role  of 
the  girl's  husband,  while  Morgan  that  of  the 
man  with  whom  the  scheming  woman  is  in  love. 

The  screenplay  by  Daniel  Fuchs  and  Peter 
Viertel  is  a  moving  document,  utilizing  virtu- 
ally every  emotional  stress.  Vincent  Sherman, 
who  directed  the  Jerry  Wald  production,  turned 
in  a  tiptop  job. 

The  story  is  definitely  not  for  children.  There 
are  various  lines  and  sequences  which  will 
cause  eyebrow  lifting. 

Seen  at  a  Warners'  studio  projection  room. 
Reviewer' s  Rating  :  Good. — Vance  King. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  97  min.  PCA 
No.  8257.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Helen   Chernen  Ida  Lupino 

Paul  Collins  Dennis  Morgan 

Katherine   Chernen  Joan  Leslie 

Jack  Carson,  Gladys  George.  Faye  Emerson,  Paul 
Cavanagh,  Leona  Maricle,  Roman  Bohnen,  Ray 
Montgomery,  Julie  Bishop.  Nestor  Piva.  Joan  Wood- 
bury. Ann  Dorn.  Thurston  Hall,  Charles  Judels.  Lou 
Lubin,  Jody  Gilbert. 


White  Cargo 


(MGM) 
Drama 

"White  Cargo,"  Leon  Gordon's  noted  play 
which  was  a  Broadway  hit  and  subject  to 
numerous  revivals  throughout  the  nation,  comes 
to  the  screen  via  MGM  with  a  glossy  furbish- 
ing and  a  marquee-filling  cast.  Playing  the 
role  of  Tondelayo  the  jungle  temptress  is  Hedy 
Lamarr,  with  Walter  Pidgeon  as  the  hardened 
overseer  of  the  African  rubber  plantation,  Rich- 
ard Carlson  the  young  man  who  is  the  woman's 
final  lover. 

Others  in  the  excellent  cast  are  Frank  Mor- 
gan as  the  outpost  doctor  who  is  addicted  to 
drink,  Bramwell  Fletcher  as  one  of  the  men 
wrecked  by  the  jungle,  Henry  O'Neill  as  the 
missionary  and  Reginald  Owen,  Clyde  Cook, 
Leigh  Whipper,  Oscar  Polk,  Darby  Jones  and 
Richard  Ainley. 

The  picture  should  create  the  same  type  of 
controversy  that  the  play  did.  However,  the 
girl  is  described  as  half  Arabian  and  half 
Egyptian,  and  this  is  disclosed  in  the  plot  im- 
mediately prior  to  the  marriage  of  Tondelayo 


to  the  youth,  who  had  believed  that  she  was 
a  half  caste. 

Richard  Thorpe  in  his  direction  gave  Miss 
Lamarr  full  opportunity  to  display  her  talents, 
thespic  and  otherwise.  Gordon  adapted  his  own 
play  for  the  screen,  utilizing  a  flashback  de- 
vice to  begin  and  close  the  story.  The  main 
story  is  dated  and  has  been  told  many  times 
in  various  ways. 

Victor  Saville  gave  the  production  a  fine  in- 
vestiture. 

Preview  at  the  Fox  Westzvood  Village  The- 
atre to  an  audience  which  greeted  the  picture 
uproariously  but  nevertheless  laughed  in  the 
zvrong  places,  cue  to  the  seduction  antics  of 
Miss  Lamarr.  Reviezver's  Rating:  Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  89  min.  PCA 
No.  6337.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Tondelayo  Hedy  Lamarr 

Harry    Witzel  Walter  Pidgeon 

The  Doctor  Frank  Morgan 

Richard  Carlson,  Reginld  Owen,  Henry  O'Neill,  Bram- 
well Fletcher.  Clyde  Cook,  Leigh  Whipper,  Oscar 
Polk,  Darby  Jones,  Richard  Ainley. 


The  Omaha  Trail 

(MGM) 
Western 

Its  theme  concerning  transportation  in  the  old 
West  and  picturing  in  detail  the  fight  of  the 
ox-team  magnates  of  those  days  against  the 
encroachment  of  the  railroad,  "The  Omaha 
Trail"  presents  James  Craig,  Pamela  Blake 
and  Dean  Jagger  in  the  principal  roles.  Pro- 
duced by  Jack  Chertok  with  more  than  an 
ordinary  budget,  the  film  is  featured  by  pic- 
turesque scenery  and  excellent  action. 

Supporting  the  trio  are  Edward  Ellis,  Chill 
Wills,  Donald  Meek,  Howard  DaSilva,  Henry 
Morgan  and  Morris  Ankrum.  Jesse  Lasky 
Jr.  and  Hugo  Butler  in  adapting  the  former's 
original  story  took  in  wide  territory  with  their 
screenplay.  Craig  is  supported  by  an  ox-team 
driver  who  takes  on  the  task  of  bringing  the 
West's  first  locomotive  to  Nebraska  by  team, 
in  order  to  start  building  the  track  east.  A  plot 
against  the  success  of  the  journey  is  inspired 
by  other  drivers  who  in  addition  to  attempting 
to  sabotage  the  project  inspire  an  Indian  up- 
rising. 

Jack  Chertok  produced  the  film  with  Ed- 
ward Buzzell  directing. 

Seen  at  the  Fox  Uptown  theatre  in  Los  An- 
geles where  the  audience  gave  every  indica- 
tion of  enjoying  the  film.  Reviewer 's  Rating  : 
Good.—V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  61  min.  PCA 
No.  6482.    General  audience  classification. 

Pat    Candel  James  Craig 

Tube   Santley  Pamela  Blake 

Dean  Jagger,  Edward  Ellis.  Chill  Wills.  Donald  Meek, 
Howard   Da   Silva,   Henry  Morgan,   Morris  Ankrum. 


Halfway  to  Shanghai 

(Universal) 
Melodrama 

Nazi  spy  attempts  to  steal  maps  showing 
secret  locations  of  ammunition  dumps  along 
the  Burma  Road  constitute  the  main  thread 
of  the  plot  of  "Halfway  to  Shanghai,"  well  done 
melodrama  in  which  virtually  all  of  the  action 
takes  place  on  a  train  speeding  on  to  Rangoon 
from  the  interior.  Kent  Taylor  and  Irene  Her- 
vey  are  the  featured  players,  with  Henry 
Stephenson,    J.    Edward    Bromberg,  George 


September     19,  1942 

Zucco.  Charles  Wagenheim,  Alexander  Gra- 
nach,  Lionel  Royce,  Willie  Fung,  Oscar 
O'Shea,  Charlotte  Wynters,  Mary  Gordon,  Fay 
Helm  and  Frank  Lacteen  in  support. 

The  story  has  an  oddly  assorted  group  of 
persons  aboard  the  speeding  train.  The  possessor 
of  the  maps  is  murdered  by  two  Germans,  with 
whom  he  had  worked  in  espionage.  A  Bur- 
mese detective  on  the  train  undertakes  to  solve 
the  murder,  with  the  first  suspect  an  American 
engineer  in  whose  stateroom  the  body  is  found. 

An  American  newspaperwoman,  her  secre- 
tary, another  American  girl  who  is  to  be 
married  to  a  wealthy  Oriental  and  various  other 
persons  are  suspected  before  the  killers  are 
caught. 

John  Rawlins  directed  tersely,  keeping  the 
timing-  at  a  nice  pitch.  Stuart"  Palmer  wrote 
the  original  screenplay  and  Paul  Malvern  was 
the  associate  producer. 

Seen  at  Universal  studio.  Reviewer's  Rating: 
Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  September  18,  1942.  Running  time, 
62  min.  PCA  No.  6285.  General  audience  classifica- 
tion. 

Vicki    Dmytryk  Irene  Hervey 

Alexander    Barton  Kent  Taylor 

Colonel   Blampton  Henry  Stephenson 

Ympore  J.  Edward  Bromberg 

George  Zucco,  Charlotte  Wynters,   Fay  Helm. 


Girl  Trouble 


( Twentieth  Century-Fox ) 
Topical  Farce 

The  country's  rubber  shortage  and  attendant 
interest  in  synthetic  substitutes  provide  the 
complexities  confronting  the  characters  in  this 
farce.  The  light  treatment  given  it — not  to  men- 
tion Red  Cross  classes  and  "Bundles  for  Blue- 
jackets"— may  evoke  resentment,  particularly  as 
the  entertainment  values  of  the  film  as  roman- 
tic comedy  are  limited. 

There  is  more  than  the  usual  allotment  of 
names  with  substantial  marquee  appeal  in  the 
picture — Don  Ameche,  Joan  Bennett,  Billie 
Burke,  Frank  Craven,  Alan  Dinehart  and 
Helene  Reynolds.  The  settings  are  elaborate 
and  the  costumes  splendid,  but  even  these  do 
not  obscure  the  poverty  of  plot. 

Don  Ameche  is  a  playboy  owner  of  a  South 
American  rubber  plantation,  arriving  in  this 
country  to  obtain  a  loan.  Joan  Bennett  plays 
the  girl  whose  apartment  he  rents  under  the 
impression  that  she  is  the  maid.  She  stays  on 
in  that  capacity  and  manages  the  financial  busi- 
ness successfully  while  she  burns  the  toast.  In 
addition  to  these  two — and  Frank  Craven,  who 
is  amusing  as  the  rubber  company  president  in- 
terested in  antique  firearms — is  a  group  of  the 
lady's  friends,  rather  overdrawn  portraits  of  the 
idle  rich  in  the  war  effort  and  with  an  unflat- 
tering resemblance  to  Clare  Boothe's  "The 
Women." 

The  pace  maintained  by  Harold  Schuster, 
who  directed  the  film,  could  have  been  a  bit 
faster  without  confusing  the  plot.  The  appeal 
of  the  picture,  produced  by  Robert  Bassler,  will 
depend  on  the  draw  of  the  top  cast  names. 

Previezved  at  the  home  office  projection  room 
before  an  audience  which  laughed  seldom.  Re- 
viewer's Rating:  Fair. — E.  A.  Cunningham. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942.  Running  time,  82 
mins.    PCA  No.  8532.    General  audience  classification. 

Pedro  Sullivan  Don  Ameche. 

June  Delaney  Joan  Bennett 

Billie  Burke.  Frank  Craven,  Alan  Dinehart,  Helene 
Reynolds,  Fortunio  Bonanova,  Ted  North. 


Philadelphia  Variety  Cancels 
Annual  December  Dinner 

Because  of  the  war,  the  Philadelphia  Variety 
Club  has  cancelled  its  annual  December  banquet. 
However,  a  drive  to  collect  $10,000  for  the  in- 
fantile paralysis  fund  will  begin  shortly.  Jack 
Beresin  is  chairman  of  the  drive. 

The  Los  Angeles  Tent,  No.  25,  is  in  a  mem- 
bership drive.  It  has  275  members,  and  seeks 
400.  Albert  A.  Galson  is  chairman  of  the  cam- 
paign. The  tent  celebrated  its  first  anniversary 
two  weeks  ago. 


i 


C  - 


=  - : 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


HE  RELEASE  CHART 

:  I :  'men'1 


My  Sister  Eileen 

(  Columbia— 1941-42 ) 
Fun  in  a  Basement 

Using  the  best  of  the  material  from  their  play 
and  adding  more  and  better  situations,  Joseph' 
fields  and  Jerome  Chodorov  have  fashioned"  a 
picture  that  starts  and  finishes  with  a  laugh  and 
has  a  generous  proportion  of  funny  lines  and 
situations  throughout  It  is  one  of  those  rare 
rases  where  the  authors  of  a  stage  olav  have 
been  able  to  do  better  with  the  screen  medium. 
The  play  still  is  enjoying  a  highly  successful 
run. 

As  audience  fare  this  should  be  hard  to  beat 
With  one  laugh  following  closely  on  another 
everyone  should  find  the  film  vastly  entertain- 
ing. There  is  never  a  letuo  in  the  hilarity  a* 
one  clever  line  follows  another  and  smartlv 
drawn  characters  with  highly  amusing  lines  de- 
jver  them  in  a  manner  to  make  them  even 
more  amusing. 

Rosalind  Russell,  in  the  role  of  Ruth  Sher- 
wood, gives  one  of  her  finest  performances. 
i>ne  was  a  happy  choice  for  the  role.  Pressing 
bar  closely  for  acting  honors  is  Janet  Blair  who, 
alter  only  three  pictures,  gives  promise  of  be- 
coming one  of  the  top  ingenues. 

o  ^r5^17  of  &e  pky  ^  ^  substance  of 
Kutn  McKenney's  stories  from  The  New  York- 
er magazine  have  been  preserved.  Much  of  the 
action  takes  place  in  the  basement  room  which 
was  the  setting  of  the  play.    But  the  continu- 

0^-01  ^ags  311(1  rapid  pace  of  Alexander 
•nails  direction  overcome  any  tendency  the 
picture  might  have  had  to  become  static.  "  Max 
Gordon,  producer  of  the  play,  also  produced  the 
picture. 

The  plot  involves  two  girls,  one  a  would-be 
writer  and  the  other  with  acting  aspiration* 
who  leave  Columbus,  Ohio,  to  make  good  in 
■New  York.  They  take  a  basement  room  in 
Greenwich  _  \  lllage  in  a  house  run  by  an  ec- 
centric artist  Their  adventures  thereafter  are 
concerned  with  the  strange  assortment  of  char- 
acters j  they  find  in  the  Village  and  the  embrvo 
writers  acquaintance  with  an  editor,  the  Por- 
tuguese Merchant  Marine  and  sundrv  other  in- 
teresting characters. 

.  Previewed  in  the  Radio  City  Music  Hall  pro- 
jection room  before  a  large  crowd  of  profes- 
sional reviewers  and  circuit  buyers,  the  picture 
uus  received  with  roars  of  laughter  and  evi- 
dent approval.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent 
— Bob  ¥(  ttf 

Release  date  September  24.  1*42.  Running  time, 
96  mm.    PCA  Jvo.  S3o2.    Adult  audience  classification: 

S^S^3J°°d   Rosalind  Russell 

^■'^}  ~£j£er  •;  Brian  Aherne 

tiieen    bnerwood    Janet  Blair 

(^rge  Totias.  AUvn  Joslyn.   Elizabeth  Patterson 
-^tctfP-  Richard  Quine.  June  Havoc.  DonaH 
^Bnd?e.   Gordon  Jones,  Jeff  DonnelL   Clvde  FiH- 
«nore.  Mmna  Philbps.  Frank  Sullv.  Charle=  "La Torre. 


Reviews 


This  deportment  deaLs  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


Bells  of  Capistrano 

(Republic— 1941-42 ) 
Autry's  Las*  for  the  Duration 

Gene  Autry  joined  the  U.  S.  Army  Air  Force 
aiter  completing  '"Bells  of  Capistrano,"  and 
•Republic  has  tried  to  make  his  farewell  a 
memorable  one.  The  settings  are  lavish  even 
ior  a  W  estern  special  and  the  cast  includes 
such  well-known  players  as  Virginia  Grey  and 
-Lucien  Littlefield  as  well  as  Autry's  popular 
side-kick,  Smiley  Burnette. 

The  story,  an  original  screen  play  by  Law- 
rence Kimble,  concerns  the  bitter  rivalry  be- 
tween two  traveling  rodeos  and  the  efforts  of 
Gene  Autry  to  give  the  under-dog  a  lift.  The 
more  prosperous  unit  is  owned  by  Morgan 
Conway,  an  unscrupulous  competitor,  who 
hopes  to  buy  out  or  ruin  the  smaller  outfit  run 
by  Virginia  Gres^.  Gene,  "Frog"  and  'Tad- 
pole" join  up  with  the  girl,  only  to  find  out  that 
she  intends  to  sell  the  show  and  marry  Con- 
way. The  climax  comes  in  Capistrano,  where 
Autry's  singing  has  won  the  show  a  contract 
ior  the  annual  festival.  Here  the  girl  comes 
to  realize  Conway's  treachery  but  not  in  time 
to  save  the  equipment  from  a  disastrous  fire. 
When  the  incendiary  origin  of  the  fire  is 
proved,  the  rodeo  is  rejuvenated  and  is  booked 
ior  Madison  Square  Garden.  Here  a  patriotic 
finale  is  staged  with  Autry  singing  "Don't  Bite 
the  Hand  That's  Feeding  You"  as  he  bids  fare- 
well to  his  fans.  The  popular  songs  of  more 
than  a  decade  ago,  "At  Sundown"  and  "For- 
give Me,"  are  also  featured. 

Harry  Grey  was  associate  producer  for  the 
film,  which  w-as  directed  by  William  Morgan. 

Previewed  in  the  home  office  projection 
room.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — E.  A.  Cun- 
ningham. 

Release  date,  September  15,  1942.  Running  time 
73  mm.    PCA  No.  8644.     General  audience  clas=ifica- 

§ene   Gene  Autrv 

±r°?  Smiley  Burnette 

Virginia  Grey.  Lucien  Littlefield.  Morgan  Conwav 
Oaixe  Du  Brey.  Charles  Cane.  Toe  Strauch,  Tr..  Maria 
snelton,  Tristram  Coffin. 


George  Washington 
Slept  Here 

(Warner  Bros.) 

Benny,  Kaufman  and  Hart 

Jack  Benny  in  a  Moss  Hart  and  George 
-l^uiman  comedy  is  still  Jack  Benny  of  the 
slow  burn  and  the  this-is-more-than-I-can-bear 
comedy  technique.  In  this  adaptation  of  the  suc- 
cessful Broadway  stage  play,  the  comedian  adds 
pratt-falls  to  his  repertoire.   At  a  careful  esti- 
mate there  is  an  average  of  four  to  a  reel. 
i  Mr.  Benny,  the  comedian,  is  entirely  plausible, 
however,  as  the  protesting  husband  who  is 
maneuvered  by  the  wife  with  a  zeal  for  Ameri- 
cana into  moving  from  a  city  apartment,  which 
he  loves,  mto  a  tumbledown  but  Colonial  home 
in  the^  country,  which  he  hates.    The  laughs 
arise  from  his  exasperation  at  his  wife's  im- 
practicahty ;    the   phlegmatic    caretaker's  im- 
placable bills  for  gravel,  fertilizer  and  well- 
drilling;  rich  Uncle  Stanley  who  turns  out  to 
be  poor;  impish  nephew  Raymond;  and  the  final 
bitter  information  from  a  personable  local  an- 
tiquarian that  it  was  not  George  Washington 
but  Benedict  Arnold  who  was  reputed  to  have 
slept  in  the  house. 

In  the  frothy  Hart  and  Kaufman  manner 
everything  turns  out  for  the  best  when  the 
threatened  mortgage  foreclosure  is  averted  by 
the  discovery  of  a  Colonial  boot  in  the  well  and 
a  manuscript  in  Washington's  handwriting 
called  "Notes  on  a  speech  to  the  officers."  In- 
cidently,  the  action  of  the  picture  is  suspended 
while  Mr.  Benny  reads  the  speech  with  appro- 
priate solemnity. 

The  casting  of  Mr.  Benny  and  Ann  Sheridan 
amply  justifies  the  character  transfer  from  the 
original  play  in  wmich  it  was  the  wife  who  de- 
rided the  antiquarian  zeal  of  the  husband.  The 
other  parts  are  competently  played,  the  most 
appealing  being  the  mournful  caretaker  created 
by  Percy  Kilbride. 

The  picture  is  brittle  and  dependent  entirely 
on  Mr.  Benny's  deliver}-  for  comedy.  Produc- 
tion is  by  Jerry  Wald,  direction  by  William 
Keighley,  who  let  the  comedian  have  his  head. 

An  audience  of  trade  reviewers  laughed 
moderately  at  the  more  subtle  lines  of  the 
screenplay  and  remained  silent  during  the  more 

violent  comedy.    Reviewer's  Rating:  Good.  

James  D.  Ivers. 

Release  date,  not  set.    Running  time,  93  min     PC  A. 
No.  8342.     General  audience  classification. 

«■  F«*er   Jack  Benny 

C°°fe  Fuller   Am,  Sheridan 

Lncle  Stanley   Charles  Cobnra 

Mr.  Ember   Percv  Kilbride 

"S^S  — ™ V  H2ttie  McDaniel 

WiJliain  Tracy.  Joyce  Reynolds,  Lee  Patrick 
Charles  Dingle.  John  Emerv.  Douelas  Croft  H^rvev 
Stephens,  Franklin  Pangborn. 


Product  Digest  Section  909 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    19,    I  942 


Secrets  of  a  Co-ed 

(Producers  Releasing  Corp.) 
Melodrama 

Producers  Alfred  Stern  and  Arthur  Alex- 
ander, in  "Secrets  of  a  Co-ed,"  have  turned  out 
one  of  the  top  independent  productions  to  come 
from  Hollywood.  Combining  a  mounting  which 
belies  the  budget,  excellent  trouping,  impressive 
direction  and  a  well  written  screenplay,  the 
picture  is  a  neat  piece  of  entertainment. 

Otto  Kruger,  Tina  Thayer,  recently  seen  in 
a  Hardy  Family  picture  at  MGM ;  Rick  Vallin, 
and  Diana  Del  Rio,  the  latter  making  her  film 
lead  debut  in  the  role  of  a  dancer  and  singer, 
head  the  cast.  The  story  deals  with  the  head- 
strong daughter  of  a  criminal  lawyer  who 
secretly  heads  the  gang  ring  in  his  city.  When 
he  learns  that  she  has  fallen  in  love  with  one 
of  his  lieutenants,  a  cold  blooded  killer,  he 
orders  him  executed.  The  innocent  girl  is  in- 
dicted for  the  murder  and  he  defends  her  at 
the  trial,  confessing  that  he  is  the  murderer. 
The  jury  finds  him  guilty.  It  is  not  definitely 
established  that  he  or  his  henchmen  actually 
had  done  the  killing,  however. 

Miss  Del  Rio  is  outstanding  in  her  role.  She 
sings  one  song,  "Brazilly  Willy,"  adapted  from 
the  Brazilian  hit,  "O  Passo  Do  Kanguru."  The 
number  has  all  indications  of  being  a  hit  in  its 
English  version,  too. 

The  well  knit  screenplay  was  written  by 
George  W.  Sayre.  Direction  by  Joseph  Lewis, 
billed  as  "Pvt.  Joseph  Lewis,  U.  S.  A.,"  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  Leon  Fromkess  was  in 
charge  of  production  for  PRC. 

Seen  in  a  Hollywood  projection  room.  Re- 
viewer's Rating :   Excellent. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  November  9,  1942.  Running  time,  67 
min.    PCA  No.  8716.    Adult  audience  classification. 


Reynolds   Otto  Kruger 

Brenda  Tina  Thayer 

Nick   Rick  Vallan 

Diana  Diana   Del  Rio 


Russell  Hoyt,  Marcia  Mae  Jones,  Geraldine  Spreckels, 
Herburt  Vigran,  Patricia  Knox,  Claire  Rochelle,  Addi- 
son Richards,  Isabelle  La  Mai. 

Not  a  Ladies'  Man 

(Columbia— 1941-42) 
Father  and  Son  Drama 

This  is  a  father  and  son  drama  which  tells 
of  the  change  that  comes  into  their  lives  when 
the  mother  divorces  the  father,  and  how  the 
boy  meets  the  situation.  It  is  capably  handled 
and  well  acted  by  all  the  principals. 

The  father  is  the  town's  district  attorney. 
His  chief  interest  in  life  is  his  small  son.  The 
two  are  inseparable.  Then  the  mother  leaves 
the  husband  unexpectedly  and  divorces  him. 
The  father  is  given  custody  of  the  child  but 
their  relationship  becomes  strained.  Unable 
to  fathom  his  father  and  hurt  by  his  apparent 
indifference  the  child  is  miserable  until  a  happy- 
go-lucky  tramp  cheers  him.  About  the  same 
time  the  father  and  son  resume  their  old  com- 
panionship. 

The  boy  tries  to  interest  his  father  in  all  the 
unmarried  women  in  the  neighborhood  but 
much  to  the  boy's  disgust  the  father  is  interest- 
ed in-  the  school  teacher.  When,  as  district 
attorney,  the  father  jails  a  notorious  racketeer, 
he  discovers  that  his  ex-wife  is  married  to  the 
gangster.  He  is  faced  with  the  problem  of 
prosecuting  the  man  with  the  resultant  publicity 
or  being  branded  an  associate  of  the  gangster. 
The  boy  and  the  school  teacher,  now  good 
friends,  set  him  straight.  Paul  Kelly  is  the 
father,  Fay  Wray  the  teacher  and  Douglas 
Croft  the  son.   Lew  Landers  directed. 

Seen  at  the  RKO  Jefferson  theatre,  New 
York.  The  audience  liked  the  picture.  Re- 
viewer's Rating :  Good. — Paul  C.  Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  May  14,  1942.  Running  time,  60  min. 
PCA  No.  8228.    General  audience  classification. 

Robert    Bruce   Paul  Kelly 

Helen  Hunter   Fay  Wray 

Bill   .....Douglas  Croft 

Don  Beddoe,  Eileen  O'Hearn,  Marietta  Canty,  Larry 
Dickson,  Hal  Price,  Jimmy  Dakn,  Dorothy  Babb. 


TWO  BRITISH  FILMS  SET 
FOR  U.S.  RELEASE 

Warner  Brothers  have  included 
"Flying  Fortress",  the  British-made 
film  featuring  Richard  Green  and 
Carla  Lelrman,  in  their  next  block,  of 
feature  pictures  to  be  trade-shown. 
The  picture  was  reviewed  from  Lon- 
don in  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
issue  of  June  27,  1942.  An  abridge- 
ment of  this  review  is  carried  in  this 
issue  of  Product  Digest  on  page  914. 

"Young  Mr.  Pitt"  has  been  an- 
nounced for  the  forthcoming  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox  block.  The  film, 
which  stars  Robert  Morley  and  Robert 
Donat,  was  reviewed  from  London  in 
the  issue  of  July  4,  1942,  and  is  car- 
ried in  this  week's  Product  Digest  in 
condensed  form  on  page  914. 


Spring  Song 

(Art  kino) 

Music  and  Russian  Comedy 

Russia's  Lenfilm  Studios  have  exported  a 
pleasantly  entertaining  combination  of  comedy 
and  serious  music  in  this  story  written  around 
the  peoples'  conservatory  in  Leningrad.  Com- 
pleted two  weeks  before  the  Nazi  invasion,  it 
has  no  reference  to  war  and  is  relatively  free 
of  preachment. 

The  music  of  Bach,  Handel  and  Gounod, 
contrasted  with  a  lighter  score  from  Dmitri  Ka- 
balevsky,  one  of  the  foremost  Soviet  com- 
posers, is  background  for  a  typical  boy-girl, 
composer  and  singer  romance. 

Sima,  played  and  sung  by  Ludmila  Tzeli- 
kovskaya,  is  the  daughter  of  an  old  school  pro- 
fessor who  deplores  all  light  or  modern  music. 
Piotr  Kadochnikov  plays  Mukhin,  a  serious 
young  composer  who  writes  an  operetta  for 
Sima.  But  the  professor  will  not  have  his 
daughter  singing  light,  gay  music. 

The  ghost  of  Johann  Sebastian  Bach,  the 
professor's  idol,  appears  in  Leningrad  on  the 
night  of  Sima's  debut,  however,  and  tells  the 
professor  that  great  music  is  not  only  pro- 
found but  also  tuneful  and  gay.  "The  people 
need  all  kinds  of  music,"  he  declares.  Con- 
vinced, the  professor  sanctions  his  daughter's 
career  and  marriage  and  the  picture  closes  with 
him  playing  the  organ  part  in  a  tone  poem  by 
his  son-in-law. 

Comedy  is  provided  by  Andrei  Orlov,  an 
artistic  fraud;  Trina  Pavlotzkaya,  as  a  dated 
diva,  and  others.  The  story  by  Eugene  Petrov, 
killed  at  Sevastopol,  moves  swiftly.  Alexander 
Ivanovsky  directed,  while  Frederick  Ermler 
was  supervisor.  The  recording  and  photogra- 
phy are  not  up  to  U.  S.  standards. 

The  "art"  circuit  of  little  theatres  should 
find  their  audiences  receptive.  It  would  seem 
to  offer  exploitation  opportunities  related  to 
the  current  interest  in  Shostakovich  and  other 
Soviet  musicians. 

Previewed  at  the  Stanley  theatre,  New  York, 
where  a  large  morning  audience  followed  with 
interest,  frequent  laughter  and  hearty  applause 
at  the  end.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — John 
Stuart,  Jr. 

Release  date,  September  11,  1942.  Running  time, 
74  min.     General  audience  classification. 

Professor  Voronov   Nikolai  Konovalov 

Sima)     T      _^   Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya 

Dina  J     H,s  Daughters   Tamara  Kondrakova 

Alexei  Mukhin,  Composer   Piotr  Kadochnikov 

Trina  Pavlotzkaya,  Andrei  Orlov,  Sergei  Martin- 
son, Alexei  Korolkevich,  Vladimir  Gardin  and  Tatiana 
Glebova. 


Soliga  Solberg 

(Sunny  Sunberg) 

( Scandia  Films) 
Swedish  Comedy 

This  film  appears  to  be  for  the  Swedish  lan- 
guage houses  only.  The  judgment  is  confirmed 
also  by  sparse  titling,  which  also  carries  some 
errors,  having  been  done  in  Sweden.  The  lack 
is  explained  by  the  importers,  Scandia  Films, 
because  for  many  of  the  untranslated  passages, 
"there  is  no  English  equivalent."  The  result, 
for  the  uninitiated,  is  to  sit  through  hundreds  of 
feet  of  dialogue  (for  this  is  a  dialogue  picture), 
probably  rich  in  humor  and  philosophy,  to  judge 
by  audience  reaction  but  unintelligible  to  those 
without  a  knowledge  of  Swedish. 

If  it  is  possible  to  view  this  from  the  Swed- 
ish-American viewpoint,  this  seems  an  equival- 
ent of  a  sprightly  American  comedy  with  mu- 
sic, and  therefore  satisfactory.  Additionally— 
and  most  potently — it  presents  again  Sweden's 
lovable,  heavyweight  comedian,  Edvard  Pers- 
son,  about  whom  the  film  revolves,  while  he 
renders  monologues,  many  times  in  "asides." 

The  slight  plot  has  him  a  dreaming  artist, 
poor,  but  not  so  poor  he  has  lost  faith.  His 
chance  comes  when  a  capitalist  friend  advances 
him  money  to  buy  a  cafeteria — which  he 
promptly  turns  into  a  successful  cabaret.  He 
befriends  homeless  Tord  Andersen,  who  sought 
to  rob  him.  Andersen  makes  the  most  of  the 
clerk's  job  Persson  gives  him — and  captures 
the  love  of  Persson's  daughter,  Greta  Krig- 
strom. 

The  songs  by  Persson  and  by  Miss  Krig- 
strom,  the  music  by  a  string  orchestra  and 
several  entertainers,  the  scenes  of  Sweden  and 
patriotic  verse  by  Perrson,  are  nostalgic  notes 
which  comprise  much  of  the  picture's  appeal. 
Certainly,  they  pleased  a  New  York  audience. 

Reviewed  at  the  48th  Street  theatre,  New 
York.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — Floyd  E. 
Stone. 

Release  date,  September  12,  1942.  Running  time,  89 
min.    General  audience  classification. 

Solberg   Edvard  Persson 

Mrs.    Solberg   Marta  Arbilm 

Their  daughter,   Lotten   Ann-Greta  Krigstrom 

Goran  Bernhard,  Tord  Andersen,  Tord  Bernheim, 
Hugo  Bjorne,  Gerda  Bjorne,  Inger  Sundberg. 


The  Hidden  Hand 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Mystery  Thriller 

Not  much  was  left  out  of  this  mystery  thrill- 
er. There  are  so  many  killings  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  keep  the  score.  There  are  secret  en- 
trances and  all  the  other  trappings  and  trim- 
mings that  stimulate  interest  in  this  sort  of 
melodrama.  There  is  no  suspense  as  such  but 
it  appears  that  none  was  intended.  Apparently 
what  was  intended  was  a  satire  and  a  comedy 
of  manners  and  in  this  the  picture  succeeds. 

The  time  is  a  weekend  at  a  country  estate 
and  most  of  the  persons  spending  the  weekend 
there  are  related  to  each  other.  The  family 
tree  is  dotted  with  insanity  cases  and  present 
company  is  not  excluded.  What  transpires  is 
weird.  The  cast  lacks  marquee  value,  but  the 
content  of  the  picture  lends  itself  to  exploi- 
tation. Players  include  Craig  Stevens,  Elisa- 
beth Fraser,  Julie  Bishop,  Willie  Best,  Frank 
Wilcox,  Cecil  Cunningham,  Ruth  Ford  and 
Milton  Parsons. 

Excluding  the  murders,  the  secret  passage- 
ways and  the  like,  the  story  has  to  do  with 
a  wealthy  eccentric  spinster  who  invites  her 
nephews  and  their  wives  to  spend  a  weekend 
with  her  so  that  she  may  gloat  over  the  fact 
that  she  is  leaving  all  her  money  to  her  young 
secretary.  To  assist  her,  she  aids  her  brother 
to  escape  from  an  insane  asylum  and  pose  as  her 
butler.  With  that  setup  the  fireworks  are  bound 
to  develop  and  they  do. 

The  weekend  guests  disappear  at  such  an 
alarming  rate  that  the  humor  of  the  situation 


9  I  0     Product  Digest  Section 


September    19,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


becomes  apparent  And  it  is  that  rather  than 
the  pseudo  mystery  which  makes  it  an  enter- 
taining film. 

Previewed  at  the  Warner  Bros,  home  of  ice 
projection  room  in  New  York.  A  small  gath- 
ering appeared  to  find  the  picture  amusing.  Re- 
viewer's Rating:  Good. — P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time.  67  min.  PCA 
Xo.  8601-    General  audience  classification. 

Peter  Thome   Craig  Stevens 

Mary  Winfield   Elisabeth  Fraser 

Julie  Bishop.  Willie  Best,  Frank  Wilcox,  Cecil  Cun- 
ningham, Ruth  Ford,  Milton  Parsons,  Roland  Drew. 

Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa 

(Universal— 1941-42) 
Western 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  action  in  this  Johnny 
Mack  Brown  western.  The  story  follows  a 
familar  theme  for  these  outdoor  dramas — that  of 
mistaken  identity.  However,  it  is  handled  with 
more  dexterity  than  most,  is  plausible  and  allows 
for  considerable  action.  It  rates  with  the  better 
pictures  in  the  series. 

Abetting  Brown  as  he  has  in  other  films  of 
the  series,  "Fuzzy"  Knight  continues  his  comic 
antics  and  in  general  makes  his  weight  felt. 
Here  he  plays  a  traveling  peddler  of  goods  and 
Indian  medicine  of  his  own  mixture  who  man- 
ages to  be  around  when  Brown  is  in  trouble 
and  is  no  small  help  in  extricating  the  star 
from  difficulties.  Other  players  include  William 
Farnum,  Rex  Lease,  Helen  Deverell,  Hugh 
Prosser  and  Robert  Barron. 

On  his  way  to  assume  an  important  position 
in  the  construction  of  a  telegraph  line,  Brown 
is  waylaid  by  the  "Utah  Kid"  and  forced  to 
change  clothes.  The  "Kid,"  wanted  for  various 
crimes,  pretends  to  be  Brown  and  tries  to  rob 
the  construction  boss  of  a  sizable  sum  of  money. 
He  kills  the  boss  but  fails  to  get  the  mone}\ 
Brown  is  in  the  unenviable  position  of  being  in 
the  "Kid's"  clothes  and  wanted  for  murder  under 
his  own  name.  Pretending  to  be  the  "Kid,"  he 
plays  along  with  the  mob  who  are  trying  to 
prevent  the  completion  of  the  line,  double-crosses 
them  and  rounds  them  up  in  a  climatic  gun 
battle. 

Oliver  Drake  wrote  the  screenplay  and  was 
associate  producer.    Joseph  H.  Lewis  directed. 

Seen  at  the  New  York  theatre,  New  York. 
The  audience  appeared  to  enjoy  the  offering. 
Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — P.  C.  M..  Jr. 

Release  date,  August  21,  1942.  Running  time.  58  min. 
PCA  Xo.  8534.    General  audience  classification. 

Steve  Collins   Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Dr.  J.  Wellington  Dingle  Fuzzy  Knight 

Jndge  Ezra  Binns   William  Farnum 

Rex  Lease.  Helen  Deverell.  Hugh  Prosser.  Robert 
Barron,  Michael  Vallon,  Henry  Hall.  Fred  Kohler,  Jr. 

Foreign  Agent 

f Monogram  ) 

Spy  Melodrama 

Action,  comedy  and  romance  are  combined 
for  maximum  entertainment  effect  in  "For- 
eign Agent,"  first  production  by  Martin 
Mooney  and  Max  King  for  Monogram  release. 
A  terse  melodrama  of  saboteurs  attempting  to 
aid  a  planned  Jap  bombing  of  Los  Angeles, 
the  film  is  a  meaty  offering,  taking  advantage 
of  recent  news  developments  as  items  in  its 
plot 

John  Shelton  and  Gale  Storm,  the  latter 
given  a  buildup  by  the  company,  head  the  cast, 
principal  support  consisting  of  Ivan  Lebedeff, 
Patsy  Moran,  William  Walligan,  Herbert 
Rawlinson,  Kenneth  Harlan,  Jack  Mulhall, 
newspaper-columnist  Jimmy  Starr  and  Vince 
Barnett.  Miss  Storm  sings  two  songs :  "Down 
Deep  in  My  Heart,"  by  Bill  Mellette,  and 
"Taps  for  the  Japs,"  by  Bill  Anderson,  the 
latter  falling  in  the  patriotic  novelty  category. 

The  screenplay-  was  written  by  Mooney-  and 
John  Krafft.  from  an  original  by  Moone}-.  Its 
chief  story  line  is  the  uncovering  of  the  pur- 
poses of  a  "peace"  organization,  financed  by 
Axis  agents,  by  a  radio  commentator  who  is 


LAUGHTON,  COOPER 
FILMS  REISSUED 

Paramount  has  completed  its  1941- 
42  product  season  with  two  reissues, 
''The  Beachcomber"  and  "The  Gen- 
eral Died  at  Dawn".  The  first  featured 
Charles  Laughton  and  Elsa  Lanchester 
in  the  Somerset  Maugham  story  of  a 
rake  and  a  spinster  in  the  Dutch 
East  Indies.  It  was  reviewed  in 
Motion  Picture  Herald,  issue  of 
September  26,  193  8.  The  reviewer 
tJwn  said  in  part:  "Theatregoers  of 
adult  understanding  may  be  promised 
a  rare  cinema  experience  by  showmen 
billing  this  Paramount  import.  Mr. 
Laughton's  performance  of  the  title 
role  is  a  riper  and  richer  portrayal 
than  his  Captain  Bligh,  his  Rembrandt, 
his  Ruggles  or  Jjis  Henry  VIII". 

"The  General  Died  at  Dawn",  in 
which  Gary  Cooper  played  an  Amer- 
ican soldier  of  fortune  in  China  in  a 
cast  that  included  Madeleine  Carroll, 
Akim  Tamiroff  and  Dudley  Digges,  is 
still  timely  in  its  picture  of  that  war- 
torn  land,  although  the  enemy  is  not 
Japan.  When  reviewed  in  the  Motioxt 
Picture  Herald  issue  of  September 
12,  1956,  the  film  was  described  as 
"Stirring,  vigorous  melodrama.  A  show 
that  warrants  a  publicity  spread  be- 
yond the  ordinary,  and  sometloing  that, 
when  seen,  will  not  be  quickly  for- 
gotten." 


aided  by  two  young  film  players.  William 
Beaudine  did  a  competent  job  in  his  direction. 

Seen  at  the  Monogram  studios  in  Holly- 
wood.   Reviewer's  Rating  :  Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942.  Running  time,  64 
min.   PCA  Xo.  S694.    General  audience  classification. 

Jimmy   John  Shelton 

Mitzi   Gale  Storm 

Okura   Ivan  Lebedeff 

George  Travell,  Patsy  Moran,  Lyle  Latell,  Hans 
Schumm,  William  Halligan,  Herbert  Rawlinson. 

The  Man  in  the  Trunk 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Light  Melodrama 

A_nrystery  in  which  the  murdered  man  is  the 
chief  investigator  of  the  10-year-old  crime  of- 
fers opportunities  for  suspense  and  comedy, 
some  of  which  Walter  Morosco  has  used  in 
producing  "The  Man  in  the  Trunk."  Too 
often,  however,  the  elements  are  improperly 
blended  so  that  crime  detection  awaits  on  come- 
dy and  the  man  under  sentence  of  death  is  for- 
gotten. 

Raymond  Walburn  is  the  ghost  of  a  departed 
gambler,  set  free  from  the  trunk  where  his 
skeleton  is  found,  and  allowed  to  flit  unnoticed 
after  the  lawyer  searching  for  clues  to  the 
murder.  That  his  10  years  of  ghosthood  have 
not  enabled  him  to  pass  through  locked  doors, 
or  tap  on  tables  is  a  great  disappointment,  but 
the  obstacles  are  neatly  overcome.  The  lawyer 
represents  the  man  due  to  die  for  the  crime, 
and  his  visible  partner  is  a  chorus  girl  with 
one  eye  on  a  detective  story  and  the  other  on 
front  page  publicity.  The  odd  triumvirate, 
with  no  police  cooperation,  obtains  a  confession 
after  two  full  days  of  prowling  through  dusty 
attics,  locked  antique  shops,  Saratoga  trunks, 
psychoanalysis,  on  the  strength  of  clues  appar- 
ently dropped  from  nowhere. 

It's  the  ghost's  picture,  of  course,  with  George 


Holmes  and  Lynne  Roberts  lending  adequate 
support.  The  assorted  suspects  are  played  by 
J.  Carrol  Naish,  Dorothy  Peterson,  Eily  Mal- 
yon,  Arthur  Loft  and  Milton  Parsons.  Walter 
Morosco  directed  from  an  original  screen  play 
by  John  Larkin. 

Previewed  in  the  home  office  projection 
room.    Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  October  23,  1942.  Running  time,  71 
min.    PCA  Xo.  8533.     General  audience  classification. 

Jim  Cheevers   Raymond  Walburn 

Peggy   Lynne  Roberts 

Dick  Burke   George  Holmes 

J.  Carrol  Xaish.  Dorothy  Peterson,  Eily  Malyon, 
Arthur  Loft,  Milton  Parsons,  Matt  McHugh,  Joan 
Marsh,  Douglas   Fowley,  Charles  Cane. 


Manila  Calling 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 

Guerilla  War  in  Philippines 

This  is  the  story  of  an  intrepid  band  of 
radiomen,  caught  on  the  Philippine  island  of 
Mindanao  by  the  Jap  invasion,  who  fought  with 
the  weapon  of  propaganda  backed  up  by  their 
guns.  Unfortunately,  there  are  parts  of  the 
narrative  that  do  not  ring  true ;  nevertheless  the 
picture  probably  will  hold  the  interest  of  the 
average  audience  because  of  its  subject  matter. 
Lloyd  Nolan  and  Carole  Landis  have  the  lead- 
ing roles. 

The  plot  is  a  bit  confusing  at  times,  as  it  is 
not  made  sufficiently  clear  whether  the  men  are 
American  soldiers  or  civilians  fighting  a  gueril- 
la warfare.  At  times  the}-  are  told  to  act  like 
soldiers  and  one  seems  to  have  more  rank  than 
another ;  then  a  few  moments  later  the}'  are  re- 
ferring to  their  fate  if  captured  by  the  Japs. 
But  their  costume  is  somewhat  like  a  uniform, 
thus  adding  to  the  impression  that  they  are 
soldiers. 

At  any  rate,  the  picture  is  replete  with  action 
and  thrills  and  it  undoubtedly  will  bring  cheers 
in  the  theatre,  especially  when  the  American 
flag  is  raised  over  the  compound  captured  by 
the  guerillas  from  the  Japs.  There  is  an  odd 
assortment  of  characters  in  the  company  who. 
one  by  one,  are  killed  as  the  picture  reaches  its 
climax.  The  misfortunes  of  the  present  war 
have  at  least  added  some  drama  to  the  picture. 
The  end  is  not  always  obvious.  In  this  picture 
the  Marines  don't  arrive  in  time  and  the  hero 
dies  in  performance  of  his  duty. 

The  acting  is  average  with  most  of  the  roles 
well  cast.  Sol  M.  Wurtzel  was  the  executive 
producer.  Herbert  I.  Leeds  directed  from  an 
original  screenplay  by  John  Larkin. 

Previewed  at  the  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
home  office  projection  room.  Reviewer' s  Rat- 
ing :  Fair. — R.  A.  W. 

Release  date,  October  16,  1942.  Running  time,  81 
min     PC\  Xo.  8577.    General  audience  classmcanon. 

Luckj-  Matthews   ..Lloyd  Nolan 

Edna  Fraser   Cajole  Landis 

Teff  Bailev    .  Cornel  Y\  tide 

Tom   O'Rourke   Ja™es  Glea£™ 

Martin  Koslock,  Ralph  Byrd.  Charles  Tannen,  Ted 
North,  Elisha  Cook,  Jr.,  Harold  Huber. 


THE  F.B.I.  FRONT  (20th-Fox) 

March  of  Time 

The  first  "March  of  Time"  release  under 
the  banner  of  Twentieth  Century-F°x  explores 
the  organization  and  activities  of  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Investigation  in  war  time.  After  a 
survey  of  the  preparations  made  by  the  bureau, 
under  the  direction  of  J.  Edgar  Hoover,  to  com- 
bat fifth-column  activities  long  before  Pearl 
Harbor,  the  film  is  devoted  to  a  reconstruction 
of  one  case  from  the  files.  This  narrative 
presentation  is  an  effective  variation  of  the 
usual  expository  style,  and  particularly  apt  in 
a  subject  which  cannot  be  widely  treated  be- 
cause of  the  necessity  of  secrecy.  The  case  is 
that  of  a  former  Bundist  and  agent  for  the 
collection  of  information  to  be  transmitted  to 
Germany.  The  actors  are  bona  fide  FBI  agents, 
a  fact  that  has  its  disadvantages  in  the  lack  of 
dramatic  ability-  displayed.  But  the  release 
should  gain  and  hold  attention  because  of  the 
widespread  interest  in  the  material  treated. 
Release  date,  September  11,  1942     20  minutes 


Product  Digest  Section     9  I  I 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


The  Moon  and  Sixpence 

(Loew-Lewin — United  Artists) 
Tragedy 

David  L.  Loew  and  Albert  Lewin's  latest  ef- 
fort for  United  Artists  release,  "The  Moon  and 
Sixpence,"  is  a  picture  the  merits  of  which  can 
best  be  determined  by  each  individual  exhibitor 
after  he  sees  it,  to  judge  it  from  all  aspects. 
There  are  various  items  of  consideration  in- 
volved in  the  film,  which  brings  to  the  screen 
W.  Somerset  Maugham's  noted  story  of  the 
iconoclastic  painter  whose  views  on  life,  and 
especially  women,  deviate  from  the  norm.  The 
marquee  names  in  the  film  are  George  Sanders 
and  Herbert  Marshall. 

The  plot  has  a  man  suddenly  break  up  his 
home,  leave  his  wife  and  two  children  to  fol- 
low an  irresistible  desire  to  paint.  He  destroys 
the  love  of  a  married  couple,  the  woman  com- 
mitting suicide  when  he  leaves  her  after  living 
with  her  for  some  time.  Later  he  becomes  a 
great  arist,  finding  a  brief  happiness  and  love 
when  he,  doomed  to  die  a  leper,  realizes  the 
depths  of  the  love  that  his  Tahitian  wife  has 
for  him. 

The  device  used  to  tell  the  story  is  that  of 
the  narrator  and  flashback,  Marshall  enacting 
the  role  of  a  famous  writer  who  upon  the  art- 
ist's death  sets  out  to  depict  the  type  of  person 
he  really  was.  First  pointing  out  that  he 
thought  "Strickland"  (the  artist)  a  contempti- 
ble fellow,  the  author  then  proceeds  to  tell 
what  he  knows  about  him. 

As  he  writes,  he  tells  of  Strickland's  study- 
ing in  Paris,  his  pointed  insults  to  acquaint- 
ances, the  affair  with  the  wife  of  the  couple 
that  rescued  him  from  starvation,  her  suicide 
when  he  departs  after  living  with  her,  the  un- 
dying love  of  the  husband  for  his  errant  spouse, 
Strickland's  going  to  Tahiti,  his  marriage  of 
convenience,  his  being  stricken  by  leprosy,  and 
his  painting  of  his  greatest  works  which  he 
has  had  destroyed  on  his  death. 

Mr.  Lewin,  who  directed,  also  wrote  the 
adaptation  of  the  Maugham  story,  retaining 
much  of  the  original  dialogue.  Supporting  Mar- 
shall and  Sanders  are  Steve  Geray,  outstanding 
as  the  Dutch  painter  whose  wife  the  artist 
steals ;  Elena  Verdugo,  equally  so  as  the  Ta- 
hitian girl ;  Doris  Dudley,  Eric  Blore,  Albert 
Basserman,  Molly  Lamont,  Florence  Bates, 
Heather  Thatcher,  Robert  Grieg,  Kenneth 
Hunter,  Irene  Tedrow.  Devi  Dja  and  her  Bali- 
Java  dancers  appear  in  the  South  Seas  se- 
quence. 

Sepia  tint  is  used  for  the  island  scenes,  with 
Kodachrome  footage  inserted  in  the  shots  show- 
ing the  artist's  work.  Producer  Loew  and  his 
associate,  Stanley  Kramer,  gave  the  film  an 
expensive  mounting. 

A  press  program  footnote  says :  "For  the 
first  time  nude  figures  will  appear  on  the 
screen  in  these  paintings.  After  the  Hays  office 
saw  the  part  they  played  in  the  picture,  they 
passed  the  paintings  with  only  one  request — 
that  the  backside  of  one  figure  have  a  leaf  or 
flower  over  it." 

Seen  at  a  Hollywood  projection  room.  Re- 
vieiver's  Rating  :  Fair. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  89  min.  PCA 
No.  8541.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Strickland    George  Sanders 

Geoffrey  Wolfe    Herbert  Marshall 

Dirk  Stroeve    Steve  Geray 

Doris  Dudley,  Eric  Blore,  Albert  Basserman,  Mollay 
Lamont,  Elena  Verdugo,  Florence  Bates,  Heather 
Thatcher,  Robert  Grieg,  Kenneth  Hunter,  Irene  Ted- 
row. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 

The  Battle  of  Midway 

(War  Activities  Committee — 

Distributed  by  20th  Century-Fox) 

Special  Short  Subject 

The  official  U.  S.  Navy  pictures  of  the 
Battle  of  Midway  last  June,  photographed  in 
color  by  Lieutenant  Commander  John  Ford, 

9 1  2     Product  Digest  Section 


former  Hollywood  director,  and  released  this 
week  through  the  War  Activities  Committee, 
make  one  of  the  best  newsreel  war  sequences 
so  far  released  in  a  war  notable  for  its  lack 
of  footage  of  actual  battle  scenes.  The  two- 
reel  special  subject  also  supplies  exhibitors 
with  War  Bond  selling  ammunition. 

The  subject  opens  with  peaceful  shots  of 
Midway  Island's  only  natives,  the  goney  birds, 
and  moves  quickly  into  the  excitement  of  the 
June  dawn  alarm,  the  takeoff  of  the  Flying 
Fortresses,  the  bombing  of  the  island  by  Japa- 
nese planes,  the  anti-aircraft  guns  in  action,  an 
enemy  plane  brought  down  in  flames,  and  the 
burning  of  one  of  the  U.  S.  hangars. 

Subsequent  scenes  show  the  action  at  sea  and 
the  tracking  down  of  the  remnants  of  the  scat- 
tered Japanese  fleet.  Closeups  of  many  of  the 
returning  fighter  pilots  follow  and  then  scenes 
of  the  rescue  of  plane  crews  downed  at  sea,  of 
funeral  services  for  those  who  died  in  action, 
and  closeups  of  the  commanding  officers,  in- 
cluding Major  James  Roosevelt. 

The  pictures  were  shot  on  16mm  Koda- 
chrome, but  prints  have  been  made  on  35mm 
Technicolor  at  a  cost  to  the  Navy  Department 
of  $59,000  for  500  prints.  The  finished  prints 
compare  favorably  with  original  Technicolor 
footage. 

The  editing,  score  and  dialogue  added  by 
Commander  Ford  in  Hollywood  were  designed 
to  give  the  picture  dramatic  unity  but  their  in- 
trusion conflicts  with  the  swiftness  of  the  ba- 
sically newsreel  material.  The  dialogue,  spoken 
by  Donald  Crisp,  Henry  Fonda  and  Jane  Dar- 
well,  is  at  its  best  when  it  confines  itself  to 
strict  news  elaboration  of  the  pictures  on  the 
screen.  Similarly  the  editing  is  below  the  gen- 
erally excellent  average  when  it  changes  the 
pace  of  the  picture's  inherent  action.  Unsteady 
frames  caused  by  bomb  explosions  near  the 
camera  are  left  in  the  picture  to  emphasize 
proximity  to  the  action  but  the  point  may  be 
lost  on  general  audiences. 

A  message  from  Francis  Harmon,  executive 
vice-president  of  the  WAC,  this  week  asked  all 
exhibitors  to  book  the  picture  for  War  Bond 
promotion.  The  committee  will  supply  the  names 
and  addresses  of  fliers  shown  in  the  picture. 
Physical  distribution  will  be  through  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  exchanges.  Running  time  is  17 
minutes. — J.  D.  I. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 


FEATURE  SYNOPSES 


SCATTERGOOD  SURVIVES 
A  MURDER 
(RKO  Radio) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Jerrold  T.  Brandt.  Directed  by 
Christy  Cabanne. 

PLAYERS:  Guy  Kibbee,  Margaret  Hayes,  John 
Archer,  Wallace  Ford. 

SYNOPSIS 

The  fifth  in  the  popular  "Scattergood  Baines" 
series,  based  on  a  story  by  Clarence  Buddington 
Kelland  in  the  American  Magazine,  concerns 
the  mysterious  death  of  two  spinsters.  Murder 
is  suspected  but  the  only  character  seeming  to 
benefit  by  the  foul  play  is  their  house  cat  who 
inherits  the  fortunes. 


DESTINATION  UNKNOWN 
(Universal) 

Spy  Melodrama 

ASSOCIATE  PRODUCER:  Marshall  Grant.  Directed 
by  Ray  Taylor. 

PLAYERS:   Irene   Hervey,   William   Gargan,  Felix 


Basch,  Donald  Stuart,  Sam  Levene,  Turhan  Bey, 
Charlie  Lung,  Willy  Fung. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  a  story  of  a  desperate  chase  from 
Japanese  lines  to  Chinese-held  territory  with  a 
shipment  of  war  material  the  prize.  The  sepa- 
rate secret  agents  are  a  Dutch  girl,  an  American 
adventurer  and  a  German  tool  suspected  by  his 
Japanese  superiors.  The  first  two  finally  com- 
bine forces  to  outwit  the  latter. 


THE  GREAT  IMPERSONATION 
(Universal) 

War  Melodrama 

ASSOCIATE  PRODUCER:  Paul  Malvern.  Directed 
by  John  Rawlins. 

PLAYERS:  Ralph  Bellamy,  Evelyn  Ankers,  Kaaren 
Verne,  Henry  Daniels,  Edward  Norris. 

SYNOPSIS 

Ralph  Bellamy  undertakes  a  double  imper- 
sonation in  this  story  of  the  Nazi  spy  ring  in 
England.  He  plays  both  an  Englishman  and  a 
German  who  greatly  resembles  him,  then  posing 
as  the  German  impersonating  the  Briton  al- 
though the  actual  circumstances  are  reversed. 
The  story  makes  use  also  of  the  Hess  flight  to 
England. 

JOURNEY  FOR  MARGARET 
(MGM) 

War  Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  B.  P.  Fineman.  Directed  by  Herbert 
Kline. 

PLAYERS:  Robert  Young,  Laraine  Day. 

SYNOPSIS 

A  war  correspondent  stationed  in  London  re- 
mains on  duty  throughout  the  bombing  of  the 
city,  first  sending  his  wife  back  to  the  United 
States,  whence  he  comes  later  on  bringing  two 
war  orphans.  The  plight  of  the  children  and 
the  stories  of  their  families  and  relatives  under 
the  blitz  are  blended  in  the  narrative. 

BOMBARDIER 
(RKO  Radio) 

War  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Robert  Fellows.  Directed  by  Richard 
Wallace. 

PLAYERS:  Pat  O'Brien,  Randolph  Scott,  Anne  Shir- 
ley, Walter  Reed,  Eddie  Albert. 

SYNOPSIS 

From  a  screenplay  by  John  Twist  RKO  has 
filmed  a  story  of  the  American  flying  forces,  in 
particular  of  the  men  who  pilot  the  bombing 
planes,  set  the  bombsights  and  rain  destruction 
upon  the  enemy.  Pat  O'Brien  is  featured  in 
the  title  role  of  this  action  drama. 


GREAT  WITHOUT  GLORY 
(Paramount) 

Biography 

PRODUCER-DIRECTOR:  Preston  Sturges. 
PLAYERS:  Joel  McCrea,  Betty  Field,  Harry  Carey, 
Franklin  Pangborn. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  a  biographical  treatment  of  the  life 
story  of  Dr.  William  T.  G.  Morton,  the  Boston 
dentist,  who  is  credited  with  the  discovery  and 
development  of  the  use  of  anesthesia  for  pur- 
poses of  surgery.  It  traces  his  career  from  boy- 
hood forward.  The  period  is  1868  and  thereto- 
fore. 


September    19,    19  42  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

FEATURES 

in  order  of  releases,  as  set, 
also  others  to  come 


For  1941-42  feature  product  in  sequence  of  release, 
company  by  company,  see  pages  878-879. 


COLUMBIA 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

  Counter   Espionage   Sep.  3,'42 

 The  Spirit  of  Stanford  Sep.  10. '42 

....A   Man's  World  Sep.  I7,'42 

  Lucky   Legs   Oct.    I, '42 

 The  Oaring  Young  Man  Oct.  8,'42 

 Smith   of   Minnesota  Oct.  15/42 

  You  Were  Never  Lovelier  Oct.  22,'42 

  The  Boogie  Man  Will  Get 

You   Oct.  29, '42 

 The    Cover    Girl  Not  Set 

....  Stand  By  All  Networks  Not  Set 

 A  Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Not  Set 

  Law  of  the  Badlands  Not  Set 

  Boston  Blaekie  Goes 

Hollywood   Not  Set 

 The   Fighting   Buckaroo  Not  Set 

  Laugh  Your  Blues  Away  Not  Set 

 Something  to  Shout  About. .  .Not  Set 

 Commandos  Come  at  Dawn. .  .Not  Set 

  Underground  Agent   Not  Set 

  Law  of  the  Northwest  Not  Set 

  How  Do  You  Do  Not  Set 

 The  Frightened  Stiff  Not  Set 

  Ride,    Mountie    Ride  Not  Set 

  Junior   Generals  Not  Set 

 City  Without  Men  Not  Set 

  Silver  City  Raiders  Not  Set 

GOLDWYN 

 They  Got  Me  Covered  Not  Set 

MGM 

302  Tish   Sep. -Oct.  '42 

305  A  Yank  at  Eton  Sep. -Oct. '42 

306  The  War  Against 

Mrs.   Hadley   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

307  Cairo   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

308  Seven  Sweethearts   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

...  Apache  Trail   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

...  Somewhere  I'll  Find  You. .  .Sep.-Oct.  '42 

...  Panama   Hattie   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

...  For  Me  and  My  Gal  Not  Set 

...  Eyes  In  the  Night  Not  Set 

...  Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  Not  Set 

...  Random  Harvest   Not  Set 

...  White  Cargo   Not  Set 

...  Reunion   Not  Set 

...  Journey  for  Margaret  Not  Set 

...  Whistling  in  Dixie  Not  Set 

  Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant. Not  Set 

  Presenting  Lily  Mars  Not  Set 

...  Lassie   Come-Home  Not  Set 

  Keeper  of  the  Flame  Not  Set 

.. .  Omaha  Trail   Not  Set 

...  Tennessee  Johnson   Not  Set 

...  Northwest  Rangers   Not  Set 

■•■  Pilot  No.  5  Not  Set 

...  Cargo  of  Innocents   Not  Set 

...  Assignment  in   Brittany  Not  Set 

...  Cabin  in  the  Sky  Not  Set 

...  Du  Barry  Was  a  Lady  Not  Set 

...  Three  Hearts  for  Julia  Not  Set 

...  The    Human   Comedy  Not  Set 

MONOGRAM 

...  One  Thrilling  Night  June   5, '42 

  Isle  of  Missing  Men  Sept.  I8.'42 

  Foreign  Agent   Oct.  9/42 

 Texas  to   Bataan  Oct.  1 6, '42 

  Criminal  Investigator   Oct.  23, '42 

...  Bowery  at  Midnight  Oct.  30,'42 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

  West  of  the   Law  Nov.  2/42 

  War  Dogs   Nov.  13, '42 

  'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge  Nov.  20, '42 

PARAMOUNT 

Block  l 

  Wake  Island   Not  Set 

 The  Major  and  the  Minor. .  .Not  Set 

  The   Glass   Key  Not  Set 

....  Wildcat   Not  Set 

  Priorities  on  Parade  Not  Set 

  Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  Not  Set 

  American  Empire   Not  Set 

  Palm  Beaeb  Story  Not  Set 

....  I  Married  i  Wlteh  Not  Set 

  Road  to  Morocco  Not  Set 

....  Mrs.  Wligs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch 

Not  Set 

  My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy. .  Not  Set 

  Street  of  Chance  Not  Set 

  The  Forest  Rangers   Not  Set 

  Young  and  Willing  Not  Set 

  Happy  Go  Lucky  Not  Set 

  Border  Patrol   Not  Set 

  Wrecking  Crew   Not  Set 

. .  Silver  Queen   Not  Set 

....  Great  Without  Glory  Not  Set 

....  For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls. ...  Not  Set 

  Lady  Bodyguard   Not  Set 

  No  Time  for  Love  Not  Set 

  Missing  Men   Not  Set 

  Submarine  Alert   Not  Set 

  Lost  Canyon   Not  Set 

  Leather  Burners   Not  Set 

  Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Not  Set 

  The  Crystal  Ball  Not  Set 

  Lucky  Jordan   Not  Set 

  Hoppy  Serves  a  Writ  Not  Set 

  Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour. .  Not  Set 

  Buckskin  Empire   Not  Set 

....  High   Explosive   Not  Set 

  Night  Plane  to  Chungking  Not  Set 

PRODUCERS  REL 
CORP. 

...  Baby  Face  Morgan  Sep.  15, '42 

...  Tomorrow  We   Live  Sep.  29, '42 

...  The  Yanks  Are  Coming  Oct.  I2,'42 

...  City  of  Silent  Men  Oct.  26, '42 

...  Secrets  of  a  Co- Ed  Not  Set 

...  Miss  V  from  Moscow  Not  Set 

...  Boss  of  Big  Town  Not  Set 

...  A  Night  for  Crime  Not  Set 

RKO 

...  The   Magnificent  Ambersons. . July  I0.M2 

...  The  Big  Street  Sep.   4, '42 

...  Mexican   Spitfire's   Elephant.  .Sep.  1 1, '42 

...  Wings  and  the  Woman  Sep.  I8,'42 

...  Bandit   Ranger   Sep.  25/42 

...  Highways  by  Night  Oct.  2/42 

...  Hero  We  Go  Again  Oct.  9/42 

...  Journey  Into  Fear  Not  Sot 

...  Army  Surgeon   Not  Set 


...  Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  Not  Set 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  The  Navy  Comes  Through  Not  Set 

..  Pride  of  the  Yankees  Not  Sot 

...  Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  Not  Set 

...  The  Falcon's  Brother   Not  Set 

...  Seven   Days   Leave  Not  Set 

...  Ladies  Day   Not  Set 

...  Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz  Not  Set 

...  Cat  People   Not  Set 

...  Tarzan  Triumphs   Not  Set 

. .  Stand  By  to  Die  Not  Set 

...  Bombardier   Not  Set 


REPUBLIC 

201  HI,  Neighbor  July  27/42 

271  Sombrero  Kid   July  31/42 

202  The  Old  Homestead   Aug.  17/42 

261  Shadows  on  the  Sage  Aug.  24/42 

203  Youth  on  Parade  Oct.  24/42 

272  Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge  Oct.  27/42 

...  Ice-Capades  Revue   Not  Set 

...  X    Marks  the  Spot  Not  Set 

.  ..  Johnny  Doughboy   Not  Set 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

Block  1 

301  Footlight  Serenade   Aug.  1/42 

302  A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  Aug.  7/42 

303  Little  Tokyo,   U.S.A  Aug.  14/42 

304  The   Pied    Piper  Aug.  21/42 

305  Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poo  Aug.  28/42 

Block  2 

308  Orchestra  Wives   Sep.  4/42 

311  Berlin  Correspondent   Sep.  11/42 

312  Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  Sep.  18/42 

310  Just   Off   Broadway  Sep.  25/42 

306  Iceland   Oct.  2/42 

Block  3 

309  Girl   Trouble   Oct.  9/42 

314  Manila  Calling   Oct.  16/42 

315  The   Man   in  the  Trunk  Oct.  23/42 

316  The  Young  Mr.  Pitt  Oct.  30/42 

317  Springtime  in  the  Rockies. ..  Nov.  6/42 

...  Tales  of  Manhattan   Not  Set 

...  Thunder  Birds   Not  Set 

...  The  Black  Swan  Not  Set 

...  The  Ox-Bow  Incident  Not  Set 

. . .  China  Girl   Not  Set 

...  That  Other  Woman  Not  Set 

...  He  Hired  the  Boss  Not  Set 

...  My  Friend   Flicka  Not  Set 

...  Dr.  Renault's  Secret  Not  Set 

. . .  Crash  Dive   Not  Set 

...  Undying  Monster   Not  Set 

...  Life  Begins  at  8:30  Not  Set 

...  The  Meanest  Man  In  the 

World   Not  Set 

...  Over  My  Dead  Body  Not  Set 

. . .  Brasher  Doubloon   Not  Set 

...  Quiet  Please,  Murder  Not  Set 

UNITED  ARTISTS 

.. .  One  of  Our  Aircraft 

Is  Missing   Not  Set 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  Lev*  ob  tht  Dole  Not  Set 

...  The  Keys  of  the  Kingdom.... Not  Sot 

...  The  Moon  and  Sixpence  Not  Set 

...  Mr.  &  Mrs.   Brooklyn  Not  Set 

...  The  Devil  with  Hitler  Not  Set 

. . .  Calaboose   Not  Set 

...  The  Blp  Blockade   Not  Set 

...  Taxi,  Mister   Not  Set 

...  Prairie  Chickens   Not  Set 

...  Fall  In   Not  Set 

...  Nazty  Nuisance   Not  Set 

. . .  Jacare   Not  Set 

UNIVERSAL 

  Between  Us  Girls  Sep.  4/42 

  Give  Out  Sisters  Sep.  11/42 

  Half  Way  to  Shanghai  Sep.  18/42 

  Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice 

of  Terror   Sep.  18/42 

 Sin  Town   Sep.  25/42 

7071  Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas.. Sep.  25/42 

  Get   Hep  to  Love  Oct.    2, '42 

  Destination  Unknown   Oot.  9/42 

....  Arabian  Nights   Oct.  16/42 

....  Nightmare   Oot.  23/42 

  Forever   Yours   Oot.  30/42 

7072  Little  Joe  the  Wrangler  Nov.  13/42 

...  The  Great  Impersonation  Not  Set 

  Destiny   Not  Set 

 Strictly  in  the  Grove  Not  Set 

 The  Mummy's  Tomb   Not  Set 

 Who  Done  it?  Not  Set 

  Off  the  Beaten  Track  Not  Set 

....  Raiders  of  San  Joaquin  Not  Set 

  Night  Monster   Not  Set 

  On  the  Beam  Not  Set 

  Moonlight  In  Havana  Not  Set 

....  Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Not  Set 

  Flesh  and   Fantasy  Not  Set 

 Tenting  Tonight  on  the  Old 

Camp  Ground   Not  Set 

 The  Old  Chisholm  Trail  Not  Set 

 Sherlock  Holmes  in 

Washington   Not  Set 

  Passing  the  Buck  Not  Set 

  Corvettes  In  Action  Not  Set 

  White  Savage   Not  Set 

  Pittsburgh   Not  Set 

  Cheyenne  Roundup   Not  Set 

WARNER  BROS. 

202  Across  the  Pacific  Sep.  5/42 

203  Busses  Roar   Sep.  19/42 

204  Desperate  Journey   Sep.  26/42 

...  You  Can't  Escape  Forever ....  Oct.  10/42 

...  Secret  Enemies   Oct.  17/42 

...  Now,  Voyager   Oct.  31/42 

...  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  Not  Set 

..  The  Hard  Way   Not  Set 

..  George  Washington  Slept  Here. Not  Set 

...  Casablanca   Not  Sot 

...  Gentleman  Jim   Not  Set 

...  Watch  on  the  Rhine  Not  Set 

..  Princess  O'Rourke   Not  Set 

..  Adventures  of  Mark  Twain. .  .Net  Set 

...  Flying  Fortress   Not  Set 

...  The  Hidden  Hand   Not  Set 

...  Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  Net  Set 

...  Edge  of  Darkness  Not  Set 

 The  Mysterious  Doctor  Not  Set 

..  The  Desert  Song   Net  Set 

. .  Air    Force   Not  Set 

..  The  Constant  Nymph   Not  Set 

...  Action  in  the  North  Atlantic.  Not  Set 

...  Murder    on    Wheels  Not  Set 

...  Background  to   Danger  Not  Set 

...  One   More   Tomorrow  Not  Set 

...  Mission  to  Moscow  Not  Set 


Product  Digest  Section      9  I  3 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    19,    I  942 


Flying  Fortress 

(Warner  Brothers) 
War  Drama 

Probably  the  most  expensively  made  of  War- 
ners British  productions,  and  certainly  the  most 
possessed  of  established  entertainment  ingredi- 
ents, this  is  something  more  than  just  a  war 
film.  It  exploits  the  war — and  the  appeal  of 
the  R.A.F.  plus  U.S.  aid — but  its  story  values 
and  its  sallyings  forth  down  the  avenues  of 
romance,  thrill,  gentle  satire,  and  spectacular 
action  give  it  something  more  than  merely  _  a 
war  flavor.  In  Britain  at  any  rate,  with  its 
saleable  title  and  passages  and  people  of  the 
kind  which  provoke  word-of-mouth  publicity, 
the  film  should  play  right  into  the  showman's 
hands.  In  the  U.  S.  it  should  help  to  answer 
many  questions  about  Britain  at  war. 

The  story  is  of  an  American  playboy  who 
finds  his  real  self  in  flying  bombers  to  Britain, 
and  later  in  the  R.A.F.  itself.  There  is  the  girl 
newspaper  reporter  who  housebreaks  to  get  her 
story  for  the  tabloid,  misunderstandings,  regrets 
— and  of  course  an  ultimate  reunion.  It  -has 
both  an  American  and  a  British  setting  and  the 
flavors  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  taste  au- 
thentic. Richard  Greene  is  the  playboy,  and  a 
comparative  newcomer,  but  a  charming  and  in- 
telligent one,  Carla  Lehmann,  is  partner  in 
romance. 

Technically  the  film  is  very  competent  and 
Walter  Forde's  direction  extremely  capable. 

Jim   Spence  Richard  Greene 

Sydney  Kelly  Carla  Lehmann 

Sydney  King,  Basil  Radford,  Joss  Ambler,  Edward 
Rigby,  Billy  Hartnell,  Donald  Stewart,  Betty  Stockfield, 
Charles  Heslop. 

Complete  review  published  June  27,  1942 


The  Class  Key 


(  Paramount) 
Politics  and  Gangsters 

A  good  cast  has  done  its  best  with  this  mate- 
rial which  starts  out  as  a  gangster  picture, 
turns  into  a  murder  mystery  and  again  becomes 
a  gangster  film  before  its  conclusion.  The  lead- 
ing players,  whose  recent  performances  should 
enhance  their  standing  at  the  box  office,  seem 
to  be  in  some  doubt  at  times  just  what  their 
attitude  should  be. 

The  story  is  principally  concerned  with  Brian 
Donlevy,  an  uncouth  politician ;  his  sister,  Bon- 
ita  Granville;  the  daughter  of  his  political  ally, 
Veronica  Lake,  and  her  brother,  Richard  Den- 
ning. Donlevy  falls  in  love  with  Miss  Lake 
while  Bonita  long  has  been  enamored  of  Den- 
ning. But  the  latter  becomes  involved  with 
gamblers  and  after  Donlevy  remonstrates  with 
him,  the  former  is  suspected  when  Denning  _  is 
found  dead.  From  that  point  the  picture  in- 
volves the  desperate  attempts  of  Alan  Ladd, 
friend  of  Donlevy,  to  extricate  him  from  what 
appears  to  be  "a  bum  rap"  although  Donlevy 
admits  to  the  crime  with  a  lack  of  sincerity 
indicating  that  he  is  shielding  someone. 

The  picture's  direction  by  Stuart  Heisler 
might  have  been  smoother.  Some  of  the  scenes 
have  an  insincere  ring. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. 

Paul   Madvig  Brian  Donlevy 

Janet  Henry  Veronica  Lake 

Alan  Ladd.  Bonita  Granville,  Joseph  Calleia,  Richard 
Denning. 

CrmibUte  review  published  August  29,  1942 

One  Thrilling  Night 

(Monogram) 
Humorous  Honeymoon 

Producer  A.  W.  Hackel  is  not  the  first 
maker  of  films  to  find  humor  in  the  momen- 
tary thwartings  of  a  pair  of  newlyweds,  but 
he's  one  of  the  first  to  make  them  steadily 
entertaining  for  69  minutes  without  stepping 
over  the  borderline  of  taste  or  spending  a  mil- 
lion  dollars   in   the  doing. 

John  Beal  and  Wanda  McKay  enact  the 
honeymooners,  in  New  York  from  upstate  for 
one  night  of  wedded  bliss  before  he's  to  join 


Tabloid  Reviews 

Reviews  appearing  on  pages  914 
and  915  are  condensed  versions  of  re- 
views of  1942-43  product  appearing 
in  Product  Digest  prior  to  the  issue 
of  September  5,  1942.  They  are  car- 
ried for  their  reference  value. 


the  army,  and  they  miss  nary  a  laugh  for  keep- 
ing it  clean.  The  complications  begin  with 
their  finding  of  a  cadaver  in  their  bed,  and 
multiply  to  include  their  capture  by  gangsters, 
their  escape,  a  series  of  disappearances  by  the 
cadaver,  which  turns  out  to  be  alive,  and  so  on, 
none  of  these  being  routine  and  all  making 
sense  in  a  degree  beyond  the  custom  in  com- 
edies. 

Horace  Jason  John  Beall 

Millie   Jason  Wanda  McKay 

Warren  Hymer,  J.  Farrell  MacDonald.  Barbara  Pep- 
per, Tom  Neal,  Ernie  Adams,  Lynton  Brent. 

Complete  review  published  July  4,  1942 


Strictly  in  the  Groove 

(Universal) 
Musical 

Another  of  Universal's  little  musical  come- 
dies, this  one  is  little  more  than  an  expanded 
band  short,  a  series  of  musical  numbers,  songs 
and  dances  held  loosely  together  by  a  dull  and 
inconsequential  story. 

Bob  Saunders  (Richard  Davies)  on  gradu- 
ating from  college,  prefers  piano  playing  in 
an  orchestra  (Ozzie  Nelson's)  to  entering  the 
restaurant  business  with  his  father  (Russell 
Hicks).  Disowned  he  finds  himself  in  Ari- 
zona with  the  band  playing  at  a  competitive 
resort  to  one  of  his  father's  properties.  Father 
goes  to  Arizona,  sees  the  boy  is  making  good 
without  his  help  and  is  won  over. 

Vernon  Keays  did  the  best  he  could  with 
a  script  by  Veni  Higgins  and  Warren  Wilson. 
Joseph  G.  Sanford  was  associate  producer  and 
John  W.  Boyle  photographed. 

Sally   Mary  Healey 

Bob  Saunders  Richard  Davies 

Durham   Leon  Errol 

Shemp  Howard,  Grace  McDonald,  Russell  Hicks, 
Martha  Tilton,  Eddie  Johnson,  O'zzie  _  Nelson  and 
His  Orchestra,  the  Dinning  Sisters  and  Jimmy  Wake- 
ly  and  his  Cowboy  Band. 

Complete  review  published  July  4,  1942 

Priorities  on  Parade 

(Paramount) 
Swinging  for  Victory 

Once  you're  over  the  initial  improbability  of 
a  swing  band  booking  a  defense  factory  and 
signing  up  for  the  assembly  line  to  practice  in 
their  free  time,  you'll  find  "Priorities  on  Pa- 
rade" an  entertaining  little  musical  with  some 
tuneful  songs,  clever  dances  and  ingratiating 
performers. 

The  "Solid  Seven"  were  down  on  their  luck 
and  had  hoped  to  work  in  the  plant  at  their  own 
trade.  They  accepted  other  work,  except  for 
Ann  Miller,  who  decided  to  sing  for  a  neighbor- 
hood night-club,  strictly  from  hunger.  Johnnie 
Johnston,  their  leader,  is  apprenticed  to  a  tough 
welder  who  turns  out  to  be  an  attractive  wo- 
man. His  attempts  to  counteract  their  first  im- 
pressions of  each  other,  her  rivalry  with  the 
songstress  and  the  band's  gradual  awakening  to 
the  bigger  job  to  be  done  make  up  the  plot. 
The  finale  is  an  elaborate  entertainment  staged 
at  the  factory,  providing  opportunities  for  Ann 
Miller  to  dance,  Betty  Rhodes  to  sing  and  the 
band  to  "send." 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. 

Donna  D'Arcy  Ann  Miller 

Johnny   Draper  Johnnie  Johnston 

Lee  Davis  Betty  Rhodes 

Jerry  Colonna.  Vera  Vague,  Harry  Barris,  Eddie 
Quillan,  Dave  Willock,  Nick  Cochrane.  Rod  Cameron 
and  the  Debonaires. 

Complete  review  published  August  1,  1942 


The  Young  Mr.  Pitt 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox — British ) 
Historical  Drama 

This  is  a  screen  biography  of  one  of  Britain's 
greatest  Prime  Ministers,  but  a  man  whose 
career  is  not  an  open  book  save  to  the  better 
educated.  It  has  certain  definite  points  of  ap- 
peal. It  has  the  obvious  and  emphatic  one  of 
Robert  Donat,  among  the  British  industry's 
Ten  Best,  and  it  has  a  certain  parallel  with 
present-day  conditions  and  political  affairs.  It 
is  a  well  made  film,  spectacular,  and  pagean- 
tried,  both  personal  and  political,  well  acted. 
It  carries  unceasing  concentration  on  the  politi- 
cal and  military  aspects  of  Pitt's  career.  Ro- 
mance plays  a  lesser  role ;  so  some  women  may 
find  implied  suggestion  that  a  personable  young 
man  could  have  been  more  exciting  in  his  loves. 

The  wars  against  Napoleon  are  obvious  paral- 
lels with  today's  war  against  the  Axis.  All 
through  the  drama  the  parallels  crop  up, 
speeches  which  might  have  been  spoken  today, 
situations  which  forecast  the  present,  figures 
foreshadowing  the  spectres  of  1942. 

Donat  is  urgent  and  sincere  as  the  Younger 
Pitt  and  his  speeches  are  worth  the  listening. 
Robert  Morley,  a  greasy,  suave  Charles  James 
Fox,  Raymond  Lovell,  in  a  comedy  King  role, 
Albert  Lieven  as  Talleyrand,  John  Salew  as 
the  irreproachable  shadow,  Smith,  are  some 
who  stand  out  of  an  excellent  and  earnest  cast. 

The  Earl  of  Chatham  1   Robert  Donat 

William  Pitt  j 

Charles  James  Fox  Robert  Morley 

Eleanor   Eden  Phyllis  Calvert 

William   Wilberforce   John  Mills 

George  III  Raymond  Lovell 

Talleyrand    Albert  Lieven 

Lord    Nelson  Stephen  Haggard 

Napoleon    Herbert  Lom 

Complete  review  published  July  4,  1942. 

The  Loves  of  Edgar 
Allan  Poe 

(Twentieth  Century  -  Fox) 
Costume  Drama 

The  loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  according  to 
this  latest  attempt  to  portray  a  literary  legend 
on  the  screen  were,  first,  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  and 
then,  in  chronological  order,  Mrs.  Allan,  El- 
mira  Royster,  Virginia  Clem,  the  copyright  law 
and  strong  drink.  None  of  these  ever  manages 
to  capture  the  sympathy  or  sustained  interest 
of  the  audience. 

The  cast,  including  John  Shepperd  as  Poe, 
and  Linda  Darnell  as  Virginia,  is  beautifully 
costumed  and  cannot  be  blamed  for  failure  to 
make  the  stilted  dialogue  significant.  Director 
Harry  Lachman,  too,  is  limited  by  the  script. 

Edgar  Allan  Poe  John  Shepperd 

Virginia  Clem  Linda  Darnell 

Virginia  Gilmore,  Jane  Darwell,  Mary  Howard,  Frank 
Conroy,    Henry   Morgan,    Walter  Kingsford. 

Complete  review  published  July  11,  1942 

Secret  Enemies 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Spy  Melodrama 

When  his  best  friend,  an  FBI  agent,  is  mur- 
dered by  poison  gas  in  a  hotel  room  to  which 
he  took  him,  a  young  attorney  joins  the  FBI 
and  tracks  down  a  ring  of  German  spies  in 
New  York  City.  That  is  the  story  of  "Secret 
Enemies,"  a  double  bill  item.  The  new  agent 
manages  with  the  help  of  others  to  round  up 
the  ring,  which  uses  a  hotel  owner,  whose 
wife  is  in  Germany,  as  a  "front." 

The  screenplay  by  Raymond  L.  Schrock  tele- 
graphs the  succeeding  events.  Ben  Stoloff  was 
the  director. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. 

Craig  Stevens  Carl  Becker 

Faye   Emerson  Paul  Fengler 

John  Ridgely  John  Trent 

Charles  Lang,  Robert  Warwick.  Frank  Reicher,  Rex 
Williams,    Frank    Wilcox,    George    Meeker,  Rol.ir.^ 
Drew,  Addison  Richards,  Cliff  Clark,  Monte  Blue. 
Complete  review  published  August  22,  1942 


9  1 4     Product  Digest  Section 


September    19,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Panama  Hattie 

(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  ) 
Stage  Musical 

A  stage  musical  comedy  photographed,  this 
reflects  the  limitations  of  the  stage ;  the  rigid- 
ity and  the  cliches  of  theatre  showmanship. 
Made  on  a  few  sets,  and  liberally  interspersed 
with  song,  dance  and  comedy  routines,  it  is  a 
pleasant  evening's  entertainment. 

The  superb  comedy  talents  of  Red  Skelton 
seem  here  to  have  been  subdued  by  the  theme. 
As  one  of  a  trio  of  comedy  sailors,  and  with 
an  exceedingly  stupid  character  to  portray, 
Skelton  gives  no  indication  of  that  ability  to 
hold  a  lead  part  for  more  than  an  hour,  which 
he  demonstrated  in  "Whistling  in  the  Dark." 
Ann  Sothern  is  pretty  and  convincing  as  Pan- 
ama Hattie,  a  natural  and  sincere  dance  hall 
girl ;  but  because  the  plot  is  so  slight,  Miss 
Sothern  is  but  a  pretty  manikin  who  several 
times  sings,  makes  faces  and  dances. 

The  plot  revolves  about  the  loves  and  quar- 
rels between  Dan  Dailey.  Jr.,  and  Miss  Soth- 
ern. His  daughter,  Jackie  Horner,  complicates 
their  attachment  by  finding  Miss  Sothern's 
posture,  walk,  speech  and  clothing  funny.  Miss 
Sothern  is  irked  to  the  point  of  leaving  Pan- 
ama.  But  all  ends  well. 

Reviewer's  rating:  Good. 

"Red"   Red  Skelton 

Hattie   Maloney  Ann  Sothern 

"Rags"   "Rags"  Ragland 

"Rowdy"   Ben  Blue 

Marsha  Hunt.  Virginia  O'Brien.  Alan  Mowbray, 
Dan  Dailey.  Jr.,  Jackie  Horner.  Carl  Esmond,  Lena 
Home,  James  Berry,  Warren  Berry,  Nyas  Berry. 

Complete  review  published  July  25,  1942 

The  Pride  of  the  Yankees 

(RKO  Radio  -  Goldwyn) 
The  Tragedy  of  Lou  Gehrig 

A  line  in  the  dialogue  of  this  biography  of 
the  late  Lou  Gehrig  places  at  50,000,000  the 
number  of  Americans  interested  in  baseball  and 
its  heroes,  but  it  is  not  in  Samuel  Goldwyn  to 
restrict  himself,  his  picture  or  his  customers 
to  any  such  limited  circle  as  that.  He  has 
equipped  his  production,  therefore,  with  items 
of  interest  to  a  variety  of  publics,  in  addition 
to  baseball's,  and  has  pointed  it  squarely  at 
the  tear-ducts  of  the  whole  population. 

Producer  Goldwyn  unfolds  to  them  what  Run- 
yon's  foreword  describes  with  accuracy  as  "the 
story  of  a  hero  of  the  peaceful  paths  of  every- 
day life."  Being  just  that,  the  narrative  con- 
tains no  incidents  of  melodramatic  intensity, 
save  those  moments  of  diamond  history  which 
are  lifted  from  the  records  of  the  game  for 
filming,  and  makes  its  way  quietly  through  a  se- 
quence of  gentle  passages  which  pile,  one  upon 
another,  bits  of  the  Gehrig  family  background. 
These  serve  to  document  the  Gehrig  case  and 
endear  the  Gehrig  personality  in  preparation 
for  the  farewell  address,  filmed  in  conformity 
with  the  actual  events  which  occurred  on  June 
4,  1939,  which  brings  the  picture  to  its  close — 
and  the  audience  to  a  flood  of  tears  which  are 
tears  no  less,  whether  shed  for  the  dead  Gehrig 
or  the  living  Cooper. 

Lou  Gehrig  Gary  Cooper 

Mrs.  Gehrig  Teresa  Wright 

Sam  Blake  Walter  Brennan 

Babe  Ruth,  Dan  Duryea.  Elsa  Tanssen.  Ludwig  Stos- 
sel,  Virginia  Gilmore.  Bill  Dickey,  Ernie  Adams. 

Complete  review  published  July  4,  1942 


Footlight  Serenade 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Musical  Comedy 

This  is  one  of  those  strikes  across  the  heart 
of  the  plate  that  not  even  the  bleacherites  find 
fault  with. 

It's  got  song,  dance  and  humor  in  a  blending 
and  routining  that  makes  each  profit  the  other. 

It's  got  Betty  Grable  dancing  and  singing, 
John  Payne  singing  and  boxing,  Victor  Mature 
boxing  and  bombasting,  Cobina  Wright,  Jr., 
singing  and  acting,  and  Phil  Silvers  displaying 


at  last  upon  the  screen  in  full  his  talent  for 
comedy. 

It's  about  a  pugilist  who  is  starred  in  a  musi- 
cal show  and  uses  his  influence  to  bring  about 
stardom  for  a  showgirl  he's  in  love  with,  with- 
out knowing  she's  married  to  a  fellow  member 
of  the  company.  Most  of  the  things  which 
might  be  expected  to  happen  under  those  cir- 
cumstances don't  happen,  but  some  unexpected 
ones  do. 

Bill   Smith  John  Payne 

Pat  Lambert  Betty  Grable 

Victor  Mature,  Jane  Wyman.  James  Gleason,  Cobina 
Wright.  Jr..  June  Lang,  Frank  Orth,  Manton  More- 
land,  Irving  Bacon,  Charles  Tannen,   George  Dobbs. 

Complete  review  published  July  11,  1942 


Cairo 

(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 
Intrigue  with  Music 

Dedicated  "irreverently"  to  the  unsung 
heroes,  the  writers  of  spy  melodramas,  this  is  a 
travesty  on  espionage.  It  recounts  how  a  small 
town  newspaperman,  assigned  as  a  war  cor- 
respondent, becomes  involved  in  spy  activities  in 
Cairo,  and  unwittingly  becomes  the  dupe  for 
foreign  agents.  There  he  makes  the  acquain- 
tance of  a  famous  Hollywood  motion  picture 
star,  who,  he  had  been  led  to  believe,  is  the 
leader  of  a  spy  ring.  She  in  turn  suspects  him 
and  the  two  innocents  carry  on  their  little  game 
while  the  real  spies  go  merrily  about  their 
business. 

Jeanette  MacDonald  is  the  motion  picture 
star  and  she  sings  several  songs  in  the  course 
of  the  proceeding.  Robert  Young  plays  the 
misguided  small  town  newspaperman. 

A  trade  press  audience  found  the  picture  very 
amusing  at  times.    Reviewer  s  Rating :  Good. 

Marcia   Warren  Jeanette  MacDonald 

Homer   Smith  Robert  Young 

Cleona   Jones  Ethel  Waters 

Reginald  Owen,  Grant  Mitchell.  Lionel  Atwill.  Ed- 
ward Ciannelli,  Mitchell  Lewis,  Dooley  Wilson. 

Complete  revieiv  published  August  15,  1942 


Careful,  Soft  Shoulders 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Washington  Spy  Story 

Polish  in  production,  performance  and  pre- 
sentation imparts  a  deal  of  fascination  to  this 
story  of  espionage  in  the  nation's  capital,  and 
it  is  not  until  near  the  end  that  it  breaks  into 
melodramatics  that  discount  these. 

Virginia  Bruce,  whose  off-screen  voice  tells 
much  of  the  story  in  a  chatty  way,  makes 
the  character  of  a  Washington  society  girl  mis- 
led into  helping  a  Nazi  ring,  under  the  delusion 
that  she  is  aiding  the  U.  S.  Secret  Service,  a 
credible  and  interesting  thing. 

James  Ellison  and  Aubrey  Mather  head  well- 
chosen  support. 

Walter  Morosco  produced  and  got  a  lot  out 
of  his  budget. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. 

Connie  Mather  Virginia  Bruce 

Thomas  Aldrich  James  Ellison 

Aubrey  Mather,  Sheila  Ryan.  Ralph  Byrd,  Sigurd 
Tor,  Charles  Tannen.  William  B.  Davidson. 

Complete  review  published  August  15,  1942 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant 

(RKO  Radio) 
Farce 

"Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant"  is  the  best  of 
the  series  of  the  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  vehi- 
cles as  far  as  entertainment  quality  and  produc- 
tion values  are  concerned.  A  merger  of  slap- 
stick and  farce,  plus  the  unique  factor  of  an 
actor  playing  a  triple  role  in  full  knowledge  of 
the  audience,  the  film  kept  a  Los  Angeles  thea- 
tre audience  in  a  constant  state  of  the  type  of 
merriment  that  gives  the  most  exercise  to  the 
abdominal  muscles. 

Miss  Velez  and  Errol  again  play  their  usual 


roles,  she  as  a  fiery  Latin  American  married  to 
an  American,  and  he  that  of  her  uncle  by  mar- 
riage, a  British  nobleman  and  the  uncle's  im- 
personation of  the  nobleman.  The  plot  this 
time  deals  with  efforts  of  two  criminals,  a 
blonde  and  her  lover — to  inveigle  the  nobleman 
to  smuggle  a  trinket  which  contains  a  valuable 
gem  into  the  United  States. 
Reviewer' s  Rating  :  Good. 

Carmelita   Lupe  Velez 

ford   Epping)  r^,  Errol 

Uncle  Matt  i 

Walter  Reed,  Elisabeth  Risdon,  Lydia  Bilbrook,  Marion 
Martin,  Lyle  Talbot,  Luis  Alberni,  George  Cleveland. 

Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 


A  Yank  at  Eton 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  ) 
Mickey  at  Eton 

This  time  it's  Mickey  in  "college" — but  it's 
Eton  in  England  he  goes  to,  instead  of  Notre 
Dame  in  the  U.  S.  A.  And  he  is  disappointed. 
The  result  is  well  indicated,  including  his  re- 
sentment, not  only  at  his  transfer  from  a  Cali- 
fornia high  school,  but  also  against  the  wealthy 
Englishman,  Ian  Hunter,  who  had  married  his 
mother  and  so  brought  the  change  in  plans, 
and  against  the  queer,  and  to  him,  unfair,  cus- 
toms pervading  the  ancient  system  of  Eton. 

However,  Mickey  learns.  His  rebellions  are 
portrayed  as  natural ;  the  "beatings"  of  lower 
boys  by  upper  class  boys  in  the  English  "pub- 
lic school"  are  not  glossed  or  explained.  It 
is  Mickey's  crassness  which  is  explained,  and 
his  change  which  is  the  story. 

He  cannot  change  the  bullying  upper  boys, 
nor  his  half  brother,  Freddie  Bartholomew ; 
nor  the  cringing  lower  boys ;  nor  his  immensely 
tolerant  headmaster,  Edmund  Gwenn.  He  can 
only  perceive  it  is  all  in  the  training  of  "men," 
the  inculcation  of  that  discipline  which  they  will 
inflict  upon  others  in  ruling  the  British  Em- 
pire. 

The  picture  is  a  moderately  successful  ex- 
ploitation of  Eton  life,  with  Mickey  and  his  pals 
an  immensely  successful  leavening,  with  several 
uproarious  scenes. 

Reveiwer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Timothy  Dennis  Mickey  Rooney 

Justin   Edmund  Gwenn 

Roger  Carlton  Ian  Hunter 

Peter   Carlton  Freddie  Bartholomew 

Marta  Linden,  Juanita  Quigley,  Alan  Mowbray.  Peter 
Lawford,  Raymond  Severn,  Tina  Thayer. 

Complete  review  published  August  15,  1942 


Desperate  Journey 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Three  Musketeers  1942 

Errol  Flynn,  Ronald  Reagan  and  associates, 
whose  names  make  for  sale  of  tickets,  engage 
here  in  a  1942  treatment  of  the  three  mus- 
keteers idea  packed  with  action,  shorn  of  ro- 
mance and  utilizing  the  third  Reich  for  terrain. 

The  screenplay  by  Arthur  T.  Horman  opens 
with  the  sending  of  a  British  bomber  over  Ger- 
many. It  accomplishes  its  mission,  but  crashes 
in  that  country,  killing  all  but  five  of  its  crew. 
These  are  captured,  escape,  then  make  their 
way  through  a  series  of  adventures  toward  Hol- 
land, where  they  seize  a  British  plane  from 
the  Nazis  and  fly  back  to  England  with  mili- 
tary information  acquired. 

Produced  by  Hal  Wallis  and  directed  by 
Raoul  Walsh,  the  picture  has  speed,  expense 
and  a  world  of  action,  plus  a  list  of  names  that 
recommend  themselves  as  marquee  copy.  Its 
weakness  as  entertainment  save  for  the  devo- 
tees of  fisticuffs  seems  to  stem  from  its  depict- 
ment  of  the  Nazis  as  dullards,  bunglers  and 
softies. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Flight  Lt.  Terrence  Forbes  Errol  Flynn 

Flying  Officer  Johnny  Hammond  Ronald  Reagan 

Kaethe   Brahms   Nancy  Coleman 

Major  Otto  Baumeister  Raymond  Massey 

Alan  Hale,  Arthur  Kennedy,  _  Sig  Rumann.  Patrick 
O'Moore,  Ronald  Sinclair,  Louis  Arco.  Charles  Irwin. 

Complete  review  published  August  22,  1942 


Product  Digest  Section     9 1 5 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 


Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product. 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail- 
able. Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change. 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers' 
Round  Table  Exploitation. 


All  page  numbers  on  this  chart  refer  to  pages  in  the 
PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 
on  pages  900-901. 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 
by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  913. 


i 


Prod. 

Title  Company  Number 

•  ABOUT  Face  UA-Roach   

Across  the  Pacific  WB  202 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The  MGM  245 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force  WB   

•  Alias  Boston  Blackie  Col.  3029 
A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  20th-Fox  302 

•  Almost  Married  Univ.  6024 
American  Empire  Para.  .... 

Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  MGM   

Apache  Trail  MGM  .... 

Arabian  Nights  Univ.  .... 

•  Are  Husbands  Necessary?  Para.  4131 
Arizona  Stagecoach  Mono.  .... 
Army  Surgeon  RKO  .... 
Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  WB  .... 

•  Atlantic  Convoy  Col.  3045 

BABY  Face  Morgan  PRC  317 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills  Col.  3207 

•  Bambi  (color)  RKO 
Bandit  Ranger  RKO 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The  RKO  221 
•Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

(formerly  Kukan) 

Battle  for  Siberia  Artkino 

•Beachcomber,  The  Para.  4139 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano  Rep. 
Berlin  Correspondent  20th-Fox  311 
Between  Us  Girls  Univ. 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses,  Caroline) 

•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)    Para.  4130 

•  Big  Shot,  The  WB  135 
Big  Street,  The  RKO   

•  Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order    PRC  261 

•  Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns  PRC  260 
Black  Swan,  The  (color)  20th-Fox  .... 

•  Blondie's  Blessed  Event  Col.  3018 

•  Blondie  for  Victory  Col.  3019 
Bombardier  RKO  .... 

•Bombs  Over  Burma  PRC  208 

•  Boot-hill  Bandits  Mono.  .... 
•Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa  Univ.  .... 

Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood     Col.  .... 

•Bride  of  Buddha  Hoffberg 
(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•  Broadway  Univ.  6009 
Busses  Roar  WB  203 

CAIRO  MGM 

Calaboose  UA  .... 

Call  of  the  Canyon  Rep.  131 

•  Calling  Dr.  Gillespie  MGM  247 
Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  20th-Fox  312 
Cargo  of  Innocents  MGM  .... 
Casablanca  WB 

Ch  ina  Girl  20th-Fox  .... 

City  of  Silent  Men  PRC  308 

•Come  On,  Danger  RKO  285 

•Corpse  Vanishes,  The  Mono.  .... 

Counter  Espionage  Col.  .... 

Cover  Girl,  The  Col  

•Crossroads  MGM  244 

•Cyclone  Kid,  The  Rep.  177 

•DANGER  in  the  Pacific  Univ.  6056 

Daring  Young  Man,  The  Col.  .... 


Release 

Stars  Date 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer  Apr.  17/42 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor  Sept.  5, '42 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson  Aug.  '42 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young  Not  Set 

Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara  Apr.  2, '42 

Laurel  and  Hardy  Aug.  7, '42 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee  May  22, '42 

Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo  Not  Set 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone  Not  Set 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall  Oct.  1 6, '42 

Ray  Milland-Betty  Field  Block  7 

The  Range  Busters  Sept.  4,'42 

James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt  Not  Set 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

John  Beal-Virginia  Field  July  2, '42 

Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell  Sept.  1 5, '42 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Aug.  1 3, '42 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon  Aug.  2 1, '42 

Tim  Holt  Sept.25,'42 

Lum  and  Abner  Apr.  24,'42 

Chinese  Feature  Not  Set 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin  Aug.  26,'42 

Charles  Laughton  Reissue 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Sept.  1 5, '42 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore  Sept.  I  I, '42 
Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings       Sept.  4,'42 


Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 
Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 
Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 
Buster  Crabbe-AI  St.  John 
Buster  Crabbe-AI  St.  John 
Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne 
Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 
Corrigan-King-Terhune 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 
R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 


Block  6 
June  I3,'42 
Sept.  4, '42 
Aug.  28,'42 
May  29,'42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  9,'42 
Aug.  6,'42 
Shirley  Not  Set 
June  5, '42 
Apr.  24,'42 
Aug.  21/42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  22/42 


George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien  May  8/42 

Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop  Sept.  19/42 

Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Aug.  5/42 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn  Aug.,  '42 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison  Sept.  18/42 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor  Not  Set 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney  Not  Set 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang  Oct.  26/42 

Tim  Holt  June  5/42 

Bela  Lugosi  May  8/42 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Sept.  3/42 

Jinx  Falkenburg  Not  Set 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr  July,  '42 

Don  "Red"  Barry  May  31/42 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo  July  10/42 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman  Oct.  8/42 


Running 
Time 
43  m 
98m 
66  m 


67  m 
67m 
65  m 


66m 
79m 

66m 

65  m 

70m 

77m 
61m 

90m 
89m 
73m 
70m 
89m 

76m 
80m 
87m 
58m 
58m 

69m 
70m 

65  m 
58m 
58m 

75m 

91m 
61m 


71m 
84m 

69m 


64m 
63  m 


84m 
56m 

56m 


f-  REVIEWED  -n 

M.  P.  Product  Advance 

Herald  Digest  Synopsis 

Issue  Page  Page 

Apr.  18/42  612 

Aug.  22/42  853  726 

May  23/42  673  613 


July  11/42 
Mar.  7/42 


July  1 1/42 

July  25/42 

May  30/42 

Mar.  21/42 
July  5/41 

Sept.  5/42 
Nov.  26/38 
Sept.  19/42 
Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  29/42 

May  9/42 
June  6/42 
Aug.  8/42 

Aug.  22/42 

July  4/42 

July  18/42 

Sept!  19/42 

May  13/33 

May  9/42 
Aug.  22/42 

101m        Aug.  15/42 


Aug.  22/42 
June  20/42 
Aug.  15/42 


June  27/42 
Aug.  15/42 


766 
554 


June  27/42  737 
June  13/42  714 


765 

903 

685 

563 
840 

889 
91 1 
909 
838 
890 

646 
714 
902 

854 

750 

781 

911 

634 

645 
903 

915 

853 
725 
915 


Sept.  12/42  898 
Apr.  18/42  611 


737 
840 


575 


871 
796 
726 
872 
663 

70  i 

751 


487 


797 
772 

527 
648 
701 

648 
855 
575 
772 
912 
648 
613 

794 


Aug.  8/42  827 


800 
715 

871 

872 

871 

663 
701 

87  i 


Service 
Data 
Page 


756 


873 


795 


795 
756 


756 


873 


873 


9 1  6     Product  Digest  Section 


September    19,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


REVIEWED 


Title  Company 

Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gon'l 

Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas  Univ. 

Desert  Song,  The  WB 

Desperados,  The  Col. 

•  Desperate  Chance  for  Ellery  Queen  Col. 
Desperate  Journey  WB 
Destination  Unknown  Univ. 
Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

•  Devil's  Trail,  The  Col. 

•  Dr.  Broadway  Para. 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way  Col. 

•  Down  Texas  Way  Mono. 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo  Univ. 

•  EAGLE  Squadron  Univ. 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen  Col. 

•  Escape  from  Crime  WB 

•  Escape  from  Hong  Kong  Univ. 
Eyes  in  the  Night  MGM 

•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•  Fantasia  (color)  (Revised)  RKO 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 
(British) 

•  Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 
Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 

•  Flying  Tigers  Rep. 
Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 
Foreign  Agent  Mono. 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 
Forest  Rangers,  The  Para. 
For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 
For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Para. 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French)  English 

•  Friendly  Enemies  UA 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 

PRC 
WB 

Para. 
WB 
WB 
Univ. 
Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Univ. 
Para. 
UA 

Ealing-UA 

MGM 
Univ. 
Para. 
Para. 
Artkino 

Univ. 
Para. 
WB 
Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
MGM 
RKO 
WB 
RKO 
Mono. 
Rep. 
Para. 
Rep. 
PRC 

Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Para. 
MGM 
Para. 
Rep. 
PRC 
WB 
Col. 
Univ. 


•  GALLANT  Lady 
•Gay  Sisters,  The 
•General  Died  at  Dawn,  Th 

Gentleman  Jim 
George  Washington  Slept 
Get  Hep  to  Love 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The 
Girl  Trouble 

•Give  Out,  Sisters 

Glass  Key,  The 
•Gold  Rush,  The 

Goose  Steps  Out,  The 
(British) 
•Grand  Central  Murder 

Great  Impersonation,  The 
•Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Great  Without  Glory 
•Guerrilla  Brigade 

HALF  Way  to  Shanghai 

Happy  Go  Lucky 

Hard  Way,  The 
•Hello  Annapolis 

Henry  Aldrich,  Editor 
•Henry  and  Dizzy 
•Her  Cardboard  Lover 

Here  We  Go  Again 

Hidden  Hand,  The 

Highways  by  Night 
•Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg 

Hi!  Neighbor 
•Holiday  Inn 
•Home  in  Wyomin' 
•House  of  Errors 

ICE-Capades  Revue 

Iceland 
•I  Live  on  Danger 
•I  Married  an  Angel 

I  Married  a  Witch 
•In  Old  California 
•Inside  the  Law 
•In  This  Our  Life 
•Invaders,  The  (British) 
•Invisible  Agent 


Here 


Prod. 

Number  Stars 

....  Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 

....  Johnny  Mack  Brown 

....  Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 

....  Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 

3032  William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 

204  Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 

....  Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 

....  Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 

3214  Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

4128  Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 

3205  Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

....  Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

6040  Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 

....  Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 

3038  Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan 

137  Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 
6054  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 
....  Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

227  George  Sanders-Lynn  Bar! 

....  George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph 

....  William  Tracy-Jean  Porter 

292  Disney-Stokowski 

6065  Johnny  Mack  Brown 

....  War  Documentary 

232  Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day 

....  Leslie  Howard-David  Niven 

3012  Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford 

....  Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann 

....  John  Wayne-Anna  Lee 

301  John  Payne-Betty  Grable 

....  John  Shelton-Gail  Storm 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder 

....  Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard 

....  Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 

....  Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman 

....  Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco 

....  Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles 

255  Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis 

219  Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer 

138  Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent 
4140  Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll 
....  Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith 
....  Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan 
....  Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige 

117  Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker 

309  Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett 

....  Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies 

....  Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan 

....  Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music 
Will  Hay 

237  Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 
....  Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 
4121  Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea 

Joel  McCrea-Betty  Field 
Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat 

Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor  Sept.  18/42 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee  Not  Set 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan  Not  Set 

3037  Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown  Apr.  23,'42 

....  Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Not  Set 

4125  Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Block  5 

241  Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor  June  '42 

....  Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie"  Oct.  9,'42 

....  Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser  Not  Set 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph  Oct.  2, '42 

....  Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan  Aug.  I4,'42 

201  Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker  July27,'42 

4134  Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire  Block  7 
146  G.  Autry-S.  Burnette  Apr.  20,'42 
216  Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers              Apr.  10, '42 

....  Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague  Not  Set 

306  Sonja  Henie-John  Payne  Oct.  2, '42 

4135  Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker  Block  7 

238  Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonald         June  '42 
....  Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake  Not  Set 

103  John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes  May3l,'42 

218  Wallace  Ford  May  8,'42 

132  Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland  May  I6,'42 

3101  Howard-Massey-Olivier  Apr.  15, '42 

6049  Hon*  Massey-Jon  Hall  July  3 1, '42 


Release 
Date 
Not  Set 
Sept.  25/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
May  7/42 
Sept.  26/42 
Oct.  9/42 
Not  Set 
May  14/42 
Block  6 
Apr.  23/42 
May  22/42 
July  17/42 

Not  Set 
July  30/42 
July  25/42 
May  15/42 
Not  Set 

May  29/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  10/42 
Apr.  17/42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  '42 
Not  Set 

July  9/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Aug.  1/42 
Oct.  9/42 

Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  11/42 
June  26/42 
Sept.  1 1/42 

May  29/42 
Aug.  1/42 
Reissue 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Oct.  2/42 
Apr.  16/42 
Oct.  9/42 
Sept.  1 1  ,'42 
Ladd       Block  I 
Apr.  17/42 
Not  Set 

May,  '42 
Not  Set 
Block  5 
Not  Set 

Apr.  13/42 


Running 
Time 
98m 
62m 


81m 
57m 

37m 
80m 
1 18m 

78m 
68m 

80m 
64m 

90m 

104m 

86m 
95m 
60  m 

63m 
108m 
93  m 

93  m 

75m 

65m 
85m 
72m 
78m 

72m 

90m 

73  m 


M.  P. 
Herald 

Issue 
May  23/42 
Sept.  12/42 


Product 
Digest 
Page 
673 
898 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 


872 


Service 
Data 

Page 


70m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Ann  9?  '4? 

9 1 5 

873 

912 

61m 

715 

67m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

873 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

873 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

63  m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

871 
796 


Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

June  27/42 

751 

June  27/42 

914 

772 

July  1  1/42 

915 

715 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

May  2/42 

634 

872 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

855 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

648 


797 
796 


62m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

663 

71m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

443 

90m 

May  30/42 

686 

648 

76m 

Aug.  29/42 

869 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

715 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

794 

72m 

July  25/42 
June  13/42 

794 

772 

101m 

713 

663 

67m 

May  2/42 

633 

65m 

539 

797 


590 


June  6/42 

697 

663 

873 

Sept.  12/36 

91 1 

Sept.  19/42 

909  ■ 

871 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

855 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Aug.  29/42 

914 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

795 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

756 

912 

Mar.  21/42 

561 

396 

795 

912 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

756 


795 


79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

73m 

June  13/42 

713 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 
797 

873 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

62m 

613 

97m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

795 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

Product  Digest  Section     9  I  7 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,    I  942 


■  REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

Isle  of  Missing  Men  Mono. 

•  It  Happened  in  Flatbush  20th-Fox 

•  I  Was  Framed  WB 

•  JACKASS  Mail  MSM 
•Joan  of  Ozark  Rep. 

Journey  for  Margaret  MGM 

Journey  Into  Fear  RKO 

•  Juke  Girl  WB 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color)  UA 

•  Jungle  Siren  PRC 
Just  Off  Broadway  20th-Fox 

•  KID  Glove  Killer  MGM 
•King  of  the  Stallions  Mono. 

•  Kings  Row  WB 

•  LADY  Gangster  WB 
•Lady  in  a  Jam  Univ. 

•  Land  of  the  Open  Range  RKO 

•  Larceny,  Inc.  WB 
Let  the  People  Sing  (British)  Anglo 

•  Let's  Get  Tough  Mono. 
Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A.  20th-Fox 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Border  Roundup  PRC 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice  PRC 
Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The  20th-Fox 
Lucky  Legs  Col. 

•Lure  of  the  Islands  Mono. 

•  MAD  Martindales,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Mad  Monster,  The  PRC 
Magnificent  Ambersons,  The  RKO 

•  Magnificent  Dope,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Maisie  Gets  Her  Man  MGM 
Major  and  the  Minor,  The  Para. 

•  Male  Animal,  The  WB 
Man  in  the  Trunk,  The  20th-Fox 
Manila  Calling  20th-Fox 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The  20th-Fox 
Man's  World,  A  Col. 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St.  RKO 
•Meet  the  Mob  Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma ) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts  Col. 

•  Men  of  San  0uer|t'n  PRC 

•  Men  of  Texas  Univ. 
Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant  RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

•  Miss  Annie  Rooney  UA 

•  Mississippi  Gambler  Univ. 

•  Mokey  MGM 
•Moonlight  Masquerade  Rep. 

•  Moon  Tide  20th-Fox 
Moon  and  Sixpence,  The  UA 
Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Artkino 
Mr.  &  Mrs.  Brooklyn  UA-Roach 

•  Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 
Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House  WB 
•My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 

•  My  Favorite  Spy  RKO 
My  Friend  Flicka  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 

•Mystery  of  Marie  Roget  Univ. 


Prod. 

Number 

248 
130 

243 
104 


133 

203 
310 

230 
120 

134 
6008 
284 
131 


303 
266 
265 
305 


245 
209 

249 
240 

i  26 
315 
314 
243 

224 


3014 
201 
6010 

230 

6034 
231 
120 
247 


260 


125 
4123 
228 

244 


6022 


NAVY  Comes  Through,  The  RKO 

•Native  Land  Frontier 
Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 

Night  for  Crime,  A  PRC 

•Night  in  New  Orleans  Para. 

•  North  of  the  Rockie  Col. 

•  Not  a  Ladies  Man  Col. 
No  Time  for  Love  Para. 
Now,  Voyager  WB 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track  Univ. 

Old  Homestead,  The  Rep. 

Omaha  Trail  MGM  .... 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  RKO  .... 
One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British)  UA 

One  Thrilling  Night  Mono  

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 

Orchestra  Wives  20th-Fox  308 

•Orders  from  Tokyo  Almo  .... 

9  I  8     Product  Digest  Section 


4127 
3213 
3042 


202 


Release  Running 

Stars  Date  Time 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland  Sept.  I8,'42  67m 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis  June  5, '42  80m 

Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop  Apr.  25, '42  61m 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main  July     '42  80m 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown  Aug.   I, '42  80m 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day  Not  Set  .... 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio  Not  Set  69m 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan  May  30, '42  90m 

Sabu  Apr.  3,'42  I  15m 

Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe  Aug.  2 1, '42  68m 

Lloyd  Nolan-Mariorie  Weaver  Sept.  25, '42  65m 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt  Apr.     '42  74m 

Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien  Sept.  1 1, '42  63m 

Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings  Apr.  1 8, '42  130m 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop  June  6,'42  62m 

Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles  June  19, '42  83m 

Tim  Holt  Apr.  I7,'42  60m 

Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman  May  2, '42  95m 

Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney  Not  Set  1 00m 

East  Side  Kids  May  29/42  62m 

Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce  Aug.  1 4, '42  64m 

George  Houston-AI  St.  John  Sept.  18/42  .... 

George  Houston-AI  St.  John  June  21/42  60m 

John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell  Aug.  28/42  67m 

Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris  Oct.    1/42  .... 

Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery  July  3/42  61m 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray  May  15/42  65m 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel  May  15/42  79m 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello  July  10/42  88m 

Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bar!     June  12/42  84m 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  June      '42  86m 

Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland  Block  I  100m 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland  Apr.  4/42  101m 

Lynne  Roberts-George  Holmes  Oct.  23/42  71m 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis  Oct.  16/42  81m 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver  May   1/42  65m 

M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright  Sept.  17/42   

George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley  May  15/42  86m 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42  62m 

William  Holden-Frances  Dee  May  28/42  73m 

J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston  May  22/42  78m 

Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne  July  3/42  82m 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  Sept.  11/42  64m 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  June  26/42  69m 

Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan  May  29/42  85m 

Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford  Apr.  17/42  60m 

Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed  Apr..  .'42  88m 

Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr.  June  10/42  67m 

Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains     May  29/42  94m 

George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall  Not  Set  89m 

Documentary  Aug.  15/42  55m 

Arline  Judge-Max  Baer-William  Bendix       Not  Set  .... 

Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon  Not  Set 

Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee  Not  Set 

Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox  Not  Set  .... 

Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson  Apr.  11/42  59m 

Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  Blocks  78m 

Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew  June  12/42  86m 

Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster  Not  Set  .... 

Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature  May  8/42  103m 

Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll  Not  Set  .... 

Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne  Sept.  24/42  96m 

Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez  Apr.  3/42  61m 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott  Not  Set   

Documentary  on  Labor  May  11/42  80m 

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam  Not  Set  1 00m 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot  Not  Set  78m 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison  Block  6  75m 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  Apr.  2/42  60m 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray  May  14/42  60m 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray  Not  Set 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid  Oct.  31/42  1 19m 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce  Not  Set 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry  Aug.  17/42  67m 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant  Not  Set 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman  Not  Set  110m 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay  June  5/42  69m 

George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford    Sept.  4/42  97m 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set  80m 


M.  P. 
Herald 
Issue 
Aug.  15/42 
May  30/42 
Apr.  11/42 

June  20/42 
July  25/42 

Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  I  1/42 
Mar.  28/42 

Aug.  15/42 

Mar.  14/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Dec.  27/41 

Apr.  11/42 
July  4/42 
Dec.  13/41 
Mar.  7/42 
Apr.  11/42 
May  16/42 
July  11/42 


July  1 1/42 


Apr.  18/42 
June  6/42 
July  4/42 
May  30/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Mar.  7/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Apr.  18/42 

Mar.  2 i, '42 
Apr.  25/42 

May  23/42 
Apr.  18/42 
July  11/42 
Aug.  8/42 
May  9/42 
May  30/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Mar.  28/42 
June  27/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Sept.  12/42 
Aug.  15/42 


Product 
Digest 
Page 
840 
686 
599 


Advance 
Synopsis 

Page 

772 

674 

574 


Service 
Data 
Page 


133m        May  16/42 


Apr.  1 1/42 
Mar.  2 1/42 
May  9/42 

Apr.  18/42 

Sept.  19/42 
Apr.  1 1/42 


May  16/42 
June  6/42 
Aug.  1/42 
May  9/42 

Sept.  19/42 

Aug.  22/42 

Aug.  29/42 


Apr.  1 1/42 
July  4/42 

Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  1/42 


7?A 

7  1  R 
/  1  O 

70C 
/YD 

7  1  L 

70A 
/TO 

ALA 

073 
0/3 

573 

396 

873 

902 

797 

551 

495 

873 

870 

800 

429 

320 

705 

599 

574 

749 

613 

795 

407 

387 

538 

795 

599 

662 

648 

766 

914 

751 

797 

800 

622 

699 

613 

749 

507 

756 

686 

677 

873 

687 

648 

756 

869 

537 

464 

795 

91  1 

855 

911 

871 

610 

563 

487 

A99 

0/*r 

674 

705 

a  in 

766 

773 

915 

646 

635 

873 

AftA 

A77 
Oil 

O  /  3 

61 1 

574 

738 

70  i 

609 

795 

912 

840 

661 

527 

795 

663 

598 

575 

561 

542 

756 

646 

635 

873 

609 

795 

871 

909 

772 

597 

507 

715 

662 

AOQ 

647 

635 

575 

910 

855 

902 

794 

870 

855 

796 

855 

903 

914 

662 

838 
810 


797 


September    19,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Title  Company 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood  Coi. 
Ox-Bow  Incident,  The  20th-Fox 
Ox  Train  MSM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous  MSM 
Palm  Beach  Story,  The  Para. 
Panama  Hattie  MSM 

•  Panther's  Claw,  The  PRC 

•  Parachute  Nurse  Col. 

•  Pardon  My  Sarong  Univ. 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French)  Better  Films 

•  Phantom  Killer  Mono. 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen  Rep. 
Pied  Piper,  The  20th-Fcx 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains  MSM 

•  Police  Bullets  Mono. 

•  Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Powder  Town  RKO 
Prairie  Chickens  UA-Rcach 

•  Prairie  Sunsmoke  Col. 
Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The  RKO 
Priorities  on  Parade  Pa-a. 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan  PRC 

•  Private  Buckaroo  Univ. 

RANDOM  Harvest  MSM 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color)  Para. 
•Red  Tanks  Arkino 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor  Rep. 
Reunion  MSM 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland  Col. 

•  Riders  of  the  West  Mono. 

•  Rio  Rita  MSM 
Road  to  Morocco  Para. 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Sreat  Divide  PRC 

•  Romance  on  the  Range  Rep. 

•  Rubber  Racketeers  Mono. 


ish] 


•  SABOTASE  Squad 

•  Saboteur 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British) 

•  Scattergcod  Rides  High 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Mu 

•  Secret  Agent  of  Japan 
Secret  Enemies 
Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed 
Seven  Days  Leave 
Seven  Sweethearts 
Shadows  on  the  Sage 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voi 

Terror 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back 
•She's  in  the  Army 
•Ship  Ahoy 
•Ships  With  Wings 
•Silver  Bullet 

Silver  0ueen 

Sin  Town 
•Smart  Alecks 

Smith  of  Minnesota 

Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish) 

Sombrero  Kid,  The 

Somewhere  I'll  Find  You 
•Song  of  the  Lagoon 
•Sons  of  the  Pioneers 
•SOS  Coast  Suard 
•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma 

Spirit  of  Stanford,  The 
•Spoilers,  The 

Spring  Song  (Russian) 

Springtime  in  the  Rockies 

•Spy  Ship 
Stand  By,  All  Networks 
Star  Spangled  Rhythm 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage 

•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx 

•Strangler,  The 
Street  of  Chance 
Strictly  in  the  Sroove 
Submarine  Alert 

•Submarine  Raider 

•Suicide  Squadron  (British) 

•Sunday  Punch 

•Sunset  Serenade 

•Sweater  Sirl 

•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet 

•  Syncopation 


Col. 
Univ. 
Bt.-Anglo-Am. 

RKO 
•der  RKO 
20th-Fox 
WB 
PRC 
RKO 
MSM 
Rep. 

ce  of 

Univ. 
U  niv. 
Mono. 
MSM 
UA 
Univ. 
Para. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Scandia 
Rep. 
MSM 
UA-Roach 
Rep. 
Rep. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Univ. 
Art  kino 
color) 
20th-Fox 
WB 
Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
Univ. 
PRC 
Para. 
U  niv. 
Para. 
Col. 
Rep. 
MSM 
Rep. 
Para. 
Col. 
RKO 


Prod.  Release 

~Sumber                Stars  Date 

3208        Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Sept.  25, '42 

....         Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set 

....         James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set 

239  Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers 
....         Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea 
....         Ann  Sothern-Red  Skeltcn 

217        Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr 
3044         Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman 
....         Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce 
....         John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance 
....         Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury 

167        Three  Mesquiteers 

304        Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDcwall 

246  John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey 
....         John  Archer-Joan  Marsh 

252  Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce 
226        Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien 

....         Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 
3215        Bill  Ellictt-Tex  Ritter 
....         Sary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright 
....         Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 
204        Alan  Baxter-Sertrude  Michael 
6011         Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Fo.-an 

...         Ronald  Colman-Sreer  Sarson  Not  Set 

37         Ray  Milland-Paulefte  Soddard  Special 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur  June  5,'42 

34         Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry  May  I  I, '42 
Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John  Wayne      Not  Set 

3206        Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  June  1 8, '42 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy  Aug.  21/42 

233  Abbott  and  Ccstello  Apr.  '42 
...         Bob  Hooe-Bing  Crcsby-Dorothy  Lamour      Not  Set 

253  Bill  (Radio)  Boyd  Apr.  24/42 

156  Roy  Rogers-"Sabby"  Hayes  May  18/42 
....         Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez  June  26/42 

3046        Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris  Aug.  27/42 

6047  Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane  Apr.  24/42 
....        Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway  Not  Set 

223        Suy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore  May  8/42 

Suy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes  Not  Set 

240  Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bari  Apr.  3/42 
....         Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson  Oct.  17/42 

309        Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer  Nov.  9/42 

  Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Srayson  Sept.-Oct./42 

261         Three  Mesquiteers  Aug.  24/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Berg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

Seorge  Brenf-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Oct.  15/42 

Edvard  Persson  Sept.  12/42 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  3  1/42 

Clark  Sable-Lane  Turner  Sept. -Oct. ,'42 
Marjorie  Woodworth-Seorge  Sivot        May  22/42 

157  Roy  Rcgers-"Sabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 
123        Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr,  17/42 
Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

6048  Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  I  1/42 

317        Betty  Srable-John  Payne  Nov.  6/42 

139         Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Flcrence  Rice  Not  Set 
Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Mocre    Not  Set 

Sene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

6036         Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Swynne  Apr.  17/42 

229        Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

....         Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Not  Set 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Not  Set 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

3043         John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

119        Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Cray  Apr.  20/42 

234  William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May, '42 

  Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

4129         Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

3027         Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  21/42 

226         Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


Running 
Time 


—  REVIEWED  — 
M.  P.  Product 
Herald  Digest 


Issue 


Page 


235 
6066 


27 


66m 

89m 
56  m 
107m 


June  27/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Aug.  8/42 


738 
910 
902 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 

872 
796 


Se  rx  ice 
Data 
Page 


June  '42 

76m 

May  23/42 

673 

648 

Not  Set 

663 

Sept.-0ct./42 

79m 

July  25/42 

915 

396 

Apr.  17/42 

70m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

June  18/42 

63m 

Aug.  1/42 

8  1  0 

70  1 

Aug.  7/42 

84m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

Apr.  4/42 

92m 

Apr.  1  1  ,'42 

599 

Oct.  2/42 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

June  16/42 

65m 

Aug.  21/42 

87m 

July  1  1/42 

903 

751 

873 

Aug.  '42 

66m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

Sept.  25/42 

800 

July  3/42 

69m 

May  30/42 

687 

June  19/42 

79m 

May  9/42 

647 

Not  Set 

July  16/42 

56m 

Not  Set 

120m 

July  18/42 

915 

873 

Block  1 

79m 

Aug.  1/42 

914 

July  22/42 

64m 

July  4/42 

750 

715 

June  12/42 

68m 

June  6/42 

699 

24m 

Mar.  21/42 

574 

408 

795 

64  m 

June  13/42 

713 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

872 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

60  m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

872 

60  m 

635 

63m 

June  6/42 

697 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

08m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

756 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

66m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

542 

912 

72m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

914 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

872 

98m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

855 

63  m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

795 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

61m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

726 

898 

797 

796 
726 


873 


6  1  m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

69m 

Apr.  18/42 

61  1 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

796 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

873 

74m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

S55 

62m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

797 

855 

65m 

May  30/42 

687 

66m 

Apr.  4/42 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

914 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

Product  Digest  Section      9  I  9 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    19,  1942 


reviewed  ■ 


Title  Company 
•TAKE  a  Letter,  Dariing  Para. 
Take  My  Life  Toddy 
Tales  of  Manhattan  20th-Fox 
Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 
•Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 
•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MGM 
Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 
Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 

•  Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 
Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 

•  Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 

•  There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 

•  They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 
They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 

(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 
They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 
•They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 

•  This  Above  All  20th-Fox 

•  This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 
This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 
Those  Kids  from  Toiwn  (British)  Anglo 

•  Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 
•Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 

Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•  Timber  Univ. 
Tish  MGM 

•  Tombstone  Para. 
Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•  Top  Sergeant  Univ. 
Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color)  20th-Fox 
•Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 

•  Tower  of  Terror  Mono. 
•True  to  the  Army  Para. 

•  Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 
•Tuttles  of  Tahiti  RKO 

•  Twin  Beds  UA 

UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 
•Undercover  Man  Para. 

•  United  We  Stand  20th-Fox 
Unpublished  Story  (British)  Col. 

•  Unseen  Enemy  Univ. 


Prod. 
Number 
4126 


3001 
242 


251 


6043 
3006 


212 
253 
4124 


250 

286 
6057 

4132 
307 
6055 

236 
241 
6019 

4i22 
254 
222 


4140 
254 

6053 


Stars 

Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 

Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 

Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 

Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

King-Sharpe-Terhune 

Range  Busters 

Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 


Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour  Not  Set 

Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez  June  26,'42 

Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine  July  24,'42 

Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston  Block  5 

Russian  Documentary  Not  Set 

Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill  Not  Set 

Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding  Apr.  I5,'42 

Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard  June  19/42 

John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney  Not  Set 

Tim  Holt  July24,'42 

Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine  Aug.  I4,'42 

Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford  Block  7 

Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez  Sept.  29,'42 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo  June  1 2, '42 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills  Not  Set 

Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr  May,'42 

Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne  Apr.  10, '42 

Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley  June  5,'42 

Wilfred  Lawson-Movita  Apr.   I  ,'42 

Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller  Block  5 

Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell  July  10/42 

Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall  May  1/42 

George  Brent-Joan  Bennett  Apr.  24/42 

Eric  Portman-F.  Culley  Not  Set 

William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde  Block  6 

News  Documentary  July  10/42 

Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson  Not  Set 

Devine-Carrillo-Terry  Apr.  10/42 


M.  P. 

pTodttCt 

Advance 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Block  6 

93  m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  11/42 

767 

Not  Set 

1 18m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

701 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

Aug.  20/42 

1 18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

70  i 

June/42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

Not  Set 

Not  Set 

June  26/42 

103  m 

May  30/42 

685 

677 

Oct.  16/42 

June  12/42 

55m 

699 

June  26/42 

60m 

June  11/42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

872 


Service 
Data 
Page 
873 


873 


795 


873 


72  m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

795 

80m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

527 

705 

74m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

796 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

83m 

July  25/42 

793 

772 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

66m 

64m 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

62  i 

613 

873 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

62m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

76m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

705 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

795 

91m 

Apr.  11/42 

598 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

•  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 
WAKE  Island 

War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley, 
Watch  on  the  Rhine 

•  Westward,  Ho! 

•  Where  Trails  End 
•Whispering  Ghosts 

Whistling  in  Dixie 
White  Cargo 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler? 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The 
Wildcat 

Wings  and  the  Woman 
(formerly  They  Flew  Alone 
•Wings  for  the  Eagle 
World  at  War 
Wrecking  Crew 

YANK  at  Eton,  A 
Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

•  Yank  in  Libya,  A 

You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

•  You're  Telling  Me 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 
Young  and  Willing 
Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 
Youth  on  Parade 

•  Yukon  Patrol 


Col.  3216  Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  Sept.  3/42 

Para   Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston  Block  I 

The  MGM  ....  Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

WB    Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas  Not  Set 

Rep.  166  Steele-Tyler-Davis  Apr.  24/42 

Mono.  ....  Tom  Keene  May  1/42 

20th-Fox  246  Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle  May  22/42 

MGM    Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford  Not  Set 

MGM  ....  Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon  Not  Set 

20th-Fox  242  Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr.  Apr.  17/42 

Col.  3011  Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone  Apr.  30/42 

Para.  ....  Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge  Block  I 

RKO    Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton  Sept.  18/42 

) 

WB  136  Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan  July  18/42 

WAC    Documentary  Sept.  18/42 

Para   Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris  Not  Set 

MGM  ....  Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

WB  ....  James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie  Not  Set 

PRC  220  H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury  July  31/42 

WB    George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall  Oct.  10/42 

Univ.  6041  Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne  May  1/42 

Col   Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth  Oct.  22/42 

Para.  ....  William  Holden-Susan  Hayward  Not  Set 

20th-Fox  316  Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat  Oct.  30/42 

Rep   John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll  Oct.  24/42 

Rep.  124  Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway  Apr.  30/42 


87m 
126m 
67m 

60m 


103m 
66m 


78m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

772 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

797 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

55m 

635 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

87  i 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

873 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Aug.  15,42 
June  6/42 


July  4/42 
May  9/42 


915 
903 


914 
647 


726 
674 
772 
898 
508 
796 
663 

872 


873 
590 


Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 

in  Order  of  Release  on  page  913. 


920     Product  Digest  Section 


The  Bridge  that  Joined  Sight  and  Sound! 


Helping  you  to  please  the  ears  of 
the  world  —  through  finer  sound 
recording  and  reproduction —  has 
been  Western  Electric'*  privilege 
for  16  years. 


Not  over,  but  through  a  light  valve  bridge,  sound  is  put  on  film. 
As  the  tiny  ribbons  vibrate  open  and  shut  at  amazing  speed,  they  let 
through  rays  of  light  which  record  the  range  of  sound — from  whisper 
to  thunderclap.  Throughout  the  history  of  sound  pictures,  a  bridge 
using  this  principle  has  proved  a  practical,  economical  method  of 
recording  sound  on  film.  A  basic  contribution  by  Western  Electric. 

Electrical  Research  Products  Division 

OF 

Western  Electric  Company 

INCORPORATED  '  " 

195  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 


Fourth  of  a  series  of  advertisements  covering  basic  developments  in  the  art  of  talking  pictures 


M  ®  ¥  0  ®  INI    P  D  <C  IT  OH  R. 


HYSICAL  OPERA7IO 


■ 


To  Keep  on 
How  to  Plan 
a  Theatre 


SEPTEMBER  19,  1942 


N 


N 


O 


U 


N 


N 


The  H^w  \  /lctory 


(  arbons 


Designed  to  Conserve  Copper  J cor  War  Needs 


Winning  this  war  is  the  first  objective  of  every  American.  The 
will  for  Victory  includes  taking  in  stride  whatever  sacrifice  or 
inconvenience  may  be  occasioned  by  the  demands  of  our  war 
effort. 

Government  curtailment  of  copper  necessitates  reducing  the 
thickness  of  copper  coating  on  "National"  copper  coated  high 
intensity  projector  carbons.  This  may  result  in  a  slightly  longer 
spindle  on  the  carbons,  and  in  the  case  of  the  7  mm  ■ —  6  mm 
combination,  may  result  in  some  reduction  in  screen  illumina- 
tion, although  there  will  still  be  sufficient  light  for  satisfactory 
projection. 

Fortunately,  the  culmination  of  research  work  on  the  8  mm 
—  7  mm  trim  makes  it  possible  to  burn  these  new  carbons,  even 
with  the  thinner  copper  plating,  and  to  obtain  even  more  light 
with  the  same  current  formerly  used  (within  limits  of  the  new 
maximum).  Savings  as  high  as  30%  in  carbon  consumption  can 

The  words  "National  "  "Suprex"  and  "Orotip" 
*  *  *  * 


be  had  for  the  same  amount  of  light  on  the  screen  if  the  present 
light  level  is  satisfactory.  When  using  power  sources  designed 
for  "Suprex"  type  lamps  similar  savings  can  be  made,  while 
retaining  the  same  screen  illumination  as  formerly,  by  shifting 
from  7  mm  —  6  mm  trims  to  the  new  8  mm  — ■  7  mm.  To 
accomplish  this  may  require  enlarging  present  carbon  holders, 
which  can  be  done  with  little  effort. 

Operation  at  reduced  arc  current  may  also,  in  some  instances, 
necessitate  readjustment  of  the  feed  ratio  of  the  projection 
lamps  in  order  to  maintain  correct  position  of  the  carbons 
with  a  minimum  of  manual  adjustment. 

The  trade-mark  on  these  new  Victory  carbons  is  imprinted 
in  white,  instead  of  the  familiar  blue.  Maximum  allowable  arc 
current  is  also  stamped  on  each  carbon.  It  is  important  that 
this  current  limitation  be  observed. 

are  trade-marks  of  National  Carbon  Company ,  Inc. 

*  *  ★  ★ 


+L\o  Most  of  the  copper 

yj&Ve   LPe  used  for  plating 

^-^»  copper  coated  pro- 

I     r^t^t^^t*  jector  carbons  drops 

i  Jr  10  the  floor  of  the 

lamp  house  when 

the  carbons  are  burned.  Continue  to  save  these 

copper  drippings  and  turn  them  over  to  an 

authorized  scrap  dealer  or  to  such  other  agency 

as  may  be  designated  by  our  government. 


RECOMMENDED  TRIM  AND  RANGE  OF  ARC  CURRENT  FOR  LAMPS 
USING    COPPER    COATED,    HIGH    INTENSITY,    PROJECTOR  CARBONS 


Type  of  A  rc 


Arc  Current  —  Amperes 


New  Victory  Carbons  —  Size  and  Type 


"1  Kw"  High  Intensity,  A.C. 
"1  Kw"  High  Intensity,  D.C. 

Simplified  High  Intensity,  D.C. 

with  adjustable  feed  ratio 
Simplified  High  Intensity,  D.C. 

with  filed  feed  ratio 
Simplified  High  Intensity,  D.C. 


52-66 
40-42 


42-45 


42-45 


56-65 


7  mm  x  9  inch  H.I.,  A.C.  Carbons  in  both  holders 
7  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 

6  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 

7  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 

6  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 

7  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 

7  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 

8  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 
7  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 


FCByiCTORY 

NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY,  INC.  &L 

Unit  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

fTTH 

CARBON  SALES  DIVISION:  CLEVELAND,  OHIO 
GENERAL  OFFICES:  30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y.  BRANCH  SALES  OFFICES:  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco 


MW 


Portable  refrigerated  carriers  save  hours  in  handling 
shipments  of  food  by  rail  or  ship.  They  can  be 
brought  up  behind  front  lines  quickly.  Self-con- 
tained refrigerating  units  operate  on  ship  or  shore 
electric  current,  or  are  driven  by  gasoline  engines. 


A  munitions  plant  now  uses  G-E  refrigeration  to 
speed  cooling  of  shell  casings.  Not  only  are  they 
boxed  for  shipment  far  ahead  of  the  old  schedule, 
but  the  temper  of  the  casings  is  also  improved. 


Making  minutes  do  the 
war  work  of  hours . . . 


Aluminum  is  produced  in  electric 
furnaces  through  the  use  of  electric 
rectifiers,  which  generate  consider- 
able heat.  G-E  cooling  helps  to  keep 
these  rectifiers  operating  continuously 
— prevents  breakdowns  which  would 
make  the  furnaces  useless  for  months. 


with  temperature  control 


Faster.  Faster.  Faster!  That's  how  America's  war 
production  must  flow.  And  is  flowing. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  G-E  equipment  that 
might  have  been  yours — for  air  conditioning  your 
theatre — is  playing  a  vital  part  in  this  industrial 
speedup.  In  war  factories,  close  control  of  tempera- 
ture is  making  things  not  only  faster,  but  better, 
more  efficiently. 

Until  Victory  is  won,  your  G-E  dealer  will  do 
everything  he  can  to  keep  your  present  General 
Electric  equipment  operating  as  efficiently  as  ever. 
You  can  locate  him  by  looking  in  the  Classified 
section  of  your  Telephone  Directory  under 
"Air  Conditioning."  General  Electric  Company, 
Div.  2579,  Bloomfield,  New  Jersey. 


KEEP' EM  FLYING! 


GENERAL  »  ELECTRIC 


ETTER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


3 


IT'S 

'"'SSAI.! 

Irs  Stupendous  ! ! 

.  .  .  and  so  is  the  wear 
and  tear  on  your 
theatre  seats  — 


•  Tough,  handsome  and  thrifty:  that's  /miliar  J 
Corduroy — the  material  that  is  famous  for  being  able  to  take  punishment!  CORDO 
—the  product  of  55  years  of  corduroy  development  and  research  by  Juilhard  has 
now  been  acclaimed  America's  finest  thrift-fabric  for  theatre  seats.  It  thrives  on 
rough  treatment.  CORDO,  too,  has  all  these  extra  advantages: 


AMAZING  durability  . . .  Cordo's  deep,  firmly 
anchored  pile  gives  with  friction,  instead  of 
fighting  against  it.  Cordo  is  "Neva-Wet" 
processed  to  resist  both  soil  and  perspiration. 

SURPRISING   ECONOMY  .  .  .  Cordo  not  only 

wears  longer,  but  costs  much  less  than  fabrics 
of  comparable  richness  and  smartness. 


LUXURIOUS  appearance  . . .  Cordo's  classic  sym 
metry  is  the  essence  of  quality,  pleasing  both 
to  the  eye  and  the  touch.  Available  in  a 
choice  of  10  beautiful,  distinctive  shades. 

SUPREME  COMFORT  . . .  Soft-ribbed  construction 
"cradles"  and  relaxes  the  body.  Easy  on 
clothes.  Warm  in  winter,  cool  in  summer. 


CORDO  REPLACES  PRIORITY-RESTRICTED  MATERIALS 


The  coupon  below  will  bring  you  a  selection 
of  actual  CORDO  samples  in  the  10  beautiful 
„  harmonizing  colors  now  available.  Mail  it  today. 


A.  D.  Juilliard  cV  Co.,  Inc.,  B  9 

40  West  40th  St.,  New  York 

Without  cost  or  obligation  send  me  samples  of 
CORDO  and  list  of  theatres  which  have  already 
adopted  it. 


AMERICA'S  FINEST  THRIFT-FABRIC 
FOR  THEATRE  SEATING 
Made  exclusively  by  JUILLIARD 


Name  . 
Theatre 


City   State  


MARKET  NOTES 

CJ  News  Reports  concerning 
equipment  and  materials, 
and  those  who  make  them 

Lamp  Prices  Reduced 

THE     PRINCIPAL  lamp 

manufacturers  have  announced  reductions 
in  the  prices  of  both  fluorescent  and  fila- 
ment lamps  ranging  from  12%  to  17%. 
The  announcement  of  the  General  Electric 
Company  is  representative.   It  reads: 

"The  price  reduction,  made  in  the  face 
of  rising  cost  trends  in  other  commodity 
lines,  is  attributed  by  Nela  Park  officials  to 
a  combination  of  new  manufacturing  econ- 
omies, recent  technical  developments,  and 
increased  use  of  the  product  in  war  indus- 
tries. 

"The  popular  40-watt  white  G-E  Maz- 
da F  lamp,  for  example,  now  gives  5j| 
times  more  value  for  the  lamp  dollar  than 
it  did  in  1939.  It  is  said  to  give  12  per 
cent  more  light  and  to  last  66  per  cent 
longer  than  it  did  then.  As  its  new  price  it 
will  list  for  only  95  cents  instead  of  the 
present  $1.15  price.  In  1939,  this  lamp  was 
listed  at  $2.80. 

"Popular  types  of  G-E  Mazda  F  lamps 
reduced  are  as  follows:  14-watt  T-12  from 
80c  to  70c;  15-watt  T-8  from  65c  to  57c; 
15-watt  T-12  from  80c  to  70c;  20-watt 
T-12  from  80c  to  70c;  30- watt  T-8  from 
80c  to  70;  40-watt  T-12  from  $1.15  to 
95c;  and,  100-watt  T-17  from  $2.60  to 
$2.15.  These  prices  refer  to  the  daylight 
and  3500°  white.  Prices  were  also  reduced 
on  soft  white  and  colored  G-E  Mazda  F 
lamps." 

New  F-Lamp  Starter 


A  NEW  manual-reset  fluo- 
rescent lamp  starter,  called  the  "Master 
No  Blink,"  which  locks  dead  lamps  out  of 
the  circuit  thus  allowing  instant  dead  lamp 
replacement,  has  been  announced  by  Gen- 
eral Electric's  appliance  &  merchandise  de 
partment  at  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

The  starter  with  its  manual-reset  fea 
ture   offers   several   advantages   over  th 
automatic  starter.   In  automatic  starters, 
flow  of  current  is  required  to  keep  the  dea 
lamp  from  flickering,  with  the  new  starte 
no  current  flows  through  the  ballast  aftei 
the  dead  lamp  has  been  locked  out.  This" 
current  cut-off  is  designed  to  prolong  the 
life  of  the  ballast  and  to  eliminate  thi 
"cooling"  period  which  is  required  for  re 
placement     of     lamps     using  automatic 
starters. 

Extension  Brush  Handle 

an  extension  handle  tJ 
which  may  be  attached  brushes,  scraper: 
and  similar  tools,  for  the  purpose  of  en 
abling  the  user  to  reach  out-of-way  area 
without  resorting  to  ladders  and  from  on! 
position,  has  been  placed  on  the  market  b; 
Brenig  Brothers,  Inc.,  of  Hoboken,  N.  J 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Hemic 


All  the  New  Construction 
That  $200  Can  Buy 

now  that  the  Govern- 
ment has  slashed  from  55,000  to  the  paltry 
sum  of  $200,  the  amount  allowable  for 
theatre  changes  involving  new  construction, 
■exhibitors  who  have  kept  putting  off  this 
and  that  improvement  until,  as  the  saying 
*goes,  a  more  propitious  occasion,  are  going 
it  have  to  wait  for  it  until  the  Atlantic 
-Charter  has  gloriously  succeeded  war  as 
4rJie  way  of  the  world  (that's  kind  of  on 
'die  flowery  side,  but  anyway  we  didn't 
"*ay  "for  the  duration,"  which  should  be 
Dretty  well  used  up  by  now ) .    And  in 
-•tipulating  5200  as  the  new  maximum,  the 
vVPB  added  that  even  this  could  not  be 
f  pent  if  materials  requiring  priority  assist- 
ance were  needed,  or  public  utility  service 
-meaning    electricity,    mostly)    was  re- 
luired. 

These  restrictions  do  not  apply  to  main- 
enance,  of  course.  "What  the  theatre  has 
'tan  be  kept  in  condition,  to  prevent  out- 
ight  shabbiness  and  undue  deterioration. 
That  is  to  say,  one  can  paint  where  there 
las  been  paint,  install  a  new  door  where 
here  has  been  one,  and  so  on.  And  of 
ourse  new  furnishings  can  be  bought,  or 
vailable  fabrics,  mirrors,  etc,  be  installed 
ar  decorative  purposes,  or  repairs  made  to 
<oors  and  structural  parts.  The  5200 
mitation  does  not  apply  to  such  purposes. 

As  for  repair  and  replacement  of  equip- 


ment, the  W  PB  has  again  assured  exhibi- 
tors that  there  is  no  ruling  against  the  pro- 
curement of  parts  and  supplies  essential 
to  the  continued  operation  of  a  theatre. 
Indeed,  both  the  WPB  and  Ray  Colvin, 
St.  Louis  supply  dealer  and  secretary  of 
the  Theatre  Equipment  Dealers  Protective 
Association,  have  just  reminded  the  theatre 
business  that  by  means  of  Form  PD-IX, 
dealers  can  maintain  a  60-to-90-day  stock. 

That  is  to  say,  of  course,  //  they  are 
procurable  from  manufacturers,  which  in 
many  instances  is 
quite  another  mat- 
ter, since  manufac- 
turers of  some  equip- 
ment are  devoting 
all  of  their  plant  fa- 
cilities to  war  prod- 
ucts.  Form  PD-IX 

has  been  getting  a   

great  deal  of  pub- 
licity  lately  as  an 
assurance  that  the 
theatre  operator  can    .    ~  c.,lnj 

.        ,  ,,       A.  to.  iMI  I H 

get  what  he  really 

needs  from  his  dealer  if  only  his  dealer 
has  been  on  the  job.  From  conversations 
with  manufacturers  one  soon  gets  the  no- 
tion that  even  though  it  carries  the  author- 
ity of  the  L  nited  States  of  America,  Form 
PD-IX  can  very  well  prove  to  be  no  more 
than  a  scrap  of  paper.  !( ou've  heard  of 
course  about  the  rock  that  if  you  kicked 
it  you  couldn't  get  any  water  out  of. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  WPB  has  ac- 


quired someone  with  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  equipment  requirement  of  theatres 
in  the  appointment  of  A.  G.  Smith  of  the 
Dallas  branch  of  the  National  Theatre 
Supply  Company,  to  the  post  of  assistant 
to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the 
amusements  section  branch  of  the  WPB. 

Air.  Smith,  who  was  born  in  Austin, 
Tex.,  44  years  ago,  has  been  in  the  theatre 
equipment  field  for  many  years,  especially 
in  the  South.  Starting  with  the  old  South- 
ern Equipment  Company  in  Dallas  and 
Oklahoma  City,  he  joined  National  in  1927. 

Projection  Essentials 

A  number  of  interesting  changes  have 
been  made  by  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture 
Engineers  in  the  projection  room  specifica- 
tions recommended  by  this  representative 
technical  organization.  The  revised  recom- 
mendations have  just  been  published  in  the 
SMPE  Journal.  One  of  the  most  inter- 
esting is  elimination  of  precise  dimensions 
for  width  and  depth.  Specifications  for 
these  dimensions  originally  called  for  space 
that  many  theatres  did  not  need,  and  fewer 
could  economically  provide  for.  The 
former  recommendation  read : 

"'The  projection  room  .  .  .  shall  have  a 
minimum  height  of  S  feet  and  a  minimum 
depth  of  12  feet.  The  length  of  the  room 
shall  be  governed  by  the  quantity  and  the 
kind  of  equipment  to  be  installed,  but  shall 
in  no  case  be  less  than  16  feet." 

The  revised  plan  retains  the  minimum 


■  THE  THEATRE  SCENE  IN  WARTIME 


The  USO  gets  the  only  billing  on  the  marquee  of 
the  Tivoli  theatre  (left)  on  the  opening  day  for 
this  new  Century  circuit  house  in  Brooklyn.  N.  Y. 
.  .  .  Above,  Herbert  Eisenhart,  president  o: 
Bausch  &  Lomb,  lens  manufacturers,  receives  an 
"E"  flag  from  Capt.  H.  T.  Maryland. 
Right,     minimum     theatre     air    raid  equipment. 


5 


PROMOTING  SWEETS  FOR  SOLDIERS 


More  and  more  theatres  are  adopting  the  "Buy  a  Bar  for  a  Buddy"  service  by  which  candy  bought  t 
patrons  for  this  purpose  are  dropped  into  a  special  receptacle,  the  contents  of  which  are  turne 
over  to  some  camp.  Above,  at  left,  is  how  United  Detroit  theatres  are  promoting  the  plan;  tr 
other  view  shows  the  display  of  the  Orpheum   in  Portland,  Ore. 


height  of  8  feet,  but  leaves  the  matter  of 
width  and  depth  entirely  to  equipment  re- 
quirements. These  requirements,  which  are 
now  related  to  those  of  rewinding  and 
other  accessory  equipment,  are  dealt  with  as 
follows : 

"The  minimum  width  of  the  projection 
room,  for  one  projector,  when  film-rewind- 
ing facilities  are  provided  for  in  a  separate 
room,  shall  be  not  less  than  8  feet.  For 
each  additional  projector,  spotlight,  stere- 
opticon,  or  floodlight  machine  shall  be 
added  an  additional  6  feet  in  width.  The 
minimum  depth  of  the  projection  room, 
when  film-rewind  and  storage  facilities  are 
provided  for  in  a  separate  room,  shall  be 
not  less  than  10  feet. 

"When  film-rewinding  and  storage  facil- 
ities are  incorporated  within  the  projection 
room  proper,  which  may  be  desirable  under 
some  conditions,  the  minimum  width  of  the 
projection  room  when  the  film-rewinding 
and  storage  facilities  are  placed  in  line  with 
the  projectors,  shall  be  not  less  than  16  feet 
for  one  projector.  For  each  additional  pro- 
jector, spotlight,  stereopticon,  or  floodlight 
machine,  an  additional  6  feet  in  width  shall 
be  added.  When  film-rewinding  and  stor- 
age facilities  are  within  the  projection  room 
proper  and  placed  in  line  with  the  projec- 
tors, the  minimum  depth  of  the  projection 
room  shall  not  be  less  than  10  feet. 

"  When  film-rewinding  and  storage  facil- 
ities are  incorporated  within  the  projection 
room  proper  and  are  located  to  the  rear  of 
the  projectors,  the  minimum  width  of  the 
projection  room  for  one  projector  shall  be 
not  less  than  8  feet.  For  each  additional 
projector,  spotlight,  or  floodlight  machine, 
an  additional  6  feet  in  width  shall  be  added. 
When  film-rewinding  and  storage  facilities 
are  incorporated  in  the  projection  room 
proper,  and  placed  at  the  rear  of  the  pro- 
jectors the  minimum  depth  of  the  projection 
room  shall  be  not  less  than  12  feet. 

"Great  care  should  be  exercised  in  se- 
lecting the  film-rewinding  and  storage  facil- 
ities layout  that  will  be  most  efficient  for 
each  particular  theater.  Efficient  operation 
requires  that  the  screw  shall  be  in  view  of 
at  least  one  member  of  the  working  pro- 
jection room  staff  whenever  a  picture  is  be- 
ing projected  to  the  screen. 

Another  noteworthy  change  is  that  which 
reduces  the  recommended  maximum  angle 
of  projection  from  18°  to  14°. 

In  the  main,  except  for  the  critical 
changes  noted  above,  the  revised  recom- 
mendations remain  as  they  have  been  since 
1938.  The  following  addition,  however, 
is  worthy  of  attention : 

"Special  Equipment. — It  is  recommended 
that  wherever  rotary  power  equipment, 
such  as  motor-generator  units,  is  employed 
having  an  input  rating  in  excess  of  15  horse- 
power, such  equipment  be  installed  remote 
from  the  theater  auditorium,  such  as  in  the 
basement,  to  prevent  acoustical  hum  or  me- 
chanical vibration  from  reaching  the  audi- 
torium section  of  the  theater.  Extreme 
caution  should  be  taken  to  insulate  properly 
all  rotary  equipment  that  may  be  located 
at  the  projection  room  level,  regardless  of 
size,  against  the  possibility  of  excess  me- 
chanical vibration  and  hum.  All  arc-supply 

6 


equipment  located  in  the  power-equipment 
room,  including  projection  arc  rheostats, 
shall  be  at  least  4  feet  from  all  sound-ampli- 
fier units." 

Ticket  Machine  Care 

In  reviewing  a  number  of  things  that, 
for  one  reason  and  another,  are  susceptible 
to  being  overlooked  in  the  inspection  that 
is  required  from  theatre  managers  these 
days,  John  J.  Sefing  refers  in  this  issue  to 
tickets  issuing  machines.  It  just  so  happens 
that  the  author  of  these  lines  has  been  talk- 
ing to  Mr.  Bruce  Johnson  of  the  General 
Register  Corporation  about  the  maintenance 
of  this  very  type  of  equipment. 

Ticket  issuing  machines,  with  their  in- 
tricate registering  and  tabulating  devices, 
are  pretty  hardy  pieces  of  apparatus  as 
manufactured  these  days,  but  like  any  kind 
of  equipment,  they  require  some  attention. 
If  not  given  that  attention,  they  cannot  be 
expected  to  keep  on  doing  the  job  for  which 
they  have  finally  been  developed,  and  re- 
pairs and  replacements  just  aren't  available. 


FEATURES    IN    THIS  ISSUE 


The  Basis  of  Auditorium  Planning  .    .  7 

Practical  Acoustical  Correction.    .    .  9 

Dattola  Theatre,  New  Kensington,  Pa.  12 

Weaving  for  War   14 

Inspecting  for  Trouble  Just  Starting   .  16 

F.  H.  Richardson's  Comment    ...  20 

About  People  of  the  Theatre    ...  25 


A  section  of  Motion  Picture  Herald  devoted  to 
the  physical  theatre,  published  by  the  Quigley 
Publishing  Company,  Inc.,  Rockefeller  Center, 
New  York,  every  fourth  week.  Martin  Quigley, 
publisher  and  editor-in-chief.  George  Schutz, 
editor.  Colvin  Brown,  general  manager.  Ray 
Gallo,    advertising  manager. 


General  Register,  for  example,  is  devotin 
its  facilities  to  war  production,  and  whi! 
it  had  the  foresight  to  build  up  a  goo 
inventory  of  critical  parts,  exhibitors  ai 
cautioned  not  to  rely  upon  them.  To  avoi 
the  necessity  of  major  repairs  Mr.  Johnso 
recommends  that  management  see  to  it  th; 
the  following  things  are  done: 

Brush  the  knife  section  free  of  ticket  du 
before  use  every  day  (a  new  10c  paint  bru< 
is  just  right  for  this  job.) 

Clean  the  inside  of  the  case  of  accumi 
lated  ticket  dust  once  a  week. 

Put  one  drop  of  light  machine  oil  c 
each  knife  hinge  once  a  week. 

Put  one  drop  of  kerosene  on  each  tick 
flap  once  a  week. 

Don't  polish  the  top  plate.  .  .  or  if  yc 
insist  on  it  being  polished  cover  each  tick 
flap  firmly  with  scotch  tape  and  remc 
when  finished  (don't  use  the  transparei 
kind.  .  .  you'll  forget  to  remove  it) 

Another  way  to  clean  the  top  plate  is 
wipe  with  a  little  light  machine  oil  on  a  ra' 
.  .  .  using  as  little  oil  as  possible. 

Always  remember,  one  ticket  flap  cloggt 
or  corroded  from  using  metal  polish  c; 
ruin  the  timing  of  an  accurate  mechanis 
and  costs  hard  cash  money  to  have  repaire 

If  yours  is  an  electric  model,  fill  the  c 
or  grease  cups  on  the  motor  once  every  tv 
months.  Check  motor  brushes  once  eve 
three  months  and  clean  carbon  dust  fro 
motor  armature. 

If  you  have  electrical  trouble  always  pu 
out  the  wall  plug,  this  may  prevent 
burned  out  motor. 

We've  been  asked  to  remind  theat 
folks  that  the  Government  wants  all  t( 
scrap  metal  it  can  get  its  hands  on.  Lo< 
around  your  basement  and  storage  roon 
If  your  town  hasn't  a  regular  pickup  st 
vice  for  the  purpose,  ask  your  supply  deal 
what  to  do  with  the  stuff.  Your  unc 
will  appreciate  it. 

—G.  S. 

A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Heral 


■low  Viewing  Conditions  Form 
fhe  Basis  of  the  Theatre  Plan 


The  first  of  a  group  of 
rticles  presenting  the 
lethods  of  the  author,  a 
ell  known  architect  spe- 
ializing  in  theatre  design, 
i  laying  out  a  theatre  plan, 
ere  he  discusses  the  mean- 
lg  of  sightlines  and  how 
ley  affect  the  floor  slope 

y  BEN  SCHLANGER 


proper  viewing  of  a  mo- 

n  picture — and  picture-projection  and 
cture-viewing  are  the  two  primary  func- 
Jhs  for  which  a  theatre  is  designed — may 
\  analyzed  in  terms  of  the  number  of  de- 

.able  viewing  positions  in  the  auditorium 
\  square  foot  of  screen  picture  surface, 
\  the  number  of  cubic  feet  of  volume  of 
Lditorium  structure  per  seat.  For  eco- 
Ijhic  reasons  a  certain  level  of  efficiency 
"necessary  in  designing  to  produce  a  maxi- 

•m  number  of  desirable  viewing  positions 
square  foot  of  picture,  and  a  minimum 

,-nber  of  cubic  feet  of  auditorium  struc- 
per  seat. 

The  degree  of  desirability  of  the  view- 
position  is  measured  by  the  amount  of 
lal  and  bodily  comfort   afforded  the 
ver.   This  comfort  is  attained  when  the 
construction,  the  viewing  position  and 
sight    line    clearances    are  properly 
i  ed,  and  related  to  each  other.  The 
c  form  of  the  auditorium  structure  con- 
s  the  factor  of  the  viewing  positions, 
-pitline  clearances  are  determined  by  the 
gn  of  the  floor  slopes  and  steppings  in 
'  tion  to  the  position  of  the  screen.  The 
of    staggered    seating  arrangements 
es  the  factor  of  viewing  positions  enter 
sightline  clearances. 

everal  design  assumptions  may  be  made 
re  proceeding  with  the  auditorium  de- 
as  follows : 

Seats  are  manufactured  which  afford 
portable  postures  and  floor  support  and 
angles  in  accordance  with  the  speci- 
ions  of  the  floor  slope  design. 

The  size  of  the  projected  picture  is 
'mined  by  the  proposed  maximum 
ing  distance.  Maximum  picture  size 
i  determined  by  the  standard  widths 
otion  picture  film  and  the  equipment 
able  to  sufficiently  light  the  projected 
re. 

Maximum  rate  of  the  slope  of  the 
and  the  pitch  or  incline  of  balcony 


tiers  are  determined  by  safety  measures 
called  for  by  local  building  authorities  and 
experience  gained  in  surveys  of  existing 
theatres. 

4.  The  physiological  measurements  of 
the  human  being  in  the  seated  position. 

5.  The  two  dimensional  character  of  the 
projected  picture. 

6.  Chair  spacing  and  aisle  arrangements 
determined  by  safety  rules. 

PATRON  FACTORS 

Still  another  assumption  must  be  made 
before  proceeding  with  the  design  work 
and  that  is  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
degree  of  comfort  required  for  the  viewer. 
Assuming  that  the  size  and  lighting  of  the 
projected  picture,  as  well  as  the  quality  of 
the  projection  itself,  is  satisfactory  for 
proper  visual  acuity,  a  further  assumption 
must  be  made  as  to  what  constitutes  bodily 
comfort  for  the  viewer  who  sits  in  one 
seat  for  an  average  of  about  two  hours 
during  a  single  attendance.  The  viewer 
should  be  able  to  sit  at  ease  with  his  back 
parallel  to  the  back  of  the  chair.  He 
should  not  have  to  stretch  upward,  shift 
sideways,  or  raise  his  head  to  overcome  an 
obstruction  of  his  view  of  the  picture 
caused  by  a  person  or  persons  seated  in 
front  of  him.  He  should  not  have  to  lean 
forward  or  raise  the  head.  His  posture 
while  viewing  the  picture  should  be  as 
close  to  normal  sitting  position  as  possible. 

There  are  certain  conditions  which  can- 
not be  taken  into  consideration  unless  elab- 
orate provisions  were  made  for  their  ac- 
commodation. These  are  introduced  by  the 
posture  of  viewers  who  slump  in  their  seats, 
and  by  the  variations  in  the  physiological 
measurements  of  the  viewers.  Children 
are  always  at  a  disadvantage  in  obtaining 
an  unobstructed  view  of  the  picture  when 


adults  are  seated  in  front  of  them.  This 
accounts  for  the  popularity  on  the  part  of 
children,  of  the  seats  nearest  the  screen 
where  there  is  a  minimum  obstruction  of 
the  view  of  the  picture.  For  practical  pur- 
poses it  must  be  assumed  that  the  eyes  of 
all  of  the  viewers  are  the  same  distance 
from  the  floor,  at  each  seat.  Any  extra 
allowance  for  variations  in  these  distances 
would  necessitate  the  design  of  excessively 
sloped  floors. 

Although  the  standing  height  of  people 
varies  considerably,  the  distance  from  the 
top  of  the  seat  cushion  to  the  eye  of  the 
sitting  person  does  not  vary  as  much.  If 
as  little  as  one  inch  were  allowed  for  ad- 
ditional height  for  the  person  in  front,  as 
a  safety  factor,  it  would  have  the  effect  of 
adding  almost  2  feet  to  the  slope  of  the 
floor  having  35  rows  of  seats.  Where  the 
natural  ground  and  other  conditions  per- 
mit and  where  there  are  not  more  than 
about  twenty  rows,  such  a  margin  of  safe- 
ty, of  1  inch  or  less,  may  be  introduced. 

In  most  instances  of  design,  the  key 
dimension  of  4^  inches  can  practicably  be 
used  for  calculating  floor  slopes  and  bal- 
cony pitches,  and  where  the  safety  factor 
is  used  this  dimension  will  increase  up  to 
5^2  inches.  This  key  dimension  is  the 
measurement  from  the  center  of  the  eye  to 
the  top  of  the  head  of  a  man  with  the 
average  amount  of  hair.  Women  wearing 
hats  or  unusually  high  coiffures  offer  spe- 
cial difficulty ;  however,  the  average  height 
of  women  is  less  than  that  of  the  men, 
which  offers  a  compensating  factor. 

WHAT  IS  A  SIGHTLINE? 

In  referring  to  the  term  sightlines,  used 
so  commonly  by  theatre  designers,  a  dis- 
tinction should  be  made  between  the  line 
of  sight  referring  to  the  angle  of  sight,  and 


FIGURE 


SCREEN 


CLEARANCE 
SIGHT  LINE 


ARRIVAL  POINT 
OF  SIGHT 


'TER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


FLAT  LEVEL  FLOOR  ' 


the  sightline  implying  unobstructed  vision 
from  a  given  position  to  the  screen.  While 
both  characteristics  of  the  sightlines  are 
interrelated,  it  is  necessary  for  purposes  of 
clarity  to  deal  with  each  separately  and 
relate  them  later  after  each  has  been  an- 
alyzed. The  clearance  sightline  is  dealt 
with  here  first.  This  sightline  determines 
the  floor  slopes  and  therefore  influences  the 
height  of  the  auditorium  (see  Figure  1  il- 
lustrating this  line ;  the  positions  of  the 
heads  as  shown,  control  the  arrival-point  of 
sight ) . 

A  slight  difference  in  position  will  cause 
the  arrival-point  to  hit  the  screen  at  an 
appreciably  higher  point.  The  shaded  area 
on  the  screen,  in  Figure  1,  shows  the  ex- 
tent of  obstruction  of  view.  This  shaded 
area  increases  in  width  and  height  when 
the  screen  is  placed  farther  from  these 
h;ads,  even  though  the  relative  height  of 
the  heads  from  the  floor  remain  the  same. 
This  varying  effect  in  amount  of  obstruct- 
ed vision  due  to  the  factor  of  distance  from 
the  screen,  makes  it  necessary  to  have  a 
changing  rate  of  slope  in  the  floor  to  com- 
pensate for  the  variations. 

Figure  2  shows  the  method  by  which  the 
arrival  points  of  sight  can  be  calculated. 
The  illustration  assumes  the  use  of  a  level 
flat  floor  only  for  purposes  of  simplification 
in  exposing  the  method.  Floor  slopes  are 
later  developed  using  the  method  here  ex- 


plained. Simple  arithmetic  is  all  that  is 
required  in  making  the  calculations.  Al- 
though higher  mathematical  calculations 
can  be  used,  the  methods  given  are  recom- 
mended because  they  offer  a  clearer  analysis 
of  the  problem  in  all  phases  of  the  cal- 
culations. 

Figure  1  shows  that  the  arrival  point 
of  sight  clearance  for  Row  13  is  4  feet,  \  J/2 
inches  higher  than  for  Row  2,  although 
both  rows  are  level  with  each  other.  If 
the  screen  were  placed  6  feet  above  the 
floor,  the  viewer  in  Row  13  would  have 
3  feet,  8  inches  of  the  lower  part  of  screen 
obstructed  from  his  view.  Row  2  would 
afford  unobstructed  vision  of  the  entire  pic- 
ture as  well  as  of  an  area  extending  5^2 
inches  immediately  below  the  screen.  Fig- 
ure 3  illustrates  a  simple  arithmetical 
method  by  which  the  arrival  point  of  sight 
at  the  screen  was  determined  as  5  feet,  6^4 
inches. 

The  eye  level  of  the  viewer  at  Row  2 
is  3  feet,  8  inches ;  the  top  of  the  head  of 
the  viewer  in  Row  1  is  4  feet  and  a  half- 
inch.  The  diagram  illustrates  that  for 
every  unit  distance  that  the  viewer  in  Row 
2  is  away  from  the  screen,  the  clearance 
sightline  rises  4^4  inches.  And  so  it  can 
be  seen  how  the  arrival  point  for  Row  2 
is  5  feet,  6y2  inches  at  the  screen. 

The  arrival  point  for  any  of  the  row 
numbers  in  Figure  2  can  be  calculated  in 


FIGURE  3 


SCREEN  POSITIO^ 


Ho.  Z 


ROW 

No  1 


4 


UNIFORM  UNIT  DISTANCE  S,f£>oM  THE  S.CKEEM 


5-62:' 


the  same  way,  by  adding  4-J/2  inches  to 
basic  figure  of  3  feet  8  inches,  for  e 
unit  of  distance  from  the  screen  that 
row  happens  to  be. 

SCREEN  POSITION 

It  is  now  possible  to  visualize  how  c: 
ance  of  sight  can  be  obtained  for  the  vie 
from  Row  13  in  Figure  2.  Two 
cedures  are  possible,  or  a  combinatioi 
them.  One  procedure  would  be  simpl 
raise  the  screen  until  the  bottom  of 
screen  was  9  feet,  8  inches  from  the  1 
This  would  be  impractical  because! 
people  sitting  in  the  rows  nearer  the  sc 
would  have  to  raise  their  heads  too  r 
to  view  the  picture.  The  alternative 
cedure  then  would  be  to  lower  the  pos 
of  the  viewer  seated  in  Row  No.  12  t| 
duce  the  unit  measurement  of  4J4  inf 
so  that  the  arrival  point  of  sight  woul 
sufficiently  low  to  gain  an  unobstri 
view  of  the  picture.  This  procedure  b 
about  the  use  of  a  sloped  floor. 

For  example,  assume  that  a  perso. 
Row  12  were  lowered  a  distance  of j 
inches.    That  would  reduce  the  disi 
of  \Yi   inches  shown  in  Figure  3,  | 
inches,  making  the  arrival  point  of 
for  Row  13  on  Figure  2,  come  to  6 
4  inches  instead  of  9  feet,  8  inches 
figure  was  arrived  at  by  simply  addi 
the  basic  figure  3  feet,  8  inches,  the  f 
2  feet,  8  inches.    The  latter  was  ar 
at  by  multiplying  2  inches  by  the  nu! 
of  unit  distances  from  the  screen,  wh 
16  in  the  distance  illustrated.  The 
of  2  inches  is  the  same  unit  as  the 
unit,  reduced,  however,  by  droppim 
viewer  in  Row  12  to  the  extent  off 
inches.     This   unit   of   4^  inches 
measurement  that  will  be  found  to  be 
sistent  among  all  kinds  of  people, 
the  average  distance  from  the  center 
eye  to  the  top  of  the  head. 

All  of  these  calculations  are  mer< 
show  hoiv  a  particular  sightline  is  ai 
at.  To  design  a  floor  slope,  a  con 
set  of  calculations  should  be  mad 
each  row. 

In  the  next  article,  proposed  screen 
tions  will  be  discussed,  with  demonst 
of  their  effect  on  vertical  angles  of  I 
Also,  floor  slopes  for  sight  clearance 
be  developed. 


8 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  h 


shaking  the  Average  Auditorium 
Serve  Its  Purpose  Acoustically 


Since  the  early  days  of  sound,  acoustics  engineers  have 
idded  much  to  their  knowledge  of  sound  behavior  and  con- 
rol,  and  of  how  to  apply  their  science  to  the  motion  picture 
heatre — and  progress  continues.  Meanwhile,  a  huge  motion 
i  cture  exhibition  plants  exists,  normally,  with  new  theatres 
»eing  constantly  added  and  old  ones  replaced,  demanding 
nmediate  methods  technically  adequate  and  commercially 
easible.  This  article  is  based  upon  an  extraordinary  amount 
nd  variety 


S  5 


th( 


:rc5"  z~-  z- 


y  DOUGLAS  DUNSHEATH 


if  you  were  an  exhibitor 
$fore  the  days  of  the  sound  track,  the 
*oblem  of  "sound-conditioning"  and 
[  mistical  correction  probably  interested 
W  only  when  you  attended  the  opera,  lis- 
ted to  a  concert  at.  say.  the  Civic  Audi- 
jnum,  or  checked  the  play  at  the  "legit" 
juse  down  the  street.  Then  came  the 
jening  when  your  operator  hovered  over 


a  boothful  of  new  equipment  which  he 
loaded  up  with  your  first  presentation  oi 
"Talking  Pictures."  Unless  you  were  the 
exception,  at  that  moment  acoustics  be- 
came a  very  pressing  problem  right  in  your 
own  house.  It  was  no  longer  an  abstract 
attribute  of  the  opera  house;  it  was  a  very 
real  condition  just  beyond  your  box-office. 
And.  you  immediately  "took  steps." 

Fortunately,  architectural  acoustics  and 
the  development  of  practical  acoustical  ma- 
terials had  been  coming  along  with  great 
rapidity  during  the  decade  preceding  the 


birth  of  the  movie  s  new  baby,  the  sound 
track.  Acoustical  men  knew  considerable 
about  the  way  sound  behaved  in  an  audi- 
torium, and  something  about  how  to  make 
it  behave  the  way  they  wanted  it  to.  So 
you  had  a  place  to  turn  for  some  assistance. 
But,  neither  you  nor  the  acoustical  man 
knew  much  about  electrical  reproduction, 
its  virtues  or  rices.  Consequently,  the  first 
efforts  to  provide  some  semblance  of  acous- 
tical comfort  for  your  patrons  included 
just  about  everything  in  the  book  and  a 
whole  lot  that  was  sheer  improvisation.  In 
some  instances  the  results  were  good.  In 
others,  they  were  bad.  But  all  instance; 
furnished  valuable  experience  from  which 
came  the  practical  knowledge  that  enables 
us  today  to  plan  new  houses  or  undertake 
the  remodeling  of  old  ones  with  every  as- 
surance of  obtaining  acoustical  satisfaction. 

THE  PRACTICAL  PROBLEM 

It  will  probaoly  be  some  time,  even  so, 
before  discussions  of  ways  and  means  of 
acoustical  correction  in  the  motion  picture 
theatre  will  be  entirely  free  of  all  contro- 
versy. The  subject  is  still  too  new  to  be 
"grooved."  The  purpose  of  this  article  is 
not  to  discuss  the  theoretical  possibilities, 
or  the  "should  be's"  of  theatre  acoustics. 
We  present  here  our  own  conclusions  to 
date,  based  upon  our  experience  in  sound- 
conditioning  some  150  theatres  located 
throughout  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  the 
Dakotas,  Iowa,  Nebraska.  Wyoming  and 
Montana. 

In  seating  capacity  and  box-office  re- 
ceipts, most  of  these  may  be  termed  average 
houses.  We  are  not  certain  that  all  of 
these  houses  would  measure  up,  acousti- 
callv.  to  theoretical  perfection.    But  since 


American  theatre  in  Minneapolis  keeps  pace  with  the  times. 
»e,  the  auditorium  after  it  was  first  remodeled  in  1926,  by 
ir berg  &  Kaplan,  Minneapolis  architects.  Right,  as  remodelei 
near.    The  detail  view  is  of  carved  Celofex  tile  wall  pkq.e. 

\"TER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


they  are  giving  practical  satisfaction  from 
the  box-office  viewpoint,  we  outline  these 
conclusions  with  the  thought  that  they  may 
be  helpful  to  exhibitors  elsewhere. 

In  the  theatre  used  exclusively  for 
screen    presentations,    the   modern  direc- 


theatre  in  Hibbing,  Minn. 


tional  horns  with  their  high-fidelity  char- 
acteristics throughout  the  various  fre- 
quencies, have  necessitated  a  slightly  dif- 
ferent approach  to  the  original  problem  of 
reverberation.  When  we  deal  with  the 
human  voice  and  unamplified  musical  in- 
struments, power  and  loudness  must  of 
necessity  be  the  prime  considerations  around 
which  we  work.  With  the  electrical  repro- 
duction systems,  we  have  power  and  loud- 
ness to  spare.  In  the  case  of  original,  un- 
amplified sources;  a  room  resonance  is 
sought  which  gives  the  original  sound 
optimum  reinforcement  without  carrying 
over  into  excessive  reverberation.  With 
electrically  reproduced  sound  and  its  highly 
directional  horn  to  assist  in  sound  distri- 
bution, backed  with  ample  power  to  main- 
tain satisfactory  loudness  levels  over  the 
entire  audience  area,  the  complete  elimina- 
tion of  "echoes,"  "flutter,"  "back-slap"  and 
"focusing"  takes  precedence  over  any 
thought  of  reinforcement. 

PRACTICAL  TREATMENT 
OF  AVERAGE  AUDITORIUMS 

This,  of  course,  would  not  be  true  if  we 
were  dealing  only  with  houses  of  ideal 
proportions;  but  the  "average"  house  is 
usually  one  with   definite   limitations  in 


An  interesting  installation  of  Acousti-Cel 
mineral  tile  in  the  Varsity  theatre,  Mfl 
apolis.  Note  how  the  acoustical  treati 
is  curved  over  the  pilasters  to  provici 
broken   wall  for   better  sound  distribui 


shape  and  proportion  due  to  plot  andj 
chitectural  compromises. 

While  every  house  presents  its  own  pj 
lem,  our  experience  indicates  that  cer* 
general    procedures   can    be  followed 
average  houses  that  will  lead  to  satisfac 
hearing  conditions.    In  general,  the  b 
of  our  working  plan  provides  for  an  ej 
amount  of  acoustical  material  on  each  a 
wall,  distributed  over  an  area  exten« 
from  ceiling  to  wainscot  line  and  from 
rear  wall  to  within  20  or  30  feet  of 
proscenium  arch.    The  rear  wall  is  t< 
broken  into  non-parallel  surfaces  if 
sible,  and  if  not,  it  is  to  be  "loaded"  1 
treatment  to  a  point  where  it  is  air 
wholly  sound  absorbent.    No  absorber 
placed  on  the  ceiling.    Adequate  treatr 
is  placed  on   the   front  wall  behind 
screen  and  speakers  to  prevent  back 
through  the  screen  opening. 

In  allocating  the  recommended  am  | 
of  treatment  for  the  sidewalls,  the  den 
tor  is  permitted  to  arrange  it  in  al 
any  design  he  chooses  within  the  presci 
area.    The  only  limitation  is  that  he 


10 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Ht  jj 


iditorium  of  the  St.  Clair  theatre,  St.  Paul,  Minn,  (above  and  below).  Note  how  Acousti- 
slotex  panels  are  mounted  in  a  "saw-tooth"  design  to  aid  sound  distribution.  Extraordinarily 
jh  ceilings  and  disproportionate  dimensions  originally  created  excessive  reverberation  as  well 
poor  sound  distribution.  The  treatment  shown,  designed  by  Liebenberg  &  Kaplan,  has  cor- 
:ted  this.  The  view  above  shows  how  the  design  of  the  acoustical  panels  achieved  a  decorative 
ect.    Alternating  columns  of  the  Acousti-Celotex  tile  are  painted  with  a  harmonizing  dark  tint. 


Jbt  leave  large  panels  of  hard  wall  surface 
.irectly  opposite  each  other  across  the 
oom.  Such  surfaces  will  likely  cause 
ross-reflection,  or  "flutter."    It  is  desirable 

0  bring  the  treated  area  down  to  a  line 
evel  with  the  head  height  of  the  average 
erson  walking  down  the  aisle. 

IDE  WALLS 

Experience  has  shown  that  in  the  1,000- 
bat  auditorium  of  average  design  charac- 
eristics,  approximately  600  square  feet  of 
coustical  treatment,  with  .50  to  .60  noise 
eduction  coefficient,  are  required  for  each 
"de  wall  (the  number  of  absorption  units 
re  calculated,  of  course,  in  relation  to  the 
bsorption  of  the  seats  and  carpeting).  In 
Dnjunction  with  the  conditions  outlined  in 
,ne  preceding  paragraph,  it  is  seen  from 
iiis  that  the  decorator  has  a  wide  latitude 

1  arranging  the  design.  We  have  allowed 
im  a  "leeway"  of  50  square  feet. 

EAR  WALL 

If  the  rear  wall  is  broken  up,  it  usually 
quires,  in  such  an  average  auditorium, 
proximately  300  square  feet  of  material 
irh  a  coefficient  of  .80  to  .98.  If  it  has 
•  remain  flat  and  unbroken,  it  is  com- 
etely  covered  from  ceiling  down  to  a 
ne  about  four  inches  above  the  head 
•ight  of  those  seated  in  the  back  row. 

Where  curved  back  walls  are  encoun- 
red,  it  is  recommended  that  the  curve  be 


1 


justed  so  that  the  center  of  the  radius 
sJie  arc  will  fall  well  back  of  the  speak- 
and  screen,  preferably  "in  the  alley" 
I  ^ide  of  the  theatre.    A  smaller  curve  is 
:  :  to  focus  annoying  echoes  somewhere 
he  audience  area. 

£ATH  BALCONY 

reas  underneath  balconies  are  consid- 
as  separate  rooms.  In  most  instances, 
back  wall  only  is  treated — no  treat- 


ment on  the  underside  of  the  balcony, 
which  really  constitutes  the  ceiling  of  the 
'"room"  effected  in  this  area. 

CEILINGS 

Little,  if  any,  direct  sound  ordinarily 
reaches  the  ceiling  from  the  modern  direc- 
tional horn.  We  find  that  the  sound  that 
strikes  up  here  is  usually  "spill."  Conse- 
quently, we  leave  the  ceiling  untreated. 
Where  a  fibre  board  has  been  used  for 


ceiling  finish,  it  is  painted  to  kill  its  ab- 
sorption. 

The  problem  of  back-slap  from  a  wall 
behind  the  horns  has  as  yet  not  been  solved 
entirely  satisfactorily ;  however,  we  have 
found  that  a  blanket  of  a  material  com- 
parable to  Ozite  carpet  lining,  the  size  of 
the  screen  opening  and  hung  loosely  against 
the  wall,  does  a  very  good  job.  This 
treatment  absorbs  the  "standing  wave"  that 
is  sometimes  set  up  between  the  horns  and 
the  wall,  and  also  kills  reflections  from  the 
rear  wall  of  the  theatre  to  the  front  wall. 
Rock  wool,  supported  between  wire  net- 
ting, has  been  used,  but  where  this  is  em- 
ployed some  sort  of  a  dark  covering  should 
be  placed  in  front  of  it  to  prevent  light  re- 
flection from  getting  back  into  this  space 
through  the  screen. 

In  order  to  obtain  as  nearly  as  possible 
a  straight  line  absorption  across  all  fre- 
quencies, the  acoustical  material  is  applied 
on  furring  strips.  The  diaphragmatic  ac- 
tion of  such  mounting  on  furring  strips 
goes  far  in  absorbing  those  low  ton«s  be- 
tween 60  and  300  cycles  that  are  largely 
responsible  for  a  "boomy"  house.  It  was 
our  original  effort  to  eliminate  this  boom- 
ing that  convinced  us  that  the  most  satis- 
factory reverberation  time  for  most  houses 
was  one  just  slightly  on  the  dead  side  as 
compared  with  optimum  times  for  audi- 
toriums for  general  use.  [This  statement 
is  not  to  be  construed  as  meaning  that  any 
tendency  toward  "deadness"  is  sought,  but 
rather  that  a  little  less  reverberation  is 
(Continued  on  page  15) 


ITER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


11 


BRILLIANCE  AND  FULL  COLOF 
WITH  VARIED  MATERIALS 


The  Dattola  Theatre,  New  Kensington,  Pa.  Michael  J.  DeAngelis,  Architect 


■  A  project  begun  pric 
to  full  wartime  restrii 
tions  on  theatre  construi 
tion,  the  Dattola  theatn 
located  in  the  main  bus 
ness  section  of  New  Kei 
sington,  Pa.,  was  con 
pleted  in  June.  It 
owned  and  operated  h 
Bart  Dattola.  Designed  i 
an  ornamental  moder 
style,  this  theatre  has 
front  finished  in  terr 
cotta,  the  center  portio 
cream-buff  with  orang 
trim,  the  side  wings  blue 
and  set  into  the  tower 
a  panel  of  Pittsburc 
fluted  glass,  behind  whic 
glows  neon  tubing  in  fi\ 
colors.  Fluted  glass  alj 
trims  the  ticket  boot! 
while  the  entrance  dool 
are  solid  Herculite  glas 


■  The  lobby  (pictured 
left)    is    brilliant  wi 
flesh-colored  mirrors  cc 
ering  the  side  walls,  ea^ 
mirror  having  an  inset  d- 
play  frame;  and  crea 
colored  Formica  entran 
doors,  which  have  Luc 
handles.  Except  for  crea'> 
colored  terrazzo  borde 
the  floor  is  covered 
recessed  rubber  mats  ej 
rying  an  orange  and  ble 
design.  This  colorful  tre< 
ment   is   set  beneath 
plaster  ceiling  painted1 
three   shades   of  ore! 
and  rimmed  with  a  lig ' 
ing  cove  containing  f 
orescent  lamps. 


12 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her 


mm 


Theatre  carpeting  is  scarce,  not  because  of  wool  shortage,  but  because  carpet  makers  are  no 


W  E  AY  INC  FOR  WA  I 


■  So  diverse  are  the  normal  needs 
of  the  motion  picture  theatre  that 
the  war  strikes  at  it  from  many  direc- 
tions, not  only  from  within  the  theatre 
business,  but  from  without  —  as,  for 
example,  the  carpet  industry.  Remote 
that  industry  may  have  seemed  to 
production  for  war;  yet  that's  its  main 
job  today,  as  described  here. 


By  J.  CLARK  SAMUEL 


Weaving  U.  S.  Army  blankets  at  the  Bigelow-Sanford  plant  in  Amsterdam,  N 


Axminster  looms  at  the  Alexander  Smith  mill 
in  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  turning  out  cotton  duck. 


FOR  THE  SECOND  time  ID 

a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  carpet  industry 
has  gone  to  war.  Although  looms  still  hum 
in  big  plants  over  the  country,  they  no 
longer  weave  the  soft  comfortable  carpets 
that  soothe  tired  feet  of  movie-goers  and 
accompany  decorative  themes  in  our  thea- 
tres. Day  and  night,  twenty-four  hours  a 
day,  the  great  mills  of  the  carpet  industry 
hum  with  determined  activity,  for  these 
mills  are  making  articles  of  war.  Cotton 
duck  to  be  made  into  tents,  tarpaulins,  duf- 
fel bags  and  many  other  items,  rolls  out  of 
the  mills  by  the  mile.  Woolen  blankets  in 
the  familiar  brown  of  the  army  and  gray 
of  the  navy  are  being  produced  by  the  mil- 
lions. 

Highest  grade  carpet  wool  comes  from 
the  Far  East  which  is  today  a  blazing,  roar- 
ing inferno  of  total  war.  To  bring  any 
wool  or  any  other  product  of  the  Far  East 
by  Ship  to  America  is  a  long  and  danger- 
ous task.  Thus  our  Government  has  de- 
creed— and  rightly  so — that  this  precious 
wool  is  more  valuable  woven  into  articles 


14 


of  war  than  into  carpets 
and  rugs  which  during 
this  critical  period  can  be 
considered  as  relatively 
unessential. 

The  conversion  of  the 
carpet  industry  from 
peacetime  to  wartime  pro- 
duction has  been  a  diffi- 
cult task  which  has  been 
met  by  the  mills  earnestly 
and  efficiently.  You  just 
can't  take  a  carpet  loom 
and  stop  weaving  carpet  today  and  begin 
weaving  cotton  duck  tomorrow.  Every  one 
of  these  looms  must  be  mechanically  con- 
verted for  the  new  job.  The  looms  have  to 
be  rearranged  in  position ;  a  de- 
partment developed  for  weav- 
ing; equipment  developed  for 
winding  quills  or  cops ;  layouts 
made  for  finishing,  rolling  and 
packaging  the  woven  material ; 
decisions  have  to  be  made  as  to 
what  sizes  and  types  will  be 
manufactured ;  specifications  for 
these  developed,  and  yarns  of 
various  types  and  sizes  contract- 
ed for.  Government  specifica- 
tions for  weight,  strength  and 
porosity  of  various  types  of  duck 
are  stringent  and  make  neces- 
sary high  quality  yarns  and 
constructions.  This  means  that 
the  personnel  of  a  carpet  manu- 
facturing plant  must  become, 
in  a  few  weeks,  familiar  with 
the  intimate  details  of  the  duck 


manufacturing  industry  and  without 
perience,  in  general,  develop  equipme 
processes  and  specifications  which  will  f 
duce   this  product  economically  for 
armed  forces. 

The  problem  in  connection  with  blan 
is  also  complex  although  the  experience 
the  staff  of  a  carpet  manufacturer  is  f 
haps  more  closely  allied  to  blanket  ma 
facture  than  to  duck,  since  a  blanket  i 
woolen  material  and  wool  is  also  the  n 
important  material  of  a  carpet  mill.  1 
equipment  conversion  for  blankets  is,  ht 
ever,  a  much  more  serious  proposition.  1j 
blanket  looms  now  in  use  in  the  blan 
industry  are,  comparatively  speaking,  | 
(Contiued  on  page  24) 


Fashioning  an  "object"  for  the  U.  S.  r- 
at   Mohawk's   plant,   Amsterdam,  N 

A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Hei\t 


Making  Auditorium 
Serve  Its  Purpose 
Acoustically 

(Continued  from  page  11) 

allowed  than  for  an  auditorium  in  which 
the  sound  of  the  performance  issues  from 
the  original  sources. — Ed.] 

As  seen  by  the  accompanying  photo- 
graphs, we  have  used  a  preponderence  of 
perforated  tile — cane,  where  the  fire  codes 
permitted,  and  mineral  where  the  codes 
called  for  an  incombustible  material.  Our 
choice  of  this  type  of  material  was  based 
on  its  versatility  in  decoration  and  the  ease 
of  maintenance.  Being  paintable  without 
loss  of  absorption  capacity,  decorators  have 
a  free  hand  at  any  time  for  changing  color 
schemes  or  motifs  and  ordinary  mainte- 
nance costs  are  accordingly  substantially 
lessened. 

^Tiere  decorations  more  elaborate  than 
paint,  such  as  cut-outs  or  bas-relief  panels, 
ere  desired,  perforated  mineral  tile  works 
well  under  the  sculptor's  tools  and  com- 
bines acoustical  function  with  decorative 
beauty.  And  just  as  with  plain  perforated 
tiles,  these  carved  tiles  may  be  renewed  as 
necessary  by  ordinary  painting  and  clean- 
ing without  affecting  their  acoustical  func- 
tion. 

PROJECTION  ROOM 

No  discussion  of  theatre  sound-condi- 

-  tioning  would  be  complete  without  a  word 
'  about  the  projection  room.    Two  problems 

face  us  here.  First  there  is  the  simple 
matter    of    machine    noise    that  escapes 

d  through  the  ports  into  the  audience  area. 
This  is  particularly  objectionable  where 

f?  the  projection  room  opens  immediately  on 

-  to  the  balcony.    Substantial  reduction  of 

-  this  noise  can  be  effected  by  treating  the 
a  ceiling  of  the  room  with  an  incombustible 
?  (fireproof)  acoustical  material. 

_     Even  more  important  than  noise  reduc- 

-  tion  is  the  improved  hearing  conditions 
"  within   the   projection   room,   where  the 

monitor  horn  is  located.  No  projectionist 
can  be  expected  to  handle  the  sound  in  the 
auditorium  properly  when  the  reproduc- 
tion from  his  monitor  horn  is  masked  by 
machine  noise. 

Sound  conditioning  to  suppress  noise  in 
foyers,  lounges  and  around  refreshment 
booths  is  a  matter  that  needs  attention  in 
many  theatres;  however,  since  this  is  apart 
from  acoustical  correction  in  the  audi- 
torium itself,  it  is  better  left  for  discussion 
at  another  time,  when  it  can  be  dealt  with 
in  specific  detail. 

[Douglas  Dunsheath  is  president  of  the  In- 
sulation Sales  Company,  Inc.,  Minneapolis 
coustical  engineers  and  contractors  whose 
perience  in  the  practical  problems  of  motion 
dure  theatre  acoustics  is  extraordinary  among 
organizations  not  associated  <vnth  the  manu- 
'acture  and  installation  of  sound  reproduction 
equipment.  They  have  prepared  acoustical 
realment  specifications  for  theatres  throughout 
$'\he  Midwest  and  Northwest  over  a  period  of 
y  ,nany  years.] 


ON  DIMMED -OUT  BROADWAY- 

a  sign  that  sparkles  with  borrowed  light! 


-up  of  one  of 
letters  that 
the  sign  for 
de  of  the  Yan- 
5" — currently  pack- 
ing them  in  on  Broad- 
way. Designer:  Art- 
kraft-Strauss . 


Big  Flexglass  letters  give  high 
visibility  both  night  and  dav 


This  sign  on  the  front  of  New  York's  famous 
Astor  Theatre  glitters  and  sparkles  at  night — 
without  the  use  of  electricity! 

The  explanation  is,  of  course,  that  the  designers. 
Artkraft-Strauss,  have  used  the  light-catching 
ahility  of  Flexglass  with  unusual  skill.  Big.  eight 
foot  letters  fashioned  from  Lustrablu  and  Lustra- 
gold  Flexglass  make  up  the  sign. 

Brilliant,  colorful,  by  day,  the  sign  is  an  eye- 
catcher  at  night — even  on  dimmed-out  Broad- 
way! The  gleaming  mirrors  of  blue  and  gold 
catch  light  from  passing  traffic  and  shimmer 
against  the  sign's  chalk-white  background. 

New,  unusual — the  use  of  Flexglass  for  outdoor 
signs  is  but  one  of  many.  This  versatile  material 
brings  glamor  to  walls  and  ceilings  of  theatre 
lobbies  all  over  the  eountrv. 


Flexglass  is  made  up  of  little  rectangles  of  glass 
— mounted  on  flexible  fabric.  It  can  be  applied 
quickly  to  any  hard  surface — even  surfaces  with 
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15 


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in  operation,  installation,  maintenance 

John  J.  Sefing  is  a  graduate  mechanical  engineer  and  has  (ong  specialized  In  theatre  werl 

Q  Keep  Your  Eye  Peeled 
For  Trouble  Just  Starting 


by  this  time  theatre  op- 
erators and  managers  surely  may  be  said 
to  be  fully  conscious  of  the  need  for  careful 
watch  over  every  detail  of  the  physical  the- 
atre, because  of  the  necessity  to  operate 
without  the  usual  supplies  and  anything 
but  emergency  replacements— and  perhaps, 
in  time,  even  without  these !  This  watchful- 
ness should  be  constant,  a  part  of  each  day's 
working  schedule,  and  even  when  just  go- 
ing about  the  theatre  in  general  supervision, 
the  manager  and  the  more  responsible  mem- 
bers of  his  staff  should  keep  a  weather-eye 
out  for  things  that  mean  deterioration,  that 
are  just  the  beginning  of  defects  which,  if 
nipped  in  the  bud,  would  not  develop  into 
conditions  requiring  emergency  repairs. 

There  is  much  that  exhibitors  and  man- 
agers can  do  along  this  line  that  they  have 
never  taken  so  seriously  before.  Theatres 
are  made  up  of  a  thousand  and  one  struc- 
tural and  decorative  items  and  pieces  of 
equipment,  and  the  job  of  looking  after  the 
physical  theatre  is  as  big  as  the  sum  total 
of  all  these,  making  it  a  big  enough  job  to 
be  worth  the  intelligent,  informed  attention 
of  an  executive. 

If  theatres  are  kept  up  in  a  neat  and  at- 
tractive manner  the  theatre-going  public 
continues  to  get  proper  comfort  and  pleas- 
ure from  being  in  the  theatre.  If  the  thea- 
tre is  maintained  and  serviced  intelligently 
and  systematically,  the  safety  of  patrons  is 
reasonably  assured,  and  equipment,  furnish- 
ings and  building  are  conserved.  This  can- 
not be  accomplished,  of  course,  by  just 
wishful  thinking,  but  by  hard  and  con- 
sistent work.  In  normal  times  theatre  man- 
agement had  its  hands  full  with  regular 
routine  matters,  but  in  these  critical  times 
the  responsibility  is  made  greater.  Now 
the  general  scheme  of  things  in  and  out  of 
the  theatre  proper  just  cannot  be  main- 
tained and  serviced  in  any  old  way,  with 
plans  for  closing  the  theatre  for  a  few 
weeks  during  the  slow  season  to  recon- 
dition everything  at  once.  With  materials, 
parts  and  supplies  tightly  restricted,  they 
cannot  be  had  to  handle  the  work  in  that 
manner. 

The  best  way,  of  course,  is  to  eliminate 


the  causes,  no  matter  how  small,  of  break- 
downs and  deterioration.  A  good  idea  is,, 
for  the  exhibitor  or  manager  to  work  out  a 
detailed  and  systematic  emergency  mainte- 
nance scheme  that  would  cover  the  servic- 
ing of  the  theatre  from  front  to  back,  un-j. 
interruptedly,  day  in  and  day  out.  In  this 
way  no  time  w7ould  be  given  for  serious 
trouble  to  develop. 

MARQUEE  INSPECTION 

This  maintenance  system  should  begin  at 
the  marquee,  which  at  best  is  somewhat 
neglected,  as  a  rule,  because  of  the  incon^ 
venience  in  getting  to  its  operating  sec- 
tions, which  is  either  by  a  ladder  or 
through  a  "tight-fitting"  hung  ceiling. 

The  proper  servicing  and  maintenance  of 
the  marquee  is  not  only  important  from  a 
structural  and  electrical  standpoint,  but 
also  from  that  of  general  appearance.  It 
has  been  noticed  that  many  marquees,  espe- 
cially within  the  dimout  zones,  have  taken 
on  a  gloomy  and  rundown  appearance  be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  attention  given  them. 
It  seems  that  just  because  marquees  in  dim 
out  areas  are  not  lighted  at  night,  is  reason 
enough  to  forget  them  entirely ;  however 
not  only  does  neglect  give  a  wrong  impres 
sion  to  the  public,  but  it  naturally  in 
creases  the  rate  of  deterioration,  so  that1 
later  on  an  entirely  new  marquee  may  have 
to  be  purchased. 

The  attraction  board  lines  as  well  as  the 
soffit  should  be  washed  down  thoroughly' 
with  soap  and  water.  Where  any  rust  spots 
are  noticed  they  should  be  immediately 
painted,  and  any  loose  flashing  strips  and 
metal  panels  should  be  repaired.  The  roof 
of  the  marquee  should  be  kept  clean  to  pre- 
vent blockage  of  the  drain,  with  any  hole? 
or  breaks  filled  in  with  asphaltum  roofing 
cement,  and  loose  flashing  nailed  down  and 
then  "tarred"  over.  In  this  way  no  water 
will  leak  through  that  might  cause  a  seri- 
ous short-circuit  or  general  deterioration  of 
the  insulation  or  the  electrical  wiring  and 
contacts. 

All  switch  and  fuse  panels,  junction 
boxes  and  flashers,  if  used,  should  be  kepi 


16 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Herald 


always  free  of  dust  and  moisture.  All  ter- 
minal lugs,  fuse  blocks,  and  knife  switch 
jaws  should  be  checked  occasionally  to  see  if 
any  oxidation  has  set  in.  In  short,  the  entire 
marquee  should  be  kept  spic  and  span  con- 
stantly, especially  when  it  is  not  in  oper- 
ation. 

Another  thing  that  in  the  past  was  neg- 
lected, is  the  ticket  dispensing  machine  and 
coin  changer.  These  machines  are  quite 
complicated  in  their  makeup  and  need  a 
good  cleaning  once  every  month  for  proper 
and  efficient  operation.  Of  course,  in  the 
past,  in  case  a  breakdown  occurred,  a 
"loaner"  was  quickly  available  to  use  while 
the  other  machine  was  being  repaired ;  how- 
ever, now  repairs  and  loaners  cannot  be 
had  and  it  is  up  to  the  theatre  to  do  the 
i  best  it  can  in  keeping  the  machine  in  good 
operating  condition. 

TICKET  AND  COIN  MACHINES 

The  ticket  machine  or  coin  changer 
should  be  cleaned  thoroughly  by  hand,  in- 

;  eluding  as  far  as  possible  all  working  parts ; 
then  for  the  rest  a  strong  vacuum  cleaner 
may  be  used.  Do  not  "force"  anything  or 

;  take  something  apart  if  it  is  in  good  work- 

;  ing  order.  Get  rid  of  the  dirt.  It  is  sur- 
prising how  much  dust,  dirt  and  fuzz  will 
be  found  inside  the  machine  when  it  is 

;  cleaned.  Occasional  cleaning,  with  slight 
oiling  where  required,  will  add  years  to 
the  useful  life  of  your  ticket  or  coin  ma- 
chine. The  theatre  manager  must  arrange 
to  follow  a  definite  schedule  of  cleaning 

:  and  checking  his  ticket  machines  as  other- 
wise a  breakdown  might  occur  that  will 
surely  upset  his  smooth  routine. 


DOOR  CONDITIONS 

All  door  checks  on  the  lobby  or  vestibule 
.'doors  should  be  cleaned  and  properly  ad- 
i  justed,    especially   now   before   the  cold 
I weather  sets  in.  A  door  that  is  not  operat- 
ing properly  can  allow  a  lot  of  cold  air  to 
'  enter  the  theatre,  and  it  may  prove  difficult 
'  to  obtain  the  usual  amount  of  heating  fuel 
\  this  winer.    The  door  saddles  should  be 
.checked  also  to  see  if  they  fit  the  doors 
properly.   A  poor  or  badly  worn  saddle  will 
Jpot  only  allow  cold  air  to  come  in  under 
.  .:he  door,  but  also  is  a  constant  hazard  to 
.  jatrons.  If  any  door  "sticks"  at  the  bottom 
j  t  should  be  taken  off  the  hinges  and  about 
i  quarter  of  an  inch  planed  off.  There  are 
.  nany  theatres  that  allow  their  doors  to 
ontinually  scrape  the  door  saddles,  and 
.  specially  the  carpet.  In  some  case  these 
loors  fit  so  tight  at  the  bottom  that  they 
nust  actually  be  forced  by  hand  into  the 
losed  position.  It  would  save  money  as 
veil  as  annoyance  simply  to  cut  off  a  f rac- 
[  ion  of  an  inch  from  the  bottom  of  the 
J  oor  and,  if  needed,  install  a  new  saddle, 
•j.  By  not  immediately  remedying  such  a 

-pined  in  a  very  short  time,  for  a  scraping 


ondition,   perfectly  good   carpet   can  be 
,uined  in  a  very  short  time,  for  a  scrap 
oor  pulls  out  tufts  of  pile.  This  is  one 
reason  why  carpeting  wears  so  very  fast 


t  the  doors  in  some  theatres.  Now  and 
hen  a  manager  will  say  that  the  carpet 
id  lining  will  pack  in  a  short  time,  so 


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AND  ANNUAL  TAX  REGISTER'^;* 

; 


$2.00  POSTPAID 


The  Most  Simplified 
Theatre  Bookkeeping 
System  Yet  Devised 

Every  exhibitor  will  appreciate  the  com- 
pleteness and  convenience  of  this  easy  ac- 
counting system.  Enables  you  to  keep  an 
accurate  and  up-to-the-minute  record  of 
every  phase  of  the  business  of  your  theatre. 

QUI G LEY  BOOKSHOP 

ROCKEFELLER    CENTER.  NEW  YORK 


Give  customers  the  finest  pop  corn,  best  salt,  sea- 
soning, cartons,  sacks.  But  pay  less!  Save  on  trans- 
portation, too.  Prompt  shipment  from  conveniently 
located  branches.  Write  for  prices  today. 

World's  Largest  Pop  Corn  Producers 
AMERICAN  POP  CORN  CO.,     SIOUX  CITY,  IOWA 


HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD 

VICTORY 

A  real  theatre  man's  chair 


All-Steel 

nfef       Curtain  Tracks 

> m  • 

1  Atitnmatic 

Curtain  Controls 

VALLEN. 

INC., 

AKRON,  OHIO 

WAGNER  COMPLETE 
LOBBY  DISPLAY  UNIT 

Colorful  beauty  —  smashing  display.  One  unit 
holds  3  lines  of  PLASTIC  Translucent  Colored 
Letters.    Send  for  literature. 

WAGNER  SIGN   SERVICE,  Inc. 

218  S.  Hoyne  Ave.,  Chicago 
123  W.  64th  St.,  New  York 


BETTER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


17 


It  happened  at  2  a.m. 


Around  two  o'clock  one  morning  a 
National  Theatre  Supply  Company 
Branch  got  a  worried  call  from  a  distant 
theatre.  A  projector  gear  had  stripped; 
another  one  was  needed  immediately. 

National  had  the  gear;  the  problem 
was  to  get  it  to  the  theatre.  The  only 
train  out  at  that  hour  carried  no  express. 

But  the  National  man  was  not 
stumped.  The  gear,  wrapped  with  layers 
of  stout  corrugated,  was  handed  to  the 
baggageman  on  the  train  and  a  telegram 
was  sent  to  the  customer. 

Then,  as  the  train  sped  through  the 
exhibitor's  town  at  sixty  miles  per  hour, 
the  package  was  thrown  off,  the  precious 
gear  was  picked  up  unharmed  and  the 
show  went  on  again  that  night. 


Such  cooperation  between  National 
and  its  customers  has  made  countless 
exhibitors  say:  "Booth  'insurance'?  Why, 
National  has  been  providing  that  for 
more  than  15  years!" 


THEATRE 
SOUND 
PROJECTORS 

Built  to  Last 


THEATRE 
SOUND 
SYSTEMS 

Richer  Sound 


DE  VRY  CORPORATION,  I  III  Armltage  Ave.,  Chicago.  III. 
This  is  Our  29th  Successful  Year 


•  "SEAT  JITTERS" 

Keep  seats  securely  anchored  with 
SUPREME   EXPANSION  BOLTS.  | 
Sold    by    leading   supply  houses. 

Chicago  Expansion  Bolt  Co. 

£0        2228  W.  Ogden  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 


SEAT 


CORP. 


union  city  ■  inoiAnA 


why  go  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  cut- 
ting and  re-hanging  the  doors  and  perhaps 
putting  in  new  door  saddles.  As  everyone 
knows,  trying  to  match  carpet  in  normal 
times  is  quite  a  job  and  now  in  wartime 
it  is  almost  impossible.  Another  factor  is 
that  once  a  cross  seam  is  put  in  at  the  en- 
trance doors  where  the  traffic  is  concen- 
trated, no  carpet  will  last  long. 

One  thing  that  must  be  checked  carefully 
and  which  normally  seldom  receives  enough 
attention,  is  the  plumbing.  Watch  should 
be  kept  on  all  water  closets  and  faucets  for 
leakage  of  water.  Ordinary  leaks  usually 
mean  that  all  one  needs  is  an  inexpensive 
fibre  washer  which  can  be  easily  purchased 
at  any  local  hardware  store  and  be  quickly 
installed  in  a  faucet.  If  the  water  closet  is 
leaking  the  float  ball  should  be  adjusted 
for  proper  level  or  a  new  seat  washer  pur- 
chased for  installation  at  the  bottom  of  the 
tank.  When  the  flush  valve  or  "flush- 
ometer"  is  at  fault,  the  seating  of  this 
valve  should  be  checked  and  properly  ad- 
justed against  the  water  pressure. 

PLUMBING 

In  a  certain  theatre  visited  recently,  the 
faucet  in  the  wash  basin  was  found  leaking 
badly,  and  when  this  was  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  theatre,  the  reply  was  that 
it  would  be  fixed  when  time  was  available. 
This  faucet  had  leaked  for  some  time  as 
there  was  an  accumulation  of  rust  inside 
the  bowl.  An  inexpensive  washer  and  a  few 
minutes  would  have  remedied  this. 

A  very  important  matter  that  should  be 
checked  is  the  fastening  of  the  toilet  fix- 
tures and  even  the  fountain  to  the  wall.  As 
with  anything  else  under  hard  and  constant 
usage,  these  fixtures  in  time  become  loose. 
Any  fixture  that  is  loose  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  put  an  undue  stress  on  the  water 
piping  by  moving  back  and  forth  under 
pressure.  If  some  of  the  piping  and  traps 
are  exposed  and  the  break  occurs  here,  it 
can  be  easily  repaired,  providing  the  pipe 
can  be  readily  purchased  at  this  time ;  how- 
ever, there  is  a  strict  priority  requirement 
on  brass  and  copper  and  even  a  small 
coupling  may  be  hard  to  obtain.  If  the 
break  occurs  in  the  wall  or  partition,  it  will 
certainly  be  an  expensive  repair  job.  Part 
of  the  wall  or  partition  will  have  to  be 
ripped  out  and  the  pipe,  coupling  or  elbow, 
whichever  it  may  be,  will  have  to  be  re- 
moved and  replaced.  Such  trouble  and  ex- 
pense can  usually  be  avoided  if  all  plumb- 
ing fixtures  are  securely  in  place. 

It  also  would  be  a  good  idea  at  this  time, 
before  winter  sets  in,  to  clean  out  all  traps 
and  soil  piping.  And  at  all  times  have  the 
toilet  rooms  immaculately  clean,  especially 
the  sort  of  refuse  that  a  mischievous  boy 
or  destructive  patron  could  easily  throw 
into  the  drain  piping. 


CHECKING  THE  ROOF 

Check  carefully  the  condition  of  the 
roof.  A  leak  in  the  roof,  even  if  only  a 
small  one,  can  do  considerable  damage  to 
the  plaster  of  the  ceiling  and  walls,  decora- 
tions, draperies  and  the  screen.    All  the 


flashing — that  is,  the  area  where  the  roof 
butts  against  the  coping  wall — should  be 
inspected  carefully  for  any  breaks.  If  the 
roof  is  of  wood  covered  with  ply  tarpaper, 
the  seams  should  be  checked  to  see  if  any 
bulges  or  blisters  are  present.  At  each  of 
these  points,  if  defects  are  found,  a  gener- 
ous coat  of  asphaltum  or  tar  should  be  ap- 
plied after  leveling  off  the  surface.  If  the 
break  is  bad,  a  piece  of  felt  tarpaper  can 
be  applied  over  it  and  then  sealed  with 
roofing  cement.  Make  sure  that  the  surface 
of  the  roof  is  broom-cleaned  and  that  the 
drains  and  their  screens  are  free  of  all 
refuse. 

This  may  seem  like  a  lot  of  unnecessary 
work,  but  it  will  pay  dividends  in  the  long 
run  as  the  following  incident  will  show.  A 
new  screen  was  installed  in  a  certain  thea- 
tre and  a  few  weeks  after  this  installation 
a  complaint  was  made  that  defects  had  ap- 
peared on  the  surface.  With  the  pictures  on 
the  screen  it  was  noticed  that  several  bright 
streaks  ran  up  and  down  the  image.  After 
the  show,  a  careful  checkup  was  made  and 
it  was  found  that  the  screen  material  was 
perfectly  all  right  as  the  streaks  were  only 
on  one  side ;  however,  on  close  inspection, 
several  stains  were  noticed  on  the  front 
valance  as  well  as  on  the  cyclorama  border. 
This  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
manager.  His  reply  was  that  a  new  roof 
had  been  laid  only  a  few  months  before  and 
that  a  leak  was  impossible.  In  a  few  weeks 
more  streaks  appeared  on  the  screen  and  it 
was  decided  to  wait  for  a  rainy  day  to  see 
if  a  leak  actually  caused  the  trouble.  With 
a  heavy  rain  outside,  small  drops  of  water 
could  be  seen  coming  down  the  screen  sur- 
face. A  check  was  made  of  the  roof  and 
it  was  found  that  the  screen  around  the 
drain  was  littered  with  paper,  sticks,  rub- 
ber balls,  etc.,  and  as  a  result  the  water 
backed  up  to  a  weak  point  in  the  roof 
flashing  and  then  slowly  leaked  into  the 
theatre.  There  were  plenty  of  arguments 
back  and  forth  about  guarantees,  but  the 
theatre  finally  had  to  buy  a  new  screen. 
All  this  trouble  could  have  been  avoided  if 
a  systematic  and  careiul  check  had  been 
made  of  the  roof. 


CJ  Projection 
Room  Details 


have  you  checked  your 
projection  room  fire  shutters  lately?  Sure 
they  will  work  perfectly  should  an  emer- 
gency arise  ?  As  everyone  should  know,  the 
main  purpose  of  the  shutter  over  the  ports 
is  to  prevent  smoke  or  flames  from  enter- 
ing the  auditorium  proper,  and  to  do  this 
so  as  to  prevent  the  audience  from  getting 
any  inkling  that  there  is  a  fire  in  the  pro- 
jection room.  The  time  to  find  out  if  these 
shutters  operate  in  this  way  is  before  a  fire 
occurs,  and  not  afterward. 

Make  sure  that  the  shutters  drop  freely 
in  the  tracks  when  they  are  released.  The 


18 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Herald 


] 


bottom  of  these  tracks,  at  each  port  open- 
ing, should  be  cleaned  of  all  material  that 
may  have  fallen  there,  especially  if  the 
shutters  have  not  been  dropped  for  some 
time.  A  shutter  may  drop  and  close  nearly 
\  all  of  the  port  opening,  but  if  the  bottom 
track  is  clogged  up  a  small  opening  will  be 
left  just  enough  for  smoke  to  enter  the 
auditorium.  Also  make  sure  that  there  is 
never  anything  left  on  the  bottom  of  the 

<  port,  such  as  a  screw  driver,  pliers,  oil  can, 
even  for  just  a  moment,  it  may  be  for- 
gotten. 

Fasten  solidly  in  place  all  of  the  shutter 
tracks  and  if  the  space  for  the  shutter 
'  travel  is  tight,  spread  the  track  apart  and 
]  make  sure  the  shutter  drops  fully  and 
j  quickly.  Also  make  sure  that  the  shutter 
)  is  not  bent  or  out  of  shape  and  that  it  hangs 
level  and  not  at  an  angle,  which  would 
;  cause  it  to  bend  itself  in  the  tracks  when 
.  released. 

A  proper  fusible  link   rated   at  160° 
',   Fahrenheit  should  be  in  the  chair  or  rope 
I   hangar  for  each  shutter.     These  fusible 
,   links  should  also  be  in  the  master  trip  cord 
i   as  it  runs  over  to  each  upper  magazine  or 
to  the  manual  trip  at  the  projection  room 
|   doors.    It  is  surprising  how  many  shutter 
apparatuses  have  not  a  sufficient  amount  or 
j  the  proper  type  of  fusible  links.    And  they 
J  are  very  important,  for  in  case  of  fire  the 
\  projectionist  may  not  have  time  to  trip  the 
|  rope  or  chain  controlling  the  shuters  man- 
ually. 

,  Make  sure  that  the  control  bar  revolves 
3  freely  in  the  wall  brackets.  If  not  used 
.  often,  this  bar  has  a  tendency  to  rust  to 
j  the  brackets.    A  little  oil  at  these  friction 

I  points  will  help  prevent  bending  and  rust- 
,  ing.   Also  make  sure  that  the  brackets  hold- 
ing the  control  bar  are  fastened  solidly  to 

]  the  wall.    A  good  idea  is  to  drop  the  shut- 
j  ter  over  any  port  that  is  not  in  use  for  or 
,  during  the  show,  such  as  the  spot  or  effect 
.  port.    However,  the  best  thing  is  to  have 
,  the  projectionist  drop  all  shutters  over  the 
port  openings  when  the  show  is  over.  Any 
i  shutter  fault  noticed  at  the  close  of  each 
t  day's  show  should  be  reported  immediately 
and  quickly  repaired  before  the  next  day's 
showing.    With  these  precautions,  any  fire 
in  the  projection  room  will  be  completely 
isolated  from  the  auditorium,  for  a  cer- 
tainty, not  just  maybe. 

EXHAUST  FANS 

The  exhaust  fans  or  blowers  in  the  pro- 

<  jection  room  should  be  checked  and  ser- 
I  viced  at  least  once  a  month.    They  not 

||  only  ventilate  the  projection  room  during 

■  {  normal  operation,  but  help  to  pull  out  all 
, .  smoke  and  gases  during  a  fire.   The  motors 

■  j,  of  these  blowers  should  be  oiled  at  least 

I I  once  a  week.  The  rotor  blades  should  be 
!.j  cleaned  thoroughly  of  all  carbon,  ash,  dust 
[l|  and  dirt,  for  when  they  are  left  unattended 
jo  for  any  length  of  time  there  is  a  definite 
U  blockage  of  the  proper  movement  of  air. 
I;  One  has  only  to  take  apart  a  blower  after 
[)  it  has  run  for  some  time  without  cleaning 

to  see  the  amount  of  dust  and  dirt  accumu- 
lation.   This  not  only  prevents  the  proper 
j   movement  of  air,  but  puts  a  strain  on  the 


motor,  bearings  and  blades  and,  as  a  result, 
shortens  the  life  of  the  blower. 

In  cleaning  and  servicing  the  projection 
room  exhaust  blowers,  do  not  overlook  the 
duct  system,  especially  the  carbon  arc  ex- 
haust. A  blockage  in  the  lamphouse  ex- 
haust system  will  materially  affect  the 
proper  burning  of  the  carbon  as  well  as 
reduce  the  useful  life  of  the  lamp  parts. 

FILM  PROTECTION 

Now,  with  the  saving  of  film  imperative, 
it  is  a  good  idea  to  make  sure  that  only 
reels  that  are  in  good  condition  are  used. 
Broken  or  bent  reels  have  caused  more  fires 
and  breakage  of  film  in  the  past  than  al- 


most anything  else.  Defective  reels  should 
be  repaired  immediately  and  never  be  used 
in  the  projector,  especially  when  they  are 
misaligned. 

Also  make  sure  that  all  reel  cans,  cab- 
inets and  film  safes  are  in  good  condition 
for  the  storage  or  transportation  of  film. 
A  defective  film  safe,  cabinet  or  container 
will  not  only  damage  the  film,  but  will 
offer  no  protection  in  case  a  fire  should 
arise  in  the  projection  room.  All  doors  on 
the  cabinets,  if  ill  fitting,  broken  or  bent, 
should  be  repaired  immediately.  Also  make 
sure  that  your  rewinding  equipment  is  in 
A-l  operating  condition,  so  that  your 
theatre  is  not  contributing  anything  to  the 
waste  of  film. 


TO 
INCREASE 

WAR 
PRODUCTION 
TODAY 


To  increase  war  production  today 
and  to  provide  even  better  facilities 
and  tripled  floor  space  for  the  produc- 
tion of  Strong  projection  arc  lamps, 
rectifier  and  reflectors  after  the  peace 
is  won,  The  Strong  Electric  Corpora- 
tion is  moving  into  its  new  home, 
City  Park  at  Sterling,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Open  house  will  be  held,  as  soon 
as  America  polishes  off  the  gang- 
sters, so  that  you  can  see  our  pre- 
cision-built machines,  engineering 
rooms,  optical  department,  testing 
laboratories,  the  big  parts  and  serv- 
ice department,  modern  offices  and 
model  screening  room  ...  all  now 
under  one  roof. 


I 


BETTER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


19 


IN  TIMES  LIKE  THESE  keeping  your 
equipment  in  tip-top  condition  is 
more  important  than  ever !  Guard 
against  a  dark  house  and  lost  box- 
office  by  calling  on  RCA's  Nation- 
wide Service  Organization  for 
periodic  check-ups.  Remember,  it's 
far  better  to  prevent  breakdowns 
than  to  fix  breakdowns  ! 

Only  RCA  Theatre  Service 
Offers  You  All  These  Advantages! 

•  Frequent,  scheduled  check-ups 

•  Prompt  emergency  service 

•  Sound  and  projection  parts 

•  RCA  Magicote  Lens  Service 

•  Laboratory,  engineering  and  manufactur- 
ing coordination 

•  Projection  engineering  service 

•  Acoustic  engineering  service 

•  Emergency  portable  sound  system 

•  Emergency  parts  stocks 


THEATRE 
SERVICE 

PHOTOPHONE  DIVISION 

RCA  Manufacturing  Company, Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 
A  Service  of  the  Radio  Corporation  of  America 
In  Canada:  RCA  Victor  Company,  ltd.,  Montreal 


BUY  U.  S.  WAR  BONDS  REGULARLY 


F.  H.  RICHARDSON'S 

COMMENT  on  PROJECTION 


safe.     ..  .idm 


F.  H.  R. 


Simple  Test  for 

Even  Light  Distribution 

THREE  GOOD  FRIENDS  and 

a  projectionist  from  out  Dakota  way  write 
in  about  some  day-off  tests  which  prove 
that  a  projectionist  is  no  different  from  a 
postman  who  takes  a  walk  or  a  sailor  who 
takes  a  boat  rid?  on 
his  day  off.  Now 
that  war  restrictions 
are  causing  operat- 
ing problems,  it 
seems  that  Nick 
Fiore  and  Brothers 
Altecman  and  Dun- 
kelburger  of  Fargo, 
N.  D.,  get  into 
long  involved  dis- 
cussions and  experi- 
ments, trying  to 
adapt  the  relatively 

primitive  methods  of  some  years  back. 
The  other  day  Nick  started  the  others  off 
on  an  experiment  which  has  brought  this 
letter: 

"Boy,  did  we  have  a  swell  time  the 
other  day !  Several  years  ago  you  out- 
lined a  method  for  testing  distribution  of 
light  on  the  screen  by  substituting  a  plate 
with  small  holes  (about  1  /  64th  of  an 
inch)  drilled  in  each  of  the  four  corners, 
and  another  hole  in  the  center,  for  the 
aperture  plate  of  the  projector.  When 
illuminated  properly  and  projected  on  the 
screen  the  images  of  the  four  holes  should 
have  the  same  brilliance  and  color,  there- 
by signifying  that  the  distribution  of  light 
and  positioning  of  the  source  was  correct. 
If  all  of  the  five  holes  were  focused  equally 
sharp,  it  signified  that  the  lenses  were  cor- 
rect and  projecting  a  sharp  picture. 

"The  reason  that  the  center  hole  is  not 
considered  in  the  distribution  test  is  that 
the  center  of  the  screen,  normally,  is 
brighter  than  the  edges.  Using  plates  in 
both  projectors  at  once,  the  light  quality 
and  quantity  can  be  easily  balanced.  Also, 
if  the  plates  are  exactly  alike,  the  pro- 
jectors can  be  tested  for  positioning  on  the 
screen  in  relation  to  each  other.  In  this 
day  of  photoelectric  cells  and  foot-candle 
meters  such  a  method  is  used  only  in  an 
emergency,  because  it  involves  so  much 
puttering.  With  a  meter  the  lights  can 
be  compared  and  set  for  maximum  effi- 
ciency far  more  accurately  than  if  one  de- 
pended upon  his  eyes  to  compare  colors, 
etc. 

"Nick  came  in  yesterday  with  this  sug- 
gestion: Insert  a  screen  (a  light  colored 
cardboard  will  do)  in  the  beam  from  the 
projector  about  2  feet  in  front  of  the  lens 
(we  put  it  across  the  projection  port  hole). 
Substitute  an  aperture  plate  with  a  single 
hole  in  the  center  (1/64  of  an  inch). 
Project  the  image  of  the  hole  on  to  the 


screen  and  focus  it  until  it  is  sharp.  TI 
image  you  see  on  the  screen  is  the  ima<j 
of  the  reflector.  Now  adjust  the  mirrc 
and  positive  arc  crater  until  they  are  i 
proper  relation  to  each  other  by  watchin 
the  colored  shadows  that  show  up  in  th 
image. 

"The  important  thing  is  that,  althoug 
the  person  making  the  test  may  not  be  a 
color-conscious  as  would  be  desirable  fo 
an  accurate  setting,  the  incorrect  adjust 
ments  show  up  in  shadows.  While  thes  j 
shadows  are  colored,  indicating  which  wa 
the  equipment  is  out  of  adjustment,  a 
adjustment  can  be  achieved  by  merel 
clearing  up  the  shadows.  When  the  imag ! 
on  the  screen  is  as  clear  as  you  can  get  i 
you  may  find  it  necessary  to  resest  th 
arcescope  optical  system  to  assure  that  th 
proper  relationship  will  be  maintained 
Then  you  can  adjust  the  whole  assembl 
until  the  maximum  brilliancy  is  accom' 
plished. 

"While  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  all  don 
in  the  projection  room  (screen  and  all) 
this  method  may  be  applied  while  the  shov 
is  running  it  does  not  compare  the  ligh 
sources,  therefore  the  projectors  will  hav 
to  be  'balanced'  by  some  other  method. 

"Personally,  I  think  this  method,  whih 
it  involves  a  little  extra  work,  is  more  ac 
curate  than  adjusting  the  equipmen 
visually  on  a  screen  a  hundred  or  mor< 
feet  away- 

"Incidentally,  I  notice  I  have  neglectec 
to  mention  that  the  test  is  of  course  madi 
without  film  in  the  projector.  This  little 
item  may  seem  trivial,  but  I  saw  an  experi 
ment  where  the  projectionist  inserted  one 
of  the  blanks  (with  five  holes),  threaded 
up  and  made  the  test  while  running  a  filn 
upon  the  screen,  his  reason  being  that  this 
was  the  way  the  audience  saw  the  results 
of  the  equipment's  work  and  therefore  the 
test  should  be  made  under  the  same  con- 
ditions." 

That  is  using  the  thinking  machinery  as 
we  will  have  to  be  using  it  more  and  more 
during  this  war.  The  way  the  test  was 
handled  by  these  good  brothers  seems  to  be 
a  logical  adaptation  of  the  method  I  had 
suggested. 


Film  Service  Stopped 

If  Repairs  Are  Not  Made! 

SOME  MONTHS  AGO  these 

columns  carried  a  picture  of  Sergeant  Ob- 
server E.  R.  King  of  the  Australian  air 
force.  Sergeant  King  is  now  stationed 
"overseas,"  and  a  letter  now  comes  which 
says,  in  part:  "On  the  other  side  of  the 
page  having  my  picture  was  a  letter  from 
some  projectionist,  whose  name  I  cannot 
recall,  who  advocated  having  inspectors  go 
round  each  theatre  inspecting  projection 
equipment.     This  scheme  is  working  in 


Projection  Optics  ... 

330  LYELL  AVE.,      ROCHESTER,  N.Y.,  U.S.A. 


20 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Herald 


Australia  right  now.  In  each  state  a  "bio- 
graph  inspector,"  paid  by  the  Film  Renters 
Association,  inspects  projection  equipment, 
including  sound  heads,  spools  and  fire  pre- 
vention devices,  and  issues  a  report  on  the 
condition  of  same.  If  he  sees  that  a  new 
intermittent  movement  is  needed,  he  puts 
that  in  his  report ;  and  if  the  repairs  or 
replacements  are  not  obtained  in  a  given 
time,  film  supply  can  be  shut  off. 

"After  the  new  parts  are  put  in,  a  re- 
port has  to  be  sent  in  to  the  Film  Renters 
office  with  the  name  of  the  dealer  from 
whom  the  spare  parts  were  bought.  You 
can  bet  that  the  projectionists  are  all  for 
the  scheme  as  it  is  a  guarantee  that  pro- 
jectors Avill  always  be  kept  reasonably  ser- 
viceable." 

And  Sergeant  King  adds  these  interest- 
ing paragraphs : 
1  "Received  a  letter  from  home  [Sidney, 
•J  Australia]  the  other  day,  which  tells  me 
|  there  is  a  terrific  American  army  there.  I 
y  am  told  they  are  well  liked  and  well  be- 
':  haved.  You  know  we  Australians  would 
like  very  much  to  fight  for  our  own  coun- 
1  try,  but  since  we  cannot  be  there,  we  shall 
J  always  be  grateful  to  the  Americans  if  our 
.1  country  is  kept  safe.  Another  thing  to  re- 
jj  member  is  that  we  will  not  forget  our  ap- 
\  preciation  as  soon  as  the  war  is  over.  The 
i  masses  of  people  in  my  country  will  always 
have  a  soft  spot  for  the  Yanks.  Just  re- 
member that  after  the  newspaper  'wars' 
I  start  after  this  war!" 

A  Good  Way  to 

Prevent  Wartime  Economy 

COMES     THIS  UNUSUAL 

|'  letter  from  far-off  California,  written  by  a 
j  projectionist  whose  name  I  think  should  be 
u  withheld. 

jj     "Well,  I  guess  I  am  done  with  projec- 
£  tion,"  he  writes.    "Expenses  are  too  high 
T  and  the  manager  has  started  cutting  them 
f  down.     I,  the  projectionist,  was  receiving 
~  the  magnificent  sum  of  $21  per  week,  so  as 
pa  starter  in  "saving'  a  young  chap  just  out 
fl  of  school  was  hired  in  my  place  because 
V(  he  offered  to  do  the  work  for  512  a  week. 
t  This  outrage  (it  is  nothing  else)  is  ampli- 
fied by  the  fact  that  the  new  boy  is  relieved 
!by  the  manager  for  twenty  minutes  each 
^  evening  while  he  gobbles  up  his  supper, 
which  is  brought  to  him  by  his  small  sister. 
"I  have  tried  to  reason  with  the  man- 
f  ager,  not  that  I  expected  to  get  my  job 
back  (in  fact,  I  do  not  want  it,  since  I 
feel  I  could  no  longer  serve  such  a  man). 
I  do  feel,  however,  that  for  the  good  of 
other  projectionists,   other  managers  and 
'the  people  who  pay  good  money  to  see  mo- 
tion pictures,  such  a  condition  should  not 
,be  allowed  to  spread,  and  I  know  that 
whatever  you  may  have  to  say  will  carry 
-much  more  weight  than  all  the  preaching 
I  could  do  in  a  year." 

It  is  only  natural  that  when  receipts  are 
small,  corners  must  he  cut;  but  it  is  purely 
idiotic  to  start  cutting  drastically  at  the 
■part  of  a  theatre  which  is  most  vital.  The 
very  heart  of  the  theatre  is  the  projection 
room,  and  poorly  projected  pictures  sooner 
or  later  bring  about  greater  and  greater 


reduction  of  patronage,  defeating  the  very 
purpose  of  the  retrenchment  measure  that 
was  adopted. 

And  then  there  is  the  matter  of  equip- 
ment conservation  so  imperative  in  war- 
time. Equipment  must  be  operated  with 
absolutely  maximum  efficiency  these  days. 
And  when  repairs  can  be  made,  they  fre- 
quently must  be  made  by  the  projectionist 
even  though  they  would  ordinarily  be  made 
at  the  factory.  What  can  a  kid  out  of 
school,  willing  to  take  $12  a  week,  do  about 
these  things?  No  man  who  has  worked 
and  studied  long  enough  to  become  ade- 
quately proficient  in  projection  can  possibly 
afford  to  let  his  services  go  for  that 
amount. 

When  this  manager  finds  his  projection 
equipment  getting  badly  out  of  repair,  his 
screen  showing  poor  results,  and  his 
patrons  melting  away,  he  may  possibly 
awake  to  the  fact  that  he  has  made  a  sad 
mistake. 

I  have  heard  many  criticisms  of  unions, 
some  of  them  deserved,  some  not ;  but 
surely  the  above  instance  is  an  example  of 
the  crying  need  for  them,  for  certainly  if 
this  were  a  union  house  no  such  condition 
would  be  permitted. 

The  projectionist  of  today  carries  a 
doubly  heavy  responsibility  upon  his  shoul- 
ders since  thereupon  rests  much  of  the  re- 
sponsibility of  keeping  the  morale  of  our 
citizens  high.  Fathers,  mothers,  sisters  and 
brothers  who  must  face  the  possibility  of 
disaster  to  loved  ones,  need  good  entertain- 
ment, which  can  be  well  supplied  by  the 
motion  picture.  We  no  longer  have  as  an 
excuse  for  bad  projection,  poor  and  anti- 
quated equipment  with  which  to  work,  ex- 
cept in  isolated  cases.  We  no  longer  have 
the  excuse  that  the  business  is  new  and  no 
one  knows  much  about  it.  There  are  only 
two  persons  who  can  possibly  be  to  blame 
for  a  poorly  presented  picture,  and  they  are 
the  manager  and  the  projectionist. 

The  manager  in  most  cases  holds  the 
power  of  hiring  and  firing  his  projectionist, 
and  he  is  more  or  less  an  influence  in  the 
buving  of  new  equipment  and  replacment 
parts. 

It  is  the  projectionist  himself,  however, 
who  should  assume  responsibility  for  im- 
mediate conditions.  Especially  now  in 
these  days  of  priorities,  he  should  make 
special  effort  to  keep  his  equipment  in  the 
pink  of  condition.  Now  more  than  ever 
before  he  must  make  certain  that  the  best 
possible  results  be  produced  upon  the  screen. 
As  the  war  goes  on  and  fewer  and  fewer  of 
the  things  can  be  got,  perhaps  theatre  man- 
agements will  learn  who  among  projection- 
ists are  really  projectionists — and  how  val- 
uable the  real  projectionist  is  to  this  busi- 
ness. 

Drunk  or  Sober, 
Light  Goes  Places 

•  carl  E.  graham  projec- 
tionist at  the  Palace  theatre  in  Canton, 
Ohio,  contributes  the  following  to  the  re- 
cent discussion  of  vertical  soundhead 
mounting: 

"The  following  story  is  terrible,  I  know," 


Sentries  Along 
Am  erica's  Battle  Lines 


J\T  white-walled  hospital  laboratories,  in  indus- 
trial research  laboratories,  in  field  labora- 
tories, microscopes  in  the  hands  of  American 
doctors  and  scientists  are  on  twenty-four  hour 
sentry  duty. 

Here,  on  America's  second  front,  microscop- 
ists  are  waging  an  unending  war  against 
enemies  of  health  and  production,  enemies  that 
are  invisible  to  the  unaided  eye. 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Microscopes  and  B&L  spe- 
cialized instruments  of  optical  research  and 
control  are  doing  an  invaluable  job  today. 

From  the  toolmaker's  microscope  that  helps 
to  maintain  the  standards  of  accuracy  and  per- 
fection to  which  America's  war  effort  is  geared, 
to  the  microscope  of  the  medical  officer  fighting 
the  hazards  to  health  which,  if  unchecked,  could 
put  a  division  out  of  action,  B&L  Instruments, 
through  the  men  using  them,  are  serving 
America. 

Here  at  home,  in  laboratories,  shop  and  fac- 
tory, and  along  our  far-flung  outposts,  wherever 
American  industry  and  American  fighting  men 
are  serving  the  cause  of  Victory,  you  will  find 
Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Instruments  on  active 
dutv. 


BAUSCH  &  LOMB 

OPTICAL  COMPANY  •  ESTABLISHED  1853 


AN    AMERICAN    SCIENTIFIC    INSTITUTION  PRODUCING  OP- 
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EDUCATION,     RESEARCH,     INDUSTRY    AND  EYESIGHT  COR- 
RECTION 


CUT  CDRBOII  COSTS 
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You  can  burn  every  inch  of  Droll 
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Shipped  f.o.b.  Chicago  at  regular 
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DROLL  THEATRE  SUPPLV  C0R1PHHV 

351  ERST  OHIO  ST.  IHICRGO,  111. 


BETTER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


21 


facilities  to  turning  out  precision  parts  for 
precision  tools  of  war  — but  we  are  con- 
tinuing to  supply  your  needs  as  best  we  can. 


LaVfezzi  Machine  Works 

180  North  Wacker  Drive        Chicago,  Illinois 


SOUND 
TROUBLE- 
SHOOTING 
CHARTS 

TO  SPOT  AND  REPAIR 
SUDDEN  BREAK- DOWNS 

■  The  invaluable  sound  trouble-shooting 
charts  which  supplement  the  second  revision 
of  the  sixth  edition  of  F.  H.  Richardson's 
Blueboolc  of  Projection  are  available  in 
brochure  form  at  minimum  cost.  Included  are 
19  practical,  detailed  charts  enabling  the 
projectionist  to  spot  and  repair  sudden  break- 
downs in  the  projection  and  sound  apparatus. 
Only  a  limited  supply  on  hand — order  now! 

$1.00  POSTPAID  g| 
QUICLEY  BOOKSHOP 

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22 


he  apologizes,  "but  it  still  answers  the  prob- 
lem as  to  whether  a  soundhead  will  operate 
in  a  vertical  position  or  not.    Here  it  is: 

"Two  inebriates,  one  of  whom  was  aim- 
ing a  flashlight  at  the  ceiling,  were  holding 
an  illuminating  conversation  which  went 
something  like  this: 

"  'Shay,  I'll  bet  you  a  buck  you  can't 
climb  up  the  beam,"  said  the  fellow  with 
the  light.  Replied  the  other,  'Nothing 
doin' !  You'll  wait  till  I  get  half  way  up 
and  then  turn  it  off.'  " 

"Terrible  I  know,  but  still  it  gives  you 
an  idea  as  to  why  a  soundhead  will  operate 
in  a  vertical  position  or  not.  Why  not, 
since  light  has  no  objection  against  travel- 
ing upward?  Also,  I  am  enclosing  litera- 
ture showing  the  DeVry  "Victory"  model 
16-mm.  portable  equipment,  and  you  will 
notice  that  its  sound  lens  is  mounted  ver- 
tically. 

I  am  sending  along  a  few  tricks  soon  for 
keeping  the  show  going  which  I  feel  might 
be  of  help  to  others  in  the  business.  Hope 
they  prove  interesting  enough  for  you  to 
publish." 

Okay,  Brother,  let's  have  'em. 

Will  C  Smith, 
Projection  Pioneer 

it  is  with  deep  sorrow 
that  I  speak  of  the  passing  of  Will  C. 
Smith,  who  was  laid  to  rest  September  9th. 
The  entire  motion  picture  industry  will 
mourn  the  passing  of  one  of  its  few  remain- 
ing pioneers. 

Will  C.  Smith  started  out  in  the  long, 
long  ago  as  a  "projectionist,"  before  such 
a  thing  as  an  intermittent  movement  was 
ever  thought  of.  He  projected  pictures 
which  were  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
series  of  hand-made  views  which  were  run 
through  a  crude  "projector"  rapidly  enough 
so  as  to  be  called  "moving  pictures." 

Since  that  early  date  Mr.  Smith  has  al- 
ways been  connected  in  some  way  with  the 
industry.  At  one  time  he  was  general  man- 
ager of  the  old  Nicholas  Power  Company. 
In  recent  years  he  has  been  a  special  rep- 
resentative of  the  National  Theatre  Supply 
Company.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  mem- 
bers of  Local  306,  IATSE  &  MPMO. 

Another  old-timer  of  the  motion  picture 
gone — one  of  those  who  saw  in  a  crude  in- 
vention a  new  voice  in  the  affairs  of  men. 

Answering  a  Soldier 
About  Aperture  Tension 

FREDDY  MARCELLIO,  for- 
merly of  Vineland,  N.  J.,  now  in  the  em- 
ploy of  Uncle  Sam,  seems  to  be  having  a 
bit  of  trouble  with  his  aperture  tension. 
He  writes: 

"As  a  motion  picture  projectionist  I  am 
still  a  good  plumber,  I  guess,  but  I  have 
been  given  the  job  of  'shooting  pictures'  to 
the  boys  and  I  find  myself  in  hot  water 
most  of  the  time.  I  seem  to  have  difficulty 
in  keeping  a  steady  image  upon  the  screen. 
As  I  explained,  I  know  very  little  about 
this  work  and  diligent  study  hasn't  taught 
me  nearly  all  I  should  know  as  yet,  though 


I  must  say  your  Bluebook  has  been  a  God- 
send. 

"About  this  unsteady  picture:  a  visiting 
projectionist  looked  over  the  equipment  and 
told  me  it  was  due  to  improper  aperture 
tension,  but  he  had  to  leave  before  he  could 
tell  me  what  to  do  about  it.  Could  you 
help  me  out?" 

First  off,  when  you  fellows  want  help 
please  tell  me  something  about  your  equip- 
ment— what  make,  what  current,  what 
kind  of  screen,  etc.  It  is  impossible  for  me 
to  try  to  remedy  something  a  long  way  off 
when  I  know  absolutely  nothing  about  con- 
ditions. 

To  secure  proper  aperture  tension,  one 
method  is  to  reduce  the  tension  spring  pres- 
sure until  the  screen  image  barely  starts  to 
become  unsteady.  Follow  this  up  by  grad- 
ual pressure  increase  until  all  unsteadiness 
disappears.  One  assumes,  if  the  picture  is 
already  unsteady,  that  the  tension  is  al- 
ready reduced  and  that  one  must  start  to' 
tighten  up  instead  of  to  loosen  the  tension, 
spring.  Remember,  however,  that  excess1 
tension  causes  excess  strain  on  the  entire 
mechanism  and  this  is  to  be  avoided  or 
there  will  be  other  repairs. 

Where  the  tension  is  provided  by  two 
separate  tension  shoes,  each  with  an  inde- 
pendent spring,  care  must  be  used  to  pre- 
vent uneven  tension.  One  can  use  a  small 
postal  scale  to  help  determine  the  proper 
balance.  Remove  the  letter  pan  and  arrange 
a  block  of  wood  under  the  two  springs  so 
each  will  strike  it  when  pushed  down  an 
equal  distance.  Next,  place  the  letter  pan 
against  the  center  of  the  shoe  and  press  it 
down  until  it  barely  misses  coming  into 
contact  with  the  wood.  Look  at  the  scale 
reading  and  then  repeat  the  process  on  the 
other  shoe.  This  is  a  reasonably  accurate 
way  of  checking  the  tension. 

Screen  Resurfacing  No 
Job  for  Amateur 

l.   f.   evans   of  Mon- 
tronse,  Colo.,  writes,  "I  am  the  proud  own-  ' 
er  of  one  of  your  Bluebooks,  although  I  do 
not  own  or  operate  a  theatre.  Because  of 
this  ownership  I  seem  to  be  considered  an  ;i 
authority  of  what  to  do  and  what  not  to  i 
do,  although  I  'only  know  what  I  read.'  A  : 
young  chap  called  upon  me  the  other  day 
asking  what  he  could  do  to  recondition  his 
perforated  screen.  Whether  I  am  going 
blind  or  whether  I  just  didn't  look  far 
enough,  I  did  not  find  anything  in  the  book 
to  tell  him.  Will  you  be  good  enough  to 
advise  ?" 

Sorry,  but  the  desired  information  is  in' 
the  Bluebook,  page  165  of  the  second  re- 
vision of  the  sixth  edition.  If  it  is  neces- 
sary that  a  perforated  screen  be  recondi- 
tioned, those  who  make  it  their  business  to  j 
do  that  should  be  engaged,  as  a  rule.  A 
projectionist  can  attempt  the  work  him- 1 
self,  but  the  results  are  very  uncertain.  A 
good  bit  depends  upon  how  careful  he  is. 
In  a  'home-made'  paint  job  of  this  kind 
the  difficult  thing  is  to  avoid  filling  or  part- 
ly filling  the  perforations. 

Either  calcimine  or  paint  can  be  used. 
If  using  paint,  try  a  small  corner  of  the 

A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Herald 


screen  first.  If  it  adheres,  apply  evenly  all 
ever,  being  careful  to  fill  tie  perforations 
zs  little  as  possible.  It  is  best  to  have  a  man 
behind  the  screen  operating  a  vacuum  clean- 
er to  suck  out  the  holes  while  the  other 
does  the  painting.  Be  sure  to  replace  the 
regular  vacuum  cleaner  bag  by  one  made 
iof  heaw  cloth  or  burlap.  If  available  a 
sprav  gun  is  much  better  -with  which  to 
apply  the  paint  than  a  brush  since  it  intro- 
iduces  less  paint  into  the  perforations. 

If  the  paint  does  not  adhere  when  tried 
jin  a  corner,  wash  it  off  carefully  with  a 
■cloth  dipped  in  turpentine  and  apply  a  thin 
layer  of  shellac  over  the  entire  surface,  let 
idry,  and  then  apply  paint. 

If  calcimine  is  used,  follow  the  same 
general  directions.  Only  thin  layers  of 
either  paint  or  calcimine  should  be  applied. 

■ 

V/hat  the  Union  Card 
Should  Always  Mean 

some  TWENTY  odd  years 
'ago  I  wrote  a  piece  in  the  old  Moving  Pic- 
ture World  which  applies  to  conditions  to- 
day with  comparable  accuracy.  I  suggested 
■this  kind  of  self-examination  for  the  rank 
-and  file  of  projection  union  membership, 
jn  whose  hands  the  welfare  of  unionism 
rests : 

\  "What  does  vour  card  of  membership  in 
he  IATSE  &  MPMO  stand  for?  Care- 
ful before  replying.  Hold  self-communion, 
is  it  were.  Ask  yourself  whether  it  is 
cerely  a  certificate  of  membership  in  a 
abor  union,  or  considerably  more  i 

"WTien  a  locomotive  engineer  enters  the 
•ffice  of  the  employing  official  and  presents 
vs  brotherhood  card,  that  settles  it  so  far 
s  his  competency  is  concerned.  No  further 
uestions  are  asked  on  that  score.  It  is  a 
ecognized  fact  that  he  has  served  adequate 
pprenticeship  and  is  a  thoroughly  com- 
etent  locomotive  engineer.  When  you  go 
3  a  strange  city,  where  you  are  unknown, 
cd  present  your  union  card,  is  it  accepted 
>s  unquestioned  evidence  that  you  are  a 
iDroughly  competent  man? 
'  "Are  you?  Have  you  in  your  local  a 
1  ^al  examination  ?  Do  you  accept  the  city 
[  (cense  card  as  evidence  of  competency, 
:  -ell  knowing  the  examination  to  be  utterly 
'  diculous  insofar  as  concerns  the  ascer- 
5 ''lining  of  the  applicant's  competency? 
'p  "It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  the  average 
-  nion  contains  members  whose  knowledge 
i  their  profession  is  very  largely  imagi- 
]ary.   A    really    competent  examination 
'ould  stick  them  before  it  was  well  start- 
jl.  They  blunder  through  their  daily  task 
■mehow,  but  in  the  process  do  inestima- 
.e  damage — strained,   abraided  sprocket 
Dies,  oil-smeared  films,  wasted  power  .  .  . 
eakened  eyes  and  lessened  enjoyment  in 
■turn  for  the  money  paid  by  the  audience. 

'The  union  card  should  stand  for  high- 
-ade  work.  I  would  even  go  to  the  length 
pulling  union  out  of  houses  where  a 
murious  or  dishonest  management  will 
it  supply  equipment  necessary  for  first- 
ass  projection,  or  compels  the  ruining  of 
Teen  results  in  other  ways.  Radical !  Sure, 
know  it  is,  but  right  nevertheless." 


Especially  These  Days: 
Know  Your  Equipment! 

I  have  said  many  times 
before,  and  I  now  say  again  Avhen  wartime 
requirements  place  emphasis  on  that  view- 
point, that  projectionists  and  management 
must  be  equipment-wise.  If,  during  this 
war,  our  industry  is  to  progress  instead  of 
retrogress,  we  must  study  every  detail  of 
the  equipment  with  which  we  work,  and  we 
must  profit  by  that  study. 

Beyond  a  question  of  doubt,  the  motion 
picture  is  important  to  the  well-being  of 
the  people  whose  courage  and  determina- 
tion are  vital  to  the  war  effort.  And  not 
only  has  it  been  found  to  fill  the  need  for 


relaxation  among  men  of  the  armed  forces, 
but  as  a  quick  means  of  education  it  is  un- 
surpassed. 

Already  we  are  feeling  the  pinch  when 
it  comes  to  new  equipment  or  replacement 
parts,  and  as  priorities  become  stricter  and 
the  demand  becomes  greater,  we  will  find  it 
increasingly  hard  to  obtain  them. 

How  many  of  you  projectionists  in  our 
theatres  are  doing  your  part  by  spending  a 
bit  more  time  in  the  care  of  your  equip- 
ment ?  Do  you  go  carefully  over  it,  period- 
ically checking  for  adjustments,  oil,  wear 
and  tear? 

And  consider  the  matter  of  film.  Recent- 
ly I  saw  a  projectionist  rewind  a  film  by 
the  mere  expedient  of  starting  a  motor 
which  he  let  run  while  he  went  ''out  back." 


We  suggest  that  those  who  didn't  buy  them  write  us 
about  their  lamp  problems.  We  will  try  to  help  keep 
present  equipment  in  service  until  the  BIG  JOB  is  done 
and  lamps  can  be  purchased  new.  Meanwhile,  we  will 
continue  to  render  the  best  possible  parts  and  repair 
service. 

If  newly  imposed  war  conditions  and  limitations  (such 
as  the  necessity  of  reducing  amperage),  or  modified 
type  of  carbons  cause  you  operating  difficulties,  do  not 
hesitate  to  call  us. 


NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY 

''THERE'S     A     BRANCH     NEAR     Y  O  U  '  1 


F.TTER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


23 


M0TI0GRAPH-MIRR0PH0N1C 

SOUND  SYSTEMS 

[Bell   Laboratories  (Research): 
Western  Electric  Company  (Engineering) 
Motiograph,  Int.  (Craftsmanship)] 

10  models  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
theatres  of  all  sizes. 

•  Give  the  most  natural,  lifelike  reproduction 
with  delicate  shadings  of  voice,  and  musical 
qualities  never  before  approached. 

•  Afford  the  best  balanced,  most  complete  tonal 
range  from  the  faintest  whisper  to  the 
mightiest  crash  of  thunder. 

•  Provide  uniform  sound  level  throughout  the 
theatre. 

★  ★  ★ 

The  famous  MOTIOGRAPH 
Deluxe  PROJECTOR 

ASSURES— 

•  Longest,   trouble-free  operation. 

•  Rock-steady  Hickerless  projection. 

•  Absolutely  silent  operation. 

MOTIOGRAPH,  INC. 

ESTABLISHED     18  9  6 
4431  West  Lake  Street   •   Chicago,  III. 

There's  an  Independent  Theatre  Supply  Sales  and 
Service  Representative  Near  You 


NEW,  improved 


RECT-O-LITE 

A    BETTER  RECTIFIER 


FOR  1  KILOWATT  ARC 


RECT-O-LITE  Rectifier 
No.  45-T  (3-phase)  is 
the  latest  development 
in  Rectifiers  and  pro- 
duces Clear,  Bright, 
F/fekerfess  pictures. 
No  moving  parts;  no 
servicing;  saves  enough 
current  to  pay  for  itself. 
I  YEAR  GUARANTEE. 


Price,  less  ^  ^  _  _  _ 
Ammeter  $14LROO 

■  nil  Rnlhs  ■  ~  ** 


ASK  FOR  BULLETIN  312 

BALDOR  ELECTRIC  COMPANY 


4367  DUNCAN  AVE. 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 


Catalog  Bureau — 26 


Upon  examination  of  the  film  I  found  the 
enp  to  be  cracked  in  three  places,  partly  due 
to  a  pair  of  plyers  which  were  laying  upon 
the  rewind  table  where  the  end  of  the  film 
could  strike  them.  Of  course  the  damaged 
part  in  this  instance  was  merely  a  leader, 
but  the  act  was  a  careless  one  of  the  kind 
that  can  mean  waste.  Also,  with  this  man 
entirely  out  of  the  room,  how  in  tarnation 
could  he  possibly  tell  the  condition  of 
splices  ? 

Film  must  be  conserved.  It  is  inevitable 
that  each  print  will  be  used  many  more 
times  than  ever  before,  and  certainly  the 
poor  reproduction  of  sound  or  picture, 
caused  by  damaged  film,  does  not  mean 


that  theatres  are  doing  their  part. 

See  that  film  is  sent  from  your  projectior 
room  perfectly  spliced,  properly  rewount 
on  reels  which  are  in  good  condition.  Mak( 
sure  films  are  clean.  Oil  is  very  necessary 
in  the  projection  room,  but  it  does  not  be 
long  on  the  film. 

Our  government  is  taking  thousands  ol 
films  for  its  own  use.  This  is  bound  t< 
make  a  shortage  in  what  is  left.  Each  prim 
will  therefore  be  used  more  often  than  evei 
before. 

The  projectionist  in  the  theatre,  not  onl\ 
the  one  in  an  Army  camp,  has  a  job  to  do 
But  to  do  it,  he  must  know  his  equipment 
how  to  use  it  with  maximum  efficiency. 


CARPET-MAKERS  ARE  WEAVING  FOR  WAR 

{Continued  from  page  14) 


cient,  fast  operating  and  economical  com- 
pared with  carpet  looms.  The  axminster 
carpet  loom,  if  converted  to  blanket  pro- 
duction, weaves  a  different  construction 
than  the  standard  two  up  and  two  down 
broken  twill.  Carpet  looms  do  not  have 
automatic  bobbin  changes  and  many  other 
refinements  which  make  possible  more  eco- 
nomic weaving.  Blanket  looms  are  more 
bulky  than  carpet  looms  and  require  strong- 
er yarns.  However,  they  can  be  and  have 
been  converted  for  blanket  production  at 
considerable  cost  and  satisfactory  blankets 
are  today  being  woven  on  converted  carpet 
looms. 

The  contribution  of  the  carpet  industry 
to  the  war  effort  does  not  stop  with  the 
manufacture  of  duck  and  blankets.  Every 
large  carpet  mill  must  normally  maintain 
extensive  machine  and  carpenter  shop  fa- 
cilities to  service  the  complex  machinery 
required  to  weave  carpets.  These  facilities 
are  also  on  an  all-out  war  production  basis. 
Imagine  making  big  gun  barrels  and  bat- 
tleship mechanism  in  a  carpet  mill!  But 
that  is  the  picture.  These  machine  shops 
are  working  night  and  day  turning  out  an 
almost  endless  list  of  articles  for  the  fight- 
ing forces  and  even  the  carpenter  shops  are 
doing  their  bit  making  things  for  war. 


There  are  few  theatre  men  who  cham; 
at  the  inability  of  the  manufacturer  to  de 
liver  new  carpet  or  replacements  for  hi: 
house.  They  are  aware  for  the  most  part 
of  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  consume 
goods  in  the  face  of  the  vastly  more  im 
portant  task  of  licking  the  Axis. 

As  its  contribution  to  the  Government' 
campaign  to  urge  consumers  to  make  th 
best  of  what  they  have,  the  Institute  o 
Carpet  Manufacturers  of  America,  Inc.' 
has  recently  published  an  important  am 
authoritative  booklet:  "How  to  Take  Car 
of  Your  Carpets  and  Rugs."  The  bookie 
represents  the  combined  research  facilitie 
of  the  carpet  industry  and  in  view  of  th 
increasing  shortage  of  wool,  the  Institut 
has  sought  in  its  booklet,  to  present  in  un 
derstandable  language,  the  best  and  mos 
up-to-date  information  on  how  to  mak 
carpets  last  longer.  The  booklet  was  firs 
published  in  April  in  an  edition  of  250,00' 
copies.  In  little  over  a  month,  this  editio 
was  exhausted  and  a  second  edition  of  125, 
000  copies  was  published.  Every  theatr 
operator  in  the  country  should  have  on 
of  these  booklets  which  may  be  obtaine 
free  by  writing  to  the  Institute  of  Carpe 
Manufacturers  of  America,  Inc.,  Empir 
State  Building,  New  York  City. 


Index  of  Advertisers 


American  Pop  Corn  Co   17 

Artkraft  Sign  Co.,  The   16 

Automatic  Devices  Co   16 

Baldor  Electric  Co   24 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co   21 

Chicago  Expansion  Bolt  Co   18 

Dayton  Safety  Ladder  Co.,  The.  .  17 

DeVry  Corp   18 

Droll  Theatre  Supply  Co   21 

General  Electric  Co   3 

Goldberg  Bros  18,  24 

Heywood-Wakefield  Co   17 

Ideal  Seating  Co   16 

International  Projector  Corp. 

Third  Cover 

International  Seat  Corp   18 


Juilliard  &  Co.,  Inc.,  A.  D   4 

LaVezzi  Machine  Works   22 

Motiograph,  Inc   24 

National  Carbon  Co.,  Inc. 

Second  Cover . 
National  Theatre  Supply  Co..  .  .18,  23  j 

Projection  Optics  Co.,  Inc   20 

RCA  Mfg.  Co.,  Inc.. 20,  Fourth  Cover 

S.O.S.  Cinema  Supply  Corp   16 

Strong  Electric  Corp.,  The   19 

Union  Carbide  &  Carbon  Corp. 

Second  Cover 

United  States  Plywood  Co   15 

Vallen,  Inc   17 

Wagner  Sign  Service,  Inc.   17 


24 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Herat 


< 


NEWS  OF  THEIR  ACTIVITIES  REPORTED  FROM  ALL  SECTIONS  AND  BRIEFLY  TOLD 


J  Charles  Lindau,  operator  of  the 
iLouis  theatre,  Chicago,  has  acquired  the 
jarfield     theatre     there     from  Linda 

►CHAEFER. 

| 

"Vt  .  H.  Callaway  has  taken  over  oper- 
tion  of  the  Alberta  theatre.  Portland, 
jDre.,  from  John  Washtok. 

Charles  Cohen  has  become  sole  owner 
]i  the  Penn  Theatre  Equipment  Company 
w    Philadelphia.      Al    Roth  berg,  his 
3rmer  partner,  has  entered  defense  work. 

The  Plaza  theatre,  Windsor,  Conn., 
■as  been  opened  by  Lockwood  3c  Gordon 

Theatres  of  Boston.  The  house  had  been 
,!osed  for  extensive  alterations.  The 
[ouse  was  leased  from  Shulman  Theatres 

:  Hartford,  Conn. 

The   2+8-seat    Lincoln    theatre.  New 
aven,  Conn.,  has  been  reopened,  with 
Irs.  Lillian  Sang,  wife  of  the  Shubert 
anager,  Leonard  Sang,  as  manaser. 


Helen  Wabbe  has  been  promoted  to 
the  post  of  publicity  manager  for  the 
Golden  Gate  theatre,  San  Francisco,  suc- 
ceeding Graham  Kislingberry,  who  has 
joined  the  armed  forces. 

L.  E.  Sprakers  has  reopened  his  Star 
theatre,  Stayton,  Ore. 

Robert  L.  Lippert  has  opened  the 
Times  theatre  at  Alameda.  Cal.,  naval  base 
site,  and  is  planning  early  construction  of 
another  house  there. 

Ed  Feeney,  manager  of  the  Luzerne 
theatre,  Luzerne,  Pa.,  reports  that  many 
improvements  have  been  made  in  the  house, 
including  repainting,  redecorating  and  re- 
upholstering  the  seats. 

Bill  W  hyte,  formerlv  manager  of  the 
Temple  theatre,  Affiliated  circuit  house  in 
Philadelphia,  will  manage  Jack  Green- 
berg's  Star  theatre,  Camden,  N.  J.,  which 
has  been  remodeled. 

Melton  Goldberg  has  reopened  the 
200-seat  Broadbrook  theatre,  Broadbrook. 
Conn.,  formerly  operated  by  Nathan 
Lampert.  Full  week  operation  is  the 
new  policy. 

Norman  L.  Row,  formerly  manager  of 
the  Windsor,  Windsor.  Conn.,  has  been 
made  city  manager  by  the  Lockwood  & 
Gordon  circuit.  Mrs.  Blanche  Shep- 
ard,  cashier,  has  become  manager  of  the 
Windsor. 

The  Rio  theatre,  Hammond,  Ind.,  an 
SOO-seat  house,  has  been  sold  by  the  Rio 
Theatre  Corporation  to  the  AMA  Amuse- 
ment Company,  headed  by  Alexander  M. 
Assim.  The  new  owners  are  planning 
extensive  alterations. 

T  3c  D.  Jr.  Enterprises,  San  Fran- 
cisco, have  opened  the  Nevada  theatre, 
formerly  the  Wigwam,  at  Reno,  Cal. 

Abe  Jaffe  supervised  the  redecorating 
of  the  Casino  theatre,  Pittsburgh.  The 


1942  CINEM AIDS 

■  Two  further  coniribufions  to  our  photo- 
serial  from  United  Detroit  Theatres — at 
left,  Miss  Eileen  Burns,  who  is  mistress  of 
the  candy  counter  at  the  Michigan  theatre, 
circuit  "flagship";  and,  right,  Miss  Jennie 
Braga,  chief  of  15  usherettes  at  the 
Ramona  theatre,  neighborhood  house. 


house  has  reopened  on  a  four-shows-a-day 
policy.  Mr.  Jaffe  is  treasurer  of  the  house, 
which  is  owned  by  George  Jaffe,  and 
managed  by  Ed  Shafer. 

Harry  A.  Hersker,  director,  and 
Charles  Haen,  manager,  of  the  Alton 
theatre,  Hazleton,  Pa.,  have  reopened  the 
theatre  following  many  improvements  and 
alterations.  The  Motiograph  projectors 
have  been  reconditioned,  and  new  Amer- 
ican 'Avion"  seats  have  been  installed,  as 
well  as  new  carpeting. 

The  Rio  theatre,  San  Leandro,  Cal.,  has 
been  opened  by  the  Golden  Gate  Theatre 
Realty  Company.  It  is  equipped  with 
Western  Electric  sound,  Simplex  pro- 
jectors and  Strong  projection  lamps  and 
rectifiers. 

Charles  M.  Thall,  manager  of  Fox 
"West  Coast  theatres  in  the  Greater  San 
Francisco  area,  recently  directed  the  dedi- 
cation of  a  plaque  in  the  lobby  of  the  Fox 


TTER  THEATRES:  September  19,  1942 


25 


CATALOG  BUREAU 

Authentic  information  on  equipment,  furnishings  and  materials  will  be  sent 
theatre  executives,  architects  and  projectionists  indicating  their  interests  in 
the  coupon  below.  Refer  to  item  by  number  from  following  list  whenever  pos- 
sible;  otherwise   explain   in   the   space    indicated   for   numbers    in   the  coupon. 


ADVERTISING 

101 —  Advertising  projectors 

102 —  Cutout  devices 

103 —  Display  frames 

104—  Flashers 

105—  Lamps,  incand.  reflector 

106 —  Lamps,  incand.  flood 

107 —  Letters,  changeable 

108 —  Marquees 

109 —  Reflectors,  roundel  type 

110 —  Signs,  theatre  name 

111 —  Neon  transformers 

AIR  SUPPLY 

201 —  Air  Cleaners,  electrical 

202 —  Air  washers 

203 —  Blowers  &  fans 

204 —  Coils  (heat  transfer) 

205 —  Compressors 

206 —  Control  equipment 

207 —  Cooling  towers 

208—  Diffusers 

209—  Filters 

210 —  Furnaces  &  boilers 

211 —  Grilles,  ornamental 

212 —  Heaters,  gas  unit 

2 1 3 —  Humidifiers 

214 —  Insulation 

2 1 5 —  Motors 

216 —  Oil  burners 

2 1 7 —  Ozone  generators 

218 —  Radiators 

2 1 9—  Stokers 

220 —  Temperature  indicators 

221 —  Well  water  pumps 

ARCHIT'RE  &  DECORATION 

301 —  Decorating  service 

302 —  Drapes 

303 —  Fabric,  wall 

304 —  Fibre  boards  &  tiles 

305—  Glass  blocks  &  tiles 

306 —  Glass  murals 

307 —  Leatherette  for  walls 

308 —  Luminescent  paints 

309 —  Mirrors 

310 —  Paint,  lacquers,  etc. 

311 —  Porcelain  enamel 

312 —  Roofing 

3 1 3 —  Terrazzo 

314 —  Wood  veneer 

GENERAL  MAINTENANCE 

401 —  Brooms  &  brushes 

402 —  Carpet  shampoo 

403 —  Cleaning  compound* 

404 —  Detergents 

405 —  Disinfectants 

406 —  Gum  remover 

407 —  Ladders,  safety 

408 —  Perfumes 

409 —  Polishes 

410 —  Sand  urns 


411 —  Snow  melting  crystals 

412 —  Soap,  liquid 

413 —  Vacuum  cleaners 

FLOOR  COVERINGS 

501—  Asphalt  tile 

502 —  Carpeting 

503 —  Carpet,  fluorescent 

504 —  Carpet  lining 

505 —  Concrete  paint 

506 —  Linoleum 

507 —  Mats,  rubber 

LIGHTING 

601 —  Black-light  equipment 

602 —  Cove  strips  &  reflectors 

603 —  Dimmers 

604 —  Downlighting  equipment 

605 —  Fluorescent  lamps 

606—  Lumiline  lamps 

607 —  Luminaires 

(See  also  Advertising,  Stage) 

LOUNGE  FURNISHINGS 

701—  Ash  trays 

702 —  Chairs,  sofas,  tables 

703 —  Cosmetic  tables,  chairs 

704 —  Mirrors 

705—  Statuary 

OFFICE 

801 —  Accounting  systems 

802 —  Communicating  systems 

PROJECTION 

901 —  Acoustic  materials 

902 —  Acoustic  service 

903—  Amplifiers 

904 —  Amplifier  tubes 

905 —  Cabinets,  accessory 

906 —  Cabinets,  carbon 

907—  Cabinets,  film 

908 —  Changeovers 

909 —  Condenser  lensas 

910 —  Effect  projectors 
91  I — Exciter  lamps 

912 —  Fire  extinguishers 

913 —  Fire  shutters 

914 —  Hearing  aids 

915 —  Lamps,  projection  are 

9 1 6 —  Microphones 

917 —  Mirror  guards 

9 1 8 —  Motor-generators 

919 —  Photoelectric  cells 

920 —  Projectors,  standard 

921 —  Projectors,  16-mm. 

922 —  Projector  parts 

923 —  Projection,  rear 

924 —  Public  address  systems 

925—  Rectifiers 

926 —  Reel  end  alarms 

927—  Reels 


928 —  Reflectors  (arc) 

929 —  Renovators,  film 

930 —  Rewinders 

931—  Rheostats 

932 —  Safety  devices,  projector 

933 —  Screens 

934 —  Speakers  &  horns 

935 —  Splicers 

936 —  Soundheads 

937 —  Stereopticons 

938—  Tables 

939 —  Voltages  regulators 

940 —  Waste  cans,  self-closing 

SEATING 

1001 —  Ash  trays  (chair  back) 

1002—  Chairs 

1003 —  Chair  covers 

1004 —  Chair  refinishing 

1005—  Expansion  bolts 

1006—  Fastening  cement 

1007 —  Latex  cushions 

1008—  Upholstering  fabrics 

SERVICE  &  TRAFFIC 
I  101 — Directional  signs 

1102 —  Drinking  cups 

1103 —  Drinking  fountains 
I  104 — Uniforms 

STAGE 

1201 —  Curtains  &  drapes 

1202 —  Curtain  controls 

1203—  Curtain  tracks 

1204 —  Lighting  equipment 

1205 —  Rigging  &  hardware 

1 206 —  Scenery 

1207 —  Switchboards 

TICKET  SALES 

1301—  Box  offices 

1 302 —  Changemakert 

1 303 —  Signs,  price 

1304 —  Speaking  tubes 

1 305—  Tickets 

1 306—  Ticket  chopperi 

1307—  Ticket  holders 

1 308 —  Ticket  registers 

TOILET 

1401 —  Fixtures 

1402 —  Paper  dispensers 

1403 —  Paper  towels 

1404 —  Soap  dispensers 
(See  also  Maintenance) 

VENDING 

1501 —  Beverage  Dispenser* 

1502 —  Candy  counters 

1503 —  Candy  machines 

1504 —  Popcorn  machines 

1505 —  Phonographs,  automatic 


BETTER  THEATRES  CATALOG  BUREAU  COUPON 

Mail  to  Better  Theatres,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York.   Write  in  numbers. 


Name    Theatre 

Address   


theatre,  installed  in  honor  of  220  em 
ployees  of  the  organization  now  in  th 
armed  forces.  Representatives  of  th 
Army,  Navy,  American  Legion,  Marin 
Corps  and  American  Women's  Voluntar 
Services  participated. 

The  Royal  theatre  at  Guadalupe,  Cal 
is  under  the  ownership  of  Robert  Lii 
pert,  who  has  a  circuit  of  theatres  in  th 
San  Francisco  Bay  area  catering  to  wj 
workers. 

James  M.  Brandon  has  been  added  t 
Altec  Service  field  force,  operating  i 
lower  West  Virginia  and  Eastern  Ker 
tucky.  He  will  have  his  headquarters  i 
Norton,  Va.,  and  will  report  to  Warre 
Conner,  Altec  district  manager  in  Cincir 
nati. 

Cecil  Fernandez,  projectionist  froi 
St.  Petersburg,  Fla.,  is  now  projectioni 
at  the  Rialto  Kenmore  theatre,  Akroi 
Ohio.  He  plans  to  return  to  St.  Peter 
burg  in  October. 

The  Del  Oro  theatre,  1,600-seat  hous 
has  been  opened  at  Grass  Valley,  Cal.,  1 
United  California  Theatres.  It  is  equipp< 
with  RCA  sound,  Simplex  projectors  ar 
Strong  lamps  and  rectifiers. 

Blumenfeld  Theatres,  San  Francisc 
has  had  all  projection  lenses  used  on  i 
circuit,  treated  with  lens  coating  by  Wa 
ter  A.  Preddey. 

Pete  and  Jim  Bikos,  operators  of  tl 
Roxy  theatre,  Gary,  Ind.,  have  opened  tl 
1,000-seat  Fifth  Avenue  theatre  in  tl 
same  town. 


Phil  Zenovich,  formerly  manager 
the  White  theatre,  Fresno,  Cal.,  has  e 
listed  in  the  Marine  Corps. 


R.  C.  Kneuer,  assistant  sales  manager  of  the 
ternational  Projector  Corporation,  who  has  cc 
pleted  his  30th  year  with  the  company,  includ 
the  time  spent  in  the  employ  with  its  predecesi 
the  Precision  Machine  Company,  which  he  joii^l 
in  1912.  Connected  with  the  repair  departm* 
■for  many  years,  he  was  appointed  assistant 
Arthur  E.  Meyer,  general  sales  manager,  in  In 
Less  formally,  and  that's  most  of  the  time,  M 
"Rudy" — and  at  the  parties,  a  professor  of  p> 
tune  rendition   par  excellence  and  indefatigal 


26 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Hero 


jJfiglfNDABILITY 


R^yWERVATION 


BMTER  PROJECTION 


EQUIPMENT 

SERVING  THE  AMERICAN  PEOPLE 
AND 

ARMED  FORCES  of  the  UNITED  STATES 

FOR  OVER 
A    QUARTER    OF    A  CENTURY 


Copper  Carbon  Current 


HELP  THE  3  C'S  SERVE  THEIR  COUNTRY 

You  can  release  Copper,  Current,  and  Carbon  to  the 
Armed  Forces— without  Dimming  Projection  Light! 


Theatre  owners  are  anxious  to  do  their  share  to  help 
win  the  war.  Yet  many  do  not  realize  that  they  can 
contribute  Copper,  Current,  and  Carbon,  and  do  it 
without  sacrificing  their  projection  light.  Here's  the 
way  they  and  you  can  perform  this  service — 


PUT  YOUR  PROJECTOR  IN  FIGHTING  TRIM 

Have  your  nearest  RCA  Theatre  Supply  Dealer  give 
your  projector  a  thorough  overhauling.  By  putting  it 
in  good  condition  and  keeping  it  that  way  you  will 
use  less  current  and  avoid  breakdowns. 


GET  AN  RCA  SNOWHITE  SCREEN 

Another  way  to  save  on  the  3  C's  is  to  install  an 
RCA  Snowhite  Screen.  It  works  like  magic — requires 
less  projection  light  for  good  results. 

■      ■  ■ 

Call  in  your  friend,  the  RCA  Theatre  Supply  Dealer. 
Or  write  RCA  Manufacturing  Co.,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 

★     BUY  WAR  BONDS  EVERY  PAYDAY  ★ 


THEATRE  EQUIPMENT 

RCA  Photophone  •  RCA  Magicote  Lens  Service  •  RCA  Screens  •  RCA  Theatre  Service 
RCA  Hearing  Aids  •  Westinghouse  Lamps  •  Brenkert  Projectors  and  Accessories  •  Benwood  Linze  Rectifiers 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(1h  Product  Digest) 

Springtime  in  the  Rockies 
You  Can't  Escape  Forever 
Top  Sergeant 
Inside  the  Law 
Secret  Mission 
Hying  Tigers 
Prison  Girls 
Tomorrow  We  Live 
Teias  to  Bataan 


ALLIED 

Caravan  marches  in  crusade  for 
control  of  rental  scales 

BRITISH 

Exhibitors  move  into  open  war 
on  rentals:  starting  boycott 

CANADIAN 

Famous  Players  Circuit  sues 
Xathanson  on  theatre  deals 

MEXICO  CITY 

Changes  plan  of  taxation  to 
lighten  exhibition's  burden 


VOL  148,  NO.  13 


SEPTEMBER  26,  1942 


LARRUPIM 


art  °^ 


2  t° 


sothern 


LEO  LEADS  AT 

1000  per  cent! 

I  Times  at  Bat! 
I  Hits  in  a  Row! 

|  and  watch  the  Home*run  King  keep 

I  way  out  in  front  with  these  hot  ones: 

||  "WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  H A D L E Y "—Washington,  D.  C  World 

Premiere  This  Week  with  Brilliant  MillioivDollar  Bond  Opening  preceded 
by  Kate  Smith  nationwide  radio  salute! 

"SEVEN  SWEETHEARTS"-Unique  M^G--M  promotion  this  week 
launches  this  "Sweetheart  of  a  Picture"  simultaneously  in  the  7  most 
romantic  cities  of  America. 


Follow  the  arrows 
to  Page  27! 


CAIRO  OPENINGS 
EQUAL  DELISH  TISH  ! 

Press  time.'  Richmond,  Providence,  Atlanta,  Youngstown, 
Nashville,  Riverside,  Cal.  openings  delight  the  fans  with 
eye-filling  musical  that  kids  the  spyracket!  WATCH  FOR 
M-G-M  BROADSIDE  SOON  IN  THE  MAILS  with  com- 
plete description  of  showmanship  that  brought  the  folks  to 
the  box-office  at  "Cairo's"  gay  test  runs! 


THE  ANGLES  IN 
THE  ADS  WERE 
CURVES!  AH! 


THE  GALS  ARE  GAY 
IK  CAIRO! 

M-G-M's  big  musical  romance 

with  laughs  and  songs  and  sultry  sirens. 


THE  HOTTEST  SPOT  ON  EARTH! 


^/WATERS 


Remember 
in 

September 
— with 
bonds! 


Directed  by  IRVING  RAPPER 

Seises  Play  by  Casey  Robinios  ♦  From  the  Novel  by  Olive  Hi^gins  Prou-.y 

I  '  "     '  ■  '  .  ~ 

Music  tv  Mas:  Reiner  •  A  Warner  Br&5.-F:r<*.  National  Picture 

! 


u 


THE  BEST  OF  THE  SONJA  HENIE 

PICTURES  TO  DATE 

says  M.  P.  DAILY 


JACK  OAKIE 

FELIX  BRESSART  •  OSA  MASSEN 
JOAN  MERRILL   •    FRITZ  FELD 
STERLING  HOLLOWAY 

SAMMY^KAYE 

AND  HIS  ORCHESTRA 

Directed  by  BRUCE  HUMBERSTONE 
Produced  by  WILLIAM  LeBARON 

Original  Screen  Play  by  Robert  Ellis  &  Helen  Logan 


CENTURY- FOX 
PICTURE 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  OU1GLEY,  EJiior-ht-Cbief  and  Vublhbtr 


Vol.  148,  No. 


September  26,  1942 


WAR  SHOW 


Tnb   — e--~    :-::5:5";  z~  — 5  ~5C~  — ■■■e  =~5  " 

a  war  began  this  week  for  New  York  with  a  battle  show 
and  the  burning  of  considerable  powder  in  an  official 
military  demonstration  at  the  Polo  Grounds-  Yet  the  war  is 
brutal  reality  in  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  only  some  twenty 
miles  from  the  Polo  Grounds. 

We  are  in  curious  case  in  this  land  that  we  must,  or  do,  in 
this  September  of  1942,  make  synthetic  war  in  a  baseball  field 
that  the  populace  may  be  informed  of  the  facts  of  battle. 

The  tidings  of  this  proceeding  may  well  raise  questioning 
eyebrows  among  our  allies  in  blitz-burned  Britain,  in  Russia, 
in  China. 

It  may  still  be  a  competent  judgment,  the  state  of  the  nation 
being  what  it  is,  to  stage  a  war  show  on  a  baseball  diamond. 
If  that  is  true  it  is  more  the  pity. 

Our  good  neighbor  on  the  north,  Canada,  is  taking  a  most 
objective  view  and  telling  the  facts,  which  are  harsh  facts, 
notably  in  the  matter  of  report  on  the  cost  of  the  Dieppe  raid. 


Canada  is  learning  that  it 


5  ■'■5-  r_-  ;  e  ~sc~s  r~  •'•=-. 


N 


OW,  however,  in  this  same  September  of  1942  it  may 
be  suggested  to  those  same  military  authorities  which 
stage  a  little  war  show  for  the  audience  at  the  Polo 

z  -  z  z   5 " z  = 


No  set  of  firecrackers  in  the  outfield  can  tell  the  story  that 
the  motion  picture  camera  might  well  be  bringing  back  from 
the  fronts  where  American  soldiers  are  fighting  and  dying, 
without  stage  direction.  In  the  desperate  realities  of  the  con- 
flict which  is  deciding  the  fate  of  our  civilization. 

That  larger  public  is  the  motion  picture  public,  and  that 
larger  medium  is  the  newsreel,  deeply  rooted  in  the  conscious- 
While  bureaucrats,  politicians,  special  pleaders  and  amateurs 
of  ail  order  of  special  interest,  engage,  at  great  cost  in  dollars 
and  consumption  of  vital  materials,  in  making  and  promoting 
"shorts",  about  this  and  that,  the  great  broad  channel  of  com- 
munication, the  newsreel  with  its  place  on  the  screen  so  estab- 
lished, is  treated  as  a  stepchild. 

One  capable  erstwhile  newsreel  man,  currently  engaged  in 
war  effort,  observed  the  other  day  that  "generals  just  do  not 
like  pictures  or  reporters;  they  think  this  war  is  theirs  per- 
sonally and  that  it  is  confidential". 

It  occurs  to  one  observer  that  the  generals  are  perhaps  not 
proud  of  the  facts.  They  can  do  better  with  the  euphemisms 
of  the  newspapers  which  strive  to  contrive  circulation-selling 
headlines  out  of  wisps  of  success.  Factual  pictorial  report  has 
the  fault  that  bartenders  have  found  in  the  cash  register:  the 
damned  thing  counts. 

From  several  Washington  spokesmen  we  have  had  the  flat 
statement  that  we  are  not  winning  the  war  and,  worse,  that 
we  are  losing  it7  But  that  story  has  never  been  on  page  one. 
Assuredly  there  has  been  no  hint  of  that  in  the  motion  picture 
releases.   Further,  the  film  which  has  been  released  to  the 


newsreels,  like  most  of  the  photographs  released  to  the  printed 
page,  has  come  so  far  behind  the  event  that  it  rates  as  his- 
~z~,\  rz~  ~ews. 

I  he  inadequacy  of  the  report,  to  both  screen  and  press,  is 
c-ear'rg  a  g^cv'-g  —  2-e  =-  ez'-z-;-'z  sc-e.v~e-e  ce~'.ee- 
resignation  and  indifference.  A  reporter  for  the  Herald,  just 
returned  from  a  sojourn  through  the  big  interior  of  these 
United  States,  found  little  evidence  of  any  consciousness  of  a 
state  of  war,  save  in  the  war  prosperity  of  the  munitions 
workers  —  shiny  new  cars,  snappy  clothes,  and  champagne. 

There  seems  to  be  a  possibility  that  the  people  of  the 
Republic  may  be  told  too  little,  too  late. 


'RATECISTS 


Writers  ar 
s—-c-'ve  z 
Secc 

If  is  to 


AAA 


some  observations  to  the  effect  that 
orne  or  the  ardent  persons  of  the 
ie  OW!  to  let  the  motion  picture 
isiness  or  making  pictures  for  the 
-T  — e  press-.-e  z~  cresc-ic-'cns. 
iew  oi  the  various  documents  and 
z  =  -  — e  _esc_e  z:  -,~s~'z~\- 

>f  film  cadres,  that  it  will  be  con- 
s  ~   T3T.  t--~z''-'=;  zez'is 


~z  -  Z  ~z  „  z 


=  ~~e—         Zz'z  z 


~  "z  ~    z    "  ;  ze~~e~ 

5  on  the  subject  of  a 
is  alleged  to  be  con- 
;T5-e  ct  !~s  ~e~ce-s. 


Id  can  give  them  plenty  to  do. 

AAA 


PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS 


w 


res~ez  ~rs 
-ez'e 

Zz  =->j2 

a  kiss,  ami 
progress  an 


'zez'ez  ~z  ~~e  ^~'-ez  --ess  ---  =  zr'sce-" 
jibyshev,  "way  over  in  Russia,  relating  the 
•eception  there  of  Mr.  Wendell  L.  Willkie, 
and  executive  ot  the  motion  picture,  cur- 
irrands  or  international  cooperations.    It  is 

Willkie  mounted  the  stage  of  the  Bolshoi 
rJowers  Tor  the  petite  and  pretty  premiere 
khomirova,  and  presented  them  to  her  with 

-  =  ~"  s  =-Z  B'zs.  -  ;  'ec"e.:e — ; 
mph,  and  mayhap  even  the  promise  of  that 
ic  leadership  which  the  Republican  part)'  has 
•  c2oy-<:sS'-g  z.  ;5-:'r;_es  -as  ce:c~e  =- 
anplace,  of  just  politics.  But  ballerinas;  that's 
J  something  we  can  understand. 

— Terry  Ramsa^c 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


$1 , 800, 000— Speech  less 

DAVID  0.  SELZNICK  was  speechless. 
Ill  of  laryngitis  in  his  suite  at  the  Hotel 
Pierre  in  New  York,  he  told  a  reporter 
through  his  secretary  that  until  he  recovered 
there  would  be  no  comments  on  reports  cur- 
rent this  week  that  he  was  negotiating  the 
sale  to  Paramount  of  all  his  motion  picture 
holdings. 

Presumed  to  be  connected  with  the  sale 
to  United  Artists  of  10  Paramount  pictures, 
reports  of  the  deal  mentioned  $1,800,000  as 
the  price  for  all  Mr.  Selznick's  star  con- 
tracts, story  properties  and  pictures  except 
"Gone  wtih  the  Wind."  The  star  contracts 
include  those  with  Joan  Fontaine,  Ingrid 
Bergman,  Vivien  Leigh,  Valerie  Hobson, 
Joseph  Cotton  and  Alan  Marshal.  The  story 
properties  include  "Claudia,"  "Jane  Eyre" 
and  "Keys  of  the  Kingdom." 

All  executives  who  would  be  involved  in 
the  deal  kept  the  press  significantly  at  a  dis- 
tance this  week.  Barney  Balaban,  president 
of  Paramount,  was  in  a  projection  room 
nearly  all  day  Wednesday,  according  to  his 
secretary.  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  in  New 
York  from  the  coast,  refused  to  see  reporters 
for  even  ordinary  discussion  of  production 
plans.  Gradwell  Sears,  United  Artists  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  distribution,  was 
"out." 


Punishment 

EXPERT  in  the  repression  of  conquered 
peoples,  the  Nazis  have  progressed  from 
the  shooting  of  hostages  in  reprisal  for  non- 
cooperation  to  more  subtle  punishments.  All 
motion  picture  theatres  and  other  places  of 
amusement  in  Paris  were  closed  last  Satur- 
day and  Sunday,  according  to  an  Associated 
Press  report  from  Vichy,  "because  attempts 
against  the  German  Army  have  multiplied 
recently."  The  closure  was  ordered  after 
the  execution  of  116  hostages  had  failed  to 
halt  the  "attempts."  In  Hainaut  Province, 
Belgium,  according  to  the  Belgian  Informa- 
tion Service,  all  places  of  entertainment  in 
four  towns  were  closed  and  50  hostages  were 
seized  after  war  production  in  several  fac- 
tories had  been  halted  by  the  destruction 
of  generating  plants. 

Drive-in  Patent 

IN  THE  last  nine  years  upwards  of  100 
drive-in  theatres  have  been  constructed  in 
the  United  States  under  license  from  Park- 
In  Theatres,  Inc.,  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  owners 
of  a  patent  on  a  ramp  system  for  parking 
automobiles  in  front  of  a  screen  so  as  to 
permit  occupants  of  each  car  to  see  the  pic- 
ture through  the  windshield.  Finally  chal- 
lenged, the  claims  of  the  Camden  Company, 
subsidiary  of  the  Hollingshead  Company, 
which  manufactures  the  "Whiz"  automobile 
maintenance  products,  have  been  confirmed 
by  a  United  States  Court  of  Appeals. 
'  That  such  a  car  parking    scheme  was 


ALLIED'S  rental  control  crusade  wins  sup- 
port Page  I 2 

SLASH  in  raw  stock  means  fewer  pictures, 
prints  Page  13 

FPC  sues  N.  L.  Nathanson  to  get  back 
theatres  Page  14 

MAJORS  rush  completion  of  product  and 
sales  plans  Page  23 

INDUSTRY  rallies  forces  for  final  Bond 
sprint  Page  24 

OPEN  war  flares  in  Britain  over  film  rental 
issue  Page  31 


patentable  had  been  doubted  by  many  per- 
sons who  had  thought  to  get  into  this  curi- 
ous motor-age  off-shoot  of  the  film  busi- 
ness, and  last  spring  one  Rogers,  a  Los  An- 
geles school  teacher,  opened  a  drive-in  thea- 
tre near  Colton,  Cal.,  in  the  San  Bernar- 
dino Valley,  without  benefit  of  license  from 
Park-In  Theatres.  Sued  by  the  latter,  Mr. 
Rogers  won  in  the  U.  S.  district  court  for 
Southern  California.  The  reversal  uphold- 
ing the  patent  was  handed  down  by  the 
U.  S.  circuit  court  of  appeals  in  San  Fran- 
cisco on  September  14th. 

The  patent,  No.  1,909,537,  has  21  claims, 
all  dealing  with  the  radial  arrangement  and 
pitch  of  the  tiers  of  the  ramps.  Other  fea- 
tures of  the  drive-in  theatre  plan  and  con- 
struction, such  as  screen  housing,  projection, 
sound,  paving,  etc.,  are  not  involved. 


FARNOL  IS  RETURNED 
TO  ACTIVE  SERVICE 

€|  Major  Lynn  Farnol,  who  was 
placed  on  the  inactive  Reserve  Of- 
ficers' list  following  public  and  press 
protest  over  the  air-marker  hoax 
story,  has  been  restored  to  active 
duty. 

€|  Major  Farnol  has  been  assigned 
to  an  Army  Air  Corps  Training 
School  in  preparation  for  further 
active  service. 

(Editor's  Note:  The  Farnol  case  was 
discussed  in  an  editorial  by  Martin 
Quigley  in  the  September  12  th  issue 
of  Motion  Picture  Herald.) 


MEXICO  CITY  eases  tax  load  on  local 
exhibitors  Page  32 

CANADA  tightens  control  over  film  sales 
practices  Page  33 

THREE    days    is    reasonable  clearance, 
Board   rules  Page  39 

COAST  office   worker  guild   walkout  is 
averted  Page  42 

"LET'S  get  it  over  with,"  Petrillo  says  as 
inquiry  opens  Page  43 

EXHIBITORS  employ  women  as  war  takes 
more  men  Page  47 


Page  58 
Page  52 
Page  67 


From  Thin  Air 

PUBLICITY  from  Samuel  Goldwyn  in 
Hollywood  tells  news  desks  this  week  that 
Edward  Ciannelli,  naturalized  Italian  actor, 
"is  officially  persona  non  grata"  in  his  na- 
tive Italy.  The  release  said  that  Virginio 
Gayda,  editor  and  spokesman  for  Mussolini, 
took  exception  over  R03,  Rome  short  wave 
station,  to  the  actor's  recent  characteriza- 
tions as  an  Italian  saboteur,  "the  latest  of 
which  was  in  Samuel  Goldwyn 's  'They  Got 
Me  Covered',  forthcoming  RKO  release." 

The  listening  posts  of  CBS  and  NBC  in 
New  York,  and  the  Office  of  War  Informa- 
tion, which  follow  the  Axis  air  propaganda 
with  care,  reported  no  record  of  such  an 
attack.  CBS  listeners  wondered  whether 
the  chief  spokesman  for  II  Duce  would  both- 
er with  an  attack  on  an  actor  in  a  minor 
role.  The  Goldwyn  publicity,  however,  al- 
ways is  sensitized  to  all  wave  lengths. 


Says  Mr.  Rockefeller 

UNDER  fire  from  press  interviewers  in 
Argentina,  Nelson  Rockefeller,  Coordina- 
tor of  Inter-American  Affairs,  was  ready 
with  a  vigorous  defense  of  his  agency's  cul- 
tural interchange  of  motion  pictures,  ac- 
cording to  cables  from  Buenos  Aires.  In 
excellent  Spanish  Mr.  Rockefeller  told  the 
press,  reports  said,  that  the  U.  S.  had  no 
intention  of  controlling  motion  picture  sub- 
ject matter,  distribution  or  any  phase  of 
theatre  operation  in  South  America.  A 
true  cultural  interchange  which  will  con- 
tinue after  the  war,  as  well  as  a  wartime 
exchange  of  information,  is  the  aim  of  the 
motion  picture  division,  he  said.  His  tour 
of  South  America  is  taking  him  to  Brazil, 
Argentina,  Chile,  Uruguay  and  Colombia. 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  57  Obituaries 

Managers'  Round  Table  Page  59     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart 


September    2  6.  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Barnes  Moves  Up 

THE  motion  picture,  long  dominant  among 
the  amusement  arts,  is  now  really  making 
progress  in  the  higher  journalism.  This 
week  the  New  York  Herald  Tribune  an- 
nounced Mr.  Howard  Barnes,  for  some 
years  the  motion  picture  critic,  as  head  of 
both  the  film  and  drama  reviewing  staffs. 

Mr.  Barnes  thus  is  doubly  the  successor  to 
Richard  Watts,  once  cinema  critic,  and  more 
recently  dramatic  critic  as  successor  to  the 
late  Percy  Hammond.  Mr.  Watts,  as  re- 
corded last  week,  has  gone  to  Eire  for  the 
OWI. 

The  Herald  Tribune  was  first  of  the  great 
New  York  dailies  to  give  the  films  a  posi- 
tion of  equality  with  the  stage  in  represen- 
tation on  page  one  of  the  drama  section. 
The  stately  Times  still  carries  the  films  a 
bit  back  in  the  section,  even  if  there  are 
times  when  there  is  nothing  to  say  for  the 
stage. 

Mr.  Barnes,  while  a  sharp  critic,  and 
often  not  a  little  far  to  the  ideological  "liber- 
al" side  by  Tribune  standards,  is  a  friend 
of  the  art.  Also  he  is  not  nearly  so  full  of 
ideological  heat  as  Mr.  Watts. — TR. 


Below  the  Record 

FEDERAL  admission  tax  collections  in 
August— $12,436,304 — failed  by  less  than 
$50,000  to  maintain  the  record  high  of  $12,- 
484,881  achieved  in  July,  it  was  reported 
Tuesday  by  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau. 

Collections  for  the  month,  more  than  $5,- 
000,000  above  the  $7,330,284  received  in 
August,  1941,  brought  the  total  for  the  first 
eight  months  of  the  year  to  $90,781,207, 
against  $52,738,698  in  the  corresponding  pe- 
riod last  year,  it  was  shown  by  the  Bureau's 
monthly  report. 

While  collections  nationally  showed  a 
slight  drop  from  July,  business  in  the  Third 
New  York  District  was  on  the  upgrade, 
with  collections  in  August  of  $1,748,791 
against  $1,678,230  in  the  preceding  month, 
the  special  report  for  that  area  disclosed. 

Taxes  collected  at  the  box  office  showed 
a  marked  increase — $1,645,034  against  $1,- 
563,287 — but  those  in  other  categories  de- 
clined, tickets  sold  by  brokers  from  $10,- 
353  to  $9,969;  tickets  sold  by  proprietors  in 
excess  of  the  established  price,  $2,947  to 
$843;  and  admissions  to  roof  gardens  and 
cabarets,  $101,642  to  $92,945. 


State  Rumors 

WENDELL  WILLKIE,  board  chairman  of 
Twentieth  Century-Fox,  ex-GOP  presiden- 
tial nominee,  and  now  emissary  at  large  to 
Russia,  Egypt,  China  and  points  east,  is 
picked  to  succeed  Cor  dell  Hull  as  Secretary 
of  State,  by  Barclay  Beekman,  Hearst  soci- 
ety columnist  writing  in  the  New  York 
|  Sunday  Mirror.    Mr.  Beekman  termed  his 


source  a  "Washington  socialite  with  White 
House  connections"  who,  he  said,  was  week- 
ending in  New  York  with  "more  hot  news 
than  any  other  civilian  in  Washington." 
Mr.  Willkie's  trip,  he  wrote,  was  to  familiar- 
ize himself  with  current  conditions  abroad, 
and  meet  the  heads  of  neutral  and  Allied 
nations. 


No  Comment 

THE  New  York  World-Telegram  for  Sep- 
tember 21st  said: 

"Will  Hays,  who  for  some  20  years  has 
silently  suffered  under  the  appellation  'czar 
of  the  motion  picture  industry'  today  wired 
the  World-Telegram  his  full  approval  of 
last  Saturday's  editorial  urging  that  Man- 
power Commissioner  McNutt,  Rubber  Ad- 
ministrator Jeffers  and  other  newcomers  be 
spared  this  undemocratic  title. 

"Mr.  Hays'  telegram  follows: 

"  'Right !  Have  just  read  editorial  'Junk 
the  Title  Czar.'  Good.  I  have  suffered  for 
over  20  years  from  that  title.  Everybody 
hates  a  czar.  There  never  was  and  can  never 
be  a  czar  of  any  kind  in  this  country.  Bad 
titles  kill  the  box  office  of  many  good  pic- 
tures. Have  your  boys  find  another  name 
somehow  for  the  poor  guy  who  carries  im- 
possible loads  and  who  would  have  trouble 
enough  if  you  call  him  'darling'.  Give  him 
a  break.  Don't  let  them  pin  this  title  on 
Paul  McNutt  or  Bill  Jeffers.  Go  ahead 
and  kill  the  title  'czar.'    Best  Wishes. 

(Signed)  'Will  H.  Hays.'" 


PICTURES  ADVERTISED 
THIS  WEEK 

"War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,"  MGM,  2nd  cover. 
Page  3 

"Somewhere  I'll  Find  You,"  MGM,  2nd  cover, 
Page  3 

"Seven  Sweethearts,"  MGM,  2nd  cover,  Page  3 
"Tish,"  MGM,  2nd  cover,  Paige  3 
"Panama  Hattie,"  MGM,  2nd  cover,  Page  3 
"Cairo,"  MGM,  2nd  cover,  Page  3 
"Now,  Voyager,"  Warners,  Pages  4,  5 
"Iceland,"  20th-Fox,  Page  6 
"The  Major  and  the  Minor,"  Paramount,  Pages 
19  to  22 

"For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  MGM,  Pages  27  to  30 
"Eyes  in  the  Night,"  MGM,  Pages  27  to  30 
"White  Cargo"  MGM,  Pages  27  to  30 
"Omaha  Trail"  MGM,  Pages  27  to  30 
"Commandos    Strike    at    Dawn,"  Columbia, 

Pages  35  to  38 
"Something  to  Shout  About,"  Columbia,  Pages 

35  to  38 

"My  Sister  Eileen,"  Columbia,  Pages  35  to  38 
"You  Were  Never  Lovelier"  Columbia,  Pages 
35  to  38 

"No.  13  Gay  Street,"  Columbia,  Pages  35  to  38 
"The  Desperadoes,"  Columbia,  Pages  35  to  38 
"Lucky  Legs,"  Columbia,  Page  41 
"The  Pride  of  the  Yankees,"  RKO,  Pages  44, 
45 

"Here  We  Go  Again,"  RKO,  Pages  48,  49 
"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warners,  Page  51 


Answer  to  'Miniver' 

London  Cable 

LONDON  had  its  first  glimpse  of  the  Noel 
Coward-Two  Cities  production  "In  Which 
We  Serve"  at  a  press  preview  on  Wednes- 
day. "Reception  unanimously  praisecrazy" 
was  the  cabled  report  by  Hope  Burnup,  of 
Motion  Picture  Herald's  London  staff, 
from  the  preview  attended  by  critics,  na- 
tionally prominent  British  editors,  and  high 
officers  from  the  Army  and  Navy. 

"The  greatest  British  picture  yet,"  and 
"Britain's  answer  to  'Mrs.  Miniver,'  "  were 
typical  of  their  opinions. 

The  film,  produced,  written,  directed  and 
starring  Mr.  Coward,  is  a  dramatization  of 
the  war  career  of  Lord  Louis  Mountbatten, 
cousin  of  the  King.  Lord  Louis,  a  pre-war 
playboy,  is  now  boss  of  the  Commandos 
after  commanding  a  destroyer  at  Dunkirk 
and  Crete.  Against  a  background  of  the  de- 
stroyer's battle  exploits  it  epitomizes  all  of 
Britain  at  war  by  showing  the  home  lives  of 
selected  members  of  the  heroic  crew. 

Mr.  Coward  had  the  active  assistance  of 
his  friend  Lord  Mountbatten  in  making  the 
picture  and  the  King,  Queen  and  Princesses 
Royal  watched  studio  production.  David 
Lean,  co-director ;  Ronald  Neame,  photogra- 
pher, and  the  acting  of  Mr.  Coward,  John 
Mills  and  Bernard  Miles  received  high 
praise  from  the  first  audience. 

The  British  premiere  takes  place  at  the 
Gaumont  Haymarket  theatre  Sunday,  with 
proceeds  from  an  unprecedentedly  distin- 
guished audience  devoted  to  the  Royal 
Naval  Benevolent  Trust.  It  will  run  con- 
currently at  the  Marble  Arch  Pavilion.  Brit- 
ish Lion  releases  the  picture  in  England 
and  United  Artists  will  handle  it  in  the 
U.  S.  Teddy  Carr  is  to  leave  for  America 
with  a  print  this  week. 


'Midway9  for  Export 

LATIN  AMERICA  will  be  shown  the  bat- 
tle of  Midway  in  Spanish  and  Portugese  ver- 
sions of  the  color  motion  pictures  made  for 
the  Navy  by  Lieutenant  Commander  John 
Ford.  The  eight  major  companies  will  dis- 
tribute the  pictures,  at  a  nominal  rental,  in 
South  America  under  an  agreement  con- 
cluded with  the  Coordinator  of  Inter-Ameri- 
can Affairs.  The  Government  is  sharing  the 
cost  of  rescoring  with  Spanish  and  Portu- 
gese sound  tracks. 

As  edited  for  South  America,  the  pictures 
will  be  in  color.  But  the  Hollywood  com- 
mentary inserted  by  Commander  Ford  with 
the  voices  of  Henry  Fonda,  Jane  Darwell 
and  Donald  Crisp  will  be  replaced  by  a 
straight  news  commentary.  The  sequences 
will  be  somewhat  rearranged,  references  to 
the  folks  back  home  in  Springfield,  Ohio, 
abbreviated  and  a  shot  of  the  American  flag 
substituted  at  the  end  for  burning  oil  tanks 
and  destruction. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Qu\g\ey  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  address  "Ouigpubco, 
New  York."  Martin  Quigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager;  Terry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor- 
Chicago  Bureau,  624  South  Michigan  Avenue,  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  editor;  Hollywood  Bureau,  Postal  Union  Life  Building.  William  R.  Weaver,  editor;  Toronto  Bureau,  242  Millwood 
Road,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  W.  M,  Gladish,  representative;  Montreal  Bureau,  265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovan,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
4  Golden  Square,  London  "W  I,  Hope  Williams  Burnup,  manager;  cable  Ou'9Pubco  London;  Melbourne  Bureau,  The  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne,  Australia, 
Cliff  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
Luis  Becerra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  Natalio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  3358, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
Audit  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Ouig'ey  Publishing  Company.  Address  all  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  Ouigley  Publications: 
-?tter  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame. 


10 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


i  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


■  THE  SIGNAL  CORPS  of  the  U.  S. 
Army  dedicated  its  new  Photographic 
Center  at  the  former  Eastern  Service- 
Paramount  Studios  in  Astoria,  L.  I.,  last 
Tuesday  with  a  reception  for  the 
industry  and  the  press,  and  dedicatory 
speeches  by  Major  General  Dawson 
Olmstead,  Chief  Signal  Officer,  and 
Colonel  Melvin  E.  Gillette,  commanding 
officer  of  the  Center.  At  left  on  the 
dais  are  Irving  V.  A.  Huie,  Commissioner 
of  Public  Works;  Mayor  F.  H. 
LaGuardia;  General  Olmstead  and 
Colonel  Gillette 


EXPLAINING  the  Army's 
new  Photographic  Center  at 
Astoria  are  Corporal  Bernard 
Brandt,  brother  of  Harry 
and  William  Brandt,  and 
Captain  Arthur  Cozine, 
former  general  manager 
of  the  studio. 

NEWSREEL  men,  right,  at 
the  dedication  of  the  Army's 
Photographic  Center  in 
Astoria:  Joseph  O'Brien  and 
Thomas  Mead,  Universal 
News,  left  and  right,  and 
M.  D.  Clofine,  News  of 
the  Day,  center. 


■  LIEUTENANT  GEORGE  SPIRES 
left  the  staff  of  Motion  Picture 
Herald  last  February  for  the 
Army  and  graduated  last  week 
from  the  Officers  Candidate 
School  at  Fort  Knox,  Kentucky. 


UNAFFILIATED  independent  producers,  distributors  and  laboratory 
owners  in  the  east  organized  in  New  York  last  week  to  protect  their 
interests  in  the  face  of  War  Production  Board  orders.  Officers,  above, 
of  the  new  National  Association  of  Motion  Picture  Independents  are 
J.  H.  Hoffberg,  treasurer;  Charles  Hirliman,  president;  Sam  Tulpan, 
second  vice-president,  and  Nat  Sanders,  secretary. 

All  pictures  on  this  page  by  Staff  Photographer. 


September    26,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


■ 


JACK  MATLACK,  exploitation  director  of  the  Hunt 
Theatres,  Medford,  Ore.,  receives  the  Capt.  Eddie 
Rickenbacker  "Cavalcade  of  Aviation"  Trophy  for  the 
best  campaign  on  Universal's  featurette.   Left  to 
right:  George  A.  Hunt,  R.  O.  Wilson,  Mr.  Matlack. 


■  HOWARD  DIETZ,  MGM 
vice-president  in  charge  of 
publicity  and  advertising, 
on  the  set  of  "Presenting 
Lily  Mars"  is  surrounded  by 
starlets,  ranging  from  five 
years  up.  On  the  right  are 
Judy  Garland  and  Spring 
Byington,  who  will  be  starred. 


PEYTON  GIBSON,  below, 
secretary  of  Universal  Pictures, 
Inc.,  has  been  commissioned  in 
the  Army  Air  Force  and  ordered 
to  report  at  the  Officers  Training 
School  in  Miami  Beach,  Ha. 


SEAL  of  approval  to  be  affixed 
to  export  and  import  prints 
passed  by  the  Los  Angeles 
Board  of  Review  of  the  Office 
of  Censorship,  of  which 
Watterson  Rothacker  is 
chairman. 


■  CRITIC  PAYS.  Andrew  R.  Kelley  of 
the  Washington  Star  pays  his  way  into 
the  premiere  of  MGM's  "The  War 
Against  Mrs.  Hadley"  by  buying  a 
$1,000  War  Bond  from  Carter  Barron, 
Loew's  division  manager.  The  opening 
was  Washington's  first  million  dollar 
Bond  premiere. 


A.  J.  RICHARD,  editor-in-chief  of 
Paramount  News,  now  passing  its  fifteenth 
milestone,  looks  back  on  thirty-two  years 
of  newsreel  experience  and,  remarking 
of  censorships,  says:  "We'd  like  to  be 
able  to  show  the  bond  buyer  the  hell  of 
a  good  job  he's  making  possible.' 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    2  6,  1942 


ALLIED  S  RENTAL  CONTROL 
CRUSADE  WINS  SUPPORT 


Price  Question  Supplants 
Unity  Proposal  as  Chief 
Exhibitor  Problem 

Reports  from  widely  scattered  regional 
theatre  associations  indicated  this  week 
that  the  price  question  definitely  had  sup- 
planted the  United  Motion  Picture  In- 
dustry's Unity  sales  plan  and  trade  prac- 
tice proposals  as  the  principal  topic  of 
exhibitor  meetings.  While  the  Allied 
States  Caravan  Committee  crusaded 
through  the  East,  crystallizing  exhibitor 
opinion,  there  were  further  signs  from 
membership  and  leaders  of  efforts  to 
gather  hitherto  localized  grumblings  over 
terms  into  an  organized  national  protest. 

Percentage  rates,  special  playing  time, 
advanced  admission  scales  and  the  desig- 
nation of  half  a  dozen  or  more  of  the 
1942-43  season's  best  product  as  specials 
were  topical  questions  among  many  ex- 
hibitor groups.  "Something  must  be  done 
about  it"  was  a  phrase  heard  with  in- 
creasing frequency. 

National  Allied,  through  a  four-man 
Caravan  now  touring  the  country  to  ap- 
pear in  closed  sessions  before  a  dozen 
of  the  regional  units,  is  well  in  the  van 
of  price  discussions. 

Unaffiliated  exhibitor  units  in  New  England, 
Cincinnati,  Michigan,  New  York  and  elsewhere 
also  are  engaged  in  serious  discussion  of  the 
cost  of  film.  The  Motion  Picture  Theatre  Own- 
ers of  America  is  reported  to  have  polled  its 
directors  for  their  expressions  on  the  matter. 

Caravan  Completes 
Half  of  Schedule 

Allied's  caravan  has  completed  half  of  its 
schedule  with  visits  to  date  in  Detroit,  Phila- 
delphia, Trenton,  New  Haven  and  Ohio.  It 
will  visit  Baltimore  on  September  25th,  Pitts- 
burgh on  the  28th  and  29th ;  Chicago  on 
September  30th ;  Milwaukee,  September  30th 
and  October  1st;  Indianapolis,  October  Sth,  and 
Dallas,  October  7th  and  8th. 

Sessions  between  local  directors  and  members 
and  the  Allied  national  leaders  have  been  closed, 
and  surrounded  with  more  than  usual  secrecy. 

The  Caravan  has  checked  carefully  into  all 
local  selling  conditions  and  is  compiling  a  large 
dossier  of  statistical  ammunition  for  any  pos- 
sible clash  with  distributors,  it  is  learned.  It 
also  has  a  plan  for  concerted  national  action  on 
the  price  question  for  local  units. 

They  have  received  the  plan,  a  carefully 
guarded  secret,  and  the  visit  of  the  Allied  lead- 
ers with  enthusiasm.  When  the  tour  is  com- 
pleted the  Caravan  will  report  back  to  the  na- 
tional directorate  of  the  Association  and  then 
will  be  prepared  to  reveal  its  proposal  _  and 
launch  a  concerted  attack  on  what  it  believes 
to  be  abuse  of  the  distributors'  selling  position. 

Abram  Myers,  general  counsel  of  Allied,  in 
Washington  on  Tuesday  refused  to  answer  que- 
ries as  to  the  nature  of  the  Allied  rental  control 
plan.  "It  is  my  impression  it  is  reserved  for 
Allied  members,"  he  declared,  asserting  that 
it  had  been  agreed  that  M.  A.  Rosenberg,  pres- 
ident, was  the  only  person  authorized  to  com- 
ment on  the  plan. 

Mr.  Rosenberg's  Pittsburgh  office  said  he  was 
unavailable  for  comment. 

Mr.  Rosenberg,  Mr.  Myers,  Sidney  Samuel- 


son  of  eastern  Pennsylvania,  Jack  Kirsch  of 
Illinois  and  Colonel  H.  A.  Cole,  Allied  past 
president  and  a  Texas  independent,  have  been 
active  in  the  caravan  visits.  They  were  to 
visit  Cleveland  on  Wednesday  and  Cincinnati 
Thursday  for  meetings  arranged  by  the  Ohio 
ITO. 

At  Trenton  the  Allied  of  New  Jersey  mem- 
bership, represented  by  45  exhibitors,  met  last 
Wednesday  with  the  Caravan.  An  all -day 
session  was  devoted  to  a  thorough  canvass  of 
the  price  problem.  Members  were  unusually 
reticent  but  it  was  learned  that,  citing  pictures, 
they  claimed  there  were  50  per  cent  more  spe- 
cial term  issues  set  for  the  current  season.  Sup- 
port for  the  national  plan  was  characterized 
as  "warm,  very  warm"  by  one  delegate. 

Discuss  Cooperative 
By  Illinois  Houses 

Connecticut  Allied  members  meeting  at  New 
Haven  on  Thursday  and  Friday  heard  the  pro- 
posals of  the  Caravan  at  what  was  called  "a 
very  successful"  closed  session.  Dr.  J.  B.  Fish- 
man,  the  president,  called  a  statewide  meeting 
of  members  only  for  Tuesday.  Also  secret,  it 
was  reported  to  have  voted  to  stand  squarely 
behind  the  national  association  in  any  fight 
on  prices.  Approximately  65  independents  at- 
tended the  session  with  the  Caravan  members. 

In  Chicago  there  were  indications  that  Illi- 
nois independents  might  set  up  a  cooperative 
buying  organization  to  combat  high  prices  with 
concerted  buying  power.  Meeting  at  the  Black- 
stone  Hotel,  members  of  Illinois  Allied  dis- 
cussed preliminary  plans  for  formation  of  the 
cooperative.  Seventy  members,  representing 
110  Chicago  theatres,  are  reported  to  have 
voted  in  favor  of  such  a  unit. 

Following  the  meeting  Jack  Kirsch,  president 
of  Illinois  Allied,  said  "We  have  discussed  this 
subject  before.  Most  of  our  members  are  in 
favor  of  such  an  organization  but  no  definite 
steps  have  been  taken  as  yet.  It  is  possible 
that  such  a  unit  will  be  in  existence  here  within 
a  short  time." 

New  England's  Independent  Exhibitors,  Inc., 
meanwhile  threatened  direct  action  at  a  meeting 
last  week  which  decided  to  send  protests 
against  high  prices  directly  to  the  anti-trust 
division  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Justice. 

Allied  of  Western  Pennsylvania  is  complet- 
ing plans  for  its  annual  session  in  Pittsburgh 
on  October  19th  and  20th.  The  price  question 
will  be  the  major  topic.  Sam  Fleishman  has 
been  named  convention  chairman.  The  sessions 
will  be  held  in  the  William  Penn  Hotel. 

See  Little  Support 
To  Continue  UMPI 

The  price  problem  seemed  to  have  thrust 
UMPI  and  the  Unity  movement's  discussion  of 
trade  practices  well  into  the  background.  Wil- 
liam F.  Rodgers,  chairman  of  the  committee 
of  the  whole,  last  week  submitted  his  resigna- 
tion, and  told  the  committee  that  UMPI's  con- 
tinuance was  up  to  the  exhibitors.  His  mes- 
sage was  printed  on  page  8  of  the  September 
19th  issue  of  Motion  Picture  Herald. 

Enthusiasm  for  the  continuance  of  UMPI 
appears  neither  widespread  nor  warm.  Allied 
leaders  have  indicated  that  they  feel  the  price 
and  rental  question  is  dominant.  A  poll  of 
MPTOA  units  is  said  to  have  revealed  only 
lukewarm  support. 

Allied  added  its  note  to  the  UMPI  death 
knell  in  a  letter  written  Monday  to  William  F. 
Rodgers  by  Colonel  H.  A.  Cole  in  behalf  of 


Allied  members  of  the  committee  of  the  whole. 
He  wrote  the  chairman  for  Roy  E.  Harrold 
of  Indiana ;  Jack  Kirsch  of  Illinois ;  Sid- 
ney Samuelson,  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania ;  Mar- 
tin Smith,  of  Ohio  and  himself. 

Hold  Little  Hope 
For  Salvage 

"Our  group  for  some  time  has  felt  that 
UMPI  was  not  living  up  to  its  declared  pur- 
pose or  to  its  possibilities,"  they  wrote,  ".  .  .  the 
refusal  or  inability  of  UMPI  to  deal  effec- 
tively with  the  problems  closest,  to  the  hearts 
of  the  independent  exhibitors — high  film  rentals, 
sales  policies,  priorities,  public  relations,  insti- 
tutional advertising,  etc. — had  gravely  weak- 
ened if  not  destroyed  the  exhibitors'  confidence 
in  UMPI  even  before  the  defection  of  Para- 
mount and  Warner  Brothers  was  announced 
and  Thurman  Arnold  exploded  his  bombshell." 

Observing  that  "the  light  had  burned  low," 
the  letter  held  little  hope  for  the  salvage  of 
the  unity  movement,  asserting  "it  was  scuttled 
when  two  of  the  major  distributors  walked  out 
on  the  agreement  embodied  in  the  report  of  the 
trade  practice  committee." 

"There  is  a  widespread  conviction  among  ex- 
hibitors which  cannot  be  easily  overcome,  that 
certain  distributors  regarded  UMPI  as  a  con- 
venient means  of  keeping  exhibitor  leaders  and 
organizations  occupied  with  relatively  unim- 
portant matters  while  the  juggernaut  of  high 
prices  and  onerous  terms  rolled  over  the  ex- 
hibitor," the  letter  said. 

"Any  attempt  to  perpetuate  UMPI  would 
not  receive  substantial  support  among  the  pro- 
ducers, the  distributors,  the  trade  press  or  the 
rank  and  file  of  exhibitors  and  would  be  doomed 
to  failure,"  the  Allied  committee  members  con- 
cluded. 

The  members  thanked  Mr.  Rodgers  for  his 
"sincere  and  untiring  efforts  and  courtesy"  and 
added,  "together  we  fought  the  good  fight." 

The  strongest  hope  of  continued  existence 
for  UMPI  lay  in  the  widespread  organization 
of  state  and  local  tax  committees.  Several 
exhibitors  indicated  they  felt  it  might  be  well 
to  continue  the  national  office  as  a  headquar- 
ters for  these  committees,  in  the  belief  that  they 
would  have  much  work  to  do  in  the  face  of  war- 
time revenue  measures,  nationally  and  in  the 
states. 

Asks  More  Equal  Cost 
Distribution 

Mr.  Rodgers  pointed  out,  however,  that  there 
must  be  a  more  equitable  distribution  of  the 
UMPI  costs.  He  said  that  exhibitors  had 
contributed  only  $3,000  out  of  a  total  cost  of 
$22,500. 

One  plea  for  continuing  the  unity  organiza- 
tion was  issued  by  Harry  Brandt,  president  of 
the  unaffiliated  Independent  Theatre  Owners 
Association  in  New  York,  who  telegraphed 
the  15  members  of  the  committee  of  the  whole 
asking  their  support  for  the  unity  theory.  He 
urged  an  early  meeting  to  discuss  methods  of 
salvaging  the  UMPI  movement  and  suggested 
that  exhibitors  bear  the  expenses  as  an  indica- 
tion of  good  faith. 

The  ITPA  of  Wisconsin  and  Upper  Michi- 
gan will  hold  its  annual  convention  September 
30th  and  October  1st  to  hear  the  Allied  Cara- 
van at  the  Hotel  Schroeder  in  Milwaukee.  Of- 
ficers will  be  elected.  Charles  W.  Trampe, 
Monogram-Midwest  exchange  manager  in  Mil- 
waukee, is  chairman. 


September    26,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


13 


SLASH  IN  RAW  STOCK  MEANS 
FEWER  PICTURES,  PRINTS 


Change  in  Clearance  Also 
Likely,  with  Reduction 
of  Double  Bills 

The  film  conservation  effort  to  meet 
the  10  to  24  per  cent  reduction  ordered 
by  the  WPB,  while  originating  first  at 
the  studio,  would  have  to  be  passed  right 
down  the  line,  home  office  executives 
agreed  this  week.  In  production  it  will 
mean  fewer  pictures.  Distributors  and 
exchange  men  inevitably  will  find  that 
they  will  have  fewer  prints  available. 

The  theatre  operator  during  the  coming 
year  would  find  that  print  curtailments,  and 
fewer  productions,  would  make  changes  in 
his  operating  schedules  and  booking  habits, 
it  was  predicted.  Changes  in  clearance 
schedules,  longer  playing  times,  and  fewer 
double  bills  also  were  likely. 

Changes  made  necessary  by  war  demands 
for  cellulose  footage  will  not  be  immediate- 
ly disruptive,  however.  All  of  the  11  com- 
panies affected  in  the  WPB  order  indicated 
that  their  efforts  to  conserve  film,  under 
way  now  for  almost  a  year,  would  cushion 
the  shock  of  the  curtailments  worked  out  in 
cooperation  with  the  Government. 

Qutoas  listed  last  week  by  Harold  Hop- 
per, chief  of  the  motion  picture  branch  of 
the  WPB,  were  close  to  the  estimates  sub- 
mitted by  the  industry  in  the  voluntary 
economy  formula  agreed  upon  early  in  Au- 
gust at  meetings  held  at  the  Motion  Picture 
Producers  and  Distributors  of  America, 
Inc.  They  were  based  on  the  footage  used 
during  1941. 

See  Production  Not 
Seriously  Disrupted 

Production  is  not  expected  to  be  serious- 
ly disrupted.  Twentieth  Century-Fox, 
Warner  Brothers,  RKO  and  probably 
others,  are  not  expected  to  produce  as  many 
pictures  as  they  did  in  1941.  Features  are 
expected  to  be  of  better  quality,  with  fewer 
westerns,  serials  and  grade  B  dramas.  Rob- 
ert Taplinger,  Columbia  spokesman,  said 
that  his  company  probably  would  put  west- 
erns under  the  ax  first,  in  making  production 
savings. 

Drastic  restriction  of  the  use  of  lumber 
by  film  studios  for  set  building  is  an  imme- 
diate possibility,  members  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture advisory  committee  were  told  on  Tues- 
day at  their  monthly  meeting  in  Washington 
with  the  War  Production  Board. 

Harold  Hopper,  chief  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture section,  and  Board  experts  advised  pro- 
ducers of  recent  developments  in  the  lumber 
field,  and  said  steps  were  being  studied  to 
avert  a  shortage  of  boarding  for  war  uses. 
He  explained  that  the  lumber  industry  is  at- 
tempting to  meet  unprecedented  demands 
with  curtailed  personnel. 

A  "tight"  situation  has  developed  in  some 
types  of  lumber  and  the  WPB  has  had  to 
issue  freezing  orders  pending  a  further 
study  of  needs.  It  is  possible  that  producers 
may  be  unable  to  buy  new  lumber  supplies. 

Reviewing  the  situation  in  other  strategic 


CREDITS  BAN  IS 
STILL  PENDING 

The  Government  might  still  insist 
that  lengthy  screen  credits  be  elim- 
inated from  all  motion  pictures,  it 
was  reported  in  Washington  this 
week.  Lowell  Mellett,  chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Motion  Pictures  of  the 
Office  of  War  Information,  recently 
expressed  the  belief  that  much  foot- 
age was  devoted  unnecessarily  to  the 
credit  prologues.  He  said  that,  in 
view  of  the  wartime  shortage  of  film, 
producers,  writers  and  other  produc- 
tion staff  members  might  have  tc 
have  their  screen  credits  eliminated, 
despite  contractual  problems. 


materials  Board  experts  were  unable  to  give 
encouraging  news  to  the  industry  in  the  cop- 
per, rubber,  steel,  electrical  goods  or  other 
essential  lines. 

The  group  discussed  the  recently  issued 
raw  stock  allocations  order  and  industry 
steps  to  conserve  film  footage.  There  was  a 
consensus  that  the  cut  in  supplies  would 
not  seriously  affect  the  production  of 
entertainment  pictures.  Protests  over  the  or- 
der which  had  been  expected  from  several 
producers  failed  to  materialize.  It  was  re- 
ported that  they  would  first  try  to  curtail 
operations  to  meet  the  WPB  quotas  before 
asking  for  a  review  of  their  needs. 

MGM,  using  more  than  150,000,000  feet 
per  year,  according  to  estimates  prepared  at 
the  MPPDA  meetings,  must  make  a  24  per 
cent  slash,  the  heaviest  of  all.  Officials  of 
the  company  are  now  working  out  a  system 
to  spread  this  6,250,000-foot  reduction 
through  all  branches  of  the  company.  Re- 
ductions, they  indicated,  would  be  made  in 
production,  the  length  and  number  of  films, 
short  subjects,  prints  and  incidental  uses. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  Paramount 
are  faced  with  slashes  of  22%  per  cent  in 
their  footage,  which  fell  in  the  125  to  150 
million  bracket  in  1941. 

20th-Fox  Cut  Excludes 
British  Pictures 

William  Goetz,  vice-president  in  charge 
of  the  Twentieth  Century-Fox  studios,  dis- 
closed in  New  York  on  Friday  that  the 
company  would  drop  six  features  from  its 
1942-43  schedule,  to  deliver  a  total  of  46 
pictures.  There  will  be  no  change  in  the 
total  budget,  he  said,  with  the  funds  for  the 
six  deleted  pictures  being  applied  to  improv- 
ing the  quality  of  the  others. 

This  would  exclude  British  pictures  re- 
leased by  Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  addi- 
tional features  released  for  the  March  of 
Time. 

Paramount,  with  a  backlog  of  at  least  26 
pictures  for  the  new  season  already  complet- 
ed, is  studying  the  application  of  its  reduc- 
tion. Xeil  Agnew.  vice-president  in  charge 
of  sales,  indicated  that  savings  in  studio 


negative  and  positive  print  were  being 
worked  out  by  the  respective  departments. 
The  short  subjects  division  was  also  work- 
ing out  film  curtailments. 

Mr.  Agnew  said  that  the  studio  and  dis- 
tribution savings  were  being  effected  sepa- 
rately. While  he  foresaw  a  reduction  in 
the  number  of  prints,  he  said  that  he  did  not 
anticipate  serious  upsets  in  release  practices. 

Warner  Brothers,  who  must  pare  20  per 
cent  in  their  100  to  '125,000,000-foot  classi- 
fication, were  expected  to  meet  the  quota 
without  difficulty  under  the  production  pol- 
icy instituted  last  year.  It  was  pointed  out 
at  the  home  office  that  Warners,  by  drop- 
ping its  "B"  picture  programs  last  year, 
had  cut  the  number  of  releases  to  36,  com- 
pared with  48  in  1941.  This  season  the  com- 
pany again  will  release  approximately  36 
pictures,  saving  footage  and  production  fa- 
cilities for  quality  productions. 

Reduction  in  Total  of 
RKO  Films  Expected 

RKO  Radio  and  Universal,  in  the  70  to 
100,000,000-foot  class,  must  save  17T/2  per 
cent.  They  now  are  working  on  production 
and  distribution  economies.  A  reduction  in 
the  number  of  RKO  features  is  expected  to 
meet  that  companv's  quota,  based  on  the 
1941  figures. 

Universal  officials  said  they  still  had  not 
figured  ways  of  saving  all  the  required  foot- 
age, but  said  they  were  working  on  the 
problem. 

Columbia  pictures,  also  in  the  \7y2  per 
cent  class,  had  not  completed  details  of  the 
application  of  its  cuts.  But  it  was  consid- 
ered likely  that  footage  would  be  pared  from 
both  the  short  subjects  and  feature  produc- 
tions, and  from  print  quotas. 

Republic,  which  used  almost  70.000.000 
feet  in  1941,  was  faced  with  a  12^  per  cent 
cut.  Economies  would  be  made,  it  was  pre- 
dicted, in  the  studio's  serial,  western  and 
action  pictures  with  available  film  being 
saved  for  the  best  story  properties. 

Urged  to  Purchase 
Trailers  Carefully 

United  Artists,  with  10  per  cent,  in  its 
50,000.000  feet  per  year  classification  is 
studying  the  allocation  of  film  among  its 
producers.  Final  decision  will  rest  with 
the  executive  committee. 

Monogram  and  Producers  Releasing  Cor- 
poration, also  required  to  save  10  per  cent, 
indicated  that  they  expected  to  be  able  to 
meet  the  quota  by  production  economies. 
They  are  in  the  20  to  50,000,000  feet  per 
year  class. 

Distributor  spokesmen  said  that  they  did 
not  feel  the  reduction  of  prints  now  in  pros- 
pect would  upset  drastically  exhibition 
schedules. 

National  Screen  Sen-ice  this  week  re- 
quested exhibitors  to  curtail  orders  for  spe- 
cial service  trailers.  The  company  said 
that  the  WPB  gave  only  a  limited  footage 
for  this  purpose  and  asked  that  exhibitors 
purchase  trailers  judiciously.  Those  related 
to  war  drives  will  be  given  precedence. 


14 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    2  6,  1942 


FPC  SUES  NATHANSON 
TO  GET  BACK  THEATRES 


Charge  Former  President 
Acquired  Houses  While 
Head  of  Circuit 

Famous  Players  Canadian  Corporation 
this  week  brought  suit  against  its  form- 
er president,  Nathan  L.  Nathanson,  his 
son  Paul,  Clarence  M.  Robson  and  Odeon 
Theatres  of  Canada  for  unstated  dam- 
ages, the  return  of  theatre  properties  and 
accounting  of  receipts  and  expenditures 
for  theatres  in  dispute.  The  suit  was  filed 
in  Toronto  Monday. 

According  to  the  statement  of  claims 
entered  in  Ontario  supreme  court  by  Fam- 
ous Players,  it  is  alleged  that  N.  L.  Nathan- 
son  engaged  in  transactions  which  resulted 
in  ownership  of  theatres  for  himself  while 
employed  as  president  of  FPC,  prior  to  his 
resignation  in  May,  1941.  Similar  claims 
were  entered  against  Mr.  Robson,  who  was 
eastern  division  manager  of  the  company,  in 
association  with  Mr.  Nathanson,  and  who 
resigned  from  FPC  at  the  same  time. 

The  complaint  asks  damages  from  the  de- 
fendants for  "breach  of  duty  and  breach  of 
trusts  and  wrongs  committed  in  fraud  of  the 
plaintiff"  while  they  were  in  FPC  employ. 
It  alleged  that  through  the  defendants' 
actions  while  still  FPC  employees  the  un- 
named theatre  properties  were  acquired  for 
Odeon  Theatres  of  Canada,  Ltd.,  which  was 
then  generally  understood  to  be  in  process 
of  formation. 

The  names  and  locations  of  the  theatres 
disputed  by  Famous  Players  and  the  manner 
in  which  they  were  said  to  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  Odeon  have  not  been  divulged 
in  the  writ  of  summons  or  privately,  pending 
the  statement  of  defense  by  Mr.  Nathanson. 
It  is  understood  that  the  theatres  are  situ- 
ated throughout  the  country.  It  was  revealed 
recently  that  the  Odeon  circuit  now  is 
made  up  of  approximately  80  theatres  from 
coast  to  coast.  How  many  of  these  are  in- 
volved in  the  suit  could  not  be  ascertained. 

Report  Milligan  Acted 
For  Nathanson 

When  Mr.  Nathanson  resigned  as  presi- 
dent of  FPC  last  year,  six  weeks  before  his 
contract  was  to  expire,  J.  J.  Fitzgibbons,  di- 
rector of  theatre  operations  at  that  time, 
took  over  as  head  of  the  circuit,  Canada's 
largest,  consisting  of  1,186  theatres.  One 
week  later,  Mr.  Fitzgibbons  announced  re- 
organization, personnel  realignments  and  the 
acquisition  by  his  company  of  25  theatres  of 
the  Hanson  circuit,  originally  believed  to 
have  been  under  Mr.  Nathanson's  influence 
in  his  reputed  plans  to  build  a  large  circuit 
in  Canada  in  opposition  to  FPC.  The  Han- 
son acquisition,  at  the  time,  was  regarded  as 
a  measure  to  prevent  possible  new  opposi- 
tion from  the  Odeon  circuit,  of  which  Mr. 
Nathanson's  son,  Paul,  was  president. 

It  also  was  reported  that  Morris  A.  Mil- 
ligan, who  resigned  as  general  manager  of 
Paramount  Film  Service,  Ltd.,  acted  for 
Mr.  Nathanson  in  the  purchase  of  three 


N.  L.  NATHANSON 

Fred  Guest  theatres  at  Hamilton  and  later  in 
acquiring  theatres  in  the  Maritime 
provinces. 

Mr.  Nathanson's  current  industry  associ- 
ations are:  president,  General  Theatres 
Corporation,  Ltd.;  operating  head  of  Regal 
Films,  managed  by  his  brother,  Henry;  of 
Empire-Universal  Films;  Odeon  Theatres  of 
Canada,  and  Esquire  Films,  with  subsidiary 
companies.  He  also  is  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Governors  of  the  Canadian  Broad- 
casting Corporation. 

Paramount  Publix  Corporation,  predeces- 
sor to  Paramount  Pictures,  acquired  about 
94  per  cent  of  the  outstanding  common 
shares  of  Famous  Players  Canadian  Cor- 
poration in  1930  through  an  exchange  of 
stock  on  the  basis  of  four  shares  of  Para- 
mount Publix  for  each  five  shares  of  FPC. 
Paramount  was  reorganized  in  1935,  and 
holders  of  the  old  company's  common  shares 
received  one-quarter  share  of  the  new  com- 
mon for  each  old  share  plus  a  warrant  en- 
titling holder  to  subscribe  up  to  August 
30,  1935,  to  a  unit  consisting  of  one-quarter 
common  share  and  one-fifth  of  a  share  of 
second  preferred  for  $2. 

Five  Options  Granted 
By  Famous  Players 

Along  with  a  management  contract,  five 
options,  dating  from  April  15th,  1936,  were 
granted  by  Famous  Players,  whereby  cer- 
tain executives  and  directors  could  buy  a 
total  of  50,000  common  shares  over  a  five- 
year  period.  This  later  was  amended  to 
make  the  total  55,000  shares  in  five  blocks 
of  11,000  shares  each.  Up  to  May,  1941,  a 
total  of  33,000  shares  was  taken  up  under 
these  options  at  $13  a  share  for  the  first 
block,  $13.65  a  share  for  the  second  and 
$15  a  share  for  the  third.  The  fourth  block 
was  not  taken  up,  having  matured  April 
30th,  with  the  final  block  due  July  15th, 
1941.    Following  his  resignation,  Mr.  Na- 


thanson revealed  that  Paramount  owned  90 
per  cent  of  the  stock  of  FPC.  His  own  in- 
terest was  reported  at  that  time  to  be  less 
than  10  per  cent. 

Early  in  May  of  last  year,  it  became 
know  that  Famous  Players  had  advised  the 
Montreal  Stock  Exchange  that  Mr.  Nathan- 
son had  not  exercised  his  option  to  purchase 
11,000  shares  of  the  company's  capital  stock. 
This  option  expired  on  April  30th  of  that 
year,  after  having  been  extended  twice. 
Failure  to  exercise  the  option  prompted 
Canadian  industry  observers  to  forecast  Mr. 
Nathanson's  eventual  departure  from  the 
FPC  helm. 

Mr.  Nathanson  entered  the  Canadian  ex- 
hibition field  in  1916  when  he  purchased 
the  Majestic  theatre  in  Toronto  from  Am- 
brose J.  Small  and  remodeled  and  opened  it 
as  the  Regent,  the  city's  first  "de  luxe" 
film  house.  He  previously  had  spent  16 
years  in  various  jobs,  principally  connected 
with  the  amusement  park  and  advertising 
business. 

Organized  His  Own 
Distributing  Company 

Within  a  few  months  after  opening  the 
Regent,  he  organized  his  own  distributing 
company,  Regal  Films.  The  Regent  later 
became  the  flagship  of  the  Nathanson  enter- 
prises. Others  of  his  earlier  houses  were 
the  Flower  in  Ottawa,  the  Garden  and  Teck 
in  Toronto  and  theatres  in  Gait  and  Guelph. 
Associated  with  him  in  his  original  ven- 
tures, according  to  reports,  were  J.  B.  Tud- 
hope,  W.  J.  Sheppard,  Hon.  W.  D.  Ross, 
who  later  became  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
Ontario,  and  J.  P.  Bickell.  Later,  Sir  Her- 
bert Holt  and  I.  W.  Killam  entered  the  Na- 
thanson realm. 

Mr.  Nathanson  was  associated  with 
Famous  Players  until  1929,  when  he  re- 
signed over  a  deal  with  Gaumont  British 
when  that  company  attempted  to  get  con- 
trol over  FPC.  In  1930,  came  the  exchange 
of  shares  of  Famous  Players  and  Paramount 
which  resulted  in  control  of  the  company 
passing  to  Paramount.  After  the  Para- 
mount receivership  in  1933  the  trustees  in 
bankruptcy  invited  Mr.  Nathanson  to  re- 
turn as  president,  which  post  he  held  until 
May  of  1941. 

According  to  reports,  the  identity  and 
number  of  theatres  said  to  be  involved  in 
Famous  Players'  suit  against  Mr.  Nathan- 
son, his  son,  Mr.  Robson,  Odeon  Theatres 
and  others,  have  not  been  disclosed. 

The  defendants  are  required  to  reply  to 
the  claims  on  or  before  October  6th,  at  Os- 
goode  Hall,  Toronto,  where  the  action  will 
be  heard  unless  a  settlement  is  reached. 


Signs  "America"  Series 

The  Coalfields  Circuit  of  Australia  has  signed 
contracts  for  the  entire  "This  Is  America" 
series  of  short  subjects,  according  to  a  cable 
received  by  Phil  Reisman,  vice-president  in 
charge  of  distribution  for  RKO  Radio,  from 
Ralph  Doyle,  the  company's  managing  director 
for  Australasia. 


SNAP 
OUT 
OF  IT! 
WALK... 

RUN  or 
RIDE  to 

YOUR 

NEAREST 

Paramount 
EXCHANGE- 

-September  30th  and 
October  1st,  so  you  can 
be  sure  to  enjoy  one 
of  the  most  entertaining 
groups  of  pictures  ever 
offered  exhibitors  by 
ANY  company! 


PARAMOUNT 


BRANCH 
and  CITY 

PLACE  OF 
SCREENING 

THE  STREET 
OF  CHANCE 

HENRY  ALDRICH, 
EDITOR 

THE  FOREST 
RANGERS 

MRS.  WIGGS  OF 
THE  CABBAGE 
PATCH 

ROAD 
MORO 

ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

FOX  Proj.  Room 
1052  Broadway 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

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2:30  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70:30  A.M. 

THURS.  ( 
2.30  f 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
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WED.  SEPT.  30 
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THURS.  OCT.  1 
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THURS.  C 
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BOSTON,  MASS. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
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BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

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CHARLOTTE,  N.  C. 

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THURS.  < 

2  P., 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

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CINCINNATI,  OHIO 

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CLEVELAND,  OHIO 

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INDIANAPOLIS,  IND. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
116  W.  Michigan  St. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77:30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2-30  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
77  A.M. 

THURS. 
2.30 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
i800  Wyandotte  St. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
9.-30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70-30  A.M. 

THURS. 
2  P 

LOS  ANGELES,  CAL. 

AMBASSADOR  THEA. 
Ambassador  Hotel 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
7-30  P.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
3  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
7)  A.M. 

THURS. 

2.-30  t' 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
362  So.  Second  Street 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
9.-30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70  A.M. 

THURS.  I 
2  P 

TRADE  SHOWINGS 

RANCH 
ind  CITY 

PLACE  OF 
SCREENING 

THE  STREET 
OF  CHANCE 

HENRY  ALDRICH, 
EDITOR 

THE  FOREST 
RANGERS 

MRS.  WIGGS  OF 
THE  CABBAGE 
PATCH 

ROAD  TO 
MOROCCO 

MJKEE,  WISC. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 

1191  KJ    fttk  tit 
lul  in.  orn  oT. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 

17   OA    A    A  A 

11:30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 

O  OA   D  kA 

z.JU  r.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 

lU.JU  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
z  r.M. 

APOLIS,MINN. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1201  Currie  Ave. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77:30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2.-30  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70.30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2.-30  P.M. 

AVEN,  CONN. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
82  State  Street 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77:75  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

5RLEANS,  LA. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
215  S.  Liberty  St. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
9.-30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77:30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

"'ORK,  N.  Y. 

NORMANDIE  THEA. 
51  E.  53rd  St. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70-30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70.75  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
I7.-45  A.M. 

"ORK,  N.  Y. 

FOX  Proj.  Room 
345  West  44th  St. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
3.-30  P.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

"CITY,  OKLA. 

> 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
701  West  Grand  Ave. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
9.-30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

-k,  NEBR. 

i 

20th  CENTURY-FOX 

Projection  Room 

i  jUz  uavenporr  ot. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
7J.-75  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
IJ.-75  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

iLPHIA,  PA. 

\ 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
/4o  IN.  I  /tn  at. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
10  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 

77   OA    A  kA 

i/.-JU  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 

z:JU  r.tA. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 

//  A. /VI. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 

O           D  kA 
z:OU  r./vl. 

'  RGH,  PA. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1727  Blvd.  of  Allies 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77:30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70:30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

"MD,  ORE. 

i  < 

>l  

STAR  PREVIEW  RM. 
925  N.  W.  19th  Ave. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77.75  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70:30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

-  (S,  MO. 

s 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
2949  Olive  St. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED."  SEPT.  30 
77:75  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70:30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

1  

-  |:e  city,  u. 

'-:  < 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
270  E.  1st  South  St 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
9.-30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

: 

^CISCO.CAL. 

=:  f 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
205  Golden  Gate  Ave. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
9.-30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
70.30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
2  P.M. 

WASH. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
2330  First  Ave. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
7I.-75  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 

2  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
77  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 

2  P.M. 

!(  'GTON,  D.C. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 

306  H.  St.,  N.W. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
70  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
77:30  A.M. 

WED.  SEPT.  30 
2-30  P.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 
10.30  A.M. 

THURS.  OCT.  1 

2  P.M. 

18 

Universal  Profit 
For  39  Weeks 
Is  $1, 752,346 

Universal  this  week  reported  consolidated 
net  profit  after  all  charges  and  provision  for 
Federal  taxes  of  $1,752,346  for  the  39  weeks 
ended  August  1st.  The  result  compares  with 
profit  of  $2,000,864  after  all  charges,  for  the 
corresponding  three  quarters  of  1941. 

Before  provision  for  Federal  income  and 
excess  profits  taxes  and  provision  for  the  write- 
off of  100  per  cent  of  the  company's  equities 
in  certain  foreign  subsidiaries,  the  profit  for 
the  39  weeks  amounted  to  $4,760,873,  compared 
with  profit  similarly  computed  of  $2,751,864  in 
the  corresponding  period  a  year  ago.  During 
the  period  ended  August  1,  1942,  restricted 
funds  in  Great  Britain  increased  by  $1,956,828. 

The  consolidated  net  profit  after  provision  for 
Federal  income  and  excess  profits  taxes  for 
the  third  quarter  of  the  current  fiscal  year 
mounted  to  $255,246  (before  deduction  of  $234,- 
000  charged  in  this  quarter  but  applicable  to 
the  preceding  six  months,  due  to  a  proposed 
change  in  the  tax  laws),  as  compared  with 
$631,530  in  the  corresponding  13-week  period  of 
1941. 

Provision  for  Federal  income  and  excess 
profits  taxes  this  quarter  required  $768,350 
(not  including  $234,000  charged  in  this  quarter 
but  applicable  to  the  preceding  six  months,  due 
to  a  proposed  change  in  the  tax  laws),  as 
against  provision  of  $361,000  in  the  same  quar- 
ter a  year  ago. 

Before  provision  for  Federal  income  and  ex- 
cess profits  taxes,  the  profit  for  the  third  quar- 
ter of  the  current  year  amounted  to  $1,023,- 
596,  as  compared  with  profit  similarly  com- 
puted of  $992,530  in  the  corresponding  period 
a  year  ago. 

J.  Cheever  Cowdin,  chairman  of  the  board, 
said  that  Universal's  gross  revenues,  both  in 
this  country  and  abroad,  were  continuing  in 
satisfactory  volume  and  that  the  initial  re- 
leases of  the  new  season  had  been  favorably 
received. 


William  Sennett,  of 
20th-Fox,  Dies 

William  E.  Sennett,  52,  manager  of  the  requi- 
sition department  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox, 
died  at  his  home  in  New  York,  Tuesday,  Sep- 
tember 22nd.  He  had  served  the  present  com- 
pany and  its  predecessor,  Fox  Film  Corpora- 
tion, for  26  years  and  was  one  of  the  three  old- 
est employees  in  term  of  service  in  the  New 
York  office.  A  native  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  Mr. 
Sennett  was  brought  to  this  country  when  a 
child.  His  family  had  been  in  show  business 
in  the  British  Isles.  He  was  manager  of  road 
shows  for  Klaw  and  Erlanger  before  entering 
the  film  industry. 


Charles  Duncan  Killed 

Charles  Duncan,  22,  who  created  the  role  of 
Spit,  a  tough  East  Side  boy  in  Sidney  Kings- 
ley's  drama,  "Dead  End,"  seven  years  ago  and 
interrupted  his  career  in  1940  to  enlist  in  the 
Army,  was  killed  in  an  automobile  accident 
Sunday  near  Bedford,  Mass.  He  appeared  in 
three  films,  "Little  Tough  Guys  in  Society,'' 
"Newsboys  Home"  and  "Code  of  the  Streets," 
portraying  in  all  a  character  known  as  "Monk," 
an  urchin  on  the  side  of  the  law. 


Herman  Lutz  Dead 

Herman  F.  Lutz,  44,  Universal  newsreel  cam- 
eraman, died  at  his  home  in  Jackson  Heights, 
Long  Island,  Monday,  September  21st,  after 
an  extended  illness.  He  had  been  associated 
with  the  Fox  and  Hearst  newsreels  for  14 
years,  and  with  Kinograms  and  Universal. 


MOTION   .PICTURE  HERALD 

BOOK  REVIEW 


4000  YEARS  OF  TELEVISION:  by  Richard 
W.  Hubbell,  256  pages.  Published  by 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York;  $2.25. 

This  book  is  an  attempt  to  focus  in  popular 
perspective  the  history  of  television  develop- 
ment and  extol  its  post-war  prospects.  It  is 
written  by  an  announcer  and  production  assist- 
ant at  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System's  tele- 
vision outlet,  WCBW,  New  York. 

Mr.  Hubbell  pursues  the  early  history  of 
optics,  magnetism,  electrical  discovery,  and  re- 
search into  sight  processes  at  length  in  the 
opening  chapters.  He  relates  them  to  the  tele- 
vision industry  to  come.  He  attributes  the  first 
model  of  a  television  system  to  G.  R.  Carey, 
in  Boston,  in  1875.  In  common  with  many  other 
popularized  presentations  of  a  complex  subject 
the  book  deals  often  in  generalities.  There  are 
chapters,  particularly  those  dealing  with  various 
current  systems  of  television,  and  the  growth 
of  the  commercial  industry  which  warrant  more 
detailed  discussion. 

Forecasting  great  things  for  television  after 
the  war,  Mr.  Hubbell  hints  at  its  mysterious 
uses  in  warfare.  He  ends  his  story  with  two 
postscripts,  the  final  one  being,  "How  to  Get 
a  Job  in  Television."  There  are  also  four 
prefaces,  by  James  Lawrence  Fly,  William  S. 
Paley,  David  Sarnoff  and  Adolph  Bolm,  a 
choreographer.  The  book  may  suffice  casual 
inquiries,  but  those  wanting  a  comprehensive 
picture  of  television  will  seek  other  sources. — 
John  Stuart,  Jr. 


Monogram  Sets 
Bonus  System 

Monogram  Pictures'  stockholders  at  their 
annual  meeting  October  7th  in  Hollywood  will 
be  asked  to  approve  a  resolution  for  a  bonus 
system  for  employees  for  1942  and  1943  accord- 
ing to  an  announcement  by  W.  Ray  Johnston, 
president. 

Such  a  resolution  was  approved  at  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  company's  board  of  directors. 
The  bonus  payments  would  be  limited  to  10  per 
cent  of  the  net  profit  of  the  company  before 
Federal  taxes  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June 
27th,  this  year,  and  the  1943  fiscal  year. 

Under  the  proposed  plan  the  first  bonus  pay- 
ments would  be  made  in  United  States  War 
Bonds  in  three  or  four  monthly  installments. 
The  president,  executive  director  and  vice- 
presidents  of  the  company  will  not  share.  Em- 
ployees will  be  divided  into  three  classifications 
for  determining  percentages  in  the  bonus  ap- 
portionment. 

Another  matter  to  come  up  at  the  meeting 
will  be  salary  increases  for  Mr.  Johnston,  Trem 
Carr,  executive  director,  and  Samuel  Broidy, 
sales  head.  The  present  board  has  been  nomi- 
nated for  reelection  at  the  meeting. 


"Bambi"  to  Be  Studied 
In  Many  Schools 

Walt  Disney's  "Bambi"  will  be  presented  as 
part  of  an  educational  program  in  various  pub- 
lic and  private  schools  throughout  the  country, 
according  to  an  RKO  announcement. 

The  school  work  is  an  offshoot  of  its  enter- 
tainment value,  stemming  from  interest  aroused 
among  school  teachers  who  attended  special  nor- 
mal schools  this  summer,  at  the  time  of  the 
world  premiere  of  the  picture  at  the  Radio  City 
Music  Hall,  it  is  said. 


Managers  Meet 

All  managers  for  Commonwealth  Amusement 
Corporation  attended  a  meeting  in  Kansas  City 
September  23rd  and  24th  when  C.  K.  Schultz. 
president,  and  O.  K.  Mason,  vice-president,  dis- 
cussed plans  for  the  new  season. 


September    26,  1942 

Band  Policy  Big 
In  Philadelphia 

Warners  Earle  theatre,  only  circuit  house  ir 
Philadelphia  with  a  stage  policy  and  the  only 
film  house  in  the  downtown  district  with  live 
entertainment,  achieved  box  office  success  with 
the  dance  orchestras  for  the  1941-42  season 
ended  Septembr  3rd.  Based  on  a  six-day  week, 
state  blue  laws  darkening  the  stage  on  Sundays, 
the  3,000-seat  Earle,  managed  by  William 
Israel  and  under  the  supervision  of  Maurice 
Gable,  district  manager,  grossed  $1,169,700  for 
the  52-week  period,  averaging  about  $22,500  a 
week.  The  house  average  on  a  straight  picture 
policy  was  $14,000.  With  the  stage  policy,  the 
draw  is  entirely  dependent  on  the  stage  attrac- 
tions, with  the  screen  offerings  of  minor  im- 
portance. 

All  but  four  of  the  52  weeks  were  devotee 
to  band  shows  and  even  the  Hollywood  name: 
booked  in  couldn't  compete  with  the  bands 
especially  when  coming  in  on  the  crest  of  : 
phonograph  record  wave.  All-Negro  stage 
shows,  of  which  six  were  booked  during  tht 
season,  proved  a  strong  draw  at  the  box  office 
getting  a  big  play  from  the  Negro  population 
There  is  no  Negro  variety  house  in  the  city 

Boxoffice  battles  for  the  house  all-time  higl 
marked  the  past  season's  business,  with  Tomm 
Dorsey  the  winner  in  establishing  $46,700  fo 
the  July  31st  week,  which  also  marked  an  in 
crease  from  a  67  to  a  75-cent  top  for  the  house 
Glenn  Miller,  who  established  a  house  recor 
early  in  the  season  with  $36,000  for  the  Sejj 
tember  19th  week,  came  close  to  Mr.  Dorsey'' 
mark  when  he  returned  for  the  August  21  < 
week  and  grossed  $45,800.  Mr.  Miller's  earlie 
record  was  topped  by  Jimmy  Dorsey  during  th 
June  12th  week  with  $37,500. 

Skouras  Stresses  War 
At  Fox  Midwest  Meet 

Charles  P.  Skouras,  president  of  Nation;  ! 
Theatres,  told  Fox  Midwest  managers  at  the  I 
11th  annual  convention  in  Kansas   City  la. ' 
week  that  he  wanted  them  to  give  all  the  tin 
necessary  to  the  Government  in  the  war  effor 
Mr.  Skouras  also  outlined  plans  for  the  auturr  | 
campaign,  gave  awards  to  Fox  Midwest  matj 
agers  in  the  recent  SSS  campaign,  first  awaij 
going  to  George  Hunter,  city  manager,  Jacl 
sonville,  111. 

Elmer  C.  Rhoden,  division  manager,  stresse. 
the  requirement  of  extra  effort  that  conditioi; 
may  be  understood  and  met.  There  were  abo' 
100  managers  in  attendance.  The  conventiu 
closed  with  an  outing  at  Mr.  Rhoden's  fan 
"Starlane." 

Canada  Network 
Signs  Off  Early 

All  Canadian  Broadcasting  Corporation  ne 
work  stations  will  sign  off  nightly  at  11:! 
P.  M,  local  time,  beginning  Sunday,  Septei 
ber  27th,  in  a  move  to  conserve  equipmei 
Gladstone  Murray,  general  manager  of  CB 
announced  this  week. 

Stations  affected  will  be :  CBL  and  CBY,  T 
ronto;  CBF  and  CBM,  Montreal;  CBV,  Qt 
bee;  CBJ,  Chicoutimi,  Quebec;  CBR,  Va 
couver,  and  CBK,  Watrous,  Sask. 



City  Bans  Carnivals 

The  City  Council  of  Beloit,  Wis.,  has  ado  H 
ed  an  ordinance  prohibiting  carnivals  and  •■  W 
positions.  The  measure  will  have  the  effect;  W 
stopping  the  showing  of  carnivals  in  the  en'B 
Beloit  area,  excepting  South  Beloit,  111.,  siifl 
the  '-bows  are  already  prohibited  by  a  R'fl 
County  ordinance. 

Grace  MacDonald  in  Role 

Grace  MacDonald  has  been  assigned  to  a  j|H 
tured  role  in  Abbott  and  Costello's  new  iM 
versa!  comedv,  tentatively  titled  "Tt  Ain't  H;  H 

I 


WILL  BE  A  BOXOFFICE  WINNER!" 


— Film  Bullem. 


'A  major  event  of  the  screen!  The  only  minor  thing  about  thisr 
Paramount  comedy  is  the  appearance  of  the  word  in  the  title 
Ginger  Rogers  and  Ray  Milland  keep  the  patrons  in  stitcher; 
...  a  perfectly  delightful  fable;  a  wonderful  antidote  fo 
wartime  blues  —  just  what  the  screen  needs!" 

—  Kate  Cameron,  New  York  Daily  New 


"HEADED  FOR  THE  HIGHER  GROSSES!" 


—  The  Exhibito 


"Enchanting  screen  comedy;  Ginger  Rogers  gives  a  delicat 
farce  tremendous  strength.  Add  the  impeccable  staging  o 
Billy  Wilder,  and  you  have  a  picture  which  is  up  there  wit! 
the  great,  gay  comedies  of  this  or  any  other  year!  Miss  Roger; 
has  never  plumbed  the  depths  of  her  artistry  to  such  brillian 
ends!"  — Howard  Barnes,  New  York  Herald  Tribun 


"A  MAJOR  BOOKING  FOR  ANY  SITUATION— EVEN  TH 
MINORS!"  —The  Independent 


"A  delightful  idea  and  a  cunning  Film;  devilish  charm.  It  takes 
more  than  a  cute  twist  to  make  a  picture — and  that's  where 
the  Messrs.  Wilder  and  Brackett  have  come  in  —  script  effer  I 
vesces  with  neat  situations  and  bright  lines.  Put  this  down 
as  one  of  the  best  of  Miss  Rogers'  career.  Credit  Mr.  Milland [ 
too,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  cast." 

— Bosley  Crowther,  New  York  77me| 

"PLENTY  OF  WHAT  IT  TAKES  TO  ROUNDLY  ENTERTAH 

FANS!"  —FilmDail 

"IT'S  GINGERVATING  IN  A  MAJOR  WAY— a  delightfij 
comedy  all  the  way  from  its  apt  title  to  its  dicky  fadeout- 
a  playful  of  pleasing  people  with  an  impish  plot,  sex  angle! 
for  all  interested  ages,  and  two  snatches  of  Bob  Benchle 
comedy  thrown  in  for  good  measure  .  .  .  endless  variety  c 
interwoven  fun  and  byplay.  And  by  the  way — keep  an  ey 
on  a  youngster  named  Diana  Lynn!" 

— John  T.  McManus,  Newspaper  PI 


A  FUNFEST  FOR  EXHIBITORS  AND  JOHN  Q.  PUBLIC! 

— Boxoff/c 


SHOULD   DELIGHT  AUDIENCES  OF  THIS  OR   ANY  OTHER  SEASON !' 

—  Motion  Picture  Herald 

"One  of  the  rare  screen  delights  of  the  year  .  .  .  extraordinary  merit!  It  is  hard  to  say  whether 
the  script  or  direction  should  get  major  credit  for  brilliant  treatment.  Since  Billy  Wilder  had 
a  hand  in  both,  one  might  as  well  call  the  honors  even.  A  knockout  job;  characters  tre- 
mendously amusing,  lines  have  comic  lift  and  excitement.  For  sheer  virtuosity  Ginger 
Rogers'  portrayal  is  tops.  Milland  excellent;  Benchley  splendid;  other  players  never  fail  to 
make  a  sequence  crackle  with  laughter."  — Howard  Barnes,  Liberty  Magazine 

GUARANTEED  TO  MAKE  THE  CASH  REGISTER  RING  LONG  AND  LOUD!" 

— Motion  Picture  Daily 

"The  trouble  with  'The  Major  and  the  Minor'  is  that  too  many 
people  in  the  audience  laugh  too  much  and  too  loud;  you 
miss  lines  that  ought  not  be  missed!  The  Paramount  Theatre 
rang  the  bell  with  'Holiday  Inn'  and  bids  fair  to  do  the  same 
with  its  current  bid  for  lucre.  Miss  Rogers  and  Ray  Milland 
perform  with  unusual  skill,  Benchley  pleases,  Diana  Lynn 
strikes  the  correct  note.  — Archer  Winsten,  New  York  Post 

"ONE  OF  THE  SEASON'S  SUREST  BETS  FOR  HIT  GROSSES!" 

— Hollywood  Reporter 

"Now  that  'Holiday  Inn'  finally  has  ended  its  long  stay  at  the 
Paramount,  in  comes  'The  Major  and  the  Minor,'  cut  from 
the  same  mirthful,  alluring  pattern.  Those  people  at  the 
Paramount  Studios  this  season  certainly  have  the  gift  of 
gaiety!  Though  not  a  musical,  this  picture  is  full  of  Para- 
mount's  special  spirit  that  has  made  some  of  its  recent 
musicals  such  happy  events!" 

— Alton  Cook,  New  York  World-Telegram 


'SPARKLING  AND  EFFERVESCING 
APPEAL!" 


WIDE  AUDIENCE 

—  Variety 


TAIN  TO  RING  THE  BELL!"  —Showmen's  Trade  Review 

rry  and  original — The  Paramount  contributes  more  than 
share  of  mirth  this  week!  'The  Major  and  the  Minor'  is  a 
i  hearted  combination  of  romance  and  comedy;  as  wel- 
ne  a  piece  of  nonsense  as  the  year  has  seen!  Billy  Wilder 
ves  himself  as  deft  a  director  as  a  writer;  the  film 
irkles!"  — Eileen  Creelman,  New  York  Sun 


"Thoroughly  diverting  .  .  .  hugely  entertaining  ...  an  hour- 
and-a-half  antidote  for  jangled  nerves.  Thanks  to  sparkling 
direction,  writing  and  acting,  the  film  resolves  itself  into  a 
succession  of  hilarious  incidents.  One  riotous  scene  after 
another.  The  dialogue  is  extremely  amusing  and  the  script 
dotted  with  numerous  outstanding  bits." 

— Rose  Pelswick,  New  York  Journal-American 

REDBOOK  MAGAZINE'S  PICTURE  OF  THE  MONTH! 


\ 


°S£  mobs  l 


SHES  A 
POR  YOU 


Best  / 


o 


Ginger  Rogers 

id  Ray  Millanl  ffce 


PARA^OU 

I with 
..    Rita  Johnsoi 
Robert  Bencf 
Diana  Lyr 

Directed  by  BILLY  WILD 
Written  by  Charles  Brackett  &  Bi 

A  Paramount  Pictui 


HERALD 


23 


MAJORS  RUSH  COMPLETION 
OF  PRODUCT,  SALES  PLANS 


Metro  Adds  Four  to  First 
Block  of  Eight;  L  A  Gets 
10  from  Paramount 

With  the  first  month  of  the  1942-43  sea- 
son drawing  to  a  close,  production  and 
selling  plans  were  rushed  to  completion 
this  week  by  major  distributors.  Fore- 
most in  the  lineup  of  product  deals  was 
that  concluded  by  United  Artists,  which 
completed  a  contract  with  Paramount 
Monday  for  the  purchase  of  10  features 
for  UA  release.  United  Artists  also 
scehduled  its  sales  convention  in  Chicago 
for  next  Monday. 

MGM  announced  the  addition  of  four 
■  filing  to  its  first  block  of  eight,  making  a 
|  total  of  12.  the  first  company  to  offer  such 
I  a  large  package  to  exhibitors  since  man- 
i  datory  selling  of  pictures  in  blocks-of-five 
jor  less,  with  compulsory  advance  trade 
showings,  ended  September  1st  for  the 
five  distributor  signatories  to  the  Xew 
York  consent  decree 

There  was  no  immediate  disposition  on 
the  part  of  the  other  four  distributors. 
'Paramount.  RKO  Radio,  Twentieth  Cen- 
ttury-Fox  or  Warner  Bros,  to  follow  suit 
in  increasing  the  number  of  features  in 
rtheir  initial  blocks.  Warner  Bros.,  for 
example,  according-  to  Joseph  Bernharc. 
"  :  te-president  and  general  manager,  is 
"still  continuing  the  policy  that  has  been 
an  existence  for  the  past  year." 

RKO  Announces 
?C  Completed 

Continuation  of  blocks-of-five  selling  by  20th 
-^entury-Fox  was  indicated  in  that  company's 
■nnoaocement  Monday  of  its  fifth  new  season 
tales  afrit,  although  Tom  J.  Connors,  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  distribution,  said  the 
onpany's  future  blocks  would  depend  upon  the 
■umber  of  films  completed  and  available  for 
rait  a:         :re  tirr.e. 

RKO  announced  that  20  pictures  on  its  1942- 
••:  schedule  were  dtrished  and  three  -.vert  bet: re 
Be  cameras.  By  the  end  of  October,  six  other 
il— s  wLl  zt  ir.  :r:iu:h:r_.  ■  ':  ar.tther  r.v: 
cheduled  between  Xovember  1st  and  December 
1;:.  Lmversa.  re::r:ed  that  its  sales  t'tr  the 
nitial  period  of  the  new  season  were  well  ahead 
f  _the  corresponding  period  last  year. 

-bollowing  the  arrival  in  New  York  from  the 
icast  of  Edward  C.  Raftery,  United  Artists 
resident,  and  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  Paramount 
ice-president  and  studio  head,  the  deal  by 
-'rich  UA  will  acquire  10  completed  pictures 

cttluded  in  Xew  York  Monday.  According  to 
Ef  >rts.  United  Artists  completed  arrangements 
a  lues  da  -  the  Guaranty  Trust  Companv 

|wr  a  loan  of  52.637,000.  The  price  which  UA 
as  reported  uavinar  for  the  10  films  was 
».<:00,000. 

Although  no  official  announcement  had  been 
-2.de  of  the  pictures  involved  in  the  deal  it  was 
amec  that  only  five  of  Harry  Sherman's 
ctalone  Cassidv  films  are  included,  and  others 
e:  "I  Married  a  Witch."  the  Preston  Sturges 
odrjctic-  starring  Veronica  Lake  and  Fredric 
arch,  directed  bv  Rene  Clair,  and  "The  Crys- 
1  Bau,"  starring  Paulette  Goddard  and  Ray 
u'.and.  It  was  indicated  that  the  other  titles 
otJd  be  announced  at  the  UA  sales  conven- 


tion, scheduled  for  the  Blackstone  Hotel,  Chi- 

manager,  important  new  actor-producers  on 
UA's  list  will  be  made  known  at  the  conven- 
tion.  Present  UA  producers  who  are  expected 


geaus,  Samuel  Bronston,  Hal  Roach  and  United 
Artists  Productions. 

Gra dwell  L.  Sears,  vice-president  in  charge 
of  distribution,  will  preside.  Mr.  Raftery  and 
Arthur  W.  Kelly,  vice-president,  will  address 
the  sales  group.  Business  meetings  will  be  at- 
tended by  home  office  executives  and  personnel, 
district  and  branch  managers  and  salesmen  from 
the  United  States  and  Canada- 
It  is  expected  that  at  least  20  pictures,  includ- 
ing the  10  from  Paramount,  and  one  or  two 
from  Orson  Welles,  will  be  announced  for  re- 
lease during  the  1942-43  season. 

MGM  Adds  Four 
To  First  Block 

MGM  has  added  four  pictures  to  its  first 
block,  thus  making  it  12  pictures  instead  of 
eight,  William  F.  Rodgers,  vice-president  in 
charge  of  distribution,  announced  in  Xew  York 
last  Thursday.  The  company  is  now  the  only 
one  of  the  five  consenting  distributors  which  has 
departed  from  the  decree  blocks-of-five  selling. 

Mr.  Rodgers  said  the  addition  would  not  im- 
pair delivery  of  important  forthcoming  pictures 
and  that  studio  backlog  "will  make  it  possible 
for  MGM  to  offer  future  groups  in  maximum 
numbers."  The  cancellation  privilege  would  ap- 
ply to  the  12  pictures  as  a  group,  he  said  with 
no  separate  elimination  provision  for  the  four 
new  films.  Exhibitors  who  already  had  bought 
the  first  block-of-eight  have  been  advised  that 
the  new  features  need  only  be  added  to  their 
::r.:ra::s.  he  said. 

The  four  additional  pictures,  all  of  which 
have  been  trade  shown,  are  "For  Me  and  My 
GaL"  "Eves  in  the  Night"  "Omaha  Trail." 
and  -V,"h::e  Cargo." 

Returning  to  New  York  from  his  first  official 
visi:  ::  the  Eclb.-vrcc  studi:.  X.  Peter  Ratin- 
von,  president  of  RKO  and  chairman  of  the 
board  of  RKO  Radio  Pictures,  this  week  an- 
nounced that  20  films  on  the  1942-43  lineup 
-.vere  finished,  ar.d  three  tvere  :e::re  the  cam- 
eras. By  the  end  of  October,  he  said,  six  other 
features  would  be  in  production,  with  two  others 
scheduled  for  between  November  1st  and  De- 
cember 31st-  This  would  leave  only  seven  pic- 
tures to  be  filmed  after  the  first  of  the  year,  to 
reach  the  total  of  38  films,  exclusive  of  the  six 
Westerns,  all  of  which  were  completed. 

Five  in  Fifth  Unit 
From  20th-Fox 

Mr.  Rathvon  said  that  Charles  W.  Koerner. 
vice-president  in  charge  of  studio  production,  is 
responsible  for  the  strong  production  drive. 
!IMr.  Koerner  has  got  the  current  season's  crop 
of  pictures  well  under  control."  he  said.  "So 
much  so,  that  he  is  already  devoting  some  of 
his  time  to  careful  planning  for  the  1943-44 

Five  releases  are  included  in  20th  Century- 
Fox's  fifth  new  season  sales  unit  announced  by 
that  company  in  Xew  York  Monday.  Titles 
and  release  dates  are:  "Thunder  Birds,"  Xo- 
vember 13th :  "Dr.  Renault's  Secret"  Xovem- 


ber 20th;  "The  Black  Swan,"  Xovember  27th; 
'The  Undying  Monster,"  December  4th.  and 
"The  Other  Woman,"  December  11th. 

W  illiam  Goetz,  vice-president  in  charge  of 
the  20th  Century-Fox  studio,  who  assumed  his 
new  duties  following  Colonel  Darryl  F.  Zanuck's 
resignation  to  devote  all  his  time  to  Army  ser- 
vice said  in  Xew  York  last  Friday,  in  his  first 
eastern  press  interview,  that  the  company  had 
enough  pictures  on  the  1942-43  program  either 
completed  or  in  work  to  take  care  of  releases 
until  the  end  of  January,  1943. 

Concerned  Over 
Talent  Shortage 

Mr.  Goetz  officially  announced  that  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox dropped  six  pictures  from  its  new 
season  schedule  to  meet  the  film  stock  cuts 
ordered  by  the  War  Production  Board.  (See 
page  13.) 

He  indicated  that  Hollywood  did  not  expect 
any  order  from  the  motion  picture  section  of 
the  Oirice  of  War  Information  as  to  the  kind 
of^  pictures  it  might  produce  bearing  on  the  war 
effort  According  to  Mr.  Goetz,  "conversational 
pressure"  already  brought  to  bear  by  OWT 
representatives  in  Hollywood,  had  resulted  "in 
such  pictures  as  "Mrs.  Miniver,'  The  Pied 
Piper  and  others."  He  said  that  his  company 
did  not  propose  to  reduce  the  number  of  pic- 
tures bearing  on  the  war,  observing.  "Twen- 
tieth-Fox believes  in  making  topical  subjects." 
but  added  that  the  entertainment  value  of  films 
to  the  public  "would  be  the  deciding  factor  re- 
garding future  productions  whether  they  are 
topical  war  themes  or  'escapist'  stories.  Xo  set 
rule  could  or  should  be  established  for  the 
guidance  of  story  or  production  executives." 

Mr.  Goetz  reported  that  Joseph  M.  Schenck. 
who  is  resuming  his  old  duties  with  the  com- 
pany without  benefit  of  title,  will  make  his 
headquarters  at  the  studio.  Mr.  Schenck  was 
expected  to  leave  for  the  Coast  this  week. 

The  20th  Century-Fox  studio  chief  expressed 
concern  over  the  increasing  talent  shortage  fac- 
ing Hollywood  and  also  said  he  favored  the 
plan  proposed  by  Actors  Equity  Association  to 
establish  talent  training  stock  company  units, 
under  sponsorship  of  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try. He  said  this  would  have  to  be  an  all- 
industry  move  to  be  effective. 

Paramount  announced  in  Xew  York  last 
Friday  trade  shows  for  its  second  group  of 
films  on  the  1942-43  schedule,  as  follows:  "The 
Forest  Rangers,"  'Henry  Aldrich,  Editor,"  and 
"Street  of  Chance."  Wednesday.  Septembei 
30th:  "Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  "Patchy 
"Road  to  Morocco."  Thursday,  October  1st 

Warners  Set 
Three  for  October 

That  Warner  Bros,  would  adhere  to  its  pol- 
icy of  three  releases  monthly  for  1942-43.  was 
indicated  in  Xew  York  this  week  when  the 
company  announced  three  releases  for  the  bal- 
ance of  September  and  as  many  for  October. 
"Desperate  Journey."  was  to  be  released  Satur- 
day, September  26th.  to  complete  the  first  trio 
for  the  month.  For  October,  the  pictures  are: 
"Y'ou  Can't  Escape  Forever,"  October  10th : 
"Secret  Enemies,"  17th,  and  "Now,  Voyager." 
the  31st  The  company  is  continuing  to  trade 
show  blocks-of-five. 

William  Scully,  general  sales  manager  for 
Universal,  following  completion  of  regional 
sales  meetings,  reported  last  week  that  product 
buying  which  was  delayed  apparently  because 
of  the  uncertainty  of  the  United  Motion  Picture 
Industry  sales  plan,  had  started  with  renewed 
energv 


24 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


INDUSTRY  RALLIES  FORCES 
FOR  FINAL  BOND  SPRINT 


"Free  Movie  Day"  Spurs 
Sales;  10,000  Houses 
Participate  in  Effort 

With  approximately  10,000  of  the  na- 
tion's theatres  sponsoring  "Free  Movie 
Day"  on  Tuesday  to  spurt  War  Bond 
sales,  industry  expectations  of  meeting,  if 
not  exceeding  the  Treasury  Department's 
official  quota  of  $775,000,000  in  War 
Bonds  for  the  month  of  September  ap- 
peared good. 

Renewed  vigor  marked  this  week's  ac- 
tivities on  all  fronts  of  the  industry's 
"Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  September  drive, 
with  approximately  1,000  Bond  premieres 
set,  and  continued  Bond-selling  pressure 
being  brought  by  the  Stars  over  America 
tours. 

With  the  drive  still  nine  days  from  the  finish 
line,  several  last  minute  plans  were  revealed  by 
War  Activities  Committee  on  Monday.  From 
the  Hollywood  Victory  Committee  came  reports 
of  the  formation  of  "mop  up"  squads  of  film 
stars  to  visit  dozens  of  important  cities  in 
Southern  California. 

The  Treasury's  total  sales  figures  for  the 
first  22  days  of  September  were  announced  as 
$515,422,000. 

The  largest  single  day's  sales  for  the  first  half 
of  the  month  were  $56,266,000  for  September 
21st. 

$30,000,000  Daily 
Average  Needed 

The  latter  total  brought  the  month's  tabula- 
tion to  $500,054,000  with  nine  days  to  go. 

The  spurt  again  veered  the  drive  back  toward 
the  quota  beam.  It  is  now  only  $46,000,000  be- 
low the  quota  ratio  of  $26,000,000  per  day,  ac- 
cording to  the  WAC. 

To  reach  the  quota  of  $775,000,000  (cash)  or 
$1,000,000,000  maturity  value,  the  sales  must 
now  average  above  $30,000,000  per  day  for  the 
next  nine  days. 

Conferences  were  held  by  War  Activities 
Committee  officials  with  Federal  Reserve  Bank 
leaders,  New  York  State  Treasury  officials  and 
others  last  week,  in  an  effort  to  facilitate  the 
quick  movement  of  Bond  sales  through  the  ac- 
counting channels  into  the  Treasury  figures. 

Last  Thursday,  Max  A.  Cohen,  state  chair- 
man of  WAC,  warned  that  "we  must  recognize 
the  fact  that  unless  there  is  a  decidedly  intensi- 
fied response  for  the  War  Bond  appeal,  we  shall 
fall  short  of  our  mark."  Pledging  that  New 
York  State  theatres  would  step  up  their  efforts 
to  sell  Bonds  and  Stamps,  Mr.  Cohen  attributed 
the  failure  to  meet  the  quota  thus  far  primarily 
to  the  fact  that  September  is  income  tax  month 
and  to  the  popular  fear  that  new  taxes,  now 
under  consideration  in  Washington,  had  pre- 
vented many  people  from  investing  in  wartime 
securities. 

Climax  Event  Set  for 
Garden  in  New  York 

New  York  State  Bond  sales  through  Septem- 
ber 16th  amounted  to  $54,076,438  against  a 
Treasury  Department  quota  of  $125,000,000  for 
the  entire  month,  it  was  announced  last  Friday. 
New  York  City  theatres  sold  $4,337,003,  of 
which  $1,500,000  was  by  Loew's,  $650,000  by 
Skouras,  $620,000  by  the  Century  Circuit  and 
$400,000  by  the  RKO  theatres. 

A  spectacular  climax  is  being  planned  for  the 


URGES  DAY'S  RECEIPTS 
TO  WAR  BONDS 

The  management  of  the  World 
Playhouse,  Chicago,  wired  the  War 
Activities  Committee  last  Friday  sug- 
gesting an  idea  for  spurring  Bond 
sales: 

"In  order  to  meet  billion  dollar 
quota  why  not  have  all  theatres  in 
country  set  aside  one  day  this  month 
as  a  gigantic  War  Bond  day  with  all 
receipts  of  that  day  converted  into 
War  Bonds  for  the  theatre?  World 
Playhouse  would  gladly  turn  entire 
receipts  of  any  day  selected  into 
War  Bonds." 


industry's  windup  of  the  drive  at  Madison 
Square  Garden  on  September  30th,  where  the 
giant  Army  Emergency  Relief  Show  will  be 
held.  A  new  unit  of  Bond-selling  reinforce- 
ments, featuring  Hollywood  stars,  will  "invade" 
the  Garden  for  the  final  "charge"  of  the  cam- 
paign, according  to  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee. Among  the  stars  coming  to  New  York 
to  end  thousands  of  miles  of  Bond-selling  tours 
will  be  Rita  Hayworth,  Pat  O'Brien,  Paulette 
Goddard,  Dorothy  Lamour,  Veronica  Lake  and 
others. 

WAC  and  the  committee  handling  the  Army 
show,  "We're  All  in  It,"  have  scheduled  the 
appearance  of  the  Hollywood  contingent  for 
1 1 :45  on  the  evening  of  September  30th.  With 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  go  before  the  end  of 
the  month's  intensive  drive,  the  Bond-selling 
drama  will  be  staged.  It  is  hoped  that  $15,000,- 
000  in  15  minutes  will  be  added  to  the  month's 
totals. 

New  York's  Victory  Bondmobile,  which  was 
being  pushed  from  Battery  Park  to  Niagara 
Falls  at  the  rate  of  one  Bond  sale  per  push, 
brought  in  a  total  of  $677,037  up  to  last  Thurs- 
day. Scheduled  to  arrive  at  the  Falls  on  Sep- 
tember 30th,  the  Bondmobile  already  had  visited 
19  key  communities  in  the  state. 

10,000  Houses  Join 
"Free  Movie  Day" 

Hollywood  players  who  were  preparing  to 
visit  Southern  California  cities  in  the  "mop  up 
squads"  planned  by  the  Hollywood  Victory 
Committee  were  Binnie  Barnes,  Margaret  Lind- 
say, John  Carradine,  Ann  Miller,  Don  Wilson 
and  Dennis  O'Keefe,  who  will  put  on  Bond 
rallies  in  Baker's  Field,  Paso  Robles,  San  Luis 
Obispo,  Santa  Barbara  and  Redondo  Beach. 
Eddie  Cantor,  Mary  Astor  and  Dan  Evans 
were  to  appear  in  Redlands,  San  Bernardino, 
Riverside  and  Huntington  Park.  Other  rallies, 
with  stars  contributing  their  services,  were  to 
be  held  at  Santa  Monica,  Glendale,  Long  Beach, 
Van  Nuys  and  San  Pedro. 

From  8,000  to  10,000  theatres  offered  free 
admissions  to  War  Bond  purchasers  on  national 
"Free  Movie  Day"  Tuesday,  it  was  estimated 
by  WAC. 

According  to  WAC,  more  than  800  War 
Bond  premieres,  at  which  admission  was  by 
purchase  of  bonds,  were  held  in  300  cities  be- 
tween last  Sunday  and  Wednesday.  In  Mon- 
tana, 25  theatres  were  sponsoring  the  premieres, 
and  in  Minnesota,  135  theatres. 

Bette  Davis  helped  to  sell  more  than  $2,000,- 
000  in  a  three-city  two-day  stay  in  Oklahoma 


last  week.  At  Oklahoma  City  sales  in  connec- 
tion with  her  appearance  and  at  the  auction  at 
which  the  star  wielded  the  gavel,  brought  in 
better  than  $1,000,000  in  Bond  purchases  while 
$921,000  worth  of  Bonds  was  sold  the  previous 
night  at  Tulsa  and  $200,000  worth  of  Bonds 
was  purchased  in  a  morning  rally  the  same  day 
at  Muskogee. 

Sales  reports  from  the  field  at  the  weekend 
credited  Dorothy  Lamour  with  a  New  England 
total  to  date  of  $25,629,725.  Sales  in  the  Omaha 
territory,  Eastern  Nebraska,  Western  Iowa  and 
Southern  Dakota,  totaled  $2,288,776  to  Septem- 
ber 13th,  with  all  theatres  reporting.  Edward 
Arnold  and  Frances  Dee  were  credited  with  a 
sale  of  $136,850  at  the  noon-day  rally  at  the 
Orpheum,  Hannibal,  Mo.,  in  a  report  from 
H.  A.  Scheidker,  general  manager  of  Price 
Theatres,  Inc.,  operator  of  the  theatre. 

Other  large  sales  included  $3,000,000  for  a 
Pittsburgh  luncheon  and  Bond  show  with  Irene 
Dunne ;  $150,000  for  an  Erie,  Pa.,  luncheon  with 
James  Cagney ;  $600,000  at  Amarillo,  Tex.,  with 
Janet  Gaynor  and  Basil  Rathbone,  Nigel  Bruce 
and  Robert  Stack  on  the  selling  end;  $308,700 
at  Decatur,  111.,  with  Gene  Tierney  and  Chester 
Morris  appearing,  $200,000  more  garnered  by 
the  latter  team  at  Springfield,  111.,  and  $591,000 
by  that  team  in  six  Wisconsin  appearances. 
Also,  $507,000  by  Jane  Wyman  and  John  Payne 
at  Asheville,  N.  C. ;  $245,000,  by  Charles 
Laughton  at  Stamford,  Conn.,  and  $525,945  at 
Wichita  Falls,  Tex.,  for  Miss  Gaynor,  and  Mr. 
Rathbone,  Mr.  Bruce  and  Mr.  Stack. 

Plan  Bond  Campaign 
At  Coast  Luncheon 

Adolphe  Menjou,  Walter  Pidgeon  and  Joan 
Leslie  sold  $713,509  in  War  Bonds  last  week 
in  Seattle  at  a  Bond  rally.  In  Spokane,  in 
spite  of  continuous  rain,  Bond  sales  rolled  up 
$82,000  in  a  one-day  drive,  and  $40,000  in  Bonds 
was  garnered  by  film  stars  in  Pendelton,  Ore., 
last  week. 

Showmanship  joined  hands  with  salesman- 
ship in  Los  Angeles  last  Wednesday  at  a  lunch- 
eon held  at  the  Ambassador  Hotel,  when  the 
heads  of  all  big  retail  stores  met  with  industry 
leaders  in  planning  events  for  the  Bond  drive. , 
The  merchants  promised  window  displays,  ad- 
vertisements and  other  displays  to  help  the  drive 
for  the  balance  of  the  month.  Principal  speak- 
ers were  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  president  of  the 
Motion  Picture  Producers  Association,  and 
Major  Benjamin  Namm,  chairman  of  the  ad-, 
visory  committee  of  the  National  Retailers  As- 
sociation. Managers  from  film  exchanges  and 
leading  circuit  officials  attended  the  meeting. 

Philadelphia  Sets 
$1,000,000  Party 

More  than  600  persons,  each  having  purchased 
a  $100  War  Bond  or  more,  were  expected  at 
the  dinner  in  honor  of  Paulette  Goddard  to  be 
held  September  28th  in  Reading,  Pa.,  at  the 
Abraham  Lincoln  Hotel.  The  star  was  to  at- 
tend the  rally  to  boost  the  sale  of  Bonds. 
Earlier  in  the  day,  Miss  Goddard  was  to  be', 
guest  of  honor  at  a  luncheon  in  Philadelphia  at 
the  Bellevue-Stratford  Hotel  at  which  time 
each  plate  will  represent  at  least  $1,000  in  a 
Bond  purchase.  To  stimulate  further  the  indus- 
try's campaign  in  Philadelphia,  William  Man- 
sell,  chairman  of  the  distributors  committee, 
was  promoting  a  "You  Can  Autograph  This 
Bomber"  campaign  through  the  theatres,  pur- 
chasers of  bombs  signing  their  names  to  a  giant- 
sized  photo  of  a  bomber. 

The  million  dollar  Philadelphia  luncheon  was 

(Continued  on  page  26) 


WITHOUT  SCRAP- 
THE  SCRAP'S  OVER! 


IF  THESE  STOP 


The  steel  mills  are  running 
only  two  weeks  ahead  of 
the  supply  of  scrap  metal  I 


Enlist  your  theatre  today  in  the  People's  Army 
For  salvage !  There  is  nothing  more  vital ! 
The  war  machines  will  halt 
Without  scrap  metal. . .without  scrap  rubber! 
America  needs  patriots! 

Big  theatres  or  little  theatres,  get  in  the  scrap! 

Show  the  film  "Salvage" — 

Use  the  two-fisted  press-book! 

America's  salvation  tomorrow 

Depends  on  America's  SALVAGE  today! 


Sponsored  by  the  War  Activities  Committee  of  the  Morion  Picture  Industry,  150 1  Broadway, 
New  York  City  (Room  408).  Get  the  film  "SALVAGE"  from  your  nearest  RKO  Exchange. 


26 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    2  6,  1942 


DRIVE  HITS  HOME  STRETCH 

j 


(.Continued  from  page  24) 

expected  to  net  an  additional  $1,000,000,  bring- 
ing the  present  gross  conservatively  to  $12,000,- 
000,  with  an  anticipated  $20,000,000  goal  in 
sight  for  this  section's  quota  when  final  returns 
are  completed  from  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  Phil- 
adelphia, South  Jersey  and  Delaware. 

Chicago  Leaders  Map 
Final  Drive  Plans 

Exhibitor  leaders  met  at  the  Blackstone  Hotel 
in  Chicago  last  week  to  report  their  sales  prog- 
ress so  far  and  to  discuss  ways  of  accelerating 
their  efforts  in  the  last  two  weeks  of  the  drive. 
Those  present  reported  a  total  sale  of  a  little 
over  $1,000,000  in  Stamps  and  Bonds  for  the 
first  two  weeks  of  the  month.  No  definite  fig- 
ures were  available  although  the  Illinois  Allied 
organization  reported  $150,000  from  a  part  of 
its  membership. 

The  Roosevelt  theatre  was  a  complete  sell- 
out for  the  War  Bond  admission  performance 
of  "Wake  Island."  With  the  seats  scaled  from 
$500  to  $5,000  it  resulted  in  $2,300,000  worth 
of  bonds  being  purchased  by  the  preview  audi- 
ence. John  Balaban,  head  of  Balaban  &  Katz, 
purchased  $50,000  in  Bonds. 

No  more  War  Bond  rallies  or  outdoor  bally- 
hoos  is  the  slogan  at  Loew's  New  York  theatres 
from  now  on,  the  circuit  announced  last  week. 
They  attract  large  crowds  that  like  to  be  enter- 
tained but  no  Bond  buyers,  it  was  said.  Sey- 
mour Mayer  and  Dominic  Barreca,  district 
managers,  with  a  group  of  Brooklyn  managers 
and  publicity  men,  went  ahead  with  arrang- 
ments  for  Brooklyn's  Million  Dollar  War  Bond 
show  at  Loew's  Metropolitan  theatre,  on  Fri- 
day midnight.  Major  William  O'Dwyer,  U.S.A. 
Brooklyn's  former  District  Attorney  is  the 
chairman  of  a  cooperating  citizen's  committee 
that  includes  leading  professional  and  business 
men  in  Brooklyn. 

Fifteen  Broadway  stars  along  with  Charles 
Laughton  and  Ann  Rutherford,  were  scheduled 
to  attend.  The  scale  of  prices  was:  $1,000 
bond,  one  loge  seat ;  $500  bond,  box  seat ;  $100 
bond,  orchestra  seat;  and  $50  for  the  balcony. 

Bond  Premieres  Used 
In  Connecticut 

Premieres  with  Bond-admission  only  were 
the  second  statewide  headline  project  in  the 
Connecticut  Bond  campaign,  following  the  stars' 
tour,  and  successful  results  were  reported  every- 
where. In  New  Haven  14  banks  and  four  lead- 
ing department  stores  cooperated  in  distribut- 
ing tickets  for  the  "Wake  Island"  premiere  at 
the  Paramount,  September  24th,  with  the  sale 
of  Bonds  of  various  denominations. 

The  30  Connecticut  Warner  houses  issued 
$65,550  in  Bonds,  not  including  Series  F  &  G 
Bonds,  from  September  6th  to  September  12th, 
and  the  15  Massachusetts  houses,  $65,500  in  the 
same  period.  The  whole  zone  sold  $12,208  in 
Stamps.  For  the  same  six  days,  the  Warner 
office  issued  $15,125  in  Bonds,  including  sales 
by  exchanges  and  personal  solicitation  by  vari- 
ous staff  members. 

A  high  mark  for  a  Bond  premiere  was  made 
this  week  at  the  Fox  Wisconsin  theatre,  Mil- 
waukee, where  $2,123,000  was  garnered  at  the 
special  showing  of  "Wake  Island." 

A  War  Bond  premiere  on  Tuesday  was  held 
in  Springfield,  Mass.,  at  the  Paramount  theatre, 
where  "Wake  Island"  was  shown.  Admission 
was  upon  purchase  of  a  War  Bond  with  the 
house  scaled  from  $50  to  $1,000.  All  theatre 
managers  cooperated  in  the  sale  of  the  Bonds. 

Washington's  bond  premiere  of  MGM's  "The 
War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,"  held  at  Loew's 
Capitol  on  Wednesday  night,  was  expected  to 


reap  $500,000  in  Bonds,  with  $425,000  sold  in 
three  days  last  week.  Almost  all  $25  and  $50 
Bonds  had  been  exhausted  and  nearly  half  of 
the  3,400  available  seats  distributed  with  the 
purchase  of  Bonds  were  reported  sold  last  Fri- 
day. 

Safeway  Stores  and  People's  Drugstores  with 
the  purchase  each  of  $50,000  Bonds,  and  Kann's 
department  stores  with  $25,000  Bonds  led  the 
list  of  those  who  were  to  occupy  the  golden 
horseshoe  of  reserved  Bond  purchasers  above 
$1,000.  Edward  Arnold  and  Fay  Bainter,  stars 
of  the  film  about  wartime  Washington,  were 
scheduled  to  appear  in  person. 

Atlanta  Crowds  Theatre 
For  Bond  Opening 

Five  thousand  Atlantans,  stirred  by  a  10-day 
publicity  campaign,  bought  $759,000  worth  of 
War  Bonds  to  pack  the  Fox  Theatre  in  Atlanta 
for  its  Bond  premiere  of  Paramount's  'Wake 
Island"  on  September  17th. 

Balcony  seats  went  three  days  before  for  a 
$25  Bond,  orchestra  seats  at  $50  and  $100  sold 
nearly  as  fast,  and  the  loge  filled  up  with  $1,000 
Bond  buyers.  Fifteen  department  stores,  a 
dozen  banks,  the  post  office  and  two  theatres 
distributed  the  tickets.  The  Fox  Bond  booth 
in  the  lobby  sold  more  than  $10,000  worth  to 
late  comers  the  afternoon  of  the  premiere,  with 
Arthur  Lucas,  president  of  Lucas  &  Jenkins, 
buying  $10,000  more  in  the  name  of  his  Atlanta 
theatres  just  to  be  sure  every  seat  represented 
a  Bond  purchase. 

More  than  $1,500,000  in  War  Bond  sales 
were  realized  as  the  result  of  the  premiere  of 
"Iceland"  at  the  Aladdin  theatre,  Denver. 
Tickets  went  only  to  purchasers  of  at  least  a 
$1,000  Bond,  and  with  1,400  seats  many  of  the 
buyers  bought  $5,000  to  $10,000  worth  each  and 
requested  only  one  of  two  seats.  The  musicians' 
union  furnished  a  20-piece  band,  and  with 
searchlights  and  other  trimmings  the  affair 
looked  like  a  Hollywood  opening.  Numerous 
other  theatres  will  follow  up  with  similar  Bond 
and  Stamp  shows,  with  admissions  scaled  down. 

A  War  Bond  preview  was  scheduled  for  the 
Paramount  theatre  in  Seattle  this  week,  with 
admission  to  all  purchasers  of  $25  Bonds,  and 
reserved  loge  tickets  for  buyers  of  $1,000  Bonds. 
"Wake  Island"  was  to  be  the  attraction,  and  a 
list  of  10  or  more  night  club  and  vaudeville 
acts  and  four  bands  were  to  be  added  to  the 
program.  Among  the  theatre  industry  person- 
nel who  purchased  $1,000  seats  were:  Frank  L. 
Newman,  John  Danz,  John  Hamrick,  John  Von- 
Herberg,  Al  Rosenberg,  Jack  T.  Sheffield  and 
B.  F.  Shearer. 


Wingart  Scrap  Drive  Aide 

Earl  Wingart  of  the  Eastern  Public  Rela- 
tions Committee  staff,  has  been  loaned  to  the 
War  Activities  Committee  to  handle  publicity 
for  the  October  scrap  collection  drive,  in  which 
the  industry  is  cooperating  with  the  War  Pro- 
duction Board.  Mr.  Wingart  is  now  on  loan 
to  the  WAC  for  the  September  War  Bond 
drive. 


Scrapping  Theatre  Sign 

The  50-foot  vertical  sign  on  the  Knicker- 
bocker, downtown  subsequent  run  house  in  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio,  will  be  dismantled  and  donated  to 
the  scrap  metal  drive  by  William  and  John 
Pancake,  owners  of  the  theatre. 


Bergin  in  Army 

Robert  Bergin,  assistant  at  the  Elm  Street 
theatre,  Worcester,  Mass.,  for  many  years,  is 
now  in  the  Army,  and  has  been  replaced  by- 
Margaret  Vellnave,  former  cashier. 


18,000  Children 
At  Scrap  Shows 

The  Fanchon  and  Marco- St.  Louis  Amuse- 
ment Company  drive  for  scrap  brought  in  729,- 
232  pounds  of  iron  and  65,570  pounds  of  rub- 
ber. About  18,000  children  participated  and 
received  free  admission  at  29  theatres  to  anj 
all-western  program  a  week  ago  Saturday. 

Two  ponies  and  War  Bonds  were  awarded 
The  scrap  was  sold  for  $3,000,  which  was  do- 
nated to  the  USO. 

Stanley  C.  Kozanowski,  owner  of  the  Ri 
voli  theatre,  Buffalo,  and  a  member  of  the  j 
Buffalo  War  Council,  added  another  half-tor 
to  the  city's  rubber  scrap  pile  by  contributing! 
the  rubber  matting  from  his  theatre  lobby. 

Ushers  and  the  house  staff  of  Shea's  Grea  j 
Lakes  theatre  in  Buffalo  are  hanging  theii 
clothes  on  hooks,  having  turned  in  their  stee  il 
lockers  to  aid  the  scrap  metal  drive. 

"This  Is  the  Army" 
To  Tour  Country 

"This  Is  the  Army,"  Irving  Berlin's  all: 
soldier  show,  which  will  give  its  last  perform 
ance  in  New  York  Saturday  night,  Septembe; 
26th,  will  begin  its  cross-country  tour  with 
two-week  run  in  Washington,  beginning  Tues 
day,  September  29th.  The  show  has  schedule ; 
a  15-week  tour  of  the  country  with  bookin 
solid  until  January  16,  1943,  it  was  announcecH 

Philadelphia  will  get  two  weeks,  Baltimori 
one,  Boston  two,  Cleveland,  Cincinnati  and  Sj 
Louis  two  each,  as  bookings  now  stand,  an1 
numerous  other  cities  are  asking  for  engage 
ments,  it  is  said.  Virtually  every  large  cit 
in  the  country  is  expected  to  be  included  ij 
the  tour.  The  show  will  open  at  the  Mastbaui '; 
theatre,  Philadelphia,  October  26th,  proceed  j; 
going  to  Army  Emergency  Relief.  Openinj; 
night  top  price  will  be  $10.  Thereafter  seal  I 
will  be  scaled  from  $1.25  to  $4.50. 

"Wake  Island"  Print 
For  Men  in  Alaska 

At  the  request  of  M.  M.  Witherspoon,  Nav; 
Recreation  Officer  for  the  Alaska  sector,  Par;i 
mount  will  provide  a  print  of  "Wake  Islanc' 
for  service  men  stationed  at  Kodiak,  Neil  A{ 
new,  vice-president  in  charge  of  Paramour  j 
distribution,  said  this  week. 

The  print  will  be  shipped  from  the  company 
Hollywood  laboratory  to  the  Seattle  exchang 
where  it  will  be  picked  up  by  a  service  plar 
and  flown  to  Kodiak. 


Prints  for  Army,  Navy 

"America  Sings  with  Kate  Smith,"  the  con 
munity  sing  short  subject,  which  is  current  b< 
ing  released  throughout  the  country,  will  be  sei 
out  in  special  16mm  prints  for  presentation  i 
U.  S.  Army  and  Navy  stations  all  over  the  worl- 
according  to  Russell  Birdwell  and  Associate 
Both  Miss  Smith  and  Ted  Collins,  who  supe 
vised  the  picture,  donated  their  services.  Tl 
proceeds  go  to  the  United  Service  Organizatio 


Dinner  for  Grady 

The  Cincinnati  Variety  Club  will  tender 
testimonial  dinner  Monday  to  James  J.  Grad 
who  recently  was  promoted  from  branch  ma 
ager  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox  there  to  di 
trict  manager,  comprising  territory  of  Ci 
cinnati,  Cleveland  and  Buffalo. 


Just  when  MrG'M's  Great  Eight  was 
howling  its  way  into  box- office  history 


MORE  BUNDLES 


FROM  LEO! 


JUDY 

GARLAND 
'FOR  ME 
AND  MY 
GAL" 


Now  it's  THE 


'OMAHA 
TRAIL" 

WESTERN    \\  "FYES  M 

thrill     I  \  The  NIGHT" 

EDWARD 

ARNOLD 

ANN 

HARDING 


TERRIFIC 
TWELVE! 


I  ROLLED  UP  MY  SLEEVES! 

An  all-out  effort  at  the  M-G-M  Studios 
Has  made  it  possible  to  enlarge 
Our  First  Group  of  1942-43  releases 
From  Eight  to  Twelve  Productions! 
It  was  the  wish  of  our  customers 
To  buy  the  maximum  number 
Of  pictures  at  one  time 
Because  of  the  stress  of  current  problems 
And  the  restrictions  on  transportation 
Involved  in  buying  and  selling  film. 
Trade-shown  and  acclaimed 
Our  first  group  for  the  new  season 
Truly  justifies  the  description  j 

THE  TERRIFIC  TWELVI 


Vou  get  your 
wish1/' 


Let's  conserve!' 


i 


JUDY  JOINS  THE 
ERRIFIC  TWELVE! 

e  trade  is  all  excited.  Here's  the  kind  of  reviews 
:  y're  printing:  Film  Daily  says:  "Ranks  with  the  best 
:  all  musicals.  Leo  has  something  to  roar  about."  A 
i  er-musical  that's  got  heart-tug,  patriotic  fervor  and 
:  wed  Judy  at  her  best.  New  personality  Gene  Kelly 

"Pal  Joey"  stage  fame)  is  the  industry's  next  big  star. 

JUDY  GARLAND 
I  OR  ME  AND  MY  GAL' 

*  George  Murphy  •  Gene  Kelly  •  Marta  Eggerth  •  Ben  Blue  •  Screen 
'I  by  Richard  Sherman,  Fred  Finklehoffe  and  Sid  Silvers  •  Original 
it  by  Howard  Emmett  Rogers  •  Directed  by  BUSBY  BERKELEY 
*l  Jced  by  ARTHUR   FREED      •      A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 

• 

i  TOP  MYSTERY 

oins  The  Terrific  Twelve! 

'  :YES  IN  THE  NIGHT" 

'  is  all  the  earmarks  of  a  winner,  should  hit  the  high 
gr  ses"  says  Showmen's  Trade  Review.  Keeps  you  on  the 
9  -  of  your  seat.  Startling  as  a  scream! 

IN  THE  NIGHT"  with  Edward  Arnold  •  Ann  Harding  •  Donna  Reed 
'-e  rine  Emery  .  Horace  McNally  •  Allen  Jenkins  •  Stanley  C.  Ridges 
*•  aid  Denny  •  John  Emery  •   Friday,  Played  by  Himself  •  Screen 
fc  by  Guy  Trosper  and  Howard  Emmett  Rogers      •      Directed  by 
•*  ZINNEMANN  •  Produced  by  JACK  CHERTOK  •  An  M-G-M  Picture 


— it's  a  Lurong — 
a  sarong  with 
allure. 


HEDY  JOINS  THE 
TERRIFIC  TWELVE! 

"The  most  gorgeous  Tondelayo  of  theatrical  memory" 
is  the  way  Hollywood  Reporter  describes  her.  Variety  pre- 
dicts: "Should  be  one  of  year's  big  grossers."  Hedy  is 
sensational  and  Walter  Pidgeon's  strong,  silent  char- 
acter will  delight  his  "Miniver"  fans.  Watch  M-G-M's 
powerful  promotion! 

HEDY  LAMARR 
WALTER  PIDGEON 
WHITE  CARGO 


with  Frank  Morgan  •  Richard  Carlson  •  Reginald  Owen  •  Henry  O'Neill 
Screen  Play  by  Leon  Gordon  •  From  the  Stage  Play  by  Leon  Gordon 
Based  on  a  Novel  by  Ida  Vera  Simonton  •  Directed  by  RICHARD  THORPE 
Produced   by  VICTOR  SAVILLE      •      A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 


WESTERN  THRILL 

Joins  the  Terrific  Twelve! 

"OMAHA  TRAIL" 

Daily  Variety  describes  this  M-G-M  Western  drama  the 
way  your  patrons  want  it:  "Plenty  of  entertainment  for 
the  action  fans." 

"THE  OMAHA  TRAIL"  with  James  Craig  •  Pamela  Blake  •  Dean  Jagger 
Edward  Ellis  •  Chill  Wills  •  Donald  Meek  •  Screen  Play  by  Jesse  Lasky,  Jr. 
and  Hugo  Butler    •    Directed  by  EDWARD  BUZZELL    •    Produced  by 
JACK  CHERTOK  •  A  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Picture 


KM 

]  BILLION,-;W^ 

for  the  U.S.A.  J 


(Next  page  explains  why  M-G-M  5  The  Talk  of  the  Trade!  (tpjf 


GOLD-MINE 


TERRIFIC 


i  wclve: 


Our  First  Goldmine  Group  in  1942-43 

A  line-up  to  be  proud  of.  Many  of  them  have  already 
established  themselves  in  early  engagements.  Read  and  Reap! 

JUDY  GARLAND 
"FOR  ME  AND  MY  GAL" 


HEDY  LAMARR 
WALTER  PIDGEON 
"WHITE  CARGO" 


"OMAHA  TRAIL" 
Western  Thrills 


EYES  IN  THE  NIGHT" 
Edward  Arnold 
Ann  Harding 


OPEN  WAR  FLARES  IN  BRITAIN 
OVER  FILM  RENTAL  ISSUE 


fflh-Fox  Target  in  Strug- 
gle for  Power  Between 
U.S.  and  British  Interests 

oy  AUBREY  FLANAGAN 

in  London 

The  thunder  of  Nazi  artillery  besieging 
the  fortifications  of  Stalingrad,  or  the 
noise  of  two-ton  bombs  whining  down  to 
the  armament  factories  of  Mannheim, 
hardly  dimmed  the  explosive  force  with 
which,  after  the  post-vacation  meeting  of 
the  Cinematograph  Exhibitors  Associa- 
tion General  Council,  war  blazed  forth 
last  week  from  the  exhibitor  camp  against 
the  distributors.  The  battle,  foreshadowed 
in  these  columns,  is  on. 

Superficially  the  battle,  ugly  as  it  is,  dis- 
tasteful to  many  in  the  shadow  ot  a  greater, 
more  urgent  war,  is  a  restricted  battle,  and 
an  attack  direct  and  heady  against  Twentieth 
Century-Fox.  In  closer  actuality  it  is  the 
first  skirmish  in  a  fight  between  the  distrib- 
utor and  the  exhibitor  on  the  general  ques- 
tion of  film  hire. 

Sunday  bookings  seem  at  a  quick  glance 
to  be  the  pivotal  point  of  dissension,  the 
Danzig  in  the  dispute.  More  penetrating 
students  see  beneath  the  surface.  They  are 
persuaded  that  it  is  film  rentals  in  general 
which  are  the  cause  of  the  pother,  find 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  a  mere  initial 
scapegoat,  and  smell  a  trail  of  powder  trac- 
ing back  beyond  CEA  headquarters  to  the 
offices  of  the  major  theatre  circuits. 

See  Struggle  Between 
U.  S.,  British  Trades 

They  interpret  it  all  as  the  first  brushes 
in  a  struggle  for  power  between  the  XL  S. 
industry  and  its  British  counterpart. 

To  what  does  the  surface  reduce  itself? 
ITo  the  established  fact  that  Twentieth  Cen- 
|tury-Fox  have  put  into  operation  a  policy 
iof  booking  no  more  fi1m~  for  a  Sunday  only. 
According  to  a  CEA  member  they  have  re- 
fused to  book  any  more  films  at  a  flat  rental. 
According  to  the  CEA  they  have  altered 
their  trading  policy  so  far  as  to  ask,  not 
percentage  for  a  program,  but  percentage 
£or  the  first  feature  and  a  flat  rental  for  the 
supporting  film. 

Against  this,  then,  the  CEA  have  put 
heir  heavy  artillery  into  action.  Individual 
nembers  of  the  CEA  already  have  been  in- 
structed to  sit  tight  and  pay  no  percentage 
or  Sunday  films.  A  special  committee  has 
»een  set  up  and  is  to  go  further  into  the 
natter  of  formally  instructing  exhibitors 
low  to  take  action.  The  old  ■'■'yellow  pam- 
shlets,"  issued  with  such  deadly  effect 
.gainst  the  Kinematograph  Renters  Society 
rtien  grading  was  tried  out,  and  against 
iletro  when  they  asked  70  per  cent  and  in- 
reased  admissions  for  "Gone  With  the 
"Vind,"  are  to  be  revived  and  passed  to  the 
and  file  as  political  and  commercial 
munition. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  are  chosen,  in 
bet,  as  the  villains  of  the  piece.  They  are 
lleged — with  uncertain  accuracy — to  be  the 


ASK  MORE  PRINTS  FOR 
TROOPS  IN  ENGLAND 


senfafives  in  London  to  cooperate  in 
supplying  more  prints  and  apparatus 
-zr  s~cv.''~c  -  ~s  ~z  r~e-'z~-  —zzzi 
in  Great  Britain. 

Wartime  demands  have  limited 
laboratory  work,  but  there  is  a  def- 
inite shortage  of  16mm  projectors,  it 


ring  leaders  of  the  revolt  against  one-day 


bookings.  Francis  Harley,  one  of  the  most 
respected  and  popular  Americans  in  Great 
Britain,  and  in  the  motion  picture  industry 
itself,  is  pilloried  for  his  "anti-exhibitor 
line,"  and  the  ashes  of  two  dead  executives, 
Sidney  R.  Kent  and  Walter  Hutchinson,  are 
stirred  to  set  in  relief  Harley's  undoing  of 
their  good  work.  Probably  nobody  is  more 
surprised  than  "Bob"'"  Harley. 


CEA  Committee 
Reports  on  Issue 

The  decisions  taken  followed  a  sedulous 
examination  of  the  situation  by  a  CEA  com- 
mittee, and  acceptance  of  their  recommen- 
dations made  in  the  form  of  a  report.  The 
report  was  notable  for  more  things  than  its 
mere  declaration  of  war  on  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox. It  was  distinctive,  for  instance,  in 
the  appreciation  it  expressed  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  circuits  had  stood  firm  in  the 
matter  of  Sunday  bookings,  a  matter  "of 
vital  importance  to  the  whole  trade." 

Efforts  on  the  part  of  the  KRS  to  under- 
mine the  CEA  by  direct  appeal  to  the  cir- 
cuits were  noted,  efforts  which,  as  already 
reported  in  Motion  Picture  Herald,  were 
not  only  abortive,  but  achieved  the  previ- 
ously impracticable,  the  solid  unity  of  the 
major  theatre  groups,  and  a  solidarity  no 
less  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  CEA.  The 
circuits,  in  fact,  have  been  of  estimable 
service  to  the  CEA. 

Economies  Behind 
Distributor  Policy 

CEA  on  Sunday  films  is  tactical  rather  than 
crucial.  One  weakening  here,  in  the  ex- 
hibitor and  circuit  belief,  would  mean  a 
weakening  of  the  whole  front  on  film  rent- 
als. Despite  pleas  of  public  mindedness,  ap- 
peals to  the  exhibitor  to  play  fair  with  the 
public,  raising  the  question  of  the  war  effort 
and  public  morale,  it  is  obvious  that  the  real 
reason  back  of  the  renters'  new  Sunday  film 
policy,  and  a  reason  they  might  well  claim 
as  legitimate,  is  an  economic  one. 

They  know,  thanks  to  the  open  bragging 
of  exhibitors  and  the  flaunted  balance  sheets 
of  the  circuits,  that  the  box  office  is  in  boom, 
and  they  consider  that  they  are  entitled  to  a 
share  in  the  increased  re\  ^  —Cj 

It  is.  of  course,  a  statutory" "■.  __nhat  the 


KRS  as  a  society  have  no  Sunday  film  pol- 
icy, because,  as  recorded  in  these  pages,  they 
have  failed  to  agree  on  one.  They  have  no 
formal  film  hire  policy  because,  so  they  claim 
— and  most  determined  in  insistence  on  this 
have  been  Twentieth  Century-Fox — they 
have  no  constitutional  right  to  formulate  or 
guide  the  trading  of  members.  But  there  is 
no  small  measure  of  agreement  between  the 
stronger  members  of  the  KRS  on  certain 
fundamentals  ;  that  is  an  open  secret. 

Circuits  of  Value  to 
Cause  of  CEA 

That  not  one  but  three  major  distributors 
at  a  recent  meeting  announced  their  inten- 
tion no  longer  to  book  films  for  Sunday  only 
is  also  an  established  and  duly  recorded  fact. 
The  exhibitor  policy,  on  the  other  hand, 
and  by  exhibitor  is  meant  circuits  and  in- 
dependents alike,  is  emphatic,  clear  and 
united. 

A  notable  factor,  too,  in  the  present  action 
is  the  hint  on  the  part  of  the  CEA  that  a 
renter  marketing  a  newsreel  is  more  vulner- 
able as  a  target  for  exhibitor  attack  than 
one  which  doesn't.  The  Fox  Movietone 
News  is,  of  course,  widely  shown,  not  only 
in  independent  houses,  but  on  Arthur  Rank's 
Gaumont-British  circuit.  Mr.  Rank's  own 
Gaumont-British  Xews  also  is  widely  shown, 
not  only  on  the  G-B  screens  and  should  be 
open  for  booking  if  there  is  a  boycott  of 
Movietone.  So  would  the  Pathe  Xews,  asso- 
ciated as  it  is  with  Associated  British. 

The  fact  that  Max  Milder  of  ABPC  is 
also  chief  of  Warners  here  and  C.  M.  Woolf 
of  Gaumont-British  is  head  of  General  Film 
Distributors  may  suggest  complications  and 
distributor  entanglements.  It  is  largely  a 
question  of  which  has  the  last  word,  the 
distributor  or  the  circuit  chief. 

Some  Eager  for 
Peace  Pact 

Obviously  the  theatre  groups,  in  their 
forceful  attitude  to  the  KRS  on  Sunday 
bookings,  have  been  of  inestimable  service 
to  the  CEA  and  its  members.  Whether  they 
would  ask  something  in  return  is  beside  the 
point.  The}-  are  in  a  position  to  demand  it, 
inasmuch  as  they  command  the  field. 

It  is  likely  that  despite  Warners  hold  on 
ABPC  affairs,  it  might  be  the  Rank  inter- 
ests which  come  out  the  stronger,  since  their 
holdings  amount  to  the  distribution  of  a 
most  commercial  brand  of  British  product, 
the  handling  of  Universal's  pictures,  the 
control  of  an  excellent  newsreel,  a  near 
monopoly  of  studio  space  and  production  in- 
terests at  Denham,  Pinewood,  Islington  and 
Shepherd's  Bush,  technical  and  educational 
film  concerns,  and  some  645  picture  houses 
up  and  down  the  country,  is  a  fairly  easy 
gamble. 

Those  are  the  elements  of  the  battle,  the 
factors  and  interests  involved.  There  are 
many  within  the  industry  with  no  battle  axe 
to  grind  who  regret  the  gunpowder  at  such 
a  moment.  There  is  even  a  possibility  that 
more  grentle  counsels  may  prevail  and  over 
the  table  top  difficulties  may  be  resolved  on 
other  lines  than  open  war. 


32 


MOTION    PI'CTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


Mexico  City  Eases 
Theatre  Tax  Load 


Modifies  System  Based  on 
Capacity  Attendance  at 
All  Performances 

by  LUIS  BECERRA  CELIS 

/;/  Mexico  City 

What  is  expected  eventually  to  become 
a  general  modification  of  the  form  in 
which,  the  Mexico  City  Government  cal- 
culates its  theatre  tax  is  forecast  by  the 
change  in  this  system  in  favor  of  the 
Cines  Olimpia,  Palacio  and  Iris,  first  run 
houses,  and  the  Bucareli  and  Alhambra, 
subsequent  runs,  among  the  most  import- 
ant theatres  here.  This  benefit,  it  is  ascer- 
tained, is  designed  to  test  the  modifica- 
tion, for  the  tax  law  as  it  now  stands 
cannot  be  changed  at  present,  Mayor 
Javier  Rojo  Gomez  explains,  in  advising 
these  five  exhibitors  that  the  tax  calcu- 
lating method  has  been  modified  for  their 
theatres. 

This  modification  provides  that  the  mu- 
nicipal tax  of  these  theatres  be  figured  on  a 
fewer  number  of  seats  than  the}'  actuallv 
have.  The  tax  for  some  time  has  been 
calculated  upon  the  assumption  that  the 
theatres  have  a  full  house  every  day  and 
that  their  box  office  returns  always  match 
the  number  of  their  seats,  a  thing  that 
seldom  happens  more  than  once  a  week, 
Sunday,  the  big  theatre  day  here,  and  in- 
deed throughout  Mexico.  Exhibitors  have 
complained  that  this  tax  calculation  is  unfair. 
They  say  that  standing  room  only  every  day 
is  too  much  like  heaven  to  include  them. 

This  lower  seatage  plan  for  the  five  thea- 
tres is  expected  to  reduce  their  taxes  ma- 
terially. 

Two  Films  To  Feature 
Composers9  Work 

Special  compositions  by  Julian  Carrillo 
and  Miguel  Bernal  Jimenez,  leading  Mexican 
composers,  are  to  be  featured  in  two  pictures 
which  will  deal  with  the  theme  of  Our  Lady 
of  Guadalupe,  patron  saint  of  Mexico,  whose 
Shrine  here  daily  attracts  thousands  of 
pilgrims  from  all  over  Mexico  and  abroad. 

Mr.  Carrillo,  who  some  years  aeo  at- 
tracted international  attention  with  the  pre- 
sentation of  his  composition,  the  13th  Sound, 
a  musical  innovation,  is  engaged  on  "La 
Virgen  Morena"  ("The  Brunette  Virgin"), 
as  St.  Guadalupe  is  known.  He  is  expected 
to  introduce  the  Sound  in  his  score.  Mr. 
Bernal  Jimenez,  who  also  is  an  operatic 
composer,  is  doing  the  music  for  "Reina  de 
Reinas"  ("Queen  of  Queens"). 

Rene  Cai strati  Garza  and  Julio  Bracho, 
winner  of  the  Mexican  "Oscar"  as  the  best 
director  of  1941,  are  producing  "Queen  of 
Queens,"  while  Gabriel  Soria,  winner  of 
several  gold  medals  for  production  and  di- 
rection in  Mexico,  is  to  make  "The  Brunette 
Virgin."  Both  pictures  are  scheduled  to  be 
released  for  world  premieres  here  on  Decem- 
ber 12th,  Guadalupe  Day. 

At  last  there  has  appeared  a  Mexican  film 
actress,  who  fights  bulls  in  public  as  her 


MEXICAN  PRODUCTION 
MAY  HIT  80  FILMS 

The  total  of  1942  production  by 
Mexican  producers  is  expected  to 
reach  80,  it  is  indicated  in  Mexico 
City.  If  the  production  list  equals 
that  figure,  a  new  high  for  Mexican 
production  in  any  one  year  will  have 
been  reached.  Of  the  total,  40  have 
been  or  are  being  made  at  the 
CLASA  studio,  owned  by  Alberto 
Pani.  Much  of  the  production  in- 
crease has  been  due  to  the  financing 
of  pictures  by  Mexican  banks,  it  is 
said. 


main  business,  who  draws  the  line  at  being 
kissed  or  kissing  on  the  screen.  She  is 
Conchita  Cintron,  a  Peruvian  who  is  part 
American,  whose  exploits  in  the  arena  have 
made  her  known  in  the  United  States,  who 
has  just  ended  a  successful  season  in  Mexico 
and  is  getting  ready  for  another  this  fall. 

In  her  contract  with  Jose  (Pepe)  Ortiz, 
one  of  the  best  of  Mexican  bull  fighters,  who 
has  become  a  film  producer,  for  the  leading 
feminine  role  in  his  first  production,  "Mara- 
villa  del  Toreo"  ("Wonders  of  Bull  Fight- 
ing") is  a  clause  that  exempts  her  from 
kissing  of  any  kind.  La  Cintron  insisted 
upon  this  clause  before  signing  the  contract. 

No  other  Mexican  film  actress  ever  thought 
of  such  a  thing,  or  if  she  did  she  did  not 
express  herself  about  it  in  the  contract. 

Free  French  Honor 
Film  Worker  Militia 

All  able  bodied  men  of  military  age  and 
women  members  of  the  National  Cinemato- 
graphic Industry  Workers  Union  who  have 
been  receiving  systematic  army  training  here 
daily  during  the  past  several  weeks,  under 
the  direction  of  those  of  their  fellows  who 
have  had  military  experience,  some  of  them 
in  the  United  States,  have  received  a  singular 
honor  from  the  Free  French  Committee  of 
Mexico.  The  Committee  presented  these 
film  militia  members  with  a  flag  for  each 
of  their  four  battalions  at  a  special  ceremonv 
here,  attended  by  thousands. 

V 

Protests  on  the  ground  that  the  order  is 
unworkable  have  been  made  by  radio  sta- 
tions throughout  Mexico  to  the  Communica- 
tions Ministry  on  its  demand  that  they 
broadcast  news  bulletins  and  other  news  in- 
formation simultaneously.  This  broadcasting 
plan,  the  Ministry  explained,  would  facilitate 
censoring  these  programs.  The  stations  say 
it  would  spoil  the  programs  by  too  much 
overlapping. 


Milestone  Picture  Set 

Lewis  Milestone  will  direct  the  untitled  pic- 
ture about  Russian  life  that  Lillian  Hellman 
is  now  writing  for  production  by  Samuel  Gold- 
wyn..  •  f  '•    .,    which   will    star  Teresa 

'•nn,       __p^..ico  production  in  January. 


"Saludos  "  Sets 
Records  in  5 
Rio  Houses 

by  ALFREDO  C.  MACHADO 

in  Rio  de  Janeiro 

"A16,  Amigos"  ("Saludos"),  the  first  cartoon 
produced  by  Walt  Disney  with  a  South  Ameri- 
can background,  is  breaking  all  records  at  five 
theatres,  the  Vital  Ramos  de  Castro  circuit  has 
announced. 

But  "Aid,  Amigos"  is  short,  and  RKO  com- 
pleted the  two-hour  show  with  "Unexpected 
Father,"  with  Anne  Shirley  and  Charles  Co- 
burn.  While  this  "filler"  was  being  shown,  the 
audience  kept  shouting  "We  want  the  parrot! 
We  want  the  parrot"!  and  only  when  Jose 
Carioca,  the  new  character  created  by  Disney, 
appeared  in  the  screen  was  peace  finally  re- 
stored. 

The  attendance  has  been  so  great  that  the 
Ramos  de  Castro  houses  (Plaza,  Astoria, 
Olinda,  Ritz  and  Parisienese)  are  now  showing 
only  the  Disney  film,  in  a  one  and  a  half-hour 
show  completed  with  newsreels  and  short  sub- 
jects. The  Brazilian  sequence  of  "Saludos" 
("Aquarela  do  Brash"')  was  enthusiastically 
applauded.  Cine  Plaza  is  showing  this  part  on 
its  double  screen,  which  hasn't  been  used  for 
years. 

Admission  prices  for  the  film  were  increased 
to  about  30  cents  against  a  normal  price  of 
25  cents.  The  profit  from  the  opening  day's 
business  was  presented  by  RKO  to  Cidade  das 
Meninas  (Girls'  Town)  esponsored  by  Mme. 
Darcy  Vargas,  wife  of  the  President  of  Brazil. 
V 

The  local  police  order  that  all  theatres  close 
at  10  P.  M.,  made  effective  immediately  after 
five  Brazilian  ships  were  sunk  by  submarines, 
was  suspended  two  days  later. 

The  city  again  is  living  its  normal  life,  and 
although  the  traffic  of  certain  cars  has  been 
prohibited  and  taxis  are  fewer  than  ever,  the- 
atres are  still  doing  big  business. 

Last  week,  Empresa  Luiz  Severiano  Ribeiro  j 
opened  a  new  house,  Vitoria  (Victory),  with  ! 
Chaplin's  "O  Grande  Ditador,"  finally  shown 
in  Rio.  The  picture  was  very  successful  and  , 
was  presented  simultaneously  in  six  theatres 
(Vitoria,   Capitolio,   Sao   Luiz,   Carioca,  Ipa- 
nema  and  America),  with  five  performances 
daily  in  each  house.  At  the  Vitoria  and  Capi- 
tolio, and  the  Carioca  and  America,  the  same 
copy  was  shown  in  both  houses.  Theatres  are 
in  the  same  block,  and  the  cans  of  film  were 
carried  from  one  to  another. 

Current  hits  are:  "Pandemonio"  ("Hellza- 
popin,"  Universal)  ;  "Duas  Vezes  Meu" 
("Two-faced  Woman,  MGM)  ;  "O  Amor  qui 
Nao  Morreu"  ("Smilin'  Through,"  MGM)  : 
"O  Vendaval  de  Paixoes"  ("Reap  the  Wild 
Wind,"  Paramount),  and  "Pernas  Provocan- 
tes"  ("Roxie  Hart,"  20th  Century-Fox).  Other 
successes  were  "A  Sombra  dos  Acusados" 
("The  Shadow  of  the  Thin  Man,"  MGM); 
"Invasao  dos  Barbaras"  ("The  Invaders,"  Co- 
lumbia), and  "Dios  Aviadores  Avariados" 
("Ridin'  High,"  Universal). 

The  Department  of  Press  and  Propaganda 
has  issued  special  instructions  to  be  followed 
in  case  of  air  raids.  These  instructions,  in  the 
form  of  trailers,  are  being  included  in  the 
program  of  all  theatres. 

V 

A  new  company  to  distribute  Mexican  pic- 
tures in  Brazil  has  been  organized  here.  It  is 
the  Sociedade  Anonima  Distribuidora  Azteca, 
and  its  first  picture  will  be  "O  Policial  Descon- 
hecido,"  a  production  of  Posa  Filme,  with  Can- 
tiflas,  Gloria  Marin  and  Mapy  Cortes. 


e  C  ~  £  ~  Z  S 


2  6 


:  -  2 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


33 


CANADA  TIGHTENS  CONTROL 
ON  FILM  SALES  PRACTICE 


Trade  Board  Order  Sets 
Rules  for  Selling  New 
Season's  Product 

by  W.  M.  GLADISH 

in  Toronto 

Metier.  t;c:ure  sales  practices  ir.  Can- 
ada were  placed  under  stricter  Govern- 
ment control  on  Monday  when  an  admin- 
istrative order  from  the  Wartime  Prices 
and  Trade  Board  set  regulations  for  the 
grouping,  designation  and  selling  con- 
ditions for  1942-43  pictures. 

Price  controls  were  not  placed  specifically 
on  film  rentals.  But  clearances,  run.  exhibi- 
tor priority  and  other  terms  must  conform 
with  contracts  in  effect  during  a  basic  pe- 
riod defined  as  up  to  October  11th,.  last 
year,  for  1941-42  pictures  or  during  the 
1940-41  season. 

Basic  contracts  are  further  denned  as  a 
group  of  not  less  than  six  pictures.  Group- 
ings may  not  be  conditioned  upon  each  other, 
and  all  designations,  groupings  and  selling 
conditions  are  subject  to  Government  re- 
view. The  Administrator  of  Theatres  and 
Fflms  receives  wide  discretionary  powers 
over  motion  picture  deals,  and,  according 
to  Toronto  trade  sources,  has  effective  con- 
trol over  price  as  well  as  other  conditions. 

Order  Green  Light  for 
Canadian  Industry 

The  order  was  a  green  light  for  the  turn 
industry  in  Canada  to  go  ahead  with  busi- 
ness for  the  new  season.  Administrator's 
Order  "A"  of  the  Wartime  Prices  and 
Trade  Board,  effective  September  21st,  pro- 
vided both  comprehensive  and  definite  gov- 
ernmental control  of  film  entertainment  to 
implement  the  general  policies  incorporated 
in  the  previous  Board  Order  Xo.  99. 

The  new  regulations,  long  delayed  by  the 
Federal  authorities  at  Ottawa,  were  brought 
into  effect  even  before  trade  executives  had 
an  opportunity  to  study  the  provisions.  But 
official  information  from  R.  G.  McMullen, 
Administrator  of  Theatres  and  Films,  To- 
ronto, made  it  plain  that  neither  the  distribu- 
tors nor  the  independent  exhibitors  could 
claim  victory. 

The  latest  order — some  call  it  the  new 
order,  without  the  capital  '"O" — released 
autumn  trade  activities  and  ended  anxiety 
on  the  part  of  distributing  executives  who 
 wanted  "to  get  going"'  on  new  season  com- 

rmitments.  The  Board  failed  to  see  eye-to- 
eye  with  the  executives  on  the  definition  of 
/"basic  contract"  and  set  October  11,  1941. 
as  the  date  limit  for  rental  contracts  which 
cold  be  the  basis  for  future  dealings. 
The  exchanges,  it  is  known,  had  wanted 
1  1941-42  contracts  classed  as  the  founda- 
on.  or,  as  an  alternative,   all  contracts 
igned  before  February  4th  last,  the  date 
on  which  they  had  first  learned  that  film 
entals  were  to  be  under  the  control  of  the 
A  artime  Board.  Theatre  admissions  previ- 
usly  had  been  pegged  as  of  the  four-week 
liase  period  September  15th  to  October  11th. 
The  organized  independents  had  protested 


I  ir 


URGES  KEENER  SELLING 
TO  OFFSET  DIMOUT 

Exploitation  to  catch  the  eyes  of 
pedestrians  in  daytime  must  be  in- 
creased to  offset  dimout  losses  of 
night  lighting  and  display,  managers 
of  the  20th  Century  Theatres  Cana- 
dian circuit  were  told  by  Lloyd  Mills, 
circuit  supervisor,  at  their  conven- 
tion in  Toronto  last  week.  He  said 
that  special  daylight  effects  can  be 
used  in  place  of  bright  lights. 

Single  bills,  Mr.  Mills  warned  the 
managers    of   the    Famous  Players 

C5-£~"5"    5~ '  '  =  "5      S'e    5  EC     Of  the 

way  out  in  Canada.  J.  F.  Meyers, 
maintenance  manager,  emphasized 
the  need  tor  conservation.  J.  J. 
Fitzgibbons,  FPC  president  and  Nat 
Taylor,  general  manager  of  20th 
Century,  also  attended. 


against  the  proposal  to  establish  1941-42 
contracts  as  basic.  They  contended  that 
rental  price  and  other  conditions  had  be- 
come less  favorable  to  them  during  the  past 
releasing  period.  The  unaffiliated  indepen- 
dents battled  tor  the  adoption  of  1940-41 
contracts  as  '"basic,"  but  this  recommenda- 
tion was  ignored,  among  others. 

What  the  Administrator  actually  had 
done  was  to  establish  three  bases,  to  cover 
all  contractural  prospects  in  defining  the 
term  "basic  contract."  It  was  (1)  the  con- 
tract for  not  less  than  six  features  for  the 
1940-41  releasing  period;  (2)  for  the  1941- 
42  releasing  period  if  entered  into  on  or  be- 
fore October  11,  1941,  or  (3)  any  contract 
of  the  1941-42  releasing  period  for  which 
the  administrator  had  given  approval.  Ac- 
cording to  the  official  information,  "this  lat- 
ter provision  is  to  make  it  clear  that  the 
administrative  rulings  made  to  date  are  not 
affected  by  the  provisions  of  the  order." 
These  basic  arrangements  cover  much 
ground. 

Question  of  Price  to  Be 
Governed  by  Board 

The  order  then  provided  that  "neither  the 
run.  clearance  nor  priority"'  enjoyed  by  any 
theatre  under  a  basic  contract  could  be 
changed  in  that  theatre  with  respect  to  cor- 
responding product  of  the  same  producer  of 
any  subsequent  releasing  period.  The  price 
of  film  to  the  exhibitor  was  not  mentioned, 
but.  in  this  connection,  it  was  stated  that 
"the  question  of  price  which  might  be 
charged  by  a  distributor  to  an  exhibitor  for 
the  rental  of  product  continues  to  be  gov- 
erned by  the  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade 
Regulations." 

The  control  of  film  rentals  remains,  ac- 
cordingly, with  the  administrator,  who  has 
discretionary  powers  in  official  rulings  when 
individual  disagreements  over  price  changes 
have  been  placed  before  him.  The  records 


show  a  number  of  these  Board  decisions  af- 
fecting situations  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  Film  rentals  are  definitely  under 
control. 

Conditional  Rental 
Deals  Ruled  Out 

In  effect  the  administrator  rapped  distrib- 
utors w-ho  make  the  purchase  of  one  group 
of  product  conditional  upon  another  group. 
He  had  ruled  out  such  conditional  rental 
agreements,  thereby  favoring  some  classes 
of  exhibitors,  particular!}-  subsequent  run 
houses.  It  is  a  matter  of  history,  however, 
that  conditional  contracts  brought  British 
features  to  the  Canadian  screen  in  days 
gone  by.  The  distributor  who  imported  Brit- 
ish product  added  several  of  the  features 
to  groups  of  Hollywood  releases — take  it  or 
leave  it.  Several  exchanges,  with  major 
product  and  also  the  franchise  holders  or 
companies  turning  out  "B"  pictures,  had 
followed  the  plan  of  making  combinations  in 
booking  schedules.  But  all  this  is  now  out 
of  order. 

A  number  of  the  Canadian  distributors 
submitted  their  1942-43  groupings  to  the 
amninistrator  even  before  the  new  order 
was  issued.  Revisions  ahead}-  had  been 
made  on  his  instructions.  One  exchange  de- 
leted an  important  feature  from  its  new 
list  entirely  because  permission  was  not 
granted  to  move  the  picture  to  a  higher 
classification.  It  also  was  known  that  one 
distributor  cut  his  available  new  product  for 
Canada  to  32  features,  said  to  be  a  reduc- 
tion of  20  per  cent,  because  of  the  prospec- 
tive conditions. 

Under  the  new  regulations,  exhibitors  are 
not  permitted  to  juggle  seating  arrange- 
ments in  order  to  effect  admission  price  in- 
creases. The  number,  class,  type  or  location 
of  seats,  in  relation  to  price  scale  must 
be  as  they  were  during  the  basic  period  of 
September  15  to  October  11.  1941.  Eve- 
ning prices  may  be  charged  for  holiday 
matinees  only  on  specified  legal  holidays. 
But  exhibitors  are  permitted  to  drop  the 
holiday  favors  for  patrons  and  still  charge 
advanced  prices  for  New  Year's  Eve  frolics 
providing  they  had  increased  admission  for 
this  performance  last  year.  It  is  too  late  for 
others  to  charge  special  prices. 

Featured  Groupings 
Must  Be  Submitted 

Both  circuit  and  independent  houses  are 
hit  in  the  new  code's  banning  of  premium 
and  contest  inducements  not  in  effect  in  the 
basic  period  of  last  year  or  during  August 
last.  This  second  basic  period  allows  some 
leeway. 

The  official  declaration  that  groupings  of 
new  features  must  be  submitted  to  the 
Board,  "'having  regard  to  the  possibility  that 
the  volume  of  new  product  may  diminish 
substantially  at  some  time  in  the  future  and 
to  the  fact  that  exhibitors'  admission  prices 
are  frozen,"  is  the  only  hint  of  program  re- 
striction. Administrator  McMullen  told 
Motion  Picture  Herald,  in  answer  to  a 
direct  question,  that  the  double  bill  situa- 
tion would  take  care  of  itself. 


34 

"Dandy"  Passes 
Million  Mark 

In  the  first  41  advanced  price  engagements 
completed  or  in  progress  up  to  last  week, 
"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  gross  receipts  passed 
the  $1,000,000  mark,  according  to  a  tabulation 
of  returns  by  the  Warner  Bros,  home  office. 

With  a  view  to  conserving  potential  patro- 
nage for  the  general  release  next  year,  the 
picture  currently  is  playing  only  in  selected 
situations  and  with  no  attempt  to  extend  the 
runs,  it  was  said.  At  the  Hollywood  theatre, 
New  York,  the  picture  is  in  its  17th  week, 
with  approximately  $14,500  grossed  in  the  16th 
week. 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  has  been  set  to  play 
the  Butterfield  Circuit  at  the  $1.10  top  scale, 
Warner  Bros,  announced  Monday.  The  deal  was 
negotiated  by  Roy  Haines,  Vitagraph  vice-presi- 
dent, with  Edward  C.  Beatty,  president  of  But- 
terfield theatres,  in  Detroit  late  last  week. 

Mr.  Haines  returned  Monday  from  a  tour 
that  included  Detroit,  Cleveland  and  Pittsburgh. 

Samuel  Goldwyn's  "The  Pride  of  the  Yan- 
kees" on  Thursday  started  its  11th  week  at  the 
Astor  theatre  in  New  York.  In  its  first  10 
weeks  it  was  reported  to  have  broken  all  house 
record  for  receipts  under  any  policy. 

Universal's  "Pardon  My  Sarong,"  with  the 
comedy  team  of  Abbott  and  Costello  starred,  on 
Wednesday  started  the  fifth  week  of  an  in- 
definite run  at  Loew's  Criterion  in  New  York. 

Columbia's  "The  Talk  of  the  Town"  contin- 
ued to  pile  up  holdovers.  Fourth-week  runs, 
led  by  New  York's  Radio  City  Music  Hall, 
included  Hartford,  Seattle,  Springfield,  Mass., 
and  Cincinnati,  where  besides  a  fourth  week 
at  the  Lyric,  it  also  was  playing  a  third  week 
at  the  Keith.  The  picture  was  in  its  third  week 
in  Atlanta  and  in  its  second  week  in  Terre 
Haute,  San  Diego,  Lincoln,  Springfield,  111., 
Spokane,  Los  Angeles  (day  and  date  at  the 
Hillstreet  and  Pantages  theatre),  Richmond 
(day  and  date  at  the  Byrd  and  State),  Norfolk 
(day  and  date  at  the  Newport  and  Colley), 
Roanoke  and  Fort  Worth. 


Golden  Heads  Expanded 
Warner  Ad  Department 

The  resignation  of  Paul  N.  Lazarus,  Jr.,  di- 
rector of  trade  paper  advertising  and  sales  pro- 
motional activities  for  Warner  Bros.,  was  an- 
nounced Wednesday  by  Mort  Blumenstock,  in 
charge  of  advertising  and  publicity  in  the  east. 
At  the  same  time  Mr.  Blumenstock  announced 
the  creation  of  the  new  post  of  advertising 
manager,  which  will  embrace  all  advertising 
functions,  both  trade  and  consumer,  _  to  be 
headed  by  Gilbert  Golden.  Mr.  Lazarus  is  leav- 
ing the  company  as  of  October  1st  to  join 
Buchanan  &  Co.,  advertising  agency. 

Under  Mr.  Blumenstock's  supervision,  Mr. 
Golden  will  handle  trade,  magazine  and  news- 
paper advertising,  sales  promotion  and  other 
functions  of  the  expanded  department.  The  staff 
is  being  increased,  as  is  the  copywriting  and 
art  personnel  of  Blaine-Thompson  Co.,  adver- 
tising agency  handling  the  Warner  account. 
Mitchell  Rawson,  eastern  publicity  manager, 
continues  to  have  charge  of  press,  radio  and 
other  publicity  activities  of  the  company  under 
the  new  alignment. 


Fight  Springfield  Arcade 

Downtown  theatre  managers  in  Springfield, 
Mass.,  are  joining  real  estate  owners  and  others 
to  fight  the  recent  opening  of  two  penny  arcades 
on  Main  Street.  Opponents  of  the  slot  ma- 
chines contend  that  the  arcades  cheapen  the 
district  and  Mayor  Roger  L.  Putnam,  who 
granted  the  temporary  licenses  for  operation, 
has  promised  to  review  the  evidence,  if  any 
complaints  are  made  to  him  and  to  rescind  the 
licenses  if  he  believes  it  necessary. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

FROM  READERS 


SHOWMAN  CRITICIZES 
VICTORY  FILMS 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald: 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  any  move  that  will 
further  the  aiding  of  the  war  effort.  We  know 
that  the  industry  has  been  out  in  front  on  every 
drive,  but  some  of  these  (Victory  Films)  that 
are  coming  through  seem  to  show  that  there 
must  be  some  amateurs  connected  with  the 
Government  that  know  just  about  as  much 
what  the  public  wants  as  Thurmond  Arnold 
did  on  the  exhibitors'  Consent  Decree. 

Every  theatre  has  a  mixed  audience  and  some 
(of  the  films)  so  reek  with  propaganda  that 
some  of  the  patrons  resent  them.  They  yap 
about  complacency,  on  the  radio  and  in  the 
press  in  the  midwest.  Some  of  the  bureaucrats 
should  come  west  of  the  Hudson  River  and 
find  how  much  complacency  there  is.  I  think 
that  the  people  in  the  small  towns  are  much 
more  intelligent  than  some  of  the  brass  hats 
that  are  not  running  the  war.  Certainly  they 
would  know  that  a  good  educational  short  has 
its  place  and  is  so  accepted,  but  what  they 
don't  like  is  some  of  the  hurrah  that  some  of 
the  commentators  think  is  necessary. — A.  E. 
Hancock,  Columbia  Theatre,  Columbia  City, 
Ind. 


COMMENDS  EDITORIAL 
ON  PRICE  PROBLEM 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

I  wish  to  commend  you  on  your  editorial, 
"Prices  Are  Local,"  in  the  September  5th  is- 
sue of  Motion  Picture  Herald.  You  have  so 
beautifully  set  forth  a  fact  so  very  pertinent  to 
a  current  prevalent  abuse  that  I  cannot  let  it 
pass  unnoticed. 

It  is  impossible  to  predict  the  good  that 
could  come  to  our  industry,  particularly  to  the 
independent  exhibitors,  if  recognition  would  be 
given  by  the  distributors  on  matters  of  this 
kind,  as  set  forth  in  your  editorial. — Hugh 
W.  Bruen,  Bruen's  Whittier  Theatres,  Inc., 
Whittier,  Cal. 

Lightstone  in  Canadian 
Armed  Forces 

Owen  Lightstone,  general  manager  of  Va- 
riety Amusements,  Ltd.,  and  manager  of  1he 
Orpheum  theatre,  Montreal,  is  now  in  the  Ca- 
nadian armed  forces. 

Mr.  Lightstone,  who  appeared  on  the  Mon- 
treal film  scene  in  1940  following  the  death  of 
his  father,  J.  Lightstone,  prominent  Montreal 
film  man,  expects  to  be  attached  to  the  head- 
quarters staff  in  Montreal.  While  her  husband 
is  in  uniform,  Mrs.  Lightstone,  former  Bever- 
lee  Schnitzer,  daughter  of  Edward  Schnitzer, 
eastern  district  manager  for  United  Artist's, 
will  assume  his  management  duties. 


Named  OWI  Channel 

The  Columbia  Broadcasting  System's  "School 
of  the  Air  of  the  Americas"  is  to  be  an  official 
news  channel  for  the  Office  of  War  Informa- 
tion, it  was  announced  last  week  by  Lyman 
Bryson,  CBS  director  of  education.  The  pro- 
gram is  heard  Monday  through  Friday  in  the 
morning.  Mr.  Bryson  said  that  "news,  in- 
formation and  instructions  for  civilian  activities 
to  children,  teachers  and  parents"  would  be 
conveyed  through  the  program  by  the  OWI. 


Raise  Admission  Scale 

Fox  Wisconsin  Theatres  increased  admission 
scales  in  several  situations  in  the  Milwaukee 
area.  In  Janesville,  prices  were  increased  five 
cents  to  a  new  schedule  of  33,  40  and  50  cents. 
In  Menasha.  five-cent  increases  brought  the 
scale  to  25,  40  and  50  cents. 


September    26,  1942 

"Sister  Eileen" 
Premiere  Held 

The  $500,000  War  Bond  world  premiere  of 
Columbia's  production,  "My  Sister  Eileen,"  was 
held  at  Loew's  Ohio  theatre  in  Columbus  Wed- 
nesday night.  Seats  for  the  premiere  were  sold 
at  five  department  stores,  four  other  theatres 
and  five  banks  and  their  17  branches. 

The  premiere  was  sponsored  by  the  Inter- 
club  Council  of  Columbus,  an  organization  of 
10  leading  civic  clubs,  and  had  the  backing  of  I 
every  principal  organization  in  the  city  as  well 
as  the  War  Activities  Committee  of  the  Coun-  \ 
cil.     Eight  other  theatres  ran  special  trailers 
on  the  opening  and  also  carried  lobby  posters.  ,i 
Cards  announcing  the  premiere  were  placed  in  | 
every  Bond  selling  booth  in  Columbus. 

A  special  City  Council  ordinance  permitted  I 
the  Ohio  theatre  to  post  cards  on  every  lightl 
pole  in  the  downtown  area.  A  forty-eight- 1 
sheet  size  billboard  had  been  placed  on  the  lawn  j 
of  the  State  Capitol  at  Broad  and  High  | 
Streets,  the  town's  busiest  corner. 

Because  of  the  strong  Columbus,  Ohio,  angle! 
in  the  film,  and  at  Mayor  Floyd  F.  Green's  | 
request,  it  was  decided  to  hold  the  premiere  ofl 
the  picture  in  that  city. 

A  dual  military  premiere  was  held  for  Para-L 
mount's  "Wake  Island"  Wednesday  night  at 
the  Hollywood  and  Los  Angeles  ParamountB 
theatres.  Ranking  officers  of  the  Marine  Corps,! 
Army  and  Navy  attended.  Two  Marine  bandsM 
color  guards  and  enlisted  men  from  all  three! 
branches  of  the  service  lent  color  to  the  ocH] 
casion.  Mayor  Fletcher  T.  Bowron  of  Los  An-JH 
geles,  who  proclaimed  this  "Wake  Island! 
Week,"  headed  the  list  of  civic  officials  present.]* 
All  proceeds  will  go  to  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corp;j> 
Fund  administered  by  Lieutenant  General 
Thomas  Holcomb,  commandant. 

Playing  to  more  than  200,000  paid  admis-' 
sions  in  its  first  three  weeks,  "Wake  Island'! 
started  its  fourth  week  at  the  Rivoli  theatre] 
New  York,  with  a  record  of  having  topped  th<i 
box  office  receipts  for  each  comparative  weeljj 
of  any  picture  to  play  at  the  theatre  in  th<  j 
last  six  years,  according  to  Paramount. 


ASCAP  Alters  Pay 
To  Publishers 

Modifications  in  the  method  of  distributing  j 
payments  to  the  publisher  members  of  tht 
American  Society  of  Composers,  Authors  anr 
Publishers,  will  go  into  effect  as  of  the  quar 
terly  distribution  to  be  made  in  April,  1943 
it  was  announced  by  John  G.  Paine,  genera 
manager,  last  Friday  in,  New  York.  The  plai 
was  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  publishers 
classification  committee  on  August  6th. 

The  three  principal  provisions  are :  reductioi  i 
from  20  to  15  per  cent  in  the  amount  allocate!  j 
on  seniority  basis ;  percentage  based  on  avail 
ability  of  catalogue  remains  at  30  per  cent  bu 
will  be  judged  by  the  12  publisher  members  ol 
the  board  instead  of  seven ;  the  amount  alio 
cated  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  perform 
ances  is  to  be  increased  from  50  to  55  pet 
cent. 


Taft  in  Navy 

Hulbert  Taft,  Jr.,  general  manager  of  radi 
station  WKRC,  Mutual  affiliate  in  Cincinnati 
has  been  ordered  to  report  to  Miami  Beac  j 
Fla.,  for  six  weeks'  basic  training  in  the  Na\ 
Air  Corps,  with  commission  of  second  liei 
tenant.  He  will  be  succeeded  by  Kenneth  V 
Church,  director  of  national  sales  for  the  st; 
tion  since  September,  1941. 


Odeon  Profit  $6,123,000 

Odeon   Theatres   of  London  have  report<  J I 
profit  for  the  year  of  $6,123,000,  and  declan  I 
a  dividend  on  the  ordinary  stock  of  10  per  cei  i 


GEORGE  TOBIAS  •  ALLYN  JOSLYN 

Screen  play  by  Joseph  Fields  and  Jerome  Ghodorov 

Directed  by  ALEXANDER  HALL  •  Produced  by  MAX  GORDON 

A  COLUMBIA  PICTURE 


"Columbia  has  knockout  comedy  in  MY  SISTER  W  EILEEN!" 

^9  -LOUELLA  PARSONS 

"MY  SISTER  EILEEN  is  a  howling  success!"  -hedda  hopper 

"One  of  the  most  sensational  laugh  riots  to  light  the  screen  in  a  long  time!" 

-MOTION  PICTURE  DAILY 

"Smash  box-office  entertainment.  Something  extra  special  for  the  exhibitor!" 

-FILM  DAILY 


AND-  *  *nm  *ml*m  / 

OF  flflS  °"  ™E  mV 

Released  ih^  ^^^^ 

W     Released  in 


DEC. 


ASTAIRE-HAYWORTH 


ADOLPHE  MENJOU 
XAVIER  CUGAT  % 
and  His  Orchestra 

Music  by    JEROME  KERN 

Screen  play  by  Michael  Fessier  &  Ernest 
Pagano  and  Delmer  Oaves  Directed  by  WM 
A.  SEITER.  Produced  by  LOUIS  F  EDELMAN 


~  LORETTA  YOUNG 
BRIAN  AHERNE 

In 

JV0./3  Gay  Street 


TENTATIVE  TITLE) 


Sidney  Toler  •  Blanche  Yurka  •  Lee  Patrick 
Miss)  Jeff  Donnell  ■  Richard  Gaines 


Based  on  an  American  Magazine  novelette  by 
Kelley  Roos  Directed  by  RICHARD  WALLACE 
Produced  by  SAM  BISCHOFF 


T#£  V£SP£%ADOE$ 

««'■■  RANDOLPH  SCOn  •  GLENN  FORD 
CLAIRE  TREVOR 

Evelyn  KEYES  •  Edgar  BUCHANAN 


Released  in 


Sir  Cedric  Hardwicke  •  Lillian  Gish 
Anna  Lee  •  Robert  Coote 

Based  on  the  C.  S.  Forester  Cosmopolitan 
Magazine  story.  Screen  play  by  C.  S.  Forester 
and  Irwin  Shaw    Directed  by  Lieut.  Comm. 
JOHN  FARROW    Produced  by  LESTER  COWAN 


September    26,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


39 


THREE  DAYS  IS  REASONABLE 
CLEARANCE,  BOARD  RULES 


Appeal  Judges  Uphold  De- 
cision in  Buffalo  Case  on 
Subsequent  Runs 

Three  days  is  a  reasonable  and  suffi- 
cient clearance  between  fourth  and  fifth 
run  Buffalo  neighborhood  theatres,  the 
Appeal  Board  of  the  motion  picture  arbi- 
tration system  ruled  on  Monday. 

The  three  judges  upheld  the  arbitrator's 
original  decision  and  his  subsequently 
.  amended  opinion,  in  the  12th  Buffalo  case 
filed  by  M.  M.  Konczakowski,  for  the  Re- 
gent theatre  against  MGM,  Twentieth  Cen- 
itury-Fox  and  RKO.  Basil  Brothers,  operat- 
ing the  Apollo  and  Jefferson  theatres,  and 
the  New  Ariel  theatre  were  intervenors. 
The  ruling  was  the  Appeal  Board's  37th. 

The  demand  for  arbitration  alleged  that 
Loew's  and  Twentieth  Century-Fox  grant- 
ed the  Apollo  seven  days'  clearance  over  the 
Regent,  that  RKO  refused  to  license  pictures 
to  the  Regent  without  a  similar  clearance, 
and  that  a  seven-day  clearance  in  favor  of 
:he  Apollo  over  the  Regent  "was  unreason- 
able. 

Louis  B.  Dorr,  arbitrator,  granted  an  award 
n  July,  stipulating  that  the  maximum  clear- 
mce  to  the  Apollo  over  the  Regent  should  be 
.hree  days  and  that  clearance  to  the  Apollo 
liver  the  New  Ariel  also  be  three  days.  Within 
'0  days  after  the  award  was  was  filed,  the  arbi- 
rator  reopened  proceedings  for  the  purpose 
>f  correcting  an  inadvertent  error  in  his  award. 

Appealed  for  Reversal 
if  Buffalo  Award 

This  was  done  in  part  upon  suggestion  of 
ne  complainants  that  paragraph  two  of  the 
ward  did  not  accurately  express  the  intent  and 
leaning  of  the  stipulation  with  respect  to  the 
lew  Ariel.  In  his  corrected  award  the  arbi- 
ator  stated  that  the  intent  and  meaning  of 
le  stipulation  was  to  preserve  the  existing  sta- 
is  between  the  Regent  and  New  Ariel  thea- 
es  and  to  maintain  the  established  and  ex- 
ting  parity  of  clearance  between  them  in  favor 
:  the  Apollo. 

Basil  Brothers  then  appealed  on  the  ground 
at  the  award  should  be  reversed  and  the 
[j'mplaint  dismissed.     The  complainant,  how- 
f  er,  asked  that  the  award,  as  corrected,  be 
I  Srmed. 

i  "The  facts  found  by  the  arbitrator  are  amply 
jpported  by  the  record  and  we  concur  in  his 
inclusions,"  the  Appeal  Board  stated.  "Under 
e  system  of  runs  and  clearances  in  Buffalo, 
t  Apollo  is  a  fourth  run  theatre  and  the  Re- 
nt a  fifth  run.  The  first  run  downtown  houses, 
lich  have  an  availability  of  national  release 
te,  have  a  clearance  of  30  days  over  second 
i.    The  Elmwood  theatre,  which  has  second 
n  in  the  area  of  the  Apollo  and  Regent,  has 
clearance  of  14  days  over  the  Apollo,  with 
intervening  run  in  favor  of  the  North  Park. 
'In  such  a  city  system,  a  clearance  of  three 
rs  in  favor  of  a  fourth  run  neighborhood 
atre  over  a  fifth  run  neighborhood,  which 
equivalent  in  certain  respects  to  a  differential 
availability  of  seven  days,  is  reasonable,  and 
comparable  to  availabilities   established  in 
er  cities  by  the  defendants  between  fourth 
!  fifth  run  neighborhood  theatres." 
■  "he  award  of  the  arbitrator,  as  corrected  by 
]i,  was  affirmed  by  the  board  as  follows:  the 
ximum  clearance  which  may  be  granted  to 


the  Apollo  over  the  Regent  in  licenses  hereafter 
entered  into  by  Loew's,  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
and  RKO,  shall  be  three  days,  "but  only  for 
so  long  as,  and  provided  that,  the  admission 
price  differential  between  the  said  Apollo  and 
Regent  theatres  respectively  shall  not  be  in- 
creased beyond  the  present  price  differential  of 
two  cents  by  any  act  of  the  co-complainants  or 
the  act  of  any  other  for  or  on  behalf  of  the 
Regent." 

The  maximum  clearance  of  the  Apollo  over 
the  Regent  also  shall  be  the  maximum  clearance 
of  the  Apollo  over  the  New  Ariel.  Costs  be- 
fore the  arbitrator  on  appeal  to  the  board  were 
assessed  one-sixth  against  the  complainants  and 
one-sixth  against  each  defendant  and  each  in- 
tervener. 

Kansas  City 

The  agreement  whereby  Simon  Galitzki,  op- 
erator of  the  Coed  theatre,  Topeka,  Kansas, 
withdrew  his  clearance  action  against  RKO, 
Twentieth  Century-Fox,  Paramount  and  War- 
ners was  given  the  status  of  a  formal  consent 
award  this  week  by  John  F.  Rhodes,  arbitra- 
tor. It  was  the  city's  fifth  case,  and  involved 
J.  E.  Pennington,  operating  the  Cozy  theatre, 
as  intervenor. 

The  distributors  set  a  margin  for  the  subse- 
quent Coed  based  on  admission  price  charged. 
It  will  get  pictures  104  days  after  Topeka  first 
run  at  25  cents  admission,  118  days  at  20  cents, 
and  132  days  at  15  cents.  This  margin  was 
agreed  upon  as  reasonable  for  the  Grand,  Jay- 
hawk  and  Orpheum  theatres,  and  it  was  further 
agreed  that  they  have  the  same  clearances  over 
the  intervenor,  Cozy  theatre. 

Availability  of  90  days  was  set  after  second 
run  at  the  Orpheum  and  Gem  theatres  for  both 
the  Coed  and  Cozy.  On  RKO  pictures  an  ad- 
ditional clearance  of  146  days  was  set  for  the 
10  cent  admission  scale. 

New  York 

A  clearance  complaint  was  filed  this  week 
by  the  Loren  theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y.,  at 
New  York,  naming  Loew's,  RKO,  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox and  Warners.  The  complainant  pre- 
viously filed  a  clearance  action  against  all  five 
distributors  (New  York's  29th  case),  which 
was  withdrawn  without  prejudice. 

In  his  second  action,  case  No.  43,  the  com- 
plainant seeks  elimination  of  the  14  days'  clear- 
ance of  the  Bardavon  and  Stratford  theatres, 
Poughkeepsie,  over  the  Loren,  and  a  reduction 
to  five  days  of  the  seven-day  clearance  of  the 
Broadway  and  Kingston  theatres,  Kingston, 
over  the  Loren.  The  plaintiff  also  asks  for 
availability  not  later  than  30  days  after  terri- 
torial release  on  all  pictures  not  played  Kings- 
ton first  run. 

Poughkeepsie  and  New  Paltz  are  not  com- 
petitive because  they  are  on  opposite  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  nine  miles  apart,  the  Loren  as- 
serted. 

Des  Moines 

E.  M.  Tracy,  operator  of  the  Tracy  theatre, 
Storm  Lake,  la.,  filed  a  run  action  at  the  Des 
Moines  tribunal,  naming  Warners.  It  is  Des 
Moines'  fourth  case.  The  complaint  charges 
that  the  Tracy  was  sold  first  run  by  the  dis- 
tributor for  eight  years  until  this  season,  when 
first  run  was  sold  to  the  competing  Lake  thea- 
tre, operated  by  E.  D.  Kammerer,  independent. 
Complainant  asks  that  the  run  be  offered  to  the 
Tracy  on  terms  not  calculated  to  defeat  the 
purpose  of  the  consent  decree.    It  was  not  made 


clear  in  the  initial  action  whether  complainant 
sought  relief  under  Section  X  or  Section  VI 
of  the  decree. 

Chicago 

The  Madlin  theatre  clearance  case,  Chicago's 
19th,  has  been  postponed  until  October  13th  at 
the  request  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox  in  order 
that  Fred  Pride,  New  York  attorney,  may  at- 
tend. Complainant  filed  action  against  all  five 
consenting  distributors,  asking  reduction  of  14 
days  over  the  Essaness  American  theatre. 
Bernice  Theatre  Company  for  the  Four  Star 
theatre,  is  intervenor. 

St.  Louis 

Harry  G.  Erbs,  an  attorney,  has  been  named 
arbitrator  in  the  clearance-designated  run  com- 
plaint of  the  Webster  Groves  Theatre  Company, 
operators  of  the  Ozark  theatre  in  suburban  St. 
Louis,  against  Paramount,  RKO,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  and  Warner  Brothers.  Com- 
plainant is  seeking  a  run  and  clearance  that 
will  enable  it  to  play  pictures  not  later  than 
the  Hi-Pointe  and  ahead  of  the  Maplewood, 
Richmond  and  Shady  Oak,  all  St.  Louis  Amuse- 
ment Company  houses.  A  hearing  has  been 
tentatively  set  for  October  22nd.  It  is  case 
No.  14. 

The  Rivoli  theatre's  clearance  complaint,  No. 
13,  against  the  same  four  distributors  has  been 
set  for  hearing  on  October  8th.  The  Lyric  and 
Senate  theatres  are  intervenors  in  this  case. 
Wilbur  Jones  is  arbitrator. 

The  clearance  case  of  the  Beverly  theatre  in 
suburban  St.  Louis  against  the  Big  Five  was 
to  be  reopened  Friday  September  25th.  Claude 
Pearcy,  arbitrator,  has  reopened  the  case  be- 
cause of  an  inadvertent  error.  In  his  decision 
on  August  31st,  Mr.  Pearcy  ruled  the  Wells- 
ton  theatre's  clearance  over  the  Beverly  should 
be  only  one  day,  regardless  of  whether  the  Vic- 
tory theatre  had  shown  the  pictures. 


Dietz  Pleads  Not  Guilty 

A  plea  of  not  guilty  was  made  this  week  by 
Jack  Dietz  in  the  U.  S.  district  court  in  New 
York  in  answer  to  a  Federal  grand  jury  indict- 
ment which  charged  him  with  evading  payment 
on  a  total  of  $202,000  in  income  taxes  for  the 
years  1936  and  1937.  Trial  was  set  by  Federal 
Judge  T.  Blake  Kennedy  for  October  13th.  The 
Government  maintained  that  Dietz  failed  to  re- 
port profits  garnered  through  the  alleged  dis- 
tribution of  illegal  fight  pictures.  He  is  repre- 
sented by  Moses  Polacoff. 


Title  Protested 

A  protest  against  the  use  of  the  title,  "Sev- 
enth Column"  for  a  picture  by  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox about  Yugoslav  guerrillas  has  been 
sent  to  Hal  Horne,  director  of  advertising  and 
publicity,  by  Bennett  Moore,  vice-president  of 
the  Liberty  Mutual  Insurance  Company.  Mr. 
Moore  said  his  company  had  been  promoting  the 
title  in  a  campaign  against  accidents  and  that 
any  other  use  of  the  term  would  cause  confu- 
sion in  the  public  mind. 


Ice  Show  Grosses  Record 

The  "Ice  Follies  of  1942"  grossed  a  record 
figure  of  more  than  $300,000  in  13  weeks  at 
the  Winterland  in  San  Francisco,  it  was  re- 
ported. 


Gets  Indianapolis  House 

Oscar  Kushner,  owner  of  the  Hollywood,  In- 
dianapolis, has  purchased  the  Tacoma  there 
from  the  Tamler  neighborhood  circuit. 


40 


September    26,  1942 


August  Box  Office  Champions 


Jack  Conway,  director 

CROSSROADS:  Metro  -  Goldwyn  -  Mayer. 
Produced  by  Edwin  Knopf.  Directed  by 
Jack  Conway.  Screenplay  by  Guy  Trosper. 
Original  story  by  John  Kafka  and  Howard 
Emmett  Rogers.  Art  director,  Cedric  Gib- 
bons. Musical  score  by  Bronislau  Kaper. 
Cast:  William  Powell,  Hedy  Lamarr,  Claire 
Trevor,  Basil  Rathbone,  Felix  Bressart. 
Release  date,  July,  1942. 


William  Wyler,  director 

MRS.  MINIVER:  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 
Produced  by  Sidney  Franklin.  Directed  by 
William  Wyler.  Art  director,  Cedric  Gib- 
bons. Musical  score  by  Herbert  Stothart. 
Screenplay  by  Arthur  Wimperis,  George 
Froeschel,  James  Hilton,  Claudine  West. 
Cast:  Greer  Garson,  Walter  Pidgeon, 
Teresa  Wright,  Dame  May  Whitty.  1941- 
42  release. 


Erie  C.  Kenton,  director 

PARDON  MY  SARONG:  Universal  Pic- 
tures- Mayfair  Productions.  Associate  pro- 
ducer, Alex  Gottlieb.  Directed  by  Erie 
C.  Kenton.  Original  screenplay  by  True 
Boardman,  Nat  Perrin  and  John  Grant. 
Art  director,  Jack  Otterson.  Musical  direc- 
tion by  Charles  Previn.  Cast:  Bud  Abbott, 
Lou  Costello,  Virginia  Bruce,  Robert  Page. 
Release  date,  August  7,  1942. 


Sam  Wood,  director 


PRIDE  OF  THE  YANKEES:  RKO  Radio 
Pictures  -  Samuel  Goldwyn.  Produced  by 
Samuel  Goldwyn.  Directed  by  Sam  Wood. 
Screenplay  by  Jo  Swerling  and  Herman  J. 
Mankiewicz.  Original  story  by  Paul  Gallico. 
Art  direction  by  Perry  Ferguson.  Music  by 
Leigh  Harline.  Cast:  Gary  Cooper,  Teresa 
Wright,  Babe  Ruth,  Walter  Brennan,  Dan 
Duryea,  Elsa  Janssen,  Ludwig  Stossel. 


Alexander  Hall,  director 


THEY  ALL  KISSED  THE  BRIDE:  Columbia. 
Produced  by  Edward  Kaufman.  Directed 
by  Alexander  Hall.  Screenplay  by  P.  J. 
Wolfson.  Story  by  Gina  Kaus  and  Andrew 
T.  Solt.  Music  by  Werner  R.  Heymann. 
Art  director,  Lionel  Banks.  Cast:  Joan 
Crawford,  Melvyn  Douglas,  Roland  Young, 
Billie  Burke,  Allen  Jenkins,  Helen  Parrish. 
Release  date,  June  I  I,  1942. 


Lloyd  Bacon,  director 


WINGS    FOR    THE    EAGLE:  Warn 

Brothers.  Produced  by  Robert  Lor 
Directed  by  Lloyd  Bacon.  Original  screer 
play  by  Byron  Morgan  and  B.  H.  Orkov 
Art  director,  Max  Parker.  Music  by  Free 
erick  Hollander.  Photography  by  Tor 
Gaudio.  Cast:  Ann  Sheridan,  Dennis  Mo 
gan,  Jack  Carson,  George  Tobias,  Russ< 
Arms.  Release  date,  July  18,  1942. 


erica's  most  photo- 
graphed beauty !  Jinx  has 
been  on  more  magazine 
covers  than  any  other 
beauty!  Thousands  of 
picture  layouts,  count- 
less news  "breaks"! 
Millions  know  her  name 
. . .  her  gay  loveliness! 


IN  WAR  BONDS  AND 
STAMPS  IN  SEPTEMBER, 
"SALUTE  TO  OUR 
HEROES"  MONTH 


42 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


Coast  Office  Guild 
Walkout  Averted 


Cagney  New  President  of 
Actor  Guild;  SPG  Gets 
RKO  Circuit  Pact 

Settlement  of  the  dispute  between  the 
major  distributors  and  the  Screen  Office 
Employees  Guild  over  terms  of  proposed 
contracts  affecting  exchange  workers  in 
Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  appeared 
near  at  midweek. 

Facing  an  impasse  in  negotiations  which 
were  conducted  first  in  Hollywood,  then  in 
New  York  and  then  again  in  Hollywood, 
the  union  late  last  week  hinted  at  a  walk- 
out which,  it  said,  would  be  supported  by 
sympathetic  units  in  the  Conference  of  AFL 
Studio  Unions — and  would  enlist  6,200 
workers. 

A  conference  of  conciliation  was  sched- 
uled at  midweek.  The  union  representatives 
had  charged  that  the  distributors  sought  to 
have  certain  concessions  given  workers  in 
lieu  of  extra  wages,  in  a  previous  "tentative" 
stipulation,  included  in  matters  under  arbi- 
tration. 

Meanwhile,  in  Hollywood,  James  Cagney 
will  become  president  of  the  Screen  Actors 
Guild  at  the  annual  meeting  of  Class  A 
members  on  Sunday.  He  is  unopposed  on 
the  ballot.    He  succeeds  Edward  Arnold. 

Other  officers  to  be  elected  are :  George 
Murphy,  first  vice-president ;  Paul  Harvey, 
second  vice-president;  Walter  Abel,  third 
vice-president;  Lucile  Gleason,  recording 
secretary;  Porter  Hall,  treasurer.  Those  to 
be  elected  to  the  board  of  directors  are :  Mr. 
Abel,  Mr.  Cagney,  Emma  Dunn,  Mr.  Mur- 
phy, Cary  Grant,  Lloyd  Nolan,  Walter  Pid- 
geon,  Elizabeth  Risdon,  Franchot  Tone, 
Charles  Trowbridge  and  Jane  Wyman. 

The  major  issue  for  the  meeting  is  the 
increasing  number  of  requests  for  free  per- 
formances in  commercial  films  and  on  the 
radio. 

SPG  Gets  Contract 
With  RKO  Circuit 

In  New  York  the  Screen  Publicists  Guild 
last  week  obtained  a  two-year  contract  for 
the  publicists  of  the  RKO  circuit.  It  is  the 
first  contract  covering  circuit  publicists. 
The  terms  are  similar  to  those  in  the  SPG 
contracts  with  the  major  distributors'  New 
York  home  offices,  covering  publicity  and 
advertising  workers  there. 

They  include  a  10  per  cent  salary  in- 
crease, retroactive  to  May  30th.  Members 
pledged  50  per  cent  of  the  retroactive  pay  to 
purchase  of  War  Bonds. 

In  the  same  city,  Loew  circuit  managers 
and  assistant  managers  last  week  refused 
to  designate  any  union  their  collective  bar- 
gaining agency.  Vying  in  a  National  Labor 
Relations  Board  election  were  Local  206. 
of  the  AFL  Building  Service  Employees 
International,  and  the  Exhibition,  Exposi- 
tion, Entertainment  Employees  National 
Union,  independent.  The  first  received  18 
votes;  the  latter,  32.  Another  106  votes  re- 
jected both. 

C.  C.  Moskowitz,  executive  of  the  circuit. 


expressed  appreciation  to  the  employees  for  ■ 
the  "vote  of  confidence." 

The  Warner  circuit  in  Philadelphia  was 
prepared  _  to  place  its  Earle  theatre,  only 
central  city  vaudeville  house,  on  a  straight 
picture  policy  on  Friday  as  a  result  of  an 
impasse  in  negotiations  with  the  musicians' 
union,  Local  77,  AFM.  The  present  con- 
tract expired  Thursday  and  the  union  re- 
quested a  four-week  extension  to  affect  a 
reconciliation.  It  was  said  that  the  circuit 
offered  a  "substantial"  wage  increase  for  its 
32  pit  musicians,  representing  seldom-used 
services  costing  about  $1,875  weekly. 

However,  the  increase  offered  was  not 
satisfactory  to  the  union,  which  had  effected 
a  general  wage  increase  of  15  per  cent  for 
the  new  season.  The  circuit  pointed  out 
that  the  pit  band  was  only  utilized  for  four 
weeks  during  the  past  year,  the  house  play- 
ing name  bands  for  the  other  48  weeks.  The 
last  time  the  union  pulled  out  its  men,  the 
house  was  picketed  for  18  months  before  a 
truce  was  reached.  Nonetheless,  the  house 
is  prepared  to  go  on  a  straight  picture  policy 
unless  a  settlement  is  made. 

Seek  to  Organize 
"Front  of  House" 

"Front  of  the  house"  workers  in  northern 
New  Jersey  are  being  solicited  for  mem- 
bership in  new  theatre  locals  of  the  United 
Office  and  Professional  Workers  of  Ameri- 
ca, CIO,  it  is  learned.  Initial  organizing 
efforts  have  been  directed  at  managers, 
cashiers,  doormen  and  maintenance  staffs  in 
Hudson,  Essex,  Morris,  Bergen  and  Union 
counties. 

A  National  Labor  Relations  Board  elec- 
tion for  employee  representation  in  New 
Jersey  Warner  theatres  has  been  asked  by 
The  United  Theatrical  and  Building  Serv- 
ice Employees,  Local  1108.  Managers  in 
the  area  are  being  sought  by  UOPWA  lo- 
cal 113,  while  a  second  local,  121,  has  been 
formed  for  the  maintenance  workers. 

It  is  reported  that  the  National  headquar- 
ters of  the  CIO  Office  and  Professional 
Workers  are  planning  a  nationwide  drive  to 
enlist   theatre  managers. 

Hearing  Monday 
In  Disney  Case 

A  hearing  at  the  Los  Angeles  NLRB  of- 
fice of  a  charge  of  coercion  and  intimidation 
of  employees  of  the  Disney  studio,  was  to 
be  held  Monday.  The  plaintiff  is  Arthur 
Babbitt,  chief  animator,  whose  discharge 
caused  a  strike  at  the  plant  several  months 
ago. 

Local  802,  New  York  Musicians'  union, 
has  engaged  the  Honest  Ballot  Association 
to  conduct  all  elections  in  the  future.  The 
first  will  be  in  December. 

Detroit  stagehands'  negotiations  for  new 
contracts  at  30  theatres  have  been  postponed 
to  October,  Local  38  announced,  adding  the 
action  was  because  theatre  executives  must 
have  full  time  for  selling  of  War  Bonds. 

A  new  International  Alliance  of  Theatri- 
cal Stage  Employees  clerical  workers  union 
has  been  formed  for  exchanges  in  Detroit. 


Raw  Stock  Cuts 
Hit  Cuba  Trade 

by  RAMON  PEON 

in  Havana 

A  serious  problem  is  facing  the  Cuban  film 
industry,  due  to  the  lack  of  raw  stock.  Local 
importers  here  attribute  the  threat  to  regula- 
tions cutting  raw  stock  in  the  United  States. 

"Phantoms  of  the  Caribe,"  the  latest  Cuban 
talking  film,  has  not  been  released  because  of 
insufficient  raw  stock  to  make  the  necessary 
prints,  and  Eastman  Kodak,  Dupont  and  Agfa 
say  they  cannot  get  export  permits  for  Cuba. 

Even  the  local  newsreels,  such  as  Royal  News 
and  Notici  Rio  Nacional,  are  considering  the  j 
discontinuance  of  their  editions  if  relief  from 
the  raw  stock  shortage  is  not  forthcoming  soon. 
Local  production  has  been  discontinued. 

A  young  American,  George  B.  Wally,  for- 
merly with  the  Royal  Canadian  Air  Force,  and  I 
before  that  a  scenic  designer  for  several  Holly- 
wood producers,  has  produced  and  acted  in  a  1 
short  subject  produced  in  Havana,  titled  "En 
La  Habana."  Leading  stars  of  the  stage,  screen 
and  radio  appear  with  Mr.  Wally  in  the  sub- 
ject. He  also  produced  a  stage  presentation; 
which  was  well  received  by  Havana  audiences.' 

Plan  Liquidation  of 
Ontario  Company 

Formal  announcement  was  made  in  Toronto 
last  week  that  a  general  meeting  of  shareholders  j 
of  Loew's  London  Theatres,  Ltd.,  had  beer 
called  for  an  early,  but  unnamed  date,  to  ar- 
range for  liquidation  of  the  company  and  disj: 
tribute  proceeds  of  the  recent  $270,000  sale  o  j 
the  house.  It  was  said  that  each  of  the  33,74(j 
preferred  shares  will  receive  about  $8  in  liquid 
ation.  These  shares  had  a  par  value  of  $1C| 
There  was  more  than  $4  dividend  arrears  oij 
each  share. 

The  purchaser  had  not  been  disclosed  bu 
Morley  Aylesworth,  president,  said  the  name  o 
the  house  would  not  be  changed.  This  wa 
taken  to  mean  that  Loew's  would  continue  t 
book  the  house  as  Loew's,  Inc.,  required  the 
the  name  be  changed  if  the  house  passed  t 
other  interests.  Loew's  London  Theatres,  Ltd; 
is  an  independent  operating  company  which  o\\ 
erated  Loew's  theatre  in  London,  Ont.,  with 
booking  contract  with  Loew's  of  New  York. 

1,000th  Warner  Man 
Called  to  Service 

Charles  Misa  of  Warner  Bros,  home  offi 
sales  department,  called  for  Army  duty  tfj  (. 
week,  was   the   1,000  employee  of  the  cor  J 
pany  to  enter  the  service. 

Mr.   Misa  was  with   the  company  for  i 
years.    His  wife,  Olive  Vaughn,  was  given  y 
position  with  the  company  when  her  husba  'i 
was  called.    The  company  reported  that  J1  j 
men  from  the  theatre  organization,  191  fr< 
the  studio,  107  from  the  home  office,  91  fr< 
exchanges  and  23  from  other  company  orga\'' 
zations  are  in  service. 


Offer  "War"  Press  Book 

Members  of  the  Screen  Publicists  Guild 
New  York  have  prepared  a  press  book  for  ! 
Government  film,  "The  World  at  War,"  as 
contribution  to  the  war  effort.  In  eight  pap 
the  press  book  contains  mats,  advance  stor; 
reviews,  exploitation  material  and  accessorie 


Sets  Circuit  Deals 

Monogram  1942-43  product  has  been  boo' 
by  Warner  Bros,  upstate  New  York  theati 
the  Graphic  circuit  in  the  New  England  st; 
and    the    Paramount-Richards    circuit    of  ,j 
houses  in  the  south. 


September   26.    1942  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


43 


LET'S  GET  IT  OVER  WITH 
PETRILLO  TELLS  CONGRESS 


Regime  of  AFM  President 
Attacked  by  Davis,  Fly, 
Arnold  at  Hearings 

James  Caesar  Petrillo,  president  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Musicians, 
whose  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  union 
this  week  brought  him  before  an  inquisi- 
tive sub-committee  of  the  U.  S.  Senate, 
expressed  his  reaction  to  the  investiga- 
tion in  a  brief  message  directed  toward 
the  Department  of  Justice:  ''Let's  get  it 
over  with.'" 

Hearings  were  opened  before  a  Senate 
Interstate  Commerce  Committee  sub-com- 
mittee, on  a  resolution  by  Senator  D.  Worth 
;  Clark,  Idaho,  for  an  inquiry  into  the  activi- 
;;  ties  of  Mr.  Petrillo,  his  union  and  its  of- 
ficers, with  particular  reference  to  the  AFM 
ban  on  recordings  and  transcriptions. 

Meeting  Wednesday  afternoon,  the  committee 
voted  unanimously  to  make  a  favorable  recom- 
mendation for  a  Senate  investigation  of  the  ban. 
The  report  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  Senate 
J  Thursday. 

First  witness  was  Elmer  Davis,  director  of 
<,  the  Office  of  War  Information,  who  told  the 
.  sub-committee  that  the  ban  threatened  small 
:  radio  stations,  and  therefore  the  nation's  in- 
formational services.    Tames  L.  Fly,  shairman 
i  of  the  Federal  Communications  Commission, 
j  said  "you  can't  shut  off  the  program  source 
\  of  over  40  per  cent  of  radio  time  without  strik- 
ing at  the  heart  of  broadcasting." 
Another  witness  was  Thurman  Wesley  Arn- 
>  old,  Assistant  United  States  Attorney  General 
in  charge  of  the  Department  of  Justice's  anti- 
.  trust  division,  who  intends  to  prosecute  the 
Z  etirtment's  ca.se  aeair.;:  Mr.  PetriT:  ar.i  r. : s 
union,   scheduled  for   Chicago   Federal  court 
October  12th. 

Xeic  Issues  Raised  i?i 
.  Case,  Arnold  Says 

Mr.  Arnold  indicated  Monday  that  previous 
Supreme    Court    opinions    on    labor  matters 
might  threaten  the  outcome  of  the  Department's 
suit,  but  he  added  that  new  issues  never  passed 
:  upon  by  that  court  had  been  raised  in  this 
liie.  and  might  bring  favorable  consideration. 
&     Mr.  Petrillo's  indirect  rejoinder  to  the  Gov- 
trrment  action  was  the  surprise  appearance  at 
:  the  hearing  on  Monday  of  Joseph  Padway, 
counsel  for  the  AFM.  and  also  for  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor.    Mr.  Padway  prom- 
[  :;ed  that  no  barriers  would  be  raised  against 
is  obtaining  a  quick  decision  in  the  Chicago  case. 
'!    His  appearance  was  dictated  by  his  desire  to 
prevent  the  public  from  receiving  a  "wrong 
impression"  of  Mr.  Petrillo,  the  lawyer  said 
He  asserted  Mr.  Petrillo  did  not  issue  the  ban 
(against  recordings  personally.    The  action  was 
taken  in  (xrnformity  with  instructions  from  the 
AFM.  he  said 

Mr.  Arnold  told  the  committee  its  considera- 
•  ri :  n  of  legislation  would  not  interfere  with  the 
■  Cnicago  suit,  but  expressed  the  belief  that  it 
would  have  difficulty  in  finding  any  approach 
other  than  general  labor  legislation,  which  is 
"net  within  its  jurisdiction. 

The  new  issues  raised  in  the  Petrillo  suit, 
be  said  were :  Whether  a  union  might  use 
organized  coercion  to  compel  its  own  emnloyer 
to  maintain  obsolete  or  inefficient  methods  and 
:o  refuse  to  introduce  new  mechanical  improve- 
frnents  in  order  to  compel  the  hiring  of  unneces- 
sary labor ;  whether  a  union  might  use  organ- 
zed  coercion  to  destroy  an  independent  business 


HIS  BAN  A  "STRIKE", 
PETRILLO  SAYS 

James  Caesar  Petrillo's  ban  against 
recordings  and  transcriptions  is  "sim- 
ply a  strike  against  the  record  com- 
panies—  even  though  most  of  the 
country  seems  to  be  taking  sides 
against  us",  the  American  Federation 
of  Musicians'  president  said  in 
New  York  Monday  afternoon.  He 
added:  "We  want  to  live,  and  let 
live.  But  nobody  seems  to  care 
about  the  poor  musician  who  is  being 
put  out  of  business. 

"After  all,  I'm  not  an  ogre  —  I'm 
only  human,  too." 


not  directly  employing  members  of  the  union, 
because  it  had  introduced  labor  saving  devices 
or  improved  mechanical  methods  which  cut 
down  the  general  demand  for  labor  in  that  area, 
and  whether  a  union  might  use  organized  coer- 
cion to  prevent  voluntary  groups  who  do  not 
seek  employment  from  rendering  services  with- 
out pay. 

These  questions,  Mr.  Arnold  said,  are  raised 
by  the  AFM  and  "we  expect  to  argue  and  be- 
lieve that  the  court  will  hold  that  the  phrase 
'terms  and  conditions  of  employment'  as  used 
in  the  Clayton  Act  does  not  include  these  de- 
mands." 

Furthermore,  he  said,  the  AFM  had  left  a 
loophole  for  attack  in  its  efforts  to  combine 
with  non-labor  groups  in  an  attempt  to  obtain 
"an  alliance  between  the  broadcasters  and  others 
in  order  to  keep  mechanical  music  off  the  mar- 
ket except  at  prohibitive  terms.  We  intend  to 
argue  and  we  believe  that  the  court  will  hold 
that  this  is  a  combination  with  a  non-labor 
group  which  puts  the  case  beyond  the  exemption 
of  the  Sherman  Act  in  the  Hutcheson  case." 
The  Hutcheson  case  is  generally  used  by  the 
Supreme  Court  as  a  precedent  for  its  action 
on  labor  issues. 

Calls  Ban  "Attack  on 
Individual  Freedom" 

Mr.  Arnold  said  that  the  Department  of 
Justice  regards  "a  handicap  on  industry 
progress  by  preventing  the  use  of  improved 
mechanical  equipment  in  an  industry  as  an  at- 
tack upon  industrial  freedom"  and  an  "attack 
upon  amateur  performances  of  music  as  an 
attack  on  individual  freedom  of  expression." 

Mr.  Padway  denied  indignantly  a  suggestion 
by  Senator  Clark  that  Mr.  Petrillo  dominated 
conventions,  assuring  him  that  they  were  fully 
as  democratic  as  the  Congress.  Furthermore, 
he  said,  "no  other  organization"  had  given 
more  to  the  war  effort  than  the  AFM.  which 
was  ready  to  accede  to  any  request  of  the  War 
Department  or  do  "anything  which  President 
Roosevelt  might  ask." 

Indications  that  the  union  president  was  not 
without  weight  in  the  War  Department,  how- 
ever, were  raised  in  testimony  of  James  Ne- 
ro ec,  president  of  the  West  Palm  Beach  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  that  personnel  of  an  Army 
band  had  been  transferred  following  complaints 
from  the  local  musicians'  union  that  it  had 
participated  in  a  War  Bond  campaign  for  his 
organization  and  appeared  for  one  or  two  other 
civic  groups,  although  local  union  officials  had 


admitted  that  so  many  members  were  going  into 
military  service  that  they  could  not  meet  all 
their  commitments. 

Meanwhile,  a  Senate  investigation  of  the  Pe- 
trillo regime  appeared  nearer,  with  the  sub- 
mission, late  last  week,  of  a  favorable  report 
on  the  Clark  resolution  by  his  subcommittee. 
The  report  came  after  testimony  by  Mr.  Davis 
and  Mr.  Fly. 

The  primary  consideration  of  the  OWI,  Mr. 
Davis  told  the  sub-committee,  is  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  several  hundred  small  stations 
which  are  dependent  on  recorded  music  and 
that  a  "policy  which  threatens  the  continued 
existence  of  many  of  these  stations  is  injuri- 
ous to  the  national  system  of  communication." 

Station  Maintenance 
Stressed  by  Davis 

Mr.  Davis  charged  that  Air.  Petrillo  had 
broken  his  written  promise  not  to  interfere 
with  the  making  of  electrical  transcriptions, 
and  had  refused  to  assure  the  War  Department 
that  he  would  do  nothing  to  cut  off  the  supply 
of  records  for  the  armed  forces. 

"This  office  is  not  concerned  with  any  in- 
dividual broadcasting  stations  or  individual  pro- 
prietors of  institutions  in  which  juke  boxes 
are  located,  against  whom  Mr.  Petrillo  may 
have  a  grievance,"  he  said.  "Our  concern  is 
primarily  with  the  national  interest  in  main- 
taining the  broadest  possible  system  of  radio 
communication;  and  secondarily  with  the  per- 
sons with  whom  Mr.  Petrillo  has  no  dispute 
at  all,  who  are  adversely  affected  by  his  rul- 
ing— the  broadcasting  station  located  far  from 
the  sources  of  supply  of  available  musical  tal- 
ent and  in  no  economic  position  to  serve  with- 
out recordings." 

Such  stations,  he  explained,  are  considered 
essential  threads  in  the  communications  net- 
work through  which  the  country  is  advised  of 
the  developments  of  the  war. 

At  least  167  stations  in  42  states,  with  an- 
nual net  income  of  less  than  $5,000,  and  un- 
doubtedly many  other  stations  gradually  would 
be  forced  off  the  air  if  Mr.  Petrillo's  hold  is 
not  broken,  the  sub-committee  was  told  bv  Mr. 
Fly. 

230  Stations  Depend 
On  Records,  Says  Fly 

The  FCC  chairman  submitted  the  results  of  a 
recent  questionnaire  on  the  use  of  recorded 
music,  showing  that  230  non-network  stations 
depended  on  records  for  more  than  80  per  cent 
of  their  music. 

Returns  from  796  stations  on  their  operations 
during  the  week  of  April  5  to  11,  1942,  showed 
that  they  averaged  18  hours  of  programs  using 
records,  47.8  hours  using  records  or  transcrip- 
tions, and  40.8  electrically  transcribed  spot  an- 
nouncements containing  music 

In  rebuttal  to  Mr.  Petrillo's  charges  that 
records  were  killing  the  employment  of  musi- 
cians. Mr.  Fly  reported  that  while  463  stations 
employ  no  full-time  musicians,  the  other  report- 
ing stations  employed  2,171  staff  musicians. 

"The  figures  clearly  show  that  if  the  ban  on 
recordings  continues,  it  will  not  be  long  before 
the  broadcast  industry  is  seriously  affected"  he 
asserted.  "You  can't  shut  off  the  program 
source  of  over  40  per  cent  of  all  radio  time 
without  striking  at  the  heart  of  broadcasting. 

"True,  the  stations  have  a  supply  of  records 
on  hand,  and  they  also  have  available  to  them 
the  services  of  transcription  libraries.  But 
this  doesn't  solve  the  situation.  Recordings  wear 
out.  And  .  of  immediate  importance,  stations 
will  lose  their  audiences  if  they  can't  get  new 
nines."  he  said. 


..AND 
IN  THE 
BOX-OFFICE 
WORLD 
SERIES . . 

IT'S  THE 
YANKEES" 
1000  TO  V. 


II 


/on 


Pu//ec/ 


9e$f 


run 


We  of  fh 


1  severo/  "  6V6ry  ^ 


"P  of 


SOCK 

"RKO  Boston  getting 
b'9  p'oy  with  'Pride  of 
Wees' . . .  Sock  gross, 
tost  week,  powerful." 


SELL-OUT 

"Baltimore  —  'Pride  of  Yankees'  off 
to  a  sellout.  $1.10  reserved  seat  preem, 
is  clicking  strongly  on  regular  run  at 
slightly  upped  scale.  Second  stanza 
in  the  bag." 


>4< 


IN 


Th 

"Ps, 

'»9  ro 


a/, 


►on 
/c/e 


SWELL 

"Cleveland  —  'Pride  of 
The  Yankees'  getting  a 
strong  femme  play. 
Geared  for  swell  gross." 


II 


II 


TORWD 


tprifle  of  The 
"Washington  —  f"ae  "  ., 

Yankees'  headed  tor  a  »o,nd 
iSnd  we.k,  indicating  « 

aae  is  heavily  temme,  *»• 
agW.i.90odword-ofro.hon 

the  romantic  angle. 


R»l»assd  through 

R  K  O 
RADIO 

eSures" 


^6 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    2  6,  1942 


WARNERS'  BACKLOG  DOZEN 
HAS  2  BROADWAY  HITS 


Frank  Capra's  "Arsenic", 
"Watch  on  Rhine"  Show 
Greatest  Promise 

Six  of  the  12  pictures  known  to  be 
stocked  in  the  Warner  Brothers  backlog 
of  product — completed  as  to  camera  work 
but  not  yet  trade  shown  or  previewed — 
assay  a  rich  content  of  name  and  prop- 
erty values. 

Two  of  the  others  figure  to  command 
top  position  on  most  of  the  double  bills 
they  may  encounter,  or  to  stand  and 
deliver  alone  in  most  of  the  single  bill 
territory,  while  the  other  four  are  utility 
material. 

One  of  the  properties,  completed  eight 
months  ago  and  now  all  but  forgotten  in 
the  trade  talk  of  Hollywood,  is  that  rare 
thing,  a  Frank  Capra  production,  which, 
with  the  Capra  talent  lost  to  the  commercial 
screen  for  the  duration,  may  be  said  to  have 
gained  rather  than  depreciated  in  value  while 
in  storage. 

The  Capra  picture  is  ''Arsenic  and  Old 
Lace,"  from  the  Broadway  success  of  the 
same  name,  and  it  stars  Cary  Grant  ("Talk 
of  the  Town,"  "Suspicion")  with  Priscilla 
Lane  ("Blues  in  the  Night,"  "Four  Daugh- 
ters"), Raymond  Massey  ("Crusaders," 
"Desperate  Journey"),  Jack  Carson  ("Male 
Animal,"  "Wings  for  the  Eagle"),  Peter 
Lorre,  Edward  Everett  Horton,  James  Glea- 
son  and  three  members  of  the  Broadway 
cast.  A  comedy  about  murder,  beneficiary 
of  a  Broadway  run  plus  touring  companies 
still  going,  it  analyzes  as  sure-fire  drawing- 
material  for  any  point  on  the  calendar  and 
map. 

"Watch  on  the  Rhine" 
Stars  Bette  Davis 

"The  Watch  on  the  Rhine"  is  another 
Broadway  hit  just  off  the  production  line 
with  Bette  Davis  ("Now,  Voyager,"  "In 
This  Our  Life,"  "Little  Foxes,"  Academ- 
ician) starred  opposite  Paul  Lukas  (starred 
in  the  stage  version)  with  Geraldine  Fitz- 
gerald, Lucile  Watson,  Donald  Woods, 
Beulah  Bondi  and  other  dependables  in  the 
cast.  Narrating  the  emotions  and  experi- 
ences of  a  German  opposed  to  Nazism,  the 
picture  was  produced  by  Hal  B.  Wallis, 
former  Warner  executive  producer  now  pro- 
ducing independently  for  the  same  studio, 
and  directed  by  Herman  Shumlin.  With  the 
fame  of  star  and  play  to  attract  the  multitude 
to  the  kind  of  subject  matter  now  come  into 
favor,  the  picture  appears  assured  of  big 
grosses. 

"Gentleman  Jim"  gives  Errol  Flynn 
("Desperate  Journey,"  "They  Died  With 
Their  Boots  On,"  "Robin  Hood")  opportunity 
to  display  Without  stint  the  facility  for  fisti- 
cuffs which  have  characterized  his  films  and 
won  him  his  following.  The  girl  opposite  in 
this  assertedly  authentic  biography  of  the 
late  James  J.  Corbett  is  Alexis  Smith 
("Dive  Bomber,"  "Steel  Against  the  Sky") 
and  the  cast  includes  Jack  Carson  (see 
"Arsenic  and  Old  Lace"),  John  Loder 
("Maxwell  Archer,  Detective"),  Alan  Hale 
("Captains    of    the    Clouds,"  "Desperate 


Journey"),  William  Frawley  ("Give  Out 
Sisters"),  James  Flavin,  Minor  Watson, 
Dorothy  Vaughn  and  many  more. 

Produced  by  Robert  Buckner  and  directed 
by  Raoul  Walsh  ("Desperate  Journey," 
"They  Died  With  Their  Boots  On,"  "Man- 
power," "Strawberry  Blonde,"  "High 
Sierra"),  the  film  stacks  up  as  a  natural 
for  boxing  fans,  Flynn  fans  and  the  devotees 
of  action  in  general. 

Boyer,  Joan  Fontaine  in 
"Constant  Nymph" 

"The  Constant  Nymph"  co-stars  Charles 
Boyer  ("Tales  of  Manhattan,"  "All  This 
and  Heaven  Too")  with  Joan  Fontaine 
("Rebecca,"  "Suspicion,"  Academician)  in  a 
love  story  of  pre-war  Europe  directed  by 
Edmund  Goulding  ("The  Great  Lie,"  "Till 
We  Meet  Again,"  "The  Old  Maid."  "Dark 
Victory"),  with  Alexis  Smith  (see  "Gentle- 
man Jim"),  Brenda  Marshall  ("Captains  of 
the  Clouds"),  Joyce  Reynolds,  Jean  Muir 
and  Peter  Lorre  in  support. 

No  picture  co-starring  this  pair  could  hide 
its  drawing  power  under  a  bushel  of  dimouts, 
according  to  Hollywood  calculation  of  box 
office  values,  and  confidential  report  from  a 
reliable  source  is  to  the  effect  that  this  would 
be  a  great  picture  with  or  without  these 
personalities  of  profit. 

The  same  confidential  and  expert  au- 
thority advises  that  "Casablanca"  measures 
up  to  the  highest  standard  of  contemporary 
melodrama  with  a  war  background.  It  is  a 
Hal  B.  Wallis  production  directed  bv 
Michael  Curtiz  ("Yankee  Doodle  Dandy," 
"Captains  of  the  Clouds,"  "Dive  Bomber," 
"Angels  With  Dirty  F.  es,"  "Four  Daugh- 
ters") and  deals  with  the  underground  bv 
which  refugees  from  Nazidom  escape  through 
French  Morocco. 

It  stars  Humphrey  Bogart  ("Across  the 
Pacific,"  "Big  Shot,"  "Maltese  Falcon," 
"High  Sierra"),  with  Ingrid  Bergman  ("Dr. 
Jekyl  and  Mr.  Hyde,"  "Adam  Had  Four 
Sons")  and  Paul  Heinreid  ("Joan  of 
Paris").  Support  includes  Claude  Rains 
("Now,  Voyager,"  "Four  Daughters"), 
Sydney  Greenstreet  ("Maltese  Falcon," 
"Across  the  Pacific").  Conrad  Veidt,  Peter 
Lorre  and  S.  Z.  Sakall.  The  title  may 
require  a  bit  of  explaining  in  the  exploitation 
but  the  names  convey  their  own  promise. 

Jack  Benny  Starred 
In  Stage  Comedy 

"George  Washington  Slept  Here"  is  the 
George  S.  Kaufman-Moss  Hart  stage  play 
produced  for  the  screen  by  Jerry  Wald  and 
directed  by  William  Keighley  ("Man  Who 
Came  to  Dinner,"  "Bride  Came  C.O.D.," 
"No  Time  for  Comedy,"  "Four  Mothers") 
with  Jack  Benny  ("To  Be  or  Not  to  Be," 
"Charley's  Aunt"),  starred  opposite  Ann 
Sheridan  ("King-'s  Row,"  "Navy  Blues," 
"Wings  for  the  Eagle"\  A  comedy  to  the 
Benny  measure,  its  cast  includes  Charles 
Coburn  ("In  This  Our  Life,"  "King's  Row," 
"Constant  Nymph,"  "Florian"),  Hattie  Mc- 
Daniel  ("Gone  With  the  Wind,"  Academ- 
ician), Joyce  Reyonlds   ("Yankee  Doodle 


Dandy"),  William  Tracy,  Percy  Kilbride 
and  Harvey  Stephens.  Success  appears  built 
into  this  one. 

"The  Hard  Way"  is  another  Jerry  Wald  It 
production  and  depends  for  draw  upon  the 
aggregate  fame  of  four  somewhat  less  dis- 
tinguished but  increasingly  popular  person-! 
alities.    They  are  Ida  Lupino  ("Moontide,";i 
"Sea  Wolf,"  "High  Sierra"),  Joan  Leslie!, 
("Sergeant York," "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy") 
Dennis  Morgan  ("Captains  of  the  Clouds,' 
"Wings  for  the  Eagle")  and  Jack  Carson' 
(see  "Arsenic  and  Old  Lace").   It  is  a  tale 
about  a  small  town  girl's  rise  to  footlighi|: 
fame  on  Broadway,  not  essentially  a  musica 
but  containing  music  numbers,  and  was  di- 
rected by  Vincent  Sherman  ("'All  Throu^l 
the  Night,"  "Underground,"  "Flight  from 
Destiny").     Plenty  of  talent  there  for  i 
showman  to  tell. 

"You  Can't  Escape  Forever"  offers  Georgi 
Brent  ("Twin  Beds,"  "In  This  Our  Life,' 
"Gay  Sisters")  and  Brenda  Marshall  (sei 
"Constant  Nymph")  supported  by  Genii 
Lockhart,  Roscoe  Karns  and  Edward  Cian/; 
nelli,  under  the  direction  of  Jo  Grahan 
("Always  In  My  Heart").  It  has  had  littL! 
talking  about  and  shapes  up  as  one  of  thosi 
borderline  items  that  require  time  and  tes ' 
to  prove. 

Jenkins  Produced 
Several  Films 

"The  Hidden  Hand"  is  a  melodrama  pre; 
senting  Craig  Stevens,  Elizabeth  Fraser] 
Julie  Bishop  and  others  who  have  been  apl 
pearing  in  the  lesser  product  bearing  th 
Warner  label.  It  was  directed  by  Bei 
Stoloff  ("Three  Sons  O'  Guns,"  "Great  Mr, 
Nobody,"  "Marines  Fly  High,"  "Lady  an< 
the  Mob")  and  appears  designed  for  the  60 
minute  sector  of  a  double  bill. 

The  other  features   in  what  might  b 
termed  the  utilitarian  bracket  were  produced 
by  William  Jenkins,,  veteran  producer  o 
minor  product.    "Truck  Busters"  is  the  filr 
formerly  announced  as  "Night  Freight,"  ; 
melodrama  offering  Richard  Travis,  Virgini 
Christine  and  Ruth  Ford,  under  the  direc  | 
tion  of  B.  Reeves  Eason.    "The  Mysterioui 
Doctor"  is  an  entry  in  the  thriller  divisio:! 
featuring  John  Loder  and  Eleanor  Parkei( 
directed  by  Ben  Stoloff.   "The  Gorilla  Man  j 
also  features  Loder,  this  time  opposite  Rut  , 
Ford,    and    directed    by    Ross  Ledermar 
Titles  and  talent  index  are  there  for  th 
purpose  of  showmanly  estimate. 

  '[ 

Join  WB  Exchanges 

Richard  E.  Johnson  has  joined  the  Warne 
Bros,  exchange  in  Memphis  as  ad-salesmai 
taking  the  place  of  James  Cbnnell,  who  joinej 
the  Navy.  Robert  Weiland  has  joined  tl 
company's  Milwaukee  branch,  succeeding  af 
salesman  Erhardt  Meske,  who  is  in  the  Arm; 


Revive  "Three  Men" 

"Three  Men  on  a  Horse,"  stage  succe 
which  was  made  into  a  picture  by  Warn< 
Bros.,  will  be  revived  on  the  Broadway  staf; 
next  month  by  Alex  Yokel,  with  most  of  tl', 
original  cast. 


S  e  c  -  e  - 


MOTION  PICTUR 


47 


EXHIBITORS  EMPLOY  WOMEN 
AS  WAR  CALLS  MORE  MEN 


Contend  They  Should  Be 
Used  as  Projectionists 
to  Solve  Problem 

Both  circuit  and  independent  exhibi- 
tors report  a  continuing  increase  in  the 
number  of  women  who  are  replacing  men 
called  to  the  armed  forces  or  drafted  for 
war  industries.  The  distaff  side  continues 
to  take  over  responsible  posts  in  the  thea- 
tre, from  management,  projection  and 
booking  to  ushering,  ticket-taking  and 
other  jobs. 


cue 
the 
rue. 


able  to  operate  a  projector  just  as 


mcuca: 
a  shor 
to  the 
use  of 
it  is  sa 
rated  i 
shculc 
skillfull. 

Reflecting  similar  trends  reported  from 
other  sections  of  the  country.  Pittsburgh 
area  theatres  have  been  employing  women 
not  only  as  ushers  but  also  as  assistant 
managers  and  occasionally  as  managers. 
Circuits  operating  houses  in  that  territory 
have  been  fining  their  usher  and  other  staffs 
with  women  for  some  time  and  indications 
are  that  more  will  be  added  in  the  months 
to  come.  Three  downtown  Harris  houses 
now  employ  25  girl  ushers — the  new  T.  P. 
Harris,  14.  the  Senator,  six,  and  the  IVews- 
reel  five.  The  Jeannette,  a  suburban  Harris 
theatre,  has  a  woman  assistant  manager. 

Many  Are  Using 
Girls  as  Ushers 

Since  reopening  several  weeks  ago.  Shea's 
Fulton  in  the  area  has  been  using  girl  ush- 
ers for  the  first  time.  Recently  the  Casino 
reopened  with  12  girl  ushers  on  its  staff. 
Warners'  downtown  houses  and  Loew's 
Penn  also  are  said  to  be  considering  girl 
ushers  during  the  day  shift  as  an  experi- 
ment. Warner  Bros,  recently  named  women 
as  assistant  managers  at  the  neighborhood 
Fnright  and  the  suburban  Ambridge.  Ac- 
cording to  a  report  from  the  Allied  Motion 
Picture  Theatre  Owners  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania, girls  have  been  employed  as  ushers 
in  a  number  of  independent  houses  and  sev- 
eral already  have  been  named  assistant 
r.".?.nagers. 

The  first  graduating  class  of  the  first 
women  operators'  and  managers'  school, 
conducted  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  by  the  Lucas  & 
Jenkins  circuit,  brought  27  women  man- 
agers and  17  women  operators  into  the 
'  Georgia  exhibition  field.  According  to  Fred 
C.  Coleman,  director  of  the  school,  four 
women  already  have  been  placed  in  manage 
lir.ent  posts:  Mrs.  Julane  George,  at  the 
Cascade  theatre,  Atlanta:  Mrs.  Jane  Boyd. 
Palace:  Mrs.  Daisy  Martin.  Park.  Colege 
Park,  and  Mrs.  John  D.  Hydrick.  at  the 
[Russell.  East  Point.   Mr.  Coleman  reported 
khat  the  latter  theatre  now  has  all-woman 
I  operation  from  the  manager  to  the  opera- 
tor, who  is  Mrs.  Marv  Lambert.    He  said 


MARIE  ZIXX.  first  u-ov.tn  ■»:*■>: si-;* 
in  the  Balaban  3  Kafz  circuit,  is 
coKZTz:u.i~ei  b;  John  Bala'ai*;  ok 
ker  promotion  from  cashier  to  num- 
Jjv  rjf  .-'.v  Psrk  theatre,  LaGran^e,  7.7. 


that  the  24-year-old  projectionist  took  over 
the  booth  formerly  operated  by  her  hus- 
band, who  is  now  in  the  Mavy. 

All  17  graduates  of  the  projectionist 
school,  the  director  said,  "have  been  do- 
ing the  regular  trick  in  theatre  booths  for 
a  period  of  two  months  and  are  well  quali- 
fied to  take  over  any  booth  in  any  theatre. 
Three  women  have  been  placed  in  regular 
jobs  since  graduation  and  others  are  expect- 
ed to  fill  posts  shortly." 

Industry  Leaders 
Lecture  at  School 


Irenrsua 


leaders  who 


lYilDy-ivincey  circuit. 
That  the  newly  organized  Women's  Army 
Auxiliary  Corps  will  train  women  operators 
f:r  mcticn  tricture  theatres  :n  army  camcs. 
thus  releasing  men  for  combat  duty,  was 
indicated  recently  when  officials  at  the  Fort 
Des  Moines  post  of  the  WAAC  said  that 
a  oortion  of  the  women  there  will  be  trained 
as  film  operators  to  replace  men  now 
handling  booths  in  camps  and  posts  through- 
out the  country.  The  number  of  girls  who 
will  be  given  this  training  was  not  dis- 
closed. The  fort  now  has  one  film  theatre 
and  two  more  will  be  constructed  shortly, 
it  was  said.  It  is  planned  to  house  7,000 
members  of  the  WAAC's  at  the  fort  by  De- 
cember 7th. 

Two  new  young  recruits  in  the  field  of 
exhibition  are  Ruthe  Hadley  Parker,  as- 


sistant manager  of  Loew's  Broad  theatre, 
and  Velma  Huston,  student  assistant  at 
Loew's  Ohio,  both  in  Columbus.  Miss  Park- 
er is  the  first  woman  ever  to  occupy  such  a 
position  in  a  first  run  Columbus  theatre. 
She  came  to  the  job  via  Ohio  State  Univer- 
sity. Office  Training  School  and  posts  with 
the  American  Optica'.  cz~z any.  and  Ohic 
Bureau  of  Motor  Vehicles.  She  finds  her 
present  job  *'a  constant  challenge"  and  is 
interested  in  all  phases  of  theatre  operation. 

Was  Music  T eacher 
Before  Theatre  Job 

Miss  Huston  was  a  teacher  of  music  be- 
fore joining  the  Loew's  Ohio.  She  studied 
music  at  Ohio  State  University  and  later 
appeared  on  WCOL  in  Columbus.  She  be- 
lieves that  women  will  remain  in  their  pres- 
ent theatre  jobs  in  greater  numbers  after 
the  war.  "  There's  never  a  dull  moment," 
says  this  recruit  about  the  theatre,  "It's 
fascinating  and  tremendously  interesting." 

According  to  reports  from  Montgomery. 
Ala.,  patrons  of  the  Paramount  and  Empire 
theatres,  of  Alabama  Theatres,  Inc.,  prefer 
the  white-haired  grandmothers  now  em- 
ployed in  both  houses  who  supplanted  draft- 
age  youths  as  doorwomen.  The  elder  wom- 
en are  "safer  business  assets  than  young 
girls,"  officials  declare. 

The  first  woman  manager  aide  in  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  is  Mrs.  Frederick  Fullgrab, 
who  was  appointed  assistant  manager  of  the 
Capitol.  She  served  as  cashier  at  that  house 
for  several  years.  Another  former  cashier 
of  a  theatre  to  come  up  from  the  ranks  to 
an  important  post  is  Vestal  Stall  smith,  re- 
cently named  assistant  n:ana;er  of  the  Ma- 
jestic and  Strand  houses  in  Gettysburg,  Pa- 
Miss  Stallsmith  is  reported  to  be  the  first 
woman  appointed  by  Warner  Bros,  theatres 
in  that  area  to  a  responsible  position. 

Woman  Named 
Theatre  Manager 

Continuing  its  policy  of  releasing  men  for 
military  service  and  replacing  them  with 
members  of  the  distaff  side,  the  Florida 
Theatres  circuit  recently  named  Mrs.  Ina 
Hemc:n  as  n:anaeer  ::  the  Fizriia  in 
Haines  City. 

Other  women  who  have  joined  scores  of 
their  sisters  in  executive  jobs  during  the 
past  two  weeks  include:  Mrs.  Catherine 
Parham,  manager  of  the  Joy,  Malco  circuit, 
Memphis :  Helen  Knight,  assistant  manager, 
Tampa  theatre,  Tampa;  Fannie  Owen,  as- 
sistant manager,  Parkway,  Fort  Smith; 
Dorothy  Fedd'.e,  assistant  manager.  Majes- 
tic, Bridgeport;  Mrs.  Dorothy  Thirion, 
manager,  Roseway,  Portland,  Ore.;  Gert- 
rude Tracy,  assistant  manager,  Loew-Poli. 
Worcester;  Mrs.  Helen  Scott,  booker  and 
office  manager,  Universal  exchange,  Mem- 
phis, and  Evelyn  Singer,  booker,  MGM  ex- 
change, Buffalo. 


Rocke+r  Joins  Feldman 

Al  Rockert  has  joined  the  Charles  K.  Feld- 
man organization  in  Hollywood  as  a  vice- 
crejiier.:. 


Radios  if-rLETO  a  55 

again-joining  ^c«^wing  sta« 
of  singing,  corned y  a n  the 

of  the  airlane*rA°au!l,s  their  own 
show  that  X.k  Who's  Wiog-" 

""22  i«  *eatres  CMSt 

to  coast  October  10. 


M  GREAT  GILDERSLEEVE 

(HAROLD  PEARY) 

GINNY  SIMMS 

LL  THOMPSON  •  GALE  GORDON 
tBEL  RANDOLPH  •  MORTIMER  SNERD 

AND 

!   RAY  NOBLE  and  BAND 

dueed  and  Directed  by  ALLAN  DWAN 

i  P  or  by  Paul  Gerord  Smith  and  Joe  Bigelow.  Story  br  Paul  Gerord  Smith 


5C 


Screen  Courses 
At  Hunter  and 
N.  Y.  U.  Begin 

The  impact  of  the  war  on  the  development 
of  the  motion  picture  as  an  art  will  be  studied 
by  more  than  100  students  in  the  Hunter  Col- 
lege, New  York,  evening  division  during  the 
autumn  semester,  which  began  last  week. 

Members  of  the  class  "in  a  survey  of  the 
motion  picture  field"  will  study  the  production 
documentary  films  as  a  direct  result  of  the  war. 
Such  films  as  "Wake  Island"  and  "The  Battle 
of  Midway"  serve  as  a  record  of  the  courage 
of  men  on  the  battlefield  and  act  as  an  inspira- 
tion to  those  at  home  and  men  in  the  armed 
forces,  according  to  the  instructor,  Mrs.  Jean- 
ette  Wallace  Emrich  of  the  community  service 
division  of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and 
Distributors  of  America. 

Executives  of  motion  picture  companies  met 
with  the  faculty  of  the  motion  picture  depart- 
ment of  the  New  York  University  Washington 
Square  College  of  Arts  and  Science  at  a  lunch- 
eon-conference Thursday  at  the  NYU  Faculty 
Club. 

Professor  Robert  Gessner,  department  chair- 
man, said  the  conference  was  held  to  mark  the 
opening  of  the  new  academic  year  and  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  problems  of  the  in- 
dustry and  education  in  wartime. 

Members  of  the  industry  invited  to  attend 
included:  Adolph  Zukor,  chairman  of  the  board, 
and  Russel  Holman,  eastern  head  of  production, 
Paramount ;  J.  Robert  Rubin  and  Howard 
Dietz,  vice-presidents,  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ; 
Jack  Cohn,  vice-president,  Columbia ;  Joseph 
Hazen,  vice-president,  and  Jacob  Wilk,  story 
editor,  Warner  Bros. 

Also  Bertram  Bloch,  story  editor,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox ;  Richard  C.  Patterson,  Jr.,  chair- 
man of  the  board,  RKO ;  Walter  Wanger,  pro- 
ducer ;  Albert  Lewin,  producer,  United  Artists ; 
Louis  de  Rochemont,  editor,  The  March  of 
Time ;  Lacy  W.  Kastner,  of  the  Motion  Pic- 
ture Division,  Office  of  War  Information ; 
Colonel  Melvin  Gillette,  commanding  officer, 
photographic  center  of  the  Signal  Corps,  As- 
toria, L.  I. ;  G.  S.  Eyssell,  managing  director, 
Radio  City  Music  Hall,  and  Arthur  Mayer, 
representative  of  the  War  Activities  Committee 
of  the  Motion  Picture  Industry. 

New  members  of  the  faculty  who  attended 
were  Lewis  Morton,  story  department,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox,  who  will  teach  motion  pic- 
ture literature ;  Irving  Hartley,  head  of  Hart- 
ley Productions,  who  will  offer  a  course  in  pro- 
duction, and  Michael  Zala,  manager  of  the 
Eighth  Street  Playhouse  and  the  Art  theatre, 
who  will  teach  motion  picture  theatre  manage- 
ment. Dean  Charles  Maxwell  McConn  of 
Washington  Square  College  also  attended. 

Stevens  Paramount 
Chicago  Manager 

J.  H.  Stevens  has  been  appointed  branch  man- 
ager of  Paramount's  Chicago  exchange.  He 
was  formerly  branch  manager  of  the  company's 
Indianapolis  office.  Mr.  Stevens  succeeds  J.  J. 
Donohue,  who  recently  was  advanced  to  district 
manager  with  headquarters  in  Dallas.  _ 

Mr.  Stevens  will  be  succeeded  in  Indianapolis 
by  Al  Taylor,  former  branch  manager  of  the 
Omaha  exchange,  and  Jesse  McBride,  salesman 
from  the  St.  Louis  office,  has  been  promoted  to 
succeed  Mr.  Taylor  in  Omaha. 


"Pride"  in  Four  Circuits 

Samuel  Goldwyn's  RKO  release,  "Pride  oi 
the  Yankees"  has  been  sold  to  four  major  cir- 
cuits, in  the  latest  deals.  These  are  the  Butter- 
field,  Feiber  and  Shea,  Kallet  and  Westland. 
The  Fox  and  Adams  Theatres,  Detroit,  also 
have  bought  the  film. 


MOTION  .PICTURE  HERALD 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  September  list 


ASTOR 

How  to  Play  Baseball  RKO  Radio 

Feature:    The    Pride    of  the 
Yankees    RKO  Radio 

CAPITOL 

America  Sings  Columbia 

Romance  in  Celluloid  MGM 

Feature:  Someivhere  I'll  Find 

You  MGM 

CRITERION 

Women  at  the  Plough  Universal 

Crater  City  Universal 

Juke  Box  Jamboree  Universal 

Feature:  Pardon  My  Sarong  .  Universal 

RIALTO 

Pipeye,     Pupeye,  Poopeye, 

Peepeye  Paramount 

Feature:  The  Voice  of  Terror .  Universal 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party  ....  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  Island  Paramount 

ROXY 

Sandy  Goose  in  the  Out- 
post  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Wedding  in  Bikener  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Feature:  Orchestra  Wives.  .  .    20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Battle  of  Midway  Island  WAC- 

"  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Fresh   Hare  Vitaphone 

Spirit  of  Annapolis  Vitaphone 

Sweeney  Steps  Out  Vitaphone 

Feature:  Across  the  Pacific     Warner  Bros. 


McCall  Heads  NBC 
News  Department 

Francis  C.  McCall  has  been  appointed 
manager  of  the  news  and  special  events  de- 
partment of  the  National  Broadcasting  Com- 
pany to  serve  until  a  successor  is  named  for 
A.  A.  Schechter,  who  resigned  recently  to  join 
the  Office  of  War  Information.  Mr.  McCall, 
who  was  formerly  assistant  to  Mr.  Schechter, 
joined  NBC  in  1936  as  a  writer  in  the  news 
department  and  was  apoointed  news  editor  last 
year. 

Adolph  J.  Schneider  was  named  assistant 
manager  for  news,  and  Lathrop  Mack,  assistant 
manager  for  special  events.  Mr.  Schneider, 
formerly  a  newspaperman,  joined  station  WHO, 
Des  Moines,  in  1937  as  supervisor  of  its 
facsimile  broadcasting.  In  1938  he  became 
a  news  writer  for  NBC.  Mr.  Mack  replaced 
Arthur  S.  Feldman,  who  was  granted  a  leave 
of  absence  to  join  the  British  Broadcasting 
Corporation  in  a  war  post.  Mr.  Mack  also 
joined  NBC  in  1938  as  a  news  writer. 

Business  Unaffected 
By  Air  Raid  Test 

The  first  of  New  Haven's  surprise  air  raid 
tests,  of  which  at  least  one  a  month  is  sched- 
uled, was  held  last  week  and  affected  theatre 
business  very  little,  exhibitors  report. 

The  Seattle  City  Council  has  passed  an  or- 
dinance making  violation  of  the  dimout  regu- 
lations, or  failure  to  comply  with  them,  an 
offense  punishable  by  imprisonment  up  to  90 
days  or  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $300,  or  both. 

Test  blackouts  in  Tennessee  hereafter  will  be 
one  hour  in  length  instead  of  30  minutes. 
Knoxville  tests,  already  set  for  next  Tuesday 
and  October  13th,  will  be  from  8:30  to  9:30 
P.  M. 


September    26,     1942  ij 

Isaac  Advocates  \ 
'Control  System ? 
For  Projection 

A  thorough  control  system  to  maintain  pro 
jection  standards  and  conserve  material  in  war 
time  was  advocated  last  week  by  Lester  B 
Isaac,  Loew  circuit  director  of  projection,  ani 
a  guest  speaker  at  the  September  17th  meetinj 
of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Section  of  the  Society  o 
Motion  Picture  Engineers  at  the  Hotel  Penn 
sylvania,  New  York. 

Theatre  owners  and  managers  should  inter 
est  themselves  in  activities  of  technical  organ 
izations  in  the  projection  field,  Mr.  Isaac  saic 
His  paper,  on  "Maintaining  Projection  Stand 
ards  in  War  Time,"  submitted  for  consideratio) 
the  control  system  used  by  his  circuit  for  li 
years. 

Salient  features  of  this  system  are  a  complet 
record  of  all  supplies,  a  repair  record,  infor 
mation  about  the  opening  of  the  theatre,  seria 
numbers  of  all  equipment  in  the  projectio, 
booth,  a  complete  inventory  of  all  supplies  am 
spare  parts,  together  with  notations  about  type 
of  equipment,  monthly  operators'  reports,  re 
ports  of  carbon  consumption  and  film  condi 
tions,  informational  bulletins  to  personnel. 

Mr.  Isaac  commented:  "It  is  possible  tha 
others  may  feel  that  our  standards  are  to 
high ;  but  they  have  proved  very  practical  an 
highly  profitable.  It  is  a  great  satisfaction  t< 
us  to  know  that  we  have  not  had  a  single  fir 
due  to  faulty  equipment.  Film  mutilation  i 
practically  nil  in  our  theatres,  and  we  are  defi 
nitely  proud  of  the  results  on  the  screen." 

Chairman  of  the  meeting  was  Dr.  Alfre 
Goldsmith.  Among  those  present  were  Donal 
Hyndman,  Eastman  Kodak ;  Cecil  Wood,  Sig 
nal  Corps  Photographic  Center ;  Earl  Morit 
Connecticut  State  Police ;  Charles  Muller,  Ra 
dio  City  Music  Hall;  P.  A.  McGuire,  Interna! 
tional  Projector  Corporation. 

The  SMPE  will  hold  its  52nd  semi-annus 
convention  October  27th  to  29th,  at  the  sam 
hotel.  In  charge  will  be  Emory  Huse,  presi 
dent.  Dr.  Goldsmith  is  chairman  of  the  recep 
tion  and  local  arrangements  committee ;  W.  C 
Kunzman,  chairman  of  the  registration  am 
information  committee ;  and  Oscar  F.  Net 
chairman  of  the  hotel  and  transportation  group 
In  charge  of  publicity  is  Julius  Haber ;  of  th 
luncheon  and  banquet,  Mr.  Hyndman;  of  th< 
ladies'  reception  committee,  Mrs.  Hyndman 
of  the  projection  committee,  H.  F.  Heidegger 

Hays  Board  Upholds 
Code  of  Advertising 

The  board  of  directors  of  the  Motion.  Pic- 
ture Producers  and  Distributors  of  America 
last  week  upheld  a  report  by  its  executive  com- 
mittee in  which  the  use  of  the  word  "hell"  ir 
newspaper  advertising  of  "Wake  Island"  was 
held  to  be  in  violation  of  the  industry  adver- 
tising code  of  ethics. 

The  committee's  report  rejecting  special  con- 
sideration in  such  cases  because  of  war  con- 
ditions, involving  either  a  change  in  or  broader 
interpretation  of  the  advertising  code,  also  was 
upheld,  it  was  reported. 

RCA  Votes  Dividend 

Radio  Corporation  of  America  this  week  de- 
clared a  dividend  of  87^*4  cents  on  its  first  pre- 
ferred stock  and  $1.25  on  "B"  preferred  stock 
payable  October  1st  to  stockholders  of  recon? 
September  21st. 


Heads  NBC  Music 

Samuel  Chotzinoff,  music  critic,_  has  beer 
appointed  manager  of  the  music  division  of  th< 
National  Broadcasting  Company's  program  de/ 
partment. 


DID  Ki—£0&zyw6ev&/ 

Admission  scale  in  all  engagements:  $1.10  evenings,  75c  matinees 

AMES  CAGNEY    'YANKEE  DOODLE  DANDY' 

<5=D  ON  THE  STORY,  LYRICS  AND  MUSIC  OF  GEORGE  M.  COHAN  wiib  JOAN  LESLIE  •  WALTER  HUSTON 
CHARD  WHORF  •  JEANNE  CAGNEY  .  FRANCES  LANG  FORD  .  GEORGE  TOBIAS  .  IRENE  MANNING 
HKfcd  by  MICHAEL  CURT1Z  •  Screen  Play  by  Robert  B-jclcner  and  Edmund  Joseph  •  Original  Story  by  Robert  Suckner 


WARNERS! 


52 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


// 


WHAT  THE 

PICTURE  DID  FOR  ME 


Columbia 


FLIGHT  LIEUTENANT:  Pat  O'Brien,  Glenn  Ford 
— This  was  a  good  show  for  the  few  who  saw  it, 
but  it  had  no  power  at  the  box  office  for  me.  Played 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  2,  3. — Gene  Mi- 
chael, Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn.  Ky.  Small  town 
and  coal  mining  patronage. 

INVADERS,  THE:  Raymond  Massey,  Laurence 
Olivier,  Leslie  Howard — There  is  no  question  about 
this  picture  being  of  outstanding  entertainment.  But 
like  all  big  pictures,  they  don't  do  the  business  first, 
as  large  centers  which  play  them  take  the  cream  out 
of  the  box  office.— Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre, 
Tilbury,  Ont. 

INVADERS,  THE:  Leslie  Howard,  Raymond  Mas- 
sey, Laurence  Olivier — A  very  good  picture  with  good 
actors.  We  had  a  full  house  for  two  days..  Played 
Friday,  Saturday,  September  4,  5. — Conrad  H.  Tapia, 
Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

ROYAL  MOUNTED  PATROL:  Charles  Starrett- 
This  did  not  do  me  much  good  as  a  Friday -Saturday 
show.  'Nough  said.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  Sep- 
tember 4,  5. — Gene  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Free- 
burn, Ky.    Small  town  and  coal  mining  patronage. 

THEY  ALL  KISSED  THE  BRIDE:  Melvyn  Doug- 
las, Joan  Crawford — We  let  the  freshmen  of  the  col- 
lege in  free  to  their  first  show  mainly  to  advertise 
our  wares  and  quality.  Of  course,  that  brings  in 
a  good  crowd  but  there  were  plenty  of  others  that 
came,  too.  They  managed  to  get  lots  of  laughs  out 
of  this  light  comedy  and  everyone  was  well  satisfied. 
It  is  fun  like  this  that  people  are  looking  for  these 
days  around  here.  Played  Thursday,  Friday,  Sep- 
tember 10,  11.— W.  Vrick,  Nevins,  111.,  Alfred  Co-op 
Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.    Small  college  town  patronage. 

THEY  ALL  KISSED  THE  BRIDE:  Joan  Crawford, 
Melvyn  Douglas — A  very  well  produced  picture  with 
lots  of  laughs.  Good  acting.  Miss  Crawford  is  not  a 
very  good  drawing  star  for  this  town,  but  the  pa- 
trons that  saw  her  were  pleased  to  see  her.  Played 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  2,  3. — Conrad  H. 
Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz.  Fair  pat- 
ronage. 

TWO  YANKS  IN  TRINIDAD:  Pat  O'Brien,  Brian 
Donlevy — A  most  satisfying  and  entertaining  picture 
that  was  right  up  our  alley  for  entertainment. — Har- 
land Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ont. 


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

JOHNNY  EAGER:  Robert  Taylor,  Lana  Turner— 
Another  good  picture  from  MGM.  Pleased  100  per 
cent,  though  I  was  a  little  afraid  of  it  for  a  small 
town.  Played  Monday,  Tuesday,  August  31,  Septem- 
ber 1— W.  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen, 
Saskatchewan,  Canada.    Rural  small  town  patronage. 

MRS.  MINIVER:  Greer  Garson,  Walter  Pidgeon— 
This  did  Sunday  business  every  day  of  its  run.  Last 
day  was  weak.  The  people  came  to  see  it  again,  so  it 
must  be  good.  We  were  able  to  play  it  at  regular 
scales,  and  at  this,  it  out-grossed  everything  this  year, 
including  the  55  cent  "supers."  Just  tell  them  you've 
got  "Mrs.  Miniver,"  the  public  will  understand; 
but  don't  make  the  mistake  of  whispering  it.  Shout 
it  from  every  angle  at  your  disposal.  We  doubled 
our  advertising  on  this  picture  and  more  than  made  a 
safe  investment.  They'll  come  from  40  miles  away  to 
see  this.  Played  Wednesday-Saturday,  September  2- 
5. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New 
Paltz,  N.  Y. 

RIO  RITA:  Abbott  and  Costello— Abbott  and  Cos- 
tello  have  never  done  more  than  average  in  this  town 
and  this  one  followed  the  rule.  While  the  pair  are  on 
the  screen,  the  humor  and  comedy  is  funny  and  well 
done.  However,  the  rest  of  the  time  is  spent  on  the 
type  of  material  that  Abbott  and  Costello  fans  get 
terribly  bored  with.  Long  classical  musical  numbers 
should  be  used  in  pictures  that  will  attract  people  who 
appreciate  them.  It  seemed  very  out  of  place  since  a 
person  who  likes  slapstick  and  classical  music,  too, 
is  a  real  rarity.  Played  Saturday,  September  12. — 
W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred, 
N.  Y.    Small  college  town  patronage. 

SHIP  AHOY:  Eleanor  Powell,  Red  Skelton— Ex- 
cellent entertainment;  everybody  liked  it.  Don't  stress 
the  plot,  there  isn't  any,  but  give  that  cast  and  pro- 
duction a  big  play  in  your  appeal,  and  they'll  all  be 
satisfied.     Average  business.     Played   Sunday,  Mon- 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
In  It  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
rormance  of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me.  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center.  New  York.  N.  Y. 


day,  August  23,  24. — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz 
Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

TARZAN'S  NEW  YORK  ADVENTURE:  Johnny 
Weissmuller,  Maureen  O'Sullivan— We  saved  this  for 
Labor  Day  Sunday  and  Monday.  Excellent  business 
in  spite  of  tough  weather  opposition.  The  monkey 
really  is  the  whole  show,  so  I  suggest  you  tell  them 
that,  and  they'll  laugh  the  harder.  One  of  the  thin- 
nest stories  in  the  Tarzan  series,  but  the  tops  in  busi- 
ness. Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  6,  7. — 
Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
N.  Y. 

TORTILLA  FLAT:  Spencer  Tracy,  Hedy  Lamarr, 
John  Garfield — An  excellent  picture  that  did  good  busi- 
ness. I  think  Wallace  Beery  should  have  played 
the  part  of  "Pilon. "  Spencer  Tracy  is  good  in  any 
role,  but  I  believe  Beery  would  have  been  better  in 
this. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska, 
Wash.    Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 


Paramount 


BEYOND  THE  BLUE  HORIZON:  Dorothy  La- 
mour,  Richard  Denning — This  Technicolor  jungle  pic- 
ture is  just  what  the  public  has  been  taught  to  ex- 
pect. Short  on  story,  but  long  on  entertainment  and 
production,  it  will  more  than  satisfy  those  who  come 
to  see  it.  Business  fair.  Played  Monday,  Tuesday, 
August  31,  September  1. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New 
Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y.  Small  town  pat- 
ronage. 

DR.  BROADWAY:  MacDonald  Carey— Small  pic- 
ture which  got  by  on  bargain  night.  Played  Tuesday, 
September  8. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

FORCED  LANDING:  Richard  Arlen— This  type  of 
picture  suits  our  small  situation  very  well.  Should 
do  well  in  any  small  town. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza 
Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ont. 

GREAT  MAN'S  LADY,  THE:  Barbara  Stanwyck, 
Toel  McCrea — The  ladies  loved  this;  exceptionally  en- 
tertaining, but  poor  business.  Played  Monday.  Tues- 
day, August  17,  18.— Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz 
Theatre,  New  Paltz,   N.   Y.     Small  town  patronage. 


"/  know  a  lot  of  exhibitors 
who  turn  to  this  section  as 
soon  as  they  get  their 
Herald,  to  profit  by  the 
other  fellows'  reports,  who 
never  send  in  a  report  them- 
selves. Surely  such  a  valu- 
able section  merits  a  few 
minutes'  time  when  check- 
ing up  a  picture.  The  forms 
are  sent  free  and  very  easy 
to  fill  in.  So  come  on,  slack- 
ers, let's  hear  from  you!" 
— W.  R.  PYLE,  Dreamland 
Theatre,  Rockglen,  Sask., 
Canada. 


MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Bob  Hope,  Madeleine 
Carrol — Best  Bob  Hope  yet.  Really  had  them  laughing 
and  this  is  what  designates  a  good  picture  nowadays 
Played  Monday,  Tuesday,  August  24,  25.— W.  R.  Pyle 
Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen,  Saskatchewan,  Canada 
Rural  small  town  patronage. 

SWEATER  GIRL:  Eddie  Bracken,  June  Priesser- 
Small  musical  show  which  pleased  average  business 
Played  Friday,  Saturday,  September  4,  5. — E.  M 
Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Smal 
town  patronage. 

TAKE  A  LETTER,  DARLING:  Rosalind  Russell 
Fred  MacMurray — As  a  comedy-farce  this  rates  okay 
Our  crowds  liked  it.  The  house  rocked  with  laughte 
at  many  of  the  funny  situations  with  which  thi 
abounds.  Good  business  doubled  with  "Suicide  Squad 
ron"  from  Republic.  Played  Saturday,  Sunday,  Au 
gust  29,  30.— Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre 
New  Paltz,  N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

THIS   GUN   FOR  HIRE:   Veronica  Lake,  Rober 
Preston,  Alan  Ladd — Pretty  good  picture  but  not 
sleeper.      Business    was    fair.       Played  Wednesday 
Thursday,  September  2,  3. — E.  M.   Freiburger,  Para 
mount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage 


RKO  Radio 


FOUR  JACKS  AND  A  JILL:  Anne  Shirley,  Ra. 
Bolger — Not  as  good  as  I  thought  it  would  be.  Playei 
on  "Wahoo  Night,"  $86  in  the  pot,  with  very  goo 
shorts  and  the  first  chapter  of  "King  of  the  Texa 
Rangers."  Always  good  crowds  on  this  night.  Playec 
Tuesday,  September  8. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Thea 
tre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

MAYOR  OF  44TH  STREET,  THE:  George  Mur 
phy,  Anne  Shirley — Doubled  this  with  "Mexican  Spit 
fire  Sees  a  Ghost"  to  fair  business.  This  seeme< 
rather  amateurish  in  spots  but  it  served  its  purpos' 
as  light  entertainment.  In  the  main,  it  is  just  anothe 
picture.  Doubt  if  it  means  anything  one  way  or  th 
other  at  the  box  office.  Played  Monday,  Tuesday 
September  7,  8  — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-0 
Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.    Small  college  town  patronage 

MEXICAN  SPITFIRE  SEES  A  GHOST:  Leon  Er 
rol,  Lupe  Velez — My  folks  can  laugh  at  this  series 
but  I  think  it  is  time  to  quit  now  before  the  samenes 
gets  overdone.  Personally,  I  get  a  big  kick  out  of  thi 
Lord  Epping  characterizations.  Ran  it  with  "Mayo 
of  44th  Street"  to  fair  business.  Played  Monday 
Tuesday,  September  7,  8.— W.  Varick  Nevins,  III 
Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  colleg. 
town  patronage. 

MY  FAVORITE  SPY:  Kay  Kyser,  Ellen  Drew- 
Played  to  average  business  and  picture  seemed  t< 
please  just  about  everyone.  Played  Saturday-Monday 
September  5-7. — Ritz  Amusements,  Inc.,  Park  Thea 
tre,  North  Vernon,  Ind.    Small  town  patronage. 

POWDER  TOWN:  Victor  McLaglen,  Edmunc 
O'Brien — Why  do  you  book  it  ?  Because  you  have  tc 
fill  dates.  I  can  see  a  bright  spot  for  the  coming 
season,  in  that  larger  blocks  apparently  can  be  sold 
This  is  all  to  the  good.  This  booking  from  hand  tc 
mouth  necessitates  pictures,  that,  if  times  were  bad, 
would  be  cancelled,  and  not  inflicted  on  the  public, 
Still  they  are  to  be  trade  shown,  and  there  is  nol 
one  in  10  exhibitors  (unless  they  are  close  to  the  ex- 
change centers)  has  either  the  time  or  inclination  tc 
put  more  mileage  on  his  tires  that  will  have  to  dc 
for  the  duration.  We  got  along  fairly  well  before  tht 
Consent  Decree,  checking  the  trade  paper  reviews,  and 
I  think  that  it  still  is  a  good  system. — A.  E.  Han- 
cock, Columbia  Theatre,  Columbia  City,  Ind. 

SYNCOPATION:  Jackie  Cooper,  Bonita  Granville 
—A  musical  with  little  or  no  plot.  The  musical  num- 
bers are  good  and  your  younger  customers  will  think 
it  swell.    Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  2 

{Continued  on  opposite  page) 


September    26,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


53 


(Continued  from  opposite  page) 
3. — Ritz  Amusements,  Inc.,  Park  Theatre,  Xorth  Ver- 
non, Ind.    Small  town  patronage. 


Republic 

CALL  OF  THE  CANYON:  Gene  Autry— Good  pic- 
ture and  good  business.  Autry  always  brings  them 
in  on  Friday-Saturday — Played  September  11,  12. — 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 
Small  town  patronage. 

SUICIDE  SQUADRON:  Anton  Walbrook,  Sally 
Gray — A  misleading  title  on  an  excellent  picture  with 
classy  music  interwoven  into  its  story".  Everyone  who 
saw  it  was  satisfied,  except  the  children  who  ex- 
pected to  see  a  dogfight  in  the  clouds.  Played  to 
good  weekend  business  doubled  with  "Take  a  Letter. 
Darling."  Played  Saturday,  Sunday,  August  29,  30.— 
Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
X.  Y.  Small  town  patronage. 

Twentieth  Century- Fox 

PIED  PIPER,  THE:  Monty  YVoolley— Played  mid- 
week to  average  business.  Had  several  walkouts,  but 
the  elite  of  the  town  thought  it  grand.  Just  another 
war  picture.  Played  Wednesday.  Thursday,  Septem- 
ber 9,  10. — Ritz  Amusements,  Inc.,  Park  Theatre, 
Xorth  Vernon,  Ind.  Small  town  patronage. 

POSTMAN  DIDN'T  RING,  THE:  Brenda  Joyce, 
Richard  Travis — A  little  program  picture  which  got 
by  on  Family  Night.  Played  Tuesday.  September  1. — 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 
Small  town  patronage. 

THIS  ABOVE  AT.!,:  Tyrone  Power,  Joan  Fontaine. 
An  English  war  story  that  is  well  made  and  well 
acted,  but  pleased  only  about  50  per  cent  of  our  cus- 
tomers. Business  was  below  average. — Ritz  Amuse- 
ments, Inc.,  Park  Theatre,  North  Vernon,  Ind. 

WHISPERING  GHOSTS:  Milton  Berle.  Brenda 
Joyce — Milton  Berle  doesn't  get  over  in  our  house: 
!  picture  is  good  entertainment  of  its  kind  and  should 
please  where  this  type  of  film  is  liked.  Played  with 
"Blue  Horizon"  from  Paramount  to  fair  business. 
Played  Monday,  Tuesday,  August  31,  September  1.— 
Thomas  de  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  Xew  Paltz. 
X.  Y. 

United  Artists 

GOLD  RUSH,  THE:  Charlie  Chaplin— Did  a  nice 
business  on  this  reissue.  The  kids  and  old  folks  went 
for  it,  but  the  young  folks  didn't  care  much  for  it. 
Played  Sunday,  Monday.  September  6,  7. — E.  M. 
Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small 
town  patronage. 

MISTER  V.:  Leslie  Howard— This  is  one  English  - 
made  picture  which  you  can  understand.  Business  was 
fair.  Played  Sunday,  Monday.  August  30.  31. — E.  M. 

j  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre.  Dewey,  Okla.  Small 

'  town  patronage. 

SUNDOWN:  Bruce  Cabot,  Gene  Tierney— Definitely 
not  a  small  town  picture  and   I  wonder  about  the 
-  cities  also.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  August  28,  29.— 
■-  W.   R.    Pyle,    Dreamland   Theatre,    Rockglen,  Sask., 
|  Canada.  Rural  small  town  patronage. 


Universal 

ARIZONA  CYCLONE:  Johnny  Mack  Brown— Fair 
action  Western.  We  played  on  a  weekend  satisfac- 
torily.— Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham. 
Ont. 

BADLANDS  OF  DAKOTA:  Robert  Stack,  Ann 
Rutherford — A  small  town  natural.  They  loved  "Bad- 
lands." Plenty  of  shooting.  This  picture  outplayed 
"49th  Parallel"  and  more  of  the  highly  advertised 
pictures. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury, 
Ont. 

ESCAPE  FROM  HONG  KONG:  Andy  Devine.  Leo 
Carrillo— One  of  the  best  in  this  series  which  has  just 
begun  to  get  popular.  Played  Friday,  September  4. — 
Ritz  Amusements,  Inc.,  Park  Theatre,  Xorth  Vernon, 
Ind.  Small  town  patronage. 

IN  THE  NAVY:  Abbott  and  Costello— Played  this 
late,  but  nevertheless  it  sure  had  some  punch  at  the 
boxoffice,  I'll  take  all  I  can  get  of  these.  Business 
was  good,  and  will  be  on  all  of  them.  Played  Monday, 
Tuesday,  August  31,  September  1. — Gene  Michael, 
Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky.  Small  town  and  coal 
mining  patronage. 

LAST  OF  THE  DUANES:  George  Montgomery— 
Our  patrons  look  for  a  Western  nearly  every  week- 
end. We  find  them  all  doing  business  for  us.  This 
seemed  to  satisfy. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre, 
Tilbury,  Ont. 

NORTH  OF  THE  KLONDIKE:  Broderick  Craw- 
ford, Lon  Chaney,  Andy  Devine — This  was  a  swell 
picture  with  action,  comedy  and  romance.  Fellows, 
you  haven't  seen  anything  until  you've  seen  the  fight 
put  on  by  Crawford  and  Chaney.  It's  the  best  since 
"Ten  Nights  in  a  Barroom."  Played  it  with  my  serial 
to  fair  business.  Played  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Sep- 
tember S,  9. — Gene  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Free- 
burn, Ky.  Small  town  and  coal  mining  patronage. 

SWING  IT,  SOLDIER:  Frances  Langford,  Ken 
Murray — A  good  musical  that  did  well  on  weekend 
with  Western. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Til- 
bury, Ont. 


Warner  Bros. 


MALE  ANIMAL,  THE:  Henry  Fonda,  Olivia  de 
Havilland — A  hilarious  college  comedy  that  was  thor- 
oughly enjoyed. — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham,  Ont. 

MALE  ANIMAL,  THE:  Henry  Fonda,  Olivia  de 
Havilland — First  picture  that  I  have  shown  here  that 
people  enjoyed.  I  thought  that  it  was  good.  Good 
comments.  Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  September 
9.  10. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande, 
Ariz. 

MEET  JOHN  DOE:  Gary  Cooper,  Barbara  Stan- 
wyck—It's old,  but  it's  darn  good.  Will  go  over  to 
any  audience.  Plaved  Mondav,  Tuesdav,  September  7, 
S.— W.  R.  Pyle.  Dreamland  Theatre.  Rockglen,  Sask., 
Canada.  Rural  small  town  patronage. 

MURDER  IN  THE  BIG  HOUSE:  Faye  Emerson, 
Van  Johnson — Good  action,  newspaper  story  that  we 
double  billed. — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chat- 
ham. Ont. 


WINGS  FOR  THE  EAGLE:  Ann  Sheridan,  Dennis 
Morgan — Good  picture  and  good  business.  Played 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  9.  10. — E.  IC  Frei- 
burger, Paramount  Theatre.  Dewey,  Okla.  Small  town 
patronage. 


Short  Features 

Columbia 

AN  ACHE  IN  EVERY  STAKE:  Three  Stooges 
Comedy — Don't  know  about  the  rest  of  you,  but  my 
patrons  go  for  the  Stooges.  You  couldn't  hear  a  thing 
for  the  laughter  when  this  was  on  the  screen.  Good? 
Well,  I  guess.  They  are  all  good. — Played  Friday, 
Saturday,  August  28,  29. — Gene  Michael,  Freeburn 
Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky. 

MITT  ME  TONIGHT  AND  THE  KINK  OF  THE 
CAMPUS:  Glove  Slingers — I  wasn't  much  sold  on 
these  at  first,  but  they  pleased  the  customers  and 
they  beg  for  more,  so  they  will  get  more.  Played  Fri- 
day, Saturday,  September  4,  5. — Gene  Michael,  Free- 
burn Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky. 

YOO  HOO,  GENERAL:  This  is  a  vaudeville  reel 
that  should  have  been  better  as  it  has  some  good  peo- 
ple in  it.  However,  my  audience  did  not  think  too 
much  of  it.  Can't  say  as  I  blame  them. — W.  Varick 
Xevins  HI,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  X.  Y. 


Metro-Gold  wyn-Mayer 

BARBEE-CUES:  Pete  Smith  Specialty— This  is  one 
which  the  ladies  particularly  will  enjoy.  Pete  Smith 
does  his  usual  humorous  commentary  around  the 
cooking  of  hotdogs,  steaks,  etc.,  and  wins  many  a 
laugh.  Spotted  this  with  "Mrs.  Miniver"  to  complete 
satisfaction  of  audience. — Thomas  de  Lorenzo,  Xew 
Paltz  Theatre,  Xew  Paltz,  X.  Y. 

BATS  IN  THE  BELFRY:  Cartoon— This  cartoon 
is  not  funny. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

DOING  THEIR  BIT:  Our  Gang  Comedy— Average 
Our  Gang  comedy — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

FIELD  MOUSE,  THE:  Color  Cartoon— A  dandy 
little  color  cartoon  that  is  good  for  a  lot  of  laughs. — 
W.   R.   Pyle,   Dreamland   Theatre,   Rockglen,  Sask. 

FURTHER  PROPHESIES   OF  NOSTRADAMUS: 

These  Nostradamus  reels  are  the  most  thought-pro- 
voking reels  today.  This  one  is  very  good  and  they 
all  drive  me  crazy  wondering  just  how  much  faith 
to  put  in  the  material. — W.  Varick  Xevins  HI,  Alfred 
Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  X.  Y. 

VENDETTA:  Passing  Parade — Entertaining  reel. — 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

VENDETTA:  Passing  Parade— A  well-made  Pass- 
ing Parade  issue  showing  how  Napoleon  was  beaten 
and  suggesting  that  similar  things  may  happen  to 
Hitler.  Xice  to  hope  for,  anyway. — W.  Varick  Xevins 
m,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  X.  Y. 

WEST  POINT  ON  HUDSON:  FitzPatrick  Travel- 
(Continued  on  page  56) 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT 

A  Wartime  Service  for  Exhibitors 

5  Are  you  looking  for  something  you  can't  buy?  Got  something  you  don't  need?  Then  tell  the 
Herald,  and  we'll  tell  the  world. 
... 

5  This  service  is  offered — free  to  exhibitors,  of  course — to  further  the  conservation  of  those 
resources  upon  which  theatres  must  depend,  with  less  and  less  replenishment,  for  some  time  to 
come.  According  to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  WPB  amusements  section,  only  the 
strictest  policy  of  conservation  throughout  the  theatre  business  can  assure  the  continued  operation 
of  our  theatres.  Everything  usable  must  be  used,  as  needed,  by  the  fellow  who  needs  it. 

5  If  you  have  something  to  swap,  describe  it  fully  enough  to  give  the  other  fellow  an  idea  as  to 
its  applicability  to  his  need,  and  similarly  describe  what  you  are  looking  for.  This  information 
will  be  published  promptly  in  the  Herald,  without  charge.  Write  to — 

SWAP  DEPARTMENT,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.Y. 


OUT  NI 


INTERNATIONAL  MOTIO 

EDITORIAL      OFFICES:  ROCKEFELLI 


XT  WEEK 


1942-43  INTERNATIONAL 
MOTION  PICTURE  ALMANAC 
IS  OFF  THE  PRESS   -   -  - 

The  Almanac  of  the  show-year  of  1942-43  is  the  most  com- 
prehensive reference  publication  of  the  picture  business. 
Here  is  an  up-to-the-minute  documentary  record  of  industry 
activity  ....  here  are  presented  more  than  12,000 
biographies  of  players,  directors,  writers,  technicians  and 
executives  ....  here  are  facts  and  figures  in  abundance 
covering  every  phase  of  the  business  with  scientific  accu- 
racy and  precision  ....  here  is  the  most  complete  work 
of  its  kind,  everything  with  which  to  check  the  past  and 
chart  the  future. 

No  showman  can  afford  to  be  without  the  Almanac.  If  you 
haven't  already  reserved  your  copy  be  sure  to  order  it  at  once. 


$3.25  Postpaid 


Edited  by  TERRY  RAMSAYE 


ICTURE  ALMANAC 

ENTER,       NEW  YORK 


56 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


(Continued  from  page  53) 
talk — Excellent  stuff,  and  rates  a  play  in  every  the- 
atre of  the  land.  Well  done  in  the  usual  FitzPatrick 
manner,  it  should  prove  entertaining  in  these  days 
when  so  many  sons  are  attending  training  camps. — 
Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
1ST.  Y. 


Paramount 

MR.   STRAUSS    TAKES    A   WALK:    George  Pal 

Puppetoon — Excellent  cartoon  with  humor,  color  and 
music. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New 
Paltz,  N.  Y. 

RKO  Radio 

CINDERELLA  CHAMPION:  The  rise  of  Alsab  is 
shown  by  picturing  some  of  his  best  known  races. 
Okay  for  its  type. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred 
Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

HEART  BURN:  Edgar  Kennedy  Comedy— Edgar  is 
not  as  good  as  he  was.  All  of  his  comedies  are  the 
same  thing  over  and  over. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief 
Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

INDIA  IN  CRISIS:  March  of  Time— This  hit  our 
screen  while  India  was  in  all  the  headlines  and  being 
covered  over  the  radio.  The  timeliness  made  it  the 
more  enjoyable  to  an  audience  which  came  to  see 
"Blue  Horizon." — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz 
Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

BIG  BUILD  UP:  Cartoon— Good  black  and  white 
cartoon — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

WELL  ROWED,  HARVARD:  Sport  reel  which  will 
do  as  a  filler. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

United  Artists 

CHURCHILL'S  ISLAND:  Documentary  film— This 
is  hot  stuff  for  your  screen  and  ought  to  get  a  play 
in  every  city,  village  and  hamlet.  Excellently  related, 
without  the  British  accent,  every  American  will  ap- 
plaud it  and  hiss  Hitler,  who  appears  briefly  in  some 
captured  films. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  The- 
atre, New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 

U.S.  Navy 

NEPTUNE'S  REALM:  Entertaining  free  reel  from 
the  U.  S.  Navy.— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  The- 
atre, Dewey,  Okla. 

Universal 

MENACE   OF   THE   RISING   SUN:  Interesting 


short  subject.  Used  special  board  on  it  that  attracted 
people. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa  Grande, 
Ariz. 

SHUFFLE  RHYTHM:  A  couple  of  good  moments 
just  make  the  rest  of  this  vaudeville  reel  look  just 
that  much  worse.  It  ends  up  as  just  a  filler. — W.  Var- 
ick Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 


Victory  Films 

MR.  GARDENIA  JONES:  Entertaining  tree  reel 
boosting  USO — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

TANKS:  Nicely  done  free  reel  showing  the  machin- 
ery at  work  making  tanks.  Then  testing  them  gives 
you  some  thrills.  We  are  all  playing  these  reels,  but 
hardly  anyone  else  reports  on  them.  Why  not? — W. 
Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred. 
N.  Y. 


Warner  Bros. 

BUGS  BUNNY  GETS  THE  BO'ID:  Cartoon— A 
dopey  buzzard  and  Bugs  Bunny  have  some  hilarious 
times  together  and  you  ought  to  hear  the  applause 
when  these  come  on  the  screen. — W.  Varick  Nevins 
III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

CALIFORNIA  JUNIOR  SYMPHONY:  Broadway 
Brevities — This  made  a  hit  with  our  audience;  well 
staged  and  produced,  it  will  more  than  fill  the  bill 
where  a  classy  musical  is  required. — Thomas  di  Lo- 
renzo, New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 

DAFFY'S  SOUTHERN  EXPOSURE:  Cartoon- 
Good  black  and  white  cartoon.  Enjoyed  by  people 
that  saw  it. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  Theatre,  Casa 
Grande,  Ariz. 

DUCTATOR:  Looney  Tune  Cartoon — Good  black  and 
white  cartoon. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

EATING  ON  THE  CUFF:  Cartoon— Good  black 
and  white  cartoon. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

FONEY  FABLES:  Some  typically  Schlesinger 
wacky  burlesques  of  children's  stories.  They  liked  it 
a  lot  here— W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  The- 
atre, Alfred,  N.  Y. 

FOX  POP:  Good  color  cartoon — E.  M.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

LIGHTS  FANTASTIC:  Merry  Melody  Cartoon— 
The  big  lights  on  Broadway's  Times  Square  (now 
dimmed  out)  are  all  made  part  of  this  amusing  and 
interestingly-done  cartoon.  Good  for  some  laughs. 
Hit  our  screen  with  "Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure." 
— Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
N.  Y. 

SPIRIT  OF  WEST  POINT:  Very  good  patriotic 
two-reel  subject.  Not  much  West  Point  stuff  in  it  as 
title  would  indicate,  but  some  of  Hitler  invading  and 


robbing  his  neighbors. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

WACKY  BLACKOUT:  Cartoon— Lots  of  clever  little 
items  in  black  and  white  Schlesinger  style.  He's  the 
man  who  knows  how  to  get  the  laughs  in  this  town. 
— W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Al- 
fred, N.  Y. 

Serials 
Republic 

KING  OF  THE  TEXAS  RANGERS:  Serial— This 
serial  packed  the  house.  Good  action,  better  than  any 
chapter  we've  had  here. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Chief  The- 
atre, Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

NBC  To  Broadcast 
Louis-Conn  Fight 

The  National  Broadcasting  Company  has 
been  awarded  the  exclusive  broadcasting  rights 
to  the  Joe  Louis-Billy  Conn  heavyweight  cham- 
pionship fight  to  be  held  at  the  Yankee  Stadi- 
um, New  York,  October  12th,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Army  Emergency  Relief.  The  award 
was  made  by  the  radio  committee  of  War  Box- 
ing, Inc.,  acting  for  the  War  Department,  on 
the  basis  of  a  high  bid  of  $71,200  by  the  net- 
work. The  figure  is  an  all-time  high  for  radio 
rights  to  a  prize  fight. 

Sealed  bids  were  received  from  the  three 
other  major  networks.  Clarence  L.  Menser, 
NBC  vice-president  in  charge  of  programs,  who 
etndered  NBC's  bid,  said  the  company  was  in- 
fluenced in  part  by  the  high  degree  of  interest 
in  the  fight  of  the  armed  forces  abroad,  and 
the  fact  that  Army  Relief  is  a  worthy  cause. 

P.  Lorillard  and  Company,  on  behalf  of  Old 
Gold  cigarettes,  will  sponsor  the  broadcast.  It 
will  be  heard  on  the  entire  network. 

Benefit  Opens  New 
Theatre  in  Queens 

Before  its  official  opening  on  Thursday,  the 
new  RKO  Midway  Theatre  in  Forest  Hills 
gave  a  Red  Cross  benefit  performance  Wednes- 
day night,  with  Warner  Bros,  donating  the  film 
program.  "Desperate  Journey,"  Errol  Flynn's 
picture,  scheduled  to  open  Friday  at  the  New 
York  Strand,  and  "The  U.  S.  Marine  Band," 
short  subject,  comprised  the  bill.  A  number 
of  Broadway  celebrities,  headed  by  Ed  Wynn, 
appeared  in  person.  In  addition  to  giving  free 
use  of  the  house,  RKO  bought  a  block  of  100 
seats  for  the  benefit.  Albert  Howson  of  War-  i 
ners  was  in  charge  of  arrangements  for  the 
benefit. 

Chicago  Censors  Pass 
1 26  Films  in  August 

The  Chicago  Police  Censor  Board  reviewed 
126  pictures  with  a  total  footage  of  504,600 
feet  during  the  month  of  August.  There  were  ; 
no  rejections,  23  cuts  were  ordered  and  Para-  ! 
mount's  "The  Glass  Key"  was  given  an  "adults 
only"  or  pink  permit,  it  was  reported. 


AMPA  Donors  Named 

Names  of  contributors  to  the  Associated  Mo- 
tion Picture  Advertisers'  Relief  Fund  drive 
were  announced  this  week  by  David  A.  O'Mal- 
ley,  AMPA  treasurer.  They  are :  Budd  Rogers,. 
Jack  Meyers,  Ned  Depinet,  Ross  Federal  Serv- 
ice, Joseph  Gallagher,  Rube  Jackter,  Louis  As- 
tor,  David  Bernstein,  Joseph  Bernhard,  Artlee 
Corporation,  Paul  Lazarus,  Sr.,  Jay  Emanuel 
Publications,  Lester  Thompson,  Joseph  R.  Vo- 
gel,  Si  Seadler,  W.  J.  German  and  Max  Weis- 
feldt. 


35  Years  with  Universal 

Elizabeth  Wetter,  secretary  to  Barney  Rose, 
Universal  branch  manager  in  Chicago,  last 
week  was  presented  with  a  wrist  watch  by  the- 
company  on  completing  her  35th  year  in  the 
employ  of  Universal.  She  has  been  identified 
with  the  Chicago  exchange  for  the  entire  pe- 
riod. 


WESTERN  UNION 


September    26,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  57 

THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 


The  theory  that  exhibitor  experience 
fits  a  man  for  the  task  of  producing  pic- 
tures has  been  a  subject  of  debate  adown 
the  years,  but  Hollywood  appears  to  have 
taken  the  affirmative  of  late  with  a  dis- 
position to  close  the  issue. 

Last  week  David  J.  Chatkin,  one  time  op- 
erating- head  of  Publix  Theatres  and  still 
interested  in  the  Monarch  theatres  in  In- 
diana and  Ohio,  became  a  producer  and  re- 
ceived for  his  first  assignment  at  Columbia 
studio  the  production  of  '"One  Dangerous 
tCight."  a  Lone  Wolf  picture  starring  War- 
den William.  A  period  of  tenure  as  general 
pales  manager  of  Educational  Pictures  is 
irounted  an  additional  qualification  for  the 
exhibitor's  success  in  his  new  field  of  en- 
ieavor. 

I  Although  the  selection  of  Exhibitor  Nate 
31umberg  to  take  charge  of  Universale  pro- 
iuction  problem  was  not  the  first  instance 
jtt  its  kind — Exhibitor  Sam  Katz  and  some 
Others  had  entered  production  previously — 
i  was  after  his  working  of  what  was  re- 
rarded  as  a  major  miracle  in  the  affairs  of 
hat  company  that  Hollywood  accepted  in 
uil  the  premise  that  a  showman  recruited 
rom  the  front  line  of  contact  with  the  pub- 
ic might  know  better  than  someone  else 
mat  the  public  was  shopping  for. 

Universal  financial  statements  improved 
Jiarply   after  the   Blumberg  appointment. 

Paramount  financial  statements  improved 
iter  the  delegation  of  Exhibitor  Y.  Frank 
reeman  to  the  responsibility  of  operating 
lat  company's  studio. 

\ppointment  of  Exhibitor  Charles  Koer- 
er  as  chief  of  production  for  RKO  Radio 
regarded  in  Hollywood  as  a  long  step  to- 
ard  solution  of  the  problems  which  have 
evailed  in  that  quarter. 
There  is  as  yet  no  record  of  a  failure  by 
i  exhibitor  turned  producer. 

,asky  to  Produce 
To  the  Last  Man" 

Jesse  L.  Lasky,  welcomed  back  to  the  top 
fight  of  producers  when  his  "Sergeant 
ork"  proved  he'd  been  overlong  on  the  in- 
:tive  list,  will  produce  ''To  the  Last  Man" 
•Mowing  completion  of  his  "Adventures  of 
lark  Twain."  It's  a  story  about  fifth  col- 
xnists  and  will  star  Errol  Flynn,  ranking 
"arner  masculine  star. 

•  Bette  Davis,  the  studio's  ranking  feminine 
;ar,  will  appear  next  in  Henry  Blanke's 
eduction  of  "Old  Acquaintance,"  with  Ed- 
und  Goulding  directing  and  with  Miriam 
-opkins  and  George  Brent  in  the  cast. 
Producer  David  Hempstead's  next  un- 
dertaking for  RKO  Radio  will  be  "China 
sy,"  starring  Claudette  Colbert  and  Ran- 
)lph  Scott. 

Richard  Blumenthal  will  produce  "Lady 
the  Dark"  for  Paramount;  Metro-Gold- 
yn-Mayer  has  extended  producer  B.  P. 
ineman's  contract,  and  Albert  J.  Cohen 
ill  replace  Edmund  Grainger  as  producer 
Republic's  "Hit  Parade  of  1943"  so  that 
r.  Grainger  may  join  the  Army. 
The  next  Gregory  Ratoff-Harry  Goetz 
eduction  for  Columbia  will  be  a  Latin- 
Terican  musical.  "Tropicanna :"  Alexan- 


PRODUCTION  UP  THREE 


Commencement  of  shooting  on  10  pictures  and  completion  of 
increased  the  production  index  to  47  at  the  weekend.  The  over-a 
down  as  follows: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

Hail  to  the  Rangers 

Monogram 

Living  Ghost 

Paramount 

Night  Plane  to 
Chungking 

Republic 

Johnny  Doughboy 
20th-Fox 

Brasher  Doubloon 
Quiet,  Please,  Murder 

Universal 

Passing  the  Buck 
STARTED 

Columbia 

Power  of  the  Press 
Merry  Go  Round 

MSM 

Nothing  Ventured 


Monogram 

Bye  Bye  Baby 

Paramount 

True  to  Life 

PRC 

Permit  to  Kill 
Dead  Men  Walk 

RKO  Radio  • 

Great  Gildersleeve 

Republic 

Crooked  Dircle 

20th-Fox 

Seventh  Column 


SHOOTING 

Columbia 

One  Dangerous  Night 
City  Without  Men 
Frightened  Stiff 
Commandos  Come  at 
Dawn 


MGM 

Cabin  in  the  Sky 
DuBarry  Was  a  Lady 
Assignment  in 

Brittany 
Human  Comedy 
Three  Hearts  for 

Julia 

Lassie  Come  Home 
Dr.  Gillespie's  New 

Assistant 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 

Monogram 

Dead  Men  Don't  Rise 
Paramount 

Buckskin  Frontier 
For  Whom  the  Bell 
Tolls 

RKO  Radio 

Tarzan  Triumphs 
Stand  By  to  Die 

Republic 

Secrets  of  the  Under- 
ground* 

Heart  of  the  Golden 
West 


camera  work  on  seven 
II  studio  picture  breaks 

Charles  Rogers 

Powers  Girl 

20th-Fox 

Dixie  Dugan 
Immortal  Sergeant 
Crash  Dive 
My  Friend  Flicka 

Universal 

Lone  Star  Trail 
Pittsburgh 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Nightmare 
Corvettes  in  Action 
Forever  Yours 
Flesh  and  Fantasy 
Sin  Town 

Warner 

Murder  on  Wheels 
Action  in  North 

Atlantic 
Edge  of  Darkness 
Adventures   of  Mark 

Twain 
Air  Force 

♦Formerlv  "Corpse  Came 
C.O.D." 


der  Stern  has  been  contracted  to  produce 
"Lady  from  Chungking"  for  Producers  Re- 
leasing Corporation,  and  Columbia  has 
given  Erwin  Gelsey  a  producer  contract. 

If  calls  to  arms,  contractual  controver- 
sies, whims  and  suspensions,  conservation 
and  cancellations  do  not  intervene  between 
signings  and  screenings,  the  following 
players  will  be  seen  sooner  or  later  in  the 
vehicles  named: 

"Land  Is  Mine"  to  Be 
First  for  Nichols 

Charles  Laughton,  Maureen  O'Hara, 
George  Sanders,  Walter  Slezak  are  set  for 
"This  Land  Is  Mine,"  scenarist  Dudley 
Nichols'  first  producer  undertaking  for 
RKO  Radio. 

Ann  Sothern's  next  for  MGM  will  be 
"Swing  It,  Maisie." 

Gloria  Dickson  will  appear  opposite  Lee 
Tracy  in  Columbia's  "Power  of  the  Press." 

Rochelle  Hudson  will  star  in  PRC's 
"Queen  of  Broadway."  James  Craig  will 
have  the  romantic  lead  opposite  Marsha 
Hunt  in  MGM's  "The  Human  Corned}'," 
the  Mickey  Rooney  picture. 

Tim  Holt,  Bonita  Granville  and  Kent 
Smith  are  to  play  the  principal  roles  in  Ed- 
ward Golden's  "Hitler's  Children."  RKO 
Radio,  which  is  from  Gregor  Zeimer's 
"Education  for  Death." 

At  this  point  in  a  year  expected  by  many 
to  witness  a  curtailing  of  costs  all  along  the 
technological  front.  Technicolor  lists  38  fea- 
ture pictures  as  in  release,  awaiting  release. 


in  production  or  in  preparation  for  early 
filming. 

This  compares  with  a  record  of  26  Tech- 
nicolor features  in  the  company's  best  pre- 
vious year,  and  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
Technicolor  year,  unlike  the  production 
year,  is  from  New  Year's  to  New  Year's. 

Reasons  for  the  upsurge  in  use  of  the 
Technicolor  process  include,  as  reported 
some  months  ago  in  this  publication,  a  turn- 
ing toward  the  out-of-doors  and  pigmenta- 
tion by  producers  limited  to  expenditure  of 
$5,000  per  picture  for  new  materials  for  set 
construction. 

It  is  a  fact  not  publicly  revealed  by  the 
company  that  every  Technicolor  camera  in 
its  possession  has  been  in  operation  steadily 
and  under  pressure  for  months. 

V 

Fanchon,  of  the  producing  firm  of  Fanchon 
and  Marco,  has  been  signed  by  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox as  the  coordinator  of  all  dance  spec- 
tacles for  their  screen  musicals.  Miss  Fanchon 
produced  two  features  for  Paramount  several 
years  ago  and  then  returned  to  staging  presen- 
tation numbers  for  theatre  circuits  with  her 
brother,  Marco. 

V 

"Hostages,"  Stefan  Heym's  novel  built 
around  the  activities  of  the  Czech  underground 
movement  in  Prague,  will  go  into  production 
shortlv  at  Paramount. 

V 

Harriet  Flagg  has  been  appointed  to  repre- 
sent David  O.  Selznick  Productions  in  New 
York  as  story  and  talent  representative.  Kath- 
arine Brown  formerly  held  the  post. 


58 


IN    NEWS  REELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  4,  Vol.  25.— Lend-lease  aid 

to  Norway  Air-borne  troop  maneuvers  Women 

work  in  Navy  yard  "Flying  Tiger"  comes  home 

....Churchill  and  Stalin  in  meeting. ...  Willkie  arrives 
in  Cairo  Fuel  rationing  Diving. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS  No.  5,  Vol.  25.— Yorktown's  crew 
home    from    Midway    right ....  Bomber    command  in 

Alaska  New    General    Lee    tanks  Land  troops 

take   to   water  Betty    Grable   at   Army  camp  

American  Legion  convention  hears  Secretary  Knox 
 Lew  Lehr  back. ...  Fishing. ..  .Underwater  basket- 
ball. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  202,  Vol.  14.— Churchill 
and  Stalin  in  dramatic  meeting. ...  President  hails 
valor  of  Norwegians. ..  .Willkie  in  the  Middle  East 
....Brazil  offered  Justo's  sword.... How  to  help 
solve  fuel  oil  crisis. ..  .Airborne  troops  maneuver.... 
Diving. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  203,  Vol.  14.— Epic  of  the 
Yorktown. . .  .Knox  demands  victory  at  Legion  meet- 
ing.... New  General  Lee  tanks.... Pup  tents  used  as 
boats    on    west    coast. ...  Balloon    barrage    on  west 

coast  President    shuns    Jap    flag  Independence 

parade    stirs    Mexico    City  Racing  Underwater 

basketball. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  7,-"Golden  Spike"  joins 

war  effort  Churchill   in   Moscow  Jap  two-man 

sub  Willkie  in   Cairo. ..  .Nelson  Rockefeller  signs 

Brazilian -U.    S.    food    agreement:    Justo   offers  aid 

to  Brazil  Tyrone  Power  trailer  Air -borne  troops 

....Fuel  oil  rationing. ...  Hidden  guns. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS  —  No.  8.— Salute  to  the 
Yorktoum. ..  .All -soldier  rodeo. ..  .Another  WAAC. . . . 
New  M-4  tanks. ..  .Mexico's  independence  day;  Wal- 
lace speaks. ..  .100  per  cent  American  in  Lima.  Ohio 
 Balloon  barrage. ..  .Legionnaires  meet. ..  .Football. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  7.— Churchill  in  Moscow 
....Air  infantry  in  maneuvers. ..  .Willkie  arrives  in 
Middle  East ....  Advice  on  heat  conservation  Presi- 
dent gives  warship  to  Norway ...  .Jeffers  named  rub- 
ber czar.... Army  reveals  hidden  weapons. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  8.— Yorktoum  survivors.... 

President  spurns  captive  Jap  flag  Mexican  armed 

forces  parade. ..  .American  Legion  convention.... 
Football  Racing. 

UNIVERSAL   NEWSREEL  —  No.  120,   Vol.   15.  — 

Churchill's  visit  to  Moscow.... 25  per  cent  less  oil 
says  O'Leary. ..  .Advice  on  fuel  shortage. ..  .Women 
work   in   Navy   yard ....  Willkie   visits   Middle  East 

front  Norway    gets    lend-lease    boat. ..  .Diving. .. . 

Bullet-proof  glass  for  airplanes. ...  Salmon  run.... 
Jeffers  named  rubber  czar. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL  —  No.  121,   Vol.   15.  — 

Yorktown  survivors  home. ..  .Legionnaires  cheer 
Knox,  McNutt  Aleutian  base  checks  foe  Gen- 
eral Sherman  tanks. ..  .Underwater  basketball.... 
Women  save  salvage  drive. ..  .Ickes  on  scrap  drive 

 President    spurns    Jap    flag  Racing  Mexico 

celebrates  independence. ..  .Training  for  Army  en- 
gineers. 


20th-Fox  Wins  Case 

Ben  Harrison,  Federal  judge  in  New  York, 
this  week  directed  a  verdict  in  favor  of  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox  in  the  lengthy  accounting 
action  brought  by  Oliver  Morosco,  stage  pro- 
ducer, over  rights  to  "The  Brat."  The  court 
asked  the  U.  S.  Attorney's  office  to  investigate 
possibilities  of  a  perjury  charge  against  Mr. 
Morosco,  who  contended  that  he  did  not  as- 
sign the  rights  to  the  play  to  his  former  wife, 
Helen  Lawson. 


Stars  on  Program 

Several  screen  stars  will  appear  with  Ted 
Collins  on  the  Kate  Smith  radio  program  in 
coming  months,  according  to  Russell  Birdwell 
and  Associates.  Rav  Milland  appeared  on  the 
September  18th  program  and  Edward  Arnold 
and  Fav  Bainter  were  to  do  a  dramatization  of 
"The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley"  on  Friday's 
program. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

OWI  to  Check 
Radio  Effect 

The  radio  division  of  the  Office  of  War  In- 
formation plans  to  start  a  radio  research  bureau 
to  determine  the  effectiveness  of  wartime  in- 
formation on  the  air,  William  B.  Lewis,  radio 
head,  said  this  week  in  New  York. 

While  appealing  for  greater  cooperation 
from  networks,  stations  and  sponsors,  Mr. 
Lewis  said  that  his  division  would  guard  against 
the  "saturation  point."  He  said  it  was  not  the 
intention  of  his  division  to  have  nothing  but 
war  appeals  on  radio. 

Mr.  Lewis  pointed  out  that  the  new  alloca- 
tion system  of  themes  to  be  stressed  was  highly 
important  in  view  of  the  completely  voluntary 
cooperation  sought.  He  said  several  sponsors 
had  indicated  a  desire  to  turn  over  an  entire 
program  or  even  an  entire  series  of  programs 
to  a  single  theme  and  that  the  radio  division 
was  increasing  its  staff  to  aid  such  sponsors  by 
providing  background  material,  scripts  and 
other  aid  requested. 

Act  Against 
Sunday  Shows 

Suits  to  revoke  the  charter  of  four  Ken- 
nington-Saenger  theatres  in  Jackson,  Miss.,  and 
to  enjoin  four  others  has  revived  the  contro- 
versy on  Sunday  films  which  raged  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi legislature  and  courts  early  this  year. 
Hugh  Gillespie,  district  attorney,  and  R.  T. 
Hilton,  Hinds  county  attorney,  filed  the  peti- 
'tions  in  chancery  court.  Injunctions  were 
sought  on  the  grounds  of  "nuisance  in  that 
they  cause  disturbance  by  the  congregating  of 
crowds  on  the  Sabbath." 

The  50  year  old  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  Sunday 
"blue  law,"  recently  amended  to  allow  motion 
pictures  on  the  Sabbath,  has  been  repealed. 
Sunday  films  are  therefore  illegal  again  until, 
if  it  desires  to  do  so,  the  City  Council  can 
legalize  diem.  Mayor  Fred  Stair  has  appointed 
a  committee  of  15  leading  citizens  to  formulate 
a  new  ordinance  governing  operations  of  all 
types  of  establishments  on  the  Sabbath. 

Court  Refuses  to 
Vacate  RCA  Decree 

The  petition  by  the  Department  of  Justice  to 
vacate  an  anti-trust  consent  decree  in  effect 
between  the  Federal  Government  and  the  Radio 
Corporation  of  America,  was  refused  by  the 
Federal  district  court  at  Wilmington,  Del., 
RCA  announced  this  week. 

The  petition  was  filed  in  Wilmington  July 
31st  and  was  argued  by  Thurman  W.  Arnold, 
assistant  to  the  Attorney  General,  August  7th 
in  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Arnold  argued  that  a 
new  monopoly  had  sprung  up  in  the  broadcast- 
ing industry,  and  that  the  old  decree  was  not 
now  adequate  to  enforce  the  law. 

The  court  held  that  since  these  consent  de- 
crees were  based  on  an  agreement  made  by  the 
Attorney  General,  which  is  binding  upon  the 
Government,  the  defendants  were  entitled  to 
set  them  up  as  a  bar  to  any  attempt  by  the 
Government  to  relitigate  the  issue  raised  in 
the  suit. 

National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  Eight  Films 

Of  eight  pictures  classified  by  the  National 
Legion  of  Decency  in  its  listing  for  the  current 
week,  six  were  approved  for  general  patronage 
and  two  were  listed  as  unobjectionable  for 
adults. 

Class  A-l,  Unobjectionable  for  General  Pat- 
ronage :  "Bandit  Ranger,"  "Eyes  in  the  Night," 
"Gentlemen  Jim,"  "Pardon  My  Stripes," 
"Spirit  of  Stanford."  "Shadows  on  the  Sage." 
Class  A-2,  Unobjectionable  for  Adults:  "Girl 
Trouble,"  "Wings  and  the  Woman." 


September    26,  1942 

OBITUARIES 

Bartlett  Cormack, 
Playwright,  Dies 

Bartlett  Cormack,  44,  playwright  and  news- 
paperman, died  September  16th  in  Phoenix, 
Ariz.  His  plays  include  "The  Racket"  and 
"The  Painted  Veil."  In  late  years  he  wrote 
for  the  screen,  and  lived  in  Beverly  Hills. 

He  was  a  newspaper  police  reporter  for 
William  Randolph  Hearst's  Chicago  Herald- 
American  for  five  years  and  it  was  this  experi- 
ence that  furnished  the  background  for  "The 
Racket." 


Robert  Williams 

Robert  Williams,  49,  manager  of  a  number 
of  houses  in  the  Pacific  northwest,  including 
the  Woodland  theatre,  Woodland,  Wash.,  and 
the  Nu  Gaiety  theatre,  Portland,  Ore.,  for  many 
years,  died  at  his  home  in  Portland  September 
10th  of  a  heart  attack. 


Peter  Gorman 

Peter  Gorman,  77,  former  manager  of  the 
old  Russell  theatre  in  Ottawa,  Canada,  and 
well  known  in  his  day  as  a  comedian  and  danc- 
er, died  there  September  16th. 


Robert  Yosco 

Robert  J.  Yosco,  69,  a  vaudeville  headliner 
for  40  years  as  a  member  of  the  comedy  team 
of  Pearl  and  Yosco  and  until  his  retirement 
five  years  ago,  a  partner  in  the  team  of  Lyons 
and  Yosco,  died  September  19th  at  his  home  in 
Brooklyn. 

Set  Distribution  of  Four 
Universal  'Victory'  Shorts 

Plans  for  the  distribution  of  four  single- 
reel  subjects  to  be  known  as  "Victory  Featur- 
ettes,"  in  conjunction  with  the  Government's 
Film  Division,  have  been  announced  by  Ber- 
nard Kreisler,  Universal  featurette  manager. 

The  first,  "Keeping  Fit,"  starring  Robert 
Stack,  Brod  Crawford,  Dick  Foran,  Andy  De- 
vine,  Lon  Chaney,  Anne  Gwynne  and  Irene 
Hervey,  has  been  completed  and  will  be  re- 
leased October  26th. 

In  December,  the  second  subject  "Arsenals 
of  Might,"  showing  the  conversion  of  the  auto- 
mobile industry  to  armament  production,  will  be 
released.  The  third  subject,  "Chaplains  in  the 
Service,"  will  be  released  in  February  and  the 
fourth  subject,  to  be  released  in  April,  will  be 
known  as  "The  Will  for  Victory." 

The  featurettes  are  being  sold  on  the  same 
scale  as  all  other  Universal  single-reel  subjects, 
with  profits  going  to  war  charity. 

Referee  Allows  $45,802 
In  Claims  Against  Fox 

Debt  claims  totaling  $45,802  against  the  bank- 
rupt estate  of  William  Fox  were  allowed  last 
week  in  Atlantic  City  by  Allen  B.  Endicott, 
Jr.,  Federal  referee,  as  trustees  cleared  up  all 
but  one  account  against  the  estate.  The  largest 
single  bill  adjudicated  was  for  $45,000  for 
services  rendered  Mr.  Fox  by  the  firm  of 
Kamerman  and  Witkin,  New  York  tax  special- 
ists. By  compromise  with  the  firm,  it  was 
reduced  to  $35,000  and  entered. 

Two  other  disputed  debts  totaling  $10,651 
were  ordered  expunged  from  the  records  when 
the  claimants  failed  to  appear. 


Moss  Captain  in  Air  Corps 

Clarence  H.  Moss,  director  of  publicity  and 
advertising  for  the  Interstate  Circuit,  in  San 
Antonio,  Tex.,  has  been  appointed  a  captain  in 
the  Air  Corps.  He  is  now  at  the  Officers' 
Training  School  at  Miami  Beach,  Fla.,  receiv- 
ing schooling  as  an  administrative  officer.  He 
will  be  stationed  at  Maxwell  Field,  Ala. 


LIFETIME  OPPORTUNITY 

National  organization,  leader  in  its  field,  offers  permanent, 
lucrative  proposition  to  hard-hitting  aggressive  salesman. 
Man  with  theatre  contacts  preferred.  This  is  a  lifetime 
opportunity  for  a  person  with  initiative  and  who  is  free 
to  travel  when  necessary.  Leads  furnished.  Commission  and 
expense  account  to  start.  Income  limited  only  by  your  own 
efforts  and  ability  to  close  deals.  If  you  are  interested  in 
a  business  with  plenty  of  repeat  possibilities,  tell  your 
story  to  Box  102. 


eptember 


1942 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


59 


MANAGERS9 

OUND  TABLE 


\tAn  international  association  of  showmen  meeting  zveekly 


1 


in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 

•BOB  WILE,  Editor  GERTRUDE  MERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


OP 


Ad  mission  Prices 

WHAT  to  do  about  admission  prices  is  a  question  which 
has  vexed  many  a  theatreman  recently.  There  seem 
to  be  good  arguments  for  maintaining  the  present 
scale  and  others,  which  seem  to  be  equally  good,  in  favor  of 
raising  prices. 

Those  who  favor  retention  of  the  present  scale  point  out  that 
the  President  has  done  everything  possible  to  keep  prices  down. 
Since  the  motion  picture  industry  has  been  called  an  essential 
one,  those  against  raising  scales  say  that  the  industry  (which 
means  the  theatres,  since  they  are  the  retailers)  should  con- 
form to  the  President's  wishes.  Another  argument  against 
raising  prices  is  that  while  at  present  there  is  apparently  an 
abundance  of  money  and  no  goods  to  buy  with  it,  the  new 
tax  bill  may  take  so  large  a  percentage  of  the  picture-going 
public's  money  that  the  situation  may  be  reversed. 

Those  who  favor  raising  the  scale  say  that  the  time  to  in- 
crease prices  is  when  the  public  has  money,  which  is  indubitably 
the  case  at  present.  To  counter  those  who  bring  up  the 
President's  plea  to  maintain  prices,  it  is  pointed  out  that  every 
other  essential  industry  has  been  subjected  to  price  freezing 
from  the  manufacturer  through  the  wholesaler  to  the  distribu- 
tor or  jobber  and  the  retailer.  The  theatre  has  to  pay  just  as 
much  film  rental  as  ever,  because  the  distributors'  and  pro- 
ducers' costs  are  even  greater  than  before  and  not  subject  to 
price-fixing  either. 

Many  other  reasons  are  given  on  both  sides.  Here's  what 
Roy  Prytz  of  the  Granada  theatre,  Duluth,  Minn.,  thinks:  "One 
condition  that  I  expect  will  govern  my  future  actions  is  a  seem- 
ing willingness  to  pay  higher  admission  for  outstanding  attrac- 
tions. I  think  Mr.  John  Q.  Public  is  rather  fed  up  on  bargain 
counters.  He  has  the  dough  and  is  willing  to  pay  for  some- 
thing good." 

To  bolster  this  argument,  here  is  a  statement  from  another 
theatreman:  "All  that  is  necessary  to  go  to  a  show  here  is  a 
shoehorn.  It  requires  every  ounce  of  an  entire  staff's  energy 
to  handle  the  people  alone."  No  one  who  has  worked  in  a 
theatre  through  the  depression  days  can  see  a  situation  like 
this  without  seriously  considering  whether  he,  too,  shouldn't 
accede  to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Wilby-Kincey  theatres  in  the  South 
have,  for  the  most  part,  retained  their  scales.  Their  managers 
say  that  the  public  has  been  led  to  expect  that  it  can  see  a 


Elmer  Adams,  who  has  just  been  promoted  by  the  Griffith 
Circuit  to  a  new  post  in  Duncan,  Oklahoma,  says:  "Since  join- 
ing the  Round  Table,  I  have  found  this  part  of  Motion  Picture 
Herald  to  be  very  helpful  and  the  first  thing  to  read  when 
I  receive  it." 

Bud  Kornbiite  of  the  Capitol  theatre,  Waverly,  New  York, 
says:  "Motion  Picture  Herald  has  been  called  the  Bible  of  the 
industry.  It  certainly  is.  I  read  it  every  week,  going  from  back 
to  front,  as  the  Round  Table  is  the  first  thing  I  turn  to." 

Sidney  Kleper,  who  was  recently  appointed  manager  of  the 
Bijou  theatre,  New  Haven,  says:  "Please  enroll  me  as  a  member 
of  the  Round  Table  so  that  I  may  have  one  of  those  highly 
coveted  Round  Table  certificates." 


first-class  show  for  28  cents  and  that  if  the  pictures  are  the 
same  as  ever  there  is  no  reason  why  the  public  should  be 
required  to  pay  more. 

Theatres  on  Broadway,  in  New  York,  which  have  set  an 
example  for  many  others  throughout  the  country,  are  oppor- 
tunistic. If  the  lines  are  long  and  business  looks  good  and  the 
house  will  be  a  sell-out  in  any  event,  they  raise  the  price.  For 
every  person  who  turns  away  because  of  the  price,  there  are 
ten  ready  to  take  the  standing  room  he  might  occupy. 

Each  theatreman  must  be  the  judge  of  what  is  best  in  his 
own  situation.  Your  experiences,  however,  might  prove  valuable 
to  your  fellow  showmen.  So  let's  hear  from  you  how  you  are 
meeting  the  problem  of  admission  prices. 

Fall  Showmanship 

Usually  this  season  of  the  year  finds  the  showman  making 
plans  for  celebrating  a  Fall  Festival  of  Hits  or  some  such  desig- 
nation for  the  new  season's  program.  This  year,  the  effort 
seems  to  be  concentrated  on  the  War  Bond  Drive  with  "Salute 
to  Our  Heroes"  month  just  an  occasion  for  an  added  spurt 
in  what  promises  to  be  a  drive  lasting  for  the  duration  of 
the  war. 

One  showman  said  that  this  was  the  first  year  in  his  22  as 
a  manager  that  he  had  not  used  some  sort  of  ballyhoo  to 
open  the  new  season.  But,  when  he  dropped  it,  no  one  missed 
it  and,  what's  more,  he  suddenly  realized  that  by  selling  his 
Fall  attractions  as  something  super-special  he  was  damning 
his  other  attractions.  —BOB  WILE 


60 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


NOVEL  LOBBIES,  FRONTS  AND  TIEUPS 


Among  the  many  ideas  used  by  Ed  Fitzpatrick,  of  Loew's  Poli,  Waterbury,  Conn, 
was  this  publicity  office  where  a  steno  sat  all  day  typing  pressbook  messages. 


Mardel  Maxey,  assistant  manager  of 
the  Russell  theatre,  Maysville,  Ky., 
made  these  hats  from  old  window  cards. 


This  unusual  lobby  display  was  used  in 
Lincoln  theatre,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Homer  E.  Wall,  district  manager  of  the  Redwood  Theatres,  sent  us  this  picture 
of  the  attractive  front  of  the  Eureka,  Eureka,  Calif. 


The  photo  at  the  left  shows  an  idea 
used  by  Arnold  N.  Gates  at  Loew's 
Park  theatre,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
The  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer  carried 
a  few  paragraphs  on  it  in  Glenn 
Pulien's  column,  and  Sidney  Andorn, 
a  local  radio  commentator,  men- 
tioned it  in  one  of  his  programs. 


(Is 

■:: 
in 


isli 


By  Colburn  Ball 


September    26,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


61 


In  Argentina  they  go  in  heavily  for  atmospheric  lobbies.    Here's  the  one  in 
Gabriel   Manzano's   Cine   Monumental   in    Rosario,    managed   by   Gabriel  Marin. 


This  is  just  one  of  the  many 
tieups  obtained  by  Don  Alldritt 
for  "Mrs.  Miniver"  at  the  Fox 
Watson  theatre,  Salina,  Kansas. 
This  display  was  in  the  window  of 
a  distributor  of  pocket  editions 
of  books.   Over  50  stores 
were  tied  up  by  Don. 

Isadore  Hirshblond,  owner  of  the 
Community  theatre,  Toms  River, 
N.  J.,  did  such  a  thorough  job 
of  selling  "Mrs.  Miniver"  that  even 
a  blind  man  came  to  "see"  the 
picture.   Here  he  is  with  his 
Seeing  Eye  dog.  The  event  was 
mentioned  in  the  local 
newspaper,  too. 


By  1'Teu  'ramming 


Millard  Ochs,  manager  of  the 
Strand  theatre,  Akron,  O.,  stands  by 
while  Mayor  Harter  of  Akron  signs  a 
proclamation  setting  aside  "Yankee 
Doodle  Dandy  Week". 


\  baby  lion  was 
sorrowed  from  the 
)allas  Zoo  by  Louis 
^harninsky,  man- 
ger of  the  Capitol, 
Dallas.  You  can 
lee  the  nurse  hold- 
the  cub  on  the 
ght.  That's  Louis 
Hmself  on  the  other 
de  of  the  box  of- 
ce.  Louis  also 
otained  the  co- 
oeration  of  a 
othing  store  to 
e  a  lobby  display 
th  a  big  stuffed 
on  surmounting  it. 


u 

0 

1 


SEE  BABY  LION  IN  THE  LOBBY 

aim  | 

1        U.L: :  k 

1  1 

By  lieuigb  hi.  Aiarauau  otuoio 


62 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  below  reflects  press  books  now  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
view  of  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.] 

A  YANK  AT  ETON  (MGM):  Mickey  Rooney  and  Eton  School  in  England  would  seem 
to  be  an  incongruity  which  might  well  be  met  by  a  giant  blowup  of  Mickey  in  the 
lobby  with  a  balloon  expressing  his  wonderment  at  the  prospect.  There  is  a  still  of 
Mickey  in  his  Eton  top  hat  which  can  be  mounted  on  a  lobby  wall  next  to  a  mirror. 
Have  a  topper  available  so  that  the  local  youths  can  imitate  Mickey.  Offer  a  prize 
for  the  funniest  face.  Doormen,  ushers  or  usherettes  and  newsboys  would  attract 
attention  if  they  wore  the  toppers  that  are  available  at  low  cost  for  this  purpose. 
Prizes  can  also  be  awarded  for  the  best  drawing  of  Mickey  Rooney  wearing  a  top  hat. 
Along  this  line,  a  prize  could  be  offered  for  anyone  turning  in  a  picture  of  himself  in 
a  top  hat  which  would  be  used  on  a  board  in  the  lobby.  Dressing  a  young  man  in 
Eton  garb  and  sending  him  through  town  properly  placarded  is  an  obvious  but  no  less 
effective  form  of  ballyhoo.  There  are  three  newspaper  serializations  available,  one  a 
six  chapter  picture  strip.  The  press  book  has  a  number  of  copy  paragraphs  for  use 
in  ads  which  can  be  adapted  for  other  uses.  They  make  intriguing  reading  for  the 
public  and  could  be  used  possibly  as  the  basis  of  a  contest  for  additional  ones. 

NOW,  VOYAGER  (Warner  Bros.):  With  Bette  Davis  as  the  star  of  this  attraction, 
much  of  the  selling  is  concentrated  on  her.  There  is  a  full  page  mat  which  can  be  used 
in  newspapers,  as  a  herald,  as  a  window  card  or  in  bookstores,  public  and  circulating 
libraries,  in  which  Miss  Davis'  past  roles  are  recalled.  Along  this  same  line  is  a  lobby 
display  which  can  be  easily  made  with  stills;  it  calls  attention  to  the  star's  past  suc- 
cesses, too.  There  is  a  card  which  carries  Walt  Whitman's  "Now,  Voyager,  sail  thou 
forth  to  seek  and  find"  on  the  outside  and  beauty  hints  on  the  inside.  This  folded  card 
will  attract  the  attention  of  women,  who  are  interested  in  this  sort  of  thing  most  of 
the  time.  The  cosmetic  chart  was  prepared  by  the  House  of  Westmore.  Tieups  can 
be  arranged  with  drug  and  other  stores  carrying  this  merchandise.  The  picture  was 
adapted  from  the  book  by  Olive  Higgins  Prouty  and  tieups  can  therefore  be  arranged 
with  libraries,  book  stores,  etc.  A  novel  twist  to  this  would  be  to  obtain  some  copies 
and  put  them  on  a  table  in  the  theatre;  lend  them  out  with  the  charge  to  be  the  pur- 
chase of  a  War  Stamp.  There  is  a  series  of  compelling  teaser  ads  available  which 
can  be  used  one  a  day  or  all  at  once  on  different  pages  of  the  paper.  Since  the 
title  was  adapted  from  a  famous  line  of  literature,  it  might  be  feasible  to  run  a  con- 
test naming  other  titles  similarly  adapted.  To  make  it  easier,  the  lines  can  be  quoted 
and  the  authors  asked  for.  There  is  an  interesting  problem  to  be  solved  in  the  picture. 
A  ballot  box  could  be  placed  in  the  lobby,  with  women  patrons  invited  to  name  their 
solution  to  Bette  Davis'  question.  The  editor  of  the  woman's  page  of  the  local  paper 
might  find  the  results  interesting.  The  title  suggests  the  possibility  that  it  could  be 
used  over  a  group  of  travel  ads  and  as  copy  on  "tickets"  which  could  be  used  as 
throwaways.  Similarly,  it  could  be  used  as  the  keynote  of  copy  in  trolleys  and  buses 
suggesting  that  the  reader  go  immediately  to  see  the  film.  There's  a  shipboard 
romance  in  the  picture  which  suggests  the  possibility  that  a  contest  might  be  run  for 
local  couples  who  met  on  shipboard. 


Juke  Box  Slant  Sells 
"Juke  Box  Jenny" 

Promoting  a  juke  box  from  one  of  his 
local  merchants,  Robert  Brown,  for  the 
date  of  "Juke  Box  Jenny"  at  the  Princess 
theatre,  in  Donora,  Pa.,  filled  the  box  with 
10  numbers  from  the  picture  and  adjusted  it 
so  that  it  would  work  without  depositing 
any  money.  Appropriate  tie-in  copy  was 
planted  atop  the  machine,  while  records 
were  spotted  strategically  around  the  walls 
of  the  lobby. 


Hangs  Hitler  in  Effigy 

To  attract  his  patrons  to  the  opening  of 
"After  Mein  Kampf"  at  the  Capitol  theatre, 
in  Philadelphia,  Herman  Comer  hung  Hit- 
ler in  effiigy  twice  daily  in  front  of  his  house, 


the  Round  Tabler  also  announced  that  any- 
one signing  a  War  Bond  pledge  for  Sep- 
tember could  participate  in  the  hanging. 
The  stunt  brought  a  newspaper  photogra- 
pher to  the  scene  with  resultant  picture  and 
story  in  the  cooperating  daily. 


Vicar's  Speech  Reprinted 
From  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

Mighty  effective  was  the  full  page  pro- 
moted by  Leslie  V.  Campbell  from  the  Con- 
solidated Mining  and  Smelting  Company  of 
Canada  as  an  advance  for  his  engagement 
of  "Mrs.  Miniver"  at  the  Strand  theatre,  in 
Trail,  B.  C.  On  a  full  page,  boxed  in  with 
the  head  "A  Tribute,"  the  Vicar's  entire 
speech  from  the  picture  was  run.  Campbell 
also  landed  plugs  over  the  radio  which  were 
generous  in  their  praises. 


Special  Matinees 
Sell  Fall  Shows 

As  part  of  his  fall  activities,  Clayton  Cor- 
nell at  the  Pontiac,  in  Saranac  Lake, 
N.  Y.,  has  planned  a  series  of  four  weekly 
matinees  devoted  to  games  on  the  stage  to 
take  place  15  or  20  minutes  prior  to  show- 
time. The  first  matinee,  dubbed  a  "Back- 
to-School"  party,  included  the  distribution  of 
promoted  school  supplies. 

Among  other  events  planned  by  Clay  are 
circus,  fashion  and  amateur  shows.  The 
new  serial  is  being  sponsored  by  a  local 
dairy,  the  merchant  donating  $2.50  worth  of 
War  Stamps,  to  be  awarded  to  some  kid 
each  week.  Cornell  has  also  started  work 
on  the  annual  financial  Boy  Scout  Drive, 
at  which  time  the  Scouts  will  be  the  guests 
of  the  management  after  a  parade  from  the 
Town  Hall  to  the  theatre. 

Cornell  is  also  conducting  a  series  of  Mer- 
chants' Matinees,  whereby  customers  patron- 
izing merchants  on  a  given  day  will  be  his 
guests  at  the  matinee  on  that  day.  Contact 
has  also  been  made  with  a  new  Army  Signal 
School  that  is  being  run  nearby,  whereby 
the  theatre  is  better  able  to  get  advertising 
into  the  school  in  the  form  of  programs 
cards,  and  having  attractions  printed  in 
their  weekly  mimeographed  paper. 

Through  a  tie-up  arranged  with  12  of  his 
local  merchants  and  as  part  of  his  "Back-to- 
School"  matinee  at  the  Elmwood  the- 
atre, in  Penn  Yan,  N.  Y.,  R.  S.  Helson  ran 
a  cooperative  page  of  ads  in  which  words 
were  intentionally  misspelled.  To  the  first 
100  kids  presenting  a  corrected  list,  guest 
tickets  were  awarded. 

A  special  Saturday  matinee  was  held  at 
which  "Miss  Annie  Rooney,"  "Don  Win 
slow  of  the  Na-'-y"  and  selected  shorts  were 
shown.  School  supplies  promoted  from  the 
local  five  and  dime  store  were  given  to  the 
kids  and  2,500  heralds,  half  the  cost  of 
which  was  defrayed  by  one  of  the  mer- 
chants, were  distributed  house-to-house,  as 
were  the  regular  theatre  programs. 

Animated  Display  Attracts 
For  Rankin  on  "Pearl  Harbor" 

As  part  of  his  exploitation  campaign  on 
"Remember  Pearl  Harbor"  at  the  Centre 
theatre,  in  Chatham,  Ontario,  Harland  Ran- 
kin obtained  a  15-foot  wind  mill  which  he 
placed  in  his  lobby  lit  up  with  flashing 
lights,  giving  a  lighthouse  effect.  Patriotic 
slogans  were  placed  on  it  with  11  by  14  stills 
displayed.  In  addition,  cooperative  programs 
were  distributed  each  night  by  local  sailors 
on  leave. 

On  the  opening  night  two  sailors  were 
brought  on  the  stage  and  presented  with 
small  safety  razor  kits  with  the  compli- 
ments of  the  management.  Three  hundred 
newspapers  were  distributed  on  the  main 
street  the  opening  day  with  special  stickers 
across  the  front  page  reading :  "Pearl  Har- 
bor, the  greatest  catastrophe  in  American 
history,  now  playing  at  the  Centre  theatre." 

As  a  special  tabloid  for  women  at  war, 
special  lighting  was  arranged  with  two  flags 
on  either  side  of  the  stage  with  the  whole 
stage  flooded  with  a  flag  from  the  effect 
machine.  A  small  spotlight  was  focused  on 
one  of  the  ladies  of  the  local  C.  W.  A.  C. 
doing  the  salute  as  the  picture  faded  out. 


September    26,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


63 


Harris  Has  Say 
on  Drive-Ins 
In  Miami  Paper 

The  gasoline  bugaboo  holds  no  terrors  for 
Milt  Harris,  manager  of  the  Drive-In  the- 
j  atre,  in  Miami,  who  has  recently  installed 
I  a  hitching  post  and  invited  his  patrons  to 
I  come  one  and  all  in  buggies.   He  got  a  neat 
publicity  break  recently,  when  one  of  the 
leading  columnists  devoted  his  entire  day's 
stint  to  Milt's  activities.   Says  the  columnist 
i  while  quoting  Milt : 

"Business  is  good,"  said  Harris.  "I  mean 
jthat  sincerely.  It's  the  first  time  I've  ever 
I  been  connected  with  a  Drive-In  and  I'm 
igetting  a  terrific  boot  out  of  it.  Let  me  tell 
|you  about  'my  baby.' 

"First  of  all" — and  Harris  chuckled — 
"I'm  erecting  a  hitching  post.  No  kidding. 
'Many  patrons  lately  have  been  arriving  in 
ihorse  and  buggy,  and  on  horseback,  so  I  be- 
lieve they'll  appreciate  it. 

"The  Drive-in  type  of  theatre,  though 
'still  in  its  infancy,  has  definitely  become 
established  as  a  permanent  branch  of  the 
"motion  picture  industry.  There's  only  about 
]80  of  them  in  the  country  now  but  after  the 
War  just  watch  'em  go. 

,    "Of  course  I'm  prejudiced,  but  here's  a 
few  things  the  Drive-in  has  to  offer:  It  has 
made  it  possible  for  all  to  enjoy  a  movie, 
(particularly  people  with  youngsters  at  home 
.]and  no  maid,  invalids,  shutins  and  very  old 
.people.    Seated  in  the  comfort  of  their  own 
jpar,  patrons  dressed  as  they  please,  there's 
,|no  parking  problems,  they  are  privileged 
o  bring  along  pets,  nobody  gets  up  in  front 
bf  them  and  blocks  their  view  of  the  film, 
pandy  wrappers  don't  crackle  and  they  hear 
ivery  line  uttered — not  having  to  miss  any 
because  of  laughter  or  loud  talking. 

"Audiences  often  bring  along  their  own 
■efreshments  and  combine  a  picnic  and 
novie  under  a  tropical  moon.  And  if  there's 
no  moon,  and  it  pours,  they  can  still  have 
heir  picnic  and  movie  because  rain  doesn't 
nake  any  difference. 

"The  Miami  Drive-In  has  parking  fa- 
rilities  for  1,000  cars  and  a  seating  capacity 
)f  200  for  those  without  cars.  All  this  oc- 
:upies  an  area  of  20  acres,  graded  and  rolled 
o  provide  elevated  terraces  with  ramps  for 
he  automobiles. 

"Individual  speakers  not  alone  enable  oc- 
upants  to  hear  the  show  while  watching  the 
'icture,  but  persons  can  be  summoned  to 
:he  phone  via  the  theatre's  speakie  system — 
lso  used  whenever  the  President  addresses 
\ne  nation. 

"I  tell  you  I'm  a  super  Drive-in  enthusi- 
st,"  said  Harris  earnestly. 


-ibrary  Cooperation 
Gained  byTeschner 

For  the  reissue  of  "King  Kong"  and 
;Gunga  Din"  at  the  Poli-Bijou  theatre,  in 
lew  Haven,  Ted  Teschner  gained  the  co- 
oeration  of  the  director  of  the  main  library 
or  the  distribution  of_  bookmarks  in  all  the 
ty  libraries.  The  house  artist  made  up 
oecial  heralds,  5,000  of  which  were  distrib- 
ced  at  fights,  beaches,  bond  rallies,  etc.  A 
-und  truck,  bannered  on  three  sides,  toured 
e  streets  three  days  ahead  of  the  opening, 
hile  on  the  opening  day  itself,  two  soldiers 
id  a  huge  ape  costumed  covered  the  streets. 


Award  Candida  tes 


Among  the  24  showmen 
newcomers  in  addition  to 
land.    The  next  two  week 

DON  ALLDRITT 
Watson,  Salina,  Kans. 

LIGE  BRIEN 

Belmar,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CAROLINA  BRUNSON 
Rialto,  Phoenix,  Ariz. 

LESLIE  V.  CAMPBELL 
Strand,  Trail,  B.  C. 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  COUSSOULE 
Manos,  Hollidaysburg,  Pa. 

D.  M.  DILLENBECK 
Rialto,  Bushnell,  III. 

BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


listed  below  for  Quigley  Awards  consideration  we  welcome 
members  from  the  U.  S.,  Canada  and  across  the  seas  in  Eng- 
period  will  markthe  end  of  the  Third  Quarter. 


DICK  FELDMAN 
Paramount,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

ED  FITZPATRICK 

Loew's  Poli,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

STEWART  GILLESPIE 

Marks,  Oshawa,  Ont.,  Canada 

ALICE  GORHAM 
United  Detroit  Theatres 
Detroit,  Mich. 

R.  S.  HELSON 

Elmwood,  Penn  Yan,  N.  Y. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

JACK  MATLACK 

Hunt  Theatres,  Medford,  Ore. 

ED  PURCELL 
Strand,  Staunton,  Va. 


HARLAND  RANKIN 

Centre,  Chatham,  Ont.,  Canada 

REYNOLDS  ROBERTS 

Elite,  Middlesbrough,  England 

EDWARD  SELETTE 

Strand,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

BUD  SILVERMAN 

Riviera,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

CLYDE  SMITH 

Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

HARRY  D.  STEARN 

KEN  CARTER 

Manring,  Middlesboro,  Ky. 

ARNOLD  STOLTZ 
Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

HOMER  E.  WALL 
Redwood,  Eureka,  Calif. 


Local  "Mrs.  Miniver"  Sought 
In  Hot  Springs  Contest 

Residents  of  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  were  re- 
cently invited  to  send  in  to  the  local  news- 
paper their  selections  of  local  women  who 
were  doing  outstanding  work  in  behalf  of 
National  Defense.  This,  in  connection  with 
Clyde  Smith's  campaign  for  "Mrs.  Mini- 
ver" at  the  Paramount  theatre.  Through  the 
cooperation  of  a  leading  florist,  "Mrs.  Mini- 
ver" roses  were  presented  to  one  winner 
daily  for  a  week  in  advance  of  the  open- 
ing. Pictures  of  the  local  women  so  chosen 
were  run  in  the  paper  together  with  stories. 

Through  a  tieup  effected  with  the  Delta 
Sigma  Phi  Sorority,  the  girls  acting  as 
hostesses,  sold  War  Stamps  and  Bonds  from 
a  special  booth  in  front  of  the  theatre.  Spot 
announcements  were  landed  over  radio  sta- 
tions, a  lobby  display  of  scene  stills  was  ar- 
ranged and  all  highways  leading  into  the 
city  were  placarded  with  cards. 


ty  heralds  which  were  mailed  to  members 
of  all  local  war  agencies,  as  well  as  being 
tucked  into  newspapers  of  a  local  distribu- 
tor. An  effective  window  was  promoted, 
done  in  red,  white  and  blue,  which  also  fea- 
tured a  large  30  inch  disc  photo  of  Gary 
Cooper  on  each  side.  Extra  cashiers  called 
telephone  subscribers,  calling  attention  to 
the  popular  price  engagement  of  the  film. 


Guest  Tickets  for  Full  Books 

Harrisburg  (Penna.)  theatremen  stamp 
the  name  of  their  theatre  on  the  backs  of 
all  War  Stamps.  If  a  patron  brings  a  filled 
book  to  the  theatre,  he  is  given  a  guest 
ticket.  The  book  is,  of  course,  returned  so 
that  a  Bond  may  be  issued. 


Feldman  Lands  Story  on 
Peggy  Garner's  Visit 

A  recent  lucky  break  for  Richard  Feld- 
man of  the  Paramount  theatre,  in  Syra- 
cuse, was  the  fact  that  Peggy  Ann  Garner, 
who  appears  as  Roddy  McDowall's  brother 
in  "The  Pied  Piper,"  was  visiting  that  city 
about  a  week  prior  to  Dick's  opening  of  the 
picture.  The  Round  Tabler  immediately 
hopped  to  it  and  sold  one  of  the  local  news- 
papers on  the  idea  of  interviewing  the  girl, 
which  resulted  in  two  columns  of  art  and  a 
story  on  her  Syracuse  visit,  together  with 
picture  mention. 


"Miniver"  Book  Reviewer 

A  local  writer  and  book  reviewer  deliv- 
ered a  talk  on  "Mrs.  Miniver"  before  civic 
and  luncheon  clubs  as  one  of  the  features  of 
the  film's  campaign  put  over  by  M.  J.  Dew 
Brittain,  at  the  Grand,  Dubuque,  la. 


THREE  HOLIDAYS 

Election  Day,  Armistice  and  Thanksgiving 
Days  Offer  Exploitation  Opportunities 
During  November.  Here  are  important 
days  for  showmen  in  month. 


By 


War  Agencies  Contacted 
Stearn  for  "York" 

To  usher  in  his  date  on  "Sergeant  York" 
■at  the  Schine  Manring  theatre,  in  Middles- 
boro, Ky.,  Harry  D.  Stearn,  city  manager, 
and  Ken  Carter,  manager,  distributed  novel- 


1st 

Daniel  Boone  Born — 1734 

2nd 

North  and  South  Dakota  Admitted 

to  the 

Union — 1889 

3rd 

Election  Day 

7th 

Montana  Admitted  to  the  Union — 1889 

10th 

Thanksgiving  Day  in  Canada 

1  Ith 

Armistice  Day 

Washington  Admitted  to  the  Union- 

-1889 

13th 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  Author,  Born 

—  1850 

16th 

Oklahoma  Admitted  to  the  Union — 

907 

26th 

Thanksgiving  Day 

30th 

Mark  Twain  Born — 1835 

Louisiana  Purchased — 1803 

64 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


Happy  Birthday 


Congratulations  to  those  listed  here  who  celebrated  last  week  or  will  celebrate  this  week. 


September  18th 

J.  E.  Spencer 

19th 

Burr  W.  Cline 
Eric  Van  Dyck 
Joseph  Levenson 
Howard  Mercer 
Charles  A.  Koerner 
Gerald  Shaffer 
Al  Cooper 
Norman  Stancliffe 

20th 

Leonard  Gordon 
James  T.  Stroud 
Tom  W.  Edwards 
Leon  E.  Junette 
E.  M.  Waltz 
Mesho  Triller 

21st 

Nathan  Cohen 
Clyde  Pratt 
Thomas  J.  McCoy 
Arlie  Crites 
Peck  Westmore 
Frank  LePage 
Charles  W.  Hawk 
Gus  Lampe 
Don  Doberer 

22nd 

Dave  D.  Samuels 
Fred  J.  Dollinger 


September  22nd 

Harris  L.  Humphries 
Robert  Patterson 
John  J.  Delson 
Jack  Tiernan 
Tony  Stern 
Alex  C.  Patterson 
Ernest  C.  Rogers 
William  Johnson 
William  J.  Currie 
Frank  Slavik 
Zollie  Volchok 
E.  W.  Fadal 
William  C.  Carbaugh 

23rd 

Louis  Sylvester 
Leon  Jarodsky 

E.  E.  SefF 
Carl  E.  Jones 
William  L.  Perley 
Upendranath  Kantharia 
Claude  C.  Norton,  Jr. 

F.  A.  Zehringer 

24th 

Thomas  diLorenzo 
Joseph  W.  Shuck 
John  E.  Palmer 
Raymond  Hasselo 
Scott  Roberts 
Leo  A.  Guimond 
Douglas  Mellott 

September  25th 

J.  H.  Phillips 
Sol  Krim 


September  25th 

Henry  B.  Salthun 
Daniel  A.  Al  la  i  n ,  Jr. 

26th 

Jim  Landers 
E.  K.  Vollette 
Ashton  C.  Rudd 
James  W.  Work 
Bert  H.  Todd 
Walter  B.  Garver 
James  J.  Landsford 
Mrs.  Ruth  D.  Ornstein 
John  A.  Matthews 
George  Griffith,  Jr. 
James  Stephen  Ellis 

27th 

William  Kohler 
Orville  W.  Crouch 
Robert  Dunnuck 
Alfred  Gorton 
Harry  S.  Schulman 
Arthur  A.  Quinn 
Emmett  H.  Lyons 
Rader  S.  Stewart 
Charles  D.  Crowley 
Carl  H.  Mott 
Ernest   L.  Outlaw 
Curtis   B.  Be|l 
George   E.  Walsh 

28th 

Charles  O.  Clark 
Howard  L.  Parker 

Walter  Woodman 
Raymond  L.  Daniels 


September  28th 

Edward  Harris 
Don  Bloxham 
Mack  Oringer 
Harold  Lucas 
Herman  Starr 
G.  M.  Patel 
Clifford  Roy  Buschel 
Emil  George 
William  Johnston 

29th 

Michael  John  Carroll 
Edw.ard  Murtagh 
Cresson  E.  Smith,  Jr. 
John  W.  Terry 
William  Hatch 
Gus  H.  Coates 

30th 

E.  R.  Mosteller 
G.  N.  Turner 
C.  W.  Doctor 
Leonard  Pearce 
K.  E.  Ward 
Fred  Weimar 
Kenneth  A.  Grimes 
Lawrence  Walter 
October  1st 
Joe  Buse 
James  E.  Darby 
John  Caiman 
William  Carmichael 
Joseph  Sirkin 
Frank  Mangham 
Sidney  C.  Hoffman 
Victor  F.  Morelli 


In  New  Posts 


GROVER  C.  COOK  has  succeeded  Earle 
M.  Holden  as  manager  of  the  L&J  Capitol 
theatre,  in  Atlanta,  Ga. 

PHILLIP  ARBEIT  is  now  managing  the 
Rogers  theatre,  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

TED  RODIS  is  now  managing  the  Lau- 
relton  theatre,  in  Laurelton,  L.  I. 


HARRY  SWEET,  formerly  manager  at 
the  LaSalle,  in  Niagara  Falls,  is  now  with 
the  Pulman  Company,  assigned  to  special 
troop  movements. 

ED  COYLE  has  been  named  manager  of 
Dave  Barrist's  Airport  theatre,  in  Philadel- 
phia. 


Kornblite's  Teaser  Ads 
Launch  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

Beginning  his  campaign  for  "Mrs.  Mini- 
ver" two  full  weeks  in  advance  of  the  open- 
ing, Bud  Kornblite,  at  the  Capitol  theatre, 
in  Waverly,  N.  Y.,  featured  a  two-column 
announcement  ad  of  the  big  pictures  to  be 
played  during  the  month,  stressing  "Mini- 
ver" in  the  ad.  As  a  follow-up,  10  days  in 
advance,  the  Round  Tabler  began  using  a 
series  of  teaser  ads  quoting  all  the  famous 
stars  who  included  the  picture  on  their  list 
of  the  10  best  pictures  of  all  times. 


By  Staff  Photographer 

Alfred  Hall,  shown  above  with  Mrs.  Hall,  operates 
all  four  of  the  theatres  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  is- 
land off  the  Massachusetts  coast.  He  recently  held 
the  island's  first  world  premiere  in  the  Edgartown 
Playhouse,  when  "The  Moon  and  Sixpence" 
opened  there.  Mr.  Hall  reports  that  the  popula- 
tion of  the  island's  towns  is  so  small  that  he  must 
make  daily  changes  of  program. 


Shane  Started  as  Doorman  in 
Brooklyn,  Now  Manages  Colony 

Sid  Shane  is  still  a  very  young  fellow 
even  in  a  business  crowded  with  youths,  but 
he  has  had  a  wealth  of  experience  which 
fits  him  admirably 
for  his  post  of  man- 
ager of  the  Colony 
theatre  in  Brooklyn 
N.  Y.  He  was  born 
in  Philadelphia,  July 
16,  1920  but  moved 
to  Brooklyn  at  an 
early  age.  His  first 
job  came  when  he 
was  15  years  old;  he 
was  doorman  at  the 
Tivoli  theatre  in  the  ; 
City  of  Churches. 
A  year  and  a  half 
later  he  was  made  assistant  manager  of  the 
Lincoln  in  Brooklyn.  After  nine  months 
he  went  to  Florida  and  the  sign  "Lincoln 
theatre"  attracted  him  so  in  he  went  as  as- 
sistant manager  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  17. 
Two  years  ago,  the  North  lured  him  back 
and  he  went  to  work  for  Raybond  Theatres 
as  assistant  manager  in  the  Rialto  in  New- 
ark, N.  J.,  later  being  promoted  to  mana 
ger.  He  was  transferred  a  few  months 
later  to  the  Earle  in  Jackson  Heights  and] 
then  to  his  present  post  at  the  Colony. 


Mott  Blair  Goes  All-Out  for 
War  Bonds  in  First  Theatre  Job 

Mott  P.  Blair  is  just  a  bit  over  19  years  o  j 
age  and  started  to  work  in  the  theatre  jus 
a  few  weeks  before  his  birthday  this  yeai 
That  was  on  June  28.  He  started  appropri 
ately  enough  in  the  Blair  Theatre  in  Marsh  J 
ville,  N.  C.  Mott  is  a  live-wire  advertising 
man  and  finds  that  phase  of  theatre  work  hi 
favorite.  His  first  act  on  assuming  the  marl 
agership  was  to  instigate  an  all-out  prograi 
for  War  Bond  and  Stamp  sale. 


Kleper  Uses  Ragamuffin  Bally 

As  a  gag  teaser  ahead  of  "Smart  Aleck: 
at  the  Poli  Bijou  theatre,  in  New  Have 
Sidney  Kleper  dressed  two  of  his  staff  f 
ragamuffins  and  had  them  parade  the  streel 
two  days  ahead  of  the  opening.  The  laij 
carried  a  sign  with  appropriate  tiein  co]  i 
and  cut  up  generally  as  they  covered  tUj 
downtown  area. 


CAROLYN  MARY  on  Tuesday,  Septem- 
ber I,  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harold  deGraw. 
The  father  is  manager  of  Schine's  Oneonta 
theatre,  Oneonta,  N.  Y. 

DIANE  MARIE  on  Tuesday,  September  1, 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Romanoff.  The 
Dad  is  managing  the  Park  theatre,  in  Rock- 
land, Maine. 


By  Staff  Photograi 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jack  Hamilton  visited  the  Ro 1 
Table  when  passing  through  New  York  last  w| 
Jack  had  just  left  the  Riviera  theatre  in  Roche 
of  which  he  had  been  manager  and  was  ennj 
to  the  Apex  theatre  in  Washington,  his  new  [J 


I 

PiS; 

ten  of 

k 


September    26,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


65 


"Detroit  is  Dynamite"  was  the  title  of  an  article  in  "Life"  which  inspired  United  De- 
troit Theatres  to  show  how  Detroit  felt  about  it.  So  they  staged  a  bond  premiere  for 
"Wake  Island."  Seats  cost  as  high  as  $5,000.  The  girl  at  the  counter  is  buying  a  War 
Stamp  corsage  for  one  dollar. 


Cornell  Stages  Bond  Rally 
At  Rotary  Club  Meeting 

For  his  activity  used  on  the  promotion  of 
his  Bond  and  Stamp  Sales  at  Schine's  Pon- 
tiac  theatre,  in  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y.,  Clay- 
ton S.  Cornell  through  the  cooperation  of  the 
local  radio  station  WNBZ,  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  a  well-known  Viennese  string  quar- 
tette to  play  a  half-hour  program.  The 
leader  of  the  quartette,  Professor  Silving, 
is  reported  to  be  the  world's  most  famous 
interpreter  of  Straus  waltzes.  The  aggrega- 
tion was  brought  from  Lake  Placid  to  the 
theatre,  where  they  played  from  the  stage ; 
their  services  were  gratis,  the  station  fur- 
nishing the  time  and  the  theatre  the  broad- 
casting facilities. 

Clay  also  wrote  the  continuity  on  the 
Bond  promotions,  beginning  with  the  suc- 
cess of  the  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  rally 
sales  and  continuing  with  what  was  planned 
for  the  remainder  of  the  month.  A  major 
point  of  mention  was  the  new  lobby  Vic- 
tory Booth. 

In  connection  with  the  Bond  Drive,  and 
at  the  insistence  of  a  member  of  the  Ro- 
tary Club,  Cornell  staged  a  Bond  Sale  at 
their  weekly  meeting  at  which  time  51,000 
worth  of  Bonds  were  sold  in  less  than  three 
minutes.  The  Round  Tabler  also  reports 
±e  Rotarians  as  being  so  pleased  with  the 
"esults,  that  they  are  planning  another  sale 
it  their  meeting  the  following  week. 

3ond  Campaign  in  Utica 
"^ets  Good  Publicity 

The  Bond  campaign  for  September  in 
:  ."tica,  X.  Y.,  was  handled  by  all  the  the- 
atre managers  with  the  vigor  they  usually 
r^evote  to  selling  their  films.  Arnold  Stoltz, 
panager  of  the  Avon,  acted  as  one  of  the 
[  ublicity  chairmen  for  the  theatres'  part  in 
"tie  observance. 

Arnold  did  his  usual  job  with  the  cooper- 
ation of  the  other  managers  in  Utica.  Plenty 
H  publicity  with  pictures  was  obtained  in 
oth  papers.     The  pushmobile  with  three 
ummies  representing  Hitler,  Mussolini  and 
[irohito  went  through  town  and  there  was 
pusher  for  each  foot.    A  buj7er  of  a  S25 
,  pnd  was  entitled  to  push  the  automobile 
1  He  foot.     When  the  pushmobile  reached 
;  Tagara  Falls  on  its  route  from  New  York, 
was  dumped  over  the  brink  with  the 
:  Vee  dummies  in  it. 



erdue  Dedicates  Showing 

0  Local  Ordnance  Workers 

t  ,  Since  the  Kansas  Ordnance  Plant,  a 
■pvernment  shell  loading  plant,  is  located 

1  close  proximity  to  the  city  of  Parsons. 
Ban.,  Barnes  Perdue  of  the  Parsons  theatre 
iji  cheated  his  showing  of  "Joe  Smith, 
jjjierican"- to  the  KOP  war  workers. 

IB  To  properly  publicize  the  dedication,  the 
■rr.paign  was  a  city-wide  promotion  to  des- 
■aate  the  playdate  to,  and  in  honor  of  the 
Hen  and  women  behind  the  men  behind  the 
■  ns.  The  campaign  and  dedication  was  the 
Rst  idea  entertained  by  the  city  merchants 

Hi  welcome  and  build  good  will  among  the 

W  «"  citizens  of  the  community. 

Stories  were  obtained  in  Vox  Kop,  house 
?  jnn  of  the  plant.  The  ordnance  depart- 
|  jut  also  printed  500  window  cards  with- 

'g\K  charge  to  the  theatre.  Both  of  these 
;:a  'ngs  are  prohibited  by  Government  regu- 

g  *  'ton,  but  Barnes  just  turned  "It  Can't  Be 


Done"  into  "It  can  be  done."  Other  pro- 
hibited promotions  which  were  accom- 
plished in  the  face  of  the  prohibitions  were 
the  sale  of  tickets  within  the  plant  area  and 
the  blocking  off  of  the  main  highway 
through  the  city  as  well  as  the  erection  of 
a  banner  over  it. 

The  three  days  of  the  showing  were  set 
aside  as  KOP  days  in  Parsons  by  procla- 
mation of  the  Mayor.  A  street  dance  was 
held  on  Main  Street  with  admission  a  50- 
cent  War  Stamp.  The  orchestra  was 
promoted.  The  Parsons  theatre  also  gave 
one  week  family  passes  to  the  first  25  per- 
sons buying  a  $25  War  Bond. 

Both  local  newspapers  gave  plenty  of 
space,  including  front  page  stories. 


o  by  Bill  Ehrlch 


This  is  the  War  Bond  booth  set  up  by 
Leonard  Tuttle  at  the  Indiana  theatre,  In- 
dianapolis. Len's  Drive  started  with  a  major 
from  the  Air  Force  speaking  from  the  stage. 
He  got  the  crowd  to  buy  $7,000  in  Bonds. 


Victory  Wheel  Invites 
Folks  to  Buy  Bonds 

On  the  opening  day  of  the  Drive,  a  large 
stand  was  erected  on  the  Square  right  next 
to  Jim  O'Donnell's  Bond  Display  for  the 
Haines  theatre,  in  Waterville,  Maine.  The 
American  Legion  Band  opened  the  proceed- 
ings, while  the  assembled  crowd  was 
addressed  by  Mayor  Dundas  and  members 
of  the  city  government.  Jim  set  up  a 
microphone  and  a  non-sync  turntable 
through  which  records,  band  patriotic  num- 
bers are  played  when  no  band  is  available. 
An  automatic  Victory  Wheel  invited  folks 
to  purchase  stamps. 

All  ushers  and  doormen  in  the  theatres 
wore  Bond  Drive  banners  across  their  chests, 
while  the  final  day  of  the  parade  is  being 
reserved  for  a  gigantic  "Surprise  Night"  at 
the  Square  where  promoted  prizes,  will  be 
raffled  off  to  purchasers  of  War  Bonds.  The 
theatre  display  which  stands  12  feet  in  height 
and  is  18  feet  wide,  carries  a  top  banner,  a 
blackboard  arrangement  lists  the  names  of 
all  organizations  assisting  the  theatres  in  the 
drive.  There  is  a  space  at  the  end  of  each 
name  wherein  the  amounts  are  listed. 

Victory  Booth  Installed 
By  Boyle  in  Norwich 

Activities  engaged  in  by  Joe  Boyle  at 
the  Poli  Broadway,  in  Norwich,  Conn.,  in- 
cluded promoting  the  American  Legion  for 
a  uniformed  color  guard,  plus  a  three-min- 
ute speaker  in  opening  the  theatre's  Bond 
Rally.  A  new  Victory  Booth  for  the  the- 
atre has  been  installed  and  wall  function  on 
the  sidewalk  out  front,  while  the  house  it- 
self is  decorated  w  ith  pennants,  and  a 
valance  with  "Salute  to  Heroes"  copy. 

The  city  editor  of  the  local  Bulletin  and 
Record  was  appointed  the  newspaper  pub- 
licity chairman  which  brought  breaks  in 
the  press  regularly.  The  chairman  of  the 
Women's  Defense  Auxiliary  Committee  co- 
operated in  manning  the  Victory  Hall,  lo- 
cated in  the  heart  of  the  city,  for  the  sale 
of  bonds. 


66 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


CLASSIFIED 
ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


THEATRES 


WANT  TO  BUY,  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
running  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   BOX  1555-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1556-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

THEATRES  WANTED  WESTERN  PENNSYL- 
vania  or  Eastern  Ohio,  buy  or  lease,  independent  ex- 
hibitor.   BOX  1564,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

TO  LEASE:  RIALTO  THEATRE,  COHOES,  N.  Y., 
Capitol  District,  800  seats,  fully  equipped,  modernized. 
Formerly  Fabian  operated.    18  White  Street,  Cohoes. 


HELP  WANTED 


SALESMEN  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  $75  to  $100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
ROX  1506,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

PROJECTIONIST  WANTED,  MUST  BE  ABLE 
to  service  his  equipment.  Could  use  combination  man, 
keep  few  books,  relieve  the  operators,  good  job,  good 
pay.  Prefer  Texas  man.  Give  reference,  experience, 
salary  expected.  Write  LYNN  D.  BROWN,  Queens- 
Gem  &  Ritz  Theatre,  Brownwood,  Texas. 

WANTED:  THEATRE  MANAGER.  MARRIED, 
state  salary,  include  snapshot.  Theatre  in  Northern 
Illinois.    BOX  1566,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


POSITION  WANTED 


MANAGER  NOW  EMPLOYED  WISHES  TO 
make  change.  15  years  experience,  a  go-getter.  Mar- 
ried, with  children.  BOX  1568,  MOTION  PICTURE 
HERALD. 

THOROUGHLY  EXPERIENCED  ALL  PHASES 
of  theatre  management.  Employed  in  present  position  9 
years.  Wish  to  make  change.  Go  anywhere.  Amer- 
ican, 33  years  old,  married,  draft  exempt.  BOX  1567, 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


BUSINESS  BOOSTERS 


BINGO  CARDS.  DIE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75. 
$2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  care 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP- 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell.  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

FOR  SALE  —  BARGAIN  —  COMPLETE  BOOTH 
equipment  consisting  of  2  Simplex  machines,  RCA 
soundheads,  Super  Da-Lite  screen  and  all  booth  acces- 
sories from  theatre  recently  in  operation.  SOUTH- 
LAND THEATRES,  INC.,  Valdosta,  Georgia. 

COMPLETE  EQUIPMENT  OF  CLOSED  THEA- 
tre.  ideal  for  defense  location.  WALDRON,  Lindsay, 
Oklahoma. 

PEERLESS  MAGNARC  LAMP,  $275,  HALL-CON- 
nelly  HC-10  High  Intensity,  $350,  Demonstrators. 
Brandt  direct  coin  machines,  $89.50.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 

WANTED:  THEATRE  ORGAN  CONSOLE.  M. 
MAYNARD,  11  Kramer  Avenue,  Caldwell,  N.  J. 


NEW  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


EARLY  FALL  EDITION  ANNIVERSARY  SALE 
bulletin  ready  —  ask  for  yours!  Typical  values,  Spot- 
light carbons  80  discount;  Underwriter's  fire  extin- 
guishers $11.25;  Exciter  lamps  32c.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 

JUST  PURCHASED  ENTIRE  STOCK  STAR 
Cinema  Supply — thousands  of  wonderful  buys,  send  for 
big  bargain  bulletin.  S.O.S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY  COR- 
PORATION, New  York. 


BOOKS 


MOTION    PICTURE    SOUND  ENGINEERING- 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its 
rangement,  with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graph 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of 
studios  in  Hollywood.    It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.    Price  $6.50  postpaid 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York 


NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONING 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail] 
able    for    theatre    owners    contemplating  engineerim 
changes.    Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  chart 
and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well 
codes  and  ordinances   regulating  installation.  Or 
now  at  $4.00  a  copy  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHO 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


NOW  READY,  NEW  1942-43  MOTION  PICTUR 
ALMANAC.    Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.    The  ind 
try's  most  complete  "Who's  Who."    More  than  11, 
biographies  and  over  1,100'  pages,  chock  full  of  refer 
ence   information.     Everyone   in    the    motion  pictu 
industry  should  have  a  copy.    Be  sure  to  send  in  yor 
reservation  today.    $3.25  postpaid.    QUIGLEY  BOOK1 
SHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


A  HANDY  TOOL  IN  THE  BOOTH,  SOUN 
trouble  shooting  charts  $1.00,  postpaid.  QUIGLE 
BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


BOOKKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MANAGEMENT  RECORD  AND 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  fin 
book  of  its  kind  ever  made  available  to  an  exhibit 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  it 
simple — so  much  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  ha 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an 
curate,  complete  and  up-to-minute  record  of  I 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  price 
only  $2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rod 
feller  Center,  New  York. 

PRESS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BRIEN,  11 
NEW  YORK,   U.  S. 


September    26,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


RELEASE  CHART 
HOWMEN'S  REVIEWS 


Springtime  in  the  Rockies 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 

Dance  Festival  in  Technicolor 

With  the  current  impracticability  of  overseas 
cruises,  Twentieth-Century-Fox  has  sent  its 
musical-comedy  troupe  across  the  border  for  a 
revue  staged  against  the  backdrop  of  the  glacier 
at  Lake  Louise.  Betty  Grable  has  the  feminine 
lead,  as  dancing  takes  precedence  over  singing, 
and  the  regulars — John  Payne,  Carmen  Mi- 
randa and  Cesar  Romero — have  been  shifted 
around  a  bit  to  suit.  Holding  up  the  musical 
end  are  Harry  James,  his  trumpet  and  orchestra, 
who  certainly  rate  special  billing  for  several  ex- 
cellent solo  and  ensemble  numbers. 

The  slight  story  concerns  the  efforts  of  John 
\  Payne  to  recapture  the  affections  and  talents 
\  of  Betty  Grable  without  letting  her  know  of 
a  contract  in  the  offing.     He  follows  her  to 
:  Canada,  gathering  en  route  a  valet  (Edward 
Everett  Horton),  who  feels  his  six  degrees 
1  have  taught  him  nothing  about  life,  and  a  sec- 
retary   (Carmen  Miranda),  whose  antics  en- 
liven the  show  considerably. 

The  dances,  effectively  staged  by  Hermes 
Pan,  are  principally  by  Cesar  Romero  and 
Betty  Grable,  unless  the  unique  talents  of  Car- 
men Miranda  and  Charlotte  Greenwood  are  in- 
cluded in  that  general  classification.  The  for- 
mer give  two  exhibitions  of  ballroom  dancing 
with  smooth  grace.  The  Portuguese  bombshell 
sings  "Chattanooga  Choo  Choo"  in  her  native 
tongue  with  gestures  for  one  of  the  film's  high- 
lights. Charlotte  Greenwood  does  her  dance 
twice  in  the  course  of  things  and,  incidentally, 
competes  with  Edward  Everett  Horton  for 
acting  honors. 

Mack  Gordon  and  Harry  Warren  wrote 
four  new  tunes  for  the  film,  "I  Had  the 
Craziest  Dream,"  "Pan  American  Jubilee," 
'Run  Little  Raindrop,  Run"  and  "A  Poem  Set 
;o  Music" 

William  LeBaron,  who  produced  the  film,  and 
Irving  Cummings,  who  directed  it,  are  el- 
aborating in  this  series  for  the  first  time,  al- 
hough  each  has  had  a  hand  in  it  before.  The 
"esult  has  music,  dancing  and  beautiful  color 
:o  commend  it  to  the  many  customers  who  get 
their  musical  comedy  via  the  screen.  Some 
-ft'ort  might  have  been  made,  however,  to  sup- 
jort  the  title  and  do  justice  to  the  beauty  spot 
•t  Canada  which  it  ignores. 

Previewed  at  a  trade  screening  where  a  small 
•udience  of  exhibitors  watched  with  interest 
nd  some  amusements  Reviewer' s  Rating : 
,7ood. — E.  A.  Cunningham 

Release  date,  November  6,  1942.  Running  time,  91 
nin.    PCA  No.  8589.    General  audience  classification. 

/icky   Betty  Grable 

fan   John  Payne 

.osita  Murphy  Carmen  Miranda 

esar  Romero,  Charlotte  Greenwood,  Edward  Ever- 
tt  Horton,  Harry  James  and  his  Music  Makers, 
rank  Orth,  Jackie  Gleason,  Harry  Hayden. 


Reviews 


This  department  deals  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

(Warner  Bros.) 

Newspaper  Melodrama 

Using  the  time-honored  theme  of  the  big  city 
newspaper,  the  girl  reporter  and  the  go-getting 
managing  editor,  and  including  a  finally  suc- 
cessful fight  with  the  gang  leader  who  runs  the 
city,  this  film  falls  into  the  classification  of  rou- 
tine entertainment. 

George  Brent  is  the  "name"  in  the  cast,  but 
the  story  material  with  which  he  has  to  work 
hardly  measures  up  to  his  ability.  Opposite  him 
is  Brenda  Marshall,  while  Gene  Lockhart,  Ros- 
coe  Karns,  Edward  Ciannelli  and  Paul  Harvey 
are  the  performers  chiefly  concerned  in  the 
supporting  roles,  which  are  handled  adequately. 

Brent,  who  plays  hunches  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  success,  plays  one  which  turns  out 
badly,  with  Ciannelli  as  the  subject,  and  the 
publisher,  forced  to  back-track,  compels  Brent 
to  write  the  "love-lorn"  column  for  the  dura- 
tion of  his  contract.  But  Brent,  by  accident, 
gets  on  the  trail  of  a  new  lead  linking  Cian- 
nelli with  the  black  market  in  rubber,  sugar 
and  other  rationed  items,  and  uncovers  enough 
to  substantiate  his  belief  that  the  gangster  is 
behind  the  racket.  The  final  sequences  contain 
the  expected  automobile  pursuit,  interspersed 
with  occasionally  amusing  bits  supplied  by 
Karns. 

Jo  Graham  directed  from  a  screenplay  by 
Fred  Niblo,  Jr.,  and  Hector  Chevigny,  based 
on  a  story  by  Roy  Chanslor. 

Previewed  in  the  Warner  home  office  projec- 
tion room.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — Charles 
S.  Aaronson. 

Release  date,  October  10,  1942.  Running  time,  77 
min.  PCA  No.  — .  General  audience  classification. 

Steve  "Mitch"  Mitchell  George  Brent 

Laurie  Abbott  Brenda  Marshall 

Carl    Robelink  Gene  Lockhart 

"Mac"    McTurk  Roscoe  Kara 

Edward  Ciannelli,  Paul  Harvey,  Charles  Halton,  Don 
DeFore,  Toseph  Downing,  George  Meeker  Erville  Al- 
derson,  Mary  Field,  Bill  Edwards,  Dick  Elliott,  Ed- 
ward McWade,  Joseph  Crehan,  Dick  Wessell,  Paul 
Newlan. 


Flying  Tigers 

(Republic) 

China's  American  Heroes 

The  first  tribute  to  the  American  Volunteer 
Group,  or  the  "Flying  Tigers"  as  they  are  bet- 
ter known,  has  a  timeliness  about  it  that  should 
make  it  popular. 

Thrills  abound  in  the  picture,  and  while 
romance  would  seem  to  have  very  little  place 
among  a  group  of  men  whose  business  is  kill- 
ing Japs,  it  has  been  introduced  to  make  the 
picture  interesting  to  women.  Then  there's 
some  comedy. 

John  Wayne  has  the  principal  role  as  leader 
of  the  A.  V.  G.  Anna  Lee  is  a  nurse  in  the 
hospital  maintained  near  by.  Paul  Kelly  is  one 
of  the  pilots.  The  story  really  starts  when 
Wayne  returns  from  Rangoon  with  replace- 
ments including  John  Carroll,  a  cocky  lad,  and 
Edmund  MacDonald,  who  had  a  bad  record  in 
the  States,  but  is  acepted  on  the  plea  of  his 
wife,  Mae  Clarke,  that  he  just  had  to  fly. 

The  President's  December  8th  speech  is  heard 
by  the  fliers  over  the  radio.  Shortly  afterward, 
they  are  ordered  to  attack  Japanese  supply 
trains  on  a  bridge  over  which  these  trains  pass. 
Since  the  job  is  a  dangerous  one,  Wayne  vol- 
unteers to  take  it  himself.  Just  as  he  boards 
the  plane,  it  takes  off  and  he  discovers  the  now 
chastened  Carroll  at  the  controls.  The  latter 
persuades  Wayne  to  let  him  keep  on  the  mis- 
sion. Carroll  is  wounded  by  anti-aircraft  fire 
and  when  the  plane  catches  fire  he  pushes 
Wayne  out  and  dives  his  plane  loaded  with  ex- 
plosives into  the  loaded  train,  having  already 
destroyed  the  bridge. 

Edmund  Grainger,  associate  producer  of  the 
picture,  has  "shot  the  works"  in  mounting  the 
film.  David  Miller  directed.  Kenneth  Garnet 
wrote  the  original  story  and  collaborated  with 
Barry  Trivers  on  the  screenplay.  Of  particular 
note  are  the  special  effects  created  by  Howard 
Lydecker  and  the  fine  photography  by  Jack 
Marta. 

Previewed  at  the  N ormandie  theatre  in  New 
York  before  a  special  audience  of  reviewers, 
circuit  buyers  and  the  National  Board  of  Re- 
view, as  well  as  certain  interested  groups,  the 
picture  was  received  with  a  great  deal  of  in- 
terest. Reviewer's  Rating  :  Excellent. — Bob 
Wile. 

Release  date,  October  S,  1942.  Running  time,  102 
min.    PCA  No.  8458.    General  audience  classification. 

Jim  Gordon    John  Wayne 

Woody  Jason    John  Carroll 

Brooke  Elliott    Anna  Lee 

Hap    Paul  Kelly 

Gordon  Jones,  Mae  Clarke.  Addison  Richards,  Ed- 
mund MacDonald,  Bill  Shirley,  Tom  Neal,  Halcolm 
"Bud"  McTaggart,  David  Bruce,  Chester  Gan,  James 
Dodd,  Gregg  Barton,  John  James. 


Product  Digest  Section     92  I 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,    I  942 


Secret  Mission 

( Hellman-General  Film ) 
Espionage  Drama 

The  pattern  from  which  this  war  drama  has 
been  cut  is  a  familiar  one;  few  of  its  thrills  are 
of  the  unexpected  variety.  None  the  less,  as  an 
adventure  yarn  with  the  established  factor  of 
espionage  and  underground  plotting  against  the 
Nazis,  it  gets  over,  and  has  incident  enough, 
melodrama  and  romance,  to  provide  a  good  90- 
odd  minutes  of  entertainment  for  the  less  so- 
phisticated audience. 

War  films  no  longer  pull  the  public  in  just 
because  they  are  war  films.  This  one  has  a 
lively  narrative  over  and  above  its  war  inspira- 
tion. The  principals  are  not  exactly  banner 
names,  but  both  Hugh  Williams  and  Carla 
Lehmann  have  an  apostolate.  As  a  programer 
of  unpretentious  caliber  the  film  may  have 
some  appeal  to  United  States  audiences. 

Hellman  has  made  a  sound  production  job 
of  his  film  and  Harold  French's  neat  and  hon- 
est direction  makes  the  reasonable  most  of  the 
story  and  its  situations.  As  in  all  French's  films 
there  are  touches  of  inspiration  here  and  there. 
Williams  gives  a  familiar  kind  of  reading  to 
the  character  of  the  British  agent  in  occupied 
territory,  but  is — just  as  usual — Hugh  Wil- 
liams. Roland  Culver's  suave  Captain  Gowan, 
and  Michael  Wilding  as  a  Cockney  with  a 
French  wife,  add  a  lighter  vein,  while  Carla 
Lehmann  sympathetically  plays  the  skeptical 
French  miss. 

The  secret  mission  is  one  which  takes  four 
British  agents  to  France  where  with  the  aid 
of  the  underground  movement  they  get  into 
Nazi  headquarters,  guide  a  bombing  raid  to 
vulnerable  objectives  and  escape  back  to  Eng- 
land. It  isn't  as  easy  as  that,  for  they  have  mis- 
understanding to  fight  among  the  French,  and 
wits  to  use  in  escaping  the  Nazi  jackboot,  but 
the  trickery,  in  posing  as  champagne  salesmen 
and  friends  of  Ribbentrop,  the  prowling  pur- 
suit of  the  military,  the  hidings  and  the  last- 
minute  escapes,  all  make  for  entertainment  in 
an  accepted  vein. 

There  are  indigestibilities,  one  of  them  the 
hotch-potch  of  broken  English  accents  pre- 
sented as  a  formula  for  spoken  French ;  an- 
other, the  implausible  success  which  attends 
the  spies'  efforts  every  time  they  come  against 
the  Nazis.  But  the  sum  total  is  one  of  lively 
popular  fare.  A  notable  factor  for  the  discern- 
ing is  the  imaginative  and  stimulating  orches- 
tral background  by  Mischa  Spoliansky. 

Preznewed  to  a  mixed  press  and  trade  audi- 
ence, the  film  seemed  to  evoke  more  apprecia- 
tion from  the  latter  section.  There  was  plenty 
of  enwrapt  attention  among  the  bleachers,  but 
no  indication  with  the  literati  that  the  film  was 
other  than  a  programer. — Reviewer's  Rating: 
Fair. — Aubrey  Flanagan. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  94  minutes. 
General  audience  classification. 

Peter  Garnett  Hugh  Williams 

Michele  de  Carnot  Carla  Lehmann 

Raoul   de   Carnot  James  Mason 

Red   Gowan   Roland  Culver 

Nobby   Clark  Michael  Wilding 

Violette    Nancy  Price 

Estelle   Anita  Gombault 

and  Percy  Walsh. 


Top  Sergeant 

(Universal  1941-42) 
The  Army  Vs.  Crime 

Although  the  comedy  here  is  routine  Army 
comedy — evidenced  by  the  mere  presence  of 
Andy  Devine  and  Leo  Carillo — this  picture 
has  more:  an  underlying  seriousness  and  real- 
ism. It  is  a  good  morale  picture,  with  a  mes- 
sage to  the  youngsters  and  the  adult  males  for 
whom  it  patently  has  the  greatest  appeal. 

Dedicated  to  the  "regular  army"  men  re- 
sponsible for  the  training  of  our  new  forces, 
it  outlines  their  conscientiousness — and  Don 
Terry  is  capable  and  appealing  as  the  veteran 


Reviews  received  too  late  for 
this  Section  are  printed  in  the 
regular  news  pages  of  the 
Herald  and  are  reprinted  the 
following  week  in  Product 
Digest  for  their  reference  value. 


sergeant,  grim  and  tireless  in  molding  the  new 
recruits. 

A  prime  virtue,  which  rescues  the  film  from 
being  a  lecture,  is  rapid  pace,  and  a  somewhat 
novel  plot.  Terry's  brother,  a  new,  promising 
recruit,  is  murdered  by  gangsters  robbing  a 
bank.  Terry  swears  to  avenge ;  and  that  ven- 
geance is  made  easier  by  the  entrance  into  the 
army  of  Don  Porter,  the  murderer,  who  is  as- 
signed to  Terry's  company.  The  evidence 
about  the  murder  and  the  robbery  draws  closer 
to  Porter,  who  foresees  the  day  when  Terry 
will  realize  who  is  the  culprit.  He  plants  T.N.T. 
in  place  of  fuse  powder  on  a  bridge  which 
Corporals  Devine  and  Carillo  are  to  "destroy." 
His  object  is  to  kill  Terry,  nearby.  The  plot 
fails,  but  15  men  are  killed.  Devine  and 
Carillo  are  court-martialed.  Terry  saves  them 
by  bringing  into  the  courtroom  the  teller  of 
the  robbed  bank,  who  identifies  Porter. 

There  is  a  slight  romance  between  Terry 
and  the  regimental  Colonel's  daughter,  Elyse 
Knox. 

Seen  at  the  Central  Theatre,  New  York  City, 
where  a  male  audience  was  quiet.  Reviewers' 
Rating :  Good. — Floyd  Stone. 

Release  date,  June  12,  1942.  Running  time,  64  mins. 
PCA  No.  6055.     General  audience  classification. 

Sergeant  Dick  Manson  Don  Terry 

Corporal  Andy  Jarrett  Andy  Devine 

Corporal  French  Devereaux  Leo  Carillo 

Elyse  Knox,  Addison  Richards,  Don  Porter,  Alan 
Hale.  Jr. 


Texas  to  Bataan 

(  Monogram) 
Musical  Western 

The  Range  Busters  go  modern  with  "Texas 
to  Bataan,"  first  of  the  1942-'43  series  produced 
by  George  W.  Weeks  for  Monogram.  Spies, 
saboteurs  and  action  in  the  Philippines  confront 
John  "Dusty"  King,  David  "Davy"  Sharpe  and 
Max  "Alibi"  Terhune,  Sharpe  being  the  new 
face  in  the  trio. 

After  uncovering  a  Jap  dynamite  and  gun 
running  plot  near  the  ranch  on  which  they 
work,  the  boys  are  sent  to  the  Philippines  to 
escort  400  head  of  horses.  While  there,  they 
capture  the  ranch  cook  who  fled  when  the 
gun  running  was  discovered  and  obtained  infor- 
mation that  a  neighboring  rancher  in  Texas 
was  in  league  with  the  Axis.  On  their  re- 
turn, they  nab  him  and  prevent  a  fellow  spy 
from  blowing  up  dams  and  harbors.  The  story 
ends  on  December  7,  1941.  Three  songs  are 
used:  "Me  and  My  Pony,"  "Goodbye,  Old 
Paint,"  and  "Home  on  the  Range,"  the  latter 
being  sung  partly  in  the  Tagolong  dialect. 

Combined  efforts  of  Rohert  Tansey  who  di- 
rected, Arthur  Hoerl  who  did  the  story  and 
adaptation,  Weeks  and  his  associate  producer 
Dick  Ross  made  for  a  widely  acceptable  west- 
ern. 

Seen  at  the  Monogram  projection  room; 
Hollywood.  Reviewer's  rating:  Good. — Vance 
King. 

Release  date,  Oct.  16,  1942.  Running  time,  56  tnin. 
PCA  No.  8683.     General  audience  classification. 

Dusty   John  King 

David   David  Sii->rne 

Alibi   Max  Terhune 

Marjorie  Manning,  Steve  Clark.  Budd  Buster,  Ken- 
neth Duncan,  Escolastico  Baucin,  Frank  Ellis,  Carl 
Mathews,  Tex  Palmer,  Tom  Steele,  Al  Ferguson,  Guy 
Kingsford. 


Tomorrow  We  Live 

(Producers  Releasing) 
Melodrama 

The  central  character  of  "Tomorrow  We 
Live,"  Atlantis  production  for  Producers  Re- 
leasing Corp.,  is  a  gangster  who,  operating  a 
night  club  in  Arizona,  also  delves  into  various 
rackets  such  as  gambling  and  tire  stealing.  An 
egomaniac,  he  calls  himself  "The  Ghost"  be- 
cause two  efforts  to  kill  him  have  failed.  The 
story  concerns  his  insane  love  for  a  college 
girl  whose  father  he  has  blackmailed  into  join- 
ing him  in  crime.  He  is  slain  when  he  at- 
tempts to  interrupt  her  romance  with  an  Army 
officer. 

Ricardo  Cortez  plays  the  gangster,  Jean 
Parker  the  girl,  Emmett  Lynn  her  father  and 
William  Marshall,  the  Army  officer.  Others 
in  the  cast  are  Roseanne  Stevens,  Ray  Miller, 
Frank  S.  Hagney,  Rex  Lease,  Jack  Ingram, 
Barbara  Slater  and  Jane  Hale. 

Edgar  G.  Ulmer  directed,  from  an  original 
screenplay  by  Bart  Lytton.  Seymour  Neben- 
zal  was  the  Atlantis  producer,  with  Leon  From- 
kess  in  charge  of  production  for  PRC. 

There  is  in  the  dialogue  a  speech  that  com- 
pares "The  Ghost"  with  Hitler,  to  the  effect 
that  their  days  are  numbered  and  that  the  little 
men  are  coming  into  power. 

Seen  at  the  RCA  projection  room,  Holly- 
ivood.     Reviewer's  rating  :  Fair. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  Sept.  29,  1942.  Running  time,  64  min. 
PCA  No.  8629.    General  audience  classification. 

The  Ghost  Ricardo  Cortez 

Julie   Jean  Parker 

Pop  Bronson  Emmett  Lynn 

Lieut.  Lord  William  Marshall 

Roseanne  Stevens,  Ray  Miller,  Frank  S.  Hagney,  Rex 
Lease,  Jack  Ingram,  Barbara  Slater,  Jane  Hale. 


Inside  the  Law 


(Producers  Releasing — 1941-42) 
Comedy  of  Crooks 

Here  is  a  toned  down  farce  about  a  small  time 
big  city  mob  that  finds  itself  unexpectedly 
running  a  small  town  bank,  with  less  excite 
ment  than  is  usually  found  in  this  type  of 
picture  and  more  emphasis  on  the  comedy  ele 
ment.  It  moves  along  at  a  pedestrian  pace 
and  never  quite  hits  its  stride.  This  is  especial 
ly  true  of  the  weak  climax. 

The  original  screenplay  by  Jack  Natteford 
has  taken  a  group  of  oddly  assorted  characters 
bunched  them  together  as  a  mob  of  crooks  and 
placed  them  in  an  odd  situation  to  see  what 
makes  them  tick.  The '  cast  led  by  Wallace 
Ford  includes  Frank  Sully,  Harry  Holman 
and  Luana  Walters. 

The  opening  scene  sets  the  tenor  of  the  story 
In  that  scene  Ford  and  Miss  Walters  enter  an 
auction  room  and  get  into  a  fight  with  Sully 
After  the  roughhouse  is  over  the  principal 
in  the  fight  and  others  of  the  mob  planted  in 
the  room  have  disappeared  and  so  have  jewelry 
pocket  books  and  watches  of  the  assemblage 

Then  the  mob  moves  on  to  a  small  California 
town  and  by  acquiring  the  papers  of  a  bank 
manager  get  to  run  the  town  bank.  From  there 
the  picture  is  a  character  study  of  the  members 
of  the  mob  and  their  reaction  to  the  situation 

Of  the  cast  Ford  does  a  commendable  jot 
with  the  material  he  has  to  work  with,  and 
Sully's  interpretation  of  the  safecrackers  anc 
pinch-thief-extraordinary  stands  out. 

Dixon  R.  Harwin  produced  and  Hamiltor 
MacFadden  directed. 

Seen  at  the  RKO  Colonial,  New  York  neigh 
borhood  house.  The  audience  was  restless  am 
didn't  appear  to  find  the  picture  to  its  liking 
Reviewer's  Rating :  Mediocre. — Paul  C 
Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  May  8,  1942.  Running  time,  62  min 
PCA  No.  8266.    General  audience  classification. 

Billy   Wallace  For 

Burke   Frank  Sull 

Harry  Holman,  Luana  Walters,  Lafayette  McKei 
Barton  Hepburn,  Danny  Duncan,  Earl  Hodgins,  Ros 
Plumer. 


922     Product  Digest  Section 


September    26,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Prison  Girls 


Girl  Trouble 


(Producers  Releasing  1941-42) 
Heroism  Without  Glamour 

A  story  by  Octavus  Roy  Cohen  provides  the 
framework  for  a  forthright  blending  of  charac- 
terization, suspense  and  romantic  interest  into  a 
modest  but  entertaining  film.  The  title  is  a  bit 
misleading,  for  the  drama  centers  on  a  woman 
doctor,  an  unwilling  accomplice  in  a  prison 
break,  who  must  decide  whether  to  return  to 
jail  for  a  crime  she  had  not  committed  or  re- 
main a  fugitive  with  the  man  she  loves. 

Rose  Hobart  gives  an  effective  performance 
as  Dr.  Rosemary  Walsh,  maintaining  a  quiet 
integrity  both  as  woman  and  physician.  Sidney 
Blackmer's  "Steve"  has  strength  and  tenderness 
in  appealing  quantities.  Others  in  the  cast 
whose  performances  deserve  commendation  are 
Claire  Rochelle,  Vince  Barnett,  Jane  Novak, 
|  Jack  Baxley,  Crane  Whitley  and  John  Ince. 

Direction  by  William  Beaudine  is  firm  and 
rarely  heavy-handed.  The  film  seems  to  drag 
in  the  center  after  a  fast  opening,  but  picks  up 
again  toward  the  close.  Lester  Cutler  produced 
the  picture,  with  George  R.  Batcheller  in 
charge  of  production  for  PRC. 

A  mid-day  audience  in  the  New  York  the- 
atre followed  the  drama  with  interest.  Re- 
viewer's Rating:  Good. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  May  29,  1942.  Running  time,  63  min. 
PCA  No.  8326.  General  audience  classification. 

Rosemary  Walsh    Rose  Hobart 

Steve    Sidney  Blackmer 

Claire  Rochelle.  Lynn  Ctarr,  Jane  Novak.  Vince  Bar- 
nett, Jack  Baxley.  John  Ince,  Crane  Whitley,  Frank 
1  Brownley,   Richard  Clarke. 


White  Cargo 


(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 
Drama 

"White  Cargo,"  Leon  Gordon's  noted  play 
which  was  a  Broadway  hit  and  subject  to 
numerous  revivals  throughout  the  nation,  comes 
to  the  screen  via  MGM  with  a  glossy  furbish- 
ing and  a  marquee-filling  cast.  Playing  the 
role  of  Tondelayo  the  jungle  temptress  is  Hedy 
Lamarr,  with  Walter  Pidgeon  as  the  hardened 
overseer  of  the  African  rubber  plantation,  Rich- 
ard Carlson  the  young  man  who  is  the  woman's 
final  lover. 

Others  in  the  excellent  cast  are  Frank  Mor- 
gan as  the  outpost  doctor  who  is  addicted  to 
drink,  Bramwell  Fletcher  as  one  of  the  men 
wrecked  by  the  jungle,  Henry  O'Neill  as  the 
''missionary  and  Reginald  Owen,  Clyde  Cook. 
Xeigh  Whipper,  Oscar  Polk,  Darby  Jones  and 
Richard  Ainley. 

The  picture  should  create  the  same  type  of 
controversy  that  the  play  did.  However,  the 
girl  is  described  as  half  Arabian  and  half 
-Egyptian,  and  this  is  disclosed  in  the  plot  im- 
mediately prior  to  the  marriage  of  Tondelayo 
to  the  youth,  who  had  believed  that  she  was 
a  half  caste. 

Richard  Thorpe  in  his  direction  gave  Miss 
Lamarr  full  opportunity  to  display  her  talents, 
^thespic  and  otherwise.  Gordon  adapted  his  own 
play  for  the  screen,  utilizing  a  flashback  de- 
vice to  begin  and  close  the  story.  The  main 
;tory  is  dated  and  has  been  told  many  times 
i  n  various  ways. 

Victor  Saville  gave  the  production  a  fine  in- 
vestiture. 

Preview  at  the  Fox  Westwood  Village  Tlie- 
itre  to  an  audience  which  greeted  the  picture 
iproariously  but  nevertheless  laughed  in  the 
vrong  places,  due  to  the  seduction  antics  of 
Miss  Lamarr.  Reviewer's  Rating  :  Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  89  min.  PCA 
To.  6337.    Adult  audience  classification. 

"ondelayo  Hedy  Lamarr 

tarry  Witzel  Walter  Pidgeon 

lie  Doctor  Frank  Morgan 

ichard  Carlson,  Reginld  Owen.  Henry  O'Neill,  Bram- 
ell  Fletcher.  Clyde  Cook,  Leigh  Whipper,  Oscar 
oik,  Darby  Jones.  Richard  Ainley. 

'Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 


(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Topical  Farce 

The  country's  rubber  shortage  and  attendant 
interest  in  synthetic  substitutes  provide  the 
complexities  confronting  the  characters  in  this 
farce.  The  light  treatment  given  it — not  to  men- 
tion Red  Cross  classes  and  "Bundles  for  Blue- 
jackets"— may  evoke  resentment,  particularly  as 
the  entertainment  values  of  the  film  as  roman- 
tic comedy  are  limited. 

There  is  more  than  the  usual  allotment  of 
names  with  substantial  marquee  appeal  in  the 
picture — Don  Ameche,  Joan  Bennett,  Billie 
Burke,  Frank  Craven,  Alan  Dinehart  and 
Helene  Reynolds.  The  settings  are  elaborate 
and  the  costumes  splendid,  but  even  these  do 
not  obscure  the  poverty  of  plot. 

Don  Ameche  is  a  playboy  owner  of  a  South 
American  rubber  plantation,  arriving  in  this 
country  to  obtain  a  loan.  Joan  Bennett  plays 
the  girl  whose  apartment  he  rents  under  the 
impression  that  she  is  the  maid.  She  stays  on 
in  that  capacity  and  manages  the  financial  busi- 
ness successfully  while  she  burns  the  toast.  In 
addition  to  these  two — and  Frank  Craven,  who 
is  amusing  as  the  rubber  company  president  in- 
terested in  antique  firearms — is  a  group  of  the 
lady's  friends,  rather  overdrawn  portraits  of  the 
idle  rich  in  the  war  effort  and  with  an  unflat- 
tering resemblance  to  Clare  Boothe's  "The 
Women." 

The  pace  maintained  by  Harold  Schuster, 
who  directed  the  film,  could  have  been  a  bit 
faster  without  confusing  the  plot.  The  appeal 
of  the  picture,  produced  by  Robert  Bassler,  will 
depend  on  the  draw  of  the  top  cast  names. 

Previewed  at  the  home  office  projection  room 
before  an  audience  which  laughed  seldom.  Re- 
viewer's Rating  :  Fair. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942.  Running  time,  82 
mins.    PCA  No.  8532.    General  audience  classification. 

Pedro  Sullivan  Don  Ameche 

June  Delaney  Joan  Bennett 

Billie  Burke,  Frank  Craven,  Alan  Dinehart,  Helene 
Reynolds,  Fortunio  Bonanova,  Ted  North. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 

Halfway  to  Shanghai 

(Universal) 
Melodrama 

Nazi  spy  attempts  to  steal  maps  showing 
secret  locations  of  ammunition  dumps  along 
the  Burma  Road  constitute  the  main  thread 
of  the  plot  of  "Halfway  to  Shanghai,"  well  done 
melodrama  in  which  virtually  all  of  the  action 
takes  place  on  a  train  speeding  on  to  Rangoon 
from  the  interior.  Kent  Taylor  and  Irene  Her- 
vey are  the  featured  players,  with  Henry 
Stephenson,  J.  Edward  Bromberg,  George 
Zucco,  Charles  Wagenheim,  Alexander  Gra- 
nach,  Lionel  Royce,  Willie  Fung,  Oscar 
O'Shea,  Charlotte  Wynters,  Mary  Gordon,  Fay 
Helm  and  Frank  Lacteen  in  support. 

The  story  has  an  oddly  assorted  group  of 
persons  aboard  the  speeding  train.  The  possessor 
of  the  maps  is  murdered  by  two  Germans,  with 
whom  he  had  worked  in  espionage.  A  Bur- 
mese detective  on  the  train  undertakes  to  solve 
the  murder,  with  the  first  suspect  an  American 
engineer  in  whose  stateroom  the  body  is  found. 

An  American  newspaperwoman,  her  secre- 
tary, another  American  girl  who  is  to  be 
married  to  a  wealthy  Oriental  and  various  other 
persons  are  suspected  before  the  killers  are 
caught. 

John  Rawlins  directed  tersely,  keeping  the 
timing  at  a  nice  pitch.  Stuart  Palmer  wrote 
the  original  screenplay  and  Paul  Malvern  was 
the  associate  producer. 

Seen  at  Universal  studio.  Reviewer's  Rating : 
Good.—V.  K. 

Release  date,  Sent.  18.  1942.  Running  time,  62  min 
PCA  No.  6285.    General  audience  classification. 

Vicki    Dmytryk  Irene  Hervey 

Alexander    Barton  Kent  Taylor 

Colonel   Blampton  Henry  Stephenson 

George  Zucco,  Charlotte  Wynters,  Fay  Helm. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 


The  Hard  Way 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Powerful  Drama 

"The  Hard  Way"  is  a  gripping,  powerful 
drama  of  a  hard  woman  who  uses  every 
means  in  order  to  establish  her  younger 
sister  as  a  stage  star.  Her  pushing  her 
sister  to  the  top,  her  zealous  and  jealous  watch- 
ing and  planning,  only  to  have  her  pyramid 
tumble  because  of  love,  and  her  subsequent 
suicide  give  the  emotions  a  workout  seldom 
equalled  on  the  screen. 

It  is  not  a  happy  story,  although  there  are 
moments  of  comedy. 

In  one  of  her  outstanding  performances,  Ida 
Lupino  appears  as  the  woman  who,  hating  the 
dull  drab  life  of  a  coal  mining  town,  rules 
her  sister's  affairs  in  such  a  manner  that  she 
arranges  her  marriage  to  an  actor  in  order  to 
leave,  breaks  up  the  marriage  when  the  girl's 
husband  is  no  longer  useful,  virtually  claws  the 
way  for  her  sister  to  the  top  and,  at  the 
end,  has  nothing  but  unrequited  love — as  even 
her  sister  turns  against  her. 

Joan  Leslie  appears  as  the  sister  and  Dennis 
Morgan,  Jack  Carson,  Gladys  George,  Faye 
Emerson  and  Roman  Bohnen  head  an  ex- 
tremely capable  cast.  Carson  has  the  role  of 
the  girl's  husband,  while  Morgan  that  of  the 
man  with  whom  the  scheming  woman  is  in  love. 

The  screenplay  by  Daniel  Fuchs  and  Peter 
Viertel  is  a  moving  document,  utilizing  virtu- 
ally every  emotional  stress.  Vincent  Sherman, 
who  directed  the  Jerry  Wald  production,  turned 
in  a  tiptop  job. 

The  story  is  definitely  not  for  children.  There 
are  various  lines  and  sequences  which  will 
cause  eyebrow  lifting. 

Seen  at  a  Warners'  studio  projection  room. 
Reviewer' s  Rating  :  Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  97  min.  PCA 
No.  8257.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Helen  Chernen  Ida  Lupino 

Paul   Collins  Dennis  Morgan 

Katherine  Chernen  Joan  Leslie 

Jack  Carson,  Gladys  George,  Faye  Emerson,  Paul 
Cavanagh,  Leona  Maricle,  Roman  Bohnen,  Ray 
Montgomery,  Julie  Bishop,  Nestor  Piva,  Joan  Wood- 
bury, Ann  Dorn,  Thurston  Hall,  Charles  Judels,  Lou 
Lubin,  Jody  Gilbert. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 

The  Omaha  Trail 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  ) 
Western 

Its  theme  concerning  transportation  in  the  old 
West  and  picturing  in  detail  the  fight  of  the 
ox-team  magnates  of  those  days  against  the 
encroachment  of  the  railroad,  "The  Omaha 
Trail"  presents  James  Craig,  Pamela  Blake 
and  Dean  Jagger  in  the  principal  roles.  Pro- 
duced by  Jack  Chertok  with  more  than  an 
ordinary  budget,  the  film  is  featured  by  pic- 
turesque scenery  and  excellent  action. 

Supporting  the  trio  are  Edward  Ellis,  Chill 
Wills,  Donald  Meek,  Howard  DaSilva,  Henry 
Morgan  and  Morris  Ankrum.  Jesse  Lasky 
Jr.  and  Hugo  Butler  in  adapting  the  former's 
original  story  took  in  wide  territory  with  their 
screenplay.  Craig  is  supported  by  an  ox-team 
driver  who  takes  on  the  task  of  bringing  the 
West's  first  locomotive  to  Nebraska  by  team, 
in  order  to  start  building  the  track  east.  A  plot 
against  the  success  of  the  journey  is  inspired 
by  other  drivers  who  in  addition  to  attempting 
to  sabotage  the  project  inspire  an  Indian  up- 
rising. 

Jack  Chertok  produced  the  film  with  Ed- 
ward Buzzell  directing. 

Seen  at  the  Fox  Uptown  theatre  in  Los  An- 
geles where  the  audience  gave  every  indica- 
tion of  enjoving  the  film.  Reviewer's  Rating  : 
Good.—V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  61  min.  PCA 
No.  6482.    General  audience  classification. 

Pat    Candel  James  Craig 

Tulie  Santley  Pamela  Blake 

Dean  Jagger,  Edward  Ellis.  Chill  Wills.  Donald  Meek. 
Howard   Da   Silva,   Henry   Morgan,  Morris  Ankrum. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 


Product  Digest  Section  923 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,    I  942 


SHORTS  CHART 


Production  Numbers 
Release  Dates 
Running  Time 


COLUMBIA 

Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

ALL  STAR  COM  EDI  E8 
(Average  17  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

3432  Groom  and  Band  4-9-42  652 

(Downs) 

3406  What's  the  Matodor  4-23-42  653 

(StMSM) 

3433  How  Spry  I  Am  5-7-42  704 

(Clyde) 

3412   A  Study  In  Sacks  5-21-42  700 

(Glove  Stingers) 

3434  Tlra  Mm.  Spare  My  Tires.  6-4-42  784 

(Langden) 

3435  Olaf  Laughs  Last  6-18-42  784 

(Brendel) 

3436  All  Work  and  No  Pay. ..  .7-16-42  859 

(Clyde) 

3407  Matrl-Phtny   7-2-42  784 

(Stooges) 

3408  Three  Smart  Saps  7-30-42  856' 

1942-  43 

4421  Phony    Cronies  8-27-42  899 

(Brendel) 

4422  Carry  Harry   9-3-42  926 

(Langdon) 

4401    Even  As  IOU  9-18-42 

(Stooges) 

4423  Kiss  and  Wake  Up  10-2-42 

(Downs) 

4424  Sappy  Pappy   10-30-42 

(Clyde) 

COLOR  RHAPSODIES 
(7  Minutes) 
1841-42 

3507  Cinderella  Goes  to  a 

Party   5-3-42  700 

3508  Woodman  Spare  That  Tree.  6- 19-42  784 

1942-43 

4501  Song    of   Victory  9-4-42  926 

4502  Tito's  Guitar   10-9-42 

PHANTASIES  CARTOONS 
(Average  8  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

3704  The  Wild  and  Woozy  West. 4-30-42  700 
3703    A  Battle  for  a  Bottle  5-29-42  784 

3705  Old   Blackout  Joe  8-27-42  899 

1942-  43 

4701  The  Gullible  Canary  9-18-42 

4702  The  Dumb  Conscious  Mind.  10-23-42 

FABLES 

(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

3754  Wolf  Chases  Pig  4-30-42  704 

3755  Th*  Bulldog  and  the  Baby 

7-24-42  856 

COMMUNITY  8ING  (Series  6) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3659  No.  9   4-30-42  704 

3660  Ne.  10  (Songs  »f  the  Times) 

6-5-42  700 

1942-  43 
(Series  7) 

4651  No.  I — Rhumba  and  Conga 

Hits   8-15-42  859 

4652  No.  2— "Yankee  Doodler". 9-17-42 

(Baker) 

QUIZ  REELS 
(Average  10  Mln.) 
1942-43 
(Series  3) 

460 1    Kichen  Quiz  No.  1  8-21-42  899 

PANORAMICS 
(10  Minutes) 

1942-43 

4901  Cajuns  of  the  Teche  8-13-42  856 

(Quaint  Folks  No.  I) 

4902  Oddities  (La  Varre)  10-8-42  .. 


For  short  subject  synopses  turn  to  the  Product  Digest 
Section  pages  indicated  by  the  numbers  which  follow 
the  titles  and  release  dates  in  the  listing.  For  1941-42 
short  subject  releases  prior  to  April,  1942,  see  pages 
874-876. 


Prod. 
No. 


Title 


Rel.  P.D. 
Date  Page 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

TOURS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4551  Journey  to  Denall  (La  Varre) 

8-5-42  877 

4552  Old  and  Modern  New 

Orleans   10-2-42 

SCREEN  SNAPSHOTS  (Series  21) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3858  No.  8   4-10-42  653 

3859  Ne.  9   5-8-42  700 

3860  No.  10   6-19-42  755 

1942-  43 
(Series  22) 

4851  No.    I   8-7-42  859 

4852  No.   2   9-11-42  926 

WORLD  OF  SPORTS 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3808  Fit  to  Fight  5-22-42  755 

3809  Tennis  Rhythm   7-3-42  784 

3810  Canvas  Cut-Ups   8-28-42  899 

1942-  43 

4801    Trotting   Kings   9-11-42  .. 

KATE  SMITH 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4751    America  Sings  With 

Kate  Smith   8-21-42  899 

FAMOUS  BANDS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4951  Ted  Powell  (1280  Club) .  .8-27-42  899 

4952  Hal  Mclntyre   10-23-42 


M-G-M 

TWO  REEL  SPECIALS 
(20  Minutes) 
1641-42 

A-304  For  the  Common  Defense. 6-20-42  613 
A-305    Mr.  Blabbermouth   8-8-42  877 

FITZPATRICK  TRAVELTALK8  (Color) 
(S  Minutes) 
1941-42 

T-320    Glacier  Park  and  Waterton 

Lakes   4-11-42  852 

T-321  Picturesque  Patzeuare. .  .5-23-42  729 
T-322    Exotle  Mexico   6-13-42  755 

PETE  SMITH  SPECIALTIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

S-367    Victory  Quiz   5-9-42  729 

S-368    Pete  Smith's  Scrapbook.  .5-23-42  700 

S-369    Barbee-Cues   5-30-42  700 

S-370    Self   Defense   7-25-42  856 

S-371    It's  a  Dog's  Life  8-22-42  877 

S-372   Victory  Vittles   9-19-42  .. 

S-373    Football  Thrills  of  1941.. 9-26-42  .. 

PASSING  PARADE 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

K-384  The  Woman  in  the  House  5-9-42  704 
K-385  The  Incredible  Stranger. 6-20-42  755 
K-386   Vendetta   7-18-42  813 

MINIATURES 
(IS  Minutes) 
1941-42 

M-334    Soaring  Stars   4-25-42  704 


Prod.                                     Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title                     Date  Page 

M-335    Further  Prophecies  of 

Nostradamus   5-9-42  700 

W-336   The  Greatest  Gift. ..... .9-5-42  926 

OUR  GANG  COMEDIES 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

C-396    Don't  Lit   4-4-42  652 

C-397   Surprised    Parties  5-30-42  700 

C-398    Doln'  Their  Bit  7-18-42  813 

C-399    Rover's   Big   Chance  8-22-42  856 

TECHNICOLOR  CARTOONS 
(9  Minutes) 
1941-42 

W-347    Dog  Trouble   4-18-42  852 

W-348    Little  Gravel  Voice  5-16-42  700 

W-349    Puss  'N   Toots  5-30-42  754 

W-350    Bats  In  The  Belfry  7-  4-42  813 

W-351    The  Bowling  Alley  Cat.. 7-18-42  813 

W-352   The   Blitz  Wolf  8-22-42  .. 

W-353  The  Early  Bird  Dood  It. 8-29-42  .. 
W-354    Chips  Off  the  Old 

Block   9-12-42  .. 


PARAMOUNT 

8PECIAL  COLOR  CARTOON 
(Twe  Reels) 
1841-42 

FFI-I    The  Raven   4-3-42  625 

UNUSUAL  OCCUPATIONS  (Celer) 
(II  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

LI-4    No.  4   4-10-42  025 

Ll-S    No.  5   6-26-42  754 

LI-6    No.  6   8-21-42  877 

1942-  43 

L2-I    No.   I   10-9-42  .. 

BENCHLEY  COMEDIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

81-4    Keeping  In  Shape  6-12-42  754 

SI-5   The   Man's  Angle  8-14-22 

FASCINATING  JOURNEYS  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

MI-2    Indian   Temples   9-4-42  926 

SUPERMAN  COLOR  CARTOONS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

Wl-I    Superman  In  the  Magnetle 

Telescope   4-24-42  653 

WI-7   Superman  In  Electric 

Earthquake   6-3-42  754 

WI-8   Superman  in  Volcano  7-10-42  856 

WI-9   Superman  in  Terror 

on  the  Midway  8-28-42  877 

WI-IO  Superman  and  the 

Japoteurs   9-18-42 

Wl-ll  Superman  in  Showdown.  .10-16-42 
WI-12  Superman  in  Eleventh 

Hour   11-20-42 

HEDDA  HOPPER'S  HOLLYWOOD 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

ZI-4    No.  4   6-19-42  754 

ZI-5    No.  5   8-14-42  877 

ZI-6    No.  6   9-18-42 

HEADLINERS 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

A I -4    Hands  of  Victory  5-22-42  653 

Al-5    Nightmare  of  a  Goon  5-1-42  653 


1942-43 

A2-I    The  McFarland  Twins  & 

Orchestra   10-2-42 

MADCAP  MODELS  (Color) 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

UI-4    Mr.  Strauss  Takes  a  Walk. 5-8-42  653 

UI-5   Tulips  Shall  Grow  6-26-42  813. 

UI-6   The   Little  Broadcast. ..  .9-18-42  .. 

1942-  43 

U2-I    Jasper  and  the  Haunted 

House   10-23-42  .. 

POPEYE  THE  SAILOR 
(7  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

EI-7    Pipeye,  Pupeye,  Poopeye  & 

Peepeye   4-10-42  652 

EI-8    Olive  Oyl  and  Water  Don't 

Mix   5-8-42  729 

EI-9    Many  Tanks   6-5-42  755 

EI-IO  Baby  Wants  a  Bottleship.. 7-3-42  856 
El- 1 1  You're  a  Sap,  Mr.  Jap... 8-7-42  859 
El- 12    Alona  on  the  Sarong  Seas. 9-4-42  926 

1942-  43 

E2-I    A  Hull  of  a  Mess  10-16-42 

POPULAR  SCIENCE  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

J 1-4    No.  4    4-3-42  625 

J 1-5    Ne.  5   6-12-42  755 

JI-6    No.  6   7-31-42  856 

1942-  43 

J2-I    No.  I   10-2-42  .. 

SPEAKING  OF  ANIMALS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

VI -4    In  the  Circus  5-29-42  729 

YI-5    At  the  Dog  Show  8-28-42  926 

SPORTLIGHTS 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

RI-9    Personality  Plus   4-17-42  653 

RI-IO    Hero  Worship   5-15-42  729 

Rl-ll    Parachute  Athletes  6-19-42  754 

RI-12    Let  'Em  Go  Alive  7-17-42  836 

RI-13   Timber  Athletes   9-11-42  926 

1942-  43 

R2-I    Sports  I.Q  10-9-42  .. 

QUIZ  KIDS 
(II  Minutes) 
,1941-42 

QI-4    No.  4    4-17-42  632 

QI-5    No.  5    5-22-42  729 

QI-8    Ne.  6   7-31-42  859 


RKO 


MARCH  OF  TIME 
(Average  20  Mln.) 
1941-42 

23.109  America's  New  Army. ..  .4- 10-42  587 

23.110  India  In  Crisis  5-8-42  647 

23.111  India  at  War  6-5-42  714 

23.112  Men  In  Washington- 1942. 7-3-42  751 

23.113  Men  of  the  Fleet  7-31-42  794 

WALT  DISNEY  CARTOONS  (Coler) 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

24.102  Donald's  Snow  Fight. .  .4-10-42  625 

24.103  Donald  Gets  Drafted  5-1-42  653 

24.104  The  Army  Mascot  5-22-42  700 

24.105  Donald's   Garden   6-12-42  754 

24.106  The  Sleepwalker   7-3-42  856 

24.107  Donald's  Gold  Mine  7-24-42  856 

24.108  T-Bone  for  Two  8-14-42  856 

24.109  How  to  Play  Baseball ..  .9-4-42  926 

INFORMATION  PLEASE 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

24.205  No.  5   John   Carradlne. .  .4-3-42  625 

24.206  No.  6    Howard  Lindsay. 4-24-42  704 

24.207  No.  7   Cornelia  Otis  Skinner 

5-22-42  700 


924    Product  Digest  Section 


Septs- ber    2  6,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


So. 


Re'..  PJ). 
-at  Ptfe 


Prod. 


li  -.'A    H:  l    R-sm.II  Cn>BM...S.I9-42  7*7 
•    Hfll   Bail   Ji*J  Glitter.... 7- 17-42  £13 
24211   Ba.  It  J  eta  Ganadfiae.S- 14-42  £77 

SPO  RTSC-OFE 
».nn  i  Mil.. 
164  -42 

24J6S    Crnin  Spartx   4-17-42  £53 

:UII   Bsmn  Bebaa   5-15-42  7M 

24-31 1    Cia*ere I il   CEaniinn  S- 12-42  7S7 

'  24312  Pais  Fany   -7-10-4.2  £56 

24313    Bean  Breakers   8-7-42  £77 

PICTURE  PEOPLE 

IS  W.lBItM) 

i  Ml -42 

S-.L-  ParrtiU   4-24-42  7  94 

14.4  i    K:  .•-»»:  i:  -:-s        5-23-42  7K 

HAH   Al  Jtaaaaa  U  iHi  n  I  Iff- 19-42  717 

24.412    HeffywoM  Sta.-I.eti  7-17-42  113 

I  24.413  CaltniKd  n  the 

Hnssn   .8-14-42  825 

EDSAR  KENNEDY 
4  rent,  i  II  M  -. 

1*4  [  -42 

:•  Kl    Irfartnr  Decant*-   4-J-42  662 

Z%m    Ct*kj  t*s  Cr*eki  1-5-42  729 

19(2-43 

3-3vWI   Tw*  far  the  Meaey  8-14-42  *2S 

LEON  ERROL 
Avenge  19  Mil.. 
1841-42 

1  23JB5    Framing    Fitter  5-15-42  70* 

::  TV.    Hi::  'Eh  j»;i  I-21-42  717 

BM 

j33JBI    Baa  TraaHe   9-4-42  £23 


RAY  WHITLEY 
A  viran  15  Wis. 
1*41-42 

::       :»r--.   zizsn  4.23-42  553 

23-5*4    P-aigs    R'rythni  7-17-42  113 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

±.,EKTURES  KEWSCAHERAMAN 
•  Average  9  Mil 

1941-  42 

S2B  Wang*  af  Defease  4-10-42  6*2 

--'■*    Z^L-.-iz-t  if  as  S*a        7-17-42  757 

1 942-  43 


3291 

1  it:          Tias  Run. 

1 

MAGIC  CARPET 

:-  "  :rtei 

1941-42 

2!u6 

7*4 

!ir? 

Gj±ra»y  ta  Asia  

5-6-42 

7»9 

U'A 

1  -  -  i  1   a !    £  ij :  i  T 

.1-19-42 

755 

1 

1942-43  fCtfar; 

1:151 

Demi-.  Wii.iertaaa-  

5-  -*2 

654 

1152 

W*::ii:    ii  Bikare- 

3-23-42 

£S5 

,1153 

Valiej  »f  Bsasaaaas  

1154 

Rr.u  irars   

IIS 

Bay  Bit   

I i -29-42 

I 

:  : :  =  T  S  -  I  . 

(■  Biasles) 

J 

1941-42 

3*1 

St—  T  J     a>!  P'LB!   

t-24-42 

72S 

1942-43 

V. 

VeS-Bnaca  Harvard 

bsi 

Resis  t  Daaghtar   

.  1 1  -5-42 

" : : :  •  ' : :  s  s    t  e  :  h  n 

color; 

1  Biaittsj 

□  HI!      "     LijT'U  Oft 

4- f  7-42  652 

Neck   ixi   Me*k  £-15-42  7*9 

*B  Afeaat  Dati  6-12-42  755 


!  94  2 -43 


AB  Oat  far  "V 
1832   Life  vita  FeaVa. 

553   Samel  Daze   

34    Might  Life  ii  the  A.TT 
-555   Tte  ■ana  r*  Tur'irrra 
551    Kui,    :   Dj'ti   '- -.. 

B«   19-38-42 

NB7  FiaaateBEkaafs  Cat   II-27-4S 


 8-7-42  926 

 8-21-42  926 

....  9-18-42 

my.  16-2-42  .. 

r..M- 16-42  .. 


25.S9 
25K 

2511 
2512 
2511 

25  < 


3561 
l:\2 


24*5 


Ed  PJ>. 
.  (tit  Dei4  Page 

TERRYT00NS  (Bile*  i  WkiHj 
(7  Mlmiftuj 
1 54 1  -42 

Qi  ftratl'i  S.w-Ijif   4-1-42  tU 

Owi  In  Trlrttj  Bmnu 

5-  I  -42  714 

Tin   Stark' 1    Mirtifci  5  29-42  79>l 

Wilful  Willi  II   6-21-42  75.5 

St::;   Ctwi   It  a<! 

Patal   7-16-42  755 

G  a  * : ;   S::m  Ii 

Tin   Tranble   7-24-42  767 

1942-43 

7i>i    Bin    Biili-Uj  §-4-42  S2I 

Ickll   Mfrti   Pistil  11-13-42  .. 


THE  WO  R  LB  TODAY 
(I  Miintei) 
1 64 1  -42 

Gart(Mi  ABrtT-uIl.i   6-5-42 

Mm  at  Waat  PiHit. ..... .7-1-42 

1642-43 

Our  Lut.  F.-BBtJor  9-11-42 


754 
754 


MARCH  OF  TIME 

A»«nH  5".  M i:--ti 
1 942-43 
F.B.I.  Frmrt  


UNITED  ARTISTS 


W9RLD   IN  ACTION 

CTwi  Baab) 
194I-42 

CiiaraSLill'i   ItHxA   4-3-42  59S 

Tkii  It  BI"rtz   5-1-42  539 

Fa»» — W  turns  if  Cm  rati  6-5-42  5*5 

Tk.i  Bittli  far  OH   5W 

Nrr  6*1  i inn  Ars  Ta«|k   199 

Italii  Fljrriii  Rwtli   764 

Hitler-'!  PCbj   654 

Rtaai  tn  Ttkya   £93 

taHa  Filktisi   CkiM   £98 


UNIVERSAL 

COLOR  C A  RT  L  HZ 
'Awth  7  M  Is..} 

1941-  42 
Matk'!ir  &mm  m  ttti 

Lam  4-13-42  652 

5249    Em  Byi  Mr.  w : ' -   5-11-42  653 

£254    Netty    Fin    CsiiB  6-1-42  755 

£251    Act  ti  the  Hale  ...6-2:2-42  755 

-.1:2    J  ike  Ee:x  Jtittm  7-27-42  757 

illl    Piit*»   P-rtral  ,  ...8-3-42  SI3 

1942-  43 

7241  Axiry  Pu>£«'i  Vietary 

Garten   9-7-42  SZS 

7242  The  L*ui  Strajtciir  1 1- - 15-12. 

SWING  SYMPHONIES 
•942-43 

7231    Yukst  Droili  Sw'-j 

Strft   9-21-42  699 

STRANGER   THAN  FICTION 
0  MiBsrtei) 

1941-  42 

E375    Peed   Cit  Cafe  ...4-26-42  6S3 

63*»    Tra  Tkcsi  Canuntfc  3-18-42  729 

535  i    Hrttariesi  Faa-rtiij 

ef   Haaftk   6-15-42  755 

=352    Mittiir  Carwr   7-6-42  767 

6333    Vaan  st  the   Plfwth. .  .7-2H-42  813 

Mile  rf  Daiis  £-14-42  £77 

zliz    Snt>t>   Piirtc   .  £-31-42  IS5 

PEBSON—ODDITIES 

1942-  43 

7371  Hiimeji  Sailbmat   9-14-42  £25 

7372  Je.il   niitlilll   9-28-42  „ 

7373  Kiag  of  thi  49-srs  10-12-42 

VARIETY  VIEWS 
9  Minirte:!'! 

1941-  42 

5351    Sparta  Ii  tke  Ewkiai  4-S-42  615 

63E2    CsJI  tf  tin  Sat  5-4-42  728 

5365    Willi  ef  Frw^m             1-1-42  755 

•364    Aitm-rtii  Oirtaart   7-11-42  753 

S3S5    Crcter   City   8-17-42  £59 

1942-  43 

7351  Trouble  Spot  of  the  East-- 9-7-42  899 

7352  PaH   9-21-42  S2S 

7353  Wer.t-'i  w .          .lj-5-42  Hi 


Pr-.i.  Bat  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Pa$t 

1  USICALS 
t.nii  II  Hie..) 

1941-  42 

S229    Say   N  Initial   4-11-42  569 

5:236    S»ie«  Frtlli   3-11-42  153 

£261    RLlitev  Rkythn   1-19-42  735 

623:2    Metro  MaciLai   7-15-42  5  ! 

6231    Shalfle   Rhythm   6-19-42  877 

1942-  43 

7121  Trumpet    Serenade  9-S-42  899 

7122  Serenade    in   Swing  10-14-42  899 

7123  Jirln'  Jam  Session   £99 


VITAPHONE 


TECHNICOLOR  SPECIALS 
Are-ste  21  Hi  a.) 
1641-42 

MBS    Spanish   Fiesta  5-11-42  769 

7*64    Marti  Oi  Anarlet  6-27-42    7  56 

78M    Kea  af  the  Sky  7-25-42  653 

1942-43 

SO0I    A  Ship  Is  Born  -  IB-IB-42  .. 


BROADWAY  BREVITIES 
'29  Mlmrteij 
1 94  I -42 

7  IM  CaJ  I f  an  Li  J-r.  Sym pfcu-ity . .  4- 1  £  -*2 
7116   Pari  at  Frartlars   5-36-42 

7111  Daaaktar  ef  Rule  O'Sratfy 

7- 1 1 -42 

7112  "Divine  mi  Cwonsr"  8-25-42 

1942-43 

SIOI    The  Spirii  of  An=2pDlis. .  .9-5-42 

8102  The  Hailois  Dances  9-H-42 

8103  The  Spirit  of  West  Point..  11-7-42 


•S3 

729 


7:7 
794 


HOLLYWOOD  NOVELTIES 
MI  Mlmiftei) 
1641-42 

75M    Than  Ali't  Ni  Sitaii 

A5inLS.I   5-9-42  653 

(942-43 

SMI    Sneiuey  Steps  Out  9-12-42 

8302   Ydb  Want  ta  Give  Up 

Smoking.   11-14-42 


THE  SPORTS  PARADE 
(19  Ml natai ; 

1941-  42 
S'bwt  Yaaraalf  Suite  6*H 

laaaar]   4-4-42  625 

Rasfcy  Mwrais  B i  1  6 am  5-2-42  764 

Hsnaru  HBtfcsrs   5-13-42  755 

Husrter's  Paraaise   7-18-42  659 

Arnestine    H  arses   8-S-42  £77 

1942-  43 

Sniifer  Soldiers   S- 12-42 

Anerieaj  Surtj. .  IS-17-42 

The  Right  Tiniies  10-31-42 

Cuba,  Land  of  Romance  and 
ASveature   11-21-42  ... 


7496 

744:7 

7465 
7459 
-i  5 


we 
rm 

754* 

7519 


8522 


75*8 
9BBI 
76  H 
/ill 
7612 
7613 
7SI4 
7615 
7516 

SS01 
=•5:2 
515:3 


MELODY   MA3TERS  BANDS 

(.18  Mi natai J 

1941-  42 

Riebard  Himbsr  4.  0 rsk. . 4- 1 1 -42 
D 1  -   Caaaaak  Cht.nct ......  4-  21-42 

En  i  I    Ce-!e Ul   4.   0 ■rw... .  .  6- ;  3 ■  42 

Glen  Bag  L  Baad  S- 13-42 

1942-  43 

Army  Air  Force  Band  9- (9-42 

Colleen   Band   10-24-42 

U.  S.  Marine  Band  11-28-42 


652 
Id 

7U 
677 


L0  0NEY    TUNES  CAR' 
7  Hiairtaij 
1641-42 

Saiti  is  Chaps  

BaSy*]  Swthert  Expcsmre 

akattj  Nrai   

Hanky  Htne  Ltlft  

Gopher  Goafy   

Wacky  Blackout   

The  Doefctatar  

Eatin'  sa  the  Cuff  

The   Ira  patient  Patient.. 

1942-43 

The   Hep  Cat  

The  Daffy  Dnckaroo  

H;  Favorite  Dick  


TOONS 


4- 1 1 -42 
.5-2-42 
,5-23-42 
.  .6-8-42 
.6-27-42 
.7-11-42 
..1-1-42 
.5-22-42 
«-:-42 


652 
£53 

7«e 

764 
753 
£77 
659 
£77 
£77 


::-:.42 

10-  24-42 

11-  2I-42 


BEBBIE   MELODIES   CARTOONS  (Cato 
C7  Minirtet) 
1941-42 

7715    HortiiB  Hatches  the  Egg .  .4- 1 1-42  653 

7715    Dag  Tired   4-25-42  764 

7717    Ttat    Waeky    Waiii!  ...5-2-42  764 


Pr^i.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  pfe 

7711  Thi  Draft  Ham  5-9-42  7*e 

7719  UaBta  Faataatll  5-23-42  7M 

7720  Hsld  thi  Llae,  Please  6-6-42  754 

7721  DmbIi   Ckatar   6-26-42  765 

7722  Bugs  But  By  Gets  the 

Bird   7-1 1-42  656 

7723  Fcney   Fables   8-1-42  856 

7724  The  Snuawkin'  Hawk   8-6-42  677 

7725  Fresh  Hare   8-22-42  877 

7726  Fax  Pop   9-5-42  £77 

1942-43 

8701  The  Dover  Boys  9-19-42 

8702  The  Sheepish  Wolf  10-3-42 

8703  The  Hare  Brained 

Hypnotist   10-17-42  .. 

8704  A  Tale  of  Two  Kitties. .  10-31-42  .. 

8705  Ding  Dog  Daddy  11-14-42 

8705    Case  of  the  Missing 

Hare   11-28-42  .. 

V 

OFFICIAL   U.  S.  VICTORY  FILMS 
(Distributed  by  Variant  Major  Exchanges) 

Bomber    509 

Ptts   t«    Planet   5«S 

Food   for    Freedom   50S 

Red    Creti   Trailer   569 

Wane*   in  Defense   509 

Safeguard  itg    Military    Informatiar   509 

Taftkt    5H 

Airy  Banah  Today    569 

Ring  cf  Stoel    567 

FightlBg    Fire    Bin.bi   567 

Lakl  Carrier    715 

Uaitad   China  Relief...  

Winning  Year  Wltfi   674 

Keep  'Era    Railing   674 

Mr.  GardeBli  Jones   674 

Year  Air  Raid  WanleB   770 

Vigilance    771 

Out  of  the  Frying  Pan   S26 

U.  S.  TREASURY  DEPT. 
(Released  Through  Naticnal  Screen) 

The    New   Spirit   529 

WAR  ACTIVITIES  COMMITTEE 

(Released  Through  20th-Fox) 
Baffle  of  Midway   912 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Your  Ringside  Seat  with  Tex  McCrary 

(Newsreel   Distributors)    497 

Soviet  Women  (Artkino)   612 

Movie  Quiz,  No.  I  and  2   854 

(Movie  Quiz  Distributing) 
Shock  Troops  for  Defense   871 

(Brandon  Films) 
Scrap  for  Victory   871 

(Brandon  Films) 

V 


SERIALS 

COLUMBIA 


1941-42 

3189    Perils  1*  tne  Rayai 

M  Hunted   5-29-42  715 

(15  Episodes) 

(642-48 

4120   The  Seeret  Code..  9-4-42  8S9 

(15  EllHSH, 


REPUBLIC 

1941-  42 

I  £3    Say  Smasher   4-4-42  566 

(12  Episodes) 
184    Perlli  if  Nyeka  1-27-42  767 

( 15  aaisodei) 

1942-  43 

281    King  af  the  Mounties. ..  16-10-42 
:  isitiiei 


UNIVERSAL 

1941-  42 

E5SI-S3    Gang   Beaten   3-31-42  521 

(13  Eplaades) 

1942-  43 

7881-92   Junior  G-Nea  if  the 

Air   S -36-42  764 

(12  episodes) 

7781-95    Overlaid   Mail  9-22-42 

(15  episodes) 


Product  Digest  Section  925 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    26,    I  942 


SHORTS 

advance  synopses  and 
information 


CARRY  HARRY  (Col.) 

Langdon  (4422) 

On  the  night  before  Harry's  wedding  a  joy 
ride  lands  him  in  the  apartment  of  two  strange 
girls.  His  fiancee  arrives  demanding  explana- 
tions, but  the  girls  decide  they  are  a  second- 
story  team  and  call  the  police.  The  escape  is 
engineered  by  the  fiancee  who  proves  no  more 
successful  than  Harry. 

Release  date,  September  3,  1942       17  minutes 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  ANNAPOLIS  (WB) 

Broadway  Brevity  (8101) 

A  tour  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis 
affords  a  survey  of  the  training  routine  of  the 
men  who  will  sail  our  fighting  ships.  The  Band 
and  Glee  Club  accompanies  the  tour  with  songs 
of  the  Navy,  including  "Anchors  Aweigh," 
"The  Ramparts  We  Watch,"  "Before  the 
Mast"  and  "Don't  Give  Up  the  Ship." 
Release  date,  September  5,  1942.       20  minutes 

INDIAN  TEMPLES  (Para.) 

Fascinating  Journeys  (Ml-2) 

The  second  in  Paramount's  "Fascinating 
Journeys"  is  to  India  for  a  brief  picture  of  the 
religion  of  the  Hindus.  Here  the  idols  and  rit- 
uals of  the  followers  have  been  caught  by  the 
camera,  along  with  Shiva's  Dance  of  Destruc- 
tion performed  by  the  Menoka  Ballet.  A 
glimpse  of  the  famed  Taj  Mahal  closes  the  sub- 
ject. 

Release  date,  September  4,  1942.      11  minutes 

HOW  TO  PLAY  BASEBALL  (RKO) 

Disney  cartoon  (24,109) 

This  treatise  on  the  national  sport,  featuring 
Goofy  in  the  role  of  demonstrator,  was  pre- 
pared especially  for  distribution  with  RKO's 
"Pride  of  the  Yankees."  The  material  will 
hardly  promote  an  understanding  of  baseball, 
but  its  purpose  is  laughs. 

Release  date,  September  4,  1942.  7  minutes 

LIFE  WITH  FIDO  (20+h-Fox) 

Terry-Toons  {color)  (3552) 

Fido  is  a  hunting  dog  with  a  tender  heart. 
He  encounters  a  small,  black  duck  with  no 
knowledge  of  the  rules  of  the  chase.  Unable 
to  disillusion  the  youngster,  Fido  takes  him 
home  where  the  problem  of  rearing  a  duckling- 
is  a  constant  headache. 

Release  date,  August  21,  1942.        7  minutes 

THE  BIG  BUILD-UP  (20th-Fox) 

Terry-toons  (3501) 

A  young  pup  is  listening  to  flattering  words 
on  dogs  in  general  from  a  radio  commentator. 
As  he  swells  with  pride  the  door  creaks  open 
and  he  runs  for  cover.  For  some  time  he  is  un- 
able to  discover  the  identity  of  his  visitor,  a 
kitten,  and  when  he  does  she  is  firmly  en- 
trenched. 

Release  date,  September  4,  1942.         7  minutes 

CANADIAN  PATROL  (Univ.) 

Variety  View  (7352) 

The  Royal  Canadian  Mounted  Police  are  the 
subject  of  this  Variety  View.  It  surveys  the 
rigorous  training  of  recruits,  the  wide  range 
of  regular  duties  and  the  special  tasks  con- 
fronting the  "Mounties"  in  war  time  with  the 
constant  danger  of  Axis  sabotage. 
Release  date,  September  21,  1942         9  mhuites 


Synopses  Indexed 

Page  numbers  on  short  subject 
synopses  published  in  Product  Digest 
are  listed  in  the  Shorts  chart,  Prod- 
uct Digest  Section,  pages  924-925. 


AT  THE  DOG  SHOW  (Para.) 

Speaking  of  Animals  (Yl-5) 

A  visit  to  dogs  on  exhibition  gets  behind  the 
scenes  to  an  explanation  of  a  dog's  life.  An 
Alaskan  husky,  a  seelyham,  a  bloodhound,  a 
Chihuahua  and  others  tell  their  personal  ambi- 
tions and  grievances. 

Release  date,  September  25,  1942.      9  minutes 

HOLLYWOOD  ON  THE  HUDSON  (RKO) 

Picture  People  (24,413) 

New  York's  theatre  and  motion  picture  in- 
dustry are  surveyed  in  this  short  subject.  The 
New  Jersey  studios  where  pictures  of  25  years 
ago  were  made,  a  premiere  attended  by  picture 
personalities,  a  shipboard  interview  with  a  re- 
turning actress,  the  Astoria  studios  now  taken 
over  by  the  Army  Signal  Corps  and  a  news- 
reel  studio  are  included  in  the  camera  trip. 
Release  date,  August  14,  1942.  8  minutes 

TIMBER  ATHLETES  (Para.) 

Sportlight  (Rl-13) 

The  sports  which  depend  on  the  forest  trees 
for  their  equipment,  baseball,  hockey,  diving 
and  the  like  are  demonstrated  in  this  short  sub- 
ject. The  real  timber  athletes — the  loggers  and 
lumberjacks — come  in  for  their  share  of  atten- 
tion. 

Release  date,  September  11,  1942  9  minutes 
ALL  OUT  FOR  V  (20th-Fox) 

Terrytoon  {color)  (3551) 

The  animal  kingdom  takes  its  place  in  the 
war  effort  in  this  color  cartoon.  To  the  tune 
of  "We  Are  Working  for  Defense"  they  set 
up  an  ingenious  assembly  line,  turning  out 
tanks,  guns,  airplanes  and  finally  a  battleship. 
Release  date,  August  7,  1942  6  minutes 

SONG  OF  VICTORY  (Col.) 

Color  Rhapsody  (4501) 

Vulture  Hitler,  Gorilla  Mussolini  and  Hyena 
Hirohito  have  stunned  the  forest  animals  with 
their  cruelty.  Against  a  musical  background 
of  the  opening  theme  of  Beethoven's  Fifth  Sym- 
phony, the  animals  join  to  plague  the  dictators 
with  the  V  symbol  written  by  birds  at  day  and 
fireflies  at  night. 

Release  date,  September  4,  1942         8  minutes 

MAIL  TROUBLE  (RKO) 

Leon  Errol  (33,701) 

Leon  Errol's  first  troubles  in  the  1942-'43 
season  are  with  his  father-in-law.  He  tries  to 
ease  him  out  gently  by  marrying  him  off.  Papa, 
however,  is  suspicious,  and  substitutes  Errol's 
picture  in  the  letter  to  the  matrimonial  pros- 
pect. This  causes  misunderstandings  with  his 
wife  when  the  girl  arrives. 
Release  date,  September  4,  1942.       18  minutes 


THE  GREATEST  GIFT  (MGM) 

Miniature  (M-336) 

The  well-known  story  of  the  juggler  who 
found  refuge  in  an  Alpine  monastery  features 
Edmund  Gwenn.  The  monks  are  preparing 
gifts  for  the  festival  of  the  Virgin,  and  the 
juggler,  grateful  for  the  hospitality,  offers  his 
only  talent,  performing  before  the  statue.  The 
Lady's  recognition  of  his  offering  affords  the 
climax  of  the  story. 

Release  date,  September  5,  1942     11  minutes 

ALONA  ON  THE  SARONG  SEAS  (Para.) 

Popeye  (El-12) 

Popeye,  aboard  a  battleship  in  the  Pacific,  is 
dreaming  of  Olive  Oyl  when  she  passes  by  on 
a  surf  board.  He  and  Bluto  follow  her  to  an 
island  where  she  croons  a  la  Lamour,  find 
themselves  in  a  pool  of  alligators  which  are 
exploded  with  the  aid  of  spinach  and  reach  the 
charming  lady  only  to  wake  up. 
Release  date,  September  4,  1942.         7  minutes 

TWO  FOR  THE  MONEY  (RKO) 

Edgar  Kennedy  (33,401) 

Edgar  opens  a  haberdashery  in  the  midst  of 
a  crime  wave  and  naturally  runs  into  the 
bandits.  He  entertains  them  at  his  home  and, 
discovering  their  identities  too  late,  is  deprived 
of  the  reward  for  their  capture.  This  is  the 
first  of  the  1942-'43  series  with  Kennedy. 
Release  date,  September  11,  1942.      17  minutes 

SCREEN  SNAPSHOTS  No.  2  (Col.) 

(4852) 

The  mothers  of  Hollywood  stars  are  fea- 
tured in  this  brief  visit  to  the  West  Coast  city. 
Rosalind  Russell,  Alexander  Hall,  Joan  Davis, 
Jane  Wyman  and  Bob  Burns  also  make  an 
appearance.  Allyn  Joslyn  serves  as  master  of 
ceremonies. 

Release  date,  September  11,  1942       10  minutes 

HUMAN  SAILBOAT  (Univ.) 

Person-Oddity  (7371) 

Unsual  persons  and  occupations  included 
in  this  short  are :  a  man  who  floats  with  a  : 
pile  of  bricks,  the  guarding  of  St.  Honore 
wedding  and  birthday  cakes,  grassless  pastures 
with  fat  cows,  a  carnival  in  toothpicks,  a  me- 
chanical zither-player  and  a  reading  dog. 
Release  date,  September  14,  1942         8  minutes 

ANDY  PANDA'S  VICTORY  GARDEN 

(Univ.) 

Color  Cartoon  (7241) 

Preparing  a  victory  garden  and  keeping  his  ' 
dog  out  of  trouble  is  a  bit  too  much  for  Andy. 
He  drills  holes  with  a  brace  and  bit  only  to 
have  the  rooster  pick  up  the  seeds.  The  plants, 
stimulated  by  a  healthy  dose  of  Vitamin  B,  do 
spring  up  more  in  confusion  than  profusion. 
Release  date,  September  1,  1942         7  minutes 

OUT  OF  THE  FRYING  PAN  INTO  THE 
FIRING  LINE  (WAC) 

Victory  Film 

The  newest  of  the  Victory  films  is  a  Disney 
cartoon  portraying  the  importance  of  saving 
fats  for  the  manufacture  of  glycerine.  Pluto 
is  reluctant  at  first  but  cooperates  willingly 
when  the  value  of  the  material  is  explained. 
The  film  is  being  distributed  through  RKO  ex-  1 
changes.  3  minutes  \ 


926     Product  Digest  Section 


September    26,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Across  the  Pacific 

(Warner  Bros.) 
Melodrama  With  a  Punch 

Humphrey  Bogart  Sydney  Greenstreet, 
Mary  Astor  and  John  Huston,  director,  who 
struck  a  note  of  melodrama  in  "The  Maltese 
Falcon"  which  echoed  throughout  the  trade, 
collaborate  here  in  an  enterprise  designed  to 
do  about  the  same  for  showmen  and  their  cus- 
tomers. 

Bogart  plays,  in  Richard  Macaulay's  screen- 
play, a  U.  S.  Captain  of  Artillery  who  is  court 
martialled  and  dishonorably  discharged  from 
the  Army  at  the  outset  of  the  story.  He  boards 
ship  for  the  Orient  with  declared  intent  to  offer 
his  services  to  the  Chinese  or  any  nation  that 
will  buy  them. 

Aboard  ship  he  meets  a  girl  (Mary  Astor) 
whom  he  suspects  of  sinister  purpose  and  a 
man  (Greenstreet)  openly  sympathetic  to  the 
Japanese  philosophy  and  interest.  The  man  ul- 
timately reveals  himself  as  a  traitor  in  Japan- 
ese service  and  employs  the  discharged  officer 
to  obtain  information  which  will  facilitate  the 
bombing  of  the  Canal. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Rick    Leland  Humphrey  Bogart 

Alberta  Harlow  Mary  Astor 

Dr.    Lorenz  Sydney  Greenstreet 

Charles  Halton.  Sen  Yung.  Roland  Got,  Lee  Tung 
Foo,  Frank  Wilcox.  Paul  Stanton,  Lester  Matthews. 

Complete  review  published  August  22,  1942 

Orchestra  Wives 

( 20th  Century  -  Fox) 
Music  Film  for  the  Masses 

Glenn  Miller  and  his  orchestra  give  this  mu- 
sical all  they've  got,  and  that's-  a  lot,  in  the 
opinion  of  just  about  everybody  who  goes  for 
swing  music,  and  if  that  isn't  everybody  it's 
a  reasonable  facsimile,  according  to  radio  polls, 
juke  box  ballots  and  records  sales. 

George  Montgomery,  Ann  Rutherford, 
Cesar  Romero,  Lynn  Bari,  Carole  Landis  and 
some  others  furnish  plenty  of  marquee  copy 
for  showmen,  if  any,  whose  customers  are  not 
100  per  cent  Glenn  Miller  fans.  They  all  play 
band  members  or  band  members'  wives  and  the 
story's  about  nothing  else  whatever.  Four 
songs  by  Mack  Gordon  and  Harry  Warren  are 
hits  in  their  own  right,  and  the  delivery  they 
get  at  the  hands  of  Miller  and  his  men  is  the 
kind  song  writers  dream  about 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Bill  Abbott  George  Montgomery 

Connie   Ann  Rutherford 

Gene  Morrison  Glenn.  Miller 

Sinjin   Cesar  Romero 

Lynn  Bari.  Carole  Landis.  Virginia  Gilmore,  Mary 
Beth  Hughes,  Nicholas  Brothers,  Tamara  Geva. 

Complete  review  published  August  IS,  1942 

Berlin  Correspondent 

( 20th  Century  -  Fox) 
Outwitting  the  Gestapo 

An  action  packed  melodrama  which  pleas- 
antly stretches  the  imagination  and  at  all  times 
holds  suspense,  this  picture  of  an  American 
correspondent  in  Berlin  at  grips  with  the  Ges- 
tapo and  outwitting  them  at  almost  every  turn 
is  good  screen  fare.  The  film  maintains  a  fast 
rpace,  a  fact  that  should  be  appreciated  by  de- 
votees of  melodrama. 

Dana  Andrews  plays  the  fearless  correspond- 
ent with  competence  and  verve  and  is  abetted 
'ably  by  Virginia  Gilmore  as  the  German  frau- 
e:n  in  the  Gestapo  headquarters  assigned  to 
''get  the  goods"  on  Andrews  after  so  many 
other  of  the  Gestapo  agents  have  failed.  She 
s  successful  but  inadvertently  seals  the  fate 
pf  her  own  father,  who  has  been  selling  secret 
information  to  the  correspondent.  She,  in- 
cidentally, unwittingly  supplied  her  father  with 
he  information. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. 

■Caren  Hauen  Virginia  Gilmore 

rJill  Roberts  Dana  Andrews 

^arla   Mona  Maris 

>ig  Rumann.  Kurt  Katch.  Erwin  Kaiser.  Torben 
Jeyer.  William  Edmunds,  Hans  Schiimm. 

Complete  reiiew  published  August  15,  1942 


Tabloid  Reviews 

Reviews  appearing  on  this  page  are 
condensed  versions  of  previous  re- 
views of  1942-43  product  appearing 
in  Product  Digest  prior  to  the  issue 
of  September  5,  1942.  They  are  car- 
ried for  their  reference  value. 


The  Major  and  the  Minor 

( Paramount ) 
Top  Notch  Comedy 

"The  Major  and  the  Minor"  gives  the  varied 
talents  of  Ginger  Rogers  wide  play,  surround- 
ing her  with  an  excellent  cast  of  supporting 
players,  and  the  result  is  diverting  entertain- 
ment. 

The  "Major"  of  the  title  is  an  officer  return- 
ing to  his  post  at  a  military  academy  after  a 
futile  try  for  active  sen-ice.  The  "Minor"  is 
Ginger  Rogers.  Finding  herself  a  few  dollars 
short  of  fare  to  Iowa  from  Xew  York,  where 
the  wolves  have  been  constantly  at  the  door, 
she  adopts  the  expedient  of  being  "12,  next 
week"  for  a  half-fare  ticket.  Accident  and  a 
pursuing  conductor  bring  her  to  the  compart- 
ment of  Ray  Milland,  the  Major,  where  his 
fiancee  finds  her  in  the  morning.  "Little  Susu" 
is  obliged  to  present  herself  at  the  academy  to 
demonstrate  the  obvious  innocence  of  the  situa- 
tion. There  she  stays  to  spend  the  weekend 
with  the  worldly-wise  cadets  of  15  or  so,  to  fall 
in  love  with  the  Major  and  to  discover  the  un- 
pleasant character  of  his  fiancee. 

This  is  not  unsophisticated  comedy,  but  the 
situations  which  it  develops  should  have  wide 
appeal,  and  the  careful  presentation  keeps  well 
within  the  bounds  of  good  taste. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Susan   Applegate  Ginger  Rogers 

Phillip   Kirby  Ray  Milland 

Pamela  Hill  Rita  Johnson 

Mr.  Osborne  Robert  Benchley 

Diana  Lynn.  Edward  Fielding.  Gretl  Sherk.  Ray- 
mond Roe,  Frantic  Thomas,  Jr.,  Charlie  Smith. 

Complete  review  published  August  29,  1942 

Tales  of  Manhattan 

(20th  Century  -  Foxj 
Ten  Stars  in  Five  Stories 

The  excitement  about  this  multi-starred,  mul- 
ti-storied production  enterprise  is  none  too 
much,  showmen,  for  the  picture  not  only  is  a 
stacking-up  of  personalities  and  plots  but  also 
is  a  piling-up  of  entertainment,  layer  upon  lay- 
er, prepared,  performed  and  presented  with 
expertness,  polish  and  precision.  There  is 
something  in  it  for  everybody  and  the  whole  of 
it  is  for  most. 

The  five  tales  told  are  connected  only  by 
their  common  relevancy  to  a  dress  coat  and 
to  Manhattan.  Charles  Boyer.  Rita  Hayworth 
and  Thomas  Mitchell  are  principals  in  the  first 
a  version  of  a  triangle  in  which  the  husband 
shoots  his  wife's  sweetheart,  who  is  an  actor 
and  pretends  the  bullet  missed  him. 

Eddie  (Rochester)  Anderson,  Ethel  Waters 
and  Paul  Robeson  are  the  principals  in  the 
fifth  tale,  the  only  one  outside  Manhattan, 
wherein  stolen  money  dropping  from  the  skies 
upon  a  Xegro  settlement  is  accepted  as  manna 
from  heaven  and  handled  as  such  by  the  com- 
munity. 

The  supporting  cast  is  of  the  best  through- 
out containing  names  which  are  box  office  in 
their  own  right,  and  the  production  of  each  of 
the  tales  is  upon  the  top  budget  plane  in  every 
particular. 

Reliefer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Orman   Charles  Boyer 

Ethel   Rita  Hayworth 

Diane   Ginger  Rogers 

George   Henry  Fonda 

Charles    Smith  Charles  Laughton 

Browne  Edward  G.  Robinson 

Paul  Robeson.  Ethel  Waters.  Eddie  (Rochester)  An- 
derson.   Thomas    Mitchell.    Eugene    Pallette.  Cesar 
Romero.  Gail  Patrick,  Roland  Young.  Marion  Martin. 
Elsa  Lanchester.  Victor  Francen.  George  Sanders. 
Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 


Isle  of  Missing  Men 

''Monogram  j 

Penal  Island  Melodrama 

Craftsmanship  in  production,  writing  and  di- 
rection of  this  melodrama  lift  it  above  the  norm 
of  its  budgetary  bracket.  The  craftsmanship 
is  that  of  Richard  Oswald,  whose  first  made-in- 
America  picture  it  is.  his  years  of  experience 
on  the  Continent  counting  for  much  in  keeping 
the  story  away  from  routine  and  the  plot  in- 
folding without  kink  or  letup. 

John  Howard  plays  the  governor  of  a  penal 
island,  Alan  Mowbray,  the  alcoholic  doctor  sta- 
tioneid  in  the  island,  Gilbert  Rowland  a  pris"- 
er  bent  upon  escaping  and  Helen  Gilbert  a  girl 
who,  believing  herself  married  to  him,  arrives 
to  aid  and  abet  The  steps  by  which  she  learns 
that  her  supposed  husband  is  a  bigamist  and 
that  she  has  learned  to  love  the  governor  in- 
volve surprises,  riots,  fights  and  finally  the 
killing  of  the  convict,  none  of  those  occurring 
in  the  stereotyped  manner. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. 

Hammond   John  Howard 

Diana  Bryce  Helen  Gilbert 

Dan  Curtis  Gilbert  Rowland 

Dr.   Brown  Alan  Mowbray 

Brandley  Page.  George  Chandler,  Geraldine  Gray. 
Egon  Brecher.  Kitty  O  XeiU,  Dewey  Robinson. 

Complete  reiieu-  published  August  15,  1942 


A-Haunting  We  Will  Co 

(20th  Century-Fox) 
Laurel  and  Hardy 

When  a  showman  has  announced  to  his  cus- 
tomers that  this  brings  Stanley  Laurel  and 
Oliver  Hardy  around  again  he  will  have  done 
about  all  there  is  to  do. 

The  picture  places  the  comedians  in  distress 
as  stooges  in  the  vaudeville  act  of  Dante,  the 
magician,  played  by  himself,  after  they  have 
hired  out  to  accompany  the  cadaver  on  a  train 
to  the  scene  of  burial  without  knowing  that  the 
supposed  corpse  is  a  live  gangster.  The  melo- 
dramatic side,  in  common  with  the  comedy 
phases  of  the  story,  is  simplified  to  a  dergee 
defeating  interest,  and  the  whole  affair  is 
thwarted,  save  perhaps  for  the  very  young  and 
the  comedians'  most  loyal  fans,  by  resort  to 
camera  tricks  and  double  exposures  in  pursuit 
of  laughs. 

Laurel  and  Hardy  Themselves 

Dante,    Magician   Himseli 

Sheila  Ryan,  John  Shelton.  Don  Costello.  Elish-> 
Cook,  Jr.,  Edward  Gargan,  Addison  Richards. 

Complete  revieir  published  July  11,  1942 


Hi,  Neighbor 

I Republic) 

Summer  Musical  Fare 

Republic  has  borrowed  from  radio  more  than 
the  talent  of  this  light-hearted  musical.  It  has 
taken  over  also  the  technique  of  a  little  drama 
followed  by  a  song,  and  then  a  little  more 
story.  The  result  should  please  admirers  of  the 
varied  personalities,  each  of  whom  is  given  a 
fair  opportunity  to  display  his  wares,  and  is 
very  likely  the  best  that  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  the  story  as  well. 

The  plot  centers  about  the  efforts  of  Pappy 
Cheshire  to  keep  the  Greenfield  Agrciultura; 
College,  thriving  in  spite  of  the  rigid  standards 
of  its  founder.  The  latter  is  outraged  by  the 
activities  of  "Hi,  Neighbor  Lodge" — the  Col- 
lege takes  in  summer  guests  to  maintain  itself 
and  its  students — in  the  field  of  matrimony. 

Jean  Parker  and  John  Archer  provide  the 
more  decorous  love  interest  while  the  rest  of 
the  cast  sings  and  dances  with  abandon,  if  not 
always  with  provocation. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. 

Dorothy  Greenfield  Jean  Parker 

Hattie  Greenfield  Janet  Beecher 

Dr.  R.  Hall  John  Archer 

Prof.  Edgar  Boggs  Pappy  Cheshire 

Lulubelle  and  Scotty.  Vera  Vague.  Roy  Acutf.  Don 
Wilson.  Marilyn  Hare,  Bill  Shirley. 

Complete  reiiew  published  July  24,  1942 


Product  Digest  Section  927 


MOTION    Pl.CTU  R  E  HERALD 


September    26,  1942 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 


Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product. 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail- 
able. Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change. 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers' 
Round  Table  Exploitation. 


All  page  numbers  on  this  chart  refer  to  pages  in  the 
PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 
on  pages  924-925. 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 
by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  913. 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

•  ABOUT  Face  UA-Roach 
Across  the  Pacific  WB 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The  MGM 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force  WB 

•  Alias  Boston  Blackie  Col. 
A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  20th-Fox 

•  Almost  Married  Univ. 
American  Empire  Para. 
Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  MGM 
Apache  Trail  MGM 
Arabian  Nights  Univ. 

'Are  Husbands  Necessary?  Para. 

Arizona  Stagecoach  Mono. 

Army  Surgeon  RKO 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  WB 

•Atlantic  Convoy  Col. 

BABY  Face  Morgan  PRC 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills  Col. 

•  Bambi  (color)  RKO 
Bandit  Ranger  RKO 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The  RKO 

•  Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

(formerly  Kukan) 

Battle  for  Siberia  Artkino 

•Beachcomber,  The  Para. 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano  Rep. 
Berlin  Correspondent  20th-Fox 
Between  Us  Girls  Univ. 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses,  Caroline) 

•  Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)  Para. 
•Big  Shot,  The  WB 

Big  Street,  The  RKO 

•  Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC 

•  Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns  PRC 
Black  Swan,  The  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  Blondie's  Blessed  Event  Col. 

•  Blondie  for  Victory  Col. 
Bombardier  RKO 

•Bombs  Over  Burma  PRC 

•  Boothill  Bandits  Mono. 

•  Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa  Univ. 
Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood  Col. 

•Bride  of  Buddha  Hoffberg 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•Broadway  Univ. 

Busses  Roar  WB 

CAIRO  MGM 

Calaboose  UA 

Call  of  the  Canyon  Rep. 

•  Calling  Dr.  Gillespie  MGM 
Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  20th-Fox 
Cargo  of  Innocents  MGM 
Casablanca  WB 
China  Girl  20th-Fox 
City  of  Silent  Men  PRC 

•Come  On,  Danger  RKO 

•Corpse  Vanishes,  The  Mono. 

Counter  Espionage  Col. 

Cover  Girl,  The  Col. 

•Crossroads  MGM 

•  Cyclone  Kid,  The  Rep. 

•DANGER  in  the  Pacific  Univ. 

Daring  Young  Man,  The  Col. 


Prod. 
Number 

202 
245 


3029 
302 
6024 


413 


3045 

317 
3207 


221 

4139 
311 


4130 
135 

261 
260 

3018 
3019 

208 


6009 
203 


131 
247 
312 


308 
285 


244 
177 

6056 


Stars 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer 
Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor 
Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young 
Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara 
Laurel  and  Hardy 
Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee 
Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo 
Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone 
Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed 
Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall 
Ray  Milland-Betty  Field 
The  Range  Busters 
James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt 
Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane 
John  Beal-Virginia  Field 

Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon 

Tim  Holt 

Lum  and  Abner 

Chinese  Feature 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin 
Charles  Laughton 
Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 
Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore 
Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Service 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

Apr.  17/42 

43  m 

Apr.  I8,'42 

612 

Sept.  5,'42 

98m 

Aug.22,'42 

927 

726 

Aug.  '42 

66m 

May  23.'42 

673 

613 

756 

Not  Set 
Apr.  2,'42 
Aug.  7.'42 
May  22,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Oct.  I6,'42 
Block  7 
Sept.  4,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
July  2,'42 

Sept.  I5,'42 
Aug.  I3,"42 
Aug.  2 1, "42 
Sept.  25,'42 
Apr.  24/42 
Not  Set 

Aug.  26/42 
Reissue 
Sept.  15/42 
Sept.  11/42 
Sept.  4/42 


Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 
Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 
Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 
Buster  Crabbe-AI  St.  John 
Buster  Crabbe-AI  St.  John 
Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne 
Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 
Corrigan-King-Terhune 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 
R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 


Block  6 
June  13/42 
Sept.  4/42 
Aug.  28/42 
May  29/42 
Nov.  27/42 
Apr.  9/42 
Aug.  6/42 
Shirley  Not  Set 
June  5/42 
Apr.  24/42 
Aug.  21/42 
Not  Set 
Apr.  22/42 


George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien  May  8/42 

Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop  Sept.  19/42 

Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Aug.  5/42 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn  Aug.,  '42 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison  Sept.  18/42 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor  Not  Set 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney  Not  Set 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang  Oct.  26/42 

Tim  Holt  June  5/42 

Bela  Lugosi  May  8/42 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Sept.  3/42 

Jinx  Falkenburg  Not  Set 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr  July,  '42 

Don  "Red"  Barry  May  3 1/42 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo  July  10/42 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman  Oct.  8/42 


67m   

67m  July  11/42  927 

65m  Mar.  7/42  554 

66m  June  27/42  737 

79m  June  i3/42  714 

66m  July  11/42  765 

65m  July  25/42  903 

70m  May  30/42  685 

77m  Mar.  21/42  563 

61m  July  5/41  840 

90m  Sept.  5/42  889 

89m  Nov.  26/38  911 

73m  Sept.  19/42  909 

70m  Aug.  15/42  927 

89m  Aug.  29/42  890 

76m  May  9/42  646 

80m  June  6/42  714 

87m  Aug.  8/42  902 

58m   

58m  Aug.22,'42  854 

69m  July  4/42  750 

70m   

65m  July  1 8/42  781 

58m   

58m  Sept.  19/42  911 

75m  May  i  3/33  634 

91m  May  9/42  645 

61m  Aug.22,'42  903 

101m  Aug.  15/42  915 

7im  Aug.22,'42  853 

84m  June  20/42  725 

69m  Aug.  15/42  915 

64m  Sept.  12/42  898 

63m  Apr.  18/42  611 

84m  June  27/42  737 

56m  Aug.  15/42  840 

56m  Aug.  8/42  827 


575 


871 
796 
726 
872 
663 

70 

75 


487 


797 
772 

527 
648 
701 

648 
855 
575 
772 
912 
648 
613 

794 


800 
715 

871 

872 

871 

663 
701 

87  i 


873 


795 


795 
756 


756 


873 


873 


928     Product  Digest  Section 


September    26,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Title  Company 
Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Sen'l 
Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas  Univ. 
Desert  Song,  The  WB 
Desperados,  The  Col. 
•  Desperate Chance  for  Ellery  Queen  Col. 


Desperate  Journey 
Destination  Unknown 
Devil  with  Hitler,  The 

•  Devil's  Trail,  The 

•  Dr.  Broadway 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way 

•  Down  Texas  Way 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo 


WB 

Univ. 
UA-Roach 
Col. 
Para. 
Col. 
Mono. 
Univ. 

•  EAGLE  Squadron  Univ. 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen  Col. 

•  Escape  from  Crime  WB 

•  Escape  from  Hong  Kong  Univ. 
Eyes  in  the  Night  MGM 

•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•  Fantasia  (color)  (Revised)  RKO 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 
(British) 

•  Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 
Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 

•  Flying  Tigers  Rep. 
Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 
Foreign  Agent  Mono. 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 
Forest  Rangers,  The  Para. 
For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 
For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Para. 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French)  English 


•  Friendly  Enemies 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals 


UA 
PRC 


•  GAY  Sisters,  The 
•General  Died  at  Dawn,  Th 

Gentleman  Jim 

George  Washington  Slept 

Get  Hep  to  Love 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The 
Girl  Trouble 

•  Give  Out,  Sisters 
Glass  Key,  The 

'Gold  Rush,  The 

Goose  Steps  Out,  The 
(British) 
•Grand  Central  Murder 

Great  Impersonation,  The 
•Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Great  Without  Glory 
•Guerrilla  Brigade 

HALF  Way  to  Shanghai 
Happy  Go  Lucky 
Hard  Way,  The 

•  Hello  Annapolis 
Henry  Aldrich,  Editor 

'Henry  and  Dizzy 
•Her  Cardboard  Lover 

Here  We  Go  Again 

Hidden  Hand,  The 

Highways  by  Night 
•Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg 

Hi!  Neighbor 
•Holiday  Inn 
•Home  in  Wyomin' 
•House  of  Errors 

ICE-Capades  Revue 

Iceland 
'•I  Live  on  Danger 
•I  Married  an  Angel 

I  Married  a  Witch 
•In  Old  California 
•Inside  the  Law 
'•In  This  Our  Life 

•  Invaders,  The  (British) 
Invisible  Agent 


Here 


WB 
Para. 
WB 
WB 
Univ. 
Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Univ. 
Para. 
UA 

Ealing-UA 

MGM 
Univ. 
Para. 
Para. 
Artkino 

Univ. 
Para. 

WB 

Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
MGM 
RKO 
WB 
RKO 
Mono. 

Rep. 
Para. 

Rep. 

PRC 

Rep. 
20th-Fox 

Para. 
MGM 

Para. 
Rep. 
PRC 
WB 
Col. 

Univ. 


Prod. 
Number 


3032 
204 


3214 
4128 
3205 

6040 


3038 
137 
6054 


227 


292 
6065 


232 
3012 
301 


255 

138 
4140 


1 17 
309 


237 
4\2\ 


3037 

4125 
241 


201 
4134 
146 
216 


306 
4135 
238 

ibi 

218 
132 
3101 
6049 


Release 

Stars  Date 

Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr  Not  Set 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Sept.  25,'42 

Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning  Not  Set 

Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford  Not  Set 

William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay  May  7,'42 

Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan  Sept.  26, '42 

Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan  Oct.  9,'42 

Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth  Not  Set 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  May  I4,'42 

Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips  Block  6 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Apr.  23, '42 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy  May  22, "42 

Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson  July  1 7, '42 

Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore  Not  Set 

Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan  July  30,'42 

Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis  July  25, '42 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine  May  1 5, '42 

Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding  Sept. -Oct., '42 

George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari  May  29, '42 

George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph  Not  Set 

William  Tracy-Jean  Porter  Not  Set 

Disney-Stokowski  Apr.  I0,'42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Apr.  1 7, '42 

War  Documentary  Not  Set 

Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day  Apr.  "42 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven  Not  Set 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford  July  9,'42 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee  Oct.  8, '42 

John  Payne-Betty  Grable  Aug.    I, '42 

John  Shelton-Gail  Storm  Oct.  9,'42 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder  Not  Set 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard  Block  2 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco  Apr.  1 1 .'42 

Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles  June  26,'42 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis  Sept.  Il,'42 

Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent  Aug.   I, '42 

Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll  Reissue 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith  Not  Set 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan  Not  Set 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige  Oct.  2/42 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker  Apr.  16/42 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett  Oct.  9/42 

Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies  Sept.  11/42 
Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan  Ladd       Block  I 

Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music  Apr.  17/42 

Will  Hay  Not  Set 


Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 
Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 
Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea 
Joel  McCrea-Betty  Field 
Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat 

Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan 

Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor 

Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie' 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan 

Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker 

Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire 

G.  Autry-S.  Burnette 

Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague 
Sonja  Henie-John  Payne 
Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker 
Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonald 
Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake 
John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes 
Wallace  Ford 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland 

Howard-Massey-Olivier 

Nona  Massey-Jon  Hall 


May,  '42 
Not  Set 
Block  5 
Not  Set 

Apr.  13/42 

Sept.  18/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  23/42 
Block  2 
Block  5 
June  '42 
Oct.  9/42 
Not  Set 
Oct.  2/42 
Aug.  14/42 
July  27/42 
Block  7 
Apr.  20/42 
Apr.  10/42 


Running 
Time 
98m 
62m 


70m 
109m 


61m 
67m 
57m 
57m 
61m 

109m 
64m 
60m 
60m 
79m 

63  m 


81m 
57m 

37m 
80m 
I  18m 

78m 
68m 
102m 
80m 
64m 

90m 

104m 

86m 
95m 
60  m 


r-  REVIEWED 

M.  P.       Product  Advance  Service 

Herald       Digest  Synopsit  Data 

Issue  Page  Page  t*t* 

May  23/42  673   

Sept.  12/42  898   

  872 

  871 

Sept.  5/42  890   

Aug.  22/42        915  ...  873 
  912 

.........  7\5 

May  9/42       646  527  873 

Aug.   1/42  809   

June  6/42       698  648 

July  25/42  794   


June  20/42 
Aug.  29/42 
June  6/42 
May  16/42 
Sept.  12/42 


725 
870 
698 
662 
898 


May  9/42  646 


635 

687 

797 

635 
871 
796 


Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

June  27/42 

751 

June  27/42 

914 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

July  1  1/42 

915 

715 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

May  2/42 

634 

872 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

855 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

873 


590 


873 


756 


108m 

June  6/42 

697 

663 

873 

93  m 

Sept.  12/36 

91 1 

93  m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

87 1 

75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

82m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

855 

65m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

914 

72m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

795 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

72m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

756 

912 

90m' 

Mar.  2 1/42 

561 

396 

795 

912 

73  m 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

62  m 

• 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

797 

97m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

62m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

663 

7im 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

443 

90m 

May  30/42 

686 

648 

795 

76m 

Aug.  29/42 

869 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

715 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

794 

72  m 

July  25/42 

927 

772 

101m 

June  13/42 

713 

663 

67m 

May  2/42 

633 

65m 

539 

Not  Set 

797 

Oct.  2/42 

79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

Block  7 

73m 

June  13/42 

713 

June  '42 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 

873 

Not  Set 

797 

May  31/42 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

May  8/42 

97m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

613 

May  16/42 

97m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

795 

Apr.  15/42 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

July  3 1  ,'42 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

Product  Digest  Section  929 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


September    2  6,  1942 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

Isle  of  Missing  Men  Mono. 

•  It  Happened  in  Flatbush  20th-Fox 

•  I  Was  Framed  WB 

•  JACKASS  Mail  MGM 

•  Joan  of  Ozark  Rep. 
Journey  for  Margaret  MGM 
Journey  Into  Fear  RKO 

•  Juice  Girl  WB 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color)  UA 

•  Jungle  Siren  PRC 
Just  Off  Broadway  20th-Fox 

•  KID  Glove  Killer  MGM 

•  King  of  the  Stallions  Mono. 

•  Kings  Row  WB 

•  LADY  Gangster  WB 
.•Lady  in  a  Jam  Univ. 

•  Land  of  the  Open  Range  RKO 

•  Larceny,  Inc.  WB 
Let  the  People  Sing  (British)  Anglo 

•  Let's  Get  Tough  Mono. 
Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A.  20th-Fox 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Border  Roundup  PRC 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice  PRC 
Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The  20th-Fox 
Lucky  Legs  Col. 

•  Lure  of  the  Islands  Mono. 

•  MAD  Martindales,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Mad  Monster,  The  PRC 
Magnificent  Ambersons,  The  RKO 

•  Magnificent  Dope,  The  20th-Fox 
•Maisie  Gets  Her  Man  MGM 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The  Para. 

•  Male  Animal,  The  WB 
Man  in  the  Trunk,  The  20th-Fox 
Manila  Calling  20th-Fox 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The  20th-Fox 
Man's  World,  A  Col. 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St.  RKO 

•  Meet  the  Mob  Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts  Col. 

•  Men  of  San  Quentin  PRC 

•  Men  of  Texas  Univ. 
Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant  RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

•  Miss  Annie  Rooney  UA 
•Mississippi  Gambler  Univ. 

•  Mokey  MGM 

•  Moonlight  Masquerade  Rep. 

•  Moon  Tide  20th-Fox 
Moon  and  Sixpence,  The  UA 
Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Artkino 
Mr.  &  Mrs.  Brooklyn  UA-Roach 

•  Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 
Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House  WB 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 

•  My  Favorite  Spy  RKO 
My  Friend  Flicka  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 

•Mystery  of  Marie  Roget  Univ. 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The  RKO 

•  Native  Land  Frontier 
Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 
Night  for  Crime,  A  PRC 

•Night  in  New  Orleans  Para. 

•  North  of  the  Rockie  Col. 
•Not  a  Ladies  Man  Col. 

No  Time  for  Love  Para. 

Now,  Voyager  WB 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track  Univ. 

Old  Homestead,  The  Rep. 

Omaha  Trail  MGM 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  RKO 
One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British)  UA 

One  Thrilling  Night  Mono. 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 

Orchestra  Wives  20th-Fox 

•  Orders  from  Tokyo  Almo 


Prod. 
Number 

248 
130 

243 
104 


133 

203 
310 

230 
120 

134 
6008 
284 
131 


303 
266 
265 
305 


245 
209 

249 
240 

126 
315 
314 
243 

224 


3014 
201 
6010 

230 

6034 
231 
120 
247 


260 

125 
4123 
228 

244 
6022 


4127 
3213 
3042 


202 


Stars 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland 
Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 
Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main 
Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown 
Robert  Young-Laraine  Day 
Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio 
Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan 
Sabu 

Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe 
Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt 
Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien 
Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop 
Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles 
Tim  Holt  * 
Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman 
Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney 
East  Side  Kids 
Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce 
George  Houston-Al  St.  John 
George  Houston-Al  St.  John 
John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell 
Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris 
Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray 
Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel 
Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello 
Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari 
Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 
Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland 
Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland 
Lynne  Roberts-George  Holmes 
Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 
Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 
M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright 
George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley 
Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor 

William  Holden-Frances  Dee 
J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston 
Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne 
Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 
Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 
Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan 
Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford 
Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed 
Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr. 
Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains 
George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall 
Documentary 

Arline  Judge-Max  Baer-William  Bendix 
Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon 
Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee 
Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox 
Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson 
Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll 
Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew 
Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster 
Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature 
Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll 
Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne 
Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez 


Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott 
Documentary  on  Labor 
Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam 
Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot 
Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison 
Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 
Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray 
Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray 
Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce 
Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry 
James  Craig-Dean  Jagger 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman 
John  Beal-Wanda  McKay 


Release 
Date 
Sept.  18/42 
June  5, '42 
Apr.  25.'42 

July  '42 
Aug.  I,'42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
May  30,'42 
Apr.  3.'42 
Aug.  2 1, '42 
Sept.  25,'42 

Apr.  '42 
Sept.  1 1,'42 
Apr.  I8,'42 

June  6,'42 
June  I9,'42 
Apr.  I7.'42 
May  2,'42 
Not  Set 
May  29,'42 
Aug.  I4,'42 
Sept.  I8.'42 
June  21, '42 
Aug.28,'42 
Oct.  I  ,'42 
July  3,'42 

May  15/42 
May  I5,'42 
July  10/42 
June  12/42 
June  '42 
Block  I 
Apr.  4/42 
Oct.  23/42 
Oct.  16/42 
May  1/42 
Sept.  17/42 
May  15/42 
Apr.  17/42 

May  28/42 
May  22/42 
July  3/42 
Sept.  1 1  ,'42 
June  26/42 
May  29/42 
Apr.  17/42 
Apr..  .'42 
June  10/42 
May  29/42 
Not  Set 
Aug.  15/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Block  2 
Not  Set 
Apr.  1 1/42 
Block  5 
June  12/42 
Not  Set 
May  8/42 
Not  Set 
Sept.  24/42 
Apr.  3/42 

Not  Set 
May  11/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Block  6 
Apr.  2/42 
May  14/42 
Not  Set 
Oct.  31/42 

Not  Set 
Aug.  17/42 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Not  Set 

Not  Set 
June  5/42 


308 


George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford  Sept.  4/42 
Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set 


Running 
Time 
67m 
80m 
61m 

80m 
80m 

69m 
90m 
1 15m 
68m 
65  m 

74m 
63m 
130m 

62m 
83m 
60m 
95m 
1 00m 
62m 
64m 

60m 
67m 

61m 

65m 
79m 
88m 
84m 
86m 
1 00m 
101m 
71m 
81m 
65m 

86m 
62  m 

73m 
78m 
82m 
64  m 
69m 
85m 
60m 
88m 
67m 
94m 
89m 
55m 

133m 


59m 
78m 
86m 

103m 

96m 
61m 


80m 
1 00m 
78m 
75m 
60m 
60m 

I  19m 

67m 
61m 


I  10m 
69m 

97m 
80m 


M.  P. 
Herald 
Issue 
Aug.  15/42 
May  30/42 
Apr.  11/42 

June  20/42 
July  25/42 

Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  11/42 
Mar.  28/42 

Aug.  15/42 

Mar.  14/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Dec.  27/41 

Apr.  11/42 
July  4/42 
Dec.  13/41 
Mar.  7/42 
Apr.  11/42 
May  16/42 
July  11/42 


July  11/42 


Apr.  18/42 
June  6/42 
July  4/42 
May  30/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Mar.  7/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Apr.  18/42 

Mar.  21/42 
Apr.  25/42 

May  23/42 
Apr.  18/42 
July  11/42 
Aug.  8/42 
May  9/42 
May  30/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Mar.  28/42 
June  27/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Sept.  12/42 
Aug.  15/42 

May  i  6/42 


Apr.  11/42 
Mar.  2 1  ,'42 
May  9/42 

Apr.  18/42 

Sept.'  19/42 
Apr.  11/42 


May  16/42 
June  6/42 
Aug.  1/42 

May  9/42 

Sept.  i 9/42 
Aug!  22/42 

Aug.  29/42 
Sept.  19/42 


Apr.  1 1/42 
July  4/42 

Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  1/42 


Product 
Digest 
Page 
927 
686 
599 


Advance 
Synopsis 

Page 

772 

674 

574 


Service 
Data 
Pag' 


726 

715 

795 

793 

912 

903 

796 

597 

464 

873 

573 

396 

873 

902 

797 

551 

495 

873 

870 

800 

429 

320 

705 

599 

574 

749 

613 

795 

407 

387 

538 

795 

599 

662 

648 

766 

9H 

75  i 

797 

800 

622 

699 

613 

749 

507 

756 

686 

677 

873 

687 

648 

756 

927 

537 

464 

795 

91 1 

855 

91 1 

871 

610 

563 

487 

622 

574 

674 

705 

610 

766 

773 

915 

646 

635 

873 

686 

677 

873 

61 1 

574 

738 

701 

609 

795 

912 

661 

527 

795 

663 

598 

575 

561 

542 

756 

646 

635 

873 

609 

795 

871 

909 

772 

597 

507 

715 

662 

698 

903 

647 

635 

575 

9i6 

855 

902 

794 

870 

855 

923 

796 

855 

903 

914 

662 

927 
810 


797 


930     Product  Digest  Section 


September    2  6,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Titlt  Company 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood  Col. 
Ox-Bow  Incident,  The  20th-Fox 
Ox  Train  MGM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous  MGM 
Palm  Beach  Story,  The  Para. 
Panama  Hattie  MGM 

•  Panther's  Claw,  The  PRC 

•  Parachute  Nurse  Col. 

•  Pardon  My  Sarong  Univ. 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French)  Better  Films 

•  Phantom  Killer  Mono. 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen  Rep. 
Pied  Piper,  Th«  20th-Fox 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains  MGM 

•  Police  Bullets  Mono. 

•  Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The  20th-Fox 

•  Powder  Town  RKO 
Prairie  Chickens  UA-Roach 

•  Prairie  Gunsmoke  Col. 
Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The  RKO 
Priorities  on  Parade  Para. 

•  Prison  Girls  PRC 

(formerly  Gallant  Lady) 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan  PRC 

•  Private  Buckaroo  Univ. 

RANDOM  Harvest  MGM 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color)  Para. 

•  Red  Tanks  Arkino 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor  Rep. 
Reunion  MGM 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland  Col. 

•  Riders  of  the  West  Mono. 

•  Rio  Rita  MGM 
Road  to  Morocco  Para. 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide  PRC 

•  Romance  on  the  Range  Rep. 

•  Rubber  Racketeers  Mono. 


•SABOTAGE  Squad  Col. 

•  Saboteur  Univ. 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt.-Anglo-Am. 

•  Scattergood  Rides  High  RKO 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

•  Secret  Agent  of  Japan 
Secret  Enemies 
Secret  Mission  (British) 
Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed 
Seven  Days  Leave 
Seven  Sweethearts 
Shadows  on  the  Sage 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back 

•  She's  in  the  Army 
•Ship  Ahoy 

•Ships  With  Wings  (British) 
•Silver  Bullet 

Silver  Queen 

Sin  Town 

•  Smart  Alecks 
Smith  of  Minnesota 
Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish) 
Sombrero  Kid,  The 
Somewhere  I'll  Find  You 

•Song  of  the  Lagoon 
•Sons  of  the  Pioneers 
•SOS  Coast  Guard 
•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma 

Spirit  of  Stanford,  The 
•Spoilers,  The 

Spring  Song  (Russian) 

Springtime  in  the  Rockies  (color) 

20th-Fox 

•Spy  Ship  WB 

Stand  By,  All  Networks  Col. 

Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Para. 
•Stardust  on  the  Sage  Para. 
•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx  Univ. 
•Strangler.  The  PRC 

Street  of  Chance  Para. 

Strictly  in  the  Groove  Univ. 

Submarine  Alert  Para. 
•Submarine  Raider  Col. 
•Suicide  Squadron  (British)  Rep. 
•Sunday  Punch  MGM 
•Sunset  Serenade  Rep. 


20th-Fox 
WB 

Hellman-Gen'l 
PRC 
RKO 
MGM 
Rep. 


Univ. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
MGM 
UA 
Univ. 
Para. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Scandia 
Rep. 
MGM 
UA-Roach 
Rep. 
Rep. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Univ. 
Artkino 


Prod. 
Number 
3208 


239 


217 
3044 


167 
304 
246 

252 
226 

3215 


219 

204 
6011 

4137 
134 

3206 

233 

253 
156 

3046 
6047 

223 

240 

309 

26 


235 
6066 


27 


157 
123 


6048 


317 
139 


6036 
229 


3043 
119 
234 


Release 

Stars  Date 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Sept.  25, '42 

Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set 

Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers  June  '42 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea  Not  Set 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr  Apr.  1 7, '42 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman  June  1 8, '42 

Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce  Aug.  7, '42 

John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance  Apr.  4,'42 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury  Oct.  2, '42 

Three  Mesquiteers  June  1 6, '42 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall  Aug.  2 1, '42 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey  Aug.  '42 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh  Sept.  25, '42 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyc«  July  3, '42 

Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien  June  19, '42 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  July  I6,'42 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright  Not  Set 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna  Block  I 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackman  May  29, '42 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael  July  22, '42 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran  June  1 2, '42 


Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur 

Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry 

Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Abbott  and  Costello 

Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes 

Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez 

Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris 
Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane 
Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway 
Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore 
Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes 
Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bari 
Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson 
Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 
Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer 
Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature 
Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson 
Three  Mesquiteers 


Not  Set 
Special 
June  5, '42 
May  1 1, '42 

Wayne  Not  Set 
June  18/42 
Aug.  2 1, '42 
Apr.  '42 

Lamour  Block  2 
Apr.  24/42 
May  18/42 
June  26/42 

Aug.  27/42 
Apr.  24/42 

Not  Set 
May  8/42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  3/42 
Oct.  17/42 

Not  Set 
Nov.  9/42 

Not  Set 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Aug.  24/42 


Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Oct.  15/42 

Edvard  Persson  Sept.  12/42 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  31/42 
Clark  Gable-Lane  Turner  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot  May  22/42 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 

Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman  Sept.  10/42 

Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  1 1/42 


Betty  Grable-John  Payne 
Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning 
John  Beal-Florence  Rice 
Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor 
Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette 
Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne 
Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw 
Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor 
Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey 
Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie 
John  Howard-M.  Chapman 
Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray 
William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers 
Roy  Rogers 


Running 
Time 


76m 

79m 
70m 
63m 
84m 
92m 
61m 
65m 
87m 
66m 

69m 
79m 


r—  REVIEWED  s 
M.  P.  Product 
Herald  Digest 


Issue 


61m 
69m 
62m 

87m 
74m 


May  23/42 

July  25/42 
Mar.  21/42 
Aug.  1/42 
Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  I  1/42 
Aug.  22/42 

July  I  I  ,'42 
June  20/42 

May  30/42 
May  9/42 


Page 


673 

915 
563 
810 
825 
599 
854 

903 
725 

687 
647 


Aug.  1/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Apr.  25/42 

Apr.  18.42 
Sept.  19/42 


810 
61 1 
622 

609 
910 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 

872 
796 


648 
663 
396 

70  i 


751 
715 
800 


Service 
Data 
Page 


120m 

July  18/42 

915 

873 

/Yin 

A..-        1  MO 

Aug.    i ,  *rz 

7  1  *T 

63m 

Sept.  26/42 

923 

648 

64m 

July  4/42 

750 

715 

68m 

June  6/42 

699 

796 

124m 

Mar.  21/42 

574 

408 

795 

64m 

June  13/42 

713 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

872 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

60m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

872 

60  m 

635 

63  m 

June  6/42 

697 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

756 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

66m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

542 

912 

72m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

914 

94m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

872 

98m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

855 

63m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

795 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

61m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

726 

898 

66m 

June  27/42 

738 

797 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

56m 

796 

107m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

726 

873 

574 
796 


Nov.  6/42 

91m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

855 

Aug.  15/42 

62  m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

Not  Set 

797 

Moore    Not  Set 

855 

May  25/42 
Apr.  17/42 

65m 

May  30/42 
Apr.  4/42 

687 

66  m 

586 

705 

Apr.  3/42 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

Block  2 

871 

Not  Set 

60m 

July  4/42 

9i4 

Not  Set 

772 

June  4/42 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

Apr.  20/42 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

May/42 

75  m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

Sept.  14/42 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

373 


Product  Digest  Section 


931 


Title  Company 

•  Sweater  Girl  Para. 

•  Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet  Col. 

•  Syncopation  RKO 

•TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling  Para. 

Take  My  Life  Toddy 

Tales  of  Manhattan  20th-Fox 
Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

•  Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 
•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MSM 

Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 

Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 
•Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 

Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 

•  Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 

•  There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 

•  They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 
They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 

(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 

They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 

•  They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 

•  This  Above  All  20th-Fox 

•  This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 
This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 
Those  Kids  from  Toiwn  (British)  Anglo 

•  Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 

•  Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 

•Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•  Timber  Univ. 
Tish  MGM 

•  Tombstone  Para. 
Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•Top  Sergeant  Univ. 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 

•  Tower  of  Terror  Mono. 
•True  to  the  Army  Para. 

•  Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 
•Tuttles  of  Tahiti  RKO 

•  Twin  Beds  UA 

UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

•Undercover  Man  Para. 

•  United  We  Stand  20th-Fox 
Unpublished  Story  (British)  Col. 

•Unseen  Enemy  Univ. 

•  VENGEANCE  of  the  West  Col. 

WAKE  Island  Para. 
War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The  MGM 

Watch  on  the  Rhine  WB 

•Westward,  Ho!  Rep. 

•  Where  Trails  End  Mono. 
•Whispering  Ghosts  20th-Fox 

Whistling  in  Dixie  MGM 

White  Cargo  MGM 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler?  20th-Fox 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The  Col. 
Wildcat  Para. 
Wings  and  the  Woman  RKO 

(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 

•Wings  for  the  Eagle  WB 

World  at  War  WAC 

Wrecking  Crew  Para. 

YANK  at  Eton,  A  MGM 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  WB 

•  Yank  in  Libya.  A  PRC 
Yanks  Are  Coming,  The  PRC 
You  Can't  Escape  Forever  WB 

•  You're  Telling  Me  Univ. 
You  Were  Never  Lovelier  Col. 
Young  and  Willing  Para. 
Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British)  20th-Fox 
Youth  on  Parade  Rep. 

•  Yukon  Patrol  Rep. 


Prod. 
Number 
4129 
3027 
226 

4126 


3001 
242 


251 


6043 
3006 


212 
253 
4124 


250 

286 
6057 

4132 
307 
6055 

236 
241 
6019 

4122 
254 
222 


4140 
254 

6053 

3216 


166 
246 


242 
3011 


136 


220 

6041 

316 
i24 


MOTION    PJCTURE  HERALD 


Stars 

Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser 
Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg 
Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper 

Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 

Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 

Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 

Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

King-Sharpe-Terhune 

Range  Busters 

Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 


Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour  Not  Set 

Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez  June  26,'42 

Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine  July  24,'42 

Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston  Block  5 

Russian  Documentary  Not  Set 

Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill  Not  Set 

Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding  Apr.  1 5, '42 

Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard  June  19/42 

John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney  Nov.  1 3, '42 

Tim  Holt  July24,'42 

Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine  Aug.  14, '42 

Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford  Block  7 

Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez  Sept.  29,'42 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo  June  1 2, '42 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills  Not  Set 

Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr  May, '42 

Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne  Apr.  10, '42 

Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley  June  5, '42 

Wilfred  Lawson-Movita  Apr.    I, '42 

Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller  Block  5 

Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell  July  10/42 

Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall  May   I  ,'42 

George  Brent-Joan  Bennett  Apr.  24,'42 

Eric  Portman-F.  Culley  Not  Set 

William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde  Block  6 

News  Documentary  July  I0,'42 

Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson  Not  Set 

Devine-Carrillo-Terry  Apr.  10, '42 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  Sept.  3,'42 

Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston  Block  I 

Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas  Not  Set 

Steele-Tyler-Davis  Apr.  24,'42 

Tom  Keene  May   I, '42 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle  May  22, '42 

Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford  Not  Set 

Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr.  Apr.  1 7, '42 

Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone  Apr.  30,'42 

Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge  Block  I 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton  Sept.  1 8, '42 

Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan  July  18, '42 

Documentary  Sept.  1 8, '42 

Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris  Not  Set 

Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie  Not  Set 

H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury  July  3 1, '42 

Maxie  Rosenbloom-Mary  Healy  Oct.  12, '42 

George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall  Oct.  10, '42 

Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne  May   I, '42 

Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth  Oct.  22, "42 

William  Holden-Susan  Hayward  Not  Set 

Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat  Oct.  30,'42 

John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll  Oct.  24/42 

Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway  Apr.  30/42 


E  R  A  L  D 

Sept 

ember 

26, 

1  942 

r—  REVIEWED  -> 

M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Service 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

Block  6 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

ivi ay  &  I , 

Aim   1 K  '4? 

O  J  T 

A77 
o/  / 

0/ j 

May  22/42 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

Block  6 

93m 

May  9,  42 

645 

635 

873 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  11/42 

767 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

927 

706 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

Aug.  20/42 

1 18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

701 

June/42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

Not  Set 

Not  Set 

June  26/42 

103m 

May  30/42 

685 

677 

795 

Oct.  16/42 

56m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

June  12/42 

55m 

699 

June  26/42 

60m 

June  11/42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

873 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

103m 
66m 


July  4/42 
May  9/42 


872 


72m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

795 

80m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

527 

705 

74m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

65  m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

796 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

83m 

July  25/42 

793 

772 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

62  i 

613 

873 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

62m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

76m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

705 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

795 

91m 

Apr.  11/42 

598 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

78m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

772 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

797 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

55m 

635 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

871 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

873 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

87m 

Aug.  15,42 

915 

726 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

873 

67m 

772 

77m 

Sept.  26/42 

92  i 

898 

60m 

508 

590 

914 
647 


796 
663 

872 


Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  913. 


932     Product  Digest  Section 


CONFIDENCE 


\^  ITH  the  spotlight  on  production  econ- 
omies, directors  and  cameramen  have 
complete  confidence  in  the  dependabil- 
ity of  Eastman  negative  films  with  their 
special  abilities,  wide  latitude,  and  ex- 
ceptional uniformity.  Eastman  Kodak 
Company.  Rochester.  N.  \. 

J.  E.  BRULATOUR.  INC..  Distributors 
Fort  Lee  Chicago  Hollywood 


PIXS-X  siper-: 

for  general  studio  use  ichen  little  light  is  available 

BACKGROUND -X 

for  backgrounds  and  general  exterior  irork 


EASTMAN  NEGATIVE  FILMS 


Dear  Mr.  Exhibitor: 


The  War  Production  Board  has  ruled  that  it  will  temporarily  permit 
use  of  some  raw  stock  for  the  manufacture  of  Special  Service  trailers. 

Whether  or  not  this  ruling  will  continue  rests  in  great  measure  upon 
you  and  ourselves. 

It  is  our  joint  task  voluntarily  to  reduce  this  use  of  raw  stock  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  present  ruling  will  not  have  to  be  revised. 

We  shall  try  to  do  our  part  as  best  we  can. 

We  can  no  longer  give  assurances  that  all  orders  for  Special  Service 
trailers  will  be  filled. 

We  shall  endeavor  to  fill  those  orders  which  conform  to  the  preferences 
of  the  War  Production  Board. 


Accordingly,  Special  Service  trailers  related  to  the  war  effort  will  be 
given  priority.  This  includes  trailers  referring  to  the  collection  of 
scrap,  rubber  salvage,  blackout  regulations,  aircraft  warnings,  instruc- 
tions on  fighting  fire-bombs,  local  war  hero  days  and  kindred  subjects. 

If  your  request  is  for  a  Special  Service  trailer  advertising  your  own 
shows,  such  as  personal  appearances  of  stars  or  stage  attractions*  we 
will  do  our  best  in  each  instance  to  obtain  the  permission  of  the  War 
Production  Board  to  meet  your  order  because  we  recognize  the  importance  to 
you  of  advertising  your  show  on  your  screen. 


You  must  do  your  part  as  well.  We  know  that  all  of  you  are  only  too 
anxious  to  do  so.  You  can  do  your  part  by  eliminating  all  uses  of 
Special  Service  trailers,  other  than  those  related  to  the  war  effort 
and  advertising  your  own  show.  Please  do  not  request  Special  Service 
trailers  for  any  of  the  other  purposes  for  which  they  have  been  used 
in  the  past. 

All  of  us  must  make  every  possible  sacrifice  to  contribute  to  the  con- 
servation program. 


It  has  been  our  earnest  effort  in  the  years  of  our  service  to  the  in- 
dustry, to  conduct  our  business  in  such  a  manner  as  to  earn  your  good 
will.  We  are  hopeful  that  it  will  not  now  be  forfeited  by  our  inability, 
for  reasons  of  national  policy,  to  furnish  you  with  the  full  service 
which  has  heretofore  prevailed. 

Sincerely, 

yUKfE/  C0RPORAT I  ON 


Herman  Robbins,  President 


1 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(In  Product  Digest) 

Road  to  Morocco 

The  Forest  Rangers 

Street  of  Chance 

Henry  Aldrich,  Editor 

Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the 
Cabbage  Patch 

Get  Hep  to  Love 

The  Falcon's  Brother 

A  Yank  in  Libya 

Sombrero  Kid 

The  Yanks  Are  Coming 

Sin  Town 

Bowery  at  Midnight 
Youth  on  Parade 
Thunder  Rock 

LATE  REVIEW 

(In  Xem  Section) 
Destination  Unknown 


UNITY    TRADE  PRACTICE 
PROGRAM  IS  ABANDONED 

INDUSTRY  NEAR  BOND  COAL 
IN  LAST  HOURS  OF  DRIVE 

15,669  THEATRES  ANSWER 
CALL  TO  COLLECT  SCRAP 

U.  A  LISTS  30  FOR  1943, 
BUYS  22  FROM  PARAMOUNT 

THEATRE  COOLING  SYSTEMS 
WANTED  FOR  WAR  FACTORIES 


VOL.  149.  NO. 


Smiered  *s  seconi-ciajj  txatier,  jaxmt 
liskei  weekly  by  Qaigiey  PubOshimg  C 
Americas,  $10.00  a  year  Fcrcifm.  Si 


OCTOBER  3,  1942 


)  Sirtli  Avenue,  Rxief 


RADE  TALK! 


M-G-M's 


ERRIFIC  TWELVE! 


is 


r ^"PANAMA  \yL 
HATTIE" 
starring 
-  RED  SKELTON  w~ 
ANN  SOTHERN  N 


><  Roberts  /^V 
Rinehort  s 


( 


'T\SH" 

with 

|Aar\or"»e 


S/  "CAIRO' 


V 


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^vvee; 

£  Me 


"APACHE  VS 

TRAIL' 
Bi9  Scale 
Wester 


JUDY 

f GARLAND 
"FOR  WE 


V/- 


AND 

MY  GAL" 


i 

-Sir 


LAA1ARR     VV  ^  ..evES  IN 

WALTER 
PIDGEON 
S  "WHITE 
✓  CARGO 


( 


SIEVES  >N  V\ 
THE 
NIGHT" 
Edward  Arnold 
Ann  Hording 


Metro- 


FOLLOW  THE  LEADER.' 

GOLDMINE  Maye 


— ^ 


GET  IN 

SCF 

wit 
SCF 
MATI 


Says  the  N.Y.  Daily  Mirror: 


Opening  show 


played  to  standees  and  that 


will  probably  hold  through  the 
ran  of  Desperate  Journey ! 


That's  why  we're  telling  you  .  . 


40^ 


A«4 


ERROL  FLYNN 


and 


RONALD  REAGAN 


in 


Jf  From  the  company  you  can  count  on... 

WARNERS! 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  QU1GLEY,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher 


Vol.  149,  No. 


OP 


October  3,  1942 


DEMISE  OF  UMPI 

THE  labours  of  the  United  Motion  Picture  Industry  have 
come  to  an  end,  and  what  it  aimed  to  do  as  a  compre- 
hensive industry  organization  is  laid  again  in  the  laps  of 
the  older  trade  organizations,  Allied  States  Association,  the 
Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of  America  and  the  Motion 
Picture  Producers  and  Distributors  of  America,  Inc. 

"UMPI"  came  into  existence  to  be  an  instrument  for  arriv- 
ing at  a  code  of  trade  practise  controls  to  supplant  the  expir- 
ing Consent  Decree.  That  broke  and  failed  when  Mr.  Thur- 
man  Arnold  decided  it  represented  far  too  much  concerted 
arrangement.  Now  those  who  would  continue  UMPI,  in  some 
purposes,  are  seeking  causes  to  handle,  notably  state  taxation 
issues.  These  were  among  the  later  UMPI  interests  that  cre- 
ated a  decided  possibility  of  adding  to  the  existing  complica- 
tions of  functions  and  interests  by  many  duplications  of  machin- 
ery and  effort. 

It  has  been  made  clear  enough  that  there  is  no  completely 
common  ground  between  producer-distributors,  and  it  has  long 
been  plain  enough  that  there  are  at  least  two  major  divisions 
of  exhibition  interests.  In  an  atmosphere  of  quite  familiar  fu- 
tility, it  ultimately  appeared  that  UMPI,  which  set  out  to  be 
"unity",  could  be  only  another  fractional  part  of  a  total  scene. 

AAA 

"MANY  A  MICKLE" 

THE  financial  columns  have  been  making  much  of  an 
apparent  decision  of  Mr.  Vincent  Astor  to  get  out  of  a 
lot  of  his  holdings  of  "luxury  real  estate"  and  diversify 
his  investments  among  properties  deriving  their  rental  values 
from  the  lesser  spenders.  The  shift  is  from  such  buildings  as 
line  the  avenues  of  uptown  New  York  with  duplex  apartments 
and  penthouses  to  little  business  buildings  and  bus  terminals, 
for  instance,  one  in  Flushing.  The  move  is  from  the  places 
where  the  rich  spent  their  abundant  dollars  to  where  the 
wage  earners  strew  their  dimes  and  quarters.  This  is  another 
indication  of  where  the  fortunes  of  the  motion  picture  lay, 
which  is  exactly  where  the  pictures  have  found  their  expanding 
success,  among  the  multitudes. 

AAA 

AUDIENCE 

LOOKING  for  an  "Intimate  Portrait  of  Changing  America," 
Redbook  Magazine  has  been  a-surveying  around  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  O,  where  war  activities  and  an  expanding 
government  have  increased  the  population  from  663,000  in 
1940  to  1,200,000  as  of  now,  two  years  later. 

First  off,  as  might  have  been  expected,  Redbook  ques- 
tionnaired,  and  interviewed  and  observed  "the  white  collar 
girls,"  thousands  of  them,  gathered  by  Civil  Service  from  all 
over  the  land.  What  it  all  added  up  to  when  the  story  was 
put  together  could  be  considered  an  examination  of  a  con- 
siderable sector  of  the  motion  picture's  audience.  The  findings 
were  remarkable  for  what  they  did  .  not  find. 

The  report  finds  that  the  girls  are  not  inclined  to  talk  war 


or  politics,  or  to  listen  to  such  subjects  on  the  radio,  that 
they  do  not  take  newspapers,  and  they  do  not  have  books 
around  and  very  few  magazines.  One  girl,  from  Indiana,  chosen 
as  typical,  said  she  went  to  three  shows  a  week,  and  that 
"dates  pay  for  some  of  it." 

This  might  be  taken  as  indicating  the  Government's  zeal  for 
messages  on  the  screen  is  well  founded.  May  be  that  is  the 
only  way  to  reach  the  girls,  and  boys. 

AAA 

SELLING  NEW  ONES 

AS  the  demands  of  war  take  the  older  and  established 
stars  away,  production  and  exhibition  alike  have  the 
task  of  selling  their  successors  into  the  interested  con- 
sciousness of  the  customers. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Lige  Brien  of  the  Belmar  theatre  in 
Pittsburgh,  and  a  Quigley  Awards  winner,  discusses  this  spe- 
cial phase  of  showmanship-in-wartime,  with  the  observation  that 
"intensive  selling  to  the  public  will  have  to  be  done,  now. 

"These  new  stars  must  be  established  in  the  minds  of  the 
potential  theatre  customers,  which  means  more  exploitation, 
more  publicity,  more  tie-ups.  ...  The  work  of  the  Round  Table 
is  going  to  be  more  important,  as  an  exchange  desk,  as  well 
as  an  idea-giving  department.  .  .  .  These  new  stars  must  be 
established  else  the  patrons,  not  recognizing  their  names,  will 
believe  that  a  feature  of  second  rate  casting  is  being  shown, 
and  they  may  look  elsewhere  for  entertainment. 

"Patrons  are  going  to  shop  more  than  ever  now." 

AAA 

PROFESSIONAL  TAKES  OVER 

THE  announcement  by  Mr.  Francis  Alstock  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Mervin  LeRoy  as  directorial  supervisor  of 
coast  production  for  the  Office  of  the  Co-ordinator  of 
Inter-American  Affairs  is  encouraging  evidence  of  progress 
toward  a  considerably  more  competent  structure  than  has 
obtained.  A  deal  of  the  functioning  for  films  in  that  sector, 
while  presenting  decided  abilities  of  various  orders,  and  much 
zeal,  has  also  included  a  lot  of  unproductive  and  irrelevant 
dilettantish  adventuring  and  experimenting.  The  requirements 
are  for  professional  performance  and  standards.  Hollywood  is 
the  home  and  capital  of  the  profession. 

AAA 

ENTERTAINING  information  is  to  be  had  from  an  RKO 
news  release  which  announces:  "Shortage  of  laborers  has 
caused  the  studio  to  buy  150  sheep  which  are  to  be  kept 
at  the  Ranch.  .  .  .  Despite  the  shortages  and  restrictions 
imposed  on  the  studio  by  priorities  and  rationing,  RKO  Radio, 
thanks  to  planning,  foresight  and  ingenuity,  is  in  excellent 
physical  condition  to  produce  its  1942-43  program."  Official 
report  asserts  that  the  sheep  are  employed  only  to  keep  the 
weeds  down.  Meanwhile,  it  is  possible  they  may  be  available 
for  rental  for  insomnia  treatments  in  Hollywood. 

— Terry  Ramsaye 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


Tribute 

CLOSING  the  September  War  Bond  drive 
with  praise  for  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try's "earnestness  of  purpose  and  patriotic 
zeal"  in  a  campaign  "as  thrilling  as  any 
fictional  movie,"  Harold  M.  Graves,  as- 
sistant to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
addressed  some  20,000  New  Yorkers  at  the 
final  rally  at  Madison  Square  Garden 
Wednesday  night  at  which  the  stars  and 
cast  of  the  Army  Emergency  Relief  show, 
which  immediately  preceded  it,  made  a  spec- 
tacular effort  to  push  the  total  past  the 
official  quota. 

Mr.  Graves  said  in  part:  "Between  Sep- 
tember 1st  and  tonight,  we,  at  the  Treasury, 
have  followed  closely  the  efforts  of  the 
stars,  the  exhibitors,  the  theatres,  the  pro- 
ducers, the  newsreels,  all  branches  of  the 
motion  picture  industry  who  took  their  re- 
sponsibilities so  seriously,  so  earnestly,  that 
they  reminded  me  more  of  soldiers  fighting 
in  a  great  cause  than  of  the  so-called 
glamour  people  of  a  make-believe  industry. 

".  .  .  Obviously,  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try gave  a  spark  to  the  September  drive 
which  has  fired  the  selling  of  many  millions 
more  Bonds  than  might  otherwise  have  been 
expected — and  of  course  the  additional 
millions  in  payroll  deductions  pledged  to 
the  stars  will  continue  to  buy  planes,  tanks, 
guns  and  bullets  each  and  every  month  until 
the  war  is  won." 


Actors 9  Job  in  the  War 

SCREEN  ACTORS  not  only  must  regard 
entertainment  of  service  men  as  a  "must" ; 
they  must  also  expect  an  increase  in  the  de- 
mands upon  them. 

Such  was  the  message  to  Hollywood  ac- 
tors in  the  current  issue  of  the  Screen  Ac- 
tor, organization  publication,  from  Ken- 
neth Thomson,  the  Screen  Actors  Guild's 
executive  secretary. 

Commenting  that  actors  already  had 
"proved  the  best  salesmen  for  the  Treasury 
Department,"  he  added  that  "in  the  months 
to  come,  they  will  be  asked  to  shoulder  these 
assignments,  and  many  more." 


Tax  Exempt 

THE  TREASURY  Department  at  Wash- 
ington this  week  acknowledged  the  services 
of  the  motion  picture  industry  in  furthering 
the  War  Bond  Drive,  in  an  Internal  Reve- 
nue Bureau  announcement  that  the  advertis- 
ing of  companies  and  exhibitors  in  that  con- 
nection would  be  considered  as  necessary  and 
legitimate  business  expenses,  deductible  for 
Federal  tax  purposes.  The  only  restriction 
on  such  advertising  is  that  it  be  "reason- 
able" and  not  undertaken  in  an  attempt  to 
avoid  proper  tax  payments. 

On  the  basis  that  "advertising  is  a  neces- 
sary and  legitimate  business  expense,"  Com- 


UMPI  doses  its  doors  as  sales  practice 
program  is  abandoned  Page  12 

INDUSTRY  near  Bond  goal  in  last  hours 
of  drive  Page  13 

U.  S.  will  seek  cooling  systems  for  war 
plants  Page  16 

1 5,669   theatres    answer    call    to  collect 
nation's   scrap  Page  17 

CANADA'S  traveling  shows  aided  by  gas 
and  tire  rationing  Page  23 

STUDIOS  in  Mexico  currently  working  at 
capacity  Page  26 


missioner  of  Internal  Revenue  Guy  T.  Hel- 
vering,  in  a  general  statement  of  policy, 
announced,  "Reasonable  expenditures  for  ad- 
vertisements including  the  promotion  of 
Government  objectives  in  wartime,  such  as 
conservation,  salvage  or  the  sale  of  War 
Bonds,  which  are  signed  by  the  advertiser, 
will  be  deductible." 

Also,  he  said,  expenses  incurred  by  com- 
panies in  advertising  and  advertising  tech- 
nique to  speed  the  war  effort  among  their 
own  employees,  and  to  maintain  trade  names 
and  good  will  built  up  over  past  years,  in 
anticipation  of  eventual  return  to  peace-time 
production,  also  will  be  considered 
deductible. 


12  Years  in  Court 

THE  MOMAND  CASE,  oldest  anti-trust 
litigation  in  the  motion  picture  industry,  is 
about  to  be  aired  again.  Opening  date  of 
the  A.  B.  Momand  trust  action  seeking  dam- 
ages of  nearly  $3,000,000  from  major  dis- 
tributors and  the  Griffith  circuit,  will  be  set 
for  the  first  or  second  week  in  November  at 
Oklahoma  City,  Judge  Bower  Broaddus  has 
indicated. 

The  12-year-old  case  has  been  delayed  by 
a  maze  of  legal  proceedings.  Defendant 
attorneys  have  refused  to  accept  depositions 
taken  over  the  years  by  the  plaintiff  from 
leaders  of  the  industry,  and  new  depositions 
have  been  ordered  by  the  court.  However, 
Judge  Broaddus  has  made  it  a  matter  of 
record  that  should  these  new  depositions 
contain  substantially  the  same  information 
as  is  contained  in  the  old  ones  now  in  court 
records  he  would  require  the  defendants  to 
pay  the  entire  cost  of  taking  new  depositions. 


UNITED  ARTISTS  lists  30  for  new  season; 
gets  22  from  Paramount  Page  29 

MOTION  Picture  Relief  Fund  opens  coun- 
try house  in  Hollywood  Page  32 

MICHIGAN  exhibitors  call  for  central  film 
buying  Page  33 

FILMS  fostering  hatred  for  Axis  are  ap- 
proved by  U. S.  Page  34 

APPEALS  Board  upholds  seven-day  New 
York  clearances  Page  40 

BRITISH    theatres    threaten    boycott  in 
rental    fight  Page  47 

Page  6C 
Page  63 
Page  5' 
Page  7 


Going,  Going  .  .  . 

THE  END  of  radio  was  foreseen  by  th 
National  Broadcasting  Company  this  week 
Having  surveyed  the  parts  and  receiver  situ 
ation,  the  company  reported  that  dealer.' 
stocks  will  be  exhausted  the  middle  of  nex 
year,  and  that  thereafter  the  number  of  set! 
in  use  will  diminish  by  about  14,000  eac1 
day. 

The  broadcasting  company  commented  I 
"This  rate  of  loss,  if  continued  for  fou; 
years,  would  affect  the  majority  of  radi 
equipped  homes,  and  make  it  useless  fo 
broadcasting  stations  to  continue  to  operate.  J 

It  added  that  broadcasters  believe  lac| 
of    replacements    will    affect  12,000,00 
potential  listeners  within  two  years.  Per] 
mission  by  the  War  Production  Board  fc 
manufacture  of  merely  a  few  million  dollai 
worth  of  replacements  would  restore  to  u.c 
millions  of  receivers  now  out  of  commissioil 
or  which  will  reach  that  state,  the  NBC  r< 
port  continued.    But  it  said  that  even  th 
would  not  maintain  the  volume  of  sets  i 
use.    It  would,  however,  spread  the  decrea* 
of  receiver  use  over  a  longer  period. 


Vaudeville  or  Revue? 

ALL   New  York  stage  craft  and  taleij 
unions  have  combined  in  a  committee  whicj 
will  classify  new  shows.   The  committee  w;| 
formed  because  contract  conditions  for  di 
ferent  types  of  shows,  such  as  "vaudevilli 
or  "revue"  vary,  and  producers  have  be< 
shopping  for  the  best  terms.    A  preliminai 
committee  meeting  was  held  Monday  ai 
another  will  be  held  next  Monday. 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  45     Late  Review 

In  British  Studios  Page  46     Managers'  Round  Table 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  39     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart 


October    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


9 


Still  More  Changes 

CHANGES  again  were  in  the  making  this 
week  among  the  motion  picture  staff  of  Nel- 
son Rockefeller's  Office  of  Inter-American 
Affairs  at  Xew  York.  And  there  were  in- 
timations of  still  more  shifts  to  come. 

Kenneth  Macgowan,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  producer,  who  had  headed  the  agency's 
production  activities  since  1940.  is  return- 
ing to  20th-Fox's  Westwood,  Cal.,  lot  to 
help  meet  a  shortage  of  producers  there. 
He  will  continue  as  an  adviser  to  the  Rocke- 
feller South  American  program,  working 
with  Jack  Chertok  and  Mervyn  Le  Roy  on 
the  coast.  Also..  Mr.  Macgowan  has  in  mind 
several  feature  productions  with  Latin 
American  background. 

Francis  Al stock,  who  succeeded  John  Hay 
Whitney  as  director  of  the  motion  picture 
division,  has  been  reclassified  as  1-A  by  his 
Xew  York  Draft  Board.  He  is  reportedly 
slated  for  induction  October  17th.  Mean- 
while the  War  Manpower  Commission, 
headed  by  Paul  McXutt,  is  making  up  its 
mind  whether  Mr.  Alstock,  and  other  Gov- 
ernment officials  in  similar  status  should  be 
designated  as  essential  to  the  war  effort. 

Production  responsibility  under  the  new 
arrangement  will  be  divided  between  Philip 
Dunne,  who  will  be  "'idea-man,''  supervising 
story  preparation  and  selecting  scripts,  and 
Charles  E.  McCarthy,  former  20th  Century- 
\  Fox  advertising  director,  who  will  handle 
the  business  end.    Contracts,  budgets,  and 

-  dealings  with  the  U.  S.  State  Department 
will  be  his  province.  Documentary,  educa- 
tional, medical  and  distribution  divisions 
continue  as  at  present. 

Also  in  prospect  was  the  addition  of  a 

-  business  executive  to  Mr.  Rockefeller's  mo- 
*  tion  picture  staff.  His  task  would  be  the  im- 

-  position  of  an  efficiency  system  on  its  work- 
:-  ings  and  the  closer  supervision  of  the  ex- 
=  penditure  of  the  S2.700.000  Governmental 

-  budget.    He  also  might  be  slated  to  succeed 

-  Mr.  Alstock  should  the  Army  get  the  latter's 
services.  Paul  Raibourn,  Paramount  statisti- 

-  cian  and  treasurer  and  director  of  the  com- 
a  pany's  Du  Mont  television  affiliate,  was  re- 
:J    portedly  mentioned  for  the  post. 


Studio  "Directive" 

[4 

r.    QUOTING  a  letter  reportedly  written  by 
;     E.  J.  Mannix,  MGM  executive,  to  produc- 
H   ers,  writers  and  directors,  the  Hollywood 
3  Writers  Mobilization  Committee  this  week 
,-rj   informed  its  members  in  Communique,  or- 
-i-   ganization  publication,  that  '"one    of  the 
£2   largest  studios  (MGM-?)  has  rolled  up  its 
\    sleeves  to  tackle  this  war  business,  mar- 
jjj   shalling  its  creative  forces  with  a  dramatic 
and  stimulating  order  to  get  in  there  and 
fight  with  films." 
Mr.  Mannix  is  quoted  as  having  urged 
'     complete  cooperation  with  the  Motion  Pic- 
ture Bureau  of  the  Office  of  War  Informa- 
^2  tion,  headed  in  Hollywood  by  Xelson  Poyn- 
ter,  and  saying,  "MGM  is  challenged  to  use 


its  great  influence  in  the  planning  and  mak- 
ing of  pictures  which  are  directly  concerned 
with  the  war  and  its  problems.  This  is  the 
job  of  the  producers,  writers,  directors  and 
every  man  and  woman  who  contributes  to 
making  motion  pictures." 

Six  points  listed  by  Mr.  Mannix  for  the 
attention  of  MGM  production  personnel 
were : 

"How  can  this  picture  help  to  create  a 
better  understanding  of  the  war? 

"Will  this  subject  still  be  important  when 
the  picture  is  in  distribution? 

"Is  some  other  objective  important? 

"Is  the  subject  in  danger  of  over-emphasis 
on  the  screen  because  so  many  other  pic- 
tures are  treating  the  same  subject? 

'"Does  the  treatment  really  clarify  the  sub- 
ject, or  is  it  merely  a  by-product  of  another 
picture  ? 

"Does  the  treatment  bring  the  subject 
home  to  the  individual  in  the  audience  so 
that  he  can  identify  himself  and  the  part  he 
can  play  in  furthering  victory?" 


SI.  100,000  Royalties 

ROYALTY  payments  of  51,100,000  for  the 
quarter  ended  September  30th  were  being 
paid  this  week  to  song-writer  members  of  the 
American  Society  of  Composers,  Authors 
and  Publishers,  New  York.  The  sum  repre- 
sents payments  of  radio,  theatre  recording, 
restaurant,  ballroom  and  other  public  per- 
forming interests.  In  the  first  quarter  of 
1942,  $950,000  was  split  and  payments  for 
the  second  quarter  reached  a  million  dollars. 

The  third  quarter  figure  was  only  SIS. 000 
less  than  payments  for  the  same  period  in 
1940,  prior  to  the  AS  CAP  radio  network 
fight.  Despite  lower  rates,  the  radio  pay- 
ments were  reported  to  have  been  sustained 
by  more  frequent  use  of  AS  CAP  music. 


PICTURES  ADVERTISED 
THIS  WEEK 

"Desperate  Journey"  Warners,  Pages  3,  4,  5 
"Tales  of  Manhattan"  20th-Fox,  Page  6 
"The    War   Against   Mrs.    Hadley,"  MGM, 

Pages  24,  25 
"A  Yank  at  Eton,"  MGM,  Pages  27,  28 
"Cairo,"  MGM,  Page  31 
"Apaclie  Trail,"  MGM,  Page  31 
"Road  to  Morocco,"  Paramount,  Pages  35  to  38 
"The  Forest  Rangers,"  Paramount,  Pages  35 

to  38 

"For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls,"  Paramount,  Pages 
35  to  38 

"The    Maior    and    the    Minor,"  Paramount. 
Page-  41 " 

"Wake  Island"  Paramount,  Pages  43.  44 
"Iceland,"  2Qih-Fox,  Pages  48,"  49 
"My  Sister  Eileen,"  Columbia,  Pages  52,  53 
"Here  We  Go  Again,"  RKO,  Pages  56,  57 
"Between  Us  Girls,"  Universal,  Page  59 
"One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing,"  UA,  Page  61 
"You  Were  Never  Lovelier  "  Columbia,  4th 
,  cover 


More  War,  Less  Legs 

LESS  "leg  art,"  less  features  and  less  foot- 
ball and  much  more  war  .  .  .  in  U.  S. 
newsreels  is  forecast  for  this  autumn.  Fri- 
day, editors  of  the  five  newsreels  were  to 
meet  in  Washington  with  Government  of- 
ficials and  their  capital  liaison,  Claude  Col- 
lins, to  discuss  wars  and  means  of  giving 
still  more  attention  to  war  news  in  pictures. 

Government  motion  picture  agents  have 
indicated  their  belief  that  much  of  the  cus- 
tomary newsreel  entertainment  leaven — 
bathing  beauties,  sports  and  special  comedy 
stunts — should  go  by  the  board  for  the  dura- 
tion. Newsreel  sources  in  New  York  dis- 
closed that  already  most  of  the  reels  have 
plans  under  way  to  curtail  coverage  of  this 
season's  football.  Regional  football  pic- 
tures will  be  eliminated  in  many  instances 
and  the  total  footage  taken  at  each  game 
greatly  curtailed.  This  also  will  effect  a 
substantial  saving  in  raw  stock. 

While  indicating  their  intention  to  give 
fullest  cooperation  with  any  Government  re- 
quests for  more  news  clips  on  the  war, 
newsreel  men  at  midweek  expressed  hope 
that  the  Government,  in  turn,  would  do  more 
about  getting  better  coverage  from  the  fight- 
ing front.  Lowell  Mellett  and  his  motion 
picture  bureau  in  the  Office  of  War  In- 
formation have  been  battling  censorship  and 
military  restrictions  for  the  newsreels,  it 
was  said.  But  newsreel  editors  report  that 
progress  is  slow  and  good  clips  from  over- 
seas are  few  and  far  between. 


Riding  Together 

IN  SEYERAL  film  exchange  territories, 
where  large  towns  are  located  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  center,  film  salesmen  are 
pooling  cars  for  long  drives.  Typically,  at 
St.  Louis,  film  salesmen  are  taking  turns 
driving  to  Springfield,  lower  Missouri,  or 
Illinois  towns.  Practically  the  same  situa- 
tion prevails  at  Philadelphia.  Detroit,  and 
elsewhere,  and  the  practice  is  growing. 

MGM  salesmen,  a  home  office  executive 
revealed  this  week,  have  been  told  to  keep 
their  driving  to  a  minimum.  In  many  in- 
stances, where  their  territory-  is  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  exchange  they  keep  their  cars 
in  the  field,  using  them  only  for  short  and 
necessary  trips  to  visit  theatre  men.  Train 
or  bus  transportation  is  used  for  visits  to 
the  home  office. 

This  S37stem  has  worked  "quite  effective- 
ly" through  the  midwest  and  west,  Edward 
Aarons,  MGM's  assistant  sales  manager, 
said,  and  has  brought  a  substantial  reduction 
in  driving  by  the  company's  salesmen. 

Several  other  film  companies  report  simi- 
lar plans  to  keep  salesmen  in  the  field  as 
much  as  possible.  Efforts  are  being  made  to 
avoid  back  tracking,  repeat  calls  and  un- 
necessary long  jumps  in  cars. 

Only  a  few  film  salesmen  have  had  to 
give  up  their  cars,  home  offices  indicated. 


t-j  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3 100.  Cable  address  "Quigpuboo, 
1:     New  York."  Martin  Quigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Calvin  Brown,  Vice-President  and  General   Manager;    lerry   Romsaye,   Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,   News  Editor; 
i—i    C  :cago  Bureau,  624  South  Michigan  Avenue,  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  editor;  Hollywood  Bureou,  Postal  Union  Life  Building.  William  R.  Weaver,  editor;  Toronto  Bureau,  242  Millwood 
**J   Road,  Toronto,  Ontario, -Canada,  W.  M    Gladish,-  representative;  Montreal   Bureau,  265  Viire  St.,  West,   Montreal,  Canada,   Pat  Donovan,   representative;  London  Bureau, 
lS&t  *  Golden  Square,  London  W  I,  Hope  Williams  Bumup,  manager;  cable  Quigpubco  London;   Melbourne   Bureau,  The   Regent  Theatre,    191   Collins  St.,   Melbourne,  Australia, 
C  iff  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Arch  bold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
L.is  Becerra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  Natalio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  3353, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
A.dit  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company.  Address  al!  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  Quigley  Publications: 
I  Better  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame. 


10 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


THIS  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


■  IN  THE  final  whirlwind  days  of  the 
September  Bond  drive:  At  left,  Irene  Dunne 
puts  her  earrings  on  A.  Charles  Hayman, 
owner  of  the  Lafayette  theatre,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  after  he  had  pledged  $26,000  worth 
of  Bonds  at  a  Buffalo  advertising  luncheon. 


Below,  Charles  Laughton  climaxes  the  drive 
with  a  19-hour  radio  stand.  Appealing 
for  Bond  sales  every  20  minutes  from  7 
A.  M.  to  midnight  over  WEAF  last  Tues- 
day, the  star  sold  $298,000  in  Bonds. 


CLARENCE  H.  MOSS,  below  left,  advertising 
and  public  relations  manager  for  Interstate 
theatres  in  San  Antonio,  has  received  a  com- 
mission as  captain  in  the  Air  Corps  and  will 
proceed  to  Officers  Training  School  at  Miami 
Beach  for  temporary  duty.    With  Captain 
Moss  is  Edward  Collins,  Interstate  city  man- 
ager, in  front  of  the  service  plaque  in  the 
Majestic  theatre  lobby. 


By  Staff  Photographer 


THE  MIDWAY  theatre,  under  the  joint  operation  of 
RKO  and  the  Skouras  circuit,  opened  officially  to  the 
public  last  week  after  a  previous  Red  Cross  benefit 
performance.    Here,  at  the  opening,  are  Harry 
Mandel,  RKO  circuit  publicity  director;  Paul  Moss, 
New  York  Commissioner  of  Licenses;  Senator  J. 
Henry  Walters  and  James  Brennan  of  RKO. 


3.  1942 


C"CC-C5"S  Z~        z  r:  Z      • .  =      3     c  - 

c  =.'"  5"  "5  "55~"5.     C  •■■';e 
around  the  fable,  starting  at  seven 
o'clock:  William  Kupper.  20fh-Fox;  Leon 
Leonidoff,  Music  Hall  producer;  A.  W. 
Smiifi,  Jr..  20rh-Fox;  Christopher 
Dunphy.  WPB;  Tom  J.  Connors.  20ih- 
Fox;  Mr.  Morros,  Mr.  Eyssell,  Mr. 
Eagle;  William  Michel.  20fh-Fox;  R.  V. 
Downing,  Music  Hall;  William  Gehring. 
Hal  Horne;  20th-Fox;  Fred  L  Lynch. 
Music  Hall,  and  Richard  Morros,  son  of 
Bc's  \'z"zi. 


By  Staff  PfcasEsrapser  ^7  5iaS    '  : 


(NICHOLAS  M.  SCHENCK,  president 
of  Loew's,  Inc.,  raises  a  service  flag  for 
khe  1,121  former  employees  of  the 
rxmpany  now  in  the  armed  forces.  The 
(flag,  bearing  two  gold  stars,  hangs  in 
ronf  of  Loew's  State  in  Times  Square. 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE  departs 
York  University  was  launched  this  ' 
the  promised  cooperation  of  film  ii 
representatives.  At  right  at  a  lur 
the  Faculty  Club  are  Professor  Rc 
ner,  head  of  the-deparfmenf ;  Arfhi 
Joseph  Hazen  of  Warners;  Roubs 
lian,  director;  Hal  Hode,  Columbi 
Dean  Charles  Maxwell  McConn. 


12 


MOTION 


PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,     I  942 


UMPI  CLOSES  ITS  DOORS  AS 
PROGRAM  IS  ABANDONED 


Rodger s  Disbands  Commit- 
tee in  Letter  to  Members; 
Sees  Lasting  Effect 

The  United  Motion  Picture  Industry, 
projected  last  December  9th  to  promote 
unity  between  distributors  and  exhibitors 
closed  its  files  and  passed  into  history 
at  four  o'clock  on  Tuesday  afternoon. 

The  official  end  of  the  unity  movement 
came  at  midweek  when  William  F.  Rodgers, 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  whole, 
sent  a  letter  to  23  committee  members  in- 
forming them  that  in  accord  with  their 
wishes,  expressed  in  letters  and  statements, 
he  was  liquidating  the  organization.  UMPI 
passed  from  the  trade  practices  scene  less 
than  10  months  after  its  formal  inception  at 
a  joint  meeting  of  distributors  and  exhibi- 
tors in  Chicago,  on  December  9th. 

The  executive  offices  of  UMPI  at  the 
Hotel  Astor  in  New  York  were  to  be  closed 
on  Saturday,  October  3rd,  Mr.  Rodgers  in- 
formed committee  members. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Rodgers  to  committee 
members  three  weeks  ago,  close  on  the  heels 
of  the  rejection  of  the  UMPI  sales  plan  by 
the  Department  of  Justice,  warned  of  the 
impending  end  of  the  joint  organization. 
Subsequent  statements  by  exhibitor  mem- 
bers, led  by  the'  Allied  States  delegates, 
clearly  indicated  that  they  had  lost  confi- 
dence in  the  possibility  of  reaching  a  joint 
trade  practices  program  through  the  com- 
mittee. 

Sales  Plan  Rejection 
Killed  Program 

Thurman  Arnold,  Assistant  Attorney  Gen- 
eral in  charge  of  the  anti-trust  division  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  on  August  17th  killed 
most  hopes  for  the  unity  program  when  he  re- 
jected the  blocks-of-13  sales  formula  agreed 
upon  by  the  joint  committee.  Without  this  heart 
of  its  program  the  unity  movement  foundered. 

The  Government  rejected  the  sales  plan  with 
the  warning  that  its  concerted  action  by  dis- 
tributors would  entail  violations  of  the  anti- 
trust laws.  A  few  leaders  in  the  movement 
endeavored  to  salvage  UMPI  for  the  nucleus 
of  a  local  tax  study  organization,  and  as  a 
forum  for  the  discussion  of  trade  practices. 
But  at  least  two  distributors,  Paramount  and 
Warner  Brothers,  withdrew  from  the  unity  ac- 
tivities. Exhibitor  organizations  also  were  di- 
vided on  the  question  of  its  continuance. 

Mr.  Rodgers,  in  the  letter  which  he  mailed  to 
the  23  members  of  the  committee  on  Tuesday, 
wrote : 

"The  letters  and  statements  received  from 
exhibitor  committee  members  of  UMPI  almost 
unanimously  express  the  opinion  that  while  the 
regretted  action  was  necessary,  they  felt  that 
under  present  conditions  future  activities  of 
UMPI  as  a  formal  organization  should  cease. 
I  have,  therefore,  today  instructed  Mr.  Leon 
Bamberger,  executive  secretary,  to  close  the  of- 
fice at  the  Astor  Hotel  as  of  October  3rd,  1942. 

"I,  too,  join  in  the  hope  that  at  some  more 
propitious  time  such  a  worthy  movement  may 
resume  its  activities.  Most  certainly  I  heartily 
agree  with  those  who  felt  that  the  loss  of  any 
agency  which  works  toward  the  establishment 
of  a  better  understanding  between  the  various 
elements  of  the  industry  must  be  a  distinct  loss 
to  the  industry.    I  am  sure  that  the  gains  in 


History  of  "Unity" 

June  I  I,  1941- — Abram  Myers,  Chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  National 
Allied,  at  Allied  Atlantic  City 
convention,  proposes  "all-industry" 
meeting. 

September  16,  1941 — National  Allied 
convention,  at  Philadelphia,  urges 
industry  trade-practice  forum. 

December  9,  1941 — First  "Unity" 
meeting  of  distributors  and  exhib- 
itors in  Chicago.  Sets  Five-Point 
Program. 

January,  1942 — Distributor  and  ex- 
hibitor leaders  appoint  commit- 
tees to  work  out  Unity  program, 
based  on  Five-Point  Program. 

January  21,  1942  —  Committee-of- 
the-Whole  holds  first  meeting  at 
New  York.  Opens  office  of  United 
Motion  Picture  Industry,  at  Hotel 
Astor. 

February  27,  1942  — Unity's  trade 
practice  committee  presents 
Blocks-of-12   selling  plan. 

March,  April,  May,  1942 — National 
and  State  exhibitor  organizations 
debate  the  sales  plan,  demand 
changes. 

May  II,  1942  —  Selling  plan  ap- 
proved. Started  on  way  to  Wash- 
ington. 

July  8,  1942 — Selling  plan  submitted 
to  Department  of  Justice. 

August  17,  1942  —  Thurman  Arnold, 
of  Department  of  Justice,  rejects 
the  plan,  hits  at  UMPI. 

September  29,  1942  — William  F. 
Rodgers,  of  Loew's-MGM,  Chair- 
man of  Unity's  Committee-of-the- 
Whole,  announces  formal  dissolu- 
tion of  UMPI  and  Unity. 


better  understanding  will  not  be  lost,  and  that 
while  the  active  structure  may  temporarily  dis- 
appear, the  effect  of  the  sincere  negotiations  will 
be  felt  for  a  long  time  to  come. 

"Because  UMPI  was  entirely  out  of  funds, 
Loew's,  Inc.,  advanced  $1,000  to  liquidate,  all 
bills,  and  I  have  asked  Mr.  Bamberger  to  re- 
turn to  Loew's  what  remains  of  this  amount 
and  to  render  to  each  member  of  the  commit- 
tee an  accounting  of  expenditures. 

"To  all  concerned  may  I  again  say  my  per- 
sonal thanks  for  the  cooperation  you  gave  me 
as  chairman." 

The  unity  movement  originated  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1941  at  meetings  of  the  Allied  States 
association.  Exhibitors  dissatisfied  with  the 
operation  of  the  blocks  of  five  provision  of  the 
consent  decree  and  other  trade  practices  urged 
a  joint  conference  of  all  branches  of  the  in- 
dustry for  the  purpose  of  discussing  changes. 

Abram  Myers,  general  counsel  of  Allied,  and 
M.  A.  Rosenberg,  president,  at  the  association's 
national  convention  in  September,  1941,  asked 
concerted  action  to  solve  trade  problems.  By 
October  the  Allied  leaders  had  drafted  a  pro- 
posal for  a  national  meeting  of  distributor  and 


exhibitor  representatives  to  discuss  a  unity  or- 
ganization. This  was  held  at  Chicago  on  De- 
cember 9,  1941. 

The  Chicago  session  agreed  on  the  need  for 
a  group  to  promote  "the  harmonious  relations 
among  the  several  branches  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry"  and  to  enable  cooperation  of  all 
"fully  and  with  confidence  in  all  matters  af- 
fecting the  interests  of  the  industry  as  a  whole." 

A  five-point  program  called  for  coordinated 
action  on  questions  of  1) taxation;  2)  "protect- 
ing the  good  name  and  integrity  of  the  industry 
as  a  whole" ;  3)  institutional  advertising;  4) 
priorities,  and  5)  a  trade  practices  program 
"for  the  adjustment  or  modification  of  the  poli- 
cies or  practices  of  one  branch  or  member  of 
the  industry  opposed  by  anv  other  branch  or  a 
substantial  part  thereof." 

Allied  States  Association,  the  Motion  Picture 
Theatre  Owners  of  America  and  the  principal 
independent  regional  exhibitor  groups  combined 
with  the  five  consenting  distributors,  MGM, 
Paramount,  RKO  Radio,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  and  Warners  Brothers,  and  Columbia,  Re- 
public, Monogram  and  Producers  Releasing 
Corporation  to  found  the  unity  organization  at 
Chicago. 

Standing  Committees 
Named  in  January 

A  meeting  at  New  York  in  January  led  to  the 
appointment  of  standing  committees,  for  the 
whole,  and  on  taxation,  the  good  name  of  the 
industry,  advertising,  priorities,  finance  and  law. 
The  name  United  Motion  Picture  Industry  was 
adopted  and  permanent  offices  opened  at  the 
Hotel  Astor. 

The  trade  practices  committee,  after  a  series 
of  meetings  through  February,  presented  a  plan 
for  blocks-of-12  sales,  and  partial  cancellation. 
The  committee  of  the  whole,  after  minor 
changes,  submitted  it  in  March  to  the  exhibitor 
organizations  in  unity  for  their  approval.  Ex- 
hibitor groups  were  divided  about  eight  to  five 
in  favor  of  the  proposal,  with  the  dissenting 
groups  urging  modifications. 

After  slight  recasting,  the  plan  was  ap- 
proved by  a  majority  of  the  exhibitor  groups  in 
May  and  sent  to  a  legal  committee  for  phras- 
ing, and  submission  to  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice as  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Consent 
Decree.  Minority  opposition  to  the  selling 
formula  was  voiced  principally  by  the  Indepen- 
dent Exhibitors  of  New  England  and  the  Soci- 
ety of  Independent  Motion  Picture  Producers, 
who  asserted  it  would  constitute  forcing. 

The  Government  ended  the  entire  controversy 
with  Mr.  Arnold's  statement  on  August  17th. 
He  rejected  the  UMPI  formula  on  the  grounds 
that  it  was  a  uniform  system  for  partial  blind 
selling  and  would  restrict  competition.  He] 
ruled  that  distributors  should  continue  to  show 
all  pictures  before  sale,  but  could  group  them 
in  any  size  package  they  chose. 

Government  Position 
Disheartening 

The  Government  stand  had  an  almost  im- 
mediately disheartening  effect  on  supporters  ol 
unity.  Shortly  after  the  ruling  both  Alliec 
and  MPTOA  leaders  expressed  the  opiniot 
that  the  movement  had  lost  much  of  its  value 

Mr.  Rodgers  in  his  letter  to  exhibitor  mem, 
bers  of  the  committee  of  the  whole  told  then 
that  continuation  of  the  organization  was  up  tj 
them. 

Leon  Bamberger,  who  has  served  as  executiv 
secretary  of  UMPI,  on  leave  of  absence  fror 
RKO,  will  return  to  the  company  on  Mondar 
He  will  resume  his  post  as  head  of  the  advei 
tising  accessories  department. 


October    3,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  13 


INDUSTRY  NEAR  BOND  COAL 
IN  LAST  HOURS  OF  DRIVE 


Canada  Now  Enlists  Industry 
To  Help  Sell  Bonds  for  War 

Direct  sponsorship  by  the  motion  picture  industry  of  War  Bond  selling  in  the 
U.  S.  came  to  an  end  at  midnight  Wednesday — although  the  American  industry's 
efforis  in  Bond  buying  and  Bond  selling  of  course  will  continue.  And  as  the  special 
concentrated  campaign  ended  in  the  U.  S.,  the  Canadian  film  industry  took  over 
to  sell  Bonds  for  Canada. 

Representatives  of  the  Canadian  industry  conferred  last  week  at  Toronto  on 
plans  of  cooperation  with  the  National  War  Finance  Committee  of  the  Dominion 
Government  for  the  Third  Victory  Loan  of  $750,000,000  which  is  to  be  floated 
during  the  three  weeks  commencing  October  19th,  the  outcome  being  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Motion  Picture  Section  of  that  committee  under  the  national  chairman- 
ship of  J.  J.  Fifzgibbons,  president  of  Famous  Players  Canadian  Corporation. 
Theatre  men  are  to  be  appointed  to  act  on  every  loan  committee  in  every  com- 
munity where  there  is  a  theatre.  Robert  Eves,  former  Toronto  manager  now  in 
Ottawa,  is  to  be  the  liaison  officer  between  the  film  industry  and  the  National 
War  Loan  Committee  in  collaboration  with  the  National  Film  Board. 

The  regional  chairmen  were  named  as  follows:  Ontario — T.  J.  Bragg,  Odeon 
Theatres  of  Canada,  Limited,  and  J.  P.  O'Loghlin,  general  manager  of  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  Corp.  of  Canada;  Quebec — Eugene  Beaulac,  secretary  of  Quebec 
Allied  Theatrical  Industries,  Montreal;  Nova  Scotia — A.  J.  Mason,  Capitol,  Spring- 
hill,  N.  S.;  New  Brunswick  and  Prince  Edward  Island — R.  G.  March,  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox manager,  St.  John;  J.  Pearson,  Corona  theatre,  Winnipeg,  for  Manitoba: 
Saskatchewan — James  Butler  of  Saskatoon,  or  E.  P.  Fields  of  Moose  Jaw;  Alberta — 
Ken.  Leach  of  Calgary;  British  Columbia — David  Griesdorf  of  Odeon  Theatres  of 
Canada,  Vancouver. 

Those  who  attended  the  war  loan  organization  meeting  in  Toronto  included 
N.  L.  Nathanson,  who  was  chairman,  and  T.  J.  Bragg  of  Odeon;  Mr.  Fitzgibbons, 
R.  W.  Bolstad  and  Morris  Stein  of  Famous  Players  Canadian;  Col.  John  A.  Cooper, 
chairman,  and  J.  P.  O'Loghlin,  president,  of  the  Motion  Picture  Distributors  Asso- 
ciation; Oscar  R.  Hanson,  president,  Canadian  Picture  Pioneers;  E.  H.  Wells, 
national  secretary  of  the  Film  Boards  of  Trade;  N.  A.  Taylor,  general  manager  of 
Tv/entieth  Century  Theatres;  Louis  Rosenfeld,  general  manager  of  Columbia  Pic- 
tures of  Canada;  Henry  L.  Nathanson,  general  manager  of  Regal  Films;  B.  Cronk, 
Harry  Alexander,  Ray  Lewis.  Charles  Mavety  and  S.  Taube. 


Record  Weekend  Sale  Hits 
$49,515,000;  Final  Rally 
Held  in  New  York 

A  nationwide  barrage  of  heavy  sales 
bombardment  aimed  at  individual  large 
transactions  and  the  contacting  of  every 
potential  War  Bond  buyer,  climaxed  the 
September  War  Bond  Drive  on  Wednes- 
day. 

Every  section  of  the  industry  and  the 
Treasury  Department  cooperated  in  orig- 
inating and  executing  ideas  for  sales  in 
the  final  effort  to  push  the  total  for  the 
month  past  the  official  quota  of  $775,000,- 
000,  and  in  the  closing  days  the  figures 
climbed  slowly  toward  that  goal.  A  rec- 
ord sale  of  $49,515,000  over  last  weekend 
made  the  total  for  27  days  $639,758,000. 

On  Monday,  the  day's  sales  hit  a  record 
ugh  of  $60,265,000.  Tuesday's  sales  were 
527,477,000  bringing  the  total,  with  one 
flay  to  go,  to  $727,500,000.  On  Wednes- 
day, last-minute  rallies  held  all  over  the 
:ountry,  sent  War  Bond  sales  still  higher. 

Si  Fabian,  national  director  of  the 
irive,  wired  all  state  chairmen  Monday 
o  contact  their  local  Bond  issuing  agents 
lrging  them  to  hasten  their  accountings 
•f  Bond  sales  so  that  their  reports  would 
dear  through  the  Federal  Reserve  Banks 
efore  October  1st. 

A  late  report  from  the  Treasury  De- 

-  artment  was  sent  to  campaign  officials 
-l  Xew  York  Wednesday  night  and  based 
■  n  this  an  all  out  effort  was '  made  to 
;iake  up  the  balance  at  the  final  Bond 
ally  at  Madison  Square  Garden  that 
ight.  Among  those  who  took  part  in 
iie  final  rally  were   Dorothy  Lamour, 

aulette  Goddard,  Veronica  Lake,  Ed- 
.  |  ard  Arnold,  Charles  Laughton,  Ann 
■  |  utherford,  William  Gargan,  Vera  Zo- 
<  ana,  Joan  Blondell,  the  Ritz  Brothers, 
i  -,id  others.  The  Treasury  was  repre- 
i  •  nted  by  Harold  Graves  and  Ted  Gam- 
'=  |e,  assistant  secretaries,  and  the  New 
!  <ork  State  War  Savings  Staff  was  repre- 
: r.nted  by  Col.  Richard  C.  Patterson,  Jr., 
juairman.  William  Dover  represented 
3  e  Hollywood  Victor}-  Committee  which 
ittndled  the  star  tours  during  the  drive. 

^onagers  Assume 
vsonal  Quotas 

Qose  cooperation  of  Treasury  officials  with 
industry's  effort  was  indicated  in  telegrams 
it  by  Harold  Graves,  assistant  secretary,  to 

-  J  state  administrators  last  Friday  urging  them 
,:  |  j  "step  up  sales  in  every  corner  of  your  state, 
/j  ;T  work  is  more  in  the  spotlight  this  month 

-An  at  any  time  during  the  past  year.  Wire 
Zjfc for  assistance  needed." 

-/,  Xiring  the  last  days  of  the  drive  thousands 
3  theatre  managers  took  on  extra  jobs  in  re- 
nse  to  wired  appeals  from  the  War  Activi- 
Committee  and  the  War  Savings  Staff  of 
Sjj  •  Treasury.    Each  manager  assumed  a  per- 
;  is  :al  quota  of  at  least  20  of  the  $50  Bonds,  to 
'J5  ;  them  to  his  friends  and  neighbors  bv  per- 

■Ji  ' 


sonal  salesmanship.  The  effort  was  over  and 
above  any  sales  made  through  the  theatres  or 
other  normal  methods. 

In  a  wire  sent  to  800  locals^  of  the  Interna- 
tional Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees 
last  week  Richard  F.  Walsh,  international 
president,  asked  that  all  members  buy  as  many 
Bonds  as  they  possibly  could  before  the  end  of 
September. 

Newsreels  issued  September  24th  carried  a 
War  Bond  plea  made  by  Joseph  C.  Grew,  former 
Ambassador  to  Japan.  The  sequence  was  made 
especially  for  the  War  Activities  Committee 
and  was  used  in  theatres  as  a  preamble  to  di- 
rect-to-audience  Bond  selling  rallies. 

The  Bond  premieres  continued  in  the  last 
days  of  the  month  as  one  of  the  most  effective 
selling  methods.  Washington,  D.  C,  citizens 
bought  $1,826,422  worth  of  Bonds  to  see  the 
premiere  of  MGM's  "The  War  Against  Mrs. 
Hadlev"  ;  "Panama  Hattie"  at  Loew's  Poli  in 
Worcester,  Mass.,  brought  $388,118;  "My  Sis- 
ter Eileen."  $376,225  at  the  Ohio  in  Columbus, 
O. ;  "Yank  at  Eton,"  $289,125  at  Loew's  Syra- 
cuse. Other  reports  of  premieres  included : 
$90,000  at  the  Ottumwa  in  Ottumwa.  Iowa; 


$218,700  at  the  Capitol  in  Clinton,  Iowa ;  $104,- 
800  at  the  Cecil  in  Mason  City,  Iowa. 

New  York  State  War  Bond  sales  through 
September  26th  totaled  §98,109,746  it  was  re- 
ported Monday.  The  state  committee's  Bond- 
mobile  reached  Buffalo  with  a  total  sale  of 
$1,636,737,  and  a  final  effort  was  made  in  that 
city  to  bring  its  total  over  $2,000,000  before  it 
was  pushed  over  the  brink  of  Niagara  Falls 
bearing  effigies  of  Axis  leaders. 

Theatres  in  the  New  York  metropolitan  area 
had  one  of  their  biggest  weekend  sales  last 
Friday  through  Sunday.  Bond  sales  reported 
aggregated  S617.850  and  Stamp  sales  $81,311. 
The  Loew  circuit  led  with  $226,900  in  Bond 
sales.  $25,127  in  Stamps ;  Skouras  Theatres  was 
second  with  $121,575  in  Bonds,  $20,337  in 
Stamps;  and  RKO  was  third  with  $68,125  in 
Bonds  and  $10,706  in  Stamps.  The  Loew  cir- 
cuit reported  a  total  sale  to  September  27th  of 
$8,387,029  in  its  127  theatres. 

The  campaign  in  the  state  was  concluded 
with  numerous  local  and  regional  rallies,  the 
star  rally  in  Madison  Square  Garden  Wednes- 
day night,  and  a  marathon  radio  program  by 
(.Continued  on  following  Page) 


14 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,  1942 


FIELD  FORCES  MAINTAIN  PACE 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

Charles  Laughton  Tuesday  during  which  he 
made  sales  talks  every  20  minutes  every  WEAF 
from  6:30  A.M.  to  midnight. 

Several  rallies  and  dinners,  special  perform- 
ances and  increased  efforts  on  the  part  of  ex- 
hibitors proved  a  stimulant  for  War  Bond  buy- 
ing in  the  Chicago  area  in  the  last  two  weeks 
of  the  September  drive. 

Three  events  sponsored  by  the  Indiana-Illi- 
nois theatre  circuit  during  the  week  brought 
close  to  $500,000  in  Bond  sales.  A  dinner  at 
St.  Bernadine  Hall  in  Chicago,  with  admittance 
set  at  a  $500  Bond  purchase,  accounted  for 
$65,000.  Another  dinner  given  at  the  YMCA, 
South  Chicago,  promoted  in  conjunction  with 
the  circuit's  Gayety  theatre  there,  took  in  $100,- 
000  on  the  same  basis.  The  dinner  at  the  Ma- 
sonic Temple,  LaPorte,  Ind.,  with  Dorothy  La- 
mour  as  guest,  resulted  in  $300,000  in  sales,  a 
total  of  $465,000  for  the  three  events. 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  Calo  theatre,  Chi- 
cago, $456,475  in  Bonds  were  sold  to  two  large 
industrial  firms,  according  to  Arthur  Davidson, 
manager.  The  sale  to  the  Chromium  Plate 
Company  of  America  amounted  to  $328,475  and 
$128,000  was  sold  to  the  Best  Brewing  Com- 
pany. 

Reports  of  Record 
Sales  Pour  in 

Reports  of  record  sales  continued  to  pour  into 
headquarters  up  to  the  last  minute  of  the  drive. 
In  Indianapolis  Dorothy  Lamour  sold  $800,000 
worth  in  a  personal  appearance  at  the  Cadle 
Tabernacle,  and  an  additional  $265,112  in 
pledges.  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  Wilmington,  Del., 
turned  in  $2,312,000  for  Paulette  Goddard  and 
William  Gargan. 

The  Rhode  Island  drive  passed  the  $3,000,000 
mark  for  the  first  16  days  of  September,  Senior 
Deputy  Administrator  Francis  X.  Flannery  of 
the  State  War  Savings  Staff  reported  to  State 
Chairman  Edward  M.  Fay  of  the  Theatre  Bond 
Sales  Committee,  characterizing  the  work  of 
the  theatre  managers  "a  superb  accomplish- 
ment." A  premiere  of  "Holiday  Inn,"  was  held 
at  Edward  L.  Reed's  Strand  theatre  Wednes- 
day night  with  Bonds  for  tickets  on  a  $25-$100 
scale.  Henry  R.  Tobin  held  "Olneyville  Night" 
at  the  Olympia  theatre  the  same  night. 

In  Newport,  R.  I.,  Ralph  J.  Tully's  M.  &  P. 
Strand  exceeded  its  $93,000  expectation  by  run- 
ning up  $162,075  under  the  sponsorship  of  the 
Rotary  Club  with  Mr.  Tully  as  committee 
chairman.  A  "Wake  Island"  showing  at  Paul 
Slayer's  Interstate  Durfee  theatre  in  Fall 
River,  Mass.,  brought  in  over  $250,000  Sept. 
29th.  William  S.  Canning,  manager  of  the  In- 
terstate Empire  theatre,  who  is  assistant  chair- 
man of  the  city's  War  Bond-Stamp  Committee, 
directed  the  event. 

Marines  Sworn  In 
At  Bond  Rally 

Fifteen  new  Marines  were  sworn  in  at  Jack 
A.  Simons'  Loew's  State  theatre  one  night  at 
a  Bond  rally.  Free  tickets  were  given  for  Bond 
purchases  at  Fay's,  Majestic  and  Carlton  the- 
atres the  last  half  of  September.  Tickets  were 
given  for  Bonds  at  Loew's  State  September 
21st  and  the  Empire  September  23rd. 

In  Brockton,  Mass.,  in  connection  with  the 
"Wake  Island"  preview  at  Joseph  J.  CahilPs 
M.  &  P.  Brockton  theatre,  Mayor  Joseph  H. 
Downing  issued  an  official  proclamation  for 
Wake  Island  Bond  Night.  Members  of  the 
Brockton  Woman's  Club  aided  in  operating  trie 
War  Bond  booth  at  Morris  Perlstein's  Modern 
theatre  during  September. 

The  Keith  Memorial,  RKO  Boston  and 
Loew's  State  and  Orpheum  theatres  in  Boston 


BOND  RECORD  SET 
BY  OREGON  HOUSE 

A  real  Bond  record  has  been  made 
by  John  Day  Theatres  at  John  Day, 
in  Oregon.  With  only  a  population 
of  420,  and  but  6,000  in  the  entire 
Grant  County,  on  the  initial  day, 
September  1st,  $1  1,842  in  Bonds  and 
Stamps  were  sold. 


sold  $73,500  in  War  Bonds  September  23rd 
when  free  tickets  were  given. 

Residents  of  Benton,  Pa.,  and  nearby  commu- 
nities paid  a  real  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  dur- 
ing a  program  held  at  the  Ritz  theatre  in  Ben- 
ton for  the  September  War  Bond  drive.  The 
program  netted  sales  of  $1,505  in  War  Bonds, 
for  an  average  of  better  than  $5  per  seat  in  the 
theatre. 

Record  or  near-record  totals  for  War  Bond 
sales  in  an  area  its  size  is  expected  for  the 
drive  in  the  Pittsburgh  area  by  co-chairman 
M.  A.  Silver  and  M.  A.  Rosenberg.  In  a  one- 
day  campaign,  featured  by  an  Irene  Dunne 
luncheon  in  the  William  Penn  Hotel  where  ad- 
mission was  a  $5,000  Bond,  and  a  •  night-time 
rally  at  The  Gardens  where  admission  to  a 
three-hour  show  was  a  War  Bond  of  any  de- 
nomination, $3,000,000  Bonds  were  sold.  For 
the  first  time  in  local  history,  independent  and 
circuit  theatres,  major  and  independent  distrib- 
utors, and  accessory  people  collaborated  under 
a  plan  engineered  by  Joseph  Feldman,  assistant 
general  manager  of  Warner  Bros.  Tri-State 
theatres,  and  zone  manager  John  J.  Maloney  of 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

In  New  Haven  during  the  first  three  weeks 
of  September,  well  over  $1,000,000  had  been 
collected  by  Warner,  Loew-Poli  and  M.  &  P. 
houses  alone,  excluding  pledges  and  orders  for 
series  F  &  G  Bonds.  Exchanges  added  $105,- 
000  for  the  same  period,  and  programs  in  New 
Haven  alone  had  hit  $65,000.  Bond-admission 
preinieres  throughout  the  state  had  not  yet 
computed  full  returns,  but  Hartford  "Wake 
Island"  took  in  $400,000,  New  Haven  for  the 
same  picture,  $275,000,  Meriden,  with  "Holiday 
Inn,"  $110,000,  Worcester  "Panama  Hattie," 
$381,000,  and  Bridgeport,  "Pardon  My  Sarong," 
$81,000.  None  of  the  Warner  totals  had  been 
turned  in  for  these  shows. 

Five  Bond  Premieres 
In  San  Francisco 

Total  War  Bond  sales  in  San  Francisco  the- 
atres during  the  past  week  were  boosted  ap- 
proximately $1,500,000  by  five  Bond  Premieres, 
headed  by  the  "Wake  Island"  opening  at  the 
Paramount  theatre,  where  the  sales  amounted 
to  nearly  $1,200,000.  Other  previews  raised 
$100,000  at  the  Coliseum,  and  about  $60,000 
each  at  the  Royal,  El  Rey  and  El  Capitan, 
neighborhood  houses.  San  Francisco  society, 
the  American  Women's  Voluntary  Services, 
Marine  Corps  recruits,  and  the  American  Le- 
gion Band  from  Zane  Irwin  Post  took  part  in 
the  spectacular  pageantry  preceding  the  "Wake 
Island"  showing. 

Another  War  Bond  sale  was  set  for  late  this 
week  (October  1st)  when  San  Francisco  the- 
atre men  staged  a  huge  War  Bond  Show  in 
the  Civic  Auditorium.  Maria  Montez,  Jon 
Hall,  Sabu  and  Dick  Foran  were  the  stars 
scheduled  to  auction  off  the  Bonds.  Admission 
was  by  Bond  purchase  only. 

As  the  campaign  for  the  Carolinas'  425  the- 


atres neared  the  end,  Mrs.  Walter  Griffith,  sec- 
retary of  the  Theatre  Owners'  Association,  re- 
ported:  Stanley  theatre,  Stanley,  N.  C,  with 
Gov.  Broughton  as  auctioneer,  $127,000  in  a 
single  day ;  Dixie  theatre,  Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 
(population  2,300),  H.  C.  McCarroll,  manager, 
$2,310;  Yadkin  theatre,  Yadkinville,  N.  C. 
(population  590),  J.  E.  Shew,  manager,  $39- 
000;  Iris  theatre,  Belmont,  N.  C.  (population 
4,000),  E.  E.  Wade,  proprietor,  sales  for  week 
ending  September  19th,  $102,550.  For  the  first  J 
week  of  the  campaign,  ending  September  5th,  I 
the  Iris  reported  $70,200. 

Reporting  independently,  Albert  Sotille,  presi-  | 
dent  of  the  Pastime  Amusement  Company  of  1 
Charleston,  S.  C,  announced  sales  totaling  $1,-  | 
335,000  for  a  single  day. 

Army  Relief  Show 
Held  at  Garden 

A  contingent  of  Hollywood  stars  who  joined' 
with  other  screen  players  in  touring  America  \ 
on  behalf  of   the  industry's   September  War 
Bond  drive,  wound  up  their  cross-country  tours  I 
at  Madison  Square  Garden  Wednesday  night  j 
where    the    Army    Emergency    Relief  Show.il 
"We're  All  in  It"  was  staged.    On  the  eve  oMj 
the  event,  Bernard  Relin,  executive  director  olJ 
the  show,  announced  a  complete  sellout,  report:  | 
ing  that  the  only  remaining  seats  were  l,00(jJl 
standing-room  pews  which  were  to  be  sold  afl 
$2.20  each. 

Hollywood  representation  came  during  thjjj  j 
second  half  of  the  show  when  "Hollywood  Prel  ] 
miere"  was  presented,  featuring  Myrna  Loy,i  ] 
Edward  Arnold,   Dorothy   Lamour,   Veroniqj  j 
Lake,  Carol  Bruce,  Charles  Laughton,  Paulettl 
Goddard,    Pat    O'Brien,    Lieutenant    Burgesi  j 
Meredith,  Ann  Rutherford,  Joan  Blondell,  Son'  ] 
ja  Henie,  Constance  Bennett,  Merle  Oberoil  j 
Fay   Bainte'r,   Lili   Damita,   Frank  McHugl'']  ] 
Patricia  Morrison,  Allen  Jenkins,  Betty  Brucf  j 
and  Fredric  March.    The  stars  later  took  pai  j 
in  a   15-minute  Bond  selling  interval   whic'l  j 
came  just  before  midnight,  and  was  arrange I  i 
by  War  Activities   Committee  and  Treasui  ,  I 
officials  in  cooperation  with  Army  Emergent  I  | 
Relief. 

The  show  was  scheduled  to  get  under  way  J 
7  :30  promptly  to  give  ample  time  to  the  gala}  i  j 
of  screen,  radio,  stage  and  opera  stars  wlj 
volunteered  their  services  in  behalf  of  t!  j 
Army's  relief  agency.  Olsen  &  Johnson  j  j 
"Sons  of  Fun"  fired  the  starting  gun  with  j  j 
novelty   opening   entitled   "Audience   Caper;  ] 

Plans  Set  for 
"Night  of  Stars" 

Gov.  Herbert  H.  Lehman  and  Mayor  Fire  I 
H.  LaGuardia  were  named  to  head  the  co  j 
mittee  arranging  the  ninth  annual  "Night  I 
Stars"  which  will  be  held  November  24th  I:  I 
Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York,  it  v[i  j 
announced  this  week  by  Rudolph  G.  Son  nl 
born,  chairman  of  the  show.  The  benefit  j;  j 
held  annually  for  the  United  Jewish  Appeal!  | 

Honorary  chairmen  are  Richard  C.  Pat1 1-  j 
son,  Jr.,  Nathan  Straus,  Grover  A.  Whalen  ;  ;J  J 
Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise.  The  following  film  j- } 
dustry  leaders  are  on  the  production  commi  el 
as  honorary  chairmen:  Barney  Balaban,  Dspj 
Bernstein,  Nate  J.  Blumberg,  Jack  Cci,  J 
Charles  C.  Moskowitz,  George  J.  Schae  ',  J 
Joseph  R.  Vogel  and  Albert  Warner.  Mai|nl 
Schenck  heads  the  committee  with  Louis  k-l 
Sidney  and  Ed  Sullivan  as  co-chairmen.  I 


They're  all  in  the  Scrap  and 

READY  FOR  YOUR 
SCRAP  MATINEE! 

God  bless  America!  Isn't  it  thrilling  to  see 
The  folks  on  the  march!  You  can't  beat  that  spirit! 
Those  folks  are  your  patrons,  Mr.  Exhibitor! 
They  know  that  their  war  machines 
Need  scrap  metal  and  scrap  rubber. 
They  know  that  without  scrap  — 
The  scrap's  over!  No  time  to  lose! 
America  needs  you  NOW ! 
Use  the  two-fisted  press  book! 
Every  Scrap  Matinee  puts  steel 
Through  the  Axis  heart! 
Every  Scrap  Matinee  tells  Uncle  Sam 
To  tell  the  boys  over  there  that 
We're  all  in  the  Scrap  together! 

Sponsored  by  the  War  Activities  Committee  of  the  Morion  Picture  Industry,  1501  Broadway, 
New  York  City  (Room  408).  Get  the  film  "SALVAGE"  from  your  nearest  RKO  Exchange 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,     I  942 


U.S.  WILL  SEEK  COOLING 
SYSTEMS  FOR  WAR  PLANTS 


Need  Is  Cited  by  Nelson; 
Raw  Stock  for  Ad  Films 
Approved  by  OWI 

Commercial  air  conditioning  equip- 
ment, including  theatres',  will  be  needed 
for  the  war  effort,  the  War  Production 
Board  warned  Monday,  in  a  letter  from 
Donald  Nelson,  WPB  chief,  to  depart- 
ment store  executives,  and  read  to  them 
at  a  New  York  meeting  by  Lessing  J. 
Rosenwald,  director  of  WPB's  conserva- 
tion division. 

Mr.  Nelson  said  the  equipment  to  be  ac- 
quired will  be  "100  horsepower  or  larger 
— from  practically  all  stores,  office  buildings, 
theatres,  hotels,  and  buildings  of  like  char- 
acter." 

He  added:  "We  do  not  intend  to  ask  for 
equipment  indiscriminately.  Whenever  we  re- 
quest that  an  installation  be  made  available  for 
the  war  effort,  we  will,  in  each  case,  have  a 
specific  project  where  this  equipment  will  be 
installed. 

"While  we  have  requested  only  certain  depart- 
ment store  heads  to  attend  this  meeting,  it  is  our 
intention  to  make  similar  requests  of  other  users 
of  refrigerating  equipment." 

Monday,  three  large  New  York  stores,  and 
eight  others  in  the  country  volunteered  their 
equipment.  The  New  York  stores  are  Macy's, 
Gimbels  and  McCreery.  It  was  said  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  equipment  asked  that  day  was- 
pledged  at  the  meeting. 

Large  Number  of 
Compressors  Needed 

The  equipment  will  go  to  war  plants,  Mr. 
Nelson  wrote,  explaining:  "As  you  know,  we 
are  now  building  several  plants,  such  as  those 
which  will  manufacture  synthetic  rubber,  where 
refrigerating  equipment  is  a  vital  necessity  to 
the  manufacturing  process.  Tremendous 
quantities  of  compressors  are  needed — quanti- 
ties larger  than  we  could  posibly  build  in  the 
short  space  of  time  available  to  us." 

"It  has  been  found  necessary  because  oi 
shortages  to  close  down  many  prosperous  in- 
dustries," Mr..  Rosenwald  told  the  department 
store  men,  adding :  "In  comparison  with  _  this 
hardship,  the  problem  of  competitive  disad- 
vantage loses  much  of  its  importance.  This  is 
war.  Refrigerating  units  are  needed,  and  must 
go  to  war." 

It  was  emphasized  that  merely  cooling  equip- 
ment is  affected,  not  heating  or  ventilating  and 
that  the  WPB  is  most  anxious  to  obtain,  not 
only  compressors,  but  the  coolers  and  conden- 
sers, and  the  generator  or  turbines  which  drive 
refrigerating  units.  Units  needed  will  be  pur- 
chased by  the  Defense  Plant  Corporation,  and 
resold  to  war  factories. 

The  WPB,  meanwhile,  added  restrictions  to 
those  already  placed  on  manufacture  of  re- 
frigerating equipment.  The  following  are  now 
prohibited:  non-mechanical  water  coolers,  with 
less  than  25  pounds  of  ice  capacity;  low  tem- 
perature mechanical  refrigerators;  all  types  of 
refrigerated  display  cases. 

WPB  officials  were  told  on  Friday,  Septem- 
ber 25th,  that  the  country's  film  manufacturing 
plants  were  able  to  meet  current  and  next  year's 
demands.  The  information  came  at  a  meeting 
of  the  film  industry's  advisory  committee  with 
Harold  Hopper,  WPB  photographic  section 
chief. 

It  was  said  the  Government  officials  con- 


Film  Center  Hits  WPB  Order 
Ending  Educational  Films 

A  charge  that  the  War  Production  Board's  priority  ruling  curtailing  Hollywood's 
use  of  raw  film,  but  which  practically  prohibits  the  use  of  stock  by  documentary 
and  educational  film  producers,  sets  a  "precedent  for  total  abolition  of  freedom 
of  the  press,  radio  and  movies",  was  made  this  week  by  the  American  Film  Center, 
New  York.  The  Film  Center  is  the  documentary  and  educational  film  production 
organization  reportedly  subsidized  by  the  Rockefeller  Foundation. 

Warning  that  the  WPB  order,  if  applied  in  its  present  form,  would  be  tantamount 
to  a  request  to  inspect  "a  newspaper  or  magazine's  copy  before  the  allocation  of 
newsprint",  the  Film  Center  attacked  the  WPB  in  its  official  publication,  Film  News, 
issued  this  week.  The  organization  implied  that  the  motion  picture  section  of  the 
WPB  was  Hollywood  controlled,  in  referring  to  it  as  the  "Hollywood-staff  section 
of  the  WPB".  The  publication  also  reported  that  the  present  situation  "was  not 
to  the  liking"  of  Lowell  Mellett,  chief  of  the  motion  picture  section  of  the  Office 
of  War  Information. 

The  blast  against  the  WPB  came  as  WPB  officials  were  emerging  from  struggles 
with  independent  film  producers  and  commercial  producers  over  the  clarification 
and  reconsideration  of  the  ruling. 

Donald  Slesinger,  director  of  the  American  Film  Center,  who  also  is  director  of 
the  visual  education  department  of  the  Office  of  Civilian  Defense  in  Washington, 
when  asked  whether  or  not  his  organization  would  lead  the  fight  to  establish  equal 
parity  of  educational  producers  with  that  of  other  branches  of  the  industry,  said 
in  New  York  on  Monday  that  "there  is  no  reason  why  the  WPB  order  in  the  field 
of  education  should  be  any  different  from  the  order  issued  to  theatrical  producers. 
There  should  be  a  cut  in  the  percentage  of  footage,"  he  said,  agreeing  that  large- 
scale  reduction  of  raw  stock  was  essential,  but  added  that  the  WPB  edict  should 
"give  educational  producers  the  same  leeway  as  other  producers  have". 

It  is  understood  that  John  McDonald,  editor  of  Film  News,  who  is  in  charge  of 
the  publications  department  for  the  Center,  was  in  Washington  last  week,  seeking 
audiences  with  Harold  B.  Hopper  of  the  WPB  and  Mr.  Mellett.  In  his  article,  he 
said  that  Mr.  Mellett  "declined  to  be  quoted  on  the  matter",  but  "indicated  that 
the  situation  was  not  to  his  liking". 

The  article  charged  that  the  WPB,  through  its  ruling,  had  "placed  the  Govern- 
ment for  the  first  time  in  its  history  in  the  position  of  taking  direct  and  absolute 
control  over  a  field  of  education — in  this  instance,  the  educational  film.  Control 
of  educational  pictures  has  been  ordered  and  assumed  by  former  Hollywood 
executives  now  in  the  WPB." 


curred,  but  that  uncertainty  about  1943  re- 
quirements made  present  discussions  merely 
preliminary. 

Manufacturers  of  advertising  films,  given  no 
place  in  the  allocation  system  for  raw  stock  re- 
cently set  up  by  the  War  Production  Board, 
will  be  granted  film  for  such  pictures  as  may 
be  given  the  approval  of  the  motion  picture 
bureau  of  the  Office  of  War  Information,  the 
industry  committee  for  the  advertising  and  edu- 
cational group  was  told  by  Mr.  Hopper. 

In  a  lengthy  but  harmonious  meeting,  WPB 
and  OWI  officials  and  the  committee  went  over 
the  film  situation.  Mr.  Hopper  pointed  out  that 
the  restrictions  were  necessary,  on  the  one 
hand,  because  of  the  great  need  for  the  mate- 
rials going  into  films,  particularly  nitric  acid 
and  cotton  linters,  and,  on  the  other,  because 
of  the  great  military  demand  for  raw  stocky 

While  under  the  allocations,  the  advertising 
film  men  are  not  permitted  to  make  advertising 
pictures,  they  are  producing  a  large  number  of 
morale  and  war  drive  pictures  for  the  Govern- 
ment. 


All  of  the  activities  of  the  group  will  be 
cleared  through  the  OWI  and  applications  for 
raw  stock  will  be  received  only  from  producers 
whose  scripts  have  been  approved  by  that 
agency,  Mr.  Hopper  told  the  group. 

Arch  Mercey,  assistant  to  Director  Lowell 
Mellett  of  the  OWI  motion  picture  bureau,  and 
Dr.  Edgar  Dale,  consultant,  explained  that  pri- 
mary consideration  will  be  given,  in  passing  on 
proposed  pictures,  to  whether  they  carry  a  mes- 
sage, as  distinct  from  advertising ;  will  apply  tc 
large  numbers  of  people,  and  do  not  duplicate 
existing  films. 

The  ceiling  prices  on  silver  salts  were  in- 
creased last  week  by  the  Office  of  Price  Admin- 
istration), which  at  the  same  time  forbade  man- 
ufacturers of  photographic  materials  to  raise 
prices. 

Previously,  the  maximum  price  for  importei 
silver  bullion  was  raised  cents  per  pound 
after  an  agreement  between  this  country  ant 
Mexico.  Silver  salts  producers  might  now  in 
crease  their  prices  to  compare  with  the  increasi 
in  silver  cost. 


Octobe  r    3  ,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


17 


15,669  THEATRES  ANSWER 
CALL  TO  COLLECT  SCRAP 


WAC  Sets  Machinery  for 
All-Out  Campaign;  Will 
Name  Local  Chairmen 

Fresh  from  the  battle  of  the  Bonds,  the 
industry  this  week  turned  its  resources 
and  exploitation  power  to  the  national 
scrap  metal  collection  campaign.  In  re- 
sponse to  a  call  for  help  from  Donald 
Nelson,  chairman  of  the  War  Production 
Board,  the  War  Activities  Committee  set 
up  the  machinery  for  a  drive  to  collect 
every  piece  of  available  scrap  within 
range  of  the  15,669  theatres  pledged  to 
participate. 

Quoting  Mr.  Nelson's  appeal  to  the  indus- 
try for  "every  possible  cooperation,"  Arthur 
Mayer,  assistant  to  Francis  Harmon,  co- 
ordinator of  the  War  Activities  Committee, 
wrote  to  the  field  chairmen  of  the  theatres 
division  asking  that  they  appoint  local  chair- 
men for  the  drive.  The  WAC  also  sent  to 
all  theatres  a  special  press  book  prepared  by 
Monroe  Greenthal  of  the  WPB  outlining 
methods  of  participating  in  the  drive. 

Heads  of  the  distributing  companies  have 
agreed  to  permit  exhibitors  playing  percent- 
age pictures  to  use  them  for  morning  shows 
on  Saturday  or  matinees  during  the  week  for 
scrap  drives  without  charge  to  the  exhibitor. 
As  an  alternative,  exhibitors  not  wanting  to 
play  their  current  picture  may  obtain  free 
from  the  distributors  a  previously  played 
available  picture  or  short  subjects. 

All  proceeds  received  by  the  exhibitors 
from  these  scrap  matinees  are  to  be  turned 
over  to  some  local  or  national  charity,  to  be 
selected  by  the  exhibitor.  The  scrap  may  be 
turned  over  directly  to  the  Red  Cross,  Boy 
Scouts,  or  other  local  charitable  organization, 
or  it  may  be  sold  by  the  exhibitor  and  the 
proceeds  donated. 

Four  Ways  Suggested 
For  Cooperation 

■I  In  its  letter  to  exhibitors  the  WAC  sug- 
i  rested  four  ways  of  "Getting  into  the  Scrap." 
[They  are: 

t  "1)  You  can  arrange  with  your  theatres 
I  o  run  a  scrap  metal  or  rubber  matinee  in 
I  "our  locality,  admission  to  be  in  the  form  oi 
three,  four,  or  five  pounds  of  scrap  metal  or 
I  ubber  presented  in  the  theatre.    Your  press 
*>ook  will  show  you  how  you  can  ballyhoo 
uch  a  matinee  in  advance,  how  to  publicize 
fit  in  your  newspaper  ads,  trailers  on  your 
icreens,  publicity  through  the  mayor  of  your 
pmmunity,  spot  announcements  on  the  radio, 
;nd  all  other  showmanship  angles  to  put  over 
n  important  collection  of  this  sort. 
■  "2)  A  second  plan  is  also  herewith  sug- 
ested  which  involves  the  holding  of  a  scrap 
|  latinee  publicized  by  your  theatre  but  in  this 
rise  the  collection  of  scrap  metal  and  rubber 
[  oes  not  take  place  in  your  theatre.   You  can 
11  your  patrons  to  bring  the  scrap  metal  or 
(-ibber  to  their  lecal  salvage  committee  or 
terhaps  to  a  parking  lot  adjacent  to  your 
r.  eatre.    Naturally  you  would  arrange  with 
I  :>ur  local  salvage  committee  to  assist  you 
ii  the  publicity,  and  the  scrap  metal  and 


NELSON  IN  PLEA 
FOR  'SALVAGE' 

Donald  Nelson,  chairman  of  the 
War  Production  Board,  makes  an 
urgent  plea  for  scrap  in  an  8-minute 
short  subject,  "Salvage",  produced 
by  the  Office  of  War  Information 
Film  Unit.  Mr.  Nelson  talks  against 
a  background  of  defense  plants, 
secret  tank  arsenals,  steel  mills,  nitro- 
glycerine factories  and  ammunition 
plants,  already  suffering  from  short- 
ages. Although  delivered  without 
emotion,  Mr.  Nelson's  narrative  re- 
veals a  critical  situation.  It  is  a  sub- 
ject that  should  be  shown  in  all 
theatres.  It  will  be  nationally  re- 
leased on  October  8th  by  the 
War  Activities  Committee  through 
RKO  Radio  exchanges,  coinciding 
with  the  nationwide  metal  scrap 
drive  being  staged  by  the  Amer- 
ican Newspaper  Publishers  Associa- 
tion and  the  film  industry. 

—P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 


rubber  so  collected  could  be  sold  to  the  junk 
dealer  and  the  proceeds  turned  over  to  some 
local  charity  which  you  could  designate. 
Note  the  distinction  between  plans  one  and 
two.  Plan  One  calls  for  all  scrap  to  be 
brought  directly  to  your  theatre  as  a  ticket  of 
admission ;  Plan  Two  calls  for  the  theatre  as 
the  focal  point  of  all  publicity,  but  the  actual 
material  is  taken  either  to  the  local  salvage 
depot  or  to  some  other  parking  lot  or  space 
designated  as  a  receiving  place  for  the  metal. 

*'3)  In  some  large  centers  a  plan  has  been 
suggested  whereby  four  or  five  first  run 
theatres  would  band  together,  designate  a 
certain  empty  lot  or  suitable  spot  as  a  receiv- 
ing station.  At  this  joint  collection  spot  one 
representative  would  be  present  to  receive 
people  bringing  in  scrap  metal  and  rubber  in 
sufficient  weight  to  entitle  them  to  a  ticket 
of  free  admission  to  one  of  the  first  run 
theatres.  This  plan  is  a  community  type  of 
plan  and  has  in  its  favor  the  fact  that  all  first 
run  theatres  will  be  publicizing  one  salvage 
depot.  It  will  be  a  centralized  effort,  all  the 
first  run  theatre  screens  will  be  advertising 
this  event  and  it  really  becomes  a  project  of 
civic  importance. 

All  Plans  Handled 
On  Local  Basis 

"4)  The  fourth  plan  is  really  only  a  pub- 
licity plan  and  is  less  desirable  than  the 
three  set  forth  above.  The  plan  consists  of 
the  exhibitor  going  to  his  local  salvage  com- 
mittee, offering  the  local  salvage  committee 
full  cooperation  in  the  way  of  a  lobby  display 
and  the  use  of  the  exhibitor's  screen  and 
slugs  in  the  exhibitor's  newspaper  ads.  In 
other  words  the  exhibitor  tells  the  film  audi- 
ence that  the  collection  of  scrap  metal  and 


rubber  is  important  and  that  they  should  take 
their  scrap  metal  and  rubber  immediately  to 
the  address  of  the  local  salvage  depot.  The 
theatre  in  this  instance  is  not  a  collection 
agency  but  is  a  medium  of  publicity  and 
education. 

"These  are  only  suggestions.  There  may 
be  many  other  ways  which  will  occur  to  you 
in  which  the  theatres  in  your  territory  can 
participate  successfully  in  this  drive.  What- 
ever happens  it  must  be  handled  on  a  local 
basis.  No  one  out  of  New  York  is  going  to 
tell  anyone  what  should  be  done.  We  will 
only  act  as  a  clearing  house  so  that  you  can 
be  kept  fully  acquainted  with  the  activity  in 
every  section  of  the  country." 

National  Screen  Has 
Teaser  Slugs 

Special  short  subjects  which  will  be  made 
available  to  theatres  during  the  drive  include 
a  Walt  Disney  special,  "Out  of  the  Frying 
Pan  into  the  Firing  Line" ;  "Salvage,"  a  spe- 
cial one-reel  film  made  by  the  Office  of  War 
Information  and  produced  by  Samuel  Spe- 
wack;  and  "Weapons  from  Waste,"  a  special 
subject  being  made  by  Columbia  Pictures. 
All  will  be  released  through  the  theatres  divi- 
sion of  the  War  Activities  Committee. 

Cooperation  of  the  theatres  and  the  indus- 
try scrap  chairman  with  the  local  and  state 
scrap  committees  already  set  up  by  the  WPB 
is  urged  by  the  War  Activities  Committee. 

Teaser  slugs  for  the  use  of  theatres  in  ad- 
vertising the  drive  will  be  distributed  through 
National  Screen  Accessories.  Theatres  are 
urged  to  include  the  slugs  in  their  regular 
newspaper  advertising  as  they  did  for  the 
Bond  campaign.  The  producers  and  distrib- 
utors also  are  preparing  to  include  such  slo- 
gans as  "Throw  your  scrap  into  the  fight 
with  a  scrap  matinee,"  "Every  scrap  matinee 
helps  win  the  war,"  "You're  not  in  the  war 
until  you  get  in  a  scrap  matinee"  and  "Enlist 
your  theatre  today  in  a  scrap  matinee." 
These  will  be  included  in  trade  paper  and 
national  advertising. 

New  York  Circuits 
Already  at  Work 

Si  Seadler,  advertising  manager  for  MGM, 
has  prepared  several  trade  paper  advertise- 
ments for  the  War  Activities  Committee  on 
the  theatres'  part  in  the  drive  and  Ernest 
Emerling,  of  Loew's,  Inc.,  is  preparing  the 
teaser  slugs. 

Even  before  the  end  of  the  Bond  drive  cir- 
cuits in  the  New  York  area  began  active 
work  for  the  scrap  campaign.  A  special 
meeting  of  managers  and  assistants  of  Loew's 
theatres  was  held  Monday  night  to  discuss 
plans.  The  Palace  theatre  of  the  Fabian  cir- 
cuit in  Port  Richmond,  Staten  Island,  can- 
celled its  show  Monday  night  for  a  meeting 
at  which  Joseph  A.  Palma,  Borough  Presi- 
dent, presided. 


Hartford  WAC  Aide 

Jack  W.  Gordon,  general  manager  of  the 
Gordon  Entertainment  Bureau,  has  been  ap- 
pointed entertainment  committee  chairman  of 
the  Hartford  War  Activities  Committee. 


18 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


SMPE  Urges 
Deeper  Study  of 
Film  Saving 

Formidable  obstacles  to  any  immediate 
change  in  motion  picture  technics  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conserving  film,  have  been  described  for 
both  the  industry  and  the  Government  by  the 
Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers  in  a 
vigorous,  detailed  report  of  its  Engineering 
Committee,  of  which  Dr.  Alfred  N.  Goldsmith 
is  chairman. 

The  statement,  released  in  New  York  on 
Tuesday,  through  Donald  E.  Hyndman  of 
Eastman  Kodak,  engineering  vice-president  of 
the  SMPE,  and  running  to  nearly  3,000  words, 
cites  no  specific  method  but  is  the  report  an- 
nounced about  a  month  ago  as  being  in  pre- 
paration following  a  special,  closed  demonstra- 
tion for  the  Society  of  E.  I.  Sponable's  system. 
In  a  preamble,  the  Society  declares  that  "it  is 
opposed  to  hasty  and  experimentally  unsup- 
ported action  on  a  large  scale." 

In  thus  denying  its  approval  to  the  Spon- 
able  system  of  frame  compression,  the  report 
includes  a  resolution  urging  the  industry  and 
the  Government  to  retain  "a  carefully  selected 
group  of  neutral,  competent  motion  picture  en- 
gineers" to  investigate  all  "promising  methods" 
by  which  film  may  be  conserved. 

The  report  pictures  the  problem  that  would 
confront  such  an  investigating  body  of  engi- 
neers in  its  attempt  to  find  a  practical  way 
of  conserving  film  through  revisions  of  pres- 
ent technical  practices,  as  one  involving  every 
phase  of  motion  picture  production,  processing, 
shipping  and  exhibition,  and  additionally,  stor- 
age and  16  mm.  reduction. 

Presentation  of  the  problem  is  in  the  form 
of  over  80  questions  asking  what  changes  would 
have  to  be  made  in  cameras,  sound  recordings, 
production  procedure,  cutting  and  editing,  proc- 
ess projection,  16  mm.  and  35  mm.  intercutting, 
printers,  developing  machines,  negative  han- 
dling, inspection,  raw  stock  characteristics,  foot- 
age per  reel,  reels  themselves,  color  processing, 
projector  mechanisms,  projection  lamps,  sound- 
heads, screens,  fire  prevention  methods,  and  in 
manifold  off-shoots  of  these  matters. 

Yet  another  group  of  questions  on  costs  in- 
dicates doubt  that  sponsors  of  methods  sub- 
mitted to  date  are  altogether  sure  just  how 
much  film  their  innovations  would  save,  since 
these  questions  point  to  factors  that  the  in- 
vestigating engineers  would  study  in  order  to 
determine  what  real  savings  would  amount  to. 

Declaring  that  the  present  physical  stand- 
ards and  mechanical  process  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture represent  "an  outstanding  triumph  of  tech- 
nology," the  statement  voices  a  policy  of  oppo- 
sition "to  any  unwarranted  change,  to  any  step 
of  which  the  consequences  have  been  insuffi- 
ciently analyzed,  or  any  precipitate  and  insuffi- 
ciently considered  basic  change  in  technological 
methods."  The  society,  it  adds,  "is  prepared  to 
assist  the  Government"  in  the  war  effort,  and 
to  cooperate  with  the  industry  "to  protect  and 
raise  the  high  repute  and  favor  in  which  the 
motion  picture  is  held  by  the  public." 


Streamline  Film  Course 
At  New  York  University 

The  course  on  the  motion  picture  given  under 
the  joint  auspices  of  the  New  York  University 
School  of  Education  and  the  National  Board  of 
Review  has  been  streamlined  for  the  duration, 
it  was  announced  last  week  by  Dr.  Frederic 
M.  Thrasher,  in  charge  of  'the  course. 

However,  Dr.  Thrasher  said  that  none  of  the 
regular  features  of  the  course  will  be  sacri- 
ficed. Presentations  by  various  authorities  deal- 
ing with  the  technical,  artistic,  educational  and 
social  aspects  of  the  motion  picture  will  be  an 
important  part  of  the  course. 


Special  Campaigns  Planned 
On  New  Victory  Shorts 

"Letter  from  Bataan"  and  "We  Refuse  to  Die",  Paramount's  first  two  Victory 
shorts,  fabricated  from  subjects  suggested  by  Lowell  Mellett,  head  of  the  motion 
picture  division  of  the  Office  of  War  Information,  will  be  launched  with  special 
exploitation  campaigns,  it  was  announced  Wednesday  in  New  York  when  the  pic- 
tures were  screened  for  the  trade  press. 

Oscar  Morgan,  Paramount  short  subject  sales  head,  said  they  will  be  sold  apart 
from  the  company's  regular  short  subject  schedule,  for  rentals  ranging  up  to  a 
maximum  of  $  I  a  day  per  reel,  a  price  decided  upon  by  the  company  as  an  aid 
to  rapid  and  widespread  distribution.  Four  hundred  prints  have  been  prepared 
on  each  subject. 

"We  Refuse  to  Die"  is  a  moving  reenactment  of  the  story  of  Lidice,  Czecho- 
slovakian  village  utterly  destroyed  by  the  Nazis  in  reprisal  for  the  disposal  of 
Reinhardt  Heydrich,  Nazi  "protector",  by  Czech  patriots.  Much  of  its  power  stems 
from  the  acting  of  Barry  Sullivan,  former  Olympic  swimmer  and  stage  actor,  who 
narrates  the  story  as  one  of  the  villagers.  The  story,  a  simple  narration  of  the 
occupation  of  the  village  and  its  total  destruction  and  the  murder  of  all  its  adult 
male  inhabitants,  confines  itself  strictly  to  the  lesson  of  the  danger  to  free  people 
everywhere  and  the  simple  assertion  that  the  murdered  villagers  will  live  long  after 
the  conqueror  has  been  forgotten. 

"Letter  from  Bataan"  carries  a  more  pragmatic  message  on  the  conservation  of 
food  and  materials,  personalized  by  the  depiction  of  the  reactions  of  a  normal 
family  to  a  letter  from  their  son  who  died  with  his  friends  on  Bataan  for  lack  of 
many  of  the  things  being  wasted  at  home.  Richard  Arlen  as  the  soldier  gives  a 
good  performance  and  there  is  sufficient  dramatic  action  to  vivify  the  message. 

Both  pictures  were  produced  by  William  C.  Thomas  and  directed  by  William 
H.  Pine  from  screenplays  by  Maxwell  Shane.  The  running  time  of  each  is  15  minutes. 

"We  Refuse  to  Die"  will  be  released  nationally  October  25th  in  connection  with 
radio  and  newspaper  campaigns  stressing  the  story  of  Lidice,  and  a  special  pre- 
view of  the  subject  October  23rd  at  Lidice,  III.,  renamed  after  the  Czechoslovakian 
village.  "Letter  from  Bataan"  was  released  September  25th  and  will  be  shown  day 
and  date  in  New  York  first  run  theatres  starting  October  8th. — J.  D.  I. 


File  Trust  Action 
In  Philadelphia 

The  first  anti-trust  suit  in  more  than  a  year 
in  Philadelphia  was  filed  in  U.  S.  district  court 
there  Wednesday  by  Flora  S.  Friedman,  owner 
of  the  Lawndale  theatre,  against  Warner 
Brothers,  Warner  Theatres,  Paramount,  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox,  RKO  Radio,  Metro-Gold- 
wyn-Mayer,  Columbia,  Universal  and  United 
Artists.  The  action  seeks  $225,000  triple  dam- 
ages, claiming  that  the  Warner  circuit  altered 
the  value  of  the  Lawndale  by  changing  run  and 
clearance  in  favor  of  its  Oxford  theatre,  which 
the  circuit  owns  outright. 

Warners'  operated  the  Lawndale  until  1937 
on  lease  and  then  the  house  reverted  to  its  origi- 
nal owner.  The  Oxford  was  built  in  1935  and 
was  purchased  by  Warners  in  1937.  The  com- 
plaint charges  that  Warners  conspired  with  the 
other  major  companies  to  give  the  Oxford  better 
runs  and  clearance  even  after  the  Lawndale 
owner  spent  $50,000  to  remodel  the  theatre 
when  she  got  it  back  in  1937. 

Set  Theatre  Policy 

Following  the  current  two-a-day  run  of 
"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  now  in  its  18th  week 
and  continuing  through  October  18th,  the 
Hollywood  theatre  will  carry  on  as  a  Broad- 
way first  run  house  with  a  continuous  straight 
film  program  at  popular  prices,  Warner  Bros, 
announced  this  week.  The  first  attraction  under 
the  new  policy,  starting  October  22nd,  will  be 
"Now,  Voyager." 


Golob  Heads  Warner 
Field  Exploitation 

Larry  Golob  has  been  appointed  to  head 
Warner  Bros,  field  exploitation  force,  takin 
over  the  duties  formerly  handled  by  Lee  Blu" 
berg,  with  headquarters  in  New  York,  it  wa 
announced  Monday  by  Mort  Blumenstock,  i 
charge  of  advertising  and  publicity  for  t' 
company  in  the  east. 

Mr.  Golob  also  will  carry  on  his  present  pul 
licity  activities  in  charge  of  national  and  fa 
magazines,  syndicates  and  the  New  York  an| 
out-of-town  newspaper  picture  and  roto  sei 
tions,  all  under  the  general  supervision  c 
Mitchell  Rawson,  eastern  publicity  manager,  i 

Mr.  Blumenstock  announced  at  the  same  tin 
that  Frank  Bruner,  formerly  with  United  An 
ists,  has  been  appointed  field  representative  M 
Ralph  L.  McCoy's  southwest  district,  succeed] 
ing  William  Lewis,  who  has  joined  the  Arrrjj 
Martin  Weiser,  field  man  in  the  west,  has  be{| 
promoted  to  western  division  publicity  reprj 
sentative  to  take  the  place  of  Sam  Clark,  wj 
has  joined  Jack  Benny  as  publicist.  I 


Army  Changes  Dimout 
Rules  in  Three  States 

New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware  w| 
dim  ordinary  lights,  and  turn  out  display  ligl 
a  half-hour  after  sunset,  instead  of  one  hoi 
the  Army  ordered  Monday. 

The  order  took  effect  Thursday,  to  rem; 
until  May  1,  1943. 


Warners  Re-sign  Flynn 

Erroll  Flynn,  Warner  star,  has  been  signed 
to  a  new  contract  providing  for  appearance  in 
three  pictures  yearly,  and  participation  both  as 
star  and  producer  in  an  additional  film. 


Television  Society  Meets 

The  American  Television  Society  will  h 
its  first  autumn  forum  at  the  Hotel  Wtoj 
stock,  New  York,  on  October  7th  at  8 :30  P. 


as  usual'  ou  j^tf* 


SAMPLES! 

On  the  following  pages  is  a  description  of  the  line-up  of  Short  Subjects  for 
release  by  M-G-M  in  1942-43.  At  press-time,  we  selected  at  random  a  few 
current  shorts  as  samples  of  M-G-M's  range  of  ideas  and  quality  in  this  field. 


Pete  Smith  Cooks  Up 
Another  Epicurean  Epic 
That's  Timely  As 
Today's  Headlines! 

A  PETE  SMITH 
SPECIALTY 

In  Technicolor 

"VICTORY 
VITTLES" 

featuring  cooking  expert 
POLLY  PATTERSON 
demonstrating  how 
housewives  can  help  win  the  war  on  the  kitchen  range. 

No  Story  On  The  Screen  Is  More  Dramatic  Than  The 
Story  Of  The  Screen  Itself! 

JOHN  NESBITT'S 
PASSING  PARADE 

'THE  FILM  THAT 
WAS  LOST" 

Highlights  of  150  years 
of  world  history  as  re- 
corded by  the  motion 
picture  camera  and  pre- 
served on  film  for  future 
generations  by  the  Film 

(Above)  Famed  Museum  Library  of  the  Museum 

of  Modern  Art,  N.Y.  of  Modern  Art. 


WHAT  IS 
ATCA? " 

As  schools  ope 
parents  of  2,000,0 
high  school  studen 
will  be  asking  th 
question  when  the 
sons  are  enrolled  i 
the  newly  formed  A 
Training  Corps  < 
America. 

Just  as  newspape 
and  magazines  (Li 
Saturday  Evening  P 
and  others)  are  a 
nouncing  this  n< 
organization,  M-G-| 
is  ready  with  a  Sh'i 
Subject  of  wide  pu 
interest  which  ( 
plains  the  whole  id 

IT'S  A 
CAREY  WILSC 
MINIATURE 
with  a 
Ready'Made 
Audience 


A  chip  off  the  old  block! 

M-G-M  SHORTS  1942-43! 

We  enter  our  15th  year  of  leadership  in  short  subjects.  Why  has  M-G-M's  junior  product  been 
consistently  superior  in  ideas  and  quality?  Because  they  are  made  in  a  studio  within  a  studio, 
which  recognizes  the  importance  of  quality  and  specializes  on  shorts  only,  with  all  the  vast 
production  resources  of  M-G-M  at  its  disposal.  M-G-M  Shorts  are  FEATURE  STRENGTH! 


6  M-G-M  SPECIALS— (Two  Reels)  expertly  produced,  semi' 
documentary  dramatizations  on  subjects  of  current  news  in- 
terest,  including  two  or  more  Crime  Does  Not  Pay  pictures. 
In  audience  interest,  box  office  appeal  and  production  values 
these  shorts  have  the  stature  of  features. 


14  PETE  SMITH  SPECIALTIES— The  industry's  top-ranking 
shorts  specialist,  Pete  Smith  pictures  have  won  more  praise  and 
more  prizes  than  any  other  shorts  series.  His  formula  for  suc- 
cessful shorts:  plenty  of  verve  and  verbiage  to  amuse  audiences, 
plus  exploitation  angles  that  register  at  the  box  office. 


10  JOHN  NESBITT'S  PASSING  PARADE-His  rare  talent 
for  combining  entertainment  and  enlightenment  in  shorts  of 
timely  significance  has  made  John  Nesbitt  a  name  of  unquestion- 
ed marquee  value.  Exhibitors  well  remember  his  "Of  Pups  and 
Puzzles"  and  "Main  Street  On  the  March"  which  won  both 
Academy  Awards  as  the  best  one  and  two  reelers  of  this  year. 

(more  on  next  pagej 


10  M-G-M  MINIATURES-  Literally  junior  features,  the 
carefully  chosen  subjects  in  this  series  are  designed  to  appeal 
at  the  box  office,  as  well  as  on  the  screen.  Most  of  them  will 
be  narrated  by  M-G-M's  inimitable  impressario  of  psychic 
phenomena,  Carey  "Nostradamus"  Wilson. 


16  M-G-M  CARTOONS  In  Technicolor-There's  sparkle 
for  every  program  in  M-G-M's  beautifully  mounted  animated 
fantasies  featuring  such  well-established  characters  as  Barney 
Bear  and  the  cat  and  mouse  duo,  Tom  and  Jerry.  "The  Blitz 
Wolf"  has  currently  won  industry  attention  and  there'll  be 
more  timely  cartoon  ideas  to  follow! 


12  FITZPATRICK  TRAVELTALKS  In  Technicolor-They 

answer  the  wanderlust  urge  in  all  of  us.  Especially  valuable 
now  with  travel  limited.  Next  season  let  your  audiences  tour 
the  Americas,  North  and  South,  with  America's  greatest  travel 
authority,  James  A.  FitzPatrick  — it's  journeying  "First  Class"! 


10  OUR  GANG  COMEDIES— The  oldest  single  unit  in 
motion  picture  history,  Our  Gang  continues  to  occupy  its 
own  unique  place  in  the  affections  of  two  generations  of 
moviegoers.  It's  good  fun  for  kids  from  six  to  sixty. 


104  ISSUES  NEWS  OF  THE  DAY -Medal- winning  news- 
reel!  Now,  more  than  ever,  people  want  to  be  informed,  want 
to  see  for  themselves  what's  happening  here,  there  and  every- 
where in  this  global  war.  With  widespread  coverage  News  of  the 
Day  is  prepared  to  maintain  its  reputation  as  the  screen's  real 
NEWSreel.  Commentators  John  B.  Kennedy,  Bill  Stern  and 
Adelaide  Hawley  make  this  a  subject  whose  interest  is  unfailing. 


Every  Month 
SELL  BONDS 
FOR  THE 


Metro-  GOLDMINE  -Mayer 

The  LONQ  and  SHORT  of  it! 


er    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


CANADA  TRAVELING  SHOWS 
AIDED  BY  CAS.  TIRE  CUTS 


Established  Houses  Suffer 
Losses;  Nova  Scotia  Is 
Hit  by  Carnivals 

by  VIC  I  OR  SERVICE 

m  Sr.  John 

The  rationing  of  gasoline  and  tires  and 
:h:e-.y  the  change  ir.  the  value  of  the  ;as 
coupon  from  f.ve  to  tvro  and  then  to 
three  gallons,  have  brought  increased  at- 
tention in  Canada  to  portable  projection 
and  sound  equip— en:  and  rotary  picture 
stands. 

People  find  it  impossible  to  drive  the  dis- 
stances  they  formerly  traveled  to  city  and 
town  theatres  because  of  the  rationing.  The 
established  theatres  thus  lose  much  business. 
In  consequence,  this  condition  has  improved 
business  for  the  rotary  exhibitors.  In  vil- 
lages there  was  little  patronage  for  a  picture 
program  for  even  one  night  a  week,  because 
the  bulk  of  the  people  drove  to  the  nearest 
town  or  city  for  their  entertainment. 

Now,  the  entertainment  is  being  carried 
to  them,  but  as  the  average  village  could  not 
support  more  than  two  film  nights  in  one 
week,  a  number  of  such  communities  are 
lined  np  for  from  one  to  two  nights  a  week 
each.  Sometimes  the  two  nights  are  con- 
secutive, and  in  others,  one  night  for  the 
first  h<»lf  of  the  week,  and  the  second  for 
the  latter  half. 

Planning  Additional 
Portable  Shows 


ge  has  been  very  good,  according 
and  there  are  plans  for  the  estab- 
»f  additional  units.  Some  of  the 
ubitors  play  five  or  six  nights  a 
with  a  different  village  on  con- 
ights,  the  same  bill  prevailing  for 
ik's  activities.  The  average  pro- 
sists  of  one  feature  picture  and 
els  of  shorts,  including  news  and 


:  -••  - 


instances,  a  group  of  villages  in 
■  movement  is  located  within  a 
bout  25  or  30  miles,  or  even  less. 
Kjriation  is  by  light  truck  or  car, 
lis  of  fraternal  or  civic  organiza- 
"ally  are  used.  The  equipment  in- 
table  lighting  where  there  is  no 
There  has  been  no  serious 
ren  to  the  use  of  canvas,  owing  to 
eather  conditions  tvpical  of  the 


Exhibitors  throughout  Nova  Scotia,  who 
e  been  campaigning  against  traveling 
clivals,  have  found  to  their  astonishment 
t  one  carnival  show  can  pitch  tents  and 
business  anywhere  within  the  province 
ardless  of  how  the  communities  and  their 
c  bodies  react  to  the  tent  shows.  At 
month,  N.  S.,  the-Council  sought  to  can- 
a  license  it  had  issued  for  the  Bill  Lynch 

vhen  the  provincial  government  was  con- 
sulted, it  was  disclosed  that  the  carnival  had 
Deen  given  a  province-wide  license  by  the 
Board  of  Censors,  allowing  the  carnival  any- 


where within  Nova  Scotia,  and  against  the 
wishes  of  any  municipal  council.  At  Yar- 
mouth, there  had  been  such  a  vigorous 
movement  against  licensing  any  carnival  for 
a  showing  there  that  the  local  Council  had 
moved  to  reconsider  previous  action  favor- 
ing a  license.  The  theatre  men  had  been 
questioning  the  advisability  of  granting 
carte  blanche  to  a  whole  province  for  a 
touring  carnival. 

Shooting  on  "Corvette,"  a  Universal  pro- 
duction, with  Richard  Rosson  directing,  was 
started  at  Halifax,  where  a  party  of  techni- 
cians and  cameramen  spent  about  a  week. 
From  Halifax,  the  group  moved  on  to  Pic- 
tou.  About  40  per  cent  of  the  picture  will 
be  shot  in  Canada. 

Mitchell  Franklin,  of  St.  John,  secretary 
of  the  Franklin  8c  Herschorn  theatre  circuit, 
has  enlisted  in  the  Royal  Canadian  Air 
Force.  Only  son  of  J.  M.  Franklin,  presi- 
dent of  the  circuit,  he  went  to  Montreal  to 
sign  up  as  a  private. 

Seek  Deferment 
Of  Projectionists 

The  National  Council  of  Independent  Ex- 
hibitors of  Canada  has  applied  to  the  Na- 
tional Selective  Service  Board  for  relief 
from  the  regulations  governing  projection- 
ists in  all  theatres  in  the  Dominion. 

Henry  Falk,  president  of  the  exhibitor 
group,  and  A.  J.  Mason,  chairman,  speak- 
ing for  the  organization,  recommended  that 
the  theatres  should  be  treated  as  part  of  a 
key  industry-,  and  that  theatres  be  protected 
to  the  extent  that  they  might  retain  pro- 
jectionists beyond  the  authorized  seven-day 
period  upon  resignation  to  join  the  armed 
forces  cr  enter  a  munitions  plant. 

The  Independents  pointed  out  that  the 
theatres  in  both  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  had  been  classed  as  "essen- 
tial," and,  in  England,  priorities  had  been 
extended  to  theatre  owners  in  bombed  areas 
for  the  purpose  of  speedy  rebuilding. 

Some  Theatres  Face 
Shutdown  Threat 

Mr.  Falk  pointed  out  to  the  board  that 
some  Canadian  theatres  faced  the  prospect 
of  closing  because  the  pool  of  operators 
had  been  drained  through  enlistments  and 
war  work  and  that  this  pool  was  not  being 
replenished  because  Ontario  and  other  Pro- 
vincial training  schools  for  projectionists 
had  been  discontinued  for  the  duration  of 
the  war. 

The  suggestion  was  made  that  the  ap- 
prentice period  for  new  projectionists  should 
be  reduced  from  one  year  to  six  months 
and  that  permission  be  given  for  the  train- 
ing of  women  for  the  booth,  no  women  op- 
erators now  being  available  in  Canada. 
These  requests  were  made  for  both  inde- 
pendent and  circuit  theatre  proprietors. 

Mr.  Falk  was  given  assurance  by  the 
Board  that  the  subiect  would  be  given  con- 


sideration and  a  statement  of  policy  would 
be  issued. 

The  Kent  theatre,  at  Moncton,  N.  B.,  re- 
cently opened  in  a  building  remodeled  from 
a  furniture  store  and  upper  floor  apart- 
ments, is  the  only  Moncton  theatre  offering 
continuous  shows,  running  from  2:10  to  11 
P.M. 

Leslie  Plottel  Returns 
To  Toronto  Post 

The  competing  theatres,  the  Capitol 
and  Empress,  tied  up  with  the  Odeon  cir- 
cuit by  F.  W.  Winter,  owner,  and  the  Im- 
perial, linked  with  Famous  Players  Ca- 
nadian b}"  J.  E.  Butler,  all  operate  one  show 
in  the  afternoon  and  two  at  night,  with 
business  suspended  between  5  and  7  P.M. 
The  Kent  has  a  double  bill  policy,  whereas 
the  others  use  single  bills.  The  Kent,  seat- 
ing 500,  has  the  smallest  capacity  of  all 
four  Moncton  houses. 

A.  I.  Garson,  of  St.  John,  N.  B.,  is  the 
operator  of  the  Kent.  He,  has  the  Garrick 
at  Halifax,  N.  S.,  under  lease  to  FPC,  one 
of  his  two  circuit  competitors  at  Moncton. 
Business  has  been  ranging  from  good  to 
excellent  at  all  the  Moncton  theatres.  Be- 
fore the  Kent  was  finished,  the  remodeling 
operations  were  halted  by  the  Dominion 
Government,  but  official  dispensation  was 
obtained,  after  a  delay  of  about  four  weeks. 

Leslie  Plottel,  for  the  past  few  years  man- 
ager of  the  RKO  distribution  branch  at  St. 
John,  and  covering  the  provinces  of  New 
Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia  and  Prince  Edward 
Island,  and  the  island  colony  of  Newfound- 
land, has  returned  to  Toronto,  where  he  has 
joined  the  staff  of  Empire-Universal. 

Canada  Rules 
On  Giveaways 

Canada's  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade  Board 
issued  a  supplementary  memorandum  in  To- 
ronto last  Wednesday  to  its  prior  regulations, 
in  which  it  clarified  the  provision  about  give- 
aways. The  Board  said  that  the  permission 
granted  in  the  last  order  for  continuation  of 
premiums  if  giveaways  were  featured  during 
the  basic  periods,  did  not  nullify  the  previous 
board  ban  on  distribution  of  ceramic  products 
in  any  form  as  theatre  premiums  after  Septem- 
ber 30th. 

The  memorandum  decreed  that  theatres  might 
still  give  away  anything  but  dishes  or  pottery, 
if  in  continuance  of  a  premium  policy,  but 
other  houses  might  not  start  giveaways  now. 

Application  by  the  union  representing 
projectionists  in  Winnipeg  theatres  asking 
for  higher  pa}-  has  been  refused  by  the  Re- 
gional "War  Labor  Board  for  Manitoba, 

M.  J.  Finklestein.  representing  about  25 
theatres,  argued  that  most  of  them  had  cur- 
rent unexpired  contracts  with  their  projec- 
tionists, and  that  with  respect  to  wage  rates 
thev  should  not  be  disturbed. 


McCoy  Lieutenant  Colonel 

Tim  McCoy,  western  star,  has  been  rein- 
stated as  Army  lieutenant  colonel,  and  is  at 
Fort  Washington,  Maryland,  in  a  "refresher" 
course.  He  will  be  on  the  adjutant  general's 
staff.  Mr.  McCoy  had  been  scheduled  to  ap- 
pear in  eight  "Rough  Riders"  for  Monoaram. 


MRS.  HADLEY  IS  THE  TOAST 
OF  WASHINGTON! 

BRILLIANT  PREMIERE:  "The  War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley"  is  the  latest  M-G-M  production  to 
leap  into  the  nation's  spotlight.  The  Capitol  Theatre  in  Washington,  D.  C.  launched  this  splendid  motion 
picture  at  a  sensational  Victory  World  Premiere  last  week  and  cheering  audiences  have  packed  the  house 
ever  since.  Washingtonians  bought  $1,826,422  in  War  Bonds  to  attend  the  Premiere.  Members  of  the  Cabinet, 
Congressional  leaders,  celebrities  in  all  walks  of  life  attended.  Every  one  of  the  3,434  seats  was  occupied. 
Edward  Arnold  and  Fay  Bainter  co-stars  of  the  film  appeared  in  person.  Mr.  Arnold  said  "You  have  met 
London's  'Mrs.  Miniver,'  now  you  are  meeting  America's  'Mrs.  Hadley.'  "  The  combination  of  the  Wash- 
ington Premiere  and  the  subsequent  nationwide  Kate  Smith  broadcast-salute  give  "The  War  Against 
Mrs.  Hadley"  an  advance  introduction  to  the  entire  country  seldom  accorded  any  motion  picture. 

CRITICS  CHEER:  "Mrs.  Hadley  is  the  American  counterpart  of  Mrs.  Miniver,  beautifully  made, 
brilliantly  acted.  Grand  entertainment  and  a  splendid  tribute  to  mothers  and  sweethearts  who  have  given 
loved  ones  to  their  country's  service." — Russell  Stewart,  Washington  Daily  News.  "Excellent!" — Andrew  R. 
Kelley,  Washington  Star.  "Mrs.  Hadley  belongs  to  the  same  family  as  the  unforgettable  Mrs.  Miniver." — 
Bernie  Harrison,  Washington  Times-Herald.  "A  picture  of  national  importance." — NelsonB.  Bell,  Washington  Post. 

DISTINGUISHED  GUESTS:  Donald  M.  Nelson,  Attorney  General  Biddle,  Postmaster  and  Mrs. 
Tom  Connally,  Senator  and  Mrs.  Robert  LaFollette,  Senator  and  Mrs.  Albert  Chandler,  Senator  and  Mrs. 
D.  Worth  Clark,  and  Senators  Charles  Tobey,  Richard  B.  Russell,  James  Mead,  Sheridan  Downey,  John  Dill, 
as  well  as  British  Field  Marshall  and  Lady  Dill,  Admiral  W.  H.  S.  Blandy,  Admiral  John  Towers,  Admiral 
and  Mrs.  Ross  T.  Mclntyre,  General  Frederick  Osborn,  General  Joseph  McNarny,  General  David  McCoach, 
General  Alexander  Surles,  Assistant  Secretary  of  Navy  Artemus  Gates,  Boatswain  Alfred  G.  Vanderbilt, 
Elsa  Maxwell,  Mark  Sullivan,  and  many  others. 

Praise  To  All  Who  Helped  Make  A  Qreat  Hit! 

THE  WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  HADLEY 

with  EDWARD  ARNOLD  •  FAY  BAINTER  •  Richard  Ney  •  Jean  Rogers  •  Sara  Allgood  •  Spring  Byington 
Van  Johnson  •  Isobel  Elsom  •  Frances  Rafferty  •  Dorothy  Morris  •  Original  Screen  Play  by  George  Oppenheimer 
Directed  by  HAROLD  S.  BUCQUET      •      Produced  by  IRVING  ASHER      •      A  Metro-Goldmine-Mayer  Picture 


.p"«nlM'r  iW,  19  i* THITAMEniCAX  WEEKLY 


An  American  "Mrs  Miniver" 


the  war  is  not  against  her.  but 
for  her,  and  all  she  loves,  is  as 
moving  a  bit  of  acting:  as  we've 
ny  a  day.  Mis.  Had- 
Icy  becomes  a  new  woman  and 
the  Axis  has  another  active 
enemy. 

Part    of    her    change  cornea 
through  the  wisdom  of  Sara  All- 
good,  who  plays  the  buxom  moth- 
er of  the  Army  sergeant  who 
tnamea    Mm,    Hartley's  daugh- 
ter.   Spring  Byington,  a  scatter- 
brained society  woman,  and  Hal- 
twell  Hobbes,  as  Mrs  Hadlcy's 
lUtler,  give  expert  performances. 
Of  course,   the  laurels  go  to 
y  Bainter.  who  plays  the  part 
he  hilt.   The  picture  and  the 
>guc    may    seem  somewhat 
beginning,  but  it 
full  speed  ahead. 

'  "stylized"  because  the 
family  is  cut  pretty  much 
ttern.  The  intemperate 
e  debutante  daughter; 
mother  and  the  patient 
t  tough  Army  sergeant 
_sh  mother. 

;s.  too,  are  stylized, 
is  obvious  that  the 


A'anted  to  offer 


typl- 


if  iL 


producer 

cally  American  setting, 
typical  that  one  wonden 
honest  -  to  -  goodness  Ameiican 
after  all. 

Perhaps  I  should  explain  that 
the  entire  script  was  written  at 
white  heat  m  less  than  3i>'  weeks, 
and  was  put  before  the  cameras 
in  another  six  weeks.  Working 
at  such  speedj  it  was  probably 
difficult  to  achieve  anything 
other  than  an  accepted  idea  of  a 
wealthy  household. 

Most  of  the  scenes  were  shot  in 
Washington  and  the  script  was 
begun  on  December  7th.  which 
was  Fay's  birthday  In  real  life  as 
well  as  in  the  motion  picture. 

"The  War  Against  Mis.  Had- 
ley"  was  intended  as  a  bitter  pill 
to  be  taken  by  what's  left  of  the 
isolationist  Ivory  tower  set.  If 
the  set  can  be  persuaded  to  see 
the  film,  they  may  see  just  how 
the  cure  can  be  accomplished.  It 
is  to  M-G-M'3  credit  that  with 
this  film  they  are  undoubtedly 
aiding  in  strengthening  the  home 
front.  Take  my  word  for  it.  it's 
a  picture  to  see. 


The  News  of  Pearl  Harbor  ( 
Arnold,  -lean  Rogers  and 
"The  War  Aga 


Over  the  R&tlU 
rd  Ney  Which 
Urs.  Hadlfy." 


ihotoplaye. 


!  are  any 


(.meriean  women  left  who  be- 
-eve  the  war  can  never  spread 
.j  their  households  or  affect 
heir  pcraonal  lives,  they'd  better 
*c  forced  to  sec  "The  War 
igamrt  Mrs.  Hadlcy." 

Mrs  Hadlcy  is  portrayed  '  by 
fay  PnSr.l'T  who  does  an  excel- 
mt  jib  as  a  vain,  selfish  soi-iety 
ioni.i-i,  a  wealthy  Washington 
i<i.  ■  v  st  ino  behind  a  barricade 
:f  /a nifty  devotion,  afternoon  teas 
ad  society  gossip. 


Seworthy  skill 
to  the  part  of 


Mra.  Hadley's  son  is  drafted 
and  her  debutante  daughter, 
played  by  Jean  Rogers,  marries 
a  tough  Army  sergeant,  brought 
to  the  screen  by  Van  Johnson. 
(And.  by  the  way,  watch  out  for 
Jean  and  Van — they're  tops  and 
twund  to  go  places.)  Mrs.  Had- 
ley's friends  draw  away  from  her 
to  engage  hi  war  work  and  even 
the  man  she  loves,  a  war  depart- 
ment official,  ably  played  by  Ed- 
ward Arnold,  is  against  her— in 
her  selfish  imagination. 

Mrs.  HaiUey's  change  of  bcart 
— how  she  come*  to  realize  that 


KATE  SMITH 
NATIONWIDE 
BROADCAST 

On  Sept.  25th  Edward  Arnold  and  Fay  Bainter  broad- 
cast a  dramatic  sketch  of  "Mrs.  Hadley"  reaching 

AN  AUDIENCE  OF 
30,000,000 


All  America  waits  for 
HE  WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  HADLEY 

A  Showman's  Picture  Promoted  by  M-G-M  Showmen! 


26 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  3 


942 


Studios  in  Mexico 
Work  at  Capacity 


Aim  at  80  Films  for  Year; 
Distribution  Seeking  to 
Expand  Sales  Field 

by  LUIS  BECERRA  CELIS 

in  Mexico  City 

Studios  here  are  working  at  capacity  to 
enable  the  leading  producers  to  carry- 
through  their  1942  program,  which  is  ex- 
pected to  reach  at  least  80  pictures,  the 
greatest  number  Mexico  ever  has  pro- 
duced in  any  one  year.  Forty  of  these  pic- 
tures are  being  made  at  the  CLASA  stu- 
dios here,  the  largest  in  Mexico,  which 
was  obliged  to  install  more  and  better 
equipment  to  handle  this  business.  This 
studio  is  owned  by  Ricardo  Pani,  son  of 
Alberto  Pani,  one  of  Mexico's  richest 
citizens. 

This  upswing  in  business  for  producers 
and  studios  has  been  made  possible  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  by  financing  provided  by 
local  banks.  Film  Row  and  banking  circles 
consider  that  Mexican  pictures  will  do  bet- 
ter and  better  in  Central  and  South  Amer- 
ica as  well  as  in  several  parts  of  the  United 
States,  where  a  demand  for  Spanish  Ameri- 
can films  has  developed  since  the  war  started 
and  because  of  the  Pan  American  policy. 

Mexicans  are  going  after  business  in 
these  fields  with  the  establishment  of  ex- 
changes and  the  assignment  of  distributors 
in  several  key  zones.  Particular  attention  in 
this  respect  is  being  given  the  United  States 
and  the  Argentine. 

Contracts  for  seven  of  this  season's  best 
Mexican  pictures  have  been  made  by  Mo- 
desto Pasco,  the  Argentine  theatre  impre- 
sario, who  is  here  booking  films  for  wide 
distribution  in  his  country  during  the  late 
autumn.  One  of  the  pictures  he  has  con- 
tracted for  is  "Simon  Bolivar,"  life  story 
of  the  Venezuelan  patriot  and  the  most  ex- 
pensive film  ever  made  in  Mexico.  It  cost 
$210,000. 

Argentine  Interested 
In  Mexican  Films 

There  is  a  greater  interest  in  Mexican 
pictures  in  the  Argentine,  Mr.  Pasco  re- 
ports. Exhibition  of  Argentinian  pictures  in 
Mexico  averages  about  20  a  year. 

Another  example  of  the  enterprise  of 
Mexican  producers  is  the  start  by  Bustillo 
Oro,  one  of  the  leading  producers,  who  is 
also  a  top-flight  director,  on  a  trip  of  the 
key  South  American  countries  which  will 
end  in  the  Argentine,  to  line  them  up  for 
Mexican  products.  He  was  the  guest  of 
honor  at  a  supper  here  tendered  by  Santi- 
ago Reachi  and  "Cantinflas,"  in  private  life 
Mario  Moreno,  popular  tramp  comedian, 
president  and  vice-president,  respectively,  of 
Posa  Films,  S.  A.,  important  producers. 
Many  leading  lights  of  the  film  business  at- 
tended this  function. 

Carlos  Orellana,  film  actor-director,  has 
severed  his  partnership  with  Vicente  Saiso 
Piquer,  Spanish  producer,  to  become  a  pro- 
ducer on  his  own. 

Jose  Mojica,  the  prominent  Mexican  actor 


and  singer  who  performed  in  grand  opera 
in  the  United  States,  is  determined  to  re- 
main the  Franciscan  friar  he  became  last 
winter  when  he  entered  a  monestery  near 
Lima,  Peru,  his  intimate  friends  here  say,  in 
asserting  that  there  is  no  truth  to  reports 
that  Mr.  Mojica  has  accepted  a  tempting 
offer  from  a  Hollywood  company  to  return 
to  the  screen.  Brother  Mojica,  his  friends 
say,  has  withdrawn  from  the  world  forever. 

Exhibitors  Praised 
For  Blackout  Aid 

Exhibitors  were  accorded  special  praise 
by  the  Army  authorities  for  their  coopera- 
tion in  the  first  trial  blackout  here  the  eve- 
ning of  September  7th.  The  test  went  off 
well  during  its  15  minutes.  Audiences  be- 
haved well  and  the  attaches  proved  that  they 
knew  their  job  and  how  to  act  in  emergen- 
cies. They  used  skillfully  and  with  discretion 
special  blue-light  electric  hand  torches  to 
guide  patrons  who  wanted  to  leave  or  enter 
during-  the  blackout.  But  otherwise,  except- 
ing for  the  screening  of  pictures,  the  the- 
atres were  in  total  darkness. 

The  blackout  was  staged  without  accident 
or  any  violent  incident.  It  was-  the  first  of 
a  series  of  tests  to  be  made  here. 

Most  low-power  radio  stations  here  are 
functioning  illegally,  the  Ministry  of  Com- 
munications and  Public  Works,  controller 
of  all  radio  in  Mexico,  has  found.  These 
stations  are  violating  the  new  regulation 
which  forbids  these  services  to  function  in 
congested  parts  of  the  city. 

These  stations  have  been  ordered  to  move 
to  the  outskirts  or  less  congested  zones  un- 
der penalty  of  having  their  franchise  can- 
celled. 

All  forms  of  radio  announcing  in  Mexico 
are  to  be  limited  to  Mexican  citizens  by 
birth  under  a  new  regulation  the  Ministry 
of  Communications  and  Public  Works  is  to 
put  into  effect  soon.  This  regulation  applies 
to  announcers,  critics,  commentators,  news- 
casters and  the  like. 

Exhibitors  of  Nuevo  Leon  State,  an  im- 
portant zone  on  the  eastern  Texas  border, 
are  breathing  with  relief  now  that  their  em- 
ployees have  pledged  themselves  to  bury,  or 
at  least  hide,  the  hatchet  for  the  duration 
and  suspend  quarrelling  among  themselves 
and  with  their  employers  and  to  concentrate 
on  work. 

Men  Respond  to 
Military  Training 

The  pact  remarked  that  this  concentration 
is  deemed  a  patriotic  duty  as  the  picture  the- 
atres are  an  important  factor  in  sustaining 
public  morale.  Nuevo  Leon  exhibitors  had 
long  been  bothered  by  labor  troubles. 

Picture  theatres  in  Oaxaca  State,  a  thriv- 
ing southern  region,  are  open  again  after  a 
shutdown  which  the  exhibitors  said  was 
forced  upon  them  by  a  new  tax  the  State 
government  wanted  to  levy  to  raise  more 
funds  for  public  charity  and  which  with 
some  other  imposts  about  eliminated  the  ex- 
hibitors' profits. 

The  Government  agreed  to  suspend  col- 
lection of  the  charity  tax  pending  discus- 


sions of  it  with  the  exhibitors  who  decided 
to  open  up  again  while  the  matter  is  being 
settled. 

All  physically  fit  men  in  Mexico,  between 
the  ages  of  18  and  45  years,  are  finding  it 
not  only  patriotic  but  smart  to  obey  their 
country's  call  to  undergo  military  training 
for  a  few  hours  a  week.  Rules  demanding 
this  service  provide  that  those  who  fail  to 
obey  will  be  deprived  of  civil  rights,  in- 
cluding the  privilege  of  being  able  to  attend 
picture  theatres  and  any  other  public  enter- 
tainment. 

Cinematographic  Week 
October  10th  to  17th 

All  reporting  for  this  training  are  given 
a  credential.  Box  office  attendants  must  ask 
to  see  this  card  before  they  may  admit  men 
between  the  ages  designated.  Those  who 
cannot  show  the  credential  are  denied  ad- 
mittance. 

Third  National  Cinematographic  Week  is 
definitely  to  be  held  October  10th  to  17th,  it 
has  been  announced  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee, including  members  of  the  Mexican 
Cinematographic  Journalists  Association, 
which  is  playing  a  prominent  part  in  the 
celebration.  An  elaborate  program  of 
parades,  pagaents  and  parties,  featuring  a 
banquet  the  organization  will  tender  at 
which  the  Mexican  "Wampas"  of  1943  will 
be  presented,  is  being  arranged. 

A  new  distributing  company  of  Mexican 
pictures,  Cinematografica  Mexicana,  S.A., 
has  started  here  under  the  management  of 
Gonzalo  Elvira.  This  company  is  distribut- 
ing exclusively  the  productions  of  Iracheta 
and  Elvira. 

John  Reinhart  and  Greg  Toland  used  14 
cameras  to  picture  in  Technicolor  the  grand 
military  parade  'of  40,000  men  here  on  Sep- 
tember 16th,  Mexican  Independence  Day. 
Mr.  Reinhart  and  Mr.  Toland  and  their 
crew  made  their  headquarters  at  the  offices 
of  Promesa  Films,  president  of  which  is 
Manuel  Reachi,  former  representative  of  the 
Mexican  Government  in  Hollywood,  who  re- 
cently returned  to  his  homeland  to  become  a 
producer. 


Investigate  Vandalism 

An  investigation  of  old  film  discovered  out- 
side  the  closed  Holyoke  theatre,  Holyoke, 
Mass.,  led  police  to  search  the  interior  of  the 
house  where  they  found  what  was  described 
as  "preparation  for  arson,"  with  chairs  torn 
from  the  floor  in  the  balcony.  Paper  also  was 
torn  from  the  walls,  decorations  defaced  and 
turpentine  spread  on  the  stage.  Police  are 
working  on  the  theory  that  boys,  bent  on 
vandalism,  forced  the  lock  and  entered  thej 
house.  The  theatre  is  owned  by  the  Gilmore; 
Associates  of  Springfield,  Mass. 

"Lidice  Day"  Picture  Set 

Paramount  will  release  its  latest  Victory 
short  subject,  "We  Refuse  to  Die,"  story  of 
the  massacre  at  Lidice,  Czechoslovakia,  on  Ocj; 
tober  25th,  which  has  been  designated  Lidice 
Memorial  Day  in  the  United  States  and  other 
United  Nations.  The  film  features  Barry  Sul- 
livan and  Ellen  Drew. 


Davidson  to  Coast 

Lou  Davidson  of  Universal's  home  office  pub  J 
licity  and  exploitation  department     has  lef 
New  York  for  Hollywood  to  be  the  publicity 
contact  on  all  Abbott  and  Costello  pictures. 


Closed  for  Duration 

The  Liberty  theatre,  Burns,  Ore.,  operate^ 
by  C.  L.  Skeins,  has  been  closed  for  the  duraj 
tion. 


THE 

YANK 

IS 

COMING! 


(Next  page 
answers  the 
question:  "HOW 
HIGH  IS  UP?") 


Richmond! 


Harrisburgl 


HIGH 


New  Orlean 


Providence! 


with  Edmund  Gwenn  •  Ian  Hunter  •  Preddic 
Bartholomew    •    Marta  Linden    •  Juanita 
Quigley   •   Alan  Mowbray    •  Screen  Play 
by  George  Oppenheimer,  Lionel  Houser 
and  Thomas  Phipps  •  Original  Story  by 
George  Oppenheimer    •    Directed  by 
NORMAN  TAUROG    •  Produced 
by  JOHN  W.  CONS1DINE,  Jr.  •  A 
Metro-Goldmine-Mayer  Picture. 


Syracuse 


—and 
Held  Over 
in  its  first 
nine  cities! 
"Yank  At  Eton 
is  the  latest 
release  to  top 
headlines  in 
M-GJM's  fam 
Terrific  Tweh 
One  big  hit 
after  another 
from  Metro- 
GOLDMINE 
Mayer, 

THE 
INDUSTR 
HIGH! 


t 


Get 

n 

sc 

t 

s 

MA 

IN 

October    3  ,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


29 


UA  LINES  UP  30  FOR  1942-43; 
GETS  22  FROM  PARAMOUNT 


Harry  Sherman  Becomes 
U.A.  Producer,  Chicago 
Convention  Is  Told 

by  F.  LANGDON  MORGAN 

in  Chicago 

United  Artists'  annual  sales  conven- 
tion at  the  Blackstone  Hotel  in  Chicago 
this  week  was  informed  that  the  company 
had  purchased  22  pictures  from  Para- 
mount, that  Harry  Sherman  had  joined 
UA  as  a  producer,  that  16  features,  six 
Hopalong  Cassidy's  and  eight  Hal  Roach 
productions  had  already  been  lined  up  for 
1942-'43;  and  Hunt  Stromberg  had  been 
signed  to  produce  from  five  to  seven 
features  a  year. 

The  convention,  indicated  as  the  last  UA 
meeting  for  the  duration,  was  held  Monday 
through  Wednesday.  Confirmation  of  the 
Paramount  deal  was  made  in  New  York  by 
Barney  Balaban,  Paramount  president,  and 
Edward  C.  Raftery,  president  of  UA. 

The  announcement  came  as  the  Chicago 
gathering  heard  of  renewed  efforts  by  the 
company  to  acquire  as  many  producers  a? 
possible. 

For  an  unstated  amount,  reporting  to  be 
["53.800,000,  in  outright  purchase,  UA  will 
-elease  the  following  completed  Paramount 
jictures : 

"T  Married  a  Witch,"  starring  Fredric 
March  and  Veronica  Lake,  with  Robert 
Benchley,  Susan  Hayward  and  Cecil  Kella- 
way.   A  Rene  Clair  Production. 

"American  Empire,"  starring  Richard  Dix. 
.  ^eo  Carrillo  and  Preston  Foster,  with  Fran- 
1  es  Gifford,  Guinn  Williams,  Robert  H. 
jiiarrat,  Jack  LaRue  and  Cliff  Edwards, 
'rodoced  by  Harry  Sherman  and  directed 
>y  William  McGann. 

>ears  Announces  10 
ndependent  Productions 

"Silver  Queen,"  starring  George  Brent 
ad  Priscilla  Lane,  with  Bruce  Cabot.  Lynne 
"  Overman,  Eugene  Pallette,  Janet  Beecher 
I'-nd  Guinn  Williams.    Produced  by  Harry 
•herman:  directed  by  Lloyd  Bacon. 
"Young    and    Willing,"    starring  Wil- 
arn  Holden.  Eddie  Bracken  and  Robert 
'■er.chley,  with  Susan  Hayward.  Martha 
)'Driscoll,    Barbara    Britton    and  Mabel 
i'aige.    Produced  and  directed  by  Edward 
..L  Griffith.    Based  on  stage  play  of  last 
J  'sason,  '"Out  of  the  Frying  Pan." 
%>  "The  Crystal  Ball."  starring  Ray  Milland 
nc  Paulette  Goddard,  with  Gladys  George, 
I  "irginia    Field,    William    Bendix.  Mabel 
j('ai?e.  Cecil  Kellaway  and  Clem  Bevans. 
irected  by  Eliott  Xugent 
Sixteen  features.  Six  Hopalong-  Cassidy  west- 
~ns.  eight  Hal  Roach  streamlined  comedies,  12 
A'orld  in  Action"  shorts  and  a  Bob  Hope- 
ing  Crosby  golf  short  will  be  released  on 
nited  Artists  new  season  program,  it  was  an- 
3*tl:ranced  by  Gradwell  Sears  at  the  convention. 
l  addition,  10  other  important  independent  pro- 
xers  are  preparing  production  plans  for  iea- 

H 

0 


mres,  definite  announcements  of  which  will  be 
made  in  the  near  future. 

The  1942-43  schedule  will  represent  the  prod- 
uct of  producers  Hunt  Stromberg,  David  L. 
Loew  and  Albert  Lewin.  the  Cinema  Guild. 
Alexander  Korda.  Harry  Sherman,  Mayfair 
Productions,  Hal  Roach.  Arnold  Presburger 
and  Michael  Balcon.  in  addition  to  David  O. 
Selznick.  Charles  Chaplin,  Tames  Cagney  Pro- 
ductions, Tack  Benny,  Edward  Small,  Sol  Les- 
ser, Noel  Coward,  Gregor  Rabinovitch  and 
Benedict  Bogeas. 

Selznick  Continues 
As  UA  Partner 

Questioned  on  the  status  of  Mr.  Selznick,  Mr. 
Sears  said :  "Mr.  Selznick  continues  as  a  United 
Artists  partner  even  though  he  may  have  dis- 
posed of  his  various  talent  contracts  and  literary 
properties.  We  expect  delivery  of  one  picture 
from  him,  a  film  now  being  produced  in  England 
starring  Laurence  Olivier,  in  which  Mr.  Selz- 
nick owns  the  American  rights.  When  this  is 
finished  it  will  be  released  in  America  by  us." 
In  an  interview,  Mr.  Sherman  said  his  Para- 
mount contract  was  up  at  the  end  of  1943,  at 
which  time  he  would  produce  directly  for  Unit- 
ed Artists. 

The  following  productions  comprise  United 
Artists  definite  schedule  of  releases :  from  Hunt 
Stromberg.  "The  G-String  Murder,"  starring 
Barbara  Stanwyck,  directed  by  William  Sell- 
rnan:  "Dishonored  Lady."  based  on  the  stage 
hit  and  "Guest  in  the  House,"  the  Broadway 
hit  of  last  season. 

From  David  L.  Loew  and  Albert  Lewin, 
"The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  from  W.  Somerset 
Maugham's  novel  with  cast  including  George 
Sanders,  Herbert  Marshall,  Albert  Bassennan 
and  Eric  Blore. 

From  Harry  Sherman,  "American  Empire" 
with  Richard  Dix.  Leo  Carillo  and  Preston 
Foster ;  "Silver  Queen."  co-starring  George 
Brent  and  Priscilla  Lane,  directed  by  Lloyd 
Bacon,  and  "Buckstain  Frontier,"  with  Richard 
Dix.  jane  Wyatt  and  Lola  Lane.  Names  of 
the  six  Hopalong  Cassidys  are  "L"ndercover 


Man,"  "Lost  Canyon,''  "Border  Patrol," 
"Leather  Burners,"  "Colt  Comrades"  and 
"Hoppy  Serves  a  Writ" 

From  Mayfair  productions,  "Jacare,"  a  full 
length  wild  animal  picture  with  commentary  by 
Frank  Buck. 

The  three  films  acquired  from  Paramount 
are:  "I  Married  a  Witch,"  "The  Crystal  Ball" 
and  'Young  and  Willing."  These  three  films 
and  all  others  that  may  be  acquired  will  be 
preleased  under  "The  Cinema  Guild"  trademark. 

Alexander  Korda  will  present  "One  of  Our 
Aircraft  Is  Missing."  and  Arnold  Pressburger 
will  produce  two,  "Xever  Surrender,"  a  drama 
about  the  Czech  underground  movement,  to  be 
directed  by  Fritz  Lang,  and  "Tomorrow  Xever 
Comes,"  details  and  cast  announcement  to  be 
made  shortly.  Michael  Balcon  will  deliver 
"The  Foreman  Went  to  France,"  with  Con- 
stance Cummings  and  Robert  Morley  in  the 
stellar  roles. 

Hal  Roach's 

Eight  'Streamliners' 

Hal  Roach's  eight  streamliners  are  "The 
Devil  With  Hitlen"  "Fall  In,"  "The  McGuer- 
ins  from  Brooklyn,"  "Prairie  Chickens,"  "Yanks 
Ahoy,"  "Taxi.  Mister,"  "Calaboose,"  and  "That 
\azty  Xuisance."  Casts  in  these  comedies  in- 
clude Alan  Mowbray,  Bobby  Watson.  Joe  Dev- 
lin, George  E.  Stone.  William  Tracy.  Joe  Saw- 
yer, William  Bendix,  Rosemary  LaPlanche. 
Marjorie  Woodworth.  Grace  Bradley.  Jimmy 
Rogers,  Xoah  Beery,  Jr.,  Jean  Porter  and  Tohn 
Arthur. 

The  12  "World  in  Action"  shorts,  produced 
by  John  Grierson,  will  be  up-to-the-minute  film 
documentaries  about  the  global  war.  many  of 
them  featuring  Xazi  newsreels  captured  by  the 
L"nited  Xations. 

United  Artists'  product  list  will  also  include 
"The  Powers  Girl,"  produced  by  Charles  R. 
Rogers  with  Carole  Landis  and  George  Murphy, 
directed  by  Xorman  McCleod. 

United  Artists  Productions,  Inc.,  the  UA 
subsidiary  which   actually  is  purchasing  the 

(Continued  on  folltxring  Page^ 


30 


MOTION    P.ICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,  1942 


UA  SETS  NEW  SEASON  PLANS 


(.Continued  from  preceding  page) 

pictures,  also  has  acquired  the  Harry  Sherman 
special,  "Buckskin  Frontier,"  starring  Richard 
Dix ;  three  more  Sherman  "specials"  and  13 
of  the  Hopalong  Cassidy  series  produced  or  to 
be  produced  by  Mr.  Sherman. 

Present  at  the  closing  of  the  deal,  in  addi- 
tion to  Mr.  Raftery  and  Mr.  Balaban,  were 
Gradwell  L.  Sears,  vice-president  in  charge  of 
distribution  for  United  Artists ;  Arthur  W. 
Kelly,  its  vice-president  in  charge  of  foreign 
sales ;  Harry  J.  Muller,  its  treasurer ;  Neil  Ag- 
new,  vice-president  in  charge  of  distribution  for 
Paramount ;  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  its  vice-presi- 
dent in  charge  of  production ;  Austin  C. 
Keough,  vice-president  and  general  counsel  for 
Paramount,  and  J.  H.  Karp,  west  coast  counsel 
for  Paramount. 

Approximately  200  delegates  at  the  Chicago 
meeting  on  Monday  heard  Carl  Leserman, 
general  sales  manager,  say  that  the  affair  was 
probably  the  last  for  the  duration. 

Raftery  Promises 
More  "Big  Names" 

The  announcement  of  the  intensified  drive  for 
producers  declared  that  "the  trend  in  Holly- 
wood is  toward  United  Artists"  ;  and  economic 
conditions,  more  effective  working  conditions 
offered  in  independent  production,  and  the  de- 
sire for  creative  independence,  were  cited. 

Hunt  Stromberg,  speaking  at  the  second  day's 
session,  said  he  would  make  from  five  to  seven 
pictures  a  year  for  U.  A.,  one  of  the  largest 
production  programs  ever  undertaken  for  the 
company  by  an  individual  producer. 

Mr.  Sherman  told  the  delegates  he  would  ex- 
pand his  production  program.  In  a  press  inter- 
view, Mr.  Sherman  disclosed  that  his  Para- 
mount contract  would  expire  at  the  end  of  1943, 
when  he  would  become  a  U.  A.  producer. 

Louis  Heyman,  representative  of  Sol  Lesser, 
U.  A.  producer,  discussed  "Stage  Door  Can- 
teen," forthcoming  Lesser  film.  He  said  the 
picture  would  have  four  headline  bands,  includ- 
ing Benny  Goodman  and  Kay  Kyser. 

Mr.  Raftery,  in  whose  name  the  announce- 
ment was  made,  promised  that  more  "big 
names,"  comparable  to  the  Cagney  brothers, 
Hunt  Stromberg  and  Jack  Benny,  would  be  ob- 
tained. 

Opening  speakers  were  Major  Hal  Roach, 
Arthur  Kelly,  Bert  Stearn  and  Harry  Gold. 
Also  at  the  speakers'  table  were  David  Loew, 
Harry  Sherman,  George  Burrows,  Richard 
Dickson  and  John  Grierson. 

At  Wednesday  morning's  session,  Teddy  Carr, 
managing  director  for  United  Artists  in  Great 
Britain,  told  the  delegates  that  the  Ealing 
studios  in  London  would  hereafter  deliver  pic- 
tures more  to  the  liking  of  American  audiences. 
He  said  three  are  now  in  production :  "When 
the  Bells  Go  Down,"  "The  Chetniks"  and  "San 
Demetrio,"  all  to  be  delivered  within  the  next 
few  months  and  each  costing  more  than 
£150,000. 

Complete  Sales  Force 
In  Attendance 

Edward  Peskay  spoke  on  the  production  plans 
of  Edward  Small,  promising  that  when  Mr. 
Small  starts  producing  the  subjects  probably 
would  be  drawn  from  such  properties  as  "Valen- 
tino," "Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,"  "Time  to 
Be  Born,"  "The  Flying  Shamrock"  and  "I 
Killed  the  Count." 

On  Monday  winners  of  the  Hal  Roach 
Streamliner  Feature  Sales  Drive  were  present- 
ed War  Bonds.  The  winners  were :  division, 
Mr.  Stearn,  western  sales  manager,  $1,500;  dis- 
trict manager,  T.  R.  Thompson,  Kansas  City, 


CALVERT  REPRESENTS 
STROMBERG  IN  EAST 

Lowell  Calvert  now  represents  the 
United  Artists  producer,  Hunt  Strom- 
berg, in  the  east,  that  company's 
convention  in  Chicago  was  told  on 
Monday.  Mr.  Calvert  had  been  until 
recently  eastern  representative  for 
Selznick  International.  In  the  industry 
for  35  years,  he  also  had  been  gen- 
eral manager  of  RCA  Photophone's 
recording  operations,  general  sales 
manager  for  the  Gaumont-British  Pic- 
tures Corporation  of  America,  and 
general  sales  manager  for  Selznick 
International  and  Pioneer  Pictures. 


$1,250;  district  manager,  second,  David  Coplan, 
Canada,  $750;  branch,  Seattle,  $1,500;  James 
Winn,  St.  Louis,  second  branch  manager,  prizes 
totaling  $1,000 ;  Richard  Frank,  Indianapolis, 
third  branch  manager,  prizes  totaling  $775 ; 
William  Truog,  Kansas  City,  fourth  branch 
manager,  prizes  totaling  $550.  Additional 
prizes  were  awarded  the  New  Haven,  Toronto, 
New  York,  Dallas  and  Cleveland  branches. 

New  product  was  viewed  Monday  at  the 
Cinema  Theatre,  and  the  delegates  attended 
a  cocktail  party  given  by  David  Loew  in  the 
evening. 

The  home  office  contingent  included,  in  addi- 
tion to  those  mentioned :  Harry  D.  Buckley, 
David  E.  Weshner,  Paul  N.  Lazarus,  Harry 
Kosiner,  Phil  Dow,  Walter  Gould,  Tom  Mul- 
rooney,  H.  Schroeder,  Sam  Cohen,  Len  Daly, 
Arthur  Jeffrey,  Morton  Nathanson  and  Herb 
Jaediker. 

Producers  and  producers'  representatives  at- 
tending included :  Mr.  Loew,  William  Cagney, 
Mr.  Stromberg,  Jules  Levey,  Benedict  Bo- 
geaus,  George  Sanders,  Seymour  Poe,  Edward 
Peskay,  Louis  Heyman,  Budd  Rogers,  Steve 
Pallos,  Arthur  Lee,  William  Shiffron,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  George  Burrows,  George  Bagnall  and 
Lowell  Calvert. 

Branch  Personnel 
At  Convention 

The  following  district  managers  attended : 
Edward  Schnitzer,  Charles  Stern,  Rud  Loh- 
renz,  Fred  M.  Jack,  Jack  Goldhar,  T.  Thomp- 
son and  W.  E.  Callaway. 

Branch  managers  and  salesmen  attending 
were :  Atlanta,  Thomas  L.  Davis,  manager ; 
Raymond  J.  Barnes,  Lynn  E.  Dunn,  D.  J. 
Foley,  William  Shiell ;  Boston,  John  J.  Dervin, 
manager,  Joseph  Cronan,  George  L.  Hager, 
Nathan  Ross,  Herbert  Schaefer ;  Buffalo,  Syd 
Lehman,  manager,  Franklin  R.  Meadow,  Mat- 
thew V.  Sullivan,  Jr. ;  Charlotte,  Byron  Adams, 
manager  Caryl  D.  Burton,  Ralph  Ianuzzi,  For- 
est F.  Nine ;  Chicago,  Sid  Rose,  manager,  R. 
M.  Allen,  Jack  Armgardt,  A.  H.  Fischer,  Mor- 
ris Hellman,  Julian  King;  Cincinnati,  Harris 
Dudelson,  manager,  Mitchel  Blachschleger, 
Jack  Finberg,  Paul  E.  Krieger. 

Also:  Cleveland,  James  Hendel,  manager,  A. 
M.  Goodman,  L.  Greenley;  Dallas,  Earl  R. 
Collins,  manager,  Paul  Backus,  T.  R.  Barber, 
Jerry  Frey,  B.  C.  Gibson,  W.  R.  Pittenger ; 
Denver,  G.  J.  McCarthy,  manager,  Fred  P. 
Brown,  Homer  R.  Hisey,  Bern  E.  Mariner ; 


Detroit,  M.  Dudelson,  manager,  Sidney  J.  Bow- 
man, Isadore  E.  Weingarden,  Ben  Zimmer ; 
Indianapolis,  Richard  Frank,  manager,  E.  V. 
Donnelly,  Guy  Hancock,  M.  M.  Krueger;  Kan- 
sas City,  W.  E.  Truog,  manager,  G.  I.  Brad- 
ford, John  T.  Graham,  Paul  Hannon;  Los  An- 
geles, Cresson  Smith,  manager,  James  K.  Bur- 
den, William  Warner,  Guy  Gunderson. 

Also :  Milwaukee,  Nat  Nathanson,  manager, 
N.  Provencher,  Leon  Weingarden ;  Minneapo- 
lis, Ralph  Cramblett,  manager,  Edward  Burke, 
Casper  Chouinard,  Edward  Stoller,  Donald 
Swartz ;  New  Haven,  Lew  Wechsler,  manager, 
and  Lewis  Ginsberg;  New  Orleans,  C.  W. 
Allen,  manager,  Milton  M.  Dureau,  Floyd  P. 
Murphy ;  New  York,  Sam  Lefkowitz,  manager, 
David  Burkan,  Leon  A.  Herman,  Harry  A.  La 
Vine,  Edwin  Mullen,  Morrison  Orr,  Samuel 
Rifkin ;  Omaha,  D.  V.  McLucas,  manager,  H. 
R.  Barker,  Harry  Herman,  J.  E.  Schlank, 
B.  E.  Rostermundt. 

Also :  Philadelphia,  Harry  G.  Bodkin,  man- 
ager, Saul  J.  Krugman,  Harry  Tyson,  Horace 
Wright ;  Pittsburgh,  Mort  Magill,  manager, 
James  Nash,  Harry  Rees,  William  Scott;  St. 
Louis,  James  Winn,  manager,  Edward  Ash- 
kins,  Fordyce  Kaiser,  Raymond  Wylie ;  Salt 
Lake  City,  Clarence  Olsen,  manager,  Ernest 
Gibson,  Ollie  Wog,  Joseph  Solomon ;  San  Fran- 
cisco, William  G.  Wolf,  manager,  Paul  Bush, 
Jack  O'Bryan,  John  O'Loughlin ;  Seattle,  F. 
M.  Higgins,  manager,  A.  H.  Kloepper,  George 
Mitchell,  A.  J.  Sullivan,  Carroll  Trowbridge; 
Washington,  F.  A.  Rohrs,  manager,  George 
Jeffrey,  Fred  Sandy,  Mark  Silver. 

The   Canadian   delegation   included :   J.  H. 
Reid,  Calgary ;  Charles  S.  Chaplin,  Montreal 
George  Heiber,  St.  John;  A.  J.  Jeffrey  and  A. 
Iscove,  Toronto ;   S.  Nagler,  Vancouver,  an<' 
Douglas  Rosen,  Winnipeg. 

Theatres  Reopened  in 
Philadelphia  Area 

Warner  theatres  that  have  reopened  in  Phila- 
delphia are  the  first  run  Aldine  and  Mastbaun- 
and  the  neighborhood  Cadet,  with  Howard  SaJ 
vitz  as  manager. 

Another  opening  there  is  Sam  Stiefel's  Fa} 
theatre,  which  again  has  vaudeville.  A  Sun- 
day midnight  show  has  been  added.  Sidney 
Stanley  is  manager. 

The  Astor,  remodeled  and  redecorated,  ha; 
reopened  in  Allentown,  Pa.,  with  Albert  Moffc 
again  the  manager.  The  Star,  Camden,  N.  J.  i 
recently  acquired  by  Jack  Greenberg,  hai| 
opened  with  William  H.  Whyte  as  manager 
The  Eagle,  Philadelphia,  has  been  closed  foi 
repairs  by  the  Affiliated  circuit. 

Chicago  Film  Council 
Classifies  32  Films 

The  Better  Films  Council  of  Chicago  re 
viewed  32  films  between  August  1st  and  Spl, 
tember  5th  and  placed  14  in  the  "family"  grou' 
and  classified  18  as  "mature,"  according  to  tt 
report  issued  last  week. 

Nine  pictures  were  described  as  "good, 
eight  as  "bad"  and  no  opinion  was  expresse 
as  to  15. 


Talbot  Aids  Campaign 

Ralph  Talbot,  head  of  Talbot  Theatres,  Tu 
sa,  Okla.,  has  been  named  one  of  two  "gei 
erals"  of  the  army  division  of  the  city's  thre 
in-one  war  and  community  fund  campaign.  L 
is  chairman  of  the  findings  committee  of  til 
Citizens  Committee  on  War  Appeals  and  he; ' 
of  the  large  gifts  division. 


Get  W  th,f 

SCRAP 

vwith  a 
SCR^ 


HERE'S  CASH  BEHIND 
THIS  COMBINATION! 


San  Bernardino  and  Riverside,  Cal.  get  Big 
business  for  M-G-M's  first  UNIT  SHOW! 


^^^^^ 

The  Songs 
and  Fun  of 

CAIRO 


-plus- 


The  Thrills  of 

"APACHE 
TRAIL" 


ideal  combination  that  has  been  successfully  presented 
the  public  in  a  new  showmanship  way  with  outstanding 
)x-office  results.  Each  picture  is  a  honey  of  an  entertain- 
ent  on  its  own!  Together  they  represent  a  screenful  of 
irs  and  entertainment  of  an  unusual  nature! 

San  Bernardino  they  beat  "Babes  On  Broadway"  and 
onky  Tonk."  In  Riverside  they  did  "Ship  Ahoy"  business, 
owmen!  Here's  a  fresh,  lively  angle  that  the  folks  go 
Set  it  up  in  your  town.  Follow  M-G-M's  showmanship 
npaign.  It's  easy  to  duplicate— and  profitable! 


IDEAL  COMBINATION 

^0Uu\    2  NEW,  BIG  HITS 

Direct  from  the 
M-G-M  Studios! 


^G,  COMEDY  ondTHWLlSHO 


l 


MacDONALD 
YOUNG 
£W  WATERS 
SV^OWEN 
^MITCHELL 
^wATWILL 

CIANNELLI 
TH^a  BARRIE 


FUNand ADVENTURE  ™  i|ti  Mgam 

THE  HOTTEST  SPOT  ON  EARTH  "  M  lVf|  At 


ft 

ft 
ft 
ft 
ft 


4hyt  NOLAN 

Varna  REED 

7m/«,„  LUNDIGAN 
^„AYARS 
^WITHERS 
?«m  KNIGHT 
HOLDEN 

em  wins 


m 


I 


\ 


THE  HOTTEST  SPOT  ON  EARTH 


Hoar  Joanettm  SING! 


•UIRO'-  iNO  OtHISS 
in  Ploy  by  JOHN  MtClAIN 


ft 
ft 
ft 


FLAMING  ROMANCE! 
FLAMING  ARROWS! 
FLAMING  DRAMA! 


De  Anza  Theatre  N0W 

SHOWING 


One  0/  the  ads.  Watch  /or  complete  cam- 
paign in  the  mails  to  ;you  from  M-G-M. 


32 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,  1942 


Relief  Fund  Dedicates  New 
Hollywood  Country  House 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 

Twenty-three  years  of  an  industry's  de- 
votion to  the  taking  care  of  its  own  came 
to  the  nation's  attention  on  Sunday  when 
the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System  car- 
ried to  its  listeners  ceremonies  at  the 
dedication  of  the  Motion  Picture  Relief 
Fund's  Country  House  cradled  in  the  roll- 
ing hills  beyond  Calabasas,  21  miles  from 
the  heart  of  Hollywood. 

It  was  California's  Governer  Culbert  L. 
Olson,  who  spoke  into  the  microphone  about 
the  purpose  and  spirit  of  the  enterprise  un- 
der dedication,  but  it  was  the  late  Douglas 
Fairbanks  and  Irving  Thalberg,  Mary  Pick- 
ford,  Harold  Lloyd  and  Jesse  L.  Lasky  who 
spoke  of  them,  and  kept  on  speaking,  at  the 
close  of  World  War  I  when  members  of  the 
industry  who  had  gone  forth  to  battle  for 
their  country  returned  home  deprived  of 
their  means  of  livelihood  by  the  war. 

These  pioneers  saw  to  the  formation  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Relief  Fund.  Some  3,- 
000  members  of  today's  industry  attended 
the  exercises  on  Sunday.  A  smaller  num- 
ber of  workers  whose  toil  in  behalf  of  the 
screen  had  come  to  a  close  were  to  take 
occupancy  of  the  premises  on  Thursday  as 
guests  for  the  duration  of  their  need,  mak- 
ing their  homes  in  the  30  cottages  which 
range  beyond  the  Administration  Building. 

Cost  of  the  structures  and  premises  has 
not  been  revealed  in  total,  but  a  figure  of 
$250,000  released  several  months  ago  is  an 
indication  in  minimum. 

Funds  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  work 
highlighted  by  the  opening  of  the  Country 
House  have  been  amassed  via  donation.  All 
major  guilds,  most  minor  ones  and  many 
labor  unions  long  ago  assessed  their  mem- 
berships one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  earn- 
ings, on  a  voluntary  basis,  in  the  Fund's 
behalf.  For  the  past  four  years  the  Gulf 
Oil  Company  has  sponsored  a  weekly  broad- 
cast participated  in  by  the  pick  of  Holly- 
wood's star  personalities,  with  all  of  these 
donating  their  services  to  the  Fund. 

Hersholt  Expresses 
Fund  Gratitude 

Jean  Hersholt,  Relief  Fund  president, 
said  over  CBS  on  Sunday,  "I  find  it  difficult 
to  express  the  gratitude  of  our  organization 
for  the  marvelous  cooperation  extended  to 
us.  On  behalf  of  the  industry  I  want  to 
thank  Colonel  Drake  and  his  associates  in 
the  Gulf  Oil  Company,  who  inaugurated  our 
radio  program  and  sponsored  it  for  the  last 
four  years.  That  program  made  possible 
the  building  of  this  Country  House.  Colonel 
Drake,  I  know  you  will  be  happy,  as  will 
our  radio  audience,  to  hear  that  the  Screen 
Guild  Theatre  will  continue  on  the  air  start- 
ing Monday,  October  19th,  over  this  net- 
work, under  the  sponsorship  of  the  manu- 
facturers of  Lady  Esther  cosmetics.  It  will 
be  through  this  new  series  of  broadcasts 
that  the  expenses  for  the  maintenance  of 
this  Country  House  will  be  met,  and  for  this, 
too,  we  are  deeply  grateful." 

On  the  eve  of  Sunday's  dedication,  21  of 
the  30  cottages  on  the  grounds  had  been 


donated.  Individual  bungalow  units  had 
been  donated  by  Robert  Taylor  and  Barbara 
Stanwyck;  William  and  Marian  Seiter; 
Ralph  Morgan  and  Billie  Burke;  Jean 
Hersholt;  Osa  Massen  Hersholt;  Jack  Ben- 
ny; friends  of  J.  Walter  Ruben;  Otto  Kru- 
ger  and  daugther,  Ottilie ;  Y.  Frank  Free- 
man ;  John  Stahl ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward 
Arnold;  Charles  K.  Feldman;  Mary  Pick- 
ford  ;  Mrs.  Y.  Frank  Freeman ;  Samuel 
Goldwyn;  Claudette  Colbert;  Phil  Gold- 
stone  ;  the  late  Louise  Closser  Hale ;  the  Art- 
ists Managers  Guild;  the  British  Actors, 
Writers  and  Directors;  and  a  memorial  cot- 
tage to  Frank  E.  Wood,  a  founder  of  the 
Fund,  by  the  Relief  Fund. 

Kent  Memorial 
Clinic  Opened 

Major  W.  S.  Van  Dyke  II  had  donated 
$10,000  for  the  erection  of  a  four-unit  cot- 
tage. The  Screen  Directors  Guild  and 
Mark  Sandrich  had  each  donated  a  double 
unit  cottage.  The  Sidney  R.  Kent  Memorial 
clinic,  financed  by  donations  from  the  late 
executive's  friends,  had  been  completed  in 
advance  of  the  opening.  Paramount  Thea- 
tre partners  had  financed  construction  of  the 
Y.  Frank  Freeman  library,  which  had  been 
stocked  with  books  donated  by  Walter  Wan- 
ger,  Jean  Hersholt,  Buell  D.  Moore,  Ray- 
mond* Griffith,  Harry  Ruby,  Don  Ameche, 
Frank  Campeau,  Walter  Lang,  Adolphe 
Menjou,  Julie  Heron  and  Dick  Willis. 

William  L.  Pereira  had  donated  his  serv- 
ices as  architect  and  designer  of  the  center. 
Sol  Lesser  had  donated  $1,000  for  occupa- 
tional therapy  facilities.  H.  M.  Warner  had 
supplied '  a  concert  grand  piano  for  the 
lounge.  Oscar  Bradley,  musical  director  of 
the  Screen  Guild  Theatre  program,  had  do- 
nated an  album  of  recordings  of  the  broad- 
casts from  their  inception. 

The  Country  House  commands  a  41-acre 
site,  covered  at  the  time  of  purchase  with 
citrus  fruit  and  walnut  groves  which  will 
continue  to  yield  revenue.  Buildings  include 
the  administration  unit,  a  combined  dining 
room  and  theatre  equipped  with  projection 
facilities,  kitchen,  lounge,  library  and  clinic. 
When  construction  is  completed  there  will 
be  40  cottages.  South  walls  of  all  are  of 
glass  construction. 

Governor  Olson 
Pays  Tribute 

Three  years  of  activity  in  the  production 
branch  of  the  industry,  in  any  capacity, 
qualifies  a  worker  to  receive  aid  from  the 
Fund.  Administration  is  in  charge  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee headed  by  Ralph  Morgan  and  the  officers 
of  the  Fund,  Jean  Hersholt,  president,  Mary 
C.  McCall,  Jr.,  Walter  Wanger,  George 
Bagnall,  Wilma  Bashor  and  Ewell  D. 
Moore. 

In  his  dedication  broadcast  on  Sunday 
Governor  Olson  said,  "This  project  is  evi- 
dence, in  the  form  of  brick  and  mortar,  of 
the  unselfish  hearts  of  the  people  of  the  mo- 
tion picture  industry,  who  at  all  times  come 
forward  to  give  their  talents  and  services  in 
times  of  need.  We  of  the  Governmental  of- 


fices know  the  self  sacrifice  and  the  willing 
cooperation  of  the  people  of  the  picture  busi- 
ness in  volunteering  to  aid  in  times  of  war 
and  disaster. 

"At  no  time  in  history,  when  calamity  has 
beset  us  or  our  friends  in  other  nations,  and 
the  need  for  funds  has  had  to  be  met,  has 
the  motion  picture  industry  failed  to  be  the 
first  to  respond  with  their  talents  and  sup- 
port. I  go  back  to  the  last  World  War, 
when  the  large  sums  of  money  needed  to  win 
that  war  were  raised  through  the  sale  of 
Liberty  Bonds,  and  many  of  you  listening  to 
me  today  can  remember  the  stars  of  that 
time  traveling  from  one  end  of  this  country 
to  the  other  on  bond  selling  tours." 

Freeman  Recalls 
Service  of  Workers 

Speaking  as  president  of  the  Association 
of  Motion  Picture  Producers,  Y.  Frank 
Freeman  responded,  "When  Governor  Ol- 
son paid  tribute  to  our  people  for  their  will- 
ingness to  come  forward  in  time  of  need,  I 
know  it  must  have  brought  to  your  mind 
the  fact  that  these  stars  whom  you  see 
throughout  the  country  on  Bond  selling  tours 
have  not  forgotten  those  at  home.  Many  of 
those  who  are  being  aided  by  the  Motion 
Picture  Relief  Fund  today  served  their  coun- 
try in  the  last  war,  both  in  combat  service 
and  on  money-raising  tours  throughout  the 
country,  as  well  as  entertaining  our  forces 
abroad." 

Robert  Young  acted  as  master  of  ceremonies 
on  the  radio  program,  introducing,  in  addition 
to  those  named  above,  Joan  Bennett,  Allan 
Jones  and  Mary  Martin.  Others  seated  on  the 
ceremonial  platform  were  Mrs.  Louis  B.  Mayer, 
George  Bagnall,  Wilma  Bashor,  Basil  Rath- 
bone,  Donald  Crisp,  Walter  Wanger,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  William  E.  Goetz,  Tyrone  Power,  Fran- 
cis Edwards  Faragoh,  Mitchell  Lewis,  Mary 
McCall,  Jr.,  Lucille  Gleason,  Mrs.  Sidney  Kent, 
Ewell  D.  Moore,  Ralph  Morgan,  Lieut.  Col. 
J.  R.  Herlihy,  Irving  Pichel,  Douglas  Mac- 
Lean  and  Walter  Johnson. 

Screen  Stars 
Attend  Ceremony 

Others  in  attendance  were :  James  Cagney, 
Raymond  Hatton,  Otto  Kruger,  Tyler  Brooke,  i 
Richard  Lane,   Henry   O'Neill,   Osa  Massen, 
Mary  Nash,  Mary  Forbes,  Katherine  Booth, 
Alan  Mowbray,  Irene  Hervey,  Eiley  Burdette,'| 
Cesar  Romero,  Jim  Tully,  Don  Barclay,  Ann ) 
Rutherford,  Edward  G.  Robinson,  Mark  Sand- 
rich,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Goldwyn,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam Pereira,  wife  of  the  chief  architect,  Ray-  , 
mond  Griffith,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sol  Lesser,  Billie 
Burke,  William  Seiter,  Marion  Nixon,  Bradley 
Page,  Marsha  Hunt,  Walter  Lang,  William. 
Austin,  William  Collier,  Sr.,  Hobart  Bosworth  j 
Marjorie  Rambeau,  Dame  May  Whitty,  Carme 
Myers,   Lee  Patrick,   Ray   Collins,  Halliwel 
Hobbes,  Donald  Wood,  Lucille  Gleason,  Jame: 
Gleason,  Mitchell  Lewis,  Lionel  Belmore,  Ray  | 
mond  Walburn. 

Endowment  of  the  dining  room-theatre  sec  jjj 
tion  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Louis  B.  Mayer  was  ari.J 
nounced  on  Sunday. 

Mr.  Hersholt  on  Monday  announced  five  ad 
ditional  donors  of  bungalows.    They  are  Mil 
and  Mrs.  Sol  Lesser,  James  Cagney,  Mr.  an: 
Mrs.  Edward  G.  Robinson,  Mrs.  Charles  (ChicJ 
Sale  and  the  motion  picture  lawyers. 


Rosenthal  Enlists 

Leonard  L.  Rosenthal  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  h; 
enlisted  in  the  Army.  Mr.  Rosenthal,  executi1 
secretary  of  the  New  York  State  unit  of  n: 
tional  Allied  and  also  counsel  to  Upstate  Th 
atres,  Inc.,  was  tendered  a  farewell  party  1 
Allied  and  distributor  groups  at  Albany  ls>| 
Friday  night. 


October    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


33 


MICHIGAN  EXHIBITORS  CALL 
FOR  CENTRAL  FILM  BUYING 


Claim  Distribution  Cost 
Cut  of  60%;  Would  Help 
to  Solve  Travel  Problem 

Central  buying  organizations,  supported 
by  independent  theatre  operators,  were 
called  for  this  week  by  Michigan  inde- 
pendent exhibitors.  They  formed  the 
Michigan  Independent  Exhibitors  Asso- 
ciation for  this  purpose. 

Distribution  costs  could  be  slashed  by  as 
much  as  60  per  cent,  according  to  the  organ- 
ization, by  opening  central  buying  offices  to 
represent  exhibitors  in  exchange  centers. 
They  would  be  the  answer,  the  organization 
said,  to  wartime  curbs  on  field  travel  by 
film  salesmen  and  would  enable  the  distribu- 
tors to  reduce  their  exchange  budgets. 

On  the  basis  of  an  analysis  of  film  buying 
practices  in  the  Detroit  area  the  organiza- 
:  tion  estimated  that  a  well  managed  buying 
service,  representing  200  theatres,  could  be 
operated  at  a  cost  of  $10,000  to  $15,000  a 
year.  Distributors,  it  said,  spend  approxi- 
!  mately  $75,000  a  year  to  service  these  ac- 
counts with  field  salesmen. 

The  saving  which  would  result  by  organ- 
ized representation  of  the  majority  of  inde- 
f  pendent  theatres  in  the  exchange  city  could 
£  be  shared  by  both  distributor  and  exhibitor, 
t  the  association  said.  Each  would  save  be- 
l  tween  $25,000  and  $30,000  a  year,  according 
[  to  Joseph  P.  Uvick,  treasurer  of  the  Michi- 
gan unit. 

Cites  Travel  Problem 
For  Salesmen 

This  central  buying  service  would  be  "in 
r;  step  with  the  dire  necessity  of  present  re- 
t  quirements"  Mr.  Uvick  said.  Sales  costs  are 
I  steadily  mounting  for  distributors,  he  as- 
D  serted,  and  predicted  that  with  gasoline  and 
Dtire  shortages  growing  their  transportation 
:  problem  soon  would  be  acute. 

"Two  hundred  or  more  independents  could 
'5  be  sold  at  Detroit  through  a  central  office  as 
bwell  as  the  Butterfield,  or  Michigan  Coop- 
.  erative  circuits  are  now  sold,"  he  added.  "It 
r\vill  present  the  opportunity  for  distributors 
-to  counterbalance  resentment  engendered  by 
blind  checking,  and  other  practices,  and  to 
a  save  money  and  be  in  step  with  the  times." 
'  The  Michigan  proposal  was  seen  in  ex- 
hibitor circles  as  similar  to  the  proposals  of 
"national  Allied  States  Association  for  con- 
certed exhibitor  action  in  buying  product. 
|  Members  of  the  Michigan  group  attended  the 
.Allied  Caravan  session  at  Detroit  earlier  in 
.  the  month. 

Has  Outlined  Plan  for 
Information  Exchange 

The  Allied  leadership  continued  its  meet- 
!  ngs  with  exhibitors  this  week  with  sessions 
:  n  Pittsburgh  on  Monday  and  Tuesday,  in 
Tnicago  and  in  Milwaukee  on  Wednesday 
aid  Thursday.    M.  A.  Rosenberg,  H.  A. 
-   3ole,  Abram  Myers,  and  Jack  Kirsch  are 
'    m  the  touring  committee. 

Although  sessions  continue  to  be  held  be- 


hind closed  doors  it  is  reported  that  Allied 
has  outlined  a  comprehensive  program  for 
the  quick  exchange  of  sales  information. 
Expanding  the  sen-ice  originally  contem- 
plated by  the  Allied  Information  Department, 
it  is  understood  to  call  for  a  careful  cata- 
loguing of  all  distributor  demands  for  prices, 
percentage,  playing  time  and  other  sales 
conditions.  This  information  would  be  avail- 
able to  independents  to  serve  as  a  buying 
guide  and  to  insure  uniformity  of  special 
conditions. 

The  central  Allied  organization  also  would 
maintain  an  advisory  buying  service.  It 
would  tutor  members  in  bargaining  methods 
and  warn  of  special  demands  on  certain  pic- 
tures, according  to  those  who  have  heard  the 
Caravan.  The  same  organization  would  also 
determine  fair  price  maximums  for  given 
conditions,  and  advise  exhibitors  through- 
out the  country  not  to  meet  demands  for 
higher  terms,  it  was  said. 

Michigan  Unit 
Elects  Officers 

Approximately  50  independent  exhibitors, 
representing  some  30  theatres,  attended  a 
closed  meeting  at  the  Variety  Club  in  Cin- 
cinnati, September  24th,  at  which  discussions 
were  held  on  ways  to  reduce  present  film 
rentals,  adjust  allocations  and  revise  pre- 
ferred playing  time  terms. 

Addressing  the  meeting  were  Mr.  Myers, 
Sidney  Samuelson,  Colonel  Cole,  Mr.  Rosen- 
berg and  Martin  G.  Smith,  president,  and 
P.  J.  Wood,  secretary  of  the  Independent 
Theatre  Owners  of  Ohio,  an  Allied  affiliate. 

The  Michigan  Independent  Exhibitors  As- 
sociation, meeting  at  Lansing  on  September 
24th,  elected  its  first  slate  of  permanent  offi- 
cers. William  A.  Cassidy  of  Midland,  is 
president ;  H.  Bernstein,  Saginaw,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  and  Joseph  P.  Uvick,  Detroit  attorney, 
is  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  board  of  directors  includes  Lillian 
Pennell,  of  Hartford,  Mich.;  N.  Frank,  of 
Wayland;  H.  Fox,  of  Mason;  A.  Krikorian. 
of  Holly;  and  L.  Grasgrin  of  New  Balti- 
more. 

The  organization  is  now  compiling  a  ques- 
tionnaire among  Michigan  independents  ask- 
ing their  opinions  on  percentage  pictures, 
terms  and  product  supply  and  seeking  sup- 
port for  the  organization. 

Says  Group  Will  Fight 
Special  Term  Films 

Mr.  Uvick  declared  that  the  organization 
intended  to  campaign  vigorously  against  spe- 
cial term  pictures  at  advanced  admission 
prices.  He  charged  also  that  the  distributors 
have  violated  many  of  the  provisions  and  in- 
tentions of  the  consent  decree  and  solicited 
concerted  action  by  the  independents. 

Southern  New  Jersey  Allied  members  met 
at  the  Walt  Whitman  Hotel  in  Camden  on 
Wednesday  to  discuss  the  Allied  Caravan 
plan  and  hear  a  report  from  the  directors  and 
members  in  north  Jersey,  who  last  week 
voted  approval  of  the  plan.  Don  Jacocks,  of 
Warners,  and  Harry  Lowenstein.  president 
of  Jersey  Allied,  co-chairmen  of  the  state 


Bond  drive  committee  at  a  meeting  in  New 
York  Tuesday  of  the  North  Jersey  group  re- 
appointed the  members  to  serve  during  the 
October  scrap  campaign. 

At  Indianapolis  directors  of  the  Associated 
Theatre  Owners  of  Indiana  this  week  voted 
to  curtail  the  winter  membership  meeting  to 
a  one-day  session  to  be  held  at  Indianapolis 
early  in  November. 

A.  J.  Kalberer,  manager  of  the  Switow 
circuit's  Indiana  and  Liberty  theatres  at 
Washington,  Ind.,  will  address  the  MGM 
exhibitors  forum  to  be  held  at  Pittsburgh  on 
October  30th,  H:  M.  Richey,  head  of  Metro 
exhibitor  relations,  announced. 

Interstate  Circuit 
Shifts  Managers 

Interstate  Theatres  Corporation,  operating 
throughout  New  England,  announce  several 
changes  of  managers  from  their  Boston  office. 
Relieving  William  Stanton  of  the  Scenic  and 
Colonial  at  Rochester,  N.  H.,  during  his  ill- 
ness, is  Joseph  Bean  from  the  Durfee  at  Fall 
River,  Mass.  Succeeding  Mr.  Bean  at  Fall 
River  is  Paul  Slayer,  former  manager  of  sev- 
eral houses  in  New  York,  including  the  Central 
Theatre  on  Broadway. 

Air.  Bean,  also  former  manager  of  the  Cen- 
ter Theatre  at  Fall  River,  on  Mr.  Stanton's 
return  to  duty,  will  go  to  the  Boulevard  The- 
atre in  Revere,  Mass.,  where  he  will  take  the 
place  of  Henry  Price,  who  has  gone  into  the 
United  States  Army.  Raymond  Allard,  former 
Interstate  technician  in  Brockton,  Mass.,  and 
on  Cape  Cod,  and  more  recently  manager  of 
the  Auto  Theatre  at  Dartmouth,  Mass.,  has 
been  made  manager  of  the  Center  Theatre  in 
Fall  River,  replacing  Fred  Weldon,  who  was 
formerly  assistant  manager  of  the  Trans  Lux 
Theatre  in  Boston. 


Grimes  Promoted 

Charles  Grimes,  former  manager  of  the  War- 
ner Metropolitan  theatre,  Washington,  has 
been  promoted  to  district  manager,  succeeding 
the  late  Guy  Wonders,  it  was  announced  by 
John  J.  Payette,  Warner  Bros.  Theatres  zone 
manager.  James  Glennon,  former  manager  of 
the  Central  Theatre,  was  transferred  to  the 
Metropolitan,  while  Walter  Cannon  was  pro- 
moted from  assistant  manager  of  the  Central 
to  manager. 


Theatre  to  Get  Passage 

The  City  Council  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  has 
accepted  a  recommendation  of  the  Board  of 
Public  Works  that  the  city  release  to  the 
Gilmore  Asociates  rights  to  a  passageway  at 
the^rear  of  the  Capitol  theatres  for  a  sum  of 
S4.500.  A  25-year  lease  on  the  passageway 
will  expire  in  July,  1944. 

Film  Projectors  for  Army 

_A  gift  of  two  $350  portable  sound  motion 
picture  projectors  for  the  Westover  Air  Base 
and  Bradley  Field  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Air 
Forces  has  been  made  by  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  Springfield,  Mass.  The  money  was 
donated  by  local  citizens. 


Eastern  PRC  Distributor 

Eastern  Films,  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 
has  been  named  distributor  for  Producers  Re- 
leasing Corporation  pictures,  and  also  for  Pion- 
eer Films.  The  exchange  covers  the  Atlantic 
Provinces  of  Canada. 


34 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  3 


1942 


New  FPC  Action 
Names  Hanson 


Films  Fostering  Hate 
For  Axis  Approved 


OWI  Advises  Hollywood's 
Writers  on  Problems  of 
War  Film  Scripts 

by  WILLIAM  R.  WEAVER 

/';;  Hollywood 

Motion  pictures  which  promote  hatred 
of  the  Japanese  and  Nazis,  when  under 
control,  and  films  which  portray  enemy 
atrocities  for  the  purpose  of  stimulating 
that  hatred,  without  disrupting  morale, 
have  the  approval  of  the  Government  via 
its  Office  of  War  Information,  according 
to  word  released  to  Hollywood  writers  at 
the  weekend. 

Transmission  of  this  and  other  advice  to 
the  people  who  write  the  scripts  was  ef- 
fected via  Communique ,  weekly  house  organ 
of  the  Writers  Mobilization,  "representing 
the  Screen  Writers  Guild,  Radio  Writers 
Guild,  Screen  Publicists  Guild,  Screen  Read- 
ers Guild,  Screen  Cartoonists  Guild,  Ameri- 
can Newspaper  Guild  and  the  Independent 
Publicists,"  an  eight-page  paper  staffed  by 
Milton  Merlin,  editor,  Michael  Kanin,  Ring 
Lardner,  Jr.,  Ian  McLellan  Hunter,  Jay 
Dratlers,  Jack  Stanley,  Evelyn  Humphreys, 
Asa  Bordages,  Gordon  Kahn,  Marian  Spit- 
zer,  Fay  Kanin  and  John  McLeish,  art 
editor. 

In  an  Editor's  Note  appearing  under  the 
caption,  "A  Few  Poynters,"  it  was  an- 
nounced that  "Communique  inaugurates  in 
this  issue  a  new  service  to  expedite  the  con- 
tact between  Hollywood  writers  and  Nelson 
Poynter,  Hollywood  chief  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Division  of  the  Office  of  War  In- 
formation. Communique  will  attempt  to  get 
answers  from  Mr.  Poynter  to  all  questions 
on  specific  problems  of  writers'  work  related 
to  the  war  effort." 

Should  Foster  Hatred 
Of  Axis  System 

With  that  introduction,  the  following  was 
presented : 

"Q.  Is  it  true  that  the  Office  of  Informa- 
tion does  not  want  pictures  which  will  pro- 
mote hatred  of  the  Japenese  and  Nazis  ? 

"A.  No.  Properly  directed  hatred  is  of 
vital  importance  to  the  war  effort.  The 
Office  of  War  Information  wishes  only  to 
insure  that  hatred  will  not  be  directed  either 
at  Hitler,  Mussolini,  Tojo  or  a  small  group 
of  Fascist  leaders  as  personalized  enemies 
on  the  one  hand,  or  at  the  whole  German, 
Japanese  and  Italian  people  on  the  other 
hand.  Hatred  of  the  militaristic  system 
which  governs  the  Axis  countries  and  of 
those  responsible  for  its  furtherance  defi- 
nitely should  be  promoted. 

"Q.  Does  the  OWI  believe  that  Ameri- 
ca's part  in  the  war  is  being  over-emphasized 
beyond  its  strategic  importance? 

"A.  To  a  large  extent,  yes.  In  the  long 
run  undoubtedly  American  industrial  and 
military  strength  will  be  the  deciding  factor 
in  the  war.    However,  too  little  credit  is  be- 


ing given  to  the  efforts  of  the  other  members 
of  the  United  Nations  alliance. 

"Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  people  of  our 
Allies  have  been  realistically  portrayed  on 
the  screen  ? 

A.  No.  Our  Allies  generally  have 
been  portrayed  in  one  or  two  types — either 
a  stereotyped  pattern  built  up  through  the 
past  bearing  little  semblance  to  reality  or 
of  types  distinctly  American.  So  far  the 
screen  has  done  little  to  show  the  peoples 
of  the  United  Nations  as  they  really  are. 

Pictures  Should  Be 
Historically  Accurate 

"Q.  How  much  liberty  can  be  taken  with 
historical  accuracy  in  pictures  dealing  with 
the  war  effort? 

"A.  As  little  as  possible.  In  the  abso- 
lute truth  there  is  enough  drama  to  make  it 
unnecessary  to  depart  from  the  facts.  The 
enemy  will  seize  upon  any  deviation  from 
the  truth  as  an  excuse  to  discredit  the  whole 
message  we  seek  to  put  across. 

"Q.  Does  the  Government  approve  of 
frank  treatment  of  the  subject  of  war 
casualties  ? 

"A.  Generally  speaking,  yes.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  ruthless  or 
careless  treatment  of  this  phase  of  the  war 
could  have  a  very  adverse  effect  on  public 
morale.  The  subject  should  be  handled  tact- 
fully but  truthfully.  Special  emphasis  should 
be  given  to  the  necessity  for  making  adjust- 
ments in  the  everyday  life  of  the  American 
people  necessitated  by  the  inevitable  num- 
ber of  casualties  which  war  will  bring. 

Periodic  Washington 
Talks  Necessary 

"Q.  Does  the  Government  disapprove  of 
the  portrayal  of  enemy  atrocities  ? 

"A.  Insofar  as  atrocities  can  be  useful 
in  stimulating  controlled  hatred  of  the  ene- 
my and  not  disrupt  morale  by  over-emphasis 
of  their  horrible  quality  the  Government  ap- 
proves of  the  frank  treatment  of  atrocities." 

Nelson  Poynter's  appointment  as  Holly- 
wood director  of  the  Office  of  War  Informa- 
tion was  made  by  Lowell  Mellett  following 
Mr.  Mellett's  appointment  as  United  States 
Coordinator  of  Films  and  preceding  the 
President's  appointment  of  Elmer  Davis  in 
control  of  this  and  other  divisions  of  public 
intelligence. 

Two  weeks  ago,  Mr.  Poynter,  who  has 
described  his  function  as  consultative,  au- 
thorized publication  of  a  summary  of  a  sur- 
vey of  productions  filmed  since  his  appoint- 
ment, conducted  by  him  and  purporting  to 
reveal  his  official  opinion  of  them.  Last 
week  he  was  in  Washington  for  one  of  the 
periodic  conferences  which  he  has  said  are 
required  to  keep  him  in  touch  with  the  gov- 
ernmental point  of  view  and  policy. 


Marge  Henrikson  to  Coast 

Marge  Henrikson,  secretary  to  Stanton  Grif- 
fis,  chairman  of  the  Paramount  executive  com- 
mittee, was  to  leave  New  York  for  the  coast 
this  week.  She  will  assume  a  new  position  at 
the  Paramount  studio.  Mr.  Griffis  is  on  leave 
of  absence  from  Paramount  for  war  work. 


New  development  in  the  litigation  between 
Famous  Players  Canadian  Corporation  and  N. 
L.  Nathanson,  Odeon  Theatres  of  Canada  and 
others,  reported  from  Toronto  last  week,  came 
in  a  surprise  action  by  FPC  in  a  writ  of  sum- 
mons to  Oscar  E.  Hanson,  former  president  of 
Hanson  Theatres.  Mr.  Hanson  headed  the  latter 
company  until  January,  1941,  when  it  was  a 
subsidiary  of  Famous  Players  at  the  time  N. 
L.  Nathanson  was  president. 

According  to  reports,  Mr.  Hanson  had  a 
disagreement  with  Mr.  Nathanson  over  undis- 
closed issues  but  continued  as  president  of  the 
Nathanson-controlled  Empire-Universal  Films 
for  some  months  after  the  former  FPC  presi- 
dent broke  with  the  circuit  in  May,  1941.  Since 
leaving  the  Nathanson  fold,  Mr.  Hanson  has 
been  reported  forming  a  group  of  his  own  dis- 
tributing companies. 

A  separate  action  has  been  entered  against 
Mr.  Hanson  by  FPC  in  the  supreme  court  of 
Ontario.  The  circuit  filed  action  last  week 
against  Mr.  Nathanson,  his  son  Paul,  Clarence 
M.  Robson  and  Odeon  Theatres  for  unstated 
damages,  the  return  of  theatre  properties  and 
accounting  of  receipts  and  expenditures  for 
theatres  in  dispute.  The  complaint  charges 
that  the  defendants  acquired  theatre  properties 
while  still  in  the  employ  of  FPC. 

William  A.  Scully,  Universal  general  sales 
manager,  and  F.  J.  A.  McCarthy,  division  man- 
ager, were  in  Toronto  last  week  for  confer- 
ences with  Empire  Universal  Films,  a  distrib- 
uting company  of  N.  L.  Nathanson.  According 
to  reports,  the  U.  S.  film  executives  discussed 
the  litigation  started  by  Famous  Players  Ca- 
nadian against  Mr.  Nathanson,  his  son,  Paul, 
Odeoen  Theatres  of  Canada  and  others,  and 
were  expected  to  study  the  new  regulations  of 
the  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade  Board. 


House  Closes,  Another  Opens 

One  San  Francisco  theatre  closed  last  week 
after  only  a  month's  run  and  another  reopened. 
The  Tivoli,  which  was  bought  by  the  Joseph 
Blumenfeld  interests  as  a  "move  over"  house 
for  the  Orpheum  and  United  Artists  theatres, 
closed.  The  reason  for  the  failure  is  said  to  be 
the  fact  that  it  is  just  outside  the  downtown 
district  and  not  quite  in  a  neighborhood  area. 
The  other  house,  the  Kearney  theatre,  re- 
opened after  four  months. 


Critics  Elect  Anderson 

John  Anderson,  drama  critic  of  the  New 
York  J ournal- American,  was  elected  president 
of  the  New  York  Drama  Critics  Circle  at  the 
Hotel  Algonquin,  New  York,  Tuesday,  suc- 
ceeding John  Mason  Brown.  Louis  Kronen- 
berger  was  named  vice-president,  Wilella  Wal- 
dorf treasurer,  and  Burns  Mantle  corresponding 
foreign  secretary.  New  members  elected  to  the 
Circle  were  Jesse  Zunser  and  Howard  Barnes. 


Cincinnati  Changes 

Changes  in  the  Cincinnati  Columbia  exchange  i 
include  transfer  of  Robert  McNabb  from  the  \ 
booking  department  to  West  Virginia  sales- ' 
man.  He  succeeds  Irvin  Sochin,  'now  handling  » 
city  sales.  Albery  Weiss  has  been  inducted 
into  the  Army,  and  La  Verne  Hundler,  previ-i 
ously  with  MGM,  in  Cincinnati,  has  joined  the  | 
booking  staff. 


Missing  in  Action 

Ensign  Stephen  Fuld,  35,  a  member  of  the 
Columbia  Broadcasting  System  station  rela- 
tions department  for  the  last  five  years,  hasi 
been  reported  missing  in  action  while  in  ser- 
vice with  the  Coast  Guard  on  convoy  duty,  ac- 
cording to  word  received  by  Fred  Fuld,  his 
brother,  an  instructor  in  the  Army  Air  Corps. 


The  Paramount  Company  doesn't  wish  'em  for 
you— it  guarantees  'em!  Ask  the  scores  of  exhib- 
itors who  booked  in  "HOLIDAY  INN"  for  Labor 
Day— and  kept  celebrating  for  weeks!  Then 
look  what  we've  got  cooking  for  Thanksgiving! 


'A 


THE  GREATEST  ROAI 


Amount  Picture  starrij 

B/MJ  CROS 

BOB  HOP 

mom  m 


SHOW  OF  'EM  ALL! 


J  J* 


HIRES  WHAT 
MAKES  MOROCCO 

socKoj 


Wortmon,  who  Vet  frorn  Frank  I 

Who  »«'e  "Si„gopore„  kanBu'  1  «*  p.„ 

a  -  na  Zanzibar"! 

AflORE  GAtS 

B°b  !>*»*<■  girl  t„,stime 

«-D.na  Drake,  fresh  ;r;:",d  Wh«- e«no.rovisher 
°"  °  *"*•'  "-rem  be2ieL°U'S'°n°  Pu-h«e."  PLUS 

pi  lsh  musical 


/wore  Hir  rt/NPs 

"Moonlight  el^^^"  ••0^.- 

Ho-Ho.Ho.Ho-HU[ny'.. 


with 


Anthony  Quinn  •  Dona  Drake 

Directed  by  DAVID  BUTLER 

Oriainal  Screen  Plow  hv  cmnL  R,,«|A.  „„,j  u  .  


FRED,  v  ill  WAUIETTE  SUSAN 

MacMURRMDDARD  hay  ward 

LYNNE  OVERMAN  •  ALBERT  DEKKER  EUGENE  PALLETTE 


Directed  .by  GEORGE  MARSHALL  ■  ^i&W&sSK  ■  A  Paramount  Picture 


.Jrf  Gary  Cooper  •  Ingrid  Bergman 
"  FOR  WHOM  THE  BELL  TOLLS ! 


r 

St*! 


Produced  and  Directed  by  SAM  WOOD 
IK  TECHNICOLOR! 


October    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


39 


THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 


The  late  Will  James's  last  book,  "The 
Saga  of  the  American  Cowboy."  which 
the  author  wrote  for  Metro-Goldwyn- 
Mayer.  but  which  the  studio  did  not  buy, 
has  been  acquired  from  the  authors  estate 
by  Harry  Sherman. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  has  named  Irving 
Pichel  to  direct  the  screen  version  of  John 
Steinbeck's  "The  Moon  Is  Down,"  which 
the  studio  purchased  in  April  for  $300,000. 
Xunnally  Johnson  is  preparing  the  screen 
adaptation  of  the  novel  and  will  produce 
the  picture.  Twentieth  Century-Fox's 
•Hello,  Frisco.  Hello"  now  has  June  Havoc 
in  the  cast 

Helen  Walker,  imported  from  Broadway 
by  Paramount  last  season,  who  makes  her 
screen  debut  in  "Lucky  Jordan,"  with  Alan 
Ladd,  has  been  named  to  appear  with  Ladd 
in  "Salt}-  O'Rourke." 

James  Craig  will  play  the  leading  role  in 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's  "Army  Chaplain," 
formerly  "They  Shall  Not  March  Alone," 
originally  announced  as  a  vehicle  for  Walter 
Pidgeon.  Lesser  Samuels  and  Hamilton  Mc- 

\  Fadden  are  preparing  the  screenplay  from 
McFadden's  story,  and  Sam  Marx  will  pro- 

i  cuce.  Dalton  Trumbo  is  writing  the  scena- 
rio of  "A  Guy  Named  Joe."  a  Spencer  Tracy 
vehicle,  which  Everett  Riskin  will  produce. 

Borzage  to  Direct 
"Stage  Door  Canteen" 

Columbia  has  engaged  Bob  CrosbjT  and 
Duke  Ellington  and  their  orchestras  for 
"Reveille  with  Beverly".  .  .  .  Warners' 
'"Action  in  the  North  Atlantic"  has  Chick 
|  Chandler  and  Noah  Beery  Jr.  in  the  cast. 

Una  O'Connor  has  ioined  the  cast  of 
RKO's  "This  Land  Is  Mine." 

Frank  Borzage  has  been  signed  by  Sol 
Lesser  to  direct  "Stage  Door  Canteen," 
the  film  built  around  the  Broadway  theatri- 
cal canteen  for  service  men.  Mr.  Lesser 
obtained  the  director's  services  through  an 
agreement  with  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 
which  has  Mr.  Borzage  under  contract. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  has  changed  two 
tides,  "Chetniks"  will  be  the  release  title  of 
the  film  formerly  known  as  "Seventh  Col- 
umn," and  "Murder,  Murder,  Everywhere" 
is  the  name  under  which  "Brasher  Dou- 
bloon," a  mystery  melodrama  in  the  Michael 
Shayne  series,  will  be  released. 

Abbott-Costello  Film 
Xou-  "It  Ain't  Hay" 

Richard  Arlen  and  Chester  Morris  will 
be  co-starred  by  Paramount  in  "Aerial  Gun- 
ner," a  story  by  Maxwell  Shane  which  Wil- 
liam Pine  and  William  Thomas  will  pro- 
duce. Most  of  the  picture  will  be  filmed  on 
location  at  an  Army  aerial  gunnery  school, 
according  to  the  producers. 
Also  at  Paramount,  Karl  Tunberg  and 
)arrell  Ware  have  4>een  assigned  to  pre- 
ire  an  American  version  of  ''The  Man 
JvVho  Seeks  the  Truth,"  a  French  film  made 
by  Raimu  before  the  German  occupation. 
|The  French  picture  was  acquired  by  Para- 
mount last  month  and  will  be  remade  with 
Sing  Crosby. 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  has  engaged  Elsa 


PRODUCTION  SLACKENS 

Production  slackened  its  pace  a  bit,  the  shooting  index  dropping  from  47  to  42, 
in  a  week  that  witnessed  the  completion  of  I  I  pictures  and  the  starting  of  six.  Uni- 
versal^ "When  Johnny  Comes  Home",  presenting  Allan  Jones,  Jane  Frazee  and  Phil 
Spitalny's  all-girl  orchestra,  is  the  standout  among  the  new  undertakings. 

The  scene  at  the  weekend: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

Frightened  Stiff 

MSM 

Dr.  Gillespie's  New 
Assistant 

Monogram 

Dead  Men  Don't  Ride 
PRC 

Permit  to  Kill 
Dead  Men  Walk 

Republic 

Crooked  Circle 
Heart  of  the  Golden 
West 

Unive  rsal 

Lone  Star  Trail 
Sin  Town 

Warner 

Murder  on  Wheels 
Adventures  of  Mark 
Twain 


STARTED 

Columbia 

Robin  Hood  of  the 

Range 
Monogram 
Dead  Men's  Trail 
PRC 

Ladv  from  Chungking 
Billy  the  Kid  No.  1 
Republic 

Riding  Down  the 

Canyon 
Universal 

When  Johnm-  Comes 
Home 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

Merry-Go-Round 
Power  of  the  Press 
One  Dangerous  Night 
City  Without  Men 
Commandos  Come  at 
Dawn 


MSM 

Nothing  Ventured 
Cabin  in  the  Sky 
DuBarry  Was  a  Lady 
Assignment  in 

Brittany 
Human  Comedy 
Three  Hearts  for 

Julia 

Lassie  Come  Home 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 

Monogram 

Rhythm  Parade 

Paramount 

True  to  Life 
Buckskin  Frontier 
For  Whom  the  Bell 
Tolls 

RKO  Radio 

Great  Gilbersleeve 
Tarzan  Triumphs 
Stand  By  to  Die 


Republic 

Secrets  of  the  Under- 
ground 

C.  R.  Rogers 

Powers  Girl 

20th-Fox 

Seventh  Column 
Dixie  Dugan 
Immortal  Sergeant 
Crash  Dive 
My  Friend  Flicka 

Universal 

Pittsburgh 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Nightmare 
Corvettes  in  Action 
Forever  Yours 
Flesh  and  Fantasy 

Warner 

Action  in  the  North 

Atlantic 
Air  Force 
Edee  of  Darkness 


Lanchester  to  play  Donald  Crip's  wife  in 
"Lassie  Come  Home,"  with  Roddy  Mc- 
Dowa'll,  Edmund  .Gwenn  and  Dame  May 
Whitty,  which  Fred  Wilcox  is  directing. 

Leighton  Noble,  orchestra  leader  and 
singer,  has  been  signed  to  a  term  contract 
as  an  actor  by  Universal.  The  studio's  Bud 
Abbot-Lou  Costello  comedy  "Hold  Your 
Horses"  has  been  re-titled  "It  Ain't  Hay." 
The  projected  remake  of  "The  Phantom  of 
the  Opera"  at  Universal  will  be  photo- 
graphed in  color,  according  to  the  studio. 

James  V.  Kern  is  writing  a  photoplaj^  at 
Warner  Brothers  under  the  title  "Time  and 
Again"  for  Producer  Mark  Hellinger.  RKO 
has  signed  Robert  Fellows,  former  Warner 
producer,  to  a  term  contract.  He  already 
had  been  engaged  to  produce  "Bombardier" 
for  RKO. 

Milestone  to  Direct 
Government  Film 

Ida  Lupino  will  sing  and  dance  as  well 
as  act  in  Warners'  "Thank  Your  Lucky 
Stars"  which  Mark  Hellinger  will  produce 
with  David  Buder  directing.  Jack  Torneur 
has  been  assigned  to  direct  RKO  Radio's 
"I  Walked  With  a  Zombie"  on  the  strength 
of  his  handling  of  "The  Cat  People."  Lana 
Turner  and  Louise  Beavers  have  joined  the 
cast  of  MGM's  "DuBarry  Was  a  Lady," 
Arthur  Freed  production  in  Technicolor 
directed  by  Roy  Del  Rudi. 

Lewis  Milestone  will  direct  a  feature 
length  film  for  the  Government  after  com- 


pleting Warners'  "Edge  of  Darkness." 
Arthur  Dreyfuss  will  direct  Lee  Tracy  in 
"The  Pay-Off"  for  Producers  Releasing 
Corporation.  Edmund  Lowe  has  been  given 
a  term  contract  by  Columbia. 

John  Hall,  Maria  Montez  and  Sabu,  fea- 
tured in  "Arabian  Nights,''  are  to  be  re- 
tained as  a  combination  to  appear  in  two 
more  Universal  pictures,  "White  Savage" 
and  "Cobra  Woman,"  both  under  considera- 
tion as  Technicolor  material.  Hugh  Har- 
man  has  devised  a  use  of  moulding  clay  in 
the  manufacture  of  cartoon  films  which,  ex- 
periments indicate,  will  save  50  per  cent  in 
studio  use  of  film  stock.  Allan  Dwan  has 
been  chosen  to  direct  "Grand  Canyon,"' 
RKO-Radio's  Technicolor  spectacle. 

Daphne  Pollard  has  been  engaged  for  a 
featured  role  in  Monogram's  "Little  Mob- 
sters," starring  the  East  Side  Kids.  Mar- 
garet Dumont,  also  at  Monogram,  who  has 
apeared  in  Marx  brothers  pictures,  has 
ioined  the  cast  of  the  musical  "Rhythm  Pa- 
rade." .  .  .  "Merry-Go-Round"  is  the  new 
tide  of  the  Jean  Arthur- Joel  McCrea  vehicle 
at  Columbia,  formerly  known  as  "Come 
One,  Come  All." 


Sol  Wurtzel,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  pro- 
ducer, has  two  stories  in  preparation  for  the 
comedy  team  of  Stan  Laurel  and  Oliver  Hardy. 
Paul  Yawitz  has  completed  an  original  spy 
story  titled  "Me  and  My  Shadow,"  which  may 
be  the  first  to  go  before  the  cameras.  Another 
story  with  a  western  background  is  being  writ- 
ten bv  Mannv  O'Connor  and  Robert  Metzler. 


40 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


Board  Upholds  7-Day 
New  York  Clearance 


Ohio  Theatre  Files  First 
Specific  Run  Action  at 
Cleveland  Tribunal 

A  seven  day  clearance  between  two  neigh- 
borhood theatres  in  New  York's  Bronx  was 
found  reasonable  by  the  Appeal  Board  of 
the  motion  picture  arbitration  system  on 
Monday  in  their  28th  decision. 

The  ruling  dismissed  the  appeal  by  Metro- 
politan Theatres,  Inc.,  a  Skouras  circuit 
subsidiary,  complainant  for  the  Ogden  thea- 
tre, in  New  York's  21st  case.  Lionel  S. 
Popkin,  arbitrator,  had  dismissed  the  com- 
plaint against  Paramount  and  MGM  and 
the  Julius  Joelson  circuit's  Mt.  Eden 
theatre. 

He  found  that  although  the  two  houses 
had  been  operated  by  the  same  management 
the  Mt.  Eden  had  always  possessed  an  im- 
plied clearance  over  the  Ogden  by  reason  of 
its  superior  size  and  revenue  producing  ca- 
pacity. The  clearance  was  not  exercised 
when  both  houses  were  managed  by  the 
Joelson  interests. 

Boards  Rules  Theatres 
Are  Competitive 

The  Appeal  Board  affirmed  in  full  the  arbi- 
trator's finding  that  the  complainant's  contention 
that  the  two  houses  were  noncompetitive  as  to 
area  was  not  supported  by  facts.  The  two 
theatres,  the  board  said,  are  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  apart  and  draw  patronage  from  the  same 
groups. 

"The  facts  found  by  the  Arbitrator  are  fully 
supported  by  the  record  and  we  agree  with  his 
conclusions.  It  is  clear  that  the  Ogden  and 
Mt.  Eden  theatres  are  in  the  same  competitive 
area  and  compete  with  each  other  to  an  extent 
sufficient  to  justify  clearance  between  them. 
The  defendants,  in  granting  the  Mt.  Eden  a 
run  ahead  of  the  Ogden,  are  therefore  within 
the  rights  reserved  to  them  by  Section  VIII  of 
the  Decree.  Seven  days  clearance  between  sub- 
sequent run  theatres  in  the  City  of  New  York 
is  customary.  There  is  nothing  in  the  record 
to  indicate  that  in  this  case  such  customary 
clearance  is  not  reasonable,"  the  board  wrote. 

Competition  offered  by  the  San  Val  theatre 
in  Burbank,  California,  to  other  Burbank  and 
Glendale  theatres  is  so  slight  as  to  make  a  63- 
day  clearance  over  it  unreasonable,  the  Appeal 
Board  ruled  in  their  39th  opinion  Monday. 
They  affirmed  the  award  of  J.  M.  Rust,  arbi- 
trator who  reduced  the  clearance  in  this  sixth 
Los  Angeles  case  to  28  days. 

New  York 

John  T.  McGovern,  arbitrator  of  the  32nd 
New  York  complaint  on  Thursday  dismissed  the 
clearance  demand  of  the  Kant  Amusement  Cor- 
poration, operator  of  the  Crown  theatre,  Brook- 
lyn, against  the  five  consenting  distributors  and 
the  Randforce  Amusement  Company,  interven- 
er. He  assessed  costs  equally  among  all  par- 
ties. 

Mr.  McGovern  found  that  the  seven  day  mar- 
gins of  the  Utica  and  Carroll  theatres  over 
the  Crown  were  reasonable  and  that  the  com- 
plainant had  not  been  able  to  prove  the  lack  of 
substantial  competition  between  them.  He  ruled 
that  no  proof  had  been  offered  of  alleged  fraud 
between  defendants  and  intervenor. 

The  fact  that  the  complainant  Louis  Kan- 
turek,  who  took  over  the  Crown  in  1941,  had 


spent  several  thousand  dollars  in  remodeling 
his  house  did  not  in  itself  entitle  him  to  less 
clearance,  the  award  held.  Elements  of  compe- 
tition still  remained,  it  said.  In  his  discussion 
the  arbitrator  commented  that  the  complaint  had 
not  been  filed  with  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  which  must  be  met,  or  the  proof  re- 
quired. He  advised  other  complainants  to  study 
the  consent  decree  and  the  precedents  set  by 
the  Appeal  Board. 

Cleveland 

Maurice  S.  Barck,  operator  of  the  Maple 
Heights  theatre  in  Maple  Heights,  O.,  Cleve- 
land suburb,  filed  the  fifth  Cleveland  case,  a 
specific  run  action,  against  Paramount  on  Mon- 
day. The  Section  X  demand  named  the  Co- 
operative Theatres  of  Ohio  as  the  buying  com- 
bine and  circuit  which  had  secured  the  run 
previously  held  by  the  Maple  Heights. 

Specifically  named  were  the  Stillwell  and 
Bedford  theatres,  in  Bedford,  O.,  operated  by 
Lena  Stillwell.  Mr.  Barck  asserted  that  for 
fourteen  years  he  had  held  a  seven  day  margin 
over  both  houses,  playing  on  the  run  designated 
as  28  days  after  Cleveland  first  runs,  or  seven 
days  after  seconds.  This  run  was  denied  him 
by  reason  of  the  Cooperative's  buying  power 
when  the  first  blocks  of  1941-1942  pictures  were 
sold,  he  charged. 

Chicago 

Notice  of  appeal  in  the  15th  Chicago  case, 
specific  run  action  of  Bennis  Brothers  for  the 
Freeport  theatre  in  Freeport,  111.,  was  filed  on 
September  24th  by  MGM,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  and  the  Publix  Great  States  circuit.  Ar- 
thur J.  Goldberg  had  directed  the  two  com- 
panies to  sell  to  competitive  Great  States  houses 
only  by  separate  contract. 

Hearings  on  the  20th  Chicago  complaint,  by 
the  Ken  theatre,  have  been  postponed  from 
October  6th  to  15th  at  the  request  of  Schoen- 
stadt  circuit,  the  intervenor. 

Terms  of  the  stipulation  settling  the  sixth 
Chicago  case,  the  long  pending  Oriental  theatre 
clearance  action,  will  not  be  announced  until 
October  20th.  The  award  date  was  postponed 
by  agreement  from  September  29th. 

Philadelphia 

The  Ambassador  theatre,  Philadelphia,  on 
Monday  appealed  the  dismissal  of  its  clearance 
action  against  RKO.  It  is  the  18th  case  in 
Philadelphia. 

New  Legitimate  Play 
Units  for  Cincinnati 

Cincinnati  for  the  first  time  will  have  an 
additional  offering  of  legitimate  productions 
through  a  deal  just  closed  with  I.  Sherman  of 
New  York,  who  will  bring  touring  companies 
to  Cincinnati  for  one-week  engagements  at  $1 
top,  to  be  presented  in  Emery  Auditorium. 

The  season  will  open  October  5th,  with  "You 
Can't  Take  It  With  You,"  starring  Fred  Stone, 
and  with  his  daughter,  Paula,  and  Cora  Wither- 
spoon  in  the  supporting  cast. 


Converting  to  Coal 

Although  only  a  few  New  Haven  houses  have 
been  converted  to  coal,  all  Loew  theatres  and 
many  others  have  prepared  coal-burning  grates 
and  stored  coal  preparatory  to  shortage  of  oil 
this  winter.  Storage  space  for  coal  is  a  new 
problem,  and  Connecticut  police  are  checking 
possible  hazards  in  storage  of  soft  coal. 


Chile  Prefers 
U.  S.  Product 

Chile's  motion  picture  audiences  prefer 
United  States  films  by  a  margin  of  almost  three 
to  one,  according  to  a  study  of  export  figures 
published  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Com- 
merce in  the  Foreign  Commerce  Weekly. 

During  the  first  seven  months  of  1942  a  total 
of  244  films  were  released  in  Chile.  Of  these 
features  168  were  produced  in  the  United 
States.  In  1941  Hollywood  supplied  320  of  the 
408  films  shown  there.  Heavy  drama,  comedy 
and  farce  are  the  most  popular  types  of  pic- 
tures. The  preference  for  U.  S.  films  is  greater 
in  the  cities  than  in  rural  and  suburban  the- 
atres. 

Ninety  per  cent  of  the  416  pictures  per  year 
shown  in  Trinidad,  British  West  Indies,  origi- 
nate in  the  United  States,  the  Foreign  Com- 
merce Weekly  also  reported.  The  island  now 
has  33  local  theatres,  13  United  States  Army, 
and  one  Navy  theatre  in  operation.  All  are 
wired  for  sound,  but  none  are  air  conditioned. 

Church  Bingo  Alarms 
Philadelphia  Exhibitors 

Philadelphia  exhibitors  and  amusement  in- 
terests are  becoming  alarmed  over  the  wide- 
spread staging  of  Bingo  parties  at  the  city's 
churches.  When  the  pastime  was  barred  by  the 
courts  in  the  city's  film  houses  some  time  ago, 
a  few  churches  adopted  the  game — as  much  for 
its  social  and  recreational  aspects  as  for  the 
financial  gains  involved.  Since  that  time,  how- 
ever, several  professional  promoters  have 
moved  into  the  picture,  selling  the  churches  on 
the  idea  of  big-scale  Bingo  games  out  of  which 
the  sponsoring  church  gets  a  share  of  the 
profits. 

The  church  Bingo  affairs  have  proved  so 
profitable  that  some  promoters  are  actually  pay- 
ing the  fare  of  taxis  which  bring  players  to  the 
games.  Some  of  the  churches  run  games  con- 
tinuously from  1  P.  M.  to  1  A.  M.,  with  players 
invited  to  stay  for  dinner.  One  of  the  central 
city  churches,  it  is  reported,  has  Bingo  games 
running  nightly  on  each  of  the  five  floors  of  its 
school  building.  Prizes  as  high  as  $50  are  be- 
ing offered  at  some  of  the  church  parties.  Pro- 
tests have  been  lodged  with  Rev.  William  B. 
Forney,  secretary  of  the  Lords  Day  Alliance, 
who  has  led  the  fight  in  Pennsylvania  against 
Sunday  films.  Thus  far,  however,  no  action  has 
been  taken. 


Reopening  Theatre 

Ben  Levine,  former  manager  for  First  Na- 
tional in  New  York,  and  in  the  film  business 
for  some  30  years,  has  leased  the  490-seat 
Strand,  Wallingford,  Conn.,  formerly  leased  by 
George  Wilkinson,  operator  of  the  1,200-seat 
Wilkinson  theatre,  and  kept  dark  for  several 
years.    The  house  will  open  shortly. 


Plan  Newsreel  Theatre 

A  permit  to  remodel  a  vacant  downtown  Mil- 
waukee store  building  into  a  combination  news- 
reel  theatre  and  store  building  at  a  cost  of  $39,-' 
000  has  been  granted  by  the  city  building  in- 
spector. The  structure  is  two  stories  high  in 
front  and  three  in  the  rear.  The  upper  stories 
will  be  removed  and  the  materials  so  salvaged 
will  be  used  in  remodeling  the  lower  portion  of 
the  building.  Site  of  the  new  house  is  that  of 
the  Lyric,  operated  some  38  years  ago  by  the 
Saxe  interests,  and  managed  by  George  Fischer, 
manager  of  the  Capitol  in  West  Allis,  Wis. 
The  building  is  owned  by  Gimbel  Brothers. 


O'Rourke  With  Paramount 

Ray  O'Rourke,  who  recently  sold  his  inter- 
est in  the  Doris  theatre,  Philadelphia,  to  the  J 
A.  M.  Ellis  circuit,  has  joined  the  Paramount1,! 
staff  there  as  a  salesman. 


A  Paramount  advertisement 
11 


MAJOR  NEWS 


Major  and  Minor 
A  Major  Grosser 


rr 


Ties  "Holiday  Inn"  at 
N.  Y.  Paramount;  Two 
More  Big  Openings 

Paramount's  hit  Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Mil- 
land  comedy,  "The  Major  and  the  Minor," 
has  lived  up  to  all  predictions  made  for  it 
by  rave  reviews  of  the  trade  press  in  three 
pre-release  bookings,  boxoffice  reports  show. 

First  five  days  of  the  booking  at  the  New 
York  Paramount  showed  "The  Major"  tied 
with  the  seventeen-year  record  gross  rolled 
up  by  Irving  Berlin's  "Holiday  Inn".  "The 
Major  began  its  third  week  with  top  re- 
turns still  rolling  in. 

Openings  at  Newark  and  Paterson,  New 
Jersey,  last  week  showed  "The  Major" 
grossing  from  20  to  25  per  cent  above  both 
"The  Fleet's  In"  and  "My  Favorite  Blonde" 
in  both  houses. 

New  York  Paramount  booking  of  "The 
Major  and  the  Minor"  represents  the 
world  premiere  of  the  picture;  key  city 
showings  and  general  release,  to  follow 
immediately,  should  bring  solid  proof  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Daily's  review  state- 
ment— that  the  picture  is  "guaranteed  to 
make  the  cash  register  ring  long  and 
loud." 

Other  trade  papers  have  made  similar 
predictions.  Film  Bulletin  said  it  "will  be 
a  boxoffice  winner."  The  Exhibitor  said 
it's  "headed  for  the  higher  grosses."  The 
Independent  classed  it  "a  major  booking 
for  any  situation— even  the  minors." 
Film  Daily  said  it  has  "plenty  of  what  it 
takes  to  roundly  entertain  fans."  Boxoffice 
called  it  "a  funfest  for  exhibitors  and 
John  Q.  Public."  Showmen's  Trade  Re- 
view dubbed  it  "certain  to  ring  the  bell." 
M.  P.  Herald  said  it  "should  delight  audi- 
ences of  this  or  any  other  season."  Holly- 
wood Reporter  marked  it  "one  of  the  sea- 
son's surest  bets  for  hit  grosses."  Variety 
called  it  "sparkling  and  effervescent — 
wide  audience  appeal." 

We're  not  arguing. 


Redbook's  October 
'Picture  of  Month' 

Paramount's  "The  Major  and  the  Minor," 
packing  'em  in  right  now  at  the  big  Times 
Square  Paramount,  is  named  "PICTURE 
OF  THE  MONTH"  in  the  September  issue 
of  Redbook  Magazine.  Selection  is  made 
by  Thornton  Delahanty,  who  also  marks  the 
film  "a  Silver  Cup  Candidate." 

Delahanty's  review  is  the  same  rave  cali- 
bre that  has  marked  all  trade,  newspaper  and 
magazine  critiques  of  "Major"  to  date. 
Magazine  devotes  a  three-page  article, 
dressed  with  a  layout  of  three  production 
stills,  to  its  writeup. 


Cites  Paramount's 
"Gift  of  Gaiety" 

Alton  Cook,  film  reviewer  for  the 
New  York  World-Telegram,  didn't 
content  himself  with  tossing  orchids 
to  "The  Major  and  the  Minor"  in 
his  review  of  the  film's  opening  at 
the  N.  Y.  Paramount.  He  went 
further  and  tossed  a  very  pretty 
posy  indeed  to  Paramount  in  gen- 
eral.   His  review  said: 

"Now  that  'Holiday  Inn'  has 
ended  its  long  stay  at  the  Para- 
mount, in  comes  "The  Major  and 
the  Minor'  from  the  same  mirth- 
ful alluring  pattern.  Those  people 
at  the  Paramount  Studios  this  sea- 
son certainly  have  the  gift  of  gai- 
ety! Though  not  a  musical,  this 
picture  is  full  of  Paramount's  spe- 
cial spirit  that  has  made  some  of  its 
recent  musicals  such  happy  events." 


All  Critics  Laud  Wilder 

Billy  Wilder,  who  rings  up  a  smash  hit 
with  his  first  directorial  assignment  for 
Paramount  in  "The  Major  and  the  Minor," 
came  in  for  special  praise  from  all  New 
York  newspaper  and  film  trade  paper  re- 
viewers alike — both  for  his  direction  and 
for  his  share  of  screen  play  credit.  From 
Liberty  Magazine  (q.v.  below)  right  down 
the  line,  the  critical  gentry  awarded  him  a 
deserved  special  nod. 


"Rare  Delight" — Liberty  Mag. 

Paramount's  "The  Major  and  the  Minor" 
is  cited  for  "extraordinary  merit"  in  the 
Liberty  Magazine  review  by  Howard 
Barnes,  which  appeared  in  the  mag's  Sep- 
tember 19  issue.  Barnes'  review  called  the 
picture  "one  of  the  rare  screen  delights  of 
the  year." 

Commenting  on  story  and  performances, 
Barnes  said:  "It  is  hard  to  say  whether  the 
script  or  direction  should  get  major  credit 
for  brilliant  treatment.  Since  Billy  Wilder 
had  a  hand  in  both,  one  might  as  well  call 
the  honors  even." 


GET  IN  THIS  SCRAP! 


Three  Femme  Critics 
Agree  About  Picture 

Paramount's  "The  Major  and  the  Minor" 
won  unqualified  praise  from  Kate  Cameron 
of  the  New  York  Daily  Nezvs,  Eileen  Creel- 
man  of  the  Sun,  and  Rose  Pelswick  of  the 
Journal- American.  First  called  it  a  "major 
event  of  the  screen  .  .  .  perfectly  delight- 
ful." Second  echoed  "Merry  and  original ; 
as  welcome  a  piece  of  nonsense  as  the  year 
has  seen."  Third  said  it  was  "Thoroughly 
diverting  .  .  .  hugely  entertaining." 


42 

'Eileen '  Nets 
$375,225  in 
Bond  Opening 

More  than  three  thousand  people  paid  $375,- 
225  in  War  Bonds,  with  seats  scaled  from 
$25  to  $500,  at  the  premiere  last  Wednesday 
night  of  Columbia's  "My  Sister  Eileen,"  at  the 
Loew's  Ohio  theatre,  Columbus.  According  to 
the  company,  the  results  are  said  to  have  ex- 
ceeded the  highest  expectations  of  Treasury 
officials. 

The  War  Bond  premiere,  which  was  conduct- 
ed by  Russell  A.  Bovim,  house  manager,  was 
under  official  sponsorship  of  the  local  War  Ac- 
tivities Committee  of  Inter-Clubs  Council.  The 
city  turned  "all-out"  for  the  opening,  it  was 
reported,  to  honor  Ruth  McKenney,  authoress 
of  the  book  and  play  from  which  the  picture 
was  made.  Rosalind  Russell,  Brian  Aherne 
and  Janet  Blair  are  co-stars.  Alexander  Hall 
directed. 

"Wings  and  the  Woman,"  the  Herbert  Wil- 
cox production  starring  Anna  Neagle,  will  open 
at  Loew's  Criterion  October  6th,  according  to 
RKO.  Miss  Neagle  arrived  in  New  York  from 
Hollywood  Monday  and  is  expected  to  remain 
for  the  debut  of  the  film,  which  is  based  on  the 
air  exploits  of  England's  aviatrix,  Amy  John- 
son. 

Special  War  Bond  showings  of  Paramount's 
"Wake  Island"  were  held  last  week  at  the 
Comerford  theatre  in  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  and 
the  Strand,  Scranton,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
American  Red  Cross.  Tickets  were  priced  at 
$1.10  per  seat.  In  Wilkes-Barre,  the  local  Red 
Cross  chapter  staged  a  preview  showing  and 
luncheon  prior  to  the  premiere,  for  civic  of- 
ficials, the  press  and  radio. 

A  midnight  premiere  of  "Yankee  Doodle 
Dandy"  was  held  on  Friday  at  the  Duncan 
Field  Air  Depot,  San  Antonio,  Tex.  Accord- 
ing to  Warner  Bros.,  the  special  showing  was 
given  for  the  convenience  of  9,000  workers  on 
the  swing  shift.  Plant  and  Army  officials  co- 
operated with  the  Interstate  Circuit  on  the 
arrangements. 


Constance  Loew  Weds 
Lieutenant  Morse 

Jane  Constance  Loew,  daughter  of  Major 
Arthur  M.  Loew,  and  Mrs.  Loew,  was  married 
to  Lieutenant  Boyd  McDavid  Morse,  at  the 
Hotel  Bellerive,  Kansas  City,  on  Sunday  Sep- 
tember 27th.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by 
Captain  Alpha  H.  Kenne,  chaplain,  stationed 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kan. 

The  bride  was  given  in  marriage  by  her 
father,  Major  Loew,  former  first  vice-president 
of  Loew's,  Inc.,  and  of  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 
who  is  on  active  service  with  the  Signal  Corps. 
Her  paternal  grandfather,  the  late  Marcus 
Loew,  was  owner  of  many  theatres  and  at  one 
time  was  associated  in  the  theatre  business  with 
her  maternal  grandfather,  Adolph  Zukor,  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Paramount  Pictures,  Inc., 
and  founder  of  the  Famous  Players  Company 
in  1912. 

Both  the  bride  and  bridegroom  are  from  Tuc- 
son, Ariz.,  and  both  attended  high  school  in 
Tucson  and  the  University  of  Arizona.  They 
plan  to  reside  in  Manhattan,  Kan.,  as  long  as 
Lieutenant  Morse  is  stationed  at  nearby  Fort 
Riley  with  the  U.  S.  Cavalry. 


Joins  Coast  Circuit 

Ray  R.  Kellsall  has  resigned  as  manager 
of  the  Victory  theatre  and  San  Jose  Amusement 
Company,  in  San  Jose,  Cal.,  to  become  division 
manager  for  the  Affiliated  Theatres,  Inc.,  which 
operates  theatres  in  eight  central  and  northern 
California  cities.  Mr.  Kellsall  will  maintain 
offices  in  Richmond. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


PAPER  DEFENDS  HIGH 
FILM  SALARIES 

Defense  of  and  praise  for  the  mo- 
tion picture  industry  personalities  who 
draw  high  salaries  was  presented  in 
an  editorial  by  the  Scripps-Howard 
Press  in  Pittsburgh. 

Commenting  that  "like  Abou  Ben 
Adhem,  Louis  B.  Mayer,  the  Holly- 
wood producer,  habitually  leads"  the 
annual  lists  of  America's  largest 
salaries  and  bonuses,  The  Press  reck- 
oned that  "upwards  of  $600,000"  of 
Mayer's  $704,425  income  for  last 
year  "will  go  to  the  United  States 
Treasury.  By  that  reckoning,  six- 
sevenths  of  Mr.  Mayer  belongs  to 
the  Government  and  only  one-seventh 
of  Mr.  Mayer  belongs  to  Mr.  Mayer 
and  his  family  and  his  retainers. 

"Secretary  Morgenthau  ought  to 
wish  Mr.  Mayer  and  other  such  big 
income  earners  a  long  life  and  good 
health." 


Two  Companies 
List  New  Blocks 

New  season  blocks  of  five  films  each  were 
listed  last  week  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox  and 
Paramount,  with  screening  dates. 

Paramount's  releases,  which  were  to  be 
shown  in  all  exchange  cities  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  were :  "The  Forest  Rangers,"  "Road 
to  Morocco,"  "Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage 
Patch,"  "Street  of  Chance"  and  "Henry  Aid- 
rich,  Editor." 

Realignment  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  blocks 
and  release  dates  up  to  December  11th  were 
announced  Tuesday  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
"Tales  of  Manhattan,"  listed  as  part  of  Block 
3  will  be  sold  separately  as  the  only  unit  in  that 
block,  and  will  be  released  nationally  October 
30. 

Block  4  will  consist  of  four  features  includ- 
ing "Girl  Trouble,"  released  October  9th ; 
"Manila  Calling,"  October  16th ;  "The  Man  in 
the  Trunk,"  October  23rd  and  "Springtime  in 
the  Rockies,"  November  6th.  Block  5  will  have 
five  features,  "That  Other  Woman,"  released 
November  13th ;  "Thunder  Birds,"  November 
20th :  "The  Undying  Monster,"  Nov.  27th  ;  "The 
Black  Swan,"  December  4th,  and  "Dr.  Re- 
nault's Secret,"  Dec.  11th.  Trade  screenings 
for  the  fifth  block  will  be. held  October  15th  and 
16th.  Branch  managers  may  set  local  screen- 
ings at  their  discretion,  the  company  said. 

RKO's  first  new  group,  "The  Big  Street," 
"Wings  and  the  Woman,"  "Here  We  Go 
Again,"  "Highways  by  Night"  and  "Mexican 
Spitfire's  Elephant"  has  been  sold  to  the  Long 
circuit,  Dallas ;  Strand  Amusement,  Tennessee ; 
Everette  Circuit,  Charlotte ;  the  Thalheimer  and 
Hunter  Perry  circuits,  of  Virginia ;  Affiliated 
circuit,  Pennsylvania  ;  Cooperative  circuit,  Ohio  ; 
Affiliated  circuit,  Indiana  and  Kentucky ;  the 
St.  Louis  Amusement  Company ;  the  Hull  and 
Morris  circuits,  Salt  Lake  City. 


Fire  Destroys  Theatre 

Fire  of  undetermined  origin  broke  out  in  the 
apartment  above  the  Carlton  theatre,  Carlton, 
Ore.,  last  week  and  the  entire  frame  building, 
including  theatre  eqlipment,  was  destroyed  with 
loss  of  $10,000. 


October    3 ,     I  942 

Holdovers  Run 
Strong  in  Key 
Situations 

Holdover  reports  from  New  York,  Chicago 
and  other  key  situations  indicate  continued  box 
office  prosperity  is  greeting  new  season  product. 

In  New  York,  Twentieth  Century-Fox's 
"Tales  of  Manhattan,"  the  Julien  Duvivier  pro- 
duction of  many  stars  and  writers,  played  to 
91,755  persons  and  grossed  $66,000,  the  first 
four  days  of  its  run  at  Radio  City  Music  Hall, 
according  to  the  management.  It  is  reported 
that  the  film  probably  will  be  held  over  for  four 
weeks.    It  began  its  second  week  on  Thursday. 

Paramount's  "The  Major  and  the  Minor" 
began  its  third  week  at  the  Paramount  theatre. 
"Wake  Island,"  Paramount  film  at  the  Rivoli, 
is  another  strong  holdover,  beginning  its  fifth 
week  on  Wednesday.  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy," 
Warners,  at  the  Hollywood,  began  its  18th 
week  last  Friday. 

Other  New  York  holdovers  include :  Warner 
Bros.  "Desperate  Journey,"  at  the  Strand,  sec- 
ond week ;  "Orchestra  Wives,"  20th-Fox,  at 
the  Roxy,  second  week;  "Pride  of  the  Yan- 
kees," Goldwyn-RKO,  began  its  11th  week  at 
the  Astor  this  week ;  "Manila  Calling,"  20th- 
Fox,  second  week  at  the  Globe. 

Strong  holdovers  were  reported  from  Chi- 
cago this  week.  MGM's  "Mrs.  Miniver"  began 
its  10th  week  last  Friday  at  the  United  Artists ; 
"Pride  of  the  Yankees"  went  into  its  fourth 
week  at  the  RKO  Palace ;  "Wake  Island"  was 
scheduled  for  a  long  run  at  the  Roosevelt ; 
"Somewhere  I'll  Find  You,"  MGM,  remained 
for  a  third  week  at  the  State  Lake,  and  Para- 
mount's "Holiday  Inn"  played  two  weeks  at  the 
Chicago. 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  has  been  held  a 
seventh  week  at  the  Boyd,  Philadelphia.  Co- 
lumbia reports  that  "Talk  of  the  Town"  has 
entered  its  fifth  week  in  Seattle  and  is  being 
held  over  in  Birmingham,  Tacoma,  Harris- 
burg,  Pittsburgh  and  Erie.  According  to  RKO, 
"Pride  of  the  Yankees"  is  in  its  seventh  week 
at  Keith's  Memorial,  in  Boston. 

Burglars  Harass 
Halifax  Theatres 

Nova  Scotia  theatre  operators  are  re- 
doubling safeguards  against  burglary  and 
holdup  following  the  theft  of  $5,236  recently 
from  the  safe  of  the  Capitol  theatre  in  Halifax. 
There  has  been  a  recent  epidemic  of  breaks  into  I 
theatres  during  early  mornings  and  on  Sun-  I 
days. 

Theatre  robberies  in  the  area  have  been  on  j 
the  increase  for  the  past  two  years.  Safes  have  | 
been  carried  away  in  several  instances  and 
theatre  men  have  lost  cash,  contracts  and  other  l| 
valuable  papers.  The  Capitol  burglars  entered  I 
the  theatre  through  an  adjoining  building  and  | 
chiseled  open  the  theatre  strong  box.  It  was  | 
the  heaviest  theft  loss  in  Halifax  in  11  years.  \l 

New  safes,  locks,  automatic  alarms  and  in  | 
several  instances  special  night  watchmen  have''| 
been  installed  by  Halifax  and  St.  John  the- 
atres. 


In  NEA  Coast  Position 

Erskine  Johnson  has  taken  over  as  Holly- 
wood representative  of  NEA  Service,  succeed- 
ing Paul  Harrison,  who  has  been  promoted  to 
head  the  newspaper  syndicate's  New  York  of- 
fice. 


Kincey  on  YMCA  Board 

H.  F.  Kincey,  president  of  North  Carolina 
Theatres,  Inc.,  is  one  of  three  new  members  of 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  Charlotte,  N.  C, 

YMCA. 


£&ietu/es  .* 


•  Presented  with  Pride  by  THE  PARAMOUNT  COMPANY 


WAKE  ISLAND 

is  beating  'LOUISIANA  PURCHASE"  in: 

STAMFORD  •  NEW  HAVEN  •  CEDAR  RAPIDS  •  DAVENPORT  •  SCRANTON 
WILKES-BARRE  •  HOLLYWOOD  •  CHATTANOOGA  •  KANSAS  CITY 

WAKE  ISLAND 

is  beating  "CAUGHT  IN  THE  DRAFT"  in: 

NEW  HAVEN  •  CHATTANOOGA  •  KANSAS  CITY  •  NEW  ORLEANS 

'WAKE  ISLANO 

is  beating  "HOLIDAY  INN"  in: 

DAVENPORT  •  SCRANTON  •  WILKES-BARRE 

"WAKE  ISLAND" 

is  beating  ALL  THREE  PICTURES  in: 

JACKSONVILLE  •  SALT  LAKE  CITY  •  NORFOLK  •  RICHMOND  •  DALLAS 
HOUSTON  •  ATLANTA  •   SPRINGFIELD  •  LITTLE  ROCK   •  MEMPHIS 
SAN  FRANCISCO  •  ST.  PAUL  •  NEWBURGH  •  POUGHKEEPSIE  •  TOLEDO 
HARTFORD  •  LOS  ANGELES  -  OMAHA 

'WAKE  ISLAND" 

with  BRIAN  DONLEVY  •  Macdonald  Carey  *  Robert 

Preston  •  Albert  Dekker  •  William  Bendix  •  Walter  Abel 

Directed  by  JOHN  FARROW  •  Screen  Play  by  W.  R.  Burnett  and  Frank  Butler  •  A  Paramount  Picture 


October    3,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  45 

ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By   JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 


War  news  this  week  attested  to  the  far- 
flung  participations  of  fighting  men  from  the 
U.  S.  motion  picture  industry. 

From  India,  came  word  that  Fred  Ranco. 
formerly  of  the  Warner  Regal  Theatre, 
Hartford,  Conn.,  is  located  at  an  air  sta- 
tion at  Bombay.  From  Australia  came  word 
that  William  Callahan,  of  the  Astor  Thea- 
tre, also  of  Hartford,  had  arrived  there  with 
U.  S.  armed  forces.  Frank  Winnick,  an- 
other Hartford  theatre  man,  at  that  city's 
State  Theatre,  is  fighting  with  the  U.  S. 
Marines  in  the  South  Pacific.  Edward 
Flynn,  formerly  of  the  Emerson  Theatre, 
Indianapolis,  is  in  England,  with  the  U.  S. 
Army. 

Other  dispatches  this  week  reported  that 
Gregory  Daymond,  formerly  at  the  Warner 
Studio,  Burbank,  CaL,  had  shot  down  his 
seventh  plane,  as  a  squadron  leader  with  the 
RAF  out  of  England.  He  already  has  the 
British  Distinguished  Flying  Cross,  with  bar 
as  additional  citation.  The  week's  war  news 
also  reported  the  awarding  of  the  Distin- 
guished Flight  Cross  to  Flight  Lieutenant 
A.  E.  Glazer,  Canada,  for  performances  over 
Germany  and  in  actions  at  Malta. 

And  on  Wednesday  came  news  that  Cor- 
poral William  F.  O'Leary,  formerly  with 
Universal  in  New  York,  was  reported  by  the 
War  Department  to  have  been  killed  in  ac- 
tion of  undisclosed  nature  someplace  from 
his  base  at  New  Caledonia,  Australia. 

Continuing  tricklings  about  the  "Com- 
mandos" raid  on  Dieppe  arriving  in  the  U.  S. 
this  week  reveal  that  Bobby  Quirk,  formerly 
of  the  camera  department  of  Columbia's 
Hollywood  studio,  and  Lieutenant  William 
Blank,  former  Indiana  circuit  worker,  were 
among  those  present.  Both  received  in- 
juries, both  have,  or  are  said  to  be  re- 
covering. 

And  there  are  thousands  of  others  from 
Hollywood  studio  and  Broadway  home  of- 
fice, from  Film  Row  and  Main  Street  movies, 
scattered  all  over  the  map. 

V 

When  Tom  Howard  kids  old-timer  Lulu  Mc- 
Connell  about  her  false  teeth  on  New  York 
Station  WOR's  "It  Pays  to  Be  Ignorant"  slww, 
he  doesn't  know  the  story  behind  tliem. 

Back  in  the  early  days  of  talkies,  MGM  took 
Lulu  to  Hollywood  for  a  screen  role  before 
they  discovered  that  she  had  a  lisp.  Rather 
than  discard  its  plans  tlie  studio  offered  to  pay 
to  replace  her  front  teeth  with  a  false  set. 

With  visions  of  cinema  success,  Lulu  con- 
sented and  soon  thereafter  returned  to  the  stu- 
dio ready  to  work.  But  she  only  had  to  say  one 
word  before  it  was  obvious  that  even  then  she 
still  could  be  detected  immediately  by  the  soisi- 
trve  microphones. 

MGM  then  sent  her  to  specialists  in  an  effort 
to  eliminate  the  trouble.  Finally  one  doctor  told 
them,  bluntly: 

"The  only  way  you  can  cure  that  lisp  is  to 
cut  her  throat." 

V 

Charles  Laughton,  formerly  of  London  and 
the  cinema,  and  now  of  Hollywood  and  the 
movies,  hit  what  appears  to  be  an  all-time  rec- 
ord for  radio  broadcasting  last  Tuesday.  He 
led  over  15  different  programs  on  the  NBC 
Network  to  aid  the  motion  picture  industry's 
War  Bond  drive.  He  was  at  Station  WEAF, 
A>i£>  York,  for  16z/2  hours  straight  running, 
from  seven  in  the  morning  to  11 :30  that  night. 
V 

The  British,  in  London,  have  deferred  Don- 
't Duck  from  Army  draft.  Not  Walt  Disney's 
onald  Duck,  but  farmer  Donald  Duck,  of 
orpeth  District,  near  London. 


Sliades  of  yesteryear  were  drawn  the  other 
morning,  at  the  launching  of  the  nation's  big 
new  scrap-collection  campaign,  when  Mrs. 
William  Fox,  wife  of  the  former  film  magnate, 
tamed  over  15  tons  of  scrap  from  the  Fox  home 
at  Woodburgh,  Long  Island,  The  scrap  con- 
sisted of  two  Rolls-Royce  and  one  Hispano- 
Suisa  cars  and  wrought  iron  fences  from  the 
Fox  estate. 

'Twas  in  one  of  tliose  Rolls-Royces  that  Wil- 
liam Fox  cracked  up  and  suffered  injuries 
which  came  most  inopportunely  at  the  height 
of  the  Fox  "battle"  with  tlte  big  electrics  for 
control  of  the  big  Fox  Film  Corporation,  a 
"fight"  which  ended  with  Mr.  Fox  walking 
away  until  a  check  from  the  electrics  for  some- 
thing like  $16,000,000,  as  we  remember  the 
figures,  for  his  share  in  the  Fox  Film  company. 
Mr.  Fox  has  been  in  and  out  of  the  courts  ever 
since. 

V 

The  Daily  Oklalwman,  of  Oklahoma  City, 
headlines  a  report  on  a  blackout  in  the  Los 
Angeles-Hollvwood  sector  as  follows : 
LOS  ANGELES  PLEASED 

WITH  ITS  BLACKOUT 

Eight  Die  of  Heart  Disease; 

.Wardens  Are  Found  on  Alert 
V 

Film  salesmen  and  exhibitors  threatened 
with  tire  trouble  might  look  into  the  tip 
passed  along  by  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  from  the  Canadian  mo- 
torist, whose  car  is  his  only  means  of  trans- 
portation to  and  from  work,  and  who,  find- 
ing one  of  his  tires  seemingly  beyond  re- 
pair, filled  it  with  sawdust.  They  say  it 
works. 

V 

Mort  Blumenstock,  Warner's  press  gen- 
eralissimo in  the  east,  swears  that  he  had 
absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  press  story  telling  that  one 
George  Washington,  the  other  night,  slept 
at  the  George  Washington  Hotel  in  New 
York,  also  that  such  publication  had  ab- 
solutely nothing  to  do  with  the  picture  en- 
titled "George  Washington  Slept  Here,"  re- 
cently produced  for  Warner  release. 
V 

Some  zealous  patriots  in  Springfield,  Mass., 
Seem  to  have  taken  their  scrap  collecting  quite 
seriously,  helping  themselves  the  other  night 
to  a  30-foot  upright  sign  fastened  to  the  front 
of  the  Bijou  Theatre. 

V 

Sign  in  the  window  of  the  Music  Hall  Barber 
Shop,  across  the  street  from  the  Radio  City- 
Rockefeller  Center  publishing  headquarters : 

"Because  of  our  large  patronage  by  radio  and 
stage  personalities  we  feature  a  haircut  that 
does  not  look  like  a  haircut." 

V 

Headline  in  Film  Daily,  New  York: 
WARNER  BROS.  TO  SELL 

"ARSENIC"  SEPARATELY 
V 

Hollywood  actress  Paulette  Goddard's  War 
Bond  bombing  tour  took  her  to  a  rally  put  on 
the  other  day  by  the  motion  picture  people  of 
Baltimore.  She  sold  her  orchid,  her  gloves,  etc., 
to  the  highest  bidders  for  bonds.  Standing  be- 
side her,  at  Baltimore  War  Memorial  Plaza, 
was  young  Alfred  Gwynne  Vanderbilt,  now  a 
Naz'y  Bos'n,  who,  onlv  a  few  hours  earlier, 
hod  received  his  third  $5,000,000  of  a  $20,000.- 
000  inheritance.  Vanderbilt  received  his  first 
five  million  when  he  was  20,  his  second  five 
million  at  25,  his  third  five  million  the  other 
day,  and  will  get  Still  another  five  million  five 
years  hence. 


Hollywood  writer  Gene  Fowler  relates  the 
story,  via  Broadway's  Louis  Sobol,  about 
how  the  late  John  Barrymore — subject  of  a 
book  by  Fowler — hadn't  read  a  newspaper, 
magazine  or  listened  to  a  radio  in  more  than 
a  year,  and  was  unaware  even  that  the  U.  S. 
was  at  war  with  Japan,  until  FBI  agents 
swooped  down  on  Barrymore's  California 
home  and  swooped  up  Barrymore's  Jap 
butler. 

V 

They're  starting  to  tear  down  whole  buildings 
in  New  York  for  scrap  metal.  Latest  to  go  is 
the  old  Mercury  Theatre,  at  Sixth  and  41st. 
The  Mercury's  dramatic  career  practically 
ended  three  years  ago,  after  Orson  Welles 
staged  Julius  Caesar. 

V 

Some  exhibitors  in  and  around  New  York 
are  hearing  from  the  Treasury  Department 
that  some  of  the  checks  taken  in  at  their 
theatres  for  War  Bonds  are  "rubber,"  fly 
as  high  as  a  rubber  balloon. 

Allan  Sproul,  president  of  the  Federal  Re- 
serve Bank,  of  New  York,  warns  that  the 
Treasury  Department  cannot  waive  losses 
from  any  such  bad  checks. 

V 

The  Alvin  Theatre,  in  Minneapolis,  reopen- 
ing its  new  season,  last  Friday,  with  roadshow 
burlesque  and  "stripping,"  and  finding  most  of 
its  regular  chorus  girls  vanished  or  employed 
elsewhere,  advertised  on  a  three-sheet  in  front 
of  the  house:  "WANTED !  Chorus  Girls,  45  to 
70.  Or  Even  Younger." 

V 

San  Francisco's  candidate  for  the  "mean- 
est man"  is  shipyard  worker  Robert  Cap- 
pelle,  20,  who  admitted  in  Federal  Court  to 
wearing  the  uniform  of  a  U.  S.  Army  ser- 
geant in  order  to  obtain  reduced  rates  at 
theatres  which  are  granted  to  service  men. 
Cappelle  had  been  averaging  $63  weekly  at 
his  shipyard  job. 

V 

No  Comment  Department :  In  the  Broadway 
play,  "New  Priorities  of  1943,"  Harry  Rich- 
man  auctions  off  the  war  stamps  that  clothe 
a  strip-teaser ! 

V 

Carmen  Miranda's  full  name  is  Maria  De 
Carmo  Miranda  De  Cunna. 

V 

Herman  Ripps,  Metro-Goldwyn-M oyer's  Al- 
bany representative,  and  George  Lynch,  film 
buyer  for  the  Upstate  New  York  Schine  Cir- 
cuit, have  made  a  pact  to  purchase  W ar  Bonds 
and  War  Stamps  with  their  gin  rummy  profits 
— if  any. 

V 

When  "Wild  Bill  Hickok"  played  the 
Padre  Theatre  in  San  Jose,  CaL,  manager 
Bill  Browne  whooped  up  the  ballyhoo  by 
inviting  customers  to  "shoot  it  out"  in  an 
impromptu  target  range  set  up  in  front  of 
his  theatre.  Contestants  were  provided  with 
wooden  pistols  and  challenged  to  shoot  out 
candle  flames  with  rubber  bands.  Only  one 
contestant  succeeded  in  nicking  Browne  for 
free  passes,  offered  to  anyone  hitting  the 
target. 

V 

There's  a  group  in  Philadelphia  which  calls 
itself  the  Tower  Club,  and  one  of  the  pur- 
poses for  banding  together  is  to  campaisrn 
for  theatre  seats  with  more  knee  room.  The 
club  is  composed  of  girls  and  boys,  men  and 
women  who  are  six  feet  or  over  and  six  feet- 
fwo  inches  or  over  in  their  stocking  feet. 
The  group  also  seeks  to  find  dancing  part- 
ners that  do  not  make  them  look  ridiculous 
and  for  clothes  that  will  fit  without  being 
made  to  order.  The  tallest  member  of  the 


46 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


in  BRITISH  STUDIOS 


By   AUBREY    FLANAGAN,    in  London 


Whatever  qualities  and  merits  the  Brit- 
ish production  industry — or  indeed  the 
industry  at  large — can  have  been  credited 
with  in  its  history,  unity  is  scarcely  one 
of  them.  Sectional  interest  and  depart- 
mentalism were  never  stronger  anywhere 
than  on  Wardour  Street,  and  in  its  moun- 
tain fastnesses.  On  one  or  two  occasions 
— when  the  Government  threatened  an 
increased  tax  on  film  stock,  and  when,  at 
the  outset  of  the  war,  plans  were  sched- 
uled for  the  shelving  of  the  Films  Act, 
suddenly-achieved  industry  unity  saved 
the  citadel.  And  the  citadel  having  been 
saved,  the  industry  split  itself  again  into 
its  variegated  elements. 

With  the  laudable  ambition  of  putting  an 
end  to  this,  and  knitting  the  component 
parts  into  one  corporative  pattern,  various 
interests  within  the  trade,  banded  together 
in  an  informal  committee,  have  been  press- 
ing for  the  formation  of  an  all  industry 
council. 

The  activities  and  movements  of  this  com- 
mittee, representing  labor  unions,  tech- 
nicians, craftsmen  and  production  execu- 
tives, have  been  recorded  in  these  pages  and 
elsewhere,  as  have  also  the  disinterest  and 
considered  aloofness  of  the  official  British 
Film  Production  Association — which  does 
not  necessarily  include  on  its  membership 
roll  all  British  and  American  producers 
here. 

Production  Conference 
Seeks  Cooperation 

Matters  recently  reached  a  minor  apothe- 
osis, with  the  formal  presentation  of  a 
memorandum  by  the  Film  Production  Con- 
ference, and  the  equally  formal  considera- 
tion of  it  by  the  B.  F.  P.  A.  The  latter, 
however,  nibbling  playfully  round  the  bait, 
so  far  have  been  careful  not  to  take  a  good 
gulp  at  it — have,  in  fact,  after  twitting  the 
memorandum  for  its  lack  of  precision,  its 
difficulties  and  its  impossibilities,  appointed 
a  sub-committee  to  go  further  into  the  pro- 
posals, to  get  further  data  on  certain  points, 
and  to  come  back  and  tell  the  Association 
what's  what. 

The  Production  Conference,  as  the  unof- 
ficial campaigners  call  themselves,  aims  at 
the  formation  of  a  council  composed  of  all 
branches  of  the  production  industry.  Its  ob- 
jectives would  be  to  secure  the  widest  co- 
operation between  the  various  groups,  in 
order  to  develop  film  production  as  an  in- 
tegral part  of  national  life,  to  present  a 
united  front  to  the  Government,  the  public 
and  others,  to  smooth  out  labor  and  other 
differences,  and  to  confer  jointly  with  dis- 
tributors and  exhibitors. 

War  Dominates 
Sound  Stages 

Their  vision  is  fixed  not  only  on  the  war, 
although  it  is  a  paramount  aim  to  secure 
the  smoothest  operation  of  production  in  the 
war  machine,  but  no  less  on  the  day  after 
tomorrow,  when  what  is  salvaged  of  the 
industry  shall  be  left  to  carry  on  in  a  post- 
war world. 

There  is  some  apparent  strength  in  the 
case   as   argued,   for   no   Joint  Industrial 


Council  such  as  exists  with  other  industries 
faces  the  Government  today  when  it  is 
moved  to  discuss  motion  picture  matters. 
Some  strength  is  further  given  the  idea 
by  the  inclusion  in  the  Man  Power  Panel's 
report  of  a  suggestion  that  employers  and 
employees  should  get  together  to  secure 
more  effective  working  of  the  industry. 

Although  war  continues  to  dominate  the 
studio  scene  in  wartime  Britain,  with  a 
distinct  smell  of  gunpowder  and  tri-nitro- 
toluoline  hanging  over  the  sound  stages, 
gradually  an  escapist  note  creeps  into  the 
plans  of  British  producers.  At  Denham,  Is- 
lington and  Ealing,  the  note  is  distinctly 
one  of  battle.  At  Elstree,  Shepherds  Bush 
and  Welwyn  all  is  peace. 

Denham's  contribution  to  the  documenta- 
tion of  war  is  Two  Cities-Concanen's 
"We're  Not  Weeping,"  the  screen  epic  of 
the  women  of  the  A.  T.  S.,  in  which  seven 
stars  compete  for  popular  favor  and  the 
cameraman's  closeup. 

Seven  Women  Stars 
In  War  Drama 

Although  essentially  a  feminine  subject, 
dealing  dramatically  as  it  does  with  the  sub- 
ject of  women  in  war,  mere"  man  also  will 
have  a  role  to  play.  It  already  has  been  re- 
ported that  Leslie  Howard,  who  is  directing 
the  film,  will  play  a  part  in  the  film.  Now 
it  is  announced  that  John  Justin,  who  played 
the  part  of  the  blind  beggar  in  "Thief  of 
Baghdad,"  will  have  the  leading  male  role 
among  this  galaxy  of  feminine  pulchritude 
and  wits.  Derrick  de  Marney,  himself  a  dis- 
tinguished British  actor,  and  producer  of 
Polish  propaganda  films,  is  producing  the 
A.  T.  S.  drama. 

Elsewhere  in  the  same  studios  Michael 
Powell's  Archer  Film  unit  are  intent  on 
"The  Life  and  Death  of  Colonel  Blimp," 
which  for  all  its  politico-social  flavors  can 
hardly  be  classed  as  a  war  subject.  The 
Technicolor  camera  has  tracked  its  multi- 
hued  way  through  the  Victorian  and  the 
Edwardian  eras,  and  is  now  recording  se- 
quences in  the  khaki  period  of  1918,  and 
will  move  through  the  years  between  two 
wars  to  the  present  day,  when  Colonel 
Blimp  finds  himself  visavis  the  gang  war 
methods  of  1942.. 

"Colonel  Blimp"  Covers 
Long  Period 

It  has  been  a  phantasmagoric  chronicle  for 
the  camera,  moving  through  the  sobriety  of 
Edwardian  plush  and  brilliant  Prussian  uni- 
forms, through  the  mud  and  blood  of  1914- 
18,  over  battlefields  and  moorlands,  into 
chandeliered  bierhallen,  and  ornamented  es- 
taminets,  to  the  world  of  today.  Roger 
Livesey  as  Blimp,  Anton  Walbrook  as  the 
Prussian  officer,  Deborah  Kerr  and  Roland 
Culver  are  leading  players  in  the  film,  which 
Mr.  Powell  is  directing,  and  which  is  being 
produced  by  himself  and  Emeric  Pressbur- 
ger. 

There  is  no  war  apparent  in  Gainsbor- 
oughs'  "It's  That  Man  Again,"  which  with 
comedian  Tommy  Handley  in  the  lead  is  a 


screen  adaptation  of  one  of  the  most  popular  ( 
radio  programs  of  the  British  Broadcasting  i 
Company's  wartime  regime.  The  film,  which  | 
brings  to  the  screen  most  of  those  who 
earned  the  program  fame  on  the  air,  is  a 
lighthearted  and  whimsical  effort  not  re- 
mote from  the  brand  of  nonsense  show  as- 
sociated with  Olsen  and  Johnson,  but  es- 
sentially native  in  its  British  gags  and  in- 
ventions. Music  is  being  featured  highly  in 
the  production.  One  of  the  songs  is  titled 
"Oh,  Mr.  Crosby."    It  will  be  a  General 
Film  release. 

"Thursday's  Child" 
Remote  from  War 


Completely  remote  from  the  war,  too,  i'j. 
John  Argyle's  "Thursday's  Child,"  which  he 
is  producing  with  Rodney  Ackland  as  hi 
director,  at  the  Welwyn  Studios,  for  Asso 
ciated  British  release.  It  is  the  story  of  ; 
schoolgirl  who  is  pitchforked  into  a  filn 
career  by  error.  The  treatment  stresses  th 
purely  domestic  qualities  of  the  story,  whicl 
is  said  to  have  pronounced  human  and  emo 
tional  appeal.  An  Argyle  discovery,  Sail 
Ann  Howes,  has  the  title  role.  Kathlee 
Regan,  Wilfred  Lawson,  Percy  Walsh  an 
Margaret  Yarde  are  among  the  cast.  Path 
Pictures  will  release. 

St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  on  Thames-side 
blitzed  five  times,  will  show  its  scars  on  th 
screen  in  the  opening  sequences  of  Metre 
Goldwyn-Mayer's  "Sabotage  Agent,"  no1 
in  the  fourth  week  of  production  at  Islinj 
ton.  Harold  Bucquet,  directing  Robert  Do 
nat  in  the  thriller,  took  over  a  damaged  se{ 
tor  of  the  Hospital  for  three  days,  re-stage 
incidents  of  the  1940  blitz. 

Hospital's  Nurses 
Acted  in  Film 


With  Big  Ben,  the  Houses  of  Parliamer 
the  Thames  and  the  -jagged  masonry  of  S 
Thomas's  for  background,  Mr.  Bucquet  sa 
it  was  the  most  dramatic  location  he  ev 
used.  London  firemen  and  Lambeth  A.  R. 
wardens  took  part  in  a  grimly  realistic  r 
enactment  of  the  morning  after  a  1940  rai 

Crawling  over  hundreds  of  tons  of  ru 
ble,  and  twisted  ironwork,  film  extras 
patients  were  evacuated  by  the  hospita 
night  nurses  who  gave  their  spare  time 
take  part  in  scenes  for  the  film.  Many  of  t 
medical  students,  local  firemen,  wardens  a; 
rescue  parties  were  re-living  their  acti 
experiences  of  the  raids  on  the  hospital  t\ 
years  ago. 

An  A.  R.  P.  official  stated  that  Metro  h 
given  them  excellent  practice  for  any  futu 
blitz.  Irving  Asher  had  chosen  Germa 
born  star  Walter  Rilla  to  play  Inspect 
Vogel,  sadistic  S.  S.  official  who  trails  E 
nat  through  Czechoslovakia. 

Another  £100,000  opus  has  been  launch 
by  Two  Cities,  "Flemish  Farm,"  a  real  1 
story  written  by  Jeffrey  Dell  and  to  be 
rected  by  him.  Location  work  already  1 
started  on  the  film,  for  which  Clive  Bro<j 
Clifford  Evans  and  Philip'  Friend  aires 
have  been  signed. 


Octobe  r    3  ,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


^7 


BRITISH  THEATRES  THREATEN 
BOYCOTT  IN  RENTAL  FIGHT 


CEA  Sees  Sunday  Booking 
Change  Opening  Wedge 
to  an  Increase  in  Rental 

by  AUBREY  FLANAGAN 

in  London 

Despite  last  minute  efforts  to  avoid  an 
open  fight  by  more  pacific  means,  despite 
the  general  distaste  the  battle  has  stirred 
in  trade  circles  outside  the  Cinematograph 
Exhibitors'  Association  and  the  Kinema- 
tograph  Renters  Society,  the  war  between 
the  British  exhibitor  and  one  of  the 
American  major  Companies,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox,  in  actuality  a  battle  between 
the  CEA  and  the  United  States  distribu- 
tors at  large,  is  well  and  truly  on. 

Exhibitors  throughout  the  parent  organi- 
zation are  being  openly  incited  to  boycott 
20th  Century-Fox  to  the  extent,  for  the  time 

•  being,  of  Movietone  News  and  The  March 
1  of  Time.  Meetings  of  CEA  branches,  which 
i  are  in  effect  councils  of  war,  are  being  held 
:  up  and  down  the  country,  with  the  organiza- 

•  tion's  "big  guns"  well  to  the  forefront.  Per- 
sonalities have  been  dragged  into  the  lime- 

•l  light,  and  if  not  abuse,  then  extremely  hard 
i  criticism  is  the  order  of  the  day. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  reported  in  London  Tues- 
day that  all  Movietone  News  and  March  of 

•  Time  bookings  have  been  cancelled  in  approxi- 

-  mately  1.000  theatres,  including  about  500  first- 
runs.    Major  circuits,  it  was  said,  have  joined 

"  the  action  of  the  CEA  against  20th  Century- 
';  Fox. 

It  is  not  likely  the  matter  will  rest  there, 
i   It  is  quite  on  the  cards  that  the  boycott  may 
be  extended  to  other  than  the  two  topical  series. 
It  is  not  impossible,  even,  that  a  wider  refusal 
of  certain  circuit  interests  to  trade  at  all  with 
the  company  might  follow.  Whether  other  dis- 
";  tributors  will  risk  burning  their   fingers  by 
:  adopting  a  new  policy  on  Sunday  films,  as  have 
20th  Century-Fox— despite  that  at  least  two 
rfrj  others  have  expressed  their   intention  to  do 
sc — is  a  matter  of  keen  speculation.  Essentially 
a  fact  is  that  the  present  ugly  situation  is  but 
the  nucleus  of  a  far  bigger  and  graver  situation 

-  which  involves  larger  issues  and  wider  inter- 

Tendency  to  Play  Down 
Dispute  in  Trade 

It  is  significant  that,  so  far  as  public  con- 
sumption is  concerned,  the  dispute  has  not  been 

•  discussed  in  the  open  councils  of  the  KRS.  It 

-  ,is  no  less  significant  that  there  is  an  open 
tendency  on  the  part  of  other  organizations  to 
play  it  down,  so  to  speak,  to  suggest  that,  for 

.„^all  its  unpleasantness,  the  squabble  is  not  really 
I  .'A  paramount  importance,  that  there  are  far 
'  greater  matters  to  be  dealt  with  and  that  any- 
:'Vfway  the  exhibitors  have  backed  a  losing  horse. 
It  is  unfortunate  from  many  points  that  the 
:ase  so  far  stated  is  a  one-sided  one ;  that 
.vhilst  the  CEA,  with  their  customary  thorough- 
less  and  their  press  contacts,  are  securing  100 
ier  cent  expression  of  their  side  of  the  dispute, 
:  ?0th  Century-Fox  have  prof  erred  no  comment, 
io  statement  of  viewpoint,  nor  answer  to  the 
\:  exhibitor  attack  whatsoever. 

Beyond  Francis  Harley"s  statement  recently 
•f  the  company's  trading  policy  the  rest  has 
>een  silence.  Even  at  last  week's  KRS  meet- 
ng  the  20th  Century-Fox  dispute  was  not  the 


RANK  BUYS  SHARES 
IN  GAUMONT-BRIT1SH 

J.  Arthur  Rank,  head  of  General 
Film  Corporation,  London,  has  pur- 
chased the  25,000  non-voting  shares 
of  stock  in  the  Metropolis  and  Brad- 
ford Trust,  which  controls  Gaumont- 
British.  These  shares  formerly  were 
held  by  Mrs.  John  Maxwell,  widow  of 
the  late  head  of  Associated  British 
Pictures,  and  later  were  held  by 
Associated  British. 

By  the  purchase  of  these  shares, 
Mr.  Rank's  holdings  in  Gaumont- 
British  are  not  affected  appreciably, 
but  the  purchase  serves  to  reduce 
the  control  of  Warners  over  Gau- 
mont-British,  the  American  company 
recently  having  acquired  a  substantial 
interest  in  the  British  company. 


subject  of  discussion  before  the  press,  nor  was 
it  the  subject  of  any  statement. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  too,  that  although  the 
initial  salvo  from  the  CEA  artillery  was  di- 
rected apparently  at  Mr.  Harley,  the  exhibitor 
group  has  been  at  pains  since  to  make  it  clear 
that  it  has  no  quarrel  with  Mr.  Harley,  have 
in  fact  paid  public  tribute  to  the  good  will  he 
has  created  for  his  company. 

Exhibitors  regard  the  move  to  change  the 
old  and  established  system  of  one-day  booking 
of  films  for  Sundays  to  four  and  seven-day 
bookings  and  to  increase  the  number  of  per- 
centages asked  as  nothing  more  or  less  than 
grading,  in  a  different  battle  dress ;  hence  the 
vigor  and  violence  of  the  campaign  against 
20th  Century-Fox,  with  its  direct  similarity  in 
tactics  and  strategy  to  the  old  campaign  against 
grading  which  ended  in  a  hands  down  victory 
for  the  CEA. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  it  was  chiefly  the 
intervention  of  the  late  Sidney  R.  Kent  which 
brought  about  a  change  of  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  KRS.  It  is  Mr.  Kent's  memory  which 
is  stirred  by  the  CEA  in  the  present  dispute. 
The  greatest  play  is  being  made  in  the  CEA 
fight  of  Mr.  Kent's  good  name  and  Air.  Har- 
ley's  good  will. 

20th-Fox  Figurehead 

For  Other  U.  S.  Companies 

Although,  however,  the  present  attack  is 
launched  exclusively  against  20th  Century-Fox, 
it  is  clear  from  the  mood  and  temper  of  the 
CEA  spokesmen  that  they  are  virtually  a  figure- 
head for  the  whole  of  the  American  producer- 
distributor  group  here.  The  CEA  president 
himself  has  pointed  out  that  the  move  of  20th 
Century-Fox  to  get  more  film  rental  is  backed 
by  one  or  two  more  major  renting  concerns. 

None  the  less  no  other  renter  has,  at  the 
moment  of  writing,  given  any  evidence  of  in- 
tention to  materialize  any  change  of  policy  in 
regard  to  Sunday  bookings,  although  it  has 
been  recorded  in  exhibitor  circles  that  there  is 
a  widespread  tendency  on  the  part  of  renting 
houses  to  extend  the  number  of  percentage 
bookings  and  limit  flat  rentals  to  a  select  num- 
ber of  films  and  indeed  to  a  small  number  of 
exhibitors.  It  is  an  allegation  as  yet  statis- 
tically unproved. 

Although  it  is  probable  that  renter  discus- 
sions on  an  alteration  of  the  Sunday  booking 


policy  have  been  stimulated  by  the  reiterated 
bragging  of  British  exhibitors  and  circuits  on 
the  way  in  which  box  office  trade  has  increased, 
the  picture  houses  are  at  pains  to  suggest  that 
they  are  not  really  getting  anything  like  the 
increased  revenue  which  is  accruing  to  the  dis- 
tributors. 

It  is  their  contention  that  whilst  American 
distributors'  revenue  has  increased  by  some  30 
per  cent  most  of  the  increased  profits  accru- 
ing to  British  picture  houses  have  gone  over 
to  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  the  form 
of  taxation. 

Circuits  to  Gain  Most 
In  Exhibitor  Fight 

Twentieth  Century-Fox.  it  is  estimated  by 
them,  are  reaching  a  current  gross  of  £3,000,000 
per  annum,  yet  according  to  the  CEA :  "Every- 
body thinks  of  this  business  in  terms  of  mil- 
lions of  pounds,  but  there  are  very  many  ex- 
hibitors getting  a  livelihood  on  the  small  shop 
scale  with  a  profit  of  £300  or  £500  a  year  which 
represents  all  their  earnings.  That  profit  relies 
on  their  booking  on  flat  rates.  Tell  these  men 
that  bookings  are  to  be  transferred  from  flat 
rates  to  percentages  and  you  sweep  away  their 
livelihood  at  once." 

Nevertheless,  that  the  CEA  would  have  em- 
barked upon  the  present  campaign  without  the 
complete  solidarity  and  backing  of  the  circuits 
is  obvious.  It  will  be  the  circuits  who  stand 
to  profit  most  of  all  if  the  exhibitor  fight  re- 
sults in  a  victory  over  the  distributors. 

Recommending  exhibitors  to  cancel  their 
bookings  for  British  Movietone  News  and 
The  March  of  Time,  the  CEA  president  also 
has  reminded  them  that  at  least  four  other  news- 
reels  exist  from  which  they  can  select  substi- 
tutes. Of  the  four  remaining  newsreels  three 
are  British,  all  of  them  associated  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  with  British  theatre  or- 
ganizations. Transfer  of  bookings  from  British 
Movietone  News  to  say  Gaumont-British  News 
would  be  more  than  a  tactical  victory.  It  would 
be  a  step  further  towards  the  commercial  con- 
solidation of  the  Arthur  Rank-General  Films- 
Gaumont  British-Odeon  interests. 

Situation  Affects 
Competitive  Field 

The  situation  has  naturally  had  repercussions 
on  the  competitive  field  of  picture  bookings. 
Other  renters  have  not  been  slow  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  advantages  of  the  dispute  and 
there  is  a  minor  rush  to  chisel  in  upon  pre- 
serves which  normally  might  have  been  con- 
sidered those  of  the  company  with  which  the 
disagreement  is  at  present  in  operation. 

How  bitter  the  fight  may  yet  become  it  is  as 
yet  not  easy  to  foresee.  But  the  unquestioned 
strength  of  20th  Century-Fox  product  on  the 
British  market  may  prove  as  potent  a  con- 
sideration with  picture  houses  as  the  pure  poli- 
tics of  the  fight  as  it  is  at  present  being  waged. 
There  may  be  moves  to  boycott  20th  Century- 
Fox  generally,  but  whilst  they  are  possible 
they  are  not  necessarily  probable. 

Some  indication  of  the  flavor  which  is  be- 
ing attached  to  the  dispute  may  be  gleaned  from 
statements  made  at  the  CEA  Sussex  Branch, 
first  branch  to  discuss  and  support  the  parent 
organization's  campaign,  by  Randolp  E.  Rich- 
ards, branch  chairman  and  a  member  of  the 
Cinematograph  Films  Council.  Said  Mr.  Rich- 
ards :  "The  major  renting  firms  in  America 
are  anything  between  30  per  cent  and  50  per 
cent  up  on  their  returns,  yet  they  are  trying 
this  extra  squeeze.  ...  I  read  into  it  a  sinister 
move  to  squeeze  you  right  down,  and  when  you 
are  down  low  enough  to  try  and  buy  you  up." 

Of  course  "buying  up"  need  not  necessarily 
be  aimed  at  by  American  interests  exclusively. 


'The  Best  of  the  Sonja 
Henie  pictures  to  date" 
—M.  P.  Daily 


'The  patriotic  angle  will 
add  cbnsiderably  to  the 
established  b.  o.  allure  of 
Miss  Henie  and  her  su- 
perlative blade  work... 
her  skating  alone  is  worth 
the  price  of  admission" 

—  Variety 


'Marquee  magic... a  glit- 
tering production.  Exhib- 
itors everywhere  know 
what  that  name  and  title 
will  mean  to  the  box- 
off  ice"— Ho//y  wood  Reporter 


'Iceland  has  topical  box- 
office  power  and  super- 
sedes anything  the  skat- 
ing star's  vehicles  have 
had  in  the  past.  You  can't 
go  wrong  giving  this  one 
all  you  have"—  Independent 


'Topical 


theme  ar 


nd  the 


marquee  names  mean 

handsome  boxoffice" 

—  Daily  Variety 


waief " 


—Hollywood  Reporter 


lENIE 


AMMY 


Directed  by 

CE  HUMBERSTONE 


ACK  OAKIE 

X  BRESSART  .  OSA  MASSEN  -  JOAN 
RILL  •  FRITZ  FELD  •  STERLING  HOLLOWAY 


SWING 
and 
SWAY 


Produced  by 

WILLIAM  LeBARON 

Original  Screen  Play  by  Robert  Ellis  and  Helen  Logan 
Skating  Ensembles  by  James  Gonzales 


M 


26" 

CENTURY- FOX 


l>  rrnnr 


HI****** 


50 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,  1942 


Publicity  Guild  Signs  Schine  Circuit 

■  r      ■%         ■  ■•  Disposes  of  S 

Loews,  Republic         0fl6 Houses 


2 -Year  Contracts  Closed; 
Office  Guild  Organizes 
U,  A.  Employees 

Loew  circuit  press  agents  and  those 
in  the  New  York  home  office  of  Republic 
are  the  latest  groups  organized  by  the 
Screen  Publicists  Guild,  which  is  now 
CIO  Local  114.  Two-year  contracts 
were  signed  Friday,  September  25th,  by 
the  Guild  with  those  two  companies. 
They  are  essentially  the  same  as  those 
between  the  Guild  and  the  eight  major 
distributors  in  New  York. 

The  agreements  were  signed  for  the  Guild 
by  Jonas  Rosenfield,  Jr.,  president;  for  Re- 
public by  Walter  Titus,  secretary,  and  for 
Loew's  by  Charles  C.  Moskowitz,  vice-presi- 
dent. 

Meanwhile,  the  strike  of  the  CIO  Local 
121,  in  seven  Warner  circuit  theatres  in 
Paterson  and  Passaic,  N.  J.,  ended  this 
week  after  the  union  appealed  to  the  War 
Labor  Board,  the  United  States  Department 
of  Conciliation  and  the  New  Jersey  State 
Mediation  Service.  Approximately  132 
workers  struck  last  week  when  the  manage- 
ment allegedly  refused  to  sign  a  contract. 
There  are  to  be  conferences  between  both 
sides  shortly.  The  union  threatened  to 
spread  the  strike  to  other  Warner  houses  in 
the  state. 

SPG  Promises 
Local  121  Support 

The  SPG  telegraphed  Major  Albert  War- 
ner, vice-president  of  Warners,  expressing 
"full  sympathy"  with  Local  121,  and  declar- 
ing the  SPG  is  prepared  to  "extend  full 
moral  and  financial  aid." 

The  telegram,  signed  by  Mr.  Rosenfield, 
added:  "We  cannot  understand  your  failure 
to  sign  an  agreement  amicably  reached  long 
weeks  ago." 

The  Guild  also  continued  its  interest  in 
national  policies.  Last  week,  it  wrote  New 
York  Congressmen  to  vote  and  to  speak  for 
the  Geyer  anti-poll  tax  bill  when  it  reaches 
the  House  floor  October  12th,  and  it  similar- 
ly urged  Senators  to  try  to  bring  the  Pepper 
anti-poll  tax  measure  to  attention  of  Senate. 

The  CIO's  Screen  Office  and  Professional 
Employees  Guild,  Local  109,  last  week  or- 
ganized clerical  employees  in  the  New  York 
home  office  and  warehouse  of  United  Art- 
ists. In  the  first  office,  it  won  a  National 
Labor  Relations  Board  bargaining  agency 
election,  93  to  37;  at  the  latter  location,  the 
vote  was  three  to  one. 

Judge  Schauer  Named 
Coast  Arbitrator 

The  union  now  represents  clerical  work- 
ers in  the  New  York  offices  of  Loew's,  Co- 
lumbia, RKO,  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  Na- 
tional Screen  Service  and  United  Artists. 
Elections  are  expected  soon  at  Paramount. 
Petitions  for  NLRB  hearings  have  been  filed 
for  workers  at  Republic  Pictures,  and  Con- 
solidated Film  Industries'  laboratory. 

In  Hollywood,  meanwhile,  the  threat  of 


a  strike  by  the  Screen  Office  Employees 
Guild,  in  the  Los  Angeles  and  San  Fran- 
cisco exchanges,  was  removed  last  week 
after  conferences,  during  which  both  sides 
agreed  that  only  wages  and  classifications 
are  to  be  submitted  to  arbitration  in  forma- 
tion of  a  new  contract.  Neutral  arbitrator 
is  Judge  B.  Rey  Schauer,  of  the  District 
Court  of  Appeals. 

In  Hollywood  last  Sunday  night,  the 
Screen  Actors  Guild  installed  James  Cag- 
ney  as  president,  succeeding  Edward 
Arnold. 

It  also  supported  two  petitions,  which 
were  sent  to  the  American  Federation  of 
Radio  Artists.  One  petition  protests  net- 
work employment  of  actors  without  charge 
or  at  token  wages  in  patriotic  programs, 
with  corollary  lack  of  assurance  their  pay 
will  be  raised  to  standard  when  such  pro- 
grams are  sold  to  sponsors.  The  other 
opposes  service  organizations  offering  shows 
on  which  stars  have  appeared  for  patriotic 
reasons,  to  commercial  sponsors  at  cut  rates. 

SAG  Membership 
Drops  in  Year 

Mr.  Cagney  said,  "We  have  a  double-bar- 
relled responsibility  to  fulfill  our  obligation 
to  our  nation,  by  concentrating  on  the  war 
effort ;  and  at  the  same  time,  to  fulfill  our 
obligation  to  our  own  organization." 

Membership  during  the  past  year  had 
dropped  from  8,683  to  7,192,  Kenneth  Thom- 
son, executive  secretary,  reported.  He  add- 
ed 622  obtained  military  withdrawals;  319, 
temporary  withdrawals  because  they  went 
into  war  industries. 

The  newly  organized  Film  Exchange  Em- 
ployees union,  B-45,  Chicago,  has  been  suc- 
cessful in  getting  an  increase  in  salary.  Ef- 
fective as  of  September  14th,  all  those  who 
had  not  received  an  increase  prior  to  Jan- 
uary 1,  1941,  were  given  a  15  per  cent  raise. 
Those  who  received  an  increase  since  that 
date  were  given  an  additional  10  per  cent. 
All  front  office  workers  except  branch  and 
office  managers,  salesmen  and  confidential 
secretaries  are  eligible  for  membership  in 
the  Chicago  union.  All  exchanges  except 
MGM,  Universal  and  United  Artists  have 
signed  contracts  with  the  union. 


Heads  Motiograph  Sales 

Fred  Matthews,  vice-president  of  the  Motio- 
graph Company,  Chicago,  has  taken  over  the 
sales  manager  duties  following  the  resignation 
of  L.  R.  Abbott.  The  company  is  working 
three  shifts  on  defense  orders  and  is  no  longer 
supplying  sound  projectors  for  the  theatre 
trade.  Replacement  parts  however,  still  are 
being  shipped  from  stock. 


Showing  Single  Bills 

The  State  theatre,  Oklahoma  City,  is  chang- 
ing from  double  to  single  picture  programs,  with 
"Pride  of  the  Yankees"  the  first  in  the  new 
policy. 


Ohio  Orders  24  Cuts 

Twenty-four  eliminations  were  ordered  in 
August,  out  of  the  505  reels  reviewed  by  Ohio 
censors.    No  films  were  rejected. 


Further  progress  in  disposition  of  16  theatres 
provided  in  the  settlement  of  the  Federal  anti- 
trust suit  against  it,  was  reported  in  Buffalo 
Federal  court  Monday,  by  the  Schine  Circuit. 

Five  of  the  16  houses  named  in  the  court 
order  have  been  sold.  All  must  be  sold  before 
May  19,  1943,  preferably  to  the  original  owners. 

Reacquired  by  prior  owners  or  operations  so 
far  are  the  Webster,  Rochester ;  Paramount, 
Glens  Falls;  Palace,  Clifton  Springs,  and  the 
Clazel  and  Lyric,  Bowling  Green,  O. 

Those  still  in  possession  of  the  circuit  are 
the  Strand,  Cumberland,  Md. ;  Scotia,  Scotia ; 
Viv,  Corbin,  Ky. ;  State  and  Appalachia,  Ap- 
palachia,  Va. ;  a  50  per  cent  interest  in  the 
Margie  Grand,  Harlan,  Ky. ;  Plaza,  Malone ; 
Memorial,  Mt.  Vernon,  O. ;  Opera  House  and 
Ada  Meade,  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  the  Liberty, 
Pikesville,  Ky. 

The  Clazel  and  Lyric  in  Ohio  have  been 
disposed  of  by  Clark  Young,  who  only  recently 
reacquired  them  from  the  circuit.  Leaseholds 
on  both  houses  have  been  sold  to  Carl  Schwind 
of  Cygnet. 

Willard  S.  McKay,  Schine  counsel,  told  the 
court  Monday  that  an  independent  exhibitor 
has  bought  an  option  on  one  or  more  of  the 
houses.    He  did  not  disclose  the  name. 

The  anti-trust  suit  by  A.  B.  Momand  against 
the  Griffith  circuit  and  the  eight  major  dis- 
tributors, and  scheduled  for  trial  in  Oklahoma 
City  Federal  court  October  5th,  was  postponed 
last  week  to  early  November,  on  the  plaintiff's 
request.  The  10-year-old  suit  was  for  $5,000,000. 

Hearings  on  the  Department  of  Justice's  "di- 
vorce" action  to  compel  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  and  Paramount  to  relinquish  36  theatres 
allegedly  acquired  in  violation  of  the  Federal 
consent  decree,  will  be  held  in  New  York  Fed- 
eral court  October  19th,  it  was  decided  there 
last  week.  The  hearings  had  been  scheduled 
for  next  Monday.  Of  the  36  houses,  Paramount 
has  20,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  16. 

Interrogatories  on  distributors'  operations, 
especially  those  affecting  Greenwich,  Conn.,  and 
Port  Chester,  N.  Y.,  theatres,  were  filed  in 
New  Haven  Federal  court  last  week  by  opera- 
tors of  the  Pickwick,  Greenwich.  They  are  su- 
ing the  distributors,  under  the  anti-trust  laws, 
for  $5,000,000. 

Harman  to  Film  War 
Progress  Subjects 

A  series  of  all-color  animated  pictorial  films 
depicting  the  progress,  problems  and  actual  bat- 
tle reenactments  of  the  war  has  been  launched 
by  Hugh  Harman  Productions,  Inc.  The  first, 
"We  Can  Lose,"  will  be  distributed  by  United 
Artists.  The  group  of  12  films  will  bear  the 
general  title,  "History  in  the  Making." 

The  idea  for  the  films,  which,  it  is  said,  will 
make  no  effort  to  conceal  the  serious  global 
fight  facing  the  United  Nations,  was  presented' 
to  the  Office  of  War  Information  by  Hugh 
Harman.  They  will  present  a  monthly  last-min- 
ute pictorial  description  of  the  successes  or 
failures  of  the  United  Nations'  effort  and  point 
out  the  immediate  problems  facing  all.  The 
OWI  will  provide  information  and  technical 
advice.  Robert  Edmonds  wrote  the  script  for 
the  first  subject. 


Sochin  Gets  Award 

Irvin  Sochin,  who  recently  was  transferred 
from  West  Virginia  to  the  city  territory  for 
Twentieth  Century-Fox,  in  Cincinnati,  was  pre- 
sented with  an  inscribed  wrist  watch  by  James 
J.  Grady,  recently  appointed  district  manager, 
as  an  award  for  winning  a  sales  contest. 


October    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


51 


Paramount  Sets 
Nine  New  Films 

Paramount,  reporting  a  large  backlog  of 
product  already  in  hand  will  begin  production 
during  the  next  eight  weeks  on  nine  pictures, 
in  addition  to  "For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls"  and 
"True  to  Life,"  now  in  work. 

The  pictures  scheduled,  listed  in  the  probable 
order  of  their  starting  dates,  are  "The  Miracle 
of  Morgan's  Creek,"  directed  by  Preston 
Sturges,  starring  Betty  Hutton,  Eddie  Bracken, 
Brian  Donlevy  and  Akim  Tamiroff ;  "Dixie," 
color  musical,  starring  Bing  Crosby  and  Dor- 
othy Lamour,  directed  by  Edward  Sutherland; 
"China,"  starring  Loretta  Young,  Alan  Ladd 
and  William  Bendix,  and  directed  by  John  Far- 
|  row ;  "Salute  for  Three,"  to  be  directed  by 
Ralph  Murphy ;  "Frenchman's  Creek,"  from 
Daphne  DuMaurier's  novel ;  "So  Proudly  We 
Hail,"  to  be  produced  and  directed  by  Mark 
Sandrich,  with  Claudette  Colbert ;  "Five  Graves 
to  Cairo,"  from  the  Brackett  and  Wilder  orig- 
inal, with  Franchot  Tone,  and  directed  by  Billy 
Wilder;  "The  Story  of  Dr.  Wassell,"  Cecil  B. 
DeMille's  color  production ;  and,  "Lady  in  the 
Dark,"  in  color,  starring  Ginger  Rogers  and 
Ray  Milland  and  directed  by  Mitchell  Leisen. 

In  addition,  William  Pine  and  William 
Thomas  will  begin  production  on  "Cyclone," 
with  Richard  Arlen. 

First  of  RKO's  "America" 
Shorts  Ready  October  23rd 

"This  Is  America,"  series  of  two-reel  sub- 
iects  replacing  the  "March  of  Time"  series 
jn  RKO  Radio's  schedule,  will  appear  first  on 
Dctober  23rd,  with  the  national  release  of  "Pri- 
vate Smith  of  the  U.  S.  A.,"  a  story  about  the 
ransformation  from  citizen  to  soldier  in  the 
United  States  Army. 

Military  sequences  were  photographed  at 
[Camp  Meade,  Maryland,  under  the  direction 
)f  Slavko  Vorkapich  anad  Larry  O'Reilly, 
:ameraman.  Frederic  Ullman,  Jr.,  is  pro- 
iucer. 

"The  man  and  the  woman  in  the  street"  is 
he  basic  theme  of  the  series,  explained  RKO. 
Women  at  Arms"  and  "Men  of  Tomorrow" 
re  subsequent  issues. 


vliss  Neagle  Guest  of  Flyers 

Anna  Neagle,  RKO  star  whose  recent  film, 
Wings  and  the  Woman"  is  based  on  the  air 
xploits  of  England's  aviatrix,.  Amy  Johnson, 
/as  guest  of  honor  this  week  at  a  meeting  of 
ilfie  "Ninety-Niners,"  at  Town  Hall,  New 
fork.  The  organization  is  composed  of  noted 
janerican  airwomen  holding  pilots'  licenses 
.nd  was  attended  by  famous  women  flyers  in- 
uding  Peggy  Remey,  Ruth  Nichols,  Byrd 
ilowell  and  Mrs.  Natalie  Harwood,  known  as 
',the  flying  grandmother." 

jleelfellows  Meet 

Regular  meetings  of  the  Reelfellows  Club 
-:  Chicago  were  resumed  this  week  at  the 
]j[GM  club  room  on  film  row.  A.  M.  Van 
tyke,  president,  presided.  Members  who  at- 
*  nded  voted  to  purchase  a  $1,000  War  Bond, 
iast  meeting  of  the  club  was  held  at  the  Con- 
fess Hotel  June  28th. 


en  Pollock  in  Army 

Ben  Pollock,  of  the  Universal  publicity  de- 
.rtment  at  the  home  office,  New  York,  enlisted 
the  United  States  Army  and  left  for  Camp 
pton  yesterday.  Mr.  Pollock  had  been  with 
e  company  five  years. 


i'iggs  on  Tour 

0.  Henry  Briggs,  president  of  Producers  Re- 
ising  Corporation,  is  on  a  tour  of  exchanges, 
i  :luding  Chicago,  Dallas,  Kansas  City,  Den- 
|r,  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles. 


EXTRAS'  EARNINGS  AT 
$387,985  IN  JULY 

Earnings  of  extras  placed  through 
the  Central  Casting  Corporation  dur- 
ing the  year  ending  in  July,  1942, 
ranged  from  $387,985  in  July,  this 
year,  down  to  $227,803  in  January, 
according  to  a  report  from  the 
Screen  Actors  Guild  in  Hollywood. 

The  total  average  daily  number  of 
extras  working  ranged  from  1,135 
down  to  732,  and  the  average  daily 
wage  from  $12.28  in  May  down  to 
$10.50  in  February. 


"Radio  Unifies 
Allies":  Foley 

Anglo-American  broadcasting  events  will  be 
important  shortly,  William  S.  Paley,  president 
of  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System,  said 
Monday  in  New  York,  following  his  return 
from  a  one-month  survey  of  conditions  in 
England. 

He  said  that  programs  from  this  country 
were  very  popular  in  England,  and  that  radio, 
as  a  factor  in  unifying  the  Allies,  was  increas- 
ingly evident. 

He  added :  "The  tempo  of  Axis  activities  to 
create  suspicion  and  distrust  among  the  Allies 
will  increase  in  the  strenuous  months  that  lie 
ahead.  Transoceanic  broadcaster,  therefore, 
must  continue  on  the  alert  to  meet  these  propa- 
ganda spearheads  and  bend  them  into  instru- 
ments of  psychological  warfare  against  the  en- 
emy. This  being  accomplished  by  fearless, 
accurate  and  objective  reporting  within  the  con- 
fines dictated  by  military  security.  It  is  the 
people's  war  and  it  is  the  people's  privilege  to 
be  kept  informed  of  every  important  circum- 
stance affecting  their  destiny." 

Morrison  Retires 
From  20th-Fox  Post 

R.  J.  Morrison,  for  15  years  manager  of  the 
Denver  Twentieth  Century-Fox  exchange,  has 
been  retired  on  pension.  He  has  been  suc- 
ceeded by  Clare  Hake,  formerly  20th  Century- 
Fox  manager  in  New  Zealand,  Australia  and 
Japan. 

Mr.  Morrison  came  to  Denver  in  1923  from 
Aspen,  Col.,  where  he  operated  a  theatre  for 
12  years.  After  five  years  as  salesman  for 
First  National  he  was  named  exchange  man- 
ager. 


"Flying  Tigers"  for  Capitol 

Republic  announced  in  New  York  Tuesday 
that  "Flying  Tigers"  has  been  booked  into  the 
Capitol  theatre  on  Broadway  the  last  week  in 
October.  The  film,  which  stars  John  Wayne, 
John  Carroll  and  Anna  Lee,  depicts  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  adventurous  group  of  American 
flyers  who  volunteered  to  aid  China  in  her 
fight  against  the  Japs  before  Pearl  Harbor. 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Sets  Dividend 

The  88th  birthday  of  Edward  Bausch, 
Bausch  and  Lomb  Optical  Company  board 
chairman,  was  observed  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
last  week.  Directors  have  declared  the  regular 
quarterly  dividend  of  $1.25  on  the  preferred 
stock  and  25  cents  a  share  on  the  common. 


Theatre  Employee  Bonus 

Employees  of  the  Park  Theatre,  Westfield, 
Mass.,  have  been  given  a  bonus  of  one  week's 
pay,  the  management  has  announced. 


Senate  Approves 
Investigation  of 
Petri I lo  Union 

Thorough  inquiry  into  the  union  activities  of 
James  Caesar  Petrillo,  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Musicians,  was  voted  last 
week  by  the  United  States  Senate.  The  inves- 
tigation probably  will  be  undertaken  by  a 
special  sub-committee  of  the  Senate  Interstate 
Commerce  Committee. 

The  Senate  action  came  after  hearings  of 
approximately  a  week  before  a  sub-committee 
headed  by  D.  Worth  Clark,  Idaho,  author  of  a 
resolution  for  investigation.  The  hearing  pro- 
duced testimony  by  Elmer  Davis,  director  of 
the  Office  of  War  Information ;  James  L.  Fly, 
chairman  of  the  Federal  Communications  Com- 
mission, and  Thurman  Wesley  Arnold,  assistant 
United  States  Attorney  General  in  charge  of 
the  Department  of  Justice's  anti-trust  division. 
They  contended  Mr.  Petrillo's  ban  against  re- 
cordings and  transcriptions  was  inimical  to 
the  welfare  of  the  nation. 

It  was  that  ban,  together  with  various  dis- 
putes, the  AFM  had  had  with  radio  stations, 
and  its  efforts  to  have  only  union  music  on  the 
air — which  brought  the  investigation. 

Previously,  it  had  brought  public  protest  from 
Mr.  Davis,  investigation  by  the  FCC,  and  an 
anti-trust  suit  by  the  Department  of  Justice. 
Hearing  on  the  latter  suit  will  be  heard  in 
Chicago  Federal  court  on  October  16th. 

Mr.  Arnold  said  during  the  sub-committee 
hearing  that  previous  supreme  court  decisions 
in  labor  matters  favored  the  defense  in  this 
suit ;  but  he  added  that  new  material  had  been 
uncovered  which  had  not  been  passed  upon  by 
the  highest  court. 

It  was  said  at  Washington  at  midweek  that 
if  the  Senate  Interstate  Commerce  Committee 
decided  to  give  the  investigation  into  the  hands 
of  a  sub-committee,  Senator  Clark  probably 
would  be  its  chairman.  Burton  K.  Wheeler, 
Montana,  is  chairman  of  the  larger  group. 

The  authorization  for  investigation  provided 
$5,000  for  expenses.  It  was  broad  enough  to 
permit  complete  inquiry  into  the  AFM.  How- 
ever, observers  expected  primary  consideration 
would  be  given  the  ban  on  recordings. 


Film  Appreciation 
Lectures  at  YWCA 

A  series  of  10  lectures  on  motion  pictures 
will  be  given  by  Richard  Plant,  author,  begin- 
ning October  7th,  at  the  West  Side  Y.  W.  C. 
A.,  in  New  York,  it  was  announced  this  week. 
Under  the  title  of  "Let's  Go  to  the  Movies," 
the  lectures  will  include  a  survey  of  current 
films,  discussion  of  screen  personalities,  the 
relation  of  the  screen  to  the  novel  and  drama, 
the  importance  of  motion  pictures  as  an  artistic 
and  social  force  and  other  phases  of  film  art. 
Purpose  of  the  course,  it  is  said,  is  to  further 
individual  enjoyment  and  appreciation  of  mo- 
tion pictures. 


Released  for  War  Posts 

Robert  Eves,  district  manager  for  Famous 
Players  Canadian,  and  Jack  Arthur,  FPC  ex- 
ecutive, have  been  granted  leaves  of  absence 
to  permit  them  to  fill  Government  posts.  Mr. 
Arthur  is  chairman  of  the  board  of  the  De- 
partment of  National  Defense  Army  shows 
and  Mr.  Eves  has  joined  the  National  Film 
Board. 


Named  NBC  London  Manager 

Stanley  P.  Richardson,  former  confidential 
secretary  to  Joseph  E.  Davies  and  previously 
with  the  Associated  Press  for  16  years,  has 
been  appointed  manager  of  the  London  office 
of  the  National  Broadcasting  Company. 


"IF  YOU  THOUGHT  'SI 
STAGE  WAS  H I LARIOU 

ON  THE  SCREEN  !"— 


OPENS  A  SOLID  SMAS 


"Hilariously  happy,  consistently  amusing.  Uproarious 
. . .  Mrs.  E.,  one  of  my  favorite  critics,  swears  this  is 
the  funniest  show  since  'You  Can't  Take  It  With  You7 
. . .  and  I'm  not  one  to  argue  with  Mrs.  E." 

—Harrold  C.  Eckert,  OHIO  STATE  JOURNAL 


WE 


1201 


UNION 


j^T  .  Overnight  Telegram 


LC -Deferred  Cable 


NLT  -Cable  Night 


Class  of  Service 

This  is  a  full-rate 
Telegram  or  Cable- 
gram unless  its  de- 
ferred character  is  in- 
dicated by  a  suitable 
symbol  above  or  pre- 
ceding the  address. 

^  ^ZT^ZsloV  729  SEVENTH  AVE  NYK* 

COLUMBIA  P.  inuioc  THAT  THE  WORLD  PREMIERE 

'  "  HAPPY  ANDJLr^-  -0  ^CHT  WAS  SHOWN  TO  A 
0F  MY  SISTER  EILEEN      pVin  THREE  HUNDRED  SEVENTY  S.X 

CAPACITY  AUDIENCE  ™  "J*™**^  IN  WAR  BONDS 

THOUSAND  TWO  HUNDRED  TWENTY  FIVE  D 


ER  EILEEN'  ON  THE 
WAIT'LL  YOU  SEE  IT 

Valter  Winchell 

N  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


"World  premiere  is  smashing  success.  Gloriously  funny! 
Just  what  is  needed  these  days  for  let-go.  Must'  fare!" 

—Samuel  T.  Wilson,  COLUMBUS  DISPATCH 

"Hilarious  comedy.  Patrons  reveled  in  their  American 
right  to  enjoy  a  grand  escapist  movie.  'MY  SISTER 
EILEEN7  is  fun,  great,  guffawing  fun.  Will  be  a  laugh 

hit  in  any  tOWn!/y_w////am  S.  Cunningham,  COLUMBUS  CITIZEN 

ROSALIND  RUSSELI 
BRIAN  AHERNE  JANET  BLAIR 


GEORGE  TOBIAS  •  ALLYN  JOSLYN 

Screen  play  by  Joseph  Fie'ds  ind  Jerome  Chodofov 

irccted  by  ALEXANDER  HALL  •  Produced  by  MAX  GORDON -a  Columbia  picture 


Mt.  Exhibitor, 

1  rAatmeei 


V 


54  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    3,  1942 

7/WHAT  THE  « 
PICTURE  DID  FOR  ME 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — -providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me.  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Columbia 

BLONDIE  FOR  VICTORY:  Penny  Singleton,  Ar- 
thur Lake — Ran  this  with  "The  Spoilers"  to  just 
average  receipts.  I  have  some  folks  who  cannot  stand 
this  series,  but  the  audience  laugh  reaction  was  very 
good  on  this  one.  I  would  say  the  crowd  as  a  whole 
enjoyed  itself  well  enough.  It  moves  fast.  Played 
Friday,  Saturday.  September  18.  19. — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  III..  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre.  Alfred.  N.  Y. 
Small  college  town  patronage. 

GO  WEST,  YOUNG  LADY:  Penny  Singleton.  Ann 
Miller,  Glenn  Ford — Opened  with  this  little  picture. 
You  can't  beat  it  for  comedy,  action  and  music. 
Guess  most  of  you  have  played  it,  but  if  you  haven't, 
it's  swell.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  August  28.  29. — 
Gene  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky.  Small 
town  and  coal  mining  patronage. 


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

BABES  ON  BROADWAY:  Mickey  Rooney.  Judy 
Garland — Exceptionally  fine  entertainment  for  my  audi- 
ence. The  old  tunes  played  make  them  tap  their  feet 
and  then,  for  the  exhibitor,  everything  is  in  rhythm 
and  everybody  is  enjoying  the  entertainment.  The 
minstrel  show  in  the  final  reel  was  outstanding.  I 
can  fully  recommend  this  musical  as  one  of  the  best. 
Played  Saturday.  September  12. — A.  L.  Dove.  Ben- 
gough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada.  Rural  and 
small  town  patronage. 

CROSSROADS:  William  Powell.  Hedy  Lamarr— 
Fair  film  fare,  but  didn't  do  a  great  deal  of  business 
on  it.  Seemed  to  please,  but  everybody  seemed  dis- 
appointed in  Miss  Lamarr. — Al  Eliasen.  Koronis  Thea- 
tre. Paynesville,  Minn. 

JACKASS  MAIL:  Wallace  Beery.  Marjorie  Main— 
About  the  poorest  Beery  we've  ever  played.  They 
all  draw  good  so  business  was  fine,  but  it's  the  kind 
that  makes  your  patrons  look  at  you  as  though 
they  think  you  were  trying  to  sabotage  them. — Al 
Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville.  Minn. 

KID  GLOVE  KILLERS:  Van  Heflin— Good  detective 
mystery  that  did  its  part  in  bringing  in  good  patron- 
age and  good  comments.— Al  Eliasen.  Koronis  Thea- 
tre, Paynesville,  Minn. 

MOKEY:  Donna  Reed.  Don  Dailey.  Jr.— Double- 
featured  it  on  a  weekend  and  it  was  this  one  that 
the  people  talked  about  on  the  street.  Good  for  a 
midweek  date. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre.  Paynes- 
ville, Minn. 

PIERRE  OF  THE  PLAINS:  John  Carroll,  Ruth 
Hussey — Fair  program  picture  for  a  Friday-Saturday 
date.  My  people  took  it  in  place  of  a  shooter  and 
didn't  kick. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville. 
Minn. 

SHIP  AHOY:  Red  Skelton,  Eleanor  Powell— Many 
of  our  customers  said  this  was  the  best  we'd  had 
from  Metro  this  year.  Played  Wednesday,  Thurs- 
day, September  2,  3.— M.  L.  Dubose.  Majestic  Thea- 
tre, Cotulla,  Texas. 

TARZAN'S  NEW  YORK  ADVENTURE:  Johnny 
Weissmuller,  Maureen  O'Sullivan — A  natural  for  our 
place,  but  it  didn't  work  out  that  way.  They  seemed 
to  enjoy  it,  but  business  was  way  off  the  second 
night. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville, 
Minn. 


Paramount 

ARE  HUSBANDS  NECESSARY:  Ray  Milland. 
Betty  Field — From  the  business  on  this  I  would  say 
that  nobody  seemed  to  be  interested  enough  to  find 
out.  A  few  laughs,  but  you  could  easily  pass  it  and 
have  them  yourself  and  be  money  ahead. — Al  Eliasen. 
Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville,  Minn.  Small  town  and 
rural  patronage. 

REAP  THE  WILD  WIND:  Ray  Milland,  John 
Wayne,  Paulette  Goddard — I  played  it.  I  didn't  like 
it.  I  didn't  make  a  cent  on  it  and  I'll  be  darned  if 
anyone  else  did  either. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre. 
Paynesville,  Minn. 

TOMBSTONE:  Richard  Dix.  Frances  Gifford— A 
good  action  feature  and  fair  business,  too.  Seemed 
to  go  fine  on  a  weekend. — Al  Eliasen.  Koronis  Thea- 
tre, Paynesville,  Minn. 


RKO  Radio 

TUTTLES  OF  TAHITI.  THE:  Charles  Laughton, 
Jon  Hall — Receipts  were  surprisingly  good  as  I  was 
not  expecting  too  much  of  this  one.  It  is  a  queer 
picture,  but  Charles  Laughton  does  a  good  job  of 
carrying  most  of  the  load.  Lots  of  good  comments 
here  and  I  liked  it  a  lot  personally.  Played  Thurs- 
day, September  17. — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III.,  Alfred 
Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  college  town 
patronage. 


Republic 

COWBOY  SERENADE:  Gene  Autry— Usual  Autry 
business,  which  is  above  average.  Played  Friday, 
Saturday,  September  11,  12. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska 
Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

HEART  OF  THE  RIO  GRANDE:  Gene  Autry— 
Just  fair,  nothing  to  brag  about. — Paul  McBride, 
Avalon  Theatre,  Fillmore.  Utah.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 

SHEPHERD  OF  THE  OZARKS:  Weaver  Bros.  & 
Elviry — Good  picture  of  its  kind  and  business  O.K.. 
too.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  September  4,  5. — Ray 
Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Log- 
ger, mill  worker  patronage. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

IT  HAPPENED  IN  FLATBUSH:  Lloyd  Nolan. 
Carole  Landis — This  is  a  good  little  action  picture. 
Will  satisfy  a  good  majority  of  patrons.  Played 
Tuesday.  September  8. — Paul  McBride,  Avalon  Thea- 
tre, Fillmore,  Utah.    Small  town  patronage. 

LITTLE  TOKYO,  U.S.A.:  Preston  Foster.  Brenda 
Joyce — Good  little  action  picture  which  pleased;  aver- 
age business  on  Friday  and  Saturday.  Played  Sep- 
tember 18,  19.— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Thea- 
tre, Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

MY  GAL  SAL:  Rita  Hayworth,  Victor  Mature- 
One  of  the  finest  pictures  that  has  ever  played  this 
theatre.  Played  Sunday,  Monday.  August  30.  31. — 
Paul  McBride,  Avalon  Theatre,  Fillmore,  Utah.  Small 
town  patronage. 

REMEMBER  THE  DAY:  Claudette  Colbert.  John 
Payne — We  used  this  on  Cash  Night  and  many  of  the 
customers  chided  us  about  using  such  a  good  picture. 
They  said:  "You  must  have  made  a  mistake."  And 
we  admitted  it.  It  will  stand  on  its  own  feet.  Played 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  9.  10. — M.  L.  Du- 
bose, Majestic  Theatre,  Cotulla,  Texas. 

REMEMBER  THE  DAY:  Claudette  Colbert.  Tohn 
Payne — A  good  picture,  but  no  business  here.  Played 
Sunday.  Monday,  August  30,  31. — Ray  Peacock,  Ona- 
laska Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Loggers,  mill  workers 
patronage. 

RINGS  ON  HER  FINGERS:  Gene  Tierney.  Henry 
Fonda— Very  mediocre.  Not  up  to  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  standard.  Played  Wednesday.  Thurs- 
day, September  2,  3.— Paul  McBride,  Avalon  Theatre. 
Fillmore,  Utah.    Small  town  patronage. 


Universal 

HELLZAPOPPIN':  Olsen  and  Johnson  —  They 
thought  it  was  good  enough  to  send  a  checker  out 
on,  and  they  paid  him,  I  hope,  out  of  the  guarantee. 
Hold  tight  boys,  if  you  haven't  played  it  yet.  don't. 
— Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville.  Minn. 

LADY  OF  CHEYENNE:  Loretta  Young— A  ro- 
mance of  the  early  west  very  much  enjoyed  by  my 


patrons  although  played  late.  Still  good  entertain- 
ment, comedy  and  action.  Played  Saturday,  Septem- 
ber 5. — A.  L.  Dove,  Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough, 
Sask,  Canada.    Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

RIDE  'EM,  COWBOY:  Abbott  &  Costello— Very 
good  slapstick;  our  folks  seem  to  like  Abbott  and 
Costello.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  6.  7. — 
Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre.  Onalaska,  Wash. 
Loggers,  mill  workers  patronage. 

SABOTEUR:  Robert  Cummings.  Priscilla  Lane- 
Very  ordinary  program  picture  that  couldn't  have 
grossed  less  in  three  days  if  we  had  made  an  attempt 
to  chase  business  away. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Thea- 
tre, Paynesville,  Minn. 

SPOILERS,  THE:  John  Wayne.  Randolph  Scott. 
Marlene  Dietrich — Ran  this  with  "Blondie  for  Vic- 
tory" to  just  average  receipts.  The  fight  in  the  last 
10  minutes  is  dandy,  but  the  rest  of  it  is  just  an- 
other picture.  Maybe  it  will  mean  more  to  you.  I 
hope  so.  Played  Friday,  Saturday.  September  18,  19. 
— W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre.  Al- 
fred, N.  Y.    Small  college  town  patronage. 

SPOILERS,  THE:  Randolph  Scott.  John  Wayne. 
Marlene  Dietrich — Slow  except  for  the  fight  in  the 
last  six  minutes.  Poor  business  and  very  poor  at- 
tention by  patrons. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre, 
Paynesville,  Minn. 

UNSEEN  ENEMY:  Andy  Devine,  Leo  Carrillo— 
Fair  action  picture  that  held  its  own  on  a  double 
feature. — Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville. 
Minn. 

WHAT'S  COOKIN':  Andrews  Sisters— Universal,  in 
my  opinion  still  makes  the  world's  poorest  musicals. 
— Al  Eliasen,  Koronis  Theatre,  Paynesville.  Minn. 


United  Artists 

CORSICAN  BROTHERS,  THE:  Douglas  Fairbanks. 
Jr.,  Akim  Tamiroff — We  ran  this  on  the  weekend 
and  it  was  well  received.  Played  Friday,  Saturday, 
September  11,  12.— M.  L.  Dubose,  Majestic  Theatre, 
Cotulla,  Texas. 

TO  BE  OR  NOT  TO  BE:  Carole  Lombard,  Jack 
Benny — While  we  have  run  better  pictures,  we  were 
proud  of  the  performance  of  Carole  Lombard.  She 
was  superb  in  this,  the  last  picture  of  one  of  the 
screen's  best  performers.  Played  Sunday-Tuesday. 
September  6-8. — M.  L.  Dubose,  Majestic  Theatre, 
Cotulla,  Texas. 


Warner  Bros. 

ALWAYS  IN  MY  HEART:  Walter  Huston.  Kay 
Francis,  Gloria  Warren — Good  picture  and  average 
business.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  13.  14. 
— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey, 
Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

JUKE  GIRL:  Ann  Sheridan,  Ronald  Reagan — Good 
average  picture  and  business  accordingly.  Played 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  16.  17. — E.  M.  Frei- 
burger.   Paramount    Theatre,    Dewey,    Okla.  Small 

town  patronage. 

LARCENY,  INC.:  Edward  G.  Robinson.  Jane  Wy- 
man — Robinson  was  not  tough  enough  in  this  show 
to  please  my  customers,  and  business  was  off.  Played 
Tuesday.  September  15. — E.  M.  Freiburger.  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 


Short  Features 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

■A  DOG'S  LIFE:  Pete  Smith  Specialty— Good  Pet< 
(Continued  on  opposite  page). 


October    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTU  RE 


HERALD 


5  E 


(Continued  from  opposite  page) 
Smith  red  cm  does — E.  M-  FrettrarRer.  Paramount  The- 
atre, Dewey.  Okla. 

BARB  EE-CUES :  Pete  Smith  Specialty— Every- 
body's tongue  was  hanging:  oat  (except  our  single 
vegetarian's)  while  this  was  on  the  screen.  Beautiful 
scenes  ox  all  Hti^x  o£  cooking  meat  are  shown  with 
Pete  Smith's  clever  narration.  Better  serve  free  hot 
-iog=  while  this  is  on.  It  will  heh>  avert  a  panic — 
Wl  Varick  Xevins.  IT..  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre.  Ahred. 

n.  y. 

BLITZ-WOLF:  Color  Cartoon— Very  good-  Every 
theatre  should  play  this  short-  It  may  be  a  tittle  on 
the  propaganda  side  but  give  it  to  them. — Al  EUasen. 
Soronis  Theatre,  Paynesville.  Mirm 

COFFIN'S  ON  WHEELS:  Crime  Doesn't  Pav— Just 
fair.  Xot  the  best  of  the  series— Paul  V:3rlie.  Ava- 
lon  Theatre,  Fillmore  Utah. 

DO.VT  TALK:  Specialty— Very  good— Ray  Peacock, 
Onalaska  Theatre.  Onalaska.  Wash. 

FLAG  OF  MERCY:  Passing  Para  ie — A  timely 
short  on  the  subject  of  the  sisters  of  mercy  known  as 
the  cursing  service — A  L  Dove.  Bengoogb.  Theatre, 
2en«ough,  5=.;k..  Canafa. 

LAND  OF  THE  QUINTS :  This  reel  on  these  little 
~':>m   '.    -. .  ..i   Wfc„      "  e::.  ..e 

kids  and  grownups  alike — A  L.  Dove,  Bengoogh  The- 
atre. Bengough  Sask.  Canada. 


Monogram 

NAVY  WINGS  OF  GOLD-  C-tot  two-ree'.  subjett 
furnished  tree  bv  the  Navr-E  M.  Freibnrger.  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewev.  Okla. 


Paramount 

AT  THE  DOG  SH©W:  Sceakmg  of  AnimaU— An- 
other good  comedy  in  the  talking  animal  series — 
E  31.  Freibnrger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey.  Okla. 

ELECTRIC  EARTHQUAKE:  Superman  Cartoon- 
Terrible— Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Tneatre.  Onalaska. 
Wash 

IN  THE  CIRCUS :  5-siilrz  o:  .•-  -  .1-    Tl  is  •  -  • 

seems  to  piease  O.K.— Ray  Peacock.  Onalaska  Theatre. 

POPULAR  SCIENCE  NO.  5:  Entertaining  subject 
In  Technicolor — E.  1L  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey.  Okla. 

TERROR  ON  THE  MIDWAY:  Surerman  Cartoon— 
Average  Soperman  cartoon— E.  iL  Freibnrger,  Para- 
ntm:  Theatre.  Dewey.  Okla. 

\K0  Radio 

INFERIOR  DECORATOR :  Comedy— Edgar  Ken- 
lecy  in  downright  lowbrow  slapstick  sturr,  but  it 
nade  them  laugh,  so  I  guess  it  is  good. — W.  Varick 
Kevins  m,  Alfred  Co-Op  Tneatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

MEN  OF  THE  FLEET:  .March  o:  Time— This  _■:  = 

•iaydate.  Good  short  of  the  U.  S.  Navy. — Conrad  H. 
at:a,  Chief  Tneatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


MARCH  OF  TIME,  NO.  13:  Mere  is  the  las:  o:  this 
series  to  come  from  RKO  and  it  is  a  good  issue.  It 
mainly  shows  the  care  that  the  Navy  takes  o;  its  men. 
Conclusion:  it  could  not  be  better.  It  makes  an  inter- 
esting 3D  minutes— W.  Varick  Nevins,  I1L,  Alfred  Co- 
Op  Theatre.  Alfred,  IN.  Y. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox 

ALL  OUT  FOR  V:  Good  color  cartoon— E.  M. 
Freibnrger,  Paramount  Tneatre,  Dewey.  Okla. 

YOUR  AIR_  WARDEN:  Instruttive  reel  immished 
free  by  21th- Fox — E  M.  Freiberger.  Paramount  The- 

Universal 

ANNAPOLIS   SALUTES   THE   NAVY:  Variety— 

she.  Ffflmorief  UtahT^     ^  McBrlde-  ATs3tm  ne 

HAMS    THAT    COULDN'T    BE    CURED,  THE: 

Specialty— Pretty    fair— Ray    Peacock.   Ct-alaska  The- 

JUKE  BOX  JAMBOREE:  Set rlalty— Just  a  filer, 
and  a  P°or  one  at  that — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  The- 

MENACE  OF  THE  RLSING^SUN:  No:  as  goof  as 


^RHUMBA  RHYTHM:  Musical— No:  much— Ray 
pTUNE  TIME:  Musical— Better  than  average— Ra- 
il. S.  Victory  Film 

^SAFEGUARDING    MILITARY  INFORMATION": 

Victory  reel — Got  around  to  this  one  rather  late  but  it 
is  well  cone  and  has  r>idie  Bracken  and  Walter  Hus- 
ton as  bit  plavers  in  ic.  Worthwhile. — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  Ilk.  Alfred  Co-Oc  Thea:re.  Alfred,  X.  Y, 

Warner  Bros. 

SQUAWKING  HAWK,  THE:  Color  Cartoon— A 
Mttert^  from  _Scl-.lt sin rer— V.  .  ^Vad:!;  Ntvirs."  r.l'..  "a.- 


Nat  Levy  Is  Honored 

Xat  Levy,  formerly  district  manager  for 
RKO  in  Philadelphia  and  recently  promoted  to 
eastern  division  manager  for  the  company,  will 
be  honored  by  the  Philadelphia  Variety  Club 
at  a  dinner  to  be  hold  on  Monday,  October  5th, 
at  the  Bellevne-Stratford  Hotel.  The  wives  of 
Philadelphia  film  men  held  a  dinner  on  Monday 
in  honor  of  Mrs.  Xat  Levy  at  the  Ritz-Carlton 
Hotel.  The  Variety  Club  affair  also  will  serve 
as  an  official  introduction  for  Robert  Folliard, 
new  RKO  district  manager  here. 


Managers  Shifted  in 
Philadelphia  Area 

have  been  made.  Birk  Binnard  has  moved  from 
the  Grand  theatre^  Camden,  X.  J.,  to  the  Capitol 
theatre,  York,  Pa.,  succeeding  Gil  Fradeneck, 
w-ho  has  joined  the  Army.  Otis  Kyger,  from 
the  Lion  theatre.  Red  Lion,  Pa.,  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  Rialto  theatre,  York,  Pa,  suc- 
ceeding George  Roberts,  resigned.  Isadore  Per- 
lin,  for  the  past  10  years  manager  of  the  Colon- 
ial theatre,  Atlantic  City,  has  taken  over  the 
Grand  theatre  in  Camden,  and  Clifford  Gunnett, 
assistant  manager  of  the  Lion,  has  moved  up  as 
manager  of  the  Red  Lion  house- 
In  addition,  Tack  Singer  has  been  named  new 
assistant  manager  at  the  Orpheum  theatre,  Phil- 
adelphia. J.  Stewart  Silver,  student  manager 
at  the  Liberty-Tacony  theatre,  Philadelphia,  and 
previously  theatrical  advertising  manager  for 
the  Philadelphia  Evening  Ledger,  has  resigned 
to  go  into  real  estate  work.  Wallace  Makow- 
ski  has  been  named  new  purchasing  head  at  the 
circuit  omces  in  Philadelphia  succeeding  Robert 
Xydick,  resigned,  and  William  Shugard.  former- 
ly with  the  defunct  Evening  Ledger,  has  joined 
the  circuit's  advertising  department 


National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  Eight  Films 

Oi  eight  pictures  classified  by  the  Xational 
Legion  of  Decency  in  its  listing  for  the  cur- 
rent week,  five  were  approved  for  general 
patronage  and  three  were  listed  as  unobjection- 
able for  adults. 

Class  A-l,  Unobjectionable  for  General  Pat- 
ronage: "Black  Rider  of  Robin  Hood  Ranch," 
''Maxwell  Archer,  Detective,"  "One  of  Our 
Aircraft  Is  Missing,"  "Pirates  of  the  Prairie," 
"World  at  War."  Class  A-2,  Unobjectionable 
for  Adults :  "Busses  Roar,"  "Manila  Calling," 
"My  Sister  Eileen." 


Speaks  on  Victory  Films 

Dorothy  Day.  Tri-States  Theatres  Corpora- 
tion publicity  director  at  Des  Moines,  was  a 
speaker  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Iowa  State 
Federation  of  Women's  Club;  held  a:  Hotel 
Fort  Des  Moines,  Des  Moines,  September  24th. 
Approximately  350  members  attended.  Miss 
Day  discussed  the  Victory  Sims  exhibitors  are 
showing. 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT 

A  Wartime  Service  for  Exhibitors 

J  Are  you  looking  for  something  you  can't  buy?  Got  something  you  don't  need?  Then  tell  the 
Herald,  and  we'll  tell  the  world. 

5  This  service  is  offered — free  to  exhibitors,  of  course — to  further  the  conservation  of  those 
resources  upon  which  theatres  must  depend,  with  less  and  less  replenishment,  for  some  time  to 
come.  According  to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  WPB  amusements  section,  only  the 
strictest  policy  of  conservation  throughout  the  theatre  business  can  assure  the  continued  operation 
of  our  theatres.  Everything  usable  must  be  used,  as  needed,  by  the  fellow  who  needs  it. 

5  If  you  have  something  to  swap,  describe  it  fully  enough  to  give  the  other  fellow  an  idea  as  to 
its  applicability  to  his  need,  and  similarly  describe  what  you  are  looking  for.  This  information 
will  be  published  promptly  in  the  Herald,,  without  charge.  Write  to — 

SWAP  DEPARTMENT,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N  Y. 


A  NATIONAL  LAUGl 

TEAMS  OF  RADIO . . .  WITH  A  WHO 
SWINGING  AND  COMEDY  STARS 


Hv    ^        Produced  and  Diret 


R  K  O 
RADIO 

PICTl^? 


ALLAN  DW 

Screen  Play  by  Pool  Gerard  Sci 
Joe  Bigelow  Story  by  Paul  Ger<,|"1 


'VENT!..  .THE  TWO  ACE  FUN 

DST  OF  OTHER  TOP-LINE  SINGING  . . . 


•IE  AIRWAYS 


in  the  show  that  tops  their 
own  sensational  look  Who's 
Laughing  '. . .  Spectacular  fun 
premiere  in  theatres  coast  to 
coast  October  10. 


GREAT  GILDERSLEEVE 

(HAROLD  PEARY) 

aINNY  SIMMS-BILL  THOMPSON-GALE 
0RDON  •  ISABEL  RANDOLPH  "MORTIMER 
'  iNERD"  and  RAY  NOBLE  and  his  BAND  .  .  . 


from  RK%  ^oeCf 


58 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


Plan  Exchange 
Of  War  Films 
Among  Allies 

Propaganda  films  of  the  United  Nations 
shortly  may  be  given  international  showings 
on  a  large  scale  under  plans  for  the  exchange 
of  such  pictures  that  are  being  worked  out  by 
the  Inter-Allied  Information  Committee. 

The  committee,  composed  of  representatives 
of  various  war  agencies,  including  the  Office 
of  War  Information  and  the  Coordinator  of 
Inter-American  Affairs,  is  working  with  repre- 
sentatives of  the  other  Allied  nations  in  co- 
relating  Allied  propaganda — printed,  broadcast 
and  filmed. 

The  deficiencies  in  the  propaganda  efforts  of 
the  United  Nations  recently  were  considered 
at  an  international  meeting  in  Washington,  at 
which  the  groundwork  was  laid  for  more  com- 
prehensive cooperation  in  giving  to  the  people 
of  each  country  a  proper  picture  of  the  others. 

In  months  to  come  it  is  probable  that  Ameri- 
cans will  see  pictures  from  various  of  the  other 
Allied  countries,  and  there,  in  turn,  will  be 
shown  films  from  the  United  States.  These 
pictures  will  tell  the  story  of  the  war  and  the 
war  effort  as  each  country  sees  them. 

The  interchange  of  pictures  already  has  be- 
gun with  the  receipt  in  Washington  of  "Next 
of  Kin,"  a  British  picture,  and  the  sending  to 
England  of  our  "World  at  War."  Details  of 
distribution  for  "Next  of  Kin"  have  not  yet 
been  worked  out,  but  it  probably  will  be  handled 
with  the  machinery  which  disseminates  Ameri- 
can war  films. 

With  a  view  to  expanding  the  movement  of 
the  films,  a  representative  of  the  committee  has 
been  in  conference  with  British  and  Russian 
officials  in  their  own  countries.  There  are, 
of  course,  a  number  of  problems  to  be  over- 
come in  an  effort  of  this  nature  during  a  war 
period,  one  of  the  outstanding  of  which  is  that 
of  language.  While  this  offers  no  barrier^  to 
exchanges  with  England,  it  is  a  matter  of  im- 
portance in  dealing  with  Russia  and  China. 


Patrons  Want  War  Films, 
Musicals,  Says  Fromkess 

The  nation's  screen  audiences  want  pictures 
with  wartime  and  musical  backgrounds,  a  sur- 
vey conducted  by  Leon  Fromkess,  in  charge  of 
production  for  Producers  Releasing  Corpora- 
tion, has  shown,  it  was  reported  this  week. 

Writing  to  the  company's  32  franchise 
holders  and  asking  them  to  conduct  local  can- 
vasses, Mr.  Fromkess  said  that  90  per  cent  of 
audiences  wanted  more  films  showing  the  war- 
time panorama,  and  that  there  was  a  strong 
demand  for  musicals. 


Get  Service  Benefits 

Warner  Bros,  announced  this  week  that  any 
of  its  feminine  employees  entering  military  or 
Naval  auxiliary  services  would  be  entitled  to 
the  same  allowances  to  dependents,  severance 
pay  and  other  direct  benefits  as  received  by 
men  in  military  service.  This  announcement 
followed  the  enlistment  in  the  WAVES  of 
Betty  A.  Glixon,  Chicago  theatres  department 
secretary,  the  first  Warner  Bros,  woman  em- 
ployee to  enlist. 


List  New  AMPA  Contributors 

Ten  additional  contributors  to  the  Relief 
Fund  of  the  Associated  Motion  Picture  Ad- 
vertisers, New  York,  were  announced  this  week 
by  David  O'Malley,  treasurer.  The  new  con- 
tributors are  W.  F.  Rodgers,  Motion  Picture 
Daily,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Mo  Wax, 
W.  J.  Scully,  Maurice  Bergman,  Wilbar  Pho- 
to Engraving  Company,  Vincent  Trotta,  Leon 
Bamberger  and  Sam  Rubinstein. 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  September  28  th 
ASTOR 

How  to  Play  Baseball  RKO  Radio 

Feature:    The    Pride    of  the 

Yankees    RKO  Radio 

CAPITOL 

Smoke  Painter  Universal 

A.T.C.A  MGM 

Football  Thrills  of  1941  MGM 

Feature:  Between  Us  Girls  .  Universal 

CRITERION 

Women  at  the  Plough  Universal 

Crater  City  Universal 

Juke  Box  Jamboree  Universal 

Feature:  Pardon  My  Sarong.  Universal 

MUSIC  HALL 

The  F.B.I.  Front  .  .  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Feature:  Tales  of  Manhattan  20th  Cent.-Fox 

PARAMOUNT 

Popular  Science,  No.  6  Paramount 

Feature:  The  Major  and  the 

Minor  Paramount 

RIALTO 

Hero  Worship  Paramount 

Many  Tanks  Paramount 

Feature:  Counter  Espionage .  Columbia 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party.  ...  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  Island  Paramount 

ROXY 

Wedding  in  Bikaner  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Feature:  Orchestra  Wives  .  .  ,20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Fox  Pop  Vitaphone 

Sniffer  Soldier  Vitaphone 

Army  Air  Corps  Band  Vitaphone 

Feature:  Desperate  Journey ..  Warner  Bros. 


Army  Entertainment 
Units  in  Britain 

Several  United  States  Special  Service  com- 
panies, trained  in  conducting  recreational  activi- 
ties such  as  athletic  events,  shows  and  films, 
have  arrived  in  Great  Britain  and  will  begin 
operations  shortly,  United  States  Army  Head- 
quarters in  London  announced  this  week. 

The  companies  are  equipped  with  motion  pic- 
ture projectors,  screens,  radios,  phonographs, 
athletic  equipment  and  public  address  systems. 
If  professional  entertainers  visit  United  States 
overseas  troops  as  they  did  in  the  last  war,  ar- 
rangements for  them  will  be  under  the  super- 
vision of  these  companies,  the  announcement 
said. 

Each  company  is  composed  of  two  service 
platoons  and  one  canteen  platoon. 


Einfeld  Appoints  Weiser 

Martin  Weiser  has  been  promoted  to  western 
division  publicity  representative  for  Warner 
Bros,  by  S.  Charles  Einfeld,  director  of  ad- 
vertising and  publicity.  He  succeeds  Sam 
Clark,  who  resigned  last  week  to  become  Jack 
Benny's  publicity  man. 


Sign  Operators'  Pact 

The  Tri-Theatres,  Inc.,  in  Alliance,  Ohio,  has 
signed  a  new  two-year  agreement  with  the  local 
projectionists'  union.  It  provides  a  10  per  cent 
wage  increase  the  first  year.  Theatres  affected 
are  the  Morrison,  Columbia,  Strand  and  Mt. 
Union. 


Hancock  Given 
Squier 's  Post 

Edwin  Hancock,  for  many  years  in  the 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  organization  in  Great 
Britain,  has  been  appointed  successor  to  J.  C. 
Squier  as  general  sales  manager  for  the  com- 
pany in  England.  The  appointment  was  made 
by  Sam  Eckman,  managing  director  in  Great 
Britain  for  MGM. 

Mr.  Squier,  a  veteran  of  the  MGM  sales 
organization  in  England,  has  retired  and  will 
leave  the  active  service  of  the  company  at  the 
end  of  October.  However,  he  will  continue  to 
serve  in  an  advisory  capacity. 

Mr.  Eckman,  in  making  known  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Hancock  to  succeed  Mr.  Squier, 
said  it  was  in  line  with  the  company's  policy 
of  making  promotions  from  within  the  ranks. 


See  Big  Season  for 
Philadelphia  Plays 

Thriving  patronage,  due  to  transportation 
difficulties  and  the  increased  pouplation,  indi- 
cate a  brilliant  season  for  the  three  Shubert 
legitimate  theatres  in  Philadelphia.  Getting  the 
1942-43  season  off  to  a  big  start  on  Labor  Day, 
Lawrence  Shubert  Lawrence,  general  manager 
for  the  Shubert  interests  here,  announced  that 
the  three  houses — Forrest,  Walnut  Street  and 
Locust  Street — have  been  booked  solid  into  the 
new  year. 

The  Forrest  Theatre  will  house  musical  at- 
tractions exclusively.  After  Gertrude  Lawrence 
plays  four  weeks  of  "Lady  in  the  Dark,"  a  reJ 
vival  of  "Merry  Widow"  will  follow  on  Octo- 
ber 26th,  then  "The  Firefly,"  and  on  December 
7th  a  repertoire  of  Gilbert  and  Sullivan  oper- 
ettes.  The  holiday  season  and  the  new  yeatj 
will  bring  in  "Porgy  and  Bess,"  "Sons  of  Fun,'  t 
"Let's  Face  It"  and  the  "Star  and  Garteii 
Revue." 

The  Walnut  will  have  "Papa  Is  All"  coming 
in  on  October  5th,  followed  by  "Little  Darling,' 
"Life  With  Father,"  "Junior  Miss"  and  "Blitb 
Spirit."  Following  "The  Corn  Is  Green,"  tin! 
Locust  will  play  "The  Guest  in  the  House"  oi|,| 
October  12th,  followed  by  an  as  yet  untitlei 
Theatre  Guild  show,  and  then  "Angel  Street  ij 
and  "I  Killed  the  Count." 

Other  prospective  bookings,  which  hinge  o  j 
their  continued  success  in  New  York,  are  tli 
"New  Priorities  of  1943,"  "By  Jupiter'"  ar 
"Uncle  Harry ;"  and  later  in  the  season  wif 
appear  the  original  company  of  "Arsenic  an 
Old  Lace"  as  well  as  "Claudia,"  both  of  whic 
played  here  last  season  with  road  companies. 


Based  on  Original  Story 

Warner  Bros,  has  issued  the  following  statl 
ment :  "On  two  or  more  recent  occasions  thej 
appeared  in  the  press  a  statement  bearing 
Hollywood  dateline  to  the  effect  that  'Thaij 
Your  Lucky  Stars'  is  a  screen  version  of 
recent  musical,  'Banjo  Eyes,'  or  is  based 
said  play.  Warner  Bros,  emphatically  refutSl 
these  unauthorized  statements  and  announcjj 
that  the  picture  is  an  original  story  with  ori| 
nal  music  and  is  not  based  on  'Banjo  Eyes'.  J  j 
'Three  Men  on  a  Horse'  and  is  in  no  way  cc 
•  nected  with  either  of  said  plays." 


Raise  Price  Scales 

Five  first  run  theatres,  four  downtown  i 
one  suburban,  in  Kansas  City,  now  are  on 
new  price  schedule  of  35  cents  for  matinee,  : 
seats,  35  cents  in  the  balcony  at  night  and 
cents  downstairs,  all  including  tax.  The  foi 
er  schedule  was  30  cents  for  matinees,  incl 
ing  tax,  and  40  cents  downstairs  at  night,  p 
tax,  or  44.8  cents. 

Estill  in  Navy 

Robert  Estill  has  left  his  position  as  sa 
man  for  Paramount  in   Seattle  and  has 
tered  the  Navy  with  a  chief  petty  officer  rati 


V, 


HAILED  BY  THE  NATION'S 

TOP  NEWSPAPER  REVIEWERS 

IN  A 

GREAT  COMEDY! 


"It  wouldn't  surprise  me  if  young  Diana  were  to  prove  the 
greatest  of  the  Barrymores!  "  — MAE  TINEE,  Chicago  Daily  Tribune 

"Miss  Barrymore  and  Mr.  Koster  deserve  great  applause." 

—ROBERT  W.  DANA,  New  York  Herald  Tribune 

"Between  Us  Girls  is  a  sparkling  comedy  .  .  .  one  solid  laugh!" 

— ROBERT  GRAY,  Memphis  Commercial  Appeal 

"She  (Barrymore)  can  act  like  billybedamned.  She's  wonderful!" 

—WOLFE  KAUFMAN,  Chicago  Sun 

"One  of  the  greatest  comedies  to  come  out  of  Hollywood." 

— Portland  (Me.)  Press  Herald 

"A  good,  breezy,  thoroly  enjoyable  job!" 

— RAY  LANNING,  Cincinnati  Enquirer 

"Wonderful  gags,  intelligent  directfon  and  a  supporting  cast 
that  shines,  still  doesn't  detract  from  Diana's  personal  triumph." 

— ROB  REEL,  Chicago  Herald-American 

"This  one  goes  on  at  least  one  list  of  1942's  best  pictures!" 

—DONALD  KIRKLEY,  Baltimore  Sun 


1%  l\  m 

Produced  and  Directed  by  HENRY  KOSTER 

Connolly,  True  Boardman  •  Based  on  "Le  Fruit  Vert"  by  Regis  Gignoux  and  Jacques  Thery  ■  Adapted  by  John  Jacoby 

Associate  producer,  PHILLIP  P.  KARLSTEIN 


UNIVERSAL  PICTURES 


60 

Aid  War  Effort, 
Williams  Urges 

Every  theatre  operator  should  offer  his  serv- 
ices to  aid  in  the  war  effort  in  his  community 
in  whatever  way  he  can,  "or  get  out  of  this 
business  now,  and  let  someone  take  over  who 
can,"  Nat  Williams,  president,  told  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Southeastern  Theatre  Owners  As- 
sociation at  a  meeting  in  Atlanta  last  week. 

"Your  theatres  are  an  influence  in  every 
town  in  which  you  operate,"  Mr.  Williams  told 
the  exhibitors.  "People  are  looking  for  leader- 
ship in  ways  and  means  of  helping  their 
country.  You  can  offer  it,  and  you  should  offer 
it.  .  .  .  You  have  the  most  logical  means  for 
conducting  scrap  drives,  Bond  sales,  USO,  Red 
Cross,  Salvation  Army  collections,  and  dis- 
pensing the  most  effective  Government  propa- 
ganda in  your  towns." 

Mr.  Williams  expressed  the  opinion  that 
whether  the  theatre  owner  makes  any  profit 
for  the  duration  of  the  war  was  incidental  to 
the  necessity  of  utilizing  all  the  facilities  of 
the  theatre  in  assisting  the  war  effort  in  what- 
ever way  possible. 

"Stop  getting  sorry  for  yourself,"  Mr.  Wil- 
liams said,  "I  don't  think  any  of  us  will  work 
ourselves  to  death,  but  if  we  do,  it's  still  a 
better  way  to  go  than  thousands  of  our  boys 
are  going  every  month.  ...  I  think  the  time 
has  come  for  name-calling,  boycotting  and  os- 
tracizing those  in  this  business  who  refuse  to 
do  their  full  share." 

Air  Corps  Photo  Unit 
Takes  Roach  Studio 

The  Army  Air  Corps  photographic  division 
has  rented  the  entire  Hal  Roach  lot,  with  the 
exception  of  the  executive  offices,  for  its  greatly 
expanded  film  activities,  and  will  occupy  the 
studio  in  Hollywood  October  7th.  The  division 
now  has  its  headquarters  at  the  old  Vitagraph 
studio  there. 

Hal  Roach  is  now  a  major  in  the  Army  and 
his  production  company  is  expected  to  be  dor- 
mant for  some  time.  Fred  Guiol  is  scheduled 
to  produce  several  short  features  for  Mr.  Roach 
for  United  Artists  release,  with  the  first  ten- 
tatively scheduled  to  start  in  November.  It  was 
indicated  that  the  Roach  company  would  use 
outside  facilities  in  view  of  the  Army's  occu- 
pancy of  the  studio. 

Last  week  the  Signal  Corps  dedicated  its 
new  Photographic  Center  at  the  former  Eastern 
Service — Paramount  studio  in  Astoria,  Long 
Island,  with  Colonel  Melvin  E.  Gillette  com- 
manding. 


Contest  Magazine  Banning 

The  American  Civil  Liberties  Union  will 
contest  the  action  of  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment in  revoking  the  second-class  mailing  privi- 
lege of  magazines  claimed  to  be  obscene 
through  its  National  Council  on  Freedom  from 
Censorship.  The  banned  magazines  include 
Film  Fun,  Real  Screen  Fun,  Police  Gazette, 
College  Humor,  Real  Detective  and  Front  Page 
Detective. 


Herbert  Lazarus  Honored 

A  luncheon  was  tendered  Herbert  B.  Lazarus 
of  the  Paramount  legal  staff  by  his  associates 
at  the  Hotel  Astor,  New  York,  Monday.  Mr. 
Lazarus  has  enlisted  in  the  Army.  Benjamin 
Fincke  was  master  of  ceremonies.  Present  were 
Austin  C.  Keough,  Louis  Phillips,  Leonard  H. 
Goldenson,  Henry  Anderson,  George  A.  Barry, 
Charles  Brouda,  Walter  W.  Cross,  Arthur  Is- 
rael, Jr.,  Fred  Mohrhardt  and  Irene  F.  Scott. 


B  &  K  Pays  Dividend 

Balaban  &  Katz  Corporation,  Chicago,  paid 
a  quarterly  dividend  of  $1  a  share  on  the  com- 
mon stock  on  September  30th. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

LATE  REVIEW 


Destination  Unknown 

(Universal) 

Spy  Potpourri,  Eastern  Style 

This  fast-moving  drama  of  international  in- 
trigue in  China  before  Pearl  Harbor  reflects 
the  tense  and  confused  atmosphere  of  that  coun- 
try prior  to  the  extension  of  the  conflict,  and 
presages  as  well  the  present  line-up  of  combat- 
ants. The  hero  is  an  American  flyer  on  a 
secret  mission  on  behalf  of  China ;  the  heroine 
is  on  the  same  trail,  representing  the  Dutch  In- 
telligence Service ;  her  handy  retainers  are  Eng- 
lish and  their  inside  confederates  are  Chinese. 
Lined  up  against  them  are  the  Japanese  Mili- 
tary Police,  a  German  agent.  The  prize  is  the 
Russian  Crown  Jewels,  payment  for  a  shipment 
of  war  materials. 

The  trail  of  clues,  suspicion  and  surprise 
meetings  is  often  a  little  confused  but  the  objec- 
tive of  sustained  interest  is  achieved.  Per- 
formances by  the  principals,  Irene  Hervey  and 
William  Gargan,  are  brisk  and  attractive  while 
excellent  support  is  given  by  Sam  Levene,  Tur- 
han Bey,  Felix  Basch  and  Donald  Stuart. 

Well-paced  direction  by  Ray  Taylor  helps  to 
place  the  film  outside  the  class  of  routine  melo- 
drama. The  screen  play  by  Lynn  Riggs  and 
John  Meehan,  Jr.,  was  based  on  an  original 
story  by  Lawrence  Hazard.  Marshall  Grant 
was  associate  producer. 

Previewed  in  the  home  office  projection 
room.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good — E.  A.  Cun- 
ningham. 

Release  date,  Oct.  9,  1942.  Running  time,  61  min. 
PCA  No.  8479.    General  audience  classification. 

Elena   Voranoff  Irene  Hervey 

Briggs  Hannon  William  Gargan 

Felix  Basch,  Donald  Stuart,  Sam  Levene,  Turhan 
Bey,  Charlie  Lung,  Willy  Fung. 

Paramount  Baseball  Team 
Wins  Quigley  Trophy 

Paramount  again  has  won  the  championship 
of  the  Motion  Picture  Baseball  League.  De- 
feating Universal  by  a  score  of  six  to  five,  Par- 
amount won  the  Championship  Cup  presented 
by  Quigley  Publications  for  the  second  consec- 
utive year,  and  for  the  third  time  in  four  years. 
Universal  defeated  International  Projector  in 
the  semi-finals  of  the  playoffs. 

Paramount  also  won  a  trophy  for  the  most 
games  won  during  the  season. 

Cowles  Bringing  Soviet 
Film  to  United  States 

Gardner  Cowles,  who  is  accompanying  Wen- 
dell L.  Willkie  as  a  representative  of  the  Of- 
fice of  War  Information,  will  bring  back  to 
this  country  a  new  Soviet  documentary  film, 
"The  Defense  of  Leningrad,"  according  to  a 
news  dispatch  to  the  New  York  Herald-Tri- 
bune from  Moscow. 

The  film  is  composed  of  newsreel  shots  taken 
during  the  first  year  of  the  war  in  Russia. 


Dedicate  RCA  Laboratories 

The  RCA  Laboratories,  built  by  the  Radio 
Corporation  of  America  at  Princeton,  N.  J., 
were  dedicated  this  week.  Attending  the  cere- 
monies were  Lieut.  Gen.  James  G.  Harbord, 
RCA  chairman  of  the  board,  who  presided; 
Major  Gen.  Dawson  Olmstead,  chief  signal 
officer  of  the  Army ;  Col.  David  Sarnoff,  Sig- 
nal Corps,  and  Otto  S.  Schairer,  vice-president 
in  charge  of  RCA  Laboratories. 


Cancel  Dinner  Dance 

The  Motion  Picture  Associates,  New  York, 
has  dropped  this  year's  dinner  dance  because  of 
the  war.  The  organization  also  announced  that 
War  Bond  purchases  had  been  increased  to 
$10,000. 


October    3  ,     I  942 

Monogram  Year 
Net  Is  $157,103 

Monogram  Pictures  Corporation  in  Holly- 
wood this  week  reported  for  the  year  ending 
June  27,  1942,  consolidated  gross  profit  of 
$202,103.68  after  all  charges  and  reserves,  with 
a  resulting  net  profit  of  $157,103.68  after  pro- 
vision of  $45,000  for  Federal  taxes. 

The  result  compares  with  a  net  profit  of 
$10,897.69  after  all  charges  for  the  preceding 
calendar  year.  Net  profit  for  the  current  year 
is  equal  to  approximately  37^4  cents  per  share 
on  415,962  snares  of  stock  currently  outstand- 
ing. 

W.  Ray  Johnston,  Monogram  president,  in 
his  statement  to  stockholders,  reported  that  the 
company's  program  of  pictures  for  1941-42  al- 
ready had  been  completed  and  that  nine  fea- 
tures on  the  1942-43  program  were  completed, 
with  two  others  now  in  production. 

Sues  Louisville  Over 
Carnival  License 

Circuit  Judge  Gilbert  Burnett  last  week  was 
faced  with  the  problem  of  deciding  what  is  an 
amusement  park  and  what  is  a  carnival  as  hear- 
ings began  on  an  injunction  suit  against  the 
City  of  Louisville  brought  by  the  Lone  Star 
Shows  Corporation. 

Marshall  F.  Kaufman,  president  of  the  show 
corporation,  told  Judge  Burnett  he  had  oper- 
ated his  amusement  park,  which  included  a 
merry-go-round,  ferris  wheel  and  other  amuse- 
ment devices,  at  many  spots  throughout  the 
city,  finally  settling  down  at  130-132  East 
Broadway,  where  he  had  leased  a  lot  for  $100 
a  week. 

There,  he  said,  city  police  came  one  day  and 
ordered  him  to  quit  operations  because  he  had 
failed  to  pay  a  $200-a-day  Sinking  Fund  license 
fee.  Mr.  Kaufman  contended  the  $200  a  day  fee 
applied  only  to  carnivals,  not  to  amusement 
parks  such  as  his,  which  must  pay  only  $62 
a  year.  He  attacked  the  carnival  fee  ordinance 
on  the  ground  the  fee  is  "prohibitive." 

Moskowitz  Named 
Kupper  Aide 

Martin  Moskowitz  has  been  named  assistant 
to  William  J.  Kupper,  chief  aide  to  Tom  J. 
Connors,  vice-president  in  charge  of  world  dis- 
tribution for  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 

Mr.  Moskowitz  has  been  with  the  company 
for  eight  years.  He  was  assistant  to  Herman 
Wobber,  former  sales  manager,  and  previously 
was  assistant  to  the  late  John  D.  Clark. 


Film  Has  Two  Lengths 

"United  We  Stand,"  the  Fox-Movietone  doc- 
umentary film  produced  by  Edmund  Reek,  is 
now  available  for  release  by  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox in  two  lengths.  The  full-length  ver- 
sion which  has  completed  most  of  the  key 
first  runs  has  been  cut  to  a  tabloid  edition  of 
38  minutes,  designed  especially  for  single  fea- 
ture theatres.  One  of  the  first  to  book  th« 
new  version  is  the  Warner  circuit. 


Krasna  in  Air  Force 

Norman  Krasna,  Warner  Bros,  writer-direc 
tor,  has  reported  at  the  Army  Air  Force  Train 
ing  School,  Miami.  Two  others  of  the  studic 
Warren  Low,  film  editor,  and  Bert  Teitelbauir 
art  department  member,  also  are  scheduled  t 
report. 


Loewe  Promoted 

J.  W.  Loewe  has  been  promoted  from  sale: 
man  to  branch  manager  of  the  Warner  Bro 
exchange  in  Oklahoma  City.  He  succeeds  Wa 
ter  A.  Dolin,  who  has  retired  because  of  il 

ness.  ; 


62 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


OBITUARIES 

Lew  Geller,  Warner 
Manager,  Dies 

Lew  Geller,  31,  branch  manager  for  War- 
ner Brothers  in  Winnipeg,  died  there  Septem- 
ber 23rd  following  a  long  illness.  The  death 
of  Mr.  Geller  resulted  in  the  cancelling  of  the 
Warner  Bros.  Canadian  sales  meeting,  which 
was  scheduled  to  start  last  Monday  in  To- 
ronto. 


George  Lottman 

George  D.  Lottman,  43,  a  publicity  man  who 
at  various  times  in  the  last  15  years  repre- 
sented Eddie  Cantor,  Kate  Smith,  Dorothy  La- 
mour,  Rudy  Vallee,  Martha  Raye  and  other 
persons  in  show  business,  died  September  25th 
at  his  home  in  New  York. 

Mr.  Lottman  began  his  publicity  career  after 
a  brief  period  with  the  United  States  Tobacco 
Journal  and  the  New  York  American  as  a 
feature  writer. 


Harrison  Holliway 

Harrison  Holliway,  41,  vice-president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Earle  C.  Anthony  radio 
enterprises,  KFI  and  KECA,  died  September 
23rd  in  Hollywood.  An  early  figure  in  radio, 
Mr.  Holliway  originated  and  conducted  "Blue 
Monday  Jamboree"  on  the  Don  .Lee  Network 
in  Hollywood. 


Harry  Nortman 

Harry  Nortman,  64,  Chicago  exhibitor  for 
many  years,  died  there  September  20th.  He 
was  a  former  member  of  the  firm  of  Fetcher 
and  Nortman,  who  owned  several  theatres  in 
Chicago's  Woodlawn  district.  At  his  death 
he  was  doorman  of  Warner's  Shore  theatre 
there. 


Myron  Smith 

Myron  E.  Smith,  62,  proprietor  of  several 
motion  picture  theatres  in  Skowhegan,  Me., 
previous  to  his  retirement  in  1932,  died  there 
September  25th. 


Aaron  Goldberg 

Aaron  Goldberg,  60,  founder  of  San  Fran- 
cisco's first  nickelodeon  and  owner  of  five  the- 
atres there,  died  September  25th. 


WANTED 

Sales  Representatives 

Men  with  film  or  theatre 
background  to  contact  the- 
atre managers  and  exhibi- 
tors. Commission  basis. 
Part  or  full  time.  Must  have 
car.  State  background  and 
experience  in  first  letter. 

BOX  101 
Motion  Picture  Herald 
Rockefeller  Center,  N.  Y. 


William  Turner,  Actor, 
Dies  in  Philadelphia 

William  H.  Turner,  81,  for  54  years  an  actor 
on  the  American  stage  and  screen,  died  Sep- 
tember 27th  at  the  Edwin  Forrest  Home,  act- 
ors' retreat  in  Philadelphia.  He  retired  in 
1937  after  appearing  with  Tallulah  Bankhead 
in  "Reflected  Glory"  and  playing  a  few  char- 
acter parts  on  the  screen. 

With  the  inauguration  of  the  motion  picture, 
Mr.  Turner  worked  for  two  years  with  the 
Lubin  Company  in  Philadelphia  and  with  the 
Vitagraph  Corporation  in  Brooklyn.  He  fol- 
lowed the  film  industry  to  California,  dividing 
his  time  between  the  stage  and  screen,  ap- 
pearing in  character  roles  with  Ruth  Chatter- 
ton. 


Burton  Wetmore 

Burton  O-  Wetmore,  78,  who  was  identified 
with  the  early  days  of  the  motion  picture  in 
Boston,  died  there  September  24th.  He  was 
a  well-known  singer,  having  sung  in  Trinity 
Church,  Boston ;  St.  Andrews  Episcopal 
Church,  Wellesley,  and  St.  Luke's  Church, 
Allston. 

He  was  also  a  life  member  of  Mount  Tabor 
Lodge,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  of  Aleppo  Temple 
and  a  past  sergeant-at-arms  of  the'  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 


William  O'Leary 

Corporal  William  F.  O'Leary,  28,  former 
Universal  employee,  who  joined  the  armed 
forces  in  April,  1941,  has  been  reported  killed 
in  action. 


Wilson  Thedford 

Air-Cadet  Wilson  P.  Thedford,  24,  former 
Universal  employee,  crashed  to  his  death  re- 
cently while  on  a  solo  flight  at  Bruce  Field, 
Ballinger,  Tex.  Cadet  Thedford  joined  the 
film  industry  in  1937  as  a  salesman  for  Gau- 
mont-British  in  the  Dallas  territory,  and  in 
December,  1941,  he  joined  the  Universal  Okla- 
homa City  branch. 


Jose  Ignacio  Gonzalez 

Jose  Ignacio  Gonzalez,  said  to  have  been  the 
only  citizen  of  Nicaragua  to  amass  a  million, 
died  September  23rd  at  Diriamba,  Nicaragua. 
Mr.  Gonzalez  had  large  holdings  in  motion  pic- 
ture theatres,  coffee  estates  and  real  estate 
throughout  the  country. 


Sidney  Hirschberg 

Sidney  Hirschberg,  28,  brother  of  Harold 
Hirschberg,  operator  of  the  Palace  theatre  at 
Bethlehem,  Pa.,  was  killed  in  action  in  the 
Solomon  Islands  with  the  Marines,  according 
to  word  received  by  his  family. 


Gus  B.  Lofberg 

Lieut.  Comm.  Gus  B'.  Lofberg,  former  Bausch 
and  Lomb  Optical  Company  employee  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  has  been  reported  missing  in 
action  as  commanding  officer  of  the  U.  S. 
auxiliary  transport  Little,  lost  in  the  Southwest 
Pacific. 


John  T.  McCarthy 

John  T.  McCarthy,  81,  who  built  and  oper- 
ated the  Gem  theatre,  Lewiston,  Me.,  died  there 
September  25th  after  a  long  illness. 


Harry  C.  Kittredge 

Harry  C.  Kittredge,  72,  amusement  park  op- 
erator, died  at  his  home  in  Lowell,  Mass.,  Sep- 
tember 25th.  He  was  operator  of  the  Lake- 
view  Park  in  Tyngsboro,  Mass. 


Ernest  O'Neill 

Ernest  O'Neill,  manager  of  the  People's  the- 
atre in  Jermyn,  Pa.,  died  at  his  home  in  May- 
field,  Pa.,  September  21st  after  a  month's  ill- 
ness. 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  6,  Vol.  25.— Jap  prisoners  I 

taken  in  battle  of  Solomons  Need  for  merchant  I 

seamen  Army   toughens   troops  Cotton  picking 

contest  Millkie  in  Cairo  Dogs  of  war  in  Army 

 Women  pilots  join  the  WAFS  Boxing  Am- 
bassador Grew  has  war  message  for  all  Americans. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  7,  Vol.  25.— New  aircraft 

carrier  "Lexington"  launched  "Wakefield"  burns  j 

at  sea....  America  warned  of  losing  war. ..  .Training  , 

troops  for  war. ...  Workers  pray  for  victory  Jap  j 

midget  sub  sunk  in  Sydney  harbor  New  Guinea 

natives   supply   troops  Women   guard   air  depots 

....WAVES  in  first  review  Football. 

NEWS   OF  THE   DAY— No.   204,   Vol.   14.— Marines 

take  Jap  prisoners  in  Solomons  Grew  tells  of  Jap 

determination  Willkie    visits    Yanks    on  western 

desert  Merchant  seamen  honored  Boxing. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  205,  Vol.  14.— New  Guinea 
bushmen  supply  U.  S.  outposts  New  aircraft  car- 
rier "Lexington"  launched  Liner  ablaze  in  Atlan- 
tic Train  wreck  Shipyard  workers  pray  for  vic- 
tory Navy  spokesman  warns  nation  that  we  are 

losing  the  war  Football. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS  — No.  9.  —  WAFS  report  for 

training  U.  S.  flyers  receive  awards  Fur  vests 

for  men  of  merchant  marine  Cotton  pickers  con-  ( 

test  U.  S.  steps  up  offensive  in  Solomons  Foot- 
ball Training   of    tank    destroyer    troops  Grew 

tells  of  Japan's  determination. 

PARAMOUNT    NEWS  —  No.    10.  —  Train    wreck....  | 

"Wakefield"  burns  in  the  Atlantic  Aircraft  car-, 

rier  "Lexington"  launched  Yanks  guard  Carib- 
bean Army    toughens    troops  Bard    warns  of 

complacency  Football.  . 


RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  9,  Vol.  14.— Jap  captives  i 

Solomons  Woman  pilots  in  new  ferry  job  War1 

Department  in  new  building  Land  asks  ex-sailors 

return  Army-Navy  "E"  to  Pearl  Harbor  workers 

 New   fire   chute  speeds  rescues  Spaatz  deco- 

rates  U.  S.  airmen  Football  Ambassador  Grew 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  10.  VoL  14.— Ships  for  vie 

tory  U.  S.  guards  West  Indies  oil  "Wakefield' 

burns  in  Atlantic... Ranger  troops  in  training... 
Train  crash  Football. 

UNIVERSAL  N  E  WS  RE  EL — No.  122,  Vol.  15.— Solo  i 

raons  victory  shown  Workers  rush  for  jobs  wit'! 

Kaiser  Salvage  drive  hits  roof  Cotton  pickini  I 

contest  Boxing  Drive  for  fur  vests  for  seame 

Girls  organize  air  ferry  unit  Grew  warns  natior 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  123,  Vol.  15.— Bar  II 

warns  of  war  situation  New  aircraft  carrier  '"Lex  J 

ington"  launched  Victory  fleet  day  celebrated.. 

Score  perish   in   railroad   wreck  Launch  ship 

record  10  days  Rangers  trained  Women  guard 

display    skill. ..  .Loyal    natives    feed  Australians.. 
U.  S.  forces  guard  Aruba. 


Seek  Dismissal  of 
Pacent  Action 

Warner  Bros.  Pictures  this  week  filed  appl 
cation  in  New  York  supreme  court  to  dismii'jl 
the  suit  brought  against  it  for  $225,000  dan] 
ages  by  Stanley  K.  Oldden  as  assignee  fcjj 
Pacent  Electric  Company. 

The  dismissal  was  asked  on  the  grounc 
of  failure  to  prosecute.  The  complaint  claims! 
breach  of  an  alleged  agreement  made  in  192 1 
in  which  the  defendant  promised,  it  is  claime  J 
to  purchase  100  motion  picture  sound  repn|; 
ducers  if  Pacent  could  improve  the  equi)jj 
ment  then  being  used. 


Edward  Small  Sued 
By  Bernard  Estate 

Edward  Small  Productions  was  named  d  j 
fendant  in  a  suit  filed  in  Federal  court  in  No 
York  this  week  by  Betty  Crosney,  admini 
tratrix  of  the  estate  of  Sam  Bernard,  d 
ceased  actor,  claiming  that  Mr.  Small  h.j 
produced  "Friendly  Enemies"  without  acqui  I 
ing  Mr.  Bernard's  interest. 

According  to  the  action,  Mr.  Bernard  in  19  j 
obtained  from  Al  Woods,  who  produced 
play,  a  half  interest  for  playing  the  lead. 


Sckreiber  Joins  WAC 

Edward  Schreiber  of  Warner  Bros,  public 
department  in  New  York  has  resigned  to  jj 
the  War  Activities  Committee  in  a  publio 
capacity. 


lOcfober    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


63 


MANAGERS* 


ROUND  TABLE 


Jin  international  association  of  showmen  meeting  weekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 

FOB  WILE,  Editor  GERTRUDE  MERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


OP 


Readers  Viewpoint 

RECENTLY,  this  page  took  up  the  advisability  of  publicizing 
air  raid  precautions  taken  by  theatres,  remarking  that 
much  thought  had  been  given  to  the  subject  without 
any  agreement. 

Mr.  Richard  L.  Worcester,  of  the  maintenance  department 
jj  of  Paramount  Theatres,  has  this  to  say  on  the  subject: 

Although  not  a  member  of  the  Round  Table,  I  read  your 
:,  editorials  with  interest,  and  was  particularly  interested  in  the 
one  on  'Selling  Air  Raid  Precautions'.  May  I  stick  in  my  two 
cents  worth? 

"I  never  heard  of  a  theatre  advertising  daily  the  fact  that 
-  it  had  fire  extinguishers,  was  of  fireproof  construction,  that  its 
'  balcony  was  calculated  to  take  a  greater  load  than  it  would 
ever  have  to  carry,  etc.   The  public  takes  these  things  for 
granted,  and  would  not  be  thankful  to  be  reminded  of  them. 
On  the  contrary,  the  introduction  of  the  subject  tends  to  start 
the  timid  soul  to  thinking  of  v/hat  by  some  remote  chance 
might  happen,  thereby  spoiling  his  pleasure  in  the  entertain- 
jment  he  has  come  to  see. 

"I  think  the  same  thing  applies  to  air-raid  precautions.  The 
public  has  the  right  to  take  it  for  granted  that  these  precau- 
tions have  been  taken,  and  undoubtedly  does  so.  But  I  doubt 
rthat  the  average  patron  cares  to  be  reminded  that  precau- 
tions have  been  taken,  because  he  is  at  the  same  time  reminded 
of  the  unpleasant,  even  though  remote,  possibility  of  a  raid. 

"Along  the  same  lines,  I  heard  a  story  the  other  day  of  a 
manager  who  announced  a  practise  blackout,  only  to  have  a 
atron  jump  up  and  shout  that  he  was  an  American  citizen 
nd  had  a  right  to  leave  and  nobody  could  stop  him,  etc. 
Nothing  had  been  said  about  keeping  him  there,  of  course, 
ojt  some  people  are  like  that.  Inasmuch  as  this  incident  nearly 
oaused  a  panic,  and  inasmuch  as  it  could  be  repeated  any- 
Avhere,  wouldn't  it  be  advisable  not  to  announce  blackouts  at 
fell,  unless  required  to  do  so  by  the  authorities?" 

This  point  of  view  represents  that  of  the  "business  as  usual" 
group  who  feel  that  the  theatre  is  a  place  of  escape  and  that 
"hey  should  therefore  do  nothing  to  remind  the  public  of  the 
possibilities  of  air  raids.  But  there  are  those  who  feel  that  the 
inid  souls  who  might  fear  an  air  raid  or  even  a  blackout  while 
hey  were  in  the  theatre  would  be  reassured  through  publicity. 

Mr.  Worcester's  arguments  are  very  interesting  and  perti- 
nent. The  Round  Table  membership  will  be  glad  to  hear  further 
in  the  subject  whether  agreeing  with  Mr.  Worcester  or  not. 


In  the  first  20  days  of  September,  Louis  Charninsky,  manager 
of  the  Capitol  theatre,  Dallas,  enlisted  212  more  recruits  for 
the  Navy  in  addition  to  the  440  men  he  recruited  in  August. 
For  the  August  stint,  he  received  a  certificate  of  appreciation 
from  the  Navy.  He  continues  to  earn  the  gratitude  of  the 
Navy  and  the  envy  of  his  fellow  showmen  who  wonder  how 
he  does  it.  He  has  promised  to  give  us  full  details. 


The  Stunt  That  Failed 

EVERY  once  in  a  while  we  hear  of  what  seems  to  be  an 
excellent  stunt  that  for  some  reason  or  other  doesn't  go 
over.  Not  only  does  it  fail  to  add  anything  to  the 
box  office,  but  its  lack  of  success  is  also  apparent  through 
lack  of  interest. 

Such  an  idea  was  the  telescope  exploitation  used  by  one 
showman.  He  rigged  up  a  telescope  and  had  it  trained  on 
the  roof  of  his  theatre  where  he  had  small  cutouts  of  the  stars 
of  his  coming  attraction  along  with  copy  and  playdates.  The 
display  was  hardly  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  A  sign  near  the 
telescope  read:  "See  the  stars — free."  But  no  one  came.  Not 
a  soul  paid  any  attention  to  his  sign,  his  telescope  or  anything. 

A  day  or  two  later,  a  fellow  showman  suggested  that  a 
couple  of  his  friends  might  be  induced  to  stand  around  the 
telescope  and  look,  giving  the  impression  that  the  display  was 
worthwhile.  That's  all  the  idea  needed.  From  then  on,  it 
worked. 

AAA 

It  Comes  in  Handy 

ONE  of  the  most  active  Round  Tablers  is  now  a  Marine. 
Ed  Harris,  formerly  manager  of  the  Slendale  theatre, 
Slendale,  Calif.,  writes  us  that  his  early  training  as  an 
usher  has  come  in  handy  at  the  Marine  Barracks. 

It  seems  that  the  tough  top  sergeant  of  Ed's  company  had 
picked  him  to  lead  off  a  new  formation.  On  the  command 
"March"  the  order  was  to  be  executed  but  the  sergeant 
shouted,  "Left,  march",  instead.  When  Ed  did  as  directed, 
confusion  reigned,  but  the  sergeant  apologized.  "Lucky  for 
me,"  says  Ed,  "I  had  some  training  as  usher  in  my  early  theatre 
days.  Next  week  we  start  rifle  training,  so  my  creditors  better 
v/atch  out."  —BOB  WILE 


MOTION    PICTURE    H  ERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


NEGATIVE  CARBONS 

Used  as  Pencil  Stubs  in  English  drawing  contest  run   by  Reynolds 


Budding  artists  were  invited  to  draw  the  head  of  George  Formby  in  the  lobby 

of  the  Elite,  Middlesbrough,  England,  without  pencils,  the  substitute  being  stubs  of 

negative  carbons.  That's  Reynolds  Roberts,  manager,  in  the  dress  suit.  There  were 

273  entries  in  the  contest,  showing  how  successful  it  was.  The  newspaper 

gave  it  a  lot  of  publicity. 


A.  C.  Vallet,  manager  of  the 

Linden  theatre,  St.  Albans,  had 
an  usher  stand  in  the  bus  terminal 
during  rush  hours  reading  this 
scarehead  which  he  had  imprinted 
on  the  center  spread  of  a 
local  paper. 


Ed  May  of  the  Russell, 
Maysville,   Ky.,  posts  his 
schedule,  painted  on  the  back 
of  old  window  cards. 


These  four  girls  dressed  in 
sweaters  and  shorts  paraded 
the  streets  of  Columbus, 
Ohio,  in  the  interest  of 
"Sweater  Girl"  at  Loew's 
Broad,  of  which  Bob  Kilgore 
is  the  manager.   Bob  re- 
ports that  they  also  sold 
War  Bonds  and  Stamps. 
First  day's  sales  were  $93.00. 


Stewart  Gillespie  used 
this  eye-catching 
ballyhoo  on  the  streets 
of  Oshawa,  Ont. 


October    3  ,    I  942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


65 


Bond  Premiere 
Gets  $500,000 
In  Columbus 


Bovim's  Bond  Booth  Builds  Business 


For  the  half-million  dollar  War  Bond 
world  premiere  of  "My  Sister  Eileen"  at 
Loew's  Ohio,  in  Columbus,  Russell  A. 
Bovim  arranged  a  barrage  of  stunts  which 
included  having  the  opening  sponsored  by 
the  Interclub  Council,  an  organization  of 
ten  leading  civic  clubs.  The  War  Activi- 
ties Committee  of  the  Council  worked  in 
close  cooperation  with  the  theatre.  An  un- 
usual slant  in  the  campaign  was  the  fact 
that  eight  opposition  theatres  publicized  the 
Dremiere  with  trailers  and  lobby  posters, 
anprecedented  in  Columbus. 

Tickets  for  the  premiere  were  placed  on 
;ale  at  five  department  stores,  four  other 
f:heatres  and    five    banks    with    their  17 
.branches.    Cards  announcing  the  premiere 
i'.vere  placed  in  every  bond  selling  booth  in 
own  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  gave 
big  spread  to  the  event  in  all  their  publica- 
10ns  and  bulletins.  The  City  Council  passed 
special  ordinance  allowing  the  theatre  to 
lost  cards  on  every  light  pole  in  the  down- 
own  area;  while  free  space  was  secured  on 
he  outside  of  every  street  car  and  bus. 

''ehool  Board  Cooperates 

The  school  board  cooperated  with  an- 
icuncernents  and  stills  from  the  picture  on 
very  bulletin  board  in  the  city's  educational 
nstitutions;  radio  stations  plugged  the  pic- 
ure  a  week  in  advance  with  free  spot  an- 
ouncements  and  a  number  of  merchant? 
an  ads  in  the  newspapers  welcoming  the 
alf-million  dollar  premiere. 
:  Despite  the  fact  that  the  theatre  actually 
eceived  no  money  for  the  premiere  per- 
ormance,  the  publicity  resulting  from  the 
iond  premiere  was  of  such  value  that  busi- 
ess  during  the  run  has  been  exceptional. 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  below  reflects  press  books  now  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
view  of  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.] 

WAKE  ISLAND  (Paramount):  One  of  the  best  tieups  to  be  made  on  this  picture  is 
with  the  Marine  Corps  recruiting  service.  The  service  has  received  orders  to  work 
wholeheartedly  and  enthusiastically  with  every  theatre  showing  the  picture.  Men  will 
be  supplied  to  man  recruiting  booths  for  the  promotion  of  the  picture  as  well  as  for 
recruiting.  The  service  has  its  own  public  relations  men  who  will  cooperate.  The 
press  book  gives  full  details  on  how  to  enlist  the  cooperation  of  the  Marine  Corps. 
Veterans  of  the  Marines,  organized  in  the  Marine  Corps  League,  will  also  cooperate. 
A  list  of  the  various  detachments  of  the  league  appears  in  the  press  book.  Benefit 
performances  are  "a  natural"  on  this  picture;  the  opening  in  New  York  was  for  the 
Red  Cross.  Bond  premieres  are  logical  for  this  picture,  too.  That's  the  way  it  was 
done  in  Detroit  where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  were  released  by  this  method. 
An  "Avenge  Wake  Island"  campaign  could  be  staged  in  conjunction  with  the  retail 
merchants  in  town.  On  the  base  of  a  lobby  setpiece,  pictures  of  local  boys  who  are 
serving  with  the  U.  S.  Marines  can  be  placed.  This  display  surmounted  by  a  flag 
animated  by  an  electric  fan  should  be  well  lighted  for  maximum  effect.  Another 
effective  lobby  display  would  be  a  blow-up  of  President  Roosevelt's  citation  of  the 
Wake  Island  Marine  detachment.  The  words  with  which  Brian  Donlevy  comforts 
MacDonald  Carey,  when  the  latter's  wife  is  killed  in  the  bombing  of  Pearl  Harbor, 
have  been  printed  within  a  border.  The  whole  thing  is  available  in  mat  form  and  can 
be  used  for  newspaper  ads,  program  announcements,  as  heralds  with  the  back  im- 
printed urging  the  purchase  of  War  Bonds,  and  as  a  blow-up,  in  the  lobby  or  as  a 
behind  the  counter  display  in  cooperating  stores.  Since  there  are  a  lot  of  scenes  of 
air  battles  in  the  picture,  the  audience  will  be  air-minded.  Since  the  Army  is  in  need 
of  100,000  scale  models  of  airplanes,  a  "Wake  Island  Model  Plane  Contest"  would 
aid  this  campaign  and  also  help  to  sell  the  picture.  This  contest  can  be  run  on  a 
grand  scale,  enlisting  the  cooperation  of  Boy  Scouts,  Girl  Scouts,  Science  Clubs, 
schools,  and  other  groups.  Detailed  directions  for  running  such  a  contest  are  included 
in  the  press  book.  The  picture  suggests  that  local  chapters  of  such  organizations  as 
the  American  Women's  Voluntary  Services,  Red  Cross,  Bundles  for  Britain,  etc.,  can 
be  asked  to  devote  one  day  to  an  "Avenge  Wake  Island"  campaign.  Scrap  collecting 
agencies  can  do  likewise.  The  theatre  can  cooperate  in  such  an  effort  by  placing 
special  bins  in  the  lobby  with  appropriate  signs  on  them.  Books  can  be  solicited  to 
give  to  the  Marines  at  sea  to  brighten  their  off-duty  hours.  The  slogan,  "Avenge 
Wake  Island,"  is  appropriate  for  stencilling  on  sidewalks,  store  windows,  etc.  There's 
an  airplane  spotter's  guide  which  can  be  suitably  imprinted,  available  for  use  as  a 
giveaway.  These  are  cheap  enough  to  make  their  widespread  distribution  feasible 
and  within  the  means  of  any  theatre.  There's  another  giveaway  available  which  em- 
ploys semaphore  signals.  There's  a  special  study  chart  available  for  schools  on  which 
appears  a  map  of  the  island,  the  16  pages  of  the  battle  and  illustrations  from  the 
picture  showing  each  one.  The  press  book  has  a  number  of  radio  scripts  available 
for  selling  over  the  air.  Among  the  ads  there  is  a  series  especially  designed  for  teaser 
purposes;  another  set  of  ads  is  calculated  to  catch  the  attention  of  women,  an  im- 
portant thought  in  selling  this  picture. 


Charles  DePaul  Celebrates 
Thirtieth  Anniversary 

The  Evening  News  of  Sault  St  Marie, 
Mich.,  was  recently  taken  over  almost  sev- 
enty-five percent  with  ads  and  editorials  on 
the  30th  anniversary  of  the  Soo  Amuse- 
ment Company,  through  the  efforts  of 
Joseph  DePaul,  secretary  and  treasurer.  The 
entire  second  page  of  the  paper  was  devoted 
to  photos  of  Charles  DePaul,  president,  Joe, 
pictures  of  the  family's  first  theatre  there, 
the  Soo,  together  with  a  story  on  the  career 
of  the  elder  DePaul.  The  second  page  car- 
ried a  personal  message  from  the  owner 
together  with  ads  for  the  current  attractions 
at  both  houses  and  an  offer  of  flowers  for 
the  ladies  and  cigars  for  each  man  attending. 
Scattered  throughout  the  balance  of  the 
paper  were  congratulatory  messages. 


Fleet  of  Trucks  Bannered 
With  "Horizon"  Copy 

Tying  up  with  the  local  Cola  bottling 
company,  Harry  Stearn  at  the  Manring  the- 
atre, in  Middlesboro,  Ky.,  with  his  assistant 
Ken  Carter,  promoted  the  bannering  of  all 
agency  trucks  with  copy  to  the  effect  that 
Dorothy  Lamour  endorsed  the  drink  and 
also  was  appearing  in  ''Beyond  the  Blue 
Horizon"  at  the  theatre.  A  three-column 
coloring  contest  was  landed  in  the  daily 
paper,  the  boys  also  selling  an  ad  on  the 
back  of  1,000  special  comic  heralds. 

Cutouts  of  Lamour  and  Denning  along 
with  figures  of  tigers,  etc.,  were  placed  on 
lattice  work  over  the  boxoffice  with  giant 
cutout  letters  spelling  out  the  title  and  cast. 
A  large  board  also  carried  scene  stills  and 
was  stationed  out  front  for  extra  attention. 


66 


MOTION    PICTURE    H  ERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


WHY  MANAGERS  GET  GRAY 


YOU  HAVE  JUST  INSTALLED  NEW  SEATS      THIS  MAKES 
THE  NEXT  DAY  YOU  WALK  PROUDLY  AMONG  J  THE  FIFTH, 
THEM  TO  DISCOVER  FIVE   OF  1  EM  (<&<£?/? 
CUT  TO   RIBBONS'   _J<©~(§>, 


"Invaders"  Week  Proclaimed 
By  Rock  Rapids  Mayor 

Since  Idamae  Met- 
calfe, manager  of 
the  Rapids  theatre, 
in  Rock  Rapids, 
Iowa,  is  county 
chairman  for  the 
local  Stamp  and 
Bond  Drive,  she  had 
no  difficulty  for  her 
date  on  "The  Invad- 
ers" in  having  the 
mayor  proclaim  the 
week  to  fight  "The 
Invaders."  A  large 
booth  was  construct- 
ed in  the  middle  of  the  street  with  large 
posters  with  copy.  Local  merchants  sold 
Bonds  and  Stamps  and  through  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  Commercial  Club  a  sign  along- 
side read :  "Provide  His  Weapons.  Buy  War 
Bonds.  Rock  Rapids,  Iowa,  Retailers  All- 
Out  War  Effort  to  Fight  'The  Invaders,' 
Rapid  Theatre  Starts,"  etc.,  etc. 

A  telephone  campaign  was  launched  sev- 
eral days  ahead  of  the  opening  with  Boy 
Scouts  calling  subscribers  and  saying: 
"Plan  to  come  downtown  Friday  and  Satur- 
day to  help  fight  'The  Invaders'  by  buying 
a  war  stamp.  Then  see  Uncle  Sam  fight  the 
invaders  Sunday  at  the  Rapids  theatre." 
Spot  announcements  were  landed  over  the 
radio  and  paid  for  by  the  Commercial  Club, 
calling  attention  to  "Fight  the  Invaders 
Week." 

The  entire  front  of  the  theatre  featured 
blowups  of  Adolf,  Hirohito  and  Benito  with 
a  large  banner  on  the  boulevard  with  pic- 
ture title.  For  her  street  ballyhoo,  Idamae 
had  16  billboys  with  bannered  bikes,  while 
for  the  opening  day,  the  city  band  was  in 
front  for  a  brief  concert,  boys  marching  to 
the  theatre  with  banners  carrying  appropri- 
ate tiein  copy  and  during  the  parade  the 
loudspeaker  hooked  up  with  the  picture 
trailer  carried  a  message  to  the  assembled 
crowds. 


Letter  Contest  Featured 
For  "Desperate  Journey" 

Everett  Callow,  director  of  publicity  for 
the  Warner  theatre  circuit  in  Philadelphia, 
promoted  a  letter  contest  in  conjunction 
with  the  Philadelphia  "Daily  News"  in  ad- 
vance of  "Desperate  Journey."  A  serializa- 
tion of  the  screen  story  was  carried  for  six 
days  in  the  newspapers  and  then  readers 
were  invited  to  send  in  a  letter  of  200  words 
or  less  giving  their  individual  opinion  oi 
the  story.  The  two  best  letters  will  be 
awarded  $25  defense  bonds.  A  third  letter 
will  receive  $10  in  war  stamps,  $5  in  stamps 
to  a  fourth  and  five  additional  winners  will 
be  given  $1  in  stamps. 

For  the  opening  of  "Eagle  Squadron," 
Callow  tied  in  with  the  Philadelphia 
Record,  which  distributed  an  album  of  30 
combat  insignia  stamps  to  the  first  300  boys 
and  girls  attending  the  opening  matinee 
performance. 


LEE  TAKES  ADS  FOR 
OPPOSITION'S  SHOW 

The  spirit  of  cooperation  which 
has  been  a  feature  of  the  Bond  Drive 
was  shown  in  Brooklyn  when  Joe  Lee, 
in  charge  of  publicity  at  the  Brook- 
lyn Paramount,  took  ads  in  the  local 
papers  plugging  the  special  midnight 
shown  at  the  opposition  Loew's 
Metropolitan. 

Loew's  Metropolitan  ran  a  special 
show  gathering  together  all  the  vau- 
deville, screen  and  radio  stars  avail- 
able. Admission  charged  was  a  $50 
Bond  for  balcony  seats  and  a  $100 
War  Bond  for  the  orchestra. 

Lee  not  only  took  ads  in  the  papers 
but  wrote  publicity  copy  for  the 
show,  too,  which  appeared  in  the 
papers  with  his  by-line. 


Walsh  Feted  For 
'Yankee  Doodle' 

The  highlight  of  Art  Krolick's  "Pride  of 
the  Yankees'  campaign  at  the  Century  the- 
atre, in  Rochester,  was  a  luncheon  held  in 
honor  of  Christy  Walsh,  former  manager  of 
Lou  Gehrig,  at  one  of  the  leading  hotels. 
The  guests  included  newspaper  and  radio 
men.  After  being  interviewed  by  critics,  ; 
sports  and  dramatic,  Walsh  was  also  inter- 
viewed on  a  15-minute  broadcast  over  Sta- 
tion WHAM. 

A  screening  was  held  a  week  in  advance 
of  showing  for  members  of  the  Rochester 
Red  Wing  ball  club  and  their  wives,  news-  , 
paper  critics,  members  of  radio  and  promi- 
nent people  connected  with  sports,  with  sub- 
sequent high  praise  for  the  picture  in  col- 
umns and  over  the  air.  A  large  banner  was 
hung  at  the  ball  stadium  plugging  Lou  Geh- 
rig Day.   In  addition,  200  RKO  News  Flash  j 
Bulletins  were  folded,  stamped,  addressed 
and  mailed  to  every  organization,  club  and  "j 
athletic  association  listed  in  the  city  direc 
tory. 

Concentrating  on  his  kid  patronage,  Kro 
lick  held  a  party  on  Saturday  morning  at 
the  theatre,  for  all  members  of  the  Junior 
Commandos  during  which  time  a  souvenir 
photo  of  Lou  Gehrig  was  given  gratis  to 
every  one  attending.  Autographed  base 
balls  and  Commando  shorts  were  awarded 
as  prizes. 

Newspaper  coverage  included  advance 
readers  on  the  reserved  seat  premiere  start 
ing  three  weeks  ahead  and  continuing  to 
opening  night.  Art  and  stories  on  the  con- 
tinuous run  policy  were  also  landed  in  ad 
vance  as  were  the  favorable  reviews  by  dra 
matic  critics,  breaking  the  day  before  open- 
ing and  opening  day.  A  story  was  also  run 
in  the  sports  section  of  the  paper  on  the 
Christy  Walsh  luncheon.  Radio  plugs  were 
numerous  and  daily. 


Defense  Groups  Approached 
On  "United  We  Stand" 

Clayton  Cornell  at  the  Pontiac  theatre,  in 
Saranac  Lake,  sold  "Private  Buckaroo"  and 
"United  We  Stand"  as  "Positively  the  Big 
gest  Two-Hit  Show  Ever."  The  lobby  dis-' 
play  sold  the  program  on  a  fifty-fifty  basis 
with  display  stills  on  Lowell  Thomas,  Harry 
James  and  his  Orchestra.  A  card  display 
and  photo  in  one  of  the  book  store  windows 
sold  Lowell  Thomas  books,  and  Cornell  alsc 
sent  special  letters  to  Civilian  Defense 
groups,  city  fathers,  etc.,  on  "United  We 
Stand." 

On  "Private  Buckaroo,"  music  store 
counters  were  sniped  and  songs  from  the 
picture  prominently  displayed.  On  the  regd 
lar  theatre  radio  program  tunes  of  Jame; 
were  played  before  the  regular  spot  an- 
nouncements. The  Hotel  Saranac  banc 
played  hit  tunes  from  the  picture,  also. 


May's  Record  Matinee 

Held  recently  by  Ed  May  at  Schine's  Rus 
sell  theatre,  in  Maysville,  Ky.,  was  a  recon 
matinee  to  which  admission  was  gained  b; 
children  on  presentation  of  five  records  § 
the  box-office.  Adults  were  admitted  foj 
10  discs.  A  jumbo  four  sheet  selling  tb 
show  was  used  outside  the  theatre,  pape 
records  tacked  to  the  display  completing  tb 
effect. 


Oct obe  r    3 ,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


67 


Goth  Arranges 
Stage  Contest  on 
"Sweater  Girl" 


A  sweater  girl  contest  was  run  at  the  St. 
George  theatre,  Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  to 
publicize  the  picture  of  that  name  that  not 
only  captured  plenty 
of  attention  for  the 
picture,  but  was  a 
riot  of  fun  in  itself. 
Edgar  Goth,  direc- 
tor of  advertising 
and  publicity  for  the 
Fabian  Theatres  on 
Staten  Island,  was 
responsible  for  the 
idea. 

A  series  of  nine 
teaser  ads  like  the 
one  on  the  right  was 
run  each  day  in  advance.  The  first  one  had 
I  no  mention  of  a  sweater ;  the  second  had  the 
first  letter,  the  second,  "w"  and  so  on.  Goth 
J  planted  publicity  in  the  local  newspaper, 
geting  several  breaks  in  the  local  Walter 
i  Winchell's    column.    Merchandise    to  the 
value  of  $150  and  35  glamor  knit  sweaters 
I  were  obtained  in  a  tie-up  with  the  Central 
Knitwear  Mills  so  that  each  contestant  was 
given  one. 

Contestants  In  Silhouette 

Five  models  from  an  agency  appeared  in 
person  on  the  night  of  the  contest  in  an- 
other  tie-up   arranged   by   Goth  without 
icost  to  the  theatre.  A  special  ad  was  used 
capitalizing  on  their  appearance. 

Melville  Hicks,  manager  of  the  theatre, 
tan  the  contest  from  the  stage.  Each  con- 
testant was  first  introduced  behind  a  sil- 
houette. The  novelty  of  the  idea  and  the 
nteresting  profiles  obtained  made  a  hit  with 
the  audience.  Each  girl  had  to  parade  up 
and  down  the  stage.  Hicks  finally  led  the 
audience  to  judge  the  contest  by  holding 
ris  hand  over  each  one  with  the  applause  as 
:he  deciding  factor.  The  winner  received  a 
575  gift  certificate  and  the  runners-up  $50 
ind  $25  each. 

Window  displays  were  obtained  on  the 
nam  stem.  Novelty  throwaways  reading, 
'Don't  pull  the  wool  over  your  eyes — look 
nside"  were  distributed  to  plug  the  affair. 

Some  of  the  publicity  was  blown  up  and 
,)laced  in  the  lobby  with  a  headline  over  the 
|op  reading,  "Do  you  think  sweater  girls  are 
'lowing  down  war  production?" 


JxiSm.  ft  ~'jgB& 


39  Exploitation  Tips 

From  Charlie  Moyer,  manager  of  Warner's  State,  in  Hanover,  Pa.,  comes  a  comprehen- 
sive list  of  exploitation  hints  that  have  served  as  the  basis  for  successful  campaigns 
put  on  by  the  Round  Tabler  over  the  past  year.  The  list  is  reprinted  here  for  the 
benefit  of  readers  who  may  wish  to  check  themselves. 


a  ^mmsmmmrrnxm  mm 

BiWHPKIM  SWEATER  SETS  TO  WIJMEft  & 


Ulere's  the  lobby  setpiece  used  to  promote 
l  he  sweater  girl  contest. 


1.  Employees  start  whispering  campaign 
in  advance. 

2.  Employees  mail  out  penny  postcards 
endorsing  picture  to  friends. 

3.  Cashier  personally  writes  small  memos 
and  hands  to  friends  as  she  sells  them 
tickets  in  advance  of  opening  of  a  big 
picture. 

4.  Arrangements  with  bus  company  for 
late  buses  after  last  show,  thus  enabling 
patrons  from  smaller  adjoining  towns  to 
stay  late. 

5.  Cashiers  using  telephone  directory 
calling  friends  in  advance. 

6.  In  distributing  heralds,  distributors 
knock  at  door  telling  person  opening  same: 
"Here  is  an  important  announcement  from 
the  State,  Hanover". 

7.  Personal  talks  from  stage  in  advance 
of  openings. 

8.  Personal  talks  to  service  clubs  when- 
ever possible,  endorsing  coming  attrac- 
tions. 

9.  Personal  contacts  with  veterans'  or- 
ganizations on  applicable  pictures. 

10.  Personal  calls  and  letters  to  clergy 
on  applicable  pictures. 

11.  Contacts  with  school  heads,  an- 
nouncements in  chapel  at  morning  exer- 
cises, and  having  bulletins  read  by  teachers 
to  their  respective  pictures. 

12.  Boys  sitting  on  boxes  on  important 
street  corners,  snipes  on  their  backs  read- 
ing: "I  am  waiting  for  the  State  to  open 
to  see  ..." 

I  3.  Contacts  with  postmasters  in  smaller 
surrounding  towns  where  they  have  to  call 
for  their  mail  personally. 

14.  Letters  to  all  surrounding  town 
"•-chools,  clergy,  veterans,  when  pictures 
are  applicable. 

15.  Doorman,  with  40x60  beside  him 
for  coming  big  attraction,  calls  attention, 
to  as  many  entering  as  possible,  not  to 
miss  it. 

16.  Parades  of  Legion  Drum  Corps, 
when  pictures  are  of  military  type. 

17.  When  greeting  patrons  personally, 
talk  up  and  recommend  big  coming  hits. 

18.  On  important  pictures,  like  "Ser- 
geant York",  personally  go  on  both  sides 
of  important  streets,  knocking  at  doors, 
telling  friends  the  picture  is  so  important 
he  is  appealing  to  them  personally  not  to 
miss  it.  This  also  creates  goodwill. 

19.  Boys  walking  around  town  with  win- 
dow cards  on  their  backs,  on  top  sniped: 
"Don't  Miss  ..."  and  below:  "State, 
Now  Playing". 

20.  Cards  placed  in'  all  hotel  rooms — 
the  hotel  recommending  the  best  place  to 
go  for  entertainment  and  the  week's  at- 
tractions, changed  each  week. 


21.  Barker  in  front  of  the  theatre  dur- 
ing peak  crowded  hours  on  Saturday  nights, 
when  people  from  smaller  rural  towns  visit 
Hanover  to  shop. 

22.  Hours  before  opening,  some  person 
sitting  in  rocking  chair  in  front  of  box 
office,  with  snipe:  "I  want  to  be  the  first 
person  to  buy  a  ticket  to  see  ..."  This 
attracts  attention  of  all  passersby. 

23.  Window  tieups  —  guessing  contests 
on  how  many  beans  in  a  jar. 

24.  Window  tieups  —  bowl  partially 
filled  with  water,  offering  passes  to  those 
who  guess  nearest  to  the  amount  of  in- 
visible goldfish  in  bowl. 

25.  Window  tieups — small  turtles,  each 
with  a  letter  of  the  title  of  picture  painted 
on  back.  Any  person  seeing  them  line  up 
spelling  out  the  title  of  the  picture  receives 
a  pass. 

26.  Get  stooge  trained  to  act  as  me- 
chanical man  for  use  on  streets  with  snipes 
on  his  back. 

27.  Attractions  imprinted  on  5-and-l0 
candy  bags,  each  bag  numbered.  At  end 
of  week,  ten  numbers  are  placed  on  win- 
dow and  persons  bringing  in  bags  with 
correct  numbers  as  posted  receive  a  free 
pass. 

28.  Tieup  with  life  saver  company,  gum, 
soft  drinks,  ice  cream  for  free  giveaways 
at  kiddie  matinees. 

29.  Whiting  signs  on  back  of  bars  at 
soda  fountains,  beauty  shops,  tap  rooms, 
barbershops,  etc.,  on  pictures  suitable  for 
this  kind  of  exploitation. 

30.  Snipes  on  menus  in  restaurants,  soda 
fountains,  hotels. 

3  I .  Pictures  based  on  outstanding  novels 
or  literature  affords  tieups  with  bookstores 
and  public  library. 

32.  Promote  merchant  ads  on  programs, 
heralds  to  defray  cost  of  same. 

33.  Personal  talks  to  parent-teacher  or- 
ganizations whenever  possible. 

34.  Go  after  benefits  on  weeks  where 
attractions  are  not  too  strong. 

35.  Use  no-cost  street  ballyhoos  on  pic- 
tures where  attractions  are  suitable  for  this 
type  of  exploitation. 

36.  Keep  in  touch  with  local  hospital, 
send  greetings  to  all  parents  of  newly- 
borns,  tieing  in  with  bank  to  send  a  small 
coin  with  bank  book  for  opening  an  account 
for  the  new  babe. 

37.  Use  banner-boy  on  streets  during 
run  of  big  picture. 

38.  Go  after  any  picture  possible  that 
is  in  the  lower  cost  brackets  or  flat  buys, 
since  big  grosses  on  this  type  increase 
profits  greatly. 

39.  On  creepy  thrillers,  use  all  kinds  of 
tricks  during  run  of  trailer. 


63 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


By  Frank  Gerratana 


Matt  Saunders,  manager  of  Loew's  Poll,  Bridgeport,  sends  us  this  photo  of  an  Indian 
whom  he  enlisted  to  sell  War  Bonds  in  the  lobby.  The  man  with  the  hat  is  from 
the  Treasury;  behind  him  is  Bob  Carney,  assistant  manager  of  the  Poli. 


Recruits  Sworn  In  On  Stage 
To  Help  War  Bond  Sale 

To  further  the  sale  of  War  Bonds,  Bill 
Morton,  publicity  chief  for  the  RKO  Albee 
theatre,  Providence,  R.  I.,  arranged  to  have 
25  men  sworn  into  the  Coast  Guard  from  the 
stage  of  the  theatre.  Lieutenant  William 
R.  Tower,  who  swore  in  the  new  apprentice 
seaman  told  the  theatre  audience  that 
"these  men  are  standing  before  you  in  their 
last  moments  as  civilians  simply  so  that 
you  can  see  the  fine  type  of  young  men  for 
whom  your  Stamps  and  Bonds  will  buy  the 
weapons  they  so  sorely  need." 

The  Providence  Journal  ran  a  story  and 
photo  on  this  idea,  something  highly  un- 
usual for  this  paper,  which  ordinarily  gives 
no  publicity  to  theatres. 

Another  of  Bill's  ideas  for  selling  Bonds 
and  Stamps  was  to  have  a  pretty  girl  mount 
a  ladder  on  the  stage,  one  rung  for  each 
$100  worth  of  Bonds.  The  ladder  had  ten 
steps,  and  $1,025  worth  of  Bonds  were 
sold. 


Poppay  Organizes  Gettysburg 
Women  to  Man  Bond  Booth 

Sydney  J.  Poppay,  manager  of  the  Ma- 
jestic and  Strand  theatres,  Gettysburg,  Pa., 
used  a  number  of  exploitation  ideas  to  put 
over  the  War  Bond  and  Stamp  drive.  Syd 
was  made  chairman  of  the  Adams  County 
Entertainment  Committee  and  co-chairman 
of  the  10  Per  Cent  Payroll  Savings  Plan. 

He  organized  the  women's  clubs  in  Get- 
tysburg so  that  each  club  had  four  ladies  at 
the  theatre's  War  Bond  booth  each  day — 
two  in  the  afternoon  and  two  in  the  eve- 
ning. Meetings  were  held  to  stimulate  each 
club  to  outdo  the  other.  Syd  reports  that 
the  idea  worked  very  well,  especially,  since 
the  newspaper  cooperated  by  printing  the 
names  of  each  lady  attending. 


Kalberer's  Novel  Ideas 
Sell  Many  War  Bonds 

A.  J.  Kalberer,  manager  of  the  Indiana 
and  Liberty  theatres,  Washington,  Ind., 
started  his  War  Bond  drive  for  September 
with  a  bang  by  offering  a  year's  pass  to  the 
theatres  to  the  first  person  who  bought  a 
$1,000  Bond;  the  first  person  to  buy  a  $500 
Bond  received  a  six  months'  pass  and  each 
of  the  first  ten  purchasers  of  $25  Bonds  re- 
ceived two  tickets  for  any  show. 

This  netted  a  big  publicity  story  in  the 
local  paper  both  before  the  event  and  after 
when  the  names  of  the  purchasers  were 
announced. 

Another  idea  used  by  Kalberer  was  the 
furnishing  of  a  post  card  on  which  the  pur- 
chaser of  a  bond  could  announce  to  friend 
or  relative  in  the  service  that  he  had  bought 
a  Bond  in  his  name.  The  theatre  mailed 
the  cards.  Big  publicity  stories  were  ob- 
tained through  Kalberer's  request  for  sweet- 
hearts of  men  in  the  armed  forces  to  act 
as  sales  girls  of  War  Bonds  in  the  theatre 
lobbies.  He  also  carried  a  classified  ad  ask- 
ing for  them  with  plenty  of  response  from 
that,  too. 


Alleqia  nee  Application  Forms 
Distributed  by  Chamales 

As  head  of  the  local  Civilian  Recruiting 
Division  in  Delphi,  Ind.,  Chris  Chamales  of 
the  Roxy  theatre  promoted  the  newspapers 
for  the  gratis  printing  of  5,000  Allegiance 
applications  which  were  distributed  to  all 
boys  of  juvenile  age.  The  forms  tinted  in 
green  with  a  small  cut  of  the  flag  in  each 
upper  corner  bore  the  following  copy:  "I 
pledge  eternal  allegiance  to  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  The  United  States  of  America. 
When  I  become  of  age,  I  will  come  to  the 
aid  of  the  Navy  or  Nation,  whether  at  peace 
or  at  War."  Space  was  provided  below  for 
the  applicant's  signature  and  thumb  print. 

Other  promotions  arranged  by  Chris  in- 
cluded having  one  of  the  local  sororities 
take  charge  of  the  Bond  and  Stamp  sales 
both  for  a  certain  evening,  the  local  paper 
coming  through  with  stories  on  the  event. 


This  is  the  first  honor  roll  erected  in  the 
city  of  Pueblo,  Colo.  It  was  placed  in  the 
lobby  of  the  Main  theatre  by  Kenneth 
Mead,  manager.  The  list  was  also  carried 
in  the  daily  paper  on  September  1  to  co- 
incide with  the  opening  of  "Salute  to  Our 
Heroes"  month. 


Buy  a  Bond,  Ride  in  a  Jeep 

A  ride  in  a  jeep  was  offered  to  each  person 
who  bought  a  War  Bond  from  the  Kenosha 
theatre.  The  jeep  was  brought  from  nearby 
Fort  Sheridan  through  the  auspices  of 
Francis  Schlax,  manager  of  the  Kenosha. 


Parker  Sells  $8,700  in  Bonds 
By  Auctioning  Promoted  Gifts 

Ray  Parker,  manager  of  the  Avalon  the- 
atre, a  neighborhood  house  in  St.  Louis,  got 
an  item  in  the  St.  Louis  Post-Dispatch,  a 
metropolitan  paper,  which  is  mighty  unusual 
for  a  neighborhood  theatre.  Ray  succeeded 
in  this  feat  because  of  his  novel  method  for 
selling  War  Bonds. 

He  promoted  prizes  from  local  merchants 
ranging  from  a  combination  radio  to  a  gal- 
lon of  paint.  One  of  the  city's  foremost  pro- 
fessional auctioneers  was  engaged  and  the 
prizes  were  auctioned  from  the  stage  of  the 
theatre.  The  combination  radio  brought 
$3,300;  a  total  of  $8,700  was  realized  from 
the  sale. 


$1,000  BOND  FOR  DINNER 

The  campaign  used  in  Michigan 
City,  Ind.,  for  the  War  Bond  Drive 
was  so  successful  that,  although  the 
town's  quota  for  the  whole  month 
was  $180,000  worth  ot  Bonds,  total 
sales  were  $302,575  in  one  night 
alone. 

The  occasion  which  raised  this 
amount  was  a  dinner  in  honor  of 
James  Cagney  who  visited  Michigan 
City.  The  entire  dinner  and  the  pro- 
motion were  paid  for  by  The  Dune- 
lake  Corp.,  which  operates  the  the- 
atres in  Michigan  City.  Maurice 
Rubin  is  president  of  the  company; 
Alex  Manta  is  vice-president;  Harry 
Rubin  is  secretary,  and  Jack  Rose  is 
treasurer. 

A  ticket  to  the  dinner  was  given  to 
each  person  who  bought  a  $1,000 
Bond.  Harry  Rubin,  who  sent  us  the 
details  on  the  affair,  says:  "We 
realize  this  is  nothing  new  but,  in 
sending  you  this,  it  is  our  desire  to 
show  other  small  towns  that  it  can 
be  done  there  also."  The  population 
of  Michigan  City  is  26,000. 


October    3,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


6- 


THESE  SHOWMEN  SOLD  BONDS 

Those  listed  below  aided  the  September  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  in  reaching  the 
huge  total  of  sales  achieved;  their  showmanship  efforts  were  largely  devoted  to  the 
sale  of  War  Bonds  and  Stamps  during  September.  They  are  all  candidates  for  the 
Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award. 


PHIL  ARBEIT 

Rogers,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

JOSEPH  BOYLE 
Broadway,  Norwich,  Conn. 

CHRIS  CHAMALES 
Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 

LOUIS  CHARNINSKY 
Capifol,  Dallas,  Tex. 

ARTIE  COHN 

Roosevelt,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Poniiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

FRANCIS  DEERINS 
Loew's  State,  Houston,  Tex. 

MAURICE  DRUKER 

Loew's  State,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

ZEB  EPSTIN 

Strand,  New  York  City 

JAMES  ESTES 
Palace,  Childress,  Tex. 


GEORGE  FRENCH 

BILL  MORTON 

RKO  Albee,  Providence,  R.  I. 

DON  H.  JACOBS 
Sherman,  Chillicothe,  Ohio 

A.  J.  KALBERER 
Switow's  Indiana 
Washington,  Ind. 

ABE  KAUFMAN 

Fountain,  Terre  Haute,  Ind. 

SIDNEY  KLEPER 

Poli-Bijou,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

PHiL  LAUFER 
Criterion,  New  York  City 

KEN  MEAD 

Main,  Pueblo,  Colo. 

JOSEPH  D.  NEV1SON 
Bromley,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

RAY  PARKER 
Avalon,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 


SYDNEY  J.  POPPAY 
Majestic,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

HARRY  RUBIN 
Dunelake  Theatres 
Michigan  City,  Ind. 

MATT  SAUNDERS 

Loew's  Poli,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

FRANCIS  SCHLAX 
Kenosha,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

EDWARD  SELETTE 

Strand,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

DWIGHT  SEYMOUR 
Erie,  Hugo,  OkJa. 

W.  CLYDE  SMITH 
Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

ARNOLD  STOLTZ 
Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

H.  S.  TWEDT 
Lido,  Manly,  la. 

BILL  YURASKO 
Sedgwick,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Jacobs  Gets  Publicity  for  His 
Part  in  Chillicothe  Campaign 

Considerable  publicity  was  obtained  by 
Don  H.  Jacobs  of  the  Sherman  theatre, 
'Chillicothe,  Ohio,  for  the  opening  of  "Sa- 
lute to  Our  Heroes  Month"  in  that  city.  On 
the  day  after  the  opening  gun  was  fired, 
a  three-column  picture  appeared  on  the  front 
page  showing  the  Mayor  buying  a  Bond 
from  two  sorority  sisters  who  were  assist- 
ing in  the  theatre's  campaign. 

In  the  same  paper  appeared  a  full-page 
ad  plugging  the  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes." 
This  ad  was  sponsored  by  a  number  of  mer- 
chants in  town  whose  names  were  carried 
in  a  panel  alongside. 

Don  also  obtained  the  services  of  the 
county  war  savings  chairman,  who  spoke 
from  the  stage  urging  the  purchase  of  War 
Bonds  and  Stamps.  The  Miller  Sisters, 
a  local  quartette,  sang  "Any  Bonds  To- 
Iday?" 

Full  Page  Ad  Plugs  Bond 
Premiere,  "Battle  of  Midway" 

All  the  Fox  theatres  in  Kenosha,  Wis., 
got  together  on  a  full  page  ad  in  the  local 
newspapers  to  plug  a  Bond  premiere  and 

'the  simultaneous  showings  of  the  "Battle  of 

■Midway."  Francis  B.  Schlax,  manager  of 
Lie  Kenosha,  sent  us  a  tear  sheet  which 

:  shows  that  general  admissions  at  the  pre- 
miere of  "Eagle  Squadron"  cost  a  S25  War 
Bond;  special  reserved  sections  were  roped 

k>3  for  purchasers  of  $50  and  $100  War 
Bonds. 

Free  tickets  were  given  with  every  pur- 
chase of  a  War  Bond.    The  ads  carried  a 
-large  reverse  slug  at  the  bottom:  "Remem- 
.foer  December — Buy  a  Bond  in  September." 
—  

Meeting  Stars  Omaha  Drive 

«  An  enthusiastic  meeting  of  250  em- 
ployees of  local  theatres  and  film  exchanges 
started  off  the  War  Bond  Drive  in  Omaha 
:«-ith  a  bang,  according  to  Ted  Emerson  of 
:he  Omaha  theatre,  who  was  one  of  the 
eaders  in  the  campaign.  The  newspaper 
xoperated  by  running  a  photograph  and 
rtory  of  the  meeting.  Joseph  Kinsky,  dis- 
trict manager  of  Tri-States  Theatres  and 
Joseph  Jacobs,  Columbia  branch  manager, 
vere  in  charge  of  the  affair. 


By  Anthony  Hansen,  Jr. 

ling  Levine,  manager  of  tl>e  Little  Neck 
7xatre,  Little  Neck,  N.  Y.,  sends  us  this 
hoto  of  his  lobby  showing  the  Bond  booth 
>*nned  by  Junior  A.W.V.S.  members, 
he  Nail-a-Jap  stunt  on  the  left  boosted 
'amp  sales,  according  to  Irving. 


Fabian's  Own  Circuit  Stages 
Top  Bond  Selling  Drive 

Si  Fabian,  head  of  the  Fabian  Circuit 
of  theatres,  is  chairman  of  the  industry's 
War  Activities  Committee,  so  it  is  natural 
that  showmen  looked  to  the  Fabian  Circuit 
to  see  what  type  of  War  Bond  campaign 
was  put  on. 

In  Paterson,  N.  J.,  Abbott  and  Costello 
made  a  personal  appearance  which  aided 
greatly  in  the  sale  of  Bonds.  Costello  is 
a  Paterson  man  and  his  appearance  there- 
fore had  the  nature  of  a  homecoming. 

A  luncheon  was  held  at  the  Alexander 
Hamilton  Hotel  and  Bonds  were  sold  at 
the  door.  Sales  at  this  point  alone  were 
$204,000.  A  crowd  of  over  2,400  people 
each  bought  a  25-cent  Stamp  to  attend  a 
special  program  at  an  athletic  field. 

The  comedians  toured  a  number  of  in- 
dustrial plants  in  the  Paterson  area  and 
were  rewarded  with  thousands  of  pledges 
by  employees  to  take  10  per  cent  of  their 
salaries  or  wages  in  War  Bonds. 

Newspapers  cooperated  in  fine  style  giv- 
ing front  page  publicity  to  everything  that 
the  comedians  did  during  their  stay  in  the 
area.  Before  their  arrival  interest  was 
built  up  and  maintained  by  a  series  of  stor- 
ies in  the  press. 


Boyle  Sells  $3,375  in  One  Day 

A  total  of  $3,375  in  Bonds  was  sold  in 
one  night  at  Loew's  Poli-Broadway  the- 
atre, Norwich,  Conn.,  reports  Joseph  Bo3-le, 
manager.  He  obtained  ample  newspaper 
coverage  on  his  sales  which  were  reported 
regularly  by  the  Bulletin. 

Commander  Charles  M.  Morgan  and  a 
color  guard  of  the  American  Legion  post 
took  part  in  the  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes" 
from  the  stage  of  the  Loew  house. 


Girl  Scouts  Aid  Elder's 
Sale  of  War  Bonds 

Stamps  worth  1,500  were  sold  in  two 
hours  at  the  Riverside  Amusement  Park 
near  Indianapolis  by  Bill  Elder's  crew 
from  Loew's  Indianapolis,  by  offering  free 
rides  in  the  park  to  people  who  bought  $2.50 
worth  of  stamps.  Bill  has  also  had  a  gal- 
lery of  heroes  in  his  lobby  and  a  display  of 
miniatures  including  boats,  guns,  planes  and 
tanks. 


By  Anthony  J.  Kinaldi 


Philip  Arbeit,  manager  of  the  Rogers  the- 
atre, Brooklyn,  poses  with  the  ladies  of  the 
local  Civilian  Defense  organization  who 
aided  him  in  the  September  War  Bond 
Drive.  Phil  was  in  the  Army  but  was  hurt 
and  honorably  discharged. 


70 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     I  942 


Bill  Romanoff's  Whole  Career 
Spent  with  M  &  P  Circuit 

William   H.  Ro- 

emanoff,  known  in 
most  places  as  Bill, 
is  one  of  the  newest 
Round  Table  mem- 
bers. Bill  is  at  pres- 
ent managing  the 
Park  Theatre  in 
Rockland,  Maine,  for 
the  M.  &  P.  Circuit. 
He  was  born  in  New 
Haven,  June  13, 
1917,  and  started  to 
work  as  an  usher  at 
the  State  theatre  in 
Portland,  Maine,  in  1934.  In  1936,  he 
was  promoted  to  chief  usher  and  in  five 
years  he  was  appointed  assistant  manager. 
In  April  of  this  year  he  was  given  his  pres- 
ent assignment.  Bill  is  married  and 
on  September  2nd  of  this  year  became  the 
father  of  Diane  Marie  Romanoff. 


Sedlack  Runs  Theatre  Gamut 
From  Usher  to  Manager 

Ervin  J.  Sedlack,  manager  of  the  Frolic 
theatre  in  Chicago  for  the  Warner  Circuit, 
has  run  the  gamut  of  the  theatre  business 
from  usher  right  up.  He  is  a  native  of  the 
Windy  City  having  first  seen  the  light  of 
day  there  on  Dec.  13,  1913.  Before  he  was 
16  years  old,  he  had  a  job  at  the  Hamilton 
theatre  as  an  usher.  He  worked  there  for 
seven  years,  being  promoted  to  doorman 
and  then  to  chief  of  service.  In  1936,  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Lexington  theatre 
and  promoted  to  assistant  manager.  He 
was  assistant  manager  at  several  theatres  in 
the  Chicago  zone  including  the  Oakland 
Square,  Symphony,  Shore  and  Jeffrey. 
Last  Spring,  he  was  promoted  to  manager 
and  assigned  to  the  Frolic. 


Gillespie's  Window  Display 

Starting  his  publicity  on  "Blues  in  the 
Night"  well  in  advance  of  his  opening  date, 
Stewart  Gillespie  at  the  Marks  theatre,  in 
Oshawa,  Ontario,  featured  a  special  window 
display  of  a  cutout  orchestra.  The  title 
letters  in  neon  lighting  were  also  used  on 
the  stage  and  boxoffice.  For  his  street  bally- 
hoo, Gillespie  rigged  up  two  cutout  bull 
fiddles  sandwich  board  style,  which  were 
carried  about  town  by  one  of  the  staff. 


In  New  Posts 


BARBARA  WILKINS  to  MARK  R. 
CHARTRAND.  The  groom  is  the  man- 
ager of  the  Miami  theatre,  in  Miami,  the 
bride  is  employed  in  the  Wometco  Main 
Office. 


BIRTHDAY  GREETINGS 


October  2nd 

E.  J.  Bresendine 
Howard  W.  Kelley 

G.  G.  Fryberg 
John  Stanfill 
John  Judge 
S.  J.  Poppay 
Clarence  A.  Smith 
Norman  Schwartz 
John  A.  Buckley 
Paul  M.  Johancen 
Andrew  R.  Magazzu 

3rd 

Paul  Binstock 

H.  S.  McGinnis 
C.  Dale  Pickell 
W.  Clyde  Smith 
Robert  H.  Guenther 

4th 

Robert  Stratton 
Herbert  O.  Chenoweth 
Charles  L.  Baker 
M.  H.  Chakeres 
Milton  A.  Zimmerman 
Frank  L.  Wahler 
5th 

R.  L.  Nippert 
Howard  Pettengill 
Frank  Templin 
Edward  McLaughlin 


October  5th 

Robert  C.  Pearson 
Ben  Stern 
Abe  Weinstein 
Paul  A.  Volkman 
Lorenz  Heller 
W.  S.Ward 
J.  A.  Sanders 

6th 

Ronald  E.  Warren 
Cecil  S.  Houck 
Ferry  Lohr 
Willard  A.  Hatch 
Igo  Kron 
Charles  Prickett 
Thomas  A.  Mangan 
John  Kucz,  Jr. 

7th 

Otto  Schmidt 
William  H.Koch 
'  Tomas  B.  Estacio 
William  C.  Daye 
Howard  Busey 

8th 

Ward  Van  Hook 
Kermit  High 
C.  H.  O'Rae 
R.  C.  Pence 
Duke  Prince 


Doctor's  Prescription 
Sells  "Juke  Girl" 

A  gag  herald  distributed  by  D.  M.  Dillen- 
beck  at  the  Rialto  theatre,  in  Bushnell,  111., 
ahead  of  "Juke  Girl"  consisted  of  "Dr.  I. 
Cureall's  "  prescription  blank.  Made  out 
"For  Your  Own  Good,"  the  prescription 
read:  "For  a  sure-cure  for  those  blues,  sug- 
gest you  see  a  good  show.  As  your  doctor, 
I  heartily  recommend  'Juke  Girl'  starring 
Ann  Sheridan  and  Ronald  Reagan." 


Tou,  too  can  join 


Fill  out  the  application;  managers  and  publicity  men  will  receive  a  certificate  attesting 
their  membership  in  the  country's  biggest  and  best  known  organization  of  showmen. 
Absolutely  No  Dues  or  Fees. 

Just  clip  and  send  to 

MANAGERS'  ROUND  TABLE  •  ROCKEFELLER  CENTER  •  NEW  YORK 

Name  Position  


Theatre  Circuit 


City 


State 


LEO  HANEY,  who  has  been  manager  of 
the  Bucklen  theatre,  in  Elkhart,  Ind.,  has 
assumed  city  managership  of  the  Indiana- 
Illinois  theatres  there,  including  the  Elco, 
Bucklen  and  Orpheum.  O.  V.  Flint,  for- 
merly employed  as  house  manager  at  the 
Colfax  theatre,  South  Bend,  becomes  man- 
ager of  the  Bucklen,  Chick  Tompkins,  dis- 
trict manager  for  the  Indiana-Illinois  thea- 
tres in  Elkhart  and  Goshen,  announced. 

JACK  ARTHUR,  Toronto  district  manager 
for  Famous  Players  Canadian,  has  resigned 
to  enter  Government  service  as  civilian  in 
charge  of  organization  of  Army  shows  to 
tour  Canadian  camps  and  to  appear  on  the 
air. 

BIRK  BINNARD  of  the  Warner  Grand, 
in  Camden,  N.  J.,  has  been  transferred  to 
the  Capitol,  in  York,  succeeding  Gil 
Fradeneck,  who  joined  the  Army.  Otis 
Kyger  of  the  Lion,  Red  Lion,  Pa.,  also 
has  been  shifted  to  York,  Pa.,  to  succeed 
George  Roberts,  resigned,  as  manager  of 
the  Rialto  there.  I.  Perlin,  for  the  past 
10  years  manager  of  the  Colonial,  in  At- 
lantic City,  has  been  transferred  to  the 
Grand,  in  Camden,  N.  J.,  and  Clifford  Gun- 
nett,  assistant  manager  of  the  Lion,  has  been 
promoted  to  manager. 

JACK  SINGER  has  been  named  assistant 
manager  of  the  Warner  Orpheum,  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  J.  Stewart  Silver  has  resigned 
as  student  manager  at  the  Liberty,  Tacony. 
In  the  circuit's  offices,  Wally  Maokwski 
was  named  purchasing  head,  succeed- 
ing Bob  Nydic,  resigned  and  Bill  Shugard, 
formerly  with  the  defunct  Evening  Ledger, 
has  joined  the  advertising  staff. 

JACK  BIBEN,  former  theatrical  manager, 
has  joined  the  William  Goldman  circuit 
as  night  manager  at  the  Nezvs,  while  Ed 
Coyle  was  named  manager  of  David  Bar- 
rist's  Airport. 

SEYMOUR  BAGATELL  is  the  new  man- 
ager at  the  Varbalow  Broadway  theatre,  ir 
Camden,  N.  J.,  succeeding  Pete  Trado,  whc 
left  to  join  the  Coast  Guard. 

FRANK  FLYNN  is  the  new  manager  o 
the  Esquire  theatre,  in  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

BOB  SWANSON,  of  Miami,  has  replace. 
Corbin  Shield  as  manager  of  the  Princes 
theatre,  in  Washington,  D.  C. 


Window  Displays  Promoted 
By  Sparrow  for  "Cairo" 

Numerous  window  displays  were  pr< 
moted  by  Allan  Sparrow  for  his  date 
"Cairo"  at  Loew's  theatre,  in  Richmon 
Va.,  one  of  which  plugged  former  Jeannet? 
MacDonald  song  hits  and  those  in  the  pit 
ture.  One  of  the  leading  department  ston 
featured  a  display  of  evening  gowns  wi 
scene  stills,  while  a  men's  haberdasher  ca. 
ried  fall  clothes  with  Robert  Young  stil 

Heralds  were  distributed  in  a  house-t 
house  canvass,  displays  landed  in  the  pub1 
library  calling  attention  to  reference  and  fi 
tion  books  on  Egypt,  and  four  color  windc 
cards  were  planted  in  hotels  and  stores. 


Uncle  Sam 
Demands — 

1.  Accurate  Record  of  Defense  Tax  Collections 

2.  Accurate  Record  of  Daily  Income 

3.  Accurate  Record  of  Admission  Ticket  Numbers 

4.  Accurate  Record  of  Daily  Disbursements 

5.  Accurate  Record  of  Payments  to  all  Employees 

6.  Accurate  Summary  of  All  Expenditures 

7.  All  This  and  Many  Other  Records 


Theatre  Management  Record 
and  Tax  Register 


MAIL 
COUPON 
NOW 


POSTPAID 


Provides—A  Practical  and  Simple  Accounting 
System— Requires  no  Bookkeeping  Experience 
—Eliminates  Tax  Headaches— Daily- 
Weekly— Monthly— Defense  Tax  Record- 
Meets  All  Bookkeeping  Requirements 


SOLD  WITH  A 


MONEY  BACK 
GUARANTEE 


9UIGLEY  BOOKSHOP. 
ROCKEFELLER  CENTER.  NEW  YORK 

Here  is  my  check  for  $2.00  Send  me  "Theatre 
Management  Record  and  Tax  Register." 


Name   

Address   

City  and  State. 
Theatre   


72  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    3,  1942 


CLASSIFIED  \± 
ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


THEATRES 


WANT  TO  BUY,  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
running  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   BOX  1555-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1S56-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

THEATRES  WANTED  WESTERN  PENNSYL- 
vania  or  Eastern  Ohio,  buy  or  lease,  independent  ex- 
hibitor.  BOX  1564,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

FOR  SALE:  TWO  THEATRES,  TOWN  7500 
adjoining  larger  city.  No  competition.  $7500,  balance 
terms.  Money  back  four  months  if  not  satisfied. 
Owner  has  greater  investment  250  miles  away  needs 
personal  attention.  Address  BOX  184,  Pine  Bluff,  Ark. 


HELP  WANTED 


SALESMEN  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  $75  to  $100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
BOX  1506,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

WANTED:  MANAGER  FOR  PALACE  THEATRE, 
Winchester,  Va.  Fine  opportunity  right  man. 
HERMAN  H.  HABLE. 


POSITION  WANTED 


MANAGER  NOW  EMPLOYED  WISHES  TO 
make  change.  15  years  experience,  a  go-getter.  Mar- 
ried, with  children.  BOX  1568,  MOTION  PICTURE 
HERALD. 

THOROUGHLY  EXPERIENCED  ALL  PHASES 
of  theatre  management.  Employed  in  present  position  9 
years.  Wish  to  make  change.  Go  anywhere.  Amer- 
ican, 33  years  old,  married,  draft  exempt.  BOX  1567, 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP- 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell.  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


COMPLETE  EQUIPMENT  OF  CLOSED  THEA- 
tre,  ideal  for  defense  location.  WALDRON,  Lindsay, 
Oklahoma. 


PEERLESS  MAGNARC  LAMP,  $275,  HALL-CON- 
nelly  HC-10  High  Intensity,  $350,  Demonstrators. 
Brandt  direct  coin  machines,  $89.50.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 


WANTED:  THEATRE  ORGAN  CONSOLE.  M. 
MAYNARD,  11  Kramer  Avenue,  Caldwell,  N.  J. 

FOR  SALE:  2  ROYAL  ZENITH  MODEL  A-35 
M.M.  200-ft.  sound  projectors.  Reasonable.  A. 
LANDOW,  108  Beachway,  Keansburg,  N.  J. 


NEW  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


EARLY  FALL  EDITION  ANNIVERSARY  SALE 
bulletin  ready  —  ask  for  yours!  Typical  values,  Spot- 
light carbons  80  discount;  Underwriter's  fire  extin- 
guishers $11.25;  Exciter  lamps  32c.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION.  New  York. 


JUST  PURCHASED  ENTIRE  STOCK  STAR 
Cinema  Supply — thousands  of  wonderful  buys,  send  for 
big  bargain  bulletin.  S.O.S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY  COR- 
PORATION, New  York. 


BUSINLS*  BOOSTER* 


BINGO  CARDS.  DIE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75. 
$2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  care 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


BOOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING— 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its  ar- 
rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  th< 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyoni 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  $6.50  postpaid 
QU1GLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York 


NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONINC  i 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail  I 
able   for   theatre   owners   contemplating  engineerin 
changes.    Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  chari 
and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well 
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ALMANAC.    Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.    The  indu J 
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industry  should  have  a  copy.    Be  sure  to  send  in  yo 
reservation  today.    $3.25  postpaid.    QUIGLEY  BOO! 
SHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


BOOKKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MANAGEMENT  RECORD  AND  T. 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  fin 
book  of  its  kind  ever  made  available  to  an  exhibi 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  il 
simple — so  much  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  b 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an 
curate,  complete  and  up-to-minute  record  of  [ 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  pric; 
only  $2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Ro< 
feller  Center,  New  York. 


PRESS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BRIEN,  ! 
NEW  YORK.  V.  8 


October    3,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


LEASE  CHART 


The  Forest  Rangers  ReVieiVS 


(Paramount) 
Comedy-Melodrama  in  Color 

Flames  lick  at  the  brush,  sweep  onward  and 
upward  through  the  forest,  and  from  this  open- 
ing scene  the  picture  moves  with  the  rapidity 
of  the  flames  its  cameras  have  caught  so  glow- 
ingly. Filmed  in  color  among  the  tall  timber, 
"The  Forest  Rangers"  is  a  lot  more  than  the 
title  implies.  Along  with  the  gorgeous  back- 
ground are  liberal  manifestations  of  romance, 
comedy,  music  and  melodrama  expertly  blended. 
It  is  escapist  entertainment  at  its  best. 

The  right  cast  has  been  chosen  to  make  this 
possible.  Fred  MacMurray  looks  and  acts  the 
part  of  the  District  Ranger ;  Paulette  Goddard 
is  stunning  as  the  eastern  girl  who  proves  her 
merit  in  the  great  forest;  Susan  Hayward  is 
right  out  of  the  mold  as  the  intensely  vital  girl 
who  runs  the  small  lumber  mill  she  inherited, 
u  and  that  consummate  actor,  Lynne  Overman, 
i  performs  true  to  form  as  the  crabby  old  guy 
a  with  the  heart  of  gold.    Add  to  this  list  the 
names  of  Albert  Dekker,  Eugene  Pallette,  Regis 
Toomey  and  the  others,  and  the  showman  has 
(  something  to  show  and  shout  about. 

The  comedy  scenes  have  been  handled  with 
a  deft  touch.  The  meeting  of  MacMurray  and 
Miss  Goddard,  who  is  dressed  up  as  a  dude 
rancher,  while  a  rodeo  parade  is  in  progress 
is  something  to  laugh  merrily  about.  Then 
again  after  their  swift  courtship  and  marriage 
*J  the  scene  in  the  forest  where  MacMurray,  Miss 
•|-  Goddard  and  Miss  Hayward  find  themselves 
forced  to  spend  the  night,  is  memorable.  There 
^are  others. 

IThe  familiar  "Jingle,  Jangle,  Jingle"  is  a 
Isort  of  theme  song  here.  For  good  measure 
there's  a  song  "Tall  Grows  the  Timber"  sung 
by  MacMurray  which  you  will  be  hearing  more 
about 

There  are  two  big  fire  scenes,  one  blazing 
at  the  start  of  the  picture  and  one  at  the 
:limax.  The  first  fire  is  discovered  to  have 
Deen  deliberately  set  and  the  identity  of  the 
culprit  comes  as  a  surprise.  It  is  good  melo- 
drama. 

I  Robert    Sisk    the    associate    producer  and 
George  Marshall,  director,  are  to  be  compli- 
nented  for  making  this  the  entertaining  pic- 
Tire  it  is.  Harold  Shumate  wrote  the  screen- 
>lay  from  a  story  by  Thelma  Strabel. 
,  Previewed  at  the  Paramount  home  office  pro- 
jection room  in  New  York.  The  comedy  scenes 
(tffrew  many  a  laugh  from  a  usually  reticent 
if-rade  press  coterie.    Reviewer's  Rating:  Ex- 
cellent.— Paul  C.  Mookey,  Jr. 

Release    date.    Block    2.     Running    time,    87  min. 

S'CA  No.  8157.    Adult  audience  classification, 
•on  Stuart  Fred  McMurray 
-r'elia  Huston  Paulette  Goddard 

i  I  ana  Mason  Susan  Hayward 

„    lb-rrt    Dekker.    Lynne    Overman.    Euprene  Pallette. 
'    etfis    Toomey.    Tames    Brown.    Clem    Berans.  Rod 
if  am»ron.    Sarah    Edwards.    Chester    Clute.  Kenneth 
Kfrith,  Keith  Richards,  William  Cabanne,  Jimmy  Con- 


This  department  deals  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


Road  to  Morocco 

(Paramount) 
Laugh  Fest  with  Music 

Bing  Crosby  and  Bob  Hope,  after  recent  solo 
efforts  in  their  individual  specialties,  are  back  on 
the  "Road"  with  no  loss  of  humor  or  momentum. 
In  fact,  laughs  follow  one  another  so  furiously 
during  the  first  15  minutes  or  so  that  it  seems 
entirely  possible  the  audience  will  give  out  first. 

During  this  time  the  perennial  vagabonds 
have  been  shipwrecked  on  a  desert  shore,  dis- 
covered by  a  camel  and  transported  to  town 
where  they  wine  and  dine  at  the  expense  of 
Hope  whom  Crosby,  in  superb  pantomime,  has 
sold  to  the  fat  man  with  the  beard  for  $200. 
His  fate  is  not  torture  night  and  day,  as  he  in- 
timates to  Crosby  in  a  message  urging  him  to 
"flea,"  but  a  life  of  langourous  splendor  as  the 
future  husband  of  the  Princess  Shalmar. 

While  the  pace  slows  down,  the  picture  re- 
mains funny,  hilariously  so  in  spots  as  the 
Yanks  in  Africa  mix  with  harems,  oracles, 
tribal  feuds  and  desert  mirages,  rarely  taking 
them  seriously  enough  to  stop  kidding  the  pic- 
ture or  themselves. 

Musically,  the  songs  by  Johnny  Burke  and 
James  Van  Heusen  may  not  be  up  to  previous 
hits  from  the  series,  but  the  title  song  "Road 
to  Morocco"  sets  the  tone  of  the  picture  with 
gay  lyrics  and  "Moonlight  Becomes  You" 
should  prove  a  popular  ballad.  Two  others  are 
featured — "Constantly"  and  "Ain'  Got  a  Dime 
to  My  Name." 

The  formula  for  this  series  shows  few  signs 
of  becoming  threadbare,  and  where  it's  just  a 
bit  shiny  impudent  patches  are  applied  in  full 
view  of  the  audience. 

Paul  Jones  was  associate  producer  and  David 
Butler  directed  from  an  original  screen  play  by 
Frank  Butler  and  Don  Hartman.  The  gaiety 
which  must  have  marked  the  collaboration  of 
all  concerned  should  be  contagious. 

Previewed  in  a  projection  room.  Reviewer's 
Rating:  Good.—E.  A.  CUNNINGHAM. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time.  S3  minutes. 
PCA  No.  8255.  General  audience  classification. 

Jeff    Bob  Crosby 

Turkey  Jackson  Bob  Hope 

Dorothy  Lamour,  Anthony  Quinn.  Dona  Drake.  Vladi- 
mir Sokoloff,  Mikhail  Rasumny,  Jamiel  Hasson. 
Monte  Blue. 


Street  of  Chance 

(Paramount) 
Amnesia  and  Murder 

Few  pictures  to  come  out  of  Hollywood  in  a 
year  can  compare  in  sustained  suspense  with 
this.  It  is  a  thrill-packed  drama  of  a  man  sud- 
denly awakened  to  the  fact  that  he  has  been 
the  victim  of  amnesia  for  a  year  and  that  he 
is  wanted  for  a  murder  of  which  he  remem- 
bers nothing.  In  its  characterizations  and  its 
suspense  the  picture  is  reminiscent  of  "Night 
Must  Fall,"  of  several  years  ago. 

The  suspense  is  built  up  with  unerring  skill. 
The  audience  is  left  to  grope  its  way  through 
the  maze  of  plot  and  get  its  clues  along  with 
the  chief  character — the  amnesia  victim — as  he 
backtracks  on  that  missing  year  in  his  memory. 
It  is  calculated  to  hold  the  attention  of  audi- 
ences and  leave  them  limp  at  the  finish  from 
concentration. 

Teamwork  all  down  the  line  seems  to  have 
made  this  possible,  but  there  is  no  denying 
that  Burgess  Meredith  has  just  about  made 
this  a  tour  de  force.  The  intensity  of  his  por- 
trayal as  the  amnesia  victim  overshadows 
everything  else.  In  a  lesser  role  Sheldon  Leon- 
ard has  the  same  intensity  and  directness  of 
purpose  as  "Joe  Marucci,"  a  veritable  blood- 
hound of  a  detective. 

Outdistanced  by  the  superlative  perform- 
ances of  these  two  but  giving  a  good  account 
of  themselves  in  their  lesser  roles  are  Claire 
Trevor,  Jerome  Cowan,  Louise  Piatt.  Frieda 
Inescort  and  Adeline  De  Walt  Reynolds. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  scenes  in  the  pic- 
ture takes  place  at  the  country  estate  of  the 
murdered  man,  where  Meredith  has  retraced 
his  steps  to  refresh  his  memory-  There  he  ques- 
tions the  murdered  man's  dumb  grandmother  by 
having  her  blink  her  ej-es- — once  for  yes,  two 
for  no.  It  is  she  who  solves  the  murder  for 
him. 

It  is  an  unusual  and  interesting  picture  and 
right  in  the  groove  for  those  who  like  their 
melodrama  straight  and  their  mystery  just  that. 
The  fact  that  it  demands  more  than  is  usual  of 
its  audience  may  restrict  its  appeal  but  will 
intensify  the  enthusiasm  of  its  admirers. 

Sol  C.  Siegel.  producer;  his  associate.  Burt 
Kelly ;  Jack  Hively.  director,  and  scenarist 
Garrett  Fort  share  the  credit  with  actor  Mere- 
dith for  able  handling  of  a  difficult  task. 

Previewed  at  the  Paramount  home  office  pro- 
jection room  for  the  trade  press.  The  picture 
had  the  reviewers'  undivided  attention.  Re- 
viewer's Rating:  Excellent. — P.  C.  M..  Jr. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time.  74  minutes. 
PCA  Xo.  8107.  General  audience  classification. 

Frank  Thompson  Bursress  Meredith 

Ruth  Dillon  Claire  Trevor 

Joa  Marucci  Sheldon  Leonard 

Jerome  Cowan,  Frieda  Inescort.  Adeline  De  Walt 
Reynolds,  Louise  Piatt,  Arthur  Loit. 


Product  Digest  Section  933 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,  1942 


Get  Hep  to  Love 

(Universal) 
'Teen  Age  Comedy 

Gloria  Jean  eclipses  past  performances  in  this 
comedy  of  appeal  to  youngsters  in  their  'teens 
and  to  adults  concerned  with  juniors  and  their 
affairs.  She  is  seen  as  a  14-year-old  concert 
star  whose  aunt  refuses  her  a  vacation  from  the 
pursuit  of  fame  and  riches,  whereupon  the 
youngster  runs  away  and  gets  herself  adopted 
by  a  childless  couple  who  learn  to  love  her. 
To  them,  by  a  twist  of  story  which  packs  some- 
thing of  a  wallop,  she  is  given  in  adoption  with 
benefit  of  legality  by  a  jurist  who  knows  where 
in  the  books  to  look  for  the  ruling  which  the 
audience  wishes  to  see  applied. 

The  script  by  Jay  Drattler  from  a  story  by 
M.  M.  Musselman  gives  Miss  Jean  opportunity 
for  the  singing  of  some  arias  from  the  classics, 
delivered  under  Charles  Previn's  musical  direc- 
tion, and  provides  a  spot,  also,  for  some  cut- 
ting of  rug  by  the  Jivin'  Jacks  and  Jills  to  a 
swingtune  about  hitching  the  horse  to  an  auto- 
mobile, which  is  not  named  or  signed  in  the 
credits  but  which  highlights  the  comedy  and 
brings  the  music  in  whole  down  to  the  level  of 
today's  juveniles.  This  is  sung  by  Peggy  Ryan, 
seen  in  many  of  Universal's  musicals,  with  all 
the  stops  open. 

Jane  Frazee  and  Robert  Paige  portray  the 
fosterparents  with  restraint  and  humor,  Nana 
Bryant  making  the  aunt  a  tyrant  without  mak- 
ing her  incredible. 

Charles  Lamont,  directing  for  associate  pro- 
ducer Bernard  W.  Burton,  inserted  in  the  flow 
of  incident  many  touches  of  humor  which 
prosper   the  enterprise. 

Previewed  at  the  Ritz  theatre,  Hollywood, 
on  a  Friday  night  to  an  audience  drawn  by 
Glenn  Miller's  music  to  an  exhibition  of  "Or- 
chestra Wives."  This  turnout,  juniors  in  the 
main  and  naturals  for  this  type  of  offering,  dis- 
played their  enthusiasm  in  a  manner  to  test  the 
stability  of  the  edifice.  Review's  Rating:  Good. 
— William  R.  Weaver. 

Release  date,  Oct.  2,  1942.  Running:  time,  77  min. 
PCA  No.  8656.    General  audience  classification. 

Doris  Stanley  Gloria  Jean 

Jimmy   Arnold  Donald  O'Connor 

Ann    Winters  Jane  Frazee 

Stephen  Winters  Robert  Paige 

Peggy  Ryan,  Edith  Barrett,  Cora  Sue  Collins.  Nana 
Bryant.  Irving  Bacon,  John  Abbott,  Willard  Mitchell, 
Tim  Ryan,  Douglas  Scott,  the  Jivin  Jacks  and  Jills. 

Henry  Aldrich,  Editor 

(Paramount) 

Henry  Catches  a  Firebug 

Radio  fans  who  follow  the  fortunes  of  the 
Aldrich  family  will  find  son  Henry  in  trouble 
again  in  the  latest  Paramount  screen  report  on 
the  bad  boy  of  Centervile  High  School.  It 
takes  72  minutes  of  laughter  and  excitement 
to  get  him  out  of  this  firebug  scrape.  Family 
audiences  should  like  the  Sol  Siegel  production. 

Jimmy  Lydon  again  plays  Henry,  abetted  by 
Charles  Smith  as  Dizzy.  They  still  drive  their 
battered  car.  Rita  Quigley  is  winsome  as  the 
high  school  sweetheart  who  aids  his  election 
to  the  editorship  of  the  school  paper.  To  give 
zip  to  his  paper  Henry  fabricates  a  sensational 
arson  story,  and  lands  in  trouble  up  to  his  ears. 

Henry  himself  is  accused  of  being  a  firebug 
and  is  brought  to  trial.  But  in  the  last  reel 
he  catches  Nero  Smith,  a  pleasant  little  pyro- 
maniac,  portrayed  by  Francis  •  Pierlot.  There 
is  an  exciting  climax  in  a  blazing  warehouse. 
Hugh  Bennett's  direction  adds  many  laughs 
and  keeps  the  story  by  Muriel  Roy  Bolton  and 
Bal  Burton  moving  rapidly.  Parents  and 
youngsters  should  both  find  the  picture  fun. 

Previewed  at  the  home  office  projection  room 
where  it  evoked  a  few  early  morning  laughs 
from  a  trade  press  and  office  audience.  Re- 
viewers Rating:   Good. — John  Stuart,  Jr. 

Release  date,  Block  2.  Running  time,  72  min. 
PCA  No.  8208.    General  audience  classification. 

Henry  Aldrich  Jimmy  Lydon 

Dizzy   Stevens  Charles  Smith 

Martha   Daley  Rita  Ouigley 

Nero   Smith  Francis  Pierlot 

John  Litel,  Olive  Blakeney,  Charles  Halton.  Vaughn 
Glaser,    Maude    Ebume,   Cliff    Clark,    Oscar  O'Shea. 

934     Product  Digest  Section 


Youth  on  Parade 

(Republic) 
Musical  Comedy 

This  musical  comedy,  based  on  college  life, 
departs  in  one  instance  from  the  run-of-the- 
mill  plots  for  such  type  of  entertainment,  and 
that  is  in  the  selection  of  the  principal  charac- 
ter. The  students,  boys  and  girls,  who  have 
been  placed  in  a  special  psychology  class  con- 
ducted by  a  new  and  young  professor,  create 
a  mythical  student  who  happens,  by  dint  of 
the  pupils'  combined  efforts,  to  win  the  scholar- 
ship award  of  the  college.  Forced  to  produce 
the  student  or  face  expulsion,  which  would 
prevent  their  putting  on  the  annual  class  show, 
they  hire  a  would-be  New  York  actress  who, 
with  her  brother,  is  being  sought  by  the  police. 
She  manages  to  solve  their  problems,  and 
those  of  the  professor,  but  not  without  com- 
plications. 

As  the  slangy  actress,  Ruth  Terry  is  out- 
standing. John  Hubbard  plays  the  role  of  the 
professor ;  Martha  O'Driscoll,  the  co-ed  with 
whom  he  falls  in  love ;  Tom  Brown,  one  of  the 
student  leaders.  Ivan  F.  Simpson,  Charles 
Smith,  Lynn  Merrick,  Nana  Bryant,  Bruce 
Langley,  Chick  Chandler  and  Marlyn  Schild 
are  seen  in  support. 

The  picture  ends  on  a  note  suggested  by 
the  OWI :  that  college  students  continue  their 
studies  until  called  by  the  draft. 

Six  songs — "You're  So  Good  to  Me,"  "If 
It's  Love,"  "I've  Heard  That  Song  Before," 
"Mad,"  "Cotcha  Too  Ta  Mee,"  and  "You  Got 
to  Study,  Buddy" — are  used  to  good  effect  in 
the  film,  which  was  directed  by  Albert  S. 
Rogell.  "I've  Heard  That  Song  Before"  is  the 
best  bet. 

The  Albert  J.  Cohen  production  has  verve 
and  freshness,  although  some  of  the  situations 
telegraph  themselves.  George  Carleton  Brown 
wrote  the  original  screenplay,  with  Frank  Gill, 
Jr.,  doing  additional  dialogue. 

Previewed  at  the  Republic  studios,  Holly- 
wood.   Reviewer's  Rating  :  Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  Sept.  10,  1942.  Running  time,  75 
min.    PCA  No.  8643.    General  audience  classification. 

Prof.  Payne  John  Hubbard 

Patty    Flynn)   Ruth  Terry 

Betty    Reilly  1 

Sally  Martha  O'Driscoll 

Bingo  Brown  Tom  Brown 

Ivan  F.  Simpson,  Charles  Smith,  Lynn  Merrick.  Nana 
Bryant,  Bruce  Langley,  Chic  Chandler.  Marlyn 
Schild. 

The  Bowery  at  Midnight 

(  Monogram  ) 
Murder  in  Multiple 

Deaths  occur  at  the  drop  of  a  hat,  and  no 
hat,  in  the  telling  of  this  tale  about  a  psycholo- 
gist of  the  classroom  who  operates  a  soup 
kitchen  on  the  Bowery  under  an  alias  whilst 
working  out  his  destiny  as  a  homicidal  maniac. 
It  turns  out  at  the  end  of  the  picture  that  a 
doctor  in  his  service  as  a  janitor  has  restored 
some  of  his  victims  to  life,  and  these  dispatch 
him  in  revenge,  but  this  arrangement  doesn't 
impair  the  production  as  a  demonstration  in 
destruction  for  the  folks  who  like  their  killings 
in  multiple. 

Bela  Lugosi  plays  the  murderer  with  polish 
and  without  makeup,  keeping  the  film  in  the 
province  of  plausibility  when  he  is  on  the 
screen.  It  gets  out  of  that  area  now  and  again 
when  others  are  carrying  the  action. 

The  film  is  a  Sam  Katzman-Jack  Dietz  pro- 
duction directed  by  Wallace  Fox  from  a  script 
by  Gerald  Schnitzer  and  with  Barney  A. 
Sarecky  as  associate  producer.  It  is  designed 
to  give  the  murder  fans  a  workout  and  does. 

Previewed  at  Monogram  studio  to  a  trade- 
press  audience.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — 
W.  R.  W. 

Release  date,  October  30,  1942.  Running  time,  63 
min.    PCA  No.  8899.    General  audience  classification. 

Professor    Brenner  Bela  Lugosi 

Richard  Dennison  John  Archer 

Judy    Malvern  Wanda  McKay 

Tom  Neal,  Vince  Barnett.  Anna  Hope,  Tohn  Berkes, 
J.  Farrell  MacDonald,  Dave  O'Brien,  Lucille  Vance, 
Lew  Kelly.  Wheeler  Oakman,  Ray  Miller. 


Sin  Town 

(Universal) 
Outdoor  Special 

Another  in  the  series  of  high  budget  outdoor 
action  pictures  Universal  is  releasing,  "Sin 
Town"  tells  the  story  of  two  bunco  artists,  one 
a  man  and  the  other  a  woman,  working  to- 
gether until  their  business  and  romantic  part- 
nership hits  the  rocks  in  an  oil  boom  town. 
Constance  Bennett  and  Brod  Crawford  enact 
the  principal  roles,  with  support  being  given  by 
Anne  Gwynne,  Patric  Knowles,  Andy  Devine, 
Leo  Carrillo,  Ward  Bond,  Arthur  Aylesworth, 
Ralf  Harolde,  Charles  Wagenheim,  Billy 
Wayne,  Hobart  Bosworth,  Bryant  Washburn 
and  Jack  Mulhall. 

Ray  Enright  directed  with  George  Waggner 
attending  to  production  with  vigor,  giving  full 
play  to  the  violent  emotions.  W.  Scott  Darling 
and  Gerald  Geraghty  wrote  the  original  screen- 
play ;  Richard  Brooks,  additional  dialogue. 

The  partnership  of  the  man  and  the  woman 
dissolves  temporarily  when  he,  becoming  half 
owner  of  the  boom  town's  chief  gambling  and 
drinking  parlors,  falls  in  what  he  thinks  is  love 
with  the  daughter  of  a  newspaper  editor  the 
criminal  element  has  murdered.  In  reality,  he 
is  being  used  as  a  dupe  by  the  leader  of  the 
town's  gang  who  seeks  to  pin  crimes  on  him. 
During  the  story,  two  lynchings  are  averted,  a 
prolonged  fist  fight  takes  place,  and  the  forces 
of  law  and  order  clash  with  those  of  crime. 

Seen  in  a  projection  room  at  the  Universal 
studio,  Hollywood.  Reviewer's  rating:  Good. 
— V.  K. 

Release  date,  Sept.  25.  1942.  Running  time.  73  min. 
PCA  No.  8576.    Adult  audience  classification. 

Kye  Allen  Constance  Bennett 

Dude   McNair  Brod  Crawford 

Laura   Kirby  Anne  Gwynne 

Wade  Crowell  Patric  Knowles 

Andy  Devine,  Leo  Carrillo,  Ward  Bond,  Arthur 
Aylesworth.  Ralf  Harolde.  Charles  Wagenheim,  Billy 
Wayne,  Hobard  Bosworth,  Bryant  Washburn,  Jack 
Mulhall. 


Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the 
Cabbage  Patch 

(Paramount) 
Slapstick  and  Sentiment 

Alice  Hegan  Rice's  story  of  the  indomitable 
Mrs.  Wiggs  and  her  struggle  to  raise  five  chil- 
dren in  the  Cabbage  Patch  has  found  an  audi- 
ence for  each  of  its  several  screen  versions, 
and  it  is  possible  that  the  latest  Paramount  re- 
vival will  be  equally  fortunate.  The  basic  drama 
of  a  courageous  mother,  the  charm  of  five  inno- 
cent children,  the  elemental  comedy  of  a  hus- 
band-seeking spinster,  the  romantic  interest  of 
a  struggling  young  physician  are  all  there 
again.  But  the  popularity  of  the  book  is  with 
an  older  generation  who  may  go,  out  of  senti- 
ment, and  find  it  in  abundance,  not  with  the 
youngsters  for  whom  it  was  originally  intended. 

Fay  Bainter  has  strength  and  charm  as  Mrs. 
Wiggs  and  makes  a  valiant  attempt  to  put  for- 
ward the  timeless  quality  of  the  heroine.  But  I 
few  others  in  the  cast  make  the  effort.  Hugh 
Herbert  and  Vera  Vague  seem  intent  on  proy-  J 
ing  that  an  old  gag  never  dies,  while  the  chil-J 
dren  speak  their  lines  in  the  manner  reserved  jj 
for  entertainments  put  on  for  grown-ups. 

Three  writers  are  credited  with  the  screen 
play,  Doris  Anderson,  William  Slavens  Mc-J 
Nutt  and  Jane  Storm.  They  have  preserved  jj 
much  of  the  original  flavor  of  the  book  and  the 
play  by  Anne  Flexner,  making  one  concession! 
to  time  in  substituting  the  Children's  Protec- 
tive Society  for  the  wicked  mortgage-holder  a: 
chief  menace.  Sol  C.  Siegel  produced  and  Ralpl 
Murphy  directed. 

Previewed  in  the  home  office  projectiot 1 
room    Reviewer's  Rating :  Poor — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,   Block  2.   Running  time,  80  minute,' 
PCA  No.  8140.  General  audience  classification. 

Mrs.  Elvira  Wiggs    Fay  Bainte 

Miss  Tabita  Hazy    Vera  Vagu 

Marcus   Throckmorton  Hugh   Herbei  I 

Europena    Carolyn  Le 

Barbara  Britton,  John  Archer,  Betty  Brewer,  Mar 
Thomas,  Billy  Lee,  Carl  "Alfalfa"  Switzer. 


October    3,  1942 

The  Falcon's  Brother 

(RKO  Radio) 
Mystery  Melodrama 

The  original  "Falcon"  bows  out  of  the  series 
in  this  film  as,  heroically  saving  a  South  Amer- 
ican diplomat  from  death,  he  himself  is  killed. 
The  adventures  will  be  continued  for  the 
"Falcon's"  brother  is  taking  over,  as  he  did  for 
the  greater  part  of  this  picture.  The  film  is 
about  on  a  par  with  the  others  of  the  series, 
which  means  that  it  provides  an  hour's  pleasant 
entertainment. 

The  passing  of  George  Sanders  as  the  ama- 
teur criminologist  brings  in  his  place  Tom 
Conway,  a  newcomer  who  greatly  resembles 
him  in  voice  and  manner.  For  George  Sanders 
and  Tom  Conway  (Thomas  Charles  Sanders) 
are  brothers  in  real  life  as  well.  Tom  does  a 
neat  imitation  of  brother  George  but  shows 
promise  also  of  an  individual  personality. 

The  direction  by  Stanley  Logan  keeps  the 
picture  flowing  smoothly  and  the  humor  writ- 
ten into  the  script  takes  care  of  the  lulls.  The 
action  starts  on  a  boat,  shifts  to  a  dressmaking 
establishment  and  winds  up  at  a  New  England 
shore  town.  The  plot  involves  Axis  agents 
and  counter-espionage  South  American  agents. 
The  agents  are  no  match  for  the  "Falcon"  or 
his  brother.  Jane  Randolph  is  the  girl  fashion 
reporter  who  becomes  the  shadow  of  the  broth- 
er, for  it  is  he  who  manages  most  of  the  de- 
tecting. 

Reviewed  at  the  RKO  Radio  exchange  in 
New  York.  Reviewer' s  Rating :  Good. — P.  C. 
M.  Jr. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  63  min.  PCA 
No.  8573.  General  audience  classification. 

Gay  Lawrence    George  Sanders 

Tom  Lawrence    Tom  Conway 

Marcia    Brooks  Jane  Randolph 

Don  Barclay,  Cliff  Clark,  Edward  Gargan,  Eddie 
Dunn,  Charlotte  Wynters,  James  Newill,  Keye  Luke, 
Amanda  Varela.  George  Lewis,  Gwili  Andre,  Andre 
Chariot,  Mary  Halsey,  Charles  Arndt. 


The  Yanks  Are  Coming 

(Producers  Releasing) 
Musical  Comedy 

Stocked  with  five  song  numbers  that  stay  on 
in  memory  as  tunes  of  the  times  to  be  whistled 
or  danced  to,  this  comedy  of  enlistees  and 
bandsmen  is  a  triumph  of  score  over  budget 
and  pleases  beyond  the  promise  of  its  price. 

The  numbers  are  "The  Yanks  Are  Coming," 
"I  Must  Have  Priorities  On  Your  Heart," 
"There  Will  Be  No  Blackout  of  Democracy" 
and  "Zip  Your  Lip,"  with  music  by  Lew  Pol- 
lack and  Tony  Stern  and  lyrics  by  Herman 
Ruby  and  Sidney  Claire,  and  "Don't  Fool 
Around  With  My  Heart,"  by  Kay  Crothers 
and  Dr.  Arthur  Garland. 

Henry  King  and  his  band  perform  the  num- 
bers, participating  also  in  the  story,  which  is 
about  the  staging  of  a  show  for  the  men  in  the 
service.  King,  Jackie  Heller,  Mary  Healy,  Wil- 
liam Roberts  and  Maxie  Rosenbloom  are  the 
principals  featured. 

Production  is  by  Lester  Cutler,  reflecting 
sagacity  in  planning  and  execution,  with  C.  A. 
Beute  acting  as  associate  and  Alex  Thurn- 
Taxis  directing.  Stern,  Pollack,  Edward  Kaye, 
.  Arthur  St.  Claire,  Sherman  Lowe  and  Edith 
Watkins  share  credit  for  the  script. 

Previewed  at  Talisman  studio  to  a  press  and 
professional  audience  which  responded  approv- 
ingly to  the  musical  numbers  and  to  some  of 


the  comedy.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — 
"  W.  R.  W. 

Release  date,  October  12.  1942.  Running  time.  65 
imin.    PCA  No.  8728.    General  audience  classification. 

Gil  Whitney  Henry  King 

Rita  ^  Edwards  Mary  Healy 


Jackie  Heller,  Maxie  Rosenbloom,  William  Roberts. 
Parkyakarkus.  Dorothy  Dare,  Lynn  Starr.  Jane 
Novak,  Charles  Purcell,  Forrest  Taylor,  David 
tVBrien,  Lew  Pollack. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Reviews  received  too  late  for 
this  Section  are  printed  in  the 
regular  news  pages  of  the 
Herald  and  are  reprinted  the 
following  week  in  Product 
Digest  for  their  reference  value. 


The  Sombrero  Kid 

(Republic) 
Western 

Although  suffering  from  a  somewhat  com- 
plicated plot,  this  picture  should  hold  the  in- 
erest  of  the  average  Western  fan  who  demands 
action. 

Don  "Red"  Barry  is  the  hero  in  this  tale. 
He  first  turns  up  as  one  of  the  two  sons  of 
Robert  Homans,  who  is  cheated  of  his  mine  by 
a  banker.  Homans  is  then  killed  at  the  bank- 
er's instigation  and  his  will  names  Barry  as 
the  son  of  an  outlaw.  Barry  then  becomes  an 
outlaw,  until,  with  the  aid  of  his  foster  brother, 
he  rights  all  the  wrongs. 

The  plot  is  complicated  by  several  other  ele- 
ments, some  of  which,  it  would  seem,  could 
have  been  saved  for  some  other  Western  pic- 
ture. There  are  the  requisite  number  of  gun 
battles  and  the  usual  number  of  fist  fights  ex- 
pected in  pictures  of  this  type. 

In  addition  to  Barry,  John  James,  Joel  Fried- 
kin  and  Rand  Brooks  have  the  principal  roles ; 
Lynn  Merrick  has  a  trivial  part  as  the  ingenue. 
George  Sherman  was  associate  producer  and 
director. 

A  morning  audience  at  the  New  York  theatre 
snickered  once  or  twice.  Reviewer's  Rating: 
Fair. — Bob  Wile. 

Release  date,  July  31,  1942.  Running  time,  56  min. 
PCA  No.  8570.    General  audience  classification. 

Jerry  Holden  Don  "Red"  Barry 

Dorothy    Russell  Lynn  Merrick 

Tommy   Holden  John  James 

Joel  Friedkin,  Rand  Brooks.  Robert  Homans,  Stuart 
Hamblen,  Bob  McKenzie,  Slim  Andrews,  Stanford 
Jolley,  Frank  Brownlee,  Anne  O'Neal. 

A  Yank  in  Libya 

(Producers  Releasing  Corp.) 

Synthetic  Action 

The  synthetic  plot  which  handicaps  this  effort 
will  tax  the  imagination  even  of  the  audiences 
who  are  looking  only  for  action.  The  acting 
and  direction  are  all  that  could  be  expected  of 
the  story. 

The  picture  revolves  around  a  Libyan  village 
peopled  by  Arabs.  Although  the  war  is  al- 
ready under  way,  there  is  a  British  consul 
there.  The  fact  that  Libya  was  an  Italia^  pos- 
session is  quite  ignored.  Sheik  David  is  trying 
to  keep  a  peace  treaty  he  made  with  the  British, 
while  Sheik  Ibrahim  is  attempting  to  incite  the 
natives  to  rise  with  the  assistance  of  Germany. 
The  badly  labored  climax  comes  when  British 
troops  defend  the  village  against  the  Arabs. 

H.  B.  Warner  is  miscast  as  a  silly-ass  Eng- 
lishman. It's  a  small  role  but  he  is  billed  as  a 
star.  Walter  Woolf  King  overplays  the  role 
of  an  American  reporter.  Joan  Woodbury  is 
the  ingenue  and  Parkyarkarkus  has  a  comedy 
role.  George  M.  Merrick  produced ;  Albert 
Herman  directed  from  an  original  story  and 
screenplay  by  Arthur  St.  Claire  and  Sherman 
Lowe. 

Seen  at  the  New  York  theatre  before  an 
audience  attracted  by  the  title,  the  picture  was 
received  in  stony  silence.  Reviewer's  Rating ; 
Poor.—R.  A.  W. 

Release  date,  July  24,  1942.  Running  time,  67  min. 
PCA  No.  8495.     General  audience  classification. 

Herbert  Forbes  H.  B.  Warner 

Mike  Malone  Walter  Woolf  King 

Nancy  Brooks  Joan  Woodbury 

Benny  Sykes   Parkyarkarkus 

Duncan  Renaldo,  George  Lewis,  William  Vaughn, 
Howard  Banks,  Amarilla  Morris. 


Thunder  Rock 

(Charter  Film-Metro) 
Social  Fantasy  Drama 

Conversational  dramas — particularly  those 
based  on  or  inspired  by  stage  plays — need  to 
be  something  more  than  disquisitory  to  reach 
the  broad  and  general  public  of  the  motion 
picture  theatre.  It  is  highly  to  the  credit  of 
John  and  Roy  Boutling  that  this  adaptation 
of  Robert  Ardrey's  play  is  emphatically  mo- 
tion picture  art  and  motion  picture  entertain- 
ment of  a  most  unusual  quality. 

The  theme  is  discursive  and  the  subject  mat- 
ter serious,  but  thanks  to  an  imaginative  screen- 
play by  Jeffrey  Dell  and  Bernard  Miles,  and 
to  the  sensitive  directorial  hand  of  Roy  Boult- 
ing,  the  picture  is  also  an  emotional  and  dra- 
matic bullseye. 

It  has  a  topical  flavor  for  all  its  philosophical 
profundities,  and  its  performances  are  Grade 
One.  The  absence  of  any  audience-drawing 
star  names  is,  of  course,  a  disadvantage  to  the 
showman,  but  its  unusual  character  and  quality, 
plus  any  repute  the  play  may  have  acquired, 
suggest  exploitable  factors.  It  certainly  will 
stir  word  of  mouth  publicity,  although  prob- 
ably not  among  the  patrons  of  Old  Mother 
Riley  and  Tom  Tyler. 

"Thunder  Rock"  is  a  lighthouse  on  Lake 
Michigan,  where  a  disenchanted  newspaperman 
has  sought  refuge  from  the  follies  and  futilities 
of  the  world.  There  he  creates  in  his  mind 
dream  characters  from  the  log  of  a  ship  wrecked 
there  90  years  ago,  people  who  have  left  the 
Old  World  for  the  New,  to  seek  solace  and 
sanity. 

In  their  life  stories,  and  in  his  own  reaction 
to  them,  he  finds  again  faith  in  life,  learns  that 
for  all  its  follies  humanity  ever  goes  forward 
to  a  greater  future.  It  is  a  fascinating  theme, 
provocative  and  purposeful.  Although  the 
people  of  Charleston's  dream  world  are  mere 
fantasies,  there  is  no  sentimentality  or  cheap- 
ness in  Bouting's  treatment  of  the  situation. 
There  is  strong  emotional  punch  in  their  stories, 
and  plenty  of  social  commentary.  Flashes  of 
Fascist  braggadocio  and  appeasement  link  the 
theme  with  today.  The  net  conclusion  is  op- 
timistic rather  than  defeatist. 

Telling  the  story  and  weaving  the  pattern, 
Boutling  has  kept  his  subject  a  motion  picture 
and  his  touch  shows  great  imagination  and 
much  sensibility.  Mutz  Greenbaum's  camera 
work  is  flawless  and  the  sets  and  costumes 
without  a  fault. 

Michael  Redgrave  and  Barbara  Mullen,  he 
as  the  disenchanted  Charleston,  and  she  as  an 
early  Victorian  feminist,  are  best  known  of  the 
cast,  but  Frederick  Valk  as  the  persecuted 
Vienna  doctor,  Findlay  Currie  as  Captain 
Joshua,  and  Lilli  Palmer  as  his  daughter,  are 
no  less  moving  in  their  portrayals. 

Metro  has  done  well  to  sponsor  the  picture, 
which  is  without  doubt  one  of  the  prestige  pro- 
ductions of  the  year,  a  prestige  built  not  only 
on  its  production  and  entertainment  qualities 
but  no  less  on  its  high  moral  and  intellectual 
flavor. 

Despite  111  minutes  of  screening  the  film 
obznously  enchanted  a  normal  trade  audience 
although  there  was  criticism  of  its  verbose 
opening.  The  emotional  passages  drove  home 
with  both  sexes.  Whether  the  film  is  box  of- 
fice in  the  accepted  sense  was  the  major  con- 
sideration among  exhibitors,  but  that  it  zvill 
attract  and  stimulate  great  attention  and  that 
it  enriched  the  screen  few  seemed  to  doubt. 
Reviewers  Rating:  Excellent. — Aubrey  Flana- 
gan. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time.  Ill  min. 
Adult   audience  classification. 

David    Charleston  Michael  Redgrave 

Ellen   Kirby  Barbara  Mullen 

Streeter  James  Mason 

Melanie  Lilli  Palmer 

Findlay  Currie.  Frederick  Vaulk.  Sybilla  Binder. 
Frederick  Cooper,  Tean  Shepeard.  Barry  Morse. 
George  Carney.  Miles  Malleson.  Bryan  Herbert. 
James  Pirrie.  A.  E.  Matthews.  Olive  Sloane,  Tommy 
Dugan,  Tony  Quinn,  Harold  Anstruther.  Alfred 
Sangster. 


Product  Digest  Section  935 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,     !  942 


ADVANCE  SYNOPSES 

and  inform  a  Hon 


SHADOW  OF  A  DOUBT 
(Universal) 

Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  Jack  H.  Skirball.  Directed  by  Alfred 
Hitchcock. 

PLAYERS:  Teresa  Wright,  Joseph  Cotten,  Mac- 
donald  Carey,  Henry  Travers,  Patricia  Collinge, 
Edna  May  Wonnacott. 

SYNOPSIS 

The  synopsis  of  "Shadow  of  a  Doubt"  reads 
like  typical  Hitchcock  fare.  To  a  little  Cali- 
fornia town  comes  a  man  to  visit  his  brother, 
sister-in-law  and  their  daughter.  The  town 
grows  to  like  the  stranger  who  builds  an  addi- 
tion to  the  local  hospital  and  is  looked  upon  as 
a  force  for  good.  Two  strangers  show  up  later, 
and  appear  interested  in  his  movements.  The 
man's  niece  discovers  that  the  public  benefac- 
tor is  a  murderer,  and  prevails  upon  the  two 
strangers,  who  are  detectives,  to  arrest  him 
outside  the  city  so  that  the  people's  faith  is  not 
destroyed.  The  killer  knows  his  niece  has  found 
him  out,  and  also  knows  that  she  will  not  ex- 
pose him.  The  struggle  between  them  goes 
on,  all  but  the  two  policemen  unaware  of  it. 

Miss  Wright  is  one  of  the  Stars  of  Tomor- 
row, as  selected  by  exhibitors  through  the 
Motion  Picture  Herald  poll. 

GENTLEMAN  JIM 
(Warner  Bros.) 

Biography  of  James  Corbett 

PRODUCER:  Robert  Buckner.  Directed  by  Raoul 
Walsh. 

PLAYERS:  Errol  Flynn,  Alexis  Smith,  Jack  Carson, 
Alan  Hale,  John  Loder,  Dorothy  Vaughn,  Ward 
Bond,  Arthur  Shields. 

SYNOPSIS 

From  many  a  printed  biography  of  the  late 
James  J.  Corbett,  from  many  newspaper  files 
and,  finally,  from  the  accountings  of  persons 
still  living  who  knew  the  fighter  at  first  hand, 
has  been  assembled  a  life  story  considered  as 
nearly  authentic  as  need  be  without  limiting 
unnecessarily  the  devices  of  screen  entertain- 
ment. 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
MARK  TWAIN 
(Warner  Bros.) 

Biography 

PRODUCER:  Jesse  Lasky.  Directed  by  Irving 
Rapper. 

PLAYERS:  Fredric  March,  Alexis  Smith,  Donald 
Crisp,  Alan  Hale,  John  Carradine. 

SYNOPSIS 

Author  Mark  Twain's  life  is  brought  to  the 
screen  for  the  first  time  in  this  Warner  produc- 
tion by  Jesse  L.  Lasky,  whose  last  cinematic 
endeavor  was  "Sergeant  York,"  another  biogra- 
phy. Including  much  Americana,  the  picture 
traces  the  tragic  life  of  Samuel  L.  Clemens, 
whose  nom  de  plume  was  Mark  Twain.  It  takes 
form  through  his  misfortunes,  and  his  happy 
moments,  from  his  love  for  his  wife,  to  the 
death  of  his  son,  his  gaining  of  fortune  and 
his  bankruptcy.  Painstaking  effort  in  authen- 
ticity of  Americana  was  made. 


AIR  FORCE 
(Warner  Bros.) 

War  Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  Hal  B.  Wallis.  Directed  by  Howard 
Hawks. 

PLAYERS:  John  Garfield,  Gig  Young,  George 
Tobias,  John  Ridgely. 

SYNOPSIS 

Filmed  in  full  cooperation  with  the  military 
authorities  and  without  restraint  in  the  matter 
of  subject  material  which  governed  production 
prior  to  American  entry  into  the  war,  this  pro- 
duction undertakes  to  portray  to  the  screen 
public  the  branch  of  the  service  named  in  the 
title  as  it  exists  and  functions  today,  all  as 
background  to  a  fictional  narrative  naturally. 

FOREVER  YOURS 
(Universal) 

War  Comedy-Drama,  with  Music 

PRODUCER:  Bruce  Manning.  Directed  by  Jean 
Renoir. 

PLAYERS:  Deanna  Durbin,  Edmund  O'Brien,  Barry 
Fitzgerald. 

SYNOPSIS 

In  her  return  to  the  screen  after  a  long  ab- 
sence Deanna  Durbin  is  seen  as  a  young  teacher 
stationed  in  the  Pacific  war  zone  who  returns 
with  a  boatload  of  survivors  to  San  Francisco. 
A  romance  with  an  aviator  which  begins  in  the 
Pacific  is  concluded  on  the  mainland  of  the 
United  States  at  the  picture's  end. 

DR.  RENAULT'S  SECRET 
(20+h  Century- Fox) 

Horror  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Sol  Wurtiel.  Directed  by  Harry 
Lachman. 

PLAYERS:  John  Shepperd,  Lynne  Roberts,  J.  Carrol 
Naish,  George  Zucco. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  20th  Century-Fox's  first  horror  pic- 
ture, at  least  in  recent  years.  It  is  about  a 
scientist  who  through  an  operation  transforms 
an  ape  into  a  caricature  of  a  man.  The  creature 
than  falls  in  love  with  the  doctor's  daughter 
and  vies  with  a  young  man  for  her. 

SILVER  QUEEN 
(Paramount) 

Costume  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Harry  Sherman.  Directed  by  Lloyd 
Bacon. 

PLAYERS:  George  Brent,  Priscilla  Lane,  Bruce 
Cabot,  Lynne  Overman,  Eugene  Pallette,  Eleanor 
Stewart,  Janet  Beecher,  Guinn  Williams. 

SYNOPSIS 

Against  a  background  of  old  San  Francisco 
and  New  York,  the  film  tells  the  story  of  a 
society  girl  who  determines  to  wipe  out  the 
family  debts.  Her  equipment  is  a  natural  gift 
of  sleight-of-hand  and  of  handling  men.  The 
men  in  question  are  principally  George  Brent 
and  Bruce  Cabot. 


THAT  OTHER  WOMAN 
(20th  Century- Fox) 

Comedy-Drama 

PRODUCER:  Walter  Morosco.  Directed  by  Ray 
McCarey. 

PLAYERS:  Lynn  Bari,  James  Ellison,  Janis  Carter, 
Dan  Duryea. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  concerns  the  efforts  of  a  pretty  stenog- 
rapher, in  love  with  her  boss,  to  make  him 
cognizant  of  her.  To  her  dismay,  he  is  un- 
moved, until  a  farcical  climax. 

CASABLANCA 
(Warner  Bros.) 

War  Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  Hal  B.  Wallis.  Directed  by  Michael 
Curtii. 

PLAYERS:  Ingrid  Bergman,  Humphrey  Bogart, 
Claude  Rains,  Paul  Henried,  Conrad  Veidt. 

SYNOPSIS 

An  unproduced  play  by  Murray  Burnett  and 
Joan  Ellison,  entitled  "Everybody  Comes  to 
Rick's,"  furnished  the  material  for  this  treat- 
ment of  a  widespread  war  problem.  "Rick's"  is 
a  house  in  French  Morocco  to  which  come  war 
refugees  for  safety  and  assistance.  A  variety 
of  individual  stories  is  woven  into  the  whole. 

KEEPER  OF  THE  FLAME 
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

Drama 

PRODUCER:  Victor  Saville.  Directed  by  George 
Cukor. 

PLAYERS:  Spencer  Tracy,  Katharine  Hepburn, 
Donald  Meek,  Frank  Craven. 

SYNOPSIS 

As  the  story  opens,  an  American  patriot  is 
murdered  under  mysterious  circumstances. 
Tracy  as  a  newspaperman  tracks  down  clues 
leading  to  his  death,  and  finds  that  the  man's 
wife,  played  by  Miss  Hepburn,  had  sent  him 
knowingly  to  his  fate.  Clues  point  to  the  fact 
that  the  so-called  patriot  was  in  league  with  the 
Nazis,  and  the  secret  is  kept  by  both.  This 
re-teams  the  starring  pair  of  "Woman  of  the; 
Year." 

THE  UNDYING  MONSTER 
(20th  Century -Fox) 

Horror  Story 
PRODUCER:  Bryan  Foy.  Directed  by  John  Brahm. 
PLAYERS:  John  Howard,  James  Ellison,  Aubrey 
Mather,  Heather  Angel. 

SYNOPSIS 

Mysterious  murders  near  a  large  lodge  in 
England  arouse  the  suspicions  of  Scotland  Yard 
and  the  apprehensions  of  the  village  folk  as  to. 
the  truth  of  the  existence  of  the  Hammond 
legend  which  says  that  all  the  male  members  oi 
the  Hammond  family  inherit  the  traits  of  a  I 
werewolf.  With  all  the  accoutrements  of  s 
horror  story — secret  passages,  clanking  chains 
eerie  figures,  the  story  is  unfolded  to  a  clima> 
which  has  the  murderer,  in  wolf  form,  slair 
and  then  turn  back  to  a  human  being  in  deatli 


936     Product  Digest  Section 


October    3,    I  9  4  2  MOTION    PICTURE  H-ERALD 

FEATURES 

in  order  of  releases,  as  set. 
also  others  to  come 


COLUMBIA 

Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

  Counter    Espionage   Sep.  3,'42 

 The  Spirit  of  Stanford  Sep.  10, '42 

....  A   Han's   World  Sep.  I7,'42 

  Lucky  Legs   Oct.  1/42 

  Riding  Through  Nevada  Oct.  1/42 

 The  Daring  Young  Man  Oct.    8, '42 

  The  Lone  Prairie  Oct,  13/42 

 Smith   of   Minnesota  Oet.  15, '42 

 You  Were  Never  Lovelier  Oct  22/42 

 The  Boogie  Man  Will  Get 

Yea   Oct  29/42 

  The    Cover    Girl  Nut  Set 

....  Stand  By  All  Networks  Not  Set 

  A  Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Not  Set 

  Law  of  the  Badlands  Not  Set 

  Boston  Blaekie  Goes 

Hollywood   Not  Set 

  The   Fighting   Buckaroo  Not  Set 

  Laugh  Your  Blues  Away  Not  Set 

 Something  to  Shout  About. .  .Not  Set 

  Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn ...  Net  Set 

....  Underground  Agent   Not  Set 

....  Law  of  the  Northwest  Not  Set 

....  How   Do  Yon  Do  Not  Set 

 The  Frightened  Stiff  Not  Set 

  Ride,    Mountie    Ride  Not  Set 

 Junior    Generals  Not  Set 

....  City  Without  Men  Not  Set 

 Silver  City   Raiders  Not  Set 

 The    Desperados  Not  Set 

  Hail  to  the  Rangers  Not  Set 

—  One   Dangerous   Night  Not  Set 

  Merry  Go  Round  Not  Set 

  Power  of  tfie  Press  Not  Set 

. ...  13  Stens  to  Heaven  Not  Set 

MGM 

302  Tisn   Sep. -Oct.  '42 

305  A  Yank  at  Eton  Sep. -Oct. '42 

306  The  War  Against 

Mrs.   Hadley   Sep. -Oct.  '42 

307  Cairo   Sep.- Oct.  '42 

308  Seven  Sweethearts   Sep. -Oet.  '42 

.  Apache  Trail   Sep. -Oct.  '42 

...  Somewhere  I'll  Find  You ..  .Sep. -Oet.  '42 

.  Panama  Hattie   Sep. -Oet.  '42 

..  For  Me  and  My  Gal  Sep. -Oet.  '42 

•  •-  Eyes  in  the   Night  Sep. -Oet.  '42 

...  White  Cargo   Sep. -Oct  '42 

..  Omaha  Trail   Sep. -Oct.  '42 

...  Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  Not  Set 

...  Random  Harvest   Not  Set 

...  Reunioo   Not  Set 

...  Journey  for  Margaret  Not  Set 

...  Whistling  in  Dixie  Not  Set 

■  •  Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant.  Not  Set 

  Presenting  Lily  Mars  Not  Set 

  Lassie,  Come  Home  Not  Set 

  Keeper  of  the  Flame  Not  Set 

...Tennessee  Johnson   Not  Set 

...  Northwest  Rangers   Not  Set 

Pilot  No.  5  Not  Set 

...  Cargo  of  Innocents   Not  Set 

...  Assignment  in   Brittany  Not  SEt 

...  Cabin  in  the  Sky  Not  Set 

•  ■•  Du  Barry  Was  a  Lady  Not  Set 

•  •-  Three  Hearts  for  Julia  Not  Set 

...  The   Human   Comedy  Not  Set 

...  Nothing   Ventured   Not  Set 

MONOGRAM 

•■■  One  Thrilling  Night  Jane  5/42 

■••  Isle  of  Missing  Men  Sept.  18/42 

■  Foreign  Agent   Oct  9/42 

-     Texas   to   Bataau  Oet  16/42 

■  ■•  Criminal  Investigator   Oct.  23/42 

Bowery  at  Midnight  Oet  30/42 


frod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

....  West  of  the   Law  Nov.  2/42 

....  War  Dogs   Nov.  13/42 

  'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge  Nov.  20/42 

  The  Living  Ghost  Nov.  27/42 

  Rhythm  Parade   Not  Set 

  Dead  Men  Don't  Ride  Not  Set 


PARAMOUNT 

Block  I 

....  Wake  Island   

  The  Major  and  the  Mnior. . 

 The  Glass  Key  

  Wildcat   

  Priorities  on  Parade  

Block  2 

....  Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  

  Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage 

Patch   

....  Read  ts  Morocco   

 Street  of  Chance  

....  The   Forest  Rangers   


  American  Empire   Not  Set 

  Palm  Beieh  Story  Net  Set 

....  I  Married  i  W'.tth  Not  8et 

  My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy. .  Not  Set 

  Young  and  Willing  Not  Set 

. ...  Happy  Go  Lucky  Not  Set 

  Border  Patrol   Not  Set 

  Wrecking  Crew   Not  Set 

. .  Silver  Queen   Not  Set 

  Great  Without  Glory  Not  Set 

  For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Not  Set 

. ...  Lady   Bodyguard   Not  Set 

  No  Time  for  Love  Not  Set 

  Missing  Men   Not  Set 

  Submarine  Alert   Not  Set 

  Lost  Canyon   Not  Set 

  Leather  Burners   Not  Set 

  Star  Spanoled  Rhythm  Not  Set 

  The  Crystal  Ball  Not  Set 

  Lucky  Jordan   Not  Set 

  Hoppy  Serves  a  Writ  Not  Set 

  Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour. .  Not  Set 

  Buckskin  Frontier   Not  Set 

  High   Explosive   Not  Set 

  Night  Plane  to  Chungking  Not  Set 

  True  to  Life  Not  Set 

PRODUCERS  REL 
CORP. 

...  Baby  Face  Morgan  Sep.  15/42 

...  Tomorrow   We   Live  Sep.  29/42 

...  The  Yanks  Are  Coming  Oet.  12/42 

...  City  of  Silent  Men  Oet  26/42 

...  Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed  Nov.  9/42 

...  Miss  V  from   Moscow  Nov.  23/42 

...  Boss  of  Big  Town  Dee,  7/42 

...  A  Night  for  Crime  Not  Set 

...  Permit  to    Kill  Not  Set 

...  Dead    Men   Walk  Not  Set 

RKO 

...  The    Magnificent   Ambersons.  .July  10/42 

...  The  Big  Street  Sep.  4/42 

...  Mexican  Spitfire's   Elephant.  .Sep.  11/42 

...  Wings  and  the  Woman  Sep.  18/42 

...  Bandit    Ranger   Sep.  25/42 

...  Highways  by  Night  Oet  2/42 

...  Here  We  Go  Again  Oet  9/42 

...  Journey  Into  Fear  Not  Set 

...  Army  Surgeon   Not  Set 


...  Seattergood  Survives  a  Murder  Not  Set 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  The  Navy  Comes  Through  Not  Set 

..  Pride  of  the  Yankees  Not  Set 

...  Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  Not  Set 

...  The  Faleon'i  Brother   Not  Set 

...  Seven   Days   Leave  Not  Set 

...  Ladies  Day   Not  Set 

...  Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz  Not  Set 

...  Cat  People   Not  Set 

...  Tarzan  Triumphs   Not  Set 

...  Stand  By  to  Die  Not  Set 

. . .  Bombardier   Not  Set 

...  The   Great  Gildersleeve  Not  Set 

...  They  Got  Me  Covered  Not  Set 

REPUBLIC 

201  Hi,  Neighbor  July  27/42 

271  Sombrero  Kid   July  31/42 

202  The  Old  Homestead   Aug.  17/42 

261  Shadows  on   the  Sage  Aug.  24/42 

203  Youth  on  Parade  Oet.  24/42 

272  Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge  Oet.  27/42 

204  X  Marks  the  Spot  Nov.  4/42 

...  Ice-Capades  Revue   Not  Set 

...  Johnny  Doughboy   Not  Set 

...  The   Crooked    Circle  Not  Set 

...  Secrets  of  the  Underground ...  Not  Set 
...  Heart  of  the  Golden  West  Not  Set 

20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

Block  I 

301  Footlight  Serenade   Aug.  1/42 

302  A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  Aug.  7/42 

303  Little  Tokyo,   U.S.A. ....... .Aug.  14/42 

304  The    Pied    Piper  Aug.  21/42 

305  Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe  Aug.  28/42 

Block  2 

303  Orchestra  Wives   Sep.  4/42 

311  Berlin  Correspondent   Sep.  11/42 

312  Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  Sep.  18/42 

310  Just   Off   Broadway  Sep.  25/42 

306  Iceland   Oet.  2/42 

Block  3 

...  Tales  of   Manhattan  Not  Set 

Block  4 

309  Girl   Trouble   Oet.  9/42 

314  Manila  Calling   Oct  16/42 

315  The   Man   in  the  Trunk  Oet  23/42 

316  The  Young  Mr.  Pitt  Oet.  30/42 

317  Springtime  in  the  Rockies. ..  Nov.  6/42 

Block  5 

...  Thunder   Birds   Nov.  13/42 

...  Dr.  Renault's  Secret  Nov.  20/42 

...  The  Black  Swan  Nov.  27/42 

...  The  Undying  Monster  Dee.  4/42 

...  That  Other  Woman  Dec  11/42 

...  The  Ox-Bow  Incident  Net  Set 

...  China  Girl   Not  Set 

...  He  Hired  the  Boss  Not  Set 

...  My   Friend   Flieka  Not  Set 

.  ..  Crash  Dive   Not  Set 

...  Life  Begins  at  8:30  Not  Set 

...  The  Meanest  Man  in  the 

World   Not  Set 

...  Over  My  Dead  Body  Not  Set 

...  Brasher  Doubloon   Not  Set 

...  Quiet  Please,  Murder  Not  Set 

...  Dixie   Dugan   Not  Set 

...  Seventh  Column   Not  Set 

UNITED  ARTISTS 

. . .  One  of  Our  Aircraft 

Is  Missing   Not  Set 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  Love  oi  the  Dele  Net  Set 

...  The  Keys  of  the  Kingdom  Not  Set 

...  The  Mean  end  Sixpence  Not  Set 

..    Mr.   i   Mrs.   Brooklyn  Not  Set 

...The  Devil  with  Hitler  Not  Set 

. . .  Calaboose   Not  Set 

...  The  Big  Blockade   Not  Set 

...  Taxi,   Mister   Not  Set 

...  Prairie  Chlekens   Not  Set 

...  Fall   In   Not  Set 

...  Nazty  Nuisance   Not  Set 

. . .  JaearS   Not  Set 

UNIVERSAL 

  Between  Us  Girls  Sep.  4/42 

7021  Give  Out  Sisters  Sep.  11/42 

"035  Half  Way  to  Shanghai  Sep.  18/42 

7020  Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  

of  Terror   Sep.  18/42 

  Sin  Town   Sep.  25/42 

7071  Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas.. Sep.  25/42 

  Get   Hep  to   Love  Oet  2/42 

7030  Destination  Unknown   Oet  9/42 

....  Moonlight  in  Havana  Oet.  16/42 

 Arabian  Nights   Oet.  30/42 

7072  Little  Joe  the  Wrangler  Nov.  13/42 

  Nightmare   Not  Set 

  Forever  Yours   Not  Set 

 The  Great  Impersonation  Not  Set 

  Destiny   Net  Set 

 Strictly  In  the  Grove  Not  Set 

  The  Mummy's  Tomb   Not  Set 

  Who  Done  It?  Not  Set 

  Off  the   Beaten  Track  Not  Set 

  Raiders  of  San  Joaquin  Not  Set 

  Night  Monster   Not  Set 

  On  the  Beam  Not  Set 

 Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Not  Set 

  Flesh  and   Fantasy  Not  Set 

 Tenting  Tonight  on  the  Old 

Camp  Ground   Not  Set 

 The  Old  Chisholm  Trail  Not  Set 

 Sherlock  Holmes  in 

Washington   Not  Set 

  Passing  the  Buck  Not  Set 

  Corvettes  In  Action  Not  Set 

  White  Savage   Not  Set 

....  Pittsburgh   Not  Set 

  Cheyenne  Roundup   Not  Set 

WARNER  BROS. 

202  Across  the  Paeifle  Sep.  5/42 

203  Busses  Roar   Sep.  19/42 

204  Desperate  Journey   Sep.  26/42 

207  You  Can't  Escape  Forever  Oet  10/42 

205  Secret  Enemies   Oet  17/42 

206  Now,  Voyager   Oet  31/42 

...  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  Not  Set 

..  The  Hard  Way   Not  Set 

..  George  Washington  Slept  Here.NotSet 

..  Casablanca   Not  Set 

..  Gentleman  Jim   Not  Set 

..  Watch  on  the  Rhine  Not  Set 

..  Princess  O'Reurke   NotSet 

..  Adventures  of  Mark  Twain ...  Not  Set 

...  Flying  Fortress   NotSet 

...  The  Hidden  Hand   NotSet 

...  Arsenie  and  Old  Lace  NotSet 

...  Edge  of  Darkness  NotSet 

  The  Mysterious  Doctor  NotSet 

..  The  Desert  Song   NotSet 

. .  Air    Force   Not  Set 

..  The  Constant  Nymph   NotSet 

...  Action  in  the  North  Atlantic.  Not  Set 

...  Murder    on    Wheels  NotSet 

...  Background  to   Danger  NotSet 

...  One   More  Tomorrow  NotSet 

...  Mission  to  Moscow  NotSet 

...  The  Gorilla  Man  NotSet 


1 


Product  Digest  Section  937 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,    I  942 


Here  We  Co  Again 

(RKO  Radio) 
Radio  Talent  Parade 

Designed  to  attract  and  entertain  radio  listen- 
ers, this  amassing  of  microphone  personalities 
presents  them  in  material  which  is  practically  an 
extension  of  their  several  and  varied  air  wave 
programs. 

It  opens  with  Fibber  McGee  and  Molly  at 
home  in  Wistful  Vista  doing  and  saying  the 
things  they  do  on  their  network  show.  Later 
they  join  their  intimates,  Gildersleeve,  Wimple 
and  Mr.  Uppington,  elsewhere,  in  somewhat 
less  typical  adventures,  but  in  character. 

Edgar  Bergen,  Charlie  McCarthy  and  Mor- 
timer Snerd,  later  also  Ray  Noble  and  band 
pursue  separate  courses  to  the  same  destina- 
tion and  converge  with  the  McGees  upon  a 
story  which  is  no  more  strain  upon  the  imagi- 
nation than  most  radio  comedy  material.  Ginny 
Sims  is  an  additional  entry,  singing  some  and 
figuring  in  a  romance  with  Bergen. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. 

Fibber  McGee  and  Molly,  Edgar  Bergen,  Charlie  Mc- 
Carthy, Mortimer  Snerd,  Ginny  Simms,  Roy  Noble 
and  his  orchestra. 

Complete  review  published  August  29,  1942 

Tish 

(M  etro-Goldwyn-Mayer  ) 
Corn  for  the  Customers 

Marjorie  Main  in  the  title  role,  flanked  by 
Zasu  Pitts  and  Aline  MacMahon,  portrays  the 
small  town  spinster  with  a  whim  of  iron  and  a 
genius  for  mismanaging  other  people's  affairs. 
For  most  of  the  distance  these  three  entertain 
at  quasi-slapstick  predicated  upon  efforts  to 
promote  a  match  between  young  people  who  are 
in  love  but  not  with  each  other.  Toward  the 
end  the  picture  turns  serious  when  a  quirk  of 
circumstances  puts  a  baby  into  custody  of 
"Tish"  under  conditions  which  impel  her  to 
claim  it  as  her  own  in  the  belief  that  she  is 
shielding  loved  ones.  A  touch  of  war  colors 
the  picture  at  this  point,  accounting  for  the 
clarification  of  issues  which  restores  to  "Tish"' 
her  command  of  all  she  surveys. 

Performances  by  all  hands,  production  by 
Orville  O.  Dull,  direction  by  S.  Sylvan  Simon 
and  the  script  by  Harry  Ruskin  are  all  in  the 
interests  of  broad  strokes  crudely  drawn  with 
the  likings  of  the  multitude  in  consideration. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. 

Tish   Marjorie  Main 

Aggie   Zasu  Pitts 

Lizzie   Aline  MacMahon 

Susan  Peters,  Lee  Bowman,  Guy  Kibbee,  Virginia 
Grey,  Richard  Quine,  Ruby  Dandridge,  Al  Shean. 

Complete  review  published  July  2  5,  1942 

Highways  by  Night 

(RKO  Radio) 
Gangsters  and  Truckers 

RKO  Radio  presents  two  of  its  newcomers, 
Richard  Carlson  and  Jane  Randolph,  in  this 
story  adapted  from  Clarence  Buddington  Kel- 
land's  Saturday  Evening  Post  serial,  "Silver 
Spoon."  They  acquit  themselves  well  in  a 
story  that  has  sufficient  action  to  hold  interest, 
despite  its  lack  of  expansive  treatment. 

The  problem  is  an  old  one,  the  transforma- 
tion of  a  young  millionaire  into  a  man. 

It  leads  to  complications  with  gangsters,  and 
the  necessity  of  trying  to  make  his  way  under 
a  new  name.  He  takes  a  job  with  the  Fogarty 
family,  truckers  who  are  fighting  racketeers. 

Herman  Schrom  was  the  producer.  Peter 
Godfrey's  direction  is  routine  and  the  dialogue 
and  screenplay  do  not  improve  the  Kelland 
original.  The  comedy  does  not  measure  up  to 
the  action. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Mediocre. 

Tommy  Van  Steel  Richard  Carlson 

Peggy  Fogarty  Jane  Randolph 

Grandma    Fogarty  Jane  Darwell 

Leo  Bronson  Barton  MacLane 

Ray  Collins.  Renee  Hall,  Gordon  Jones.  John  Maguire. 

Complete  review  published  August  8,  1942 


Tabloid  Reviews 

Reviews  appearing  on  this  page  are 
condensed  versions  of  previous  re- 
views of  1942-43  product  appearing 
in  Product  Digest  prior  to  the  issue 
of  September  5,  1942.  They  are  car- 
ried for  their  reference  value. 


The  Old  Homestead 

(Republic  ) 
Comedy  with  Music 

This  should  be  just  down  the  alley  of  the  fans 
of  homespun  humor.  Featuring  the  Weaver 
Brothers  and  Elviry,  and  a  capable  supporting 
cast  of  Dick  Purcell,  Jed  Prouty,  Anne  Jef- 
freys, Maris  Wrixon,  Robert  Conway  and  Linda 
Brent,  "The  Old  Homestead"  presents  "El- 
viry" as  the  mayor  a  small  town  and  her 
husband  as  the  chief  of  police.  A  crime  wave 
starts  and  the  mayor  makes  a  deal  with  a  city 
gangster  to  clean  out  the  local  criminals,  think- 
ing that  when  that  is  accomplished  she  can  rid 
the  town  of  a  new  crop  of  crooks.  However, 
she  becomes  implicated  in  the  mess  herself,  but 
her  husband  manages  to  straighten  out  matters. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. 

Abner   Leon  Weaver 

Cicero   Frank  Weaver 

Elviry   June  Weaver 

Dick  Purcell,  Jed  Prouty,  Anne  Jeffreys,  Maris 
Wrixon,  Robert  Conway,  Linda  Brent. 

Complete  review  published  August  29,  1942 

The  Magnificent  Ambersons 

(RKO  Radio) 

Late  Victorian  Tragedy 

Producer  -  director  -  screenplaywright,  Orson 
Welles  has  assembled  an  excellent  cast  for  a 
famous  story  by  a  popular  author.  He  has 
produced  it  with  striking  sets  and  fine  photo- 
graphic effects.  But  the  total  impression  of 
"The  Magnificent  Ambersons"  is  somehow  less 
than  the  sum  of  its  parts. 

George  Amberson,  the  spoiled  son  of  a  de- 
clining fortune,  remains  arrogant  and  selfish 
long  past  the  endurance  of  the  audience,  al- 
though presumably  not  of  the  women  who  love 
him.  Their  long-suffering  understanding,  too, 
evokes  little  sympathy.  The  essential  tragedy 
of  the  son  of  wealth  and  a  loveless  marriage, 
who  has  been  coddled  by  his  mother  and  en- 
couraged by  his  family,  seems  of  another  era 
and  not  to  be  seriously  considered  today. 

With  all  this,  an  unusual  and  intelligently- 
chosen  cast  has  performed  admirably. 

George   Tim  Holt 

Isabel   Dolores  Costello 

Eugene   Joseph  Cotten 

Anne  Baxter,  Agnes  Moorehead,  Ray  Collins,  Erskine 
Sanford,  Richard  Bennett,  Don  Dillaway. 

Complete  review  published  July  4,  1942 

Little  Tokyo,  USA 

(Twentieth  Century  -  Fox) 
Los  Angeles  Spy  Hunt 

Preston  Foster  plays  a  detective  in  Los  An- 
geles' Little  Tokyo,  who  senses  schemes  afoot 
in  November,  1941.  His  clues  lead  to  Taki- 
mura  (Harold  Huber),  an  importer  who  has 
just  returned  from  Tokyo  to  head  the  coast 
spying.  Foster  suspects  a  secret  radio  station. 
But  influential  Japanese  contrive  his  transfer 
to  another  precinct  on  the  eve  of  Pearl  Harbor. 

There  is  a  framework  of  fast  action  in 
George  Bricker's  screenplay.  But  it  is  lost 
under  snail-pace  dialogue  and  excessive  detail. 
Otto  Brower  directed  this  Bryan  Fov  produc- 
tion 

Michael  Steele  Preston  Foster 

Maris   Hanover  Brenda  Toyce 

Takimura   Harold  Huber 

Don  Douglas,  June  Duprez.  George  E.  Stone.  Abner 
Biberman,  Charles  Tannen,  Frank  Orth, 

Complete  review  published  July  11,  1942 


Call  of  the  Canyon 

(Republic) 
Western 

This  is  one  of  the  best  Gene  Autry  has  made, 
which  is  by  way  of  saying  that  it  is  a  very  good 
picture.  Listed  as  a  special  by  Republic,  the 
production  shows  the  extra  effiort  and  attention 
given  it  and  profits  thereby.  It  has  the  usual 
western  igredients,  plus  comedy  and  song. 

The  purely  western  part  of  the  story  is  con- 
cerned with  a  fight  between  the  cattlemen,  led 
by  Autry,  and  a  racketeering  purchasing  agent 
of  a  large  packing  company.  The  cattlemen  re- 
fuse to  sell  their  cattle  to  the  price  cutting  pur- 
chasing agent  and  trail  herd  their  stock  across 
country.  This  leads  to  violence  and  a  death  be- 
fore the  criminals  are  caught.  The  other  part 
of  the  plot  has  to  do  with  Miss  Terry,  who 
herds  her  radio  troupe  to  the  Autry  ranch  in 
an  effort  to  sell  a  western  radio  program  to 
the  big  meat  packer. 

Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. 

Gene   Gene  Autry 

Frog   Smiley  Burnette 

The  Sons  of  the  Pioneers,  Ruth  Terry.  Thurston 
Hall,  Joe  Strauch,  Jr.  Cliff  Nazarro.  Dorothea  Kent. 

Complete  review  published  August  22,  1942 


Apache  Trail 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ) 
Lloyd  Nolan  in  a  Western 

MGM  has  prepared  a  screen  antidote  for  mid- 
summer and  war  headline  blues  which  film 
patrons  are  going  to  like.  They've  set  producer 
Samuel  Marx,  director  Richard  Thorpe  and  a 
good  cast  of  feature  players  to  work  on  a  fast- 
moving  adventure  picture  with  Lloyd  Nolan,  fu- 
gitive from  a  long  series  of  thug  and  killer 
parts,  in  the  role  of  a  bad  man  of  the  West. 

In  "Apache  Trail"  he  plays  "Trigger"  Bill, 
outlaw  and  bandit  who  attempts  to  steal  a  gold 
shipment  from  a  Wells  Fargo  stagecoach  post 
situated  in  the  heart  of  Apache  Indian  territory. 
Bill's  brother,  played  by  William  Lundigan,  is 
head  of  the  post.  The  two,  representing  opposite 
poles  of  the  social  and  moral  code,  are  mutually 
distrustful  of  each  other. 

Nolan  and  Lundigan  are  good  in  their  parts ; 
Miss  Reed  does  not  have  very  much  to  do  and 
is  additionally  impeded  by  a  Spanish  accent  with 
which  she  struggles.  Miss  Ayars  makes  the 
most  of  her  role  and  gives  a  creditable  per- 
formance. 

"Trigger"  Bill  Lloyd  Nolan 

Rosalia  Martinez  Donna  Reed 

Tom  Folliard  William  Lundigan 

Constance  Selden  '  Ann  Ayars 

Connie  Gilchrist,  Miles  Mander,  Gloria  Holden,  Grant 
Withers,  Fuzzy  Knight. 

Complete  review  published  June  27,  1942 


Wildcat 

(Paramount) 
Oil  Melodrama 

This  is  a  mild  melodrama  that  never  quite 
reaches  the  goal  obviously  set  for  it.  That  goal 
was  suspense,  the  kind  to  keep  the  audience  on 
its  toes  as  the  "wildcatters"  have  one  misfor- . 
tune  after  another  in  bringing  in  their  oil  well. 

Arlen  plays  a  penniless  oil  man  who  puts  on 
a  big  front  with  an  expensive  car  and  big  talk. 
With  a  hitch-hiker,  Elisha  Cook,  Jr.,  that  he 
picked  up,  Arlen  sets  out  to  drill  for  oil,  obtain- 
ing the  necessary  money  and  equipment  through 
his  impressive  talk.  The  trouble  commences  at 
once.  Cook  dies  in  an  accident  at  the  derrick, 
which  brings  Arline  Judge  to  the  oil  camp 
posing  as  the  dead  man's  sister  in  order  to 
claim  his  50  per  cent  in  the  well. 

Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. 

Johnny  Maverick  Richard  Arlen 

Nan  Dearing  Arline  Judge 

Oliver  Westbrook  William  Frawley 

Mike  Rawlins  Buster  Crabbe 

Arthur  Hunnicutt,  Elisha  Cook,  Jr.,  Ralph  Sanford. 
Complete  review  published  August  29,  1942 


938     Product  Digest  Section 


October    3,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 


Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product. 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail- 
able. Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change. 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers' 
Round  Table  Exploitation. 


All  page  numbers  on  this  chart  refer  to  pages  in  the 
PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 
on  pages  924-925. 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 
by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  937. 


Title 


Company 


Prod. 
Number 


•  ABOUT  Face 

UA-Roach 

Across  the  Pacific 

WB 

202 

Action  in  the  North  Atlantic  WB 

Adventures  of  Mark  Twain 

WB 

•Affairs  of  Martha,  The 

MGM 

245 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force 

WB 

•Alias  Boston  Blackie 

Col. 

3029 

A-Haunting  We  Will  Go 

20th-Fox 

302 

•  Almost  Married 

Univ. 

6024 

American  Empire 

Para. 

Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out 

MGM 

Apache  Trail 

MGM 

Arabian  Nights 

Univ. 

•Are  Husbands  Necessary? 

Para. 

4131 

Arizona  Stagecoach 

Mono. 

Army  Surgeon 

RKO 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace 

WB 

•  Atlantic  Convoy 

Col. 

3045 

BABY  Face  Morgan 

PRC 

317 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills 

Col. 

3207 

•  Bambi  (color) 

RKO 

Bandit  Ranger 

RKO 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The 

RKO 

221 

•  Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

(formerly  Kukan) 

Battle  for  Siberia 

Artkino 

•Beachcomber,  The 

Para. 

4139 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano 

Rep. 

Berlin  Correspondent 

20th-Fox 

31  i 

Between  Us  Girls 

Univ. 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses,  Caroline) 
•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)   Para.  4130 
♦Big  Shot,  The  WB  135 

Big  Street,  The  RKO 
|« Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order    PRC  261 
♦Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns        PRC  260 

Black  Swan,  The  (color)  20th-Fox   

•Blondie's  Blessed  Event  Col.  3018 

•Blondie  for  Victory  Col.  3019 

Bombardier  RKO  .... 

•Bombs  Over  Burma  PRC  208 

•Boothill  Bandits  Mono. 

Boogie  Man  Will  Get  You,  The  Col. 

Boss  of  Big  Town  PRC 
•Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa  Univ. 
|  Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood  Col. 
;  Bowery  at  Midnight  Mono. 
'Bride  of  Buddha  Hoffberg 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 
'Broadway  Univ.  6009 

Busses  Roar  WB  203 


CAIRO  MGM 

Calaboose  UA  .... 

Call  of  the  Canyon  Rep.  131 

Calling  Dr.  Gillespie  MGM  247 

Careful,  Soft  Shoulder  20th-Fox  312 

Cargo  of  Innocents  MGM   

(formerly  Clear  for  Action) 

Casablanca  WB 

Cat  People  RKO  .  .  .  . 


Release 

Stars  Date 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer  Apr.  I7,'42 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor  Sept.  5, '42 

Humphrey  Bogart-Raymond  Massey  Not  Set 

Fredric  March-Alexis  Smith  Not  Set 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson  Aug.  '42 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young  Not  Set 

Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara  Apr.  2,'42 

Laurel  and  Hardy  Aug.  7,'42 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee  May  22, '42 

Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo  Not  Set 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone  Not  Set 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed  Sept.-Oct.,"42 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall  Oct.  30,'42 

Ray  Milland-Betty  Field  Block  7 

The  Range  Busters  Sept.  4,'42 

James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt  Not  Set 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

John  Beal-Virginia  Field  July  2,'42 


Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell  Sept.  1 5, '42 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Aug.  1 3, '42 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon  Aug. 2 1, '42 

Tim  Holt  Sept.  25/42 

Lum  and  Abner  Apr.  24, '42 

Chinese  Feature  Not  Set 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin  Aug.  26, '42 

Charles  Laughton  Reissue 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Sept.  1 5, '42 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore  Sept.  1 1, '42 
Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings       Sept.  4, '42 


Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 
Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 
Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne 
Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 
Corrigan-King-Terhune 
Boris  Karloff-Peter  Lorre 
John  Litel-Florence  Rice 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 
Bela  Lugosi-John  Archer 
R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 
Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 


Block  6 
June  13, '42 
Sept.  4, "42 
Aug.  2 1. '42 
May  29,'42 
Nov.  27,'42 
Apr.  9,'42 
Aug.  6,'42 
Shirley  Not  Set 
June  5, '42 
Apr.  24.'42 
Oct.  29,"42 
Dec.  7,'42 
Aug.  2 1, '42 
Not  Set 
Oct.  30,'42 
Apr.  22,'42 

May  8,'42 
Sept.  19/42 


Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Aug.  5, '42 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn  Aug.,  '42 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison  Sept.  18/42 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor  Not  Set 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

Simone  Simon-Tom  Conway  Not  Set 


Running 
Time 

43  m 
98m 


66m 


67m 
67m 
65m 


66m 


r—  REVIEWED  — < 

M.  P.       Product  Advance 

Herald       Digest  Synopsis 

Issue  Page  Page 

Apr.  18/42  612 

Aug.  22/42       927  726 

936 
613 

936 
575 


May  23/42  673 


July  11/42 
Mar.  7/42 


927 
554 


66m  June  27/42  938 
79m       June  ii/42  714 


July  1 1/42  765 


871 
796 
726 
872 
663 

70  i 

751 


65m 

July  25/42 

903 

70m 

May  30/42 

685 

77m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

487 

61m 

July  5/41 

840 

90m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

89m 

Nov.  26/38 

911 

73m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

70m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

797 

89m 

Aug.  29/42 

890 

772 

76m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

80m 

June  6/42 

714 

648 

87m 

,    Aug.  8/42 

902 

701 

58m 

58m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

648 

855 

69m 

July  4/42 

750 

575 

70m 

772 

912 

65  m 

July  18/42 

781 

648 

58m 

613 

Service 
Data 
Page 


756 


873 


795 


795 
756 


58m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

794 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

75m 

May  13/33 

634 

91m 

May  9/42 

645 

756 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

903 

101m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

71  m 

Aug.  22/42 

938 

800 

84m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

873 

69  m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

871 

936 


Product  Digest  Section 


939 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,  1942 


Title 

China  Girl 
City  of  Silent  Men 
•Come  On,  Danger 
Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn 
Constant  Nymph,  The 

•  Corpse  Vanishes,  The 
Corvettes  in  Action 
Counter  Espionage 
Cover  Girl,  The 
Crash  Dive 
Criminal  Investigator 

•Crossroads 
Crystal  Ball,  The 

•  Cyclone  Kid,  The 


Prod. 

Company  Number 

20th-Fox 

PRC  308 
RKO  285 
Col. 
WB 
Mono. 
Univ. 
Col. 
Col. 
20th-Fox 
Mono. 
MGM  244 

Para  

Rep.  177 


Release 

Stars  Date 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney  Not  Set 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang  Oct.  26,'42 

Tim  Holt  June  5, '42 

Paul  Muni-Lillian  Gish  Not  Set 

Charles  Boyer-Joan  Fontaine  Not  Set 

Bela  Lugosi  May  8, '42 

Patric  Knowles-Dick  Foran  Not  Set 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Sept.  3, '42 

Jinx  Falkenberg-Rifa  Hayworth  Not  Set 

Tyrone  Power-Anne  Baxter  Not  Set 

Robert  Lowery-Jan  Wiley  Oct.  23, '42 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr  July,  '42 

Paulette  Goddard-Ray  Milland  Not  Set 

Don  "Red"  Barry  May  3 1, '42 


r—  REVIEWED  \ 

M.  P.       Product  Advance 

Running         Herald       Digest  Synopsis 

Time             Issue         Page  Page 


64m       Sept.  I2,'42  898 


63m        Apr.  I8,"42  61 


872 


871 


84m  June27,'42  737  663 
56m       Aug.  i5,'42       840  701 


Service 
Data 
Page 


873 


•DANGER  in  the  Pacific 

Univ. 

6056 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

July  I0,'42 

61m 

Aug.  8,'42 

827 

Daring  Young  Man,  The 

Col. 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 

Oct.  8/42 

871 

Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'l 

Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 

Not  Set 

98m 

May  23.'42 

673 

Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Sept.  25.'42 

62  m 

Sept.  I2,'42 

898 

Desert  Song,  The 

WB 

Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 

Not  Set 

872 

Desperados,  The 

Col. 

Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 

Not  Set 

871 

•  Desperate  Chance  for  Eilery  Queen  Col. 

3032 

William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 

May  7.'42 

70m 

Sept.  5,'42 

890 

Desperate  Journey 

WB 

204 

Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 

Sept.  26,'42 

107m 

Aug.  22/42 

915 

Destination  Unknown 

Univ. 

7030 

Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 

Oct.  9,'42 

9\2 

Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 

Not  Set 

•  Devil's  Trail,  The 

Col. 

3214 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

May  I4,'42 

61m 

715 

•Dr.  Broadway 

Para. 

4128 

Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 

Block  6 

67m 

May  9,'42 

646 

527 

Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant 
Dr.  Renault's  Secret 

MGM 

Lionel  Barrymore-Van  Johnson 

Not  Set 

20th-Fox 

Lynn  Roberts-John  Shepperd 

Nov.  20,'42 

936 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way 

Col. 

3205 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Apr.  23,'42 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

•  Down  Texas  Way 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

May  22,'42 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo 

Univ. 

6040 

Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 

July  17/42 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

•  EAGLE  Squadron 

Edge  of  Darkness 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Eilery  Queen 
•Escape  from  Crime 

•  Escape  from  Hong  Kong 
Eyes  in  the  Night 


Univ. 

Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 

Not  Set 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Ann  Sheridan 

Not  Set 

Col. 

3038 

Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan 

July  30/42 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

WB 

137 

Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 

July  25/42 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

Univ. 

6054 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 

May  15/42 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

MGM 

Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

873 


•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•  Fantasia  (color)  (Revised)  RKO 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 
(British) 

Flesh  and  Fantasy  Univ. 

•  Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 
Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 

•  Flying  Tigers  Rep. 
Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 
Foreign  Agent  Mono. 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 
Forest  Rangers,  The  Para. 
Forever  Yours  Univ. 
For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 
For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Para. 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French)  English 

•  Friendly  Enemies  UA 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 


227 

George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari 

May  29/42 

63m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph 

Not  Set 

63m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

871 

William  Tracy-Jean  Porter 

Not  Set 

796 

292 

Disney-Stokowski 

Apr.  10/42 

81m 

Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

6065 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

War  Documentary 

Not  Set 

37m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

232 

Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day 

Apr.  '42 

80m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven 

Not  Set 

1 18m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Charles  Boyer-Barbara  Stanwyck 

Not  Set 

3012 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford 

July  9/42 

78  m 

June  27/42 

75  i 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

68m 

June  27/42 

914 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee 

Oct.  8/42 

102m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

301 

John  Payne-Betty  Grable 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  11/42 

915 

7i5 

John  Shelton-Gail  Storm 

Oct.  9/42 

64m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder 

Not  Set 

90m 

May  2/42 

634 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard 

Block  2 

87m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

Deanna  Durbin-Edmond  O'Brien 

Not  Set 

936 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

104m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman 

Not  Set 

855 

Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco 

Apr.  1 1/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles 

June  26/42 

95m 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

255 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis 

Sept.  4/42 

60m 

590 


873 


756 


•  GAY  Sisters,  The 

WB 

138 

Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent 

Aug.  1/42 

108m 

June  6/42 

697 

663 

873 

•General  Died  at  Dawn,  The 

Para. 

4140 

Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll 

Reissue 

93  m 

Sept.  12/36 

911 

Gentleman  Jim 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith 

Not  Set 

936 

George  Washington  Slept  Here  WB 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan 

Not  Set 

93  m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

871 

Get  Hep  to  Love 

Univ. 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige 

Oct.  2/42 

77m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The 

Rep. 

i  17 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker 

Apr.  16/42 

75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Girl  Trouble 

20th-Fox 

309 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett 

Oct.  9/42 

82m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

855 

•  Give  Out,  Sisters 

Univ. 

7021 

Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies 

Sept.  1 1/42 

65  m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Glass  Key,  The 

Para. 

Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan 

Ladd       Block  1 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

914 

•  Gold  Rush,  The 

UA 

Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music 

Apr.  17/42 

72m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

795 

Goose  Steps  Out,  The 

Ealing-UA 

Will  Hay 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

(British) 

•  Grand  Central  Murder 

MGM 

237 

Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 

May.  '42 

72m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

756 

Great  Impersonation,  The 
•Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Univ. 

Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 

Not  Set 

912 

Para. 

4121 

Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea 

Block  5 

90m 

Mar.  21/42 

561 

396 

795 

940     Product  Digest  Section 


October    3 .    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Title 

Great  Without  Glory 
•  Guerrilla  Brigade 


Prod. 
Company  Number 

Para  

Artkino  .... 


Stars 

Joel  MeCrea-Bet+y  Field 
Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat 


Release 
Date 

Not  Set 
Apr.  13/42 


Running 
Time 

73  m 


r-  REVIEWED  — < 
M.  P.  Product 

Herald  Digest 
Issue  •  Page 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 

912 


Apr.  I8,'42  612 


Service 
Data 
Page 


HALF  Way  to  Shanghai  Univ. 

Happy  Go  Lucky  Para. 

Hard  Way,  The  WB 
He  Hired  the  Boss  20th-Fox 

•  Hello  Annapolis  Col. 
Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  Para. 
Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour  Para. 

•  Henry  and  Dizzy  Para. 

•  Her  Cardboard  Lover  MGM 
Here  We  Go  Again  RKO 
Hidden  Hand,  The  WB 
Highways  by  Night  RKO 

•  Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg  Mono. 
Hi!  Neighbor  Rep. 

•  Holiday  Inn  Para. 

•  Home  in  Wyomin'  Rep. 

•  House  of  Errors  PRC 
How  Do  You  Do?  Col. 


7035 

11  C1IB     1  IVIfSI  IXBIII      l  Ojlw 

Sept.  18, '42 

62m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee 

Not  Set 

797 

Ida  Lu p i n o-Den nis  Morgan 

Not  Set 

97m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

Stuart  Erwin-Evelyn  Venable 

Not  Set 

3037 

Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown 

Apr.  23,'42 

62m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  2 

72m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

663 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Not  Set 

4125 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  5 

71m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

443 

241 

Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor 

June  '42 

90m 

May  30/42 

686 

648 

Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie' 

Oct.  9/42 

76m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser 

Not  Set 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph 

Oct.  2,'42 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

938 

715 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan 

Aug.  I4,'42 

63m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

794 

201 

Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker 

July  27/42 

72m 

July  25/42 

927 

772 

4134 

Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire 

Block  7 

101m 

June  13/42 

713 

663 

146 

G.  Autry-S.  Burnette 

Apr.  20/42 

67m 

May  2/42 

633 

216 

Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers 

Apr.  10/42 

65m 

539 

Jinx  Falkenberg-Bert  Gordon 

Not  Set 

795 


ICE-Capades  Revue 

Rep. 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague 

Not  Set 

797 

Iceland 

20+h-Fox 

306 

Sonja  Henie-John  Payne 

Oct.  2/42 

79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

•  1  Live  on  Danger 

Para. 

4135 

Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker 

Block  7 

73m 

June  13/42 

7I3 

•  1  Married  an  Angel 

MGM 

238 

Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonald 

June  '42 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 

873 

1  Married  a  Witch 

Para. 

Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake 

Not  Set 

797 

•  In  Old  California 

Rep. 

io3 

John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes 

May  31/42 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

•  Inside  the  Law 

PRC 

218 

Wallace  Ford 

May  8/42 

97m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

6I3 

•  In  This  Our  Life 

WB 

132 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland 

May  16/42 

97m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

795 

•  Invaders,  The  (British) 

Col. 

3101 

Howard-Massey-Olivier 

Apr.  15/42 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

•  Invisible  Agent 

Univ. 

6049 

llona  Massey-Jon  Hall 

July  31/42 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

Isle  of  Missing  Men 

Mono. 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland 

Sept.  18/42 

67m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

772 

•It  Happened  in  Flatbush 

20th-Fox 

248 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

June  5/42 

80m 

May  30/42 
Apr.  11/42 

686 

674 

•  1  Was  Framed 

WB 

130 

Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop 

Apr.  25/42 

61m 

599 

574 

•  JACKASS  Mail 

•  Joan  of  Ozark 
Johnny  Doughboy 
Journey  for  Margaret 
Journey  Into  Fear 

•Juke  Girl 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color) 

•  Jungle  Siren 

Just  Off  Broadway 


MGM 

243 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main 

July  '42 

80m 

June  20/42 

726 

715 

795 

Rep. 

104 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  25/42 

793 

Rep. 

Jane  Withers-Patrick  Brook 

Not  Set 

MGM 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day 

Not  Set 

912 

RKO 

Joseph  Cot+en-Dolores  Del  Rio 

Not  Set 

69m 

Aug.  8/42 

903 

796 

WB 

i33 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan 

May  30/42 
Apr.  3/42 

90m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

597 

464 

873 

UA 

Sabu 

1  15m 

Mar.  28/42 

573 

396 

873 

PRC 

203 

Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe 

Aug.  14/42 

68m 

20th-Fox 

310 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

Sept.  25/42 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

KEEPER  of  the  Flame  MGM 

•  Kid  Glove  Killer  MGM  230 

••King  of  the  Stallions  Mono.  .... 

•Kings  Row  WB  120 


LADIES'  DAY  RKO 

•Lady  Gangster  WB  134 

•Lady  in  a  Jam  Univ.  6008 

Lady  Bodyguard  Para.  .... 

•Land  of  the  Open  Range  RKO  284 

•Larceny,  Inc.  WB  131 

Laugh  Your  Blues  Away  Col. 

Let  the  People  Sing  (British)  Anglo 

•Let's  Get  Tough  Mono. 

Life  Begins  at  8:30  20th-Fox 

.  Little  Joe,  the  Wrangler  Univ. 

Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A.  20th-Fox  303 

Lone  Prairie,  The  Col  

•Lone  Rider  in  Border  Roundup      PRC  266 

•Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice  PRC  265 

■  Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The  20th-Fox  305 

Lucky  Jordan  Para  

Lucky  Legs  Col  

•Lure  of  the  Islands  Mono.  .... 


Spencer  Tracy-Katharine  Hepburn  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt  Apr.  '42 

Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien  Sept.  11/42 

Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings  Apr.  18/42 


Lupe  Velez-Eddie  Albert-Max  Baer  Not  Set 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop  June  6/42 

Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles  June  19/42 

Eddie  Albert-Anne  Shirley  Not  Set 

Tim  Holt  Apr.  17/42 

Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman  May  2/42 

Bert  Gordon-Margaret  Lindsay  Not  Set 

Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney  Not  Set 

East  Side  Kids  May  29/42 

Monty  Woolley-lda  Lupino  Not  Set 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Nov.  13/42 

Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce  Aug.  14/42 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills  Oct.  15/42 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John  Sept.  18/42 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John  June  21/42 

John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell  Aug.  28/42 

Alan  Ladd-Helen  Walker  Not  Set 

Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris  Oct.  1/42 

Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery  July  3/42 


60m 
67m 


61m 


74m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

495 

873 

63  m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

800 

130m 

Dec.  27/41 

429 

320 

705 

62m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

574 

83m 

July  4/42 

749 

613 

795 

60m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

95m 

Mar.  7/42 

538 

795 

100m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

62  m 

May  16/42 

662 

648 

64m         July  11/42 


938 


July  I  1/42  914 


751 

797 
800 


MAD  Martindales,  The 

20th-Fox 

245 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray 

May  15/42 

65m 

Apr.  18/42 

622 

Mad  Monster,  The 

PRC 

209 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel 

May  15/42 

79m 

June  6/42 

699 

613 

Magnificent  Ambersons,  The 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello 

July  10/42 

88m 

July  4/42 

938 

507 

756 

Magnificent  Dope,  The 

20+h-Fox 

249 

Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari 

June  12/42 

84m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

873 

'Maisie  Gets  Her  Man 

MGM 

240 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 

June  '42 

86m 

May  30/42 

687 

648 

756 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The 

Para. 

Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland 

Block  1 

100m 

Aug.  29/42 

927 

Male  Animal,  The 

WB 

126 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland 

Apr.  4/42 

101m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

464 

795 

Man  in  the  Trunk,  The 

20th-Fox 

315 

Lynne  Roberts-George  Holmes 

Oct.  23/42 

71m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

855 

Manila  Calling 

20th-Fox 

314 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

Oct.  16/42 

81m 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

871 

Product  Digest  Section  941 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3,  1942 


Title 

Com  party 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The 

20th-Fox 

243 

Man's  World,  A 

Col. 

Meanest  Man  in  the  World 

20th-Fox 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St. 

RKO 

224 

•  Meet  the  Mob 

Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts 

Col. 

3014 

•  Men  of  San  Quentin 

PRC 

201 

•  Men  of  Texas 

Univ. 

6010 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant 

RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

•  Miss  Annie  Rooney 

UA 

Miss  V  from  Moscow 

PRC 

•  Mississippi  Gambler 

Univ. 

6034 

•  Mokey 

MGM 

231 

Moonlight  in  Havana 

Univ. 

•  Moonlight  Masquerade 

Rep. 

120 

•  Moon  Tide 

20th-Fox 

247 

Moon  and  Sixpence,  The 

UA 

Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Rep. 
Mr.  &  Mrs.  Brooklyn  UA-Roach 

•  Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 
Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House  WB 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 

•  My  Favorite  Spy  RKO 
My  Friend  Flicka  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•  My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 

•  Mystery  of  Marie  Roget  Univ. 


Prod.  Release 

Stars  Date 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver  May   I, '42 

M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright  Sept.  I7,'42 

Jack  Benny-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley  May  1 5, '42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 

William  Holden-Frances  Dee  May  28, '42 

J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston  May  22, '42 

Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne  July  3,'42 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  Sept.  I  I  ,'42 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  June  26/42 

Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan  May  29/42 

Lola  Lane-Noel  Madison  Nov.  23/42 

Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford  Apr.  17/42 

Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed  Apr... '42 

Allan  Jones-Jane  Frazee  Oct.  16/42 

Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr.  June  10/42 
Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains     May  29/42 

George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall  Not  Set 

....  Documentary  Aug.  15/42 
....        Arline  Judge-Max  Baer-William  Bendix       Not  Set 

260        Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon  Not  Set 

....         Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee  Block  2 

....         Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox  Not  Set 

125        Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson  Apr.  11/42 

4123        Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  Block  5 

228        Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew  June  12/42 

....         Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster  Not  Set 

244        Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature  May  8/42 

....         Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll  Not  Set 

  Rosalind  Russell-B  rian  Aherne  Sept.  30/42 

6022        Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez  Apr.  3/42 


Running 
Time 


r-  REVIEWED  -> 

M.  P.  Product  Advance 
Herald  Digest 

Issue  Page 


Service 
Synopsis  Dtta 


Page 


65m        Apr.  18/42 


610 


Page 


86m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

487 

62  m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

73m 

May  23/42 

674 

705 

/om 

Apr.  1 8,  'ki 

L  I  ft 

610 

82m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

773 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

915 

69  m 

May  9,  42 

646 

635 

873 

85m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

873 

60m 

Apr.  18/42 

oil 

DO  

88m 

Mar.  in,  4/ 

574 

67m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

94m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

795 

89m 

Sept.  12/42 

912 

55m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

133m 

May  16/42 

66  i 

527 

795 

80m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

663 

59m 

Apr.  11/42 

598 

575 

78m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

561 

542 

756 

86m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

873 

103m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

795 

87  i 

96m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

772 

61m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

507 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The 

•  Native  Land 

'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge 

Next  of  Kin,  The  (British) 

Nightmare 

Night  for  Crime,  A 

•  Night  in  New  Orleans 
Northwest  Rangers 

•  North  of  the  Rockies 
•Not  a  Ladies  Man 

No  Time  for  Love 
Now,  Voyager 


OFF  the  Beaten  Track 
Old  Homestead,  The 
Omaha  Trail 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 
Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  RKO 
One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British)  UA 
One  Thrilling  Night  Mono. 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 
Orchestra  Wives  20th-Fox 

•  Orders  from  Tokyo  Almo 
Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge  Rep. 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood  Col. 
Ox-Bow  Incident,  The  20th-Fox 
Ox  Train  MGM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 


RKO 

Frontier 

Mono. 

Ealing-UA 

Univ. 

PRC 

Para. 

4127 

MGM 

Col. 

3213 

Col. 

3042 

Para. 

WB 

206 

Univ. 

Rep. 

202 

MGM 

308 


3208 


Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott  Not  Set    715 

Documentary  on  Labor  May  11/42  80m  May  16/42  662 

East  Side  Kids  Nov.  20/42   

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam  Not  Set  100m  June  6/42  698 

Diana  Barrymore-Brian  Donlevy  Not  Set  ....    ...  ... 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot  Not  Set  78m  Aug.   1/42  903 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison  Block  6  75m  May  9/42  647  635 

James  Craig-Patricia  Dane  Not  Set  ....    ... 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  Apr.  2/42  60m    575 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray  May  14/42  60m  Sept.  19/42  910 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray  Not  Set  ....    •  .  ■  855 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid  Oct.  3 1/42  1 1 7m  Aug.  22/42  902 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce  Not  Set      794 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry  Aug.  17/42  67m  Aug.  29/42  938  855 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger                Sept.-Oct.,'42  61m  Sept.  19/42  923  796 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant  Not  Set  ....    •••  855 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman  Not  Set  H0m  Apr.  11/42  903 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay  June  5/42  69m  July  4/42  914  662 

George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford    Sept.  4/42  97m  Aug.  15/42  927  797 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set  80m  Aug.   1/42  810 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  Not  Set  ....    ...  ... 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Sept.  25/42  ••••   

Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set  •  ■  •  ■    •  •  ■  872 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set  ....    •••  796 


•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous 
Palm  Beach  Story,  The 
Panama  Hattie 

•  Panther's  Claw,  The 

•  Parachute  Nurse 

•  Pardon  My  Sarong 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French) 

•  Phantom  Killer 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen 
Pied  Piper,  The 
Pilot  No.  5 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains 
Pittsburgh 

•Police  Bullets 

•Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The 

•Powder  Town 

Prairie  Chickens 
•Prairie  Gunsmoke 

Presenting  Lily  Mars 

Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The 

Princess  O'Rourke 


942     Product  Digest  Section 


MGM 

239 

Para. 

MGM 

PRC 

217 

Col. 

3044 

Univ. 

Better  Films 

Mono. 

Rep. 

i67 

20th-Fox 

304 

MGM 

MGM 

246 

Univ. 

Mono. 

20th-Fox 

252 

RKO 

226 

UA-Roach 

Col. 

3215 

MGM 

RKO 

WB 

Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers  June  '42 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea  Not  Set 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr  Apr.  17/42 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman  .June  18/42 

Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce  Aug.  7/42 

John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance  Apr.  4/42 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury  Oct.  2/42 

Three  Mesquiteers  June  16/42 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall  Aug.  21/42 

Franchot  Tone-Marsha  Hunt  Not  Set 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey  Aug.  '42 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Not  Set 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh  Sept.  25/42 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce  July  3/42 

Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien  June  19/42 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  July  16/42 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Not  Set 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright  Not  Set 

Priscilla  Lane-Robert  Cummings  Not  Set 


76m 

May  23/42 

673 

648 

663 

79m 

July  25/42 

9is 

396 

70m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

63m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

70  i 

84m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

92m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

65m 

87m 

July  1 1/42 

903 

75  i 

66m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

69  m 
79m 

56m 

120m 


May  30/42 
May  9/42 


687 
647 


July  18/42  915 


800 


873 


873 


October    3 ,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


■  REVIEWED 


Title 

Priorities  on  Parade 

•  Prison  Girls 

(formerly  Gallant  Lady) 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan 

•  Private  Buclcaroo 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Service 

Prod. 

Kelt  as  t 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Company 

Nu»ber 

Stars 

Bate 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

Para. 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 

Block  1 

79m 

Aug.  I,'42 

914 

PRC 

219 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer 

May  29/42 

63m 

Sept.  26/42 

923 

648 

PRC 

204 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael 

July  22.'42 

64m 

July  4/42 

750 

715 

Univ. 

6011 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran 

June  I2,'42 

68m 

June  6/42 

699 

RANDOM  Harvest 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color) 

•  Red  Tanks 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor 
Reunion 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland 

•  Riders  of  the  West 
Riding  Through  Nevada 

•  Rio  Rita 

Road  to  Morocco 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide 

•  Romance  on  the  Range 

•  Rubber  Racketeers 


MGM 

Para. 

4137 

Arkino 

Rep. 

i34 

MGM 

Col. 

3206 

Mono. 

Col. 

MGM 

233 

Para. 

PRC 

253 

Rep. 

156 

Mono. 

Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson  Not  Set 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard  Special 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur  June  5/42 

Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry  May  11/42 
Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John  Wayne      Not  Set 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  June  1 8, '42 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy  Aug.  2 1  ,'42 

Charles  Starrett-Shirley  Patterson  Oct.  1/42 

Abbott  and  Costello  Apr.  '42 
Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy  Lamour       Block  2 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd  Apr.  24/42 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  May  18/42 

Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez  June  26/42 


796 


124m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

574 

408 

795 

64m 

June  13/42 

713 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

872 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

60  m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

83m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

60  m 

635 

63m 

June  6/42 

697 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

•  SABOTAGE  Squad  Col. 

•  Saboteur  Univ. 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt.-Anglo-Am. 

•  Scattergood  Rides  High  RKO 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

•  Secret  Agent  of  Japan  20th-Fox 
Secret  Enemies  WB 
Secret  Mission  (British)  Hellman-Gen'l 
Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed  PRC 
Seven  Days  Leave  RKO 
Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz  RKO 
Seven  Sweethearts  MGM 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Univ. 
Shadows  on  the  Sage  Rep. 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back 
•She's  in  the  Army 

•  Ship  Ahoy 

•  Ships  With  Wings  (British) 

•  Silver  Bullet 
Silver  Queen 
Sin  Town 

•  Smart  Alecks 
Smith  of  Minnesota 
Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish) 
Sombrero  Kid,  The 
Something  to  Shout  About 
Somewhere  I'll  Find  You 

'Song  of  the  Lagoon 
•Sons  of  the  Pioneers 

•  SOS  Coast  Guard 

•  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma 
Spirit  of  Stanford,  The 

•  Spoilers,  The 
Spring  Song  (Russian) 
Springtime  in  the  Rockies  (color) 

20th-Fox 

•Spy  Ship 
Stand  By,  All  Networks 
Star  Spangled  Rhythm 

•  Stardust  on  the  Sage 
•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx 
♦Strangler,  The 

Street  of  Chance 

Strictly  in  the  Groove 

Submarine  Alert 
/Submarine  Raider 
'Suicide  Squadron  (British) 
I  'Sunday  Punch 
'Sunset  Serenade 
•Sweater  Girl 

Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet 

Syncopation 


Univ. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
MGM 
UA 
Univ. 
Para. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Scandia 
Rep. 
Col. 
MGM 
UA-Roach 
Rep. 
Rep. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Univ. 
Artkino 


WB 

Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
Univ. 

PRC 
Para. 
Univ. 
Para. 

Col. 

Rep. 
MGM 

Rep. 
Para. 

Col. 
RKO 


3046        Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris  Aug.  27/42 

6047  Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane  Apr.  24/42 
....        Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway  Not  Set 

223        Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore  May  8/42 

....        Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes  Not  Set 

240        Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bari  Apr.  3/42 

205        Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson  Oct.  17/42 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

309        Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer  Nov.  9/42 

Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature  Not  Set 

....         James  Craig-Bonita  Granville  Not  Set 

....        Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson  Sept.-0ct./42 

Teresa  Wright-Joseph  Cotten  Not  Set 

261        Three  Mesquiteers  Aug.  24/42 

7020        Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

235        Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

6066        Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Oct.  15/42 

Edvard  Persson  Sept.  12/42 

271         Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  31/42 

Don  Ameche-Jack  Oakie-Janet  Blair  Not  Set 

Clark  Gable-Lane  Turner  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot  May  22/42 

157        Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

123        Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 
Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

6048  Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  1 1/42 

317        Betty  Grable-John  Payne  Nov.  6/42 

139        Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice  Not  Set 
Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Moore    Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

6036        Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne  Apr.  17/42 

229        Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Block  2 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Not  Set 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

3043        John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

119        Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray  Apr.  20/42 

234        William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May/42 

Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

4129        Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

3027        Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  2 1/42 

226        Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


73m 
66m 

89m 
56m 


61m 
69m 
62  m 

87m 
74m 

91m 
62  m 


64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

756 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

66m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

542 

912 

72m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

914 

94m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

872 

98m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

936 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

855 

63m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

795 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

56m        Aug.  8/42 


Oct.  3/42 
June  27/42 

Sept."  19/42 
Oct.  3/42 


107m       Aug.  8/42 


Aug.  1/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Apr.  25/42 

Apr.  18,42 
Sept.  19/42 

Sept.  26/42 
June  6/42 


826 

934 
738 

910 
935 

902 

810 
611 
622 

609 
910 

921 
698 


726 
936 
898 

797 

796 

726 


574 
796 


855 
687 
797 
855 


873 


873 


65m 

May  30/42 

687 

66m 

Apr.  4/42 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

74m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

914 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling  Para. 
Take  My  Life  Toddy 
Tales  of  Manhattan  20th-Fox 
Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 
Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 
Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MGM 
Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 
Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 


4126 


3001 
242 


Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 
Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 
Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 
William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 
Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 


Block  6 

93  m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

873 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  1 1/42 

767 

Not  Set 

1 18m 

Aug.  8/42 

927 

706 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

Aug.  20/42 

II  8m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

70  i 

June/42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

Not  Set 
Not  Set 


Product  Digest  Section  943 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  ,    I  942 


REVIEWED- 


Title  Company 

•Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 
Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 

•  Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 
That  Other  Woman  20th-Fox 

•  There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 
•They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 

They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 

(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 
They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 
•They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 

•  This  Above  All  20th-Fox 

•  This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 
This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 
Those  Kids  from  Tohvn  (British)  Anglo 

•Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 

•  Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Rock  (British)  Charter-Metro 

•Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•  Timber  Univ. 
Tish  MGM 

•Tombstone  Para. 

Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•Top  Sergeant  Univ. 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 

•  Tower  of  Terror  Mono. 
•True  to  the  Army  Para. 

•  Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 
•Tuttles  of  Tahiti  RKO 

•  Twin  Beds  UA 

UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

•  Undercover  Man  Para. 
Underground  Agent  Col. 
Undying  Monster,  The  20th-Fox 

•  United  We  Stand  20th-Fox 
Unpublished  Story  (British)  Col. 

•Unseen  Enemy  Univ. 


Prod. 

Number  Stars 

251  Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

....  King-Sharpe-Terhune 

....  Range  Busters 

....  Lynn  Bari-James  Ellison 

6043  Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

3006  Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

....  Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

....  Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 

212  Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 

253  Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 
4124  Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 
....  Russian  Documentary 

....  Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 

....  Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 

250  Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 

....  John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 

....  Michael  Redgrave-Barbara  Mullen 

286  Tim  Holt 

6057  Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

....  Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

4132  Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

307  Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 
6055  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 
  Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

236  Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

241  Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne 

6019  Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

....  Wilfred  Lawson-Movita 

4122  Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Mil 

254  Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell 
222  Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall 

....  George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advan 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synop 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

i  n3m 

i  ujm 

May  ju,  Hd. 

003 

0/  / 

Oct.  16, '42 

56m 

Sept.  26,'42 

922 

June  I2,"42 

55m 

699 

Dec.  1 1/42 

936 

June  26, '42 

60m 

June  1 1  ,'42 

86m 

June  6, '42 

697 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2.'42 

838 

....  Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

4140  William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 

....  Bruce  Bennett-Leslie  Brooks 

....  James  Ellison-Heather  Angel 

254  News  Documentary 

....  Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 

6053  Devine-Carrillo-Terry 


Not  Set 
June  26,'42 
July  24,'42 
Block  5 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  15/42 
June  19/42 
Nov.  13/42 
Not  Set 
July  24/42 
Aug.  14/42 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Block  7 
Sept.  29/42 
June  12/42 
Not  Set 
May/42 
Apr.  10/42 
June  5/42 
Apr.  1/42 
Block5 
July  10/42 
May  1/42 
Apr.  24/42 

Not  Set 
Block  6 

Not  Set 
Dec.  4/42 
July  10/42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  10/42 


872 


Service 
Date 
Page 

795 


873 


72m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

795 

80m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

527 

705 

74m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

796 

1 1  Im 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

oum 

Aug.  1 3,  4/ 

03V 

83m 

July  25/42 

938 

772 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

64m  • 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

873 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

62m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

76m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

705 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

936 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

795 

91m 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 

598 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

•  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 


Col.  3216 


Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 


Sept.  3/42 


WAKE  Island 


Para. 


War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The  MGM 

War  Dogs  Mono. 

Watch  on  the  Rhine  WB 

•  Westward,  Ho!  Rep. 
West  of  the  Law  Mono. 

•  Where  Trails  End  Mono. 

•  Whispering  Ghosts  20th-Fox 
Whistling  in  Dixie  MGM 
White  Cargo  MGM 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler?  20th-Fox 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The  Col. 
Wildcat  Para. 
Wings  and  the  Woman  RKO 

(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 

•  Wings  for  the  Eagle  WB 
World  at  War  WAC 
Wrecking  Crew  Para. 


166 


246 


242 
3011 


136 


Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston 
Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold 
Billy  Lee-Addison  Richards 
Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas 
Steele-Tyler-Davis 
Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 
Tom  Keene 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle 
Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford 
Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon 
Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr. 
Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone 
Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge 
Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan 
Documentary 

Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris 


Block  1 

78m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

772 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

797 

Nov.  13/42 

Not  Set 

Apr.  24/42 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

Nov.  2/42 

May  1/42 

55m 

635 

May  22/42 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Not  Set 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

871 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

Apr.  30/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

Block  1 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

Sept.  18/42 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

July  18/42 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

873 

Sept.  18/42 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Not  Set 


X  Marks  the  Spot 


Rep. 


204        Damian  O'Flynn-Helen  Parrish 


Nov.  4/42 


YANK  at  Eton,  A 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

87m 

Aug.  15,42 

915 

726 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

WB 

James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

873 

•  Yank  in  Libya,  A 

PRC 

220 

H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 

July  24/42 

67m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

772 

Yanks  Are  Coming,  The 

PRC 

Maxie  Rosenbloom-Mary  Healy 

Oct.  12/42 

65  m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

WB 

207 

George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 

Oct.  10/42 

77m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

898 

•  You're  Telling  Me 

Univ. 

6041 

Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Col. 

Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 

Oct.  22/42 

796 

Young  and  Willing 

Para. 

William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 

Not  Set 

663 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 

20th-Fox 

316 

Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 

Oct.  30/42 

103m 

July  4/42 

914 

Youth  on  Parade 

Rep. 
Rep. 

John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 

Oct.  24/42 

75m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•  Yukon  Patrol 

124 

Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  937, 


944     Product  Digest  Section 


Now  In  Circulation 


Edited  by  TERRY  RAMSAYE 


$3.25  Postpaid 


On  thousands  of  desks  throughout  the  motion 
picture  industry  you  will  find  copies  of  the  new 
1 942-43  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac 
already  well  thumbed,  already  in  service,  as  it 
will  continue  to  be  daily  during  the  coming 
year. 

For  producer,  distributor,  exhibitor  and  all 
the  allied  forces  of  the  motion  picture,  the 
Almanac  is  a  reference  book  of  inestimable 
value,  as  necessary  as  the  telephone  and 
just  as  handy.  It  is  the  product  of  a  score 
of  diligent  research  workers,  and  twelve 
months  of  fact  gathering,  presenting  a 
treasure-trove  of  industry  information  that 
every  showman  vitally  needs. 

Each  year  finds  the  demand  for  Motion 
Picture  Almanac  much  greater  than  the 
supply.  If  there  isn't  a  new  1 942-43  Almanac 
on  your  desk  already,  then  send  for  your 
copy  now.  You  will  find  it  crammed  with 
the  very  information  that  you  constantly 
require  in  your  daily  routine. 


}  U  I  G  L  E  Y  PUBLICATIONS 


OCKEFELLER  CENTER 


NEW  YORK 


OP 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(In  Product  Digest) 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Counter  Espionage 

Billy  the  Kid  in 

Law  and  Order 

Police  Bullets 

War  Dogs 


SI 


VOL  149,  NO.  2 


WAR  EFFECTS  AT 
THE  BOXOFFICE 

First  of  a  series  of  regional 
reports  from  correspondents 
across  the  nation—- 

With  business  on  the  upturn, 
exhibitors  face  staff  prob- 
lems as  war  takes  workers 


OCTOBER  10,  1942 


kntered  as  second-class  matter.  January  12,  1931,  at  the  Post  Office,  at  .Vm  lor*  City,  U.S.A.,  under  the  act  of  ilarch  3,  18/9.  Pub- 
lished u-eekly  fcv  Quialcv  Publishing  Co..  Inc..  at  1270  Si.rth  Avenue.  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York.  Subscription  prices:  $5.00  a  year  »»»  the 
Americas    $10.00  a  year  Foreign.    Single  copy,  25  cents.    All  contents   copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Cotnpany. 


%  %  If  %  $)  & 

Chinese  Epigram: 

A  WISE  BIRD 
SELECTS  ITS  TREE! 

American  Translation: 
"Feather  Your  Nest  with  an  M-G-M  Contract!" 


Hold-overs  have  become  an  old  M-G-M 
custom  as  "Somewhere  111  Find  You"  and 
"Panama  Hattie"are  followed  by  "Yank  At 
Eton"  and  other  sock  shows  in  M-G-M's 
Terrific  Twelve.  "Mrs.  Hadley"  took  Wash- 
ington by  storm  and  goes  on  to  other  con- 
quests. "Seven  Sweethearts,"  which  in 
Grand  Rapids  hit  near  house  record,  was  a 
sweetheart  at  the  box-office  in  Salina,  Kan., 
Holland,  Mich,  and  other  test  runs.  Delish 
"Tish"  continues  to  delight  audiences. 


It's  still  early  in  the  season  but  this  week 
there  was  a  hint  of  more  Big  things  to 
come.  The  first  screening  in  the  East  of 
"Random  Harvest"  (Ronald  Colman, 
Greer  "Miniver"  Garson).  M-G-M's  Home 
Office  did  hand-springs.  You'll  call  it  one 
of  the  GREATEST  in  humanity's  annals. 
Hollywood  is  buzzing  with  M-G-M  talk! 
Every  Film  Row  marvels  at  the  consistency 
of  M-G-M's  New  Season  releases!  The 
industry's  leader  is  in  top  form! 


y 


wKrJM 


A  HAL  B.  WA. 

PRODUCTIOjl 

with 

CLAUDE  RA 

GLADYS  COOPER- Ep 
GRANVILLE  .  ILKA 

Directed  by  IRVING  R, 

Screen  Play  by  Casey  Robinson  •  Fr 
by  Olive  Higgins  Prouty  •  Music  b: 


BE  ^rPAP  thk  unwTH  i    r^FT  im  thf  <;rPAP  tmic  uamthi 


tHJ  ?  15  IT/ 


CENTURY- * 
PICTUF 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  QUIGLEY,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher 


Vol.  149,  No.  2 


OP 


October  10,  1942 


PROSPERITY  &  PROBLEMS 

AS  inevitably  as  night  follows  day  the  box  office  curve 
follows  the  payrolls  of  industry  up  and  down,  and  now 
with  war  appropriated  billions  pouring  into  munitions 
*  factories  admissions  are  rising  in  volume  and  tend  up- 
ward in  price. 

Beginning  in  this  issue  of  The  Herald  is  a  series  of  reports 
from  all  parts  of  the  land  on  the  state  of  the  screen  theatre  in 
wartime.  So  far  the  indications  are  toward  a  peak  gross  beyond 
any  previous  figures  of  the  industry. 

Two  sets  of  related  facts  appear:  most  of  the  available 
workers  are  employed,  and  probably  a  majority  of  them  at  the 
highest  wages  they  have  ever  enjoyed;  the  opening  of  many 
manufacturing  operations  to  women,  even  in  heavy  industry,  has 
greatly  increased  the  number  of  wage  earners.  Meanwhile 
war  restrictions  have  reduced  and  are  further  reducing  the 
lines  of  merchandise  for  which  these  newly  enriched  workers 
can  spend  their  money.  The  motion  picture  now  has  less  com- 
petition for  the  loose  pocket  dollar  than  ever  before. 

Along  with  all  this  bright  development  the  exhibitor  does, 
however,  face  a  number  of  intensified  problems,  in  costs  of 
maintenance,  in  inevitably  rising  payrolls,  and  most  urgently 
right  now,  in  the  loss  of  trained  employes  to  inviting  jobs  in 
war  industries,  as  well  as  in  the  departure  of  his  young  men  for 
military  service. 

Replacements  are  likely  to  include  many  in  all  manner  of 
posts.  For  long  woman's  place  in  the  theatre  was  in  the  cashier's 
cage  and  the  usher's  uniform.  But  today  she  can  be  found  at 
the  manager's  desk  and  even  in  the  projection  booth.  This 
initiates  an  occupancy  that  will  most  likely  grow  and  continue 
after  the  war.  The  employment  of  women  in  business,  rising 
since  the  turn  of  the  century,  has  never  receded. 

The  new  mass  buying  power  now  finding  expression  at  the 
box  office  is  certain  to  make  ultimate  and  probably  early  im- 
press on  the  nature  of  production.  The  new  and  commanding 
dollar  is  in  the  hands  of  the  emotion-hungry,  unsophisticated 
people,  who  are  much  more  interested  in  the  glamours  and 
splendors  and  triumphs  of  romance  and  adventure  than  in  even 
the  slightest  coloring  of  intellectual  content  or  ideas.  This,  to 
be  sure,  has  been  made  considerably  manifest  in  the  season's 
product,  and  there  will  be  a  lot  more  of  it  to  come,  as  evi- 
denced by  Hollywood's  markedly  increasing  interest  in  the 
acquisition  of  vaudeville  material  and  personages. 

WE  advance,  obviously,  into  a  period  which  will  put  the 
accent  on  volume  attendance,  with  appeals  in  both 
production  and  selling  painted  with  wide  brushes  and 
simple  terms. 

Just  incidentally,  it  can  be  observed  that  the  recent  indica- 
tions of  policy  from  United  Artists  Corporation,  under  the 
merchandising  guidance  of  Mr.  Gradwell  Sears,  ever  a  volume 
merchandiser,  denote  the  full  swing  of  the  movement.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  product  acquired  and  otherwise  announced 
is  more  especially  addressed  at  the  mass  demands  of  the  new 
buying  power  of  war-wage  Americans.  The  development  gains 


in  accent  because  of  the  contrast  between  the  market  approach 
of  United  Artists  in  the  founding  days  and  now  in  wartime  1942. 

In  the  large  the  indications  are  not  only  for  a  continued  war- 
time prosperity  for  the  motion  picture,  but  also  for  a  decided 
extension  of  the  screen  audience  and  the  re-establishment  of 
"the  movie  habit"  which  for  many  a  year  was  the  largest  single 
asset  of  the  business.  That  such  permanent  gains  may  be  had 
will  require,  however,  quite  as  much  diligence  in  production 
and  as  much  application  of  ingenuity  and  skill  as  would  be 
needed  were  the  screen  working  under  really  high  competitive 
pressures.  Once  released  from  the  restrictions  of  war,  and  with 
armies  of  salesmen  returning  to  civilian  life,  the  makers  of 
luxuries  and  gadgets  will  be  hotly  in  pursuit  of  every  spender's 
every  dollar.  The  motion  picture  box  office  will  have  ample 
competition  then. 


ANOTHER  element  of  not  so  obvious  peril  exists  now,  too, 
covered  in  part  by  the  rising  flow  of  revenues.  There  is 
always  a  lulling  influence  in  prosperity;  but  today  per- 
haps more  than  ever  before,  the  motion  picture  has  occasion  to 
give  attention  to  the  preservation  of  its  status  in  freedom  and 
independence.  This  and  many  other,  if  not  all,  industries  may 
well  be  alert  that  the  necessities  of  wartime  controls  be  not 
translated  into  regulations  and  dictations  in  the  peace-to-come. 
The  newspaper  industry  is  filled  with  the  consciousness  of  such 
possibility,  now. 

It  is  with  interest,  tinted  with  a  bit  of  amusement,  too,  that 
one  reads  how  Colonel  H.  A.  Cole,  the  white  haired  leader  of 
the  Allied  Theatre  Owners  of  Texas,  regretting  the  demise  of 
UMPI,  observed:  "I  fear  we  are  headed  for  Government  regu- 
lation. You  may  have  your  own  opinions,  but  I  don't  want  to 
see  this  industry  reporting  to  a  Government  bureau.  .  .  ." 

To  some  it  would  seem  that  the  industry,  or  at  least  a  con- 
siderable part  of  it,  has  been  doing  a  lot  of  reporting  to  the 
anti-trust  division  of  the  Department  of  Justice.  If  that  is 
not  a  bureau  it  is  a  reasonably  accurate  facsimile. 

But  speaking  of  government  regulation  of  the  industry, 
Colonel  Cole  can  hardly  be  forgetting  some  of  those  Allied 
movements  of  the  not  so  long  ago  in  support  of  the  Neely  bill 
and  sundry  state  legislations  addressed  at  very  considerable 
programs  of  regulation  by  government. 

Clearly  enough,  none  of  the  policies  and  practises  of  any 
component  of  the  industry,  great  or  small,  which  invite  or 
inspire  governmental  interventions,  or  intrusions,  are  likely  to 
contribute  to  the  continued  freedom  of  enterprise  and  opera- 
tion for  the  screen.  The  midst  of  a  war  for  a  free  nation  in  a 
free  world  is  neither  time  nor  place  to  lose  the  freedoms  of 
the  motion  picture. 


THE  rapidly  developing  new  pattern  of  purchasing  power 
gets  statistical  attention  in  a  report  by  Advertising  Age 
on  the  results  of  some  research  by  Macfadden  Publica- 
tions, finding,  for  example,  that  the  percentage  of  urban 
families  with  incomes  between  $2,000  and  $3,000  rose  in  the 

[Continued  on  following  page] 


I' 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,    I  942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


Hollywood  Tops :  Army 

HOLLYWOOD'S  cooperation  with  the 
United  States  Army  has  been  "extraordi- 
nary," Colonel  Mason  W.  Wright,  Jr.,  head 
of  the  pictorial  branch  of  the  public  rela- 
tions division  of  the  War  Department,  de- 
clared Tuesday  as  he  arrived  on  the  coast 
for  conferences  with  production  executives. 

"We  have  been  given  100  per  cent  as- 
sistance," he  said,  in  referring  to  Hollywood 
participation  in  the  Army's  training  and 
public  information  film  projects. 

In  line  with  this  project,  the  Warner 
short  subject,  "Beyond  the  Line  of  Duty," 
made  for  exhibition  only  in  Army  camps, 
will  be  released  for  general  exhibition.  It 
probably  will  be  distributed  by  the  War  Ac- 
tivities Committee. 

Colonel  Edward  Kirby,  in  charge  of  radio 
for  the  Army  public  relations  service,  ac- 
companied Colonel  Wright.  He  met  with 
network  executives  and  spoke  to  a  meeting 
of  the  Radio  Writers  Guild  on  Tuesday. 
"Command  Performance,"  Army  short  wave 
radio  program  for  troops  overseas,  will  be 
broadcast  domestically  for  the  first  time 
on  Christmas  Eve,  he  said.  President 
Roosevelt  will  participate. 

Colonel  Wright  is  to  confer  with  produc- 
ers on  scripts  and  pictures  about  the  Army 
now  in  production,  and  on  future  films. 


PROSPERITY  AND 
PROBLEMS 

[Continued  from  preceding  page] 

brief  period  between  January  and  July, 
from  26.1  to  28.7.  In  1937,  such  families 
amounted  to  19.8  per  cent.  In  that  same 
January-July  period  the  $  1 ,000-$2,000 
group  declined  from  35.7  to  32.0,  and  the 
group  under  $1,000  declined  from  18.0  to 
14.4.  It  is  said  that  the  examination  cov- 
ered more  than  twenty  million  family  units. 

Also  this  week  significant  income  figures 
came  out  of  Washington.  The  Department 
of  Commerce  said  that  payments  to  indi- 
viduals, in  wages  and  salaries,  were  one- 
fourth  greater  in  August  than  for  the  same 
month  of  last  year.  Further,  taking  as  a 
basis  1935-39,  August,  1942,  was  at  a  high 
of  172  per  cent.  No  increase  was  reported 
on  dividends  and  interest,  meaning  in- 
vestors' money. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  reported 
an  increase  in  farm  income,  including  gov- 
ernment payments,  of  "about  45  per  cent 
over  1941,  and  more  than  double  the 
1935-39  average". 

This  shows  something  about  where  the 
new  money  goes,  and  who  is  having  it  to 
spend.  They  are  "movie"  customers. 

— Terry  Ramsaye 


WAR  booms  business,  but  manpower  prob- 
lem is  acute  Page  13 

TALENT  to  fight  "inequities"  under  wage- 
fixing  order  Page  16 

NO  DECREASE  in  pictures  or  prints  ex- 
pected for  a  while  Page  17 

FILM  news  brightens  daily  press;  ads  rated 
as  "blue  chips"  Page  20 

ALMANAC  records  screen's  vital  part  in 
war  effort  Page  22 

FILM  stars  to  entertain  armed  forces  on 
all  fronts  Page  24 


INDUSTRY  mobilizes  forces  to  assist  scrap 
campaign  Page  26 

BOND  drive  over;  Industry  pledges  con- 
tinued aid  Page  29 

SCHINES  sell  only  five  of  houses  ordered 
dropped  Page  30 

APPEAL  Board  reverses  arbitrator,  orders 
run  Page  40 

CANADIAN    exhibition    policy  remains 
static  in  war  Page  43 

FILM  financing  of  plays  is  unaffected  by 
war  conditions  Page  45 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  32     Managers'  Round  Table  Page  53 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  35     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me  Page  50 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart  Page  63 


Independents  Worried 

TREMENDOUS  use  of  film  by  U.  S. 
armed  forces  and  Government  agencies  in- 
dicates possible  further  slashes  by  the  War 
Production  Board  of  raw  stock  allotments, 
and  independent  producers  and  laboratory 
owners  must  continue  fighting  for  "parity" 
with  the  "11  majors,"  Charles  Hirliman, 
president,  told  the  National  Association  of 
Motion  Picture  Independents  at  a  meeting 
in  New  York  Wednesday  afternoon. 

He  told  members  that  the  organization 
had  secured  WPB  permission  for  each  mem- 
ber to  order  10,000  feet  of  film  in  emergen- 
cies, without  priority,  this  amount  to  be  de- 
ducted from  an  individual's  permissible  to- 
tal. However,  he  reminded  that  the  ar- 
rangement was  temporary,  stressing  the 
possibility  of  sudden,  drastic  WPB  action, 
remarking  that,  as  an  example  of  the  grav- 
ity of  the  raw  film  situation,  16  mm  film 
might  "go  out  overnight" — and  he  advised 
members  to  "get  yourselves  tied  to  war 
work." 

A  clearing  committee  was  recommended. 
Requests  to  the  WPB  will  be  passed  by  it. 


Still  More  Taxes 

THE  FEDERAL  tax  of  10  to  15  per  cent 
on  unexposed  film,  plates  and  sensitized  pa- 
per is  retained,  despite  other  changes,  in  the 
House-approved  revenue  bill  which  was 
referred  to  the  Senate  on  Tuesday  by  the 
Finance  Committee.  The  Senate  group 
eliminated  the  five  per  cent  tax  on  freight 
and  express  shipments  approved  by  the 
House.  But  it  added  a  five  per  cent  levy  on 
all  amounts  paid  for  admission,  refreshment, 
service  or  any  merchandise  at  roof  gar- 


dens, cabarets  or  other  places  furnishing 
public  performance  for  profit. 

The  Senate  has  accepted  the  House  rate: 
on  income  taxes,  but  substituted  a  "victory' 
tax  of  five  per  cent  on  all  taxable  income 
in  excess  of  $624  for  the  withholding  taxj! 
It  lowered  the  normal  corporation  tax  fror 
the  House  figure  of  45  per  cent  to  40  pe 
cent  and  accepted  House  rates  on  exces.'i 
profits. 

It  provided  that  total  normal  surta> 
however,  is  not  to  exceed  80  per  cent  of  th< 
surtax  net  income  before  credits.  It  als< 
called  for  the  return  of  10  per  cent  of  exces1; 
profits  tax  after  the  war  through  bonds  is 
sued  as  receipts  for  payment  of  the  full  ta> 

Eliminated  by  the  Senate  were  House  in  j 
creases  from  10  to  25  per  cent  of  the  taJ 
on  the  manufacturer's  price  for  camera  | 
weighing  four  pounds  or  less.  It  left  the  ta; 
at  10  per  cent  regardless  of  wieght. 

Quick  passage  of  the  revenue  bill  wa ) 
expected  in  Washington  this  week.  Secrelij 
tary  of  the  Treasury  Morgenthau  indicated 


66 


Unity"  Buried 


FILES  of  the  late  United  Motion  Pictur 
Industry — "Unity" — which  closed  its  office 
at  the  Hotel  Astor,  New  York,  last  Mon 
day,  have  been  sent  to  storage  at  the  Loe\ 
Circuit  warehouse,  New  York.  Leon  Ban: 
berger,  ex-executive  secretary,  will  pay  fin. 
bills  of  the  organization  and  submit  a  la 
financial  statement  to  the  committee  of  tli 
whole.  "Unity"  was  penniless  when  the  en 
came ;  Loew's  put  up  its  burial  expense 
Any  remnants  of  correspondence  will  1 
concluded  by  William  F.  Rodgers,  chai; 
man,  and  Henderson  Richey,  chairman  < 
the  finance  committee,  both  Loew  execi 
tives. 


A 


October    10,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


9 


Selznick  Decides 

"DAVID  O.  SELZNICK  is  very  much  in 
the  motion  picture  business,"or  he  was  at 
mid-week,  according  to  attorneys  for  John 
Hay  Whitney.  Previous  reports  have  had 
Mr.  Selznick  selling  his  motion  picture 
rights  and  properties,  selling  his  interest  in 
"Gone  With  the  Wind"  to  Mr.  Whitney,  re- 
turning to  production  in  the  immediate  fu- 
ture, and  going  into  the  Army.  Mr.  Selznick 
himself  kept  strict  silence  on  all  these  sub- 
jects, but  members  of  his  organization  in- 
dicated Wednesday  that  plans  were  near 
maturity  for  an  early  return  to  production. 
Conferences  were  being  held  in  New  York 
and  Mr.  Selznick,  it  was  indicated,  would 
return  to  Hollywood  next  week  to  start  work 
on  "Jane  Eyre." 

The  Whitney  attorneys  denied  that  he  was 
selling  his  interest  in  "Gone  With  the 
Wind,"  but  said  the  report  might  have  arisen 
from  the  current  negotiations  for  the  liqui- 
dation of  Selznick  International,  begun  some 
months  ago  when  Mr.  Selznick  formed  his 
own  company,  David  O.  Selznick  Produc- 
tions. 

Wednesday  afternoon  United  Artists 
promised  a  statement  on  Mr.  Selznick's 
plans  at  four  o'clock,  but  later  said  the  state- 
ment had  been  postponed. 


"Fireside 99  Movies  ? 

POSSIBILITIES  that  President  Roosevelt 
would  "sit"  for  a  series  of  "fireside  chat" 
film  shorts  were  being  bruited  about 
Washington  this  week,  but  with  neither 
affirmation  nor  denial  available  in  Adminis- 
tration circles. 

The  story  that  the  pictures  were  in  the 
air  raised  a  number  of  questions,  among 
them  whether,  if  the  films  were  made,  they 
would  be  made  by  the  newsreel  companies 
or  by  the  Navy  photographers  who  accom- 
panied the  President  on  his  recent  cross- 
country trip. 

Also  up  was  the  question  of  how  the  pic- 
tures would  be  released,  it  being  pointed 
out  that  if  they  were  made  by  the  Govern- 
ment photographers  they  might  be  turned 
over  to  the  newsreels  for  distribution  or 
they  might  go  to  the  industry's  War  Activi- 
ties Committee. 


Carr  Fighting  Mad 

REFUSAL  of  certain  unnamed  British  au- 
thorities in  the  U.  S.  to  allow  showing  here 
of  Michael  Balcon's  "Next  of  Kin"  is  "dis- 
graceful"— and  when  he  returns  to  England, 
:  shortly,  Teddy  Carr,  United  Artists  manag- 
ing director  in  Great  Britain,  will  "tear  the 
'thing  wide  open,"  endeavoring  to  rectify  the 
situation. 

So  he  said  in  an  interview  at  the  com- 
pany's New  York  home  office  Wednesday. 
The  picture,  described  by  Mr.  Carr  as  show- 


ing  the  disastrous  effects  of  careless  talk, 
also  portrays  British  officials  unfavorably 
and  depicts  a  landing  in  France  in  which 
many  lose  their  lives.  That  is  why  it  was 
denied  distribution  here,  he  said. 

British  theatres  were  doing  "fantastic" 
business,  Mr.  Carr  said,  resulting  from 
severe  war  work  and  the  consequent  need 
for  relaxation,  for  which  pictures  remain  a 
staple.  Admissions  have  been  "nearly 
doubled" — but  the  Government  is  taking  95 
per  cent  of  the  increase. 

Mr.  Carr  said  the  Noel  Coward  produc- 
tion, story,  and  work,  "In  Which  We 
Serve,"  which  depicts  Lord  Mountbatten, 
Commando  leader,  will  be  distributed  by 
U.  A.  everywhere  except  in  England. 

Production  in  England  is  increasingly  dif- 
ficult, he  noted.  Where  once  250  films  were 
made,  the  English  industry  will  make  from 
40  to  45  this  year.  Some  studios  have  been 
destroyed.  The  draft  is  hampering  others. 
Of  89  men  in  U.  A.'s  British  accounting 
department,  74  were  drafted,  and  75  per 
cent  of  the  women  also  were  conscripted. 


Australian  Austerity 

AID  for  Australia's  "Austerity  campaign" 
has  been  promised  by  the  American  motion 
picture  industry.  The  slogan,  "Live  austere- 
ly" has  been  adopted  throughout  the  Brit- 
ish Empire  as  a  rallying  cry  for  the  cam- 
paign to  stimulate  special  sacrifices  and  self- 
deprivations  of  luxuries  in  order  to  aid  the 
war  effort.  It  is  a  word  which  will  soon 
have  wartime  meaning  to  U.  S.  civilians. 

At  the  request  of  Sir  Owen  Dixon,  Aus- 
tralian Minister  to  the  United  States,  the  In- 
ternational Film  Relations  Committee,  meet- 
ing at  the  Hays  office  on  Monday,  appointed 
Albert  Deane  of  Paramount  a  committee  of 
one  to  arrange  participation  in  the  cam- 
paign. Mr.  Deane  will  prepare  scripts  for 
a  dozen  one-minute  trailer  appeals  by  Hol- 
lywood stars.  Along  with  20  radio  tran- 
scriptions they  will  be  sent  to  Australia. 

"Austerity,"  with  its  emphasis  on  giving 
up  luxuries  and  non-essentials  in  wartime, 
nowise  means  that  citizens  of  the  British 
Empire  are  being  asked  to  forego  screen 
entertainment,  Mr.  Deane  said.  Motion  pic- 
tures, even  in  Axis  squeezed  Europe,  are 
universally  recognized  as  one  of  the  best 
and  cheapest  ways  to  maintain  morale,  he 
said. 


PICTURES  ADVERTISED 
THIS  WEEK 

"Now,  Voyager"  Warners,  Pages  4,  5 

"Iceland,"  20th-Fox,  Page  6 

"For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  MGM,  Pages  19,  21, 

23,  25,  27 
"Girl  Trouble,"  2Qth-Fox,  Page  33 
"Flying  Tigers,"  Republic,  Pages  36,  37 
"The    Major    and    the    Minor,"  Paramount, 

Page  39 


Another  Army  Studio 

U.  S.  ARMY  motion  picture  makers  are  to 
have  more  studio  room  in  the  east.  The 
motion  picture  unit  of  the  Air  Corps,  it 
was  reported  in  New  York  Wednesday,  has 
arranged  with  Warner  Brothers  to  take  over 
their  old  Vitaphone  studio  in  Brooklyn's 
Flatbush.  It,  too,  will  be  used  for  making 
training  and  public  relations  films.  The 
project  is  independent  of  the  Signal  Corps 
Photographic  Center  studio  in  Astoria. 

The  Vitaphone  studio,  at  1277  East  14th 
Avenue,  Brooklyn,  has  been  used  only  by  the 
Warner  laboratories,  and  by  occasional  in- 
dependent producers  since  the  company 
moved  its  short  subject  department  to  Hol- 
lywood. The  Warner  home  office  surround- 
ed the  deal  with  military  secrecy,  referring 
inquiries  to  "the  Army."  The  several  pub- 
lic relations  offices  of  the  Army  in  New 
York  did  not  know  officially  about  the  proj- 
ect and  passed  inquiries  from  one  to  the 
other.  There  were  signs,  however,  that  the 
Warners  were  getting  ready  to  vacate  the 
offices  at  the  studio. 

Jack  L.  Warner,  Warner  vice-president, 
is  a  Lieutenant  Colonel  in  the  public  rela- 
tions branch  of  the  Army  Air  Corps  in 
California. 


Aid  for  the  Allies 

AMENDED  regulations,  providing  for 
changes  in  the  Federal  admission  tax,  have 
been  issued  by  the  U.  S.  Internal  Revenue 
Bureau  at  Washington,  giving  effect,  as  of 
October  1,  to  legislation  recently  enacted 
by  Congress  to  lift  the  tax  from  admissions 
to  theatres  operated  by  the  Army  and  Navy 
on  Government  reservations. 

Also,  the  new  regulations  provide  that  not 
only  may  members  of  the  United  States 
military  or  naval  forces  be  granted  the  ben- 
efit cf  reduced  taxes  when  cut-price  tickets 
are  provided  for  them,  but  also  members  of 
the  military  or  Naval  forces  of  any  of  the 
United  Nations  and  members  of  the  Civilian 
Conservation  Corps  when  in  uniform. 

It  is  pointed  out  in  the  new  regulations 
that  where  a  theatre  has  a  reduced  or  special 
price  for  any  of  the  classes  entitled  to  lower- 
rate  or  free  admission,  a  separate  form  of 
ticket,  serially  numbered,  should  be  used 
showing  such  reduced  or  special  price. 


$33,000,000  for  OWI 

CONGRESS  was  asked  this  week  by  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  to  appropriate  $26,990,000  to 
carry  the  Office  of  War  Information 
through  the  remainder  of  the  current  fiscal 
year  and  another  $5,500,000  for  the  in- 
creased activities  of  the  Coordinator  of  In- 
ter-American Affairs.  Both  offices  include 
extensive  motion  picture  and  radio  activi- 
ties. It  is  estimated  that  the  yearly  cost  of 
the  OWI,  on  its  present  scale,  will  be  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $33,000,000. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company, 
Jew  York."  Martin  Quigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  Vice-President 
'.hicago  Bureau,  624  South  Michigan  Avenue,  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  editor;  Hollywood  Bu 
ood,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  W.  M    Gladish,   representative;   Montreal  Bureau, 
Golden  Square,  London  W  I,  Hope  Williams  Burnup,  manager;  cable  Quigpubco  Lo 
'lift  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W. 
uis  Becerra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  1 26,  Buenos  Aires, 
io  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box 
udit  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Comp 
etter  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame. 


Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  address  "Quigpubco, 
and  General  Manager;  Terry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor; 
reau,  Postal  Union  Life  Building.  William  R.  Weaver,  editor;  Toronto  Bureau,  242  Millwood 
265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovan,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
ndon;  Melbourne  Bureau,  The  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne,  Australia, 
Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
Argentina,  Natalio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  3358, 
664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
any.  Address  all  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  Quigley  Publications: 


10 


MOTION    PI-CTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


THIS  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


■  THE  INDUSTRY  concluded  its 
September  bond  drive  in  New  York 
with  a  star  studded  rally  for  22,000 
people  who  had  jammed  Madison 
Square  Garden  for  the  Army  Relief 
show.  Auctions  of  personal  effects  of 
a  score  of  the  stars  who  had 
participated  in  the  show  and  in  the 
month  long  Stars  Over  America 
tours  swelled  the  final  total  by 
$10,000,000. 


Below,  Mayor  Fiorello  H. 
LaGuardia  and  ex-Mayor  James 
J.  Walker  meet  at  the  Garden 


Above,  Paulette  Goddard 
auctions  off  her  orchid 
corsage  with  William  Gargan 
calling  the  bids  at  the  War 
Bond  rally  in  Madison 
Square  Garden. 


Above.  Abe  Lastfogel,  executive  assistant 
to  the  director  of  USO-Camp  Shows, 
Inc.,  buys  a  $15,000  Bond  and  Ann 
Rutherford's  handkerchief  at  the  Garden. 


STUDYING  plans  for  the  scrap  drive  in 
New  York,  the  industry's  task  for  October, 
are  Herman  Gluckman  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee;  Dave  Weinstock 
of  the  Weinstock  circuit;  Julius  Joelson  of 
J.  &  J.  Theatres;  Charles  Moses,  Moses 
circuit;  and  Mannie  Frisch  of  the  Randforce 
circuit,  at  a  meeting  of  exhibitors  in  the 
New  York  office  of  the  WAC. 

All  pictures  by  Staff  Photographer 


October    10,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE    H  ERALD 


II 


■  THE  INDUSTRY'S  Bond  drive  in 
Washington  was  concluded  with  a 
'United  Nations"  night  at  the  Earle 
and  Capitol  Theatres.  Above  are 
-he  diplomats  who  addressed  the 
audience  at  the  Earle.  Left  to  right: 
_eighton  McCarthy,  Minister  from 
Canada;  Senor  Dr.  J.  M.  Troncoso, 
n/iinister  from  the  Dominican 
Republic;  Liu  Chieh,  Minister  from 
Dnina;  Senor  Don  Luis  Ouintanilla, 
yTnister  from  Mexico;  and  J.  B. 
Vgden,  representing  Australia. 


AT  LUNCHEON  in  the  M  ayfair  Room 
of  the  Blackstone  Hotel  in  Chicago, 
before  the  War  Bond  premiere  of 

mount  s  "Wake  Island,"  are  F. 
Langdon  Morgan  of  Motion  Picture 
Herald;  Bill  Bendix,  one  of  the  stars  of 
"Wake  Island,"  and  Lucia  Perrigo,  film 
critic  of  the  Cr  C2cc  Herald  American. 


\ 


IKE  NEWMAN,  manager  of  the  Liberty 
5erre  of  the  Evergreen  circuit  in  Portland, 
e.,  is  congratulated  by  City  Commissioner 
illiam  A.  Bowes,  seated,  on  the  inauguration 
swing  shift  worker  shows. 


AT  THE  dedication  of  the 
Motion  Picture  Relief 
Fund's  new  Country 
House  at  Caiabasas  in  the 
San  Fernando  Valley  are 
Y.  Frank  Freeman,  Jean 
Hersholt  and  R.  J. 
O'Donnell  in  front  of  the 
new  Y.  Frank  Freeman 
library. 


■  C.  S.  PERKINS,  formerly  Altec 
branch  manager  at  Boston,  has 
been  named  to  take  charge  of  the 
new  Electronic  Division. 


12 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


COMPLETING  25  years  with  the  Universal 
studio,  Hannah  Dennis,  head  of  the  negative 
cutting  department,  is  presented  with  a  wrist 
watch  by  Martin  Murphy,  production  manager 
with  the  company  for  28  years. 


ENROUTE  to  Ireland  on  war 
assignments  are  Howard 
Winner,  Pathe  News  camera- 
man, and  Captain  Jack  LeVien 
who  left  Pathe  in  February, 
1941,  to  join  the  Army  Public 
Relations  office.  Captain 
LeVien  will  head  the  newsree 
division  abroad  under  Genera' 
Eisenhower.   Mr.  Winner  wil 
be  under  the  direction  of 
the  Navy. 


■  CARTOON  production  may  be 
saved  by  a  raw  stock  saving  plan 
devised  by  Hugh  Harman  Productions 
by  which  clay  figures  are  modeled 
and  animated  when  a  production 
is  planned  instead  of  the  previous 
method  of  making  thousands  of 
experimental  drawings  and  photo- 
graphing them.    Here  Charles 
McGirl,  Mr.  Harman  and  Melvin 
Shaw  inspect  figures  for  "King 
Arthur's  Knights." 


UH-UH,  it's  bad  for  his  throat. 
Edgar  Bergen  frowns  on  the  cigar 
being  offered  Charlie  McCarthy  by 
Ray  Noble.  The  three,  who  appear 
in  RKO's  "Here  We  Go  Again," 
arrived  in  New  York  this  week  for  a 
broadcast  series. 


By  S.  E.  Army  Air  Forces  Training  Cent; 

MAJOR  RENFREW  S.  ALLEN, 
executive  officer  and  director 
of  training  at  the  Navigation 
Pre-Flight  School  at  Monroe, 
La.,  was  promoted  to  that  rank 
this  month.  A  reserve  officer, 
he  went  to  active  duty  in 
I  940  from  the  home  office 
of  RKO  Radio  Pictures. 


By  Metropolitan 


October    10,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


13 


WAR  BOOMS  BUSINESS,  BUT 
MANPOWER  PROBLEM  ACUTE 


Personnel  Replacement 
Disturbing  Exhibitors, 
Survey  Indicates 

Manpower  to  replace  the  trained  per- 
sonnel drained  off  by  the  draft  and  by 
the  competition  of  high  wage  war  indus- 
try is  the  exhibitor's  most  pressing  prob- 
lem today  and  for  the  immediate  future. 
Reports  from  New  England  and  the 
booming  south,  from  the  urban  and  rural 
areas  of  the  midwest,  and  from  the  great 
lew  ship  and  airplane  building  centers  of 
die  west  coast,  all  show  business  spiraling 
upward  but  they  all  stress  the  immediacy 
of  the  manpower  problem. 

Other  problems  created  by  the  rapidly 
shifting   war    economy    are    being  solved 
.wiftly  and  ingeniously  by  showmen  every- 
where, it  is  indicated  in  a  survey  of  cross 
ections  of  typical  areas    throughout  the 
ountry.    Midnight  and  morning  matinee 
hows  are  being  run  for  the  swing  shift 
vorkers;  admission  prices  are  being  in- 
reased  gradually  to  meet  heavier  operating 
!osts;  there  is  some  tendency  toward  fewer 
hanges  and  longer  runs;  and  new  and  in- 
genious exploitation  methods  are  being  tried 
i  those  areas  adversely  affected  by  the 
changes  in  national  life. 
D  When  the  draft  first  cut  heavily  into  the- 
tre  staffs  many  theatre  owners  turned  to 
le  employment  of  women  and  girls  as  a 
slution  but  reports  now  show  that  trained 
iris  are  leaving  for  higher  paid  factory 
fobs  almost  as  fast  as  the  men.    In  many 
.tuations  showmen  now  are  employing  both 
:  len  and  women  over  60  and  are  training 
,igh  school  students  for  part  time  work, 
j'here  is  as  yet  no  serious  problem  in  the 
Lrojection  booths.    Most  projectionists  are 
last  the  draft  age,  or  have  dependents  and 
[lie  scale  is  high  enough  to  ward  off  com- 
istition  from  the  factories. 

weneral  Tendency 
to  Raise  Prices 

|  There  is  a  general  tendency  to  increase 
timission  prices,  it  is  indicated,  but  in  all 
Sises  this  is  being  done  gradually,  the  great- 
Bt  single  increase  being  recorded  in  Phila- 
gilphia,  where  the  average  is  reported  to 
I:  up  seven  cents.  Kansas  City,  New  Haven 
Bad  Hartford  report  three  to  five  cent  in- 
A  eases,  and  Milwaukee  a  five  cent  jump, 
■here  was  no  unfavorable  box  office  reac- 
:tn  in  any  case. 

iln  Kansas  City  and  Buffalo  there  is  a 
hdency  toward  two  instead  of  three  pro- 
jiam  changes  a  week  and  many  more  hold- 
i  ers  than  usual  in  the  first  run  theatres, 
-her  cities  also  report  successful  longer 
'ns  for  pictures. 

Except  in  situations  serving  an  automo- 
e  patronage  almost  exclusively  little  ef- 
,  :t  is  noticeable  from  the  gas  and  tire  ra- 
ning  now  operating  in  the  east  and  soon 
,  be  extended  to  the  rest  of  the  country. 
Dst  territories  report  increased  business 
both  downtown  and  neighborhood  houses, 
,  ributing  the  attendance  to  a  lessening  of 


Motion  Picture  Herald  with 
this  issue  starts  a  country-wide 
study  of  the  effect  of  wartime 
conditions  on  the  theatre.  The 
reyional  studies  will  cover  typi- 
cal situations  in  key  centers 
and  their  surrounding  terri- 
tories. Particular  attention  is 
paid  to  the  immediate  and 
future  problem  of  theatre  per- 
sonnel; the  effect  of  war  indus- 
try on  the  box  office  in  those 
areas  where  industry  is  boom- 
ing and,  conversely,  in  those 
areas  depopulated  by  the  draft 
and  the  rush  to  industrial  cen- 
ters; gasoline  rationing  in  those 
states  where  it  is  now  in  effect; 
changes  in  admission  scales, 
show  hours  and  runs,  and 
changes  in  audience  character. 


competition  from  the  traditional  American 
"Let's  go  for  a  ride"  complex.  Evidence 
for  this  is  adduced  from  the  sharp  and  fatal 
drop  in  evening  attendance  at  most  road- 
houses  and  out  of  town  restaurants. 

Grosses  Boom  in 
War  Plant  Areas 

In  general  circuit  operators  and  exhibi- 
tors in  theatres  in  or  near  war  work  areas 
have  found  that  tremendously  increased 
business  at  most  of  their  houses  has  been 
sufficient  to  offset  any  drop  in  others  caused 
by  rationing  or  by  loss  of  patronage  to  the 
draft  or  to  more  booming  areas.  There  is 
evidence  that  smaller  operators  of  houses  in 
entirely  rural  areas  or  in  those  far  from 
boom  centers  are  affected  more  adversely. 
In  special  cases,  however,  for  instance  the 
California  fruit  farm  areas,  added  attend- 
ance has  come  from  the  influx  of  young 
farm  workers. 

Theatres  near  any  of  the  numerous  Army, 
Navy,  Marine  or  Air  Corps  training  centers 
report  tremendously  increased  business  with 
little  competition  from  the  600-odd  Army 
theatres  now  operating. 

A  city  by  city  report  follows : 

City  in  South  Tries 
"Hostess  Staff9 

by  B.  F.  HENRY,  JR. 

in  Knoxville 

Gray-haired  women  where  young  doormen 
had  been  gives  Knoxville  film  goers  one  of  the 
few  visible  tokens  of  the  war's  effect  on  the 
theatres,  but  there  are  several  things  to  add  a 
gray  hair  or  two  to  the  managers'  heads. 

Shortage  of  help  has  been  felt  acutely  by 
Knoxtenn  Theatres  ( Wilby-Kincey),  which  op- 
erates seven  of  Knoxville's  16  theatres.  Only 
one  manager  has  gone  into  military  service  but 


three  others  are  due  to  leave  soon.  Fourteen 
out  of  110  employees  in  the  seven  theatres  have 
gone  into  service. 

"We  have  had  to  do  considerable  doubling 
over  of  projectionists,"  said  Eugene  Street, 
Knoxtenn  manager.  "And  we  just  haven't  got 
any  assistant  managers  training  to  be  managers 
any  more." 

Mr.  Street  has  been  trying  out  "hostess  su- 
pervisors"— most  of  them  women  of  middle  age 
or  past — to  replace  doormen,  and  has  found 
them  so  satisfactory  he  plans  a  staff  of  11. 
George  L.  Denton,  operator  of  Denton  Theatres 
(two  houses),  also  tried  the  hostess  plan  but 
has  dropped  it. 

No  Changes  Made 
In  Show  Hours 

The  war  time  change  has  brought  no  change 
in  show  hours  at  any  of  the  houses  here  and 
there  has  been  no  change  in  price  scale.  Thea- 
tres object  seriously  to  any  producer  demand 
for  higher  scale  on  any  specific  picture.  Hold- 
overs have  been  much  more  numerous,  due  part- 
ly to  an  effort  to  offset  the  loss  of  the  Euro- 
pean market  for  producers. 

Attendance  has  been  up  all  during  1942,  and 
there  has  been  little  noticeable  decrease  in  male 
attendance.  Missing  men  are  expected  to  be 
felt  more  this  autumn.. 

The  Central  Labor  Union  is  sponsoring  peti- 
tions to  the  city  council  to  legalize  Sunday 
shows  for  Knoxville,  using  the  long  week-day 
hours  of  war  workers  as  one  chief  talking  point. 
The  question  has  been  referred  to  a  15-man 
committee  of  councilmen  and  citizens  and  it 
has  been  indicated  some  report  may  be  made 
early  in  the  autumn. 

Western  New  York 
Doubles  Average 

by  JAMES  SCHRADER 

in  Buffalo 

Buffalo  theatre  business  has  been  enjoying 
for  many  months  a  boom  of  proportions  un- 
paralleled in  local  exhibition  history.  A  week 
rarely  passes  without  at  least  one,  more  often 
two  and  three,  holdovers  at  principal  down- 
town houses.  Recently  not  one  downtown 
house  had  changed  its  product  for  fourteen 
consecutive  days.  This  was  true  even  of  a 
secondary-run  downtown  house  of  considerably 
smaller  size. 

Throughout  the  boom,  price  scales  have  not 
changed  materially.  There  have  been  no  in- 
creases, except  in  cases  where  product  of  higher 
caliber  plays  on  a  nation-wide  higher-admis- 
sion-price plan.  In  fact,  two  downtown  houses 
lowered  their  scales  from  35  cents  and  50  cents 
to  30  cents  and  44  cents.  Double  features  have 
been  conspicuous  in  their  absence  during  the 
last  few  months.  The  stage  show  policy  fell 
off  sharply  during  the  summer  months,  but  is 
expected  to  return  in  full  force  during  the 
coming  autumn  and  winter  seasons. 

At  the  start  of  the  war,  Buffalo  was  engaged 
in  a  theatre  building  program  of  considerable 
proportions.  At  least  two  neighborhood  houses 
were  completed  before  difficulties  resulting  from 
priorities  began.  But  there  are  three  other 
houses  only  half  built  that  must  remain  just 
that  way  for  the  duration. 

Show  hours  have  been  changed,  some  of  the 
downtown  houses  opening  as  early  as  10  A.  M. 
There  is  a  new  Telenews  theatre  in  the  down- 
town area,  built  into  an  old  house  that  under- 

(Continued  on  following  page) 


14 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


TENDENCY  TO  RAISE  PRICES 


(.Continued  from  preceding  page) 

went  extensive  renovation.  All  downtown 
houses  have  begun  playing  midnight  shows, 
usually  on  Saturday.  They  have  been  and  are 
well  patronized,  chiefly  by  this  city's  thousands 
of  war  plant  workers.  Neighborhood  houses 
run  matinees  on  the  slightest  provocation. 

Neighborhood  houses  here  are  doing  their 
share  in  scrap  rubber  and  metal  drive  shows. 
Children  are  admitted  for  scrap.  One  night, 
40  neighborhood  houses  admitted  anyone  free 
on  condition  they  purchased  at  least  $1  worth  of 
War  Savings  Stamps  at  the  box  office.  The 
stunt  attracted  much  newspaper  space.  The 
patron,  of  course,  kept  the  stamps  he  purchased 
and  saw  the  regular  show  for  nothing. 

Population  Increase 
Not  Yet  Estimated 

There  is  a  marked  shortage  of  help  in  all 
fields  of  the  industry  in  Buffalo.  Women  have 
taken  over  managerships  of  theatres,  have  be- 
come ushers  en  masse  and  are  making  their 
presence  considerably  more  noticeable  in  ex- 
change and  booking  offices.  There  are  no  wom- 
en projectionists  yet,  but  forecasts  of  this  are 
not  far  off. 

Buffalo's  population  and  that  of  its  many 
thriving  suburbs  has  increased  to  a  degree  no 
one  yet  has  estimated.  This  city  has  been 
marked  nationally  as  experiencing  a  labor 
shortage  despite  the  fact  labor  migration  to 
this  section  has  been  immense.  The  labor 
shortage  question  has  been  open  to  debate  on 
all  sides,  however,  and  there  is  a  national 
issue  on  the  question. 

There  has  been  increased  attendance  during 
late  evening  hours  in  downtown  houses  that 
has  been  responsible  for  unusually  frequent 
airings  of  Standing  Room  Only  signs.  Grosses 
are  not  only  big,  but  almost  regularly  near  or 
past  the  double-average  figure.  With  more 
family  groups  here,  this  group  has  increased 
among  theatregoers. 

Holdovers  are  the  general  rule.  "Pride  of 
the  Yankees,"  "Mrs.  Miniver"  and  "Somewhere 
I'll  Find  You"  had  long  runs.  Lesser  product 
held  up  almost  as  well,  giving  indication  of  Buf- 
falo's boom.  Week  after  week  product  proves 
so  popular  it  is  moved  from  one  downtown 
house  to  the  other  and  sometimes,  back  again 
to  the  house  it  played  originally. 

Sunday  shows  are  extremely  well  attended 
and  usually  turn  out  to  be  close  to  if  not  the 
biggest  day  of  the  week  for  more  than  a  month. 

Northern  California 
Has  Work  Boom 

by  BOB  HALL 

in    San  Francisco 

Greatly  increased  wartime  payrolls,  plus  an 
influx  of  thousands  of  shipyard  workers  from 
all  over  the  country  and  thousands  of  soldiers 
about  to  be  embarked  to  Pacific  battle  areas, 
have  suddenly  boosted  San  Francisco  theatre 
business  to  the  highest  level  in  many  years. 
Many  admission  scales  have  gone  up  and  other 
increases  are  planned,  as  exhibitors  in  the 
downtown  district,  and  in  most  neighborhood 
areas,  find  their  seating  capacities  entirely  too 
limited,  especially  over  the  weekends. 

At  the  same  time,  managements  are  faced 
with  a  steadily-worsening  personnel  problem, 
with  shortages  in  practically  all  departments, 
including  ushers,  doormen,  cashiers,  assistant 
house  managers  and  janitors.  The  only  field 
not  much  affected  is  that  of  projectionists,  most 
of  whom,  in  this  area,  apparently  are  above  the 
draft  limits. 

The  RKO-Golden  Gate  Theatre,  after  huge 


NEW  THEATRES  FOR 
COAST  SHIP  TOWNS 

Conversion  of  a  store  building  and 
the  dismantling  and  moving  of  a  the- 
atre have  given  two  new  houses  to 
suburbs  of  San  Francisco,  booming 
because  of  the  shipbuilding  industry. 
Robert  Lippert,  who  recently  opened 
the  new  Studio  theatre  in  Richmond, 
is  now  altering  another  building  to  be 
converted  into  a  500-seat  house.  The 
Lark  theatre  at  Larkspur  has  been 
dismantled  and  is  being  moved  to 
Sausalito  across  the  bay. 


grosses  on  successive  engagements  by  the  bands 
of  Harry  James,  Kay  Kyser  and  Cab  Callo- 
way, has  upped  its  top  admission  from  65  to  75 
cents,  the  highest  price  charged  since  pre-de- 
pression  days.  The  Kyser  engagement  estab- 
lished a  new  house  record  of  approximately 
$41,000,  with  James  and  Calloway  exceeding 
$30,000. 

For  the  opening  of  "Wake  Island"  the  Para- 
mount, a  Fox- West  Coast  house,  increased  its 
top  from  55  to  65  cents,  and  will  keep  it  there. 
Managements  of  the  Fox,  Orpheum  and  United 
Artists  declare  they  will  duplicate  the  Para- 
mount's  rise  as  soon  as  an  appropriate  attrac- 
tion comes  along.  Four  downtown  independents, 
the  Embassy,  Strand,  Regal  and  Davies,  in- 
creased five  cents  two  weeks  ago.  Previously 
the  three  big  neighborhood  circuits,  Golden 
State  Theatres,  San  Francisco  Theatres,  and 
Nasser  Brothers  Circuit,  added  ten  cents  all 
along  the  line,  and  are  now  reported  preparing 
for  another  increase. 

Theatre  Has  Extra 
Morning  Show 

Show  hours  remain  about  the  same,  as  far 
as  openings  are  concerned,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Golden  Gate,  which  has  been  running  an 
extra  morning  show  for  its  recent  big  attrac- 
tions. Nearly  all  downtown  houses  are  run- 
ning extra  shows  Saturday  nights  at  midnight, 
and  some  on  Fridays. 

Business  is  up  during  all  hours  of  the  day, 
with  standup  crowds  at  night.  Despite  war 
work,  male  attendance  shows  a  big  increase, 
including  war  workers  off  duty  and  soldiers 
and  sailors,  of  which  there  are  many  in  the  city. 
The  general  result  is  an  increase  in  grosses 
all  around,  and  longer  picture  runs  than  pre- 
viously. Downtown  grosses  are  averaging 
about  twenty  per  cent  higher  than  a  year  ago. 


Twin  Cities  Now  Feel 
Manpower  Pinch 

by  ROBERT  MURPHY 

in  Minneapolis 

Major  effect  of  the  war  on  theatre  business 
in  the  Minneapolis-St.  Paul  territory  is  in  the 
field  of  personnel. 

An  increase  in  prices  amounting  to  about  10 
per  cent  was  general  through  the  territory  in 
the  spring.  There  has  been  little  effect,  how- 
ever, on  show  hours  or  length  of  run.  The  Cen- 
tury theatre  in  Minneapolis  inaugurated  a  Sat- 
urday night  midnight  showing  of  the  best  fea- 


ture due  to  open  in  the  near  future,  and  had  j 
reasonable  success  with  it. 

Theatres  have  been  feeling  the  manpower 
pinch,  however.  In  many  situations  women  have; 
been  substituted  for  men,  and  the  World  the-  j 
atre  in  Minneapolis  last  week  employed  two! 
women  ticket-takers.  The  manpower  shortage! 
is  particularly  dicernible  in  smaller  towns, 
many  of  which  have  been  virtually  stripped  of 
employable  men,  either  by  the  armed  services 
or  defense  jobs  in  the  larger  cities. 

Theatre  men  have  noted  a  change  in  audi- 
ences as  young  men  faded  out  of  the  picture 
Business  through  the  territory  has  held  up  re- 
markably well  generally,  the  midsummer  slumj 
being  hardly  noticeable  in  many  situations 
Business  in  larger  cities  has  been  splendid,  bu 
has  showed  something  of  a  decline  in  smallei 
towns,  except  in  areas  where  increased  farrc 
prices  have  shown  a  benefit. 


Fewer  Changes 
In  Ohio  Area 

by  E.  H.  MAYER 

in  Hamilton 

Changes  in  theatre  operating  policies  in  th 
Cincinnati  exchange  territory,  comprised 
southern  Ohio  and  parts  of  Indiana,  Kentuck 
and  West  Virginia,  due  to  exigencies  of  wai 
have  been  relatively  less  extensive  or  drasti 
than  those  reported  obtaining  in  other  area: 
despite  the  fact  that  a  large  portion  of  the  Cin 
cinnati  territory  is  given  over  to  production 
war  materials  and  other  important  activities  c 
the  conflict. 

Upward  revision  of  prices  have  not  been  ger 
eral,  but  rathe--  confined  to  isolated  situation: 
Cincinnati  independent  suburban  exhibitors  re 
port  that  they  are  opposed  to  any  increases,  be 
cause,  as  one  exhibitor  spokesman  put  it,  "W 
are  having  a  hard  enough  struggle  even  at  th 
existing  scales."  These  independents  are  ap 
proaching  the  problem  from  another  angle — a! 
endeavor  to  effect  a  decrease  in  film  rentals. 

The  latest  admission  change  is  reported  frot 
the  Northio  Paramount  theatre,  in  Hamiltoi 
Ohio,  where  prices  were  increased  an  averag 
of  five  cents.  Other  situations — Zanesville  The 
atres,  Inc.,  an  affiliate  of  the  Shea  Circuit  i 
Ohio,  for  example — have  advanced  prices  i 
their  Ohio  houses,  not  because  of  the  war,  bi, 
to  bring  them  into  line  from  the  reductior 
made  during  the  depression  days. 

Show  hours  or  additional  shows  have  ne 
been  materially  changed.  The  RKO  Gran 
in  Columbus,  Ohio,  however,  is  running  a  "Vi(; 
tory  Show"  on  Thursdays  and  Fridays,  startir1 
at  2  A.  M.,  for  benefit  of  the  "graveyard  shifi 
of  defense  workers.  The  suburban  Twentiel 
Century  theatre,  a  unit  of  the  Vance  Circu 
in  Cincinnati,  runs  midnight  shows  on  Satu 
days,  and  the  Drive-In  theatre,  near  Cincii 
nati,  which,  incidentally,  is  this  year  keepir 
open  until  the  advent  of  really  cold  weathe 
has  a  1:15  A.  M.  show  on  Saturdays.  Mar 
houses  in  the  key  situations  run  Saturday  mi' 
night  shows,  but  this  has  been  done  for  son 
few  years.  Generally,  however,  the  late  shov 
do  not  attract  a  large  portion  of  war  worket 
but  rather  the  regular  patronage,  according 
reports. 

Personnel  is  becoming  a  problem,  because 
employees  entering  the  armed  forces.  Replac 
ments  with  girls  are  becoming  more  numero 
in  all  departments  of  the  theatre,  except  pr 
jectionists.  Loew's  Broad  and  Ohio  theatres, 
Columbus,  recently  installed  a  feminine  assists 

(.Continued  on  following  pagel 


: 


October    I  0,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


15 


MANY  WOMEN  EMPLOYED 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

■manager  and  a  student  assistant.  Other  houses 
n  the  territory  are  beginning  to  do  likewise, 
)oth  in  managerial  and  assistant  managerial 
opacities.  Female  "doormen"  are  becoming  in- 
:reasingly  evident.  Girl  ushers  in  Cincinnati, 
Zolumbus  and  some  other  of  the  larger  cities 
:ave  been  on  duty  for  a  period  of  a  few  years. 

Attendance,  generally,  holds  to  about  an  even 
<eel,  exhibitors  report,  although  the  outlying 
louses  are  beginning  to  feel  the  pinch  of  tire 
md  gasoline  rationing,  particularly  on  the  part 
jf  patrons  who  have  been  driving  from  the 
nore  remote  sections.  To  offset  this,  however, 
Ihey  reason  that  people  living  in  closer  prox- 
mity  to  the  theatres  will  become  patrons,  due 

0  their  inability  to  participate  in  "driving 
prees." 

Summing  up  the  situations  from  a  cross- 
ection  of  exhibitor  opinion,  changes  in  pro- 
ram  schedules,  length  of  run  and  other  cate- 
ories  of  operation  are  more  or  less  negligible, 
llthough  shifts  in  policies  are  contemplated 
•hen  and  as  the  effects  of  war  in  this  section 
ecome  more  pronounced. 

Sunday  shows  continue  to  constitute  the 
aajor  draw,  particularly  when  the  product 
istifies,  but  ther  exhibitors  who  have  hereto- 
!>re  relied  on  double  features  aise  in  a  quan- 
ary  as  to  how  to  influence  lsisiness  when 
jjuble  features  are  ruled  out  b  >ause  of  the 
.mservation  of  film  material  by'  the  Govern- 
ment. 

$  fc- 

'taff  Problems 
[cute  in  Texas 

1  RAY  BEALL 

si 

-  Dallas 

|a  survey  of  the  circuit  operators  of  the 
ljuthwest,   including   Interstate   Circuit,  Inc., 

)bb  &  Rowley,  Griffith  Theatres,  Jefferson 
"Tiusement  Company  and  a  number  of  the  out- 
'.  aiding  independents,   revealed  that  wartime 

editions  have  made  themselves  felt  more  in 
pi;  matter  of  employees  than  in  any  other  phase 
jj  theatre  operation. 

fe.  J.  O'Donnell,  vice-president  and  general 

nager  of  Interstate,  says  that  there  have 
lien  no  changes  in  price  scales  in  the  Inter- 
]|te  circuit,  and  also  that  there  have  been  no 
'Unges  in  show  hours  in  any  theatre,  with 
|1:  exception  of  Dallas.  Midnight  shows  have 

:n  discontinued  in  Dallas  on  Saturday  nights, 
:  :h  the  last  -show  of  the  current  attractions 
|  the  downtown  houses  being  extended  to  11 
■  M.  in  order  to  accommodate  defense  workers 
nun  North  American  Aviation  and  other  de- 
rase  plants  in  and  around  Dallas.  These 
irkers  on  the  day  shift  find  it  impossible  to 

ch  their  homes,  bathe  and  dress,  shop  in 
ivntown  Dallas,  and  then  see  a  show  on  a 

-war  schedule.  Dallas  merchants,  with  an 
to  defense  worker  trade,  are  keeping  their 

ces_  of  business  open  until  9  P.  M.  on  Satur- 

■  nights. 

Ur.  O'Donnell  said  that  the  personnel  situa- 
i  i  was  acute  in  all  departments,  including 

*  ers,   doormen,   projectionists   and  assistant 

*  lagers  in  order  named.  He  mentioned  sev- 
'1   Interstate   theatres   now   employing  girl 

ers,  including  those  in  Dallas,  Fort  Worth, 
arillo  and  McAllen.  In  the  matter  of  door- 
>:i  and  chief  ushers,  he  said  vacancies  created 
;     employees  entering  the  service  or  defense 
.'   its,  were  being  filled  as  nearly  as  possible 
n  men  who  had  4F  draft  classifications, 
/ith  an  eye  to  the  future  regarding  vacancies 
j  he  managerial  ranks,  Interstate,  through  its 
onnel  department,  has  concluded  a  survey 


EXTRA  STORE  HOURS 
BOOM  ATTENDANCE 

Monday  nights,  normally  the  quiet- 
est of  the  week,  are  now  capacity 
evenings  for  theatres  in  Seattle  as  the 
result  of  new  retail  store  hours.  In 
order  to  aid  transportation  difficulties 
and  provide  more  convenient  shop- 
ping time  for  war  industry  workers, 
all  retail  stores  in  the  city  now  remain 
open  until  9  o'clock  every  Monday 
night.  Many  of  the  shoppers  attend 
the  theatre  before  going  home. 


to  determine  the  possibilities  of  women  man- 
agers for  their  theatres.  Thirty  or  more  wo- 
men were  found  to  have  qualifications  for  man- 
agerial positions  in  Dallas.  They  have  been 
selected  to  undergo  a  period  of  training  in  In- 
terstate's  Feminine  Managerial  School  which 
will  be  conducted  by  company  executives  within 
the  next  two  weeks.  Plans  are  being  made  for 
similar  schools  in  San  Antonio  and  Houston. 
John  Q.  Adams,  executive  secretary  of  Inter- 
state, said  the  rapid  drain  on  the  organization's 
manpower  by  the  Government  indicated  that 
most  of  those  who  graduated  from  the  school 
would  probably  receive  managerial  assignments. 

Don  Douglas,  executive  of  the  Robb  &  Row- 
ley circuit,  pointed  out  that  their  chief  em- 
ployee problem  created  by  war  conditions  was 
in  the  projectionist  field,  with  vacancies  occur- 
ring almost  daily.  He  said  that  they  were  at- 
tempting replacements,  such  as  they  were,  from 
'teen'  age  youths,  who  in  many  instances  were 
being  found  undependable  in  the  booths. 


Peak  Still  to  Come 
in  Pennsylvania 

by  M.  H.  ORODENKER 

in  Philadelphia 

Since  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  Philadelphia 
and  many  of  the  smaller  towns  in  the  eastern 
Pennsylvania  area,  have  taken  on  a  "boom 
town"  character  not  experienced  since  the  last 
war.  Since  the  start  of  the  year,  the  amusement 
industry  has  been  steadily  soaring  new  heights 
and  the  peak  is  not  expected  to  be  reached  un- 
til late  in  the  1942-43  season.  The  motion  pic- 
ture industry  has  been  the  first  to  manifest  this 
war-stimulated  prosperity,  which  was  evidenced 
during  the  summer  months  at  the  outdoor 
amusement  parks  in  the  city  and  now  is  being 
felt  by  the  legitimate  theatres  and  the  night 
clubs. 

Apart  from  the  fact  that  war  plants  and  in- 
dustries in  the  Philadelphia  area  are  entrusted 
with  one-fifth  of  the  nation's  production  pro- 
gram, there  have  been  other  positive  factors 
stimulating  theatre  attendance  and  resulting 
in  a  general  boom  in  all  phases  of  the  amuse- 
ment industry.  In  addition  to  the  thousands  of 
workers  migrating  to  the  city,  attracted  by  the 
high  wages  at  the  war  and  defense  factories, 
the  population  was  further  swelled  by  many 
thousands  of  white  collar  workers  shifted  here 
when  the  Government  moved  many  of  its  non- 
military  agencies  out  of  Washington.  The  hous- 
ing situation  here  has  been  acute  for  many 
months  as  a  result  of  this  population  trend. 
Moreover,  strategically  situated  near  large  mili- 


tary reservations,  the  city's  populace  is  further 
swelled,  especially  on  week-ends,  by  thousands 
of  men  in  service  on  leave. 

Travel  curbs,  because  of  gasoline  and  tire 
rationing,  have  turned  out  to  be  a  boon  for  the 
film  houses,  especially  marked  so  during  the 
summer  months.  Because  of  its  proximity  to 
Atlantic  City  and  other  seashore  and  mountain 
resorts  warm  weather  always  brought  a 
seasonal  slump  in  theatre  attendance.  This  past 
summer,  however,  the  populace  was  virtually 
forced  to  seek  its  amusements  close  to  home. 
And  it  did  at  film  theatres.  Folks  in  the 
outlying  districts  who  motored  to  the  central 
city  for  their  movie  entertainment  began  pat- 
ronizing their  neighborhood  movies,  many  for 
the  first  time.  And  the  central  city  district  more 
than  made  up  for  losses  in  home-town  patron- 
gae  by  the  swelling  population  in  the  downtown 
area. 

Large  Grosses  for 
First-Run  Houses 

The  first-run  houses  this  past  summer  en- 
joyed, accordingly,  their  biggest  grosses  of  the 
year.  Warners'  Earle  theatre  formerly  consid- 
ered it  an  excellent  summer  week  if  its  stage 
show  could  help  bring  in  a  $20,000  gross.  This 
past  summer  the  Earle,  in  the  mid-August  heat, 
would  gross  over  the  $40,000  mark. 

Significant  also  is  the  fact  that  movie-going 
habits  of  the  public  at  war  has  not  changed 
appreciably.  Except  for  the  marked  increase  in 
all-night  attendance,  the  traditional  hours  for 
matinee  and  evening  dinner  and  supper  shows 
prevail.  At  the  outbrelak  of  war,  neighbor- 
hood houses  simmered  down  to  regular  attend- 
ance habits.  Neighborhood  houses  report  a 
dropping  off  in  attendance  at  the  late  supper 
shows,  attributed  to  the  early-rising  hours  of 
the  family  or  because  members  of  the  house- 
hold are  working  the  night  shifts.  However, 
that  slack  has  more  than  been  taken  up  by  a 
marked  increase  in  attendance  at  the  earlier  eve- 
ning show  and  especially  at  the  matinee. 

Attendance  Booms 
At  Late  Shows 

The  war  plants  and  factories  working  around 
the  clock  have  resulted  in  an  attendance  boom 
from  the  midnight  to  dawn  houses.  However, 
the  all-night  movie  audience  is  confined  to  the 
central  area.  Before  the  war,  there  were  only 
two  all-night  houses — Warners'  Family  and 
William  Goldman's  News  theatres.  Now  there 
are  four,  the  Warner  circuit  placing  its  central 
city  Center  and  Savoy  theatres  on  a  24-hour 
daily  schedule.  And  all  four  houses  are  enjoying 
heavy  all-night  business.  Samuel  Stiefel's  Fay's 
theatre,  just  outside  the  central  city  district, 
in  reopening  for  the  new  season,  again  with  a 
stage  policy,  has  introduced  Sunday  midnight 
shows  for  the  first  time. 

The  only  difficult  problem  facing  the  indus- 
try here  is  the  labor  situation.  Primarily  it  is 
felt  in  service  staffs,  into  which  enlistments, 
the  draft  and  war  factories  have  made  heavy 
inroads.  For  the  first  time,  the  Warner  circuit 
found  it  necessary  to  substitute  usherettes  for 
ushers,  and  this  season  finds  the  girls  being  used 
in  that  capacity  for  the  first  time  at  the  larger 
first-run  houses.  As  yet,  the  circuit  has 
placed  no  women  in  executive  posts  as  assist- 
ant manager  or  manager.  The  William  Gold- 
man circuit  was  the  first  to  employ  a  woman 
in  a  managerial  capacity,  starting  off  the  1942- 
43  season  with  a  woman  as  manager  of  its 
neighborhood  Bandbox  theatre.  No  serious  situ- 
ation is  seen  among  projectionists,  stage  hands 
or  electricians.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  they 
have  enjoyed  high  salaries,  even  in  lean  years, 
the  I.  A.  membership  here  is  made  up  mostly 
of  married  family  men  and  many  in  age  groups 
beyond  the  draft  call. 


16 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,  1942 


TALENT  TO  FIGHT  INEQUITIES 
UNDER  WAGE  FIXING  ORDER  I 


"Protection  of  Members9* 
Promised  by  Hollywood 
Units;  Seek  Clarification 

by  VANCE  KING 

Hollywood  Bureau 

While  all  Hollywood  buzzed  this  week 
over  the  possible  effects  of  the  presidential 
order  freezing  wages  and  salaries  at  ap- 
proximately the  level  of  September  15th, 
first  statement  of  policy  from  a  talent 
guild  came  exclusively  to  the  Motion  Pic- 
ture Herald,  Tuesday,  from  the  Screen 
Actors  Guild  which  announced  that  in 
cases  of  inequities,  it  "intends  to  fully  pro- 
tect its  members."  The  order,  issued  by 
President  Roosevelt  immediately  after  an 
enabling  bill  was  passed  by  Congress 
October  2nd,  provides  for  immediate 
stabilization  of  farm  prices,  urban  and 
rural  rents,  wages  and  salaries  paid  in  in- 
dustry. 

Kenneth  Thomson,  executive  secretary  of 
the  Guild,  issued  the  following  statement: 

"The  Guild  recognizes  that  the  freezing 
of  wages  has  become  necessary  in  the  inter- 
ests of  national  welfare.  Needless  to  say, 
like  everyone  else,  we  must  abide  by  the 
order.  We  recognize,  however,  that  some 
Guild  members  may  rightfully  claim  that 
they  are  being  subjected  to  a  gross  inequity. 

"In  such  instances,  the  Guild  intends  to 
fully  protect  its  members." 

Tuesday  night,  representatives  of  the  ac- 
tors, writers,  directors  and  artists  managers 
guilds  met  with  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  presi- 
dent of  the  Association  of  Motion  Picture 
Producers,  in  the  first  of  what  is  expected 
to  be  a  series  of  discussions  of  the  Govern- 
mental directive  and  issued  the  following: 

"The  motion  picture  industry  is  eager  to 
comply  not  only  with  the  letter  but  also  with 
the  spirit  of  the  wage  stabilization  law.  Al- 
though many  important  points  still  are  to  be 
clarified  and  many  problems  to  be  solved, 
this  attitude  is  wholehearted  and  industry- 
wide." 

Committee  Formed  To 
Confer  and  Plan  Action 

Signing  the  statement  with  Mr.  Freeman 
were  James  Cagney,  SAG,  George  Stevens, 
SDG,  Mary  C.  McCall,  Jr.,  SWA,  and  Bert 
Allenberg,  AMG,  all  presidents  of  their  re- 
spective organizations. 

Members  of  the  Producers  Association  at 
their  monthly  meeting  Monday  named  Mr. 
Freeman  to  head  a  committee  to  discuss  with 
the  talent  guilds  the  various  problems  involved 
and  agree  on  a  plan  for  joint  action. 

Clarification  of  the  issues  involved  in  the 
directive  are  being  eagerly  awaited  in  an  in- 
dustry where  seven  year  personal  service  con- 
tracts, with  salary  increases  specified  at  certain 
option  times,  are  a  normal  matter  of  business 
and  where  union  bargaining  contracts  call  for 
either  automatic  increases  or  reopening  of  dis- 
cussions for  upward  revision  of  wages  at  certain 
set  times. 

Anxiously  looked  forward  to  is  the  system 


Senate  Rejects  Downey  Plan 
To  Exempt  Film  Industry 

by  FRANCIS  L.  BURT 

in  Washington 

Wages  and  salaries  in  the  motion  picture  and  radio  industries  are  effectually 
frozen  at  approximately  the  level  of  September  15th  under  the  presidential  order 
issued  last  Saturday  a  few  hours  after  Congress  had  passed  an  anti-inflation  bill 
authorizing  the  fixing  of  ceilings  on  labor  and  farm  prices  by  such  order  before 
November  1st.  Designed  to  curb  labor  and  agricultural  prices,  the  measure  also 
provides  for  the  stabilization  of  common  carrier  and  public  utility  rates,  with  the 
result  that  passenger  fares,  freight  and  express  charges,  and  prices  of  electricity, 
gas  and  other  utilities  will  remain  at  approximately  their  current  levels. 

In  a  vain  effort  to  secure  exemption  from  the  bill  for  the  motion  picture  industry, 
Senator  Downey  sought  acceptance  of  an  amendment  which  would  prevent  any 
interference  with  so-called  sliding  scale  contracts  which,  he  explained,  are  used  for 
young  actors  and  actresses  who  receive  more  money  rom  time  to  time  as  they 
gain  in  experience  and  technique,  but  the  Senate  refuseJ  to  make  any  exceptions. 

Wages,  salaries  and  rates  "affecting  the  cost  of  living"  are  to  be  fixed  by  regu- 
lations to  be  issued  by  the  President  before  November  1st,  and  provision  is  made 
for  the  adjustment  thereafter  of  any  salaries  or  wages  that  may  be  suffering  from 
"gross  inequities."  It  is  specifically  provided,  however,  that  no  wage  action  shall 
be  inconsistent  with  either  the  Fair  Labor  Standards  or  National  Labor  Relations 
act  nor  so  designed  as  to  reduce  wages  or  salaries  below  the  highest  figure  paid 
for  the  same  work  between  January  1st  and  September  15th,  last. 

Salaries  and  wages  are  to  be  considered  as  including  any  additional  compensation 
paid  to  employees,  other  than  reasonable  insurance  or  pension  benefits,  but  such 
additional  compensation  is  to  be  considered  in  determining  salaries  or  wages  for 
any  period  prior  to  September  16th  only  if  it  has  customarily  been  paid. 

A  specific  provision  of  the  bill  holds  that  nothing  therein  is  to  be  considered  as 
preventing  a  private  employer  from  reducing  the  salary  of  any  employee  receiving 
$5,000  a  year  or  more. 


of  adjudication  which  will  be  set  up  by  the 
Government  to  provide  a  formula  for  operation 
under  the  directive.  One  executive  of  a  top 
talent  guild  pointed  out  that  the  optional  per- 
sonal service  contracts  which  provide  for  specific 
salary  increases  as  options  are  extended  have 
been  a  common  practice  in  the  industry  for 
years,  and  that  such  wage  increases  are  not  a 
war-born  circumstance. 

The  officer  said  that  these  contracts  encom- 
passed the  activities  of  practically  all  persons  as 
executives,  producers,  writers,  directors  and  top 
cinematographers  and  were  the  very  basis  of 
production  activity. 

Although  members  of  the  AMPP  declined 
to  be  quoted  on  details  of  Monday's  meeting,  it 
was  understood  that  a  point  of  major  concern 
was  the  aftermath  of  a  possible  decision  for- 
bidding fulfillment  of  increases  to  talent  stipu- 
lated in  the  optional  contracts.  If  this  imposed 
inability  to  meet  terms  of  such  a  pact  were  to 
be  interpreted  as  nullifying  the  contract,  it  was 
pointed  out,  contractees  might  offer  their  ser- 
vices to  any  higher  bidder,  thus  giving  rise  to 
a  seller's  market  in  the  talent  field  resulting 
in  return  to  the  era  of  star  piracv. 

Considered  also  was  the  case  of  the  expiring 
contract  of  a  player  whom  a  studio  wished  to 
renew  at  a  higher  figure  but  could  not  do  so, 
whereas  a  competitor  would  be  free  to  offer  any 


superior  stipend  and  thus  take  a  valued  st; 
from  a  company  powerless  to  defend  itself 
the  bidding. 

The  crafts  union  bargaining  situation,  hoyl 
ever,  appears  to  be  clarified,  negotiations  fj 
current  wage  increases  having  been  complex  U 
by  almost  every  union  prior  to  the  order.  Til 
ten  IATSE  locals  received  in  January  of  tb;J 
year  raises  approximating  ten  per  cent  whi1 
were  set  as  being  in  effect  until  January,  19- 
thus  creating  a  static  economic  condition  in  thl 
sector.    Nine  thousand  workers  were  affects  \ 

There  are  only  two  wage  increase  deman 
not  yet  taken  care  off :  that  of  the  Screen  Offi  J, 
Employees  Guild  for  the  Los  Angeles  Exchanj 
Workers,  and  that  of  the  Screen  Set  Designs  |j 
Local  for  its  unit  of  artists  and  illustrators 
the  studios. 

Since  the  presidential  directive  was  issui 
industry  and  company  attorneys  have  been  mu  i 
ing  the  wording  of  the  decree,  seeking  to  anab  j 
its  wording  as  it  applies  to  the  business  as  j 
whole  and  to  individuals.   The  $25,000  ceilif 
suggestion  drew  particular  attention  and  p; 
ticularly  the  qualifying  clause  "provided,  hoj 
ever,  such  regulations  shall  make  due  alio) 
ance  for  payment  of  life  insurance  premium 
on  policies  heretofore  issued,  and  required  p; J 
ments  on  fixed  obligations  heretofore  incurr  [ 
and  shall  make  provision  to  prevent  undue  ha 
ship." 


Dctober    10,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  17 


NO  IMMEDIATE  DECREASE 
IN  PICTURES  OR  PRINTS 


foresee  No  Further  Raw 
Stock  Cut  by  WPB  Now; 
Compiling  Inventories 

,y  WILLIAM  R.  WEAVER 

lollywood  Editor 

Compliance  with  the  War  Production 
oard  ruling  reducing  the  consumption 
f  raw  stock  by  10  to  24  per  cent  by  pro- 
ucers  has  not  yet  resulted  in  a  decrease 
i  the  number  of  pictures  being  produced 
i  Hollywood,  where  45  features  were  in 
looting  stages  at  the  weekend,  and  an 
athoritative  spokesman  for  the  organized 
dustry  on  Monday  expressed  the  view 
tat  it  will  not  do  so  directly. 

The  industry  executives  are  in  agreement, 
;  said,  that  the  number  of  prints  will  have 

be  reduced  to  meet  the  quotas  established, 
it  he  pointed  out  that  this  is  a  matter  in 
;ntrol  of  the  distribution  heads,  who  order 
tints  in  numbers  to  meet  their  sales  require- 
ents,  and  that  they  may  be  expected  to 
der  the  regulation  or  even  a  larger  number 

prints  on  pictures  they  regard  as  quick 
I  osses  while  accepting  a  sharply  reduced 
I  mber  of  prints  on  films  which  they  regard 

suitable  for  slower  distribution, 
i  .\To  additional  cuts  by  the  WPB  are  foreseen 
I  studio  heads  at  this  time,  although  no  as- 

ances  to  the  contrary  have  been  given,  and 
is  generally  understood  that  any  substantial 
'  rease  in  the  use  of  film  stock  by  the  armed 
||ces,  which  the  exigencies  of  war  might  bring 
8>ut,  could  result  in  further  curtailment  of 

ck  for  industry  use. 

i  nventories  of  the  raw  stock  used  during 
'-1  are  now  being  compiled  by  all  companies, 
!the  request  of  the  WPB,  in  order  to  furnish 
basis  for  raw  stock  allocations. 

leamvhile,  technological  economies  and  pro- 
j  tion  savings  now  in  use  generally  through- 
I'  studios  are  continuing  to  undergo  refine- 

it  and  are  yielding  steady  results.   Save  for 

ividual  declarations  regarding  reduction  in 
1  number  of  "B"  pictures,  most  of  which 
"j  e  turned  out  to  be  strictly  conversational 
J;  far,  no  organized  sentiment  for  the  adop- 
%  of  this  measure  as  an  expedient  related 

.ilm  conservation  prevails. 

p  Print  Pinch 
or  Months 

ixhibitors  probably  will  not  feel  the  effects 
|.  reduction  in  the  number  of  prints  to  con- 

J'e  film  raw  stock  for  several  months.  A 
k  of  the  print  departments  of  the  New 
ilk  home  offices  this  week  disclosed  that, 
large  product  backlogs,  most  of  the  com- 
t  es  are  well  ahead  of  release  dates  on  their 
tit  orders. 

pth  sales  managers  and  purchasing  agents 
I  e  emphatic   in   their  warning   to  theatre 
gators  that  sharp  reductions  are  ahead  in 
numbers  of  prints  for  all  types  of  pictures. 
■  "nest  cuts,  they  say,  probably  will  come  in 
I  terns,  program  and  "B"  pictures. 
letro-Goldwyn-Mayer,  according  to  William 
!y,  head  of  its  film  department,  has  pared 
i>rint  orders  by  an  average  of  fifty  prints 
ach  picture.   Other  companies  report  sim- 
slashes,  although  the  method  of  dividing 


the  cut  has  varied.  Some  make  most  reduc- 
tion in  the  lesser  pictures  to  save  stock  for  their 
specials. 

Warner  Brothers  reports  that  with  a  maxi- 
mum of  35  pictures  scheduled  for  the  coming 
season  it  will  have  no  difficulty  in  making  its 
film  stock  quota,  and  probably  will  not  have 
to  cut  the  number  of  prints  drastically.  Warners 
have  cut  about  20  per  cent  of  the  trailer  foot- 
age which  they  formerly  used  however. 

Paramount  also  has  pared  its  print  orders 
considerably,  but  reports  no  immediate  short- 
age of  copies.  The  company,  with  over  30 
pictures  in  the  can,  had  the  largest  backlog. 
Sale  of  22  pictures  to  United  Artists,  was 
said  to  have  eased  the  Paramount  print  stock 
situation  considerably.  The  company  is  order- 
ing prints  from  four  to  six  weeks  in  advance 
of  release. 

No  Delay  Reported 
On  Print  Deliveries 

MGM  now  is  printing  pictures  for  November 
and  December  release,  according  to  Mr.  Kelly. 
Other  companies  are  from  three  to  eight  weeks 
ahead  of  release  schedule.  Metro  is  spacing 
out  print  orders  at  the  rate  of  about  50  copies 
a  week,  to  relieve  the  burden  on  laboratories 
and  film  suppliers  for  rush  work. 

None  of  the  purchasing  departments  reported 
any  delays  as  yet  in  deliveries  by  either  the 
duPont  or  Eastman  film  companies.  They  de- 
clared that  the  film  stock  distributors  and  their 
agents  had  given  the  companies  the  utmost  co- 
operation and  were  working  their  factories  on 
a  24-hour  basis  to  fill  not  only  Government 
orders  but  the  needs  of  the  entertainment  in- 
dustry. 

The  greatest  shortage  is  reported  to  be  in 
non-inflammable  film  stock.  This  is  the  prin- 
cipal demand  of  the  Government  and  a  major 
portion  of  the  regular  cellulose  nitrate  process- 
ing equipment  has  been  converted  to  the  fire 
resisting  acetate  film  process.  The  Government 
is  buying  "non-flam"  film  in  both  35  and  16 
mm  sizes.  Orders  from  the  Government  have 
reached  as  high  as  15,000,000  feet  at  a  time  re- 
cently, it  was  reported. 

Ad  Film  Advisory 
Group  Named 

An  industry  advisory  committee  for  the  in- 
dustrial and  advertising  film  producers  and  dis- 
tributors was  announced  this  week  by  the  War 
Production  Board.  Ten  men  prominent  in  the 
advertising  film  field  were  named  to  the  com- 
mittee. The  group  held  its  first  meeting  with 
board  officials  in  Washington  last  week  to  dis- 
cuss the  application  to  advertising  films  of  the 
raw  stock  allocation  order. 

Harold  B.  Hopper,  chief  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture unit  of  the  WPB,  will  be  the  Government 
presiding  officers  of  the  committee,  membership 
of  which  is  as  follows :  J.  D.  Alexander,  presi- 
dent, Alexander  Film  Company,  Colorado 
Springs ;  F.  O.  Calvin,  president,  Calvin  Com- 
pany, Kansas  City,  Mo. ;  Eugene  Castle,  presi- 
dent, Castle  Films,  Inc.,  New  York ;  L.  W. 
Fox,  president,  Audio  Productions  Inc.,  New 
York ;  Jamison  Handy,  president,  Jam  Handy 
Company,  Detroit ;  Hugh  Jamieson,  president, 
Jamieson  Film  Company,  Dallas ;  R.  C.  Mc- 
Keon,  president,  Caraval  Films,  Inc.,  New 
York ;  Roland  Reed,  president,  Roland  Reed 
Productions,  Culver  City,  Cal. ;  Norman  Wild- 
ing, president,  Wilding  Picture  Productions, 
Inc.,  Chicago,  and  Harold  Wondsel,  president, 
Sound  Masters,  Inc.,  New  York. 

Last  week  the  group  was  informed  bv  WPB 
and  OWI  officials  that  manufacturers  of  ad- 
vertising films  who  had  not  been  given  any 


place  in  the  allocation  system  for  raw  stock 
recently  set  up  by  the  WPB  will  be  granted 
film  for  such  pictures  as  may  be  given  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Motion  Picture  Bureau  of  the 
Office  of  War  Information.  Under  the  present 
plan  advertising  film  companies  will  reecive 
stock  for  those  pictures,  approved  by  the  OWI, 
which  carry  a  war  morale  message,  as  distinct 
from  straight  advertising,  or  which  apply  to 
large  numbers  of  people  or  do  not  duplicate  ex- 
isting films. 

Many  Make  Films 
For  War  Uses 

As  Motion  Picture  Herald  reported  in 
March  14,  1942,  it  was  brought  out  at  the  meet- 
ing that  most  commercial  film  producers,  since 
Pearl  Harbor,  had  converted  to  making  war 
training  films  for  industrial  firms  and  for  the 
Army,  Navy  and  other  Government  agencies. 

Commenting  on  the  reconsideration  by  the 
WPB  of  the  commercial  film  field,  Mr.  Alexan- 
der, who  was  in  New  York  this  week,  said :  "We 
all  recognize  that  there  is  a  tremendous  short- 
age of  film;  there  is  no  question  of  that.  Gun 
cotton  which  goes  to  make  up  raw  film  stock 
is  needed  for  bullets  and  more  bullets."  He 
said  the  advertising  and  industrial  film  produc- 
ers originally  went  to  Washington  to  seek  some 
relief  from  the  order.  Mr.  Alexander  said,  "We 
have  given  them  our  position.  We  said  we  want- 
ed to  stay  in  business,  and  the  WPB  officials 
gave  us  a  hearing." 

He  reported  that  nearly  50  per  cent  of  the 
pictures  being  produced  by  his  company  are 
films  connected  with  the  war.  The  other  50 
per  sent  are  straight  advertising  pictures  for 
which,  he  said,  his  company  has  a  reserve  of 
raw  stock  which  will  last  at  least  a  year.  Mr. 
Alexander  estimated  that  no  more  than  two 
per  cent  of  the  total  film  footage  was  used  for 
commercial  and  industrial  production  in  1941, 
which,  he  pointed  out,  was  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  the  total  consumption  by  the  in- 
dustry. 

Meanwhile,  first  indication  that  major  pro- 
ducing companies  are  conserving  their  raw 
stock  for  trailer  use  over  and  above  the  amount 
of  footage  which  they  originally  voluntarily 
agreed  to  conserve  when  the  WPB  order  was 
decreed,  came  from  Herman  Robbins,  president 
of  National  Screen  Service,  in  New  York.  Mr. 
Robbins  reported  Monday  that  one  major  film 
company  has  allowed  footage  for  a  trailer  on 
an  important  new  season  picture  below  the 
200  feet  set  for  films  in  the  first  group. 

Trailer  Footage  Cut 
By  Majors  Seen 

The  maximum  trailer  length  for  special  fea- 
tures voluntarily  set  by  producers  is  200  feet ; 
for  "A"  pictures,  150  feet  and  for  the  run  of 
releases,  100  feet.  Mr.  Robbins  said  that  one 
company  has  allowed  187  feet  for  a  film  which 
falls  into  the  first  group  and  he  indicated  that 
other  major  producers  would  probably  follow 
suit  in  future  allocations  for  trailer  use. 

The  WPB  order  which  ruled  out  production 
of  advertising  and  commercial  films  for  the 
duration,  permits  production  of  trailers  for  en- 
tertainment product.  Since  the  order,  National 
Screen  has  discontinued  its  industrial  and  ad- 
vertising trailer  production.  According  to  the 
company,  the  WPB  temporarily  may  grant  the 
use  of  raw  stock  for  the  manufacture  of  trail- 
ers concerning  theatre  scrap  and  salvage  drives. 
War  Bond  drives,  blackout  regulations,  aircraft 
warnings,  air  raid  warden  instruction,  local 
war  hero  celebrations  or  any  other  phase  of  the 
war  effort. 


I  8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,     I  942 


Monogram  Sets 
New  Canadian 
Distribution 

A  new  coast-to-coast  Canadian  distribution 
system  for  Monogram  pictures  has  been  ob- 
tained through  a  deal  concluded  on  September 
30th  with  Oscar  R.  Hanson,  president  of  Pio- 
neer Films,  Ltd.,  and  other  Canadian  corpora- 
tions. He  will  be  president  of  Monogram  Films 
of  Canada,  Ltd.,  and  exclusive  distributor  of 
the  product  in  the  Dominion. 

Harry  Kauffman,  for  many  years  in  Cana- 
dian distribution  and  exhibition,  has  been 
named  general  manager  of  the  new  company. 
The  home  office  will  be  located  at  277  Victoria 
Street,  Toronto,  and  there  will  be  branch  of- 
fices initially  in  six  cities. 

Percy  C.  Taylor  will  manage  the  Vancouver 
branch  and  will  also  open  a  new  office  in  Cal- 
gary. He  was  formerly  with  the  Odeon  circuit, 
a  general  manager  for  F.  B.  O.  in  Canada  and 
a  sales  representative  for  United  Artists  and 
RKO. 

The  St.  John  office  will  be  headed  by  Sam 
Jacobs.  Other  branch  managers  include  John 
Levitt,  Montreal,  and  Victor  Rackow,  at  Win- 
nipeg. Mr.  Kauffman  will  handle  the  To- 
ronto exchange  for  the  present. 

Mr.  Kauffman,  who  has  been  in  the  film 
business  since  1912,  is  the  former  manager  of 
Regal  Films,  which  previously  distributed 
Monogram  product.  He  also  managed  the  Con- 
solidated Theatres  circuit  in  Montreal  and  has 
distributed  Universal,  Famous  Players  and 
Grand  National  product. 

Monogram  stockholders  met  in  Hollywood 
on  Wednesday  to  hear  details  of  the  new  Ca- 
nadian outlet,  and  the  company's  production 
plans  from  W.  Ray  Johnston,  president.  In 
the  group  were  John  Mangham,  Atlanta ;  Her- 
man Rifkin,  Boston ;  Charles  Trampe,  Mil- 
waukee ;  Irving  Mandel,  Chicago ;  Lon  T. 
Fidler,  Denver,  and  William  Hurlbut,  Detroit. 

Orson  Welles  Goes 
On  the  Air  Again 

Orson  Welles,  home  from  South  America  to 
stay  awhile,  will  return  to  the  commercial  radio 
studios  on  November  9th  in  a  15-minute  weekly 
program  sponsored  by  the  Lockheed  Aircraft 
Corporation.  It  will  originate  in  Hollywood, 
where  Mr.  Welles  was  expected  to  return  this 
week.  The  Lockheed  program,  for  which  con- 
tracts are  to  be  signed  this  week,  will  be  a  re- 
port on  aviation,  as  told  by  Mr.  Welles. 

Monday  Mr.  Welles  will  play  Orson  Welles 
on  CBS'  Cavalcade  of  America  program.  He 
will  act  as  master  of  ceremonies  in  a  dramatiza- 
tion marking  Columbus  day  on  a  hemisphere  net- 
work. 

Arranges  Audience 
Preference  Study 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  has  arranged  for  a 
continuing  study  and  survey  of  motion  picture 
audience  preferences  by  the  Motion  Picture  Re- 
search Bureau,  according  to  an  announcement 
made  Wednesday  by  Howard  Dietz,  MGM  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  advertising  and  publicity. 

The  study  will  cover  all  MGM  productions 
and  also  will  embrace  audience  analysis  of  a 
general  nature.  Dr.  Leo  Handel  is  director  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Research  Bureau. 


Columbia  Signs  Stern 

Bill  Stern,  sports  reporter  and  broadcaster, 
has  signed  a  new  contract  as  commentator  on 
Columbia  Pictures'  "World  of  Snorts"  series. 
The  first  picture  under  the  new  deal  is  "Trot- 
ting Kings."  The  next  will  be  "The  Shovel  and 
Rake  Golfer,"  featuring  John  Montague. 


Roach  Scheduled  for 
Combat;  Other  Shifts 

Major  Hal  Roach  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Air 
Corps  is  scheduled  to  go  into  combat  zones 
shortly,  according  to  reports.  The  major  has 
been  conferring  with  United  Artists  distribu- 
tion executives  over  increased  bookings  of  his 
"Streamliners,"  four  of  which  probably  will  be 
produced  this  year. 

John  Aalberg,  chief  of  the  RKO  studio  sound 
department  and  a  major  in  the  Signal  Corps 
Reserve,  has  left  the  studio  for  active  duty 
at  the  Signal  Corps  base  photographic  labora- 
tory in  Louisiana.  He  was  accompanied  to  the 
base  by  John  Alton,  Benjamin  Berg,  Carl 
Schillinger,  Richard  H.  Cahoon,  Otto  Ludwig 
and  Don  Starling,  all  studio  technicians,  who 
have  been  commissioned  in  the  Army. 

Hal  B.  Wallis  is  reported  to  be  leaving  his 
production  post  at  Warners  shortly  to  become 
a  major  in  the  Army  Air  Force,  in  charge  of 
film  production  for  the  photographic  unit  at  the 
Hal  Roach  studios,  where  Major  Paul  Mantz 
is  commanding  officer. 

Lieut.  Col.  Jack  L.  Warner  is  reported  shift- 
ing from  the  photographic  unit  to  become  at- 
tached to  the  staff  of  Major  Gen.  Henry  Ar- 
nold in  Washington. 

Edward  L.  Roddan,  of  the  Washington  of- 
fice of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Dis- 
tributors of  America,  and  former  administrative 
assistant  to  James  A.  Farley,  goes  into  the 
Army  as  a  private  next  week. 

Technicians  Union 
Nominates  Officers 

Nominations  were  made  last  week  in  New 
York  by  Laboratory  Technicians  Union,  Local 
702.   Elections  will  be  held  October  17th. 

Renominated  was  John  Rugge,  president ;  but 
William  Vermont,  secretary-treasurer,  will  op- 
pose his  reelection.  Others  nominated  were : 
for  first  vice-president,  John  Francavilla,  in- 
cumbent ;  for  second  vice-president,  John  Con- 
rad, John  McCarthy,  Joseph  McCarthy,  Nick 
Koutrouby,  George  Waugh ;  for  secretary-treas- 
urer, Charles  Peterson,  Adolph  Grude,  Rose 
Vanoli,  Charles  Mannino,  and  John  Oxton.  Un- 
opposed for  recording  secretary  is  Amy  Noli. 


Upholds  Carnival  Fee 

Holding  that  the  Lone  Star  Shows  Corpora- 
tion, operated  by  Marshall  F.  Kaufman,  is  a 
carnival  and  not  an  amusement  park,  Circuit 
Judge  Gilbert  Burnett  declined  to  enjoin  the 
City  of  Louisville  from  levying  a  $200-day 
Sinking  Fund  license  fee  against  the  carnival. 
Defense  attorneys  Simeon  Jacobs  and  Laurence 
S.  Grauman  announced  they  would  ask  the 
Court  of  Appeals  to  review  the  decision. 


Chicago  Approves  79  Films 

During  September  the  Chicago  police  censor 
board  reviewed  79  pictures  with  a  total  foot- 
age of  439,000  feet.  No  pictures  were  rejected, 
10  cuts  were  ordered  and  Warner's  "The 
Mummy's  Tomb"  was  given  an  "adults  only" 
permit.  Paramount's  "The  Glass  Key,"  which 
was  given  a  pink  permit  last  month,  was 
screened  again  with  the  board's  original  de- 
cision remaining  unchanged. 


Open  MGM  Exhibit 

Coty-Fifth  Avenue  in  a  tieup  with  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer  held  a  press  preview  of  the 
"Exhibit  of  the  Fine  Arts  of  the  Cinema"  at 
its  New  York  store  Tuesday  night.  Life  masks 
of  film  stars  were  featured.  MGM  arranged 
similar  exhibits  in  other  cities. 


To  Fete  Murphy,  Unterfort 

•  A  Victory  Dinner  at  the  Hotel  Onondaga, 
Syracuse,  October  15th,  will  honor  Frank 
Murphy,  Loew's  State  manager,  and  Harry 
Unterfort,  Schine  city  manager.  They  were  co- 
chairmen  of  the  local  Bond  drive. 


Columbia  Profit 
For  Year  Rises 
To  $1,611,659 

Net  earnings  of  Columbia  Pictures  Corpora- 
tion and  its  subsidiaries  for  the  year  ended 
June  27,  1942,  were  $1,611,659.13  after  provision 
for  Federal  income,  excess  profits  and  capital 
stock  taxes  amounting  to  $1,163,617,  the  com- 
pany announced  this  week. 

The  net  compared  with  a  net  profit  for  the 
year  ended  June  28,  1941,  of  $552,743.94  after 
Federal  income  and  capital  stock  taxes  amount- 
ing to  $145,420.00  and  after  a  special  charge 
of  $84,157.86. 

The  parent  company's  shares  of  English 
revenues  were  included  in  the  consolidated 
statement  of  profit  and  loss,  although  the  entin 
amount  thereof  might  not  be  realized  in  U.  S 
dollars  by  the  expiration  of  the  present  agree 
ment  with  the  English  Government  on  Octobei 
31,  1942,  the  company  said. 

The  net  effect  of  the  estimated  unrealizei 
revenues  at  October  31,  1942,  included  in  th 
earnings  amounted  to  $160,000,  after  deductioi! 
of  Federal  income  and  excess  profits  taxes  ap 
plicable  thereto. 

The  balance  sheet  showed  current  assets  c, 
$15,150,000,  and  current  liabilities  of  $l,990,0(Xi 
Working  capital  amounted  to  approximatel 
$13,160,000. 

Jewish  Appeal  Dinner 
Held  in  Philadelphia 

The  annual  dinner  of  the  industry  divisic  1 
of  the  Allied  Jewish  Appeal  was  held  in  Phil  I 
delphia  Monday  with  William!  F.  Rodger  ! 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  distribution  head,  tl  I 
principal  speaker.  Ben  Golder  was  toastmastt  l 

Mr.  Rodgers  spoke  of  tolerance  and  dij 
cussed  the  benefits  of  the  United  Motion  Pi  I 
ture  Industry  organization.  He  said  that 
hoped  some  good  would  result  from  UMlH 
Approximately  125  film  men  attended  the  di|B 
ner  and  contributed  a  total  of  $30,000  towarlB 
the  drive.  Ben  Amsterdam  and  Dave  Barr  ■ 
were  in  charge  of  arrangements. 


Bush,  Blumenstock,  Wilbert 
In  New  20th-Fox  Posts 

Three  members  of  the  Hal  Home  staff 
Twentieth  Century-Fox's  home  office  public 
department,  New  York,  have  been  shifted. 

Rodney  Bush  will  head  an  enlarged  exhi 
tors'  service  unit ;  Sid  Blumenstock  is  in  char 
of  trade  paper  advertising;  and  Christy  Wilb 
is  editor-in-chief  of  the  pressbook  departme 


Spewaclc  Returning 

Samuel  Spewack  was  to  leave  London 
plane  for  the  United  States  this  week  afj 
collecting  material  for  nine  propaganda  fi| 
scripts  which  he  will  write  following  his  retu  I 
according  to  word  from  the  British  capital,  ll 
Spewack  commended  the  Ministry  of  InfornI 
tion  and  British  producers  for  assistance  gnj 
him. 


Delay  Benny  Camp  Tour 

Jack  Benny's  scheduled  tour  of  Army  cam 
which  was  to  have  started  on  October  12th,  1 
been  postponed  until  mid-November,  the  fi 
camp  broadcast  to  be  from  Santa  Ana.  He  < 
hi«  group  will  visit  other  western  Army  po  | 


Denny  FCC  Counsel 

Charles  R.  Denny,  Jr.,  on  Monday  was  ! 
pointed  general  counsel  of  the  Federal  C< 
munications  Commission.  He  succeeds  Telff 
Taylor,  commissioned  an  Army  major. 


J 


Blazing  with  Bigness  from  the  movie  sky  .  .  .  and  listen! 

(turn  please) 


20 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,    I  942 


FILM  NEWS  BRIGHTENS  DAILY 
PRESS:  ADS  BLUE  CHIPS' 


War  Retrenchment  Fails 
to  Crowd  Screen  News 
from  Newspapers 

Motion  picture  news  continues  to  hold 
an  important  place  in  the  columns  of  the 
American  newspapers. 

War  headlines  and  space  retrenchment 
by  U.  S.  newspaper  publishers  have  not 
crowded  news  of  Hollywood  and  motion 
pictures  from  their  pages.  Editors  are 
looking  to  motion  picture  news  as  bright 
spots  on  wartime  pages.  And  newspaper 
advertising  managers  consider  theatre 
and  film  accounts  as  "blue  chip"  business, 
even  ahead  of  department  store  lineage. 

News  of  American  fighting  effort,  over- 
seas and  at  home,  is,  of  course,  the  first  con- 
cern of  the  majority  of  newspaper  readers. 
But  this  has  not  dulled  interest  in  motion 
picture  people  and  subjects,  according  to 
motion  picture  advertising  and  publicity  ex- 
ecutives. 

The  consensus  of  the  film  publicity  men 
in  New  York  is  that  editors  still  devote 
about  the  same  amount  of  space  to  motion 
picture  news  as  they  did  before  Pearl  Har- 
bor. But  they  report  an  increasingly  care- 
ful winnowing  of  publicity  copy  and  warn 
that  space  curbs  may  be  ahead.  Photo- 
graphs already  are  becoming  harder  to  place. 

"Publicity  copy  must  be  well  written, 
bright  and  have  a  legitimate  news  angle" 
in  order  to  make  the  pages  of  most  news- 
papers today,  publicity  men  are  telling  their 
staffs  and  theatre  operators. 

But  efforts  of  publishers  to  cut  overhead 
by  paring  features,  special  pages,  columns, 
comic  strips  and  other  subjects  in  their  pa- 
pers so  far  have  spared  amusement  news. 
There  is  frequent  talk  of  drastic  cuts  in 
film  news  space,  but  public  interest  has 
saved  it. 

Editors  Seek  to 
Brighten  Pages 

In  fact,  in  many  instances,  the  percentage  of 
motion  picture  news  is  on  the  increase. 

"There  is  an  eagerness  among  editors  for  any 
material  which  serves  to  brighten  their  pages," 
said  S.  Barret  McCormick,  head  of  advertising 
and  publicity  for  RKO.  "Film  news  fills  this 
bill."  He  found  no  indication  of  a  decline  in 
film  space  and  said  that  RKO's  advertising 
plans  for  the  current  season  will  double  the 
amount  of  money  allocated  to  newspapers  in 
the  public  media  budget. 

Jack  Pegler,  advertising  executive  of  the 
Lord  and  Thomas  advertising  agency,  said  that 
his  weekly  examinations  of  a  cross  section  of 
the  country's  press  showed  film  news  holding 
its  own.  "War  news,  wire  service  material 
from  Washington  and  elsewhere,  and  staff 
shortages  in  many  sections  have  reduced  the 
amount  of  local  and  human  interest  news  in  the 
papers,"  he  observed.  "Motion  picture  copy 
helps  to  supply  a  welcome  contrast"  to  the 
grim  news  of  war,  he  found. 

An  examination  of  papers  from  New  York, 
Chicago,  California  and  small  towns  in  Indi- 
ana, Illinois,  Georgia  and  the  southwest  re- 
cently showed  that  most  are  devoting  at  least  a 
page  a  day  to  entertainment  news  and  ads. 

Also,  Mr.  _  Pegler  pointed  out,  newspapers 
still  are  buying  Hollywood  columns  and  fea- 


LESS  SPACE  FOR 
FILM  PICTURES 

Newspapers  are  giving  less  space 
to  art  from  the  motion  picture  pub- 
licity offices,  a  survey  reveals.  Only 
fhe  best  pictures  are  used,  and  there 
is  a  preference  among  film  editors  for 
more  glamorous  art  to  brighten  their 
pages,  distributors  report.  Mat  ser- 
vice is  on  the  increase,  however,  and 
many  papers  are  using  film  mats  for 
the  first  time,  to  conserve  engraving 
zinc. 

Newspapers'  zinc  supplies  have 
been  cut  50  per  cent,  but  by  remelt- 
ing  old  metal  they  hope  to  lose  only 
10  per  cent  of  their  engraving  metal. 
To  make  up  the  shortage  they  are 
giving  new  attention  to  mats.  But, 
film  publicity  men  said  daily  papers 
will  use  only  the  best  grade  mats. 
Most  prefer  to  write  their  own  cap- 
tions. Al  Sindlinger  of  the  March  of 
Time  reports  that  the  reel  is  issuing 
four  times  as  many  mats  as  before 
the  war  and  reports  placement  in  up- 
wards of  1 ,200  papers  a  month. 


tures  from  syndicates.  The  fact  that  editors 
are  willing  to  pay  for  these  reports  from  the 
film  capital  is  convincing  evidence  of  public 
interest  in  the  subject,  he  said. 

Local  columns,  and  special  syndicate  features 
on  amusements  have  been  reduced  considerably, 
however.  They  have  been  hit  hard  in  Sunday 
sections  where  many  papers  have  combined 
magazine,  rotagravure  and  society  or  feature 
sections. 

Most  papers  still  carry  at  least  one  Holly- 
wood column,  but  it  is  being  shortened.  Syndi- 
cates are  finding  it  harder  to  sell  special  fea- 
tures about  films,  art  and  special  Hollywood 
services,  it  is  learned,  although  they  are  reluc- 
tant to  discuss  figures. 

Press  Wants  Best 
Film  News  Copy 

One  typical  paper,  the  Washington  Post, 
which  formerly  carried  the  two  leading  Holly- 
wood columns,  by  Louella  Parsons  and  Hedda 
Hopper,  now  runs  only  the  Hopper  report. 
Other  papers  also  are  concentrating  on  only 
one  syndicate  film  service. 

A  circuit  contact  for  the  New  York  dailies 
reported  that  film  editors  on  the  nine  papers 
there  still  have  had  about  the  same  number  of 
columns  as  they  did  before  the  war.  But  they 
warn  of  the  need  for  saving  space.  "Only  the 
best  copy  is  making  the  New  York  pages.  Un- 
less it  has  a  good  human  interest  or  current 
news  peg  the  ordinary  film  release  will  hit  the 
wastebasket  today,"  she  warned. 

Al  Willkie,  head  of  publicity  for  Paramount, 
indicated  that  he  had  found  only  a  slight 
tightening  in  the  space  available  for  news  about 
pictures.  "More  and  shorter  items  are  being 
run,"  he  said,  "with  editors  discarding  the 
blurbs  and  trimming  other  stories  down  to  the 
essential  news."  He  reported  less  demand  for 
Hollywood  features. 

Traditional  "stunt"  publicity  is  in  bad  light 
with  news  desks,  Rutgers  Neilson,  RKO  pub- 


licity head,  warned.  There  is  demand,  how- 
ever, for  stories  about  films  with  an  intelli- 
gent news  angle,  he  said,  but  it  should  be  in  lint 
with  the  times  and  avoid  trite  or  trivial  angles 

Hollywood  personalities  in  the  armed  service: 
are  good  news  copy.  They  are  played  promt 
nently,  and  editors  report  they  have  a  higl 
reader  interest.  Clark  Gable's  enlistment  wa: 
front  page  copy  in  most  instances.  The  serv 
ice  activities  of  James  Stewart,  Henry  Fonda 
Gene  Autry,  Tyrone  Power,  Ray  Milland  an( 
others  receive  wide  attention. 

War  activities  of  the  motion  picture  industr? 
also  are  of  interest  to  news  desks'.  Scrap  drives 
rubber  collections,  War  Bond  promotions  an< 
rallies  sponsored  by  theatres,  and  special  news 
reels  and  Victory  short  subjects  are  provinj 
newsworthy. 

Film  Ads  Called 
"Blue  Chips" 

Substantial  increases  in  motion  picture  ad' 
vertising  lineage  during  the  past  nine  month 
was  credited  by  advertising  agencies  with  help 
ing  to  keep  up  the  amount  of  film  news  space 
Executives  for  Donohue  and  Coe,  Lord  an 
Thomas,  and  other  agencies  with  film  client 
estimate  that  advertising  in  newspapers  by  the 
atres  and  distributors  is  up  at  least  15  per  cen! 

Home  office  executives  bear  this  out.  The!] 
attribute  the  increase  to  record  business  in  mo: 
cities,  and  a  recent  crop  of  "unusually  good  an  I 
important  productions."  Box:  office  decline) 
in  some  rural  areas  have  not  affected  film  ac.i 
vertising  in  daily  papers,  although  a  number 
small  town  theatres  have  cut  their  space 
weeklies. 

Motion  picture  advertising  is  considered 
"blue  chip"  by  most  newspapers.  They  aij 
exerting  a  special  effort  to  obtain  it  to  offsi 
losses  in  such  national  accounts  as  the  autom< 
tive,  liquor  and  appliance  lines. 

Henry  W.  Manz,  advertising  manager  of  tl  j 
Cincinnati  Post,  classed  film  ads^as  "first  of  tl 
blue  chips,"  placing  them  ahead  of  departmeu 
stores  in  a  speech  to  the  Newspaper  Adverti: 
ing  Executives  Association  at  Columbus  th| 
summer,  Editor  and  Publisher  reported. 

Distributors  to 
Increase  Budgets 

Film  advertising  men  also  are  aware  < 
newspaper  reader  interest  in  motion  picture 
Warner  Brothers,  like  RKO,  this  week  a 
nounced  that  its  1942-43  expenditure  for  new 
paper  space  would  be  doubled.  Other  cor 
panies  also  report  substantial  increases. 

S.  Charles  Einfeld,  Warners'  director  of  a 
vertising  and  publicity,  on  Monday  said  th 
test  newspaper  campaigns  on  "Across  the  Pac 
fic"  and  "Desperate  Journey"  had  convinoj 
the  company  that  newspapers  were  the  best 
public  advertising  media.  The  total  budg 
had  not  been  set  by  Warners,  he  indicated,  b 
it  will  include  both  cooperative  space  and  dire ; 
advertising  by  the  distributor. 

Amusement  advertising  rates  in  newspape) 
are  generally  unchanged,  and  remain  at  coi 
paratively  high  rates.  Although  a  few  pape 
have  reduced  free  copy  space,  and  increas 
lineage  has  crowded  into  available  news  pag 
no  downward  adjustment  is  foreseen.  An  age 
cy  representative  said  that  any  change  probat 
would  take  the  form  of  an  increase.  _  He  ss 
newspapers  have  credited  increased  circulati 
to  advertisers  as  a  bonus.  Editor  and  Publish 
estimated  recently  that  the  circulation  of  metr 
poltan  dailies  had  increased  17  per  cent  sir) 
Pearl  Harbor. 


Should  pro^^well  evening 
f0r  the  entire  faxnily.  Certain^ 
win  audience  acclaim  Well-m^e, 

^ell-acted.  An  appetuing 
i.hly  seasoned  with  dram, 
fausicand  laughter;  handsomely 
famished  with  excellent  produc- 
|onm  values,  and 
served.  It  lifts  one,  both  emc 
aflfl-pSiriotically-  / 
-Shov^en's  Trade/ Review 


fig* 


ise  from  the  trade  press... and  furthermore! 

(turn  please) 


22 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,  1942 


ALMANAC  RECORDS  SCREEN'S 
VITAL  PART  IN  WAR  EFFORT 


14th  Edition  Gives  Data  on 
11,500  Persons;  Offers 
Many  New  Divisions 

The  14th  annual  edition  of  the  IN- 
TERNATIONAL MOTION  PICTURE 
ALMANAC,  off  the  press  last  week,  in  a 
new  and  special  section,  "The  Motion 
Picture  in  the  War,"  details  the  indus- 
try's cooperation  in  the  War  effort  of  the 
nation.  The  ALMANAC,  in  that  section, 
also  indicates  the  adjustments  which  have 
been  made  necessary  by  American  par- 
ticipation in  total  war,  and  outlines  the 
manner  in  which  the  whole  industry  of 
the  motion  picture  has  geared  itself  to 
discharge  its  responsibility  to  the  nation's 
Government  and  to  its  people. 

The  new  Almanac,  for  the  1942-43  in- 
dustry year,  is  the  largest  reference  book 
ever  published  by  the  American  motion  pic- 
ture trade  press,  running  to  1,258  pages,  152 
more  than  last  year.  As  in  past  years,  the 
section,  "Who's  Who,"  devoted  to  biogra- 
phical material  on  industry  personalities,  has 
a  dominant  position  in  the  volume. 

The  section  occupies  609  pages,  a  con- 
siderable increase  over  the  corresponding 
section  in  the  Almanac  of  the  previous 
year,  and  furnishing  accurate  answers  to  the 
who  and  what  questions  on  11,500  persons 
in  the  industry. 

A  number  of  new  departments  have  been 
added  to  the  almanac  this  year,  designed 
to  supply  more  information  on  more  sub- 
jects pertinent  to  the  industry,  and  of  value 
to  those  requiring  a  reference  work  on  the 
business  of  the  screen. 

The  1942-43  Almanac  is  edited  by  Terry 
Ramsaye.  James  P.  Cunningham,  news  edi- 
tor of  Motion  Picture  Herald,  and 
George  Schutz,  editor  of  Better  Theatres, 
are  associate  editors.  Contributions  to  the 
volume  were  made  by  the  editorial  staffs  of 
Motion  Picture  Herald,  Motion  Picture 
Daily  and  Better  Theatres. 

Box  Office  Receipts 
Surveyed  for  Year 

Among  the  new  sections  in  the  Almanac 
is  a  series  of  graphs  indicating  theatre  re- 
ceipts across  the  country,  for  the  first  half 
of  1941,  the  second  half  of  that  year,  and 
for  the  first  half  of  1942.  The  pattern  of  the 
business  as  reflected  across  the  box  office 
counter  thus  is  detailed  clearly. 

Other  new  departments  include  data  on 
short  subject  producers,  the  newsreels  and 
calrtoon  producers;  raw  stock  producers, 
color  processes,  storage  vaults  and  film 
libraries ;  public  previewing  groups,  wom- 
en's clubs  and  better  films  councils  over  the 
country ;  features  released,  divided  by  com- 
panies;  short  subject  and  serial  releases; 
story  editors,  and  Broadway  play  producers 
and  managers. 

In  the  section  devoted  to  the  press  are 
listings  of  accredited  newspaper,  syndicate, 
press-wire  writers  in  Hollywood,  press  pho- 
tographers there,  and  listings  of  film  news 


The  following  facts  and  figures  are  gleaned  from  the  1942-43  International 
Motion  Picture  Almanac : 

^  During  1941,  the  nation's  motion  picture  theatres  collected  $983,684  for  the 
United  Service  Organization.  Variety  Clubs  contributed  $900,000  for  under- 
privileged children.  Hollywood  alone  contributed  a  total  of  $2,036,373  to  numerous 
causes,  including  the  Los  Angeles  Community  Chest,  the  Motion  Picture  Relief 
Fund,  American  Red  Cross,  United  Jewish  Welfare,  Greek  War  Relief,  United 
China  Relief  and  Infantile  Paralysis  Fund. 

^  A  total  of  16,951  theatres  were  operating  in  the  United  States  during  1941, 
according  to  the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and  distributors  of  America.  They  had 
gross  receipts  aggregating  $1,100,000,000  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1942, 
the  MPPDA  estimated. 

€J  The  total  capital  investment  of  the  motion  picture  industry  is  estimated  by 
the  MPPDA  at  $2,050,000,000,  divided  into:  theatres,  $1,900,000,000;  studios, 
$125,000,000;  distribution,  $25,000,000. 

•JJ  United  States  Government  ticket  tax  collections  from  all  amusements  for  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1942,  were  $115,032,268,  compared  with  $68,302,961 
the  previous  year,  chiefly  attributed  to  lowering  the  exemption  from  21  cents 
to  9  cents. 

^  New  theatres  constructed  from  June,  1941,  to  June,  1942,  totaled  121,  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  $7,268,000.  The  total  compares  with  $27,800,000  in  the  previous 
year,  indicative  of  the  sharp  decrease  in  new  construction  due  to  the  war. 

^  A  total  of  568  new  features,  of  which  546  were  domestic  and  22  foreign,  were 
approved  during  1941  by  the  Production  Code  Administration.  Certificates  also 
were  issued  for  four  reissues  during  the  year. 

<I   During  1941,  extras  in  Hollywood  earned  a  total  of  $3,1  18,087. 

<J  Stocks  of  motion  picture  companies  at  the  close  of  May,  1942,  were  valued  at 
$524,496,875,  compared  with  a  total  valuation  of  $475,206,250,  an  increase  of 
$49,290,625  for  the  year. 


and  feature  columns,  film  editors  of  national 
magazines,  radio-film  commentators  in  Hol- 
lywood, and  the  like. 

The  new  section,  "The  Motion  Picture  in 
the  War,"  first  presents  in  detail  the  struc- 
ture and  function  of  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  clearing  house  for  the  war  work 
of  the  entire  industry.  Following  are  sepa- 
rate divisions  devoted  to  the  activities  of 
Hollywood  in  the  war;  Government  war 
films,  produced  either  by  or  for  the  Govern- 
ment ;  a  listing  of  miscellaneous  document- 
ary films  pertaining  to  the  war  and  the  war 
effort ;  the  Canadian  industry's  participa- 
tion in  the  effort  of  the  United  Nations,  and 
a  listing  of  the  war  films  of  the  Canadian 
Government. 

A  separate  and  new  division  in  the  Latin 
American  section  is  devoted  to  the  Govern- 
ment's Office  of  Inter-American  Affairs,  the 
work  of  which  is  concerned  with  the  devel- 
opment and  maintenance  of  good  relations 
among  the  nations  of  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere. In  that  work,  motion  pictures  play 
an  important  part. 

An  expanded  Radio  and  Television  Sec- 
tion cites  the  highlights  of  the  entertainment 
year  in  those  related  fields,  their  relation  to 
the  war  effort,  and  the  effect  of  the  con- 
flict on  their  functions,  pattern  and  immedi- 
ate future.  Also  included  are  listings  of 
personnel,  short  wave,  Frequency  Modula- 


tion and  development  stations,  television  sta 
tions  and  a  chronology  of  the  development 
of  television. 

The  Latin  American  section  has  an  accu- 
rate listing  of  all  American  company  repre- 
sentation in  all  of  the  South  and  Central 
American  companies,  as  well  as  a  compre- 
hensive listing  of  domestic  studios,  produc- 
ers, distributors  and  laboratories  in  each  of 
the  countries.  This  takes  on  even  greater 
importance  than  narmally,  because  of  the 
work  of  the  Office  of  Inter-American  Af- 
fairs during  the  war. 

Features  are  listed  with  their  release  dates 
from  1937  to  1942,  with  stars,  running  time, 
and  the  dates  of  review  in  Motion  Picture 
Herald  included. 

Organization  listings  have  been  rear- 
ranged for  greater  convenience,  and  are  in- 
clusive of  labor  organizations,  while  cor- 
poration data  have  been  amplified  to  pro- 
vide a  greater  fund  of  detailed  information 
relative  to  corporate  structure,  financial  po- 
sition and  departmental  organization. 


Theatres  Aid  Navy 

More  than  100  theatres  operated  by  Florida 
State  Theatres,  Inc.,  have  begun  active  partici- 
pation in  the  Florida  campaign  to  enlist  young 
high  school  graduates  as  Naval  aviation  cadets. 
It  is  planned  to  show  trailers  promoting  the 
campaign. 


Ill 


pages  in  full  color  in  American 
My  reaching  26. SCO, COO  readers. 


agine!  T 'uo-coLor  ads  in  the  na- 
:  r.'s  newspapers.  Eye-stopping 
[  npaign    reaching  millions 

t.  Coast-to-coast. 


Full  page  Fan  Magazine  ads  in 
color  reaching  15054,225  readers. 


Continuous  Giant  Radio  Cam- 
paign. Spot  announcements  over 
111  radio  stations  in  56  cities 
reaching  millions  of  listeners. 


ilar  "Picture  of  the  Mont 
-imn  in  big  national  maga- 
;  reaching  39,336,526  readers. 


"Lion's  Roar"  Column  in  big  national 
magazines  reaching  84, 744,933  readers. 


Million  dollar  promotion  reaching  everywhere  .  .  .  and  no  wonder! 

{turn  please) 


24 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,    I  942 


FILM  STARS  TO  ENTERTAIN 
SERVICES  ON  ALL  FRONTS 


Expanded  USO  Schedule 
to  Include  Overseas 
Unit,  More  Stars 

Hollywood  is  going  "all-out"  in  the  new 
season's  entertainment  program  for  the 
armed  forces,  which  is  about  to  be  launch- 
ed by  USO-Camp  Shows.  Camp  Shows 
officially  announced  its  program  in  New 
York  on  Wednesday,  following  approval 
by  the  War  and  Navy  Departments.  Hol- 
lywood's part  "will  be  greater  than  ever 
before,"  it  was  indicated. 

The  "educative  process"  which  screen 
stars,  writers  and  others  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry  had  to  go  through  last  year 
is  completed,  according  to  Abe  Lastfogel, 
executive  assistant  to  Lawrence  Phillips,  ex- 
ecutive director  of  USO-Camp  Shows.  Mr. 
Lastfogel  said  that  "Hollywood  today*  'is 
not  only  willing,  but  is  organized  to  do  a  big 
job  for  USO  as  well  as  for  all  phases  of 
the  war  effort.  Entertaining  the  boys  in 
Army  camps  and  Naval  bases,  however,  is 
the  first  objective  of  actors  and  actresses 
today.  That  volunteer  service,"  he  said, 
"takes  precedent  over  anything  else." 

Mr.  Lastfogel  reported  that  the  Holly- 
wood Victory  Committee  which  cooperated 
with  USO-Camp  Shows  last  year  in  ar- 
ranging volunteer  tours,  has  completed  ar- 
rangements for  a  great  many  more  screen 
stars  to  troupe  the  Camp  Shows'  circuit  this 
winter  in  military  posts  at  home  and  over- 
seas. The  stars  again  will  be  booked  into 
regular  show  units,  he  said,  to  play  one- 
night  stands  all  over  the  country  on  a  two- 
week  basis  and  they  will  also  do  "spot 
booked"  shows  for  USO,  singly  and  in 
groups. 

Overseas  Unit  Part 
Of  USO  Program 

An  important  feature  of  the  organization's 
program  this  year,  Mr.  Lastfogel  pointed 
out,  is  the  overseas  unit  which  will  com- 
prise some  of  the  screen's  outstanding  per- 
sonalities. The  first  unit,  consisting  of 
Merle  Oberon,  Al  Jolson,  Patricia  Morison, 
Allen  Jenkins  and  Frank  McHugh,  recent- 
ly returned  from  a  successful  tour  of  Amer- 
ican Army  camps  in  England.  It  is  expected 
that  an  executive  from  Camp  Shows  will 
accompany  future  troupes  overseas  to  co- 
ordinate the  work  and  to  act  as  liaison  be- 
tween the  actors  and  Army  officials. 

The  overseas  activity  will  require  that 
screen  stars  be  available  from  three  to  six 
weeks,  depending  upon  the  location  of  the 
bases.  Hollywood  producers  as  well  as  di- 
rectors, Mr.  Lastfogel  said,  are  working 
closely  with  the  Hollywood  Victory  Commit- 
tee in  clearing  production  schedules  to  release 
men  and  women  players  for  Camp  Shows' 
domestic  and  overseas  units.  He  pointed 
out  that  everybody  in  Hollywood  today  rec- 
ognizes the  need  for  quick,  coordinated  and 
cooperative  effort  in  making  screen  stars 
available  for  USO. 

Camp  Shows'  winter  program  will  open 
officially  about  November  20th  for  a  22- 
week  run  ending  in  May,  it  was  announced 


RADIO  STARS  OFFER 
SERVICES  TO  USO 

A  plan  to  enlist  radio  stars  of  all 
the  networks  and  major  stations 
throughout  the  country  was  an- 
nounced this  week  by  the  USO  Radio 
Stars  Picture  Fund  Committee  in 
New  York.  Hereafter,  radio  per- 
sonalities endorsing  the  campaign  will 
charge  10  cents  for  fan  photographs 
and  the  dime  will  be  turned  over  to 
USO. 

With  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pic- 
tures sent  out  annually  to  the  nation's 
listeners,  it  is  expected  that  a  sub- 
stantial flow  of  dimes  will  go  to  the 
organization  which  provides  enter- 
tainment and  recreation  for  the 
armed  forces.  Barry  Wood  is  chair- 
man of  the  committee.  Other  mem- 
bers are:  Joan  Blaine,  Joan  Edwards, 
Dave  Elman,  Al  Goodman,  Edwin  C. 
Hill,  Jay  Jostyn,  Fibber  McSee  and 
Molly,  Lauritz  Melchoir,  Lily  Pons, 
Mark  Warnow,  Hal  Peary,  Alice  Rein- 
heart  and  Ireene  Wicker. 


at  the  organization's  New  York  headquar- 
ters this  week.  A  new  show  every  two  weeks 
for  1,000  Army  camps  and  Naval  stations, 
with  a  basic  program  of  show  units  almost 
triple  the  size  of  last  year's  is  contem- 
plated. Seventy  shows,  including  22  musi- 
cal variety  revues,  36  tabloid  troupe  units, 
four  concert  companies  and  eight  legitimate 
plays  will  tour  the  country  this  winter.  Last 
winter,  22  musicals,  one  concert  and  two 
stage  plays  were  on  the  Camp  Show  road. 
Approximately  $4,000,000  to  $4,500,000  of 
the  $32,000,00  raised  by  USO  this  year  will 
go  for  Camp  Shows,  it  is  estimated. 

Shows  Produced  for 
Three  Circuits 

The  shows  will  be  produced  for  three  cir- 
cuits, the  Red,  which  will  tour  the  larger 
camps  which  have  stage  and  theatre  equip- 
ment; the  White,  for  the  smaller  camps 
where  stage  facilities  are  lacking,  and  the 
Blue,  for  isolated  camps  where  servicemen 
are  guarding  secret  military  posts.  Last 
year  the  USO-Camp  Shows  did  not  send 
troupes  into  the  latter  areas. 

It  is  understood  that  transportation  facili- 
ties for  personnel  and  equipment  this  winter 
will  be  handled  on  a  larger  scale  by  Army 
authorities  than  was  done  last  year. 

An  expanded  concert  program  will  be  of- 
fered to  service  men  at  home  this  year  by 
Camp  Shows,  it  was  announced.  Volun- 
teers from  the  concert  field,  including  so- 
loists from  the  Metropolitan  Opera  Com- 
pany, leading  symphony  orchestras  with 
their  conductors,  glee  clubs  and  choral 
groups  will  take  their  music  directly  to  the 
men  under  arms  both  on  extended  tours  and 
in  "spot"  dates  .  The  concerts  proved  so 
popular  with  service  men  last  year,  it  was 


reported,  that  Camp  Shows  decided  to 
double  the  winter  schedule  this  year. 

The  talent  committees  in  New  York,  Chi- 
cago and  Hollywood  which  arrange  with 
USO  the  hundreds  of  variety  shows  booked 
into  military  areas  nightly  throughout  the 
nation,  will  continue  to  send  name  bands, 
night  club,  radio  and  variety  performers,  all 
on  volunteer  basis,  aboard  Naval  vessels, 
into  hangars  and  hospitals,  into  embarka- 
tion areas  and  anywhere  else  the  War  and 
Navy  Departments  request. 

Camp  Show  Officials 
Praise  Cooperation 

According  to  Camp  Show  officials,  "per- 
formers, producers,  directors,  talent  agents, 
writers,  technicians  and  all  engaged  in  the 
show  business  have  cooperated  unselfishly 
to  make  possible  this  huge  new  winter  pro- 
gram for  the  armed  forces." 

To  date,  the  legitimate  shows  already 
selected  for  this  season  are:  "Arsenic  and 
Old  Lace,"  "Junior  Miss"  and  "You  Can't 
Take  It  With  You."  Producers  and  au- 
thors have  waived  all  royalties  on  these 
productions  to  Camp  Shows.  It  is  expected 
that  more  stage  plays  will  be  ready  for 
Army  tours  later  in  the  winter.  Production 
of  all  shows  is  under  direction  of  Harry 
Delmar,  former  Broadway  producer. 

May  Short  Wave 
Stage  Plays 

Broadway's  legitimate  stage  hits  ma) 
soon  be  recorded  for  short  wave  broad- 
casts to  America's  fighting  men  overseas, 
it  was  reported  this  week  in  New  York 
theatrical  circles.  The  Army's  Special 
Service  branch  reportedly  is  negotiating 
with  the  Dramatists  Guild,  Actors'  Equity 
Association  and  the  League  of  New  York 
Theatres  to  make  these  broadcasts  possible. 
The  Army  plans  to  make  recordings  of  five 
current  Broadway  hits,  probably  musical 
comedies  and  variety  shows,  in  the  theatres 
where  each  individual  production  is  pre- 
sented. The  recordings,  it  is  said,  will  in- 
clude audience  reaction. 

According  to  Luise  Sillcox,  executive 
secretary  of  the  Dramatists  Guild,  that  or- 
ganization has  recommended  to  its  mem- 
bers approval  of  the  plan  provided  each 
playwright  gets  contractual  clearance  from 
the  Broadway  producer  or  motion  picture 
company  that  has  an  interest  in  his  play. 

Equity  Expected 
To  Endorse  Plan 

Miss  Sillcox  said  the  members  are  of  the 
opinion  that  it  is  more  important  to  get  this 
kind  of  entertainment  across  to  the  boys 
than  it  is  to  worry  about  legal  problems, 
but  she  pointed  out  that  the  Guild  has  re- 
quested dramatists  to  clear  all  channels  be- 
fore venturing  into  the  project.  Actors' 
Equity,  meanwhile,  said  it  would  advise 
approval  by  membership  if  the  Dramatists 
Guild  and  League  of  New  York  Theatres 
also  approve.  An  Equity  official  said  this 
week  that  his  organization  "quite  likely 
will  go  into  the  plan"  as  soon  as  all  con- 
tractual problems  are  cleared,  including  film 
rights  and  foreign  copyrights. 


"Garlands  for 
you  Judy  dear!" 


r 


^  Because  it  is  one  of  the  Greatest  Musicals  ever  made! 
^  Because  it  is  in  M-G^M's  "Great  Ziegfeld"  tradition! 
^  Because  it  is  pleasure  packed  with  patriotic  verve ! 

WORLD  PREMIERE -ASTOR  THEATRE 


OCTOBER  21st 

(Naturally  its  World  Premiere  is  at  the  world 'famed  Astor) 


ICRAP  / 
ITINEEK 


Incle  Sam! 


26 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


INDUSTRY  MOBILIZES  FORCES 
TO  ASSIST  SCRAP  CAMPAIGN 


Committees  Formed  in 
Key  Cities;  Screen  Joins 
Newspaper  Drive 

The  motion  picture  industry  this  week 
began  mobilizing  its  forces  for  the  na- 
tion's scrap  metal  drive.  It  turned  to  the 
problem  of  collecting  metal  with  the  same 
energy  it  devoted  to  collecting  money  for 
Bonds  during  the  drive  which  ended  Sep- 
tember 30  th. 

In  all  key  cities,  leading  theatre  men 
were  meeting,  intent  on  devoting  the 
talents  of  showmanship  to  the  task. 

In  Minneapolis,  Sunday,  theatre  men 
met  to  consider  a  proposal  to  follow  up 
the  city-wide  salvage  drive  with  special 
performances  in  suburban  theatres  in  St. 
Paul  as  well,  and  it  was  urged  that 
schools  be  dismissed  at  those  times  so 
that  children  might  collect  scrap  metal 
and  deliver  it  to  specific  points  where 
they  will  receive  tickets  to  any  theatre. 

John  J.  Friedl,  chairman  of  the  Northwest 
War  Activities  Committee,  named  the  following 
to  handle  the  scrap  campaign :  E.  L.  Peaslee, 
chairman,  Ben  Friedman,  Edward  Ruben,  Oscar 
Woemper,  Fred  Holzapfel,  Don  Guttrnan,  Merle 
Potter,  Howard  Dale,  Ted  Mann,  George  Gan- 
strom,  Dean  Nash,  Mike  Cooper  and  Frank 
Fowler. 

A  report  on  Iowa  scrap  activities  was  re- 
ceived early  this  week  at  the  War  Activities 
Committee  office  in  New  York,  from  Myron 
Blank,  at  Des  Moines.  He  said,  "Forty  Tri- 
State  and  Central  States  theatres  are  putting 
on  scrap  shows  Saturday.  Admission  will  be 
five  pounds  of  scrap  per  person,  with  special 
prizes  awarded  to  persons  who  bring  the  largest 
amount  of  scrap.  In  Des  Moines  we  are  having 
a  door-to-door  pick  up  with  Army  trucks  and 
WAAC  drivers.  Our  new  women's  army  is 
doing  its  share  to  help  on  the  scrap  drive. 
Iowa's  campaign  will  be  a  success." 

Scrap  Matinees  Set 
In  North  Carolina 

In  North  Carolina  exhibitors  have  been  urged 
to  have  a  minimum  of  one  scrap  matinee  during 
the  month  of  October  and  to  conduct  as  many 
more  a=  possible.  The  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee for  the  state,  composed  of  H.  F.  Kincey, 
Roy  Rowe,  H.  R.  Berry,  G.  W.  Parr,  C.  H. 
Arrington,  C.  R.  Bamford,  Lyle  M.  Wilson, 
H.  H.  Everett,  Roy  L.  Smart  and  Mrs.  W. 
Griffith  suggested  several  scrap  matinees  during 
the  month,  one  for  rubber,  one  for  metals,  one 
for  keys. 

All  film  company  exchanges  throughout  the 
country  also  have  been  enlisted  in  the  drive  for 
scrap.  In  a  letter  to  all  sales  managers,  branch 
and  district  managers,  W.  A.  Scully,  head  of 
the  distribution  committee  of  the  WAC,  asked 
that  the  exchange  maintenance  men  for  the 
various  companies  see  that  their  exchanges 
gather  all  scrap  available. 

New  York  home  offices  of  the  producing  and 
distributing  companies  have  been  advised  that 
the  city  collection  of  scrap  in  Manhattan  has 
been  set  for  October  15th  and  every  companv 
has  been  urged  to  appoint  a  scrap  committee 
to  get  all  salvage  ready  that  date  so  that  it  can 
be  picked  up  by  the  city's  trucks. 

Films  and  newspapers  joined  in  collection  of 
scrap  metal  nationally  Monday,  at  a  meeting  in 


AMERICA  IS  IN  DESPERATE  NEED 
OF  SCRAP  METAL  AND  RUBBER! 


INSERT  LOCAL 
SCRAP  DRIVE 
DATA  HERE! 


WATCH  FOR  ANNOUNCEMENT  OF 

Spec/a/  SCRAP  MATINEE 

FREE  TICKETS  FOR  YOUR  SCRAP 


This  lobby  poster  in  one-sheet  size  was  made  up  for  theatres  participating  in  the 
October  Scrap  Drive.  Priced  at  cost  {five  cents) ,  this  poster  may  be  obtained  tlirough 
National  Screen  Accessories  exchanges. 


the  New  York  offices  of  the  National  News- 
paper Association,  attended  by  Richard  W. 
Slocum,  chairman  of  the  newspaper  group ; 
Monroe  Greenthal,  former  advertising  and  pub- 
licity director  for  United  Artists,  and  now  of 
the  War  Production  Board ;  and  Arthur  Mayer, 
theatre  operator,  and  salvage  director  of  the 
War  Activities  Committee,  which  is  running  the 
film  industry's  scrap  campaign. 

Mr.  Mayer  offered  the  film  industry's  co- 
operation, asserting  "there  is  little  doubt  that 
with  the  tremendous  impetus  given  the  scran 
drive  by  the  newspapers  thus  far,  the  industry 
can  be  of  great  help." 

From  the  offices  of  the  newspaper  organiza- 


tion, a  telegram  was  sent  to  each  member 
newspaper,  urging  cooperation  in  the  drive  with 
local  theatres. 

Mr.  Greenthal  spoke  on  the  current  distribu- 
tion of  the  WAC  short  subject,  "Salvage,"  as 
well  as  other  WAC  short  subjects.  "Salvage" 
features  an  appeal  by  Donald  Nelson,  WPB 
chief,  and  carries  a  trailer  prepared  by  the  news- 
paper committee.  Other  WAC  subjects  to  be 
distributed  at  the  nominal  charge  of  $1  are 
"Letter  from  Bataan,"  carrying  footage  boost- 
ing the  drive ;  "The  Aldrich  Family  Gets  into 
the  Scrap,"  and  "Weapons  from  Waste." 

New  York  exhibitors  decided  last  week  the 

(Continued  on  page  28) 


NHY  BEAT  AROUND  THE  BUSH! 

!  Here  are  the  FACTS! 


FILM  DAILY- OCT.  2.  1942 


riand  in 
id  My  Gal' 
;e  Murphy, 
ly,  Marta 
Ren  Blue, 
y  by  Rich- 
nan,  Fred 
and  Sid 
Original 
award  Em- 
1  Directed 
Berkeley 
ay  Arthur 
etro-Goid- 
tt  Picture. 


Editorial 


New  Faces 

. . .  Metro  has  'em 


By  CHESTER  B.  BAHN 


METRO  admittedly  doesn't  need  to  be 
told  by  this  sidelines  commentator 
that  it  has  a  box  office  honey  in  its 
nostalgic  bitter-sweet  saga  of  vaudeville, 
"For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  for  the  Judy  Gar- 
land starrer  generally  has  received  the  ac- 
colade from  experienced  trade  reviewers 
and  from  picture-wise  showmen  who  caught 
it  at  the  screenings. 

It's  a  safe  bet,  too,  that  the  judgment 
so  rendered  will  be  substantiated  by  Hie 
extended  playing  time  and  the  heavy  grosses 
that  will  come  along  in  due  course.  On 
merit,  it  rates  a  long  stay  on  the  Main 
Stem  here  ....  and  it  will  mop  up  as 
well  in  the  smallest  of  the  country's  junc- 
tions, 


TAKING  the  ball  from  that  point,  a  cou- 
ple of  remarks  upon  what  Metro  has 
done  in  "For  Me  and  My  Gal"  may  rate 
space  and  exhib.  cogitation.  For  instance, 
you  hear  a  lot  these  days  from  theater 
operators  about  that  need  (it's  perennial) 
for  new  faces  on  the  screen. 

Okay,  in  "For  Me  and  My  Gal"  Metro 
gives  the  nod  to  a  quartet — Gene  Kelly, 
snapped  up  by  Metro  on  the  basis  of  his 
Broadway  performance  in  "Leave  It  to  Me"; 
Richard  Quine,  who  made  his  pic  bow  in 
"Babes  on  BroadwV  after  stage  and  radio 


experience;  Marta  Eggerth,  from  the  Con- 
tinental and  English  screen  via  the  Broad- 
way musical,  "Higher  and  Higher,"  and 
Keenan  Wynn  of  the  stage  Wynns,  making 
his  first  screen  appearance. 

For  the  record,  it  might  be  interpolated 
that  "For  Me  and  My  Gal"  was  a  valuable 
story  property,  packing  a  hefty  dramatic 
and  romantic  wallop.  So  it  took  producer 
courage  to,  among  other  things,  toss  the 
male  lead  to  a  stage  show  dancer.  But 
that  courage  happened  to  have  been  under- 
written by  what  assays  as  producer  sensi- 
tivity, a  faculty  firmly  entrenched  in  Culver 
City.  And,  per  schedule,  the  results  are 
exceedingly  happy. 

 o  

lyELLY  clicks  emphatically,  and  not  as  a 
dancer  alone.  He  has  personality.  He  can 
act.  And  he  is  photogenic.  Given  the 
right  roles,  the  proper  build-up  (and  you 
can  count  on  Metro  to  see  to  both),  and 
he's  definitely  "in." 

Quine  and  Wynn  have  lesser  opportuni- 
ties, but  they'll  be  heard  from.  Which 
applies  equally  as  well  to  Miss  Eggerth 
who  possesses  that  certain  something.  She's 
as  luscious  an  import  as  ever  has  come  from 
Hungary. 

So  don't  worry  too  much  about  new  star 
material.  Metro  has  four  candidates  in 
this  picture  alone  ....  and,  take  the  stu- 
dios' word  for  it,  there  are  36  more  in 
Culver  City. 

P.S.  Judy  Garland  tops  her  past  per- 
formances in  this  one.  And  Busby  Berkeley 
rates  five  or  six  bows  a  la  the  old  Palace 
for  his  direction. 


as* 


i 


AND  IT'S  GOING  TO  BE  THE 
ASTOR'S  PET  PICTURE! 

Remember  the  Date,  Oct.  21st,  a  World  Premiere  that  will  make  Amusement -World  History  I) 


28 

Theatres  Push 
Scrap  Drive  with 
Nation 's  Press 

{Continued  from  page  26) 

city's  scrap  drive  will  run  from  October  15th 
to  November  1st.  The  publicity  committee, 
headed  by  Ernest  Emerling,  of  Loew's,  will 
arrange  various  exploitation  stunts  and  work 
in  close  cooperation  with  newspapers.  On  the 
exhibitors'  committee  are  Fred  Schwartz,  chair- 
man, Irving  Lesser,  Major  L.  E.  Thompson, 
Eddie  Dowden,  Dave  Weinstock,  Harry  Lowen- 
stein,  Julius  Joelson,  Herman  Starr,  Eddie 
Rugoff,  Don  Jacox,  Manny  Frisch,  Charles 
Moses  and  Bernard  Leventhal. 

Every  Richmond,  Va.,  theatre  held  a  special 
show  Saturday  for  scrap  collection.  All  mem- 
bers of  the  Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of 
Virginia  have  been  urged  by  W.  H.  Crockett, 
president,  to  run  similar  shows  before  the  week's 
end. 

The  "Keys  for  Victory"  campaign  to  collect 
scrap  metal  from  old  keys,  and  which  is  spon- 
sored by  the  newspaper  industry,  asked  the 
support  of  the  film  industry  this  week.  Mr. 
Mayer,  at  the  WAC,  urged,  in  memoranda  sent 
to  theatres,  that  they  cooperate  by  arranging 
for  collection  of  keys.  The  WPB  has  made 
special  arrangements  for  handling  the  metal. 
The  keys  will  be  shipped  directly  to  a  refinery 
where  the  nickel  silver,  earmarked  for  the  Navy, 
will  be  extracted.  Mr.  Mayer  asked  that  keys 
be  kept  separate  from  other  metals. 

Varied  Theatre 
Scrap  Drives 

A  total  of  110  St.  Louis  theatres  have  enlisted 
in  the  drive.  On  the  local  committee  are 
Joseph  Ansell,  chairman ;  Lester  Bona,  Les 
Kaufman,  Albert  Poos,  Albert  Stetson,  Ralph 
McGowan,  Elmer  Moran,  George  Rafferty, 
David  Arthur,  Robert  Tomsen  and  Fred 
Wehrenberg. 

Every  theatre  in  Buffalo  is  expected  to  help. 
On  the  scrap  committee  there  are  Stanley 
Kozanowski,  chairman  ;  Robert  Murphy,  Charles 
Taylor,  Menno  Dystra,  William  Mayer,  Max 
Yellen,  Spencer  Balser,  George  Gammel  and 
Melvin  Schwartz. 

Heading  the  Chicago  drive  are  Jack  Kirsch 
and  Ludwig  Sussman,  of  Illinois  Allied. 

The  Hartford,  Conn,  committee  includes 
Walter  Lloyd,  William  Mortensen  and  Henry 
Needles. 

Fred  J.  Dolle  is  chairman  in  Louisville,  where 
36  houses  have  joined. 

I.  J.  Hoffman  and  Harry  Shaw  have 
launched  their  Connecticut  drive  from  New 
Haven.  The  first  special  matinee  was  at  the 
Whitney  theatre  in  Hamden,  which  netted  over 
four  tons. 

Cincinnati  independent  exhibitors  will  hold 
special  matinees  Monday,  Columbus  Day.  Ad- 
mission will  be  five  pounds  of  metal  per  person. 
Public  and  parochial  schools  were  to  be  asked 
to  close  early  to  enable  pupils  to  attend  the 
shows. 

Free  scrap  metal  shows  for  children,  after 
school  hours,  with  children  to  bring  as  much 
scrap  metal  as  they  could  carry,  were  arranged 
for  Greater  Boston  M  &  P  theatres  by  Harry 
I.  Wasserman,  district  manager,  as  follows : 
October  9th,  Wollaston ;  October  8th,  Strand  in 
Wollaston,  Oriental  in  Mattapan  and  Fairmount 
in  Hyde  Park ;  October  7th,  Franklin  Park  and 
Codman  in  Dorchester;  October  6th,  State  in 
East  Milton  and  Fields  Corner. 


Vivien  Leigh  in  British  Film 

Vivien  Leigh,  star  of  "Gone  With  the  Wind" 
and  "Lady  Hamilton,"  is  to  make  her  first 
British  film  since  1938,  in  London.  The  story 
concerns  the  Chetnicks — Yukoslavian  patriots 
who  destroy  the  Nazis  in  their  own  country. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


PRESS  APPROVAL 

The  scrapbook  of  the  War  Activities 
Committee's  Bond  drive  publicity  with 
proper  pride  displays  an  editorial  from  the 
Indianapolis  Star  conveying  special  com- 
mendation for  the  performance  of  the  mo- 
tion picture  industry.    It  says: 

"The  moving  picture  industry  is  entitled 
to  commendation  for  the  way  in  which  it 
is  "carrying  the  ball"  for  the  Treasury 
Department's  war  bond  drive.  It  is  put- 
ting pep  and  publicity  into  a  campaign  to 
sell  $1,000,000,000  worth  of  the  war 
stamps  and  bonds  during  September.  The 
movie  appeal  is  spearheading  the  govern- 
ment's efforts  for  this  month.  It  is  pro- 
ducing gratifying  results,  both  as  to  the 
volume  of  sales  and  the  way  in  which  it  is 
getting  over  to  the  people  the  need  for 
citizen  aid. 

"Everyone  who  attends  a  moving  pic- 
ture entertainment  has  brought  home  to 
him  or  her  the  personal  responsibility  for 
doing  a  part  in  helping  to  finance  the  war. 
Hitler  and  Hirohito  will  not  be  defeated 
by  threats  or  just  plain  expressions  of 
hostility.  It  will  take  more  than  cheers 
for  our  fighters  at  the  front  or  applause 
for  war  films  and  news  reels.  Money 
and  more  money  will  be  required  to  keep 
our  heroes  and  their  allies  equipped  and 
on  the  firing  line. 

"The  movies  have  been  getting  the  mes- 
sage over  daily  to  millions  who  had 
neither  realized  their  own  responsibility 
nor  the  importance  of  helping  even  in  a 
small  way.  The  theaters  are  open  and 
doing  business  when  the  banks,  the  post 
offices  and  the  other  generally  recognized 
bond-selling  agencies  are  closed.  The 
moving  picture  theater  industry  is  en- 
titled to  an  "Oscar"  from  the  nation  for 
the  magnificent  performance  it  is  giving 
in  the  role  of  star  salesman  of  the  Sep- 
tember war  bond  and  stamp  campaign." 


Special  Trailer  Ties 
In  with  "Salvage" 

A  special  trailer  prepared  by  National  Screen 
Service  and  sponsored  by  the  American  News- 
paper Publishers  Association,  and  which  ties 
in  with  the  eight-minute  short  subject,  "Sal- 
vage," was  dispatched  this  week  to  RKO  Ra- 
dio exchanges  under  the  auspices  of  the  War 
Activities  Comrrfjttee  of  the  motion  picture 
industry.  RKO  exchanges  are  distributing 
"Salvage"  which  was  produced  by  the  Office 
of  War  Information  film  unit. 

The  RKO  exchanges  also  will  distribute  the 
subject  "Manpower"  for  the  War  Activities 
Committee.  "Manpower"  clarifies  the  country's 
manpower  situation  by  showing  the  voluntary 
system  which  has  been  set  up  by  Paul  V.  Mc- 
Nutt's  War  Manpower  Commission,  to  locate 
and  solve  man-shortage  problems.  The  film, 
also  produced  by  the  OWI  film  unit,  will  be 
nationally  released  October  29th. 


Coe  to  New  York 

Charles  Francis  Coe,  vice-president  and  gen- 
eral counsel  of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers 
and  Distributors  of  America,  was  to  leave 
Hollywood  Friday  night  for  New  York  for 
conferences  with  MPPDA  executives.  He  is 
expected  to  remain  in  New  York  about  a  week. 


October     10,     I  942 

Form  N.  Y.  Unit 
For  War  Aid 

New  York  theatres  will  be  represented  in  all 
war  drives  by  a  special,  permanent  committee 
set  up  Tuesday  at  the  headquarters  of  the  film 
industry's  War  Activities  Committee. 

The  committee,  comprising  those  chosen 
earlier  to  aid  the  city's  theatre  participation  in 
the  scrap  drive  from  October  15th  to  Novem- 
ber 1st,  consists  of  Fred  Schwartz,  chairman ; 
Henry  Randel,  in  charge  of  Manhattan  activi- 
ties ;  Jack  Bowen,  for  the  Bronx ;  Phil  Hodes, 
Kings ;  Joseph  Lee,  Queens ;  Dave  Burkhan, 
Richmond;  Irving  Wormser,  Nassau;  Sam  Lef- 
kowitz,  Suffolk ;  Jules  Liggett,  Westchester ; 
David  Levy,  Orange,  Sullivan  and  Ulster  coun- 
ties ;  Ben  Abner  Putnam,  Dutchess  and  Rock- 
land counties,  and  Robert  Wolf,  for  theatre 
circuits. 

Conclude  Hearings  in 
Empire  306  Dispute 

Hearings ;  were  concluded  Tuesday  before 
the  New  York  State  Labor  Relations  Board 
on  the  charge  of  Empire  State  Motion  Picture 
Operators  Union  against  the  Center  theatre, 
Sunnyside,  Queens,  N.  Y.,  of  unfair  labor  prac- 
tices. 

The  record  will  be  reviewed  by  the  board 
before  the  announcement  of  a  decision.  Empire 
claimed  that  the  Center,  owned  by  Alfred  G. 
Berger,  discriminated  against  its  members  by 
discharging  them  and  hiring  members  of  Local 
306  last  April. 

Hearings  were  held  up  some  time  during  the 
period  when  Father  John  P.  Boland,  SLRB 
chairman,  attempted  to  bring  Empire  and  Local 
306  together,  but  these  negotiations  failed  and 
the  hearings  were  ordered. 


Film  Course  to  Stress 
Value  of  Screen 

The  value  of  the  "motion  picture  as  the  mos.1 
effective  force  for  entertainment  and  recrea- 
tion" will  be  stressed  by  Richard  Plant,  lectur- 
er, author  and  film  critic,  who  on  Wednesda} 
began  a  10-week  course  on  the  appreciation  o: 
motion  pictures  at  the  West  Side  branch  of  th< 
YMCA  in  New  York.  In  an  interview  last  Fri- 
day, Mr.  Plant  outlined  the  sessions  and  saic 
his  emphasis  throughout  the  lectures  will  be  or 
the  value  of  films  as  entertainment.  "If  pic- 
tures are  art,  so  much  the  better,"  he  said 
"but  they  don't  have  to  be.  If  they  are  artisti- 
cally bad,  however,  it  is  my  belief  that  thej 
also  are  bad  from  the  entertainment  standpoint.'1 

England  Will 
See  "Midway" 

The  "Battle  of  Midway"  soon  will  be  avail- 
able for  British  film  theatres  under  an  agree- 
ment reached  between  the  U.  S.  Navy  Depart 
ment,  which  released  the  John  Ford  battle  sub- 
ject, and  the  British  Ministry  of  Information 
Exhibitors  in  the  United  Kingdom  will  be  re 
quired  to  pay  for  the  picture,  however. 

It  was  reported  in  New  York  this  week  tha 
the  British  Ministry  in  London  will  ask  a  dis 
tributor,  probably  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  t< 
sell  the  picture  there.  Profits  will  be  paid  t( 
the  United  States  Treasury.  The  picture  wa 
distributed  without  charge  in  the  United  Sjtate 
by  the  War  Activities  Committee. 


Archibald  Due  Here 

Expected  in  Washington  this  week  wa 
George  Archibald,  recently  appointed  head  c 
the  British  Ministry  of  Information's  fill 
division  in  the  United  States. 


ctober    10,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


29 


IOND  DRIVE  OVER,  INDUSTRY 
>LEDCES  CONTINUED  AID 


veasury  Voices  Thanks 
for  Cooperation;  Drive 
Total  $838,250,000 

The  September  War  Bond  Drive  is 
er,  the  official  quota  having  been  ex- 
eded  by  $63,000,000,  but  the  industry's 
i  to  the  Bond  campaign  and  to  the  war 
rort  in  general  "did  not  begin  in  Sep- 
nber  and  will  not  end  with  Septem- 
r,"  the  War  Activities  Committee,  Will 
Hays,  and  the  organized  industry 
sdged  this  week. 

The  pledge,  worded  by  Mr.  Hays,  came 
.er  a  week  of  congratulations,  from  the 
ieasury  Department  to  the  industry,  from 
:  industry  to  the  public  and  to  its  work- 
L  and  from  the  War  Activities  Committee 
jits  members.  The  official  total  for  the 
Dtember  drive  of  $838,250,000  was  an- 
inced  last  Friday  by  Henry  Morgen- 
|u,  Jr.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a 
jtement  in  which  he  called  the  drive  "an 
j  standing  success." 

Mx.  Morgenthau  expressed  particular  sat- 
:.ction  with  the  steady  growth  of  the  pay- 
v  savings  campaign  which  aims  to  have 
bDOO,000  income  earners  setting  aside  at 
rat  10  per  cent  of  their  pay  in  War  Bonds 
I  pry  payday.  In  September  sales  from  this 

rce  alone  totaled  $265,000,000,  an  aver- 
of  eight  per  cent  for  all  workers  par- 

pating.  This  compared  with  a  total  from 
same  source  of  $225,000,000  for  August. 

,'ommenting  on  the   September  results 

i  Morgenthau  said, 

.War  bond  activities  of  labor  and  man- 
inent  during  September  and  the  contin- 
drive  by  retailers  throughout  the  coun- 
:  were  a  substantial  contribution  to  the 
:.essful  sales  in  September. 

!jenthau  Expresses 
tks  to  Industry 
at  the  greatest  impetus  of  all  came 
the  scores  of  motion  picture  stars  ap- 
ng  at  Bond  rallies  in  more  than  300 
and  from  thousands  of  motion  picture 
res  which  sold  War  Bonds  at  regular 
pecial  performances.  These  War  Bond 
s  not  only  stimulated  sales  in  excess 
e  quota,  but  produced  millions  of  dol- 
n  intensified  payroll  savings  among  the 
)yees  of  shipyards,  aircraft  factories, 
lundreds  of  other  industries,  large  and 
vould  be  remiss  if  I  did  not  express  my 
ial  thanks  to  all  those  in  the  motion 
re  industry — the  theatre  owners,  the 
,  the  producers,  the  theatre  employees, 
in  fact  everyone  in  the  industry  who 
ed  so  unselfishly  in  September  to  make 
nonth's  War  Bond  record  a  success." 
e  Secretary  said  the  figure  for  the 
h  included  sales  amounting  to  $120,- 
00  covered  by  last  minute  telegraphic 
'ts  of  oash  deposits  at  the  12  Federal 
rve  Banks  which  were  to  be  included 
s  daily  Treasury  statement  in  the  early 
of  October.  Monthly  sales  figures  an- 
:ed  by  the  Treasury' in  the  future  will 


HATS  OFF  TO 
MOVIEGOERS 

To  conclude  the  congratulations 
for  the  September  War  Bond  drive, 
the  Treasury  Department,  in  co- 
operation with  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  has  prepared  a  "thank 
you"  trailer  which  was  attached  to 
all  newsreels  released  last  Tuesday. 
The  trailer  is  titled  "Hats  Off  to  the 
Moviegoers  of  America"  and  pays 
tribute  to  the  way  the  people  re- 
sponded to  the  industry's  Bond  sell- 
ing drive.  It  reports  that  the  drive 
was  a  success,  even  though  in  some 
communities  local  quotas  may  not 
have  been  met,  and  bows  in  the 
direction  of  the  local  Treasury  War 
Savings  Staffs. 


be  on  the  basis  of  such  telegraphic  reports 
instead  of  mail  reports  as  heretofore,  the 
Secretary  said. 

The  campaign  concluded  with  a  last  min- 
ute rush  to  meet  the  quota.  In  New  York 
it  was  climaxed  with  a  midnight  rally  at 
Madison  Square  Garden  before  22,000 
people  who  had  just  witnessed  a  benefit 
show  for  the  Army  Emergency  Relief  Fund. 
Fifteen  stars,  civic  officials,  radio  and  music 
talent  all  contributed  their  services  for  the 
rally  at  which  approximately  $10,000,000 
worth  of  Bonds  was  sold  or  pledged. 

Stars  Auctioned  Off 
Personal  Belongings 

The  stars,  including  Myrna  Loy,  Charles 
Laughton,  Dorothy  Lamour,  Edward  Ar- 
nold, Paulette  Goddard,  William  Gargan, 
Ann  Rutherford,  Pat  O'Brien,  Lily  Damita, 
the  Ritz  Brothers,  Al  Jolson,  Frank  Mc- 
Hugh  and  Joe  E.  Brown,  auctioned  off  their 
clothing  and  personal    effects    for  Bonds. 

Announcing  the  success  of  the  campaign, 
Francis  Harmon,  in  a  wire  to  all  WAC 
state  chairmen,  said :  "In  behalf  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee  group  here  including 
George  Schaefer,  S.  H.  Fabian,  Oscar  Doob 
and  Arthur  Mayer,  let  me  say  'thanks  a 
billion'  to  you  and  all  members  of  your  as- 
sociation for  this  splendid  example  of  all- 
out  industry  cooperation  with  our  Govern- 
ment, which  the  Treasury  staff  deeply  ap- 
preciates." 

In  a  statement  to  the  press  last  Friday, 
Will  Hays,  president  of  the  Motion  Picture 
Producers  and  Distributors  of  America,  said 
in  part: 

"The  industry's  ability  to  attain  its  desig- 
nated objective  was  made  possible  by  the 
generous  cooperation  of  the  public,  the  press 
and  the  radio,  and  by  the  coordination  of  all 
branches  of  the  industry  which  moved  for- 
ward together  in  solid  front.  Artist  and 
artisan,  employer  and  employee,  everyone  in 
exhibition,  distribution  and  production  from 
the  youngest  recruit  to  the  most  experi- 


enced veteran,  gave  utmost  and  untiring 
help. 

"The  only  competition  was  who  best 
could  serve,  who  most  could  give,  and  every- 
one in  the  industry  is  full  of  appreciation  to 
all  in  the  industry  for  what  each  has  done. 

"The  determination  of  the  industry  to 
give  its  greatest  possible  aid  to  its  country 
at  war  did  not  begin  in  September,  and  will 
not  end  in  September." 

WAC  Praises  Doob 
Bond  Drive  Service 

Oscar  Doob,  director  of  advertising  and 
publicity  for  Loew's  Theatres,  who  took 
a  leave  of  absence  during  September  to  di- 
rect advertising  and  publicity  for  the  War 
Bond  drive,  has  agreed  to  remain  with  the 
War  Activities  Committee  as  chairman  of 
public  relations,  it  was  announced  Monday 
in  a  joint  statement  signed  by  George 
Schaefer,  S.  H.  Fabian,  Arthur  Mayer  and 
Francis  Harmon.  Mr.  Doob  succeeds  Mon- 
roe Greenthal,  who  is  now  with  the  War 
Production  Board  in  Washington. 

"It  was  Oscar  Doob  more  than  anyone 
else  who  put  life  and  sparkle  into  the  Sep- 
tember 'Salute  to  Every  Mother's  Son  in 
Service,'  "  the  announcement  said.  "It  was 
the  Doob  touch  which  highlighted  the  War 
Bond  campaign  and  transformed  it  into  one 
of  the  finest  public  relations  jobs  our  indus- 
try has  done." 

The  four  men  signing  the  statement  said 
they  were  privileged  to  work  with  Mr. 
Doob  "day  and  night."  "We  use  the  phrase 
'day  and  night'  advisedly  for  we  had  to  work 
in  shifts  to  keep  up  vvitJa  this  human  dy- 
namo who  seemed  never  to  tire,  and  always 
to  have  untapped  resources  at  his  instant 
command.  His  ability  as  an  idea  man  is 
exceeded  only  by  his  capacity  to  translate 
ideas  into  effective  action." 

In  his  new  post  Mr.  Doob  plans  to  tie 
together  the  theatre  publicity  men  across 
the  country  into  a  division  of  the  WAC 
similar  to  that  of  exchange  managers  and 
film  salesmen,  the  statement  said. 

Laud  Trade  Press 
For  "Teamwork" 

The  four  WAC  leaders  expressed  appre- 
ciation to  the  trade  press  division  for  its 
"generosity,  its  teamwork  and  its  helpful 
coverage  of  the  campaign."  Concluding  its 
tribute  to  Mr.  Doob  the  statement  said. 
"The  Indianapolis  Star  in  a  fine  editorial 
on  the  campaign  proposes  an  'Oscar'  for 
the  industry.  With  Mr.  Doob  on  the  job, 
the  industry  won  its  'Oscar,'  so  we  pro- 
pose 'An  Oscar  for  Oscar.'  " 

Loew's  Theatres  sold  \  J/2  per  cent  of  the 
Treasury's  official  quota  in  the  September 
War  Bond  drive.  Total  Loew  bond  sales 
for  the  month  amounted  to  $10,483,552.  Of 
this  amount.  $7,460,712  was  credited  to  out 
of  town  theatres  and  $3,022,840  to  houses 
in  New  York. 

Jack  Sanson,  manager  of  the  State  the- 
atre, Manchester,  Conn.,  reported  that  the 
Bond  quota  for  that  city  was  $125,000,  and 
$350,000  worth  was  sold.  Chairman  of  the 
committee  was  Harold  C.  Alwood. 


30 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,  1942 


SCHINES  SELL  ONLY  5  OF  16 
HOUSES  ORDERED  DROPPED 


Must  Dispose  of  11  More 
by  May  19th  Under  U.  5. 
District  Court  Order 

by  JAMES  SCHRADER 

in  Buffalo 

Western  New  York  observers  believe  it 
is  becoming  increasingly  probable  that 
Schine  Chain  Theatres  will  be  unable  to 
dispose  of  16  of  its  theatres  in  the  man- 
ner required  under  a  divestiture  provision 
of  the  temporary  Federal  court  order  is- 
sued last  May  19th  when  the  Department 
of  Justice  agreed  to  a  truce  in  its  anti- 
trust suit. 

With  less  than  eight  months  to  go, 
Schine  still  must  unload  11  of  its  houses. 
If  by  next  May  19th,  any  of  these  11  still 
remain  in  possession  of  the  circuit, 
further  court  action  undoubtedly  will  be 
the  result. 

As  was  expected,  the  greatest  response 
to  the  theatres  being  placed  on  the  market 
came  during  the  initial  30-day  period.  En- 
thusiasm decreased  in  the  second  month 
and  in  the  third  and  the  fourth,  just 
ended,  there  was  little  or  no  progress 
reported. 

In  all  of  the  120-odd  days,  only  five  of  the 
theatres  have  been  disposed  of.  In  one  in- 
stance, a  deposit  on  two  houses  was  made 
by  the  former  owner,  but  the  deal  fell  through 
and  the  deposit  was  returned  upon  advice  of  the 
court. 

On  Monday,  September  28th,  Willard  S. 
McKay,  Schine  counsel,  filed  in  Buffalo's  U.  S. 
district  court  a  report  covering  Schine  activi- 
ties under  the  divestiture  precedure  for  the 
period  from  August  19th  to  September  26th. 
The  Department  of  Justice,  he  said,  had  con- 
sented to  an  extension  of  one  week  in  the  filing 
date  which  falls  on  the  19th  of  each  month. 

Report  Opened  Like 
Two  Preceding 

The  report  began  like  the  two  preceding 

ones : 

"Since  August  19th  the  consenting  defendants 
have  continued  their  efforts  to  dispose  of  the 
remaining  theatres,  but  they  have  not  pro- 
duced any  tangible  results." 

However,  this  latest  document  provided  a 
good  hint  as  to  how  the  divestiture  clause  pos- 
sibly will  wind  up. 

Mr.  McKay  declared  that  during  the  latter 
part  of  August  negotiations  were  opened  with 
an  independent  exhibitor  who  had  indicated  his 
willingness  and  ability  to  acquire  some  or  all 
of  the  theatres  still  unsold.  There  was  no  clue 
to  the  individual's  identity,  but  sources  else- 
where said  he  is  prominent  in  the  field. 

Three  trips  to  Gloversville  for  the  purpose 
of  negotiating  sale  were  made  during  August 
and  September  by  Mr.  McKay.  J.  Myer 
Schine,  one  of  the  consenting  defendants.^  is 
understood  to  have  devoted  considerable  time 
to  the  same  purpose. 

The  report  continued: 

"The  result  of  these  efforts  is  that  this  in- 
dependent exhibitor  has  acquired  an  option  to 
purchase  any  one  or  more  of  the  remaining 
theatres  covered  by  the  order.  In  considera- 
tion of  this  option,  said  exhibitor  has  paid  a 
substantial  sum  which  can  be  recouped  by  him 


only  in  the  event  that  he  does  acquire  one  or 
more  theatres. 

"The  terms  of  the  option  are,  of  course,  con- 
fidential but  the  option  agreement  is  available 
for  inspection  by  the  Department  of  Justice 
under  provisions  of  the  temporary  order." 

This  is  interpreted  by  a  competent  observer 
to  mean  that  at  least  one — and  more  likely  all 
— of  the  remaining  11  Schine  houses  will  be 
disposed  of  as  soon  as  the  necessary  papers 
are  drawn  up. 

It  is  expected  in  Buffalo  that  the  next  "activi- 
ties report"  by  Mr.  McKay,  to  be  filed  late  in 
October,  will  give  further  details  and  possi- 
bly will  consummate  a  deal  cleaning  up  the 
divestiture  section  of  the  temporary  court  order. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  same  observer  points 
out  complications  may  develop,  as  they  have  in 
the  past,  and  the  situation  again  may  reach 
a  stalemate. 

Five  Returned  to 
Former  Owners 

Here  is  the  box  score  up  to  September  28th. 

Five  houses  have  been  reacquired  by  former 
operators  or  owners.  They  are  the  ClaZel  and 
Lyric  in  Bowling  Green,  O. ;  the  Webster  in 
Rochester,  the  Palace  at  Clifton  Springs  and 
the  Paramount  at  Glens  Falls. 

Six  houses  offered  for  reacquisition  to  prior 
operators  or  owners  have  gone  wanting,  former 
holders  turning  down  the  opportunity.  They 
are  the  Scotia  in  Scotia,  the  Strand  in  Cumer- 
land,  Md. ;  the  State  and  Appalachia,  both  in 
Appalachia,  Va. ;  the  Viv  in  Corbin,  Ky.,  and 
the  Margie  Grand  in  Harlan,  Ky.,  in  which 
Schine  owns  a  50  per  cent  interest. 

In  the  cases  of  the  five  other  houses  no 
divestiture  action  has  been  reported  since  May 
19th.  They  are  the  Liberty  in  Pikeville,  Ky. ; 
the  Plaza  in  Malone,  the  Ada  Meade  and  the 
Opera  House,  both  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  the 
Memorial  in  Mt.  Vernon,  O. 

Schine,  under  the  temporary  order,  was 
ordered  to  offer  all  these  theatre  interests  to 
former  owners,  or  if  they  were  not  owner-oper- 
ated to  the  former  operators,  for  the  amount  of 
.  Schine's  capital  investment.  The  order  also  post- 
poned trial  of  the  Department  of  Justice's  anti- 
trust suit  against  the  theatre  circuit  for  two 
years. 

The  order  further  provided  that  if  interests  in 
the  theatres  were  not  accepted  for  the  amount 
of  Schine's  capital  investment,  they  were  to  be 
offered  on  the  open  market  to  any  "independent 
exhibitor"  for  the  same  sale  price. 

Had  Paid  High  Prices 
For  Houses  Originally 

During  the  course  of  several  of  the  hearings 
on  divestiture  procedure  which  followed  enter- 
ing of  the  temporary  order,  some  interested 
parties  were  heard  to  say  "this  is  going  to  be  a 
tough  nut  to  crack."  They  pointed  out  Schine 
paid  high  prices  for  the  theatres  they  must  now 
dispose  of,  that  capital  improvements  (incor- 
porated in  almost  all  instances)  ran  high  and 
that  probably  few  former  owners  or  operators 
would  find  themselves  in  a  position  to  reach  the 
figures  asked. 

No  theatre  acquired  by  Schine  prior  to  fil- 
ing of  the  government's  anti-trust  suit  on 
August  7,  1939,  was  affected  by  the  court's  tem- 
porary order.  The  court's  aim  was  to  return 
each  of  16  houses  recently  acquired  to  the  status 
existing  immediately  preceding  acquisition. 

Had  it  not  been  for  M.  K.  Murphy  of  Big 
Stone  Gap,  Va.,  changing  his  mind,  Schine 
today  might  have  disposed  of  six  of  the  houses, 
instead  of  five.    Murphy  made  a  $3,500  deposit 


on  the  leasehold  of  the  Viv  in  Corbin,  Ky.  A 
few  days  later,  however,  at  Mr.  Murphy's  re- 
quest tiie  Corbin  Theatre  Company,  a  Schine 
subsidiary,  returned  the  deposit  to  him. 

"Neither  Murphy  nor  anyone  else  has  since 
that  time  evidenced  any  interest  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  leasehold  on  the  Viv,"  Mr. 
McKay  declared  in  his  August  report. 

Mr.  Murphy,  at  one  time,  also  had  signified 
interest  in  acquiring  both  the  State  and  Ap- 
palchia  in  Appalachia,  Va.,  but  no  deposits  ever 
were  received  from  him.  The  supposed  deal 
went  so  far  as  to  have  Federal  Judge  John 
Knight  approve  surrender  of  both  of  them,  and 
the  Viv  as  well,  to  the  exhibitor  from  Big  Stone 
Gap.  Mr.  Murphy  was  in  Buffalo  on  one  oc 
casion  and  appeared  personally  before  Judge 
Knight  in  the  courtroom. 

No  further  details  have  been  announced  wit! 
regard  to  the  unusual  situation  created 
Schine's  50  per  cent  interest  in  the  Margie 
Grand  Theatre  in  Harlan,  Ky. 

Leon  B.  Scott  sold  Schine  a  half  interest  it 
the  house,  thereby  becoming  a  partner  of  tb 
consenting  defendants. 

M'r.  Scott,  in  a  report  to  Thurman  Arnold 
assistant  attorney  general  in  charge  of  anti-trus 
matters,  expressed  complete  satisfaction  witl 
his  Schine  partnership.  He  said  he  has  no  de 
sire  to  repurchase  the  half  interest  Schine  ha 
offered  him.  Further,  he  said,  he  does  no 
anticipate  gaining  a  new  partner  without  hav 
ing  any  notice  in  the  matter. 

On  the  basis  of  total  cost  figures  for  the  111 
theatres  which  Schine  must  give  up,  it  is  de 
duced  that  theatre  properties  still  to  be  diveste 
represent  investments  of  $480,985.  The  hous 
of  greatest  value  is  the  Strand  in  Cumberlanc 
Md.,  the  figure  being  set  at  $278,079.  The  on 
of  least  value  is  the  Plaza  in  Malone,  at  $8,50( 


Technicolor  Postpones 
Payment  of  Dividend 

Boards  of  directors  of  Technicolor  companie 
have  postponed  dividend  payments  because  c 
various  factors  connected  with  the  war,  Di 
Herbert  T.  Kalmus,  president  and  general  mar 
ager,  announced  this  week.  Dr.  Kalmus  sai 
that  the  effect  of  the  War  Production  Boar! 
film  limitation  order,  the  rapid  labor  turnove 
and  the  loss  of  trained  technicians  on  the  vol 
ume  and  profits  of  Technicolor  Motion  Pictu^ 
Corporation  for  1942  could  not  be  clearly  deter 
mined  at  this  time. 

He  said  these  factors  and  the  additional  cor 
sideration  that  the  new  tax  law  had  not  bee 
enacted  caused  the  directors  to  postpone  cor- 
sideration  of  a  dividend  payment  to  a  Decerr' 
ber  meeting.  Dr.  Kalmus  said  that  the  preset 
demand  was  beyond  plant  capacity. 


Catlin  Leaves  UA  Post 

Arthur  Catlin,  for  the  past  eight  years  mi< 
west  publicity  director  for  United  Artists,  hi 
resigned.  His  future  plans  have  not  been  at 
nounced.    No  successor  has  been  named  as  ye 


Bruner  to  Dallas 

Frank  Bruner,  newly  appointed  field  explc 
tation  representative  for  Warners,  left  the  Ne 
York  home  office  this  week  for  headquarters 
Dallas. 


Warners  Shift  Landesman 

Ross  Landesman  of  the  publicity  departme 
at  the  Warner  Bros,  home  office  has  left  f 
the  coast,  where  he  will  join  the  studio  pu 
licity  department  under  Alex  Evelove. 


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32 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,    I  942 


ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By   JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 


The  motion  picture  industry's  War  Bond 
drive  in  September  was  accredited  with  sales 
of  $838,250,000.  In  the  same  month  the  Gov- 
ernment spent  $5,400,000,000  on  the  war — 
six-and-a-half  times  more  than  the  month's 
War  Bond  Sales.  Which  gives  you  some  idea. 

V 

Dorothy  Kilgallen  expects  James  Caesar 
{Music -union  czar)  Petrillo  to  issue  orders' 
any  day  now  prohibiting  anyone  from  singing 
in  the  bathtub  unless  they  hold  a  card  in  Mr. 
Petrillo's  union. 

V 

The  University  of  Chicago  warns  that  astro- 
nomical calculations  convinces  its  astronomical 
calculators  that  1948  will  be  a  bad  year  for 
radio  reception.  As  if  we  have  nothing  else 
to  worry  about. 

V 

Motion  Picture  Daily  reports  that  J.  Rosa- 
mond Johnson  and  Stewart  Arthur  have  just 
written  two  brand  new  little  ditties,  entitled: 
"A  Soldier's  Lullaby,"  "She  Couldn't  Say  No 
to  a  Soldier  Named  Joe." 

V 

Funnyman  Fred  Allen,  in  New  York,  re- 
ceived a  strange  phone  call  the  other  night,  re- 
ports Broadway's  Leonard  Lyons.  It  was  from 
the  fire  chief  of  Boone,  Iowa,  who  had  won  a 
contest  in  which  the  first  prize  was  a  free 
phone  call  to  any  place  in  America.  The  fire 
chief  had  selected  Fred  Allen.  Fred  accepted 
the  call  and  told  the  chief :  "You  know,  mister, 
I  once  went  ten  miles  to  put  out  .  a  fire?" 
"Really,"  answered  the  fireman..  "Where  was 
the  fire?"  "Under  a  crepe  suzette,"  retorted 
Allen. 

V 

By  way  of  biennial  report :  The  37  little  war 
refugees  brought  over  here  two  years  ago  by 
Warner  Brothers  are  doing  very  nicely  in  their 
scattered  American  homes,  schools  and  camps. 
The  kids  are  the  offspring  of  Warner  employees 
in  Great  Britain.  And  are  being  looked  after 
here  by  a  committee  of  Warner  home  office 
employees,  including  Harold  Bareford,  Sam 
Schneider  and  Ralph  Budd. 

V 

Joining  unselfishly  in  the  big  scrap  drive, 
the  prisoners  in  the  Cascade  County  jail  at 
Great  Falls,  Montana,  offered  to  donate  the 
prison's  bars,  if  the  jailbirds  were  furnished 
with  hack  saws.  This,  they  said,  would  not 
entail  any  expense  to  the  county. 

After  thinking  over  the  matter  the  authori- 
ties decided  to  donate  the  hack  saws  to  the 
scrap  heap  instead. 

V 

According  to  the  "Comerford  Salute,"  house 
publication  of  the  Comerford  Circuit  for  Com- 
erford men  in  the  armed  services,  the  lowly 
usher's  prayer  is! -."Dear  Lord,  if  you  can  just 
contrive  it,  blease  make  me  a  top  sergeant  and 
my  theatre  manager  a  buck  private." 

V 

The  war,  the  armed  services  and  the  draft 
are  worrying  big,  rotund  Hollywood  producer 
George  Weeks.  They're  snapping  up  his  male 
players  from  his  little  series  of  "Range  Bust- 
ers" films.  Davey  Sharpe,  his  new  lead,  was 
to  have  been  snapped  up  by  the  Army  this 
week.  And  the  other  male  lead,  Johnny  King, 
is  expecting  to  go  soon.  "Pretty  soon  I'll  be 
wearing  a  girdle  and  riding  a  horse  in  my  own 
pictures,"  writes  Weeks,  a  250-pounder. 

V 

Today's  Cinema,  British  film  trade  paper, 
reports  from  London  that  in  London's  Bow 


Street  Court,  recently,  United  Artists  was 
fined  $1,260  for  using  too  many  lights  in  its 
offices. 

V 

Mathematics  Enthusiasm  Smith  is  the  name 
recorded  by  a  draftee  with  Local  Board  No.  17, 
in  Birmingham,  Alabama. 


Help  Wanted  advertisement  in  the  Elmira, 
N.  Y.,  Star-Gazette: 

WANTED,  Two  Girls  as  messengers.  Must 
be  21  years  of  age  with  wheels.  Apply 
Western  Union. 


A  "Walkie-Talkie"  in  the  U.  S.  Army  Sig- 
nal Corps  has  nothing  to  do  with  motion  pic- 
tures. Its  a  28-pound,  short-range  radio  re- 
ceiving and  transmitting  set  packed  on  the 
back  of  a  Signal  Corps  soldier,  accompanies 
combat  troops  and  enables  a  commander  to 
direct  isolated  units  of  troops  to  a  common 
objective. 

Years  ago  the  Army  in  the  field  wig- 
wagged messages,  with  flags. 

V 

Hollywood  needs  a  new  name  mixer-up- 
per. He  has  too  many  of  us  mixed  up,  what 
with  his  Linda  Brents,  Linda  Darnells, 
Lynda  Greys  and  Nan  Greys,  Joyce  Mat- 
thews and  Joyce  Reynolds,  Brenda  Mar- 
shalls  and  Brenda  Joyces,  Ona  Munsons  and 
Osa  Masons,  Carmen  Mirandas  and  Carmen 
Granadas,  Jane  Wyatts  and  Jane  Wymans, 
Dennis  Days  and  Dennis  Morgans,  Bob 
Prestons,  Preston  Fosters  and  Norman  Fos- 
ters, Susan  Dales,  and  Dana  Dales,  and 
whatnot. 

V 

When  Frank  Bickerstaff  played  Warner 
Brothers'  "Man  Who  Came  to  Dinner,"  at 
the  Lucas  and  Jenkins  Palace  Theatre,  in 
Athens,  Georgia,  some  weeks  back,  he  had 
his  staff  artist  cut  out  a  24-sheet  and  from 
it  mount  three  stars  behind  a  table  in  the 
lobby.  On  the  table  was  set  service  for  three, 
with  china,  silver,  goblets  and  a  good-sized 
cooked  chicken,  vegetables,  celery,  salad,  cof- 
fee and  other  trimmings. 

At  the  late  show  there  were  some  300 
Athens  students  waiting  in  the  lobby  for  the 
last  show  to  break.  They  stampeded  and 
walked  off  with  every  item  on  the  table,  both 
food  and  dishes.  And  then  had  the  audacity 
to  gobble  the  victuals  under  Mr.  Bickerstaff's 
nose,  right  in  his  own  auditorium. 

V 

"In  case  of  air  raid,  get  under  this  ma- 
chine. It  hasn't  been  hit  yet,"  reads  an 
improvised  sign  on  a  pinball  machine  in  a 
Cincinnati  amusement  spot,  the  name  of 
which  is  being  withheld  as  a  matter  of  legal 
prudence. 

V 

New  York  City  has  a  Western  Sprinkled 
Risk  Association,  at  80  John  Street,  and  a  Wet 
Nurse  Directory,  at  436  Ninth.  Also,  a  Council 
for  Moderation,  at  72  Wall,  a  Country  Club 
Belts  Division  of  Goldberg  and  Sussles,  at  462 
Broadway,  a  Rip  Van  Winkle  Mineral  Water 
Company,  and  a  Messing  Bakeries,  Brooklyn. 


And  the  Botanical  Industries  of  America 
this  week  completed  alterations  on  a  brand 


new  liquor  bar  at  its  La  Conga  nightclub  or 
New  York's  Broadway. 

V 

Motion  picture  theatre  owners  of  North  Ire 
land  have  been  caught  in  the  middle  of  a  Gov 
ernment  order  curtailing  their  sales  of  cand; 
bars.  By  the  rules  of  curtailment,  candy  stock: 
actually  in  hand,  totaling  some  $125,000  worth 
could  not  possibly  be  disposed  of  for  at  leas 
five  years. 

V 

Radio  announcers,  film  actors  and  th> 
like  are  now  taking  backtalk  from  a  strip  o 
metal  tape — and  liking  it.  It  seems  that  bad 
talk  is  the  specialty  of  the  "Mirrophone; 
recording  and  reproducing  device  manufac 
tured  by  Western  Electric.  This  is  the  wa; 
it  works:  Actor  speaks  into  microphone 
Actor's  voice  is  recorded  magnetically  on 
strip  of  metal  tape.  Actor  flips  switch  am 
his  voice  comes  right  back  at  him.  Acto 
notes  defects  in  pronunciation,  emphasis 
etc.,  corrects  them  and  proceeds  to  wo\ 
critics  and  public  on  opening  night.  That' 
the  theory  anyway,  of  the  Bell  Telephon 
Laboratories. 

V 

"Rochester"  the  air  and  screen  actor,  livin 
in  the  big  radio  and  film  collections  of  Boss  Jac 
Benny,  even  owns  a  race  horse.  Calls  it  Bun 
Cork.  Intends  running  it  in  the  Kentuck 
Derby. 

V 


A  lot  of  unusual  donations  have  turned  up 
Paducah,  Kentucky's  scrap  collection,  but  th 
prize  of  them  all  was  accepted  this  week. 

The  river  steamer  Fury,  anchored  in  Clark' 
River,  was  contributed  by  its  owner,  Captai 
Oscar  Bloom,  of  Chicago. 

The  boat,  with  all  its  machinery,  is  expecte 
to  yield  from  fifteen  to  twenty  tons  of  scrap.  " 
is  one  of  the  oldest  steamboats  operating  on  ir 
land  waterSj  having  been  built  in  1881  and  r< 
built  in  1931  to  tow  the  showboat  Cotton  Bla 
som. 

Captain  Bloom  is  even  furnishing  workmen  1 
dismantle  the  boat. 

V 

Theatre  owners  can  stop  worrying  aboi 
the  chewing  gum  problem. 

Says  William  G.  Soley,  patent  attorney  fc 
the  Carborundum  Company,  Niagara  Fall) 
N.  Y.: 

"At  last  an  inventor  has  obtained  a  patet 
on  a  spiked  receptacle  for  chewing  gum, 
with  a  detachable  lid.    One  just  parks  hi] 
gum  on  the  spike,  closes  the  lid  for  sanitar) 
purposes,    and    reclaims    the    gum  whe 
wanted." 

Mr.  Soley  has  been  collecting  patents  as 
hobby  for  the  last  fifteen  years. 


V 

James  Cagney's  visit  to  Allentown,  Pa., 
week,  to  stimulate  the  sale  of  war  bonds,  was  i 
more  than  passing  interest  to  Charles  Bierbaiw 
manager  of  the  Colonial  Theatre  there,  who  wc 
local  chairman  for  the  September  War  Bon 
sales  campaign  and  served  as  floor  manager  fc 
the  dinner  feting  the  Hollywood  movie  sta 
Cagney  and  Bierbauer  first  met  when  Bierbaut 
managed  a  circuit  of  theatres  in  Pennsylvan 
some  years  ago,  and  struck  up  a  close  friendsh 
then  when  he  accompanied  Cagney  on  a  tour  ft 
weeks.  The  tour  included  Allentown,  Easta 
Reading  and  Harrisburg,  and  for  many  years 
was  known  in  vaudeville  circles  as  the  Cagtu 
circuit,  because,  as  Bierbauer  points  out,  Cagm 
played  it  so  long.  In  fact,  the  star  finally  1* 
the  circuit  to  go  to  Hollywood  on  Bierbauer  > 
advice. 


Ik. 


CENTURY- FOX 
PICTURE 


AT  THE 


DON  JOAN 

AMECHE  •  BENNETT 


BILLIE  BURKE 
ALAN  DINEHART 


HELENE  REYNOLDS 


Directed  by  Produced  by 

HAROLD  SCHUSTER  .  ROBERT  BASSLER 

Screen  Play  by  Ladislas  Fodor  and  Roberf  Riley  Crutcher 
Original  Story  by  Ladislas  Fodor,  Vieki  Boom  and  Guy  Trosper 


34 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,  1942 


UA  Plans  to  Ask 
35  Per  Cent  on 
12  Features 


Thirty-five  per  cent  in  rental  will  be  asked 
by  United  Artists  for  12  of  its  new  season 
features,  it  was  learned  this  week.  Additional- 
ly, four  films  will  be  in  the  25  and  30  per  cent 
classifications. 

It  is  expected  that  the  first  of  the  block  of 
Paramount  pictures  bought  by  the  company  will 
be  released  October  23rd.  It  will  be  Harry 
Sherman's  "Undercover  Man,"  of  the  Hopalong 
Cassidy  series. 

The  series  will  be  sold  on  approximately  the 
same  basis  as  the  Edward  Small  production, 
"Kit  Carson,"  in  1940,  company  spokesmen  in- 
dicated. 

Of  the  pictures  to  be  sold  at  35  per  cent, 
three  are  from  Paramount,  "I  Married  a 
Witch,"  "Crystal  Ball"  and  "Young  and  Will- 
ing" ;  three  will  be  from  Hunt  Stromberg  Pro- 
ductions, "The  G-String  Murders,"  "Dis- 
honored Lady"  and  "Guest  in  the  House" ;  and 
others  are  the  Loew-Lewin  production,  "The 
Moon  and  Sixpence,"  Charles  R.  Rogers,  "The 
Powers  Girl,"  Mayfair  Productions'  "Jacare," 
and  three  Harry  Sherman  specials. 

At  the  Chicago  convention  last  week,  the 
sales  force  was  urged  to  increase  percentage 
deals,  and  was  told  the  company's  percentage 
accounts  were  numerically  the  lowest  of  any 
major  distributor. 

Following  is  UA's  release  schedule  from  Oc- 
tober 2nd  to  February  15th  : 

"Moon  and  Sixpence,"  October  2nd;  "The 
Devil  With  Hitler,"  October  9;  "One  of  Our 
Aircraft  is  Missing,"  October  16;  "Undercover 
Man,"  October  23 ;  "I  Married  a  Witch,"  Oc- 
tober 30 ;  "Silver  Queen,"  November  13 ;  "Fall 
In,"  November  20 ;  "Jacare,"  November  27 ; 
"American  Empire,"  Dec.  12 ;  "Lost  Canyon," 
December  19 ;  "In  Which  We  Serve,"  Decem- 
ber 25 ;  "Crystal  Ball,"  January  1 ;  "The  Pow- 
ers Girl,"  January  15;  "The  McGuerins  from 
Brooklyn,"  Jan.  22;  "Young  and  Willing,"  Jan- 
uary 30,  and  "The  G-String  Murder  Case," 
February  15. 


Botsford  Joins 
Lyons  Agency 


A.  M.  Botsford,  production  and  publicity  ex- 
ecutive, has  joined  the  A.  and  S.  Lyons  Agency, 
Hollywood,  as  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager. In  addition  to  other  duties,  Mr.  Bots- 
ford will  be  associated  with  Arthur  Lyons,  head 
of  the  agency,  in  production  planned  for  United 
Artists. 

Mr.  Botsford  formerly  was  advertising  and 
publicity  director  for  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
Before  joining  that  company  in  1941,  Mr.  Bots- 
ford was  executive  assistant  to  William  Le 
Baron  in  independent  production,  and  prior  to 
that  was  an  associate  producer  at  Paramount. 


Holds  Bankruptcy  Hearing 

The  first  hearing  in  the  bankruptcy  proceed- 
ings of  State  Theatre,  Inc.,  of  Tampa,  Fla., 
was  heard  last  week  by  J.  W.  Shaw,  the  ref- 
eree in  bankruptcy.  The  trustee  for  the  theatre 
company  gave  a  report  on  the  company  since 
last  June  when  he  took  charge,  and  showed  a 
gain  of  $11,077. 


Cuban  Editor  in  U.  S. 

Dr.  Carlos  Rocha,  editor  of  Cine-Grafico, 
Cuban  fan  magazine,  is  in  this  country  to  look 
after  business  and  personal  matters.  Dr.  Rocha 
will  see  major  company  foreign  publicity  man- 
agers during  his  visit  here  to  convey  the  greet- 
ings of  the  Federation  of  Cuban  Motion  Picture 
Writers,  of  which  he  is  secretary. 


551  Houses  Report  They  Would 
Save  2,968  Hours  with  Singles 

Figures  released  last  Friday  in  Chicago,  in  Illinois  Allied's  inquiry  to  determine 
the  saving  in  running  time  between  single  and  double  features,  show  that  551  the- 
atres taking  part  in  the  poll  reported  an  approximate  saving  of  2,968  hours  between 
the  two  policies.  The  theatres  checked  are  located  in  12  states. 

Many  exhibitors  expressed  a  decided  preference  for  single  feature  bills.  Some 
of  the  opinions  given  against  the  double  feature  policy  were  that  "double  features 
cause  patrons  to  get  crampy  and  nervous  like  they  had  had  too  much  turkey". 
One  exhibitor  said  they  "were  a  lot  of  headaches",  while  another  said  that  by 
running  double  features  "I  accomplish  a  good  deed  for  the  producer  by  using  up 
a  lot  of  unwanted  junk". 

The  results  bear  out  the  contention  of  Jack  Kirsch,  president  of  Illinois  Allied, 
who  conducted  the  poll,  that  the  saving  in  hours  would  have  the  effect  of  adding 
longer  life  to  theatre  equipment  and  cut  down  the  use  of  electrical  consumption, 
parts,  film  and  other  vital  raw  materials  needed  for  the  war  effort. 

Following  is  the  count  by  states  to  date  on  the  poll: 

Hours  Number  Total 

Saved  Theatres  Run  Double  No  Number 

State  Weekly  Involved  Singles     Part  Time  Saving  Replies 

Connecticut..  82  9  4  ..  3  16 

Illinois   1,182  190  40  13  18  261 

Indiana   220  35  30  5  23  93 

Iowa   180  54  24  12  7  97 

Michigan....  266  57  3  12  2  74 

Missouri   153  22  2  2  3  29 

Nebraska....  149  30  13  4  ..  47 

New  Jersey..  104  21  17  4  4  46 

North  Dakota.  17  5  15  4  ..  24 

Oregon   296  50  14  4  2  70 

Pennsylvania..  67  18  5  ..  10  33 

Wisconsin  ...  252  60  21  25  .  .  106 


1 


TOTALS...  2,968 


551 


I 


85 


72 


896 


Action  Challenges 
Agency  Franchise 

Thomas  J.  Kennedy,  describing  himself  as 
business  manager  for  "Red"  Skelton,  last  week 
challenged  the  Screen  Actors  Guild  and  the 
Artists  and  Managers  Guild  on  the  agency 
franchise  agreement  when  he  obtained  a  tem- 
porary Federal  injunction  against  scheduled 
arbitration  proceedings  involving  Mr.  Skelton's 
contract  with  him  and  the  William  Morris 
Agency.   The  writ  was  returnable  Friday. 

Mr.  Kennedy  is  suing  Mr.  Skelton  for  $125,- 
475,  which  he  claims  is  due  in  unpaid  com- 
missions. The  suit  claims  that  Mr.  Kennedy 
cut  his  original  20  per  cent  commission  to  10 
when  the  services  of  the  agency  for  film  repre- 
sentation were  arranged,  with  the  agency  to 
get  10  per  cent. 

The  SAG  intervened  after  the  action  was 
filed  and  attempted  to  force  Mr.  Kennedy  to 
submit  to  arbitration  under  the  AMG  franchise 
agreement  which  sets  a  maximum  of  10  per 
cent  commission  for  actors,  Mr.  Kennedy 
charged.  He  claimed  that  the  AMG  agree- 
ment does  not  affect  him  due  to  his  status  as 
manager. 


Wisconsin  ITPA  Supports 
Allied  Caravan  Plan 

The  ITPA  of  Wisconsin  and  Upper  Michi 
gan,  meeting  last  week  at  the  Schroeder  Hotel 
in  Milwaukee  in  connection  with  the  Allie" 
Caravan,  endorsed  the  plan  and  pledged  if 
support  to  the  movernent. 

The  association  reelected  William  L.  Ainsj 
worth,  Fond  du  Lac,  for  a  fourth  consecutii* 
term.  Also  renamed  were  A.  C.  Berkholt: 
treasurer,  and  Mark  Morgan,  secretan 
Charles  W.  Trampe  is  the  new  vice-presiden 

Directors  named,  in  addition  to  the  officer 
were :  George  Langheinrich,  Harry  Melche 
George  Fischer  and  James  Boden,  all  of  Mi 
waukee ;  J.  P.  Adler,  Marshfield ;  William 
Smith,  Menomonie ;  Lucille  Forbes,  Merril 
and  F.  J.  McWilliams,  Portage.  Harry  Perli'i 
witz,  Milwaukee,  was  renamed  business  mai 
ager.  _  * 

Caravan  speakers  included  Abram  F.  Myer 
Sidney  Samuelson  and  M.  A.  Rosenberg. 


O'Connor  To  Succeed  Ziffren 

Manning  O'Connor  will  take  over  Lester 
Ziffren's  post  as  aide  to  Bryan  Foy,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  producer,  when  Mr.  Ziffren  joins 
the  Office  of  the  Coordinator  of  Inter-Ameri- 
can Affairs  on  October  12th. 


Lewin  Returns  to  MGM 

Albert  Lewin,  one  time  assistant  to  the  la 
Irving  Thalberg,  has  returned  to  Metro-Goli 
wyn-Mayer  on  a  producer-writer-director  co: 
tract.  Mr.  Lewin  recently  dissolved  his  Unit 
Artists  production  partnership  with  David 
Loew. 


Hebert  Gets  New  Contract 

Samuel  Goldwyn  has  given  a  new  contract 
to  William  Hebert,  his  publicity  and  adver- 
tising director  for  the  last  18  months. 


Report  Asher  to  Army 

Irving  Asher,  producer  in  F^ngland  f 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,  reportedly  is  plannii 
to  join  the  U.  S.  Army  on  completion  of  t 
picture  on  which  he  is  working  at  presei 
according  to  word  from  London. 


October    10,     1 942 


MOTION    PICTURE    H  ERALD 


35 


THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 


Announcement  by  Paramount  that  the 
studio  will  have  placed  nine  upper- 
bracket  pictures  in  production  by  the  end 
of  November  offsets  speculation  which 
sprouted  in  wake  of  the  scrapping  of  the 
UMPI  plan  of  selling,  with  its  implica- 
tions, and  the  sale  of  pictures  to  United 
Artists. 

From  a  pace  which  had  resulted  in  ac- 
cumulation of  a  backlog  containing  at 
one  point  32  completed  pictures,  Para- 
mount's  production  activity  slowed  to  a 
pitch  typified  by  its  present  status.  The 
company  has  two  pictures,  one  of  them 
"For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls,"  in  work  at 
this  point. 

These  two,  plus  the  nine  which  are  to  be 
started  during  the  next  eight  weeks,  fig- 
ure to  bring  the  studio's  output  into  attune- 
nent  with  the  distribution  department's  re- 
quirements and  the  exhibition  field's  ca- 
oacity  to  absorb  product.  The  backlog  still 
:ontains  enough  completed  product  to  bridge 
he  adjustment. 

To  Open  RKO  Film 
it  Navy  Theatre 

Hollywood  personalities  to  the  capacity 
a.  available  transportation  accommodations 
All  be  off  by  train,  plane  or  boat,  as  the 
ircumstances  may  permit,  to  San  Francisco 
-or  the  opening  of  the  Navy's  new  theatre  at 
ne  Treasure  Island  Naval  base  on  Navy 
Day,  October  27th,  when  RKO  Radio's 
The  Navy  Comes  Through"  will  be  given 
:s  world  premiere  at  that  place. 

The  premiere,  preparations  for  which  are 
'  l  progress  with  the  Navy  and  the  com- 
any  collaborating  on  details,  is  to  be  pre- 
eded  by  civic  ceremonies  conducted  in  San 
rancisco  with  Government,  state  and  city 
fficials  participating. 

"The  Navy  Comes  Through,"  featuring 
'at  O'Brien,  George  Murphy,  Jane  Wyatt 
•nd  Jackie  Cooper,  is  from  "Pay  to  Learn," 
istinguished  as  the  only  story  which  the 
aturday  Evening  Post,  in  all  its  years,  has 
ited  as  worthy  of  a  second  printing. 

'RC  Adopts  New  Policy 
)f  Flexible  Budgets 

O.  Henry  Briggs,  president  of  Producers 
eleasing  Corporation,  announced  at  the 
eekend  a  policy  of  flexible  production 
udgets  for  productions  bearing  the  PRC 
bel,  citing  improved  revenues  and  product 
.  justifying  the  change  from  a  practice 
ider  which  Leon  Fromkess,  production 
lief,  had  been  assigning  budgets  and  com- 
•lling  producers  to  keep  costs  within  them. 
Walter  Wanger  has  obtained  a  pledge 
Washington  cooperation  for  production 
r  a  picture  dramatizing  the  work  of  the 
omen's  Auxiliary  Ferry  Service 
VAFS)  and  will  film  it  for  Universal  fol- 
ding ^completion  of  "We've  Never  Been 
eked."  Diana  Barrymore  will  be  starred. 
Constance  Bennett  has  been  assigned  the 
id  m  Warners'  "Forty  Whacks,"  murder 
'Stery  to  be  produced  by  William  Jacobs 


STUDIOS  SHOW  CONFIDENCE 

Displaying  in  terms  of  investment  a  confidence  in  the  future  not  reflected  recently,  the 
studios  placed  five  upper-bracket  productions  before  the  cameras  in  a  week  which  saw 
the  shooting  index  rise  from  42  to  45.  Six  films  were  finished  and  nine  started. 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  started  shooting  on  "Salute  to  the  Marines,"  with  Wallace 
Beery  and  Fay  Bainter  in  the  top  roles.  Twentieth  Century-Fox  started  "Coney  Island," 
a  musical,  presenting  Betty  Srable,  George  Montgomery,  Cesar  Romero,  Charles 
Winninger,  Phil  Silvers  and  others,  and  "Margin  for  Error,"  with  Joan  Bennett,  Milton 
Berle,  Otto  Preminger  and  Carl  Esmond. 

Universal  started  "It  Ain't  Hay,"  the  Abbott-Costello  comedy,  with  Grace  McDonald, 
Patsy  O'Connor  and  others  in  the  cast.  Warners  started  "Background  to  Danger,"  with 
George  Raft,  Brenda  Marshall,  Sidney  Greenstreet,  Peter  Lorre  and  Osa  Massen.  Addi- 
tions to  all  of  these  casts  are  to  be  made  as  shooting  progresses. 

The  week  by  company  and  title: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

One  Dangerous  Night 
City  Without  Men 
Commandos  Strike  at 
Dawn 

Paramount 

Buckskin  Frontier 

PRC 

Billy  the  Kid 
Universal 

Flesh  and  Fantasy 

STARTED 

MGM 

Salute  to  the  Marines 

Monogram 

Little  Mobsters 
Silver  Skates 

RKO  Radio 

Hitler's  Children 

Republic 

Sundown  Kid 


20th-Fox 

Coney  Island 
Margin  for  Error 

Universal 

It  Ain't  Hay 

Warner 

Background  to  Dan- 
ger 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

Merry-Go-Round 
Power  of  the  Press 
Robinhood    of  the 
Range 

MGM 

Nothing  Ventured 
Cabin  in  the  Sky 
DuBarry     Was  a 
Lady 

Assignment    in  Brit- 

tany 
Human  Comedy 
Three     Hearts  for 

Julia 


Lassie  Come  Home 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 

Monogram 

Dead  Man's  Trail 
Rhythm  Parade 

Paramount 

For  Whom  the  Bell 

Tolls 
True  to  Life 

PRC 

Lady    from  Chung- 
king 

RKO  Radio 

Great  Gildersleeve 
Tarzan  Triumphs 
Fight  for  Freedom* 


Chas.  Rogers 

Powers  Girl 

20th-Fox 

Seventh  Column 
Dixie  Dugan 
Immortal  Sergeant 
Crash  Dive 
My  Friend  Flicka 

Universal 

Pittsburgh 

Shadow  of  a  Doubt 

Nightmare 

Corvettes   in  Action 
Forever  Yours 
When  Johnny  Comes 
Home 


the 


Republic 

Riding  Down 
Canyon 

Secrets  of  the  Under- 
ground 


the  North 


Warner 

Action  in 
Atlantic 
Edge  of  Darkness 
Air  Force 


*Formerly  "Stand  By  to  Die." 


and  directed  by  William  Clemens.  George 
Sidney  has  been  assigned  by  MGM  to  di- 
rect Kathryn  Grayson  in  "Private  Miss 
Jones."  Joe  E.  Brown  and  Judy  Canova 
will  be  co-starred  for  the  second  time  by 
Republic  in  "Chatterbox."  Cecil  B.  De 
Mille  has  announced  the  featuring  of  Arturo 
de  Cordova,  Mexican  film  star,  in  "Ru- 
rales,"  the  producer  declaring  the  player  to 
be  the  most  promising  prospect  since 
Rudolph  Valentino. 

"Happy  Land,"  a  new  book  by  McKinlay 
Kantor,  has  been  purchased  by  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  as  a  vehicle  for  Thomas 
Mitchell.  Melvyn  Douglas  is  announced  as 
star  of  Columbia's  "Port  Said,"  American 
tank  corps  story  with  an  all  male  cast. 
Robert  Preston,'  Betty  Rhodes  and  Dona 
Drake  have  been  cast  as  principals  in  Para- 
mount's  "Salute  for  Three."  John  Carroll 
has  been  borrowed  from  MGM  and  Susan 
Hayward  from  Paramount  to  co-star  in  Re- 
public's "Hit  Parade  of  1943." 

Sam  Wood  at  the  weekend  concluded  a 
deal  with  Columbia  Pictures  under  which 


he  will  produce  and  direct  at  least  one  pic- 
ture annually  for  that  studio.  His  first  will 
be  "The  Land  Is  Bright,"  the  George  Kauf- 
man-Edna  Ferber   stage  play. 

Harry  Sherman  on  Monday  started  his 
first  picture  for  United  Artists,  which  is  the 
47th  in  his  series  of  Hopalong  Cassidy 
Westerns  starring  William  Boyd.  Gayle 
Lord,  who  is  Mr.  Sherman's  daughter, 
Teddi.  wrill  playthe  feminine  lead.  The  title 
is  "Colt  Comrades." 

Preston  Sturges,  producer,  writer  and 
director,  has  added  songwriting  to  his  list 
of  accomplishments,  supplying  music  and 
lyrics  of  "Day  by  Day"  for  the  score  of 
"Great  Without  Glory"  for  Paramount. 

MGM  has  announced  early  production  of 
"Dogs  of  War,"  original  bv  William  Koz- 
lenko.  and  assignment  of  Chester  Franklin, 
responsible  for  "Sequoia,"  to  direct  it.  It's 
a  story  about  the  use  of  dogs  by  the  armed 
forces  in  the  present  war. 

Robert  Cummings  has  returned  from  loan- 
out  to  be  starred  in  Walter  Wanger's 
"We've  Never  Been  Licked"  for  Universal. 


THAT 


38 

Trade  Leaders 
Named  to  Head 
Charity  Drive 

David  Bernstein,  vice-president  and  treasurer 
of  Loew's,  and  Albert  Warner,  vice-president 
of  Warner  Bros.,  again  have  been  selected  to 
head  the  amusement  industry's  participation  in 
the  1942  merged  campaign  of  the  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  Federation  of  Jewish  Charities. 

Barney  Balaban,  Jack  Cohn,  Nate  J.  Blum- 
berg  and  George  J.  Schaefer  have  been  named 
vice-chairmen  of  the  amusement  division ;  Ben- 
jamin S.  Moss,  chairman  of  the  motion  picture 
and  theatrical  accessories  division ;  Harry 
Brandt  and  Max  A.  Cohen,  co-chairmen  of  the 
independent  theatre  owners  division,  and  Mar- 
cus Heiman,  of  the  League  of  New  York  The- 
atres, chairman  of  the  Broadway  legitimate  the- 
atres division. 

The  appointments  were  announced  this  week 
by  George  Z.  Medalie,  president  of  the  Federa- 
tion for  the  support  of  Jewish  Philanthropic 
Societies  of  New  York  City  and  Hugh  Grant 
Straus,  president  of  the  Brooklyn  Federation. 

The  campaign  will  seek  funds  for  116  affili- 
ated hospitals,  child  care  institutions,  family 
welfare  and  other  social  agencies  serving 
Greater  New  York. 

Schenck  Names  Staff 

Appointments  to  the  technical  staff  for  the 
ninth  annual  edition  of  "Night  of  Stars,"  to  be 
held  at  Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York, 
November  24th,  were  announced  this  week  by 
Marvin  H.  Schenck,  chairman  of  the  producers' 
committee. 

Sidney  Piermont,  Loew's,  will  stage  the  en- 
tertainment. Lighting  and  amplification  will  be 
in  charge  of  Arthur  Knorr  of  the  Roxy  the- 
atre and  Lester  B.  Isaac  of  Loew's.  Don  Al- 
bert of  WHN  will  head  a  100-piece  orchestra. 

Members  of  the  producers'  committee  in- 
clude, in  addition  to  Mr.  Schenck:  Phillip 
Bloom,  Ernest  Emerling,  George  Jessel,  Harry 
Kalcheim,  Jesse  Kaye_,  Leon  Leonidoff,  Harry 
Mayer,  Larry  Puck,  Frank  Roehrenbeck,  Harry 
A.  Romm,  Robert  Weitman,  David  A.  Wehr- 
lin,  Max  Wolff  and  Allen  Zee.  Ed  Sullivan, 
columnist,  is  co-chairman. 

Y.  Frank  Freeman,  vice-president  in  charge 
of  production  for  Paramount,  this  week  was 
named  chairman  of  the  Community  Chest  cam- 
paign in  Hollywood. 

"There  will  be  no  slightest  indication  on  the 
part  of  our  people,"  Mr.  Freeman  said,  "to 
feel  they  have  already  done  their  share  of 
charitable  work  for  the  year,  for  no  one's  share 
is  complete  that  does  not  embrace  participation 
in  the  activities  of  the  Community  Chest's  many 
welfare  agencies  in  our  own  community." 
_  President  Roosevelt  Monday  urged  the  na- 
tion to  transform  some  of  its  "new  buying 
power  into  giving  power"  as  he  inaugurated 
the  1942  Community  Mobilization  for  Human 
Needs  in  a  brief  address  over  all  radio  net- 
works. 

Such  donations  to  community  war  chests,  the 
President  said,  will  "affirm  before  the  world 
our  nation's  faith  in  the  inalienable  right  of 
every  man  to  live  a  life  of  freedom,  justice  and 
decent  security." 


With  Comerford  35  Years 

Samuel  Friedman,  district  manager  in  Hazle- 
ton,  Pa.,  for  the  Comerford  circuit,  this  week 
completed  his  35th  year  with  the  company. 
He  started  with  the  circuit  in  1907  as  an 
usher. 


Cobb  Joins  National  Screen 

Bernard  Cobb,  formerly  a  Balaban  and  Katz 
manager,  has  joined  the  National  Screen  Serv- 
ice staff  in  Chicago. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Aim  for  1947  Contract, 
Cagney  Tells  Players 

The  year  to  watch  is  1947,  when  the  Screen 
Actors  Guild  contract  comes  up  for  re-negotia- 
tion, James  Cagney,  president,  told  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Class  B  members  Sunday  night, 
in  Hollywood. 

During  the  past  five  years  $423,780  in  wage 
adjustments  have  been  obtained  for  film  players, 
Kenneth  Thomson,  secretary,  reported.  In  play- 
ers' claims,  during  the  past  year,  $44,556  was 
collected  from  producers,  he  added. 


Tuttle  Gets  New  Contract 

Frank  Tuttle,  who  has  completed  "Lucky 
Jordan"  for  Paramount,  has  been  signed  to  a 
long  term  director  contract  by  the  company. 
Mr.  Tuttle,  a  Yale  graduate,  has  been  a  direc- 
tor for  22  years,  eighteen  of  which  have  been 
with  Paramount. 


WB  Branch  Additions 

Jack  Galloway  and  William  Bugie  have 
joined  the  Warner  Bros,  branch  office  in  Mem- 
phis as  salesmen.  David  Kaufman  has  been  ap- 
pointed checking  supervisor  out  of  the  Buffalo 
exchange,  succeeding  Sol  Gerber. 


October    10,     I  942 


PRC  Negotiating  for 
Tal  isman  Studio 

Producers  Releasing  Corporation  is  negoti- 
ating with  the  L.  A.  Young  interests  for  pur- 
chase of  the  Talisman  Studios,  it  was  disclosed 
in  Hollywood  this  week.  PRC  took  occupancy 
of  the  studio  two  weeks  ago  in  order  to  obtain 
more  space.  , 

O.  Henry  Briggs,  president,  and  Robert  Ben- 
jamin, company  attorney,  are  conducting  the 
negotiations.  Mr.  Briggs  and  Mr.  Benjamin 
with  Leon  Fromkess,  in  charge  of  production, 
also  are  discussing  augmenting  the  producer 
list  from  the  present  seven. 

Vaudeville  in  New  Haven 

The  Arena,  sports  auditorium  in  New  Haven, 
has  started  its  regular  winter  Sunday  vaude- 
ville policy,  with  Gene  Krupa  as  the  first  attrac- 
tion. The  legitimate  Shubert  theatre  there  also 
has  started  Sunday  vaudeville,  and  the  Bijou 
has  changed  from  amateur  and  vaudeville  shows 
to  five  stage  acts  on  Mondays. 


Lesser  Signs  Designer 

Sol  Lesser  has  signed  Harry  Horner,  New 
York  stage  designer,  to  a  contract. 


Tell  Us  What  Our  Boys  Are 
Doing,  Exhibitor  Urges 

Henry  Reeve,  operator  of  the  Mission  theatre  in  Menard,  Texas,  president  of  the 
Texas  Theatre  Owners,  Inc.,  and  a  member  of  the  War  Activities  Committee  in 
Texas,  has  written  "an  open  letter  to  Uncle  Sam",  in  which  he  asks  that  the  Govern- 
ment loosen  its  restrictions  on  information  relative  to  what  American  forces  are  doing 
in  the  war.  The  letter  follows: 

Last  week  we  screened  the  U.  S.  Navy  picture,  "The  Battle  of  Midway",  for  our 
school  and  our  community.  Last  week  there  was  a  tightening  of  the  throat,  a  mist 
in  the  eye  and  something  akin  to  grim  American  fighting  determination  in  the 
heart  and  soul  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  who  saw  it. 

This  short  film,  the  first  real  message  you've  sent  to  your  people,  is  the  sort  of 
thing  Americans  want  and  need.  Out  here  in  this  little  town  we're  far  away  from 
the  big  staged  rallies,  important  personages  and  movie  stars  who  roll  up  Bond 
sales  in  the  cities.  Every  other  week  we  gather  at  the  bus  station  and  see  our  boys 
go  off  to  join  your  Army.  The  high  school  band  plays,  the  bus  drives  away,  faces 
are  gone  we've  known  and  seen  every  day.  This  war  is  close  to  us  on  those  days. 

Then  we  pick  up  the  daily  paper  in  the  morning  and  read  the  reports  from 
Stalingrad.  If  those  great  Russians  have  regained  an  alley  or  lost  a  street,  it's 
there  for  us  to  know  about — to  tighten  up  with  anger — to  give  silent  thanks  and 
praise  to  a  fighting  people.  But  there's  no  news  of  what  your  boys  are  doing,  Uncle. 

We  know  that  they  are  fighting  on  many  far  flung  fronts.  A  good  percentage 
of  our  400  men  in  the  service  are  out  there.  Four  have  given  their  lives  for  you, 
in  action.  But  the  news  we  should  have,  the  news  that  would  bring  our  home  front 
fighting  solidly  behind  our  boys,  is  bottled  up,  censored  out,  it's  not  there  for  us 
to  read.  Why?  We're  not  kids,  Uncle;  we  want  to  know  what  goes  on.  We  want 
to  play  our  part.  Your  Bond  chairmen  tell  us  that  we  don't  buy  enough — you  could 
sell  Russian  war  bonds  to  Americans  today,  Uncle,  because  we  know  that  they  are 
fighting  as  Americans  can,  and  will.  But  the  Russian  people  know  what  they  are 
up  against;  we  should  know,  too. 

It's  up  to  you,  Uncle.  Do  an  about  face  on  your  war  information  policy;  I'm  not 
mentioning  "politics"  in  this  letter — give  us  a  chance  to  prove  that  Americans  of 
1942  are  the  same  tough  people  who  have  written  the  pages  of  so  many  glorious 
chapters  in  your  history  since  1776.  Last  April,  you  told  the  whole  world  about 
one  of  our  home  town  boys  who  did  such  a  grand  job  in  the  first  days  in  the 
Philippines.  We  are  just  as  proud  of  every  one  of  our  boys  who  wears  your  uniform. 
Please  tell  us  what  they  are  doing. 

You'll  be  surprised  how  America  will  meet  the  challenge,  whether  it  be  on  Bonds, 
scrap,  gas  and  tire  rationing,  food — everything  that  must  be  done.  Let  the  spirit 
of  "The  Battle  of  Midway"  have  a  chance,  Uncle;  it  will  win  this  war  for  you.  For 
you  and  for  us. 


A    Paramount  Advertisement 

'Wake9 Ahead  of 
Para 's  Biggest 

Xew  York  Paramount's  third  week  of 
happy  association  with  Par's  comedy-ro- 
mance, "The  Major  and  the  Minor,*'  closed 
with  boxoffice  receipts  topping  the  sensa- 
tional business  of  "The  Fleet's  In,"  last  sea- 
son, by  more  than  70  per  cent.  Picture  also 
ran  well  ahead  of  grosses  copped  by  the 
Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  picture  "My 
Favorite  Blonde,"  an  outstanding  grosser 
among  last  season's  hits. 

Third  week's  gross  for  "The  Major  and 
the  Minor"  was  a  tidy  figure  that  could 
stack  up  with  opening  week  grosses  on  many 
a  production. 

Coupled  with  the  figures  from  three  other 
pre-release  bookings,  the  Paramount's  re- 
sults give  concrete  proof  that  movie  trade 
critics  knew  what  they  were  talking  about 
when  they  pegged  Billy  Wilder 's  first  direct- 
ing job  for  peak  grosses  in  all  spots.  The 
Motion  Picture  Daily  led  the  parade  by  call- 
ing "The  Major  and  the  Minor"  "a  picture 
guaranteed  to  make  the  cash  register  ring 
loud  and  long." 

It's  loud,  all  right;  ask  Bob  Weitman 
at  the  Broadway  house.  And  it's  long, 
too — he's  got  it  tabbed  for  at  least  four 
and  possibly  five  weeks.  That's  a  month 
in  any  language. 

Other  trade  papers  have  made  similar 
predictions.  Film  Bulletin  said  it  "will  be 
a  boxoffice  winner."  The  Exhibitor  said 
it's  "headed  for  the  higher  grosses."  The 
Independent  classed  it  "a  major  booking 
tor  any  situation — even  the  minors."  Film 
Daily  said  it  has  "plenty  of  what  it  takes 
to  roundly  entertain  fans."  Boxoffice 
called  it  "a  funfest  for  exhibitors  and 
John  Q.  Public."  Showmen's  Trade  Re- 
view dubbed  it  "certain  to  ring  the  bell." 
M.  P.  Herald  said  it  •'"should  delight  au- 
diences of  this  or  anj7  other  season."  Hol- 
lywood Reporter  marked  it  "one  of  the 
season's  surest  bets  for  hit  grosses." 
Variety  called  it  "sparkling  and  effer- 
vescent— wide  audience  appeal." 


IF  THIS  BE  CRITICISM, 
MAKE  THE  MOST  OF  IT! 

Closest  thing  to  negative  criticism  drawn 
by  Paramount's  "The  Major  and  the 
Minor"  from  Xew  York  newspaper  review- 
ers was  the  plaint  of  Archer  Winsten,  film 
weigher  for  the  New  York  Post. 

"The  trouble  with  'The  Major  and  the 
Minor'  is  that  too  many  people  in  the  audi- 
ence laugh  too  much  and  too  loud,"  Winsten 
said  in  his  review.  "You  miss  lines  that 
ought  not  be  missed !" 

"The  Paramount  Theatre  rang  the  bell 
with  'Holiday  Inn'  and  bids  fair  to  do  the 
same  with  its  current  bid  for  lucre."  Win- 
sten added. 


GET  IN  THE  SCRAP! 

Have  you  set  up  your  "Scrap 
Matinees"  for  October?  Come  on — 
show  your  mettle  and  get  in  the 
metal  tor  Uncle  Sam!    Its  our  job! 


MAJOR    PICTURE  NEWS 


GINGER  and  K AT 


ROGERS  MILLAND 


Three  New  Dates 
For  'Major'  Beat 
'Fleet',  'Blonde' 

Paramount's  hit  comedy,  "The  Major  and 
the  Minor,"  widened  its  field  of  triumph  last 
week,  with  openings  in  three  spots  duplicat- 
ing the  strong  showing  made  by  the  pre- 
miere Xew  York  Paramount  booking. 

First  two  days  of  "Major"  at  the  Broad- 
way Theatre,  Xewburgh,  showed  grosses 
25  per  cent  above  the  heavy  business  rolled 
up  some  time  back  by  "The  Fleet's  In" — 
and  a  similar  25  per  cent  above  the  Bob 
Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  starrer,  "My 
Favorite  Blonde." 

Exactly  the  same  margin  was  shown  for 
first  week's  business  at  the  U.  S.  Theatre, 
Paterson,  and  the  Xewark  Paramount.  Both 
theatres  grossed  twenty  to  twenty-five  per 
cent  above  "Blonde"  and  "Fleet"  for  their 
first  wTeeks,  and  moved  over  into  holdover 
weeks  with  attendance  still  top-notch. 

Meanwhile,  Screen  Writer  Billy  Wilder's 
first  production  as  a  director  moved  on  to 
cop  new  laurels  from  the  critical  fraternity. 
LIFE  made  "Major  and  the  Minor"  picture 
of  the  week  and  called  it  "one  of  the  year's 
freshest  and  funniest  movies" ;  Parents' 
Magazine  cited  it  for  "hearty  support"  and 
named  Diana  Lynn  to  "high  place  among 
1942  contestants  for  top  juvenile  acting 
honors"  for  her  supporting  role.  TIME 
Magazine  went  completely  overboard  for  the 
film,  and  said  that  "Ginger  Rogers  turns 
in  the  prettiest  piece  of  work  she  has  done." 

As  reported  earlier,  "The  Major  and  the 
Minor"  was  named  "Picture  of  the  Month" 
by  Redbook  Magazine.  More  mags  than 
you  could  count  have  devoted  their  covers  to 
the  picture,  including  "Cue,"  "Screen 
Guide,"  "Silver  Screen,"  "Photoplay"  and 
quite  a  few  more. 


'WAKE  ISLAND'  BEATING 
PAR'S  BIGGEST  HITS 

In  six  new  dates  last  week,  Paramount's 
epic  of  Pacific  heroism,  "Wake  Island," 
continued  to  make  boxoffice  news  by  better- 
ing the  records  established  by  the  company's 
trio  of  hits,  "Holiday  Inn,"  "Caught  in  the 
Draft"  and  "Louisiana  Purchase." 

First  three  days  of  "Wake"  at  the  Ma- 
jestic Theatre,  San  Antonio,  showed  "Wake" 
50  per  cent  above  "Draft"  and  "Purchase," 
and  15  per  cent  above  "Holiday  Inn."  Open- 
ing day  of  "Wake"  at  the  Carolina  Theatre, 
Charlotte,  topped  "Draft"  by  50  per  cent, 
and  "Inn"  by  a  good  margin.  Xo  "Pur- 
chase" comparison  available. 

Worth  Theatre,  Ft.  Worth,  showed 
"Wake"  16  per  cent  above  "Inn"  and  33 
cent  above  "Draft"  for  two  days,  and  the 
Strand,  Lowell,  reported  "Wake"  40  per 
cent  above  "Purchase"  and  16  per  cent 
above  "Draft." 

That  the  picture  is  a  top  boxoffice  attrac- 
tion in  smaller  towns  as  well  as  keys  is 
shown  by  the  Marion,  O.,  report  ("Wake" 
50  per  cent  above  both  "Inn"  and  "Draft") 
and  by  a  report  from  Peoria,  where  picture 
also  topped  both  on  opening  day. 

Inspection  of  other  bookings  shows  that 
"Wake  Island"  has  outgrossed  ALL 
THREE  hits  in  more  than  twenty  book- 
ings. 


40 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,  1942 


APPEAL  BOARD  REVERSES 
ARBITRATOR.  ORDERS  RUN 


Remands  St.  Louis  Case  to 
Arbitrator  and  Terms 
Present  Offer  Unfair 

The  arbitration  Appeal  Board  ordered 
four  distributors  to  grant  some  run  to 
Louis  M.  Sosna,  operator  of  the  Sosna 
theatre,  Mexico  Mo.,  on  Monday.  For 
the  second  time  it  overruled  the  findings 
of  an  arbitrator  in  a  case  filed  by  Mr. 
Sosna. 

The  decision,  No.  40,  directed  RKO, 
Twentieth  Century-Fox,  Paramount  and 
Warners  to  grant  a  run  to  Mr.  Sosna  up- 
on terms  and  conditions  not  calculated  to 
defeat  the  purposes  of  Section  VI  of  the 
consent  decree.  Further,  it  ordered  that 
the  offer  "be  in  the  form  of  license  now  in 
use  by  the  defendants,  complete  in  all 
terms  and  conditions,  and  shall  be  filed 
with  the  clerk  of  the  arbitration  tribunal 
of  the  St.  Louis  District  within  14  days." 

The  case  was  remanded  to  the  arbitrator, 
Ethan  A.  H.  Shepley,  who  was  directed  to 
determine  if  the  offers  are  within  the  terms  of 
some  run  section  of  the  decree. 

The  first  Sosna  complaint  against  MGM  re- 
sulted in  an  appeal  decision,  No.  IS,  on  Jan- 
uary Sth  directing  that  company  to  offer  some 
run. 

Mr.  Shepley  had  directed  Warners  to  offer 
some  run.  The  board  affirmed  this  portion  of 
the  award  finding  that  the  Warner  offer  to  give 
tlie  So.siia  second  run  on  alternate  groups  of 
five  pictures,  90  days  after  first  run,  did  not 
meet  the  requirements  of  Section  VI.  They 
added  that  there  was  doubt  as  to  whether  a 
clearance  of  90  days  in  Mexico,  Mo.,  was 
reasonable,  but  noted  the  record  did  not  contain 
evidence  on  this  score. 

Paramount's  offer  of  third  run,  provided  the 
Sosna  increased  its  five  cent  admission  price  to 
a  15  cent  minimum,  equalling  the  Frisina  cir- 
cuit's Rex  and  Liberty  theatres,  was  also  found 
unfair.  "To  require  a  third  run  theatre  to 
charge  the  same  price  at  which  pictures  are 
shown  first  run  seems  unreasonable,"  the  ap- 
peal judge  wrote.  They  also  rejected  a  Para- 
mount offer  of  a  selection  of  1939-40  and  1940- 
41  pictures,  saying  the  "Section  VI  refers,  in 
the  absence  of  particular  specification,  to  cur- 
rent pictures." 

Offered  to  Sell  to 
Sosna  in  1941 

"In  October,  1941,  20th-Fox  offered  to  license 
48  unnamed  pictures  to  the  Sosna  on  third  run 
provided  Sosna  would  agree  to  charge  a  mini- 
mum admission  price  of  10  cents.  This  offer 
was,  at  the  time  it  was  made  and  at  the  time 
the  complaint  was  filed,  a  clear  violation  of 
Section  IV  of  the  Decree  which  provides  that 
no  distributor  defendant  shall  offer  for  license 
or  shall  license  more  than  five  features  in  a 
single  group,"  the  board  wrote. 

If  the  distributors  insist  on  a  10  cent  mini- 
mum, the  board  continued,  they  must  show  that 
the  other  terms  of  their  offer  as  to  clearance, 
availability,  type  of  pictures,  rentals,  etc.,  are 
within  the  meaning  of  Section  VI.  No  proof 
was  shown  that  a  run  for  the  Sosna  on  reason- 
able terms  would  reduce  the  total  revenue  to 
distributors,  they  added. 

RKO's  offer  of  third  run  150  days  after  first 
run,  although  second  run  had  not  been  sold  at 


SEVEN  CASES  FILED 
IN  SEPTEMBER 

Only  seven  new  cases  were  filed 
during  September  at  the  motion  pic- 
ture arbitration  tribunals,  less  than 
half  the  average  number  of  monthly 
complaints  received  during  the  first 
year  of  film  arbitration.  September 
complaints  were  in  Cleveland,  New 
York,  Memphis,  Albany,  Buffalo  and 
Des  Moines.  Four  were  clearance 
cases,  one  a  combined  clearance  and 
specific  run  demand  and  two  were 
specific  run  actions. 

Nine  awards  were  filed  during 
the  mon+h,  including  one  amended 
St.  Louis  decision.  The  Appeal  Board 
handed  down  three  opinions  and 
received  five  awards. 


the  time,  was  also  termed  unreasonable  by  the 
Appeal  Board. 

The  three  judges  were  sharply  critical  of  the 
cases  of  both  the  complainant  and  the  distribu- 
tors. Mr.  Sosna,  they  said,  failed  to  heed  the 
factors  outlined  in  the  previous  award  for  de- 
termining the  reasonableness  of  a  some  run 
offer.  The  board  also  criticized  his  demand  for 
a  run  "on  terms  and  conditions  not  calculated 
to  put  me  out  of  business." 

Arbitrator  Must 
Ascertain  Facts 

"This  is  not  the  test  under  Section  VI. 
Through  faulty  business  judgment  in  the  loca- 
tion, set-up  or  operation  of  his  theatre  an  ex- 
hibitor might  not  be  able  to  achieve  a  financial 
success  on  any  terms.  The  venture  is  his  risk ; 
the  distributor  cannot  be  relied  upon  as  a 
sponsor,"  the  judges  commented.  The  section 
in  fact  protects  the  distributor,  by  providing 
that  a  run  offer  shall  not  be  such  as  to  diminish 
his  total  revenue  from  a  competitive  area,  they 
added. 

"The  defendants  have  shown  little  disposition 
to  meet  the  complainant  half  way  in  negotia- 
tion," the  Appeal  Board  continued,  adding  that 
testimony  had  apparently  intended  to  disclose 
"as  few  facts  as  possible  with  respect  to  the 
factors  which  should  be  put  in  evidence  in  a 
case  under  Section  VI." 

The  arbitrator,  they  continued,  has  an  affirma- 
tive duty  to  ascertain  these  fatts,  "and  if  the 
parties  do  not  produce  the  necessary  evidence 
he  is  authorized  by  the  decree  to  require  its  pro- 
duction and  incorporation  into  the  record." 
More  documentary  evidence  should  be  intro- 
duced, they  said,  specifically  asking  for  the 
filing  of  Frisina  contracts  in  subsequent  hear- 
ings. 

Costs  were  assessed  one  fourth  against  Mr. 
Sosna  and  one  fourth  against  RKO,  Paramount 
and  Fox.    Warners  did  not  appeal. 

An  arbitrator  was  replaced  prior  to  the  con- 
clusion of  a  case  this  week  for  the  first  time 
in  the  administration  of  the  motion  picture  ar- 
bitration system. 

The  American  Arbitration  Association  re- 
ported that  Thomas  W.  Bethea,  arbitrator  of 
the  fifth  New  Orleans  complaint,  had  resigned 
to  enter  active  service  in  the  Navy.  A  some 
run  complaint,  filed  by  the  Lakeview  Theatre 

Company,    operating   the    suburban  Lakeview 


theatre,  had  been  remanded  to  him  by  the 
Appeal  Board  and  was  awaiting  further  hear- 
ings. Paramount,  RKO  and  Warners,  parties 
to  the  case,  have  been  asked  to  agree  on  a 
substitute  for  Mr.  Bethea.  Stipulations  were 
reported  in  readiness  to  select  his  law  partner, 
Philip  E.  James,  to  hold  further  hearings 
on  the  case. 

Mr.  Bethea  in  his  award  filed  last  May  dis- 
missed Paramount  and  directed  RKO  and 
Warners  to  offer  some  run.  The  Appeal  Board 
on  August  21st  reversed  the  dismissal  of  Para- 
mount and  approved  the  order  to  the  other 
companies  to  offer  some  run.  The  case  was 
then  remanded  to  the  arbitrator  to  determine 
whether  the  offers  by  the  distributors  were  in 
accord  with  the  terms  and  purposes  of  Section 
VI  of  the  consent  decree.  New  hearings  will 
be  held  on  this  question. 

New  York 

An  appeal  in  the  35th  New  York  case  has 
been  filed  by  Thornton  Theatres,  operator  of 
the  Orpheum  theatre  in  Saugerties,  N.  Y.  John 
O.  Pemberton,  arbitrator,  held  that  the  14 
days'  clearance  of  the  Broadway  and  Kingston 
theatres,  Kingston,  N.  Y.  was  reasonable. 
MGM,  RKO,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  and 
Warners  were  the  defendant  distributors.  The 
case  was  originally  filed  in  Albany,  then  trans- 
ferred to  New  York. 

St.  Louis 

Samuel  Komm,  owner  of  the  Whiteway, 
downtown  subsequent  theatre  in  St.  Louis,  this 
week  intervened  in  the  city's  13th  case,  the 
clearance  action  of  the  Rivoli  theatre.  Parties 
to  the  case  said  that  they  hoped  his  participa- 
tion would  pave  the  way  on  a  final  decision 
on  reasonable  clearance  for  downtown  subse- 
quents. 

The  Rivoli's  complaint  against  Warners, 
20th  Century-Fox,  Paramount  and  RKO,  does 
not  mention  the  Whiteway,  naming  only  the 
Lyric  and  Senate  as  interested  parties. 

Boston 

The  Strand  theatre,  Quincy,  Mass.,  on  Tues- 
day filed  the  13th  Boston  case,  a  clearance  ac- 
tion against  MGM,  Paramount,  RKO,  Twenti- 
eth Century-Fox  and  Warners.  Hancock  The- 
atre Company,  operator,  through  its  treasurer, 
Joseph  M.  Levenson,  charged  that  its  first  run 
Quincy  clearance  of  28  days  after  Boston  first 
run  was  unreasonable  and  asked  a  maximum  of 
14  days.  It  also  asked  14  days  after  the  close 
of  second  week  on  pictures  which  play  down- 
town Boston  for  two  weeks  or  more. 

The  Metropolitan,  Loew's  State  and  Or- 
pheum, Keith's  Memorial  and  Boston,  the  Par- 
amount and  Fenway  theatres  and  the  Mullin 
and  Pinanski  and  New  England  Theatres,  Inc., 
circuits  were  named. 

The  14th  Boston  action,  also  filed  Tuesday, 
was  a  clearance  complaint  by  the  Orpheum, 
Danvers,  Mass.,  against  "All  Five."  Newell  B. 
Kurson,  treasurer,  charged  14  days'  clearance 
after  Salem  was  unreasonable  because  of  book- 
ing delays  by  the  Paramount,  Empire  andi 
Plaza  theatres.  He  seeks  a  specified  minimumj, 
number  of  days  availability  after  first  run  Bos-I 
ton.  The  Naumkeag  Amusement  Company  op-| 
erates  the  Empire  and  Paramount. 

Albany 

The  sixth  Albany  case,  clearance  and  spe| 
cific  run  complaint  of  the  Delmar  theatre 
against  Warners  and  MGM  was  withdrawij 
Monday  by  Joseph  Jarvis.  The  Warner  cirJ 
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42 


MOTiON    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  10 


942 


New  York  Houses 
Have  Smash 
Weekend 

New  York  City's  motion  picture  theatres,  ho- 
tels, restaurants,  legitimate  theatres  and  other 
amusement  places  were  filled  to  capacity  over 
the  weekend  during  the  biggest  non-holiday  Sat- 
urday and  Sunday  business  enjoyed  in  many 
years.  The  World  Series,  war  travel,  opening 
of  the  Belmont  race  track,  and  mild  autumn 
weather  were  the  factors  which  brought  an  in- 
flux of  visitors.  Railroad  and  bus  terminals 
reported  heavy  travel ;  hotels  and  restaurants 
reported  "New  Year's  Eve  business"  and  mo- 
tion pictures  theatres  along  Broadway  reported 
substantial  gains.  Holdovers  shared  equally 
with  new  programs  in  drawing  throngs  of  visi- 
tors to  film  houses. 

Holdover  reports  for  the  week  are  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Tales  of  Manhattan,"  20th  Century-Fox, 
third  week  at  Radio  City  Music  Hall ;  "Des- 
perate Journey,"  Warner  Bros.,  second  week  at 
the  Strand ;  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  War- 
ner's, began  its  19th  week  at  the  Hollywood 
last  Friday.  "Major  and  the  Minor,"  Para- 
mount, began  its  fourth  week  at  the  Paramount 
this  Wednesday.  According  to  MGM,  "Panama 
Hattie,"  in  its  first  four  days  at  the  Capitol,  ran 
up  an  attendance  increase  of  more  than  6,000 
over  the  next  best  musical  to  play  that  theatre 
in  17  months.  It  drew  more  patrons  in  its  first 
four  days  than  "Rio  Rita"  attracted  in  a  full 
week,  and  also  went  ahead  of  "Honky  Tonk." 
The  film  began  its  second  week  Thursday. 

Warner  Bros,  reported  that  out  of  the  first 
19  openings  of  "Desperate  Journey"  17  situa- 
tions, or  90  per  cent,  have  held  over  the  Errol 
Flynn-Ronald  Reagan  feature.  It  was  held  a 
second  week  in  New  York,  Los  Angeles,  Hol- 
lywood, Oklahoma  City,  St.  Louis,  Stamford, 
Cincinnati,  Memphis,  Hartford,  Bridgeport, 
Harrisburg,  Atlantic  City,  Worcester  and 
Springfield,  Mass. 

Thousands  of  visitors  in  St.  Louis  for  the 
World  Series  last  week  enabled  theatres  to 
overcome  weak  matinee  business  on  the  first 
tv/o  days  of  the  series  with  good  night  crowds, 
exhibitors  reported.  Edward  B.  Arthur  of 
Fanchon  &  Marco  said  that  the  circuit's  first 
runs  did  10  per  cent  above  average  night  busi- 
ness for  Wednesday  and  Thursday. 

"One  Foot  in  Heaven,"  Warner  Bros,  film 
based  on  the  novel  by  Hartzell  Spence,  is  re- 
ported to  have  piled  up  an  unprecedented  total 
in  playdates,  in  actual  number  of  theatres 
played  in  10  months,  for  any  picture  in  a  similar 
length  of  time.  According  to  Warners,  the 
figure  is  well  past  14,000.  In  many  towns,  it 
played  every  theatre  in  town.  Even  opposition 
nouses,  despite  full  commitments  of  other  prod- 
uct, played  it.  Every  Negro  theatre  in  the 
country  played  it,  the  company  said.  Warner 
reported  that  "One  Foot  in  Heaven"  brought 
in  "more  exhibitor  praise,  broke  down  more 
barriers,  converted  more  moviegoers  and  creat- 
ed more  good  will  for  the  film  industry  in  gen- 
eral than  any  picture  within  memory.  Dozens 
of  exhibitors  wrote  in  saying  that  this  picture 
brought  persons  into  their  theatres  who  seldom 
or  never  had  attended  a  movie." 

Churchmen  and  church  organizations,  with 
the  cooperation  of  Warner  Bros,  and  the  Hays 
Office,  helped  to  bring  the  picture  to  the  atten- 
tion of  thousands  of  new  film  patrons,  the  com- 
pany said.  Over  100  newspaper  editorials,  prais- 
ing the  film,  were  published,  and  these  editori- 
als, according  to  Warner  Bros.,  brought  com- 
mendation which  was  reflected  on  the  entire 
film  industry. 


RKO  Sets  Trade  Shows 
For  Second  Group 

Trade  screenings  for  RKO  Radio's  second 
group  of  1942-43  releases  were  announced  in 
New  York  this  week  by  Ned  E.  Depinet,  presi- 
dent, for  October  12th,  13th  and  14th. 

Pictures  and  dates  are  as  follows :  "Scatter- 
good  Survives  A  Murder,"  October  12th  at 
11  A.M.;  with  the  exception  of  Cincinnati  at 
8:15  P.M.;  Detroit  at  1  P.M.;  Salt  Lake  City, 
San  Francisco,  Seattle,  Sioux  Falls,  and  Wash- 
ington at  10  :30  A.M. ;  and  on  October  13th,  at 
11  A.M.,  Boston,  New  York;  and  St.  Louis  at 
11:30  A.M. 

"Seven  Days'  Leave,"  October  12th  at  2:30 
P.M.;  with  the  exception  of  Cincinnati  at  9:30 
P.M. ;  Detroit  at  2 :4S  P.  M. ;  and  on  October 
13th,  at  2:30  P.M.,  Boston,  New  York  and 
St.  Louis. 

"The  Falcon's  Brother,"  October  13th  at  11 
A.M. ;  with  the  exception  of  Cincinnati  at 
8:15  P.M.;  Salt  Lake  City  at  11:30  A.M.;  and 
on  October  14th,  at  11  A.M.,  Boston  and  St. 
Louis,  with  New  York  screening.  "The  Navy 
Comes  Through,"  October  13th  at  2:30  P.M.; 
with  the  exception  of  Cincinnati  at  9 :30  P.M. ; 
and  on  October  14th,  at  2:30  P.M.,  Boston, 
New  York  and  St.  Louis. 


Sparrow  Loew  Circuit 
District  Manager 

Allen  Sparrow,  who  has  been  a  manager  for 
the  Loew  circuit  since  1920,  was  promoted  this 
week  by  J.  R.  Vogel  to  district  manager,  with 
headquarters  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  Mr.  Sparrow 
has  taken  the  place  of  Mike  Cullen,  district 
manager,  who  has  enlisted  in  the  Specialists 
Corps  of  the  Army  and  been  assigned  the  rank 
of  captain. 

Mr.  Sparrow  had  been  manager  of  Loew's 
theatre  in  Richmond  for  some  year,  and  prior 
to  that  was  in  Norfolk.  Mr.  Sparrow's  new 
territory  will  include  Columbus,  Dayton,  St. 
Louis,  Pittsburgh,  Kansas  City. 

George  Peters,  Loew  manager  in  Reading, 
has  moved  into  Mr.  Sparrow's  spot  in  Rich- 
mond. Brock  Whitlock,  manager  of  Loew's 
Columbia,  Washington,  has  been  promoted  to 
Mr.  Peters'  spot  in  Reading. 


Pioneers  To  Honor  Players 
Who  Toured  Army  Camps 

The  Picture  Pioneers,  organization  of  vete- 
rans of  25  years  or  more  in  the  motion  picture 
industry,  will  give  a  dinner  late  in  November 
for  screen,  stage  and  radio  stars  who  have  done 
outstanding  work  in  the  entertainment  of  men 
in  the  armed  forces,  Jack  Cohn,  president  of 
the  Pioneers,  said  this  week. 

A  committee  consisting  of  Hal  Home,  chair- 
man ;  Hal  Hode,  Gilbert  Josephson,  Joseph 
Hornstein,  Leo  Brecher  and  Joseph  F.  Lee  was 
named  to  handle  arrangements  for  the  affair. 


Stromberg  Deal  Set 

General  Service  Studios,  Hollywood,  and 
Myron  Selznick  Agency  have  entered  into  as- 
sociation with  Hunt  Stromberg  Productions, 
according  to  word  from  Hollywood.  Mr. 
Stromberg,  whose  schedule  is  expected  to  be 
one  of  the  largest  of  the  individual  producers 
releasing  through  United  Artists,  already  has 
three  new  productions  in  work. 


Matthews  Manager 

G.  A.  Matthews,  lately  associated  with  the 
Warner  Bros,  branch  office  in  Toronto  as  sales- 
man, has  been  promoted  to  manager  of  the 
Winnipeg  exchange,  succeeding  Lon  Geller,  who 
died  recently.  Mr.  Matthews  also  formerly  had 
charge  of  the  branch  there. 


'Wings9  Opens 
On  Broadway 

The  Broadway  premiere  of  the  week  waJ 
RKO's  "Wings  and  the  Woman,"  starring  Anna1 
Neagle  in  the  role  of  England's  famous  avia 
trix,  Amy  Johnson.    The  Herbert  Wilcox  pro 
duction  opened  at  Loew's  Criterion  Tuesday 
night.    Miss  Neagle  was  among  those  who  at-" 
tended  the  debut. 

Another  RKO  new  season  picture,  "Tht 
Navy  Comes  Through,"  will  have  its  premiers 
October  27th,  Navy  Day,  at  the  Navy's  new 
theatre  at  the  Treasure  Island  Naval  Base 
San  Francisco,  it  was  announced  this  week 
Pat  O'Brien,  George  Murphy,  Jane  Wyatt  an<;J 
jackie  Cooper  are  in  the  cast.  The  opening | 
will  be  preceded  by  special  civic  ceremonies  ii  0 
San  Francisco.  Hollywood  stars,  Government-1 
state  and  city  officials  are  expected  to  attend.  | 

RKO's  feature  comedy,  "Here  We  Go  Again,' ; 
starring  Fibber  McGee  and  Molly,  Edgar  Ber 
gen  and  Charlie  McCarthy,  was  to  open  nation 
ally,  from  Coast  to  coast,  in  RKO  theatres  o: 
Saturday,  October  10th. 

MGM's  "For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  starring  Jud 
Garland  and  Gene  Kelly,  will  open  at  the  Asto 
Theatre,  New  York,  on  Wednesday,  Octobt 
21st,  on  a  continuous  run,  popular  price  polic 
it  was  announced  by  the  company  Monda 
The  film  will  follow  the  current  run  of  tli 
Goldwyn-RKO  production  "The  Pride  of  tl 
Yankees"  at  that  theatre. 

Beginning  October  30th,  Warners'  "Geor^ 
Washington  Slept  Here,"  starring  Jack  Bern 
and  Ann  Sheridan,  will  start  a  four-week  ri 
at  the  New  York  Strand.  Phil  Spitalny  ar 
his  all-girl  orchestra  will  provide  the  sta* 
show.  "The  Hard  Way"  and  "Flying  Fortres 
will  follow  Warners'  film  version  of  Geor; 
Kaufman's  comedy. 

Following  the  run  of  "Yankee  Doodle  Da 
dy,"  on  a  reserved-seat  two-a-day  policy, 
the  Hollywood  theatre  in  New  York,  the  hoi 
will  be  operated  as  a  regular  first-run  theat 
according  to  Warner  Bros.    The  film  story 
George  M.   Cohan  will  conclude  its  run 
October  18th.    "Now  Voyager,"  starring  Be 
Davis  and   Paul   Henreid,  will  open  on  t 
22nd.    Other  films  to  be  shown  at  the  Holi 
wood  under  the  new  policy  will  include  "T 
Desert   Song,"   Technicolor   musical  starri; 
Dennis    Morgan    and    Irene    Manning,  a 
"Watch  on  the  Rhine,"  film  version  of  Lill 
Hellman's  play. 

A  British  War  Bond  opening  has  been 
for  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  at  the  Wan. 
theatre,  London,  October  15th,  following 
example  of  New  York  and  Los  Angeles  p 
mieres,  each  of  which  sold  nearly  $6,000,000 
Bonds.    The  company  reports  that  the  advai 
sale  is  $808,000  in  Bonds,  with  an  indicated  SO 
out  expected  to  produce  a  total  of  $5,050,000 
the  British  Government.    Top  price  for  the  fi 
night  will  be  the  equivalent  of  $20,200,  said 
be  the  highest  price  ever  charged  for  a  tic 
in  British  cinema  history. 


Allvine  Navy  Lieutenant 

Earl  Allvine,  for  13  years  a  member  of 
editorial  short  subjects  staff  of  Fox  Mc 
tone  News,  this  week  was  sworn  in  as  a  17 
tenant  (senior  grade)  in  the  Navy.  He  c 
pects  to  be  ordered  shortly  to  the  Anacoja 
Naval  Base  for  assignment  to  the  motion  p 
ture  division  of  the  Naval  Bureau  of  Aerori 
tics. 


Local  244  Hearings  Set 

Hearings  on  the  receivership  application  for 
Local  244,  IATSE,  Newark,  will  be  resumed 
in  that  city's  Chancery  Court  November  30th. 


Levy  Local  Secretary 

Ted  Levy  has  been  named  temporary  secretary 
of  the  new  exchange  clerical  workers'  union  in 
Chicago,  Local  F-45. 


Fields  in  Navy 

Leonard   Fields,   associate  producer  at  |« 
Republic  studio,  was  scheduled  to  report  Th 
day  for  Navy  service  as  a  petty  officer. 

"Bataan"  in  New  York  Houses 

Paramount's  first  Victory  short,  "A  Lj:er  . 
From  Bataan"  on  Thursday  began  a  Metre  p 
tan  New  York  run  of  23  houses. 


October     10,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


43 


CANADA  EXHIBITION  POLICY 
NOW  STATIC  DESPITE  WAR 


Quebec  Theatres  Protest 
Industry  Designation  as 
Non-Essential 

by  PAT  DONOVAN 

m  Montreal 

Wartime  restrictions  and  a  variety  of 
provincial  government  laws  throughout 
Canada's  nine  provinces,  leave  the  theatre 
attendance  and  exhibition  policies  of  Can- 
adian houses  pretty  well  static. 

In  the  case  of  price  scales,  for  instance, 
the  Dominion  Government's  Wartime 
Prices  and  Trade  Board  has  frozen  prices 
throughout  Canada  as  a  phase  of  its  pro- 
gram of  anti-inflationary  measures.  Some 
iood  commodities,  for  good  business  rea- 
sons, were  exempted  from  the  price  ceil- 
•ng,  but  otherwise,  consumer  goods,  in- 
dueling  clothing,  merchandise  and  enter- 

ainment  were  placed  under  a  price  ceiling. 

Wartime  exhibition  hours  tally  with  those  of 
•  re-war  days,  in  Montreal  at  least,  and  no- 
where in  the  city  have  exhibitors  turned  to  earlier 
.-penings  or  later  shows  in  order  to  circum- 
:  er.t  Government  orders.  An  effort  to  popularize 

lidnight    shows    by    Montreal  neighborhood 

ouses  some  years  ago  failed,  and  at  present 
siere  are  one  or  two  of  these  "family"  houses 

pe rating  late  shows.  These  commence  at  about 
-9:30  P.M.,  and  consist  only  of  the  feature  at- 
t  "action. 

Far  Has  Effect  on 
'heatre  Staffs 

:l  No  comparative  figures  are  available  to  dem- 
istrate  the  drop  in  male  attendance,  but  ex- 
•^bitors  are  aware  of  the  increasing  number  of 
-omen  at  the  box  office. 

-  Quebec  children  under  16  are  forbidden  entry 
motion  picture  houses,  and  the  general  prac- 

[jp  of  box  office  attendants  in  demanding  a 

-  esentation  of  the  National  Registration  Card, 
events  juveniles  from  attending  film  shows. 

r^The  war  definitely  has  affected  the  Montreal 
'  ,tene  insofar  as  projectionists,  ushers,  door- 
men, assistant  managers,  etc.,  are  concerned, 
g!  ver  100  employees  from  the  first  run  houses 
.fjfcne  have  joined  the  Canadian  armed  forces, 
.Seating  a  shortage  which  has  been  impossible 
overcome.    Inexperience  of  new  theatre  re- 
jits  for  positions  in  local  houses  has  hurt 
sstige  of  some  houses,  and  has  in  one  case,  at 
.st.  forced  a  change  of  policy. 
The  Palace,  first  run  playhouse,  has  intro- 
■  ced  girl  ushers  as  the  first  move  in  what  is 
V-Pected  to  be  eventually  the  policy  of  all  St. 
"  j  therine  Street  film  houses.    The  shortage  of 
perienced  projectionists   is  becoming  acute. 
,ior  to  Selective  Service,  the  desertion  of  thea- 
"    employees  to  war  industry  also  was  a  con- 
l. outing  factor  to  the  shortage. 

eekend  Attendance 
1  Record  High 

2  Sunday  shows  and  programs  throughout  the 
-T^ikend  demonstrated  the  wealth  of  coins  nest- 
in  public  pockets,  with  attendance  figures 
her  than  ever.    Now  with  greater  spending 
t-er   because   of   higher    earnings,  patrons 
;j     afford  to  spend  a  Sunday  afternoon  "down- 
:  Un'  for  dinner,  with  an  afternoon  or  evening 
r'  .v  thrown  in. 

peration  of  film  houses  throughout  Canada 


is  becoming  increasingly  difficult,  but  the  salve 
of  good  business  is  tempering  the  cry  of  com- 
plaint on  labor  shortages  heard  from  exhibitors. 

Seek  Essential 
War  Rating 

Dissatisfaction  with  the  Government  for  having 
designated  as  non-essential  the  Canadian  film 
industry,  was  expressed  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  Quebec  Allied  Theatrical  Industries,  Ltd.,  and 
Quebec  Theatre  Owners,  held  September  30th 
at  the  Mount  Royal  Hotel  in  Montreal. 

Exhibitors  throughout  the  Province  of  Que- 
bec, present  at  the  meeting,  were  unanimously 
in  favor  of  a  proposal  to  petition  the  Govern- 
ment, through  the  Minister  of  Labor.  Norman 
McLarty,  to  "modify  the  present  classification  of 
theatres  and  to  include  them  in  the  list  of  es- 
sential industries." 

The  resolution  pointed  to  the  importance  of 
films  as  propaganda  media  in  the  U.  S.^  in 
Great  Britain  and  other  Allied  countries,  and 
expressed  the  inability  of  Quebec  exhibitors  to 
understand  the  Government's  ruling. 

It  was  said  further  that  the  strength  of  the 
film  theatre  is  being  sapped  by  labor  shortages 
and  the  lack  of  price  restriction  on  film  rentals. 
Rental  prices,  the  meeting  found,  are  particularly 
damaging,  for  frozen  admission  prices  allow  no 
compensation.  A  copy  of  the  resolution  was 
sent  to  the  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade  Board. 

Canada  Recruits  Men 
For  Information  Board 

The  recently  created  \\  artime  Information 
Board,  in  Canada,  under  the  direction  of  Charles 
Vining,  replacing  the  Department  of  Public  In- 
formation and  Harold  Lash,  in  an  effort  to 
establish  peak  efficiency  in  its  public  informa- 
tion work,  has  obtained  the  services  of  leading 
Canadian  newspaper  and  press  relations  men. 

Recent  choice  of  the  Board  was  J.  Hugh 
Campbell,  formerly  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
press  representatives  in  Winnipeg,  Manitoba, 
who  will  be  posted,  it  is  said,  at  Washington. 
D.  C. 

Jeffrey  Hewelcke,  formerly  of  the  editorial 
staff  of  the  Montreal  Daily  Star,  will  leave 
Montreal  shortly  for  Ottawa  to  take  a  war- 
time position  with  the  National  Film  Board  at 
Ottawa.  Mr.  Hewelcke  will  be  working  under 
J.  T.  Thorson,  Minister  of  National  War  Serv- 
ices, and  it  is  expected  his  position  will  "bring 
him  in  direct  association  with  John  Grierson. 
Film  Commissioner,  who  also  was  "borrowed" 
by  the  Dominion  Government  for  the  duration. 

Exhibitors  Expect  Price 
Curb  for  Holidays 

Reduction  in  the  number  of  legal  holidays  in 
Canada,  ordered  by  the  Federal  Government  as 
a  move  to  raise  the  production  of  munitions,  is 
expected  to  lead  to  the  establishment  of  a  basis 
of  policy  by  the  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade 
Board  with  respect  to  holiday  admission  prices 
and  the  regulation  of  midnight  shows,  the  latter 
largely  in  localities  where  statutory  restrictions 
already  have  been  made. 

The  Federal  step  means  practically  the  elim- 
ination of  half  of  the  recognized  public  holidays 


throughout  the  country  and  a  corresponding  cut 
in  the  occasions  on  which  exhibitors  raised  ad- 
mission scale  and  added  midnight  shows  as  pre- 
holiday  performances. 

The  Wartime  Board  generally  has  referred  to 
price  restrictions  in  the  matter  of  holiday's  "ex- 
cept for  certain  days"  when  admission  scales 
could  be  increased  by  applying  evening  prices  to 
matinee  performances.  It  is  now  evident  that 
the  reduction  of  statutory  holidays  for  the  whole 
country  by  Federal  order  had  been  contemplated 
and  the  approved  list  is  the  answer. 

There  are  now  only  six  public  holidays  :  New 
Years,  Good  Friday,  Dominion  Day  in  July, 
Labor  Day,  Thanksgiving  Day  in  October  and 
Christmas.  A  change  has  been  made  in  Domin- 
ion Day,  the  anniversary  of  Confederation  on 
July  1,  1867,  by  making  it  the  first  Monday  in 
July  regardless  of  actual  date.  This  is  one 
break  for  the  theatres^ijt  is  declared. 

Legal  holidays  which  have  been  eliminated 
include  Easter  Monday.  Victoria  Day  (May  24), 
the  King's  Birthday  in  June,  Civic  Holiday  in 
August  and  Armistice  Day.  Other  days  which 
will  be  dropped  include  Easter  Monday,  All 
Saints  Day,  the  Feast  of  Conception  and  Boxing 
Day  (December  2nd),  on  which  Government  of- 
fices, banks  and  trust  companies,  schools  and 
many  business  houses  and  stores  are  closed. 

Sunday  Shows 
for  Vancouver 

by  CHRISTTY  McDEVITT 

in  Vancouver 

For  the  first  time  in  its  history  as  a  city 
Yancouver  may  introduce  Sunday  entertain- 
ment to  residents. 

While  no  recognized  organization  has  yet 
made  any  definite  move  to  bring  about  Sunday 
shows  in  local  houses,  there  has  been  for  some 
time  an  undercurrent  of  public  opinion  which 
needs  only  a  little  leadership  to  fan  it  into  flame. 

Perhaps  the  first  step  taken  in  this  direction 
is  a  move  just  instituted  by  the  Strand  theatre, 
Famous  Players  house,  which  offered  midnight 
shows. 

With  an  estimated  30,000  residents  engaged 
in  war  industries,  it  is  felt  here  that  those 
workers  should  be  accommodated  with  some  type 
of  entertainment  and  many  of  them  are  unable 
to  attend  at  regular  theatre  hours. 

Officials  of  both  Famous  Players  and  Odeon 
Theatres  of  Canada  have  signified  their  willing- 
ness to  add  the  extra  day  to  their  schedule  but 
they  won't  make  any  move  until  assured  full 
public  support. 

Church  Groups  Seen 
Presenting  Obstacle 

The  principal  obstacle  will  be  raised  by  the 
Ministerial  Association,  an  organization  of 
church  people  which  is  definitely  opposed  to  any 
form  of  Sunday  entertainment. 

The  Lord's  Day  Alliance  Act  forbids  enter- 
tainment or  sports  on  Sunday  but  this  Act  can 
be  modified  by  local  Provinces  and  one  Prov- 
ince, Quebec,  has  never  allowed  it  on  its  books. 

Every  theatre  in  the  city  reports  increased 
attendance  with  heavy  demand  for  seats  on  Sat- 
urday nights.  There  has  been  no  increase  in 
prices,  as  admissions  are  fixed  by  the  Wartime 
Prices  and  Trade  Board.  Suburban  theatres, 
which  open  only  at  night,  are  doing  big  busi- 
ness but  do  not  yet  believe  there  is  sufficient 
demand  to  open  during  the  afternoon. 

The  labor  problem  is  not  acute.    Many  men 

(.Continued  or.  folla^cing  page") 


44 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    I  0 


942 


Canada  's  Job 
Freezing  Hits 
Theatres 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

have  left  for  the  services  and  the  Vogue  thea- 
tre, an  Odeon  house,  last  week  put  two  girls  on 
duty  as  "doormen."  But  there  is  no  shortage  of 
projectionists,  ushers  or  assistant  managers. 

Under  British  Columbia's  new  job  freezing 
legislation  even  those  wishing  to  change  their 
positions  may  not  find  it  easy  to  do. 

Program  schedules  remain  as  usual.  More 
men  are  attending  theatres  and  service  men  are 
flocking  out  in  large  numbers.  The  only  house 
in  town  offering  vaudeville  is  the  Beacon,  an 
Odeon  unit,  but  recently  the  Orpheum  has  been 
bringing  in  "name"  bands. 

The  entertainment  picture  is  bright  in  Van- 
couver. Night  clubs,  as  well  as  theatres,  are 
doing  their  best  trade  in  many  years.  People 
all  have  money  to  spend  and  there  are  so  many 
commodities  denied  them  they  are  turning  to 
entertainment  for  relaxation.  Shortages  of  gaso- 
line and  rubber  have  curtailed  traveling  and 
local  theatres  are  reaping  a  harvest  the  like  of 
which  they  have  never  had  before. 

Nova  Scotia 
Owners  Elect 

by  VICTOR  SERVICE 

in   St.  John,  N.  B. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Allied  Exhibi- 
tors of  Nova  Scotia,  held  at  Halifax,  last  week. 
W.  H.  Cuzner,  of  Sydney  Mines,  was  reelected 
president ;  M.  E.  Walker  was  reelected  vice- 
president,  and  T.  J.  Courtney  was  reelected 
secretary-treasurer.  Mr.  Cuzner  is  a  veteran 
independent  exhibitor  at  Sydney  Mines ;  Mr. 
Walker  is  also  an  independent  operator,  with 
the  Gaiety  at  Halifax  and  Imperial  at  Sack- 
ville.  R.  S.  Roddick,  manager  of  the  Capitol 
in  Halifax,  and  regional  supervisor  for  Famous 
Players  Canadian,  was  named  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee. 

Lieutenant  David  Rubin,  directing  picture 
programs  for  entertainment  and  instruction  for 
the  Royal  Canadian  Navy,  on  ships  and  at 
shore  barracks,  was  a  guest  speaker  at  the 
meeting.  A  theatre  manager  in  Ontario,  in- 
cluding Ottawa,  for  many  years  before  going 
into  the  service,  he  gave  a  resume  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  R.  C.  N.  in  screening  pictures  for 
the  sailors.  He  emphasized  that  competition 
with  theatres  and  their  programs  was  being 
avoided  in  the  presentations  of  the  16  and  35 
mm.  films  by  the  Navy.  He  said  that  the  pic- 
tures had  improved  both  the  morale  and  work 
of  the  sailors. 

Henry  Falk  of  Toronto,  president  of  the 
National  Council  of  Independent  Exhibitors  of 
Canada,  also  addressed  the  meeting.  He  told 
of  the  origin  and  objectives  of  this  group,  which 
he  said,  is  taking  the  initiative  in  a  movement 
aimed  at  deferment  from  the  Army  draft  of 
theatre  projectionists;  reduction  in  the  appren- 
tice period  from  one  year  to  six  months,  and  the 
employment  of  women  as  apprentices  and  full- 
fledged  operators  on  completion  of  apprentice- 
ship. 


Buys  Theatre  Building 

The  Wellston  Amusement  Company,  opera- 
tors of  the  Wellston  theatre  in  suburban  St. 
Louis,  has  purchased  the  building  it  occupies 
on  Easton  Avenue  for  $115,000. 


Enlistments  in  Canada 
Cause  Staff  Changes 

Coincidentally  with  several  enlistments,  a 
number  of  managerial  changes  have  been  made 
by  Twentieth  Century  Theatres,  an  Ontario 
circuit  affiliated  with  Famous  Players  Canadian 
Corporation. 

Charles  H.  Smith  resigned  as  manager  of  the 
Royal,  North  Bay,  and  has  been  succeeded  by 
John  Kirk,  assistant  manager  of  the  Elgin,  Ot- 
tawa, to  which  position  Ernest  Reid  of  the  Van- 
ity, Windsor,  has  been  transferred.  Samuel 
Karlan  has  been  named  manager  of  the  Victory, 
Toronto,  succeeding  M.  L.  Axler,  who  is  join- 
ing the  RCAF. 

Robert  Berezin  of  the  Elgin,  Ottawa,  and 
Stewart  Gillespie,  manager  of  the  Marks,  Osh- 
awa,  also  have  been  switched.  Martin  White, 
formerly  manager  of  the  Capitol,  Welland,  now 
is  with  the  Canadian  Army. 


AGVA  Increases  Scale 
For  Philadelphia 

The  Philadelphia  American  Guild  of  Variety 
Artists  has  increased  its  wage  scale  for  the 
new  season,  providing  a  10  per  cent  raise  on  all 
cafe  engagements  and  25  per  cent  increase  for 
club  dates.  Similar  increases,  in  addition  to 
transportation,  room  and  board,  were  ruled  for 
all  out-of-town  engagements. 

Mrs.  Meyer  Davis,  wife  of  the  society  or- 
chestra leader,  was  elected  president  of  the 
newly-organized  American  League  of  Theatrical 
Arts  in  Philadelphia,  dedicated  to  the  further- 
ance of  the  professional  careers  in  the  theatrical 
arts  of  talented  performers.  Richard  Mayo, 
executive  secretary  of  the  local  AGVA  chapter, 
is  executive  secretary  and  general  manager  of 
the  new  group. 

War  Cancels  Variety 
Club's  Banquet 

Originally  scheduled  for  October  25th,  the 
annual  Pittsburgh  Variety  Club  banquet  has 
been  canceled  due  to  the  war,  it  was  announced 
by  club  officials  this  week.  The  group's  activi- 
ties will  center  instead  on  its  charitable  projects 
exclusively,  it  was  reported.  The  club  began  its 
fifth  year  of  benefit  shows  for  the  Veteran's 
Hospital  at  Aspinwall  by  presenting  the  "Hell- 
zapoppin'  "  troupe  last  week.  Nine  shows,  one 
monthly  from  September  through  May,  are  pro- 
duced for  wounded  war  veterans. 

Tent  No.  23  of  New  England  held  its  annual 
show  and  dinner  dance  last  Sunday  at  the 
Beachcomber  in  Boston.  Door  prizes  and  a 
grand  drawing  was  given  away  in  War  Bonds 
amounting  to  $1,000. 


San  Francisco  Theatre  Deals 

Two  downtown  theatre  deals  were  announced 
in  San  Francisco  last  week.  The  Golden  State 
neighborhood  circuit  took  over  the  Strand  on  a 
60-day  "operating  trial,"  and  the  Telenews  the- 
atre has  opened  the  old  Tivoli  theatre  to  show 
foreign  subjects  and  new  features.  The  Golden 
State  circuit,  which  operates  more  than  20 
houses  in  San  Francisco  districts,  has  placed 
Fred  Curtis  in  the  Strand  as  temporary  man- 
ager. 


Gracie  Fields  on  Radio 

American  Cigarette  and  Cigar  Company  will 
return  to  network  radio  after  a  three-year  ab- 
sence October  12th.  A  new  program  star- 
ring Gracie  Fields,  English  comedienne,  will  be 
launched  in  behalf  of  Pall  Mall  cigarettes  on 
the  complete  Blue  Network  of  139  stations. 
Ruthrauff  &  Ryan,  New  York,  is  the  agency. 


Universal  Signs  O'Brien 

Universal  has  signed  Pat  O'Brien  for  one 
picture  a  year. 


Promoted  to  Salesman 

Russell  Eichengreen,  student  salesman  with 
the  Warner  Bros,  exchange  in  Philadelphia, 
has  been  promoted  to  the  regular  staff  and  as- 
signed part  of  the  upstate  territory. 


Average  Soldier 
Prefers  Sport, 
Comedy  on  Air 

Comedy,  sports  events,  news  and  dance  music 
are  the  favorite  radio  programs  of  the  average 
soldier,  who  cares  little  for  serial  dramas 
operas,  symphonies  or  hill-billy  music,  it  has 
been  discovered  by  the  War  Department. 

With  a  view  to  arranging  program  service 
to  give  the  boys  what  they  want,  the  research 
branch  of  the  special  service  division  has  made 
an  exhaustive  survey  in  Army  camps  through 
out  the  United  States. 

It  found  that  approximately  one  out  of  every 
six  soldiers  owns  a  receiving  set,  and  that 
slightly  more  than  half  of  the  men  listen  to  at 
least  one  program  at  some  time  during  a  typi 
cal  weekday.  Forty  per  cent  said  there  are 
certain  programs  they  would  like  to  hear  but 
cannot,  either  because  there  is  no  receiver  con 
venient,  programs  come  at  times  when  they  can 
not  listen  or  difficulty  is  encountered  in  gettin 
the  stations  that  carry  them. 

For  some  reason,  the  department  said,  more 
soldiers  listen  on  Thursday  than  on  any  othe 
weekday,  and  of  those  who  listen  on  that  day 
26  per  cent  tune  in  on  morning  programs,  IS 
per  cent  during  midday  hours  and  52  per  cen 
in  the  evening. 

The  listening  peak  on  a  typical  weekday  i 
from  6:15  to  7  A.M.;  12:15  to  12:45  P.M 
and  7  to  _  8:30  P.M. 

Analysis  of  the  likes  and  dislikes  expressec 
by  men  interviewed  showed  the  following  re 
suits : 

Popular,  "sweet"  and  dance  music,  liked  b 
87  per  cent,  disliked  by  three  per  cent ;  no  opin 
ion  by  10  per  cent.  News  broadcasts  and  com 
ment,  liked  by  86  per  cent,  disliked  by  thre 
per  cent ;  1 1  per  cent,  no  opinion.  Corned 
programs,  liked  by  85  per  cent,  disliked  by  fou 
per  cent;  11  per  cent,  no  opinion. 

Sports  programs,  liked  by  69  per  cent,  dis 
liked  by  10  per  cent;  21  per  cent  no  opinior 
Variety  programs,  liked  by  66  per  cent,  dislike 
by  nine  per  cent;  25  per  cent  indifferent.  Swinj 
music,  liked  by  62  per  cent,  disapproved  by  1 
per  cent ;  22  per  cent  no  opinion.  Radio  play 
complete  in  one  broadcast,  liked  by  62  pe 
cent,  disliked  by  13  per  cent;  25  per  cent  n 
comment.  Old  familiar  music,  liked  by  5 
per  cent,  disliked  by  15  per  cent;  28  per  cen 
no  opinion. 

Quiz  programs,  liked  by  57  per  cent,  dislike 
by  17  per  cent;  26  per  cent  no  comment.  Hill 
billy  and  western  music,  liked  by  42  per  cen 
disliked  by  33  per  cent ;  25  per  cent,  no  prefer 
ence.  Special  event  programs,  liked  by  39  pe 
cent,  disliked  by  22  per  cent;  39  per  cent  indii 
ferent.  Classical  music  and  operas,  liked  b 
32  per  cent,  disliked  by  35  per  cent ;  33  per  cen 
no  preference.  Serial  dramas,  liked  by  16  pe 
cent,  disliked  by  57  per  cent;  27  per  cent,  n 
opinion. 

U.  S.  Considers  Radio 
For  Troops  Abroad 

U.  S.  Army  authorities  in  London  are  undei 
stood  to  be  discussing  the  practicability  of  se1 
ting  up  their  own  broadcasting  station  in  Gre; 
Britain  to  provide  entertainment  and  new 
broadcasts  for  the  American  forces  there. 

In  contemplation  is  an  all-day  service  moc 
eled  after  programs  of  the  leading  U.  S.  ne; 
works,  and  offering  news  and  talks  from  hom'' 
vaudeville,  and  other  types  of  entertainmei 
by  American  artists. 

The  development  follows  recognition  of  tl 
fact  that  the  British  Broadcasting  Company 
programs  have  not  been  popular  with  the  U.  r 
forces,  as  reported  in  dispatches  last  month. 

New  York  reports  are  that  American  broa< 
casts  short  waved  to  the  soldiers  in  the  Britif 
Isles  have  been  unsuccessful  both  because  > 
the  lack  of  short  wave  sets  and  bad  receptio 


c  t  o  b  e  r    10,     1 942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


45 


ILM  FINANCING  OF  PLAYS 
S  UNAFFECTED  BY  WAR 


?arth  of  Material  Sends 
Prices  Up  on  Available 
Plays  and  Stories 

nterest  on  the  part  of  major  produc- 
companies  in  the  financing  of  Broad- 
f  legitimate  plays  has  not  been  af- 
ted  this  season  by  conditions  growing 
:  of  the  war.  Eastern  play  editors  of 
major  companies  have  indicated  that 
llywood  will  continue  to  back  plays  in 
ich  it  is  interested  as  potential  screen 
terial. 

fVith  the  recent  opening  of  the  1942-43 
itimate  season,  Broadway  observers  re- 
t  that  Warner  Bros,  is  backing  Tom 
.atherly's  production  of  "Little  Darling," 
pmedy  by  Eric  Hatch,  scheduled  to  open 
ftly.  Last  year,  it  is  .reported,  Warners 
ked  "Banjo  Eyes,"  the  Eddie  Cantor  mu- 
jjl.  Also  last  year,  Paramount,  it  is  said, 
financially  interested  in  "Lady  in  the 
k,"  the  Moss  Hart  play  which  starred 
trude  Lawrence,  and  MGM,  according 
Jhe  reports,  backed  "The  Wookey,"  the 
.edy-drama  starring  Edmund  Gwenn. 
his  season,  Paramount  is  considering 
I  icial  backing  for  the  new  George  Abbott 
iiical  comedy,  "Beat  the  Band."  Columbia 
fUid  to  have  an  interest  in  "Janie,"  the 
Pck  Pemberton  presentation,  and  MGM 
'planned  to  produce  on  its  own  a  revival 
Show  Boat."  However,  difficulty  in  ob- 
fcg  desired  stars  for  principal  parts,  it  is 
rstood,  caused  postponement  of  produc- 
iiplans  on  the  popular  musical  by  Jerome 

EL. 

sider  Several  Plays 
Screen  Material 

_  cording  to  a  representative  of  Twen- 
Century-Fox,  that  company  has  no 

|  to  back  any  forthcoming  Broadway 
but  is  interested  in  a  number  of  plays 

m  already  have  opened  or  are  scheduled 

"  ien. 

hanwhile,  Columbia,  MGM,  Paramount, 
W  and  Warner  Bros.,  have  indicated  they 
■considering,  for  screen  acquisition,  some 

■  mding  plays  of  the  new  season.  Spir- 

■  bidding  already  has  been  reported 
mg  major  companies  on  two  important 

■  'mate     productions;     "The  Morning 

■  '  Guthrie  McClintic's  presentation  of 

■  i/  Williams'  play  which  opened  recent- 
■1  New  York,  and  "Strip  for  Action," 
■yusical  comedy  produced  by  Oscar  Ser- 
I.  Toward  Lindsay  and  Russell  Crouse, 

•  virate  who  produced  the  successful 
W  With  Father."  The  extent  of  film 
wst  in  the  latter  show  was  indicated  at 
Bttsburgh  opening  at  the  Nixon  Theatre, 

■  led  by  Jacob  Wilk  of  Warner  Bros., 
»  B}Tam  of  Paramount  and  Bertram 
I.  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 

[■other  major  source   of  material  for 

■  wood — the  book  market — continues  to 
l-.ected  by  wartime  factors  which,  it  is 

•  ed,  are  creating  new  problems. 

Mi-  "lcreas'n£  shortage  of  plays  and  story 
■rial  caused  by  numbers  of  playwrights 


TOURING  UNITS  FACE 
TRANSPORT  PROBLEM 

Touring  legitimate  stage  companies 
may  expect  sudden  cancellations  of 
transportation  facilities,  Joseph  B. 
Eastman,  Federal  Transportation  Co- 
ordinator, recently  warned  the  League 
of  New  York  Theatres.  Mr.  Eastman, 
in  a  letter  to  the  League,  pointed  out 
that  the  number  of  baggage  cars 
capable  of  handling  scenery  was  lim- 
ited even  in  normal  times  and  that 
this  type  of  car  now  is  needed  for 
troop  movements.  Under  existing 
war  conditions,  he  said,  it  is  impos- 
sible for  railroads  to  guarantee  in 
advance  availability  of  eguipment. 
He  assured  the  League,  however, 
that  cancellation  would  occur  only  in 
the  case  of  a  real  emergency. 


and  authors  being  drawn  into  the  armed 
forces  and  into  war  work  with  various  Gov- 
ernment agencies  is  skyrocketing  prices 
which  film  companies  are  asked  to  pay  for 
play  and  book  properties,  according  to  story 
editors  of  major  producing  companies. 

As  a  spokesman  of  Loew-MGM  phrased 
it,  "The  fact  that  the  Eugene  O'Neills,  the 
Maxwell  Andersons  and  others  of  similar 
repute  are  not  writing  because — with  a 
world  at  war — they  don't  know  what  to 
write  about,  and  the  fact  that  the  Robert 
Sherwoods  and  Marc  Connellys  are  occu- 
pied in  utilizing  their  talents  for  the  war 
effort,  have  led  play  and  book  agents  to 
operate  on  the  theory  of  'supply  and  de- 
mand,' asking  Hollywood  to  pay  prices  for 
available  properties  which  are  all  out  of 
proportion." 

An  instance  of  the  sharp  increase  in  story 
prices  in  wartime  was  brought  to  light  in 
connection  with  "Imagine  Us,"  an  unpub- 
lished short  story  written  by  Libby  Block, 
for  which  three  major  producing  companies 
are  bidding  and  for  which  the  agent  is  ask- 
ing the  "unprecedented"  price  of  $15,000. 
In  ordinary  times,  short  stories  purchased 
by  film  companies  usuallv  bring  $5,000  or 
$6,000. 

Competition  Is  Sharp 
Among  Producers 

Heads  of  play  and  story  departments  agree 
that  the  precedent  for  top-figure  purchases 
was  set  following  "Gone  With  the  Wind." 
the  David  O.  Selznick  production  which 
grossed  $28,000,000.  Literary  agents  and 
their  clients  believe  that  motion  picture 
companies  will  pay  any  amount  for  a  prop- 
erty which  they  consider  may  return  their 
.  original  investment  in  millions,  it  is  said. 

Other  deals,  including  "The  Moon  Is 
Down,"  John  Steinbeck's  novel  of  occupied 
Norway  which  Twentieth  Century-Fox  is 
producing,  and  "Saratoga  Trunk,"  the  Edna 
Ferber  novel,  also  have  contributed  to  in- 


creasing demands  from  the  literary  sector, 
according  to  film  story  editors.  The  Stein- 
beck book  was  purchased  for  $300,000,  and 
the  deal  for  Miss  Ferber's  novel  was  un- 
precedented, in  that  for  the  first  time,  a 
motion  picture  company  agreed  to  turn  back 
after  seven  years  film  rights  on  a  book,  after 
making  one  picture. 

Dearth  of  good  material  for  Hollywood 
and  the  fact  that  agents  are  continuing  their 
high-priced  demands,  "is  creating  a  terrific 
competition  among  producing  companies." 
Some  story  editors  say  that  the  situation  has 
"opened  up  a  chance  for  second  rate  work," 
which,  if  high-caliber  properties  continue  to 
be  scarce,  probably  will  be  bid  at  figures  all 
out  of  proportion  to  their  value. 

"Of  course,"  one  story  buyer  pointed  out, 
"the  law  of  diminishing  returns  must  set  in 
and  it  is  that  factor  which  most  literary 
agents  are  now  losing  sight  of.  When  three 
companies  bid  for  one  property,"  he  said, 
"it  seems  to  me  the  smart  agent  should  set 
a  low  price  and  work  one  bidder  against 
another,  instead  of  starting  with  a  prohibi- 
tive figure  which  must  eventually  be  brought 
down." 

In  the  book  field,  meanwhile,  story  editors 
report  that  Hollywood  continues  to  seek 
"good  fiction,"  with  an  ever  attentive  eye 
on  popular  non-fiction,  which  in  some  in- 
stances is  leading  fiction  sales  currently, 
throughout  the  country,  according  to  pub- 
lishers' listings. 

Equity  Asks  Screen 
To  Back  Stock  Units 

Actors  Equity  Association  reported  this  week 
that  preliminary  conversations  with  major  pro- 
duction companies,  in  connection  with  Equity's 
proposal  that  the  film  industry  sponsor  talent 
training  stock  units  throughout  the  country,  are 
"progressing." 

It  is  understood  that  one  company,  Para- 
mount, already  has  signified  its  willingness  to 
go  along  with  Equity  in  establishing  industry- 
sponsored  stock  groups  to  train  young  actors. 
The  plan,  as  projected  by  the  actors'  union, 
suggested  that  Hollywood  is  currently  suffer- 
ing from  a  talent  shortage,  due  to  male  players 
being  drafted  and  that  the  industry  should  take 
advantage  of  any  proposal  to  strengthen  its  tal- 
ent sources.  Equity  also  pointed  out  that  Hol- 
lywood, since  the  advent  of  talking  motion  pic- 
tures, had  been  drawing  heavily  upon  the  legiti- 
mate theatre  for  its  supply  of  actors  and 
actresses. 

Further  conversations  with  MGM,  Warner 
Bros.,  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  RKO,  Columbia 
and  Universal  are  being  arranged  for  the  near 
future,  it  is  understood.  Alfred  Harding,  edi- 
tor of  Equity's  official  publication,  is  represent- 
ing the  organization  in  these  conferences.  The 
radio  industry  also  will  be  approached  for  dis- 
cussion of  the  sponsorship  idea,  it  was  said. 


Bissell  Back  With  Columbia 

Holbrook  Bissell,  former  branch  manager  for 
Columbia  in  Cleveland  and  for  the  last  three 
years  in  the  advertising  business,  has  replaced 
Charles  B.  Kosco  as  salesman  for  the  Columbia 
exchange  in  Pittsburgh  servicing  the  West 
Virginia  territory.  Air.  Kosco  has  joined 
Twentieth  Century-Fox. 


4& 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,  19 


Defeat  Plan  to 
'Pack'  Union 


Petrillo  Case  Moves 
Toward  Showdown 


Briefs  Filed  in  Chicago  as 
U.  S.  Seeks  Writ  Halting 
AFM  Record  Ban 

by  F.  LANGDON  MORGAN 

in  Chicago 

Preliminary  motions,  briefs  and  affi- 
davits were  filed  before  Federal  Judge 
John  P.  Barnes  in  the  U.  S.  district  court, 
Chicago,  last  week  as  attorneys  prepared 
for  next  Monday's  hearing,  at  which  the 
Government  will  seek  an  injunction 
against  the  American  Federation  of  Mu- 
sicians, its  president,  James  C.  Petrillo, 
and  other  officers. 

In  its  petition,  the  Government  charged 
that  in  banning  recorded  music,  the  musi- 
cians sought  to  determine  what  music  the 
public  should  hear,  and  argued  that  the  Fed- 
eration could  point  to  no  supreme  court  au- 
thority on  the  proposition  that  the  "organ- 
ized power  of  labor  may  be  used  to  refuse 
essential  work  to  a  lawful  business  in  the 
complete  absence  of  any  dispute  over  hours, 
wages,  working  conditions  or  hiring  poli- 
cies of  such  business." 

The  Government  also  held  that  radio 
broadcasting  by  amateur  musicians,  refer- 
ring to  the  "Interlochen  incident,"  is  entire- 
ly a  matter  of  public  entertainment  and  edu- 
cation and  that  union  musicians  have  no 
right  to  interfere.  "A  union  cannot,  under 
the  pretext  of  improving  terms  or  condi- 
tions of  employment,  use  coercion  to  de- 
stroy the  right  of  the  employer  to  conduct 
his  business  in  an  efficient  way,"  the  peti- 
tion read.  The  Government  also  charged 
that  unless  the  recording  ban  was  lifted  the 
radio  industry  would  suffer,  vital  war  com- 
munications facilities  would  be  lost  through 
discontinuance  of  broadcasting  by  many  sta- 
tions, and  maintenance  of  public  morale 
would  be  made  more  difficult. 

Padway  Claims  Court 
Lacks  Jurisdiction 

On  the  other  side,  Joseph  A.  Padway,  at- 
torney for  the  musicians'  union,  filed  a 
memorandum  in  support  of  his  motion  to 
dismiss  the  suit. 

He  held  that  the  court  is  without  jurisdic- 
tion under  the  law  prohibiting  Federal 
courts  from  issuing  injunctions  in  labor  dis- 
putes. In  its  petition  the  Federation  ac- 
cused Thurman  Arnold,  Assistant  Attorney 
General  in  charge  of  the  anti-trust  divi- 
sion, of  basing  the  Government's  suit  on  an 
"unwarranted  interpretation  of  the  Sher- 
man anti-trust  law  and  using  it  to  destroy 
every  union  action  and  objective  person- 
ally distasteful  to  him."  Mr.  Padway  said 
the  sole  charge  against  the  musician  is  that 
he  refuses  to  work  under  conditions  which 
he  believes  will  complete  his  destruction. 

Over  protests  of  attorneys  for  the  Fed- 
eration the  National  Association  of  Broad- 
casters was  permitted  to  file  a  petition  as 
"friend  of  the  court,"  to  furnish  any  infor- 
mation required  by  the  Government.  The 
NAB  said  it  represented  875  commercial 


stations  in  600  communities  and  therefore 
had  a  wide  knowledge  of  broadcasting,  use- 
ful in  making  a  decision  in  the  suit.  Judge 
Barnes  did  not,  however,  rule  on  the  NAB's 
plea  that  it  be  allowed  to  intervene. 

In  a  pamphlet  distributed  in  New  York 
last  week,  the  NAB  asserted  "one  half  of 
the  membership  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Musicians  consists  of  non-profes- 
sionals who  are  not  entirely  dependent  on 
music  for  a  livelihood,"  and  it  added : 

"Members  of  the  AFM  are  engaged  in 
more  than  150  other  occupations,  trades, 
business  and  professions — and  for  them, 
music  is  really  only  a  pin-money  sideline. 

"Undoubtedly,  there  are  some  unemployed 
musicians,  especially  in  the  large  cities ;  but 
the  majority  of  people  about  whom  Mr. 
Petrillo  talks,  while  they  may  be  unem- 
ployed as  musicians,  are  not  without  gain- 
ful employment  in  other  occupations." 

The  first  copy  was  sent  Senator  D. 
Worth  Clark,  Idaho,  chairman  of  the  Sen- 
ate Interstate  Commerce  Committee  sub- 
committee which  has  been  authorized  by 
Congress  to  investigate  Mr.  Petrillo,  his 
union  and  officers. 

Benny  Program  Relay 
To  Coast  Is  Banned 

Rebroadcast  from  New  York  to  the  Coast 
of  the  Jack  Benny  Sunday  evening  pro- 
gram, the  new  series  of  which  began  last 
Sunday,  will  not  occur  this  year.  Under  the 
AFM  ban  on  transcriptions,  it  is  not  al- 
lowed. 

In  New  York,  the  musicians'  local,  802, 
forbade  appearance  of  the  Perole  String 
Quartet  on  an  FM  network. 

The  group  was  to  play  for  a  War  Bond 
selling  program,  and  had  offered  its  ser- 
vices to  the  Treasury.  The  union  ruled 
against  appearance  because  FM  stations  do 
not  employ  "house"  orchestras. 

FM  spokesmen  answered  that  economic 
conditions  do  not  permit  such  employment. 

Boston  Symphony  in 
Talks  with  Petrillo 

The  sole  major  non-union  symphonic  or- 
chestra in  this  country,  the  Boston  Sym- 
phony, said  Monday  it  was  negotiating  with 
Mr.  Petrillo.  The  information  was  con- 
tained in  the  orchestra's  first  public  appeal 
for  money.  Agreement  with  the  AFM  is  de- 
pendent upon  certain  factors,  which  still 
are  obstacles,  orchestra  spokesmen  said, 
adding  in  the  appeal: 

"The  musical  integrity  of  our  institution 
rests  upon  the  wide  discretionary  powers 
we  have  conferred  upon  the  conductor  in 
selecting  personnel  and  in  matters  of  dis- 
cipline. We  do  not  believe  our  institution 
can  maintain  that  integrity  if  our  musicians 
subscribe  to  the  existing  by-laws  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Musicians." 

On  Wednesday,  the  executive  council  of 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor  submitted 
to  the  62nd  annual  convention,  meeting  at 
Toronto,  Ont.,  a  supplementary  report  in- 
dorsing Petrillo's  position  in  his  dispute. 


In  Chicago 

Rank  and  file  members  of  the  Chicago  mot 
picture  operators'  union  protested  so  loudly  I 
week,  at  a  meeting  without  precedent  in 
history  of  Local  110,  that  they  were  success 
in  defeating  a  proposal  to  pack  the  union  w 
they  claimed,  stooges  of  officers  of  the  un:: 
hand  picked  from  the  "permit  men"  list, 
plan  called  for  taking  into  the  union,  throii 
one  blanket  resolution,  271  men  now  work 
on  temporary  permits. 

Richard  Walsh,  IATSE  president,  infori 
the  members  he  had  come  to  Chicago  to 
the  evils  of  the  permit  system  and  the  quid 
way  was  to  admit  the  271  permit  men. 
when  some  of  the  most  timid  operators  st 
up  and  let  themselves  be  heard  in  no  uncer 
terms  Mr.  Walsh  deferred  action  and  did 
other  unheard  thing  in  the  annals  of  the  < 
cago  union  by  selecting  three  of  the  objec 
members  to  sit  with  the  international  com 
tee  and  work  out  a  new  plan. 

This  committee  of  five,  consisting  of  Si 
Snow,    sixth    IATSE    vice-president ;  Fi 
Stickling,   International  representative ;  PF 
Kore,  Ora  Bebb  and  Herman  Goldberg,  wllj 
port  on  November  5th. 

Members  of  the  union  were  to  meet  Thur 
to  vote  on  an  offer  of  a  wage  increase  of 
per  cent  made  by  Chicago  circuit  open 
and  independent  exhibitors.  The  negotiai 
have  been  under  way  for  several  weeks. 

Weigh  AGVA  Future 

A  committee  representing  all  talent  ur 
was  appointed  this  week  to  consider  the  ft 
of  the  American  Guild  of  Variety  Ar 
The  international  board  of  the  Associated 
tors  and  Artistes  of  America  named  the  1 
mittee  at  a  special  meeting  in  New  York 
lowing  a  report  of  Walter  N.  Greaza,  nat 
administrative  director  of  the  AGVA,  on 
affairs  of  the  Guild. 

Paul  Dullzell,  Actors  Equity  executive 
retary,  who  was  appointed  chairman  of 
committee,  in  answer  to  questions,  said 
Equity  has  never  considered  the  assum 
of  the  jurisdiction  which  is  exercised 
AGVA.  Other  members  of  the  committee 
Kenneth  Thompson,  Screen  Actors  Guild; 
ily  Holt,  American  Federation  of  Radio 
ists ;  Ruth  Richmond,  Chorus  Equity ;  D 
Barto,  AGVA,  and  Blanche  Withersi 
American  Guild  of  Musical  Artists. 

Cleveland  Employees  Organized 

Front  office  employees  of  Cleveland  exdit 
have  been  organized  into  Local  F-5.  The  i 
ter  for  the  new  union,  which  is  an  IATSE 
sidiary,  was  presented  by  John  C.  Wein,  f 
dent  and  business  manager  of  Local  B-5. 
new  F-5  union  is  made  up  of  bookers,  casl 
bookkeepers,  stenographers,  telephone  o 
tors,  secretaries  and  contact  clerks.  B-5, 
posed  of  back  office  employees,  was  orga 
in  June,  1937. 

Officers  of  the  new  local  are  John  S 
president ;  Sol  Gordon,  vice-president ;  ( 
Dalphin,  financial  secretary  and  treas. 
Claude  Astrum,  recording  secretary,  and 
Cowhig,  business  representative. 


Operators  Aid  Police 

Thirty  members  of  the  Motion  Picture  ( 
ators  Union  in  Cleveland  have  been  accept 
Frank  J.  Lausche  as  auxiliaries  to  the  (, 
land  mounted  police.  The  members,  ttj 
and  uniformed  by  the  union,  underwent  a  s 
month  training  course.  Harland  Hoi: 
business  agent  of  the  union,  presented  th< 
to  the  mayor  and  police  department. 


cto  be  r  10 


!942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


47 


Hue  Law  Suits 
lied  in  South 


Following  several  months  during  which  mo- 
n  pictures  were  shown  in  Jackson,  Aliss., 
1  other  communities  of  the  state,  suits  were 
id  recently  against  the  Kennington-Saenger 
rporation,  which  operates  four  theatres,  and 
:r  independent  playhouses. 
!\11  were  brought  in  the  name  of  the  district 
1  county  attorneys  and  charged  violations  of 
state  Sunday  amusement  law.  The  Ken- 
igton  suit  asked  for  revocation  of  the  cor- 
ation's  franchise  for  these  alleged  violations 
!  was  due  to  be  heard  first  of  the  charges, 
a  other  petitions,  for  injunctions  to  prevent 
rating  on  Sunday,  will  be  heard  in  Novem- 

siter  fiery  debate  in  the  Mississippi  legisla- 
y  early  this  year  and  repeated  failure  of 
s  to  modify  the  112-year-old  Sunday  laws, 
of  the  Kennington-Saenger  theatre  man- 
rs  started  a  test  suit  after  having  been  ar- 
ed  several  times  for  defiance  of  the  law. 
won  acquittal  on  appeal  to  the  county  court 
the  city  thereupon  announced  it  was  ready 
ibandon  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  This 
j'  to  similar  action  by  Laurel,  Hattiesburg, 
:ksburg,  Natchez  and  several  other  larger 
•;s  where  Sunday  shows  had  been  banned, 
rwo  areas  of  the  state,  in  the  Delta  and  on 
Gulf  Coast,  Sunday  shows  had  been  operat- 
unmolested  for  years. 
:    committee  of  Jackson  citizens  has  been 
ied,  and  announces  it  will  fight  for  enforce- 
'tt  of  the  law,  planning  to  go  to  the  courts 
ue  course.  In  the  face  of  opposition  by  the 
I  ministers,  the  Ritz  theatre  at  West  Point 
>unced  that  it  wrould  proceed  with  plans  to 
i   Sunday  shows  with  the  purchase  of  War 
j  ds  and  stamps  as  admission.    Harry  Gille- 
LiL  manager,  said  that  show  hours  would  be 
itained  in  the  drive  to  keep  from  interfering 
i  church  services  but  two  ministers  took  to 
i  pulpits  for  attacks  last  Sunday. 


t  Army  Commissions 

arence  Charles  Klein,  city  welfare  director 
'ittsburgh,  one  time  motion  picture  theatre 
ager,  has  been  commissioned  a  captain  in 
Army  Air  Corps.  While  a  student,  Mr. 
n  worked  at  the  old  Alhambra  theatre, 
the  Harris  Family,  and  later  was  manager 
le  American  and  Triangle  theatres.  M.  J. 
:n,  Loew's  midwest  division  head  and  for- 
y  manager  of  Loew's  Penn  in  Pittsburgh, 
been  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Army 
ialist  Corps. 


en  Washington  Canteen 

new  Stage  Door  Canteen,  recreation  cen- 
or  service  men,  was  opened  last  week  in 
milding  formerly  occupied  by  the  old  Bel- 
theatre  in  Washington.  A  civilian  audi- 
attended  a  preview  for  which  the  admis- 
was  $2  or  two  pounds  of  food.  Brock 
Derton  was  master  of  ceremonies  at  the 
ew,  attended  by  Helen  Mencken,  Helen 
;s,  Ina  Claire  and  Irving  Berlin,  among 
s. 


*f  Station  Is  Opened 

uis  J.  Appel  of  York,  Pa.,  where  he  sold 
neatre  holdings  to  the  Stanley-Warner  cir- 
has  opened  a  new  radio  station  with  call 
s  WSBA,  operating  daytime  at  1,000  watts, 
the  second  station  there.  Associated  with 
s  M.  S.  Landow,  also  of  the  theatre  indus- 
lere.  Robert  L.  Kaufman  is  general  man- 
of  the  new  station. 


ed  Corwin  to  Army 

-  red  Corwin,  assistant  to  Leslie  F.  Whelan, 
>  ltieth  Century-Fox  foreign  publicity  man- 

C  left  for  Army  duty  September  24th.  He 
4  ucceeded  by  Jack  Yarmov 

I 


EXCITING!  ENTCRTAINING! 
and  it  PAYS  Off! 


Mr.  exhibitor.' 


ROLLING 
Right  To  Your  Doorstep/ 

It's  as  inevitable  as  the  Fuller  Brush  man  that  an 
"MQ"  representative  knock  on  your  door  today, 
tomorrow  or  in  the  near  future.  ★  Hear  him  out 
because" MQ"  is  the  goose  your  box  office  needs! 

HCRC  A*£  THE  SOyS  WHO  ARB 
RBJ>  HOT  AHD  SH0W8AUIHC  "4tAV 


(Texas,  Arkansas,  Oklahoma) 


ADAMS  FILM  EXCHANGE  .  .  . 
JACK  K.  ADAMS  —  Dallas,  Texas  . 

AFFILIATED  PRODUCERS,  INC.  .  .  . 

THOS.  A.  BRANON  —  Atlanta,  Georgia  (Florida,  Georgia, 

North  and  South  Carolina) 

CANADIAN  PREMIUM  DISTRIBUTORS  .  .  . 

JOHN  W.  COHN  —  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  .  (Entire  Dominion  of  Canada) 

CAPITOL  FILM  EXCHANGE,  INC.  .  .  . 

HENRI  ELMAN  —  Chicago,  Illinois     .    .    .     (Illinois,  Indiana,  Wisconsin, 
COMMERCIAL  FILM  EXCHANGE  .  .  .        Missouri,  Kansas,  Michigan) 
NAT  WOLFE  —  Denver,  Colorado     .    .    ( Colorado,  Wyoming,  New  Mexico, 
Utah,  Southern  Idaho,  Montana,  Western  Nebraska,  Black  Hills  of  So.  Dakota) 

CRYSTAL  PICTURES,  INC.  .  .  . 

MELVIN  HIRSH  —  New  York  City,  N.  Y.  .  .  (Long  Island,  Greater  New 
York  City,  N.  Y.r  State  as  far  as  Poughkeepsie  and  Northern  New  Jersey) 

HERBERT  ROSENER  CO.  .  .  . 

HERBERT  ROSENER  —  Los  Angeles,  California  .  .  (Washington,  Oregon, 
Northern  Part  of  California,  Part  of  Nevada,  Part  of  Idaho,  Territory  of  Alaska) 

SPECIAL  ATTRACTIONS  EXCHANGE  .  .  . 

TED  CUNNINGHAM— Los  Angeles,  California  .  .  (Southern  California, 
SOUTHERN  DISTRIBUTING  SERVICE  .  .  .  Part  of  Arizona) 

3.  VIRGIL  POSEY,  W.  A.  PRUITT  —  New  Orleans,  Louisiana  .  (Louisiana, 
* 1  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Tennessee) 

A  9  Minute  Audience  Participation  Short  Bearing  the  Hays  Official  Seal! 

TEAR  HERE  .  .  . 


FOR  FURTHER  INFORMATION  COMMUNICATE  DIRECT  WITH  MOVIE  QUIZ  HEADQUARTERS 

10558  CAM  ARM  AVENUE...  NORTH  HOLLYWOOD,  CALIFORNIA 

Please  send  me  full  particulars  on  Movie  Quiz — 

Theatre  City  .  State  


resr  your  *i.q."with  aM.a.v 


* 


48 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,  19 


Axis  Sent  19  Films 
To  Brazil  in  1941 


Product  Is  Now  Banned; 
Pictures  from  America 
Dominate  Market 

by  ALFREDO  C.  MACHADO 

in  Rio  de  Janeiro 

Now  that  Axis  pictures  have  been  banned 
from  Brazilian  screens,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  place  held  by  those  pictures  in  the 
local  market.  Very  significant  is  the  fact 
that  last  year,  in  spite  of  all  difficulties  of 
transportation,  eleven  German  and  eight 
Italian  pictures  were  exhibited  there.  The 
domination  of  the  market  by  American  films 
is  unquestioned. 

Following  is  a  list  of  all  pictures  shown 
in  Brazil  during  1941 : 

American    382      Italian    8 

Argentine    9       Mexican    8 

Brazilian    4      Philippine    1 

English    20      Spanish   4 

French    12      Portuguese    1 

German   11   

460 

These  figures  were  recently  published  in 
Cine  Reporter,  a  trade  magazine  of  Sao 
Paulo. 

Below  is  a  comparative  chart  of  the  films 
shown  in  Brazil  during  the  last  four  years : 

1938  1939  1940  1941 

Columbia    64  52  48  51 

MGM    48  55  45  43 

Paramount    56  51  53  42 

RKO  Radio    66  46  45  56 

20th  Century-Fox    44  55  39  35 

United  Artists    20  29  19  17 

Universal    30  64  60  53 

Warner  Brothers    53  54  44  25 

Internacional  Filmes 
(distributor  of  Ameri- 
can   independent  pro- 
ducers)   44     39  35  47 

Arte  Filmes 

(distributor  of  European 

pictures)    39     43     38  35 

Other  distributors   66     56     70  56 

530    544    486  460 

This  year  the  Axis  pictures  have  been 
completely  banned  from  Brazilian  theatres. 
As  to  French  pictures,  to  date  this  year  only 
two  of  them  have  been  shown,  "Eduardo 
VII"  and  "Rasputin,"  two  old  historical 
productions.  Both  were  brought  to  Brazil 
by  their  producer,  Max  Glass,  a  refugee 
from  Europe. 

Seeks  Cooperation 
Of  Brazil  Air  Corps 

Brazilian  branches  of  American  film  com- 
panies, such  as  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  and 
Universal  Pictures,  are  using  in  all  their 
advertisements  the  slogan  "America  Livre  e 
Unida"  (America  Free  and  United). 

Milton  Rodrigues,  a  Brazilian  director 
who  is  responsible  for  two  of  Brazil's  best 
pictures — "Alma  e  Corpo  de  uma  Raqa" 
("Soul  and  Body  of  a  Race")  and  "O  Dia 
e  Nosso"  ("The  Day  Is  Ours") — asked 
the  cooperation  of  the  Brazilian  Air  Corps 


for  his  forthcoming  production,  "Caminho 
do  Ceu"  ("Road  to  Heaven"). 

After  a  successful  opening  week  in  three 
theatres  (on  Saturday  and  Sunday  a  fourth 
house  was  used)  "Vendeval  de  Paixoes" 
("Reap  the  Wild  Wind")  completed  a  sec- 
ond week  at  the  Capitolio,  always  to  capac- 
ity audiences.  According  to  Osvaldo  Rocha, 
publicity  manager  of  the  Brazilian  branch 
of  Paramount,  the  opening  day  of  the  film 
broke  the  previous  record  of  the  company, 
held  by  "Hold  Back  the  Dawn." 

The  sixth  anniversary  of  Cine  Metro  Pas- 
seio,  the  first  theatre  built  in  Rio  by  MGM, 
will  be  observed  with  the  opening  of  "CaL 
ouros  da  Broadway"  ("Babes  on  Broad- 
way"). Of  great  appeal  to  the  Brazilian 
public  is  the  amusing  imitation  of  Carmen 
Mirando  done  in  this  film  by  Mickey 
Rooney.  This  detail  was  cleverly  exploited 
in  the  trailer  now  being  shown. 

Circuit  To  Open 
New  Theatre 

The  Luiz  Severiano  Ribeiro  circuit  is 
planning  the  opening  of  its  new  theatre,  the 
Rian,  for  early  this  month.  Sever iano's  is 
the  largest  circuit  in  Brazil  and  controls 
about  60  houses.  This  year  it  is  showing 
pictures  from  Paramount,  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox, Warner  Brothers,  United  Artists 
and  the  second  run  of  MGM.  The  Rian, 
built  at  the  famous  Copacabana  Beach,  will 
open  with  "A  Canqao  do  Hawaii"  ("Song 
of  the  Islands"),  the  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  production. 

The  special  issue  of  News  of  the  Day 
made  by  MGM  when  Brazil  declared  war  on 
Germany  and  Italy  has  been  received  en- 
thusiastically here.  Observers  have  cited 
particularly  the  commentary  read  by  Luiz 
Jatoba,  one  of  Brazil's  best  speakers,  now 
in  the  United  States. 

Selim  Abib  Romi,  whose  appointment  as 
head  of  the  Twentieth  Century-Fox  branch 
in  Rio  has  been  announced  in  New  York 
by  Laudy  Lawrence,  chief  of  the  foreign 
department,  is  expected  in  Rio  shortly.  Mr. 
Romi  will  collaborate  with  J.  C.  Bavetta, 
present  director  of  Fox  Filme  do  Brasil. 


Move  Warner  Salesmen 

Gus  Solomon,  formerly  of  the  Warner  Bros. 
New  Jersey  sales  force,  is  now  assigned  to  the 
New  York  City  territory.  George  Walsh,  re- 
cently transferred  from  Boston  to  New  York, 
is  now  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  sales  force. 


Tunick  in  Army- 
Eugene  Tunick,  assistant  shipper  at  the  RKO- 
Radio  branch  exchange,  has  been  inducted  into 
the   Army,   as   the   first   inductee   from  that 
branch. 


Theatre  Redecorated 

The  State  theatre,  Oklahoma  City,  closed 
for  10  days  for  redecorating  and  refurnishing, 
has  reopened. 

Reopen  Indianapolis  House 

The  Fox  Burlesque  theatre,  Indianapolis,  has 
reopened,  after  a  summer  dark  period.  Sam 
Green  is  manager.  Policies  and  prices  are  un- 
changed from  last  season. 


Albright  Gets 
New  UA  Post 


Sydney  J.  Albright,  former  United  Art 
manager  in  the  Netherlands  East  Indies, 
appointed  general  manager  for  UA  in  Austr 
and  New  Zealand,  according  to  a  company 
nouncement  in  New  York  Monday.  Mr. 
bright  succeeds  Cecil  Marks,  resigned.  He 
make  his  headquarters  in  Sydney. 

Mr.  Albright  joined  United  Artists  in  1 
when  he  became  manager  in  Japan.  Latei 
served  in  the  Philippines  and  Java.  He 
one  of  the  last  to  leave  Batavia  when  the 
fell  last  March.    Following  his  flight  to  1 
tralia,  UA  reported  that  the  Japanese  \, 
particularly  eager  to  capture  Mr.  Albright 
cause,  in  addition  to  his  film  activities,  he  sei 
as  radio  news  commentator  in  Batavia  for 
National  Broadcasting  Company  and  regul 
broadcast  on  Sunday  nights  to  America 
the  network's  facilities. 


Hollywood  Canteen 
Has  Gala  Opening 

The  Hollywood  Canteen,  for  the  thous 
of  service  men  in  the  Los  Angeles  district, 
opened  formally  last  Saturday  night  in  ty| 
Hollywood  fashion.  A  guard  of  honor,  c 
posed  of  200  uniformed  men,  comprised  the 
ficial  host.  The  guard  presented  flags  to  I 
Davis,  president  of  the  Canteen,  who  mai 
short  speech  of  welcome.  With  the  g 
were  Governor  Culbert  L.  Olsen  of  Califo 
Mayor  Fletcher  R.  Bowron  of  Los  Angeles 
other  officials  and  community  leaders. 

Entertainment  was  provided  by  three  b 
— Kay  Kyser's,  Duke  Ellington's  and  I 
Vallee's  Coast  Guard  Band — Eddie  Caj 
master  of  ceremonies ;  Eleanor  Powell,  D 
Shore,  Betty  Hutton,  Red  Skelton,  Rags 
lund  and  Abbott  and  Costello.  The  dance 
can  accommodate  1,000  dancers. 


Heads  B.  &  K.  Club 

Roy  C.  MacMullen,  manager  of  the  Gra 
theatre,  has  been  elected  president  of  the  I 
ban  &  Katz  Employees  Club.  Other  new 
ficers  are  Elmer  E.  Imerman,  as  first  vice-p,| 
dent;  James  R.  Savage,  second  vice-presk| 
J.  J.  Katz,  third  vice-president;  Joseph  Rrj 
treasurer,  and  Kurt  M.  Wolf,  secretary. 


Closes  PRC  Deal 

Noah  Bloomer,  St.  Louis  branch  manage 
Producers  Releasing  Corporation,  annou 
last  week  he  had  closed  a  deal  with  the  M 
Theatre  Company,  owner  of  the  Rivol 
downtown  St.  Louis,  for  the  local  first 
showing  of  all  the  PRC  product  for  the  19' 
season. 


Theatre  Is  Shifted 

Sol  Schwartz,  western  zone  manager 
RKO  Theatre,  has  announced  that  the , 
town  theatre  in  Detroit  will  be  added  tc 
RKO  Midwest  Theatres  Division  in  char) 
Tom  Gorman.  Louis  Lutz  continues  as 
ager  of  the  Uptown. 


Weitel  with  Suburbans 

Frank  Weitel,  of  the  Alpine  circuit,  Ci 
nati,  has  shifted  to  the  Monte  Vista,  Ei 
and  Shard  theatres,  in  the  suburbs,  and 
ated  by  Mrs.  Elmer  Shard.    He  succeeds  1 
Kinsler,  who  joined  Warners'  Chicago 
force. 


Forman  Adds  Oregon  House 

The  Liberty  theatre,  Salem,  Ore.,  has  j| 
added  to  the  Al  Forman  circuit  in  the  F  I 
Northwest  and  will  be  under  the  super  || 
of  Al  Adolph,  who  also  is  manager  o; 
Grand  and  State  theatres  in  Salem. 


October    10,    1 942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


49 


Amusement  Parks  to 
Extend  Season 

Outdoor  amusement  parks  in  Philadelphia, 
having  enjoyed  boom  crowds  during  the  past 
summer  when  gasoline  and  tire  rationing  made 
it  necessary  for  the  people  to  seek  amusements 
close  to  home,  will  extend  their  seasons  next 
year  to  run  into  the  late  autumn  and  early 
winter  months.  Feeling  thai  there  will  be  even 
greater  park  patronage  next  season,  the  board 
of  directors  of  Woodside  Park  at  a  meeting  last 
week  decided  to  extend  the  season  next  year 
beyond  the  traditional  Labor  Day  closing. 

The  park  had  hoped  to  carry  on  beyond 
Labor  Day  this  year,  but  there  was  not  enough 
time  to  publicize  the  fact.  In  1943.  the  park 
will  start  operations  as  soon  as  warm  weather 
sets  in  and  carry  on  indefinitely  into  the  year 
until  cold  weather  strikes.  Willow  Grove  Park, 
whose  operation  is  similar  to  Woodside.  also 
is  expected  to  lengthen  the  season  next  year, 
both  parks  not  dependent  upon  auto  trade  and 
having  advantage  of  excellent  trolley  and  bus 
transportation  facilities. 


Minneapolis  Franchise 
For  PRC  to  Swartz 

.  Abbott  Swartz  has  resigned  as  office  manager 
?9nd  booker  at  the  Republic  Minneapolis  ex- 
change and  has  acquired  from  Charles  Weiner 
the  Minneapolis  franchise  for  distribution  of 
Producers  Releasing  Corporation  product. 
t  In  the  deal  with  Mr.  Weiner,  Mr.  Swartz 
*lso  takes  over  distribution  in  the  Minneapolis 
territory  of  a  number  of  Astor  pictures,  includ- 
'mg  "Hell's  Angels."  "Scarface."  "Sky  Devils," 
fl  Cover  the  Waterfront'  and  "Keep  'Em 
^aughing."  Also  included  is  a  PRC  unit  pro- 
:  jram  titled  "Slap  the  Tap."  consisting  of  "Bombs 
jOver  Burma"  and  "Prisoner  of  Japan." 

Temporary  name  of  the  new  company  is 
bbott  Swartz  Film  Distributors. 


Mutual  Starts  Eighth  Year 

The  Mutual  Broadcasting  Company  last  week 
tarted  its  eighth  year.  Starting  as  a  network 
four  stations,  it  now  has  207.  Among  the 
^ew  and  returning  programs  on  the  network 
ire  Jack  Pearl.  "First  Xighter."  Philadelphia 
Orchestra,  "Shadow,"  Henry  Hull.  "Saturday 
iight  Bandwagon."  ""Chicago  Theatre  of  the 
r"  and  Raymond  Clapper.  There  will  be  13 
ews  commentators  on  the  network  and  19  war 
ffort  presentations. 


n  Circuit  Ad  Post 

Henry  Burger  has  succeeded  J.  K.  Robertson 
;  assistant  publicity  and  advertising  manager 
f  Warner  Theatres  Tri-State  area  with  head- 
ttarters  in  Pittsburgh.  Mr.  Robinson  is  tak- 
■ig  an  indefinite  leave  of  absence  due  to  ill- 
ess.  Mr.  Burger  formerly  was  manager  of  the 
moot  theatre.  Parkersburg.  W.  Ya.  Mitchell 
•eGroot  continues  as  the  other  assistant  to 
ames  M.  Totman,  advertising  and  publicity 

anaser. 


Columbia  Plans  Musical 

j  Columbia  has   placed  "Doughboys   in  Ire- 
|nd"'  on  its  musical  program.    An  original 
reenplay  is  being  written  by  Henry  Sauber 
r  the  Irving  Briskin  unit.    A  name  band  and 
ngers  will  be  featured. 


ines  Joining  Navy 

Hiller  Innes,  home  office  production  manager 
Paramount  Pictures,   has   been  given  an 
definite  leave  of  absence  to  accept  a  com- 
ission  as  a  lieutenant,  senior  grade,  in  the 
S.  Naval  Reserve. 


gns  with  Agency 

Claire  Leonard,  authors'  representative,  has 
?ned  a  five-year  contract  with  the  A.  and  S. 
■•'ons  office  for  coast  representation  of  all  her 
mvright  clients. 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYINC  BROADWAY 

Week  of  October  5tb 

ASTOR 

How  to  Play  Baseball  RKO  Radio 

Feature:    The   Pride   of  the 

Yankees  RKO  Radio 

CAPITOL 

Colorful  North  Carolina.  .  .  .  MGM 

Show  Horse  RKO  Radio 

Early  Bird  Dood  If  MGM 

Feature:  Panama  Hattie  MGM 

CRITERION 

A  Letter  "from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:     Wings     and  the 

Woman  RKO  Radio 

MUSIC  HALL 

Pluto  Jr  RKO  Radio 

Feature:  Tales  of  Manhattan .  20th  Cent.-Fox 

PARAMOUNT 

Popular  Science,  No.  6  Paramount 

Feature:  The  Major  and  the 

Minor  Paramount 

RIALTO 

Unusual  Occupations,  No.  4.  Paramount 

Superman  Paramount 

Canvas  Capers  Columbia 

Feature:  Eyes  of  the  Under- 
world  Universal 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  Island  Paramount 

ROXY 

Life  With  Fido  20th  Cent.-Fox 

I  he  Last  Frontier  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Letter  from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:  Girl  Trouble  20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Fox  Pop  Vita  phone 

Sniffer  Soldier  Vitaphone 

Army  Air  Corps  Band  Vitaphone 

Feature:  Desperate  Journey.  ,  Warner  Bros. 


Vandals  Damage  Houses 

Two  Warner  theatres  in  Pittsburgh,  the 
Model  and  Arsenal,  were  damaged  by  vandals 
who  broke  in  when  the  houses  were  closed  At 
the  Model,  the  screen  was  ripped,  the  emer- 
gency lighting  system  wrecked,  and  a  candv 
machine  broken.  At  the  Arsenal  there  was  no 
serious  damage.  Several  months  ago  the  Bel- 
mar  in  Homewood,  another  "Warner  house, 
similarlv  was  damaged. 


Increase  Nor+hio  Prices 

The  Paramount  Theatre,  largest  of  the  three 
Xorthio  houses  in  Hamilton,  Ohio,  has  in- 
creased the  week-day  matinee  price  from  30  to 
35  cents,  with  evening  admissions  in  the  bal- 
cony increased  from  35  to  40  cents,  and  the 
lower  floor  from  45  to  50  cents.  Sunday  prices 
also  have  been  increased. 


Begin  Picture  Service 

The  Reading,  Pa.,  Motion  Picture  Forum  has 
inaugurated  a  picture  service,  making  patriotic 
and  educational  16mm  films  available  to  schools, 
lodges,  churches  and  clubs  in  the  vicinity.  The 
films  will  be  listed  at  the  Reading  Public  Li- 
brarv  and  the  YMCA. 


Broadbrook  Reopens 

The  Broadbrook,  in  the  Connecticut  town  of 
thai  name,  has  reopened.  It  has  200  seats. 
Milton  Goldberg  operates. 


Private 
Smith 
of  the 
U.  S.  A. 
tells  his 

story 
Oct.  23 

Don't 
miss  it! 


50 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


WHAT  THE 

PICTURE  DID  FOR  ME 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Columbia 

FIVE  LITTLE  PEPPERS  AT  HOME:  Edith  Fel- 
lows— Good  for  children's  matinee  but  poor  as  far 
as  adult  patronage  is  concerned — Fred  Basha,  Palace 
Theatre,  Corner  Brook,  Newfoundland.  Small  town 
patronage. 

PINTO  KID,  THE:  Charles  Starrett— The  average 
western,  good  on  weekends.  Starrett  liked  here. — Fred 
Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner  Brook,  Newfoundland. 
Small  town  patronage. 

PRAIRIE  SCHOONER:  Bill  Elliott— Didn't  think 
Elliott  would  be  much  good  here,  but  I  was  wrong. 
Opposition  had  Autry,  and  I  had  a  full  house.  This 
was  an  old  picture  about  homesteaders  and  sand 
storms;  nevertheless,  they  liked  it.  Played  Friday, 
Saturday,  September  18,  19,  with  serial  "Riders  of 
Death  Valley" — Mrs.  Carroll  Michael,  Freeburn  The- 
atre, Freeburn,  Ky.  Small  town  and  coal  mining 
patronage. 

SECRETS  OF  THE  LONE  WOLF:  Warren  Wil- 
liam, Ruth  Ford — We  double-billed  this  and  found  it 
most  gratifying — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham,  Ont. 


Metro-Gold  wyn-Mayer 

CROSSROADS:  William  Powell,  Hedy  Lamarr— 
Only  a  fair  picture  and  played  to  the  poorest  Sunday 
business  of  the  year.  StGry  is  slow  moving  and 
Powell  too  old  to  be  romantic.  Played  Saturday- 
Monday,  September  19-21 — Ritz  Amusements,  Inc., 
Park  Theatre,  North  Vernon,  Ind.  Small  town 
patronage. 

DR.  JEKYLL  AND  MR.  HYDE:  Spencer  Tracy. 
Ingrid  Bergman — My  first  MGM  picture  in  this  lo- 
cation and  a  fair  crowd  turned  out  to  see  Spencer 
Tracy's  return  after  a  two-year  absence.  However, 
as  your  reports  led  me  to  expect,  the  customers' 
remarks  were  not  very  enthusiastic.  But  I  have  no 
regrets  on  my  particular  date.  Played  Monday  - 
Wednesday,  August  17-19  —  Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox 
Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Alberta.  Small  town  patro- 
nage. 

H.  M.  PULHAM  ESQ.:  Robert  Young,  Hedy  La- 
marr— A  good  picture  to  average  attendance. — Delmar 
C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Alberta.  Small 
town  patronage. 

HER  CARDBOARD  LOVER:  Norma  Shearer,  Rob- 
ert Taylor — Just  mark  this  down  as  a  disappointment. 
Business  very  poor  on  midweek  dates.  Played  Wed- 
nesday, Thursday,  September  16,  17 — Thomas  Di 
Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 
Small  town  patronage. 

JACKASS  MAIL:  Wallace  Beery— This  is  not  in 
the  best  Beery  fashion  and  it  will  certainly  send  a 
good  star  to  oblivion  if  not  quickly  followed  bv  some- 
thing worth  his  time  and  the  interest  of  his  many 
admirers.  Business  fair,  but  the  audience  went  out 
displeased.  Played  Friday.  Saturday,  September  18. 
19 — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New 
Paltz,  N.  Y.     Small  town  patronage. 

JACKASS  MAIL:  Wallace  Beery -Marjorie  Main- 
It  was  a  much  better  picture  than  reviews  claimed. 
It  drew  the  Beery  fans  and  they  were  satisfied — E. 
C.  Arehart,  Strand  Theatre,  Milford,  Iowa.  General 
patronage. 

KATHLEEN:  Shirley  Temple— Played  this  the  day 
before  Labor  Day  one  day  only.  I  had  to  lower 
the  adraission  on  this  picture,  and  at  that  I  had  to 
hide  when  the  patrons  left  the  theatre.  Played  Sun- 
day, September  6 — Miss  Edna  Kelloff,  Ute  Theatre, 
Aguilar,  Col.     Small  town  patronage. 

MRS.  MINIVER:  Greer  Garson.  Walter  Pidgecn 
— The  only  thing  wrong — we  didn't  have  enough 
seats.  Played  three  davs — E.  C.  Arehart,  Strand 
Theatre,  Milford,  Iowa.    General  and  Lake  patronage. 

PIERRE  OF  THE  PLAINS:  John  Carroll,  Ruth 
Hussey— This  was  a  neat  little  programmer  that  cer- 
tainly pleased — E.  C.  Arehart,  Strand  Theatre,  Mil- 
ford, Iowa.     General  patronage. 

SHIP  AHOY:  Eleanor  Powell,  Red  Skelton— Played 
this  rather  late  and  the  Bondmobile  was  in  town  with 
a  patriotic  rally.  In  spite  of  this  we  did  very  well 
with  it  and  everyone  seemed  to  enjoy  it  thoroughly. 
It  i-s  just  what  my  bunch  is  looking  for  these  days. 
Played  Thursday.  September  2^ — W.  Varick  Nevins. 
Ill,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small 
college  town  patronage. 

VANISHING  VIRGINIAN,  THE:  Frank  Morgan. 


Kathryn  Grayson — One  of  the  nicest  pictures  we've 
played  in  weeks.  Everyone  liked  it.  Word-of-mouth 
advertising  helped  make  it  pay  off  at  the  box- 
office.  Too  good  to  pass  up  in  any  situation.  Played 
Sunday-Wednesday,  September  6-9 — Tom  McCormick. 
Rock  Theatre,  Rockford,  Iowa.  Small  town  and 
rural  patronage. 

WOMAN  OF  THE  YEAR:  Spencer  Tracy,  Katha- 
rine Hepburn — This  one  wasn't  big  but  the  gross 
was  satisfactory.  Seemed  quite  a  come-down  for 
Tracy  to  appear  in  a  picture  like  this  after  "North- 
west Passage"  or  "Men  of  Boys  Town."  It's  not 
small  town,  but  small  towns  will  play  lots  of  them 
that  are  no  where  near  as  good.  Played  Sunday  - 
Wednesday,  August  9-12— Tom  McCormick,  Rock  The- 
atre, Rockford,  Iowa.  Small  town  and  rural  patro- 
nage. 


Monogram 

RIDERS  OF  THE  WEST:  Buck  Jones,  Tim  Mc- 
Coy— Just  a  Western.  Played  Thursday-Saturday, 
September  10-12 — Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England, 
Ark.     Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

ROLLING  HOME  TO  TEXAS:  Tex  Ritter  and 
Slim  Andrews — This  is  a  good  combination  and  for 
the  life  of  me  can't  see  why  they  split  them  up. 
Tex's  singing  and  Slim  and  his  mule,  Josephine, 
keep  them  coming.  I  advertised  Tex's  singing  "The 
Wabash  Cannonball"  and  did  very  well.  This  will 
please  your  Western  fans.  Played  Friday,  Saturday, 
September  25  ,  26 — Mrs.  Carroll  Michael,  Freeburn 
Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky.  Small  town  and  coal  mining 
patronage. 

SPOOKS  RUN  WILD:  East  Side  Kids  and  TOP 
SERGEANT  MULLIGAN:  Nat  Pendleton— Doubled 
this  on  a  Sunday,  Monday.  East  Side  Kids  in  an 
old  mansion,  with  secret  passages  and  a  cemetery 
with  a  monster  loose  and  a  magician,  has  them  all 
mixed  up.  They  liked  it.  "Top  Sergeant  Mulligan" 
wasn't  so  hot.  Too  much  the  same  thing  over  and 
over.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  29,  30. — 
Mrs.  Carroll  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn, 
Ky.     Small  town  and  coal  mining  patronage. 

TAKE  ME  BACK  TO  OKLAHOMA:  Tex  Ritter 
and  MR.  WISE  GUY:  East  Side  Kids— Ran  this 
on  a  double  bill.  For  me,  Tex  is  top  drawing  card, 
he  has  Autry  beat  bv  blocks  here,  and  if  they  like 
the  East  Side  Kids.  "Mr.  Wise  Guy"  is  tops.  Did 
fair  business  on  Wednesday.  Thursday,  September 
16,  17— Mrs.  Carroll  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Free- 
burn, Ky.     Small  town  and  coal  mining  patronage. 

ARE  HUSBANDS  NECESSARY?  Ray  Milland. 
Betty  Field — It  merely  got  by  and  that's  all — E.  C. 
Arehart,  Strand  Theatre,  Milford,  Iowa. 


Paramount 

BAHAMA  PASSAGE:  Madeleine  Carroll,  Stirling 
Hayden — The  color  is  beautiful,  but  Miss  Carroll  was 
too  dark.  And  so  were  the  looks  I  got  from  some 
of  the  customers.  Played  Monday- Wednesday,  July 
6-8 — Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Al- 
berta.   Small  town  patronage. 

DR.  BROADWAY:  McDonald  Carey— An  excep- 
tionally fine  picture.  Would  recommend  it  highly 
for  action  lovers — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham.  Ont. 

FLEET'S  IN,  THE:  Dorothy  Lamour,  Eddie  Bracken 
— Just  what  the  oublic  wants.  It's  got  a  title,  a  cast, 
clean,  fast  comedy,  plenty  of  action  and  a  Navy  at- 
mosphere that  makes  it  sure-fire  at  the  box  office. 
Played  Sunday -Wednesday,  August  23-26 — Tom  Mc- 
Cormick, Rock  Theatre,  Rockford,  Iowa. 

FLEET'S    IN,    THE:    Dorothy    Lamour,  William 


Holden — I  was  away  when  this  picture  played  but 
my  customers  all  tell  me  it  is  one  of  the  best  pic- 
tures I  have  never  seen.  It  satisfied  100  per  cent, 
which  is  really  something.  Played  Thursday -Satur  : 
day,  August  6-8— Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pinch- 
er Creek,  Alberta,  Canada.     Small  town  patronage. 

HENRY  ALDRICH  FOR  PRESIDENT:  Jimmy  Ly. 
don,  Charles  Smith — A  dandy  small  town  picture  \ 
especially  if  you  have  some  "Aldrich"  fans,  anc 
who  hasn't.  Wish  I  had  played  it  on  a  weekend 
Played  Monday-Wednesday,  August  31 -September  ; 
— Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Al 
berta.    Small  town  patronage. 

MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Bob  Hope,  Madeleine 
Carroll — Should  have  been  named  "My  Favoriti 
Blend"  for  my  town.  Bob  Hope  is  definitely  popula: 
here  and  with  spy  background,  this  one  gets  th< 
job  done.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  6,  ! 
—Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre,  England,  Ark.  Rura 
and  small  town  patronage. 

NIGHT  IN  NEW  ORLEANS,  A:  Preston  Foster 
Patricia  Morison — Routine  murder  mystery.  Busi 
ness  was  slight.  Played  Tuesday,  September  22— E 
M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla 
Small  town  patronage. 

NIGHT  OF  JANUARY  16TH:  Ellen  Drew,  Rob 
ert  Preston — Not  a  bad  picture  but  no  super  pre, 
grammer.  Most  majors  think  their  program  pic 
tures  are  exceptions  and  Paramount  is  no  different 
Played  Thursday -Saturday,  September  10-12— Terr 
Axley,  New  Theatre,  England,  Ark.  Rural  an 
small  town  patronage. 

REAP  THE  WILD  WIND:  John  Wayne,  Ray  Mil 
land,  Paulette  Goddard — In  my  opinion,  this  is  th| 
best  picture  produced  since  "Gone  With  the  Wind. 
The  story,  acting,  color  and  sound  could  not  be  im 
proved  on.  Business  good.  Played  Saturday-Mori 
day,  September  19-21— Ritz  Amusements,  Inc.,  Par 
Theatre,  North  Vernon,  Ind.     Small  town  patronagi-J 


RKO  Radio 

CALL  OUT  THE  MARINES:  Victor  McLaglei 
Edmund  Lowe — A  nice  little  comedy -action  nllfl 
which  does  a  good  job  of  just  entertaining.  Playe 
Thursday-Saturday,  August  13-15— Delmar  C.  Fo: 
Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Alberta,  Canada.  Sraa 
town  patronage. 

LITTLE  FOXES,  THE:  Bette  Davis,  Herbe 
Marshall — Every  kid  in  the  theatre  was  holleriw 
"Mama,  I  wanna  go  home"  before  the  first  reel  w; 
ended.  Nearly  all  of  them  had  gone  home  when  tl 
picture  was  half  over.  Certainly,  this  is  not  sms 
town  stuff.  It  earned  its  way,  however,  on  our  Ft 
day-Saturday  change.  Played  September  18,  19. 
Tom  McCormick,  Rock  Theatre,  Rockford,  low 
Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

VALLEY  OF  THE  SUN:  Lucille  Ball.  James  Cra 
—This  did  better  than  "Ball  of  Fire"  for  us.  Playi 
it  on  our  Sunday- Wednesday  change  with  a  "Thr 
Stooges"  comedv  and  evervone  was  happy.  Pay 
September  20-23— Tom  McCormick,  Rock  Theati 
Rockford,   Iowa.      Rural  and   small   town  patronag 


Republic 

MOONLIGHT  MASQUERADE:  Dennis  O'Keefe 
This  is  one  of  _  the  better  ones  from  Republic  a 
pleased  our  audience  very  much.  Well  produced  a 
recorded,  there's  entertainment  all  the  way  throu 
and  an  audience  which  paid  to  see  "This  Abo 
All"  from  20th -Fox,  seemed  to  enjoy  it  thorough 
Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  20,  21— Thorn  j 
{.Continued  on  following  page) 


October    10,     1 942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


51 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
li  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
5maU  town  patronage. 


X.  V. 


RED  RIVER  VALLEY:  Roy  Rogers,  George 
Sabby  Hayes — These  Rogers  Westerns  are  beating 
ie  Autrys,  and  this  one  ranks  among  his  best. 
Played  Friday,  Saturday,  August  28,  29— Tom  Mc- 
cormick, Rock  Theatre,  Rockford,  Iowa.  Small  town 
jatronage. 

ROMANCE  OF  THE  RANGE:  Roy  Rogers— A  typ- 
cal  Roy  Rogers'  Western  that  brought  satisfaction 
:o  both  young  and  old  Western  lovers — Harland 
Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ont. 

SOMBRERO  KID:  Don  Barry— Good  action  pic- 
:ure  which  pleased  on  Friday- Saturday.  Played 
ieotember  25,  26 — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
rheatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

STARDUST  ON  THE  SAGE:  Gene  Autry— Autry 
ilways  does  well  for  us  but  this  one  out-grossed  any 
Western  in  the  history  of  the  house.  One  of  the  best 
ie  has  made,  in  the  opinion  of  our  Western  fans. 
Played  Saturday,  September  1 — Ritz  Amusements, 
[nc,  Park  Theatre,  North  Vernon,  Ind.  Small  town 
jatronage. 

WEST  OF  CIMARRON:  Three  Mesquiteers— A  real 
western  action  picture  that  did  outstanding  business 
-Harland  Rankin,   Plaza  Theatre,   Tilbury,  Ont. 


Fwentieth  Century- Fox 

BELLE  STARR:  Gene  Tiemey,  Randolph  Scott— 
Hot  up  to  expectations.  We  did  fair  on  it.  Very  dis- 
ippointing — Fred  Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner 
Srook,  Newfoundland.    Small  town  patronage. 

(  CADET  GIRL:  George  Montgomery,  Carole  Lan- 
jis — Nice  program  picture  that  we  double-billed  for 
weekend — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury, 
tat. 

HOW  GREEN  WAS  MY  VALLEY:  Walter 
Vidgeon,  Roddy  McDowell — This  picture  served  to 
Introduce  my  new  sound-screen  to  better  than  aver- 
-ge  crowds.  A  fine  picture,  but  rather  depressing. 
:'layed  Thursday -Saturday,  July  30-August  1 — Delmar 

.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek.  Alberta,  Canada. 
:mall  town  patronage. 

IT  HAPPENED  IN  FLATBUSH:  Lloyd  Nolan, 
arole  Landis — This  is  all  about  baseball  and  if  you 
in  bring  in  the  baseball  crowd  they'll  know  what 
's  all  about.  Otherwise  it  doesn't  mean  a  thing 
/id  won't  even  be  worth  playing.  Poor  business  on 
idweek  dates.  Played  Thursday,  Friday,  Septem- 
■t  24,  25 — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre, 
ew  Paltz,  N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

.MOONTIDE:  Jean  Gabin,  Ida  Lupino— This  was  a 
ry  pleasant  surprise  at  the  box  office;  we  had  seen 
|iis  at  the  screening  room  and  had  marked  it  down 
"slow  stuff."  We  played  it  midweek  and  it  stood 
to  very  good  business  doubled  with  a  Western 
im  Republic  "Raiders  of  the  Range."  It  is  well 
ade  and  well  acted  and  we  had  many  compli- 
rents  from  our  audience  on  it.  Played  Thursday, 
idav.  September  10,  11 — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New 
ltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 


MOONTIDE:  Jean  Gabin,  Ida  Lupino— Here  is 
one  of  those  different  pictures  that  will  either  be 
well  received  or  greatly  disliked.  It  went  over  very 
well  here  and  comments  were  excellent.  Personally 
I  liked  it  a  lot,  as  it  is  so  we'll  done.  Gabin  does 
an  unusually  fine  job.  If  your  bunch  likes  excellent 
dramatic  portrayals  they  will  certainly  like  this  one. 
Plaved  Friday,  Saturdav,  September  25,  26 — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  ITJ,  Alfred  Co- Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 
Small  college  town  patronage. 

PRIVATE  NURSE:  Jane  Darwell,  Brenda  Joyce 
— Fair  programmer  to  be  double-billed — Fred  Basha, 
Palace  Theatre,  Corner  Brook,  Newfoundland.  Small 
town  patronage. 

RISE  AND  SHINE:  Jack  Oakie,  Linda  Darnell— 
This  picture  would  have  been  much  more  popular 
here  in  about  1940  B.  C.  (Before  Conscription.)  But 
the  type  of  customers  I  cater  to  today  are  of  the 
general  opinion  that  a  pigskin  is  a  by-product  of 
a  weiner-roast:  they're  not  interested  in  football.  The 
picture  is  good  of  its  type,  but  did  no  business  here. 
Played  Monday,  Wednesday,  July  13-15 — Delmar  C 
Fox.  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Alberta,  Canada. 
Small  town  patronage. 

SUN  VALLEY  SERENADE:  Sonja  Henie,  John 
Payne — One  of  the  best  musicals  we  have  played  in 
a  long  time.  Glenn  Miller's  orchestra  sure  made 
a  hit  here — Fred  Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner 
Brook,  Newfoundland.     Small  town  patronage. 

THIS  ABOVE  ALL:  Tyrone  Power,  Joan  Fontaine 
— Good  picture,  but  business  was  only  average. 
Played  Wednesday,  Thursday.  September  23,  24— 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 
Small  town  patronage. 

TO  THE  SHORES  OF  TRIPOLI:  John  Payne. 
Maureen  O'Hara — A  very  good  picture  in  excellent 
color  that  pleased  unanimously.  Played  Thursday  - 
Saturday.  July  23-25 — Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre, 
Pincher  Creek,  Alberta,  Canada.  Small  town  patro- 
nage. 

YANK  IN  THE  R.A.F.:  Tyrone  Power,  Betty 
Grable — This  show  really  went  places.  It  is  one  of 
our  top  grossers  and  we  were  pleased  with  the  take. 
I  cannot  praise  it  too  highly,  as  it  sure  clicked  here — 
Fred  Basha.  Palace  Theatre.  Corner  Brook,  New- 
foundland.   Small  town  patronage. 


United  Artists 


CORSICAN  BROTHERS,  THE:  Douglas  Fairbanks, 
Jr. — A  very  good  show  that  went  over  the  top  at  the 
box  office.  It  is  jammed  full  of  action,  excitement, 
romance  and  thrills.  A  show  that  should  be  suited 
to  any  situation — Fred  Basha.  Palace  Theatre,  Cor- 
ner Brook,  Newfoundland.     Small  town  patronage. 

ELEPHANT  BOY:  Sabu— Business  O.K.  even 
though  picture  was  old.  Played  Tuesday,  Wednes- 
day, September  8,  9 — Terry  Axley,  New  Theatre, 
England,  Ark.     Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

MISS  ANNIE  ROONEY:  Shirley  Temple^A  very 
good  Shirley  Temple  picture  that  did  family  busi- 
ness— Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham. 
Ont. 

NEW  WINE:  Ilona  Massey.  Alan  Curtis— A  good 
show  based  on  the  life  of  Schubert  with  Ilona  Massey 


singing  many  of  his  immortal  melodies.  Strictly 
not  a  small  town  picture — Fred  Basha,  Palace  The- 
atre, Corner  Brook,  Newfoundland.  Small  town 
patronage. 

NEW  WINE:  Ilona  Massey,  Alan  Curtis— We  only 
played  this  one  day  and  glad  of  it.  Although  it  was 
a  good  picutre,  it  lacked  box  office  appeal.  Would 
not  recommend  it  for  a  small  town — Harland  Rankin, 
Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ont. 


Universal 


BROADWAY:  George  Raft,  Pat  O'Brien— My  pa- 
trons don't  like  to  look  in  other  peoples'  lives.  They 
want  excitement  and  George  Raft  used  to  give  it  to 
them  but  he  sure  didn't  in  "Broadway."  My  patrons 
walked  out  with  frowns  on  their  faces.  Played  on 
Bargain  Night.  Business — there  wasn't  any.  Played 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  September  22,  23— Miss  Edna 
Kelloff,  Ute  Theatre,  Aguilar,  Colo.  Small  town 
patronage. 

FRISCO  LIL:  Irene  Hervey,  Kent  Taylor— This 
is  good  filler  stuff;  it  holds  the  interest  and  will 
stand  up  on  a  program  where  you  need  drama,  with 
a  touch  of  music  and  action.  A  midweek  Cash 
Night  crowd  found  it  very  entertaining.  Played 
Thursday.  Friday,  September  24.  25— Thomas  Di 
Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 
Small  town  patronage. 

GIVE  OUT  SISTERS:  Andrews  Sisters— A  dandy 
little  musical  with  lots  of  laughs  and  some  good 
songs.  Our  customers  like  the  Andrews  Sisters  and 
business  was  good.  Flayed  Tuesday,  September  22 — 
Ritz  Amusements,  Inc.,  Park  Theatre,  North  Ver- 
non, Ind.    Small  town  patronage. 

HOLD  THAT  GHOST:  Abbott  and  Costello— This 
was  the  best  I  have  seen  yet.  With  a  little  effort 
on  your  part  you  should  get  them  in.  There's  plenty 
of  room  for  exploitation  on  this  one.  There's  a 
haunted  house  and  ghosts  to  work  on.  It's  a  natural 
for  small  towns,  so  if  you  haven't  played  this  one. 
vou  can't  go  wrong.  Plaved  Sundav.  Mondav,  Sep- 
tember 20.  21— Mrs.  Carroll  Michael,  Freeburn  The- 
atre, Freeburn,  Ky.  Small  town  and  coal  mining 
patronage. 

MISTER  V:  Leslie  Howard— This  picture  had  a 
strong  patriotic  appeal  to  small  town  audience.  Re- 
ceived a  good  hand  from  a  better-than-average  at- 
tendance in  small  town.  Plaved  Mondav -Wednesday, 
September  14-16— F.  G.  Poulter,  Capitol  Theatre,  Dun- 
can, B.  C.     General  patronage. 

RIDE  'EM  COWBOY:  Abbott  and  Costello— Why 
don't  other  companies  make  pictures  like  this  one. 
We  can't  get  enough  pictures  with  Abbott  and  Cos- 
tello. People  want  to  relax  and  enjoy  themselves 
when  they  go  to  a  movie  and  Abbott  and  Costello 
never  fail  to  make  patrons  laugh.  Played  Monday. 
September  7— Miss  Edna  Kelloff,  Ute  Theatre,  Agui- 
lar, Colo.     Small  town  patronage. 

SABOTEUR:  Robert  Cummings.  Priscilla  Lane— 
This  is  Hitchcock  but  far  from  his  best:  it's_  too 
long  and  a  little  far-fetched  and  its  implausible  situa- 
tions had  our  audience  uneasy.  Just  fair  business 
on  our  very  best  playing  time,  and  I  would  mark 
it  down  as  a  disappointment.  Our  advertising  em- 
phasized Hitchcock  but  it  didn't  hit.  Played  Satur- 
(Continued  on  following  page) 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT 

A  Wartime  Service  for  Exhibitors 


J  Are  you  looking  for  something  you  can't  buy?  Got  something  you  don't  need?  Then  tell  the 
Herald,  and  we'll  tell  the  world. 

5  This  service  is  offered — free  to  exhibitors,  of  course — to  further  the  conservation  of  those 
resources  upon  which  theatres  must  depend,  with  less  and  less  replenishment,  for  some  time  to 
come.  According  to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  "wTB  amusements  section,  only  the 
strictest  policy  of  conservation  throughout  the  theatre  business  can  assure  the  continued  operation 
of  our  theatres.  Everything  usable  must  be  used,  as  needed,  by  the  fellow  who  needs  it. 

5  If  you  have  something  to  swap,  describe  it  fully  enough  to  give  the  other  fellow  an  idea  as  to 
its  applicability  to  his  need,  and  similarly  describe  what  you  are  looking  for.  This  information 
will  be  published  promptly  in  the  Herald,  without  charge.  Write 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.Y. 


52 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,    I  942 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
day,  Sunday,  September  12,  13— Thomas  Di  Lorenzo, 
New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y.     Small  town 
patronage. 

SOUTH  OF  TAHITI:  Brian  Donlevy,  Brod  Craw- 
ford— Color  would  have  considerably  improved  this 
little  fairy  tale  which  nobody  took  seriously,  least 
of  all  the  actors.  I  have  an  appreciable  following 
for  this  type  of  picture,  but  they  were  very  con- 
spicuous by  their  absence.  No  fault  of  the  picture, 
though.  Played  Monday-Wednesday,  September  7-9 
— Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Al- 
berta, Canada.     Small  town  patronage. 

SPOILERS,  THE:  Marlene  Dietrich,  John  Wayne— 
A  natural  for  this  town.  Rain  hurt  the  receipts,  but 
those  who  braved  the  storm  all  thought  it  was  well 
worth  the  effort.  Played  Thursday-Saturday,  Sep- 
tember 10-12 — Delmar  C.  Fox,  Fox  Theatre,  Pincher 
Creek,  Alberta,  Canada.     Small  town  patronage. 


Warner  Bros. 

CAPTAINS  OF  THE  CLOUDS:  James  Cagney, 
Alan  Hale — This  broke  the  record  for  my  house.  Bus- 
iness went  into  a  dive  after  this  show.  Played 
Thursday-Saturday,  September  3-5— Delmar  C.  Fox, 
Fox  Theatre,  Pincher  Creek,  Alberta,  Canada.  Small 
town  patronage. 


CAPTAINS  OF  THE  CLOUDS:  James  Cagney, 
Dennis  Morgan— Splendidly  cast,  photographed  and 
colored.  Held  interest  of  small  town  audience 
throughout.  Played  to  capacity  audience  each  night. 
Played  Monday-Wednesday,  September  21-23 — F.  G. 
Poulter,  Capitol  Theatre,  Duncan,  B.  C.  General 
patronage. 


CAPTAINS  OF  THE  CLOUDS:  James  Cagney, 
Brenda  Marshall — A  small  town  natural.  Exception- 
ally fine  business — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre, 
Tilbury,  Ont. 

KINGS  ROW:  Ann  Sheridan,  Robert  Cummings— 
Very  good  show  held  the  patrons'  interest  to  the  very 
end.  They  all  came  out  for  this  one.  Played  Sun- 
day, Monday,  September  20,  21— Miss  Edna  Kelloff, 
Ute  Theatre,  Aguilar,  Colo.     Small  town  patronage. 

MALE  ANIMAL,  THE:  Henry  Fonda,  Olivia  de 
Havilland — Rather  funny  marital  mixup  but  of  no  in- 
terest to  the  children.  Fair  business  only  in  small 
town.  Played  Thursday -Saturday,  September  17-19 
— F.  G.  Poulter,  Capitol  Theatre,  Duncan,  B.  C. 
Adult  patronage. 

MALE  ANIMAL,  THE:  Henry  Fonda,  Olivia  de 
Havilland — Good  comedy,  with  business  slightly  above 
average.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  20,  21 
— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 
Small  town  patronage. 


Short  Features 
Columbia 

MATRI-PHONEY— Three  Stooges— Even  the  Stooge 
fans  thought  this  was  too  silly.  I  am  afraid  I  can- 
not recommend  it.  My  crowd  usually  likes  the 
Stooges  but  they  were  very  quiet  during  this  one — 
W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Al- 
fred, N.  Y. 


Metro-Gold  wyn-Mayer 

GREATEST  GIFT:  Routine  stuff— E.  M.  Frei- 
burger,   Paramount   Theatre,   Dewey,  Okla. 

INCREDIBLE  STRANGER:  Very  interesting  short 
story  with  some  suspense — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Al- 
fred Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

ROVER'S  LAST  CHANCE:  Our  Gang  Comedy- 
Entertaining  Our  Gang  comedy — E.  M.  Freiburger. 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


Paramount 

ALOMA  OF  THE  SARONG  SEAS:  Popeye  Car- 
toon— Average  Popeye  Cartoon — E.  M.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

HEDDA  HOPPER,  NO  6:  Entertaining  Holly- 
wood reel — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

QUIZ  KIDS  NO.  5:  This  is  good  stuff  and  gave 
our  audience  quite  a  kick.  It  is  interestingly  done, 
there's  nothing  dull  in  it,  and  it  ought  to  please  al- 
most anywhere  on  any  kind  of  a  bill — Thomas  Di 
Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 


Twentieth  Century-Fox 

GANDY  GOOSE  IN  THE  OUTPOST:  Quite  fast 


moving  and  funny  for  this  series.  It  is  black  and 
white— W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre, 
Alfred,  N.  Y. 

LIFE  WITH  FIDO:  Color  Cartoon— Good  color 
cartoon — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

SETTING  THE  PACE:  If  your  people  like  horses, 
they  ought  to  find  this  an  interesting  subject.  It's 
all  about  the  trotters  and  scenes  show  all  the  champs 
plus  the  1941  Hambletonian,  with  a  finish  at  Goshen, 
N.  Y. — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New 
Paltz,  N.  Y. 


Universal 

MERRY  MADCAPS:  Band  Musical— This  is  15 
minutes  of  good  music  and  comedy — they  ought  to 
like  it  on  any  show,  but  we  found  it  best  with 
Metro's  "Her  Cardboard  Lover"  where  it  put  a  leg 
under  an  otherwise  poor  bill — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo, 
New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 

SWING  FROLIC:  Nice  vaudeville  reel  with  no 
ham  acts — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op 
Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 


U.S.  Navy 

SUBS  AT  SEA:  Entertaining  free  reel— E.  M.  Frei- 
burger, Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


Warner  Bros. 

FOX  POP:  Color  cartoon— Clever  and  funny  color 
cartoon — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  The- 
atre, Alfred,  N.  Y. 

FRESH  HARE:  Elmer  is  a  Mountie  after  Bugs 
Bunny  and,  as  usual,  the  gags  are  fast  and  furious 
and  the  crowd  loved  it — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Al- 
fred Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred.  N.  Y. 

MARCH  ON,  AMERICA:  Warners  has  done  a 
good  job  of  using  clips  from  preceding  shorts  and 
features  to  show  the  story  of  America  in  color.  Well 
worth  showing — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op 
Theatre,  Alfred.  N.  Y. 

PLAYGIRLS,  THE:  Musical  short  featuring  girl 
band  and  vocalists.  Entertained  a  pleased  audience 
in  small  town — F.  G.  Poulter,  Capitol  Theatre,  Dun- 
can, B.  C. 

SPANISH  FIESTA:  Technicolor  Special— This  is 
strictly  for  the  highbrow  audiences  in  larger  cities 
and  college  towns.  Very  well  made,  excellent  color 
and  music.  It  will  prove  very  slow  material  in  an  ac- 
tion house — Thomas  Di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre, 
New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 


226  Bingo  Parties  in  Month 

There  were  226  city-licensed  Bingo  parties  in 
Cincinnati  in  August,  with  a  total  attendance 
of  246,110.  Gross  receipts  were  $195,441.57,  and 
prizes,  $45,859.73,  leaving  net  of  $149,581.84  for 
the  sponsoring  organizations,  according  to  re- 
port of  Police  Chief  Eugene  T.  Weatherly  ren- 
dered to  City  Manager  C.  O.  Sherrill,  who  is- 
sues the  playing  permits. 


Buys  Iowa  Theatres 

Nathan  Sandler  of  Des  Moines,  operator  of 
theatres  at  Missouri  Valley  and  Northwood, 
Iowa,  heads  a  company  to  be  known  as  The- 
atre Enterprises,  Inc.,  which  has  bought  the 
Rex  and  Co-Ed  theatres  at  Fairfield,  Iowa, 
from  E.  E.  Gaines.  R.  A.  Dunnuck,  present 
manager  of  the  Northwood  theatre,  will  man- 
age the  Rex  and  Co-Ed. 


Pal  Completes  First 

George  Pal,  producer  of  the  Puppetoon  series 
of  short  subjects  for  Paramount,  has  completed 
the  first  of  the  new  Puppetoon  series,  "Jasper 
and  the  Haunted  House."  This  will  be  Mr. 
Pal's  first  picture  to  be  completely  made  with 
his  new  cross-section  animation.  He  has  signed 
Willis  O'Brien  as  special  effects  cameraman. 


Joins  Warner  Branch 

Thomas  Germaine  has  joined  the  New  Haven 
Warner  exchange  to  fill  the  vacancy  created 
by  the  departure  of  Louis  Jacobson.  ad  salpc- 
man,  for  Army  service. 


Red  Cross  Sponsors 
Photo  Contest 

Norman  H.  Davis,  chairman  of  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross,  has  announced  a  national  pho- 
tographic competition  during  October,  Novem- 
ber and  December,  for  the  best  photographs 
by  amateurs  or  professionals  depicting  Red 
Cross  activity  or  symbolic  of  its  spirit. 

War  Bonds,  totaling  122,  and  with  a  total 
maturity  value  of  $5,125,  will  be  awarded  on  a 
monthly  basis  and  for  the  contest  as  a  whole. 
Photographs  previously  published  are  ineligible. 


Railroad  Subject  Ready 

The  New  York  Central  System  has  produced 
a  short  subject,  in  16mm  black  and  white,  titled 
"The  Freight  Yard,"  which  is  said  to  explain 
the  operation  of  a  railroad  yard.  The  film  was 
produced  under  the  direction  of  Frederic  G. 
Beach,  supervisor  of  the  motion  picture  bureau 
of  the  public  relations  department. 


Lewis  Succeeds  Hussey 

Robert  Hussey,  Paramount's  studio  radio 
contact,  has  resigned  to  join  the  Frank  Vin- 
cent Agency,  and  is  succeeded  by  Martin  Lewis, 
eastern  radio  contact  man.  Before  joining  Par- 
amount several  months  ago,  Mr.  Lewis  was 
editor  of  Movie-Radio  Guide  for  more  than  10 
years. 


Truslow  Universal  Booker 

Edward  Truslow  is  the  new  booker  at  the 
Des  Moines  Universal  exchange. 


STATEMENT  OF  THE  OWNERSHIP,  MANAGE- 
MENT, CIRCULATION,  ETC.,  REQUIRED  BY 
THE  ACTS  OF  CONGRESS  OF  AUGUST  24. 
1912,  AND  MARCH  3,  1933 
Of  Motion  Picture  Herald,  published  weekly  at  New 

York,  New  York,  for  Oct.  1,  1942. 
State  of  New  York  t 
County  of  New  York    J  SS- 

Before  me,  a  Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  and 
county  aforesaid,  personally  appeared  Theo.  J.  Sulli- 
van, who,  having  been  duly  sworn  according  to  law, 
deposes  and  says  that  he  is  the  Business  Manager  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Herald  and  that  the  following  is, 
to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  belief,  a  true  state- 
ment of  the  ownership,  management  (and  if  a  daily 
paper,  the  circulation),  etc.,  of  the  aforesaid  publication 
for  the  date  shown  in  the  above  caption,  required  by 
the  Act  of  August  24,  1912,  as  amended  by  the  Act  of 
March  3,  1933,  embodied  in  section  537,  Postal  Laws 
and  Regulations,  to  wit : 

1.  That  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  publisher, 
editor,  managing  editor,  and  business  managers  are: 
Publisher  &  Editor-in-Chief,  Martin  Quigley,  1270 
Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City;  Editor,  Terry  Ramsaye, 
1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City;  Managing  Editor,  Terry 
Ramsaye,  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City;  Business 
Manager,  Theo.  J.  Sullivan,  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y. 
City. 

2.  That  the  owner  is:  Quigley  Publishing  Company, 
Inc.,  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City;  Martin  J.  Quigley, 
1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City;  Gertrude  S.  Quigley, 
1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City;  Martin  S.  Quigley, 
1270  Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City ;  Colvin  W.  Brown,  1270 
Sixth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  City. 

3.  That  the  known  bondholders,  mortgagees,  and 
other  security  holders  owning  or  holding  1  per  cent  or 
more  of  total  amount  of  bonds,  mortgages,  or  other 
securities  are:  None. 

4.  That  the  two  paragraphs  next  above,  giving  the 
names  of  the  owners,  stockholders,  and  security  hold- 
ers, if  any,  contain  not  only  the  list  of  stockholders 
and  security  holders  as  they  appear  upon  the  books 
of  the  company  but  also,  in  cases  where  the  stock- 
holder or  security  holder  appears  upon  the  books  of 
the  company  as  trustee  or  in  any  other  fiduciary  rela- 
tion, the  name  of  the  person  or  corporation  for  whom 
such  trustee  is  acting,  is  given;  also  that  the_  said  two 
paragraphs  contain  statements  embracing  affiant's  full 
knowledge  and  belief  as  to  the  circumstances  and  con-  ; 
ditions  under  which  stockholders  and  security  holders  ! 
who  do  not  appear  upon  the  books  of  the  company  ! 
as  trustees,  hold  stock  and  securities  in  a  capacity 
other  than  that  of  a  bona  fide  owner;  and  this  affiant 
has  no' reason  to  believe  that  any  other  person,  associa- 
tion, or  corporation  has  any  interest  direct  or  indirect 
in  the  said  stock,  bonds,  or  other  securities  than  as  so 
stated  by  him. 

THEO.  J.  SULLIVAN, 
Business  Manager. 
Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  29th  day 
of  September,  1942. 

PAULA  BATES, 
Notary  Public  I 
N.  Y.  Co.  No.  3B1,  J 

[seal] 
(My    commission  ex- 
pires March  30th,  1943) 


October    10.  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


11 


MANAGERS" 


ROUND  TABLE 


<An  international  association  of  showmen  meeting  zveekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 


5CB  _ 


RTRUDE  VERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


OP 


The  Scrap  Drive 

N: 


zz~  z 


Doner  is  the  exhibitor  finished  wiih  his 
~  z  T-'.e  —  =  -  =  z'z  comes  z'z-'e-  zt~z~ 
i  to  get  his  teeth  into.  This  time  it's  tor  s< 
a    <  "  ~;. 

The  War  Production  Board  in  Washington  has  alreac 
cated  the  urgency  of  the  situation  with  regard  to  sen 
ber  and  metal.  Turning  to  the  theatres  as  trie  best 
agencies  in  the  country,  the  WPB  hopes  that  the  shown 

o  cse  v."c  :c5"5"5  ~~e~         :e  =5  successt".   =  ~  tr 

Drive  was  in  achieving  the  hoped-for  results. 

Directing  the  WPB's  cooperation  with  the  thea 
Monroe  Greenthal,  a  master  of  exploitation,  having  pi 
the  art  for  the  past  14  years. 

The  War  Activities  Committee  has  suggested  "four 
which  the  theatre  can  cooperate  in  this  drive.  Three  c 
are  active  and  the  fourth  passive.  They  were  deta 
page  17  of  the  October  3rd  issue  of  Motion  Picture 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  every  showman  will  adopt  one 
active  methods. 

As  usual,  the  Round  Table  stands  ready  to  act  as  < 
ing  house  for  ideas  from  showmen  on  how  to  get  in  ths 


On  the  Other  Hand 


ano 


L 


week,  this  page  carried  a  letter  from  Richard  L 
rcesier  of  the  Paramount  Theatres  service  department, 
ressing  the  view  that  it  was  unwise  to  publicize  air  raid 
precautions.  His  arguments  seemed  to  be  well  taken  and 
undoubtedly  many  members  of  the  Round  Table  agree 
with  him. 

This  week,  it  is  our  privilege  to  print  in  this  section  the  view- 
point of  Mr.  R.  S.  Roddick,  district  manager  for  the  Maritime 
3rovinces,  which  differs  completely  from  that  of  Mr.  Worcester. 
Mr.  Roddick  finds  that  in  Halifax  the  public  was  prepared  for 
any  eventuality,  especially  since  the  memory  of  the  disaster 
of  1917,  when  a  munitions  ship  exploded  in  the  harbor,  killing 
1 ,226  people,  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  many.  Accordingly, 
-he  equipment  which  was  once  kept  in  lockers  is  now  brought 
out  into  the  lobby  in  full  view  of  the  theatres'  patrons.  "The 
:-c  z  z~  -  tzzez  cc—ice'ce  --z~  e.e~.  -—>•.  z-zz-  z: 

increased  protection,"  he  says. 


Round  Tabler  Honored 

A.  J.  Kalberer,  manager  of  Switow's  Indiana  and  Liberty 
theatres,  Washington,  Ind.,  will  be  one  of  the  speakers  at  the 
Exhibitors'  Forum  to  be  held  in  Pittsburgh  next  week.  The 
Round  Table  can  consider  it  an  honor  that  Kal  has  been  chosen 
to  address  t-'s  -nesting,  since  he  is  a  regular  contributor  to 
its  columns  and  several  times  winner  of  a  Quigley  Quarterly 
Award. 

Kal  succeeds  Ed  Salzburg,  exhibitor  of  Bluefield,  W.  Va., 
=  3  ~~e  Fo-um's  expert  on  small  town  theatre  operation.  Ed  has 
gone  Into  me  Army.  Following  him  will  be  no  easy  task  but,  if 


Letter  from  England 

THE  arrival  of  the  foreign  mail  these  days  is  an  event  of 
Importance.  It  is  apparently  equally  important  in  foreign 
parts  when  the  mail  from  the  States  arrives.  Reynolds 
Roberts,  Round  Table  member,  and  manager  of  the  Elite 
theatre  in  Middlesbrough,  England,  winner  of  a  Citation  for 
excellence  in  the  Second  Quarter  competition  for  the  Quigley 
Awards,  writes: 

"You  will  be  pleased  to  know  my  Citation  Award  arrived 
safely  and  made  me  a  very  proud  man.  I  had  same  framed 
and  hung  in  my  office  exactly  55  minutes  after  receipt  of  same. 
In  these  days  when  we  do  not  know  if  the  ships  are  going  to 
make  harbour  or  not,  it  makes  one  more  eager  than  ordinarily 
to  lay  hands  on  these  coveted  Awards,  which  are  ample  reward 
for  any  difficulties  met  with  in  putting  over  a  stunt  in  these 
days  of  restrictions,  etc 

"Thanks  to  the  Herald,  I  have  received  a  very  nice  note 
from  a  fellow  Round  Tabler  in  Texas,  a  very  pleasant  contact 
that  tends  to  shorten  the  distance  between  our  two  countries. 

"I  attach  a  further  entry  for  the  Quigley  Award  compe- 
tition. 

In  the  tace  ot  all  the  restrictions  confronting  the  British  show- 
man today,  Roberts  carries  on  with  all  the  means  at  his  dis- 
posal, however  limited.  Not  content  with  merely  announcing 
the  titles  and  stars  of  his  attractions,  Roberts  boldly  resorts 
to  exploitation  despite  the  narrowed  opportunities  in  wartime 
Britain. 

—BOB  WILE 


54 


MOTION    PICTURE    H  ERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


THE  LATEST 

In  Fronts,  Lobbies  and  Tieups  from  the  Showselling  Showmen, 


This  interesting  front  sold  tickets  for 
Charles  Reed,  manager  of  the  Strand  theatre, 
Salina,  Kansas. 


Martin  Wurtzburg,  manager 
of  Leff's  Freeman  theatre  in  the 
Bronx,  used  these  ten  foot 
cutouts  for  the  repeat  run  of 
"Top  Hat".  That's  Al  Piatt, 
assistant  manager,  standing 
between  them. 


By  extinguishing  all  of  his  vertical  sign 
but  the  letter  "V",  John  Field, 
manager  of  the  GroVe  theatre, 
Chicago,   gets  quite  an  effect. 


This  display  was  in 
the  lobby  of 
Chakeres'  St.  Mary's 
theatre,  St.  Mary's, 
Ohio,  of  which 
Conrad  Mandross  is 
manager.  Conrad 
built  it  himself. 


Sid  Scott,  manager 
of  the  Capitol, 
Sudbury,  Ont.,  got 
a  display  in  Wool- 
worth's  window  for 
"Reap  the  Wild 
Wind."  Wool- 
worth's,  in  Sudbury, 
as  elsewhere,  is  on 
the  busiest  street. 


On  "Rubber  Racketeers", 
Louis  Charninsky,  manager  of 
the  Capitol  theatre,  Dallas, 
caused  a  lot  of  comment  with 
tires.    He  promoted  old  tires 
from  a  recapping  company  and 
painted  them  to  look  like  new. 
People  even  wanted  to  buy 
them  and  asked  lots  of 
questions,  too. 


October    10,    1 942 


MANAGERS 


ROUND  TABLE 


55 


Patrons  Taught  the  Polka 
As  Advance  on  "Iceland" 

Since  there  is  a  dance  in  the  picture  "Ice- 
land," introduced  as  the  *  "Lovers  Knot 
Polka,'"'  Ed  Fitzpatrick  at  Loew's  Poli,  in 
Waterbury,  Conn.,  anticipating  that  it  will 
be  highly  popular,  arranged  a  special  ad- 
vance screening  of  the  picture  for  local 
teachers  in  all  studios  and  teachers  of  high 
school  dancing  classes.  The  earl)-  showing 
was  held  in  order  to  give  the  instructors 
an  opportunity  to  become  familiar  with  the 
particular  Polka  routine. 

The  highlight  of  the  campaign  was  a  tie- 
up  with  the  dance  studios  and  high  school, 
whereby  each  supplied  the  theatre  with  a 
couple  in  appropriate  costume  to  teach  the 
new  dance  steps  in  the  lobby  a  week  ahead 
of  the  opening.  Lobby  posters  giving  credit 
to  each  studio  were  featured. 

Several  couples  during  the  week's  run  of 
the  picture  mingled  nightly  with  crowds  at 
one  of  the  leading  hotels,  where  they  intro- 
duced the  step  in  addition  to  giving  out 
guest  tickets  to  the  couples  the;-  considered 
outstanding.  Five  pairs  of  tickets  were  dis- 
tributed each  night,  while  the  hotel  orches- 
tra leader  plugged  the  stunt  in  advance. 


Sunday  Paper  Inserts 
Sell  "Panama  Hattie" 

In  addition  to  distributing  his  '"Panama 
Hattie"  programs  to  local  homes.  Clayton 
Cornell  at  the  Pontiac,  in  Saranac  Lake, 
X.  Y„  secured  further  coverage  by  getting 
them  inserted  in  the  Sunday  papers  deliv- 
ered to  rural  sections.  The  attraction  was 
plugged  on  the  regular  sports  program  over 
WXBZ,  with  a  review  of  the  feature  given 
on  the  Hollywood  Gossip  program  two  days 
prior  to  the  opening.  The  theatre's  Friday 
program  carried  the  transcription ;  this  is  also 
gratis  time.  A  one-sheet  easel  of  stills  with 
playdates  was  used  in  the  lobby,  while  song 
cover  title  sheets  were  mounted  around 
40  by  60  displays. 


Original  Stage  Coach  Promoted 
For  "Valley  of  the  Sun" 

To  lend  atmosphere  to  his  opening  of 
"  Valley  of  the  Sun"  at  the  Rialto  theatre, 
in  Phoenix,  Ariz.,  ''Carolina"  Brunson  pro- 
moted the  use  of  a  stage  coach  with  two 
old  pioneers  to  drive  about  town  ahead  of 
his  date.  An  Indian  in  full  regalia  did  a 
war  dance  atop  the  coach,  attracting  pedes- 
trians as  it  wended  its  way  about  the  city. 

Enclosing  some  sand  in  small  pay  en- 
velopes with  copy  reading:  "If  this  isn't 
enough  sugar,  get  your  own  'Sugar'  and 
take  her  to  see  "Valley  of  the  Sun.'  It's  a 
sweet  picture."  Brunson  distributed  these 
about  town.  A  special  false  front  was  con- 
structed for  the  engagement  carrying  out 
the  idea  of  an  old  Indian  trading  post  with 
large  24-sheet  cutout  over  the  marquee. 


Hamilton  Distributes  Blotters 

Reporting  from  his  new  post  at  the  Apex 
theatre,  in  Washington,  Jack  Hamilton  dis- 
tributed large  blotters  to  one  of  the  local 
colleges  with  copv  on  the  front  selling  his 
week's  show  of  "The  Pied  Piper"  with  "The 
Raven"  and  "The  Blue  Horizon,"  in  addi- 
tion to  institutional  copy.  Tack  also  sent 
out  to  his  special  mailing  list  a  government 
postcard  carrying  copv  on  the  short  subiect, 
"inside  Fighting  Rus'sia." 


Air  Raid  Precautions 
Publicized  in  Halifax 


by  R.  S.  RODDICK 

District  "Manager,  Maritime  "Provinces, 
Famous  Players  Canadian 

It  might  interest  fellow  Round  Tablers 
to  hear  something  of  our  experience  in 
Halifax  where  a  state  of  emergency  has  ex- 
isted for  some  years,  and  is  based  on  the 
memory  of  the  tragedy  which  occurred  here 
during  the  previous  war. 

The  average  state  of  mind  of  the  local 
resident  is  not  whether  an  emergency  will 
arise,  but  will  we  be  prepared  as  individuals 
and  as  a  well  organized  community  to  take 
care  of  ourselves  in  an  emergency.  During 
the  first  year  of  the  war,  we  were  believed 
to  be  vulnerable  in  ever)-  sense  of  the  word 
and  there  was  an  obvious  fear  of  conse- 
quences because  of  our  unorganized  state. 
Lack  of  general  knowledge  as  to  proper  pre- 
cautions aggravated  a  feeling  of  apprehen- 
sion. At  that  time,  we  in  charge  of  theatres 
took  what  precautions  we  thought  best,  but 
fearful  of  making  our  patrons  nervous,  we 
did  not  advertise  our  activities. 

Exhibits  Theatre  Preparedness 

We  soon  found  this  secretiveness  produc- 
ing the  opposite  effect  to  that  which  we  de- 
sired, and  not  only  the  general  public,  but 
the  authorities  became  concerned  over  the 
question  of  safety  in  public  buildings,  par- 
ticularly theatres.  Reversing  our  earlier  at- 
titude, we  exhibited  our  preparedness,  and 
made  no  secret  of  our  staff  drills.  Study- 
ing what  information  we  could  secure  we 
organized  all  theatres  into  an  Emergency 
Corps  that  standardized  protective  measures 
in  our  houses.  Long  before  authorities  had 
established  regulations  our  Halifax  theatres 
and  staffs  were  prepared.  The  new  Hali- 
fax Civil  Emergency  Committees  were  kept 
informed  very  frequently  of  our  progress. 

We  were  prepared  to  blackout  on  a  mo- 
ment's notice.  We  planned  our  own  dimout 
and  had  the  plan  approved.  Every  theatre 
employee  took  a  special  morning  course  in 
First  Aid  from  the  Chairman  of  the  new 


First  Aid  Defense  Committee.  Every  man- 
ager enrolled  as  an  Industrial  Warden, 
and  every  employee  as  an  Industrial  Guard 
of  the  A.  R.  P.  with  the  understanding  that 
our  duties  would  be  confined  to  the  theatres 
and  the  audience.  We  requested  and  secured 
instruction  from  the  Chief  of  the  Fire  De- 
partment, and  the  Chief  of  Police  for  our 
own  and  our  employees'  guidance.  The 
sand  pails,  sand  bags,  water  buckets,  special 
pumps,  scoops,  shovels,  and  other  special 
A.  R.  P.  equipment  which  we  had  earlier 
hidden  from  view  were  painted  white,  ini- 
tialed A.  R.  P.  and  placed  where  patrons 
could  see  them. 

Takes  Suggestions  to  Authorities 

Because  we  kept  a  step  or  so  ahead  of 
the  several  Civic  Defense  Committees,  be- 
cause we  told  them,  and  through  them  told 
the  public  of  our  preparedness,  we  achieved 
a  two  wajT  success.  The  theatres  were  and 
are  permitted  to  control  their  own  Emergen- 
cy organization  with  contact  only  from  the 
top  authority-.  Second,  and  equally  impor- 
tant, the  public  realized  that  theatres  were 
so  well  organized  that  they  accepted  them 
as  one  of  the  safest  places  in  which  to  be. 

We  have  found  it  valuable  to  take  sugges- 
tions to  the  authorities  rather  than  wait  for 
the  authorities  to  bring  their  suggestions  to 
us.  We  find  it  valuable  to  get  on  commit- 
tees so  that  we  in  the  theatres  are  actively 
important  in  the  community  defense  organi- 
zation. We  are  now  becoming,  in  fact,  a 
centre  for  the  dispensing  of  advice.  At  our 
Capitol  last  week,  we  exhibited  the  25  min- 
ute subject,  "Fire  Guard,"  and  staged  a  dis- 
play as  pictured  in  the  attached  photos  to 
inaugurate  a  campaign  for  recruits  for  our 
Halifax  "Fire  Watchers." 

If  we  must  live  under  such  a  threat  then 
proper  protection  alone  is  the  only  way  to 
alleviate  fear.  There  can  be  few  people 
whose  apprehension  is  aggravated  by  evi- 
dence of  efficiency.  At  least  we  have  found 
it  so  here.  Our  public  gain  added  confi- 
dence from  every  new  visible  proof  of  in- 
creased protection. 


Here's  bow  A.R.P.  equipment  is  displayed  at  the  Capitol  theatre  in  Halifax 


56 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,  1942 


Wrapping  Paper  Idea 
Aids  in  Williamson 


By  Webb  Stuaio 


Here's  the  float  which  represented  the  Lyric  theatre  in  the  parade  held  in  connection 
with  the  Bond  Rally  at  Williamson,  W.  Va.    Milton  Levine,  manager,  built  it. 


Outstanding  among'  the  many  ideas  used 
by  Milton  Levine,  manager  of  the  Lyric 
theatre,  Williamson,  W.  Va.,  to  increase 
the  sale  of  War  Bonds  and  Stamps  was 
one  involving  the  use  of  a  roll  of  wrapping 
paper.  The  whole  roll  is  ruled  off  and  a 
25-cent  War  Stamp  put  between  the  rules 
with  room  for  a  signature  alongside.  A 
heading  at  the  top  of  the  role  reads,  ''Dona- 
tion to  the  United  States  to  further  the  war 
effort.  No  reimbursement  expected  at  the 
Victory  House,  Williamson,  W.  Va."  After 
as  much  has  been  accumulated  as  is  thought 
possible  in  the  territory,  the  paper  will  be 
re-rolled  and  sent  to  Washington  with  the 
request  that  it  be  burnt.  The  idea  has  caught 
hold  rapidly  and  the  roll  is  fast  being  filled. 

Williamson's  Bond  Campaign  was  a  suc- 
cess partly  because  of  the  charm  of  Greer 
Garson,  who  made  a  personal  appearance 
in  the  city.  Levine,  who  was  chairman  of 


the  Bond  Rally,  arranged  a  huge  parade  to 
which  apparently  the  entire  city  gave  its 
attention.  One  of  the  highlights  of  the  pa- 
rade was  the  appearance  of  572  War 
Mothers  of  whom  two  were  Gold  Star 
Mothers.  Their  participation  in  the  parade 
was  exploited  to  the  end  that  the  utmost 
sentiment  could  be  established  in  the  inter- 
est of  War  Bonds.  Also  in  the  line  of  march 
were  labor  organizations,  school  bands,  de- 
fense orgnaizations  and  numerous  floats  in- 
cluding one  representing  the  Lyric  theatre. 

Greer  Garson  endeared  herself  to  the 
populace  by  her  spontaneous  act  of  taking 
two  orchids  from  her  lapel  and  pinning 
them  on  the  two  Gold  Star  Mothers,  who 
sat  on  the  platform  with  her.  This  left  12,- 
000  people  without  a  dry  eye.  Actual  Bond 
sales  were  $225,025,  which  figures  out  to 
$28  per  capita  in  Williamson. 

The  Victory  House,  which  was  built  in 
the  center  of  town,  contains  the  roll  of  paper 
mentioned  before  and  is  headquarters  for 
the  Bond  Drive.  Patriotic  wall  paper,  two 
guns  in  the  shape  of  a  "V"  and  a  picture 
of  George  Washington  are  on  the  wall  fac- 
ing the  door. 


Hamilton's  "Wind"  Windows 

To  aid  in  putting  over  his  date  on  "Gone 
With  the  Wind"  at  the  Shelby  theatre,  in 
Shelbyville,  Mo.,  F.  W.  Hamilton,  starting 
three  weeks  ahead  of  his  opening,  promoted 
numerous  window  displays  which  were  di- 
rectly tied  to  the  title  by  such  catch  lines 
as  "Gone  With  the  Wind  Sales  Prices." 


By  H.  P.  Looney 

This  roll  of  paper,  ruled  of,  and  with  a 
2  5  cent  War  Stamp  in  each  space  will  be 
filled  up  and  then  sent  to  Washington  to 
be  burnt.  The  idea  came  from  Milton 
Levine,  manager  of  the  Lyric  theatre, 
Williamson,  W.  Va. 


Walsh's  Strap  Hangers 

Eye-arresting  were  the  tinted  diamond 
shaped  trolley-bus  strap  hangers  which  were 
used  by  William  Walsh  to  sell  "This  Above 
All"  at  the  Comerford  Theatre,  in  Wilkes- 
Barre,  Pa.  The  card  carried  a  small  cut  of 
Tyronne  Power  and  Joan  Fontaine  with 
cast,  playdates  and  the  catch  line  at  the  top : 
"To  thine  own  self  be  true." 


Pollock  to  Hold 
Hallowe  'en  Party 


Hallowe'en  being  on  a  Saturday  night  this 
year  (Oct.  31),  Lester  Pollock,  manager  of 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  has  laid  plans  for 
a  midnight  show  in  the  traditional  style  to 
capture  some  extra  business. 

In  advance  the  lobby  will  be  decorated 
with  cornstalks,  pumpkins  and  weird  cut- 
outs, all  of  which  can  then  be  used  as  props 
on  the  night  of  the  show. 

The  show  itself,  scheduled  to  take  about  a 
half  hour,  will  use  three  employees  of  the 
theatre.  It  will  open  with  a  trailer  with 
copy  in  shaky  lettering  reading,  "The 
s-p-o-o-k-s  have  landed."  A  shot  will  ring 
out  offstage,  there  will  be  a  blackout  for  a 
few  seconds  and  then  a  flash  of  lights  with 
a  lightning  and  thunder  effect.  The  organ- 
ist dressed  as  the  phantom  of  the  opera  will 
then  emerge  from  the  pit. 

As  the  organist  finishes,  the  show  will 
begin.  There  will  be  several  plugs  for  War 
Bonds  in  this  show,  which  will  otherwise  be 
mostly  on  the  lighter  side. 

From  all  exits  of  the  theatre,  members  of 
the  staff  dressed  as  elves,  goblins  and  witches 
will  swarm  in  bringing  with  them  a  touch 
of  "Hellzapoppin,"  vending  chewing  gum 
popcorn,  etc.,  one  of  the  boys  going  slowly 
up  and  down  the  aisles  calling  mournfully 
for  Agnes,  his  longlost  wife.  A  man  and 
woman  dressed  in  formal  attire  will  come 
down  the  left  aisle  preceded  by  an  usher 
the  man  loudly  complaining  concerning  his 
seats.  From  the  upper  left  box  an  usher  will 
call  out  "I'll  give  you  personal  attention 
there  are  two  seats  here."  A  ladder  will 
be  placed  in  the  aisle  for  the  couple  to 
ascend  to  the  box. 

The  organist  will  then  play  "Take  Me 
Out  to  the  Ball  Game,"  while  six  figures 
wearing  black  sacking  with  phosphorous 
painted  skeletons  on  their  backs  will  slowly 
dance  across  the  stage.  Similar  other  gags 
will  be  used,  with  the  grand  finale  centering 
around  three  attractive  girls  singing  "God 
Bless  America";  inviting  the  audience  to 
join  in  the  singing. 


Brien's  "Fleet"  Transcription 

An  innovation  recently  used  by  Lige  Brien 
at  the  Belmar,  in  Pittsburgh,  consisted  of 
playing  a  transcription  of  "The  Fleet's  In" 
outside  the  theatre  before  the  opening  and 
also  while  the  audiences  were  waiting  for 
the  show  to  start.  The  stunt,  used  a  week 
ahead  of  the  opening  is  reported  by  Brien 
to  have  caused  plenty  of  comment. 

Kalberer's  Teaser  Ads 

To  usher  in  his  date  on  "How  Green  Wa: 
My  Valley"  at  Switow's  Indiana  theatre,  iv 
Washington,  Ind.,  A.  J.  Kalberer  used  r 
series  of  teaser  ads,  one  of  which  include< 
thumbnail  cuts  of  Walter  Winchell,  Louelk 
A.  Parsons,  Fred  Allen  and  Kate  Smith,  |p 
gether  with  their  quotes  on  the  picture. 


Street  Stencils  Featured 

To  help  sell  "This  Above  All"  at  the  In 
diana  theatre,  in  Indianapolis,  Ken  Collin 
and  Leonard  Tuttle  stenciled  the  street 
with  the  following  copy:  "This  Above  Al 
Buy  War  Stamps  and  Bonds  Now."  In  add 
tion,  the  boys  tied  up  a  leading  departmer 
store  for  a  book  window  on  the  picture. 


October    10,    1 942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


Ingenious  Contest  Sells 
"Miniver"  for  Poppay 

Sydney  P.  Poppa}.,  manager  of  Warners'" 
Majestic  Theatre,  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  ran  a 
contest  through  the  local  newspaper  for 
women  on  "Mrs.  Miniver,"5  giving  free 
tickets  for  the  best  answers  to  the  ques- 
tion: "Should  Women  Like  Mrs.  Miniver 
Keep  Their  Glamor  in  War  Time?""  In  ad- 
dition he  had  a  local  weekly  newspaper 
carry  a  two-column  serialization  of  the  pic- 
ture, getting  the  same  thing  in  advance  of 
"The  Gay  Sisters"'  and  a  two-column  cut 
of  "Unusual  Facts  Revealed""  with  "  Flight 
Lieutenant."  Also  for  Mrs.  Miniver,"  Pop- 
pay  prompted  a  full-page  co-operative  ad 
addressed  to  the  women  of  Gettysburg.  In  ad- 
dition, he  prevailed  upon  the  local  major 
to  issue  a  proclamation  for  ""Salute  to  Our 
Heroes"  month. 


Alldritt  Lands  Editorial 
On  "Mrs.  Miniver" 


plays  for  fifty  stores  in  the  trade  area,  each 
of  which  carried  a  card  stressing  playdates. 
In  addition,  bookmarks  were  distributed  in 
all  libraries  and  nearby  colleges. 

The  reaction  cards  from  local  prominents 
.vho  attended  an  advance  screening  were 
used  for  newspaper  ads  and  the  Round 
Tabler  also  promoted  100  "Miniver"  roses 
which  were  presented  to  women  attending 
the  first  show. 


Atmospheric  Lobby  Setpiece 
Clicks  on  "Pardon  My  Sarong" 

rounded  by  palm  leaves  formed  part  of  the 
;  atmospheric  display  created  by  D.  M.  Dil- 
[  lenbeck  at  the  Rialto  theatre,  in  Bushnell, 
c  111.,  to  sell  "Tardon  My  Sarong.'"  Set  up 
U  in  his  lobby  two  and  one-half  weeks  ahead 
T  >  or  his  engagement,  the  display  consisted  of 

palm  trees,  plenty  of  palm  leaves,  two  white 

anchors,  colored  rope  and  a  grass  blanket. 
I  The  colored  rope  was  used  for  spelling  out 
M  the  playdates.  Prior  to  the  one  week  in  ad- 
V  vance  of  playdate,  Dil  spelled  out  "  Coming 
I  boon"'  with  the  rope  :  this  was  later  changed 

tc  "Sunday,  Monday,  Tuesday." 


Greib's  "Bambi"  Window 

An  effective  window  display  for  "Bambi" 
was  promtoed  for  Larry  Greib  for  that  en- 
gagement at  the  RKO  Albee,  in  Brooklyn. 
iJIThe  center  of  the  display  featured  a  cutout 
I  of  '"Bambi,"  together  with  scene  stills  and 

I  ""Bambi"  books,  the  sale  of  which  was 
4'pl'Jgged  by  a  neat  card  which  carried  play- 

I I  date  copy. 


Hiehle's  "Fantasia"  Marquee 

As  an  attractor  in  advance  of  "Fantasia" 
It  it  the  Weller  theatre,  in  Zanesville,  Ohio, 
I  Ec  Hiehle  planted  cut-outs  of  the  various 
I.rharacters  atop  his  marquee.  For  his  street 
I  3a_lyhoo,  an  usher  dressed  as  one  of  the 
I  characters  covered  the  downtown  area  with 
li^ sandwich  sign  reading:  "Hi  Yah,  Folks? 
I  3onie  and  see  me  in,"  etc. 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  belotc  reflects  press  books  noic  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  oj 
view  oj  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  oj  these  pictures.] 

MY  SISTER  EILEEN  (Columbia):  The  fact  that  the  picture  is  adapted  from  the  stage 
play  can  be  emphasized  in  those  cities  which  saw  the  play.  They  are  listed  in  the 
press  book.  Reviews  from  the  play  can  be  quoted  and  blown  up  for  advance  lobby 
display.  Free  admission  could  be  offered  to  anyone  who  presented  the  program  of 
the  play.  The  mailing  list  of  the  theatre  which  housed  the  play  would  be  a  fruitful 
source  of  interested  customers.  There  are  numerous  lobby  displays  in  the  press  book 
which  can  be  made  in  the  theatre;  others  are  available  from  the  exchanges.  Such 
ideas,  for  example  as  a  laugh-o-graph  which  stresses  the  comedy  of  the  picture,  and 
an  animated  setpiece  which  can  be  made  from  the  one-sheet  poster.  [Tiere  are  a 
number  of  cartoons  available,  all  headed  "My  Sister  Eileen  Says:",  with  gag  lines 
below.  These  are  useful  for  newspaper  publicity,  in  heralds  or  programs,  as  a  part 
of  ads  or  imprinted  on  cards  and  used  as  throwaways.  It  might  be  a  good  idea  to 
invite  ail  the  local  "Eileens"  to  the  theatre  and  admit  them  free — provided,  of  course, 
thai  they  are  accompanied  by  their  sisters.  If,  by  chance,  you  find  one  who  has  a  sis- 
ter, Ruth,  this  should  make  an  excellent  newspaper  feature.  Since  a  valise  figures 
prominently  in  all  the  ads  and  in  the  picture  itself,  displaying  a  valise  in  the  lobby 
in  advance,  with  copy  indicating  that  it  belongs  to  "My  Sister  Eileen",  might  be  a 
good  selling  slant.  Since  the  picture  is  full  of  wisecracks,  a  wisecrack  contest  is  indi- 
cated. This  can  be  run  in  several  ways;  one  suggested  is  the  four-day  contest  illus- 
trated in  the  press  book,  which  has  some  smart  cracks  and  requests  the  answers.  Since 
the  picture  is  replete  with  embarrassing  situations  for  Eileen  and  her  sister,  an  essay 
contest  in  which  local  girls  detail  their  most  embarrassing  experiences  would  fie  up 
nicely  with  it.  To  illustrate  this,  some  of  the  situations  which  occur  in  the  picture  can 
be  used  as  illustrations.  There  are  a  couple  of  classified  ads  which  are  apropos  to  run 
in  connection  with  this  picture.  One  in  the  personal  column  says,  "Dear  Frank:  'My 
Sister  Eileen'  wants  to  meet  you  at  the  State  theatre  beginning  Sunday".  Another  in 
the  lost  and  found  column  reports  that  "My  Sister  Eileen"  has  been  lost — last  heard  of 
in  jail.  This  also  suggests  that  a  tieup  be  made  with  the  newspaper,  through  the  pro- 
motion manager,  using  the  still  depicting  the  two  girls  looking  for  a  room.  The  head- 
ing can  suggest  that  it  is  futile  to  walk  about  looking  for  room,  that  the  classified 
columns  of  the  Gazette  have  the  best  ads,  etc.  In  cooperation  with  the  newspaper, 
or  by  herald  with  the  cooperation  of  local  stores,  a  certain  girl  can  be  selected  as 
"My  Sister  Eileen".  She  can  be  identified  by  profile  pictures  or  even  from  the  back. 
Her  itinerary  can  be  announced  and  a  prize  of  a  guest  ticket  offered  to  anyone  who 
identifies  her.  There  are  several  angles  on  which  the  editor  of  the  woman's  page  of 
the  local  paper  can  be  approached  in  connection  with  "My  Sister  Eileen".  For 
example,  Rosalind  Russell  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  world's  ten  best-dressed  women. 
Her  selections  for  a  wartime  wardrobe  for  women  are  therefore  especially  interesting. 
This  is  detailed  in  the  press  book  and,  in  fact,  it  is  almost  exactly  the  same  as  the 
outfit  she  wears  in  the  picture.  The  ten  best-dressed  women  in  your  community  might 
be  selected  in  connection  with  this  engagement.  A  contest  in  which  the  newspaper, 
the  school  and  some  local  stores  cooperate  might  be  arranged  in  which  a  Victory 
wardrobe  might  be  designed  and  described.  Since  both  sisters  leave  their  homes  to 
pursue  the  arts — one  to  be  a  writer,  the  other  an  actress — it  might  be  a  good  idea 
in  this  connection  to  compare  their  experiences  with  those  of  local  people,  particularly 
girls,  who  have  left  town  to  become  successful  in  the  arts.  There  is  a  scene  in  which 
the  two  sisters,  together  with  the  Portuguese  merchant  marine  cadets,  dance  the  conga 
and  there  are  several  posters,  etc.,  depicting  this  scene.  Therefore,  a  conga  contest 
is  indicated.  Tnere's  a  Chesterfield  tieup  available  which  should  make  it  easy  to  get 
attention  for  the  picture  in  cigar  store  windows.  There  are  two  editions  of  the  book, 
"My  Sister  Eileen",  which  will  enable  the  theatreman  to  obtain  seme  attention  In 
bookstores  and  public  libraries.  A  cooperative  ad  page  might  be  arranged  using 
the  headline,  "My  Sister  Eileen  Goes  Shopping".  Novelties,  such  as  a  ration  card  for 
"smileage"  with  some  clever  comedy  on  it,  and  a  double  sided  hangar  to  fold  in  half 
and  look  like  a  suitcase,  would  aid  the  selling  campaign.  There  are  a  number  of  fashion 
stills  available  which  can  be  used  for  tieup  purposes  in  stores  selling  women's  apparel. 
There  are  also  tieup  stills  available  for  various  other  types  of  merchandise.  The  picture 
can  also  be  tied  up  with  the  War  Bond  campaign  by  using  the  line:  "  "My  Sister  Eileen' 
buys  War  Bonds  regularly.  So  do  I.  Buy  a  War  Bond  today". 


58 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,    I  942 


THE  BOND  DRIVE  CONTINUES 


Bond  buyers  in  Indianapolis  got  a 
free  ride  in  a  jeep,  reports  Bill  Elder, 
manager  of  Loew's  theatre  there. 
This  was  a  cooperative  enterprise  in 
which  all  the  theatres  in  Indianapolis 
shared. 


WORLD  SERIES 


ARMY  vs.  NAVY 


STAM  P  BALL  l~S 

AT  BAT  HH    STRIKES  ■  BALLS*    OUTSHI  |  j  v 


By  James  Nevtns 


The  theatres  in  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  have  kept  the  sale  of  Stamps  going  at  a  fast 
pace  through  this  baseball  game.  Stamp  buyers  espouse  either  Army  or  Navy;  if 
Army  is  batting,  for  example,  a  25  cent  Stamp  bought  for  Army  gives  him  a  ball, 
a  25  cent  Stamp  for  Navy,  a  strike.  Left  to  right  in  this  picture  are  the  city's 
theatre  managers:  Clarence  Force  of  RKO  Keith's,  David  Mauitty  of 
the  Pix;  Edythe  Sullivan  of  the  Colony,  Arthur  Egberts  of  Loew's  and 
Charles  Lyon  of  the  Strand. 


Salute  To  Our  Heroes  Honor  Gallery 

LOCAL   HEROES   SERVING    IN    UNCLE  SAM'S  ARMED  FORCES 


GIVE  THEM  YOUR  SUPPORT  - 


BUY  A  BOND  NOW  ! 


4*4 


Joe  Nevison,  manager  of  the  Bromley,  Philadelphia,  erected 
this  gallery  of  local  heroes  in  the  lobby.   Whenever  anyone 
stops  to  examine  the  photos,  a  Bromley  Victory  girl 
approaches  with  an  appeal  to  buy  Bonds  or  Stamps. 


All  this  merchandise  was  auctioned  at  the  Riviera  theatre, 
Detroit,  for  War  Bonds.  The  auction  was  held  from  the  stag< 
and  arranged  by  Hyman  Bloom,  manager  of  the  theatre, 
unit  of  United  Detroit  Theatres. 


Bill  Morton  pushed  the  sale  of 
War  Bonds  at  the  Albee  the- 
atre, Providence,  R.  I.,  by  hav- 
ing a  Coast  Guard  induction 
on  the  stage.  The  picture  shows 
the  white  hatted  members  of 
the  Band  in  the  background. 
A  full  house  applauded  the 
recruits. 


Ed  May  of  the  Russell  theatre,  Mays- 
ville,  Ky.,  erected  his  Bond  booth  in 
front  of  the  Woolworth  store,  which 
traditionally  the  busiest  spot  in  town. 


October    10,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


59 


Heralds  Dropped  from  Planes 
Help  Sell  War  Bond  Drive 

For  the  opening  gun  of  the  Billion  Dollar 
Bond  Drive,  Harry  L.  Nace,  head  of 
Richards-Nace  Inc.,  in  Phoenix  and  Chair- 
man for  the  Arizona  Drive,  planned  a  mile 
and  one-half  parade  from  the  nearby  Luke 
Field  to  the  theatre.  Permission  was  granted 
from  Washington  for  three  army  planes  to 
fly  over  the  city  dropping  heralds.  In  large 
red  type  across  the  top  were  the  words: 
"This  could  have  been  a  bomb  from  an 
enemy  plane,  blasting,  smashing,  tearing  you 
and  your  wife  and  children  and  your  home 
and  your  business  into  little  pieces.  We 
should  be  glad  that  it  is  our  privilege  to 
invest  in  more  and  more  War  Bonds  to  help 
build  thousands  and  thousands  more  of  those 
planes  to  prevent  the  home  fires  from  being 
started  by  incendiary  bombs."  etc. 

Also  listed  on  the  herald  was  information 
to  the  effect  that  a  special  show  would  be 
held  at  the  Orpheum  theatre,  admission  be- 
ing the  purchase  by  adults  of  a  Bond  or 
War  Stamps  for  boys  and  girls  under  16. 
Since  Sgt.  Gene  Autry  is  stationed  at  Luke 
Field,  Mr.  Nace  arranged  for  the  star  to 
appear  at  the  opening  of  the  Bond  Rally. 

Cardboard  Footsteps 
Feature  Martin's  Bond  Booth 

One  of  the  War  Bond  Booths  set  up  in 
1   the  lobby  of  the  Fox  Rosemary  theatre,  in 
I  Ocean  Park,  Cal.,  by  Dave  Martin,  manager 
and  his  assistant,  Mercer  Threadgill,  fea- 
tured footsteps  cut  out  of  cardboard  with 
"V  for  Victory"  copy  and  leading  from  the 
j  front  doors  to  the  booth.    A  card  alongside 
'  a  large  lamp  carried  copy  reading:  "Never 
j  Let  the  Light  of  Freedom  Go  Out.  Buy 
War  Bonds." 

The  candy  bar  counter  displayed  a  cutout 
of  Santa  Claus  with  a  sign  atop  reading: 
"You  can  play  Santa  Claus  every  day  in 
the  year.  Buy  some  candy  bars  for  a  sol- 
dier boy  right  now."  A  large  red,  white 
and  blue  barrell  with  a  glass  top  was  set  up 
in  front  of  the  bar  for  candy  deposits. 

Teaser  Campaign  Opens 
Matlack's  Bond  Drive 

Jack  Matlack,  exploiteer  for  the  Hunt 
Theatres,  in  Medford,  Ore.,  started  off  his 
Bond  Drive  with  a  teaser  campaign  in  the 
local  papers  three  days  ahead  of  the  opening 
on  the  stages  of  all  four  Medford  theatres. 

The  first  day's  ad  on  one  column  just 
carried  the  words  "Wanta  Go  Skunk  Hunt- 
ing?" This  was  followed  the  second  day  by 

j  the  same  size  ad  reading:  "Wanta  Go  Skunk 
Hunting  with  Your  Medford  Theatre?", 

.  while  for  the  third  and  last  day  a  two- 

;  column  by  eight  inch  ad  was  used  with  copy : 
"Let's  Get  Those  Skunks  Before  Winter. 
A  'Salute  to  our  Heroes'.  Join  the  Medford 
Theatres  in  the  biggest  skunk  hunt  in  his- 
tory, starting  today  in  every  theatre  in  the 

|  land  an  all-out  effort  to  double  War  Stamp 
sales.  Each  stamp  you  buy  here  helps  to  buy 
a  bond  and  Bonds  Buy  Bullets  and  Bullets 
Leave  Gaps  Where  There  Used  to  be  Japs." 


Gives  a  Pass  for  Bond  Sale 

To  each  purchaser  of  a  War  Bond  at  the 
Bailey  Theatres,  in  Princeton,  111.,  Samuel 
T.  Traynor,  general  manager,  gave  a  free 
admission  to  his  show.  Traynor  reports  that 
this  offer  was  responsible  for  boosting  his 
Bond  Sales  during  the  month  of  September. 


Last  Contenders  for  Third 
Quarter  Quigley  Awards 

These  showmen  submitted  campaigns  during  the  last  two  week  period  of  the  Third 
Quarter  of  1942  in  the  Quigley  Awards.  The  judges  have  already  made  their  selections 
which  will  be  announced  in  next  week's  Round  Table  section. 


EDWARD  E.  ALLEN 
Mt.  Vernon  Open  Air 
Alexandria,  Va. 

LOUIS  CHARNINSKY 
Capitol,  Dallas,  Tex. 

CHRIS  CHRISTOS 
Lincoln,  Chicago,  III. 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

FRANCIS  DEERING 
Loew's,  Houston,  Tex. 

JOSEPH    DE  PAUL 

Soo  Amusement  Company 

Sioux  Ste.  Marie,  Mich. 

BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

DEANE  H.  EM  LEY 
Strand,  Elmira,  N.  Y. 

J.  N.  FENDLEY 
Martin,  Roanoke,  Ala. 


JOHN  FIELD 
Grove,  Chicago,  III. 

ED  J.  FISHER 

Loew's,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

ED  FITZPATRICK 

Loew's  Poli,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

GEORGE  FRENCH 

BILL  MORTON 

RKO  Albee,  Providence,  R.  I. 

JOE  GOLDSTEIN 
Cameo,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

JACK  HAMILTON 
Apex,  Washington,  D.  C. 

BOB  KESSLER 

Benn,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

SIDNEY  H.  KLEPER 

Poli  Bijou,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

FRANK  KOVALITZ 
Granada,  Olyphant,  Pa. 

CONRAD  MANROS 

St.  Mary's,  St.  Mary,  Ohio 


JACK  MATLACK 

Hunt  Theatres,  Medford,  Ore. 

ED  MAY 

Russell,  Maysville,  Ky. 

IDAMAE  METCALFE 
Rapids,  Rock  Rapids,  la. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

J.  G.  SAMARTANO 

Poli  Palace,  Meriden,  Conn. 

FRANCIS  B.  SCHLAX 
Kenosha,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

SID  SCOTT 

Capitol,  Sudbury,  Ontario 

EDWARD  SELETTE 

Strand,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

CLYDE  SMITH 

Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

A.  C.  VALLET 

Linden,  St.  Albans,  N.  Y. 

MARTIN  WURTZBURG 
Freeman,  Bronx,  N.  Y. 


Lobby  Christmas  Tree 
Plugs  Bond  Sales 

Promoting  an  artificial  Christmas  tree  to 
be  used  in  his  lobby,  Ervin  J.  Sedlack  at  the 
Frolic  theatre,  in  Chicago  had  a  22  by  28 
card  made  up  with  copy:  "Make  the  boys  in 
service  a  Christmas  in  September.  Buy 
Bonds  and  Stamps  Now." 

Each  time  a  patron  purchased  a  bond,  a 
little  card  was  made  up  with  the  person's 
name  and  denomination  and  this  was  at- 
tached to  the  tree.  Sedlack  says  the  tree 
was  practically  laden  with  cards. 


Kleper  Winds  Up  Bond  Rally 
With  Special  Stage  Show 

As  a  climax  to  the  Salute  to  Heroes 
Month,  Sidney  Kleper  at  the  Poli-Bijou,  in 
New  Haven  held  a  special  show  on  Sep- 
tember 24th.  The  aid  of  the  Yale  R.O.T.C. 
was  enlisted  to  present  the  colors  and  furnish 
gun  bearers.  The  Treasury  Department  also 
had  a  speaker  on  hand  to  open  the  ceremo- 
nies, which  included  an  imposing  list  of 
entertainers.  The  local  dailies  came  through 
with  stories  in  advance  of  the  show,  urging 
all  to  attend. 


The  first  WAVES  to  appear  before  any  audience  were  presented  on  the  stage  of  Loew's 
Century  in  Baltimore  last  Friday.  Then  they  went  to  the  lobby  to  answer  questions 
regarding  WAVES  and  aid  George  Avis  in  the  sale  of  War  Bonds.  That's  Wiliam  K. 
Saxton,  manager,  at  the  right. 


60 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Christos  Stages  a  Men's 
Bathing  Beauty  Contest 


Here's  the  final  lineup  in  the  men's  bathing  beauty  contest  staged  by  Chris  Christos 
at  the  Lincoln  theatre,  Chicago. 


Tired  of  the  usual  bathing  beauty  contest 
(which  he  held  this  year),  Chris  Christos, 
manager  of  the  Lincoln  theatre,  Chicago, 
decided  to  hold  a  men's  bathing  beauty  con- 
test with  the  humorous  angle  dominant.  The 
affair  started  out  with  the  question  in  the 
theatre's  program :  "Whose  form  is  more 
beautiful — man's  or  woman's?"  A  local 
clothing  store  gave  a  suit  to  the  winner.  The 
audience  was  the  judge,  applause  being  the 
determining  factor. 

Miss  Lincoln,  who  had  been  selected  the 
previous  week  was  present  at  the  affair  and 
the  two  winners  were  presented  to  the  audi- 
ence simultaneously  so  that  the  question  of 
the  hour  could  be  answered — did  the  audi- 


HAPPY  BIRTHDAY 


October  9th 

Alva  J.  Sitton 
Don  L.  Knapp 
Gus  J.  Catamas 

A.  J.  Klokkevold 
Henry  F.  Meyer 
Abe  Dermer 
Erwin  Koenigsreiter 

1 0th 

Laurel  Nelson 
Lewis  A.  Doran 
Raleigh  W.  Sharrock 
Joe  Kendall 
I .  Goldstein 
Don  C.  Malloy 
Howard  S.  Hunt 
Samuel  W.  Kendall 
Robert  F.  Griffith 
Roberts.  Busch 

I  Ith 

B.  L.  Kearney 

Henry  G.  Santos 
J.  B.  Schotburgh 
James  S.  Ackron 
Gordon  W.  McLean 
H.  Clyde  Fuller,  Jr. 

12th 

Jack  Fieman 
A.  Jerry  Cooper 
Oscar  A.  Brotman 
Henry  G.  Hall 
Earle  S.  Home 


October  12th 

Bill  Smith 
Archie  Adams,  Jr. 
Robert  Goldstein 
John  G.  Broumas 

13th 

Bill  C.  Talley 
Moe  Farber 
Curby  A.  Smith 
John  W.  Howe 
Bruce  Royal 
Douglas  B.  Keyes 

14th 

B.  H.  Powers 
Joseph  Herman 
Ray  McLain 
Merritt  Pragg,  Jr. 
Louis  Williams 
Kirby  Griffin 
George  J.  Posner 
Owen  B.  McFarland 

15th 

Morris  Kaufman 
Frank  Dancer,  Jr. 
Louis  W.  Young 
Ralph  H.  Lundgren 

C.  Don  Sheedy 
E.  O.  Gabriel 
R.  D.  Olson 
Sam  A.  Kimball 
Frank  Bartholomay 
Fred  W.  Curtice 


ence  think  the  male  or  female  human  form 
the  more  beautiful  ? 

Although  Chris  reported  that  there  were 
many  men  who  wished  to  enter  a  legitimate 
body  showoff  contest,  they  were  not  en- 
couraged, inasmuch  as  such  an  event  would 
have  lacked  humor.  Those  in  the  contest 
were  selected  with  the  humorous  angle  in 
mind.  Tall  ones,  short  ones  and  fat  ones 
were  selected.  Some  of  the  suits  were  rented 
from  costuiuers ;  so  were  the  wigs. 

As  far  as  publicity  was  concerned,  no- 
body in  the  neighborhood  talked  of  any- 
thing else  for  two  weeks  in  advance.  Every 
time  the  screen  trailer  was  shown  a  loud 
murmur  ran  through  the  audience.  The 
night  of  the  presentation  was  one  of  the  most 
humid  of  the  year.  If  it  had  been  cool,  it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  take  care  of  all 
the  people  who  attended.  Seating  capacity 
is  1,200  and  there  were  1,475  in  the  Lincoln 
when  the  show  started. 

Among  the  novel  ideas  which  Chris  used 
in  his  role  of  master  of  ceremonies,  was  to 
have  the  winning  man  offer  to  kiss  any 
women  who  would  buy  a  Bond.  Chris  had 
a  couple  planted  to  do  this  and  amidst 
laughter  and  cheering  they  went  up  on  the 
stage  and  received  their  reward. 


Juanita  Jones,  Once  a  Model 
Now  an  Assistant  Manager 

Meet  Miss  Juanita 
Jones.  She's  assist- 
ant manager  of  the 
Terrace  theatre  on 
23rd  Street  in  New 
York.  It's  one  of 
the  houses  of  the 
Brandt  Circuit  and 
it  serves  the  develop- 
ment known  as  Lon- 
don Terrace.  Juanita 
was  once  a  model 
and  judging  from  the 
picture,  it's  no  won- 
der. In  the  theatre, 
she  was  first  a  cashier  and  was  but  recently 
promoted  to  her  present  post.  She  is  one  of 
the  few  women  assistants  in  the  Metropolitan 
area.  She  has  been  active  in  the  War  Bond 
Drive  and  also  in  gathering  scrap. 


October    10,     I  942 


Showmen  on  the  Move 

ABE  SUNBERG,  manager  of  the  Viola 
theatre,  in  Philadelphia,  has  been  moved  to 
the  Girard  there,  succeeding  Walter  Potom- 
kin,  who  left  to  join  the  armed  forces. 


ROBERT  CHECK  has  been  made  assist- 
ant manager  of  the  Rialto  theatre,  in  Lewis-  , 
town,  Pa.,  succeeding  his  brother  John,  who  ■ 
has  gone  into  the  Army. 


MICHAEL  CHAKERES,  managing  di- 
rector of  the  Chakeres-Warner  Theatres,  in 
Springfield,  Ohio,  has  resigned  to  enter  the 
armed  forces. 


HARRY  LYONS,  RKO  city  manager,  in 
Yonkers,  has  resigned  to  join  the  Navy. 


Samartano  Celebrates 
Micky  Mouse's  Birthday 

For  the  annual  Mickey  Mouse  Birthday 
party  at  the  Poli-Palace  theatre,  in  Meriden, 
Conn.,  Joe  Samartano  booked  ten  cartoons, 
featured  a  local  revue  promoted  from  a  danc- 
ing school  and  distributed  promoted  gifts  for 
the  kids.  To  sell  the  show,  Joe  printed  tinted 
heralds  with  a  cut  of  Mickey  and  a  banner 
head  reading  "Hey  Kiddies.  Look.  Here's'' 
a  real  Treat."  This  was  followed  by  copy  on" 
the  show  together  with  playdate. 


Fendley  Addresses  Nurses 
For  "Shores  of  Tripoli" 

Concentrating  on  the  patronage  of  nurses  fo, 
his  date  on  "Shores  of  Tripoli"  at  the  Martir 
theatre,  in  Roanoke,  Ala.,  J.  N.  Fendley  ad- 
dressed individual  letters  to  nurses  at  the 
hospitals  calling  attention  to  the  fact  tha 
Maureen  O'Hara  portrayed  the  part  of  i 
nurse  in  the  picture.  In  addition  telegram 
advising  of  the  opening  were  also  sent  t 
beauty  shops  in  town. 


Slinker's  "Moontide"  Slant 

If  you  have  a  sphygomamometer  in  you 
town,  you  might  have  a  college  psychologi 
conduct  an  emotional-  reaction  test  with 
local  girl  as  a  subject  similar  to  the  stu 
used  by  Manager  H.  Slinker  of  the  Jayhaw 
Theatre,    Topeka,    Kansas,    and  Tomm 
Thompson,  Research  Expert  from  the  20tj 
Century-Fox      Exploitation  Departmen 
Professor    Collier,    Washburn  Municip 
University  phychologist,  was  induced  to  re 
cord  the  emotional  ^reaction  test  during 
screening  of  "Moontide." 


Rosenfield's  "Miniver"  Ad 

A  peach  of  a  tie-up  herald  was  that  pi 
out  by  Joe  Rosenfield,  of  the  Palace,  in  Mi 
waukee,  for  "Mrs.  Miniver."  On  one  sic 
he  had  a  layout  of  photos  from  the  film;  o 
the  other,  blackout  and  air  raid  regulation 
established  by  the  mayor  of  Milwauke  j 
The  heralds  were  distributed  at  defend 
plants  and  to  air  raid  wardens. 


"Panama  Hattie"  Ballyhoo 

Seven  days  in  advance  of  his  showing 
"Panama  Hattie"    at    Loew's  theatre, 
Rochester,  Lester  Pollock  had  two  attracti 
girls  cover  the  main  streets  carrying  lar 
white  parasols  on  which  the  title  letters  ai 
"Coming  Soon"  were  printed. 


October  10 


1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


CLASSIflEE) 
ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


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Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
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Brandt  direct  coin  machines.  S89.50.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
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WANTED:  THEATRE  ORGAN  CONSOLE  M. 
MAYNARD.  11  Kramer  Avenue,  Caldwell,  N.  J. 


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bulletin  ready  —  ask  for  yours !  Typical  values,  Spot- 
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'This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshop*  of  the 
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by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
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and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well  a* 
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62 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


OBITUARIES 

Mrs.  Mary  Donegan,  Ad 
Film  Producer,  Dead 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Donegan,  48,  producer  of  ad- 
vertising films  for  the  Loucks  and  Norling 
Studios,  New  York,  died  in  that  city  October  1st. 

Before  joining  the  Loucks  and  Norling  Stu- 
dios four  years  ago,  Mrs.  Donegan  had  been 
publicity  director  and  later  fashion  director  of 
the  Lord  and  Taylor  department  store.  Pre- 
viously she  had  been  an  assistant  editor  of  Lib- 
erty magazine.  During  the  World  War  she 
was  a  captain  in  the  Army  Nurse  Corps  and 
served  overseas. 


A.  J.  Cooper 

Funeral  services  were  held  September  29th 
in  Cleveland,  for  Arthur  J.  Cooper,  SO,  who  at 
various  times  managed  the  Butterfly,  Alhambra 
and  Riverside  theatres  in  Milwaukee  and  prior 
to  that  the  old  Casino,  Riviera,  Strand  and 
Bijou  in  La  Crosse,  Wis. 

Prior  to  his  entering  the  theatre  business, 
Mr.  Cooper  had  been  an  engineer  on  Great 
Lakes  boats  and  in  recent  years  had  resumed 
that  work. 


Leon  Brown 

Leon  Brown,  73,  actor  and  stage  manager, 
died  at  his  home  in  New  York  October  5th. 
Born  in  Dixmont,  Me.,  Mr.  Brown  entered  the 
theatrical  profession  in  1895.  He  appeared  with 
a  number  of  stars  of  past  seasons,  including 
Doris  Keane,  Elsie  Ferguson,  Margaret  Anglin, 
Henry  Miller  and  Arnold  Daly. 


Roscoe  C.  Buckley 

Roscoe  C.  Buckley,  brother  of  Harry  D. 
Buckley  of  United  Artists,  died  October  4th. 
Mr.  Buckley  was  a  native  of  St.  Louis,  and 
until  his  death  was  sales  executive  of  the  Pal- 
metex  Corporation,  manufacturers  of  a  cork 
substitute.  Formerly  he  was  associated  with 
the  Lee  Tire  and  Rubber  Company  as  New 
York  sales  manager. 


Charles  Compton 

Charles  Compton,  75,  promoter  of  theatrical 
enterprises,  died  at  his  home  in  Brazil,  Ind., 
October  1st.  He  was  formerly  advance  agent 
for  road  shows  and  circuses.  Mr.  Compton  is 
credited  with  designing  a  glass  stage  front  filled 
with  water  to  simulate  action  under  water. 


George  Rubin 

George  Rubin,  48,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  former 
vaudeville  comedian  and  brother  of  Benny 
Rubin,  film  comedian,  and  of  Joe  Rubin,  Boston 
theatrical  agent,  died  at  his  home  October  2nd. 
A  veteran  of  the  first  World  War,  he  was  active 
in  the  American  Legion. 


Arthur  B.  Shea 

Arthur  Benedict  (Jerry)  Shea,  45,  theatrical 
technician  who  had  been  associated  with  the 
Katharine  Cornell-Guthrie  McClintock  produc- 
tions since  1930,  died  at  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y., 
October  3rd. 


George  Coiby 

George  W.  J.  Colby,  67,  former  theatrical 
property  manager  at  the  Metropolitan  theatre, 
Boston,  Mass.,  died  at  his  home  in  Wellesley, 
Mass.,  September  27th. 


Eli  Shire 

Eli  Shire,  75,  retired  theatre  operator,  died  at 
his  home  in  Lincoln,  Neb.,  September  29th  after 
several  years'  illness. 


New  PRC  Offices 

Herbert  Given,  exchange  manager  for  Pro- 
ducers Releasing  Corporation  in  Philadelphia, 
has  opened  new  offices  there. 


Final  Claim  in  Fox 
Bankruptcy  Settled 

The  final  claim  in  the  action  of  creditors 
against  William  Fox,  who  entered  voluntary 
bankruptcy  in  May,  1936,  was  settled  last  week, 
the  settlement  having  been  accepted  by  Allen  B. 
Endicott,  Jr.,  Federal  referee,  at  Atlantic  City, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  W.  Elmer  Brown, 
attorney  for  Hiram  Steelman,  trustee. 

The  claim  was  that  of  Harold  L.  Arnold,  Los 
Angeles  theatre  builder,  who  sought  $35,420 
for  fees  in  connection  with  a  theatre  project 
for  which  he  had  contracted  with  Mr.  Fox. 
The  settlement  was  for  $10,000. 

All  that  remains  to  conclude  the  action  is  a 
final  trustee's  accounting  and  a  hearing  on  the 
declaration  of  dividends,  which  will  be  set  by 
Mr.  Endicott  before  the  end  of  the  year.  It  is 
estimated  by  those  involved  that  after  payment 
of  counsel  and  other  fees,  remaining  creditors 
will  realize  between  two  and  three  per  cent  of 
the  original  obligations  to  them.  Mr.  Fox 
originally  listed  liabilities  of  $9,935,261,  and 
assets  of  $100. 


Commonwealth  Circuit 
Managers  Meet 

Some  60  persons,  managers  and  home  office 
representatives,  headed  by  C.  A.  Schultz,  presi- 
dent, and  O.  K.  Mason,  vice-president,  attended 
the  two-day  autumn  managers'  meeting  of  Com- 
monwealth Amusement  Corporation  at  the 
Hotel  President,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  last  week. 

The  meeting  stressed  plans  for  the  autumn 
campaign,  including  emphasis  on  proper  han- 
dling of  "B"  product,  presented  by  M.  B. 
Smith,  western  division  manager,  and  the  idea 
of  a  "Hi !  Neighbor"  week  at  each  theatre, 
closing  with  a  "Hay  Barn  Hoe-Down  Frolic," 
presented  by  R.  M.  Shelton,  eastern  division 
manager.  There  was  a  discussion  of  prices. 
The  two-reel  Government  subject  "Midway 
Island"  was  shown ;  and  will  be  shown  in  all 
theatres  of  the  circuit.  Plans  for  a  benefit  as- 
sociation were  completed,  including  hospitaliza- 
tion allowances. 


Heads  Chicago  Warner  Club 

Irving  Lipnick,  manager  of  the  Shore  the- 
atre, has  been  elected  president  of  the  Warner 
Club  of  Chicago.  Other  new  officers  are : 
William  O'Connell,  vice-president  in  charge  of 
entertainment ;  Richard  Beck,  treasurer,  and 
Eleanor  Berger,  secretary.  The  club's  board  of 
governors  has  appointed  I.  H.  Barron  as  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  welfare ;  James  D.  Sum- 
mers and  Gertrude  Birn,  vice-presidents  in 
charge  of  membership,  Margaret  Stieper,  assis- 
tant treasurer,  and  James  E.  Coston,  contribu- 
tions and  loans. 


Greif  to  NBC 

Ed  Greif,  radio  reporter  and  a  film  reviewer 
for  Motion  Picture  Daily  in  New  York  for 
four  years,  this  week  resigned  to  join  NBC  in 
a  publicity  capacity  under  John  McKay,  man- 
ager of  the  press  department.  Prior  to  his  as- 
sociation with  Motion  Picture  Daily,  Greif  was 
managing  editor  of  Trade  Journal  Syndicate  and 
was  on  the  sports  desk  of  the  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
Times.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  Bar 
and  practiced  law  for  several  years. 


Plan  Appreciation  Course 

An  experimental  institute  in  motion  picture 
appreciation  for  children  has  opened  on  the 
University  of  Oklahoma  campus  at  Norman. 
The  primary  purpose  of  the  short  course,  which 
is  holding  sessions  each  Saturday  morning  for 
a  period  of  eight  weeks,  will  be  to  find  methods 
to  cultivate  in  young  children  a  taste  for  better 
quality  films. 


Lamb  Leaves  20th-Fox 

Eugene  Lamb,  who  was  ad-sales  manager  for 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  in  Seattle,  has  gone 
into  war  work  in  the  Seattle  shipyards. 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS — No.  8,  Vol.  25.— Somervell  says 

we  are  losing  the  war  Flying  Fortresses  in  action 

and    interviews    with    the    crews. ...  First    game  of 
World  Series. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  9,  Vol.  25.— President  tours 
the  nation's  war  centers. ..  .U.  S.  lands  troops  on 
Aleutian  Islands  near  Jap  base. ..  .Justice  Byrnes 
named  economic  director. ...  General  Arnold  returns 
to  U.  S.  from  Australian  trip. .. .Government  silver 

supply  released  for  war  use  Army  relief  show  at 

Madison    Square    Garden  Cardinals    win  World 

Series. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  206,  Vol.  14.— U.  S.  bomb 
raids  on  Europe. .. .Somervell  sees  smug  complacency 
in  U.  S  Scrap  drive  First  game  of  World  Series. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY.— No.  207,  Vol.  14.— President's 

secret  tour  of  U.  S  Army  seizes  Aleutian  Island 

 Justice  Byrnes  named  economic  director  Film 

stars   over  the   top   Bond  drive  St.  Louis  wins 

World  Series. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  11— Yanks  beat  Cards  in 
series  opener  U.  S.  planes  bomb  Nazis. 

f  ARAMOUNT  NEWS — No.  12.— Booker  T.  Washing- 
ton launched  Chilean  national  holiday  "One-man 

factory"    gets    medal  Battle    for    food  Eastern 

workers   arrive  on  west  coast   to  work  in  Kaiser 

shipyards  Army   occupies   Aleutian   Island   group  | 

 President  tours  country  Cards  take  series. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  11,  Vol.  14.— U.  S.  bombers 
over  Europe. ..  .Yanks  top  Cards  in  opener. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  12,  Vol.  14.— Army  occupies 

Andreanof  Islands  in  Aleutians  President  inspects  itj] 

war  effort. ..  .Kaiser  recruits  at  west  coast. ..  .Booker 

T.  Washington  launched  Film  drive  pushes  Bonds 

to  billion. ..  .Cards  win  series. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  124,  Vol.  15— U.  S. 

airmen  bomb  Fiance  General  Somervell  in  stern 

talk  Women  help  save  California  grape  crop. 

Cop  flies  plane  to  scrap  drive  Yanks  take  series 

opener. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  125,  Vol.  15.— Cards 
win  series  President  sees  progress  of  war  produc- 
tion Troops  occupy  Aleutian  base  Anti-inflation 

legislator  speaks  Justice  Byrnes  appointed  eco- 
nomic director  General  Arnold  decorated  for  flight. 


Seeks  Bus  Ruling 

Harry  Fried,  operating  an  independent  cir- 
cuit of  theatres  in  suburban  Philadelphia,  has  | 
appealed  to  the  Pennsylvania  superior  court  in  if 
behalf  of  his  theatre  in  Conshohocken,  Pa.,  in 
an  effort  to  compel  the  Schuylkill  Valley  Bus  | 
Lines  to  sell  tickets  good  for  bus  fare  from 
Norristown  to  Conshohocken  and  for  admis- 
sion to  his  theatre.    He  argued  that  the  bus 
company  was  selling  tickets  for  transportation 
from  Conshohocken  to  Norristown  and  admis- 
sion to  rival  theatres  there. 


Zimbalist  Reelected 

Al  Zimbalist,  assistant  to  Everett  Callow,  ad-.| 
vertising  head  for  Warners  in  Philadelphia, 
has  been  reelected  president  of  the  Warner 
Club  there  for  a  second  term.    Other  officers  3 
are :  Jay  King,  Jr.,  vice-president  in  charge  [ 
of  entertainment ;  Joseph  Feldman,  vice-presi- 
dent  in  charge  of  welfare ;  J.  Ellis  Shipman, 
treasurer ;  Betty  Ross,  vice-president  in  charge 
of  membership,  and  Helen  Mahoney,  secretary.; 


Projectionists  Meet 

The  New  England  Projectionists  Association!} 
met  Wednesday  at  Hartford,  Conn.    William  j 
McDaniel,  projectionist  at  the  Capitol,  Lynn.'F 
Mass.,  and  president  of  the  union,  was  in  charge  p 
of  the  meeting. 


Hold  Special  Navy  Show 

The  St.  Louis  theatre,  St.  Louis,  this  week 
featured  a  special  Navy  show,  giving  free  ad- 
mission to  men  between  the  ages  of  17  anc 
50.  The  show  is  part  of  Fanchon  and  Marco'; 
Navy  recruiting  exploitation  program. 


Rubel  Rejoins  Wometco 

Frank  Rubel  has  been  appointed  purchasin) 
agent  of  Wometco  Theatres,  Miami,  succeedinj 
Frank  Meyers,  now  in  the  service.  Mr.  Rube 
has  been  in  California. 


October    10,    1 942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


THE  RELEA 


You  Were  Never  Lovlier 

(  Columbia  ) 

Dance  Musical 

With  Fred  Astaire  dancing  to  Jerome  Kern 
tunes  and  Rita  Hayworth  adding  beauty,  grace 
I  and  song  for  good  measure,  the  exhibitor  has 
J  plenty  to  brighten  the  marquee  and  attract  the 
f  customers.    Louis  F.  Edelman,  in  charge  of 
production,  has  set  the  film  lavishly,  providing 
ample  room  for  his  talent  display  and  more  than 
•  enough  story  to  hold  song  and  dance  together. 

[j  Several  of  the  Kern  songs,  with  lyrics  by 
Johnny  Mercer,  have  already  reached  hit  sta- 
( tus :  "Dearly  Beloved"  "I'm  Old  Fashioned" 
j  land  "You  Were  Never  Lovelier."  In  addition 
to  these  are  a  sprightly  piece  of  boogy-woogy 
called  "Shorty  George"  accompanying  an  amus- 
ing dance  by  the  principals  and  some  gay, 
rhythmic  tunes  played  by  Xaviar  Cugat  and 
nis  orchestra. 

The  highlight  of  the  dancing  is  a  characteris- 
ic  table-leaping,  cane-tapping  number  by 
\staire,  although  the  charm  and  skill  of  Miss 
Tayworth  is  evident  in  their  collaboration. 

The  old  Latin,  Dutch  or  Icelandic  custom 
f  marrying  first  daughters  first  provides  the 
aotivation  of  the  story  as  Adolphe  Menjou, 
n  irascible  parent,  tries  to  kindle  romance  in 
he  heart  of  his  daughter  with  orchids  and 
ender  love  notes.  Her  mistaken  identification 
f  Astaire  as  the  admirer  provokes  the  compli- 
ations.  That  the  action  takes  place  in  Buenos 
lures  may  be  vaguely  discerned  from  the  open- 
fig  shot  of  the  Palermo  race  track  and  the 
j  ong  line  of  family  connections  with  Spanish 
imes.  One  of  these,  a  third  cousin  on  the 
life's  side,  played  by  Gus  Schilling,  affords  the 
|fcst  comedy  moments  as  none-too-servile  secre- 
,iry  to  Menjou.  Leslie  Brooks,  Adele  Mara, 
obel  Elsom,  Barbara  Brown,  Douglas  Leav- 
Catherine  Craig,  Kathleen  Howard,  Mary 
eld,  Larry  Parker  and  Stanley  Brown  com- 
lete  the  cast. 

".-    Direction  by  William  A.   Seiter  is  handi- 
■  ipped  at  times  by  stilted  dialog  and  the  diffi- 
lty  of  making  Miss  Hayworth  appear  jeune 


Previewed  in   a   crowded  projection  room 
lere  the  audience  applauded  the  dancing  zvhilc 
picture  continued  and  enjoyed  the  comedy, 
'(viewer's  Rating :   Cood.—K.  A.  Cunning- 


Reviews 


{an 


Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  97  min.  Gen- 
1  audience  classificaiton. 

oert  Davis   Fred  Astaire 

ha  Acuna   Rita  Hayworth 

vardo  Acuna   Adolphe  Menjou 

,  .lie  Brooks,  Adele  Mara,  Isobel  Elsom,  Gus 
nling,  Barbara  Brown,  Douglas  Leavitt,  Catherine 
if?.  Kathleen  Howard,  Mary  Field,  Larry  Parks, 
nley  Brown,  Xaviar  Cugat  and  orchestra. 


This  department  deals  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


Counter  Espionage 

(  Columbia  ) 
Lone  Wo!f,  Patriot 

The  latest  Michael  Lanyard  film  adventure  is 
a  weaker  entrant  in  this  series  of  crime  and 
detection.  A  preposterous  story,  even  for  the 
neighborhood  audiences,  its  pace  and  dialogue 
are  distressingly  languorous  for  what  should 
be  a  thriller.  The  Lone  Wolf  is  in  England 
to  save  her  from  espions  who  seek  the  plans  of  a 
beam  detector — plans  which,  in  German  hands, 
will  leave  the  country  open  to  ruin  from  the  air. 
Warren  William,  as  the  Wolf,  is  hired  by  the 
head  of  British  Intelligence,  Stanley  Logan. 
The  latter  loses  the  plans,  ostensibly  to  German 
agents,  actually  to  William,  who  finds  chief 
agent  Kurt  Katch  and  dickers  for  their  sale. 
Mr.  Logan  also  loses  his  life,  and  his  "commis- 
sion" to  William  is  taken  by  Morton  Lowry, 
trusted  aide  but  actually  a  German.  This  ap- 
prises the  agents  of  William's  real  identity. 
When  he  finds  their  hideout,  he  goes  there  to 
delay  the  dickering  until  police  arrive,  al- 
though aware  that  the  police  will  think  him  a 
spy  and  murderer. 

Some  quiet  comedy  comes  from  Eric  Blore, 
William's  English  secretary,  but  his  delivery 
is  hampered  by  lack  of  real  humor.  One  scene 
of  interest  impresses,  that  in  which  William, 
blindfolded  by  Blore,  traces  by  hearing  alone 
the  path  followed  during  his  first  rendezvous 
at  German  agents'  headquarters. 

The  film  was  produced  by  Wallace  MacDon- 
ald  from  a  screenplay  by  Aubrey  Wisberg, 
based  upon  a  work  by  Louis  Joseph  Vance,  and 
directed  by  Edward  Dmytryk. 

Seen  at  the  Rialto  Theatre,  Neiv  York,  with 
a  predominantly  male  audience  which  remained 
impressively  quiet.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. 
— Floyd  Stone. 

Release  date,  September  3,  1942.  Running  time, 
72  min.  PCA  No.  8408.  General  audience  classi- 
fication. 

Michael  Lanyard   Warren  William 

Jameson   Eric  Blore 

Hillary  Brooke,  Thurston  Hall,  Fred  Kelsey,  For- 
rest Tucker,  Matthew  Boulton,  Kurt  Katch,  Morton 
Lowry,  Leslie  Denison,  Billy  Bevan,  Stanley  Logan, 
Tom  Stevenson. 


Police  Bullets 

(Monogram,  1941-42) 

Cops  and  Racketeers 

There  is  plenty  of  shooting  in  this  picture  for 
the  action  fans,  and  there  is  enough  suspense 
to  keep  the  rest  of  the  audience  moderately  in- 
terested. Although  the  racketeer  story  is  to 
pattern  there  are  occasional  laughs  and  Jean 
Yarbrough's  direction  manages  to  keep  the 
story  moving  around  a  few  dialogue-laden 
snags. 

Johnny  Reily  and  his  shakedown  artists,  after 
several  killings,  are  pursued  by  Joan  Marsh  in 
the  role  of  Donna,  a  niece  of  one  of  their  vic- 
tims. John  Archer,  who  plays  a  vague  but 
pleasant  young  professor,  assists.  The  profes- 
sor has  a  photographic  memory  and  the  gang 
forces  him  to  memorize  its  collection  lists  and 
accounts.  A  rival  gang  kidnaps  him.  But, 
aided  by  Donna,  the  professor  escapes,  shows 
both  gangs  a  few  tricks,  and  finally  captures 
his  captors  as  Donna  arrives  with  the  police. 

There  is  quite  a  bit  of  gunplay  for  the  young- 
er youngsters.  But  the  film  is  suitable  for  most 
audiences  and  should  prove  a  generally  satis- 
factory action  filler.  Lindsley  Parsons  pro- 
duced, from  a  story  by  Edmond  Kelso  and 
Ande  Lamb. 

Reviewed  at  a  matinee  at  the  RKO  Alhambra 
in  New  York's  Harlem  where  a  sparse  mati- 
nee amdience  laughed  occasionally.  Reviewer' s 
Rating:  Fair — John  Stuart,  Jr. 

Release  date,  September  25,  1942.  Running  time,  60 
min.    PCA  No.  8620.    General  audience  Classification. 

Professor   John  Archer 

Donna   Joan  Marsh 

Johnny   Milburn  Stone 

Gabby   Warren  Hymer 

Pat  Gleason,  Tristra,  Coffin,  Ann  Eavers,  Charles 
Jordon,  Gene  O'Donnell,  Ben  Taggart,  Irving  Mitch- 
ell and  Fern  Emmett. 

Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and 
Order 

( Producers  Releasing ) 
Robin  Hood  Joins  Up 

Billy  the  Kid's  most  recent  escapade  puts 
the  western  star  on  the  side  of  the  law  in  spite 
of  the  price  on  his  head.  It  includes  a  larger 
than  usual  complement  of  gun  and  fist  fights 
as  well  as  three  wild  rides  in  pursuit  of  the 
stage.  The  film  is,  however,  uneven  photo- 
graphically and  technically,  being  marked  by 
fluctuating  light  values  and  scratchy  sound. 

For  the  western  fans  whose  chief  demands 
are  robust  action  and  a  fast-moving  plot,  the 
picture  should  satisfy.  The  outlaw  takes  on 
the  role  of  an  army  post  lieutenant  to  save  the 


Product  Digest  Section  945 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,  1942 


fortune  of  blind  Aunt  Mary  and  round  up  the 
schemers  who  killed  her  nephew  and  the  man 
she  intended  to  marry.  His  identity  is  guessed 
but  never  proven  as  "Fuzzy"  and  "Jeff"  man- 
age to  arrive  at  the  right  times  to  prevent  a 
lynching  or  lend  a  hand  in  a  free-for-all. 

Buster  Crabbe  is  supported  again  by  his 
aides,  Al  St.  John  and  Tex  O'Brien.  Others 
in  the  cast  include  Sarah  Padden,  Wanda  Mc- 
Kay, Charles  King,  Hal  Price  and  John 
Merton. 

The  film  was  produced  by  Sigmund  Neu- 
feld  and  directed  by  Sherman  Scott. 

Previewed  in  a  New  York  projection  room. 
Reviewer 's  Rating  :  Mediocre.- — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  August  21,  1942.  Running  time,  58 
minutes.    PCA  No.  8585.    General  audience  classifica- 


tion. 

Billy   Buster  Crabbe 

Fuzzy   Al  St.  John 

Jeff   Tex  O'Brien 


Sarah  Padden,  Wanda  McKay,  Charles  King,  Hal 
Price,  John  Merton,  Ken  Duncan,  Ted  Adams. 


War  Dogs 

(Monogram) 

Boy,  Dog  and  Sabotage 

At  the  core  of  this  tale  about  a  boy,  his  dog 
and  saboteurs  is  a  demonstration  in  the  training 
of  canines  for  service  in  the  nation's  armed 
forces,  a  section  of  several  minutes  commanding 
interest  for  its  own  sake  and  also  as  a  part  of 
the  story.  The  narrative  concerns  a  boy  whose 
father,  a  veteran  of  the  last  war,  is  denied  a 
chance  to  wear  the  uniform  in  this  one,  but 
gives  his  life  to  thwart  saboteurs  who  attempt 
to  blow  up  a  munitions  factory.  It  is  handled 
in  a  way  to  entertain  the  young,  but  appeals 
also  to  their  elders. 

Billy  Lee  is  seen  as  the  boy,  Addison  Rich- 
ards as  the  father  and  Bradley  Page  as  a  judge 
who  interests  himself  in  their  affairs.  Kay 
Linaker  plays  the  judge's  sweetheart  by  way  of 
providing  romance.  John  Vlahos  made  the 
adaptation  from  a  story  suggested  by  Ande 
Lamb. 

Production  by  George  W.  Weeks  is  in  con- 
sonance with  the  aim  of  the  enterprise  and 
direction  by  S.  Roy  Luby  keeps  the  objective 
steadily  in  view. 

Seen  in  Hollywood.  Reviewer's  Rating: 
Fair. — William  R.  Weaver. 

Release  date,  November  13,  1942.  Running  time, 
63  min.    PCA  No.  8733.  General  audience  classification. 


Boy   Billy  Lee 

Father  Addison  Richard 

Judge  Bradley  Page 

Girl  ..Kay  Linaker 


Destination  Unknown 

(Universal) 

Spy  Potpourri,  Eastern  Style 

This  fast-moving  drama  of  international  in- 
trigue in  China  before  Pearl  Harbor  reflects 
the  tense  and  confused  atmosphere  of  that  coun- 
try prior  to  the  extension  of  the  conflict,  and 
presages  as  well  the  present  line-up  of  combat- 
ants. The  hero  is  an  American  flyer  on  a 
secret  mission  on  behalf  of  China ;  the  heroine 
is  on  the  same  trail,  representing  the  Dutch  In- 
telligence Service ;  her  handy  retainers  are  Eng- 
lish and  their  inside  confederates  are  Chinese. 
Lined  up  against  them  are  the  Japanese  Mili- 
tary Police  and  a  German  agent.  The  prize  is 
the  Russian  Crown  Jewels,  payment  for  a  ship- 
ment of  war  materials. 

The  trail  of  clues,  suspicion  and  surprise 
meetings  is  often  a  little  confused  but  the  objec- 
tive of  sustained  interest  is  achieved.  Per- 
formances by  the  principals,  Irene  Hervey  and 
William  Gargan,  are  brisk  and  attractive,  while 
excellent  support  is  given  by  Sam  Levene,  Tur- 
han  Bey,  Felix  Basch  and  Donald  Stuart. 

Well-paced  direction  by  Ray  Taylor  helps  to 
place  the  film  outside  the  class  of  routine  melo- 
drama.   The  screen  play  by  Lynn  Riggs  and 


PARAMOUNT  RELEASES 
TWO  VICTORY  SHORTS 

"Letter  from  Bataan"  and  "We  Re- 
fuse to  Die",  Paramount's  first  two 
Victory  shorts,  were  fabricated  from 
subjects  suggested  by  Lowell  Mellett, 
head  of  the  motion  picture  division  of 
the  Office  of  War  Information.  They 
will  be  sold  apart  from  the  company's 
regular  short  subject  schedule. 

"We  Refuse  to  Die"  is  a  moving  re- 
enactment  of  the  story  of  Lidice, 
Czechoslovakian  village  utterly  de- 
stroyed by  the  Nazis  in  reprisal  for 
the  disposal  of  Reinhardt  Heydrich, 
Nazi  "protector",  by  Czech  patriots. 
Much  of  its  power  stems  from  the 
acting  of  Barry  Sullivan,  former 
Olympic  swimmer  and  stage  actor, 
who  narrates  the  story  as  one  of  the 
villagers.  The  story,  a  simple  narra- 
tion of  the  occupation  of  the  village 
and  its  total  destruction  and  the  mur- 
der of  all  its  adult  male  inhabitants, 
confines  itself  strictly  to  the  lesson 
of  the  danger  to  free  people  every- 
where. 

"Letter  from  Bataan"  carries  a  more 
pragmatic  message  on  the  conservation 
of  food  and  materials,  personalized  by 
the  depiction  of  the  reactions  of  a 
normal  family  to  a  letter  from  their 
son  who  died  with  his  friends  on 
Bataan  for  lack  of  many  of  the  things 
being  wasted  at  home. 

Both  pictures  were  produced  by 
William  C.  Thomas  and  directed  by 
William  H.  Pine  from  screenplays  by 
Maxwell  Shane.  The  running  time  of 
each  is  15  minutes. 

"We  Refuse  to  Die"  will  be  released 
nationally  October  \lth.  "Letter 
from  Bataan"  was  released  Septem- 
ber 15  th.  —J.  D.  I. 


John  Meehan,  Jr.,  was  based  on  an  original 
story  by  Lawrence  Hazard.  Marshall  Grant 
was  associate  producer. 

Previewed  in  the  home  office  projection 
room.    Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  Oct.  9,  1942.  Running  time,  61  min. 
PCA   No.   8479.     General  audience  classification. 

Elena    Voranoff  Irene  Hervey 

Briggs    Hannon   William  Gargan 

Felix  Basch,  Donald  Stuart,  Sam  Levene,  Turhan 
Bey,  Charlie  Lung,  Willy  Fung. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald.) 

THE  FIGHTING  FRENCH  (20th-Fox) 

March  of  Time 

Second  issue  of  the  March  of  Time  to  be  re- 
leased by  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  this  subject 
is  of  timely  interest.  There's  quite  a  bit  of 
history  in  it  and  while  one-half  of  the  footage 
is  devoted  to  extolling  the  Fighting  French, 
the  other  half  expatiates  on  the  villainies  of  the 
Vichy  regime  and  its  leaders.  Accordingly,  the 
picture  may  be  expected  to  receive  its  quota  of 
applause  at  the  scenes  showing  General  de  Gaulle 
and  the  opposite  reaction  to  those  portraying 
Pierre  Laval.  Much  of  the  material  is  from 
the  March  of  Time's  library;  there  is  little 
enacted  footage.  The  picture  should  be  favor- 
ably received. — R.  A.  W. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942.    20  minutes 


SALVAGE  (OWI) 

Victory  Short 

Donald  Nelson,  chairman  of  the  War  Pro- 
duction Board,  makes  an  urgent  plea  for  scrap 
in  an  8-minute  short  subject,  "Salvage,"  pro- 
duced by  the  office  of  War  Information  Film 
Unit.  Mr.  Nelson  talks  against  a  background 
of  defense  plants,  secret  tank  arsenals,  steel 
mills,  nitroglycerine  factories  and  ammunition 
plants,  already  suffering  from  shortages.  Al- 
though delivered  without  emotion,  Mr.  Nelson's 
narrative  reveals  a  critical  situation.  It  is  a 
subject  that  should  be  shown  in  all  theatres. 
It  will  be  nationally  released  on  October  8th  by 
the  War  Activities  Committee  through  RKQ 
Radio  exchanges,  coinciding  with  the  nation- 
wide metal  scrap  drive  being  staged  by  the 
American  Newspaper  Publishers  Association 
and  the  film  industry. — P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 
Release  date,  October  8,  1942.  8  minutes 


FEATURE  SYNOPSES 


TENNESSEE  JOHNSON 
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

Story  of  Andrew  Johnson 

PRODUCER:  Irving  Asher.    Directed  by  William 

Dieterle. 

PLAYERS:  Van  Heflin,  Ruth  Hussey,  Lionel  Barry- 
more,  Marjorie  Main. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  a  study  of  the  historic  case  of  the 
movement  for  the  impeachment  of  President 
Andrew  Johnson,  based  on  the  abundant  and 
varied  available  evidence  and  taking,  of  course, 
the  side  of  vindication. 


WHISTLING  IN  DIXIE 
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  S.  Sylvan  Simon.  Directed  by  George 
Haight. 

PLAYERS:  Red  Skelton,  Ann  Rutherford,  Diana 
Lewis,  Rags  Ragland 

SYNOPSIS 

The  success  of  "Whistling  in  the  Dark," 
which  started  Red  Skelton  on  his  way  to  fame 
on  screen  and  radio,  prompted  production  of 
this  similar  set  of  adventures  which  are  run  off 
this  time  in  the  Deep  South.  One  place  or  an- 
other, it's  Skelton  in  the  Skeltonesque  varietv 
of  entertainment  for  Skelton  fans. 


LADY  BODYGUARD 
(Paramount) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Sol  C.  Siegel.  Directed  by  Willian 
Clemens. 

PLAYERS:  Eddie  Albert,  Anne  Shirley,  Roger  Pryor 
Raymond  Walburn,  Maude  Eburne,  Ed  Brophy 
Mary  Treen,  Donald  MacBride,  Clem  Bevans. 

SYNOPSIS 

The  theme  of  this  comedy  is  the  attempt  o 
Anne  Shirley  to  keep  Eddie  Albert  alive  be 
cause  of  a  $1,000,000  insurance  policy,  and  th 
counter-attempts  of  his  beneficiaries  to  incu 
the  fortune.  Albert's  profession  as  a  test  pile 
adds  to  the  difficulties,  as  do  love  and  othe 
entanglements. 


946     Product  Digest  Section 


O  c  t  o  b  s  r    10,    1 942 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


FEATURE 

SERVICE 

DATA 


To  aid  showmen  in  checking: 
Round  Table  Exploitation; 
Audience  Classification; 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating 


Bambi  (RKO) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  64; 
Sept  12,  '42,  p.  52. 

Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Julv  4,  '42.  p.  59 : 
Aug.  8.  '42.  p.  57;  Aug.  29,  '42',  p.  66;  Oct.  3, 
'42,  p.  65. 

Cairo  (MGM) 

Audience  Gassification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Oct  3,  '42,  p.  70. 

Flight  Lieutenant  (Col.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept  19,  '42,  p.  51. 

Holiday  Inn  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 

Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept  19,  '42,  p.  47. 

In  This  Our  Life  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  B 

Round  Table  Exploitation—  Mav  30.  '42,  p  53; 

July  11.  '42,  p.  48;  July  18,  '42,'  p.  60 :  July  25, 

'42,  p.  59;  Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  74;  Sept.  5,  '42,  p.  57. 

It  Happened  in  Flatbush  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  67. 

Jackass  Mail  (MGM) 

Audience  Gassification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round   Table  Exploitation — July   11,   '42  p 
46;  Sept  12,  '42,  p.  52;  Sept  26,  '42,  p.  60. 

Jungle  Siren  (PRC) 

Audience  Classification — 
iLegion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept  21,  '42,  p.  55. 

Magnificent  Amber  sons,  The  (RKO ) 

|  Ajdience  Gassification— General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating— Gass  A-2 
*ound  Table  Exploitation— June   13,   '42  p 
'0 ;  Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  79 ;  Sept  19,  '42,  p.  51. 

Noontide  (20th-Fox) 

\udience  Gassification— Adult 
-egion  of  Decency  Rating— Class  B 
leund  Table  Exploitation— May  30,  '42  p  5?  ■ 
une  27,  '42.  p.  50 ;  July  18,  '42,  p.  59 ;  Aug! 
>.  42  p.  63;  Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  79;  Aug.  29^ 
A  P.  63. 


Feature  Service  Data  are 
indexed  in  The  Release 
Chart  starting  on  Page  951. 


Mrs.  Miniver  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decencv  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Tulv  4,  '42.  p.  58; 
Tuly  11,  '42.  p.  48;  Julv  18.  '42,  p.  56,  57;  Aue. 
22,  '42,  p.  77,  78.  79;  Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  65.  67; 
Sect  5,  '42.  p.  57.  60 :  Sept  12,  '42,  p.  54 ;  Sept. 
19,  '42,  p.  49,  50,  51 ;  Sept  26,  '42.  p.  60,  61,  62. 
63. 

My  Gal  Sal  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Gassification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Mav  16,  '42.  p. 
105;  June  13,  '42.  p.  64;  June  20,  '42.  p.  51; 
July  11,  '42,  p.  46,  48.  50;  Tuly  18.  '42.  p.  59; 
July  25.  '42.  p.  58 ;  Aug.  8.  '42,  p.  61 ;  Aug.  15, 
'42,  p.  62 ;  Sept  19,  '42,  p.  47. 

Now,  Voyager  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 

Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept  25,  '42,  p.  62. 

Orchestra  Wives  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decencv-  Ratine — Class  B 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  63. 

Panama  Hattie  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Aue.  29,  '42,  p.  63, 

65. 

Prisoner  of  Japan  (PRC) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Gass  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept  12,  '42,  p.  55. 

Remember  Pearl.  Harbor  (Rep.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— June  27.  '42.  p.  48- 
July  4.  '42.  p.  59,  62;  July  11,  '42.  p.  46?  Tulv 
18,  '42.  p.  58;  Aug.  1,  '42,  p.  62;  Sept  19." '42 
p.  46 ;  Sept  26,  '42,  p.  62. 

Saboteur  (Univ.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decencv-  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Tune  6,  '42  p  56- 
Oct  3,  '42.  p.  64. 


LEGIOX  of  DECEXCY  Ratings 

Class  A-l  Unobjectionable 

Class  A-2  Unobjectionable  for  Adults 

Class  B  Objectionable  in  Part 

Class  C  Condemned 


Seven  Sweethearts  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Gass  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Sept  19,  '42,  p.  50. 

Ship  Ahoy  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decencv-  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Mav  30,  '42,  p. 
53 ;  June  6,  '42.  p.  58 ;  June  20,  '42,  p.  51 ;  July 
4.  '42,  p.  42;  July  11,  '42.  p.  46.  50;  Sept.  19, 
'42,  p.  50,  51. 

Smart  Alecks  (Mono.) 

Audience  Gassification — General 

Legion  of  Decencv-  Rating — Class  A-2 

Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept.  26,  '42,  p.  64. 

Talk  of  the  Town  (Col.) 

Audience  Gassification — General 
Legion  of  Decencv"  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aue.  29,  '42,  p.  63 ; 
Sept  5,  42.  p.  60;  Sect"  12,  '42.  p.  52;  Sent 
19,  '42,  p.  46;  48. 

Tales  of  Manhattan  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept.  5,  42,  p.  57. 

This  Above  All  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification^ — Adult 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Gassification — Mav  30,  '42,  p. 
53 ;  June  27,  '42,  p.  48 ;  Julv  7.  '42,  p.  59 ;  July 
18,  '42,  p.  59 ;  Julv  25.  '42,  p.  58,  59 :  Aug.  1. 
'42,  p.  65;  Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  "75,  78;  Aug.  29, 
'42,  p.  64,  67;  Sept  12,  '42,  p.  52. 

This  Gun  for  Hire  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decencv-  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Mav  30,   '42,  p. 
53 ;  Sept  26,  '42,  p.  60. 

Tish  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Sept  12,  '42,  p.  52. 

United  We  Stand  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Gassification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round   Table  Exploitation — Tulv   18.   '42  p. 
57;  July  25,  '42,  p.  58;  Oct  3,  '42,  p.  66. 

Wake  Island  (Para.) 

Audience  Gassification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept.  26,  '42  p  65  ■ 
Oct  3,  '42,  p.  65. 

Tank  at  Eton,  A  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decencv-  Rating — Class  A-l 

Round  Table  Exploitation — Sept  26,  '42,  p.  62. 


Product  Digest  Section  947 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


SHORTS  CHART 


Production  Numbers 
Release  Dates 
Running  Time 


COLUMBIA 

Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

ALL  8TAR  COMEDIES 
(Average  17  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

3432  Groom  and  Bored  4-9-42  652 

(Downs) 

3406  What's  the  Matodor  4-23-42  653 

(Stooges) 

3433  How  Spry  I  Am  5-7-42  704 

(Clyde) 

3412   A  Study  In  Socks  5-21-42  700 

(Glove  Slingers) 

3434  Tire  Man,  Spare  My  Tires. 6-4-42  784 

(Langdon) 

3435  Olaf  Laughs  Last  6-18-42  784 

(Brendel) 

3436  AM  Work  and  No  Pay. ..  .7- 16-42  859 

(Clyde) 

3407  Matrl-Phony   7-2-42  784 

(Stooges) 

3408  Three  Smart  Saps  7-30-42  856' 

1942-  43 

4421  Phony  Cronies   8-27-42  899 

(Brendel) 

4422  Carry   Harry   9-3-42  926 

(Langdon) 

4401    Even  As  IOU  9-18-42  950 

(Stooges) 

4423  Kiss  and  Wake  Up  10-2-42 

(Downs) 

4424  Sappy  Pappy   10-30-42 

(Clyde) 

COLOR  RHAPSODIES 
(7  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3507  Cinderella  Goes  to  a 

Party   5-3-42  700 

3508  Woodman  Spare  That  Tree. 6- 1 9-42  784 

1942-  43 

4501  Song   of   Victory  9-4-42  926 

4502  Tito's  Guitar   10-9-42 

PHANTASIES  CARTOONS 
(Average  9  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

3704  The  Wild  and  Woozy  West. 4-30-42  760 
3703    A  Battle  for  a  Bottle  5-29-42  784 

3705  Old    Blackout   Joe  8-27-42  899 

1942-  43 

4701  The  Gullible  Canary  9-18-42 

4702  The  Dumb  Conscious  Mind.  10-23-42 


FABLES 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

Wolf  Chases  Pig  4-30-42  704 

The  Bulldog  and  the  Baby 

7-24-42  856 


For  short  subject  synopses  turn  to  the  Product  Digest 
Section  pages  indicated  by  the  numbers  which  follow 
the  titles  and  release  dates  in  the  listing.  For  1941-42 
short  subject  releases  prior  to  April,  1942,  see  pages 
874-876. 


Prod. 
No. 


Title 


Rel.  P.D. 
Date  Pagt 


3754 
3755 


3659 
3660 


4651 

4652 


4901 
4902 


COMMUNITY  SING  (Series  6) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

No.  9   4-30-42  704 

No.  10  (Songs  of  the  Times) 

6-5-42  700 

1942-  43 
(Series  7) 

No.  I — Rhumba  and  Conga 

Hits   8-15-42  859 

No.  2 — "Yankee  Doodler"  .9- 17-42  950 

(Baker) 

QUIZ  REEL8 
(Average  10  Mln.) 
1942-43 
(Series  3) 

Kichen  Quiz  No.  1  8-21-42  899 

PANORAMICS 
(10  Minutes) 

1942-43 

Cajuns  of  the  Teche  8-13-42  856 

(Quaint  Folks  No.  I) 
Oddities  (La  Varre)  10-8-42 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

TOURS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4551  Journey  to  Denall  (La  Varre) 

8-5-42  877 

4552  Old  and  Modern  New 

Orleans   10-2-42 

SCREEN  SNAPSHOTS  (Series  21) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3859  No.  9   5-8-42  700 

3860  No.  10   6-19-42  755 

1942-  43 
(Series  22) 

4851  No.    I   8-7-42  859 

4852  No.  2   9-25-42  926 

WORLD  OF  SPORTS 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3808  Fit  to  Fight  5-22-42  755 

3809  Tennis  Rhythm   7-3-42  784 

3810  Canvas  Cut-Ups   8-28-42  899 

1942-  43 

4801    Trotting   Kings   9-11-42 

KATE  SMITH 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4751    America  Sings  With 

Kate  Smith   8-21-42  899 

FAMOUS  BANDS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4951  Ted  Powell  (1280  Club) .  .8-27-42  899 

4952  Hal  Mclntyre   10-23-42 


M-G-M 


TWO  REEL  SPECIALS 
(20  Minutes) 
1941-42 

A-304  For  the  Common  Defense. 6-20-42  613 
A-305    Mr.  Blabbermouth  ..  8-8-42  877 

FITZPATRICK  TRAVELTALKS  (Color) 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

T-321  Picturesque  Patzcuaro. .  .5-23-42  729 
T-322    Exotle  Mexico   6-13-42  755 

1942-  43 

F-4 1 1  Picturesque 

Massachusetts   10-3-42 

PETE  SMITH  SPECIALTIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

S-367    Victory   Quiz   5-9-42  729 

S-368    Pete  Smith's  Scrapbook.  .5-23-42  700 

S-369    Barbee-Cues   5-30-42  700 

S-370    Self   Defense   7-25-42  856 

S-371    It's  a  Dog's  Life  8-22-42  877 

S-372    Victory  Vittles   9-19-42  950 

S-373  Football  Thrills  of  1941.. 9-26-42  .. 
S-374    Calling  All   Pa's  10-24-42 

PASSING  PARADE 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

K-384  The  V/oman  in  the  House  5-9-42  704 
K-385  The  Incredible  Stranger. 6-20-42  755 
K-386    Vendetta   7-18-42  813 

K-387    The   Magic  Alphabet. .. 10-10-42 

K-388    Famous  Boners   10-24-42 

K-389    The  Film  That  Was 

Lost   10-31-42 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

MINIATURES 
(19  Minutes) 
1941-42 

M-334   Soaring  Stars   4-25-42  704 

M-335    Further  Prophecies  of 

Nostradamus   5-9-42  700 

M-336   The  Greatest  Gift  9-5-42  926 

M-337    ATCA   10-3-42 

M-338   The  Good  Job  10-10-42 

M-339    Listen,   Boys   10-17-42 

OUR  GANG  COMEDIES 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

C-397   Surprised    Parties  5-30-42  700 

C-398    Doln'  Their  Bit  7-18-42  813 

C-399    Rover's    Big    Chance  8-22-42  856 

C-400    Mighty  Lak  a  Goat  10-10-42 

TECHNICOLOR  CARTOONS 
(1  Minutes) 
1941-42 

W-347    Dog  Trouble   4-18-42  852 

W-348    Little  Gravel  Voice  5-16-42  700 

W-349    Puss  'N  Toots  5-30-42  754 

W-350    Bats  In  The  Belfry  7-  4-42  813 

W-351    The  Bowling  Alley  Cat.. 7-18-42  813 

W-352    The   Blitz   Wolf  8-22-42  950 

W-353  The  Early  Bird  Dood  It. 8-29-42  950 
W-354   Chips  Off  the  Old 

Block   9-12-42  950 

W-355    Fine  Feathered  Friend  .  10- 10-42 


PARAMOUNT 

UNUSUAL  OCCUPATIONS  (Color) 
(II  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

LI-5    No.  5   6-26-42  754 

LI-6    No.  6   8-21-42  877 

1942-  43 

L2-I    No.   I   10-9-42  .. 

BENCHLEY  COMEDIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

SI-4    Keeping  In  Shape  6-12-42  754 

SI-5    The  M?ji's  Angle  8-14-22  950 

FASCINATING  JOURNEYS  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

Ml -2    Indian   Temples   9-4-42  926 

SUPERMAN  COLOR  CARTOONS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

'  WI-8    Superman  In  the  Magnetic 

Telescope   4-24-42  653 

WI-7   Superman  In  Electric 

Earthquake   6-3-42  754 

WI-8   Superman  in  Volcano  7-10-42  856 

WI-9    Superman  In  Terror 

on  the  Midway  8-28-42  877 

WI-10  Superman  and  the 

Japoteurs   9-18-42  950 

Wl-ll  Superman  in  Showdown. .  10- 16-42 
WI-12  Superman  in  Eleventh 

Hour   11-20-42 

HEDDA  HOPPER'S  HOLLYWOOD 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

ZI-4    No.  4   6-19-42  754 

ZI-5    No.  5   8-14-42  877 

Z  I -6    No.  6  9-18-42  950 

HEADLINERS 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

AI-4    Hands  of  Victory  5-22-42  653 


A I -5    Nightmare  of  I  Goon  5-1-42  693 

1942-43 

A2-I    The  McFarland  Twins  & 

Orchestra   10-2-42 

MADCAP  MODELS  (Color) 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

UI-4    Mr.  Strauss  Takes  a  Walk. 5-8-42  653 

UI-5   Tulips  Shall  Grow  6-26-42  813. 

UI-6    The  Little  Broadcast  9-25-42  .. 

1942-  43 

U2-I    Jasper  and  the  Haunted 

House   10-23-42  .. 

POPEYE  THE  SAILOR 
(7  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

EI-8    Olive  Oyl  and  Water  Don't 

Mix   5-8-42  729 

EI-9    Many  Tanks   6-5-42  755 

El- 10  Baby  Wants  a  Bottleshlp. .7-3-42  856 
El- II  You're  a  Sap,  Mr.  Jap... 8-7-42  859 
El- 12   Alona  on  the  Sarong  Seas. 9-4-42  926 

1942-  43 

E2-I    A  Hull  of  a  Mess  10-16-42 

POPULAR  SCIENCE  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

J 1-5    No.  5   6-12-42  755 

J 1-6    No.  6   7-31-42  856 

1942-  43 

J2-I    No.  I   10-2-42  .. 

SPEAKING  OF  ANIMALS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

YI-4    In  the  Circus  5-29-42  729 

YI-5    At  the  Dog  Show  8-28-42  926 

YI-6    In    South    America  9-25-42 

SPORTLIGHTS 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

RI-9    Personality  Plus   4-17-42  653 

RI-10    Hero  Worship   5-15-42  729 

Rl-ll    Parachute  Athletes  6-19-42  754 

RI-12    Let  'Em  Go  Alive  7-17-42  856 

B I  - 1 3    Timber  Athletes   9-11-42  926 

1942-  43 

R2-I    Sports  I.Q  10-9-42  .. 

QUIZ  KIDS 
(II  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

QI-4    No.  4    ..:  4-17-42  652 

QI-5    No.  5   5-22-42  729 

QI-8    No.  S   7-31-42   859  fj 

VICTORY  SHORTS 

(15  Minutes) 

1942-  43 

T2-I  A  Letter  from  Bataan. .  .9- 15-42  946 
T2-2    We   Refuse  to  Die  10-13-42  946 


RKO 

MARCH  OF  TIME 
(Average  20  Mln.) 
1941-42 

23.110  India  In  Crisis  5-8-42  647 

23.111  India  at  War  6-5-42  714 

23.112  Men  In  Washington- 1942. 7-3-42  751 

23.113  Men  of  the  Fleet  7-31-42  794 

WALT  DISNEY  CARTOONS  (Color) 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

24.103  Oonald  Gets  Drafted  5-1-42  653 

24.104  The  Army  Mascot  5-22-42  700 

24.105  Donald's   Garden   6-12-42  754 

24.106  The  Sleepwalker   7-3-42  856 

24.107  Donald's  Gold   Mine. ..  .7-24-42  856, 

24.108  T-Bone  for  Two  8-14-42  856 

24.109  How  to  Play  Baseball. .  .9-4-42  926 

INFORMATION  PLEASE 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

24,208    No.  6    Howard   Lindsay. 4-24-42  704; 


948     Product  Digest  Section 


October    10,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Prod. 

No. 


Title 


Rel.  PD. 
Date  Page 


24,207    No.  7    Cornelia   Otii  Skinner 

5-22-42  700 

24,203    No.  8    Russell  Crouse... 6- 19-42  767 

24.209  No.  9   John  Gunther. . .  .7- 17-42  813 

24.210  No.  10   John   Carradine  .8- 14-42  877 

SPORTSCOPE 
(Average  9  Mln.) 
1941-42 

24.309  Cruiii  Sports   4-17-42  653 

24.310  Byron   Nelson   5-15-42  700 

24.311  Cinderella   Champion  6-12-42  767 

24.312  Polo   Pony   7-10-42  856 

24.313  Record  Breakers   8-7-42  877 

PICTURE  PEOPLE 
(13  Minutes) 
1941-42 

24.409  Star  Portrait!;   4-24-42  704 

24.410  Hollywood  at  Home  5-22-42  700 

24.411  All  Around  Hollywood.  .6-19-42  767 

24.412  H»llywood  Starlets  7-17-42  813 

24.413  Hollywood  on  the 

Hudson   8-14-42  926 

EDGAR  KENNEDY 
(Average  18  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

23.406    Cooks  and  Crooks  6-5-42  729 

1942-  43 

33,401    Two  for  the  Money  8-14-42  926 

LEON  ERROL 
(Average  19  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

23.705  Framing    Father  5-15-42  709 

23.706  Hold  'Era  Jail   6-26-42  767 

1 942 -  43 

33,701    Mail  Trouble   9-4-42  926 

RAY  WHITLEY 
(Average  15  Mis.) 
1941-42 

23.503  Cartus    Capers  4-23-42  653 

23.504  Range    Rhythm  7-17-42  813 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

ADVENTURES  NEWSCAMERAMAN 
(Average  9  Mln.) 
1941-42 

-206    Guardians  of  the  Sea  7-17-42  767 


3201    Along  the 


1942-43 
Texas  Range. 


10-9-42 


MAGIC  CARPET 
(9  Minutes) 
1941-42 

2106  Heart  of   Mexico  5-1-42  704 

2107  Gateway  to  Alia  5-8-42  700 

210*    India  the   Golden  6-19-42  755 

1942-43  (Color) 

3151  Desert  Wonderland   8-1-42  !56 

3152  Wedding   in    Bikaner  8-28-42  899 

3153  Valley  of  Blossoms  9-25-42  950 

3154  Royal  Araby   10-23-42 

3155  Gay  Rio   11-29-42 

SPORTS  REVIEWS 
(8  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

2306    Setting    the    Pace  4-24-42  729 

1942-  43 

33:i    Well-Rowed    Harvard  8-14-42  899 

3351    Neptune's  Daughter   11-6-42 

TERRYTOONS  (TECHNICOLOR) 
(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

'.560    Gandy  Geote  In  Lights  Out 

4-17-42  652 

35*1    Net*  and    Nttk  I-I5-42  706 

-3J«2    All  About  Dogs  6-12-42  753 

1342-43 

All   Out  for  "V"  8-7-42  926 

Life  with  Fido  8-21-42 

School    Daze   9-18-42 

Night  Life  in  the  Army.  10-2-42 
The  Mouse  of  Tomorrow. .  10- 16-42 
Najiey  in  Doing  Their 

B't   10-33-42 

Frankenstein's  Cat   .11-27-42 


926 

950 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Dot*  Page 

TERRYTOONS  (Black  &  White) 
(7  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

2519    Gasdy  a»«o  In  Tricky  Business 

5-1-42  704 

2511  The  Stork's   Mistake  5-29-42  700 

2512  Wilful  Willi*   6-24-42  715 

2513  Sandy   Goose  In  the 

Outpost   7-10-42  755 

2514  Gandy  Gmii  In 

Tire    Trouble   7-24-42  767 

1942-43 

3501    The    Big    Build-Up  9-4-42  926 

3302    lekle  Meets  Piekle  11-13-42 

THE  WORLD  TODAY 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

2405  Courageous  Australia   6-5-42  754 

2406  Mea  of  West  Point  7-3-42  754 

1942-  43 

3401    Our  Last  Frontier  9-1 1-42 

MARCH  OF  TIME 

(Average  20  Minutes) 

1942-  43 

....  The   F.B.I.   Front   911 

  The    Fighting    Freneh   946 


UNITED  ARTISTS 


WORLD   IN  ACTION 

(Two  Reels) 
1941-42 

Churchill's  Island   4-3-42  599 

This  Is  Blitz   5-1-42  539 

Food — Weapon  of  Conquest. 6-5-42  559 

The  Battle  for  Oil   539 

New  Soldiers  Art  Tough   699 

Inside  Fighting  Russia   784 

Hitler's  Plan    854 

Road  to  Tokyo   89S 

Inside    Fighting   China   898 


UNIVERSAL 

COLOR  CARTUNE 
(Average  7  Mln,) 

1941-  42 

6248    Mother  Goose  on  the 

Loose   4-13-42  652 

5249    Good  Bye  Mr.  Moth  5-11-4  2  653 

825*    Nutty   Pine   Cabin   6-1-42  753 

6251  Ace  In  the  Hole  6-22-42  755 

6252  Juke  Box  Jamboree  7-27-42  767 

6253  Pigeon   Patrol  8-3-42  813 

1942-  43 

7241  Andy  Panda's  Victory 

Garden   9-7-42  926 

7242  The  Loan  Stranger  10-19-12 

SWING  SYMPHONIES 
i942-43 

7231    Yankee  Doodle  Swing 

Shift   9-21-42  899 

STRANGER  THAN  FICTION 

(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

637  9    Pussy  Cat  Cafe  4-20-42  653 

6330    Tea  Thumb  Charon  5- 18-42  729 

6381  Mysterious  Fountain 

of   Health   5-15-42  755 

6382  Master  Carver   7-6-42  767 

6383  Women   at  the   Plough. .  .7-20-42  813 

6384  Mile  of  Dough   8-10-42  877 

5385    Smoke  Painter   8-31-42  899 

PERSON— ODDITIES 

1942-  43 

7371  Human  Sailboat   9-14-42  926 

7372  Jail   Hostess   9-28-42  950 

7373  King  of  the  49-ers  10-12-42 

7374  Double  Talk  Girl  11-16-42 

VARIETY  VIEWS 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

6362    Call  of  tho  Sea  5-4-42  729 

6303    Wings  ef   Freedom  ,.6-8-42  755 

6364  Antaretii   Output   7-13-42  755 

6365  Crater    City   8-17-42  859 

1942-  43 

7351    Trouble  Spot  of  the  East.. 9-7-42  899 

7332    Canadian  Patrol   9-21-42  926 

7353    Spirit  of  Democracy  10-5-42 


Prod. 

No. 


Title 


Rel.  P.D. 
Date  Pose 


7354  New   Era  in  India  11-2-42 

7355  Western   Whoopee    899 

MUSICALS 
(Average  16  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

6229  Gay    Nineties   4-15-42  505 

6230  Swing  Frolic   5-13-42  653 

6233    Rainbow  Rhythm   6-10-42  755 

6232    Merry  Madtaps   7-15-42  813 

6231  Shuffle  Rhythm   8-19-42  877 

1942-  43 

7121  Trumpet    Serenade  9-9-42  899 

7122  Serenade    in    Swing  10-14-42  899 

7123  Jivin'  Jam  Session  11-11-42  899 


VITAPHONE 

TECHNICOLOR  SPECIALS 
(Average  20  Min.) 

1941-  42 

7005  Spanish   Fiesta  5-16-42  700 

7004    March  On  America  6-27-4  2  755 

7006  Men  of  the  Sky  7-25-42  856 

1942-  43 

8001    A  Ship  Is  Born  10-10-42 

BROADWAY  BREVITIES 
(20  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

7109  California  Jr.  Symphony.  ,4- 1 8-42  633 

7110  Paeifle  Frontiers   5-30-42  729 

7111  Daughter  of  Rosle  O'Grady 

7-11-42  767 

7112  "Divide  and  Conquer"  8-29-42  794 

1942-  43 

8101  The  Spirit  of  Annapolis. .  .9-5-42  926 

8102  The  Nation  Dances  9-25-42 

8103  The  Spirit  of  West  Point..  1 1-7-42 

8104  Beyond  the  Line  of  Duty.  1 1 -7-42 

HOLLYWOOD  NOVELTIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1 94 1  -42 

7308    There  Ain't  No  Such 

Animal   5-9-42  633 

1942-43 

8301  Sweeney  Steps  Out  9-12-42  950 

8302  You  Want  to  Give  Up 

Smoking  11-14-42 

THE  SPORTS  PARADE 

(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

7407  Rocky  Mountain  Big  Game. 5-2-42  704 
7403    Hatteras  Honkers   6-13-42  755 

7409  Hunter's  Paradise   7-18-42  859 

7410  Argentine    Horses   8-8-42  877 

1942-  43 

8401    Sniffer  Soldiers   9-12-42  950 

8+02    South  American  Sports. .  1 0-17-42 

8403  The   Right  Timing  10-31-42 

8404  Cuba,  Land  of  Romance  and 

Adventure   11-21-42 

S405    America's  Battle  of 

Beauty   11-21-42  .. 

MELODY   MASTERS  BANDS 

(19  Minutes) 
1 94 1  -42 

7508  Don  Cossack  Chorus  4-25-42  &S3 

7509  Emil    Coleman   i.   Ortfu.. 6-13-42  754 

7510  Glen  Gray  4  Band  8-15-42  877 

1942-43 

8501  Army  Air  Force  Band  9-19-42  950 

8502  Six  Hits  and  a  Miss  10-24-42  .. 

8303  U.  S.  Marine  Band  11-28-42 

LOONEY    TUNES  CARTOONS 

(7  Minutes) 
1 94 1  -42 

7609  Daffy's  Southern  Exposure.  .5-2-42  653 

7610  Nutty  News   5-23-42  70S 

7611  Hobby  Horse  Laffs  6-8-42  754 

7612  Gopher  Goofy   6-27-42  755 

7613  Wacky    Blackout   7-11-42  877 

7614  The   Ducktator   8-1-42  859 

7615  Eatin'  on  the  Cuff  8-22-42  877 

7616  The   Impatient  Patient  9-5-42  877 

1942-43 

8601  The   Hep   Cat  10-3-42  950 

8602  The  Daffy  Duckaroo  10-24-42 

8603  My  Favorite  Duck  11-21-42 

MERRIE    MELODIES   CARTOONS  (Color) 
(7  Minutes) 
1941-42 

7716  Dog  Tired   4-25-42  764 

7717  The   Wacky  Waibit  5-2-42  704 


Prod.  Rel.  PS). 

No.         Title  Date  Past 

7718  The  Draft  Horw  5-9-42  76* 

7719  Lights  Fantastic  5-23-42  760 

7720  Hold  the  Lion,  Please  6-6-42  754 

7721  Double  Chaser   6-20-42  755 

7722  Bugs  Buuny  Gets  the 

Bird   7-11-42  *56 

7723  Foney  Fables   8-1-42  856 

7724  The  Squawkin'  Hawk   8-8-42  877 

7725  Fresh  Hare   8-22-42  877 

7726  Fox  Pop   9-5-42  877 

1942-43 

8701  The  Dover  Boys  9-19-42  950 

8702  The  Sheepish  Wolf  10-17-4  950 

8703  The  Hare  Brained 

Hypnotist   10-31-42 

8704  A  Tale  of  Two  Kitties. .  1 1-14-42 

8705  Ding  Dog  Daddy  11-28-42 

V 

OFFICIAL   U.  S.  VICTORY  FILMS 
(Distributed  by  Various  Major  Exchanges) 

Bomber    509 

Pots   to   Planes   509 

Food   for    Freedom   509 

Red    Cross   Trailer   509 

Women  in  Defense   509 

Safeguarding    Military    Information   509 

Taflks    509 

Any  Bonds  Today    509 

Ring  of  Steel    537 

Fighting    Fire    Bombs   587 

Lake   Carrier    715 

United   China  Relief  

Winning  Your  Wings   674 

Keep   'Em    Rolling   874 

Mr.  Gardenia  Jones   674 

Your  Air  Raid  Warden   770 

Vigilance    771 

Out  of  the  Frying  Pan   926 

Salvage    946 

U.  S.  TREASURY  DEPT. 
(Released  Through  National  Screen) 

The    New  Spirit   529 

WAR   ACTIVITIES  COMMITTEE 

(Released  Through  20th- Fox) 

Battle  of  Midway   912 

MISCELLANEOUS 
Your  Ringside  Seat  with  Tex  MeCrary 

(Newsreel    Distributors)    497 

Soviet  Women  (Artkino)   612 

Movie  Quiz,  No.  I  and  2   854 

(Movie  Quiz  Distributing) 

Shock  Troops  for  Defense   871 

(Brandon  Films) 

Scrap  fcr  Victory   871 

(Brandon  Films) 


SERIALS 
COLUMBIA 

1941-  42 

3180    Perils   ef  tne  Reyai 

Mounted   5-29-42  715 

(15  Episodes) 

1942-  43 

4120    The  Seeret  Code  9-4-42  899 

(15  Eplsodu) 

REPUBLIC 

1941-  42 

183    Spy  Smasher   4-4-42  566 

(12  Episodes) 
134    Perils  of  Nyoka  6-27-42  767 

(15  eoisedes) 

1942-  43 

281  King  ef  the  Mounties. ..  10-10-42 

( 12  episodes) 

282  G-Men  vs.  the  Black  Dragon  

(15  Episodes) 


UNIVERSAL 


1941-  42 

6581-93    Gang  Busters   3-31-42  529 

(13  Episodes) 

1942-  43 

7831-92   Junior  G-Men  of  the 

Air   6-38-42  7*4 

(12  episodes) 

7781-95    Overland    Mail   9-22-42  950 

(15  episodes) 


Product  Digest  Section  949 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


SHORTS 

advance  synopses  and 
information 


October    10,  1942 


OVERLAND  MAIL  (Univ.) 

Serial  (7781-95) 

Universal  has  assembled  a  large  cast  of 
familiar  players  for  this  saga  of  the  Old  West : 
Noah  Beery,  Senior  and  Junior,  Lon  Chaney, 
Don  Terry,  Helen  Parrish  and  Bob  Baker.  The 
story  concerns  the  efforts  of  the  Overland  Mail 
to  maintain  its  franchise  and  reputation  de- 
spite the  encroachments  of  a  rival  line.  A 
marshal  is  assigned  with  two  scouts  to  investi- 
gate the  unusual  series  of  accidents  befalling 
the  stagecoaches.  Helen  Parrish,  as  the 
daughter  of  the  Overland  owner  provides  the 
romantic  interest.  The  first  chapter  runs  26 
minutes  and  succeeding  chapters,  20  minutes. 
Release  date,  September  22,  1942      15  episodes 

SUPERMAN  IN  JAPOTEURS  (Para.) 

WI-10 

The  world's  largest  bomber  is  threatened  by 
Jap  saboteurs  when  Superman  arrives  on  the 
scene.  He  is  in  time  to  annihilate  the  enemy, 
rescue  Lois  and  catch  the  plane  as  it  falls  to  the 
ground. 

Release  date,  September  18,  1942        17  minutes 

COMMUNITY  SING  No.  2  (Col.) 

(4652) 

Don  Baker  plays  the  organ  accompaniment 
for  a  group  of  love,  war  and  good  neighbor 
songs  including  "One  Dozen  Roses,"  "All  I 
Need  Is  You,"  "The  Yankee  Doodler,"  "Army 
Air  Corps"  and  "Cor.chita  Lopez." 
Release  date,  September  17,  1942    10^4  minutes 

JAIL  HOSTESS  (Univ.) 

Person-Oddity  (7372) 

A  woman  jailor,  pretty  and  a  good  cook;  a 
chinchilla  boarding  house ;  the  tools  laid  down 
by  carpenters  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out ; 
a  collection  of  rocks  and  a  friendly  grizzly  bear 
highlight  this  subject. 

Release  date,  September  28,  1942      9  minutes 

SWEENEY  STEPS  OUT  (WB) 

Hollywood  Novelty  (8301) 

The  story  of  a  six-year-old  boy  named 
Sweeney  who  runs  away  from  home  to  lead  a 
life  of  adventure  in  the  Bronx  Zoo  is  told  in 
this  novelty  short.  The  narration  is  by  John 
Kieran,  the  expert  of  Information,  Please. 
Release  date,  September  12,  1942.       10  minutes 

SCHOOL  DAZE  (20th-Fox) 

Terry-Toons  (color)  (3553) 

Nancy  and  Sluggo  of  the  comic  strips  take 
to  the  screen  as  Terry-toon  characters.  They 
are  called  upon  to  demonstrate  some  possibili- 
ties of  children's  cooperation  with  national  de- 
fense, with  attendant  comic  results. 
Release  date,  September  18,  1942.        7  minutes 

CHIPS  OFF  THE  OLD  BLOCK  (MGM) 

Color  Cartoon  (W-354) 

Butch,  a  tough  tomcat  with  a  maternal  com- 
plex, discovers  a  litter  of  kittens.  He  tries 
desperately  to  care  for  them  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  lady  of  the  house,  hiding  the 
little  wrigglers  when  he  hears  her  step.  Her 
reaction  after  the  ultimate  discovery  dumb- 
founds the  torn. 

Release  date,  September  12,  1942        9  minutes 


Synopses  Indexed 

Page  numbers  on  short  subject 
synopses  published  in  Product  Digest 
are  listed  in  the  Shorts  chart,  Prod- 
uct Digest  Section,  pages  948-949. 


EVEN  AS  I  O  U  (Col.) 

Stooges  (4401) 

The  Three  Stooges  are  peddling  racing 
sheets  when  the  police  arrive.  The  chase 
hurtles  them  into  a  dispossessed  apartment 
where  the  baby's  bank  is  tapped  for  a  race- 
track killing.  The  money  buys  a  horse  which 
wins  a  race  which  sets  everyone  up  in  rent 
money  again. 

Release  date,  September  18,  1942      17  minutes 

HEDDA  HOPPER'S  HOLLYWOOD,  No.  6 
(Para.) 

Zl-6 

This  visit  in  Hollywood  takes  the  audience 
through  Pickfair,  the  home  of  Mary  Pickford 
and  Buddy  Rogers,  where  numerous  stars  take 
part  in  a  fashion  show  of  other  days.  Many 
popular  players  are  also  included  among  the 
guests. 

Release  date,  September  18,  1942.       9  minutes 

U.  S.  ARMY  AIR  FORCE  BAND  (WB) 

Melody  Master  (8501) 

The  first  Warner  Bros,  musical  short  of  the 
1942-43  season  features  one  of  the  service 
bands,  that  of  the  Army  Air  Corps,  in  a  group 
of  martial  airs.  The  subject  was  filmed  on  the 
lawn  of  the  White  House. 

Release  date,  September  19,  1942.      10  minutes 

THE  DOVER  BOYS  (WB) 

Merrie  Melodie  (8701) 

The  newest  Leon  Schlesinger  cartoon  turns 
its  satire  on  the  Rover  boys.  Their  perilous 
adventure  includes  rescuing  a  lady  in  distress 
and  conquering  the  villain  to  the  greater  glory 
of  Piemento  University. 

Release  date,  September  19,  1942.       7  minutes 

THE  GULLIBLE  CANARY  (Col.) 

Phantasy  (4701) 

The  canary  is  persuaded  with  talk  of  the 
beautiful  Southern  belles,  to  change  places  with 
a  magpie  and  fly  South.  The  experience  does 
produce  a  wife  as  well  as  a  healthy  respect  for 
the  advantages  of  safe,  warm  cage. 
Release  date,  September  18,  1942         9  minutes 

SNIFFER  SOLDIERS  (WB) 

Sports  Parade  (color)  (8401) 

This  subject,  filmed  at  Fort  MacArthur, 
California,  describes  the  training  program  for 
Army  dogs  for  sentries,  messengers,  pack  dogs, 
airplane  spotters  and  attacks  on  parachute 
troop  landings.  The  animals'  keen  sense  of 
sight,  smell  and  hearing  are  used  to  advantage 
as  man  and  beast  work  together. 
Release  date,  September  12,  1942.       10  minutes 


VALLEY  OF  BLOSSOMS  (20th-Fox) 

Magic  Carpet  (color)  (3153) 

The  industry  in  Okanagan  Valley  in  British 
Columbia  is  apples.  In  the  spring  the  region 
is  filled  with  blossoms,  and  in  the  fall  the  ripe 
fruit  is  harvested  by  people  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  fertile  valley  was  arid  before  the 
introduction  of  irrigation  and  the  thriving  in- 
dustry of  packing  and  shipping  is  new. 
Release  date,  September  25,  1942.      7  minutes 

THE  MAN'S  ANGLE  (Para.) 

Benchley  (51-5) 

Bob  Benchley  in  the  last  of  the  1941-42  se- 
ries goes  into  the  subject  of  wives  and  how 
they  may  best  get  on  their  husbands'  nerves. 
The  inimitable  Benchley  treatment  takes  in  a 
variety  of  marital  headaches. 
Release  date,  August  14,  1942        10  minutes 

THE  EARLY  BIRD  DOOD  IT  (MGM) 

Color  Cartoon  (W-353) 

A  cat,  a  bird  and  a  worm  have  the  featured 
roles  in  this  little  drama.  The  worm  enlists 
the  aid  of  the  cat  in  his  struggle  with  the  bird 
but  without  final  success.  The  cat  is,  how- 
ever, in  the  dominant  position  and  the  bird's 
triumph  is  short-lived. 

Release  date,  August  29,  1942          9  minutes 
JERRY  WALD  &  ORCHESTRA  (RKO) 

Jamboree  No.  1 

RKO  has  added  a  new  series  of  shorts  to 
its  1942-43  program,  starting  off  with  this 
musical  subject.  It  offers  a  variety  of  popu- 
lar music,  sweet  and  swing,  played  by  Jerry 
Wald  and  his  associates  with  Anita  Boyer. 
Release  date,  September  11,  1942      10  minutes   ij|  i 

THE  SHEEPISH  WOLF  (WB) 

Merrie  Melodie  (8702) 

A  wolf  disguises  himself  as  a  sheep  in  the  . 
hope  of  visiting  the  herd  unnoticed.  He  does   I  'I 
note  quite  fool  the  sheep  dog,  however. 
Release  date,  October  17,  1942  7  minutes 

THE  HEP  CAT  (WB) 

Looney  Tune  (8601) 

An  alley  cat,  fancying  himself  a  Don  Juan, 
tries  his  wiles  on  a  young  lady  who  lures  him 
on.  The  lady,  however,  is  the  Charlie  McCarthy 

of  an  artful  dog,  who  sets  a  cunning  trap  for 

the  romantic  feline. 

Release  date,  October  3,  1942.  7  minutes-] 

VICTORY  VITTLES  (MGM) 

Pete  Smith  (S-372) 

With  the  importance  of  proper  food  as  well 
as  economy  in  the  home  front,  Pete  Smith  pre- 
sents a  "Victory"  meal  prepared  by  the  food  j 
expert,  Polly  Patterson. 

Release  date,  September  19,  1942       10  minutes 


THE  BLITZ  WOLF  (MGM) 

Color  Cartoon  (W-352) 

The  chief  menace  in  the  lives  of  the  three 
little  pigs  is  Wolf  Adolf.  Two  barricade  them- 
selves in  houses  of  straw  and  wood  and  sign 
non-aggression  pacts.  The  third  and  wiser  pig- 
let makes  his  home  an  armed  fortress  with  dire 
consequences  for  Adolf. 

Release  date,  August  22,  1942.  9  minutes 


950     Product  Digest  Section 


October    10,  1942 


V  OTIC!    PICTURE  HERALD 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 


Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product. 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail- 
able. Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change. 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers' 
Round  Table  Exploitation. 


All  page  numbers  on  this  chart  refer  to  pages  in  the 
PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 
on  pages  948-949. 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 
by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  937. 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Prod. 

Title 

Compsny 

Is  umber 

•  ABOUT  Face 

UA-Roaeh 

Across  the  Pacific 

V/B 

202 

Action  in  the  North  Atlantic  WB 

Adventures  of  Marie  Twain 

WB 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The 

MSM 

245 

—  e-  ,  Z-.zi  Up i-  J  ~- 

ursday) 

Air  Force 

V/B 

•  Alias  Boston  Blaclde 

Col. 

3029 

A-Haunting  We  Will  Go 

20+h-Fox 

302 

•Almost  Married 

Univ. 

6024 

A  — .  e " '  c  =  r  E  m  p '  •  e 

UA 

Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out 

MGM 

Apache  Trail 

MGM 

Arabian  Nights 

Univ. 

•Are  Husbands  Necessary? 

Para. 

4131 

Arizona  Stagecoach 

Mono. 

Army  Surgeon 

RKO 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace 

WB 

•Atlantic  Convoy 

Col. 

3045 

Release 

Stars  Date 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer  Apr.  I  7, '42 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor  Sept.   5, '42 

Humphrey  Bcgart-Raymcnd  Massey  Not  Set 

Fredric  March-Alexis  Smith  Not  Set 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson  Aug.  '42 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young  Not  Set 

Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara  Apr.  2,'42 

Laurel  and  Hardy  Aug.  7/42 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Fraiee  May  22, '42 

Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo  Not  Set 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone  Not  Set 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed  Sept.-0:t.,'42 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall  Oct.  30, '42 

Ray  Milland-Befty  Field  Block  7 

The  Range  Busters  Sept.  4,'42 

James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt  Not  Set 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

Jchn  Beal-Virginia  Field  July  2, '42 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

43  m 

Apr.  18, '42 

612 

98m 

Aug.  22, '42 

927 

726 

936 

66m 

May  23, '42 

673 

613 

936 

67m 

575 

67m 

July  I  l,'42 

927 

65m 

Mar.  7, "42 

554 

871 

796 

66m 

June  27,'42 

938 

72b 

872 

79m 

June  13, '42 

7\4 

663 

66  m 


July  I  I, '42  765 


701 


751 


Data 
Page 


756 


873 


BABY  Face  Morgan  PRC 
•Bad  Men  of  the  Hills  Col. 

•  Bambi  (color)  RKO 
Bandit  Ranger  RKO 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The  RKO 
•Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

(formerly  Kubrn) 
Battle  for  Siberia  (Russian)  Artkino 
•Beachcomber,  The  Para. 
•Bells  of  Capistrano  Rep. 
Berlin  Correspondent  20th-Fox 
Between  Us  Girls  Univ. 
(formerly  Love  and  Kisses,  Caroline) 
•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)  Para, 

•  Big  Shot,  The  WB 
Big  Street,  The  RKO 

•Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC 
•Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  G  uns  PRC 

5  ack  Swan,  The  (color)  20th-Fox 
•Blondie's  Blessed  Event  Col. 
•Blondie  for  Victory  Col. 

Bombardier  RKO 
•Bombs  Over  Burma  PRC 
•Boothill  Bandits  Mono. 

Boogie  Man  Will  Get  You,  The  Col. 

Boss  of  Big  Town  PRC 

•  Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa  Univ, 
Boston  Blackie  Gees  Hollywood  Col. 
Bowery  at  Midnight  Mono. 

•Bride  of  Buddha  Hofrberg 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 
•Broadway  Univ. 
Busses  Roar  WB 


CAIRO  MGM 

Calaboose  UA 

Call  of  th  e  Canyon  Rep. 

•Calling  Dr.  Gillespie  MGM 
Careful,  Soft  Shoulder  20th-Fox 

Cargo  of  Innocents  MGM 

(■ormerly  Clear  for  Action] 

Casablanca  WB 

Cat  People  RKO 


317 
3207 


22 

4139 
3 


4130 
135 

261 
260 

3018 
3019 

208 


6009 
203 


131 
247 
312 


Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell  Sept.  15/42 

Charles  Starreft-Russell  Hayden  Aug.  13/42 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon  Aug.  21/42 

Tim  Holt  Sept.  25/42 

Lum  and  Abner  Apr.  24/42 

Chinese  Feature  Not  Set 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin  Aug.  26/42 

Charles  Laughton  Reissue 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Sept.  15/42 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore  Sept.  11/42 

Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings  Sept.  4/42 


Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 
Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 
Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne 
Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 
Corrigan-King-Terhune 
Boris  Karloff-Peter  Lorre 
John  Litel-Florence  Rice 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 
Bela  Lugcsi-John  Archer 
R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 
Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 


Block  6 
June  13/42 
Sept.  4/42 
Aug.  2 1/42 
May  29/42 
Nov.  27/42 
Apr.  9/42 
Aug.  6/42 
Shirley  Not  Set 
June  5/42 
Apr.  24/42 
Oct.  29/42 
Dec.  7/42 
Aug.  21/42 
Not  Set 
Oct.  30/42 
Apr.  22/42 

May  8/42 
Sept.  19/42 


Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young  Sept.-0ct./42 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette  Aug.  5/42 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn  Aug.,  '42 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison  Sept.  18/42 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor  Not  Set 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

S'-:-:  j'-t'-":-  Ccrw;,  Not  Set 


65m 

July  25/42 

903 

70m 

May  30/42 

685 

947 

77m 

Mar.  21/42 

563' 

487 

795 

61m 

July  5/41 

840 

90m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

89m 

Nov.  26/38 

911 

73m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

70m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

797 

89m 

Aug.  29/42 

890 

772 

76m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

947 

80m 

June  6/42 

714 

648 

756 

87m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

701 

58m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

58m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

648 

855 

69  m 

July  4/42 

750 

575 

70m 

772 

912 

65  m' 

July  18/42 

781 

648 

58m 

613 

58m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

794 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

75  m 

May  13/33 

634 

91m 

May  9/42 

645 

756 

6 1  m 

Aug.  22/42 

903 

101m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

947 

71m 

Aug.  22/42 

938 

800 

84m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

873 

69m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

871 

936 


Product  Digest  Section 


951 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,     I  942 


Title 


Prod. 
Company  Number 


China  Girl 

90+h-Fn* 

Oity  or  Silent  Men 

r  t\\* 

inn 

•  Come  On,  Danger 

|\ 

Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn 

Col. 

Constant  Nymph,  The 

WB 

•Corpse  Vanishes,  The 

Mono. 

Corvettes  in  Action 

Univ. 

Counter  Espionage 

Col. 

4027 

Cover  Girl,  The 

Col. 

Crash  Dive  (Color) 

20th-Fox 

Criminal  Investigator 

Mono. 

•Crossroads 

MGM 

244 

Crystal  Ball,  The 

UA 

•  Cyclone  Kid,  The 

Rep. 

177 

Release 

Stars  Date 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney  Not  Set 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang  Oct.  12, '42 

Tim  Holt  June  5,'42 

Paul  Muni-Lillian  Gish  Not  Set 

Charles  Boyer-Joan  Fontaine  Not  Set 

Bela  Lugosi  May  8, '42 

Patric  Knowles-Dick  Foran  Not  Set 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Sept.  3, '42 

Jinx  Falkenberg-Rita  Hayworth  Not  Set 

Tyrone  Power-Anne  Baxter  Not  Set 

Robert  Lowery-Jan  Wiley  Oct.  23, '42 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr  July,  '42 

Paulette  Goddard-Ray  Milland  Not  Set 

Don  "Red"  Barry  May3l,'42 


Running 
Time 

64m 

58m 


63  m 

72m 


r~  REVIEWED 

M.  P.       Product  Advance 

Herald       Digest  Synopsis 

Issue         Page  Page 


Sept.  I2,'42 
Dec.   3, '41 


Apr.  18/42 

Oct.  10742 


898 

407 


611 

945 


84m  June  27/42  737 
56m       Aug.  1 5.'42  840 


872 

387 

87 

663 
70 


Service 
Data 
Page 


873 


•  DANGER  in  the  Pacific  Univ. 
Daring  Young  Man,  The  Col. 
Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'l 
Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas  Univ. 
Desert  Song,  The  WB 
Desperados,  The  Col. 

•  Desperate Chance  for  ElleryQueen  Col. 
Desperate  Journey  WB 
Destination  Unknown  Univ. 
Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

•  Devil's  Trail,  The  Col. 
•Dr.  Broadway  Para. 

Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant  MGM 
Dr.  Renault's  Secret  20th-Fox 
•Down  Rio  Grande  Way  Col. 

•  Down  Texas  Way  Mono. 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo  Univ. 


6056  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

4021  Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 

....  Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 

....  Johnny  Mack  Brown 

....  Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 

....  Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 

3032  William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 

204  Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 

7030  Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 

....  Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 

3214  Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

4128  Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 

....  Lionel  Barrymore-Van  Johnson 

....  Lynn  Roberts-John  Shepperd 

3205  Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

....  Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

6040  Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 


July  I0,"42 

61m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

Oct.  8, '42 

871 

Not  Set 

98m 

May  23/42 

673 

Sept.  25,'42 

62m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

Not  Set 

872 

Not  Set 

871 

May  7/42 

70m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Sept.  26/42 

107m 

Aug.  22/42 

915 

Oct.  9/42 

61m 

Oct.  3/42 

946 

912 

Not  Set 

May  14/42 

61m 

715 

Block  6 

67m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

Not  Set 

Nov.  20/42 

936 

Apr.  23/42 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

May  22/42 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

July  17/42 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

873 


873 


•  EAGLE  Squadron 
Edge  of  Darkness 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery 
•Escape  from  Crime 
•Escape  from  Hong  Kong 

Eyes  in  the  Night 

Eyes  of  the  Underworld 


Univ. 

Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 

Not  Set 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Ann  Sheridan 

Not  Set 

ueen  Col. 

3038 

Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan 

July  30/42 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

WB 

137 

Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 

July  25/42 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

Univ. 

6054 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 

May  15/42 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

MGM 

Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

Univ. 

Bela  Lugosi-Lon  Chaney,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

873 


•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•  Fantasia  (color)  (Revised)  RKO 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 
(British) 

Flesh  and  Fantasy  Univ. 
•Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 

Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 
•Flying  Tigers  Rep. 

Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 

Foreign  Agent  Mono. 

Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 

Forest  Rangers,  The  (Color)  Para. 

Forever  Yours  Univ. 

For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 

For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Para. 
•Four  Flights  to  Love  (French)  English 
•Friendly  Enemies  UA 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 


227 

George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari 

May  29/42 

63m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph 

Not  Set 

63m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

871 

William  Tracy-Jean  Porter 

Not  Set 

796 

292 

Disney-Srokowski 

Apr.  10/42 

81m 

Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

590 

6065 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

War  Documentary 

Not  Set 

37m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

232 

Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day 

Apr.  '42 

80m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven 

Not  Set 

1 18m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Charles  Boyer-Barbara  Stanwyck 

Not  Set 

3012 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford 

July  9/42 

78m 

June  27/42 

75  i 

947 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

68m 

June  27/42 

914 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee 

Oct.  8/42 

102m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

301 

John  Payne-Betty  Grable 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  11/42 

915 

715 

873 

John  Shelton-Gail  Storm 

Oct.  9/42 

64m 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder 

Not  Set 

90m 

May  2/42 

634 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulet+e  Goddard 

Block  2 

87m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

Deanna  Durbin-Edmond  O'Brien 

Not  Set 

936 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 

Sept.-Oct.,"42 

104m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman 

Not  Set 

855 

Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles 

June  26/42 

95m 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

756 

255 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis 

Sept.  4/42 

60m 

•  GAY  Sisters,  The 

WB 

138 

Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent 

Aug.  1/42 

108m 

June  6/42 

697 

663 

•  General  Died  at  Dawn,  The 

Para. 

4140 

Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll 

Reissue 

93  m 

Sept.  12/36 

911 

Gentleman  Jim 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith 

Not  Set 

936 

George  Washington  SleDt  Here  WB 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan 

Not  Set 

93  m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

871 

Get  Hep  to  Love 

Univ. 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige 

Oct.  2/42 

77m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The 

Rep. 

117 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker 

Apr.  16/42 

75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Girl  Trouble 

20th-Fox 

309 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett 

Oct.  9/42 

82m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

855 

•  Give  Out,  Sisters 

Univ. 

7021 

Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies 

Sept.  11/42 

65m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Glass  Key,  The 

Para. 

Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan 

Ladd       Block  1 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

914 

•  Gold  Rush,  The 

UA 

Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music 

Apr.  17/42 

72m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

Goose  Steps  Out,  The 

Ealing-UA 

Will  Hay 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

(British) 

•Grand  Central  Murder 

MGM 

237 

Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 

May,  "42 

72m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Great  Impersonation,  The 
•  Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Univ. 

Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 

Not  Set 

912 

Para. 

4121 

Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea 

Block  5 

90  m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

561 

396 

873 


795 

756 
795 


952     Product  Digest  Section 


October    10.    1942  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Tit'e  Cottpzny 

Great  Without  Glory  Para. 
•  Guerrilla  Brigade  Art b' no 


Prod. 
Xamker 


Stars 

Joe)  McCrea-Betty  Field 
Lev  Sverd'ln-Stephan  Shbjrat 


Release 
Dttc 

Not  Set 
Apr.  I  3, '42 


Planning 
Tirr.! 


73m 


—  REVIEWED  —« 
M.  P.  Product 
Herald  Digest 


Apr.  18/42 


Pile 


612 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 

912 


Service 
Data 
Page 


HALF  Way  to  Shanghai  Univ. 

Happy  Go  Lucky  Para. 

Hard  Way,  The  WB 

He  Hired  the  Boss  20th-Fcx 

•  Hello  Annapolis  Col. 
Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  Para. 
Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour  Para. 

•  Henry  and  Dizzy  Para. 
•Her  Cardboard  Lover  MSM 

Here  We  Go  Aga'n  RKO 

Hidden  Hand,  Ttie  V/B 

Highways  by  Night  RKO 

•  Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg  Mono. 
Hi!  Neighbor  Rep. 

•  Holiday  Inn  Para. 

•  Home  in  Wycmln1  Rep. 

•  House  c:  Errors  PRC 
How  Do  You  Dc?  Col. 


7035 

-ft  "  ft     W  a*-.'e\J-SonT     1  JS  \J  ^  ? 

i  .  en  c   n  cr      y"[\en  i    i  o  y  ■  u , 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Pcwe'l-Rudy  Vallee 

SeDt  18  '42 
Not  Set 

62m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

797 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan 

Not  Set 

97m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

Stuart  Erwin-Evelyn  Venabie 

Not  Set 

3037 

Jean  Parker-Tcm  Brown 

Apr.  23, '42 

62m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  2 

72m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

663 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Not  Set 

4125 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  5 

71m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

443 

241 

Nor— a  Shearer-Robert  Taylor 

June  '42 

90m 

May  30/42 

686 

648 

Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-'Charlie' 

Oct.  9, '42 

76m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

Craig  Stevens-EJizabeth  Fraser 

Not  Set 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph 

Oct.  2, '42 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

938 

715 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan 

Aug.  14/42 

63  m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

794 

201 

Lulubelle  &  Scoffy-Jean  Parker 

July  27/42 

72  m 

July  25/42 

927 

772 

4134 

Birg  Crosby-Fred  Astaire 

Block  7 

101m 

June  13/42 

713 

663 

146 

G.  Autry-S.  Eurnefte 

Apr.  20/42 

67m 

May  2/42 

633 

216 

Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers 
J'-x  ?i  r5-cr-c-Br~i  Gordon 

Apr.  10/42 

65m 

539 

NotSs- 

795 


947 


ICE-Capades  Revue 

Rep. 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague 

Not  Set 

797 

Iceland 

20th-Fox 

306 

Sonja  Henie-John  Payne 

Oct.  2/42 

79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

•  1  Live  on  Danger 

Para. 

4135 

Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker 

Block  7 

73  m 

June  13/42 

713 

•  !  Married  an  Angel 

MGM 

238 

Nelson  Eddy-Jeaneffe  MacDcnald 

June  '42 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 

873 

1  Married  a  Witch 

UA 

Fredrlc  March-Veronica  Lake 

Not  Set 

797 

•  In  Old  California 

Rep. 

103 

John  V.'ayne-Binnie  Barnes 

May  31/42 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

•  Inside  the  Law 

PRC 

218 

V.V'ace  Ford 

May  8/42 

97m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

613 

•  In  This  Our  Life 

WB 

132 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland 

May  16/42 

97m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

597 

947 

•Invaders,  The  (British) 

Col. 

3101 

Hcwa.-d-Massey-Olivier 

Apr.  15/42 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

•Invisible  Agent 

Univ. 

6049 

Ilona  Massey-Jon  Hall 

July  31/42 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

is  e  c-  Missing  Men 

Mono. 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland 

Sept.  18/42 

67m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

772 

•  It  Happened  in  Flatbush 

20th-Fox 

248 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

June  5/42 

80m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

947 

•1  Was  Framed 

WB 

130 

Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop 

Apr.  25/42 

6 1  m 

Apr.  1  1/42 

599 

574 

•  JACKASS  Mail 

MGM 

243 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main 

July  '42 

= 

June  20/42 

726 

715 

947 

•  Joan  of  Ozark 

Rep. 

104 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  25/42 

793 

,:--ny  Doughboy 

Rep. 

Jane  Withers-Patrick  Brook 

Not  Set 

Journey  for  Margaret 

MGM 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day 

Not  Set 

912 

Journey  Into  Fear 

RKO 

Joseph  Co-ten-Dolcres  Del  R'e 

Not  Set 

69m 

Aug.  8/42 

903 

796 

•Juke  Girl 

WB 

133 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan 

May  30/42 

90m 

Apr.  1  1/42 

597 

464 

873 

•Jungle  Boob  The  (Color) 

UA 

Sabu 

Apr.  3/42 

1  15m 

Mar.  28/42 

573 

396 

873 

•  Jungle  Siren 

PRC 

203 

Ann  Ccric-Busfer  Crabbe 

Aug.  14/42 

68  m 

947 

Just  Off  Broadway 

20th-Fox 

310 

Lloyd  Nc.'an-Marjcrie  Weaver 

Sept.  25/42 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

KEEPER  of  the  Flame  MGM 

•  Kid  Glove  Killer  MGM 

•King  of  the  Stallions  Mono. 

•Kings  Row  WB 


LADIES'  DAY  RKO 

Lady  Bodyguard  Para. 

3  =  -::-;  .'.  3 

•Lady  in  a  Jam  Univ. 

•Land  of  the  Open  Range  RKO 

•Larceny,  Inc.  V/B 

Laugh  Your  Blues  Away  Cel. 

Let  the  People  Sing  (British)  Anglo 

•Let's  Get  Tough  Mono. 

Life  Begins  at  8:30  20th-Fox 

Little  Joe,  the  Wrara'er  Univ. 

LHfle  Tokyo,  U.S.A.  '  20--.h-Fcx 

Lone  Prairie,  The  CoL 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Border  Roundup  PRC 

•-c-e  R'der  '-  Te>r  =  s  Jjs-'ce  PRC 

Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Pcer  The  20th-Fox 

Lucky  Jordan  Para. 

Lucb/  Legs  Cc  . 

•Lure  of  the  Islands  Mono. 


  Spencer  Tracy-Katharine  Hepburn  Not  Set 

230  Van  Hefiin-Marsha  Hunt  Apr.  42 

  Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien  Sept.  11/42 

120  Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings  Apr.  18/42 


Lupe  Ve'ez-Eddie  Albert-Max  Baer  Not  Set 

Eddie  Albert-Anne  Shirley  Not  Set 

134        Faye  Er-.s-sc n-J .lie  Bishop  June  6/42 

6008        Irene  Dunne-Patr'c  Knowles  June  19/42 

284        Tim  Holt  Apr.  17/42 

131         Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman  May  2/42 

Ee"  Gc-don-Margaret  Lire;;  .  Not  Set 

Aastair  Sim-Fred  Emney  Not  Set 

East  Side  Kids  May  29/42 

Monty  Woolley-Ida  Lupino  Not  Set 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Nov.  13/42 

303         Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce  Aug.  14/42 

  Russell  Hayder.-Bob  Wills  Oct.  15/42 

266        Gsc-ge  Houston-Al  St.  John  Sept.  18/42 

265        George  Houston-Al  St.  John  June  2 1  ,'42 

305        John  Sheppard-Lir.da  Darnell  Aug,  28/42 

  Alan  Ladd-Helen  Walker  Not  Set 

4032        Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris  Oct.  1/42 

....         Margie  Hart-Robert  Lower/  July  3/42 


74m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

495 

873 

63m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

800 

130m 

Dec.  27/41 

429 

320 

705 

946 

62m 

Apr.  1  1/42 

599 

574 

83m 

July  4/42 

749 

613 

795 

60m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

95m 

Mar.  7/42 

538 

795 

1 00m 

Apr.  1  1/42 

599 

62  m 

May  16/42 

662 

648 

60  m 
67m 


61m 


July  1  1/42 


938 


July  11/42  914 


751 

797 
800 


•MAD  Martindales,  The 

20th-Fcx 

245 

Jane  V/fthers-Alan  Mowbray 

May  15/42 

65  m 

Apr.  18/42 

622 

•Mad  Monster,  The 

PRC 

209 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel 

May  15/42 

79m 

June  6/42 

699 

613 

Magnificent  Ambersons,  The 

RKO 

Joseph  Ccrren-Dclores  Cos-e/c 

July  10/42 

:■- 

July  4/42 

938 

507 

947 

•Magnificent  Dope  The 

20th-Fox 

249 

Hs-.r/  Fcnda-Don  Amsche-Lynn  Bari 

Jun=  12/42 

84m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

873 

•Maisie  Gets  Her  Man 

MGM 

240 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 

June  '42 

86m 

May  30/42 

687 

648 

756 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The 

Para. 

Gl-cer  Rcce-s-Ray  Milland 

Block  1 

100m 

Aug.  29/42 

927 

•  Male  Animal,  The 

WB 

126 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  H  =  ." 

Acr.  4/42 

101m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

464 

795 

Man  in  the  Trunb  The 

20th-Fox 

315 

Lyre  Roce-:s-Gec-ge  Hci-es 

Oct.  23/42 

71m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

855 

Manila  Calling 

20th-Fox 

314 

L'c.c  Nolan-Care's  Land's 

Oct.  16/42 

81m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

871 

Product  Digest  Section 


953 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    10,  1942 


Prod. 


Title 

Company 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die, 

The 

20th-Fox 

243 

Man's  World,  A 

Col. 

4044 

Meanest  Man  in  the  W 

5rld 

20th-Fox 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St. 

RKO 

224 

•  Meet  the  Mob 

Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma ) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts 

Col. 

3014 

•  Men  of  San  Quentin 

PRC 

201 

•  Men  of  Texas 

Univ. 

6010 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant 

RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a 

Ghost  RKO 

•Miss  Annie  Rooney 

UA 

Miss  V  from  Moscow 

PRC 

•  Mississippi  Gambler 

Univ. 

6034 

•  Moltey 

MGM 

231 

Moonlight  in  Havana 

Univ. 

•  Moonlight  Masquerade 

Rep. 

120 

•  Moon  Tide 

20th-Fox 

247 

Moon  and  Sixpence,  The 

UA 

Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Rep. 
Mr.  &  Mrs.  Brooklyn  UA-Roach 

•  Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 
Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House  WB 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 

•  My  Favorite  Spy  RKO 
My  Friend  Flicka  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 

•  Mystery  of  Marie  Roget  Univ. 


260 


125 
4123 
228 

244 


6022 


Release 

Stars  Date 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver  May   I, '42 

M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright  Sept.  I7,'42 

Jack  Benny-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley  May  1 5, '42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  1 7, '42 

William  Holden-Frances  Dee  May  28, "42 

J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston  May  22, '42 

Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne  July  3, '42 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  Sept.  1 1, '42 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  June  26, '42 

Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan  May  29,'42 

Lola  Lane-Noel  Madison  Nov.  23,'42 

Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford  Apr.  1 7, '42 

Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed  Apr... '42 

Allan  Jones-Jane  Frazee  Oct.  I6,'42 

Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr.  June  10, '42 

Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains     May  29, '42 

George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall  Not  Set 

Documentary  Aug.  1 5, '42 

Arline  Judge-Max  Baer-William  Bendix       Not  Set 

Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon  '                Not  Set 

Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee  Block  2 

Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox  Not  Set 

Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson  Apr.  1 1, '42 

Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  Block  5 

Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew  June  I2,'42 

Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster  Not  Set 

Rita  Hayworth-V=  Mature  May  8,"42 

Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll  Not  Set 

Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne  Sept.  30,'42 

Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez  Apr.  3, '42 


Running 
Time 

65  m 


r—  REVIEWED  -> 
M.  P.  Product 
Herald  Digest 


Issue 
Apr.  I8,'42 


Page 
610 


Advance  Service 
Synopsis  Data 
Page  Pege 


86m 

Mar.  21, '42 

563 

487 

62m 

Apr.  25,'42 

622 

574 

73m 

May  23.'42 

674 

705 

7  (Jim 

/om 

A        go  "47 
Apr.  1  O,  t£ 

o  I  u 

82m 

July  1 1,"42 

766 

773 

64m 

Aug.  8,'42 

915 

07  m 

May  7, 

tic 

635 

873 

85m 

May  30,'42 

686 

677 

873 

60m 

Apr.  I8,'42 

611 

o  om 

Mar.  Zo, 

67m 

June  27, '42 

738 

701 

94m 

Apr.  I8,'42 

609 

947 

89m 

Sept.  I2,"42 

912 

55m 

Aug.  I5,'42 

840 

133m 

May  I6,'42 

661 

527 

947 

80m 

Oct.  3,'42 

934 

663 

59m 

Apr.  II  ,'42 

598 

575 

78m 

Mar.  21, '42 

561 

542 

756 

86m 

May  9.'42 

646 

635 

873 

103m 

Apr.  I8,'42 

609 

947 

871 

96m 

Sept.  I9,'42 

909 

772 

61m 

Apr.  II, '42 

597 

507 

NAVY  Comes  Through.  The 

RKO 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott 

Not  Set 

715 

•  Native  Land 

Frontier 

Documentary  on  Labor 

May  II, '42 

80m 

May  I6,'42 

662 

'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge 

Mono. 

East  Side  Kids 

Nov.20,'42 

Next  of  Kin,  The  (British) 

Ealing-UA 

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam 

Not  Set 

l66m 

June  6,'42 

698 

Nightmare 

Univ. 

Diana  Barrymore-Brian  Donlevy 

Not  Set 

Night  for  Crime,  A 

PRC 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  I,'42 

903 

•Night  in  New  Orleans 

Para. 

4127 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison 

Block  6 

75m 

May  9,'42 

647 

635 

Northwest  Rangers 

MGM 

James  Craig-Patricia  Dane 

Not  Set 

•  North  of  the  Rockies 

Col. 

3213 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

Apr.  2,'42 

60m 

575 

•  Not  a  Ladies  Man 

Col. 

3042 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray 

May  I4,'42 

60m 

Sept.  I9,'42 

9  i  6 

No  Time  for  Love 

Para. 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray 

Not  Set 

855 

Now,  Voyager 

WB 

206 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid 

Oct.  31, '42 

II  7m 

Aug.22,'42 

902 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track 

Univ. 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce 

Not  Set 

794 

Old  Homestead,  The 

Rep. 

202 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry 

Aug.  17/42 

67m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

855 

Omaha  Trail 

MGM 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

61m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon 

RKO 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant 

Not  Set 

855 

One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British) 
One  Thrilling  Night 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 
Orchestra  Wives 


UA 
Mono. 


20th-Fox 


308 


•  Orders  from  Tokyo 

Almo 

Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge 

Rep. 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood 

Col. 

3208 

Ox-Bow  Incident,  The 

20th-Fox 

Ox  Train 

MGM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous 

MGM 

239 

Palm  Beach  Story,  The 

Para. 

Panama  Hattie 

MGM 

•Panther's  Claw,  The 

PRC 

217 

•  Parachute  Nurse 

Col. 

3044 

•Pardon  My  Sarong 

Univ. 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French) 

Better  Films 

•  Phantom  Killer 

Mono. 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen 

Rep. 

167 

Pied  Piper,  The 

20th-Fox 

304 

Pilot  No.  5 

MGM 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains 

MGM 

246 

Pittsburgh 

Univ. 

•  Police  Bullets 

Mono. 

•  Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The 

20th- Fox 

252 

•Powder  Town 

RKO 

226 

Prairie  Chickens 

UA-Roach 

•Prairie  Gunsmoke 

Col. 

3215 

Presenting  Lily  Mars 

MGM 

Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The 

RKO 

Princess  O'Rourke 

WB 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman  Not  Set  110m 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay  June  5/42  69m 

George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford  Sept.  4/42  97m 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set  80m 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  Not  Set  .... 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Sept.  25/42  .... 

Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set  .... 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Not  Set  .... 


Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers  June     '42  76m 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea  Not  Set  .... 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  Sept.-Oct.,'42  79m 

Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr  Apr.  17/42  70m 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman  June  18/42  63m 

Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce  Aug.  7/42  84m 

John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance  Apr.  4/42  92m 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury  Oct.  2/42  61m 

Three  Mesquiteers  June  16/42  65m 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall  Aug.  21/42  87m 

Franchot  Tone-Marsha  Hunt  Not  Set  .... 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey  Aug.     '42  66m 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Not  Set  .... 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh  Sept.  25/42  60m 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce  July  3/42  69m 

Victor  Mc  La  glen-Ed  mond  O'Brien  June  19/42  79m 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set  .... 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  July  16/42  56m 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Not  Set  .... 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright  Not  Set  120m 

Priscilla  Lane-Robert  Cummings  Not  Set  .... 


Apr.  11/42  903 

July  4/42  914 

Aug.  15/42  927 

Aug.   1/42  810 


662 
797 


872 
796 


May  23/42 

673 

648 

663 

July  25/42 

915 

396 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

701 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 

599 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

July  11/42 

903 

751 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

800 

May  30/42 

687 

May  9/42 

647 

947 


947 


947 


873 


July  18/42  915 


873 


954     Product  Digest  Section 


October 


942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


■  REVIEWED 


M.  P. 

P  Trx/i ii  f*t 

I  fUU  tit  i 

AdvQTlCt 

pr/>J 

rfoti- 

AffeiHf 

net  am 

LllgeSl 

Synopsis 

i'itle 

C n  Tfl  ha 71 V 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Priorities  on  Parade 

Para. 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 

Block  1 

79m 

Aug.  I,'42 

914 

•  Prison  Girls 

PRC 

219 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer 

May  29,"42 

63m 

Sept.  26,'42 

923 

648 

(formerly  Gallant  Lady) 

July  22/42 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan 

PRC 

204 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael 

64m 

July  4, '42 

750 

715 

•  Private  Buckaroo 

Univ. 

6011 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran 

June  12/42 

68m 

June  6,'42 

699 

Service 
Data 
Ptge 


947 


RANDOM  Harvest 

MGM 

Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson 

Net  Set 

796 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color) 

Para. 

4137 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard 

Special 
June  5,'42 

124m 

Mar. 

21/42 

574 

408 

795 

•  Red  Tanks 

Arkino 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur 

64m 

June 

13/42 

713 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor 

Rep. 

i34 

Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry 

May  II, '42 

76m 

May 

16/42 

662 

795 

Reunion 

MGM 

Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John  Wayn 

e     Not  Set 

872 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland 

Col. 

3206 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

June  18, '42 

58m 

Sept. 

5/42 

890 

677 

•  Riders  of  the  West 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Aug.21,'42 

60m 

Aug. 

1/42 

810 

800 

Riding  Through  Nevada 

Col. 

Charles  Starrett-Shirley  Patterson 

Oct.  1/42 

•  Rio  Rita 

MGM 

233 

Abbott  and  Costello 

Apr.  "42 

91m 

Mar. 

14/42 

549 

795 

Road  to  Morocco 

Para. 

Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy  Lamour       Block  2 

83m 

Oct. 

3/42 

933 

872 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide 

PRC 

253 

BHJ  (Radio)  Boyd 

Roy  Rogers-"GabbyH  Hayes 

Apr.  24,'42 

60m 

635 

•  Romance  on  the  Range 

Rep. 

156 

May  I8,'42 

63m 

June 

6/42 

697 

•  Rubber  Racketeers 

Mono. 

Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez 

June  26, '42 

67m 

June 

27/42 

751 

•  SABOTAGE  Squad  Col. 

•  Saboteur  Univ. 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt.-Anglo-Am. 

•  Scattergood  Rides  High  RKO 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

•  Secret  Agent  of  Japan  20th-Fox 
Secret  Enemies  WB 
Secret  Mission  (British)  Hellman-Gen'l 
Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed  PRC 
Seven  Days  Leave  RKO 
Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz  RKO 
Seven  Sweethearts  MGM 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Univ. 
Shadows  on  the  Sage  Rep. 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back 

•  She's  in  the  Army 

•  Ship  Ahoy 

•  Ships  With  Wings  (British) 

•  Silver  Bullet 
Silver  Queen 
Sin  Town 

•  Smart  Alecks 
Smith  of  Minnesota 
Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish) 
Sombrero  Kid,  The 
Something  to  Shout  About 
Somewhere  I'll  Find  You 

•Song  of  the  Lagoon 
•Sons  of  the  Pioneers 

•  SOS  Coast  Guard 
•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma 

Spirit  of  Stanford,  The 
•Spoilers,  The 
Spring  Song  (Russian) 
Springtime  in  the  Rockies  (color) 

20th-Fox 

•  Spy  Ship 
Stand  By,  All  Networks 
Star  Spangled  Rhythm 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage 
•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx 

•  Strangler,  The 
Street  of  Chance 
Strictly  in  the  Groove 
Submarine  Alert 

•Submarine  Raider 
•Suicide  Squadron  (British) 
•Sunday  Punch 
•Sunset  Serenade 
•Sweater  Girl 
•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet 
•Syncopation 


Univ. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
MGM 
UA 
Univ. 

UA 
Univ. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Scandia 
Rep. 
Col. 
MGM 
UA-Roach 
Rep. 
Rep. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Univ. 
Artkino 


WB 

Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
Univ. 

PRC 
Para. 
Univ. 
Para. 

Col. 

Rep. 
MGM 

Rep. 
Para. 

Col. 
RKO 


3046        Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris  Aug.  27/42 

6047  Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane  Apr.  24/42 
....        Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway  Not  Set 

223        Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore  May    8, '42 

....        Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes  Not  Set 

240        Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bari  Apr.  3/42 

205        Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson  Oct.  17/42 

....        Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

309        Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer  Oct.  26/42 

Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature  Not  Set 

James  Craig-Bonita  Granville  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Teresa  Wright-Joseph  Cotten  Not  Set 

261        Three  Mesquiteers  Aug.  24/42 

7020        Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

235        Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

...        John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

6066        Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

...        Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Oct.  15/42 

Edvard  Persson  Sept.  12/42 

271         Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  31/42 

...        Don  Ameche-Jack  Oakie-Janet  Blair  Not  Set 

Clark  Gable-Lane  Turner  Sept.-Oct.,'42 
...        Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot       May  22/42 

157        Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

123        Beta  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

  Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 

4022        Frank!©  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

6048  Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
....        Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  1 1/42 

317        Betty  Grable-John  Payne  Nov.  6/42 

139        Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice  Not  Set 
....        Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Moore    Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

6036        Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne  Apr.  17/42 

229        Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

....         Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Block  2 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Not  Set 

....        Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

3043        John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

M9        Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray  Apr.  20/42 

234        William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May/42 

  Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

4129        Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

3027        Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  2 1  ,'42 

226        Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


64m 
108m 
96m 
66m 

72  m 
59m 
94m 
67m 


63m 
95m 
91m 
56m 

73m 
66m 

89m 
56m 


Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  25/42 
Aug.  15/42 
Mar.  21/42 

Mar. 14/42 
Aug.  22/42 
Sept.  26/42 
Sept.  19/42 


98m       Aug.  15/42 


65m       Sept.  12/42 


June  20/42 
Apr.  18/42 
Dec.  20/41 
Aug.  8/42 

Oct.  3/42 
June  27/42 

Sept.' i  9/42 
Oct.  3/42 


827 
634 
839 
562 

550 
914 
922 
910 


902 


897 

726 
610 
686 
826 

934 
738 

9io 

935 


772 

508 

542 
912 
542 


872 


936 


855 
648 
574 

726 
936 
898 

797 

796 


947 


705 


947 


947 
795 


947 


07m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

726 

873 

61m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

69m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

796 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

873 

74m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

91m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

855 

62m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

797 

855 

65m 

May  30/42 

687 

66m 

Apr.  4/42 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

74m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

914 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

•TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling  Para. 
Take  My  Life  Toddy 
Tales  of  Manhattan  20th-Fox 
Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

•Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 

•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MGM 
Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 
Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 


4126 

Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Block  6 

93m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

873 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  11/42 

767 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

927 

706 

947 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

3001 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 

Aug.  20/42 

1 18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

701 

947 

242 

Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 

June/42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 

Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 

Not  Set 

946 

Product  Digest  Section 


955 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     10,  1942 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

•  Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 
Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 

•Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 

That  Other  Woman  20th-Fox 
•There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 

•  They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 
They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 

(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 
They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 

•  They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 

•  This  Above  All  20th-Fox 
•This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 

This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 

Those  Kids  from  Toiwn  (British)  Anglo 

•  Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 
•Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 

Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Rock  (British)  Charter-Metro 

•  Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•  Timber  Univ. 
Tish  MGM 

•Tombstone  Para. 

Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•Top  Sergeant  Univ. 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 

•  Tower  of  Terror  Mono. 
•True  to  the  Army  Para. 
•Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 
•Turtles  of  Tahiti  RKO 

•  Twin  Beds  UA 


UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

•  Undercover  Man  UA 
Underground  Agent  Col. 
Undying  Monster,  The  20th-Fox 

•  United  We  Stand  20th-Fox 
Unpublished  Story  (British)  Col. 

•Unseen  Enemy  Univ. 


Prod. 

'Number  Stars 

251  Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

....  King-Sharpe-Terhune 

....  Range  Busters 

....  Lynn  Bari-James  Ellison 

6043  Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

3006  Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

....  Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

....  Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 

212  Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 

253  Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 
4124  Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 
....  Russian  Documentary 

....  Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 

....  Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 

250  Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 

....  John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 

....  Michael  Redgrave-Barbara  Mullen 

286  Tim  Holt 

6057  Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

....  Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

4132  Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

307  Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 
6055  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 
  Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

236  Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

241  Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne 

6019  Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

....  Wilfred  Lawson-Movita 

4122  Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller 

254  Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell 
222  Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall 

....  George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 


....  Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

4140  William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 

....  Bruce  Bennett-Leslie  Brooks 

....  James  Ellison-Heather  Angel 

254  News  Documentary 

....  Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 

6053  Devine-Carrillo-Terry 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

June  26/42 

103m 

May  30/42 

685 

677 

Oct.  I6,"42 

56m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

June  I2,'42 

55m 

699 

Dec.  1 1,'42 

936 

June  26, '42 

60m 

June  1 1/42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

Not  Set 
June  26/42 
July  24/42 
Block  5 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  15/42 
June  19/42 
Nov.  13/42 
Not  Set 
July  24/42 
Aug.  14/42 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Block  7 
Sept.  29/42 
June  12/42 
Not  Set 
May/42 
Apr.  10/42 
June  5/42 
Apr.  1/42 
Block  5 
July  10/42 
May  1/42 
Apr.  24/42 

Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Dec.  4/42 
July  10/42 
Not  Set 
Apr.  10/42 


872 


Date 
Page 

795 


873 


72  m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

947 

80m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

527 

947 

74m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

796 

1  1  Im 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

61  m 

Dor    H  '41 
L*ec.  i  j|  t  i 

00 1 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

83m 

July  25/42 

938 

772 

947 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

62  i 

613 

873 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

62  m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

76m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

947 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

936 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

947 

91m 

Apr.  1  i/42 

598 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

►  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 


Col.  3216 


Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 


Sept.  3/42 


WAKE  Island 


Para. 


War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The  MGM 

War  Dogs  Mono. 

Watch  on  the  Rhine  WB 

•  Westward,  Ho!  Rep. 
West  of  the  Law  Mono. 

•Where  Trails  End  Mono. 

•Whispering  Ghosts  20th-Fox 

Whistling  in  Dixie  MGM 

White  Cargo  MGM 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler?  20th-Fox 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer.  The  Col. 
Wildcat  Para. 
Wings  and  the  Woman  RKO 

(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 

•  Wings  for  the  Eagle  WB 
World  at  War  WAC 
Wrecking  Crew  Para. 


166 


246 


242 
3011 


136 


Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston 
Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold 
Billy  Lee-Addison  Richards 
Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas 
Steele-Tyler-Davis 
Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 
Tom  Keene 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle 
Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford 
Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon 
Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr. 
Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone 
Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge 
Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan 
Documentary 

Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris 


Block  1 

78m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

772 

947 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

797 

Nov.  13/42 

63  m 

Oct.  10/42 

946 

Not  Set 

Apr.  24/42 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

Nov.  2/42 

May  1/42 

55m 

633 

May  22/42 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Not  Set 

946 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

871 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

Apr.  30/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

Block  1 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

Sept.  18/42 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

July  18/42 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

873 

Sept.  18/42 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Not  Set 


X  Marks  the  Spot 


Rep. 


204        Damian  O'Flynn-Helen  Parrish 


Nov.  4/42 


YANK  at  Eton,  A  MGM 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  WB 

•  Yank  in  Libya.  A  PRC 
Yanks  Are  Coming,  The  PRC 
You  Can't  Escape  Forever  WB 

•You're  Telling  Me  Univ. 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier  Col. 

Young  and  Willing  UA 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British)  20th-Fox 

Youth  on  Parade  Rep. 

•  Yukon  Patrol  Rep. 


220 

207 
6041 


316 
124 


Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 
James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 
H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 
Maxie  Rosenbloom-Mary  Healy 
George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 
Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne 
Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 
William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 
Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 
John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 
Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 


Sept.-Oct.,'42 

87m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

726 

947 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

873 

July  24/42 

67m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

772 

Oct.  12/42 

65m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

Oct.  10/42 

77m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

898 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

Oct.  22/42 

97m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

796 

Not  Set 

663 

Oct.  30/42 

103m 

July  4/42 

914 

Oct.  24/42 

75m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  937. 


956     Product  Digest  Section 


WHEN  EVERY 
FOOT  COUNTS 


UNDER  present  conditions,  new  importance 
attaches  to  the  famed  dependability  of 
Eastman  negative  films.  Their  special  abili- 
ties, wide  latitude,  and  exceptional  uniform- 
ity see  to  it  that  every  scene  has  its  full 
quota  of  high  photographic  quality.  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

J.  E.  BRULATOUR,  INC.,  Distributors 
Fort  Lec  Chicago  Hollywood 


PIXS-X  SUPER-XX 

for  general  studio  use  when  little  light  is  available 

BACKGROUND  -X 

for  backgrounds  and  general  exterior  work 


EASTMAN  NEGATIVE  FILMS 


Clear  the  track  to  quick  profits,  with  the  kind  of  advertising  that  focuses  their  at- 
tention, rivets  it,  and  delivers  it  safely  at  your  box  office  window.  ^lljjL,  The  world 
was  never  hungrier  for  good  entertainment  than  it  is  right  now.  ^jjjjL;  Go  after  those 
entertainment-hungry  people,  with  24-Sheets,  Lobby  Displays,  Heralds  and  Trailers. 
Bring  back  the  local  amusement  dollar  whole  and  intact,  without  a  big  slice  cut 
out  by  your  competitor  down  the  street,  ^jjfl  "Gangway!"  Make  it  your  slogan 
today,  tomorrow,  all  the  time.  "Gangway"  with  the  best  eye-luring,  glamorous 
Advertising  that  years  of  experience  in  selling  Showmen  can  produce,  ^jjjj^  Stand- 
ard Accessories . . .  Specialty  Accessories  . . .  Trailers.  ^jjt  And  make  "Gangway"  to 
your  ticket-seller  from  even  the  remotest 
points  in  town,  an  every- day  reality. 


nttTlQnRlCfeggfl  5ERVI 

C—^  PRI/l  BRBS  OF  THF  tPUL 


MOTION  PICTURE 


REVIEWS 

(In  Product  Digest) 
The  Navy  Comes  Through 
In  Which  We  Serve 
Thunder  Birds 
Black  Swan 
Seven  Days'  Leave 
Smith  of  Minnesota 
Eyes  of  the  Underworld 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder 
Blondie  for  Victory 
In  the  Rear  of  the  Enemy 
That  Other  Woman 
Red  River  Robin  Hood 
Dr.  Renault's  Secret 
Boss  of  Big  Town 
Moonlight  in  Havana 
The  Phantom  Plainsmen 

LATE  REVIEW 

(In  News  Section) 

The  Mummy's  Tomb 
The  Undying  Monster 


"Give  Your  Scrap  and  Help 
Keep  Theatres  Open":  Dunphy 

■ 

Majors  Give  7,000  to  U.  S. 
Forces,  and  More  Are  Going 

m 

Industry  Organizes  its 
War  Film  Distribution 


—  in 


More  Reports  on  Effects  of 
the  War  at  the  Box  Office 


ed 


BUYING  FOR  THE  THEATRE  IN  WARTIME 


VOL  149,  NO.  3  In  Two  Sections  —  Section  One  OCTOBER  17,  1942 

Entered  as  second-class  mailer,  January  12,  1931,  at  the  Post  Office,  at  New  York  City,  U.  S.  A.,  under  the  act  of  March  3,  1879.  Published 
weekly  by  Quialey  Publishing  Co.,  Inc.,  at  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York.  Subscription  prices:  $5.00  a  year  in  the 
Americas,  $10.00  a  year  Foreign.   Single  copy,  25  cents.   All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quiglcy  Publishing  Company. 


THE  ASTOR'S 
PET  PICTURE! 

World  Premiere  October  21st 


"Hello  Judy- 
The  bells  are  ring- 
ing for  you  and 
M-G-M's 
TERRIFIC 
TWELVE!" 


with  GEORGE  MURPHY,  GENE  KELLY,  Marta  Eggerth,  Ben  Blue 
Screen  Play  by  Richard  Sherman,  Fred  Hnklehofc 

Story  by  Howard  Emmett  Rogers  •  Directed  by  BUSBY  BERKELEY. 
Produced  by  ARTHUR  FREED    •    A  Metro-Goldmine-Mayer  Picture. 


ind  Her  J\eu'  Costa. 


PAUL  HENREID 

#T7kv^y  AT  THE  HOLLYWOOD,N.Y. 
THE  EXTENDED  ENGAGEMENT 
OF  THIS  GREAT  NEW  HIT  FROM 


NER  BROS. 


WHAT  ARElYc7lDC:NG  ABOUT  5C5A?  MPS'-? 


TO  THE  FIVE  MONTH  RUN 
AT  THE  HOLLYWOOD.  N.Y.  OF 
YANKEE  DOODLE  DANDY' 


WUL 


CLAUDE  RAINS 


LADYS  COOPER  •  BONITA 
RANVILLE  •  ILKA  CHASE 


Directed  by  IRVING    RAPPER  •  Music  by  Max  Stelner 


Sitting 

pretty 
with 

Warners; 


■le  keeps  tabs  on 
tfhfcts  happening 
\vo\tr\&  before  he 

/Varner  showKia*! 


I 


0* 


(Mne 


er3 


u 


Ji>ii •PthishcJ 
aiJ,  week  i'i 


fad/ 


■5, 


Mi 


Co, 


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Bsc 


Be 


«&S^«&  S*"'  ani  haVe 

another  guffaw. 

for  NOW  VOYAGER] 
Keep  an  open  ^eA^ican,  Red 

adS  ^^^kinS^ttn  Woman's  Home 
Book,  Cosmopolitan^  ing, 

cLr*a^      fan  mass- 

™tto  DESPERATE  JOURNEY  in  Life 
Look  and  14  fan  mags. 

D1tto  THE  HARD  WAY  next. 
S1ve  desk  weight  to  scrap  col- 
lection. 


fll 


w 


\9> 


'1 


CENTURY-FOX 


GET 
IN  THE 
SCRAP 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  QUIGLEY,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher 


Vol.  149,  No.  3  ft?jM  October  17,  1942 


DELIVERING  MESSAGES 

AN  ordered  schedule  of  release  for  "war  shorts",  official 
and  commercial,  announced  this  week  by  the  War 
Activities  Committee,  is  a  long  step  forward.  There 
has  been  a  considerable  confusion  in  this  area  of  activity, 
hampering  both  distribution  and  exhibition. 

The  pictures  concerned  represent  the  main  flow  of  the 
informative  and  morale  material  which  can  be  expected  to 
reach  the  theatre  screen  and  its  public  with  anything 
resembling  a  planned  consistency.  The  special  service  of  war 
interests  in  feature  product  must  inevitably  depend  on  factors 
of  fortune  and  inspiration  to  a  much  greater  degree  than 
the  shorts,  which  thereby  acquire  a  particular  burden  of 
responsibility. 

There  is  meanwhile  developing  in  some  regions  a  move- 
ment for  pressure  which  would  decide,  in  effect,  required 
showings  of  certain  shorts  at  certain  times  by  the  theatre. 
This  has  even  found  some  pieces  of  support  and  encourage- 
ment in  the  daily  press. 

Dictation  to  the  theatre  concerning  the  make-up  of  its  pro- 
gram would  be  destructive  invasion  of  the  function  of  show- 
manship and  imposition  on  the  audiences  to  which  the  show- 
man is  responsible,  and  without  ultimate  service  to  any  cause. 

The  reader  of  the  newspaper  or  magazine  can  turn  the  page. 
The  radio  listener  can  dial  away.  The  motion  picture  customer 
in  a  seat  which  compels  attention  can  only  go  away,  and  stay 
away.  That  he  will,  can  and  does  do  any  time  he  is  not  amused 
or  interested.  Only  the  man  who  runs  the  theatre  is  fitted  to 
attend  to  that. 

AAA 

NEW  PATENT  DEAL 

WITH  some  hundreds  of  its  technicians  engaged  today 
in  war  researches  under  government  supervision  and 
government  assignments,  the  motion  picture  industry 
is  making  a  large  contribution  of  manpower. 

The  Government's  research  projects  have  acquired  the 
services  of  a  great  array  of  scientists  from  the  laboratories  of 
industry  and  the  universities.  One  observer  intimately  related 
to  the  general  activity  remarked  the  other  day  that  "private 
research  has  been  all  but  completely  absorbed  by  the  govern- 
ment and  war  for  the  duration." 

Something  that  seems  much  akin  to  a  nationalization  of 
technologies  and  patents  is  resulting.  Countless  patents  are 
being  issued  and  assigned  to  the  Government  under  the  terms 
of  employment,  by  which  no  private  interest  or  person  may 
profit  by  invention  in  the  federal  service. 

The  consequence  promises  to  be  that  when  the  revolutionary 
discoveries  of  this  period,  and  they  are  many,  are  made  avail- 
able to  industry  it  will  be  by  license  of  the  United  States.  In 
industry  there  is  submerged  concern,  and  some  who  see  a  cer- 
tain sort  of  parallelism  between  this  development  of  a  great 
government  patent  poo!  and  recent  proceedings  by  Mr.  Thur- 
I  man  Arnold,  anti-trust  assistant  attorney  general,  pertaining  to 
patent  situations  among  the  great  manufacturing  concerns. 


For  educational  institutions  with  large  scientific  departments 
there  looms  a  special  sort  of  payroll  problem  for  the  years 
ahead.  They  have  been  able  to  employ  important  and  espe- 
cially skilled  scientists  on  their  faculties  by  reason  of  the 
incomes  incidentally  derived  by  these  experts  from  patents. 
That  by-product  source  of  revenues  for  the  professors  of 
science  is  now  dried  up  for  the  duration,  and  no  one  knows 
how  much  longer. 

Most  of  the  important  patents  issuing  these  days  are  held 
as  war  secrets  and  will  get  no  light  of  publication  for  a  while 
to  come. 

The  motion  picture  industry  may  anticipate  that  when  the 
war  lid  comes  off  there  will  be  sensational  revelations  in  radio 
and  television,  and  mayhap  in  some  cinema  processes,  too. 

AAA 

"BOB"  DAVIS 

WITH  many  a  mellow  memory  of  times  and  places  we 
this  week  record  the  passing  of  Robert  Hobart  Davis, 
known  to  so  many  of  us  as  "Bob."  Himself  a  writer 
of  quiet,  contemplative  observations  through  all  of  his  years 
after  he  left  daily  journalism,  he  made  a  large  impress  on  the 
contemporary  literature  of  the  land  through  three  decades  of 
active  editorship  of  popular  magazines  and  guidance  of  writers. 
He  said  to  authors:  "Give  me  action  and  have  the  hero  come 
in  fighting."  Bob  was  an  exponent  and  practitioner  of  the  art 
of  good  living.  He  could  cook,  and  did  without  posing  or 
dilletantish  flipperies.  He  was  a  profound  judge  of  tobacco  and 
made  a  fine  cigar  last  out  the  hour.  In  his  last  conversation 
with  your  editor  he  remarked:  "I  could  recommend  my  own 
formula  for  the  movies.  ...  I  have  always  thought,  not  for  'em 
but  with  'em." 

AAA 

NEWSPAPERS  DEMONSTRATE 

THERE  should  be  a  neat  wreath  of  laurel  for  the  weathered 
brow  of  journalism  in  the  current  and  spectacular  success 
of  the  only  successful  scrap-and-salvage  drive  of  the  war 
period.  Everybody  has  known  always  that  lavish  America,  in 
happy  pursuit  of  the  newest,  the  latest,  the  best  in  all  manner 
of  machines  and  gadgets  and  luxuries,  has  annually  thrown 
away,  abandoned  in  field  and  roadside  and  tucked  into  cellar 
and  attic  enough  stuff  to  have  run  all  the  manufactures  of 
many  a  nation.  There  is  enough  junk  per  metropolitan  square 
mile  in  this  country  to  win  a  battle — and  some  of  it  will.  The 
newspapers,  which  could  do  with  a  bit  of  kudos  about  now, 
are  really  starting  to  get  these  ores  of  war  on  their  way  to 
the  smelter.  In  this  the  motion  picture  has  a  collaborative  share. 

AAA 

THE  merriest  line  of  the  week  is  selected  from  a  piece  by 
Mr.  Theodore  Strauss  in  the  New  York  Times  discussing 
the  dynamic  Miss  Janet  Blair  of  Altocna  and  Hollywood 
and  quoting  her:  "Sometimes  I  feel  like  an  alarm  clock  all 
wound  up  and  ready  to  ring."   In  time  she  will  get  over  that. 

— Terry  Ramsaye 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,     19  42, 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


U.  S.  Summons  Bondists 

THE  UNITED  STATES  Treasury  has 
summoned  three  of  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry's Bond-selling  chieftains  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee  to  meet  with  its  of- 
ficials in  Kansas  City,  for  three  days,  Oc- 
tober 26th  to  28th,  to  give  a  first-hand  ac- 
count of  what  the  industry  did  to  send  War 
Bond  sales  soaring  to  $838,250,000,  some 
$63,000,000  over  the  $775,000,000  quota 
which  the  Government  had  set  for  the  in- 
dustry-sponsored September  Bond-selling 
campaign. 

Called  by  the  Government  were  Francis 
S.  Harmon,  executive  vice-president  of  the 
War  Activities  Committee;  S.  H.  Fabian, 
New  Jersey-New  York  circuit  operator,  in 
charge  of  exhibition  in  the  September  drive, 
and  Oscar  A.  Doob,  Loew  Theatres'  adver- 
tising publicity  director,  who  was  in  charge 
of  promotion  of  the  drive. 

Repeated  expressions,  already  recorded,  of 
high  Treasury  and  other  Governmental  of- 
ficials in  praise  of  the  industry's  success 
with  the  drive  apparently  has  led  to  Wash- 
ington and  Broadway  reports  that  Wash- 
ington is  contemplating  a  request  for  an  en- 
core by  the  industry  this  winter.  Industry 
leaders,  as  of  Wednesday  night,  had  not 
heard,  officially  or  otherwise,  of  any  such 
Governmental  intention,  according  to  a 
spokesman  for  the  organized  industry's  War 
Bond  activities. 


"Unity"  Still  Anti-Tax 

THE  ORGANIZATIONAL  structure  of 
the  United  Motion  Picture  Industry  may  be 
dead,  and  with  it,  its  "Unity"  program ;  but 
one  of  its  purposes — relief  from,  and  avoid- 
ance of,  heavy  taxation — lives  on,  in  the 
continued  existence  of  the  local  tax  com- 
mittees the  organization  established. 

Indication  that  these  committees,  55  of 
which  were  formed,  will  continue  to  fight 
against  state  attempts  to  make  the  industry 
scapegoat  for  state  revenue  losses  in  other 
fields  was  received  this  week  and  last  by 
Leon  Bamberger,  former  UMPI  secretary, 
and  now  returned  to  his  post  with  RKO. 


Keep  Selling  Bonds! 

THEATRES  serving  as  issuing  agents  for 
War  Bonds  were  notified  last  Friday  by 
Francis  S.  Harmon,  head  of  the  industry's 
War  Activities  Committee  in  New  York, 
that  the  theatres'  Treasury  permit  to  sell 
Bonds  was  not  merely  for  the  month  of 
September,  but  for  the  duration  of  the  war. 
Exhibitors  had  written  to  the  WAC,  ask- 
ing for  permission  to  continue  as  issuing 
agents. 

Because  the  industry  intends  to  "intensi- 
fy its  cooperation  with  the  Treasury  De- 
partment until  the  war  is  won,"  Mr.  Har- 
mon's notice  suggested  a  six-point  program 


MANPOWER  becomes  producers'  "great- 
est headache"  Page  13 

MAJORS  give  7,000  to  armed  forces,  with 
more  going  Page  14 

INDUSTRY  organizes  distribution  of  war 
pictures  Page  15 

SALARY  ceiling  order  puts  studios  in  the 
middle  Page  16 

NEW  YORK  censor  rejects  only  seven, 
praises  war  work  Page  17 

STEP  up  scrap  collections  in  theatres, 
Dunphy  tells  trade  Page  31 


SCREEN  renders  service  gratis  to  nation, 

says  Coe  Page  33 

ADMISSION  scales  climbing  in  war  boom 

areas  Page  39 

ENGLAND     unfreezing    forty    to  fifty 

millions  Page  44 

CANADIANS  split  on  "basic  contract"  in 

war  order  Page  45 

PETRILLO  beats  U.  S.  in  court  on  record 

ban  Page  52 

ILLINOIS  exhibitors  act  against  rentals  in 

move  for  reduction  Page  56 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes                  Page  41     Managers'  Round  Table  Page  71 

Hollywood  Scene                        Page  46    What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me  Page  68 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart  Page  81 


for  exhibitor  War  Bond  conduct  for  the 
duration,  as  follows : 

1.  Push  the  sale  of  War  Bonds  at  every 
opportunity. 

2.  Capitalize  on  local  developments  and 
events  for  special  tieups  with  theatre  Bond 
sales. 

3.  Watch  the  war  news  for  fresh  angles 
to  play  up  in  connection  with  Bond  sales. 

4.  Keep  in  touch  with  local  war  savings 
officials;  they  will  have  additional  sugges- 
tions. 

5.  Maintain  the  record  of  the  film  indus- 
try by  reporting  regularly  to  a  Federal  Re- 
serve Bank. 

6.  Write  the  WAC  for  information  and 
assistance  at  any  time. 


Phone  Rationing 

LONG  DISTANCE  telephone  calls  will  be 
subject  to  priority  control  November  1st 
under  orders  issued  by  the  U.  S.  Board  of 
War  Communications,  Washington.  The 
motion  picture  industry  has  been  one  of  the 
country's  best  phone  customers. 

Priority  will  be  given  to  calls  relating  to 
the  national  safety  and  military  movements, 
production  of  essential  war  or  civilian  sup- 
plies and  to  calls  by  the  President,  Vice- 
President,  Cabinet  officers,  Members  of 
Congress ;  Army,  Navy,  Aircraft  Warning 
Service;  Federal,  state  and  municipal  agen- 
cies; embassies,  legations  and  commissions 
of  the  United  Nations ;  Civilian  defense  or- 
ganizations, Red  Cross,  state  and  home 
guards,  essential  war  industries,  essential 
services  such  as  communications,  transpor- 
tation, power,  water,  fuel,  press  associations, 
newspapers  and  health  and  sanitation  serv- 
ices. 


Quigley  Awards 

QUIGLEY  Award  Plaques  for  the  Thirc 
Quarter  of  1942  were  won  this  week  by 
Clayton  Cornell,  Pontiac  theatre,  Saranac 
Lake,  N.  Y. ;  Bill  Elder,  Loew's  theatre,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind.,  and  Ed  Fitzpatrick,  Pol- 
theatre,  Waterbury,  Conn.    (See  page  73.) 

Medals  were  won  by  Louis  Charninsky 
Capitol,  Dallas,  Tex,;  Marlowe  Conner 
Capitol,  Madison,  Wis. ;  Dick  Feldman,  Par- 
amount, Syracuse,  N.  Y. ;  Art  Krolick,  Cen 
tury,  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  Bill  Morton,  Albee 
Province,  R.  I. 

These  Awards  were  made  by  a  committe< 
of  three  Judges :  Hugh  Owen,  eastern  dil: 
vision  sales  manager  for  Paramount;  Davi( 
A.  Lipton,  director  of  advertising  and  pubij 
licity,  Columbia;  Maury  Ashman,  zone  man' 
ager,  Interboro  Circuit,  New  York. 


Enemy  Film  Patents 

SCORES  of  motion  picture  patents  owne< 
by  enemy  aliens  are  among  the  properties  ii 
the  charge  of  Leo  T.  Crowley,  Alien  Prop] 
erty  Custodian,  it  was  disclosed  in  Wash 
ington  this  week.  Many  radio  patents  als'1 
are  included  in  his  roundup  of  the  holding! 
of  Japanese,  German  and  Italian  nationals 

Among  aliens  whose  seized  patents  coy 
ered  processes  of  motion  pictures  and  radi. 
were  Robert  Bosch,  A.G. ;  Kalle  and  Corr 
pany  ;  Askania-Werke,  A.G. ;  Vormals  Cer  I 
tralwekstatt-Dessau ;  Carl  Bamberg-Fried 
enau;  Siemens  and  Halske,  A.G. ;  and  Cai| 
Zeiss  and  Zeiss  Ikon,  A.G. 

The  seizure  of  2,600  patents  was  ar; 
nounced  this  week  by  the  APC  but  anothc  j 
18,000  also  are  understood  to  have  bee 
taken  over,  which  will  be  announced  withij 
10  days. 


October    17,    1  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


9 


Navy  Is  Pleased 


APPROVAL  of  the  industry's  contribution 
to  the  war  effort  was  voiced  by  Captain  Le- 
land  P.  Lovette,  Navy  Director  of  Public 
Relations,  in  an  address  made  Tuesday  to 
industry  leaders  in  Hollywood.  Following 
an  informal  discussion  of  the  Navy's  activi- 
ties in  prosecuting  the  war,  Captain  Lovette 
said,  "The  film  industry  is  making  a  great 
contribution  on  a  non-profit  basis.  The  sac- 
rifices made  in  time,  in  effort  and  in  money 
are  difficult  to  measure,  but  I  do  know  that 
the  industry,  through  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  the  Hollywood  Victory  Commit- 
tee, the  Academy  Research  Council,  its  vari- 
ous affiliations  and  its  individual  leaders,  is 
doing  a  worthy  job  in  helping  win  the  war. 
Every  phase  of  the  industry's  war  contribu- 
tion is  entirely  worthy  of  commendation.  It 
is  a  pleasure  to  have  this  opportunity-  to 
sav  so." 


Army  Pleased.  Too 

HOLLYWOOD  on  Tuesday  heard  words 
of  praise  from  Colonel  W.  Mason  Wright, 
Jr.,  chief  of  the  pictorial  branch  of  the 

|  bureau  of  public  relations  of  the  War  De- 
partment, for  its  close  cooperation  with  the 
.Army.  Colonel  Wright  had  been  in  Holly- 
wood for  10  days  conferring  with  produc- 

J  tion  executives. 

"I  feel  that  cooperation  between  the 
armed  forces  and  the  industry  has  been 
cemented  tightly  during  this  visit  for  the 
good  of  all.  More  has  been  accomplished 
this  trip  than  on  any  other  previous  oc- 

,  casion.  The  solution  of  many  of  our  joint 
problems    now    seems    certain,"  Colonel 

.  Wright  said. 

Colonel  Wright  had  a  word  of  warning  to 
the  studios,  however,  against  the  dangers  of 
surfeiting  the  public  with  too  many  pictures 
on  military  subjects.    War  pictures  should 

J  be  limited  to  those  with  exceptional  story 

J  quality  or  that  have  a  worthwhile  message. 
He  said  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  make 
many  Air  Corps  pictures  while  ignoring  the 

05  equally  dramatic  missions  of  other  branches 

;  :  of  service. 


ii 


Imperialistic  U.  S. 


99 


■WARNING  that  the  United  States  should 
shun  a  "patronizing"  attitude  towards  its 
South  American  neighbors,  John  Grierson, 
Commissioner  of  the  National  Film  Board 
of  Canada,  said  last  Sunday  in  New  York 
that    the    Western    Hemisphere  republics 
"hope  profoundly"  that  the  good  neighborli- 
;iness  "of  the  benevolent  squire  to  his  vil- 
jlagers"  is  not  the  kind  of  good  neighborli- 
'ness  the  United  States  has  in  mind. 
J]    Speaking  at  a  forum  sponsored  by  the 
^Institute  of  Inter-American  Affairs  in  ob- 
Lirervance  of  Columbus  Day,  Mr.  Grierson 
nvarned  the  people  of  the  United  States  that 
he  people  of  other  American  countries  fear 


this  country  "may  not  learn  quickly  enough-' 
the  deeper  principles  of  international  rela- 
tionships, and  that,  rightly  or  wrongly,  they 
feel  "that  the  United  States  has  a  degree  of 
imperialism  in  its  composition  which  bears 
watching." 


Out  of  Vichy 


States, 
banned 


DESPITE  protests  by  the  United 
American  and  British  films  were 
from  Vichy  France,  as  of  Thursday. 

Warning  of  the  ban  came  several  weeks 
ago.  It  occasioned  small  surprise.  No 
American  pictures  have  gone  into  France 
since  1940.  Those  being  shown  up  to 
Thursday  were  old  prints,  well-worn  Ameri- 
can pictures  being  popular. 

Frenchmen  wyill  now  see  only  German  and 
Italian  pictures;  that  is,  pictures  made  un- 
der their  domination,  for  French  film  com- 
panies and  actors  have  been  absorbed  by  the 
Axis. 


U.K.  's  "Cinema  Circus" 

ENGLAND'S  recognition  of  the  value  of 
the  screen  in  the  war  is  further  attested  by 
its  use  of  mobile  film  units,  popularly  known 
over  there  as  the  "celluloid  circus,"  which 
have  traveled  thousands  of  miles  through- 
out the  British  Isles,  including  the  Hebrides 
and  such  small  islands  as  the  Scillies,  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce,  in  Washington,  report- 
ed this  week,  on  information  which  it  credit- 
ed to  the  British  press,  and  adding  that  the 
mobile  projections  played  during  the  year 
to  more  than  3,000,000  persons. 

It  was  said  there  are  now  70  of  these 
units  and  the  number  will  soon  be  increased 
to  100,  operating  under  the  direction  of  the 
Ministry  of  Information. 


Nazi  Pornography 

FROM  LONDON,  this  week,  came  word 
that  a  call  to  resist  a  new  outbreak  of  por- 
nography in  Germany  had  been  made  by 
Cardinal  Bertram,  Archbishop  of  Breslau, 
in  a  pastoral  letter  recenth-  issued,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"There  is  a  kind  of  literature,"  he  wrote, 
"which  defends  uncontrolled  sexuality  and 
excites  through  its  indecency.  Many  films 
and  plays  follow  the  same  immoral  direc- 
tion. Innumerable  entertainments  under- 
mine the  German  power  and  prepare  the 
downfall  of  the  German  people." 


No  Freezing  Yet 

THE  U.  S.  OFFICE  of  Price  Administra- 
tion's regional  rents  division  in  New  York 
said  last  week  that  the  new  rental  ceilings 
as  yet  do  not  apply  to  commercial  establish- 
ments, such  as  theatres,  store  rooms  or  of- 
fices. The  orders,  issued  recently,  have 
been  aimed  primarily  at  the  control  of  per- 
sonal living  expenses,  an  OPA  spokesman 
said.  He  said,  however,  that  the  New  York 
office  had  received  a  "great  number"  of  in- 
quiries as  to  whether  the  controls  applied 
on  business  leases. 

He  indicated  that  it  was  possible  the  con- 
trols might  be  extended  by  executive  order 
of  the  Director  of  Economic  Stabilization, 
James  Byrnes,  who  issued  the  original  di- 
rective, to  include  business  properties. 


PICTURES  ADVERTISED  THIS  WEEK 


"For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  MGM,  2nd  cover 
"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warners,  Pages  3, 
4,  5 

"Now  Voyager,"  Warners,  Pages  3,  4,  5 
"Across  the  Pacific,"  Warners,  Pages  4,  5 
"Desperate  Journey,"  Warners,  Pages  4,  5 
"The  Gay  Sisters,"  Warners,  Pages  4,  5 
"You  Can't  Escape  Forever,"  Warners,  Pages 
4,  5 

"The  G-String  Murders"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Dishonored  Lady,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Guest  in  the  House,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing,"  UA.  Pages 
19-30 

"Jacare,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Powers  Girl"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"I  Married  a  Witch,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"American  Empire,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Silver  Oueen  "  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Crystal  Ball,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Young  and  Willing,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Buckskin  Frontier','  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Never  Surrender,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Tomorrow  Never  Conies,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Stage  Door  Canteen,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 


"In  Which  We  Serve,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"The  Foreman  Went  to  France,"  UA,  Pages 
19-30 

"The  Life  of  Jack  London"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Undercover  Man,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Lost  Canyon,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Border  Patrol,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Leather  Burners"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Colt  Comrades"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Hoppy  Serves  a  Writ,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"The  Devil  With  Hitler,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Fall  In,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"The  McGuerins  from  Brooklyn"  UA,  Pages 
19-30 

"Calaboose,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Yanks  Ahoy"  UA.  Pages  19-30 
"Taxi,  Mister,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"Prairie  Chickens,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"That  Nazty  Nuisance,"  UA,  Pages  19-30 
"White  Cargo,"  MGM,  Pages  35-38 
"'Springtime  in  the  Rockies,"  20th-Fox,  Paaes 
42,  43 

"The  Glass  Key"  Paramount,  Pages  47,  48 
"Arabian  Nights,"  Universal,  Pages  50,  51 
"The  Flying  Tigers,"  Republic,  Pages  54,  55 
"My  Sister  Eileen  "  Columbia,  4th  cover 


.ACTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  cddress  ''Cuigpubco, 
?ew  York."  Martin  Quigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  '/ice-President  and  General  Manager;  lerry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor; 
Chicago  Bureau,  624  South  Michigan  Avenue,  F.  Longdon  Morgan,  editor;  Hollywood  Bureau,  Postal  Union  Life  Building.  William  R.  Weaver,  editor;  Toronto  Bureau,  242  Millwood 
iocd,  Toronto,  Ontario.  Canada,  W.  M,  Gladish,  representative;  Montreal  Bureou,  265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovon,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
-  -  den  Square,  London  W  1,  Hope  Williams  Burnup,  manager;  cable  Quigpubco  London;  Melbourne  Bureau,  Ihe  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne,  Australia, 
Clir;  Holt,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartodo  269,  Mexico  City, 
j-uis  3ecerra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  Nafolio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Caixa  Postal  335S, 
"So  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
BboW  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company.  Address  all  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  Quigley  Publications: 
p"er  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanoc,  and  Fame. 


iO 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     17,  1942 


THIS  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


Leonard  Photo 


■  TYPICAL  of  the  scrap  drives  being  conducted 
in  the  nation  is  that  at  the  Palace  theatre,  Bergen- 
field,  N.  J.    "Pop"  Stahl,  manager,  sits  atop  the  pile. 


■  JACK  A.  PEGLER  has  been 
appointed  a  vice-president  of 
Lord  &  Thomas,  advertising  agency: 
Mr.  Pegler  is  head  of  the  agency's 
motion  picture  department,  handlin 
the  national  advertising  for 
RKO  Radio  Pictures  and 
RKO  Theatres. 


By  Cosmo-Sileo 


THEATRES  still  sell  Bonds.  Above,  left  to  right,  Francis  S.  Harmon, 
Oscar  A.  Doob  and  Si  Fabian,  of  the  War  Activities  Committee,  buy 
a  Bond  from  Lili  Damita  in  front  of  New  York's  Criterion  theatre. 


■  BORIS  MORROS,  center, 
producer  of  "Tales  of  Manhat- 
tan", entertains  William  K. 
Hollander,  Balaban  &  Katz 
advertising  head,  and  Clyde 
Eckhardt,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  branch  manager,  during  his 
stopover  in  Chicago  in  the 
interests  of  the  picture. 


PETER  M.  BRINCH,  35  year; 
in  the  motion  picture 
industry,  last  week  became 
a  member  of  the  Los  Angele: 
Board  of  Review,  Office  of 
Censorship,  under  Wattersor 
R.  Rothacker,  chairman. 


October    17,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


I  I 


■  "DISGRACEFUL"  was  the  word  used  by  Teddy  Carr, 
left,  United  Artists  managing  director  in  Great  Britain, 
for  the  refusal  of  British  authorities  here  to  allow 
showings  in  the  U.S.  of  Michael  Balcon's  "Next  of  Kin". 
When  he  returns  to  England  shortly,  says  Mr.  Carr, 
he  will  "tear  the  thing  wide  open". 


By  Staff  Photographer 


BRONZE  PLAQUE  commemorating  the 
heroism  of  the  Marines  at  Wake  Island  i 
shown  to  Marine  Sergeant  Jack  Patterson 
by  Mrs.  Ruel  Baker  of  the  American 
Women's  Voluntary  Services. 


■  LATIN  AMERICAN  consuls  viewing  "Wake  Island"  at  Paramount. 
Among  those  pictured  are:  Anibal  Jara,  Chile;  Gayetano  de 
Quesada,  Cuba;  S.  E.  Duran  Ballen,  Ecuador;  Miguel  Angel  Magana, 
El  Salvador;  Gustavo  Rivas,  Guatemala;  Gonzalo  Carias,  Honduras; 
Luis  Mena-Solorzano,  Nicaragua;  Robert  de  la  Guardia,  Panama; 
F.  Pardo  de  Zela,  Peru;  Nicolas  Velez,  Venezuela. 


■  COOPERATION  of  exhibitors 
to  conserve  theatre  equipment 
was  asked  by  Chris  Dunphy,  chief 
of  the  War  Production  Board's 
Amusement  section,  at  a  luncheon 
held  last  week  at  the  Hotel  Astor, 
New  York.  Above,  Mr.  Dunphy 
addresses  the  meeting.  Left,  three 
New  York  independent  exhibitors: 
Hyman  Rachmil;  Irving  Renner  of 
the  Endicott  Circuit;  Jack  Hattem, 
Interboro  Circuit. 


12 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,     I  942 


■  INDIGNANT  EXHIBITORS  FORUM  is  the  name  of  a 
group  recently  organized  in  Cincinnati  to  consider 
increased  film  rentals,  percentage  demands,  preferred 
playing  time  and  other  industry  problems.  Willis  H. 
Vance,  right,  is  chairman  of  the  organization. 


FETING  THE  BOSS.  O.  Henry  Briggs  (center),  president  of 
Producers  Releasing  Corp.,  visited  Hollywood  and  was 
greeted  with  a  cocktail  party  by  Leon  Fromkess,  right, 
production  head.    Robert  Benjamin,  company  attorney 
is  on  the  left. 


By  Metropolitan 


■  KEYS  TO  PARIS  offices  of  RKO  are 
donated  to  the  current  scrap  drive  by 
Phil  Reisman,  right,  vice-president  of 
RKO  Radio  Pictures  in  charge  of  foreign 
distribution,  and  Vladimir  Lissim,  left,  also 
of  the  foreign  department. 


■  EARL  ALLVINE,  for  the  past  13  years 
a  member  of  the  Fox  Movietone  News 
short  subject  editorial  staff,  has  been 
commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the  Navy. 
He  will  report  to  the  Anacostia  Naval 
Base. 


EXHIBITION  visits  production.  Nat  Holt,  western  divi- 
sion manager  of  the  RKO  theatres;  Cliff  Giesseman, 
manager  of  the  RKO  Golden  Gate  in  San  Francisco, 
and  their  wives,  toured  the  Universal  Coast  Studio 
with  Randolph  Scott  and  John  Wayne  as  their  guides. 
Left  to  right,  Messrs.  Holt,  Scott,  Wayne,  Mrs.  Giesse- 
man. Mr.  Giesseman  and  Mrs.  Holt. 


October    17.    194/  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


13 


MANPOWER  NOW  STUDIOS' 
"GREATEST  HEADACHE" 


Drastic  Reduction  Seen 
Overshadowing  Lack  of 
Many  Materials 

Drastic  reductions  in  the  n_ar.pcr.ver 
hitherto  always  plentiful  for  motion  pic- 
ture producers  may  soon  overshadow  the 
acute  shortages  of  many  materials  and 
items  of  equipment  used  in  the  Holly- 
wood studios. 

Executives  in  New  York  and  on  Holly- 
wood production  staffs  admit  privately  that 
a  serious  shortage  of  acting  talent,  techni- 
cians, cameramen,  writers,  directors,  pro- 
ducers and  ordinary  studio  labor  impends. 
In  many  instances  it  is  already  pinching 
plans  for  autumn  and  winter  productions. 

Charles  Francis  Coe,  general  counsel  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Distribu- 
tors of  America,  who  was  in  New  York  this 
week  on  a  brief  business  visit,  admitted  that 
manpower  is  rapidly  becoming  "the  greatest 
headache  of  them  all"  for  producers.  Tech- 
nical staffs  built  up  by  the  large  studios 
over  many  years  are  being  particularly  hard 
hit,  he  said. 

Shortages  in  building  supplies,  film,  paint, 
electrical  equipment  and  other  physical 
items  may  be  circumvented  to  a  large 
measure  by  using  fewer  and  simpler  settings, 
devising  substitutes  and  carrying  out  pro- 
duction economies,  one  executive  said.  But 
trained  motion  picture  makers,  who  have 
learned  skills  over  many  years,  cannot  be 
"replaced  with  ersatz  hired  help,"  he  re- 
marked. 

Estimate  4,000  in 
Military  Service 

Between  3,500  and  4,000  workers  from 
the  major  studios,  who  contributed  to  pic- 
ture making  in  every  capacity  from  porter 
to  producer,  are  estimated  to  have  entered 
military  service.  Additionally  several  thou- 
sand film  workers  have  gone  to  work  in 
aircraft  factories  or  other  war  work  in  the 
Pacific  area.  Carpenters,  painters,  electri- 
cians, grips  and  skilled  trade  members  have 
been  tapped  by  defense  industries  in  particu- 
larly high  proportion.  But  extras,  stars 
and  writers  have  also  gone  into  war  work, 
as  well  as  the  Army.  Many  women  are 
among  them. 

The  creative  talent  unions  also  have  been 
drained  of  many  of  their  best  workers  by 
the  war.  The  Screen  Writers  Guild  re- 
cently estimated  that  22  per  cent  of  its  mem- 
bership was  no  longer  available  for  film 
work. 

However,  the  industry  will  seek  no  spe- 
cial deferments  or  classifications  for  indi- 
viduals called  for  the  draft  or  shifted  else- 
where for  war  work,  Mr.  Coe  indicated. 

"Just  before  I  left- Hollywood,  I  was  in 
the  office  of  a  studio  head  when  one  of  his 
top  producers  came  in,"  Mr.  Coe  said.  "A 
:  top  technician  had  been  called  by  his  draft 
jboard  in  the  middle  of  a  picture.  The  pro- 
ducer begged  the  studio  manager  to  inter- 
cede. 'What  can  we  do  V  he  asked. 

"  "Bid  him  good-bye'  "  was  the  executive's 


IATSE  TRAINS 
SUBSTITUTES 

Replacements  for  skilled  technicians 
called  into  the  war  are  being  trained 
o.  The  international  Alliance  of  The- 
atrical Stage  Employees,  Hollywood 
business  agents  of  which  met  there 
Friday  with  '  Pat  Casey,  producers' 
labor  contact,  in  the  first  of  a  series 
of  conferences  on  the  increasing 
shortage  of  manpower. 

Mr.  Casey  praised  the  IATSE  pro- 
gram, which  was  begun  quietly  and 
has  been  operating  for  some  time. 
The  Hollywood  unions  have  set  up 
schools  for  apprentices  in  such  fields 
as  sound,  makeup  and  camera  work. 
At  the  meeting,  the  consensus  was 
that  women  should  be  trained  only 
.■.T.er  5  available  men  have  been 
placed. 


reply,  Mr.  Coe  reported.  He  said  it  was 
typical  of  Hollywood's  attitude.  Every  ex- 
ecutive there,  he  reported,  is  determined  to 
get  along  as  best  he  can  with  the  facilities 
and  personnel  at  hand. 

Other  New  York  executives  cited  the  ex- 
ample of  Great  Britain,  where  studios  have 
been  kept  open  despite  draft  inroads. 

Far  from  being  optimistic  over  the  fu- 
ture, most  production  heads  feel  that  the 
present  shortage  of  help  is  only  the  begin- 
ning. They  point  to  warnings  from  Paul 
McNutt,  chairman  of  the  Federal  Manpow- 
er Commission,  the  Army  and  Navy,  and 
the  President  himself  that  every  man  and 
woman  in  the  country  soon  will  be  required 
to  contribute  directly  to  the  war,  either  in 
the  armed  services,  or  in  essential  industry 
or  civilian  services. 

See  Further  Cuts 
In  Studio  Staffs 

While  confident  that  the  motion  picture 
industry  will  always  be  permitted  a  nucleus 
with  which  to  maintain  its  functions  as  a 
medium  of  information  and  entertainment, 
they  admit  that  it  is  almost  inevitable  that 
the  present  staffs  will  be  greatly  reduced. 
Perhaps  talent  may  have  to  be  loaned  to  the 
industry  on  furlough  from  military  service 
or  war  work  for  specific  assignments,  one 
distributor  said.  This  system  has  been  at 
work  in  England  for  some  time. 

Washington  observers  meanwhile  report- 
ed that  a  serious  manpower  situation  is  aris- 
ing which  may  necessitate  either  revision 
downward  of  present  plans  for  an  Army  of 
10,000,000  and  a  Navy-  of  3,000,000  or  adop- 
tion of  "selective  service  legislation  which 
will  enable  the  Government  to  assign  work- 
ers where  they  are  most  needed." 

Only  by  practically  abandoning  all  forms 
of  civilian  activity  not  directly  connected 
with  necessities  of  life  could  a  sufficiently 


large  production  "army"  be  provided  to  fill 
the  materiel  needs  of  a  13,000,000-man  mili- 
tary and  Naval  establishment,  according  to 
some  officials  whose  estimates  have  precipi- 
tated a  controversy  over  the  manpower  sit- 
uation. 

Job  freezing  or  transfer  orders  are  ex- 
pected to  be  issued  soon  to  quell  the  compe- 
tition for  labor  among  war  industries. 
Serious  consideration  is  being  given  also 
to  legislation  that  will  draft  all  persons  not 
in  the  military  or  naval  service,  for  assign- 
ment to  such  war  industries  as  need  labor. 


Radio  Gets  Equipment, 
Personnel  Priorities 

The  War  Production  Board  on  Monday 
provided  a  preference  rating  of  A-lj  for  the 
acquisition  of  repair  and  maintenance  parts 
and  supplies  by  broadcasters  and  set  forth 
specific  conditions  which  must  be  met  to 
secure  the  privileges  of  the  priority. 

The  assigned  rating  is  to  be  used  only  for 
maintenance  and  repair,  and  may  not  be 
utilized  for  expansion,  improvement,  or 
change  in  design  of  equipment. 

The  rating  ma}-  not  be  used  to  replace  in 
inventory  more  than  one  spare  tube  for  each 
active  tube  socket;  tubes  replaced  or  to  be 
replaced  must  be  operated  until  they  fail, 
and  pow-er  tubes  rated  25  watts  or  more 
which  fail  must  be  returned  to  the  manu- 
facturer unless  they  are  to  be  repaired. 

No  spare  parts  may  be  replaced  under  the 
rating  except  those  subject  to  frequent  fail- 
ure, to  deterioration  or  exhaustion,  and 
where  the  lack  of  replacements  parts  would 
result  in  long  delay  in  resumption  of  opera- 
tions. 

Essential  Labor 
Lists  Prepared 

No  parts  are  to  be  replaced  if  the}-  can  be 
repaired  with  a  smaller  consumption  of  ma- 
terials, and  the  rating  may  not  be  used  to 
increase  the  value  of  an  inventory,  other 
than  tubes,  above  what  it  was  October  5th, 
nor  to  build  up  an  inventory  in  excess  of  re- 
quirements for  three  months,  other  than  in 
tubes. 

All  equipment  which  has  failed  must  have 
been  operated  within  the  ratings  specified  by 
the  manufacturer. 

Critical  occupations  in  the  broadcasting 
industry,  both  standard  and  international, 
have  been  listed  by  the  Board  of  War  Com- 
munications and  transmitted  to  the  War 
Manpower  Board  for  consideration  in  con- 
nection with  the  development  of  a  standard 
index  of  critical  occupations  for  the  guid- 
ance of  draft  boards  in  considering  Selec- 
tive Service  policies  in  drafting  key  per- 
sonnel from  industry. 

The  material  was  prepared  by  the  vari- 
ous technical  •  committees  of  the  board  at 
the  request  of  the  commission,  which  is 
making  similar  surveys  of  all  other  indus- 
tries. 


I  4 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


MAJORS  GIVE  7,000  TO  U.  S. 
FORCES,  WITH  MORE  GOING 


Home  Offices,  Hollywood, 
Field,  Theatres  Send 
Men  to  Army,  Navy 

Figures  furnished  this  week  by  home 
offices  of  major  distributors  disclose  that 
more  than  7,000  of  their  employees  are 
now  in  military  service. 

In  addition,  many  hundreds  of  others 
have  gone  to  the  services  from  theatres,  in- 
dependent producers  and  distributors,  inde- 
pendent exchanges,  film  laboratories,  mo- 
tion picture  manufacturing  companies  and 
practically  every  allied  branch  of  the  in- 
dustry. 

Paramount  heads  the  list,  with  2,453  men 
in  the  armed  torces,  including  87  trom  the 
home  office,  135  from  the  studio,  56  from 
exchanges,  and  2,175  from  theatres  affiliat- 
ed with  the  circuit.  Warner  Bros,  is  next 
with  1,262.  Then,  MGM,  1,121  in  service. 
RKO  has  about  400  men  from  the  circuit 
and  more  than  800  from  the  studio,  ex- 
changes and  home  office.  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox has  408  men  serving,  from  the 
home  office,  studio  and  exchanges.  Univer- 
sal has  282,  Columbia,  100  from  the  home 
office  and  exchanges,  and  United  Artists 
about  50. 

Thus,  men  from  all  branches  of  the  pic- 
ture industry  continue  to  answer  the  call  to 
the  colors.  During  September,  the  follow- 
ing went  into  the  various  brancehs  of  mili- 
tary service. 

From  Hollywood:  Lyle  Tablot,  Army  Air 
Corps;  Richard  Denning,  Navy;  Norman 
Krasna,  Warner  Bros,  writer-director, 
Army  Air  Corps ;  Warren  Low,  film  editor, 
and  Bert  Teitelbaum,  art  department,  War- 
ner Bros.,  Army;  Milton  Sperling,  20th 
Century-Fox  producer,  Marine  Corps ;  Wil- 
liam Raynor,  PRC's  Hollywood  director  of 
publicity,  Army  Air  Corps;  Del  Frazier, 
Warner  Bros,  short  subject  director,  Army 
Air  Corps. 

Many  from  Home  Offices 
Called  to  Serve 

Lt.  Edmund  Grainger,  Republic  associ- 
ate producer,  reported  for  active  duty  in  the 
Signal  Corps;  Jack  Otterson,  Universal  su- 
pervising art  director,  Army ;  Sidney  Lunt, 
Universal  laboratory  contact  man,  was  com- 
missioned a  major  in  the  Signal  Corps ; 
Jack  Bernhard,  former  producer  at  Uni- 
versal, and  a  son  of  Joseph  Bernhard,  War- 
ner Bros,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager, was  commissioned  a  pilot  officer  in 
the  RAF ;  Perc  Westmore,  head  of  Warner 
Bros,  make-up  department,  U.  S.  Coast 
Guard. 

Men  from  the  home  offices  who  have 
joined  include:  Peyton  Gibson,  secretary  of 
Universal,  Army  Air  Corps;  Hiller  Innes, 
production  manager,  Paramount,  Navy ; 
William  Gold  and  Herman  Hochberg,  art 
department,  Warner  Bros.,  Army;  Herbert 
B.  Lazarus,  Paramount  legal  staff,  Army; 
Ben  Pollock,  promotion  department,  Univer- 
sal, Army;  James  Victory,  secretary  to  Spy- 
ros  Skouras,  president,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox,  Army;  Otto  Pirkola,  publicity  depart- 


WOMEN  OF  INDUSTRY 
JOINING  SERVICE 

Following  enlistment  in  the  WAVES 
of  Betty  A.  Glixon,  Chicago  the- 
atres' department  secretary,  the  first 
Warner  Bros,  woman  employee  to 
enlist,  the  company  announced  last 
week  that  any  of  its  women  em- 
ployees entering  military  or  naval 
auxiliary  services  will  be  entitled  to 
the  same  allowances  for  dependents, 
severance  pay  and  other  direct  bene- 
fits as  are  received  by  men  who  leave 
for  military  duty. 

First  employee  of  RKO  to  leave 
for  auxiliary  service  is  Rosanna  Ken- 
nedy, telephone  operator  at  the  com- 
pany's New  York  exchange,  who 
joined  the  WAACs.  Peggy  Rohyl, 
executive  secretary  to  Hal  Home, 
20th  Century-Fox  advertising  and 
publicity  director,  enlisted  in  the 
WAVES  and  reported  this  week  at 
the  Smith  College  training  center. 
Grace  White,  secretary  to  John 
Harris  of  the  Harris  Amusement  Co., 
Pittsburgh,  also  has  been  sworn  in  as 
a  WAAC.  Jean  Sawyer,  editor  of 
Mo-vies  Magazine,  has  reported  for 
WAAC  training.  She  is  the  daughter 
of  Jeanette  Sawyer  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee  and  Major 
George  A.  Sawyer,  adjutant  of  the 
5th  Brigade,  New  York  Guard. 


ment,  RKO,  Coast  Guard ;  Arthur  M.  Hers- 
kovitz,  purchasing  department,  RKO, 
Army ;  Johnny  Belmont,  mail  department, 
RKO,  Navy. 

From  the  field :  Eugene  Tunick,  RKO 
branch,  Cincinnati,  Army ;  Gene  O'Brien, 
Columbia's  New  Haven  exchange,  Army; 
Charles  Kates,  Warner  booker,  Cleveland, 
Army ;  Ted  Abner,  Paramount  salesman, 
Philadelphia,  Army  Air  Corps ;  Edward 
Doherty,  salesman,  Columbia  Memphis  ex- 
change, Navy;  James  Connell,  sales  depart- 
ment, and  Taylor  Jetton,  assistant  shipper, 
Warner's  Memphis  exchange,  Navy ; 
Thomas  McCleaster,  salesman,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox,  Indianapolis,  Army  Air 
Corps ;  Bernard  Newman,  Denver  PRC  ex- 
change, Navy. 

Forces  Take  Toll 
Of  Exchange  Staffs 

Also,  Charles  B.  Williams,  Paramount 
booker,  Cincinnati,  Army;  John  Howard, 
Paramount  branch  manager,  Detroit,  Navy ; 
Bud  Denton,  MGM  Seattle  exchange,  Navy; 
Eugene  Lamb,  ad  sales  manager,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox,  Seattle,  Navy;  Cecil  J. 
Fames,  salesman,  Universal,  Portland,  Ore., 
Army;  Harold  Donner,  booker  at  Republic- 
Sheffield  exchange,  Portland,  Ore.,  Army 
Air  Corps;  H.  P.  McNary,  booker,  Warner 


exchange,  Portland,  Army ;  Robert  Wind- 
sor, head  shipper  at  the  same  exchange, 
Navy ;  William  Lewis,  Warner  Bros,  pub- 
licity representative  in  the  Southwest, 
Army. 

From  theatres  have  gone :  Clarence  H. 
Moss,  director  of  publicity  and  advertising, 
Interstate  Circuit,  Texas,  Army  Air  Corps; 
Truman  Randall,  Capitol,  Chicago,  Army; 
Charles  Lowe,  Hartford,  sound  director, 
Warner  Theatres,  Navy. 

The  enlistment  of  Harold  Massie  in  the 
Army  Signal  Corps  has  brought  to  114  the 
total  of  Balaban  &  Katz  employes,  Chicago, 
into  service;  Mitchell  Franklin,  of  Frank- 
lin &  Herschorn  theatres,  New  Brunswick, 
Royal  Canadian  Air  Force ;  Peter  Trado, 
manager,  Broadway,  Camden,  Coast  Guard- 
Henry  Shapiro,  publicity  head,  William 
Goldman  theatres,  Philadelphia,  Army 
Franklin  L.  Ramsey,  manager,  Warner  Len- 
ox, Hartford,  Army  Air  Corps;  Jack  Sling 
luff,  manager,  Central  States,  Cresco,  la. 
Marine  Corps. 

Theatres  Send  Many 
To  Army,  Navy 

Also:  John  Cuddy,  operator,  Capitol 
Waterbury,  Navy;  Harry  Harris,  Harris 
Amusement  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Army;  John 
Roach,  manager,  Warner's  Ardmore,  Ard- 
more,  Pa.,  Army;  Nat  Rubin,  manager,  Ly- 
ric, Bridgeport,  Army  Air  Corps;  Robert 
McDonough,  Comerford  Circuit  home  of- 
fice, Scranton,  Pa.,  Army. 

Also,  Anthony  Telansano,  E.  M.  Loew's 
Hartford,  Army;  Haines  A.  Miller,  former 
manager,  Ritz,  Treverton,  Pa.,  Navy;  Jack 
Brassil,  Loew's  Poli,  New  Haven,  Army 
Robert  Meade,  chief  projectionist,  E.  M 
Loew's  Hartford,  Army  Air  Corps;  W.  R 
Howes,  manager,  Granada,  Spokane,  Army 
Leo  Howard,  operator,  Star,  North  Brook- 
field,  Mass.,  Army;  Irving  Refowich,  man- 
ager, Refowich  theatre,  Freeland,  Pa. 
Army. 

Three  San  Francisco 
Managers  Join 

William  Zeiler,  manager,  J.  P.  Harris 
theatre,  Pittsburgh,  Army;  Clarence 
Charles  Klein,  former  theatre  manager  and 
city  welfare  director,  Pittsburgh,  Army  Air 
Corps ;  Michael  Chakeres,  managing  direc- 
tor, Chakeres- Warner  Theatres,  Army ;  Ray 
Crouch,  manager,  Dad  Abbott's  theatres 
Seattle,  Army;  H.  L.  Glandfield,  owner  of 
the  Cameo  and  Shell  theatres,  Tacoma 
Army. 

Three  more  theatre  managers  and  five 
assistants  in  San  Francisco  have  left  to 
join  the  services  or  war  work.  Reke  Feli- 
ziani,  manager  of  the  Noe,  is  a  private  at 
Fort  Scott,  111. ;  Charles  Coovert,  Amazon 
is  at  Camp  Roberts,  Cal.,  and  Dan  McLean 
Embassy,  is  a  boatswain's  mate  in  the  Coasl 
Guard. 

Assistant  managers  Robert  Bayben,  Dal) 
City,  and  Hal  Guyotti,  Irvine,  are  at  Camr 
Roberts,  and  Mervyn  Mooney  of  the  Foj 
theatre  is  in  the  Coast  Guard.  In  the  ship 
yards  are  Tom  Barlow  of  the  Noe  anc 
Frank  Shragg,  Palace.  Both  were  assistan 
managers. 


October    17,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


INDUSTRY  ORGANIZES  WAR 
PICTURE  DISTRIBUTION 


WAC  Plans  to  Release  One 
New  Short  Subject  Each 
Week  of  All  Films 

A  new  short  subject  every  week  on 
topics  related  to  the  war  will  be  released 
henceforth  under  the  auspices  of  the  War 
Activties  Committee  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry. 

The  reorganized  program  for  the  re- 
lease of  war  information  and  morale  films 
was  approved  at  a  meeting  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee  last  week.  It  will 
coordinate  into  regular  distribution  the 
releases  of  the  Office  of  War  Information 
film  bureau  and  its  production  unit,  and 
the  special  short  subjects  made  by  Holly- 
wood producers  at  Government  instiga- 
tion. 

Also  the  program  will  make  available  a  reg- 
ular supply  of  special  war  films  for  weekly  ex- 
hibition in  all  of  the  15,265  theatres  across  the 
nation  which  have  pledged  to  play  the  WAC 
films.  They  are  being  urged  to  play  all  WAC 
subjects,  with  a  change  at  least  once  a  week. 

Prints  will  continue  to  be  booked  and  circu- 
lated through  the  exchanges  of  the  major  dis- 
tributors and  it  is  expected  that  the  new  52-week 
WAC  film  program  will  give  the  subjects  the 
widest  distribution  ever  received  by  any  releases. 

Victory  shorts  acquired  by  the  WAC  from 
j  the  Office  of  War  Information  will  alternate 
each  week  with  the  "America  Speaks"  series 
produced  in  Hollywood  and  distributed  by  the 
industry  without  profit.  The  Victory  films  will 
continue  to  be  supplied  without  cost,  while  ex- 
hibitors will  pay  nominal  rentals  for  the  Holly- 
wood product.  Any  revenue  above  minimum 
production  expenses  will  be  donated  by  the 
WAC  to  a  war  charity. 

Work  Out  New  Plan 
For  Releases 

Short  subject  representatives  of  the  major 
distributors  meeting  with  Herman  Gluckman, 
in  charge  of  distribution  for  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  worked  out  the  program  of  one-a- 
week  releases.  M.  J.  Weisfelt,  Columbia ;  Wil- 
liam Clark,  Twentieth  Century-Fox ;  Hender- 
son Richey,  MGM  ;  Oscar  Morgan,  Paramount ; 
H.  J.  Michalson,  RKO  and  Bernard  Kreisler, 
of  Universal  participated  in  the  conference. 

The  schedule  of  releases  agreed  on  by  the 
committee,  with  dates,  title  and  producer  fol- 
lows : 

October  22nd — "Manpower"  (Office  of  War 
Information)  ;  October  29th — "We  Refuse  to 
Die"  (Paramount)  ;  November  5th,  "Every- 
body's War"  (20th  Century-Fox)  ;  November 
12th — "Japanese  Relocation"  (OWl)  ;  Novem- 
ber 19th — "Keeping  Fit"  (Universal)  ;  Novem- 
ber 26th — "Colleges  at  War"  (OWI)  Decem- 
ber 3rd— "Conquered  by  the  Clock"  (RKO)  ; 
December  10th— "Night  Shift,"  (OWI-British 
Ministry  of  Information)  ;  December  17th — 
"Weapons  from  Waste"  (Columbia)  ;  Decem- 
ber 24th— "Your  War"  (OWI)  ;  December 
31st — an  untitled  film  about  Vice-President 
Wallace,  being  made  by  Paramount. 

This  schedule,  particularly  in  its  latter  por- 
tion, is  subject  to  change. 

In  the  case  of  the  pictures  which  are  to  be 
"ented  from  a  distributor,  any  dispute  between 
exhibitor  and  distributor  over  a  fair  price  will 
be  submitted  to  an  impartial  arbitration  board 


1 1 


RKO  Shows  John  Smith,  Soldier, 
In  First  'This  is  America \  Short 

RKO  Radio  previewed  on  Wednesday,  in  New  York,  the  first  of  its  new  series  of 
topical  two-reel  subjects  to  be  released  under  the  general  title,  "This  Is  America". 
The  series  is  pointed  directedly  at  the  American  family,  which  is  still  the  backbone 
of  picture  patronage. 

Treating  topics  of  timely  importance,  the  subjects  are  intended  at  the  same  time 
to  be  informational  and  intimate,  reflecting  the  dominant  interests  of  small  and 
large  town  America  without  preachment.  RKO  will  release  one  a  month. 

The  first  release,  "Private  Smith  of  the  U.S.A.",  presents  the  nation  at  war  in 
terms  of  the  initial  impact  upon  the  home  of  the  recruiting  of  an  army  of  John 
Smiths  from  the  48  states. 

The  emphasis  is  at  all  times  on  pictorial  content,  the  story  in  action.  The  com- 
mentary, spoken  by  Dwight  Weist,  from  a  pointed  script  by  Phil  Reisman,  Jr., 
assumes  the  function  of  blending  detail  into  a  significant  whole,  of  relating  expe- 
rience to  the  broader  issues.  It  is,  in  addition,  refreshingly  free  of  moralizing  and 
is  live  with  humor.  There  is,  on  occasion,  the  note  of  affectionate  patronage  which 
creeps  into  discussions  of  "our  boys." 

Production,  in  the  hands  of  Frederic  Ullman,  Jr.,  with  Jay  Bonafield  supervising, 
bespeaks  careful  planning  and  freshness  of  approach.  Photography  by  Larry 
O'Reilly  is  clean  and  sharp.  The  musical  accompaniment  by  Nathaniel  Shilkret  and 
Herman  Fuchs,  recorded  by  Francis  L.  Woolley,  is  never  allowed  to  dominate  a 
scene  or  force  a  mood.  John  Hoffman's  editing  leaves  the  impression  of  intelligent 
selection  from  material  enough  for  many  more  than  the  subject's  19  minutes  to 
present  the  highlights  and  suggest  the  background. 

The  national  release  date  for  "Private  Smith  of  the  U.S.A."  is  October  23rd. 
Subsequent  releases  will  include  a  tribute  to  the  war  effort  of  America's  women 
and  a  survey  of  the  future  manpower  of  the  nation  in  its  Boy  Scouts.  A  flexible 
schedule  is  projected  to  permit,  insure  topics  of  timely  interest. 

The  series,  in  its  broad  appeal  and  simplicity  of  presentation,  promise  definite 
audience  attention. — E.  A.  C. 


appointed  by  the  WAC.  They  will  determine  a 
fair  rental  for  the  particular  situation.  It  is 
agreed  however,  that  pictures  will  be  played 
pending  settlement  of  the  dispute. 

William  Montague,  associate  producer  of  the 
Office  of  War  Information,  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Gluckman  listed  10  titles  in  work  by  the  unit 
which  is  headed  by  Samuel  Spewack.  Mr. 
Spewack  returned  from  England  this  week  with 
film  and  story  material  gathered  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  British  Ministry  of  Information. 

The  OWI  films  fall  into  two  categories,  one 
of  the  trailer  type,  running  around  2U0  to  400 
feet,  based  on  situations  of  the  moment.  These 
will  be  made  and  distributed  regionally  on  ad- 
vices from  Washington  indicating  special  needs 
for  them  in  local  salvage,  manpower  etc.  cam- 
paigns. _ 

These  include:  "Oil  Conservation.  The 
Army  Needs  Specialists,"  "Tin  Can  Salvage" 
and  "Four  Rules  For  Rubber  Conservation." 
There  will  be  approximately  26  of  this  type. 

Five  longer  subjects  have  been  completed  and 
are  in  WAC  hands.  They  are  "Salvage," 
which  features  an  appeal  from  Donald  M.  Nel- 
son; "Colleges  at  War,"  "Night  Shift,"  "Man- 
power" and  "Japanese  Relocation." 

The  longer  OWI  subj  ects  in  various  stages  of 
preparation  and  production  are : 

"Paratroops,"  which  deals  with  the  training 


of  parachute  troops  and  their  equipping  for 
service  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

"Community  Traffic."  A  film  showing  how 
members  of  a  community  faced  with  traffic 
problems  arising  out  of  boomtown  war  industry 
get  together  and  solves  these  problems.  It 
was  filmed  in  Bridgeport. 

"Troop  Train."  The  problems  involved  in 
moving  a  mechanized  division ;  how  the  men 
actually  live  on  board  a  troop  train. 

"Nurseries."  The  care  of  children  whose 
mothers  are  working  in  war  plants,  whether  the 
children  are  of  nursery  age  or  older. 

"The  Farm."  The  part  American  farms  are 
playing  in  feeding  the  world. 

"Army  Chaplains."  A  picture  exemplifying 
toleration  through  the  work  of  chaplains  of  all 
faiths  in  the  army. 

"Schools  at  War."  The  victory  program  that 
is  being  developed  for  school  children. 

"What  to  Do  In  an  Air  Raid."  A  definitive 
picturization  of  the  most  practical  advices  on 
this  subject. 

"Alaska."  An  explanation  of  this  territory's 
importance  geographically  and  strategically,  to 
the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war. 

"Dover."  This  is  a  recut  and  synchronized 
version  of  the  British  picture,  "21  Miles,"  with 
narration  by  Edward  Murrow,  CBS  commenta- 
tor. 


16 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Ocfober    17,  1942 


SALARY  CEILING  ORDER  PUTS 
STUDIOS  IN  THE  MIDDLE 


Producers  Find  Themselves 
Between  Freezing  Law, 
Guild  Contracts 

An  early  official  interpretation  of  the 
application  to  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try of  presidential  salary  freezing  orders 
was  seen  as  imperative  this  week,  to 
prevent  chaos  in  the  business  relations  of 
producing  companies  and  hired  acting, 
writing,  directing  and  producing  talent. 

The  U.  S.  Board  of  Economic  Stabiliza- 
tion, or  the  Federal  courts,  possibly  both, 
will  be  asked  by  the  organized  industry  and 
guilds  to  determine  the  status  of  talent  and 
union  contracts  which  require  salary  in- 
creases at  stipulated  intervals.  The  stabiliza- 
tion order  precludes  them.  Failure  to  pay 
such  raises,  however,  would  constitute  a 
breach  of  contract  unless  a  special  ruling 
is  obtained,  lawyers  said. 

Clarification  of  the  salary  situation  was 
one  of  the  principal  objects  of  a  flying  visit 
to  New  York  this  week  by  Charles  Francis 
Coe,  general  counsel  and  vice-president  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and  Distribu- 
tors of  America,  Inc.  He  said  on  Monday 
that  meetings  would  be  held  this  week  to  de- 
termine methods  "of  the  fullest  possible  co- 
operation" in  adapting  film  wage  practices 
to  the  new  order. 

Representatives  of  the  MPPDA,  distribu- 
tors, talent  guilds  and  attorneys,  met 
through  the  week  at  the  MPPDA  offices  in 
New  York  to  discuss  possible  effects  of  the 
freezing  order.  Spokesmen  pointed  out, 
however,  that  all  industry  consideration  was 
contingent  on  the  administrative  orders 
which  are  being  prepared  by  the  National 
Economic  Director,  James  F.  Byrnes. 

The  "Committee  of  Six"  lawyers  from 
the  industry,  which  led  reorganization  of 
public  relations  for  the  organized  industry 
last  year  and  guided  defense  tactics  during 
the  Senate  investigation  of  war  propaganda 
in  films,  was  present  for  the  meetings. 

Talent  Guilds 
Invited  to  Meetings 

Mendel  Silberberg,  Herbert  Freston  and 
Maurice  Benjamin,  Hollywood  members  of 
the  committee,  came  east  to  join  Joseph 
Hazen  of  Warners,  J.  Robert  Rubin  of 
MGM  and  Austin  Keough  of  Paramount. 
Accompanying  the  coast  attorneys  were  Mr. 
Coe  and  Alfred  Wright  and  George  Was- 
son.  Twentieth  Century-Fox  counsel. 

Fred  W.  Beetson,  executive  vice-president 
of  the  Association  of  Motion  Picture  Pro- 
ducers, also  came  east. 

Representatives  of  all  talent  guilds  also 
were  invited  to  the  New  York  meetings, 
following  two  sessions  with  Mr.  Coe  and 
the  producers  in  Hollywood.  It  was  indi- 
cated that  the  salary  problem  will  be  the 
concern  principally  of  the  creative  workers, 
many  of  whom  work  on  option  contracts. 
Their  guild  representatives  were  expected 
to  initiate  any  action  which  might  result 
from  inequities  in  the  Government  orders. 

The  first  step,  it  was  said,  would  be  a 
protest  to  Mr.  Byrnes,  with  a  request  for  a 


HIGHER  SOCIAL  SECURITY 
RATE  IS  FORECAST 

Countering  a  Congressional  move 
to  freeze  social  security  taxes  at  their 
present  level,  President  Roosevelt  last 
week  disclosed  that  he  plans  to  ask 
legislation  expanding  and  extending 
the  whole  social  security  system 
which,  he  said,  would  involve  "sub- 
stantial further  increases"  in  payroll 
levies.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Morgenthau  also  announced  that  he 
would  ask  Congress  for  another  tax 
bill  to  raise  $6,000,000,000. 


hearing.  All  groups  on  the  committee  were 
emphatic  in  their  assertion  that  they  sought 
to  cooperate  fully  with  the  Government. 
Only  in  the  case  of  manifestly  gross  un- 
fairness will  court  rulings  be  sought,  one 
lawyer  said. 

Kenneth  Thomson,  executive  secretary  of 
the  Screen  Actors  Guild,  reached  New  York 
Tuesday  for  the  meetings  and  other  guild 
representatives  were  expected  before  the 
weekend. 

Washington  at  midweek  heard  that  Ran- 
dolph Paul,  general  counsel  for  the  U.  S. 
Treasury,  was  drawing  up  regulations  for 
the  Office  of  Economic  Stabilization  making 
the  ban  on  salaries  above  $25,000  a  year, 
after  deduction  of  taxes  and  other  stipu- 
lated expenses,  the  responsibility  of  em- 
ployers. The  Treasury  was  also  drafting 
methods  of  applying  controls  on  salaries  in 
excess  of  $5,000  a  year. 

At  the  same  time  talent  guilds,  as  re- 
ported by  Motion  Picture  Herald  from 
Hollywood  last  week,  were  organizing  their 
forces  to  protect  their  members  from  "in- 
equities." Attorneys  representing  the  Ac- 
tors and  Writers  units  were  reported  on 
their  way  to  Washington.  Mary  C.  Mc- 
Call,  Jr.,  a  member  of  the  writers  committee, 
was  in  Washington  at  midweek  to  discuss 
the   freezing   of   writers  salaries. 

Stabilization  Office 
Begins  Work 

by  FRANCIS  L  BURT 

in  Washington 

Safeguards  against  inflation  and  social 
reform  are  blended  in  the  executive  order 
issued  by  President  Roosevelt,  creating  the 
Office  of  Economic  Stabilization  to  admin- 
ister the  provisions  of  the  anti-inflation 
legislation  enacted  by  Congress  last  week. 

Although  there  is  no  mention  whatever 
in  the  act  of  salary  limitations,  the  Presi- 
dent, under  the  authority  given  him  to  cor- 
rect "gross  inequities,"  ordered  the  new 
a^encv  to  take  steps  to  limit  salaries  to 
$25,000  after  taxes,  insurance  premiums, 
fixed  obligations  and  other  provisions  to 
prevent  undue  hardship. 


■: 


While  the  order  provides  thus  for  salary 
limitation,  there  is  no  limitation  on  income 
from  dividends,  rents,  royalties  or  other 
sources.  To  that  extent,  the  President  was 
unable  to  put  over  his  proposal,  twice,  re- 
jected by  Congress,  to  limit  individual  in- 
come to  the  $25,000  figure. 

Rentals,  Admissions 
Seen  Unaffected 

Neither  the  act  nor  the  executive  order  ;' 
went  into  other  fields,  with  the  result  that 
it  is  expected  there  will  be  no  change  in  the 
situation  with  respect  to  film  rentals  or  the- 
atre admissions.  The  film  industry  was 
specifically  exempted  from  the  provisions  of 
the  original  Price  Control  Oct,  which  was 
not  repealed  by  the  new  legislation.  All 
labor  in  the  motion  picture  industry,  to  and 
including  top  executives,  will  be  affected 
by  the  wage  and  salary  controls. 

An  effort  by  Senator  Sheridan  Downey 
of  California  to  protect  the  "starlet"  con- 
tracts, which  provide  that  young  actors  andf 
actresses  shall  be  given  periodic  salary  in- 
creases as  they  develop,  failed  when  the 
Senate  refused  to  accept  an  amendment  ex 
empting  contracts  entered  into  prior  to  Sep 
tember  15th. 

It  is  believed,  however,  that  under  the1 
executive  order,  it  will  be  possible  for  talent 
to  receive  increases  as  they  are  earned. 

The  director  of  the  Office  of  Economic 
Stabilization,  Associate  Justice  James  F 
Byrnes,  will  have  a  board  consisting  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Treasury,  Agriculture 
Commerce  and  Labor,  the  chairman  of  the 
board  of  governors  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
System,  the  Director  of  the  Budget,  the 
Price  Administrator,  the  chairman  of  the 
National  War  Labor  Board  and  two  repre 
sentatives  each  of  labor,  management  anc 
farmers  to  be  appointed  by  the  President. 

Minor  Wage  Increases 
Need  No  Approval 

The  executive  order  provides  that  no  in 
crease  in  wage  rates,  granted  as  a  result  o 
voluntary  agreement,  collective  bargaining 
conciliation,  arbitration  or  otherwise,  am 
no  decreases  in  wage  rates,  shall  be  mad1 
without  approval  by  the  National  War  La 
bor  Board. 

To  this  extent,  it  is  believed  that  wage  in' 
creases  generally  will  be  eliminated,  sino 
the  board  is  not  to  approve  any  increase  ii 
the  wage  rates  prevailing  on  Septembe 
15th,  unless  "necessary  to  correct  malad 
justments  or  inequalities,  to  eliminate  sub 
standards  of  living,  to  correct  gross  inequ; 
ties,  or  to  aid  in  the  effective  prosecutio1 
of  the  war." 

However,  the  board  is  authorized  to  e>; 
empt  cases  of  "small  total  wage  increases  o' 
decreases,"  leaving  companies  free  to  mak 
minor  wage  and  salary  increases  withoi 
bothering  to  obtain  Government  approval. 

The  ban  on  increases  in  salaries  no 
more  than  $5,000  a  year,  except  where  ii 
dividuals  are  assigned  more  difficult  or  n 
sponsible  work,  is  a  flat  prohibition  "unt 
otherwise  determined  by  the  director." 


17.    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


17 


N.  Y.  STATE  CENSOR  LAUDS 
SCREEN'S  WAR  SERVICE 


Year's  Gross  Is  $331,186; 
316  Eliminations  Made; 
7  of  ly518  Films  Banned 

by  DICK  CONNERS 

m  Albany 

New  York  State's  film  censor  chief. 
Irwin  Esmond,  in  his  annual  report  issued 
this  week,  expressed  high  praise  for  the 
— . otion  p:;:ure  industry's  c Dr.tribution  to 
the  war  effort. 

Only  seven  pictures,  of  the  1.54S  re- 
viewed by  the  Motion  Picture  Division 
(censor  board)  of  the  New  York  State 
Education  Department,  during  the  fiscal 
year  from  July  1.  1941  to  June  30,  1942, 
were  rejected  in  their  entirety,  accord- 
:ng  to  the  report  f.led  in  Albany  Wed- 
nesday by  Mr.  Esmond  head  of  the 
Division,  with  George  D.  Stoddard.  Com- 
missioner of  Education. 

Licensing  and  censorship  Junctions 
j  bronght  New  York  State  its  most  profitable 

.  materially,  according  to  the  animal  report. 
During  the  nscai 
viewed  1,548  films  t 
i  compared  to  1/02  i 
:  year.  Foreign-mac 
submitted  for  licens 
:  compared  with  311  h 
While  seven  pictt 
a  toto  daring  the  past 


,  the  Division  re- 
ng  7,399  reels,  as 

for  the  previous 
id-produced  films 

dropped  to  153. 

year  1940-41. 

were  rejected  in 
,  Mr.  Esmond  said 


been  made.  Total  number  of  scenes,  se- 
quences and  sub- titles  eliminated  was  316,  of 
which  144  were  for  indecency7.  24  for  in- 
humanity, 44  for  tending  to  incite  to  crime, 
93  for  immorality  or  tending  to  corrupt 
morals  and  11  because  they  were  deemed 
sacrilegious  by  the  reviewers.  Eliminations 
the  preceding  year,  numbered  503. 

Mr.  Esmond's  report  showed  that  for  the 
fiscal  year  the  division's  income  from  li- 
censes, permits  and  subseals  totaled  S331,- 
486.50^  compared  to  $316,095.50  for  the 
previous  fiscal  year.  Expenses  for  the  per- 
iod amounted  to  568,193.15,  or  slightly  less 
than  the  $68,418.03  expended  the  preceding 
fiscal  year.  Accordingly,  net  revenue  to  the 
state  was  5263.293.35.  compared  to  5247,- 
677.47  for  1940-41. 

Praises  Specific  War- 
Tasks  of  Films 

Praising  the  industry  for  its  war  activi- 
ties, Mr.  Esmond  reported:  "such  activities 
have  included  the  making  of  films  for  train- 
ing purposes;  newsreels;  films  intended  to 
encourage  and  build  public  morale;  drives 
for  the  sale  of  War  Bonds:  personal  service 
of  many  actors  and  actresses  in  furnishing 
entertainment  for  the  soldiers  and  men  in 
all  branches  of  the  service  and,  what  is  vi- 
tally important,  keeping  a  continuous  flow 
of  entertainment  pictures  necessary  in  times 
of  stress  to  relieve  strained  nerves  and  tired 
bodies  seeking  relaxation  in  the  theatres. 
"T  doubt,"  said  Mr.  Esmond,  "if  any  indus- 
try has  made  a  greater  contribution." 

During  the  year  eight  appeals  were  taken 


successfully.  Five  Division  opinions  were 
upheld  and  two  pictures  were  revised  in 
accordance  with  the  censor's  objections  and 
then  licensed.  In  a  few  scattered  cases,  there 
were  revocation  of  licenses  where  advertis- 
ing by  distributors  for  the  films  was  held  to 
be  improper  and  misleading. 

Money  for  operation  of  the  division  is 
obtained  by  a  state  tax  of  S3  per  foot  on 
original  film  and  $2  per  foot  on  all  prints. 
In  addition  to  reviewing  and  licensing  mo- 
tion pictures,  excepting  newsreels,  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Division  also  inspects  theatres 
or  any-  place  where  films  are  exhibited, 
stored,  kept  or  used.  This  is  to  ascertain 
if  these  films  have  been  licensed,  to  see  if 
the  license  leader  is  displayed  on  the  screen 
in  accordance  with  the  statute  and  if  elimi- 
nations have  been  made  pursuant  to  direc- 
tions of  the  Division. 

Ohio  Makes  23  Cuts 

The  Ohio  censors  reviewed  a  total  of  548 
reels  of  motion  pictures  in  September,  from 
which  23  eliminations  were  ordered.  This 
compares  with  505  reels  reviewed  and  24 
eliminations  ordered  during  August. 


Cut  Price  for  Service  Men 

The  State,  Empire  and  New  Bedford  theatres 
in  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  operated  by  the  Zeitz 
Brothers,  Harry,  Frank  and  Morton,  have  an- 
nounced reduced  prices  of  25  cents,  plus  three 
cents  tax,  for  all  service  men  in  uniform,  fol- 
lowing a  request  from  the  New  Bedford  USO 


10-Year  Record  of  N.  Y.  Censor  Activities 

The  following  10-year  rexiew  of  censoring  activities  of  the  New  York  State  Board  of  Education,  togetJxr  with  the  figures  on 
iits  gross  income  and  expenditure  figures,  are  taken  from  tfje  Board's  reports. 


.Vo.  of  Re- 

jected  Films 

So.  of  Films 

Finally 

So.  of  Scenes 

Gross 

Reviewed 

_Yo.  of  Films 

Approved 

No.  of 

So.  of  Films 

Eliminated 

f Features 

So.  of  Reels 

Rejected 

After  Later 

Appeals 

with 

f either  action 

Reviewing 

Expended 

Year 

and  Shorts) 

Reviewed 

Entirely' 

Revision 

O  verruled 

Eliminations 

or  dialogue) 

Fees 

:  1941-42 

1.548 

7,399 

7 

2 

1 

43 

316 

$331,486 

$68,193 

"1940-41 
1939-40 

1.702 

8,715 

8 

4 

2 

68 

503 

$316  095 

$68,418 

1.762 

9,635 

9 

6 

1  I  1 

926(a) 

$31  1.800 

$63,777 

"-33-39 

1,920 

10,039 

24 

6 

i 

140 

1, 334(a) 

$298,023 

$67,296 

:.  1937-38 

1,955 

10,042 

23 

N 

8 

12 

!  10 

772(a) 

$304,073 

$64,648 

:  36-37 

1924 

9,784 

24 

2 

162 

1.291(a) 

$292  435 

$64,921 

-  35-36 

1.902 

9.366 

19 

3 

5 

180 

1.452(a) 

$269,391 

$65,728 

c34-35 

1.737 

8.745 

12 

3 

5(c) 

225 

1.868(a) 

$238,613 

$61,197 

'-33-34 

1.769 

8.362 

15 

2 

3(c) 

286 

2, 195(a) 

$231,497 

$60,827 

c32-33 

1762 

8,916 

10 

2 

1(c) 

328 

3.035(a) 

$226,834 

$65,136 

c-?.;vy- s  ?:?. 

in  1951  -42.  316 
in  !9*>-43,  503 

-jrii-r?.  1.55-4 

in  1937-38,  722 


HJMDvATIONS: 


----- 


ration; — 1-1  indecent. 
inatiops — 245  indecent, 
.T',-:-i^j — 5C£  indecent, 
inatkms — 364  indecent, 
nations — 546  indecent. 
1.452  ---rior-s — 512  indecent. 

5.1.15  ~~  ^ — 5'f?  irieter:. 


93 
195 
501 
433 
255 
343 
275 
63S 
752 
1.124 


immora- 
immoral. 
-  -  ' 

immoral. 

"  —  "  Ora. 

:    ~  oral. 

 oral. 

:nn?— .. 
immoral. 

1TT1TT1  OT^I 


IS  criminal. 

60  criminal. 
2S6  criminal, 

60  criminal, 
305  criminal, 
495  criminal. 
436  criminal. 
511  criminal. 
917  criminal, 


24  TnTrmnaTi 

35  inhuman. 
31  inhuman. 
65  inhuman, 
28  inhuman, 
64  inhuman. 
101  inhuman, 
136  inhuman, 
79  inhuman, 
360  inhuman. 


11  sacrilegious; 

14  sacrilegious; 
89  sacrilegious; 
42  sacrilegious: 
55  sacrilegious; 
33  sacrilegious; 
58  sacrilegious; 
64  sacrilegious; 

15  sacrilegious; 

f  7  sacrilegious  1 
158  obscene.  (d)J 


fb)  No  report  given. 

(cl  These  appeals  were  made:  their  disposition  unknown. 

(d1  Listed  together  as  such  by  the  Board. 

(*)  Virtually  all  '"sex."  "hygiene"'  and  related  subjects. 


IS 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,     1  942 


Kuykendall  Sees 
Unity  Alive 

"Unity  does  not  begin  or  end  with  the 
UMPI,"  said  Edward  Kuykendall,  president  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of  Amer- 
ica, this  week,  appraising  the  demise  of  the 
United  Motion  Picture  Industry. 

The  appraisal  was  carried  in  the  MPTOA's 
general  bulletin  of  October  13th,  over  Mr. 
Kuykendall's  signature.  He  added: 

"Genuine  cooperation  can  easily  be  achieved 
between  the  representative  organizations  long 
established  in  the  industry,  whenever  the  will 
to  cooperate  exists." 

Mr.  Kuykendall  pointed  to  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  and  especially  to  its  September  Bond 
drive.  He  said:  "At  the  same  time  the  UMPI 
was  dying,  here  was  a  striking  demonstration 
of  unity  of  purpose.  .  .  .  Under  auspices  that 
precluded  professional  agitators,  exhibitor  poli- 
tics, and  the  usual  undercover  chiseling.  There 
may  be  a  profound  lesson  here." 

Out  of  the  wreckage,  "there  is  little  worth 
salvaging,"  the  MPTOA  chief  asserted,  adding  : 

"A  decent  cancellation  clause  is  up  to  the 
distributor,  as  it  always  was.  Metro  is  showing 
how  this  ought  to  be  done,  and  should  get 
every  encouragement  from  exhibitors  who 
really  want  selection  of  product." 

Disney  Film  Output 
Increases  Tenfold 

Some  indication  of  the  demands  of  Govern- 
ment agencies  for  Walt  Disney's  animated  car- 
toons my  be  had  from  his  1942  total  output 
of  300,000  feet  of  film  as  against  30,000  during 
1941.  Much  of  the  Disney  current  output  is 
training  film  for  the  United  States  Navy. 
Ninety  per  cent  of  the  Disney  work  is  being 
produced  at  cost  for  Government  agencies,  the 
company  said. 

To  facilitate  understanding  and  communica- 
tion between  our  soldiers  and  the  natives  of 
China,  India  and  other  non-English  speaking 
countries,  Mr.  Disney  has  prepared  a  series  of 
short  films  for  the  teaching  of  basic  English, 
with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Ivor  Richards  of 
Harvard. 


ODT  Booklet  Explains 
Truck  Ration  Forms 

The  Office  of  Defense  Transportation  has 
published  a  31-page  pamphlet  to  guide  truck 
and  fleet  owners  in  filing  applications  for  cer- 
tificates of  war  necessity.  All  operators  of 
more  than  two  commercial  vehicles  must  obtain 
such  certification  from  the  ODT  in  order  to 
purchase  gasoline  or  tires.  Operators  of  film 
carriers,  studio  trucks  and  other  industry  ve- 
hicles must  file  information  on  their  use,  mile- 
age, tires,  equipment,  etc. 

Copies  of  the  instruction  booklet  may  be  ob- 
tained from  John  L.  Rogers,  director  of  the 
ODT  division  of  motor  transportation,  Inter- 
state Commerce  Building,  Washington,  or  from 
regional  ODT  offices. 


Rodeo  Sets  Record 

All  previous  rodeo  records  have  been  broken 
by  the  Championship  Rodeo  of  1942,  Major 
Harold  J.  Dibblee,  vice-president  of  Madison 
Square  Garden,  New  York,  said  this  week. 
Mr.  Dibblee  said  he  expected  the  rodeo  to  be 
a  sellout  until  the  end  of  its  run,  October  25th. 
The  show  stars  Roy  Rogers,  Republic  Western 
star. 


Madden  Joins  Navy 

William  Madden,  assistant  to  Jack  Flynn, 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  central  division  man- 
ager for  the  last  14  years,  has  reported  to  the 
Navy.  Paul  J.  Richratch  of  the  contract  de- 
partment becomes  Mr.  Flynn's  assistant. 


MONEY  MAKERS  POLL 

Accompanying  the  ballots  for  The 
Herald's  annual  poll  of  exhibitors  on 
the  "Ten  Best  Money  Makers,"  now  in 
circulation  is  a  list,  not  at  all  exhaus- 
tive, of  star  names  offered  as  cues  to 
memory  for  the  assistance  of  the  ex- 
hibitors filling  out  their  forms.  By  in- 
advertence the  name  of  Buck  Jones, 
important  indeed  in  the  field  of  the 
drama  of  the  big  open  places,  did 
not  appear.  That  omission,  or  other 
omissions,  are  not  to  imply  inference 
of  inconsequence.  Assuredly  Mr. 
Jones  rides  in  the  running.  Two  of 
his  important  titles  for  the  season  are 
"Down  Texas  Way"  and  "Riders  of 
the  West." 

Now  is  a  good  time  to  fill  out  and 
mail  your  ballot. 

— The  Editor 


Legitimate  Houses 
Sign  Union  Pact 

A  two-year  contract  establishing  wage  in- 
creases for  front-of-the-house  employees  of 
legitimate  theatres  has  been  signed  by  the  re- 
cently organized  Legitimate  Theatres  Em- 
ployees Union,  Local  B-183,  International  Al- 
liance of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees,  with  the 
League  of  New  York  Theatres,  representing  all 
Broadway  legitimate  houses. 

The  new  wage  scales  give  ushers  $11  instead 
of  $8  for  eight  shows.  Chief  ushers  are  raised 
from  $12  to  $15.50,  and  doormen  and  ticket 
takers  from  between  $16  and  $20  to  $22.50.  The 
pact  provides  for  a  closed  shop,  overtime  and 
one  week  vacation  with  pay  for  those  working 
40  weeks  per  year,  whether  consecutive  or  not. 

Richard  Scott,  IATSE  representative,  who 
handled  the  organizing  work  for  the  union, 
will  now  undertake  an  organizing  campaign 
among  front-of-the-house  employees  in  motion 
picture  theatres  throughout  the  metropolitan 
area,  union  sources  said. 

Local  B-183  claims  a  membership  of  450 
ushers,  doormen  and  ticket  takers.  The  local 
elected  an  all-women  slate  of  officers  follow- 
ing the  closing  of  its  pact  with  legitimate  the- 
atres. 

Officers  of  the  local  are :  Catherine  Worden, 
president ;  Betty  Quinn,  vice-president ;  Fay 
Beshinger,  recording  secretary ;  Genevieve 
Adams,  treasurer,  and  May  Rupperte,  business 
manager. 


Weitman  Will  Stage 
Benefits  in  Britain 

Robert  Weitman,  managing  director  of  the 
Paramount  theatre,  New  York,  was  preparing 
this  week  to  go  to  London,  where  he  will  stage 
benefit  shows  for  the  Red  Cross. 

The  request  came  through  Paramount  offi- 
cials in  London,  it  was  stated.  Mr.  Weitman 
will  be  there  three  months.  The  theatre  will  be 
directed  meanwhile  by  Robert  Shapiro,  house 
manager. 


War  Music  Group  Formed 

The  Office  of  War  Information  last  week 
announced  formation  of  a  national  Wartime 
Music  Committee,  organized  to  encourage  more 
and  better  patriotic  music  as  a  war  weapon. 
The  committee  consists  of  representatives  of 
various  Government  agencies.  Jack  E.  Joy  of 
the  radio  branch  of  the  War  Department  is 
OWI  music  consultant.  Dr.  Lyman  Bryson  of 
Columbia  Broadcasting  System  and  the  OWI 
is  serving  as  chairman. 


Office  Unit  Gets 
Wage  Rise 

Pay  rises  were  given  and  classified  in  a  set- 
tlement on  Tuesday  of  the  wage  provisions  of 
the  Screen  Office  Employees  Guild  contract 
with  the  major  companies  for  clerical  workers 
in  the  Los  Angeles  exchanges. 

The  agreement  was  arrived  at  through  arbi- 
tration, after  the  dispute  over  the  new  contract 
threatened  several  times  to  erupt  into  a  walk- 
out. 

The  weekly  wage  scales  are :  bookers,  $50 ; 
cashiers  and  apprentice  bookers,  in  their  second 
six  months,  $42.50 ;  assistant  cashiers,  book- 
keepers, and  apprentice  bookers,  in  their  first 
six  months,  $35 ;  contract  and  ledger  clerks, 
bookers,  stenographers,  and  bookkeeping  ma- 
chine operators,  $31.50;  billers  and  general 
clerks,  $28;  PBX  operators,  typists,  and  file 
clerks,  $24.25. 

The  scales  are  retroactive  to  June  1st.  The 
settlement  gives  wages  below  those  first  de- 
manded by  the  Guild. 

Arbitrators  were  W.  J,  Milmet,  Los  Angeles 
retail  druggist ;  Louis  Stein,  lawyer  for  the 
Guild ;  and  Frank  Belcher,  lawyer  for  the  ex- 
changes. 

Grant  Extra  Performances 
Over  Scenery  Delays 

Difficulties  in  transportation  of  road  company 
scenery  and  actors  have  been  recognized  by  the 
council  of  Actors  Equity.  The  council  has  de- 
cided that  an  extra  matinee  might  be  allowed 
for  a  road  company  which  could  not  open  on 
a  Monday  night  owing  to  delays  in  transport- 
ing scenery,  following  consideration  of  a  letter 
from  the  League  of  New  York  Theatres. 

For  a  production  whose  run  extends  beyond 
one  week,  a  Sunday  performance  might  be 
given  without  extra  pay,  the  Equity  council  said 
in  compliance  with  the  League's  request. 

Another  exigency  in  travel  imposed  by  war- 
time conditions  named  was  the  inability  to  pro- 
cure Pullman  accommodations.  The  council 
also  recognized  that  situation,  but  made  the 
condition  that  the  company  members  receive 
the  equivalent  of  Pullman  fare. 

The  council  approved  Paul  Dullzell's  appoint- 
ment to  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  United 
China  Relief  benefit  at  the  Radio  City  Music 
Hall  November  20th. 

Warners  Cooperating 
In  Manpower  Plan 

With  a  view  to  cooperating  in  the  plan  of 
the  War  Manpower  Commission  to  stabilize 
manpower  in  essential  industries,  Warner  Bros, 
exchanges  have  been  instructed  by  A.  W. 
Schwalberg,  in  charge  of  exchange  operations 
for  Warners,  not  to  hire  any  new  employees 
from  these  industries  unless  the  workers  first 
obtain  a  "certificate  of  separation"  from  the 
U.  S.  Employment  Service. 


Repeat  Film  Cycle 

The  Museum  of  Modern  Art  Film  Library 
will  repeat  its  chronological  survey,  "A  Cycle 
of  300  Films  1895-1941,"  in  the  next  few  weeks 
in  response  to  popular  request.  The  cycle  will 
include  recent  film  additions  to  the  Film  Li- 
brary's archives  and  each  program  will  be 
shown  two  days  in  succession,  twice  daily,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  11  films  which  are  too  long 
to  permit  two  showings  in  an  afternoon. 


Max  Parker  Promoted 

Max  Parker  has  been  promoted  to  head  ol 
the  Warner  Bros,  studio  art  department,  sue 
ceeding  Bert  Teitelbaum,  who  enlisted  in  th 
Army  Air  Corps.  Anton  Grot,  art  directoi 
at  the  studio,  has  returned  to  work  after 
two-year  absence  due  to  illness. 


UNITED  ARTISTS 


announces  its  pictures  for  the  season 


1942-43 


for  twenty-three  rears  United  Artists  has  distributed  a 
standard  of  pictures  unexcelled  m  the  historv  of  motion  pictures. 
This  has  been  due  to  the  enduring  spirit  of  its  founders  who  felt 
independent  motion  picture  production  was  as  necessary  to  the  life 
blood  of  a  irreat  artistic  medium  as  independence  and  freedom  of 
thought  are  to  a  great  nation. 

Zie  present  management  of  Lmted  Artists  desire  to  and 
will  at  aU  times  uphold  this  worthy  tradition. 

Jf  e  of  Lnited  Artists  further  feel  that  this  tradition  can  be 
best  maintained  and  enhanced  by  developing  a  strong  program  oi'drver- 
sified  picture  entertainment  suitable  for  any  and  eyerv  type  of  theatre. 

ff  e  present  on  these  following  paire-  a  program  of  pic- 
tures which  represents  the  most  imposing  list  of  productions  eyer 
offered  by  Lnited  Artists  in  a  single  year:  a  program  highlighted 
by  its  splendid  list  of  independent  production  brains,  star  yalues. 
storv  yalues.  directorial  genius,  and  withal,  a  consistency  of  supply 
which  will  merit  for  Lnited  Artists  an  e--ential  place  in  the  program 
of  all  theatre-  lame  or  small. 


EDWARD  RAFTERY       GRADWELL  L.  SEARS 
ARTHUR  KELLY       GEORGE  BAGNALL 


CARL  LESERMAN 


HUNT  STROMBERG 

presents 


Based  on  Katharine  Cornell's  Broadway  hit 
by  Margaret  Ayer  Barnes  and  Edward 
Sheldon.  Kettie  Frings  has  done  the  screen- 
play of  this  story  of  a  girl  too  eager  for  love! 


The  powerfully  dramatic  Broadway  play  by 
Hagar  Wilde  and  Dale  Eunson.  A  young 
couple  befriends  a  pretty  girl  who  repays 
them  by  blasting  their  marriage! 


W.  SOMERSET  MAUGHAM'S 


GEORGE  SANDERS  *  HERBERT  MARSHALL 

DORIS  DUDLEY  •  ELENA  VERDUGO  •  ALBERT  BASSERMAN  •  ERIC  BLORE 

Adapted  and  directed  by  Albert  Leuin     •  Produced  by  David  L.  Loew 


For  Release 
OCT.  2nd 


ALEXANDER  KORDA 


presenis 


Produced  and  Directed  by  MICHAEL  POWELL  *  Written 
by  MICHAEL  POWELL  and  EMERIC  PRESSBURGER 
The  men  who  gave  you  "The  Invaders" 


09 


AY  FA  I  R  PRODUCTIONS 


FRANK  BUCK 


ForRelease 
NOV.  27th 


It's 
It's 


fil 


th 


e  fi, 


If. 


es 


th. 


in 


Wore 


stir 


9e 


On 


r'nt 


»ith  h 


QcJVe 


ever 
eds 


Ur>ted 


res  i 


CHARLES  F.  ROGERS  P,...n„ 


Anne  Shirley  •  Carole  Londis 
George  Murphy  •  Dennis  Day 
Alan  Mowbray 

plus  BENNY  GOODMAN  and  His  Band 
and  America's  50  Most  Beautiful  Models 

Directed  by  Norman  Z.  McLeod 


CINEMA  GUILD 


presents 


FREDRIC  MARCH  •  VERONICA  LAKE 


I 


SUSAN  HAYWARD  •  ROBERT  BENCHLEY 
CECIL  KELLAWAY  •  ELIZABETH  PATTERSON 

ROBERT  WARWICK 
A    RENE    CLAIR  PRODUCTION 

Directed  by  Rene  Clair 

Screenplay  by  Robert  Piro$h  and  Marc  Connelly 


HARRY  SHERMAN 


presents 


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RICHARD  DIX  •  PRESTON  FOSTER 
LEO  CARRILLO  •  FRANCES  GIFFORD 
ROBERT  BARRAT  •  GUINN  WILLIAMS 


i*ry  sherman  P~  George  BRENT  •  Priscilla  LANE 


with  BRUCE  CABOT 
LYNN  OVERMAN 

EUGENE  PALLETTE 
JANET  BEECHER 


For  Release 
NOV.  13th 


For  Re/ease 
JAN.  29th 


et/ivtritia 


Base 
'OUT 


starring 

WILLIAM  HOLDEN 
SUSAN  HAYWARD 
EDDIE  BRACKEN 
ROBERT  BENCHLEY 

Produced  and  directed  by 

EDWARD  H.  GRIFFITH 


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HARRY  SHERMAN 


presents 

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RICHARD  DIX  •  JANE  WYATT 
LOLA  LANE  •  MAX  BAER 
VICTOR  JORY-LEE  J.  COBB 
.ALBERT  DEKKER 

Based  on  (he  novel  by  Henry  Sinclair  Drago 


ARNOLD  PRESSBURGER 


presents 


NEVER 


(TENTATIVE  TITLE) 


6  «0PA10N6  aSSid1S 


LOST  CANYON 
BORDER  PATROL 
LEATHER  BURNERS 
COLT  COMRADES 
HOPPY  SERVES  A  WRIT 


MAN 

for  release  OCT.  2  3 

Ihr  release  DEC.  18 

HAL  ROACH 


THE  DEVIL  WITH  HITLER 
FALL  IN 
McGUERINS  FROM  BROOK 
CALABOOSE 
YANKS  AHOY 
TAXI,  MISTER 
PRAIRIE  CHICKENS 
THAT  NAZTY  NUISANCE 


BOB  HOPE  and  BING  CROSBY 


in  a  sensational  short  showing  the  joys  and  tribulations  of  golf! 


SOL  LESSER 


presents 


starring 

30  top-ranking  celebrities  of  stage,  screen 

and  radio  including 
KATHARINE  CORNELL,  HELEN  HAYES, 
KATHARINE  HEPBURN,  EDGAR  BERGEN, 
TALLULAH  BANKHEAD,  ELSA  MAXWELL, 
FREDRIC  MARCH,  FLORENCE  ELDRIDGE, 
JANE  COWL,  GERTRUDE  LAWRENCE, 
RAY  BOLGER  and  4  Name  Bands  including 
KAY  KYSER  and  BENNY  GOODMAN. 
Screenplay  by  Delmar  Daves. 


NOEL  COWARD 


in 


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IN  WHICH 

WE  SERVE 


Produced  and  Directed 

by 

NOEL  COWARD 


i 


MICHAEL  BALCON 


presents 


THE  FOREMAN 
WENT  TO  FRANCE 


with 

ROBERT  MORLEY  •  CONSTANCE  CUMMINGS 
TOMMY  TRINDER  •  CLIFFORD  EVANS  •  JOHN 
WILLIAMS  ♦  GORDON  CAMERON  JACKSON 
Directed  by  Charles  Frend 


o.V  ^eL  bo 


aA  01 


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EDWARD  SMALL 


MICHAEL  BALCON 

PRODUCTIONS  Ealing  Studios 


Gregor  RABINO  VITCH 

Noted  European  Producer 


SAMUEL  BRONSTON 


presents 


The  Life  of  Jack  London 


A  {>reat  year  for  all 
eachilntors  wlio  rely  on 
the  four-word  guarantee 


1 


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October    17,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


31 


STEP  UP  SCRAP  COLLECTION, 
DUNPHY  TELLS  INDUSTRY 


Canada's  Theatres  to  Aid 
Bond,  Salvage  Drives 

Canadian  exhibitors  are  getting  behind  a  Dominion-wide  salvage  drive  and 
Canada's  Third  Victory  Loan  campaign,  which  will  start  next  Monday,  October  19th. 
A  conference  will  be  held  in  Toronto  this  week  by  the  Salvage  Bureau  of  the 
Federal  War  Services  Committee,  to  which  J.  J.  Fitzgibbons,  president  of 
Famous  Players  Canadian  Corporation;  Henry  Falk,  representing  independent 
exhibitors,  and  other  exhibition  officials  have  been  invited.  Purpose  of  the  meet- 
ing is  to  set  in  motion  plans  for  the  salvage  drive. 

Plans  already  have  been  completed  for  theatre  cooperation  with  the  National 
War  Finance  Committee  in  the  Third  Victory  Loan  campaign,  which  will  endeavor 
to  raise  $750,000,000  in  the  three  weeks  beginning  October  19th.  Mr.  Fitzgibbons 
and  Mr.  Falk  will  head  the  industry's  participation  in  the  drive  and  have  named 
committees  of  Provincial  War  Loan  chairmen  in  the  circuit  and  independent  fields. 
It  was  reported  that  Canadian  Government  officials  favored  separate  organizations 
for  circuit-distributor  interests  and  for  independent  exhibitors. 

Hollywood  stars  who  volunteered  their  services  for  the  Bond  campaign  will 
receive  their  assignments  only  from  the  Government  board,  it  was  said.  Special 
shows  for  Bond  purchasers  will  not  be  given  nor  will  Bonds  be  sold  in  special  booths 
in  theatre  lobbies.  Theatres  will  run  special  War  Bond  trailers,  however,  and  other 
campaign  films,  in  addition  to  incorporating  the  drive  material  in  advertising 
accessories'  displays.  They  also  will  devote  part  of  their  newspaper  advertising 
space  to  further  the  campaign.  Employee  purchases  of  Bonds  will  be  stimulated 
and  the  industry  will  finance  purchases  for  a  maximum  period  of  six  months  with- 
out extra  cost  to  members  of  the  staffs. 


Urges  More  Cooperation, 
Asks  for  Increased 
Copper  Salvage 

A  warning  to  step  up  the  collection  of 
scrap  metal,  especially  copper,  was  given 
500  theatremen  last  week  by  Christopher 
Dunphy,  chief  of  the  War  Production 
Board's  theatres  section. 

Declaring  that  cooperation  by  theatres 
in  all  other  drives,  and  in  the  general  col- 
lection of  scrap  metal,  has  been  excellent, 
Mr.  Dunphy  nevertheless  asserted  that 
"cooperation  on  getting  old  metal  from 
equipment  has  been  bad." 

The  occasion  was  a  special  luncheon 
Thursday,  October  8th,  at  the  Astor  Ho- 
tel, New  York,  called  by  the  Independent 
Theatre  Owners  Association.  Every  cir- 
cuit, and  practically  all  independent  thea- 
tres, were  represented.  Preceded  by 
speakers  representing  all  industry  sectors, 
and  the  War  Activities  Committee,  Mr. 
Dunphy  was  introduced  by  Harry  Brandt, 
ITOA  president. 

"I  am  disappointed  in  one  thing,"  Mr.  Dum- 
phy  declared,  "the  withholding  of  copper  drip- 
pings. I  cannot  stress  too  much  that  every 
ounce — not  pound —  is  important.  Every  day 
[you  withhold  these  drippings,  you  are  helping 
=  Mr.  Hitler,  and  I  am  sure  you  don't  want  to 
do  that." 

He  urged  theatre  men  not  to  "handicap  him" 
in  his  struggle  to  obtain  metal  for  the  industry 
from  people  who  know  little  about  its  needs.  He 
added  he  had  been  told  by  experts  that  90  per 
cent  of  copper  used  in  projectors  can  be  return- 
ed, and  that  he  had  pledged  that  the  theatres 
would  return  that  90  per  cent. 
J  "You  people  are  the  answer  to  whether  thea- 
tres are  going  to  be  closed  or  not  be  closed," 
he  asserted,  stressing  also  the  necessity  for  daily 
inspection  of  equipment  by  managers  and  oper- 
ators. 

Warns  Against  Calls 
To  Washington 

Mr.  Dunphy  emphasized  the  existence  of 
jnly  a  certain  amount  of  copper,  and  mounting 
md  unforeseen  military  needs,  and  remarked 
:hat  theatre  men  cannot  expect  to  "ask  for 
landouts — and  not  expect  to  make  a  contribu- 
tion." He  added  that  he  must  be  "tough"  now, 
Itnd  warned  against  telephoning  to  Washing- 
Ion.   He  said: 

"You  can  rest  assured  that  when  you  file 
!rour  application  for  material  no  one  will  get 
llnore  than  anyone  else"  and  he  said  that  he 
|"'ame  to  the  WPB  because  he  was  unaffiliated 
with  any  industry  interests.    He  promised  that 
all  will  get  the  same  treatment." 
1  The  theatre  business  up  to  date  has  "done 
j  ery  well,"  he  noted,  commenting  that  many 
ther  industries  had  been  transformed  to  war 
/ork. 

But  his  job  has  "not  been  easy,"  he  declared, 
"he  "easy  part"  has  been  contact  with  industry 
eople;  the  "hard"  part  pleading  for  its  needs 
i  metal.  He  admitted  that  up  to  now,  coopera- 
on  of  other  WPB  branches  had  been  "ex- 
j  silent." 

'  No  more  new  equipment  is  being  made,  Mr. 
)unphy  reminded,  asking  that  requests  be  qual- 
ied  by  his  admonition  not  to  "try  to  protect 
ourselves  at  the  expense  of  the  industry."  An 


"emergency,"  he  defined  only  as  an  occurrence 
which  will  close  a  theatre — not  a  mere  break- 
down. 

Mr.  Brandt,  introducing  the  WPB  theatres 
chief,  cited  the  difficulty  of  his  work,  and  that 
some  Senators  had  attempted  to  promote 
measures  to  close  one-third  to  one-half  the 
country's  theatres.  He  recalled  that  after  meet- 
ing Mr.  Dunphy  he  found  that  "his  aim  seemed 
to  be  to  keep  open  the  theatres,  even  though 
he  warned  us  not  to  expect  to  build  new  thea- 
tres or  undertake  extensive  alterations." 

Urge  Concentrated 
Scrap  Collection 

Joseph  Bernhard,  head  of  the  WAC  theatres 
section,  said  that  only  through  it,  are  "we  able 
to  present  today  a  real  front  of  unity."  He 
added :  "business  is  good — and  we're  fortunate 
to  still  have  our  industry.  The  least  we  can  do 
is  cooperate.  We're  an  essential  industry,  but 
not  a  vital  one." 

Francis  Harmon,  executive  vice-chairman 
of  the  WAAC,  said  the  industry  received  good 
treatment  from  the  WPB  only  because  it  had 
cooperated  so  fully. 

Arthur  Mayer,  WAC  salvage  director,  re- 
minded of  men  fighting  overseas  without  letup, 
and  stated :  "No  boy  must  die  because  you  or 
I  have  failed  to  do  our  share."  He  promised 
collection  of  scrap  by  theatre  men  "not  as  a 
duty,  but  as  a  privilege — we  will  do  it  as  we 
have  done  all  our  other  activities,  with  the  joy 
of  free  men,"  he  said. 

Sam  Rinzler,  New  York  City  WAC  chair- 
man, advised  looking  into  theatres  themselves 
for  scrap,  and  asked  to  inspect  their  houses. 
"Go  out  for  this  drive  as  if  your  life  depended 


upon  it,"  he  advised — "and  your  life  does  de- 
pend upon  it." 

Si  Fabian,  Bond  drive  chief  for  the  WAC, 
said  he  hoped  "our  industry  can  see  what  uni- 
fied purpose  and  action  can  do,"  and  he  re- 
minded that  the  selling  of  Bonds  will  continue 
because  "we're  in  this  for  the  duration." 

New  York  union  support  was  pledged  to 
the  scrap  drive  immediately  after  the  meeting, 
by  Herman  Gelber,  president  of  Local  306, 
projectionists;  Abraham  Kindler,  Empire  State 
Motion  Picture  Operators ;  Solly  Pernick,  stage- 
hands Local  1  ;  Thomas  Mertha,  Local  4. 

New  York  Plans  Scrap 
Matinee  October  24th 

The  New  York  theatres'  scrap  drive,  follow- 
ing an  intensive  newspaper  campaign,  will  be 
from  Thursday  to  November  1st. 

This  week,  the  city's  exhibitors  agreed  upon 
a  special  scrap  matinee  Saturday,  October  24th. 
More  than  900  theatres  will  participate.  Free 
admissions  will  be  given  all  who  bring  scrap 
metal,  rubber  or  other  vital  materials.  Any- 
one bringing  scrap  to  a  theatre  from  Thursday 
on,  was  to  receive  a  ticket  for  the  October  24th 
show.  A  special  publicity  portfolio,  showing 
the  various  ways  in  which  the  drive  may  be 
exploited,  was  distributed  this  week  to  partici- 
pating exhibitors,  by  Ernest  Emerling,  chair- 
man of  the  scrap  publicity  committee. 

Arrangements  were  made  to  hold  parades 
locally  in  the  five  boroughs  prior  to  October 
24th  to  create  interest.  These  parades  will  be 
masquerades  in  which  children  will  dress  in  var- 
ious kinds  of  scrap  costumes.    Prizes  of  War 

(.Continued  on  following  page) 


32 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


NATION'S  HOUSES  AID  DRIVE 


{Continued  from  preceding  page) 

Bonds  will  be  awarded  for  outstanding  scrap 
costumes. 

The  problems  of  collecting  the  scrap  from  the 
theatres,  which  in  some  instances  have  been  so 
jammed  with  it  that  only  small  entrances  re- 
mained to  the  houses,  was  solved  Monday  for 
New  York  theatre  owners,  at  a  meeting  in  the 
WAC  headquarters,  attended  by  Ed  Rugoff, 
head  of  the  collection  committee;  Fred 
Schwartz,  chairman  of  the  city's  drive;  Rowell 
Fisher,  of  the  War  Production  Board  conser- 
vation division ;  U.  S.  Army  representatives, 
and  agents  of  scrap  dealers. 

Pickup  Arrangements 
Are  Completed 

The  dealers  divided  the  five  boroughs  into 
different  sections  and  will  hand  out  assignments 
to  "junkies"  in  these  sections,  who  will  carry 
identifying  cards  on  their  two  or  three-times 
weekly  pickups.  Volunteers  will  accompany  the 
junkies  to  their  scrap  yards,  where  the  scrap 
will  be  weighed.  Checks  for  the  scrap — which 
will  draw  15  cents  per  100  pounds— will  be  sent 
to  the  WAC.  It  is  expected  that  the  New 
York  effort  will  yield  a  revenue  of  between 
$15,000  and  $16,000,  which  will  be  turned  over 
to  one  or  more  charities. 

The  Film  War  Service  Council,  composed 
of  film  industry  unions  in  New  York,  suggested 
last  week  joint  labor-management  committees 
in  each  company  to  promote  the  campaign. 
Northern  New  Jersey  exhibitors  met  Friday, 
October  9th,  in  Newark,  to  plan  the  state's 
scrap  drive,  in  cooperation  with  New  York. 
Speakers  were  Arthur  Mayer,  WAC;  Charles 
Eaton,  and  Clinton  White,  of  the  New  Jersey 
salvage  drive  staff.  Co-chairmen  for  the  area 
are  Harry  Lowenstein,  president  of  the  New 
Jersey  Allied:  and  Don  Jacocks,  of  Warners. 

The  same  day,  in  Minneapolis,  participation 
of  800  theatres  in  collection  of  scrap  was 
pledged.  The  pledge  came  from  E.  L.  Peaslee, 
president  of  the  Allied  Theatre  Owners  of  the 
Northwest.  He  also  urged  theatre  men  to 
search  their  own  premises. 

Acceptances  have  been  received  from  14  ex- 
hibitor state  chairmen  who  have  agreed  to  co- 
operate on  the  industry  scrap  collection  cam- 
paign, the  War  Activities  Committee,  said  this 
week.  More  acceptances  are  expected  to  bring 
the  total  to  30,  the  full  complement. 

220  Tons  Collected 
In  Skouras  Houses 

The  men  who  have  accepted  are :  Fred 
Schwartz,  New  York,  H.  F.  Kincey,  Charlotte, 
N.  C,  John  Q.  Adams,  Dallas,  Texas,  Rick 
Ricketson,  Denver,  Col.,  Lou  Elmer,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  E.  C.  Beatty,  Detroit,  Mich., 
Marc  J.  Wolf,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Charles 
Skouras,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  M.  A.  Lightman, 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  John  Friedl,  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  C.  B.  Akers,  Oklahoma  City,  Okla., 
Jay  Emanuel,  Phila.,  Pa.,  M.  A.  Silver,  Pitts- 
burgh, Albert  J.  Finke,  Portland,  Ore.,  Joseph 
Ansell,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  Sidney  Lust,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

The  exhibitor  state  chairmen  operate  inde- 
pendently in  their  own  areas  under  the  national 
coordination  of  the  WAC.  They  run  their 
scrap  matinees,  parades  and  exploitation  at 
their  own  discretion. 

The  scrap  drive  which  has  been  under  way 
some  time  in  the  Skouras  theatres  circuit  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  has  had  some  re- 
sults in  tonnage  and  poundage. 

Fifty-seven  of  the  circuit's   houses  up  to 


"MINUTE  MAN"  FILM 
AIDS  SCRAP  DRIVE 

The  Treasury  Department's  "Minute 
Man"  newsreel  feature  is  pushing  the 
national  scrap  drive  and  aiding  the 
film  industry's  participation.  Pathe 
News  and  Universal  Newsreel  are 
"covering"  various  scrap  drive  de- 
velopments. The  first  sequence,  by 
Pathe,  is  now  in  release.  A  second, 
by  Universal,  will  go  out  next  week. 
It  comprises  two  subjects:  A  Coates- 
ville,  Pa.,  scrap  pile;  and  farmers 
scouring  their  buildings  for  scrap. 
The  first  subject  goes  to  16  exchanges 
in  industrial  areas;  the  second,  to 
exchanges  in  farm  territories.  The 
Pathe  sequence  was  sent  to  3 1  ex- 
changes. 


Monday  had  collected  220  tons  of  metal,  turned 
in  by  91,418  persons.  At  the  Academy  of 
Music,  14th  Street,  4,500  children  collected  18 
tons  of  scrap.  In  Englewood,  New  Jersey, 
1,500  children  brought  200,000  pounds  of  rub- 
ber and  metal  to  the  theatre. 

According  to  Frank  Leslie,  Paramount  studio 
salvage  department  head,  the  company  has  col- 
lected 45  tons  of  metal. 

St.  Louis  Theatres 

To  Hold  Sunday  Shows 

A  team  of  citizens  named  "Yankee,"  "Doodle," 
and  "Dandy"  has  been  organized  to  collect 
scrap  in  the  Tulsa  drive,  coincident  with  the 
local  engagement  of  Warners'  "Yankee  Doodle 
Dandy." 

A  total  of  110  St.  Louis  theatres  will  hold 
special  morning  shows  Sunday,  for  the  drive. 

Among  New  England  managers  holding  scrap 
shows  last  week  were  i  Gerald  Wagner  of 
Loew's  Paramount  theatre  and  Harry  Horgan 
of  the  Opera  House  in  Newport,  R.  I.  Mr. 
Wagner  cooperated  with  city  officials  in  dis- 
tributing American  Honor  Certificates  to  chil- 
dren who  brought  in  the  required  amount  of 
scrap,  and  then  gave  them  all  tickets  for  the 
show.  Five  pounds  was  the  price  at  the  Opera 
House,  and  also  at  Nat  Silver's  M  &  P  Strand 
theatre  and  Arthur  Keenan's  M  &  P  Merrimack 
Square  theatre  in  Lowell,  Mass. 

The  Colonial  and  Lafayette  theatres  in  Hav- 
erhill, Mass.,  held  tin  can  salvage  shows  for 
children,  with  the  admission  10  cleaned  and 
flattened  cans. 

Twelve  Warner  theatres  in  the  Philadelphia 
zone  have  staged  scrap  iron  matinees  to  date, 
with  the  first  eight  houses  taking  about  85,000 
pounds  in  scrap  metal  for  the  war  drive.  The 
eight  theatres  reporting  results  included  the 
Majestic,  Gettysburg;  Capitol,  York;  Grand, 
Lancaster ;  State,  Hanover ;  Lion,  Red  Lion ; 
Seltzer,  Palmyra ;  Stanley,  Camden,  and  Colon- 
ial, Atlantic  City. 

The  Collingswood,  Collingswood,  N.  J.,  held 
its  scrap  matinee  Tuesday,  while  the  Clementon, 
Clementon ;  Grand,  Vineland  and  Levoy,  Mill- 
ville,  had  them  Saturday. 

At  the  Strand,  New  Haven,  a  patron  drove  up 
in  a  1933  Ford  and  donated  the  whole  car, 
tires  and  all,  to  the  theatre's  scrap  matinee. 


Adolph  Johnson,  operator  of  the  theatre,  is- 
sued six,  five,  four,  three,  two,  and  one-month 
passes  as  prizes  to  those  bringing  in  the  most 
metal. 

All  the  money  derived  from  the  Cleveland 
scrap  campaign  is  being  given  the  Variety 
Club  Scrap  Fund,  which  will  contribute  to  the  I 
new  Stage  Door  Canteen,  operating  in  the 
second  floor  of  the  Loew's  State  Theatre  Build- 
ing,  donated  by  that  circuit. 

Seattle   film   exchanges   participated   in  the  [ 
local  drive  conducted  last  week  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  three  Seattle  daily  newspapers.  | 
Many  hundred  of  pounds  of  metal  were  piled 
high  on  the  sidewalks  of  film  row  to  be  carted 
away  by  U.  S.  Army  trucks.    Much  attention 
was  attracted  by  a  complete  projection  machine 
from  the  old  Renton  theatre,  donated  by  the  1 
B.  F.  Shearer  Theatre  Equipment  Company,  to- 
gether with  many  old  iron  and  steel  seat  stand- 
ards given  by  the  same  concern.    Nearly  all  | 
exchanges  donated  old  metal  film  reels  and 
cases,  and  odd  parts  of  motors,  marquee  scraps, 
etc.,  appeared  in  front  of  the  RKO  exchange. 

Western  Pennsylvania 
Houses  Set  Shows 

Scrap  shows  were  given  Saturday  in  Des 
Moines  by  the  Tri-States  circuit's  Garden,  Up- 
town, Highland,  Ingersoll,  and  Eastown  thea- 
tres. Each  school  child  attending  turned  in 
five  pounds  or  more. 

All  Schine  circuit  theatres  are  continuing 
their  scrap  shows  through  next  Tuesday.  Ad- 
mission is  for  children  bringing  two  or  more 
pounds. 

Scrap  collection  shows  will  be  held  in  ap-  ! 
proximately  100  western  Pennsylvania  theatres 
the  morning  of  Saturday,  under  sponsorship  of  ' 
local  community  committees.    Admission  will 
be  five  pounds  of  scrap  per  person.  Heading 
the  drive  for  the  WAC  are  John  H.  Harris, 
M.  A.  Silver,  and  M.  A.  Rosenberg.  Where 
more  than  one  theatre  is  located  in  a  commun- 
ity, the  motion  picture  industry  is  holding  the  J 
scrap  show  in  one  house  serving  as  a  collection 
point. 

Captain  of  the  Chicago  scrap  campaign  is 
Mayor  Edward  J.  Kelly.  He  informed  Jack 
Kirsch,  president  of  Illinois  Allied,  and  Morris 
Leonard,  president  of  the  city's  Exhibitors  As- 
sociation, of  his  acceptance  this  week. 

The  theatres'  effort  in  that  city  will  augment 
the  mayor's  "Scrap  Harvest  Time  Drive," 
which  has  been  operating  since  September  15th. 

The  RKO  Albee  theatre,  Providence,  re- 
moved the  outside  metal  grills  from  its  elevator 
doors  and  added  them  to  the  scrap  pile  in  front 
of  the  theatre.  Each  grill  weighed  125  pounds ; 
with  three  grills  on  each  of  four  floors,  the 
donation  added  1,500  pounds. 

"Salvage"  Short 
In  239  Theatres 

The  Office  of  War  Information's  film  short, 
"Salvage,"  stressing  the  need  of  a  nationwide 
home  salvage  drive  and  featuring  a  commentary 
by  Donald  Nelson,  opened  simultaneously  in 
239  New  York  theatres  on  Thursday,  as  part 
of  the  motion  picture  industry's  scrap  collection 
campaign  which  also  is  a  part  of  the  drive  cur- 
rently being  conducted  by  the  American  News- 
paper Publishers  Association. 

A  total  of  836  prints  of  "Salvage"  has  been 
made  up  and  will  be  distributed  to  15,000  ex- 
hibitors by  the  War  Activities  Committee  of 
the  motion  picture  industry. 


October    17,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


33 


"WILLING  TO  GIVE  AND  DO 
FOR  AMERICA,"  SAYS  COE 


Dietz  Tells  Market  Experts 
Of  Screen's  Aid  to  Nation 

"it  is  most  important  for  us  to  know  the  facts  about  the  motion  picture  industry 
and  to  take  legitimate  pride  in  a  great  American  institution,"  Howard  Dietz,  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  MGM  advertising  and  exploitation,  told  the  American  Mar- 
keting Association  in  a  luncheon  address  at  New  York  on  Tuesday. 

He  cited  the  record  of  the  industry  as  evidence  of  its  awareness  of  the  principles 
behind  the  war  and  the  need  for  active  service  by  all  citizens.  Films  have  aided 
morale  with  such  pictures  as  "Mrs.  Miniver",  informed  the  public  through  short 
subjects  exhibited  in  16,323  theatres  which  have  signed  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee pledge,  and  have  made  the  training  of  troops  six  times  as  expedite  as  in 
1917,  he  noted. 

The  industry  raised  one-twelfth  of  the  total  in  the  .1941  USO  fund  drive, 
$2,000,000  for  Army  and  Navy  relief,  topped  the  September  Bond  quota  by 
63  millions  and  is  now  aiding  the  scrap  drive,  Mr.  Dietz  recalled.  It  is  also  furnish- 
ing free  entertainment  to  troops  overseas  and  is  cementing  ties  of  understanding 
with  Latin  America. 

Since  Pearl  Harbor  about  75  features  have  been  made  dealing  with  various 
aspects  of  the  war,  Mr.  Dietz  reported.  "Perhaps  many  of  them  were  over-senti- 
mental— but  in  the  main  they  served  to  inspire  the  nation  with  our  war  attitude. 
The  reaction  from  the  boys  in  service  and  the  parents  at  home  has  been  most 
gratifying." 

The  MGM  executive  quoted  the  memorandum  from  E.  J.  Mannix  to  studio  staffs 
warning  them  that  the  industry  is  challenged  to  use  its  influence  in  making  pictures 
concerned  with  the  war  and  its  problems.  To  each  Hollywood  worker  the  memo- 
randum "explained  a  policy  on  the  war  which  is  the  reason  we  fight",  Mr.  Dietz  said. 

"With  the  movie  industry  completely  war-minded  and  determined  to  help  on 
the  morale  front,  you  may  expect  films  that  will  deal  with  the  Russians,  the  Fight- 
ing French,  the  long  suffering  Chinese,  the  British,  the  Dominions,  the  Dutch,  the 
Brazilians,  as  well  as  ourselves."  Although  some  of  the  best  war  films  may  be  in 
the  escapist  category,  Mr.  Dietz  said,  "there  is  no  escape  from  the  truth;  films 
must  reflect  our  democratic  way  of  life  or  they  will  fail." 

"The  constant  portrayal  of  the  tremendous  task  of  our  factories  and  workers, 
the  full  responsibility  of  our  civilians,  the  might  and  determination'  of  our  demo- 
cratic army  and  navy — this  is  the  job  of  the  producers,  writers  and  directors  and 
every  man  and  woman  who  contributes  to  making  motion  pictures,"  he  said,  quot- 
ing Mr.  Mannix. 

"The  future  trend  in  pictures  dealing  with  the  war  will  be  solidly  guided  in  order 
to  impel  the  consciousness  of  the  nation  insofar  as  the  motion  picture  is  a  psycho- 
logical force  toward  that  ultimate  victory  which  our  President  predicted," 
Mr.  Dietz  said. 

In  normal  times,  he  told  the  meeting,  these  services  need  no  stress.  But  today, 
he  said,  "You  will  see  significance  in  the  fact  that  the  Axis,  in  order  to  impress  its 
propaganda  on  the  Latin  Americans,  has  chosen  as  its  chief  broadcast  theme  the 
story  called  'What  Makes  Sammy  Run'.  If  the  Axis  can  divide,  perhaps  they  can 
conquer.  And  it  would  be  a  very  important  purchase  on  our  decline  if  the  Axis 
could  turn  the  American  people  against  a  great  American  industry." 


Tells  Rotarians  Industry 
Contribution  Is  Gratis, 
Citing  Importance 

by  WILLIAM  R.  WEAVER 

Hollywood  Editor 

The  motion  picture  industry  renders 
the  nation  gratis  a  quality  of  service 
which  it  obtains  from  other  industries 
upon  payment  made  under  contract — and 
it  pays  the  Government  ready  cash  in  the 
doing. 

This  was  read  into  the  record  on  Octo- 
ber 9th  by  Charles  Francis  Coe,  vice- 
president  and  general  counsel  of  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Producers  and  Distributors 
of  America,  Inc. 

Scene  of  the  reading — which  was  no 
reading  at  all,  but  a  speaking  from  notes 
— was  the  Biltmore  Hotel  in  Los  Angeles, 
and  listeners  to  the  address,  delivered 
with  the  rapidity  and  precision  of  a  Coe 
blow-by-blow  broadcast  of  a  champion- 
ship prize  fight,  were  the  members  of  the 
local  Rotary  Club,  representative  of  all 
the  industries  there  are. 

Mr.  Coe,  reported  at  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion to  the  vice-presidency  of  the  MPDDA 
as  destined  to  speak  for  that  organization 
registered  pride  when  he  told  his  audience : 

"Americans  are  deeply  grateful  for  the  steel 
industry,  which  accomodates  its  production  to 
war  need. 

"Americans  are  abidingly  thankful  for  an 
autmobile  industry  able  to  convert  its  facilities 
to  build  the  implements  of  victory. 

"Americans  are  proud  of  a  Government  and 
a  people  which  will  finance,  through  contract, 
these  vital  operations. 

"What,  then,  is  the  attitude  of  Americans 
who  realize  that  the  motion  picture  industry, 
in  rendering  its  indispensable  service,  does  so 
without  Government  contracts,  without  subsidy, 
without  payment,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  by  its 
very  activity,  adds  ready  cash  to  the  Govern- 
ment coffers? 

"Nowhere  exists  a  group  of  men,"  he  declared, 
"more  willing  to  give  and  do  for  America  than 
we  in  the  motion  picture  industry." 

Screen  Shows  American 
Way  of  Life 

The  Coe  address  canvassed  the  subject  of  the 
motion  picture  from  its  present  status  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  to  the  importance  on  the 
home  front  in  America  of  the  theatre  which 
gives  it  housing. 

"The  production  of  motion  pictures  is  an 
art-industry,"  he  said,  "and  if  it  ever  ceases  to 
be  an  industry  it  will  cease  to  be  an  art.  Con- 
trols, (such  as  those  practiced  abroad  to  in- 
doctrinate peoples),  would  empty  the  17,000 
American  motion  picture  theatres." 

Pointing  out  the  extent  to  which  the  medium 
has  been  misused  in  Axis  nations,  he  said,  "In 
1933  the  Nazis  banned  American-produced  pic- 
tures in  Germany.  Nazi-dominated  unoccupied 
France  is  now  under  orders  to  have  every 
American-made  motion  picture  out  of  France 
by  the  end  of  this  year.  Whoever  would  destroy 
Democracy  must  first  destroy  the  American 
motion  picture." 

He  told  the  Rotarians.  accustomed  to  hearing 
guest  speakers  reel  off  columns  of  trade  indices 
while  pointing  to  prepared  graphs,  criss-crossing 


charts,  "Your  theatre  is  an  integral  part  of 
your  community.  It  sparks  the  patriotism  of 
the  nation.  It  brings  the  farm  to  the  city  and 
the  city  to  the  farm.  It  is  a  clearing  house  for 
depicting  the  American  way  of  life." 

Touching  other  aspects  of  the  film's  useful- 
ness to  society  at  large  he  told  them,  "No 
instrumentality  is  more  effective  in  education 
than  motion  pictures.  In  America  more  than 
600  colleges  have  courses  in  film  appreciation, 
and  training  films  for  our  armed  forces  and  pro- 


duction plants  have  established  new  standards  of 
education  and  teaching. 

"American  producers  are  shipping  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  feet  of  16  mm.  film  for  showing, 
without  charge,  to  our  armed  forces  here  and 
abroad.  Not  only  do  movies  keep  the  home 
fires  burning — they  light  them  on  the  foreign 
fronts  of  the  world,"  he  said. 

Coming  down  to  the  matter  of  propaganda, 
a  word  which  Hollywood  in  general  has  avoided 
(Continued  on  following  page) 


34 


Screen  Gives 
Vital  Service 
To  Nation:  Coe 

(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

like  the  plague  for  reason  of  its  misuse,  but 
which  the  speaker  restored  to  its  dictionary 
meaning  for  his  listeners,  the  vice-president  of 
MPDDA  stepped  from  the  general  to  the 
specific : 

"Propaganda?  If  it  be  porpaganda  to  build 
machine  guns,  I  give  you  'Mrs.  Miniver.' 

"If  it  be  propaganda  to  build  tanks,  I  give 
you  'Eagle  Squadron.' 

"If  it  be  propaganda  to  preach  the  American 
heritage,  I  give  you  'United  We  Stand.' 

"If  it  be  propaganda  to  buy  War-  Bonds, 
I  give  you  'Desperate  Journey.' 

"If  it  be  propaganda  to  don  a  uniform,  I  give 
you  'Yankee  Doodle  Dandy.' 

"If  it  be  propaganda  to  lay  the  lives  of  our 
children  on  the  altar  of  freedom,  I  give  you 
'The  Pied  Piper.' 

"And  I  could  go  on  and  on,"  he  said,  "and 
so  will  motion  pictures  go  on  and  on,  until 
the  deed  is  done,  the  war  is  won,  and  the  risen 
sun  of  peace  once  again  illumines  the  triumph 
of  decency  in  a  powder-blackened  world." 

Following  his  address,  Mr.  Coe  entrained  for 
New  York,  on  a  10-day  business  trip,  accom- 
panied by  Fred  W.  Beetson,  executive  vice- 
president  of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers 
Association. 

On  Monday  in  his  New  York  office  Mr.  Coe 
said  that  most  of  the  week  which  he  intended 
to  spend  in  New  York  would  be  occupied  by 
conferences  with  home  office  executives,  Will 
H.  Hayes  and  the  MPPDA  staff  on  questions 
of  conservation,  salary  stabilization  and  cen- 
sorship. 

The  preparation  of  inventories  of  film  stock 
by  the  studios  for  the  War  Production  Board 
had  proven  a  more  difficult  task  than'was  first 
envisioned,  he  said.  The  survey  had  been  com- 
plicated by  varying  methods  of  film  control 
among  the  studios  and  the  difficulty  of  estimat- 
ing current  needs. 

However,  Harold  Hopper,  chief  of  the  motion 
picture  section  of  the  War  Production  Board, 
and  the  MPPDA  conservation  committee  will 
both  have  complete  inventories  within  a  "very 
few  weeks,"  Mr.  Coe  predicted.  They  will 
enable  the  distributors  and  the  industry  as  a 
whole  to  better  estimate  their  rates  of  probable 
consumption  within  the  1941  quotas  agreed  upon 
in  meetings  last  August  with  the  WPB. 

"Many  benefits  have  come  to  the  industry 
through  film  rationing,"  Mr.  Coe  commented. 
"The  War  Production  Board  orders  controlling 
the  use  of  raw  stock  have  served  a  dual  pur- 
pose. They  have  brought  about  operating  econ- 
omies which  benefit  all  studios.  And  rationing 
has  shown  the  several  essential  uses  of  motion 
picture  film  and  will  serve  to  establish  them." 

The  MPPDA  spokesman  indicated  that  there 
was  no  doubt  in  his  mind  that  the  Government 
would  take  every  possible  precaution  to  see  that 
all  theatres  are  kept  open  as  a  medium  of  public 
information  and  entertainment. 

The  industry  is  in  smooth  working  coopera- 
tion with  the  Government  in  many  projects,  he 
declared.  There  are  only  a  few  details  of  cen- 
sorship., rationing  and  Victory  film  production 
and  distribution  to  be  worked  out,  it  was  in- 
dicated. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

LATE  REVIEWS 

The  Mummy's  Tomb 

(Universal) 
Spine-chiller 

Universal  with  this  latest  spine-chilling  melo- 
drama insures  its  reputation  of  leadership  in 
the  horror-drama  field.  In  the  best  tradition 
of  the  company's  "Frankenstein"  pictures  and 
the  others  of  a  long  line,  "The  Mummy's 
Tomb,"  is  meant  to  shock  and  does. 

The  monster  here  is  a  mummy  3,000  years 
old  that  is  brought  from  Egypt  by  a  "high 
priest"  to  take  vengeance  on  a  small  town 
American  archaeologist  and  his  family.  Played 
by  Lon  Chaney,  the  mummy  is  an  awesome, 
eerie  figure  undaunted  by  bullets  or  the  strength 
of  mortal  men. 

Brought  to  life  at  the  full  moon  by  a  magic 
chemical  brew,  the  mummy  creates  panic  in  the 
town,  murders  two  members  of  the  Banning 
family  and  another  man  connected  with  an 
expedition  30  years  before,  and  kidnaps  the 
fiancee  of  the  younger  Banning  before  it  finally 
is  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  cast  includes  Dick  Foran,  as  the  archaeo- 
logist ;  John  Hubbard,  as  the  younger  Banning ; 
Elyse  Knox,  the  fiancee ;  Turhan  Bey,  the  high 
priest  who  controls  the  mummy  and  Wallace 
Ford. 

The  picture  manages  somehow  to  maintain 
a   measure   of   plausibility   and   the   audience , 
should  find  it  "right  in  the  groove."  . 

Ben  Pivar  was  associate  producer  and  Har- 
old Young  directed. 

Previewed  at  the  Universal  projection  room 
in  New  York.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — 
Paul  C.  Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  61  min.  PCA 
No.   8655.      General  audience  classification. 

The  Mummy  Lon  Chaney 

Stephen  Banning  Dick  Foran 

John  Banning  John  Hubbard 

Elyse  Knox.  George  Zucco1,  Wallace  Ford,  Turhan 
Bey,  Virginia  Brissac,  Cliff  Clark,  Mary  Gordon, 
Paul  Burns,  Frank  Reicher,  Emmett  Vogan. 


Fire  Destroys 
Metro  Sets 

Fire  of  undetermined  origin  destroyed  New 
York  street  sets  and  others  in  the  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer  back  lot  Tuesday  night.  The 
studio  estimated  the  damage  at  $100,000,  due  to 
the  irreplaceable  nature  of  some  of  the  critical 
materials  consumed. 


October    17,  1942 

Report  Peace 
Near  in  CEA 
Rental  Fight 

Concessions  in  the  dispute  between  the  Cine- 
matograph Exhibitors  Association  and  Twen- 
tieth Century-Fox  were  reported  in  the  air  at 
midweek  in  cables  from  London.  There  were 
hints  of  peace  in  the  battle  over  selling  prac- 
tices. 

Details  of  the  settlement  possibility  were  still 
secret  at  midweek  as  Francis  Harley,  man- 
aging director  in  England  for  20th-century, 
officials  of  the  CEA  and  J.  Arthur  Rank,  head 
of  the  Gaumont-British  and  Odeon  circuits, 
met  again.  The  CEA  general  council  was 
reported  on  Wednesday  as  being  ready  to  re- 
ceive a  report  from  its  president  and  secre- 
tary that  the  American  company  had  agreed 
to  modifications. 

It  was  reported  at  London  that  Mr.  Har- 
ley had  agreed  in  principle  to  the  CEA  de- 
mands for  a  change  in  the  company's  new  sell- 
ing policy.  Only  one  major  point  was  said  to 
be  still  awaiting  settlement.  The  company's 
New  York  home  office  refused  to  confirm  the 
reports  of  concessions  and  settlement  but  said 
that  the  discussions  were  proceeding  satisfac- 
torily. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  indicated  that  the  CEA  is 
not  pushing  its  campaign  for  a  boycott  of  the 
Movietone  newsreel  or  March  of  Time  and| 
other  20th  Century-Fox  product. 

The  dispute  arose  over  the  recent  demand  byj 
20th-century  for  a  change  in  one-day  Sundaj 
bookings  to  longer  commitments  and  an  in- 
creased number  of  straight  percentage  con- 
tracts. 

The  CEA  council  heard  on  Wednesday 
statement  that   negotiations    were  proceeding 
with  20th  Century-Fox. 


The  Undying  Monster 

(Twentieth  Century -Fox) 
Superior  Werewolf 

At  first  view  this  seems  another  "werewolf" 
picture,  with  the  Jekyll-Hyde  motif.  Laid  in 
the  manorial  England  of  the  1900's,  it  seems 
as  dated.  And  a  choice  variety  of  Hollywood 
actors,  relieved  only  by  James  Ellison,  Heather 
Angel  and  John  Howard,  makes  it  appear  more 
a  "B"  for  the  English  market. 

However,  the  mood  grows ;  and  with  it  the 
conviction  that  the  average  audience  will  like  it. 

Loaded  shamelessly  with  obvious  suspense 
devices — cries  in  the  night,  and  more  often  the 
howling  of  a  wolf ;  mysterious  acts  by  minor 
characters  who  draw  suspicion  upon  them- 
selves ;  a  secret  room  in  the  manor,  and  a 
dusty  crypt ;  mists  upon  the  moors ;  the  wind, 
snow,  and  the  sea  pounding  the  rocky  shores ; 
it  succeeds  nevertheless  in  pulling  attention. 

That  success  is  mainly  because  John  Brahm 
has  directed  with  great  artistry,  aided  by  Lu- 
cien  Ballard,  director  of  photography.  There 
are  scenes  tbat  deserve  a  pause  for .  inspection 
as  still  pictures.  There  are  momements  of 
dramatic,  moody  underexposure  which  enorm- 
ously enhance  the  story  of  murder  rampant. 
And  there  are  settings — the  work,  apparently, 
of  art  directors  Richard  Day  and  Lewis  Creber, 
and  set  decorators  Thomas  Little  and  Walter 
Scott — lavish  for  a  small  and  brief  production. 

Reviewed  in  the  home  office  projection  room. 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — Floyd  Stone 

Release  date,  November  27,  1942.  Running  time,  60 
min.     General   audience  classification. 

Bob  Curtis  James  Ellison 

Helga  Hammond  Heather  Angel 

Oliver  Hammond  John  Howard 

Dr.  Geoffrey  Covert  Bramwell  Fletcher 

Heather  Thatcher.  Aubrev  Mather.  Hnlliwell  Hobbes, 
Eily  Malyon,  Heather  Wilde,  Charles  Crisp,  Alec 
Craig.  Holmes  Herbert.  Olive  Morgan,  Dave  Thurs- 
by,    Donald  Stuart,  John  Rogers,  Matt  Boulton. 


Ross  Finds  Increase 
Of  Older  Patrons 

A  gradual  increase  in  the  attendance  of  old 
persons  is  being  noted  by  the  checkers  of  Ro 
Federal  Service,  according  to  H.  A.  Ross,  w; 
this  week  returned  from  a  national  tour  of 
weeks.  "It  is  only  a  matter  of  time  until  the  1( 
audience  of  the  old  people  will  have  return 
to  the  theatre,"  he  observes.  "Hollywood  I 
keeping  abreast  of  the  needs  of  the  day 
entertainment  and  pictures  that  make  peo, 
forget  the  war."  Mr.  Ross  comments  on  I 
creases  in  percentage  engagements  and  a  wi' 
call  for  checkers.  His  company  has  been  c 
ducting  training  courses  for  more  than  a  y€ 


National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  19  Films 

Of  19  pictures  classified  by  the  NaJ 
tional  Legion  of  Decency  in  its  listing  foj 
the  last  two  weeks,  15  were  approved  foj] 
general  patronage,  two  were  listed  as  ur 
objectionable  for  adults  and  two  were  cite| 
as  objectionable  in  part. 

Class  A-l,  Unobjectionable  for  Geners 
Patronage :  "Bells  of  Capistrano,"  "Borde 
Roundup,"  "Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood,! 
"The  Falcon's  Brother,"  "Flying  Tigers! 
"Miss  from  Moscow,"  "Northwest  Rangers| 
"The  Old  Homestead,"  "The  Omaha  Trail] 
"Raiders   of    San   Joaquin,"   "Red  Riva 
Robin,"  "Smith  of  Minnesota,"  "Springtin]! 
in  the  Rockies,"  "Tenting  Tonight  on  tW 
Old  Camp  Ground,"  "The  Yanks  Ar.e  Conf 
ing."  Class  A-2,  Unobjectionable  for  Adult;  1 
"Moonlight  in  Havana,"  "You  Can't  Escajl 
Forever."  Class  B,  Objectionable  in  Parjl 
"The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  "Sin  Town."  jflj 


reasons  for  the  TRAi 
TALK  about  those 

TERRIFIC  12 

from 

B    Metro -GC         i  l  NE- Mayer 


V  v. 


I  AAA  TO  N  P  E  -  LEO ! 


the  Box-office  Vamp! 

I  shake  records  loose! 

I  started  the  season  with  "Somewhere  Pll  Find  You!" 
I  followed  with  shake  after  shake! 
Panama  Hattie"  is  shaking  the  nation  with  joy! 
Held  over  2nd  big  week  at  Capitol,  N.  Y. 
M-G-M  takes  over  Broadway  with 

Judy  Garland  in  "For  Me  and  My  Gal"  — Watch  for  the 
Rousing  Astor  Theatre  World  Premiere! 
And  Broadway  gets  the  first  showing  of 
Eyes  in  the  Night"  — it's  startling  as  a  scream! 
Every  release  shakes  coins  out  of  pockets  — 
"Tish"  is  delish!  "Seven  Sweethearts"  a  sweetheart! 
"War  Against  Mrs-  Hadley"  nationally  promoted! 
Mickey  Rooney  in  "Yank  At  Eton"  holding  over! 
And  now  Hedy  Lamarr,  Walter  Pidgeon  in  "White  Cargo"! 
Imagine!  It's  only  October,  but  as  usual 

LEO  SHAKES  THE  INDUSTRY! 


r    17,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


39 


ADMISSION  SCALES  CLIMBING 
IN  WAR  BOOM  TERRITORIES 


Trend  to  Fewer  Changes 
and  Long  Runs  Seen; 
Manpower  Is  Problem 

There  is  a  steady  trend  toward  higher 
admission  prices  in  the  areas  benefiting 
from  the  war  boom  in  empoyment  and 
payrolls,  and  in  those  areas,  too.  there  is 
a  tendency  toward  fewer  changes  and 
longer  runs,  it  is  indicated  in  the  survey 
::  the  effect  of  war  economy  on  the  the- 
atre being  conducted  bv  MOTION  PIC- 
TURE HERALD. 


Admissions  Up, 
Hours  Unchanged 

[*by  H.  C.  BRUNNER 

There  has  been  a  definite  upward  movement 
I  in  admission  prices  in  Milwaukee  with  the  lai- 
[Jest  increase  of  five  cents  made  by  a  number 
af  houses  after  Labor  Day  and  others  are  ex- 
erted to  follow  shortly. 
While  the  Radio,  north  side  neighborhood 
continues  to  show  German  films,  the 
,  downtown  legitimate  house  which  in 
|  he  past  has  filled  in  with  German  musicals 
several  days  a  week,  is  now  showing  Russian 
•ictures  several  days  a  week. 
'  For  the  most  part  show  hours  remain  the 
ame  despite  agitation  from  time  to  time  by 
5*ar  workers  for  shows  after  midnight  The 
ily  concession  to  this  request  to  date  has  been 
M-Jtnrday  midnight  shows  by  some  neighbor- 
Isood  houses  in  Milwaukee,  although  first  runs 
a  a  few  Wisconsin  cities,  including  Madison, 
j:  iacine,  Kenosha  and  Fond-du-Lac  are  now 
I  leaturing  such  programs  on  Saturdays, 
j  In  general,  the  weekend  still  continues  as  the 


Motion  Picture  Herald  this 
week  continues  the  study  of  the 
effect  of  wartime  economy  and 
changes  in  national  life  on  the 
theatre  and  the  box  office.  Last 
week  the  study  covered  Knox- 
ville,  Buffalo.  San  Francisco. 
Minneapolis,  Cincinnati,  Dallas 
and  Philadelphia  and  the  ter- 
ritories surrounding  those  key 
cities.  The  study  will  be  con- 
cluded next  week. 


best 
run; 
ieader 
A 


points  emerging  from  the  study.  The  shoi 
age  of  manpower,  emphasized  in  the  r 
ports  from  all  the  territories  covered  in  d 

surrey,  was  pointed  up  this  week  in  a  re-  as  mis 

port  published  by  the  L~.  S.  Department  of  houses 

Labor  which  said  that  employment  in  non-  get  a  g 

agricultural  establishments,  during  August  "Cf  ms 

of  this  year  exceeded  all  previous  levels.  !T~-.f,d' 

The  Department  of  Labor  report  showed  r  qqo 

an  unbroken   succession   of  increases   in  downtoi 

rrtanufactnring,   Federal,   btate   and   local  "uver 

Government  services,  bunding  construction,  larlv  oi 

transportation  and  public  utibbties  and  em-  Warner 

phasized  that  much  of  the  gain  came  from  day  she 

the   trade,   mining,    finance   and   service  ness  ah 

groups,  which  include  the  motion  picture  in-  ~~?st 

dustry.     No  separate  figures  were  given  naiea 

for  the  motion  picture  industry,  however.  , 

On  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  the  re-  "OmV 

port  showed  that  the  increase  oi  22,  per  weeklv 

•  cent  in  employment  in  manufacturing  indus-  some  n 

j  tries  was  accompanied  bv  an  increase  ox  4.9  defense 

per  cent,  or  $19,300,000  in  payrolls  for  profitab 
August 

Continuing  the  study  of  key  territories, 
reports  on  Milwaukee,  Jacksonville,  Des 
I  Moines,  Kansas  City,  Omaha  and  Wilkes- 
Barre  follows: 


;x  crctee  eellecrer  fcr  rrsc  and  subsequent 
alike,  with  Sunday  shows  among  the 

ir.  —  ascuhue  cacrcnage  is  nctieeable 
be  expected,  although  downtown 
e  not  felt  this  so  keenly  since  they 
portion  of  the  show  business  of  ser- 
vhe  are  :r_  Leave  rrcnr  Great  Lakes 
Sheridan.  On  weekends  the  number 
en  in  the  city  varies  from  2,000  to 
t  of  whom  spend  their  time  in  the 


business  continues  strong,  aarticu- 
aturdays  and  Sunday  matinees.  Both 

the  neighborhood  houses  have  elimi- 
y  bird  admissions  in  the  evening  and 
:  iter,  a  haLf-hcnr  or  s:  later,  there- 
down  their  operating  time, 
few  neigh :'c  rrhc  >d  he-uses  are  effering 
atinees.  Those  that  tried  this  policy 
ths  ago  with  the  idea  of  attracting 
orkers  have  discontinued,  it  as  un- 


:rg 


Service  Camps  Aid 
Florida  Grosses 


in  Jacksonville 

Theatre  atterta 
ir.  the  faeksmv: 
Naval  Air  Stati 
heart  of  town  ant 


v  night  sailors.  Naval 
=  and  srldiers  add  seme 
crowds.  Theatre  patron- 
a~_iav  nights  and  Sur_- 
wr.  theatre;  have  S?.~ 

d  by  ship  yard  workers 

ide  no  special  admission 
mt  there  are  dances  and 


is  helped  the  weekend  busi- 
:-:rhcc-d  ictuses  as  the  heme 
o  get  in  the  downtown  rush 
iday  and  go  to  the  theatres 
nda!  communities.  The  gaso- 


ktte  ramcur.g  ais;  has  made  the  reighborhc-cd 
house  popular. 

To  cash  in  on  the  big  Saturday  night  crowds 
two  of  the  larger  downtown  theatres  hold  mid- 
night shows  which  are  usually  packed  to  ca- 
pacity. Several  Saturday  morning  children's 
matinees  have  been  staged. 

Sunday  is  the  best  theatre  day  of  the  week 
with  theatres  reeving  d::rs  at  1  P.  2.1.  ir.  def- 
erence to  the  churches.  By  common  agreement 
none  open  before  this  hour. 

Theatres  are  having  trouble  with  help.  The 
weekend  problem  is  partially  solved  by  high 
school  boys  as  ushers.  Changes  in  theatre  man- 
agers have  been  frequent  and  one  of  the  big 
circuit  executives  V»a<;  said  he  would  like  to  try 
women  as  assistant  managers.  They  would  have 
to  be  over  30,  and  unmarried,  as  the  long  hours 
and  type  of  work  would  make  it  necessary  for 
them  to  give  practically  all  of  their  time  to 
the  theatre  and  its  business.  Few  have  appeared. 

Theatre  prices  have  not  been  raised  other 
than  the  showing  here  during  the  past  year 
of  "Sergeant  York"  and  "Pride  of  the  Yan- 
kees." The  increase  in  both  cases  had  been 
slight 

Audience  Change 
Seen  in  Iowa 

by  MARY  E  WHEELOCK 


Small  town  inhibitors  in  Iowa  have  noticed  a 
decided  decrease  in  the  number  of  young  men 
in  the  audiences  in  the  last  few  months,  as 
several  hundred  are  leaving  each  day  for  the 
armed  forces,  and  the  small  town  audience  is 
now  chiefly  women,  older  people  and  ?teen  age 
children.  The  attendance  seems  to  be  about  nor- 
mal in  most  towns,  the  War  Bond  sales  and 
similar  war  efforts  tend  to  bring  out  the  people 
of  the  smaller  community. 

Theatres  in  the  larger  cities  have  noticed  an 
increased  attendance  in  first  run  theatres.  In 
Des  Moines  the  downtown  theatre  attendance  is 
steadiiy  increasing,  due  t;  increased  scenting  by 

type,  theatre;  in  the  city  have  r.cticec  a  drip 
in  attendance,   as  people  normally  attending 

Most  of  the  projectionists  in  Des  Moines  are 
older  men  and  not  subject  to  the  drart.  so  lew 
changes  are  bring  made.  A  number  of  theatres 
are  hiring  girls  for  ushers  to  replace  men 
leaving,  but  there  is  sufficient  help^  so  far.  There 

show  hours.  Tri-States  Theatre  Corporation 
raised  adrr.issi ens  at  the  ides  Mcir.es  theatre 
from  46  to  51  cents  and  the  RKO  Orpheum  has 
discontinued  the  30-cent  balcony  admission,  and 
now  charge  4-6  cents  for  all  seats. 


Scales  Increased  in 
Missouri  Area 

by  B.  S.  BROWN 

in   Kmsss  City 

In  Kansas  City  there  has  been  a  general  up- 
ward adjustment  of  theatre  admissions,  ranging 
from  two  or  three  cents  to  a  nickel.  The  first 
run  houses  recently  set  up  a  new  schedule  of 
35-cents-50-cents — 35  cents  including  tax  for 
matinees,  any  seat:  and  35  cents  balcony,  50 
cents  downstairs,  after  six  o'clock  week  days, 
after  two  o'clock  on  Sundays  and  holidays.  The 
(Coitiinued  an  foUorrsttg  pose) 


40 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


BIG  PAYROLLS  AID  CROSSES 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

former  schedule  was  30  cents  including  taxes 
any  seat,  matinees  and  balcony,  nights ;  40 
cents  plus  tax  downstairs  nights,  which  meant 
44.8  cents  with  the  taxes.  The  Tower  had  been 
using  this  schedule  for  its  advanced-priced  of- 
ferings ;  and  this  week  raised  its  regular  price 
from  30  cents  including  taxes  any  seat  any 
time,  to  35  cents. 

The  prices  of  suburban  houses  vary ;  some 
exhibitors  are  talking  about  the  need  for  higher 
prices,  but  no  sign  of  a  raise  has  appeared. 
There  have  been  few  recent  raises ;  too  many 
exhibitors  having  lost  business  through  shunt- 
ing of  patrons  to  work  centers. 

Staggered  Hours 
Now  in  Effect 

In  centers  of  war  industries,  such  as  Wichita, 
Kan.,  many  theatres  now  are  holding  midnight 
shows  for  war  workers  coming  off  shift.  Towns 
within  the  dwelling  area  of  these  workers  are 
also  starting  to  hold  midnight  shows  once  or 
twice  a  week.  Half  a  dozen  instances  cover  the 
holding  of  late  shows  among  suburban  the- 
atres in  Kansas  City;  but  it  is  a  trend.  Only 
one  downtown  theatre  in  Kansas  City  starts  a 
show  after  11:30  P.  M. ;  it  has  been  doing  this 
for  two  or  three  years,  but  patronage  has 
greatly  increased.  Other  downtown  midnight 
shows  have  been  held  occasionally,  but  have 
not  yet  been  seen  more  often  because  of  war 
conditions. 

Show-hour  changes  both  in  city  and  territory 
are  being  considered  but  not  yet  put  into  ef- 
fect. Small  town  exhibitors  moved  the  opening 
hour  to  later  last  summer,  because  of  wartime. 

In  Kansas  City,  staggered  hours  are  com- 
ing into  effect ;  so  far  the  proposed  schedules 
cover  chiefly  downtown  stores,  which  now 
open  at  ten  and  close  at  six,  except  Thursday: 
when  they  stay  open  till  nine.  Some  industries 
are  staggering  hours. 

The  personnel  problem  is  the  most  serious 
and  pressing  so  far,  both  in  the  territory  and 
in  the  cities.  There  is  no  shortage  of  projec- 
tionists yet,  in  the  city,  all  calls  being  met — 
one  explanation  being  that  salaries  are  ade- 
quate to  keep  these  skilled  men  from  being 
attracted  to  defense  industries.  In  the  smaller 
towns  the  situation  is  becoming  critical.  One 
expedient  being  urged  is  that  physically  handi- 
capped men,  younger  or  older,  be  coached  to 
do  the  operating. 

More  Women 
Entering  Field 

The  rapid  disappearance  of  younger  men  has 
hit  the  field  of  ushers,  doormen,  assistant  man- 
agers, and  managers.  In  all  these  fields  except 
night  ushers  and  assistant  managers,  younger 
men  have  already  been  replaced  generally  in  the 
cities.  Young  women  now  are  ushers  at  most 
houses  at  matinees,  some  at  nights.  The  ap- 
pointment of  women  as  assistant  managers,  and 
in  similar  positions,  has  given  promise  of  solv- 
ing the  problem. 

The  territory — Kansas  particularly — felt  a 
change  in  audience  character,  habits  of  attend- 
ance, long  ago ;  when  men  went  from  farms 
and  small  towns  to  the  war  work  centers.  This 
was  the  case  with  some  larger  towns  and  cities, 
the  gross  patronage  falling  off  as  much  as  30 
per  cent  from  this  cause.  In  some  suburban 
theatres  of  Kansas  City  this  drain  also  was 
felt.  But  in  Kansas  City — and  in  other  centers 
where  war  industries  have  increased — -a  turn  has 
come,  with  increased  male  patronage  from 
among  war  plant  workers,  signs  accumulating 
of  an  ultimate  net  gain  from  the  war  workers' 


SEATTLE  THEATRES 
RAISE  ADMISSIONS 

Effective  last  week,  all  Seattle  first 
run  houses  with  one  exception  raised 
admission  prices  slightly.  Hamrick- 
Evergreen's  Fifth  Avenue,  Paramount, 
Orpheum,  Music  Hall,  Music  Box  and 
Blue  Mouse  instituted  a  new  scale  of 
40  cents  until  1:00  P.M.,  50  cents 
until  5:00  P.M.  and  65  cents  there- 
after, including  all  taxes.  The  former 
scale  was  35,  42  and  58  cents.  John 
Danz's  Palomar  theatre  now  charges 
30  cents,  40  cents  and  58  cents,  a 
raise  of  5  cents  on  each  scale.  Sun- 
day admissions  at  Hamrick-Evergreen 
theatres  are  65  cents  all  day  after 
1 :00  o'clock  and  the  Palomar  rate  on 
Sunday  is  40,  58  and  65  cents. 


families,  as  the  men  bring  their  wives  and 
children  to  new  homes. 

Kansas  City  rental  property  occupacy  is  high 
now,  population  being  further  augmented  by 
the  presence  of  thousands  of  service  men  go- 
ing to  training  schools.  But  exhibitors  and 
managers  are  at  the  moment  in  the  position 
of  studying  the  adjustments  necessary  because 
of  these  shifts  in  available  patronage. 

Rationing  Expected 
To  Affect  Patronage 

The  rationing  rules  that  affect  motor  travel 
are  expected  to  have  a  noticeable  effect  on  the- 
atre patronage  and  audience  character.  One 
estimate  is  that  owners  of  good  cars,  who  now 
have  at  least  one  set  of  tires  in  good  condi- 
tion, will  use  the  cars  for  short  trips  through 
the  winter — which  includes  visits  to  the  the- 
atre. People  who  have  habitually  used  street 
cars  or  buses  for  theatre-going  surely  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so.  But  there  is  a  fairly  large  the- 
atre clientele  whose  cars  will  go  into  garages 
early  this  autumn,  it  is  estimated. 

No  general  change  in  program  schedules  or 
length  of  run  has  occurred  in  the  cities  or  ter- 
ritory yet.  Such  changes  as  are  proposed  or 
contemplated  are  in  the  direction  of  flexibility 
that  may  facilitate  adjustments  required  by 
different  needs  of  a  particular  theatre's  clientele 
in  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1942.  Changes  in- 
duced by  economic  considerations,  or  Govern- 
ment requirements,  seem  adapted  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  flexibility ;  such  as  shortening  of 
programs.  Another  factor  contributing  to  flexi- 
bility is  the  growing  tendency  to  give  studied 
promotion  to  each  program — and  all  the  ele- 
ments of  it. 

A  tendency,  an  objective  for  many  exhibitors 
in  the  territory,  in  the  smaller  towns  especially, 
is  reduction  of  changes.  The  custom  has  been 
three  changes — Sunday,  Tuesday,  and  Friday. 
This  is  being  reduced  to  two  changes  in  some 
places  without  marked  reduction  in  patronage 
on  any  night,  hence  often  net  gain  for  the  week. 
Such  a  change  is  usually  accompanied  by  more 
aggressive  exploitation,  to  build  up  favor  and 
knowledge  of  offerings,  as  contrasted  with 
the  practice  frequently  observed  of  routine  use 
of  advertising  materials,  on  the  assumption  of 
regular  patrons  attending  on  their  regular 
nights,  for  favored  types  of  pictures. 

Double,  and  even  triple,  features  continue  to 


characterize  suburban  programs  in  Kansas 
City ;  but  there  are  expectations  of  cutting 
these  programs,  based  on  prospects  that  the 
Government  may  limit  theatre  hours. 

Exhibitors  are  aware  that  numerous  condi- 
tions now  in  effect  may  control  their  plans. 
For  example,  limitations  on  public  transporta- 
tion may  limit  midnight  and  all-night  shows, 
and  hours  of  shows.  Both  public  transit  and 
motor  car  facilities  also  may  affect  the  charac 
ter  of  programs,  when  a  theatre  may  not, 
now,  enjoy  patronage  coming  from  a  distance 
and  must  concentrate  on  its  immediate  neigh 
borhood. 


Help  Shortage  Felt 
In  Midwest  Region 

by  MONTE  DAVIS 

in  Omaha 

Theatres  in  the  defense  areas  of  Nebraska 
western  Iowa  and  South  Dakota  are  doing  bet 
ter  business,  while  those  in  smaller  towns  witl 
no  war  industries  have  felt  a  decided  loss 
grosses. 

Omaha  theatres,  for  example,  have  enjoyec 
the  best  summer  s  business  that  they  have  hat 
in  many  years.  The  same  report  comes  fron 
exhibitors  in  other  defense  areas  such  as  Lin 
coin  and  Grand  Island,  Neb.  Indications  poin 
to  a  continuation  of  good  business  for  thes 
houses  during  the  fall  and  winter. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  ledger,  however 
these  houses  have  had  many  problems  to  face 
There  is  a  shortage  of  ushers,  doormen,  mainte 
nence  men  and  assistant  managers.  In  mosi 
cases  the  projectionists  are  older  men  anc 
havn't  been  drafted  as  yet.  Another  problem 
matinee  business,  which  has  dropped  off  con 
siderably  since  war  production  was  stepped  up 

Omaha's  three  first  run  houses  have  increasee 
prices  recently.  The  scale  previously  was 
cents  for  matinees,  44  cents  at  night,  tax  in 
eluded.  Now  it  is  35  cents  in  the  afternoon 
and  50  cents  at  night,  tax  included. 

Mort  H.  Singer's  Brandeis  theatre  tried 
half-hour  later  opening  hour  (12:30  P.  M.  in 
stead  of  noon),  but  it  didn't  work  out  andth 
house  is  back  to  the  regular  noon  to  midnigh 
run  observed  by  all  first  runs.  Sunday  show 
have  shown  no  change. 

Draft  Hits  Shows 
In  Mining  Area 

by  MILTON  MILLER 

in  Wilkes-Barre 

With  the  anthracite  region  continually  re 
porting  one  of  the  highest  enlistment  rates 
the  Philadelphia  zone,  there  has  been  a  notice 
able  decrease  in  masculine  attendance  at  tin 
theatres  in  Wilker-Barre  and  Scranton,  P 
with  a  noticeable  increase  of  groups  of  girl 
and  young  women  making  up  parties  to  g 
to  the  theatre.  The  enlistment  rate,  couple 
with  the  draft  and  the  fact  that  the  area  ha 
few  war  industries,  thus  causing  many  to  leav 
for  jobs  in  other  sections  of  the  country,  ha 
cut  masculine  attendance.  There  also  has  bee 
a  decrease  in  attendance  of  children. 

Aside  from  that  there  have  been  few  change 
in  operations  of  theatres  in  the  anthracite  r< 
gion  with  price  scales  remaining  the  same,  r 
change  in  show  hours  and  no  real  probleir 
regarding  a  shortage  of  help.  Most  of  the  towr 
have  Sunday  shows. 


October    17,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE   HERALD  41 

ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By   JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 


'Twas  a  tiny  scrap  of  bunting,  measuring 
six  by  eight  inches,  which  became  the  first 
American  flag  to  fly  over  a  conquered  Jap- 
anese stronghold  in  this  war,  according  to 
R.  Bruce,  of  Ross  Federal  theatre  checking 
service,  in  New  York.  It  was  run  to  the 
top  of  a  Japanese  flagpole  at  Kukum  on 
Guadalcanal  Island,  on  August  7th,  eight 
months  to  the  day  after  the  attack  on  Pearl 
Harbor.  A  group  of  Marines,  pushing  in- 
land in  the  first  phase  of  the  Solomon  Islands 
offensive,  stopped  long  enough  to  cheer  the 
little  flag,  and  then  pressed  onward. 

The  man  who  raised  this  miniature  Old 
Glory  over  Guadalcanal  was  Lieutenant 
Evard  J.  Snell  who  bought  the  flag  at  Vine- 
land,  New  Jersey,  on  Memorial  Day  in  1934 
and  had  carried  it  with  him  in  eight  years' 
travel  with  the  Marines.  It  has  flown  from 
a  barracks  window  in  the  Philippines,  over 
a  tent  in  Cuba,  and  as  identification  on  a 
ricksha  used  by  Lieutenant  Snell  during  the 
trouble  in  Pekin  and  Tientsin  in  1937  and 
1938. 

V 

When  you  hear  some  radio  announcer  dedi- 

-  eating  a  song  to  the  crew  of  a  ship,  he  could 

-  be  tipping  off  enemy  submarines  on  the  move- 
ments of  boats  in  convoy.  Federal  Communi- 
cations  Commissioner  James  L.  Fly,  the  other 
day,  told  a  Congressional  subcommittee  that 

:  his  office  had  heard  such  reports. 

V 

Dogs  are  now  making  personal  appearance 
tours  in  behalf  of  new  movies.  MGM  has  "Fri- 
day," a  German  police  dog,  on  tour  for  "Eyes 
y  in  the  Night."  His  owner,  William  Stuer,  and 
j  Metro  animal  expert  Captain  Volney  Phifer, 
i  are  accompanying  the  dog,  who  is  claimed  to 
(  have  the  intelligence  of  a  ten-year-old  child  in 
I.Q.  tests.  They  say  that  he  understands  650 
:  words  and  will,  on  single  command,  waive  his 
tail,  sneeze,  back  up,  yawn,  gaze  at  any  desig- 
3  nated  spot,  run  at  full  speed,  stop  suddenly  and 
;  fall  flat. 

h     "Friday"  is  out  of  "Flash,"  that  famous  canine 

-  star  of  the  silent  screen  who  earned  more  than 
$100,000  working  in  Hollywood. 

V 

James    Caesar    Petrillo,   musician  union 
S  "czar's"  order  banning  employment  of  musi- 
j  cians  on  recordings  for  the  air,  is  proving  a 
big  boon,  after  all.    It  is  helping  the  em- 
ployment of  virtuosi  of  the  harmonica  and 
Jew's-harp.    The  Petrillo  union  holds  that 
such  instruments  are  "not  conventional"  and 
their  players  need  not  have  union  cards. 
V 

Major  Beirne  Lay,  Jr.,  who  wrote  that  air 
thriller,  "I  Wanted  Wings,"  produced  by  Para- 
mount in  the  U.  S.  some  18  months  ago,  is  now 
quartered  in  an  ancient  manor  with  the  U.  S. 
Bomber  Command,  "Somewhere  in  Britain," 
where  he  is  writing  a  day-to-day  history  of 
the  American  Bomber  Command. 

V 

The  Mobile,  Alabama  city  commission  has 
J  voted  a  ten  per  cent  sewage  tax  on  movie  ad- 
missions. 

V 

The  war  outlook  really  is  seriously  threaten- 
ing everyday  life.  On  October  26th,  of  a  Mon- 
day morning,  200  members  of  the  National 
Dunking  Association  will  assemble  at  the  Ho- 
tel Astor,  off  Times  Square,  in  New  York,  to 
determine  the  fate  of  the  dunking  doughnut  in 
the  war. 

V 

In  the  new  film,  "Terry  and  the  Pirates," 
Actor  Bert  Freeman  will  play  the  dual  parts 
of  a  Chinese  hero  and  a  Japanese  spy. 


Jack  Pearl,  who  acquired  his  accent  in  New 
York's  German  Yorkville  section,  returned  to 
the  airwaves,  Wednesday  night,  for  his  first 
regular  broadcasts  in  four  years.  Certain  things 
liave  happened  since  Pearl  was  last  on  the  air, 
and  he  has  decided  to  apply  his  accent  else- 
where. He's  no  longer  "The  Baron  Munchau- 
sen," but  is  now  "Alias  the  Baron."  And  now 
his  accent  comes  from  Holland.  He  has  turned 
over  his  "World's  Champion  Liar"  medal  to 
the  scrap  drive,  "because  I  can't  compete  with 
the  biggest  liar  of  them  all,  Adolph  Hitler!" 

V 

Even  "Holy-Roller"  music  has  taken  on 
a  war  beat,  as  witness  that  new  and  amus- 
ingly titled  "Praise  the  Lord  and  Pass  the 
Ammunition."  The  song,  by  Frank  Loesser, 
was  based  on  the  phrase  as  said  by  a  chaplain 
who  was  aboard  an  American  battleboat 
when  the  Japs  raided  Pearl  Harbor  on  that 
Sunday  morning  of  December  7th. 

V 

Leonard  Lyons  passes  along  the  observation 
of  the  noted  theatre  figure  who  returned  to 
Broadway  from  Washington,  shaking  his  head 
and  lamenting,  "It's  just  like  Hollywood — but 
with  Senators." 

V 

Evelyn  Keys,  Columbia  actress,  has  a  big 
steamboat  whistle  installed  on  her  car,  hooked 
to  the  motor,  to  blast  off  a  warning  when  she 
goes  faster  than  the  National  no-faster-than- 
ZS-miles-an-hour  restriction.  She  would  have 
you  believe  that  the  arrangement  was  made  to 
blast  loud  and  long  enough  to  call  a  cop  when 
she  drives  faster. 

V 

Colonel  William  J.  Donovan's  U.  S.  Office 
of  Strategic  Services,  at  1600  Broadway,  New 
York,  sends  a  plea  to  citizens  both  in  and  out 
of  the  motion  picture  business,  to  send  to  it 
any  motion  or  still  pictures  of  any  part  of  Axis 
countries,  particularly  pictures  showing  rail- 
roads, harbor  installations  and  industrial  areas. 
Views  believed  to  contain  helpful  information 
are  examined  by  experts  and  arrangements  made 
for  the  loan  of  desired  prints  to  the  Army. 
V 

Anne  Shirley,  actress,  has  filed  suit  in 
Los  Angeles  for  $100,000  against  the  Charles 
R.  Rogers  Productions,  alleging  that  an- 
other woman's  legs  were  substituted  for  hers 
in  a  scene  in  "The  Powers  GirL" 

Miss  Shirley,  who  plays  the  part  of  a 
hosiery  model  in  the  picture,  says  the  sub- 
stitution was  made  after  showing  her  lifting 
her  skirt  and  then  changing  to  a  second 
scene  which  displayed  only  the  legs. 

And  what  legs!  says  Miss  Shirley  in  her 
complaint,  filed  in  Superior  Court,  Los 
Angeles : 

"Defendants  used  a  double  for  Miss  Shir- 
ley and  said  double's  legs  were  of  unflatter- 
ing dimensions,  belonging  to  a  former 
burlesque  actress,  and  were  more  muscular 
and  half  again  as  large  as  plaintiff's  legs." 

V 

That  old  screen  formula,  that  any  Yank  can 
lick  a  dozen  Japs  or  Nazis  before  breakfast,  is 
out  for  the  duration  at  Republic  Pictures'  Hol- 
lywood studio,  according  to  press  wires,  which 
report  that  orders  from  the  top  are  that  writers 
hereafter  must  not  have  the  lion-hearted  hero 
best  more  than  two  Japs  or  Nazis,  at  the  most, 
and  then  only  after  stiff  battling.  The  idea  is 
to  condition  young  America  to  the  fact  that  this 
is  a  tough  war  against  killers,  no  pushovers  for 
even  our  Leathernecks. 

First  application  of  the  policy  will  come  in 
"G-Men  vs.  the  Black  Dragon." 


Seven  keys,  which  the  Gestapo  at  one 
time  would  have  given  much  to  possess,  and 
which  it  pursued  unsuccessfully  across 
France  and  Spain,  were  this  week  added  to 
the  nation's  key  collection  campaign  when 
Phil  Reisman,  vice-president  of  RKO  Radio 
Pictures  in  charge  of  foreign  distribution, 
made  the  contribution  in  his  company's  be- 
half. 

The  seven  keys,  four  of  which  are  of  un- 
usual and  complicated  design,  are  from  the 
company's  Paris  offices.  They  were  taken 
out  of  Paris  less  than  24  hours  before  the 
Germans  marched  into  the  French  capital. 
They  were  carried  here  by  Vladimir  Lissim, 
formerly  assistant  to  the  company's  Euro- 
pean general  manager,  and  now  attached  to 
the  home  office  in  our  RKO  Building  in 
Radio  City. 

While  Lissim  was  fleeing  to  the  south  of 
France  with  the  keys,  which  were  the  only 
ones  that  could  open  the  company's  film 
vaults  and  the  steel  safes  that  held  the  rec- 
ords, the  Gestapo,  discovering  his  escape, 
took  up  the  chase.  Twice  he  was  near  cap- 
ture, but  with  the  help  of  loyal  Frenchmen 
he  managed  to  elude  his  pursuers  and  finally 
get  to  Spain  from  whence  he  took  ship  for 
New  York.  Later,  Lissim  learned  through 
underground  channels  that  the  Germans, 
unable  to  open  the  locks,  were  forced  to  cut 
through  the  hard  steel  doors  with  electric 
blow  torches. 

V 

Bob  Hope  reported  back  to  the  Samuel  Gold- 
wyn  Studio  in  Hollywood,  last  Saturday,  for 
three  added  scenes  for  "They  Got  Me  Covered," 
after  a  16,000-ww7^  Alaskan  trip  which  brought 
him  to  within  250  miles  of  Kiska.  He  went 
north  to  entertain  the  service  men  at  far-flung 
army  and  navy  posts. 

His  worst  experience  came  when  his  army 
air  transport  took  off  from  Nome  with  a  clear 
weather  report  and  encountered  a  severe  hail- 
storm. Twenty  minutes  after  leaving  the  field 
one  radio  went  out  and  the  pilot  lost  the  beam. 
Flying  only  by  map  and  compass  amid  tower- 
ing mountain  peaks  invisible  in  the  storm,  the 
pilot  ordered  his  passengers  to  put  on  para- 
chutes and  life  belts.  After  sotne  hours  in  the 
air,  during  which  the  party  expected  momen- 
tarily to  be  ordered  to  jump,  the  pilot  managed 
to  return  to  the  field.  Beams  of  powerful 
searchlights  enabled  him  to  land. 

V 

Curt  warning  of  coming  bombardment  of 
their  industrial  areas  by  American  planes,  is 
being  transmitted  to  inhabitants  of  occupied 
France  by  NBC  U.  S.  short  wave  stations, 
WNBI  and  WRCA,  at  the  request  of  the 
United  States  Army  High  Command.  The 
warning  is  directed  to  all  French  persons 
living  within  two  kilometers  of  any  automo- 
bile factory  converted  to  German  war  use, 
especially  those  making  or  repairing  tanks, 
vehicles,  locomotives  or  firearms  and  chemi- 
cal plants,  and  to  those  living  within  the 
same  distance  of  railroad  stations,  shipyards, 
submarine  bases  or  German  troop  concen- 
trations. 

V 

Serious  conversation  between  two  song-plun- 
gers actually  overheard  in  the  elevator  of  the 
RKO-Radio  Building,  New  York: 

"Hello,  Joe.   How  are  you?" 

"Vm  okay." 

"How's  Harry?" 

"Oh,  Harry  died  three  months  ago." 
"Tsch,  tsch.  Well,  Harry  always  was  a  heavy 
breather." 


JOHN  PAYNE 


CESAR  ROMERO 


cam 


■ 


CHARLOTTE  GREENWOOD  •  EDWARD  EVERETT  HORTON 

FRANK  ORTH  •  JACKIE  GLEASON 

Directed  by  IRVING  CUMMINGS   •    Produced  by  WILLIAM  Le  BARON 

Screen  Play  by  Walter  Bullock  and  Ken  Englund  •  Adaptation  by  Jacques  Thery 
Lyrics  and  Music  by  Mack  Gordon  and  Harry  Warren  •  Dances  Staged  by  Hermes  Pai 


I. . .  AIMING  FOR 


ET'S  DO  OUR  BOND  SELLING  JOB  ON  SCRAP 


44 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


England  Unfreezing 
40  to  50  Millions 


Transfer  of  Blocked  Funds 
Expected  To  Be  Finished 
by  October  24th 

An  agreement  finally  has  been  reached 
by  American  distributors  with  the  Brit- 
ish Government  for  the  release  of 
blocked  sterling  balances  of  between  $40,- 
000,000  and  $50,000,000  belonging  to  the 
American  motion  picture  companies.  The 
transfer  of  the  blocked  funds  is  expect- 
ed to  be  accomplished  on  or  before  Oc- 
tober 24th  when  the  currency  agreement 
expires. 

Official  announcement  of  the  completion 
of  the  agreement  was  expected  with  arrival 
from  London  of  R.  C.  G.  Somervell,  under- 
secretary of  the  British  Board  of  Trade. 

Mr.  Somervell,  who  headed  the  Board's 
film  division,  and  in  that  capacity  was  in- 
strumental in  closing  the  agreement,  has 
been  appointed  to  a  new  semi-permanent 
post  in  Washington  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 
He  will  have  charge  of  all  the  Board  af- 
fairs in  America. 

Mr.  Somervell  spent  a  month  in  New 
York,  Washington  and  Hollywood  before 
returning  to  London  three  weeks  ago  to 
complete  the  new  exchange  agreement.  Un- 
der it,  the  American  industry  presumably 
will  be  authorized  to  withdraw  all  of  its 
frozen  revenue  in  Britain,  estimated  at  $40,- 
000,000  to  $50,000,000,  and  will  be  permit- 
ted to  make  unrestricted  remittances  from 
Britain  in  the  future. 

See  Important  Effect 
On  Company  Profits 

This  will  have  an  important  effect  upon 
earnings  because  the  industry  has  been  set- 
ting up  reserves  out  of  income  for  the  past 
several  years  against  their  blocked  profits, 
which  now  will  not  be  required. 

Loew's,  Inc.,  will  receive  the  largest  cash 
remittance,  with  a  payment  of  between  eight 
and  10  million.  Paramount  will  receive 
about  seven  million,  giving  the  company 
total  cash  in  the  United  States  of  over  $22,- 
000,000.  Twentieth  Century-Fox  expects 
to  receive  about  seven  million  and  Colum- 
bia about  two  million.  RKO  already  has 
received  remittances. 

The  amounts  involved  are  approximate 
because  of  British  taxes  which  must  be  de- 
ducted and  the  working  capital  funds  that 
may  be  left  in  Britain. 

May  Ease  Restrictions 
In  Empire  Markets 

Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  war  and  before 
arrangements  for  lend-lease  shipment  of  war 
supplies  to  Great  Britain  were  made,  the 
British  Government  blocked  the  transfer  of 
the  large  income  of  American  companies 
from  film  rentals.  This  ran  as  high  as  35 
per  cent  of  the  annual  gross  income  of  some 
producers  and  when  it  was  cut  off  earn- 
ings were  sharply  curtailed. 

About  one-third  of  the  income  was  re- 
leased in  the  first  year.  A  year  ago  Ameri- 
cap  companies  were  allowed  to  transfer  50 


per  cent  of  their  blocked  balances  and  to 
bring  over  50  per  cent  of  current  income. 
Now  they  will  be  allowed  to  take  out  all  of 
their  remaining  balances  and  current  in- 
come as  it  accrues. 

The  agreement  is  expected  by  export  de- 
partment executives  to  have  considerable 
influence  in  liberalizing  the  current  mone- 
tary restrictions  now  in  force  in  other  im- 
portant markets  of  the  British  Empire,  such 
as  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

The  restrictions  on  remittances  which 
have  been  in  force  in  those  countries  since 
the  outbreak  of  war  were  patterned  after  the 
London  agreement,  but  during  the  current 
year  they  were  less  liberal  than  those  initi- 
ated in  London  a  year  ago.  For  that  rea- 
son, the  new  agreements  with  those  coun- 
tries might  not  follow  the  new  London  pat- 
ern  completely. 


Burger,  Wallace  in 
Pittsburgh  Posts 

Henry  Burger  has  succeeded  J.  K.  Robert- 
son as  assistant  publicity  and  advertising  man- 
ager at  Warner  Theatres  Tri-State  area  head- 
quarters in  Pittsburgh.  Mr.  Robertson  is  on  an 
indefinite  leave  of  absence  due  to  illness  which 
has  kept  him  from  his  office  the  last  four 
month.  Mr.  Burger  formerly  was  manager  of 
the  Smoot  theatre,  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.  Mit- 
chell DeGroot  continues  as  aide  to  advertis- 
ign-publicity  manager  James  M.  Totman. 

Fred  Wallace,  former  film  advance  exploi- 
tation agent,  is  the  new  press  agent  and  as- 
sistant for  "John  Walsh,  manager  of  Shea's 
Fulton  theatre  in  Pittsburgh.  The  post  was 
vacant  for  some  time,  following  the  death  of 
Owen  Cleary. 


Form  Theatre  Company 

The  Essenque  Theatre  Enterprises,  Inc., 
Waterbury,  has  filed  a  certificate  of  organiza- 
tion with  the  Connecticut  Secretary  of  State, 
naming  Robert  M.  Schwartz,  operator  of  the 
Park  Playhouse,  Thomaston,  as  president,  Wil- 
liam A.  Sirica,  now  in  the  service,  as  vice- 
president,  Fred  Quatrano,  as  treasurer  and  sec- 
retary. The  corporation  operates  the  Hamil- 
ton. 


Leaves  Warner  Exchange 

Harry  Rothlein  has  resigned  as  head  of  the 
poster  department  at  the  Warner  Cleveland  ex- 
change to  take  a  similar  post  at  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  exchange  there.  He  succeeds 
Joseph  Bernstein,  who  has  entered  war  work. 
David  Yellen,  formerly  Mr.  Rothlein's  assistant 
at  Warners,  succeeds  him  at  that  office. 


Union  Reelects  Brazil 

George  Brazil  has  been  reelected  president  of 
the  Connecticut  Association  of  the  International 
Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees'  oper- 
ators. Other  reelected  officers  are  Charles 
North,  vice-president,  and  John  S.  O'Connell, 
secretary  and  treasurer. 


To  Increase  Prices 

Albert  A.  Moffa,  manager  of  the  Park  the- 
atre, Allentown,  Pa.,  announced  that  admission 
prices  will  be  raised  from  25  to  28  cents  upon 
reopening  of  the  house  next  month.  The  Park 
closed  for  a  complete  renovation  and  repair  job. 


Theatres  Aiding 
Juvenile  Drive 
In  Indianapolis 

Indianapolis  neighborhood  theatres  are  co- 
operating with  Sheriff  Al  G.  Feeney  in  a  pro- 
gram designed  to  help  meet  the  juvenile  delin- 
quency problem. 

Theatre  men  said  they  had  the  problem  under 
consideration  even  before  Sheriff  Feeney  ap- 
peared before  the  War  Activities  Committee 
with  a  plea  for  their  support.  Following  his 
visit  it  was  announced  that  trailers  will  be 
screened  asking  cooperation  of  parents  to  keep 
unaccompanied  children  out  of  the  theatres  at 
late  hours  and  asking  children  who  are  un- 
accompanied by  an  adult  to  leave  when  the 
show  is  over. 

The  sheriff's  statement  to  the  local  War  Ac- 
tivities Committee,  which  is  headed  by  Ken- 
neth Collins,  manager  of  the  Indiana,  said: 

"The  problem  of  juveniles  who  remain  in 
neighborhood  theatres  until  near  midnight  has 
become  so  acute  that  your  help  and  cooperation 
is  sought. 

"I  realize  that  the  problem  with  you  is  how 
to  get  children  out  of  theatres  at  a  reasonable 
hour  when  the  youngsters  are  not  accompanied 
by  adults.  I  realize,  too,  that  the  child  who 
enters  a  show  at  six,  and  remains  until  the 
last  flicker  at  midnight,  represents  a  financial 
loss  to  you  because  hundreds  of  seats  are  occu- 
pied through  several  shows  for  which  you  get 
no  revenue. 

"My  interest,  however,  is  in  the  moral  and 
not  the  financial  problem,  for  case  after  case  of 
juvenile  delinquency  has  been  traced  to  neigh- 
borhood theatres,  because  of  the  children's  ac- 
tions after  leaving  the  shows  at  a  late  hour,  or 
because  of  their  conduct  while  in  the  theatre. 

"Our  mutual  problem,  therefore,  is  two-fold : 
Most  important  is  the  job  of  getting  unaccom- 
panied children  out  of  theatres  at  a  reasonable 
hour,  especially  now  that  school  is  in  session. 
There  is  also  the  matter  of  better  supervision 
while  the  child  is  entrusted  to  your  care." 

Seek  Wisconsin  Curfew 

Sentiment  is  growing  in  Wisconsin  cities  for 
curfews  to  protect  the  young  folks.  Two  towns 
— La  Crosse  and  Madison — already  have  enact- 
ed ordinances  for  that  purpose  and  it  is  believed 
likely  others  will  follow. 

In  La  Crosse,  no  person  18  years  of  age  or 
under  may  be  upon  the  city  streets  between 
10  P.M.  and  5  A.M.  unless  accompanied  by  a 
parent  or  guardian  or  in  lawful  custody  of  an- 
other person,  or  unless  on  an  errand  with  per- 
mission of  such  guardian  or  parents  or  going 
to  or  from  work. 

The  Madison  ordinance  requires  that  all  chil- 
dren under  17  years  of  age  be  off  the  streets  by 
10  P.M. 


Open  Two  Theatres 


Mansfield,  La.,  has  two  new  theatres,  to  bring 
the  total  of  that  community  to  three.  The 
Mansfield,  owned  by  Wilton  Smith,  also  opera- 
tor of  the  New,  opened  on  September  10th. 
The  Victory  owned  by  Southern  Amusement 
Company,  opened  more  recently.  Both  are 
500-seat  houses. 


Tibbetts  Acquires  House 

Walter  E.  Tibbetts  has  bought  the  Crest 
theatre,  Portland,  Ore.,  from  William  Graeper. 
It  is  a  leading  suburban  house. 


Denton  Joins  Navy 

Bud  Denton,  of  the  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 
exchange  in  Seattle,  has  been  inducted  into  the 
Navy.    He  was  given  a  farewell  party. 


October    17,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  45 


CANADIANS  SPLIT  ON  "BASIC 
CONTRACT"  IN  WAR  ORDER 


See  Degree  of  Government 
Control  Hinging  on  In- 
terpretation of  Clause 

by  W.  M.  GLADISH 

in  Toronto 

One  clause  in  the  recently  enacted 
Canadian  Government's  Administrator's 
Order  No.  A-398,  respecting  the  rental 
and  exhibition  of  motion  pictures  under 
the  Wartime  Prices  and  Trade  Board, 
which  has  probably  caused  more  discus- 
sion and  controversy  than  any  of  the 
other  provisions  of  the  "new  order,"  is 
that  defining  "basic  contract." 

On  that  official  interpretation  hinges  a 
considerable  proportion  of  Government 
control  of  the  film  trade  and  of  the  oper- 
ation of  theatres.  Some  exhibitors  and 
distributors  have  put  their  own  meaning 
into  the  order  with  little  knowledge  of 
the  official  language  contained  in  the 
Government  notice  which  has  been  pub- 
lished by  the  Federal  authorities  for  the 
guidance  of  all  concerned.  The  clause, 
which  is  really  self-explanatory,  is  as 
follows : 

"Basic  Contract  means  and  includes  a  contract 
between  a  distributor  and  an  exhibitor  for  the 
rental  of  not  less  than  six  feature  products  of 
the  1940-41  releasing  period,  and  a  contract 
made  prior  to  October  12,  1941,  between  a  dis- 
tributor and  an  exhibitor  for  the  rental  of  not 
less  than  six  feature  products  of  the  1941-42 
releasing  period,  and  a  contract  made  at  any- 
time between  a  distributor  and  an  exhibitor  for 
the  rental  of  not  less  than  six  feature  products 
of  the  1941-42  releasing  period  in  pursuance  of 
an  order  of  or  with  the  approval  of  the  Admin- 
istrator. 

1941-42  Contract 
1  Has  Priority 

"It  is  provided,  however,  that  a  contract  for 
|  product  of  the  1940-41  releasing  period  shall  not 
'  be  a  basic  contract  if  there  exists  another  con- 
|'  tract  made  prior  to  October  12,  1941,  between 
the  same  distributor  and  the  same  or  another 
exhibitor  for  not  less  than  six  feature  products 
i-  of  the  1941-42  releasing  period  and  dealing  with 
the  corresponding  product  in  the  same  run  and 
in  the  same  zone  as  those  dealt  with  in  the  said 
;  contract  for  the  1940-41  releasing  period;  and 
provided,  further,  that  any  contract  which  con- 
.  flicts  with  a  contract  made  in  pursuance  of  an 
j  order  of  and/or  with  the  approval  of  the  Ad- 
;  ministrator  shall  not  be  a  basic  contract  for 
!  the  purposes  of  this  order." 

This  shows  that  a  contract  for  1941-42  prod- 
uct, if  entered  into  before  October  12th  last 
year,  has  priority  over  a  similar  rental  agree- 
:  ment  for  the  1940-41  season  in  the  considerations 
;  of  the  Board.   It  has  been  difficult  for  a  number 
of  unaffiliated  exhibitors  to  accept  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  clause  that  any  contract  for 
1941-42,    made    before    the    date    limit,  has 
i  precedence  over  the  one  for  the  previous  year. 

A  few  of  the  exhibitors  who  accept  the  point 
!  are  inclined  to  the  view  that  this  provision  is 

«of  material  benefit  to  the  distributor  in  that 
the  latter  obtained  better  prices  for  his  films 
last  year  than  in  1940-41  and  also  an  advantage 
i  to  the  theatre  circuits  which  concluded  their 
contracts  before  October  12,  1941,  thereby  prob- 


CANADA  NAVY  FILMS 
NO  THEATRE  THREAT 

Special  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
film  service  of  the  Royal  Canadian 
Navy  is  being  made  to  avoid  "com- 
petition with  theatre  owners,"  if  was 
disclosed  last  week  by  Lt.  David 
Rubin,  a  former  Ottawa  exhibitor  who 
is  now  with  the  RON  in  charge  of  16 
and  35  mm  film  showings  on  Cana- 
dian warships  and  in  Naval  bases. 
Lt.  Rubin  told  the  annual  meeting  of 
Allied  Exhibitors  in  Halifax  last 
Wednesday  that  the  Navy's  job  of 
furnishing  projection  equipment  and 
films  where  it  needs  them  does  not 
compete  with  privately  owned  the- 
atres. 

Henry  Fa  Ik  of  Toronto,  president  of 
the  National  Council  of  Independent 
Exhibitors  of  Canada,  reported  at  the 
meeting  that  the  Council  is  seeking 
deferment  for  projectionists,  and  is 
working  to  reduce  the  time  for  ap- 
prenticeships and  to  permit  women  in 
projection  booths. 


ably  obtaining  basic  status  for  pictures  which 
they  did  not  have  in  1940-41 — or  if  they  did  not 
get  the  films  for  last  season  can  still  go  back 
to  1940-41  for  a  basis  of  contract  with  previous 
distributors,  thus  giving  the  circuits  a  strong 
hold  both  ways. 

The  original  order,  effective  September  21st, 
already  has  been  "amended"  by  a  supplementary 
direction  to  the  effect  that  those  exhibitors 
which  had  a  premium  policy  during  the  basic 
period  September  16  to  October  11,  1941,  or 
during  the  month  of  August,  1942,  can  switch 
to  some  other  form  of  giveaway  or  patronage 
attraction,  if  desired,  with  the  exception  of 
ceramic  products,  such  as  dishes,  tableware  and 
kitchenware,  on  which  there  is  a  total  and  per- 
manent ban  as  theatre  premiums  as  of  Sep- 
tember 30th. 

This  has  opened  the  way  for  exhibitors,  who 
had  featured  ceramic  products  up  to  the  end  of 
September,  to  turn  to  Foto-Nite,  for  which  the 
manufacture  of  any  commodity  is  not  involved 
and  which  does  not  require  factory  manpower 
to  produce.  Some  exhibitors  already  have  been 
glad  to  take  advantage  of  this  concession,  not 
only  because  of  the  ban  on  chinaware  but  be- 
cause of  growing  difficulties  in  the  matter  of 
supplies  and  shipping. 

Canada  Film  Board 
Expands  16mm.  Plans 

by  PAT  DONOVAN 

m  Montreal 

A  half-million  Canadians,  living  in  isolated, 
rural  sections,  constitute  the  potential  audience 
for  the  intensified  efforts  of  the  Dominion  Gov- 
ernment's National  Film  Board,  when  its 
augmented  fleet  of  mobile  16  mm.  theatres  goes 
into  operation  this  season. 

Use  of  the  motion  picture  as  a  means  of  story- 
telling in  isolated  rural  sectors  of  Canada,  came 


to  pass  in  January,  1942,  when  the  National 
Film  Board  put  into  nationwide  service  a  large 
number  of  mobile  16  mm  theatres,  which  now 
serve  small  villages  and  country  cross-roads. 
These  mobile  film  units  also  are  an  exciting 
new  development  in  community  life.  The  objects 
behind  them,  of  course,  are  to  show  by  visual 
means  the  story  of  Canada  and  the  United  Na- 
tions to  those  areas  of  rural  Canada  which  are 
far  removed  from  the  theatres  of  the  market 
towns,  and  secondly,  to  stimulate  sustained  in- 
terest in  the  war  among  large  settlements  of 
Ukrainians,  Germans  and  Scandinavians  in 
Western  Canada. 

By  June  of  this  year,  45  traveling  theatres, 
using  16  mm  portable  projectors,  were  in  opera- 
tion under  Film  Board  direction  from  Vancouver 
to  Nova  Scotia.  Work  in  this  regard  has 
proved  so  popular  with  the  peoples  visited  that 
the  Office  of  Public  Information,  which  financed 
the  project,  has  increased  the  budget  for  its 
continuance.  It  is  believed  that  about  65  mobile 
theatres  will  be  in  operation  before  Christmas. 

These  nomad  theatres  operate  on  circuits, 
each  one  of  which  serves  regularly  20  different 
centers.  Projectionists  get  to  remote  districts 
by  train,  by  automobile,  and  during  snowstorms, 
by  sled.  Where  electric  power  is  not  available, 
portable  generating  units  are  used. 

Mobile  Programs 
Are  Varied 

One  of  the  first  films  shown  to  rural  audiences 
by  traveling  units  was  "Peoples  of  Canada." 
There  then  followed  programs  about  the  Com- 
monwealth Air  Training  Plan,  the  Navy  in 
action  and  Canadian  armament  production.  Dur- 
ing the  current  month  "Forward  Commandos" 
and  "Food,  Weapon  of  Conquest"  will  be  used. 
Also,  in  addition  to  the  Film  Board's  own  pro- 
ductions, a  selection  of  the  best  among  the 
available  United  States,  United  Kingdom,  and 
Australian  films,  are  chosen  for  the  screenings. 

During  the  coming  season  cinemas  will  be 
distributed  approximately  as  follows :  British 
Columbia,  five ;  Alberta,  10  ;  Saskatchewan,  16 ; 
Manitoba,  seven ;  Ontario,  eight ;  Quebec,  eight ; 
New  Brunswick,  four;  Nova  Scotia,  four; 
Prince  Edward  Island,  one.  Many  Canadian 
organizations  and  industrial  concerns  are  now 
beginning  to  help  the  Film  Board  finance  addi- 
tional circuits. 

Units  Operated 
At  Low  Cost 

The  Canadian  Council  of  Education  for 
Citizenship  assists  the  Film  Board  by  printing 
program  notes  each  month  with  discussion  out- 
lines attached.  It  is  hoped  that  through  audience 
participation  and  response,  these  film  showings 
may  be  turned  into  a  Canadian  equivalent  of 
the  historic  New  England  "town  meetings," 
where  the  village  folk  were  accustomed  to  meet 
once  a  month  to  discuss  their  affairs  in  open 
forum. 

The  administration  charges  are  low  because 
the  agents  employed  are  usually  lent  by  uni- 
versities and  departments  of  education,  and  do 
not  receive  salaries  but  only  out-of-pocket  ex- 
penses, or  sometimes  a  small  honorarium  from 
the  Film  Board. 

These  men,  however,  have  been  expertly 
trained  in  film  service,  and  are  able  to  pick 
competent  projectionists  and  supervise  their 
work  with  a  minimum  of  error.  A  survey  of 
the  cost  of  operations  last  season  indicated  that 
the  average  ratio  of  cost  to  attendance  figures, 
was  five  cents  per  person  per  showing.  It  is 
expected  that  the  cost  during  the  coming  season 
will  be  even  less. 


46 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 


The  newsreel  is  the  medium  through 
which  the  facts  of  the  fighting  now  go- 
ing on  may  be  conveyed  to  the  public 
with  a  maximum  of  effectivness,  and  the 
feature  picture  dealing  with  the  war  is 
at  its  best  when  depicting  the  effect  of 
the  conflict  upon  the  people  and  their 
lives,  in  the  opinion  of  William  A.  Seiter, 
engaged  now  in  preparation  of  his  first 
film  concerned  with  the  nation's  armed 
forces. 

The  opinion  of  Mr.  Seiter,  it  is  to  be 
noted,  is  of  a  seasoning  matched  by  few 
others.  He's  been  directing  pictures  since 
1915.  "Destroyer,"  the  undertaking  for  Col- 
umbia which  he  is  preparing  for  the 
cameras,  will  be  his  119th  feature,  if  his 
file  of  records  is  as  complete  as  he  hopes 
it  may  be,  but  isn't  sure.  Anyone  who's 
been  paying  attention  to  the  screen  for  even 
a  fraction  of  his  27  years  on  the  production 
line  knows  he's  learned  about  all  the  kinds 
of  pictures  there  are  by  directing  them. 

It  is  by  no  means  the  Seiter  view,  as  it 
has  been  that  of  some  other  directors,  that 
the  public  in  wartime  wants  escapism  and 
nothing  else  on  its  screen.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  believes  the  public  wants,  and 
will  insist  upon  having,  a  look  at  the  war 
in  all  its  aspects.  But  it  wants,  he  holds, 
the  real  thing,  the  genuine  and  first  hand 
facts,  good  or  bad,  precisely  as  they  are 
and  not  as  approximated  by  professionals 
according  to  scripts.  When  it  has  had  this 
look  at  the  reality  in  its  newsreel,  he  says, 
the  public  is  disposed  to  look  to  the  feature 
picture  for  that  other  and  whatever  thing 
it  may  provide. 

"Destroyer,"  according  to  the  man  who 
is  going  to  direct  it,  will  be  a  picture  about 
the  people  in  it.  They  will  be  people  in  or 
related  to  the  Navy  and  in  particular  to  the 
destroyer.  There  will  be  a  destroyer  in  it, 
a  real  one,  and  there  will  be  one  battle,  as 
realistic  as  possible,  but  the  boat  and  the 
battle  will  pertain  to  the  story  being  told 
about  the  people,  not,  as  so  often  has  been 
the  case,  vice  versa. 


Disney  Finishing 
Four  War  Films 

Four  Walt  Disney  shorts  rounding  to- 
ward completion  at  the  laugh-maker's  Bur- 
bank  plant  address  themselves  to  the  busi- 
ness of  building  morale  while  amusing  the 
customers.  All  are  for  release  on  RKO 
Radio's  1942-43  schedule  and  none  are  to 
sacrifice  humour,  but  rather  the  contrary, 
in  the  public  interest. 

Topping  the  list  is  "Education  for 
Death,"  a  cartoon  version  of  Gregor  Zim- 
mer's  best-seller,  which  was  published  in 
condensation  by  Reader's  Digest,  and  which 
is  coincidentally  in  production  as  a  feature 
picture  at  RKO  Radio  under  the  title  of 
"Hitler's  Children." 

The  second  is  "Der  Fuehrer's  Face,"  pre- 
viously mentioned  under  title  of  "Donald 


MCM  SHOOTING  TEN 

With  start  of  "Gentle  Annie,"  an  outdoor  action  feature  presenting  Robert  Taylor, 
Susan  Peters,  Robert  Sterling,  Van  Johnson  and  Spring  Byington,  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 
had  10  pictures  in  shooting  stage  at  the  close  of  a  week  which  witnessed  completion  of 
nine  and  starting  of  six  to  bring  the  Hollywood  production  index  to  43. 

Next  busiest  lot  was  Universal,  where  seven  pictures  were  in  work;  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  holding  third  position,  with  six  shooting,  and  Warners  next  with  five.  No  sign  of  the 
frequently  rumored  slowdown  of  production  was  anywhere  in  evidence. 

The  scene  at  the  weekend: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

Power  of  the  Press 
Robin  Hood  of  the 
Range 

Monogram 

Rhythm  Parade 
Dead  Man's  Trail 

RKO  Radio 

Tarazan  Triumphs 

Republic 

Sundown  Kid 

Secrets  of  the  Under- 
ground 

Riding  Down  the  Can- 
yon. 

20th-Fox 

My  Friend  Flicka 

STARTED 

Columbia 

Outlaw  Busters 


MGM 

Gentle  Annie 
Monogram 

Beyond  the  Great  Di- 
vide 

PRC 

Payoff 

Queen  of  Broadway 
Republic 

Mountain  Rhythm 

Warners 

Forty  Whacks 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

Merry-Go-Round 

MGM 

Nothing  Ventured 
Cabin  in  the  Sky 
DuBarry  Was  a  Lady 


Assignment    in  Brit- 
tany 
Human  Comedy 
Three  Cheers  for  Julia 
Lassie  Come  Home 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 

Monogram 

Little  Mobsters 
Silver  Skates 

Paramount 

True  to  Life 
For  Whom  the  Bell 
Tolls 

PRC 

Lady  from  Chungking 

RKO  Radio 

Great  Gildersleeve 
Flight  for  Freedom 
Hitler's  Children 

Chas.  Rogers 

Powers  Girl 


20th-Fox 

Chetnik* 
Dixie  Dugan 
Immortal  Sergeant 
Crash  Dive 
Coney  Island 
Margin  for  Error 

Universal 

Pittsburgh 

Shadow  of  a  Doubt 

Nightmare 

Corvettes  in  Action 

Forever  Yours 

When  Johnny  Comes 

Home 
It  Ain't  Hay 

Warners 

Action  in  the  North 

Atlantic 
Edge  of  Darkness 
Air  Force 

Background  to  Danger 

*  Formerly  "Seventh 
Column" 


Duck  in  Naziland,"  which  satirizes  living 
conditions  in  Germany  as  experienced  by 
Donald  Duck  in  a  dream. 

The  third  is  "Chicken  Liddle,"  which 
points  up  the  danger  inherent  in  loose  talk 
and  repetition  of  rumor,  and  the  fourth, 
"Emotion  and  Reason,"  argues  against 
yielding  to  pressures  which  have  no  root  in 
logic. 

Kent  Taylor  and  Marcel  D'Alio,  French 
player  seen  in  "Pied  Piper,"  have  been  given 
term  contracts  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
Sol  Lesser  has  signed  Frank  Borzage  to 
direct  "Stage  Door  Canteen"  for  United 
Artists  release.  Ann  Sheridan  and  Hum- 
phrey Bogart  are  to  be  co-starred  in  War- 
ners' "Night  Shift,"  Maretta  Wolff  novel, 
which  Benjamin  Glaser  will  produce. 

Universal  Buys  Play 
For  Abbott  and  Costello 

Universal  has  bought  "See  My  Lawyer," 
1939  Broadway  stage  play,  as  a  vehicle  for 
Abbott  and  Costello.  John  Boles  has  been 
signed  by  MGM  for  a  role  in  "Private  Miss 
Jones."  Following  audience  reaction  to 
Carmen  Miranda's  performance  in  "Spring- 
time in  the  Rockies,"  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  has  assigned  three  writers  to  prepara- 
tion of  a  musical  in  which  to  star  her. 

Edward  Sedgwick  is  to  direct  Laurel  and 
Hardy  in  "Air  Raid  Wardens"  for  MGM. 


Helmut  Dantine,  the  Nazi  flier  captured 
by  the  heroine  in  "Mrs.  Miniver,"  has  been 
added  to  the  cast  of  "Mission  to  Moscow" 
by  Warners.  William'  Bendix,  brought  to 
prominence  by  his  role  in  "Wake  Island," 
has  been  assigned  to  the  cast  of  Paramount's 
"Star  Spangled  Rhythm,"  completed  some 
time  ago  except  for  a  sequence  featuring 
Bob  Hope,  which  is  still  to  be  shot  and  into 
which  the  newcomer  will  be  put.  Nigel 
Bruce  has  joined  the  cast  of  MGM's  "Lassie 
Come  Home." 

William  Nigh  to 
Direct  Six  for  PRC 

Ilona  Massey  and  Patric  Knowles  will 
play  the  romantic  leads  in  Universal's  "Wolf 
Man  Meets  Frankenstein"  featuring  Lon 
Chaney.  Rex  Bell  has  replaced  Tim  Mc- 
Coy, recalled  to  military  duty,  in  Mono- 
gram's "Beyond  the  Great  Divide."  Wil- 
liam Nigh  has  been  signed  by  Producers 
Releasing  Corporation  to  direct  six  pictures 
Columbia  has  bought  "The  Queen  Was  in 
the  Kitchen,"  by  Marion  Spitzer  and  Mil- 
ton Merlin,  "Concertina,"  by  Frederick 
Kolmer  and  Lieut.  John  Huston,  and  "Once 
a  Woman,"  by  Sidney  Skolsky.  Barton 
MacLane  and  John  Miljan  have  joined  the 
cast  of  RKO  Radio's  "Bombardier,"  star- 
ring Pat  O'Brien,  Randolph  Scott,  Anne 
Shirley,  Walter  Reed  and  Eddie  Albert. 


-Vour  Pass  %  to  PROFITS 


BRIAN  DONLEVy 

jt£S  90V**' 

VERONICA  LAKE 

MJSS  a****' 


ALAN  LADD 


A  Paramount  Picture  with 


William  Bendix  •  Bon 
Granville  •  Richard  Denn 

Joseph  Calleia  •  Directed  by  Stuart  H 

Screen  Play  by  Jonathan  Latimer    •  Based 
Novel  by  Dashiell  Hammett 


ANOTHER  RECORD 


_B„STE»  FROM  THE  PARAMOUNT  COMPj 


October    17,  1942 

Incorporate  12 
In  New  York 

Incorporation  of  12  motion  picture  enterprises 
this  month  was  announced  by  Michael  F. 
Walsh,  secretary  of  State  for  New  York.  They 
are :  , 

Ella  Movie  Corporation,  Brooklyn,  theatres, 
200  shares,  by  Samuel  Turchin,  filing  attorney, 
Joseph  Mendelson  and  John  S.  Zvirin,  1799  Pit- 
kin Avenue,  Brooklyn ; 

Adams-Williams  Corporation.  200  shares,  by 
Wilson  A.  Williams,  Elizabeth  Adams  Williams 
and  Roslyn  Phillips,  New  York; 

Potemkdn  Productions.  Inc.,  by  Edmund  W. 
Bokat,  Jacob  Davis  and  Bella  Zavod,  filed  by 
Jahr  &  Leeds,  10  East  43rd  Street,  New  York ; 

Hobal  Productions,  Inc.,  by  S.  B.  Molloy, 
M.  C.  Monahan  and  Sylvia  Rohm,  filed  by 
O'Brien,  Driscoll  &  Raftery,  152  West  42nd 
Street,  New  York; 

Sunset  Film  Corp.,  films  for  motion  picture  ma- 
chines, 100  shares,  by  James  F.  Doyle,  Clarence 
A.  Hastings,  Jr.,  and  George  G.  Shiva,  115 
Broadway.  New  York,  Shiva  filing ; 

J&W  Enterprises,  Inc.,  200  shares,  by  Max 
Rosenberg,  Manus  Eliasoff  and  Rose  Fields, 
302  Broadway,  S.  Robert  Zimmerman,  same 
address,  filing ; 

MacArthur  Theatre,  Inc.,  Manhattan,  200 
shares,  by  William  Neudorfer,  520  West  11th 
Street.  New  York,  Harold  M.  Zinn,  2321  East 
17th  Street,  and  Rose  Krumholz,  1481  Sterling 
Place,  Brooklvn;  with  Bernard  Pollak,  515 
Madison  Avenue,  New  York,  filing ; 

Apex  Film  Corp.,  Manhattan,  100  shares,  no 
par  value,  by  Betty  Black,  Florence  Whitman 
md  Virginia  McCullough,  729  Seventh  Avenue 
New  York,  papers  filed  by  Irving  Moross,  1450  , 
Broadway,  New  York; 

Lincoln  Jay.  Inc..  Rochester,  200  shares,  by 
>Y.  R.  Moore,  G.  C.  Moore,  both  of  Rochester, 
tnd  A.  Irving  Milch  (filing  attorney),  Buffalo; 

Billings  Enterprises,  Inc.,  200  shares,  direc- 
ors  of  record  being  Betty  Loeb,  Rose  Elfant 
and  Harold  Chase,  233  Broadway,  same  ad- 
Iress  as  that  of  the  filing  attorney,  David  Fine; 

Fisk  Operating  Corp.,  Manhattan.  200  shares, 
I'urray  Kalik,  filing  attorney,  Harry  Rosen- 
i  trs  and  William  Gitnick,  1501  Broadwav,  New 
[fork; 

I  Resident  Theatre  Corp.,  Bronx.  200  shares  of 
I  tock.  by  Samuel  Tullman.  Leo  M.  Wieder  and 
I .  William  Reisman,  1450  Broadway.  New  York, 
B-ith  papers  filed  by  Philip  B.  Geldzahler. 
|  Papers  of  dissolution  were  filed  by  Yillebron 
fl'heatre  Corp.,  originally  filed  by  Nicholas  Lam- 
I'adakis,  19  West  44th  Street,  New  York;  for 
I'ydbar  Theatre  Corporation,  originallv  filed  bv 
T.  Theatres,  Inc..  138  West  42nd  Street,  and 
l|ir  Irving  Caesar  Productions.  Inc..  originally 
Lied  by  William  Seligson,  500  Fifth  Avenue, 
I  ew  York. 


lead  War  Chest  Drive 

Paul  E.  Glase,  manager  of  Wilmer  &  Vin- 

nt  theatres  in  Reading,  Pa.,  and  Lester  E. 

allman,  manager  of  the  H.  J.  Schad  houses 
that  city,  were  named  chairman  of  the 

eatre  division  for  the  War  Chest  campaign  to 
I  conducted  there  from  November  5th  to  19th 
behalf  of   11   war   relief  agencies.  Both 

2atre  men  have  been  active  in  community  af- 
tlirs,  particularly  in  recent  months  in  the 
[  satres'  drive  for  the  sale  of  War  Bonds. 


jins  Warner  Theatre 

\  incent  Palmeri.  news  broadcaster  for  station 
r,  ELI  in  New  Haven  for  the  past  four  years. 
1 1  week  resigned  to  join  Warner  theatres  at 

:  Roger  Sherman  in  that  city. 


elsey  at  Columbia 

irwin  Gelsey,  recently  signed  by  Columbia 
rtures  as  a  producer,  has  arrived  at  the  stu- 
s  to  prepare  for  his  first  production. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

National  Warner  Clubs 
Elect  Officers  Saturday 

Annual  meeting  and  election  of  Warner  Clubs. 
Inc.,  representing  the  national  group  of  Warner 
Clubs,  will  be  held  Saturday  at  the  Warner 
home  office  in  New  York. 

Among  delegates  from  the  field  going  to 
New  York  for  the  meeting  will  be  Leo  Rosen, 
Albany ;  Irving  Lipnick,  Chicago ;  Harry 
Thomas,  Pittsburgh ;  Al  Zimbalist  and  Joseph 
Feldman,  Philadelphia ;  Evelyn  Friedl,  Cleve- 
land ;  Fred  J.  Thomas.  Washington ;  E.  L. 
DePatie,  Burbank;  Philip  Zimmerman,  New 
Haven,  and  Sam  Blaskey,  Newark. 

New  York  delegates  include  Philip  Abrahams. 
Raymond  C.  Ayrey,  J.  H.  Barry,  W.  V.  Brooks. 
R.  W.  Budd,  W.  A.  Cannon,  Charles  G.  Davis. 
F.  L.  Gates,  Leo  Haas,  Sam  Kahn.  F.  J.  Kier- 
nan,  Walker  R.  Koppe,  Thomas  Lyons,  Mollie 
Negri,  Barry  O'Connor,  Leonard  Palumbo,  J. 
Ray  Price,  Elkan  Reiner.  Robert  Salomons. 
William  Starr  and  Jack  Wuhrman.  Martin  F. 
Bennett  is  the  current  president  of  the  organiza- 
tion. 

Los  Angeles  Defense 
Bureau  Reorganized 

Complete  reorganization  of  the  field  inspec- 
tion and  policing  system  under  Rodney  A.  Pan- 
tages,  chairman,  has  been  voted  by  the  Los 
Angeles  Theatre  Defense  Bureau. 

At  the  same  time  committee  chairmen  were 
chosen.  They  are :  Sherrill  Cohen,  Red  Cross 
Training  ;  Nat  Holt,  Communications  Network ; 
Robert  H.  Poole,  Fire  and  Police  Coordination 
and  Independent  Theatre  Cooperation ;  Charles 
Prickett,  Legitimate  Theatres  ;  Ben  H.  Waller- 
stein,  Public  Relations ;  Thornton  Sargent,  Film 
Exhibition  and  Military,  City,  Federal  and 
Charity  Contracts ;  Wayne  Ball,  Film  Distribu- 
tion, and  Tom  Bailey,  Press  Relations. 

M.  A.  Anderson  continues  as  head  of  Gas 
Warfare  and  L'SO  Relations  committees  and 
Mr.  Poole  will  handle  distribution  of  certificates 
of  safety  to  theatres  qualifying  with  100  per 
cent  safety  equipment. 


Ask  Aid  for  Seamen 

United  Seamen's  Service,  the  new  organiza- 
tion which  was  formed  recently  by  the  Govern- 
ment, industry  and  labor  forces,  to  supply  the 
recreational  and  welfare  needs  of  mechant  sea- 
men, is  seeking  the  aid  of  the  film  industry  in 
carrying  out  its  program.  Madeleine  Carroll  is 
forming  an  entertainment  committee  composed 
of  leaders  in  even*  branch  of  the  amusement 
field.  Miss  Carroll  and  John  Golden,  theatrical 
producer,  are  on  the  board  of  trustees. 


Set  Services  Short 

Warner  Bros,  announced  this  week  it  had 
received  the  approval  of  the  War  Department 
and  other  official  agencies  for  production  of 
a  two-reel  Technicolor  short  subject,  "The 
Army,  Navy  and  Marines,"  which  will  depict 
the  teamwork  and  coordination  of  the  three 
branches  of  the  armed  forces. 


Muto  to  Army 

Anthony  Muto,  Washington  representative  of 
Fox  Movietone  News,  left  Washington  this 
week  for  Hollywood  preparatory  to  entering: 
the  Army,  according  to  reports.  He  is  expected 
to  receive  a  commission  and  reportedly  will 
serve  under  Col.  Darryl  F.  Zanuck  in  the  Army 
Signal  Corps. 


Norma  Sulak  in  WAAC 

Norma  Sulak.  secretary  to  H.  C.  Kaufman, 
manager  of  exchange  operations  for  Columbia 
Pictures,  has  resigned  to  join  the  WAAC.  the 
first  Columbia  employee  to  enter  the  auxiliary 
corps.  She  will  report  .to  Fort  Des  Moines  for 
her  basic  training  following  a  vacation  in  Chi- 
cago, her  home  town. 


49 

British  Pictures 
On  War  Shown 
In  New  York 

Official  British  wartime  propaganda  and  in- 
formation films  were  shown  commercially  for 
the  first  time  in  the  United  States  last  week 
when  "Inside  Britain,"  a  program  of  12  short 
subjects  produced  for  and  by  the  British  Min- 
istry of  Information,  opened  at  the  Fifth  Ave- 
nue Playhouse  in  New  York. 

The  theatre's  foreword  described  the  pro- 
gram as  an  attempt  to  show  "a  cross  section 
of  the  life  of  democratic  people  in  time  of  war." 
The  pictures  are  being  offered  commercially 
in  the  United  States  to  newsreel  theatres,  the 
"art"  circuit  of  small  studio  theatres,  and  to  a 
few  general  outlets  by  Budd  Rogers  of  New- 
York,  acting  as  agent  for  the  British  Library 
of  Information.  Additional  titles  also  will  be 
available. 

The  program  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Playhouse 
included : 

"Young  Veterans"  :  a  history'  of  the  war  to 
date  in  terms  of  its  effects  on  the  average 
Englishman.  Directed  by  Cavalcanti.  Com- 
mentary by  Michael  Frank.   (11  min.) 

"Commandos'' ;  an  assemblage  of  news  pic- 
tures taken  during  Commando  raids  on  Yaagso 
and  other  Norwegian  ports.  Produced  by  Gau- 
mont-British  under  the  direction  of  Harry 
Watt.  (14  min.) 

"Yesterday  Is  Over  Your  Shoulder"  ;  Rob- 
ertson Hare,  British  comedian,  shows  how  a 
clerk  turns  a  hobby  into  useful  war  factory 
work.  Directed  by  Thorold  Dickinson.  (8 
min.) 

"Musical  Poster"  ;  a  color  abstraction,  imita- 
tive of  Disney,  warns  against  careless  talk. 
Designed  by  Len  Lye.    (2  min.) 

"21  Miles" ;  Edward  Murrow,  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System  representative  in  London, 
describes  a  camera  tour  of  Dover  defenses.  (11 
min.) 

"Neighbors  Under  Fire"  ;  shows  how  bomb- 
ing victims  are  fed  and  housed.  Ralph  Bond 
directed  for  Strand  Film.    (7  min.) 

"Fern-  Pilot" :  a  day's  activities  by  the  Air 
Transport  Auxiliary  shows  how  its  pilots  ferry 
planes  and  fighting  personnel.  It  is  in  the  ex- 
citing pattern  of  "Target  for  Tonight".  Pat 
Jackson  directed  while  Ian  Dalrymple  was  the 
producer.   (17  min.) 

"Scotland  Speaks" ;  in  a  variety  of  accents 
unintelligible  to  most  Americans,  typical  Scotch 
workers  describe  their  part  in  Britain's  war  ef- 
fort. Jack  Ellit  directed,  Alex  Shaw  was  pro- 
ducer.   (16  min.) 

"Shunter  Black's  Night  Off" ;  a  railway 
switchman  battles  fire  bombs.  Produced  by  Syd- 
ney Fox  and  James  Carr,  directed  by  Max 
Munden.   (7  min.) 

"Troopship" ;  the  camera  illustrates  a  soldier's 
letter  home  describing  his  voyage  overseas.  Di- 
rected by  Henry  Stewart.   (8  min.) 

"The  Builders" :  an  appeal  to  workers  and 
unionists  to  aid  the  war  by  staying  on  their 
jobs  as  bricklayers,  laborers,  etc.  Pat  Jackson 
was  the  director.   (8  min.) 

"From  the  Four  Corners" :  Leslie  Howard 
greets  three  Empire  soldiers  in  London,  buys 
them  a  drink,  and  explains  how  they  are  bound 
to  England  in  the  common  struggle  by  ties  of 
heritage  and  conviction  in  the  democratic  way. 
A.  Havelock  Allen  produced.  (18  min.) 


WB  Short  Has  Smuggled  Shots 

Footage  smuggled  out  of  several  Nazi-occu- 
pied countries  will  be  incorporated  into  "The 
Unconquered  People,"  a  two-reel  subject  to  be 
produced  by  Warner  Bros,  with  the  cooperation 
of  several  Government  agencies,  it  -was  reported 
in  New  York  last  Friday.  The  short  will  be 
distributed  throughout  the  Western  Hemisphere 
and  to  other  United  Nations. 


IT'S  ON  THE  WAY 
i  FROM  UNIVERSAL! 


WALTER  WANGER'S 


1001  THRILLS 

from 
1001  NIGHTS' 


A  NEW  DAY  IN  SHOWMANSHIP! 


WALTER  W ANGER'S  mighty  production 


IN  TECHNICOLOR 

starrmg  JON  HALL   MARIA  MONTEZ-SABU 

with  Leif  Erickson  •  Billy  Gilbert  •  Edgar  Barrier 
Shemp  Howard  •  Thomas  Gomez  •  Turhan  Bey 

mic/  these  Bewitching  Harem  Queens, 
Elyse  Knox  •  Acquanetta  •  Carmen  D'Antonio 

Story  and  Screen  Play,  Michael  Hogan  •  Additional  Dialogue,  True  Boardman 
Directed  by  John  Rawlins  •  Produced  by  Walter  Wanger 


UNIVERSAL  tMC 


— mJm 


I 


GET  IN  THE  SCRAP... WHAT  ARE  YOU  DOING  ABOUT  IT? 


52 


Federal  Judge  Dismisses 
Anti-Trust  Suit;  Arnold 
To  Appeal  Case 

James  Caesar  Petrillo's  ban  on  record- 
ings and  transcriptions  stands.  The 
United  States  Government's  anti-trust 
suit  against  the  American  Federation  of 
Musicians'  chief  was  dismissed  in  Chi- 
cago Federal  court  on  Monday  after 
Thurman  Arnold,  Assistant  Attorney 
General  in  charge  of  the  anti-trust  di- 
vision of  the  Department  of  Justice,  ar- 
gued for  an  hour  for  the  temporary  in- 
junction against  the  ban. 

Judge  John  P.  Barnes  dismissed  the  suit 
brought  by  the  Government,  indicating  his 
judgment  was  based  upon  pre-trial  briefs. 
Following  the  court  action,  Mr.  Arnold 
said,  "the  government  would  appeal." 

Mr.  Petrillo  said  the  "case  demonstrates 
that  the  abuse  of  a  high  labor  official,  who 
is  merely  protecting  his  members,  cannot 
triumph  over  law  and  justice."  The  AFM 
leader,  however,  still  has  to  reckon  with  an 
investigation  authorized  by  the  Senate  and 
being  executed  by  a  Sub-committee  of  the 
Senate  Interstate  Commerce  Committee. 

Dismissal  of  the  Government  suit  makes 
more  imperative  t  han  ever  quick  Con- 
gressional action,  D.  Worth  Clark,  Senator 
from  Iraho,  and  chairman  of  the  subcom- 
mittee, declared  Tuesday.  He  added  that 
the  investigation  will  proceed  shortly.  After 
formation  of  plans  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Committee. 

Judge  Barnes  termed  the  recording  ban 
dispute  a  "labor  controversy,"  adding  that 
he  though  the  "Norris-LaGuardia  Act,  and 
Section  20  of  the  Clayton  (anti-trust)  act 
applicable"  but  that  he  "can't  see  any  way 
around  the  Hutcheson  case  and  the  Carozzo 
case,  the  case  of  the  United  States  versus 
the  International  Hod  Carriers" — in  which, 
in  similar  circumstances,  the  supreme  court 
ruled  in  favor  of  the  union. 

Says  Labor  Dispute 
Is  Involved 

Mr.  Arnold  was  interrupted  several  times 
by  Judge  Barnes,  who  then  read  his  ruling : 

"As  I  indicated  to  you  before  you  began 
your  arguments,  I  have  read  the  papers  in 
this  case  over  the  weekend.  I  was  anxious 
to  hear  Mr.  Arnold's  argument.  It  has 
been  interesting,  instructive,  and  it  is  very 
persuasive,  but  the  ideas  which  I  have  gath- 
ered from  the  reading  of  the  briefs  have  not 
been  shaken  otherwise  than  temporarily. 

"I  think  that  a  labor  dispute  is  involved 
here.  I  am  only  going  to  say  a  word  at 
this  time,  and  within  a  few  days  I  shall  file 
a  short  memorandum.  I  am  going  to  in- 
dicate what  I  think  very  briefly. 

"I  think  that  a  labor  dispute  is  involved 
here.  There  is  a  certain  demand  by  the 
consuming  public  for  the  music.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  union  are  engaged  in  making 
music  for  hire.  They  do  that  under  the 
direction  of  masters.  These  masters  are  the 
manufacturers  of  phonograph  records  and 


MOTION    PI'CTURE  HERALD 


electrical  transcriptions  and  the  broadcast- 
ing companies. 

"There  is  a  controversy  between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  union,  the  employees  and  serv- 
ants on  the  one  hand,  and  the  masters  on 
the  other,  as  to  whether  or  not  the  members 
of  the  union  and  servants  shall  be  permitted 
to  furnish  all  of  the  music  for  which  there 
is  a  demand  by  the  consuming  public. 

"The  musicians  and  servants  say,  'We 
shall  furnish  it  all.'  The  employers  on  the 
other  hand  say,  'No.  You  may  furnish  only 
part  of  it.  We  are  going  to  furnish  the 
other  by  means  of  records  and  electrical 
transcriptions  and  by  means  of  amateur 
students.' 

"That  is  the  controversy.  That  is  what 
this  is  all  about.  So  I  say  it  is,  in  my 
view,  a  labor  controversy  here,  a  labor  dis- 
pute." 

Riddle  Reserves 
Comment 

Asked  to  comment  on  the  decision,  Attor- 
ney General  Francis  Biddl,e  in  New  York 
Monday,  said  merely  that  it  "was  an  inter- 
esting question  of  law." 

Mr.  Arnold  contended  that  the  Petrillo 
ban  on  recordings  would  harm  small  sta- 
tions and  small  business  and  even  hamper 
home  owners  from  playing  records. 

The  Government's  basis  for  an  anti-trust 
suit,  however,  was  the  contention  the  ban 
was  to  create  more  jobs  for  musicians,  and 
also  was  a  monopoly.  Judge  Barnes'  opin- 
ion that  the  dispute  was  one  of  labor  dis- 
missed this  contention. 

Mr.  Petrillo's  ban  against  recordings  be- 
came effective  August  1st.  It  had  been 
backed  by  the  musicians'  federation  in  na- 
tional convention.  Heralded  several  months 
earlier,  it  was  attacked  by  the  National  As- 
sociation of  Broadcasters,  the  Federal  Com- 
munications System,  and  by  Elmer  Davis, 
director  of  the  Office  of  War  Information. 
The  latter  saw  a  threat  to  the  nation's  in- 
formation system  in  possible  suspension  of 
operation  by  small  stations  dependent  chief- 
ly upon  recordings. 

No  Fuel  Concession 
For  British  Houses 

The  British  Fuel  Ministry  in  London  has  re- 
fused to  make  any  concessions  to  English  ex- 
hibitors on  their  plea  for  exemption  from  the 
ban  on  the  use  of  central  heating  plants  dur- 
ing October. 

However,  it  was  indicated  that  in  the  event 
of  unusual  weather  regional  commissioners 
might  be  empowered  to  make  exceptions  in  cer- 
tain areas.  England  and  Scotland  are  divided 
into  north,  central  and  southern  territories  for 
the  purpose  of  administering  the  regulations. 

Eaton  Buys  Building 

Robert  Eaton,  who  has  operated  the  United 
Arstits  equipment  bureau,  Des  Moines,  the  past 
few  years,  has  bought  a  building  at  1162-64 
Sixth  Avenue,  which  he  has  remodeled. 

Reopens  After  Fire 

The  Drive-In  theatre,  Columbia,  S.  C,  par- 
tially burned  on  June  12th,  has  reopened. 


October     17,     I  942 

I  A  May  Absorb 
Operator  Union 
In  Canada 

The  International  Alliance  of  Theatrical 
Stage  Employees  may  absorb  the  Canadian  Na- 
tional Motion  Picture  Operators,  it  was  report- 
ed from  Toronto,  scene  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  convention,  last  week.  The 
Canadian  group  has  a  Dominion  charter,  but 
never  has  been  recognized  by  the  IATSE. 

Jonas  Rosenfield,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Screen 
Publicists  Guild,  said  last  week  his  union  is  in- 
creasing its  war  activity  in  cooperating  with 
the  Office  of  War  Information's  motion  picture 
bureau,  and  the  film  industry's  War  Activities 
Committee ;  and  that  it  has  offered  aid  to  the 
Office  of  Civilian  Defense,  the  Red  Cross  and 
the  Treasury  Department. 

Milton  Diamond,  New  York  lawyer,  has 
been  appointed  arbitrator  in  the  dispute  between 
the  Guild  and  Paramount,  over  the  company's 
alleged  failure  to  include  publicity  writers  in 
the  "cost  of  living  adjustments"  given  other 
employees  since  May.  Hearing  will  be  held  next 
week. 

Hearing  was  held  Tuesday  by  the  National 
Labor  Relations  Board  New  York  office,  in 
the  petition  of  the  Screen  Office  and  Profes- 
sional Employees  Guild  to  represent  white  col- 
lar workers  at  the  twentieth  Century-Fox  New 
York  exchange. 

At  the  Hollywood  office  of  the  NLRB,  hear- 
ings were  held  last  week  in  the  complaint  the 
Walt  Disney  company  violated  the  Wagner  La- 
bor Act.  Complainant  was  Arthur  Babbitt,  once 
chief  animator  for  the  firm.  The  new  contract 
between  the  company  and  the  Screen  Cartoon- 
ists Guild  runs  to  June  1st,  1944,  and  provides 
vacations  with  pay,  sick  leave,  and  specified 
minimum  wages. 

The  dispute  between  the  Warner  circuit  and 
the  United  Exhibition  Employees  Union,  Local 
121,  CIO,  last  week  went  to  the  NLRB.  The 
union  represents  workers  in  seven  northern 
New  Jersey  theatres  of  the  circuit.  A  question 
to  be  resolved  was  whether  the  NLRB  had 
jurisdiction. 

In  Chicago,  Local  110,  projectionists,  has 
adopted  new  by-laws,  under  which  persons  now 
admitted  must  pay  an  initiation  fee  not  to  ex- 
ceed four  times  their  weekly  earnings.  It  is 
said  the  fee  in  most  instances  will  be  $400,  with 
$100  down. 

Meanwhile,  the  union '  last  week  rejected  a 
new  contract  offering  a  2y2  per  cent  wage  in- 
crease. Differences  were  to  be  settled  this  week,  j 

Local  41  of  exchange  "white  collar"  em- 
ployees, in  New  Haven,  has  been  granted  a 
local  IATSE  charter,  with  an  initial  member- 
ship of  30.  A  meeting  was  scheduled  this  week 
to  elect  officers. 


Mrs.  Davis  Heads  League 

The  newly  organized  American  League  of 
Theatrical  Arts,  in  Philadelphia,  to  further 
the  training  of  talented  performers,  has  elected 
Mrs.  Meyer  Davis,  wife  of  the  orchestra  leadr 
er,  as  president.  Richard  Mayo,  executive  sec- 
retary of  the  Philadelphia  unit  of  the  American 
Guild  of  Variety  Artists,  is  executive  secretary 
and  general  manager. 


Rittenberg  Sues  Local  173 

Sam  Rittenberg,  who  reopened  the  Garden 
theatre,  Toronto,  has  obtained  a  court  order 
restraining  Local  173,  operators,  from  picketing 
it.    He  has  a  contract  with  a  Canadian  house 


Palmer  to  Theatre 

Edward  Palmer  resigned  last  week  as  filn 
reviewer  for  the  Portland,  Maine.  Evening  Ex 
press,  to  become  assistant  manager  of  a  loca 
theatre. 


Petrillo  Beats  U.  S. 
On  Record  Ban 


October    17,     I  942 

Inquiry  of  FCC 
Is  Foreseen 

A  Congressional  investigation  of  alleged  brib- 
ery in  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
may  be  undertaken  in  the  near  future,  as  a  re- 
sult of  disclosures  that  Chairman  James  L.  Fly 
has  been  engaged  in  probing  reports  that  for- 
mer members  were  involved  in  transactions  in- 
volving the  transfer  of  money  and  Government 
bonds  in  exchange  for  broadcasting  facilities. 

The  situation  was  developed  during  hearings 
on  an  appropriation  bill  at  which  Mr.  Fly  ad- 
mitted such  a  study  was  under  way,  and  was 
brought  up  on  the  floor  of  the  House  by  Rep- 
resentative Wigglesworth  of  Massachusetts, 
who  asked  that  a  "thorough-going"  investiga- 
tion be  undertaken. 

Mr.  Wigglesworth  said  he  understood  John 
Farnham,  Chicago,  had  been  appointed  special 
counsel  of  the  commission  to  make  the  investi- 
gation. 

"I  understand  that  the  record  will  show  that 
Mr.  Farnham  reported  that  from  several  inde- 
pendent sources  charges  have  been  made  to  the 
Commission  investigators  that  an  ex-commis- 
sioner, while  a  member  of  the  Commission,  had 
accepted  favors  from  a  network  which  included 
emoluments  in  return  for  favorable  official  treat- 
ment on  his  part,"  he  said. 

The  Congressman  also  said  he  understood 
that  Mr.  Farnham  had  reported  that  temporary 
authority  to  operate  at  night  was  given  to  a 
licensee  who  subsequently  was  advised  by  his 
attorney  that  the  time  had  come  to  "pay  off" 
those  who  had  voted  favorably  on  the  applica- 
tion, and  that  $1,000  in  cash  and  S4,000  in  Gov- 
ernment bonds  changed  hands. 

Mr.  Wigglesworth  said  it  appears  that  Mor- 
ris Ernst,  attorney  for  the  New  York  Evening 
Post,  was  appointed  what  might  be  termed 
"counsel  for  the  defense,"  after  Mr.  Fly  had 

I  been  asked  if  he  had  any  objection  to  the  ap- 
pointment and  had  indicated  that  he  had  not, 

:  and  that  Mr.  Farnham  may  have  been  "eased 

■  out  of  the  picture,"  being  now  a  consultant  but 

:  rot  special  attorney. 

1  "I  want  also  to  state  that  when  the  stenogra- 
j  pher's  record  went  to  the  FCC  someone  in  that 
1  agency  attempted  to  delete  the  entire  set  of 

questions  and  answers,"  he  said. 
=     "I  think  the  commission  owes  it  to  itself,  to 

Congress,  and  to  the  public  to  clear  up  the  sit- 
"  uation  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,"  he  con- 
:  eluded. 


White,  Ream  Elected 
CBS  Vice-Presidents 

Frank  K.  White,  treasurer,  and  Joseph  H. 
Ream,  secretary,  were  elected  vice-presidents 
:  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System  at  a 
meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  in  New  York 
last  week.  They  also  will  retain  their  present 
offices. 

"Columbia,  in  the  last  four  month,"  Paul  W. 
:Kesten,  vice-president  and  general  manager, 
ssaid  in  announcing  the  elections,  "has  lost 
sthree  vice-president,  Harry  C.  Butcher,  Law- 
rence W.  Lowman  and  Mefford  R.  Runyon, 
j:o  the  armed  forces,  and  the  election  of  Mr. 

hite  and  Mr.  Ream  as  vice-presidents  is  in 
-recognition  of  their  increased  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities in  the  management  of  the  cor- 
poration." 


Jefferson  Shifts  Two 

,  The  transfer  of  Victor  B.  Lowrey,  manager 
>f  the  Jefferson  theatre  at  Beaumont,  Tex.,  to 
Dallas,  and  the  appointment  of  A.  M.  Avery  in 
us  place  has  been  announced  bv  the  Tefferson 

!  Amusement  Company  and  East  Texas  Theatres, 

,;-nc.  Mr.  Avery  was  publicity  director  at  Beau- 
mont, Port  Arthur  and  Orange.  Clayte  Binion, 
r..  Lufkin  newspaper  city  editor,  is  new  pub- 

I  icity  director  for  Beaumont. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

FROM  READERS 


SUGGESTS  SCRAP  FROM 
UNUSED  STAGES 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

The  theatres  of  the  country  can  make  a  very 
substantial  contribution  to  the  scrap  drive  by 
junking  tons  of  metal  now  useless  on  hundreds 
of  unused  stages  throughout  the  nation. 

Every  theatre  having  a  completely  equipped 
stage  has  several  hundred  pounds  of  counter- 
weights, head  locks,  loft  blocks  and  gridiron 
strips  which  haven't  been  used  for  years  and 
probably  won't  ever  be  used  again. 

In  one  mid-western  city  we  know  there 
are  six  theatre  stages,  fully  equipped,  which 
haven't  been  used  in  over  15  years.  In  each  of 
these  houses  are  at  least  four  borderlights  and 
concert  strips,  counter-weighted  with  enough 
pig  iron  to  make  several  guns,  not  to  mention 
the  other  useless  or  obsolete  items. 

There  are  also  dozens  of  old  upstairs  Opera 
Houses  and  long  dark  theatres  in  which  the 
seats  are  still  on  the  floor.  We  know  of  three 
such  houses  that  will  never  be  open  again, 
which  are  completely  seated  with  old  fashion 
but  sturdy  cast  iron  seat  frames. 

No  doubt  someone  has  already  thought  of 
this  potential  source  of  scrap  metal  and  our 
idea  may  be  only  just  another  suggestion,  but 
we  all  know  that  if  we  don't  win  this  war,  our 
theatres  won't  be  of  much  value  to  us  anyway, 
so  theatre  owners  shouldn't  mind  sacrificing 
their  stages  to  save  their  theatres. — Tom  Davis, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Ashland,  Ky. 


MORE  IDEAS  ON 
FILM  CONSERVATION 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

I  have  read  much  recently  in  your  paper  re- 
garding a  method  of  saving  film  footage  worked 
out  by  Mr.  Earle  Sponable.  I  think  his  idea 
is  an  excellent  one  and  ought  to  have  been 
adopted  at  the  time  sound  came  in. 

There  is  a  much  simpler  way  to  do  nearly 
the  same  thing  in  saving,  and  that  is  to  use  a 
picture  speed  of  20  or  even  18  frames  per  second 
in  the  camera  and  in  the  projector. 

At  20  frames  per  second  there  would  hardly 
be  any  additional  flicker  in  projection  and  at  18 
frames  the  linear  speed  of  the  film  would  be 
\Zy2  inches  per  second,  which  is  the  same  speed 
as  advocated  by  Mr.  Sponable. 

One  objection  that  might  be  raised  regarding 
a  slower  speed  than  18  inches  per  second  would 
be  that  the  higher  frequencies  of  sound  repro- 
duction would  be  lost.  The  high  quality  of  16mm 
sound  film  disproves  this. — W.  E.  Wood,  Alpha 
Film  Laboratories,  6000  Pirnlico  Road,  Balti- 
more. 

P.S.  By  the  method  outlined  above  the  only 
change  in  the  present  equipment  in  the  industry 
would  be  a  change  in  the  drive  ratio  in  camera, 
recorder  and  projector. 

Shepard  Heads  New 
Broadcasters  Unit 

John  Shepard,  III,  president  of  the  Yankee 
Network,  was  elected  president  of  the  American 
Broadcasters  Association  at  a  meeting  in  New 
York  this  week,  which  completed  the  formal- 
ities of  organization.  Walter  J.  Damm  of 
WTMJ  and  WS5M,  Milwaukee,  was  named 
secretary-treasurer. 

It  was  said  after  the  meeting  that  several 
prominent  members  of  the  National  Association 
of  Broadcasters  had  requested  the  ABA  to 
withhold  the  employment  of  executive  personnel 
and  active  solicitation  of  additional  members. 
Those  at  the  APA  meeting  agreed  that  the  best 
interest  of  unity  and  harmony  in  the  radio  in- 
dustry would  be  served  by  acceding  to  these 
suggestions,  it  was  said. 

No  plans  were  made  for  a  general  meeting, 
although  originally  it  was  scheduled  for  the 
first  week  in  November. 


53 

Broadcasters 
Attack  FCC 
In  Courts 

Enforcement  of  the  new  Federal  Communica- 
tions Commission  regulations  would  bring  dire 
consequences  to  the  networks  with  "hundreds 
of  stations  forced  off  the  air,"  a  Federal  statu- 
tory court  in  New  York  was  told  last  Thurs- 
day by  John  T.  Cahill,  attorney  for  National 
Broadcasting  Company,  in  a  plea  for  a  tem- 
porary injunction  against  the  FCC,  while  Louis 
Caldwell,  counsel  for  Mutual  Broadcasting  Sys- 
tem countered  with  the  assertion  that  Mutual 
"was  suffering  slow  death,"  which  the  new 
regulations  alone  could  prevent.  The  statutory 
court,  consisting  of  Chief  Circuit  Judge  Learned 
Hand  and  District  Judges  Henry  W.  Goddard 
and  John  Bright,  reserved  decision  on  the  plea 
for  a  temporary  injunction  and  a  counter-appli- 
cation of  the  Commission  for  summary  judg- 
ment dismissing  the  networks'  suit. 

During  the  three-hour  argument  of  the  case, 
which  reached  the  U.  S.  supreme  court  once 
when  the  high  tribunal  reversed  a  lower  court 
dismissal  and  ordered  reconsideration,  Charles 
R.  Denny,  chief  counsel  for  the  FCC,  outlined 
the  four  principles  which  allegedly  motivated 
the  FCC  in  passing  the  eight  new  regulations. 
The  commission,  Mr.  Denny  said,  wished  to  in- 
sure maximum  use  of  facilities ;  licensee  re- 
sponsibility ;  preservation  of  competition,  and 
prevention  of  the  concentration  of  control. 

Mr.  Denny's  outline  of  the  Commission's  pur- 
poses drew  from  Mr.  Cahill  the  retort  that  if 
the  legislation  of  1927  intended  such  aims  in 
creating  the  Commission,  Congress  would  have 
so  specifically  provided  "instead  of  relying  on 
the  imagination  of  the  Commission.  It  cannot 
be  supposed  that  Congress  was  oblivious  of  the 
danger  of  granting  the  amorphous  rights  of 
licensing  claimed  by  the  Commission,"  Mr.  Ca- 
hill continued,  and  pointed  out  the  network's 
assertion  that  freedom  of  speech  was  directly 
affected. 

Mr.  Denny  said  that  the  court  could  not  sub- 
stitute its  own"  discretion  for  that  of  the  Com- 
mission. If  the  Commission  had  formulated  these 
regulations  after  hearing  testimony  from  all 
sides  and  if  the  regulations  were  reasonable,  he 
said,  no  court  had  the  power  to  upset  them.  In 
criticizing  the  networks  for  exercising  "terri- 
torial exclusivity,"  Mr.  Denny  did  not  hesitate 
to  name  Mutual  as  the  greatest  offender  al- 
though that  network  had  sided  with  the  Com- 
mission. 

Mr.  Caldwell  claimed  that  there  were  only  15 
cities  in  the  United  States  in  which  there  are 
four  or  more  stations  blanketing  the  entire 
community. 

The  FCC's  right  to  crusade  against  alleged 
anti-trust  violations  was  questioned  by  Charles 
Evans  Hughes,  Jr.,  attorney  for  CBS.  If  the 
Commission  may  act  on  claimed  violations  of 
the  Sherman  anti-trust  laws,  Mr.  Hughes  said, 
there  was  nothing  to  prevent  it  from  seeking  to 
enforce  thousands  of  other  laws  such  as  the 
National  Labor  Relations  Act  or  the  Security 
Exchange  laws.  Both  Mr.  Hughes  and  Mr.  Ca- 
hill argued  that  the  Commission  could  not  en- 
force "iron-clad"  regulations  and  refuse  licenses 
upon  them. 


NBC  Editor  to  OWI 

Arthur  Force,  night  news  editor  of  the  Na- 
tional Broadcasting  Company  in  New  York, 
has  been  named  editor  of  the  radio  news  section. 
Office  of  War  Information,  it  was  announced 
in  Washington  last  Thursday.  Before  joining 
NBC,  Mr.  Force  worked  on  newspapers  in 
New  York,  Newark,  Detroit  and  Toledo. 


Joins  Paramount  Exchange 

•  At  the  Paramount  exchange  in  Indianapolis 
Merian  Roberts  is  the  new  contract  clerk. 


HEAT  EST  ENTERTAINMENT  OVATION 
GIVEN  BY  THE  INDUSTRY  AND 
THE  PUBLIC  IN  YEARSSMHBk 


56 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


Illinois  Exhibitors 
Act  On  Rentals 


Allied  Group  Cooperative 
Buying  Unit  Is  Formed; 
Price  Rise  Opposed 

by  F.  LANGDON  MORGAN 

in  Chicago 

Moves  to  combat  what  they  claim  are 
efforts  by  the  distributors  to  increase  film 
rentals  and  admissions  were  made  last 
week  by  two  theatre  owner  organizations 
of  Illinois. 

Following  discussions  at  several  previous 
membership  meetings,  the  Allied  Theatres 
of  Illinois,  at  the  Blackstone  Hotel,  Chi- 
cago, last  Friday  formed  the  nucleus  of  a 
cooperative  film  buying  organization.  Of 
the  100  theatres  represented  at  the  meeting, 
40  of  them  authorized  Jack  Kirsch,  presi- 
dent of  the  group,  to  do  their  buying,  ef- 
fective at  once.  Machinery  is  being  set  up 
to  operate  on  a  large  scale  and  it  is  expected 
that  many  more  members  will  join  the  film 
buying  unit  within  a  short  time. 

In  a  bulletin  issued  last  weekend,  the 
United  Theatre  Owners  of  Illinois,  under 
the  helm  of  Edward  G.  Horn,  president, 
goes  on  record  as  being  opposed  to  higher 
rentals  and  increased  admissions. 

"The  trend,  in  recent  years,  toward  high- 
er film  rental  and  more  exacting  terms  has 
developed  to  an  alarming  extent,"  the  bulle- 
tin reads.  "We  have  felt  constrained  to 
take  a  stand  against  this  trend,  however, 
since  the  distributors  have  insisted  upon 
increased  admissions  as  an  additional  con- 
dition, we  have  no  alternative  but  to  voice 
our  protest. 

Oppose  Any  Rise 
In  Admissions 

"The  United  Theatre  Owners  of  Illinois 
is  unalterably  opposed  to  any  increase  in 
admission  prices  that  may  be  a  departure 
from  an  established  theatre  policy.  The  pro- 
ducer-distributor insistance  that  admissions 
be  raised  is  an  obvious  abuse  of  the  special 
consideration  granted  our  industry  by  Con- 
gress in  exempting  motion  pictures  from  the 
price  control  act.  To  increase  admissions  at 
this  time  would  be  resented  by  a  price-con- 
scious public  and  is  diametrically  opposite 
to  our  Government's  policy  of  establishing 
ceilings  on  the  price  of  commodities.  To 
take  advantage  of  our  exemption  would  sim- 
ply hasten  the  day  when  our  business  would 
be  regulated  by  others. 

"We  can  and  should  be  sensible  enough 
not  to  go  against  public  policy  just  because 
short-sighted  and  selfish  distributors  insist* 
on  exploiting  and  'cashing  in'  on  a  pro- 
duction with  a  patriotic  appeal.  Exhibitors 
should  resist,  with  all  power  within  them, 
this  sudden  clamor  of  increased  admissions 
and  they  should  fight  with  all  their  might  its 
cause. 

"We  lay  its  cause  squarely  at  the  distri- 
butors' door.  Higher  film  rental,  oppres- 
sive terms  and  conditions,  designation  of 
play  dates,  Saturday  and  Sunday  dates  in- 


cluded, as  part  of  a  percentage  arrangement 
and  oppressive  percentage  terms  on  sliding 
scale  that  slide  only  up  is  the  reason  for 
this  clamor  for  higher  admissions. 

"The  claims  put  forward  by  the  distribu- 
tors in  justification  of  increased  rentals  and 
admissions  to  the  effect  that  production  and 
distribution  costs  have  skyrocketed  are  ut- 
terly exploded  upon  examination  of  the 
profit  statements  of  the  major  film  com- 
panies. Their  costs  actually  have  been  low- 
ered and  their  net  operating  profit  has  in- 
creased by  leaps  and  bounds. 

Cites  Profit  Record 
Of  Distributors 

"Comparisons  of  the  statements  of  five 
companies  show  an  increase  in  profits  of 
$20,000,000  between  the  years  of  1939  and 
1941.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  throughout  the 
nation  that  year  after  year  a  majority  of 
the  20  highest  incomes  in  the  United  States 
are  paid  to  certain  individuals  in  the  pro- 
duction and  distribution  of  motion  pictures. 

"The  new  selling  season  is  now  under 
way,  and  again  the  distributors  are  insist- 
ing upon  even  more  oppressive  rentals  and 
terms — the  top  figures  or  percentages  for 
individual  pictures  must  be  increased  and 
the  number  of  pictures  included  in  the  top 
brackets  must  be  increased.  Where  will  it 
stop  ?  Certainly  the  tree  won't  grow  to  the 
sky. 

"Increased  admission  is  not  the  answer. 
Only  one  thing  can  be  done  if  the  exhibitor 
is  to  remain  in  business.  Concerted  action 
must  be  taken  if  rentals  are  to  be  secured 
on  an  equitable  basis.  Stand  with  your 
fellow  exhibitor  who  is  trying  to  buy  film 
reasonable.  Don't  be  influenced  by  the 
salesman  who  talks  about  his  company's 
formula  and  shows  you  a  40  per  cent  or  50 
per  cent  (of  the  gross)  deal  including  a 
Saturday  and  Sunday  at  increased  admis- 
sion. Stick  with  the  exhibitor  who  is  hold- 
ing out  against  such  oppressive  terms.  It 
may  require  some  sacrifice  as  far  as  imme- 
diate gains  are  concerned,  but  in  the  long- 
term  view  it  is  your  only  assurance  that  you 
will  remain  in  business. 

"Therefore,  join  with  your  fellow  exhibi- 
tors in  a  solid  united  protest.  Resist  this 
trend  which  can  only  lead  to  disaster.  We 
worked  together,  effectively,  on  the  bond 
drive  and  did  a  good  job.  Let  us  join  forces 
to  secure  a  more  reasonable  contract  from 
the  distributors." 

Indiana  ATO  Meets 
On  October  26th 

The  1942  convention  of  the  Associated 
Theatre  Owners  of  Indiana  will  be  held  in 
Indianapolis,  October  26th,  Don  Rossiter, 
executive  secretary,  has  announced. 

The  annual  convention  heretofore  has 
been  a  two-day  meeting,  but  this  year  it 
will  be  limited  to  one  day  as  an  economy 
measure,  Mr.  Rossiter  said.  The  meeting 
place  for  the  convention  has  not  been 
selected. 

Roy  E.  Harrold  of  Rushville  is  president 
of  the  association. 


Brinch  Named 
By  Rothacker 

Watterson  Rothacker,  chairman  of  the  Los 
Angeles  Board  of  Review  for  export-import 
film  censorship,  this  week  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  Peter  M.  Brinch  to  membership 
in  that  organization.  He  succeeds  Major  Ralph 
W.  Liddle,  who  is  to  be  transferred  to  military 
duty  in  line  with  the  Government's  general 
program  of  reducing  the  number  of  Army  of- 
ficers assigned  to  civilian  agencies. 

Mr.  Brinch's  career  in  the  industry  dates 
to  1907,  when  he  became  identified  with 
Pathe  Freres  in  New  York.  Since  then  he 
has  served  in  various  capacities  with  General 
Film  Company,  Mutual  Films,  Triangle  and 
W.  W.  Hodkinson.  He  became  European  rep- 
resentative for  Paramount  in  1922,  and  Euro- 
pean sales  manager  for  Paramount,  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer  and  UFA  after  the  1925  sales 
coalition.  Subsequently  he  was  with  MGM  and 
Fox  Films  in  Europe,  preceding  his  retirement 
in  1936.  He  took  a  training  course  at  the  Of- 
ficers Replacement  School  in  New  York  prior 
to  assuming  his  new  post. 

Also  added  to  the  Board  of  Review  was 
Gerald  B.  Burntnett,  who  recently  arrived  from 
Honolulu,  where  he  set  up  the  censor  bureau 
for  Hawaii. 

Managers  Promoted 
By  Ross  Federal 

Three  former  service  managers  of  Ross  Fed- 
eral Service  have  been  promoted  to  branch 
manager.  They  are  James  Jeffries,  service 
manager  of  the  Indianapolis  branch,  to  branch 
manager  in  Denver;  C.  H.  Graves,  Boston,  to 
branch  manager,  New  Haven,  and  O.  M. 
Young,  Los  Angeles,  to  branch  manager,  Cleve- 
land. 

Mr.  Jeffries  replaces  Scott  Hillam,  who  has 
been  assigned  to  take  over  the  San  Francisco 
branch. 

Lawlor  Named  UA 
Manager  In  India 

J.  J.  Lawlor,  United  Artists  assistant  gen- 
eral manager  in  India  since  1936,  has  been  pro- 
moted to  the  post  of  general  manager.  He  suc- 
ceeds Carlos  Moore,  who  returned  to  the 
United  States  some  months  ago  following  evac- 
uation of  Americans  from  India.  Mr.  Lawlor 
will  have  his  headquarters  in  Bombay. 

Starting  with  United  Artists  in  1933  as  rep- 
resentative in  Colombo,  Mr.  Lawlor  served  suc- 
cessively in  Rangoon  and  Singapore  before  his 
transfer  to  India. 

Gas  Registration  to 
Start  November  9th 

All  sections  of  the  United  States,  with  the 
exception  of  the  east,  already  rationed,  will 
conduct  registration  for  gasoline  rationing, 
starting  November  9th,  the  Office  of  Price  Ad- 
ministration announced  this  week. 

Registrants  will  receive  "A"  books  contain- 
ign  coupons  for  mileage  at  the  rate  of  2,880  a 
year.  After  the  basic  book  has  been  received, 
applications  for  supplementary  rations  may 
be  filed,  it  was  stated. 


Wisconsin  ITPA  Meets 

The  Independent  Theatres  Protective  Asso- 
ciation of  Wisconsin  and  Upper  Michigan  held 
a  regional  meeting  in  Madison,  Wis.,  Wednes- 
day, and  in  Appleton,  Wis.,  Thursday  to  dis- 
cuss the  work  of  the  Allied  Caravan,  which  has 
been  endorsed  by  the  association.  F.  J.  McWil- 
liams,  a  director  of  the  ITPA,  was  host  at  the 
Madison  meeting  and  Larry  Burnett  of  the 
Varsity,  Appleton,  was  host  in  that  city. 


RKO  RADIO  PICTURES  PRESENTS 

Private  Smith  of  the  U.  S.  A. 


THE  IMPORTANT  STORY  OF  YOUR  SOY'S  FIRST 
THIRTEEN  WEEKS  IN  UNCLE  SAM'S  NEW  ARMY 

RELEASED  OCT.  23    NOW  AVAILABLE  FOR  SCREENING 


FIRST  OF  THE  VITAL  NEW  SERIES 

THIS  IS  AMERICA 

A  TWO  REEL  FEATURE  RELEASED  EVERY  FOUR  WEEKS 

PRODUCED  BY  FRCDCRIC  ULLMAN,  JR. 


FAME 


SCREEN 
CONCERT 
RADIO 


NINTH  ANNUAL  EDITION 
NOW  IN  PREPARATION  BY 
THE  WORLDWIDE  STAFF  OF 
QUIGLEY  PUBLICATIONS 

EDITED  BY  TERRY  RAMSAYE 


QUIGLEY  PUBLICATIONS 


ROCKEFELLER  CENTER 


NEW  YORK 


1  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


59 


"Yankee"  Opens 
In  London 

Patterning  its  London  debut  of  "Yankee  Doo- 
dle Dandy"  after  the  New  York  and  Hollywood 
War  Bond  premieres.  Warner  Bros,  launched 
the  film  Thursday  night  at  a  $4,000,000  open- 
ing, at  Warners  theatre  in  the  British  capital. 
A  goal  of  £1,000,000  in  National  War  Savings 
certificates  was  set.  Seats  were  issued  to  pur- 
chasers of  certificates  ranging  from  £5  to 
£5,000,  and  a  week  before  the  opening,  sales 
totaled  52,160,000  out  of  a  maximum  possibility 
of  slightly  more  than  S4.000.000.  Banks,  corpora- 
tion, factories  as  well  as  individuals  were  pur- 
chasers of  the  larger  denominations. 

The  National  Provincial  Bank  acted  as  col- 
lector and  ticket  agency.  It  was  estimated  that 
the  London  premiere  brought  the  total  raised 
in  three  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  Bond  show- 
ings to  516,600.000.  New  York  raised  S5,750,- 
000  and  the  HobVwood  opening  brousrht  S5.800,- 

*:■. 

The  Chicago  debut  of  the  film  picturization 
of  George  M.  Cohan's  life  was  postponed  at  the 
Kalahari  &  Katz  Roosevelt  theatre  to  next  week, 
because  of  the  holdover  business  of  'Wake 
Island." 

RKO  theatres  throughout  the  country  report- 
ed a  new  high  attendance  last  Saturday  morn- 
ing when  all  houses  of  the  circuit  presented 
sinmltaneously  Here  We  Go  Again."  The 
premiere  showing  was  at  9 :30  A.M.  only,  in  all 
theatres  of  the  circuit  except  the  New  York 
Palace  and  Brooklyn  Albee.  where  the  picture 
was  held  for  one  week. 

A  special  press  preview  and  benefit  will  be 
held  by  MGM  on  "For  Me  and  My  Gal"  at  the 
Astor,  New  York,  October  20th.  with  volun- 
tary contributions  and  paid  admissions  going  to 


the  New  York  Infirmary  for  Women  and  Chil- 
dren. The  regular  engagement  oi  the  film  will 
begin  the  next  day  at  that  house. 

"The  Navy  Comes  Through,"  RKO,  vn\\ 
open  at  the  new  Navy  theatre  at  the  Treasure 
Island  Naval  Base,  San  Francisco  Bay,  on  Oc- 
tober 27th,  Navy  Day.  Hollywood  stars,  city, 
state  and  Government  officials  will  attend  civic 
ceremonies  preceding  the  showing. 

Trade_  screenings  of  Columbia's  musical,  "You 
Were  Never  Lovelier,"  starring  Fred  Astaire 
and  Rita  Hayworth.  are  being  held  in  key  cities 
in  advance  of  the  October  22nd  national  release 
date  for  the  picture.  Luncheons,  dinners  and 
cocktail  parties  have  been  scheduled  to  accom- 
pany the  showings,  to  which  exhibitors,  circuit 
executives  and  the  press  are  being  invited.  The 
first  four  screenings  were  held  on  Monday  in 
Des  Moines,  Minneapolis,  Omaha  and  Cincin- 
nati. Others  are  scheduled  to  follow  at  intervals 
in  13  exchange  cities. 

"Jungle  Siren."  starring  Ann  Corio  and  Bus- 
ter Crabbe,  a  Producers  Releasing  Corp.  pro- 
duction, opened  at  the  Gaiety  theatre.  New 
York,  last  Friday. 


Actress  at  Lidice  Ceremony 

Madeleine  Carroll.  Paramount  actress,  ac- 
cepted on  behalf  of  the  Lidice  Lives  Committee 
of  the  Writers'  War  Bond  Board,  a  statue 
created  by  To  Davidson,  sculptor,  commemorat- 
ing the  destruction  of  the  Czechoslovakia!!  town 
by  the  Nazis  last  spring.  The  ceremony  took 
place  Mondaj-  afternoon  in  New  York  at  the 
American  Artists  Galleries.  Following  the 
event  the  Paramount  Victory  short,  "We  Re- 
fuse to  Die,"  based  on  the  story  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  Lidice,  was  shown.  Among  those  present 
duriag  the  proceedings  w-ere  Adolph  Zukor, 
chairman  of  the  board  of  Paramount;  Clifton 
Fadiman,  literary  critic,  and  Vladimir  S.  Hur- 
ban,  Czechoslovakian  Minister  to  the  Linked 
States. 


Monogram  Pay 
Plan  Ratified 

Monogram  stockholders  at  their  annual  meet- 
ing at  the  studio  last  week  reelected  present 
officers  and  directors,  approved  a  bonus  plan  for 
employees  and  increased  the  salaries  of  W.  Ray 
Johnston,  president;  Trem  Carr,  executive  di- 
rector in  charge  of  production,  and  Samuel 
Broidy,  vice-president  in  charge  of  sales. 

The  stockholders  ratified  the  directors'  action 
authorizing  payment  of  an  employees'  bonus,  the 
total  sum  of  which  is  not  to  exceed  10  per  cent 
of  the  company's  net  profit  before  Federal  taxes. 
The  first  bonus  will  be  based  on  the  net  profits 
at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  next  June  27th. 

Officers  reelected,  in  addition  to  those  named, 
were :  Herman  Rifkin.  vice-president ;  Norton 
V.  Ritchey,  vice-president  in  charge  of  foreign 
sales,  and  J.  P.  Friedhof.  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

The  board  includes  Mr.  Johnston,  Mr.  Broidv, 
Mr.  Carr.  Mr.  Rifkin.  Howard  W.  Stubbins, 
Charles  W.  Trampe,  John  W.  Mangham,  Alton 
Brody  and  William  Hurlbut. 


College  Gives  Film  Show 

A  series  of  free  motion  pictures  depicting  the 
fife  and  customs  of  the  L'nited  Nations  is  being 
exhibited  at  Hunter  College,  New  York. 
Twenty-one  films  are  being  shown,  including 
17  documentaries  and  four  commercial  produc- 
tions. First  on  the  program  was  "The  In- 
vaders," Columbia  Next  Monday,  "Target 
for  Tonight,"  British  Film  distributed  here  by 
Warner  Bros.,  will  be  shown.  The  program 
is  the  second  of  its  kind  to  be  presented  through 
a  SI. 500  grant  by  the  Board  of  Higher  Educa- 
tion of  New  York. 


60 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


Board  Corrects  Its 
Appeal  Decision 


Issues  Amended  Award 
in  Some  Run  Action  at 
St.  Louis  Tribunal 

"We  find  it  necessary  to  correct  an  in- 
advertent error,"  the  Appeal  Board  of 
the  motion  picture  arbitration  system  this 
week  notified  parties  in  the  some  run  ac- 
tion of  Louis  Sosna,  Mexico,  Mo.,  ex- 
hibitor. The  case  was  the  eighth  in  St. 
Louis  and  the  40th  appeal  action. 

The  board  issued  an  amended  award  on 
October  8th,  three  days  after  they  had  over- 
ruled a  St.  Louis  arbitrator  and  directed 
Warners,  RKO,  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
Paramount  to  offer  some  run  to  Mr.  Sosna. 
The  case  had  been  remanded  to  Ethan  A. 
H.  Shepley,  arbitrator,  to  determine  whether 
the  run  offers  meet  the  terms  of  Section 
VI  of  the  consent  decree. 

The  one-page  correction  memorandum, 
signed  by  Van  Vechten  Veeder,  chairman, 
Albert  W.  Putnam  and  George  W.  Alger, 
members,  referring  to  the  award,  said: 

"The  following  statement  appears  on  page 

6: 

'"In  October,  1941,  20th-Fox  offered  to 
license  forty-eight  unnamed  pictures  to 
the  Sosna  on  third  run  provided  Sosna 
would  agree  to  charge  a  minimum  admission 
price  of  ten  cents.  This  offer  was,  at  the 
time  it  was  made  and  at  the  time  the  com- 
plaint was  filed,  a  clear  violation  of  Section 
IV  of  the  Decree  which  provides  that  no 
distributor  defendant  shall  offer  for  license 
or  shall  license  more  than  five  features  in 
a  single  group.  *  *  *"  [italics  supplied] 

"The  offer  referred  to  was  an  offer  for 
pictures  released  from  August  1,  1940,  to 
July  31,  1941.  Section  XX  of  the  Decree, 
however,  provides  that  Section  IV  (a)  'shall 
have  application  only  with  respect  to  fea- 
tures released  in  the  United  States  after 
August  31,  1941.'  Therefore  the  offer  was 
a  violation  of  Section  IV  of  the  Decree  as 
stated.  The  opinion  is  corrected  by  striking 
out  the  sentence  quoted  in  italics." 

Los  Angeles 

The  Appeal  Board,  Wednesday,  in  its  41st 
decision,  affirmed  the  dismissal  of  the  clearance 
complaint  of  the  Century  Theatre,  Los  Angeles, 
against  All  Five.  The  board  amended  the 
award  by  eliminating  costs  against  Paramount 
because  of  its  affiliated  status.  If  affirmed  H. 
Eugene  Brietenbach's  dismissal  of  the  com- 
plaint and  found  that  clearance  should  be  main- 
tained for  the  duration  of  the  war. 

Cincinnati 

A  combination  clearance  and  specific  run 
case,  the  tenth  Cincinnati  action,  was  filed  on 
Friday  by  the  Ardmore  Amusement  Corpora- 
tion, operating  the  Bexley  theatre  in  Bexley, 
Ohio,  near  Columbus.  Paramount,  RKO, 
MGM,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  Warner 
Brothers  were  cited  as  defendants.  J.  Real 
Neth  Theatres  Company  of  Columbus,  operat- 
ing the  Eastern  and  other  circuit  theatres,  and 
the  Main  and  Drexel  theatres  in  Bexley,  were 
named  as  interested  parties. 

The  complaint  charged  that  the  Bexley  had 
held  first  run  Bexley,  or  third  run  Columbus 
52  days  after  Columbus  first  run  from  its  open- 
ing in   1925  until    1937,    when    the  Drexel 


opened.  It  asked  restoration  of  the  Bexley  first 
run  and  availability  30  days  after  Columbus. 

Loew's  will  grant  only  fourth  run  Columbus, 
day  and  date  with  the  Drexel,  while  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  and  Paramount  offer  the  Bexley 
half  of  their  product  with  seven  days'  clearance 
over  the  Drexel,  and  offer  half  to  the  Drexel, 
seven  days  over  Bexley,  the  action  charged.  It 
said  Warners  and  RKO  hold  the  Bexley  to  14 
days  after  the  Drexel,  and  65  days  after  Col- 
umbus first  run. 

St.  Louis 

The  Beverly  theatre,  St.  Louis,  has  appealed 
its  case  against  the  five  consenting  distributors. 
Claude  O.  Pearcy,  arbitrator,  granted  a  partial 
clearance  reduction.  It  is  the  10th  case.  The 
Beverly  asks  day  and  date  with  the  Victory 
and  Wellston. 

Hearing  on  the  specific  run  and  clearance 
complaint  of  the  Marre  Theatre  Corporation, 
owners  of  the  Rivoli  theatre,  downtown  St. 
Louis  subsequent  run  house,  opened  last  Thurs- 
day with  Lee  Darcy,  manager  of  the  Rivoli, 
the  only  witness. 

There  are  two  intervenors— Sam  Komm, 
owner  of  the  Whiteway,  and  Jules  Leventhal 
and  Charles  Goldman,  owners  of  the  Senate 
and  Lyric.  The  first  day  of  the  hearing  was 
occupied  with  objections  from  lawyers.  The 
complaint  is  against  Paramount,  RKO,  War- 
ners and  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 

Mr.  Darcy  testified  that  the  Rivoli  is  seek- 
ing the  same  run  of  pictures  as  enjoyed  by 
former  owners  of  house.  Since  the  Marre  Com- 
pany acquired  the  lease  from  Goldman  and 
Leventhal  the  Rivoli  has  been  forced  to  play 
180  days  behind  the  Senate  and  Lyric,  he  said. 

The  hearing  was  adjourned  until  October 
20th.  Wilbur  B.  Jones,  St.  Louis  attorney,  is 
arbitrator. 

New  York 

Morris  B.  Moskowitz,  arbitrator  of  the  25th 
and  26th  New  York  cases  on  October  8th  dis- 
missed the  complaints  of  the  J.  J.  Theatres, 
Inc.,  for  the  Avalon,  Oxford  and  Jerome  and 
Kingsbridge  theatres  in  the  Bronx.  He  found 
that  there  was  substantial  competition  among 
the  theatres  and  the  Skouras  Valentine  and 
that  the  seven-day  clearance  held  by  he  Skouras 
theatre  over  the  Julius  Joelson  houses  was  es- 
tablished by  sufficient  precedent  and  reasonable 
under  terms  of  Section  VIII  of  the  decree. 

Costs  were  charged  one-fourth  against  the 
complaints  and  25  per  cent  each  against  War- 
ners, RKO,  and  Skouras  Theatres. 

The  38th  New  York  case,  clearance  action 
of  the  Davestan  Amusement  Company,  operat- 
ing the  Kent,  Newark,  N.  J.,  against  the  five 
distributors,  was  ended  in  a  consent  award  on 
Thursday. 

The  award  sets  clearance  on  Loew's,  Para- 
mount, RKO  and  Twentieth  Century-Fox  prod- 
uct playing  the  Regent  at  10  days  over  the 
Kent,  on  Paramount,  RKO,  Twentieth-Fox 
and  Vitagraph  product  playing  the  Capital  at 
seven  days  over  the  Kent,  and  on  Loew's  prod- 
uct playing  the  Capitol  at  10  days  over  the 
Kent,  and  on  Loew's,  Paramount,  RKO  and 
Twentieth-Fox  product  playing  the  Elwood  at 
14  days  over  the  Kent. 

Regis  O'Brien,  Buffalo  attorney,  will  arbi- 
trate the  complaint  of  the  Colonial  theatre, 
Skaneateles  against  all  five  and  the  Schine  cir- 
cuit.    Hearings  will  start  November  5th. 


_  E.  W.  Corman,  clerk  of  the  Albany  aribtra- 
tion  tribunal,  has  been  shifted  to  Philadelphia, 
the  American  Arbitration  Association  reported 
this  week.  He  replaces  M.  R.  Yetter,  Philadel- 
phia clerk,  who  resigned. 


New  Group  To  Import 
Foreign  Pictures 

A  company  known  as  Sunset  Film  Corpora- 
tion has  been  organized  in  New  York  to  import 
films,  chiefly  from  Egypt,  Syria  and  the  Near 
East,  for  distribution  in  areas  throughout  the 
United  States  where  groups  of  Arabic  speak- 
ing people  reside,  it  was  reported  last  week. 

According  to  George  G.  Shiya,  attorney  for 
the  company,  the  group  will  lease  theatres  in 
desired  localities  for  distribution  of  certain  pic- 
tures and  may  acquire  theatres  in  certain  spots. 
Offices  of  the  new  company,  he  said,  have  not 
yet  been  established,  but  the  officials  currently 
are  completing  negotiations  for  acquisition  of 
foreign  films. 


Warner  Managers  to  Meet 

The  annual  meeting  of  Warner  theatre  man- 
agers in  the  Philadelphia  zone  was  held  on 
October  14th  at  the  Ritz-Carlton  Hotel.  Ex- 
pected to  be  on  the  dais  were  Joseph  Bern- 
hard,  Harry  Kalmine,  Leonard  Schlesinger  and 
Harry  Goldberg,  from  the  home  office  with  lo- 
cal executives  including  Ted  Schlanger,  Everett 
Callow,  Robert  Mills,  William  Charles,  Joseph 
Feldman,  A.  J.  Vanni,  J.  Ellis  Shipman  and 
John  Turner. 


Paper  for  Men  in  Service 

The  Comerford  Circuit  is  publishing  The 
Comerford  Salute,  house  organ  for  the  com- 
pany's employees  in  the  service.  Harold  E. 
Bell  is  editor  of  the  new  monthly  publication. 
In  addition  to  news  about  men  in  the  service 
the  Salute  contains  messages  from  Comerford 
officials  and  stories  regarding  work  of  the 
employees. 


Enlarge  Newsreel  Program 

The  Telenews,  downtown  Seattle  newsreel 
house,  has  increased  its  program  from  60  to 
90  minutes  by  the  addition  of  more  short 
subjects.  The  new  program  is  called  "Magazine 
of  the  Screen."  Alfred  C.  Burger,  president 
of  Telenews  Theatres,  inaugurated  the  new 
policy. 

Stock  Unit  in  Columbus 

The  Hartman  theatre,  Columbus,  Ohio,  in 
addition  to  playing  a  regular  season  of  legiti- 
mate stage  productions,  also  will  present  the 
Hartman  Players,  a  stock  company.  It  opened 
October  12th,  with  "No  More  Ladies."  It  will 
be  a  permanent  company,  playing  daily  except 
on  dates  of  traveling  companies. 


Heads  Newark  Club 

Samuel  Blaskey  has  been  elected  president  o 
the  Warner  Club  in  Newark,  succeeding  George 
Kelly.  Other  officers  are :  Jack  Levy,  vice- 
president  in  charge  of  entertainment;  Sally 
Schachman,  vice-president  in  charge  of  wel-l 
fare ;  Al  Mann,  treasurer ;  Jeanne  Spear,  sec- 
retary. 

Stevens,  Taylor  Honored 

J.  H.  Stevens,  retiring  manager  of  the  Para- 
mount exchange  at  Indianapolis  and  A.  R.  Tay- 
lor, the  new  manager,  were  guests  at  a  dinner" 
given  by  the  Paramount  Pep  Club  in  the  Washr1 
ington  Hotel  last  Tuesday. 

Edington  Signs  Deal 

Harry  Edington,  one  time  head  of  production.'1 
at  RKO  Radio,  returns  to  that  studio  for  a  one-' 
picture  deal,  according  to  the  company 

Joan  Blondell  to  Iceland 

Joan  Blondell  is  reported  en  route  to  Green- 
land and  Iceland  on  a  United  Service  Organiza- 
tions tour  to  entertain  U.  S.  troops. 

Leaves  20th-Fox  Exchange 

Al  Harris  has  resigned  as  booker  at  thfr' 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  Seattle  exchange  to 
enter  war  work. 


October    17,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


61 


Major  Kenneth  Clark 
On  Overseas  Duty 

Major  Kenneth  Clark,  who  was  director  of 
public  relations  for  the  Motion  Picture  Pro- 
ducers and  Distributors  of  America,  Inc.,  until 
he  entered  Army  service  last  spring,  has  been 
assigned  to  active  duty  overseas.  He  had  re- 
quested duty  in  a  combat  area.  Previously  he 
was  on  the  public  relations  staff  of  General 
Brehon  Somervell,  chief  of  the  Services  of  Sup- 

Major  Clark's  family  in  Connecticut  last  week 
received  a  cable  reporting  that  he  had  "ar- 
rived safely  overseas."  There  was  no  indica- 
tion of  what  front  he  had  been  sent  to. 


Metro  Signs  Six  Bands 

Six  orchestras  have  signed  contracts  with 
MGM.  Three  of  them,  Harry  James,  Jimmy 
Dorsey  and  Vaughn  Monroe,  have  not  yet  been 
assigned  to  specific  pictures,  but  the  remaining 
three  will  appear  as  follows :  Tommy  Dorsey 
in  "DuBarry  Was  a  Lady" ;  Bob  Crosby  in 
"Presenting  Lily  Mars,"  and  Duke  Ellington 
in  "Cabin  in  the  Sky." 


Propose  Cleveland  Curfew 

A  9  P.M.  curfew  for  children  under  16  is  pro- 
posed in  an  ordinance  introduced  in  the  Cleve- 
land City  Council.  Councilman  James  G. 
Colonel,  who  introduced  the  ordinance,  said  the 
curfew  hour  might  have  to  be  set  back  to  10 

■  P.M.  "to  placate  motion  picture  theatre  own- 

'  ers." 

Boston  Business  Aided 

Business  at  downtown  theatres  in  Boston 
reached  holiday  proportions  Monday  night 
when  more  than  50  department  stores  inuagu- 
rated  late  store  hours  for  the  benefit  of  war 

;  industry  workers.    The  evening  shopping  hours 

P  will  be  continued  every  Monday. 


COLUMNIST  IN  TRIBUTE 
TO  FILM  WAR  EFFORT 

Tribute  to  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry's service  to  the  nation  came 
last  week  from  Florence  Fisher  Parry, 
columnist  for  the  Pittsburgh  Press. 
After  telling  of  the  industry's  varied 
efforts,  Mrs.  Parry  said:  "The  indus- 
try in  this  war  is  one  of  the  most 
impressive  contributions  in  voluntary 
service  made  by  any  body  of  people, 
and  surpasses  in  its  magnitude, 
generosity,  imagination,  and  initia- 
tive, all  other  industries.  ...  It  pre- 
sents a  stirring  example  to  the  whole 
world.  ...  As  has  always  been  the 
case,  the  Show  Folks,  in  war  time, 
have  proved  themselves  the  greatest 
Givers  of  all." 


Joins  Hamrick-Evergreen 

Sam  Siegel  has  been  appointed  assistant  to 
Vic  Gauntlett  in  the  handling  of  special  pub- 
licity and  exploitation  campaigns  in  Seattle  for 
Hamrick-Evergreen  Theatres,  Inc.  Mr.  Siegel 
most  recently  was  northwest  exploitation  head 
for  United  Artists,  and  previously  was  con- 
nected with  the  Evergreen  circuit  during  the 
Fox  West  Coast  regime. 


Pratt  Joins  RKO 

Clyde  Pratt,  formerly  with  the  Warner  ex- 
change in  Des  Moines,  has  joined  the  RKO 
branch  sales  staff  there. 


Birdwell  in  East; 
Book  Off  Press 

Russell  Birdwell,  head  of  Russell  Birdwell 
and  Associates,  arrived  in  New  York  from 
California,  Monday,  coincident  with  the  date  on 
which  the  first  advance  copies  of  his  book, 
"Women  in  Battle  Dress"  were  off  the  press. 
"Women  in  Battle  Dress"  is  the  result  of  a 
three-month  trip  to  England,  where  Mr.  Bird- 
well  went  to  make  a  study  of  the  activities  of 
women  in  war  work.  The  book  tells  the  story 
of  women's  part  in  the  war  effort  in  England 
and  in  the  United  States.  Publication  date 
is  set  by  Fine  Editions  Press,  the  publishers, 
for  November  5th. 


Finishes  Drive  Subject 

Associated  Screen  Studios  in  Toronto  has 
completed  the  two-reel  picture,  "We  March 
Together"  for  the  forthcoming  Canadian  Vic- 
tory Loan  campaign.  This  subject  will  be  used 
throughout  Canada  at  loan  rallies  and  special 
meetings  during  the  campaign  to  raise  $750,000. 
Both  English  and  French  versions  were  pro- 
duced, with  Jack  Ralph  handling  narration  for 
the  former,  Roger  Baulu  narrating  for  the 
French  version. 


Plan  Russian  Aid  Drive 

A  special  Russian  war  relief  committee  has 
been  formed,  headed  by  W.  Averell  Harriman 
and  Raymond  Massey,  to  obtain  1,000,000  sig- 
natures on  a  "Scroll  of  Greeting"  to  Russia, 
with  each  signer  contributing  $1  for  medical 
supplies  for  Russia. 


Warner  Managers  Meet 

District  meetings  of  managers  of  Warner 
Theatres  in  the  Tri- State  area  currently  are 
being  held.  Sessions  are  being  held  in  Clarks- 
burg, Erie  and  Johnstown. 


62 

3-Day  Holiday 
Booms  Gross 
On  Broadway 

New  York's  motion  picture  theatres,  legiti- 
mate shows,  hotels,  restaurants  and  other  amuse- 
ment centers  thrived  on  another  three-day  holi- 
day weekend  which  ended  with  Columbus  Day. 
Theatre  grosses  once  again  soared  at  Broadway 
film  houses.  Holiday  scales  of  admission  were 
in  effect  from  Friday  night  through  Monday 
night. 

Three  major  collegiate  football  games  held  in 
the  city  Saturday  also  drew  many  out-of-town 
visitors  who  flocked  to  Broadway  film  theatres 
and  stage  plays  after  the  games  were  over. 
Holdovers  shared  equally  with  new  programs  in 
drawing  patrons  to  the  box  offices.  Capacity 
attendance  was  reported  by  most  film  houses. 

Among  the  holdover  attractions  on  Broadway 
were :  "Tales  of  Manhattan,"  20th-Fox,  which 
began  its  fourth  week  at  Radio  City  Music  Hall 
on  Thursday;  Paramount's  "The  Major  and  the 
Minor,"  started  its  fifth  week  at  the  Para- 
mount on  Wednesday ;  Warner  Bros.'  "Desper- 
ate Journey,"  in  its  third  week  at  the  Strand ; 
Paramount's  "Wake  Island,"  began  its  sixth 
week  at  the  Rivoli ;  MGM's  "Panama  Hattie," 
second  week  at  the  Capitol ;  "The  Pride  of  the 
Yankees,"  Goldwyn-RKO,  began  its  thirteenth 
week  at  the  Astor  last  Thursdav,  and  Warner 
Bros.'  "Yankee  Doodle  Dandy"  is  in  its  20th 
week  at  the  Hollywood. 

United  Artists  reported  this  week  that  "The 
Moon  and  the  Sixpence,"  produced  by  Loew- 
Lewin,  and  based  on  the  book  by  W.  Somerset 
Maugham,  was  held  over  at  the  Orpheum,  Mon- 
treal and  State,  Norfolk,  Va.  According  to 
Warner  Bros.,  "The  Gay  Sisters,"  after  play- 
ing four  weeks  at  the  Aldine,  has  moved  to  the 
Keith  in  Philadelphia  for  a  fifth  week  and  may 
be  held  over.  It  was  held  a  fourth  week  in 
Seattle  and  Cleveland  and  played  three  weeks 
in  Chicago,  San  Francisco  and  Portland,  Ore. 

Broadway  legitimate  theatres  reported  one  of 
the  best  weekends  in  a  long  while  over  the 
Columbus  Day  weekend,  with  14  plays  giving 
Sunday  shows  and  15  giving  extra  holiday  mati- 
nees on  Monday.  It  was  said  that  the  number 
of  Sunday  performances  was  the  largest  thus 
far  this  year.  There  were  10  matinees  in  addi- 
tion to  the  14  evening  performances  last  Sun- 
day. 

Those  which  played  two  shows  were  "Clau- 
dia," "Junior  Miss,"  "Let  Freedom  Sing," 
"Let's  Face  It,"  "New  Priorities  of  1943," 
"Show  Time,"  "Sons  o'  Fun,"  "Stars  on  Ice," 
"Three  Men  on  a  Horse,"  and  "Wine,  Women 
and  Song."  "Princess  Ida,"  "Star  and  Garter," 
"Trial  by  Jury,"  "Pinafore"  and  "Vickie"  gave 
Sunday  night  performances  only.  Monday's  mat- 
inees included :  "Angel  Street,"  "Blithe  Spirit," 
"Count  Me  In,"  "Hello  Out  There,"  "Magic," 
"Janie,"  "My  Sister  Eileen,"  "The  Eve  of  St. 
Mark"  and  "Uncle  Harry." 


Exhibitors  Fight  Tax 

Officials  of  Paramount-Richards  circuit  in 
Mobile,  Ala.,  operators  of  the  Saenger  and 
affiliated  theatres,  will  send  a  delegation  to  pro- 
test a  proposed  10  per  cent  amusement  tax 
when  the  City  Commission  meets  for  a  vote,  it 
was  reported  this  week.  Theatre  operators, 
meanwhile,  are  running  trailers  asking  patrons 
to  sign  a  petition  against  the  proposed  tax. 


Kaufman  Assistant  Film  Buyer 

Harry  M.  Kalmine,  assistant  general  manager 
of  Warner  Theatres,  on  Tuesday  announced  the 
promotion  of  Louis  J.  Kaufman  to  the  post  of 
assistant  film  buyer  for  the  circuit.  He  will 
serve  under  Clayton  E.  Bond,  film  buyer.  Mr. 
Kaufman  has  been  in  the  Warner  Theatre  De- 
partment for  the  past  10  years. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  October  12th 


ASTOR 

How  to  Play  Baseball  RKO  Radio 

Feature:    The   Pride   of  the 

Yankees  RKO  Radio 

CAPITOL 

Colorful  North  Carolina.  .  .  .  MGM 

Show  Horse  RKO  Radio 

Early  Bird  Dood  It  MGM 

A  Letter  from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:  Panama  Hattie  MGM 

CRITERION 

Nutty  Pine  Cabin  Universal 

A  Letter  from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:      Wings     and  the 

Woman  RKO  Radio 

PARAMOUNT 

A  Letter  from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:  The  Major  and  the 

Minor  Paramount 

RIALTO 

Tire  Trouble  20th  Cent. -Fox 

Snow  Trails  20th  Cent.-Fox 

A  Letter  from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:  The  Bogie  Man  Will 

Get  You  Columbia 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  Island  Paramount 

ROXY 

Life  With  Fido  20th  Cent.-Fox 

The  Last  Frontier  20th  Cent.-Fox 

A  Letter  from  Bataan  Paramount 

Feature:  Girl  Tremble  20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Fox  Pop  Vitaphone 

Sniffer  Soldier  Vitaphone 

Army  Air  Corps  Band  Vitaphone 

Feature:  Desperate  Journey  .  .  Warner  Bros. 


Nu-Art  Signs  Stipulation 
On  Use  of  "Steps"  Title 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission  has  an- 
nounced that  it  has  accepted  a  stipulation  from 
Nu-Art  Films,  Inc.,  New  York,  distributors 
of  16  mm  pictures,  under  which  the  company 
will  cease  and  desist  from  the  use  of  the  words 
"In  His  Steps"  as  a  designation  or  title  of  a 
motion  picture  which  is  not,  in  fact,  an  ade- 
quate adaptation  or  film  version  of  the  book 
of  the  same  name,  written  by  Charles  M. 
Sheldon. 

The  company  also  will  refrain  from  use  of 
any  other  words  tending  to  convey  the  belief 
that  the  film  is  an  adaptation  or  film  version 
of  the  book. 


New  Dimout  in  N.  J. 

A  new  dimout  order  was  issued  to  film  the- 
atres in  New  Jersey  by  the  Army  this  week,  it 
was  reported.  Dimouts  are  now  compulsory 
one-half  hour  after  sundown  instead  of  one 
hour,  which  was  the  previous  regulation.  This 
ruling  applies  to  all  theatres  within  the  15-mile 
limit  and  along  the  entire  coastline  of  the  state. 

Fifteen  exhibitors  were  arrested  in  New  Jer- 
sey last  week  for  violation  of  the  Army's  dim- 
out  regulations,  it  was  disclosed  in  a  bulletin 
from  Allied  Theatre  Owners  of  New  Jersey. 
While  the  judge  suspended  sentences,  he  warned 
the  exhibitors  of  heavy  fines  for  future  viola- 
tions, the  bulletin  said. 


October    17,  1942 

Film  and  Stage 
Leaders  Study 
Finance  Plan 

Motion  picture  industry  leaders,  the  League 
of  New  York  Theatres  and  the  Dramatists 
Guild  are  to  meet  soon  to  consider  the  two 
proposals  recently  set  forth  by  Warner  Bros, 
concerning  the  backing  of  Broadway  plays  by 
film  companies.  The  forthcoming  three-cornered 
conference  was  announced  last  Friday  by  James 
F.  Reilly,  executive  secretary  of  the  League. 
On  Tuesday,  Mr.  Reilly  reported  that  the  meet- 
ing probably  would  be  held  within  the  next  few 
weeks. 

For  some  time,  film  producing  companies 
have  been  dissatisfied  with  the  present  method 
of  backing  legitimate  shows  and  have  sought 
to  get  the  League  and  the  Guild  to  amend 
the  practice.  Warner  Bros,  in  particular  has 
led  the  industry  in  seeking  changes.  The  com- 
pany would  revise  the  Guild  agreement  so  that 
a  film  backer  would  have  the  right  to  name  its 
own  play  producer,  preferably  one  of  its  em- 
ployees, and  to  pull  out  before  the  end  of  the 
first  three  weeks  of  a  run  without  being  forced 
to  post  a  minimum  bond  of  $5,000  for  the  first 
week  of  a  run  and  from  $7,500  to  $10,000  for 
the  subsequent  two  weeks,  which  now  guaran- 
tees a  minimum  of  $15,000  for  picture  rights  to  . 
an  author. 

Thus  far  the  Guild  has  refused  to  agree  to 
the  latter  proposal,  although  it  has  indicated 
approval  for  the  suggestion  that  a  film  com- 
pany may  employ  an  independent  producer  for 
plays  purchased  in  advance  of  production.  In 
effect,  however,  without  the  go-ahead  from  the 
Dramatists  Guild  on  financing,  picture  com- 
panies are  left  practically  where  they  were  two 
years  ago,  when  Jacob  Wilk,  eastern  play  editor 
for  Warner  Bros.,  first  introduced  the  sug- 
gested revisions.  It  is  reported  that  the  League 
of  New  York  Theatres  is  willing  to  agree  to 
the  plan  because  theatre  managers  are  eager  to 
get  more  Hollywood  money  working  in  theatre 
operation. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  League,  held 
in  New  York  last  Thursday,  and  attended  by 
31  members  out  of  a  total  of  58,  it  was  voted  ' 
to  ask  the  Guild  and  the  film  industry  to  name 
representatives  to  confer  with  a  committee  from  , 
the  theatre  managers'  group  to  discuss  the  pro- 
posed changes  in  the  agreement.  It  was  also 
suggested  that  the  League  call  a  meeting  of 
representatives  of  Actors  Equity  Association 
and  League  members  to  confer  on  Equity's  re- 
cent proposal  to  establish,  on  a  national  basis, 
film-sponsored  talent  training  stock  company 
units  to  replace  actors  who  are  being  called  to 
serve  in  the  armed  forces. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  League,  Chris- 
topher Dunphy,  administrator  of  the  amuse- 
ment section  of  the  War  Production  Board,  ad- 
dressed the  membership  and  urged  the  neces- 
sity for  greater  conservation  of  theatrical  re-  1 
sources  and  material,  pointing  out  that  "the 
situation  has  become  increasingly  serious." 

Election  of  incumbent  League  officers  also' 
was  held.    Reelected  were :   Marcus  Heiman, 
president ;    Lee   Shubert,   first   vice-president ; 
Brock  Pemberton,  second  vice-president ;  Gil-  | 
bert  Miller,  treasurer,  and  Herman  Shumlin, 
secretary.    Members  of  the  governing  board  j 
reelected  were:  William  A.  Brady,  Lester  Mey- 
er, Norman  Pincus,  Harry  G.  Sommers,  Vin- 
ton Freedley,  Max  Gordon,  Lawrence  Langner,  i 
Rowland  Stebbins  and  Dwight  Deere  Wiman. 


Freed  Promoted  in  New  Haven 

Harold  Freed  has  been  named  advertising 
sales  manager  of  Warner  Bros.  New  Haven 
exchange,  and  Thomas  Germaine  has  been  pro- 
moted to  shipper,  succeeding  Joseph  Barcanskv 
and  Lou  Jacobson,  who  recently  enlisted  in  the 
Army. 


17,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


63 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS — No.  10.  VoL  23.— Film  high- 
lights os  President's  tour  oi  nation  Photographic 

evidence  of  destruction  Vf  RAF  Alaska  highway 

near  completion  in  record  time  Captain  Mueller. 

Pacific  hero,  returns  to  home  town  in  Texas. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  11,  VoL  23.— Tiny  sub- 
chaser   tested  Training    future    airmen  U.  _S. 

Army  in   New   Caledonia  Forest  giants   cut  for 

olanes  Anti-aircraft  gun  drill  Secetary  Knox  in 

Brazil  Willkie  in  Egypt  Perm  wins  over  Yale 

 Iowa  Pre-Flight  wins  game  Lew  Lehr. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  205,  VoL  14.— Russia 
fights  on  Final  chapter  of  President's  secret  cross- 
country tour  RAF  bombs  Nazi  war  plants:  vast 

iestmctior.  shjwr.  V.  5.  Army  rushes  highway  to 

Alaska  Georgia  Tech  beats  Notre  Dame. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  209,  VoL  14.— Yanks  in 

New  Caledonia  Willkie  sees  action  in  Egypt  as 

Nazi    plane    is    shot    down  Newsreel    shots  aid 

science  in  study  of  bridge  collapse  Bombardiers  in 

action  Coast   Guard   fire   fighters  .-inti-aircraft 

guns  in  action   against   tanks  World  Champion 

Cardinals  give  blood  FootbaD. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.   13.— Rush  Alaska  high- 

way  FDR    sees    grand-children    and  Gamer  

WCTU    wants    U.     S.     "dry"    again  Champion 

Cardinals  return  to  St  Louis  .America's  convoy 

system  shown. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  14.— L".   S.   Navy  chiefs 

welcomed  in  Brazil  Sonors  for  seaman  hero  

Doll    in    likeness    oi    President  Brass    Hats  at 

Washington     Stage     Door     Canteen  Family  in 

Army  Touhy    manhunt  Army    vs  Cornell  

Iowa  Pre-Flight  beats  Michigan. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  13,  VoL  14.— Record  launch - 

ing  seen  by  FDR  RAF  films  bomb  damage  

British  take  over  Madagascar  ...Alaskan  highway 
nears   Soldiers  hitch  ike  in  style  Ford- 
ham    meets    Tennessee  Iowa    Pre-Flight  beats 

Minnesota. 

-  RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  14,  VoL  14.— Y.  S.  troops 
in  New  Caledonia  Test  Tacoma  bridge  model  

j     Navy    Secretary    Knox    in    Rio  War    heads  at 

Washington  Canteen  Mother  and  son  join  U.  S 

:     Army  Alsab  wins  at  Belmont  Iowa  Pre-Flight 

(    wallops  Michigan  Penn  wins  over  Yale. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWS  REEL — No.  126,  VoL  15. — RAF 

I    bombers  wreck  Paris  plants  Alaska  highway  nears 

r    completion  Texas    town   honors    Pacific  hero  

Marks  year  of  Middle  East  war  President's  tour 

 Tanks  named  for  Churchill  Polish-Americans 

1    honor  Pulaski.... Football.... Racing. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No,  127.  VoL  13.— Yanks 

train  in  South  Seas  Ack-ack  specialists  in  form 

 Brazil  air  corps  grows  Experts  study  minia- 
ture bridge  Liberty  Bell  rings  for  China  Mayo- 
Kelly  joins   Boy   Scouts  Army  beats  Cornell  

Ohio  State  vs.  USC. 

Ask  Church  Bingo  Ban 

Exhibitors  and  amusement  interests  in  Phila- 
pelphia  are  reported  to  have  lodged  protests 
Ixrith  the  Rev.  William  B.  Forney,  secretary 
'>f  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  against  large  scale 
'iteration  of  Bingo  games  at  churches.  It  was 
pointed  out  that  chance  games  are  barred  in 
heatres  by  court  order.  The  Lord's  Day  Al- 
lance  led  the  fight  against  Sunday  film  shows 
.  n  Philadelphia. 


)hift  Loew-Poli  Managers 

,  Harry  F.  Shaw,  Loew-Poli  division  manager. 
<as  announced  the  promotion  of  Wallace  Coop- 
tr  from  the  Strand  to  Waterbury,  Conn.,  as 
"lanager  of  the  Loew-Poli  there,  while  Edward 
jj  itzpatrick,  formerly  manager  of  the  latter 
louse,  has  been  promoted  to  city  manager, 
"felly  Steckels,  assistant  at  the  Strand,  has 
Sieved  up  to  manager,  becoming  the  first  Loew- 
n'oli  woman  manager. 


Heads  Northwest  Club 

I  Keith  Beckwith  has  been  elected  president 
Mt:  the  Northwest  Film  Club,  Seattle.  Also 
J.ected  as  vice-president  at  the  Club's  annual 
V  teeting  was  Xeal  Walton.    William  Forman 
Sterling  Chain  Theatres  was  elected  to  the 
'■.aard  of  trustees. 


olfe  District  Manager 

^  Norman  Rolfe.  manager  of  the  Wethersfield 
|  eatre,  is  the  new  district  manager  of  the 
Dckwood-Gordon  Connecticut  houses. 


Seek  Draft  Exemption 
For  Eight  Actors 

Jasper  Deeter,  director  of  the  Hedgerow  the- 
atre in  Moylan,  Pa.,  wants  a  blanket  draft  ex- 
emption for  his  eight  actors  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  "doing  work  of  national  importance,'" 
according  to  an  Associated  Press  dispatch. 

Mr.  Deeter  said  the  draft  board  rejected  his 
plea.  Now  he  is  writing  to  friends,  he  said, 
asking  testimonials  to  the  value  of  the  theatre 
"in  the  everlasting  fight  for  the  greatest  good 
for  cultural  growth." 


Purchase  Property  Interest 

The  Circle  Theatre  Company  of  Indianapolis 
has  purchased  the  interest  of  the  estate  of  Mrs. 
Hervey  B.  Perrin  in  the  Indiana  theatre  prop- 
erty. The  interest  comprises  an  undivided  half 
of  58JA  feet  of  ground.  The  other  half  of  the 
undivided  half  is  owned  by  Mrs.  William  A. 
Zumpfe. 


Ascap  Third  Quarter 
Dividend  $1,056,000 

The  board  of  directors  of  the  American  So- 
ciety of  Composers,  Authors  and  Publishers  has 
authorized  distribution  to  members  for  the  third 
quarter  ending  September  30th,  1942,  of  $1,- 
056,000. 

This  brings  the  total  distribution  to  members 
for  the  first  three  quarters  of  1942  to  S3.- 
106,000. 


UA  Sets  "Canteen"  Release 

United  Artists  has  announced  that  it  has 
scheduled  Sol  Lesser' s  forthcoming  production. 
"Stage  Door  Canteen"  for  release  February 
26th.  "American  Empire"  will  be  released  on 
December  11th  and  "Lost  Canyon"  on  Decem- 
ber 18th  instead  of  the  dates  previously  set. 
New  dates  for  "Young  and  Willing."  and  "G- 
String  Murders"  are  January  29th  and  February 
12th.  respectively. 


'As  a  tempting  Arabian 
dancing  girl,  Maria  does 
a  variation  of  the  old 
seven-veil  dance,  known 
as  the  Dance  of  the  Single 
Veil."— says  "Life"  Magazine 

You'll  see  her  in  Walter 
Wanger's  "Arabian 
Nights"  in  Technicolor. 


64 


MOTION    P.ICTURE  HERALD 


October     17,  1942 


SMPE  Meeting  Will 
Study  Army  Films 


53rd  Semi- Annual  Session, 
Cut  to  3  Days,  Opens  in 
New  York  October  27th 

A  tour  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Signal  Corps 
Photographic  Center  in  Long  Island  City, 
exhibition  of  Army  training  films  and  a 
group  of  talks  on  the  use  of  the  screen  in 
Army  activity,  will  be  the  highlights  of 
the  semi-annual  convention  of  the  Society 
of  Motion  Picture  Engineers  at  the  Hotel 
Pennsylvania,  New  York,  October  27th  to 
29th,  inclusive. 

This  52nd  semi-annual  convention  will 
continue  for  three  days,  instead  of  five,  as 
in  the  past,  because  of  wartime  conditions. 
Dr.  Alfred  N.  Goldsmith  is  chairman  of 
the  reception  and  local  arrangements  com- 
mittee. Officers-elect  for  1943  will  be  intro- 
duced at  an  informal  luncheon  on  Tuesday, 
October  27th,  at  which  the  principal  address 
will  be  made  by  Francis  S.  Harmon,  execu- 
tive vice-chairman  of  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee. 

The  52nd  semi-annual  banquet  of  the  So- 
ciety will  be  held  on  the  evening  of  Wednes- 
day, October  28th,  when  the  presentation  of 
the  Journal  Award  will  be  made.  General 
sessions  will  be  held  on  the  morning  of 
October  27th,  and  the  morning  and  afternoon 
of  October  28th.  A  symposium  on  the  produc- 
tion of  16mm.  films  will  occupy  the  morn- 
ing and  afternoon  sessions  on  October  29th, 
the  final  day  of  the  meeting. 

The  tentative  program  for  the  three-day 
convention  follows : 
Tuesday,  October  27th 

9:30  a.m.  Salle  Moderne;  General  Session. 
10 :00  a.m.   Report  of  the   Convention  Vice- 
President,  W.  C.  Kunzmann. 
Report  of  the  Financial  Vice-President,  A.  S. 
Dickinson. 

Report  of  the  Engineering  Vice-President,  D. 
E.  Hyndman. 

Welcome  by  the  President,  Emery  Huse. 

Election  of  Officers  and  Governors  for  1943. 

"Wright  Field  Training  Film  Laboratory," 
H.  C.  Brecha,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

"The  Navy's  Utilization  of  Film  for  Train- 
ing Purposes,"  William  Exton,  Jr.,  Lt., 
U.S.N.R.,  Bureau  of  Navigation,  Navy  De- 
partment, Washington,  D.  C. 

"The  Documentary  Scientific  and  Military 
Films  of  the  Soviet  Union,"  Gregor  L. 
Irsky,  Cinema  Committee  of  the  U.S.R.R., 
Washington,  D.  C. 

"The  Underground  Motion  Picture  Industry 
in  China,"  T.  Y.  Lo,  Film  Section,  Military 
Affairs  Commission,  Chinese  National  Gov- 
ernment. 

12 :30  p.m.  Roof  Garden;  Informal  Get-To- 
gether Luncheon  for  members,  their  friends 
and  guests.  Introduction  of  Officers-Elect 
for  1943. 

Address  by  Francis  S.  Harmon,  Executive, 
War   Activities    Committee — Motion  Pic- 
ture Industry. 
2 :30  p.m.  Radio  City  Music  Hall  ( Sixth  Ave. 
and  SOth  St.) 

An  extensive  tour  of  the  technical  facilities  of 
the  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  front-stage 
and  back-stage ;  arranged  by  courtesy  of 
G.  S.  Eyssell,  managing  director  of  Radio 


City  Music  Hall ;  Fred  L.  Lynch,  publicity 
director,  and  Harry  Braun,  sound  director. 
8 :00  p.m.  Museum  of  Modern  Art  Film  Li- 
brary (11  W.  53d  St.) 

Addresses  on  the  development  of  the  motion 
picture  by  John  Abbott  and  Miss  Iris 
Barry,  followed  by  a  showing  of  pictures 
selected  for  their  importance  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  art. 

Wednesday,  October  28th 

10  :00  a.m.  Salle  Moderne;  General  Session. 

"Sound  Control  in  the  Theatre  Comes  of 
Age,"  H.  Burris-Meyer,  Stevens  Institute 
of  Technology,  Hoboken,  N.  J. 

"Motion  Picture  Sound-Track  Nomencla- 
ture," Edward  M.  Honan  and  Clyde  R. 
Keith,  Electrical  Research  Products  Divi- 
sion of  Western  Electric  Co.,  Hollywood, 
Calif. 

Society  Business. 

Report  of  the  Theatre  Engineering  Commit- 
tee, Alfred  N.  Goldsmith,  Chairman. 

"Film  Distortions  and  Their  Effect  on  Pro- 
jection Quality,"  E.  K.  Carver,  R.  H.  Tal- 
bot, and  H.  A.  Loomis,  Eastman  Kodak 
Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

"Effect  of  High  Gate  Temperatures  on  35- 
Mm  Film  Projection,"  E.  K.  Carver,  R.  H. 
Talbot,  and  H.  A.  Loomis,  Eastman  Kodak 
Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
2:00  p.m.  Salle  Moderne;  General  Session. 

"Recent  Laboratory  Studies  of  Optical  Re- 
duction Printing,"  R.  O.  Drew  and  L.  T. 
Sachtleben,  RCA  Manufacturing  Co.,  Inc., 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

"Some  Characteristics  of  Ammonium  Thio- 
sulfate  Fixing  Baths,"  Donald  B.  Alnutt, 
Mallinckrodt  Chemical  Works,  St.  Louis, 
Mo. 

"Copper  and  Sulfide  in  Developers,"  R.  M. 
Evans,  W.  T.  Hanson,  Jr.,  and  P.  K. 
Glasoe,  Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester, 
N.  Y. 

"Effect  of  Composition  of  Processing  Solu- 
tions on  Removal  of  Silver  from  Photo- 
graphic Materials,"  J.  I.  Crabtree,  G.  T. 
Eaton,  and  L.  E.  Muehler,  Eastman  Ko- 
dak Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

"Factors  Affecting  the  Accumulation  of  Io- 
dide in  Used  Photographic  Developers,"  R. 
M.  Evans,  W.  T.  Hanson,  Jr.,  and  P.  K. 
Glasoe,  Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester, 
N.  Y. 

"A  Precision  Recording  Instrument  for 
Measuring  Film  Width,"  S.  C.  Coroniti 
and  H.  S.  Baldwin,  Agfa  Ansco,  Bingham- 
ton,  N.  Y. 

8:00    p.m.    Georgian    Room;  Fifty-Second 
Semi-Annual  Banquet  and  Dance. 
Introduction  of  Officers-Elect  for  1943. 
Addresses  by  prominent  members  of  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Industry. 
SMPE  Journal  Award. 
Entertainment  and  Dancing. 

Thursday,  October  29th 

10:00  a.m.  Salle  Moderne;  Symposium  on  the 
Production  of  16-Mm  Motion  Pictures. 
Introduction  of  John  A.  Maurer,  Chairman 

of    the    Committee    on  Non-Theatrical 

Equipment. 

"Sixteen-mm  Production  Planning,"  Russell 
C.  Holslag,  J.  A.  Maurer,  Inc.,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 

"Sixteen-mm  Cinematography,"  William 
Stull,  The  American  Cinematographer , 
Hollywood. 

"The  Practical  Side  of  Direct  16-mm  Labor- 
atory Work,"  Lloyd  Thompson,  The  Cal- 
vin Co.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

"Sixteen-mm  Laboratory  . Practice,"  William 


H.  Offenhauser,  Jr.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
2 :00  p.m.  Salle  Modem;  Symposium  on  the 
Production   of    16   mm   Motion  Pictures 
(Continued) . 

"Sixteen-mm  Sound  Recording,"  John  A. 
Maurer,  J.  A.  Maurer,  Inc.,  New  York, 
N.  Y.  ' 

"Sixteen-mm  Editing  and  Photographic  Em- 
bellishment," Larry  Sherwood,  The  Calvin 
Co.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

"Carbon  Arc  Projection  of  16-mm  Film," 
W.  C.  Kalb,  National  Carbon  Co.,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

"Sixteen-mm  Screen  Illumination,"  Frank  E. 
Carlson,  General  Electric  Co.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

"Application  and  Distribution  of  16-mm  Mo- 
tion Pictures,"  F.  W.  Bright,  The  Aetna 
Casualty  and  Surety  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 
8  :00  p.m.  U.  S.  Army  Signal  Corps  Photogra- 
phic Center  (35-11,  35th  Ave.,  Astoria,  L.  I.). 
General  Session. 

Welcome  by  Colonel  M.  E.  Gillette,  Com- 
manding. 

"Analysis  of  Fast  Action  by  Motion  Pic- 
tures," E.  M.  Watson,  Captain,  Ordnance 
Dept.,  Watervleit  Arsenal,  Watervleit, 
N.  Y. 

"Sixteen-mm  Motion  Pictures  and  the  War 

Effort,"  Michael  S.  David,  General  Motors 

Corp.,  Detroit. 
"Motion   Pictures   in  Aircraft  Production," 

Norman  Matthews,  Bell  Aircraft  Company, 

Buffalo. 

Exhibition  of  Army  Training  Films  produced 
by  the  U.  S.  Army  Signal  Corps. 

Conducted  tour  of  the  Photographic  Center, 
U.  S.  Signal  Corps. 

The  board  of  managers  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Section  of  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  En- 
gineers have  nominated  officers  for  the  year 
1943.  Dr.  Alfred  N.  Goldsmith  has  been  nomi- 
nated to  succeed  himself  as  chairman ;  M.  R. 
Boyer  has  been  nominated  to  succeed  Sylvan 
Harris  as  secretary-treasurer,  and  H  E.  White, 
William  H.  Offenhauser,  Jr.,  and  H.  Barnett 
have  been  nominated  to  the  board  of  managers, 
to  succeed  Mr.  White,  Mr.  Offenhauser  and 
P.  C.  Goldmark,  whose  terms  expire  December 
31st.    Election  is  by  mailed  ballot  of  members. 


"Pride"  Closes  14-Week  Run 

Completing  a  14-week  run,  Samuel  Goldwyn's 
picture,  "The  Pride  of  the  Yankees,"  starring 
Gary  Cooper  and  released  through  RKO,  closes 
its  engagement  at  the  Astor  theatre,  New  York 
this  Sunday,  October  18th.  The  film  began  its 
subsequent  run  in  the  metropolitan  area,  opening 
at  the  RKO  Albee,  Brooklyn,  and  Proctor's 
Newark,  this  Saturday,  to  be  followed  by  an 
October  29th  opening  at  the  RKO  Palace,  New 
York.  On  November  6th,  the  screen  version  of 
the  life  of  Lou  Gehrig,  simultaneously  will  play 
the  rest  of  the  RKO  circuit  in  New  York, 
Brooklyn  and  throughout  the  country. 


Schreiber  to  WAC 

Edward  Schreiber,  formerly  of  Warners' 
home  office  publicity  department,  has  been  ap- 
pointed publicity  director  of  the  War  Activities 
Committee,  in  New  York,  by  Oscar  A.  Doob, 
chairman  of  the  Public  Relations  Division  of 
WAC.  Associated  with  Mr.  Schreiber  on  the 
WAC  staff  will  be  Jeannette  Sawyer,  formerly 
of  Twentieth  Century-Fox.  Earl  Wingart,. 
loaned  to  WAC  by  the  East  Coast  Public  Re- 
lations Committee  for  the  September  Bond 
drive,  will  stay  on  to  help  with  the  industry's 
scrap  campaign. 


Sandler  Buys  Two  Houses 

Nate  Sandler  of  Des  Moines  has  purchased 
the  Co-ed  and  Rex  theatres  in  Fairfield,  la . 
from  Lou  Gains,  it  was  announced  this  week. 
Mr.  Sandler  also  operates  houses  in  Northwoo'l 
and  Missouri  Valley,  la. 


Booking  Films  for  Army 

Capt.  Joseph  Titleman,  formerly  a  Phila- 
delphia theatre  manager,  is  now  booking  film= 
for  the  Army  in  Australia. 


October  17 


1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


65 


Twelve  Plays  Set 
For  October 


Twelve  legitimate  stage  openings  are  sched- 
uled for  Broadway  this  month,  with  seven 
having  their  premieres  the  past  two  weeks. 
They  are:  "Let  Freedom  Sing."  at  the  Long- 
acre:  "The  Eve  of  St  Mark."  Maxwell  Ander- 
son play  with  Aline  MacMahon,  William  Price 
and  Mary  Rolie,  at  the  Cort;  "Count  Me  In," 
with  Charles  Butterworth,  Luella  Gear  and 
Hal  LeRoy,  at  the  Ban  v more,  and  a  revival 
of  "Three  Men  on  a  Horse,"  with  William 
Lynn  and  Teddy  Hart,  at  the  Forest 

Also,  "Oy,  Is  Dus  a  Leben,"  based  on  the 
career  of  Molly  Picon,  which  opened  Monday 
at  the  Molly  Picon  theatre;  "Beat  the  Band," 
a  musical  comedy  by  George  Marion,  Jr.,  and 
George  Abbott,  which  opened  Wednesday  at 
the  46th  Street  theatre,  and  "The  Time,  the 
Place  and  the  Girl,"  also  a  musical,  which  was 
to  open  Friday  at  the  Mansfield. 

Claiborne  Foster  is  co-featured  with  Lillian 
Gish  and  Stuart  Erwin  in  the  Theatre  Guild 
production  of  "Mr.  Ss'camore,"  which  opened 
last  week  at  the  Shubert  theatre,  New  Haven. 
Helen  Menken  also  may  return  to  Broadway 
in  a  play  entitled  "Homecoming,"  by  John 
Lloyd. 

Myron  McCormick  has  replaced  Leonard  El- 
liott in  "The  Damask  Cheek,"  the  Dwight 
Deere  Wiman  production  starring  Flora  Rob- 
son,  which  opened  at  the  Plymouth  theatre  in 
Boston  Monday  night  and  is  due  at  the  Play- 
house  in  New  York  October  20th.  Barbara 
Bel  Geddes,  Arthur  Franz  and  Erik  Martin 
have  been  added  to  the  cast  of  "Little  Darling," 
in  which  Leon  Ames  and  Karen  Morley  will 
star. 

Alfred  Lunt  and  Lynn  Fontanne  will  remain 
out  of  Xew  York  with  S.  N.  Behrinan's  new 
comedy  "The  Pirate"  about  two  weeks  longer 
than  planned.  Robert  Allen  will  play  the  role 
•of  "Harry  Graves"  in  the  Boston  company 
01  "Junior  Miss,"  scheduled  to  open  there  some 
-rat  in  November. 

The  Theatre  Guild  has  purchased  "The  Rus- 
sian People,"  first  produced  last  July  at  the 
[^Leningrad  theatre.  The  author  is  a  young  Rus- 
m  playwright,  Konstantin  Simonov. 
Edmund  Gwenn  will  appear  with  Katherine 
Cornell  in  the  forthcoming  production  of  Anton 
""hekbov's  "The  Three  Sisters."  Lenore  Ulric 
nil  portray  "Sadie  Thompson"  in  a  road  com- 
any  production  of  "Rain."  The  play  has  been 
Todernized,  and  co-author  John  Colton  also 
ill  appear  in  the  cast 


Honor  Frank  Williams 

Motion  picture  industry  friends  joined  with 
e  Saratoga  Knights  of  Columbus  Monday 
igbt  in  honoring  Frank  Williams,  Benton 
heatre  Circuit  buyer  and  booker,  on  his  en- 
-ance  into  military  service.  Mr.  Williams  re- 
orts  at  Camp  Upton,  N.  Y.,  on  October  19th 
s  a  candidate  for  officers'  training. 


Oth-Fox  Sets  4  Shorts 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  will  release  four 
•ort  subjects  during  November:  two  Terr- 
rons,  one  Magic  Carpet  subject  and  one  Sports 

Jeview.    Titles   are:    "Neptune's  Daughter." 

]  c-de  Meets  Pickle,"  "Gay  Rio"  and  "Franken- 

Ws  Cat" 


jblish  Film  Articles 

A  series  oi  16  articles  describing  the  process 
'making  motion  pictures,  written  by  Mrs. 
1  ice  Evans  Field  of  the  Motion  Picture  Pro- 
cers  and  Distributors  of  America,  will  ap- 
ar  in  Scholastic,  high  school  periodical 


anages  Indiana  House 

Iftiax  Page,  booker  for  the  Columbia  ex- 
range  in  Indianapolis,  is  now  managing  the 

bal  theatre  at  Danville.  Ind.,  for  William 

senthal. 


U.  S.  Supplies  80%  of  Films 
For  Dominican  Republic 

Approximately  400  feature  films  are  imported 
annually  by  the  Dominican  Republic,  of  which 
the  United  States  supplies  about  80  per  cent, 
according  to  a  report  published  in  the  October 
3rd  issue  of  the  Foreign  C ommerce  W eekly, 
publication  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Com- 
merce. 

The  article  indicates  that  there  are  31  motion 
picture  theatres  in  the  Dominican  Republic,  all 
wired  for  sound.  Admission  prices  range  from 
six  to  40  cents,  and  in  many  cases  admissions 
for  women  are  five  or  10  cents  less  than  for 
men.  No  motion  pictures  are  produced  domes- 
tically, the  publication  reports. 


Red  Cross  Sets 
Mobile  Shows 

"Clubmobiles"  carrying  sound  motion  picture 
projectors  and  late  features  and  newsreels, 
radio-phonographs  and  records,  athletic  equip- 
ment and  books  are  to  be  put  into  service  in 
Britain  to  carry  entertainment  to  small  num- 
bers of  U.  S.  troops  assigned  to  isolated  posts, 
the  American  Red  Cross  announced  this  week. 

Indoor  facilities  will  be  provided  by  the 
British  authorities  for  the  showing  of  films, 
dances  and  other  entertainment  which  will  be 
arranged  on  a  weekly  basis  for  men  who  can- 
not attend  the  recreation  centers  which  are 
being  established. 


Levy  Reelected 

Herman  Levy,  executive  secretary  of  the 
Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of  Connecticut 
has  been  reelected  secretary  of  the  New  Haven 
Bar  Association. 


Sell  $20,000  in  Bonds 

At  the  Ritz  theatre,  Hickman.  Ky..  town  of 
2,300  population,  from  September  14th  to  30th, 
a  total  of  $20,667  in  War  Bonds  and  Stamps 
was  sold.  The  house  is  owned  by  the  Ruffin 
Amusement  Companv,  and  is  managed  bv  C.  O. 
Hardv. 


'-Just  call  me  Shera" 


Maria  Montez  as 
Sherazade,  The 
Desert  Queen,  in 
Walter  Wanger's 
Arabian  Nights" 
in  Technicolor 
from  Universal 


66 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


Mexico  Will  Censor 
16  mm,  8  mm  Films 


Move  Aimed  at  Checking 
Fifth  Column  Activities; 
Bank  Lends  $425,000 

by  LUIS  BECERRA  CELIS 

in  Mexico  City 

All  16  mm.  and  even  8  mm.  pictures 
must  be  examined  by  the  Federal  Film 
Censoring  and  Supervising  Department 
before  they  can  be  exhibited  in  Mexico, 
it  has  been  ruled  by  Miguel  Aleman,  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior,  under  whose  Gov- 
ernment section  the  department  func- 
tions. 

This  action  was  taken,  the  official  ex- 
plained, to  curb  Fifth  Columnists.  It  was 
learned  on  good  authority  that  the  Govern- 
ment found  that  16  mm.  and  8  mm.  pictures 
had  given  information  to  the  enemy,  and 
that  investigation  of  this  case  brought  to 
light  two  important  instances  of  espionage, 
about  which  the  Government  is  keeping 
silent. 

V 

Granting  of  loans  and  credits  of  $425,000 
to  the  picture  industry  during  the  six 
months  it  has  functioned  were  announced  by 
the  Banco  Cinematografica,  S.A.,  the  bank, 
the  business  and  the  Federal  Government 
established  here  after  five  years  of  arrange- 
ments. Carlos  Carriedo  is  manager  of  the 
bank. 

V 

Leave  of  absence  for  the  duration  of  the 
production  of  the  picture,  "Maria  Cristina," 
a  light  comedy,  he  wrote  and  is  to  make 
and  direct,  has  been  obtained  by  Felipe 
Gregorio  Castillo,  head  of  the  Government's 
Film  Supervising  and  Censoring  Depart- 
ment. Production  was  scheduled  to  start  on 
October  15th  and  will  take  about  a  month. 
The  film  is  to  be  released  about  Christmas. 

Reduce  Theatre  Tax 
In  Mexican  State 

Exhibitors  of  Tamaulipas  State,  the  im- 
portant Gulf  of  Mexico  zone  that  includes 
Tampico,  agreed  to  keep  going  when  the 
State  Government  consented  to  reduce  in- 
creased taxes  of  18  per  cent.  The  reduction 
was  to  13  per  cent  of  gross,  which  the  ex- 
hibitors declare  is  high  but  which  they 
agreed  to  shoulder  because  of  heavy  war 
expenses  the  Government  must  undertake. 

The  exhibitors  had  threatened  to  shut 
their  theatres  unless  the  taxes  were  reduced. 
V 

Brigades  of  men  and  girl  university  and 
high  school  students  have  been  organized 
here,  under  the  auspices  of  Congress,  to  de- 
liver talks  in  every  picture  and  stage  theatre 
and  other  centers  of  public  diversion  on  pa- 
triotism, cooperation  in  the  Government's 
war  against  the  Axis  powers,  how  to  com- 
bat Fifth  Columnists,  and  other  topics  of 
these  times. 

Each  talk  is  limited  to  10  minutes.  The 
exhibitors  have  pledged  themselves  for  100 
per  cent  cooperation  in  this  drive,  which  is 


to  be  extended  soon  to  leading  sectors  of 
the  provinces. 

The  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  the  chief 
Government  department,  has  become  the  of- 
ficial patron  of  the  Third  National  Cine- 
matographic Week,  which  will  be  held  Octo- 
ber 10  to  17th  and  feature  a  street  proces- 
sion here  of  representatives  of  the  entire 
industry. 

V 

Navarro  to  Make  War 
Films  for  Mexico 

Ramon  Navarro,  here  to  offer  his  fighting 
services  to  his  Government,  indicated  after 
an  interview  with  President  Manuel  Avila 
Camacho  that  he  will  act  upon  the  Presi- 
dent's suggestion  that  he  can  serve  Mexico 
just  as  well  by  helping  along  her  picture 
industry  as  he  could  in  the  armed  forces. 
The  player,  it  is  understood,  soon  will  make 
a  contract  with  a  Mexican  producer  to  act 
in  a  film  that  is  intended  to  depict  just  what 
Mexico  is  actually  doing  in  the  way  of  war 
effort. 

Mr.  Navarro  frequently  has  rejected  bids 
by  Mexican  producers  to  play  in  their  films. 
But  that  was  before  the  war  and  before  he 
talked  with  the  President.  President  Ca- 
macho's  suggestion  to  Mr.  Navarro  is  not 
surprising  as  the  Chief  Executive  has  been 
active  in  assisting  the  Mexican  film  indus- 
try. Information  along  Film  Row  is  that 
the  actor  will  begin  this  patriotic  film  in  the 
near  future,  perhaps  before  October  15th. 
V 

Radio  Station  XEB  here,  of  10,000  watts, 
starts  with  100,000  watts  power  on  October 
12th,  with  the  completion  of  the  installation 
of  American  equipment.  This  will  make  the 
station  the  second  most  powerful  in  Mexico. 
XEW  here,  of  150,000  watts,  is  Mexico's 
strongest  station.  XEB,  11  years  old,  is 
owned  by  the  Buen  Tono  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, a  French  firm. 

V 

That  a  theatre  adjoins  or  is  near  a  church 
is  not  illegal  the  Municipal  Government  ex- 
plained in  answering  a  petition  by  several 
prominent  society  people  that  the  city  re- 
ject an  application  for  a  building  permit 
for  a  theatre  near  a  fashionable  Roman 
Catholic  church. 

The  Government,  in  advising  the  peti- 
tioners that  it  had  granted  this  permit,  said 
that  there  is  no  by-law  prohibiting  the  build- 
ing or  operation  of  picture  theatres  near 
churches. 

V 

Women  Employees  in 
Nurses'  Auxiliary 

Fifty  girl  employees  of  local  picture  the- 
atres and  film  distributors  have  enrolled  in 
the  Army  as  auxiliary  nurses.  They  took 
the  oath  at  a  ceremony  on  the  stage  of  the 
Cine  Alameda,  a  leading  first  run  theatre 
here.  Mayor  Javier  Rojo  Gomez  was  pres- 
ort at  the  function. 

Direction  of  the  Federal  Film  Supervi- 
sion and  Censoring  Department  is  currently 
in  charge  of  its  sub-chief,  Agustin  Ortiz 


Mugica,  as  its  chief,  Felipe  Gregorio  Cas- 
tillo is  on  a  leave  of  absence  for  the  dura- 
tion of  the  production  and  direction  of 
"Maria  Cristina,"  for  which  he  wrote  the 
screenplay. 

Official  approval  of  the  scenario  of  "Reina 
de  Reinas"  ("Queen  of  Queens"),  the  pic- 
ture based  upon  the  story  of  Our  Lady  of 
Guadalupe,  patron  saint  of  Mexico,  to  be 
made  by  Rene  Capistran  Garza  and  directed 
by  Julio  Brache,  has  been  given  by  Dr. 
Manuel  M.  Martinez,  Archbishop  of  Mex- 
ico. This  picture  is  scheduled  for  its  pre- 
miere here  on  December  12th,  Guadalupe 
Day. 

V 

A  swarm  of  film  fans,  mostly  girls,  and 
including  not  a  few  men,  got  a  keen  disap- 
pointment when  they  stormed  the  Hotel  Re- 
forma,  one  of  the  leading  hotels  here,  when 
they  heard  that  Charles  Boyer  had  arrived 
there.  The  management  had  to  give  a  loud- 
speaker explanation  that  the  Charles  Boyer 
is  an  American  merchant  here  on  business. 

Cutler,  Jessel  May 
Team  for  Films 

Lester  Cutler,  executive  producer  for  Motion 
Picture  Associates  who  now  is  producing  for 
Producers  Releasing  Corporation,  was  in  New 
York  last  week,  reportedly  to  confer  with 
George  Jessel  on  a  deal  whereby  he  would  be 
co-producer  for  a  program  of  18  features  to 
be  made  over  a  three-year  period.  According 
to  reports,  Mr.  Jessel  would  appear  in  several 
pictures,  including  "Sweethearts  of  the  U.S.A.''. 
a  musical  which  Mr.  Cutler  plans  to  make  at 
the  end  of  the  year. 

Other  possible  productions  were  said  to  be 
a  biographical  picture  based  on  the  lives  of 
vaudeville's  famous  team,  Weber  and  Fields, 
and  a  new  American  version  of  "The  Captain 
of  the  Koepenick."  The  latter  film  originally 
was  made  in  Germany  in  1931  and  10  years 
later  an  American  version  was  produced  by 
Richard  Oswald  but  was  never  released.  It  is 
understood  that  the  deal  was  to  be  completed 
over  last  weekend  before  Mr.  Cutler  returned 
to  Hollywood.  No  confirmation  of  the  co- 
producer  agreement  was  forthcoming  from 
either  Mr.  Cutler  or  Mr.  Jessel. 


Stage  Shows  in  New  Orleans 

With  Jay  Kaufmann  as  president  of  the  new- 
ly incorporated  operating  company,  the  Folies 
Bergere,  Inc.,  of  New  Orleans,  stage  acts  re- 
turned to  the  long-darkened  St.  Charles  theatre, 
renamed  the  Casino'  de  Paree.  Interspersed 
with  second  run  motion  pictures,  the  house  has 
four  stage  shows  on  weekdays  and  Sundays 
with  a  midnight  jamboree  from  11  P.M.  to  2 
A.M.  Saturdays. 


Form  Connecticut  Company 

Certificate  of  incorporation  has  been  filed  for 
the  S.  A.  &  S.  Company,  Inc.,  of  East  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  which  has  acquired  the  500-seat 
Astor,  East  Hartford  building,  including  the 
theatre  and  stores.  Incorporators  are  Salvatore 
Saraceno,  Angelina  Saraceno,  and  Salvatore 
Adorno,  all  of  Middletown. 

Resumes  Publicity  Post 

Jack  Chalman,  formerly  in  charge  of  pub- 
licity and  advertising  for  Interstate  Circuit  in 
San  Antonio,  has  returned  to  that  post,  succeed- 
ing Clarence  H.  Moss,  now  a  captain  in  the 
Air  Corps. 


Goldenson  Back  at  Desk 

Leonard  Goldenson,  Paramount,  vice-presi- 
dent and  theatre  head,  has  returned  to  the 
home  _  office  in  New  York  after  attending  a 
committee  meeting  of  Paramount  theatre  asso- 
ciates in  New  Orleans. 


Octobe 


7,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Od  eon  Patronage  Shows 
Gain  of  55,000,000 

Odeon  Theatres,  Ltd.,  British  circuit,  had 
an  increase  of  55,000,000  patrons  this  year  over 
last  year,  it  was  reported  in  the  annual  state- 
ment to  stockholders  by  J.  Arthur  Rank,  chair- 
man. 

Mr.  Rank  said:  "None  of  us  can  foresee 
what  effect  the  war  may  have  on  film  produc- 
tion in  America,  but  we  feel  sure  that  sufficient 
films  will  be  produced  in  Britain  to  enable  us 
to   maintain   satisfactory  programs." 

It  was  proposed  at  the  annual  meeting  that 
Odeon  Properties,  Ltd..  be  formed  with  a 
capitalization  of  $25,000,000  to  take  over  control 
of  the  Odeon  organization.  Odeon  Theatres 
would  supply  $6,000,000  of  the  required  capital 
and  $14,000,000  would  be  supplied  by  banks  on 
first  mortgage  debentures.  The  remainder  would 
be  supplied  by  Odeon  on  second  debentures 
f1n-PJare£it  comPany  Previously  had  acquired 
110  individually  mortgaged  subsidiary  theatres. 

Motion  Picture  Academy 
Elects  New  Governors 

New  members  of  the  board  of  governors  of 
the  Academy  of  Motion  Picture  Arts  and 
Sciences  for  the  15th  year  of  the  organization's 
existence  were  announced  last  week  following 
tabulation  of  the  ballots. 

They  are:  actors  branch,  Edward  Arnold, 
Charles  Coburn,  Donald  Crisp ;  directors,  Lieut 
Col.  i<rank  Capra.  Frank  Lloyd,  George  Stev- 
ens; producers,  Walt  Disney,  Y.  Frank  Free- 
man'  ?IV-,"(--Mannix;  science,  Farciot  Edouart, 
Ray    WiHcinson,    Douglas    Shearer;  writers, 

Trottf  ackett'  Mary  C  McCa",  Jr.,  Lamar 
The  board  was  to  hold  its  first  meeting  Wed- 
nesday to  elect  a  president  and  other  officers 
who  may  come  trom  outside  the  governors'  list' 
according  to  Walter  Wanger,  president 


67 


Century  Circuit  Managers 
Reject  Union  in  NLRB  Vote 


Century  circuit  managers  and  assistant  man- 
agers in  New  \ork  on  Tuesday  voted  against 
collective  bargaining  by  Local  266,  Building 
bervice  Employees  international  union,  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor 

The  vote  in  a  National  Labor  Board  election 
was  so  to  5.  It  was  regarded  as  a  "vote  of  con- 
fidence and  "very  gratifying."  by  Joseph 
Springer,  m  charge  of  theatre  operations  for 
the  circuit. 


See  "Army"  Sellout 

The^  advance  sale  of  tickets  for  "This  Is  the 
th^i   ]"  PhilaudelPhia,  assures  a  sellout  for 

ners'  5~nSf,er  ♦  £W  ?hen  *  takes  over  War- 
2fith  /'°°?"Seat  Mastbaum  theatre  on  October 
^oth  for  two  weeks.  It  is  estimated  the  local 
engagement  will  gross  $200,000.    About  one 

£v  thf  tV^  f0',000  tiGketS  WCre  S0ld  th^  nrst 
daj  that  the  tickets  were  placed  on  sale  last 

SH  4f>Tn  2*?  f°lthe  ,0Cal  cement  Se 
«  4 V  $n2a  /0r  the  0Pemng  night,  $4.50  to 
$i.^>  tor  all  other  engagements. 

Einfeld  Back  on  Coast 

Charles  Einfeld,  director  of  advertising  and 
^06%  °T  YrCr  Br0S"  -turned  to  Hoily' 
I tl'Vt  ™Tu-W0  W6eks  of  inferences 
in  JNew  \ork,  Washington,  and  Chicago  A 

beleVfh  ^  °n /lantf-  *e  new  season  wi^ 
T  i  1 hls  week.'  Wlth  H-  M-  Warner,  Lt  Col 
J.  L.  Warner,  Ben  Kalmenson  and  Mr.  Ein- 
feld participating. 


FIERY  VOLCANO  OF  HUMAN  PASSIONS! 

One  treacherous,  warm-lipped  temptress 
on  an  island  of  desperate  men. ..where 
honor  is  forgotten  and  lives  are  cheap! 


Eyssell  Visiting  Hollywood 

G.  S    Eyssell,  president  and  manaeinsr  di- 

FheHRadiA  C^  Musk  HallTeftgNew 
v-hSe  hi  October  9th,  for  Hollywood, 

read?.  7  lu °°nf-r  ^  motion  Pict«re  studio 
He  fortheommg  films  now  in  production. 

«e  will  remain  m  Hollywood  for  about  10  davs 


Produced  and  Directed  by 

RICHARD  OSWALD 

Screenplay  by  Robert  Chapin 
From  the  play  by  Gina  Kauss  &  Ladislaus  Fodor 
Adaptation  by  Richard  Oswald  &  Robert  Chapin 


I 


68 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


// 


WHAT  THE 

PICTURE  HID  FOR  ME 


Columbia 


ATLANTIC  CONVOY:  John  Beal,  Virginia  Field 
— Good  melodrama.  Nothing  special  as  a  drawing 
card,  however.  It  couldn't  save  the  day  for  "Miss 
Annie  Rooney."    Played  Friday,  Saturday,  September 

25,  26.— Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

CADETS  ON  PARADE:  Freddie  Bartholomew,  Jim- 
my Lydon— An  excellent  double  feature  picture. — C.  L. 
Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

GO  WEST,  YOUNG  LADY:  Penny  Singleton, 
Glenn  Ford — A  good  program  picture  and  liked  by 
all. — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

MEET  THE  STEWARTS:  William  Holden,  Fran- 
ces Dee — Too  far  fetched  to  be  above  the  run-of-the- 
mill  stuff.  Will  satisfy  the  not -too-particular.  Poor 
gross  on  this  show.  Played  Friday.  Saturday,  October 
2,  3.— Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

SUBMARINE  RAIDER:  John  Howard,  Marguerite 
Chapman — Okay  melodrama.  But  we're  getting  too 
much  war  stuff  already  and  this  appeared  too  hur- 
riedly produced  to  be  of  any  account.  Played  Friday, 
Saturday,  September  18,  19. — Palace  Theatre,  Penacook, 
N.  H. 

THEY  ALL  KISSED  THE  BRIDE:  Joan  Craw- 
ford, Melvyn  Douglas — Can't  figure  out  these  Colum- 
bia comedies.  Am  all  set  for  a  big  picture  and  then 
the  bubble  bursts.  They  don't  seem  to  have  what  it 
takes,  and  they  don't  draw  in  my  town.  This  was  no 
exception.     Played   Friday,    Saturday,    September  25, 

26.  — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hoovers - 
ville,   Pa.     Rural  patronage. 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

CALLING  DR.  GILLESPIE:  Lionel  Barrymore, 
Philip  Dorn — Not  having  seen  this  picture  it  would 
not  be  fair  to  criticize,  but  from  the  reports  I  received 
after  playing  it,  I  feel  that  without  Lew  Ayres  this 
series  is  beginning  to  skid.  I  hope  I  am  wrong  be- 
cause they  were  good  program  pictures.  Played  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  September  14,  15. — Frank  A.  Orban, 
Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa.  Rural  patron- 
age. 

CHOCOLATE  SOLDIER,  THE:  Nelson  Eddy,  Rise 
Stevens — Fair  business.  Story  was  very  poor,  nothing 
to  it,  except  good  singing,  that  is  about  all.  Rise 
Stevens  is  no  actress.  Played  Thursday-Saturday, 
August  20-22. — A.  R.  Sunderland,  Chandler  Theatre, 
Chandler,   Quebec.     Small   town  patronage. 

CROSSROADS:  William  Powell,  Hedy  Lamarr— 
Bill  Powell  registers  again,  even  though  he  becomes 
dramatic.  Better  than  most  of  Leo's  top-bracket 
pictures  this  season.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  Sep- 
tember 11,  12.— Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre, 
Hooversville,   Pa.     Rural  patronage. 

JOHNNY  EAGER:  Robert  Taylor,  Lana  Turner— 
A  good  story  but  a  poor  moral.  Good  acting  from 
beginning  to  end.  Lana  Turner  drew  the  crowd. 
She  certainly  is  a  good  actress.  Played  Thursday  - 
Saturday,  September  3-5.— A.  R.  Sunderland,  Chand- 
ler Theatre,  Chandler,  Quebec.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 

LOVE  CRAZY:  William  Powell,  Myrna  Loy— Good 
business.  A  very  good  comedy  which  had  Powell 
and  Loy  at  their  best,  satisfying  each  and  every 
customer.  Played  Thursday-Saturday,  July  16-18.— 
A.  R.  Sunderland,  Chandler  Theatre,  Chandler,  Que- 
bec.   Small  town  patronage. 

MOKEY:  Dan  Dailey,  Jr.,  Donna  Reed — A  good 
kid  picture  but  a  regrettably  small  turnout  to  enjoy 
it.  Bobby  Blake,  is  fine,  however.  Played  Friday, 
Saturday,  October  2,  3.— Palace  Theatre,  Penacook, 
N.  H. 

SMILIN'  THROUGH:  Jeanette  MacDonald,  Gene 
Raymond — A  very  good  picture  with  a  very  good 
cast.  A  real  story  which  was  appreciated  and  much 
liked  by  the  customers.  Did  very  good  business. 
Played  Thursday -Friday,  August  13-15.— A.  R.  Sund- 
erland. Chandler  Theatre,  Chandler,  Quebec.  Small 
town  patronage. 

TARZAN'S  NEW  YORK  ADVENTURE:  Johnny 
Weismuller.  Maureen  O'Sullivan— A  good  picture  that 
will  be  enjoyed  by  everybody.  A  new  Tarzan.  Cheeta, 
the  ape,  stole  the  picture  and  we  had  very  good 
comments  for  Cheeta.  We  sold  the  picture  by  posting 
a  big  pictorial  six-sheet  on  front  of  the  theatre.  Good 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y, 


patronage.  Played  Friday -Sunday,  September  18-20. — 
Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Paramount  Theatre,  Casa  Grande, 
Ariz. 

TORTILLA  FLAT:  Spencer  Tracy,  Hedy  Lamarr 
— This  is  a  bad  year  for  us  but  this  picture  did  a  little 
better  than  average  business.  It  is  excellently  done 
and  received  a  lot  of  good  comments  here.  Of  course, 
it  is  particularly  good  for  a  class  audience  like  mine 
but  it  should  appeal  in  most  places.  Played  Thurs- 
day, October  1. — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co- 
Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  college  town  pat- 
ronage. 


Paramount 


ARE  HUSBANDS  NECESSARY:  Ray  Milland, 
Betty  Fields — Play  on  preferred  time  if  no  other  is 
available;  otherwise  play  midweek  or  weekend.  Gross 
will  not  hold  up  to  normal. — D.  E.  Burnett,  State 
Theatre,  Larned,  Kan.    General  patronage. 

BEYOND  THE  BLUE  HORIZON:  Dorothy  La- 
mour,  Richard  Denning — Very  good  attraction.  Dor- 
othy Lamour's  recent  Bond  selling  visit  to  Concord 
gave  her  reams  of  good  publicity  reflected  in  the 
good  attendance  for  this  show.  It's  a  good  story  of 
its  type  and  Miss  Lamour  did  well  by  it.  Technicolor 
great  as  usual.  The  picture  pleased.  Played  Sunday, 
Monday,  October  4,  5. — Palace  Theatre,  Penacook, 
N.  H. 

HOLIDAY  INN:  Bing  Crosby,  Fred  Astaire,  Vir- 
ginia Dale,  Marjorie  Reynolds— One  of  the  best  song 
and  dance  productions  ever  made.  Played  four  days 
where  our  usual  run  is  two  days.  Business  picked  up 
each  day  with  several  coming  back  to  see  it  twice 
(I  saw  it  three  times  myself.)  Although  neither 
Crosby  nor  Astaire  has  ever  won  the  Academy  Award 
for  acting,  they  do  swell  in  parts  where  their  enter- 
taining ability  means  more  than  acting.  Keep  an  eye 
on  Virginia  Dale.  She's  going  places  if  she  gets  a 
chance.  Book  this  for  extended  playing  time.  You 
won't  be  sorry.  P.  S.  Paramount  missed  a  bet  by  not 
having  it  in  Technicolor.  Played  Wednesday-Satur- 
day, September  23-26. — E.  A.  Skaggs,  Lincoln  Thea- 
tre,  Robinson,  Illinois.     General  patronage. 

HOLIDAY  INN:  Bing  Crosby,  Fred  Astaire— This 
picture  pleased  all  who  saw  it.  A  better  than  average 
gross.  Played  Sunday- Wednesday,  September  27-30. 
— D.  E.  Burnett,  State  Theatre,  Larned,  Kan.  Gen- 
eral patronage. 

I  LIVE  ON  DANGER:  Chester  Morris,  Jean  Park- 
er— Good  action  picture  and  good  business.  Played 
Friday,  Saturday,  October  2,  3. — E.  M.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small  town  pat- 
ronage. 

REMARKABLE  ANDREW,  THE:  Brian  Donlevy 
— "The  Remarkable  Andrew"  is  a  picture  that  will 
bring  back  some  of  the  old  memories.  This  is  not  the 
type  of  picture  that  will  draw  the  crowd.  In  parts, 
it's  good  and  fast,  and  kind  of  slow  in  others.  We 
played  it  on  "Wahoo"  Night,  and  didn't  do  so  good. 
Fair  patronage.  Played  Tuesday,  September  22. — Con- 
rad H.  Tapia,  Paramount  Theatre,  Paramount,  Casa 
Grande,  Ariz. 

TAKE  A  LETTER,  DARLING:  Fred  MacMurray. 
Rosalind  Russell— Very  bad  draw  for  us.  We  had 
been  led  to  expect  some  business  on  this  but  sure  got 
fooled.  And  yet  it's  swell  entertainment,  so  it  is  hard 
to  account  for  the  decided  drop  in  business  to  below 
normal.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  27,  28. — 
Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

TAKE  A  LETTER,  DARLING:  Fred  MacMurray, 
Rosalind  Russell — Good  comedy,  but  business  was 
only  average.  Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Septem- 
ber 30,  October  1. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,   Dewey,   Okla.     Small  town  patronage. 

THIS  GUN  FOR  HIRE:  Alan  Ladd,  Veronica  Lake, 
Robert  Preston — Our  audience  was  so  hushed  during 
the  runoff  of  this  that  one  might  have  supposed  it 
had  ceased  to  exist.    They  liked  it  very  much.  Busi- 


ness okay.  Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  September 
23,  24.— Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

TORPEDO  BOAT:  Richard  Arlen— We  have  had 
better  pictures  with  Richard  Arlen.  Comments  on 
this  one  were  not  so  good.  It  was  a  waste  of  film. 
Played  with  "Stick  to  Your  Guns."  This  was  also  a 
waste  of  film.  Business  increased  after  third  show- 
ing. Good  patronage.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  Sep- 
tember 25,  26. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

TRUE  TO  THE  ARMY:  Judy  Canova— A  good 
comedy.  Judy  Canova  is  okay  in  this  although  de- 
serving of  better  opportunities.  Played  Friday,  Sat- 
urday, September  11,  12.— Palace  Theatre.  Penacook, 
N.  H. 


RKO  Radio 


LITTLE  FOXES,  THE:  Bette  Davis,  Herbert  Mar- 
shall— Very  poor  business,  although  the  picture  by  it- 
self is  fair  grade.  But  not  the  kind  of  picture  for  our 
town.  Played  Thursday -Saturday,  July  2-4. — A.  R. 
Sunderland,  Chandler  Theatre,  Chandler,  Quebec. 
Small  town  patronage. 


Republic 


AFFAIRS  OF  JIMMY  VALENTINE:  Dennis 
O'Keefe,  Gloria  Dickson — A  mildly  diverting  yarn. 
Only  fair  draw.  Played  Tuesday,  September  22. — 
Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

JESSE  JAMES,  JR.:  Don  Red  Barry— A  good 
Western  that  all  enjoyed.  Not  the  draw  that  Cassidy 
or  Autry  bring. — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre, 
Chatham,  Ont. 

JOAN  OF  OZARK:  Judy  Canova,  Joe  E.  Brown— 
This  tickled  their  funny  bones.  Judy  and  Joe  are 
favorites  in  these  parts.  So  far  as  I  personally  am 
concerned  I  would  say  that  the  picture  is  all  mouth. 
Played  Monday,  Tuesday,  September  21,  22.— Frank 
A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa.  Rural 
patronage. 

PETTICOAT  POLITICS:  Roscoe  Karns,  Ruth  Don- 
nelly— A  good  action  comedy  for  double  billings. — 
Harland  Rankin,   Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ont. 

SLEEPYTIME  GAL:  Judy  Canova— The  first  night 
that  we  showed  this  picture  we  had  to  run  on  one 
machine.  One  of  the  main  gears  went  haywire.  The 
second  night  of  the  showing  of  this  picture,  we  had 
the  crowd.  There  were  very  good  comments  and  lots 
of  laughs.  Very  good  patronage.  Played  Wednesday, 
Thursday,  September  23.  24. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

STARDUST  ON  THE  SAGE:  Gene  Autry, 
Smiley  Burnette — An  excellent  Autry  and  it  means 
money  in  the  bank.— C.  I.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Ana- 
mosa, Iowa. 

SUICIDE  SQUADRON:  Anton  Walbrook— This  title 
is  better  than  the  picture  and  is  almost  misrepresen- 
tative.  Most  of  the  show  is  anything  but  aviation- 
more  closely  resembling  Paderewski's  "Moonlight 
Sonata."  The  audience  was  restless,  and  business 
weak.  Class  patrons  would  like  it.  Played  Tuesday, 
September  8.— Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

SUNSET  ON  THE  DESERT:  Roy  Rogers,  George 
Gabby  Hayes— These  Rogers  pictures  all  are  improv- 
ing in  plot,  photography  and  action.— C.  L.  Niles. 
Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

Twentieth  Century- Fox 

FOOTLIGHT  SERENADE:  Betty  Grable,  John 
Payne,   Victor   Mature— The   stars   do  well  in  their 

{Continued  on  opposite  page) 


October    17,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


69 


(.Continued  from  opposite  page) 

oarts  in  r'm'g  one  bur  the  story  is  far  below  Che 
calibre  ::'  the  cast.  Be::;.-  Grable's  shai:w  iauce  is 
nice,  bat  other  than  that — "nuf  said.  Holds  our  record 
"low'  for  Sunday.  Monday,  for  the  past  three  rears. 
Played  September  27,  28. — E.  A.  Skaggs,  Lincoln 
Theatre,   Robinson.   Illinois.     General  patronage. 

FOOTLIGHT  SERENADE:  Betty  Grable,  John 
Payne — One  of  Grable's  best.  Average  Sunday  gross. 
Pleasei  the  auiteuce. — V).  n.  2-—  t::.  c-:afe  _uea:re. 
Lamed,  San.    General  patronage. 

IT    HAPPENED    IN    FLATBUSH:     1  1 

Carole  Landis — Played  r^i*  one  daring  the  World 
Series.  Best  baseball  picture  ye:  m  prDgrram_bas:  =  . 
? .-.      m  .  ■■_    "  ._i  =  ..-iv.     ins.     Pla;~_  i.__\T: 

iay-Saturiay.  October  1-3. — _).  c  Burnett,  state 
Theatre,  Lamed  San.    General  patronage. 

MAGNIFICENT  DOPE.  THE:  Hen-  Jtnda,  Don 
Ameche,  Lynn  Bari — Who?  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
for  producing  it?  Or  L  tor  olaving  it?  Played 
ilonday,  Tuesday.  September  33.  29  — Frank  A.  Orban, 
Jr-,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversvilie,  Pa.  Sara!  pat- 
rtuage. 

MAGNIFICENT  DOPE,  THE:  Henry  Jtnit.  ten 

rouble  i  with  "Lady  in  a  jam."    In  fact,  whrle  she.— 

Saturday,  Oct.  %  3  W.  Varick'^vins  ILL  Alfred 
Co-Od  Theatre.   Alfred,  N.  \.     Small  college  town 


MOON  TIDE :  Ida  Lnpino,  Jean  Gabin— Moderately 
entertaining.  Very  little  bote  cmice  frr  us  ant  great'.; 
oversold  to  us.  IrH  take  a  good  one  to  balance  this. 
Played  Wednesday.  .nursiay..  September  31.  Oct:  her 
1. — Palace  Theatre.  Penacook,  IN.  E. 


PIED   PIPER.  THE: 

:•■        :•::•    a  r:cru 


like 


:: 

thrfl 


Werluesi 
A  Skae: 


ry  Wooley.  Redely  11;- 
t  no  exhibitor  need  be 

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the  seriousness  of  the 
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PIED    PIPER.    THE:  M:r 


D.  E.  Burnett,  State  Theatre, 
patronage. 

RINGS  ON  HER  FINGERS 


Wcolle- 


SON   OF  FURY 

One  of  the  best  storie 
l-L-  hiuse  was  full  th 


;r:.  t^wn  ta 


Tvr:re   Power.  Gene 


—A  B_ 

Ouebec. 


OFFER  TO  SWAP 

Utilizing  Motion  Picture  Herald  as 
a  clearing  bouse  for  the  snapping  ot 
■heatre  equipment,  the  foUowing 
"swap"  offer  has  been  received: 

I  would  like  to  swao  a  cair  of 


Box  Nr.  2-  J-Z'-.-z-  ~e~-s 
son,  Ala. 


II     Did  fairly  good  'easiness 
oers.    Grable  is  always  liked 
inursdav-saturda--.  Atn:: 
Chandler  Theatre."  Chandler. 


TEN  GENTLEMEN  FROM  WEST  POINT:  George 
Montgomery.  Maureen  O'Eara — 01d:ime  ::§:uue;  aud 
Revolutionary  Days  background  hep:  them   away  on 

and  a  game  of  lacrosse.— D.  E.  Burnt::.  S:a:e  Thea- 
tre, Lantrd.  Sansas.    General  patronage. 

THIS  ABOVE  ALL:  Tyrone  Power,  Joan  Fontaine 
— swell  show,  good  attendance,  and  surprising  as  it 
may  seem,  it  pleased  all  who  saw  it  in  this  rural 
ttmmunity.  T~er.::e:h-r  co:  deserves  a  :::  :r.  :he 
bark  for  no:  asking  increased  adntissiens.  Played 
rnlday.  Saturday.  September  13.       — rrauk  A.  Orban, 


United  Artists 


MISS  ANNIE  ROONEY:  Shirley  Ttmrle—  A  great 
hsapptintment.  Not  that  shirlay  wasn't  okay,  for 
he  was  splendid,  but  it's  just  that  they  had  to  story 
vDTth  her  telline.  Placed  Frida-.  saturdav.  Seorem- 
*er  25,  26.— Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 


Unive 


rsa! 


aft,  Janet  Blair — Disap- 
ugh  no  complaints.  Busi- 
av.  Saturday.  September 
scook,  N.  H. 


SONG  OF  THE  ISLANDS:  Betty  Grable.  Virtor 
Mature,    Jack  Oakie — Beautdfu!    Technicolor  picture. 


BROADWAY:  Here; 

uess  ;us:  fair.  Plaved 
18,  IP. — Palace  Theatre, 

BUTCH  MINDS  THE  BABY:  Brocerirk  Crawford. 
Virginia  Bruce— Good  enough.     Drew  fairly  well  in 

Played    Friday.    Saturday.    September   11,   12.— Palace 
EAGLE   SQUADRON:    Robert    Stack.   Diana  Bar- 
thentic  Sght  scenes"  angle  is  played  up  in  newspaper 


stories  it  will  help  bring  them  in.  The  only  com- 
plaints we  had  were  that  the  story  was  cot  up-to- 
date  enough.  Get  behind  this  one  and  they'll  come. 
Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  6,  7. — E.  A 
Skaggs,  Lincoln  Theatre,  Robinson,  Illinois. 

LADY  IN  A  JAM:  Irene  Dunn,  Patric  Knowles-- 
Although  this  is  good  for  a  couple  oi  laughs,  it 
misses  fire  very  badly  and  disappoints  Irene  Dunne 
fans.  Just  paid  for  itself  when  doubled  with  "'The 
Magnificent  Dope."  Actually  had  some  walkouts  on 
it,  and  that  is  an  unusual  occurrence  in  this  town 
for  anv  picture.  Plaved  Fridav,  Saturdav,  October 
2.  3— W.  Varick  Nevins.  ILL  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre, 
Alfred,  N.  Y.    Small  college  town  patronage. 

_  SABOTEUR:  Priscilla  Lane,  Robert  Cummings— 
Just  another  war  picture  and  our  audience  is  getting 
tired  of  :hem.  They  wish  amusement.  —  C.  L.  ISiles. 
Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa.  Iowa. 


U.  S.  Government 


WORLD  AT  WAR:  This  four-reel  subject  was 
furnished  iree  by  :he  Government  tut  t leased  thwe 
who  saw  it.  Played  Tuesday,  September  29. — E.  M. 
Freiburger.  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small 
town  patronage. 


Warner  Bros. 


BIG  SHOT.  THE:  Humphrey  Bcgart.  Irene  Man- 
ning— A  dandy  action  play.  Humphrey  Bogart  is 
superb  in  a  tyoioai  Bogarc  role.  Oka-.-  draw.  Played 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  9,  10—  Palace  The- 
atre. Penacook,  N.  H. 


Julie   Bishop,  Richard 
o  came.     light  draw. 
2?.— Palace  Theatre, 


ESCAPE    FROM    CRIME : 

Penacook,  N.  H. 

IN  THIS  OUR  LIFE:  Bette  Davis.  George  Brent— 
\  ery  fine  picture,  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  everyone. — 
Harland  Sankin.  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Git. 

SERGEANT  YORK:  Gary  Cooper.  Joan  Leslie, 
Walter  Brennan — AH  anyone  could  ask  of  a  picture. 
Business  excellent  and  satisfaction  ditto.  Gary  Cooper 
rates  all  the  good  things  said  about  his  performance 
in  this.  Plaved  Sundav".  Mondav.  September  20.  21. — 
Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

TARGET  FOR  TONIGHT:  RAF — This  pleased  on 
Family  Nigh:.  Shtws  British  piltts  bombing  German 
cities.  Played  Tuesday,  September  20. — E.  M.  Frei- 
burger, Paramount  ineatre.  Dewey.  Okla.  Small 
town  patronage. 

WINGS  FOR  THE  EAGLE:  Ann  Sheridan,  Den- 
nis Morgan,  Jack  Carson — Not  up  to  usual  Ann  Sheri- 
dan performance.  Business  okay,  if  not  big.  Seemed 
to  satisfy.  Played  Sunday,  Monday.  September  13, 
14. — Palace   Theatre,   Penacook,   N.  H. 

Short  Features 

Columbia 

AMERICA    SINGS    WITH   KATE   SMITH:  Sate 

(.Continued  on  feUaamg  pzge) 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT 

A  Wartime  Service  for  Exhibitors 

J  Are  you  looking  for  something  you  can't  buy?  Got  something  you  don't  need?  Then  tell  the 
Herald,  and  we'll  tell  the  world. 

J  This  service  is  offered — free  to  exhibitors,  of  course — to  further  the  conservation  of  those 
resources  upon  which  theatres  must  depend,  with  less  and  less  replenishment,  for  some  time  to 
come.  According  to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  TPB  amusements  section,  only  the 
strictest  policy  of  conservation  throughout  the  theatre  business  can  assure  the  continued  operation 
of  our  theatres.  Everything  usable  must  be  used,  as  needed,  by  the  fellow  who  needs  it. 

5  If  you  have  something  to  swap,  describe  it  fully  enough  to  give  the  other  fellow  an  idea  as  to 
its  applicability  to  his  need,  and  similarly  describe  what  you  are  looking  for.  This  information 
will  be  published  promptly  in  the  Herald,  without  charge.  \Trite  to — 

SWAP  DEPARTMENT,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.Y. 


70 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
Smith— An  excellent  patriotic  reel  that  ail  should  play. 
— C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

BULLDOG  AND  THE  BABY,  THE:  Fable  cartoon. 
Please  notify  the  Salvage  Committee  of  the  WPB  to 
pick  up  this  scrap.— Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  The- 
atre. Hooversville,  Pa. 

CINDERELLA  GOES  TO  A  PARTY:  Cartoon- 
Clever  burlesque  of  the  Cinderella  story;  one  of  the 
best  cartoons  from  Columbia  this  season. — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

CONCERT  IN  B-FLAT  MINOR:  Just  another 
fable  cartoon.  Nothing  extra,  or  good. — Conrad  H. 
Tapia,    Paramount   Theatre,   Casa   Grande,  Ariz. 

TANGLED  ANGLER:  Cartoon— Passable  black  and 
white  cartoon. — W.  Varick  ISlevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op 
Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

THREE  SMART  SAPS:  Three  Stooges— A  good 
Stooge  comedy  and  our  audiences  like  them  best  of 
all.— C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 

Metro-Gold  wyn-Mayer 

BATS  IN  THE  BELFRY:  Cartoon— A  very  mild 
cartoon  effort. — Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

DOIN'  THEIR  BIT:  Our  Gang  Comedy— These 
"Gangs"  not  up  to  the  Hal  Roach  standard  of  years 
ago.  Just  get  by. — C.  L.  Niles,  Niles  Theatre.  Ana- 
mosa, Iowa. 

EXOTIC  MEXICO:  Fitzpatrick  Traveltalk— Nice 
color  in  an  average  Fitzpatrick  scenic. — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  III.  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N'.  Y. 

Paramount 

BILLION  DOLLAR  LIMITED:  Okay.  Too  bad 
the  animation  is  so  jerky,  however. — Palace  Theatre, 
Penacook,  N.  H. 

FIGHTING  PALS:  Popeye  Cartoon— Average  Pop- 
eye  cartoon. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

MAN'S  ANGLE:  Robert  Benchley  short— Average 
Benchley  comedy.  Small  town  people  do  not  care 
for  them. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

OLIVE'S  BIRTHDAY  PARTY:  Popeye  Cartoon— 
E.  M.  Freiburger.  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


RKO  Radio 

DONALD'S  GOLD  MINE:  Donald  Duck  Cartoon- 
Walt  Disney  is  still  good  on  his  cartoons.  We  show 
but  one  or  two  of  his  cartoons  in  a  month.  Enjoyed. 
— Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Paramount  Theatre,  Casa  Grande, 
Ariz. 

EARLY  BIRD:  An  excellent  Disney  cartoon.— C.  L. 
Niles,  Niles  Theatre,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 


INFORMATION  PLEASE,  NO.  8:  This  issue  fea- 
tures Russell  Crouse  and  it  seemed  a  little  less  en- 
tertaining than  previous  numbers,  although  it  is  still 
O.K.  for  those  places  that  like  these. — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

ALL  ABOUT  DOGS:  Cartoon— Above  average  Ter- 
rytoon  with  some  signs  of  originality  and  cleverness 
in  it. — W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre. 
Alfred,  N.  Y. 

HEART  OF  MEXICO:  Magic  Carpet— Excellent 
educational  reel,  which  was  very  timely.  Even  the 
youngsters  going  to  school  wanted  to  know  when  we 
would  have  the  next  one. — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Sa- 
voy Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa. 

MARCH  OF  TIME,  NO.  1:  Here  is  the  first  issue 
from  Twentieth-Fox  and  it  is  very  good.  Has  some 
story  to  it,  which  helps  hold  interest.  It  shows  how 
the  FBI  goes  about  tracking  down  saboteurs. — W. 
Varick  Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred, 
N.  Y. 

WILLFUL  WILLIE:  Terry  toon  Plenty  weak.— 
Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hooversville, 
Pa. 


U.  S.  Victory  Film 

YOUR  AIR  RAID  WARDEN:  A  well-produced 
short  subject.  To  all  who  are  interested  in  air  raids, 
this  will  help. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Universal 

MERRY  MADCAPS:  Fair  musical— Palace  Theatre, 
Penacook,  N.  H. 

NUTTY  PINE  CABIN:  Technicolor  cartoon.  Very 
interesting.  Enjoyed  by  everybody. — Conrad  H.  Tapia, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Warner  Bros. 

BUGS  BUNNY  GETS  THE  BIRD:  Merrie  Melody 
Cartoon — Another  swell  cartoon.  My  patrons  gobble 
these  up. — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre, 
Hooversville,  Pa. 

CALIFORNIA  JUNIOR  SYMPHONY:  A  musical 
far  above  average.  We  have  had  several  requests  to 
repeat  this  one. — E.  A.  Skaggs,  Lincoln  Theatre,  Rob- 
inson, 111. 

CALIFORNIA  JUNIOR  SYMPHONY:  This  is  a 
very  fine  reel  of  classical  music  played  by  an  orches- 
tra of  youngsters.  Very,  very  excellent  comments 
from  most  patrons.  They  wanted  me  to  get  it  again 
some  time  in  the  future.    Of  course,  as  usual,  some 


were  thoroughlv  bored,  but  not  too  manv. — W.  Varick 
Nevins,  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

LIGHTS  FANTASTIC:  Merrie  Melody  Cartoon- 
Pleasing  color  cartoon.  I  think  these  are  the  best 
cartoons  on  the  market. — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy 
Theatre,  Hooversville,  Pa. 

MARCH  ON,  AMERICA:  Technicolor— Here  is  a 
two-reel  subject  that  everyone  should  see.  Although 
it  is  madei  from  other  shorts  previously  shown,  it's 
great  and  'packs  a  wallop.  The  editing  is  excellent 
and  the  narration  makes  it  very  much  up-to-date. — 
E.  A.  Skaggs,  Lincoln  Theatre,  Robinson,  111. 

MEN  OF  THE  SKY:  Everyone  seemed  to  be  dis- 
appointed in  this  one.  Generally  this  is  an  excellent 
series. — Frank  A.  Orban,  Jr.,  Savoy  Theatre,  Hoov- 
ersville, Pa. 

PLAYGIRLS,  THE:  Very  lovely  ladies  playing 
and  singing  very  expertly  in  a  swell  reel. — Palace 
Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

RHAPSODY  IN  RIVETS:  A  corking  cartoon  set 
to  classical  music.  They'll  like  it. — Palace  Theatre, 
Penacook,  N.  H. 

WEST  OF  THE  GREAT  DIVIDE:  A  dandy  West- 
ern in  miniature.  Twenty  minutes  of  good  comedy, 
music  and  action. — Palace  Theatre,  Penacook,  N.  H. 

GAY  PARISIAN,  THE:  Just  another  short  sub- 
ject. Nothing  to  brag  about. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Serials 
Republic 

KING  OF  THE  TEXAS  RANGERS:  Serial  —  A 
thrill  epic  every  time  we  show  this  serial.  The  crowds 
are  good  and  we  have  lots  of  good  comments,  too. — 
Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Paramount  Theatre,  Casa  Grande, 
Ariz. 


Universal 

GANG  BUSTERS,  NO.  6:  Kent  Taylor— This  serial 
is  not  as  good  on  the  screen  as  it  is  on  the  air,  al- 
though it  has  lots  of  action. — Conrad  H.  Tapia,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 


Actress  Aiding  Benefit 

Veronica  Lake  was  to  arrive  in  New  York 
Friday  to  begin  rehearsals  of  her  starring  role 
in  the  Artists  and  Writers  revue,  "Incendiary 
Blondes,"  for  the  benefit  of  the  American 
Theatre  Wing  War  Service.  The  revue  will 
be  given  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  Hotel,  Octo- 
ber 23rd. 


Party  for  Piermont 

Sidney  Piermont,  Loew's  talent  booker  and 
stage  director  for  eight  years  of  the  annual 
"Night  of  Stars"  show  in  New  York,  was 
given  a  farewell  party  Wednesday  night  at 
Toots  Shor's  prior  to  his  entrance  into  the 
Army  as  a  captain  in  the  Specialists  Corps. 


Incorporate  Theatre 

Columbus  Theatre  Company  of  Boston,  Mass., 
recently  was  incorporated  with  Louis  S.  Roth- 
enberg  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  and  Reginald  and 
Charles  Morse  of  Newton,  Mass.,  as  incorpor- 
ators and  a  capital  of  100  shares  no  par  value 
common  stock. 


Gunnery  School  Location 

The  Gunnery  School  at  Harlingen,  Tex.,  will 
be  used  as  location  by  William  Pine  and  Wil- 
liam Thomas  for  "Aerial  Gunner."  which  goes 
into  production  next  month  with  Richard  Alien 
and  Chester  Morris  featured. 


Kassell  to  Warners 

Norman  Kassell,  for  nine  years  head  of  the 
Essaness  Theatre  circuit  advertising  and  pub- 
licity staff,  has  resigned  to  join  the  Warner 
Chicago  exploitation  department.  He  has  been 
succeeded  at  Essaness  by  Madeline  Woods. 


Beclcman  Heads  Club 

Keith  Beckman  has  been  elected  president  of 
the  Northwest  _  Film  Club.  Neal  Walton  has 
been  elected  vice-president  and  William  For- 
man  has  been  elected  to  the  board  of  trustees. 


TELEGRAMS 

are  feature  length  stories  is  -v 


f  O  ^ 


O  c  t  c  b 


9  4  2 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


71 


MANAGERS4 

ROUND  TABLE 


zAn  international  association  of  showmen  meeting  zveekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 


BOB  WILE,  Editor 


GERTRUDE  MERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


OP 


He  Knows  Everybody 

Roily  Young,  columnist  of  the  Toronto  Globe  and  Mail, 
recently  wrote:  "One  of  my  principal  laments  has  been  for  the 
passing  of  the  old  style  of  theatre  manager,  the  guy  who  knew 
a  lot  of  his  regular  patrons  personally,  and  whose  personality 
was  a  part  of  his  theatre.  I  presume  you  still  find  that  type 
of  theatre  manager  in  the  small  towns,  but  in  the  big  cities 
the  personal  bond  between  a  theatre  manager  and  his  patrons 
is  practically  non-existent. 

"Locally  we  have  the  example  of  Charlie  Querrie,  the  mayor 
of  Danforth  Avenue,  who  is  an  institution  over  across  the  Don, 
but  that's  an  exception.  Personally,  I  can't  quite  see  the  reason 
for  the  breach  between  the  usual  movie  house  manager  and 
his  customers.  Folks  are  usually  on  amiable  speaking  terms 
with  their  grocer,  butcher,  druggist,  bank  manager,  etc.  Why 
shouldn't  they  be  on  similar  terms  with  their  theatre  manager?" 

"Dr.  Gallup  conducted  one  of  his  famous  polls  on  the  sub- 
ject and  the  results  are  amazing.  In  reply  to  the  question, 
'Have  you  ever  discussed  motion  pictures  with  the  manager 
of  your  favorite  theatre?' — more  than  90  per  cent  of  those 
questioned  answered,  'No'.  Then  they  were  asked,  'Do  you 
know  the  manager's  name?'- — and  more  than  76  per  cent 
answered,  'No'.  Sixty-two  per  cent  admitted  they  would  not 
even  recognize  him  if  they  saw  him. 

"Silly,  isn't  it?" 

It's  too  bad  that  Roily  Young  could  find  only  Charlie  Querrie 
as  the  exception  to  what  the  Gallup  pollsters  found.  There 
must  be  hundreds,  even  thousands,  of  showmen  who  are  well 
enough  known  to  their  patrons.  For  it  is  men  like  Charlie  who 
are  successful  showmen. 

The  theatre  manager  is  the  logical  person  with  whom  to 
talk  about  movies,  for  most  patrons  can  get  no  closer  to  the 
industry  than  that. 

Digging  deeper,  we  found  that  the  Gallup  poll,  on  making 
this  survey,  provided  a  basis  of  comparison  by  asking  the 
people  interviewed  whether  they  knew  the  name  of  their 
grocery  manager  (54  per  cent  did)  and  their  bank  president 
(24  per  cent  did). 

Perhaps  the  idea  used  by  the  Fox  Wisconsin  theatres,  under 
the  direction  of- Harold  J.  Fitzgerald,  to  have  the  manager 
sit  at  a  desk  in  the  lobby,  is  better  than  one  might  think  at 
first  glance. 

At  any  rate,  here  is  a  situation  which  every  showman  might 
look  into. 


THE  Round  Table  frequently  is  called  upon  to  furnish  infor- 
mation or  service  to  managers  or  exhibitors,  whether  mem- 
bers or  not.  Recently,  it  was  our  pleasure  to  furnish  some 
information  to  Mr.  Joseph  DePaul  of  Sauit  Ste.  Marie,  Mich., 
whose  father,  Mr.  Charles  DePaul,  was  observing  his  30th  anni- 
versary as  an  exhibitor  in  that  city. 

"Thank  you  very  much  for  your  fine  letter  with  the  many 
ideas  for  our  Anniversary  Celebration,"  said  Mr.  DePaul  in  a 
letter  this  week.  "I  am  enclosing  a  news  item  on  the  affair. 
It  sure  went  over  big." 

Judging  from  the  newspaper  of  the  Anniversary  day,  the 
celebration  was  a  great  success.  Mr.  DePaul  is  entitled  to  the 
congratulations  of  the  Round  Table  on  his  30th  anniversary. 

The  Quigley  Awards 

The  Third  Quarter  competition  for  the  Quigley  Awards  has 
ended.  The  Judges  have  made  their  decisions  which  are 
announced  in  this  section.  The  membership  is  indebted  to 
Hugh  J.  Owen  of  Paramount,  David  A.  Lipton  of  Columbia 
and  Maury  Ashman  of  the  Interboro  Circuit  for  the  time  and 
care  they  took  in  making  their  decisions.  Time  and  care  were 
necessary  because  of  the  excellence  of  the  many  campaigns 
submitted. 

Although  it  has  been  said  before  and  said  often,  it  does  not 
seem  amiss  to  repeat  here  that  any  theatre  showman  is  eligible 
for  the  Quigley  Awards  competition.  Independent  theatres, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  biggest  circuits,  are  represented  in  the 
competition.  The  big  city  manager  has  no  advantage  over  the 
small  town  man.  The  city  manager  for  several  theatres  can 
compete  on  an  equal  basis  with  one  small  house. 

Consistency  of  effort  is  one  of  the  basic  requirements.  The 
Judges  consider  that  the  man  who  sells  every  picture,  and  sends 
in  evidence  of  the  fact,  is  worthy  of  consideration  for  an 
Award.  The  manager  who  submits  but  one  campaign  a  quarter 
can  hardly  expect  to  be  given  the  same  advantages  in  the 
competition  as  the  regular  contributor. 

It  is  significant,  perhaps,  that  the  winners  in  this  quarter  are 
all  men  who  simply  send  letters  explaining  their  campaigns, 
to  which  they  attach  tear  sheets,  photographs  and  copies  of 
printed  material.  The  fancy  campaign  books  are  of  no  avail; 
the  Judges  consider  only  the  contents. 

— BOB  WILE 


72 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


NOW  THEY  GATHER  SCRAP 


These  children  make  a  "V  for  Victory"  sign  after  they  have  brought  their  scrap  to 
the  Roxy  theatre,  Peru,  I nd.   Dale  Loomis  is  manager. 


By  Baur  Studio 

Uncle  Don  of  radio  fame,  Mayor  C.  W. 
Floyd  Coffin  of  Englewood  and 
Leonard  Sills,  manager  of  the 
Englewood  theatre,  stand  in  front  of 
Englewood,  N.  J.,  scrap  collection. 


That's  Clifford  Loth  of  the  Park  theatre,  Brooklyn, 

with  the  scrap  collection  from  1,500  children,  who  brought  it 

in  lieu  of  admission. 


By  Metropolitan 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  4,500  kids  who  packed  the 

Skouras  Academy  of  Music  in  New  York  for  a  scrap  show. 


WiHiam  J.  Hamborsky,  manager,  extreme  right,  and  Henry  Lewis,  assistant  at  the 
Strand,  Great  Kills,  S.  I.,  admire  their  scrap  collection. 


Left  to  right,  H.  O.  Benson,  chairman 
of  the  Adams  County  Salvage 
Committee;  J.  Pierce,  utility  man; 
Vestal  Stallsmith,  assistant  manager; 
Sydney  Poppay,  manager  of  Majestic 
theatre,  Gettysburg,  Penna., 
with  their  scrap. 


Octobe  r    17,     I  942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


73 


THIRD  QUARTER  QUICLEY 
AWARD  WINNERS  NAMED 


PLAQUES 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

MEDALS 

LOUIS  CHARNINSKY 
Capitol,  Dallas,  Tex. 

ART  KROLICK 
Century,  Rochester 


BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


MARLOWE  CONNER 
Capitol,  Madison,  Wis. 

BILL  MORTON 
N.  Y.  Albee,  Providence,  R.  I 


ED  FITZPATRICK 
Poli,  Waterbury,  Conn. 


DICK  FELDMAN 
Paramount,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 


CITATIONS 

DON  ALDRITT 
Watson,  Salina,  Kan. 

JOSEPH  BOYLE 
Broadway,  Norwich,  Conn. 

LIGE  BRIEN 

Kenyon,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CAROLINA  BRUNSON 
Rialto,  Phoenix,  Ariz. 

CHRIS  CHAMALES 
Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 

FRANCIS  DEERING 
Loew's,  Houston,  Tex. 

D.  M.  DILLENBECK 
Rialto,  Bushnell,  III. 


JAMES  ESTES 
Palace,  Childress,  Tex. 

ED  FISHER 

Loew's  State,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

HERBERT  GRAEFE 
Wisconsin  Rapids,  Wis. 

STEWART  GILLESPIE 
Elgin,  Ottawa,  Ont. 

JACK  HAMILTON 
Apex,  Washington,  D.  C. 

A.  J.  KALBERER 
Switow's  Indiana 
Washington,  Ind. 

BOB  KESSLER 

Benn,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


JOE  LONGO 

Loew's  State,  Boston,  Mass. 

ED  MAY 

Russell,  Maysville,  Ky. 

JACK  MATLACK 
Hunt  Theatres 
Medford,  Ore. 

J.  K.  O'DONNELL 
Haines,  Waterville,  Me. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

ROY  O.  PRYTZ 
Granada,  Duluth,  Minn. 

KEN  ROCKWELL 
Steuben,  Hornell,  N.  Y. 


MORRIS  ROSENTHAL 
Majestic,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

J.  G.  SAMARTANO 
Palace,  Meriden,  Conn. 

FRANCIS  B.  SCHLAX 
Kenosha,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

sid  scon 

Capitol,  Sudbury,  Ont.,  Canada 
CLYDE  SMITH 

Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

HARRY  D.  STEARN 
Manring,  Middlesboro,  Ky. 

ARNOLD  STOLTZ 
Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y. 


THE  Third  Quarter  Judges  have  announced  their 
decisions  for  the  Quigley  Awards.  The  Committee 
this  time  consisted  of  the  following:  Maury  Ash- 
man, zone  manager,  Interboro  Circuit,  New  York;  David 
A.  Lipton,  director  of 
advertising  and  pub- 
licity, Columbia  Pic- 
tures; Hugh  Owen, 
eastern  division  sales 
manager,  Paramount 
Pictures. 

Of  the  leaders,  Bill 
Elder  is  a  first  time 
Plaque  winner.  He  has 
won  two  Medals  pre- 
viously, in  the  First 
and  Second  Quarters 
of  this  year.  Ed  Fitz- 
patrick  and  Clayton 
Cornell  have  both  won 
previously  this  year, 
the  former  in  the  First 
Quarter,  the  latter  in 
the  Second. 

Among  the  Medal 
winners,  Louis  Char- 
ninsky  and  Bill  Morton 


By  Staff  Photographer 

The  Judges  pick  the  winners.  Left  to  right,  Maury  Ashman,  zone  manager, 
Interboro  Circuit,  New  York  City;  David  A.  Lipton,  director  of  advertising 
and  publicity,  Columbia;  Hugh  Owen,  eastern  sales  manager,  Paramount. 


are  newcomers  among  the  victors,  although  they  have 
been  consistent  contributors  to  the  Round  Table.  Mar- 
lowe Conner,  Clayton  Cornell  and  Dick  Feldman  have 
won  Medals  previously  this  year.    The  Judges  met  last 

Thursday  to  consider 
the  campaigns.  They 
represented  three  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the 
industry:  Mr.  Ashman 
represented  the  exhi- 
bition end;  Mr.  Lipton 
the  advertising  and 
publicity  craft;  Mr. 
Owen  the  sales  de- 
partment. 

As  customary,  the 
three  campaigns  con- 
sidered best  by  the 
Judges  won  Plaques; 
the  next  five  were 
awarded  Medals;  the 
balance  were  given 
Citations. 

The  Judges  consid- 
ered a  number  of  fac- 
tors in   making  their 

(Continued  on  following  page) 


MOTION 


I.CTURE  HERALD 


Newcomers  and  Round  Tablers 

The  list  of  competitors  for  the  Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award  is  growing.  Here  is 
a  list  with  many  independent  theatre  owners  as  well  as  circuit  men  and  some  who 
have  never  before  contributed  to  the  Round  Table. 


CHARLES  L.  BECKER 

DAVID  SADOFF 

Austin,  Kew  Gardens,  N.  Y. 

FRANK  BICKERSTAFF 

L&J  Palace,  Athens,  Ga. 

PAUL  BINSTOCK 
Sheepshead,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

HYMAN  BLOOM 
Riviera,  Detroit,  Mich. 

HAMILTON  BOWES 
ERNEST  MOULE 
BEN  SHACKER 
HARRY  SOLOMON 
Brantford  Theatres  Assn. 
Brantford,  Ontario 

JOSEPH  BOYLE 
Poli,  Norwich,  Conn. 

LIGE  BRIEN 

Kenyon,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CHRIS  CHAMALES 
Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 

CLAYTON  S.  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
JACK  FARR 

Show  Boat,  Texas  City,  Tex. 


HERBERT  GRAEFE 

Wisconsin  Rapids  Theatres 
Wisconsin  Rapids,  Wis. 

HAROLD  GROTT 
Met,  Baltimore,  Md. 

AL  HAMILTON 

Apex,  Washington,  D.  C. 

ABE  KAUFMAN 

Fountain,  Terre  Haute,  Ind. 

JULIUS  LAMM 

Uptown.  Cleveland,  Ohio 

MILTON  LEVINE 

Lyric,  WiHiamson,  West  Va. 

DALE  LOOMIS 
JAMES  ACKRON 
Roxy,  Peru,  Ind. 

CLIFFORD  LOTH 
Park,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

N.  D.  McCOLLOM 
Tivoli,  Gary,  Ind. 

DAVE  MARTIN 
MERCER  THREADGILL 
Rosemary,  Ocean  Park,  Cal. 

JACK  MATLACK 

Hunt  Theatres 
Medford,  Ore. 

JOSEPH  MIKLOS 
Palace,  Norwich,  Conn. 


SYDNEY  J.  POPPAY 
Majestic,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

ROY  O.  PRYTZ 
Granada,  Duluth,  Minn. 
C.  J.  REMINGTON 
State,  Auburn,  Cal. 

KEN  ROCKWELL 
Steuben,  Hornell,  N.  Y. 

GERARD  A.  SAVOIE 
Arcade,  Springfield,  Mass. 

WILLIAM  K.  SAXTON 
GEORGE  AVIS 
Century,  Baltimore,  Md. 

HOWARD  SEXTON 
Roxy,  LaPorte,  Ind. 

J.  C.  SHANKLIN 

Grand,  Ronceverte,  West  Va. 

CLYDE  SMITH 

Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

"POP"  STAHL 

Palace,  Bergenfeld,  N.  J. 

ARNOLD  STOLTZ 
Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

LAWRENCE  THEIMER 
N.  C.  Drive-Ins 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

HARRY  G.  WALDRON 
Blue  Moon,  Lindsay,  Okla. 


That's  Herbert  Graefe,  manager  of  the  Wisconsin  Rapids  Theatres,  Wisconsin  Rapids, 
standing  in  his  Bond  booth.  Note  the  sign  on  the  right  which  is  changed  according  to 
whoever  is  selling  Bonds.  Also  the  caption  reading  "My  Brother"  in  this  one  can  be 
changed  to  "My  Son",  "My  Sweetheart"  or  "My  Husband".  Herb  reports  sales  of 
more  than  $10,000  during  September.  Wisconsin  Rapids  has  a  population  of  10,000 
and  the  booth  was  only  open  from  7:00  to  9:30  every  evening.  At  the  star  rally 
held  in  town,  Herb  announces  sales  of  $120,000  in  the  county  with  Edward  Arnold 
and  Frances  Dee  at  a  dinner  for  $100  Bond  purchasers. 


October    17,     I  942 

Abe  Kaufman  Sets  Own  Quota 
Then  Sells  Even  More  Bonds 

Epitomizing  the  effort  put  into  the  Bond 
Drive  by  all  the  theatres  of  the  country,  is 
the  campaign  conducted  by  Abe  H.  Kauf- 
man of  the  Fountain  theatre,  Terre  Haute, 
Ind.  The  Fountain  is  the  smallest  house  in 
town — seating  capacity  is  250. 

Abe  set  a  goal  of  $20,000  for  his  theatre. 
Not  only  did  he  reach  that,  but  exceeded  it 
by  more  than  $1,500.  Then  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  he  received  word  that  every  exhibitor 
must  make  an  extra  effort  to  dig  up  some 
more  to  reach  the  quota.  Abe  did  his  share 
there,  too.  Altogether,  sales  at  the  Fountain 
reached  close  to  $25,000. 

The  Movie  Star  Show  in  Terre  Haute 
was  attended  by  4,000  people.  Gene  Tierney 
and  Chester  Morris  were  the  attractions. 
The  Terre  Haute  Theatres  Association  put 
on  this  affair  and  more  than  $250,000  in 
Bonds  were  sold.  Thirty-five  prizes  were 
auctioned  off  which  brought  $40,800  alto- 
gether. 

Servicemen's  Trailers 
Launched  by  Reeve 

Reported  as  proving  highly  effective  in 
increasing  Bond  sales  at  the  Mission  theatre, 
in  Menard,  Texas  are  the  Servicemen's 
Photo  Trailers  now  being  used  there.  Photos 
of  local  boys  in  the  service  are  run  in  the 
trailer  together  with  a  brief  account  of  what 
branch  of  the  service  the  men  are  in,  plus  a 
brief  account  of  the  activities  in  which  the 
men  are  engaged  overseas. 

The  trailer  opens  with  the  sound  of  a 
bomb  explosion  and  is  then  followed  by  a 
commentator  giving  the  highlights  of  the 
careers  of  the  local  boys  whose  pictures  are 
about  to  be  shown  and  then  comes  a  voice 
which  says  "Hit  Hitler  with  a  Bond." 

Third  Quarter  Quigley 
Award  Winners  Named 

(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

decision.  Consistency  of  effort  is  among 
the  most  important.  Thus,  the  Round 
Tabler  who  sends  in  his  campaigns  weel 
after  week  has  a  better  chance  to  win  than 
the  man  who  pulls  one  spectacular  stunt 
and  then  is  not  heard  from  again.  Among 
the  factors  not  taken  into  consideration 
is  the  method  of  presentation.  The  costly 
campaign  book  with  hand  lettering  is  con- 
sidered only  as  a  holder  for  the  material 
inside;  its  ornateness  carries  no  weight 
with  the  Judges. 

The  situation  is  regarded  as  important. 
Data  on  each  contestant  was  furnished  to 
the  Judges.  The  winners'  theatres  vary  as 
widely  in  size  as  do  their  towns.  Bill  Elder 
runs  a  big  downtown  first  run  in  Indian- 
apolis; Clayton  Cornell's  Pontiac  at 
Saranac  Lake  has  less  than  800  seats  and 
it's  the  only  house  in  a  small  town.  Louis 
Charninsky  has  never  played  a  good  pic- 
ture; he  gets  nothing  but  slough  product. 

The  eight  top  winners'  campaigns,  to- 
gether with  those  of  the  First  and  Second 
Quarters  already  judged  and  the  Fourth 
Quarter  which  ends  with  the  close  of  the 
year,  will  be  considered  by  the  Committee 
for  the  Grand  Awards  for  1942. 

The  competition  is  now  open  for  the 
Fourth  Quarter. 


I  October    17,    1  942 

Football  Heroes  Introduced 
From  Stage  by  Trainer 

Leo  Trainer,  manager  of  the  Rialto  theatre, 
!  AHentown,  Pa.,  staged  a  heavy  campaign  in 
I  the  interests  of  "The  Spirit  of  Stanford." 
!  He  used  100  dash  board  half-sheet  cards  for 
fronts  of  trolley  cars;  10  radio  spot  an- 
nouncements a  da}-  before  and  10  spots  on 
die  day  of  the  opening  and  special  spots  fol- 
lowing news  broadcasts  announcing  Allen- 
town  football  heroes  would  be  introduced 
from  the  Rialto  stage  on  opening  night;  the 
j  50-piece  high  school  band  paraded  with  local 
I  football  players  to  the  theatre  on  opening 
;  night.  In  addition,  20  window  displays  were 
oromoted  in  the  central  city  section  as  well 
j  as  three  displays  in  hotels.    A  special  foot- 
ball  promotion   included  tie-ups   with  all 
l  sporting  goods  stores  and  special  stories  in 
!  the  newspapers  by  sports  editors.  And  along 
j  with  that,  bags  were  imprinted  and  distri- 
|  buted.  and  announcements  were  made  over 
the  public  address  system  at  the  fairgrounds 
i  orior  to  the  opening  at  a  boxing  exhibition 
before  6,000  patrons. 

Free  Marriage  Licenses 
Offered  by  Deering 

During  the  opening  day  of  "Seven  Sweet- 
hearts" at  Loew's  State,  in  Houston,  Texas. 

;  Francis  Deering  through  the  newspapers 
announced  that  Marsha  Hunt,  appearing  in 

i  the  picture,  would  paj-  for  the  marriage 

j  Licenses  of  all  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines 
who  were  to  be  married  on  the  day  the  film 
jpened.  The  star's  telegram  to  Deering, 
which  was  also  run  in  the  paper,  read : 
"Understand  Houston  has  been  chosen  for 
the  world  premiere  of  my  latest  picture, 
'Seven  Sweethearts.'  Please  offer  as  a  gift 
from  me  a  marriage  license  to  any  man  in 

j the  service  who  wishes  to  be  married  in 
Houston  on  your  opening  day." 

A  contest  was  also  held  for  high  school 
girls,  the  cooperating  daily  running  a 
coupon  each  day  on  which  readers  were  to 
cast  their  votes  for  their  favorite  high 
school  miss.  A  party  promoted  by  the  the- 
^treman  included  dinner  at  one  of  the  lead- 
ing restaurants,  the  picture  and  entertain- 

1  ment  later. 


Radio  Aids  Prytz  On 
"Men  of  the  Fleet" 

To  put  over  MOT's  "Men  of  the  Fleet," 
Roy  O.  Prytz  at  the  Granada  theatre,  in  Du- 
iuth,  Minn.,  approached  the  local  recruiting 
office,  which  uses  regular  morning  spots  on 
;  the  radio  and  sold  them  on  the  idea  of  in- 
cluding plugs  for  the  short.  In  addition,  a 
1  recruiting  office  was  set  up  on  the  sidewalk 
1  in  front  of  the  theatre.  Additional  publicity 
I  was  gained  by  Prytz,  who  succeeded  in  land- 
|  ing  two-column  art  and  story  showing  lo- 
1  cal  boys  signing  up. 


Universal  Announces 
Featurette  Contest 

For  the  second  successive  year.  Universal 
Pictures  will  launch~its  Exhibitors  Good- 
V.  ill  Featurette  Exploitation  Contest  start- 
ing November  1st  and  continuing  to  Febru- 
ary 28th.  Ever}-  exhibitor  showing  Univer- 
sal featurertes  and  chapter-plays  is  eligible. 
1  Cash  prizes  to  the  tune  of  $3,000  will  be 
awarded. 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


Estes'  Slap-a-Jap  Ad  Runs 
Daily  by  Popular  Demand 

A  grinning  Jap's  head  with  uniform  cap 
is  the  outstanding  thing  about  an  ad  which 
Doc  Estes  has  been  running  for  some  time 
in  the  Childress  (Tex).  Index.  Doc  has 
had  to  repeat  the  ad  and  run  it  daily  because 
it  struck  the  public's  fancy.  Copy  reads, 
"It's  a  Jap's  duty  to  die  for  his  country; 
it's  your  duty  to  see  that  he  does;  each 
Stamp  you  buy  slaps  a  Tap — each  Bond 
you  buy  Bombs  a  rat."  Then  follows  the 
information  that  Bonds  and  Stamps  can  be 
obtained  from  the  three  theatres  in  town. 

A  pass  to  the  show  was  given  to  any 
person  who  bought  a  Bond  during  the  month 
of  September.  Doc  also  gave  prizes  to  the 
three  Boy  Scouts  who  sold  the  most  Stamps. 

Silverman's  "Pied  Piper" 
Heralds  That  Opening 

Planting  a  platform  in  front  of  his  thea- 
tre for  his  advance  on  "Pied  Piper,"  Bud 
Silverman  at  Schine's  Riviera,  in  Rochester, 


stationed  an  attractive  girl  there  playing  a 
trumpet  a  la  Harry  James'  style  during  the 
matinee  and  evening  performances.  Copy 
completely  about  the  girl  read:  "The  modern 
Pied  Piper  is  calling  all  movie  patrons  to 
see  that  outstanding  picture,  "Pied  Piper'." 
As  there  is  a  lot  of  traffic  on  the  theatre 
street,  the  stunt  is  repored  to  have  attraced 
the  anticipated  attention. 

Faint  Check  Ad  Used 
On  "Frankenstein" 

A  little  different  use  of  the  faint  check 
card  was  used  by  Jack  Matlack  of  the  Hunt 
Theatres,  in  Medford,  Ore.,  for  his  date  on 
''Ghost  of  Frankenstein"  at  the  Holly  the- 
atre there.  The  check  was  incorporated  in 
the  theatre's  ad,  with  readers  advised  to  clip 
it,  print  their  names  and  addresses  on  it 
and  place  it  in  their  pockets  in  case  they 
passed  out  while  viewing  the  film.  This  was 
followed  up  the  following  day  with  a  news- 
paper review  and  a  reader  suggesting  that 
folks  get  their  faint  cards  and  take  them  to 
the  theatre. 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  below  reflects  press  books  nozv  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  oj 
viezv  oj  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.] 

FLYING  TIGERS  (Republic):  Since  the  picture  is  essentially  an  airplane  story,  any 
exploitation  dealing  with  planes  seems  applicable.  For  example,  cardbcarc  c  5-e  pat- 
terns which  when  cut  and  folded  make  little  planes  would  excite  the  attention  of  the 
younger  generation.  A  premiere  for  the  benefit  of  United  China  Relief  would  be  a 
fine  gesture  and  one  which  would  undoubtedly  gain  considerable  goodwill,  as  well  as 
publicity.  To  this  opening,  any  member  of  the  Flying  Tigers,  or  his  family,  should  be 
invited.  A  throw-away  in  the  form  of  a  "Wanted"  poster,  bearing  a  picture  of 
Hirohito,  would  get  some  attention.  A  new  book,  entitled  "Flying  Tigers",  has 
recently  been  published  which  will  be  useful  in  tieups  with  bookstores  and  libraries. 
An- Army  Air  Force  recruiting  booth  could  be  set  up  in  the  lobby  as  the  tieup  with 
the  American  Volunteer  Group  is  a  good  one.  An  airplane  model  contest  v/ould 
attract  the  attention  of  youths  interested  in  aviation.  If  run  sufficiently  in  advance, 
the  models,  restricted  to  the  P-40  type  used  by  the  Flying  Tigers,  could  be  used  to 
decorate  the  lobby.  Republic  has  made  a  tieup  with  Street  &  Smith,  publishers  of 
comic  books,  which  will  assist  the  showman  in  his  campaign.  There  are  newspaper 
serializations  available  both  in  pictorial  and  text  form  as  well  as  a  Sunday  feature. 

THE  WAR  AGAINST  MRS.  HADLEY  (MGM):  Since  this  is  a  drama  of  the  current  war 

without  any  fighting,  it  would  be  well  to  capitalize  on  the  interest  of  the  "home  front". 
There  is  a  series  of  I  I  by  14  cards  with  striking  headlines  which  will  attract  attention — 
some  of  them  are:  "How  ridiculous  to  expect  my  son  to  be  a  soldier":  "I  join  a 
first  aid  class? — impossible";  "How  dare  they  order  me  around  during  a  blackout", 
etc.  The  illustrations  are  likewise  attention-compelling.  Snipes  can  be  printed  on  the 
bottom  with  playdates  and  these  cards  can  be  tacked  on  trees,  poles  or  fences;  hung 
in  your  lobby,  placed  around  the  box  office  and  displayed  in  store  windows.  They  can 
be  posted  on  bulletin  boards  in  war  plants,  women's  clubs  and  schools.  They  are  also 
adaptable  to  use  in  railroad  and  bus  terminals  and  in  street  cars  and  buses.  There  is 
a  series  of  stills  which  makes  Fall  fashion  tieups  practicable.  Tieups  with  the  civilian 
home  detense  agencies  are  in  order,  since  the  picture  deals  largely  with  them.  I  here 
is  a  series  of  stills  showing  a  soldier  with  his  mother,  his  father  and  his  sweetheart, 
which  makes  practical  a  contest  in  which  each  mother,  father  or  sweetheart  would 
write  how  proud  she  is  of  her  soldier  or  sailor.  A  prize  could  be  offered  to  the  best 
answer.  Since  there  are  a  number  of  scenes  involving  the  humor  of  First  Aid  courses, 
a  prize  could  be  offered  for  the  most  amusing  First  Aid  story.  The  same  could  be 
done  with  blackout  experiences  since  in  the  picture  Mrs.  Hadley's  butler  becomes  an 
air  raid  warden  and  orders  her  around.  Small  cards  could  be  distributed  with  all  the 
insignia  of  civilian  defense  agencies  and  prizes  offered  for  the  correct  identification. 


76 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


WALDRON'S  BOND  AUCTION 
BIGGEST  EVENT  IN  TOWN 


In  the  belief  that  the  lessons  he  learned 
from  his  September  Bond  campaign  can  be 
of  use  to  other  small  town  theatres,  Harry 
G.  Waldron  of  the  Blue  Moon  and  Fox  the- 
atres in  Lindsay.  Okla..  details  how  he  sa- 
luted our  heroes. 

Harry  feels  that  what  he  did  not  do  is  as 
important  as  what  he  did,  so  he  starts  off 
by  saying-  that  he  did  not  give  tickets  to  the 
post  office  and  the  banks  to  be  given  out 
with  bond  purchases  as  he  felt  that  there 
would  be  only  a  corporal's  guard  out  to  see 
the  special  show. 

Instead,  Harry  ran  a  free  matinee  for 
school  children,  the  admission  being  a  10- 
cent  stamp  for  grade  school  students  and  a 
25-cent  stamp  for  those  in  high  school  and 
for  adults.  This  matinee  brought  in  $66  in 
stamps  despite  the  fact  that  the  population 
of  Lindsay  is  only  1,600. 

Woman's  Group  Handles  Sales 

At  night  the  charge  was  four  25-cent 
stamps  to  all.  Tickets  were  printed  and  sold 
by  a  group  of  women  for  several  days  in 
advance.  The  school  children  bought  their 
tickets  at  the  school  and  exchanged  them 
at  the  box  office  for  stamps.  Those  buying 
stamps  were  dismissed  at  2  P.  M.,  while  all 
others  were  held  until  the  regular  closing 
hour. 

Those  buying  the  $1  tickets  also  ex- 
changed them  for  stamps  at  the  box  office, 
books  for  the  stamps  being  given  to  those 
who  needed  them.  Harry  was  assisted  in 
all  this  by  the  postmaster  and  his  staff.  Al- 
together, stamp  sales  came  to  $1,100  at  this 
one  showing  alone. 

Gifts  had  been  promoted  from  local  mer- 
chants and  many  nearby  farmers  as  well. 
These  ranged  from  a  bale  of  broomcorn,  a 


local  product,  to  a  live  -goat,  bonds  from  the 
banks  and  dozens  of  fine,  useful  and  really 
valuable  gifts.  They  were  auctioned  from 
the  stage  following  a  show  put  on  by  pro- 
fessional entertainers  from  a  flying  field. 

The  goat  brought  $600  and  was  given 
to  the  soldiers  as  a  mascot.  The  broomcorn 
brought  a  bid  of  $10,000  from  a  local  bank, 
was  given  back  and  re-sold  for  $2,600. 
There  were  bids  for  other  articles  ranging 
from  $1,000  to  $3,000  and  dozens  from  $100 
to  $600  and  $700.  Total  sales  amounted  to 
$43,475.  The  crowd  sat  and  bid  for  articles 
from  7  P.  M.  to  midnight. 

School  Cooperation  Gained 

The  important  points  in  this  program  in 
Harry's  opinion  are  the  school  matinee  with 
school  cooperation ;  the  use  of  the  official 
film  "The  World  at  War";  the  extra  draw- 
ing- power  of  the  professional  entertainers ; 
the  $1.00  stamp  admission  at  night,  which 
created  a  big  gate  and  limited  the  attend- 
ance fo  those  able  to  buy  bonds;  the  selling 
of  useful  prizes,  highly  desirable  in  them- 
selves ;  the  cooperation  of  business  and  so- 
cial leaders  in  selling  tickets;  the  use  of 
experienced  auctioneers  who  entertain  as 
well  as  get  top  prices. 

Using  all  these  salient  points,  Harry  got 
the  cooperation  of  the  banks  in  handling 
the  ticket  sales  and  receipts,  the  generous 
support  of  the  newspaper,  the  full-time  ac- 
tivity of  many  individuals  collecting  gifts 
and  working  out  details.  The  local  bond 
sales  committee  worked  hard,  the  postoffice 
dug  in,  the  churches  all  announced  it  from 
their  pulpits  and  at  Sunday  schools  and 
every  man,  woman  and  child  talked  it  up.  It 
was  one  of  the  biggest  things  ever  to  happen 
in  Lindsay. 


Lichtman's  Lincoln  theatre,  Washington, 
D.  C,  went  "all-out"  to  tell  the  public 
that  it  was  selling  War  Bonds  and  Stamps. 


"Wake  Island" 
Marines  Sworn 
In  On  Stage 

All  of  the  20  United  Detroit  theatres 
joined  in  pushing  the  sale  of  war  bonds 
for  the  recent  premiere  of  "Wake  Island" 
at  the  Michigan  theatre,  where  the  picture 
opened  before  a  house  representing  bond 
sales  of  $1,200,000.  For  its  regular  run, 
"Wake  Island"  was  shifted  to  the  Palms 
State.  The  Board  of  Commerce  of  Detroit 
backed  the  campaign  and  the  newspapers 
gave  splendid  editorial  support,  says  Alice 
Gorham,  director  of  advertising-  and  public- 
ity for  the  United  Detroit  theatres. 

A  "Wake  Island  Company"  of  Marines 
was  inducted  on  the  stage  of  the  Michigan 
the  night  of  the  opening.  It  was  announced 
that  they  will  train  and  go  into  combat  to- 
gether to  replace  the  gallant  band  lost  on 
Wake  Island.  It  was  an  impressive  cere- 
mony. The  boys  marched  to  the  theatre  and 
left  for  San  Diego  immediately  after  the 
singing  of  "The   Star-Spangled  Banner." 
Dean  Kirk  B.  O.  Ferrall  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  delivered  a  blessing  on  behalf  of! 
all  creeds  and  races  and  Mayor  Edward  j 
Jeffries  paid  tribute  to  the  event  as  the  fin 
est  civic  milestone  in  the  entire  war  bond 
campaign. 

The  drive  aroused  the  patriotism  of  De 
troiters  to  a  high  pitch.  In  the  little  the 
atres,  fife  and  drum  corps  accompanied 
special  events.  Every  theatre  in  the  city 
had  some  sort  of  special  activity  from  wa 
bond  auctions  to  air  raid  warden  rallies 
Audiences  in  theatre  after  theatre  cheere 
and  sang  the  National  Anthem,  applaude 
the  mothers  and  fathers  of  boys  in  the  ser 
vice. 

Alice    expresses    the    opinion    that  De 
troiters   became   more   friendly  and  mort 
neighborly  as  a  result  of  this  campaign  sino; 
all  realized  they  were  working  in  a  common 
cause. 


By  Benmosehe  Studios 


This  War  Bond  display  is  in  the  lobby  of  the  Sheepshead  theatre,  Brooklyn,  of  which 
Paul  Binstock  is  manager.  Note  that  Paul  puts  the  name  of  every  purchaser  of  a 
Bond  on  his  board;  gives  a  camera  portrait  free  with  each  Bond  purchase  (through  a  tie- 
up)  ;  records  the  total  sale  of  Bonds  at  the  theatre  by  the  arrow  on  the  dial  at  the  right. 


October  17 


942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


77 


NEW,  NOVEL  NEWSPAPER  ADS 


HERE'S  THE  CARDi 


Why  are  such  picture  as  Mrs  Miru 
Vanfcet  Doodle  Dandy— Eagle  Squadrun— ana  others 
art  much  talked  about,  so  lene  cominy  io  Holdtn 
We  like  (jcod  pictures  here  tame  as  they  do  in 
your  crowds  are  large  or  small  accord!: 


from 

A  PICTUKE  SHOW 


— — -  A  PiCTUM 

«*■/ JSP***!*!  ~  "  ' 


"   w"['«8-  for  Vo"*  ""1  OklH 


-  This  institutional  ad  was  used  by  Boyd  Scott, 

'l  city  manager  at  Holdenville,  Okla.,  for  the 

i  Griffith  Circuit.   It  is  effective  for 

j  subsequent  run  theatres. 


No  Gas?  No  Tires? 

Then  Here's  the  Ticket 
THIS  SUMMER  TAKE 

A  REEL  VACATION 

Via 


WILMA  THEATER'S 

GRAND  TOURS 
Ae  AMERICAS 

Every  Week  During  August 


Personally  Conducted  by 
Famed  Traveler 

JAMES  A.  FITZPATRICK 

Here's  the  Inviting 
Itinerary 


AUGUST 
9-U 

Call  of  Canada 

%f,e  end  Know  Oar  Good  Neighbor! 


AUGUST 


Glacier  Park 


And  Wftlerlan  L*k«f 


Historic 
Maryland 


land  af  Betntr 


AUGUST 
20-22 

Sea  the  Qalnts  (n 


Land  of  the 
Quintuplets 


AUGUST 
23-25 


Minnesota 

Land  of  Plenty 

V-  S.  A.  Wonders  of  Nam: 


AUGUST 
26-29 

The  South  In  All  lu.  Glo 


Colorful 
North  Carolina 


DON'T  MISS  A  SINGLE 
CHANGE   DURING  AUGUST 


William  Powers' 
Travelogue  vacation 
idea  at  the  Wilma, 
Missoula,  Mont. 


PALNS  STATE 


Starts  FRIDAY! 


HILARIOUS  .  .  .  TWIN  BEDLAM  BREAKS  LOOSE 

brent*  bennetu-^^-^w 


Released  Thru  United  Artists 


MISCHA  AUER 


A  WAR  BONDS 
ON  SALE 


456 


This  type  of  ad  was  used  in  Detroit 
following  the  $1,200,000  Bond  Premiere  held 
at  the  Michigan.  Alice  Gorham  is 
UDT  director  of  advertising  and  publicity. 


. .  At  the  DRIVE-IN,  an  outdoor  picture 


in  the  open  country,  has  the  right  atmosphere . . 


fleecy  clouds  and  starlight  ...  shows  at  8:00 


and  10:00  .  .  .  It's  at  Waukegan  and  Golf  Roads 


just  west  of  Evanston  ...  treat  the  family  tonite! 


A  picture  of  a  picture 
furnishes  the  out- 
standing note  in  this 
ad  conceived 
by  Jack  Hess  for  the 
Drive-ln  theatre 
in  Chicago. 


EMPLOYMENT 


AVIATION  INSTRUCTIONS 


33 


"Wjinigs  for  th©  Eagle" 

See  this  great  picture  at  the 
Roxy  then  come  in  and 
reserve  your  place  for  air- 
craft training  right  m 
Springfield  You  can  be 
building  bombers  in  October 
HELP  WIN   THE  WAR 

CosteUIio  Aircraifft 

ALAN  GIMPEL  Mgr 

220  East  Monroe     Dial  2-9251 

OPEN  SUNDAY  FROM  2  TO  5  F  M 


This  clever  classified  ad  got 
attention  in  Springfield,  III.,  for 
the  engagement  of  "Wings 
for  the  Eagle"  at  the 
Roxy  theatre. 


78 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October     17,     I  942 


SHOWMEN  PROMOTED  AS 

ARMY  CALLS  MORE  MEN 


ED  FITZPATRICK,  manager  of  Loew's 
Poli,  in  Waterbury,  Conn.,  has  been  pro- 
moted to  city  manager  there,  while  Wally 
Cooper  goes  from  the  Strand  to  manage  the 
Poli.  Molly  Stickels,  assistant  at  the 
Strand,  has  been  moved  up  to  manager  of 
the  house. 

FRED  PERRY,  formerly  publicity  man- 
ager for  the  Lyric,  in  Bridgeport,  has  be- 
come manager  of  the  Hartford,  in  Hartford. 

HAROLD  THOMAS,  formerly  assistant 
manager  of  the  Capitol,  in  New  London, 
Conn.,  has  been  made  manager  of  the 
Crown,  in  New  London,  succeeding  Stanley 
Redmond,  who  has  returned  to  the  Allyn, 
in  Hartford,  as  assistant  manager.  Russell 
Newton  has  been  appointed  assistant  man- 
ager at  the  Capitol,  in  New  London. 

MARK  ALLING,  assistant  manager  for 
eight  years  at  the  RKO  Golden  Gate,  in 
San  Francisco,  has  left  to  become  manager  . 
of  the  RKO  Orpheum,  in  Denver. 

MRS.  JOSEPH  COLE  of  Charles  City, 
la.,  has  been  appointed  manager  of  the 
Central  States  Theatres  Cresco  theatre,  in 
Cresco,  la.,  replacing  Jack  Slingluff,  who 
has  joined  the  armed  forces. 

AL  GARFIELD,  assistant  to  Lyle  Tren- 
chard,  general  manager  of  the  William 
Goldman  circuit  in  Philadelphia,  has  re- 
signed. 

W.  D.  PATE  has  opened  a  theatre  at  Slo- 
comb,  Ala. 

RICHARD  REED  has  been  appointed 
manager  of  the  Roosevelt,  in  Seattle,  suc- 
ceeding William  Robinson,  who  will  enter 
one  of  the  war  industries.  Reed's  former 
post  as  manager  of  the  Sterling  Queen 
Anne  is  filled  by  Herbert  Stuart,  who  con- 
tinues to  manage  the  Arabian  for  the  same 
circuit. 


HAPPY  BIRTHDAY 


October  16th 

John  Turner 
Sidney  Magen 
Theodore  Schlosser 
Harry  Pickett,  Jr. 
Dave  Unger 
Alfredo  Escamilla 
Richard  H.  Stoddard 
17th 

George  E.  Gemming 
William  S.  Samuel 
Tan  Boon  Bee 
Sol  J.  Levoy 
Mort  Goodman 

18th 

Paul  H.  Garns 
Robert  Anthony 
Al  Stevens 
Oliver  H.  Bradbury 
Ray  O.  Monzingo 

19th 

Edward  J.  Cline 
Maurice  A.  Cohen 
Theodore  Friedman 
Frank  Kovaletz 


October  19th 

Francis  E.  Lattin 

20th 

Frank  C.  Goldquist 
Sterling  Jermstad 
Burleigh  G.  Rose 
Harvey  H.  Whaley 
Bryant  Williams 
George  P.  Gross 

21st 

H.  M.  Francisco 
Tom  Johnson 
Lew  Bray 
A.  Albert  Cohan 
22nd 

Fred  Meyer,  Sr. 
Frank  LaBar,  Jr. 
A.  G.  W.  LaShelle 
Celas  Camerlin 
Richard  M.Thomason 
L.  W.  Scott 
R.  W.  O'Donohue 
R.  H.  Arthur,  Jr. 
Lloy^  Stephenson 


BEN  LEVINE,  formerly  in  film  distribu- 
tion, has  leased  the  Strand  theatre,  in  Wal- 
lingford,  Conn. 

KEITH  LINFORDE  succeeds  Howard 
Wynne  as  manager  of  the  Mission  theatre, 
in  Seattle,  the  latter  resigning  to  enter  the 
Army  Air  Force.  A.  H.  McMillan,  now 
managing  the  Blue  Moose,  replaces  L.  Jo- 
cheim  as  manager  of  the  Roxy,  in  Tacoma, 
since  Jocheim  goes  into  the  Army.  Robert 
Laing,  head  advertising  artist  for  the  Ham- 
rick-Evergreen  circuit,  has  resigned  to  do 
drafting  work  at  the  Boeing  airplane  plant. 

SAM  DeFAZIO,  manager  of  the  Harris 
Liberty,  in  Pittsburgh,  has  succeeded  Wil- 
liam Zeilor  as  manager  of  the  Harris  theatre 
there.    David  Flamm  succeeds  DeFazio. 

ROBERT  BEREZIN,  manager  of  the 
Elgin,  in  Ottawa,  has  been  placed  in  charge 
of  the  20th  Century  Theatres'  Oshawa 
house.  Stewart  Gillespie  succeeds  Berezin. 
Ernest  Reid,  formerly  of  the  Community,  in 
Welland,  replaces  John  Kirk,  assistant  man- 
ager of  the  Elgin,  who  will  be  reassigned. 

SEYMOUR  BAGETELL  of  New  York- 
has  joined  the  Vabalow  circuit  in  Camden, 
N.  J.,  as  manager  of  the  Broadway,  suc- 
ceeding Peter  Trado,  who  has  joined  the 
Coast  Guard. 

ALLEN  SPARROW  has  been  promoted 
from  manager  of  Loew's  theatre,  in  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  to  district  manager  in  Columbus, 
succeeding  Mike  Cullen,  who  enlisted  in  the 
Specialists  Corps  of  the  Army,  and  has 
been  commissioned  a  captain. 

LIGE  BRIEN,  former  manager  of  the- 
Warner  Belmar,  in  Pittsburgh,  has  been 
transferred  to  the  circuit's  Kenyon  there, 
succeeding  Sam  Gould,  who  is  the  new  man- 
ager of  Warner's  theatre,  in  Greensburg. 

GERARD  A.  SAVOIE  is  now  managing 
the  Arcade  theatre,  in  Springfield,  Mass. 

NORMAN  ROLFE,  manager  of  the  Weth- 
ersfield  theatre,  in  New  Haven,  has  been 
named  district  manager  of  the  Lockwood- 
Gordon  Connecticut  houses. 

FRANK  FLYNN  is  the  new  manager  of 
the  Esquire  theatre,  in  Indianapolis. 

AL  HOSTLER  has  moved  from  the  Gran- 
ada, in  Buffalo,  to  manage  the  Riviera  and 
Lake,  in  Rochester,  for  Schine's.  Neil 
Henry,  house  manager,  is  running  the  Lib- 
erty under  Bud  Silverman,  city  manager, 
and  Tom  Far  nan  joins  the  Monroe  staff  as 
assistant  manager. 

MRS.  FLORENCE  BARBOUR,  of  Ta- 
coma, Wash.,  has  just  been  appointed  house 
manager  of  Hamrick's  Blue  Mouse  theatre. 

A.  E.  POST  is  now  assistant  manager  of 
the  Civic  Center  theatre,  in  Great  Falls, 
Mont. 


STANLEY  GERE  has  been  named  man-  J 
ager  of  the  Warner  Badger  theatre, .  Racine, 
Wis.,  suceeding  Ervin  Janot,  who  has  been 
transferred  to  the  circuit's  Majestic,  in  She- 
boygan, Wis. 

W.  L.  TATREAU  has  become  manager  of 
the  Warner  Aberdeen  theatre,  in  Aberdeen, 
Wash. 

WAYNE  JERDEN,  manager  of  the  Nor- 
thio  Sorg  theatre,  at  Middletown,  Ohio,  has 
been  transferred  to  the  Palace,  at  Hamilton,  | 
Ohio,  as  assistant  manager. 

SAM   GOULD,   manager  of  the  Warner 
Kenyon,  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  has  been  pro: 
moted  to  the  supervisor's  berth  in  Greens-  ] 
burg,  Pa.  * 

SOL  SHAFER,  manager  of  Schine's  Lib- 
erty theatre,  in  Rochester,  and  an  original 
partner  of  the  Schines,  has  retired  after  26 J 
years  in  the  business. 

STOCKTON  LEIGH,  manager  of  Schine's 
Monroe,  in  Rochester,  has  resigned  to  enter 
the  Army. 

MRS.  M.  NICHOLS,  of  New  Orleans,  has 
taken  over  the  management  of  the  Saenger 
Buck  theatre,  in  Biloxi,  Miss. 

GEORGE  WEST  is  now  managing  the 
Wometco  Grove  theatre,  in  Coconut  Grove  J 
Fla. 

CHARLES  BECKER  is  publicity  man  at 
the  RugofT  &  Becker  Austin  theatre,  in  Kew 
Gardens,  N.  Y.  David  Sadoff  continues  as 
manager. 

S.  K.  GRAY,  formerly  with  the  Seashore 
Amusement  Corporation  in  both  the  New 
and  the  Rivoli  theatres,  in  Rockaway  Beach, 
N.  Y.,  has  left  for  the  Army. 


October    17,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


79 


CLASSIFIED 
ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


THEATRES 


WANT  TO  BUY,  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
running  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   BOX  1S55-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1556-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

WANTED:  THEATRES  TO  LEASE  IN  VIRGINIA, 
West  Virginia.  North  Carolina.  BOX  1570,  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD. 

THEATRE — PROFITABLE,  MODERN.  WISCON- 
sin.  Must  sell  immediately.  Excellent  gross  and  net. 
Terms  to  responsible  party.  BOX  1572,  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD.  

THEATRE— MICHIGAN.  BEAUTIFUL,  MODERN 
house.  Proven  money  maker.  Lease  and  equipment. 
Some  terms.  Can  be  investigated  thoroughly.  BOX 
1573,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

CHICAGO  THEATRE.  AIR  CONDITIONED.  AL- 
wavs  profitable.  Good  reason  for  selling.  Rigid  in- 
vestigation invited.  BOX  1574,  MOTION  PICTURE 
HERALD.   

FOR  RENT  MOVING  PICTURE  THEATRE, 
Southampton,  N.  Y.,  good  opportunity.  GRUNDY, 
Hampton  Bays,  N.  Y. 


HELP  WANTED 


SALESMEN  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  $75  to  $100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
BOX  1506.  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

WANTED :  MOTION  PICTURE  OPERATOR, 
salary  $45  per  week.  COLONIAL  THEATRE,  South- 
ington,  Conn. 

POSITION  WANTED 


MANAGER  NOW  EMPLOYED  WISHES  TO 
make  change.  15  years  experience,  a  go-getter.  Mar- 
ried, with  children.  BOX  1568,  MOTION  PICTURE 
HERALD. 

THOROUGHLY  EXPERIENCED  ALL  PHASES 
of  theatre  management.  Employed  in  present  position  9 
years.  Wish  to  make  change.  Go  anywhere.  Amer- 
ican, 33  years  old,  married,  draft  exempt.  BOX  1567, 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

THEATRE  OWNERS.  HAVE  YOU  AN  OPPOR- 
tunity  that's  real  for  a  top  notch  manager,  exploita- 
tion man  or  district  manager  with  gilt  edge  references, 
draft  exempt,  present  employed?  Write  to  BOX  1571, 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP- 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell.  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD,  Rockefeller  Center.  New  York. 

COMPLETE  EQUIPMENT  OF  CLOSED  THEA- 
tre,  ideal  for  defense  location.  WALDRON,  Lindsay, 
Oklahoma. 

PEERLESS  MAGNARC  LAMP,  $275,  HALL-CON- 
nelly  HC-10  High  Intensity,  $350,  Demonstrators. 
Brandt  direct  coin  machines,  $89.50.  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 


WANTED:  THEATRE  ORGAN  CONSOLE.  M. 
MAYNARD,  11  Kramer  Avenue,  Caldwell,  N.  J. 

THEATRE  CHAIRS  —  USED  —  LARGEST  STOCK 
in  the  middle  west.  Parts  for  all  makes.  We  also 
rebuild  your  chairs  without  interfering  with  the  opera- 
tion of  your  theatre.  CHICAGO  USED  CHAIR  MART, 
844  So.   Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago. 

WANT  TO  BUY  USED  BLOWER  WASHERS, 
Drives  motors,  Popcorn  machines,  Peanut  Roasters. 
WILLIAMS,  Box  838,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

COMPLETE  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  AND 
chairs  for  500  seat  house.  Big  bargain  for  quick  sale. 
MOVIE  SUPPLY  COMPANY.  1318  South  Wabash, 
Chicago. 

FOR  SALE:  2  ROYAL  ZENITH  MODEL  A-35 
M.M.  200-ft.  sound  projectors.  Reasonable.  A.  LAX- 
DOW.  108  Beachway,  Keansburg,  N.  J. 


NEW  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


EARLY  FALL  EDITION  ANNIVERSARY  SALE 
bulletin  ready  —  ask  for  yours!  Typical  values,  Spot- 
light carbons  80  discount;  Underwriter's  fire  extin- 
guishers $11.25;  Exciter  lamps  32c  S.O.S.  CINEMA 
SUPPLY  CORPORATION.  New  York. 

JUST  PURCHASED  ENTTRE  STOCK  STAR 
Cinema  Supply — thousands  of  wonderful  buys,  send  for 
big  bargain  bulletin.  S.O.S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY  COR- 
PORATION, New  York. 


ROOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING— 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its  ar- 
rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs. 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  the 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  $6.50  postpaid. 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONING, 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
able for  theatre  owners  contemplating  engineering 
changes.  Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  charts 
and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well  aa 
codes  and  ordinances  regulating  installation.  Order 
now  at  $4.00  a  copy  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP, 
Rockefeller  Center.  New  York. 

NOW  READY,  NEW  1942-43  MOTION  PICTURE 
ALMANAC.  Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.  The  indus- 
try's most  complete  "Who's  Who."  More  than  11,000 
biographies  and  over  1,100  pages,  chock  full  of  refer- 
ence information.  Everyone  in  the  motion  picture 
industry  should  have  a  copy.  Be  sure  to  send  in  your 
order  today.  $3.25  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP.  Rockefeller  Center.  New  York. 

SOUND  TROUBLE  SHOOTING  CHARTS.  A 
handy  tool  in  the  booth.  Gives  the  answers  to  all 
questions  regarding  trouble  shooting  on  every  type  of 
sound  equipment.  $1.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP.  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 


ROOIiKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MANAGEMENT  RECORD  AND  TAX 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  finest 
book  of  its  kind  ever  made  available  to  an  exhibitor. 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  it  is 
«imple— so  much  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an  ac- 
curate, complete  and  up-to-minute  record  of  the 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  price  rs 
only  $2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rocke- 
feller Center,  New  York. 

RUSINESS  ROOSTERS 

BINGO  CARDS.  DIE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75. 
$2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  care 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

MUST  SACRIFICE  —  3  MILLION  BINGO  CARDS. 
May  be  purchased  in  any  quantities.  Write  today  for 
samples  and  prices.  Be  sure  advise  how  many  you 
can  purchase  at  one  time.  BOX  1569,  MOTION  PIC- 
TURE HERALD. 


PRESS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BRIEN,  INC. 
NEW  YORK.   TT.   S.  A. 


80 

OBITUARIES 

Joseph  Maguire, 
Salesman,  Dies 

Joseph  W.  Maguire,  salesman  for  Warner 
Bros,  in  the  Kansas  City  branch,  was  killed  on 
a  deer  hunting  trip,  near  Gunnison,  Colo.,  Octo- 
ber 5th,  when  his  gun,  which  he  had  placed  in 
the  motor  car,  was  accidentally  discharged. 

He  and  Mrs.  Maguire  had  a  home  in  Kansas 
City,  although  they  had  been  living  for  about 
a  year  in  Wichita  near  his  territory.  He  pre- 
viously had  been  with  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 
more  than  10  years,  in  the  east,  and,  since  1931 
at  the  MGM  Kansas  City  branch  as  booker, 
then  salesman,  before  going  to  Warner  Bros,  a 
year  ago. 


Charles  Johnson 

Charles  E.  Johnson,  73,  associated  with  East- 
man Kodak  Company  for  46  years,  died  October 
9th  at  his  home  in  Van  Nuys,  Cal.  Mr.  John- 
son was  one  of  the  early  employees  engaged  by 
the  late  George  Eastman. 

He  retired  as  traffic  manager  in  1935.  When 
Mr.  Johnson  took  charge  of  the  shipping  de- 
partment in  1894  the  personnel  numbered  five ; 
when  he  retired,  more  than  200  men  were  under 
his  supervision. 


Effte  Ellsler 

Effie  Ellsler,  87,  widely  known  stage  favorite 
of  former  years,  died  October  8th  at  the  Pacific 
Home,  Los  Angeles,  after  an  illness  of  several 
weeks.  Miss  Ellsler's  most  successful  part  was 
the  title  role  in  Steele  Mackaye's  play  "Hazel 
Kirke,"  which  opened  at  the  Madison  Square 
theatre,  New  York,  February  4,  1880  and  had 
480  performances,  said  to  have  been  the  longest 
run  in  New  York  up  to  that  time.  Miss  Ellsler 
.ppeared  in  character  parts  in  motion  pictures. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 
Don  Brown 

Captain  Don  E.  Brown,  25,  son  of  Joe  E. 
Brown,  was  killed  in  the  crash  of  an  Army 
bomber  near  Palm  Springs,  Cal.,  October  8th. 
The  Army  ferrying  command  said  Captain 
Brown  was  on  a  routine  flight  from  the  Long 
Beach,  Cal.,  air  base  to  Utah  when  the  crash 
occurred. 

Captain  Brown  only  recently  was  promoted 
to  a  captaincy,  after  having  been  commissioned 
a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Air  Forces  July  11, 
1941. 


George  Bauch 

George  J.  Bauch,  54,  founder  and  for  25  years 
operator  of  the  Mirth  theatre,  south  side  Mil- 
waukee house,  died  October  6th  in  a  Milwaukee 
hospital. 


Thurston  Howes 

Thurston  B.  Howes,  30,  of  Bangor,  Me.,  died 
in  a  duck  hunting  accident  at  Mud  Pond,  Me.,. 
October  6th.  He  was  the  son  of  Ira  Howes, 
Patten,  Me.,  theatre  operator,  who  narrowly 
escaped  drowning  in  the  accident.  A  third 
member  of  the  party  also  escaped. 


Arthur  Brock 

Arthur  R.  Brock,  53,  projectionist  at  the 
Warner  theatre  in  Milwaukee  since  its  opening 
in  1931,  died  October  3rd  at  his  home  in  that 
city. 


Torie  Maltese 

Torie  Maltese,  65,  actor,  scenic  artist  and 
manager  of  the  Milford  Players,  Milford,  Pa., 
died  October  8th  in  New  York. 


Buys  Indiana  Theatre 

The  Arcade  theatre  in  Gas  City,  Ind.,  has 
been  purchased  by  the  Kaffalot  Brothers. 


October    17,  1942 

IN  THE  COURTS 

Protects  Interest  in 
New  Jersey  House 

Vice-Chancellor  W.  Frank  Sooy  in  Atlantic 
City,  in  a  decision  handed  down  on  October 
6th,  safeguarded  the  interests  of  Winfield  W. 
Love  in  the  Somers  Point  theatre,  Somers 
Point,  N.  J.,  which  he  had  reconveyed  to  Ed- 
ward Skyrm,  his  former  employer,  by  a  court 
order  in  July,  1941.  After  that  transfer,  Mr. 
Love  claimed  it  had  been  discovered  that  the 
deed  wiped  out  a  1937  agreement  whereby  Mr. 
Skyrm  had  promised  to  bequeath  the  theatre 
to  Mr.  Love  in  his  will.  The  court  ordered 
the  deed  corrected  to  keep  alive  the  rights  of 
Mr.  Love. 

In  his  petition,  Mr.  Love  set  forth  that  he 
had  been  manager  of  the  theatre  since  1930  at 
only  a  nominal  salary  and  claimed  that  the 
agreement  to  beqeauth  the  theatre  to  him  was 
part  of  the  consideration  for  his  services  to  Mr. 
Skyrm,  owner  of  the  house.  Mr.  Skyrm  later 
conveyed  the  premises  to  Mr.  Love,  but  the 
court  found  the  deed  was  apparently  executed 
to  circumvent  Mr,  Skyrm's  estranged  wife, 
Lucille,  in  her  dower  rights,  and  ordered  the 
reconveyance. 

Theatre  Sues  Chicago 
Over  Subway  Work 

Illinois  United  Theatre  Company,  Chicago, 
lessee  of  the  United  Artists  theatre  under  Bala- 
ban  &  Katz  management,  has  filed  suit  in  cir- 
cuit court,  Chicago,  for  $50,000  damages  against 
the  City  of  Chicago,  Healy  Subway  Construc- 
tion Company,  and  Casey  &  Emmert  Company, 
contractors,  resulting  from  the  subway  construc- 
tion on  Dearborn  Street,  where  the  theatre  is 
located. 


Sues  NBC,  ASCAP  on  Song 

NBC  and  ASCAP  were  named  defendants 
last  week  in  a  suit  filed  in  Federal  court  by 
William  R.  Law  which  charged  the  defendants 
with  unauthorized  use  of  the  plaintiff's  song 
"On  Iowa"  in  broadcasts.  The  complaint  al- 
leged that  the  plaintiff,  who  had  composed  the 
song  in  1919,  had  granted  sheet  music  publica- 
tion rights  to  Melrose  Bros.  Music  Company 
but  had  not  issued  any  broadcasting  rights. 
An  injunction,  accounting  and  damages  were 
asked. 


Radio  Suit  Settled 

Suit  of  Opera  Theatre,  Inc.,  for  an  injunction 
and  accounting  against  CBS,  Young  &  Rubi- 
cam,  Management  Charles  L.  Wagner,  Inc.,  and 
the  Celulose  Corporation  of  America  was  set- 
tled and  discontinued  in  Federal  court  last  week. 
Plaintiff  had  claimed  that  it  was  the  originator 
of  the  idea  of  one-half  hour  radio  dramas  and 
sought  to  restrain  the  defendants  from  broad- 
casting the  program,  "Great  Moments  in  Music" 
as  an  infringement. 


Sues  on  Assessment 

Claiming  that  the  Hollywood  theatre  has  been 
overassessed  $500,000  by  the  New  York  City  i 
Tax  Commission,  Warner  Bros,  last  week  filed 
suit  in  the  New  York  supreme  court  asking 
the  court  to  issue  a  writ  ordering  a  reduction 
in  the  assessment.  According  to  the  petition, 
the  Commission  has  evaluated  the  theatre  at 
$1,100",000  for  1942. 


Theatres  Sold  in  Midwest 

L.  A.  Smith  of  Business  Brokers,  Inc.,  Chi- 
cago, has  announced  that  among  the  theatres 
sold  recently  to  clients  of  the  company  were 
the  Chandler,  in  Detroit ;  Flora,  Flora,  Ind. ; 
Falls,  Sheboygan  Falls,  Wis.,  and  the  Main, 
Chicago.  Mr.  Smith  reported  an  increasing 
demand  for  theatres  in  the  midwest.  His  com- 
pany specializes  in  the  sale  of  film  houses  and 
theatre  leaseholds  in  that  section. 


The  vehicles,  trains,  men  and  women  of  the 
Railway  Express  are  in  action  on  the  Home 
Front— transporting  the  vital  necessities  of  a 
nation  at  war. 


railway  Express 

AGENCY  Inc. 
NATION-WIDE    RAIL- AIR  SERVICE 


October    17,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


LEASE  CHART 

REVIEWS 


touch  of  an  artist.  His  daring  has  in  fact  come 
off.  He  himself  as  the  unsmiling  Kinross  domi- 
nates the  picture,  making  no  bid  for  prettiness 
or  romantic  glamor.  He  is  the  complete  English 
naval  man.  Johnny  Mills,  as  the  Seaman,  a 
perfect  Cockney  creation ;  Bernard  Miles  as  the 
Petty  Officer ;  Celia  Johnson  in  a  flawless  and 
most  moving  characterization  as  Mrs.  Kinross ; 
Kay  Walsh  as  the  girl  who  marries  the  sailor, 
these  are  names  which  mean  little  probably  at 
the  British  box  office  and  nothing  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  They  none  the  less  make 
the  film  live. 

Technically,  in  its  superlative  editorial  treat- 
ment— Editor    David    Lean    co-directed  with 


In  Which  We  Serve 

(Two  Cities-British  Lion-UA) 
War  Epic 

In  his  "Cavalcade"  the  versatile  Mr.  Noel  Coward  made  a  gift  to  the  show  business 
and  enriched  the  documentation  of  an  era.  In  this  profoundly  moving  and  epic  ode 
to  the  British  Navy  he  has  once  again  created  one  of  the  few  genuine  works  of  art 
stimulated  by  the  present  war,  and  confounded  those  a  priori  critics  who  disbelieved 
he  knew  anything  about  box  office  values. 

"In  Which  We  Serve"  is  as  near  to  flaw- 
less as  a  motion  picture  can  be,  and  while 
inflexibly  realist  documentation,  it  is  heart 
stirring  emotional  entertainment,  inspiring 
and  sympathetic,  of  the  most  assured  calibre. 
Daring  in  its  experimental  form,  devoid  of 
a  single  star  name — for  not  even  Coward  is 
a  motion  picture  star — unusually  long — it 
runs  for  more  than  two  hours — it  is  the  most 
noteworthy  achievement  of  British  studios 
in  many  a  long  year,  possibly  even  the  out- 
standing film  of  the  year  from  all  fronts. 
Here  it  is  destined  to  do  front  rank  business 
and  then  some,  with  its  terrific  emotional 
appeal  to  the  ordinary  patron  and  its  direct 
link  with  the  intellect  of  the  literati.  People 
will  see  it  and  talk  about  it,  talk  about  it 
and  see  it  again  and  again.  Nor  need  Ameri- 
can exhibitors  be  nervous  of  its  absence  of 
star  names.  It  is  showmanship  in  an  excep- 
tional class. 

Hero  of  the  film  is  the  destroyer  "Torrin," 
and  it  is  her  life  and  the  lives  of  her  men  and 
their  womenfolk  which  make  the  film  the  lives 
and  experiences  of  all  men  and  women  in 
Britain  today.  Through  the  eyes  and  minds  of 
her  crew  as  they  face  death  on  a  Carley  float 
from  the  bullets  of  a  Nazi  plane,  a  touching 
pattern  of  life  and  death,  comedy  and  romance, 
war  and  peace  is  traced.  The  domestic  simplici- 
ties of  Captain  Kinross's  own  life,  the  homely 
houses  of  Plymouth,  with  a  petty  officer  who 
philosophizes  and  orates,  an  ordinary  seaman 
who  marries  and  becomes  a  father,  quiet  cour- 
age, plebian  wit,  the  death  which  comes  from 
the  air,  the  thrills  of  sea  warfare  in  the  Cretan 
Seas,  the  grim  tragedy  and  heroism  of  Dunkirk, 
all  Britain,  all  the  war,  in  a  tapestry  in  which 
light  and  shade,  color  and  drabness  are  woven 
with  the  most  touching  sympathy  and  truth. 
The  English  gift  .of  understatement,  perhaps, 
emphasizes  the  intense  emotional  qualities  of  the 
picture.  The  accuracy  of  recreated  war  episodes, 
the  flawless  detail  of  photo  and  sound  track, 
setting  and  action  give  it  the  authenticity  of  a 
tactual  record. 

Coward's  direction  is  exceptionally  sensitive 
and  his  touch  in  the  more  dramatic  passages  the 


Coward — in  Ronald  Neame's  fine  camerawork, 
in  the  realism  of  its  sound  by  C.  C.  Stevens, 
the  film  is  a  high  caliber  achievement.  Cow- 
ard's name  appears  more  than  frequently  on 
its  credits — he  wrote  the  film,  produced^  co- 
directed,  starred  and  musically  scored  it.  In 
every  branch  he  excelled.  Out  of  the  blue  he 
has  obviously  made  a  number  one  box  office 
sensation,  art  work  of  greater  than  usual  merit, 
and  a  notable  contemporary  document. 

Seen  in  a  paying  audience  the  film  went  its 
■way  before  some  2,000-odd  spellbound  patrons 
zvhose  tense  attention  and  emotional  reactions 
gave  the  show  a  rare  atmosphere.  Credited  es- 
pecially were  the  film's  fidelity  to  facts  and  its 
complete  absence  of  false  heroics,  or  flag  wag- 
ging patriotics.  It  was  generally  voted  more 
than  merely  a  film  but  a  notable  experience 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent. — Aubrey  Flan- 
agan. 

Release  date,  Dec.  25,  194a  Running  time,  113  mm. 
General  audience  classification. 

Captain  "D"    Noel  Coward 

Shorty  Blake    John  Mills 

Walter  Hardy    Bernard  Miles 

Alix  (Mrs.  Kinross)  Celia  Johnson 

Mrs.  Hardy    Joyce  Carey 

Freda   Lewis  Kay  Walsh 

Derek  Elphinstone,  Michael  Wilding.  Robert  Sansom, 
Philip  Friend.  George  Carney,  Kathlees  Harrison, 
Wally  Patch,  Richard  Attenborough,  Penelope  Dudley 
Ward,  Johnnie  Schofield,  Geoffrey  Hibbert. 


The  Navy  Comes  Through 

(RKO  Radio) 
Sea  Drama 

RKO  comes  through  with  "The  Navy  Comes  Through."    Paving  tribute  to  the 
United  States  Navy  and  to  the  Merchant  Marine,  "The  Navy  Comes  Through"  is  a 
picture  shrewdly  calculated  to  cause — nay,  inspire — audiences  to  go  out  of  theatres 
cheering  and  telling  their  friends  it's  a  picture  they  shouldn't  miss. 
It's  a  dish  of  patriotism,  served  with  a 


nice  fillip  of  substantial  story,  which  packs 
thrills  aplenty  and  blends  romance,  action, 
comedy  and  suspense  into  a  well-kneaded 
mixture. 

It's  the  story  of  a  Navy  gun  crew  assigned  to 
a  munition-laden  ship  bound  for  England,  and 
of  their  fight,  along  with  the  Merchant  Marine, 
against  fog,  storm,  dive  bombers  and  subma- 
rines, to  deliver  the  goods.  The  gun  crew  cap- 
tures a  Nazi  submarine  tender  and  by  a  ruse 
destroys  the  hovering  U-boats.  That's  the  story 
on  a  grand  scale.  In  its  intimate  details  it's 
also  the  story  of  a  young  naval  lieutenant, 
"broken"  because  of  an  accident  aboard  a  bat- 
tleship, who  rejoins  the  Navy  as  a  seaman  and 
is  assigned  to  the  gun  crew  commanded  by  the 
Chief  Petty  Officer  whose  testimony  condemned 
him  at  the  Naval  inquiry.    It's  also  the  tale  of 


the  romance  between  the  former  lieutenant  and 
the  sister  of  the  officer. 

The  cast  delivers  in  a  wholesale  manner.  Pat 
O'Brien  as  the  petty  officer,  George  Murphy  as 
the  ex-lieutenant,  and  Jane  Wyatt  as  the  ro- 
mantic interest  head  the  cast.  Truly  outstand- 
ing performances  are  given  by  Jackie  Cooper  as 
a  seaman ;  Carl  Esmond  as  the  Austrian  violin- 
ist who  becomes  an  American  citizen  and  joins 
the  Navy ;  Max  Baer,  former  boxer,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  crew ;  Desi  Arnaz,  as  the  Cuban  who 
seeks  to  "save  the  United  States"  because  the 
United  States  liberated  his  country ;  Ray  Col- 
lins, of  the  Mercury  Theatre,  as  the  merchant 
ship  captain ;  Frank  Jenks,  as  the  Brooklynite 
who,  amid  shots  at  enemy  subs,  insists  upon 
hearing  the  Dodgers'  latest  score. 

The  material  for  the  story  is  sound,  basic 
stuff.     In  fact,   the   Saturday   Evening  Post 


Product  Digest  Section  957 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,     I  942 


thought  so  well  of  "Pay  to  Learn,"  by  Borden 
Chase,  which  provides  the  foundation  for  "The 
Navy  Comes  Through,"  that  the  publication  re- 
printed it,  the  only  narrative  having  that  dis- 
tinction. Earl  Baldwin  and  John  Twist,  who 
did  the  adaptation,  and  Roy  Chanslor  and 
Aneneas  MacKenzie,  who  wrote  the  screenplay, 
gave  it  everything  they  had  in  the  way  of 
punchy  lines  and  situations. 

A.  Edward  Sutherland,  in  the  execution  of 
one  of  his  best  assignments,  carried  the  ball 
over  the  goal  line.  Islin  Auster,  who  produced, 
kicked  the  field  goal  for  his  department.  This 
film  is  the  first  to  be  made  completely  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Charles  Koerner,  who  recently 
took  over  supervision  of  the  studio. 

Seen  at  the  Pantages  theatre,  Hollywood, 
where  the  audience  gave  complete  attention  to 
every  scene  and  cheered  the  movement  of  the 
story  along  step  by  step.  Lobby  concensus  was 
that  the  film  does  a  grand  job  for  the  Navy  as 
well  as  for  the  Merchant  Marine,  yet  provides 
as  entertaining  an  evening  as  could  be  had. 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Excellent— V ance  King. 

Release  date,  October  30,  1942.  Running  time,  81  min. 
PCA  No.  8509.    General  audience  classification. 

Mallory   Pat  O'Brien 

Sands  George  Murphy 

Myra   Jane  Wyatt 

Jackie  Cooper,  Carl  Esmond,  Max  Baer,  Desi  Arnaz, 
Ray  Collins,  Lee  Bonnell,  Frank  Jenks,  John  Maguire, 
Frank  Fenton,  Joey  Ray,  Marten  Lamont,  Cyril  Ring. 

Seven  Days'  Leave 

(RKO  Radio) 

Music,  Romance  and  Comedy 

Producer-director  Tim  Whelan  has  assembled 
a  little  of  everything  and  a  lot  of  some  things 
and  tied  the  pieces  together  with  a  plot  that 
involves  a  soldier  and  a  girl.  There  is  a  lot 
of  romance,  comedy  and  music.  Also  there  are 
scenes  of  Army  life,  radio  programs,  imitations, 
dances,  etc.  It  is  a  hodgepodge,  but  from  a 
box  office  standpoint  it  probably  will  be  a 
highly  successful  one.  It  has  the  comedy  to 
keep  the  cash  customers  happy. 

Not  one  but  two  popular  orchestras  appear 
here — Freddy  Martin's  and  Les  Brown's.  As 
vocalists  there  are  Mapy  Cortes,  Ginny  Simms 
and  Marcy  McQuire,  not  to  mention  the  con- 
tributions of  the  two  stars — Victor  Mature  and 
Lucille  Ball.  It  is  a  rare  occasion  when  any 
of  the  aforementioned  orchestras,  vocalists  or 
stars  are  not  "giving  out"  with  music.  Songs 
include  "Can't  Get  Out  of  This  Mood,"  "I 
Get  the  Neck  of  the  Chicken,"  "A  Touch  of 
Texas,"  "Soft  Hearted,"  and  two  unpublished 
songs,  "Please  Won't  You  Leave  My  Girl 
Alone"  and  "You  Speak  My  Language." 

The  cameras  have  invaded  two  currently  pop- 
ular radio  programs  and  filmed  scenes  from 
them.  They  are  "Truth  or  Consequences"  with 
Ralph  Edwards  and  company  and  "The  Court 
of  Missing  Heirs."  Also  from  radio  is  Harold 
Peary,  better  known  as  "The  Great  Gilder- 
sleeve." 

Peter  Lind  Hayes  contributes  a  good  deal  to 
the  picture  with  his  imitations  of  Ronald  Col- 
man,  Lionel  Barrymore  and  Charles  Laughton. 
The  imitations  are  woven  into  the  story  and  are 
on  the  hilarious  side.  Arnold  Stang,  a  new- 
comer, portraying  a  timid  soldier,  contributes 
to  the  comedy  part  of  the  picture,  as  does  the 
dancing  team  of  Lynn,  Royce  and  Vanya. 

The  plot  has  to  do  with  Private  First  Class 
Victor  Mature's  campaign  to  wed  Lucille  Ball 
by  the  time  his  seven  days'  leave  is  up  so  he 
can  collect  $100,000  from  his  grandfather's  will. 
They  fall  in  love  but  complications  develop 
when  Miss  Ball  learns  of  the  will  from  the 
lawyer,  "The  Great  Gildersleeve."  Everything 
is  smoothed  out  at  the  end. 

Previewed  at  the  RKO  Radio  excliange  pro- 
jection room  in  New  York.  A  trade  press  au- 
dience found  parts  of  the  picture  amusing  and 
other  parts  not  so  amusing  but  were  generally 
agreed  the  film  has  good  box  office  possibilities. 
Reviezver"  s  Rating :  Good.-—  Paul  C.  Mooney, 

Jr. 


Release  date,  Nov.  13,  1942.  Running  time,  87  min. 
PCA    No.    8517.     General   audience  classification. 

Johnny  Grey   Victor  Mature 

Terry   .Lucille  Ball 

Harold  Peary,  Mapy  Cortes,  Ginny  Simms,  Marcy 
McGuire,  Peter  Lind  Hayes,  Walter  Reed,  Wallace 
Ford,  Arnold  Stang,  Buddy  Clark,  Charles  Victor, 
King  Kennedy,  Charles  Andre,  Harry  Holman,  Addi- 
son Richards,  Lynn,  Royce  and  Vanya,  Freddy  Mar- 
tin and  orchestra,   Les   Brown  and  orchestra. 

Thunder  Birds 

(Twentieth  Century -Fox) 
Flight  Training  in  Technicolor 

The  locale  of  this  film  is  Thunder  Bird  Field 
in  the  Arizona  desert,  where  the  flying  cadets 
of  the  United  States,  Great  Britain  and  China 
are  receiving  their  primary  training.  For  the 
purposes  of  entertainment  the  focus  has  been 
narrowed  to  concentrate  on  a  single  Brit- 
ish cadet  but  in  so  spotlighting  this  one  lad, 
it  nevertheless  gives  an  over-all  picture. 

Technicolor  is  always  an  advantage  in  air- 
plane pictures  and  this  one  is  no  exception.  The 
scenery   is  breath-taking. 

The  usual  formula  is  missing ;  there  is  no 
smart-aleck  student,  no  Colonel's  daughter  and 
no  clubbiness  among  the  students.  There  is  a 
heroic  rescue  but  it  is  not  an  important  feature 
or  climax.  Apparently  the  war  has  become  too 
deadly  earnest  to  allow  time  for  theatrics,  a 
fact  which  may  or  may  not  be  appreciated  by 
the  average  motion  picture  audience. 

The  cast,  while  not  outstanding  in  box  of- 
fice names,  is  nonetheless  capable.  Gene  Tier- 
ney  holds  up  the  romantic  end  satisfactorily. 
Her  role  is  the  accustomed  one — she  spurns 
her  old  friend  the  aviation  instructor  for  the 
young  British  cadet.  Preston  Foster  is  his 
usual  self  as  the  instructor,  and  John  Sutton 
has  the  role  of  the  cadet.  Jack  Holt  and  Regi- 
nald Denny  are  respectively  the  British  and 
American  squadron  leaders. 

Since  much  of  the  action  takes  place  in  a 
Western  atmosphere,  the  musical  background 
of  "Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas"  seems  to  be 
quite  in  order.  David  Buttolph,  who  is  credited 
with  the  music,  is  to  be  congratulated  on  leav- 
ing out  the  hand  clapping  concommitant  of 
the  song. 

Lamar  Trotti  produced  from  his  own  screen- 
play, a  combination  which  seems  to  be  ad- 
vantageous. Melville  Crossman  wrote  the  ori- 
ginal story.  William  A.  Wellman  lives  up  to 
his  reputation  for  directing  fast-moving  pictures. 

Reviewed  in  the  Fox  projection  room  before 
an  audience  of  trade  press  critics.  Reviewer 's 
Rating  :  Good. — Bob  Wile. 

Release  date,  Nov.  20,  1942.  Running  time,  78  min. 
PCA    No.    8419.     General   audience  classification. 

Kay   Saunders   Gene  Tierney 

Steve   Britt   Preston  Foster 

Peter    Stackhouse   John  Sutton 

Colonel   MacDonald   Jack  Holt 

Dame  May  Whitty,  George  Barbier,  Richard  Haydn, 
Reginald  Denny,  Ted  North,  Janice  Carten,  Archie 
Got,  Lawrence  Ung,  Montague  Shaw,  Nana  Bryant, 
Iris  Adrian.  Viola  Moore,  Connie  Leon,  Walter  Tet- 
ley,   Billy   McGuire,   Richard  Woodruff. 

The  Black  Swan 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Technicolor  Swashbuckling 

The  fortunate  generation  who  knew  the  late 
Douglas  Fairbanks  in  his  prime  will  be  recall- 
ing him  often  and  with  nostalgia  as  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  displays  its  pirate  story  on  the 
screen.  The  color  toward  which  he  groped  in 
"The  Thief  of  Bagdad"  now  burns  in  the  red 
bandanas,  highlights  the  flashing  blue  blades 
and  enriches  the  grandee's  satin  cloak.  But 
some  of  the  high  gusto  has  been  lost.  Civil- 
ization has  touched  the  shaven  cheek  of  Tyrone 
Power  and  the  fate  of  a  landed,  law-abiding 
squire  wedded  to  the  beautiful  Maureen  O'Hara 
inevitably  catches  up  with  him  at  the  close. 

The  novel  by  Rafael  Sabatini  provides  other, 
blood-thirstier  blackguards  brandishing  cut- 
lasses— Henry  Morgan,  for  one,  whose  empire- 
building  it  portrays  with  singular  inappropriate- 
ness  today.  His  cohorts  include  the  red-bearded 
Billy  Leech  and  a  swaggering  Irishman  with 


a  fine  stomach  for  ale.  These,  in  the  persons  of 
Laird  Cregar,  George  Sanders  and  Thomas 
Mitchell,  in  the  same  order,  are  in  the  old  tra- 
dition of  unregenerate  scoundrels  and  each  por- 
trayal is  a  joy. 

In  the  screen  play  by  Ben  Hecht  and  Seton 
I.  Miller,  based  on  Mr.  Miller's  adaptation  of 
the  book,  the  idiom  of  1942  has  been  employed 
with  profit,  and  the  deft  humor  of  Mr.  Hecht  is 
subtly  in  evidence.  Special  commendation  should 
also  be  given  the  impressionistic  photography 
of  Leon  Shamroy  and  the  apt  musical  score 
of  Alfred  Newman. 

The  role  of  Morgan's  henchman  and  con- 
verted cutthroat  will  be  Tyrone  Power's  last 
assignment  but  one  for  the  duration.  It  should 
satisfy  his  admirers  and  increase  their  number. 
Maureen  O'Hara  is  charming  as  the  daughter 
of  the  ex-governor  of  Jamaica  who  is  carried 
aboard  the  pirate  ship  and  learns  to  appreciate 
pirate  standards. 

Production  by  Robert  Bassler  and  direction 
by  Henry  King  leave  little  to  be  desired  in  the 
way  of  action  and  display,  and  the  film  promises 
young  and  old  a  gift  of  spectacular  make-believe 
for  the  holiday  season. 

Previewed  at  the  home  office  projection  room. 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — E.  A.  Cunning- 
ham. 

Release  date,  December  4,  1942.  Running  time,  85 
min.    General  audience  classification. 

James  Waring   ...Tyrone  Power 

Margaret    Denby  Maureen  O'Hara 

Captain  Henry  Morgan   Laird  Cregar 

Tommy  Blue  Thomas  Mitchell 

Captain  Billy  Leech  ..George  Saunders 

Anthony  Quinn,  George  Zucco,  Edward  Ashley,  For- 
tunio  Bortanova,  Stuart  Robertson,  Charles  Mc- 
Naughton. 

In  the  Rear  of  the  Enemy 

(Artkino  Pictures,  Inc.) 
Action-War  Film 

This  is  the  latest  picture  to  come  out  of  Rus- 
sia and  the  first  Soviet  film  produced  with  En- 
glish dialogue.  It  was  made  this  summer  in 
Moscow  by  Soyuzdet,  the  Soviet  Youth  Film 
Studio,  at  a  time  when  the  Nazis  were  within 
50  miles  of  the  studio.  On  the  whole,  it  is  good 
entertainment.  It  is  the  kind  of  action  picture 
which  American  audiences  should  enjoy  and  is 
singularly  lacking  in  any  kind  of  heavy-handed 
propaganda. 

The  English  version  was  dubbed  in  by  Anglo- 
American,  the  British  distributing  company 
for  Russian  product,  in  London.  The  dubbing 
job  was  quite  skillful,  synchronization  of  voice 
and  action  on  the  screen  being  for  the  most 
part  expertly  handled.  In  a  few  instances,  how- 
ever, the  English  idiom  will  be  difficult  for  our 
audiences  to  understand. 

"In  the  Rear  of  the  Enemy"  tells  the  story 
of  three  Russian  soldiers  of  the  ski-patrol  on 
the  Northern  front  who  are  sent  out  for  recon- 
naissance behind  the  Nazi  lines.  What  these 
men  do,  how  they  are  trapped,  how  they  reach 
their  objective  and  how  their  cooperative  effort 
helps  to  destroy  a  Nazi  battery,  is  told  simply, 
forcefully  and  with  dramatic  effect.  The  acting, 
photography — particularly  in  the  ski  and  snow 
shots — the  production  and  direction  are  good. 
Once  American  theatregoers  get  past  the  par- 
tial barrier  of  the  English  speech,  the  film 
should  prove  highly  entertaining  and  as  grimly 
realistic  as  today's  headlines. 

It  was  produced  by  Sergei  Yutkevich,  di- 
rected by  Eugene  Schneider.  The  English  ver- 
sion was  directed  by  Herbert  Marshall  (not 
the  Hollywood  actor)  with  dialogue  by  Lionel 
Britton  and  synchronization  by  K.  H.  Frank. 

Viewed  at  New  York's  Stanley  theatre  where 
a  large  Saturday  evening  audience,  including 
a  goodly  number  of  soldiers,  Sailors  and  ma- 
rines from  the  United  States  and  United  Na- 
tions, indicated  their  approval  by  frequent  ap- 
plause. Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — Jeannette 
E.  Samuelson. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942.    Running  time,  59  min. 
General  audience  classification. 
Russian    actors :    Nikolai    Kruichkov,    Pavel    Spring  - 
feld,  Alexander  Grechani. 

English  voices :  Richard  George,  Harry  Ross,  Jack 
Chambers,  Herbert  Marshall. 


958     Product  Digest  Section 


October    17,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Dr.  Renault's  Secret 

(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 
Pseudo-scientific  Horror 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  has  gone  the  whole 
way  in  the  matter  of  ape-men,  achieving  a  har- 
rowing film  which  sustains  interest  by  reason- 
able progression  once  the  original  fantastic 
premise  has  been  accepted.  The  principal  char- 
acter is  an  ape  taught  to  speak  and  walk  like 
a  man  after  a  series  of  brain  operations,  and 
bearing  some  resemblance  to  humanity  with 
the  aid  of  plastic  surgery.  If  J.  Carrol  Naish 
seems  more  like  a  savage  learning  civilization 
by  rote,  the  effect  is  sufficiently  chilling  for  the 
drama's  purposes. 

The  action  takes  place  in  pre- War  France 
where  John  Shepperd,  an  American  doctor,  has 
arrived  to  marry  Lynne  Roberts,  the  niece  of  a 
wealthy  scientist.  The  estate  houses  a  menac- 
ing assortment  of  suspicious  characters  in  ad- 
dition to  the  handyman,  Noel,  whose  devotion 
to  the  girl  is  matched  by  his  suspicion  of  all 
others,  man  and  beast.  The  young  doctor  pieces 
together  the  story  of  Noel,  but  not  in  time  to 
prevent  three  violent  murders  or  the  kidnapping 
of  his  fiancee. 

The  cast,  including  also  George  Zucco,  Bert 
Roach,  Eugene  Borden  and  Jack  Norton,  han- 
dles the  assignments  competently  and  without 
reservations  under  the  capable  direction  of 
Harry  Lachman.  Sol  M.  Wurtzel  was  executive 
producer. 

Seen  in  a  Iwme  office  projection  room  where 
a  trad-e  press  audience  seemed  impressed  that 
the  story  could  be  revived  with  fresh  entertain- 
ment values.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  December  11,  1942.  Running  time,  58 
min.  PCA  No.  8659.  Adult  audience  classification. 

Mr.  Noel  J.  Carrol  Naish 

Dr.  Larry  Forbes  John  Shepperd 

Madeline  Renault    Lynn  Roberts 

Dr.  Renault   George  Zucco 

Bert  Roach,  Eugene  Borden,  Jack  Norton. 


Smith  of  Minnesota 

(  Columbia) 

What  Makes  an  All  American 

Something  different  in  the  run  of  football 
pictures  is  here  timed  by  Columbia  to  reach 
screens  at  the  peak  of  the  gridiron  season.  It 
has  no  last  minute  touchdown.  And  it  lacks 
much  of  the  action  expected  in  a  football  film. 

But  there  is  a  human  interest  story  in  the 
family  background  and  development  of  an  All- 
American  player.  Bruce  Smith,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  Minnesota's  backs,  playing  himself, 
is  the  subject  of  the  picture.  Newsreel  se- 
quences of  the  outstanding  moments  from  Min- 
nesota football  games  of  the  past  three  years 
are  edited  into  the  story.  They  are  an  exploita- 
tion point  not  to  be  overlooked. 

A  Hollywood  writer,  played  by  Warren 
Ashe,  is  sent  by  Columbia  to  Fairbault,  Minn., 
Brace's  home  town,  to  gather  background.  He 
lives  with  the  Smiths,  and,  aided  by  Arline 
Judge  as  a  girl  reporter,  discovers  that  they 
are  a  typical  American  family.  Bruce,  he  finds, 
is  a  likeable,  but  very  modest,  average  American 
boy  whose  principal  interest  has  always  been 
football.  The  writer  follow-s  his  development, 
learns  how  the  boy  w-as  taught  football  by  his 
father,  and  hears  first  hand  of  his  career  at 
Minnesota. 

Playing  days  are  now  over,  however,  and 
Bruce  joins  the  Navy.  His  father  explains  that 
he  now  is  on  the  greatest  team  of  all  in  a 
game  that  counts.  The  screen  writer  returns  to 
Hollywood  convinced  that  the  facts  themselves 
will  enable  him  to  write  his  greatest  script. 

Jack  Fier  produced  the  original  screenplay 
by  Robert  D.  Andrews  with  Lew  Landers  di- 
recting. They  manage  to  keep  the  halfback's 
life  narrative  moving,  and  intersperse  enough 
football  newsreel  clips  to  keep  the  sport  fans 
interested.  Smith  acts  Smith  with  modest  reti- 
cence and  without  professional  histrionics.  In- 


Reviews  received  too  late  for 
this  Section  are  printed  in  the 
regular  news  pages  of  the 
Herald  and  are  reprinted  the 
following  week  in  Product 
Digest  for  their  reference  value. 


terest  in  the  picture  would  seem  to  be  highest 
in  the  area  of  the  Big  Ten  football  conference. 

Previewed  at  a  New  York  projection  room 
to  a  non-committal  handful  of  professional  re- 
viewers. They  were  interested  chiefly  in  the 
football  newsreel  sequences.  Reviewer's  Rating: 
Fair. — John  Stuart,  Jr. 

Release  date,  October  15,  1942.  Running  time,  66 
min.  PCA  No.  8639.  General  audience  classification. 

Bruce  Smith  Bruce  Smith 

Glynn  Allen      Arline  Judge 

Charles  Hardy    Warren  Ashe 

Don  Beddoe,  Kay  Harris,  Robert  Stevens,  Roberta 
Smith,  Rosemary  DeCamp,  Maurice  Murphy,  Dick 
Hogan,  and  Douglas  Leavitt. 

Boss  of  Big  Town 

(Producers  Releasing) 
Melodrama 

Timely  as  today's  headlines  and  treating  a 
topic  which  touches  every  American  home, 
PRC's  forthcoming  "Boss  of  Big  Town"  is 
a  rare  cinematic  offering,  combining  a  well 
made  melodrama  with  opportunities  for  wide- 
spread exploitation.  Its  plot  deals  with  an 
attempt  to  corner  the  food  supply  of  a  large 
Pacific  Coast  city  by  coercion  and  intimidation 
of  the  producers,  and  to  make  the  consumers 
pay  added  prices  despite  the  government  ceil- 
ings already  in  effect.  The  plot  fails,  however, 
through  the  efforts  of  an  honest  market  man 
who,  realizing  the  tremendous  illegal  "taxation" 
of  the  public  that  would  be  created,  joins  the 
gang  and  brings  it  to  justice. 

John  Litel  as  the  market  man,  Florence  Rice 
as  his  sweetheart  who  is  a  newspaper  reporter, 
and  H.  B.  Warner  as  the  villain,  are  the  cast 
tops,  with  Jean  Brooks,  John  Mil j  an,  David 
Bacon,  Mary  Gordon,  John  Maxwell,  and 
others  in  support. 

One  of  the  parade  of  improved  pictures  com- 
ing from  PRC,  it  is  the  result  of  the  combined 
efforts  of  Arthur  Hoerl,  who  wrote  the  original 
story ;  Edward  Dein,  who  did  the  screenplay ; 
Arthur  Dreifuss  who  directed,  Producer  Jack 
Schwarz  and  his  associate  Harry  Edwards. 

Previewed  at  the  RCA  projection  room  to  a 
trade  press  audience.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. 
— V.  K. 

Release  date.  Dec.  7.  1942.  Running  time.  64  min. 
PCA  No.  8810.    Genera!  audience  classification. 

Michael    Lynn  John  Litel 

Linda   Gregory...   Florence  Rice 

Jeffrey  Moore  H.  B.  Warner 

Jean  Brooks,  John  Miljan.  David  Bacon,  Mary  Gordon. 
Frank  Ferguson.  John  Maxwell.  Paul  Dubov,  Lloyd 
Ingraham,  Patricia  Prest. 

Blondie  for  Victory 

(Columbia,  1941-42) 
The  Bumsteads  Again 

The  irrepressible  "Bumsteads"  are  back  again 
— this  time  with  a  message  about  women  in  war 
work.  Albeit  a  little  hidden  in  the  comedy  and 
goings-on  peculiar  to  this  "typical"  American 
famil}',  the  message  is,  nevertheless,  there. 
What  it  purports  to  tell  is  that,  with  excep- 
tions of  course,  the  housewives  of  America  will 
best  serve  their  country  in  this  wartime  by 
being  housewives. 

The  film  arrives  at  this  conclusion  after 
"Blondie"  and  the  other  wives  in  the  "Bum- 
stead"  neighborhood  form  the  Housewives  of 
America,  don  uniforms  and  proceed  to  make 
themselves  scarce  around  the  home.    Of  course, 


this  is  all  a  peg  on  which  the  screen  writers 
and  director  hang  their  tale.  As  such  it  is  an 
average  film  in  the  series  with  the  usual  shen- 
nanigans  by  Penny  Singleton,  Arthur  Lake, 
Larry  Simms,  Daisy  and  her  pups  as  the  "Bum- 
steads" and  Jonathan  Hale  as  "Mr.  Dithers," 
"Dagwood's"  boss.  Also  present  are  Stuart 
Erwin,  Danny  Mummert  and  Edward  Gargan. 

Early  in  the  proceedings  the  film  has  a  fash- 
ion show,  displaying  the  uniforms  worn  by  the 
various  women's  organizations  active  in  war 
work.  "Blondie"  represents  the  Housewives. 
Later  "Blondie,"  after  "Dagwood"  appears  in  a 
soldier's  outfit,  tells  the  housewives  to  go  back 
to  their  homes  and  stop  wasting  their  time  in 
aimless  adventure. 

The  climax  comes  with  the  Army  chasing 
"Dagwood"  for  impersonating  a  soldier  while 
"Dagwood"  chases  a  "spy."  The  "spy"  turns 
out  to  be  a  mild  little  man  looking  for  a  place 
near  a  damsite  to  hide  a  package  of  sugar. 
Incidentally  quite  a  bit  of  play  is  given  the 
word  damsite. 

Robert  Sparks  produced  and  Frank  R. 
Strayer  directed.  The  characters  are  based  on 
the  comic  strip  characters  created  by  Chic 
Young. 

Seen  at  the  Fox  theatre  in  Brooklyn.  The 
audience  appeared  to  like  the  goings-oti.  Re- 
viewer's Rating :  Fair. — P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 

Release  date,  Aug.  6,  1942.  Running  time,  70  min 
PCA  No.  8409.    General  audience  classification. 

Blondie  Penny  Singleton 

Dagwood   Arthur  Lake 

Baby    Dumpling  Larry  Simms 

Daisy,  Majelle  White.  Stuart  Erwin.  Jonathan  Hale, 
Danny  Mummert.  Edward  Gargan,  Renie  Riano,  Irv- 
ing  Bacon,   Harrison   Greene,   Charles  Wagenheim. 

Scattergood  Survives  a 
Murder 

(RKO  Radio) 
Switch  to  Melodrama 

At  this  point  in  the  series  of  Scattergood 
Baines  features  produced  by  Jarrold  T.  Brandt 
a  switch  is  made  from  the  vein  of  comedy-drama 
to  the  formula  of  murder-mystery  and  a  deal 
of  strengthening  is  achieved  by  the  process.  As 
scripted  by  Michael  L.  Simmons  and  directed 
by  Christy  Cabanne,  the  picture  lifts  much  of 
the  burden  of  entertainment  from  the  shoulders 
of  Guy  Kibbee,  as  Scattergood,  and  both  role 
and  player  profit  by  this. 

The  tale  opens  with  a  double  murder,  an  un- 
known arranging  the  demise  of  two  monied 
spinsters,  and  proceeds  to  the  reading  of  the 
will  to  an  assortment  of  heirs  summoned  to  the 
stately  mansion  with  the  secret  panels  and  so 
on.  Four  reporters,  a  comedy  sheriff  and  others 
participate  in  the  unreeling  of  the  plot,  w:hich  is 
punctuated  by  additional  murders,  but  it  is  Scat- 
tergood who  succeeds  in  bringing  the  quite  un- 
suspected killer  to  exposure.  Laughs  as  well 
as  thrills  are  utilized  in  the  doing. 

Previewed  for  the  tradepress  at  the  studio. 
Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — W.  R.  W. 

Release  date,  October  16,  1942.  Running  time,  66 
min.    PCA.  No.  8633.    General  audience  classification. 

Scattergood  Baines  Guy  Kibbee 

Dunker    Gillson  John  Archer 

Margaret  Hayes.  Wallace  Ford.  Spencer  Charters, 
Eily  Malyon,  John  Miljan,  George  Chandler,  Dick 
Elliott,  Florence  Lake.  Sara  Edwards,  Willie  Best. 
George  Guhl.  £.d  Waller,  Margaret  Seddon.  Margaret 
McWade,  Frank  Reicher,  Earle  Hodgins,  Alfred  Hall. 


Moonlight  In  Havana 

(Universal) 

Minor  Musical 

Topping  most  of  Universal's  minor  musicals 
in  point  of  novelty  and  content,  this  item  offers 
the  names  of  Allan  Jones  and  Jane  Frazee  for 
purposes  of  billing  and  gives  them  seven  songs 
to  sing,  singly  and  together,  six  of  these  by 
Dave  Franklin  having  potentialities  of  popu- 


Product  Digest  Section  959 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,     I  942 


larity,  and  the  seventh,  "I  Wonder  Who's  Kiss- 
ing Her  Now,"  a  hit  revived  from  yesteryear. 

Between  stretches  of  song,  some  of  which  are 
spotted  with  dancing  furnished  by  the  Jivin' 
Jacks  and  Jills,  the  Horton  Dance  Group  and 
by  Grace  and  Nicco,  who  stop  the  show,  Wil- 
liam Frawley,  Hugh  O'Connell  and  Jack  Nor- 
ton supply  comedy  that  collects  its  own  laughs. 

Oscar  Brodney's  original  screenplay  casts 
Jones  as  a  baseball  star  under  suspension  who 
can  sing  like  a  professional  only  when  afflicted 
with  a  cold.  He  joins  a  nightclub  company 
enroute  to  Havana,  in  order  to  rejoin  his  ball- 
club  which  is  training  there,  and  attempts,  with 
results  yielding  laughter,  to  carry  on  as  ball- 
player by  day  and  vocalist  by  night. 

Production  by  Bernard  W.  Burton  and  direc- 
tion by  Anthony  Mann  make  no  bid  for  Acad- 
emy Award  but  do  stock  an  hour  of  running 
time  with  amusement. 

Previewed  at  the  Ritz  theatre,  Hollywood,  to 
a  midweek  audience  which  evidenced  approval. 
Reviewer's  Rating :  Good. — W.  R.  W. 

Release  date,  October  16,  1942.  Running  time.  62 
min.    PCA  No.  8764.    General  audience  classification. 

Johnny  Norton  Allan  Jones 

Gloria  Jackson  Jane  Frazee 

Marjorie  Lord,  William  Frawley,  Don  Terry,  Sergio 
Orta,  Wade  Boteler,  Hugh  O'Connell,  Jack  Norton, 
Grace  and  Nicco,  Horton  Dance  Group,  Jivin'  Jacks 
and  Jills. 


'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge 

(  Monogram  ) 
Those  Kids  Again 

The  East  Side  Kids  place  themselves  on  the 
law's  side  at  the  start  of  this  Sam  Katzman- 
Jack  Dietz  melodrama,  and  proceed  at  the  peak 
of  their  form  to  enliven  the  activities  and  en- 
tertain the  customers  with  their  drolleries  and 
inventiveness  while  outwitting  any  gangster 
who  would  coerce  them  into  his  service.  They 
surpass  most  of  their  performances  and  the 
picture  has  more  point  and  momentum  than 
most  of  their  vehicles. 

Leo  Gorcey  is  in  command  of  the  group  and 
pilots  them  through  any  emergency  which  arises 
when  their  rescue  of  a  girl  being  thrashed  by 
her  stepfather  takes  a  turn  which  places  them 
in  jeopardy  through  machinations  of  a  gangster, 
played  by  Marc  Lawrence.  The  scene  is  de- 
scribed by  the  title,  and  the  film  ends  in  a  free- 
for-all  resulting  in  capture  of  the  criminal. 

Harvey  Gates'  script  supplies  action  aplenty, 
capitalized  to  the  full  by  Wallace  Fox's  direc- 
tion. Barney  A.  Sarecky,  as  associate  producer, 
gave  the  production  roundedness  and  precision. 
It  rates  with  the  best  in  its  budgetary  bracket. 

Previewed  at  the  Studio  City  theatre,  San 
Fernando  Valley,  Cal.,  to  a  Monday  night  audi- 
ence which  seemed  to  like  it.  Reviewer' s  Rating  : 
Good.—W.  R.  W. 

Release  date,  November  20,  1942.  Running  time, 
64  min.  PCA  No.  8787.  General  audience  classification. 

Red  River  Robin  Hood 

(RKO  Radio) 
Western 

Although  employing  many  of  the  time- 
honored  standbys,  this  picture  is  as  entertaining 
as  most  of  its  type.  It  should  satisfy  those  audi- 
ences who  enjoy  the  excitement  of  a  Western, 
without  caring  too  much  about  its  incongrui- 
ties. As  in  all  pictures  of  this  type,  there  are  a 
great  many  men  who  stand  about  continually 
without  any  visible  means  of  support,  while  the 
heroes  are  able  to  hoodwink  the  villains  with 
the  greatest  of  ease.  Yet,  with  it  all,  the  requi- 
site amount  of  action  and  excitement  are  in- 
cluded. 

It  starts  with  a  land-grab  by  the  local  villain 
aided  by  a  forged  conveyance  and  a  crooked 
judge.  Tim  Holt  and  Cliff  Edwards,  the  pic- 
ture's protagonists  of  justice,  then  enter  the 
scene,  to  be  employed  by  the  villain  as  two  of 
his  "boys."  In  the  guise  of  "Mr.  Justice,"  they 


also  aid  the  embattled  ranchers  to  retain  their 
land.  Finally,  of  course,  their  dual  roles  get 
them  up  against  a  cul  de  sac.  But  the  Marines, 
in  the  person  of  the  aroused  ranchmen  and  a 
crusading  newspaper  editor  arrive  in  time. 

Tim  Holt  and  Cliff  Edwards  are  capable  in 
the  leading  roles.  Edwards,  known  also  as  Uke- 
lele  Ike,  sings  just  one  song,  a  typical  cowboy 
number.  Russell  Wade  and  Barbara  Moffett  are 
also  in  the  cast.  Lesley  Selander  directed  the 
film,  which  was  produced  by  Bert  Gilroy. 

Seen  at  the  RKO  Richmond  Hill  theatre, 
where  it  was  a  part  of  the  show  at  the  morning 
world  premiere  of  "Here  We  Go  Again."  The 
audience,  predominantly  youngsters,  seemed  to 
enjoy  it  and  cheered  and  applauded  at  its  con- 
clusion.  Reviewers  Rating:   Fair. — R.  A.  W. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  57  min.  PCA 
No.  8574.    General  audience  classification. 

Tim    Tim  Holt 

Cliff    Cliff  Edwards 

Russell  Wade,  Barbara  Moffett. 

The  Phantom  Plainsmen 

(Republic,  1941-42) 
German  Agents  Go  West 

In  line  with  its  policy  of  setting  western 
drama  in  an  era  of  historical  probability,  Re- 
public introduces  a  war  theme  into  the  latest 
saga  of  the  Three  Mesquiteers.  The  time  is 
prior  to  the  outbreak  of  war  in  Europe  when 
Germany  was  preparing  her  armed  forces  and, 
presumably,  importing  horses  from  the  western 
plains  of  the  United  States.  The  villains  are  all 
German  agents ;  the  heroes  those  rugged  indi- 
vidualists of  the  west  whose  support  in  the  pre- 
dicted battle  is  assured — even  to  the  horses  who 
neigh  as  the  film  closes  on  the  question  "Will 
you  fight  for  Uncle  Sam?" 

The  hard-riding  trio  are  pitted  against  speed- 
ing cars,  coded  messages  and  the  Gestapo,  but 
come  through  with  the  aid  of  their  bare  fists 
and  a  few  well-placed  shots  from  the  hip.  Their 
quarrel  with  the  prospective  purchaser  of  horses 
is  purely  personal  until  threats  are  made  against 
a  native  son  studying  in  Berlin.  From  then  on 
the  failure  of  the  German  cavalry  is  assured. 

Regular  followers  of  Steele,  Tyler  and  Davis 
should  find  this  a  welcome  variant  of  the  usual 
theme,  although  not  to  be  considered  a  prece- 
dent. 

John  English  directed  the  film  from  a  screen 
play  by  Barry  Shipman  and  an  original  story 
by  Robert  Yost.  Louis  Gray  was  associate  pro- 
ducer. 

Seen  at  the  Nezv  York  theatre  where  a  morn- 
ing audience  vuatche-d  in  good  humor.  Re- 
vieiver's  Rating:  Fair. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  June  16,  1942.  Running  time,  65  min. 
PCA   No.   8359.    General  audience  classification. 

Tucson    Bob  Steele 

Stony   Tom  Tyler 

Lullaby    Rufe  Davis 

Robert  O.  Davis,  Lois  Collier,  Charles  Miller,  Alex 
Callam,  Monte  Montague,  Henry  Rowland,  Richard 
Crane,  Jack  Kirk. 


Eyes  of  the  Underworld 

(Universal) 
Racketeer  Melodrama 

The  name  of  Richard  Dix  heading  the  cast  is 
the  chief  exploitation  peg  for  showmen.  Other- 
wise the  film  is  a  routine  melodrama  of  stolen 
cars,  confederates  in  the  office  of  the  chief  of 
police  and  a  shady  past  for  the  Chief  himself. 

A  slightly  new  twist  is  given  the  story  with 
the  appearance  of  a  state  investigator  whose 
disinterest  in  local  politics  enables  him  to  study 
both  sides,  disclose  the  Chief's  previous  crimi- 
nal records,  yet  keep  on  the  trail  of  the  in- 
fluential racketeers.  Such  objectivity  is,  how- 
ever, a  serious  handicap  to  winning  the  girl  in 
the  case,  whose  affections  remain  unchanged. 

Richard  Dix  gives  a  satisfactory  performance 
as  the  chief  of  police  although  the  comparatively 
sedentary  role  may  disappoint  his  fans.  Don 
Porter  with  a  more  active  part  fares  better  as 


the  special  investigator.    Wendy  Barrie  is  the 

girl. 

Direction  by  Roy  W.  Neill  is  not  as  smooth 
as  might  be  desired,  a  little  too  rapid  for  com- 
plete comprehension  in  some  instances  and  slow 
enough  to  permit  a  lagging  of  interest  in  others. 
Ben  Pivar  is  listed  as  associate  producer. 

Seen  at  the  Rialto  theatre  in  New  York, 
where  a  male  mid-afternoon  audience  yawned 
audibly  at  times.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. — 
E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  61  min.  PCA 
No.   8356.     General   audience  classification. 


Chief   Richard  Dix 

Betty   Wendy  Barrie 

Jason   Don  Porter 

Benny   Lon  Chaney 


Billy  Lee,  Lloyd  Corrigan,  Marc  Lawrence,  Edward 
Pawley,  Joseph  Crehan,  Wade  Boteler. 


That  Other  Woman 

(Twentieth  Century -Fox) 
Romantic  Complication 

The  complications  which  arise  in  the  course 
of  the  effort  made  by  a  secretary  to  cause  her 
young  and  handsome  architect  employer  to  no- 
tice her,  first,  and  then  to  fall  in  love  with  her, 
form  the  basis  of  an  innocuous  and  routine  pic- 
ture, the  entertainment  value  of  which  is  of  the 
lesser  order. 

Virginia  Gilmore  is  the  girl,  James  Ellison 
the  employer,  Dan  Duryea  the  faithful  and 
rather  stupid  southerner  who  is  in  love  with 
the  girl,  and  Alma  Kruger,  the  girl's  aunt,  who 
suggests  old  but  tried  methods  of  procedure  for 
the  girl  in  her  effort,  and  who  instigates  most 
of  the  complications.  No  member  of  the  cast  dis- 
tinguishes himself. 

Ray  McCarey  directed  the  film,  which  was 
produced  by  Walter  Morosco,  from  a  screen- 
play by  Jack  Jungmeyer,  Jr. 

Previewed  at  the  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
home  office  projection  room.  Reviewer's  Rating : 
Mediocre. — Charles  S.  Aaronson. 

Release  date,  November  13,  1942.  Running  time,  75 
min.    PCA  No.  8576.    General  audience  classification. 

Emily    Virginia  Gilmore 

Henry  Summers    James  Ellison 

Ralph    Dan  Duryea 

Janice  Carter,  Alma  Kruger,  Bud  McAlister,  Minerva 
LTrecal,   Charles  Arnt,   Charles  Halton. 


ADVANCE  SYNOPSES 


NORTHWEST  RANGERS 
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

Outdoor  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Sam  Marx.  Directed  by  Joseph  New- 
man. 

PLAYERS:  James  Craig,  William  Lundigan,  Patricia 
Dane,  Darryl  Hickman. 

SYNOPSIS 

Two  boys,  raised  together,  embark  on  sep- 
arate careers  when  they  reach  maturity.  One 
becomes  a  law  enforcement  officer,  and  the 
other,  a  gambler.  Conflict  of  their  business 
and  personal  lives  provides  the  motivation. 

THE  CRYSTAL  BALL 
(Paramount) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Richard  Blumenthal.  Directed  by 
Elliott  Nugent. 

PLAYERS:  Paulefte  Goddard,  Ray  Milland,  Gladys 
George,  Virginia  Field,  Cecil  Kellaway. 

SYNOPSIS 

Stranded  in  New  York  City  with  only  38 
cents,  Miss  Goddard  poses  as  a  fortune  teller 
in  order  to  earn  money.  Her  troubles  then  be- 
gin, but  are  finally  smoothed  out  after  a  series 
of  farcical  events,  and  she  finds  romance  with 
Milland,  an  attorney. 


960     Product  Digest  Section 


-  - : 


FEATURES 

in  order  of  releases,  as  set. 
also  others  to  come 


COLUMBIA 

Release 

S'o.         Title  Date 

4927  Ceaster  Esaisaaee   Sep.    3- ' - 2 

4*22  The  Spirit  if  Staafard  Sep.  10. '42 

4M4  A  la's  W«H  Set.  17/42 

mil  Lacky  Legs   Oct.    I  ."42 

....  Biaiaf  Tfereneh  Nevada  Oct  [,'42 

4C2I  The  Dariag  Ytdi  Man  Oct.    8, '42 

 The  Laae  Prairie  O  ct.  15, '42 

 Sarta   ef    MiMes-iia  Oct  (5/42 

 The  B*»«ie  Max  Will  Get  Yea. Oet  22,  42 

....  Staari  By  All  Networks  Oct  23.  42 

 Bestaa  Btackie  Bees  HeilyawedNmr.   5. '42 

 Laaah  Year  Blaes  Away  Not.  12/42 

 Yea  Were  Mew  Lwelier  Mot.  13/42 

 The  DcsperaaaB   Mot.  26/42 

 The    Orer    Girt  M  Set 

....  A  Toraaaa  U  the  Saddle  Net  Set 

  Law  ef  the  Baxlarss  Met  Set 

 The   Fi|fcii»i   Bsekarta  M ft  Set 

...    S:tt;:.u.'t;   t:    ;-:_'.   Ab«rt.  . .  Mrt  Set 

 Chihi'e  Strike  st  Daaai. .  .Met  Set 

 UeeVgareaad  Aaeat   Met  Set 

....  Law  ef  the  Northwest.  Ret  Set 

 Hew   D*  Yea  De  Met  Sit 

 Ride,    Mantle    Rid!  Met  Set 

 Jeaiar   Geagalr.  Net  Set 

....  City  Withevt  He*.  Met  Set 

 Silver  City  Haiders..  Net  Set 

....  HaD  ta  the  Baiters  Net  Set 

....  Oee   Daaeerees   Night  Net  Set 

 Merry  G»  Roma  Net  Set 

 Pawer  af  the  Press  Net  Set 

 13  Stars  te  HesvEm  Bat  Set 

 Behiaheaa'  af  the  Baaae  Net  Set 


MGM 


 Sep.-Oet  '42 

at  Etna  Sep.- Oct  *42 


aaley   Sep.- Oct  '42 

 Sep. -Oct.  '42 

rtbearts   Sep.-Ort  '42 

ail   Sep. -Oct  '42 

I'll  Find  Yea...SeB.-Ost.  '42 

attie   Sep.-Oet  '42 

■  My  Gal  Sep.-Oet.  '42 

e  Niiht  Sep. -Oct  '42 

ae   Sea-Oct.  '42 

Jil   Sep. -Oct  '42 

Ska*  Oet  Rat  Set 

Harvest   Met  Set 

 Ret  Set 

far  Harajarel  Met  Set 

ia  Dixie  Net  Set 

self  's  Mew  Aeiirtairt  Mrt  Sit 

!  Lily  Wars  Met  Set 

aae  Hcaae  Mrt  Set 

'  tie  F : l- •  Mrt  Set 

Jiaana   Hat  Set 

:  lain   Net  Set 

5  Net  Set 


MONOGRAM 


froi.  Ratcst 
ttm.         Title  Date 

  West   rf   the    Law  Nor.    2, '42 

...  War  Dogs   Mot.  13/42 

...  ' Meats  Brwklya  Bridge  Nm.  2D, '42 

 The  LiTiBS  Ghost  Mot.  27/42 

 Trail  Riders   Dee.  4/42 

  Rhythm  Parade   Dee.  11/42 

 Silver  Skates  ->-  Net  Set 


PARAMOUNT 

Had  I 

 Wake  Isrand   

....  The  Hz'.if  f-i  tl-.e  Wi't- 

 Wildest   

....  Priorities  in  Parade  . 

Block  2 

....  Mrs.  W:its  if  tie  C'ittese 


....  PwJaj  Beesi  Stary  Net  8*4 

  W>  Hen  SeilMp  tl  D adidy . .  M ft  Set 

  Him  St  Lmcky  Net  Set 

  Wrecking  Crew   Nit  Set 

  Greet  Without  Glory  Met  Set 

  Fur  When  tie  Bell  Tills  Net  Set 

  Lady  Bodyguard   Ret  Set 

  Nc  Tine  fur  Leve  Net  Set 


On  T-'i!:t;  MljSt  

-  i  : '  H  uiig  We; 


 laae  5/42 

...Sept  18/42 
...Oet  9/42 
...Oet  15/42 
...Oet  23/42 
...Oet  J4/42 


v 


it  Ken 


Mart 


 Net  Set 

 Met  Set 

sythja  Mrt  Set 

 Net  Set 

ets  EI  an  Mir..  Net  Sit 

 Net  Set 

Cfenmgkiag  Hit  Set 

 -.  Net  Set 


PRODUCERS  REL 
CORP. 

...  Baby  Face  Morgan  Sep.  15/42 

...  Teirerrrw    W(   Lire  Sep.  29/42 

...  City  ef  Silent  Mea  Oet  12/42 

...  Secrets  ef  a  Ce-ed  Oet  26/42 

...  The  Yanks  are  Conies  Nov.  9/42 

...  Miss  V  from  Maseaa  Her.  23/42 

...  B«ss  ef  Bis  Town  Dee.  7/42 

...  Lady  trim  Chungking  Dec  21/42 

...  Permit  te  Kill  Jan.  4/43 

...  Dead  Men  Walk.  Feb.  10/43 

...  A  Night  fur  Criaie  Feb.  24/43 


RKO 


.  .  The    Rsjiif-Mtt    A  Trie -sirs    J.ly  I3/42 

. .  The  Bii  Street  Sep.  4/42 

. .  Hsx:s3j   Spitfire 'i    Elephant.  .Sep,  1 1, '42 

. .  Wires  and  the  Wmei  Sep.  18/42 

. .  Bandit   Ranger   Sep.  25/42 

..  Hlahauw  by  Might  Oet  2/42 


Her; 


G  : 


.Sat 

-Oct 


9/42 

16/42 


Journey  into  Fear  Oct  23/42 

The  Fataars  Brasher  Not.  s/42 

Seeea  Days'  Leave  Mot.  13/42 

Amy  Sun  era   Net  Set 

Pride  ef  the  Yukeee  Met  Set 

Obm  Ut'in  i   H  Mays  eta  Nit  Set 

Ladies  Day   Net  Set 

Seven  Miles  frtn  Aleatraz  Ret  Set 

Cat  Pupal  Hpt  Set 

Tarzam  Triumphs   Net  Set 

Staid  By  is  Die  Ret  Set 

Bombardier   Net  Set 


''rod.  Re'.etse 
No.         Title  *  Date 

...The  Great  Gildersleeve  NetSet 

...  They  Got  Me  Covered  NetSet 

...  Flight  for  Freedom  Not  Set 

...  Hitler's  Children   Not  Set 


REPUBLIC 

201  Hi,  Neighbor  July  27/42 

271  Senhrert  Kid   Joly  31/42 

212  The  Old  Hiaestead   Ann.  17/42 

251  Shade ai  n  the  Sane  Aug.  24/42 

253  Youth  en  Parade  Oct  24/42 

272  Outlaws  ef  Pine  Rides  Oet.  27/42 

2M  X  Marks  the  Spot  Nov.  4/42 

...  Ice-Capades  Revue   Not  Set 

...  Jahaay  Doughboy   Not  Set 

...  The   Crooked   Circle  Mot  Set 

...  Secrets  ef  tiie  Underground. . -Not  Set 
...  Heart  ef  the  Glides  West  NetSet 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

Block  I 

Ml  Fwtlight  Serenade   Aug.  1/42 

312  A-Hauntieg  We  Will  Ge  Abb.  7/42 

303  Little   Tikyt,    U.S.A  Aug.  14/42 

334  The    Pied    Piper  Ami.  21/42 

M5  Levee  tl  Edit/  Allan  P«  Ave.  28, '42 

Black  2 

36!  Orchestra  Wires   Sep.  4/42 

311  Berlin  Ctres;ttdert   Ses.  1 1, '42 

312  Careful,  Sift  Sheitlders  Sep.  18/42 

310  J  net    03    Broadway  Sep.  25/42 

305  Iceland   Oct.  2/42 

Block  3 

 Tales  of  Manhattan  Oct  30/42 

Block  4 

309  Girl  Trouble   Oet  9/42 

314  Manila  Calling   Oct  IB/42 

315  The  Man  in  the  Trunk  Oct  23/42 

317  Springtime  in  the  Rockies. . .Nov.  6/42 

Block  5 

318  That  Other  Woman  Nov.  13, '42 

307  Tnnnder  Birds   Nov.  20/42 

319  Toe  Undying  Monster  Nov.  27/42 

320  Tbe  3Iack  Swan  Dec  4/42 

321  Dr.   Renanlt's  Secret  Dee.  11/42 

3J5  The  Yoeing  Mr.  Pitt  NetSet 

...  The   Ox-Bow   Incident  NetSet 

...  China  Girl   NetSet 

...  He  Hired  the  Boss  Not  Set 

...  My  Friend   FNcka  Not  Set 

...  Crash  Dive   Met  Set 

...  Life  Bejins  at  330  Not  Set 

-..  The  Meanest  Maa  is  the 

World   NetSet 

...  Over  My  Dead  Body  NetSet 

-.  ttaiet  Please,  Murder  Not  Set 

...  Dixie   Disean   NetSet 

...  Murder,  Harder  Everywhere. .  .Not  Set 

...  Cbetniks   NetSet 

...  Coney  Island   NetSet 

...  Margin  for  Error  Not  Set 


UNITED  ARTISTS 

...  Battle  Cry  ef  China  Aug.  7/42 

...  The  Moon  and  Sixpense  Oct  2/42 

...  The  Denril  with  Hitler  Oct  9/42 

...  One  of  Oar  Aircraft  is  Missing.  Oct  16/42 

...  Undercover   Man   Oct  23/42 

...  I  Married  a  Witch  Oct  30/42 

...  Silver  Oneen   Nov.  13/42 

...  Fall  la   Nov.  20/42 

...  Jacare   Nev.  27/42 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

 American  Empire   Dec  11/42 

...  Lest  Canyon   Dec  18/42 

...  In  Which  We  Serve  Dec  25/42 

...  The  Crystal  Ball  Jan.  I/43 

...  The  Powers  Girl  Jan.  15/43 

...  MeGuerins  from   Brooklyn  Jan.  22/43 

...  Young  and  Willing  Jan.  29/43 

...  G-String  Murders   Feb.  12/43 

...  Stage  Dopr  Canteen  Feb.  26/43 


UNIVERSAL 

7010  Between  Us  Girls  Sep.  4/42 

7021  Give  Out  Sisters  Sep.  11/42 

7035  Half  Way  to  Shanghai  Sep.  18/42 

7020  Sherlock  Holmes  and  tbe  Voice  

of  Terror   Sep.  18/42 

 Sin  Town   Sep.  25, '42 

7071  Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas.. Sep.  25/42 

7022  Get  Hep  to  Love  Oct  2/42 

7030  Destination  Unknown   Oet  9/42 

7025  Moonlight  in  Havana  Oet  16/42 

 The  Mummy's  Tomb  Oct  23/42 

...  Night  Monster   Oct  23/42 

 Arabian  Nights   Oet  30/42 

...  Who  Done  It?  Nev.   6, '42 

...  Nightmare   Nov.  13/42 

7072  Little  Joe  tbe  Wrangler  Nov.  13/42 

7028  Strictly  in  the  Groove  Nov.  20/42 

...  Pittsburgh   Nov.  27/42 

...  Eyes  of  the  Underworld  NetSet 

  Forever  Yours   NetSet 

 The  Great  Impersonation  Not  Set 

  Off   the   Beaten  Track  NetSet 

  Raiders  ef  San  Jeaouin  Not  Set 

  On  the  Beam  NetSet 

 Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Not  Set 

  Flesh  and   Fantasy  NetSet 

 Tenting  Tonight  on  the  Old 

Camp  Ground   Net  SEt 

 The  Old  Chisbolm  Trail  NetSet 

 Sherlock  Hclmes  in 

Washington   Net  SEt 

 Passing  the  Buck  NetSet 

  Corvettes  In  Action  Not  Set 

 White  Savage   NetSet 

  Cheyenne  Roundup   Not  Set 

...  The  Lone  Star  Trail  Not  Set 

...  When  Johnny  Comes  Home  Not  Set 

...  It  Ain't  Hay  Not  Set 


WARNER  BROS. 

202  Aerots  the  Paeifle  Sen.  5/42 

203  Busses  Roar   Sep.  19/42 

204  Desperate  Journey   Sep.  26/42 

207  You  Can't  Escape  Forever  Oet  10/42 

205  Secret  Enemies   Oet  17/42 

206  Now,  Voyager   Oet  31/42 

208  The  Hidden  Hand  Nov.  7/42 

209  The  Hard  Way  Nov.  14/42 

210  George  Washington  Slept  Here. Nov.  28/42 
201  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  Not  Set 

..  Casablanca   NetSet 

..  Gentleman  Jin   NetSet 

..  Watch  e»  the  Rhine  NetSet 

..  Princess  O'Reurke   NetSet 

..  Adventures  ef  Mark  Twain. . .  Net  Set 

...  Flying  Fortress  NetSet 

...  Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  NetSet 

...  Edce  of  Darkness  NetSet 

 The  Mysterious  Doctor  NetSet 

.-  The  Desert  Seng   NetSet 

.-  Air    Fare*   Net  Set 

..  The  Constant  Nymph   Nat  Set 

...  Action  in  tbe  North  Atlantic. Net  Set 

...  Murder    en    Wheels  NetSet 

...  Background   to   Danger  Not  Set 

...  One    More   Tomorrow  NetSet 

...  Mission  te  Moscow  NetSet 

...  The  Gorilla  Man  NetSet 


Product  Digest  Section  961 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    17,  1942 

ADVANCE  SYNOPSES 

and  information 


THE  COMMANDOS  STRIKE 

AT  DAWN 

(Columbia) 

War  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Lester  Cowan.  Directed  by  John 
Farrow. 

PLAYERS:  Paul  Muni,  Anna  Lee,  Lillian  Gish,  Ray 
Collins,  Robert  Coote,  Rosemary  DeCamp,  Sir 
Cedric  Hardwicke. 

SYNOPSIS 

Norway  is  the  scene  of  most  of  the  action 
in  this  story  depicting  the  revolt  of  Norwegians 
against  Nazi  rule.  Muni,  in  acting  the  role  of 
the  leader  of  a  rebellion,  slays  the  Nazi  occupa- 
tional leader  and  in  escaping  to  England,  dis- 
covers the  location  of  a  secretly  constructed  air- 
field from  which  the  Nazis  hope  to  attack  Al- 
lied shipping.  In  England,  he  brings  the  in- 
formation to  the  attention  of  the  military  and 
leads  a  Commando  raid  in  which  the  installa- 
tions are  razed.  Citizens  of  the  leader's  village 
who  wish  to  go  to  England  then  put  forth  with 
the  returning  soldiers. 


PRESENTING  LILY  MARS 
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

Musical  Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Joseph  Pasternak.  Directed  by  Nor- 
man Taurog. 

PLAYERS:  Judy  Garland,  Richard  Carlson,  Spring 
Byington,  Fay  Bainter,  Marta  Eggerth,  Ray 
McDonald,  Connie  Gilchrist,  Leonid  Kinsky,  Bob 
Crosby  and  his  Band. 

SYNOPSIS 

From  the  novel  by  Booth  Tarkington,  this 
tells  of  the  attempts  of  a  stage  struck  girl  to 
get  on  the  stage.  Miss  Garland  plays  the  title 
role  of  a  young  would-be  actress  who  by  ruses 
manages  to  get  a  small  role  in  the  play  of  a 
producer  who  falls  in  love  with  her.  The 
star  of  the  show  is  jealous  and  complications 
threaten  the  opening.  The  girl  steps  into  the 
role  and  is  an  immediate  hit. 

SEVEN  MILES  FROM  ALCATRAZ 
(RKO  Radio) 

Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  Herman  Schlom.  Directed  by  Edward 
Dmytryk. 

PLAYERS:  James  Craig,  Bonita  Granville,  George 
Cleveland,  Frank  Jenks,  Cliff  Edwards,  Tala  Birell. 

SYNOPSIS 

Two  escaped  convicts  from  Alcatraz  reach  a 
lighthouse  in  San  Francisco  bay  and  bargain 
with  Nazi  agents  using  the  lighthouse  as  a  base 
to  take  them  to  South  America  aboard  their 
submarine.  In  the  events  that  ensue,  the  con- 
victs realize  that  they  are  selling  out  their 
country  and  outwit  the  Nazis,  permitting  the 
light  keeper  to  send  signals  of  the  plot  to  the 
mainland.  Airplanes  blast  the  awaiting  sub- 
marine, the  convicts  are  taken  back  to  "The 
Rock," .  and  a  romance  blooms  between  one  of 
the  felons  and  the  lighthouse  keeper's  daugh- 
ter. 


CAT  PEOPLE 
(RKO  Radio) 

Horror  Story 

PRODUCER:  Val  Lewton.  Directed  by  Jack 
Tourneur. 

PLAYERS:  Simone  Simon,  Kent  Smith,  Jane  Ran- 
dolph, Tom  Conway,  Jack  Holt. 

SYNOPSIS 

A  Serbian  immigrant  weds  a  young  Ameri- 
can but  does  not  consummate  her  marriage 
because  of  her  superstition  that  she  would  turn 
into  a  black  panther  and  destroy  her  lover. 
When  another  girl  falls  in  love  with  her  hus- 
band, she  stalks  her,  but  the  girl  throws  a 
cloak  over  a  shadowy  substance  which  frightens 
her.  The  cloak  is  later  found  torn  to  ribbons. 
A  psychiatrist  whom  the  immigrant  had  been 
consulting  kisses  her  and  his  torn  body  is  later 
discovered.  The  husband  trails  her  to  the 
zoo  where  in  a  cage  a  black  panther  is  found, 
clothed  in  the  woman's  fur  cape. 


CRASH  DIVE 
(Twentieth  Century- Fox) 

Technicolor  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Milton  Sperling.  Directed  by  Archie 
Mayo. 

PLAYERS:  Tyro  ne  Power,  Anne  Baxter,  Dana  An- 
drews, Charles  Grapewin,  James  Gleason. 

SYNOPSIS 

Made  with  the  cooperation  of  the  Navy 
which  permitted  taking  of  shots  at  the  sub- 
marine base  at  New  London,  the  picture  tells 
the  story  of  a  young  lieutenant  transferred 
from  a  PT  boat  to  a  submarine.  He  falls  in 
love  with  a  young  school  teacher  who  is  be- 
trothed to  his  immediate  superior.  Assigned 
to  ferret  out  a  raider's  base,  they  take  to  sea, 
the  romantic  _  rivalry  between  the  two  high 
officers  becoming  bitter. 

This  will  probably  be  Power's  last  picture 
for  the  duration,  he  having  enlisted  in  the 
Marine  Corps. 


THE  MEANEST  MAN 
IN  THE  WORLD 
(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  William  Perlberg.  Directed  by 
Sidney  Lanfield. 

PLAYERS:  Jack  Benny,  Priscilla  Lane,  Rochester, 
Anne  Revere,  Margaret  Seddon. 

SYNOPSIS 

As  in  "To  Be  or  Not  To  Be,"  Jack  Benny 
gets  away  from  the  radio  program  formula 
which  marked  his  other  films,  and  herein  por- 
trays an  impecunious  attorney  wooing  a  pretty 
girl.  Rejected  by  the  girl's  family  because  he 
is  not  a  success  and  because  he  is  too  "chicken- 
hearted"  to  assert  himself,  the  lawyer  decides 
to  become  hard-hearted.  He  goes  on  a  spree 
of  evicting  widows  and  such  activities,  taking 
care  to  have  it  made  public,  but  meanwhile 
secretly  attending  to  the  wants  of  his  "vic- 
tims."   He  wins  the  girl  by.  these  tactics. 


LIFE  BEGINS  AT  8:30 
(Twentieth  Century- Fox) 

Drama 

PRODUCER:  Nunnally  Johnson.  Directed  by  Irving 
Pichel. 

PLAYERS:  Monty  Woolley,  Ida  Lupino,  Sara  All- 
good,  Melville  Cooper,  Cornel  Wilde. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  the  story  of  a  formerly  great  actor, 
deposed  by  drink,  his  crippled  daughter,  and 
a  young  playwright  who  loves  her.  Efforts 
to  regenerate  the  player  are  of  no  avail,  and 
his  drinking  comes  between  the  lovers.  But 
he  gets  himself  out  of  the  way  in  the  end  by 
marrying  a  wealthy  ex-star  who  has  been  in 
love  with  him  all  these  years. 

PRINCESS  O'ROURKE 
(Warner  Bros.) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Hal  B.  Wallis.   Directed  by  Norman 
Krasna. 

PLAYERS:  Olivia  de  Haviland,  Robert  Cummings, 
Charles  Coburn. 

SYNOPSIS 

Olivia  de  Havilland  enacts  the  role  of  a  prin- 
cess forced  to  flee  to  America  when  her  country 
is  over-run  by  the  Nazis.  She  takes  an  over- 
dose of  sleeping  tablets  on  board  a  plane  en 
route  to  a  ranch  and  the  pilot,  unable  to  arouse 
her,  takes  her  to  the  home  of  friends.  They  fall 
in  love  and  she  exchanges  her  title  for  that  of 
"Mrs." 

LADIES'  DAY 
(RKO  Radio) 

Farce 

PRODUCER:    Bert    Gilroy.     Directed    by  Leslie 
Goodwins. 

PLAYERS:  Lupe  Velez,  Eddie  Albert,  Patsy  Kelly, 
Max  Baer. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  a  baseball  story  told  from  the 
woman's  side.  Miss  Velez,  a  film  star  making 
a  bond  selling  tour  with  a  baseball  team, 
elopes  with  Albert,  the  star  pitcher.  His 
pitching  fades  following  his  marriage,  and  the 
wives  of  the  other  players  kidnap  the  bride  in 
a  plan  to  steady  his  nerves.  After  various 
complications,  she  escapes  and  aids  her  hus- 
band in  winning  the  series. 

MY  FRIEND  FLICKA 
(Twentieth  Century-Fox) 

Idyll  of  a  Boy  and  a  Horse 

PRODUCER:  Ralph  Dietrich.  Directed  by  Harold  ji 
Schuster. 

PLAYERS:  Roddy  McDowall,  Preston  Foster,  Rita 
Johnson. 

SYNOPSIS 

Taken  from  the  best  selling  novel  by  Mary 
O'Hara  which  was  condensed  in  the  Reader's 
Digest,  this   picture   will   be  in   Technicolor.  I 
Much  of  the  footage — about  80  per  cent — will 
be  taken  on  location  in  Utah.    It  is  a  simply  J 
told  story  of  a  boy  on  a  ranch  and  his  love  for  P 
a  colt. 


962     Product  Digest  Section 


October    17,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 

Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product.  All   page   numbers   on   this   chart   refer  to   pages   in  tht 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail-  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD, 

able.  Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change.  Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for  °n  pages  948-949. 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers'  Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 

Round  Table  Exploitation.  by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  961. 


REVIEWED 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Service 

Prod. 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Title 

Company 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

•  ABOUT  Face 

UA-Roach 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer 

Apr.  1 7, '42 

43m 

Apr.  1 8/42 

612 

Across  the  Pacific 

WB 

202 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor 

Sept.  5, '42 

98m 

Aug.  22/42 

927 

726 

Action  in  the  North  Atlantic  WB 

,  1            1             D            A  D                 J    k  A 

Humphrey  Bogart-Kaymond  Massey 

kl  - 1  C  -1 

Not  o-et 

Adventures  of  Mark  Twain 

WB 

•  •  •  ■ 

C     J  *      u        L   Al      *..   C  "XL 

rrednc  March-Alexis  smith 

Not  jet 

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

•  ■  ■ 

936 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The 

MGM 

245 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson 

A  _  _                 '  A  1 

Aug.  4z 

66m 

May  23,  42 

673 

613 

756 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Th 

ursday ) 

Air  Force 

WB 

John  toartield-toig  Young 

k  1     A  C  A 

Not  Set 

936 

•  Alias  Boston  Blackie 

Col. 

3029 

A         I  j        •      A  J    1  Li 

Chester  Morns-Adele  Mara 

Apr.  2, '42 

67  m 

575 

A-Haunting  We  Will  Go 

20th-Fox 

302 

Laurel  and  Hardy 

Aug.  7, "42 

67m 

July  1  1  ,'42 

927 

•  Almost  Married 

Univ. 

6024 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee 

May  22, '42 

65m 

Mar.  7/42 

554 

American  Empire 

UA 

n  •     1          1     r\  *      1                        •  ■  1 

Kichard  Uix-Leo  Uamllo 

Dec.  1  1  ,'42 

871 

*indy  Hardy  Steps  Out 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone 

Not  Set 

796 

Apache  Trail 

MGM 

304 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

66m 

June  27/42 

938 

726 

Arabian  Nights 

Univ. 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall 

Oct.  30, '42 

872 

•Are  Husbands  Necessary? 

Para. 

4131 

Ray  Milland-Betty  Field 

Block  7 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

663 

873 

Arizona  Stagecoach 

Mono. 

The  Range  Busters 

Sept.  4,'42 

Army  Surgeon 

RKO 

James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt 

Not  Set 

701 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace 

WB 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane 

Not  Set 

•Atlantic  Convoy 

Col. 

3045 

John  Beal-Virginia  Field 

July  2,'42 

66m 

July  1 1  ,'42 

765 

751 

BABY  Face  Morgan 

PRC 

317 

Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell 

Sept.  I5,'42 

65m 

July  25/42 

903 

•Bad  Men  of  the  Hills 

Col. 

3207 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Aug.  13/42 

•  Bamb!  (color) 

RKO 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon 

Aug.  21, '42 

70m 

May  30/42 

685 

947 

Bandit  Ranger 

RKO 

Tim  Holt 

Sept.  25/42 

•Bashful  Bachelor,  The 

RKO 

22  i 

Lum  and  Abner 

Apr.  24,'42 

77m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

487 

795 

Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

Chinese  Feature 

Aug.  7,'42 

61m 

July  5/41 

840 

(formerly  Kulcan ) 

Battle  for  Siberia  (Russian) 

Artkino 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin 

Aug.  26,'42 

VUm 

iept.   d,  4z 

007 

•  Beachcomber,  The 

Para. 

4139 

Charles  Laughton 

Reissue 

89m 

Nov.  26/38 

91  1 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano 

Rep. 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 

Sept.  I5,'42 

73m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

Berlin  Correspondent 

20th-Fox 

311 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore 

Sept.  11/42 

70m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

797 

Between  Us  Girls 

Univ. 

Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings 

Sept.  4, "42 

89m 

Aug.  29/42 

890 

772 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses, 

Caroline) 

•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)  Para. 

4130 

Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 

Block  6 

76m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

947 

•Big  Shot,  The 

WB 

135 

Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 

June  I3,'42 

80m 

June  6/42 

714 

648 

756 

Big  Street,  The 

RKO 

Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 

Sept.  4/42 

87m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

701 

•Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC 

261 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

Aug.  21, '42 

58m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

•Billy  the  Kid,  Sheriff  of 

Sage  Valley 

PRC 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

Oct.  2/42 

•Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns  PRC 

260 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

May  29/42 

58m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

648 

Black  Swan,  The  (color) 

20th-Fox 

320 

Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 

Dec.  4/42 

85m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

855 

•Blondie's  Blessed  Event 

Col. 

3018 

Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 

Apr.  9/42 

69m 

July  4/42 

750 

575 

•Blondie  for  Victory 

Col. 

3019 

Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 

Aug.  6/42 

70m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

772 

Bombardier 

RKO 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne  Shirley     Not  Set 

912 

•Bombs  Over  Burma 

PRC 

208 

Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 

June  5/42 

65m 

July  18/42 

781 

648 

•Boothill  Bandits 

Mono. 

Corrigan-King-Terhune 

Apr.  24/42 

58m 

613 

Boogie  Man  Will  Get  You, 

The  Col. 

Boris  Karloff-Peter  Lorre 

Oct.  22/42 

Boss  of  Big  Town 

PRC 

John  Litel-Florence  Rice 

Dec.  7/42 

64m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

•Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Aug.  21/42 

58m 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood  Col. 

Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 

Nov.  5/42 

794 

Bowery  at  Midnight 

Mono. 

Bela  Lugosi-John  Archer 

Oct.  30/42 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•Bride  of  Buddha 

Hoffberg 

R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

Apr.  22/42 

75m 

May  13/33 

634 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•  Broadway 

Univ. 

6009 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 

May  8/42 

91m 

May  9/42 

645 

756 

Busses  Roar 

WB 

203 

Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 

Sept.  19/42 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

903 

CAIRO 

MGM 

Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

101m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

947 

Calaboose 

UA 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

Call  of  the  Canyon 

Rep. 

131 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 

Aug.  5/42 

71m 

Aug.  22/42 

938 

800 

•Calling  Dr.  Gillespie 

MGM 

247 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn 

Aug.,  '42 

84m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

873 

Careful,  Soft  Shoulder 

20th-Fox 

312 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison 

Sept.  18/42 

69m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

Cargo  of  Innocents 

MGM 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor 

Not  Set 

871 

(formerly  Clear  for  Action) 

Casablanca 

WB 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman 

Not  Set 

936 

Cat  People 

RKO 

Simone  Simon-Tom  Conway 

Not  Set 

962 

Product  Digest  Section  963 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,    I  942 


—  REVIEWED  — > 

M.  P.       Product    Advance  Service 


Prod. 

Release 

R  u  tttii  ft  g 

Herald 

Title 

IV  U.7IH/CI 

Stars 

Date 

Pave 
rage 

China  Girl 

20th-Fox 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney 

Not  Set 

872 

City  of  Silent  Men 

PRC 

308 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang 

Oct.  12, '42 

64m 

Sept.  12, '42 

898 

•Coma  On,  Danger 

RKO 

285 

Tim  Holt 

June   5, '42 

58m 

Dec.  3,'4I 

407 

387 

Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn 

Col. 

Paul  Muni-Lillian  Gish 

Not  Set 

962 

Constant  Nymph,  The 

WB 

Charles  Boyer-Joan  Fontaine 

Not  Set 

•Corpse  Vanishes,  The 

Mono. 

Bela  Lugosi 

May  8,'42 

63  m 

Apr.  18, '42 

61  1 

Corvettes  in  Action 

Univ. 

Patric  Knowles-DIck  Foran 

INot  oet 

Counter  Espionage 

Col. 

4027 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore 

Sept.  3,'42 

72m 

Oct.  I0,'42 

945 

871 

Cover  Girl,  The 

Col. 

Jinx  Falkenberg-Rita  Hayworth 

Not  Set 

Crash  Dive  (color) 

20th-Fox 

Tyrone  Power-Anne  Baxter 

Not  Set 

962 

Criminal  Investigator 

Mono. 

Robert  Lowery-Jan  Wiley 

Oct.  23,'42 

•Crossroads 

MGM 

244 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr 

July,  '42 

84m 

June  27/42 

737 

663 

Crystal  Ball,  The 

UA 

Paulette  Goddard-Ray  Milland 

Jan.  I,'43 

960 

•  Cyclone  Kid,  The 

Rep. 

177 

Don  "Red"  Barry 

May  31, "42 

56m 

Aug.  I5,'42 

840 

701 

•  DANGER  in  the  Pacific 

Univ. 

6056 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

July  I0,'42 

61m 

Aug.  8,'42 

827 

Daring  Young  Man,  The 

Col. 

4021 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 

Oct.  8,"42 

871 

Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'l 

Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 

Not  Set 

98m 

May  23,'42 

673 

Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Sept.  25,'42 

62m 

Sept.  I2,'42 

898 

Desert  Song,  The 

WB 

Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 

Not  Set 

872 

Desperados,  The 

Col. 

Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 

Nov.  26,'42 

871 

•Desperate Chance  for  Ellery  Queen  Col. 

3032 

William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 

May  7,'42 

70m 

Sept.  5,'42 

890 

Desperate  Journey 

WB 

204 

Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 

Sept.  26,'42 

107m 

Aug.  22,'42 

915 

Destination  Unknown 

Univ. 

7030 

Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 

Oct.  9/42 

61m 

Oct.  3,'42 

946 

912 

Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 

Oct.  9, '42 

•Devil's  Trail.  The 

Col. 

3214 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

May  I4,'42 

61m 

715 

•Dr.  Broadway 

Para. 

4128 

Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 

Block  6 

67m 

May  9,'42 

646 

527 

Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant 

MGM 

Lionel  Barrymore-Van  Johnson 

Not  Set 

Dr.  Renault's  Secret 

20th-Fox 

321 

Lynn  Roberts-John  Shepperd 

Dec.  1  l,'42 

58m 

Dec.  17/42 

959 

936 

•Down  Rio  Grande  Way 

Col. 

3205 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Apr.  23,'42 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

•  Down  Texas  Way 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

May  22,'42 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo 

Univ. 

6040 

Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 

July  I7,'42 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

873 


873 


•EAGLE  Squadron 
Edge  of  Darkness 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen 

•Escape  from  Crime 

•Escape  from  Hong  Kong 
Eyes  in  the  Night 
Eyes  of  the  Underworld 


Univ. 

Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 

Not  Set 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Ann  Sheridan 

Not  Set 

Col. 

3038 

Margaret  Lindsay- William  Gargan 

July  30/42 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

WB 

137 

Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 

July  25/42 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

Univ. 

6054 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 

May  15/42 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

MGM 

309 

Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

Univ. 

Richard  Dix-Lon  Chaney,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

61m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

873 


•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•Fantasia  (color)  (Revised)  RKO 
•Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•Fingers  at  the  Window 

First  of  the  Few,  The 
(British) 

Flesh  and  Fantasy 
•Flight  Lieutenant 

Flying  Fortress  (British) 
•Flying  Tigers 

Footlight  Serenade 

Foreign  Agent 

Foreman  Went  to  France 
(British) 

Forest  Rangers,  The  (color) 

Forever  Yours 

For  Me  and  My  Gal 

For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French) 

•  Friendly  Enemies 
•Frontier  Marshal  Along  the 

Sundown  Trail  PRC 

•  Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 


MGM 
Howard-Gen'l 

Univ. 
Col. 
WB 
Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Mono. 


Ealing-UA 
Para. 
Univ. 
MGM 
Para. 
English 
UA 


227 

George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari 

May  29/42 

63m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph 

Nov.  6/42 

63m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

871 

William  Tracy-Jean  Porter 

Nov.  20/42 

796 

292 

Disney-Stokowski 

Apr.  10/42 

81m 

Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

6065 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

War  Documentary 

Not  Set 

37m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

232 

Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day 

Apr.  "42 

80m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven 

Not  Set 

1  18m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Charles  Boyer-Barbara  Stanwyck 

Not  Set 

3012 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford 

July  9/42 

78  m 

June  27/42 

751 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

68m 

June  27/42 

914 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee 

Oct.  8/42 

102m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

301 

John  Payne-Betty  Grable 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  1 1/42 

915 

715 

John  Shelton-Gail  Storm 

Oct.  9/42 

64m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder 

Not  Set 

90m 

May  2/42 

634 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulet+e  Goddard 

Block  2 

87m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

Deanna  Durbin-Edmond  O'Brien 

Not  Set 

936 

312 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

104m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman 

Not  Set 

855 

Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco 

Apr.  1 1/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles 

June  26/42 

95m 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis 

Oct.  19/42 

255 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis 

Sept.  4/42 

60  m 

590 


947 
873 


756 


•  GAY  Sisters,  The 

WB 

138 

Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent 

Aug.  1/42 

108m 

June  6/42 

697 

663 

•  General  Died  at  Dawn,  The 

Para. 

4140 

Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll 

Reissue 

93  m 

Sept.  12/36 

91 1 

Gentleman  Jim 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith 

Not  Set 

936 

George  Washington  Slept  h 

ere  WB 

210 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan 

Nov.  28/42 

93m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

871 

Get  Hep  to  Love 

Univ. 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige 

Oct.  2/42 

77m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•Girl  from  Alaska,  The 

Rep. 

1 17 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker 

Apr.  16/42 

75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Girl  Trouble 

20th-Fox 

309 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett 

Oct.  9/42 

82m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

855 

•  Give  Out,  Sisters 

Univ. 

7021 

Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies 

Sept.  1 1/42 

65m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Glass  Key,  The 

Para. 

Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan 

Ladd       Block  1 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

914 

•Gold  Rush,  The 

UA 

Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music 

Apr.  17/42 

72m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

Goose  Steps  Out,  The 

Ealing-UA 

Will  Hay 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

(British) 

•Grand  Central  Murder 

MGM 

237 

Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 

May,  '42 

72m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Great  Impersonation,  The 
•Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Univ. 

Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 

Not  Set 

912 

Para. 

4121 

Barbara  Stanwyck-Joal  McCrea 

Block  5 

90m 

Mar.  21/42 

56  i 

396 

964     Product  Digest  Section 


October    17,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Prod. 


T.V,1  m 

I  1!>  t 

Corn  p  iH  y 

N 

Great  Withcu:  G!c~, 

Para. 

•  Suerr/'a  Brigade 

Art  kino 

MALr  >*/ ay  to  Shanghai 

U  niv. 

7C\<  ST. 
/  U  3  0 

Happy  Go  Lucky 

r  ara. 

Hard  Way,  The 

W  0 

7no 

ns  nirsa  i * e  dcss 

l u i n- pc* 

•Hello  Annapolis 

w  -  . 

3  U  3  / 

nenry  Alcncn,  editor 

P  -ra 

r  a  ra . 

Henry  Aldnch  Gars  Glamou 

Para 

r  a  ra . 

•  H  en  ry  a  nd  D  rzzy 

Pa-;. 

r  ara. 

•  nsr  L-ardccard  Lover 

M  o  M 

Z4  1 

Here  We  Go  Aga'r 

RKO 

Hidden  Hand,  The 

WB 

208 

Highways  by  Night 

RKO 

•  Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg 

M  c-  c. 

-  Neighbor 

Rep. 

201 

•  -:;  =  . 

Para. 

4134 

•  Home  in  Wyomin" 

Rep. 

146 

•  House  of  Errors 

PRC 

216 

How  Do  You  Do? 

Col. 

IOc-L<apaaes  Kevue 

KS  D . 

Iceland 

Zl/fn-rox 

3U0 

•1  Live  on  Danger 

Para 

r  a  ra. 

A.  i  7  C 

4  !  3  0 

•  !  Married  an  Ange! 

7  7  Q 
Z3  5 

1  Married  a  Wrrch 

1  1  A 

UA 

•  In  Old  California 

Rep. 

1  n  "5 
1  U  j 

•  Inside  the  Law 

PRC 

L  1  9 

In  the  Rear  of  the  Enemy 

(Russian) 

ArHario 

•In  This  Our  Life 

WB 

132 

•Invaders,  The  (British) 

Col. 

3101 

•  Invisible  Agent 

Univ. 

6049 

In  Which  We  Serve 

(British]                       Two  C :-'es-UA 

Isle  of  Missing  Men 

Mono. 

•It  Happened  in  Flatbush 

20fh-Fcx 

248 

•1  Was  Framed 

WB 

130 

•  JACKASS  Mail 

MGM 

243 

•Joan  of  Ozark 

Rep. 

104 

Johnny  Doughboy 

Rep. 

Journey  for  Margaret 

MGM 

Journey  Into  Fear 

RKO 

•Juke  Girl 

WB 

133 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color) 

UA 

•Jungle  Siren 

PRC 

203 

Just  Off  B-osdway 

20th-Fox 

310 

KEEPER  of  the  Flame 

MGM 

•  Kid  Glove  Killer 

MGM 

230 

•King  of  the  StaJIions 

Mono. 

•  K:-gs  Row 

WB 

120 

LADIES'  DAY 

RKO 

Lady  Bodyguard 

Para. 

•  --.z  .    3e-  gs-=- 

WB 

1  34 

•  Lady  in  a  Jam 

Univ. 

60  08 

•_a-c  c;  ire  Ccer,  Ra-ce 

RKO 

284 

•Larceny,  Inc. 

WB 

131 

Laugh  Ycur  Blues  Away 

Col. 

Let  the  People  Sing  (British) 

Anglo 

•-s-  s  Get  Tough 

Mono. 

Life  Begins  at  8:30 

20th-Fcx 

Little  Joe,  the  Wrangler 

Univ. 

Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A. 

20th-Fox 

303 

Lone  Prairie,  The 

Col. 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Border  Round 

up  PRC 

266 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice 

PRC 

265 

Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Pee,  The 

20th-Fox 

305 

Lucky  Jordan 

Para. 

Lucky  Legs 

Col. 

4032 

•Lure  of  the  Islands 

Mono. 

•MAD  Martindales,  The 
•Mad  Monster,  The 

Magnificent  Ambersons,  The 
•Magnificent  Dope,  The 
•Ma'sie  Gets  He'  Mar 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The 
•Male  Animal,  The 

Man  in  the  Trunk,  The 

Manila  Calling 


20th-Fox 

245 

PRC 

209 

RKO 

20th-Fox 

249 

MGM 

240 

Para. 

WB 

126 

2C:h-Fox 

315 

20th-Fox 

314 

Release  Planning 

Stars                                                  Date  Time 

Joel  McCrea-Bet+y  Field  Not  Set   

Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat                  Apr.  13, '42  73m 


Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor  Sept.  1 8, '42  62m 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee  Not  Set 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan  Nov.  I4,'42  97m 

Stuart  Erwin-Evelyn  Venable  Not  Set  .... 

Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown  Apr.  23, '42  62m 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Block  2  72m 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Not  Set  .... 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith  Block  5  71m 

Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor  June      '42  90m 

Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Berger.-"CharIie"  Oct.   9, '42  76m 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser  Nov.   7,'42  67m 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph  Oct.   2, '42  63m 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan  Aug.  I4,'42  63m 

Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker  July  27  42  72m 

Bir.g  Crosby-Fred  Astaire  Block  7  101m 

G.  Autry-S.  Burnette  Apr.  20, '42  67m 

Harry  Langdcn-Charles  Rogers  Apr.  10, '42  65m 

Jinx  Falkenbe-c-Ee-t  Gordon  Not  Set 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague  Not  Set  .... 

Sc-'a  Herie-Jchr  Payne  Oct.  2,'42  79m 

Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker  Block  7  73m 

Nelson  Eddy-Jeanerte  MacDonald  June     '42  83m 

Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake  Oct.  30, '42   

John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes  May  3 1/42  88m 

Wallace  Ford  May  8,'42  97m 

War  Documentary  Oct.  9, '42  59m 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Haviiland  May  16/42  97m 

Howard-Massey-OIivier  Apr.  15/42  104m 

Nona  Massey-Jon  Hall  July  3 1  ,'42  79m 

Noel  Coward-Bernard  Miles  Dec.  25/42  I  13m 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland  Sept.  18/42  67m 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis  June   5/42  ;3  — 

M'chee1  A— es-Julie  Bishop  Apr.  25/42  61m 

Wa'lace  Bee-y-Marjorie  Main  July      '42  80m 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown  Aug.    1/42  80m 

Jane  Withers-Patrick  Brook  Not  Set 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day  Not  Set  .... 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio  Oct.  23/42  69m 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan  May  30/42  90m 

Sacj  Apr.  3/42  I  15m 

Ann  Corio-Busfer  Crabbe  Aug.  14/42  68m 

Llcyd  N  : '  a  n-M  arc  rie  Weaver  Sept.  25/42  65m 

Spencer  Tracy-Katharine  Hepburn  Not  Set  .... 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt  Apr.      '42  74m 

Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien  Sept.  11/42  63m 

Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings  Apr.  18/42  130m 

Lupe  Velez-Eo'die  Albert-Max  Baer  Not  Set 

Eddie  Albert-Anne  Shirley  Not  Set   . 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop  June   6/42  62m 

Irene  Dunne-Pafric  Knowles  June  19/42  83m 

Tim  Holt  Apr.  17/42  60m 

Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman  May  2/42  95m 

Bert  Gordon-Margaret  Lindsay  Nov.  12/42  .... 

Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney  Not  Set  100m 

East  Side  Kids  May  29/42  62m 

Monty  Woolley-Ida  Lupino  Not  Set 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Nov.  13/42 

Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce  Aua.  14/42 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills  Oct.  15/42 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John  Sept.  18/42 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John  June  21/42  60m 

John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell  Aug.  28/42  67m 

Alan  Ladd-Helen  Walker  Not  Set   

Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris  Oct.  1/42   

Margie  Hart-Rcbert  Lowery  July  3/42  61m 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray  May  15/42  65m 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel  May  15/42  79m 

Joseph  Cctten-Dclores  Costello  July  10/42  83m 

Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari      Jun^,  12/42  84m 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  June      '42  86m 

Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland  Block  I  100m 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Haviiland  Apr.  4/42  101m 

Lynne  Roberts-George  Holmes  Oct.  23/42  71m 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis  Oct.  16/42  81  m 


r—  RE\'IEVPED  — « 
M.  P.  Product 

Herald  Digest 
Issue  Page 


Advance 

Sy-nofrsH 
Page 


Service 
Data 
P'V 


Apr.  18/42 

Sept.  19/42 

Sept.  19/42 

Aug.  1/42 
Oct.  3/42 

Mar.  21/42 

May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Aug.  8/42 
Aug.  8/42 

July  25/42 
June  13/42 

May  2/42 


Aug.  15/42 
June  13/42 
May  23/42 

June  6/42 
Sept.  26/42 

Oct.  17/42 
Apr.  1 1/42 
Mar.  7/42 
Aug.  8/42 

Oct.  1 7/42 
Aug.  15/42 
May  30/42 
Apr.  11/42 

June  20/42 
July  25/42 


Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  1  1/42 
Mar.  28/42 

Aug.  15/42 


Mar.  14/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Dec.  27/41 


Apr.  I  1/42 
July  4/42 
Dec.  13/41 
Mar.  7/42 

Apr.  I  1/42 
May  16/42 


64m         July  I  1/42 


July  1 1/42 


Apr.  18/42 
June  6/42 
July  4/42 
May  30/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Mar.  7/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Sept.  19/42 


912 

612 

923 

797 

923 

796 

810 

934 

663 

563 

443 

686 

648 

795 

938 

910 

938 

715 

827 

794 

927 

772 

713 

663 

947 

633 

539 

797 

902 

797 

673 

507 

873 

797 

698 

756 

922 

613 

958 

597 

947 

537 

795 

826 

957 

927 

772 

686 

674 

947 

599 

574 

726 

715 

947 

703 

O  1  7 

903 

796 

597 

464 

873 

573 

396 

873 

947 

902 

797 

936 

551 

495 

873 

870 

800 

'ill 

"7  A  e 

/Ob 

-  _ 

946 

599 

574 

I  ^7 

0  1  J 

407 

387 

538 

795 

599 

662 

648 

962 

O*!  O 
730 

■  •  • 
75 1 

797 

800 

622 

699 

613 

938 

507 

947 

686 

677 

873 

687 

648 

756 

927 

537 

464 

795 

91 1 

855 

91 1 

871 

Product  Digest  Section 


965 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,     I  942 


—  REVIEWED  — n 

M.  P.       Product    Advance  Service 


Prod. 

Release 

R.iinnitj  g 

Herald 

Digest 

^'Vfin  hi  it 

Data 

Title 

Company 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Pate 

Pave 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The 

20th-Fox 

243 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

May   1  .'42 

65  m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Man's  World,  A 

Col. 

4044 

M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright 

Sept.  17, '42 

Meanest  Man  in  the  World 

20th-Fox 

Jack  Benny-Priscilla  Lane 

Not  Set 

962 

•Mayor  of  44th  St. 

RKO 

224 

George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley 

May  15/42 

86m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

487 

•Meet  the  Mob 

Mono. 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor 

Apr.  I7,'42 

62  m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•  Meet  the  Stewarts 

Col. 

3014 

William  Holden-Frances  Dee 

May  28,"42 

73m 

May  23/42 

674 

705 

•Men  of  San  Quentin 

PRC 

201 

J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston 

May  22, '42 

78m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

•  Men  of  Texas 

Univ. 

6010 

Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne 

July  3, '42 

82m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

773 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant 

RKO 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 

Sept.  1 1  ,'42 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

915 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

230 

Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 

June  26, '42 

69m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

873 

•Miss  Annie  Rooney 

UA 

Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan 

May  29,'42 

85m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

873 

Miss  V  from  Moscow 

PRC 

Lola  Lane-Noel  Madison 

Nov.  23, '42 

•  Mississippi  Gambler 

Univ. 

6034 

Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford 

Apr.  17/42 

60  m 

Apr.  18/42 

61 1 

•Mokey 

MGM 

231 

Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed 

Apr..  .'42 

88m 

Mar.  28/42 

574 

Moonlight  in  Havana 

Univ. 

Allan  Jones-Jane  Frazee 

Oct.  16/42 

62m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

•Moonlight  Masquerade 

Rep. 

120 

Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr. 

June  10/42 

67m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

•  Moon  Tide 

?0th-Fox 

247 

Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains 

May  29/42 

94m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

947 

Moon  and  Sixpence,  The 

UA 

George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall 

Oct.  2/42 

89m 

Sept.  12/42 

912 

Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russiar 

)  Rep. 

Documentary 

Aug.  15/42 

55m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

•  Mrs.  Miniver 

MGM 

260 

Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon 

Not  Set 

133m 

May  16/42 

661 

527 

947 

Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 

Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee 

Block  2 

80m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

663 

Mummy's  Tomb,  The 

Univ. 

Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox 

Oct.  23/42 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House 

WB 

125 

Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson 

Apr.  1 1/42 

59m 

Apr.  11/42 

598 

575 

•My  Favorite  Blonde 

Para. 

4  1  Li 

Bob  riope-Madeleine  Carroll 

DIOCK  D 

7  Pry, 

Mar    ">\  'A") 

iviar.  L  1 ,  HL 

DO  1 

/DO 

•  My  Favorite  Spy 

RKO 

228 

Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew 

June  12/42 

86m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

873 

My  Friend  Flicka 

20th-Fox 

Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster 

Not  Set 

962 

•My  Gal  Sal  (color) 

20th-Fox 

244 

Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature 

May  8/42 

103m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

947 

My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy 

Para. 

Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll 

Not  Set 

871 

•My  Sister  Eileen 

Col. 

Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne 

Sept.  30/42 

96m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

772 

•Mystery  of  Marie  Roget 

Univ. 

6022 

Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez 

Apr.  3/42 

61m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

597 

507 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The 

RKO 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott 

Oct.  30/42 

81m 

Oct.  17/42 

957 

715 

•  Native  Land 

Frontier 

Documentary  on  Labor 

May  1 1/42 

80m 

May  16/42 

662 

'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge 

Mono. 

East  Side  Kids 

Nov.  20/42 

64m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam 

Not  Set 

100m 

June  6/42 

698 

Nightmare 

Univ. 

Diana  Barrymore-Brian  Donlevy 

Nov.  13/42 

Night  for  Crime,  A 

PRC 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  1/42 

903 

•Night  in  New  Orleans 

Para. 

A 1  97 
tl  LI 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison 

DlOCK  0 

/Dm 

May  Y,  *rz 

0^/ 

ois 

Night  Monster 

Univ. 

Irene  Hervey-Bela  Lugosi 

Oct.  23/42 

Northwest  Rangers 

MGM 

James  Craig-Patricia  Dane 

Not  Set 

960 

•  North  of  the  Rockies 

Col. 

3213 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

Apr.  2/42 

60m 

575 

•Not  a  Ladies  Man 

Col. 

3042 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray 

May  14/42 

60m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

No  Time  for  Love 

Para. 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray 

Not  Set 

855 

Now,  Voyager 

WB 

206 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid 

Oct.  31/42 

1  17m 

Aug.  22/42 

902 

947 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track 

Univ. 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce 

Not  Set 

794 

Old  Homestead,  The 

Rep. 

202 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry 

Aug.  17/42 

67m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

855 

Omaha  Trail 

MGM 

31 1 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

61m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon 

RKO 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant 

Not  Set 

855 

One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British) 

UA 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman 

Oct.  16/42 

1  10m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

903 

One  Thrilling  Night 

Mono. 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay 

June  5/42 

69m 

July  4/42 

914 

662 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 

Orchestra  Wives 

20th-Fox 

308 

George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford 

Sept.  4/42 

97m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

797 

947 

•Orders  from  Tokyo 

Almo 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook 

Not  Set 

80m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge 

Rep. 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick 

Not  Set 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood 

Col. 

3208 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Sept.  25/42 

Ox-Bow  Incident,  The 

20th-Fox 

Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes 

Not  Set 

872 

Ox  Train 

MGM 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

796 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•PACIFIC  Rendezvous 

MGM 

239 

Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers 

June  '42 

76m 

May  23/42 

673 

648 

Palm  Beach  Story,  The 

Para. 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea 

Not  Set 

663 

Panama  Hattie 

MGM 

303 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 

Sept.-Oct./42 

79m 

July  25/42 

915 

396 

947 

•Panther's  Claw,  The 

PRC 

217 

Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr 

Apr.  17/42 

70m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

•Parachute  Nurse 

Col. 

3044 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman 

June  18/42 

63m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

701 

•Pardon  My  Sarong 

Univ. 

Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce 

Aug.  7/42 

84m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French)  Better  Films 

John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance 

Apr.  4/42 

92m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

599 

•Phantom  Killer 

Mono. 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury 

Oct.  2/42 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

•Phantom  Plainsmen 

Rep. 

167 

Three  Mesquiteers 

June  16/42 

65m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

Pied  Piper,  The 

20th-Fox 

304 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall 

Aug.  21/42 

87m 

July  1 1/42 

903 

751 

873 

Pilot  No.  5 

MGM 

Franchot  Tone-Marsha  Hunt 

Not  Set 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains 

MGM 

246 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey 

Aug.  '42 

66m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

Pittsburgh 

Univ. 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford 

Nov.  27/42 

•Police  Bullets 

Mono. 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh 

oep*.  ZD,  *\L 

oum 

^CT.  1  \J,  It 

941; 

800 

•Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The 

20th-Fox 

252 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce 

July  3/42 

69  m 

May  30/42 

687 

•Powder  Town 

RKO 

226 

Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien 

June  19/42 

79m 

May  9/42 

647 

Prairie  Chickens  UA-Roach 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

•Prairie  Gunsmoke 

Col. 

3215 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

July  16/42 

56m 

Presenting  Lily  Mars 

MGM 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 

Not  Set 

962 

Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The 

RKO 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright 

Not  Set 

120m 

July  18/42 

915 

873 

Princess  O'Rourke 

WB 

Priscilla  Lane-Robert  Cummings 

Not  Set 

962 

966     Product  Digest  Section 


October    17,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


e—  REVIEWED 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Prod. 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

I'itle 

Company 

Number 

Sttrs 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Priorities  on  Parade 

Para. 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 

Block  1 

79m 

Aug.  1/42 

914 

•  Prison  Girls 

PRC 

2  i9 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer 

May  29, '42 

63m 

Sept.  26/42 

923 

648 

(formerly  Gallant  Lady) 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan 

PRC 

204 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael 

July  22,'42 

64m 

July  4/42 

750 

715 

•  Private  Buckaroo 

Univ. 

601 1 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran 

June  12/42 

68m 

June  6/42 

699 

RANDOM  Harvest 

MGM 

Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson 

Not  Set 

796 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color) 

Para. 

4137 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard 

Special 

124m 

Mar.  21/42 

574 

408 

795 

Red  River  Robin  Hood 

RKO 

Tim  Holt 

Not  Set 

57m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

•  Red  Tanks 

Arkino 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chobur 

June  5/42 

64m 

June  13/42 

713 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor 

Rep. 

134 

Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry 

May  1  1/42 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

Reunion 

MGM 

Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John  Way 

ne      Not  Set 

872 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland 

Col. 

3206 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

June  18/42 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

•  Riders  of  the  West 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Aug.  2 1/42 

60m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

Riding  Through  Nevada 

Col. 

Charles  Starrett-Shirley  Patterson 

Oct.  1/42 

•Rio  Rita 

MGM 

233 

Abbott  and  Costello 

Apr.  '42 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

Road  to  Morocco 

Para. 

Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy  Lamour       Block  2 

83m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide 

PRC 

253 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd 

Apr.  24/42 

60  m 

635 

•  Romance  on  the  Range 

Rep. 

156 

Roy  Rogers-HGabbyH  Hayes 

May  18/42 

63  m 

June  6/42 

697 

•  Rubber  Racketeers 

Mono. 

Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez 

June  26/42 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

•  SABOTAGE  Squad  Col. 
•Saboteur  Univ. 

Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt.-Anglo-Am. 

•  Scattergood  Rides  High  RKO 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

•Secret  Agent  of  Japan  20th-Fox 
Secret  Enemies  WB 
Secret  Mission  (British)  Hellman-Gen'l 


Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed 
Seven  Days  Leave 
Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz 
Seven  Sweethearts 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Shadows  en  the  Sage 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 
Terror 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back 
•  She's  in  the  Army 
•Ship  Ahoy 

•Ships  With  Wings  (British) 

•Silver  Bullet 
Silver  Queen 
Sin  Town 

•Smart  Alecks 
Smith  of  Minnesota 
Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish) 
Sombrero  Kid,  The 
Something  to  Shout  About 
Somewhere  I'll  Find  You 

•Song  of  the  Lagoon 

•Sons  of  the  Pioneers 

•SOS  Coast  Guard 

•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma 
Spirit  of  Stanford,  The 

•Spoilers,  The 
Spring  Song  (Russian) 
Springtime  in  the  Rockies 


PRC 
RKO 
RKO 
MGM 
Univ. 
Rep. 


•Spy  Ship 
Stand  By,  All  Networks 
Star  Spangled  Rhythm 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage 

•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rjt 

•Strangler,  The 
Street  of  Chance 
Strictly  in  the  Groove 
Submarine  Alert 

•Submarine  Raider 

•Suicide  Squadron  (British) 

•Sunday  Punch 

•Sunset  Serenade 

•Sweater  Girl 

•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet 

•Syncopation 


Univ. 
Univ. 
Mono. 
MGM 
UA 
Univ. 

UA 
Univ. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Scandia 
Rep. 
Col. 
MGM 
UA-Roach 
Rep. 
Rep. 
Mono. 
Col. 
Univ. 
Artkino 
color) 
20th-Fox 
WB 
Col. 
Para. 
Para. 
Univ. 
PRC 
Para. 
Univ. 
Para. 
Col. 
Rep. 
MGM 
Rep. 
Para. 
Col. 
RKO 


3046 
6047 

223 

240 
205 

309 


261 

7020 

235 
6066 


271 

301 

157 
123 

4022 
6048 


317 
139 


6036 
229 


3043 
119 
234 

4129 
3027 
226 


Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris 
Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane 
Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway 
Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore 
Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes 
Preston  Foster-Lynn  Bari 
Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson 
Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 
Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer 
Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature 
James  Craig-Bonita  Granville 
Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson 
Teresa  Wright-Joseph  Cotten 
Three  Mesquiteers 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  B«rg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Nov.  13/42 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Oct.  15/42 

Edvard  Persson  Sept.  12/42 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  31/42 

Don  Ameche-Jack  Oakie-Janet  Blair  Not  Set 
Clark  Gable-Lane  Turner  Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot        May  22/42 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  17/42 
Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  11/42 

Betty  Grable-John  Payne  Nov.  6/42 

Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice  Oct.  29/42 
Bet+y  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Moore    Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne  Apr.  17/42 

Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Block  2 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Nov.  20/42 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray  Apr.  20/42 

William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May/42 

Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  21/42 

Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


Aug.  27/42 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

Apr.  24/42 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

947 

Not  Set 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

May  8/42 

66m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

542 

Oct.  16/42 

66m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

912 

Apr.  3/42 

72  m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

Oct.  17/42 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

914 

Not  Set 

94m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

Oct.  26/42 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Nov.  13/42 

87m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

872 

Not  Set 

962 

Sept.-Oct./42 

98  m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

947 

Not  Set 

936 

Aug.  24/42 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

855 

63m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

947 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

56m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

726 

936 

73m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

898 

66m 

June  27/42 

738 

947 

66m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

797 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

56m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

796 

107m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

726 

873 

61m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

69m 

Apr.  18/42 

61 1 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

796 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

873 

74m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

91m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

855 

62  m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

797 
855 


65m 

May  30/42 
Apr.  4/42 

687 

66m 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

74m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

914 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

611 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

•TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling  Para. 
Take  My  Life  Toddy 
Tales  of  Manhattan  20th-Fox 
Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

•Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 

•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MGM 
Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 
Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 


4126 

Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Block  6 

93m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

873 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  1 1/42 

767 

313 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Oct.  30/42 

I  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

927 

706 

947 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

3001 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 

Aug.  20/42 

1  18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

70  i 

947 

242 

Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 

June, '42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 

Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 

Not  Set 

946 

Product  Digest  Section 


967 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    17,  1942 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  -Company 

•Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 

Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 
•Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 

That  Other  Woman  20th-Fox 
•There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 
•They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 

They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 
(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 

They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 

•  They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 

•  This  Above  All  20th-Fox 
•This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 

This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 

Those  Kids  from  Tolwn  (British)  Anglo 

•  Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 
•Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 

Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Rock  (British)  Charter-Metro 

•Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•Timber  Univ. 

Tish  MGM 

•  Tombstone  Para. 
Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•Top  Sergeant  Univ. 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color)  20th-Fox 
•Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 

•  Tower  of  Terror  Mono. 
•True  to  the  Army  Para. 

•  Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 

•  Tuttles  of  Tahiti  RKO 

•  Twin  Beds  UA 


UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

Undercover  Man  UA 

Underground  Agent  Col. 

Undying  Monster,  The  20th-Fox 

•  United  We  Stand  20th-Fox 
Unpublished  Story  (British)  Col. 

•Unseen  Enemy  Univ. 

•  VENGEANCE  of  the  West  Col. 


Trod. 

Number  Stars 

251  Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

....  King-Sharpe-Terhune 

....  Range  Busters 

318  Virginia  Gilmore-James  Ellison 
6043  Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 
3006  Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 
....  Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

....  Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 

212  Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 

253  Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 
4124  Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 
....  Russian  Documentary 

....  Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 

....  Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 

250  Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 

307  John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 

....  Michael  Redgrave-Barbara  Mullen 

286  Tim  Holt 

6057  Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

....  Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

4132  Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

307  Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 

6055  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

  Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

236  Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

241  Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne 

6019  Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

....  Wilfred  Lawson-Movita 

4122  Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller 

254  Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell 
222  Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall 

....  George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 

....  Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

4140  William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 

....  Bruce  Bennett-Leslie  Brooks 

319  James  Ellison-Heather  Angel 
254  News  Documentary 

....  Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 

6053  Devine-Carrillo-Terry 


3216        Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

June  26,'42 

103m 

May  30/42 
Sept.  26/42 

685 

677 

Oct.  16/42 

56m 

922 

June  12/42 

55m 

699 

Nov.  13/42 

75m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

936 

June  26/42 

60m 

June  1 1/42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

Not  Set 
June  26/42 
July  24/42 
Block  5 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  15/42 
June  19/42 
Nov.  20/42 
Not  Set 
July  24/42 
Aug.  14/42 
Sept.-Oct./42 
Block  7 
Sept.  29/42 
June  12/42 
Not  Set 
May/42 
Apr.  10/42 
June  5/42 
Apr.  1/42 
Block  5 
July  10/42 
May  1/42 
Apr.  24/42 

Not  Set 
Oct.  23/42 

Not  Set 
Nov.  27/42 
July  10/42 

Not  Set 
Apr.  10/42 

Sept.  3/42 


872 


Date 
Page 

795 


873 


72m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

947 

80m 

Mar.  21/42 

563 

527 

947 

74m 

July  1 1/42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

78m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

796 

1  Mm 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

83m 

July  25/42 

938 

772 

947 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

873 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

62m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

76m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

947 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

936 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

947 

91m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

598 

61m 

Apr.  4/42 

585 

WAKE  Island 

War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley, 
War  Dogs 

Watch  on  the  Rhine 

•  Westward,  Ho! 
West  of  the  Law 

•  Where  Trails  End 

•  Whispering  Ghosts 
Whistling  in  Dixie 
White  Cargo 
Who  Done  It? 

•Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler? 
•Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The 
Wildcat 

Wings  and  the  Woman 
(formerly  They  Flew  Alone 

•  Wings  for  the  Eagle 
World  at  War 
Wrecking  Crew 


Para.  ....  Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston 

The  MGM  ....  Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold 

Mono.  ....  Billy  Lee-Addison  Richards 

WB    Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas 

Rep.  166  Steele-Tyler-Davis 

Mono.  ....  Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Mono.  ....  Tom  Keene 

20th-Fox  246  Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle 

MGM    Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford 

MGM  310  Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon 

Univ   Abbott  &  Costello 

20th-Fox  242  Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr. 

Col.  3011  Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone 

Para.  ....  Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge 

RKO    Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

I 

WB  136  Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan 

WAC  ....  Documentary 

Para.  ....  Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris 


Block  1 

78m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

772 

947 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

86m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

797 

Nov.  13/42 

63  m 

Oct.  10/42 

946 

Not  Set 

Apr.  24/42 

56m 

May"  2/42 

633 

Nov.  2/42 

May  1/42 

55m 

63  i 

May  22/42 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Not  Set 

946 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

871 

Nov.  6/42 

Apr.  17/42 

57  m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

Apr.  30/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

Block  1 

73  m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

Sept.  18/42 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

July  18/42 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

873 

Sept.  18/42 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Not  Set 


X  Marks  the  Spot 

Rep. 

204 

Damian  O'Flynn-Helen  Parrish 

Nov.  4/42 

YANK  at  Eton,  A 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

87m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

726 

947 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

WB 

201 

James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

873 

Yank  in  Libya,  A 

PRC 

220 

H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 

July  24/42 

67m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

772 

Yanks  Are  Coming,  The 

PRC 

Maxie  Rosenbloom-Mary  Healy 

Nov.  9/42 

65m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

WB 

207 

George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 

Oct.  10/42 

77m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

898 

You're  Telling  Me 

Univ. 

6041 

Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Col. 

Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 

Nov.  19/42 

97m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

796 

Young  and  Willing 

UA 

William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 

Not  Set 

663 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 

20th-Fox 

316 

Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 

Not  Set 

103m 

July  4/42 

914 

Youth  on  Parade 

Rep. 

John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 

Oct.  24/42 

75m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•Yukon  Patrol 

Rep. 

124 

Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  961. 


968     Product  Digest  Section 


"Please  accept  our  check  for  the  renewal  of  a  two-year 
subscription  to  your  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

"I  wish  to  state  that  every  week  I  thoroughly  read  from 
cover  to  cover  your  very  interesting  and  informative 
HERALD  Magazine  and  that  is  why  this  year  I  have  decided 
to  pay  for  a  two-year's  subscription." 

A.  R.  SUNDERLAND,  Manager, 
Chandler  Theatre,  Ltd., 
Chandler,  P.  Q.,  Canada. 


"Will  you  please  send  us  four  additional  sets  of  booking 
sheets?  Please  bill  the  Bellflower  Theatre  Company,  Drawer 
B,  Bellflower,  California. 

"May  we  state  that  your  service,  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST, 
has  been  invaluable  to  us  in  that  it  is  a  reference  guide  that 
is  hard  to  beat. 

"We  can  unqualifiedly  recommend  the  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD  to  any  one  interested  in  the  theatre 
business." 

JOHN  L.  FUNK, 

Bellflower  Theatre  Company, 

Bellflower,  California. 


OU1GLEY  PUBLICATIONS 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York 


MOTION   PICTURE    HERALD- Published  Weekly-  $5.00  a  Year 


WE  MODESTLY  SUGGEST 
THAT  YOU  CONTACT  ANY 
EXHIBITOR  WHO  HAS 

PLAYED  OR  IS  PLAYING 
MY  SISTER  EILEEN  ... HE 

WILL  TELL  YOU  THE  AMAZ- 
ING PUBLIC  RESPONSE 
AT  THE  BOX-OFFICE!... 


ROSALIND  RUSSELL 
BRIAN  AHERNE- JANET  BLAIR 


4  J)  *  j 


WITH 


HELD  OVER  100% 
IN  16  OUT  OF  16 
KEY 

ENGAGEMENTS! 


COLUMBUS—    Ohio  Theatre 

HELD  OVER! 
LINCOLN,  Neb. -Varsity  Theatre 

HELD  OVER! 
PORTLAND,  Me.-Strand  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

NEW  LONDON -Garde  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

BALTIMORE -Hippodrome  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

ATLANTIC  CITY- Stanley  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

MIAMI  BEACH— DAY  &  DATE  — 
Lincoln  &  Miami  Theatres 
HELD  OVER! 
SPRINGFIELD,  III.- Senate  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

MINNEAPOLIS- State  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

ST.  PAUL- Paramount  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

BUFFALO -Lafayette  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

TERRE  HAUTE -Orpheum  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

PITTSBURGH -Harris  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

PROVIDENCE-Strand  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

CINCINNATI -Palace  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 

LAWRENCE,  Mass.- Palace  Theatre 
HELD  OVER! 


GEORGE  TOBIAS  •  ALLYN  JOSLYN 

Screen  play  by  Joseph  Fields  and  Jerome  Chodorov 

Directed  by  ALEXANDER  HALL  •  Produced  by  MAX  GORDON 
A   COLUMBIA  PICTURE 


M@Tn®M    IP  D  <E  TT  CLP  R  E 


NISHII 


ESIG! 


HYSICAL  OPERATIOI 


OCTOBER    17.  1942 


The  manner  in  which  the  motion  picture  industry 
has  accepted  and  so  quickly  adapted  itself  to  the 
use  of  the  new  Victory  High  Intensity  projector 
carbons  is  worthy  of  the  highest  praise. 

This  effective  cooperation  on  the  part  of  theatre 
owners,  projectionists,  lamp  manufacturers  and 
distributors  has  shown  what  unified  patriotic 
effort  can  do  in  scoring  victories.  A  large  quantity 
of  copper  has  been  conserved  for  the  nation's  war 
effort,  economies  have  been  made  in  power  and 
carbon  consumption  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  gen- 
eral high  standard  of  screen  illumination  has  been 
preserved  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  nation's 


vast  motion  picture  audience. 

Refer  to  the  following  table  if  you  have  not 
yet  used  the  new  Victory  Carbons.  It  will  help 
you  select  the  proper  size  and  type  of  carbons  for 
use  in  your  equipment. 

The  new  Victory  Carbons  are  identified  by  the 
"National"  trade-mark  imprinted  in  white  instead 
of  the  familiar  blue.  Maximum  allowable  arc  cur- 
rent is  also  stamped  on  each  carbon.  It  is  impor- 
tant that  this  current  limitation  be  observed. 

A  complete  bulletin  giving  details  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  new  Victory  High  Intensity  Carbon 
is  available  on  request. 


The  words  "National,"  "Suprex"  and  "Orotip"  are  trade-marks  of  National  Carbon  Company,  Inc. 


P           tlio  Most  of  the  coppet 

^ClVt  TDt  USed  fot  plating 

f\  copper  coated  pro- 

I     /"\f^f^/^t*  lector  carbons  drops 

r  r       «> the  fIoor  of  *e 

lamp  house  when 
the  carbons  are  burned.  Continue  to  save  these 
copper  drippings  and  turn  them  over  to  an 
authorized  scrap  dealer  or  to  such  other  agency 
as  may  be  designated  by  our  government. 


RECOMMENDED  TRIM  AND  RANGE  OF  ARC  CURRENT  FOR  LAMPS 
USING   COPPER    COATED,   HIGH    INTENSITY,   PROJECTOR  CARBONS 


Type  of  Arc 


Arc  Current  —  Amperes 


New  Victory  Carbons  —  Size  and  Type 


"1  Kw"  High  Intensity,  A.C. 
"1  Kw"  High  Intensity,  D.C. 

Simplified  High  Intensity,  D.C. 

with  adjustable  feed  ratio 
Simplified  High  Intensity,  D.C. 

with  fixed  feed  ratio 
Simplified  High  Intensity,  D.C. 


52-66 
40-42 


42-45 


42-45 


56-65 


7  mm  x  9  inch  H.I.,  A.C.  Carbons  in  both  holders 
7  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 

6  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 

7  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 

6  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 

7  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 

7  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 

8  mm  x  12  inch  or  14  inch  "Suprex"  Positive 
7  mm  x  9  inch  "Orotip"  C  Negative 


AT  E  S 

WAR 

BONDS 


NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY,  INC. 

Unit  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

CARBON  SALES  DIVISION:  CLEVELAND,  OHIO 
GENERAL  OFFICES:  30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y.  BRANCH  SALES  OFFICES:  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco 


FQPJ/ICTORY 


Serving  now  in  the 
hi 


INSTEAD  OF  building  new  seats 
which  your  theatre  may  ur- 
gently need,  American  Seating 
Company  craftsmen  are  devoting 
all  of  their  working  hours  to  the 
needs  of  our  nation's  armedforces. 
You  would  not  wish  it  otherwise. 

America's  showmen  have 
proved  their  resourcefulness  many 
times  before.  The  public  knows 
you'll  continue  to  provide  the  en- 
tertainment and  relaxation  so 
essential  to  maintaining  morale. 
They  know  that  new  seating  and 
modernization  must  await  the  ful- 


fillment of  our  Number  One  Job 
— Victory. 

Meanwhile,  American  Seating 
Company  has  turned  its  wood 
and  metal  working  skills,  ac- 
quired through  50  years 
of  service  to  the  theatre 
industry,  to  the  swift  pro- 


Th« 


AMERICAN  WAY 

is  the  |  {  j 
BETTER  WAY 


duction  of  wings  and  structures 
for  airplanes  and  gliders,  seats 
for  planes,  tanks  and  guns,  as 
well  as  mess  tables  and  chairs 
for  land  basesandshipboarduse. 
Experience  so  gained  will 
enable  us  to  better  serve 
you  at  the  war's  end. 


GRAND  RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN 


WORLD'S  LEADER  IN  PUBLIC  SEATING' 
Manufacturers  of  Theatre,  Auditorium,  School,  Church,  Stadium,  and  Trans- 
portation Seating  •  Branch  Offices  and  Distributors  in  73  Principal  Cities 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


3 


I  L  lo  hriyMcn  up  business 

'  jj,    \  ^  .it  the 

Candy  Counter 


Sparkling  Flexglass  catches 
the  eye...  and  the  nickels,  tool 


he  candy  counter  of  the  Palmetto 
Theatre,  Columbia,  S.  C,  bright- 
ened up  with  Flexglass.  Peach  and 
Blue  Mirror  have  been  combined 
with  White  Deudrop  Flexglass  over 
a  base  of  plywood. 


ether  your  candy  counter  stands  in  the  semi- 
darkness  of  the  theatre,  or  in  the  -well-lighted  lobby 
.  .  .  Flexglass  gives  it  maximum  display  value, 
makes  it  a  bigger  money-maker! 

Yet  the  candy  counter  is  but  one  of  the  many 
uses  for  Flexglass.  There  are  dozens  of  opportuni- 
ties for  this  modern  decorative  material  in  any 
theatre — to  bring  glamor  and  sparkle  to  ceilings 
and  walls,  to  provide  smart,  decorative  accents,  to 
modernize  exteriors,  to  increase  the  day  and  night 
visibility  of  signs,  etc.,  etc. 

Spectacular,  colorful  in  full  light,  Flexglass  is 
also  full  of  sparkle  and  brilliant  highlights  even  in 
semi-darkness.  A  first-class  eye-catcher,  Flexglass 
brings  added  glamor  to  the  merchandise  it  sells. 

Flexglass  is  made  of  small,  glittering  rectangles 
of  real  glass  mounted  on  flexible  fabric.  It  can  be 
quickly  applied  to  any  hard  surface — even  sur- 


faces with  double  curves.  It  is  weatherproof  and 
waterproof — needs  no  maintenance. 

Get  the  full  story  of  Flexglass  from  your  archi- 
tect or  designer — or  send  for  FREE  Color  Card, 
and  name  of  nearest  Flexglass  distributor.  Write 
today! 

Flexglass  and  Flexwood  are  manufactured  and 
marketed  jointly  by  The  Mengel  Co.,  Louisville, 
Ky..  and  United  States  Plywood  Corporation. 

Available  Now . . . 


The  Glass  That  Bends 


UNITED  STATES  PLYWOOD  CORP., 


105  Park  Avenue 


New  York,  N.  Y. 


The  Most  Simplified 
Theatre  Bookkeeping 
System  Yet  Devised 

Every  exhibitor  will  appreciate  the  com- 
pleteness and  convenience  of  this  easy  ac- 
counting system.  Enables  you  to  keep  an 
accurate  and  up-to-the-minute  record  of 
every  phase  of  the  business  of  your  theatre. 

$2.00  POSTPAID         QUICLEY  BOOKSHOP 

ROCKEFELLER    CENTER,  NEW  YORK 


MARKET  NOTES 

€J  News  Reports  concerning 
equipment  and  materials, 
and  those  who  make  them 

New  Division  Formed 

THE    OPERATIONS    of  the 

Altec  Service  Corporation,  extended  some 
months  ago  with  the  acquisition  of  the  Lan- 
sing sound  equipment  manufacturing  facili- 
ties in  Los  Angeles,  have  been  further 
broadened  with  the  establishment  of  an 
Electronic  Division.  This  branch  of  the 
organization  will  make  an  electronic  device 
for  the  U.  S.  Navy,  according  to  L.  W. 
Conrow,  president  of  Altec. 

The  company  has  taken  over  a  plant  at 
Lexington  Mass.,  for  the  new  work.  C. 
S.  Perkins,  formerly  manager  of  Altec's 
Boston  office,  has  been  named  manager  of 
the  division,  with  headquarters  at  Lexing- 
ton. Altec  will  also  set  up  a  training 
school  for  the  instruction  of  Navy  person- 
nel in  the  handling  of  the  devices. 

• 

Moves  to  New  Plant 

new  manufacturing  and 
office  facilities  have  been  acquired  by  the 
Strong  Electric  Corporation,  Toledo,  with 
its  removal  to  a  building  at  City  Park  and 
Sterling  Avenues.  The  new  plant  has 
triple  the  space  of  the  former  factory. 
Plans  for  further  development  of  the  prop- 
erty include  the  installation  of  modern  en- 
gineering rooms,  an  optical  department, 
testing  laboratories,  and  a  large  service 
shop.  A  model  screening  room  will  also 
be  constructed. 


Gas  and  Fire  Extinguisher 

an  extinguisher  design- 
ed for  use  against  both  fire  and  gas  is  an- 
nounced by  the  O.  H.  Adams  Company, 
Milwaukee.  The  manufacturer  states  that 
the  extinguisher  is  effective  for  gasoline,  oil, 
paint  and  grease  fires  as  well  as  those  of 
usual  kinds,  and  that  it  is  a  decontaminator 
for  three  major  war  gases — chlorine,  phos- 
gene and  tear  gas. 

Variable  Speed  Drive 

a  new  variable  speed  mul- 
tiple V-belt-drive  is  announced  by  the 
Worthington  Pump  and  Machinery  Cor- 
poration, Harrison,  N.  J.  The  first  to  be 
made  available  is  the  model  A  which  has 
a  horsepower  range  of  from  one-third  to1 
three-quarters  horsepower  with  a  speed 
ratio  of  16  to  1.  This  drive  is  compact, 
ball-bearing  equipped,  and  can  be  directly 
coupled  to  any  standard  motor,  while  the 
output  shaft  can  be  run  at  motor  speed  and 
is  said  to  be  flexible  enough  to  be  applied 
to  any  type  of  machine  within  its  power 
range. 


4 


ISSUE  OF  OCTOBER  17,  1942 


✓IE  149,  NUMBER  3 


Government's  Present 
Theatre  Supply  Policy 

there  are  many  warn- 
ings that  if  we  don't  watch  out  our  theatres 
will  surely  be  closed.  .  .  but  on  the  whole, 
die  signs  that  have  been  by  now  set  up 
•eem  definitely  to  point  to  continued  opera- 
ion  of  theatres,  not  as  we  should  want, 
aut  in  a  manner  adequate  to  the  scene  and 
he  time.  These  columns  are  not  the  place 
io  consider  the  prospects  of  product  :  with 
espect  to  physical  operation,  however,  the 
jovernment  has  gradually  installed  mea- 
sures which  can  only  represent  a  sincere  de- 
lire  to  keep  theatres  running,  throughout 
the  land. 

i  It  has  been  so  right  along  in  England, 
vhere  a  war-damaged  theatre  is  allowed 
orne  materials  out  of  the  country's  meagre 
tore  with  which  to  put  the  house  back  in 
ome  kind  of  operating  order.  And  in 
Canada  the  policy  of  the  Government  is 
uch  that  organized  exhibitors  could  com- 
'>lain,  just  the  other  day.  that  the  draft  was 
■educing  the  supply  of  projectionists,  advis- 
er deferments  among  those  still  in  the  pro- 
ection  rooms.  These  pressures  from  civil 
Je  persist  so  long  as  there  is  any  remnant 
'f  civil  life  in  a  nation  at  war. 
i  The  position  of  the  exhibitor  in  America, 
"hich  was  long  one  of  bewilderment  be- 
iuse  it  was  being  neglected  for  more  ur- 
«nt  matters,  appears  now  to  be  that  of  a 
jnction  which  for  special  psychological  as 
"ell  as  the  usual  economic  reasons  is  highly 
esirable  and  which  therefore  will  be  re- 
ained  so  long  as  the  fortunes  of  war  per- 
lit  anv  semblance  of  civil  life. 

Profits  may  have  to  go,  but  the  institu- 
on  seems  likely  to  remain.  Measures  for 
^rovidins  its  absolute  necessities,  about 
Hich  more  is  said  beginning  on  the  next 
age,  are  more  definite  and  positive  than 
(ley  yet  have  been  since  Japan's  attack. 

here  can  be  no  frills  or  furbelows,  and 
othing  whatever  to  postpone  disaster  for 
Wasteful  management  and  unskilled  staffs  ; 
lit  the  efficiently,  intelligently,  resource- 
j-illy  operated  theatre  now  has  as  much  as- 
>-irance  of  continuance  as  it  is  possible  for 
<  Government  to  give  in  time  of  war. 

ritish  Suggestion 

;  Right  now  in  England  there  is  some 
.unking  among  theatre  people  about  after- 
.ie-war  needs  and  the  preparations  that 

lould  be  made  to  meet  them.  Their  line 
I  thought  is  thus  reported  in  a  recent 
;litorial  of  The  Ideal  Kinema.  prominent 

ritish  trade  iournal: 


"The  kinema  proprietor  who  sees  the 
building  upon  which  he  has  spent  a  large 
sum  of  money  slowly  deteriorating  for  lack 
of  essential  repair  must  often  be  rebellious 
within  against  the  circumstances  which 
compels  his  inactivity.  .  .  . 

'"But  enforced  inactivity  does  not  mean 
that  provision  cannot  be  made  in  balance 
sheets  against  repairs  which  will  shriek  for 
immediate  attention  directly  the  restrictions 
are  removed,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
precaution  has  been  taken  to  set  against 
Excess  Profits  Duty  (where  such  profits 
are  being  earned)  a  sum  to  allow  for  dilapi- 
dation work  which  must  be  done.  The 
wisest  way  of  dealing  with  this  delayed 
work  is  to  engage  a  competent  architect  to 
get  out  a  schedule  of  work  which,  were 
times  normal,  would  have  been  carried  out, 
together  with  an  estimate  of  the  possible 
cost  of  the  repairs. 

"These  can  only  be  approximate,  but  by 
tollowing  such  a  practice  the  exhibitor  is 
able  to  earmark  a  sum  of  money  for  build- 
ing and  maintenance  which  otherwise 
would  pass  out  of  his  hands.  This  is  in  no 
sense  an  offense  against  patriotism,  for 
while  every  support,  financial  as  well  as 
physical,  must  be  given  to  the  Government 
to  ensure  a  successful  termination  to  the 
war,  the  kinema  proprietor  must  have  a 
reserve  for  use  in  restoring  his  theatre  to  its 
former  condition.'"' 

Following  the  Audience 

The  motion  picture  became  what  it  is 
— a  form  of  entertainment  pretty  nigh  in- 
dispensable even  in  a  period  of  many  war- 
time sacrifices — because  it  took  the  theatre 
anywhere  there  was  an  audience.  Today  it 
sets  up  a  theatre  of  the  finest  talent  in  everv 


FEATU  RES    IN    THIS  ISSUE 

Wartime  Buying  for  the  Theatre  . 
How  Viewing  Angles  Determine  Aud 

forium  Form  

Midway  Theatre,  Forest  Hills,  L.  I.  . 
Newberry  Theatre,  Chicago  .    .  . 
Fall  Care  of  Drapes  and  Blower  System 
F.  H.  Richard  son  s  Comment 
Abounf  People  of  the  Theatre  . 
Manufacturers  and  Dealers  .    .  . 


12 
14 
18 

23 
25 


army  camp — and  when  its  audience  there 
leaves  for  secret,  distant  appointments  with 
the  enemy,  it  tags  right  along. 

Willis  Ledbetter  therefore  was  demon- 
strating the  historic  advantages  of  the 
medium  when  he  packed  up  his  Lance  thea- 
tre at  Lance  Creek.  Wyoming,  and  took  it 
over  to  Provo,  South  Dakota,  where  there 
appeared  more  need  of  it.  He  moved  it, 
machines,  seats — and  building! 

The  Black  Hills  Ordnance  Depot  at 
Provo  had  provided  a  better  audience  than 


A  section  of  Motion  Picture  Herald  devoted  to 
the  physical  theatre,  published  by  the  Quigley 
Publishing  Company,  Inc.,  Rockefeller  Center, 
New  York,  every  fourth  wee<.  Martin  Quigley, 
publisher  and  editor-in-chief.  George  Schutz, 
editor.  Colvin  Brown,  genera!  manager.  Ray 
Gallo,  advertising  manager. 


The  Lance  theatre  on  its  new  site, 
serving  war  workers  at  Provo,  S.  Dak. 

at  Lance  Creek,  and  now  Mr.  Ledbetter 
writes  (enclosing  a  snapshot  of  the  Lance 
in  its  new  location)  that  his  theatre  is 
"one  of  the  most  popular  places  for  the 
pleasure  bent  war  workers"  of  Provo.  He 
goes  on  to  say: 

"The  theatre  was  moved  from  Lance 
Creek  in  five  sections,  covering  a  period  of 
as  many  days.  After  its  initial  construction 
was  completed,  the  job  of  interior  decora- 
tion was  tackled.  Seven  4x8  foot  oil  murals 
were  painted  by  Xoah  Adams,  Indian 
worker  from  Pine  Ridge  Reservation. 

"An  up-to-date  air-conditioner,  a  pop- 
corn machine,  ladies'  powder  room  and  rest 
room  and  a  piano  were  added. 

"Each  Sunday  morning  the  theatre  drops 
its  glamorous  garb  and  takes  on  a  pious 
cloak  when  the  theatre  is  used  for  church 
sendees.  Services  of  all  denominations  are 
held.  A  pulpit  was  built  for  this  purpose." 
• 

Holiday  IF  PB  service :  We  have  been 
informed  that  theatre  managements  needing 
to  get  in  touch  with  the  War  Production 
Board  on  Sundays  and  other  holidays,  for 
emergency  action  on  a  replacement,  can 
reach  the  WPB  through  Dean  C.  Gal- 
lagher, at  the  Emergency  Repair  and  Main- 
tenance Branch.  H-347  Temporary  E 
Building.  Washington.  D.  C.  phone  Re- 
public 7500.  Extension  2S94.      —G.  S. 


WARTIME 

BUYING  FOR  THE  THEATRE 


To  Serve 

THE  THEATRE 
THE  NATION 

Conserve 


SERVATIOI 

eans  ★  ★ 

SERVATIOI 


Little  can  be  bought  that  isn't  essential  for 
operation  and  repair,  and  some  of  this  may 
not  be  immediately  available.  Here  is  the 
situation. ..and  what  you   can  do  about  it 


By  GEORGE  SCHUTZ 


AS  WE  approach  the  first 
anniversary  of  Pearl  Harbor,  a  good  deal 
of  the  confusion  in  the  theatre  business, 
about  its  wartime  classification  and  privi- 
leges, can  be  dispelled.  The  seemingly  long 
period  of  uncertainty  is  quite  over.  The 
theatre  operator's  two  main  questions — 
Are  theatres  to  be  allowed  to  continue  in 
operation  ?  and,  Can  I  get  what  I  need  to 
keep  my  theatre  in  operation? — may  be 
answered  with  an  exactitude  that  should 
be  sufficient  for  all  practical  purposes.  The 
answers : 

Theatres  are  to  be  allowed  to  operate  if 
they  can  do  so  without  interfering  with  the 
war  effort. 

Theatres  can  have  what  they  need  so 
long  as  they  take  nothing  from  the  supply 
of  goods  needed  for  war,  directly  or 
indirectly. 

The  less  material  theatres  need  to  con- 
tinue in  operation,  the  greater  the  likeli- 
hood that  they  will  be  able  to  continue. 
"Conserve  and  salvage,"  said  Christopher 
J.  Dunphy,  in  effect,  to  a  group  of  show- 
men in  New  York  the  other  day.  The 
chief  of  the  War  Production  Board's 
Amusement  Section  explained  that  on  the 
extent  to  which  this  is  done  depends  the 
wartime  future  of  our  theatres.  So  far, 
the  policy  of  the  United  States  toward  the 
maintenance  of  theatres  is  comparable  to 
that  of  Canada  and  England,  where  there 
is  a  positive  effort  to  keep  'em  running. 
But  theatres  are  "essential"  only  relatively ; 
the  function  of  keeping  the  home  folks 
cheerful  is  always  less  than  keeping  the 
armed  forces  supplied. 

Persons  apparently  speaking  with  ade- 
quate authority  have  frequently  affirmed 
that  the  Government  prefers  to  keep  our 


theatres  open,  and  while  the  theatre  busi- 
ness has  no  priority  rating  of  its  own,  and 
although  some  restrictions  upon  it  have 
been  extended  during  just  the  last  few 
months,  it  is  now  being  allowed  what  it 
absolutely  needs  for  continued  operation, 
and  specific  methods  have  been  prescribed 
for  getting  such  products,  if  and  as  they 
are  available. 

DEALER'S  SITUATION 

The  above  italicized  reservation  is  a  very 
important  factor  in  the  situation.  War 
production  demands  on  materials  and  plant 
facilities  prevent  or  at  least  delay  the  re- 
plenishment of  some  stocks.  It  may  be 
perfectly  legal  for  an  exhibitor  to  buy  a 
certain  replacement  part,  but  there  is  no 
Government  form  that  can  obtain  it  im- 
mediately if  dealers  are  out  of  it  and  the 
manufacturer  is  devoting  all  of  his  equip- 
ment and  personnel  to  the  production  of 
war  implements.  Such  plants  cannot  divert 
operations  to  the  manufacture  of  one  part  ; 
perhaps  they  can  do  no  more  than  to  turn 
some  portion  of  their  equipment  over  to 
the  production  of  a  new  stock  of  that  part, 
every  now  and  then.  Moreover,  the  man- 
ufacturer may  not  be  able  to  obtain  certain 
material  or  a  special  kind  of  screw  required 
for  that  part. 

It  is  because  of  this  uncertainty  of  re- 
plenishment that  the  dealers'  form,  PD-1X, 
cannot  assure  what  it  is  authorized  to  allow 
— a  60-  to  90-day  supply  of  essential  re- 
placement parts  and  operating  supplies. 
Established,  responsible  dealers  may  be 
counted  upon  to  be  as  eager  as  ever  to  have 
goods  on  their  shelves  to  sell.  But  Form 
PD-1X  is  only  a  document;  it  is  not 
Aladdin's  Lamp. 

EXHIBITOR  S  FORM 

For  essential  equipment  that  dealers  do 
not  stock,  the  Government  has  provided  a 


special  form  for  the  theatre  operator.  Thi 
is  Form  PD-1A. 

The  exhibitor  makes  this  out  himself  ani 
sends  it,  as  directed,  to  Washington  (no 
to  any  field  office  of  the  WPB).  Bot 
sides  of  this  form  are  reproduced  on  pag 
7,  filled  out  fictitiously  to  indicate  the  kin 
of  information  asked  for. 

If  there  is  a  question  as  to  the  essentn 
character  of  the  equipment,  yet  the  exhib 
tor  believes  that  the  circumstances  entitl 
him  to  it,  he  can  discuss  his  situation  wit 
the  nearest  WPB  field  office  (a  list  of  loc 
offices  was  published  in  Better  Theatri 
for  June,  page  24;  while  regional  offic 
were  listed  on  page  6  of  the  July  issue 

Such  is  the  machinery  of  procuremer 
What  can  be  procured  ?    This  can  be  i 
dicated,  with  respect  to  broad  classificatio 
of  equipment,  pretty  accurately  so  far 
new  products  are  concerned.  What 
available  from  inventory  is  highly  variab' 
in  kinds  of  equipment  and  geographical] 
There  is  also  the  second-hand  market 
consider,  and  these  are  times  when  we  mi 
be  prepared  to  take  the  second-best  or 
substitute.     By  and  large,  however,  t 
following  outline  dependably  describes  t 
wartime  market. 

PROJECTORS  AND  SOUND 

New  motion  picture  projectors  a 
sound  equipment  are  not  going  to  be  av 
able.  Some  stock  is  still  in  dealers 
manufacturers'  hands  but  is  being  dra 
on  by  Army,  Navy  and  other  Governm 
agencies.  Manufacturers  will  concentr  ]„ 
on  the  manufacture  of  repair  and  repla 
ment  parts  to  keep  existing  projectors  i 
erating.  For  the  duration  it  will  beco 
increasingly  difficult  for  theatres  to  m( 
ernize  any  equipment  by  trading  in  on  n 
or  later  model  machines. 

All  manufacturers  and  dealers  are  m 
ing  an  effort  to  keep  exhibitors  suppl  d 


Revised  List  of  MANUFACTURERS  AND  DEALERS    appears  on  page  2 


5 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her  d 


with  the  parts  needed  in  order  to  keep 
I  operating.    On  items  which  are  regularly 
!  called  for,  such  as  sprockets  for  projectors, 
motor-generator  brushes  for  standard  types 
of  generators,  rectifier  bulbs  of  standard 
sizes,  arc  lamp  jaws,  etc.,  dealers  are  main- 
;  raining  a  stock  through  the  use  of  Form 
PD-1X.    On  all  such  items  you  need  only 
to  send  your  order  to  the  dealer  and  prompt 
'  shipment  will  be  made  without  your  ob- 
taining a  preference  rating.    Items  which 
do  not  customarily  wear  out  and  have  to 
be  replaced,  and  are  not  usually  carried  in 
stock  by  dealers,  will  be  obtained  only 
through  the  use  of  Form  PD-1A,  a 
preference  rating  application,  and  in 
these  cases  the  exhibitor  must  fill  out 
the  form,  send  it  to  Washington  for 
approval  and  then  attach  it  to  his 
order,  which  he  sends  to  the  dealer. 
In  such  cases  there  is  bound  to  be 
i  some  delay  and  it  will  be  necessary  in 
(Continued  on  page  25) 


■■oje, 

ft*  ' 

"0£  = 


b 

c  I 
?a 
b 


Pic 


out        °a  *i<* 


Set, 


(spPro 


the 


the. 


C[  »„  • 
"One 

c         n   o  s^sa  t0 
•  U-  S.  At  -cessaryj 


°otair, 


5  NAL 


WAR  PRODUCTION  BOARD 
PREFERENCE  RATING  CERTIFICATE 

(TO  IE  RlilD  OUT  rT  TMI  APPLICANT) 


;ERlAL  NO. 


SUED  TO:     liberty  Theatres.  (Arc  Iheatre.  Pittsburgh,  Tenn.) 

(Nme  of  applira-t) 


Boston,  Tem 


(Mala  cfia  u:  drew 

EMS  COVERED  BY  THIS  CERTIFICATE —  List  for  each  item: 


Boston,  Term. 


I  SeceiTina-  piant  aadreai 


--  —  2  8  $16.00 

(8  Lb.  (Est.) 
coils 


copper  wire  wound  field  coils  for 
in  arc  lacp  notor-generator . 


.  lacece" 


these  coils  are  usually  carried  in  the  r^anuf  ecturers 
stock  and  will  not  have  to  be  wound  from  copper 
wire  stock. 


II0RITIE3  REGULATION  NUMBER  3  GOVERNS  THE  ISSUANCE  OF  THIS  CERTIFICATE 
ID  THE  PREFERENCE  RATING  ASSIGNED.  ALL  OF  ITS  TERMS  MUST  BE  OBSERVED. 
IE  FOLLOWING  INSTRUCTIONS  ARE  PROVIDED  TO  ASSIST  IN  EXTENSION  OF  PREFER- 
ICE  RATINGS  : 

V  Prefcrcsce  Rating-  assdffrjed  by  tHs  Certifiea 
i  :'-  =LA-.er-_i_  •         wit  a 

--i  -  i  zr      zt  :  ver.es  cf  -  i'-?rx  which  iti 


rnar  be  exver-ded  cr'.y  tc: 

iseorpxiraMd  into  materia!  la  be  ultimately  delivered  to  the  crizinal  recipient  of  the  Preference 
win  be  rifrimateiy  defivered  to  the  orispiaaj  recipient  of  tbe  Preferer.ee  Rating,  or  which  will  he  used, 
Pri:r.-es  ?~t£-z.tz.z-  >>':.  !   t:  rer.;re  :-vir.-.-rj       s.  -zz.z::z2.z  e  ■=:-■-?  *-  r..— _~ 

ity  ner  to  be  delivered  cr  da^s  earlier  than  required  to  make  cr.  scheduie  £  rated  delivery  cr.  within  the 
retair   :  er  i  re  =.-  :  r*.i.zrz  Szz--.tr  \r  .  5  z'ztz-z.  lier  rrey  extend  the  Preference  Raring  assigned 

ecnjtit^re  a  rep  renerta tier,  tc  the  I>irectcr  of  Irjd-^rtrr  Operatoca 
:Toe  foOowiag  form  of  Certification  ii  lo  be  used  when  endorsing  purchase  order(s).  Do  not  fill  in  on  this  Certificate.) 

"CERTTFI  CATION 

r  "Preference  Rating  is  hereby  applied  pursuant  to  Certificate  PD-1A,  Serial  No.(s)  

accordance  with  Priorities  Regulation  No.  3,  with  which  I  certify  I  have  complied. 

(AddMl)  (Applicant,  S-jppIier.  cr  Sabdpplier)  


(Ss^atnre  ar-d  titie  of  pfseiall 


(TO  U  miUB  OUT  IT  IXI  DISICTOB  Or  IKDUSTIT  OrelATIONS.) 

IE  FOLLOWING  PREFERENCE  RATING  IS  HEREBY  ASSIGNED  TO  THE  ITEMS  IN  THE  QDAN- 
TIES  CONTRED  BY  THIS  CERTIFICATE: 

MM.  J«a.  1L  MX  f  IL  u>  to  HU,  Jai.  M.  1M1.  T 
'  """it  to  FtttU  »a  ■.  TO  Oaera.   T  -c  luri  ] 


ecesS5 


EXAMPLE  OF  EXHIBITOR  APPLICATION. 
Form  PD-IA,  for  use  by  exhibitors  in  obtaining 
essential  equipment  not  obtainable  from  a 
dealer,  fictitiously  filled  out  for  purposes  of 
illustration.  Front  side  is  shown  at  left;  above 
is  the  reverse  side  of  blank  on  which  is  given 
information  according  to  precise  instructions 
given  on  a  sheet  accompanying  each  blank. 
Form  PD-IA  is  used  by  various  kinds  of  business, 
hence  not  all  instructions  apply  exactly  to  the 
uses  theatres  make  of  equipment.  Each  instruc- 
tion bears  a  number,  and  the  information  given 
is  correspondly  numbered.  Indicated  below  is 
the  general  nature  of  each  instruction: 

1.  Describe  product  for  which  application  is 
made. 

2.  Explain  relationship  of  product  to  war  pro- 
gram, national  welfare,  etc. 

3.  Indicate  time  and  product  of  any  previous 
application  now  pending. 

4a,  b  and  c,  refer  to  possible  operation  under 
Preference  Rating  Orders. 

5.  If  material  is  required  for  a  single  Govern- 
ment contract  or  single  civilian  order,  state  (a) 
name  of  government  agency  or  civilian  cus- 
tomer, (b)  Government  agency,  (c)  contract 
or  purchase  order  number,  (d)  quantify  of 
product,  (e)  preference  rating,  if  any. 

6.  Seeks  same  information  as  for  No.  5,  in  the 
event  application  involves  several  contracts  or 
orders. 

7.  State  with  respect  to  each  item  for  which 
a  preference  rating  is  requested:  (a)  shipping 
date  promised  by  supplier  in  absence  of  prefer- 
ence rating,  (b)  names  of  suppliers,  if  any,  who 
have  refused  to  accept  applicant's  order. 

8.  Seeks  information  on  use  for  which  equip- 
ment is  to  be  made,  how  such  work  is  presently 
accomplished,  number  of  hours  weekly  such 
equipment  is  used. 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


7 


How  Viewing  Angles 
Determine  the  Basic 
Form  of  the  Auditorium 


floor  slopes  became  more 
or  less  standardized  in  theatres  in  which 
a  stage  performance  was  at  least  part  of 
the  regular  program.  A  type  of  floor  slope 
was  evolved  which  proved  to  be  rather 
steep,  placing  as  much  of  the  audience  as 
possible  above  the  stage  floor  level.  The 
floor  was  thus  given  a  strong  pitch  toward 
the  stage.  This  permitted  a  maximum 
view  of  the  depth  of  the  stage  floor  and 


provided  clearance  of  sight  in  one  row  over 
the  heads  of  seated  patrons  in  the  next 
forward  row.  This  same  requirement  for 
seeing  the  stage  floor  in  full  depth  accounts 
for  the  use  of  large  balconies  placed  as 
close  as  possible  to  the  stage. 

The  balconies  were  placed  high  because 
of  the  steep  pitch  of  the  main  floor.  These 
locations  caused  the  balconies  to  have  ex- 
treme pitches  in  order  to  maintain  sight- 


Above:  FIGURE  I 


Below:  FIGURE  2 


By  BEN  SCHLANGEF 


line  clearances.    A  view  of  the  stage  floo  J 
was  essential,  as  was  a  close  view  of  thSl 
stage  performers  in  order  to  discern  facial 
expressions,  but  these  were  obtained  onl 
with  a  noticeable  physical  discomfort  fo 
those  seated  in  the  upper  parts  of  the  bal 
cony,  and  with  difficult  and  even  hazardou;] 
walking  and  stair  climbing  to  seats,  due  t 
steep  pitches  and  steppings. 

When  the  motion  picture  became  estatjl 
lished  as  a  type  of  entertainment  meritinf 
a  theatre  of  its  own,  it  took  over  existing 
stage  theatres  in  many  instances,  whil 
theatres  built  for  pictures  followed  thij 
same  general  auditorium  arrangemen  I 
There  was  no  active  appreciation  of  tr'f 
great  difference  between  viewing  a  verticil 
two-dimensional  picture,  and  horizont 
action  in  depth  on  a  stage  floor. 

STAGE  AND  SCREEN 
VIEWING  COMPARED 

Figure  1  compares  angles  of  vision  in 
stage  and  a  motion  picture  theatre.  Note 
the  top  of  Figure  1,  in  the  case  of  the  sta; 
theatre,  the  high  floor  level  allowed  fr 
viewing  maximum  activity  on  the  stag!! 
which  would  indicate  that  a  maximu; 
slope  on  the  main  floor  is  needed  to  gain  '  » 
high  a  level  as  possible  for  the  main  flo; 
patrons. 

At  the  bottom  of  Figure  1  it  can  be  se<j 
that  a  more  or  less  straight-ahead  view 
the  picture  is  desirable  for  the  motion  p| 
ture  theatre.  A  high  point  of  view  is  nl 
only  unnecessary;  it  is  also  undesirable  fj 
motion  picture  viewing.  In  the  motion  p 
ture  theatre  the  patron  can  enjoy  the  coil 
fort  of  sitting  back  against  the  full  suppcj 
of  the  chair  back  and  not  have  to  lean  fc! 
ward  to  look  down  because  all  of  the  se/j 
can  be  arranged  so  as  not  to  be  too  mu 
above  or  too  much  below  the  picture  lev  | 
This  becomes  possible  because  there  is  mu  |. 
greater  flexibility  in  the  design  of  the  fk; 
slopes  since  the  level  of  the  picture  and  W 
seats  can  be  adjusted  in  a  wider  up-ar; 
down  or  vertical  range  than  is  possible 
the  stage  theatre. 

Figure  2  illustrates  this  range,  a  vi1 
similar  to  a  longitudinal  section  of  the  au  ! 
torium.  The  heavy  lines  marked  "A"  ;j 
the  outside  limits  recommendable  for 
eye  positions.  The  dotted  lines  marked  " 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her  i 


are  the  eye  positions  usually  found  in  the 
balconies  and  main  floor  of  stage  theatres. 
The  dot  and  dash  lines  are  true  horizontals 
for  determining  extreme  viewing  angles. 
The  vertical  line  "A"  farthest  from  the 
screen  indicates  the  row  of  seats  farthest 
from  the  picture.  Determination  of  the  ex- 
treme eye  positions  is  necessary  before  floor 
slope  designs  can  be  developed. 

At  the  bottom  of  Figure  2,  the  area  be- 
tween line  "B"  and  line  "A"  is  an  area 
which  has  been  only  recently  exploited  for 
motion  picture  theatre  design.  Use  of  this 
area  tends  to  decrease  the  floor  slope  and 
also  makes  it  possible  to  design  various  types 
of  slopes  in  accordance  with  the  variations 
found  in  the  natural  group  slopes.  Upper 
levels  of  seating  can  be  included  within  the 
proper  vertical  range  for  viewing  when  the 
main  floor  seating  is  placed  in  this  area. 

RELATION  OF  SIGHTLINES 
AND  SEATING  COMFORT 

The  boundaries  given  in  Figure  2  are 
determined  by  considering  the  effect  on 
comfort  of  the  physical  posture  of  the  seated 
person,  and  the  range  of  vision  of  the 
human  eye.  If  a  person  were  to  sit  above 
the  upper  line  fixed  by  an  angle  of  5  de- 
grees from  the  true  horizontal,  a  leaning- 
forward  posture,  or  a  downward-straining 
of  the  head  becomes  necessary  to  keep  the 
eyes  fixed  on  the  picture.  Sitting  above  this 
limit  line  in  a  normal  comfort  posture, 
which  requires  resting  against  the  chair 
back,  would  find  the  viewer  looking  into 
space  above  the  picture. 

The  lower  limit  line  shown,  using  an- 
gles of  10  and  35  degrees  to  the  true  hori- 
zontal, is  fixed  by  the  maximum  upward 
range  of  vision  possible  when  the  viewer  is 
seated  with  his  back  resting  against  the 
chair.  Actually  it  is  not  necessary  to  see 
upward  as  much  as  illustrated.  The  prin- 
cipal and  most  important  action  in  the  pic- 
ture appears  in  the  lower  two  thirds  of  the 
image,  thereby  reducing  the  35-  and  10-de- 
gree  angles  to  about  27  and  8  degrees,  re- 
spectively, for  normal  viewing.  This  fixes 
an  average  upward  viewing  angle  of  about 
17  degrees  for  a  point  midway  between  the 
first  and  last  rows  of  seating.  It  is  not  pos- 
sible to  decrease  the  front  angle  of  35  de- 
grees. Such  a  decrease  would  place  the  pic- 
ture lower  in  relation  to  the  level  of  the 
rirst  row  of  seats,  thereby  making  necessary 
a  strong  main  floor  pitch,  which  would  set 
the  eyes  even  above  the  line  "B"  shown  on 
the  lower  part  of  Figure  2.  Considering 
that  a_  reduction  of  only  a  few  degrees  from 
the  35-degree  angle  is  possible,  the  gain  in 
comfort  for  the  first  few  rows  is  negligible 
compared  to  the  loss  of  valuable  seating 
i  area  between  lines  "A"  and  "B." 

HOW  BALCONY  AFFECTS 
MAIN  FLOOR  ANCLES 

Point  "C"  on  Figure  2  does  not  have  to 
i  be  kept  where  it  is  shown  to  form  a  10- 
tt  degree  angle.   This  point  may  be  raised, 
?  thereby  reducing  the  angle  when  there  is 
r-°  upper  level  of  seating  contemplated,  or 
{Continued  on  page  22) 


You  can't  beat 


(THE  NEW,  NON-PRIORITY  THEATRE  SEAT  FABRIC) 

for  wear,  comfort,  economy 

Corduroy  makes  all  seats  more  durable — from  that  of  your  son's  pants  to  those  in 
your  theatre!  CORDO,  a  special  theatre-weight  corduroy,  developed  by  A.  D. 
Juilhard  and  Company,  can  take  the  roughest  treatment — and  still  stay  handsome 
and  new-looking.  Made  to  replace  priority-restricted  materials,  CORDO  is  avail' 
able  for  quick  delivery  and  offers  all  these  advantages: — 


AMAZING  DURABILITY  .  .  .  Cordo  s  deep, 
firmly  anchored  pile  gives  with  friction,  in- 
stead of  fighting  against  it.  Cordo  is  "Neva- 
Wet"  processed  to  resist  both  soil  and  per- 
spiration, hence  it  stays  new  looking  longer. 

SURPRISING  ECONOMY  ...  Cordo  costs 
much  less  and  wears  better  than  fabrics  of 
comparable  richness  and  smartness. 


AMERICA'S  FINEST  THRIFT-FABRIC 
FOR  THEATRE  SEATING 
Made  exclusively  by  JUILLIARD 


LUXURIOUS  APPEARANCE  .  .  .  Cordo's 
classic  symmetry  is  the  essence  of  quality, 
pleasing  both  to  the  eye  and  the  touch. 
Available  in  a  choice  of  10  beautiful  shades. 

SUPREME  COMFORT  .  .  .  Cordo's  soft-ribbed 
construction  "cradles"  and  relaxes  the  body. 
Its  soft,  yielding  pile  is  easy  on  clothes. 
Warm  in  winter,  cool  in  summer. 


The  coupon  below  will  bring  you  a  selection 
of  actual  CORDO  samples  in  the  10  beautiful 
■„  harmonizing  colors  now  available.  Mail  it  todav. 

(  —  n 

.    A.  D.  Juilliard  £s?  Co..  Inc.,         B-10  . 

»   40  West  40th  St.,  New  York 

|    'Without  cost  or  obligation  send  me  samples  of  | 

CORDO  and  list  of  theatres  which  have  already 
I     adopted  it.  | 

|    Name    | 


(1  BETTER  THEATRES:  October  11,  1942 


3 


Two 


Theatres 


1.  NEW 


MIDWAY  THEATRE 
Forest  Hills,  L  I. 

THOMAS  LAMB  ASSOCIATES,  Architects 


■  Begun  prior  to  present  wartime  restrictions  on  civilian  construction,  the 
Midway  theatre  was  opened  in  September  by  RKO  Theatres  in  Forest  Hills, 
Long  Island,  one  of  New  York  City's  upper  middle  income  residential  sections. 
Below  is  shown  the  vestibule  with  its  circular  box  office  10  feet  in  diameter, 
and  all-glass  Herculite  doors.    The  building  is  faced  in  white  granite. 


•  The  lobby  (above)  departs  from  the  conventional 
quite  radically  in  its  four  large  mirrors  with  cos- 
metic tables,  interrupted  by  display  frames.  Plaster 
areas  are  painted  dusty  rose,  wainscot  is  walnut 
veneer.  A  circular  dome  embellishes  the  ceiling, 
concealing  filament  lamps. 


■  The  auditorium  (left 
presents  a  color 
scheme  of  turquoise 
terra  cotta,  dusty  rose 
and  purple,  carried  out 
in  plaster  walls  (partly 
acoustical  plaster)  anc 
in  a  stepped  ceilling 
which  is  pierced  by 
downlights.  Downlighf 
ing  and  interior  deco 
ration  is  by  Rambusch 
New  York.  Downlight 
ing  supplies  running  il; 
lumination,  while  house 
lighting  is  provided  ir 
side  wall  luminaire:' 
made  of  ornamenta 
plaster  instead  of  met 
al.  The  American  seats 
upholstered  in  dust 
rose,  are  arranged  in 
stagger  plan  through 
out  central  main  floor 
The  auditorium  seat; 
2,000   on   two  floors 


[0 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Heralt 


The  main  foyer  of  the  Midway,  a  large  oval  room  with  a 
'  30-foot  ceiling,  is  pictured  above  and  at  right.  The  view 
'above  indicates  the  impressive  effect  created  by  the  winding 
--stairway  to  the  mezzanine  level,  leading  to  the  balcony,  and 
"shows  the  novel  screen  installed  at  this  end  on  which  are  pro- 
jected coming  attraction  and  special  announcement  slides. 
Windows  of  fluted  glass  at  the  stairway  admit  daylight.  Arti- 
frficial  illumination  is  by  downlighting.  Walls  are  covered  in 
Ej yellow  patterned  fabric,  wainscot  is  rust  leatherette.  Carpeting 
'is  Alexander  Smith  Velvet  in  rust,  taupe  and  green. 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


■  One  of  the  interesting  innovations  of  the  Midway  consists  in 
illuminated  portrait  frames  for  pictures  of  players  in  coming 
attractions,  or  stars  leading  in  a  favorite  player  contest  among 
patrons.    This  feature  of  the  auditorium  is  shown  in  detail  at  left. 

11 


Two 


Theatres 


2 


REMODELLED 


NEWBERRY  THEATRE 

Chicago 

ROY  B.  BLASS,  Architect 


■  These  two  views  of  the  Newberry  theatre  on  Chicago's  Near  Northside 
represent  the  principal  changes  made  in  the  recent  remodeling  of  thai 
house  by  the  owners,  Bartelstein  Brothers.  The  form  and  structural  element 
of  the  auditorium  were  retained  except  for  extension  to  allow  for  increase 
of  seating  capacity  from  684  to  735,  while  the  color  scheme  was  changed 
murals  were  added,  and  downlighting  was  installed.   The  project  has  beer 
planned  and  materials  had  been  ordered  prior  to  present  restrictions.  The 
front  was  refaced  in  porcelain  enamel  in  burgundy  mottled  with  black 
while  the  vestibule  floor  is  now  laid  with  ceramic  tile.    The  marquee  is  o 
the  same  finish  and  carries  Adler  attraction  panels.   The  name  of  the  thea 
tre  is  in  pink  neon  with  orange  neon  borders.  .  .  .  The  foyer,  picturec 
above,  has  been  given  a  novel  treatment  in  both  materials  and  decoration 
Having  an  abstract  modern  configuration  which  carries  from  the  ceilin'c 
down  the  sides,  it  has  side  walls  finished  in  asphalt  tile,  up  to  continuou 
display  frames  accommodating  posters  for  several  programs  and  splayec 
out  to  increase  visibility.    The  displays  are  lighted  by  fluorescent  lamps  ii 
ceiling  troughs.    The  color  scheme  here  is  turquoise,  rose  and  off-white 
Carpeting  is  Bigelow-Sanford  Lokweave  (patent-back  broadloom)  in  twej 
tone  rose.    At  the  turn  of  the  foyer  (background  of  picture)  a  structure 
column  was  converted  into  an  interesting  decorative  feature  by  finishing  i 
in  Flexglass  and  making  it  a  reflecting  accent  piece  between  two  larg 
clear  mirrors  which  reflect  a  semi-circular  recess  in  the  ceiling.  The  whole  e 
feet  is  to  make  the  foyer  seem  more  spacious  than  it  really  is  dimensional!* 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Heral 


GET  YOUR  SHARE  OF  TOMORROW'S  BUSINESS 

. . .  with  a  Pittco  Front! 


THE  BIG   IMPROVEMENT  a 

Pittco  Front  can  make  in 
the  appearance  of  your 
theatre  is  demonstrated 
dramatically  by  these  "be- 
fore" and  "after"  pictures 
of  the  Grand  Theatre  block 
in  Blue  Island.  III.  Archi- 
tect: C.  B.  Rubbens. 


THEATRE  owners  and  managers 
throughout  the  United  States 
have  proved,  in  actual  practice,  the 
money-making  ability  of  Pittco 
Fronts. 

A  bright,  attractive  Pittco  Front  is 
one  of  the  best  advertisements  your 
theatre  can  have.  It  catches  the  eve  of 
passers-by,  draws  new  patrons,  prom- 


ises qualitv  entertainment  and  up-to- 
date  equipment.  It  will  increase  vour 
box  office,  and  usually  pay  for  itself 
in  a  short  time  by  the  extra  profits  it 
brings  you. 

Competition  will  still  be  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  entertainment 
field  next  year,  and  the  year  after  and 
the  vears  after  that.  A  Pittco  Front 


Tvill  help  you  tremendously  to  get 
your  share  of  tomorrow's  business. 

So  plan  to  remodel  vour  theatre 
with  a  new  Pittco  Front  when  build- 
ing restrictions  are  lifted  again.  And 
meanwhile,  send  the  coupon  for  our 
free  book  of  facts  and  fisrures  about 
Pittco  Fronts  and  what  they  can  do 
for  vou. 


  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company 

j  2253-2  Grant  Building.  Pittsburgh.  Pa. 

!  Please  send  me.  without  obligation,  your  new. 

Fk  ¥  TT  TT  /"""I  /~\  ~T~  y^V  p>    r~       r-  r>  V  1  ~T~  C  illustrated  booklet  "Pittco  Store  Fronts— and  Their 

'ITTCO  STOKE  FKONTSi  >*— m-,w-" 

PITTSBURGH    PLATE    GLASS    COMPANY  Narae  

PITTSBURGH "  s&*tdd fei  ^cco/fa  (y6z*s         (Patftf    j  Address  

 ,   !  City  State  

 i '  —       —  — — —   


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  11,  1942 


13 


WAYS  &  MEANS 

in  operation,  installation,  maintenance 

John  J.  Sefing  Is  a  graduate  mechanical  engineer  and  has  /eng  specialized  In  theatre  worJ 

A  Now  is  the  Time  to  Check 

* 

Fabrics  &  Blower  System 


.  .  .  used  by  the  most  progressive  Chains 
and  Independents  throughout  the  country 
.  .  .  solve  your  laundry  problems  because 
they  are  thrown  away  when  used.  .  .  . 
Collars  made  in  wing  or  turn-down  styles 
.  .  .  fronts  in  plain  or  P.K. 

Write  now  for  samples,  style  sheet  and  prices. 


REVERSIBLE  COLLAR  CO. 

Ill  PUTNAM  AVE.,  CAM  BRIDGE,  MASS. 


BOOTH  INSURANCE? 

Say,  NATIONAL  has  been  giving 
me  that  for  more  than  15  years! 

It's  true  that  National  Theatre 
Supply  Company  has  contributed 
much  to  the  peace  of  mind  of  theatre 
owners  the  country  over.  For  over  15 
years  that  has  been  National's  job,  24 
hours  a  day.  Call  it  booth  "insurance," 
booth  "protection"  or  anything  else 
you  please.  Just  remember  that  Na- 
tional has  been  providing  it  .  .  .  and 
will  continue  to  provide  it  .  .  .  witli 
Simplex  loan  service  equipment,  a 
unique  Budget  Plan  for  major  repairs 
and,  men  who  know. 

When  it  comes  to  booth  "insur- 
ance," you  can  always  get  it  from 
National. 

NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY 


EVEN  though  you  prob- 
ably are  following  a  thorough  and  sys- 
tematic maintenance  schedule,  there  are 
several  items  that  can  be  easily  overlooked 
because  they  do  not  have  prominent  bearing 
on  every-day  operation.  Draperies,  once 
installed  on  the  theatre  stage  over  exit 
doors,  standee  rails,  etc.,  are  hardly  ever 
taken  down,  cleaned  or  re-flameproofed. 
The  general  practice  has  been  to  leave  these 
draperies,  or  damask  wall  fabrics,  in  place 
until  they  have  become  loaded  with  soggy 
dirt  and  dust  as  well  as  spotted  with  un- 
sightly stains.  Then  they  were  torn  down 
off  the  walls  and  replaced  with  new 
materials. 

Fabric  is  obtainable  even  now ;  however, 
everything  should  be  made  to  last  "just  a 
little  bit  longer."  Of  course,  if  the  present 
fabrics  are  in  such  bad  condition  that  fur- 
ther cleaning  or  patching  will  do  no  good, 
the  only  alternative  is  to  purchase  and  in- 
stall new  ones.  The  main  thing  is  to  have 
the  theatre  looking  as  neat  and  clean  as 
possible  under  present  conditions.  And  it 
can  be  kept  so  if  we  apply  common  sense 
with  strict  maintenance  and  prompt  servic- 
ing. 

DRAPERY  CONSERVATION 

In  the  first  place,  do  not  let  the  draperies 
or  other  fabrics  accumulate  dirt,  dust  and 
moisture  over  a  period  of  months  or  years 
and  then  expect  an  easy  job  of  cleaning  or 
flameproofing  the  material.  By  that  time 
the  structure  of  the  fabrics  will  be  so  rotted 
that  it  will  be  fit  for  only  the  junk  pile. 
What  must  be  done  is  to  establish  a  prac- 
tice of  "going  over"  the  draperies  every 
three  months,  at  the  most,  and  if  certain 
sections  on  the  drapes  or  wall  fabrics  show 
more  dirt  than  other  portions,  immediately 
investigate  the  cause.  It  will  be  useless  to 
renovate  the  material  if  there  is  a  leak  in 
the  roof,  for  example.  A  leaky  roof  is  a 
common  cause  of  rapid  drapery  deteriora- 
tion, especially  at  the  stage.  It  will  be 
cheaper  in  the  long  run  to  have  the  leak 
stopped  than  to  pay  for  cleaning  the  drap- 
eries or  buying  new  ones. 

Also  to  be  checked  are  the  walls  back 


of  the  fabric  panels  in  the  auditorium,  es 
pecially  if  the  theatre  was  constructed  \ 
year  or  so  ago.  In  new  buildings,  the  wall 
sometimes  develop  cracks  or  fractures  dui 
to  setting  of  the  structure,  and  if  they  ar^ 
behind  the  fabric  where  no  one  can  se 
them,  moisture,  cold  air  and  even  rain  car 
come  in  to  ruin  the  material.  I  have  founi, 
this  to  be  the  cause  in  most  of  cases  of  stain! 
ing  and  rotting  of  certain  portions  of  audi 
torium  side  wall  fabrics. 

CAUSES  OF  RAPID  WEAR 

In  case  side  wall  fabrics  show  rapid  c 
undue  deterioration,  take  off  a  section 
that  particular  location,  and  if  cracks  c 
fractures  are  found,  repair  them  at  onc( 
If  the  holes  are  large,  use  a  strong  mixtur 
of  cement  plaster  to  fill  them  completely 
if  small,  use  a  good  grade  of  asphaltum  c 
roofing  cement,  making  sure  that  both  sidt 
of  the  wall  at  the  break  are  thoroughl 
filled  in  with  this  cement.  While  the  set 
tion  of  the  wall  fabric  is  removed  or  lai 
open,  check  carefully  to  see  if  the  woo 
furring  strips  are  not  rotted  or  chipped 
In  case  these  furring  strips  are  in  bad  coij 
dition,  install  new  ones  at  once,  as  it  wi 
be  impossible  to  tack  on  the  fabric  and  ha^ 
a  perfectly  smooth  and  even  surface. 

This  checking  may  seem  like  a  lot  < 
unnecessary  work,  but  it  will  tend  to  sa1 
the  side  wall  fabric — -and  what  is  most  ir, 
portant  at  this  time,  save  fuel.  Even  wi 
small  cracks  or  breaks  in  the  walls,  a  1 
of  cold  air  and  dampness  can  enter  tl 
auditorium. 

In  cleaning  draperies  and  fabrics,  a  go< 
idea  is  to  take  only  a  certain  section  at 
time  so  that  no  large  area  is  left  bare  , 
the  patrons'  view.    However,  all  sectio 
of  the  draperies  and  wall  fabrics  should 
cleaned  and  tacked  on  within  a  short  peri  j 
of  elapsed  time,  otherwise  by  the  time  t 
last  section  is  cleaned  the  one  done  fi:|:  ! 
will  need  re-cleaning. 

One  thing  must  be  remembered  and  th 
is  to  have  this  cleaning  of  fabrics  done  j 
a  competent,  experienced  person,  otherwj):  I 
the  material  may  be  ruined.  No  hard  scj>  i 
or  caustic  should  be  used,  for  they  will  ft 


14 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Hen 


I 


away  by  chemical  action  the  substance  of 
the  material.  It  would  pay  in  the  long  run 
to  have  a  reputable  and  experienced  "drap- 
ery man"  do  this  particular  work,  so  as  to 
have  not  only  assurance  of  skill  but  also  a 
"comeback"  in  case  something  does  go 
wrong. 

GENUINE  FLAMEPROOF  INC 

Don't  overlook  the  need  for  proper 
flameproofing,  either.  City  and  state  fire 
regulations  insist  that  all  draperies  and 
fabric  installed  in  theatres  must  be  flame- 
proofed  according  to  an  established  stand- 
ard. Inspection  of  the  flameproofing  on 
the  draperies  is  usually  very  severe ;  the 
test  is  to  apply  an  open  flame  from  a  blow 
torch  against  the  material.  If  it  shows  the 
least  bit  of  "flaming,"  a  violation  is  quickly 
issued  with  the  demand  that  proper  flame- 
proofing be  applied  at  once. 

Accordingly,  management  should  make 
certain  that  all  fabrics  and  draperies  in  the 
j  theatre  are  absolutely  flameproof. 

In  case  the  flameproofing  is  done  by  a 
theatre  employe,  make  sure  that  the  chemi- 
i  cals  used  have  a  certified  number  of  the 
formula  stamped  on  the  outside  of  the 
container.  Check  this  number  with  the 
records  of  the  local  fire  department,  which 
will  make  an  inspection  for  approval  or 
;  disapproval.  Also,  in  buying  the  flame- 
proofing chemicals,  make  sure  that  they  are 
from  a  reliable  manufacturer  or  theatre 
supply  dealer;  never  use  a  home-made  for- 
mula or  some  uncertified  kind  that  is  sup- 
posed to  be  "just  as  good  as  the  approved." 
It  does  not  pay  to  take  a  chance  when  there 
jis  such  little  difference  in  money  involved 
and  human  life  is  at  stake. 

In  the  event  that  an  experienced  "drap- 
ery man"  does  the  cleaning  and  flame- 
proofing of  the  draperies,  he  will  obtain  a 
1  certificate  of  approval  from  the  authorities 
1  having  jurisdiction.  In  this  way  the  thea- 
1  tre  owner  or  exhibitor  is  protected  against 
'  any  violations  should  the  draperies  prove 
1  not  properly  and  adequately  flameproofed. 


J  BLOWER  SYSTEM  CHECKING 

and  refuse  that  have  accumulated  there  dur- 
ing the  summer.  If  the  housing  is  exposed 
to  the  weather,  check  carefully  for  leaks  in 
heating.  The  fans,  heating  coils,  drive 
belts,  motor  and  general  duct  system  will 
need  particular  attention  after  being  used 
throughout  the  summer.  To  get  the  most 
efficient  results  from  the  blower  system 
during  the  cold  winter  days  the  entire  lay- 
out should  be  carefully  studied  to  see  if 
repairs  or  changes  can  be  made  that  will 
better  the  output  and  also  make  unlikely 
any  replacements  or  complete  breakdowns 
during  winter  operation. 

The  entire  fan  or  blower  room  should 
have  a  good  cleaning  to  remove  all  dirt 
and  refuse  that  have  accumulated  during 
the  summer.  If  the  housing  is  exposed  to 
the  weather,  check  carefully  for  leaks  in 
the  enclosure  itself  as  well  as  in  the  in- 
sulating material,  if  any.  Make  sure  that 
the  door  to  the  enclosure  is  tight-fitting. 
The  insulation  may  have  become  loose  or 
broken  in  spots  and  if  not  repaired  loss  of 
| heat  will  result.    A  good  cement  to  use 


BAD  THEATRE  ACOUSTICS 

Can  Garble  the  Clearest  Sound  Track! 


CELOTEX  SOUND  CONDITIONING 
Helps  Your  Patrons  Catch  All  the  Words! 


WHEN  important  words  become 
lost  in  a  maze  of  bad  acoustics, 
the  story  is  spoiled  for  listeners.  That's 
why  so  many  theatres  have  provided 
"better  listening"  for  their  patrons  by 
installing  Celotex  Sound  Condition- 
ing. They  say  it  makes  a  big  difference 
in  picture  enjoyment— in  patronage. 

Acousti  -  Celotex  is  available  now. 
And  there  is  a  Celotex  Sound  Condi- 


tioning firm  near  you  with  wide  ex- 
perience in  the  problems  of  providing 
better  listening  in  theatres. 

The  responsible  firm  that  installs 
Celotex  Sound  Conditioning  assures 
you  of  (1)  Proved  engineering  practice, 
(2)  Uniformly  dependable  acotistical 
materials,  and  (3)  Guaranteed  results! 
Write  for  complete  information  now. 
There  is  no  obligation. 


SOUND  COSTMTIONING 

COPYRIGHT  1942.  THE  CELOTEX  CORPORATION 

In  Canada :  Dominion  Sound  Equipments,  Ltd. 


THE    CELOTEX  CORPORATION 


CHICAGO 


Extensive  Line  of 


Fabrics 


•  Velours 

•  Plushes 

•  Damasks 

•  Reps 

•  Monks  Cloth 

•  Novelty 

Materials 


0  Metal  Cloths 


for 

Theatre  Draperies 
Stage  Curtains 
Wall  Coverings 
Lobby  Decorations 

"Choice  of 
Theatre  Architects" 


1 30  W.  46th  St.,  New  York  City 

CHICAGO        ST.  LOUIS        LOS  ANGELES 


SUPER-LITE  LENSES 
PRO-JEX  SOUND  UNITS 

It  pays  to  install  the  best— 


Projection  Optics  p.?: 

330  LYELL  AVE.,      ROCHESTER,  N.Y,  U.S.A. 


"BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


15 


S y P E R  SERW^f 


ffl»-u.j.  paT.oFF, 


STILL  WE  SERVE  YOU 

Although  unable  now  to  fill  your  parts 
orders  as  rapidly  as  before,  we  still  serve 
you  through  serving  the  nation.  Tools 
of  war  must,  have  precision 
parts  first. 


LaVfezzi  Machine  Works 

180  North  Wacker  Drive        Chicago,  Illinois 


HI 


We'll  Be  Seeing  You  A.V. 

(After  Victory) 

.  .  .  — This  is   everybody's  War. 

F&Y's  present  duty  is  to  be 
of  all  out  service  to  the 
emergency. 

.  .  .  — The  F&Y  organization,  while 
now  geared  exclusively  to 
the  war  effort,  will  be  intact 
to  serve  you  after  Victory. 

...  .  — F&Y's  future  duty  is  to  con- 
tinue serving  its  loyal  clien- 
tele and  their  friends. 

In  the  Meantime  ...  — 
Keep  'Em  Smiling!        Buy  War  Bonds! 


THE  F  &  Y  BUILDING 
SERVICE 

328  E.  TOWN  STREET 
COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


Ainu 


IHIIlE 


HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD 

VICTORY 

A  real  theatre  man's  chair 


for  patching  or  repairing  leaks  is  ordinary 
roofing  cement  or  asphaltum. 

COIL  CONDITIONING 

The  heating  coils  should  be  cleaned 
thoroughly  of  all  dirt  and  "caked"  mud, 
for  when  there  is  a  dirty  film  over  the  heat- 
ing area,  the  heat  transfer  from  the  fins  to 
the  air  will  naturally  be  reduced.  Check 
carefully  for  any  leaks  or  breaks  in  the 
coils.  Some  heavy  object  may  have  dropped 
accidentally  against  them  causing  damage 
undetected  until  the  steam  is  turned  on. 

If  a  motorized  valve  is  used  to  control 
the  amount  of  steam  supply  to  the  coils, 
it  should  be  taken  apart  and  checked  care- 
fully for  proper  seating  of  the  parts.  This 
particular  valve,  if  installed  properly,  op- 
erates very  reliably  and  efficiently  over  a 
long  period  of  time  without  attention. 
However,  there  is  always  a  possibility  that 
small  particles  of  dust  or  other  foreign  ma- 
terial may  have  worked  themselves  inside 
causing  improper  seating  of  parts. 

CLEANING  CRITICAL  PARTS 

Check  all  dampers  or  louvers  in  the  fan 
housing  to  see  if  they  open  and  close 
properly.  A  faulty  damper  or  louver  can 
materially  affect  the  proper  heating  of  the 
theatre.  Take  a  look  over  the  entire  fan 
housing  to  see  if  there  are  any  rust  or  cor- 
rosion spots.  If  any  are  noticed,  cover 
them  immediately  with  any  paint  that  is 
on  hand.  By  doing  so,  the  rust  or  corro- 
sion will  be  prevented  from  spreading  and 
in  time  weakening  the  entire  fan  housing. 

It  is  a  good  idea  to  take  apart  the  bearing 
housings  or  the  fan  shaft  and  clean  all  parts 
in  kerosene,  especially  if  the  fan  has  op- 
erated over  a  period  of  years  without  at- 
tention to  these  vital  parts.  In  doing  this 
all  dirt,  grit  and  old  grease  or  oil  will  be 
removed,  and  also  a  checkup  can  be  made 
to  see  if  the  bearings  and  shaft  are  wearing 
unevenly. 

If  these  parts  show  undue  wear  in  cer- 
tain areas,  the  fan  shaft  and  bearing  blocks 
must  be  aligned  properly.  First,  make  cer- 
tain that  the  fan  shaft  is  perfectly  level 
horizontally  by  inserting  under  the  bearing 
blocks,  thin  metal  shims  on  one  side  or  the 
other,  as  the  need  may  be.  After  this  is 
done,  tighten  down  all  bolts  of  the  bearing 
blocks  with  a  wrench  and  then  check  again 
for  proper  level.  If  the  shaft  is  still  per- 
fectly level,  loosen  all  the  bolts  several 
turns  and  spin  the  "squirrel  cage"  rotor  by 
hand  for  a  minute  or  so.  Then  tighten  up 
all  the  bolts  on  the  bearing  housings  again. 
By  doing  this  the  fan  shaft  will  tend  to  find 
its  proper  level  in  the  bearing  housings, 
especially  if  it  is  slightly  warped  or  some 
of  the  bearings  are  wearing  unevenly. 

Make  sure  that  only  a  good  grade  of 
grease  or  oil  is  put  into  the  bearing  hous- 
ings. When  the  fan  is  in  use  for  many 
years  a  heavier  grade  of  grease  or  oil  should 
be  put  into  the  bearings  than  was  originally 
recommended. 

REMEDY  LOOSENESS 

Also  go  over  all  lag  bolts  or  screws  that 
hold  down  the  frame  of  the  fan  to  the 
foundation,  as  a  loose  fan  will  tend  to 


"creep"  and  misalign  the  grooves  of  the , 
drive  belts.     This  same  checkup  should  ~\ 
apply  to  the  motor.    A  loose  fan  or  motor  !| 
will  cause  rapid  wear  of  the  drive  belts : 
and,  also  in  many  cases,  cause  uneven  wean 
of  the  shaft  and  bearings  due  to  the  belts 
pulling  the  fan  or  motor  sheave  sideways, 
as  they  enter  the  grooves  at  an  angle  in- 
stead of  straight. 

Make  sure  that  the  fan  sheave  or  pulley 
is  not  loose  on  the  shaft  and  that  it  is  in, 
a  straight  line  with  the  motor  pulley.  The 
key  in  the  keyway  of  the  shaft  should  bjeri 
driven  in  tight  and  the  set  screws  in  the; 
hub  of  the  pulley  turned  down  tightly.; 
The  above  procedure  should  also  be  fol- 
lowed in  checking  and  maintaining  the 
pulley  on  the  motor. 

To  check  for  alignment  of  the  fan  pullej 
in  relation  to  the  motor  pulley,  a  con 
venient  way  is  to  use  an  accurate  "straight 
edge"  board  or  stick,  making  sure  that  i 
is  long  enough  to  go  right  across  the  ful 
diameter  of  the  fan  pulley  with  the  othe 
end  reaching  the  motor  pulley.  When  thi 
straight-edge  is  placed  tight  against  the  fulj 
diameter  or  width  of  the  fan  pulley  and  th 
edge  on  the  other  end  touches  snugly  th1; 
side  of  the  motor  pulley,  these  pulleys  ar 
reasonably  "in  line."  If  this  is  not  th 
case,  one  pulley  or  the  other  should  b 
loosened  and  moved  until  both  are  lined  up 

DRIVE  BELT  TENSION 

Another  thing  that  should  be  checked  i 
the  tension  on  the  drive  belts.  Extrem 
care  should  be  taken  that  they  are  not  to 
tight  or  too  loose,  as  in  either  case  ther 
will  be  rapid  wear.  A  simple  way  of  ac 
justing  the  tension  on  the  belts  is  to  tur 
tight  the  adjustment  bolts  on  the  mote 
base  a  little  at  a  time,  while  with  the  oth 
hand  "slap"  the  belts  with  the  hand, 
the  hand  springs  back  sharply  the  belts  a 
too  tight.  When  the  belts  are  at  aboi 
the  right  tension,  the  hand  should  sprii 
back  just  slightly  on  slapping  them. 

In  some  instances  it  will  be  noticed  th 
one  or  more  drive  belts  "flop"  up  aii 
down,  while  the  others  run  fairly  smoot 
The  cause  of  this  is  usually  that  the  mot 
shaft  is  not  lined  up  properly  with  the  fa 
What  happens  is  that  with  the  motor 
slightly  to  one  side,  half  of  the  belts  ta 
the  load  while  the  others  just  turn  loose 
around  the  pulleys.    The  only  remedy 
this  case  is  to  relocate  the  bolt  holes  hoi 
ing  down  the  motor  so  that  all  belts  p 
the  load  evenly.    With  the  pulleys  a 
belts  lined  up  properly,  it  is  a  good  ic 
to  change  around,  after  some  period  of  i 
eration,  each  belt  so  that  it  works  in  a  c? 
ferent  groove  for  a  while.    This  will  a 
to  the  life  of  the  belt. 

MOTOR  CARE 

In  the  care  of  motors  make  sure  that  o 
a  good  grade  of  motor  oil  is  used,  if  it 
oil  bearings,  and  that  the  reservoir 
cleaned  out  occasionally.  When  a  vari* 
speed  slip  ring  motor  is  used,  check  : 
clean  the  copper  on  the  commutator,  a 
lot  of  dirt,  grit  and  dust  accumulates  He 
after  months  of  operation.  However,  ne 
use  coarse  sand  or  emery  paper  on  the  c 


16 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  He 


'  per  as  more  harm  than  good  will  be  done. 
|  For  ordinary  cleaning  purposes  use  a  clean 
I  rag  saturated  with  alcohol,  and  if  the  dirty 
I  film  cannot  be  removed  in  this  manner,  use 
I  No.  000  sandpaper. 

Check  also  the  brushes  for  wear  and  to 
I  see  if  the  springs  and  "holders"  are  in 
■  proper  condition  for  keeping  the  brushes  in 
place.    The  variable  speed  starter  should 
:  be  checked  to  see  if  the  contact  points  are 
i  pitted  or  burned.     If  these  points  need 
j  touching  up,  use  No.  00  sandpaper  and 
make  sure  that  the  contact  arm  or  lever  is 
working  properly,  so  that  it  makes  a  good 
electrical  connection  when  operated,  other- 
wise "sparking"  and  pitting  of  the  points 
will  continue.    Make  sure  that  the  .electri- 
cal wiring  connection  between  the  starter, 
motor  and  source  of  supply  are  tight  at 
their  respective  terminals  and  that  the  in- 
l  sulation  is  not  deteriorated. 

DRIVE  ADJUSTMENT 

If  a  hydraulic  variable  speed  drive  is 
S  used  on  the  fan,  check  the  copper  feed  lines 
-  for  breaks  or  sharp  bends.    As  this  par- 
I  ticular    drive    employs   pressure  through 
j  these  lines  to  actuate  the  friction  disc  clutch 
i  at  the  fan,  any  blockage  within  the  lines 
I  will  reduce  materially  the  efficient  and 
i  proper  operation  of  the  fan.    A  good  idea 
I  is  to  remove  the  clutch  at  the  fan  and  check 
and  clean  the  face  plate.    When  the  plate 
i  of  this  clutch  is  not  making  even  contact, 
or  when  dirt  or  grit  penetrate  inside  from 
J  the  lack  of  care,  there  will  be  rapid  and 
:  uneven  wear  of  the  parts.    In  a  hydraulic 
:  drive,  this  clutch  is  one  of  the  main  causes 
of  breakdowns  when  not  given  proper  at- 
i  tention.    If  the  face  of  this  clutch  plate 
shows  signs  of  uneven  wear,  it  should  be 
j  ground  even   and  smooth   and   then  re- 
installed to  fit  the  plate  on  the  drive, 
i     Another  thing  that  shoud  be  made  at 
'  this  time  is  a  complete  and  thorough  check- 
:  up  of  the  duct  system  that  feeds  air  to  the 
auditorium.     All   dampers,   splitters  and 
:  registers  should  be  checked  to  see  if  they 
a  are  in  proper  position,  for  they  may  have 
n  moved  after  "bucking"  the  terrific  air  pres- 
:  sure  with  fan  in  full  operation  for  months. 

LAYING  UP  BLOWER 

In  case  the  fan  and  motor  are  not  to  be 
:<  used  in  the  winter,  they  should  be  carefully 
cleaned,  new  clean  oil  or  grease  should  be 
ji  put  into  the  bearing  housings,  which  then 
i  should  be  covered  completely  with  tar- 
paulin  or  similar  material.   The  tension  on 
a  the  drive  belts  should  be  released,  or  the 
i  belts  be  taken  off  entirely  and  stored  in  a 
is  dry  place  until  ready  for  use  again. 
j|     If  an  air  washer  is  also  in  the  fan  room, 
make  sure  that  all  water  is  drained  out 
completely,  especially  from  the  pump,  as 
vital  parts  will  be  cracked  when  any  water 
is  left  within  freezes. 

Most  of  this  maintenance  work  can  be 
l  done  by  the  regular  theatre  employes,  if 
x  done  systematically  __an_d  supervised  intelli- 
i  gently.  However,  to  be  absolutely  certain 
ei  that  everything  will  be  "ship  shape"  during 
'i  the  winter  months,  the  best  policy  would  be 
a  to  have  a  reliable  and  experienced  venti- 
;  lating  man  do  the  work. 


"Vm  glad  I  bought  Simplex  High 
Projection  Lamps.  My  lighting 
problem  is  solved,  not  just  for  the 
emergency  but  practically  forever." 


We  suggest  that  those  who  didn't  buy  them  write  us 
about  their  lamp  problems.  We  will  try  to  help  keep 
present  equipment  in  service  until  the  BIG  JOB  is  done 
and  lamps  can  be  purchased  new.  Meanwhile,  we  will 
continue  to  render  the  best  possible  parts  and  repair 
service. 


If  newly  imposed  war  conditions  and  limitations  (such 
as  the  necessity  of  reducing  amperage),  or  modified 
type  of  carbons  cause  you  operating  difficulties,  do  not 
hesitate  to  call  us. 


NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY 

"THERE'S     A     BRANCH     NEAR  YOU" 


CO 


"SEAT  JITTERS"  @ 

Keep  seats  securely  anchored  with 
SUPREME  EXPANSION  BOLTS. 
Sold    by    leading   supply  houses. 

Chicago  Expansion  Bolt  Co. 

2228  W.  Ogden  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 


SIGNS  * 

OF 
LONG 


*Artkraft 
signs  will 
the  war. 


999/1000%  perfect 
be  available  after 


THE  *ARTKRAFT  SIGN  CO. 

.:  LIMA,  OHIO,  U.S. A. 


Built  to  excel  - 
not  just  to  compete 

IDEAL  SEATING  COMPANY 


♦Trademarks  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off. 


'    5END  FOR 

FREE 

CATALOGUE 


14-5  W.  45  ST. 


I  NC  . 

N.Y.  C. 


EETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


17 


IN  TIMES  LIKE  THESE  keeping  your 
equipment  in  tip-top  condition  is 
more  important  than  ever !  Guard 
against  a  dark  house  and  lost  box- 
office  by  calling  on  RCA's  Nation- 
Wide  Service  Organization  for 
periodic  check-ups.  Remember,  it's 
far  better  to  prevent  breakdowns 
than  to  fix  breakdowns  ! 

Only  RCA  Theatre  Service 
Offers  You  All  These  Advantages! 

•  Frequent,  scheduled  check-ups 

•  Prompt  emergency  service 

•  Sound  and  projection  parts 

•  RCA  Magicote  Lens  Service 

•  Laboratory,  engineering  and  manufactur- 
ing coordination 

•  Projection  engineering  service 

•  Acoustic  engineering  service 

•  Emergency  portable  sound  system 

•  Emergency  parts  stocks 


THEATRE 
SERVICE 


PHOTOPHONE  DIVISION 

RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 
A  Service  of  the  Radio  Corporation  of  America 
In  Canada:  RCA  Victor  Company,  Ltd.,  Montreal 


BUY  U.  S.  WAR  BONDS  REGULARLY 


CATALOG  BUREAU— Page  24 


18 


F.  H.  RICHARDSON'S 

COMMENT  on  PROJECTION 


Conservation  No  Excuse 
For  Lowering  Standards 

speaking  from  the  ex- 
perience of  16  years  in  projection,  many 
of  them  spent  in  actually  manning  the 
equipment  in  the  projection  room,  and  even 
more  of  them  as  the  head  of  the  projection 
department  of  a 
large  circuit,  Lester 
B.  Isaac,  supervisor 
of  projection  for 
Loew's,  Inc.,  urged 
the  theatre  business 
to  take  every  meas- 
ure possible  to  con- 
serve film  and  equip- 
ment without  sacri- 
ficing projection 
standards,  in  a  paper 
presented  at  the 
September  meeting 

of  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers' 
Atlantic  Section.  Making  the  principal 
talk  of  the  meeting,  he  discussed  methods 
by  which  theatre  managements  and  pro- 
jectionists can  realize  the  most  from  their 
present  facilities  during  the  war. 

"Those  who  speak  of  General  Mac- 
Arthur,  Pearl  Harbor,  Midway  and  the 
Solomon  Islands  and  make  no  effort  what- 
ever to  do  their  own  bit  in  some  way,  are 
neglecting  their  responsibilities  in  the  most 
critical  time  this  Country  has  even  known," 
said  Mr.  Isaac.  "The  least  we  can  do  is 
to  prove  that  we  are  showmen  and  give 
the  public  the  best  kind  of  performance 
possible  under  the  conditions.  Now  more 
than  ever,  we  should  lead  every  effort  to 
prevent  anything  that  mars  or  interrupts 
the  performance. 

"The  high  standards  which  have  been 


F.  H.  R. 


achieved  in  both  visual  and  sound  projec- 
tion should  be  maintained  even  in  the  face 
of  a  shortage  of  replacement  parts.  In- 
genuity, effort  and  experience  can  accom- 
plish a  great  deal  if  the  will  is  there." 

Pointing  out  the  importance  of  motion 
pictures  on  the  home  front,  he  continued: 
"The  present  high  standing  of  projection  \ 
is  not  an  accident.  It  is  to  a  large  extent 
due  to-  the  tremendous  effort,  assistance, 
sincerity  and  technical  knowledge  which 
has  come  through  the  efforts  of  many  in- 
dividuals and  organizations.  I  wish  it  were 
possible  to  give  credit  to  some  of  the  in- 
dividuals who  have  done  so  much  for  pro- 
jection and  thereby  for  the  motion  picture 
industry  and  the  American  people.  It  is 
also  a  source  of  regret  to  me  that  I  can-  o 
not  mention  the  splendid  accomplishments 
of  some  outstanding  manufacturing  con- 
cerns who  are  also  largely  responsible  for 
important  advances.  Some  of  these  firms 
who  are  engaged  almost  100%  in  war  work 
are  showing  a  fine  spirit  by  continued  and 
helpful  co-operation  with  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry  of  which  they  have  been  an 
important  part  throughout  its  entire  history. 

"There  has  recently  been  considerable 
talk  about  film  conservation.  No  doubt 
something  will  be  done  along  these  lines. 
What  the  method  may  be  and  the  ultimate 
result  no  one  can  say  at  this  time.  Regard- 
less of  anything  else  that  may  be  done, 
if  the  exchanges  and  projectionists  co- 
operate in  the  careful  handling  of  film, 
longer  use  of  each  print  will  result,  thereby 
reducing  the  required  number  of  release 
prints." 

The  necessity  to  conserve  should  not  be 
used,  however,  as  an  excuse  to  lower  pro- 
jection standards,  Mr.  Isaac  asserted.  Ifij 
theatre  managements  and  staffs  do  every-, 
thing  they  can  to  eliminate  waste  and  in 


I 


Among  those  present  at  the  September  meeting  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Section  of  the  Society  of  Motic 
Picture  Engineers,  which  Lester  Isaac,  supervisor  of  projection  for  Loew's  Theatres,  addressed  on  mai 
tenance  of  projection  standards.  Left  to  right:  Harry  Sherman,  past  assistant  IATSE  president;  Jam' 
Frank,  Jr.,  National  Theatre  Supply  Company;  Cecil  Wood,  Sr.,  projection  supervisor  for  U.  S.  Sign 
Corps  stationed  at  Astoria,  L.  I.;  Charles  Muller,  chief  projectionist  of  Radio  City  Music  Hall;  Mr.  Isaa 
Donald  E.  Hyndman,  Eastman  Kodak;  Dr.  Alfred  N.  Goldsmith,  chairman  of  Atlantic  Section;  Wal 
Byrne,  past-president  of  American  Projection  Society;  Morris  Kravitz,  Local  306,  New  York;  Earl  Mori 
theatre  inspector  for  Connecticut;  P.  A.  McGuire,  advertising  manager  of  International  Projector;  ar 
W.  C.  Kunzmann,  National  Carbon  Company. 

A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Hera 


rease  efficiency,  the  aims  of  conservatism, 
e  indicated,  would  be  well  served. 

"Peacetime  procedure  is  not  sufficient 
nder  present  conditions  and  we  hope  that 
theatre  owners  and  managers  will  take  in- 
creased interest  in  projection  and  projec- 
rionists.  Much  can  be  accomplished  by 
collective  effort  and  co-operation.  This  is 
•hot  the  time  for  criticism  of  either  person- 
nel or  equipment.  If  the  equipment  is  out 
of  order,  the  owner  will  be  out  of  luck, 
and  the  projectionist  out  of  a  job  because 
it  will  be  necessary  to  close  down  the  house. 
It  is  no  longer  possible  to  expect  prompt 
service  from  supply  houses.  They  have 
done  a  remarkably 
good  job  in  the  past, 
but  this  is  over  for 
the  present.  Manu- 
facturers will  be 
unable  to  supply 
tew  equipment  or 
f  arts.  American  ini- 
tiative and  self-re- 
liance in  the  pioneer 
days  of  motion  pic- 
tures played  an  out- 
standing part  in 
building  up  the  mo- 
tion picture  indus- 
try and  will  not  fail 

•js  noAv.  System  and  organization  will  of 
rourse  supplement  the  ability  and  effort  of 
:he  individual. 

"One  of  the  outstanding  developments  of 
■die  past  year  has  been  the  appointment  of 
educational  committees  by  IA  local  unions 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  purpose  of  these  committees  is  to  dis- 
cuss technical  problems  of  projectionists,  to 
■be  ready  for  emergencies,  but  most  of  all  to 
crevent  the  closing  down  of  theatres  due  to 
defective  projection  equipment. 

Theatre  owners  and  managers  will  find 
it  greatly  to  their  advantage  to  take  an  in- 


LESTER  B.  ISAAC 


1 


LOEWS  THEATRES 

PROJECTION  DEPARTMENT 

Certificate  of  merit 


Reproduction  of  "Certificate  of  Merit"  given  by 
Lcew's   Theatres    to    deserving    projection  staffs. 

-erest  in  the  proceedings  of  technical  or- 
ganizations in  this  field.   Any  support  given 
to  the  educational  activities  of  IA  locals 
will  prove  highly  profitable  in  many  ways. 
Methods  must  be  found  to  secure  full  co- 
operation.  Theatre  owners  and  projection- 
ists, now  more  than  ever,  have  interests  in 
j=common.    The  current  meaning  of  "The 
^show  must  go  on,"  is  that  equipment  should 
..be  kept  in  order  at  all  times  and  no  effort 
be_spared  to  keep  theatres  open  if  in  the 


power  of  projectionists  and  technical  men 
to  prevent  their  closing. 

"Loew's  theatres  has  always  endeavored 
to  give  projectionists  full  encouragement  in 
their  efforts  to  improve  projection.  A  re- 
cent activity  now  in  successful  operation  is 
the  issuance  of  a  limited  number  of  certifi- 
cates of  merit  presented  to  Loew's  projec- 
tion room  staffs  who  indicate  exceptional 
interest  in  their  work.  These  certificates  of 
merit  are  tangible  evidence  of  the  efforts 
Loew's  has  made  for  many  years  to  raise 
projection  standards.  We  believe  some- 
thing similar  to  this,  at  least  in  spirit,  will 
be  found  of  practical  value  by  all  theatre 
owners." 

Mr.  Isaac  also  pointed  to  the  "control 
system"  used  by  Loew's,  as  a  means  of  keep- 


ing close  check  on  projection  equipment 
maintenance. 

"Prior  to  1940,"  he  explained,  "it  was 
the  policy  of  Loew's  to  repair  projector 
mechanisms  once  a  year,  and  lamps  once 
every  two  years.  The  program  permitted 
projectionists  to  secure  the  best  possible 
screen  presentation  and  at  the  same  time 
kept  film  damage  at  a  minimum.  We  ad- 
hered to  this  policy  for  many  years  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  after  a  reason- 
able period  of  use,  continued  expense  for 
repairs  was  merely  buying  old  equipment 
on  the  installment  plan.  The  cost  of  un- 
necessary damage  to  film  and  the  lack  of 
wisdom  in  continuing  to  repair  old  equip- 
ment are  thoughts  Avhich  should  receive  the 
attention  of  the  motion  picture  industry 


How  to  Keep  PROJECTOR  RECTIFIERS 
IN  SERVICE 


Proper  and  wise  use  and  care  of  projection 
equipment  is  more  important  than  ever  today. 
New  equipment  or  repair  parts  are  limited 
by  wartime  restrictions.  Therefore,  present 
equipment  may  have  to  serve  longer  than  in 
normal  times. 

This  is  true  with  your  rectifier  equipment. 
These  suggestions  are  made  to  help  you  get 
better  and  longer  service  from  projection 
rectifiers. 


For  efficient  operation  and 
long  life,  the  rectifier  should 
be  operated  at  the  rating 
recommended  on  the  recti- 
fier. This  is  extremely 
important!  Check  the  rating 
on  the  nameplate  and  in  no 
case  should  the  current  ex- 
ceed this  rating. 


The  rectifier  should  be 
located  in  a  well-ventilated, 
cool  location.  The  flow  of 
air  through  the  equipment 
should  not  be  restricted  by 
being  placed  close  to  other 
equipment,  or  by  material 
being  placed  on  top  of  the 
rectifier. 


Maintain  the  carbons  and 
other  lamp  projector  equip- 
ment in  proper  operating 
adjustment  so  that  excessive 
voltage  or  current  is  not 
required  from  the  rectifier. 


Inspect  and  lubricate  the 
ventilating  fan  (located  in 
the  bottom  section  of  the 
case)  once  or  twice  a  year. 


To  insure  proper  ventila- 
)  tion  and  cooling,  any  dirt 
and  lint  in  the  rectifier  stacks 
should  be  blown  out  at  least 
once  a  year.  This  mav  be 
done  with  a  blower  or  com- 
pressed air  through  the  top 
of  the  rectifier  assembly. 


For  answers  to  specific  problems,  just  write  to 
Section  A1026-55,  Appliance  and  Merchandise 
Dept.,   General   Electric    Co.,   Bridgeport,  Conn. 


GENERAL  (§)  ELECTRIC 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


19 


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MOTIOGRAPH 
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20 


when  we  return  to  normal  conditions. 
Likewise,  the  advantages  of  a  third  pro- 
jector, or  an  extra  mechanism,  intermittent 
movement  and  spare  parts,  will  receive 
more  attention  in  the  future  than  they  have 
in  the  past. 

"Late  in  1939  we  made  a  survey  of 
equipment  in  Loew's  theatres  and  as  a  re- 
sult set  up  a  program  for  the  replacement 
of  projector  mechanism  and  arc  lamps. 
Prior  to  this  we  had  made  experiments  and 
when  we  were  satisfied  that  the  equipment 
we  had  been  testing  met  all  our  require- 
ments, orders  were  placed.  Now  a  large 
number  of  our  theatres  are  in  a  much  bet- 
ter position  to  maintain  projection  stand- 
ards for  the  duration. 

"On  some  kinds  of  equipment,  we  are, 
however,  no  better  off  than  many  other 
theatres.  We  must  continue  to  practice  the 
same  care  in  order  to  avoid  troubles  caused 
by  present  shortages. 

"It  is  possible  that  others  may  feel  that 
our  standards  are  too  high,  but  they  have 
proved  very  practical  and  highly  profitable. 
It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  us  to  know  that 
we  have  not  had  a  single  fire  due  to  faulty 
equipment.  Film  mutilation  is  practically 
nil  in  our  theatres  and  we  are  definitely 
proud  of  the  results  on  the  screens  of 
Loew's  theatres. 

"It  is  possible  that  many  will  believe  that 
the  things  we  have  done  are  due  to  the  size 
of  our  organization,  great  facilities  and  vast 
expenditures,  but  this  is  an  error.  Each 
Loew  theatre  must  pay  its  way  through 
the  revenue  received  from  its  own  box 
office." 

The  control  system  used  by  Loew's  is 
adaptable,  in  Mr.  Isaac's  expressed  opinion, 
to  small  circuits,  while  its  principles  could 
be  applied  to  most  independent  theatres  of 
moderate  size.  It  consists  in  a  group  of 
reports  and  records  which  give  the  home 
office  a  complete  history  of  every  unit  of 
equipment.  These  forms  Mr.  Isaac  de- 
scribed as  follows : 

1.  Questionnaire  form,  which  gives  a 
complete  history  covering  the  date  the  thea- 
tre opened,  type,  serial  numbers  of  all 
equipment  as  contained  in  the  projection 
room,  together  with  the  size  of  all  wires, 
conduits  and  fuses,  and  a  complete  inven- 
tory of  all  supplies  and  spares. 

2.  A  complete  record  of  all  supplies,  as 
to  type,  quantity  and  date  received. 

3.  A  repair  record  showing  the  exact  date 
each  piece  of  equipment  was  repaired  and 
the  cost  of  same. 

4.  Projectionists  film  reports.  This  form 
is  used  to  provide  a  record  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  film  when  received  at  the  thea- 
tre. It  also  serves  to  indicate  the  condition 
of  the  projectors  in  case  of  damage  to  the 
film  during  its  run  in  any  particular  thea- 
tre, and  prevents  carelessness  and  unneces- 
sary damage  of  film. 

5.  Carbon  consumption  form.  A  weekly 
report  which  also  shows  whether  or  not  the 
illumination  system  is  performing  correctly. 
These  reports  are  averaged  over  a  certain 
number  of  weeks,  and  if  the  equipment  is 
functioning  correctly  and  the  proper  cur- 
rent is  being  used,  the  total  average  will  in- 
dicate right  consumption. 


6.  Monthly  report  of  projectionists.  TL 
report  covers  a  complete  inspection  of  a 
equipment  and  the  projectionists'  opinion  5 
to  its  condition.  These  reports  are  carefull 
checked  and  any  defect  is  immediately  co; 
rected. 

7.  Bulletin  form,  issued  at  intervals 
required,  giving  to  all  theatres  informatio 
to  eliminate  trouble  with  certain  elemen 
of  the  equipment,  or  to  recommend  add 
tional  adjustment  which  has  been  found  t 
improve  the  function  of  the  equipmen 
This  form  is  also  used  to  advise  each  pr< 
jectionist  in  advance  of  any  new  equi 
ment  that  his  theatre  is  scheduled  to  receiv 
or  any  changes  in  supplies,  such  as  carbon 


Safeguards  Against 
Electrical  Failures 


! 


LAST     MONTH  Carl 

Graham,  Canton,  Ohio,  projections 
promised  us  some  "show  saving  tricks."  f 
has  come  through  with  them.    He  write 

"Our  film  amplifiers  are  Western  Elt 
trie,  one  41,  one  42  and  one  43.  'TE'  ty 
rectifiers  are  used  for  the  horn  fields 
filaments  in  the  film  amplifiers  and  the  4 
also  for  the  exciter  lamps. 

"This  equipment  has  been  in  continue 
use  for  almost  fourteen  years.  From  tl 
description  it  is  apparent  that  failure  of  0 
film  amplifier  interrupts  the  show  abc 
every  twenty  minutes;  that  failure  of  eitlj 
one  of  the  'TE'  rectifiers,  or  the  41,  42 
43  amplifiers,  stops  the  show  completely 

"Believe  it  or  not,  I  don't  give  a  hoot 
we  never  get  new  equipment  because  I 
lieve  the  above  system,  which  weighs  si 
eral  hundred  pounds  and  which  has  se\ 
(count  them)  stages  of  amplification,  is  1 
best  theatre  system  ever  made,  especia 
when  compared  with  the  'modern'  ty 
using  three  or  four  stages  and  built  co 
plete  on  a  17  x  7-inch  chassis. 

"However,  as  pointed  out,  it's  gett 
old,  so  just  to  play  safe,  I  have  made 
following  changes,  most  of  which  can  s1 
be  done  by  brothers  working  on  sirni' 
equipment — and  in  spite  of  priorities: 

"Acquire  two  4-foot  lengths  of  sin 
conductor  microphone  cable  and  ins; 
four  Amphenol  female  connectors  on ' 
ends.  Also  buy  one  Amphenol  'dualm; 
connector,  and  two  Amphenol  chassis  c 
nectors.  Drill  tVinch  holes  in  the  fr 
of  each  P.  E.  cell  housing  and  mount  th 
connecting  them  to  the  cell  anodes  v 
unshielded  wire.  Cover  these  conned 
with  metal  caps. 

"A  film  amplifier  fails?  Use  the  di 
male  connector  to  make  an  8-foot  ca' 
parallel  both  cells  and  run  a  continu 
show  on  the  film  amplifier  which  is  w< 
ing,  using  but  one  side  of  the  fader. 

"I  built  a  compact,  four-stage  ampl  :r 
using  two  6F5s  in  the  first  stage,  one  <j§i 
in  the  second  stage,  followed  by  one  d\% 
phase  inverter  driving  push-pull  45s, 
it  does  a  nice  job,  driving  nine  stage  h 
and  the  monitor,  schematics  of  which 
be  mailed  to  any  brothers  sending  a  i'U 
addressed,  stamped  envelope. 

"This  is  where  the  dual-male  conne  or 
is  discarded,   making  two  4-foot  cal  is 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Ht 


which  connect  to  the  two  high-gain,  high- 
impedance  inputs  of  the  spare  amplifier. 
This  takes  care  of  any  funny  ideas  that  the 
kl  and  42  might  get. 

I  "To  take  care  of  things  should  the  43 
amplifier  give  trouble,  I  mounted  a  four- 
Ipole,  double-throw  switch  on  an  unused 
ipanel  under  the  43,  which  instantly  allows 
inr.e  to  isolate  the  43  and  run  on  the  output 


tT 


p  OUTPUT OF 
UM  Amplifier  „* 


Z 


-°  TO  "2O0-A  " 
_q  SPEAKER  PANEL 


O  INPUTOF 
■3-J  Amplifier  oS. 


°  TO  OUTPUTOF 
_5q  45*  AMPLIFIER, 


of  the  42,  which  connects  to  the  '200-A' 
panel.  The  schematic  for  doing  this  is 
enclosed  [see  diagram  above]. 

"Now  about  that  'TE'  horn  field  supply : 
Failure  of  it  can  stop  the  show  cold;  that 
is,  it  could  until  I  installed  a  public  address 
system  backstage  for  use  during  acts.  With 
r  this  possible  trouble  in  mind,  I  equipped  the 
jistage  with  University  'morning  glory'  type 
trumpets  having  permanent  magnet  units, 
called  in  the  electricians,  and  supervised  the 
installation  of  a  pair  of  double-pole,  double- 
.  throw  switches  on  the  switchboard, 
j    "In  one  position,  the  extra  horns  connect 
, to  the  public  address  system;  in  another, 
they  connect  to  the  output  of  the  sound-on- 
-  film  amplifier,  eliminating  the  need  of  any 
.  back-of-the-screen  horns.    We  also  use  this 
.arrangement  before  and  after  each  stage 
show  while  the  stage  is  being  set,  getting 
perfect  sound   instead   of   sound  coming 
3  through  several  drops. 

"This  switch  also  throw's  a  protective 
.,  8-ohm  load  across  the  secondary  of  the  out- 
put transformer  of  the  public  address  am- 
,  plifier  when  the  horns  are  connected  to  the 
film  amplifier,  allowing  it  to  be  heated  and 
,  ready  without  danger  of  damage." 

By  the  "film  amplifiers"  of  course  is 
.  meant  P.  E.  C.  amplifiers  mounted  in  the 
i  soundhead,  taking  their  input  directly  from 
the  photoelectric  cells.  Most  newer  systems 
J  that  have  them  mount  them  on  the  front 
;  wall  instead,  eliminating  vibration  and  oil. 
(     Brother    Graham's    coaxial  cable-and- 
plug-in  gadget  by  which,  if  one  of  the 
photocell  amplifiers  fails,  he  can  plug  the 
[  photocell  of  that  machine  into  the  amplifier 
.  of  the  other  soundhead  and  thus  keep  the 
n  show  running,  is  good  stuff,  though  not 
.  entirely  exclusive  with  Graham. 

He  has  built  an  amplifier  of  his  own  to 
j  serve  in  emergencies,  using  the  cable  to 
,  make  connections,  but  it  is  not  clear  as  to 
(whether  the  scheme  uses  45  tubes  in  Class 
!j  B  and  drives  the  speakers  directly  with  the 
■  emergency  amplifier,  or  whether  it  uses 
j  them  in  Class  A  and  drives  the  43  ampli- 
fier with  the  home-made  job. 

Nor  is  it  explained  whether  the  emer- 
gency amplifier  will  take  care  of  photo- 
,  electric  cell  voltage  supply,  and  whether 
there  are  emergency  provisions  for  exciter 
}  lamp  supply  trouble.     Except   for  these 
matters,  which  may  be  taken  care  of  also, 
L  Brother  Graham  has  certainly  provided  for 
..  almost  every  possible  electrical  failure  and 


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for  the  Army  Air  Corps 

GoldE    Manufacturing  Co. 

1216  W.  Madison  St.,  Chicago 
 J 


ASK  US  ABOUT  ANY 
PARTS  FOR  PROJEC- 
TORS OR  LAMPS  THAT 
ARE  HARD  TO  GET. 

EDW.  H.  WOLK 

1018  S.  Wabash  Ave. 
Chicago,  Illinois 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  11,  1942 


21 


DEPENDABILITY  COUNTS 

In  America's  "All-out"  effort,  dependability 
counts  more  than  ever.  Equipment  is  made  to 
do  double  duty  that  materials  for  essential  war 
work  be  saved.  The  fine  engineering  and  con- 
struction of  STABILARC  are  your  assurance  of 
even  greater  dependability  to  meet  today's  grow- 
ing demands. 

bTABILAPC 

Motor  Generators 


35  -  42  -  60  -  80  VOLT  MULTIPLE 

AUTOMATIC  DEVICES  CO. 

1033   LINDEN   ST.       -       -       ALLENTOWN.  PA. 
Export    Office:   220    W.    42nd    St..    New   York  City 
Also  Manufacturers  of  Allentown  Steel  Curtain  Tracks 
and   Curtain  Machines 


The  WENZEL 

"ACE"  Projector 

proved  in  service  to 
be  one  of  the  most 
popular  projectors 
installed  in  theatres. 

•  Double  Bearing 
Intermittent. 

•  Hardened  and  Groun 
Precision  Sprockets. 

•  One-Piece  Gate-Open 
ing  Device. 

•  Slip-in  Type  Gate. 

If  you  cannot  obtain  Wen- 
zel  "Ace"  Products  from 
your  local  supply  dealer, 
write — - 

Wenzel  Projector  Co 

2505-19  S.  State  Street 
Chicago,  Illinois 

We  make  replacement  parts  for 
all  standard  35'mm.  projectors 


SEAT 


CORP. 


union  city  -  inoiARA 

SIXTH  EDITION-SUPPLEMENTED  WITH 

SOUND  TROUBLE 
SHOOTING  CHARTS 

AND  ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


I  thank  him  for  letting  the  rest  of  us  in  on 
his  tricks. 

A  goodly  number  of  you  men  experiment 
with  equipment  in  your  spare  time,  and 
when  you  have  found  something — some  lit- 
tle gadget  or  trick — which  has  helped  you 
out  of  trouble  or  has  made  your  work  easier 
or  the  show  better,  you  have  usually  sent 
the  idea  along  to  me  for  publication,  thereby 
helping  out,  in  some  instances,  hundreds  of 
your  brother  workers.  Now,  in  these  days, 
when  every  pound  of  metal  counts  and 
every  piece  of  equipment  must  be  cared  for 
until  it  does  at  least  twice  its  own  amount 
of  work  before  being  replaced  by  new  or 
repaired  parts,  such  aid  is  of  great  value. 
So  let's  have  the  dope  on  what  you  con- 
trive. Don't  put  off  sending  it  in  to  "some 
other  day."  Do  it  as  soon  as  you  are  con- 
vinced your  method  is  practicable. 

Emergency  Care 

of  Storage  Batteries 

JOHN  GREGORY  of  Rocky 

Hill,  Conn.,  writes,  "I  have  been  receiving 
frequent  lectures  from  my  boss  on  the 
necessity  of  taking  care  of  what  we  have. 
I  thoroughly  agree  with  said  boss  because 
I  realize  that  what  we  have  will  probably 
have  to  last  a  long,  long  time.  It  is  be- 
cause of  this  I  am  asking  what  may  seem 
to  be  more  or  less  a  fundamental  question 
and  maybe  even  an  obsolete  one  to  some, 
but  I  may  be  overlooking  something  which 
I  should  be  doing,  so  will  you  take  time  out 
and  tell  me  how  to  care  for  my  storage  bat- 
teries?" 

It  might  be  a  good  idea  to  review  a  bit 


on  storage  batteries  since  the  best  of  us 
sometimes  forget  what  we  have  learned 
long  ago.  I  will  not  go  into  the  chemistry  ! 
involved  in  the  action  of  storage  batteries,' 
Test  your  battery  with  a  simple  hydrom- 
eter to  tell  how  far  the  cells  are  exhausted 
and  whether  they  are  in  need  of  recharging. 
The  hydrometer  should  read  from  1,200  tq> 
1,300  for  a  fully  charged  battery. 

The  lead  cells  of  a  storage  battery  must 
be  recharged  long  before  the  sulphuric  acic 
is  all  used  up,  else  the  voltage  of  the  cells' 
declines.  Because  of  the  lead  sulphate 
which  forms  during  discharge  and  which  is 
seldom  disintegrated  during  charging,  the  | 
storage  battery  should  occasionally  be  over 
charged.  I  say  occasionally ;  it  is  most  im 
portant  not  to  overcharge  it  often  or  unin 
tentionally. 

All  charging  boils  out  some  of  the  wate:f 
— a  process  called  "gassing,"  and  gassinji 
loosens  active  material  from  the  plates} 
which  falls  on  the  bottom  of  the  container 
thus  shortening  the  life  of  the  battery 
therefore,  charging  should  consequently  b  : 
limited  to  just  so  much  as  is  necessary  t< 
prevent  accumulation  of  excess  lead  suljj 
phate. 

Manufacturers'   instructions  should  b.[ 
followed  carefully,  but  otherwise  the  cell 
needs  only  external  cleanliness  and  replace, 
ment  of  the  distilled  water  which  has  evai 
orated. 

It  is  necessary  to  keep  the  terminals  cj! 
the  battery  carefully  greased  because  th 
acid  lost  through  gassing,  though  nc 
enough  to  make  a  noticeable  difference  I| 
the  cell,  becomes  a  very  serious  matte 
when  it  collects  on  the  outer  surface ;  grea; 
ing  will  prevent  such  action. 


How  Viewing  Angles  Determine  Fori 


{Continued  from  page  9) 


when  the  natural  ground  conditions  are 
high  at  the  point  farthest  from  the  picture. 

Point  "C"  may  even  be  lowered  if  upper 
levels  of  seating  becomes  relatively  impor- 
tant, because  larger  balconies  and  even  a 
second  upper  tier  is  made  possible  within 
the  vertical  limitations  by  increasing  the 
10-degree  angle  by  only  a  few  more  de- 
grees. While  the  quality  of  the  main  floor 
seating  would  be  only  slightly  affected,  the 
addition  of  both  good  quality  and  ample 
quantity  of  upper  level  seating  would  be 
more  than  compensating.  The  location  of 
this  point  "C"  becomes  the  important  clue 
in  determining  the  type  of  floor  slope  and 
basic  vertical  shape  of  the  auditorium. 

If  point  "C'.'  is  located  where  shown  in 
Figure  2,  and  if  a  staggered  seating  arrange- 
ment is  used,  a  floor  slope  will  develop  very 
closely  approaching  a  flat  floor,  as  compared 
with  the  slope  in  the  average  stage  theatre. 

When  the  question  is  raised  as  to  what 
would  be  the  best  floor  slope,  the  surprising 
answer  would  be  that  no  slope  proves  to  be 
the  best  slope.  A  flat  and  level  floor  would 
be  efficient,  economical  and  safest  for  traffic. 
It  would  make  for  less  complications  in 
locating  exit  openings  and  in  manufacturing 
and  installation  of  auditorium  chairs. 
While  it  is  possible  to  use  an  absolutely  flat 


floor  only  under  special  circumstances, 
is  possible  to  design  the  main  floor  slope 
that  there  is  as  little  as  one-third  the  amoui 
normally  found  in  stage  theatre  design.  ] 
the  stage  theatre,  the  portion  of  the  seatir 
farthest  from  the  stage,  amounting  to  abo 
one-third  of  the  total  seating,  is  usual' 
placed  on  a  slope  so  steep  as  to  require  t 
the  floor  be  broken  up  into  a  series 
stepped  platforms  for  the  seats  to  rest 
The  aisles  could  not  be  similarly  stepp 
because  of  the  hazard  which  would 
Created,  yet  an  additional  hazard  remain 
in  having  to  step  down  from  the  chair  pi 
form  into  the  sloped  aisle.   Such  steepn 
and  stepped  seating  levels  of  the  main  fl 
are  entirely  unnecessary  for  the  motion  p, 
ture  theatre  if  the  basic  viewing  facte! 
shown  in  Figure  2  are  taken  advantage  | 

Another  hazard  which  is  eliminated 
this  procedure  is  that  of  the  intermedin 
small  steppings  found  in  the  stage  theaif 
balconies,   to  negotiate  the  difference 
seating  level  platforms.    Proper  balcoj' 
design  within  the  framework  shown  i 
Figure  2  reduces  balcony  pitches,  elimin  [• 
ing  the  need  for  the  intermediate  stej. 
These  steps  are  extra-hazardous  becai': 
they  destroy  the  rhythm  of  the  stair  clin 
ing  by  creating  alternate  stair  tread  widt 


22 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her 


I 


-  The  Victory  theatre  has  been  opened  at 
Benicia,  Cal.,  with  James  Lemas  manager. 

Lee  and  Walter  Nortox  of  Columbia, 
111.,  owners  of  the  300-seat  Norton  theatre 
there,  have  sold  it  to  Charles  Gold>lax 
Df  St.  Louis,  and  Tommy  Tobix  of  East 
pt.  Louis,  111.  Walter  Norton  is  now 
serving  with  the  armed  forces  abroad,  and 
Lee  is  about  to  join  the  Army.  The 
orothers  also  own  the  Norton  theatre  in 
Mascoutah,  111.,  and  have  an  interest  in 
the  Dupo  in  Dupo,  111. 

jj  Bex  Levixe  has  leased  the  490-seat 
Strand  in  Wallingford,  Conn.,  closed  for 
;Beveral  years.  The  house  was  leased  until 
last  Spring  by  George  Wilkixsox,  op- 
erator of  the  1,200-seat  Wilkinson  there. 

W.  D.  Fultox  has  purchased  the 
Mecca  theatre  in  Los  Angeles  from  I.  E. 
Coltox  and  P.  J.  Greexbaum. 

A.  A  Ward  of  the  Altec-Lansing  Cor- 
Doration.  Los  Angeles,  has  been  in  New 
J/5fork  for  conferences  with   Altec  home 
office  executives.  • 

Fred  Mixdlix  is  the  new  manager  of 
Wie  Vic  theatre.  Chicago,  which  is  operated 
by  the  Essaness  circuit. 

Safecrackers  effected  an  entrance  into 
the  Temple  theatre,  Temple  City,  Cal.. 
□lew  the  safe  and  made  away  with  5667. 

j   Aarox  Goldberg,  dean  of  exhibitors  in 
-San  Francisco,  and  owner  of  a  group  of 
intimate  downtown  theatres,  died  recently 
at   Mary's  Help 
Hospital  there.  He 
had  suffered  a  heart 
attack.    WTiile  but 
61  years  of  age  at 
the    time    of  his 
death,    Mr.  Gold- 
berg was  a  pioneer 
in  the  motion  pic- 
ture business.  His 
first   house,  the 
Peerless  theatre  on 
Third    street,  was 
opened  in  1912,  one 
of  the  first  to  be 
-rected  in  San  Francisco  for  the  exclusive 
showing  of  films.    It  is  still  in  operation. 
Last  June  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  the 
opening  of  the  Peerless  theatre  was  cele- 
brated with  a  banquet  for  employes  and 
Jpen  house  for  friends.    War  bonds  were 
-presented  to  all  employes  who  had  been 
.with  him  a  year  or  longer. 


AARON  GOLDBERG 


E.  G.  Meyer,  owner  of  the  400-seat 
Royal  theatre  at  Valmeyer,  111.,  plans  to 
sell  or  lease  his  house  preparatory  to  going 
into  the  Army. 

The  Moodus  theatre  and  the  East 
Hampton  theatre,  Moodus,  Conn.,  have  re- 
duced schedules  to  tour-a-week  for  the 
winter. 

Oscar  Kushxer,  owner  of  the  Holly- 
wood theatre,  Indianapolis,  has  purchased 
the  Tacoma  theatre  there  from  the  Tamler 
group,  operators  of  a  circuit  of  neighbor- 
hood houses. 

The  S.  A.  and  S.  Company,  Inc..  newly 
incorporated  in  Connecticut,  has  acquired 
the  500-seat  Astor  theatre  building.  East 
Hartford.  Lot"  Axger  will  continue  to 
operate  the  house  under  lease.  The  incor- 
porators, former  operators  of  three  theatres 
in  Middletown.  Conn.,  that  are  now  op- 


erated by  Morris  Pouzzxer,  are  Salva- 
tore  Saracexo.  Axgelixa  Saracexo 
and  Salvatore  Adorxo. 

T.  B.  Noble,  Jr.,  has  reopened  the  State 
theatre  in  Oklahoma  City,  after  remodeling 
and  redecorating. 

Harry  E.  Fraxklix  has  been  made 
general  manager  of  Aaron  Goldberg  Thea- 
tres. San  Francisco,  carrying  on  the  work 
of  the  late  Aaron  Goldberg. 

The  600-seat  Tremont.  Ansonia.  Conn., 
a  Warner  house,  has  reopened  with  Paul 
Meade,  assistant  at  the  Capitol  in  An- 
sonia, taking  charge. 

The  Harris  Grand  theatre.  Blooming- 
ton,  Ind.,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  last 
summer,  will  be  rebuilt,  according  to  an 
announcement  by  the  management.  About 
515,000  will  be  spent  in  the  reconstruction 


ACTION 

He  is  Ready! 


When  your  projection  room 
machinery  doesn't  move,  your 
theatre's  job  in  the  win-the-war 
effort  is  in  danger.  Protect  the 
equipment  in  your  projection 
room  against  the  needless 
waste  that  stops  the  wheels: 
take  advantage  of  what  Altec 
Service  knows  about  conser- 
vation. Scve  vital  materials 
for  the  war  effort,  protect  your 
theatre:  call  in  the  Altec  Serv- 
ice man— he  is  ready  for  action 
now! 


B333EBEEEHSEEEEE1 

250  West  57th  Street 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


oui  mow-how  •  •  am  mow-why  . .  aee  youj  faithful  ally 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1941 


» 


CATALOG  BUREAU 

Authentic  Information  on  equipment,  furnishings  and  materials  will  be  sent 
theatre  executives,  architects  and  projectionists  indicating  their  interests  in 
the  coupon  below.  Refer  to  item  by  number  from  following  list  whenever  pos- 
sible;  otherwise  explain   in   the   space   indicated   for   numbers   in   the  coupon. 


ADVERTISING 

101 —  Advertising  projectors 

102 —  Cutout  devices 

103 —  Display  frames 

104 —  Flashers 

105 —  Lamps,  incand.  reflector 

106 —  Lamps,  incand.  flood 

107 —  Letters,  changeable 

108 —  Marquees 

109 —  Reflectors,  roundel  type 

110 —  Signs,  theatre  name 
1 1  I — Neon  transformers 

AIR  SUPPLY 

201 —  Air  Cleaners,  electrical 

202 —  Ait  washers 

203—  Blowers  &  fans 

204 —  Coils  (heat  transfer) 

205 —  Compressors 

206 —  Control  equipment 

207 —  Cooling  towers 

208—  Diffusers 

209—  Filters 

210 —  Furnaces  &  boilers 

211 —  Grilles,  ornamental 

212 —  Heaters,  gas  unit 

213 —  Humidifiers 

214 —  Insulation 

215 —  Motors 

2 1 6 —  Oil  burners 

2 1 7 —  Ozone  generators 

218—  Radiators 

219—  Stokers 

220 —  Temperature  indicators 

221 —  Well  water  pumps 

ARCHIT'RE  &  DECORATION 

301 —  Decorating  service 

302 —  Drapes 

303 —  Fabric,  wall 

304 —  Fibre  boards  &  tiles 

305—  Glass  blocks  &  tiles 

306 —  Glass  murals 

307 —  Leatherette  for  walls 

308 —  Luminescent  paints 

309 —  Mirrors 

310 —  Paint,  lacquers,  etc. 

311 —  Porcelain  enamel 

312 —  Roofing 

3 1 3 —  Terrazzo 

314 —  Wood  veneer 

GENERAL  MAINTENANCE 

401 —  Brooms  &  brushes 

402 —  Carpet  shampoo 

403 —  Cleaning  compounds 

404 —  Detergents 

405 —  Disinfectants 

406 —  Gum  remover 

407 —  Ladders,  safety 

408 —  Perfumes 

409—  Polishes 

410 —  Sand  urns 


41  I — Snow  melting  crystals 

412 —  Soap,  liquid 

413 —  Vacuum  cleaners 

FLOOR  COVERINGS 

501—  Asphalt  tile 

502 —  Carpeting 

503 —  Carpet,  fluorescent 

504 —  Carpet  lining 

505 —  Concrete  paint 

506 —  Linoleum 

507—  Mats,  rubber 

LIGHTING 

601 —  Black-light  equipment 

602 —  Cove  strips  &  reflectors 

603 —  Dimmers 

604 —  Downlighting  equipment 

605 —  Fluorescent  lamps 

606—  Lumiline  lamps 

607 —  Luminaires 

(See  also  Advertising,  Stage) 

LOUNGE  FURNISHINGS 

701—  Ash  trays 

702 —  Chairs,  sofas,  tables 

703 —  Cosmetic  tables,  chain 

704 —  Mirrors 

705—  Statuary 

OFFICE 

801 —  Accounting  systems 

802 —  Communicating  systems 

PROJECTION 

901 —  Acoustic  materials 

902 —  Acoustic  service 

903 —  Amplifiers 

904 —  Amplifier  tubes 

905 —  Cabinets,  accessory 

906—  Cabinets,  carbon 

907—  Cabinets,  film 

908 —  Changeovers 

909 —  Condenser  lenses 

910 —  Effect  projectors 

91 1 —  Exciter  lamps 

912 —  Fire  extinguishers 

913—  Fire  shutters 

914—  Hearing  aids 

915 —  Lamps,  projection  arc 

9 1 6 —  Microphones 

917 —  Mirror  guards 

9 1 8 —  Motor-generators 

919 —  Photoelectric  cells 

920 —  Projectors,  standard 

921 —  Projectors,  16-mm. 

922 —  Projector  parts 

923 —  Projection,  rear 

924 —  Public  address  systems 

925 —  Rectifiers 

926 —  Reel  end  alarms 

927—  Reels 


928 —  Reflectors  (arc) 

929 —  Renovators,  film 

930 —  Rewinders 

931—  Rheostats 

932 —  Safety  devices,  projector 

933 —  Screens 

934 —  Speakers  &  horns 

935 —  Splicers 

936—  Soundheads 

937 —  Stereopticons 

938— Tables 

939 —  Voltages  regulators 

940 —  Waste  cans,  self-closing 

SEATING 

1001—  Ash  trays  (chair  back) 

1002—  Chairs 

1003 —  Chair  covers 

1004—  — Chair  refinishing 

1005 —  Expansion  bolts 

1 006 —  Fastening  cement 

1007 —  Latex  cushions 

1008—  Upholstering  fabrics 

SERVICE  &  TRAFFIC 
I  101 — Directional  signs 

1102 —  Drinking  cups 

1103 —  Drinking  fountains 
I  104 — Uniforms 

STAGE 

1201 —  Curtains  &  drapes 

1202 —  Curtain  controls 

1203 —  Curtain  tracks 

1204 —  Lighting  equipment 

1205 —  Rigging  &  hardware 

1 206 —  Scenery 

1207—  Switchboards 

TICKET  SALES 

1301—  Box  offices 

1 302 —  Changemakers 

1303 —  Signs,  price 

1304 —  Speaking  tubes 

1305— Tickets 

1 306—  Ticket  choppers 

1307—  Ticket  holders 

1 308 —  Ticket  registers 

TOILET 

1401—  Fixtures 

1402 —  Paper  dispensers 

1403—  Paper  towels 

1404 —  Soap  dispensers 
(See  also  Maintenance) 

VENDING 

1501 —  Beverage  Dispensers 

1502 —  Candy  counters 

1503 —  Candy  machines 

1504 —  Popcorn  machines 

1505 —  Phonographs,  automatic 


BETTER  THEATRES  CATALOG  BUREAU  COUPON 

Mail  to  Better  Theatres.  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York.   Write  in  numbers. 


Name  .  . 
Address 


Theatre 


of  the  building,  a  large  brick  structure 
The  Government  has  approved  use  of  ma 
terials  necessary. 


Fox  West  Coast  Theatres  will  transform 
a  building  at  MacDonald  Avenue  and  14th 
Street,  Richmond,  Cal.,  into  a  theatre. 

Jim  Feeney,  assistant  manager  of  the 
Penn  theatre,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  has  been1 
appointed  assistant  manager  of  the  Comer 
ford  theatre  there. 

Red  warning  lights  are  being  installec 
in  the  three  theatres  in  Nanticoke,  Pa.,  thi 
State,  Rex  and  Family,  to  assist  air  raic 
wardens.  When  an  air  raid  alarm  is  sound 
ed  the  lights  will  flicker,  giving  auxiliary 
police  and  firemen  and  wardens  warning 
that  an  air  raid  is  threatened. 


H.  J.  Chanon,  General  Electric  Com 
pany  lighting  engineer  who  has  been 
prominent  figure  in  the  field  of  theatre  il 
lumination,  has  beer 


24 


transferred  f  r  o  n 
Nela  Park,  Cleve, 
land,  to  the  com 
pany's  Pacific  Coa&! 
division  in  Los  An 
geles.  On  the  Coas, 
Mr.  Chanon  wit 
devote  part  of  hi 
time  to  increasin 
plant  efficiency 
the  aircraft  industr 
H.  J.  CHANON  through  improve 

lighting  system 
and  part  to  lighting  problems  associate 
with  wartime  motion  picture  productioi 
He  is  well  known  in  the  theatre  field  fc| 
his  writings  on  various  phases  of  theati 
illumination,  and  especially  for  his  origin 
work  on  the  application  of  "black  light" 
theatre  decoration. 

Recent  Wisconsin  theatre  changes  il 
elude  the  Chilton  at  Chilton,  which  h 
been  acquired  from  John  Steenport 
Miss  Lucille  Forbes  of  Merrill  ar 
Tom  Hill  of  Sauk  City,  who  will  mana;  j 
the  house.  Miss  Forbes  also  operates  the: 
tres  in  Prairie  du  Sac  and  Spring  Gree  I 
At  Ashland,  H.  G.  Bearman  of  Minn 
apolis,  has  taken  over  the  Majestic  froj 
A.  L.  Latts. 

Frank  T.  Welter,  operator  of  t 
Grand  and  Wausau  theatres  in  Wausaj 
Wis.,  has  reopened  his  modernized  Ritj 
A  contest  is  being  staged  for  a  new  nar 
for  the  house,  with  a  $25  war  bond  as  fi.i 
prize,  a  year's  pass  as  second  prize,  andf 
six-month  pass  as  third  prize. 


E.  C.  Boles,  who  operates  the  Meet 
theatre  at  Central  Valley,  on  the  Shaiji 
Dam  site,  near  Redding,  Cal.,  has  open! 
the  Pit  theatre  at  the  site  of  a  Pacific  C|s 
and  Electric  power  project  on  the  lit 
River. 

Leland  S.  Murphy  of  the  Guenl- 
ville  theatre,   Guerneville,   Cal.,  has 
stalled  new  sound  equipment. 

A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Herd 


MANUFACTURERS  and  DEALERS 

Revised  Listings  of  The  Buyers  Index,  Naming  Manufacturers  of  Theatre  Equipment,  Fur- 
nishings and  Supplies  by  Product  Classification,  and  Territorial  Supply  Dealers  by  States 


Wartime  Buying 
:or  the  Theatre 

{Continued  from  page  7) 

1 

lore  cases  than  previously  for  the  exhibi- 
m  to  obtain  loan  service  equipment  from 
lis  dealer  to  use  during  this  period, 
i  In  such  cases  remember  there  is  a  war 
"in.  Your  dealer  cannot  possibly  anticipate 
ivery  part  of  the  projection  and  sound 
equipment  that  can  go  wrong,  and  even  if 
«  could,  the  War  Production  Board  would 
St  allow  him  to  carry  such  a  large 
ventorv. 


MANUFACTURERS  &  SERVICES 

Listed  alphabetically  according  to  classification  of  product 


CREENS 

Motion  picture  screens  use  little  that  is 
ritical  and  dealers  can  keep  up  on  de- 
Jveries.    You  can  still  replace  your  screen 
Hien  it  needs  to  be  replaced — and  more 
ttention  should  be  given  screens  today  be- 
'rase  the  highest  level  of  efficiency  possible 
needed  with  the  use  of  Victory  carbons 
i  some  trims  characterized  by  some  re- 
liction in  light  at  the  source.    You  can 
'nake  up  for  this  difference  in  light  by  put- 
ling  in  a  new  screen  sooner  than  you 
ormally  would. 

HAIRS 

By  and  large  the  theatre  seating  industry 
is  had  to  shut  down  because  the  steel  is 
2eded  for  the  war  effort.  Even  the  lines 
1  Victory  chairs  which  several  manufac- 
turers announced  could  not  be  kept  in 
'  anufacture  because  they  required  too 
^uch  steel.  There  may  be  some  left  in 
'iventories,  but  you  should  really  not  count 
h  being  able  to  replace  your  chairs  until 
iie  war  is  over.  Make  every  effort  to  keep 
jiem  in  condition  by  close  and  prompt  at- 
|  ntion  to  repairs.  It  is  not  likely  that  your 
:  saler  will  have  repair  parts  for  chairs,  so 
!  hen  they  are  needed  you  should  promptly 
jfe  a  PD-1A  application  for  preference 
^iting  as  this  will  unquestionably  expedite 
'^livery  from  the  factory  on  the  metal 
&arts  you  need. 


RNISHINCS 


All  wool  carpets  are  seriously  curtailed, 
it  most  manufacturers  have  developed 
:  ivon-and-wool  mixtures  which  rival  wool 
w  appearance  and  wearing  qualities.  You 
m  not  have  to  let  your  theatre  get  shabby 
fi  appearance  or  allow  hazardous  condi- 
?ons  to  exist  on  your  stairways,  because 
iu  can  still  get  theatre  carpet  in  beautiful 
itterns  and  colors  to  suit  your  require- 
ii  ents. 

;  Metal  tubular  furniture  can  no  longer 
;  manufactured,  but  some  limited  stocks 


ACCOUNTING  SYSTEMS 

Easy  Method  Ledger  System,  Seymour,  Indiana. 
Quigley  Bookshop,  Rockefeller  Center.  New  York  City. 


ACOUSTICAL   PRODUCTS   &  ENGINEERING 

Altec  Service  Corp.,  250  W.  57th  St.,  New  York  City 
(acoustic  counsel  only). 

Armstrong  Cork  Co.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

The  Celotex  Company,  120  S.  LaSalle  Street,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Certain-Teed  Products  Corp.,  100  E.  42nd  Street,  New 
York  City. 

Electrical  Research  Products,  Inc.,  195  Broadway 
New  York  City  (acoustic  counsel  only). 

The  Insulite  Company,  1100  Builders  Exchange,  Min- 
neapolis, Minn. 

Johns-Manville  International  Corporation,  22  East  40th 
Street,  New  York  City. 


are  available  in  distributors'  and  dealers' 
inventories.  Wood  furniture  of  standard 
styles  is  still  available,  but  with  more 
limited  selection  of  types  and  colors.  The 
amount  of  steel  that  could  be  used  for 
spring  units  and  fastening  parts  in  wood 
furniture  has  been  drastically  curtailed.  In 
this  also,  conservation  and  maintenance  of 
what  you  have  should  be  the  order  of  the 
day. 

CURTAIN  CONTROLS  AND  TRACK 

A  substantial  stock  of  this  equipment  still 
exists  in  manufacturers'  and  dealers'  inven- 
tories. Manufacture,  however,  has  been 
suspended. 

RUBBER  MATS 

Take  the  best  care  possible  of  the  mats 
you  now  have.  Production  today  is  limited, 
with  a  very  narrow  selection  of  colors. 
When  your  present  matting  is  worn  beyond 
use  you  should  not  try  to  re-cover  your 
whole  lobby  if  it  is  now  covered  with  mats. 
Reduce  the  area  to  the  portion  of  your 
entrance  receiving  the  bulk  of  your  in- 
coming patrons.  Rubber  matting  should 
be  used  in  times  like  these  for  scraping 
dirt,  water  and  grime  off  patrons'  shoes  so 
as  to  reduce  interior  deterioration,  not  for 
decorative  purposes!  There  simply  will 
not  be  rubber  for  more  than  minimum 
requirements. 

VENTILATING  EQUIPMENT 

The  manufacture  and  fabrication  of 
blowers,  washers,  refrigerating  units,  etc., 
has  been  stopped.  You  should  make  every 
effort  to  keep  your  present  equipment  in 
good  working  order  by  careful  attention 
to  lubrication,  adjustment  and  operating 
instructions  (see  "Ways  and  Means"  de- 
partment, page  14). 


Keasbey  and  Mattison  Company,  Ambler,  Pa. 
Kimberly-Clark      Corporation,      Insulation  Division, 
Neenah,  Wis. 

National  Gypsum  Company,  420  Lexington  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 
United    States    Gypsum    Company,    300    W.  Adams 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 


AIR-CONDITIONING  AND  VENTILATING 

American   Blower    Corporation,   6004   Russell  Street, 

Detroit,  Mich. 
Baker  Ice  Machine  Company,  3601   No.   16th  Street, 

Omaha,  Nebr. 
The  Ballantyne  Company,  222  N.  16th  Street,  Omaha, 

Nebr. 

Carrier  Corporation,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Frigidaire  Division,  General  Motors  Sales  Corporation, 
300  Taylor  Street,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

General  Electric  Company,  5  Lawrence  Street,  Bloom- 
field,  N.  J. 

General  Refrigeration  Corporation,  Shirland  Avenue, 
Beloit,  Wis. 

McQuay,  Inc.,  1614  Broadway,  N.  E.,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

Reynolds  Manufacturing  Company,  412  Prospect  Ave- 
nue, N.  E.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Taylor  Air  Conditioning  Company,  4000  S.  Division 
Street,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

United  States  Air  Conditioning  Corporation,  North- 
west Terminal,  Minneapolis.  Minn. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
Mansfield,  O. 

Worthington  Pump  and  Machinery  Corporation,  Car- 

bondale  Division,  Harrison,  N.  J. 
York  Ice  Machinery  Corporation,  York,  Pa. 


AMPLIFYING  TUBES 

General  Electric  Company,  1  River  Road,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y. 

Motiograph,  Inc.,  4431  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago,  111. 
National  Union  Radio  Corporation,  57  State  Street, 

Newark,  N.  J. 
RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 
Raytheon  Manufacturing  Company,  177  Willow  Street, 

Waltham,  Mass. 


AMPLIFIERS 

Altec-Lansing    Corporation,    6900    McKinley  Avenue, 

Los  Angeles,  Calif. 
The    Ballantyne    Company,    222    North    16th  Street, 

Omaha,  Nebr. 
DeVry  Corporation,  1111  Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 

[11. 

International  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  Street, 
New  York  City. 

The  Lincrophone  Company,  Inc.,  1661  Howard  Ave- 
nue, Utica,  N.  Y. 

Motiograph,  Inc.,  4431  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

Pacent  Engineering  Corporation.  79  Madison  Avenue, 
New  York  City. 

RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Photophone  Di- 
vision, Camden,  N.  J. 

S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corp.,  449  West  42nd  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Western  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  York 
City. 


ANCHORS  FOR  CHAIRS 

Chicago  Expansion  Bolt  Company,  2240  West  Ogden 
Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 


ARCHITECTURAL  MATERIALS  AND 
DESIGN  SERVICE 

Armstrong  Cork  Company.  Lancaster,  Pa. 
The  Artkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima.  Ohio. 
The    Celotex    Corporation,    120    S.    LaSalle  Street, 
Chicago.  111. 

Colonial  Sales  Corporation,  928  Broadway,  New  York 
City. 


ETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


25 


Columbus  Coated  Fabrics  Corporation,  Columbus,  O. 

Davidson  Enamel  Products  Company,  450  E.  Kibby 
Street,  Lima,  Ohio. 

De-Fi  Manufacturing  Company,  17  North  Wabash 
Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Di-Noc  Company,  1700  London  Rd.,  Cleveland,  O. 

F  &  Y  Building  Service,  328  E.  Town  Street,  Colum- 
bus, Ohio. 

The  Formica  Insulation  Company,  4620  Spring  Grove 
Avenue,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

General  Electric  Company,  Lynn,  Mass. 

The  Kawneer  Company,  3203  Front  Street,  Niles,  Mich. 

Libbey-Owens-Ford  Glass  Company,  Vitrolite  Division, 
Nicholas  Building,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Marsh  Wall  Products,   Inc.,  Dover,  O. 

Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company,  2200  Grant  Build- 
ing, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

United  States  Gypsum  Company,  300  W.  Adams  Street, 
Chicago,  111. 

United  States  Plywood  Company,  103  Park  Avenue, 
New  York  City. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Mfg.  Company,  East  Pitts- 
burgh. Pa 

Wood  Conversion  Company,  1981  W.  First  National 
Bank  Building,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 


BATTERIES,  STORAGE 

Electric  Storage  Battery  Company,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 
Westinghouse    Electric    &    Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


"BLACK  LIGHT"  MATERIALS 
AND  LIGHTING  EQUIPMENT 

Black  Ray  Lighting  Corporation,  104 IS  St.  Clair  Ave- 
nue, Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Continental  Lithograph  Corporation,  952  East  72nd 
Street,  Cleveland,  O. 

The  Di-Noc  Company,  1700  London  Rd.,  Cleveland,  O. 

General  Electric  Company,  Lamp  Dept.,  Nela  Park, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214-22  W.  Madison 
Street,  Chicago,  111. 

Keese  Engineering  Company,  7380  Santa  Monica 
Boulevard,  Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

Kliegl  Bros.,  321  W.  50th  Street,  New  York  City. 

The  Stroblite  Company,  35  West  52nd  Street,  New 
York  City  (Lacquers). 


BOX  OFFICES 

The  Artkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima,  Ohio. 

The  Formica  Insulation  Company,  4620  Spring  Grove 

Avenue,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
The  Kawneer  Company,  Niles,  Mich. 
Libbey-Owens-Ford    Glass    Company,    1310  Nicholas 

Building,  Toledo,  Ohio. 
Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company,  2200  Grant  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


CABINETS,  FOR  FILM  AND  CARBONS 

GoldE  Manufacturing  Company  1214-22  W.  Madison 

Street,  Chicago,  HI. 
Neumade  Products  Corporation,  427  W.  42nd  Street. 

New  York  City. 
Wenzel  Projector  Company,  2509  South  State  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 

Edw.  H.  Wolk,  1018  South  Wabash  Avenue.  Chicago. 
111. 


CARBONS,  PROJECTION 

National  Carbon  Company,  Inc.,  Carbon  Sales  Division, 
P.  O.  Box  6087,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


CARBON  SAVERS 

Best  Devices  Company,  10516  Western  Avenue,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

Droll  Theatre  Supply  Company,  351  E.  Ohio  Street, 
Chicago,  111. 

The    GoldE    Manufacturing    Company,    1214-22  W. 

Madison   Street,   Chicago,  111. 
S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 

Street,  New  York  City. 
Wenzel  Projector  Company,  2509  South  State  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 

Edw.  H.  Wolk,  1018  S.  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago,  IH 


CARPETING 

Bigelow-Sanford  Carpet  Company,  Inc.,  140  Madison 

Avenue,  New  York  City. 
L.  C.  Chase  &  Company,  295  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 

City. 

Charles  P.  Cochrane  Company,  Montgomery  County, 

Bridgeport,  Pa. 
A.  &  M.  Karagheusian,  Inc.,  295  Fifth  Avenue,  New 

York  City. 

Thomas  L.  Leedom  Company,  Bristol,  Pa. 
Mohawk  Carpet  Mills,  Inc.,  Amsterdam,  N.  Y. 
Alexander  Smith  &  Sons  Carpet  Company,  295  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York  City. 


CARPET  LINING 

Bigelow-Sanford  Carpet  Company,  Inc.,  140  Madison 

Avenue.  New  York  City. 
Clinton  Carpet  Company,  Merchandise  Mart,  Chicago, 

HI. 

E.  I.  du  Pont  de  Nemours  Company,  Fairfield,  Conn. 
Alexander  Smith  &  Sons  Carpet  Company,  295  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York  City. 


CHAIR  FASTENING  CEMENT 

Fensin  Seating  Company,  62  East  13th  Street,  Chicago, 
111. 


CHAIR  CUSHIONS  OF  FOAMED  LATEX 

Dunlop    Tire    &    Rubber    Corporation  "Dunlopillo" 

Division,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Firestone  Airtex  Division,  Firestone  Company,  Akron, 

Ohio. 

B.  F.  Goodrich  Company,  Akron,  Ohio. 
Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Company,  Akron,  Ohio. 
U.    S.    Rubber    Company,    Foam    Sponge  Division, 
Mishawaka,  Ind. 


CHAIRS,  AUDITORIUM 

Air-Loc  Seat  Industries,  Inc.,  33  Holden  Street,  Min- 
neapolis, Minn. 

American  Seating  Company,  901  Broadway,  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich. 

Fensin  Seating  Company,  62  East  13th  Street,  Chicago, 
111. 

The  General  Chair  Company,  2035  Charleston  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 
Heywood-Wakefield  Company,  Gardner,  Mass. 
Ideal  Seating  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
International  Seat  Corporation,  Union  City,  Ind. 
Irwin  Seating  Company,  Waters  Building,  159  Ottawa 

Avenue,  South  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
Kroehler  Manufacturing  Company,  Naperville,  111. 
The  Peabody   Seating   Company,   North  Manchester, 

Ind. 


CHANGE  MAKERS 

Brandt  Automatic  Cashier  Company,  Watertown,  Wis. 
GoldE  Manufacturnig  Company,  1214-22  W.  Madison 
Street,  Chicago,  111. 

CHANGEOVERS  AND  CUEING  DEVICES 

The  Armstrong  Company,  1448  Ninth  Street,  Charles- 
ton, 111. 

Clint  Phare  Products,  282  E.  214th  Street,  Euclid,  O. 
Dowser  Manufacturing   Company,   114   Green  Street, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Emaus  Manufacturing  Company,  638  Sinclair  Avenue, 

N.  E.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
Forest  Manufacturing  Corporation,  200  Mt.  Pleasant 

Avenue,  Newark,  N.  J. 
GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214-22  W.  Madison 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
International  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  Street. 

New  York  City. 
Wenzel  Protector  Company,  2509  South  State  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 


CLEANING  MATERIALS  AND  IMPLEMENTS 

Bigelow-Sanford  Carpet  Company,  140  Madison  Ave- 
nue, New  York  City. 

Carbona  Products  Company,  302-304  W.  26th  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Solvay  Sales  Corporation,  42  Rector  Street,  New  York 
City. 

State  Sanitary  Products  Company,  630  Ninth  Avenue, 
New  York  City. 


CLEANING  MECHANISMS 

General    Electric    Company,    1285    Boston  Avenue. 

Bridgeport,  Conn. 
National  Super  Service  Company,  1946  N.  13th  Street, 

Toledo,  Ohio. 
Spencer  Turbine  Company,  Hartford,  Conn. 


CONDENSERS  (LENSES) 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company,  652  St.  Paul  Street, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Matisse  Bros.,  385  Gerard  Avenue,  New  York  City. 
Projection  Optics  Company,  Inc.,  330  Lyell  Avenue, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 


CUPS,  SANITARY.  FOR  DRINKING 

Dixie  Vortex   Company,   Easton,  Pa. 
Lily-Tulip    Cup    Corporation,    Chanin    Building,  New 
York  City. 

CURTAIN  CONTROL 

Automatic  Devices  Company,  1035  Linden  Street, 
Allentown,  Pa. 

J.  R.  Clancy,  Inc.,  1010  West  Belden  Avenue,  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y. 

Emaus  Manufacturing  Company,  638  Sinclair  Avenue, 

N.  E.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
G.   O.   Kahler   Enterprises,   134  Tudor   Street,  South 

Boston,  Mass. 
Vallen,  Inc.,  225  Bluff  Street,  Akron,  Ohio. 


CURTAINS  AND  STAGE  DRAPES 

Dazians,  Inc.,  142  W.  44th  Street,  New  York  City. 
Maharam   Fabric   Corporation,   130  W.   46th  Street, 

New  York  City. 
H.  D.  Mendelsohn  Company,  105  E.  29th  Street,  New 

York  City. 

• 

DEODORANTS  AND  PERFUMES 

Lyndon  Products  Corporation,  Norwalk,  Conn. 
West  Disinfecting  Company,  42-16  Barn  Street,  Long 
Island  City,  N.  Y. 


DIMMERS 

Frank  Adam  Electric  Company,  3650  Windsor  Place, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Cutler-Hammer,  Inc.,  315  N.  12th  Street,  Milwaukee, 

Wis. 

General  Electric  Company,  1  River  Road,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y. 

Hub  Electrical  Corporation.  2227  West  Grand  Avenue, 
Chicago,  111. 

Ward-Leonard    Electric    Company,   31    South  Street, 

Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y. 
Westinghouse    Electric    &    Manufacturing  Company, 

East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Wm.  Wurdack  Electric  Manufacturing  Company,  444'l 

Clayton  Avenue,  St.  Louis.  Mo. 


DISPLAY  FRAMES,  POSTER 

The  Artkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima,  Ohio. 
Colonial  Sales  Corporation,  928  Broadway,  New  Yorl 
City. 

De-Fi    Manufacturing    Company,    17    North  Wabasl 

Avenue.  Chicago,  111. 
Metal   Goods  Corporation,  5239   Brown  Avenue,  St 

Louis,  Mo. 


EXPLOITATION  MECHANISMS 


Best  Devices  Company,  10516  Western  Avenue,  Cleve  j 
land,  Ohio. 

GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214  West  Madisoi  j 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
International  Register  Company,  2620  West  Washing 

ton  Street,  Chicago,  111. 
F.  D.  Kees  Mfg.  Co.,  P.  O.  Box  105,  Beatrice,  Nebr 
Weber  Machine  Corporation,  59  Rutter  Street,  Roches 

ter,  N.  Y. 


FIRE  EXTINGUISHERS 


Neumade  Products  Corporation,  427  W.  42nd  Street 

New  York  City. 
Pyrene  Manufacturing  Company,  560  Belmont  Avenu 

Newark,  N.  J. 


FIRE  PREVENTION  DEVICES,  PROJECTOR 

International  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  Stree 

New  York  City. 
Pyrene  Manufacturing  Company,  Newark,  N.  J. 


FIRE  SHUTTERS,  PROJECTION  ROOM 

The  Armstrong  Company,  1448  Ninth  Street,  Charle:;  III 
ton.  111. 

Best  Devices  Company,  10516  Western  Avenue,  Clevi 
land.  Ohio. 

The     Trumbull     Electric     Manufacturing  Compan; 
Woodford  Avenue,  Plain ville,  O. 


7 

: 


FLASHERS 

Reynolds  Electric  Company,  2650  W.  Congress  Stree  j  inn 

Chicago,  111. 
Sangamo  Electric  Company,  Springfield,  111. 

Ii« 

FLOOR  SURFACING  MATERIALS. 
COMPOSITION 

Armstrong  Cork  Company,  Lancaster,  Pa. 
Congoleum-Nairn,  Inc.,  Kearny,  N.  J. 
Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Company,  1144  E.  Mark 

Street,  Akron,  Ohio. 
O.  W.  Jackson  &  Co.,  290  Fifth  Avenue,  New  Yoi 

City. 

Lawrich  Sales,  122  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  Cit; 
U.  S.  Rubber  Company,  1230  Sixth  Avenue,  New  Yo?\ 
City, 


FOUNTAINS 

The   Crane   Company,  836   South   Michigan  AvenuK,] 
Chicago,  111. 

Friedley-Voshardt   Company,   761-771    Mather  Stre< 
Chicago,  111. 

Newman  Brothers,  Inc.,  660  W.  Fourth  Street,  Ci 

cinnati,  Ohio. 
Rundle-Spence    Manufacturing    Company,    52  Seco 

Street.  Milwaukee.  Wis. 
The  Halsey  W.  Taylor  Company.  Warren,  Ohio. 
The  Voigt  Company,  1745  N.  12th  Street,  Philad- 

phia,  Pa. 


FURNITURE  FOR  FOYERS  AND  LOUNGES 

Heywood-Wakefield  Company,  Gardner,  Mass. 
Kroehler  Manufacturing  Company,  Naperville,  III. 
The   Reflectone   Corporation,   67    Greenwich  Avpm 

Meriden,  Conn. 
Royal  Metal  Manufacturing  Company,  175  N.  Michig 

Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 
Thonet,  Inc.,  333  E.  47th  Street,  New  York  City. 
Warren   McArthur,   No.   1   Park  Avenue,   New  Yo 

City. 


26 


HEARING  AIDS 

RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 

Sonotone  Corporation,  Elmsford,  N.  Y. 

Trimm    Manufacturing    Company,    Ltd.,    1770  Wt 

Berteau  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 
Western  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  Yc 

City. 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Hera 


■'I 


!'c. 


ail 


GATING  SYSTEMS  AND  ACCESSORIES 

s  &  Refrigeration  Corporation,  7310  Woodward 
Avenue,  Detroit,  Mich. 

merican  Radiator  Company,  40  W.  40th  Street,  New 
York  City. 

jectric  Furnace- Man,  Inc.,  "80  E.  138th  Street.  Bronx, 
N.  Y. 

ecders  Manufacturing  Company.  Bunalo,  N.  Y. 
eneral  Electric  Company,  5  Lawrence  Street,  Blcom- 
Seld,  N.  J. 

cok  Mfg.  Company,  Sharpsburg  Station,  Pittsburgh. 
Pa. 

ewanee  Boiler  Corporation,  1858  S.  Western  Avenue. 
Chicago,  111. 

ay  Oil  Burner  Corporation,  Maryland  Avenue  and 

Oliver.  Baltimore,  Mo- 
deller Furnace  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
srroleum  Heat  &  Power  Company,  Stamford,  Conn, 
arco  Company,  Inc.,  183  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 

City. 

tinner  Heating  &  Ventilating  Company,  Inc.,  1948-50 
N.  9th  Street.  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

S.     Air     Conditioning     Corporation,  Northwest 
Minneapolis,  Minn, 
'istir.fhruss   Electric    &   Manufacturing  Ccrpcraticr., 
Mansfield,  Ohio. 


NIT  HEATERS 

merican.  Blower  Corporation,  6001-09  Russel  Street, 

Detroit,  Mich. 
■  jtomatic  Gas  Steam  Radiator  Company.  301  Brushtor 

Avenue,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

zt  Bryant  Heater  Company,  17820  St.  Clair  Avenue, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

ucralo  Forge  Company,  455  Broadway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
:imham  Boiler  Corporation,  Irvington,  N.  Y. 
rinnell  Companv,  Inc.,  260  W.  Exchange,  Providence, 
R.  I. 

g  Electric  Ventilating  Company,  2850  N.  Crawford 
Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 
.  cQuay,  Incorporated,  1600  Broadway,  N.  E.,  Minne- 
.apolis,  Minn. 

,  odine  Manufacturing  Company,  Heating  Division, 
'  Racine,  Wis. 

irface   Combustion    Corporation.   Thomas   and  Dorr 
Streets,  Toledo,  Ohio, 
le  Trane  Company,  La  Crosse.  Wis. 

S.  Air  Conditioning  Corporation,  Northwestern 
.  Terminal,  Minneapolis.  Minn. 

nit  Heater  &  Cooler  Company,  Murray  Boulevard. 
Wausau.  Wis. 

J.  Wing  Manufacturing  Company.  154  W.  14th 
Street,  New  York  City. 


ITERCOMMUNICATING  HOUSE  PHONES 

crmecticut    Telephone    &    Electric    Corporation,  70 
Britannia  Street,  Meriden,  Conn. 
H.  Couch  Inc.,  Boston,  Mass. 
ictograph  Products  Company,  Inc.,  580  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York  City. 

lilco  Radio  &  Television  Corporation,  Philadelphia. 
Pa. 

• 

iDDERS,  SAFETY 

ayton  Safety  Ladder  Company,  121  West  Third 
Street,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


(MPS,  AC  ARC 

S.  Ashcraft  Manufacturing  Company,  4731  35th 
Street,  Long  Island  City,  N,  Y. 


IMPS,  HIGH-INTENSITY 

S.  Ashcraft  Manufacturing  Company,  4731  35th 
.^Street.  Long  Island  City,  N.  Y. 

'.  .e  Ballantyne  Company,  222  N,  16th  Street,  Omaha, 
N  ebr. 

enkert  Light  Projection  Company,  7348  St.  Aubin 
Avenue.  Detroit,  Mich. 

rest  Manufacturing  Corporation,  200  Mt  Pleasant 
Avenue,  Newark,  N.  J. 

}  -neral  Arc  Lighting  Company,  36-11  Thirty-third 
Street,  Long  Island  City,  N.  Y. 

-  E.  McAuley  Manufacturing  Company,  554  West 
Adams  Street,  Chicago.  I1L 

Eorelite  Co.,  Inc.,  600  W.  57th  Street,  New  York  City, 
itional  Theatre   SuDply   Comoanv,   92    Gold  Street. 

>:New  York  City. 
ie  Strong  Electric  Corporation,   City  Park  at  Ster- 
ling, Toledo,  Ohio. 


IMPS,  INCANDESCENT,  FOR  PROJECTION 

eneral  Electric  Company,  Incandescent  Lamp  Depart- 
ment, Nela  Park,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
I  idiant   Lamp    Corporation,    260    Sherman  Avenue, 
Wewark,   N.  J. 

restinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
j^Lamp  Division.  Bioomfield,  N,  J. 


UMPS,  INCANDESCENT 
3R  THEATRE  LIGHTING 

imax  Reflector,  Inc.,  401-03  Schroyer  Avenue,  S.  W., 
Canton,  O. 

ineral  Electric  Company,  Incandescent  Lamp  Depart  - 
I.  ment,  Nela  Park,  Cleveland.  Ohio, 
vidiant  Lamp  Corp.,  260  Sherman  Avenue.  Newark. 

N.  J. 

estinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
Lamp  Division,  Bioomfield,  N.  J. 


WE'RE  BLUSHING 


like  a  Hollywood  star,  because  of  our  fan 
mail.  We're  happy  to  know  that  our  service 
to  theatremen  has  met  with  approval. 

When  we  prepared  The  Theatreman's 
Wartime  Guide  and  mailed  it  to  every 
picture  theatre  in  America,  thousands  ot 
hard-boiled"    executives   from    coast  to 
coast  and  Hudson  Bay  to  Central  America 
broke    down    and    composed  enthusiastic 
letters  of  praise.    The  demand  for  extra 
copies  of  this  64-page  book  on  wartime  theatre  operation,  civilian  defense  and 
first  aid  was  terrific.   Subsequent  printings  were  necessary  ,  .  .  and  each  time  the 
supply  was  exhausted. 

Requests  poured  in  from  the  world's  largest  theatre  to  the  smallest.  "It  is  the 
most  valuable  book  that  any  manager  will  have  on  his  shelf,  and  will  assist  greatly 
in  combatting  any  emergency  that  may  arise,"  said  one  managing  director.  "The 
first  real  service  to  be  offered  the  industry  since  the  war  began,"  said  another. 
Chains,  and  their  insurance  and  maintenance  departments,  whooped  if  up.  Theatre 
Owners  Associations  praised  if,  one  stating  "You  are  to  be  congratulated  on  the  fine 
patriotic  spirit  you  are  showing  in  ycur  unselfish  contribution  to  the  war  effort.  This 
is  a  grand  gesture." 

Projectionists'  Unions  urged  members  to  read  it.  "The  only  treatise  covering 
the  entire  subject,"  said  the  officer  of  one  Local.  Projectionists  pronounced  it  in- 
dispensible.  Theatre  supply  dealers  said  that  if  contained  all  the  answers  to  the 
questions  with  which  they  are  besieged  daily;  film  exchanges  wanted  some  for  their 
screening  rooms:  field  engineers  for  projection  equipment  service  companies  wanted 
copies  to  carry  with  them.  Office  building  managers  declared  that  it  could  be 
applied  to  their  operation;  colleges,  high  schools  and  sanitariums  requested  copies; 
so.  too,  did  a  state  board  of  electricians,  and  the  chief  of  the  fire  prevention  bureau 
of  a  metropolitan  city. 

Those  in  charge  of  war  industry  training  programs  found  it  helpful.  Civilian 
Emergency  Defense  Councils  and  air  raid  wardens  clamored  for  copies.  State 
officials  wanted  them  for  those  men  delegated  to  the  administration  of  fire  and 
safety  laws. 

Such  wide  recognition  of  the  wartime  efforts  of  theatre  equipment  manu- 
facturers makes  us  blush — and  proud. 

The  Wartime  Emergency  Service  Department 

THE  STRONG  ELECTRIC  CORPORATION 

City  Park  &  Sterling  Avenues,  Toledo,  Ohio 

Manufacturers  of  the  famous  Strong  Projec- 
tion Arc  Lamps,   Rectifiers   and  Reflectors. 


MOTION  PICTURE 
SOUND  ENGINEERING 

■  547  pages,  completely  covering  every  practical  method  and 
process  in  present  day  sound  engineering.  Every  detail  of 
apparatus  and  its  arrangement  is  minutely  explained  and  pro- 
fusely illustrated.  Here  is  the  practical  answer  to  the  per- 
plexing problems  of  sound  engineering.  If  you  deal  with  sound 
at  all,  you  should  have  this  authoritative  treatise! 

$6.50  POSTPAID 


QUICLEY  BOOKSHOP 

ROCKEFELLER    CENTER,    NEW  YORK 


ETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


27 


LAMPS.  P.  E.  CELL  EXCITER 

GeiMfa]  Electric  Company,  Incandescent  Lamp  Depart- 
ment. Nela  Park,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

National  Union  Radio  Corporation,  57  State  Street, 
Newark,  N.  J. 

RCA   Manillactiu  inK  Company,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 

Radlanl  Lamp  Corporation,  200  Sherman  Avenue, 
Newark,    N.  J. 

We  ll  i  n  ICIectric  Company,  I  OS  Broadway,  New  York 
Cily. 

Westinghouse   Electric   &    Manufacturing  Company, 

Lamp  Division,  Hloomliold,  N.  J. 


LENSES.  PROJECTION 

Bautch  &  Lomh  Optical  Company,  ()52  St.  Paul  Street, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Ilex    Optical    Manufacturing    Company,   000  Portland 

Avenue,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Projection  OpticH  Company,  Inc.,  330  Lycll  Avenue, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Wollentiak    Optical    Company,    872    IIudKon  Avenue, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 


LENS  ASSEMBLIES.  SOUND 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company,  052  St.  Paul  Street, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Ilex    Optical    Manufacturing    Company,    720  Portland 

Avenue,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Projection  Optics  Company,  Inc.,  330  Lyell  Avenue, 

Rochoster,  N.  Y. 

Wollcnsak  Optical  Company,  872  Hudson  Avonue, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 

LETTERS.  ATTRACTION  BOARD 

Adler   Silhouette    Lotter    Company,    2909    S.  Indiana 

Avenue,  Chicago,  III. 
The  Arlkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima,  Ohio. 
Falk  Glass  Products  Com|>any,  115  West  23rd  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Wagner   Sign   Service,   Inc.,   218   S.   Hoync  Avenue, 

Chicago,  111. 

• 

LIGHTING.  ARCHITECTURAL 
AND  FOR  PUBLIC  AREAS 

Climax  Reflector,  Inc.,  101-3  Schroyar  Avonue,  S.  W., 

Canton,  Ohio. 
The  Kgli  Company,  Inc.,  29  West  17lh  Street,  New 

York  City. 

Filament  Tubes,  Inc.,  192  Kensington  Avenue,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y. 

Kliogl  Brothers,  321  W.  50th  Street,  New  York  City. 

McFaddcn  Lighting  Company,  Inc.,  1710  Madison 
Street,   St.   Louis,  Mo. 

Missouri  Art  Metal  Company,  3110  Park  Avenue, 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Rainho  Lighting  Fixture  Company,  115  West  21th 
Street,  New  York  City. 

Voigt  Company,  I2th  and  Montgomery  Avonue,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Westlnghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
Hast  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


LIGHTING  SYSTEMS,  EMERGENCY 

Bardco  Manufacturing  &  Sales  Company,  1031  Good- 
win Avenue,  Lob  Angeles,  Calif. 

ICIectric  Storage  Battery  Company,  Allegheny  Avenue 
and  19th  Street.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


LIGHTS.  SPOT  AND  FLOOD 

Best  Devices  Company,  105 10  Western  Avenue,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

Brcnlccrt  Light  Projection  Company,  7318  St.  Aubin 

Avenue,  Detroit,  Mich. 
Climax  Reflector,  Inc.,  101-3  Schroycr  Avenue,  S.  W., 

Canton,  Ohio. 
General  Electric  Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 
GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1211-22  W.  Madison 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
Klicgl  Brothers.  321  W.  50th  Street.  New  York  City. 
Radiant    Lamp    Corporation,    200    Sherman  Avenue, 

Newark,  N.  J. 
Stroblitc  Company,  35  W.  52nd  Street,  New  York  City. 
Westinghouse   Lamp   Company,    150   Broadway,  New 

York  City. 

MARQUEES 

Artkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima,  Ohio. 
Flcxlumo  Corporation,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


M4TS  AND  MATTING  FOR  ENTRANCE  AREAS 

American    Mat    Corporation,     1717    Adams  Street, 
Toledo,  Ohio. 

Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Company,   1111  E.  Market 

Street.  Akron,  Ohio. 
Hamilton  Rubber  Company,  Trenton.  N.  J. 
United  States  Rubber  Company,   1230  Sixth  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 
Klcnrflax  Linen  Looms,  Inc.,  Duluth,  Minn. 
Puritan  Manufacturing  Company,  Trenton,   N.  J. 
Waitc  Carpet  Company,  Oshkosh,  Wis. 


MAZDA  REGULATORS 

The  Garvcr  Electric  Company,  Union  City,  Ind. 


General  Electric  Company,  Incandescent  Lamp  Depart- 
ment, Ncla  Park,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

International  Projector  Corporation,  88-90  Gold  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

• 

MICROPHONES 

Amperite  Company,  501  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
Opcradio  Manufacturing  Company,  St.  Charles,  111. 
Racon  Electric  Company,  Inc.,  52   East   19th  Street, 

Now  York  City. 
RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Camden,  N.  J. 
Western  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  York 

City. 

• 

MIRROR  GUARDS.  PROJECTION  LAMP 

Mirror-Guard  Company,  837  Eleventh  Avenue,  New 
York  City. 

• 

MOTOR-GENERATOR  SETS 
FOR  0.  C.  ARC  SUPPLY 

Automatic    Devices    Company,    1035    Linden  Street, 

Allentown,  Pa. 
General  Electric  Company,  1  River  Road,  Schenectady, 

N.  Y. 

Hcrtncr   Electric   Company,    12090   Elmwood  Avenue, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Imperial  Electrical  Company,  Inc.,  Ira  Avenue,  Akron, 

Ohio. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


PHOTOCELL  MECHANISMS 
FOR  DOORS  AND  FOUNTAINS 

General  Electric  Company,  1  River  Road,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y. 

Tho  Stanley  Works,  New  Britain,  Conn. 
Westinghouse  Electric  &   Manufacturing  Corporation, 
EaBt  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


PHOTOELECTR/C  CELLS 

Continental  Electric  Company,  Geneva,  111. 
DoVry  Corporation,  1111  Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 
111. 

G-M    Laboratories,    Inc.,   1302   North    Knox  Avenue, 

Chicago,  111. 
General  Electric  Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 
RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  RCA  Radiotron 

Division,  201  N.  Front  Street,  Camden,  N.  J. 
Rudiant  Lamp  Corporation,  Newark,  N.  J. 
Western  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  York 

City. 

Westinghouse    Electric    &    Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

PROJECTOR  PARTS 

Century  Projector  Corporation,  729   Seventh  Avenue, 

Now  York  City. 
GoldE   Manufacturing  Company,   1211  West  Madison 

Street.  Chicago,  111. 
DcVry  Corporation,  11 11  Armitago  Avenue,  Chicago, 

111. 

Holmes  Projector  Company,  1815  Orchard  Strcot,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

International  Projector  Corporation,  88-90  Gold  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Lavezzi  Machine  Works,   180  North  Wackcr  Drive, 

Chicago,  111. 

Motiograph,  Inc.,  1131  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago,  III. 
Motion   Picture   Machine  Company,  3110  W.  Lisbon 
Avenue.  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Wenzel  Projector  Company,  2509  South  State  Street, 
Chicago,  111. 

Edw.  H.  Wolk,  1018  South  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago, 
111. 

• 

PROJECTORS,  I6-MM..  HEAVY-DUTY  TYPE 

Bell  &  Howell  Company,  1801-15  Larchmont  Avenue, 
Chicago,  111. 

DeVry  Corporation,  1111  Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 
111. 

Eastman  Kodak  Company,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Holmes  Projector  Corporation,   1815   Orchard  Street, 
Chicago,  111. 

Victor  Animatograph  Corporation,  Davenport,  Iowa. 
RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 


PROJECTORS,  STANDARD  THEATRE 

Brenkcrt  Light  Projection  Company,  7318  St.  Aubin 

Avenue.  Detroit,  Mich. 
Contury  Protector  Corporation,  729   Seventh  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 
DcVry  Corporation,   llll   Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 

111. 

Holmes  Projector  Company,  1815  Orchard  Street,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

International  Projector  Corporation,  88-90  Gold  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Motiograph.  Inc..  1131  West  Lake  Street.  Chicago,  111. 

S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  119  West  12nd 
Street.  New  York  City. 

Weber  Machine  Corporation,  59  Rutter  Street,  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y. 

Wcnzcl  Projector  Company,  2509  South  State  Street, 
Chicago,  111. 

• 

PUBLIC  ADDRESS  SYSTEMS 

DcVrv  Corporation,  llll   Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 
111. 


Good-All  Electric  Manufacturing  Company,  251  Spru 
Street,  Ogallala,  Ncbr. 

Altec-Lansing  Manufacturnig  Company,  0900  McKi 

ley  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  Calif. 
The  Lincrophonc  Company,  Inc.,  1001  Howard  Strc 

Utica,  N.  Y. 

Paccnt  Engineering  Corporation,  79  Madison  Avert 

New  York  City.  j 
RCA    Manufacturing   Company   Inc.    Photophonc  1 

vision,  Camden,  N.  J. 
Radio  Development  &  Research  Corporation,   130  1 

52nd  Street,  New  York  City. 
S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  119  West  12 

Street,  New  York  City. 
Western  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  Y' 

City. 


RECTIFIER  TUBES 

Baldor  Electric   Company,  1353   Duncan  Avenue, 

Louis,  Mo. 
Continental  Electric  Company,  Geneva,  111. 
Forest  Manufacturing  Corporation,  200  Mt.  PleaBi 

Avenue,  Newark,  N.  J. 
General   Electric   Company,   Merchandise  Departme 

1285  Boston  Avenue,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 
The  Sonolux  Company,  Inc.,  East  Newark,  N.  J. 
Tele-Radio  Corporation,  80  Shipman  Street,  Newa 

N.  J. 

Western  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  Y< 
City. 

Westinghouse    Electric    &    Manufacturing  Compa 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


RECTIFIERS  AND  POWER  UNITS 

Baldor  Electric  Company,  1353  Duncan  Avenue, 
Louis,  Mo. 

Bcnwood   Linzo   Company,    1815   Locust  Street, 

Louis,  Mo. 

DeVry  Corporation,  llll  Armitage  Avenue,  Chica 
111. 

Forest  Manufacturing  Corporation,  200  Mt.  Pleas 

Avenue,  Newark,  N.  J. 
Garvcr  Electric  Company,  Union  City,  Ind. 
General   Electric   Company,   Merchandise  Departmi 

1285  oston  Avenue,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 
Kncislcy  Electric  Company,  10  South  St.  Clair  Stn 

Toledo,  Ohio. 
P.  R.  Mallory  &  Company,  Inc.,  3029  E.  Washing 

Street,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Morclite   Company,   Inc.,   000  W.    57th   Street,  I* 

York  City. 

Motiograph,  Inc.,  1131  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago, 
RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 
The    Strong    Electric     Corporation,     City  Park 

Sterling,  Toledo,  Ohio. 
Ward  Leonard  Electric  Company,  Mt.  Vernon,  N. 
Westinghouse    Electric    &    Manufacturing  Compj 

East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

• 

REELS 

DcVry  Corporation,  llll  Armitage  Avenue,  Chic; 
111. 

Goldberg  Brothers,  3500  Walnut  Street,  Denver,  C 
Neumade  Products  Corporation,  127  W.  12nd  Str 

New  York  City. 
Universal  Reels  Corporation,  9-lG  Thirty-seventh  / 

nuc,  Long  Island  City,  N.  Y. 
Wcnzcl  Projector  Company,  2509   South   State  Str 

Chicago,  111. 


REFLECTORS  FOR  INCANDESCENT  LAMP. 

Climax  Reflector,  Inc.,  401-3  Schroyor  Avenue,  S. 

Canton,  Ohio. 
Reynolds    Electric    Company,    2050    West  Cong 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 

• 

REFLECTORS,  PROJECTION  ARC 

Ail-Around  Reflector  Company,  10111  Euclid  Ave 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company,  652  St.  Paul  St 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Brenkcrt  Light  Projection  Company,  7348  St.  A 

Avenue,  Detroit,  Mich. 
Fish-Schurman  Corporation,  250  East  43rd  Street,  1 

York  City. 

Heycr-Shultz,  Inc.,  39  Orange  Road,  Montclair,  1> 
International  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  St 

New  York  City. 
The  Kncislcy  Electric  Company,   16  South  St.  < 

Street,  Toledo,  Ohio. 
Matisse  Brothers,  787  East   138th  Street,  New 

City. 

Mirror-Guard   Company,   837   Eleventh  Avenue, 

York  Citv. 

Morclite  Company,  Inc.,  000  West  57th  Street,  ' 
York  City. 

Motiograph,  Inc..  4431  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago 
Tho    Strong     Electric     Corporation,     City  Park 
Sterling,  Toledo,  Ohio. 


REWINDERS.  FILM 

The    Armstrong    Corporation,    1448    Ninth  St 

Charleston,  111. 
Bell  &  Howell  Company,  1801-1815  Larchmont  Av< 

Chicago,  111. 

DcVry  Corporation,  llll  Armitage  Avenue,  Chii 
HI. 

Goldberg  Brothers,  3500  Walnut  Street,  Denver,  I 
GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214-22  W.  Mai 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
International  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  St 

New  York  City. 
The  Neumade  Products  Corporation,  127  West 

Street,  New  York  City. 


28 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her 


J.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 

Street,  New  York  City. 
IvVenzel  Projector  Company,  2509  South  State  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 

Edw.  H.  Wolk,  1018  South  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago, 
111. 

• 

HHEOSTATS 

Automatic    Devices    Company,    1037    Linden  Street, 

Alientown,  Pa. 
Charles  Bessler  Company,   131   E.  23rd   Street,  New 

York  City. 

3renkert  Light  Projection  Company,  7348   St.  Aubin 

Avenue.  Detroit.  Mich, 
general  Electric  Company,  1  River  Road,  Schenectady, 

r  n.  y. 

The  Strong  Electric  Corporation,  City  Park  at  Ster- 
ling, Toledo,  Ohio.  , 

hVard  Leonard  Electric  Company,  31  South  Street, 
Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

Arestinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company, 
East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


iCREENS,  PROJECTION 

Da-Lite  Screen  Company,  2723  North  Crawford  Ave- 
i  nue,  Chicago,  111. 

^aven  Screen  Corporation,  314  East  35th  Street,  New 
;   York  City. 

Theatre    Screen    Corporation,    19    Debevoise  Avenue, 

Roosevelt,  L.  I. 
?rans-Lux  Daylight  Picture  Screen  Corporation,  1270 

Sixth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 
Talker-American   Corporation,  800  Beaumont  Street, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

• 

J/GNS  (ELECTRIC)  FOR  THEATRE  NAME 

The  Artkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima,  Ohio. 
:Iverbrite   Electric   Signs,   Inc.,    1440   North  Fourth 

Street,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
:?lexlume  Corporaiton,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
~3en    B.    Poblocki    &    Sons    Company,    2159  South 

Kinnickinnic  Avenue,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 


WGNS,  DIRECTIONAL 

;,he  Artkraft  Sign  Company,  Lima,  Ohio. 
Claude  Neon  Lights,  Inc.,  36-08  Thirty-third  Street, 

Long  Island  City,  N.  Y. 
iverbrite  Electric   Signs,  Inc.,   1440  N.  4th  Street, 

Milwaukee.  Wis. 
■'lexlume  Corporation,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
iub  Electric  Corporation,  2227  West  Grand  Avenue, 
,   Chicago,  111. 

Hiegl  Brothers,  321  W.  50th  Street,  New  York  City. 
-vIcFadden   Lighting   Company,   Inc.,    1710  Madison 

Street,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
3eerless  Products  Company,  195  Chrystie  Street,  New 
York  City. 

,fwentieth  Century  Lites,  Inc.,  6818  Avalon  Boulevard, 

Los  Angeles,  Calif. 
)The  Voigt  Company,  1745  N.  12th  Street,  Philadelphia, 
i  Pa. 


<LIDES,  PROJECTION 

Cosmopolitan  Studios,  Inc.,  145  West  45th  Street,  New 
York  City. 

Juality  Slide  Company,  6  East  Lake  Street,  Chicago, 

^adio-Mat  Slide  Company,  1819  Broadway,  New  York 
City. 


'<OUND  SYSTEMS— COMPLETE 

The  Ballantyne  Company,  22  N.  16th  Street,  Omaha, 
Neb. 

JeVry  Corporation,  1111  Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 
s  111. 

nternational  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  Street, 
tl  New  York  City. 

iotiograph,  Inc.,  4431  W.  Lake  Street,  Chicago,  111. 
fKCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Photophone  Divi- 
i  sion,  Camden,  N.  J. 

.O.S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 
,    Street,  New  York  City.. 
Vestern  Electric  Company,  195  Broadway,  New  York 

f  °ity- 

i  I 

,  OUNDHEADS 

'he  Ballantyne  Company,  219  N.  16th  Street,  Omaha, 
Nebr. 

JeVry  Corporation,  1111  Armitage  Avenue,  Chicago, 

|  nternational  Projector  Corporation,  88-96  Gold  Street, 
1  New  York  City, 
letiograph.  Inc.,  4431  West  Lake  Street,  Chicago,  111 
tCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Camden.  N.  T. 
.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 
Street,  New  York  City. 
VebtT  Machine  Corporation,  59  Rutter  Street,  Roch- 
ester, N.  Y. 


PEAKERS  AND  HORNS 

ltec-Lansing  Corporation,  6900  McKinley  Avenue, 
.  Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

"he  Ballantyne  Company,  219  N.  16th  Street,  Omaha, 
Nebr. 

'iood-All  Electric  Manufacturing  Company,  Ogallala, 
Nebr. 

ensen   Radio  Manufacturing   Company,   6601  South 
Laramie  Avenue,  Chicago,  111.  „ 


PRODUCES  A 

PROJECTOR 
and  SOUND 
SYSTEM  for 

EVERY  THEATRE 
LARGE  or  SMALL 


DeVry  projection  and  sound  equipment  is  built  of  the 
finest  combination  of  materials,  workmanship  and  design. 
It  is  made  to  perform  a  real  service  in  any  size  theatre. 
Year  in  and  year  out  service  that  comprises  flickerless 
pictures,  true-to-life  sound  and  trouble-free  economical 
operation. 

We  make  no  boast  when  we  say  that  our 
current  line  of  Theatre  Projectors  and 
Sound  Systems  offer  more  honest  value 
than  your  equipment  dollar  has  ever 
bought  before. 


Projectors  Help  Win  Wars — Too! 

In  all  branches  of  our  Armed  Services  hundreds  of 
DeVry   Projectors  are  on   "Active  Duty". 


This  is  DeVry' s 
29th  Successful  Year! 


DeVRY 


1109  Armitaqe  Avenue, 
BRANCHES:   NEW  YORK 


CORPORATION 


Chicago,    III.  JfepSa 
HOLLYWOOD 


WAGNER  COMPLETE 
LOBBY    DISPLAY  UNIT 

Colorful  beauty  —  smashing  display.  One  unit 
holds  3  lines  of  PLASTIC  Translucent  Colored 
Letters.    Send  for  literature. 

WAGNER  SIGN   SERVICE,  Inc. 

218  S.  Hoyne  Ave.,  Chicago 
123  W.  64th  St.,  New  York 


BOOST  POP  CORN  PROFITS 

WITH  LOW  COST  SUPPLIES/ 


Pay  less  —  sell  more  with  world's  finest  pop 
corn,  salt,  seasoning,  cartons,  sacks. 
Prompt  shipment  from  near-by  branch. 
Write  today. 

World's  Largest  Pop  Corn  Pndmm 

AMERICAN  POP  CORN  CO.,     SIOUX  CITY,  IOWA 


BETTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


29 


Operadio  Manufacturing  Company,  St.  Charles,  111. 
Pacent  Engineering  Corporation,  79  Madison  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 
Racon  Electric  Company,  Inc.,  52  E.  19th  Street,  New 

York  City. 

RCA  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  Photophone  Di- 
vision, Camden,  N.  J. 

The  Rola  Company,  4250  Hollis  Street,  Oakland,  Calif. 

Western  Electric  Company,  Inc.,  195  Broadway,  New 
York  City. 

Wright-De Coster,  Inc.,  2233  University  Avenue,  St. 
Paul,  Minn. 

• 

SPLICERS.  FILM 

Bell  &  Howell  Company,  1801  Larchmont  Avenue, 
Chicago,  111. 

General  Machine  Company,  Inc.,  780  E.  138th  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Griswold  Machine  Company,  Port  Jefferson,  N.  Y. 
Neumade  Products  Corporation,  427  W.  42nd  Street, 

New  York  City. 

• 

STAGE  LIGHTING  EQUIPMENT 

Frank  Adam  Electric  Company,  3650  Windsor  Avenue, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Belson  Manufacturing  Company,  800  S.  Ada  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 

Best  Devices  Company,  10516  Western  Avenue,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

Capitol   Stage   Lighting   Company,   527-529   W.  45th 

Street,  New  York  City. 
Century    Lighting    Equipment,    Inc.,    419    W.  55th 

Street,  New  York  City. 
C.  W.  Cole  &  Company,  Inc.,  320  E.  12th  Street. 

Los  Angeles,  Calif. 
Day-Brite  Lighting,  Inc.,  5401   Bulwer  Avenue,  St. 

Louis.  Mo. 

GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214-22  W.  Madison 

Street.  Chicago,  111. 
Hub  Electric   Company,   2219-29  W.   Grand  Avenue, 

Chicago,  111. 

Klieg!  Brothers,  321  W.  50th  Street,  New  York  City. 
Pickwick    Metalcraft   Company,   489    Broome  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Reynolds  Electric  Company,  2650  W.  Congress  Street, 

Chicago,  111. 

Stroblite  Company,  35  West  52nd  Street,  New  York 
City. 

• 

STAGE  RIGGING  AND  HARDWARE 

Automatic  Devices  Company,  1035  Linden  Street, 
Allentown,  Pa. 

J.  R.  Clancy,  Inc.,  1010  West  Belden  Avenue,  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y. 

Vallen,  Inc.,  225  Bluff  Street,  Akron,  Ohio. 

• 

STAIR  NOSINGS 

Ames  Metal  Moulding  Company,  225  E.  144th  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Lawrich  Sales.  122  E.  42nd  Street,  New  York  City. 
Safeguard  Rubber  Products  Corporation,  250  W.  49th 

Street,  New  York  City. 


TERRI 


ALABAMA 

QUEEN  FEATURE  SERVICE,  INC.,  THE  1912%  Morris 

Avenue,  Birmingham.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service.  Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

ARIZONA 

Arizona  film  supply  company,  84  W.  Penning- 
ton Street,  Tucson.   All  classes  equipment. 

CALIFORNIA 

boyd,  j.  m.,  2013  S.  Vermont  Avenue,  Los  An- 
geles. All  classes  equipment.  Projection  and 
sound  equipment  repairing. 

breck  photoplay  supply  company.  1969  S. 
Vermont  Avenue,  Los  Angeles.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 

filbert  company,  john  p.,  2007  S.  Vermont 
Avenue.  Los  Angeles.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service.  Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

motion  picture  accessories  company,  2200  S. 
Vermont  Avenue,  Los  Angeles.  All  classes 
equipment. 

national  theatre  supply  company,  255  Golden 
Gate  Avenue,  San  Francisco.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 

national  theatre  supply  company,  1961  S. 
Vermont  Avenue,  Los  Angeles.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 


STEREOPTICONS 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company,  652  St.  Paul  Street, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Charles  Beseler  Company,  131  East  23rd  Street,  New 

York  City. 

Best  Devices  Company,  10516  Western  Avenue,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

Brenkert  Light  Projection  Company,  7348  St.  Aubin 

Avenue,  Detroit,  Mich. 
GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214-22  W.  Madison 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 

Street,  New  York  City. 


TAKEUPS.  FILM 

Century  Projector  Corporation,   729   Seventh  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 
GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,   1214  West  Madison 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
International  Projector  Corporation,  92   Gold  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Nelson-Spear   Company,   4114   Milton,   Houston,  Tex. 
S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 

Street,  New  York  City. 


TEST  REELS 

Academy  of  Motion  Picture  Arts  and  Sciences,  Taft 

Building.  Hollywood,  Calif. 
S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 

Street,  New  York  City. 
Society   of    Motion    Picture    Engineers,  Pennsylvania 

Hotel,  New  York  City. 


TICKET  REGISTERS 

General  Register  Corporation,   1540   Broadway,  New 
York  City. 

GoldE  Manufacturing  Company,  1214-22  W.  Madison 

Street,  Chicago,  111. 
S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corporation,  449  West  42nd 

Street,  New  York  City. 
The  Ticket  Issuing  Machine  Company   (Timco),  135 

Pearl  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


TOILET  ACCESSORIES 

Brunswick-Balke-Collender  Company,  Inc.,  17  W.  19th 

Street,  New  York  City. 
M.   D.  Berglass  Manufacturing  Company,   10  Fulton 

Street.  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
National  Paper  Products  Company,  343  Samson  Street, 

San  Francisco,  Calif. 
Sanaphane,  Inc.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Sterilseat  Corporation,   101   Park  Avenue,   New  York 
City. 

United  Metal  Box  Company,  174  7th  Street,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

UNIFORMS 

S  Appel  &  Company.  18  Fulton  Street,  New  York 
City. 


PREDDEY    THEATRE    SUPPLIES,    WALTER    G.,  187 

Golden  Gate  Avenue,  San  Francisco.  All 
classes  equipment.  General  repair  service. 
Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

PROJECTION  EQUIPMENT  &  MAINTENANCE  COM- 
PANY, 1975  S.  Vermont  Avenue,  Los  Angeles. 
All  classes  equipment.  Projection  and  sound 
equipment  repairing. 

shearer  company,  b.  f.,  1968  S.  Vermont  Ave- 
nue, Los  Angeles.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service.  Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 


Territorial  dealers  which  are  commonly  the 
immediate  source  of  supply,  are  designated 
as  dealers  either  in  general  theatre  equip- 
ment and  furnishings  or  in  some  specific 
kind  of  theatre  supplies.  Members  of  the 
Theatre  Equipment  Dealers  Protective  Asso- 
ciation are  so  indicated.  Manufacturers 
listed  are  those  catering  to,  and  active  in 
servicing,  the  theatre. 

In  referring  to  the  listings  of  manufac- 
turers and  dealers  it  should  be  noted  that 
a  cross-reference  index  of  advertisers  ap- 
pears on  page  34. 


Maier-Lavaty  Company,  2141  Lincoln  Avenue,  Chicago 
111. 

Reversible  Collar  Company,  111  Putnam  Avenue,  Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Russell  Uniform  Company,  1600  Broadway,  New  Yorl 
City. 


UPHOLSTERING  MATERIALS 

L.  C.  Chase  &  Company,  295  Fifth  Avenue,  New  Yorl 
City. 

Cotan   Corporation,   331-359    Oliver   Street,  Newark 
N.  J. 

Dazian's  Inc.,  142  West  44th  Street,  New  York  City 
E.  I.  du  Pont  de  Nemours  &  Company,  Inc.,  Fabrikon 

Division,  Fairfield,  Conn. 
A.  D.  JuiHiard  &  Company,  Inc.,  40  West  40th  Street 

New  York  City. 
Maharam  Fabric  Corporation,  130  W.  46th  Street,  Nen 

York  City. 

The  Pantasote  Company,  Inc.,  250  Park  Avenue,  Nen 
York  City. 

Reliable  Textile  Company,  216  West  Adams  Street; 
Chicago,  111. 

United  States  Rubber  Company,  Coated  Fabrics  Di 
vision,  Mishawaka.  Ind. 


VENDING  EQUIPMENT  FOR  CONFECTIONER 

Advance    Manufacturing    Company,    6296    St.  Lou 

Avenue,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
American  Popcorn  Company,  Box  11,  Sioux  City, 
Bally   Manufacturing   Company,   2640   West  Belmoi 

Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 
Columbus  Show  Case  Company,  850  W.  Fifth  Avenu 

Columbus,  Ohio. 
C.  Cretors  &  Company.  630  Cermak  Road,  Chicago, 
The  Felgreen  Company,  6039  Waterman  Avenue, 

Louis,  Mo. 

The  Kellogg  Machine  Company,  5  East  3rd  Stree 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Manley,   Inc.,  1906  Wyandotte  Street,  Kansas  Cit 

Mo. 

National  Vendors,  Inc.,  5055  Natural  Bridge  Avenu 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Roosevelt  Store  Fixture  Manufacturing  Company,  231 

West  Ogden  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 
Rowe  Manufacturing  Company,  Inc.,  17  E.  16th  Stree 

New  York  City. 
The  Stoner  Corporation,  328  Gale  Street,  Aurora, 
The  U-Need.-A  Pack  Products  Corporation,  135  F 

mouth  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

• 

VOLTAGE  REGULATORS 

Allis-Chalmers    Manufacturing    Company,  Milwauke 
Wis. 

General  Electric  Company,  1  River  Road,  Schenectad 
N.  Y. 

Raytheon  Manufacturing  Company,  177  Willow  Strei 

Waltham,  Mass. 
Westinghouse    Electric    &    Manufacturing  Compan 

East  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


shearer  company,  b.  f.,  243  Golden  Gate  Av 
nue,  San  Francisco.  All  classes  equipme 
General  repair  service.  Member  of  T.E.D.P 

western  theatrical  equipment  company, 
Golden  Gate  Avenue,   San  Francisco. 
classes   equipment.    General   repair  servi 
Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

COLORADO 

graham  brothers  theatre  equipment,  . 

Lincoln  Street,  Denver.    All  classes  equ 

ment.    Stage,  projection  equipment  and 

pairing.  Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 
national   theatre    supply    company,  2] 

Champa  Street,  Denver.    All  classes  equ 

ment.    General  repair  service. 

CONNECTICUT 

MODERN  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  CORPORATION,  Tl 

133  Meadow  Street,  New  Haven.  All  clas 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 

NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  122  M 

dow  Street,  New  Haven.    All  classes  equ 
ment.    General  repair  service. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 

ben  lust,  1001  New  Jersey  Avenue,  N.  1 
Washington,  D.  C.  AH  classes  equipnti 
General  repair  service. 


TORI  AL  DEALER! 


30 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her 


LOR  I  DA 

NITED   THEATRE   SUPPLY   CORPORATION,    110  N. 

Franklin  Street,  Tampa.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. General  repair  service.  Member  of 
T.E.D.P.A. 

EORCIA 

fipitol  city  supply  company,  inc.,  161  Walton 
Street,  N.  W.,  Atlanta.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

OWELL    EQUIPMENT    COMPANY,     Atlanta.  All 

classes  equipment.  General  repair  service. 
[Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

lATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  187  Wal- 
ton Street,  N.  W.,  Atlanta.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. General  repair  service. 

WTHLAND  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  COMPANY,  INC., 

'  183  Walton  Street,  N.  W.,  Atlanta.  _  All 
classes  equipment.    General  repair  service. 

Itl-kin  theatre  supply,  inc.,  150-4  Walton 
Street,  N.  W.,  Atlanta.  All  classes  equipment. 
Projection  and  sound  equipment  repairing. 

LLINOIS 

8B0TT    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,    1311  S. 

Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. General  repair  service.  Member 
T.E.P.D.A. 

:OLL    THEATRE    SUPPLY,    COMPANY,    351  East 

Ohio  Street,  Chicago.  All  classes  equipment. 
Projection  and  sound  equipment  repairing. 
jlton  company,  e.  e.,  1018  South  Wabash 
,  Avenue,    Chicago.  _  All    classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

'  ildberg,  inc.,  joe,  1245  S.  Wabash  Avenue, 
|  Chicago.    All  classes  equipment.  Projection 
and  sound  equipment  repairing.  Member  of 
j  T.E.D.P.A. 

jERCio  &  barthel  company,  1241  S.  Wabash 
Avenue,  Chicago.  All  classes  equipment.  Chair 
and  projection  equipment  repairing.  Mem- 
ber of  T.E.D.P.A. 

joviE  supply  company,  ltd.,  1318  S.  Wabash 
1  Avenue,  Chicago.  All  classes  equipment. 
^General  repair  service. 

lATIONAL  THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,   1325  S. 

•■  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago.   All  classes  equip- 
ment.    Equipment  repair  service. 
•anley  theatre  supply  co.,  1235  S.  Wabash 
Avenue,   Chicago.  _  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

Indiana 

l:hibitors  exchange,  inc.,  402  N.  Illinois 

"Street,  Indianapolis.   All  classes  equipment. 

<  General  repair  service. 
it-BAR,  inc.,  442  N.  Illinois  Street,  Indian- 

[  apolis.  All  classes  equipment.  General  re- 
pair service.  Member  of  T.E.D.P.A 

:vtional  theatre  supply  company,  436  N. 

ii  Illinois    Street,    Indianapolis.      All  classes 

'  equipment.  General  repair  service. 


3WA 

S    MOINES    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,  1121 

I  High  Street,  Des  Moines.  All  classes  equip- 
\ment.  General  repair  service.  Member  of 
'  T.E.D.P.A. 

"  ATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  1102  High 

Street,  Des  Moines.  All  classes  equipment, 
f  General  repair  service. 


ANSAS 

UTHWEST  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  COMPANY,  309 

JW.  Douglas  Avenue,  Wichita.  All  class? < 
'^equipment.   General  repair  service. 

IENTUCKY 

ntral  theatre  supply,  5th  Avenue  at  318, 
Louisville.  All  classes  equipment.  General 
repair  service. 

LLS  CITY  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  COMPANY,  427-9 

South  3rd  Street,  Louisville.     All  classes 
^equipment.  General  repair  service.  Member 
of  T.ED.P.A. 


LOUISIANA 

delta  theatre  supply,  inc.,  214  South  Liberty, 
New  Orleans.  All  classes  equipment.  Projec- 
tion and  sound  equipment  repairing. 

LOUISIANA  MOTION  PICTURE  EQUIPMENT  COM- 
PANY, 1414  Cleveland  Avenue,  New  Orleans. 
All  classes  equipment.  Projection  and  sound 
equipment  repairing.  Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

NATIONAL    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,    220  S. 

Liberty  Street,  New  Orleans.  All  classes 
equipment.   General  repair  service. 

MAINE 

MAINE  THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY.   507  Forest 

Avenue,  Portland.    General  repair  service. 

MARYLAND 

DUSMAN  MOTION  PICTURE  SUPPLIES,  J.  F.,  213  N. 

Calvert  Street,  Baltimore.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. Electric  and  stage  equipment  repairing. 


NATIONAL   THEATRE   SUPPLY    COMPANY,  417  St. 

Paul  Place,  Baltimore.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 

MASSACHUSETTS 

capitol  theatre  supply  company,  28  Piedmont 
Street,  Boston.  All  classes  equipment.  Proj- 
ection and  sound  equipment  repairing.  Mem- 
ber of  T.E.D.P.A. 

cifre,  inc.,  joe,  37  Winchester  Street,  Boston. 
All  classes  equipment.    General  repairs. 

independent  theatre  supply  company,  inc., 
28  Winchester  Street,  Boston.  All  classes 
equipment.  Projection  and  sound  equipment 
repairing. 

national  theatre  supply  company,  40  Pied- 
mont Street,  Boston.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

standard  theatre  supply  company,  78  Broad- 
way, Boston.  All  classes  equipment.  General 
repair  service. 


★  Uncle  Sam  Comes  First  * 


Yes,  we  are  doing  our  bit  towards  the  Victory  that  we  all  sogL 
The  same  effort  and  back-log  of  experience  that  our  entire  or- 
ganization has  put  forth  into  the  design  and  manufacture  of  sound 
and  projection  equipment,  is  now  going  into  National  Defense 
Work.  However,  we  will  still  service  our  regular  accounts  and  re- 
placement parts  will  be  furnished  to  maintain  our  equipment  at 
top  rate  efficiency. 


BUY    VICTORY    BONDS    AND  STAMPS 

WEBER  MACHINE  CORPORATION 


59  RUTTER  STREET 


ROCHESTER.  NEW  YORK 


MTTER  THEATRES:  October  17,  1942 


31 


theatre  service  &  supply  company,  30  Pied- 
mont Street,  Boston.  All  classes  equipment. 
Projection  equipment  repairing. 

MICHIGAN 

AMUSEMENT   SUPPLY   COMPANY,  208  W.  Mont- 

calm,  Detroit.  All  classes  equipment.  Gen- 
eral repair  service.    Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

FORBES   THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,    ERNIE,  214 

W.  Montcalm  Street,  Detroit.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 

MCARTHUR  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  COMPANY,  2501 

Cass  Avenue,  Detroit.  All  classes  equipment. 
Projector  repairing.   Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

NATIONAL   THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,  2312-14 

Cass  Avenue,  Detroit.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

OLIVER   THEATRE   SUPPLY,   INC.,   210   W.  Mont- 

calm  Street,  Detroit.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

MINNESOTA 

cinema  supplies,  inc.,  38  Glenwood  Avenue, 
Minneapolis.  All  classes  equipment.  Gen- 
eral repair  service. 

ELLIOTT    THEATRE    EQUIPMENT    COMPANY,  Glen- 

wood  Avenue,  Minneapolis.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. Projection  and  sound  equipment  re- 
pairing. 

FROSCH    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,    38  Glen- 

wood  Avenue,  Minneapolis.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.  General  repair  service. 

NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  56  Glen- 

wood  Avenue,  Minneapolis.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 

RULIFFSON  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  DON,  1011 

Currie  Avenue,  Minneapolis.  All  classes 
equipment.  General  repair  service.  Member 
of  T.E.P.D.A. 

WESTERN  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  EXCHANGE,  INC., 

45  Glenwood,  Minneapolis.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   Projection  equipment  repairing. 

MISSOURI 

erker  bros.,  610  Olive  Street,  St.  Louis,  All 
classes  equipment.  Projection  and  sound 
equipment  repairing. 

exhibitors  supply  company,  3236  Olive  Street, 
St.  Louis.  All  classes  equipment.  Projection 
and  sound  equipment  repairing.  Member  of 
T.E.D.P.A. 

independent  theatre  supply  company,  115 
West  18th  Street,  Kansas  City.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 


Missouri  theatre  supply  company,  115  West 
18th  Street,  Kansas  City.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   Lamp  and  projector  repairing. 

national  theatre  supply  company,  3210  Olive 
Street,  St.  Louis.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

rockenstein  company,  l.  t.,  3327  Locust 
Street,  St.  Louis.  All  classes  equipment. 

STEBBINS   THEATRE  EQUIPMENT   COMPANY,  1804 

Wyandotte  Street,  Kansas  City.  All  classes 
equipment.  General  repair  service.  Member 
of  T.E.D.P.A. 


MONTANA 

WESTERN  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  COMPANY,  214  N. 

15th  Street,  Butte.  All  classes  equipment. 
Projection  and  sound  equipment  repairing. 


NEBRASKA 

THE    BALLANTYNE    COMPANY,    219    North  16th 

Street,  Omaha.  All  classes  equipment.  Pro- 
jection and  sound  equipment  repairing. 

METROPOLITAN      SCENIC      STUDIOS,      INC.,  1611 

Davenport  Street,  Omaha.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 

QUALITY    THEATRE    SUPPLY    CORPORATION,  1511 

Davenport  Street,  Omaha.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. Projection  and  sound  equipment  re- 
pairing. 

WESTERN  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  214  N.  15th 

Street,  Omaha.  All  classes  equipment.  Pro- 
jection and  sound  equipment  repairing.  Mem- 
ber of  T.E.D.P.A. 


NEW  MEXICO 

EASTERN  NEW  MEXICO  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COM- 
PANY, Box  1099,  Clovis.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 


NEW  YORK 

albany  theatre  supply  company,  1046  Broad- 
way, Albany. 

amusement  supply  company,  inc.,  341  W.  44th 
Street,  New  York  City.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. Projection  and  sound  equipment  re- 
pairing. 

auburn  theatre  equipment  company,  5  Court 
Street,  Auburn.  All  classes  equipment.  Gen- 
eral repair  service. 

BECKER    THEATRE   EQUIPMENT,    INC.,    492  Pearl 

Street,  Buffalo.  All  classes  equipment.  Pro- 
jection and  sound  equipment  repairing. 


Now*  more  than 


ever  you  van 
rely  on  S.  O.  S. 


In  these  days  of  stress  and  strain,  more  and 
more  large  circuits  as  well  as  small  theatres  are 
coming  to  S.O.S.  -for  emergency  as  well  as 
th«ir  every  day  equipment  and  supply  needs. 
And  as  they  buy,  they  learn  that  those  hard-to- 
get  items  are  A-B-C  with  S.O.S.  What's  more 
every  purchase  shows  a  substantial  saving, 
whether  on  new  or  re-conditioned  equipment. 
J  You,  too,  can  rely  on  S.O.S.  Just  list  your 
requirements  and  write  or  wire  for  SERVICE, 
VALUES  AND  SAVINGS.  AND,  if  you've  any 
used  equipment  to  sell  or  trade,  just  let  us  Itnow. 


S.O.S.  Cinema  Supply  Corp. 

449  West  42nd  Street,  New  York 


BEHREND  MOTION  PICTURE  SUPPLY   HOUSE,  INC. 

630  9th  Avenue,  New  York  City.  All  classes 
equipment. 

CAPITOL   MOTION    PICTURE   SUPPLY  CORPORATION 

630  9th  Avenue,  New  York  City.  All  classe: 
equipment.  Motor  generator,  rheostat  anc. 
projector  repairing. 

CROWN   MOTION  PICTURE  SUPPLIES  CORPORATION 

614  Ninth  Avenue,  New  York  City.  Ah 
classes  equipment.   General  repair  service. 

EMPIRE   THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,  INC,  100. 

Broadway,  Albany.     All  classes  equipment 
General  repair  service. 

EMPIRE  THEATRE  SUPPLY   CORPORATION,  334  W 

44th  Street,  New  York  City.     All  classe. 
equipment.     General  repair  service. 
hornstein,  inc.,  joe,  630  9th  Avenue,  Nev,,  ^ 
York  City.  All  classes  equipment.  Projection 
and  sound  equipment  repairing.    Member  c 
T.E.D.P.A. 

KAPLAN   MANUFACTURING   &   SUPPLY  COMPANY 

inc.,  sam,  729  Seventh  Avenue,  New  Yorl 

City.   Projection  and  sound  equipment.  Pro 
jection  and  sound  equipment  repairing. 

NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  92  Gol 

Street,  New  York  City.    All  classes  equip 
ment.    General  repair  service. 

NATIONAL   THEATRE   SUPPLY    COMPANY,  498-50 

Pearl  Street,  Buffalo.  All  classes  equipmen 
General  repair  service. 

NATIONAL   THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,  356  W 

44th  Street,  New  York  City.     All  classe- 
equipment.   General  repair  service. 

NATIONAL     THEATRE     SUPPLY      COMPANY,  96 

Broadway,  Albany,     All  classes  equipmen 
General  repair  service. 

S.  0.  S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  449  We; 

42nd  Street,  New  York  City.  All  classe 
equipment.  National  distribution  on  mai 
order  plan. 

STATE  SANITARY  PRODUCTS  COMPANY,  630  Nint 

Avenue,  New  York  City.  Cleaning  materia 
and  implements.  National  distribution  c 
mail-order  plan. 

UNITED    PROJECTOR    &    FILM    CORPORATION,  22 

Franklin  Street,  Buffalo.    All  classes  equi] 
ment.    Projector  repair  service. 


i 


NORTH  CAROLINA 

BRYANT  THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,  227  SOU 

Church  Street,  Charlotte.  All  classes  equij 
ment.    General  repair  service. 

DIXIE    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,    324  Sou 

Church  Street,  Charlotte.  All  classes  equi 
ment.   General  repair  service. 

NATIONAL   THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,  304 

Church  Street,  Charlotte.  All  classes  equi 
ment.    General  repair  service. 

THE  STANDARD  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  12 

128  East  Washington  Street,  Greensboro.  A 
classes  equipment.  General  repair  servic^ 
Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

THEATRE   EQUIPMENT   COMPANY,  261    N.  Grey 

Street,  Greensboro.     All  classes  equipmet 
General  repair  service. 
theatre  suppliers,  inc.,  Box  1132,  Greensboi 
All  classes  equipment.    Projection  and  sow 
equipment  repairing. 

WIL-KIN    THEATRE    SUPPLY,    INC.,  321-323 

Church  Street,  Charlotte.  All  classes  equi 
ment.    General  repair  service. 


NORTH  DAKOTA 

MC  CARTHY   THEATRE  SUPPLY   COMPANY,  55  B 

Street,  No.,  Fargo.  All  classes  equipme. 
General  repair  service. 


OHIO 

AKRON    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COMPANY,  1025 

Main  Street,  Akron.  All  classes  equipme 
Projection  and  sound  equipment  repairing. 

AMERICAN   THEATRE   EQUIPMENT   COMPANY,  1 

N.  High  Street,  Columbus.^  All  classes  equ 

ment.   General  repair  service. 

AMERICAN   THEATRE   SUPPLY   COMPANY,  310 

Clair  Street,  Toledo.  All  classes  equipme 
General  repair  service. 

DAYTON  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  111  Volk 

and  Street,  Dayton.  Projector  repair  serv 


- 


32 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her. 


I 


f-'.VEST  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  INC.,  1632 

antral   Parkway,   Cincinnati.     All  classes 
tuipment.    General  repair  service. 

(IONAL    THEATRE    SUPPLY    COME  ANY,  1637-59 

jentral   Parkway,    Cincinnati.     All  classes 
pdpment.    General  repair  service. 

TONAL     THEATRE     SUPPLY     COMPANY,  212S 

eyne  Avenue,  Cleveland.   All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 

tE2    THEATRE    SUPPLY,    INC.,    1611    E.  21st 

itreet,   Cleveland     All   classes  equipment, 
teieral  repair  service. 

prrucn     THEATRE     SUPPLY     COMPANY,  3461 

franklin  Street,  Bellaire.   All  classes  equip- 
ment.   Projection  equipment  repairing. 

LAHOMA 

irEix,  w.  r.,  12  South  Walker  Avenue,  Okla- 
«aa  City.  All  classes  equipment.  General 
tpair  service. 

::nal  theatre  supply"  company',  700  W. 
r=nd  Avenue.  Oklahoma  City.  All  classes 
iuipmeni.    General  repair  service. 

MHOMA  THEATRE  SUPPLY"  COMPANY,  708  West 

ijrand  Avenue,  Oklahoma  City.  All  classes 
ynipment.  Projection  and  sound  equipment 
-pairing.   Member  of  TMDJ'-A. 

ECON 

-ARER  COMPANY,   B.  P.,    1109   X.  W.  GHsan, 

»rtlan<L  All  classes  equipment.  Projection 
W  sound  eauipment  repairing.    Member  of 

A  TEE  UTILITIES  SERVICE  COMPANY,  528  X.  W. 

Sth  Avenue,  Portland.    All  classes  equip- 
ment.  Projector  repairina. 

'■  TERN    THEATRE    ZIULrllENC    COMPANY.  1925 

[i  W.  Kearney  Street.  Portland.  All  classes 
tyiipment.    General  repair  service. 

SNSYLVANIA 

"TONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY",  1225  Vine 

treet,  Philadelphia.    All  classes  equip  men:, 
eneral  repair  service. 

I0NAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY"  COMPANY",  1721  Blvd. 

the  Allies,  Pittsburgh.    All  classes  equip- 
e^.i.    General  repair  se*~Ace. 

'JN   THEATRE   EQUIPMENT    COMPANY,    309  N. 

ho  Street,  Philadelphia.    All  classes  equip- 
ent.     Projectors  and  ticket  registers  re- 
ared. 

n'OAPO    THEATRE   EQUTPMENT    COMPANY",  507 

:rth  15th  Street.  Philadelphia.    All  classes 
jtiipment.    General  repair  service. 

iittiburgb.    All  classes  equipment.  Proiec- 
yn  and  sound  equipment  repairina.  Member 
.EPDA. 

:~OC'R  MOTION  PICTURE  SUPPLY"  COMPANY.  34 

juipment.    General  repair  service. 

ODE  ISLAND 

•    ISLAND   THEATRE    SUPPLY"    COMPANY",  357 

eitntinster  Street  Providence.    All  classes 
u'cmeni.     ~- ener a.  repair 

JTH  CAROLINA 

:      AMUSEMENT     COMPANY",     INC.,     Box  394 

•jreenville.  All  classes  equipment. 

JTH  DAKOTA 

RI CAN  THEATRE  SUPPLY"  COMPANY,  220  West 

th  street,  Sioux  Fall?.    All  classes  equif- 
■  tnt.    Projection  and  sound  equipment  re- 
irir.c. 

LESSEE 

PJCAN    THEATRE    SUPPLY'    COMPANY.  117-19 

-.Tenth  Avenue.  X.,  Nashville.    All  classes 
.'..uipmeni.     General  repair  service. 

ARCH,  THEATRE    SUPPLY'    COMPANY",    494  S. 

"trtd  Street.  Memphis.    All  classes  ecuip- 
'■fni.    General  repair  service. 

TTER  THEATRES:  October  17 19, 


NATIONAL    THEATRE    SUPPLY"    COMPANY,    400  S. 

Second  Street,  Memphis,  Tenn.  All  classes 
equipment.   General  repair  service. 

TEXAS 

HARDIN  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  714  Hamp- 
ton Road,  Dallas.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

here er  brothers,  4GS  South  Harwood  Street, 
Dallas.    All  classes  equipment.    General  re- 


rXDEPENDENO  - 

merce  itreet 


LP.N    THEATRE    EQUIPMENT    COMPANY,  2011 

.cksen  Street,  Dallas.  All  classes  equip- 
ent.  Projector  repairing. 

[ONAL   THEATRE    SUPPLY*    COMPANY,   300  S. 

a— voce  Street.  Dallas.  All  classes  equip- 
mt.    General  repair  service. 


SOUTHWESTERN  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  COMPANY, 

1416  Main  Street.  Houston.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. Projection  and  sound  equipment  re- 
pairing.   Merrier  of  T£J)J*A. 

UTAH 

INTER-MOUNTAIN  THEATRE  SUPPLY'  COMPANY,  142 

East  First  South,  Salt  Lake  City.  All  classes 
equipment.  General  repair  service.  Member 
or  T~E.DI>A. 


VERMONT 

BOARD  MAN  THEATRE  SUPPLY   HOUSE,  30  Church 

Street.   Burlington.    All  classes  equipment. 

General  repair  service. 


VIRGINIA 


ol,  jr..  16  S.  First  Street 
classes  equipment.  General 


There's  a  "Victory  V" 
in  every 

IransVerteK 

We  are  proud  that  .  .  .  while  the  Transverters 
built  in  previous  years  are  still  giving  Motion 
Picture  Theatres  faithful  service- — in  helping 
maintain  public  morale  .  .  . 

all  Transverter  equipment,  now  under  construc- 
tion, is  being  produced  for  war  equipment 
requirements. 

Projectionists:  For  service  or  possible  replacements 
consult  The  National  Theatre  Supply  Co,  in  the 
U.S.A.;  or  General  Theatre  Supply  Co.  in  Canada. 

THE  HERTNER  ELECTRIC  COMPANY 


12690  ELMWOOD  AVENUE 


CLEVELAND,  OHIO,  U.  S.  A. 


Exclusive  Manufacturers  of  the  Transverter 


WASHINGTON 

NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  2319  Sec- 
ond Avenue,  Seattle.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

shearer  company,  b.  f.,  2318  Second  Avenue, 

Seattle.  All  classes  equipment.  Interior  deco- 
rating service  and  supplies.  General  repair 
service.    Member  of  T.E.D.P.A. 

THEATRE  SUPPLY  &  SOUND  SERVICE  COMPANY,  617 

First  Avenue,  Spokane.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 

WESTERN   THEATRE  EQUIPMENT   COMPANY,  2406 

First  Avenue,  Seattle.  All  classes  equipment. 
Projection  and  sound  equipment  repairing. 


WEST  VIRGINIA 

Charleston  theatre  supply,  506  Lee  Street, 
Charleston.  All  classes  equipment.  General 
repair  service. 


WISCONSIN 

DROLL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  709  W.  Wells 

Street,   Milwaukee.    All   classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 
national  theatre  supply  company,  1027  N. 
8th  Street,  Milwaukee.     All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 


smith,  ray,  company,  the,  710  N.  State  Street, 
Milwaukee.  All  classes  equipment.  Projec- 
tion and  sound  equipment  repairing.  Mem- 
ber of  T.E.D.P.A. 

theatre  supply  &  service  company,  709  W. 
Wells  Street,  Milwaukee.  All  classes  equip- 
ment.   General  repair  service. 

CANADA 

Canadian  theatre  supply  Co.,  510  Canada 
Bldg.,  Winnipeg,  Manitoba.  All  classes 
equipment.  Projection  and  sound  equipment 
repairing. 

coleman  electric  company,  258  Victoria  St., 
Toronto,  Ontario.    Sound  equipment. 

dominion  sound  equipment,  ltd.,  1620  Notre- 
Dame  St.,  W.  Montreal,  Que.  All  classes 
equipment.    General  repair  service. 

dominion  sound  equipment,  ltd.,  131  Simcoe 
St.,  Toronto,  Ont.  All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 

DOMINION  SOUND  EQUIPMENT,  LTD.,  86  Hollis  St., 

Halifax,  Nova  Scotia.  All  classes  equipment. 

General  repair  service. 

DOMINION  SOUND  EQUIPMENT,  LTD.,  65  Rorie  St., 

Winnipeg,  Manitoba.    All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 
dominion  sound  equipment,  ltd.,  820  Cambie, 
Vancouver,   B.   C.     All  classes  equipment. 
General  repair  service. 


dominion  theatre  equipment  company,  LTD., 
21  Dundas  Square,  Toronto,  Ontario.  All 
classes  equipment.   General  repair  service. 

dominion  theatre  equipment  CO.,  LTD.,  847 
Davie  St.,  Vancouver,  B.  C.  All  classes  equip- 
ment. Projection  and  sound  equipment  re- 
pairing. 

empire  agencies,  ltd.,  211-215  Bower  Bldg. 

543  Granville  Street,  Vancouver,  B.  C.  Al 

classes  equipment.    General  repair  service. 
general  theatre  supply  co.,  ltd.,  104  Bone 

St.,  Toronto,  Ontario.   All  classes  equipment 

Projector  repairing. 

PERKINS   ELECTRIC  COMPANY,  LTD.,  2027  BleUP 

Street,  Montreal,  Quebec.    All  classes  equip 

ment.    General  repair  service. 
la  salle  recreations,  ltd.,  945  Granville  St. 

Vancouver,  B.  C.  All  classes  equipment.  Gen 

eral  repair  service. 
perkins  electric  co.,  ltd.,  277  Victoria  St 

Toronto,   Ontario.      All  classes  equipment 

General  repair  service. 
rice  &  co.,  j.  m.,  202  Canada  Bldg.,  Winnipeg 

Man.   All  classes  equipment.   Projection  an 

sound  equipment  repairing. 
theatre   equipment   supply   company,  9C 

Davie  Street,  Vancouver,  B.  C.    All  classt 

equipment.    General  repair  service. 
the  united  electric  co.,  ltd.,  847  Davie  St 

Vancouver,  B.   C.     All  classes  equipment 

General  repair  service. 


Index  to  Advertisers  with  Reference  to  Manufacturer  Listing 


The  page  number  opposite  the  name  of  the  advertiser  refers  to  page  on  which  the  advertisement  appears.  The 
equipment  manufactured  by  the  advertiser  is  named  immediately  below  his  name,  with  the  number  (in  parenthe- 
ses)  of  page  on  which  product  classification  appears  in    manufacturer  listings.    Distributors  are  so  indicated. 


Altec  Service  Corp   23 

Acoustical  Products  and  Engineering  (25). 

American  Pop  Corn  Co   29 

Vending  Equipment  for  Confectionery  (30). 

American  Seating  Co   3 

Chairs,  Auditorium  (26). 

Artkraft  Sign  Co.,  The   17 

Signs,  Directional  (29),  Letters,  Attraction 
Board  (28),  Marquees  (28),  Signs  (Electric) 
for  Theatre  Name  (29),  Architectural  Ma- 
terials and  Design  Service  (25),  Display 
Frames,  Poster  (26). 

Automatic  Devices  Co  *  .  .  .  22 

Curtain     Control     (26),  Motor-Generator 
Sets  for  D.C.  Arc  Supply  (28). 

Baldor  Electric  Co   20 

Rectifiers  and  Power  Units  (28). 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co   21 

Condensers  (Lenses)  (26),  Reflectors,  Pro- 
jection Arc  (28),  Stereopticons  (30),  Lenses, 
Projection  (28),  Lens  Assemblies,  Sound  (28). 

Celotex  Corp.,  The   15 

Acoustical  Products  and  Engineering  (25), 
Architectural  Materials  and  Design  Service 
(25). 

Chicago  Expansion  Bolt  Co   17 

Anchors  for  Chairs  (25). 
Cosmopolitan  Studios,  Inc   17 

Slides,  Projection  (29). 
DeVry  Corp   29 

Projectors,  16-MM.  Heavy-Duty  Type  (28), 
Projectors,  Standard  Theatre  (28),  Public 
Address  Systems  (28),  Reels  (28),  Photo- 
electric Cells  (28),  Projector  Parts  (28), 
Rewinders,  Film  (28),  Soundheads  (29). 

F  &  Y  Building  Service,  The   16 

Acoustical  Products  and  Engineering  (25), 
Architectural  Materials  and  Design  Service 
(25). 

Forest  Manufacturing  Corp   29 

Rectifiers  and   Power  Units   (28),  Screens, 
Projection    (29),  Changeovers  and  Cueing 
Devices    (26),   Lamps,   High-Intensity  (27). 
General  Electric  Co.,  Appliance  &  Merchandise 

Dept   19 

Rectifier  Tubes   (28),  Rectifiers  and  Power 
Units  (28),  Cleaning  Mechanisms  (26). 


Goldberg  Bros  18,  20 

Reels  (28),  Rewinders,  Film  (28). 
GoldE  Manufacturing  Co   21 

Changeovers  and  Cueing  Devices  (26), 
Lights,  Spot  and  Flood  (28),  Projector  Parts 
(28),  Stereopticons  (30),  Rewinders,  Film 
(28),  "Black  Light"  Materials  and  Lighting 
Equipment  (26),  Takeups,  Film  (30),  Ticket 
Registers  (30),  Change  Makers  (26),  Ex- 
ploitation Mechanisms  (26),  Cabinets,  for 
Film  and  Carbons  (26). 

Hertner  Electric  Co.,  The   33 

Motor-Generator  Sets  for  D.C.  Arc  Supply 
(28). 

Heywood-Wakefield  Co   16 

Chairs,  Auditorium  (26),  Furniture  for  Foyers 
and  Lounges  (26). 

Ideal  Seating  Co   17 

Chairs,  Auditorium  (26). 

International  Projector  Corp  Third  Cover 

Mazda  Regulators  (28),  Projectors,  Standard 
Theatre  (28),  Projector  Parts  (28),  Rectifiers 
and  Power  Units  (28),  Reflectors,  Projection 
Arc  (28),  Rewinders,  Film  (28),  Amplifiers 
(25),  Sound  Systems,  Complete  (28),  Sound- 
heads (29). 

International  Seat  Corp   22 

Chairs,  Auditorium  (26). 
Juilliard  &  Co.,  Inc.,  A.  D   9 

Upholstering  Materials  (30). 
LaVezzi  Machine  Works   16 

Projector  Parts  (28). 
Maharam   Fabric  Corp   15 

Curtains  and  Stage  Drapes  (26),  Architec- 
tural Materials  and  Design  Service  (25), 
Upholstering  Materials  (30),  "Black  Light" 
Materials  and  Lighting  Equipment  (26). 

Motiograph,  Inc   20 

Projectors,  Standard  Theatre  (28),  Projector 
Parts  (28),  Sound  Systems,  Complete  (29), 
Rectifiers  and  Power  Units  (28),  Reflectors, 
Projection  Arc  (28),  Soundheads  (29), 
Amplifying  Tubes  (25). 

National  Carbon  Co.,  Inc  Second  Cover 

Carbons,  Projection  (26). 

National  Theatre  Supply  Co  14,  17 

Distributor  of  all  types  of  theatre  equip- 
ment with  branches  in  all  key  cities. 


Pantasote  Co.,  Inc.,  The  

Upholstering  Materials  (30). 
Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Co  

Architectural  Materials  and  Design  Service 
(25),  Box  Offices  (26). 
Projection  Optics  Co.,  Inc  

Condensers  (Lenses)  (26),  Lenses,  Projec- 
tion (28),  Lens  Assemblies,  Sound  (28),  Re- 
flectors, Projection  Arc  (28)  .Stereopticons 
(30). 

RCA  Manufacturing  Co.,  Inc  18,  Fourth  Co 

Sound  Systems,  Complete  (29),  Amplifiers 
(25),  Projectors,  Standard  Theatre  (28), 
Photoelectric  Cells  (28),  Public  Address 
Systems  (28),  Soundheads  (29),  Projectors, 
16-MM  Heavy-Duty  Type  (28). 

Reversible  Collar  Co  

Uniforms  (30). 

S.  O.  S.  Cinema  Supply  Corp  

Amplifiers  (25),  Projectors,  Standard  Theatre 
(28),  Carbon  Savers  (26),  Rewinders,  Film 

(28)  ,  Speakers  and  Horns  (29),  Soundheads 

(29)  ,  Sound  Systems,  Complete  (29),  Ticket 
Registers  (30).  Also  distributors  of  all  types 
of  theatre  equipment  on  mail-order  plan. 

Strong  Electric  Corp.,  The  

Lamps,   High-Intensity   (27),   Rectifiers  and 

Power  Units  (28),  Stereopticons  (30). 
United  States  Plywood  Corp  

Architectural  Materials  and  Design  Service 

(25). 

Union  Carbide  &  Carbon  Corp  Second  Cc 

Carbons,  Projection  (26). 

Wagner  Sign  Service,  Inc  

Letters,  Attraction,   Board  (28). 

Weber  Machine  Corp  j 

Projectors,  Standard  Theatre  (28),  Sound- 
heads (29),  Exploitation  Mechanisms  (26). 

Wolk,  Edw.  H  

Projector  Parts  (28),  Cabinets,  for  Film  an 
Carbons  (26),  Carbon  Savers  (26),  Re 
winders,  Film  (28). 

Wenzel  Projector  Co  

Cabinets,  for  Film  and  Carbons  (26),  Car 
bon  Savers  (26),  Changeovers  and  Cuein 
Devices  (26),  Projector  Parts  (28),  Pro 
jectors,  Standard  Theatre  (28),  Reels  (28) 
Rewinders,  Film  (28). 


34 


A  Section  of  Motion  Picture  Her  d 


^Maintaining  Projection  Standards 
in  IVar  Time 

It  is  the  profound  duty  of  theatre  owners, 
managers  and  projectionists  to  see  that  the 
public  receives  •  motion  picture  entertain- 
ment at  its  best. 

Theatres  equipped  with  E-7 
and  ^f^ggC^^^^^^  Projectors  will  find 
the  task  of  maintaining  projection  stand- 
ards in  war  time  much  easier 

Lester  B.  Isaac 

Director  of  Sound  and  Visual  Projection 
LOEWS  THEATRES 


STATES 

WAR 


FCEyiCTORY 
'  BUY 


Copper 


arbon 


Current 


SEND  THE  3  C'S  INTO  THE  FIGHT! 

How  to  free  Copper,  Carbon,  and  Current  for  active 
war  duty  —  yet  keep  your  projection  light  perfect! 


You  can  render  a  real  service  to  your  country — without 
impairing  the  service  to  your  customers.  Our  fighting 
forces  need  the  3  C's — Copper,  Carbon,  and  Current. 
Here's  how  to  use  less  of  them  in  your  theatre — and 
keep  your  projection  clear  and  bright  as  ever  .  .  . 


KEEP  YOUR  PROJECTOR  AT  WAR-TIME  EFFICIENCY 

Your  nearest  RCA  Theatre  Supply  Dealer  can  put 
your  projector  at  its  peak  of  efficiency.  When  your 
projector  is  in  perfect  condition — you  save  on  current 
and  prevent  breakdowns. 


SAVE  ON  LIGHT  WITH  RCA  SNOWHITE  SCREEN 

Here's  a  really  white  screen  that  cuts  down  on  the 
amount  of  light  you  need — yet  provides  you  with  the 
finest  projection  results  you've  ever  had — because  it 
makes  a  maximum  use  of  the  projected  light. 

999 

Try  this  double-barreled  attack — and  you'll  be  freeing 
plenty  of  Copper,  Carbon,  and  Current  for  war  duty. 
See  your  RCA  Theatre  Supply  Dealer.  Or  write  RCA 
Manufacturing  Co.,  Inc.,  Camden,  N.  J. 

★      BUY  WAR  BONDS  EVERY  PAYDAY  ★ 


RCA  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT 


RCA  Photophone  •  RCA  Magicote  Lens  Service  •  RCA  Screens  •  RCA  Theatre  Service 
RCA  Hearing  Aids  •  Westinghouse  Lamps  •  Brenkert  Projectors  and  Accessories  •  Benwood  Linze  Rectifiers 


1 

 1 


MOTION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(In  Product  Digest) 

I  Married  a  Witch 

Army  Surgeon 

The  Boogie  Man  Will 
Get  You 

The  Devil  with  Hitler 

Bad  Men  of  the  Hills 

Xight  Monster 

The  Power  of  God 


"You  Can't  override  Priorities, 
Walter  Green  warns 


11 


Paramount  is  first  to  challenge 
Authority  of  Arbitration  Board 


War  Industries  drain  patronage 
of  film  theatres  in  small  towns 


Less  Warring  in  films  and  more 
about  Wars  effects,  Says  Navy 


VOL  149,  NO.  4 


OCTOBER  24,  1942 


Entered  as  second-class  matter,  January  12,  1931,  at  the  Post  Office,  at  Sew  York  City,  U.S.A.,  under  the  act  of  March  3,  1879.  Pub- 
lished weekly  by  Quigley  Publishing  Co.,  Inc.,  at  1270  Sixth  Avenue,  Rockefeller  Center,  Xcw  York.  Subscription  prices:  $5.00  a  year  in  the 
Americas,  $10.00  a  year  Foreign.    Single  copy,  25  cents.    All  contents  copyright  1942  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company. 


"HI  get  tickets!,, 


The  bells  are  ringing! 


"See  you 
at  the 
Astor!" 


with  GEORGE  MURPHY,  GENE  KELLY,  Marta  Eggerth,  Ben  Blue  •  Screen  Play  by  Richard 
Sherman,  Fred  Finklehoffe  and  Sid  Silvers  •  Original  Story  by  Howard  Emmett  Rogers  •  Directed 
by  BUSBY  BERKELEY  •  Produced  by  ARTHUR  FREED  •  A  Metro-Goldmine-Mayer  Picture 


In  the  headlines 
Wherever  you  look  is 
Metro  -  GOLDMINE  -  Mayer 
Now  it's  joyous  Judy 
At  Broadway's  famed  Astor 
In  the  GOLDMINE  show 
"For  Me  And  My  Gal" 
A  Terrific  hit  in 
M-G-M's  Terrific  Twelve— 
Our  First  Group  and  the 
Industry's  FIRST  group 
For  this  sizzling  season! 


STAY  FIRST 
WITH  M-G-M! 


^<d  ' 


Mi 


asett,,  GRABLE      PAYNE  •  v,„„„.„  MIRANDA 

ROMERO  JAMES 


and  h/s 

MUSIC  MAKERS 


SPR/N(ST(ME 


w/fh 

CHARLOTTE  GREENWOOD 
EDWARD  EVERETT  HORTON 

FRANK  ORTH  •  JACKIE  GLEASON 
Directed  by  IRVING  CUMMINGS 
Produced  by  WILLIAM  LeBARON 

Screen  Play  by  Walter  Bullock  and  Ken  Englund  •  Adaptation  by 
Jacques  Thery  •  Lyrics  and  Music  by  Mack  Gordon  and 
Harry  Warren  ♦  Dances  Staged  by  Hermes  Pan 


IN  THE  SCRAP 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

MARTIN  QUIGLEY,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher 


Vol.  149,  No.  4  VSrftV  October  24,  1942 


WAR,  WAR  and  WAR 

THE  content  of  the  flow  of  feature  product  can  do  with 
some  attention  about  now  with  a  high  tide  of  war  films 
rising  in  Hollywood.  In  fact,  a  reading  of  a  report  in 
the  news  pages  for  this  week  from  Mr.  William  R. 
Weaver  might  lead  to  the  notion  that  the  screen's  war  tide  is 
probably  at  its  peak. 

Presumably  this  movement  of  coloration  is  calculated  to 
serve  a  public  which  may  be  expected  to  have  more  interest 
in  war  on  the  screen  now  than  it  will  have  when  it  has  had 
more  war  experience  in  daily  life. 

From  out  in  the  big  field  of  exhibition  come  further  indica- 
tions of  the  increasing  dominance  of  that  much  berated  "great 
common  denominator  taste."  Most  particularly  in  some  regions 
where  munitions  payrolls  are  enriching  the  masses,  they  are 
moving  from  the  patronage  of  the  lesser  theatres  to  the  more 
expensive  first  run  houses,  and  taking  a  deal  of  the  "B"  product 
with  its  simplicity,  slapdash  and  hokum  with  them.  These  cus- 
tomers in  the  purchase  of  their  more  abundant  life  want  service 
of  pomp  and  elegance,  but  their  taste  is  unchanged,  as  it  will 
be  forever. 

AAA 

BUILDING  INVENTORY 

AS  busy  as  bees  on  the  last  flowers  of  autumn,  Hollywood 
with  quiet  diligence  is  putting  entertainment  away  in 
cans  while  talent,  skills  and  materials  remain  available, 
anticipating  a  period  of  new  restrictions  and  shortages  to  come. 

Many  ingenuities  are  required  to  guard  against  conspicuous 
dating  of  the  product  to  be  stored,  to  anticipate  as  much  as 
may  be  the  conditions  of  the  probable  period  of  release  and 
to  provide  elements  of  exploitation  that  can  be  expected  to 
keep.  There  are  some  productions  now  under  way  which  may 
be  marketed  as  far  as  two  years  hence. 

This  proceeding  is  in  itself  an  earnest  of  the  present  con- 
fidence of  the  motion  picture  in  its  artistic  stabilization.  Only 
a  few  years  ago  in  the  progress  of  the  techniques,  such  a  fore- 
handed undertaking  would  have  been  unthinkable.  In  the  early 
period  of  sound  development  a  picture  could  become  out  of 
date  in  a  few  weeks.  The  success  of  many  a  reissue  today  indi- 
cates that  the  medium  has  grown  up. 

QUITE  as  unproclaimed  as  the  canning  process  is  the 
intensive  application  of  important  economies  in  pro- 
duction now  in  progress.  Ingenuities  are  taking  the 
place  of  the  spendthrifty  splendours  of  that  time,  not  so  iong 
ago,  when  directors  of  rank  were  ashamed  to  consider  vehicles 
on  less  than  million  dollar  budgets. 

The  background  projection  process  is  now  finding  a  decidedly 
increasing  function  of  importance,  as  company  expeditions  to 
locations  are  becoming  more  and  more  impractical,  often 
impossible.  Decided  improvements  have  been  made  in  this 
method  of  bringing  the  scenery  to  the  studio  stage.  It  may 
further  be  observed  that  the  background  process  in  its  current 


perfections  is  being  found  capable  far  beyond  a  makeshift  for 
location  in  that  it  empowers  action  and  scenes  which  could  be 
achieved  in  no  other  way. 

There  have  been  many  contributors  to  this  element  of 
progress,  but  one  may  trace  the  main  stream  of  the  new 
development  from  Selznick  International  Pictures'  technicians 
to  Paramount  Pictures'  able  transparency  division  of  its  special 
photography  department  in  1940,  and  the  attentions  of  the 
Process  Projection  Equipment  committee  of  the  Research 
Council  of  the  Academy  of  Motion  Picture  Arts  and  Sciences. 
It  is  to  be  noted,  too,  that  the  RKO  studios  have  been  early 
in  making  considerable  application  of  the  newer  methods  and 
devices. 

Hollywood  is  learning  that  it  does  not  have  to  burn  down 
the  barn  to  have  roast  pig. 

AAA 

REPORTERS'  RIGHTS 

NEWSREEL  cameramen  and  service  cameramen  assigned 
to  the  reporting  of  the  war  for  the  cinema  seem  to  be 
in  need  of  a  somewhat  improved  status  and  rating,  if 
they  are  to  render  service  to  the  nation  on  the  war  fronts.  It 
is  more  than  a  whisper  that  they  are  getting  a  decidedly 
repressive  treatment  when  action  is  being  had,  mainly  from 
commanders  who  feel  free  to  send  them  back  or  below  decks 
when  the  shooting  begins. 

This  is  the  decided  reverse  of  that  all  too  successful  pro- 
cedure of  the  Nazis  who  consider  the  camera  an  instrument 
of  war  and  push  it  to  the  front  where  the  story  is. 

Some  shoulder  straps  and  a  few  directives,  indicating  that 
the  war  is  to  be  won  by  a  number  of  things  besides  shot  and 
shell  and  bombs,  might  be  helpful — especially  on  the  home 
front  about  which  so  much  is  said  and  so  little  done.  The 
opportunity  for  a  cameraman,  or  correspondent,  to  do  his  job 
is  not  in  the  nature  of  a  personal  favour  to  him;  it  is  an  obliga- 
tion to  the  whole  people,  and  this  is  their  war. 

AAA 

NOW  that  some  of  the  oldsters  among  the  leading  men 
of  Hollywood's  talent  pool  are  going  off  to  war,  oppor- 
tunity may  be  opened  for  the  promising  youngsters. 
For  long,  and  far  too  long — in  fact,  through  most  of  the  sound 
picture  era — the  leading  man  situation  has  been  substantially 
a  closed  shop;  this  of  course  by  decision,  or  inertia,  of  the 
producers.  The  consequence  has  been  to  spread  a  certain 
dusty  patina  over  the  face  of  screen  romance,  portrayed  by 
gallant  old  masters  with  their  glamours  fading. 

AAA 

ANENT  Mr.  J.  Caesar  Petrillo,  his  ban  on  recordings  and 
radio  transcriptions  and  that  Chicago  federal  decision 
that  his  organized  musicians,  as  labour,  were  outside 
the  anti-trust  laws — wouldn't  it  be  a  fine  how-do-you-do  if 
actors  were  declared  labourers,  too,  and  decided  against  film 
recordings  so  all  shows  would  have  to  be  made  by  hand!  It  is 
the  well  considered  opinion  of  an  expert  that  an  actor  is  as 
much  of  a  labourer  as  any  piccolo  player. — Terry  Ramsaye 


8 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


"Stop  Building" 

AN  INVESTIGATION  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  civilian  construction  projects,  in- 
cluding theatres,  has  been  initialed  to  deter- 
mine whether  there  have  been  violations  of 
the  construction-conservation  order  of 
April  9th  last,  and  any  willful  violations 
uncovered  will  be  immediately  handed  the 
Department  of  Justice  for  criminal  prosecu- 
tion, it  was  announced  by  the  War  Produc- 
tion Board  on  Wednesday. 

In  a  move  to  halt  all  unnecessary  con- 
struction, which  he  said  was  threatening  the 
synthetic  rubber,  aviation  gasoline  and  other 
vital  programs,  WPB  Director  Donald  M. 
Nelson  ordered  the  stoppage  of  all  Govern- 
ment construction  of  less  than  all-essential 
character.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  made 
clear  that  civilian  construction  will  be  even 
more  severely  restricted  than  heretofore, 
with  indications  that  authorizations  to  build 
will  be  more  difficult  to  secure.  Any  indica- 
tions of  violation  of  the  restriction  order 
will  bring  a  telegraphic  order  halting  civil- 
ian projects  and  a  stop  order  against  issu- 
ance of  any  authorization  or  priorities  as- 
sistance until  the  investigation  is  completed, 
the  WPB  said  in  announcing  its  plan  to 
probe  repeated  reports  on  violations. 


Preferred  Deferments 

NINETY-TWO  occupations  in  "communi- 
cations" were  listed  Monday  by  U.  S.  Selec- 
tive Service  headquarters  at  Washington  as 
essential  occupations  to  which  war  draft 
boards  should  give  consideration  in  calling 
men  for  military  service.  Designated  as 
"communications"  fields  were  those  of  news- 
reel,  broadcasting,  telephone,  telegraph  and 
newspaper. 

Newsreel  employees  classified  as  essential 
are  of  10  classes:  cameramen,  cutters,  edi- 
tors, sound  engineers,  equipment  mainte- 
nance men,  technicians,  film  and  makeup 
editors,  laboratory  timers,  laboratory  de- 
velopers. 

In  radio,  the  classifications  included  di- 
rectors of  international  broadcasting,  con- 
trol room  men,  junior  control  supervisors, 
senior  control  supervisors,  electricians,  for- 
eign language  announcer-translators,  for- 
eign language  news  or  script  writers,  elec- 
trical work  foremen,  jackboard  operators, 
employment  and  personnel  managers,  pro- 
duction managers,  electric  maintenance  me- 
chanics, bi-lingual  production  men,  program 
transmission  supervisors,  radio  operators, 
broadcasting  radio  repairmen,  recording  en- 
gineers, radio  riggers  and  radio  communi- 
cations traffic  chiefs. 

The  ruling  was  not  for  a  blanket  exemp- 
tion of  men  in  the  occupations  covered,  but 
was  issued  for  the  guidance  of  draft  boards 
in  considering  requests  for  occupational  de- 
ferments, in  the  course  of  which  they  are  to 
give  weight  to  the  training,  qualifications  or 
skill  required  for  proper  discharge  of  the 


"CAN'T  override  priorities,"  Green  warns 
exhibitors  Page  13 

U.  S.  PREFERS  less  war  in  films,  more  on 
its  effect  Page  21 

PARAMOUNT  challenges  Appeal  Board 
of  arbitration  system  Page  22 

20TH-FOX,   Paramount   win   theatres  di- 
vorcement case  Page  23 

INDUSTRY  digs  for  scrap  in  theatres  and 
exchanges  Page  29 


duties  involved ;  the  training,  qualification  or 
skill  of  the  registrant  in  his  occupation,  and 
the  availability  of  persons  with  his  qualifica- 
tions or  skill  who  can  be  trained  to  replace 
the  registrant  and  the  time  in  which  such 
replacement  can  be  made.  Decision  on  de- 
ferment still  is  in  the  hands  of  local  draft 
boards. 


British  Defreeze 

A  FINAL  quarterly  installment  for  1941-42 
of  $5,000,000  in  "frozen"  British  film  reve- 
nues has  been  received  by  the  home  offices 
in  New  York,  it  was  disclosed  Tuesday  fol- 
lowing a  meeting  of  distributors'  executives 
at  the  office  of  Motion  Picture  Producers 
and  Distributors  of  America. 

The  sum  is  the  last  payment  for  1941-42 
under  the  agreement  signed  last  year.  Un- 
der it  the  British  Government  released  more 
than  $38,000,000  in  hitherto  blocked  current 
revenues,  to  U.  S.  distributors. 

Company  spokesmen  indicated  that  they 
were  expecting  the  release  on  Saturday,  Oc- 
tober 24th  of  the  balance  of  American  funds 
in  Britain.  A  portion  of  the  monies  had 
been  held  there  by  currency  restrictions 
since  the  start  of  the  war. 

Estimates  place  the  total  of  blocked  funds 
at  between  $40,000,000  and  $50,000,000.  Of- 
ficial word  of  their  release  is  expected  from 
the  British  Board  of  Trade  in  London. 

Details  of  future  regulations  on  with- 
drawals have  not  been  announced.  It  is  ex- 
pected, however,  that  the  companies  will  be 
permitted  to  withdraw  the  major  portion  of 
current  earnings  in  quarterly  installments, 
similar  to  the  arrangement  in  effect  during 
the  past  year. 

R.  G.  Somervell,  British  Board  of  Trade 
representative  charged  with  discussion  of 
the  currency  restrictions,  recently  returned 
to  London  from  Washington. 


U.  S.  DRAFTS  regulations  to  control  all 
wages  Page  36 

MANAGERS    are    warned    to  conserve 
theatre  materials  Page  37 

CONGRESS  boosts  taxes,  exempts  foreign 
losses  Page  41 

WAR  draining  patronage  of  small  town 
theatres  Page  44 

HOLLYWOOD  is  pulling  together  in  war 
effort,  says  Beetson  Page  56 

Page  71 
Page  64 
Page  81 


Convert — or  Else 

THEATRES  as  well  as  homes  and  other 
buildings  will  be  denied  fuel  oil  if  they  have 
not  converted  furnaces  to  coal  where  this  is 
possible,  Joel  Dean,  director  of  the  fuel 
rationing  division  of  the  Office  of  Price  Ad- 
ministration, said  in  New  York  Monday. 
He  added  that  in  any  event  the  amount  al- 
lowed will  be  cut  one-third,  commenting: 
"We  are  not  insuring  any  definite  tempera- 
ture. The  temperature  in  a  sieve  will  be  a 
great  deal  lower  than  in  a  well  insulated 
place.  That  should  lead  the  owner  to  make 
improvements." 

Concerning  furnace  conversion,  Mr.  Dean 
said  local  rationing  boards  would  consider 
the  availability  of  equipment  for  conversion, 
and  whether  conversion  could  be  made  at 
"reasonable  cost." 

Meanwhile,  the  War  Production  Board 
put  under  a  new  program  the  production 
and  delivery  of  industrial  type  stokers.  The- 
atre owners  wanting  them  will  file  applica- 
tion for  WPB  authorization  on  Form  PD- 
668.  The  authorization  will  be  given  with 
the  order  to  the  manufacturer,  and  will  be  ' 
regarded  as  permission  to  make  and  deliver 
the  article. 


Scrap  Citations 

THE  TEN  BEST  campaigns  by  theatre 
owners  for  promoting  the  nation's  scrap  pile 
will  be  given  recognition,  in  the  form  of 
special  citations,  by  Donald  Nelson,  head  of 
the  War  Production  Board.  Motion  Pic- 
ture Herald's  Managers'  Round  Table  will 
be  the  medium  through  which  the  five  best 
campaigns  in  each  of  the  next  two  months 
will  be  selected. 

Judges  will  be  from  the  panel  of  the 
Quigley  Awards  Committee.  (Details  on 
page  75.) 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  50     Managers'  Round  Table 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  52     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  including  Reviews  and  Release  Chart 


October    24,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


CONSERVATION  of  materials  and  manpower  was  the  theme  of 
-he  8th  annual  meeting  of  Warner  theatre  managers  in  the 
Philadelphia  zone,  held  on  October  14  and  15  at  the  Ritz  Carlton 
Hotel,  Philadelphia.  Joseph  Bernhard,  vice-president  and  general 
manager  of  Warner  Bros,  (shown  sixth  from  the  left),  warned 
the  house  managers  that  no  more  material  is  available  for 
me  duration.  To  Mr.  Bernhard's  left  are  Ted  Schlanger,  Phila- 
delphia zone  manager,  and  Harry  Kalmine,  assistant  to  Mr. 
Bernhard.  To  his  right  are  Harry  Goldberg,  national  advertising 
head  for  the  circuit,  and  Everett  Callow,  head  of  the  Philadelphia 
zone's  publicity  and  advertising  department. 

HELLO  YOURSELF.  Edgar  Bergen, 

who  usually  shares  the  spotlight 

with  a  dummy,  is  greeted  by 

N.  Peter  Rathvon,  RKO  president,  on 

his  visit  to  the  home  office.  Bergen 

came  east  to  entertain  men 

in  Army  camps. 


By  Me:rt?politaE 


BACK  to  horse  -and-wagon  days  went  Floyd  E.  Ackerman  and  Harold  G.  Bernstein,  producer  of  Movietone  News, 

Bay  City,  Mich.,  theatre  operators  on  the  Butterfield  Circuit,  with  the  organization 

who  collected  scrap  without  wasting  rubber  and  gasoline.  almost  since  its  inception. 


12 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  24 


1942 


CITATION  from  War  Production 
Board  was  presented  to  Emil  Komuves 
of  International  Projector  Corp.  Left 
to  right,  Earl  G.  Hines,  president, 
International  Projector  Corp.;  John 
F.  Campbell,  plant  manager; 
Lieut.  H.  Massie  Smoot,  U.  S.  Navy; 
Mr.  Komuves;  Charles  Fay,  presi- 
dent of  Local  475. 

TH E  engagement  of  Miss  Ruth  Marie 
Kogod,  daughter  of  Fred  Kogod, 
Washington,  D.  C,  circuit  owner,  and 
Ensign  Marvin  Goldman,  son  of 
Mack  Goldman,  is  announced. 


GET  ACQUAINTED  luncheon  was  given  for 
Harold  Stevens,  new  Paramount  branch  manager 
in  Chicago,  by  Allen  Usher,  district  manager.  Seated 
clockwise  around  the  table,  starting  from  the  left,  are: 
Joe  and  Abe  Kaufman,  Balaban  &  Katz;  Julius  Good- 
man, Marshall  Square  theatre;  Simon  Simansky, 
Simansky  &  Miller;  Jack  Rose,  Indiana-Illinois  Theatres; 
Edward  J.  Mager,  Allied  Theatres  of  Illinois;  J.  B.  Koppel, 
general  manager,  Jacob  Lasker  &  Sons;  Ben  Lasker, 
also  of  Jacob  Lasker  &  Sons;  John  P.  Dromey, 
Great  States  Circuit;  Louis  Reinheimer,  Reinheimer 
Circuit;  Art  Gould  and  Joseph  Stern  of  the 
Joseph  Stern  Circuit;  James  Booth,  Essaness  Theatre 
Circuit;  Ed  Trinz,  Monroe  &  Clark  Theatres;  Alex  Halperin, 
Warner  Theatres;  Mr.  Usher;  Mr.  Stevens;  J.  J.  Rubens 
and  M.  M.  Rubens,  Great  States;  William  K.  Hollander, 
Balaban  &  Katz;  F.  Langdon  Morgan,  Motion  Picture 
Herald;  Van  Nomikos;  Harold  Wirthwein,  R.  Scheinbaum, 
J.  Himmelein  and  Sam  Tishman,  Paramount;  Russ 
Uswetsky  and  Elmer  Balaban,  H.  &  E.  Balaban  Corp.; 
Sam  and  Arthur  Schoenstadt;  W.  Immerman, 
Balaban  &  Katz;  John  Jones,  Jones,  Linick  &  Schaefer. 


SERGEANT  Gene  Autry  buys  a  War  Bond  from 
"Carolina"  Brunson,  of  the  Rialto  theatre,  Phoenix, 
Ariz.,  while  Major  Fred  Donaldson,  of  nearby 
Luke  Field,  where  Autry  is  stationed,  looks  on. 


October    24,     I  942 


MOTION    PI-CTURE  HERALD 


13 


"CAN'T  OVERRIDE  PRIORITIES/' 
GREEN  WARNS  EXHIBITORS 


Wartime  Recognizes  No 
Frills,  He  Declares  at 
Pittsburgh  Forum 

"These  are  sacrifice  times.  Take  care 
of  what  you  have.  Wartime  recognizes 
i  no  frills,  no  luxuries,  no  extras,"  Walter 
E.  Green,  president  of  the  National 
Theatre  Supply  Company,  told  an  ex- 
hibitors forum  at  Pittsburgh  Tuesday, 
during  an  analysis  of  wartime  restrictions 
on  theatre  equipment. 

He  spoke  of  the  urgent  need  for  equip- 
ment conservation  before  several  hundred 
exhibitors  at  the  William  Penn  Hotel, 
at  the  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Exhibitors 
I]  Forum,  held  in  conjunction  with  the  an- 
nual  convention  of  the  Allied  Motion 
'|  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of  Western 
Pennsylvania. 

"The  war  must  be  won.  And  while 
theatres  are  important  and  are  to  be  con- 
I  tinued,  we  cannot  forget  that  theatres  are 
!  essential  only  relatively,"  he  told  the 
!  meeting.  "So  long  as  our  needs  stay  with- 
in reasonable  limits,  I  have  every  reason 
|  to  believe  that  we  will  get  what  we  need, 
i  Whenever  they  exceed  common  needs, 
|  however,  we  won't  get  them,  and  we  cur- 
!  tail  the  overall  possibility  of  keeping  our 
J  theatres  open." 

Mr.   Green  asked  for  concerted  action  by 
exhibitors  to  keep  their  present  equipment  in 
■  the  best  operating  order  and  to  save  replace- 
ment stocks  for  emergencies. 
|l    "  'The  Show  Must  Go  On,'  for  years  has  been 
J  the  motto  of  the  motion  picture  industry,"  Mr. 
Green  told  the  exhibitors.    "I  think  you  will 
agree  that  the  manufacturers  and  suppliers  of 
theatre  equipment  have  pretty  generally  seen 
to  it  that  your  show  did  go  on,"  he  said. 

"I  could  recite  hundreds  of  instances  on  be- 
j  half  of  equipment  dealers,  testifying  to  the 
|  unusual  and  frequently  extraordinary  lengths  to 
which  we  have  gone  at  all  times,  day  or  night, 
to  keep  a  theatre  running.  While  it  is  true 
that  our  intentions  are  still  the  same  as  they 
were,  our  physical  ability  to  carry  out  these 
intentions  has  been  greatly  reduced,"  he  said. 

"Therefore,  instead  of  its  being  our  sole 
responsibility  to  see  that  the  show  goes  on, 
from  a  mechanical  standpoint,  the  exhibitor,  too, 
must  more  than  ever  adopt  that  slogan  and  do 
his  part  by  seeing  to  it  that  as  far  as  possible 
he  plans  for  his  equipment  maintenance  needs 
in  advance." 

Advance  Planning 
Called  Essential 

Advance  planning  for  equipment  replacements 
is  essential  Mr.  Green  said,  because  it  is  simply 
impossible  for  dealers  to  supply  the  unusual  on 
short  notice. 

"When  we  can  do  it,  we  will,  and  gladly. 
When  we  can't,  it  will  not  be  because  we  do 
'  not  want  to,  but  entirely  because  we  just  haven't 
!  the  material  with  which  to  carry  through,"  he 
added. 

Maintenance  service  by  established  equipment 
dealers  is  their  most  important  wartime  part 
and  duty  to  enable  theatres  to  continue  operat- 
ing, Mr.  Green  said.  Theatre  service  today 
means  maintenance  and  maintenance  only. 

"New  equipment  has  been  legitimately  shut 


off  and  such  new  equipment  remaining  on  in- 
ventory must  be  made  to  do  for  everybody  and 
cannot  be  used  by  anyone  exclusively,"  he  said. 
"Our  stocks  are  adequate  from  the  standpoint 
of  new  and  used  equipment,  lamps,  lamp  units, 
current  changing  devices,  etc.,  to  keep  theatres 
operating. 

"But  this  does  not  at  all  mean  that  any  of 
this  equipment  in  stock  can  be  sold  except 
where  absolutely  needed,  and  then  only  upon 
proper  supporting  evidence  that  it  is  urgently 
needed. 

"Today,  of  course,  there  is  a  vast  difference 
between  wants  and  needs.  In  our  judgment 
wants  are  out  for  the  duration.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  looks  as  if  the  needs  will  be  provided 
for." 

Mr.  Green  told  exhibitors  that  dealers  be- 
lieve they  have  sufficient  material  on  hand  to 
keep  theatres  operating.  Although  perhaps  not 
everything  each  theatre  wants  could  be  had, 
he  expressed  confidence  that  the  service,  equip- 
ment or  parts  needed  to  keep  a  theatre  open 
would  be  available,  provided  time  is  allowed  to 
get  the  material  to  the  theatre. 

May  Be  Temporary 
Shutdown 

"It  is  true  that  under  certain  circumstances 
there  may  even  be  a  temporary  shutdown,"  he 
warned.  "But  if  this  does  happen — and  I  want 
to  say  this  with  all  the  emphasis  at  my  com- 
mand and  in  all  sincerity — it  won't  happen  be- 
cause anyone  is  purposely  withholding  that 
which  is  necessary.  But  if  a  temporary  shut- 
down does  by  any  chance  occur,  it  will  be  be- 
cause the  demands  of  war  have  made  it  im- 
possible to  get  what  you  need  out  to  you  on 
time.  Any  failure  on  the  part  of  the  manufac- 
turers we  represent  will  be  due  solely  to  con- 
ditions beyond  their  control." 

Cooperation  and  a  willingness  to  understand 
the  cause  for  shortages,  and  to  work  together 
harmoniously  are  essential  to  keep  theatres  go- 
ing, the  equipment  executive  said.  Sacrifice  and 
willingness  to  share  available  supplies  will  aid 
the  industry  as  a  whole,  he  predicted. 

"Remember,  at  all  times,  that  the  government 
has  asked  you  to  conserve.  The  government 
has  asked,  and  expects,  that  you  will  give, 
instead  of  take.  Failure  to  observe  this  funda- 
mental in  any  way  may  only  result  in  more 
stringent  rulings. 

Warns  Against 
"Hoarding" 

"Whether  it's  a  matter  of  rubber,  metal,  film 
or  anything  else,  remember  that  these  are  all 
highly  critical  items,  and  therefore  the  govern- 
ment rightly  expects  and  demands  that  you  do 
not  hoard  in  any  way,  that  you  avoid  stocking 
more  than  your  current  needs,  and  that  in  all 
instances  to  get,  you  must  also  give." 

Turning  his  discussion  to  priority  assistance 
forms  and  their  uses,  Mr.  Green  asserted  that 
"too  little  use  is  made  of  the  various  War  Pro- 
duction Board  field  offices.  Procurement  ma- 
chinery has  been  set  up.  It  is  only  unwillingness 
to  make  full  use  of  this  procurement  machinery 
that  leads  to  over-all  complications  and  disap- 
pointments. 

"WPB  forms  Pd-IA  and  PD-1X,  together 
with  many  others,  are  not  necessarilv  in  them- 
selves complete  panaceas.  These  forms,  valuable 
as  they  are  in  many  instances,  are  merely  the 
means  to  an  end,  and  it  is  only  if  the  end  is 
actually  necessary  that  anything  at  all  can  be 


done  through  the  use  of  these  forms,"  he 
declared. 

(Use  of  the  PD-IA  form  by  exhibitors  was 
explained  and  illustrated  in  the  October  17th 
issue  of  Better  Theatres.) 

Exhibitors  May  Seek 
Priority  Assistance 

Exhibitors  can  file  for  priority  assistance,  Mr. 
Green  reminded  the  meeting,  and  furthermore 
they  can  get  it  provided  the  item  they  file  for 
is  absolutely  essential  to  the  continued  operation 
of  a  theatre.  But  it  must  be  clearly  understood 
that  the  part  is  vitally  needed.  Just  wanting 
something  and  not  honestly  needing  it  does  not 
count  today,  he  warned. 

"Before  filing  for  priority  assistance,  you  must 
be  in  a  position  to  say  that  you  have  to  have 
an  item  to  keep  going  and  that  you  can't  get 
it  from  your  regular  sources  of  supply.  The 
form  you  use  is  PD-IA,"  he  explained. 

"This  is  both  an  application  and  a  preference 
rating  certificate.  It's  an  application  when  you 
fill  it  out.  If  you  have  any  difficulty  in  filling 
out  the  form,  your  local  WPB  office  or  your 
regular  sources  of  supply  can  assist  and  advise 
you.  After  it  has  been  properly  filled  out,  the 
original  and  duplicate  copies  should  be  mailed 
to  the  Director  of  Industry  Operations,  War 
Production  Board,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"One  copy  will  be  returned  to  you  and  if 
your  need  is  justified,  a  preference  rating  will 
be  assigned.  At  this  point,  the  PD-IA  applica- 
tion becomes  a  preference  rating  certificate  and 
you  should  order  the  item  with  a  regular  pur- 
chase order  or  letter  extending  the  preference 
rating  assigned  by  using  the  simple  certification 
procedure,  the  instructions  for  which  are  given 
on  the  PD-IA  form. 

"On  the  other  hand,  the  PD-1X  form  is 
strictly  a  form  for  the  use  of  the  equipment 
supply  dealer,  and  it  is  my  opinion,  based  on 
the  actions  and  the  experience  of  our  own  com- 
pany, that  this  form  has  been  used  with  good 
effect  wherever  the  situation  justified  it,"  Mr. 
Green  said. 

Must  Take  Scrap 
Problem  Seriously 

Urging  scrap  contributions  from  theatres 
themselves,  and  the  careful  salvage  of  copper 
drippings  from  projector  carbons,  Mr.  Green 
warned  that  "exhibitors  on  the  whole  have  not 
taken  seriously  the  subject  of  scrap  in  the 
theatre." 

"It  is  a  chore,"  he  admitted,  "to  collect  and 
turn  in  three  projector  gears  or  a  pound  or 
two  of  copper  drippings,  but  their  metal  is  no 
less  valuable  than  the  tonnage  about  which  there 
has  been  much  publicity." 

Both  kinds  of  scrap  are  required,  he  reminded 
the  Forum,  and  the  small  amount  each  exhibitor 
can  give  is  in  the  aggregate  as  important  as  a 
scrapped  battleship. 

"This  effort  is  one  that  will  likely  bring  no 
publicity  and  perhaps  little  thanks,  but  it  is 
a  very  vital  contribution,  and  unless  and  until 
exhibitors  realize  the  importance  of  the  scrap 
in  their  own  theatres,  manufacturers  and  deal- 
ers in  supplies  and  equipment  will  have  a  harder 
time  to  meet  your  needs,"  he  warned. 

Other  steps  which  the  exhibitors  should  take, 
the  veteran  of  33  years  in  the  theatre  equipment 
field  said,  are  to  make  sure  of  the  proper  lubrica- 
tion of  projection  equipment  and  associated 
apparatus ;  cleanliness  and  the  making  of  timely 
adjustments. 

H.  M.  Richey,  in  charge  of  MGM  exhibitor 
{Continued  on  following  page) 


14 


MOTION    -PICTU.RE  HERALD 


October    2  4,  1942 


URGES  CARE  OF  EQUIPMENT 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

relations,  introduced  Mr.  Green.  Other  speakers 
at  the  forum  included  Lester  B.  Isaac,  head  of 
Loew's  projection  and  sound  staff ;  M.  L. 
Simons,  assistant  to  Mr.  Richey ;  William  R. 
Ferguson,  director  of  MGM  exploitation  and 
Seymour  Morris,  publicity  head  of  the  Schine 
Circuit. 


Pennsylvania 
Exhibitors  Attend 

In  attendance  at  the  Forum :  W.  W.  Acker- 
man,  Altoona ;  W.  C.  Aiken,  Jeanette ;  Gino 
Angeli,  California ;  Peter  Antonopolis,  East 
Pittsburgh  ;  Max  Arnold,  Verona  ;  Lloyd  Baker, 
Brownsville ;  Edward  Beedle,  Cannonsburg ; 
Fred  Beedle,  Cannonsburg ;  Andy  Biordi,  John 
Blatt,  Corry;  B.  Buchheit,  Greensburg;  William 
Lipsie,  Blairsville ;  Bart  Battola,  Newkensing- 
ton ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  Biordi,  Elwood  City ; 
John  Bixler,  Scotsdale ;  Charles  Blatt,  Somer- 
set ;  Mrs.  B.  Dattola,  Newkensington ;  R.  H. 
Shadley,  Meadville ;  J.  T.  Roese,  Sligo ;  J.  F. 
Smith,  Barnesboro ;  C.  S.  Brown,  Kane;  J.  G. 
Carrothers,  Grove  City ;  Charles  Carl,  New 
Bethlehem ;  E.  T.  Claffet,  Meadville ;  George 
Corcoran,  Monongahela ;  Gilbert  Cook,  Green- 
ville ;  Rudolph  Covi,  Herminie ;  A.  Farkas, 
Johnstown;  George  Davis,  Midland;  Joe 
Sferra,  Midland ;  S.  Fleishman,  McKeesrocks ; 
D.  Fineman,  Edgewood. 

Also  William  Gray,  Monongahela ;  William 
Gould,  Albion ;  G.  Gelman,  Duquesne ;  S.  Han- 
auer,  Beaver  Falls  ;  R.  W.  Gestrich,  McKees- 
rocks ;  F.  E.  Haslye,  East  Pittsburgh ;  G.  V. 
Ida,  McDonald;  F.  R.  Jackson,  St.  Marys ;  W. 
K.  Jackson,  Clearfield ;  R.  Jones,  East  Brady;  J. 
Jaffurs,  Wilmerding;  John  Jaffurs,  Jr.,  Glass- 
port  ;  Frank  King,  California ;  Robert  Lieber, 
Braddock ;  J.  Lund,  Aliquippa ;  J.  C.  Lund,  Ali- 
quippa ;  Werner  Lund,  Altoona ;  H.  H.  Myers, 
Wilmerding;  J.  D.  Nagy,  Rural  Valley;  N.  A. 
Malanas,  East  McKeesport ;  F.  Panoplos,  Clair- 
ton ;  T.  G.  Parrine,  Sandy  Lake ;  E.  A.  Peter- 
son, Johnstown. 

P.  Profili,  Frederickstown ;  Harry  Rachiele, 
Sharpsburg ;  J.  H.  Rankin,  Bridgeville ;  S. 
Rodnok,  Oakmont ;  L.  Rofnok,  Oakmont ; 
Harry  Schmitt,  Imperial ;  Miss  Schultz,  Cora- 
opolis ;  J.  C.  Shapiro,  Mount  Union ;  M.  Sleis- 
inger,  Rankin;  E.  E.  Shaffer,  Slippery  Rock; 
Jake  Silverman,  Altoona ;  H.  L.  Stahl,  Oil 
City ;  Louis  Stuler,  Daisytown ;  Charles  Sze- 
wcyck,  Boswell ;  K.  Vaveris,  Johnstown ;  Mrs. 
A.  Vincent,  Carnegie ;  Harry  Walker,  Crafton ; 
Russ  Wehrle,  Braddock ;  Al  Weiss,  McKees- 
port ;  Bill  Weiss,  McKeesport ;  Ken  Wood- 
ward, Jr.,  Huntingdon ;  W.  L.  Zedaker,  Clays- 
ville ;  All  Pennsylvania  also  from  Pittsburgh, 
Miss  Margaret  Blatt,  William  Finkel,  Harry 
Fleishman,  Norman  Fleishman,  M.  Burnett,  W. 
J.  Blatt,  F.  Fleishman,  Sam  Fleishman,  David 
Flam,  C.  J.  Geinzer,  Sam  Gould,  David  N. 
Breen. 


Field  Forces 
Represented 

Also,  H.  Grelle,  Tom  Gilbert,  Dave  Harburg, 
B.  Lieber,  R.  V.  McClamont,  H.  L.  Perer,  J. 
A.  Phillips,  J.  W.  Petty,  N.  Perer,  J.  Rich- 
man,  Raymond  Richman,  M  A.  Rosenberg,  I. 
Roth,  M.  N.  Shapiro,  Jake  Soltz,  Jack  White, 
from  West  Virginia ;  Thomas  G.  Anas,  Weir- 
ton  ;  L.  Brownfield,  Fairmont ;  Garland  West, 
Buckhannon ;  George  Otte,  Wheeling ;  Warner 
executives  and  managers,  M.  A.  Silver,  general 
manager;  Harry  Feinstein,  head  booker  and 
film  buyer :  J.  Feldman,  assistant  general  man- 
ager ;  J.  Totman,  publicity :  J.  Burger,  pub- 
licity ;  Walter  A.  Davis,  booker ;  T.  Fordan, 


district  manager,  and  house  managers,  P.  Wil- 
liams, Joseph  Blowitz,  L.  Brien,  C.  Czolba,  J. 
Conheim,  A.  Letender,  L.  Harding,  C.  Eagle, 

C.  DeFrancisco,  Al  Singer,  Al  Katz,  M.  Seed, 
Dick  Brown,  J.  Keefe,  H.  Koch. 

From  Harris  Circuit :  Ken  Hoel,  Les  Bowser, 
Robert  Taylor,  Sam  Defazio,  John  P.  Harris,  M. 
M.  Weir,  W.  Beil,  Earle  Bailer,  James  Kalos, 
M.  McDonald,  G.  W.  Eby.  From  Shea  Circuit: 

D.  Tysinger,  newspaper  representatives  Wil- 
liam Hart,  Press;  E.  Korbel,  Sun  Telegraph; 
Earle  Gaines,  Pittsburgh  Press ;  Mort  Frank, 
Pittsburgh  Press;  other  guests :  Mayor  Scully 
of  Pittsburgh,  Fred  Harrington  and  Miss  Ma- 
tilda Keil,  secretaries  MPTOA,  from  National 
Screen,  George  Dembow,  Jack  Cohen,  Perry 
Nathan,  Frank  Berglas,  William  A.  Mack,  J. 

E.  Currie,  and  Oscar  Oldknow,  from  Los  An- 
geles. 


Myers  Criticizes 
Sales  Policies 

Delegates  to  the  Western  Pennsylvania  Allied 
convention  at  Pittsburgh  on  Monday  reelected 
M.  A.  Rosenberg  as  president  and  the  entire 
slate  of  officers  which  served  with  him  during 
the  past  year. 

These  include  Harry  W.  Walker,  vice  presi- 
dent ;  Fred  J.  Herrington,  secretary ;  and  Joseph 
Gellman,  treasurer.  William  R.  Blatt  of  Somer- 
set, Pa.,  Dr.  C.  E.  Herman,  of  Carnegie,  and 
William  R.  What,  Jr.  of  Sewickley  were  made 
directors. 

Abram  Myers,  general  counsel  of  National 
Allied,  speaking  to  the  meeting  on  Monday, 
was  sharply  critical  of  distributor  sales  policies. 
He  warned  that  independents  are  ready  to  take 
action  against  higher  percentage  deals,  increased 
admission  prices,  and  preferred  playing  times. 

George  Dembow,  sales  manager  of  National 
Screen  Service  ridiculed  reports  by  a  Hollywood 
gossip  peddler  that  film  priorities  would  force 
the  accessory  and  trailer  firm  out  of  business. 

Priorities  for  the  allocation  of  film  to  trailer 
firms,  he  said,  is  being  calculated  by  the  WPB 
on  the  basis  of  1941  consumption,  as  with  the 
distributors.  National  Screen  Service  is,  how- 
ever, curbing  its  use  of  film  by  24  per  cent  of 
last  year's  footage,  he  reported.  The  special 
trailer  service,  except  for  bond  drives  or  other 
war  programs,  is  definitely  out  for  the  duation, 
however,  he  said. 

Obligation  to  Small 
Town  Exhibitors  Cited 

Discussions  looking  toward  the  revision  of 
theatre  payments  to  the  American  Society  of 
Composers,  Authors  and  Publishers  will  begin 
at  New  York  in  about  four  weeks,  John  Paine, 
general  manager  of  ASCAP  told  the  Allied 
members.  Colonel  H.  A.  Cole,  and  a  National 
Allied  committee  will  meet  with  ASCAP  at 
New  York  to  examine  a  statistical  study  of 
theatre  payments  to  the  music  society,  and 
discuss  possible  fields  for  revision,  Mr.  Paine 
said. 

Producers  and  distributors  have  an  obligation 
to  insure  the  continued  operation  in  wartime  of 
theatres  in  small  towns  where  defense  work, 
the  draft  and  other  factors  have  caused  a  drastic 
slash  in  revenue,  R.  X.  Williams  told  the  Tri- 
State  Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  at  a 
joint  convention  with  the  Arkansas  MPTO  at 
Memphis  on  Monday  and  Tuesday. 

Edward  L.  Kuykendall,  national  MPTOA 
president,  declared  that  the  high  priced  prestige 
picture  was  no  longer  needed.    He  asked  for 


better  short  subjects  as  an  incentive  for  the 
elimination  of  double  bills. 

Other  speakers  included  M.  A.  Lightman,  of 
the  Malco  circuit ;  David  Palfreyman,  from  the 
Hays  office ;  C.  C.  Mundo,  president  of  the 
Arkansas  group;  Robert  Wilby  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee ;  David  Flexer,  Jackson 
Miss,  independent,  and  Paul  Wilson,  Twentieth 
Century-Fox   district  manager. 

Officers  and  directors  elected  included : 

F.   Haven,   Forrest,   City,   Ark.,  president 
Cecil  Cupp,  vice  president  for  Arkansas ;  W.  S 
Tyson  for  Mississippi,  and  W.  F.  Ruffin  for 
Tennessee ;  J.  A.  West,  secretary  treasurer,  and 
R.  X.  Williams,  chairman  of  the  board. 

The  directors  are,  for  Arkansas,  W.  L.  Lan 
ders,  O.  G.  Wren,  L.  F.  Haven,  M.  S.  McCord 
James  Kane  and  Sidney  Wharton ;  Mississippi 
W.  S.  Taylor,  W.  A.  Rush  and  J.  C.  Jourdon 
for  Tennessee,  Dave  Flexer,  M.  A.  Lightman 
J.  R.  MacEachson. 

Canadian  Independents 
Open  Joint  Offices 

The  National  Council  of  Independent  Ex 
hibitors  of  Canada,  headed  by  Henry  Falk,  anc 
the  Independent  Motion  Picture  Exhibitor 
Association  of  Ontario,  of  which  Barnett  E 
Laxer  is  president,  have  opened  joint  office 
at  112  Bond  Street,  Toronto.  They  will  serv 
as  national  and  provincial  headquarters  for  th 
independent  exhibitor  groups. 

Indiana  AT 01  To  Meet 
In  Indianapolis 

The  Associated  Theatre  Owners  of  Indian 
will  meet  at  the  Indianapolis  Athletic  Club  o 
Monday,  October  26th,  in  a  one  day  convention 
Taxation,  film  rentals  and  percentage  picture 
are  among  the  topics  to  be  discussed,  accordin 
to  Marc  Wolf,  chairman. 

The  directors  will  meet  at  11  A.  M.  followet 
by  a  general  lunchen  and  business  session.  M 
Wolf  and  Don  Rossiter  will  discuss  bond  sale 
after  lunch.  Jacob  Weiss,  ATOI  counsel,  wil 
speak  on  taxation  and  legal  actions  during  th 
year.  President  Roy  Harrold  is  to  lead  th 
business  session.  Columbia  Pictures  will  presen 
a  preview  screening  of  "You  Were  Never  Love 
Her"  in  the  evening. 

New  Minnesota  Group 
Drafts  By-Laws,  Policy 

Directors  of  the  Central  States  Council 
Theatre  Operators  will  meet  in  Minneapolis  lat 
this  month  to  complete  drafting  of  by-laws  an 
form  points  of  policy,  Fred  Strom,  executiv 
secretary,  announced  in  Minneapolis. 

Meanwhile  it  was  understood  Wisconsin  in 
dependent  exhibitors  were  reconsidering  thei 
previous  decision  not  to  join  the  new  counci 
It  is  now  composed  of  Minnesota,  Dakotas,  low 
and  Nebraska  independent  organizations. 

The  new  Michigan  Independent  Exhibitor 
Association  has  designated  Lloyd  C.  Hammon 
as  its  organizer  and  will  send  him  on  a  ton 
of  upper  Michigan  and  the  rural  counties  t 
seek  new  members  among  independent  opera 
tors.  Mr.  Hammond  is  a  former  independen 
producer. 


Collins  Club  Speaker 

Kenneth  Collins,  manager  of  the  Indiana  the 
atre  and  co-chairman  of  the  War  Activitie 
Committee  theatre  division  of  Indiana,  wa 
speaker  at  the  president's  day  luncheon  of  th 
Indianapolis  Indorsers  of  Photoplays  in  th 
Claypool  Hotel  last  week. 


IK 


II 


ROAD  TO  MOROCCO' 
THE  FOREST  RANGERS 


Irs, 


IE 


STREET  OF  CHANC 


E 


KNRY  ALDRICH,  EDITO 


R 


"WAKE  ISLAND 
*  MAJOR  and  the  MINOR" 

"?HE  GLASS  KEY" 
PRIORITIES  ON  PARADE" 
"WILDCAT" 


W 


\ 


-4 


t 


i 


fm  fa 

m  m 


■pi. 

'Excellent  story  thrillingly  told 
in  exciting  color;  swell  enter- 
tainment for  all  classes. 
Should  do  a  right  smart  job 
of  coin-gathering!" 


an'c  Trnrla  Pe 


'First-rate  entertainment; 
mixes  romance  and  he-man 
stuff  with  a  strong  dash  of 
comedy  for  seasoning  .  .  . 
endowed  with  action  most 

lavishlv!"  —  The  Film  Daily 


"Romance,  comedy,  music  and 
melodrama  expertly  blended;  es- 
capist entertainment  at  its  best! 
Move?  with  the  rapidity  of  the 
flames  its  cameras  have  caught 

SO  glowingly  V1  — Motion  Picture  Herald 


'Name  draw  and  T1 
nicolor  will  ge» 
into  the  higher  groj 
...  a  healthy  entra 
the  boxoffice'.-rte. 


The  greatly-loved  novel  by  Alice  Hegan 
Rice,  and  the  hit  play  that  followed,  is 
brought  to  life  as  a  warm-hearted  screen 
treat  for  the  whole  family  by  a  cast  of 
favorities  .  .  .  Fay  Bainter  .  .  Hugh 
Herbert  .  .  .  Carolyn  Lee  .  .  .  Vera  Vague 
.  .  .  Barbara  Britton  and  more! 


"Writers  have  preserved  much  of  the  original 
flavor  of  the  book  and  the  play;  basic  drama  of 
a  courageous  mother,  the  charm  of  five  innocent 
children,  the  comedy.  .  .  the  romantic  interest 
of  a  struggling  young  physician  are  all  there." 

—  Motion  Picture  Herald 


"There  is  every  indication  that 
this  picture  possesses  the  same 
mass  appeal  of  the  great  popu- 
lar success  novel.  Hearty,  down- 
to-earth  emotion  conveyed  by 

an  excellent  Cast!"  —  The  Independent 


October    24,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  21 


U.  S.  PREFERS  LESS  WAR  IN 
FILMS,  MORE  ON  EFFECTS 


But  Producers  Now  Have 
20  Pictures  in  Work  with 
Reference  to  Conflict 

by  WILLIAM  R.  WEAVER 

Hollywood  Editor 

There  shall  be  war  films,  whether  or 
no.  Last  week  Captain  Leland  P.  Lov- 
ette,  Public  Relations  Director  of  the  U. 
S.  Navy  and  the  officer  who  furnishes  to 
producers  information  pertaining  to  the 
Navy  and  its  part  in  the  war,  told  Holly- 
wood leaders  his  branch  of  the  service  is 
well  pleased  with  what's  been  done. 

The  week  before  last,  Nelson  Poynter, 
resident  representative  of  the  Office  of  War 
Information  and  the  man  who  conveys  to 
producers  ideas  looked  upon  with  favor  plus 
the  data  with  which  to  execute  them,  al- 
lowed it  to  become  known  in  Hollywood  that 
less  actual  warring  and  more  about  the  ef- 
fects of  war  upon  people  would  meet  with 
approval. 

But  a  producer's  job  is  to  produce  pic- 
tures, and  in  the  doing  of  his  job,  rather 
than  in  the  talking  about  it,  is  to  be  ob- 
served the  outline  of  the  policy  which  he 
bas  elected  to  put  into  effect. 

Twenty  of  the  47  pictures  in  shooting 
stage  at  the  weekend  were  war  films. 

The  20  are  of  a  variety  of  kinds  and 
their  budgets  range  from  high  to  low,  and 
it  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  some  of 
the  musicals  in  production  will  contain 
enough  material  of  pertinence  to  the  conflict 
to  warrant  their  classification  with  the  20 
in  point  of  general  effect. 

Two  of  Metro's  Ten 
Are  War  Films 

Two  of  MGM's  10  currently  shooting  pro- 
ductions are  war  films.  "Assignment  in  Brit- 
tany" offers  Jean  Pierre  Aumont,  Signe 
Hasso  and  Susan  Peters  in  principal  roles. 
"Salute  to  the  Marines"  is  a  vehicle  for 
Wallace  Beery  and  Fay  Bainter. 

Producer  Releasing  Corporation's  "Lady 
from  Chungking"  stars  Anna  May  Wong 
with,  Harold  Huber,  Mae  Clarke  and  Ric 
Vallin  in  support. 

Three  of  RKO  Radio's  five  projects  in 
■diooting  stage  are  war  films  all  over. 

"Hitler's  Children,"  Edward  Golden's 
production  of  "Education  for  Death,"  has 
Tim  Holt,  Bonita  Granville  and  Kent  Smith 
as  principals. 

"Flight  for  Freedom,"  the  studio's  big- 
gest picture  in  making,  co-stars  Rosalind 
Russell  and  Fred  MacMurray  in  a  story 
often  reported  and  denied  to  be  derived 
from  the  life  and  death  of  Amelia  Earhart. 

'Bombardier"  presents  Pat  O'Brien,  Ran- 
dolph Scott  and  Anne  Shirley. 

It's  another  war  that  Paramount  is  film- 
ing in  "For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls"  but  that 
war's  relationship  to  this  one  is  of  a  sort 
to  entitle  the  picture  to  inclusion  here.  Gary 
Cooper,  Akim  Tamiroff,  Ingrid  Bergman 
and  Katina  Paxinou  are  four  of  the  numer- 
ous players  long  engaged  in  this  filming. 

Republic's   "London   Blackout  Murders" 


offers  John  Abbott,  Mary  McLeod,  Anita 
Bolster  and  other  unfamiliars  assertedly 
chosen  with  a  view  to  preventing  customers 
from  guessing  the  identity  of  the  killer  by 
reason  of  past  guilts. 

20th-Fox  Has  Five 
War  Subjects 

Five  of  the  seven  pictures  shooting  at  the 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  plant  bear  directly 
upon  the  war. 

"Secret  Mission"  is  played  by  Annabella, 
John  Sutton,  Beulah  Bondi,  Lee  J.  Cobb, 
Nigel  de  Brulier  and  Blanche  Yurka. 

"Chetnik"  offers  John  Shepperd,  Virginia 
Gilmore,  Anna  Sten  and  Philip  Dorn. 

"The  Immortal  Sergeant"  stars  Henry 
Fonda,  with  Maureen  O'Hara  and  Thomas 
Mitchell  in  support. 

"Crash  Dive"is  a  Tyrone  Power  vehicle, 
Ann  Baxter,  Charles  Grapewin,  James  Glea- 
son  and  Dana  Andrews  supplying  support. 

"Margin  for  Error"  engages  the  talents 
of  Joan  Bennett,  Milton  Berle,  Otto  Pre- 
minger  and  Carl  Esmond. 

Universal's  "Pittsburgh,"  a  story  of  that 
city's  industrial  contributions  to  the  war 
effort,  presents  Marlene  Dietrich,  Randolph 
Scott  and  John  Wayne. 

The  same  studio's  "Corvettes  in  Action," 
having  to  do  with  the  vanquishing  of  sub- 
marines, offers  Patric  Knowles,  Dick  Foran 
and  Robert  Stack,  and  its  "Forever  Yours," 
the  Deanna  Durbin  picture  long  in  produc- 
tion, has  a  Sino- Japanese  war  setting  and 
takes  its  flavor  from  the  effects  of  war. 

Four  Warner  Films 
Concern  Conflict 

Four  of  the  five  pictures  before  the 
cameras  at  the  Warner  studio  deal  with  the 
war  in  the  direct  manner  which  has  always 
characterized  Warner  war  films. 

"Action  in  the  North  Atlantic"  is  of  and 
about  the  war  on  the  sea,  presenting  Hum- 
phrey Bogart,  Raymond  Massey,  Alan  Hale 
and  Julie  Bishop. 

"Edge  of  Darkness"  is  another  in  the  Er- 
rol  Flynn  sequence  of  heroic  performances, 
Ann  Sheridan  and  Walter  Huston  heading 
the  support. 

"Air  Force,"  featuring  John  Garfield,  Gig' 
Young,  George  Tobias,  John  Ridgley  and 
Charles  Drake,  has  been  several  months  in 
shooting  at  the  studio  and  on  authentic  lo- 
cations. 

"Background  to  Danger"  combines  the 
talents  of  George  Raft,  Brenda  Marshall, 
Sydney  Greenstreet,  Peter  Lorre  and  Osa 
Massen. 

Public  in  Market 
For  War  Films 

These  are  war  films  in  the  making,  sub- 
ject to  a  degree  of  revision  up  to  and  even 
after  completion,  but  in  any  and  all  cases 
war  films  on  their  way  to  exhibitors' 
screens. 

Tt  goes  without  saying,  what  with  Army, 
Navy,  OWL  Motion  Picture  Society  for 
the  Americas  and  other  representatives  on 
the   scene   proffering   cooperation,  counsel 


and  whatnot,  that  all  of  these  projects  now 
in  shooting  stage  have  been  approved  in 
earlier  stages  by  persons  authorized  to  utter 
approval. 

Producers  have  heard  from  the  field  of 
exhibition  that  the  public  is  in  the  market 
for  war  films. 

They  have  heard  from  a  half-dozen  offi- 
cial sources  that  the  Government  is  dis- 
posed to  give  the  public  war  films. 

It  is  in  the  reports  of  grosses  across  the 
country  that  the  war  film,  often  susceptible 
to  production  at  a  figure  belying  the 
screened  result  and  figured  to  be  universal 
or  thereabouts  in  its  appeal,  is  about  the 
safest  investment  a  producer  can  make  at 
this  point. 

There  shall  be  warfilms — good  and  bad, 
expensive  and  inexpensive,  successful  and 
unsuccessful — whether  or  no. 

Arthur  Lee  Partner  in 
Monogram  of  Canada 

In  making  official  announcement  of  the  new 
Monogram  distributing  organization  in  Canada, 
W.  Ray  Johnston,  Monogram  president,  dis- 
closed that  Oscar  R.  Hanson  organized  the  new 
company  in  partnership  with  Arthur  A.  Lee  of 
New  York.  Mr.  Lee  formerly  was  head  of  Gau- 
mpnt  British  Pictures  Corporation  of  America. 

Samuel  Broidy,  vice-president  and  general 
manager  of  Monogram,  and  Harry  Thomas, 
sales  executive,  were  guests  of  honor  at  a 
luncheon  in  Toronto  last  Friday  signalizing  the 
launching  of  Monogram  Pictures  of  Canada. 
Ltd. 

The  luncheon  was  attended  by  leading  ex- 
ecutives of  the  industry  there  and  representa- 
tives of  the  Federal  and  Ontario  governments. 
Karl  Lawson,  K.C.,  former  member  of  the 
Canadian  Parliament,  was  toastmaster. 

Miller  Remains  as 
NAB  President 

Efforts  to  oust  Neville  Miller  from  the  presi- 
dency of  the  National  Broadcasting  Association 
were  defeated  at  a  board  of  directors  meeting 
in  Chicago  last  week  and  he  retains  his  office. 

As  a  compromise  between  those  supporting 
and  opposing  Mr.  Miller,  it  was  suggested  that 
he  be  made  general  counsel  and  chairman  of 
the  board,  which  he  refused.  Mr.  Miller  will 
continue  as  NAB  head  for  the  duration  of  his 
contract,  which  runs  to  July  30,  1944,  at  a 
salary  of  $35,000  annually. 

The  main  issue  was  the  situation  arising  from 
the  dispute  between  Mr.  Miller  and  James  L. 
Fly.  The  meeting  ended  with  no  action  hav- 
ing been  taken  on  a  plea  to  reorganize  and 
streamline  the  association's  policies. 


Columbia  Votes  Dividend 

Columbia  Pictures  Corporation  board  of  di- 
rectors last  week  declared  a  quarterly  dividend 
of  68-34  cents  per  share  on  the  S2.75  convertible 
preferred  stock  of  the  company,  payable 
November  16.  1942.  to  stockholders  of  record 
November  2,  1942. 


Republic  Circuit  Deals 

Republic  has  closed  deals  for  its  1942-43  pro- 
gram with  the  Essaness  Circuit,  operating  24 
houses  in  Chicago,  and  with  the  Jack  Rose 
Theatre  Circuit,  operating  12  theatres  in 
Indiana. 


22 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


PARAMOUNT  CHALLENGES 
APPEAL  BOARD  AUTHORITY 


Questions  Jurisdiction  in 
Returning  New  Orleans 
Case  to  Arbitrator 

The  powers  of  the  Appeal  Board  of  the 
motion  picture  arbitration  system  were 
challenged  this  week  by  a  consenting  dis- 
tributor for  the  first  time  since  the  Con- 
sent Decree  was  approved  in  November, 
1940. 

Paramount,  in  a  stipulation  filed  at  New 
Orleans  last  week  in  the  remanded  Lake- 
view  theatre  some  run  case,  questioned 
the  Appeal  Board's  jurisdiction  in  sending 
the  case  back  to  an  arbitrator  with  in- 
structions to  determine  whether  the  run 
offered  by  the  distributor  was  within  the 
meaning  of  Section  VI  of  the  Consent 
Decree. 

The  stipulation  itself  agreed  to  the  substitu- 
tion of  Philip  E.  James  as  arbitrator  in  further 
hearings  of  the  New  Orleans  case.  T.  W. 
Bethea,  the  original  arbitrator  of  this  fifth  New 
Orleans  case,  is  now  on  duty  with  the  U.  S. 
Navy. 

All  parties  to  the  case,  which  was  remanded 
by  the  Appeal  Board  in  their  35th  decision, 
agreed  to  the  substitution  of  Mr.  James  for  his 
law  partner,  Mr.  Bethea. 

Paramount,  however,  in  accepting  Mr.  James, 
raised  the  jurisdictional  question  of  whether  the 
Appeal  Board,  under  the  terms  of  the  Consent 
Decree,  had  the  right  to  send  the  case  back  to 
the  arbitrator.  The  distributor  also  questioned 
whether  an  arbitrator  was  qualified  to  pass 
judgment  on  the  acceptability  of  an  offer  of 
some  run.  It  contended  that  the  Consent  Decree, 
and  particularly  Section  VI,  gives  no  such 
authority  either  directly  to  arbitrators,  or  in- 
directly through  the  Appeal  Board. 

Further  Action  in  Case  by 
Paramount  Undetermined 

The  company  wrote  that  while  it  would 
appear  before  the  new  arbitrator,  it  reserved 
all  rights  involved  in  the  jurisdictional  questions. 

Louis  Phillips,  chief  of  Paramount's  arbitra- 
tion counsel,  on  Tuesday  refused  to  say  whether 
the  company  contemplated  any  further  action 
before  the  courts  or  Appeal  Board.  He  indi- 
cated that  the  company  policy  will  be  largely 
determined  by  the  rulings  of  the  Louisiana  ar- 
bitrator following  new  hearings.  The  case  is 
expected  to  come  to  hearing  within  a  few  weeks. 

Paramount  spokesmen  indicated  that  the  sti- 
pulation was  essentially  a  formal  step  taken  to 
protect  the  company's  rights  and  to  place  it  on 
record  as  holding  that  there  was  a  question  of 
the  scope  of  the  Appeal  Board's  rights  in  re- 
manding the  matter  back  to  the  local  tribunal. 

The  three  appeal  judges,  Van  Vecthen  Veeder, 
George  W.  Alger  and  Albert  W.  Putnam,  sent 
the  case  back  to  the  arbitrator  on  August  21st 
with  instructions  for  him  to  determine  whether 
the  defendant  distributors,  RKO  Warners  and 
Paramount  offered  a  run  on  terms  and  condi- 
tions not  calculated  to  defeat  the  purposes  of 
Section  VI.  They  reversed  Mr.  Bethea's 
original  dismissal  of  Paramount. 

At  midweek  Paramount  was  alone  in  its  chal- 
lenge of  the  board's  powers.  Attorneys  for 
Warners  and  RKO  refused  to  discuss  the  case 
or  any  possible  plans  for  a  joint  test  of  the 
hoard's  powers.  1 1  was  pointed  out  that  the 
Paramount  stipulation  might  be  in  the  nature 


of  only  a  formal  reservation  of  its  rights  to 
protect  it  from  possible  contempt  action  should 
the  arbitrator  hold  that  his  findings  on  what 
constituted  a  reasonable  run  offer  had  been 
ignored.  On  the  other  hand  they  said  it  might 
be  the  first  step  in  a  far  reaching  court  test 
of  the  Appeal  Board  powers  to  determine  what 
run  and  conditions  are  reasonable. 

A  similar  Appeal  Board  ruling,  remanding 
the  Sosna  complaint  at  St.  Louis,  opinion  Num- 
ber 40,  on  October  5th,  laid  down  a  time  limit 
and  specific  conditions  which  the  distributors 
must  meet,  according  to  the  Appeal  Board,  to 
comply  with  the  definitions  of  Section  VI. 

St.  Louis 

In  its  42nd  award  the  Appeal  Board  on 
October  15th,  reversed  the  dismissal  by  Ken- 
neth Teasdale,  St.  Louis  arbitrator,  of  the 
clearance  action  of  Adolph  Rosecan,  operator 
of  the  sixth  run  Princess  theatre  in  South  St. 
Louis. 

The  board  held  that  14  days  between  the 
Princess  and  the  fifth  run  Cinderella  theatre, 
operated  by  Fred  Wehrenberg,  was  excessive 
and  reduced  it  to  seven  days.  The  board  held 
that  the  record  showed  that  the  Cinderella  fre- 
quently delays  playing  pictures  after  availability, 
to  the  injury  of  the  Princess,  placing  it  more 
than  63  days  behind  downtown  first  runs. 

The  14-day  clearance  afforded  the  St.  Louis 
Amusement  Company's  Gravois  theatre  was 
found  reasonable.  The  board  assessed  costs 
against  complainant  and  interveners,  and  War- 
ners, Paramount,  RKO,  and  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox,  the  defendant  distributors. 

The  tenth  St.  Louis  case,  clearance  action  of 
the  Beverley  theatre,  St.  Louis,  was  appealed 
last  week  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox.  The 
award  of  Claude  O.  Pearcy,  arbitrator,  reduced 
to  one  day  the  clearance  of  the  Wellston  and 
Victory  theatres  over  the  Beverly.  The  com- 
plainant, Community  Theatre  Corporation  had 
already  filed  an  appeal.  It  is  the  first  time 
both  complainant  and  distributor  have  appealed 
the  same  decision. 

Washington 

Henry  Hiser,  operator  of  the  Hiser  theatre, 
Bethesda,  Md.,  won  a  partial  clearance  award 
Friday  in  his  combined  clearance  and  specific 
run  action  against  the  five  consenting  distribu- 
tors and  the  Warner  circuit.  Paul  E.  Lesh, 
arbitrated  the  case,  Washington's  11th. 

Specific  run  charges  against  all  five  dis- 
tributors were  dismissed.  Paramount  and  War- 
•ners  were  dismissed  from  the  clearance  charges. 
RKO,  MGM  and  Twentieth  Century-Fox  were 
directed  to  reduce  the  clearance  of  the  Warner 
Circuit's  Avalon  to  one  day.  The  Hiser  was 
also  granted  an  availability  of  not  more  than 
37  days  after  Washington  downtown  first  run. 

A  new  Washington  case,  the  12th,  was  filed 
on  Thursday  by  the  Walbrook  Theatre  Com- 
pany, Baltimore.  In  a  specific  run  action  the 
theatre  charged  that  20th  Century-Fox  had  sold 
the  run  requested  for  the  Walbrook's  Baltimore 
theatre  to  the  Forrest  and  Gwynn  theatres  by 
reason  of  their  Durkee  circuit  affiliation. 

The  Walbrook  company,  in  the  first  Washing- 
ton case,  won  a  clearance  award  eliminating 
the  clearance  of  the  Forrest  and  Gwynn  over 
the  Baltimore  theatre  in  April  1941. 

Cleveland 

The  Park  Theatre  Company,  Barberton,  O., 
operating  the  Dueber  theatre,  Canton,  O..  filed 
a  clearance  complaint  against  RKO,  Paramount, 
MGM  and  Warners,  asserting  clearance  behind 


first  and  second  run  Canton  theatres  is  unrea- 
sonable.   It  is  the  fifth  Cleveland  case. 

The  Ohio,  Loew's,  Mozart,  Palace,  Strand, 
State  and  Valentine  theatres  were  named  as 
interested  parties.  The  Dueber  lost  a  some  run 
action  against  the  same  parties  in  February, 
1942. 

Los  Angeles 

L.  W.  Allen,  operating  the  Southgate  theatre, 
Los  Angeles  filed  a  clearance  action  against  the 
five  distributors  and  the  Vogue,  Avon  and 
Lyric  theatres  on  Friday.  The  complaint  is 
his  second  demand  and  amends  the  fifth  Los 
Angeles  complaint  filed  by  him  in  March. 

Mr.  Allen  says  the  Vogue  margin  is  unfair 
and  asks  that  a  maximum  of  126  days  be  set 
for  the  Southgate  after  first  runs  and  that 
Vogue  clearance  be  set  according  to  admission 
prices,  Southgate  charges.  It  asks  seven  days 
on  30  cent  pictures  ;  14  days  at  25  cents  ;  28  days 
at  20  cents ;  98  days  at  15  cents ;  182  days  at  10 
cents  and  one  year  at  a  five  cent  admission. 

Chicago 

^  The  Madlin  theatre,  withdrew  its  complaint, 
Chicago's  19th,  against  the  five  consenting  dis- 
tributors when  it  came  to  hearing  last  week 
before  George  Frazier,  arbitrator.  It  said  that 
Paramount  and  MGM  had  granted  the  right  to 
play  in  first  week  of  general  release  and  that 
Warners  had  promised  the  same  release.  Mr. 
Frazier  directed  parties  to  file  the  settlement 
as  a  formal  motion  before  October  24th  to  en- 
able him  to  write  a  consent  award. 

Hearings  on  the  Ken  theatre  case,  Number  20, 
have  been  set  for  October  22nd. 

The  Oriental  case,  Number  6,  was  continued 
on  Tuesday  until  October  30th  to  give  parties 
further  time  to  work  out  settlement  details. 

After  three  days  of  testimony,  hearings  were 
concluded  in  Milwaukee  October  15th  before 
arbitrator  Thomas  A.  Byrne  in  the  complaint  of 
the  Menasha  Theatre  Realty  Co.,  operator  of 
the  Brin  in  Menasha,  Wis.,  against  the  Big 
Five  under  Section  X  of  the  Consent  Decree. 
The  only  intervenor  is  the  Fox  Milwaukee 
Theatre,  Inc.,  operator  of  the  Valley  in  Menasha. 

Twentieth  Century-Fox,  was  dropped  from 
the  complaint  as  an  affiliated  distributor  under 
Section  17  of  the  Decree.  The  arbitrator  will 
inspect  the  theatre  properties. 

Plottel  Joins  Sales 
Staff  in  Canada 

L.  S.  Plottel  has  resigned  his  distribution 
post  with  RKO  and  joined  the  sales  staff  of 
Empire-Universal  at  St.  John,  N.  B.  Mr. 
Plottel  is  one  of  three  brothers  engaged  in  dis- 
tribution in  Canada. 

H.  Miller  has  been  assigned  to  handle  sales 
out  of  the  St.  John  branch  for  RKO  for  three' 
months.  He  will  then  return  to  the  Montreal 
exchange.  H.  H.  McArthur,  office  manager 
and  booker,  is  temporarily  in  charge  at  St. 
John. 


Television  News  Handling 
To  Be  Different:  Hubbell 

"A  completely  new  method  for  presenting 
news  visually  has  been  worked  out  for  televi- 
sion," Richard  Hubell,  head  of  the  news  depart- 
ment of  the  CBS  Television  section,  told  the  J 
Publicity  Club  at  a  luncheon  in  New  York  last  ' 
week. 

He  added  that,  "after  the  war,  it  will  make  I 
(he  traditional  method  of  news  handling  obso-  1 
lete." 


October  24 


942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


23 


20TH-FOX,  PARAMOUNT  WIN 
U.  S.  DIVORCEMENT  ACTION 


Goddard  Rules  Theatres 
Acquired  Are  Xot  Part 
of  General  Expansion 

The  Government  charge  that  Para- 
mount Pictures,  Inc.,  and  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox Film  Corporation  had  violated 
the  provisions  of  the  consent  decree  by 
embarking  on  programs  of  general  thea- 
tre expansion  met  a  decisive  rebuff  this 
week  when  Judge  Henry  W.  Goddard  in 
the  Federal  district  court  in  New  York 
dismissed  the  charges  from  the  bench  and 
ruled  the  companies  legitimately  engaged 
in  "normal  business  growth." 

A  Department  of  Justice  petition  to  force 
the  divestiture  of  ownership  of  14  theatres 
of  Paramount  and  18  of  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  acquired  in  1941  was  thrown  out  by 
Judge  Goddard,  who  declared  that  the  Gov- 
ernment had  failed  to  substantiate  its  claims. 
In  so  doing  the  Court  held  that  acquisition 
by  Paramount  of  191  theatres  during  a  one- 
year  period  and  41  by  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  did  not  of  itself  constitute  general  ex- 
pansion. 

"It  doesn't  seem  to  me  that  there  was  a 
general  program  for  expanding  their  hold- 
ings," Judge  Goddard  declared  at  the  close 
of  the  full-day  hearing.  "The  acquisitions 
were  small,  isolated  theatres  in  the  main. 
They  were  scattered  transactions  which  do 
not  seem  to  me  to  be  a  general  program.'' 

In  the  give  and  take  discussion  that  oc- 
curred during  the  bench  ruling,  Judge  God- 
dard told  Special  Assistant  Attorney  Gen- 
eral Robert  L.  Wright,  head  of  the  film 
unit  of  the  anti-trust  division:  "There  is 
nothing  in  the  decree  to  prevent  a  normal 
growth.  I  think  if  there  had  been  a  general 
theatre  expansion  you  would  have  seen 
many,  many  more  theatres  acquired." 

Number  of  Theatres 
Does  Not  Matter 

"The  number  of  theatres  obtained  by  the 
defendants  does  not  matter,"  the  Court 
stated  firmly,  in  refusing  to  accept  the  meas- 
uring rod  offered  by  the  Government  as  a 
test  of  whether  the  consent  decree  had  been 
violated.  "I  couldn't  say  that  the  acquisition 
of  50  or  60  theatres  proves  expansion," 
Judge  Goddard  continued.  "T  would  have 
to  look  into  the  circumstances." 

The  decision  closed  another  chapter  in  the 
Government's  struggle  to  pin  monopoly  on 
the  major  companies.  The  petition,  filed  in 
February  of  this  year,  recited  a  claim  that 
Section  11,  subdivision  5,  of  the  consent  de- 
cree had  been  breached  by  the  two  compa- 
nies. This  provision  forbids  a  program  of 
general  theatre  expansion,  but  provides  that 
nothing  contained  therein  shall  prevent  the 
acquisition  of  theatres  by  the  decree  signa- 
tories to  maintain  their  competitive  position, 
to  protect  their  investments  or  in  the  regular 
course  of  business. 

Both  Government  and  defense  attorneys 
agreed  that  no  divorcement  mandate  could 
be  issued  unless  the  court  first  found  that 


TAKE  DEPOSITIONS 
IN  MOMAND  CASE 

Depositions  from  distribution  execu- 
tives were  taken  this  week  in  New 
York,  in  the  10-year  old  A.  B. 
Momand  anti-trust  suit,  which  is  to 
begin  trial  next  month  in  Oklahoma 
City  Federal  court.  The  depositions 
replace  older  ones  deemed  by  Fed- 
eral Judge  Bower  Broaddus  no  longer 
applicable.  The  Momand  suit  also  is 
against  the  Griffith  circuit  of  the 
Southwest. 

An  anti-trust  suit  by  the  Uptown 
theatre,  Salt  Lake  City,  against  Para- 
mount, has  been  withdrawn.  The  the- 
atre, formerly  Paramount's,  alleged  it 
was  unable  to  obtain  sufficient  first 
run  product  after  Paramount  re- 
linquished if. 


an  expansion  program  had  been  carried  out 
by  the  two  companies.  At  this  point  the  liti- 
gants parted  company.  Mr.  \Y right  and  his 
associate,  x\ssistant  Attorney  General  Ste- 
phen Doyle,  maintained  that  the  court  could 
make  this  ruling  based  on  the  objective 
number  of  theatres  acquired  by  the  two  de- 
fendants over  the  period  of  one  year. 

Mr.  Wright  maintained  and  reasserted  in 
response  to  judicial  questioning  that  the 
motives  of  the  defendants  in  individual  pur- 
chases were  immaterial  to  the  determination 
of  the  main  issue  "if  the  overall  picture  in- 
dicated general  expansion." 

The  Government  had  reached  this  con- 
clusion, Mr.  Wright  said,  and  then  had  sin- 
gled out  the  specific  theatres  whose  acquisi- 
tion did  not  come  under  the  exceptions  pro- 
vided by  the  decree.  This  stand  patently 
puzzled  Judge  Goddard,  who  could  not  un- 
derstand how  the  Government  could  point 
to  the  total  number  of  theatres  acquired  as 
proof  of  general  expansion  and  yet  excuse 
the  major itj-  of  transactions  as  coming  un- 
der the  exceptions  permitted. 

Mr.  Wright  also  found  himself  in  diffi- 
cult},- with  the  court  in  the  selection  of  the- 
atres for  judicial  divorcement.  On  this  point 
he  maintained  that  divorcement  should  fol- 
low where  the  companies  had  closed  out 
competition  in  a  town;  had  moved  into  a 
town  where  it  had  not  operated  before:  or 
had  purchased  a  theatre  from  an  exhibitor 
who  had  previously  complained  to  the  De- 
partment of  Justice  or  had  filed  an  arbitra- 
tion proceeding.  But  Judge  Goddard  could 
see  no  objection  to  a  company  acquiring  a 
theatre  in  a  new  situation  where  population 
shifts  caused  by  the  war  warranted  it. 

When  the  Government  signed  the  consent 
decree  and  agreed  to  shelve  any  move  for 
complete  divorcement  for  three  years,  Mr. 
Wright  declared,  it  did  not  intend  the  oper- 
ation of  the  decree  in  such  a  fashion  that 
one  company.  Paramount,  could  expand  by 
12  per  cent  in  a  year. 

If  the  court  did  not  enjoin  Paramount 


from  such  expansion,  he  continued,  that 
company  would  succeed  in  prejudicing  the 
the  rights  of  independent  exhibitors  by  ex- 
tension of  its  monopoly  in  the  exhibitor  field. 
"Either  the  decree  has  the  moderate  limita- 
tions upon  the  companies  which  the  Govern- 
ment has  maintained  here,"  Mr.  Wright 
concluded,  "or  there  are  no  limitations 
whatsoever  placed  upon  the  companies." 

The  two  companies'  acquisitions  were 
vigorously  defended  by  former  Judge 
Thomas  D.  Thacher  of  Paramount  and 
Frederick  Pride  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
Judge  Thacher  explained  that  out  of  the 
191  theatres  obtained  by  Paramount.  106 
theatres  belonged  to  the  Sparks  Circuit  in 
Florida.  Even  the  Government  could  find  no 
fault  in  this  particular  operation,  he  said. 
In  a  preliminary  statement,  he  announced 
that  he  would  analyze  each  transaction  criti- 
cized by  the  Government  and  prove  from 
the  facts  of  each  acquisition  "that  there 
never  was  a  general  expansion." 

Charge  Government 
Statistical  Inquiry 

Both  Judge  Thacher  and  Mr.  Pride 
charged  the  Government  with  making  a 
purely  statistical  inquiry  and  making  no 
attempt  to  investigate  the  merits  of  each 
transaction.  When  Mr.  Wright  asserted  that 
it  was  incumbent  upon  the  defendants  to 
prove  the  merits  of  the  acquisitions.  Judge 
Goddard  remarked:  "What  further  could 
they  show  but  that  the  acquisition  was  a 
good  investment  made  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  business?" 

To  bulwark  their  argument  that  no  plan 
of  expansion  had  been  formulated  both  de- 
fense attorneys  cited  the  fact  that  most  of 
the  theatres  were  bought  after  direct  and 
initial  solicitation  by  the  former  owners. 
Mr.  Pride  said  that  this  company  either  had 
acted  after  a  request  to  sell  by  the  owner  or 
following  a  drastic  increase  in  the  popula- 
tion of  a  locality. 

Acquired  Houses 
Are  Listed 

The  14  Paramount  theatres  of  which  the 
Government  sought  to  divest  Paramount 
were :  Fireman's,  Fireman,  X.  H. ;  Rich- 
mond and  Little,  Rockingham,  N.  C. :  Oil 
City  and  Rivoli,  Oil  City,  Xeb. ;  Joy  Thea- 
atre,  Gardner,  Ark.:  Donna,  Donna,  Texas; 
Colonial,  Beaufort,  Ga. ;  Gibson,  Greenville. 
Mich.;  Isis,  Preston,  Idaho:  El  Capitan. 
Hollywood,  Cal. ;  Vogue,  Orlando,  Fla. ;  Se- 
vern, Owensboro,  Ky.,  and  the  Camden, 
Camden,  Ark. 

The  Twentieth  Century-Fox  theatres  list- 
ed were:  Orpheum,  Kenosha.  Wis.:  Osh- 
kosh,  Oshkosh,  Wis.:  Strand.  Oshkosh. 
Wis. ;  Village,  Claremont.  Cal. ;  Kerridge 
and  Orpheum,  Hancock.  Mich. :  Lode. 
Houghton,  Mich. ;  Rialto.  Marinette.  Wis. : 
State.  Fort  Collins,  Colorado:  Times,  Jack- 
sonville, 111.:  America,  Sterling.  Colo.: 
Apollo  and  Jeffris,  Janesville,  Wis.;  Long- 
mont.  Longmont.  Colo.:  Monrovia,  Monro- 
via. Cal.;  Bell.  Bell.  Cal.:  Liberty  and  Se- 
dalia,  Sedalia,  Miss. 


24 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,     19  42 


Mellett  Confers 
With  WAC  and 
Lauds  Work 

Lowell  Mellett,  chief  of  the  bureau  of _  motion 
pictures  of  the  Office  of  War  Information,  ac- 
companied by  his  assistant,  Arch  Mercey,  vis- 
ited New  York  last  week  to  confer  with  mem- 
bers of  the  War  Activities  Committee  and  the 
production  unit  of  the  OWI,  headed  by  Samuel 
Spewack. 

In  a  long  conference  with  Francis  Harmon, 
executive  vice-chairman,  and  other  members  of 
the  War  Activities  Committee  on  Thursday, 
Mr.  Mercey  discussed  all  aspects  of  the  theatri- 
cal distribution  of  Government  war  informa- 
tion pictures.  He  discussed  also  the  circula- 
tion of  the  morale  films,  made  by  the  Molly- 
wood  studios  and  distributed  commercially  at 
minimum  rentals. 

Mr.  Mellett  was  understood  to  have  expressed 
satisfaction  and  praise  for  the  manner  in  which 
the  WAC  and  its  theatre,  distribution  and  pro- 
duction members  have  joined  in  the  circulation 
of  war  short  subjects.  The  pictures,  Mr.  Har- 
mon reported  to  the  Government  film  coordina- 
tor, are  now  receiving  the  largest  circulation 
ever  accorded  any  films.  Approximately  16,323 
theatres  have  signed  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee pledge  to  exhibit  them. 

Mr.  Mercey  said  that  the  OWI  production 
unit,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Spewack, 
Hollywood  screen  writer,  and  Willliam  Mon- 
tague, on  leave  from  Paramount  News,  will 
continue  to  concentrate  on  the  production  of  in- 
formation and  documentary  films  on  the  war 
effort.  Morale  and  propaganda  endeavours  on 
the  screen  will  be  left  for  Hollywood's  profes- 
sional producers,  he  indicated. 

Information  short  subjects  will  be  turned  out 
by  the  New  York  unit  at  the  rate  of  about  two 
a"  month,  Mr.  Mercey  said.  Additionally  the 
unit  will  make  special  trailers  or  short  reels 
for  exhibition  in  connection  with  local  salvage 
drives,  or  other  special  campaigns.  He  cited  a 
short  trailer  to  recruit  defense  workers  recent- 
ly released  in  the  Baltimore  area.  On  Wednes- 
day the  WAC  announced  the  five  newsreels  will 
distribute  "Give  Us  a  Hand,"  OWI  film  to 
recruit  technicians. 

The  Government  has  no  immediate  plans  for 
further  feature  length  production  in  sequel  to 
the  "World  at  War,"  now  in  circulation.  Mr. 
Mercey  declared  that  the  Government  was  well 
pleased  with  the  reception  accorded  the  OWI's 
screen  account  of  the  causes  and  background 
of  the  war  and  the  United  Nations'  aims. 

He  denied,  however,  recent  reports  that  a  se- 
quel production  on  the  joint  efforts  of  the 
United  Nations  was  in  preparation.  He  said 
that  this  topic,  and  others,  had  been  considered, 
but  that  for  the  present  the  OWI  unit  would 
concentrate  on  its  program  of  short  subjects. 

Mr.  Mellett  in  Washington  this  week,  mean- 
while, issued  an  emphatic  denial  of  charges  by 
the  American  Film  Center  and  the  National 
Council  on  Freedom  from  Censorship  that  war- 
time control  of  film  supplies  was  being  used  to 
censor  the  content  of  educational  and  documen- 
tary productions. 

In  a  letter  to  Elmer  Rice,  chairman  of  the 
Censorship  Council,  Mr.  Mellett  asserted  that 
"The  whole  basis  of  film  allocation  is  that  of 

the  use  of  critical  war  material  We  are  not 

accepting  any  role  of  censorship  of  content  be- 
yond that  implied  by  the  restriction  on  adver- 
tising." Allocation  is  based,  he  said,  on  WPB 
reports  of  available  film  supplies  and  produc- 
tion capacity. 

A  deputy  director  of  the  War  Production 
Board,  A.  I.  Henderson,  assured  Mr.  Rice  and 
the  anti-censorship  council  on  Tuesday  that 
any  35  mm.  film  required  for  the  production  of 
educational  motion  pictures  would  be  author- 
ized by  the  WPB.  He  asserted  that  there  was 
no  issue  of  censorship  of  contents  involved. 


CURTAILS  LONG 
DISTANCE  CALLS 

As  a  further  step  in  cooperating 
with  the  war  effort,  the  Warner  Bros, 
home  office  this  week  sent  a  notice 
to  all  branches  urging  the  curtailment 
of  long  distance  calls  wherever  pos- 
sible in  order  to  make  the  lines  more 
readily  available  for  Government  use. 


Invoke  Blue  Law 
In  Mississippi 

Opponents  of  Sunday  picture  shows,  oper- 
ated at  Jackson,  Miss.,  contrary  to  the  state's 
120-year-old  blue  law,  won  a  court  verdict 
last  Thursday  when  Circuit  Judge  J.  F.  Bar- 
bour canceled  the  franchise  of  four  motion  pic- 
ture theatres  in  so  far  as  Sabbath  Day  opera- 
tions were  concerned.  But  the  ruling  threatens 
to  snap  up  many  other  places  of  business  and 
large  numbers  of  offices. 

In  a  sudden  action  accompanying  Judge  Bar- 
bour's theatre  ban,  he  instructed  the  district 
attorney  to  bring  about  grand  jury  investiga- 
tion of  other  Sunday  law  violations  alleged  by 
the  theatre  defense  counsel  which  charged  dis- 
crimination and  only  partial  enforcement  of 
the  blue  laws.  These  alleged  violations  included 
Sunday  baseball,  golf,  tennis  and  other  sports, 
operations  of  restaurants  where  .drinks  are  sold, 
newsstands,  meat  markets  and  "working  in 
offices,  especially  by  lawyers,  insurance  men, 
accountants  and  stenographers." 

The  judge's  decision  was  on  a  quo  warranto 
proceeding  instituted  by  the  district  attorney 
on  request  of  a  "citizens'  committee"  of  church 
leaders.  The  group  sought  to  have  the 
charter  of  the  Kennington-Saenger,  Inc.,  can- 
celed and  their  right  to  do  business  suspended 
as  the  result  of  their  Sunday  operations. 


Funds  Set  for  Films 

Funds  for  several  of  the  Government's  war- 
time motion  picture  programs  were  provided  by 
Congress  on  Tuesday  when  the  Senate  amended 
and  approved  the  $15,862,000,000  Emergency 
War  Bill.  It  provides  $25,000,000  for  the  Of- 
fice of  War  Information  and  $5,000,000  for  the 
Coordinator  of  Inter-American  Affairs.  Both 
units  have  large  film  programs  aimed  at  win- 
ning the  good  will  of  neutrals  in  Latin  America, 
Europe  and  Asia.  The  bill,  which  was  con- 
cerned mostly  with  naval  and  military  appro- 
priations, did  not  earmark  specific  sums  for  the 
screen  programs. 


Pioneers  Dinner  November  19th 

The  Waldorf-Astoria  Hotel,  New  York,  and 
November  19th,  have  been  decided  upon  as  the 
place  and  date  of  a  "Harvest  Dinner"  to  be 
given  by  the  Picture  Pioneers.  The  dinner  will 
be  in  honor  of  those  of  the  screen,  stage  and 
radio  who  have  given  of  their  time  and  talent 
in  entertaining  the  Armed  Forces. 


Withdraw  "Action"  Subject 

The  National  Film  Board  of  Canada  has 
announced  that  it  has  withdrawn  "The  Road 
to  Tokyo,"  one  of  the  issues  in  its  "World  in 
Action"  series,  temporarily  from  distribution  in 
the  United  States.  The  film  is  on  the  Alaskan 
Highway,  to  be  completed  December  1st. 


Support  Allied  Caravan 

Dr.  J.  B.  Fishman,  president  of  Allied  of 
Connecticut,  reports  that  50  independent  exhibi- 
tors in  the  state  have  pledged  their  support  of 
the  Allied  Caravan  plan  on  film  rentals. 


SMPE  Meets 
On  Tuesday 

Limited  to  three  days  instead  of  the  usual 
five,  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers 
will  hold  its  53rd  semi-annual  convention  at  the 
Hotel  Pennsylvania,  New  York  City,  Tuesday 
through  Thursday. 

The  limitation  was  imposed  because  of  the 
war.  The  annual  banquet  will  be  held  next 
Wednesday  evening,  at  which  time  the  annual 
Journal  Award  will  be  made.  The  1943  officers- 
elect  will  be  introduced  at  an  informal  luncheon 
Tuesday,  at  which  chief  speaker  will  be  Francis 
Harmon,  executive  vice-chairman  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee. 

Some  of  the  features  of  this  year's  meeting, 
outside  of  the  technical  papers  read,  will  be 
an  extensive  tour  of  the  technical  facilities  of 
the  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  Tuesday ;  and  a 
conducted  tour  of  the  Army  Signal  Corps  Pho- 
tographic Center,  in  Astoria,  Thursday.  Titles  * 
of  the  technical  papers  scheduled  to  be  read, 
names  of  their  authors  and  the  complete  pro- 
gram appeared  in  Motion  Picture  Herald  for 
October  17th,  page  64. 

Chairman  of  the  reception  and  local  arrange- 
ments committee  is  Dr.  Alfred  Goldsmith.  Dele- 
gates are  to  be  welcomed  Tuesday  morning  by 
Emery  Huse,  president. 


Dullzell  Is  President 
Of  Theatre  Authority 

Paul  Dullzell,  executive  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  Actors  Equity,  has  succeeded  Frank 
Gillmore  as  president  of  the  Theatre  Authority. 
Air.  Gillmore  has  been  named  president  emeri- 
tus of  the  organization,  which  he  served  as  ] 
first  vice-president  at  its  formation  and  then 
as  president. 

Alan  Corelli,  executive  secretary  of  the  Au- 
thority, has  issued  figures  for  the  collections;, 
of  the  organization  since  1934,  the  founding 
year.    A  total  of  $255,481.80  has  been  collected  ;  I 
on  the  east  and  west  coasts  with  allocations  as  i 
follows:  Actors'  Fund,  $31,000;  Stage  Relief] ! 
Fund,  $10,079.98;  Jewish  Theatrical  Guild,  $9,J 
579.98;  Episcopal  Actors'  Guild,  $9,579.98;  NeJ  | 
gro  Actors'  Guild,  $4,579.98;  Catholic  Actors' 
Guild,  which  resigned  in  1940  from  the  Theatre 
Authority,  $6,080,  and  direct  relief,  $4,268.51.  | 


Add  to  First  Run 

Fox  Midwest,  which  .has  two  first  run  the-1 
atres  running  day  and  date  in  Kansas  City,  th< 
downtown  Esquire  and  the  Uptown  theatre 
has  added  a  third,  the  Fairway,  suburban.  t> 
run  day  and  date  with  the  other  two.  Tin 
Fairway,  seating  500,  was  opened  last  spring 
in  a  new  residence  development  west  of  tin 
Country  Club  residence  section.  It  has  beei 
operated  as  a  subsequent  run  house. 


Republic  Plans  "Dakar" 

M.  J.  Siegel,  president  of  Republic  Produc- ) 
tions,  who  has  been  visiting  New  York  has  an 
nounced  plans  to  make  "Dakar,"  a  story  of  tin  ■ 
strategic  West  African  port,  with  a  war  back  , 
ground.  John  Wayne,  John  Carroll  and  Anna' 
Lee,  the  stars  of  "Flying  Tigers,"  are  beim 
sought  for  the  Cast. 


Honor  Paramount  Men 

J.  H.  Stevens,  retiring  manager  of  the  Para 
mount  exchange  in  Indianapolis,  and  A.  R.  Tay  I 
lor,  new  manager,  were  guests  of  honor  at  ;  .  If 
dinner  given  by  the  Paramount  Pep  Club  a  i 
the  Washington  Hotel  there  last  week. 


Gregg  to  Hollywood 

E.  S.  Gregg,  vice-president  and  general  man 
ager  of  the  Western  Electric  Export  Corpora 
tion,  left  last  week  for  Hollywood  to  discus 
domestic  and  foreign  recording  problems. 


ITS  GOT  T«6  HHGlit 
THAT  MAKE  THAT  j 

CAST—  Paulette  Goddard  and  Susan  Hayward,  the  feminine  stars  of 
"Reap  The  Wild  Wind"—  plus  Fred  MacMurray,  more  popular  than 
ever  since  "Take  a  Letter,  Darling."  With  support  headed  by  Lynne 
Overman,  Albert  Dekker  and  Eugene  Pallette! 

STORV-  Romance,  laughter— adventure —set  in  the  great  Northwest! 
Original  story  read  by  millions  as  a  Cosmopolitan  novel  by  Thelma 
Strabel— who  wrote  the  original  of  "Reap  The  Wild  Wind"! 

COLOR  —  Forest  fire... thrills  of  the  timber  country... sky  patrols  of  the 
Forestry  Service  —  action  —  all  filmed  in  spectacular  Technicolor! 

OlRECTIOM  — by  George  Marshall,  who  made  "Destry  Rides  Again" 
and  many  another  smash,  including  Paramount's  "Ghost  Breakers." 
Master  of  action,  romance  — and  fast-paced  comedy! 

MELODY  —  "I've  Got  Spurs  That  Jingle-Jangle-Jingle"  and  "Tall  Grows 
the  Timber,"  two  of  the  year's  swellest  tunes.  "Jingle- Jangle" 
marches  on,  week  after  week,  on  the  Hit  Parade,  the  Top  Sheet 
Music  Sales,  the  Top  Juke  Box  and  the  Top  Radio  Playings  lists! 


FANS 

4,500,000  readers  of  five  fan 
magazines  will  see  this  full- 
page,  full-color  ad  in  Novem- 
ber issues. 


AMERICA 
WEEKLY 

The  12,000,000  reader 
American  Weekly,  in 
cities,  will  see  this  sr 
full -page,  four -color 
October  18.  Similar  sup 
tary  four- color  ads  rui 
more  key-city  papers  r 
2,400,000  more  reader; 
to  tie-in  with  local  pla 


XOSMOPOLITA 

Cosmopolitan's  2,500,000  rea 
will  see  this  striking  full-eolo 
in  the  November  issue,  on 
stands  in  October. 


October    24,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  29 

INDUSTRY  DIGS  FOR  SCRAP 
IN  THEATRES,  EXCHANGES 


Dunphy  Works  Out  Plans 
for  Collecting  Copper 
Drippings  Salvage 

Methods  by  which  exhibitors  through- 
out the  country  will  be  able  to  start  the 
copper  drippings  and  stoppings  from  their 
projection  carbons  toward  the  war  fac- 
tories for  which  they  are  being  collected 
were  perfected  last  weekend  by  Chris- 
tophr  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture theatre  section  of  the  War  Produc- 
tion Board. 

The  plan  was  worked  out  in  coopera- 
tion with  Ray  G.  Colvin,  secretary,  and 
Joseph  Hornstein.  eastern  representative, 
of  the  Theatre  Equipment  Dealers'  Pro- 
tective Association;  Walter  E.  Green, 
president  of  the  National  Theatre  Supply 

|     Company,  and  executives  of  the  Altec 

'     Service  Corporation. 

The  offices  of  the  supply  companies 
throughout  the  country  will  act  as  central 
depots  for  the  collection  of  the  copper 
scrap,  which  will  be  sold  to  licensed  junk 
dealers  and  the  proceeds  donated  to  local 
Red  Cross  agencies. 

In  the  metorpolitan  areas,  exhibitors 
will  turn  their  copper  scrap  in  to  the  local 
office  of  a  supply  company,  while  theatres 

,  in  outlying  territories  will  turn  it  over  to 
the  same  agencies  that  deliver  films  and 
repair  and  maintenance  parts. 

Additional  Scrap 
"    State  Chairmen 

Approximately  52,000,000  carbons  bear- 
ing 273,000  pounds  of  copper  were  used 

'     last  year,  Mr.  Dunphy  said  in  announcing 

*     the  plan,  and  it  is  estimated  that  90  per 
cent  of  the  copper  can  be  salvaged. 
Additional  acceptances  have  been  received  by 

J  the  War  Activities  Committee  from  exhibitor 
state  chairmen  who  have  agreed  to  work  on 

j  the  industry  scrap  campaign,  bringing  the  or- 
ganization virtually  up  to  the  manpower  which 

1    functioned  on  the  September  Bond  drive. 

The  new  chairmen,  supplementing  a  partial 

k  list  published  last  week,  includes :  Sam  Pinan- 
ski,  Boston ;  E.  V.  Richards.  New  Orleans ;  co- 
chairmen  Jack  Kirsch  and  Morris  Leonard. 
Chicago ;  Frank  L.  Newman,  Seattle ;  H.  J. 
Fitzgerald,  Milwaukee :  I.  J.  Hoffman,  New 
Haven;  W.  F.  Crockett,  Richmond;  I.  Libson, 
Cincinnati ;  W.  K.  Jenkins.  Atlanta ;  Joseph  An- 
sell,  St.  Louis;  W.  N.  Skirball,  Cleveland:  and 
co-chairmen  John  Rugar  and  Tracy  Barham, 
Salt  Lake  City. 

WAC  Seeks  Vital 
Scrap  Information 

John  J.  Friedl  of  Minneapolis  has  arranged 
for  a  sub-committee  of  independent  exhibitors, 
which  will  be  responsible  for  North  and  South 
Dakota,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin.  The  sub- 
committee, under  chairman  E.  L.  Peaslee,  in- 
cludes Fred  Strom,  Ben  Friedman,  Eddie  Ru- 
ben, Oscar  Woempner,  Fred  Holzapfel,  Don 
Guttman.  Merle  Potter,  Howard  Dale,  Ted 
Mann,  George  Granstrom,  Dean  Nash,  Mike 
Cooper,  and  Frank  Fowler. 

A  letter  from  the  WAC  has  gone  to  all 
chairmen,  asking  the  following  information  : 

1 — The  name  of  the  theatre  holding  scrap 


matinees,  the  number  of  matinees  held,  a  record 
of  the  number  of  free  tickets  distributed,  the 
attendance  and  the  poundage  of  scrap  collected. 

2 —  If  scrap  was  collected  by  the  municipality, 
the  weight  by  pounds ;  if  by  junkies,  the  weight 
and  amount  of  money  received  therefor  and  to 
what  charity  distributed. 

3 —  Report  and  pictures  of  any  unusual  stunts  ; 
gather  and  report  human  interest  stories,  such 
as  giving  up  old  swords,  war  relics,  heirlooms, 
trophies,  etc. 

4 —  Keep  local  newspapers  advised  of  all  your 
activities  and  send  clippings  to  War  Activities 
headquarters  in  New  York 

The  W  AC  is  planning  to  have  Hallowe'en  a 
patriotic  celebration  this  year.  Theatres  will 
cooperate  in  the  endeavor  to  have  the  young- 
sters turn  in  scrap.  Scrap  matinees  are  to  be 
held  Saturday  morning,  October  31st_ 

This  effort  to  turn  Hallowe'en  into  a  scrap 
collecting  celebration  will  be  aided  by  the  Con- 
servation Division  of  the  War  Production 
Board.  Ray  Haun  of  the  General  Salvage  Sec- 
tion of  the  Conservation  Division  wired  250  ex- 
ecutive secretaries  of  the  Conservation  Division 
scattered  throughout  the  country  asking  for 
complete  cooperation  with  all  theatres  in  this 
special  effort  for  the  gathering  of  additional 
scrap.  Leslie  Avery  of  the  American  Industry 
Salvage  Committee  in  New  York  also  is  urg- 
ing a  cooperative  effort  of  all  scrap  collection 
agencies. 

Cincinnati  Collection 
Aided  by  Theatres 

Cincinnati,  leader  among  cities  in  the  scrap 
drive,  was  aided  greatly  by  theatres,  according 
to  exhibitor  Ike  Libson,  writing  from  that  city 
to  Arthur  Maver  in  New  York,  salvase  director 
of  the  WAC. 

Mr.  Libson  reported  that  67  suburban  the- 
atres participated  in  special  scrap  matinees 
which  brought  in  a  total  of  701,600  pounds  of 
salvage  materials.  Fifty  thousand  school  chil- 
dren attended  the  matinees. 

This  figure,  according  to  Harold  Nichols, 
chairman  of  the  Hamilton  Count}-,  Ohio  scrap 
drive,  was  three  times  the  amount  of  scrap  an- 
ticipated by  the  committee  as  a  result  of  these 
matinees.  Mr.  Nichols  praised  of  the  coopera- 
tion received  from  the  theatres. 

Heavily  sponsored  by  the  local  newspapers, 
the  three  Cincinnati  dailies  gave  a  S25,000  War 
Bond  to  the  boy  and  girl  who  brought  in  the 
largest  amount  of  scrap.  Mr.  Libson  also  re- 
ported the  theatres  were  contributing  all  pos- 
sible scrap  from  the  various  properties.  "A 
huge  three-sided  sign  was  dismantled  from  the 
Paramount  theatre,  and  obsolete  boilers  and 
other  material  have  furnished  a  total  of  120,000 
pounds  from  our  theatres  alone,"  he  said. 

Film  Officers  and 
Studios  in  Drive 

A  Hollywood  studio  scrap  committee  was 
formed  this  week,  comprising  Jack  Scales, 
Columbia ;  Sam  Hill,  Goldwyn  Studio ;  Jerry 
Mayer,  Metro ;  Frank  Leslie.  Paramount :  Ho- 
ward Nelson,  RKO ;  Jack  Wilson,  Republic ; 
Moe  Gordon,  20th  Century- Fox ;  Dave  Garber. 
Universal;  Carrol  Sax,  Warner  Brothers,  and 
Dave  Milton,  Monogram. 

Employees  of  the  Twentieth  Century  Fox 
home  office  and  exchange  in  New  York,  and  of 
the  De  Luxe  Laboratory,  are  driving  for  75,- 
000  pounds  of  scrap — the  estimated  aggregate 
weight  of  all. 

United  Artists  exchanges  throughout  the 
country  are  conducting  a  thorough  search  for 
all  scrap  metal  on  their  premises  and  are  turn- 


ing it  over  to  local  salvage  depots.  A  letter 
from  H.  D.  Buckley  to  all  branch  managers 
urged  complete  cooperation  in  the  scrap  drive. 

Thirty-nine  Warner  Pittsburgh  theatres  un- 
der zone  manager  Moe  Silver,  held  scrap  mati- 
nees last  Saturday  morning. 

Houses  included  the  Arsenal,  Belmar,  Boule- 
vard. Enright,  Kenyon,  Manor,  Melrose,  Plaza. 
Schenley,  Shadyside  and  Mfc  Oliver,  all  in 
Pittsburgh,  and  the  Ambridge,  Ambridge ; 
Whitehall.  Brentwood ;  Butler,  Butler :  Colum- 
bia, Brookville ;  Harris,  Donora ;  South  Hills, 
Dormont ;  Warner,  Erie ;  Etna,  Etna ;  Manos, 
Greensburg :  State,  Johnstown ;  Memorial,  Mc 
Keesport ;  Libert}',  New  Kensington ;  Library, 
Warren  ;  State,  Washington  ;  Jefferson,  Punxu- 
tawney ;  Strand  Ridgway ;  Columbia.  Sharon ; 
Cathaum.  State  College ;  Harris,  Tarentum : 
Perm,  Titusville:  Wilson,  Tyrone;  Rowland, 
Wilkinsburg ;  Virginian,  Charleston :  Ritz, 
Clarksburg;  Fairmont,  Fairmont:  Warner, 
Morgantown ;  Smoot,  Parkersburg,  and  Capitol, 
Steubenviile. 

Cancel  Xeiv  York 
Scrap  Campaign 

New  York's  theatre  scrap  drive  was  cancelled 
last  week.  It  had  been  scheduled  for  the  two 
weeks  October  15th-November  1st.  However, 
the  successful  newspaper  scrap  campaign  during 
the  two  previous  weeks,  had  filled  available 
storage  facilities. 

The  big  dowmtown  theatres  in  Boston,  went 
all  out  for  scrap  October  12th  when  the}-  gave 
free  admission  to  anyone  bringing  10  pounds  of 
scrap  metal  or  two  pounds  of  rubber  between 
9  A.  M.  and  5  P.  M. 

In  Brockton,  Mass.,  theatre  managers  are 
putting  on  a  united  scrap  drive  free  show-  pro- 
gram this  month,  with  free  tickets  given  for 
five  pounds  of  scrap  metal  or  rubber.  The 
scrap  is  deposited  on  the  Modern  theatre  park- 
ing lot  any  day  with  tickets  being  issued  there. 
The  show  was  at  the  M  &  P  Brockton  theatre, 
October  10th;  the  Interstate  Colonial,  the  Mod- 
ern theatre,  the  Rialto  and  the  Keith,  October 
17.  Twelve  tons  of  scrap  were  taken  in  at  the 
Modern  theatre  show. 

Many  Scrap  Matinees 
Across  Country 

Managers  Arthur  W.  Pinkham  and  Alex  H. 
Hurwitz  put  over  scrap  shows  at  their  M  &  P 
Park  and  Strand  theatres,  respectively,  this 
month,  with  the  children  depositing  their  scrap 
in  trucks  at  the  Taunton  Green,  where  tickets 
were  issued  on  the  basis  of  five  to  10  pounds 
apiece.  Similar  shows  were  held  at  the  M  &  P 
Merrimack  Square  and  Strand  theatres  in  Low- 
ell, Mass.,  with  the  children  bringing  five 
pounds  apiece.  Free  tickets  were  given  at  the 
recent  Topsfield,  Mass.,  Fair  to  those  bringing 
50  pounds  of  scrap  metal  or  20  pounds  of  rubber. 

The  Arcade  Theatre,  New-ark  Ohio,  operated 
by  Clark  C.  Rador.  started  to  hold  a  scrap 
matinee  Saturday,  but  so  many  children  came 
that  it  was  necessary  to  have  three  show-s  to 
accommodate  the  crowd.  More  than  1,500 
showed  up  with  scrap.  John  T.  Woodward, 
manager  of  the  Newark  Amusement  company, 
said  additional  show-s  will  be  held  by  the  Mid- 
land theatre,  the  Grand  theatre  and  the  Audi- 
torium. 

The  Star  and  Guys  theatres  in  Richlands,  Ya., 
2.300  population,  gathered  more  than  four  tons 
of  scrap  with  scrap  matinees  last  Saturday. 
More  than  800  children  attended.  In  addition. 
Manager  R.  G.  Flanary  reported,  the  theatre  did 
about  S40  over  a  normal  Saturday's  business. 

Nassau  County  will  hold  scrap  matinees  in 
(Continued  on  folloTcing  page) 


30 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    2  4,  1942 


THEATRES  PUSH  SCRAP  DRIVE 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
theatres  Saturday,  according  to  reports  from 
Freeport,  Hempstead,   Cedarhurst,  Glen  Cove 
and  Great  Neck,  Long  Island,  New  York. 

The  Salvage  Committee  of  the  Westchester 
County  War  Council,  New  York,  will  present 
an  award  of  merit  to  those  communities  reach- 
ing their  quotas  in  the  present  scrap  campaign, 
it  was  announced  Monday. 

The  War  Activities  for  North  Carolina  has 
sent  a  congratulatory  bulletin  to  all  Carolina 
exhibitors  for  their  work  in  making  the  state 
the  highest  in  the  list  of  Bonds  sold  during 
the  motion  picture  industry's  September  drive. 
North  Carolina  sold  145.6  per  cent  of  its  quota, 
a  larger  percentage  than  achieved  in  any  other 
state.  The  quota  was  $9,750,000  and  sales 
reached  $14,195,000.  South  Carolina  was  third 
in  the  list  with  141  per  cent,  its  quota  being 
$4,250,000  while  sales  were  $6,012,000. 

Local  Indianapolis  theatres  will  sponsor  free 
matinees  Saturday.  The  price  of  admission 
will  be  a  piece  of  "scrap.  The  special  shows 
will  begin  at  9  o'clock  downtown,  and  at  10 
o'clock  at  the  neighborhood  theatres.  Many 
theatres  are  now  showing  the  government  pic- 
ture, "Salvage." 

To  Build  Canteen 
From  Scrap  Proceeds 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  exhibitors  are  donating 
money  derived  from  scrap  sales  at  matinees  to 
be  held  Saturday,  to  the  USO.  A  canteen  for 
service  men  will  be  built. 

Pleasantville,  N.  Y.,  theatres  and  local  organ- 
izations are  cooperating  on  a  Salvage  Rally  and 
Hallowe'en  party  on  Saturday  night,  October 
31st.  Prizes  to  the  person  wearing  the  best 
costume  made  out  of  scrap  will  be  awarded. 

A  successful  scrap  matinee  was  held  last  week 
by  the  Monroe  theatre,  Woodsfield,  Ohio.  Each 
child  was  required  to  bring  in  five  pounds  of 
scrap  material  for  a  free  ticket. 

Cleveland  exhibitors  have  been  notified  by 
William  N.  Skirball,  field  chairman  of  the  War 
Activities  Committee,  to  make  a  particular  ef- 
fort to  collect  small  scrap,  such  as  keys,  light 
bulbs,  scissors  and  other  miscellaneous  items. 
Lobby  cards  calling  attention  to  this  phase  of 
the  scrap  drive  are  being  prominently  displayed 
by  all  theatres. 

In  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  the  Fountain  theatre 
has  contributed  sums  to  the  Community  Chest, 
The  Boys  Club,  and  the  USO,  collected  from 
the  sale  of  scrap  gathered  at  three  special 
scrap  matinees.  Abe  Kaufman,  manager,  said 
that  although  10  tons  of  scrap  materials  al- 
ready have  been  collected,  the  campaign  is 
still  on  for  the  remainder  of  the  motion  picture 
theatre  drive. 

Griffith  Circuit 
Thanks  Patrons 

Harold  Hall,  operator  of  the  Elkader  thea- 
tre at  Elkader,  Iowa,  is  sponsoring  a  scrap 
drive  Saturday,  when  admittance  to  the  thea- 
tre will  be  five  pounds  of  scrap.  He  arranged 
for  junk  dealers  to  be  on  hand  to  buy  every- 
thing brought  to  the  theatre. 

All  theatres  of  the  R.  E.  Griffith  circuit  and 
the  Westex  circuit  in  Dallas  will  feature  a 
display  in  their  lobbies  thanking  their  patrons 
for  the  support  they  gave  to  the  September 
War  Bond  drive.  The  displays  are  being 
modeled  after  a  board  used  by  Mark  Cadle  of 
the  Griffith  theatres  in  Hiawatha,  Kan.  The 
board  features  the  picture  of  a  local  man  in  the 
armed  services  and  uses  the  WAC  slogan, 
"Thanks  for  Buying  That  Bond."  The  notice 
for  such  a  thank  you  campaign  was  sent  to 
all  theatres  by  R.  I.  Payne. 

Thousands  of  pounds  of  scrap  were  piled 


high  on  the  South  Plaza,  Columbus,  Ohio,  as 
the  result  of  the  scrap  matinee  held  last  week 
at  Loew's  Ohio  theatre.  More  than  a  thousand 
children  attended,  bringing  with  them  -a  mini- 
mum of  five  pounds  of  scrap  metal  or  rubber 
as  their  ticket  of  admission. 

More  than  2,300  children  attended  the  after 
school  scrap  matinee  held  by  the  Morton  thea- 
tre, Dorchester,  Mass.,  and  deposited  20,000 
pounds  of  metal  on  the  scrap  heap. 

Dramatizing  the  Kansas  City  Film  Row 
drive  is  the  digging  up  of  street  car  rails  on 
Wyandotte  street,  the  main  north-south  street 
through  the  Row ;  the  rails  had  been  covered 
with  paving  several  years  ago  when  this  street 
car  stretch  was  abandoned. 

Illinois  House  Stresses 
Key  Collection 

In  Steubenville,  Ohio,  the  Red  Cross  and 
USO  received  the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
more  than  five  tons  of  scrap  collected  at  the 
scrap  matinee  at  the  Paramount  theatre.  Para- 
mount donated  a  print  of  "St.  Louis  Blues"  for 
the  scrap  show  and  the  theatre  cooperated  with 
the  newspaper  to  make  the  collection  a  success. 

The  Hope  theatre  in  Sesser,  111.,  is  concen- 
trating on  the  collection  of  keys.  Advertise- 
ments from  the  screen  as  well  as  in  the  news- 
papers call  attention  to  the  large  box  in  the 
lobby  for  the  deposit  of  old  keys, 

A  trailer  thanking  their  patrons  for  the  co- 
operation they  gave  in  the  September  War 
Bond  drive  is  being  run  in  all  Lucas  and  Jen- 
kins theatres  in  the  Atlanta  area.  The  copy 
for  the  trailer  reads :  "Thanks  to  our  patrons — 
Due  to  you  the  Motion  Picture  Industry's 
"Salute  To  Our  Heroes' "  Drive  to  sell  one 
billion  dollars,  maturity  value,  worth  of  bonds 
in  September  went  over  the  top — And  we  want 
to  take  this  means  as  an  opportunity  of  ex- 
pressing to  you  our  sincere  thanks  and  appre- 
ciation." The  trailer  is  signed  by  Arthur  Lu- 
cas and  William  K.  Jenkins. 

Alabama  Theatres 
Respond  to  Call 

All  Alabama  theatre  owners  have  responded 
to  a  scrap  call  from  R.  M.  Kennedy  for  a  con- 
centrated drive  to  collect  scrap  in  cooperation 
with  the  newspapers  of  the  state.  Scrap  mati- 
nees and  advertising  on  the  screen  will  be  the 
chief  activities  of  the  theatres. 

In  Westfield,  Mass.,  employees  of  the  Strand 
theatre  are  displaying  two  certificates  received 
recently  from  Daniel  J.  Doherty,  state  director 
in  charge  of  the  sale  of  War  Bonds  and  Stamps 
and  signed  by  Henry  Morgenthau,  Jr.,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  in  appreciation  of  their 
efforts  in  the  drive  conducted  last  month. 

The  first  was  for  selling  over  $12,000  worth 
of  Bonds,  which  was  more  than  double  the 
original  quota,  and  the  second  was  for  over  100 
per  cent  enrollment  in  investing  10  per  ment  of 
the  gross  payroll  in  War  Bonds. 


Kellsall  in  New  Post 

Ray  R.  Kellsall,  manager  of  the  Victory 
theatre,  Oakland,  Cal.,  and  associated  with  the 
San  Jose  Amusement  Company  for  eight  years, 
has  been  appointed  division  manager  of  Af- 
filiated Theatres,  Inc.,  operating  in  central  and 
northern  California.  Mr.  Kellsall  will  main- 
tain offices  in  Oakland,  directing  theatres  in 
Richmond,  Fresno,  Hanford,  Lemoore,  Sanger, 
Alameda,  Vallejo  and  Oakland. 


Bally  Resigns 

Tom  W.  Baily,  for  the  last  six  years  in 
charge  of  production  for  National  Screen  Serv- 
ice's Hollywood  studios,  has  resigned. 


'Yankee '  Gross 
Is  $355,000 
In  20  Weeks 

Broadway's  first  run  theatres  continued  to  re- 
port strong  business  at  the  box  office  this  week. 
Good  grosses  were  recorded  for  new  features 
and  for  the  holdovers. 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  Warner  Bros,  film 
biography  of  George  M.  Cohan,  wound  up  its 
two-a-day  Broadway  engagement  at  the  Holly- 
wood theatre  last  Sunday  night  with  an  esti- 
mated gross  of  $355,000  for  the  20  week  run. 
According  to  the  company,  this  figure  repre- 
sents the  longest  film  run  and  biggest  gross  to 
date  for  that  theatre.  The  Hollywood  reopened 
on  Thursday  with  Warners'  "Now,  Voyager," 
starring  Bette  Davis,  and  scaled  at  popular 
prices. 

Goldwyn-RKO's  "The  Pride  of  the  Yankees" 
also  closed  its  two-a-day  engagement  at  the 
Astor  last  Sunday  night  after  a  14-week  run, 
and  made  way  for  the  debut  of  "For  Me  and 
My  Gal,"  which  opened  Tuesday.  Paramount's 
"The  Major  and  the  Minor"  ended  its  fifth  and 
final  week  at  the  Paramount  on  Tuesday  night, 
and  was  the  fourth  film  to  play  a  five-week  en- 
gagement in  the  17-year  history  of  the  theatre. 
"North  West  Mounted  Police,"  "Caught  in  the 
Draft,"  and  "Holiday  Inn"  were  the  others, 
with  the  latter  playing  six  weeks. 

Beginning  Friday,  Warner  Bros.  "You  Can't 
Escape  Forever"  was  held  a  second  week  at  the 
Strand.  "Iceland,"  starring  Sonja  Henie,  20th 
Century-Fox,  was  held  for  a  second  week  at  the 
Roxy,  and  "Tales  of  Manhattan,"  20th  Century- 
Fox,  ended  its  fifth  week  at  Radio  City  Music 
Hall,  Wednesday.  MGM's  "A  Yank  at  Eton," 
starring  Mickey  Rooney,"  which  opened  at  the 
Capitol  last  week,  was  scheduled  to  be  held 
over  a  second  week. 

RKO  reported  this  week  that  Walt  Disney's 
latest  feature,  "Bambi,"  is  continuing  its  "un- 
precedented run"  at  Keith's  Washington.  The 
picture  is  in  its  third  week,  with  the  end  of  the 
run  not  yet  in  sight. 

"Gone  With  the  Wind,"  David  O.  Selznick's 
production  released  by  MGM,  is  still  going 
strong  in  Pennsylvania's  anthracite  coal  region, 
according  to  Joseph  Engel,  owner  of  the  Plains 
theatre  in  Plains,  Pa.  He  booked  the  Techni- 
color production  of  Margaret  Mitchell's  novel 
for  a  three-day  run  and  it  held  over  two  extra 
days,  he  reported,  because  of  many  requests  re- 
ceived from  patrons  who  were  unable  to  see  it 
during  the  first  three  days.  Admission  was  at 
advanced  prices.  Mr.  Engel  also  reported  that 
people  from  a  radius  of  20  miles  came  to  see 
the  picture. 


Drop  Suit  Against  RKO 

Stipulation  dropping  the  $25,000  damage  suit 
of  Beatrice  Mindlin  against  RKO  was  filed  last 
week  in  the  U.  S.  district  court,  New  York. 
Suit  charged  breach  of  a  contract  allegedly 
made  in  1940  which  provided  for  the  distribu- 
tion in  the  U.  S.  by  RKO  of  the  British  made 
film  "A  Family  of  Nations"  produced  by  E.  R. 
Conne  and  assigned  to  the  plaintiff. 


Closes  Republic  Deal 

James  R.  Grainger,  Republic  president,  has 
set  a  1942-43  product  deal  with  the  Pubiix- 
Great  States  circuit  of  35  theatres  in  Illinois 
and  Indiana. 


YOUR  PASS  KEY  TO  PROFIT 
FROM  THE  PARAMOUNT  COMPANY 


ii 


of  'THE  THIN  MAN"  an 
THE  MALTESE  FALCON" 


+ 

of  Paramount's  "WAKE  ISLANC 


of  "THIS  GUN  FOR  HIRE 


ii 


A  BATTLE  OF  THE  S£Xes  f 
WON  AT  THE  BOXQfj:,^ 


A  Paramount  Picture  starrin 


BRIAN  DONLEY! 
VERONICA  LAKE  •  ALAN  LADI 

wm  William  Bendix  •  Bonita  Granvill 

Richard  Denning  •  Joseph  Caiieia  *  Directed 

STUART  HEISLER  •  Screen  Play  by  Jonathan  Latimer  •  Based  on  the  novel  by  Dashiell  Hammi 


PRINTED    IN    U.  S 


October    24,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


33 


Bond  Quotas 
Exceeded  in 
41  States 

"Just  how  successfully  the  motion  picture 
ndustry's  war  bond  activities  in  September 
lelped  bring  the  'peoples'  war'  to  'the  peo- 
ple' is  graphically  shown  in  official  figures 
'-eleased  by  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,"  the  industry's  War  Activities 
Committee  reported  Monday. 

The  figures,  sent  to  Francis  S.  Harmon, 
jWAC  executive  vice-chairman,  reveal  that 
ill  of  the  48  states  exceeded  the  Treasury's 
War  Bond  quota  for  the  month  to  pile 
jap  sales  that  hit  108.2  per  cent  of  the 
£775,000,000  goal. 

In  the  months  prior  to  the  industry's 
September  campaign,  the  Treasury  De- 
partment reported  the  following  results : 

In  August  only  four  states  reached  their 
Quotas.  In  July  only  eight  states  reached 
heir  quotas.  In  June  only  six  states  hit 
heir  targets.  In  May  38  states  reached 
rauotas. 

The  WAC's  statement  declared  that,  "This 
ndicates  the  gratifying  fact  that  the  Septem- 
ber effort  apparently  brought  a  tidal  wave  of 
.•atriotic  enthusiasm  throughout  the  nation  such 
s  the  country  had  not  had  since  Pearl  Harbor," 
dding:  "The  interest  aroused  in  the  drive  was 
ationwide  and  not  confined  to  any  spotty  en- 
husiasm.  This  supports  the  opinion  expressed 
ji.y  some  Treasury  officials  that  the  film  drive 
lot  only  helped  sell  Bonds  but  'did  much  to 
■  urther  the  total  war  effort.' " 

North  Carolina  led  the  list  of  states  with 
September  sales  totaling  145.6  per  cent  of  quota, 
ihile  Louisiana  stood  second  with  142.8  per 
lent. 

New  York  sales  of  $134,032,000  were  107.2 
er  cent  of  its  quota  of  $125,000,000. 

An  odd  incident  of  the  tabulation,  said  the 
1  VAC  statement,  was  that  California —  "home 
f  the  movies" — fell  short  of  its  quota  by  some 
5,000,000,  having  hit  91.6  per  cent.  "But  it 
/as  California  that  sent  forth  the.  screen  stars 
.  ho  provided  so  much  of  the  spark  and  glamour 
f  the  campaign.  California  robbed  itself  of 
ts  'sales-force'  to  help  the  rest  of  the  nation." 

Theatres  Still  Push 
^ales  of  Bonds 

War  Bond  selling  in  the  nation's  theatres 
ontinues  unabated,  although  the  September 
rive  was  completed  three  weeks  ago,  the  War 
Activities  Committee  reported  in  New  York 
his  week. 

Reports  from  the  field  are  typical  of  extended 
ctivities  by  exhibitors  in  pushing  War  Bond 
ales.     In  the   Northwest  territory,  $906,500 
/orth  of  Bonds  were  sold  by  film  houses  in 
iuperior,  Duluth  and  Red  Wing,  according  to 
report  submitted  to  WAC  headquarters  by 
liohn  J.  Friedl,  president,  Minnesota  Amuse- 
ment Company.    Credit  for  $403,550  sales  in 
[Superior  and  $402,425  in  Duluth  was  due  large- 
V  to  a  local  Shrine  show,  the  "Merri-Makers," 
I  l  three  theatres.    Local  details  were  handled 
jy  Harvey  Buchanan,  of  the  Palace  theatre, 
I  one  chairman,  and  Al  Anson,  district  manager 
f  Minnesota  Amusement  in  Duluth,  also  zone 
hairman. 

All  the  R.  E.  Griffith  theatres  in  the  south- 
I  'est  have  been  notified  by  R.  I.  Payne  to  con- 
nue  selling  Bonds  and  Stamps.  Mr.  Payne  re- 
orted  that  sales  in  the  territory  will  be  greater 
ach  month  than  at  any  time  prior  to  the  Sep- 
;mber  campaign. 


Treasury  Record  of  War  Bond 
Sales  in  September  Drive 

Comparison  of  actual  sales  of  War  Savings  Bonds  Series  E,  F  and  G  by  states 
for  September,  1942,  with  quotas  established  for  the  month,  as  prepared  by  the 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Division  of  Research  and  Statistics,  follows: 

Per  Cent 


Actual 

Actual  Sales 

state 

oales 

v^uota 

Difference 

to  Ouota 

Alabama   

$9,21  1,000 

$7,750,000 

$1,461,000 

1  18.9 

Arizona   

1,917,000 

1,900,000 

17,000 

100.9 

Arkansas   

4,526,000 

4,250,000 

276,000 

106.5 

California   

56,075,000 

61,250,000 

-5,175,000 

91.6 

Colorado  

6,783,000 

5,250,000 

1,533,000 

129.2 

Connecticut   

15,536,000 

19,000,000 

-3,464,000 

81.8 

Delaware   

2,728,000 

2,500,000 

228,000 

109.1 

District  of  Columbia.  . 

7,352,000 

7,250,000 

102,000 

101.4 

Florida   

8,831,000 

7,200,000 

1,631,000 

122.7 

Georgia  

8,554,000 

8,500,000 

54,000 

100.6 

Idaho   

2,368,000 

2,000,000 

368,000 

1  18.4 

Illinois  

62,472,000 

57,500,000 

4,972,000 

108.6 

Indiana   

21,955,000 

18,000,000 

3,955,000 

122.0 

Iowa  

17,279,000 

14,000,000 

3,279,000 

123.4 

Kansas   

8,767,000 

7,500,000 

1,267,000 

1  16.9 

Kentucky   

7,805,000 

7,250,000 

555,000 

107.7 

Louisiana   

1 1,778,000 

8,250,000 

3,528,000 

142.8 

Maine  

3,654,000 

4,500,000 

-846,000 

81.2 

Maryland  

1 1,275,000 

1 1,250,000 

25,000 

100.2 

Massachusetts  

27,697,000 

30,500,000 

-2,803,000 

90.8 

Michigan  

43,378,000 

35,000,000 

8,378,000 

123.9 

Minnesota   

16,478,000 

13,500,000 

2,978,000 

122.1 

Mississippi   

4,090,000 

4,750,000 

-660,000 

86.1 

Missouri  

19,005,000 

18,250,000 

755,000 

104.1 

Montana   

2,993,000 

2,700,000 

293,000 

1  10.9 

Nebraska  

6,344,000 

5,750,000 

594,000 

1  10.3 

Nevada   

1 ,245,000 

950,000 

295,000 

131. 1 

New  Hampshire  

2,515,000 

2,500,000 

15,000 

100.6 

New  Jersey  

33,129,000 

30,250,000 

2,879,000 

109.5 

New  Mexico  

1,417,000 

1,250,000 

167,000 

1 13.4 

New  York  

134,032,000 

125,000,000 

9,032,000 

107.2 

North  Carolina  

14,195,000 

9,750,000 

A  A  AC  r\r\f\ 
4,445,000 

l  AC  L 

145.6 

rsorrn  uakoTa  

l  ,zou,uuu 

1  15,000 

105.1 

Ohio  

44,504,000 

44,000,000 

504,000 

101. 1 

Oklahoma  

7,933,000 

6,500,000 

1 ,433,000 

122.0 

Oregon 

9,095,000 

8,750,000 

345,000 

103.9 

Pennsylvania   

66,145,000 

60,000,000 

6,I45!000 

1  10.2 

Rhode  Island  

4,842,000 

6,000,000 

-1,158,000 

80.7 

South  Carolina  

6,012,000 

4,250,000 

1,762,000 

141.5 

South  Dakota  

2,257,000 

2,250,000 

7,000 

100.3 

Tennessee  

10,785,000 

8,250,000 

0  ric  AAA 

2,535,000 

1  ^A  ~t 

1 30.7 

Texas   

oo  ico  r\r\f\ 

07  oca  r\c\c\ 

1,109,000 

104.1 

Utah  

2,295,000 

2,250,000 

45,000 

102.0 

Vermont  

1 ,437,000 

1,750,000 

-313,000 

82.  f 

Virginia   

14,347,000 

12,000,000 

2,347,000 

1  19.6 

Washington  

13,348,000 

12,500,000 

848,000 

106.8 

West  Virginia  

5,644,000 

5,600,000 

44,000 

100.8 

Wisconsin  

18,452,000 

17,500,000 

952,000 

105.4 

Wyoming  

1,586,000 

1,250,000 

336,000 

126.9 

Alaska   

688,000 

600,000 

88,000 

1 14.7 

Canal  Zone  

155,000 

150,000 

5,000 

103.3 

Hawaii  

6,000,000 

4,800,000 

1 ,200,000 

125.0 

350,000 

335,000 

15,000 

104.5 

Virgin  Islands   

17,000 

15,000 

2,000 

1 13.3. 

Unallocated  

16,250,000 

1 1,500,000 

4,750,000 

141.3 

TOTAL  

$838,250,000 

$775,000,000 

$63,250,000 

108.2 

PARAMOUN 


BRANCH 
and  CITY 


PLACE  OF 
SCREENING 


THE 
AVENGERS 


WRECKING 
CREW 


PALM  BEACH 
STORY 


MY  HEART 
BELONGS  TO 
DADDY 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


FOX  Proj.  Room 
1052  Broadway 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77.-30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2:30  P.M. 


WED.  NOV.  4 
70:30  A.M. 


ATLANTA,  GA. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
154  Walton  St.,  N.W. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
7:30  P.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
3  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
7.-30  P.M. 


BOSTON,  MASS. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
58  Berkeley  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70-30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
72  Noon 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2.-30  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
77  A.M. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
464  Franklin  Street 


MON.  NOV.  2 
9:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2.-30  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70:30  A.M. 


CHARLOTTE,  N.  C. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
305  S.  Church  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70  A.M. 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1306  S.  Michigan  Ave. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
72  Noon 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2:30  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70:30  A.M. 


CINCINNATI,  OHIO 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1214  Central  P'kway 


MON.  NOV.  2 
9:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
77  A.M. 


CLEVELAND,  OHIO 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1735  E.  23rd  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70:30  P.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
7  P.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
3:30  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70:30  A.M. 


DALLAS,  TEXAS 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
412  S.  Harwood  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
77  A.M. 


DENVER,  COLO. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
2100  Stout  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
9:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
7.75  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70  A.M. 


DES  MOINES,  IOWA 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1125  High  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
72  Noon 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2:30  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70:30  A.M. 


DETROIT,  MICH. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
479  Ledyard  Ave. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77:45  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70:30  A.M. 


INDIANAPOLIS,  IND. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
116  W.  Michigan  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2:30  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
77  A.M. 


KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


PARAMOUNT  EX'. 
1800  Wyandotte  St. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
70:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
7:30  P.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
3  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70:30  A.M. 


LOS  ANGELES,  CAL. 


AMBASSADOR  THEA. 
Ambassador  Hotel 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
7.-30  P.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
3  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
7:30  P.M. 


MEMPHIS,  TENN. 


PARAMOUNT  EX. 
362  So.  Second  Street 


MON.  NOV.  2 
9:30  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 


MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 


TUES.  NOV.  3 
70  A.M. 


*ANCH 
Ud  CITY 

PLACE  OF 
SCREENING 

THE 
AVENGERS 

WRECKING 
CREW 

PALM  BEACH 
STORY 

MY  HEART 
BELONGS  TO 
DADDY 

LUCKY 
JORDAN 

lUKEE  WISC 

PARAMOUNT  EX 
1121  N.  8th  St. 

MOM  NOV  9 
70  A.M. 

MON  NOV  9 
77:30  A.M. 

MON  NOV  9 
2:30  P.M. 

TUES  NOV  3 
7:30  P.M. 

FRI  NOV  13 
3  P.M. 

*polis,minn. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1201  Currie  Ave. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2-30  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
70-30  A.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
2.30  P.M. 

\ 

AVFN  rONN 

PARAMOUNT  EX 
82  State  Street 

MON  NOV  9 

70  A.M. 

MON  NOV  2 
77:30  A.M. 

MON  NOV  2 
2  P.M. 

TUES  NOV  3 

2  P.M. 

FRI  NOV  13 
3:30  P.M. 

Dl  PAKJC.   1  A 
KLCAINO,  LA. 

PAPAMOIIKIT  FY 
rMI\A/V\UUPi  1  CA. 

215  S.  Liberty  St. 

MOKJ    KIO\/  O 

70  A.M. 

iV\ vJIN.  IN^V.  z 

72  Noon 

A*  OKI    KIOV  9 
m^wTN.  IN^V.  Z 

2  P.M. 

Tl  IPC:  Kjrw 
1  U  Co,  IN      V  .  O 

70  A.M. 

FPI  NOV  n 

2  P.M. 

i  

I 

.-\  D  \/    kl  V 

.ORK,  N.  Y. 

rUA  rro|.  Koom 
345  West  44th  St. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70:75  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  z 
77:45  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  z 
2:75  P.M. 

Tl  ICC    kl/~\\/  O 

1  UtS.  NOV.  o 
2:75  P.M. 

CDI    kl/*^\/    1  O 

rKI.  NOV.  IJ 
3.45  P.M. 

) 

-|TV    Otfl  A 
.-II  T,  UM.A. 

PAPAMOI  IKIT  FY 

701  West  Grand  Ave. 

9:30  A.M. 

AA^M    Mr"^\/  O 
/VaVJiN.  iN^wJV.  Z 

77  A.M. 

AAOKI    KJOV  O 

2  P.M. 

Tl  IFC.    KIOV  T 
1  UCo.  |N\J  V  .  o 

70  A.M. 

rKI.  NCJV.  IJ 

2  P.M. 

-\,  NEBR. 

20th  CENTURY-FOX 
Projection  Room 
1502  Davenport  St. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 

i  1  /" \  k  1      ik  1  /"*\  \  /  O 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 

Tl  ICC     k.l/**\\/  O 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
77  A.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
2.-30  P.M. 

"iLPHIA,  PA. 

J 



PARAMOUNT  EX. 
248  N.  12th  St. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2.-30  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
77  A.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
2:30  P.M. 

RGH,  PA. 

1 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
1727  Blvd.  of  Allies 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
7.-30  P.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
3  P.M. 

:  

Kin  ODF 

\ 

PAPAWHI  IKJT  FY 
rAKAmUUIN  1  CA. 

909  N.W.  19th  Ave. 

iinw  niov  o 
70  A.M. 

AAON   NOV  9 

77.30  A.M. 

MON  NOV  9 

/V\  \^  1 N .    INV^/V.  Z 

2  P.M. 

TIIF5.  NOV  ? 
10:30  A.M. 

FPI   KIOV   1 "? 

2  P.M. 

\  

IS,  MO. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
2949  Olive  St. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2.-30  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
70.30  A.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
2.-30  P.M. 

KE  CITY,  U. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
270  E.  1st  South  St, 

MON.  NOV.  2 
9.-30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
7:30  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
7-30  P.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
3  P.M. 

\NCISCO,CAL. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
205  Golden  Gate  Ave. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
9.-30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
7.-30  P.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
3  P.M. 



:,  WASH. 

jj 

-  

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
2330  First  Ave. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77.-30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
7.-30  P.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
3  P.M. 

NGTON,  D.C. 

PARAMOUNT  EX. 
306  H.  St.,  N.W. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
70  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
77:30  A.M. 

MON.  NOV.  2 
2.-30  P.M. 

TUES.  NOV.  3 
7  P.M. 

FRI.  NOV.  13 
3  P.M. 

36  M  OT  I  O  N  .  P  I  CTU  R  E    HERALD  October    2  4,    19  4: 


U.  S.  DRAFTS  REGULATIONS 
TO  CONTROL  ALL  WAGES 


Hollywood  Lawyers  Study 
Ruling;  May  Seek  Clari- 
fication for  Trade 

Treasury  experts  this  week  were  draft- 
ing regulations  to  make  effective  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's  salary  and  wage  control 
program,  under  assignment  from  Direc- 
tor James  F.  Byrnes  of  the  Office  of  Eco- 
nomic Stability. 

Following  the  first  meeting  of  his  14-man 
advisory  board,  Mr.  Byrnes  disclosed  that 
he  had  arranged  to  have  the  War  Labor 
Board  regulate  all  salaries  up  to  $3,000  and 
those  salaries  up  to  $5,000  which  are  cov- 
ered in  wage  agreements,  while  the  Treas- 
ury would  handle  all  other  salaries  over 
$3,000. 

Mr.  Byrnes  announced  also  that  he  is 
working  with  the  Treasury  on  the  prob- 
lem of  limiting  salaries  to  $25,000  after 
taxes  and  allowances  for  insurance  pre- 
miums and  payments  on  fixed  debts. 

The  War  Labor  Board  already  has  an- 
nounced that  increases  of  salary  for  merit 
or  promotion  for  length  of  service  would  be 
exempted  from  control  and  that  salaries  and 
wages  paid  by  establishments  with  not  more 
than  eight  employees  would  not  be  regu- 
lated. Congress,  Mr.  Byrnes  said,  already 
has  been  asked  for  legislation  permitting 
regulation  of  commercial  rents,  which  has 
been  passed  by  the  House  and  will  be  con- 
sidered quickly  by  the  Senate,  and  is  re- 
viewing the  situation  to  determine  if  there 
is  need  for  further  measures. 

Various  Federal  agencies  have  been 
asked  to  make  reports  on  special  problems, 
including  one  on  compulsory  savings  and 
other  proposed  measures  to  control  excess 
spending  power,  and  the  effect  of  the  sta- 
bilization of  wages  on  manpower  problems. 

Some  Salaries  Controlled 
By  Treasury  Department 

Salaries  not  controlled  by  the  WLB  will 
be  regulated  by  the  Treasury  Department. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  having 
reported  that  farm  wages  have  risen  18 
points  in  the  last  quarter  year  surveyed, 
and  are  the  highest  since  1920,  Mr.  Byrnes 
this  week  asked  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
Claude  Wickard  to  investigate  the  possibil- 
ity of  a  unit  within  his  organization  to  regu- 
late farm  wages.  The  average  farm  rate 
wage,  without  board,  is  currently  $2.75  per 
day.   This  is  72  cents  above  last  year. 

To  his  14-man  Economic  Stabilization 
Board,  Mr.  Byrnes  said:  "While  ours  is  an 
economy  based  on  personal  incentive  and  the 
profit  system,  we  must  at  this  time  give 
more  more  attention  to  keeping  prices  down 
than  keeping  profits  up."  He  added  he  had 
requested  reports  upon  problems  which  "lie 
ahead,"  such  as :  future  rationing,  compul- 
sory savings,  military  purchasing,  subsidies, 
and  the  effect  upon  manpower  problems  of 
waee  stabilization. 

Of  the  permission  to  the  WLB  to  raise 


wages  for  promotion  or  merit,  he  added  they 
"are  not  to  be  considered  justification  for 
increasing  any  price  ceiling  or  cost  of  any 
Government  contract;  or  as  an  argument 
against  any  decrease  in  a  price  ceiling  or 
Government  contract  that  might  otherwise 
be  thought  necessary." 

Studio  Attorneys  Confer 
On  Salary  Problem 

Meanwhile  Hollywood  studio  attorneys 
remained  in  New  York  this  week  confer, 
ring  with  home  office  executives  on  the  full 
import  of  the  new  regulations.  It  was  said 
they  were  more  concerned  with  the  ban 
on  increases  for  those  earning  $5,000  or 
more,  than  with  the  limitation  of  salaries  to 
$25,000  net  annually. 

The  latter  will  not  take  effect  until  De- 
cember 1st  and  possibly  not  until  January 
1st,  some  believe.  The  $5,000  ruling,  how- 
ever, is  effective  now,  and  calls  for  examina- 
tion of  many  contracts  which  provide  for 
increases  periodically. 

With  home  office  counsel,  the  coast  attor- 
neys have  prepared  various  rules  of  proce- 
dure for  compliance  with  the  order  in  the 
event  that  the  clarification  reveals  any  one 
of  several  courses  of  action  to  be  required. 
In  the  event  the  official  clarification  pre- 
sents unforeseen  obstacles,  the  possibility 
remained  that  a  delegation  of  attorneys  will 
go  to  Washington  to  seek  specific  rulings 
applicable  to  the  industry. 

It  was  thought,  also,  the  attorneys  might 
recommend  certain  procedures  to  the  OES. 
The  recommendations  were  expected  to  in- 
clude safeguards  against  talent  raiding  on 
the  part  of  Hollywood  studios  in  the  event 
companies  are  prohibited  by  the  economic 
stabilization  order  from  exercising  contract 
options  at  specified  increases  in  salary. 

Formulae  also  are  expected  to  be  prepared 
to  safeguard  studios  from  liability  in  the  em- 
ployment of  free-lance  artists  at  nominal 
compensation,  but  whose  annual  earnings 
may  be  in  excess  of  the  $25,000  net  limit. 

Actors  Guild  Warns 
On  New  Contracts 

"Do  not  sign  any  optional  contracts"  un- 
til the  wage  freezing  regulations  are  clari- 
fied, the  Screen  Actors  Guild  warned  mem- 
bers in  Hollywood  Monday,  through  special 
bulletin. 

It  advised  them  to  call  Guild  officers  for 
advice  on  specific  problems,  and  not  to  take 
advantage,  meanwhile,  of  confusion  to  dis- 
affirm present  contracts.  They  were  told  not 
to  commit  themselves  beyond  the  period  in 
which  the  freezing  regulations  apply.  The 
"freezing"  officially  ends  June  30,  1944. 

A  standard  form  providing  for  increased 
compensation  under  optional  contracts  in 
the  event  the  directive  is  not  applicable  to 
portions  of  the  industry  was  set  up  by  the 
guild  and  producers. 

In  Detroit,  one  effect  of  the  new  regula- 
tions was  the  cessation  of  negotiations  be- 
tween theatres  and  stagehands'  Local  38. 


Lesser  Outlines 
'Canteen 9  Film 

A  verbal  preview  of  his  forthcoming  "Stag 
Door  Canteen,"  which  he  will  distribute  throug] 
United  Artists,  was  given  last  week  by  Sc 
Lesser,  on  a  visit  to  New  York  before  return 
ing  to  the  coast  to  begin  work  on  it  Novembe 
10th. 

With  notations  anent  the  stars  to  appear  i 
the  film,  and  of  its  plot,  Mr.  Lesser  also  saL 
that  three  of  10  weeks  of  production  will  be  a 
the  Fox  Movietone  studio  in  New  York,  whic 
he  finds  "ideal"  for  film  making,  and  which  le 
him  to  comment  that  there  "is  no  reason  wh 
pictures  cannot  be  made  in  New  York."  Mi, 
Lesser  will  retain  only  eight  and  one-half  pe 
cent  of  the  gross  to  cover  his  costs,  the  balanc 
to  go  to  the  American  Theatre  Wing's  fun< 
less  UA's  distribution  charge. 

Mr.  Lesser  asserted  one  could  not  expe< 
profit  at  this  time.  The  picture,  he  stressei 
will  have  a  definite  morale  value ;  and  it  cei 
tainly  will  have  wide  circulation,  he  said  b< 
cause  the  canteen  run  by  stage  people  in  Nei 
York  has  been  widely  publicized,  and  the  pi< 
ture  will  be  the  first  tu  show  how  it  operate 
With  the  additional  benefit  of  the  appearanc 
of  numerous  stars,  it  should  gross  $5,000,00i 
QA  executives  estimate. 

Some  of  the  personalities  who  will  appea 
according  to  Mr.  Lesser ;  are :  Kay  Kyser,  Ber 
ny  Goodman,  Guy  Lombardo,  Xavier  Cuga 
Bette  Davis,  Katharine  Hepburn,  Katharir 
Cornell,  Tallulah  Bankhead,  Helen  Haye 
Gertrude  Lawrence,  Ray  Bolger,  Edgar  Bei 
gen  and  Charlie  McCarthy,  Jack  Benny,  Jascli 
Heifetz,  Jane  Cowl,  Selena  Royal,  Alfred  Lun 
Lynn  Fontaine,  Grade  Fields  and  Gypsy  Ro; 
Lee. 

Among  the  writers  of  sequences  will  be  Rol 
ert  Sherwood,  Rachel  Crothers,  Richard  Roc 
gers  and  Lorenz  Hart.  The  sequence  writte 
by  Mr.  Sherwood  will  contain  a  message  tl 
President  wishes  the  people  to  receive,  Mj 
Lesser  said.  The  director  will  be  Frank  Boi 
zage.  ■  : 

The  picture  will  end  his  contract  with  LV 
Mr.  Lesser  said.  "Tarzan  the  Sheik"  will  en 
his  RKO  contract.  It  will  be  made  immediate 
ly  after  the  UA  picture. 

Circus  Competition  Ends 
For  Duration 

Circus  and  carnival  competition  with  thn 
atres  will  be  eliminated  December  1st  for  th 
duration  of  the  war. 

Orders  permitting  circuses  and  carnival 
which  own  or  lease  railroad  cars  to  finish  qi| 
their  seasons  were  issued  last  week  by  tf 
Office  of  Defense  Transportation,  but  Dicer 
tor  Joseph  B.  Eastman  warned  they  must  1 
in  winter  quarters  by  December  1st  and  d< 
clared  no  permits  for  rail  transportation  wou 
be  issued  after  that  date. 


Murray  at  SMPE  Meeting 

Alfred  N.  Goldsmith,  chairman  of  the  Atlai 
tic  Coast  Section  of  the  Society  of  Motion  Pi 
ture  Engineers,  announced  this  week  that  R.  [1 
Murray,  director  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Motic 
Picture  Service,  will  deliver  a  paper  describit 
the  work  of  the  Service  at  a  meeting  of  tl 
SMPE  to  be  held  at  the  Hotel  Pennsylvani 
New  York,  November  19th. 


October    24,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  37 


MANAGERS  ARE  WARNED 
TO  CONSERVE  MATERIALS 


Warner  Zone  Meeting  Told 
of  Xecessity  for  Cautious 
Theatre  Operation 

by  M.  H.  ORODENKER 

i    in  Philadelplria 

"The  time  for  conservation  is  while 
you  still  have  something  to  conserve," 
warned  Ted  Schlanger,  chief  of  the  Phila- 
delphia zone  at  the  eighth  annual  meeting 
of  Warner  theatre  managers  held  last 
Wednesday  and  Thursday  at  the  Ritz- 
Carlton  Hotel  in  Philadelphia.  The  con- 
servation of  both  material  and  manpower 
was  the  theme  of  the  two-day  meet  of  the 
circuit's  Philadelphia  zone,  comprising 
more  than  100  theatres  in  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania. Southern  New  Jersey  and  Dela- 
ware. 

Cautioning  the  house  managers  to  check 
'    and  re-check  all  the  operational  facilities  in 
I    their  theatre  buildings,  from  lamps  to  fuel, 
i    Mr.  Schlanger  stated  that  continued  exist- 
ence depends  on  the  ability  of  the  theatre 
'    managers  to  meet  and  solve  these  problems 
J'    of  material  and  manpower.    As  a  result  of 
priorities  and  shortages.  Mr.  Schlanger  ad- 
.    vised  the  managers  to  make  the  most  of 
what  they  have  on  hand  now,  and  to  make 
that  go  a  long,  long  way  since  there  will  be 
i    no  redecorations  or  refurnishings  of  houses 
for  the  duration. 

The  same  note  of  "conservation"  was 
:    sounded  also  by  Joseph  Bernhaxd,  vice- 
;    president  and  general  manager  of  Warner 
Bros,  and  the  Warner  theatre  circuit.  Also 
;    cautioning  the  managers  that  there  will  be 
i:    no  more  materials  available  to  them  for  the 
I    duration,  he  urged  all  to  maintain  a  sharp 
I    supervisory  care  over  their  theatres.   At  the 
same  time,  Mr.  Bernhard  announced  that  the 
Philadelphia  zone  enjoyed  the  most  success- 
;    ful  year  of  any  zone  in  the  entire  Warner 
:    circuit  and  congratulated  Mr.  Schlanger  and 
cj    the  men  for  their  fine  work. 

Kalmine  Also  Stresses 
Seed  of  Conservation 

Harry  Kalmine,  presented  to  the  Warner 
managers  for  the  first  time  in  his  new  ca- 
ll   parity  as  assistant  to  Mr.  Bernhard,  reiterat- 
I    ed  the  importance  of  the  conservation  of 
material.    He  went  into  detail  of  the  phy- 
sical makeup  of  the  theatres — motors,  lamps, 
seats,  film,  carpets,  heating  systems,  sound 
|    systems,  etc. — and  pointed  out  the  impor- 
tance of  personal  supervision  over  eA-erv  de- 
!  tail. 

That  new  materials  are  now  a  thing  of  the 
past  and  that  physical  improvements  are  out 
of  the  question  for  the  duration  was  empha- 
sized further  by  two  local  circuit  executives, 
Robert  Mills,  head  of  engineering  and  con- 
:  struction,  and  William  Charles,  head  of  the 
sound  department. 

Critical  shortages  in  manpower  facing  the 
theatre  managers  were  discussed  by  Lester 
Krieger,  assistant  to  Mr.  Schlanger  in 
charge  of  the  in-town  theatres.  Mr.  Krieg- 
er pointed  out  the  vital  necessity  of  each 


manager  to  cultivate  resources  of  manpower 
in  each  respective  neighborhood  as  a  safe- 
guard for  future  operations.  He  suggested 
that  each  manager  poll  his  immediate  neigh- 
borhood and  arrange  a  reserve  list  of  men 
available  for  the  service  staff.  As  a  result 
of  transportation  problems,  he  cautioned  that 
vacancies  in  theatre  personnel  would  have 
to  be  made  from  available  men  in  the  im- 
mediate neighborhods.  The  same  situation 
applied  as  well  to  the  out-of-town  managers 
with  transportation  being  even  a  greater  fac- 
tor in  finding  available  men,  said  A.  J.  Van- 
ni,  assistant  to  Mr.  Schlanger  in  charge  of 
the  out-of-town  theatres. 

Manpower  Reserve 
Is  Important 

The  conservation  of  manpower  was 
further  impressed  upon  the  managers  by 
Joseph  Feldman,  personnel  head.  In  addi- 
tion to  urging  the  managers  to  create  re- 
serve lists  of  available  men,  he  also  warned 
that  the  exodus  of  women  into  defense  in- 
dustries soon  will  create  a  serious  shortage 
in  available  cashiers.  He  suggested  that  the 
managers  train  usherettes  as  cashiers.  More- 
over, he  suggested  that  the  managers  might 
be  able  to  meet  the  problem  of  finding  fire- 
men and  janitors  by  getting  those  at  the 
schools  and  churches  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  to  do  double  duty.  He  also 
cautioned  the  managers  to  respect  the  state 
labor  laws,  prohibiting  the  employment  of 
those  under  16  j'ears  of  age  unless  a  special 
working  permit  is  first  obtained.  Special 
dispensation  has  been  made  by  the  State  De- 
partment of  Labor  and  Industry,  because  of 
critical  shortages  in  many  industries,  to  per- 
mit the  employment  of  14-year-old  boys  pro- 
viding a  special  permit  is  procured. 

Apart  from  the  problems  of  material  and 
manpower,  problems  of  patronage  and  prod- 
uct in  wartime  operations  also  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  managers.  The  necessity 
of  studying  the  different  types  of  patrons 
and  changes  in  the  character  of  patrons  with 
an  eye  on  shifting  the  type  of  pictures  to  be 
played  and  to  create  extended  playing  time, 
was  stressed  by  Harry  Goldberg,  national 
advertising  head  for  the  Warner  circuit. 

He  pointed  out  that  the  influx  of  defense 
workers  or  military  men  in  a  neighborhood 
would  necessitate  a  complete  change  in  pol- 
icy as  to  the  type  of  pictures  ordinarily 
played.  Moreover,  he  warned  that  since 
there  will  be  fewer  pictures  available  this 
season,  in  fact,  during  the  entire  wartime 
emergency,  it  was  up  to  the  manager  to  de- 
velop extended  playing:  time. 

Manager  Must  Be 
Better  Showman 

The  manager,  said  Mr.  Goldberg,  must 
also  become  a  more  effective  showman  un- 
der wartime  conditions.  He  pointed  out 
that  with  so  many  of  the  box  office  stars 
going  into  the  service,  the  manager  will 
have  to  depend  on  much  more  than  the 
mere  name  of  a  top-ranking  star  in  marquee 
lights  to  sell  a  picture.  As  a  result  of  fewer 
box  office  names,   Mr.   Goldberg  advised 


managers  to  sell  stories  and  themes.  More- 
over, he  advised  that  under  these  wartime 
conditions,  the  manager  must  serve  in  a 
dual  capacity.  "He  must  be  a  show-minded 
theatre  manager  and  at  the  same  time  a 
patriotic-minded  citizens,"  said  Mr.  Gold- 
berg. 

Since  entertainment  is  playing  such  an 
important  role  in  boosting  the  public  morale 
the  manager  has  to  serve  that  end  to  perfec- 
tion, said  Mr.  Goldberg.  At  the  same  time, 
he  added,  the  manager  must  be  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  cooperating  in  the  sale  of 
War  Bonds,  supporting  the  various  scrap 
and  salvage  campaigns  of  the  Government, 
cooperate  with  air  raid  wardens  and  all 
phases  of  civilian  defense. 

Wartime  advertising  as  an  important  ad- 
junct to  operation  was  stressed  by  Everett 
Callow,  head  of  the  publicity  and  advertising 
department  for  the  Philadelphia  zone.  He 
cautioned  that  there  will  be  a  curtailment  of 
special  trailers,  compo  board  stock  for  lobby 
displays  and  all  other  types  of  advertising 
accessories.  The  managers  increasingly  will 
have  to  depend  upon  their  own  resources 
and  contacts  in  advertising  and  exploiting 
the  pictures.  He  suggested  that  as  a  coun- 
ter-action, managers  develop  new  contacts 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  to  provide 
new  outlets  of  exploitation,  such  as  defense 
plants,  schools,  churches  and  women's  clubs. 
He  also  stressed  the  increasing  importance 
of  radio  as  an  adjunct  of  newspapers  in  ad- 
vertising and  exploitation  of  pictures. 

Advised  to 
Extend  Runs 

The  need  for  extended  playing  time  was 
also  emphasized  by  John  Turner,  chief  film 
buyer  for  the  Philadelphia  zone,  suggesting 
that  managers  make  detailed  study  of  their 
audiences.  He  discussed  the  changing  ot 
times  in  the  film  industry,  explaining  how 
the  consent  decree  has  affected  bookings. 

No  problem  of  wartime  operation  was 
overlooked  during  the  two-day  meeting.  Sam 
Schwartz,  assistant  to  Mr.  Schlanger  as 
head  of  the  real  estate  department,  cau- 
tioned the  managers  to  maintain  cordial  re- 
lations with  lessees  of  stores  at  theatres, 
warning  of  alarming  conditions  that  might 
be  created  as  a  result  of  vacancies.  He 
also  urged  that  managers  maintaining  park- 
ing lots  to  re-check  the  transportation  prob- 
lems of  their  patrons.  As  a  result  of  tire 
and  gasoline  rationing,  Mr.  Schwartz  sug- 
gested that  managers  could  save  consider- 
able expense  by  terminating  their  arrange- 
ments with  nearby  parking  lots  unless  the 
need  was  still  there. 

J.  Ellis  Shipman,  contact  manager  and 
treasurer  for  the  Philadelphia  zone,  also 
emphasized  the  conservation  theme,  discuss- 
ing the  "bread  and  butter"  items — paper 
clips,  pencils,  flashlight  batteries,  bulbs, 
typewriters,  etc. 

The  importance  of  getting  all  theatre  em- 
ployees, and  especially  the  new  employees, 
to  enlist  in  the  10  per  cent  payroll  deduction 
plan  for  War  Bonds  was  stressed  by  Al 
Zimbalist,  chairman  of  the  War  Bond  Pay- 
roll Plan  for  the  Philadelphia  zone. 


THE  NAVY 


— — Through' 

  Hollywood  U" 


—   Hriir£'2£* 


TuS^V  ^ grates  *e*g  ?U 

mony  dainnedJTfor  the  petty  °fficer  sreorge  *  Their  perform- 

Crmer  lieutenant  for  officer  Georg  east  The.r  P 

Pat  O'Brien  Vas  *e  "Xaiso  are  wrought  by  * 

nontenant  and  Jane     j        Portraya'  *  seaman;  Can  i  .  theNavy, 

Theatre  as  *e  m«s  shooting  at  subs  ^ 

r  a^^ulnyg  t^^  »*  whipped  into  a  fcjr  *-g 
Suspense,  a**    »    .     cf  a.  cm  s  the  P» 

ouuVu  evinces  tne  w  ^  ,»* 

~  \r,cr  time,  oi   


THROUGH 


"Calculated  to  inspire  audiences  to  go 
out  cheering  and  telling  friends  it's  a 
picture  they  shouldn't  miss  .  .  .  Packs 
thrills  aplenty  and  blends  romance, 
action,  comedy  and  suspense/' 

—M.  P.  Herald 

"Clean  off  a  nice,  large  shelf  in  the 
safe  for  daily  receipts .  . .  It's  super- 
swell  story  and  action/' 

—Showmen's  Trade  Review 

"The  film's  thunderous  excitement  and 
breathless  and  unremitting  action  make 
this  red-blooded  meat  .  .  .  Excellent, 
virile  entertainment/'     -Film  Daily 


"Tremendous  heroics  •  •  •  exciting  and 
headed  for  business." 


—Box  Office 


"Actionful,  exciting  adventure  with 
strong  romantic  interest... Will  not  only 
do  well  at  box-office,  but  also  serves  as 
stiff  bolsterer  of  patriotism."  -  Variety 

"Has  plenty  of  patriotic  and  action  ap- 
peal for  the  box-office  . . .  Will  hold 
audiences  everywhere." 

—The  Exhibitor 

"A  capital  service  feature  .  .  .  action- 
packed,  excitingly  presented  with  topi- 
cal interest,  appears  headed  for  sturdy 

grosses."  —Hollywood  Variety 


"THE  NAVY  COMES  THROUGH"  —  one  of  the  second  group 
from  RKO  Radio  for  1942-43  — the  others:  "SEVEN  DAYS' 
LEAVE  "-"JOURNEY  INTO  FEAR  "-"THE  FALCON'S  BROTHER "- 
"SCATTERGOOD  SURVIVES  A  MURDER" 


40 


Commons  Asks 
More  Lower 
Priced  Seats 

Members  of  the  British  House  of  Commons 
last  week  in  effect  accused  British  motion  pic- 
ture theatre  owners  of  profiteering  and  called 
on  Herbert  Morrison,  Home  Secretary,  for 
legislative  action  to  increase  the  number  of 
lower  priced  seats  in  Britsh  theatres. 

Members  of  Commons  referred  specifically 
to  the  practice  of  varying  the  prices  of  blocks 
of  seats  according  to  the  demand,  with  no 
definite  scales.  Mr.  Morrison  referred  critics  to 
local  authorities,  and  avoided  a  direct  answer 
to  the  demands.  Other  members  sought  Home 
Office  instruction  to  local  authorities  to  per- 
mit Sunday  opening  of  theatres,  conditioned 
upon  approval  of  the  programs  to  be  shown. 
Mr.  Morrison  refused  to  act  on  this,  declaring 
it  to  be  a  local  matter. 

V 

The  British  Film  Producers  Association  has 
approved  formally  in  principle  an  all-industry 
council,  proposed  recently  at  a  production  con- 
ference in  London.  The  BFPA,  however,  in- 
sisted such  a  coucil  must  represent  all  sections 
of  the  industry  and  suggested  efforts  be  made 
at  once  to  bring  the  Cinematograph  Exhibitors 
Association,  Kinematograph  Renters  Society, 
the  Newsreel  and  Shorts  Association  and  other 
organizations  into  the  project. 

V 

The  newly  organized  British  Laboratories 
Association  held  its  initial  meeting  in  London 
last  week  with  representatives  of  laboratory 
organizations  in  attendance.  The  organization 
shortly  will  hold  its  first  meeting  with  union 
representatives  to  discuss  working  conditions. 
V 

The  London  County  Council  has  decided  to 
permit  film  theatres  in  London  to  use  central 
heating  systems  and  to  disregard  the  recent 
ban  on  central  heating  decreed  as  a  fuel  con- 
servation measure.  Other  local  authorities  are 
understood  to  be  acting  in  similar  manner.  The 
action  followed  indications  of  a  conciliatory 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Fuel  Ministry. 

Bob  Hope  Leads 
Radio  Rating 

Bob  Hope  placed  first  with  a  rating  of  31.7 
in  the  October  15th  Hooper  "National"  Pro- 
gram Ratings  Report,  computed  by  audience 
measurement  during  the  broadcast,  it  was  an- 
nounced. Fibber  McGee  and  Molly  were  sec- 
ond with  28.8  while  the  Charlie  McCarthy  pro- 
gram was  tied  for  third  with  Jack  Benny  at 
24.8.  Red  Skelton  led  the  list  of  programs 
measured  by  partial  rather  than  full  "national" 
interviewing  coverage,  with  a  rating  of  23.7, 
according  to  the  report. 


Appeal  Music  Hall  Case 

The  U.  S.  Government  this  week  filed  no- 
tice of  appeal  to  the  circuit  court  of  appeals 
from  a  decision  of  Federal  Judge  John  Bright 
which  awarded  a  judgment  of  $1,079  to  the 
Radio  City  Music  Hall  Corporation.  The  de- 
cision appealed  was  the  result  of  a  test  suit 
filed  by  the  Music  Hall  to  determine  the  re- 
sponsibility of  theatre  operators  for  social  se- 
curity taxes  on  special  acts  hired  to  supplement 
a  stage  show.  Judge  Bright  ruled  special  acts 
"independent  contractors"  and  absolved  the  the- 
atre from  tax  responsibility. 


John  T.  Quinlan  Dies 

John  T.  Quinlan,  57,  former  manager  of  the- 
atres in  Kansas  City,  Memphis,  Houston  and 
Minneapolis,  died  in  the  latter  city  last  week. 
Mr.  Quinlan  was  at  one  time  publicity  man- 
ager for  the  Pantages  circuit.  He  left  his 
widow  and  one  son,  John  T.,  Jr. 


MOTION    P.ICTURE  HERALD 

LATE  REVIEWS 


THE  FILM  THAT  WAS  LOST  (MGM) 

Passing  Parade 

The  first  of  the  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  short 
subjects  presented  at  the  Museum  of  Modern 
Art  in  New  York  on  Wednesday  afternoon  il- 
lustrates the  significance  of  the  work  of  that  in- 
stitution's Film  Library  in  reclaiming,  duplicat- 
ing and  storing  old  film.  Clips  from  old  news- 
reels — Queen  Victoria  reviewing  her  Irish  sub- 
jects from  a  carriage,  Lenin  addressing  his 
eager  revolutionists,  George  V  and  Kaiser  Wil- 
helm  chatting  amiably,  Theodore  Roosevelt  and 
Woodrow  Wilson  tending  affairs  of  state — tes- 
tify to  the  efficient  preservation  of  valuable  cel- 
luloid beyond  the  20-year  lifetime  prescribed  for 
that  material.  This  presentation  by  John  Nes- 
bitt  of  the  achievements  of  the  air-cooled  vaults 
and  re-recording  machines  of  the  Library  makes 
an  appealing  and  informative  subject  for  today's 
motion  picture  audiences. 


THE  GOOD  JOB  (MGM) 

Passing  Parade 

The  first  fruit  of  the  much-publicized  adven- 
tures of  William  Saroyan  in  Hollywood  is  this 
brief  and  characteristically  plotless  vignette  of 
a  grocery  clerk  in  love  with  his  job.  His  un- 
profitable customers — the  woman  who  remained 
a  lady  while  hiding  a  melon  in  her  bosom,  the 
slight  Spaniard  who  lived  for  his  son  and  the 
very  small  boy  who  eyed  the  candy  display 
wordlessly — pass  in  review,  each  bearing  part  of 
his  and  Saroyan's  story  of  the  "little  people." 
Horace  McNally  plays  the  title  role  with  warm 
understanding,  and  the  short  subject  should  at- 
tract even  those  whom  it  leaves  a  bit  bewildered. 


ATCA  (MGM) 

Miniature 

"ATCA"  is  the  Air  Training  Corps  of 
America,  the  nation's  future  pilots  receiving 
pre-aviation  training  along  with  their  high- 
school  subjects.  This  program  is  surveyed  in 
narrative  form  by  Carey  Wilson  as  a  father 
investigates  the  utility  of  the  course  for  his  16- 
year-old  son.  An  interesting  sequence  shows 
the  origin  of  the  program  in  England,  when 
boys  fresh  from  pilot  training  were  sent  up  to 
fight  the  German  air  armada.  Presented  from 
the  viewpoint  of  an  American  family,  the  sub- 
ject should  help  to  arouse  public  interest  in  a 
similar  program  here. 


THE  MAGIC  ALPHABET  (MGM) 

America  Speaks 

Produced  in  cooperation  with  the  Office  of 
War  Information,  this  short  attempts  to  vital- 
ize vitamins  and  emphasize  their  importance  in 
the  diet  of  a  nation  at  war.  The  story  of  the 
discovery  of  the  mysterious  substance  in  brown 
rice  that  discouraged  beri-beri,  by  a  Dutch  sci- 
entist working  in  Java  is  reenacted  in  detail. 
The  importance  of  other  vitamins  is  illustrated 
in  their  effect  on  the  daily  activities  of  average 
Americans,  children,  typists  and  truck-drivers. 


Paramount  Sets 
Third  Block 

Paramount's  third  new  season  block-of-five 
pictures  will  be  trade  shown  November  2nd,  3rd 
and  13th  in  key  cities  throughout  the  country,  it 
was  announced  this  week.  Schedule  of  screenings 
for  the  New  York  area,  where  the  films  will  be 
shown  at  the  20th  Century-Fox  exchange,  is : 
"The  Avengers,"  "Wrecking  Crew"  and  "The 
Palm  Beach  Story,"  November  2nd ;  "My  Heart 
Belongs  to  Daddy,"  November  3rd,  and  "Lucky 
Jordan,"  November  13th. 


Joins  20th-Fox  Branch 

Arthur  Bishell  has  been  named  ad  sales  man- 
ager in  Seattle  for  20th  Century-Fox.  Celia 
Estill  of  the  ad  sales  department  has  succeeded 
Al  Harris  as  booker  at  the  exchange. 


October    24,  1942 


Wartime  Radio 
Aid  Due  Soon 

Steps  to  be  taken  to  keep  the  country's  broad- 
casting stations  in  operation  throughout  the  war 
probably  will  be  decided  shortly,  it  was  dis- 
closed in  Washington,  Monday,  by  James  L. 
Fly,  chairman  of  the  Federal  Communications 
Commission. 

Mr.  Fly  said  that  the  various  suggestions  for 
conservation,  including  the  proposal  for  a  mid- 
night curfew,  have  been  studied  by  the  Board 
of  War  Communications.  The  board's  recom- 
mendations, Mr.  Fly  added,  have  been  trans- 
mitted to  the  FCC. 

Among  the  matters  of  greatest  concern  in 
continuance  of  operation  is  the  supply  of  critical 
materials.  Particularly  important  is  the  tube 
situation. 

The  Office  of  War  Information  has  set  up 
a  board  of  17  consultants  to  assist  in  the  co- 
ordination of  broadcasters'  handling  of  Govern- 
ment radio  programs.  The  group  will  work 
with  the  regional  offices  of  the  OWI  and  the 
broadcasters  in  their  districts  in  the  handling 
not  only  of  spot  announcements  but  also  of 
programs,  both  one-time  and  serial. 

The  group  of  consultants  appointed  by  the 
OWI  includes  Harold  E.  Fellows,  Station 
WEEI,  Boston;  Herbert  Pettey,  WHN,  New 
York  ;  Leon  Levy,  WCAU,  Philadelphia  ;  Rich- 
ard G.  Shaftoe,  WIS,  Columbia,  S.  C. ;  Thad 
Holt,  WAPI,  Birmingham,  Ala.;  James  T. 
Ward,  WLAC,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  H.  K.  Car- 
penter, WHK,  Cleveland ;  Leo  Fitzpatrick, 
WJR,  Detroit;  Glenn  Snyder,  WLS,  Chicago; 
Merle  Jones,  KMOX,  St.  Louis;  Kenneth  M. 
Hance,  KTSP,  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  William  Gil- 
lespie, KTUL,  Tulsa,  Okla. ;  Martin  Kendall, 
WFAA,  Dallas;  Robert  Hudson,  director, 
Rocky  Mountain  Radio  Council,  Denver ;  Lin- 
coln Dellar,  KTFO,  San  Francisco ;  Richard  T. 
Connor,  Southern  California  Broadcasters  As- 
sociation, Los  Angeles ;  and  Sheldon  F.  Sackett, 
KVAN,  Vancouver,  Wash. 


MPTOA  Conventions  "Out" 
For  Duration:  Kuykendall 

The  Motion  Picture  Theatre  Owners  of 
America  has  held  its  last  convention  for  the 
duration,  members  were  told  by  Edward  Kuy- 
kendall, president,  and  guest  speaker  Tuesday, 
at  th  ■  convention  of  the  MPTO  of  Arkansas, 
Mississippi,  and  Tennessee,  in  Mephis. 

In  addition  to  ruling  out  national  conventions 
during  the  war,  the  MPTOA  president  warned 
that  theatres  everywhere  will  be  drastically 
affected  by  the  forthcoming  gasoline  rationing. 

Lew  Haven,  Jr.,  was  elected  president  of  the 
southern  unit,  succeeding  R.  X.  Williams  of 
Oxford,  Miss.  Mr.  Haven  is  from  Forrest  City, 
Ark.  Among  those  in  attendance  were :  Robert 
Wilby,  Atlanta ;  David  Palfreyman  of  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Producers  and  Distributors  of 
America,  and  M.  A.  Lightman  of  Memphis, 
circuit  owner  and  past  president  of  the 
MPTOA. 


McManus  20th-Fox  Salesman 

Elliott  J.  McManus,  ad  sales  manager  of  the 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  New  York  exchange 
for  the  past  seven  years,  this  week  was  promoted 
by  Joseph  J.  Lee,  branch  manager,  to  be  film 
salesman  for  lower  New  York  State  and  Long 
Island  territories.  Mr.  McManus  succeeds  Sey- 
mour Florin,  who  resigns  next  week  to  become 
film  buyer-booker  for  Island  Theatre  Circuit. 


Mae  West  Pays  Tax 

Mae  West  this  week  filed  a  satisfaction  of  a 
judgment  of  $4,019  against  her  in  the  New 
York  supreme  court  in  favor  of  the  State  Tax 
Department.  The  judgment  had  been  rendered 
in  1938  and  represented  the  balance  due  for 
income  taxes  for  the  period  from  1931  to  193,1 


C:-::e-    2^  =42 


- 


CONGRESS  BOOSTS  TAXES, 
EXEMPTS  FOREIGN  LOSSES 


Expected  Eight  Billion  in 
Revenue  Inadequate, 
U.  S.  to  Seek  More 

The  stiff  est  tax  law  in  the  nation's  his- 
tory, designed  to  collect  approximately 
eight  billion  dollars  from  the  1942  earn- 
ings of  individuals  and  corporations,  was 
enacted  by  Congress  on  Tuesday,  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  was  expected  to  sign  the 
bill  before  the  week  ended. 

But  even  while  motion  picture  industry 
executives,  stars.,  and  the  rank  and  file 
employes  were  examining  the  new  law  to 
determine  its  effect  on  their  business  and 
personal  lives,  new  tax  measures  were  in 

Treasury  officials,  having  labeled  the 
S/~>1Xv>X''000  bill  inaiemme.  -/.-ere  re::r:ei 

six  billions  more. 

Personal  and  corporate  taxes  were  sched- 
uled to  increase  sharply  under  the  law. 
Many  motion  picture  operations  also  were 
due  to  incur  additional  tax  expenses  through 
higher  special  tax  rates.  Excise  taxes  on 
travel,  freight,  communications  ani  :mer 
items  were  increased.  Surtaxes  on  corpora- 
tion incomes  in  1942,  and  excess  profits  as- 


■  Oj.t> 


Rules  on  Property 
In  Enemy  Hands 

The  measure  included  a  Senate  amend- 
ment listing  rules  for  the  treatment  on  tax 
returns  of  me  value  :f  prrt-ercy  in  areas  un- 
united States  declared  war.  In  the  case  of 
enemy-occupied  areas  property  is  to  be  con- 
to  possible  return  of  or  reimbursement  tor 
the  property  after  the  war.  If  such  return 
or  reimbursement  is  made  it  will  be  treated 
as  income  in  the  return  for  the  appropriate 
year. 

Where  the  exact  date  of  occupation  or 


loss  cannot  be  established,  the  loss  will  be 
treated  as  occurring  at  any  time  after  the 
last  date  on  which  the  United  States  or  a 
friendly  country  had  complete  control  of 
the  area  and  before  the  earliest  date  on 
which  the  enemy  gained  control. 


Losses  may  include  land  and  interest  in 
real  property,  and  tangible  and  intangible 
personal  property. 

"In  the  case  of  a  taxpayer  who  owns  at 


U.  S.  TICKET  TAXES 
SOAR  TO  RECORD 

Federal  admission  rax  collections 
set  a  new  high  in  September  at  $13,- 
662  337,  it  was  announced  Wednes- 
33-.  c  ,  me   nre-ns   Revenue  Bjreaj. 

The  month's  total  was  $1,226,000 
5cc.5  me  fgjre   of  $12,- 

436.304,  and  $7,217,000  better  than 
__e  Sr.-1-1-1  -51  -e::~s:  m-  Serme~- 
ber,  1 941 .  For  the  nine  months  ended 

lections  ^  aqqreqated  $  1 04,443,544 
against  $59, 1 83,648  in  the  same 
cen"c3  "r  =4.. 

The  Bureau's  figures  showed  that 
the  improvement  over  August  was  ex- 
perienced nationally.  Collections  in 
the  Third  New  York  (Broadway)  Dis- 
trict, however,  increased  only  a  little 
more  than  $60,000,  from  $1,748,791 
m  S  E  69c,  -e  '-c-e=se  '.'  zz  - 
lections  over  September,  j  941 ,  was 
greater  in  proportion  than  for  the 
country  as  a  whole,  approximately 
$1,072,000. 

"5  \=v,'  -'z-<  'sec—  snov-ec  in  5- 
collections  on  box  office  admissions 
increased  from  $  1 ,645,034  in  August 
to  $1,685,812  in  September,  and  on 
admissions  to  roof  gardens  and 
cabarets  from  $92,945  to  $1  15,987. 


least  50  per  cent  of  the  stock  of  each,  class 
of  a  corporation,  which  corporation  has 
properry,  representing  at  least  75  per  cent 
of  the  adjusted  basis  for  determining  loss 
of  all  its  property,  destroyed  or  seized  in  the 
course  of  military  or  naval  operations,  or 
located  in  an  area  under  the  control  of  the 
enemy,  such  taxpayer  may  treat  that  part  of 
the  loss  upon  the  liquidation  of  such  corpo- 
ration which  results  from  the  destruction  or 
seizure  of  such  property  as  being  a  casualty 
loss  on  account  of  the  destruction  or  seizure 
of  the  stock  interest  in  such  property,"  the 
report  explained. 

Film  exchanges,  records,  prints,  nega- 
tives, theatres  and  other  holdings  in  Euro- 
pean and  Far  Eastern  lands  are  presumably 
included.  Their  value  is  estimated  in  the 
millions  of  dollars. 

Companies  and  individuals  in  the  motion 
picture  and  broadcasting  industries  will  be 
affected  sharply  by  the  new  income  and  cor- 
poration rates  which  will  apply  to  1942  in- 
come, despite  Senate  action  in  lowering 
somewhat  the  House  rates  on  corporations. 
Individuals,  beginning  January  1st,  will  be 
affected  further  by  the  Senate-sponsored 
victory  tax  of  five  per  cent  on  all  wages 
and  salaries  in  excess  of  $624  a  year  or  its 
weeklv  or  monthly  proportion,  to  be  with- 
held at  the  source. 

Rates  on  corporation  taxes  are  cut  from 


32  to  22  per  cent,  in  accord  with  the  Senate 
bill,  on  incomes  between  525,000  and  $50,- 
000;  and  from  21  to  16  per  cent  on  larger 
incomes.  The  rate  more  than  doubles  the 
present  six  and  10  per  cent  rates. 

A  flat  90  per  cent  excess  profits  tax  above 
$5,000  replaces  the  present  varying  sched- 
ules. A  post  war  credit  equal  to  10  per  cent 
of  the  excess  profits  tax  will  be  returned  to 
corporations.  An  overall  limit  also  provides 
that  no  corporation  may  be  deprived  of  more 
than  80  per  cent  of  its  net  income.  Normal 
corporation  tax  rates  are  unchanged. 

In  acting  on  the  more  than  500  amend- 
ments made  in  the  bill  by  the  Senate,  the 
conference  committee  rejected  one  provid- 
ing for  a  tax  of  10  per  cent  on  photographic 
apparatus,  mcluding  cameras.  It  approved 
the  House  tax  of  25  per  cent,  with  an  ex- 
emption for  cameras  weighing  more  than 
four  pounds,  exclusive  of  lens  and  acesso- 
ries. 

'Freezing'-'  of  the  social  security  tax  at 
its  present  one  per  cent  level  for  both  em- 
ployers and  employes  is  provided,  for  1943, 
with  an  increase  of  two  per  cent  called  for 
in  the  foil  owing  two  years. 

Transportation  Charges 
Taxed  Three  Per  Cent 

Charges  for  express,  freight  or  other 
transportation  of  property  are  taxed  at  three 
per  cent.  This  includes  film  shipments  by 
common  carrier,  freight  or  express,  but  not 
parcel  post. 

Taxes  on  travel  tickets  by  rail,  air,  bus 
or  sea  are  doubled,  from  five  to  10  per  cent. 

Telegraph,  radio  and  cable  message 
charges  are  to  be  taxed  at  15  instead  of  10 
per  cent  International  communications  are 
exempted.  Local  telephone  service  taxes  are 
increased  to  10  per  cent, 

A  five  per  cent  tax  is  levied  on  all  admis- 
sions, refreshment  service  or  merchandise 
charges  at  any  roof  garden,  cabaret  or  simi- 
lar place  of  entertainment.  There  is  no 
change  in  the  existing  schedule  of  Federal 
admission  taxes  on  other  amusements. 


Seattle  Halls  Seek  to 
Recover  ASCAP  Fees 

A  suit'  to  recover  music  license  fees  was 
filed  in  the  United  States  District  Court  at 
Seattle  against  the  American  Society  of  Com- 
posers, Authors  and  Publishers  last  week  by 
26  dance  halls,  cabarets  and  roller  rinks  in 
Seattle  and  ndghboring-  cities.  Xo  theatres, 
which  also  paj-  ASCAP  fees,  were  involved. 

The  complaint  charges  discrimination  in  the 
amount  of  fees  in  contracts  between  the  26 
plaintiffs  and  the  Society,  in  comparison  with 
fees  charged  in  contracts  between  the  Sociery 
and  theatres  and  the  Society  and  broadcasting 
stations.  The  plaintiffs  are  suing  through  C. 
Frederick  Wilson,  president-manager  of  the 
Musicians'  Club  of  Seattle 

Nineteen  of  the  companies  are  suing  for 
license  fees  paid  ASCAP  since  1928,  and  seven 
are  suing  for  an  injunction  to  restrain  ASCAP 
from  collecting  license  fees  in  the  future  The 
19  plaintiffs  seek  triple  damages  in  the  amount 
of  S46.810.  These  fees  were  collected  between 
1928  and  1937. 


YOU  TELL  'EM, 
TRADE  CRITICS ■ 


WE'RE  BUSY 
WITH  THE 


BOOKINGS! 


leave 


and 


batten  ^  it 
it's  into 


«4.  0« 

fee 


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to  send 


It's 
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as  a 


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into  a  out 


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edients 


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E*PV 
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1  Film  Daily .  .  .  ^^IL 
"A  solid  load  of  entertainment 
that  should  please  filmgoers  in  a 
big  way." 

Box  Office  .  .  . 

"This  is  really  somethin'  and  can't 
miss  at  the  box  office." 

Hollywood  Reporter  .  .  . 

"Will  coin  a  fortune  in  the  theatres 
that  play  it." 

Showmen's  Trade  Review 

"Don't  let  your  competitor  get  this 
picture  away  from  you  because  if  s 
a  hit  comedy  and  laugh  riot... Will 
pay  off  in  much  box-office  coin." 

Hollywood  Variety .  .  . 

"A  money  entry  to  please  all  con- 
cerned... it's  in  the  entertainment 
groove." 

The  Exhibitor .  .  . 

"Has  names  and  radio  angles. ..new 
twists  will  sell  it  to  better  returns." 

M.  P.  Herald  .  . . 

"Romance,  comedy  and  music... 
from  box  office  standpoint  proba- 
bly will  be  highly  successful." 


s 


,uciiie 


Uictor  <=sCl 

MATURE*  BALL 


1 


with  all  these  top  entertainment  and  radio  names 


THE  GREAT  GILDERSLEEVE  (HAROLD  PEARY) 
MAPY  CORTES  *  GINNY  SIMMS  *  FREDDY 
MARTIN  offiK*  *  LES  BROWN  *  PETER 
UNO  HAYES  *  MARCY  McGUIRE  *  THE  COURT  OF 
MISSING  HEIRS"  *  "TRUTH  OR  CONSEQUENCES" 
ARNOLD  STANG  *  LYNN,  ROYCE  AND  VANYA 


"SEVEN  DAYS'  LEAVE" 

-       One  of  the  second  group 
from  RKO  Radio  for  1942-43 
THE  OTHERS: 

"THE  NAVY  COMES  THROUGH 
"JOURNEY  WO*"*  IIDnrB. 
"SCATTERGOOD  SURVIVES  A  MURDER 
'IHEFAICON'S  BROTHER" 


Produced  and  Directed  by  TIM  WHELAN 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    24,  1942 


WAR  DRAINING  PATRONAGE 
OF  SMALL  TOWN  THEATRE 


Personnel  Loss  Further 
Problem,  but  U.S.  Farm 
Program  May  Help 

While  theatres  located  in  war  indus- 
try centers  are  benefiting  from  war  boom 
employment  and  increased  buying  pow- 
er, although  experiencing  an  acute  short- 
age of  theatre  personnel,  the  small  town 
exhibitor — the  theatre  man  serving  his 
community  in  rural  America — is  facing 
the  two-fold  problem  of  losing  his  pa- 
trons as  well  as  his  personnel  to  the 
armed  forces  and  to  war  plants.  Adverse 
effects  of  the  wartime  economy  on  the 
small  town  theatre  manager  are  reported 
in  this  third  and  final  installment  of  the 
survey  conducted  by  Motion  Picture  Her- 
ald on  war  factors  as  they  affect  the  na- 
tional life  and  the  motion  picture  theatre. 

Exhibitors  in  towns  and  areas  far  removed 
from  war  industries  are  feeling  the  pinch  of 
manpower  shifts  and  find  it  increasingly  dif- 
ficult not  only  to  fill  their  theatres  but  to  ob- 
tain and  keep  competent  personnel  in  main- 
taining operation.  Their  patrons  as  well  as 
their  employees  are  being  drafted  into  the 
armed  forces  or  are  migrating  to  war  plant 
areas  in  increasing  numbers.  In  preceding 
issues,  it  has  been  reported  that  film  houses 
situated  in  key  cities  heavily  engaged  in  war 
industry  are  benefiting  from  the  influx  of 
workers  with  large  payrolls  who  are  bring- 
ing an  over-all  prosperity  to  motion  picture 
theatres. 

The  rural  exhibitors,  however,  specifical- 
ly those  in  large  farm  areas  of  the  Middle 
West,  have  not  shared  in  the  box  office 
boom,  but  they,  too,  have  had  to  cope  with 
the  manpower  shortage  which  all  exhibitors 
are  facing  today.  It  is  indicated  that  with 
the  lowering  of  the  draft  age  to  18  in  addi- 
tion to  the  forthcoming  edicts  of  the  War 
Manpower  Commission  in  shifting  large 
numbers  of  war  workers  from  one  section  of 
the  country  to  other  areas  where  labor  is 
needed,  the  exhibition  field  will  have  more 
difficulty  in  employing  competent  personnel. 
More  and  more  women,  however,  have  come 
into  the  field  since  the  first  of  the  year  and 
it  is  forecast  that  their  numbers  will  increase 
greatly  between  now  and  the  end  of  the  war. 

Farm  Labor  May 
Ease  Problem 

A  silver  lining  appears  on  the  horizon  for 
the  rural  exhibitor,  nevertheless.  If  the 
Manpower  Commission  executes  its  reported 
plans  to  send  armies  of  young  people  into 
farm  areas  to  harvest  crops  and  to  help  the 
farmers  feed  the  United  Nations  for  the 
duration,  the  complexion  of  rural  life  will  be 
considerably  altered.  The  rural  theatre  man- 
ager will  have  new  audiences.  His  film 
house  will  become  a  principal  source  of  en- 
tertainment and  recreation  for  these  con- 
scripted farm  workers. 

In  addition  to  the  problem  of  labor  short- 
age, the  survey  thus  far  has  revealed  a  trend 
toward  increased  admissions;  longer  runs 
and  holdovers ;  introduction  of  midnight  and 


Motion  Picture  Herald  this 
week  concludes  its  study  of  the 
effect  of  the  wartime  economy 
and  changes  in  national  life  on 
the  theatre  and  box  office,  The 
survey  covered  typical  situa- 
tions in  key  centers  and  their 
surrounding  territories.  It 
focused  attention  on  the  imme- 
diate and  future  problems  of 
theatre  personnel  and  reported 
the  over-all  prosperity  enjoyed 
by  theatres  in  cities  where  war 
industries  are  concentrated, 
while  pointing  out  the  man- 
power shortage  which  these 
theatres  are  meeting.  The  study 
indicated  a  trend  toward  in- 
creased admissions  in  some 
localities;  changes  in  show 
hours  and  runs  and  changes  in 
audience  character.  It  showed 
that  gasoline  rationing  in 
eastern  seaboard  states  and 
soon  to  be  extended  to  the  rest 
of  the  country  for  the  most 
part  had  little  effect  on  the 
box  office;  that  more  women 
are  being  employed  in  every 
branch  of  theatre  operation, 
including  projection  booths, 
and  forecast  that  their  num- 
bers will  increase  before  the 
war  ends. 


morning  shows  to  accommodate  war  work- 
ers ;  larger  grosses  reported  on  Monday 
nights  than  ever  before,  due  to  the  fact  that 
many  department  stores  in  big  cities  remain 
open  until  9  P.  M.  to  permit  war  workers  to 
shop ;  increase  of  juveniles  and  women  in 
matinee  audiences,  and  other  wartime  fac- 
tors affecting  theatres.  Kansas  City,  Mil- 
waukee, Knoxville,  Buffalo,  San  Francisco, 
Minneapolis,  Hamilton,  Dallas,  Philadelphia, 
Jacksonville.  Des  Moines,  Omaha,  Wilkes- 
Barre  and  their  surrounding  territories  are 
some  of  the  cities  surveyed  in  the  study. 

Continuing  the  study  of  key  territories, 
reports  on  Chicago,  Pittsburgh,  Indianapo- 
lis, Columbus,  New  Haven,  Seattle,  Port- 
land, Me.,  Houston  and  Tampa  follow : 

Labor  Problem  Is 
Acute  in  Illinois 

by  F.  LANGDON  MORGAN 

in  Chicago 

Lack  of  manpower  seems  to  be  the  greatest 
problem  in  the  Chicago  area.  Not  only  has  it 
become  difficult  to  replace  manager  personnel 
but  in  several  situations,  particularly  in  cer- 
tain neighborhoods  and  small  towns,  the  num- 
ber of  men  called  into  service  has  affected 


attendance  greatly.  In  these  instances,  man- 
agers say  the  wives,  mothers  and  sweethearts 
have  taken  up  other  interests  or  have  not  the 
money  to  spend.  Many  small  towns  have  lost 
families  through  the  shifting  of  population. 

The  large  circuits  have  been  hard  hit  in 
personnel.  Changes  are  happening  so  rapidly 
they  find  it  hard  to  keep  up.  In  some  instances 
theatres  have  operated  with  assistant  managers 
until  a  switch  could  be  made.  Some  small  town 
theatres  even  are  having  trouble  in  replacing 
managers.  So  far  there  has  been  no  shortage 
of  projectionists.  Older  men  are  being  hired 
as  doormen  and  younger  boys  are  filling  in  as 
ushers.  In  normal  times  ushers  had  to  be 
between  19  and  21  years  of  age.  Today  they 
are  16  and  17  years  old.  Despite  the  shortage 
of  men,  only  a  few  women  have  been  promoted 
to  managers. 

Little  Change  in 
Price  Scales 

Very  few  changes  in  price  scales  have  been 
reported  in  the  Chicago  area.  In  most  cases 
they  have  been  slight,  such  as  rounding  out 
an  admission  from  25  cents  plus  three  cents 
tax  to  27  cents  plus  three  cents  tax.  Admis- 
sions in  Chicago  are  regulated  by  prices  charged 
in  Loop  and  subsequent  runs,  according  to  the 
week  the  film  is  run. 

There  appears  to  be  little  change  in  the  char- 
acter of  audiences  except  in  the  neighborhoods 
where  a  large  number  of  men  have  gone  into 
the  service.  Program  schedules  and  length  of 
run  have  not  been  changed.  Only  in  the  in- 
dustrial regions,  such  as  Hammond  and  Gary, 
Ind.,  where  steel  mills  are  located,  and  La 
Porte,  Ind.,  near  a  large  munitions  plant,  have 
there  been  changes  in  hours.  In  these  towns 
the  theatres  are  opening  earlier  and  running 
later  with  not  more  than  three  hours  difference 
in  daily  running  time.  Business  in  these  dis- 
tricts has  increased  tremendously  during  the 
week  and  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays  packed 
houses  all  day  is  the  rule. 

Business  in  Chicago's  downtown  district  has 
increased  approximately  20  per  cent  with  the 
bulk  of  it  showing  on  the  weekend.  It  is  prac- 
tically impossible  to  get  a  seat  in  a  downtown 
theatre  on  Saturday  and  Sunday  due  to  the 
crowds. 

Migration  to  Cities 
Felt  in  Oregon 

by  F.  K.  HASKELL 

in  Portland 

Maintaining  modern  theatre  operation  during 
wartime  is  difficult,  but  Oregon  theatre  owners 
are  proving  equal  to  it. 

It  is  estimated  that  thousands  have  left  the 
small  interior  towns  for  defense  and  shipyard 
work  in  Portland,  with  another  call  due  for 
10,000  additional  workers.  The  result  is  that 
small  town  theatres  are  suffering  acutely.  Many 
exhibitors  are  leaving  their  theatres  in  charge 
of  younger  people  and  are  joining  the  ever-in- 
creasing numbers  in  war  plants. 

Indications  are  that  Portland's  population  will 
be  increased  another  20,000  by  the  middle  of 
November,  with  most  coming  from  eastern 
cities.  Between  January  1st  and  August  31st 
of  this  year  Army  engineers  in  the  Portland 
district  let  construction  and  supply  contracts 
to  a  total  value  of  $104,000,000.    There  were 

(Continued  on  opposite  page) 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


45 


DRAFT  CUTTING  MANPOWER 


(Continued  from  oposiie  page) 

.  446  contracts  which  amounted  to  $5,000  or  more 
each.  The  payroll  of  Government  workers  aver- 
aged 5645,000  per  month. 

Many  projectionists,  after  their  six-hour  shift 
in  the  projection  booth,  also  serve  another  six 
or  eight  hour  shift  in  various  capacities  in  the 
ship  yards.  In  consequence  their  weekly  checks 
are  close  to  the  S200  mark. 

As  a  result  of  this  action,  many  old-time  op- 
erators are  quitting  for  the  duration,  and  the 
managers  have  been  forced  to  put  girls  into 
service  as  operators,  or  youths.  In  many  cases 
these  young  people  have  proved  very  efficient 
operators.  They  also  double  on  the  floor  and 
in  box  office  with  equal  efficiency. 

Many  of  the  young  managers,  especial!}-  those 
working  for  circuit  houses,  have  been  called 
into  service.  However,  in  the  suburban  thea- 
tres, where  there  are  several  girls  in  the  fam- 
ily, it  has  become  a  "family  operation.'"'  Indica- 
tions are  that  there  will  be  another  increase  in 

I  prices  before  the  end  of  the  year. 

Extended  Runs  Gain 
In  Texas  Area 

Iby  FRANCIS  DEERING 

7-7  Houston 

Exhibitors  in  the  Houston  area  are  making  no 
change  in  prices  as  yet  and  report  no  change  in 
show  hours  to  any  appreciable  extent.  A  few 
more  midnight  shows,  however,  are  being  held 
Saturdays  in  the  neighborhood  houses.  One 
circuit  is  considering  the  possibility  of  "swing 
shift"'  shows  in  neighborhood  theatres  near  war 
Traduction  plants. 

The  acute  problem  in  the  area,  of  course,  is 
the  shortage  of  male  help.  Girl  ushers  are 
jcow  being  used  in  most  neighborhod  theatres. 
In  Houston's  downtown  houses,  however,  boy 
ushers  still  are  employed  but  plans  are  being 
ir.ade  by  some  exhibitors  to  shift  to  women. 
There  is  a  projectionist  shortage  in  some  spots 
and  operators  are  now  working  double  shifts. 
The  biggest  loss  of  personnel  naturally  stems 
from  the  draft,  but  the  lure  of  big  money  to  be 
earned  in  ship  yards  and  war  plants  is  another 
lirge  factor. 

More  of  the  "family  trade"  is  noticeable  in 
audiences  than  heretofore,  and  also  an  increased 
number  of  the  working  class  in  first  run  thea- 
tres. Downtown  houses  are  playing  to  increased 
•child  attendance.  Extended  runs  and  holdovers 
in  first  runs  are  much  stronger  than  ever  be- 
fore, and  heavy  attendance  on  Sundays  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  hundreds  of  servicemen  flock  to 
town  from  nearby  Army  camps  and  airfields. 

Admissions  Rise 
In  Pennsylvania 

(by  MORT  FRANK 

■in  Pittsburgh 

War  has  brought  many  changes  in  theatre 
operation  in  western  Pennsylvania.  Admission 
prices  have  been  increased.  Girls,  women  and 
older  men  are  replacing  hundreds  of  boys  and 
young  men.  Matinee  attendance  has  decreased 
rxnsiderably,  children's  patronage  has  increased 
a  little,  women's  trade  has  mounted.  Holdovers 
iave  become  more  prevalent.  Monday  has  be- 
come the  week's  second  best  day  for  downtown 
business,  has  diminished  in  box  office  impor- 
rance  for  the  neighborhoods. 

First  run  downtown  houses  raised  admission 
prices   10  per  cent  after   imposition  of  the 


"PECK'S  BAD  BOY" 
THEATRE  PROBLEM 

The  younger  generation,  particu- 
larly boys  in  the  "teen"  ages,  is 
causing  concern  among  exhibitors. 
In  many  houses  where  older  men  and 
girls  have  replaced  ushers  who  are  in 
military  service  or  in  war  industry, 
the  new  personnel,  inexperienced  in 
handling  this  type  of  troublesome 
patron,  is  having  difficulty  making 
the  boys  behave.  Their  shouts, 
whistles  and  stamping  are  becom- 
ing a  nuisance,  it  is  said. 

In  Canada,  for  example,  exhibitors 
in  St.  John,  N.  B.,  bar  children  after 
5:00  P.M.  unless  they  are  with  adults, 
to  eliminate  the  "nuisance"  value  and 
to  keep  the  youngsters  out  of  theatres 
at  night.  According  to  reports,  chil- 
dren have  been  overstaying  and  tak- 
ing seats  sorely  needed  in  meeting 
evening  attendance  congestion. 


Federal  amusement  tax,  with  the  result  that  in- 
creased ticket  cost  slightly  more  than  offset  the 
decrease  in  attendance  due  to  shifting  of  men 
from  civilian  jobs  to  the  armed  forces. 

Neighborhood  theatre  admissions  also  were 
increased.  Formerly  the  top  at  most  houses 
was  30  cents  and  35  cents.  Now  in  some  houses 
the  top  is  44  cents.  Suburban  theatres  likewise 
were  increased,  reaching  a  ceiling  of  35  cents, 
where  30  cents  was  the  previous  top. 

Show  hours  have  been  changed  little,  primar- 
ily because  the  few  trials  in  revised  opening  or 
closing  times  were  found  unprofitable  by  the  ex- 
perimenting exhibitors.  For  example,  War- 
ners tried  late-night  shows  at  houses  in  Am- 
bridge  and  Johnstown,  two  industrial  cities  in- 
tensely busy  with  war  production  orders,  but 
the  midnight  bills  were  soon  dropped.  Most 
theatres  present  matinee  shows,  beginning  be- 
tween 1  and  2  P.  M.  in  all  but  isolated  places. 
On  holidays,  many  theatres  begin  a  complete 
extra  bill  at  midnight. 

Drop  in  Matinee 
Attendance  Noted 

Personnel  problems  are  becoming  acute.  Most 
able-bodied  men  and  women  sre  seeking  and  get- 
ting well-paying  jobs  in  war  production  plants. 
The  younger  people  who  aren't  w;orking  in  as- 
signments directly  or  indirectly  related  to  war 
work  in  this  industrial  area  are  leaving  for 
military  service.  Girl  ushers  have  replaced 
boys  in  all  downtown  theatres.  Older  men  are 
taking  over  the  ticket-taking  posts  in  the  same 
houses.  Projectionists  have  not  yet  become  as 
serious  a  problem  for  the  exhibitors,  because 
their  contracts  with  moving  picture  operators 
unions  makes  this  a  responsibility  of  the  union. 

Round-the-clock  working  hours  at  war  plants 
and  in  some  office  positions  have  changed  the 
flow  of  traffic  into  theatres.  Matinee  attend- 
ance is  under  pre-war  daytime  trade.  Early 
evening  shows  are  enjoying  a  slight  pickup, 
particularly  because  of  the  increased  number  of 
women  attending  unescorted.  There  are  believed 
to  be  relatively  few  daytime  workers  seeking 
relaxation  before  going  home. 

Because  the  dow-ntown  stores  now  remain 
open  Monday-  night  until  9  P.  M.,  the  downtown 
theatres  enjoy  the  week's  third  best  business  on 
Monday.  Conversely,  neighborhood  houses  re- 
port slight  decreases  in  Monday  volume.  More 


and  more  holdovers  have  been  boked  by  first 
run  theatres  during  the  past  year,  and  an  ex- 
pansion of  the  extended  run  policy-  is  expected 
by  most  exhibitors. 

Indiana  Small  Town 
Theatres  Suffer 

by  RALPH  L.  BROOKS 

in  Indianapolis 

Several  theatres  in  Indiana  have  made  slight 
increases  in  price,  particularly  houses  which 
had  odd-penny  prices.  Admissions  gradually 
have  been  going  up  throughout  the  state  for  the 
past  year,  due  to  increased  overhead.  A  few 
Indianapolis  theatres  have  inaugurated  mati- 
nees, and  a  few  have  occasional  midnight  shows, 
but  this  is  not  a  general  practice.  In  Gary, 
South  Bend  and  Fort  Wayne,  all  warplant 
areas,  theatres  are  running  matinees. 

Labor  is  the  biggest  problem  of  showmen  in 
this  area.  The  usher  problem  is  perplexing. 
High  school  boys  are  being  used  for  usher  jobs 
and  doormen  are  generally  elderly  men.  Thea- 
tremen  find  it  difficult  to  keep  competent 
cashiers  because  they  cannot  compete  with 
wages  paid  in  war  industries.  In  Indianapolis 
there  has  been  so  far  no  difficulty  in  the  pro- 
jection room,  because  of  the  system  of  the  unions 
in  using  a  "swing  man"  who  goes  from  one 
house  to  another. 

A  few  of  the  houses  are  employing  girl  ush- 
ers, but  in  many  instances,  particularly  in 
neighborhood  houses,  they  were  found  unsatis- 
factory because  they  could  not  do  the  other 
work  done  b}-  boys  in  this  capacity.  Many  the- 
atre owners  are  having  difficulty  in  keeping 
good  managers  for  their  houses.  Daih-,  the 
problem  of  finding  people  to  do  cleaning,  and 
other  maintenance  work  is  growing. 

Neighborhood  houses  are  doing  better  busi- 
ness than  a  year  ago.  The  downtown  houses 
also  are  experiencing  an  increase  in  trade.  Sun- 
day business  has  grown  tremendously  and  even- 
downtown  house  has  a  long  line  at  the  box  of- 
fice practically  all  da}-  and  evening.  Downtown 
theatres  also  are  reaping  benefit  from  the  Mon- 
day night  late  closing  of  department  stores. 
Monday  night  has  been  made  "shopping  night" 
for  war  workers. 

Theatres  in  small  towns  in  the  Indianapolis 
area  are  not  benefiting  from  the  high  wages  paid 
war  workers  and  their  business  has  been  falling 
off  during  the  past  several  months.  According 
to  some  theatre  men,  only  transient  trade, 
largely  farm  workers,  has  kept  some  of  the 
small  town  houses  operating. 

Monday  Grosses 
Increase  in  Ohio 

by  FRED  OESTREICHER 

in  Columbus 

Price  scales  in  the  Columbus  area  have  been 
increased  by  wartime  conditions  within  the 
past  year.  It  is  common  practice  now  for  first 
run  theatres  to  charge  10  cents  above  regular 
admission  for  important  pictures.  Regular  ad- 
mission rates  gradually  have  edged  upward. 
The  first  run  admission  is  now  set  at  50  cents, 
tax  included,  for  evenings.  Matinee  prices  are 
30  cents  plus  tax.  Just  a  few  weeks  ago.  two 
local  first  run  theatres  changed  the  evening 
price  starting  time  from  6  P.  M.  to  5  P.  M. 
Stage  show  prices,  however,  have  not  been 
raised,  remaining  at  60  cents  top. 

There  has  been  little  change  in  show  hours, 

(Continued  on  page  48) 


"Heavenly  days,  but  we're  mowin'  'em  down!  Openings  every- 
where skyrocket  way  over  the  openings  of  oar  first  big 
laugh  show,  'look  Who's  laughing'  (and  THAT'S  some- 
thing to  beat) 

The  big  band-wagon  news  comes  from  Hew  York,  Brooklyn, 
Boston,  Hewark,  Denver,  los  Angeles,  Providence,  San 
Francisco,  Kansas  City,  Cedar  Rapids,  Lexington,  Pittslield 
-  £VWWH£R£! 


And  keep  your  eye  peeled  on  more  key 
openings  this  week  and  next  •  .  . 
W£'R£A  HATIOHAl  LAUGH  £V£HT!" 


'THE  GREAT  GILDERSLEEVE'  {UonMJ^uUf) 
GINNY  SIMMS  •  Bill  Thompson  •  Gale  Gordon 
Isabel  Randolph  as  'Uppy'  •  'Mortimer  Snerd' 


*  -    :-  \W^$^^**^<^  RAY  NOBLE  and  BAND  • 


p^l?  ALLAN  DWAN 


R  K  O 
RADIO 

PICTURES 


4b 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    2  4,  1942 


FARM  AREAS  ARE  DEPLETED 


(.Continued  from  page  45) 

with  a  few  minor  exceptions.  The  RKO  Grand, 
as  an  experiment,  ran  "Victory  Shift  Shows," 
from  2  to  5  A.  M.  These  shows  run  only  on 
Thursday  and  Friday  and  have  been  well-at- 
tended. Only  one  downtown  first  run  theatre 
does  not  run  Saturday  midnight  shows  and 
even  that  theatre  runs  occasional  Saturday  late 
hour  shows. 

Problems  created  by  shortage  of  help  are 
most  pressing.  Several  big  theatres  are  em- 
ploying women  in  jobs  they  never  had  held 
previously  such  as  assistant  managers  and  stu- 
dent assistants.  Constant  turnover  in  ushers, 
cashiers,  porters,  etc.,  has  created  special  prob- 
lems in  maintaining  high  standards  of  service. 

Since  shopping  hours  on  Mondays  have  been 
changed  to  12  noon  to  8 :30  P.  M.,  Monday  has 
become  a  better  theatre  day  than  ever  before.  Of 
course,  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  young  male 
attendance,  made  up  partially  by  the  growing 
number  of  men  in  uniform  who  throng  the 
theatres.  Columbus  is  headquarters  of  the 
Fifth  Service  Command,  has  a  huge  and  grow- 
ing Army  General  Depot,  Lockbourne  Air 
Base,  Curtiss-Wright  plane  plant  and  Navy 
personnel  operating  the  municipal  airport  and 
hundreds  of  soldiers  in  various  training  schools 
and  centers. 

Sunday  shows  are  more  crowded  than  ever, 
but  there  has  been  little  change  in  time  sched- 
ules on  this  day,  except  in  the  case  of  unusually 
long  features.  There  has  been  a  tendency  to 
break  away  from  double  features  in  first  run 
houses,  but  not  in  the  neighborhoods. 

Attendance  at 
Peak  on  Coast 

by  W.  A.  PRAGER 

in  Seattle 

Wartime  conditions  and  war  industries  in  the 
Seattle  territory  have  been  a  tremendous  boon 
to  the  box  office,  but  at  the  same  time  are  caus- 
ing numerous  headaches  for  the  theatre  opera- 
tors. 

Primarily,  the  financial  situation  is  good. 
The  increased  incomes  of  Seattle's  400,000  resi- 
dents and  the  added  payroll  to  probably  100,000 
newcomers  has  meant  that  there  is  plenty  of 
money  to  be  spent  in  all  channels,  and  entertain- 
ment is  one  of  the  major  beneficiaries.  Theatre 
attendance  probably  has  returned  to  the  1920- 
2S'  levels,  when  long  lines  of  standees  in  front 
of  nearly  all  houses  attested  to  the  public's 
desire  for  entertainment  and  ability  to  pay. 

Seattle  circuits  have  increased  scales  almost 
to  the  levels  of  those  past  years,  and  yet  at- 
tendance has  not  suffered.  First  run  top  scales 
are  now  65  cents  at  night  and  all  day  Sundays, 
and  second  runs  have  been  increased  to  as 
much  as  50  cents  top  in  some  houses.  Nearly 
all  downtown  and  suburban  subsequent  runs 
have  advanced  all  scales  five  to  10  cents.  First 
run  grosses  of  more  than  $10,000  weekly  are 
not  unusual  now  for  normally  good  films, 
whereas  a  few  seasons  ago  that  would  have 
been  an  unusual  take. 

Show  hours  have  not  changed  much,  with  the 
exception  that  downtown  first  runs  are  operat- 
ing slightly  later  -  performances  on  Friday  and 
Saturday  nights.  Noon  openings  are  still  pre- 
vailing. Very  few  neighborhood  houses  have 
changed  their  hours,  and  there  are  practically 
no  matinee  performances,  because  of  the  nature 
of  the  war  industry  employment  situation. 

The  employee  problem  is  causing  considerable 
trouble  with  acute  shortages  among  doormen, 
cashiers  and  ushers.  Projectionists  here  have 
increased  their  working  hours  slightly  and  are 


NO  TREND  TO  LATE 
SHOWS  IN  CANADA 

Despite  the  fact  that  Canadian 
war  production  is  on  a  24-hour  basis, 
which  means  three  shifts  of  workers 
around  the  clock,  a  vast  audience  for 
neighborhood  and  downtown  film 
houses,  there  has  been  no  increase  of 
midnight  shows.  In  Ontario,  for 
example,  there  are  no  all-night  shows 
because  the  majority  of  residents,  it 
is  observed,  do  not  take  kindly  to 
late-night  entertainment.  Midnight 
shows  have  been  banned  at  Hamil- 
ton, Ont.,  an  industrial  city,  except 
for  a  few  specified  holiday  occasions, 
and  the  agitation  by  reformers 
against  late  performances  has  been 
so  strong  that  any  marked  trend 
toward  extended  show  time  has  been 
retarded.  In  many  instances,  there- 
fore, theatre  managers  are  putting  on 
earlier  shows,  to  make  their  houses 
available  to  the  thousands  of  war 
workers  in  search  of  entertainment 
and  relaxation. 


available  in  sufficient  numbers  to  supply  the 
normal  demand,  but  other  employees  are  difficult 
to  find  or  to  keep.  Similarly,  girl  cashiers 
and  ushers  are  difficult  to  employ.  War  indus- 
tries and  commercial  companies  are  so  badly  in 
need  of  help  that  they  offer  higher  salaries  for 
less  hours  of  work  than  the  theatres  can  af- 
ford to  pay.  Untrained  girls  who  formerly 
found  theatre  work  a  good  field  can  now  learn 
a  trade  or  selling  and  earn  more  money. 

Attendance  is  still  largely  a  cross-section  of 
the  entire  population,  not  predominantly  either 
men  or  women,  although  there  appears  to  be  a 
larger  attendance  on  the  part  of  youths  of  high 
school  age  than  previously.  Due  to  the  increased 
business,  theatres  are  holding  attractions  long- 
er than  the  former  one-week  runs.  Sunday 
shows,  always  popular  here,  are  stronger  than 
ever,  due  to  the  fact  that  most  workers  in  war 
industries  are  free  only  on  Sundays.  In  addi- 
tion, the  city  is  filled  over,  the  weekends  with 
thousands  of  soldiers  and  sailors  from  nearby 
forts  and  camps  whose  only  entertainment  is 
attendance  at  shows. 

Little  Price  Rise 
In  Florida 

by  SCOTT  LESLIE 

in  Tampa 

Show  business  in  Tampa  and  the  Gulf  Coast 
area  of  Florida  has  not  changed  greatly  from 
the  pre-war  days.  Generally,  the  price  scales 
remain  the  same,  except  for  the  war  tax,  which 
has  been  added  to  the  prices,  and  the  fact  that 
the  former  10  cent  scale  for  children  has  been 
cut  to  9  cents  to  take  it  out  of  the  tax  schedule. 

In  the  Latin  sections  of  Tampa  the  keen 
competition  between  two  groups  of  theatres 
brought  prices  down  the  past  summer,  with 
certain  diys  scaled  as  low  as  5  cents  and  10 


cents.  The  show  hours  remain  the  same  in  all 
houses  and  the  "midnight"  shows  have  been 
started  on  Saturdays  in  houses  where  such 
shows  were  run  in  past  seasons.  The  program 
changes  remain  the  same  and  the  length  of 
run  has  not  been  extended  except  for  special 
films. 

J.  L.  Cartwright,  district  manager  of  the 
Florida  State  Theatres,  which  operates  most 
of  the  larger  theatres  of  the  area,  says  the 
problem  of  getting  help  is  serious  and  will  grow 
increasingly  difficult.  With  the  high  wages 
offered  in  the  shipyards  and  other  war  indus- 
tries it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  janitors. 
Ushers,  too,  are  a  problem  and  girls  are  being 
hired  in  many  theatres. 

Tampa  has  three  large  Army  air  fields.  St. 
Petersburg  has  many  service  men  with  many  of 
the  resort  hotels  taken  over,  and  that  has  been 
helpful  in  increasing  business,  but  some  other 
towns  find  business  off.  There  is  also  a  notice- 
able increase  in  male  attendance  in  all  theatres. 
Sunday  shows  are  always  good  in  attendance 
and  all  of  the  larger  towns  operate  on  a  full 
seven-day  schedule. 

Double  Bills  Cut 
In  Virginia 

by  S.  B.  TUCKER 

in  Richmond 

There  have  been  no  price  changes  in  Rich- 
mond theatres.  The  neighborhood  houses  are 
opposed  to  raising  admissions  on  any  "specials." 
Show  schedules  are  the  same  as  before  the 
war,  with  outlying  theatres  opening  at  3  P.  M., 
others  at  1  P.  M.,  and  downtown  houses  at 
11  A.  M.  The  single  feature  policy  predomi- 
nates, though  several  second  runs  occasionally 
use  double  features  in  the  middle  of  the  week. 

There  has  been  a  shortage  of  ushers,  cashiers 
and  porters,  but  theatres  are  managing  to  get 
by.  School  boys  are  used  extensively.  The 
downtown  first  runs  cannot  take  care  of  the 
Saturday  and  Sunday  crowds,  with  Sunday  now 
being  the  biggest  day.  With  a  2  P.  M.  opening, 
houses  often  stop  selling  tickets  before  the  first 
show  is  underway.  Sunday  audiences  down- 
town are  mainly  service  men  and  their  girls, 
with  several  Army  camps  located  nearby. 

More  Women  Take 
Theatre  Posts 

by  GERTRUDE  LANDER 

in  New  Haven 

Corresponding  to  the  acute  labor  shortage  in 
every  other  field  in  Connecticut  theatre  opera- 
tors also  are  feeling  the  lack  of  personnel  to 
fill  vacancies  caused  by  men  in  service  and  war 
jobs.  As  factories  are  preparing  for  large- 
scale  employment  of  women,  so  theatres  are 
gradually  opening  management  positions  or  stu- 
dent training  to  women. 

Industrial  expansion  and  increased  employ- 
ment continues  in  all  Connecticut  towns,  with 
the  exception  of  Danbury,  which  has  not  yet 
felt  the  war  impetus.  Higher  wages  are  trans- 
lating themselves  into  better  downtown  busi- 
ness, exhibitors  say,  but  neighborhood  business 
does  not  benefit. 

Several  of  the  leading  neighborhood  houses 
have  increased  evening  adult  admissions  from 
30  cents  to  33  cents,  and  most  of  the  leading 
Hartford  neighborhood  theatres  have  done  the 
same.  The  Howard  is  the  only  neighborhood 
house  to  increase  children's  prices. 


50 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


October    24,  194 


ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


By  JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAI 


A  citation  from  the  United  States  Marines 
has  been  made  to  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
Studios,  in  California,  for  "invaluable  assist- 
ance which  may  not  now  be  divulged  for 
military  reasons  but  which  constitutes  one  of 
the  most  important  developments  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  war  effort,''  according  to  Major 
G.  McGuire  Pierce,  who  said:  "Quietly  and 
without  publicity  this  studio  housed  on  its 
lot  more  than  200  Marine  students  who  were 
so  thoroughly  instructed  by  studio  techni- 
cians in  the  newly  devised  art  of  personal 
camouflage  that  they  in  turn  can  be  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  entire  Marine  battle 
forces  to  teach  our  men  how  to  fight  more 
effectively  and  with  less  loss  of  life." 
V 

The  William  Foxes  are  liquidating.  Last 
week,  as  previously  reported,  Mrs.  William  Fox 
turned  over  to  the  nation's  scrap  pile  a  fleet  of 
big,  bouncing  limousines  from  the  days  illicit 
Mr.  William  Fox  zvas  the  industry's  big  movie 
mogul  at  Fox  Film  Corporation.  Also  sent  to 
the  pile  were  long  lines  of  metal  fence  from 
the  big  Fox  estate  at  Foxhall,  Long  Island, 
where  the  Foxes  once  held  high  in  no  less  than 
three  houses  and  their  own  movie  theatre.  This 
week,  arrangements  were  made  by  Mrs.  II  il- 
liam  Fox  to  put  up  the  family's  art  treasures — 
$5,000,000  worth  of  paintings  by  Van  Dyke  and 
Gainsborough  and  Rubens  and  other  great  mas- 
ters, to  go  on  the  block  at  public  auction  at 
■Gimbel's  big  department  store  in  New  York. 
V 

This  week,  too,  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  rejected  the  petition  of  William  Fox  for 
review  of  the  decision  of  the  United  States 
Court  of  Appeals  upholding  his  conviction  on 
charges  of  conspiracy  to  obstruct  justice  and 
his  subsequent  sentence  of  one  year  and  a  day 
in  prison. 

V 

A  typical  issue  of  almost  any  of  the  Brit- 
ish film  trade  papers  reports  on  such  War 
Orders  as  the  restriction  to  ten  in  the  num- 
ber of  posters  which  a  theatre  may  issue  in 
advertising  a  single  program,  and  the  restric- 
tion to  60  in  the  number  of  window-bills  or 
show  cards.  Another  item  tells  how  the 
British  film  industry  has  just  obtained  10 
extra  clothing  coupons  for  theatre  and  studio 
workers. 

V 

And  now  England  has  offcially  stopped  the 
sale  of  ice  cream  in  movie  theatres  for  the 
duration. 

V 

Edward  Arnold,  actor,  brings  back  this  little 
yarn  which  he  picked  up  on  his  recent  bond 
tour.  The  story  concerns  the  law  firm  of  Raf- 
ferty,  McGinnis,  Cohen,  Jones  and  White,  which 
merged  with  the  firm  of  Swenson,  Dale,  Fischer 
and  Johnson.  The  merged  firm  of  Rafferty,  Mc- 
Ginnis, Cohen,  Jones,  White,  Swenson,  Dale, 
Fischer  and  Johnson  later  merged  with  Henkle, 
Pellister,  Goldsmith  and  Greene,  making  the 
firm  of  Rafferty,  McGinnis,  Cohen,  Jones, 
White,  Swenson,  Dale,  Fischer,  Henkle,  Pellis- 
ter, Goldsmith  and  Greene.  Now  when  the 
switchboard  operator  at  the  expanded  firm  an- 
swers the  telephone,  she  announces :  "We  the 
people !" 

V 

A  final  note  of  grim  realism  has  been  added 
to  "The  Edge  of  Darkness,"  Warner  Brothers' 
story  of  the  underground  in  Norway.  Six 
graves,  near  which  stars  Errol  Flynn  and  Ann 
Sheridan  meet  to  plot  against  the  Nazis,  are 
marked  with  the  names  Heinrich  Heinck,  Her- 
bert Haupt,  Werner  Thiel,  Edward  Kerling, 
Richard  Quirin  and  Hermann  Neubauer.  In 
case  you  don't  recognize  them,  those  are  the 
names  of  the  .six  Nazi  saboteurs  recently  ex- 
ecuted in  Washington. 


Mr.  Edwin  Hopkins,  of  New  York,  has  set 
out  to  teach  voice  culture  to  actors  of  the  cine- 
ma, the  stage  and  radio,  in  a  merry  little  book 
which  he  has  titled  "Secrets  of  Voice  Produc- 
tion," running  the  gamut  from  crooning  to 
New  Yorkese  and  yawning.  His  tongue  twist- 
ers for  enunciation  development  are  choice : 
Five  wives  weave  withes ;  Six  thick  thistle 
sticks ;  The  sun  shines  on  the  shop  signs ;  A 
shot-silk  sash-shop  ;  I  snuff  shop  snuff ;  do  you 
snuff  shop  snuff ;  The  sixth  sick  sheik's  sixth 
sheep's  sick ;  Shave  a  single  shingle  thin  ;  The 
shot  that  Short  shot  was  not  the  shot  Nott  shot, 
etc.,  etc. 

Mr.  Hopkins  goes  to  town  on  New  Yorkers' 
language,  making  the  open  declaration,  in  these 
days  when  there's  trouble  enough,  that  sub- 
standard New  Yorkese  dialect  makes  verse, 
vois ;  oil,  earl ;  early,  oily  ;  choice,  chrerce  ;  bird, 
boid;  point,  pernt;  hoist,  herst;  joint,  jernt; 
burner,  boincr ;  boiled,  berled,  et  al. 

And  for  those  who  wish  to  develop  a  really 
good  yawn,  Mr.  Hopkins  has  a  whole  section 
on  yawning. 

V 

A  war  song  written  by  Director  Leo  Mc- 
Carey  in  1918,  which  went  unheralded,  un- 
honored  and  unsung  only  because  the  Armis- 
tice was  signed  the  day  it  was  accepted  for 
publication,  finally  is  to  see  service,  24  years 
later,  as  part  of  the  musical  score  of  Mr. 
McCarey's  new  RKO  picture,  "Once  Upon 
a  Honeymoon."  It's  title  advises:  "Keep  Up 
Your  Chin." 

V 

Theater  manpower  shortage  brought  about 
something  like  a  new  high  in  absurdity  in  Min- 
neapolis last  week. 

The  Orpheum  Theater,  after  getting  only  two 
boys  to  open  a  2,800-S£«<  house,  hired  girls.  The 
Minnesota  Amusement  Company  was  consider- 
ing placing  usherettes  in  all  houses  after  similar 
situations. 

But  Abe  Sonosky,  manager  of  the  Lyric  Thea- 
ter, found  himself  in  the  most  uncomfortable 
position.  A  new  girl  employee  refused  to  let 
him  into  his  own  theater,  until  older  employes 
vouched  for  him. 

V 

Sign  of  Coming  Times? — from  an  adver- 
tisement currently  appearing  in  national 
magazines: 

"We  will  undertake  the  refinancing  or  re- 
habilitation of  large  corporate  enterprises  in 
distress. — L.  N.  Rosenbaum  &  Son,  New 
York." 

V 

The  motion  picture,  "Mr.  Bug  Goes  to 
Town,"  has  just  finished  an  engagement  at  the 
Bugg  Theatre,  Chicago. 

V 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  Price  Administrator,  Leon 
Henderson,  announced  in  Washington  on 
Monday  that  the  United  States  Government 
had  ordered  a  price  ceiling,  effective  Novem- 
ber 1st,  on  fees  for  the  playing  of  billiards, 
pool  and  bowling.  Which  puts  the  pool 
parlor  proprietor  behind  the  eight  ball. 

V 

The  Vichy  French  Government,  last  week  put 
an  end  to  the  slwzving  of  American  motion  pic- 
tures in  that  country,  as  previously  noted.  The 
last  motion  picture  shown  ivas — "Goodbye  Mr. 
Chips." 

V 

Members  of  Manager  Albert  E.  McEvoy's 
staff  at  Attleboro,  Mass.,  in  reopening  the  Bates 
Theater  after  the  Summer  closing,  had  to  chase 
out  the  bat  which  they  insist  has  inhabited  the 
Bates  yearly  for  the  past  10  Summers. 


Then  there's  movie  press  agent  Regit 
Crewe's  story,  related  by  theatrical  pre 
agent  Irving  Hoffman,  about  Groucl 
Marx's  final  test  in  a  first  aid  course. 

Warned  to  pipe  down  on  his  sense  of  h 
mor,  Groucho  answered  every  question  se 
ously,  until  he  arrived  at  the  last  one:  | 
you  went  home  and  found  your  wife's  he 
in  the  oven,  with  all  the  gas  jets  turned  c 
what  would  you  do?"  "I'd  baste  her  eve 
15  minutes,"  piped  Groucho. 

V 

Use  Intrator,  refugee  German  actress  who 
producing,  writing  and  directing  "Our  Sec 
World,"  program  over  WOR,  New  York,  S 
urday  evenings,  tells  a  story  on  Hitler  wh: 
was  an  early  tipoff  on  how  he  planned  to  cc 
tinue  German  "democracy." 

Back  in  1933,  Hitler  was  running  in  a  si 
posedly  fair  election  as  prescribed  by  the  den 
cratic  German  government  in  power  since 
last  war. 

The  day  before  the  election,  Nazi  actors 
ready  were  rehearsing  radio  programs  for 
celebration  of  Hitler's  victory — including 
actual  vote  count.    And  voters  wouldn't  be 
ing  to  the  polls  for  another  24  hours ! 

V 

Anton  Grot,  Warner  Brothers  Studio 
director,   has   returned   to   the  departmi 
after  a  two-year  absence  due  to  illness.  I 
first   assignment   is   "Thank   Your  Luc 
Stars." 

V 

The  War  Department,  at  Washington, 
developed  a  new  floating  match  box  equip 
with  striking  bars  which  will  enable  troops 
strike  lights  in  the  most  adverse  weather 
ditions. 

The  box  is  made  of  a  synthetic  resin 
holds  twenty  matches.  It  is  round,  being  th 
inches  long  and  three-fourths  of  an  inch 
diameter.  A  small  emergency  compass  is 
one  end. 

In  tests,  boxes  were  soaked  in  water  for  n, 
than  a  month  without  harm  to  the  interior 
the  contents.  No  matter  how  wet  the  bo 
become  the  matches  can  be  struck  by  fric. 
from  the  striking  bars. 

V 

Cast  Suggestion  for  Warner  Brothers, 
"Mission  to  Moscow": 

A  young  actor,  Marty  Ritt,  now  play 
the  part  of  one  of  the  soldiers  on  Bataai 
Maxwel  Anderson's  new  hit  play,  "Eve 
St.  Mark,"  is  said  to  be  a  "dead  ringer" 
Joe  Stalin.  They  say  that  Ritt's  forehi 
nose,  the  high-buttoned  jacket  he  wears 
the  pipe  he  smokes,  make  him  look  eno 
like  the  Russian  leader  to  provoke  the  ai 
ences  to  audible  whispers  when  they 
cover  the  resemblance. 

"Eve  of  St.  Mark,"  by  the  way,  is  Br< 
way's  first  serious  drama  sell-out,  dire< 
by  Lem  Ward,  who  now  has  two  plays 
the  boards.  Warner  Brothers,  Columbia 
Selznick's  office  are  reported  to  have  m 
overtures  to  Mr.  Ward  for  Hollywood  di 
torial  assignments.  It  is  understood,  h 
ever,  that  he  will  remain  on  Broadway  tc 
another  play — Sidney  Kingsley's  forthc 
ing  drama  about  Thomas  Jefferson — be 
he  signs  with  any  film  company. 

V 

The  Seattle  censor  board,  represented 
Jay  T.  DeFriel,  and  the  road  show  "Clau' 
with  Edward  O'Keefe,  manager,  came  to  g 
the  other  day,  that  threatened  to  hold  up: 
show  at  the  Metropolitan  theatre.  The  B 
demanded  that  lines  concerning  the  drinkin 
orange  juice  by  a  prospective  father  and} 
description  of  a  cow's  domestic  relations 
chopped  from  the  script. 


52  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    24,    194  2 

THE  HOLLYWOOD  SCENE 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 


One  hundred  and  nine  stars  have  placed 
themselves  on  call  with  the  Hollywood 
Victory  Committee  for  entertainment  ser- 
vice on  the  fighting  fronts.  These  are 
volunteers  representing  a  limited  number 
of  invitations  offered  by  the  HVC  fol- 
lowing the  return  to  America  of  Merle 
Oberon,  Patricia  Morrison,  Al  Jolson, 
Frank  McHugh  and  Allen  Jenkins  from 
their  entertainment  tour  of  the  encamp- 
ments in  Ireland.  Players  chosen  for  sim- 
ilar journeys,  to  be  made  by  plane,  boat 
or  submarine  if  necessary,  will  serve  in 
units,  each  requiring  studio  absence  of 
three  weeks  which  have  been  and  are  be- 
ing arranged  for.  Names  of  the  stars  who 
will  make  the  tours  under  USO  sponsor- 
ship are  being  withheld,  as  are  their 
destinations,  routes,  dates  and  places  of 
performance,  for  military  reasons. 

No  whistles  have  been  tooted  nor  bells 
rung  to  signal  the  leavetaking  of  Hollywood 
press  correspondents  for  duty  in  the  nation's 
armed  forces,  but  they,  too,  have  been  going, 
and  they  are  in  there  where  the  doing,  not 
the  reporting  of  it,  is  being  done. 

To  each  of  the  28  of  them  now  has  been 
dispatched  by  the  western  division  of  the 
industry's  Public  Relations  Committee  a 
gold  credentials  certificate,  permanent, 
which  will  be  something  to  show  the  bud- 
dies, wherever  and  whenever,  and  not  a  bad 
item  to  have  when  war's  done,  peace  has 
come  and  there's  a  job  to  be  seen  about. 

The  recipients  are  Herbert  Bregstein, 
Doyle  Brentano,  Art  Carter,  Walter  B. 
Clausen,  Louis  Dyer,  Dudley  Early,  William 
Farquhar,  Robert  Bagos,  Charles  Garland, 
Charles  S.  McMarty,  Bob  Miller,  Ken  Mor- 
gan, Curtis  Pepper,  Richard  Pollard,  Hal 
Raynor,  George  Reineking,  Thomas  Nord, 
Riley,  Dudley  Ross,  Ed  Stansbury,  Herb 
Steien,  Nathaniel  Tanchuck,  Robert  Wal- 
lace and  Robert  White. 

Animated  Films  Aid 
War  Instruction 

W.  Earl  Shafer,  general  manager  of 
Hugh  Harman  Productions,  is  authority  for 
the  statement  that  men  in  the  armed  ser- 
vices are  learning  technical  jobs  via  ani- 
mated pictorial  films  eight  times  as  rapidly 
as  by  personal  instruction. 

The  Shafer  statistic  was  released  after 
completion  of  delivery  of  12  artillery  gun 
instruction  films  to  the  War  Department  and 
while  the  company  was  midway  toward  com- 
pletion of  a  series  of  aircraft-identification 
subjects  for  the  Air  Force. 

Sherman  To  Make  Seven 
Hopalong  Films 

Harry  Sherman  has  decided  to  make  seven 
instead  of  six  Hopalong  Cassidy  westerns 
for  his  first  season  contribution  to  the 
United  Artists  schedule.  .  .  .  Walter  Pidgeon 
has  been  assigned  the  lead  in  "Bataan  Pa- 
trol," which  Irving  Starr  will  produce  for 
MGM  from  an  original  by  Robert  D.  An- 
drews. .  .  .  RKO  Radio  has  bought  screen 
rights  to  "The  Petty  Girl"  and  obtained  the 


Studios  Start  4  "A"  Films 

Four  of  the  nine  pictures  put  before  the  cameras  during  a  week  which  witnessed  the 
rise  of  the  Hollywood  production  index  from  43  to  47  are  A-grade  material.  Starting 
of  that  many  upper-bracket  projects  in  a  single  week  is  in  the  nature  of  a  deviation 
from  a  trend  noted  during  recent  weeks  toward  concentration  on  relatively  minor  under- 
takings. Although  studio  executives  have  displayed  reticence  of  late  on  such  topics  as 
outlook  and  expectation,  the  swing  toward  increase  of  capital  investment  is  interpreted 
as  betokening  confidence. 

RKO  Radio  launched  two  pictures  of  major  calibre.  "Bombardier"  stars  Pat  O'Brien, 
Randolph  Scott  and  Ann  Shirley  and  goes  into  shooting  stage  following  a  long  period 
of  preparation.  "This  Land  Is  Mine",  first  venture  of  writer  Dudley  Nichols  as  pro- 
ducer, offers  Charles  Laughton,  Maureen  O'Hara,  George  Sanders  and  others. 
Twentieth  Century- Fox  started  "Secret  Mission"  with  Annabella,  John  Sutton  and 
Beulah  Bondi.  Warners  started  "Thank  Your  Lucky  Stars",  a  multi-starred  enterprise, 
with  Joan  Leslie,  Dennis  Morgan,  Eddie  Cantor,  Dinah  Shore,  Bette  Davis,  Ida  Lupino, 
Alexis  Smith,  Ann  Sheridan  among  the  players  already  listed,  with  more  to  come. 

Statistics  and  titles  of  the  week: 


COMPLETED 

Columbia 

Outlaw  Busters 

Monogram 

Little  Mobsters 

PRC 

Lady  from  Chungking 

RKO  Radio 

Great  Gildersleeve 


Uni 


il 


When  Johnny 
Comes  Home 

STARTED 

Columbia 

Murder  in 

Times  Square 

PRC 

Lone  Rider,  No.  1 

RKO  Radio 

Bombardier 


This  Land  Is  Mine 
Two  Weeks  to  Live 

Republic 

London  Blackout 
Murders 

20th-Fox 

Secret  Mission 

Universal 

Frankenstein  Meets 
Wolf  Man 

# 

Warners 

Thank  Your 

Lucky  Stars 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

Merry-Go-Round 

MGM 

Nothing  Ventured 
Cabin  in  the  Sky 
DuBarry  Was  a  Lady 
Assignment  in 
Brittany 


Human  Comedy 
Three  Cheers 
for  Julia 
Lassie,  Come  Home 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 
Salute  to  the  Marines 
Gentle  Annie 

Monogram 

Silver  Skates 
Beyond  the 

Great  Divide 

Paramount 

True  to  Life 
For  Whom  the 
Bell  Tolls 

PRC 

Pay  Off 

Queen  of  Broadway 

RKO  Radio 

Flight  for  Freedom 
Hitler's  Children 

Republic 

Mountain  Rhythm 


Chas.  Rogers 

Powers  Girl 

20th-Fox 

Chetnik 
Dixie  Dugan 
Immortal  Sergeant 
Crash  Dive 
Coney  Island 
Margin  for  Error 

Universal 

Pittsburgh 
Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Nightmare 
Corvettes  in  Action 
Forever  Yours 
It  Ain't  Hay 

Warners 

Action  in  the 

North  Atlantic 
Edge  of  Darkness 
Air  Force 
Background  to 

Danger 
Forty  Whacks 


services  of  her  creator,  George  Petty,  as 
technical  adviser  for  the  film  which  will 
carry  the  title.  .  .  .  Lee  Marcus  will  pro- 
duce "Bad  Men  of  Texas"  for  Twentieth 
Century-Fox. 

Edward  A.  Golden,  producing  "Hitler's 
Children"  for  RKO  Radio  from  "Education 
for  Death,"  has  set  something  of  a  mark  in 
the  field  of  previewings.  He's  sent  copies 
of  the  script  to  20  exhibitors  inviting  their 
comments,  opinions  and  suggestions.  .  .  . 
MGM  has  bought  "By  the  People,"  an  orig- 
inal by  Byron  Morgan  concerning  American 
aircraft  workers  sent  to  England.  .  .  .  Mac- 
donald  Carey  will  be  starred  opposite  Betty 
Rhodes  in  Paramount's  "Salute  for  Three" 
before  he  joins  the  Marines.  .  .  .  Crane  Wil- 
bur has  been  assigned  to  write  the  Bryan 
Foy  Twentieth  Century-Fox  melodrama 
based  on  the  life  of  Chicago's  Roger  Touhy, 
previously  announced  as  "Prison  Break" 
and  now  down  as  "Life  of  Touhy." 

"Anchors  Aweigh,"  to  be  produced  by 


Arthur  Freed,  has  been  added  to  MGM's 
list  of  musicals.  .  .  .  George  Waggner  has 
replaced  Henry  Koster  as  producer  of  Uni- 
versal's  "Phantom  of  the  Opera"  due  tc 
Koster's  preoccupation  with  preparation  oi 
"100  Girls  and  a  Man."  .  .  .  Henry  Travers 
Doris  Bowden,  Dudley  Digges  and  Mar 
garet  Wycherly  have  been  assigned  princi 
pal  roles  in  John  Steinbek's  "The  Moon  \i 
Down,"  Twentieth  Century-Fox.  .  .  .  "Rus 
sia"  is  the  new  title  for  MGM's  "Scorchec 
Earth,"  still  in  preparation. 

"Idaho,"  announced  as  a  John  Wayn( 
vehicle  for  Republic,  has  been  assigned  in 
stead  to  Roy  Rogers  and  will  be  made  as  f 
special.  .  .  .  Phil  Rosen  has  replaced  Willian 
Nigh  as  director  of  Monogram's  "Jungle 
Love,"  Mr.  Nigh  going  to  PRC  for  a  serie: 
of  assignments.  .  .  .  Howard  K.  Smtih' 
novel,  "Last  Train  from  Berlin,"  has  beei 
purchased  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox.  .  . 
Fred  Cinneman  will  direct  "Liberty  Ship' 
for  MGM. 


You  Were  Never  Lovelier 


has  JEROME  KERN'S 

Greatest  Score  Since  "Show  Boat"! 


54 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


PRC  Plans  National 
Sales  Convention 


Chicago  Meet  November  7 
to  Include  Franchise 
Holders,  Managers 

A  national  meeting  of  franchise  holders 
and  branch  managers  of  Producers  Re- 
leasing Corporation  will  be  held  in  Chi- 
cago, November  7th  and  8th,  it  was  an- 
nounced by  O.  Henry  Briggs,  president  of 
PRC.  Thirty-two  exchanges  in  the  U.  S. 
and  Canada  will  be  represented,  and  the 
personnel  of  the  convention  also  will  in- 
clude home  office  executives  and  produc- 
tion officials  from  Hollywood. 

In  announcing  the  Chicago  session,  Mr. 
Briggs  stated  that  this  national  meeting 
would  supplant  the  usual  series  of  regional 
meetings  in  order  to  conform  to  the  exigen- 
cy of  the  times. 

"This  will  mark  a  significant  period  in 
the  progress  of  PRC,"  said  Mr.  Briggs. 
"The  rapid  development  of  the  company  has 
necessitated  adjustments  to  keep  pace  with 
the  problem  of  expansion  in  production,  dis- 
tribution and  sales,  and  these  will  be  thor- 
oughly considered  at  the  Chicago  conven- 
tion. We  have  a  definite  and  long  term 
policy  formulated,  which  will  be  clarified  at 
the  national  meeting  and  implemented  by  the 
board  of  directors  and  franchise  holders. 
We  shall  deal  with  all  matters  with  which 
we  shall  be  confronted  in  the  future  for  the 
proper  conduct  of  our  business." 

The  meeting  will  be  called  to  order  by 
Mr.  Briggs  on  Saturday,  November  7th,  at 
10  A.  M.  Arthur  Greenblatt,  vice-president 
in  charge  of  sales,  will  take  over  in  the  dis- 
cussions on  distribution  and  marketing  of 
the  1942-43  product. 

Fromkess  To  Report 
On  Studio  Plans 

Leon  Fromkess,  vice-president  in  charge 
of  production,  will  report  on  studio  plans 
which  have  been  considerably  augmented 
since  the  new  product  got  under  way.  Ken- 
neth Young,  chairman  of  the  board  of  di- 
rectors of  Pathe,  will  accompany  Mr.  From- 
kess from  the  coast. 

With  13  pictures  in  its  cutting  rooms,  PRC 
has  set  its  national  release  schedule  up  to  April 
1st.  This  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
PRC  that  the  company  has  been  able  to  plan 
its  releases  nearly  six  months  in  advance. 

Release  Dates  Set 
On  18  Pictures 

The  schedule  follows : 

October  19th:  "Along  the  Sundown  Trail," 
with  Bill  ("Cowboy  Rambler")  Boyd,  Art  Da- 
vis and  Lee  Powell. 

October  26th  :  "Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed,"  starring 
Otto  Kruger,  Tina  Thayer  and  Ric  Vallin. 

October  28th :  "Outlaws  of  Boulder  Pass," 
George  Houston  and  Al  St.  John. 

November  9th :  "The  Yanks  Are  Coming." 
Henry  King  and  his  Orchestra,  Mary  Healy, 
Maxie  Rosenbloom. 

November  20th :  "The  Mysterious  Rider," 
Buster  Crabbe,  Al  St.  John. 

November  23rd :  "Miss  V  from  Moscow," 
Lola  Lane,  Noel  Madison. 

December  7th :  "Boss  of  Big  Town,"  John 


Litel,  Florence  Rice,  H.  B.  Warner. 

December  21st:  "Lone  Rider,"  No.  1,  untitled 
as  yet. 

December  21st:  "Lady  from  Chungking," 
Anna  May  Wong,  Harold  Huber,  Ric  Vallin. 

December  25th :  "The  Rangers  Take  Over," 
Dave  O'Brien,  Jim  Newill. 

January  4th :  "Permit  to  Kill,"  Barton  Mac- 
Lane,  Charlotte  Wynters,  Dorothy  Burgess. 

January  21st:  "The  Pay-Off,"  Lee  Tracy, 
Tom  Brown,  Tina  Thayer. 

January  22nd :  "Billy  the  Kid"  No.  2. 

February  10th:  "Dead  Men  Walk,"  George 
Zucco,  Mary  Carlisle. 

February  24th :  "A  Night  for  Crime,"  Glen- 
da  Farrell,  Lyle  Talbot. 

March  2nd:  "Queen  of  Broadway,"  Rochelle 
Hudson,  Buster  Crabbe. 

March  5th :  "Texas  Ranger"  No.  2. 

March  16th :  "Gateway  to  Freedom." 

The  sale  of  Producers  Releasing  Corporation's 
entire  1942-43  product  to  the  Warner  Bros, 
circuit  in  Pittsburgh  has  been  announced  by 
Mr.  Greenblatt.  The  deal  was  completed  by 
M.  and  L.  Lefton,  Pittsburg  franchise  holders. 
George  Gill,  Washington  franchise  holder,  has 
closed  a  deal  with  Warners'  circuit  there. 

With  "Jungle  Siren,"  starring  Ann  Corio  and 
Buster  Crabbe,  booked  by  more  than  600  major 
circuit  theatres  in  every  part  of  the  country, 
PRC  has  established  a  new  record  for  playing 
time  in  Class  A  houses,  Mr.  Greenblatt  has  re- 
ported. 

Exchange  Personnel  To 
Attend  Meeting 

Those  who  will  attend  the  meeting  include : 
Home  Office — O.  Henry  Briggs,  president ; 
Arthur  Greenblatt,  vice-president,  in  charge  of 
sales;  Robert  Benjamin,  general  counsel; 
George  Bonwick,  executive  vice-president  of 
Pathe  and  treasurer  of  PRC ;  John  S.  Young, 
member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  Pathe ; 
Leo  J.  McCarthy  western  division  sales  man- 
ager ;  Roberto  D.  Socas,  export  manager ; 
Joseph  O'Sullivan,  director  of  advertising  and 
publicity. 

West  Coast — Leon  Fromkess,  vice-president 
in  charge  of  production ;  Kenneth  Young,  chair- 
man of  Board  of  Directors  of  Pathe ;  Arthur 
Eddy,  public  relations  counsel. 

Exchanges — Albany,  Bernard  Mills,  Jack 
Berkson ;  Buffalo,  Harry  Berman ;  Boston, 
Harry  Asher,  Harry  Goldman ;  Chicago,  Henri 
Elman,  George  Topper ;  Cincinnati,  Nat  Kap- 
lan ;  Cleveland,  Lee  Goldberg,  Allan  Shaw ; 
Dallas,  Jack  Adams,  Sr.,  Paul  MacGregor ; 
Denver,  J.  H.  Ashby ;  Detroit,  William 
Flemion,  Anne  O'Donnell ;  Indianapolis,  Sam 
Abrams ;  Kansas  City,  Beverly  Miller,  R.  H. 
Patt;  Little  Rock,  B.  F.  Busby;  Los  Angeles, 
Samuel  Decker,  Harry  Stern ;  Milwaukee,  J. 
N.  Jovaney,  Cleve  Adams ;  Minneapolis,  Ab- 
bott Swartz;  New  Orleans,  Fred  Goodrow,  P. 
A.  Sliman ;  New  York,  Sidney  Kluick ;  Okla- 
homa City,  Harry  McKenna,  E.  L.  Walker ; 
Omaha,  M.  L.  Stern ;  Des  Moines,  S.  H.  Stern ; 
Philadelphia,  Herbert  Given ;  Pittsburgh,  Lew 
Lefton,  Milton  Lefton ;  Seattle,  Lloyd  V. 
Lamb ;  St.  Louis,  Noah  Bloomer ;  San  Fran- 
cisco, Sam  Cobel,  Armand  Cohn ;  Washington, 
George  Gill ;  Canada,  H.  J.  Allen. 


Klinger  Is  Promoted 

Because  of  the  increased  activity  in  the  story 
department  in  the  New  York  production  office 
of  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  Harry  Klinger,  who 
has  been  serving  as  assistant  story  editor  to 
Bertram  Bloch,  has  been  advanced  to  associate 
editor.  Paul  Peters  has  been  named  dramatic 
editor  in  charge  of  the  play  department. 


Columbia  Sales 
Heads  Confer 

Columbia  home  office  and  field  executives  dis- 
cussed 1942-43  product  and  policy  at  two  meet- 
ings this  week,  in  Chicago  and  New  York. 

The  Chicago  meeting,  held  Wednesday  and 
Thursday  at  the  Drake  Hotel,  was  presided 
oyer  by  Abe  Montague,  general  sales  manager. 
Others  in  attendance  were  Rube  Jackter,  as- 
sistant general  sales  manager ;  Lou  Weinberg 
and  Lou  Astor,  circuit  sales  executives ;  Max 
Weisfeldt,  sales  executive ;  Hank  Kaufman, 
manager  of  exchange  operations ;  George 
Josephs,  manager,  sales  accounting,  and  Seth 
Raisler,  manager,  contract  department. 

The  following  divisional  and  branch  managers 
also  attended  :  Phil  Dunas,  mid-central  division  ; 
Sam  Galanty,  mid-east  division ;  Jerome  Saf  ron, 
western  division;  R.  J.  Ingram,  Atlanta  branch; 
Joseph  Gins,  Charlotte ;  J.  B.  Underwood,  Dal- 
las ;  J.  J.  Rogers ;  Memphis ;  C.  A.  Gibbs, 
Oklahoma  City,  and  H.  Duvall,  New  Orleans. 

Pictures  slated  for  early  release  and  dis- 
cussed at  the  meeting  include  "You  Were  Never 
Lovelier,"  Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth  musical 
with  songs  by  Jerome  Kern;  "Commandos 
Strike  at  Dawn,"  Paul  Muni  starring  film  set 
in  Nazi-occupied  Norway ;  "A  Night  to  Re- 
member," co-starring  Loretta  Young  and  Brian 
Aherne,  and  "The  Desperadoes,"  the  studio's 
first  Technicolor  film,  co-starring  Randolph 
Scott,  Glenn  Ford,  Claire  Trevor  and  Evelyn 
Keyes. 

The  New  York  meeting  was  to  be  held 
Friday  with  home  office  officials,  eastern  branch 
managers  and  New  York  divisional  manager 
Nat  Cohn  in  attendance.  Mr.  Montague  also 
was  to  preside  at  this  meeting. 

Mr.  Montague  and  Mr.  Jackter  were  hosts 
Sunday  night  at  a  dinner  for  exhibitors  and 
circuit  executives  in  Philadelphia,  to  launch  the 
company's  advance  campaign  on  "You  Were 
Never  Lovelier." 

Columbia  and  Griffith 
Sign  Two-Year  Pact 

A  two-year  franchise  for  Columbia's  entire 
product,  features,  westerns,  short  subjects  and 
serials,  for  this  season  and  next,  has  been  closed 
for  more  than  100  theatres  of  the  Griffith 
Amusement  Company,  Dallas. 

The  deal  was  handled  by  Rube  Jackter,  as- 
sistant sales  manager  for  Columbia,  and  R.  E. 
Griffith  and  Raymond  Higdon  for  the  circuit. 

Warner  Cancels 
Canada  Meeting 

Warner  Bros.  Canadian  sales  meeting,  which 
originally  was  postponed  because  of  the  recent 
death  of  Lou  Geller,  Winnipeg  branch  manager," 
has  been  cancelled,  it  was  reported  in  Toronto 
on  Monday,  due  to  the  lateness  of  the  season. 


Denies  Story  of  Resignation 

Frank  Rogers,  president  of  Florida  State 
Theatres,  Inc.,  interviewed  in  New  York  last 
week,  denied  a  recent  report  that  he  might  re- 
tire from  the  presidency  of  the  circuit.  "Any 
such  idea  is  just  as  amusing  as  when  Mark 
Twain  said,  'the  report  of  my  death  is  grossly 
exaggerated,'  "  he  said. 


Producer,  Director  in  Film 

Mark  Hellinger,  Warner  Bros,  producer,  and 
David  Butler,  who  is  directing  "Thank  Your 
Lucky  Stars,"  also  will  play  roles  in  the  all- 
star  musical.  They  will  impersonate  them- 
selves, with  Eddie  Cantor  playing  straight  op- 
posite them. 


Fire  Destroys  Theatre 

An  explosion  and  fire  destroyed  the  Paradise 
theatre,  Millbury,  Mass.,  last  week,  with  an  es- 
timated loss  of  $50,000. 


October    24,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


5  = 


STUDIOS  ACQUIRE  34  STORY 
PROPERTIES  IN  SEPTEMBER 


Figure  Shows  Sharp  Drop 
from  Previous  Month 
and  September,  1941 

Hollywood  producers  acquired  34  story- 
properties  during  September,  a  sharp 
drop  from  the  52  story  buys  in  August, 
and  from  the  50  purchased  in  September, 
1941.  In  the  last  12  months,  549  recorded 
story  properties  were  acquired  for  pro- 
duction. 

Two  oi  the  properties  acquired  in  Sep- 
tember oi  this  year  resulted  from  an  ex- 
change deal  between  two  of  the  major 
companies.  Warner  Bros,  acquired  screen 
rights  to  Somerset  Maugham's  "Of  Human 
Bondage"  and  Philip  Barry's  "The  Animal 
Kingdom"  from  RKO  Radio  in  exchange 
for  the  services  of  stars.  Both  stories  were 
filmed  some  years  ago  by  RKO  Radio. 

Other  outstanding  purchases  in  Septem- 
ber were  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's  acquisi- 
tion of  the  stage  musical,  "High  Kickers," 
the  George  Jessel  show  which  had  a  run  of 
171  performances  on  Broadway;  Phil 
Stong's  new  novel  of  a  farm  family,  "One 
Destiny,"  acquired  by  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox,  and  Edward  Small's  purchase  of  the 
screen  rights  to  "A  Time  to  Be  Born,"  by 
Dawn  Powell.  Miss  Powell  also  is  doing 
the  screenplay.  The  picture  will  be  released 
by  United  Artists. 

.An  unusual  acquisition  in  September  was 
'"The  500  Hats  of  Bartholomew  Cubbins," 
by  Dr.  Seuss,  humorous  writer  and  cartoon- 
ist. Screen  rights  to  the  book  were  purchased 
by  George  Pal  for  a  "Puppetoon"  short 
subject  in  color. 

Properties  Purchased 
During  September 

American  Rangers,  original,  purchased  by 
Paramount.  The  story  concerns  Ameri- 
can Commandos  who  invaded  Dieppe. 

Animal  Kingdom,  The,  play  by  Philip 
Barry,  acquired  from  RKO  Radio  by 
Warner  Bros.,  in  exchange  for  the  ser- 
vices of  stars. 

Berlin  Papers  Please  Copy,  Bl-ack  Mask 
magazine  story  by  Peter  Paige,  purchased 
by  Republic. 

Bomber's  Moon,  original  by  Leonard  Lee, 
purchased  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox, 

Captains  Confusion,  original  by  Joseph 
Marshall,  purchased  by  RKO  Radio.  Joan 
Carroll  will  be  featured. 

Career  Girl,  original  by  James  Foster, 
purchased  by  Producers  Releasing  Cor- 
poration. 

Caribbean  Patrol,  original  by  James  Ed- 
ward Grant,  purchased  by  Paramount  for 
production  by  Sol  C.  Siegel.  Brian  Don- 
levy  and  Alan  Ladd  will  co-star. 

Catherine,  original  by  Nicholas  (Miklos) 
Laszlo  as  well  as  adaptations  by  Mary 
McCarthy  and  Leslie  Kardos,  purchased 
by  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

Cyclone,  original  coal  mining  story,  pur- 
chased by  Pine-Thomas  for  Paramount 
release.  The  picture  will  feature  Richard 
Dix. 


STORY  PURCHASES 
OF  YEAR  COMPARED 


Month 

Originals 

Books 

Plays 

Tota 

October,  1941 

20 

15(a) 

4 

39 

November 

20 

16(b) 

3 

39 

December 

16 

10(c) 

26 

January,  1942 

27 

9(d) 

4 

40 

February 

44 

18(e) 

3 

65 

March 

40 

15(f) 

2 

57 

April 

43 

8(g) 

5 

56 

May 

30 

11(h) 

5 

46 

June 

35 

I6(i) 

4 

55 

July 

24 

I2fi] 

4 

40 

August 

35 

I3(k) 

4 

52 

September 

22 

10(1) 

2 

34 

TOTALS  FOR 

12  MONTHS 

356  1 

53(m) 

40 

549 

(a)  Including    4  published  magazine  stories. 

(b)  Including     I  published  magazine  story  and 

I  musical  composition. 

(c)  Including    4  published  magazine  stories. 

(d)  Including     I  film  and 

I  song. 

(e)  Including    3  published  magazine  stories  and 

1  song. 

(f)  Including    4  published  magazine  stories  and 

2  musical  compositions. 

(g)  Including    2  published  magazine  stories  and 

1  newspaper  comic  strip. 

(h)  Including    4  published  magazine  stories  and 

2  radio  scripts, 
(ij       Including     I   magazine  story, 

I  song  and 
I  poem. 
(|)      Including    3  films, 

I  radio  script  and 
I  song. 

(k)      Including    2  magazine  stories, 

I  newspaper  comic  strip  and 

1  radio  serial. 

(I)  Including  4  magazine  stories, 
[m]     Including  29  magazine  stories, 

2  newspaper  comic  strips, 
4  radio  scripts, 

4  films, 

6  musical  compositions, 
I  poem  and 
1  song. 


Elusive  Lady,  original  by  Frank  Fenton 
and  Joseph  Hoffman,  purchased  by  Re- 
public. 

Five  Doors,  original  by  Keith  Winters, 
purchased  by  Warner  Bros,  for  produc- 
tion by  Henry  Blanke. 

500  Hats  of  Bartholomew  Cubbins,  The, 
book  by  Dr.  Seuss,  humorous  writer  and 
cartoonist,  purchased  by  George  Pal  for 
a  "Puppetoon"  in  color. 

Gentlemen  Be  Seated,  novel  by  Dailey 
Paskman  and  Sigmund  Spaeth  purchased 
by  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

High  Kickers,  stage  musical,  purchased  by 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  The  play  had  a 
run  of  171  performances  in  New  York. 

Homecoming,  original  by  George  Oppen- 
heimer,  purchased  by  MGM. 

Intruder,  The,  original  by  George  W. 
Yates,  purchased  by  Republic. 


London  Blackout  Murders,  original  by 
Curt  Siodmak,  purchased  by  Republic. 

Mail  Boat,  original  by  Houston  Branch, 
purchased  by  Republic  for  filming  under 
title  "Back  to  God's  Country."  It  is  a 
story  about  Alaska  in  the  present  war. 

Mistress  Mary,  original  by  Robert  Pirosh 
and  Rene  Clair,  purchased  by  Paramount 
for  direction  by  Mr.  Clair.  Fred  Mac- 
Murray  will  head  the  cast. 

My  Son,  The  Hero,  original  by  Edgar 
Ulmer  and  Doris  Malloy,  purchased  by 
Producers  Releasing  Corporation. 

Of  Human  Bondage,  novel  by  Somerset 
Maugham,  acquired  from  RKO  Radio  by 
Warner  Bros,  in  exchange  for  the  ser- 
vices of  stars. 

One  Destiny,  novel  by  Phil  Stong,  pur- 
chased by  Twentieth  Century-Fox.  The 
story  concerns  the  life  of  a  modern  family 
of  Iowa  farmers. 

Saratoga  Chips,  unpublished  stories,  adap- 
tations and  continuities  by  Everett  Free- 
man, Boris  Ingster  and  Samuel  Ornitz, 
purchased  by  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

Submarine  for  Two,  original  by  Robert 
Williams,  purchased  by  Columbia  for  pro- 
duction by  Irving  Briskin.  The  story 
concerns  Japanese  miniature  undersea 
boats. 

Thanks  Pal,  original  story  by  Jerry  Hor- 
win  and  Seymour  B.  Robinson,  purchased 
by  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 

Three  Strangers,  original  by  John  Huston, 
purchased  by  Warner  Bros.  John  Collier 
will  write  the  screenplay.  Humphrey 
Bogart,  Mary  Astor  and  Sidney  Green- 
street  will  head  the  cast. 

Time  and  Again,  original  script  by  James 
V.  Kern,  purchased  by  Warner  Bros,  for 
production  by  Mark  Hellinger. 

Time  to  Be  Born,  A,  novel  by  Dawn 
Powell,  purchased  by  Edward  Small,  for 
release  by  United  Artists. 

To  Helen,  original  by  Henry  Moritz,  pur- 
chased by  Republic  for  a  picture  to  be 
titled  "Shanty town"  and  to  star  Mary  Lee. 

Torpedo  Squadron  8,  war  report  by  cor- 
respondent Sidney  L.  James  published  in 
Life  Magazine,  purchased  by  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  for  production  by  Walter 
Morosco  in  color. 

To  the  Last  Man,  Adventure  Magazine 
story,  purchased  by  Warner  Bros,  for  pro- 
duction by  Jesse  L.  Lasky.  A.  I.  Bez- 
zerides  is  writing  the  script.  Errol  Flynn 
will  be  starred. 

True  Story  of  Fala.  original  by  Margaret 
Suckley  and  Alice  Dalgliesh,  purchased  by 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

Uninvited,  The,  novel  by  Dorothy  McArdle, 
purchased  by  Paramount. 

\  ou  Are  George,  magazine  story  b}r  Clara 
Belle  Thompson  and  Margaret  Lukes 
Wise,  purchasedby  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . 


Offer  Baer  Column 

Frederick  E.  Goldsmith,  former  judge,  an- 
nounced last  week  that  he  is  acting  in  a  repre- 
sentative capacity  for  Arthur  "Bugs"  Baer. 
humorist,  for  purposes  of  making  a  series  of 
short  subjects  based  on  Mr.  Baer's  column,  a 
feature  of  the  Hearst  newspapers. 


60 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


NLRB  Studying 
Charge  Against 
Disney  Studio 

Following  the  appearance  of  Walt  Disney  in 
defense  of  his  studio's  labor  practices,  the 
charge  that  it  violated  the  Wagner  Labor  Act 
was  under  consideration  this  week  by  the  Los 
Angeles  office  of  the  National  Labor  Relations 
Board.  Chief  complainant  was  Arthur  Babbitt, 
former  chief  animator. 

Mr.  Disney  testified  he  was  forced  to  lay  off 
more  than  100  because  "banks  and  stockholders 
closed  in,"  and  he  added  his  business  was  "built 
for  the  world  market"  and  dropped  greatly 
when  the  European  and  English  markets  van- 
ished in  1941.  He  had  to  reduce  expenses  then, 
and  produce  pictures  with  "almost  the  same 
entertainment  value  as  my  other  pictures,  at  a 
fraction  of  the  cost." 

In  New  York,  hearing  on  Thursday  before 
local  NLRB  officials,  on  representation  in  col- 
lective bargaining  for  the  clerical  workers  of 
the  Twentieth  Century-Fox  exchange,  was  to 
hear  arguments  by  the  Screen  Office  and  Pro- 
fessional Employees  Guild,  which  claims  65 
percent,  and  the  International  Alliance  of  The- 
atrical Stage  Employees. 

Albany  exchange  clerical  workers,  from 
bookers  down,  have  received  a  sliding  scale 
wage  raise  as  a  result  of  unionization  of  all 
excepting  the  Paramount  exhange,  in  the 
IATSE  Local  F-43. 

Meanwhile,  the  War  Labor  Board  is  study- 
ing the  contract  between  the  Screen  Office  Em- 
ployees Guild  and  the  producers,  covering  ex- 
change workers  in  Los  Angeles.  Phases  of  the 
contract  recently  were  disputed,  and  a  strike 
appeared  imminent. 

In  New  York,  John  Rugge  was  reelected 
president  of  the  Motion  Picture  Laboratory 
Technicians  Union,  Local  702,  IATSE.  John 
J.  Francavilla  was  reelected  first  vice-president. 
George  Waugh  was  elected  second  vice-presi- 
dent, Ad'olph  Grude  secretary-treasurer.  Amy 
G.  Noll  recording  secretary,  and  James  Branch 
sergeant-at-arms. 

All  Mutual  Network 
Officers  Reelected 

W.  E.  Macfarlane,  WGN,  president;  Alfred 
J.  McCosker,  WOR,  chairman  of  the  board  of 
the  Mutual  Broadcasting  System,  and  other  of- 
ficers were  reelected  at  a  meeting  of  the  board 
and  of  the  executive  committee  in  New  York 
October  14-16,  it  was  announced  this  week. 

Other  officers  are  Lewis  Allen  Weiss  of  Don 
Lee,  executive  vice-president ;  Theodore  C. 
Streibert,  WOR,  executive  vice-president ;  E. 
M.  Antrim,  WGN,  executive  secretary-treasur- 
er ;  Willet  Brown  of  Don  Lee,  director ;  H.  K. 
Carpenter,  WHK-WCLE,  director,  and  John 
Shepard  III,  Yankee  network,  director. 

Three  additional  board  members  were  named. 
These  are  Hope  H.  Barroll,  Jr.,  executive  vice- 
president  of  WFBR,  Baltimore ;  I.  R.  Louns- 
berry,  executive  vice-president  of  WGR,  Buf- 
falo, and  Leonard  Kapner,  president  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  WCAE,  Pittsburgh.  J.  E. 
Campeau,  general  manager  of  CKLW,  Wind- 
sor-Detroit, was  elected  a  network  vice-presi- 
dent. 


Set  Omaha  Blackout 

A  city-wide  blackout  will  be  held  November 
6th  in  Omaha.  It  will  be  the  first  blackout 
held  in  that  city  and  will  last  "anywhere  from 
two  to  20  minutes,"  civilian  defense  officials 
said. 


Robinson  to  England 

Edward  G.  Robinson  plans  to  leave  for  En- 
gland soon  to  entertain  U.  S.  troops. 


ARMY  NAMES  BEST 
BOX  OFFICE  FILMS 

The  six  outstanding  films  from  a 
box  office  standpoint  at  War  Depart- 
ment theatres  for  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember were,  in  the  order  named: 
"Desperate  Journey,"  Warners; 
"Somewhere  I'll  Find  You,"  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer;  "Eagle  Squadron," 
Universal;  "Across  the  Pacific,"  War- 
ners; "Holiday  Inn,"  Paramount,  and 
"Mrs.  Miniver,"  MSM. 


'  /}Jy  Gal"  Opens 
In  New  York 

The  Broadway  premiere  of  the  week  was 
MGM's  musical,  "For  Me  and  My  Gal,"  star- 
ring Judy  Garland,  which  opened  Tuesday  night 
at  the  Astor  theatre,  New  York.  Proceeds  of 
the  debut  were  donated  to  the  New  York  In- 
firmary for  Women  and  Children.  The  film  was 
produced  by  Arthur  Freed  and  directed  by 
Busby  Berkeley.  Reserved  seats  priced  at 
$1.10,  tax  included,  went  on  sale  prior  to  the 
Wednesday  opening. 

Noel  Coward's  production,  "In  Which  We 
Serve,"  dedicated  to  the  Royal  British  Navy, 
opened  in  London  this  week  with  a  simultan- 
eous premiere  at  the  Gaumont  and  Marble  Arch 
theatres.  United  Artists  will  release  the  film, 
which  will  have  its  American  debut  around 
Christmas.  According  to  the  company,  the  pic- 
ture "is  breaking  every  existing  box  office  rec- 
ord" at  both  London  houses  and  it  "has  hit  a 
new  high  in  critical  acclaim."  Mr.  Coward 
wrote,  directed  and  starred  in  the  film  and  also 
composed  a  special  musical  score  for  it. 

Columbia  held  additional  trade  showings  this 
week  of  "You  Were  Never  Lovelier,"  the  Fred 
Astaire-Rita  Hayworth  musical  as  follows : 
New  Haven,  one  last  Sunday  and  another  on 
Tuesday  ;  Albany,  Pittsburgh  and  Washington, 
D.  C,  on  Monday,  and  Denver  and  San  Fran- 
cisco on  Thursday.  Screening  for  the  film  in 
Dallas  will  be  held  October  27th.  It's  national 
release  date  is  November  19th.  Last  Sunday 
night,  Abe  Montague,  general  sales  manager  of 
the  company,  was  host  at  a  dinner  in  Phila- 
delphia for  exhibitors  and  circuit  executives, 
which  was  followed  by  a  showing  of  the  pic- 
ture at  the  Erlanger  theatre. 

Nat  Levy  Honored 
In  Philadelphia 

Nat  Levy,  recently  appointed  RKO  eastern 
division  sales  manager,  was  guest  of  honor  at 
a  testimonial  dinner  attended  by  more  than  200 
friends  and  associates  and  sponsored  by  the 
Philadelphia  Variety  Club  at  the  Bellevue- 
Stratford  Hotel  there  Monday. 

A  home  office  delegation,  headed  by  Ned  E. 
Depinet,  attended  the  dinner. 


RKO  Managers  at  Pathe  Lunch 

Frederic  Ullman,  jr.,  president  of  Pathe 
News,  Inc.,  and  producer  of  RKO  Radio  Pic- 
tures new  series  of  shorts,  "This  Is  America" 
was  host  Tuesday  at  a  luncheon  given  in  Pathe's 
New  York  projection  room  to  50  RKO  theatre 
managers  of  the  Metropolitan  area.  Following 
the  luncheon,  "Private  Smith  of  the  U.S.A.", 
first  of  the  new  series,  was  screened.  N.  Peter 
Rathvon,  Ned  E.  Depinet,  E.  L.  Alperson,  Rob- 
ert Mochrie,  Harry  Michalson  and  Harry 
Mandel  were  among  those  from  the  RKO  home 
office  who  we^e  in  attendance. 


Dietz  Speaks  on 
British  Program 

Howard  Dietz,  vice-president  in  charge  of 
advertising  and  publicity  of  MGM,  appeared  on 
the  radio  program,  "Answering  You,"  which  is 
arranged  by  the  British  Broadcasting  Corpora- 
tion and  which  was  broadcast  in  New  York 
last  Sunday  over  the  city  station,  WNYC.  Mr. 
Dietz  was  one  of  three  people  who  exchanged 
ideas,  unrehearsed,  with  another  panel  of  three 
in  London. 

During  the  course  of  the  program,  the  MGM 
publicity  head  asked  two  queries :  "What  has 
been  the  British  people's  reaction  to  Wendell 
L.  Willkie's  recent  statements  from  Russia  and 
China?"  and  "Of  course,  the  British  people 
have  always  had  some  idea  of  what  Americans 
are  like,  but  now  that  they  have  seen  thousands 
of  them  from  all  over  the  divers  corners  of  our 
country,  how  do  they  measure  up  to  the  average 
Britisher's  previous  opinion?  For  instance,  the 
British  people  probably  have  gotten  some  idea 
of  Americans  from  the  movies.  Are  the  real 
ones  like  the  shadows  ?" 

The  first  query  was  answered  by  George 
Strauss,  Labor  Member  of  Parliament,  and 
Parliamentary  secretary  to  Sir  Stafford  Cripps, 
who  expressed  the  view  that  the  English  people 
are  getting  on  very  well  with  American  sol- 
diers ;  that  they  like  our  boys  a  great  deal,  but 
that  the  Britishers  are  somewhat  disappointed 
that  not  every  American  soldier  looks  exactly 
like  our  Hollywood  film  stars. 

Mr.  Strauss  replied  to  the  second  question, 
saying  that  he  could  not  speak  for  the  official 
Government's  reaction,  but  that  he  did  know 
Mr.  Willkie's  statements  struck  a  harmonious 
chord  on  the  English  people's  own  views  about 
a  second  front.  He  said  they  were  glad  Mr. 
Willkie  spoke  out ;  that  they  want  a  second 
front  and  "more  action." 

Others  who  appeared  on  the  panel  with  Mr. 
Dietz  were  Madame  Lee  Ya-Ching,  the  first 
woman  to  win  a  pilot's  license  in  China,  and 
Pat  Mulkern,  editor  of  The  Hobo  News.  From 
London,  with  Mr.  Strauss,  Vaughn  Thomas, 
BBC's  "vox  pop"  broadcaster;  George  Orwell, 
author,  and  Commander  Pauline  Gawer,  head 
of  the  women's  section  of  the  Air  Transport 
Auxiliary,  also  participated. 

"Stars"  Committee 
Meets  on  Program 

Abe  Lastfogel,  of  the  William  Morris  Agen- 
cy, and  former  Mayor  James  J.  Walker,  two 
recent  additions  to  the  "Night  of  Stars"  pro- 
ducers' committee,  have  presented  proposals  for 
special  features  to  be  added  to  the  annual  en- 
tertainment for  refugee  relief  to  be  held  at 
Madison  Square  Garden  November  14th. 

These  suggestions  were  discussed  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  committee  held  last  Friday  in  the 
New  York  office  of  Marvin  Schenck,  chairman 
of  the  producers'  committee.  It  was  revealed 
that  between  15  and  20  stars  are  definitely  in 
the  production  so  far. 

Dietz  Joins  Elman 
In  Expansion  Move 

A.  R.  Dietz,  booker  for  Fox  Theatres  in 
Milwaukee,  has  resigned  effective  October  31st 
to  become  a  partner  with  Henri  Elman  of 
Capitol  Film  Exchange  of  Chicago,  it  was  re- 
vealed in  New  York  by  Astor  Pictures,  whose 
films  the  company  handles.  A  branch  sales  of- 
fice will  be  set  up  in  St.  Louis,  and  Mr.  Dietz 
will  handle  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Mil- 
waukee territories,   it  was  said. 


Gifts  for  Men  in  Service 

Christmas  gifts  will  be  sent  every  member  off 
the  Schine  circuit  now  in  service  by  the  Schin-I 
ers  Club,  organization  of  home  office  employees. [ 
The  home  office  is  at  Gloversville,  N.  Y. 


62 

Fox  Loses  Plea 
For  Review  of 
Conviction 

The  U.  S.  supreme  court  in  Washington  on 
Monday  refused  to  review  the  conviction  of 
William  Fox  on  charges  of  conspiracy  to  ob- 
struct justice  and  subsequent  $3,000  fine  and 
a  sentence  of  one  year  and  a  day. 

Mr.  Fox  had  appealed  from  a  decision  of  a 
lower  Federal  court  refusing  to  permit  him 
to  withdraw  his  plea  of  guilty.  Federal  Judge 
J.  Warren  Davis  of  Philadelphia  and  Morgan 
S.  Kaufman,  referee  in  bankruptcy,  named  in 
the  same  indictment  involving  Mr.  Fox's  bank- 
ruptcy proceedings,  denied  the  charges,  and  they 
were  dropped  after  two  juries  disagreed. 

Mr.  Fox  contended  that  the  Attorney  General 
had  agreed  to  the  withdrawal  of  his  plea  fol- 
lowing the  dropping  of  the  charges  against 
Judge  Davis  and  Mr.  Kaufman.  The  indictment 
had  charged  that  Mr.  Fox  had  conspired  with 
the  two  men  to  obstruct  justice  and  defraud 
the  United  States  in  connection  with  the  Fox 
bankruptcy. 

In  a  brief  filed  with  the  supreme  court  the 
Department  of  Justice  said  it  thought  Mr. 
Fox's  motion  should  have  been  granted  by  the 
U.  S.  district  court.  It  added,  however,  that 
"the  courts  have  to  perform  their  duties  inde- 
pendently." 

Camden  Church  Group  Urged 
To  Follow  Legion  Listings 

Members  of  the  Camden,  N.  J.,  Diocesan 
Council  of  the  Parochial  Parent-Teacher  Asso- 
ciations, representing  29  associations  in  the 
Southern  New  Jersey  territory,  were  urged  to 
stay  away  from  motion  pictures  listed  as  "ob- 
jectionable in  part"  by  the  Legion  of  Decency. 
The  plea  was  made  by  Rev.  Joseph  T.  Fallon, 
chairman  of  the  League,  addressing  the  group 
last  week  at  a  meeting  in  Camden  Catholic 
High  School.  Father  Fallon  made  the  request 
after  revealing  the  progress  made  to  date  by 
the  Legion  of  Decency  in  encouraging  better 
motion  pictures. 

Explaining  that  the  list  compiled  of  all  pic- 
tures designated,  condemned  pictures  with  a 
"C"  and  those  objectionable  in  part  with  a  "B," 
he  declared :  "I  would  like  to  see  the  Parent- 
Teacher  Associations  in  back  of  the  movement 
to  stay  away  from  'B'  pictures.  There  were 
50  of  these  last  year,  and  there  will  be  fewer 
next  year  if  we  stay  away  from  that  class." 

National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  10  Pictures 

Of  10  pictures  classified  by  the  National  Le- 
gion of  Decency  in  its  listing  this  week,  six 
were  approved  for  general  patronage  and  four 
were  found  unobjectionable  for  adults. 

Class  A-l,  Unobjectionable  for  General  Pat- 
ronage :  "Boss  of  Big  Town,"  "Cheyenne 
Roundup,"  "Henry  Aldrich,  Editor,"  "The 
Lone  Prairie,"  "The  Man  in  the  Trunk,"  "The 
Old  Chisholm  Trail."  Class  A-2,  Unobjec- 
tionable for  Adults :  "Along  the  Sundown 
Trail,"  "Random  Harvest,"  "Street  of  Chance," 
"Youth  on  Parade." 

Jules  Rubens  Gets  New 
Five-Year  Contract 

A  new  five-year  contract,  effective  January  1, 
1943,  has  been  given  Jules  J.  Rubens,  as  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  Publix- 
Great  States  circuit,  and  Maurice  M.  Rubens, 
as  division  director.  Both  have  been  with  the 
company  since  1925,  when  the  circuit  became 
partners  of  the  Balaban  &  Katz  organization 
in  Chicago. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

FROM  READERS 


DISCUSSES  PROBLEM  OF 
PROPAGANDA  REELS 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

It  was  with  great  interest  that  I  read  your 
editorial  in  the  issue  of  October  17th,  pertain- 
ing to  propaganda  reels,  particularly  the  item 
of  booking. 

The  latter  has  proven  such  a  problem  that  I, 
for  some  time,  have  been  attempting  to  solve 
same  in  Altoona.  It  was  only  last  week  that 
I  was  able  to  get  the  local  operators  together 
and  decide  on  a  method  of  procedure,  which  is 
covered  in  the  attached  copy  of  a  letter  written 
to  all  Pittsburgh  exchange  managers. 

The  situation  was  brought  to  a  head  by  the 
arbitrary  dating  of  "The  Battle  of  Midway" 
with  "Flying  Tigers"  in  one  house  and  "The 
War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley"  in  another. 

It  is  gratifying  to  learn  something  is  being- 
done  about  this  situation  on  a  National  basis. — 
David  Murphy,  State  Theatre,  Altoona,  Pa. 

Mr.  Murphy's  letter  to  the  Pittsburgh 
exchange  managers  follows : 

"While  recognizing  the  fact  it  is  every  thea- 
tre's duty  and  responsibility  to  run  the  reels 
being  made  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  United  States 
Government,  the  arbitrary  dating  of  these  films 
in  the  four  first-run  theatres  in  Altoona  defeat 
the  purpose. 

"Our  public,  the  same  as  the  patrons  of  the 
theatres  in  any  city,  will  only  accept  a  certain 
amount  of  war  or  propaganda  footage  on  any 
one  program.  Very  often  the  dates  selected  by 
the  exchange  for  the  city-wide  showing  casues 
the  short  to  be  played  with  a  feature  picture 
and  other  shorts  having  a  war  theme.  As  a 
film  man,  you  must  recognize  that  this  is  bad 
booking  from  any  angle. 

"In  a  spirit  of  cooperation,  the  theatre  men 
of  the  city,  in  a  recent  conference,  decided  the 
best  way  to  handle  this  situation  was  to  book 
them  simultaneously  in  the  State,  Strand,  Capi- 
tol and  Olympic,  during  a  week  when  they 
would  fit  into  the  programs  being  shown.  In  my 
capacity  as  County  Chairman  of  the  War  Activ- 
ities Committee,  this  job  was  detailed  to  me. 

"Therefore,  will  you  please  furnish  me  with 
a  list  of  the  subjects  now  available  which  have 
not  yet  played  the  first  -runs  ?  Also  let  me  have 
titles  and  information  on  those  to  be  released 
in  the  near  future.  I  will  then  contact  the  other 
theatres  and  submit  dates  accordingly." 

Mr.  Murphy's  approach  has  won  co- 
operative response  from  the  bookers. 

Congregation  Uses  Theatre 
When  Church  Burns 

The  Bradley  theatre,  Columbus,  Ga.,  a  Lucas 
&  Jenkins  house,  was  turned  over  to  the  con- 
gregation of  St.  Luke's  Methodist  Church  for 
the  Sunday  morning  service  during  the  sum- 
mer. The  offer  was  made  after  the  church 
was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  circuit  reported 
that  a  number  of  members  of  the  congregation 
became  regular  film  patrons  as  a  result  of  the 
church  use  of  the  house. 

The  appreciation  of  the  congregation  was 
expressed  in  a  letter  to  Arthur  Lucas  and 
William  K.  Jenkins  from  the  Reverend  Joseph 
Cook,  the  pastor,  and  A.  H.  Chapman,  chair- 
man of  the  church  board  of  stewards. 


Macgowan  Visits  Mexico 

Kenneth  Macgowan,  Twentieth  Century-Fox 
producer  and  head  of  production  for  the  film 
unit  of  the  Coordinator  of  Inter-American  Af- 
fairs, left  New  York  this  week  for  Mexico 
City  and  Hollywood.  Mr.  Macgowan  will  visit 
the  Mexican  capital  for  a  week  on  a  final  as- 
signment for  the  Government.  His  first  pro- 
duction following  his  return  to  the  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox studio  will  be  "Happy  Land,"  from 
a  MacKinlay  Kantor  story  in  the  Saturday 
Evening  Post.  He  will  continue  as  an  adviser 
to  the  Inter-American  films  agency. 


October    24,     I  94  2 

Nets  to  Continue 
Petrillo  Fight 

Broadcasters  will  attempt  to  invalidate  James 
Caesar  Petrollo's  ban  on  recordings  through 
state  courts,  the  National  Association  of  Broad- 
casters announced  last  week,  following  dis- 
missal in  Chicago  Federal  court  of  the  Govern- 
ment's anti-trust  suit  against  Mr.  Petrillo,  the 
American  Federation  of  Musicians,  of  which  he 
is  president,  and  its  officers. 

Meanwhile,  a  nine-page  memorandum  from 
Judge  John  Barnes,  who  dismissed  the  Chicago 
suit,  amplifies  his  decision  that  the  ban  is  a 
"labor  dispute"  and  not  amenable  to  Federal 
prosecution  under  decisions  previously  made  in 
other  cases  by  the  United  States  supreme  court. 
Judge  Barnes  stated:  "The  acts  complained  of 
may  not  be  considered  or  held  to  be  violation 
of  any  laws  of  the  United  States." 

Conceding  the  situation,  the  NAB  asserted 
transcription  companies  are  considering  local 
suits,  and  that  the  NAB  will  cooperate.  It 
added : 

"The  highest  courts  of  a  number  of  states 
have  taken  positions  entirely  different  from  that 
evidenced  in  the  cases  brought  under  Federal 
laws,  and  it  is  believed  that  appropriate  suits 
in  state  courts  have  a  substantial  chance  of 
success." 

From  Philadelphia  on  Monday,  came  notice 
from  Sidney  Kaye,  NAB  counsel,  that  the 
NAB  might  itself  proceed  against  Mr.  Petrollo 
in  the  New  York  courts.  He  said :  "In  New 
York,  state  laws  are  mighty  different  from  the 
Federal  laws,  and  we  might  get  at  least  an 
injunction  against  Petrollo." 

War  News  Commentators 
Appear  on  Roxy  Stage 

The  Roxy  theatre  this  week  inaugurated  a 
new  kind  of  exploitation  and  news  presentation. 
At  the  close  of  the  theatre's  regular  newsreel, 
compiled  by  the  management,  two  prominent 
news  commentators  appear  at  either  end  of  the 
stage,  facing  the  audience.  Johannes  Steel, 
news  analyst  for  WMCA,  and  George  Hamil- 
ton Combs,  Jr.,  of  WHN,  each  selects  five 
topics  of  last-minute  news.  They  appear  three 
times  daily  and  present  different  spot  news  ma- 
terial at  each  show.  A  total  of  five  minutes  is 
devoted  to  this  portion  of  the  Roxy  program. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  last  news  topic,  each 
commentator  plugs  the  20th-Fox  picture, 
"Thunder  Birds,"  which  is  the  next  attraction 
at  the  theatre.  Following  the  analysts,  a  trailer 
on  the  film  is  flashed  on  the  screen,  high-spot- 
ting the  feature. 

It  is  understood  that  the  Roxy  management 
plans  to  use  the  commentators  in  the  future, 
depending  on  whether  the  subject  matter  and 
total  production  of  a  picture  lends  itself  read- 
ily to  this  type  of  exploitation. 

WB  Music  Subsidiary 
Plans  Film  Editions 

Harms  and  Remick,  Warner  Bros.  _  music  • 
subsidiary,  is  planning  new  picture  editions  of 
the  music  for  several  musical  productions  to  be 
released  in  the  next  few  months.  Harms,  Inc., 
is  publishing  the  music  to  "The  Desert  Song" 
and  a  picture  edition  of  a  song  from  "Now, 
Voyager."  Remick  will  publish  a  picture  edition 
of  the  music  to  "Powers  Girl." 


Nathanson  in  Hospital 

N.  L.  Nathanson,  head  of  Odeon  Theatre  in- 
terests in  Canada,  has  entered  a  Toronto  hos- 
pital, where  it  was  said  he  is  under  observation 
for  an  ailment  the  nature  of  which  was  not 
disclosed.  A  defense  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Nathan- 
son is  expected  to  be  filed  shortly  in  the  suit 
against  him  by  Famous  Players  Canadian  Cor-j 
poration  over  possession  of  theatres. 


Orpheum,  Montreal 

wee* 

Loew's  State,  Norfolk 

WEE* 

Loew's  Century,  Baltimore 

WEE* 

Atlanta,  as  picture  moves 
over  from  Loew's  Grand 
to  the  Rhodes! 


EVERY  SCRAP 
MATINEE 
HELPS  WIN 
THE  WAR! 
★ 


<t**H 


GEORGE  SANDERS  *  HERBERT  MARSHALL 


DORIS  DUDLEY  •  ELENA  VERDUGO  -  ALBERT  BASSERMAN  •  ERIC  BLORE 

Adapted  and  directed  by  Albert  Lewia     •  Produced  by  David  L.  Loeu- 

Released  thru  UNITED  ARTISTS 


64 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    2  4,     19  42 


// 


WHAT  THE 

PICTURE  DID  FOR  ME 


\\ 


Columbia 


PENNY  SERENADE:  Irene  Dunne,  Cary  Grant- 
Irene  is  another  box  office  name  here.  Did  good  busi- 
ness, but  it's  a  woman's  picture.  Played  Monday  - 
Wednesday,  August  31,  September  1. — C.  A.  Smith, 
Regent  Theatre,  Chapleau,  Canada.  Railroad  pat- 
ronage. 

WIFE  TAKES  A  FLYER,  THE:  Joan  Bennett, 
Franchot  Tone — Good  picture.  Business  only  fair. 
Played  Sunday,  October  4. — Miss  Cleo  Manry,  Buena 
Vista  Theatre,  Buena  Vista,  Ga.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 


Metro-Gold  wyn-Mayer 

BLOSSOMS  IN  THE  DUST:  Greer  Garson,  Walter 
Pidgeon — This  show  will  please  the  intelligentsia  and 
the  ladies  but  the  average  man  probably  will  walk 
out  on  it.  Several  tear-jerking  scenes  and  heart- 
tugging  suspense  throughout.  I  personally  thought 
Greer  Garson  acted  superbly  and  enjoyed  the  feature 
immensely  but  our  audience  reaction  was  as  noted 
above.  Played  Thursday,  Friday,  September  24,  25. — 
A.  R.  Dakin,  Rice  Lake  Theatre,  Bissett,  Manitoba, 
Canada.     Mining  community  patronage. 

CROSSROADS:  William  Powell,  Hedy  Lamarr— 
This  did  just  fair  at  our  house,  in  the  peak  of  the 
season,  so  it  ought  to  be  listed  as  fair-to-middling. 
The  cast  is  superior  to  the  material,  which  is  very 
wordy,  with  little  action.  Bill  Powell  is  swell  and  ditto 
for  Basil  Rathbone;  Hedy  Lamarr  ought  to  be  seen 
more  and  heard  less.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  Oc- 
tober 4,  5. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo.  New  Paltz  Theatre, 
New  Paltz,  N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

DR.  KILDARE'S  VICTORY:  Lew  Ayres— This  is 
the  first  of  this  series  that  I  have  played.  Opinions 
differ  on  this  one.  Not  a  good  production  for  a  rural 
audience  such  as  mine.  Played  Saturday,  September 
26. — A.  L.  Dove,  Bengough  Theatre.  Bengough,  Sas- 
katchewan, Canada.    Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

FINGERS  AT  THE  WINDOW:  Lew  Ayres,  Lar- 
raine  Day — A  swell  picture  but  business  was  terrible. 
Postponed  playing  this  one  until  I  thought  the  furore 
ever  Ayres  had  died  down  but  evidently  it  hadn't. 
Played  Friday,  October  9. — C.  E.  Beach,  Silvertown 
Theatre,  Thomaston,   Ga.   General  patronage. 

KID  GLOVE  KILLER:  Van  Heflin— Fair.  Played 
Tuesday -Thursday,  September  15-17. — Melville  Dan- 
ner,  Kozy  Theatre,  Granite,  Okla.  Small  town  pat- 
ronage. 

LIFE  BEGINS  FOR  ANDY  HARDY:  Mickey 
Rooney,  Judy  Garland — This  series  is  going  the  way 
of  all  flesh.  People  are  getting  tired  of  the  same 
plot,  same  situations,  same  gags  and  same  old  faces 
every  time  they  see  one  of  this  series.  Several  of 
our  patrons  walked  out  in  the  middle  of  the  show. 
Played  Thursday,  Friday,  October  8,  9.— A.  R.  Dakin, 
Rice  Lake  Theatre,  Bissett,  Manitoba,  Canada.  Min- 
ing community  patronage. 

MAISIE  GETS  HER  MAN:  Ann  Sothern,  Red 
Skelton — This  is  good  program  and  that's  about  all. 
These  pictures  don't  find  a  big  audience  in  our  vicin- 
ity. Red  Skelton  tries  hard  but  his  material  in  this, 
one  is  mighty  poor  stuff.  Played  to  fair  business. 
Plaved  Monday,  Tuesday.  September  28.  29. — Thomas 
di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 
Small  town  patronage. 

NAZI  AGENT:  Conrad  Veidt,  Ann  Ayers— Why  the 
dual  role  for  Conrad  Veidt?  Business  very  bad. 
Played  Tuesday.  September  15— A.  T.  Wohlent,  Main 
Theatre,  Altamont.  111.  Small  town  and  rural  patron- 
age. 

RINGSIDE  MAISIE:  Ann  Sothern— Just  about  the 
poorest  Maisie  picture  we  have  played  and  if  it  had 
not  been  for  Ann  Sothern  this  would  have  been  a  ter- 
rible flop.  Played  Thursday,  Friday.  October  1.  2. — 
A.  R.  Dakin.  Rice  Lake  Theatre.  Bissett.  Manitoba, 
Canada.    Mining  community  patronage. 

SOMEWHERE  I'LL  FIND  YOU:  Clark  Gable, 
Lana  Turner — Started  out  to  break  a  house  record  by 
giving  this  picture  extended  time  and  raising  adult 
admission  from  22  cents  to  27  cents  net.  Set  an  11- 
year  record.  Not  as  good  as  "Boom  Town"  or 
"Honky  Tonk."  but  the  public  ate  it  ur>.  Li=t  20  min- 
utes will  thrill  and  inspire  you.  Incidently.  of  the 
five  bi<?gest  grossing  Dictures  in  11  vear«  of  nnem- 
tion.  Gable  was  in  four:  "Gone  with  the  Wind." 
"Saratoga."  "Honky  Tonk"  and  this  one.  "Tesse 
James"   was  the  other.     We'll   miss   you.   Clark,  in 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitor*'  reports  department,  established  October  14.  1916. 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


more  ways  than  one.  Played  Monday -Thursday,  Oc- 
tober 5-8. — C.  E.  Beach,  Silvertown  Theatre,  Thomas - 
ton,  Ga.     General  patronage. 

TARZAN'S  NEW  YORK  ADVENTURE:  Johnny 
Weissmuller,  Maureen  O'Sullivan — A  natural  for  the 
kiddies.  The  adults  did  not  come.  Could  have  closed 
second  day.  Business  poor.  Played  Sunday,  Mon- 
day, September  27,  28. — A.  T.  Wohlent,  Main  Theatre, 
Altamont,  111.    Small  town  and  rural  patronage. 

TORTILLA  FLAT:  Spencer  Tracy,  Hedy  Lamarr 
— Good  but  not  box  office.  Could  have  done  better 
with  a  Gene  Autry.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  Oc- 
tober 2,  3.— H.  Goldson,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111. 
General  patronage. 

TORTILLA  FLAT:  Spencer  Tracy,  Hedy  Lamarr— 
Some  liked  it,  others  did  not.  Many  said  Spencer 
Tracy  was  miscast.  Hedy  was  good,  so  was  Garfield. 
Played  Saturday-Monday,  September  19-21. — Melville 
Danner,  Kozy  Theatre,  Granite,  Okla.  Small  town 
patronage. 

TORTILLA  FLAT:  Frank  Morgan,  Spencer  Tracy, 
Hedy  Lamarr — The  star  in  this  picture  was  Morgan. 
He  really  stole  the  show.  Audience  reaction  very 
unfavorable.  Business  only  fair.  Played  Wednesday, 
Thursday,  October  7,  8.— Miss  Cleo  Manry,  Buena 
Vista  Theatre,  Buena  Vista,  Ga.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 

YANK  ON  THE  BURMA  ROAD,  A:  Barry  Nel- 
son, Larraine  Day — Good  little  picture  with" average 
business.  Played  Sunday,  September  27. — Miss  Cleo 
Manry,  Buena  Vista  Theatre,  Buena  Vista,  Ga.  Small 
town  patronage. 


Paramount 


GREAT  MAN'S  LADY,  THE:  Barbara  Stanwyck, 
Joel  McCrea — A  good  picture  with  good  acting.  I 
think  I  enjoyed  this  more  than  anyone,  as  attendance 
was  very  poor.  Business  was  not  even  normal. 
Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  September  30,  October 
1. — Miss  Cleo  Manry,  Buena  Vista  Theatre,  Buena 
Vista,  Ga.    Small  town  patronage. 

HOLIDAY  INN:  Bing  Crosby,  Fred  Astaire— A 
sparkling  production  which  went  over  big  here.  Bad 
weather  hurt  our  gross.  We  had  a  torrential  down- 
pour for  six  hours,  which  prevented  us  from  setting 
a  September  record.  It's  a  swell  show  which  old  and 
young  alike  enjoyed.  The  expert  photography,  gor- 
geous sets  and  swell  recording  alone  should  recom- 
mend it.  But  this  one  has  11  Irving  Berlin  songs, 
Bing  Crosby,  Fred  Astaire  plus  a  very  novel  story. 
Few  pictures  this  year  will  top  it  for  sheer  enjoy- 
ment. Played  Saturday,  Sunday,  September  26,  27. — 
Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Bob  Hope,  Madeline 
Carroll — One  of  Bob's  best;  brought  them  in  and 
pleased.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  13,  14. 
— H.  Goldson,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111.  General 
patronage. 

MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Madeline  Carroll,  Bob 
Hope — Good  picture  which  seemed  to  please.  Played 
Saturday -Monday,  September  12-14. — Melville  Danner, 
Kozy  Theatre,  Granite,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

NEW  YORK  TOWN:  Fred  MacMurray,  Mary  Mar- 
tin— Double-billed  with  "Castle  in  the  Desert"  to  fair 
business.  Played  Thursday -Saturday,  September  3-5. 
— C.  A.  Smith,  Regent  Theatre,  Chapleau,  Canada. 
Railroad  patronage. 

NIGHT  IN  NEW  ORLEANS:  Preston  Foster,  Pa- 
tricia Morrison — Played  with  "Flying  with  Music," 
UA.  A  weak  bill  which  showed  at  the  box  office. 
Both  should  have  been  bottom  features.  Plaved 
Thursdav-Saturday.  September  17-19. — C.  A.  Smith, 
Regent  Theatre.  Chapleau,  Canada.  Railroad  patron- 
age. 

SWEATER  GIRL:  Eddie  Bracken.  June  Preisser— 
This  little  picture  was  really  liked  anil  business  fair. 


They  also  liked  the  companion  picture,  "Moon  Ovel 
Her  Shoulder."  Played  Thursday-Saturday,  Septeml| 
ber  24-26.— C.  A.  Smith,  Regent  Theatre,  Chapleai 
Canada.    Railroad  patronage. 

THIS  GUN  FOR  HIRE:  Alan  Ladd,  Veronica  Lai 
— Good  picture  and  it  pleased.  Played  Tuesday -Thur 
day,  September  22-24. — Melville  Danner,  Kozy  The 
tre,  Granite,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 


RKO  Radio 


BALL  OF  FIRE:  Barbara  Stanwyck,  Gary  Coop 
— These  two  stars  are  favorites  here,   so  played 
good    business.      Many     laughs.      Played  Mond 
Wednesday,    September   14-16. — C.   A.    Smith,  Rege, 
Theatre,  Chapleau,  Canada.     Railroad  patronage 


Republic 


is 


ARIZONA  TERROR:  Don  Red  Barry,  Lynn  M 
rick — Just  another  Western  for  the  weekend  tra* 
business  only  fair.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  Octol 
3. — Miss  Cleo  Manry,  Buena  Vista  Theatre,  Bui 
Vista,  Ga.    Small  town  patronage, 

IN    OLD    CALIFORNIA:     John     Wayne,  Bin 
Barnes — Good  picture  of  its  kind.    Business  only  f; 
Played    Monday,    Tuesday,    September    28,    29.— M 
Cleo  Manry,  Buena  Vista  Theatre,  Buena  Vista. 
Small  town  patronage 

REMEMBER  PEARL  HARBOR:   Donald  Barr 
This  title  is  box  office  and  the  picture  is  not  b 
Don    Barry    played   his    part    well.     Played    Fridi  \\\ 
Saturday,   September  25,   26. — Melville   Danner,  K| 
Theatre,   Granite,   Okla.     Small   town  patronage. 

ROMANCE  ON  THE  RANGE:  Roy  Rogers— Bat, 
up  good  show.  Roy's  voice  gets  better  all  the  ti: 
and  with  The  Sons  of  the  Pioneers  in  it,  too, 
music  can't  be  beaten.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  S> 
tember  18,  19. — Melville  Danner,  Kozy  Theatre,  Gr 
ite,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

SIERRA  SUE:  Gene  Autry— The  Gene  Autry  se 
still  stands  them  up  although  this  had  plenty  of  ac 
but  very  little  singing  of  the  popular  cowboy  numl 
which  the  country  folks  love  to  hear.  Played  Sa 
day,  September  19. — A.  L.  Dove,  Bengough  Thea 
Bengough,  Saskatchewan,  Canada.  Rural  and  si 
town  patronage. 


SUNSET  SERENADE:  Roy  Rogers— A  good  li 
Western  picture  which  pleased  on  Friday,  Satun 
Played  October  9,  10. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Param< 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

BLUE,   WHITE   AND    PERFECT:    Lloyd  N. 
Helene    Reynolds — Double-billed    with  "Arizona 
ror."    A  good  action  picture  that  pleased  the  Fr' 
and  Saturday  trade.    Played  October  2,  3. — Miss 
Manry,  Buena  Vista  Theatre,  Buena  Vista,  Ga.  S, 
town  patronage. 

BRIDE  WORE  CRUTCHES,  THE:  Robert  / 
strong,  Lynn  Roberts — A  program  picture  which 
by  on  Family  Night.  Played  Tuesday,  October 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  ( 
Small  town  patronage. 

CHARLEY'S  AUNT:  Jack  Benny,  Kay  Fran 
— What  a  picture!  Gave  our  crowd  the  best  laup; 
years.  Nice  business.  Played  Thursday-Satu' 
September  24-26.— M.  Bailey,  Strand  Theatre,  . 
den,  Ontario,  Can.     Small  town  patronage. 

HOW  GREEN  WAS  MY  VALLEY:  Walter  \ 
geon,  Roddy  McDowall — Played  Labor  Day  andffl 
best  grosser  I've  had  in  1942.  Played  Monday-Wee 

{Continued  on  page  66) 


MAH 


M-G-M  TRADE  SHOWINGS 


DAY,  DATE  AND  HOURS  OF  SCREENING 


CITY 

PLACE 

ADDRESS 

(A)  NORTHWEST  RANGERS 
(B)  JOURNEY  FOR  MARGARET 

(C)  WHISTLING  IN  DIXIE 

LBANY 

2  0th- Fox  Scrsen  Room 

1055  B rondwnv 

TUES. 

10/27 

7? 

A.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

77 

A.M. 

TLANTA 

P  )C  f)  Srrppn  Poom 

r\  r\  v    O  L.  i  CCH    r\ \J\J  1 1 1 

1  91  Wnltnn  9t    N  W 

1  7  1     TT  UIIUII    vl</    I",  ¥Y  . 

TUES. 

10/27 

70:30 

A.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

70:30 

A.M. 

OSTON 

SA  -     -  KA  vrpen  Room 

Ah  fhnrrh 

TUES. 

10/27 

10 

A/so  2:15 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

70:00 
Also  2:15 

A.M. 
P.M. 

UFFALO 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

290  Franklin  St. 

TUES. 

10/27 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7:30 

P.M. 

HARLOTTE 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

308  South  Church  St. 

TUES. 

10/27 

l.otl 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7:30 

P.M. 

HICAGO 

H.  C.  Igel's  Screen  Room 

1301  S.  Wabash  Ave. 

TUES. 

10/27 

J 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

I 

P.M. 

1NCINNATI 

RKO  Screen  Room 

16  East  Sixth  Street 

WED. 

10/28 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7 

P.M. 

iEVELAND 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

2219  Payne  Avenue 

TUES. 

10/27 

J 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

I 

P.M. 

ALLAS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1803  Wood  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

(A) 
(B) 

70.30 
2.30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

70.30 

A.M. 

ENVER 

Paramount  Screen  Room 

2100  Stout  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

7-7  5 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

3 

P.M. 

5S  MOINES 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1300  High  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

J 

P  M 

TUES. 

11/3 

7 

P.M. 

rTROIT 

Max  Blumenthal's  Sc.  Rm. 

2310  Cass  Avenue 

TUES. 

10/27 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7:30 

P.M. 

DIANAPOLIS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

326  No.  Illinois  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

9 

A.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

9 

A.M. 

ANSAS  CITY 

Vogue  Theatre 

3444  Broadway 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7 

P.M. 

iUrn-rox  ocreen  r\oom 

2019  S  Vprmont  Avp 

TUES. 

10/27 

(A) 
(B) 

70:30 
2:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

70:30 

A.M. 

EMPHIS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

151  Vance  Avenue 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

J 

P.M. 

ILWAUKEE 

Ij 

Warner  Screen  Room 

212  W.  Wisconsin  Ave. 

TUES. 

10/27 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7:30 

P.M. 

jNNEAPOLIS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1015  Currie  Avenue 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

I 

P.M. 

-:W  HAVEN 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

40  Whiting  St. 

TUES. 

10/27 

70 

A.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

70 

A.M. 

;  5W  ORLEANS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

200  South  Liberty 

TUES. 

10/27 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11 12 

11/  O 

110 

P  M 

:W  YORK  f 
:W  JERSEY  S 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

630  Ninth  Avenue 

TUES. 

10/27 

A/so 

9:30 
7:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

11/3 

1  I/O 

QIC) 
Also  1:30 

A  AA 

P.M. 

:<LA'MA  CITY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

10  North  Lee  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

70 

A.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

10 

A.M. 

J  AHA 

n: 

20rh-Fox  Screen  Room 

1502  Davenport 

TUES. 

10/27 

7:75 

P.M. 

WED. 

11/4 

1:15 

P.M. 

ji 

ILADELPHIA 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

Izjo  bummer  orreet 

TUES. 

10/27 

(A) 
(B) 

77 
2 

A.M. 
P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

11 

A.M. 

TSBURGH 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

1631  Blvd.  of  Allies 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

I 

P.M. 

JRTLAND 

B.  F.  Shearer  Screen  Rm. 

1947  N.W.  Kearney  St. 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7 

P.M. 

LOUIS 

S'Renco  Screen  Room 

3143  Olive  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7 

P.M. 

LT  LAKE  CITY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

216  East  First  St.,  South 

TUES. 

10/27 

I 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

J 

P.M. 

FRANCISCO 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

245  Hyde  Street 

TUES. 

10/27 

7:30 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

1:30 

P.M. 

ATTLE 

Jewel  Box  Preview  Theatre 

2318  Second  Avenue 

TUES. 

10/27 

7 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

J 

P.M. 

ASHINGTON 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

932  New  Jersey,  N.W. 

TUES. 

10/27 

J 

P.M. 

TUES. 

11/3 

7 

P.M. 

"Whistling  In  Dixie"— Bed Skelton     .     "Northwest  Rangers"  —  James  Craig,  William  Lundigan,  Patricia  Dane,  John  Carradine 

"Journey  For  Margaret"  —  Robert  Young,  Laraine  Day 


66 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


(Continued  from  page  64) 
day,   September  7-9.— C.  A.   Smith,   Regent  Theatre, 
Chapleau,   Canada.     Railroad  patronage. 

JESSE  JAMES  &  RETURN  OF  FRANK  JAMES: 

Tyrone  Power-Henry  Fonda — Don't  pass  up  this 
chance  to  make  yourself  some  money.  Although  I 
only  double  feature  on  Saturdays,  1  tried  this  during 
the  week.  Having  already  run  Jesse  four  times  and 
Frank  twice  I  don't  think  either  would  have  done 
much  alone  as  95  per  cent  of  the  business  was  repeat. 
Did  tremendous  business.  Played  Thursday,  Friday, 
October  1,  2. — C.  E.  Beach,  Silvertown  Theatre, 
Thomaston,  Ga.    General  patronage. 

ORCHESTRA  WIVES:  George  Montgomery,  Ann 
Rutherford — A  swell  picture  but  lacking  star  value. 
Barely  broke  even  because  I  ran  it  three  days.  Would 
have  made  a  few  dollars  in  two  days.  The  young 
folks  go  for  Glenn  Miller  but  so  many  of  them  have 
left  here  there  are  not  enough  left  to  carry  the  load. 
Played  Monday-Wednesday,  September  28-30. — C.  E. 
Beach,  Silvertown  Theatre,  Thomaston,  Ga.  General 
patronage. 

ROXIE  HART:  Ginger  Rogers,  George  Montgom- 
ery— I  enjoyed  this  very  much,  but  seemed  to  be  in 
the  minority.  Just  why  our  patrons  couldn't  find  in- 
terest in  this  offering  is  another  unsolved  mystery. 
Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  13,  14. — H.  Gold- 
son,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111.    General  patronage. 

SON  OF  FURY:  Tyrone  Power,  Gene  Tierney— 
This  picture  pleased  almost  100  per  cent.  Gene  Tier- 
ney and  Tyrone  Power  do  the  job  up  right.  Played 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  September  29,  30. — Melville  Dan- 
ner,  Kozy  Theatre,  Granite,  Okla.  Small  town  pat- 
ronage. 

THIS  ABOVE  ALL:  Tyrone  Power,  Joan  Fontaine 
—Good  picture.  Good  business.  The  picture  has  a 
great  patriotic  appeal;  should  do  business  anywhere. 
Played  Thursday-Saturday,  October  1-3.— M.  Bailey, 
Strand  Theatre,  Dryden,  Ontario,  Can.  Small  town 
patronage. 


United  Artists 

GENTLEMAN  AFTER  DARK:  Preston  Foster, 
Miriam  Hopkins — Double-billed  with  Universal's 
"Tough  as  They  Come,"  which  appealed  only  to  kids, 
but  "Gentleman  After  Dark"  received  many  favorable 
comments.  Played  Thursday -Saturday,  September  10- 
12. — C.  A.  Smtih,  Regent  Theatre,  Chapleau,  Canada. 
Railroad  patronage. 

GOLD  RUSH:  Charlie  Chaplin— Ran  this  with 
"Mystery  of  Marie  Roget"  to  surprisingly  good  busi- 
ness. I  did  not  think  a  picture  as  old  as  this  one 
would  give  such  a  nice  clear-cut  clean  print.  It 
looks  positively  new  so  it  must  have  been  a  well- 
preserved  negative.  The  crowd  laughed  plenty  and  it 
certainly  is  funny.  The  speed  of  projection  does  not 
bother  much  and  the  music  and  commentary  are  very 
good.  If  they  can  do  as  good  a  job  as  this,  I  would 
like  to  see  some  other  old  timers  brought  back  in 
similar  fashion.  How  about  it?  All  in  all,  this  was 
very  successful  here.  Lots  of  old  folks  came  to  bring 
back  memories  and  the  younger  ones  saw  it  for  the 
first  time.  One  patron  said  he  saw  it  in  Norway, 
where  he  was  living  when  it  first  came  out.  Played 
Friday,  Saturday,  October  9,  10. — W.  Varick  Nevins, 
III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  col- 
lege town  patronage. 


Universal 

BROADWAY:  George  Raft,  Pat  O'Brien— Big  ap- 
peal to  the  men.  Played  to  nice  business,  making 
allowances  for  rotten  weather.  Played  Monday - 
Wednesday,  September  21-23. — C.  A.  Smith,  Regent 
Theatre,   Chapleau,  Canada.     Railroad  patronage. 

INVISIBLE  AGENT:  Jon  Hall— Poor  business  on 
this  one,  and  that's  all  it  deserves  in  our  opinion. 
It's  a  disgrace  to  associate  the  name  of  H.  G.  Wells 
with  it,  and  I  wouldn't  recommend  your  using  his 
name  if  your  people  know  anything  about  him.  Anti- 
Nazi  pictures  should  be  restricted  to  something 
worthwhile,  not  to  mention  making  the  principal  char- 
acter invisible.  If  this  was  meant  to  be  hokum,  it 
misses.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  October  2,  3. — 
Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz, 
N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

LADY  IN  A  JAM:  Irene  Dunne,  Patric  Knowles 
—This  is  a  poor  picture  from  every  angle  except  pro- 
duction. To  us  it  looked  like  a  waste  of  money. 
Many  of  our  complaints  came  from  our  steady  cus- 
tomers, so  we  can't  recommend  it.  Irene  Dunne 
ought  to  be  able  to  do  something  better  than  this. 
Too  bad.  Played  Wednesday,  Thursday,  September 
30,  October  1. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Thea- 
tre, New  Paltz,  N.  Y.    Small  town  patronage. 

MYSTERY  OF  MARIE  ROGET:  Patric  Knowles, 
Maria  Montez — This  is  a  well-enacted  mystery  story 
but  do  not  advertise  it  as  a  horror  picture.  It  is 
too  tame  for  that.  In  spite  of  its  short  length,  it 
actually  seems  slow  in  spots.  Put  it  down  as  good 
enough  but  in  the  average  category.  Played  Friday, 
Saturday,  October  9,  10.— W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Al- 
fred Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  college 
town  patronage. 

THIS  WOMAN  IS  MINE:  Franchot  Tone— A  good 
story.  Much  enjoyed  by  all  of  my  patrons.  Plenty  of 
action  and  some  beautiful  scenery.    Played  this  late 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  October  19  tb 


ASTOR 

The  Lost  Film  MGM 

Feature:  For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 

CAPITOL 

Famous  Boners  MGM 

Salvage  RKO  Radio 

Victory  Viftles  MGM 

Feature:  A  Yank  At  Eton  .  MGM 

CRITERION 

Ace  In  the  Hole  Columbia 

Screen  Snapshots  Columbia 

Feature:  The  Glass  Key  Paramount 

RIALTO 

Salvage  RKO  Radio 

Whirlwind  RKO  Radio 

Feature;  Sin  Town  Universal 

RIVOLI 

Mickey's  Birthday  Party  RKO  Radio 

Keeping  in  Shape  Paramount 

Feature:  Wake  Island  Paramount 

ROXY 

Valley  of  Blossoms  20th  Cent.-Fox 

Feature:  Iceland  20th  Cent.-Fox 

STRAND 

Dover  Boys  Vitaphone 

U.S.    Marine    Band  Vitaphone 

Gay  Parisienne  Vitaphone 

Feature:    You   Can't  Escape' 
Forever  Warner  Bros. 


but  can  recommend  it.  Played  Saturday,  October  3.— 
A.  L.  Dove,  Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Saskatche- 
wan,  Canada.     Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

Warner  Bros. 

GAY  SISTERS,  THE:  Barbara  Stanwyck,  George 
Brent— A  good  picture  which  drew  the  women  but  not 
the  men.  Business  was  average.  Played  Wednesday, 
Thursday,  October  7,  8.— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.    Small  town  patronage. 

KINGS  ROW:  Ann  Sheridan,  Robert  Cummings, 
Betty  Field— One  of  the  best  pictures  I  have  played. 
Wish  we  could  have  more  like  it.  Don't  miss  it. 
Business  good.  Played  Monday,  Tuesday,  October  5, 
6. — Miss  Cleo  Manry,  Buena  Vista  Theatre,  Buena 
Vista,  Ga.    Small  town  patronage. 

KINGS  ROW:  Robert  Cummings,  Ann  Sheridan— 
I  would  have  said  that  my  public  was  not  interested 
in  serious  pictures  these  days,  but  they  came  out  for 
this  one  in  good  shape  even  though  I  played  it  some- 
what old.  It  is  certainly  an  excellently  done  picture 
and  one  of  the  best  ones  I  have  played  in  some  time. 
Dandy  work  by  everyone  in  the  cast.  Played  Thurs- 
day, October  8.— W.  Varick  Nevins,  III,  Co-Op  Thea- 
tre, Alfred,  N.  Y.     Small  college  town  patronage. 

LARCENY,  INC.:  Edward  G.  Robinson,  Jane  Wy- 
man — This  was  a  good  picture,  but  just  didn't  click; 
no  business.  Played  Saturday-Monday,  September  26- 
28.— Melville  Danner,  Kozy  Theatre,  Granite,  Okla. 
Small  town  patronage. 

SERGEANT  YORK:  Gary  Cooper,  Joan  Leslie— I 
played  this  back  at  regular  admission  and  did  a  fine 
business  on  it.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  October  4,  5. 
— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 
Small  town  patronage. 

SERGEANT  YORK:  Gary  Cooper,  Joan  Leslie- 
Box  office.  Business  above  par  and  everybody  satis- 
fied. Played  Sunday,  Monday,  September  27,  28.— H. 
Goldson,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111.  General  patron- 
age. 

Short  Features 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

BLITZ  WOLF:  Color  Cartoon— Very  good  color  car- 
toon, with  Hitler  as  the  wolf. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Par- 
amount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

BOWLING    ALLEY   CAT:  Cartoon— Very  clever; 


don't  think  this  can  be  beaten  in  the  cartoon  class.— 
Melville  Danner,  Kozy  Theatre,  Granite,  Okla. 

DOIN'  THEIR  BIT:  Our  Gang  Comedy— This 
proved  entertaining,  enjoyed  by  all. — H.  Goldson, 
Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111. 

HOW  TO  HOLD  YOUR  HUSBAND:  Pete  Smith 
Specialty — Very  good  single  reel  of  this  series. — A.  L. 
Dove,   Bengough  Theatre,   Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada. 

NITE  BEFORE  XMAS:  Color  Cartoon— A  good 
color  cartoon  which  pleased  the  kids. — A.  L.  Dove, 
Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada. 

SELF  DEFENSE:  Pete  Smith  Specialty— Pete 
Smith  does  a  good  job  of  showing  tricky  ways  to 
knock  down  a  large  opponent.  The  only  trouble  is 
the  fact  that  your  foe  may  have  seen  this  same  reel, 
too.— W  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre, 
Alfred,  N.  Y. 


Paramount 

HERO  WORSHIP:  Suitable  to  the  times.  Got  many 
laughs  here  in  railroad  town,  where  an  engineer  is  a 
hero.— C.  A.  Smith,  Regent  Theatre,  Chapleau, 
Canada. 

MANY  TANKS:  Popeye  Cartoon— The  first  Popeye 
to  get  any  house  reaction  in  a  long  time. — C.  A, 
Smith,  Regent  Theatre,  Chapleau,  Canada. 

McFARLAND  TWINS  ORCHESTRA:  Headliner— 
Very  good  musical  short. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Para- 
mount Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

TIMBER  ATHLETES:  Good  sport  reel— E.  M. 
Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


RKO  Radio 

ART  OF  SKIING:  Walt  Disney  Cartoon— Not  up 
to  Disney  standard.  Just  a  cartoon.— H.  Goldson, 
Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111. 

INDIA  AT  WAR:  March  of  Time— A  very  timely 
subject  at  a  time  when  things  are  not  shaping  so  well 
in  the  Indian  crisis. — A.  L.  Dove,  Bengough  Theatre, 
Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada.  ' 

MOLLY  CURES  A  COWBOY:  Good  two-reel  sub- 
ject with  Ray  Whitley  and  his  singing  cowboys. — E. 
M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

SLEEP WAKER,  THE:  Walt  Disney  Cartoon— Here- 
is  Disney  at  his  very  best.  One  of  the  funniest  color 
cartoons  in  quite  sdme  time. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III,1 
Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

ALL  ABOUT  DOGS:  Terry  toon— Just  a  fair  car  J 
toon.  A  repetition  of  gags  that  have  been  hashed  and 
rehashed. — H.  Goldson,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111.  | 

NECK  AND  NECK:  Terrytoon— A  fairly  good  color: 
cartoon — W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatrejj 
Alfred,  N.  Y. 

TRICKY  BUSINESS:  Cartoon— Seemed  to  gef 
laughs,  which,  after  all,  is  the  purpose  of  a  cartoon 
— C.  A.  Smith,  Regent  Theatre,  Chapleau,  Canada. 


U.S.  Navy 

ON  FAR  EASTERN  STATIONS:  Good  free  reeH 
E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Oklaj 

WITH  THE  ASIATIC  FLEET:  Entertaining  fre< 
reel — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey 
Okla. 

U.  S.  Victory  Film 

YOUR  AIR  RAID  WARDEN:  Everyone  in  civilia 
defense  should  see  this.  It  shows  the  complete  work 
ings  of  the  affair  in  which  each  one  plays  a  smai 
part.  Practically  everyone  in  this  town  is  in  Civilia 
Defense,  so  they  got  a  lot  out  of  it  and  enjoyed  it.-1 
W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred 
N.  Y.  'I 


Warner  Bros. 

DRAFT  HORSE,  THE:  Merrie  Melody  Cartoon 
Very  funny.  A  bit  different. — H.  Goldson,  Plaza  Th( 
atre,  Chicago,  111. 


Guild  Joins  Warners 

Leo  Guild,  who  has  had  his  own  publici 
office  in  New  York  for  the  past  several  year 
has  left  for  the  coast  to  do  expolitation  woi 
for  Warner  Bros. 


WARNER  BROS. 


HAVE  BEEN  HONORED 


A  few  months  aa0 ,  na  tl 

'ng  **»  ^  indeed  t0  1 
Amenca  'n  a  radio  address  by 
President  Roosevelt.  He  was 
cited,  decorated  and  promoted 
for  doing  his  job  in  the 
American  way.  The  American 
job  you  can  do  is  to  see  that 
hiS  story  inspires  as  many 

\  tf$ap\^anHU 


TO  TELL  IN  FILM  THE  STORY 

OF 

MAJOR  HEWITT  T.  WHELESS 
AND  HIS  HEROISM  UNDER  FIRE 


Produced  with  War  Department  Cooperation,  wit] 

MAJOR  HEWITT  T.  WHELESS 


as  hi 

NARRATION  BY  RONALD  REAGAN 

Directed  by  Lewis  Setter 


WHAT  ARE|YOU)dOING  ABOUT  SCRAP  MONTH? 


October    24,  1942 

May  Robson,  78, 
Was  58  Years 


68 

Jay  Allen  Dies; 
Long  Active 
In  Canada 

Jay  J.  Allen,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  film 
industry  in  Canada  and  widely  known  philan- 
thropist, died  in  Toronto  Western  Hospital, 
October  17th  at  the  age  of  53. 

He  started  his  theatrical  career  in  1906  and 
developed  one  of  the  largest  circuits  in  the 
Dominion,  later  extending  his  holdings  to  Eng- 
land, Russia  and  the  United  States.  He  became 
prominent  as  a  film  distributor,  having  the  Para- 
mount franchise  for  Canada  and  organizing 
Select  Pictures,  Ltd.,  in  addition  to  companies 
handling  early  British  features. 

Mr.  Allen  was  a  director  of  Columbia  Pic- 
tures of  Canada  and  of  Premier  Operating  Com- 
pany, operating  38  theatres  in  Ontario  and 
Quebec  in  partnership  with  Famous  Players. 

He  was  founder  of  the  Federation  of  Jewish 
Philanthropies  and  of  the  United  Jewish  Welfare 
Fund  and  served  as  governor  of  Mount  Sinai 
Hospital.  He  also  was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  Holy  Blossom  Temple. 

Mr.  Allen  was  a  native  of  Bradford,  Pa.,  and 
moved  to  Brantford,  Ont.,  in  1906.  As  a  prin- 
cipal of  the  Allen  Theatres,  Ltd.,  he  built 
theatres  in  Calgary,  Regina,  Moose  Jaw  and 
Toronto. 

Survivors  are  his  wife,  two  sons,  Raymond 
and  Larry,  the  latter  now  serving  with  Royal 
Canadian  Air  Force,  and  three  brothers,  Jules, 
Herbert  and  Sol,  all  of  whom  are  identified 
with  the  Allen  Theatre  and  distributing  enter- 
prises. 


Thomas  Haydock  Milligan 

Thomas  Haydock  Milligan,  76,  whose  magic 
lantern  slide  processes  were  the  forerunner  of 
the  motion  picture  and  made  him  famous  in  the 
entertainment  field  in  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury, died  October  13th,  at  his  home  in  Phila- 
delphia after  a  three-year  illness.  He  was  the 
last  of  a  famous  Philadelphia  triumvirate,  who 
pioneered  in  the  art  of  throwing  pictures  upon 
a  screen — Casper  W.  Briggs  and  Frederick  D. 
Langenheim. 

Mr.  Milligan  was  the  originator  of  the  wet 
process  slide_,  and  it  was  a  process  he  kept  secret. 
The  process  produced  colors  which  could  not 
be  produced  by  the  dry  tint  process.  His  wife, 
Mary,  and  three  daughters  survive. 


Isaac  Marcus 

Isaac  Marcus,  72,  an  early  exhibitor  in  Har- 
risburg,  Pa.,  died  October  14th  of  a  heart  ail- 
ment at  the  Harrisburg  Hospital.  Mr.  Marcus 
started  in  the  business  in  1909  shortly  after 
moving  to  Harrisburg  from  Philadelphia.  Mr. 
Marcus  later  established  what  is  now  the  Star 
theatre  and  in  1913  built  the  National  theatre. 
He  acquired  the  Rialto  theatre  in  1922. 


Marie  Tempest 

Dame  Marie  Tempest,  78,  stage  star  for  more 
than  55  years,  died  October  15th  in  her  London, 
England,  home  after  a  brief  illness.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  present  war  she  advocated 
keeping  open  theatres  and  last  year,  56  years 
after  her  first  appearance,  toured  Britain  in 
"The  First  Mistress  Fraser."  The  bare  outline 
of  her  stage  career  fills  five  columns  of  "Who's 
Who  in  the  Theatre." 


George  Shuler 

George  K.  Shuler,  57,  treasurer  of  New  York 
State  in  1922-23  and  a  retired  major  in  the 
U.  S.  Marines,  died  October  16th  at  Veterans' 
Hospital,  Bronx,  N.  Y.  Following  his  retire- 
ment as  State  Treasurer,  Mr.  Shuler  for  several 
years  was  owner  and  publisher  of  Motion  Pic- 
ture Magazine  and  Motion  Picture  Classic. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


JAY  J.  ALLEN 

Simon  Ehrlich, 
Showman 

Simon  Ehrlich,  64,  for  more  than  40  years  an 
outstanding  figure  in  the  theatre  field  of  the 
south  and  general  manager  of  the  Saenger- 
Ehrlich  Theatres,  Shreveport,  La.,  died  at  a 
Shreveport  hospital  on  October  10th  after  an 
illness  of  four  days.  The  company  which  he 
managed  operates  practically  every  house  in 
Shreveport,  including  two  large  downtown 
theatres,  the  Strand  and  Majestic. 

A  native  of  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Ehrlich  spent  his 
early  days  there  and  in  Little  Rock.  He  spent 
a  few  years  with  railroads  in  the  southwest  and 
after  taking  part  in  amateur  theatricals,  became 
assistant  manager  of  the  Opera  House  at  Tyler, 
Tex.,  before  the  turn  of  the  centurv.  In  1900, 
he  was  induced  by  his  brothers,  Toseph  and 
Harry  to  move  to  Shreveport  and  j.qin  them  in 
operation  of  the  Grand  Opera  House,  a  legiti- 
mate theatre  on  Texas  street. 

Mr.  Ehrlich  had  been  a  member  of  the  Show- 
man's League  of  America  since  his  first  atten- 
tion was  given  shows  in  Tyler.  Surviving  only 
is  a  cousin,  Mrs.  Lawrence  F.  Kern  of  Shreve- 
port.   He  was  never  married. 


Maurice  Campbell 

Major  Maurice  Campbell,  74,  former  theatri- 
cal press  agent,  theatre  and  picture  producer  and 
film  director  for  Famous  Players,  died  in  New 
York  October  16th.  He  was  prohibition  ad- 
ministrator for  eastern  New  York  from  1927 
to  1930.  He  was  married  to  Henrietta  Cross- 
man,  who  starred  in  "Miss  Nell,"  one  of  his 
productions. 


Nathan  Abrams 

Nathan  Abrams,  77,  father  of  Leo  Abrams, 
New  York  branch  manager  for  National  Screen 
Service,  died  in  New  York  October  18th.  Other 
survivors  are  a  son,  Sol  Abrams  of  the  Roose- 
velt theatre,  Nassau,  L.  I.,  and  a  daughter  Mrs. 
Rose  Hode,  wide  of  Hal  Hode  of  Columbia. 


Art  Bishell 

Art  Bishell,  long  a  film  salesman,  who  two 
weeks  ago  was  named  ad  sales  manager  for  the 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  exchange  in  Seattle, 
died  at  his  home  in  Seattle  October  15th  follow- 
ing a  heart  attack. 


An  Actress 

May  Robson,  Australian-born  stage  and  screen 
actress,  died  in  her  sleep  October  20th,  at  her 
home  in  Beverly  Hills,  Cal.  She  was  78  years 
old.  In  spite  of  failing  health,  Miss  Robson 
appeared  in  motion  pictures  until  less  than  a 
year  ago.  Her  last  role  was  in  "Joan  of  Paris," 
released  this  year  by  RKO.  She  went  before 
the  cameras  for  the  last  time  this  winter  when 
she  made  a  community  chest  short  subject  with 
Lionel  Barrymore  and  Lew  Ayres. 

For  58  years,  Miss  Robson  was  famous  in 
England  and  America  for  her  stage  and  screen 
characterizations.  In  1934,  she  celebrated  her 
50th  anniversary  as  an  actress.  She  proclaimed 
that  she  was  the  only  great-grandmother  in 
the  movies,  following  the  birth  of  a  daughter  to 
her  grandson  in  1934.  Frequently,  she  expressed 
her  desire  to  "keep  working  right  up  to  the  final 
curtain,"  and  also  advocated  that  a  person  is 
as  young  as  he  feels,  saying  that  she  "always 
felt  young."  She  was  known  in  Hollywood 
and  in  the  theatre  as  an  "indefatigable  trouper." 

Miss  Robson  was  born  in  Melbourne,  Austra- 
lia, April  19th,  1865,  the  daughter  of  Capt. 
Henry  Robison  of  the  British  Navy  and  Julia 
Robison.  She  was  educated  in  Brussels,  Paris 
and  London.  Shortly  after  her  early  marriage, 
at  the  age  of  16,  to  E.  H.  Gore,  British  inventor, 
Miss  Robson  came  to  New  York.  Her  first 
successful  starring  role  on  Broadway  was  in 
"The  Rejuvenation  of  Aunt  Mary,"  in  1907. 

Since  1924,  Miss  Robson  appeared  in  scores 
of  films,  and  is  remembered  particularly  by 
screen  audiences  for  her  roles  in  "If  I  Had  a 
Million,"  "Reunion  in  Vienna,"  "Dinner  at 
Eight,"  "Lady  for  a  Day,"  "Grand  Old  Girl," 
"Anna  Karenina,"  "A  Star  is  Born"  and  "Four 
Daughters."  Her  more  recent  pictures  included : 
"Playmates,"  "Million  Dollar  Baby,"  "Four 
Mothers,"  "Irene,"  "That's  Right,  You're 
Wrong,"  and  "Nurse  Edith  Cavell." 

Surviving  are  her  son  and  daughter-in-law, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Gore ;  her  secretary- 
companion,  Lillian  Harmer,  who  had  been  with 
the  actress  constantly  since  1910;  a  grandson, 
Robson  Gore  of  New  York,  and  .two  great- 
grandchildren, Virginia  May  Robson  Gore  and 
Robson  Gore,  Jr. 


William  R.  Bowen 

William  R.  Bowen,  employed  by  the  Warner 
Theatre  circuit  in  Philadelphia  for  many  years 
as  a  motion  picture  projector  operator,  died 
October  12th  at  his  home  in  Pennsauken,  N.  J., 
of  a  heart  ailment.  He  was  a  trustee  of  Local 
418,  Motion  Picture  Operators  Union  of  Ameri- 
ca, and  employed  at  Harners'  Princess  theatre, 
Camden,  N.  J.,  at  the  time  of  his  death. 


Cosmo  Hamilton 

Cosmo  Hamilton,  70,  novelist  and  playwright, 
died  at  the  home  of  his  brother,  Sir  Philip  • 
Gibbs,  at  Shanley  Green  in  Surrey,  England, 
October  14th.  He  legally  took  the  name  of  his 
mother,  Mrs.  Helen  Hamilton  Gibbs,  when  he 
began  his  writing  career.  He  was  the  author 
of  more  than  50  novels  and  35  plays,  many  pro- 
duced on  Broadway  and  in  films. 


C.  E.  Anderson 

C.  E.  Anderson,  western  manager  for  National 
Carbon  Company,  died  from  a  heart  attack  at 
his  home  in  Evanston,  111.,  October  16th. 


Willard  Hart 

Willard  Hart,  owner  of  the  Norka  and  Rialto 
theatres,  Akron,  Ohio,  died  October  18th  at 
Saranac  Lake.  N.  Y.,  after  a  long  illness. 


U/e  hem  twVai&wi 

/i£m  to  equa£  it  " 

U  )  f       N. Y.TIM  ES 


SJ«f*Ti0NAc 


1 "f ATM 


_  ^  a  s  E 


&ACft 


PR°oucr/ON 


EDWARD  G.  ROBINSON 

(NARRATOR) 

English  Commentary  by..  ALBERT  MALTZ  Editing  and  Montage  by 
SLAVKO  VORKAPICH  •  Musical  Score  Arranged  by  .  .  DIMITRI 
TIOMKIN   •   In  Charge  of  Production  .  .  NICHOLAS  NAPOLI 


BUY 


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U 


III    R  R 


s  n  u  i  n  g  5 


Bono 


70 

Wanger  Heads 
Academy  Again 

Walter  Wanger  was  elected  president  of  the 
Academy  of  Motion  Picture  Arts  and  Sciences 
last  week  at  a  board  of  governors  meeting  in 
Hollywood.  The  board  also  reelected  James 
Hilton,  Rosalind  Russell  and  George  Stevens, 
vice-presidents. 

The  new  board,  holding  an  initial  meeting, 
also  reappointed  Colonel  Darryl  F.  Zanuck 
chairman  of  the  Academy's  Research  Council. 
Colonel  Nathan  Levinson,  who  has  been 
Academy  treasurer  for  some  time,  was  named 
to  a  vice-presidency. 

Other  officers  chosen  were:  Pete  Smith,  sec- 
retary ;  John  Leroy  Johnston,  assistant  secre- 
tary ;  Donald  Crisp,  treasurer,  and  Nat  Finston, 
assistant  treasurer. 

Mr.  Johnston's  election  marks  the  first  time 
a  publicity  man  has  been  named  to  an  execu- 
tive position  in  the  Academy. 

New  Pittsburgh  Booking 
Group  Has  I  I  Houses 

The  recently  organized  cooperative  booking 
arrangement  of  the  Shapero-Fineman-Mervis  in- 
terests, one  of  the  few  pooling  combines  in 
western  Pennsylvania,  includes  11  houses  in 
Pittsburgh  and  suburbs. 


Gets  Exploitation  Post 

Samuel  Seigel,  formerly  handling  exploita- 
tion in  the  Pacific  northwest  for  United  Art- 
ists, has  joined  Vic  Gauntlett's  exploitation 
department  of  Hamrick-Evergreen  Theatres  in 
Seattle. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 

Paramount  Lidice  Short 
Heard  on  WNEW 

The  story  of  the  Nazi  massacre  at  Lidice, 
Czechoslovakia,  as  pictured  by  Paramount  in 
the  Victory  Short,  "We  Refuse  to  Die,"  will  be 
broadcast  over  Station  WNEW,  New  York, 
and  will  be  picked  up  by  nine  stations  along  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  on  Sunday  night,  from  7 :30 
to  8  P.  M.  It  will  also  be  short-waved  to  the 
people  of  the  Axis  nations  and  in  the  occupied 
countries  as  well  as  to  allies  of  the  United 
Nations. 

In  addition  to  a  dramatization  of  the  story, 
in  which  the  principal  roles  will  be  played  by 
Madeleine  Carroll,  Joseph  Schildkraut  and  Eric 
Von  Stroheim,  with  Clifton  Fadiman,  executive 
chairman  of  the  Lidice  Lives  Committee,  as 
narrator,  the  broadcast  will  feature  Dr.  Eduard 
Benes,  President  of  the  Czechoslovakian  Re- 
public, in  an  address  from  London.  Phil  Cohen 
will  produce  the  program. 


Council  Reviews  18 

The  Better  Films  Council  of  Chicago  reports 
that  from  September  5th  to  October  5th  they 
reviewed  18  pictures,  classifying  four  as  "fam- 
ily" and  14  as  "mature."  In  the  family  group 
are  "Across  the  Pacific,"  "Between  Us  Girls," 
"I  Married  an  Angel"  and  "Orchestra  Wives." 
Classified  as  mature  are  "Destination  Un- 
known," "Escape  from  Crime,"  "Footlight 
Serenade,"  "The  Gay  Sisters,"  "Highways  by 
Night,"  "Jackass  Mail,"  "I  Live  on  Danger," 
"Isle  of  Missing  Men,"  "A  Man's  World," 
"One  Thrilling  Night,"  "Phantom  Killer,"  "To- 
morrow We  Live,"  "Through  Different  Eyes," 
and  "Wake  Island." 


Fire  Destroys  Theatre 

The  Sparks  theatre  at  Sparks,  Nev.,  was 
destroyed  in  a  fire  recently  with  a  loss  of 
$75,000. 


October    24,  1942 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  12,  Vol.  25.— President 
talks  to  nation  about  war  manpower.  .  .  .  Willkie 
home  from  tour  of  war  fronts.  .  .  .  General  Stilwell 
in  India.  .  .  .  'Chutes  for  Australia.  .  .  .  Mass 
enlistment  in  U.  S.  Navy.  .  .  .  Lew  Lehr.  .  .  . 
Physical  fitness  watchword  of  growing  U.  S.  Army. 

MOVIETONE  NEWS— No.  13,  Vol.  25.— Willkie  re- 
ports after  return  from  China.  .  .  .  Biggest  Allied 
convoy  fights  way  to  Russia.  .  .  .  Navy  heroes 
honored.  .  .  .  Awards  for  Army  men.  .  .  .  British 
woman  general  sees  WAACS  parade.  .  .  .  Notre 
Dame  defeats  Iowa  Pre- Flight. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  210,  Vol.  14.— Roosevelt 
message  pledges  avenging  of  Nazi  crimes.  .  .  . 
Willkie  home  after  record  tour  of  war  fronts.  .  .  . 
China  builds  victory  army  with  aid  of  American 
arms.  .  .  .  Italian  aliens  freed  from  stigma  of  the 
term  "enemy."  .  .  .  Scrap  drive.  .  .  .  Babies  first 
in  air  raid. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  211,  Vol.  14.— Willkie 
reports  to  the  nation  on  the  war  fronts.  .  .  .  Convoy 
fights  way  through  to  Russia.  .  .  .  Record  flood  hits 
nation's  capital.  .  .  .  Deckhouse  crashes  at  Kaiser's 
Portland  shipyard. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  15.— Navy  trains  Negro 
volunteers.  .  .  .  Prepare  sardines  for  Army.  .  .  . 
Statue  commemorates  Lidice.  .  .  .  Girl  mechanics. 
.  .  .  Willkie  back  for  world  report.  .  .  .  U.  S.  trains 
new  Chinese  field  army.  .  .  .  Congress  acts  on 
18-19  draft.  .  .  .  Cornell's  commando  training. 

PARAMOUNT  NEWS— No.  16.— Floods  down  in  capi- 
tal. .  .  .  Induct  sled  dogs.  .  .  .  Scrap  drive  begins 
to  show  results.  .  .  .  Willkie  shown  in  China.  .  .  . 
Back  home  Willkie  gives  report.  .  .  .  Allied  convoy 
gets  through  to  Russia.  .  .  .  Rescued  sea  heroes. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  15,  Vol.  14.— General  Stil- 
well trains  Chinese.  .  .  .  FDR  asks  for  draft  of 
youth.  .  .  .  Willkie  ends  tour  at  capital.  .  .  .  Italians 
off  enemy  alien  list.  .  .  .  Disney's  insignias  in  de- 
mand by  armed  forces.  .  .  .  Statue  commemorates 
Lidice.  .  .  .  New  Aussie  song. 

RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  16,  Vol.  14.— Willkie  shown 
in  China.  .  .  .  Record  flood  hits  Washington.  .  .  . 
18-19  youths  rush  into  Army.  .  .  .  Football. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  128,  Vol.  15.— FDR 

says  18-19  youths  needed  in  armed  forces.  .  .  . 
Stilwell  trains  Chinese  troops.  .  .  .  Women  taught 
blind  flying.  .  .  .  Welcome  soldier  brother.  .  .  . 
Aircraft  war  council  meets.  .  .  .  Navy  gives  old 
Oregon  scrap.  .  .  .  New  tank  rough  on  saboteurs. 
.  .  .  Town  closes  to  pick  cotton. 

UNIVERSAL  NEWSREEL— No.  129,  Vol.  15.— Con- 
voy to  Russia  gets  through.  .  .  .  Deckhouse  crashes 
on  ship.  .  .  .  Greatest  tax  bill  in  history.  .  .  .  Dog 
joins  Army.  .  .  .  Irish  upset  Iowa  Pre-Flight.  .  .  . 
Teen-age  boys  rush  to  colors.  .  .  .  Flood  water 
menaces  capital. 

Expand  20th-Fox 
Radio  Exploitation 

In  an  expansion  of  the  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox  radio  department,  Hal  Home,  advertising 
and  publicity  director,  has  divided  the  duties  of 
the  department  between  Robert  Montgomery 
and  Ted  Lloyd,  who  are  charged  with  expand- 
ing the  radio  division  on  a  scale  equal  in  im- 
portance with  the  newspaper  publicity  and  fan 
magazine  departments. 

Mr.  Lloyd  will  concentrate  on  national  radio 
programs  and  handle  commercial  tieups  in  the 
east  and  also  personal  appearances  of  Twenti- 
eth Century-Fox  stars  who  comes  East  to  aid 
in  patriotic  drives  or  for  premieres  of  future 
pictures.  Mr.  Montgomery  will  have  charge  of 
all  radio  activity  designed  for  exhibitor  service 
and  especially  keyed  to  first  run  engagements  in 
the  assist-caimpaign  first  run  houses  and  also 
will  have  charge  of  music  exploitation  including 
records  and  sheet  music,  name  band  plugs  for 
individual  songs  and  record  tieups 

Psychology  Aids  Theatre 
Display,  Students  Told 

Good  theatre  display  requires  applied  psy- 
chology of  the  best  sort,  students  in  New  York 
University  motion  picture  courses  were  told 
Thursday  in  a  lecture  by  George  Hoffman, 
director  of  publicity  at  the  New  York  Rialto 
theatre.  Most  good  theatre  managers  under- 
stand and  use  mass  psychology  as  well  as  any 
university  professor,  although  they  omit  the 
scientific  terminology  in  applying  it  to  theatre 
display  and  advertising,  he  said. 


ACTION 

He  is  Ready! 


When  your  projection  room 
machinery  doesn't  move,  your 
theatre's  job  in  the  win-the-war 
effort  is  in  danger.  Protect  the 
equipment  in  your  projection 
room  against  the  needless 
waste  that  stops  the  wheels: 
take  advantage  of  what  Altec 
Service  knows  about  conser- 
vation. Save  vital  materials 
for  the  war  effort,  protect  your 
theatre:  call  in  the  Altec  Serv- 
ice man  — he  is  ready  for  action 


now 


.ALTEC 


SERVICE  CORPORATION 


250  West  57th  Street 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

OUR  KNOW-HOW  •  •  OUR  KNOW-WHY  •  •  ARE  YOUR  FAITHFUL  ALLY 


October    24,  1942- 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


71 


MANAGERS* 

ROUND  TABLE 


uin  international  association  of  shopmen  meeting  zveek/y 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 


OP 


Some  Find  It  Tough 


the  newspapers 
newspaper  just  won 'I 


ire  ~e  c-  -cse  c"~~."es  sre  sc  z  z 
j  can't  give  him  any  break;  the  man  whose 

i  cooperate  because  ift  jjust  doesn't  nan  publicity;  the  second  or 
-nird  best  ineatre  in  a  town  where  the  biggest  and  best  houses 
get  all  tne  creaks"  ~re  tow-  so  sma  I  +"5t  there  is  nobody  on 
-he  street  to  see  a  window  display;  those  are  the  stepchildren 
of  the  industry.  Burt  those  are  the  boys  who  win  Ouigley 
|  Awards.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  and  a  never-ending  source  of 

satisracticr  ~c  ,cur  ez~~z — ha  "s  :ordi_"o-  e>~'-s+s. 

(  On  the  other  hand,,  the  first  run  .manager  in  the  big  city, 
■  while  he  has  the  opportunity  and  facilities  for  exploitation, 
j  may  not  Indulge  in  it  because  he  is  wfihourt  competition.  The 
|io*r»y  manager  for  the  large  circuit  often  finds  himself  in  this 
I  position.  The  small  town  manager  can  find  many  alibis  for  sit- 
..  ring  back  and  letting  each  show  take  care  of  itself.  After  all. 
If  his  longest  run  is  three  days. 

Let  us,  therefore,  examine  the  Third  Quarter  Ouigley  Award 
!|  winners  from  the  point  of  view  of  location.  Some  of  you 
j  Round  Tablers  who  may  thinik  that  you  haven  't  a  chance  may 

•  frad  a  situation  analogous  to  your  own. 

I  Clayton  Cornell,  winner  of  =   Plaque  tor  a  second  time, 

[  manages  the  Pontiac  theatre,,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y.  It's  the  only 
" ea— e     "«r  a-o  xhe-e  "s  no  competition  to  speak  ot  nearby. 

n,  There  is  no  daily  paper;  no  big  stores  have  windows  avail 
- ;  crowds  gather  anywhere  for  distribution  of  heralds. 
Cayt  wen  a  Flao.e  tor  a  secc-o  time. 
Next  comes  Bill  Oder  of  Loew's  theatre,  Indianapolis.  Bill 

iVruns  a  first  run  theatre.  Of  course,  he  has  the  best  product. 

I I  Burt  Bill  has  a  daily  tieup  with  one  newspaper  which  gives  him 
I  t-ee  space  In  exchange  for  a  classified  ad  tieup.  He  sees  all 
jiltnie  columnists  on  the  papers.  He  is  friendly  with  the  motion 
I picture  editors  of  the  newspapers.  He  gets  window  displays  in 
J  tie  downtown  stores.  But  he  has  tough  competition.  He  has 
I!  to  get  up  early  to  beat  it. 

The  other  Plaque  winner  this  Quarter  was  Ed  Ffepawiclc  of 
t~e  Poli  -reaf-e  in  A'aterourv   Conn.   Waterour,  is  a  smaller 
jlcariy  than  Indianapolis  but  the  competition  Is  even  tougher. 
~e"e  a*e  ~-z  -ewsoace~  "ere  and  they're  not  too  generous 

•  Ed's  campaigns  only  through  its  absence.  Burt  Ed  is  enterpris- 
I  img  enough  to  go  far  afield  to  surrounding  towns  to  draw 


UT 


~  rr  z  ~  z  —  e 


eoaii  wiinners, 


s.  in? 


same  siTuaxion 


-c;o 


s  ~".e' 


Louis  Charninsky  of  the  Capitol,  Dallas,  has  never  played  the 
best  product.  Marlowe  Conner's  Capitol  in  Madison,  Wis., 
is  up  against  the  tough  competition  of  the  Fox  Wisconsin  Cir- 
cuit, whose  managers  are  all  showmen.  If  Marlowe's  picture 
isn't  one  that  appeals  to  the  college  students  [and  their  num- 
ber steadily  shrinks),  he  must  resort  to  heavy  exploitation — 
anc  he  does.  Dick  Feldman  at  the  Paramount  in  Syracuse 
doesn't  have  the  ace  house  or  the  top  product.  There  are 
several  theatres  of  more  importance  there.  Art  Krolick  at  the 
Century  in  Rochester  has  a  first  run  theatre  but  the  keenest 
of  competitive  situations  and  Art  doesn't  always  get  top 
product.  Many  of  his  pictures  are  problem  children.  Bill  Mor- 
ton at  the  Albee  in  Providence  has  an  uncooperative  news- 
paper. Providence  is  not  the  most  prosperous  of  cities  even 
in  war  time  but  Bill  uses  all  the  means  at  his  disposal. 

All  this  is  by  way  of  encouragement  to  those  who  are  sit- 
ting on  the  sidelines  and  not  entering  the  Ouigley  Awards 
competition.  I  here  are  no  qualifications  for  an  entry  for  an 
Award  other  than  that  it  be  exploitation  and  clearly  and 
lucidly  explained. 

_     _  _ 

Continuous  Performance 

Although  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  month  Is  now  a  matter 
ct  history,  the  drive  to  sell  War  Bonds  and  Stamps  continues. 

was  just  an  added  spurt  for  one  month  to  give  an  extra 
added  push  to  the  campaign.  Every  theatre  which  has  been 
selling  War  Bonds  and  Stamps  will  continue  to  do  so  for  the 
duration.  I  hat  was  made  quite  clear  by  the  War  Activities 
Committee  last  May  when  the  campaign  opened  in  theatres. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  showmen  will  be  as  successful  in 
obtaining  cooperation  during  the  balance  of  the  campaign  as 
they  were  during  September. 

Cooperation  has  been  the  keynote  of  these  campaigns.  For 
example,  as  reported  in  last  week's  Issue,  Joe  Lee,  publicity 
director  for  the  Fox,  Brooklyn,  bought  space  to  advertise  a 
War  Bond  show  In  the  opposition  Loew's  Metropolitan.  Re- 
cently come  to  our  attention  is  evidence  of  Ingenuity  plus  co- 
operation from  White  Plains,  N.  Y.  The  five  theatre  managers 
in  this  city,  Including  one  from  the  distaff  side,  have  erected 
an  Army-Navy  baseball  board.  The  baseball  game  is  won  by 
whichever  side  has  the  greatest  number  of  25  cent  War  StamDS 
ht  for  Its  team. 

—BOB  WILE 


72 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

[The  material  below  reflects  press  books  now  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
view  of  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  selling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.] 

THE  MAJOR  AND  THE  MINOR  (Paramount):  The  provocative  catchline:  "Is  she  a 
kid  or  is  she  kidding?",  can  be  used  in  the  lobby  and  on  the  front  to  good  advantage. 
There  are  several  suggestions  in  the  press  book  as  to  how  this  may  best  be  done. 
Those  who  have  time  and  material  with  which  to  build  lobby  displays  might  study  this 
section  with  profit.  There  is  art  available  for  a  post  card  message  which  would  put 
the  picture  over  to  a  mailing  list.  The  dialogue  from  one  of  the  most  amusing  scenes 
in  the  picture  can  be  reproduced  in  a  herald  with  a  teaser  cover  reading:  "What 
every  young  girl  should  know".  There  is  a  sequence  reprinted  in  the  press  book  for 
this  purpose.  Since  the  picture  shows  Singer  Rogers  made  up  as  a  young  girl,  it 
would  tie  in  with  the  film  itself  to  offer  half  price  admissions  to  women  who  come 
to  the  opening  garbed  as  minors.  Bring  those  who  come  onto  the  stage  for  a  judging 
of  the  best  "major-minor"  in  town.  The  fact  that  Singer  Rogers'  mother  has  a  role 
in  the  picture  can  be  used  to  play  up  a  mother-daughter  contest.  The  quest  can  be 
for  the  most  beautiful  mother  and  daughter  or  for  the  mother  and  daughter  who  look 
most  alike.  This  sort  of  contest  can  be  run  through  the  newspapers  or  in  the  lobby 
and  on  the  stage  with  the  aid  of  a  tieup  with  a  local  photographer.  A  number  of  con- 
tests are  suggested  in  the  press  book,  some  of  them  one  day  affairs  and  others  to  be 
spread  over  longer  periods.  The  one  day  affairs  are  good  for  those  who  use  them  in 
programs.  There's  a  hit  tune  with  the  same  title  as  the  picture  but  it  doesn't  figure  in 
the  film  itself,  so  too  extensive  selling  along  this  line  is  not  advised.  Clothing  store 
tieups  can  be  arranged,  using  the  title  as  a  catchline — military  uniforms  as  well  as 
little  girls'  clothes  could  be  sold  in  this  manner. 

SPRINGTIME  IN  THE  ROCKIES  (Twentieth  Century-Fox):  Here's  a  musical;  so,  of 
course,  the  obvious  selling  slant  is  the  music.  This  should  be  sold  through  music  stores 
with  window  and  counter  displays  of  the  sheet  music  as  well  as  the  recordings  of  the 
songs  from  the  picture.  Among  the  songs  is  one  called  "I  Had  the  Craziest  Dream". 
A  contest  in  which  newspaper  readers  or  patrons  receiving  a  program  recount  their 
craziest  dreams  would  tie  in  perfectly  with  this  song  title.  Another  song  title  is  "A 
Poem  Set  to  Music"  which  suggests  that  local  bards  attempt  to  set  their  own  work 
to  music.  This  would  make  an  interesting  contest.  Carmen  Miranda  is  the  epitome 
of  the  exotic  to  a  lot  of  people,  so  exploitation  centering  around  her  headdresses 
would  attract  attention.  This  could  be  arranged  by  a  tieup  with  a  hat  shop.  Another 
musical  angle  is  that  in  the  picture  Carmen  Miranda  sings  "Chattanooga  Choo-Choo", 
last  year's  hit,  in  Portuguese.  There  is  a  tieup  with  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  which 
can  be  used;  the  railroad  runs  to  the  Chateau  Lake  Louise  in  the  Rockies,  which  is  the 
locale  of  the  picture.  Colored  enlargements  of  this  scenery  would  tie  up  the  locale 
as  well  as  the  technicolor.  A  coloring  contest  would  also  emphasize  the  latter  point. 
There  are  special  stills  in  color  for  lobby  display  purposes.  This  picture  is  a  good  one 
to  sell  over  the  radio,  particularly  on  account  of  the  music.  Radio  stations  can  be 
asked  to  play  the  music  with  announcements  about  the  film. 


Red  Cross  Benefit  Held 
For  "Wake  Island" 

Jerry  Zigmond,  manager,  and  Katherine 
Ryan,  publicity  director,  for  the  Newman, 
in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  received  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  American  Red  Cross  and  the 
American  Legion  in  connection  with  a  spe- 
cial showing  of  "Wake  Island"  prior  to  the 
regular  opening  of  the  picture.  Held  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Red  Cross,  the  entire  pro- 
ceeds for  the  show  were  turned  over  to  that 
organization. 

The  ceremonies  on  the  stage  included  the 
presentation  of  a  bronze  plaque  to  the  local 
Marine  Corps  League,  recruiting  done  from 
the  stage,  numerous  broadcasts  were  held 
and  some  of  the  leading  merchants  cooper- 
ated by  featuring  window  displays  which 
were  tied  directly  to  the  picture. 


Radio  Program  Promoted 
By  Cornell  for  Theatre 

Clayton  S.  Cornell  at  the  Pontiac,  in 
Saranac,  N.  Y.,  has  completed  a  promo- 
tion with  the  local  radio  station  whereby 
the  theatre  is  to  receive  gratis  two  one- 
quarter  hour  programs  weekly,  plugging  the 
current  and  forthcoming  attractions.  In  re- 
turn, the  theatre  contributes  a  few  passes 
for  contest  prizes,  and  a  one  frame  trailer 
advertising  the  program  and  listing  the  sta- 
tion call  letters  and  dial  number. 

The  program  continuity  will  consist  of 
press  book  material,  star  biography,  record- 
ed tunes  from  musical  pictures,  transcrip- 
tions from  certain  pictures,  etc.  The  time 
has  been  arranged  with  an  eye  to  the  great- 
est possible  listening  audience  and  follow 
a  news  program  from  Washington. 


Service  Sweethearts  Sought 
For  "Seven  Sweethearts" 

A  city-wide  quest  for  Cleveland's  Seven 
Service  Sweethearts  was  instituted  by  Ed 
J.  Fisher  ahead  of  "Seven  Sweethearts"  at 
Loew's  State  theatre.  Young  girls  who  are 
doing  their  part  to  promote  the  war  effort 
on  the  home  front  were  invited  through  one 
of  the  cooperating  newspapers  to  describe 
their  activities  in  a  letter  of  100  words  or 
less  and  send  it  to  the  Movie  Contest  Editor. 

The  winners  were  rewarded  with  a  full 
night  of  entertainment,  which  included  a 
dinner  at  the  Cleveland  Hotel,  being  a  guest 
of  the  theatre  to  see  the  picture  and  then  a 
gala  climax  of  dining  and  dancing  at  one  of 
the  leading  night  clubs.  Not  to  be  over- 
looked was  the  fact  that  Fisher  also  supplied 
escorts  for  the  girls  in  the  persons  of  seven 
blue  jackets  selected  by  Lt.  Ralph  H.  Dom- 
bey,  district  Navy  recruiting  officer.  To 
the  25  runners-up  in  the  contest,  guest  tickets 
to  the  show  were  awarded. 

The  paper  came  through  with  stories  and 
art  work  right  up  to  the  big  night,  which 
included  photos  of  the  seven  winners  to- 
gether with  their  escorts. 

Callow  Ties  "Sister  Eileen" 
To  Stage  Door  Canteen 

Everett  Callow,  publicity  director  for  the 
Warner  theatres  in  Philadelphia,  arranged 
for  a  service  man  to  accompany  Janet  Blair 
to  the  local  premiere  of  "My  Sister  Eileen" 
at  the  Fox  Theatre.  The  service  man  was 
selected  by  means  of  a  letter  contest  con- 
ducted through  arrangements  with  the  Phila- 
delphia Stage  Door  Canteen.  For  a  week  in 
advance  of  the  opening,  announcements  of  the 
"big  date"  were  made  every  evening  at  the 
Canteen.  The  service  man  giving  the  four  best 
reasons  why  he  would  like  to  take  out  the 
film  star  was  the  winning  warrior.  Hostesses 
at  the  Canteen  assisted  the  service  men  in 
writing  the  letters  and  the  committee  heads 
at  the  Canteen  served  as  letter  judges.  The 
winner  not  only  escorted  Miss  Blair  to  the 
picture  opening,  but  also  took  her  to  dinner 
and  was  feted  by  the  actress  in  a  special 
party  held  at  the  Canteen  afterward. 


RKO  Issues  Brochure 
On  Mailing  Lists 

Recently  distributed  by  Harry  Mandel, 
director  of  publicity  and  advertising  for 
the  RKO  Theatres,  was  a  mimeographed 
brochure  for  the  circuit's  managers  contain- 
ing suggestions  for  building  up  a  mailing 
list. 

Suggested  is  that  a  girl  be  seated  in  the 
lobby  at  a  desk  containing  a  large  book  in 
which  she  enters  the  names  and  addresses  of 
patrons  wishing  to  receive  "novelties,  sur- 
prises and  something  unusual."  In  addition,' 
cards  are  to  be  made  out  and  dropped  into 
a  ballot  box  supplied  for  the  purpose.  A 
special  trailer  has  also  been  prepared. 


Student  Body  Sees  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

So  impressed  was  the  priest  of  the  Sacredu 
Heart  College  with  Sid  Scott's  showing  of  (J 
"Mrs.  Miniver"  at  the  Capitol  theatre,  in 
Sudbury,  Ontario,  that  he  gave  the  college  a 
half  holiday,  providing  they  all  went  with), 
the  Brothers  to  see  the  picture.    Scott  saysf' 
he  had  every  one  from  the  school  attending 
the  show. 


Production  Center 

of  Hollywood's 
Most  Distinguished  Producers  ... 


STUDIOS 


(A    DIVISION    OF    GENERAL     SERVICE  CORPORATION) 

STROM  BERG  *  Alexander  KORDA  *  ,4rrf  PRESSBU  RGER 
'harks K.  ROGERS  *  £rima/  SMALL  *  Benedicts.  BOGEAUS 

.  .  .  Released  thru  United  Artiste .  .  . 


74 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    24,    19  4  2 


Three-City  Bond  Campaign 
Arranged  by  Theimer 

Lawrence  Theimer,  district  manager  for 
the  Charlotte,  Greensboro  and  Durham 
Drive-In  Theatres  reports  they  started  their 
Bond  and  Stamp  Drives  with  special  late 
show  premieres  on  September  6th,  the  night 
before  Labor  Day.  Admission  to  the  pre- 
mieres was  the  purchase  of  five  dollars  in 
War  Stamps  or  a  Bond;  no  other  ticket 
was  sold.  Tickets  were  printed  and  dis- 
tributed to  the  merchants,  banks,  stamp 
booths  throughout  the  cities  and  postoffices 
in  each  town.  All  these  outlets  displayed 
window  cards  on  the  premiere  nights  also. 
The  radio  stations  and  newspapers  were 
very  generous  with  gratis  spots,  ads  and 
stories. 

Permission  was  obtained  from  the  Char- 
lotte chief  of  police  to  placard  all  the  lamp 
posts  on  both  of  the  main  streets ;  200  window 
cards  were  distributed  thus.  Some  fifty 
merchants,  four  banks,  and  five  booths  oper- 
ated by  the  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars  dis- 
tributed the  tickets,  also  the  post  office. 
The  three  radio  stations  WSOC,  WAYS  and 
WBT  furnished  gratis  spot  announcements 
for  one  week  prior  to  the  show.  Both  the 
Charlotte  News  and  Observer  ran  gratis 
ads  and  stories  beginning  10  days  in  ad- 
vance. 

The  campaigns  in  Greensboro  and  Durham 
followed  the  same  pattern.  The  result  was 
the  sale  of  over  $45,000  worth  of  War 
Stamps  in  the  three  towns,  since  3,000  tick- 
ets were  distributed  in  each  town,  which 
could  only  be  obtained  through  the  purchase 
of  five  dollars  in  Stamps  or  a  Bond. 


Prytz  Gets  $8,000  in  War  Bonds 
At  Special  Show  in  Duluth 

Obtaining  the  services  of  a  Marine  Ser- 
geant, an  Army  Sergeant,  a  Chief  Petty 
Officer  of  the  Navy  and  a  Coast  Guardsman 
carrying  flags  and  two  more  Coast  Guards- 
men with  rifles  to  act  as  color  guards,  Roy 
Prytz  started  his  show  at  the  Granada,  Du- 
luth, with  "God  Bless  America"  followed 
by  the  National  Anthem.  While  the  songs 
were  being  rendered,  the  color  guards 
marched  down  the  aisle  and  on  to  the  stage 
amid  the  applause  of  the  audience  with  the 
flags  spotted  to  best  advantage. 

Don  McCall,  ace  announcer  from  the  lo- 
cal radio  station,  took  over  as  master  of 
ceremonies.  He  gave  a  pep  talk,  led  com- 
munity singing  and  called  for  three  cheers 
for  the  nation's  fighting  men. 

District  Judge  Kenny  gave  a  short,  in- 
spiring talk  followed  by  more  community 


WHY  YOU  SHOULD 
fJVVfST  YOUR  MMEY 

WAR 


This  lobby  display  was  used  by  Gerard  A. 
Savoie,  manager  of  the  Colonial,  Pittsfield. 
It  was  painted  o~n  a  large  mirror.  The 
background  was  white  with  red  and  blue 
letters.    It  attracted  a   lot  of  comment. 


singing  led  by  the  master  of  ceremonies.  At 
this  point  the  audience  was  requested  to 
pledge  for  Bonds.  Roy  had  a  dozen  people 
spotted  in  the  audience  who  led  off  and  took 
over  every  time  things  slowed  up.  All  told, 
pledges  amounted  to  more  than  $8,000. 


Graefe  Honors  War  Mothers 
With  Flowers,  Special  Program 

A  special  letter  was  sent  by  Herbert 
Graefe,  manager  of  the  Wisconsin  Rapids 
(Wis.)  Theatres  to  all  the  mothers  of  ser- 
vice men  in  his  town.  It  invited  them  to  a 
series  of  War  Mothers  Nights  held  at  the 
theatres.  There  was  a  special  program  each 
week.  Flowers  were  given  the  first  week  to 
the  mother  with  the  most  boys  in  service ; 
the  second  week  to  the  mother  whose  son 
has  been  in  the  armed  forces  the  longest; 
the  third  to  the  one  who  was  furthest  from 
home  and  the  fourth  to  all  of  them. 


Matlack  Underlines  Ads  for  Bonds 

Taking  advantage  of  the  theme  of  "Ku- 
kan,  the  Battle  Cry  of  China,"  Jack  Matlack 
of  the  Hunt  theatres,  Medford,  Ore.,  insert- 
ed a  line  underneath  his  ad,  which  illustrated 
a  bombed  Chinese  city,  plugging  the  thea- 
tre's sale  of  War  Bonds.  "This  could  hap- 
pen here,"  read  Jack's  copy,  "buy  War 
Bonds  and  it  won't." 


B 


U  Y    WAR  BONDS 


Grott  Ties  Programs 
To  Bond  Sales  Drive 

Ingeniously  using  his  picture  titles  to  tie 
in  with  his  Bond  Sales  Drive  at  the  Met 
theatre,  in  Baltimore,  Harold  Grott  turned 
the  front  page  of  his  house  programs  over 
to  the  effort. 

For  example,  one  program  carried  a 
large  cut  of  a  calendar  with  copy  in 
handwriting  reading: 

"I've  got  a  Big  Date  with  'My 
Favorite  Blonde'  to  buy  War  Savings 
Bonds  and  Stamps  in  the  Lobby." 

Ray  Milland  and  Paulette  Goddard 
with  a  balloon  from  Milland's  mouth 
carrying  copy:  "Looks  Like  'The  Lady 
Has  Plans'  to  Buy  War  Savings  Bonds 
and  Stamps". 

Rosalind  Russell  and  Fred  MacMur- 
ray  laps,  the  tatter  with  a   pad  and 
pencil  in  hand;  here  the  copy  coming 
from  Roz  said:  "  'Take  a  Letter  Darling.' 
Buy  War  Savings  Bonds  and  Stamps." 
Still  other  programs,  not  necessarily  de- 
voted to  picture  titles,  included  cut  of  Uncle 
Sam  with  copy:  "O.K.  Movie  Goers.  The 
Treasury  Department  has  named  the  entire 
motion  picture  industry  as  the  spearhead  for 
its  September  offensive"  etc.    Still  another 
featured  the  face  of  a  smiling  soldier  with 
the  words :  "Thanks  for  buying  that  Bond." 
Some  of  the  programs  are  printed  in  black 
and  white,  while  others  are  tinted  for  added 
attraction. 


Balducci  in  New  Position 
Speaks  to  Factory  Workers 

Arriving  in  his  new  location  at  the  Nor- 
bury  theatre,  in  Ellenville,  N.  Y.,  a  week 
before  the  Drive  opened,  Antonio  C.  Bal- 
ducci started  his  campaign  by  lining  up 
all  the  women's  organizations,  merchants, 
businessmen  and  lecturing  to  factory  groups 
on  Bonds  and  also  taking  the  opportunity  of 
introducing  himself.  Tony  also  reports  that 
the  establishment  of  a  Victory  Bond  Booth 
went  a  long  way  toward  boosting  the  sales, 
since  the  town  had  not  previously  had  one. 
In  addition,  the  theatreman  also  promoted  a 
cooperative  page  of  ads  from  his  local  mer- 
chants with  streamer  across  top  reading : 
"The  War  Can  Be  Won  Here" ;  this  was 
followed  by  industry  institutional  selling. 


This  lobby  display  in  the  Martin  theatre,  Andalusia,  Ala.,  was  designed  and  painted 
by  Roy  Gamel,  manager  for  "Salute  to    Our  Heroes"  Month. 


Hamilton  Opens  Closed  House 
To  Handle  Bond  Premiere 

Norwalk,  Conn.,  with  a  population  of  42,- 
000,  sold  during  the  month  of  September 
$716,000  worth  of  bonds  and  Al  Hamilton,  I 
manager  of  the  Empress  theatre  in  South 
Norwalk,  says  he  thinks  the  city  Can  well 
be  proud  of  this  record. 

Most  successful  part  of  Al's  campaign  was 
the  staging  of  the  War  Bond  premiere  of 
"Wake  Island."  In  addition  to  the  picture, 
Lily  Pons,  Andre  Kostelanetz,  Lawrence 
Tibbett  and  Horace  MacMahon  appeared  on 
the  program.  The  sale  of  Bonds  was  so  great 
that  Al  had  to  open  the  closed  Norwalk  the- 
atre to  handle  the  crowds.  The  total  "take" 
for  the  Government  on  the  premiere  was 
$150,000. 

The  climax  of  the  September  campaign 
was  a  rally  at  a  local  park  attended  by  Gov- 
ernor Hurley,  Congressman  Downs  and 
other  Government  and  Treasury  officials. 


October  24 


I  942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


75 


SPECIAL  RECOGNITION 
for  SCRAP  DRIVES 

fl  The  Round  Table  is  pleased  to  be  the  medium  through  which  the 
ten  best  exploitation  campaigns  in  connection  with  the  scrap  drive  will 
be  honored.  The  five  best  campaigns  to  be  received  during  each  of 
the  next  two  months  will  win  for  their  authors  a  special  Citation  from 
Donald  Nelson,  head  of  the  War  Production  Board. 

*I  Judges  for  this  contest  will  be  from  the  regular  panel  of  the  Quigley 
Awards  Committee. 

Those  showmen  who  have  already  sent  in  scrap  campaigns  for  con- 
sideration for  the  Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award  will  have  their 
entries  considered  for  these  special  Citations. 

^  I  he  icez  5  Citations  in  nc  .'/ay  cc'-'c        ~-e  yj'c  e,  /v  ~r  S-.c 
manship  Award. 

*I  Any  showman  is  eligible.  No  fancy  books  need  be  submitted.  A 
plain  statement  of  what  has  been  done  together  with  photographic 
evidence,  clippings  and  any  other  pertinent  data  will  aid  the  Judges 
in  arriving  at  a  decision. 

*J  There  are  no  other  rules. 


Radio  Contest  Launched 
For  "Panama  Hattie" 

Wide  radio  coverage  was  promoted  by 
!  Ed  Fitzpatrick  at  Loew's  Poli,  in  Water- 
bury,  to  usher  in  his  date  on  "Panama  Hat- 
:  rie."  On  Station  WBRY,  Fitz  promoted  an 
interesting  15-minute  contest  program  called 
"Down  Melody  Lane  with  Ann  Sothern." 
Listeners  were  asked  to  name  song  hits  from 
former  Sothern  hit  such  as  "Lady  Be 
Good/'  etc.  The  studio  pianist  played  a 
few  bars  of  music  from  each  song,  enabling 
listeners  to  remember  them.  The  first  1 — 
persons  calling  into  the  studio  with  a  cor- 
rect list  of  song  hits  and  picture  titles  re- 
ceived a  guest  ticket  to  the  picture. 

One  of  the  announcers  on  WATR's  morn- 
ing shopping  spot,  plugged  the  nautical 
fashions  worn  by  Ann  Sothern  and  Virginia 
O'Brien  in  the  picture.  Through  a  tieup 
with  one  of  the  local  music  stores,  the  pic- 
ture received  splendid  announcements  on 
their  radio  program,  plugging  their  sale  of 
the  picture's  recordings  and  theatre  play- 
cates. 


Marquee  Teaser  Cards 
Employed  for  "Miniver" 

Starting  two  weeks  in  advance  of  "Mrs. 
Miniver"  at  the  Cameo,  in  Rochester,  Joe 
Goldstein  used  a  series  of  ads  under  his 
marquee  with  copy  changed  periodically. 
Such  copy  as  "She's  Coming.  The  Woman 
en  everybody's  lips.  M.  M.  says  Buy  Bonds 
and  Stamps  Now.  Watch  for  Her."  or  "M. 
3M.  will  be  starting  here  Sunday,"  etc.  Ad- 
vance stories  and  art  were  landed  in  the 
papers,  window  streamers  placed  about  town 
and  a  special  false  front  constructed  for  the 
run. 

I  An  effective  window  display  was  pro- 
moted by  Toe  featuring  a  blowup  of  a  scene 
from  the  picture  en  the  Minivers  in  an  air- 
raid shelter  and  tied  directly  to  first  aid 
supplies  recommended  by  the  local  OCD. 
The  window  received  plenty  of  attention, 
especially  since  it  was  located  at  a  strategic 
bus  stop. 


Juke  Box  Machines  Tied 
To  "Orchestra  Wives" 

j  Elmer  Pickard,  manager  of  Warners'"  Fox 
{theatre,  Philadelphia,  tied  in  with  the  juke 
box  operators  for  "Orchestra  Wives."  On- 
frrators  of  automatic  phonographs  placed  11 
•x  14  cards  on  10,000  juke  boxes  in  the  city 
jto  celebrate  the  selection  of  "Kalamazoo" 
from  the  screen  score  as  a  hit  parade  leader, 
dn  addition,  10,000  copies  of  "His  Master's 
\  oice,"  fan  magazine  published  by  the  Vic- 
tor record  company,  were  distributed  on 
bpening  day.  The  issue  was  entirely  devoted 
jto  Glenn  Miller's  orchestra  and  its  appear- 
knee  in  the  picture,  and  the  back  page  car- 
ried a  plug  for  the  picture's  showing  at  the 
Fox  theatre  along  with  an  announcement 
pf  coming  attractions. 


Newsboys  Hosted 

In  celebration  of  National  Newspaper 
Boys"  Week.  80  carrier  salesmen  of  the 
ScrantOn  Tribune,  who  sold  the  largest 
(number  of  War  Savings  Stamps,  were 
guests  ot  the  Capitol  theatre  management, 
i  'It  is  reported  that  more  than  11.000  stamps 
were  sold. 


"Football  Thrills"  Tied 
To  Sinkwich,  Local  Boy 

In  conjunction  with  Pete  Smith's  '"Foot- 
ball Thrills  of  1941,"  Frank  Bickerstaff  at 
the  L.  &  J.  Palace,  in  Athens,  Ga.,  was  able 
to  get  quite  a  bit  of  publicity  on  the  short, 
since  it  featured  Frankie  Sinkwich,  All 
American,  at  the  University  of  Georgia. 

"Bick"  landed  a  couple  of  stories  in  the 
paper  on  the  sports  page  calling  attention 
to  the  short  and  also  plugs  on  the  radio 
three  days  in  advance  of  the  opening  and  all 
during  its  run.  The  short  was  also  plugged 
at  the  University's  Frida}'  night  radio  pro- 
gram and  announced  at  a  huge  pep  meeting 
which  the  students  had  before  the  team  left 
to  play  Mississippi. 

Bridal  Party  Street  Ballyhoo 
Aids  "They  All  Kissed  the  Bride" 

A  bridal  party  in  an  old-fashioned  carry- 
all paraded  through  the  streets  of  Fall 
River,  Mass.,  as  part  of  Fred  Weldon's  ad- 
vance on  "They  All  Kissed  the  Bride"  at 
the  Empire  theatre.  The  four  young  people 
in  the  party  were  correctly  dressed,  even  to 
flowers.  Old  Dobbin  made  a  big  hit  and 
the  publicity  program  also  included  spot- 
ting of  readers  on  all  radio  programs  fol- 
lowing broadcasts  of  news.  Extensive  news- 
paper advertising  in  both  local  and  subur- 
ban papers  was  used,  and  a  guessing  con- 
test offered  tickets  to  those  correctly  guess- 
ing the  number  of  kernels  of  rice  in  a  bowl 
in  a  downtown  grocery  store  window. 


"Divide  and  Conquer"  Booklets 
Distributed  by  Cornell 

For  his  date  on  "Divide  and  Conquer"  at 
the  Pontiac  theatre,  in  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y., 
Clayton  Cornell  imprinted  the  backs  of  400 
copies  of  the  booklets  with  title,  theatre  sig 
and  dates,  and  distributed  these  to  select 
homes  in  town  where  they  would  be  most 
useful.  A  one-sheet  in  lobby  frame  was 
used  a  week  in  advance,  sniped  with  plug 
on  regular  prices  and  dates.  Art  was  carried 
in  the  press  with  special  attention  to  the 
subject  in  ads  and  radio  spot  announcements 
also  carried  a  strong  plug  for  the  picture. 

Andrews  Sisters  Autograph 
Records  for  Emley  in  Stores 

While  substituting  for  the  manager  of  the 
Strand  theatre,  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  Deane  H. 
Emley  to  put  over  the  personal  appearance  of 
the  Andrews  Sisters,  arranged  for  the  girls 
to  autograph  any  of  their  records  purchased 
at  three  different  stores.  The  cooperating 
merchants  ran  ads  to  this  effect  together  with 
the  hours  the  girls  would  be  at  each  store :  a 
plug  for  the  show  at  the  Keeney  was  also 
included. 


Insignia  Booklets  Distributed 

During  the  showing  of  "Wings  of  the 
Eagle"  at  the  Palace  theatre,  in  McAdoo, 
Pa.,  Pete  Sidari  and  William  Elliott  dis- 
tributed free  booklets  on  "How  to  Tell  the 
Rank  of  Any  Member  of  Our  Armed 
Forces." 


76 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


WAR  SHOWMANSHIP 

Still  more  contenders  for  that  Special  Quigley  War  showmanship  Award 


Dwight  Seymour  is 
proud  of  the  fact 
that  $15,585  worth 
of  Bonds  were  sold 
at  the  Erie  theatre, 
Hugo,  Okla.  Hugo's 
population  is  7,000. 
In  the  photograph 
of  the  Bond  rally, 
Dwight  is  the 
civilian  furthest  to 
the  right. 


A  minstrel  show  of  local  talent  was  the  feature  of  the  War  Bond  celebration 
staged  at  the  State  theatre,  Auburn,  Calif.,  by  C.  J.  Remington,  manager. 
Incidentally,  in  a  town  of  4,000  people,  1,200  attended  the  show  and  bought 
War  Bonds  totaling  $22,650. 


TH|  MOTION  PICTURE  wu^ 

This  unique  tieup  at  the  Capitol  theatre, 
Dallas,  Tex.,  was  engineered  by  Louis 
Charninsky,  manager.  Every  purchaser 
of  a  War  Bond  was  entitled  to  put 
his  name  on  a  B-25  Bomber  through  an 
arrangement  with  North  American. 
Special  plaques  in  the  interior  bore  the 
name  of  every  purchaser  of  a  War 
Bond  at  a  Texas  theatre  in  September. 


Nelson  D.  McCollom, 
manager  of  the  Tivoli 
theatre,  Gary,  Indiana,' 
used  this  striking  dis- 
play in  the  lobby  of 
the  house  during 
"Salute  to  Our 
Heroes"  month, 
measured  1 5  feet 
length.  Dominating 
is  the  flag  from  the 
Treasury  Department's 
24-sheet  and  the  six- 
foot  model  of  the  sub- 
chaser shown  on  the 
platform. 


i  r 
in 


October    2  4,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


WAR  SAVINGS  CONTEST 


HELP  STAMP  JUT  HITLER 


ooard  is  on  the  City 
Hall  and  Market 
Square  of  Brantford, 
Ont.,  placed  there  by 
the  Braniford  Theatres 
Association.  Per- 
sonnel of  this  group  is: 
Hamilton  Bowes,  Brant: 
Ernest  Mode,  Capi- 
tol; Ben  Schacker, 
College;  Harry  Sol- 
-non,  Esquire. 


By  Joseph  B.  Marcello 

The  "Sea  bees,"  newest  fighting  force,  turned  out  en  masse  on  the  stage  of  the  Albee, 
Providence.    Bill  Morton,  publicity  man  for  the  theatre,  is  at  the  microphone.    A  drill  team  and 
a  40  piece  band  aided  in  the  sale  of  $10,000  in  Bonds. 


Arnold  Stoltz  carried  this  intriguing  lobby  display  in  the 
obby  of  the  Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  for  several  weeks.  The 
<ids  bought  a  lot  of  War  Stamps  trying  to  win  these  toys. 


These  "Victory  Girls"  are  debutantes  of  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 
Sponsored  by  the  local  service  clubs,  they  sold  War  Bonds 
at  the  Paramount  theatre  for  Clyde  Smith,  manager. 


i  John  Barner  and  Ken  Woodward  of  the 
\-  Grand  and  Clifton  theatres,  Huntingdon,  Pa., 
H  used  this  stunt  in  putting  over  the 
s;  Huntingdon  County  Bond  Drive.   Joe  Shapiro 
above,  left)  Mt.  Union,  Pa.,  exhibitor,  was 
County  drive  chairman. 


Joe  Nevison,  manager,  and  Morris  Stein,  assistant,  at  the  Bromley, 
Philadelphia,  pose  with  their  Victory  girls,  organized  through  the  local 
high  school  to  sell  Bonds  through  the  theatre. 


78 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    2  4,  1942 


THEY'RE  IN  THE  RUNNING 

Below  are  listed  the  first  showmen  to  submit  campaigns  for  the  Fourth  Quarter  Quig- 
ley  Awards.  No  campaign  submitted  for  the  special  Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award 
is  listed  here.    A  separate  listing  of  them  will  be  carried  next  week. 


FRANK  BICKERSTAFF 
Palace,  Athens,  Ga. 

JOSEPH  BOYLE 

Poli  Broadway,  Norwich,  Conn. 

LIGE  BRIEN 

Kenyon,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

JAMES  A.  CAREY 
Hiway,  York,  Pa. 

LOU  COHEN 

Poli,  Hartford,  Conn. 

KEN  COLLINS 
LEN  TUTTLE 
Indiana,  Indianapolis 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

ALLAN  EASSON 
Oakwood,  Toronto,  Can. 


BILL  ELDER 
Loew's,  Indianapolis 

ED  FITZPATRICK 
Poli,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

STEWART  GILLESPIE 
Elgin,  Ottawa,  Can. 

JACK  HAMILTON 
Apex,  Washington,  D.  C. 

JOHN  HEFLINGER 
West  End,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

SIDNEY  H.  KLEPER 

Poli  Bijou,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

ARTHUR  KROLICK 
Century,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

JULIUS  LAMM 

Uptown,   Cleveland,  Ohio 

MILLARD  OCHS 
Strand,  Akron,  Ohio 


LILLIAN  V.  PENNELL 
Heart,  Hartford,  Mich. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

HARLAND  RANKIN 
Centre,  Chatham,  Ont. 

MORRIS  ROSENTHAL 
Majestic,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

FRANK  SAVAGE 

Warner,  Youngstown,  Ohio 

CLYDE  SMITH 

Paramount,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

HARRY  STEARN 

KEN  CARTER 

Manring,  Middlesboro,  Ky. 

ARNOLD  STOLTZ 
Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

KNOX  STRACHAN 
Warner  Theatres,  Cleveland 


Fair  Gets  Quadruplets  to 
Aid  in  War  Bond  Rally 

Biggest  coup  pulled  by  Jack  Farr,  man- 
ager of  the  Showboat  theatre,  Texas  City, 
Texas,  for  the  War  Bond  drive,  was  to 
arrange  for  the  appearance  on  the  stage  of 
the  famous  Badgett  Quadruplets  of  Galves- 
ton. 

Jack  also  arranged  a  program  consisting 
of  brief  talks  by  representatives  of  various 
unions  and  industries  in  Texas  City  and 
vicinity,  each  of  whom  told  how  many  peo- 
ple in  his  organization  had  bought  bonds 
and  in  what  amounts. 


Utica  Theatres  Hold  Own 
Special  War  Bond  Show 

A  special  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes"  show 
was  held  at  the  Stanley  theatre  in  Utica,  in 
which  all  the  local  theatres  participated.  Ad- 
mittance was  limited  to  those  persons  who 
had  purchased  War  Bonds  during  Septem- 
ber. The  audience  represented  purchases  of 
more  than  $207,000  in  War  Bonds. 

About  $600  worth  of  merchandise  was 
donated  by  local  merchants  and  auctioned  off 
by  Arnold  Stoltz,  manager  of  the  Avon,  and 
Jack  Breslin,  manager  of  the  Utica  theatre 
there. 


3  Big  Events 
Aid  Sales  of 
Bonds  in  Utica] 


Theatres  in  Utica,  New  York,  had 
Charles  Laughton  and  Ann  Rutherford  in 
town  one  day  to  hypo  the  Bond  sales.  They 
were  the  guests  of  honor  at  a  special  dinner 
for  which  tickets  were  sold  for  $2 ;  however, 
to  purchase  a  ticket  one  had  to  buy  a  War 
Bond  or  exhibit  one  dated  in  the  preceding 
week. 

The  following  week  a  special  vaudeville 
show  was  run  at  the  Stanley  theatre  to 
which  only  purchasers  of  War  Bonds  were 
admitted.  It  was  a  midnight  affair  and  the 
first  vaudeville  seen  in  Utica  in  a  long  time. 

Another  big  Bond  selling  event  was  the  ( 
visit  of  the  Bondmobile  to  Utica,  with  effigies 
of  Hitler,  Hirohito  and  Mussolini  in  the  rear 
seat.  Anyone  buying  a  Bond  was  entitled 
to  push  the  Bondmobile  enroute  to  Niagara 
Falls,  where  it  was  finally  dumped  over  the 
brink.  The  visit  of  the  Bondmobile  brought 
sales  of  $193,300  in  Bonds,  an  up-state  re- 
cord. 

Arnold  Stoltz,  manager  of  the  Avon  thea-J 
tre,  was  the  publicity  chairman  for  the  Bond  :i 
Drive.  Jack  Breslin  of  the  Utica  theatre 
addressed  the  crowd.  Andrew  Roy  of  the 
Stanley  and  Charles  Gordon  of  the  Olympic 
were  co-chairmen  of  the  drive.  Harold 
Lewis  of  the  Lincoln  theatre,  and  Breslin 
were  in  charge  of  special  events. 

Columns  and  columns  of  publicity  were 
obtained  by  Publicity  Chairman  Stoltz  on 
the  three  outstanding  events.  Pictures  of 
Charles  Laughton  and  Ann  Rutherford  ap 
peared  daily  in  advance  of  their  visit.  Arn 
old  offered  to  let  the  first  person  who  bought 
a  $10,000  Bond  escort  Miss  Rutherford  into 
the  dining  room  where  the  dinner  was  given 
V arious  stores  took  special  ads  plugging  the 
dinner  and  urging  the  purchase  of  tickets. 
Bonds  totaling  $239,025  were  sold  at  the 
dinner  which,  incidentally,  was  held  during 
a  blackout. 


School  Children  Enlisted 
To  Sell  Stamps  for  Twedt 

To  aid  in  the  sale  of  War  Stamps  in  his 
locality,  H.  S.  Twedt  at  the  Lido  theatre,  in 
Manly,  Iowa,  hit  on  the  idea  of  enlisting  the 
cooperation  of  schools  in  his  billing  terri- 
tory to  sell  stamps  for  him  during  the  month 
of  September.  So  enthusiastic  have  the 
children  become  in  pushing  the  project,  re- 
ports "Doc"  that  they  are  now  going  to 
keep  on  selling  the  entire  year.  The  Round 
Tabler  sends  along  a  copy  of  the  school 
paper  from  Grafton,  la.,  a  town  with  a 
population  of  about  400  and  nine  miles 
from  Manly,  in  which  the  kids  pledge  them 
selves  to  sell  Stamps. 


Bond  Buyers  Names 
Listed  in  Lobby 

Measuring  some  ten  feet  in  length  b; 
three  in  width  is  the  lobby  board  used  b 
Chris  Chamales  at  the  Roxy  theatre,  i 
Delphi,  Ind.,  to  further  the  sale  of  Bonds 
and  Stamps.  The  board,  decorated  with 
McArthur  pictures,  the  stars  and  stripes 
etc.,  also  features  the  names  of  all  Stamp 
and  Bond  Buyers. 


o 


24 ,  1942 


GREETINGS 

October  23rd 

Wilbur  N.  Degenhar 
Allison  Stanford 
James  R.  Barrlow 
Sidney  A.  Sommer 
Walter  N.  Carroll 

24th 

Albert  O'Neil 
O.  B.Wood.  Jr. 
Max  Weg 
Zeva  Yovan 

25th 

Laverne  C.  Ingersoll 
Oscar  H.  Miller 
R.  F.  Hardin 
Robert  Lee  Bell 
Reek  A.  Feliziani 
Harry  F.  Griggs 
.  James  V.  Pisapia 

26th 

Paul  E.  Michaud 
C.  W.  Woodall 
Nat  Mutnick 
James  W.  Christian 
Arthur  Cohn 
Bob  Atkinson 
Bartlefr  Dortch 
Sidney  Ginsberg 
Leonard  Tuttle 


October  27th 

Samuel  Rose 
Tazwell  L.  Anderson 
Vern  T.  Touchett 
Karl  Walzer 
Harry  Rosenbaum 
Cy  Londner 
J.  Uoyd  Miller 
Frank  W.  Miller 
Billy  Pratt 

28th 

Stanley  Gross 

John  Francis  Wright 

Ollie  H.  Browne 

29th 

Irving  Feinman 
Donald  K.  Ay  res 
W.  Richard  Bartholomew 
Guy  Jones 

Robert  W.  Chambers 
Gordon  Woodruff 
Will  Harper 
Fordyce  J.  Kaiser 
Alfred  G.  Swett 
Peter  N.  Chagaris 
Joseph  D.  Marino 
Charles  Coussoule 
O.  L.  Byrd 


NEW  JOBS  FOR  

GEORGE  R.  PETERS,  manager  of  Loew's 
Colonial  theatre,  in  Reading,  Pa.,  has  been 
promoted  to  the  managership  of  Loew's  the- 
atre, in  Richmond,  Va.;  while  W.  Brock 
Whitlock,  manager  of  Loew's  Columbia,  in 
Washington,  Pa.,  has  been  advanced  to  the 
managership  of  the  Reading  house. 


BARNEY  COHEN",  who  recently  rejoined 
the  Warner  circuit  as  assistant  at  the  Vic- 
toria theatre,  in  Philadelphia,  has  been  pro- 
moted to  manager  of  the  Park  theatre  there. 

BILL  LAFFERTY,  manager  of  Warners' 
Liberty  theatre,  in  Tacony,  Pa.,  succeeds 
Bill  \earsley  as  manager  of  the  circuit's 
Circle  theatre,  in  Philadelphia.  The  latter 
has  resigned  to  go  west.  Norman  Bailev 


ROUND  TABLE 

moves  from  the  Nixon  to  the  spot  vacated 
by  Lafferty  and  Bob  Beisenson  goes  from 
the  Park  to  the  Nixon. 

ED  DUNN,  former  manager  of  the  Tri- 
States  Paramount,  in  Des  Moines  and  more 
recently  with  the  local  Warner  exchange 
booking  department,  has  been  named  city 
manager  of  Central  States  theatres,  at  Nor- 
walk.  Neb. 

JAMES  CLEMMONS,  formerly  of  Spen- 
cer, la.,  was  named  to  replace  William 
Haver  as  assistant  manager  of  the  Fort. 
Rock  Island.  111.  Haver  enlisted  in  the 
Army.  Robert  Danico,  assistant  manager 
of  the  Capitol,  Davenport,  and  Richard 
Stoddard,  manager  of  the  Rockette,  Moline. 
111.,  have  entered  the  service.  Richard  Phil- 
lips was  transferred  to  Fremont,  Neb.,  re- 
placing Rex  Cool,  now  managing  the  North- 
wood.  Northwood,  la. 


79 


Allen  Sparrow,  left,  is  congratulated  by- 
Carter  Barron,  LoeuJs  Washington  chief, 
on  his  promotion  from  manager  of  Loew's, 
Richmond,  Va.,  to  Mid-Western  division 
manager  with  headquarters  in  Columbus. 


Exploitation  Dates 
Abound  in  December 

3 ece  —  z e-  2- ~ 

Monroe  Doctrine — I  823 
3rd 

Illinois  Became  a  State — I8I8 
8th 

Eli  Whitney  Born — 1 765  (Inventor  of  the 
Cotton  Gin) 
1 2th 

First  Marconi  Wireless  across  the  Atlantic 
—  I  90  I 
1 4th 

Alabama  Admitted  to  Union — I8I9 
2lst 

Winter  Begins 

Pilgrims  Landed  at  Plymouth  Rock — 1620 
25th 

Christmas 

Washington  C-ossed  the  Delaware — I  776 
28th 

Iowa  Admitted  to  Union — I  846 
29th 

Texas  Became  a  State — I  845 
3ls+ 

New  Year  s  Eve 

West  Virginia  Admitted  to  Union — 1862 


S 


BARBARA  LOU,  weight  five  pounds  13% 
ounces,  on  Tuesday,  October  6th,  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Fontas  Georgiades.  The  father  is 
the  manager  of  the  Oshkosh  theatre,  Osb- 
kosh,  Wis. 

Raymond  Schreiber,  Head  of 
Midwest  Circuit,  New  Member 

One  of  the  newest  Round  Table  members 
is  Raymond  Schreiber.  who  is  the  president 
and  treasurer  of  Midwest  Theatres.  Inc.. 
which  operates  seven  theatres,  all  in  Detroit 
Ray  is  a  native  Detroiter.  He  was  born 
Dec.  5,  1907.  He  now  makes  his  headquar- 
ters at  the  Colonial  theatre,  largest  of  the 
circuit. 


:  Stewart  Gillespie,  of  the  Marks,  Oshaua,  Ont.,  was  promoted  to  the 
Elgin,  Ottawa.  He  was  feted  on  leaving  Oshaua.  Left  to  right  are 
Larry  Ryan,  Marks  assistant;  Gillespie;  Dr.  W.  H.  Gifford,  Mayor 
of  Oshawa;  "Pop"  Osier  and  Al  Ford,  of  the  opposition  Regent. 


By  St 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fielding  K.  O'Kelly  {he's  manager  of  th7'Schine 
Strand  theatre  in  Cumberland,  Md.),  spent  a  feu  hours  in  Xeu 
York  with  their  son,  Fielding  K.  O'Kelly,  Jr.',  lieutenant  in  the 
Quartermaster  Corps,  Army  of  the  United  States. 


80 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


CLASSHTEE 
ADVERTISING 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


HELP  WANTED 


WANTED  FOR  THE  PANAMA  CANAL:  MO- 
tion  picture  operators,  with  at  least  3  years'  experience. 
Salary  $175  month.  Must  be  capable  of  operating 
standard  35  mm.  sound  motion  picture  equipment,  act 
as  chief  operator  and  make  repairs  ordinarily  expected 
of  a  chief  operator.  Must  be  male  American  citizens, 
physically  sound,  and  preferably  under  45  years  of  age. 
Free  transportation  by  plane  from  Brownsville,  Texas, 
wages  beginning  date  of  departure  from  United  States; 
also  $5  per  diem  allowance  from  time  of  departure 
from  home  address  until  time  of  departure  from  States, 
and  railroad  transportation  from  home  to  Brownsville. 
Appointees  must  go  to  Isthmus  alone.  Bachelor  quar- 
ters at  reasonable  rates  available  upon  arrival.  For 
particulars  write  "CHIEF  OF  OFFICE.  The  Panama 
Canal,  Washington,  D.  C,"  giving  brief  statement  of 
training  and  experience. 

TEXAS  TOWN  OF  TEN  THOUSAND  WANTS 
good  artist,  one  that  can  use  air  brush  and  do  oil  and 
water  color  work.  Prefer  one  that  can  do  short  booth 
relief  if  necessary.  Answering  state  age,  draft  classi- 
fication, salary  expected.  BOX  1575,  MOTION  PIC- 
TURE HERALD. 

SALESMEN  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  $75  to  $100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
BOX  1506.  MOTION   PICTURE  HERALD. 


THEATRES 


WANT  TO  BUY,  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
running  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   BOX  1555-A.  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1556-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

WANTED:  THEATRES  TO  LEASE  IN  VIRGINIA, 
West  Virginia,  North  Carolina.  BOX  1570,  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD. 

THEATRE— PROFITABLE,  MODERN.  WISCON- 
sin.  Must  sell  immediately.  Excellent  gross  and  net. 
Terms  to  responsible  party.  BOX  1572,  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD. 

THEATRE— MICHIGAN.  BEAUTIFUL,  MODERN 
house.  Proven  money  maker.  Lease  and  equipment. 
Some  terms.  Can  be  investigated  thoroughly.  BOX 
1573,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

CHICAGO  THEATRE.  AIR  CONDITIONED.  AL- 
ways  profitable.  Good  reason  for  selling.  Rigid  in- 
vestigation invited.  BOX  1574,  MOTION  PICTURE 
HERALD. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP- 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell.  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

THEATRE  CHAIRS  —  USED  —  LARGEST  STOCK 
in  the  middle  west.  Parts  for  all  makes.  We  also 
rebuild  your  chairs  without  interfering  with  the  opera- 
tion of  your  theatre.  CHICAGO  USED  CHAIR  MART, 
844  So.   Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago. 

WANT  TO  BUY  USED  BLOWER  WASHERS, 
Drives  motors.  Popcorn  machines,  Peanut  Roasters. 
WILLIAMS.  Box  838.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

COMPLETE  THEATRE  EQUIPMENT  AND 
chairs  for  500  seat  house.  Big  bargain  for  quick  sale. 
MOVIE  SUPPLY  COMPANY.  1318  South  Wabash, 
Chicago. 

FOR  SALE:  2  ROYAL  ZENITH  MODEL  A-35 
M.M.  200-ft.  sound  projectors.  Reasonable.  A.  LAN- 
DOW.  108  Beachway,  Keansburg,  N.  J. 

FOR  SALE:  400  THEATRE  SEATS.  SLIGHTLY 
used.     ANDALUS  THEATRE.   St.   Bernard,  Ohio. 

FOR  SALE:  200  CAST  IRON  VENTILATING 
mushrooms.  8  and  10  inches.  ANDALUS  THEATRE, 
St.  Bernard.  Ohio. 

STAGE  LIGHTING  AT  TREMENDOUS  SACRI- 
fice  —  400  watt  sliding  dimmers,  $11.95;  1000  watt, 
$19.95;  Interlocking  dimmers,  all  sizes,  $29.95  ;  400  watt 
Baby  spots,  *5.55;  50  ampere  Arcspots,  $35;  All  sizes 
G-40  Mogul  Prefocus  Lamps  to  2000  watt,  clear,  frosted 
and  tinted,  60%  discount.  S.  O.  S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY 
CORPORATION,  New  York. 

NEW  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 

16,000  THEATRES  GOT  THEIRS  —  IF  YOU 
didn't,  send  for  your  copy.  Closing  out  Star  Cinema 
Supply  stock.  Mammoth  bargain  bulletin.  S.  O.  S. 
CINEMA  SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 

POSITION  WANTED 


PROJECTIONIST:  Desires  position  demanding 
good  projection  with  good  equipment.  12  years'  ex- 
perience. Also  electrician-equipment  maintenance. 
Married,  sober,  3-A,  28,  references.  Will  accept  I.  A. 
work  if  offered  card.  No  permits.  Have  clean  record. 
BOX  1576,   MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

PROJECTIONIST  —  DRAFT  4,  NON-UNION, 
wants  job  nearby.  H.  CERF,  72  Park  Terrace  West, 
New  York. 


BOOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING- 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its  ar- 
rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs. 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  the 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  $6.50  postpaid. 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP.  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONING, 
by  Charles  A.  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
able for  theatre  owners  contemplating  engineering 
changes.  Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  charts 
and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well  as 
codes  and  ordinances  regulating  installation.  Order 
now  at  $4.00  a  copy  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP, 
Rockefeller  Center,   New  York. 

NOW  READY,  NEW  1942-43  MOTION  PICTURE 
ALMANAC.  Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.  The  indus- 
try's most  complete  "Who's  Who."  More  than  11,000 
biographies  and  over  1,100  pages,  chock  full  of  refer- 
ence information.  Everyone  in  the  motion  picture 
industry  should  have  a  copy.  Be  sure  to  send  in  your 
order  today.  $3.25  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP.  Rockefeller  Center.   New  York. 

SOUND  TROUBLE  SHOOTING  CHARTS.  A 
handy  too!  in  the  booth.  Gives  the  answers  to  all 
questions  regarding  trouble  snooting  on  every  type  of 
sound  equipment.  $1.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP.   Rockefeller   Center.   New  York. 


BOOKKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MANAGEMENT  RECORD  AND  TAX 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  finest 
book  of  its  kind  ever  made  available  to  an  exhibitor. 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  it  ii 
simple — so  much  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an  ac- 
curate, complete  and  up-to-minute  record  of  the 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  price  is 
only  $2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rocke- 
feller Center,  New  York. 

BUSINESS  BOOSTERS 


BINGO  CARDS.  DIE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75. 
$2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  cart 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 


MUST  SACRIFICE  -  3  MILLION  BINGO  CARDS. 
May  be  purchased  in  any  quantities.  Write  today  foi 
samples  and  prices.  Be  sure  advise  how  many  yot 
can  purchase  at  one  time.  BOX  1569,  MOTION  PIC- 
TURE HERALD. 


PRESS  OF 
C.    J.    O'BRIEN.  TNC 
NEW  YORK.  V.  S.  A 


October  24 


942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


ELEASE  CHART 

REVIEWS 


I  Married  a  Witch 

(United  Artists) 
Whimsy  and  Witchcraft 

The  hand  of  the  late  Thorne  Smith  of  "Top- 
per" fame  is  clearly  visible  in  this  fantasy  of 
embodied  and  disembodied  spirits,  the  first  of 
the  former  Paramount  features  to  be  released 
through  United  Artists.  The  contribution  of 
Marc  Connelly,  who  collaborated  with  Robert 
Pirosh  on  the  screen  play  based  on  the  Smith 
manuscript,  and  the  distinctive  touch  of  Rene 
Clair,  who  directed  the  film,  are  less  in  evi- 
dence. 

What  should  be  irrepressible  nonsense  never 
quite  hits  the  peak  in  a  film  with  moments  of 
gay  comedy  and  Benchley  humor  as  well  as 
stretches  of  prosaic  dialogue  and  slapstick  farce. 
Between  the  opening  scene  at  a  Salem  witch- 
burning  when  a  curse  is  placed  on  the  House 
of  Wooley  and  the  fadeout  when  the  last  de- 
scendent  is  living  in  domestic  felicity  with  a 
converted  witch  and  three  children,  there  is, 
however,  enough  entertainment  to  satisfy 
whimsy-fanciers  and  the  numerous  followers  of 
the  three  principal  performers. 

There  may  be  some  who  think  Veronica  Lake 
a  little  coy — especially  for  a  practiced  witch 
dating  from  1690— but  Fredric  March  produces 
good  farce  on  occasion,  chiefly  the  occasions  on 
which  he  has  the  aid  and  comfort  of  Bob 
Benchley.  Mr.  Benchley  as  the  doctor  and  con- 
fidant of  the  hapless  Wooley  has  appeared  to 
better  advantage  but  is  still  an  asset  to  any 
comedy,  having  the  rare  combination  of  cred- 
ibility and  spontaneity.  Cecil  Kellaway  per- 
forms with  becoming  relish  the  role  of  sorcerer 
and  father  of  Miss  Lake,  whose  delight  in  wick- 
edness comes  a  cropper  in  his  weakness  for 
strong  drink. 

The  acknowledged  absurdities  of  plot  include 
the  imminent  marriage  of  Fredric  March  to  the 
wrong  woman— halted  at  the  altar  by  the  im- 
possibility of  removing  Miss  Lake  from  the 
bridegroom's  bedroom — the  election  campaign 
won  by  the  now  discredited  March  through  his 
encumbrance's  witchery  and  the  determination 
of  the  blonde  wraith's  father  to  return  her  to 
incorporeal  form  when  she  gives  evidence  of 
forsaking  malicious  mischief  for  love. 

Previewed  in  a  home  office  projection  room 
where  the  laughs  of  a  tradepress  audience  were 
infrequent.  Review's1  Rating:  Fair.—E.  A. 
Cunningham. 

Release  date,  October  30,  1942.  Running  time,  78 
mm.  PCA  No.  8351.  General  audience  classification. 
Wallace  Wooley  Fredric  March 

TV  "n^i  • '  •  -lin.- Veronica  Lake 

Or.  Dudley  White  Robert  Benchley 

Susan  Hayward,  Cecil  Kelaway,  Elizabeth  Patterson, 
Kobert  Warwick,  Eily  Malyon,  Robert  Greig,  Viola 
Aloore,  Mary  Field.  Nora  Cecil,  Emory  Parnell,  Helen 
M.  Kayner,  Aldrich  Bowker,  Emma  Dunn. 


Reviews 


This  department  deals  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


Army  Surgeon 

(RKO  Radio) 
Medicine  in  the  Last  War 

Although  this  picture  starts  out  with  a  shot 
of  a  present-day  convoy,  it  quickly  jumps  back- 
ward to  the  last  War  where  it  remains  except 
for  a  brief  return  to  today  at  the  end. 

The  story  stretches  the  imagination  in  sev- 
eral respects.  Jane  Wyatt,  a  woman  doctor, 
goes  to  France  as  a  nurse  and  is  assigned  to 
the  hospital  which  is  in  charge  of  James  Elli- 
son, brilliant  brain  surgeon.  She  aids  him  in 
his  plea  to  the  Colonel  to  bring  his  hospital 
nearer  the  front.  The  plot  only  begins  when 
an  aviator  whom  she  had  known  in  her  home 
town  is  shot  down  near  the  hospital  and  jeal- 
ousy then  enters  the  picture. 

Later  aviator,  nurse  and  doctor  are  in  the 
hospital  when  a  German  advance  begins  and, 
unable  to  move  their  wounded,  they  remain  to 
take  their  chances.  A  bomb  strikes  and  the 
only  entrance  is  blocked.  They  almost  suffo- 
cate until  their  eventual  rescue  by  the  Ameri- 
cans who  again  advance  and  recapture  the  area. 
Then  the  flashback  shows  the  former  nurse 
again  practising  her  profession  of  nursing  but 
now  married  to  the  doctor. 

The  picture  is  full  of  cliches.  One  knows 
when  the  aviator  takes  the  girl  in  his  arms  that 
the  doctor  will  immediately  come  into  the  room. 
Similarly,  one  knows  precisely  the  moment 
when  relief  will  arrive  after  the  burial  of  the 
hospital. 

Bert  Gilroy  produced  and  A.  Edward  Suth- 
erland directed  from  a  screenplay  by  Barry 
Trivers  and  Emmet  Lavery,  based  on  a  story 
by  John  Twist. 

Seen  in  an  RKO  projection  room.  Reviewer's 
Rating  :  Mediocre. — Bob  Wile. 

Release  date,  Dec.  4,  1942.  Running  time,  63  mins. 
PCA  No.  8319.     General  audience  classification. 

Capt.  James  Mason  James  Ellison 

Beth  Ainsley  Jane  Wyatt 

Lt.  Philip  Harvey  Kent  Taylor 

Walter  Reed,  James  Burke,  George  Cleveland,  Lee 
Bonnell,  Jack  Briggs,  Cyril  Ring,  Cliff  Clark,  Dick 
Hogan,  Eddie  Dew,  Ann  Codee,  Russell  Wade,  Rich- 
ard Martin. 


The  Boogie  Man  Will 
Get  You 

(  Columbia  ) 

Chills  vs.  Laughter 

Horror  vies  with  comedy  in  this  story  when 
Columbia  packs  Boris  Karloff,  Peter  Lorre,  a 
silly  young  girl  and  her  divorced  husband,  and 
two  mad  caretakers  into  an  old  colonial  inn. 
It  then  adds  Maxie  ("Slapsie")  Rosenbloom 
and  a  machine  to  make  supermen.  Confusion 
triumphs.  But  laughs  and  mysterious  sur- 
prises are  frequent  enough  to  occupy  most  au- 
diences. 

Karloff  is  more  amiable  than  usual  as  a 
batty  professor  who  sells  his  house  to  the  girl 
(Miss)  Jeff  Donnell.  Lorre,  a  Pooh-Bah  of 
mystery  as  the  town  coroner,  doctor,  asylum 
superintendent,  sheriff  and  mayor,  helps  the 
professor  to  find  a  new  subject  for  the  super- 
man machine.  It  is  Maxie,  a  salesman,  who  is 
to  be  test  number  six.  Meanwhile  the  girl  and 
boy  find  the  bodies  of  the  other  victims. 

A  roomer  is  killed  by  the  hired  man,  to  com- 
plicate things,  and  a  mad  Fascist  flier  escaped 
from  a  Canadian  prison  enters  with  a  pack  of 
dynamite  to  blow  up  a  nearby  powder  mill. 
But  the  police  arrive  and  after  a  wild  chase  all 
the  nuts  and  boogies  are  cornered  just  as  the 
victims  of  the  superman  machine  revive.  The 
Fascist's  bomb  fizzles  out  with  a  pop  as  he 
mutters  "Ersatz." 

Lew  Landers  directed  the  Colbert  Clark  pro- 
duction.   Edwin  Blum  wrote  the  screenplay. 

Seen  at  the  Rialto  theatre,  New  York,  where 
the  usually  silent  male  matinee  crowd  laughed 
occasionally.  Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — John 
Stuart,  Jr. 

Release  date,  October  22,  1942.  Running  time,  66 
min.     PCA  No.  8640.     General  audience  classification. 

Professor  Billings  Boris  Karloff 

Dr.  Lorentz  Peter  Lorre 

Winnie  Layden  (Miss)  Jeff  Donnell 

Bill  Layden  Larry  Parks 

Maxie  Rosenbloom,  Maude  Eburne,  Don  Beddoe, 
George  McKay,  Frank  Puglia,  Eddie  Laughton, 
Frank  Sully  and  James  Morton. 


The  Devil  with  Hitler 

(Roach-UA  ) 
Slapstick 

Judging  from  the  reaction  of  a  good  size 
audience  on  Broadway  this  Hal  Roach  stream- 
liner is  good  for  quite  a  few  laughs.  People 
seem  to  welcome  the  opportunity  to  laugh  at 
the  Axis  leaders  even  when  they  are  subjected 
to  an  excessive  amount  of  slapstick  and  unorig- 
inal gags.  For  "The  Devil  with  Hitler"  is 
all  slapstick  and,  at  times,  monotonously  so.  But 


Product  Digest  Section  969 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


it  drew  the  laughs  and  that  is  about  the  only 
fair  box  office  criterion  in  this  case. 

It  is  short,  in  keeping  with  the  streamliner 
policy,  running  but  45  minutes.  The  story  con- 
cerns the  consternation  in  Hell  over  the  threat 
of  Hitler's  taking  over  and  the  way  the  Devil 
meets  the  situation  by  emerging  on  earth,  in 
the  person  of  Alan  Mowbray,  to  force  Hitler 
to  do  one  good  deed,  thereby  eliminating  him 
as  a  possible  replacement  of  the  Devil. 

Bobby  Watson  is  good  in  his  portrayal  of  Der 
Fuehrer,  while  Joe  Devlin  as  Mussolini  and 
George  E.  Stone  as  a  Jap  emissary,  are  ade- 
quate. Marjorie  Woodworth  and  Douglas  Fow- 
ley  appear  briefly  to  give  the  picture  a  roman- 
tic tinge. 

A  typical  sequence  has  the  three  Axis  lead- 
ers trying  to  kill  each  other  off  with  time 
bombs.  It  is  night  and  the  three  pass  on  their 
way  to  the  other  beds  with  the  bombs.  They 
all  become  suspicious  and  wind  up  in  the  same 
bed,  with  the  three  bombs.  As  the  bombs  go 
off,  the  Axis  partners  are  hurriedly  trying  to 
leave  the  room. 

Seen  at  the  Globe  theatre,  New  York,  with 
audience  rea-ction  as  noted  above.  Reviewer's 
Rating:  Fair. — Paul  C.  Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942.  Running  time,  45 
min.     PCA  No.  8301.     General  audience  classification. 

The  Devil  Alan  Mowbray 

Hitler   Bobby  Watson 

George  E.  Stone,  Joe  Devlin,  Marjorie  Woodworth. 
Douglas  Fowley,  Herman  Bing,  Sig  Arno. 

Bad  Men  of  the  Hills 

(Columbia,  1941-42) 
Revenge  and  Rehabilitation 

The  theme  of  revenge  on  which  this  fast- 
moving  Western  opens  gives  way  to  a  more  un- 
usual theme  of  social  rehabilitation  after  the 
villains  have  been  met.  The  shift  is  productive 
of  greater  interest,  and  the  original  screen  play 
of  Luci  Ward  should  be  given  most  of  the, 
credit  in  lifting  this  film  above  the  average  of 
Columbia's  Starrett-Hayden  series. 

Charles  Starrett  is  his  heroic  and  competent 
self  as  a  U.  S.  Marshal  on  the  trail  of  his 
friend's  murderer.  Russell  Hayden  is  given 
more  scope  for  acting  as  the  leader  of  a  com- 
munity isolated  by  its  fear  of  the  crooked  jus- 
tice of  the  town.  Luana  Walters,  Hayden's 
fiancee,  states  the  case  for  Chimney  Hole  when 
she  urges  the  women  to  rebel  against  their 
cramped  existence  and  their  husband's  sullen 
resentment.  Cliff  Edwards  and  pert  little 
Norma  Jean  Wooters  provide  pleasant  music 
and  comedy. 

The  film  was  produced  by  Jack  Fier  and 
directed  by  William  Berk.  Alan  Bridge,  Guy 
Usher,  Joel  Friedkin,  John  Shay  and  Dick 
Botiller  complete  the  cast. 

Seen  at  the  New  York  theatre  ivhere  an  early 
morning  audience  approved  the  action.  Review- 
er's Rating  :  Good. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  August  13,  1942.  Running  time,  69  min. 
PCA  No.  8382.   General  audience  classification. 

Steve  Carlton    Charles  Starrett 

Lucky  Shelton    Russell  Hayden 

Cliff  Edwards,  Luana  Walters,  Alan  Bridge,  Norma 
Jean  Wooters,  Guy  Usher. 

The  Power  of  God 

(Globe  Film  Company) 
Religious  Drama 

Essentially  a  religious  picture,  this  film  has 
been  done  in  such  an  effective  manner  that 
it  is  not  only  entertaining  but  deeply  moving 
in  its  intent.  Produced  with  a  modern  back- 
ground, it  is  filled  with  emotional  contrasts 
and  serves  to  tell  what  Christianity  is,  with- 
out too  much  preachment.  By  a  series  of  dra- 
matic episodes  laid  in  a  small  town,  it  demon- 
strates how  people  in  different  walks  of  life 
have  been  affected  by  the  power  of  God. 

The  producers  have  borrowed  the  "Our 
Town"  technique  of  telling  a  story  by  having 
the  opening  scenes  laid  in  a  cemetery  where 
Ebenezer  (Thomas  Louden)  has  been  visiting 


his  wife's  grave.  As  he  leaves  he  reads  the 
names  on  other  tombstones  and  recalls,  in  flash- 
back manner,  an  episode  in  that  particular  per- 
son's life  which  showed  the  hand  of  God.  The 
incidents  have  been  closely  knitted  into  the 
main  pattern. 

Among  the  stories  within  the  script  is  the 
one  of  the  business  man  (Stanley  Andrews) 
who  learns  to  pray  and  becomes  more  tolerant 
and  honest  in  his  business  dealings  when  his 
daughter  is  hurt ;  the  story  of  the  school  boy 
(Rod  Bacon)  who  steals  and  becomes  involved 
in  an  automobile  accident  and  is  brought  to  the 
realization  of  a  higher  power  when  his  widowed 
mother  (Sarah  Padden)  is  taken  from  him;  the 
prevention  of  a  divorce  between  two  young 
people  (Kirby  Grant  and  Christine  Mclntyre) 
when  strength  is  given  them  through  a  radio 
sermon. 

Throughout  the  picture  a  character  known  as 
Jonathan  (John  Barclay)  does  spiritual  mis- 
sion work  among  the  unchurched  friends  of  the 
town,  bringing  out  many  quotations  from  the 
Bible  in  his  dialogue. 

The  film  is  to  be  roadshowed  for  the  time 
being  and  sold  on  a  territorial  rights  basis 
later.  It  is  nicely  done  from  a  production 
standpoint  and  was  produced  by  Roland  Reed 
at  the  RKO-Pathe  studio  at  Culver  City.  Ham- 
ilton MacFadden  directed,  Arthur  Martinelli 
photographed,  Edward  C.  Jewell  was  art  di- 
rector and  Albert  Colombo  did  the  impressive 
musical  score. 

Reviewed  at  the  Grand  Theatre,  Chicago, 
before  an  audience  composed  of  Chicago  Feder- 
ation of  Churches  members  who  watched  the 
picture  with  rapt  and  reverent  attention.  Re- 
viewer's rating:  Good. — F.  Langdon  Morgan. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time.  58  min.  Gen- 
eral audience  classification. 

Jonathan    John  Barclay 

Ebenezer   Thomas  Louden 

The  Pastor    Selmer  Jackson 

Sarah  Padden,  Rod  Bacon,  Stanley  Andrews,  Kirby 
Grant,  Christine  Mclntyre,  Dick  Curtis,  Bryan  Foul- 
ger,  Earle  Hodgkins,  Sylvia  Field,  Edythe  Ellis, 
Wheaton  Chambers. 


Night  Monster 

(Universal) 

Mystery  Melodrama 

Take  an  isolated  country  mansion  inhabited 
by  odd  characters,  fill  the  place  up  with  over- 
night guests  and  you  have  the  ideal  cinematic 
setting  for  mystery.  Here  the  "whodunit"  is 
decidedly  a  plural  matter,  with  five  murders  by 
finger  count.  All  told  eight  people,  not  includ- 
ing the  murder  just  prior  to  the  start  of  the 
picture,  depart  from  the  living  as  the  climax 
approaches. 

Characters  you  would  expect  to  find  in  a 
mystery  melodrama  are  here.  There  is  the  old 
cripple,  master  of  the  house ;  a  sister  that  the 
rest  of  the  household  tries  to  pass  off  as  crazy 
so  that  she  won't  divulge  the  dire  goings-on ; 
as  weird  a  set  of  servants  as  you  will  find  and 
two  outsiders  to  form  a  romantic  team. 

Secret  panels  lead  into  a  secret  passageway. 
A  fog  thick  as  smoke  rolls  across  the  country- 
side in  billows.  The  mystery  itself  is  on  the 
occult  side,  a  little  matter  of  creating  things  by 
the  power  of  the  mind,  precisely  the  conjuring 
up  of  arms  and  legs  where  none  existed  before. 
Therein  lies  the  clew  to  the  mystery. 

Players  include  Irene  Hervey,  Don  Porter, 
Nils  Asther,  Leif  Erickson,  Ralph  Morgan, 
Bela  Lugosi,  Elyse  Knox,  and  Lionel  Atwill. 

Ford  Beebe  directed  and  also  was  co-produc- 
er with  Don  Brown.  It  is  a  fair-to-middling 
production  of  its  type,  having  appeal  for  mys- 
tery fans  in  particular. 

Previewed  at  the  Universal  projection  room 
for  the  trade  press.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Fair. 
P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 

Release  date,  Oct.  23,  1942.  Running  time,  73  min. 
PCA  No.  8719.     General  audience  classification. 

Dr.  Lynne  Harper  Irene  Hervey 

Dick  Porter  Don  Porter 

Nils  Asther.  Leif  Erickson,  Ralph  Morgan,  Fay  Helm, 
Bela  Lugosi,  Elyse  Knox,  Lionel  Atwill,  Frank 
Reicher,  Francis  Pierlot,  Doris  Lloyd,  Robert 
Homans,  Ed  Waller. 


The  Mummy's  Tomb 

(Universal) 
Spine-chiller 

Universal  with  this  latest  spine-chilling  melo- 
drama insures  its  reputation  of  leadership  in 
the  horror-drama  field.  In  the  best  tradition 
of  the  company's  "Frankenstein" 'pictures  and 
the  others  of  a  long  line,  "The  Mummy's 
Tomb,"  is  meant  to  shock  and  does. 

The  monster  here  is  a  mummy  3,000  years 
old  that  is  brought  from  Egypt  by  a  "high 
priest"  to  take  vengeance  on  a  small  town 
American  archaeologist  and  his  family.  Played 
by  Lon  Chaney,  the  mummy  is  an  awesome, 
eerie  figure  undaunted  by  bullets  or  the  strength 
of  mortal  men. 

Brought  to  life  at  the  full  moon  by  a  magic 
chemical  brew,  the  mummy  creates  panic  in  the 
town,  murders  two  members  of  the  Banning 
family  and  another  man  connected  with  an 
expedition  30  years  before,  and  kidnaps  the 
fiancee  of  the  younger  Banning  before  it  finally 
is  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  cast  includes  Dick  Foran,  as  the  archaeo- 
logist ;  John  Hubbard,  as  the  younger  Banning ; 
Elyse  Knox,  the  fiancee ;  Turhan  Bey,  the  high 
priest  who  controls  the  mummy,  and  Wallace 
Ford. 

The  picture  manages  somehow  to  maintain 
a  measure  of  plausibility  and  the  audience 
should  find  it  "right  in  the  groove." 

Ben  Pivar  was  associate  producer  and  Har- 
old Young  directed. 

Previewed  at  the  Universal  projection  room 


in  Neiv  York.  Reviewer's  Rating :  Good.— 
P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  61  min.  PCA 
No.  8655.     General  audience  classification. 

The  Mummy  Lon  Chaney 

Stephen  Banning  Dick  Foran 

John  Banning  John  Hubbard 


Elyse  Knox,  George  Zucco,  Wallace  Ford,  Turhan 
Bey,  Virginia  Brissac,  Cliff  Clark,  Mary  Gordon, 
Paul  Burns,  Frank  Reicher,  Emmett  Vogan. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Hehald) 

The  Undying  Monster 

(Twentieth  Century -Fox) 
Superior  Werewolf 

At  first  view  this  seems  another  "werewolf" 
picture,  with  the  Jekyll-Hyde  motif.  Laid  in 
the  manorial  England  of  the  1900's,  it  seems 
as  dated.  And  a  choice  variety  of  Hollywood 
actors,  relieved  only  by  James  Ellison  and 
John  Howard,  makes  it  appear  more  a  "B"  for 
the  English  market. 

However,  the  mood  grows ;  and  with  it  the 
conviction  that  the  average  audience  will  like  it. 

Loaded  shamelessly  with  obvious  suspense 
devices — cries  in  the  night,  and  more  often  the 
howling  of  a  wolf;  mysterious  acts  by  minor 
characters  who  draw  suspicion  upon  them- 
selves ;  a  secret  room  in  the  manor,  and  a 
dusty  crypt ;  mists  upon  the  moors ;  the  wind, 
snow,  and  the  sea  pounding  the  rocky  shores, 
it  succeeds  nevertheless  in  pulling  attention. 

That  success  is  mainly  because  John  Brahm 
has  directed  with  great  artistry,  aided  by  Lu- 
cien  Ballard,  director  of  photography.  There 
are  scenes  tbat  deserve  a  pause  for  inspection 
as  still  pictures.  There  are  momements  of 
dramatic,  moody  underexposure  which  enorm- 
ously enhance  the  story  of  murder  rampant. 
And  there  are  settings — the  work,  apparently, 
of  art  directors  Richard  Day  and  Lewis  Creber, 
and  set  decorators  Thomas  Little  and  Walter 
Scott — lavish  for  a  small  and  brief  production. 

Reviewed  in  the  home  office  projection  room. 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Good. — Floyd  Stone 

Release  date,  November  27,  1942.  Running  time,  60 
min.     General  audience  classification. 

Bob  Curtis  James  Ellison 

Helga  Hammond  Heather  Angel 

Oliver  Hammond  John  Howard 

Dr.  Geoffrey  Covert  Bramwell  Fletcher 

Heather  Thatcher,  Aubrey  Mather,  Halliwell  Hobbes, 
Eily  Malyon,  Heather  Wilde,  Charles  Crisp,  Alec 
Craig,  Holmes  Herbert,  Olive  Morgan,  Dave  Thurs- 
by,    Donald  Stuart,  John  Rogers,  Matt  Boulton. 

(Review  reprinted  from  last  week's  Herald) 


970     Product  Digest  Section 


October    24,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


PRIVATE  SMITH,  U.S.A.  (RKO-Radio) 

This  Is  America  (33,101) 

This  first  in  the  "This  Is  America"  series  of 
featurettes  replacing  the  "March  of  Time"  sub- 
jects on  the  RKO-Radio  schedule  fills  18  min- 
utes of  screen  time  with  information,  interest 
and  entertainment  second  to  none  in  point  'of 
tone,  quality  and  usefulness. 

The  subject,  produced  by  Frederic  Ullman, 
Jr.,  takes  a  Private  John  Smith,  21,  from  his 
home  in  some  small  town  by  bus  and  train  to 
some  induction  point  and  thence  through  the 
first  13  weeks  of  his  training  as  an  infantryman. 
The  players  are  not  named  but  perform  as  sea- 
soned professionals  might.  The  spoken  com- 
mentary, delivered  offscreen  by  an  unnamed 
speaker,  is  a  success  by  all  the  standards,  in- 
forming clearly  and  divertingly,  with  humour 
and  inflection  conveying  the  material  with 
nicety  and  point. 

It  is  a  subject  for  all  types  of  theatres  in  all 
types  of  cities,  towns  and  hamlets. — W.  R.  W. 

Release  date,  October  23,  1942     19  minutes 

THE  MASK  OF  NIPPON  (UA) 

World  in  Action 

From  the  World  in  Action  series  being  dis- 
tributed by  United  Artists  comes  this  two-reel 
short  subject  on  the  character  of  our  Asiatic 
foe.  The  subject  makes  a  point  of  proving  the 
Japanese  national  character  to  be  a  two-sided 
matter ;  the  one  side  of  amity  towards  all  na- 
tions was  the  side  they  displayed  to  the  outside 
world,  but  their  true  side  is  one  of  world  domi- 
nation, which  they  have  had  pounded  into  them 
by  their  leaders  for  many  a  year.  The  film 
shows  the  cruelty  displayed  by  the  Nipponese 
and  the  utter  disdain  they  have  for  human  life 
and  human  values.  It  shows  some  of  the  things 
which  the  world  admired  in  the  Japanese  only 
to  discover  now  that  these  things  were  meant 
for  an  entirely  different  purpose.  For  instance, 
the  mass  training  of  swimmers  produced  sev- 
eral Olympic  winners,  but  immediately  after 
Pearl  Harbor  these  trained  swimmers  estab- 
lished beachheads  from  which  successful  land 
campaigns  were  carried  out  against  Singapore 
and  other  points.  The  picture  proves  its  point, 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  any  sympathy  will  be 
felt  by  the  audience  for  the  little  men  from  the 
tiny  island. 

Release  date,  November  6,  1942    20  minutes 

MANPOWER  (OWI) 

Victory  Short 

A  survey  of  the  nation's  labor  supply  for 
the  increased  needs  of  farms  and  industrial 
plants  is  undertaken  in  this  subject  produced 
by  the  Film  Unit  of  the  Office  of  War  Infor- 
mation. After  a  -brief  statement  from  Paul 
V.  McNutt,  chairman  of  the  War  Manpower 
Commission,  the  film  illustrates  the  increasing 
opportunities  for  skilled  and  unskilled  labor, 
men  and  women,  in  war  production  and  the 
problems  arising  from  the  shortage  of  men, 
the  timidity  of  women,  labor  pirating  by  em- 
ployers and  living  conditions  in  "boom"  towns. 
The  efforts  of  the  United  States  Employment 
Service  in  finding  solutions  for  these  and  in 
organizing  bureaus  to  supply  labor  information 
are  given  informative  attention. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  October  22,  1942     10  minutes 

JAPANESE  RELOCATION  (OWI) 

Victory  Short 

The  resettlement  of  Japanese  aliens  and  citi- 
zens, ordered  from  strategic  West  Coast  areas 
by  Army  authorities,  is  an  admirable  lesson  in 
American  democracy.  Deprived  of  their  homes 
and  former  means  of  livelihood,  these  people 
who  offer  a  potential  threat  to  our  security 
have  been  settled  in  inland  communities  -of  the 
West,  provided  with  government-built  homes 
and  Army  protection  and  allowed  to  organize 
their  political,  economic  and  religious  activi- 
ties through  self-government.  Already  they 
have  begun  irrigating  arable  desert  land,  nur- 


ONE-A-WEEK  RELEASES 
FOR  WAC  SHORTS 

The  War  Activities  Camtnittee,  in 
cooperation  with  short  subject  repre- 
sentatives of  the  major  producers, 
has  announced  the  following  release 
schedule  for  victory  subjects: 
October  22 — 

Manpower  (OWI) 
October  29 — 

We  Refuse  to  Die  (Paramount) 
November  5 — 

Everybody's  War  (20 th-F ox) 
November  12 — 

Japanese  Relocation  (OWI) 
November  19 — 

Keeping  Fit  (Universal) 
November  26 — 

Colleges  at  War  (OWI) 
December  3 — 

Conquered  by  the  Clock  (RKO) 
December  10 — 

Night  Shift  (OWI -British) 
December  17 — 

Weapons  from  Waste  (Columbia) 
December  24 — 

Your  War  (OWI) 
December  3 1 — 

An  untitled  film  about  Vice-Presi- 
dent Wallace  being  made  by  Far- 
amount. 


turing  guayule  plants  to  add  to  our  rubber  sup- 
ply, weaving  camouflage  nets  and  initiating 
projects  attesting  their  loyalty  and  understand- 
ing. The  film  should  interest  Easterners  quite 
as  much  as  those  geographically  nearer  the 
problem. — E.  A.  C. 

Release  date,  November  12,  1942    7  minutes 

INSIDE  BRITAIN  — 12  Shorts 

British  Ministry  of  Information 

A  program  of  12  short  subjects  produced  for 
and  by  the  British  Ministry  of  Information  was 
shown  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Playhouse  in  New 
York  under  the  title  "Inside  Britain."  The  pic- 
tures are  being  offered  commercially  in  the 
United  States  to  newsreel  theatres,  the  "art" 
circuit  of  small  studio  theatres  and  to  a  few 
general  outlets  by  Budd  Rogers  of  New  York, 
acting  as  agent  for  the  British  Library  of  In- 
formation. Additional  titles  will  be  made  avail- 
able. The  program  included  the  following : 

"Young  Veterans,"  a  history  of  the  war  to 
date  in  terms  of  its  effects  on  the  average  En- 
glishman. Running  time,  11  minutes. 

"Commandos,"  an  assemblage  of  news  pic- 
tures taken  during  Commando  raids  on  Nor- 
wegian ports.  Running  time,  14  minutes. 

"Yesterday  Is  Over  Your  Shoulder,"  the 
story  of  a  hobby  converted  to  useful  war  fac- 
tory work,  presented  by  Robertson  Hare,  come- 
dian. Running  time,  8  minutes. 

"Musical  Poster,"  a  color  abstraction,  imita- 
tive of  Disney,  warning  against  careless  talk. 
Running  time,  2  minutes. 

"21  miles,"  a  camera  tour  of  Dover  defenses 
with  commentary  by  Edward  Murrow,  CBS 
London  representative.  Running  time,  11  min- 
utes. 

"Neighbors  Under  Fire,"  a  presentation  of 
the  feeding  and  housing  facilities  for  bomb  vic- 
tims.   Running  time,  7  minutes. 

"Ferry  Pilot,"  a  day's  activities  by  the  Air 
Transport  Auxiliary  in  the  pattern  of  "Target 
for  Tonight."  Running  time,  17  minutes. 

"Scotland  Speaks,"  a  description  of  Scot- 
land's part  in  Britain's  war  effort  given  by 


typical  Scottish  workers.  Running  time,  16  min- 
utes. 

"Shunter  Black's  Night  Off,"  a  battle  with 
fire  bombs  by  a  railway  switchman.  Running 
time,  7  minutes. 

"Troopship,"  a  soldier's  letter  home  describ- 
ing his  voyage  overseas,  illustrated  by  the  cam- 
era. Running  time,  8  minutes. 

"The  Builders,"  an  appeal  to  workers  and 
unionists  to  stay  on  their  jobs  as  bricklayers, 
laborers,  etc.  Running  time,  8  minutes. 

"From  the  Four  Corners,"  a  treatment  of 
the  Empire's  stake  in  the  war,  featuring  Les- 
lie Howard,  who  presents  the  case  to  three 
Empire  soldiers  in  London,  explaining  that 
they  are  bound  to  England  in  the  common 
struggle  by  ties  of  heritage  and  conviction. 
Running  time,  18  minutes. 


FEATURE  SYNOPSES 


WHO  DONE  IT? 
(Universal) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Alex  Gootleib.  Directed  by  Erie  C. 
Kenton. 

PLAYERS:  Abbott  and  Costello,  William  Gargan, 
Mary  Wickes,  Louise  Allbritton,  Don  Porter,  Lud- 
wig  Stossell,  Thomas  Gomez. 

SYNOPSIS 

The  merry  Messrs.  Abbott  and  Costello 
start  out  here  as  a  pair  of  soda  clerks  who 
want  to  become  radio  writers.  This  gets  them 
into  a  broadcasting  station  where  a  murder  has 
been  committed  and  they  find  the  finger  of  sus- 
picion pointed  straight  at  them.  One  way  and 
another,  and  always  in  the  Abbott- Costello  way, 
they  blunder  into  discovery  of  the  guilty  party 
and  wind  up  on  the  right  side  of  the  experience. 

PILOT  NO.  5 
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

Drama 

PRODUCER:  B.  P.  Fineman.  Directed  by  George 
Sidney. 

PLAYERS:  Franchot  Tone,  Marsha  Hunt,  Gene 
Kelly,  Alan  Baxter. 

SYNOPSIS 

This'  is  the  story  of  eight  American  pilots 
fighting  a  desperate  rear  guard  action  against 
Japanese  encroachment  in  the  Dutch  East  In- 
dies. Told  by  means  of  flashbacks,  it  deals 
principally  with  a  young  American,  played  by 
Tone,  who  at  the  outset  is  cynical  about  the 
war  to  the  point  of  pacifism,  and  changes  his 
his  feelings. 

JOHNNY  DOUGHBOY 
(Republic) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER-DIRECTOR:  John  H.  Auer. 
PLAYERS:  Jane  Withers,  William  Demarest,  Ruth 
Donnelly,    Henry  Wilcoxon,   Bobby   Breen,  Booby 
Coogan,  Cora  Sue  Collins. 

SYNOPSIS 

With  a  16-year-old  film  star  running  away 
in  protest  over  a  screen  role,  her  agent  takes 
the  president  of  her  fan  club,  who  resembles 
her,  and  palms  her  off  as  the  real  actress.  A 
group  of  former  film  players,  "The  Twenty- 
Minus  Club,"  composed  of  former  child  stars, 
is  about  to  embark  on  a  Junior  Victory  Cara- 
van to  sell  war  bonds  in  various  cities,  and 
complications  arise  when  the  double  is  sought 
to  accompany  it. 

This  marks  the  return  to  the  screen  of  Jane 
Withers  and  Bobby  Breen. 


Product  Digest  Section     97  I 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,  1942 


SHORTS  CHART 


Production  Numbers 
Release  Dates 
Running  Time 


COLUMBIA 


Prod. 

Rel. 

P.D. 

No 

Title 

Date 

Page 

ALL  8TAR  COMEDIES 

(Averag*  17  Mln.) 

1941-42 

3433 

704 

(Clyde) 

3412 

A  Study  In  Socks  

5-21-42 

700 

(Glove  Slingers) 

3434 

Tire  Man,  Spare  My  Tires. 6-4-42 

784 

(Langdon) 

3483 

Olaf  Laughs  Last  

.6-18-42 

784 

(Brendel) 

3436 

All  Work  and  No  Pay... 

7-16-42 

859 

(Clyde) 

3407 

784 

(Stooges) 

3408 

Three  Smart  Saps  

.7-30-42 

856' 

1942-43 

4421 

Phony  Cronies   

8-27-42 

899 

(Brendel) 

4422 

Carry  Harry   

.9-3-42 

926 

(Langdon) 

4401 

9-18-42 

950 

(Stooges) 

4423 

Kiss  and  Wake  Up  

10-2-42 

974 

(Downs) 

4424 

Sappy  Pappy   

0-30-42 

(Clyde) 

COLOR  RHAPSODIES 

(7  Minutes) 

1941-42 

3507 

Cinderella  Goes  to  a 

700 

3508 

Woodman  Spare  That  Tree 

6-19-42 

784 

1942-43 

4501 

926 

4502 

Tito's  Guitar   

10-9-42 

PHANTASIES  CARTOONS 

(Average  9  Mln.) 

1941-42 

3703 

A  Battle  for  a  Bottle  . . . 

5-29-42 

784 

3705 

Old    Blackout  Joe  

8-27-42 

899 

1942-43 

4701 

The  Gullible  Canary  

9-18-42 

4702 

The  Dumb  Conscious  Mind. 

0-23-42 

FABLES 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

3755   The  Bulldog  and  the  Baby 

7-24-42  856 

COMMUNITY  8INQ  (Series  6) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3660    No.  10  (Songs  of  the  Times) 

6-5-42  700 

1942-  43 
(Series  7) 

4651  No.  I — Rhumba  and  Conga 

Hits   8-15-42  859 

4652  No.  2— "Yankee  Doodler" .9- 17-42  950 

(Baker) 

QUIZ  REELS 
(Average  10  Mln.) 
1942-43 
(Series  3) 

4601    Klchen  Quiz  No.  1  8-21-42  899 

PANORAMICS 
(10  Minutes) 

1942-43 

4901  Cajuns  of  the  Teche  8-13-42  856 

(Quaint  Folks  No.  I) 

4902  Oddities  (La  Varre)  10-8-42 

TOURS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4551  Journey  to  Denall  (La  Varre) 

8-5-42  877 

4552  Old  and  Modern  New 

Orleans   10-2-42  974 


Prod.  Rel.  P.D. 

No.         Title  Date  Page 

SCREEN  SNAPSHOTS  (Series  21) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

3859  Ne.  9   5-8-42  700 

3860  Ne.  10   6-19-42  755 

1942-  43 
(Series  22) 

4851  No.   I   8-7-42  859 

4852  No.  2   9-25-42  926 

WORLD  OF  SPORTS 
(10  Minute*) 

1941-  42 

3808  Fit  to  Fight  5-22-42  755 

3809  Tennis  Rhythm   7-3-42  784 

3810  Canvas  Cut-Ups   8-28-42  899 

1942-  43 

4801    Trotting  Kings   9-11-42  974 

KATE  SMITH 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4751    America  Sings  With 

Kate  Smith   8-21-42  899 

FAMOUS  BANDS 
(10  Minutes) 
1942-43 

4951  Ted  Powell  (1280  Club) .  .8-27-42  899 

4952  Hal  Mclntyre   10-23-42 


M-G-M 

TWO  REEL  SPECIALS 
(20  Minutes) 
1941-42 

A-304  For  the  Common  Defense. 6-20-42  613 
A-305    Mr.  Blabbermouth   8-8-42  877 

FITZPATRICK  TRAVELTALKS  (Color) 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

T-321  Picturesque  Patzeuaro. .  .5-23-42  729 
T-322    Exotlo   Mexico   6-13-42  755 

1942-  43 

T-4II  Picturesque 

Massachusetts   10-3-42 

T-412    Modern   Mexico  City  11-8-42 

PETE  SMITH  SPECIALTIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

S-367   Victory  Quiz   5-9-42  729 

S-368    Pete  Smith's  Scrapbook.  .5-23-42  760 

S-369    Barbee-Cues   5-30-42  700 

S-370    Self   Defense   7-25-42  856 

S-371    It's  a  Dog's  Life  8-22-42  877 

S-372    Victory  Vittles   9-19-42  950 

S-373    Football  Thrills  of  1941 .  .9-26-42 
S-374   Calling  All  Pa's  10-24-42  .. 

PAS8ING  PARADE 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

K-384  The  Woman  in  the  House  5-9-42  704 
K-385   The  Incredible  Stranger. 6-20-42  755 

K-386   Vendetta   7-18-42  813 

K-387   The  Magic  Alphabet. ..  10-10-42  .. 

K-388    Famous  Boners   10-24-42 

K-389    The  Film  That  Was 

Lost   10-31-42 

MINIATURES 
(19  Minutes) 
1941-42 

M-335    Further  Prophecies  of 

Nostradamus   5-9-42  700 

M-336   The  Greatest  Gift  9-5-42  926 

M-337    ATCA   10-3-42 

M-338    The  Good  Job  10-10-42 

M-339    Listen.   Boys   10-17-42 

OUR  GANG  COMEDIES 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

C-397    Surprised    Parties  5-30-42  700 

C-398    Doln'  Their  Bit  7-18-42  813 

C-399    Rover's   Big   Chance  8-22-42  856 

C-400    Mighty  Lak  a  Goat. ...  10- 10-42  .. 


Prod. 

No. 


Title 


Rel.  P.D. 
Date  Page 


Prod. 

No. 


Title 


Rel.  P.D 
Date  Pagt 


TECHNICOLOR  CARTOONS 
(9  Minutes) 
1941-42 

W-S48    Little  Gravel  Voice  5-16-42  700 

W-349    Puss  'N   Toots  5-30-42  754 

W-350    Bats  In  The  Belfry  7-  4-42  813 

W-351    The  Bowling  Alley  Cat.. 7-18-42  813 

W-352   The  Blitz  Wolf  8-22-42  950 

W-353  The  Early  Bird  Dood  It. 8-29-42  950 
W-354    Chips  Off  the  Old 

Block   9-12-42  950 

W-355    Fine  Feathered  Friend.  10-10-42 

PARAMOUNT 

UNUSUAL  OCCUPATIONS  (Color) 
(II  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

Ll-S    No.  5   8-26-42  754 

LI-6    No.  6   8-21-42  877 

1942-  43 

L2-I    No.  I   10-9-42  974 

BENCHLEY  COMEDIES 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

SI-4    Keeping  In  Shape  6-12-42  754 

SI -5    The  M^n's  Angle  8-14-22  950 

FASCINATING  JOURNEYS  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

Ml -2    Indian   Temples   9-4-42  926 

SUPERMAN  COLOR  CARTOONS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

WI-7   Superman  in  Electric 

Earthquake   6-5-42  754 

WI-8   Superman  In  Volcano  7-10-42  856 

WI-9   Superman  In  Terror 

en  the  Midway  8-28-42  877 

WI-IO  Superman  and  the 

Japcteurs   9-18-42  950 

W I  - 1 1  Superman  in  Showdown ..  10- 16-42  974 
WI-12  Superman  in  Eleventh 

Hour   11-20-42  .. 

HEDDA  HOPPER'S  HOLLYWOOD 
(10  Minutes) 
1941-42 

ZI-4    No.  4   6-19-42  754 

ZI-5    No.  5   8-14-42  877 

ZI-6    No.  6  9-18-42  950 

HEADLINERS 
(18  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

AI-4    Hands  of  Victory  5-22-42  653 

A I  -5    Nightmare  of  a  Goon  5-1-42  653 

1942-  43 

A2-I    The  McFarland  Twins  & 

Orchestra   10-2-42 

MADCAP  MODELS  (Color) 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

UI-4    Mr.  Strauss  Takes  a  Walk. 5-8-42  653 

UI-5    Tulips  Shall  Grow  6-26-42  813. 

UI-6   The  Little  Broadcast  9-25-42 

1942-  43 

U2-I    Jasper  and  the  Haunted 

House   10-23-42  .. 

POPEYE  THE  SAILOR 
(7  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

El  8    Olive  Oyl  and  Water  Don't 

Mix   5-8-42  729 

E 1-9    Many  Tanks   6-5-42  755 

El  - 10  Baby  Wants  a  Bottleshlp.. 7-3-42  856 
El-ll  You're  a  Sap,  Mr.  Jap. ..8-7-42  859 
El- 12    Alona  on  the  Sarong  Seas. 9-4-42  926 

1942-  43 

E2- 1    A  Hull  of  a  Mess  10-16-42  974 

POPULAR  SCIENCE  (Color) 
(10  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

J  I -5    No.  5   8- 12-42  755 

JI-6    No.  6   7-31-42  856 

1942-  43 

J2-I    No.  I   10-2-42  974 


SPEAKING  OF  ANIMALS 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

YI-4    In  the  Circus  5-29-42  729 

YI-5    At  the  Dog  Show  8-28-42  926 

YI-6    In   South   America  9-25-42  974 

SPORTLIGHTS 
(9  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

RI-IO    Hero  Worship   5-15-42  729 

Rl-ll    Parachute  Athletes  6-19-42  754 

RI-12    Let  'Era  Go  Alive  7-17-42  856 

RI-13   Timber  Athletes   9-11-42  926 

1942-  43 

R2-t    Sports  I.Q  10-9-42  974 

QUIZ  KIDS 
(II  Minutes) 

1941-  42 

QI-5    No.  5   5-22-42  729 

Ql-fl    No.  6   7-31-42  859 

VICTORY  SHORTS 
(15  Minutes) 

1942-  43 

T2-I  A  Letter  from  Bataan. .  .9-15-42  946 
T2-2    We  Refuse  to  Die  10-13-42  946 


RKO 

MARCH  OF  TIME 
(Average  20  Mln.) 
1941-42 

23.110  India  In  Crisis  5-8-42  647 

23.111  India  at  War  6-5-42  714 

23.112  Men  In  Washington- 1942.7-3-42  751 

23.113  Men  of  the  Fleet  7-31-42  794 

WALT  DISNEY  CARTOONS  (Color) 
(8  Minutes) 
1941-42 

24.103  Donald  Gets  Drafted  5-1-42  653 

24.104  The  Army  Mascot  5-22-42  700 

24.105  Donald's  Garden   6-12-42  754 

24.106  The  Sleepwalker   7-3-42  858 

24.107  Donald's  Gold  Mine  7-24-42  868 

24.108  T-Bone  for  Two  8-14-42  856 

24.109  How  to  Play  Baseball ..  .9-4-42  926 
24,100  The  Vanishing  Private.  .9-24-42  974 
24,111    Olympic  Champs   10-9-42 

INFORMATION  PLEASE 
(Average  II  Mln.) 
1941-42 

24.207  No.  /   Cornelia  Otis  Skinner 

5-22-42  700 

24.208  No.  8    Russell  Crouse. .  .6-19-42  787 

24.209  No.  9    Johrf  Gunther. ..  .7-17-42  813 

24.210  No.  10    John  Carradine. 8-14-42  877 

24.211  Russell  Crouse   9-11-42  974 

SPORTSCOPE 
(Averag*  9  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

24,318    Byron   Nelson   5-15-42  700 

24.311  Cinderella  Champion  6-12-42  767 

24.312  Polo  Pony   7-10-42  IS* 

24.313  Record  Breakers   8-7-42  877 

1942-  43 

34.301  Show   Horse   9-11-42  974 

34.302  Touchdown  Tars   10-9-42 

34.303  Skates   and   Skills  11-6-42 

PIOTURE  PEOPLE 
(10  Minute*) 
1941-42 

24.410  Hollywood  at  Home  6-22-42  700 

24.411  All  Around  Hollywood  .  .8-19-42  767 

24.412  Hollywood  8tarlets  7-17-42  818 

24.413  Hollywoed  en  th* 

Hudson   8-14-42  928 

EDGAR  KENNEDY 
(Average  18  Mln.) 

1941-  42 

23,408    Cooks  and  Creeks  6-8-42  729 

1942-  43 

33.401    Two  for  the  Money  8-14-42  928 


972     Product  Digest  Section 


24,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Prei.  Bet  P_D. 

.V».  Tiai-r  Dtie  Pfe 

LEON  ERROL 
(ATera*e  19  ntlr.) 

1941-  43 

23,7*5    Fraiilii    Father  5-1J-42  7t* 

23.7S*    Held  'En  Jail   I-25-42  717 

1942-  41 

33.701    Mail  Trncble   9-4-42  926 

RAY  WHITLEY 
'ATsraie  15  Mini.) 
[MI -43 

23.5*4   Raage  HayUua  7-17-42  813 

JAW  B  0  R  EES 

(Average  IB  Mia.) 
1942-43 

34,4*1    Jerry  WaM  &  Ores  9-11-42  95* 

34,4*2   Jaaaay  Leaf  &  Ores  16-2-42 

34,4*3   Bay  HcKiatey  &  On*. .  [B-38-42 

VICTORY  SPECIALS 
1942-43 

34,2il    Cimu  ay  the  Clack..  .15-27-42 

34.2*2  Spit,  Brit  ana*  Rirets  

FAMOUS  JURY  TRIALS 
(Average  18  Mia.) 
1942-43 

33.2*1    The  State  as.  Glea 

Wilfc*   9-18-12  S74 

33,2*2   Tie  State  v=_  Taaaos 

Taiiij,.  Cnsiry   11-13-42 

THIS  IS  AHERICA 
(Arerase  19  Him.) 
1942-43 

33,1*1    Prhrats  Ssi'Ja  m  iae 

U.  S.  A.  16-2-42  971 

33.1*2  Waatea  at  Arms  16-36-42  .. 

33,1*3   Hea  af  Tiaiim  11-27-42  .. 


20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

ADVENTURES   N  EWSCAM  E  R  AM  AN 
(Amir  9  Hit.) 

1941- 42 

337*    Ex:  -!  s?  the  Sat        7-17-42  7r 

1942-  43 


MAGIC  CARPET 
(9  MlBCtM) 

1941-  43 

2IW    Heart  af  Mex.it*  5-1-42  7W 

2IC7   G^tewa:  la  Ada.  5-8-43  7M 

2IS)    l«*.a  taa   GaMea  1-19-42  755 

1542-43  (Calor) 

*ISI    Oeaert  WaaJrrliaiH  8-1-42  85S 

"152   WeaalBf   is   Bikaacr  8-23-42  S3? 

3   Valley  af  Blassaas  9-25-42  333 

-»-       Eayal  Araby   16-23-42 

3ISi    6aj  Rla  11-22-42 

SPORTS  REVIEWS 
($  HI  rote* 

1942-  43 

.-.'A    Wsll-Rn,.;    Htrnri  »-i4-42  829 

3351    Ntfta:t's  Daaittar   11-5-42 

TERRYTOOHS  (TECHNICOLOR) 
r7  Ml  notes) 
(941-43 

S3*  I    N;*k   iid    Neek  5-15-42  79* 

25*2    Ail  Abut  Digs  5- 12-42  753 

IS42-4-5 

333l    AD  Oat  far  "V"  8-7-42  926 

3552  Life  with  Fla*  8-21-42  926 

3553  Seasal   Daze   9-18-42  930 


3554  Might  Life  ia  tae  Ajar*-.  IB-2-42  974 
3^  Haarys  Little  Taeatre...  10-16-42 

3555  Tae  Maase  af  TeaMma.- IB- 16-42 
3557   Maaey  ia  Daiag  Taeir 

B«t   16-30-42 

353*   Fraakeasteia's  Cat  11-27-42 

TERRYTOOMS  (Bite*  4.  WS  ii 
(7  Hiartei) 
1941-42 

3311    Baady  Be*se  In  Tricky  Sm 


5-  I  -42  704 

Sill    Tk»   Stirk'i    Mil-take. ...  5-29-42  7" 

2412    Wilful  Wlllll   ......          8-25-42  75= 

25!!    Ger-y  Gi-cie   i-  it, 

 7-10-42  753 

2-14    Baaaqr  Guu  li 

Tlra  Tremble   7-24-42  767 

1942-43 

35-::    TV.    a;,    Bail;. Up  5-4-42  5-25 

5-342    lakle   Meets  Piekli  11-13-42 


Prxi.  Sal  JM). 

,V«.  7W(  Oe**  Faffe 

THE  WORLB  TODAY 

(I     Ml  Patau) 

1 94 1  -42 

1441    Cawi-ioan  Antral  1 1    1-5-42  754 

24*«    Men  rf  Wart   Pe-Ut  7-1-42  754 

1942-43 

24-;' I    Our  Last  Frwtisr  9- 1 1 -42 

MARCH  OF  TIME 

(Arenas  20  Hlitrtsi) 
1942-43 

....  Tot  F.B.I.   Frwrt   911 

  The    Fijhting    French   945 

UNITED  ARTISTS 

WORLD   IN  ACTION 


CT»i   Rail  1) 
1941-42 

....    Tali  li  Blitz   5-I-43  St* 

  Fa**— We***a  «f  Can*,  wet.*- 5 -42  5*! 

....    The  Battle  far  011   549 

  Hitlers  Plan   9-4-42  854 

  Read  ta  Takya   898 

  Inside  Fighting  China  18-2-42  896 

  Mask  af   Nippon  11-6-42  971 


UNIVERSAL 

COLOR  CARTUNE 
(Amrni  7  Hlu.) 


1941-  42 

1249    Goad  Bye  Mr.  Bart  5-11-42  553 

62*9    Nitty    Pis,i    Casio  6-1-43  755 

9251    An  li  tie  Hall  8-22-42  753 

3232    Juki  Bex  Jamboree  7-27-42  767 

5253    Pi  tae  a   Patrol  1-3-42  81! 

1342-43 

7241  Andy  Paada's  Vietery 

Garden    .,  9-7-42  521 

7242  The   Lraa  Stracrsr  10-19-12 

SWIN6  SYMPHONIES 

1 942-  43 

7231    Yankee  Doodle  S'rlaj 

Shift   9-21-42  891 

STRONGER  THAN  FICTION 
(9  Hliwte*; 
1941-42 

538*    Twm  laaaai  CkareM  5-II-42  729 

5331  Hrrterisca  Faaactaia 

ff    HeaJtk   S- 15-42  755 

5332  Martar  Carrer  7-8-42  7S7 

5333  Wkssi   at  tins    Plecjb ..  .7-20-42  SIS 

5334  Mile  af  Daaih  8-19-42  877 

5£:3    Sir  :ie   Pijrtsr   8-31-42  839 


PERSON— ODDITIES 
1942-43 

7371    Human  Sailboat   9-14-42  925 

7374   Danbta  Talk  fiiri  11-16-42 

VARIETY  VIEWS 
\9  HiaaBaa] 
1341-42 

S3-62    Call  tf  the  Sea  5-4-43  719 

33*3    Willi  rf   Freeiem  8-8-42  755 

5384    Aurtarrtii  Ostpart   7-13-42  753 

55:5    Crate-  'City   8-17-42  858 

1343-43 

7351  Treoali  Saat  if  fJke  East..S-7-42  &S9 

7352  rial  afina  p-atrrl   9-21-42  92S 

7353  Spirit  if  DsaMrasj-  13-5-42  S74 

7354  Hsw  Era  in  India  1 1-2-42 

7355  Wssta-n   Wsicpae    893 

MUSICALS 
(Arenee  19  MI111.I 
1 94 1  -42 

5234    Salts  Frtlic   5-13-42  853 

5233    Ralabaai  Rlrytnm   5-10-42  755 

5232    Merry  KaCapi   7-15-42  813 

S23I    Sisrffle  Rhythm   8-19-42  877 

7121    Tronpet    Sereaaae  9-9-42  899 

7:22    Si— -a;e    is    Sa:r.;...  .13-14-42  899 

7123  Jhria*  Jam  Sessisa  11-11-42  899 

PLED GE   FOB  VICTORY 
1942-43 

  Keeaiag  Fit  10-25-42 


Pr»4.  Ed  PH. 

Sc.  Title  Dttt  Pigt 


VITAPHONE 

TECHNICOLOR  SPECIALS 
(Arerat*  22  Mia.) 


1 94 1  -42 

78*5    S  aan  I  nk   FlerU   5-11-42  7M 

70*4    Marrt   01  ABWirlet  8-27-42  755 

TI'O*    Men  af  tni  Sky  7-25-42  US 

1942-43 

8091    A  Ship  li  Born  10-10-42 

8002   The  Army,  Navy  and 

Marines   10-31-42 

BROADWAY  BREVITIES 

(2:4  Mlmtei) 
1 94 1  -42 

7111    P-a*!*i  Frwrtlen   5-39-43  72S 

71 1 1    Dm  attar  rf  Rule  O'Braaj 

7- 1 1 -42  787 

71  IS    "Dirlde  and  Cmoar''  5-29-42  794 

1942-43 

8101    The  Spirit  af  AnisapiIIs. .  .9-5-42  925 

BI82   The  Natim  Dantes  9-25-42  974 

SI03  The  Spirit  rf  Wert  PmlJrt. .  1 1-7-42 
£104   Beyond  tiie  Line  nf  Duty.  1 1 -7-42 


HOLLYWOOD  NOVELTIES 
(II  MlwtM) 
1941-43 

93BI    There  AW  Us  S«el» 

Animal   5-9-42  £53 

1S42-43 

8301    Sweeney  Steps  Out  9-12-42  S30 

S3C2    Yen  Want  t»  Give  Up 

SaaakiB]   ,..11-14-42 

THE  SP0RT8  PARADE 
(I*  Mlrotei) 

1941-  42 

74i7    Rt-eky  MaiKrtaln  Big  Game. 5-2-42  764 

7468    Hatteru  Haaxan   8-13-42  755 

7409    Hei-ter'i  Panel i at   7-18-42  859 

741*   Argcntim    Hsreet   8-8-42  877 

1942-  43 

34-31    Sniffer  Si-Idlers   S- 12-42  950 

BBK   Swrtn  Anseriau  Sparta. . !•- 17-43 

3433    The    Rijht  TiBisj  10-31-42 

3-434    Cchs,  Land  tf  RamtJiee  and 

Adrentnre    11-21-42 

3-435  Brttls 

Beatrty   11-21-42  .. 

MELODY  MASTERS  BANDS 
(II  MInirtai) 
1941-43 

75-09  EaaD  Cflenai  4.  Ortti. . .  3- 13-42  754 
7:13    Glen   Gray  i   Band  8-15-42  »77 

[942-43 

8501    Army  Air  Force  Band  9-19-42  950 

3502   Six  Hits  and  a  Hiss  10-24-42 

5  533    u,  S.  Marine  Band  11-23-42 

L00NEY    TUNES  CARTOONS 

(7  MI  antes) 
1941-43 

76*8    Daffy's  Sacrtheri  Exaasart. .5-2-43  853 


76H    Nutty  Nra-i   5-23-42  70S 

"III    Htitry  Hate  Laffi  S-8-42  7  54 

7512  Gipber  Giffy   *-27-42  735 

7513  Wa*ky   Blatkesrt  .7-11-42  877 

7514  Tbi  Daakta-tK   8-1-42  (3* 

3615    Eatln'  ei  the  CetS  8-22-4-2  877 

7:  5    The    Inpatient    Patiert  9-5-42  177 

1942-43 

3531  Ths    Hep   Gat  10-3-42  950 

3532  7-;  Daff)  DiakarM  1 3-24-42 

3333    My  Fan-rite  Doe*  11-21-42 

MERRIE   MELODIES   CARTOONS  (Calar) 
(7  Mlmrtei) 

1941-  42 

7717  The   Wifky  W  abb  It..  5-2-42  7*4 

7718  The  Draft  Hares  5-S-42  7M 

7719  Lights  Fantartie   5-23-42  79* 

77::    H::i  the           Please      .  5-6-42  754 

7721  Dnble  Chaser   5-20-42  7  55 

7722  Bacs  Baaaq  Geti  the 

Bird   7-11-42  8541 

7723  Faaey  Fables   8- 1-42  851 

7724  The  Scoankin"  Ha*k   8-8-42  877 

7725  Fresh  Hare   8-22-42  877 

772S    Fax  Pap   *-5-42  877 

1942-  43 

S70I    The  Dcver  Bays  9-19-42  950 

8702    The  Sheepish  Wolf  10-17-4  950 

87*3  The  Hare  Brained 

Hypnotist   10-31-42 


S704   A  Tale  ef  Tan  Kitties. .  1 1 -14-42 


Prci.  Bat  fJ. 

No.         Title  bete  Pie 

8705  Ding  Ds«  Daddy  11-28-42 

8706  Case  af  the  Miniag 

Hare   11-28-42  .. 

V 

OFFICIAL   U.  S.  VICTORY  FILMS 
(Dlttribvted  ky  Variacti   Major  Eikbxbim) 

Baabar    a«l 

Pata   tf    Plain   54K 

Faad    far    Freedaa   5*9 

Red    Crata   Trallar   iHt 

Wanta   lo   Befiai-e   5** 

S*fajj;fcrdini    Military    I  afaneatlan   5*1 

Taeki    *« 

Any  Bi-si  Taettf   5*9 

Rill  af  Stael    887 

FI  settle  g    FIra    Bambi   887 

Laka  Carrier    715 

Unitad    China  Rillaf  

WlMiini  Yaar  Willi   674 

Keep   'Enn    Ralllif   174 

Mr.  Sardiela  Jaaai   874 

Ysitr  Air  Raid  Warden   77* 

Vlillaaaa    771 

Oat  of  the  Foinj  Pan   925 

Salvage    946 

Manpower    971 

Japanese  Relocation    971 

U.  S.  TREASURY  DEPT. 

(Released  Through  National  Screen) 

The   Ne»  Spirit   529 

WAR  ACTIVITIES  COMMITTEE 

(Released  Throngh  20th-Fox) 

Battle  of  Mida-ay   912 

BRITISH  MINISTRY  OF  INFORMATION 

Young  Veterans    971 

Commandos   971 

YestBrday  Is  OTer  Your  Shoulder   971 

Musical   Poster    971 

21  Miles    971 

Neighbors  Under  Fire    971 

Ferry  Pilot    971 

Scotland  Speaks    971 

Shorter  Black's  Nicht  Off   971 

Troopship    971 

Ths  Bnilders    971 

From  the  Fonr  Corners   971 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Yooir  Ringside  Seat  iith  Tea  MeCrary 

(Neirsretl   Distribirtors)    497 

Soviet  Women  (Artkino)   612 

Movie  daiz,  No.  I  and  2   854 

(Movie  CLoiz  Distributing) 

Shock  Troops  for  Defense   871 

Brarita  Fi'-s 

Scrap  for  Victory   871 

(Brandon  Films) 

V 

SERIALS 


COLUMBIA 

1941-42 

3188    Par Ila  af  tie  Rayaj 

Mrsfftad   5-29-42  715 

(15   Es  WCM 

1143-4* 

4120   The  Searet  Cade  9-4-42  *M 

(15  EplaadM) 

REPUBLIC 

1941-  42 

183  Say  Saaakar   4-4-42  558 

(12  Episodes) 

184  Parilj  af  Nyaka  S-27-42  7f7 

(15  ealsaeai) 

1942-  43 

2SI    Kim  af  the  Meentlei. . .  IS-18-42 
(12  eplaadea) 


232    G-Men  vs.  the  Black  Dragon  

(15  Episodes) 


UNIVERSAL 

1941-42 

5581-93    Gai|   Beaten   8-31-42  529 

(13  3: 

1943-43 

7S8I-92   Junior  G-Men  af  the 

Air   e-SS-42  784 

(12  episodes) 

7781-95    Overland    Mail   9-22-42  950 

(15  episodes) 


Product  Digest  Section  973 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    24,    19  4  2 

SHORTS 

advance  synopses  and 
information 


NIGHT  LIFE  IN  THE  ARMY  (20th-Fox) 

Terry  toon  {color)  (3554) 

Sergeant  Cat  and  Gandy  Goose  retire  to  their 
tent  for  the  night.  Gandy  "dreams  up"  several 
nightmares  which  include  his  tentmate,  a  fact 
of  which  Cat  is  resentfully  conscious,  particu- 
larly as  he  is  usually  getting  the  worst  of  it. 
The  sergeant  tries  to  change  this  situation  and 
engineer  the  dreams  in  his  favor,  but  Gandy 
manages  to  thwart  him. 

Release  date,  October  2,  1942       7  minutes 

POPULAR  SCIENCE,  No.  I  (Para.) 
/2-1 

A  wide  range  of  subjects  in  this  short  release 
includes  the  nation's  largest  Agricultural  Cen- 
ter, located  at  Beltsville,  Md. ;  a  kitchen  se- 
quence with  a  variety  of  gadgets  to  lighten 
woman's  work ;  the  Wily  Wizard  of  Waukesha 
for  comedy,  and  a  view  of  the  training  of  Para- 
troopers, picked  men  from  the  United  States 
Marines. 

Release  date,  October  2,  1942       9  minutes 

A  HULL  OF  A  MESS  (Para.) 

Popeye  (£2-1) 

Popeye  and  Bluto  are  building  ships  for  Un- 
cle Sam,  the  most  successful  yard  to  receive  a 
huge  Government  contract.  Rivalry  is  keen  all 
through  the  construction  operations  with  Pop- 
eye  finishing  first.  Bluto  christens  the  ship  with 
nitro-glycerine,  but  a  good  dose  of  spinach 
enables  Popeye  to  repair  the  damage  in  time. 

Release  date,  October  16,  1942     7  minutes 

SHOW  HORSE  (RKO) 

Sport  scope  (34,301) 

At  Longview  Farms  near  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
horses  are  bred  for  show.  Mrs.  Lulu  Long 
Combs  is  owner  and  driver  of  the  blue-ribbon 
winners.  Her  trainer,  Dave  Smith,  puts  some 
of  the  animals  through  their  paces,  demonstrat- 
ing the  points  on  which  judgments  are  made. 
Release  date,  September  11,  1942     9  minutes 

INFORMATION  PLEASE,  No.  II  (RKO) 

Russell  Crouse  (24,211) 

The  famous  theatrical  producer  and  play- 
wright is  guest  expert  for  a  lively  quiz  session 
touching  matters  of  history,  poetry,  drama  and 
Americana.  The  regular  board  members,  Clif- 
ton Fadiman,  John  Kieran,  Franklin  P.  Adams, 
and  Oscar  Levant  share  the  fun. 

Release  date,  September  11,  1942   10  minutes 

SPORTS  I.Q.  (Para.) 

Sportlight  (R2-1) 

The  thirteen  questions  asked  by  Ted  Husing 
in  this  reel  should  stimulate  a  bit  of  quick 
thinking  among  sport  fans.  Each  question  is 
illustrated  and  answered  after  a  brief  pause  for 
audience  cogitation.  A  wide  variety  of  sports 
and  national  games  is  covered. 
Release  date,  October  9,  1942     10  minutes 


Synopses  Indexed 

Page  numbers  on  short  subject 
synopses  published  in  Product  Digest 
are  listed  in  the  Shorts  chart,  Prod- 
uct Digest  Section,  pages  972-973. 


OLD  AND  MODERN  NEW  ORLEANS 
(Col.) 

Tours  (45  52) 

The  tour  of  this  southern  city  concentrates 
on  the  "old"  or  French  quarter  of  the  city  with 
its  strong  European  influence  in  architecture 
and  custom.  There  are  views  also  of  the  more 
modern  city  of  residential  and  office  buildings, 
universities  and  churches. 

Release  date,  October  2,  1942     10  minutes 

SPIRIT  OF  DEMOCRACY  (Univ.) 

Variety  Views  (7353) 

A  glimpse  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  inventor, 
is  given  in  this  visit  to  his  historical  estate  in 
Monticello,  Va.  The  statemen's  interest  in  gad- 
gets and  household  conveniences  are  evident 
in  the  planning  of  the  building,  the  furniture 
with  special  attachments  for  comfort  and  re- 
laxation and  other  devices. 
Release  date,  October  5,  1942     10  minutes 

A  NATION  DANCES  (WB) 

Broadway  Brevities  (8102) 

The  annual  dance  festival  in  Moscow,  filmed 
last  autumn  when  the  Germans  were  threaten- 
ing the  city,  is  presented  with  a  commentary 
by  Erskine  Caldwell.  Folk  dances  from  all  sec- 
tions of  the  vast  country  are  represented  in 
colorful  variety. 

Release  date,  September  26,  1942  20  minutes 

ALONG  THE  TEXAS  RANGE  (20th-Fox) 

Cameraman  Adventures  (3202) 

A  total  of  800,000  acres  of  southern  Texas 
and  as  much  from  adjoining  Mexico  has  been 
set  aside  for  Big  Bend  Park,  the  first  inter- 
national park  in  North  America.  The  land  is 
desert  covered  with  cactus  and  yucca  and  bar- 
ren mountain.  Characteristic  of  the  plant  life 
are  the  pataya,  ocotillo  and  the  Giant  Dagger, 
all  photographed  in  bloom. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942      10  minutes 

SUPERMAN  IN  SHOWDOWN  (Para.) 

Wl-U 

Superman  discovers  an  impersonator  perpetu- 
ating roberries  in  his  name.  He  catches  up  with 
him  at  an  opera  and  follows  him  to  his  Long 
Island  haunt  where  the  "Brain"  is  preparing  a 
getaway. 

Release  date,  October  16,  1942    7!/4  minutes 


THE  VANISHING  PRIVATE  (RKO) 

Disney  Cartoon  (24,110) 

Donald  Duck,  a  member  of  the  camouflage 
squad,  experiments  with  invisible  paint  after 
having  been  cautioned  that  the  purpose  of  his 
job  is  to  paint  field  pieces  so  that  they  cannot 
be  seen.  He  finds  invisibility  a  useful  dodge 
himself  when  Sergeant  Pete  appears  and  a 
merry  chase  ensues. 

Release  date,  September  25,  1942    7  minutes 

THE  STATE  VS.  GLEN  WILLET  (RKO) 

Famous  Jury  Trials  (33,201) 

RKO  has  introduced  with  its  1942-43  pro- 
gram a  novel  short  series  re-enacting  famous 
court  cases.  The  first  is  a  study  in  circumstan- 
tial evidence,  the  case  of  a  man  whose  house 
burned  down  and  whose  wife  died  in  the  fire 
while  he  was  proved  to  be  in  another  city. 
The  audience  is  allowed  to  decide  the  case  for 
iteself,  although  the  original  verdict  was 
"Guilty." 

Release  date,  September  18,  1942   18  minutes 

TROTTING  KINGS  (Col.) 

World  of  Sports  (4801) 

The  Walnut  Hill  Farm  in  Kentucky  is  the 
home  of  fine  trotting  horses.  This  subject 
catches  the  highlights  of  a  trotter's  career  from 
birth  to  the  Hambletonian  in  Goshen,  New 
York.  The  commentary  is  provided  by  Bill 
Stern. 

Release  date,  September  25,  1942  10  minutes 

IN  SOUTH  AMERICA  (Para.) 

Speaking  of  Animals  (Yl-6) 

Filmed  along  the  banks  of  the  Amazon  in 
Brazil,  this  reel  pictures  the  native  animals  in- 
cluding spider  monkeys,  parrots,  tapirs,  storks, 
condors,  ant-eaters,  ciconiformes,  otters  and  a 
harpy  eagle. 

Release  date,  September  25,  1942    9  minutes 

UNUSUAL  OCCUPATIONS,  No.  I  (Para.) 

L2-1 

The  first  release  in  this  series  for  the  1942-43 
season  ranges  from  Florida  to  Alberta,  Canada, 
featuring  the  bell-like  elevator  in  Silver  Springs 
for  underwater  pictures,  the  branch  library  on 
wheels  in  Edmonton,  an  art  instructor  who 
conducts  a  zoo  and  a  visit  to  Edward  "Roches- 
ter" Anderson's  Hollywood  home  where  he 
displays  his  miniature  train  system. 

Release  date,  October  9,  1942     10  minutes 

KISS  AND  WAKE  UP  (Col.) 

Downs  (4423) 

The  first  Johnny  Downs  comedy  on  the  1942- 
43  schedule  concerns  a  marital  mix-up.  Johnny 
is  the  jealous  bridgegroom-to-be  and  his  friend, 
Frank  Scully,  provides  some  of  the  romantic 
complications  in  women's  clothes. 

Release  date,  October  2,  1942     18  minutes 


974    Product  Digest  Section 


Ociober    24,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 

All    page    numbers   on   this   chart   refer   to    pages   in  the 
PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD, 
Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 
on  pages  972-973. 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 
by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  961. 


REVIEWED 


Nl.  Jr. 

rTOuUCl 

St  tv  ice 

r  TO  a . 

J\.€lSttSC 

Herald 

UlgCil 

Synopsis 

Uayu 

Titlt 

Company 

Xl  »r  77>  L/C  ! 

Stars 

Date 

Pare 
rage 

l  age 

Part* 
rage 

•  ABOUT  Face 

UA-Roach 

William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer 

Apr.  1 7,'42 

43  m 

Apr.  18/42 

612 

Across  the  Pacific 

WB 

202 

Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor 

Sept.  5,'42 

98m 

Aug.  22/42 

927 

726 

Action  in  the  North  Atlantic  WB 

Humphrey  Bogart-Raymond  Massey 

Not  Set 

Adventures  of  Mark  Twain 

WB 

Fredric  March-Alexis  Smith 

Not  Set 

936 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The 

MGM 

245 

Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson 

Aug.  '42 

66m 

May  23/42 

673 

613 

756 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force 

WB 

John  Garfield-Gig  Young 

Not  Set 

936 

•  Alias  Botton  Blackie 

Col. 

3029 

Chester  Morris-Adele  Mara 

Apr.  2,'42 

67m 

575 

A-Haunting  We  Will  Go 

20th-Fox 

302 

Laurel  and  Hardy 

Aug.  7/42 

67m 

July  1 1/42 

927 

•  Almost  Married 

Univ. 

6024 

Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee 

May  22,'42 

65m 

Mar.  7/42 

554 

American  Empire 

UA 

Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo 

Dec.  I  I, '42 

871 

Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone 

Not  Set 

796 

Apache  Trail 

'.'3v 

304 

Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

66m 

June  27/42 

938 

726 

Arabian  Nights 

Univ. 

Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall 

Oct.  30,'42 

872 

•  Are  Husbands  Necessary? 

Para. 

4I3I 

Ray  Milland-Betty  Field 

Block  7 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

663 

873 

Arizona  Stagecoach 

Mono. 

The  Range  Busters 

Sept.  4,'42 

Army  Surgeon 

RKO 

James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt 

Dec.  4/42 

63  m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

701 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace 

WB 

Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane 

Not  Set 

•Atlantic  Convoy 

Col. 

3045 

John  Beal-Virginia  Field 

July  2/42 

66m 

July  11/42 

765 

75  i 

BABY  Face  Morgan 

PRC 

3 1 7 

Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell 

Sept.  1 5/42 

65m 

July  25/42 

903 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills 

Col. 

3207 

Charles  Sfarrett-Russell  Hayden 

Aug.  1 3/42 

69m 

Oct.  24/42 

970 

•  Bambi  (color) 

RKO 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon 

Aug.  2 1  ,'42 

70m 

Msv  30  '42 

685 

947 

Bandit  Ranger 

RKO 

Tim  Holt 

Sept.  25/42 

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The 

RKO 

22  i 

Lum  and  Abner 

Apr.  24/42 

77m 

Mar  21  '42 

563 

487 

795 

Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)  UA 

Chinese  Feature 

Aug.  7/42 

6lm 

July  5/41 

840 

(formerly  Kukan) 

Battle  for  Siberia  (Russian) 

Art  kino 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin 

Aug.  26/42 

90m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

•Beachcomber,  The 

Para. 

4I39 

Charles  Laughton 

Reissue 

89m 

Nov.  26/38 

91 1 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano 

Rep. 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 

Sept.  1 5/42 

73m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

Berlin  Correspondent 

20th-Fox 

iii 

Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore 

Sept.  1 1 ,'42 

70  m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

797 

Between  Us  Girls 

Univ. 

Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings 

Sept.  4/42 

89m 

Aug.  29/42 

890 

772 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses, 

Caroline) 

•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)  Para. 

4I3P 

Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 

Block  6 

76m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

947 

•Big  Shot,  The 

WB 

1 35 

Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 

June  1 3/42 

80m 

June  6/42 

714 

648 

756 

Big  Street,  The 

RKO 

Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 

Sept.  4/42 

87m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

701 

•Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC 

26 1 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

Aug.2l/42 

58m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

•  Billy  the  Kid,  Sheriff  of 

Sage  Valley 
•  Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Gur 

PRC 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

Oct.  2/42 

is  PRC 

260 

Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 

May  29/42 

Dec.  4/42 

58m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

648 

Black  Swan,  The  (color) 

20th-Fox 

320 

Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 

85m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

855 

•  Blondie's  Blessed  Event 

Col. 

30I8 

Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 

Apr.  9/42 

69m 

July  4/42 

750 

575 

•Blondie  for  Victory 

Col. 

30I9 

Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 

Aug.  6/42 

70m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

772 

Bombardier 

RKO 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne  Shirley    Not  Set 

912 

•Bombs  Over  Burma 

PRC 

208 

Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 

June  5/42 

65  m 

July  18/42 

781 

648 

•Boothill  Bandits 

Mono. 

Corrigan-King-Terhune 

Apr.  24/42 

58m 

613 

Boogie  Man  Will  Get  You, 

The  Col. 

Boris  Karloff-Peter  Lorre 

Oct.  22/42 

66m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

Boss  of  Big  Town 

PRC 

John  Litel-Florence  Rice 

Dec.  7/42 

64m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

•Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Aug.  2 1  ,'42 

58m 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollyw 

ood  Col. 

Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 

Nov.  5/42 

794 

Bowery  at  Midnight 

Mono. 

Bela  Lugosi-John  Archer 

Oct.  30/42 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•Bride  of  Buddha 

Hoffberg 

R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

Apr.  22/42 

75m 

May  13/33 

634 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•  Broadway 

Univ. 

6009 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 

May  8/42 

9lm 

May  9/42 

645 

756 

Busses  Roar 

WB 

203 

Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 

Sept.  1 9/42 

6lm 

Aug.  22/42 

903 

CAIRO 

MGM 

Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

lOlm 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

947 

Calaboose 

UA 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

Call  of  the  Canyon 

Rep. 

iii 

Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 

Aug.  5/42 

71  m 

Aug.  22/42 

938 

800 

•Calling  Dr.  Gillespie 

MGM 

247 

Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn 

Aug.,  '42 

84m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

873 

Careful,  Soft  Shoulder 

20th-Fox 

3I2 

Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison 

Sept.  1 8/42 

69m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

Cargo  of  Innocents 

(formerly  Clear  for  Actic 

MGM 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor 

Not  Set 

871 

")  _ 

Casablanca 

WB 

Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman 

Not  Set 

936 

Cat  People 

RKO 

Simone  Simon-Tom  Conway 

Not  Set 

962 

Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product. 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail- 
able. Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change. 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers' 
Round  Table  Exploitation. 


Product  Digest  Section  975 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,    I  942 


Prod. 


I  It  It 

Company 

China  Girl 

20th-Fox 

City  of  Silent  Men 

PRC 

308 

•Come  On,  Danger 

RKO 

285 

Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn 

Col. 

Constant  Nymph,  The 

WB 

•  Corpse  Vanishes,  The 

Mono. 

Corvettes  in  Action 

Univ, 

Counter  Espionage 

Col. 

4027 

Cover  Girl,  The 

Col. 

Crash  Dive  (color) 

20th-Fox 

Criminal  Investigator 

Mono. 

•Crossroads 

MGM 

244 

Crystal  Ball,  The 

UA 

•  Cyclone  Kid,  The 

Rep. 

177 

Release  Running 

Stars  Date  Time 

George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney  Not  Set  .... 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang  Oct.  1 2, '42  64m 

Tim  Holt  June  5, '42  58m 

Paul  Muni-Lillian  Gish  Not  Set  .... 

Charles  Boyer-Joan  Fontaine  Not  Set  .... 

Bela  Lugosi  May  8,'42  63m 

Patric  Knowles-Dick  Foran  Not  Set  .... 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Sept.  3, '42  72m 

Jinx  Falkenberg-Rita  Hayworth  Not  Set  .... 

Tyrone  Power-Anne  Baxter  Not  Set  .... 

Robert  Lowery-Jan  Wiley  Oct.  23/42  .... 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr  July,     '42  84m 

Paulette  Goddard-Ray  Milland  Jan.    I, '43   

Don  "Red"  Barry  May  3 1, '42  56m 


r~  REVIEWED  — > 

M.  P.       Product  Advance 

Herald       Digest  Synopsk 

Issue          Page  P'Ze 


Sept.  12/42 

Dec.  3/41 


Apr.  18/42 

Oct.  10/42 

June  27/42 
Aug.  15/42 


898 

407 


61 1 

945 

737 
840 


872 

387 
962 


871 

962 

663 
960 
701 


Service 
Data 
P*ge 


873 


•  DANGER  in  the  Pacific 

Univ. 

6056 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

July  10/42 

61m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

Daring  Young  Man,  The 

Col. 

4021 

Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 

Oct.  8/42 

871 

Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'l 

Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 

Not  Set 

98m 

May  23/42 

673 

Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Sopt.  25/42 

62m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

Desert  Song,  The 

WB 

Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 

Not  Set 

872 

Desperados,  The 

Col. 

Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 

Nov.  26/42 

871 

•  Desperate  Chance  for  Ellery  Queen  Col. 

3032 

William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 

May  7/42 

70m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Desperate  Journey 

WB 

204 

Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 

Sept.  26/42 

107m 

Aug.  22/42 

915 

Destination  Unknown 

Univ. 

7030 

Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 

Oct.  9/42 

61m 

Oct.  3/42 

946 

9i2 

Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 

Oct.  9/42 

45  m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

•Devil's  Trail,  The 

Col. 

3214 

Bill  Elliott-Tax  Ritter 

May  14/42 

61m 

715 

•  Dr.  Broadway 
Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant 

Para. 

4128 

Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 

Block  6 

67m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

MGM 

Lionel  Barrymore-Van  Johnson 

Not  Set 

Dr.  Renault's  Secret 

20+h-Fox 

321 

Lynn  Roberts-John  Shepperd 

Dec.  1 1/42 

58m 

Dec.  17/42 

959 

936 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way 

Col. 

3205 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Apr.  23/42 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

•  Down  Texas  Way 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

May  22/4*2 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo 

Univ. 

6040 

Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 

July  17/42 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

873 


873 


•  EAGLE  Squadron 
Edge  of  Darkness 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen 
•Escape  from  Crime 

•  Escape  from  Hong  Kong 
Eyes  in  the  Night 

Eyes  of  the  Underworld 


Univ. 

Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 

Not  Set 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Ann  Sheridan 

Not  Set 

Col. 

3038 

Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan 

July  30/42 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

WB 

137 

Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 

July  25/42 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

Univ. 

6054 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 

May  15/42 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

MGM 

309 

Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

Univ. 

Richard  Dix-Lon  Chaney,  Jr. 

Not  Set 

61m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

873 


•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•Fantasia  (color)  (Revised)  RKO 
•Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•  Fingers  at  the  Window 
First  of  the  Few,  The 

(British) 
Flesh  and  Fantasy 

•  Flight  Lieutenant 
Flying  Fortress  (British) 

•Flying  Tigers 
Footlight  Serenade 
Foreign  Agent 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British) 
Forest  Rangers,  The  (color) 
Forever  Yours 
For  Me  and  My  Gal 
For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls 

•  Four  Flights  to  Love  (French) 

•  Friendly  Enemies 
•Frontier  Marshal  Along  the 

Sundown  Trail  PRC 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 


MGM 
Howard-Gen'l 

Univ. 
Col. 
WB 
Rep. 
20th-Fox 
Mono. 


Ealing-UA 
Para. 
Univ. 
MGM 
Para. 
English 
UA 


•  GAY  Sisters,  The  WB 
•General  Died  at  Dawn,  The  Para. 

Gentleman  Jim  WB 
George  Washington  Slept  Here  WB 

Get  Hep  to  Love  Univ. 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The  Rep. 
Girl  Trouble  20th-Fox 

•Give  Out,  Sisters  Univ. 

Glass  Key,  The  Para. 

•  Gold  Rush,  The  UA 
Goose  Steps  Out,  The  Ealing-UA 

(British) 

•Grand  Central  Murder  MGM 

Great  Impersonation,  The  Univ. 

•Great  Man's  Lady,  The  Para. 


227 


292 
6065 


232 


3012 


301 


312 


255 

138 
4140 

210 

117 

309 
7021 


237 
4121 


George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari  May  29/42 

George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph  Nov.  6/42 

William  Tracy-Jean  Porter  Nov.  20/42 

Disney-Stokowski  Apr.  10/42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Apr.  17/42 

War  Documentary  Not  Set 

Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day  Apr.  '42 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven  Not  Set 

Charles  Boyer-Barbara  Stanwyck  Not  Set 

Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford  July  9/42 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee  Oct.  8/42 

John  Payne-Betty  Grable  Aug.  1/42 

John  Shelton-Gail  Storm  Oct.  9/42 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder  Not  Set 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard  Block  2 

Deanna  Durbin-Edmond  O'Brien  Not  Set 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

Fernand  Gravet-Elvire  Popesco  Apr.  11/42 
Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles       June  26/42 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis  Oct.  19/42 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis  Sept.  4/42 


Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent  Aug.  1/42 

Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll  Reissue 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith  Not  Set 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan  Nov.  28/42 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige  Oct.  2/42 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker  Apr.  16/42 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett  Oct.  9/42 

Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies  Sept.  11/42 
Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan  Ladd       Block  I 

Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music  Apr.  17/42 

Will  Hay  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane  May,  '42 

Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers  Not  Set 

Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea  Block  5 


93m 
77m 
75m 
82m 
65m 
85m 
72m 
78m 

72m 

90m 


63  m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

871 

796 

81m 

Nov.  16/40 

494 

2 

590 

57m 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

37m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

80m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

1 18m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

78m 

June  27/42 

75  i 

947 

68m 

June  27/42 

914 

102m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

80m 

July  11/42 

915 

715 

873 

64m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

90m 

May  2/42 

634 

87m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

936 

104m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

855 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

95m 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

756 

60m 

108m 

June  6/42 

697 

663 

873 

93m       Sept.  12/36 


Sept.  19/42 
Oct.  3/42 
Apr.  25/42 
Sept.  19/42 
Sept.  5/42 
Aug.  29/42 
Mar.  7/42 
Aug.  29/42 

Apr.  25/42 

Mar.'2i,'42 


911 

909 
934 
622 
923 
889 
914 
551 
870 

622 

561 


936 
871 


855 


912 
396 


795 

756 
795 


976     Product  Digest  Section 


Octobe  r    24,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Title 

Great  Without  Glory 
•  Guerrilla  Brigade 


Prod. 

Company  Number 

Para  

Artkino  .... 


Stars 

Joel  McCrea-Betty  Field 
Lev  Sverdlin-Stephan  Shkurat 


Release 
Date 

Not  Set 
Apr.  I3,'42 


Running 
Time 

73  m 


r-  REVIEWED 

M.  P.       Product  Advance  Service 

Herald       Digest  Synopsis  Data 

Issue          Page  Page  Page 

  912 


Apr.  I8,'42  612 


HALF  Way  to  Shanghai  Univ. 

Happy  Go  Lucky  Para. 

Hard  Way,  The  WB 

He  Hired  the  Boss  20th-Fox 

•  Hello  Annapolis  Col. 
Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  Para. 
Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour  Para. 

•  Heflry  and  D'rzxy  Para. 
•Har  Cardboard  Lover  MGM 

Here  We  Go  Again  RKO 

Hidden  Hand,  The  WB 

Highways  by  Night  RKO 

•  Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg  Mono. 
Hi!  Neighbor  Rep. 

•  Holiday  Inn  Para. 

•  Home  in  Wyomin'  Rep. 

•  House  of  Errors  PRC 
How  Do  You  Do?  Col. 


7fi3  C 
/U->  0 

Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor 

Mary  Martin-Uick  rowell-Kudy  vallee 

crt  _i    1  o  'AO 

Not  oet 

LO  ~. 

o/m 

C  „    ■    ,  o  'AO 

oept.  1  7, 

707 

7fio 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan 
Stuart  Erwin-Evelyn  Venable 

M^w    1  A  'AO 
INOV.  1  *r,  HL 

Not  Set 

7/m 

C_  -.i     lO  'AO 

7  Z  J 

/  7  O 

3037 

1  p  a  n   Pa rr fi r- i  r>  m  Rrnwn 

JCQIl     f  ul  KOI      1  Ulll     Ul  UVT  |l 

Apr.  23, '42 

62  m 

Aug.  I,'42 

810 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  2 

72m 

Oct.  3,'42 

934 

663 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Not  Set 

4125 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  5 

71m 

Mar.  21  ,'42 

563 

443 

241 

Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor 

June  '42 

90m 

May  30,'42 
Aug.  29,'42 

686 

648 

Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie' 

Oct.  9,'42 

76m 

938 

208 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser 

Nov.  7,'42 

67m 

Sept.  I9,'42 

910 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph 

Oct.  2,'42 

63  m 

Aug.  8,'42 

938 

715 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan 

Aug.  14/42 

63  m 

Aug.  8, "42 

827 

794 

20  i 

Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker 

July  27,'42 

72m 

July  25,'42 

927 

772 

4134 

Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire 

Block  7 

101m 

June  13, '42 

713 

663 

146 

G.  Autry-S.  Burnette 

Apr.  20,'42 

67m 

May  2,'42 

633 

216 

Harry  Langdon-Charles  Rogers 
Jinx  Falkenberg-Bert  Gordon 

Apr.  I0,'42 
Not  Set 

65m 

539 

795 


947 


ICE-CAPADES  Revue 

Rep. 

206 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague 

Dec.  8/42 

797 

Iceland 

20th-Fox 

306 

Sonja  Henie-John  Payne 

Oct.  2/42 

79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

•  I  Live  on  Danger 

Para. 

4135 

Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker 

Block  7 

73m 

June  13/42 

713 

•  1  Married  an  Angel 

MGM 

238 

Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonaid 

June  '42 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 

873 

1  Married  a  Witch 

UA 

Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake 

Oct.  30/42 

78m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

797 

•  In  Old  California 

Rep. 

103 

John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes 

May  31/42 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

•Inside  the  Law 

PRC 

218 

Wallace  Ford 

May  8/42 

97m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

613 

In  the  Rear  of  the  Enemy 

( Russian ) 

Artkino 

War  Documentary 

Oct.  9/42 

59m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

•  In  This  Our  Life 

WB 

132 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland 

May  16/42 

97m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

597 

947 

•  Invaders,  The  (British) 

Col. 

3101 

Howard-Massey-Olivier 

Apr.  15/42 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

•  Invisible  Agent 

Univ. 

6049 

llona  Massey-Jon  Hall 

July  3 1/42 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

In  Which  We  Serve 

(British)                     Two  Cities-UA 

Noel  Coward-Bernard  Miles 

Dec.  25/42 

1  13m 

Oct.  17/42 

957 

Isle  ef  Missing  Men 

Mono. 

John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland 

Sept.  18/42 

67m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

772 

•  It  Happened  in  Flatbush 

20th-Fox 

248 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

June  5/42 

80m 

May  30/42 
Apr.  11/42 

686 

674 

947 

•  1  Was  Framed 

WB 

130 

Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop 

Apr.  25/42 

61m 

599 

574 

•  JACKASS  Mail 
•Joan  of  Ozark 

Johnny  Doughboy 
Journey  for  Margaret 
Journey  Into  Fear 

•  Juke  Girl 

•  Jungle  Book,  The  (Color) 

•  Jungle  Siren 

Just  Off  Broadway 


MGM 

243 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main 

July  '42 

80m 

June  20/42 

726 

715 

947 

Rep. 

104 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  25/42 

793 

Rep. 

205 

Jane  Withers-Patrick  Brook 

Nov.  30/42 

971 

MGM 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day 

Not  Set 

912 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio 

Oct.  23/42 

69m 

Aug.  8/42 

903 

796 

WB 

133 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan 

May  30/42 
Apr.  3/42 

90m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

464 

873 

UA 

Sabu 

1 15m 

Mar.  28/42 

573 

396 

873 

PRC 

203 

Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe 

Aug.  14/42 

68m 

947 

20th-Fox 

310 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

Sept.  25/42 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

KEEPER  of  the  Flame  MGM 

•  Kid  Glove  Killer  MGM  230 

•  King  of  the  StaJlions  Mono.  .... 

•  Kings  Row  WB  120 

LADIES'  DAY  RKO 

Lady  Bodyguard  Para  

•  Lady  Gangster  WB  134 
•Lady  in  a  Jam  Univ.  6008 

•  Land  of  the  Open  Range  RKO  284 

•  Larceny,  Inc.  WB  131 
Laugh  Your  Blues  Away  Col. 
Let  the  People  Sing  (British)  Anglo 

•Let's  Get  Tough  Mono. 

Life  Begins  at  8:30  20th-Fox 

Little  Joe,  the  Wrangler  Univ. 

Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A.  20th-Fox  303 

Lone  Prairie,  The  Col. 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Border  Roundup  PRC  266 
•Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice  PRC  265 

Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The  20th-Fox  305 

Lucky  Jordan  Para  

Lucky  Legs  Col.  4032 

•Lure  of  the  Islands  Mono.  .... 


Spencer  Tracy-Katharine  Hepburn  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt  Apr.  '42 

Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien  Sept.  11/42 

Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings  Apr.  18/42 

Lupe  Velez-Eddie  Albert-Max  Baer  Not  Set 

Eddie  Albert-Anne  Shirley  Not  Set 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop  June  6/42 

Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles  June  19/42 

Tim  Holt  Apr.  17/42 

Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman  May  2/42 

Bert  Gordon-Margaret  Lindsay  Nov.  12/42 

Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney  Not  Set 

East  Side  Kids  May  29/42 

Monty  Woolley-lda  Lupino  Not  Set 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  Nov.  13/42 

Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce  Aug.  14/42 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills  Oct.  15/42 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John  Sept.  18/42 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John  June  21/42 

John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell  Aug.  28/42 

Alan  Ladd-Helen  Walker  Not  Set 

Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris  Oct.  1/42 

Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery  July  3/42 


60  m 
67m 


61m 


74m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

495 

873 

63  m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

800 

130m 

Dec.  27/41 

429 

320 

705 

962 

946 

62m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

574 

83m 

July  4/42 

749 

613 

795 

60m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

95m 

Mar.  7/42 

538 

795 

100m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

62m 

May  16/42 

662 

648 

64m         July  I  1/42 


938 


July  11/42  914 


962 


751 

797 
800 


•MAD  Martindales,  The 

20th-Fox 

245 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray 

May  15/42 

65m 

Apr.  18/42 

622 

•Mad  Monster,  The 

PRC 

209 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel 

May  15/42 

79m 

June  6/42 

699 

613 

Magnificent  Ambersons,  The 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello 

July  10/42 

88m 

July  4/42 

938 

507 

947 

•Magnificent  Dope,  The 

20th-Fox 

249 

Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari 

Jun„  12/42 

84m 

May  30/42 
May  30/42 
Aug.  29/42 

686 

677 

873 

•Maisie  Gets  Her  Man 

MGM 

240 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 

June  '42 

86m 

687 

648 

756 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The 

Para. 

Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland 

Block  1. 

100m 

927 

•Male  Animal,  The 

WB 

126 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland 

Apr.  4/42 

101m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

464 

795 

Man  in  the  Trunk,  The 

20th-Fox 

315 

Lynne  Roberts-George  Holmes 

Oct.  23/42 

71m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

855 

Manila  Calling 

20th-Fox 

314 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

Oct.  16/42 

81m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

871 

Product  Digest  Section 


977 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,     I  942 


Title 


Company 


•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The  20th-Fox 
Man's  World,  A  Col. 
Meanest  Man  in  the  World  20th-Fox 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St.  RKO 

•  Meet  the  Mob  Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•Meet  the  Stewarts  Col. 

•  Men  of  San  Quentin  PRC 
•Men  of  Texas  Univ. 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant  RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 

•  Miss  Annie  Roonsy  UA 
Miss  V  from  Moscow  PRC 

•  Mississippi  Gambler  Univ. 

•  Mokey  MGM 
Moonlight  in  Havana  Univ. 

•  Moonlight  Masquerade  Rep. 

•  Moon  Tide  20th-Fox 
Moon  and  Sixpence,  The  UA 
Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Rep. 

•  Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 
Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 

•  Murder  in  the  Big  House  WB 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 

•  My  Favorite  Spy  RKO 
My  Friend  Flicka  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•  My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 
•Mystery  of  Marie  Roget  Univ. 


Prod. 

Number  Stars 

243  Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 
4044  M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright 
....  Jack  Benny-Priscilla  Lane 

224  George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley 

....  Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor 

3014  William  Holden-Frances  Dee 

201  J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston 

6010  Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne 

....  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 

230  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol 
....  Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan 
....  Lola  Lane-Noel  Madison 
6034  Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford 

231  Dan  Dailey,  Jr.-Donna  Reed 
....  Allan  Jones-Jane  Frazee 

120  Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr. 

247  Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains 

....  George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall 

....  Documentary 

260  Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon 

....  Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee 

....  Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox 

125  Faye  Emerson-Van  Johnson 

4123  Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll 

228  Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew 

....  Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster 

244  Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature 
....  Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll 
....  Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne 
6022  Patric  Knowles-Maria  Montez 


Release 
Date 


Running 
Time 


r~  REVIEWED 
M.  P.  Product 

Herald  Digest 
Issue  Page 


Advance 
Synopsis 
Page 


Service 
Data 
Page 


Mav/      1  '47 

May     1 ,  *rZ 

oo  m 

Anr    Ift  "47 
Apr.  1  O,  *r£ 

AID 
0 1  U 

«J©  pT.  1  /  |  ti 

InOT  oQt 

0A7 
YOZ 

May  1 0(  *rZ 

OOm 

Mar  71  '47 

mflr,  XI,  *rL 

4Q7 

/\pr.  1  /,  *rZ 

A7m 

ozm 

Anr  7K  '47 

A77 

C74 

0/T' 

kA*\t  7Q  '47 
May  ZO,  **Z 

17m 

/  j  m 

May  tL 

A  74 

/UO 

u,w  77  M9 
May  ZZ,  *tZ 

7Rm 

/  om 

Anr    Ift  '47 
/Apr.  i  o,  tx. 

Ain 

O  1  U 

luKf    9  '47 
July    J,  nZ 

ozm 

lulu  1  1  '47 
juiy  II,  *r£ 

7AA 
/  00 

779 

jepTo  1  I ,  *rZ 

Ann    ft  "4? 

QIC 

|,,_  _  7i  *AO 

June  zo,  *rz 

07m 

kl.„    o  'A7 
[VI  a  y    7,  *T£ 

A4A 
0*r0 

OiO 

o/i 

kAm\i  70  '47 
May  Zt,  *rZ 

oom 

rvi  ay  jv, 

AAA 
000 

A77 
0/  / 

Q73 
0/0 

INOV.  ZJ, 

a       17  '47 
/\pr.  1  /,  *rZ 

Afim 

Anr  Ift  '47 
/Apr.  i  o, 

Al  1 
O  1  1 

A  mm  '47 
Apr..  .  tx 

oo_ 
Oom 

Mar  7ft  '47 
iviar.  zo,  I* 

K74 

a  it 

f-\/-4-    1  i  f47 
UCT.  1  O,  *rZ 

62m 

Oct.  1 7  '42 

"37 

htnA   1  fl  '47 

June  i u,  *t£ 

A7m 
o  /  m 

|„na  77  '47 

73ft 

/U  1 

Maw  70  '47 

May  Z7,  *TZ 

94m 

Anr    Ift  '47 

609 

047 
7*r  / 

^CT.    Z,  nZ 

o  /  m 

Coni.    IO  M9 
oepT,  i x,  *ti 

0 1 7 

7  1  L 

Aim    1  R  '47 
MUg,  1  !>,  *rZ 

Ann   I  R  '47 

ft4n 

Not  Set 

I33m 

May  16, '42 

661 

527 

947 

Block  2 

80m 

Oct.  3,'42 

934 

663 

Oct.  23/42 

61m 

Oct.  I7,'42 

970 

Apr.  11/42 

59m 

Apr.  II, '42 

598 

575 

Block  5 

78m 

Mar.  21/42 

561 

542 

756 

June  12/42 

86m 

May  9,'42 

646 

635 

873 

Not  Set 

962 

May  8/42 

103m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

947 

Not  Set 

871 

Sept.  30/42 

96m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

772 

Apr.  3/42 

61m 

Apr.  11/42 

597 

507 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The  RKO 

•  Native  Land  Frontier 
'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge  Mono. 
Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 
Nightmare  Univ. 
Night  for  Crime,  A  PRC 

•  Night  in  New  Orleans  Para. 
Night  Monster  Univ. 
Northwest  Rangers  MSM 

•  North  of  the  Rockies  Col. 

•  Not  a  Ladies  Man  Col. 
No  Time  for  Love  Para. 
Now,  Voyager  WB 


OFF  the  Beaten  Track 
Old  Homestead,  The 
Omaha  Trail 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 
Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon 
One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British) 
One  Thrilling  Night 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 
Orchestra  Wives 


Univ. 
Rep. 
MGM 

RKO 

UA 
Mono. 


20th-Fox 


308 


•  Orders  from  Tokyo 

Almo 

Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge 

Rep. 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood 

Col. 

3208 

Ox-Bow  Incident,  The 

20th-Fox 

Ox  Train 

MGM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous 

MGM 

239 

Palm  Beach  Story,  The 

Para. 

Panama  Hattie 

MGM 

303 

•Panther's  Claw,  The 

PRC 

217 

•Parachute  Nurse 

Col. 

3044 

•  Pardon  My  Sarong 

Univ. 

•  Pasha's  Wives,  The  (French) 

Better  Films 

•  Phantom  Killer 

Mono. 

•  Phantom  Plainsmen 

Rep. 

167 

Pied  Piper,  The 

20th-Fox 

304 

Pilot  No.  5 

MGM 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains 

MGM 

246 

Pittsburgh 

Univ. 

•Police  Bullets 

Mono. 

•Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The 

20th-Fox 

252 

•Powder  Town 

RKO 

226 

Power  of  God,  The 

St.  Rts. 

Prairie  Chickens 

UA-Roach 

•Prairie  Gunsmoke 

Col. 

3215 

Presenting  Lily  Mars 

MGM 

Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The 

RKO 

Princess  O'Rourke 

WB 

George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford    Sept.  4/42  97m 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set  80m 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  Not  Set  .... 

Charles  Starrett-RusseH  Hayden  Sept.  25/42  .... 

Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set  .... 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Sept.-Oct.,'42  .... 


Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  1/42 


Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers  June  '42 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea  Not  Set 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  Sept.-Oct.,'42  79m 

Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr  Apr.  17/42  70m 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman  June  18/42  63m 

Abbott  &  Costello-VIrginia  Bruce  Aug.  7/42  84m 

John  Lodge-Viviane  Romance  Apr.  4/42  92m 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury  Oct.  2/42  61m 

Three  Mesquiteers  June  16/42  65m 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall  Aug.  21/42  87m 

Franchot  Tone-Marsha  Hunt  Not  Set  .... 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey  Aug.     '42  66m 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Nov.  27/42  .... 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh  Sept.  25/42  60m 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce  July  3/42  69m 

Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien  June  19/42  79m 

John  Barclay-Thomas  Louden  Not  Set  58m 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set  .... 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  July  16/42  56m 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Not  Set  .... 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright  Not  Set  120m 

Priscilla  Lane-Robert  Cummings  Not  Set  .... 


July  25/42 
Mar.  2 1  ,'42 
Aug.  1/42 
Aug.  8/42 
Apr.  1 1/42 
Aug.  22/42 
Oct.  17/42 
July  11/42 


Oct.  10/42 
May  30/42 
May  9/42 

Oct.  24/42 


927 
810 


76m        May  23/42  673 


915 
563 
810 
825 
599 
854 
960 
903 


June  20/42  725 


945 
687 
647 

970 


Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott 

Oct.  30/42 

81m 

Oct.  17/42 

957 

715 

Documentary  on  Labor 

May  11/42 

80m 

May  16/42 

662 

East  Side  Kids 

Nov.  20/42 

64m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pi'lbeam 

Not  Set 

100m 

June  6/42 

698 

Diana  Barrymore-Brian  Donlevy 

Nov.  13/42 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  1/42 

903 

4127 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison 

Block  6 

75m 

May  9/42 

647 

635 

Irene  Hervey-Bela  Lugosi 

Oct.  23/42 

73  m 

Oct.  24/42 

970 

James  Craig-Patricia  Dane 

Not  Set 

960 

3213 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

Apr.  2/42 

60m 

575 

3042 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray 

May  14/42 

60m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray 

Not  Set 

855 

206 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid 

Oct.  3 1/42 

II  7m 

Aug.  22/42 

902 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce 

Not  Set 

794 

202 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry 

Aug.  17/42 

67m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

855 

311 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger 

Sept.-Oct./42 

61m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant 

Not  Set 

855 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman 

Oct.  16/42 

1 10m 

Apr.  11/42 

903 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay 

June  5/42 

69m 

July  4/42 

914 

662 

July  18/42  915 


797 


872 
796 


648 
663 

396 

70  i 


751 
971 
715 

800 


962 
962 


947 


947 


947 


873 


873 


978     Product  Digest  Section 


Octobe  r    24,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


REVIEWED  — > 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Service 

Prod. 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Data 

Citle 

Company 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

Priorities  on  Parade 

Para. 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 

Block  1 

79m 

Aug.  I,'42 

914 

•  Prison  Girls 

PRC 

219 

Rose  Hobart-Sidney  Blackmer 

May29,'42 

63  m 

Sept.  26,'42 

923 

648 

(formerly  Gallant  Lady) 

July  22,'42 
June  12/42 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan 

PRC 

204 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael 

64m 

July  4,'42 

750 

715 

947 

•  Private  Buckaroo 

Univ. 

6011 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran 

68m 

June  6, '42 

699 

RANDOM  Harvest 

MGM 

Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson 

Not  Set 

796 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color) 

Para. 

4137 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard 

S  pedal 

124m 

Mar.  21/42 

574 

408 

795 

Red  River  Robin  Hood 

RKO 

Tim  Holt 

Not  Set 

57m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

•  Red  Tanks 

Arkino 

A.  Kulakev-V.  Chobur 

June  5, '42 

64m 

June  13/42 

713 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor 

Rep. 

134 

Pay  McKenzie-Don  Barry 

May  1 1,"42 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

Reunion 

MGM 

Joan  Crawford-Phflip  Dorn-John  W 

ayne     Not  Set 

872 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland 

Col. 

3206 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

June  18/42 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

•  Riders  of  the  West 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Aug.  21/42 

60m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

Riding  Through  Nevada 

Col. 

Charles  Starrett-Shirley  Patterson 

Oct.  1/42 

•  Rio  Rita 

MGM 

233 

Abbott  and  Costello 

Apr.  '42 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

Road  to  Morocco 

Para. 

Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy  La 

nour       Block  2 

83m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

•  Rolling  Dews  the  Great  Divide 

PRC 

253 

Bill  (Radio)  Boyd 

Roy  Rogers-HGabby"  Hayes 

Apr.  24/42 

60m 

635 

•  Romance  on  the  Range 

Rep. 

156 

May  18/42 

63m 

June  6/42 

697 

•  Rubber  Racketeers 

Mono. 

Rochelle  Hudson-Ricardo  Cortez 

June  26/42 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

•  SABOTAGE  Squad  Col.  3046 

•  Saboteur  Univ.  6047 
Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt.-Anglo-Am  

•  Scattergood  Rides  High  RKO  223 
Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder    RKO  .... 

•  Secret  Agent  of  Japan  20th-Fox  240 
Secret  Enemies  WB  205 
Secret  Mission  (British)  Hellman-Gen'l 
Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed  PRC  309 
Seven  Days  Leave  RKO  .... 
Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz  RKO  .... 
Seven  Sweethearts  MGM  .... 

Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Univ  

Shadows  on  the  Sage  Rep.  261 
Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror  Univ.  7020 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back  Univ  

•  She's  in  the  Army  Mono.  .... 

•  Ship  Ahoy  MGM  235 
•Ships  With  Wings  (British)  UA 

•  Silver  Bullet  Univ.  6066 
Silver  Queen  UA  .... 
Sin  Town  Univ  

•  Smart  Alecks  Mono  

Smith  of  Minnesota  Col.  .... 

Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish)  Scandia  .... 

Sombrero  Kid,  The  Rep.  271 

Something  to  Shout  About  Col.  .... 

Somewhere  I'll  Find  You  MGM  301 

•Song  of  the  Lagoon             UA-Roach  .... 

•  Sons  of  the  Pioneers  Rep.  157 

•  SOS  Coast  Guard  Rep.  123 

•  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma  Mono.  .... 
Spirit  of  Stanford,  The  Col.  4022 

•  Spoilers,  The  Univ.  6048 
Spring  Song  (Russian)  Artkino  .... 
Springtime  in  the  Rockies  (color) 

20th-Fox  317 

•  Spy  Ship  WB  139 

Stand  By,  All  Networks  Col  

Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Para.  .... 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage  Para.  .... 

•  Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx  Univ.  6036 
•Strangler,  The  PRC  229 

Street  of  Chance  Para.  .... 

Strictly  in  the  Groove  Univ  

Submarine  Alert  Para.  .... 

•Submarine  Raider  Col.  3043 

•Suicide  Squadron  (British)  Rep.  119 

•Sunday  Punch  MGM  234 

•Sunset  Serenade  Rep  

•Sweater  Girl  Para.  4129 

•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet  Col.  3027 

•Syncopation  RKO  226 


Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris  Aug.  27/42 

Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane  Apr.  24/42 

Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway  Not  Set 

Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore  May  8/42 

Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes  Oct.  16/42 

Preston  Fosfer-Lynn  Bari  Apr.  3/42 

Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson  Oct.  17/42 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer  Oct.  26/42 

Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature  Nov.  13/42 

James  Craig-Bonita  Granville  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Teresa  Wright-Joseph  Cotten  Not  Set 

Three  Mesquiteers  Aug.  24/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Sept.  18/42 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce  Not  Set 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot  May  15/42 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton  May  '42 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks  May  15/42 

Johnny  Mack  Brown  June  12/42 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane  Nov.  13/42 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Sept.  25/42 

East  Side  Kids  Aug.  7/42 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge  Oct.  15/42 

Edvard  Persson  Sept.  12/42 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  July  3 1  ,'42 

Don  Ameche-Jack  Oakie-Janet  Blair  Not  Set 

Clark  Gable-Lane  Turner  Sept.-Oct./42 
Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot       May  22/42 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes  July  2/42 

Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd  Apr.  16/42 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  1 7/42 
Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman      Sept.  10/42 

Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne  May  8/42 
Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  1 1/42 

Betty  Grable-John  Payne  Nov.  6/42 

Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning  Aug.  15/42 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice  Oct.  29/42 
Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Moore    Not  Set 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette  May  25/42 

Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne  Apr.  17/42 

Judy  Campbell-Sebastian  Shaw  Apr.  3/42 

Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor  Block  2 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey  Nov.  20/42 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie  Not  Set 

John  Howard-M.  Chapman  June  4/42 

Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray  Apr.  20/42 

William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers  May/42 

Roy  Rogers  Sept.  14/42 

Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser  Block  6 

Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg  May  2 1  ,'42 

Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper  May  22/42 


797 
855 


64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

947 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

66m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

542 

66m 

Oct.  1 7/42 

959 

912 

72  m 

Mar.  14/42 

550 

542 

705 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

9 14 

94m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

87m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

872 

962 

98  m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

947 

936 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

855 

63m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

947 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

56m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

726 

936 

73m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

898 

66m 

June  27/42 

738 

947 

66m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

797 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

56m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

796 

107m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

726 

873 

61  m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

69m 

Apr.  1 8/42 

61 1 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

796 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

873 

74m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

91m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

855 

62  m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

65m 

May  30/42 
Apr.  4/42 

687 

66m 

586 

705 

64m 

May  9/42 

647 

613 

74m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

871 

60m 

July  4/42 

914 

772 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

75m 

Apr.  1 8/42 

611 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

•TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling  Para. 
Take  My  Life  Toddy 
Tales  of  Manhattan  20th-Fox 
Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

•Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 

•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MGM 
Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 
Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 


4126 

313 


3001 
242 


Rosalind  Russell-F.  MacMurray 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 
Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman 
Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan 
William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley 
Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey 


Block  6 

93  m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

873 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  1 1/42 

767 

Oct.  30/42 

1  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

927 

706 

947 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

Aug.  20/42 

1  18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

70  i 

947 

June/42 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

575 

873 

Not  Set 
Not  Set 


946 


Product  Digest  Section 


979 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    24,     I  942 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

•  Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 
Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 

•  Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 
That  Other  Woman  20th-Fox 

•  There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 

•  They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 
They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 

(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 
They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 
•They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 

•  This  Above  All  20th-Fox 
•This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 

This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 
Those  Kids  from  Tsiwn  (British)  Anglo 

•  Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 

•  Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Rock  (British)  Charter-Metro 

•  Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•  Timber  Univ. 
Tish  MGM 

•  Tombstone  Para. 
Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•Top  Sergeant  Univ. 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•To  the  Shores  of  Tripoli  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 
•Tower  of  Terror  Mono. 
•True  to  the  Army  Para. 

•  Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 
•Tuttles  of  Tahiti  RKO 

•  Twin  Beds  UA 


Prod. 

Number  Stars 

251  Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery 

....  King-Sharpe-Terhune 

....  Range  Busters 

318  Virginia  Gilmore-James  Ellison 

6043  Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee 

3006  Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas 

....  Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

....  Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 

212  Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 

253  Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 
4124  Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 
....  Russian  Documentary 

....  Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 

....  Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 

250  Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 

307  John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 

....  Michael  Redgrave-Barbara  Mullen 

286  Tim  Holt 

6057  Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

....  Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

4132  Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

307  Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 

6055  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

  Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

236  Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

241  Maureen  O'Hara-John  Payne 

6019  Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

....  Wilfred  Lawson-Movita 

4122  Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Mil 

254  Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell 
222  Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall 

....  George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

Synopsis 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

June  26,'42 

103m 

May  30,'42 

685 

677 

Oct.  I6,'42 

56m 

Sept.  26,'42 

922 

June  I2,'42 

55m 

699 

Nov.  13, '42 

75m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

936 

June  26, '42 

60m 

June  1 1,"42 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

Not  Set 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

Not  Set 
June  26/42 
July  24/42 
Block  5 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  15/42 
June  19/42 
Nov.  20/42 
Not  Set 
July  24/42 
Aug.  14/42 
Sept.-Oct./42 
Block  7 
Sept.  29/42 
June  12/42 
Not  Set 
May/42 
Apr.  10/42 
June  5/42 
Apr.  1/42 
Block  5 
July  10/42 
May  1/42 
Apr.  24/42 


872 


Date 
Page 

795 


873 


7/m 

dept.  5,  4Z 

890 

•  •  • 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

66 1 

947 

80m 

Mar.  2 1  ,'42 

563 

527 

947 

74  m 

July  1 1  ,'42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

65m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

78m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

796 

1  1  Im 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

83m 

July  25/42 

938 

772 

947 

79m 

June  1 3/42 

714 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

873 

87m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

542 

756 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

62  m 

July  4/42 

750 

635 

76m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

947 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 

Undercover  Man 

Underground  Agent 

Undying  Monster,  The 
•  United  We  Stand 

Unpublished  Story  (British) 
•Unseen  Enemy 


►  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 


UA 
Col. 
20th-Fox 
20th-Fox 
Col. 
Univ. 

Col. 


....  Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

4140  William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 

....  Bruce  Bennett-Leslie  Brooks 

319  James  Ellison-Heather  Angel 

254  News  Documentary 

....  Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 

6053  Devine-Carrillo-Terry 

3216  Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 


Not  Set 

100m 

Aug. 

1/42 

809 

Oct.  23/42 

68m 

May 

9/42 

647 

Not  Set 

Nov.  27/42 

60m 

Oct.  17/42 

970 

July  10/42 

70m 

June 

27/42 

738 

Not  Set 

91m 

Apr. 

1 1/42 

598 

Apr.  10/42 

61m 

Apr. 

4/42 

585 

936 


947 


Sept.  3/42 


WAKE  Island 


Para. 


War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The  MGM  .... 

War  Dogs  Mono.  .... 

Watch  on  the  Rhine  WB 

•  Westward,  Ho!  Rep.  166 
West  of  the  Law  Mono.  .... 

•  Where  Trails  End  Mono.  .... 

•  Whispering  Ghosts  20th-Fox  246 
Whistling  in  Dixie  MGM  .... 
White  Cargo  MGM  310 
Who  Done  It?  Univ  

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler?  20th-Fox  242 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The  Col.  3011 

Wildcat  Para  

Wings  and  the  Woman  RKO   

(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 


Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston  Block  I  78m 

Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold  Sept.-Oct.,'42  86m 

Billy  Lee-Addison  Richards  Nov.  13/42  63m 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas  Not  Set   

Steele-Tyler-Davis  Apr.  24/42  56m 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy  Nov.  2/42  .... 

Tom  Keene  May   1/42  55m 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle  May  22/42  75m 

Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford  Not  Set  .... 

Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon  Sept.-Oct.,'42  89m 

Abbott  &  Costello  Nov.  6/42   

Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr.  Apr.  17/42  57m 

Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone  Apr.  30/42  86m 

Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge  Block  I  73m 

Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton  Sept.  18/42  94m 


Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  8/42 
Oct.  10/42 


Apr.  18/42 

Sept.  19/42 

Mar.  14/42 
Apr.  25/42 
Aug.  29/42 
May  2/42 


902 
902 
946 


May  2/42  633 


610 

923 

551 
621 
938 
903 


772 
797 


63i 

946 
871 
971 

613 


947 


756 


•  Wings  for  the  Eagle 

WB 

136 

Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan 

July  18/42 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

873 

World  at  War 

WAC 

Documentary 

Sept.  18/42 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Wrecking  Crew 

Para. 

Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris 

Not  Set 

X  Marks  the  Spot 

Rep. 

204 

Damian  O'Flynn-Helen  Parrish 

Nov.  4/42 

YANK  at  Eton,  A 

MGM 

Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

87m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

726 

947 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

WB 

201 

James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

873 

•  Yank  in  Libya,  A 

PRC 

220 

H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 

July  24/42 

67m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

772 

Yanks  Are  Coming,  The 

PRC 

Maxie  Rosenbloom-Mary  Healy 

Nov.  9/42 

65m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

WB 

207 

George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 

Oct.  10/42 

77m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

898 

•You're  Telling  Me 

Univ. 

6041 

Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Col. 

Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 

Nov.  19/42 

97m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

796 

Young  and  Willing 

UA 

William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 

Not  Set 

663 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 

20th-Fox 

316 

Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 

Not  Set 

103  m 

July  4/42 

914 

Youth  on  Parade 

Rep. 

John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 

Oct.  24/42 

75m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•Yukon  Patrol 

Rep. 

124 

Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 
in  Order  of  Release  on  page  961. 


980     Product  Digest  Section 


WHEN  EVERY 
FOOT  COUNTS 


L>DER  present  conditions,  new  importance 
attaches  to  the  famed  dependability  of 
Eastman  negative  films.  Their  special  abili- 
ties, wide  latitude,  and  exceptional  uniform- 
ity see  to  it  that  every  scene  has  its  full 
quota  of  high  photographic  quality.  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  Rochester,  N.  \ . 

J.  E.  BRULATOUR.  INC.,  Distributors 
Fort  Lee  Chicago  Hollywood 


PLLS-X  SUPER-: 

for  general  studio  use  trhen  little  light  is  available 

BACKGROUNDS 

for  backgrounds  and  general  exterior  trork 


EASTMAN  NEGATIVE  FILMS 


NY  SISTER  EILEE 


IS  THE  BIGGEST 
GROSSER  IN 


THE  HISTORY  OF 


It's  YOUR  Scrap! 
Arrange  a  Scrap 
Matinee!  ^ 


COLUMBIA 
PICTURES 


I 


ION  PICTURE 

HERALD 


REVIEWS 

(/«  Product  Digest) 

Northwest  Rangers 
Journey  for  Margaret 
Gentleman  Jim 
Whistling  in  Dixie 
The  Spirit  of  Stanford 
Jungle  Siren 
We'll  Smile  Again 
The  Living  Ghost 


Debated  Rules  of  U.  S. 
Picture  Censors  Revealed 


Majors  to  Distribute  Here 
for  British  Government 


OP 


VOL.  149,  NO.  5 


Washington  Tells  Hollywood: 
Prove  You  Need  Defbrment 


OCTOBER  31,  1942 


Entered  as  second-class  matter.  January  12,  1931,  at  the  Post  Office,  at  New  York  City,  U.S.A..  under  ti 
lished  weekly  by  Quigiey  Publishing  Co.,  Inc..  at  1270  Sirtk  Aven-ue,  Rockefeller  Center.  .\'ew  York.  Subscript 
Americas,  $10.00  a  year  Foreign.    Single  copy,  25  cents.    All  contents  copyright  1942  In  Quigiey  Publishing 


"GRAND  SONG 
FEST" 

sings  out  Edith  Werner  in 
the  N.Y.  Daily  Mirror: 
"Topnotch  singing  and 
dancing.  Judy  is  a  joy."- 


GAY  AND 
LIGHTHEARTED" 

adds  Alton  Cook  in  the 
N.Y.  World -Telegram: 
A  lot  of  show.  ..full  of 
jaunty  amusing  spirit 
. . .  as  diverting  a  gang 
as  you  are  likely  to 
find  in  a  musical  show." 


"BIGGEST  OF 
THE  SEASON'! 
MUSICALS" 

says  Jane  Corby  in  the 
Brooklyn  Eagle. 


FRESH  AND 
ENTERTAINING" 

exclaims  Eileen  Creelman 
in  the  N.Y.  Sun: 
"Good,  fast,  melodious 
entertainment." 


'CHEERS  ARE 
RINGING  FOR 
ME  AND  MY  GAL" 

cheers  John  T.  McManus  in  PM. 

'WELL  WORTH 
SEEING" 

says  Howard  Barnes  in  the 
N.Y.  Herald  Tribune: 
'Has  dramatic  and 
emotional  punch." 


"A  MUST 
PICTURE" 

exclaims  Kate  Cameron 
in  the  N.Y.  Daily  Nefflj 


NEW  ALL-TIM 

ASTOR  RECORD 

FOR  ME  AND 
MY  GAL! 


JUDY  GARLAND  in  "FOR  ME  AND  MY  GAL" 

with  George  Murphy,  Gene  Kelly,  Marta  Eggerth,  Ben  Blue 
Screen  Play  by  Richard  Sherman,  Fred  Finklehoffe  and  Sid  Silvers 
Original  Story  by  Howard  Emmett  Rogers  •  Directed  by  BUSBY 
BERKELEY  •  Produced  by  ARTHUR  FREED  ■  An  M-G-M  Picture 


ARNER  BROS.  STUPENDOUS 


PENING 


HO  LI 


VILL  BE 


A 


0  TIMES  IN  T 


betteDAVIS-paulHENREID 
."NOW,  VOYAGER" 

w»h  CLAUDE  RAINS  •  Gladys  cooper 

BONITA  GRANVILLE.  ILKA  CHASE 
Directed  by  IRVING  RAPPER 

A  HAL  B.  WALLIS  PRODUCTION 

Music  by  Max  Steiner  *  Screen  Play  by  Casey  Robinson 
From  the  Novel  by  Olive  Higgins  Prouty 


NGAGEMENTS 


...the  way  the  Tra< 


The  trade  knows  all  there  is  to  know  about  the 
Warner  product  in  the  tremendous  season  just 

passed.  It's  all  in  the  record 


I 


The  new  season 


already  has  brought 


in  the  bank 


wind  is  blowing 


ACROSS  THE  PACIFIC -DESPERATE  JOURNEY*  NOW,  VOYAGER 
plus  YANKEE  DOODLE  DANDY. -GENTLEMAN  JIM  and  GEORGE 

WASHINGTON  SLEPT  HERE  are  now  booking.  The  trade 


IT'S  TIME  TO  TRY  A  NEW  BOND-SALE  IDEA! 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 

ilARTIX  QUIGLEY,  Editor-in-Chief  end  Publisher 


Vol.  149.  No.  5 


qp 


October  31.  1942 


ADMISSION  SCALES 

="C5  zz-zn  -"5  5.--.  Cc'"':"s  _'C~  S " c v,- r~. e "  C"  C.C 
experience  and  a  broad  view  preponderantly  tend  to  resist 
pressures  for  any  blanket  move  for  higher  priced  admissions. 
They  argue  for  and  point  to  increasing  volume  or  attendance, 
and  the  while  urge  the  political  inexpediency  of  a  rising  scale. 
They  see  a  general  increase  in  box  office  prices  as  a  potential 
invitation  to  further  regulative  pressures  from  Washington. 

It  is  conceded  that  there  are  special  locations  and  conditions 
that  involve  special  considerations.  In  other  words  the  matter 
of  box  office  prices  is  as  definitely  local  as  the  theatre  itselr. 
It  is  clearly  a  subject  on  which  the  hometown  merchandiser 
may  hold  position  of  authority. 

A  particularly  articulate  expression  on  the  issues  comes  from 
Mr.  B.  D.  Coclcrill  of  the  Denham  Theatre  in  Denver.  He 
ardently  urges  that  prices  should  not  go  up. 

"It  was  low  priced  entertainment  for  the  masses,"  he  says, 
which  "brought  the  motion  picture  theatre  to  its  present  state 
of  domination  of  the  amusement  world.  .  .  .  There  is  not  an 
exhibitor  in  the  business  who  is  not  painfully  aware  that  movie 
going  is  nothing  on  earth  but  a  habit  and  a  habit  that  if  is  too 
easy  to  break. 

"Don't  get  any  funny  ideas  that  the  palpitating  public  has 
simply  got  to  see  a  picture  the  day  if  is  released  for  its  first 
run.  If  the  first  run  price  is  fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  and  the  third 
run  is  fifteen  cents,  there  are  plenty  of  people  who  don't  mind 
waiting  a  few  weeks. 

"Maybe  you've  been  falling  for  this  glib  talk  about  high 
wages  and  big  national  income.  In  some  of  the  larger  com- 
munities where  there  are  big  war  industries,  some  wages  are 
abnormally  high.  But  for  every  man  who  is  getting  eight  to 
ten  times  as  much  money  per  day  as  he  did  in  normal  times, 
I'll  show  you  ten  who  haven't  had  a  v/age  increase  in  fen  years. 
.  .  .  And  when  this  war  ends,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about 
lowering  your  admission  prices  when  that  day  comes  to  bring 
wages  back  to  normal  while  faxes  are  left  at  undreamed  high 
levels? 

"If  opportunists  do  succeed  in  bringing  about  a  general  in- 
crease we  are  paving  the  way  for  the  government  to  step  in 
and  fix  our  prices  for  us." 

A SPECIAL  manifestation  of  the  state  of  reaction  in 
some  of  the  war-rich  regions  arrived  this  week  with  the 
complaint  of  a  circuit  house  manager,  from  a  certain 
very  busy  western  center,  that  the  home  office  was  buying  too 
many  high  priced  "A"  pictures  for  his  house. 

"We  play  capacity,"  he  reported,  hat  in  hand  in  New  York, 
"and  no  matter  what  is  on  the  bill.  Give  me  cheap  pictures, 
and  anyway  the  customers  I'm  getting  now  like  "em  corny." 

Only  the  other  day  it  was  observed  here  that  in  some  other 
high  payroll  areasjhe  "B"  pictures  had  been  moved  info  "A" 
houses  because  the  new  buying  power  was  asking  higher  class 
environment  but  demanding  the  old  diet.  In  actual  effect, 
of  course,  this  represents  a  price  increase,  and  in  those  par- 
ticular regions  that  can  take  it. 


HY  not  silver  to  replace  war-precious  copper  for  the 
plating  of  the  arc  carbons  used  in  motion  picture 
projection?  The  annual  consumption  has  been  about 
52,000,000  carbons,  using  some  275,000  pounds  of  copper. 
Silver,  a  better  conductor  than  copper,  probably  could  be 
applied  very  thinly  and  with  great  economy.  It  would  be,  to 
be  sure,  necessary  to  permit  the  manufacturers  to  buy  cheap 
foreign  silver,  about  45  cents  an  ounce,  since  domestic  silver 
is  price-fixed  and  bought  by  the  Government,  for  political 
reasons,  if  any. 

AAA 

MAILING  LISTS 

T HE  movement  of  Mr.  Elmer  Davis  to  curtail  the  flood  of 
routine  government  publications  and  bulletins  will  be  hav- 
ing the  sympathetic  approval  of  many  an  observer  of  the 
general  field  of  publicity,  in  government  and  industry  alike. 
Waste  of  millions  goes  into  house  organs  founded  on  internal 
futilities  and  vanities  and  continued  in  sheer  inertia  or  by  the 
persistence  of  job  holders.  This  desk  is  in  receipt  of  documents 
and  publications  of  divers  sorts  on  mailing  lists  which  have 
gone  unrevised  for  a  decade,  as  revealed  by  the  obsolete 
addresses.  The  house  organ  fashion  arose  way  back  yonder 
when  advertising  agencies  were  inventing  "services"  to  make 
themselves  essential. 

AAA 

SEEING  IT  GROW 

THE  only  completely  adequate  way  to  know  the  motion 
picture  is  to  experience  it.  In  the  daily  experience  of  the 
business  this  is  demonstrated  too  often  by  publicity  and 
press  books  written  from  scripts,  and  reviews  written  from 

For  the  student  of  the  art  the  problem  of  visualization  from 
the  pages  of  history  is  even  more  acutely  pointed.  The 
inadequacy  of  the  volumes  of  discussions  and  comment  on 
the  development  of  the  film  has  been  made  manifest  in  the 
writings  of  persons  who  can  scarcely  remember  back  of  the 
5C-~c  c'c--re  :e-':;. 

This  makes  especially  important  the  availability  of  the  pic- 
tures of  the  past,  in  the  cycle  of  three  hundred  films,  covering 
revolutionary  steps  from  1895  to  1940,  now  being  presented 
in  programs  from  October  to  May  by  the  Film  Library  of  the 
Museum  of  Modern  Art  in  New  York.  The  range  is  from  "The 
Execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots."  made  for  the  peep  show 
machines  of  the  pre-screen  period,  through  the  progress  of 
the  drama  into  contemporary  documentaries.  Most  of  the 
tentative,  adventuring  steps  of  the  screen's  inevitable  process 
of  frial-and-error  are  recorded.  The  spectator  with  patience 
can  be  an  eye  witness  to  the  growth  of  the  screen  from  an 
arcade  gadget  to  the  competent  medium  which  dominates 
entertainment  in  the  theatre  and  shares  importantly  in  the 
causes  of  our  war. 

Never  before  the  compilation  of  this  collection  has  such  a 
study  been  possible.  There  is  no  substitute  for  seeing. 

— Terry  Ramsaye 


8 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  NEWS 


Two  More  Newsreels 

TWO  NEW  NEWSREELS  were  projected 
this  week:  One  by  Warner  Brothers,  prin- 
cipally in  behalf  of  the  nation's  war  effort, 
the  other  by  and  for  the  United  States 
Army. 

There  has  not  been  a  new  newsreel  since 
Universal,  in  June,  1931,  entered  the  semi- 
weekly  newsreel  field,  having  previously, 
years  before,  produced  a  newsreel  weekly. 

A  newsreel  devoted  exclusively  to  the  war 
effort  and  with  the  cooperation  of  the  U.  S. 
Government,  will  be  produced  by  Warner 
Brothers  starting  January  1st,  it  was  re- 
ported at  the  Warner  home  office  in  New 
York  this  week.  Executives  of  the  company 
now  are  discussing  policies  for  the  projected 
newsreel  which  will  be  produced  at  the 
Vitaphone  studio  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Two 
and  possibly  three  issues  a  week  are  being 
considered.  Administrative  and  executive 
personnel  for  the  project  are  not  yet  selected 
and  it  was  indicated  that  reports  of  the 
release  by  the  Government  of  any  men  now 
in  the  service  of  Government  agencies  or 
the  armed  forces  was  at  least  premature. 
Harry  M.  Warner,  president,  and  Charles 
Einfeld,  advertising  and  publicity  director, 
have  been  conferring  with  Government  offi- 
cials in  Washington  for  more  than  a  month. 

Concurrent  with  reports  that  Warner 
Brothers  were  entering  the  newsreel  field 
the  trade  in  New  York  heard  rumors  this 
week  that  the  U.  S.  Army  was  about  to 
launch  a  newsreel  venture  of  its  own.  It 
would  be  a  weekly  issue,  one  report  said, 
to  be  sent  to  Army  camps  and  overseas. 

High  Army  officials  denied  the  report. 
They  said  that  it  probably  had  arisen 
through  a  misunderstanding  of  the  nature  of 
the  film  bulletin  prepared  periodically  by  the 
motion  picture  branch  of  the  Signal  Corps. 
This  release  has  been  described  as  solely 
a  study  of  latest  tactics  and  equipment  pre- 
pared for  the  information  and  instruction  of 
field  commanders.  It  was  declared  to  be  in 
no  sense  competitive  with  regular  entertain- 
ment reels. 

Two  former  newsreel  men  are  now  work- 
ing on  the  bulletin  at  the  Signal  Corps  studio 
in  Astoria,  it  was  disclosed  this  week.  They 
are  Emanuel  Cohen,  one  time  editor  of  the 
Pathe  and  Paramount  newsreels  and  an 
independent  producer,  who  holds  a  commis- 
sion as  major  in  the  reserves.  Benjamin 
Miggins,  previously  European  manager  for 
20th  Century-Fox's  Movietone  News,  is  on 
his  staff. 


Oust  Consent  Decree 

FEDERAL  JUDGE  Edward  A.  Conger, 
in  York,  on  Tuesday  ordered  the  deletion 
of  all  reference  to  the  equity  consent  decree 
of  the  film  industry  and  to  the  plea  of  nolo 
contendere  in  the  criminal  prosecution  of 
the  major  companies  from  the  anti-trust  suit 
complaint  brought  by  167  theatres  against 


DEBATED  rules  of  U.  S.  picture  censors  are 
revealed  Page  13 

MAJORS  to  handle  films  here  for  British 
Government  Page  15 

U.  S.  tells  talent:  Show  us  you  need  de- 
ferment Page  16 

IATSE  leaders  are  indicted  in  $1,500,000 
member  levy  Page  27 

GOVERNMENT  order  cuts  salaries  of  film 
talent,  others  Page  28 

FUEL  shortage  brings  new  British  theatre 
problem  Page  29 


the  American  Society  of  Composers,  Authors 
and  Publishers.  The  decision,  passing  for 
the  first  time  on  the  question  of  the  propriety 
of  reciting  the  consent  decree  in  an  anti- 
trust suit,  held  that  no  evidentiary  value 
could  be  placed  upon  the  decree  since  it  had 
been  obtained  without  the  submission  of 
evidence. 

Application  of  AS  CAP  for  a  dismissal  of 
that  part  of  the  complaint  was  based  on  the 
contention  that  the  decree  recital  might 
prejudice  the  defendant's  rights  on  trial. 
Plaintiffs  seek  treble  damages  of  over  $600,- 
000  claiming  that  ASCAP  is  a  combine  set 
up  unlawfully  to  fix  license  fees  for  musical 
compositions  played  in  conjunction  with  the 
exhibition  of  films. 

In  striking  out  all  paragraphs  referring 
to  the  decree  Judge  Conger  pointed  out  that 
under  the  Clayton  Act  the  decree  would 
have  been  prima  facie  evidence  of  monopoly 
if  it  had  been  obtained  after  the  introduction 
of  evidence.  A  motion  by  ASCAP  for  a 
bill  of  particulars  was  granted  in  the  same 
decision. 


20th-Fox's  "All-Negro" 

TWENTIETH  CENTURY-FOX  is  going 
to  produce  a  feature  with  a  full  Negro  cast. 
A  company  announcement  issued  this  week 
to  the  press  from  the  home  office  in  New 
York  said  that  it  will  be  "a  cavalcade  of  col- 
ored entertainment  for  the  past  25  years," 
with  music.  Irving  Mills,  production  assist- 
ant to  William  Le  Baron,  who  will  produce, 
leaves  New  York  this  week  for  a  tour  of 
the  country  to  round  up  Negro  performers. 
The  title:  "Thanks  Pal." 


THEATRES   extend   industry  scrap  drive 
indefinitely  Page  32 

INDUSTRY'S  leaders  map  continuation  of 
War  Bond  sales  Page  37 

SMPE  discusses  war  films,  elects  Griffin 
president  Page  43 

WHOLESALE  changes  made  in  staff  per- 
sonnel in  Canadian  branches      Page  48 

FILM   financing   stimulates   production  in 
Mexican  studios  Page  54 

BOX  OFFICE  champions  listed  for  the 
month  of  September  Page  56 


Page  61 
Page  70 
Page  58 
Page  71 


Allied  Complains 

DISTRIBUTORS  should  place  a  voluntary 
ceiling  on  their  film  prices,  terms  and  con- 
ditions, Allied  States  Association  declared 
this  week  in  a  statement  from  the  office  of 
Abram  Myers,  general  counsel  at  Washing- 
ton. 

ihey  should  set  controls,  on  what  Allied 
termed  "frequently  exorbitant"  terms,  the 
statement  said,  in  order  to  comply  with  Fed- 
eral measures  to  limit  high  incomes.  The 
association  declared  that  with  a  substantial 
reduction  in  costs  in  the  offing  due  to  en- 
forced cuts  in  high  salaries,  film  rentals 
could  be  revised  downward  substantially 
while  still  allowing  a  fair  margin  of  profit. 

The  Allied  group  again  warned  that  Gov- 
ernment regulation,  and  public  condemna- 
tion, may  be  forthcoming  if  the  industry 
does  not  place  a  voluntary  limitation  on 
profits.  It  predicted  that  earnings  this  year 
would  be  among  the  highest  in  the  history 
of  motion  picture  production.  The  bulletin 
also  renewed  the  Allied  attack  on  blind 
checking  and  asserted  the  practice  "puts  the 
whole  industry  on  a  low  ethical  plane,"  and 
is  "sufficiently  vicious  to  justify  the  exercise 
of  the  police  power  by  the  states  in  outlaw- 
ing it." 

Meanwhile  there  were  reports  of  newly 
organized  joint  buying  and  booking  com- 
bines from  six  centers  of  important  Allied 
regional  exhibitor  associations.  The  new 
buying  combines  were  being  formed  in  Al- 
bany, Detroit,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Boston 
and  Pittsburgh.  Minneapolis  and  several 
other  western  cities  recently  visited  by  the 
Allied  caravan  also  were  said  to  be  consider- 
ing buying  groups. 


SERVICE  DEPARTMENTS 

Asides  and  Interludes  Page  33     Managers'  Round  Table 

In  British  Studios  Page  36  Obituaries 

Hollywood  Scene  Page  53     What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me 

PRODUCT  DIGEST,  includinq  Reviews  and  Release  Chart 


Oct 


z  e  ' 


9  42 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Xow  Fir  is  Short 

A  SHORTAGE  of  Douglas  fir  and  other 
types  of  lumber  will  make  it  necessary  for 
film  producers  to  resort  to  the  use  of  pine 
and  other  types  and  to  salvage  as  much  of 
the  preferred  species  as  possible  for  re-use,  it 
j  was  brought  out  Tuesday  at  the  monthly 
meeting  of  the  film  producers'  advisory  com- 
mittee with  Harold  B.  Hopper,  chief  of  the 
motion  picture  section,  and  other  War  Pro- 
duction Board  officials  at  Washington. 

Problems  arising  under  the  film-allocation 
order  was  discussed  at  the  meeting,  and  Mr. 
Hopper  was  asked  to  issue  an  interpretation 
showing  whether  producers  would  be  given 
credit  against  their  quotas  for  film  stock 
used  in  the  production  of  Victor}-  shorts 
and  Army  pictures. 

The  whole  materials  situation  was  re- 
viewed with  the  WPB,  but  there  were  no 
indications  that  the  outlook  for  greater  sup- 
plies for  the  film  industry  had  improved. 
On  the  contrary,  the  producers  were  told 
that  they  should  continue  their  efforts  to 
reduce  the  consumption  of  scarce  materials 
and  salvage  everything  possible  of  re-use. 


Drafting  All 

PRODUCERS,  directors  and  writers  whose 
gifts  include  vocality  will  be  taking  their 
turn  alongside  players  in  the  promotion  of 
War  Bond  sales  henceforth  if  response  to  an 
invitation  issued  by  the  Hollywood  Victory 
Committee  on  Monday  meets  expectation. 
Mounting  requests  received  by  the  HVC 
I  to  supply  talent  for  Treasury  Department 
Bond  drives,  for  functions  of  the  Office  of 
War  Information,  the  Coordinator  of  Inter- 
American  Affairs,  the  USO,  Community 
Chest,  Red  Cross,  various  War  Relief  or- 
ganizations and.  steadily,  the  entertainment 
of  the  armed  forces,  are  cited  as  explanation 
of  the  innovation. 


Who  Gets  What 

]  NEWSREEL  CAMERAMEN  are  assured 
|  of  adequate  gasoline  supplies  under  the  na- 
tionwide gasoline  rationing  which  is  to  go 
into  effect  on  November  22nd,  but  others 
who  have  had  like  privileges  under  the 
present  east  coast  rationing  program  for 
i  the  transportation  of  non-portable  photo- 
graphic equipment  are  to  lose  the  privilege. 

The  Office  of  Price  Administration  dis- 
closed  Monday   at   Washington   that  the 
additional  gasoline  granted  for  the  trans- 
portation of  non-portable  picture  equipment 
would  be  restricted  to  such  equipment  "used 
11   in  making  newsreels  for  dissemination  of 
.   information  to  the  public,  by  a  person  regu- 
j  larly  engaged  in  such  activity." 

It  also  made  clear  that  traveling  salesmen, 
who  have  been  protesting  vainly  against  the 
refusal  of  the  rationing  agency  to  give  them 
"C"  books,  will  be  given  no  such  privileges 


and  that,  in  fact,  even  those  few  salesmen 
who  have  enjoyed  "C"  books  in  the  east  be- 
cause their  activities  were  concerned  with 
the  national  defense  and  welfare  also  will 
be  eliminated  under  the  nationwide  plan. 

The  expansion  of  rationing,  however,  will 
not  mean  that  film  salesmen,  theatre  check- 
ers or  exhibitors  will  be  unable  to  use  their 
cars  for  business  purposes.  Such  persons 
and  all  others  who  use  automobiles  for  occu- 
pational driving  will  be  eligible  for  "B" 
books  which,  with  the  "A"  books  that  every 
car  owner  will  receive,  will  enable  them  to 
drive  as  much  as  470  miles  a  month,  the 
actual  mileage  allowed,  of  course,  being  de- 
pendent upon  the  decision  of  the  local  ration 
board. 

An}"  theatre  operator,  film  salesman  or 
other  person  needing  his  car  in  his  work 
may  appeal  the  refusal  of  a  local  ration 
board  to  grant  additional  gasoline.  However, 
no  such  person  will  be  entitled  to  a  "C" 
book. 

The  situation  with  respect  to  tires  is  less 
settled.  As  of  today,  it  is  difficult  for  any 
business  man  to  secure  tires,  but  plans  of 
Rubber  Director  William  Jeffers  call  for  the 
replacement  or  retreading  of  tires  quickly. 

Under  Mr.  Jeffers'  program,  the  holder 
of  an  "A"  book  eventually  will  be  able  to 
have  his  tires  retreaded,  possessors  of  "B" 
books  will  be  allowed  to  replace  tires  that 
cannot  be  retreaded  with  new  tires  made 
from  reclaimed  rubber,  and  holders  of  "C" 
books  will  be  given  new  tires  of  virgin  rub- 
ber. When  this  will  be  possible,  however, 
depends  upon  the  progress  of  the  Adminis- 
tration's synthetic  rubber  program. 


Filling  the  "Reservoir" 

"OUR  MOTION  PICTURES  have  played 
an  important  role  in  building  up  ...  a 
gigantic  reservoir  of  goodwill"  for  the 
United  States  among  the  free  countries  of 
the  world,  WTendell  Willkie  said  last  Mon- 
day night  in  his  radio  report  to  the  nation 
on  his  recent  world  tour.  One  of  the  main 
pionts  of  the  radio  address,  made  by  the 
former  presidential  candidate  and  chairman 
of  Twentieth  Century-Fox  after  he  had 
visited  the  fighting  fronts  in  Africa  and 
Asia,  was  his  emphasis  upon  the  friendly 
feeling  for  the  United  States  he  had  found 
among  all  peoples. 

He  contended,  however,  that  unless  some 
present  policies  were  changed  and  failures 
remedied  the  "reservoir  of  friendliness" 
would  fast  be  emptied.  Continuing  on  the 
role  of  motion  pictures,  Mr.  Willkie  said, 
"They  are  shown  all  over  the  world.  People 
of  every  country  can  see  with  their  own  eyes 
what  we  look  like,  can  hear  our  voices.  From 
Natal  to  Chungking  I  was  plied  with  ques- 
tions about  American  motion  picture  stars 
— questions  asked  eagerly  by  shop  girls  and 
those  who  served  me  coffee,  and  just  as 
eagerly  by  the  wives  of  prime  ministers  and 
kings." 


Wavy  Comes  Through9 

FIRST  RKO  production  to  be  filmed  com- 
pletely under  the  studio  direction  of  Charles 
Koerner,  slid  down  the  ways  into  exhibition 
on  Tuesday,  Navy  Day,  at  San  Francisco. 

In  downtown  San  Francisco,  the  picture 
packed  the  Golden  Gate  theatre  at  $2.20  top. 
Out  on  Treasure  Island,  once  the  site  of 
a  World's  Fair  and  now  a  Navy  base  athrob 
to  the  rhythmn  of  a  world  war,  the  picture 
thrilled  successive  audiences  of  sea  force 
personnel  who  placed  upon  it  the  seal  of 
their  expert  approval. 

To  San  Francisco  for  the  double  premiere 
had  come  a  corps  of  Hollywood  stars  who 
added  their  stage  entertainment  to  the  cere- 
monies. Three  radio  programs  notified  the 
nation  via  airwave  of  what  was  going  on 
and  what  about.  Henry  J.  Kaiser  launched 
a  pair  of  ships  in  the  course  of  proceedings, 
not  exclusively  in  honor  of  the  picture,  na- 
turally, and  trade  opinion  around  the  city, 
on  Wednesday  was  that  the  Koerner  regime 
had  been  launched  no  less  auspiciously. 

William  R.  Weaver 


20th-Fox.  CEA  at  Peace 

THE  BRITISH  exhibitors'  dispute  over 
rentals  with  Twentieth  Century-Fox  was 
settled  Tuesday  in  London. 

A  joint  statement  was  issued  by  officials 
of  the  Cinematograph  Exhibitors  Associa- 
tion and  the  film  company  announcing  the 
settlement.  They  had  conferred  six  hours. 
The  CEA  executives  immediately  recom- 
mended members  withdraw  cancellations  of 
Movietone  Newsreel  contracts,  and  advised 
ignoring  earlier  suggestions  to  refuse  to  buy 
the  March  of  Time  reels,  also  distributed  by 
20th  Century-Fox. 

The  joint  statement  cited  the  importance 
of  cooperation  between  branches  of  the  in- 
dustry in  wartime.  However,  it  is  under- 
stood some  difficulties  still  confront  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  satisfactory  rental  price 
formula. 


Millions  Are  Coming 

AMERICAN  film  companies  this  week  ex- 
pected quick  remittances  from  Great  Britain 
of  between  $40,000,000  and  550,000,000 
in  "frozen"  film  revenues.  The  money  was 
released  late  last  week,  following  agreement 
between  the  British  Treasury  and  American 
representatives. 

Continuing  are  negotiations  for  a  new 
exchange  agreement  for  revenues  to  be  ob- 
tained in  the  12  months  from  October  31st. 
New  York  opinion  held  these  negotiations 
may  not  be  concluded  before  the  year  end. 

Industry-  executives,  naturally,  hope  the 
agreement  wall  be  free  of  remittance  restric- 
tions; however,  some  believe  withdrawals 
may  be  limited  to  specific  amounts  during 
quarterly  periods,  the  balance  at  the  year's 
end  to  be  frozen. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  published  every  Saturday  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City.  Telephone  Circle  7-3100.  Cable  address  "Cuigpubco, 
New  York."  Martin  Quigley,  Editor-in-Chief  and  Publisher;  Colvin  Brown,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager;  Terry  Ramsaye,  Editor;  James  P.  Cunningham,  News  Editor; 
C-'cigo  i.-ez-    -t-  Se.tr.  V't-'gc-  A.e-.s.  S'.s-gc-.,  es'tc;         .«c::  rcrc  _'-e  3.'  o>a.  '<'<". .  :~  R.  V.  ea.e-  £;'•:-•  "c  -c— c  t.-et.   Z-Z  '•' 

Rood,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  W.  M,  Gladish,  representative;  Montreal  Bureau,  265  Vitre  St.,  West,  Montreal,  Canada,  Pat  Donovan,  representative;  London  Bureau, 
4  Golden  Square,  London  W  I,  Hope  Williams  Burnup,  manager;  cable  Quigpubco  London;  Melbourne  Bureau,  The  Regent  Theatre,  191  Collins  St.,  Melbourne,  Australia, 
Cliff  Hoit,  representative;  Sydney  Bureau,  17  Archbold  Rd.,  Roseville,  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia,  Lin  Endean,  representative;  Mexico  City  Bureau,  Apartado  269,  Mexico  City, 
Luis  Becerra  Celis,  representative;  Buenos  Aires  Bureau,  J.  E.  Uriburi  126,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  Natalio  Bruski,  representative;  Rio  de  Janeiro  Bureau,  Coixa  Postal  3353, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  L.  S.  Marinho,  representative;  Montevideo  Bureau,  P.  O.  Box  664,  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  Paul  Bodo,  representative,  cable  Argus  Montevideo.  Member 
Audit  Bureau  of  Circulations.  All  contents  copyright  19-42  by  Quigley  Publishing  Company.  Address  all  correspondence  to  the  New  York  Office.  Other  Quigley  Publications: 
Better  Theatres,  Motion  Picture  Daily,  International  Motion  Picture  Almanac,  and  Fame. 


10 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


THIS  WEEK 


the  Camera  observes: 


■  FEATURED  in  RKO's  "The  Navy  Comes 
Through,"  opening  attraction  of  the  Navy's 
new  Treasure  Island  theatre  at  San 
Francisco's  naval  base  on  Navy  Day,  last 
Tuesday,  Jane  Wyatt  is  shown  receiving  a 
pass  from  Ensign  John  Christ. 


LT.  J.  E.  GRAINGER,  of  the  U.  S.  Air  Force,  associate 
producer  of  "Flying  Tigers,"  stopped  off  in  Dallas  en  route  to 
active  duty,  and  was  entertained  by  Lloyd  Rust,  Republic 
manager,  at  a  Variety  Club  luncheon.  At  the  far  end  of  the 
table  with  the  guest  of  honor  are  Mr.  Rust;  Raymond  Willie 
of  Interstate;  R.  I.  Payne,  Griffith  theatres,  and  Ed  Rowley  and 
Harold  Robb.  Others  are  Bill  O'Donnell,  Frank  O.  Starz,  Ray 
Beall,  P.  K.  Johnston,  Harry  Sachs,  Don  Douglas,  C.  V. 
Jones,  Lynn  Stocker,  Debs  Hayle,  Irving  Rust,  Victor  Lowery, 
Andy  Sisk,  Bob  Eulen,  L.  W.  Conrow,  Stanley  Hand  and 
Jack  Underwood. 


■  G.  S.  EYSSELL,  managing  director  of 
the  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  steps  off  the 
train  in  New  York  after  a  trip  to  Hollywood 
to  see  new  product  in  the  making  and 
study  possibilities  for  future  Music 
Hall  programs. 


TESTIMONIAL.  Managers  of  the  opposition  theatres  in  Lewistown,  Pa., 
honored  Lieutenant  Harold  D.  Cohen,  U.S.N.,  for  22  years  the 
operator  of  the  Embassy  theatre,  just  before  he  left  for  active  duty 
this  week.  Above,  at  the  after  the  show  dinner,  are  Joseph  Nassau, 
manager  of  Station  WMRF;  Ike  Berney,  manager  of  the  Pastime  theatre; 
Preston  Rittenhouse;  Lt.  Cohen;  Ira  H.  Cohn,  20th  Century-Fox 
Pittsburgh  manager,  and  Paul  O.  Klingler  of  the  Rialto  theatre. 


October    31,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


■  REPUBLIC'S  candidate  for  saddle  and 
spur  honors,  Roy  Rogers,  presents  a  pair  of 
silver  spurs  to  New  York's  Mayor  Fiorello 
H.  LaGuardia  just  before  the  star  and 
the  World  Championship  Rodeo  left  the 
city  for  an  eastern  tour  after  three 
weeks  at  Madison  Square  Garden. 


CONTINUING  its  series  of 
trade  screenings  for  "You  Were 
Never  Lovelier,"  Columbia 
last  week  was  in  Cleveland 
where  this  picture  of  Howard 
Reif,  Jack  Essick,  Perc  Essick, 
James  Scovill,  Danny  Stearns 
and  Ray  Essick  of  the  Scovill- 
Essick  &  Reif  circuit  was  taken. 

Also  in  Cleveland,  right,  at  the 
screening  of  Columbia's  Fred 
Astaire  musical,  "You  Were 
Never  Lovlier,"  are  Joe 
Lissauer  and  William  N.  Skirball 
of  the  Skirball  circuit. 


WING  COMMANDER  JOHN 
BARNES,  author,  songwriter  and 
former  member  of  the  London 
staff  of  Quigley  Publications,  was 
a  visitor  in  New  York  last  week. 
Commander  Barnes  has  been  on 
active  duty  with  the  RAF  since 
the  war  began  in  September,  1939. 


■  ON  THE  RECORD  praises  for  Hollywood's 
film  contributions  to  the  war  effort  were 
voiced  last  week  by  Captain  Leland  P. 
Lovette,  U.  S.  Navy  director  of  public 
relations,  to  50  industry  and  press  leaders  at 
the  Beverly  Wilshire  Hotel.   Left  to  right 
at  the  speakers'  table  are  James  Cagney, 
William  Goetz,  Louis  B.  Mayer,  Captain 
Lovette,  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  Commander  A.  J. 
Nolton,  Captain  Lovette's  representative  in 
Hollywood,  and  Harry  M.  Warner. 


12 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


ALLIANCE  theatre  executives  and 
managers  of  the  circuit's  houses  in 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  met 
last  week  in  Indianapolis  for  their 
seventh  annual  autumn  session. 
At  right  are  R.  H.  Brandt,  P.  J.  Dee, 
James  Gregory,  S.  J.  Gregory,  John 
Doerr,  Peter  Panagos  and  L.  A. 
Harris. 


PREMIERE  in  London.  Sir  Alexander  Korda 
talking  to  S.  W.  F.  Smith,  managing  director 
of  the  British  Lion  Film  Corp.,  in  the  lobby 
of  the  Gaumont  Theatre,  Haymarket,  at 
the  opening  of  the  Noel  Coward  story  of 
a  destroyer,  "In  Which  We  Serve." 


JOSEPH  H.  HAZEN,  right, 
Warner  vice-president,  has 
been  selected  by  the  War 
Department  to  take  a  four-week 
orientation  course  at  the 
Command  and  General  Staff 
School -at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Kan.  On  completion  of  the 
course  he  will  be  a  liaison 
between  industry  and  Army. 


■  PRODUCER  Harry  Sherman,  center,  was 
welcomed  to  the  United  Artists  fold  by 
the  sales  department  in  plain  view  of 
the  customers  at  last  week's  opening  of  the 
company's  new  Los  Angeles  exchange. 
Cresson  Smith,  branch  manager,  left, 
and  W.  E.  Callway,  district  manager, 
greeted  him. 


FRIENDS  of  Nat  Levy  honored  his  promotion  to 
RKO  eastern  division  sales  manager  at  a  Variety 
Club  dinner  in  Philadelphia  last  week.  Here 
Alfred  J.  Davis,  exhibitor,  left,  congratulates 
Mr.  Levy. 


October    3  1,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


13 


DEBATED  GOVERNMENT  RULES 
OF  FILM  CENSORS  REVEALED 


New  York  Board  of  Review 
Standards  Affect  Screen 
Imports,  Exports 

Rules  and  standards  which  govern  the 
censorship  of  imported  and  exported  mo- 
tion picture  film  by  the  New  York  board 
of  review  of  the  U.  S.  Office  of  Censor- 
ship were  obtained  for  publication  for 
the  first  time  this  week  by  Motion  Pic- 
ture Herald. 

The  codification,  written  by  Richard  R. 
Smith,  board  chairman,  has  been  sent  to 
newsreels  and  distributors.  It  was  received 
initially,  particularly  in  California,  with  sur- 
prise and  protest  and  many  producers  in- 
terpreted the  regulations  as  A-irtually  exclud- 
ing the  export  of  such  important  recent  war 
films  as  "Wake  Island,"  "Mrs.  Miniver" 
and  others. 

Subsequently,  as  a  result,  it  was  explained 
officially  that  the  document  was  not  a  hard 
and  fast  set  of  rules  of  what  could  or  could 

I  not  be  exported.  Officials  of  the  Office  of 
Censorship  told  producers  in  Hollywood  and 
the  home  offices  in  New  York  that  it  was 
intended  rather  as  a  guide  to  general  prin- 
ciples of  film  war  censorship. 

The  examples  contained  in  the  document 
also  were  said  to  apply  principally  to  news- 
reels,  and  short  subjects  of  a  news  or  propa- 
ganda nature. 

Colonel  W.  Preston  Corderman,  director 
of  postal  censorship,  under  whose  juris- 
diction the  film  review  boards  were  placed 

1  by  Byron  Price,  director  of  censorship,  vis- 
ited Hollywood  last  week  to  explain  the 
censorship  procedure  to  producers.  He  as- 
sured them  that  Mr.  Smith's  code  was  not 
intended  to  replace  the  general  formula  out- 
lined for  motion  picture  review  by  Mr. 
Price  last  June. 

He  explained  that  Mr.  Smith's  code  was 
drafted  primarily  for  newsreels  and  pic- 
tures   passing    through    the    New  York 

'  board.  Fiction  films,  he  said,  would  continue 

'to  lie  within  the  province  of  the  Los  An- 

1  geles  board  of  review. 

-Newsreel  executives  report  that  to  date  rela- 
tions with  the  New  York  board  have  been  good. 
Several  said  that  the  board  has  enabled  them 

i  to  avoid  any  serious  deletions  of  material  by 
cooperating  in  advance  of  newsreel  release  by 
advising  on  whether  or  not  given  material  is 
censorable. 

Feature  Censorship 
Proceeds  Smoothly 

Likewise,  industry  spokesmen  said  that  pro- 
j  ceedures  for  the  censorship  of  feature  pictures 
were  progressing  smoothly.  The  Los  Angeles 
board  of  review  passes  on  most  current  feature 
product,  working  closely  with  the  Production 
Code  Administration  to  check  scripts  in  advance 
of  production  in  order  to  guard  against  inadver- 
tent infraction.  This,  the  industry  spokesman 
claimed,  has  saved  producers  many  delays  and 
losses  of  time  and  money  which  might  have 
resulted  if  the  board  had  ordered  deletions  from 
completed  pictures. 

The  New  York  board  reviews  pictures  pro- 
duced before  the  Los  Angeles  office  began  oper- 


KUTTNER  JOINS 
CENSOR  BOARD 

The  appointment  of  Charles  B. 
Kuttner  to  the  New  York  board  of 
review  of  the  Office  of  Censorship 
was  announced  last  week  by  Richard 
R.  Smith,  chairman  of  the  board.  Mr. 
Kuttner  fills  the  third  place  on  the 
board,  formerly  held  by  Captain 
George  Ernst. 

Mr.  Kuttner  is  a  former  member  of 
the  National  Board  of  Review  staff 
and  more  recently  has  been  engaged 
in  commercial  photography  and  re- 
search on  a  multi-lingual  dictionary. 
Formerly  in  the  exporting  and  import- 
ing business  with  offices  in  Europe 
and  North  Africa,  he  is  an  expert 
linguist. 


ations.  It  also  checks  on  the  translations  added 
to  pictures  in  New  York  for  the  Latin  Ameri- 
can and  other  foreign  language  markets. 

All  imported  motion  picture  film  is  also  sub- 
ject to  review  by  the  boards.  Most  of  the  ma- 
terial, particularly  that  destined  for  the  news- 
reels,  clears  through  the  New  York  board  of 
review  and  Customs  office.  However,  official 
Army  and  Navy  releases  from  fighting  areas 
are  not  submitted  to  the  censor  board,  newsreel 
sources  reported. 

Following  is  the  text  of  the  New  York 
board's  circular,  and  supplementary  list  of  ex- 
amples, issued  on  September  8th  and  9th.  It  is 
headed,  "Basic  information  prohibited  for  war- 
time export  or  import  in  film  or  other  photo- 
graphic form" : 

Text  of  Censor  Board 
Review  Circular 

"The  purpose  of  film  censorship  is  to  keep 
information  concerning  possible  bombing  objec- 
tives, technical  data,  military  or  economic  con- 
ditions, and  adverse  propaganda  harmful  to  the 
war  effort  from  leaving  the  country.  Likewise, 
film  censorship  is  designed  to  prevent  enemy 
propaganda  and  information  leading  to  subver- 
sive activities  from  entering  the  country. 

"There  is  no  hard  and  fast  rule  of  thumb 
applicable  to  censorship.  Interpretation  and 
application  of  the  following  principles  must  be 
governed  by  the  knowledge,  understanding,  in- 
tuition and  judgment  of  those  applying  them. 

"The  final  responsibility  for  wartime  export 
and  import  film  censorship  rests  with  the  Film 
Censorship  Boards  of  Review  of  the  Office  of 
Censorship.  Certain  types  of  material  also  re- 
quire written  approval  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment, Navy  Department,  or  other  government 
agency  having  direct  supervision  over  the  sub- 
ject involved.  Written  approval  by  any  of  these 
agencies,  however,  constitutes  a  release  only 
insofar  as  that  agency  is  concerned,  and  is  not 
binding  on  the  Board  of  Review,  which  must 
weigh  all  considerations  vital  to  our  many- 
sided  war  effort. 

EXPORTS 

"Photographic  shots  requiring  such  written 
approval  include: 

"1.  All  aerial  photographs  and  detailed  close- 


up  air  shots  of  war  production  plants,  docks, 
shipyards,  railroad  terminals,  dams,  power 
plants,  storage  tanks,  reservoirs,  radio  towers, 
arsenals,  munitions  dumps,  forts  and  all  other 
military  installations,  including  air  fields  and 
military  depots  ;  detailed  close-up  shots  or  pan- 
oramic shots  of  civil  as  well  as  military  air 
fields,  cities,  factories,  or  terrain  showing  dis- 
tinguishing buildings  or  landmarks  in  relation 
to  each  other  or  to  the  general  landscape;  any 
pictures  of  new-type  planes,  tanks  or  guns. 

"2. '  Detail  photographs  of  identifiable  beaches 
and  coastlines  which  would  aid  enemy  landing 
parties  on  any  seacoast  of  the  United  States,  its 
territories  or  possessions.  This  does  not  in- 
clude conventional  scenic  views  of  coastline. 

"3.  Technical  data  of  any  kind  (other  than 
that  which  discloses  well-known  processes,  in- 
stallations and  other  information  of  no  impor- 
tance to  the  military,  naval  or  economic  war 
efforts  of  the  United  States)  which  could  be 
used  or  adapted  for  use  in  connection  with  any 
process,  synthesis  or  operation  in  the  produc- 
tion, manufacture,  reconstruction,  servicing,  re- 
pair or  use  of  any  article  for  any  phase  of  war- 
fare. The  list  is  so  comprehensive  that  all  tech- 
nical data  should  generally  be  prohibited  except 
that  contained  in  industrial  films  or  other  pho- 
tographic material  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Economic  Warfare  or  a  Board  of  Review. 

All  Shots  of  Military 
Movements  Barred 

"4.  Movements  of  land,  air  or  sea  forces, 
and  merchant  ships,  when  identification,  origin 
or  destination  is  indicated. 

"5.  Views  of  Army,  Navy,  or  Marine  Corps 
activities  and  detailed  views  of  equipment. 

"6.  Movement  of  naval  or  merchant  ships  in 
the  coastal  waters  of  the  United  States,  its  pos- 
sessions, or  naval  bases  which  might  be  of  value 
to  the  enemy  with  regard  to  attack,  sabotage, 
or  otherwise. 

"7.  Pictures  of  internment  camps  or  of  per- 
sons interned. 

"8.  Labor,  class,  or  other  disturbances  which 
might  be  distorted  into  enemy  propaganda. 
_  "9.  Undue  emphasis  on  rationing  of  essen- 
tials or  _  other  information  revealing  economic 
preparations  by  this  countrv  for  prolonged  war 
effort. 

"10.  Derogatory  pictorization  or  presentation 
of  nationals  of  South  or  Central  American 
countries  or  nationals  of  other  United  Nations 
and  of  India.  These  nations  never  should  be 
placed  on  an  uncivilized  plane  or  one  of  inferi- 
ority to  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

IMPORTS 

"Censorship  examination  of  photographic  in- 
formation and  communications  coming  into  the 
United  States  has  the  basic  functions  of  pre- 
venting enemy  propaganda  from  entering  the 
country,  and  halting  information  which  might 
lead  to  sabotage  or  other  subversive  activity. 

"Photographic  information  prohibited  for  im- 
port includes  subjects  of  propaganda  or  counter- 
propaganda  character ;  details  of  United  Na- 
tions' troop  or  ship  movements,  stations,  or 
equipment  (with  the  exception  of  newsreels  or 
commercial  films  approved  by  the  Boards  of 
Review  or  news  photographs  passed  by  U.  S. 
Postal  Censorship  authorities)  ;  and  films  or 
photographic  material  suspected  of  containing 
code  messages. 

"The  foregoing  list  is  not  all-inclusive  but  is 
provided  as  a  guide.  It  will  be  amplified  from 
time  to  time." 

The  supplement  to  the  circular  on  basic  in- 

(Continued  an  follovAng  page} 


14 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


Debated  Censor 

Regulations 

Revealed 

{Continued  from  preceding  page) 

formation  prohibited  in  film  form  contained  was 
issued  the  following  day,  September  9th.  It 
contained  the  following: 

"Some  applications  and  examples  : 

"1.  In  general,  pictures  of  new  types  of  mili- 
tary materiel,  such  as  planes,  tanks  and  special 
types  of  naval  vessels  should  not  be  shown.  If 
special  permission  is  occasionally  granted  to 
show  new  types  by  the  War  or  Navy  Depart- 
ments and  the  Board  of  Review,  names  or  des- 
ignations of  these  types  should  not  be  given  in 
the  commentary  or  dialogue. 

"2.  Don't  give  information  regarding  specifi- 
cations, performance  or  use  of  tanks,  planes, 
and  other  military  materiel,  particularly  of 
newer  types. 

"3.  Don't  give  names  of  manufacturers  and/ 
or  locations  of  plants  producing  military  ma- 
teriel. 

"4.  Avoid  comments  overemphasizing  defeats 
and  losses  or  other  events,  situations  and  condi- 
tions— physical  or  psychological — unfavorable 
to  the  cause  of  the  United  Nations. 

"5.  Don't  show  American  or  allied  armed 
forces  defeated. 

"6.  Don't  show  destruction  of  American  or 
Allied  military  equipment  unless  you  can  show 
simultaneously  much  greater  destruction  of 
Axis  equipment  and  make  this  clear  in  the  com- 
ment.   Particularly  to  be  avoided  are  shots  of: 

(a)  Sinkings  of,  or  extreme  damage  to,  naval 
or  merchant  vessels  and  planes. 

(b)  Closeups  of  wounded  or  dead  soldiers 
and  sailors — either  American  or  of  the 
United  Nations. 

"7.  Don't  show  American  or  Allied  armed 
forces  at  a  disadvantage  because  of  lack  of 
equipment  or  training. 

"8.  Don't  show  American  or  Allied  forces  in 
frivolous,  unmilitary  scenes  or  attitudes.  This 
will  apply  also  to  feature  comedy  pictures, 
based  upon  the  idea  of  burlesqueing  or  making 
fun  of  life  in  the  armed  forces. 

"9.  Don't  show  American  or  Allied  colors 
in  frivolous,  undignified  manner  or  in  bad  taste. 

"10.  Don't  show  pictures  that  reflect  on  the 
ability  of  our  Government  or  indicate  criticism 
of  democratic  processes. 

"11.  Don't  show  pictures  questioning  the 
martial  ability  or  purpose  of  our  Allies  or  hold- 
ing them  up  to  ridicule. 

"12.  Don't  show  pictures  of  unsavory  aspects 
of  American  life — gangsters,  slums,  hopeless 
poverty,  Okies,  etc.,  and  particularly  violations 
of  American  wartime  restrictions,  such  as  ra- 
tioning, gasoline  and  rubber  rules,  etc. 

"13.  Don't  show  pictures  in  which  American 
characters  are  too  boastful  of  our  wealth  and 
military  power.  Scenes  showing  our  strength 
are  acceptable,  but  not  empty  and  vainglorious 
boasts. 

"The  foregoing  applications  are  not  all  in- 
clusive but  provided  as  a  guide.  They  will  be 
amplified  or  modified  from  time  to  time." 

The  circular  and  supplement  were  signed  by 
Mr.  Smith.  He  said  last  week  that  no  changes 
or  modifications  have  been  issued  subsequently. 


Air  Raid  Wardens  Named 

Inducted  as  Chicago  air  raid  wardens  last 
week  were  150  employees  of  Balaban  and  Katz, 
after  they  had  completed  basic  training  in  Red 
Cross,  civilian  and  fire  defense  work.  District 
managers,  managers,  assistants,  operators,  cash- 
iers and  janitors  of  the  circuit  voluntarily  took 
the  various  training  courses  during  the  last  five 
months  under  the  guidance  of  Elmer  Immer- 
man,  B&K  personnel  director. 


Florida  Sees  Big  Winter 
From  Service  Camps 

Florida  is  expected  to  get  a  better  break  this 
winter  in  the  shift  of  service  camps.  A  large 
training  center  for  WAACs  now  is  being  pre- 
pared at  Daytona  Beach  and  the  movement  of 
women  to  Florida  is  expected  in  November. 
Preparations  have  been  under  way  for  several 
weeks  with  small  hotels,  store  and  warehouse 
property  leased  for  barrack  purposes  for  the 
WAAC  units. 

Camp  Blanding,  some  30  miles  from  Jackson- 
ville, has  been  active  with  arriving  service  men 
and  it  also  is  serving  as  an  induction  center. 
In  Jacksonville,  Miami,  Orlando  and  several 
of  the  other  larger  cities  of  Florida  the  influx 
of  service  men  over  the  weekend  on  leave  has 
helped  theatre  attendance.  The  theatres  have 
been  doing  capacity  business  from  Saturday 
noon  through  Sunday  night  and  midnight  shows 
have  been  featured  by  some  of  the  houses. 

Record  Mississippi 
Tax  Collections 

All  monthly  collections  of  taxes  on  amuse- 
ment admissions  in  the  state  of  Mississippi 
were  broken  in  September  when  the  State  Tax 
Commissioner  reported  a  total  of  $64,000  taken 
in  as  compared  with  $51,957  in  the  same  month 
last  year. 

The  presence  of  thousands  of  soldiers  and 
air  cadets  at  two  large  camps  at  Hattiesburg 
and  Biloxi  helped  to  swell  attendance  on  week- 
ends. Sunday  shows  at  leading  interior  points, 
long  banned  by  Sunday  law,  also  helped  to  set 
the  new  mark,  it  was  said. 

Exhibitors  Bar  Minors 
At  Late  Showings 

Neighborhood  exhibitors  of  Indianapolis  have 
adopted  a  program  designed  to  clear  their  thea- 
tres of  unaccompanied  children  at  the  end  of 
the  first  night  show.  They  will  show  trailers 
asking  the  cooperation  of  parents. 

The  program  was  launched  in  cooperation 
with  Sheriff  Al  G.  Feeney,  who  appeared  before 
the  War  Activities  Committee,  headed  by  Ken- 
neth Collins,  manager  of  the  Indiana,  and  sug- 
gested the  move  as  a  means  of  reducing  juvenile 
delinquency. 


Hit  Games  in  Massachusetts 

Beano  and  Bingo  are  under  fire  again  in 
Massachusetts.  In  Springfield,  Alderman  Rich- 
ard B.  Anderson,  president  of  the  board,  asked 
an  investigation  as  a  result  of  gang  warfare 
and  trouble  over  a  new  Penny  Arcade.  Mayor 
James  Fallon  of  Pittsfield  has  banned  Beano, 
Bingo  and  Bunco  in  his  city.  In  Boston  pres- 
sure is  being  brought  to  bear  on  Mayor  Maurice 
J.  Tobin  to  permit  Beano  games  to  resume  with 
War  Bonds  as  prizes. 


Forbes  in  New  Post 

William  E.  Forbes,  manager  of  WCCO,  Min- 
neapolis-St.  Paul  station  of  the  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System,  is  transferring  to  New 
York  to  assume  the  post  of  executive  assistant 
to  the  CBS  management.  A.  E.  Joscelyn,  man- 
ager of  WBT,  Charlotte,  N.  C,  has  been  named 
to  succeed  Mr.  Forbes.  A.  D.  Willard,  Jr., 
will  become  manager  of  WBT. 


Donates  Rental  to  USO 

Edward  G.  Zorn,  exhibitor  in  Pontiac,  111., 
declined  to  accept  free  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittees' OWI  film,  "The  World  at  War."  Mr. 
Zorn  has  sent  a  check  equaling  the  usual  feature 
rental  to  the  USO. 


Use  Song  for  Short 

RKO  Pathe  has  taken  "This  Is  America,"  a 
patriotic  song  written  by  Mickey  Kipple.  man- 
ager of  Warners'  Victoria  theatre,  Philadelphia, 
for  use  in  a  forthcoming  short  subject. 


Documentaries 
Not  Censored 

The  American  Civil  Liberties  Union,  and  its 
affiliate,  the  National  Council  on  Freedom  from 
Censorship,  this  week  accepted  the  declarations 
of  the  War  Production  Board  and  Bureau  of 
Motion  Pictures  of  the  Office  of  War  Informa- 
tion that  orders  freezing  supplies  of  35  mm. 
film  would  not  in  any  way  result  in  censorship 
of  the  contents  of  motion  pictures. 

The  WPB,  through  A.  I.  Henderson,  last 
week  informed  non-theatrical  motion  picture 
producers  that  film  would  be  supplied  as  needed 
for  all  educational  pictures.  Only  commercial 
and  promotion  films  are  barred,  he  said.  Pro- 
ductions will  be  examined,  Mr.  Henderson  and 
Lowell  Mellett  of  the  OWI  said,  only  to  de- 
termine whether  they  have  commercial  material 
in  them. 

A  difference  of  opinion  appeared  this  week, 
however,  among  documentary  producers  and 
Government  officials  as  to  the  definition  of  edu- 
cational films  The  Film  News,  published  by 
the  American  Film  Center,  asserted  that  the 
WPB  ruling  applied  only  to  classroom  films, 
and  that  all  documentary  productions  were  sub- 
ject to  review  of  contents  as  commercial  pro- 
ductions. 

The  American  Civil  Liberties  union,  through 
Roger  N.  Baldwin,  director,  interpreted  Mr. 
Henderson's  order  as  meaning  educational  films 
in  the  broadest  sense.  "There  the  matter  stands 
until  some  documentary  producer  comes  along 
to  assert  his  right  to  produce  without  review," 
the  Film  Nezvs  declared. 


Miller  Heads  NBC 
War  Program 

William  Burke  Miller,  eastern  program  man- 
ager for  the  National  Broadcasting  Company, 
will  assume  the  additional  duties  of  war  pro- 
gram manager,  C.  L.  Menser,  NBC  vice-presi- 
dent in  charge  of  programs,  has  announced. 
Mr.  Menser  also  announced  the  appointment  of 
Bertha  Brainard  as  his  assistant  in  the  program 
department.  Miss  Brainard  will  continue  to 
handle  package  program  sales. 

Mr.  Miller  will  be  liaison  between  the  pro- 
gram department  and  the  various  Government 
offices  and  will  clear  all  shows  connected  with 
the  war  effort. 


Waiver  Request  Considered 

The  council  of  the  Dramatistics  Guild  in  New 
York  is  considering  the  request  of  Allan  Ken- 
ward,  author  of  "Cry  Havoc,"  for  a  waiver  of 
the  Guild's  one-year  ruling  on  plays  sold  for 
pictures  in  advance  of  stage  production.  The 
play  has  been  sold  to  MGM  and  the  author 
is  seeking  the  concession  because  of  the  time- 
liness of  the  material,  which  concerns  the  ac- 
tivities of  nurses  on  Bataan. 


Attorney  Joining  Army 

Benjamin  B.  Tepper,  St.  Louis  attorney,  who 
has  represented  exhibitors  in  arbitration  cases, 
expects  to  be  inducted  into  the  Army  late  this 
month.  He  withdrew  from  the  race  for  state 
representative  of  the  Fourth  District,  for  which 
he  won  the  Republican  nomination  last  August. 


Run  Red  Cross  Trailer 

Theatres  in  Reading,  Pa.,  will  cooperate  with 
the  American  Red  Cross  in  publicizing 
Nurses  Aid  Week  by  running  a  special  trailer. 
Theatres  there  also  are  showing  a  special  trail- 
er on  nutrition. 


Renew  Joan  Bennett  Pact 

Joan  Bennett's  contract  for  two  films  annu- 
ally at  Twentieth  Century-Fox  has  been  re- 
newed. 


October    31,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


15 


MAJORS  HANDLE  FILMS  HERE 
FOR  BRITISH  GOVERNMENT 


Bernstein  Completes  Deal 
Paralleling  Contracts 
with  Independents 

War  films  made  by  the  British  Minis- 
try of  Information,  both  features  and 
short  subjects,  will  be  distributed  in  the 
United  States  as  part  of  the  regular  pro- 
grams of  eight  major  American  distrib- 
utors under  a  transaction  completed  this 
week  in  New  York  by  Sidney  Bernstein 
of  the  British  Information  Services. 

The  arrangement,  announced  by  Mr. 
Bernstein  in  an  interview  in  his  Hotel  St. 
Regis  suite  just  before  his  departure  for 
England  after  a  stay  of  five  months  here,  is 
parallel  to  percentage  deals  made  by  distri- 
butors with  independent  producers,  it  was 
said.  Net  revenues  will  be  turned  back  into 
new  production  by  the  British  Ministry. 
The  pictures  will  be  allotted  among  the  eight 
companies  by  arrangement  among  them- 
selves apart  from  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee and  apart  from  the  Office  of  War  In- 
formation which  now  handles  some  other 
Ministry  of  Information  short  subjects. 

The  companies  associated  with  the  plan 
are  Columbia,  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,  Para- 
mount, RKO  Radio,  Twentieth  Century- 
Fox,  United  Artists,  Universal  and  Warner 
Brothers. 

Mr.  Bernstein,  throughout  the  interview, 
stressed  the  atmosphere  of  complete  har- 
mony which  he  said  had  marked  the  discus- 
sions and  indicated  that  the  agreement  was 
an  important  step  toward  closer  cooperation 
between  the  film  industries  of  England  and 
the  United  States  and  film  divisions  of  their 
Governments.  In  this  connection  he  an- 
nounced that  the  Ministry  would  distribute 
the  U.  S.  Navy  film,  "The  Battle  of  Mid- 
way," in  England  and  similarly  would  ac- 
cept any  future  OWI  pictures. 

Eight  Features,  16 
Shorts  Scheduled 

At  present  eight  features  and  16  short 
subjects  are  planned  for  distribution  under 
the  deal,  but  Mr.  Bernstein  pointed  out  that 
any  provision  for  an  exact  number  of  pic- 
tures would  be  impossible  because  of  the 
difficulties  of  wartime  production  and  par- 
ticularly of  production  of  war  films  of  the 
type  planned  by  the  Ministry.  Most  of  the 
footage  of  the  picture  is  shot  during  actual 
I  battle  and  the  films  themselves  are  of  an 
extended  documentary  nature. 

"Young  men  are  killed,  equipment  is  lost 
or  damaged,  and  film  is  lost,"  Mr.  Bernstein 
said,  explaining  why  some  of  the  Ministry's 
ambitious  plans  were  never  realized. 

The  first  picture  to  be  released  here  under 
the  new  arrangement  is  expected  to  be  the 
feature  length  "Coastal  Command,"  now  be- 
ing shown  in  England.  The  second  title  will 
be  "A-l  Priority,"  and  others  planned  in- 
clude features  on  the  performance  of  En- 
gland's fire  brigades  during  the  air  blitz, 
on  American  troops  in  the  British  war  area, 
and  on  the  submarine  service.    The  short 


LOCATION  HAZARDS  IN 
THE  MEDITERRANEAN 

Much  of  the  footage  used  by  the 
British  Ministry  of  Information  in  its 
films,  some  of  which  are  to  be 
released  in  this  country  under  the 
arrangement  announced  this  week 
by  Sidney  Bernstein,  is  taken  under 
battle  conditions,  accounting  for  the 
uncertainty  of  the  Ministry's  produc- 
tion plans. 

For  instance,  Mr.  Bernstein  said,  a 
complete  film  record  of  one  of  the 
recent  convoys  to  Malta  was  planned. 
Although  most  of  the  ships  got 
through,  the  one  carrying  the  film 
crew  and  equipment  was  sunk  and 
the  only  record  was  a  single  reel 
saved  by  a  Royal  Navy  lieutenant 
who  held  the  film  can  under  one  arm 
while  clinging  to  a  life  raft  until  he 
was  rescued.  The  film,  as  is  much 
of  the  topical  material  shot  by  the 
Ministry,  was  released  to  the  news- 
reels. 


subjects  will  include  ones  on  the  merchant 
marine,  on  women  in  industry  and  reenact- 
ments  of  special  acts  of  heroism. 

The  features  will  be  distributed  in  Canada 
by  those  companies  which  handle  them  in 
the  United  States  but  the  shorts  will  be  dis- 
tributed in  the  Dominion  directly  by  the 
Ministry  of  Information  as  both  features 
and  shorts  now  are  in  England. 

Mr.  Bernstein  emphasized  the  excellent 
audience  reception  accorded  the  Ministry's 
pictures  so  far  at  home  and  said  that  many 
of  them  had  been  outstanding  box  office 
successes.  His  release  to  newspapers  an- 
nouncing the  new  American  distribution 
plan  said,  "'The  plan  is  in  response  to  the 
growing  desire  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  know  more  about  the  British  war 
effort  through  the  medium  of  films." 

No  Connection  with 
Money  Agreement 

The  percentage  terms  for  each  picture 
will  vary,  Mr.  Bernstein  explained,  accord- 
ing to  the  value  placed  upon  it  by  the  dis 
tributing  company  and  the  Ministry.  Simi- 
larly the  distributor  will  be  free  to  make 
whatever  terms  with  exhibitors  it  deems 
most  advantageous.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
deal  limiting  the  rights  of  the  distributors 
to  make  minor  cuts  or  editorial  changes  in 
the  pictures,  because,  Mr.  Bernstein,  said, 
"The  question  never  arose." 

The  British  representative  denied  that  the 
new  arrangement  had  any  connection  with 
the  completion  of  an  agreement  two  weeks 
ago  between  the  American  distributors  and 
the  British  Ministrv  of  Finance  under  which 


sterling  balances  of  between  540,000,000  and 
$50,000,000,  representing  film  revenue  froz- 
en in  England,  would  be  released  and  the 
companies  would  be  permitted  to  withdraw 
their  full  British  earnings  in  the  future. 

Short  subjects  brought  here  five  months 
ago  by  Mr.  Bernstein  are  now  being  dis- 
tributed by  state  rights  exchanges  and  it  is 
understood  that  these  arrangements  will  not 
be  disturbed. 

MOI  Opens  Offices 
In  Four  Key  Cities 

Mr.  Bernstein's  post  as  director  of  the 
British  Information  Services,  the  Ministry 
of  Information's  liaison  in  the  United  States, 
will  be  filled  by  George  Archibald,  former 
United  Artists  joint  managing  director  in 
England,  who  is  now  recovering  from  an  at- 
tack of  pneumonia  contracted  on  his  way  to 
this  country  from  England  several  weeks 
ago.  Offices  have  been  established  in  New 
York,  Washington,  Chicago  and  San  Fran- 
cisco through  which  details  of  the  new  ar- 
rangement will  be  handled  as  well  as  the 
continuing  exchange  of  films  and  material 
between  the  U.  S.  Office  of  War  Informa- 
tion and  the  British  Government. 

Set  Victory  Shorts 
Release  in  Philadelphia 

Distributors  in  Philadelphia,  meeting  with  the 
War  Activities  Committee  there,  have  approved 
a  plan  set  up  for  the  playing  of  Government 
and  similar  shorts  on  a  clearance  basis  with 
the  largest  houses  first  and  the  others  following 
in  order  to  get  the  widest  coverage.  While  the 
waiving  of  clearance  is  admitted,  the  order  of 
houses  will  be  in  order  of  clearance  and  runs. 
Heretofore,  the  Government  shorts  were  booked 
on  a  "first  come — first  served"  basis.  The  WAC 
also  will  attempt  to  have  information  on  the 
shorts  available  to  the  exchanges  as  early  as 
possible  to  get  playdates  arranged  earlier. 


Finish  Signal  Corps  Films 

Major  Robert  Lord  of  the  Army  Signal 
Corps  arrived  in  Washington  last  week  with 
prints  of  "The  First  Patrol"  and  "We  Fly 
for  China."  The  films  were  made  through  the 
cooperation  of  the  Signal  Corps  and  the  Acade- 
my of  Motion  Picture  Arts  and  Sciences  Re- 
search Council,  using  the  facilities  of  Metro- 
Goldwyn-Mayer. 


Hold  Show  for  Soldiers 

A  free  midnight  show  was  given  at  the  In- 
diana theatre,  Indianapolis,  last  week  for  the 
soldiers  of  the  Army  War  Show.  The  show 
was  arranged  by  the  Indianapolis  Service  Men's 
Centers,  Inc.,  stagehands  and  operators'  unions, 
and  Kenneth  Collins,  manager  of  the  theatre. 


Goldwyn  in  New  York 

Samuel  Goldwyn  is  in  New  York  for  con- 
ferences with  Lillian  Hellman  on  the  Russian 
story  she  is  now  writing  for  him,  and  also  to 
make  final  plans  on  the  musical  production  he 
will  produce  starring  Danny  Kaye. 


Lorch  in  RKO  Exchange  Post 

H.  S.  Lorch  has  been  appointed  sales  man- 
ager of  the  RKO  Radio  exchange  in  Chicago. 


16 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


U.  S.  TELLS  TALENT:  SHOW 
US  YOU  NEED  DEFERMENT 


Classification  as  Essential 
Delayed  Pending  Proof 
to  Manpower  Board 

Classification  of  talent  and  production 
employees  in  Hollywood  as  engaged  in 
essential  occupations  and  eligible  for  de- 
ferment from  the  war  draft  will  be  under- 
taken by  the  War  Manpower  Commission 
only  when  the  industry  itself  presents 
the  evidence  on  which  to  base  determina- 
tions, it  was  said  this  week  at  the  Com- 
mission in  Washington. 

Interest  in  the  classification  of  the  indus- 
try was  aroused  last  week  after  the  WMC, 
listing  certain  essential  occupations  in  the 
communications  industries,  named  seven 
categories  of  newsreel  workers  to  whom,  it 
recommended,  local  draft  boards  should  give 
deferment  from  military  service  upon  au- 
thenticated applications. 

It  is  no  secret  in  Washington  that  the 
film  industry  itself  has  been  backward  in 
presenting  a  "case,"  fearful,  it  is  said,  of 
publicity.  The  Government  is  making  tre- 
mendous use  of  the  industry's  picture-mak- 
ing facilities  for  propaganda  pictures  and 
Government  officials  have  repeatedly  held 
motion  pictures  to  be  essential  in  the  war 
effort. 

Even  the  newsreel  branch  has  been  ap- 
prehensive of  adverse  public  opinion,  al- 
though its  men  carry  cameras  into  the  most 
dangerous  spots  and  take  all  the  risks  that 
soldiers  and  newspaper  war  correspondents 
take — often  more  than  the  latter,  whose  em- 
ployers consider  them  entitled  to  deferment. 
That  certain  categories  of  newsreel  em- 
ployees were  listed  as  essential  was  due  less 
to  the  efforts  of  the  industry  than  to  those 
of  other  interests,  including  Government 
agencies. 

The  major  companies  alone  have  sent 
more  than  7,000  to  the  war  services,  a  check 
last  week  revealed.  And  scores  more  are 
on  their  way.  Several  additional  thousands 
have  been  sent  by  other  industry  branches, 
in  production,  distribution  and  exhibition, 
as  these  columns  have  been  reporting  week- 
ly. Many  of  Hollywood's  biggest  stars  al- 
ready have  gone. 

WPB  Considers 
Usher  Reduction 

War  Production  Board  officials  at  Wash- 
ington this  week  suggested  that  among  the 
next  steps  in  ordering  civilian  economy  may 
be  a  reduction  in  theatre  ushers  and  similar 
service  personnel. 

Donald  Nelson,  WPB  chief,  said  that  new 
and  deeper  curtailment  of  civilian  services 
and  goods  production  will  be  necessary, 
sloughing  off  all  but  the  truly  necessary 
ones. 

Hundreds  of  exhibitors,  laboring  under 
the  loss  of  thousands  of  theatre  workers, 
have  replaced  large  numbers  with  women 
and  girls,  in  the  posts  of  usher,  manager 


and  even  projectionists.  But  in  many  terri- 
tories it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  usher- 
ettes, because  many  are  going  off  to  the 
higher  pay  of  war  factories.  Reports  con- 
tinuing from  the  field  tell  how  many  ex. 
hibitors  have  been  forced  to  turn  to  boys 
and  girls  for  after  school  employment,  and  to 
men  beyond  the  age  of  active  war  service. 

Films  May  Reduce 
Extras  by  5,000 

Reduction  in  the  number  of  extra  actors 
from  the  present  approximately  6,000  to 
1,000  or  1,200  and  guaranteeing  these  a  min- 
imum of  $150  a  month  were  recommended 
in  Hollywood  Monday  by  L.  L.  Living- 
ston, commissioner  of  the  U.  S.  Conciliation 
Service,  after  weekend  conferences  with 
James  Cagney,  president  of  the  Screen 
Actors  Guild. 

Mr.  Livingston  announced  he  will  soon 
make  his  proposals  to  the  Association  of 
Motion  Picture  Producers.  Mr.  Cagney 
declared  that  "if  the  Government  feels 
there  are  too  many  extra  players  for  the 
amount  of  available  work,  the  Government 
should  absorb  these  people  in  war  industries 
or  activities." 

SAG  sources  revealed  that  annual  earn- 
ings for  extras  for  the  year  ending  July  31st 
approximated  $600  as  an  average. 

Mr.  Livingston's  recommendation  fol- 
lows the  announcement  in  Screen  Actor, 
publication  of  the  union,  as  recently  re- 
vealed, that  actors  whose  earnings  in  films 
are  small  are  being  urged  to  train  for  war 
production  work  as  the  official  policy  of 
the  SAG. 

The  Guild  points  out  that  more  than  325 
members  of  the  union  already  have  with- 
drawn temporarily  from  the  organization  to 
enter  war  industry  employment.  Extra  act- 
ors were  urged  to  train  for  factory  jobs 
as  the  Manpower  Commission  program  calls 
for  far-reaching  employment  shifts. 

Cartoonists  Guild 
To  Pool  Talent 

"In  1936  there  were  20,000  extra  players," 
a  Guild  statement  said.  "Through  a  series 
of  moves  since  then,  the  guild  and  the  pro- 
ducers have  reduced  the  number  to  approx- 
imately 5,000.  There  are  still  too  many 
extras  for  too  little  work." 

The  Screen  Cartoonists  Guild,  in  Holly- 
wood, is  making  plans  for  pooling  of  talent 
and  work  so  as  to  continue  production  of 
Government  training  films  and  other  ani- 
mated subjects  for  the  war  effort,  believing 
approximately  50  per  cent  of  its  members 
will  be  lost  to  the  armed  services  within 
the  next  few  months. 

The  Guild  is  finishing  a  survey  of  man- 
power to  decide  what  move  should  be 
taken  to  check  loss  of  skilled  cartoonists. 


Johnson  Film  Set 

Nunnally  Johnson  has  been  assigned  to  pro- 
duce "Flarepafh"  for  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
The  story  is  from  the  London  stage  play  of  the 
same  title. 


Hazen  Is  Named 
Army  Contact 

Joseph  H.  Hazen,  vice-president  of  Warner 
Bros.,  has  reported  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kan- 
sas, for  a  four-week  Army  orientation  course. 
He  will  return  to  Warner  Bros,  after  complet- 
ing the  course. 

Mr.  Hazen,  it  is  reported,  will  be  the  motion 
picture  industry  contact  in  its  activities  in  co- 
operation with  the  Army. 

He  was  one  of  83  business  and  professional 
leaders  selected  by  the  War  Department  to 
represent  their  respective  industries  in  consul- 
tant and  liaison  capacities.  Among  others 
chosen  for  the  Army  instructional  course  are 
H.  Leslie  Atlas,  vice-president  of  the  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System ;  L.  Myles  Regottaz,  RCA 
Manufacturing  Company,  and  Roy  E.  Larsen, 
president  of  Time,  Inc.,  publisher  of  Time  and 
Life  magazines. 

The  course  of  study  in  Army  organization 
and  procedure  started  Monday  at  the  Command 
and  General  Staff  School  at  Fort  Leavenworth. 
It  is  designed  to  enable  the  civilian  executives 
to  understand  more  fully  the  conditions  under 
which  the  Army  operates,  as  well  as  to  give 
them  a  general  picture  of  the  military  forces, 
the  functions  of  the  War  Department  and  the 
various  Governmental  and  field  agencies  con- 
nected with  the  war  effort. 

Studio  Labor  Plans 
Individual  Drives 

Hollywood  guilds,  unions  and  crafts  will  or- 
ganize their  own  Community  Chest  Drives  and 
conduct  their  own  campaigns  individually  this 
year,  Y.  Frank  Freeman,  chairman  of  the  in- 
dustry drive,  announced  this  week.  In  other 
years,  Community  Chest  drives  have  been  on  a 
studio  basis. 


New  Welles  Program 

Orson  Welles  will  launch  a  new  radio  pro- 
gram November  9th  over  the  Columbia  Broad- 
casting System  network.  The  program,  called 
"Ceiling  Unlimited,"  will  consist  of  a  series  of 
dramatic  sketches  which  will  tell  the  story  of 
American  planes  and  the  men  who  fly  them. 


Golden  Plans  Trip 

Edward  A.  Golden,  who  is  producing  "Hit- 
ler's Children,"  for  RKO,  plans  to  leave  Hol- 
lywood shortly  on  a  tour  of  exhibitor  associa- 
tion meetings.  The  itinerary  now  calls  for 
stops  at  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis,  Cleveland, 
Pittsburgh,  Washington  and  New  York. 


Dworetsky  in  Signal  Corps 

Bernard  Dworetsky  has  resigned  as  editor 
of  Sound  Track  and  as  assistant  eastern  story 
editor  of  Universal  to  accept  a  post  with  the 
Army  Signal  Training  Films  Production  Unit. 
He  will  be  stationed  at  Wright  Field,  Dayton, 
Ohio. 


Signs  PRC  Deals 

Noah  Bloomer,  branch  manager  for  Produc- 
ers Releasing  Corporation  in  St.  Louis,  has 
signed  contracts  with  the  Pirtle  circuit  in[ 
Southern  Illinois  and  the  Fox  West  Coast 
circuit  in  the  same  territory. 


M-G-M  TRADE  SHOWINGS 


DAY,  DATE  AND  HOURS  OF  SCREENING 


CITY 

PLACE 

ADDRESS 

DR.  G 

LLESPIE'S  NEW  ASSISTANT 

ALBANY 

20fh-Fox  Screen  Room 

1052  Broadway 

FRI. 

1/13 
/ 

10 

A.M. 

ATLANTA 

RKO  Screen  Room 

191  Walton  St.,  N.W. 

FRI. 

11/13 

10:30 

A.M. 

BOSTON 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

46  Church  St. 

FRI. 

1  /l? 

Also  2:15 

A.M 

P.M. 

BUFFALO 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

290  Franklin  St. 

FRI. 

11/13 

1:30 

P.M. 

CHARLOTTE 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

308  South  Church  St. 

FRI. 

11/13 

1:30 

P.M. 

CHICAGO 

H.  C.  Igel's  Screen  Room 

1301  S.  Wabash  Ave. 

FRI. 

11/13 

J 

P.M. 

CINCINNATI 

RKO  Screen  Room 

16  East  Sixth  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

CLEVELAND 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

2219  Payne  Avenue 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

DALLAS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1803  Wood  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

10:30 

A.M. 

DENVER 

Paramount  Screen  Room 

2100  Stout  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

3 

P.M. 

DES  MOINES 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1300  High  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

DETROIT 

Max  Blumenthal's  Sc.  Rm. 

2310  Cass  Avenue 

FRI. 

11/13 

1:30 

P.M. 

INDIANAPOLIS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

326  No.  Illinois  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

9 

A.M. 

KANSAS  CITY 

Vogue  Theatre 

3444  Broadway 

FRI. 

1/13 

7 

P.M. 

LOS  ANGELES 

20fh-Fox  Screen  Room 

2019  S.  Vermont  Ave. 

FRI. 

11/13 

70:30 

A.M. 

MEMPHIS 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1 51  Vance  Avenue 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

MILWAUKEE 

Warner  Screen  Room 

212  W.  Wisconsin  Ave. 

FRI. 

1/13 

7:30 

P.M. 

MINNEAPOLIS 

20fh-Fox  Screen  Room 

1015  Currie  Avenue 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

NEW  HAVEN 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

40  Whiting  St. 

FRI. 

11/13 

70 

A.M. 

NEW  ORLEANS 

20fh-Fox  Screen  Room 

zUU  c>Outh  Liberty 

ppi 

11/13 

7:30 

P.M. 

NEW  YORK  / 
NEW  JERSEY  ) 

M-o-M  bcreen  Koom 

630  Ninth  Avenue 

TUES. 

11/10 

9:30 
Also  1:30 

A.M. 
P.M. 

OKLA'MA  CITY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

10  North  Lee  Street 

THUR. 

11/12 

10 

A.M. 

Omaha 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

1502  Davenport 

FRI. 

11/13 

1:15 

P.M. 

PHILADELPHIA 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

1233  Summer  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

11 

A.M. 

PITTSBURGH 

M-G-M  Screen  Room 

1631  Blvd.  of  Allies 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

PORTLAND 

B.  F.  Shearer  Screen  Rm. 

1947  N.W.  Kearney  St. 

FRI. 

11/13 

/ 

P.M. 

ST.  LOUIS 

S'Renco  Screen  Room 

3143  Olive  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

10 

A.M. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

216  East  First  St.,  South 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

S.  FRANCISCO 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

245  Hyde  Street 

FRI. 

11/13 

1:30 

P.M. 

SEATTLE 

Jewel  Box  Preview  Theatre 

2318  Second  Avenue 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

WASHINGTON 

20th-Fox  Screen  Room 

932  New  Jersey,  N.W. 

FRI. 

11/13 

7 

P.M. 

"Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant"— Lionel  Barrymore 


18 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     1  942 


Projectionists  in 
Home  Offices 
Get  Wage  Rise 

A  10  per  cent  increase  in  wages  was  won  last 
week  by  projectionists  in  the  New  York  home 
offices  of  the  distributors,  in  a  contract  with 
Local  306.  Approximately  100  projectionists 
share  the  increase,  and  each  will  receive  about 
$250  in  retroactive  pay  for  the  past  eigtit 
months.  The  two-year  pact  has  been  approved 
by  the  local's  membership. 

The  next  step  is  submission  of  the  agreement 
to  the  War  Labor  Board,  for  study  under  the 
new  Federal  wage  freezing  laws.  However,  no 
difficulty  was  foreseen,  the  increase  is  less 
than  15  per  cent  maximum,  and  it  is  the  first 
received  by  this  category  of  projectionists  this 
year.  The  operators  are  in  charge  of  exchange 
and  home  office  projection  booths.  The  contract 
ends  a  dispute  which  almost  erupted  into  a 
strike.  The  union  waived  a  clause  which  would 
have  prohibited  distributors  from  servicing  non- 
union theatres  in  New  York,  which  was  fought 
by  the  majors.  They,  in  turn,  eliminated  a 
clause  which  would  have  permitted  them  to  close 
any  projection  room.  The  servicing  clause  had 
brought  an  anti-trust  suit  by  Loew's  against  the 
union,  in  the  New  York  supreme  court.  The 
contract  cancels  the  suit. 

This  week,  contracts  were  signed  by  the  dis- 
tributors with  the  Screen  Office  Employees 
Guild,  covering  clerical  employees  of  the  Los 
Angeles  exchanges,  and  giving  them  increases. 
These  contracts,  too,  were  to  be  sent  to  the 
War  Labor  Relations  Board. 

Leon  Schlesinger,  cartoon  producer  for  War- 
ners, reopened  his  studio  this  week,  after  the  de- 
mand of  27  cartoonists  that  they  be  reclassified 
from  breakdown  artists  to  assistant  animators 
closed  it  last  week.  The  reclassification  would 
have  raised  their  pay  from  $45  to  $55  per  week. 

The  breakdown  artists,  members  of  the 
Screen  Cartoonists  Guild,"  walked  out,  according 
to  the  studio.  Mr.  Schlesinger  said  he  then 
asked  the  SCG  for  experienced  replacements, 
that  they  were  not  supplied,  and  that  "therefore 
it  has  become  necessary  to  close  the  studio." 
The  disputed  settlement  this  week  was  reported 
to  include  a  new  contract. 

In  New  York,  consolidated  hearings  were  to 
be  held  at  the  local  National  Labor  Relations 
Board  office  Wednesday  morning,  in  the  peti- 
tions by  the  Screen  Office  and  Professional 
Employes  Guild  and  the  International  Alliance 
of  Theatrical  Stage  Employees  for  representa- 
tion of  clerical  workers  in  the  New  York  ex- 
changes of  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  United 
Artists,  and  Loew's. 


Heads  Warner  Club 

Rosalee  Birenboim  has  been  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  Warner  Employees  Club  in  Kansas 
City.  Other  officers  elected  are  Nelly  May 
Dahlin,  first  vice-president;  Bessie  Buchhorn, 
second  vice-president ;  Helen  McCoy,  secre- 
tary; Henrietta  Spinoza,  treasurer,  and  Marg 
Zimmerman,  reporter.  Evelyn  Miller  of  the 
Warner  Kansas  City  exchange  has  left  to  join 
the  WAAC. 


Gable  Is  Lieutenant 

Clark  Gable,  former  actor,  on  Tuesday  be- 
came a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Army  Air 
Corps.  He  completed  90  days  of  training  at 
the  Corps  Officers  Candidate  School  at  Miami 
Beach. 


Cooper  Joins  Republic 

Joseph  Cooper  has  been  named  publicity  rep- 
resentative for  Republic  in  the  Seattle  area. 
He  formerly  was  manager  of  the  Northwest 
Film  Club. 


PLEDGES  HOLLYWOOD  TO 
MEET  ANY  CONDITION 

The  production  branch  of  the  in- 
dustry was  pledged  to  meet  "any 
condition  necessary  to  aid  in  win- 
ning the  war,"  in  a  speech  last  week 
before  the  Optimists  Club  in  Holly- 
wood by  James  S.  Howie,  counsel 
for  the  Association  of  Motion  Pic- 
ture Producers. 

He  said  that  many  adjustments 
have  been  made  with  difficulty,  but 
they  have  been  completed  speedily 
and  the  result  has  been  an  im- 
provement in  the  quality  of  films. 
Mr.  Howie  commended  the  Holly- 
wood guilds  and  unions  for  their  co- 
operation in  the  effort,  and  said  that 
the  high  quality  of  product  has  been 
due  to  the  ability  of  technicians  and 
craftsmen  to  "meet  the  challenge  of 
wartime  handicaps." 


Good  Films  on 
Way:  Eyssell 

Gus  S.  Eyssell,  president  and  managing  di- 
rector of  the  Radio  City  Music  Hall,  returned 
to  New  York  Monday  from  Hollywood,  where 
he  had  conferred  with  studio  executives  and 
production  heads. 

He  reported  that  pictures  now  in  work  look 
good  and  among  them  will  be  some  top  product. 
"The  studios  are  all  working  hard,"  he  said, 
"and  they  are  all  trying  to  make  good  pictures. 
There  is  a  lot  of  activity  and  they  are  exerting 
themselves  to  establish  a  solid  basis  for  the  fu- 
ture. 

"Everyone  is  contributing  something  toward 
the  making  of  as  good  pictures  as  they  can,  but 
everyone  is  working  under  very  trying  circum- 
stances. The  executives,  producers,  directors 
and  others  are  devoting  themselves  to  their 
jobs  wthi  energy." 

It  was  Mr.  Eyssell's  first  trip  to  the  coast 
since  his  arrival  in  New  York  12  years  ago. 
He  formerly  was  a  theatre  executive  in  Los 
Angeles. 


Variety  Club  Honors  Young 

Commissioner  J.  Russell  Young,  president  of 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  was  guest  of  honor  at  a  special 
luncheon  of  the  Washington  Variety  Club  when 
he  was  elected  an  honorary  associate  member 
of  the  organization.  With  John  J.  Payette, 
Warner  Bros.  Theatres  zone  manager,  and  Car- 
ter Barron,  Loew's  Theatre  division  manager, 
presiding,  the  luncheon  attracted  a  capacity 
crowd  to  the  Willard  Hotel  ballroom. 


Lesser  Signs  Wynn 

Sol  Lesser  has  announced  that  he  has  signed 
Ed  Wynn  for  the  role  of  a  bus  boy  in  his  forth- 
coming picture,  "Stage  Door  Canteen."  It  will 
be  released  by  United  Artists.  Mr.  Lesser  also 
has  signed  a  long-term  contract  with  Harry 
Wild,  cameraman,  whose  first  assignment  will 
be  "Stage  Door  Canteen." 


Sears  to  Hollywood 

Gradwell  Sears,  vice-president  in  charge  of 
distribution  for  United  Artists,  left  New  York 
last  week  for  Los  Angeles,  where  he  was  to 
discuss  a  deal  with  the  Fox  West  Coast  cir- 
cuit, and  confer  with  company  executives  in 
Hollywood. 


Indiana  Group 
Holds  Meeting 

The  theatre's  place  in  the  war  effort  was  the 
predominant  theme  of  the  annual  convention  of 
the  Associated  Theatre  Owners  of  Indiana  at 
the  Indianapolis  Athletic  Club  Monday. 

Marc  J.  Wolf,  chairman  of  the  Indiana  War 
Activities  Committee,  urged  the  exhibitors  to 
show  all  Victory  films,  make  complete  reports 
on  War  Bond  and  Stamp  sales,  and  conduct 
scrap  matinees.  Mr.  Wolf  and  Don  R.  Rossiter, 
executive  secretary  of  the  association,  joined  in 
saying  that  Indiana  theatres  have  not  cooper- 
ated sufficiently  in  showing  the  Victory  films. 

Roy  Harrold  was  reelected  president  on 
Wednesday.  Other  officers  are:  H.  H.  John- 
son, vice-president ;  Mr.  Wolf,  treasurer,  and 
Mr.  Rossiter,  secretary. 

James  F.  Frenzel,  representing  the  Marion 
County  war  savings  staff,  asked  the  theatre  men 
to  do  something  to  help  reach  unorganized  and 
unaffiliated  persons,  who,  he  said,  are  the  ones 
who  are  not  buying  War  Bonds.  "Theatres  can 
reach  the  unorganized  groups  that  nobody  else 
can,"  he  said.  Mr.  Frenzel  added  he  had  no 
definite  plan,  but  asked  the  exhibitors  to  work 
out  a  solution  of  their  own. 

Cincinnati  Forum  Held 

Independent  exhibitors  representing  approxi- 
mately 100  theatres  in  the  Cincinnati  exchange 
territory  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Indignant 
Exhibitors  Forum,  in  Cincinnati  recently,  to 
outline  a  progressive  plan  for  the  continuing  of 
their  fight  against  excessive  film  rentals,  better 
availabilities  and  "a  determined  policy  to  have 
distributors  recognize  their  responsibilities  to 
the  movie-going  public." 

The  independents  are  unifying  their  efforts 
to  "obtain  better  relationships  between  distribu- 
tors and  exhibitors,  with  protection  of  the  pub- 
lic's interest  as  a  factor,"  a  spokesman  for  the 
group  said. 

Allied  Theatres  of  Michigan  will  hold  its 
annual  convention  at  the  Pantlind  Hotel,  Grand 
Rapids,  November  9th  and  10th. 

General  Precision  Net 
$319,194  in  Quarter 

General  Precision  Equipment  Corporation 
and  subsidiaries,  excluding  Cinema  Building 
Corporation,  report  for  the  three  months  ended 
September  30,  1942,  consolidated  net  profit  of i 
$319,194  after  deducting  estimated  Federal  in-' 
come  and  excess  profits  taxes  (calculated  on  the 
basis  of  the  present  law  with  no  allowances  for 
possible  post-war  refund,  but  after  adjustment 
of  excess  reserve  of  $78,456  for  the  first  sixij 
months  of  1942). 

This  compares  with  net  profit  of  $393,304  re- 
ported for  the  corresponding  quarter  last  year. 

Buy  Newark  Theatre 

_  Waters  and  Merritt  Company,  operator  of  1 1 
circuit  of  theatres  in  Birmingham,  has  pur-i 
chased  the  Mosque  theatre,  Newark,  N.  J. 
and  will  use  it  for  stage  shows,  ice  carnivals 
musicals  and  similar  entertainment.  Plans  an 
being  considered  for  conversion  of  the  large  j 
lower  hall  as  a  dine  and  dance  spot,  where  nam: 
bands  will  be  featured. 


Fire  Ruins  Warner  Set 

A  fire  in  the  Malibu  Hills  area,  Hollywooc 
last  week  endangered  scores  of  homes  an 
reached  into  the  Calabasas  ranch  of  Warne 
Brothers.  Flying  embers  caused  a  blaze  whic 
destroyed  the  set  to  be  used  in  "Edge  of  Dark 
ness." 


Stromberg  Signs  O'Shea 

Eddie  O'Shea,  now  appearing  on  BroadwJ 
in  the  play,  "The  Eve  of  St.  Mark,"  has  be< 
signed  to  a  seven-year  contract  by  Hunt  Stron 
berg,  United  Artist  producer. 


HE'S  THE  LEADER 
OF  THE  INDUSTRY 

t  and 

THE  LEADER  OF 
THE  BANDS! 


Look  ahead  with  Leo 


I've  got  the  best 
bands  in  the  landV1 


LEO  DOESN'T  REST 
ON  HIS  LAURELS! 

While  you're  enjoying  his  TERRIFIC  TWELVE  you'll  be 
delighted  to  hear  of  his  new  showmanship  scoop! 

When  you  see  what's  coming  you'll  agree 

That  your  pal  Leo  is  a  showman 

Who  never  stops  figuring 

How  to  keep  your  screen 

Alive  with  the  nation's  pulse  -  beat! 

With  up-to-the-minute  appeals  for 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Public  and  Family! 

As  usual,  it's  Leo  who  does  it  FIRST! 

To  his  powerful  star  and  production 

Resources  he  now  adds  BAND  POWER! 

Read  about  it  in  following  pages— 

And  reach  for  an  M-G-M  contract! 


GET  ON  THE  M-G-M  BAND  WAGON! 

Here  are  PLUS  qualities  that  go  with  M-G-M's  power-house  of  Star  Values,  Top-flight  Directors, 
Fabulous  Story  and  Play  properties!  Here's  extra  showmanship!  Here's  extra  zing  to  make 
America  sing  M-G-M!  Here  are  the  bands  you'll  see  in  M-G-M's  pictures! 

(arranged  alphabetically) 


LOUIS  ARMSTRONG 


BOB  CROSBY  AND  BAND 


JIMMY  DORSEY  AND  BAND 


o 


TOMMY  DORSEY  AND  BAND 


DUKE  ELLINGTON  AND  BAND 


HARRY  JAMES  AND  BAND 


DJCKJURGENSJ^ 

-""^3^  ~"   o^r 

genTkrupaand^band 


KAY  KYSER  AND  BAND 


(And  more  to  cornel  But  meet  the  hoys  face'tojace  on  the  next  page.  They're  the  idols  of  America!) 


LOUIS 
ARMSTRONG 

'Trumpet  King  of  Swing" 


"He's  the  'Trumpet  King  of  Swing.'  Lou  will 
be  seen  in  the  cast  of  'Cabin  In  the  Sky'  which 
features  Ethel  Waters, 'Rochester, 'LenaHorne, 
Lou  himself,  Rex  Ingram  and  a  screenful  of 
talented  entertainers.  Plus  Duke  Ellington 
shown  below  and  Hall  Johnson  Choir." 


BOB 
CROSBY 

and  his  "Danceable 
Dixieland  Music" 


JIMMY 
DORSEY 

"World's  Greatest 
Saxophonist" 


TOMMY 
DORSEY 

"Sentimental 
Gentleman 
of  Swing" 


r 


C1 


"Bob  and  his  'Danceable  Dixieland  Mu| 
will  assist  Judy  Garland,  Van  Heflin  and 
troupe  of  topnotch  players  in  making  t 
great  screen  show  'Presenting  Lily  Mars: 


"The  'World's  Greatest  Saxaphonist'  and  his 
famous  lads  will  be  in  there  with  the  hot  licks 
when  Red  Skelton  puts  on  his  big  show 
'I  Dood  It'." 


"Tommy  Dorsey,  that  'Sentimental 
Gentleman  of  Swing'  and  his  Or- 
chestra will  make  those  Cole  Porter 
tunes  echo  across  America  in  'Du- 
barry  Was  A  Lady.'  What  a  cast! 
Lucille  Ball,  Red  Skelton,  Gene 
Kelly  and  a  host  of  beauty  and  talent." 


DUKE 
ELLINGTON 

"America's 
Aristocrat  of  Jazz" 


"The  Duke,  'America's  Aristo- 
crat of  Jazz,'  is  in  the  cast  of 
headline  entertainers  who  make 
'Cabin  In  the  Sky'  (see  top  of 
page)  one  of  the  screen's  real 
treats!" 


E  KRUPA 

;e  Drummer  Man" 


Watch  for  the  name  of  famed  Gene  Krupa, 
Hie  Ace  Drummer  Man'  in  connection 
ith  any  one  of  these  big,  coming  M-G-M 
Lusicals  'Girl  Crazy.'  'Best  Foot  Forward,' 
Anchors  Aweigh.'  These  musicals  are  pos- 
bilities  likewise  for  the  talents  of  Harry 
Lines,  Dick  Jurgens,  Vaughn  Monroe  who 
ppear  below." 


KAY  KYSER 

"The  Ole  Professor" 

"You'll  see  that  popular  music- 
man  Kay  Kyser,  'The  Ole  Pro- 
fessor' in  the  big  M-G-M  mu- 
sical 'Right  About  Face'." 


HARRY  JAMES 

"The  No.  I  Trumpeter" 


I 


DICK  JURGENS 

"Here's  That  Band  Again" 


"That's  the  magical  phrase  that 
millions  wait  for.  And  they'll  wait 
for  good-looking  Dick  Jurgens  in 
y     his  M-G-M  debut." 


''The  celebrated  Mr.  James 
will  trumpet  to  his  na- 
tion-wide tans  from  the 
screen  under  the  trade- 
mark of  Leo  the  M-G-M 
showman." 


VAUGHN 
MONROE 

'Handsome  Singing 
~S[aestro" 


"Vaughn  Monroe  is  a  great  screen 
bet.  His  band  is  one  of  the  most 
talked  about  in  America  and  it's 
headed  for  M-G-M  customers." 


THE  BEST  BANDS  IN  THE  LAND 
IN  BIG  M-G-M  SHOWS! 


and  here's  the  box-office  rhythm  the  industry 
is  dancing  to  right  now!  Swing  on  to  next  page! 


ASK  THE  POST  OFFICE  BOYS! 

"It's  easy  to  tell  when  a  new  Movie  Season 
starts.  M-G-M  gets  more  mail  than  anybody  on 
Film  Row.  It  happens  year  after  year.  The  gents 
1  who  run  the  theatres  know  their  business!"  , 


--*  : 


I  >). 

mm 

m 1  ' 

*  v  WmM 

*  f 

MUSIC  OF  THE  CASH-REGISTER! 

No  wonder  those  M-G-M  contracts  are  pouring  in! 


LOVE! 

Clark  Gable 
Lana  Turner  in 

"Somewhere 
I'll  Find  You" 


ACTION! 

"Apache  Trail" 
a  great  Western  in 
the  M-G-M  manner 


TIMELY! 

"The  War  Against 
Mrs.  Hadley"  with 
Edward  Arnold 
Fay  Bainter 


JOY! 

Red  Skelton 
Ann  Sothern  in 
"Panama  Hattie" 


SONG! 

Jeanette  MacDonald 
Robert  Young 
in  "Cairo" 


ASTOR! 

Judy  Garland  in 
"For  Me  and  My 
Gal"  sets  new  all- 
time  Astor  record! 


HOWLS! 

Mickey  Rooney 


in 


"A  Yank  At  Eton" 


DELISH! 

Mary  Roberts 
Rinehart's  "Tish" 
with  Marjorie  Main 


ROMANCE! 

Kathryn  Grayson, 

Van  Heflin, 
Marsha  Hunt  in 
"7  Sweethearts" 


WOW! 

Hedy  Lamarr 
Walter  Pidgeon 
in  "White  Cargo" 


SUSPENSE! 

"Eyes  In  the  Night" 
Edward  Arnold 
Ann  Harding 


"Omaha  Trail" 
"For  the  action  fans" 
says  Daily  Variety 


A  wealth  of  entertainment! 
Happy  hold-overs  everywhere! 

M-G-M's  TERRIFIC  TWELVE! 


TAKE  IT  OFF  AND  ENJOY 
SECURITY  WITH  M-G-M! 

There's  no  guess-work  about  an  M-G-M  contract! 

You  know  that  this  outfit  is  always  PREPARED! 

You  can  rest  assured  that  your  future  is  our  concern 

Because  your  future  and  ours  are  one! 

We're  fortifying  that  future  day  and  night  — 

There  is  no  organization  more  actively  looking  ahead! 

Only  M-G-M  is  able  to  act  on  such  a  scale! 

That  line-up  of  the  nation's  top  music-makers 

Is  a  comforting  sight  to  far-seeing  showmen. 

It  means  that  M-G-M,  acknowledged  tops  in  musical  hits, 

(For  instance  "Ship  Ahoy"  "Panama  Hattie"  "For  Me  And  My  Gal") 

Will  have  even  bigger  fun-and-melody  shows  coming 

To  delight  a  nation  eager  to  buy  entertainment! 

And  here's  an  invitation  —  set  to  box-office  music  — 


(whistle  as  you  turnl) 


COME  INTO  MY  PROJECTION  ROOM 


Pictures  to  watch  for! 
Pictures  that  are  the 
Talk  of  Hollywood ! 
Great  as  the  M-G-M 
Season  has  been  thus  far, 
Here  are  just  a  few  of 
Many  more  Big  Ones 
On  the  way  from 

Metro- 

GOLDMINE- 

Mayer 

Ronald  Colman,  Greer  Garson 
"Random  Harvest" 


Red  Skelton 
"Whistling  In  Dixie" 
• 

Robert  Taylor,  Charles  Laughton,  Brian  Don  lew 
"Pacific  Task  Force" 
• 

Joan  Crawford 
John  Wayne,  Philip  Dorn 
"Reunion" 
• 

Spencer  Tracy,  Katharine  Hepburn 
"Keeper  of  the  Flame" 

9 

"Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out" 
Mickey  Rooney,  Lewis  Stone  and  the  Folks 
• 

Lana  Turner,  Robert  Young 
"Nothing  Ventured"  (temp,  tide) 
with  Walter  Brennan 
• 

"Dubarry  Was  A  Lady" 

starring 
Lucille  Ball,  Red  Skelton 
Gene  Kelly 

• 

Wallace  Beery 
"Salute  To  The  Marines" 
• 

Judy  Garland,  Van  Heflin 

"Presenting  Lily  Mars" 
with  Bob  Crosby  and  Band 
• 

Ann  Sothern,  Melvvn  Douglas 
"Three  Hearts  For  Julia" 

• 

And  More  GOLDMINE 
Hits  coming! 


October    31,     I  V  4  2 


motion  picture  herald 


27 


U.  S.  INDICTS  IATSE  AIDES  ON 
$1,500,000  MEMBERSHIP  LEVY 


Two  Charged  with  Per- 
jury; Incumbent  Officials 
Are  Brought  Into  Inquiry 

The  two-fold  inquiry  conducted  by 
United  States  Attorney  Mathias  F.  Cor- 
rea,  in  New  York,  into  the  affairs  of  the 
International  Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage 
Employees  to  determine,  first,  the  final 
resting  place  of  a  $1,500,000  levy  on  32,- 

000  IATSE  union  members  by  former 
president  George  E.  Browne  and  special 
representative  Willie  Bioff,  and  second, 
the  identity  of  the  Chicago  gangsters  be- 
hind Bioff,  continued  to  unfold  with  the 
indictment  this  week  of  Isadore  Zevin, 
Chicago  secretary  to  Browne,  and  Martin 
A.  Hirsch,  self-styled  tax  consultant,  on 
charges  of  perjury. 

Browne  and  Bioff  now  are  serving  terms 
in  Federal  penitentiaries  for  extortion  and 
conspiracy  in  obtaining  money  from  film 
industry  heads. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  year  and  one-half 
in  which  the  Federal  Grand  Jury  has  heard 
testimony  in  the  case,  the  names  of  incum- 
bent officials  of  the  IATSE  were  connected 
openly  with  the  investigation  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. Filing  of  the  indictment  against 
Zevin  disclosed  that  the  Government  con- 
tends that  Richard  A.  Walsh,  president, 
William  P.  Raoul,  his  assistant,  and  vice- 
presidents  James  J.  Brennan  and  Floyd  M. 
Billingsley  mailed  vouchers  to  Zevin  for 
Browne  on  the  assessment  funds  and  also 
enclosed  currency. 

As  indicated  in  a  release  issued  by  Mr. 

1  Correa  upon  presentation  of  the  indictments 
(to  Federal  Judge  John  Bright,  part  of  the 
missing  fund  was  paid  out  to  the  40  or 
[50  union  representatives  in  the  form  of 
[checks  for  purported  salaries  and  expenses 
Iwith  a  system  of  kick-backs  enforced  for 
Ithe  greater  part  of  the  amount  distributed. 
iThis  money,  the  Government  alleges,  was 
returned  to  Browne  via  Zevin  and  the  U.  S. 
rnails. 

Uevin  Charged  with 
|vaZse  Testimony 

In  regard  to  this  phase  of  the  Grand  Jury's 
Investigation,  Zevin  in  the  nine-count  indict- 
Inent  is  charged,  among  other  things,  with 
lalsely  testifying  that  mail  from  the  four 
IATSE  officials  did  not  contain  currency ;  that 
le  did  not  know  that  some  of  the  individuals 
h  whom  the  checks  had  been  issued  had  not 
leen  allowed  to  retain  the  major  portion  of  the 
roceeds  of  the  checks,  and  that  he  did  not 
ihceive  large  sums  of  currency  representing 
I  'oceeds  of  the  checks  issued  from  the  two 
Itr  cent  assessment  fund. 

|  Mr.  Correa  disclosed  that  his  attention  had 
ien  turned  towards  Hirsch,  the  second  de- 
Bndant,  when  the  latter  came  forward  and 
listed  a  $25,000  bond  for  Nick  Circella,  alias 
^ick  Dean,  who  subsequently  pleaded  guilty 
a  charge  of  conspiring  with  Browne  and 
l'off  to  mulct  the  film  industry.  Specifically, 
rsch   is   charged   with    failing   to  account 
ithfully  for  his  disposition  of  the  bail  money 
en  it  was  returned  to  him. 
tfn  regard  to  Hirsch,  Mr.  Correa  explained 


TESTIMONIAL  DINNER 
HELD  FOR  WALSH 

A  testimonial  dinner  to  Richard  F. 
Walsh,  president  of  the  IATSE,  was  to 
have  been  held  on  Thursday,  at  the 
St.  George  Hotel  in  Brooklyn.  The 
dinner  was  to  have  been  given  by 
Local  4  of  the  Stagehands  Union. 
Thomas  Murtha,  president  of  the 
Central  Trades  and  Labor  Council, 
was  chairman  of  the  affair.  Matthew 
Woll,  vice-president  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  was  chairman  of 
the  reception  committee. 


that  the  Grand  Jury  has  been  seeking  to  learn 
the  names  of  Bioff's  superiors  ever  since  Harry 
M.  Warner,  president  of  Warner  Bros.  Pic- 
tures, testified  during  the  Bioff  trial  that  the 
latter  demanded  extortion  money  in  the  name 
of  the  "boys  from  Chicago."  The  Government 
maintains  that  the  assessment  fund  was  set  up 
so  that  it  could  be  diverted  to  the  personal  use 
of  "divers  persons  whose  identity  is  unknown 
to  the  grand  jurors." 

Investigation  of  the  IATSE,  the  longest  on 
record  in  the  New  York  District,  started  in 
May,  1941.  The  Grand  Jury  conducting  the 
inquiry  will  be  discharged  following  the  two 
indictments.  Mr.  Correa,  however,  made  it 
clear  that  the  investigation  would  continue  with 
the  November  jury  in  charge. 

Hirsch  this  week  appeared  before  Judge 
Bright  and  pleaded  not  guilty  to  the  indictment. 
He  was  liberated  on  $5,000  bail.  A  warrant  has 
been  issued  for  the  arrest  of  Zevin  who  faces 
maximum  penalty  of  60  years  imprisonment 
and  $42,000  in  fines.  A  third  indictment  was 
handed  up  to  the  court  under  seal. 

It  is  reliably  reported  that  further  indict- 
ments will  follow  shortly.  According  to  re- 
ports, the  four  IATSE  officials  will  be  sub- 
poenaed as  witnesses  at  the  perjury  trial. 

Push  Legislation 
Aimed  at  Petrillo 

With  the  investigation  of  James  Caesar 
Petrillo,  president  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Musicians,  stalled  in  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Committee,  and  the  Department  of 
Justice's  anti-trust  suit  against  the  Federation 
to  force  the  lifting  of  the  ban  on  recordings 
halted  by  a  court  decision  against  an  injunction, 
Senator  D.  Worth  Clark  of  Idaho,  author  of 
the  investigatory  resolution,  said  this  week  he 
would  press  for  immediate  action  on  a  bill  he 
introduced  last  week. 

The  measure  would  remove  from  the  Fed- 
eration the  protection  conferred  by  labor  legis- 
lation against  prosecution  of  unions  for  con- 
spiracy to  restrain  trade.  It  was  on  the  basis 
of  this  legislation  that  Federal  Judge  Barnes 
ruled  against  the  injunction  in  Chicago  last 
week. 

Senator  Clark  held  that  Petrillo's  ban  on  the 
making  of  records  for  radio  broadcast  use,  if 
adopted  by  a  group  of  business  men  would 
make  them  liable  to  prosecution  for  conspiracy 
to  restrain  trade.  Under  the  anti-trust  laws 
and  sunreme  court  decisions,  however,  such 
suits  cannot  be  maintained  against  labor  organ- 


izations and  his  bill  would  lift  that  cloak  of 
protection.  The  suspension  of  the  law  would 
be  limited  to  the  matter  of  records,  and  there 
would  be  no  handicap  to  normal  union  activities. 

Although  Senator  Clark's  original  resolution 
for  an  investigation  of  Petrillo  was  approved 
by  the  Senate  September  24th,  Senator  Burton 
K.  Wheeler  of  Montana  this  week  had  not 
called  his  Interstate  Commerce  Committee  to- 
gether to  determine  the  manner  of  conducting 
the  inquiry,  nor  had  he  given  any  explanation 
for  his  inaction.  There  were  suggestions,  how- 
ever, that  Senator  Wheeler  did  not  believe  the 
investigation  should  be  undertaken  until  after 
the  elections,  but  whether  this  was  due  to  the 
absence  from  Washington  of  members  cam- 
paigning for  reelection  or  to  political  con- 
siderations was  not  developed.  There  were  re- 
ports, too,  that  Petrillo  had  been  in  communica- 
tion with  Senator  Wheeler  seeking  a  formula 
for  settlement  of  the  controversy  and  conse- 
quently the  quashing  of  the  investigation. 

Proposes  Compromise 
In  Record  Dispute 

Senator  Wheeler  on  Monday  denounced  as 
"anti-strike"  Senator  Clark's  bill  to  lift  the 
anti-trust  law  protection  from  the  Federation 
for  the  purpose  of  prosecution  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice's  conspiracy  suit.  He  warned, 
however,  that  unless  the  dispute  was  settled  soon 
the  Federation  would  be  subjected  to  an  in- 
vestigation. 

Dr.  Howard  Hanson,  director  of  the  East- 
man School  of  Music  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
this  week  proposed  a  compromise  solution  to 
the  controversy  which  arose  when  Petrillo  or- 
dered his  musicians  to  stop  making  recordings 
for  broadcast  use  and  also  forced,  under  threat 
of  a  musicians'  strike,  the  abandonment  of  stu- 
dent orchestra  broadcasts. 

In  a  written  statement  Dr.  Hanson,  a  well 
known  conductor  and  composer,  suggested  that 
"every  station  broadcasting  commercially  should 
be  asked  to  employ  a  group  of  professional  mu- 
sicians of  a  size  corresponding  with  the  sta- 
tion's power  and  relative  importance.  Stations 
which  include  in  their  annual  budgets  a  reason- 
able sum  for  employing  professional  musicians 
should  be  allowed  to  broadcast  records  or  stu- 
dent music  at  will,"  Dr.  Hanson  added,  "so  long 
as  these  broadcasts  are  not  used  as  an  excuse 
for  withholding  legitimate  employment  from 
professional  musicians." 

Sixty-five  delegates  to  the  New  England 
Conference  of  the  Federation  in  New  Britain. 
Conn.,  early  this  week  unanimously  adopted  a 
resolution  endorsing  Petrillo's  stand  in  the 
fight  to  limit  the  manufacture  of  recordings  for 
radio  broadcasts,  juke  boxes  and  phonographs. 
Commenting  on  the  recent  court  victory  in 
Chicago,  the  resolution  added,  "This  was  a 
wonderful  victory  against  great  odds,  not  only 
for  our  Federation  but  for  organized  labor  as 
a  whole.  We  rejoice  with  you  and  for  you. 
President  Petrillo." 


20+h-Fox  Moves  McCabe 

Thomas  McCabe,  who  has  been  handling  ex- 
ploitation kits  for  the  field  staff  at  Twentieth 
Century-Fox,  will  take  over  the  exploitation 
writing  assignment  of  Robert  Condon,  who  has 
joined  the  Army. 


Rascoe  Succeeds  Brown 

Burton  Rascoe  has  succeeded  John  Mason 
Brown  as  drama  critic  for  the  New  York 
World  Telegram.  Mr.  Brown  has  joined  the 
Navy. 


28 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  31 


I  942 


GOVERNMENT  CUTS  SALARIES 
OF  FILM  TALENT,  OTHERS 


Byrnes  Sets  $25,000  Limit, 
Effective  Jan.  1st;  Bars 
Unapproved  Increases 

by  FRANCIS  L.  BURT 

in  Washington 

Hundreds  of  executives  and  artists  in 
the  motion  picture  industry  received  an- 
nouncements in  their  newspapers  Wed- 
nesday morning  that  their  salaries  would 
be  cut  on  January  1st,  next,  many  of 
them  to  a  drastic  extent. 

Upon  that  date,  it  was  announced  by  Di- 
rector of  Economic  Stabilization  James  F. 
Byrnes,  new  regulations  would  go  into  ef- 
fect to  limit  the  salary  earnings  of  all  per- 
sons to  $25,000  after  payment  of  Federal 
income  taxes. 

In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Byrnes  prohibited 
any  increases  in  salaries  without  the  ap- 
proval of  the  United  States  Government. 

He  ordered  that  no  employee  receiving 
less  than  $5,000  a  year  may  be  given  an  in- 
crease or  cut  in  salary  without  the  approval 
of  the  War  Labor  Board.  He  listed  only  six 
exemptions  to  this  freezing  order.  Also,  sala- 
ries between  $5,000  and  $25,000  may  not 
be  increased  without  the  approval  of  the 
Treasury  Department's  Bureau  of  Internal 
Revenue. 

This  order  clarified  the  responsibilities  of 
the  War  Labor  Board  and  Treasury  in  ad- 
ministering the  wage  and  salary  controls 
voted  by  Congress  on  October  2nd.  The 
WLB  has  jurisdiction  over  all  persons  re- 
ceiving not  more  than  $5,000  a  year,  except 
bona  fide  executive  administrative  and  pro- 
fessional employes,  unless  the  latter  group 
is  represented  by  a  certified  bargaining 
agent. 

The  Treasury  has  supervision  over  all 
salaries  over  $5,000  a  year  and  over  the 
salaries  of  administrative,  executive  and  pro- 
fessional workers. 

Will  Cut  Hollywood's 
Donations  to  Charity 

No  industry  in  the  country  will  be  as 
broadly  affected  by  the  salary  limitation  as 
the  film  industry.  Its  effects  could  not  im- 
mediately be  visualized,  either  upon  the  in- 
dustry itself,  the  charities  which  members 
of  the  industry  support,  or  the  War  Bond 
program  in  which  members  of  the  industry 
have  been  heavy  investors. 

The  regulation  effectively  controls  all 
earned  income  by  providing  that  where  a 
person  works  for  more  than  one  employer, 
all  his  salaries  are  to  be  totaled  to  arrive 
at  the  $25,000  limit. 

The  order  will  put  a  ceiling  of  about  $67,- 
000  a  year  on  gross  salaries,  with  all  al- 
lowable exemptions  for  insurance,  taxes  and 
charities  included,  "the  Wall  Street  Journal 
estimated.  The  figure  is  based  on  the  Federal 
tax  schedules  in  the  1942  revenue  bill  passed 
by  Congress  last  week. 

No  exceptions  were  made  for  persons 


PRESIDENT  ALSO 
TAKES  SALARY  CUT 

The  new  wage  regulations  apply  to 
public  salaries  as  well  as  private  ones, 
except  for  salaries  specifically  fixed 
by  Federal  or  state  statute.  The  Presi- 
dent is  the  only  Federal  employee 
with  a  statutory  salary  exceeding 
$25,000,  and,  while  he  is  thus  exempt, 
Mr.  Byrnes  announced  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  written  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  asking  that  future  payments 
of  his  salary  be  made  in  compliance 
with  the  regulations.  The  salary  of  the 
President  is  fixed  by  law  at  $75,000 
a  year. 


whose  annual  earnings  expectancy  is  lim- 
ited, as  in  the  case  of  many  of  Hollywood's 
actors  and  actresses.  The  New  York  Times 
reported  that  at  a  press  conference  on  Tues- 
.day,  Mr.  Byrnes,  when  asked  if  any  special 
provision  had  been  made  for  Hollywood  tal- 
ent, replied  that  there  was  no  exception 
from  the  order. 

He  added  that  he  considered  it  sufficiently 
broad  to  cover  the  earnings  of  lawyers,  doc- 
tors and  other  professional  workers  who 
are  paid  principally  on  a  fee  basis. 

Six  Exceptions  To 
Rule  Are  Cited 

The  six  exceptions  to  the  order  barring 
wage  increases  are  only  in.  the  cases  of  "an 
increase  made  in  accordance  with  the  terms 
of  a  salary  agreement  or  salary  rate  sched- 
ule and  as  a  result  of  (A)  individual  promo- 
tions or  reclassifications;  (B)  individual 
merit  increases  within  established  salary 
rate  ranges;  (C)  operation  of  an  established 
plan  of  salary  increases  based  on  length  of 
service;  (D)  increased  productivity  under 
incentive  plans;  (E)  operation  of  a  trainee 
system;  (F)  such  other  reasons  or  circum- 
stances as  may  be  prescribed  in  orders,  rul- 
ings, or  regulations,  promulgated  under  the 
authority  of  these  regulations." 

The  term  salary  or  salary  payments,  as 
defined  by  the  order,  means  all  forms  of 
direct  or  indirect  compensation  which  is  com- 
puted on  a  weekly,  monthly,  annual  or  other 
comparable  basis — except  a  wage  basis — for 
personal  services  of  an  employee  irrespective 
of  when  rendered.  It  includes  bonuses,  addi- 
tional compensation,  gifts,  loans,  commis- 
sions, fees,  and  any  other  remuneration  in 
any  form  or  medium  whatsoever  (excluding 
insurance  and  pension  benefits  in  a  reason- 
able amount). 

The  Treasury  estimated  that  in  1939  ap- 
proximately 24,000  persons  received  salaries 
over  $25,000.  They  estimated  that  at  least 
750,000  wage  earners  received  $5,000  or 
over. 

No  other  exceptions  whatever  are  made 
in  the  regulation.  But  there  is  a  provision 


that  the  Stabilized  Board  and  Commissioner 
of  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  may  make  ex- 
ceptions for  salaries  "which  are  deemed  nec- 
essary for  effective  administration  of  the 
act  and  these  regulations."  No  explanation 
was  given  as  to  how  those  exceptions  might 
be  applied. 

Limit  Applies  Only 
To  Salaries 

The  regulations  also  outlined  the  control 
of  _  salaries  between  $5,000  and  $25,000 
which  are  to  be  regulated  by  the  Treasury. 

The  $25,000  limit  applies  only  to  salaries 
because  that  is  the  extent  of  the  board's 
power  under  the  act.  The  control  of  income 
from  other  sources,  such  as  investments, 
rents,  etc.,  it  was  pointed  out,  could  be  ef- 
fected only  by  taxation,  which  requires  an 
act  of  Congress. 

In  definite  terms,  the  regulations  prohibit 
the  payment  to  any  employee  of  an  amount 
of  salary  which,  after  deduction  of  the  Fed- 
eral income  taxes  on  the  whole  salary,  would 
exceed  $25,000.  This  provision  throws  the 
burden  of  state  income  taxes  directly  upon 
the  $25,000  which  may  be  retained. 

Additional  payments  of  salary  may  be 
made  to  take  care  of  customary  charitable 
contributions,  but  only  where  the  recipient 
of  the  salary  has  no  other  sources  of  income 
which  can  be  utilized  for  this  purpose  with- 
out undue  hardship. 

Additional  payments  of  salary  also  may 
be  made  to  take  care  of  payments  on  life 
insurance  policies  and  fixed  obligations 
which  were  in  force  on  October  3,  1942,  and 
past  income  taxes  due.  But  these  cases  ap- 
ply only  where  the  recipient  of  the  salary 
has  no  other  source  of  income  which  can 
be  utilized  for  such  purposes  and  only  when 
he  can  show  that  he  is  unable  to  meet  the 
payments  without  disposing  of  assets  at  a 
substantial  loss,  involving  undue  hardship. 
No  allowances  will  be  made  for  life  insur- 
ance policies  or  fixed  obligations  entered  r 
into  after  October  3,  1942. 

Violation  of  the  regulations  by  a  com- 
pany will  subject  it  to  tax  on  the  full  amount 
of  salary  paid,  and  not  simply  the  amount 
in  excess  of  the  $25,000.  Both  payer  and 
recipient  of  violating  salaries  may  be  pun- 
ished under  the  penal  provisions  of  the  Sec- 
ond Price  Control  Act. 

Law  Provides  Penalty 
For  Violations 

This  law  provides  penalties  of  one  year5 
in  jail  and  $1,000  fines  for  both  parties,  on: 
conviction  by  a  court  trial.  Other  indirect 
penalties,  such  as  disallowing  the  entire 
amount  of  an  illegal  salary  from  income  tax 
deductions,  may  be  imposed  by  the  execu- 
tive branch  of  the  Government  without 
court  review. 

Director  Byrnes  explained  that  for  ad- 
ministrative reasons  it  would  be  impractic- 
able to  put  the  limitation  on  salaries  into 
effect  before  January  1st  next.  However,  he . 
ordered  that  in  the  meantime  increases  in  I 
salaries  at  this  level  be  made  only  with  the 
approval  of  the  Treasury. 


October    31,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  29 


FUEL  SHORTAGE  BRINGS  NEW 
BRITISH  THEATRE  PROBLEM 


Lower  Temperatures  Are 
Expected  to  Cause  Cut 
in  Attendance 

by  AUBREY  FLANAGAN 

in  London 

It  is  no  secret  that  the  Britisher,  in- 
creasing the  sum  total  of  his  sacrifice  on 
the  altar  of  war.  this  forthcoming  winter 
is  likely  to  be  colder  than  he  has  been 
for  years.  Rigid  economies  in  fuel  are  the 
oroler  of  the  day.  and  although  a  national 
system  of  fuel  rationing  has  not  been 
operated,  although  machinery  exists 
which  can  be  set  in  motion  at  a  brief 
notice,  less  coal,  fuel  oil.  gas  and  electric 
power  will  be  available  throughout  the 
whole  of  Great  Britain. 

Sharing  this  burden  of  nationally  imposed 
frigidity,  the  picture  house,  it  would  seem, 
almost  certainly  must  operate  at  a  lower 
temperature  than  at  any  time  hitherto — save 
in  the  earliest  and  most  elementary  days  of 
the  business.  Already  with  the  chill  hand  of 
autumn  settling  on  the  civic  shoulder,  a  pro- 
hibition has  been  made  against  central  heat- 
ing; already  picture  house  patrons  and  the 
picture  house  operator  are,  so  to  speak,  feel- 
ing the  breeze  in  more  ways  than  one. 

In  force,  too,  are  restrictions  on  the 
amount  of  fuel  to  be  consumed,  whether  it 
be  coal,  coke  or  oil.  That  conditions  may 
well  affect  the  business  is  almost  certain. 

This  week  exhibitor  spokesmen  in  the  form 
of  a  technical  deputation  from  the  Cinemato- 
graph Exhibitor  Association  have  approached 
the  Ministry  of  Fuel  in  the  hope  that  they 
could  persuade  from  thai  chilly  body  an  ex- 
emption for  picture  houses  from  the  October 
ban  on  central  heating.  They  have  met  with  a 
3at  refusal  The  prohibition  stays — for  the  rime 
being.  Censorship  bars  any  comment  upon  the 
relations  of  this  bar  to  current  temperatures, 
but  national  newspapers  this  day  of  writing — 
October  9th — record  that  last  night  there  was 
a  northerly  wind  and  that  it  was  colder  in  the 
Straits  of  Dover! 

<ome  Concessions 
May  Be  Made 

None  the  less,  a  certain  elasticity  is  permitted 
the  Ministry  of  Fuel  and  it  has  been  promised 
the  CEA  that  they  will  share  in  any  benison  be- 
towed  by  the  Ministry  if  the  weather  gets 
appropriately  cold.  Scotland  and  England  have 
-en  divided  into  three  areas,  North,  Midlands 
land  South,  and  a  watch  will  be  kept  on  con- 
ditions. If  cold  creeps  down  from  the  frozen 
north,  an  official  permission  will  be  broadcast 
by  the  Regional   Commissioners   in  affected 
teas  for  central  heating  to  be  turned  on. 
As  it  is,  coal  and  coke  are  restricted  greatly, 
'sot  only  in  their  distribution  and  sale,  but  in 
heir  issue  fo  such  consumers  as  cinemas.  The 
shibtor  is  having  to  carry  on  with  a  greatly 
educed  fuel  store.  Oil,  too,  is  being  restricted, 
fheatres  whose  normal  annual  consumption  of 
I  for  the  air  conditioning  plant  has  been 
.000  gallons,  have  been  restricted  to  23,000 
allons.  The  reduction  means  an  obvious  reduc- 
on  in  the  heating  of  the  picture  house;  it 
jeans,  too.  an  even  greater  reduction  in  the 


efficiency  level  at  which  the  air  conditioning 
plant  operates  and  is  maintained 

In  view  of  this  prospect  of  a  colder  winter 
and  lower  temperatures  in  the  theatres,  Brit- 
ish exhibitors  are  not  unnaturally  somewhat 
perturbed.  Lower  temperatures  mean  inevitably 
smaller  audiences.  Whereas  yesterday  many 
working  class  patrons  found  the  picture  houses 
warmer  on  a  winter's  night  than  sitting  at 
home,  now  it  is  likely  that  a  percentage  of  the 
public  may  prefer  the  public  house  (saloon) 
or  walking  the  streets  to  sitting  in  a  low  tem- 
perature. 

Restrictions  Also  on 
Use  of  Paper 

Already  the  certainty  exists  that  private 
houses  and  working  class  homes  will  have  to 
content  themselves  with  a  greath-  depleted  fuel 
ration.  Already  Ministers  of  the  Crown  and 
medical  advisers  to  the  Government  are  priming 
the  public  to  wrap  themselves  up  thoroughly, 
to  pad  their  clothes  with  cotton  waste  and 
sit  at  work  and  at  home  in  mackintoshes  and 
overcoats !  Whereas  escape  from  these  condi- 
tions would  lead  normally  to  the  picture  house, 
it  is  not  likely  to  do  so  if  the  theatre  has  to 
bring  down  its  "winter  minimum  temperature. 

CEA  advocates  already  have  stressed  the 
place  of  the  cinema  in  maintaining  morale,  have 
even  pleaded  a  case  for  bulk  heating  on  grounds 
that  it  is  as  economical  as  bulk  feeding  via  the 
British  restaurants.  If  the  theatre  cannot  pro- 
vide this,  then  there  is  likely  to  be  an  in- 
creased demand  for  fuel  on  the  home  front  with 
possible  social  and  political  disaffection. 

In  the  case  of  film  houses  not  using  a  Ple- 
num system  of  air  conditioning  it  may  be  pos- 
sible, by  rigid  economy,  to  achieve  a  10  per 
cent  cut  in  the  use  of  fuel. 

The  danger  lies  in  the  possible  further  re- 
striction of  the  amount  of  fuel  used  during  the 
winter — if  not  a  restriction,  then,  no  less  un- 
pleasant a  shortage. 

Transportation  Problem 
Affects  Theatres 

Fuel  is  not  the  only  material  becoming  short 
in  its  relations  to  the  picture  theatre.  Paper, 
both  that  used  for  posters  and  that  used  for 
stills,  has  been  the  subject  recently  of  further 
restrictions.  The  size  of  posters  has  been  fur- 
ther cut,  as  has  also  the  number  which  may  be 
displayed  at  any  one  time.  Window  bills  are 
limited.  The  dimension  of  stills  (sensitized  pa- 
per) for  display,  has  been  reduced  further  by 
Government  order,  although  not  considerably. 
Gradually  the  exhibitors'  display  vehicles  are 
being  abbreviated. 

Such  worries  as  paper,  the  prohibition  of  ice 
cream  and  the  bringing  of  confectionery  into 
the  class  of  rations  are  not.  of  course,  as  keen 
as  the  worn-  over  fuel.  Xor  are  they  as  big  a 
headache  as  the  recent  cuts — first  of  many,  no 
doubt — made  in  the  name  of  fuel  economy  in 
late  evening  transport.  All  over  England  and 
Scotland  evening  traffic  is  being  condensed  and 
cut  in  order  to  save  petrol  and  rubber,  and  in 
most  areas,  from  London  to  the  most  northerly 
part  of  Scotland,  last  buses,  a  key  to  successful 
local  showmanship,  are  being  put  forward  to 
an  earlier  hour.  Here  again  the  effect  has  al- 
ready been  felt  on  attendance. 

From  Central  London  in  a  few  days  last 
buses  will  go  at  10:30  P.  M.  This  will  not 
affect  West"  End  houses,  most  of  which  close 
before  10.  In  any  event  there  are  trains  and 
tubes  available,  although  these,  too,  are  being 


cut  In  the  suburbs  and  in  the  country  towns, 
in  the  provinces,  in  the  industrial  areas  where 
patrons  have  been  wont  to  travel  in  to  the 
center  for  their  films  and  then  back  by  bus  to 
the  dormitory  areas,  it  will  have,  and  is  already 
having,  a  drastic  effect. 

An  earlier  close  down  of  traffic  all  over 
Great  Britain  is  now  a  matter  of  course.  It 
may  well  mean  an  earlier  close  down  for  many 
cinemas,  and,  as  a  net  result  a  shorter  operat- 
ing dav.  Patrons  who  want  to  stay  after  10 
or  10:30  P.  M— 9 :30  to  9:45  in  some  dis- 
tricts— will  have  to  walk. 

Repercussions,  objections  and  open  rebellion 
are  inevitable.  But  under  the  present  circum- 
stances any  alleviation  hardly  can  be  expected. 

Further  Raw  Stock 
Cuts  Anticipated 

Getting  shorter,  too,  is  raw  stock.  The  matter 
alread}-  .has  been  considered-'fully  on  these  pages 
and  although  no  formal .  Consideration  has  yet 
been  given  the  matter  -in  trade  circles,  it  is 
redhot  as  a  problem.  Ghanges  in  release  sys- 
tems or  in  program  lengths — or  even  both — 
are  inevitable.  The  increasing  demand  on  the 
laboratories  and  raw  stock  companies  made  by 
the  Services,  coupled  with  the  gradual  restrict 
tion  of  the  raw  stock  available,  can  have  only 
one  logical  result 

Consumption  of  raw  stock  has  risen  by  50,- 
000,000  feet  in  Britain  since  the  war^the  vast 
majority  of  it  going,  of  course,  into  Govern- 
ment service.  One  laboratory,  Olympic — Para- 
mount affiliate— which  incidentally'  processes  all 
the  U.  S.  Army  training  films,  -and  does  most 
of  the  sub-standard  work  for  the  entertainment 
of  the  U.  S.  forces — in  1939  was  printing  an 
average  of  -Z5QJ)00  feet  weekly.  The  average 
figure  today  is  hBOTJ.OOO  «£eet  weekly. 

Goldberg  Left  Bequests 
To  Theatre  Employees 

The  will  of  the  late  Aaron  Goldberg,  dean  of 
independent  exhibitors  in  the  San  Francisco 
Bay  area,  who  died  in  September,  made  be- 
quests to  14  employees  from  an  estate  exceeding 
5200,000.  Mr.  Goldberg,  operator  of  two  news- 
reel  houses,  in  San  Francisco  and  Oakland  as 
well  as  four  feature  houses,  provided  that  each 
employee  who  had  been  with  him  15  years  or 
more  would  receive  $250.  Those  with  10  3-ears" 
service  were  left  SI  00  each,  and  five-year  em- 
ployees $50.  The  bulk  of  the  estate  was  left  tc 
his  wife.  Rita,  who  will  aid  in  administering 
the  estate  and  operating  the  theatres. 


Joseph  in   New  York 

John  Joseph.  Universal's  national  director 
of  publicity,  advertising  and  exploitation,  was  in 
Xew  York  this  week  for  conferences  with  home 
office  executives.  While  there  he  will  set  final 
plans  for  campaigns  on  "Arabian  Xights." 
'"Nightmare"  and  "Who  Done  It?" 


Schaeffer  with  Paramount 

John  Schaeffer,  who  operated  his  own  inde- 
pendent exchange  in  Philadelphia  for  many 
years,  has  joined  the  Paramount  exchange  there 
as  salesman.  He  was  assigned  to  the  southern 
Xew  Jersey  territory,  succeeding  Ted  Aber. 
now  with  the  Air  Force. 


Robinson  in  London 

Edward  G.  Robinson  has  arrived  in  London. 
The  actor  said  his  visit  there  was  to  help  the 
war  effort  but  "not  by  making  films." 


32 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,  1942 


THEATRES  EXTEND  SCRAP 

CAMPAIGN  INDEFINITELY 


Drive  in  Film  Theatres  on 
Semi-Permanent  Basis  at 
WPB  Request 

Motion  picture  theatres  throughout  the 
country  which  marshalled  forces  to  help 
in  the  nation's  scrap  drive,  following  a 
month  of  intensive  War  Bond  selling  in 
September,  will  not  terminate  their  sal- 
vage activities  on  October  31st,  but  will 
continue  indefinitely,  according  to  an  an- 
nouncement this  week  from  headquar- 
ters of  the  War  Activities  Committee. 

The  scrap  campaign  will  be  pushed  in  film 
houses  on  a  semi-permanent  basis,  with  spe- 
cial emphasis  on  "scrap  matinees,"  following 
a  proposal  from  Donald  M.  Nelson,  chief  of 
the  War  Production  Board,  to  the  War  Ac- 
tivities Committee.  Tabulations  received  by 
Mr.  Nelson's  office  from  exhibitors  who  al- 
ready have  held  this  type  of  show,  convinced 
WPB  officials  that  "free  admissions"  could 
be  translated  into  thousands  of  tons  of  scrap, 
it  was  said. 

Major  distributors  have- agreed  to  extend 
their  offer  of  free  film  for  special  scrap 
matinees  at  the  rate  of  one  a  month  for  any 
of  the  16,000  or  more  theatres  participating 
in  the  drive.  The  free  offer  includes  current 
regular  percentage  releases  or  special  pro- 
grams. Computed  on  a  six-month  basis,  it  is 
estimated  by  WAC  that  the  industry-wide 
agreement  makes  available  to  exhibitors 
more  than  $1,000,000  worth  of  gratis  cellu- 
loid entertainment.  As  in  the  past,  any 
revenues  accruing  to  theatres  from  the  sale 
of  the  collected  scrap  will  be  turned  over  to 
local  or  national  charities. 

In  a  letter  to  WAC's  exhibitor  state  chair- 
men last  week,  the  WPB,  through  Monroe 
Greenthal,  declared  that  "beyond  doubt  the 
motion  picture  industry  is  making  a  great 
contribution  to  the  national  scrap  cam- 
paign." Reports  from  various  sections  of 
the  country  showed  that  in  some  instances 
the  scrap  was  coming  in  at  a  rate  exceeding 
115  pounds  per  capita. 

Home  Offices  Launch 
Own  Scrap  Drives 

During  the  week,  meanwhile,  home  office 
executives  and  personnel  launched  scrap 
drives  to  spurt  the  national  campaign.  At 
Warner  Bros.,  employes  were  asked  to  turn 
in  all  scrap  items  from  their  departments 
and  homes  at  salvage  depots  set  up  on  each 
floor  of  the  home  office  building.  RKO, 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  other  film  com- 
panies also  are  conducting  office  scrap  drives 
with  employee  cooperation.  Proceeds  from 
the  sale  of  the  scrap  will  be  donated  to 
charitable  groups  designated  by  the  WAC. 

According  to  the  American  Industries 
Salvage  Committee,  the  Eastman  Kodak 
Company  in  Rochester  is  high  on  the  list  of 
industrial  organizations  contributing  heavily 
to  the  mounting  scrap  pile  the  country  is  ac- 
cumulating. The  company  has  collected  and 
disposed  of  approximately  10,000,000  pounds 
of  various  materials  needed  in  the  war  ef- 
fort, the  AISC  reported  last  week.  Obso- 


MANUAL  OUTLINES 
COPPER  SALVAGE 

The  War  Activities  Committee  has 
sent  a  manual  of  instruction  to  the 
more  than  16,000  pledged  theatres, 
to  augment  recent  trade  paper 
stories  on  arrangements  for  the  col- 
lection of  copper  drippings  and  strip- 
pings  from  carbons  in  projectors. 

The  letter,  signed  by  Arthur  Mayer, 
WAC  salvage  director,  warned  the 
exhibitor  of  the  necessity  of  record- 
ing accurately  the  weight  of  salvaged 
copper,  in  the  event  that  it  might 
become  necessary  to  negotiate  with 
the  WPB  regarding  the  future  supply 
of  carbons.  Designated  agencies  will 
sell  the  "precious  metal"  to  junk 
dealers  and  the  resulting  revenue  will 
be  turned  over  to  the  Red  Cross.  The 
WAC  also  pointed  out  the  necessity 
for  complete  cooperation  with  the 
amusement  section  of  the  War  Pro- 
duction Board  and  its  chief,  Chris- 
topher J.  Dunphy. 


lete  machines,  such  as  coating  wheels  and 
spooling  machines,  have  been  scrapped.  Four 
tons  of  scrap  rubber  have  been  given  to  the 
Rochester  salvage  committee  by  Eastman, 
with  proceeds  of  the  sale  going  to  the  city's 
war  fund. 

Reports  this  week  from  the  field  indicated 
the  efficiency  with  which  exhibitors  took  the 
initiative  in  their  communities  to  help  in 
collecting  the  nation's  scrap  for  much-needed 
war  materials.  Several  hundred  theatres  in 
upstate  New  York,  Westchester  and  New 
Jersey  collected  approximately  3,000  tons 
of  materials  last  Saturday  at  special  mati- 
nees, it  was  estimated  by  Fred  Schwartz 
and  Sam  Rinzler,  WAC  co-chairmen  for  the 
area.  Approximately  25  tons  of  scrap  were 
garnered  by  Loew's  theatres  in  Westchester 
County,  according  to  Lawrence  Beatus,  di- 
vision manager.  At  a  meeting  of  Allied 
Theatre  Owners  of  New  Jersey,  held  Mon- 
day, members  pledged  cooperation  with  the 
War  Production  Board  in  sending  copper 
drippings  through  the  designated  channels. 

3,000,000  Pounds 
Los  Angeles  Goal 

The  campaign  in  Los  Angeles  got  under 
way  last  week  with  a  goal  of  3,000,000 
pounds.  Campaign  workers  enlisted  300,000 
school  children  in  the  collection  drive  and 
400  special  scrap  matinees  will  be  given 
for  them  on  November  7th  and  14th.  In  ad- 
dition to  running  trailers  which  call  atten- 
tion to  the  vital  need  for  metal,  rubber  and 
rags,  theatres  in  the  area  posted  550  24- 
sheet  posters  in  prominent  locations  in 
greater  Los  Angeles. 

Free  scrap  matinees  in  Buffalo's  71  thea- 


tres have  yielded  4,945,340  pounds,  approxi- 
mately 2,473  tons  of  scrap,  or  an  average 
of  48.18  pounds  per  child,  it  was  reported 
this  week.  Exhibitors  provided  the  theatres 
and  distributors  the  films  for  about  150 
such  matinees,  attended  by  some  103,000 
school  children.  Admission  was  10  pounds 
of  scrap  turned  into  the  schools'  salvage 
depots. 

Al  Rosecan,  operator  of  the  Princess, 
South  St.  Louis,  collected  18,000  old  keys 
in  two  days  of  special  shows  held  at  his 
theatre  to  aid  in  the  current  drive.  Patrons 
were  offered  the  choice  of  paying  the  regu- 
lar admission  or  of  donating  five  old  keys. 
The  600-seat  house  played  to  capacity  both 
nights.  Cash  receipts  one  night  were  only 
$20,  he  said.  More  than  3,400  children 
helped  to  raise  15,316,431  pounds  of  scrap 
at  matinees  held  by  95  local  theatres  during 
the  last  two  weeks. 

All  Indiana  Houses 
Plan  Matinees 

Charles  W.  York,  manager  of  the  Gra- 
nada, Spokane,  put  on  a  special  scrap  mati- 
nee last  week.  So  great  was  the  response 
and  so  large  the  various  items  brought  to 
his  theatre,  including  boilers  and  dynamos, 
that  he  was  compelled  to  call  on  the  Spo- 
kane fire  department  to  move  the  pile  with 
block  and  tackle. 

In  Indianapolis,  another  exhibitor,  Wil- 
liam Elder,  manager  of  Loew's,  discovered 
that  the  pile  of  scrap  he  salvaged  from  his 
theatre  yielded  2,956  pounds,  all  needed  for 
Uncle  Sam's  war  effort.  Every  theatre  in 
Indiana  will  give  a  scrap  matinee  in  the 
campaign  under  way,  Marc  J.  Wolf,  WAC 
state  chairman,  announced  last  week. 

Old  theatre  arc  lights  in  use  in  the  RKO 
Temple,  Rochester,  more-  than  25  years  ago, 
were  added  to  the  scrap  pile  the  theatre  is 
collecting.  Included  in  the  collection  are  four 
large  rheostats  which  go  with  the  lights, 
each  rheostat  containing  400  pounds  of  metal. 

Approximately  75  tons  of  salvage  material 
were  collected  by  15  downtown  houses  in 
Boston  during  the  week.  Receptacles  were 
placed  in  front  of  theatres  and  only  those 
who  delivered  10  pounds  of  scrap  or  two 
pounds  of  rubber  were  admitted. 

Key  Matinees  Are 
Held  in  Akron 

Twenty-six  film  houses  in  Akron,  O.,  held 
"key  matinees"  on  Monday,  at^which  three 
or  more  old  keys  served  as  the  price  of  ad- 
mission, to  be  added  to  the  scrap  pile.  About 
16,000  pounds  of  salvage  were  brought  to 
12  Rochester  theatres  last  Saturday  at  spe- 
cial matinees.  A  matinee  of  this  kind  staged 
last  Saturday  at  the  Newman  theatre  in 
Kansas  City  netted  something  over  5,000 
pounds  of  varied  metal  items.  More  than 
1,000  Indianapolis  children  attended  a  scrap 
matinee  at  the  Ritz  last  Friday  and  brought 
enough  material  as  their  "tickets"  to  fill  four 
large  trucks.  Downtown  theatres  in  the  city 
planned  special  matinees  for  this  Saturday. 


October    31,    1942  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  33 

ASIDES  and  INTERLUDES 


They  say  9.0OO  Nazi  spies,  under  orders  to 
Dr.  Karl  E.  Haushofer,  President  of  the  Ger- 
man Academy  in  Munich  and  master  planner 
of  Xazi  world  conquest  collaborated  on  the 
script  of  "Hitlers  Plan."  latest  short  film  of 
"The  World  in  Action"  series,  United  Artists. 

On  the  finding's  of  their  espionage.  73-year-old 
geography  professor  Haushofer,  least  publicized 
and  rarely  photographed  member  of  the  Nazi 
hierarchy,  based  his  so-called  new  science.  Geo- 
politics or  the  Military  Control  of  Space,  ex- 
posed in  "Hitler's  Plan,"  which  shows  how  the 
Nazis,  following  the  geopolitician's  scheme,  in- 
tend to  conquer  the  world  for  Germany,  not 
by  fleets  or  seapower,  but  by  armies  operating 
on  land,  to  make  the  first  world  empire  of  two 
continents :  Eurasia  with  Africa  and  the  Amer- 
icas. The  film  concentrates  on  the  current  Ger- 
man drives,  southwest  and  southeast  across  the 
Mediterranean  towards  the  heart  of  Africa  and 
Asia,  for  military  control  of  the  entire  Old 
World  seacoast 

The  film  also  tells  how  the  United  Nations 
are  upsetting  the  geography  professor's  new 
charts  of  empire  in  the  Mediterranean,  in  the 
near  East,  and  in  Africa,  where  U.  S.  service 
troops  and  assemblymen  from  Detroit  produc- 
tion lines  are  now  rushing  to  beat  the  zero 
hour. 

V 

Oregon  pickle-pickers  are  in  a  pickle.  So 
F.  H.  Haskell  writes  from  Portland,  Ore.,  to 
size  up  their  troubles  thusly:  "Pickle 
packers'  prospects  of  getting  pickle  pickers 
to  pick  pickles  for  pickle  packers  to  pack  are 
poor." 

V 

Another  reason  why  photographic  supplies 
our  of  Eastman  Kodak's  plants  at  Kodak  Park, 
Rochester,  are  slowing  down  is  attributable  to 
the  company's  new  manufacturing  line  of  fire- 
control  and  target  aiming  gadgets  for  Uncle 
Sam's  big  and  little  field  guns. 

V 

Someone  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  has  started  a  ru- 
mor that  the  Government  is  going  to  ration 
marriage  licenses.  Just  a  rumor. 

First  thing  Mrs.  President  Roosevelt  did 
after  flying  the  Atlantic  to  London,  and  eat- 
ing a  big  royal  dinner  as  the  guest  of  the 
King  and  Queen,  was  see  a  movie — Noel 
Coward"s  "In  Which  We  Serve."  screened 
in  bomb  scarred  Buckingham  Palace. 
V 

M.  H.  Grcenwald  fore  out  $25,000  worth  of 
-pipe  organ  from  his  Capitol  Theatre,  at  Elyria, 
Ohio,  to  throw  on  the  war-scrap  pile. 

V 

With  solemnity,  Band-leader  Timmie  Lunce- 
"ord  announces  to  the  press  and  the  country 
it  for  next  Tuesday's  meetless  day  his  air 
rchestra  will  render  a  patriotic  li'l  program 
omposed  of  "Meet  Me  Tonight  in  Dream- 
land" "Till  We  Meet  Again."  "Meet  the  Beat 
of  My  Heart,"  "A  Little  Street  Where  Old 
jFriends  Meet,"  and  "Meet  Me  in  St  Louis, 
Louis."    Such  patriotism. 

Eddie  Rivers,  former  publicity  director  for 
-iamrick-Evergreen  Theatres.  Seattle,  and 
core  recently  connected  with  the  exploita- 
ion  forces  of  RKO  Radio  in  the  midwest, 
eturned  to  his  former  home  in  Walla 
Valla  to  join  the  Never-Leak  Roofing  Com- 
any.  and.  during  his  first  week  in  his  new 
")b,  fell  from  a  roof  and  broke  two  ribs. 

The  Bombay,  India.  Board  of  Censors  is  re- 
ared to  inspect  pictures  in  the  language  of 
rglish.  Hindi.  Bengali.  Tamil.  Telugu,  Pushta, 
<ujarathi,  and  Marathi. 


By 


The  Last  Stanza 

It  took  another  World  War  and 
I  30  years  to  start  recognition  a-rolling 
for  the  last  stanza  of  "The  Star 
Spangled  Banner." 

The  Writers'  War  Board,  in  New 
York,  as  sponsor,  and  Kate  Smith, 
as  singer,  have  taken  the  National 
Anthem's  last  stanza's  lyrics  to  the  air 
waves  for  purposes  of  patriotic  popu- 
larization. And  they  both  have  a  job 
ahead,  as  attested  by  inquiry  among 
a  score  of  persons  around  Broadway 
revealing  that  not  one  of  them  knew 
the  lyrics.  But,  then,  Broadway,  is  not 
America. 

The  last  stanza: 

O,  thus  be  it  ever  when  free  men  shall 
stand 

Between  their  loved  homes  and  wild  war's 
desolation, 

Blessed  with  znciory  and  peace,  may  the 
Hearif  n  rescued  land, 

Praise  the  power  that  Jiaih  made  and  pre- 
served us  a  nation. 

Then  conquer  we  must  when  our  cause  it 
is  just, 

And  this  be  our  motto,  In  God  is  our 
Trust 

And  the  Star-S pangled  Banner  in  triumph 

shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of 

the  brave 


No  bablo  espanol,  meaning  no  speak 
Spanish,  were  the  three  overworked  words 
run  off  by  Walt  Disney's  group  just  before 
last  year's  tour  of  South  America  for  local 
color  for  the  new  feature,  "Saludos  Amigos," 
which  RKO  will  release.  They  worked  the 
phrase  to  a  fine  polish. 

Disney's  entourage  was  stymied  in  a  small 
town  of  North  Argentine.  Not  an  English- 
speaking  native  in  the  place.  Rushing  into 
an  inn  with  his  cronies  from  a  downpour. 
Charles  Wolcott.  musical  director  of  "Salu- 
dos Amigos."  called  the  innkeeper  and  drew 
an  umbrella,  to  signify  his  desire  of  borrow- 
ing this  article.  The  innkeeper  nodded  un- 
derstandingly  and  disappeared.  Twenty  min- 
utes later  he  reappeared  with  a  steak  covered 
with  mushrooms. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  semantic  mishap. 
Disney  and  his  crew  fell  on  the  steak.  But. 
the  steak  consumed,  they  started  to  give 
Wolcott  drawing  lessons — not  on  mush- 
rooms, but  on  how  tq_draw  an  umbrella. 

Russ  Barrett,  manager  of  Warners'  Strand 
Theatre,  at  Wobtmt,  Mass.,  reports  the  be- 
haznor  of  a  steady  male  patron,  well  up  in  his 
sixties,  who,  once  weekly  waz-es  the  aisle  usher 
to  the  side,  pulls  a  flashlight  from  his  pocket 
and  proceds  down  the  dark  aisle,  lighting  the 
zi'av  to  his  own  seat. 

V 

Into  the  Last-Straw  Department  goes  this 
headline  from  the  New  York  World-Tele- 
gram : 

OFFICE  OF  WAR  INFORvATION 

TIGHTENS  CHECK  ON  TALKS 


JAMES    P.  CUNNINGHAM 

Electric  lighting,  indoors  and  out  has  become 
so  normal  a  part  of  life  that  we're  likely  to  be 
somewhat  bewildered  when  completely  deprived 
of  it.  This  bewilderment  would  seem  to  be 
shared  by  the  animal  kingdom,  too,  if  we  cor- 
rectly interpret  an  incident  which  occurred  atop 
the  Eastman  Kodak  Office  tower  during  Roch- 
ester's last  blackout. 

To  the  lofty  perch,  various  Air  Raid  Protec- 
tion officials  had  gone  to  observe  the  effective- 
ness of  the  city-wide  blackout  As  sirens  and 
"light  bombs"  broadcast  their  warning  of  the 
alert,  the  lights  of  the  city  below  blinked  out 
like  fireflies  suddenly  caught  in  the  hand. 

Even  to  these  observers,  prepared  for  this 
plunge  into  total  darkness,  it  was  an  experience. 
But  to  the  pigeons  which  inhabit  that  Kodak 
skyscraping  spot  the  unexplained  darkening  of 
the  world  below  seemingly  produced  a  scare. 

One  frightened  bird  took  off  for  a  brief  turn 
around  the  spire  and.  in  retrurning,  failed  to  get 
his  bearings.  Choosing  what  seemed  to  be  the 
likeliest  landing  spot  he  plumped  down  upon 
the  hatless  head  of  a  preoccupied  ARP  Kodak 
official  and,  we're  told,  successfully  resisted  sev- 
eral frantic  attempts  to  dislodge  him  from  his 
emergency  landing  field.  Brushed  finally  from 
his  perch,  the  persistent  bird  hovered  menac- 
ingly like  a  feathered  helicopter  just  above  the 
hapless  official's  head  until  the  all-clear  sounded 
and  pigeon  life  returned  to  normal. 

And  vou  know  pigeons. 

V 

And  from  Sacramento,  Cal.,  via  IXS,  comes 
word  thai  the  immortal  bard  probably  would 
turn  over  in  his  grave  should  he  learn  Lieu- 
tenant William  Shakespeare  is  producing  such 
plays  as  "Curse  You,  Jack  Dalion." 

V 

The  scholastic  powers  at  New  York  Uni- 
versity, New  York  City,  last  week  suddenly 
cancelled  a  speaking  appearance  which  Mar- 
gie (Stripper)  Hart  was  scheduled  to  deliver 
before  students  at  a  recreational  program. 

She  complained,  but  bitterly,  that  she  had 
intended  to  talk  about  farming  only  and  that 
she  wanted  to  unveil  "only  my  views." 
V 

Veronica  Lake  is  Constance  Kcane. 
V 

Charles  Spencer  Chaplin,  arriving  in  New 
York  the  other  da}-  to  make  a  public  speech  to 
urge  a  second  front  in  Europe  against  the 
Axis,  remarked  to  reporters  that  he  was  53 
years  of  age,  still  a  Britisher,  but  "a  citizen  of 
the  world." 

"I  am  here,"  he  continued,  "under  the  hos- 
pitality- of  the  United  States,  as  a  pavinsr  suest. 
to  the"  extent  of  S10.000.000."  Could  he  mean 
S10.000.000  in  taxes? 

T 

Wendell  WilUrie.  world  traveler,  states- 
man, Presidential  emissary,  lawyer,  poli- 
tician, board  chairman  for  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox Film  Corporation,  and  farmer,  is 
brushing  up  on  his  Hoosier  farming  at 
Rushville.  Inch,  since  his  round-the-world 
tour  for  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

Caught  by  a  reporter  hanging  around  his 
pig  lot.  the  1940  Presidential  candidate  ob- 
served. "But  you  ought  to  smell  Cairo." 
V 

It  took  President  Roosevelt  to  get  Sigmund 
Clayton,  shipping  clerk  with  Warners'  Clez-e- 
land  office,  into  the  Army. 

Rejected  because  of  a  blind  crossed  eye  and 
two  dentures,  upper  and  lower,  Clayton,  having 
been  turned  dowtv  by  every  branch  of  the 
armed  forces,  appealed  direct  to  the  President. 

Ten  days  later,  Cleveland  draft  officials  ad- 
z-ised  him  to  try  again.  Immediately  accepted 
by  the  Army,  he  was  sent  to  Camp  Perry 
zl'here  an  operation  restored  normal  vision  to 
his  afflicted  eye. 

He's  on  actkr  duty  now. 


SCRAP  WILL  SHORTEN  THE  SCRAP! 


36  MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    31,  1942 

in  BRITISH  STUDIOS 


By   AUBREY    FLANAGAN,    in  London 


With  September  30,  1942,  crossed  off 
the  producer's  calendar  yet  another  ex- 
hibitor quota  year  has  gone  on  to  the 
records — a  year  which  undoubtedly  will 
prove  to  have  been  the  nadir  of  them  all. 
At  this  stage  it  is  of  course  impracticable 
to  record  actual  figures  of  footage  shown 
and  registered.  That  must  await  a  later 
and  more  official  analysis.  That  there 
are  already  defaulters  well  above  the  four 
figure  mark  is  as  certain  as  certain  can  be. 

During  the  last  renters  quota  year — set 
back  six  months  before  the  exhibitors  quota 
year — April,  1941,  to  March  1942 — the  year 
from  which  the  exhibitor  normally  would 
have  drawn  his  12  months'  supply  for  Oc- 
tober, 1941,  to  September,  1942,  the  de- 
pressingly  low  figure  of  44  British  films 
registered. 

For  the  renter  the  figure  is  not  quite  so 
bad,  for  some  of  these  were  multiple  quota 
films  counting,  because  of  their  quality  and 
cost,  as  two  or  three  films.  For  the  exhibi- 
tor the  figure  is  a  basic  one,  to  be  distributed 
among  some  4,300  picture  houses.  As  one 
authority  has  summed  it  up  they  face  "a 
1 5  per  cent  quota  with  a  nine  per  cent 
supply." 

Exhibitors,  faced  with  this  insoluble  prob- 
lem, have  protested  to  the  Board  of  Trade/ 
pleaded  for  some  alleviatory  machinery,  sug- 
gested shorts — in  a  boom  era  these  days — be 
countable  against  foreign  footage  and  that  they 
be  allowed  to  count  double  and  treble  quota 
films  as  double  and  treble  footage.  To  this 
the  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  with  an 
evasive  technique  which  has  impressed  many 
but  satisfied  none,  has  replied  that  exhibitors 
can  still  take  their  quota  films  from  any  British 
films  registered  in  the  past  four  years. 

Theatres  Aiinoyed 
By  Suggestion 

At  this  gratuitous  suggestion  exhibitors  have 
been  something  more  than  exasperated,  have 
spotlighted  Hugh  Dalton's  ignorance  of  industry 
conditions,  of  the  local  picture  houses'  trading 
entanglements,  reminded  him  that  the  KRS  have 
long  been  protesting  about  showing  old  films 
on  a  Sunday  or  any  other  time,  scarified  him 
from  trying  to  bolster  up  the  Quota  Act  by 
such  a  device. 

Naturally,  producers,  too,  take  what  is  col- 
loquially known  as  a  poor  view  of  this,  do  not 
interpret  it  as  the  protection  and  stimulus  which 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  offer 
the  industry.  None  the  less,  they  go  on,  against 
the  worst  possible  difficulties,  producing  pic- 
tures of  various  grades  and  calibres,  and  dis- 
playing an  enterprise  in  the  face  of  apparently 
insuperable  conditions  which  might  well  inspire 
leaders  of  the  nation  in  other  branches  of  the 
war  effort. 

Recently  Two  Cities'  "In  Which  We  Serve" 
has  been  shown  and  has  scored  the  greatest 
critical  and  public  success  of  any  British  film 
in  many  years.  It  is  considered  miraculous  by 
the  discerning  that  such  a  quality  film  could 
have  been  made  in  Britain  under  the  grievous- 
ly depressed  and  entangled  war  conditions 
which  face  the  British  studio. 

There  is  not  likely  to  be  an  "In  Which  We 
Serve"  every  production  season.  None  the  less 
the  immediate  and  less  immediate  future  prom- 
ises more  than  one  quality  picture  from  Britain, 
it  is  clear  from  a  survev  of  films  on  hand  at 


the  moment  of  writing.  More  than  a  round 
dozen  of  films  are  in  active  production  on  the 
floors  of  British  studios  or  temporarily  on 
location  elsewhere.  They  vary  in  dimension 
and  appeal.  All  in  all  they  present  an  interest- 
ing pattern  of  wartime  showmanship. 

From  the  frankly  modest — modest  in  cost  and 
presentation — but  aptly  designed,  "Thursday's 
Child,"  which  John  Argyle  is  making  at  Wel- 
wyn  for  Pathe  release,  to  the  more  expensive 
and  ambitious  Donat  film  Metro  is  making  at 
Shepherds  Bush,  the  Archer's  "Colonel  Blimp" 
and  Two  Cities  A.  T.  S.  film,  there  is  catering 
discernible  for  many  tastes  and  interests.  The 
gradually  increasing  tendency  to  relieve  the 
stress  on  the  accent  of  war  is  notable.  The 
majority  of  films  being  produced  are  war  sub- 
jects, but  the  proportion  of  escapist  or  purely 
entertainment  film  grows  higher. 

Entertainment  with  no  tendency  towards 
realism  and  no  usage  of  the  war  because  it  is 
the  war,  is,  for  instance,  the  note  of  John 
Baxter's  "Old  Mother  Riley,  Detective,"  which 
he,  with  Arthur  Lucan,  is  making  for  Anglo- 
American  at  Elstree.  Aimed  at  the  lowest 
common  denominator  of  audience  appeal,  the 
Mother  Riley  films  are  probably  among  the 
greatest  commercial  successes — proportionately 
— from  British  studios.  They  have  no  interest 
in  the  war. 

Beatrice  Lillie  Has 
First  Film  Role 

Nor  is  there  any  war  flavor  about  Priestley's 
"When  We  Are  Married,"  which  is  also  on 
the  floor  at  Elstree  with  comedian  Sydney 
Howard  in  the  lead.  Here  again  Baxter  pro- 
duces— with  an  eye  on  the  box  office  rather  than 
the  front  page. 

Far  from  the  war  too  is  "On  Approval" 
which  with  Sydney  Box  producing  is  being- 
made  under  the  paternal  banner  of  Two  Cities 
at  Denham,  with  Beatrice  Lillie  in  her  first 
film  role.  The  picture,  written  by  Terence 
Young  from  Lonsdale's  play,  is  a  comedy  with 
a  period  setting.  Brian  Desmond  Hurst  is 
director. 

Just  concluding  at  Shepherds  Bush  is  an- 
other comedy  with  an  escapist  flavor,  the  screen 
adaptation  of  Tommy  Handley's  "It's  That  Man 
Again,"  which  is  once  again  restored  to  the 
air  as  the  BBC's  topline  weekday  listening 
spot.  With  this  gone  to  the  Movieola,  the  floor 
will  be  handed  over  to  director  Val  Guest  for 
yet  another  subject  without  a  documentary  bias 
— -"Miss  London  Limited"  in  which  moneymak- 
er Arthur  Askey  will  star,  and  in  which  music 
and  comedy  will  be  principal  ingredients.  Guest, 
one  of  the  most  active  of  British  screen  writers, 
takes  his  first  directorial  chair  here.  Maurice 
Ostrer,  of  course,  is  in  charge  of  production 
with  Edward  Black. 

Making  his  bow  at  Denham,  Box  Office 
Champion  George  Formby  is  being  directed 
again  by  Marcel  Varnel  in  another  comedy, 
"Get  Cracking." 

"Colonel  Blimp"  Still 
In  Production 

Link  between  these  purely  pacific  subjects 
and  the  more  serious  or  realist  war  dramas  is 
"Colonel  Blimp"  which  Michael  Powell  is  still 
working  on  in  all  the  glories  of  Edwardian, 
Georgian  and  contemporary  Technicolor.  This 
odyssey  of  a  British  diehard  has  already  taken 
in  an  extensive  and  colorful  canvas.  Recent 
settings  recorded  by  the  Technicolor  camera, 
and  backgrounds  for  Robert  Livesey  and  Anton 
Walbrook  and  Deborah  Kerr  have  included  a 
German  prison  camp,  a  convent  and — without 


Miss  Kerr  this  time — a  typical  Blimpish  Turk- 
ish bath. 

Thus  to  the  war  itself,  direct  and  unequivo- 
cal, to,  for  instance,  Metro's  "Sabotage  Agent" 
at  Shepherds  Bush,  in  which  Robert  Donat  is 
working  under  producer  Irving  Asher  and 
director  Harold  Bucquet,  with  Czecho- Slovakia 
and  the  Skoda  Arms  Works  as  a  characteristic 
background  for  the  action  of  the  drama.  To 
add  a  note  of  authenticity  many  German  and 
Czech  refugees  here  have  been  given  roles  in 
(he  film. 

Ealing  Plans  New 
Sound  Stage 

To  the  war  also,  in  its  more  British  and  uni- 
formed settings,  and  to  "We're  Not  Weeping" 
which  Leslie  Howard  is  directing  for  Two 
Cities  at  Denham,  with  his  seven  women  stars, 
all  in  the  garb  of  Britain's  feminine  army,  the 
A.T.S.  ...  To  the  same  firm's  latest  creation 
"Flemish  Farm,"  a  Jeffrey  Dell  story  being 
directed  by  Mr.  Dell,  and  which  is  based  on 
the  true  life  story  of  a  Belgian  airman  who  made 
his  way  back  to  his  Motherland  under  the  noses 
of  the  Nazis  to  recover  the  flag  of  his  Air 
Force — a  war  story  in  spite  of  the  producer's 
apologia  that  it  is  not  so  in  the  accepted  sense, 
being  concerned  with  emotions  and  adventures 
rather  than  events.  Clive  Brook,  Clifford 
Evans  and  Phillip  Friend  are  in  the  cast. 

Ealing  Studios  has  "The  Bells  Go  Down," 
documentary  drama  of  the  wartime  Fire  Serv- 
ice and  its  work  during  the  Bombing  of  Britain, 
with  Tommy  Trinder  as  its  star  attraction.  .  .  . 
To  Brecon  where  the  same  company's  "Chet- 
nik"  unit  is  on  location  translating  the  Welsh 
mountains  into  passable  substitutes  for  the 
Guerilla  country  of  Yugoslavia.  .  .  .  Further 
South  in  Wales,  to  Porthcawl,  and  to  Harry 
("Target  for  Tonight")  Watt  and  another 
Ealing  Studios  unit,  that  making  "Umpity 
Foo,"  Gerald  Kersh's  story  of  the  Guards  in 
wartime.  .  .  .  Indeed,  so  many  items  have  Eal- 
ing on  their  plate  that  they  have  launched 
forth  into  a  new  sound  stage ;  no  small  indi- 
cation that  even  the  apathy  and  disinterest  of 
Government  departments  cannot  dim  the  deter- 
mination of  British  producers  under  the  clouds 
of  war. 


Delay  Is  Reported 
In  GB  Stock  Deal 

Stock  control  of  the  Metropolis  and  Bradford 
Trust,  which  controls  Gaumont  British,  has  not 
been  formally  transferred  yet,  it  is  reported  in 
London  financial  and  trade  circles. 

Speculation  as  to  the  reason  for  the  delay  in 
transferring  the  5,100  voting  shares  of  Metrop- 
olis and  Bradford  to  T.  Arthur  Rank,  the  re- 
ported purchaser,  revolves  about  the  possibility 
that  Loew's  and  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  who 
together  hold  the  remaining  4,900  shares,  may 
not  have  given  their  approval  to  the  transfer. 
It  is  said  that  such  approval  would  be  necessary 
to  complete  the  deal. 


Arthur  Lurie  Enlists 

Arthur  Lurie,  New  York  motion  picture 
correspondent  for  the  Egyptian  Mail,  of  Cairo, 
has  enlisted  in  the  U.  S.  Army  and  has  been 
assigned  to  Fort  Dix.    He  is  a  British  citizen. 


Film  on  Finucane 

"The  Flying  Irishman,"  based  on  the  life  of 
Paddv  Finucane,  one  of  the  first  RAF  heroes, 
will  be  produced  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox. 
Bryan  Foy  will  produce. 


Octobe  r    3  1,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


V 


INDUSTRY'S  LEADERS  MAP 
CONTINUED  BOND  SALES 


Meet  Treasury  Officials  in 
Kansas  City;  Graves 
Lauds  Cooperation 

Leaders  of  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try's September  War  Bond  drive  met  in 
Kansas  City  Monday  with  members  of 
the  Treasury's  War  Savings  Staff  and 
Bond  committee  men  from  other  indus- 
tries to  discuss  means  of  sustaining  the 
pace  of  Bond  sales  set  by  the  theatres 
last  month. 

In  September  motion  picture  theatres  set 
a  record  of  War  Bond  and  Stamp  sales  of 
5838.250,000.  The  motion  picture  industry 
exceeded  its  qutoa  by  more  than  63  million 
dollars  to  sell  Bonds  and  Stamps  worth 
well  over  a  billion  dollars  in  redemption 
value  during  its  "Salute  to  Our  Heroes" 
campaign. 

At  Kansas  City  Harold  N.  Graves,  assistant 
to  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Henry  Morgen- 
thau,  paid  tribute  again  to  the  industry  for 
its  participation  in  this  special  drive.  But 
he  reminded  theatre  and  distribution  represen- 
tatives that  Bond  selling  must  be  a  continuing 
effort. 

The  national  War  Activities  Committee  was 
represented  by  Si  Fabian,  director  of  the  Sep- 
tember Bond  campaign,  and  Oscar  Doob,  Loew 
theatre  exploitation  executive,  who  directed 
publicity  for  the  Bond  drive.  Francis  Harmon, 
executive  vice-chairman  of  the  WAC,  ill  in  a 
new  York  hospital,  was  unable  to  attend. 

The  question  of  another  all-out  industry  drive 
for  War  Bond  sales,  possibly  in  January,  was 
discussed  at  the  meeting  but  no  plans  in  this 
direction  were  reported  to  be  in  work.  Mr. 
Fabian  and  Mr.  Doob  said  that  while  the  indus- 
try had  pledged  itself  to  continue  to  assist  the 
Treasury  through  theatres,  there  had  been  no 
discussion  of  the  specific  time  for  another  all 
industry-  drive. 

Other  film  delegates  to  the  meeting  included 
Richard  C.  Patterson,  chairman  of  the  board 
of  RKO  and  director  of  the  New  York  State 
War  Savings  Staff ;  Arthur  Lucas,  Atlanta  cir- 
cuit executive  and  chairman  of  the  Georgia 
War  Savings   Staff ;   Carlton  Duffus,  motion 

j  picture  and  special  events  director  of  the 
Treasury's  Bond  staff,  who  is  on  leave  from 
MGM,  and  Ted  R.  Gamble,  Portland,  Ore., 
exhibitor,  who  is  serving  as  a  special  assistant 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury-    The  Holly- 

iwood  Victory  Committee  was  also  represented. 

Cites  Use  of  Theatres 
As  Bond  Agents 

U  Mr.  Graves  called  attention  to  the  greatly 
Ejincreased  number  of  issuing  agents  affected 
|by  the  designation  of  theatres  and  radio  sta- 
!  tions  as  special  outlets  for  the  securities.  He 
?  aid  that  the  public  must  be  reminded  con- 
1 5tantly  that  they  can  purchase  Bonds  through 
iiese  outlets. 

Promotion  drives  by  the  motion  picture  and 
-adio  industries  and  by  retail  merchants  have 
I  ~een  highly  effective,  he  said,  and  urged  a  con- 
inued  program  to  publicize  the  importance  of 
i  »ublic  saving  and  investment  in  War  Bonds. 
[  On  Tuesday  night  the  Treasury,  conterer"- 
■ttended  a  special  showing  of  War  Savings 
hort  subjects  and  a  new  Twentieth  Century- 
"ox  feature  as  guests  of  Elmer  Rhoden,  head 
f  the  Fox  Midwest  circuit.    The  picture  was 
onated  by  Spyros  Skouras,  president  of  20th 
'entury-Fox. 

.  Southern  California  exhibitors  received  the 


TREASURY  PAPER 
LAUDS  INDUSTRY 

The  entire  October  26th  issue  of 
the  Treasury  Department's  War  Sav- 
ings Staff  News  was  devoted  to  an 
account  of  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try's "Salute  to  Our  rHeroes"  Bond 
drive  during  September.  The  eight- 
page,  full  size  newspaper  recounted 
the  efforts  of  stars,  theatre  men, 
newsreels,  exchange  staffs  and  dis- 
tributors which  resulted  in  a  record 
$838,250,000  Bond  sale  last  month. 

Copies  of  the  paper  v/ere  dis- 
tributed at  the  War  Savings  Staff 
conference  in  Kansas  City  Monday 
and  mailed  to  exhibitors  and  com- 
mittee members  who  worked  on  the 
drive.  Although  many  exhibitors  were 
pictured  in  the  photographs  of  the 
campaign,  only  star  names  were  in- 
cluded. 

"To  name  each  individual  who 
contributed  hard  work  and  effective 
leadership  to  the  September  drive 
would  require  pages  and  pages"  the 
Nexus  said;  "to  name  some  and  not 
all  v/ould  be  unfair." 


official  thanks  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
for  their  participation  in  the  September  Bond 
drive  at  a  luncheon  last  Wednesday  in  the  Co- 
coanut  Grove  of  the  Hotel  Ambassador  at  Los 
Angeles. 

Treasury  officials  and  members  of  the  exhibi- 
tors' Bond  drive  committee  exhorted  the  more 
than  400  theatre  operators  at  the  luncheon  to 
continue  their  Bond  sales  and  to  remind  the 
public  that  many  theatres  are  issuing  agents  for 
the  Treasury  "This  a  campaign  for  the  dura- 
tion and  the  drive  has  just  begun,"  they  were 
told. 

Howard  D.  Mills,  Treasury  representative 
for  Southern  California,  conveyed  commenda- 
tions from  Washington.  David  Bershon,  direc- 
tor of  exhibitor  participation,  presided.  Other 
speakers  from  the  Bond  drive  staff  included 
Marco  Wolff,  chairman  of  the  coordinating 
committee ;  Robert  Poole,  executive  secretary 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  Conference  of  Independent 
Theatre  Owners :  Charles  P.  Skouras,  and 
chairmen  of  drive  committees. 

New  England  Bond 
Stunts  Continuing 

The  Hollywood  Victory  Committee  is  ask- 
ing industry^  personalities,  both  players  and 
production  workers,  to  volunteer  as  speakers 
for  public  rallies  in  the  continuing  Bond  sales 
effort.  The  demand  for  players  has  exceeded 
the  number  available,  it  was  said.  Therefore, 
directors,  writers,  producers,  musicians  and 
others  have  been  asked  to  aid. 

War  Bond  programs  continue  in  New  En- 
gland communities  with  theatre  men  cooperat- 
ing. Private  Allan  J.  Reddy.  United  States 
Marine  Corps,  and  a  hero  of  the  Yorktoivn,  was 
honor  guest  at  a  rally  at  the  Bellevue  theatre 
in  Roslindale,  Mass.,  when  $2,300  in  Bonds 
were  sold.    Mayor  Maurice  J.  Tobin  presented 


Reddy,  former  doorman  at  the  theatre,  with 
a  $50  check  from  his  friends.  Manager  John 
Collins  headed  the  committee  in  charge. 

Manager  Albert  E.  McEvoy  of  the  State  and 
Union  theatres  in  Attleboro,  Mass.,  contributed 
one-year  passes  to  both  houses  for  the  Bond 
rally  in  Attleboro,  October  22nd.  The  passes 
sold  for  $100  Bonds.  After  the  rally,  at  which 
$131,075  in  Bonds  were  sold,  Mr.  McEvoy  in- 
vited all  Bond  purchasers  to  see  a  showing  of 
"Battle  of  Midway,"  free  at  the  Union.  At  a 
Medford,  Mass.,  public  victory  rally  at  which 
$158,475  in  Bonds  were  sold,  a  two-month  pass 
to  the  Medford  theatre  was  auctioned  off  to 
Rose  Cara  Donna,  12  years  old,  in  spirited 
bidding.  Representing  the  film  industry  was 
Howard  J.  Burkhardt,  Boston  theatre  man. 

The  "Victory  House,"  erected  in  Springfield, 
Mass.,  to  serve  as  headquarters  for  the  Septem- 
ber Bond  drive,  which  accounted  for  more  than 
$500,000  in  sales  in  the  area,  was  itself  put  on 
the  auction  block  for  Bonds  this  week.  The 
temporary  structure  in  Springfield's  business 
section  was  to  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder. 

Manager  Awarded 
Minute  Man  Flag 

Edwin  YV .  Smith,  Bond  drive  committee 
chairman  at  Westfield,  Mass.,  on  Thursday 
awarded  a  Minute  Man  flag  to  the  Strand  thea- 
tre. In  presenting  it  to  Ernest  Whitford,  man- 
ager, he  noted  that  the  Strand  staff  subscribed 
100  per  cent  to  regular  Bond  deductions  from 
pavrolls  and  had  promoted  the  sale  of  more 
than  $20,000  worth  of  Bonds. 

Most  of  the  110  theatres  in  St  Louis  are  still 
engaged  in  selling  Bonds  and  Stamps.  The 
daily  newspaper  directory  still  carries  the  "Sa- 
lute to  Our  Heroes,'"  slogan  of  the  September 
drive.  Fanchon  and  Marco  houses  are  con- 
tinuing awards  to  those  who  buy  Stamps  and 
Bonds  in  the  houses — and  trailers  and  news- 
paper ads  publicize  the  fact  Bonds  are  on  sale 
all  the  time  including  evenings,  which  is  not 
the  case  with  banks  and  other  agencies. 

The  theatres  of  Reading,  Pa.,  since  thev  be- 
gan cooperating  in  the  Bond  sales  campaign 
have  sold  over  $374,634  in  War  Bonds  and 
Stamps.  The  houses  are  continuing  their  efforts 
in  furthering  the  sale.  During  September  alone, 
the  theatres  are  credited  with  $196,480  worth  of 
Bonds  and  $17,972.15  in  Stamps. 

Members  of  the  Motion  Picture  Film  Edi- 
tors Guild  at  Xew  York  this  week  voted  to 
purchase  a  $100  War  Bond  every  month  from 
union  funds  for  the  duration  of  the  war.  John 
E.  Michon,  president  of  the  union,  recently 
disclosed  that  19  new  members  have  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  Xew  York  editors  guild. 

Canada  Theatres 
Aid  Loan  Drive 

Canadian  theatres  and  other  branches  of  the 
industry  in  the  Dominion  this  week  were  in  full 
swing  in  their  campaign  to  publicize  the  Third 
Victory  Loan  campaign.  Theatres  are  showing 
special  government  trailers  and  advertising  the 
drive  in  lobby  displays,  newspapers  and  by 
special  presentations. 

In  Canada  bonds  and  stamps  are  not  sold 
directly  by  theatres,  the  Government  maintain- 
ing its  own  issuing  system. 

J.  J.  Fitzgibbons.  president  of  Famous  Play- 
ers Corporation,  and  chairman  of  circuit  par- 
ticipation in  the  drive,  said  that  all  circuit 
theatres  in  Canada  had  been  made  available  for 
bond  rallies  and  special  shows  to  promote  sub- 
scriptions to  the  Victory*  Loan. 


38 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,  1942 


Circuit  in  New  York 
Loses  Run  Appeal 


Board  Upholds  Arbitrator 
Verdict  in  Specific  Run 
Complaint  Review 

The  Waverly  theatre,  in  New  York's 
Greenwich  Village,  won  a  specific  run  de- 
cision from  the  Appeal  Board  on  Tuesday 
when  the  arbitration  "supreme  court" 
affirmed  a  decision  by  Roscoe  S.  Conk- 
ling,  arbitrator  of  the  24th  New  York 
case. 

In  decision  number  43  the  Appeal  Board 
upheld  the  ruling  by  Mr.  Conkling  that  the 
Waverly  had  no  clearance  or  some  run  case 
against  the  three  defendant  distributors, 
RKO,  Warners  and  20th  Century-Fox. 

But,  in  an  extensive  review  of  the  facts 
of  the  case  and  the  conditions  imposed  by 
Section  X  of  the  case,  they  declared  he  was 
warranted  in  directing  the  distributors  to 
license  the  intervening  Art  and  Playhouse 
theatres  by  separate  contracts,  rather  than 
on  an  "either  or"  agreement.  In  considering 
the  provisions  of  Section  X,  the  board  re- 
marked :  "It  would  be  a  decided  understate- 
ment to  characterize  Section  X  as  merely 
technical.  It  is  in  fact  involved  in  expression 
and  confusing  in  form." 

The  Luxor-Bleecker  Amusement  Company 
charged  that  its  Waverly  had  enjoyed  second 
run  in  Greenwich  Village  after  the  Playhouse 
and  ahead  of  the  Art  theatre  until  autumn,  1941. 
Then  it  asserted,  the  distributors,  by  selling  the 
first  run  to  "either  the  Playhouse  or  the  Art," 
in  effect  moved  the  Art's  run  ahead  of  the 
Waverly.  Distributors  contended  that  the 
Waverly  still  had  second  run  behind  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  theatres,  not  both. 

The  board  found  that  competition  having  been 
established  between  the  Waverly  and  Art,  its 
extent  was  immaterial  to  Section  X.  They 
ruled  also  that  the  Art  and  Playhouse,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Rugoff  and  Becker  circuit,  and  af- 
filiates with  the  Century  Circuit  in  a  buying 
combine,  were  clearly  members  of  a  circuit  of 
15  or  more  theatres. 

Board  Calls  Case 
Typical  Example 

"The  situation  presented  by  the  facts  in  this 
case  is  in  our  opinion  a  typical  example  of  what 
Section  X  was  intended  to  alleviate,"  the  Appeal 
Board  wrote. 

"A  theatre,  operated  by  an  independent  ex- 
hibitor, meeting  all  the  onerous  conditions  ■ 
cedent  specified  in  Section  X,  and  an  older 
and  longer  established  theatre,  has  a  run  from 
each  of  the  defendants  ahead  of  another  similar 
independent  theatre,  built  some  years  later.  The 
operation  of  the  latter  is  taken  over  by  a  cir- 
cuit and  immediately  the  runs  are  changed, 
and  the  theatre  operated  by  the  circuit  is  given 
the  prior  run  under  circumstances  which  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  reason  for  the  altera- 
tion in  the  playing  positions  of  the  two  theatres 
was  the  superior  buying  power  of  the  circuit." 

"The  Arbitrator  made  the  award  prescribed 
by  subsection  D  of  Section  X.  In  negotiating 
future  licenses  the  distributors  must  deal  with 
the  two  theatres,  Waverly  and  Art,  solely  on 
their  merits  as  theatres.  They  must  in  good 
faith  disregard  the  fact  that  Art  is  a  circuit 
theatre  and  that  the  operator  of  Waverly  op- 
erates another  theatre,"  they  added. 

"This  may  seem  inadequate  relief,  but  it  is 
all  that  the  limitations  of  the  Decree  permit. 
It  has  a  distinct  advantage  for  the  distributors, 


however,  in  that  they  may  in  good  faith  negoti- 
ate future  licenses  on  a  strictly  business  basis 
free  from  any  other  considerations  whatsoever. 
Nearly  a  year  has  elapsed  since  this  proceeding 
was  commenced. 

"The  distributors  may  well  find  that  this 
additional  year's  operation  of  the  Art  has 
proved,  what  the  Arbitrator  has  indicated  in 
his  opinion  might  perhaps  be  the  case,  that 
the  competiton  between  the  Art  and  the  Waver- 
ly, in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  apparently 
draw  largely  from  different  sources,  is  so  slight 
that  it  does  not  warrant  any  priority  between 
them  either  in  run  or  clearance,"  they  said. 

Costs  were  assessed  against  all  parties 
equally. 

The  J-J  Theatres  circuit  and  Kingsbridge 
theatre,  New_  York,  on  Friday  appealed  a  re- 
cent award  dismissing  their  combined  clearance 
action  against  RKO,  Warners,  20th  Century- 
Fox  and  the  Skouras  Valentine.  William  P. 
Cavanaugh  arbitrated  the  cases,  Nos.  25  and  26. 

Dallas 

A  combined  some  run  and  specific  run  case 
was  filed  at  Dallas  against  the  five  consenting 
distributors  on  Friday.  Emil  Heinen  and  Louis 
Forshage,  operators  of  the  Capitol  at  New 
Braunfels,  Texas,  named  the  Brauntex  theatre, 
operated  by  Griffith  Consolidated  Theatres,  and 
G.  A.  Cole's  Cole  theatre  as  interested  parties. 
They  charged  that  the  first  run  in  New  Braun- 
fels had  been  sold  away  from  the  Capitol  to 
the  Griffith  circuit.  It  is  the  seventh  action  in 
Dallas. 

Los  Angeles 

The  Eagle  theatre,  Los  Angeles,  on  Friday 
filed  a  clearance  action  against  all  five  consent- 
ing distributors.  The  neighborhood  theatre  as- 
serted that  it  was  unreasonable  to  license  Los 
Angeles  first  runs  at  63  days  ahead  of  the  Eagle 
and  the  Glen  theatres,  and  to  license  the  Glen 
theatre  seven  days  ahead  of  the  Eagle.  The 
Eagle  asked  elimination  of  the  Glen's  clear- 
ance and  a  49-day  availability  after  first  run, 
equalling  the  clearances  held  by  the  Dale  and 
other  suburban  houses  charging  30  cents  admis- 
sion.   It  was  the  11th  Los  Angeles  case. 

Boston 

An  amended  award  was  filed  in  the  tenth 
Boston  case  by  Garrett  S.  Hoag,  arbitrator,  on 
Monday.  He  corrected  his  ruling  made  in  late 
August  because  of  an  inadvertent  error.  At 
that  time  he  dismissed  the  clearance  action  of 
the  Princess  Amusement  Company  for  the  Mid- 
dleboro theatre,  Middleboro,  Mass.,  against  all 
five  distributors. 

In  the  new  decision  he  found  that  insofar 
as  Paramount  was  concerned  clearance  of  Bos- 
ton first  runs  over  Brockton,  and  over  Park- 
Taunton,  was  reasonable.  But  he  found  the 
clearance  of  the  Middleboro  after  Brockton  and 
Park-Taunton  was  unreasonable.  He  set  a 
maximum  of  14  days  after  Brockton  or  28  days 
after  Boston  first  run. 

Chicago 

Following  a  series  of  delays,  the  Ken  theatre 
clearance  case  at  Chicago  last  week  was  dis- 
missed by  agreement  of  the  parties.  They  in- 
cluded 20th  Century-Fox,  RKO  and  the  inter- 
veners, H.  Schoenstadt  Sons  circuit. 

By  agreement  the  Ken  won  the  right  to  play 
in  second  week  of  general  release.  A  formal 
award  is  being  prepared  by  arbitrator  Alexan- 
der Eulenberg.    It  was  Case  No.  20. 

The  Ken  theatre  filed  and  lost  the  first  com- 
plaint of  the  Chicago  Arbitration  Board  in 
1941  for  "some  run."    The  Appeal  Board  up- 


held the  arbitrator's  decision.  A  $300,000  suit 
was  filed  in  the  U.  ,S.  district  court,  Chicago, 
last  summer,  under  the  Sherman  anti-trust  act. 
naming  most  of  the  film  distributors,  and  the 
theatre's  attorneys,  Landis  &  Landis,  filed  their 
second  complaint  on  clearance,  last  August  in 
addition  to  the  Federal  suit.  The  award  ends 
months  of  litigation,  and  dismissal  of  the  anti- 
trust suit  will  be  asked  by  the  Ken  theatre,  a 
spokesman  declared. 

St.  Louis 

Hearing  of  clearance  and  some  run  complaint 
at  St.  Louis  of  the  Webster  Groves  Theatre 
Corp.,  operators  of  the  suburban  Ozark  thea- 
tre, against  RKO,  Paramount,  20th  Century- 
Fox,  Warners,  adjourned  last  Thursday,  to 
give  parties  chance  to  make  outside  settlement. 

John  Siepker,  manager  and  president  of  the 
corporation,  was  on  the  stand  when  a  decision 
was  made  to  adjourn  to  give  attorneys  a  chance 
to  work  out  a  settlement.  Arbitrator  Harry  G. 
Erbs  agreed.    It  is  the  14th  case. 

Intervenors  are  the  St.  Louis  Amusement 
Company.  Four  of  their  theatres — Hi-Pointe, 
Shady  Oak,  Richmond,  Maplewood — are  named 
in  complaint.  Ozark  is  seeking  day-and-date  run 
with  Hi-Pointe  and  clearance  ahead  of  other 
three,  contending  it  is  playing  three  and  four 
months  behind  Hi-Pointe. 

Hearing  on  the  Marre  Theatre  Corporation 
— owner  of  the  downtown  Rivoli — complaint 
against  the  same  distributors  ended  October 
21st.  Witnesses  were  Sam  Komm,  owner  of 
the  nearby  Whiteway,  intervenor ;  Mrs.  Edith 
Price,  former  Whiteway  owner ;  Charles  Gold- 
man, co-owner  of  Lyric  and  Senate,  interven- 
ors, and  all  branch  managers.  The  managers 
said  the  Rivoli  was  offered  some  run,  but  re- 
fused by  complainant.  Mr.  Komm  said  he 
should  have  clearance  over  the  Senate  and  Ly- 
ric. Mr.  Goldman  insisted  the  two  houses 
always  had  clearance  and  should  continue  to 
have  it. 

Albany 

William  Smalley  won  a  clearance  victory  over 
the  five  consenting  distributors  and  the  Schine 
circuit  in  the  seventh  Albany  case  on  Tuesday, 
when  Harold  S.  Slingerland,  arbitrator,  found 
the  30-day  margin  of  the  Schine  Oneonta,  N.  Y. 
theatre  over  the  Smalley  theatre  in  Delhi,  was 
unreasonable.  He  set  a  maximum  of  14  days' 
clearance,  and  divided  costs  equally. 

PRC  Signs  4  More 
Circuits  for  Product 

Four  additional  circuits  have  signed  for  the 
Producers  Releasing  Corporation  1942-43  prod- 
uct, it  was  announced  this  week  by  Arthur 
Greenblatt,  vice-president  in  charge  of  sales. 

The  circuits  are :  E.  M.  Loew,  New  England ; 
Publix-Great  States,  Illinois ;  Lichtman  Circuit, 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  Virginia,  and  Schoen- 
stadt Theatres,  Chicago.  The  number  of  cir- 
cuits which  have  booked  PRC  product  the  first 
two  months  of  the  current  season  is  more  than 
double  that  for  the  corresponding  period  last 
year,  Mr.  Greenblatt  said. 


Close  Toronto  House 

The  Pape  theatre  in  Toronto  has  been  or- 
dered closed  by  the  Ontario  Government  and 
an  official  investigation  is  under  way  on  the 
accident  Saturday  in  which  scores  of  children 
in  an  audience  of  450  were  rendered  uncon- 
scious by  coal  gas  fumes,  32  requiring  medical 
treatment.  Authorities  reported  a  small  gap  in 
the  furnace  permitted  gas  to  escape.  The  Twen- 
tieth Century  circuit  operates  the  house. 


Abeles  in  Uruguay 

Arthur  S.  Abeles,  Jr.,  at  one  time  with  War- 
ner Bros,  in  Trinidad,  but  associated  with  Uni- 
versal in  Brazil,  has  been  appointed  manager 
of  the  Warner  office  in  Montevideo,  Uruguay, 
which  formerly  was  headed  by  Natalie  Bertolin. 


YOUR 
PASS  KEY 
TO  PROFIT 


FROM 


THE 


AR  AMOUNT 

COMPANY 


♦ill?. 


HHD  OVBR  in  New  Yq  fc    ^  ^ 


October    3  1,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


43 


ENGINEERS  TALK  WAR  FILM 
ELECT  GRIFFIN  PRESIDENT 


SMPE  Meeting  Hears  of 
Use  to  Which  Films  Are 
Put  by  Allied  Nations 

by  GEORGE  SCHUTZ 

Editor  of  Better  Theatres 

Descriptions  and  demonstrations  o: 
how  the  motion  picture  has  become  a 
valued  instrument  of  modern  warfare  dis- 
tinguished the  1942  autumn  meeting  of 
the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers 
at  the  Hotel  Pennsylvania  in  New  York 
this  week.  Reduced  to  three  from  the 
usual  four  days,  the  con\rention  which 
opened  Tuesday,,  nevertheless  had  an  ap- 
proximately normal  attendance  of  200. 

Upwards  of  one-third  of  the  papers  pre- 
sented, and  one  full  evening  session,  were 
devoted  to  the  applications  being  made  of 
motion  pictures  to  the  war  effort,  and  the 
technologies  developed  in  those  applications, 
not  only  by  the  U.  S.  Government  and 
armed  services,  but  by  Russia  and  China. 
Attention  to  normal  interests  of  production, 
processing  and  exhibition  was  accordingly 
less  than  usual,  and  fully  half  of  the  time 
given  them  was  taken  by  a  session  Thursday 
exclusively  concerned  with  developments  in 
16  mm.  methods. 

Herbert  Griffin  is  the  new  president  of  the 
society,  succeeding  Emery  Huse.  War  work 
prevented  both  from  attending  the  conven- 
tion, and  E.  A.  Williford,  past-president, 
presided  in  their  absence.  Mr.  Griffin,  vice- 
president  of  the  International  Projector 
Corporation,  has  been  executive  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  society  for  the  past  two  years. 

Other  results  of  the  election  named  Loren 
L.  Ryder,  director  of  recording  for  Paramount, 
executive  vice-president;  E.  A.  Williford,  Na- 
tional Carbon  Company,  secretary:  if.  R.  Boy- 
er,  E.  I.  Du  Pont  de  Xemours  &  Company, 
treasurer:  William  A.  Mueller,  Warner  Broth- 
ers, and  H.  W.  Remershied,  Bell  &  Howell, 
governors. 

Arthur  C.  Downes  of  National  Carbon,  was 
re-elected  editorial  vice-president,  while  Wil- 


liam C.  Kunzmann,  also  of  National  Carbon, 
was  returned  to  the  post  of  convention  vice- 
president  which  he  has  held  for  the  past  12 
years. 

The  manifold  uses  to  which  the  U.  S.  Gov- 
ernment is  now  placing  the  motion  picture  to 
teach  fighters  and  industries  and  inform  the 
public  was  traced  at  one  of  the  special  events 
of  the  convention  by  John  G.  Bradley,  director 
of  the  motion  picture  division  of  the  National 
Archives.  His  talk  was  part  of  a  program 
Tuesday  evening  at  thp  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  where  John  Abbott  and  Iris  Barry  demon- 
strated the  development  of  production  technics 
from  the  tricks  of  George  Melies  to  the  talking 
picture,  screening  pertinent  clips  from  pictures 
collected  in  the  Museum's  film  library. 

It  was  perhaps  the  paper  read  by  T.  Y.  Lo 
of  China,  however,  that  most  dramatically  at- 
tested to  the  significance  of  the  motion  picture 
in  modern  all-out  war.  A  member  of  the  Chin- 
ese government's  Military  Affairs  Commission 
in  Washington,  Mr.  Lo  told  a  regular  session 
on  Tuesday  how  the  motion  picture  industry 
of  his  embattled  country  has  contrived  to  turn 
out  pictures  to  help  the  Government  and  army 
inform  and.  as  best  may  be,  entertain  both 
soldiers  and  civilian  population  to  keep  up  the 
spirit  of  resistance  against  the  Japanese  in- 
vasion. 

Russians  Employ 
Films  Widely 

Since  1937,  when  the  Japanese  attacked 
Shanghai,  films  have  been  so  employed,  said 
Mr.  Lo,  and  after  the  fall  of  Shanghai  and 
Nanking,  production  staffs  had  to  set  up  proc- 
essing laboratories  in  dugouts,  into  which  they 
also  could  carry  their  production  equipment 
in  the  event  of  an  air  raid.  The  films  are 
shown  not  only  in  theatres,  but  by  means  of 
equipment  on  trucks  which  tour  every  section 
of  the  unoccupied  country,  reaching  even  the 
remote  villages  of  Inner  Mongolia. 

Russia's  prodigious  use  of  films  for  the  train- 
ing of  soldiers  and  civilian  defense  organiza- 
tions was  described  by  Gregory  L.  Irsky  of  the 
U.  S-  S.  R  Cinema  committee,  and  some  of 
the  recent  films,  brought  from  Moscow  by  way 
of  London,  were  screened. 

Mr.  Irsky  has  been  in  the  United  States  for 
over  a  year,  buying  equipment  as  it  became 
available  and  otherwise  seeking  means  of  sup- 
nortins'  the  farfinng  film  establishment  of  the 


Soviet  Government,  not  only  for  its  continued 
war  work,  but  for  post-war  development  For 
war  purposes,  he  said,  more  than  a  million 
feet  of  film  have  been  exposed  by  Russian 
cameramen  since  the  German  army  crossed 
the  Russian  border,  while  from  1940  to  1942 
a  million  and  a  half  feet  of  film  were  used  for 
scientific  and  general  educational  subjects. 
These  films  are  closely  related,  he  explained, 
to  the  subjects  taught  in  the  public  schools. 

Methods  used  by  the  American  armed  serv- 
ices in  training  men  were  described  in  two  pa- 
pers. In  one,  H.  C.  Brecha  of  the  War  De- 
partment's Training  Film  Production  Labora- 
tory, told  how  the  use  of  motion  pictures  had 
greatly  accelerated  the  training  of  the  2,000,000 
men  needed  as  quickly  as  possible  for  the  Air 
Corps.  Training  films  were  cutting  weeks,  he 
testified,  from  the  courses  at  Wright  Field  in 
Dayton,  Ohio. 

The  Navy's  use  of  training  films  was  similar- 
ly described  by  Lt  William  Exton,  Jr..  of  the 
Navy  Department's  Bureau  of  Investigation. 

Delegates  Visited 
Army  Film  Center 

The  U.  S.  Signal  Corps  entertained  the  con- 
vention Thursday  evening  at  its  new  photo- 
graphic center  in  Astoria.  At  this  special  ses- 
sion, presided  over  by  Col.  M.  E.  Gillette,  the 
uses  of  both  35-  and  16-mm.  motion  pictures  in 
war  industries  as  well  as  soldier  training  were 
described  by  specialists  stationed  at  the  center. 

In  two  of  the  limited  number  of  papers  de- 
voted at  this  convention  to  practical  projection, 
E.  K  Carver,  R.  H.  Talbot  and  H.  A.  Loomis 
of  Eastman  Kodak  reported  their  investigation 
of  the  effect  of  high  film  gate  temperatures  on 
film.  Using  super-high-intensity  light  sources 
at  170  amperes,  they  caused  embossing  and  in- 
and-out-of-focus  effects  with  characteristic  in- 
dicating that  these  conditions  are  largely  caused 
by  the  moisture  remaining  in  the  base  as  well 
as  the  emulsion  of  prints. 

Another  of  their  conclusions  was  that  the 
use  of  cardboard  boxes  for  shipping  film  from 
laboratories  to  exchanges  set  up  ideal  conditions 
for  the  unequal  edgewise  shrinkage  of  prints, 
which  causes  one  form  of  buckling.  As  to  film 
gate  temperature,  they  recommended  that  it 
never  be  allowed  to  rise  above  approximately 
1200  degrees  F. 

The  report  of  the  Theatre  Engineering  Com- 
(Cemtinued  or.  follotring  face) 


New  Officers  of  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers 


Herbert  Griffin,  president  ArtJmr  C.  Dotcnes,  edi- 
of  SMPE  torial  vice-president 


William  Kunzmann,  con- 
vention vice-president 


E.  Allen  Williford,  secre- 
tary 


M.  Richard  Boyer.  treas- 


44 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


Engineers  Study 
Use  of  Screen 
In  Wartime 

(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

mittee,  made  by  the  chairman,  Dr.  Alfred  N. 
Goldsmith,  announced  the  formation  of  a  new 
sub-committee  to  deal  with  the  civilian  defense 
and  air  raid  problems  of  theatres.  It  is  planned 
to  develop  data  on  blackout  devices,  fire-fight- 
ing equipment  and  related  protective  methods, 
for  issuance  in  bulletins  available  to  theatres. 
This  sub-committee  is  composed  of  F.  E.  Carl- 
son, chairman ;  H.  Burnett,  E.  R.  Geib,  Sylvan 
Harris,  W.  F.  Little,  W.  B.  Rayton,  C.  Tuttle, 
H.  E.  White  and  A.  T.  Williams. 

Because  of  the  relative  inactivity  of  other 
sub-committees  due  to  the  war  the  rest  of  the 
report  consisted  mainly  in  an  outline  of  the  ef- 
forts that  have  been  made  to  foster  maintenance 
of  projection  standards  despite  wartime  restric- 
tions on  equipment. 

The  usual  banquet  was  held  Wednesday  eve- 
ning for  induction  of  officers  and  announcement 
of  the  society's  awards.  Only  one  award  was 
made  this  year,  the  Journal  Award,  which  was 
presented  to  Walter  J.  Albersheim  and  Donald 
MacKenzie,  now  of  Bell  Laboratories,  for  their 
analysis  of  sound  film  drives,  published  in  the 
SMPE  Journal  in  1940,  when  the  authors  were 
associated  with  Electrical  Research  Products. 
No  Progress  Award  was  made  this  year.  Honor- 
able mention  was  won  by  the  Committee  on 
Non-Technical  Equipment,  of  which  John  A. 
Maurer  is  chairman. 

The  principal  speaker  at  the  luncheon  on 
Tuesday  was  Claude  Lee,  director  of  public 
relations  for  Paramount. 

See  U.  S.  Using 
Film 's  Full  Power 

In  the  period  since  the  Wheeler-Nye  investi- 
gation of  the  motion  picture  as  a  potent  instru- 
ment of  propaganda,  the  Government  has  come 
to  make  broad  and  intensive  use  of  the  motion 
picture  for  this  as  well  as  other  purposes,  John 
G.  Bradley,  director  of  the  motion  picture  divi- 
sion of  the  National  Archives,  observed  to  a 
gathering  from  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture 
Engineers  convention  Tuesday  evening  at  the 
Museum  of  Modern  Art  in  New  York. 

During  that  period  the  country  has  gone  to 
war,  and  the  power  of  the  motion  picture  to 
convey  an  idea  agreeably  and  effectively,  assert- 
ed in  criticism  of  it  by  the  Senatorial  investi- 
gators, is  now  being  made  in  full  use  of  by  the 
Government  itself,  Mr.  Bradley  said. 

Pointing  to  the  varied  peoples  in  our  popula- 
tion, he  declared  that  under  those  circumstances 
"it  is  necessary  to  get  wide  acceptance  of  an- 
nounced policies  and  appointed  leaders  quickly 
if  we  are  to  compete  with  the  enemy." 

"This  means,"  he  continued,  "that  hetero- 
geneous groups  must  be  made  homogeneous  and 
that  common,  territory  must  be  discovered.  This 
does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  I  must  start 
combing  my  hair  as  you  comb  yours,  or  that 
John  Doe  must  listen  to  the  same  radio  pro- 
gram that  John  Smith  likes.  It  does  mean, 
however,  that  we  must  have  a  crystallized  com- 
munity of  interest,  capable  of  abnormal  effort." 

Motion  Picture  Is 
Proving  Its  Value 

The  motion  picture,  he  said,  is  an  instru- 
ment which  is  now  proving  most  valuable  in 
accomplishing  this.  "The  Senators  were  right," 
Mr.  Bradley  agreed.  "A  motion  picture  is  a 
powerful  thing.  The  recognition  in  this  respect 
was  well  deserved." 

Confronted  with  the  urgent  need  of  organiz- 
ing the  country  in  an  all-out  war  effort,  the 


Government  quickly  found  use  for  this  power, 
he  continued. 

"The  Government  answered:  We  will  use  it. 
We  will  organize  and  utilize  it  in  every  possible 
way  consistent  with  war  effort  policy.  We  will 
marshall  it,  direct  its  energies  and  send  it  to 
serve  on  many  fronts — pictures  which  tell  of 
our  way  of  life,  of  our  resources  and  of  our 
faith  in  the  pattern  of  things  to  come." 

The  National  Archives,  he  said,  "is  a  bee- 
hive of  activity  in  the  present  crisis.  A  Govern- 
ment agency  asks,  What  have  you  on  Franklin 
Roosevelt  in  Europe  during  the  first  World 
War?  Newsreel  companies  inquire,  What  have 
you  on  shipbuilding  25  years  ago?"  Film  mate- 
rial to  meet  these  interests  and  many  other 
kinds  are  sought  from  the  Government's  library 
of  films. 

Some  of  the  pictures  made  to  meet  these  de- 
mands are  "keyed"  for  specific  groups,  he  point- 
ed out,  but  others,  including  pictures  sponsored 
by  the  Government  and  produced  independently, 
will  be  shown  throughout  the  country  and  even 
the  world. 

Equity  Voting  Privileges 
Proposed  for  Servicemen 

A  proposal  was  made  to  Actors'  Equity 
Council  at  a  meeting  in  New  York  this  week 
to  permit  members  in  good  standing  when  they 
enter  the  armed  forces  to  retain  their  voting 
privileges  in  Equity  for  the  duration  of  their 
service.  Another  proposal  would  allow  for  time 
played  in  the  USO  Camp  Shows  circuit  to 
count  toward  qualification  of  Equity  senior 
membership.  Both  are  under  consideration. 

A  petition  by  20  members  was  submitted  in 
protest  of  a  request  by  Jasper  Deeter,  proprie- 
tor of  Hedgerow  theatre  near  Philadelphia,  for 
deferment  of  three  of  his  executives  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  actors.  This  request  had 
been  reported  in  a  daily  newspaper.  In  response 
the  council  said  that  its  record  of  more  than 
600  members  in  the  service  was  an  answer  to 
any  such  request  from  an  individual. 

Members  of  Actors'  Equity  were  ordered  to 
refrain  from  playing  at  or  patronizing  Leon 
and  Eddie's  New  York  night  club  while  the 
night  club  is  on  the  "unfair"  list  of  the  Ameri- 
can Guild  of  Variety  Artists.  A  resolution  to 
that  effect  was  endorsed  at  the  meeting.  The 
dispute  is  over  a  proposed  agreement. 

WAC  Alters  Victory  Film 
Release  Schedule 

In  an  effort  to  coordinate  the  nation's  screens 
with  the  needs  of  the  war  effort,  the  national 
release  schedule  of  the  Victory  Films  has  been 
changed,  according  to  the  War  Activities  Com- 
mittee, under  whose  auspices  distribution  of  this 
product  is  effected. 

The  new  schedule  is  as  follows :  MGM, 
"Magic  Alphabet,"  October  15th;  Paramount, 
"We  Refuse  to  Die,"  October  22nd;  WAC, 
"Manpower,"  October  29th  ;  20th-Fox,  "Every- 
body's War,"  November  5th ;  WAC,  "Japanese 
Relocation,"  November  12th ;  Universal,  "Keep- 
ing Fit,"  November  19th ;  WAC,  "Colleges  at 
War,"  November  26th ;  RKO,  "Conquer  by 
the  Clock,"  December  3rd;  WAC,  "Troop 
Train,"  December  10th ;  Columbia,  "Weapons 
from  Waste,"  December  17th;  Warners  and 
WAC,  "This  Is  Your  Enemy,"  December  24th ; 
Paramount,  Wallace  short,  December  31st. 


Charter  Newsreel  Theatre 

The  Newsreel  Theatres  of  Connecticut  re- 
cently was  incorporated  at  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  State  Frederic  W.  Cook  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  by  Frederick  E.  Lieberman  of  Brook- 
line,  Mass.,  Morton  T.  Lieberman  of  Boston 
and  William  Alperin,  with  capital  of  $10,000. 


Golden  Joins  MGM 

Edward  Golden,  formerly  with  United  Artists 
at  Indianapolis,  has  joined  MGM  at  Kansas 
City  as  salesman,  succeeding  Woody  Sherrill, 
now  in  the  Army. 


Lorentz  Sues 
RKO  on  Pact 

Pare  Lorentz  on  Tuesday  filed  a  suit  against 
RKO  Pictures,  Inc.,  in  Federal  court  in  Los 
Angeles,  for  total  damages  of  $1,619,147  for, 
the  suit  claims,  abrogation  of  his  contract  to 
write,  direct  and  produce  two  pictures. 

The  action  charged  that  RKO  was  at  fault 
because  of  delays  in  obtaining  permission  to 
photograph  defense  plants  for  "Name,  Age 
and  Occupation,"  and  that  a  statement  made 
by  the  RKO  administration  upon  abrogation 
of  his  contract  reflected  on  his  ability.  The  other 
picture  was  to  have  been  "The  Good  Neighbor," 
the  complaint  stated. 

Mr.  Lorentz  asked  punitive  damages  of  $500,- 
000  for  such  statements,  $500,000  actual  dam- 
ages and  the  remainder  as  his  salary  and  es- 
timated profits  from  the  films.  He  said  he  was 
to  have  received  $50,000  for  each  picture  and 
$1,250  weekly  salary  should  the  productions 
run  over  a  certain  period  of  employment.  He 
also  stated  he  was  to  have  received  10  per 
cent  of  the  net  profits  of  the  films. 

Disney  Plans  Trip 
To  England 

Walt  Disney  is  planning  a  trip  to  England, 
where  he  will  gather  information  on  the  RAF 
for  a  feature  length  cartoon  about  the  "Grem- 
linland,"  it  was  announced  this  week  by  his 
New  York  office.  The  "Gremlinland"  is  a 
mythical  country  above  the  English  Channel 
inhabited  by  creatures  who  plague  combat 
flyers. 

It  also  was  announced  that  Mr.  Disney  has 
signed  a  deal  with  Flight  Lieutenant  Ronald 
Dahl,  assistant  air  attache  to  the  British  Em- 
bassy in  Washington,  for  his  story  on  the 
"gremlins."  The  RAF  Benevolent  Fund  is  to 
profit  on  the  story's  royalties,  it  was  said. 

"Gentleman  Jim"  Opens 
Nov.  26  in  New  York 

Warner  Bros,  has  set  Thanksgiving  Day,  No- 
vember 26th,  as  the  opening  date  of  "Gentle- 
man Jim"  at  the  Strand  theatre  in  New  York. 
The  film  is  a  dramatization  of  the  life  of  heavy- 
weight champion  James  J.  Corbett,  starring 
Errol  Flynn.  It  was  trade  shown  on  Thursday, 
October  29th,  for  national  release  on  November 
14th.  Glen  Gray  and  his  Casa  Loma  Orches- 
tra have  been  booked  with  it  for  the  Strand 
stage  show. 

The  picture  follows  a  scheduled  four-week 
run  of  "George  Washington  Slept  Here,"  star-  r 
ring  Jack  Benny. 

Delay  "Tigers"  Booking 

Nat  Steinberg,  St.  Louis  manager  for  Re- 
public, announced  last  week  no  bookings  of 
"Flying  Tigers,"  will  be  set  in  the  territory 
until  after  its  premiere  there  at  the  Fox  on 
November  5th  and  in  Springfield,  111.,  Novem- 
ber 11th. 


Seeks  Schedule  Changes 

The  Springfield,  Mass.,  War  Transportation 
Board  has  made  an  appeal  to  downtown  theatre 
managers  that  their  shows  not  break  between  j 
5  and  5:30  p.m.  or  at  6  p.m.,  as  a  step  in  the 
effort  to  relieve  the  peak  load  on  the  city's  I 
transportation  facilities. 


Monsky  Joins  Universal 

Mayer  Monsky  of  Omaha  has  joined  the 
Universal  Des  Moines  exchanges  as  salesman,.  J 
replacing  Robert  McConnell. 


Alfred  Rigali  Dies 

Alfred  L.  Rigali,  56,  New  York  theatrical 
manager  and  at  one  time  associated  with  Mae 
West,  died  in  Cincinnati  October  23rd. 


October    3  1,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


45 


Stocks  Reflect 
Prosperity  of 
Film 

Activity  oi  motion  picture  stocks  on  the 
New  York  Stock  Exchange  continues  to  reflect 
the  general  over-all  prosperity  of  the  film  in- 
dustry, which  is  playing  a  major  role  in  main- 
taining morale  of  a  nation  at  war. 

Among  the  most  active  film  stocks  are 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  and  Warner  Bros., 
with  Columbia,  Loew's,  Paramount,  RKO 
Radio  and  Universal  holding  about  the  high 
levels  of  the  motion  picture  group  in  the  mar- 
ket, in  sharp  contrast  to  some  industrial  stocks 
which  have  suffered  as  a  result  of  the  shifting 
war  economy  since  Pearl  Harbor. 

In  the  case  of  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  Wall 
Street  brokers  were  reported  last  week  to  have 
gone  ""bullish"  with  a  spurt  of  birring  interest 
prompted,  it  was  said,  by  the  company's  good 
financial  position  and  its  future  outlook. 

Monox  Picture  Herald  reported  last  Janu- 
ary 10th  that  the  country's  plunge  into  an  all- 
out  war  economy,  sending  industrial  production, 
employment  and  payrolls  to  high  levels,  augured 
well  for  film  company  earnings.  Third-quarter 
earnings  for  the  major  producers  and  distribu- 
tors in  1942,  it  is  understood,  may  far  exceed 
those  of  the  same  period  for  1941,  although  tax 
deductions  under  the  new  legislation  enacted 
by  Congress  last  week  are  expected  to  cut 
heavily  into  company  profits. 

In  1941,  motion  picture  shares  listed  on  the 
New  York  Stock  Exchange  gained  $28,956,797 
in  market  valuation,  according  to  a  financial 
survey  published  in  Monox  Picture  Herald 
on  January  10th,  even  though  the  trading  fell 
off  to  the  lowest  level  in  years.  Total  valua- 
tion at  the  end  of  the  year  was  S580.986.464 
compared  with  a  valuation  of  5551,939,485  at 
the  end  of  1940,  and  according  to  present  in- 
dications, the  total  valuation  at  the  end  of 
1942  will  exceed  the  1941  figure. 

A  comparative  study  of  film  stock  trading 
on  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  of  major 
motion  picture  companies,  based  on  closing 
prices  as  of  December  31st,  1941,  and  closing 
prices  as  of  last  Saturdaj-'s  trading,  will  be 
found  in  the  adjoining  columns. 

Maryland  Admission  Tax 
Revenue  Shows  Gain 

Amusement  admission  taxes  in  Maryland,  ex- 
pected to  yield  only  S165.000  after  die  reduc- 
tion from  one  per  cent  to  one-half  of  one  per 
cent,  brought  in  $275,580  during  the  fiscal  year 
1941-42.  the  State  comptroller  reported.  The 
amount  represented  an  increase  of  $9,825  over 
collections  during  the  previous  fiscal  year. 

Officials  said  that  war  conditions,  new  amuse- 
ment tax  sources  and  greater  film  patronage 
probably  accounted  for  the  unexpected  increase 
in  revenue.  Gasoline  taxes  dropped  $534,136 
during  the  year. 


Rivers  Leaves  Industry 

Edward  Rivers,  former  publicity  director  for 
Hamrick-Evergreen  theatres  in  Seattle,  and 
more  recently  connected  with  the  exploitation 
forces  of  RKO  Radio  in  the  midwest  territory, 
has  returned  to  his  former  home  in  Walla 
A'alla,  eastern  Washington.  He  is  now  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  Never- 
Leak  Roofing  Company  of  that  city. 


Named  Test  Director 

Gene  Martel  has  been  appointed  test  director 
tor  Paramount  in  New  York,  Russell  Holman, 
eastern  production  manager,  has  announced. 
During  the  past  six  months  Mr.  ifartel  has 
:een  a  member  of  the  Paramount  talent  de- 
partment. 


Industry 


Stock  Rise  Ranges  Up  to  $10.50 

Performances  of  motion  picture  stocks  on  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange  compare 
as  follows: 

Closing  Price  Closing  Price 


as  of  Oct.  24, 

as  of  Dec.  31, 

Net 

1942 

1942 

1942 

1941 

Change 

High 

Low 

Columbia  Pictures   

11 

5Va 

+  5?4 

n% 

5/8 

  34J4 

24 

+  10^2 

3434 

24 

Loew's,  Inc.  2  

  443,4 

3634 

+  SVa 

45J4 

37 

17 

uy2 

+  2y2 

uy2 

im 

  3H 

+  Va 

3y2 

? 

20th  Centurv-Fox  (JAe) 

  1434 

+  m 

15 

m 

20th  Centurv-Fox  (pf)   

  25y4 

im 

t  6?4 

25  y2 

I9y4 

Universal  Pictures  (pf)  

150 

152 

 ? 

159 

147 

Warner  Bros  

  ty% 

5K 

+  VA 

6?4 

45* 

Warner  Bros.  |  pf  1  

  7m 

6sy2 

4-  9-/s 

8O34 

65 

Nutrition  Film  Now 
Available  in   I  6  mm. 

"Hidden  Hunger,"'  an  official  film  of  the  Na- 
tional Nutrition  Program,  starring  Walter 
Brennan,  will  be  released  for  non-theatrical 
showings  in  16  mm.  size  with  sound  track  on 
November  1st  A  reel  of  straight  nutrition 
material  has  been  added  to  the  film  for  the  edu- 
cational showings.  Swift  &  Co.  sponsored  the 
film. 

The  additional  reel,  prepared  especially  for 
nutrition  classes,  tells  what  foods  make  a  bal- 
anced diet ;  how  to  choose  them ;  how  to  store 
them  and  how  to  prepare  them.  Specific  in- 
formation on  meal  planning  is  given  and  meals 
comparing  the  food  requirements  of  a  child,  a 
factory  worker  and  a  white  collar  worker  are 
shown.  A  Teachers'  Nutrition  Manual  and  Quiz 
has  also  been  prepared  to  accompany  the  film. 
This  manual,  together  with  the  three-reel  film 
(running  time  30  minutes)  can  be  used  as  the 
basis  for  a  brief  nutrition  course  or  as  sup- 
plementary material.  Libraries  are  supplied 
with  prints. 

Extend  Air  Express 
Service  to  Mexico 

Additional  air  express  service  direct  to  Mexi- 
co from  more  than  250  U.  S.  airport  cities  is 
now  in  operation,  according  to  the  Air  Express 
Division  of  Railway  Express  Agency.  The 
new  service,  an  extension  of  airline  schedules 
to  Monterrey  and  Mexico  City,  is  expected  to 
facilitate  the  heavy  flow  of  materials  between 
U.  S.  production  centers  and  Mexico.  Ihe  new 
service  is  in  addition  to  that  provided  pre- 
viously through  gateways  at  Los  Angeles, 
Brownsville,  Tex.,  and  Miami. 

Operating  directly  from  El  Paso  and  Fort 
Worth,  this  additional  service  gives  air  ex- 
press shippers  complete  transportation  between 
production  centers  in  the  United  States,  Canada 
and  Mexico,  the  company  said. 


Has  Films  on  Latin  America 

Films  on  Latin  America  for  free  showing 
before  schools,  clubs  and  other  organized 
groups  in  New  Jersey,  will  be  distributed  by 
the  State  Department  of  Conservation  and  De- 
velopment, acting  for  the  Coordinator  of  Inter- 
American  Affairs.  Fifteen  titles,  on  16  mm. 
film,  with  sound,  are  available  through  the  State 
Museum  in  Trenton. 


Delay  Welles  Film  Release 

Orson  Welles  will  film  a  new  ending  for 
his  mystery  drama,  "Journey  Into  Fear,"  an 
RKO  release.  This  will  postpone  the  picture's 
release,  originally  scheduled  for  October  for 
a  few  weeks,  RKO  has  announced. 


Named  Republic  Booker 

Margaret  Matthiesen  has  been  named  booker 
for  Sheffield-Republic  in  Portland,  Ore. 


Monogram  Has 
$57,370  Profit 

Monogram  Pictures  Corporation  announced 
in  New  York  Tuesday  the  company's  gross 
profit  was  $57,370  for  the  13-week  period  ended 
September  26th,  after  provision  for  employees' 
bonus,  but  before  provision  for  Federal  taxes. 

This  followed  last  week's  report  by  Samuel 
Broidy.  vice-president  and  general  sales  man- 
ager, that  sales  and  revenue  of  the  company 
are  at  a  record  peak,  with  the  increase  in  some 
situations  as  high  as  25  per  cent  Mr.  Broidy 
attributed  the  progress  in  large  part  to  the  con- 
centration of  all  domestic  home  office  depart- 
ments at  the  studio  which,  he  said,  makes  for 
an  integrated,  smoothly  functioning  organiza- 
tion and  results  in  quicker  decisions  and  action. 
He  called  a  regional  sales  meeting  of  the  com- 
pany's 10  eastern  offices  at  the  Hotel  Warwick 
on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  to  discuss  selling 
and  merchandising  plans  for  "Silver  Skates" 
and  "Beyond  the  Great  Divide,"  a  Buck  Jones 
special.  Mr.  Broid}*  plans  a  similar  meeting  for 
Midwest  branch  managers.  He  intends  to  re- 
main in  New  York  about  two  weeks.  Harry  H. 
Thomas,  eastern  sales  manager,  headed  the 
delegation. 

Monogram,  according  to  Mr.  Broidy.  has  de- 
cided not  to  make  its  pictures  available  in  16 
mm.  versions  in  the  future,  because  the  com- 
pany desires  to  eliminate  a  source  of  compe- 
tition to  exhibitors.  Another  reason  for  the 
move,  he  said  was  that  some  of  Monogram's 
current  product  and  those  scheduled  for  future 
release,  are  superior  to  the  general  run  of  pic- 
tures which  are  reduced  for  16  mm.  distribution. 


Pierong  City  Manager's 
Aide  for  Evergreen 

H.  W.  Pierong,  formerly  manager  of  the 
old  Pantages  theatre,  Spokane,  and  Fox  thea- 
tres, has  been  appointed  assistant  city  manager 
of  the  Evergreen  theatres  there,  including  the 
Fox,  State  Orpheum  and  Liberty,  according  to 
announcement  of  City  Manager  E.  W.  Baker. 

Several  Evergreen  managers  in  Spokane  re- 
ceived their  early  training  under  Mr.  Pierong: 
Oscar  Nyberg,  of  the  Fox ;  Willaird  Seale,  of 
the  Orpheum ;  James  Keefe,  of  the  Liberty,  and 
Cecil  Miller,  operator  of  the  Ritz. 


Bid  tor  Theatre 

Famous  Players  Canadian  Corporation  and 
Odeon  Theatres  of  Canada  are  bidding  for 
rental  of  Loew's  theatre.  Montreal.  Offers  from 
both  sources  will  be  considered  by  the  theatre's 
holding  company  at  a  meeting  next  Tuesday.  An 
increased  rental  offer  has  been  made  by  Famous 
Players. 


VERY  GOOD! 
DEFINITELY  A 
BOXOFFICE  PICTURE 

Republic    comes    to    the  fore 
with   this  well-presented  film  ex- 
tolling   the    American  Volunteer 
Group.  The  picture  will  appeal  to  the 
masses,  not  only  because  of  its  merits, 
but  because  it  glorifies  a  group  of  men  who 
have  endeared  themselves  to  all  freedom-loving 
people  .  .  .  direction  and  performances  are  fine. 
The  air  battles  are  spectacular  and  thrilling.  It  is 
definitely  a  boxoffice  picture — one  that  would  make 
any  major  studio  feel  proud.  Harrison's  Reports 


$okn  WAYNE 

g,kn  CARROLL 

-@nna  LEE 


WILL  STRIKE 
HARD  AT  AUDIENCE 
IMAGINATION 

In  "Flying  Tigers,"  Republic  has  its  best  picture, 
and  one  that  certainly  justifies  its  rating  as  a 
'Special.'  The  title  alone  spells  ticket  sales,  but  coupled 
with  it  are  daring  air  battle  sequences  that  match  any 
heretofore  seen  on  the  screen.  Each  is  a  thrill  that 
gives  ample  return  for  a  ticket  purchase.  With  vivid 
reality,  David  Miller  socks  over  the  air  sequences  and 
puts  high  drama  into  every  scene  to  earn  a  most 
valuable  directorial  credit.  Edmund  Grainger's  produc- 
tion guidance  realizes  on  every  showmanly  phase  to 
give  Republic  a  boxoffice  picture. 

Daily  Variety 

NO  THEATRE  IN  THE  LAND  SHOULD 
HESITATE  ABOUT 

PROUDLY  PLAYING  IT 

Smashing  triumph  for  Republic  lot.  As  an  inspiring 
combat  screen  adventure,  "Flying  Tigers"  is  tops,  and 
there  is  nothing  but  praise  for  Edmund  Grainger, 
^producer;  David  Miller,  its  director;  Kenneth  Ga 
and  Barry  Trivers,  writers  of  the  screen  play;  < 
every   member  of  its  sincerely  hard-work 
cast.  It  will  be  a  record  grosser  in  all 
gagements,  and  no  theatre  in  the  l< 
should  hesitate  about  proudly  playi 
it.  The  aerial  shots  the  picture  boi|4||,e£ 
are  stunning  thrillers. 

Hollywood  Repo 

FLVII1 

n  REPUB] 


SHOULD  RESULT  IN 
EXCEPTIONAL  RETURNS 

A  well-handled,  finely  performed  adventure  story  th 
will  thrill  and  enthrall  all  who  see  it.  High  interest  in  the 
exploits  of  the  intrepid  band  of  flyers  around  which  the 
story  is  woven  should  result  in  exceptional  returns.  Set  to 
tempos  suitable  to  the  widely  publicized  activities  of  the 
American  Volunteer  Group,  whose  thrilling  and  daring 
exploits  it  chronicles  with  dog-fights,  machine-gun  chatter, 
ack-ack  fire  and  bursting  bombs  punctuating  the  entire 
footage  like  corn  popping  on  a  hot  griddle,  this  is  ab- 
sorbing fare  .  .  .  the  kind  of  entertainment  that  thoroughly  a 
satisfies  the  masses. 

Showmen's  Trade  Review 


at 


Besides  being  a  scoop  on  a  title  that  should  draw  c 
"Flying  Tigers"  is  a  Class  A  picture  in  its  own  right 
will  keep  the  crowds  glued  to  their  seats  during  an  exci 
ing,  tense  film,  which  has  a  unique  combination  of  realism 
and  pathos.  The  story  is  convincing  throughout.  The  direc 
tion  of  "Flying  Tigers"  is  clean  cut,  the  story  exciting. 

The  Independent 

(CAL  AVIATION  PICTURE  IS 
:,IMED  WITH  SELLING  ANGLES 

tion  stuff  in  this  is  aces,  and  the  dog  fights, 
■  plane  flight  "hedge  hopping"  through 
itains,  the  bombings,  etc.  are  top  thr 
rroll  steals  honors  but  Wayne,  Kelly 
2s  keep  right  on  his  heels.  It's  a 
from  Republic. 

The  Exhibitor 


THRILLS  ABOUND  IN  THE  PICTURE 
REVIEWER  S  RATING:  EXCELLENT 

The  first  tribute  to  the  American  Volunteer  Group,  or  the 
"Flying  Tigers"  as  they  are  better  known,  has  a  timeliness 
about  it  that  should  make  it  popular.  Previewed  at  the 
Normandie  Theatre  in  New  York  before  a  special  audi- 
ence of  reviewers,  circuit  buyers  and  the  National  Board 
of  Review,  as  well  as  certain  interested  groups,  the  picture 
was  received  with  a  great  deal  of  interest. 

Motion  Picture  Herald 


PLAY  "FLYING  TIGERS"  FOR 
ROUSING,  COURAGEOUS  FILM-FARE 


rowds 
that 
t- 


PICTURE 


WITH 

PAUL  KELLY*  GORDON  JONES 
BILL  SHIRLEY  *  MAE  CLARKE 

AND  A  CAST  OF  THOUSANDS 
Associate  Producer 
EDMUND  GRAINGER 

Directed  by  DAVID  MILLER 

Screenplay  by 
KENNETH  GAMET  &  BARRY  TRIVERS 
Original  Story  by  KENNETH  GAMET 


It 


48 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


Two  Plays  Open 
On  Broadway 


Wholesale  Changes 
In  Canadian  Staffs 


War  Causing  Turnover  of 
Distribution  Personnel 
as  in  Theatres 

by  VICTOR  SERVICE 

in  St.  John,  N.  B. 

War  conditions  are  causing  frequent 
changes  in  the  staffs  of  the  distribution 
branches  in  St.  John,  N.  B.  New  faces 
are  appearing,  disappearing  and  reappear- 
ing, duplicating  what  is  happening  at  the- 
atres throughout  the  eastern  provinces. 
The  St.  John  distribution  bases  cover  the 
provinces  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia  and  Prince  Edward  Island  and  also 
Newfoundland. 

Never  in  the  history  of  the  Canadian 
trade  have  the  exchanges  been  so  subject 
to  staff  alterations.  RKO  is  without  a  man- 
ager and  there  is  no  immediate  indication 
of  a  successor  being  named  to  Leslie  Plot- 
tel,  who  resigned  after  several  years  at  the 
helm.  He  returned  to  Toronto  and  left 
RKO  in  favor  of  Empire-Universal,  doing 
sales  duty  out  of  the  Canadian  headquar- 
ters. 

Hyman  Miller,  attached  to  the  Montreal 
branch  of  RKO,  has  been  assigned  tempo- 
rarily to  the  St.  John  branch  for  road  duty. 
After  three  months,  he  will  be  back  at  Mon- 
treal. United  Artists  have  had  three  ship- 
pers in  recent  months.  Delbert  Buckley, 
son  of  a  deceased  Empire-Universal  branch 
manager  at  St.  John,  is  the  current  U.  A. 
shipper.  Edward  Cox  is  off  the  Empire- 
Universal  sales  staff,  after  many  years  in 
distribution.  A  number  of  changes  have  been 
made  in  the  feminine  help,  including  stenog- 
raphers, cashiers  and  bookkeepers.  William 
Guss  has  been  transferred  from  St.  John 
to  Toronto  by  Regal,  and  continues  on  the 
road. 

Monogram  representation  has  been  taken 
over  by  Eastern  Films,  managed  by  Sam 
Jacobs.  Monogram  sales  formerly  were 
handled  by  Regal,  but  recently  were  ac- 
quired by  Oscar  R.  Hanson,  of  Toronto. 
Eastern  Films  has  added  Pioneer  and  Al- 
liance within  recent  months,  and  last  year 
tied  up  with  Producers  Releasing  Corpora- 
tion. Eastern  had  been  the  only  indepen- 
dent exchange  in  St.  John,  functioning  about 
a  dozen  years. 

Patrons  Use  Flashlights 
To  Study  Lobby  Ads 

More  than  three  years  of  continual  dimout 
except  during  the  test  blackouts  find  mari- 
time provinces  exhibitors  growing  accus- 
tomed to  the  wholesale  focusing  of  flash- 
lights around  the  fronts  of  their  theatres. 
Now,  each  night,  it  is  not  uncommon  for 
hundreds  of  the  pocket  lights  to  be  trained 
on  the  billboards,  photo  cabinets  and  frames, 
lobby  art  and  entrances.  Around  many  of  the 
theatre  fronts,  there  is  no  illumination  what- 
ever, due  to  the  war  restrictions,  including 
early  closing  of  stores,  and  ban  on  exterior 
lighting  of  all  kinds,  except  street  lamps. 

Theatre  customers  flash  their  lights  on 


the  lithos  and  stills  and  other  advertising 
at  the  theatre  entrances,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  current  bills  and  coming  programs. 
The  off-again-on-again  beams  lend  a  spooky 
atmosphere  to  the  fronts  in  the  darkness, 
but  the  novelty  is  wearing  off  for  the  the- 
atremen.  Very  often,  the  atmosphere  typi- 
fies what  is  being  presented  on  the  screen 
inside,  for  an  abundance  of  chillers  and 
semi-chillers,  including  crime  and  sleuth 
stories,  is  being  offered  in  Atlantic  Canadian 
picture  houses,  and  with  no  immediate  indi- 
cation of  abating.  Comedies,  crime  films  and 
outright  horror  pictures  are  very  popular. 

To  Dramatize  Canada 
Militia  Regiment 

T.  J.  Courtney,  manager  of  the  Casino, 
Halifax,  N.  S.,  has  been  commissioned  to 
picture  the  history  of  the  Halifax  Rifles, 
one  of  Canada's  oldest  militia  units.  This 
involves  color  photography,  in  which  Mr. 
Courtney  is  skilled.  He  has  won  many 
prizes  through  his  proficiency  with  his  bat- 
tery of  still  and  motion  picture  cameras,  and 
in  developing  and  finishing.  He  has  been 
a  winner  in  amateur  photographic  competi- 
tions open  to  the  U.  S.  as  well  as  Canada, 
and  has  screened  numerous  events  of  cur- 
rent news  importance  at  the  Casino  in  re- 
cent years. 

V 

Chairman  for  Nova  Scotia  and  Prince 
Edward  Island  industry  participation  in  the 
third  victory  loan  campaign  of  Canada  is 
A.  J.  Mason,  of  Springhill,  N.  S.,  active  for 
more  than  30  years  as  an  independent  ex- 
hibitor and  in  organizations  for  exhibitors, 
chiefly  independents.  He  has  operated  the 
Capitol  at  Springhill  for  over  three  decades, 
is  chairman  of  the  national  council  of  the 
Independent  Exhibitors  of  Canada ;  presi- 
dent and  organizer  of  the  Maritime  Cooper- 
ative Film  Exchange,  past  president  and  a 
founder  of  the  Allied  Exhibitors  of  Nova 
Scotia ;  chairman  of  the  arbitration  board 
for  disputes  between  exhibitors  and  distribu- 
tors in  Nova  Scotia.  Chairman  of  the  bond 
drive  for  New  Brunswick  is  R.  G.  March, 
of  St.  John,  N.  B.,  for  many  years  in  dis- 
tribution and  manager  of  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  branch  at  St.  John,  catering 
to  the  maritime  provinces  and  Newfound- 
land. 

Wetmore  a  Native 
Of  New  Brunswick 

Burton  O.  Wetmore  of  Boston,  who  died 
recently  at  78  and  who  was  connected  with 
picture  exhibiting  and  distributing  in 
Massachusetts,  chiefly  eastern,  for  over  a 
half  century,  was  born  and  raised  at  Spring- 
field, N.  B.  He  went  to  Boston  when  in  his 
early  twenties.  He  was  a  veteran  church 
and  concert  singer  and  for  over  50  years 
sang  as  a  featured  vocalist  in  some  of  the 
leading  churches  in  metropolitan  Boston. 
He  had  been  financially  interested  in  a  num- 
ber of  theatres,  and  continued  so  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death. 


Two  new  plays  opened  this  week  on  Broad- 
way. They  are  "Little  Darling,"  the  Eric  Hatch 
comedy  starring  Leon  Ames,  Karen  Morley 
and  Barbara  Bel  Geddes,  on  Tuesday  at  the 
Biltmore,  and  "Rosalinda,"  an  operetta  based 
on  Johann  Strauss's  "The  Bat,"  at  the  Forty- 
fourth  Street  theatre,  on  Wednesday.  The  cast 
include  Dorothy  Sarndff,  Ernest  McChesney, 
Oscar  Karlweis  and  Virginia  McWatters. 

The  Theatre  Guild  announced  two  openings 
for  the  week  of  November  9th.  "Mr.  Syca- 
more" has  been  set  definitely  for  November 
13th,  with  Enid  Markey  replacing  Claiborne 
Foster  in  the  cast.  Philip  Barry's  "Without 
Love"  is  scheduled  for  November  10th. 

John  Golden  will  revive  Elmer  Rice's  "Coun- 
sellor-at-Law,"  in  which  Paul  Muni  will  play 
the  role  he  created  in  the  original  1931  pro- 
duction. Ethel  Merman  will  have  the  starring 
role  in  "Something  for  the  Boys,"  the  Cole 
Porter-Herbert  and  Dorothy  Fields  musical 
comedy,  rehearsals  for  which  start  Novem- 
ber 9th. 

November  25th  has  been  set  as  the  opening 
date  for  "The  Pirate."  John  Patrick's  "The 
Willow  and  I"  opens  on  December  7th,  with 
Martha  Scott,  Katherine  Locke  and  Gregory 
Peck  in  the  cast.  "The  Skin  of  Our  Teeth"  will 
arrive  on  Broadway  November  18th  instead 
of  November  16th,  as  previously  announced. 

RKO  Is  Negotiating  for 
Oriental  Theatre,  Chicago 

Negotiations  are  under  way  for  control  of 
the  Oriental  theatre,  large  Chicago  indepen- 
dent house,  by  the  RKO  circuit.  Its  acquisition 
would  give  RKO  two  theatres  in  Chicago's 
district,  the  other  being  the  Palace.  It  was 
indicated  by  the  visit  of  Edward  L.  Alperson, 
general  manager  of  RKO  Theatres,  to  Chi- 
cago last  week  that  the  deal  is  nearing  comple- 
tion. While  no  details  are  available  at  present, 
Tom  Gorman,  division  manager  for  RKO,  said 
that  negotiations  are  being  conducted,  but  Har- 
old Costello,  operating  head  of  the  Oriental 
theatre,  refused  to  comment  on  the  situation. 

The  Oriental,  a  3,200-seat  house,  was  op- 
erated for  several  years  by  the  Balaban  &  Katz 
circuit.  Following  the  loss  of  their  lease  it  was 
taken  over  for  a  short  time  by  Jones,  Linick  & 
Schaefer  and  is  now  being  operated  by  the  Iro- 
quois Management  Corporation.  A  combination 
stage  and  picture  policy  is  being  used. 


Dinner  for  Brooks 

Ollie  Brooks  of  the  W.  S.  Butterfield  circuit 
was  given  a  farewell  bachelor  dinner  at  the 
Detroit  Variety  Club  last  week.  Speakers  in- 
cluded Earl  Hudson,  United  Detroit  Theatres; 
CharLs  Perry,  Adams  theatre,  and  Ray  Branch, 
Allied  Theatres  of  Michigan.  Mr.  Brooks  was 
presented  with  a  silver  service.  About  150  at- 
tended. 


Warners  Promotes  Frye 

Jack  Frye  has  been  promoted  to  head  booker 
in  the  Charlotte  Warner  office,  and  Warren 
Wallace  and  C.  E.  Kinsey  have  joined  the  ex- 
change as  bookers.  They  replace  Stanley  House, 
Paul  Hargette  and  Jack  Bailey,  who  left  for 
Army  service. 


Walsh  Leaves  PRC 

John  Walsh,  formerly  city  salesman  for  Pro- 
ducers Releasing  Corporation  in  St.  Louis, 
has  resigned. 


"Tigers"  Opens  Theatre 

A  new  1,000-seat  Army  theatre  at  Mitchd 
Field,  L.  I.,  was  opened  Sunday  with  Republic's 
"Flying  Tigers,"  as  the  initial  attraction. 


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50 

Publicity  Group 
May  Expand 
Activities 

Proposals  for  an  expanded  program  of  public 
relations  work  in  behalf  of  the  various  wartime 
activities  of  the  motion  picture  industry  were 
expected  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the  eastern 
branch  of  the  Public  Relations  Committee  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Industry,  at  a  scheduled 
meeting  on  Thursday  at  the  Hays  office  in  New 
York. 

The  committee  of  advertising  and  publicity 
heads  was  expected  to  draft  into  a  concrete 
plan  several  recommendations  for  a  coordinated 
publicity  approach  to  the  place  of  the  industry 
in  the  war  effort.  This,  it  was  reported,  will  be 
submitted  within  a  few  weeks  to  the  heads  of 
the  major  distribution  companies. 

It  was  considered  probable  that  the  public 
relations  committee  would  recommend  that  the 
industry  embark  upon  a  joint  campaign  to  in- 
form the  Dublic  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
motion  picture  industry  is  performing  many 
special  wartime  missions,  as  well  as  continuing 
to  supply  an  uninterrupted  flow  of  entertain- 
ment and  informational  films.  The  companies, 
a  committee  member  predicted,  will  be  asked  to 
underwrite  a  compilation  of  figures  and  facts 
on  all  aspects  of  the  industry's  war  effort. 

This  report  on  the  work  of  the  War  Activi- 
ties Committee,  Hollywood  Victory  Committee, 
film  people  in  service,  the  production  of  special 
reels  for  Government  agencies  and  other  war- 
time endeavors  will  be  distributed  to  newspapers, 
columnists  and  other  media,  and  used  as  an 
authentic  source  for  publicity  material  on  the 
war  effort,  it  was  said. 

The  publicity  committee  was  also  expected  to 
consider  proposals  for  a  combined  effort  to  at- 
tract new  patrons  to  theatres.  Campaigns  have 
been  suggested  to  attract  audiences  from  pre- 
draft  age  and  over  40  groups  to  offset  lost  at- 
tendance by  men  now  in  the  services. 

In  California  the  studio  branch  of  the  public 
relations  committee  is  considering  a  suggestion 
by  John  L.  Johnson  that  a  central  preview  thea- 
tre be  used  by  all  companies.  The  committee  is 
also  reported  to  be  considering  showing  two  or 
more  pictures  at  one  preview  and  combining 
foreign  and  domestic  press  screenings  to  reduce 
reviews  transportation  difficulties. 


Levy  Heads  New  York 
Universal  District 

David  A.  Levy  has  been  appointed  the  New 
York  Metropolitan  district  manager  for  Uni- 
versal, William  A.  Scully,  vice-president  and 
general  sales  manager,  announced  this  week. 
Mr.  Levy  has  been  in  charge  of  the  Big  U 
exchange  for  Universal  for  the  past  three  and 
a  half  years. 

Prior  to  joining  Universal  he  was  New  Jer- 
sey branch  manager  for  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 
He  has  served  in  the  sales  department  of  Edu- 
cational and  Paramount  and  at  one  time  held 
an  executive  post  with  Cosmopolitan  Pictures. 
Mr.  Levy  has  been  in  the  industry  for  28  years. 


Held  Prisoners  by  Japs 

Arthur  Doyle,  former  Far  East  representa- 
tive for  Twentieth  Century-Fox,  and_  Don  Led- 
erman,  former  manager  in  the  Philippines  for 
the  company,  are  being  held  prisoners  by  the 
Jans  at  Santo  Tomas  University,  P.  I.,  accord- 
ing to  word  received  from  the  American  Red 
Cross  by  Twentieth  Century-Fox  foreign  de- 
partment home  office  executives. 


20th-Fox  Signs  Preminger 

Otto  Preminger  has  been  signed  by  Twenti- 
eth Century-Fox  to  a  contract  calling  for  his 
services  as  writer,  director  and  actor. 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


20  MILLION  PUT  8% 
OF  SALARY  IN  BONDS 

There  are  now  approximately 
20,000,000  persons  in  the  nation 
who  are  putting  an  average  of 
8  per  cent  of  their  pay  into  War 
Bonds  each  month,  according  to 
Ted  R.'  Gamble  of  Portland,  as- 
sistant to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  operates  four  theatres 
in  Portland  and  Hood  River,  Ore. 

In  September,  he  said,  the  aggre- 
gate withholding  from  pay  checks 
for  Bond  purchases  amounted  to 
$265,000,000,  and  the  total  is  in- 
creasing steadily.  Present  intentions 
are  to  intensify  the  payroll  savings 
plan  throughout  the  nation  from 
November  15th  to  December  31st, 
he  said. 


20th-Fox  Launches  Plan 
To  Offset  Star  Shortage 

With  15  features  cut  and  ready  for  release, 
six  now  before  the  cameras  and  another  five 
being  prepared  for  shooting  within  the  next 
three  weeks,  Twentieth  Century-Fox  is  far 
enough  ahead  in  product  to  concentrate  on  im- 
portant buildup  for  male  players  to  replace  the 
name  players  who  have  left  or  will  leave  soon 
to  join  the  armed  forces,  it  was  announced  by 
the  company  this  week  in  New  York.  The 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  backlog  also  gives  the 
studio  opportunity  to  carry  the  names  of  depart- 
ing stars  on  marquees  at  least  six  months  after 
their  departure,  it  was  said.  In  addition,  the 
company  plans  to  carry  on  a  steady,  institutional 
campaign  to  keep  these  names  before  the  public 
while  they  are  in  the  service. 

In  an  effort  to  rebuild  its  acting  manpower, 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  will  concentrate  during 
the  next  three  months  on  extensive  buildup 
campaigns  on  John  Sutton,  Dana  Andrews, 
James  Ellison,  Kent  Taylor,  Anthony  Quinn, 
John  Sheppard  and  Cornel  Wilde.  Among  the 
marquee  names  from  the  studio  who  have  joined 
or  shortly  will  enter  the  armed  forces  are  Vic- 
tor Mature,  Henry  Fonda,  Tyrone  Power,  John 
Payne,  Cesar  Romero,  George  Montgomery  and 
John  Howard. 

Six  Films  Set  at 
Columbia  This  Month 

Six  new  films  were  scheduled  to  go  before  the 
cameras  at  the  Columbia  studio  during  October. 
The  six  include  an  untitled  Humphrey  Bogart- 
Rita  Hayworth  co-starring  production  which 
Sam  Bischoff  will  produce ;  "Destroyer,"  co- 
starring  Edward  G.  Robinson,  Glenn  Ford  and 
Janet  Blair,  which  William  A.  Seiter  will  di- 
rect for  Producer  Louis  Edelman  from  a  script 
by  Lieut-Commdr.  Frank  Wead ;  and  "Reveille 
with  Beverly,"  musical  which  will  feature  a  cast 
headed  by  Freddie  Slack  and  his  orchestra. 
Charles  Barton  will  direct  for  Producer  Sam 
White. 

Also  scheduled  for  October  production  are: 
"Outlaw  Busters,"  with  Russell  Hayden  and 
Bob  Wills  heading  the  cast ;  "Deadline  Guns," 
and  a  comedy  which  Harry  Edwards  will  direct 
for  producer  Hugh  McCollum. 


Ona  Munson  Retires 

Ona  Munson,  character  actress,  this  week  in 
Hollywood  announced  her  retirement  from  the 
screen  to  devote  her  time  to  producing  radio 
shows.  Miss  Munson  portrayed  "Belle  Wat- 
ling"  in  "Gone  With  the  Wind."  She  recently 
joined  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System. 


October    3  1,  1942 


Paramount  Sales 
Show  Increase 

Paramount  sales  to  independent  circuits  are 
running  far  ahead  of  last  year  and  compare 
favorably  with  some  of  the  company's  busiest 
years  under  the  old  method  of  selling,  Neil 
Agnew,  vice-president  in  charge  of  sales,  said 
this  week. 

"At  this  date,"  Mr.  Agnew  said,  "the  Para- 
mount sales  staff  has  concluded  deals  with  more 
than  55  leading  circuits,"  adding  that  "these 
contracts  assure  us  of  extended  playing  time 
in  approximately  1,120  theatres  throughout  the 
country." 

A  partial  list  of  some  of  the  independent  cir- 
cuits which  have  been  signed  by  Paramount 
follows : 

Interstate  Theatre  Corporation,  New  En- 
gland ;  Lockwood  &  Gordon,  New  England ;  E. 
M.  Loew ;  Snider  Circuit,  New  England ;  M.  A. 
Shea  Circuit,  Boston ;  Schine  Circuit,  Albany  ; 
Comerford  Independent,  Buffalo ;  Skouras ; 
Century  Circuit ;  Fabian  Circuit,  Albany ; 
Smalley  Circuit,  Albany ;  Walter  Reade,  New 
Jersey ;  Brandt  Circuit ;  Cinema  Circuit ;  Wilmer 
&  Vincent,  Philadelphia;  Hunts  Circuit,  Phila- 
delphia ;  Thalheimer,  Washington ;  Katz  Cir- 
cuit, Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland;  Dolle  Circuit, 
Indianapolis ;  Affiliated  Circuit,  Indianapolis ; 
Gregory  Circuit,  Indianapolis ;  Neth  Circuit, 
Columbus ;  Alpine  Circuit,  Cincinnati ;  Semel- 
roth  Circuit,  Cincinnati ;  Mutual  Circuit,  De- 
troit;  Martin  Circuit,  Atlanta;  Pal  Circuit, 
Atlanta ;  Lam  Circuit,  Atlanta ;  Manning  Cir- 
cuit, Atlanta;  Neely  Circuit,  Atlanta;  Nat 
Williams  Circuit,  Atlanta ;  Collins  Circuit,  At- 
lanta ;  Orr  Circuit,  Atlanta ;  Anderson  Circuit 
in  Charlotte. 

Also  Everett  Circuit,  Charlotte ;  Theatre 
Service  Corporation,  New  Orleans ;  United 
Theatres,  New  Orleans ;  Dubinsky  Circuit, 
Kansas  City ;  Commonwealth  Circuit,  Kansas 
City ;  H.  J.  Griffith  Circuit,  Kansas  City ;  St. 
Louis  Amusement  Co. ;  Rogers  Circuit,  St. 
Louis ;  Farrar-Turner  Circuit,  St.  Louis ;  Fri- 
sina  Circuit,  St.  Louis ;  Keiler  Circuit,  St. 
Louis. 

The  Griffith-Long  Circuit,  Los  Angeles ; 
George  Hunt,  Portland;  Robb  &  Rowley,  Dal- 
las; R.  E.  Griffith,  Dallas:  K.  Lee  Williams 
Circuit,  Oklahoma;  Associated  Circuit,  Min- 
neapolis ;  Miner  Circuit,  Minneapolis ;  Baer 
Circuit,  Minneapolis;  Hainline  Circuit,  Chi- 
cago ;  J.  Rose  Circuit,  Chicago ;  Bailey  Circuit, 
Chicago,  and  Delft  Circuit,  Milwaukee. 

AGVA  and  Equity 
Merger  Deferred 

No  further  action  will  be  taken  for  a  time  in 
the  matter  of  the  amalgamation  of  the  Ameri- 
can Guild  of  Variety  Artists  and  Actors  Equity 
Association,  according  to  a  resolution  adopted 
last  week  at  a  meeting  of  the  international  board 
of  the  Associated  Actors  and  Artistes  of  Amer- 
ica at  Equity  headquarters,  New  York. 

"The  board  took  this  action,"  Paul  Dullzell, 
executive  secretary  of  the  Four  A's  said,  "to 
allay  a  flood  of  rumors  which  had  swept  the 
memberships  of  both  AGVA  and  Equity  and 
had  disturbed  relations  between  officers  of  both 
organizations."  v 

The  resolution  was  adopted  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  committee  which  had  been  study- 
ing a  report  submitted  by  Walter  N.  Greaza, 
national  administrative  director  of  AGVA. 


Lehman  Benefit  Speaker 

Governor  Herbert  H.  Lehman  of  New  York 
will  speak  at  the  opening  of  the  ninth  annu?1 
"Night  of  Stars,"  show  for  refugee  aid  and 
Palestine  resettlement,  to  be  held  at  Madison 
Square  Garden  on  Tuesday  evening,  November 
24th.  This  will  mark  the  first  time  that  Gov- 
ernor Lehman,  an  honorary  chairman  of  "Night 
of  Stars"  since  its  inception,  has  been  able  to 
attend  the  show.  All  proceeds  of  the  affair 
will  go  to  the  United  Jewish  Appeal. 


It's  the  first  feature  picture 
ever  filmed  in  the  wilds 
of  the  Amazon  Jungles! 


M1K 


i'BRING  EM 
BACK  ALIVE 


presents 


52 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  31 


1942 


War  Agencies 
Benefit  from 
Openings 

Two  war  films  and  a  picture  version  of  a 
novel  had  their  premieres  this  week.  RKO's 
"The  Navy  Comes  Through"  opened  on  Tues- 
day, Navy  Day,  at  the  new  Treasure  Island 
theatre  at  the  Navy  base,  San  Francisco;  pre- 
miere of  "One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing," 
released  by  United  Artists,  was  held  at  the 
Globe  theatre  in  New  York  Friday  night,  and 
UA's  production  of  W.  Somerset  Maugham's 
novel,  "The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  had  its  New 
York  debut  at  the  Rivoli  on  Tuesday  night. 

As  part  of  the  celebration  in  connection  with 
the  opening  of  "The  Navy  Comes  Through," 
Jinny  Simms  and  Jane  Wyatt,  actresses,  par- 
ticipated in  the  launching  of  two  10,000-ton 
Liberty  freighters,  G.  H.  Corliss  and  Noah  H. 
Swayne,  in  San  Francisco.  More  than  300>  Army 
and  "  Navy  officers  attended  the  showing  as 
guests  of  RKO.  The  company  has  set  the  film's 
eastern  premiere  for  November  5th  at  Keith's 
in  Washington,  D.  C.  Pat  O'Brien,  Jane  Wyatt, 
George  Murphy,  Desi  Arnaz  and  Max  Baer 
have  the  principal  roles. 

Stars  of  the  stage,  screen  and  radio  and  prom- 
inent society  leaders  attended  the  opening  of 
"The  Moon  and  Sixpence,"  which  was  scaled 
at  a  $2.20  top,  Tuesday  night  at  the  Rivoli. 
The  entire  proceeds  of  the  performance  were 
donated  to  the  French  and  American  War 
Work  of  the  Coordinating  Council  of  French 
Relief  Societies.  George  Sanders  and  Herbert 
Marshall  star  in  the  Loew-Lewin  production. 
The  picture  began  its  regular  run  on  Wednes- 
day. 

The  British  War  Relief  Society  and  the 
Queen  Wilhelmina  Fund  shared  equally  in  re- 
ceipts from  proceeds  of  the  premiere  of  Alex- 
ander Korda's  new  film,  "One  of  Our  Aircraft 
Is  Missing,"  another  United  Artists  release, 
which  was  held  at  the  Globe,  New  York,  Fri- 
day night.  The  picture  began  its  regular  en- 
gagement the  following  morning.  Godfrey  Hag- 
gard, British  Consul  General,  and  T.  Elink 
Schuurman,  Netherlands  Consul  General,  spon- 
sored the  premiere.  The  two  war  relief  agencies 
will  use  the  proceeds  for  gifts  to  Dutch  sailors 
and  British  Merchant  Seamen's  Clubs.  "One 
of  Our  Aircraft"  had  its  South  American  pre- 
miere in  Willemstad,  Dutch  West  Indies,  last 
August,  honoring  Queen  Wilhelmina's  62nd 
birthday.  Michael  Powell  produced  the  picture 
from  a  script  which  he  wrote  in  collaboration 
with  Emeric  Pressburger. 

Warner  Bros,  reported  this  week  that  "Yan- 
kee Doodle  Dandy"  arrived  in  Switzerland  last 
week  for  its  opening  there — in  time  to  beat  the 
new  regulations  issued  by  the  Vichy  Govern- 
ment which  prevent  further  imports  of  Ameri- 
can films  by  Swiss  motion  picture  distributors 
and  exhibitors.  Sole  remaining  channel^  for  im- 
portation of  American  films  to  Switzerland 
lately  had  been  via  Vichy. 

"Yankee  Doodle  Dandy,"  incidentally,,  is  re- 
ported to  have  grossed  approximately  $1,600,000 
in  engagements  at  advanced  prices  in  64  War- 
ner houses.  With  the  exception  of  the  New 
York  run,  all  of  the  dates,  including  the  simul- 
taneous premiere  in  two  New  York  theatres, 
were  at  $1.10  for  night  performances  and  75 
cents  for  matinees.  The  picture  also  has  played 
$1.10-top  runs  in  about  150  theatres  other  than 
the  Warner  circuit. 


RKO  Unit  Reduces  Stock 

A  change  in  stock  capitalization  to  six  shares, 
no  stated  par  value,  was  filed  in  Albany,  N.  Y., 
this  week  by  J.  Henry  Walters,  RKO  attorney, 
on  behalf  of  RKO  Film  Booking  Corporation, 
New  York.  The  previous  capitalization  was 
$100,000  in  $100  par  value  shares. 


FROM  READERS 

CIRCUIT  STUDIES 
MANPOWER  PROBLEM 

The  public  relations  director  of  the 
Schine  Circuit  discusses  operations  under 
war  conditions. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald: 

Since  we  operate  mostly  in  small  towns  where 
defense  work  is  limited  .  .  .  we  have  tried  run- 
ning a  show  at  12  noon  during  the  week,  giv- 
ing the  employees  a  special  hour  of  shorts,  al- 
lowing them  to  bring  in  their  lunches,  etc.  This 
was  not  very  successful.  In  a  great  many  situa- 
tions, we  have  tried  opening  a  box  office  earlier 
and  starting  our  shows  earlier  so  that  the  mati- 
nee would  be  over  about  3  or  3  :30  and  the  4 
o'clock  shift  could  be  to  work  on  time,  and  we 
also  did  not  find  where  this  made  enough  dif- 
ference to  warrant  the  added  expenditures.  We 
have,  however,  found  in  some  neighborhood  sit- 
uations where  we  have  not  been  running  mati- 
nees during  the  week,  that  it  was  advisable  to 
run  matinees  ...  if  not  every  day  ...  on  cer- 
tain days  during  the  week.  This  has  been  satis- 
factory and  we  have  inaugurated  the  policy  in 
several  places. 

Regarding  midnight  shows,  we  started  this  in 
a  great  many  key  situations  about  six  weeks 
ago.  Some  of  them  have  worked  out  very 
nicely,  but  in  the  smaller  towns  we  haven't 
found  it  profitable,  and  we  will  discontinue  them 
after  another  couple  of  weeks.  In  the  larger 
towns,  though,  it  has  been  okay.  We  have  had 
no  experiences  on  all  night  shows  because,  as 
above  mentioned,  we  do  not  have  the  towns  in 
which  this  type  of  show  is  practical. 

Training  Staff  to 
Replace  Men  Drafted 

The  shortage  of  labor  problem  is  something 
which  we  have  to  face  with  the  best  resources 
at  our  command.  We  have  prevailed  upon  our 
projectionists  to  start  training  men  in  any  situ- 
ation where  same  are  available,  and  so  far  we 
have  not  been  troubled  too  much  in  this  regard. 
For  our  doormen  and  assistant  managers  we 
have  resorted  to  securing  older  men  and  we 
have  been  able,  in  a  great  many  cases,  to  fill 
our  needs.  We  have  also  promoted  cashiers 
and  secretaries  who  have  been  with  us  quite 
awhile  to  the  position  of  assistant  manager. 
They  are  now  handling  all  of  the  book  work, 
schedules,  daily  routine,  etc.  We  are  also  pre- 
paring ourselves  to  gradually  substitute  usher- 
ettes to  take  the  place  of  our  ushers. 

Regarding  the  audience  character,  we  have 
not  as  yet  noticed  any  particular  change  in 
attendance  at  certain  hours,  and  as  far  as  a 
decrease  or  increase  in  male  attendance  .  .  .  this, 
too,  has  not  shown  any  marked  difference.  We 
have  towns  where  our  male  audience  has  in- 
creased because  their  earning  power  is  greater, 
and  we  have  towns  where  our  female  audience 
has  increased  for  the  same  reason.  Naturally, 
there  is  some  decline  in  male  audiences  due  to 
the  boys  going  in  the  armed  services,  but  I  feel 
that  this  slack  is  more  or  less  taken  up  by  the 
increase  that  you  will  probably  get  from  your 
suburban  towns  by  people  who  were  not  con- 
sistent theatregoers. 

As  far  as  program  schedules  are  concerned, 
and  the  length  of  runs,  we  have  not  made  any 
changes  whatsoever  in  the  policy  of  our  run- 
ning operation.  Fortunately,  most  of  our  houses 
are  big  enough  to  take  care  of  pretty  good  size 
audiences,  and  wherever  we  do  have  difficulty, 
we  just  run  another  show,  as  we  would  rather 
do  that  than  sacrifice  any  part  of  our  entertain- 
ment. On  Sunday  shows,  we  again  are  very 
fortunate  to  be  in  territories  where  the  ordi- 
nances do  not  affect  us  very  much.  The  only 
place  we  have  difficulty  is  in  Maryland,  and 
down  there  they  are  just  as  firm  as  they  ever 
were  on  their  stand  regarding  Sunday  enter- 
tainment.— Seymour  L.  Morris,  Schine  Circuit, 
Gloversville,  N.  Y. 


Holdovers  Take 
Good  Grosses 

Holdovers  and  new  feature  programs  con- 
tinued to  share  equally  as  strong  box  office  at- 
tractions on  Broadway  and  in  key  situations 
last  week.  Reports  on  holdovers  from  some  of 
the  major  distributors  follow. 

"My  Sister  Eileen,"  Columbia,  had  two-week 
holdovers  at  the  Hippodrome,  Baltimore ;  Sen- 
ate, Springfield,  111. ;  Varsity,  Lincoln,  Neb. ; 
Orpheum,  Waterloo,  la.;  Bijou,  Springfield, 
Mass. ;  Liberty,  Seattle ;  Lafayette,  Buffalo ; 
Grandin,  Roanoke ;  Orpheum,  Terre  Haute, 
Ind. ;  Strand,  Providence ;  Fox,  Philadelphia, 
and  Granada,  Duluth.  It  was  held  for  three 
weeks  at  the  J.  P.  Harris  in  Pittsburgh  and 
began  its  second  week  at  Radio  City  Music  Hall, 
New  York,  on  Thursday. 

Paramount's  "Forest  Rangers,"  began  a  sec- 
ond week  at  the  Paramount,  New  York,  on 
Wednesday;  Warner  Bros.  "You  Can't  Escape 
Forever,"  was  held  a  second  week  at  the 
Strand ;  "The  Glass  Key,"  Paramount  produc- 
tion, was  held  at  the  Criterion.  "Yankee  Doo- 
dle Dandy,"  Warner  Bros.,  began  a  fourth  week 
at  the  Brooklyn  Strand  last  Friday  and  entered 
its  third  week  at  the  Esquire,  Boston,  after  a 
simultaneous  opening  week  at  the  Paramount 
and  Fenway  in  that  city. 

RKO  Radio  reported  that  "The  Pride  of  the 
Yankees,"  Samuel  Goldwyn  production,  was 
held  for  a  third  week  at  the  Albee,  Brooklyn 
and  had  other  holdover  dates  in  Newark,  In- 
dianapolis and  Tacoma.  "Here  We  Go  Again," 
another  RKO  release,  had  second-week  hold- 
overs in  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Denver  and  Kan- 
sas City. 

According  to  MGM,  "For  Me  and  My  Gal," 
starring  Judy  Garland,  which  opened  at  the 
Astor,  New  York,  last  Wednesday,  topped 
every  weekend  gross  since  the  theatre  began  its 
film  policy  more  than  18  years  ago.  The  com- 
pany reported  the  film's  weekend  gross  was 
more  than  $1,000  ahead  of  previous  popular 
priced  record  holder.  It  is  playing  at  a  65-cent 
top. 

Warners'  latest  film  starring  Bette  Davis, 
"Now  Voyager,"  which  opened  at  the  Holly- 
wood theatre  on  Broadway  last  Thursday  on  a 
continuous  run,  popular  price  policy,  was  held 
a  second  week  and  is  expected  to  remain  at  that 
house  for  several  weeks. 

Suspension  of  Eight 
FCC  Rules  Approved 

The  House  of  Representatives  this  week  in 
Washington  approved  legislation  suspending 
eight  provisions  of  the  Federal  Communications 
Act  for  the  duration  of  the  war. 

The  measure  was  asked  by  Federal  agencies 
which  charged  that  the  law  interfered  with  the 
war  effort.  One  of  the  important  provisions  sus- 
pended is  that  prohibiting  a  Government  station 
from  using  a  frequency  also  used  by  a  private 
station  for  more  than  15  minutes  in  an  hour. 
This  provision  related  principally  to  communi- 
cation stations,  but  its  suspension,  it  is  said, 
would  permit  the  Government  to  make  use  of 
a  broadcasting  frequency  in  time  of  necessity. 

Film  Injunction 
Closes  Theatre 

Barred  from  completing  a  week's  engagement 
of  the  picture  "No  Greater  Sin,"  by  an  injunc- 
tion, the  Drive-In  theatre  outside  of  St.  Louis 
closed  Sunday,  a  week  before  it  was  scheduled 
to  end  its  1942  season. 

The  injunction  was  obtained  by  Stanley  Wal- 
lach,  St.  Louis  County  prosecuting  attorney, 
after  receiving  numerous  complaints  that  the 
film  was  immoral.  Arnold  Berger,  manager,  was 
quoted  in  the  press  as  saying  the  picture  was 
"educational  in  nature." 


October    3  1 


19  42 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


53 


THE  HOLLY  WOOD  SCENE 


From  HOLLYWOOD  BUREAU 


Profiting  by  the  experience  of  exhibitors 
in  the  states  where  rationing  of  gasoline 
has  been  in  effect  for  a  period  of  months, 
Hollywood  and  Los  Angeles  theatre 
executives  have  undertaken  a  campaign 
of  preparation  for  the  start  of  rationing 
here  on  November  22nd. 

Proceeding  in  the  expectancy  of  a  drop 
in  attendance  during  the  first  weeks  of  the 
rationing,  followed  by  a  rebound  to  normal 
accompanied  by  some  shifting  of  theatre 
going  habits,  showmen  are  determined  to 
minimize  fluctuations  to  whatever  extent 
this  can  be  done. 

The  Theatre  Defense  Bureau,  which 
proved  its  effectiveness  beyond  question  in 
the  period  of  blackouts  and  jitters  following 
the  attack  on  Pearl  Harbor,  is  the  agency 
through  which  the  work  of  preparing  the 
patrons  for  the  advent  of  restrictions  will  be 
carried  on. 

The  theme  of  the  campaign,  to  be  car- 
ried on  via  radio  and  otherwise,  will  be 
safer}-,  keynote  of  the  organization's  under- 
takings since  its  inception. 

Disney  Completes 
Singles  for  1943 

In  the  gearing  of  his  studio  to  the  production 
of  10  times  as  much  footage  in  1943  as  in  any 
previous  year,  Walt  Disney  arrived  last  week 
at  a  point  enabling  him  to  announce  that  prac- 
tically 100  per  cent  of  his  single-reel  output 
for  the  next  12  months  had  been  completed  or 

1  was  in  work.  Eight  Donald  Duck  subjects,  four 
Pluto  comics,  two  Goofy  numbers  and  a  va- 

I  riety  of  special  subjects  are  included  in  the 

E  list  A  total  output,  of  340,000  feet  is  contem- 
plated as  the  1943  objective.  An  "unprecedented 

i  '  schedule  of  Government  films"  is  given  as  cause 
of  the  speedup. 
Among  the  special  attractions  supplementing 

■  I  the  regular  supply  of  Disney  shorts  for  the 

I  entertainment  field  are  "Der  Fuehrer's  Face," 
t  i  named  for  the  current  song  hit,  '"Education  for 

I I  Death,"  "Emotion  and  Reason"  and  "Chicken 
Little." 

In  addition  to  his  short  subject  schedule,  Mr. 
Disney  has  in  work  or  in  preparation  Major 
:  Alexander  P.  de  Seversky's  "Victory  Through 
Air  Power,"  40  per  cent  of  which  will  consist 
ilof  live  action  with  Major  Seversky  before  the 
I  camera ;  "The  Cremlins,"  a  new  undertaking  in 
■'"the  filming  of  which  the  R.  A.  F.  has  pledged 
I  icooperation,  and  the  second  South  American 
ijfeature,  to  follow  "Saludos  Amigos,"  not  yet 
I  released  in  this  country. 

I    Jesse  L.  Lasky  is  to  produce  "A  Connecticut 
I  Yankee  in  King  Arthur's  Court,"  the  vehicle 
in  which  the  late  Will  Rogers  made  history, 
as  his  next  Warner  film,  and  Arthur  Horman, 
vho  wrote  "Desperate  Journey,"  has  been  as- 
gned  to  the  script.  The  film  will  follow  "The 
Adventures  of  Mark  Twain,"  now  in  the  cut- 
ng  room,  on  the  Laskv  schedule. 
Frances  Dee  ('Wells  Fargo,"  "So  Ends  Our 
Mght")  has  been  assigned  the  top  role  opposite 
~om  Conwav  and  James  Ellison  in  RKO  Ra- 
!io's  "I  Walked  With  a  Zombie,"  Val  Lewton 
roduction,  to  be  directed  by  Jack  Tourneur. 
The  Four  Vagabonds,  radio  quartette,  have 
een  added  to  the  cast  of  Universal's  Abbott- 
bstello  comedy,  "It  Ain't  Hay,"  now  shoot- 
ig.  .  .  .  Charles  Bickford  has  been  signed  to  a 


Paramount  Ends  Lull 

Starting  two  new  pictures  and  continuing  shooting  on  two  others,  Paramount 
appeared  at  the  weekend  to  be  approaching  the  end  of  the  production  lull  which  set 
in  following  the  scrapping  of  the  UMPI  plan  for  selling  pictures  in  blocks  of  more 
than  five  films  each,  an  occurrence  which  caught  the  studio  with  a  backlog  of  some 
30  pictures,  now  lightened  by  sale  of  product  to  United  Artists  and  by  the  normal 
flow  of  releases. 

Paramount's  new  projects  are  "The  Miracle  of  Morgan's  Creek,"  presenting  Eddie 
Bracken,  Betty  Hutton  and  Diana  Lynn,  and  "Aerial  Gunner,"  from  the  William  Pine- 
William  Thomas  production  company,  co-starring  Chester  Morris  and  Richard  Arlen. 

MGM  started  "The  Youngest  Profession"  (Virginia  Weidler,  Edward  Arnold,  John 
Carroll),  Columbia  launched  "Deadline  Sun"  (Russell  Hayden,  Bob  Wells,  Shirley  Pat- 
terson) and  Republic  "Prairie  Pals"  (Bob  Steele,  Tom  Tyler,  Ginnie  Dodd)  to  round  out 
a  week  which  witnessed  completion  of  I  1  films,  bringing  the  production  index  to  41. 

The  week  by  title,  trademark  and  stage  of  progress: 


COMPLETED 

MGM 

Three  Cheers 
for  Julia 

PRC 

Pay  Off 

Queen  of  Broadway 
RKO  Radio 

Two  Weeks  to  Live 
Republic 

Mountain  Rhythm 

Chas.  Rogers 

Powers  Girl 

20th-Fox 

Chetnik 
Dixie  Dugan 
Crash  Dive 

U  niversal 

Pittsburgh 
Nightmare 


STARTED 

Columbia 

Deadline  Gun 

Paramount 

Miracle  of 

Morgan's  Creek 
Aerial  Gunner 

Republic 

Prairie  Pals 

SHOOTING 

Columbia 

Merry-Go-Round 
Murder  in 

Times  Square 

MGM 

Gentle  Annie 
Xothing  Ventured 
Cabin  in  the  Sky 
DuBarrv  Was  a  Ladv 


Assignment  in 

Brittany 
Human  Comedy 
Lassie,  Come  Home 
Presenting  Lily  Mars 
Salute  to  Marines 

Monogram 

Beyond  the 

Great  Divide 
Silver  Skates 

Paramount 

True  to  Life 
For  Whom  the 
Bell  Tolls 

PRC 

Overland  Stagecoach 

RKO  Radio 

Flight  for  Freedom 

Hitler's  Children 

Bombardier 

This  Land  Is  Mine 


Republic 

London  Blackout 

Murders 
20th-Fox 

Immortal  Sergeant 
Coney  Island 
Margin  for  Error 
Secret  Mission 
Universal 

Shadow  of  a  Doubt 
Corvettes  in  Action 
Forever  Yours 
It  Ain't  Hay 
Warners 
Forty  Whacks 
Action  in 

Xorth  Atlantic 
Edge  of  Darkness 
Air  Force 
Background  to 

Danger 
Thank  Your 

Luckv  Stars 


major  role  in  "From  Here  to  Victory,"  RKO 
Radio  production  to  star  Cary  Grant,  which 
David  Hempstead  will  produce.  .  .  .  Carmen 
Miranda  and  Betty  Grable  have  been  set  for 
leads  in  "The  Girls  He  Left  Behind  Him," 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  musical. 

Leon  Fromkess,  PRC  vice-president  in  charge 
of  production,  has  set  a  schedule  of  nine  pic- 
tures to  start  before  December  1st.  They  in- 
clude "Rangers  Take  Over,"  first  in  Alexander 
Stern's  Texas  Rangers  series;  "After  Tomor- 
row," Arthur  Ripley  production ;  "Corregidor," 
historical  film  which  William  Nigh  is  to  di- 
rect; "Gateway  to  Freedom,"  Ripley  film; 
"My  Son  the  Hero,"  Atlantis  production;  "Ca- 
reer Girls,"  Stern  film,  and  "Sweethearts  of 
the  U.  S.  A.,  a  musical  with  songs  by  Lew 
Pollack. 

Marsha  Hunt,  seen  opposite  Richard  Carl- 
son in  MGM's  "Affairs  of  Martha,"  has  been 
assigned  to  a  similar  role  in  that  studio's  "Mr. 
Justice  Goes  Hunting,"  Robert  Sisk  production 
"to  be  directed  by  Roy  Rowland  and  Frank  Mor- 
gan in  the  third  leading  role. 

Frank  Strayer,  who  has  directed  the  "Blon- 
die"  series  for  Columbia  since  its  inception, 
will  produce  the  films  when  the  series  resumes 
after  the  return  of  Penny  Singleton  in  two 
weeks. 

Robert  and  Raymond  Hakim,  whose  produc- 


tions during  17  years  of  activity  in  Europe  in- 
cluded "Pepe  Le  Moko,"  "The  Human  Beast" 
and  "I  Spied  for  France,"  have  signed  an  MGM 
production  contract.  Their  Continental  en- 
deavors were  conducted  in  association  with 
Paramount's  Paris  studios. 

Edgar  Barrier,  Universal  contract  player,  has 
been  assigned  the  heavy  role  in  Walter  Wan- 
ger's  "We've  Never  Been  Licked,"  starring 
Robert  Cummings.  .  .  .  Lucien  Littlefield,  Vir- 
ginia Carroll,  Herbert  Rawlinson  and  Milburn 
Stone  have  been  signed  for  "Silent  Witness," 
dog  story  to  be  produced  by  Martin  Mooney 
and  Max  King  for  Monogram.  .  .  .  Ann  Miller 
is  to  play  the  name  role  in  "Reveille  with  Bev- 
erly," Columbia  musical  which  Sam  White  is 
producing  and  Charles  Barton  directing.  Musi- 
cal talent  to  be  presented  includes  the  Bob 
Crosby,  Duke  Ellington.  Freddie  Slack  and 
Count  Basie  orchestras,  plus  the  Mills  Brothers, 
Radio  Rogues.  Frank  Sinatra. 

William  Pine,  co-producer  with  William 
Thomas  of  12  pictures  for  Paramount  distribu- 
tion, became  a  director  last  week  when  he 
started  "Aerial  Gunner."  their  13th  under- 
taking. .  .  .  William  Powell  will  appear  as 
William  Powell  in  MGM's  "The  Youngest 
Profession"  (that  means  autograph-hunters), 
which  started  last  week  with  B.  F.  Zeidman 
producing  and  Eddie  Buzzell  directing. 


54 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


Financing  Stimulates 
Mexican  Studios 


National  Film  Week  Called 
Outstanding  Success; 
Music  Pact  Signed 

by  LUIS  BECERRA  CEUS 

in  Mexico  City 

Financing  of  the  film  industry  in  Mex- 
ico under  the  plan  adopted  some  time 
ago,  has  proved  a  definite  stimulus  to 
Mexican  production. 

The  financing  is  done  chiefly  by  the  Banco 
Cinematografica,  S.A.,  established  by  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  film  industry 
last  winter.  The  Banco  Cinematografica  al- 
ready has  extended  loans  or  credits  amount- 
ing to  about  $450,000.  The  other  bank  here 
devoted  exclusively  to  film  financing  is  the 
Finaciera  Industrial  Cinematografica,  S.A., 
a  private  bank,  managed  by  Simon  Wisnack. 
Up  to  September  30th,  the  latter  institution 
has  granted  loans  and  credits  totaling 
$65,000. 

V 

The  third  National  Cinematographic 
Week,  held  from  October  10th  to  17th,  under 
the  official  patronage  of  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior,  the  principal  Government  depart- 
ment, was  declared  by  the  industry  and  the 
Government  to  have  been  an  outstanding 
success.  The  week  featured  a  series  of  par- 
ties and  other  functions,  a  street  parade,  and 
the  selection  and  presentation  of  the  1942 
Mexican  Wampus  at  a  big  ball  and  banquet 
in  a  leading  night  club,  El  Patio,  staged  by 
the  Mexican  Cinematographic  Journalists 
Association.  Dolores  Del  Rio  was  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  Wampus. 

Theatres  Pay  Royalty 
To  Composers 

Twenty  theatres  here  made  an  unique  pact 
with  the  Mexican  composers,  song  writers 
and  publishers  union.  They  have  agreed  to 
pay  the  union  a  small  royalty  once  a  year 
on  the  music  of  its  members  that  is  used  in 
Mexican  films  they  exhibit.  This  means 
that  the  composers  can  now  collect  both 
from  the  producers  and  these  exhibitors. 
V 

Discs  of  the  "National  Hour"  that  the 
Government  presents  every  Sunday  evening 
over  a  network  of  all  the  leading  radio  sta- 
tions of  Mexico  are  being  sought  by  NBC 
which  wants  to  feature  them  on  its  Latin 
American  programs.  The  "Hour"  is  directed 
by  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior. 

V 

Accusation  of  pro-Nazism  has  been  made 
before  the  Federal  Attorney  General 
against  a  newscaster  of  local  Radio  Station 
XEOY  by  Major  C.  Guzman  Uribe  of  the 
Mexican  Army.  He  charged  that  this  an- 
nouncer makes  fun  of  reports  from  Moscow 
of  the  way  the  war  is  going,  but  is  very 
solemn  when  he  deals  with  German  ver- 
sions of  the  fighting. 

The  prosecutor  has  asked  the  Ministry  of 
the  Interior  to  investigate  the  charges.  The 


Ministry  has  intensified  its  drive  against 
Fifth  Column  activities. 

V 

Alonso  Sordo  Noriega,  ace  of  Mexican 
radio  announcers,  who  has  become  the  chief 
Government  supervisor  of  commercial  sta- 
tions, is  the  president  of  the  newly  organ- 
ized National  Democratic  Radio  Announc- 
ers Association,  which  includes  most  of  the 
announcers  in  Mexico. 

V 

Gen.  Abelardo  L.  Rodriguez,  ex-President 
of  Mexico  and  now  commander  of  the  Gulf 
Military  and  Naval  Zone,  has  opened  radio 
station  XERB,  of  50,000  watts,  at  Rosarito, 
Lower  California  Territory,  near  the 
American  border.  This  is  a  commercial  sta- 
tion, the  108th  active  radio  station  in  Mex- 
ico. 

Investigate  Fire  in 
Mexican  Theatre 

Investigation  is  being  made  by  the  district 
attorney  of  Acapulco,  a  tourist  port  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  of  what  he  declared  was  the 
suspicious  destruction  by  fire  during  a  show 
of  the  Cine  20  de  Noviembre,  the  leading 
picture  theatre  of  the  town.  A  large  audi- 
ence, including  many  children,  was  removed 
safely,  thanks  to  the  coolness  and  courage 
of  employees  and  volunteers. 

The  district  attorney  ordered  the  arrest  of 
the  exhibitor,  Ignacio  Rodriguez,  but  he 
obtained  a  writ  that  saved  him  from  going 
to  jail.  Mr.  Rodriguez  said  that  the  fire 
destroyed  his  theatre,  at  a  loss  of  $55,000, 
because  the  Acapulco  water  service  was  in- 
adequate. The  prosecutor  ridiculed  that 
statement  and  said  that  there  was  plenty  of 
water  available  for  firemen  during  the  blaze 
and  that  it  was  this  abundant  supply  that 
confined  the  fire  to  the  theatre  and  kept  it 
from  spreading  to  adjoining  buildings,  in- 
cluding the  city  hall. 

The  prosecutor  said  that  he  wants  to  find 
out  just  why  it  was  that  the  theatre  burned 
down  so  quickly  and  how  it  was  that  it 
caught  fire. 

V 

All  Government  radiotelegraphic  stations 
are  under  strict  military  guard  as  protec- 
tion against  attacks  by  saboteurs,  against 
whom  the  administration  was  recently 
warned.  Such  stations  in  towns  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  Caribbean  and  Pacific 
coasts  are  being  particularly  protected. 
V 

Radio  Station  XEOY,  which  recently 
started  here,  has  organized  a  national  net- 
work of  23  stations  for  the  broadcast  of  the 
big  bull  fights  here  every  Sunday  after- 
noon during  the  season  which  has  just 
opened. 

Joins  Canadian  Film  Board 

Ralph  Foster,  former  Toronto  newspaper 
man,  has  been  appointed  to  the  Canadian  Na- 
tional Film  Board  by  John  Grierson,  Film 
Commissioner.  Mr.  Foster,  with  the  title  of 
producer,  has  been  assigned  to  a  new  section 
of  the  Board. 


Ma j  or  Companies 
File  Replies  in 
Trust  Action 


Columbia,  Paramount  and  RKO  this  week 
filed  answers  in  the  U.  S.  district  court,  New 
Haven,  to  the  interrogatories  propounded  by 
the  plaintiffs  in  the  $5,452,575  anti-trust  suit  of 
the  Pickwick  theatre,  Greenwich,  Conn.,  against 
the  eight  major  distributors.  Warners  has  filed 
a  partial  answer  and  Universal  and  United  Art- 
ists have  asked  for  an  extension  of  time  until 
November  15th  in  which  to  file. 

Information  regarding  incorporation,  officers, 
branches,  territories  served,  shares  of  stock, 
clearance  and  availability  schedules  and  other 
data  is  incorporated  in  the  answers.  The  War- 
ners answer  showed  12  shares  of  Class  B  stock 
in  Fox  Metropolitan  Playhouses,  Inc.,  acquired 
and  sold  in  1934,  and  6^2  per  cent  convertible 
notes  of  the  same  company  purchased  by  War- 
ner Bros.  Pictures,  Inc.,  in  1934  and  sold  the 
same  year  to  MGM. 

The  answer  further  stated  that  clearance  and 
availability  information  concerning  Warners  is 
being  searched  and  will  be  filed  later.  Other 
distributors  answering  stated  they  owned  no 
stock  in  Skouras  Theatres,  Fox  Metropolitan, 
National  Theatres  Corporation  or  Fox  West 
Coast,  companies  which  were  cited  in  the  inter- 
rogatories. 


Warner  District  Managers 
Meet  in  Chicago  Nov.  1 3 

A  meeting  of  Warner  Brothers  district  sales 
managers  has  been  called  by  Ben  Kalmenson, 
general  sales  manager,  for  November  13th  at 
the  Blackstone  Hotel,  Chicago,  to  discuss  new 
product,  sales  policies  and  other  matters. 

The  conference  will  be  attended  by  a  dele- 
gation of  home  office  executives  including,  in 
addition  to  Mr.  Kalmenson,  Joseph  Bernhard, 
Mort  Blumenstock,  Norman  H.  Moray,  Roy 
Haines,  Arthur  Sachson  and  A.  W.  Schwal- 
berg. 

Charles  Einfeld,  the  company's  director  of 
advertising  and  publicity,  also  will  attend  the 
meeting  from  the  coast. 

District  managers  will  include  Jules  Lapidus, 
New  York  Metropolitan ;  Norman  Ayers,  east- 
ern ;  Robert  Smeltzer,  mid-Atlantic ;  Harry 
Seed,  central ;  William  S.  Shartin,  midwest ; 
Hall  Walsh,  prairie  states,  Ralph  L.  McCoy, 
southern ;  Henry  Herbel,  west  coast,  and  Wolfe 
Cohen,  Canadian. 


Paramount  News, 
MOI  in  Dispute 


Paramount  News  and  the  British  Ministry  of 
Information  have  been  involved  in  a  dispute  in 
London  over  material  that  Paramount  News 
released  instead  of  clearing  it  through  the  news- 
real  pool  operated  by  the  MOI  for  all  news- 
reels.  The  material  consisted  of  the  U.  S.  nega- 
tive on  the  American  troops  landing  in  Brazze- 
ville,  Africa. 

Paramount's  defense  was  that  the  material, 
being  American,  was  not  subject  to  the  pool 
agreement.  Brendan  Bracken  of  the  MOI  inter- 
vened in  the  dispute.  It  is  reported  that  Para- 
mount now  has  agreed  to  abide  by  the  pool. 


Brozek  Joins  Army- 


Jack  Brozek,  assistant  to  the  export  manager 
of  National  Theatre  Supply  Company,  will 
be  inducted  into  the  Army  November  10th. 


On  Planning  Board 


J.  Howard  Cather,  engineer  for  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  Rochester,  has  been  named 
to  the  City  Planning  Board  there. 


4 


r    3  i .    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


55 


Seek  Ruling  on 
Stage  Plays 


Actors  Eqi 
dearer  under 

 -~-  Z7Z 


A  New  York  Stat 
that  acrrr;  in  legit: 
one  foil  day  a  wee 
that  day  of  rest  for 
exem;ti:n;  at;  mv: 

Equity  says  that  £ 
in  izrten-.tnT  tha:  = 
trt  t:  nTe;;ii'.;  - 
manner  :i  trestntat: 
mictions  and  to  as; 
niassin^tirn. 

Unions  involved 
Chorus  -ccuir.-  in;l-. 
Variety  Artists,  * 
Agents  ant  I.fanaxe: 
Theatrical  ^tatt  - 
Ticket  Selitrs  ^ivis 
Scenic  Artists  and 
teniants  _"ni:n. 


npaigning  to  have  a 
to  what  constitutes 
ludeville  or  burlesque, 
witii  the  other  stage 
Son  for  their  common 
Iquity,  house  organ  of 

claims  that  there  has 
or  managers  in  recent 
nroeni  on  the  border- 
audeville  and  to  make 
les  to  justify  a  run  at 
:aining  the  exemptions 

.  tor  instance,  requires 
tc  eductions  re  given 
while  not  requiring 
ty  performers.  Other 

;  unions  concerned  are 

:  these  borderline  pro- 
thern  to  their  proper 


association  of  Theatrical 
s,  International  Alliance  of 
mplovees,  Treasurers  and 
on  of  the  IATSE;  United 
Theatrical  "W  ardrobe  At- 


War  and  War  Industries 
Deplete  SAG  Membership 


Screen  Ac- 
its  1941 


It  2T0UD 


am:nn:  :;  t.amts  av 
: :ntr; versie^  betvreer. 
bers  reached  357,000 
total  of  claims  collec 
operation  to  almost  J 
Guild  reported 

The  Guild  showedj 
ing  the  year  ::  $55. 
rivet   large.;.-  from 
amoanted  to  $24634 
v.-ere  %.'A:^±~z7  ::_r 
ether  overhead 
Tames  Cagney.  _  Otbs 
Murprry.  nrst  v::;-::; 
cnt  vice-t resident : 
cnesirlentj  Luoile  Gle 
Porter  Hah.  -easore 
inc'.jce;  the  :rh:er; 
Grant.  LI: yrl  Nolan: 
beth  Rist:n.  rrond 
bridge,  Jane  Wyman 
— ill  serve  out  :he  : 


liars,  the 


de- 
rees. 


and  $86,497.85  for 
SAG  president  is 
ts  include:  George 
Paul  Harvey,  sec- 
Abel,  third  vice- 


Altec  Grants  Leave  to  Wilschke 

3mer  O.  Wilschke,  Altec  head  in  Philadel- 
a,  took  a  leave  of  absence  for  at  least  a  year 
tjandle  a  special  assignment  on  the  west  coast 
the  Al:e:-Tansinf  Corporation.  He  will 
rank  on  special  Government  contracts  at  the 
Factory  in  Los  Angeles.  During 
Davit  I  .  ?e:ers:n  will  he  acting 
n  the  H-hlateichia  temittry. 


absence, 
of  Altec 


Joins  Booking  Group 

The  Foram  Theatre.  Metuchen,  NT.  J-,  has 
tinea  the  Associated  Theatre;  ::'  New  jersey, 
trying  and  booking  unit,  bringing  the  total  of 
ou=es  "rocked   z~  Associate:!  t:    IS.     rien— - 

"tinting  center. 


SHORT  PRODUCT 
PLAYING  BROADWAY 

Week  of  October  26th 
ASTOR 

Picturesque  Massachusetts  . .  MGM 
TcaivTe:  For  Me  and  My  Gal .  MGM 

CAPITOL 

Chips  Off  The  Old  BJock. . .  .  MGM 

Manpower  RKO  Radio 

Calling  All  Pas  MGM 

Feature:  Flying  Tigers  Republic 

CRITERION 

We  Reraise  to  Die  Paramount 

Ace  in  irme  Hole  Columbia 

Feature:  The  Glass  Key  Paramount 

R1ALTO 

Monarchs  trf  tne  Ring  Sports  Adver- 

"Ksiing 

in  irfliie  Circus  Paramount 

Manpower  RKO  Radio 

Feature:  Mummy^s  Tomb.  .  .  Universal 

RIVOLI 

Symphony  Hour  RKO-Disney 

Faeture:  The  Moon  and  Six- 
pence United  Artists 

ROXY 

America   Sings   With  Kate 

Smith  Columbia 

Manpower  RKO  Radio 

Feature:  Iceland  20th  Cent-Fox 

STRAND 

Dover  Boys  Vitaphone 

U.S.  Marine  Band  Vitaphone 

Manpower  RKO  Radio 

Gay  Parisienne  Vitaphone 

Feature:    You   Can't  Escape 

Forn'er  Warner  Bros. 


WAC  Theatre  Division 
To  Meet  November  5th 

The  executive  committee  of  the  theatre  di- 
vision of  the  War  Activities  Committee  will 
hold  a  luncheon  meeting  November  5th  at  the 
Hotel  Astor  to  discuss  future  theatre  partici- 
pation in  the  WAC  program.  Joseph  Bernhard, 
chairman  of  the  theatre  division,  will  preside. 

A  permanent  finance  cornmittee  for  the  New 
York  Metropolitan  area  division  has  been  ap- 
pointed by  Sam  Rinzler  and  Fred  Schwartz, 
co-chairmen,  to  handle  expenses  created  by 
WAC  operations.  The  committee  includes :  C. 
C.  Moskowitz,  chairman :  Harry  Brandt  and 
Mr.  Schwartz. 


Fingerprint  New  York 
Exchange  Employees 

New  York  exchange  workers  are  volun- 
tarily submitting  to  fingerprinting,  as  part 
of  the  city's  safety  program,  sponsored  by 
the  War  Identification  Bureau. 

Last  week  approximately  70  per  cent  of 
the  RKO,  Columbia  and  Republic  exchange 
personnel  were  fingerprinted.  It  was  ex- 
pected home  offices  might  request  the  ser- 
vice. Warners  has  set  up  facilities  for  fin- 
gerprinting at  the  home  office. 


Permit  Sunday  Films 

Following  an  unofficial  poll,  the  Board  of 
Selectmen  at  Lexington,  Mass.,  has  approved 
Sunday  films  for  a  trial  period  to  last  until 
March  21st  when  the  subject  will  be  brought 
ut>  at  the  town  meeting.  The  Board  has  re- 
stricted "the  permit  to  allow  no  films  before 
6  P.  M.,  Sundav  night 


Sale  of  Stock  by 
Goetz  Listed  in 
SEC  Report 

Disposition  by  transfer  of  133,755  shares  of 
Twentieth  Century-Fox  common  stock  and 
41,461  shares  of  preferred  by  William  Goetz. 
vice-president  constituted  the  outstanding 
transactions  in  film  securities  in  August  as  re- 
ported by  the  Securities  and  Exchange  Com- 
mission in  Philadelphia. 

At  the  close  of  the  month,  the  SEC  showed, 
Mr.  Goetz  held  44,588  shares  oi  common  and 
13,823  shares  of  preferred  stock. 

The  next  largest  transactions  shown  in  the 
commission's  monthly  report  were  the  acquisi- 
tions by  each  of  the  three  Warner  Brothers  of 
10,500  shares  of  Warner  Brothers  common 
stock.  At  the  close  of  the  month  Albert 
Warner  held  117.348  shares.  Harrv  M.  Warner 
79,560  shares  and  Jack  L.  Warner  143,960 
shares. 

Also  in  large  figures  were  the  transactions 
of  the  American  Company,  Jersey  City,  N.  J., 
in  Radio-Keith-Orpheum  common  stock,  of 
which  it  acquired  4,600  shares  in  July  and  1,600 
shares  in  August  giving  it  a  total  of  306,430 
shares  at  the  close  of  the  latter  month. 

In  Paramount  Pictures.  Stanton  GrifSs, 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee,  was 
shown  to  have  acquired  3.240  shares  of  common 
stock  through  Hemphill  Noyes  &:  Company  and 
100  shares  of  first  preferred  through  the  N. 
GrifSs  Trust  In  the  same  company.  Walter 
B.  Cokell  acquired  100  shares  of  common  stock 
in  July,  his  first  acquisition,  and  Leonard  H. 
Goldenson.  vice-president  bought  200  shares 
of  common  in  August,  increasing  his  holdings 
to  1,100  shares. 

W.  Raj-  Johnston,  president  of  Monogram 
Pictures,  was  reported  as  buying  889  shares  of 
that  company's  common  stock  direct  giving  him 
a  total  of  25,150  shares  in  his  own  name,  and 
to  have  disposed  of  1.778  shares  held  through 
Monogram  Pictures  of  St.  Louis,  its  entire 
holdings. 

Reports  on  Keith-Albee-Orpheum  showed 
thai  Radio-Keith-Orpheum  Corporation  dis- 
posed of  635  shares  of  preferred  stock  in  July, 
leaving  it  with  6,871  shares,  and  acquired  10 
shares  of  common  stock  in  August,  giving  it  a 
total  of  1.205,755  shares. 

In  Loew's,  Inc.,  David  Bernstein,  treasurer, 
sold  600  shares  of  common  stock  held  through 
a  corporation  which  at  the  close  of  the  month 
still  had  24,750  shares,  and  J.  Robert  Rubin, 
vice-president  sold  200  shares,  leaving  him  with 
6.565  shares. 

Loew's.  Inc.,  acquired  further  small  lots  of 
Loew's  Boston  Theatres  common  to  a  total  of 
73  shares,  increasing  its  holdings  to  119.398 
shares. 

Reports  on  the  holdings  of  persons  becoming 
officers  or  directors  of  registered  corporations 
showed  that  no  company  securities  were  held 
by  Eugene  W.  Leake.  New  York,  when  he  be- 
came a  director  in  Loew's.  Inc..  September  2nd. 
or  Frank  T.  Zinn.  New  York,  when  he  joined 
the  directorate  of  Radio-Keith-Orpheum  Au- 
gust 10th. 


Oscar  Deutsch's  Will 
Filed  in  London 

Oscar  Deutsch.  leading  British  exhibitor, 
who  died  December  5.  1941.  in  London,  left 
£285.601  (approximately  $1,142,404")  on  which 
death  duty  of  £58.165  (approximately  $152,660") 
has  been  paid  to  the  British  Government- 
Mr.  Deutsch  left  shares  in  Deutsch  and 
Brenner  and  the  Alliance  Casting  Company  to 
his  son  Leopold  and  to  his  widow,  and  the  resi- 
due to  her  for  life  and  then  upon  trust  for  his 
sons.  Leopold,  David  and  Gerald. 


56 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


September  Box  Office  Champions 


Gregory  Ratoff,  director 

FOOTLIGHT  SERENADE:  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury-Fox. Produced  by  William  LeBaron. 
Directed  by  Gregory  Ratoff.  Screenplay 
by  Robert  Ellis,  Helen  Logan  and  Lynn 
Starling.  Based  on  a  story  by  Fidel  Le- 
Barba  and  Kenneth  Earl.  Lyrics  and  music 
by  Leon  Robin  and  Ralph  Rainger.  Cast: 
John  Payne,  Betty  Srable,  Victor  Mature. 
Release  date,  August  I,  1942. 


Mark  Sandrich,  director 

HOLIDAY  INN:  Paramount.  Produced  and 
directed  by  Mark  Sandrich.  Screenplay  by 
Claunde  Binyon.  Adaptation  by  Elmer 
Rice.  Based  on  an  original  idea  by  Irving 
Berlin.  Lyrics  and  music  by  Irving  Berlin. 
Music  direction  by  Robert  Emmett  Dolan. 
Cast:  Bing  Crosby,  Fred  Astaire,  Marjorie 
Reynolds,  Virginia  Dale,  Walter  Abel, 
Louise  Beavers.    Block  Seven. 


Wesley  Ruggles,  director 

SOMEWHERE  I'LL  FIND  YOU:  Metro- 

Soldwyn-Mayer.  Produced  by  Pandro  S. 
Berman.  Directed  by  Wesley  Ruggles. 
Screenplay  by  Marguerite  Roberts.  Adap- 
tation by  Walter  Reisch.  Based  on  a  story 
by  Charles  Hoffman.  Photographer,  Har- 
old Rosson.  Cast:  Clark  Gable,  Lana 
Turner,  Robert  Sterling,  Patricia  Dane. 
Release,  September-October,  1942. 


Irving  Rapper,  director 

THE  GAY  SISTERS:  Warner  Brothers.  Pro- 
duced by  Henry  Blanke.  Directed  by  Irving 
Rapper.  Screenplay  by  Lenore  Coffe. 
Based  on  the  novel  by  Stephen  Longstreet. 
Music  by  Max  Steiner.  Photographer,  Sol 
Polito.  Art  director,  Robert  Haas.  Cast: 
Barbara  Stanwyck,  George  Brent,  Geral- 
dine  Fitzgerald,  Donald  Crisp,  Gig  Young. 
Release  date,  August  I,  1942. 


George  Stevens,  director 

THE  TALK  OF  THE  TOWN:  Columbia. 
Produced  and  directed  by  George  Stevens. 
Associate  producer,  Fred  Guiol.  Screen- 
play by  Irwin  Shaw  and  Sidney  Buchman. 
Adaptation  by  Dale  Van  Every.  Based  on 
a  story  by  Sidney  Harmon.  Photographer, 
Ted  Tetzlaff.  Cast:  Cary  Grant,  Jean 
Arthur,  Ronald  Colman.  Release  date, 
August  20,  1942. 


Michael  Curtiz,  director 


Warner 
William 
Curtiz. 


YANKEE    DOODLE  DANDY: 

Brothers.  Associate  producer, 
Cagney.  Directed  by  Michae 
Screenplay  by  Robert  Buckner  and  Edmund 
Joseph.  Original  story  by  Robert  Buckner. 
Lyrics  and  music  by  George  M.  Cohan. 
Cast:  James  Cagney,  Joan  Leslie,  Walter 
Huston,  Richard  Whorf,  Irene  Manning 
No  national  release  date  set. 


October    31,  1942 


MOTION 


57 


IN  NEWSREELS 


MOVIETONE  NEWS — No.  H.  Vol.  25.- 


MOVTETONE  NEWS — No.  15,  Vol.  23 


NEWS  OF  THE  DAY — No.  212.  Vol.  14.— -L-  = 


NEWS  OF  THE  DAY— No.  213.  Voi.  14.— Ard-raa  m 


PARAMOO.T    NEWS— N 


o,  i/. — j 


l—  . . .N  =—  • 


PARAMOUNT  NEWS — No.  U.— ZJt-  Y: h==  £rs: 
r  i .  i  — — S : . :  ~ :  r  ^  e.::-:— ....  .'■  ~„  >re  n^ij:  =  "3  TL^nr" 


RKO  PATHE  NEWS — No.   17.   Voi.  14.- 


RKO  PATHE  NEWS— No.  IS.  VoL  14.— WiTH;  -  re- 


UNTVERS.AL   NEWS  RE  EL — N  o,   13*.    VcL  15.- 


UNIVER5AL     NEWSREEL— No.     13L     Vol.  IS.— 


:=£  ... 


40  Technicolor  Films 
In  Release  or  in  Work 


ctnre  v^orpo ration,  m 

rt  ~~~~  is  greater  thar. 
:  ihe  histc—  :f  ::l:r 


National  Decency  Legion 
Classifies  I  I  Films 


"X  Marks 


approved  lor  general  patronage 
listed  as   unobjectionable  for 

sobjectionable  for  General  Pat- 
Daring  Young  Man,"  "Flying 
rign  Agent,"  "Mrs.  Wiggs  of 
tela,"  "Thunder  Birds,"  "  Valley 
"  Class  A-2,  Unobjectionable 
isablanca,"  "The  Forest  Rang- 
Killer,"  "Road  to  Morocco," 


Para 
Thre 


mount  To  Release 
e  Victory  Shorts 


>e  new  Victory  short  subjects 
by  the  Office  of  War  In- 
released  in  November  and 
Paramount  exchanges.  The 
nese  Relocation,"  for  release 
i;  "Colleges  at  War,"  Nov. 
[rain,"  Dec  10th.  Prints  will 
exchanges  in  advance. 


Desfor  in  New  RCA  Post 


Meeting  to  Study 
Teaching  Films 

The  sixth  annual  Southern  Conference  on 
Audio-Visual  Education  will  be  held  at  the 
Henry  Grady  Hotel  in  Atlanta,  November  4th 
to  6th. 

J.  C.  Wardlaw  is  general  chairman  of  the 
organization ;  Mrs.  Hubert  L.  Harris  is  secre- 
tary, and  'Walter  S.  Bell  is  treasurer.  The 
opening  will  feature  a  talk  on  'Visual  Aids 
in  War  Training,"  by  Floyde  E.  Brooker  of 
the  Office  of  Education  at  Washington,  and 
the  showing  of  a  feature.  "Land  of  Liberty." 

Office  of  War  Information  films  will  be 
shown  on  November  5th.  and  following  a 
scheduled  discussion,  Civilian  Defense  films 
will  be  shown.  In  addition  the  conference  will 
hear  talks  on  various  phases  of  the  use  of  mo- 
tion pictures  in  education. 

Specialized  group  forums  on  the  closing  day 
of  the  meeting  will  consider  the  employment 
of  visual  aids  in  various  types  of  schools,  from 
primary  grades  to  universities.  Motion  pictures 
as  they  are  used  for  community  and  adult 
groups,  religious  education  and  in  civilian  de- 
fense also  will  be  considered. 


Habe: 
vision 


press  division 
7  under  Julius 
■ly  in  that  di- 
irrrer:  ::  the 


Jane  Grube  Promoted 

Jane  Grube  of  RCA- Victor  advertising  divi- 
sion, is  now  in  charge  of  the  Victor  Record- 
Movie  Tie-ups  department  with  headquarters  in 


Complete  Drive  Short 

Associated  Screen  Studios  has  completed 
the  two-reel  "We  March  Together"  for  the 
forthcoming  Canadian  Victory  Loan  campaign. 
This  subject  will  be  used  throughout  Canada 
at  loan  rallies  and  special  meetings  during  the 
campaign  to  raise  $750,000.  Both  English  and 
French  versions  were  produced,  with  Jack 
Ralph  handling  narration  for  the  former  and 
Roeer  Baulu  narratins'  for  the  French  version. 


V. 


C  ~-  2 


New  York's  Rodeo  Has 
Record  Attendance 


Card- 


%  &  di£m  to  eqoLa£  cfr" 

(J  I  N.Y.TIMES 

MOSCOW 

STRIKES  BACK 

EDWARD  G.  ROBINSON 


Book  Short  on  Lidice 


NARRATOR 


StAVKO  V0BUFKH  -  Mracnf  San  Am~ged  b,  -  ORRlfl 

Tl MUCIN  -  bCk^e^AnMn    .  MOWUS  RAMI 
AN  ARTKINO  PRODUCTION 
A  REPUBLIC  RELEASE 


53 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


/7WHAT  THE 
PICTURE  DID  FOR  ME 


Columbia 


BLONDIE  GOES  TO  COLLEGE:  Penny  Singleton, 
Arthur  Lake — Blondie  not  only  went  to  college,  but 
she  brought  a  good  crowd  and  sent  them  away  well 
pleased.  It  was  a  good  little  program  picture.  Played 
Sunday.  Monday,  October  18,  19.— Mrs.  Carroll 
Michael,   Freeburn  Theatre,   Freeburn,  Ky. 

BLONDIE  GOES  TO  COLLEGE:  Penny  Singleton, 
Arthur  Lake — This  is  the  first  of  the  Blondie  series 
that  we  have  played  and  it  did  not  go  over  here  at 
all. — Fred  Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner  Brook,  New- 
foundland. Small  town  patronage. 

CANAL  ZONE:  Chester  Morris,  John  Hubbard— 
Very  gratifying  box  office  returns  from  this  picture. — 
Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ont.,  Canada. 

CONFESSIONS  OF  BOSTON  BLACKIE:  Chester 
Morris,  Harriet  Hilliard — Good  detective  picture.  This 
series  seems  to  have  a  following. — Harland  Rankin, 
Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ont.,  Canada. 

LADY  IS  WILLING,  THE:  Marlene  Dietrich,  Fred 
MacMurray — Good  sophisticated  comedy  that  was  well 
liked  here. — Fred  Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner 
Brook,   Newfoundland.   Small  town  patronage. 

LONE  STAR  VIGILANTES,  THE:  Bill  Elliott- 
Very  exciting  Western  that  our  farm  lads  enjoyed 
immensely. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury, 
Ont.,  Canada. 

MAN  WHO  RETURNED  TO  LIFE,  THE:  John 
Howard,  Ruth  Ford — Fairly  good  programer  that  was 
very  interesting. — Fred  Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner 
Brook,    Newfoundland.    Small   town  patronage. 

ROARING  FRONTIER:  Tex  Ritter,  Bill  Elliott — 
This  picture  drew  best  Friday-Saturday  since  I  have 
been  open.  They  let  Tex  do  a  little  fighting  and  get 
the  girl.  Very  good  western,  although  I  think  my  cus- 
tomers are  getting  tired  of  Wild  Bill  saying  he's  a 
peaceable  man.  They  had  Tex  looking  like  an  outlaw 
all  through  the  picture.  These  pictures  are  good  for 
Friday-Saturday.  Played  October  9,  10.— Mrs.  Carroll 
Michael.   Freeburn  Iheatre,  Freeburn,  Ky. 

SING  FOR  YOUR  SUPPER:  Jinx  Falkenberg. 
Buddy  Rogers — Nice  comedy  that  did  nice  business. — 
Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre.  Tilbury,  Ont,  Canada. 

SHUT  MY  BIG  MOUTH:  Joe  E.  Brown,  Victor 
Jory— A  good  comedy  that  kept  them  laughing  all  the 
time.  It  was  old  and  the  print  wasn't  so  good,  but 
they  enjoyed  it.  Has  cowboys,  bandits  and  Indians. 
Did  fair  business  on  Sunday,  Monday.  Played  October 
4,  5. — Mrs.  Carrol  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Free- 
burn, Ky. 


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

BUGLE  SOUNDS,  THE:  Wallace  Beery,  Marjorie 
Main — Fair  picture,  not  up  to  the  Beery  standard  or 
maybe  we  have  played  Beery  too  often.  Some  walk- 
outs, box  office  poor.  Played  Thursday-Saturday, 
October  1-3.— H.  B.  Narfason,  Foam  Lake  Theatre, 
Foam  Lake,  Sask.,  Canada.  Small  town  and  rural 
patronage. 

GONE  WITH  THE  WIND:  Clark  Gable.  Vivien 
Leigh — We  have  played  this  twice  before  including 
the  75  cents-$1.10  scale  and  this  third  trip  around 
brought  three  times  the  normal  business  for  the  days. 
It  surprised  us  how  many  people  who  came  had  never 
seen  it.  I  estimated  that  30  per  cent  of  those  who 
came  already  had  seen  it  at  least  once.  There's  still 
a  lot  of  gold  in  this  "gold-mine."  Played  Tuesday. 
Wednesday,  October  13,  14. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New 
Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 

GRAND  CENTRAL  MURDER:  Van  Heflin— Ab- 
sorbing who-dunit.  D'id  you  have  any  drawing  power. 
Played  Friday,  Saturday,  October  16,  17. — H.  Gold- 
son,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  111.  General  patronage. 

RIO  RITA:  Abbott  and  Costello— This  picture  did 
not  do  as  well  as  the  previous  Abbott  and  Costello 
pictures.  Played  Sundav.  Monday.  Steotember  20.  21. 
— Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 
Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 

RIO  RITA:  Abbott  and  Costello— A  good  comedy 
that  was  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  patrons.  This  did 
more  than  average  business  for  me,  the  comedv  being 
very  good  and  I  can  fullv  recommend  this  for  any 
spot  such  as  mine.  Played  Saturday,  October  17. — A. 


.  .  .  the  original  exhibitors'  reports  department,  established  October  14,  1916. 
In  it  theatremen  serve  one  another  with  information  about  the  box-office  per- 
formance of  product — providing  a  service  of  the  exhibitor  for  the  exhibitor. 
ADDRESS  REPORTS:  What  the  Picture  Did  for  Me,  Motion  Picture  Herald, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


L.  Dove,  Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Can- 
ada. Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

SHIP  AHOY:  Eleanor  Powell,  Red  Skelton— Did 
better  than  "Rio  Rita."  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  Oc- 
tober 4,  5.— Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Ona- 
laska, Wash.  Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 


Monogram 


DOUBLE   TROUBLE    AND   ARIZONA  BOUND: 

Did  fair  business  with  these  two.  Harry  Langdon 
made  them  laugh  and  Rough  Riders  pleased  the  West- 
ern fans.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  October  11,  12. — 
Mrs.  Carroll  Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn, 
Ky. 

FUGITIVE  VALLEY:  John  King,  Range  Busters— 
This  was  my  first  Range  Busters.  Outlaws  and  ban- 
dits, with  Max  Terhune's  dummy  pleased  Friday - 
Saturday  crowd.  John  King  is  good  with  these  two. 
Played  Friday,  Saturday.  October  2,  3. — Mrs.  Carroll 
Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky. 


Paramount 


BEYOND  THE  BLUE  HORIZON:  Dorothy  La- 
mour,  Richard  Denning — Good  picture  and  good  busi- 
ness. The  Technicolor  is  great  and  the  jungle  stuff 
is  okay  for  small  towns.  Play  it  quick.  Played  Wednes- 
day, Thursday,  October  14,  15.— E.  M.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  D'ewey,  Okla.  Small  town  pat- 
ronage. 

FLEET'S  IN,  THE:  Dorothy  Lamour,  William 
Holden — This  is  the  kind  of  picture  that  makes  you 
proud  to  be  in  theatre  business.  Pleased  everyone, 
even  the  real  tough  ones  who  grumble  when  the  ma- 
jority are  satisfied.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  October 
2,  3. — Walter  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen, 
Sask.,  Canada.  Rural  small  town  patronage. 

FLEET'S  IN,  THE:  Dorothy  Lamour,  William 
Holden — Excellent.  Business  good.  Flayed  Sunday, 
Monday,  September  27,  28. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska 
Theatre.  Onalaska,  Wash.  Loggers  and  mill  workers 
patronage. 

HENRY  ALDRICH  FOR  PRESIDENT:  Jimmy 
Lydon,  June  Priesser — Personally.  I  did  not  like  this 
one,  but  the  customers  flocked  in  and  seemed  really 
to  enjoy  it.  We  advertised  it  from  the  radio  angle 
and  the  box-office  receipts  were  good.  Played  Thurs- 
day-Saturday, September  24-26. — H.  B.  Narfason, 
Foam  Lake  Theatre,  Foam  Lake,  Sask.,  Canada. 
Small  town  and  rural  patronage. 

LADY  HAS  PLANS,  THE:  Paulette  Goddard,  Ray 
Milland — Very  good  comedy.  Played  Friday,  Saturday, 
September  25,  26. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre. 
Onalaska,  Wash.  Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 

LOUISIANA  PURCHASE:  Bob  Hope,  Vera  Zo- 
rina — One  of  Paramount's  top  bracket  pictures  of  the 
year.  I  was  late  playing  this  picture,  but  can  recom- 
mend it  as  good  entertainment.  D'ancing  numbers 
were  good,  also  the  fashion  parade,  and  the  wise- 
cracking Bob  Hope  brought  many  laughs  from  my 
audience,  although  a  number  of  the  remarks  went 
over  their  heads.  This  show  could  have  been  rounded 
out  with  a  couple  of  numbers  by  the  Coon  Quartet, 
and  a  good  musical  number  would  have  made  it  an 
outstanding  picture.  However,  I  can  recommend  this 
as  first-class  entertainment.  Played  Saturday.  October 
10. — A.  L.  Dove,  Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask., 
Canada.  Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

MY  FAVORITE  BLONDE:  Bob  Hope.  Madeline 
Carroll — Good  picture,  plenty  of  comedy.  Played  Sun- 
day, Monday,  October  11.  12. — Rav  Peacock,  Ona- 
laska Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Loggers  and  mill 
workers  patronage. 

NOTHING  BUT  THE  TRUTH:  Bob  Hope,  Paulette 
Goddard — Every  production  with  Bob  Hope  has  been 


an  instantaneous  "hit"  here,  and  this  is  no  exception. 
The  plot  is  so  designed  as  to  force  Hope  to  double 
$10,000  in  three  days  by  making  a  wager  to  tell  "noth- 
ing but  the  truth"  for  24  hours.  The  predicaments  in 
which  Hope  finds  himself  as  a  result  of  the  constant 
questioning  and  hounding  of  his  "adversaries"  are 
very  humorous,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  they  oc- 
cur kept  our  audience  in  a  constant  uproar.  The 
beauty  and  acting  ability  of  lovely  Paulette  Goddard, 
plus  a  swell  performance  by  the  rest  of  the  cast  add 
immeasurably  to  the  film.  In  short,  this  picture  is  lots 
of  fun  and  would  even  make  a  sphinx  break  down  and 
laugh.  Played  Saturday,  October  17. — J.  A.  Reynolds, 
Director  Education  and  Recreation,  New  Jersey  State 
Prison  Theatre,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Prison  patronage. 


RKO  Radio 


HERE  WE  GO  AGAIN:  Edgar  Bergen,  Charlie 
McCarthy,  Fibber  McGee  and  Molly — Nice  going  for 
a  novelty.  Brought  some  in  we  never  saw  before. 
The  stars  brought  to  the  theatre  the  stay-at-homes. 
Nothing  big,  no  squawks  and  swell  business.  Played 
Sunday,  Monday,  October  18,  19.— E.  C.  Arehart, 
Strand  Theatre,  Milford,   Iowa.   General  patronage. 


Republic 


APACHE  KID:  Don  Red  Barry— Average  western. 
Played  Friday,  Saturday,  September  18,  19. — Ray  Pea- 
cock, Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash.  Loggers 
and  mill  workers  patronage. 

BELLS  OF  CAPISTRANO:  Gene  Autry— Gene 
packed  them  in  as  usual  and  it  was  a  really  good 
show.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  October  16,  17. — E. 
M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. — 
Small  town  patronage. 

GIRL  FROM  ALASKA,  THE:  Jean  Parker— Very 
good  action  picture.  Played  Friday,  Saturday,  Septem- 
ber 18,  19. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska, 
Wash.  Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 

HOME  IN  WYOMIN':  Gene  Autry— Very  good 
Western.  Patrons  pleased.  Played  Friday,  Saturday, 
October  2,  3. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Ona- 
laska, Wash.  Loggers  and  mill  workers  patronage. 

JOAN  OF  OZARK:  Judy  Canova,  Joe  E.  Brown— A 
light  comedy,  nothing  big,  should  do  well  in  a  small 
situation. — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chat- 
ham,  Ont.,  Canada. 

MR.  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.  Dennis  O'Keefe, 
Peter  Lorre — Did  nice  weekend  business  with  this  pic- 
ture.— Harland  Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham, 
Ont.,  Canada. 

SIERRA  SUE:  Gene  Autry— Did  extraordinarily 
well  with  this  picture.  I  once  thought  that  Autry  was 
slipping,  but  this  picture  has  sure  brought  him  back 
to  tops  with  us. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Til- 
bury, Ont.,  Canada. 

Twentieth  Century- Fox 

CHARLIE  CHAN  IN  RIO:  Sidney  Toler-The 
usual  Charlie  Chan  fare  that  takes  here. — Fred  Basha, 
Palace  Theatre.  Corner  Brook,  Newfoundland.  Small 
town  patronage. 

GREAT  GUNS:  Laurel  and  Hardy— A  great  com- 
dey  that  went  over  big  here.  They  laughed  long  and 
loud  at  these  two  famous  comedians. — Fred  Basha. 
Palace  Theatre,  Corner  Brook,  Newfoundland.  Small 
town  patronage. 

LAST  OF  THE  DUANES:  George  Montgomery— A 
better  than  average  Western  that  was  well  liked  here. 
— Fred  Basha,  Palace  Theatre,  Corner  Brook,  New- 
foundland. Small  town  patronage. 

{Continued  on   opposite  page) 


October    31,  1942 


iCominaed  from  opposite  psge j 

MOONTTDE:  Teaa  Gabin,  Ida  Lupino— Tean  is 
srntethi-g  new  in  a  rrarinee  *  .  ?t:ure  fair.  We 
plaved  it  me  dav.  r!i  ti  Wedues da--  ■  -'etcher  1-. — 
Rudy  Covi  Tieitre.   Her--:e.   Pa.   Rural  and 


_P0STMAN  DIDN'T  RING.  THE:  Richard  Travis— 
_ms  didn't  seen  t:  ring  lie  bell  here.  although  busi- 
ness was  ev recent-  due  to  Cash  Night.  Doubled  it  -with 
a  riipalirg  Cassiiy   mi  heari  a  lit  uriaTimtle 

tile  trial  scene,  played  Tmrsday.  October  13. — Thomas 
di  Lorenzo,  Xe*  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 


SUNDOWN  JIM:  firr  Ti-irir.rh— We  would  not 
play  any  nrire  ::  these  V.'estems  ii  they  were  given 

shy.  Stick  t:  f;.:;baC.  15  our  ad-rice  and  hope.  Played 
Wednesday.  Setter- ber  31. — Rudy  Covi.  Covi  The- 
atre.  -  - — ?a.  Rural  and  snail  tt—  r  patronage. 

TEN  GENTLEMEN  FROM  WEST  POINT: 

s—  aTmwd  that_art ended.  Played  Friday."  Saturday. 
October  16,  17. — H-  GoHscra,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago, 


THIS  ABOVE  ATT.-  Tyrone  Power,  Joan  Fontaine 
— rair   picture,   bnt    5:  —  ±— hit    overrated.    Maybe  lur 
-    are   getting  tired    ::   w ir  pictures.    Played  rri- 
day.   Saturday.   Ortiber        11- — Rudy   Tvi.   Cot:  The- 
atre, nertninie    ?a.   Small  tiwn  and  mill  ;i:::n;t. 

TO  THE  SHORES  OF  TRIPOLI:  Manreen  3 "Basra, 
Jthn  Payne — Did  —eh  in  the  tiering  night,  hut  fed 
on  50  rer  lent  the  settni  night,  m— ever.  —  e  still 
hare  ni  regrets.— narland  Rankin.  Tin  Theatre.  111- 

TO  THE  SHORES  OF  TRIPOO:  Maureen  CHara. 
flhn  Payne—mere's  a  picture.  _t  ire—  the—  in  and 
sarisrei  ill  110  per  lent,  rli-ed  mil".  Saturdav. 
September  li-  IP.— Walter  P..  Pyle.  Orearnlaud  The- 
atre. R  ■  -  1 ' . ~    ^  .         Canada.  Run',  small  ■  lit- 


United  Artists 

ALL  AMERICAN  CO-ED:  Primes  Langdorih 
J  thnny  _>twns — _iese  shirt  features  trim  Ruth  ire 

Palate  Theatre.    Pimer  Pri'tlt,   Nr~fiundlir  d.  Small 

GOLD  RUSH  THE:  Cnarlie  Caaplin— Charlie  Chap- 
Plara  Tieatre.  TLTury.  i:..  Canada. 

CO  ET?  -?U5H'    THE~    AND    "AJ~L  AiIERICAN' 

ever  in  my  theatre,  Not  one  patron  could  see  any 

Sarurday.  Oitiber  '-.  1  ?.— Wait er  ?v-_?yle."  Preimland 
-reirre.   r.otkgleu.   r-ash.    Canada,   literal   snail  town 


JUNGLE    BOOK:  Saba— WSQ   do   same  business. 


THAT    UNCERTAIN    FEELING:    Merle  Ttrrr 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


Melvyn  Douglas — Definitely  not  a  small  town  picture. 
We  doubled  this  with  "Joe  Smith,  American."  It  cer- 
tainly would  have  forced  a  blackout  had  we  played 
it  alone.  Played  Thursday-Saturday,  October  8-10. — 
H.  B.  Narfason,  Foam  Lake  Theatre,  Foam  Lake, 
Sask.,  Canada,  Small  town  and  rural  patronage. 

TVTN  BEDS:  George  Brent.  Joan  Bennett— For 
small  towns,  it's  bad,  bad  business.  The  title  will 
draw  them  in  and  the  picture  makes  you  ashamed  to 
look  any  of  the  patrons  in  the  face  for  a  week.  Played 
Friday.  Saturday,  September  25,  36.— Walter  R.  Pyle, 
Dreamland  Theatre.  Rockglen,  Sask.,  Canada.  Rural 
small  town  patronage. 


Universal 

EAGLE  SQUADRON:  Robert  Stack,  Diana  Barry- 
more — Had  this  hooked  up  with  "Mr.  Bug  Goes  to 
Town."  The  combination  drew  above  average  business. 
Hard  to  say  just  which  picture  they  came  to  see. — H. 
Goloson,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago,  DL  General  patron- 
age. 

EAGLE  SQUADRON:  Robert  Stack,  Diana  Barry- 
more^ — This  opened  well  here,  Stmday's  business,  being 
just  normal;  but  we  fell  off  badly  cm  Monday, 
probably  due  to  the  Columbus  Day  fireside  chat  of 
the  President.  It  brought  out  a  lot  of  men  and  they 
aH  enjoyed  at.  I  thought  it  a  very  well  done  picture 
of  its  kind  and  worthy  of  playing  everywhere.  Played 
Stmdav.  MDndav.  October  11.  12. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo. 
New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Platz,  N.  Y.  Small  town 
patronage. 

PARDON  MY  SARONG:  Abbott  and  CosteDo— Our 
people  loved  this  and  came  in  big  crowds  to  see  and 
enjoy  it.  These  fellows  are  binlding  a  big  following 
here  after  a  slow  start.  This  one  looks  like  one  of 
their  best  to  date.  Played  Friday.  Saturday.  Ociober 
9.  10. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo.  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New 
Paltz,  N.  Y.  SwjII  town  patronage. 

LADY  IN  A  JAM:  Irene  Dimne.  patric  Snowies— 
We  wD-nld  have  been  in  a  jam  if  we  had  been  caught 
in  the  lobby  after  the  show.  This  may  get  the  award 
as  the  worst  nicture  of  the  -ear.  Plaved  Sundav.  Mon- 
day, October  11.  12.— Rudy  Covi.  Covi  Theatre,  Her- 
mime.  Pa.  Sural  and  small  town  patronage. 

NEVER  GIVE  A  SUCKER  AN  EVEN  BREAK: 

W.  C.  Fields— W.  C.  Fields  is  not  all  he  used  to  be, 
but  still  has  a  popular  following. — Harland  Rankin. 
Centre  Theatre.   Chatham,  Ont.,  Canada. 

_ NORTH  TO  THE  KLONDIKE:  Roderick  Crawford, 
Evelyn  Ankers — A  real  good  action  picture,  should  do 
well  in  an  action  house. — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  The- 
atre, Chatham.  Ont..  Canada. 

^SABOTEUR:  Robert  Cummings,  Priscffla  Lane- 
Failed  to  draw  and  failed  to  please.  Plaved  Fridav. 
Saturday.  September  18.  19.— Rudy  Covi.  Covi  The- 
atre. Jnernoinie,  Pa.  Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

_S  AB  0  TEUR :  Robert  Cummings,  Priscilla  Lane— 
Here  is  a  picture  that  is  excellently  done,  full  of  sus- 
pense and  thrills  from  begmning  to  end.  different 
rwists  to  its  plot,  and  still  the  receipts  were  just  av- 
erage. Can't  figure  it  out  and  guess  I  won't  try.  For 
thai  matter,  it  seems  lately  that  gross  receipts  on 
each  change  of  show  here  are  just  about  the  same 
regardless  of  the  picture.  Certain  people  come  to  the 
show  regardless  of  the  picture  and  there  are  not 
enough  other  folks  to  make  much  difference  on  the 
super-specials.  If  that  is  true,  it  would  almost  pay 


59 


me  to  stick  to  the  lower  brackets  altogether.  How- 
ever, I  want  to  see  the  good  ones  myself,  so  the  box 
office  will  have  to  just  go  ahead  and  suffer.  Played 
Friday,  Saturday,  October  16,  17. — W.  Variek  Nevins 
HI,  Alfred  Co -Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y.  Small  col- 
lege town  patronage. 

SILVER  BULLET:  Johnny  Mack  Brown— An  av- 
erage weekend  picture  that  seemed  to  satisfy. — Har- 
land Rankin,  Centre  Theatre,  Chatham,  Ont.,  Canada. 

TOUGH  AS  THEY  COME:  Dead  End  Kids—Good 
little  action  show.  Plaved  Wednesdav.  October  7. — 
Rudy  Covi,  Covi  Theatre,  Herminie,  Pa.  Rural  and 
small  town  patronage. 

WHERE  JJID  YOU  GET  THAT  GIRL:  Helen  Par- 
rish,  Leon  Errol — Nice  program  picture  that  seemed  to 
satisfv  even-one. — Harland  Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre, 
Tilbury,  Ont.,  Canada. 

Warner  Bros. 

BIG  SHOT.  THE:  Humphrey  Bogart,  Irene  Man- 
ning— I  was  almost  afraid  to  play  this,  but  iound  my 
fears  were  groundless.  Good  action  entertainment. 
Action  fans  will  like  it.  Played  Sunday,  Monday,  Oc- 
tober IS.  19. — Rudy  Covi.  Covi  Theatre,  Herminie,  Pa- 
Rural  and  small  town  patronage. 

BIG  SHOT.  THE:  Humphrey  Bogart.  Irene  Man- 
ning— Good  picture,  but  only  average  business.  Played 
Sunday,  Monday.  October  11.  12. — E.  M.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey.  Okla.  Small  town  patron- 
age. 

GANIBLING  LADY:  Barbara  Stanwyck,  Joel  Mc- 
Crea — Exceptionally  good  picture.  Althongh  rather 
old,  we  did  better  business  than  we  expected. — Har- 
land Rarikin,  Centre  Theatre.  Chatham,  Ont,  Canada. 

IN  THIS  OUR  LIFE:  Bette  Davis,  Olivia  deHavfl- 
land,  George  Brent — Title  should  have  been  "In  This 
Sour  Life"  to  fit  the  mood  of  the-  picture.  However, 
they  probably  did  not  want  to  remind  us  of  sugar 
rationing.  My  crowd  usually  enjtys  good  acting  ani 
serious  dramas.  They  came  ont  quite  well  for  this 
and  the  comments  were  good.  It  is  a  typical  Bette 
Davis  film,  so  that  should  tell  you  all  you  want  to 
know.  Would  not  mind  if  all  receipts  were  as  good 
as  this.  Plaved  Thnrsdav.  October  16. — W.  Varick 
Nevins  TIL  Alfred  Co- Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 
Small  college  town  patronage. 

KENNEL  MURDER  CASE:  William  Powell,  Mary 
Astor — This  picture  was  double-billed  to  average 
business.  No  regrets. — Harland  Rankin,  Centre  The- 
atre, Chatham,  Ont.,  Canada. 

KINGS  ROW:  Robert  Cnrnrnings,  Ann  Sheridan. 
Ronald  Reagan — Strictly  adult  draw,  played  to  only 
50  per  cent  of  our  usual  kid  trade.  Pleased,  all  com- 
ments  favorable. — H.  Goldson,  Plaza  Theatre,  Chicago, 
HI  General  patronage. 

LADY  GANGSTER:  Fay  Emerson,  Richard  Travis 
— Little  program  picture  which  got  bv  on  Bargain 
Night  Played  Tuesday.  October  15. — E.  M.  Freibur- 
ger. Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla.  Small  town 
patronage. 

MAN   WHO    CAME  TO  DINNER.  _JHE:  Monte 

WooHey.  Bette  Davis,  Ann  Sheridan — "The  Man  Who 
Came  to  Dinner"  proved  as  good  a  selection  as  it  was 
possible  to  make  for  the  opening  program  of  our  1942- 
( Cents r; si on  follo^vir.g  page) 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT 

A  Wartime  Service  for  Exhibitors 

f  Are  you  looking  for  something  you  can't  buy?  Got  something  you  don't  need?  Then  tell  the 
HLeraj_D;  and  we'll  tell  the  world. 

5  This  service  is  offered — free  to  exhibitors,  of  course — to  further  the  conservation  of  those 
resources  upon  which  theatres  must  depend,  with  less  and  less  replenishment,  for  some  time  to 
come.  According  to  Christopher  J.  Dunphy,  chief  of  the  W'PB  amusements  section,  only  the 
strictest  policy  of  conservation  throughout  the  theatre  business  can  assure  the  continued  operation 
of  our  theatres.  Everything  usable  must  be  used,  as  needed,  by  the  fellow  who  needs  it. 

f  If  vou  have  something  to  swap,  describe  it  fully  enough  to  give  the  other  fellow  an  idea  as  to 
its  aDplicability  to  his  need,  and  similarly  describe  what  you  are  looking  for.  This  information 
will  be  published  promptly  in  the  Heraj_d,  without  charge.    \Vrite  to — 


SWAP  DEPARTMENT,  Motion  Picture  Herald,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York,  N.Y. 


60 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 
43  season.  An  audience  composed  of  those  who  care 
only  to  look  at  the  brighter  side  of  life  kept  them- 
selves in  a  continuous  uproar  of  laughter  at  the  an- 
tics of  the  "Man,"  Monte  Woolley,  the  predicament 
of  Grant  Mitchell,  the  host  (?),  the  trials  and  tribu- 
lations of  Bette  Davis,  the  perfect  secretary,  and  Ann 
Sheridan,  the  finally  foiled  love  interest.  This  is  quite 
a  comedy,  and  is  a  four-star  attraction  for  any  pro- 
gram. We  liked  it  very  much,  and  so  will  you.  Played 
Saturday,  October  10. — J.  A.  Reynolds,  Director  of 
Education  and  Recreation,  New  Jersey  State  Prison 
Theatre,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Prison  patronage. 

ONE  FOOT  IN  HEAVEN:  Fredric  March,  Mar- 
tha Scott — We  had  more  favorable  comments  on  this 
picture  than  any  we  have  ever  played.  A  picture  like 
this  makes  an  exhibitor  stick  out  his  chest.  Played 
Thursday-Saturday,  September  17-19.— H.  B.  Narfa- 
son,  Foam  Lake  Theatre,  Foam  Lake,  Sask.,  Canada. 

SERGEANT  YORK:  Gary  Cooper,  Joan  Leslie— 
Didn't  do  the  business  we  had  hoped  to. — Harland 
Rankin,  Plaza  Theatre,  Tilbury,  Ont.,  Canada. 


Short  Features 
Columbia 

CANVAS  CUT-UPS:  Typical  rough  and  tumble 
wrestling  reel.  My  bunch  gets  a  lot  of  laughs  out  of 
this  type  of  short.  Judge  from  past  performances  of 
similar  reels  in  your  house. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III, 
Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

GLOVE  BIRDS:  All  Star  Comedy— This  makes  up 
for  the  other  Columbia  comedy  I  am  reporting  on  as 
this  is  quite  good  and  kept  the  audience  laughing 
most  of  the  time. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred 
Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

HOW  SPRY  I  AM:  All  Star  Comedy,  Andy  Clyde— 
We  have  plenty  to  eat  now  as  the  acting  is  hammy 
and  the  picture  laid  an  egg.  Maybe  a  few  kids  would 
like  it,  but,  for  my  audience,  this  sinks  to  the  lowest 
depths.  People  coming  out  had  the  looks  of  martyrs 
and  I  was  the  cause  of  it  all. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III, 
Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

IN  THE  SWEET  PIE  AND  PIE:  All  Star  Com- 
edy, Three  Stooges — Here  the  Stooges  are  tops.  If  it's 
pie  you  want,  you'll  get  it  in  this  one.  They  made 
us  all  hungry  slinging  the  pies  at  each  other.  Good 
slapstick  comedy  like  they  used  to  make. — Mrs.  Car- 
roll Michael,  Freeburn  Theatre,  Freeburn,  Ky. 


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

BLABBERMOUTH:  Propaganda  for  complacency. — 
Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

BLITZWOLF:  Cartoon — Very,  very  good — Ray  Pea- 
cock, Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

BOWLING  ALLEY  CAT:  Cartoon— Good— Ray  Pea- 
cock, Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

INCREDIBLE   STRANGER:    Passing  Parade— An- 


other winner  from  Passing  Parade.  MGM  still  leads 
in  short  subjects. — Walter  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  The- 
atre, Rockglen,  Sask.,  Canada. 

LADY  OR  THE  TIGER:  Miniature— Fair  entertain- 
ment for  a  filler.  Nothing  much  to  this. — A.  L.  Dove, 
Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada. 

SURPRISE  PARTIES:  Our  Gang  Comedy— Kid  en- 
tertainment, not  interesting  to  the  grownups.— A.  L. 
Dove,  Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada. 


Paramount 

CARNIVAL  IN  BRAZIL:  Headliner— Fair— Ray 
Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

COPACABANA  REVUE:  Headliner— A  torrid 
rhumba  band,  acrobatic  dancers,  a  budding  Miranda, 
and  a  ballroom  team  combine  to  make  this  short  an 
enjoyable  one. — J.  A.  Reynolds,  New  Jersey  State 
Prison  Theatre,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

HEDDA    HOPPER'S    HOLLYWOOD,    NO.    3:  I 

consider  the  "Hedda  Hopper"  series  Paramount's 
poorest. — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska, 
Wash. 

HOOLA  BOOLA:  Color  Cartoon— Colored  cartoon, 
very  much  enjoyed  by  my  patrons.  Something  dif- 
ferent from  the  ordinary  run  of  cartoons. — A.  L.  Dove, 
Bengough  Theatre,  Bengough,  Sask.,  Canada. 

JAPATEURS:  Superman  Cartoon — Average  Super- 
man cartoon. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

LETTER  FROM  BATAAN:  Very  entertaining  and 
timely  war  subject. — E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount 
Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 

MADCAP  MODELS:  Puppetoon— Thought  the  first 
was  clever,  but  one  is  enough.  There's  nothing  to 
them. — Walter  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland  Theatre,  Rockglen, 
Sask.,  Canada. 

PERSONALITY  PLUS:  Sportlights— The  soothing 
diction  of  Ted  Husing  combined  with  the  activities 
of  such  outstanding  personalities  as  Al  Schacht,  the 
late  "Lucky"  Teeter,  the  Wilhelm  Brothers — boy! 
what  they  can't  do  with  the  bow  and  arrow,  or  just 
the  arrow"  if  you  prefer,  Bob  Eastman,  who  is  happi- 
est when  in  an  outboard  motorboat  taking  hurdles, 
etc.,  and  last,  but  not  least,  "Stubby"  Krueger,  the 
diving  clown,  makes  a  very  interesting  10  minutes. 
—J.  A.  Reynolds,  New  Jersey  State  Prison  Theatre, 
Trenton,  N.  J. 

PIPEYE,  PUPEYE,  POOPEYE,  PEEPEYE:  Pop- 
eye  Cartoon — Very  good — Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska 
Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

SKY  PRINCESS:  Cartoon— Not  much.— Ray  Pea- 
cock, Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

TULIPS  SHALL  GROW:  Puppetoon— This  is  love- 
liness on  the  screen;  executed  in  color,  it  made  a  big 
hit  with  our  crowd,  which  doesn't  love  the  screwballs 
or  their  kind  who  bombed  Jan  and  Janette.  Worth 
playing. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Platz  Theatre, 
New  Platz,  N.  Y. 


UNUSUAL  OCCUPATIONS,  NO.  3:  Very  good. 
This  one  shows  Amos  and  Andy  as  they  broadcast — 
Ray  Peacock,  Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 


RKO  Radio 

CHEF  DONALD:  Walt  Disney  Cartoon—  Funny  as 
usual.  Disney  is  very  consistent. — H.  Goldson,  Plaza 
Theatre,  Chicago,  111.  ' 

CRUISE  SPORTS:  This  shows  the  pleasures  of 
steamer  traveling  before  the  war  and  is  good  enough. 
It  is  outdated,  but  the  announcer  admits  that  fact,  so 
we  can't  object  if  he  doesn't. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III, 
Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

DONALD'S  GOLD  MINE:  Walt  Disney  Cartoon— 
A  good  Disney  color  cartoon  that  is  a  little  below  his 
regular  par.— W.  Varick  Nevins  in,  Alfred  Co-Op 
Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

MEN  OF  WASHINGTON:  March  of  Time— Got 
around  to  this  one  rather  late,  but  it  is  still  good  and 
will  be  for  quite  a  while.  It  explains  the  workings 
of  Washington  with  Roosevelt's  career  thrown  in  for 
good  measure. — W.  Varick  Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op 
Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

T-BONE  FOR  TWO:  Walt  Disney  Cartoon— One 
of  Disney's  best  and  that  is  saying  a  lot. — W.  Varick 
Nevins  III,  Alfred  Co-Op  Theatre,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 


Twentieth  Century- Fox 

ALL  ABOUT  DOGS:  Terry  toon— If  there  are  any 
dog  fanciers  in  your  town  they'll  love  this,  and  if 
there  are  not,  all  others  who  visit  theatres  to  be  en- 
tertained will  get  a  good  share  of  laughs  from  this 
cartoon. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre, 
New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 

LIGHTS  OUT:  Terrytoon — Just  a  fair  cartoon.  We 
rarely  get  a  good  Terrytoon.— H.  Goldson,  Plaza  The- 
atre, Chicago,  111. 


United  Artists 

NEW  SOLDIERS  ARE  TOUGH:  World  in  Action 
Short — Very  good  short.  Enjoyed  by  all. — Rudy  Covi, 
Covi  Theatre,  Herminie,  Pa. 

THIS  IS  BLITZ:  World  in  Action  Short— All  these 
World  in  Action  shorts  hit  the  spot. — Rudy  Covi,  Covi 
Theatre,  Herminie,  Pa. 


Universal 

DESERT  GHOST:  Stranger  Than  Fiction— Enter- 
taining.— Ray   Peacock,   Onalaska   Theatre,  Onalaska, 

Wash. 

GOODBYE,  MR.  MOTH:  Cartoon— Poor— Ray  Pea- 
cock, Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

MAN'S  BEST  FRIEND:  Cartoon— Good.— Ray  Pea- 
cock, Onalaska  Theatre,  Onalaska,  Wash. 

MYSTERIOUS      FOUNTAIN      OF  HEALTH: 

Stranger  Than  Fiction— A  good  10-minute  short  which 
held  the  interest  throughout. — Thomas  di  Lorenzo, 
New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 

SHUFFLE  RHYTHM:  Henry  Busse  Orchestra- 
Here  are  16  minutes  of  lively  music  and  vaudeville 
which  we  used  to  advantage  with  a  weak  feature.  It 
more  than  accomplished  its  purpose  here. — Thomas  di 
Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 


U.  S.  Government 

WALT  DISNEY'S  WAR  SAVINGS  CARTOONS: 

These  are  wonderful.  Far  better  than  a  lot  of  shorts 
we  have  to  pay  for. — Walter  R.  Pyle,  Dreamland 
Theatre,  Rockglen,  Sask.,  Canada. 


U.  S.  Navy 

CROSSROADS  OF  THE  PACIFIC:  Entertaining 
Navy  reel.— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 


Warner  Bros. 

DOVER  BOYS:  Merrie  Melody  Cartoon— Good  color 
cartoon.— E.  M.  Freiburger,  Paramount  Theatre, 
Dewey,  Okla. 

GOPHER  GOOFEY:  Looney  Tune  Cartoon— Only 
fair;  will  do  in  a  pinch. — H.  Goldson,  Plaza  Theatre, 
Chicago,  111. 

HATTERAS  HONKERS:  Sports  Parade— This  is 
a  record  of  a  trip  around  Cape  Hatteras,  showing  the 
hunting  and  fishing  which  abounds  there.  Done  in 
color,  it  is  very  good  and  our  audience  applauded  it. — 
Thomas  di  Lorenzo,  New  Paltz  Theatre,  New  Paltz. 
N.  Y. 

IMPATIENT  PATIENT:  Looney  Tune  Cartoon- 
Average  black  and  white  cartoon. — E.  W.  Freiburger, 
Paramount  Theatre,  Dewey,  Okla. 


October  3 


1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


61 


MANAGERS" 


ROUND  TABLE 


<An  international  association  of  showmen  meeting  weekly 
in  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD  for  mutual  aid  and  progress 

      _   >  — •  r-  f~i  *t  n  i  (  F\  I-     k  jfH  H  I  A  N       A  m.  ~  ~-  *~ ,  ki»  i  4a  » 


BOB  WILE,  Editor 


GERTRUDE  MERRIAM,  Associate  Editor 


OP 


Scrap 


LAST  week's  issue  announced  ten  special  Citations  to  be 
awarded  to  showmen  for  the  best  campaigns  on  the  cur- 
rent scrap  drive.  These  will  be  signed  by  Donald  Nelson, 
head  of  the  War  Production  Board. 

Already  the  response  is  gratifying.  There  are  many  entries 
already  at  hand  and  they  are  coming  in  every  day.  Members 
of  the  Round  Table  have  responded  promptly  as  usual  and 
just  as  they  were  counted  upon  to  do. 

Although  it  has  already  been  said,  this  is  a  good  place  to 
repeat  that  entries  for  this  contest  are  also  eligible  for  the 
Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award,  since  aiding  the  scrap 
campaign  is  most  definitely  a  part  of  the  war  effort. 

Also  it  may  be  noted  here  that  there  is,  of  course,  no  restric- 
tion in  this  contest  to  members  of  the  Round  Table.  Any  show- 
man may  compete;  circuit  or  independent,  small  or  large  town, 
neighborhood  or  downtown,  it  makes  no  difference.  The  idea 
is  to  get  in  the  scrap,  and  where  it  comes  from  doesn't  make 
the  slightest  bit  of  difference. 

The  progress  of  the  contest  will  be  noted  each  week  in  the 
Round  Table  columns. 

Wages  and  Hours 

THE  day  is  fortunately  at  hand  when  the  theatre  manager 
can  demand  and  expect  to  receive  the  square  deal  to 
which  he  is  entitled.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  for  him  to 
put  in  12  to  14  hours  a  day  for  seven  days  a  week  for  sub- 
standard pay. 

It  is  unfortunate,  however,  that  it  took  a  war  to  obtain 
recognition  for  the  theatre  manager.  Manpower  is  at  a  pre- 
mium and  the  feminine  manager  is  now  frequently  encountered. 
It  would  be  unthinkable  to  ask  a  woman  to  be  at  a  theatre 
at  9:30  or  10:00  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  remain  there  with 
only  the  briefest  interruptions  for  catch-as-catch-can  meals 
until  I  1:00  or  12:00  o'clock  at  night. 

Despite  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  assistants  or  other  capable 
help,  the  manager's  presence  on  the  floor  is  not  indispensable 
except  during  the  peak  hours;  these  may  vary  from  theatre 
to  theatre  but  they  don't  require  continuous  attendance  at  the 
theatre  all  day  long. 

Your  editor  was  recently  told  by  a  showman  who  worked 


Chris  Christos,  manager  of  the  Lincoln  theatre,  Chicago,  has 
problems  like  a  great  many  other  neighborhood  theatre  man- 
agers. Here's  what  Chris  says,  "A  subsequent  run  house  like 
mine  does  not  have  the  opportunity  to  put  on  huge  campaigns 
such  as  I  read  about  in  your  publication.  But  your  Round  Table 
section  is  a  tremendous  help  to  the  industry  in  general  and 
specifically  to  late  run  theatres  such  as  this,  which  can  take 
advantage  of  ideas  that  have  proved  successful  in  first-run 
theatres.  I  personally  have  used  many  of  them  and  am  looking 
forward  to  putting  on  the  Sweater  Girl  contest  which  you 
described  recently  as  run  by  one  of  the  theatres  of  the  Fabian 
Circuit." 


for  a  large  circuit  that  the  district  manager  called  him  one 
morning  at  10:00  o'clock  and,  when  he  found  that  the  manager 
was  at  home  and  not  at  the  theatre,  said:  "I  get  to  my  office 
at  10:00  o'clock.  Why  can't  you?"  The  manpower  shortage 
has  probably  changed  this  supervisor's  attitude.  He  now  gives 
some  thought  to  comparative  quitting  hours  before  setting  him- 
self up  as  an  example. 

A  characteristic  of  theatre  managers  which  is  now  happily 
disappearing  under  the  new  state  of  affairs  is  their  habitual 
paleness  due  to  their  practically  permanent  confinement 
indoors.  Your  editor  remembers  how  often  folks  would  envy 
him  being  able  to  spend  all  his  summer  days  in  the  cool  air- 
conditioned  comfort  of  a  motion  picture  theatre;  yet  every 
time  such  thoughts  were  expressed  we  can  also  remember  think- 
ing how  much  more  we  would  have  enjoyed  sitting  on  the 
beach  in  a  blazing  hot  sun  and  being  damned  uncomfort- 
able, too. 

The  theatre  manager  who  belonged  to  a  golf  club  used  to 
have  to  hide  the  fact  lest  his  superiors  question  his  wisdom  in 
spending  money  for  a  sport  in  which  he  could  not  indulge. 
Now  it  is  becoming  more  common  for  a  theatre  manager  to 
boast  openly  of  his  prowess  in  bowling,  tennis,  swimming,  golf 
and  gardening.  There  are  men  now  in  the  business  who  may 
recall  that  it  was  more  truth  than  poetry  that  a  theatre  man- 
ager's children  hardly  knew  him. 

The  future  looks  brighter.  But  the  conscientious  manager, 
unable  to  hire  competent  help,  and  realizing  he  is  entrusted 
with  not  only  the  huge  investment  of  his  employers  but  the 
lives  and  safety  of  his  patrons,  may  well  voluntarily  put  in 
even  longer  hours  than  he  used  to  under  compulsion. 

—BOB  WILE 


62 


MOTION    PlCTU  RE  HERALD 


October    3  I",     I  942 


SPECIAL  NELSON  CITATIONS 
SPUR  SCRAP  CAMPAIGNS 


This  is  part  of  the  collection  made  by  Paid 
Tighe  at  the  Penn  theatre,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 


The  Pilgrim  theatre  in  t/je  Bronx,  New  York, 
also  collected  an  automobile  for  its  scrap  pile. 


By  Larry  Shafer 


An  automobile  was  among  the  scrap  items 
collected  at  the  Capitol  theatre,  Cleveland. 
Jimmie  Shrake,  the  manager,  is  the  fellow 
in  the  overalls.  The  car  was  given  by 
Al  Augustine  who  is  now  in  the  Army. 


•VICTORY  SCRAP  DEPOT 

^SCRAPtoLOEW'S 

BICEIYS  A  7*r  TIWET I.  <SS»  Mil  Ml  J". » OCT.  H»  , 


—  'irTnEH'S  TODAY 


Lester  Pollock,  Loew's,  Rochester,  had  a 
scrap  pile  in  advance.  Anyone  who  brought 
scrap  to  the  theatre  received  a  ticket  to  the 
matinee.  In  that  way  it  could  be  hauled 
away  each  day  instead  of  accumulating. 

Poppay  Gets  Tally  in  Weeklies 

Gettysburg-,  Pa.,  has  no  daily  paper,  but  a 
lot  of  weeklies  including  a  college  paper. 
Sydney  Poppay,  manager  of  the  Majestic 
theatre,  obtained  regular  publicity  during 
the  War  Bond  Drive,  detailing  each  week's 
sale  of  War  Bonds  and  Stamps. 


Elder's  Own  Theatre  Scrap 
Amounts  to  2,056  Pounds 

Bill  Elder,  manager  of  Loew's  theatre, 
Indianapolis,  has  been  saving  stuff  for  years. 
So  when  the  scrap  drive  came  along  Bill 
simply  had  his  employes  pile  it  together  and 
dump  it  on  the  stage  behind  the  screen  until 
it  could  be  carted  away.  The  total  was 
2,056  pounds  and  it  included  such  things  as 
old  advertising  plates  and  flashlight  bat- 
tery cases.  Bill  thinks  he  has  set  a  record 
and  challenges  anyone  who  can  go  him 
better. 


Usherette  Staff  in  Costume 
Aids  Hickle's  Bond  Sales 

For  the  first  week  of  the  Bond  Drive  at 
the  Molino  theatre,  in  Porterville,  Cal.,  Bud 
Hickle  arranged  for  his  entire  staff  of 
usherettes  to  be  dressed  in  attractive  ab- 
breviated skirts  with  blouses  carrying  chest 
banners  reading:  "Buy  Bonds  and  Stamps 
Here."  Between  features,  a  local  speaker 
was  on  hand  to  explain  why  the  theatres 
were  going  to  sell  the  Bonds  and  Stamps 
in  the  audience.  The  usherettes  with  Bond 
applications  and  stamps  passed  through  the 
audience  and  made  sales. 

The  second  week  of  the  Drive,  a  Victory 
Booth  was  constructed  for  the  lobby  with 
girls  on  hand  at  all  times  supplied  with  the 
proper  information  and  ready  to  make 
sales. 


Chamales  Promotes  Full  Page 
Ad  with  Bond  Selling  Copy 

"Main  Street's  Greatest  Sale"  read  the 
headline  in  a  full  page  ad  in  the  Delphi  Citi- 
zen, Delphi,  Ind.,  arranged  and  promoted 
by  Chris  Chamales,  manager  of  the  Roxy 
theatre.  The  rest  of  the  copy  was  equally 
intriguing:  "Billions  of  dollars  worth  of 
patriotic  merchandise.  Every  item  guar- 
anteed by  the  United  States  Government. 
Never  have  we  been  able  to  offer  so  much 
for  so  little.  Freedom  from  Fear !  Free- 
dom from  Want !  Freedom  for  you  and 
your  children ! — all  at  a  price  at  which  you 
may  never  again  be  able  to  buy  these  price- 
less heritages — unless  you  act  now  !" 

There  followed  details  on  War  Bonds 
with  the  scale  of  prices,  etc.  The  list  of  the 
cooperating  merchants  who  shared  the  costs 
occupied  about  25  per  cent  of  the  space. 
A  coupon  at  the  left  was  a  10  per  cent  pledge 
and  could  be  cut  out  for  mailing. 


In  keeping  with  Round  Table  tradition, 
the  response  to  the  announcement  made 
last  week  that  special  Citations  would  be 
issued  to  the  ten  best  campaigns  in  con- 
nection with  the  scrap  drive  has  been 
instantaneous  and  heavy.  This  week  a  few 
of  the  campaigns  already  received  are  re- 
produced on  this  page.  Donald  M.  Nelson, 
head  of  the  War  Production  Board,  which 
is  in  charge  of  the  scrap  campaign,  will 
issue  the  special  Citations.  The  Quigley 
Award  Committee  will  judge  the  entries. 
First  announcement  of  the  winners  will 
appear  in  the  issue  of  November  28. 


Kalberer  Runs  Special  Free 
Show  to  Aid  Bond  Drive 

In  addition  to  offering  free  admission  to 
any  purchaser  of  a  War  Bond,  A.  J.  Kal- 
berer, manager  of  the  Liberty  and  Indiana 
theatres,  Washington,  Ind.,  arranged  a  spe- 
cial free  show  between  1 :30  and  3  p.m.,  dur- 
ing which  time  $2,900  worth  of  Bonds  were 
sold.   All  stores  were  closed. 

Kal  cancelled  his  regular  Thursday  after- 
noon show  in  favor  of  the  special  affair  to 
boost  the  sale  of  War  Bonds.  Nothing  was 
required  for  admission  and  there  was  a  plea 
to  buy  War  Bonds  made  at  the  show ;  peo- 
ple were  available  to  sell  Bonds  and  Stamps, 
however,  to  those  who  wished  to  buy  them. 


New  Bedford,  Mass.,  theatres  have  all  held  scrap  matinees.  Shows  were  held  at  9:30  in 
the  morning.  Here  is  the  group  at  the  Strand  theatre,  managed  by  Edward  Selette. 


3  1,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


63 


Flying  Squadron  Attends 
"Flying  Tigers"  Opening 

thai  for  his  advance  on  "Flying  Tigers"  at 
the  Majestic  theatre.  :r_  Bricleencrt.  ar- 
ranged rcr  cuicers  ana  men  t;  attend  in  a 
body  on  die  opening  night.  The  men  arrived 
in  trucks  and  jeeps  which  were  parked  in 
front  of  the  theatre  all  night  and  made  an 


Selling  Points 

ON  THE  NEW  PRODUCT 

'The  material  belovc  reflects  press  books  mom  in  preparation  and  represents  the  point  of 
ciex  0f  the  distributors'  exploiteers  about  the  telling  points  and  special  merit  of  these  pictures.^ 

THUNDER  BIRDS  (Twentieth  Century- Fox):  P-ir.c'pa  "e-s  zz  ~zi-  or  ire  e/c'c'ia- 

tion  on  this  picture  is  Hying,  since  thai  is  the  dominating  motive  in  the  picture.  There 
are  many  other  diversified  slants  from  which  to  sell  the  picture,  too.  Cutouts  of  planes 
may  be  placed  around  the  front  to  give  emphasis  to  the  aviation;  all  displays  may  be 
brighHy  colored  to  emphasize  the  technicolor.  A  recording  of  planes  in  flight,  of  fall- 
ing bombs  and  other  sounds  identified  with  aviation  are  available.  These  amplified 
~~z  tc.e:  c .  5-  e  c_c  'z  ad  tress  s .  ~e~  c_ z  "-—'gee  —  cse  z~-~-'ze.  ~-z~  e  ~z  ■ 
store,  a  model  airplane  and  airdrome  set  up  may  be  obtained  to  add  to  lobby  displays. 
There  are  coin  operated  devices  with  electric  "machine  guns"  which  would  attract 
attention  if  placed  in  the  lobby.  A  fragment  of  a  downed  Axis  plane,  which  might 
be  obtained  from  some  Government  agency  would  make  an  interesting  lobby  display. 
The  press  book  has  a  suggestion  for  a  contest  based  on  present-day  aviation  heroes. 
There's  an  incident  in  the  picture  which  makes  for  a  good  tieup.  John  Sutton  and 
Richard  Haydn  want  to  send  a  present  to  their  families  in  England — stockings.  Gene 
Tierney,  with  a  display  of  her  own,  helps  them  make  a  choice.  A  still  of  this  scene  may 
be  used  by  local  stores.  If  there  are  many  servicemen  near  your  city,  it  might  be 
feasible  to  establish  a  shopping  service  for  them,  using  girl  volunteers  and  calling 
them  the  "Thunder  Bird  Squad".  There  is  still  showing  a  Red  Cross  First  Aid  Station 
which,  if  displayed  by  Red  Cross  headquarters,  might  assist  in  obtaining  volunteer 
workers.  Since  the  picture  is  in  color,  a  coloring  contest  for  the  youngsters  seems  to 
be  in  order.  A  Junior  Tnunder  Bird  Club  is  one  of  the  suggestions  in  the  press  book. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  SLEPT  HERE  [Warner  Bros.):  This  picture  is  all  comedy 
and  all  of  the  exploitation  is  of  the  strictly  comic  nature.  George  Washington,  of 
course,  does  not  appear  in  the  picture,  which  is  entirely  a  modem  dress  affair.  There- 
fore, except  for  comedy  effect,  no  costumes  need  be  used  in  connection  with  exploita- 
tion. For  instance,  in  New  York,  a  character  answering  to  the  name  cT  George  Wash- 
ington goes  to  a  hotel  and  spends  the  night.  The  next  day  the  press  is  summoned  to 
interview  him.  There  wasn't  any  George  the  next  morning  but  that  fact  was  good 
for  considerable  newspaper  space.  The  stunt  can  be  worked  in  any  city.  If  there  is  a 
George  Washington  Hotel,  so  much  the  better.  If  there  is  no  hotel  at  all,  the  idea  can 
be  done  with  a  colonial  bed  whicn  is  later  placed  in  a  department  store  window. 
There  are  some  small  cuts  of  a  bed  labeled  "George  Washington  Slept  Here"  which 
can  be  spotted  through  the  newspaper  in  various  ads  with  prizes  for  those  who  find 
all  the  beds  George  Washington  slept  in.  Issuance  of  certificates  to  homes  in  your 
area  dating  from  the  Revolution,  stating  that  George  Washington  did  not  sleep  there, 
would  attract  attention  and  emphasize  the  comedy.  There  are  a  number  of  sugges- 
tions in  the  press  book  for  gag  comedy  ideas.  For  instance  a  "estaurant  could  adver- 
tise: "George  Washington  did  NOT  eat  here,  but  he  would  have  enjoyed  our  food 
tremendously.  For  good  food,  dine  here.  For  the  best  laughs,  see  ..."  There  is  a 
suggestion  for  a  series  of  ads  by  a  bank  which,  if  executed,  would  be  provocative  of 
some  attention.  Washington's  Farewell  Address  is  read  solemnly  at  one  point  in  the 
picture  where  the  comedy  gives  way  to  a  more  serious  moment.  The  text  can  be 
reprinted  and  distributed,  as  it  would  be  highly  effective.  There  are  several  sugges- 
tions in  the  press  book  which  can  be  used  for  obtaining  school  interest.  There  is  also 
a  suggestion  to  have  a  man  dressed  in  Continental  Army  uniform  lie  on  a  bench 
outside  the  theatre  with  a  sign  stating  that  he  is  waiting  to  see  the  oicture. 


papers  with  a  three-column  art  story.  A 
teaser  campaign  was  used  in  the  papers, 
starthtg  the  Sun  lay  in  advance  ::  caening. 
while  a  special  feature  story  was  planted  in 
the  papers  one  day  ahead  tying  in  both  the 
local  and  Chinese  angle. 

A  tieup  vra;  ecceccecl  ~lch  street  ana 
Smith  on  their  "Flying  Tigers'"'"  cartoon 
book:  stores  and  distributors  working  on 
this  with  cards  in  dealers'  windows  and  ban- 
ners on  trucks.  Heralds  were  distributed  to 
kiddies  at  public  schools  and  house-to-house, 
in  adliticn  Rcsey  cliscricucea  several  thcu- 
sand  paper  planes  to  children  a  week  in  ad- 
vance. Menus  with  picture  copy  were  used 
in  ah  acvrntcvn  restaurant;  ana  cuts: as  am- 
ine incluaea  :ne  sheet;  ana  vhaclc~  care;, 
which  were  spotted  around  factories  where 
crowds  leaving  work  could  see  them. 


Newspapers  Get  Brochure  on 
Universale  "Arabian  Mights" 

A  16-page  brochure  dealing  with  Walter 
Wanger*s  production  "Arabian  Nights"  for 
Universal,  has  been  sent  to  newspapers  all 


fi cation  of  newspapers. 


Music  Store  Plugs  Tunes 
From  "Panama  Hattie" 


Smith's  "Take  a  Letter"  Date 


streamer  a'c  eve  hi;  a  a. 


Cornell  Attracts  Kids 
With  "Secret  Code" 

For  the  opening  of  his  serial,  "The  Secret 
Code."'"  at  Schine's  Pontiac  theatre,  in  Sara- 
nac  Lake,  3NL  Y.,  Clayton  Cornell  ran  a 
special  trailer  two  weeks  in  advance  aimed 
at  the  kids.  The  opening  date  was  plugged 
from  the  stage  for  two  Saturdays  prior  to 

ing  the  rural  area.  The  weekly  theatre  pro- 
gram also  gave  the  serial  equal  billing  with 


Girls  in  Russian  Attire 
Aid  "Moscow  Strikes  Back" 

physician  on  the  staff  of  a  local  hospital,  Joe 
Boyle  at  the  Poli  Broadway,  in  Norwich. 
Conn.,  for  "Moscow  Strikes  Back"  was  able 
to  arrange  for  young  ladies  connected  with 
the  Russian  Relief  societies  to  come  to  the 
theatre  in  native  costumes  to  take  over  the 
War  Savings  booth  during  the  run  of  the 
film  for  atmosphere.  A  40  by  60  was  planted 
in  the  lobby  a  week  in  advance  made  up  of 
headlines  of  newspapers  showing  leads  on 
Russian  gains,  etc  In  addition,  a  Russian 
choir  was  on  hand  opening  night. 


64 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


FIRST  OF  SCRAP  CAMPAIGNS 


Following  the  announcement 
the  best  campaigns  to  get 
They  are  included  in  the  list 


last  week  of  special  Citations  from  Donald  Nelson  for 
in  the  scrap,  a  number  of  entries  have  been  submitted, 
of  competitors  for  the  Quigley  War  Showmanship  Award. 


EARLE  H.  BAILEY 

Warren,  Warren,  Ohio 

ANTONIO  BALDUCCI 
Norbury,  Ellenville,  N.  Y. 

LIGE  BRIEN 

Kenyon,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CHRIS  CHAMALES 
Roxy,  Delphi,  Ind. 

ARTIE  COHN 

Roosevelt,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CLAYTON  CORNELL 
Pontiac,  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 

BILL  ELDER 

Loew's,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

BILL  FREISE 

Rivoli,  LaCrosse,  Wis. 

BUD  HICKLE 

Molino,  Porterville,  Calif. 


A.  J.  KALBERER 
Switow's  Indiana 
Washington,  Ind. 

JOE  LONGO 

Loew's  State,  Boston,  Mass. 

NELSON  McCOLLOM 
Tivoli,  Gary,  Ind. 

ARCHIE  MARLIN 
Liberty,  Sunnyside,  Wash. 

JACK  MATLACK 
Hunt  Theatres 
Medford,  Ore. 

BILL  MORTON 

RKO  Albee,  Providence,  R.  I. 

FRANK  MURPHY 

Loew's  State,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

LESTER  POLLOCK 
Loew's,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 


SYDNEY  J.  POPPAY 
Majestic,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

ORVILLE  RENNIE 
Paramount,  Cedar  Rapids,  la. 

FRANCIS  SCHLAX 
Kenosha,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

BOYD  F.  SCOTT 
Grand,  Holdenville,  Okla. 

ED  SELETTE 

Strand,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

JIM  SHARKE 

Capitol,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

ARNOLD  STOLTZ 
Avon,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

TED  TESCHNER 
Esquire,  Toledo,  Ohio 


Marine  League  Gets  Plaque 
From  Smith  on  "Wake  Island" 

To  usher  in  his  date  on  "Wake  Island"  at 
the  Paramount,  in  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  Clyde 
Smith  arranged  for  Walter  Evel,  a  local 
newspaperman,  to  present  the  local  detach- 
ment of  the  Marine  League  Corp  with  a  spe- 
cial bronze  plaque.  This  was  accepted  by 
the  Sergeant  in  charge  of  local  enlistments, 
at  a  special  ceremony  on  the  stage.  The 
plaque  was  displayed  one  week  in  advance  at 
one  of  the  local  store  windows  with  appro- 
priate credits,  and  a  background  of  40  by 
60's  on  "Wake  Island,"  the  American  Flag, 
a  copy  of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion and  a  front  drop  urging  all  to  buy  War 
Bonds  and  Stamps  to  avenge  Wake  Island. 

The  front  of  the  theatre's  Bond  House 
was  placarded  with  Marine  enlistment  one- 
sheets,  built  a  special  board  using  cartoons 
and  special  drawings  depicting  the  heroic 
stand  of  the  Marines  at  Wake  Island.  An 
enlistment  booth  was  also  set  up  in  the  lobby 
of  the  theatre,  which  was  attended  by 
Marines  during  the  entire  engagement  of  the 
picture.  At  a  nominal  cost,  Smith  received 
eighteen  spot  announcements  over  station 
KWFC  and  24's,  three's  and  one  sheets 
were  planted  around  town. 

Lending  Library  Installed 
At  Drive-ln  by  Harris 

Newest  innovation  at  the  Drive-In  thea- 
tre, in  Miami,  as  promoted  by  Milt  Harris 
is  a  lending  library,  enabling  patrons  to 
read  while  it  is  still  light.  Folks  pick  out 
the  book  they  would  like  to  read  when  they 
come  into  the  ramp  and  they  are  then  col- 
lected upon  leaving  the  theatre  when  the 
individual  speakers  are  removed  from  their 
cars.  Harris  says  that  in  many  cases  regu- 
lar patrons  ask  permission  to  take  the  books 
home  with  them  to  return  at  a  later  date. 
Milt  also  has  available  for  the  perusal  of 
his  patrons  the  latest  fan  magazines. 

In  addition  a  tieup  has  just  been  effected 


with  Station  WIOD  whereby  preliminary 
auditions  for  amateur  talent  will  take  place 
every  Friday  night  with  the  winners  per- 
forming on  a  special  stage  at  the  Drive-In 
to  compete  for  War  Bonds  and  Stamps  fur- 
nished by  the  station  and  theatre. 


Sonja  Henie  Personal 
Publicizes  "Iceland" 

Since  Sonja  Henie  arrived  in  Indianapo- 
lis to  open  her  Hollywood  Ice  Carnival  at 
the  time  Ken  Collins  and  Len  Tuttle  had  the 
picture  "Iceland"  booked  into  the  Indiana 
theatre,  they  promoted  a  special  event  at 
the  Coliseum  among  the  local  amateur 
skaters  to  pick  a  "Miss  Iceland  of  Indian- 
apolis," which  contest  pulled  heavily  on  the 
sports  pages.  The  winner  was  personally 
presented  with  the  Sonja  Henie  Trophy  by 
the  star  herself  on  the  opening  night  of  the 
picture. 

The  boys  further  arranged  for  photos  to 
be  taken  for  the  papers  of  Miss  Henie,  Gen- 
eral Fred  S.  Borum  of  the  Troop  Carrier 
Command  and  Ensign  Mary  Richmond,  the 
first  WAVE  in  the  area  who  had  arrived 
in  town  the  same  day  as  Sonja.  It  is  re- 
ported that  the  publicity  about  the  star  be- 
ing in  town  was  so  great  that  a  special  po- 
lice guard  was  called  out  to  hold  back  the 
crowds,  and  although  Miss  Henie's  appear- 
ance at  the  theatre  was  a  strictly  informal 
one,  it  was  one  of  the  biggest  things  to  hit 
Indianapolis  in  some  time. 


Weber  Gives  "Miniver"  Roses 

Jack  Weber,  manager  of  the  Colonial  the- 
atre, Lebanon,  Pa.,  tied  in  with  the  local 
war  stamp  committee  for  "Mrs.  Miniver" 
providing  for  the  first  200  persons  purchas- 
ing war  bonds  receiving  a  Miniver  rose.  He 
also  held  an  advance  screening  for  local 
officials,  conducted  a  newspaper  search  for 
the  oldest  and  youngest  war  mothers  in 
town  and  had  the  vicar's  speech  from  the 
picture  distributed  at  all  the  churches. 


'Yankee  Doodle' 
Girl  Sought  in 
Cleveland  Drive 

A  barrage  of  newspaper  publicity  was 
landed  by  Knox  Strachan,  advertising  and 
publicity  head  for  Warner  Cleveland  the- 
atres, for  the  date  on  "Yankee  Doodle"  at 
the  Hippodrome  theatre.  Mayor  Frank  J. 
Lausche  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  a 
"Yankee  Doodle  Week,"  which  was  good 
for  stories  and  art.  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 
war  bond  posters  were  distributed  to  defense 
and  regular  factories  throughout  the  entire 
city  two  weeks  in  advance  of  the  picture's 
opening  and  war  bond  posters  were  also 
planted  at  every  bond  selling  counter  and 
window  throughout  the  downtown  area. 

A  newspaper  contest  was  landed  around 
the  subject  "Who  Is  Cleveland's  Feminine 
Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  ?"  to  find  the  woman 
who  is  contributing  her  share  in  the  war 
effort  either  through  volunteer  work  of 
some  nature  or  defense  work.  The  contest 
broke  five  days  ahead  with  story  and  art 
each  day,  the  winning  story  appearing  on 
opening  day.  The  winner  and  her  escort 
were  feted  at  dinner  at  one  of  the  leading 
hotels,  were  then  guests  at  the  theatre  to 
see  the  picture.  Prizes  to  the  winner  and  per- 
son suggesting  her  name  were  war  bonds 
and  war  stamps  used  as  runner-up  prizes. 

Reported  as  a  first-timer  for  the  city, 
Strachan  says  an  entire  page  in  one  of  the 
local  dailies  featured  "Gifts  for  Your  Yan- 
kee Doodle."  The  first  page  of  the  second 
section  of  the  paper  included  an  editorial 
feature  layout  with  art  and  story  on  "Over 
There,"  and  a  challenge  for  a  song  for 
World  War  II.  Numerous  stores  came 
through  with  effective  window  displays  tied 
directly  to  the  picture,  fleet  of  news  trucks 
were  appropriately  bannered,  entire  staff  at 
the  theatre  wore  badges  three  weks  in  ad- 
vance and  a  special  display  was  landed  in 
the  public  library  tying  in  with  the  life  of 
George  M.  Cohan. 

Strachan  credits  Jane  Meisel  and  Douglas 
Fleming  with  assistance  on,  the  campaign. 


One  of  the  many  effective  window  dis- 
plays promoted  by  Knox  Strachan  for  the 
"Yankee  Doodle"  date  at  Warner's  Hippo- 
drome, in  Cleveland. 


October    3  1.  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


65 


EXPLOITATION  IN  PICTURES 


The  Gallo  Studios 


Ed  Fisher,  publicity  director  of  Loew's  Cleveland  the- 
atres, arranged  for  this  window  in  the  Terminal  Tower. 


Lillian  V.  Pennell,  owner  and  manager  of  the 
Heart  theatre,  Hartford,  Mich.,  in  the  heart  of  the 
fruit  belt,  gets  a  chance  each  year  to  put  a  display  at 
the  Van  Buren  County  Fair.  Shown  above  is  this  year's 
display.  She  worked  and  pulled  the  crepe  paper 
into  tubes  of  about  ten  different  colors.  Photos 
were  used  on  about  a  dozen  features.  The  Fair 
lasted  for  six  days  and  5,000  tickets  were  sold  a  day, 
making  the  display  valuable  to  the  theatre. 


Howard  Pettengill  put 
this  animated  display 
(right)  in  the  lobby 
of  the  Beach,  Miami 
Beach.  Globe  and  cam- 
eraman turn. 


AttTHf  WAV  FROM 

mmucmiR 


Hay  King  Photo 

Members  of  the  Superman  Club 
in  the  Utah  theatre,  Salt  Lake  City, 
compare  a  super  Superman  erected  by 
Charlie  Pincus,  manager,  with  the 
one  in  the  Deseret  News. 


This  feller  was 
hired  by  Bill  Elder 
of  Loew's, 
Indianapolis. 


Above  display  in  the  window  of 
Norwich,  Conn.,  store  is  devoted  to 
records  from  every  musical  picture  playing 
the  Broadway  theatre.  Joe  Boyle 
really  has  a  "record"  tieup  there. 


"Mr.  Bug"  at 
rhe  Bugg.  The 
rheatre  is  in 
Chicago.  Clar- 
ence Wagner 
sent  the  ohoto. 


66 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    31,  1942 


Eighth  Annual  Baby  Parade 
Brings  Business  to  Kessler 


By  Feature  Foto  Service 


These  are  but  a  few  of  the  entrants  in  Bob  Kessler's  Baby  Parade  at  the  Benn,  in  Philadelphia 


Of  no  mean  proportions  was  the  eighth 
annual  Baby  Contest  and  parade  held  by 
Robert  Kessler  at  the  Warner  Benn  theatre, 
in  Philadelphia.  The  selection  of  the  win- 
ners was  held  from  the  stage  immediately 
following  a  huge  parade  consisting  of  bands, 
colorful  floats,  bugle  and  drum  corps,  etc. 
The  entire  proceedings  were  photographed 
in  motion  pictures,  thus  insuring  Bob  ad- 
ditional business  the  following  week,  when 
the  pictures  were  shown  at  the  theatre. 

The  opening  gun  of  the  campaign,  which 
started  one  month  ahead,  was  a  trailer  invit- 
ing mothers  to  register  their  babies  at  the 
boxoffice  and  giving  information  on  play- 
date,  age  requirements,  etc.  An  attractive 
40  by  60  was  also  placed  in  the  lobby.  Write- 
ups  appeared  in  the  Philadelphia  papers  30 
days  ahead  as  did  weekly  writeups  in  the 
local  newspapers  and  that  of  the  surround- 
ing sections  for  the  same  length  of  time. 

Further  publicity  was  gleaned  through  a 
newspaper  search  for  a  local  miss  to  act  as 
chief  hostess  for  the  Baby  Parade.  Pictures 
of  the  contestants  were  planted  in  the  papers 
together  with  stories. 

The  cooperation  of  the  police  department 


Defense  Workers  Sold 
For  "Fantasia"  Opening 

Although  Camden,  N.  J.,  has  long  been 
classified  as  having  "action"  audiences,  Birk 
Binnard,  manager  of  Warners'  Grand  thea- 
tre, promoted  a  successful  campaign  in  the 
interests  of  "Fantasia."  A  special  flyer  was 
sent  to  the  thousands  of  defense  workers  at 
the  local  RCA-Victor  plant,  spotting  notices 
as  well  on  the  factory  bulletin  boards.  He 
tied  in  with  all  RCA-Victor  music  dealers 
in  the  area  for  window  displays  and  had 
these  same  dealers  conduct  a  whispering 
campaign  among  their  patrons.  Personal 
telephone  contacts  were  made  to  the  heads 
of  the  women's  clubs  and  various  musical 
groups  and  societies  in  the  territory,  plus 
regular  pre-showing  lobby  advance,  news- 
paper display  space  and  newspaper  art  and 
stories. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  appearance  of 
"Whirlaway"  at  the  Garden  State  horse  rac- 
ing track  near  Camden,  Binnard  dug  up  a 
short     showing     the     Calumet  Breeding 


was  solicited  for  handling  the  crowds  at  the 
parade,  while  the  Street  Cleaning  Depart- 
ment also  aided  in  cleaning  and  watering  the 
streets  the  morning  of  the  parade. 

Three  weeks  ahead  of  the  show,  Bob  tied 
up  his  local  merchants  for  gifts  to  be  award- 
ed to  the  winners;  these  were  used  for  dis- 
play purposes  in  the  windows  of  the  cooper- 
ating stores.  In  this  conection  cards  were 
also  used  announcing  the  coming  event.  The 
Round  Tabler  further  tied  up  one  of  the 
leading  baby  food  companies  for  the  distri- 
bution of  various  samples  of  its  foods  to  be 
given  all  entrants,  in  addition  to  prizes  for 
the  "outstanding"  babies. 

Not  overlooking  an  angle  for  the  safety 
of  all  concerned,  Kessler  even  went  so  far 
as  to  get  in  touch  with  the  hospitals  for 
volunteer  nurses  to  be  on  hand  to  take  care 
of  anyone  becoming  ill.  The  local  health 
centers  were  also  tied  up  for  entrants.  When 
a  mother  took  a  baby  to  be  examined  it  was 
suggested  that  she  enter  the  baby  in  the 
Benn  theatre's  Baby  Parade  and  Contest. 

All  of  the  local  and  suburban  newspapers 
were  approached  for  stories,  and  photos  of 
the  entire  event  were  publicized. 


Farms  in  Kentucky  and  shots  of  "Whirl- 
away"  in  training.  He  spotted  the  short 
subject  to  play  concurrently  with  the  big 
race,  making  up  a  special  throwaway  in  the 
nature  of  a  race-track  tip  sheet.  Heading  it: 
"Today's  Hot  Tip,"  the  heralds  were  dis- 
tributed at  the  race  track,  in  the  boxes  of  all 
local  hotels.  In  addition,  he  billed  the  short 
in  newspaper  ads  and  on  the  marquee  appro- 
priately. 


Ghosts  on  Stage  Exploit 
"Hold  That  Ghost" 

To  sell  her  date  on  "Hold  That  Ghost" 
at  the  Freeburn  theatre,  in  Freeburn,  Ky., 
Ella  Michael  dressed  three  of  her  staff  in 
"ghost"  outfits  and  had  them  mix  with  the 
audience  before  the  show  started  with  signs 
on  their  backs  carrying  title  letters.  Just 
before  the  show  started,  the  "ghost"  walked 
the  stage  and  gave  a  brief  spiel  on  the  com- 
ing attraction.  The  theatre  truck  was  also 
appropriately  bannered,  while  the  "ghosts" 
distributed  heralds  as  crowds  assembled. 


Numerous  Radio  Plugs  Aid 
Fitzpatrick's  Stage  Show 

For  the  stage  presentation  of  "Victory 
Revue"  at  Loew's  Poli,  in  Waterbury, 
Conn.,  Ed  Fitzpatrick  arranged  for  Abe 
Sher,  the  master  of  ceremonies  who  was  in 
town  for  a  couple  of  days  before  the  revue 
opened,  to  be  guest  starred  four  times  over 
both  local  radio  stations  WATR  and 
WBRY,  where  he  was  interviewed  on  the 
outstanding  highlights  of  his  career.  Sher 
was  also  master  of  ceremonies  at  several 
bond  rallies  in  the  center  of  the  city;  these 
were  broadcast  over  both  stations  with  plugs 
accord  his  coming  appearance  on  the  stage. 
A  singer  with  the  revue  was  also  guest 
starred. 

The  Roxyettes  starred  with  the  show  as- 
sisted in  selling  bonds  and  stamps  in  the 
lobby  after  all  performances,  their  efforts 
being  mentioned  in  the  Man-on-the- Street 
broadcast  from  in  front  of  the  theatre.  One 
of  the  leading  women's  shops  came  through 
with  a  plug  of  "Victory"  fashions  on  their 
radio  program  and  credited  the  Victory 
Revue  as  the  inspiration  for  these  styles. 

Superman  Thrill  Show  Held 
By  United  Detroit  Theatres 

United  Detroit  Theatres  originated  a  new 
idea  in  cartoon  parties  Saturday  at  the 
Rosedale  Theatre  when  they  combined  three 
"Superman"  cartoons  into  a  "Superman 
Thrill  Show";  added  two  other  animated 
shorts  for  an  hour's  cartoon  program  plus 
the  regular  "Proven  Hits"  features,  "Ghost 
Breakers"  and  "Man's  Castle."  Kid  attend- 
ance at  the  theatre  tripled. 

The  "Superman  Thrill  Show"  was  adver- 
tised a  week  in  advance  by  the  theatre  in 
special  screen  trailers;  lobby  easels  were 
displayed,  and  by  making  a  publicity  tie-up 
with  the  Detroit  News,  which  runs  "Super- 
man" comics  daily  and  Sunday.  The  Su- 
perman Thrill  Show"  idea  will  be  used 
shortly  in  several  other  neighborhood 
United  Detroit  Theatres. 

The  cartoons  shown  were  "Superman," 
"Mechanical  Monster,"  "Broadway  Lim- 
ited," "Crazy  Cruise"  and  "Saps  in  Chaps." 

Counter  Displays  Sell 
"Holiday  Inn"  for  Smith 

As  part  of  his  advance  exploitation  on 
"Holiday  Inn"  at  the  Paramount  theatre,  in 
Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  Clyde  Smith  arranged  for 
counter  displays  in  stores  which  featured  the 
Irving  Berlin  numbers  on  phonograph  rec- 
ords. At  a  nominal  cost,  12  spot  announce- 
ments were  landed  on  Station  KTHS,  in  re- 
turn for  which  the  theatre  received  gratis 
plugs  for  its  War  Bond  Rally. 

Arm  bands  were  worn  by  the  entire  staff 
one  week  in  advance  of  playdates  and  for 
newspaper  coverage,  ads  were  run  four  days 
ahead  with  art  and  story  to  accompany  two 
days  in  advance,  winding  up  with  an  eight- 
column  streamer  on  the  opening  day  with  art 
and  story.  A  lobby  display  seven  days  ahead 
also  heralded  the  opening. 


Foreign  Language  Heralds 

Since  the  Strand  theatre,  in  New  Bedford, 
Mass.,  is  located  in  a  densely  populated 
foreign  community,  Eddie  Selette  recently 
distributed  a  tinted  institutional  herald.  Di- 
vided into  four  separate  boxes,  the  copy  was 
printed  in  English,  Polish,  French  and 
Portuguese. 


October    31,  1942 


MANAGERS'    ROUND  TABLE 


67 


EFFECTIVE  USE  OF  REVERSE 


IT  CANNOT  BE  HELD  LONGER! 

GARY  COOPER 

THE  PRIDE 

OF  THE 

YANKEES' 


l  TERESA  WRIGHT 


CHARLES  BOYEB  GINGER  ROGERS  HENRY  FO 
RITA  HAYWORTH  CHARLES  LAUGHTON 
^.  EDWARD  G.  ROBINSON   ETHEL  WATERS 

PAUL  ROBESON   "ROCHESTER'  la 

TALES  of  MANHATTAN 


KflTH  MEMORIAL 

DOORS  OPEN  »&»  A.  M. 


The  reverse  lettering  appears 
in  this  ad  by  Carlo  Vannicola, 
advertising  artist  for  RKO  in 
Boston. 


The  daring  romantic  escapades  ci  s  mm  MATINEE 
IDOL  . . .  The  remarkable  adventures  r  i  BOWEBY 
Bl'H. .  Tie  uproarious  love  aUair  .:  .  F1IBTATI0OS 
BLONDE    .  1«  :nr  ring  musical 
irinmpn  rj  i  800CIE-W00GIE 
N  PIANIST  T>s  •perlecl  crime" 

-\  A  a  MASTER  CBIMIMA!  . 

s  intriguing, v  um  umaa 

"TV*  ab  (he  -nosi  AMAZING  notion 

.    .  picture  YOU'VE  ever  enjoyed! 


Alice  Gorham,  director  of 
advertising  and  publicity  for 
United  Detroit  Theatres, 
executed  this. 


The  blackness  of  this  large  ad, 
surrounded  with  plenty  of  white 
space,  made  it  specially  effec- 
tive. It  was  used  by  Fox  in  Mil- 
waukee. Don  Demien  is  adver- 
tising manager  for  the  circuit. 


"Put  tha  Squeeze  on  tha  Jap-new" 
IUY  WAR  BONDS  HERE  DAY  AND  NIGHT! 


La-de-ez  and  Gen-f ul-men! 

Your  Attention,  Pleeze,  For  Just  One  Moment!! 
• 

We've  Been  Springing  a  Lot  of  World  Premieres  Lately 
But,  Here's  One  We've  JUST  GOT  to  LETYOU  KNOW  ABOUT! 

What,  with  Mediord  hei=;  the  hub  of  the  unWene  . . .  the  peat  tenter  el  the  -.r,:.:cd  world... 
and  lit!  new  home  oi  the  tamed  Girt  Dlrltion.  . .  ITS  NO  SMALL  WONDER  Hellf-wood  bat 
r>t=  u«  tba  pick  of  the  BIC  PICTURES  for  World  Premiere  thcnriagl  Aad,  bait.  w«  honestly 
b«li«T»  w»'t«  gcri  a  picture  wh&te  fame  will  spread  from  the  rocky  bottoms  el  Maine  to  the 
kixsad  bottom*  of  California  1 1 

starts  TODAY 

for  ONE  BIG  WEEK 


Three  eatciUr-c  atari  fertagiB}  ?;z 

that's  vibrantly  eUt*  • 
drama  that1*  poignantly  real  .  ■  . 
laughter  that's  J 07-001! j-  bumanl 
Erery  moment  a  thrilling  adren- 
tare  la  FUlt  1 1 


JEAN 


RONALD 


GRANT  •  ARTHUR  •  COLMAN 

"The  Talk  of  the  Town" 


with  Edgar  Buchanan  •  GUnda  FarraH    •    Directed  by  the  man  who  g»*-»  r" 


-Woman  of  the  Year* 


all  in  one  Munificent 

MOTION  PICTURE! 


HAYWORTH 


BOYER 


ROGERS 


FONDA 


LAUGHTON 


CdLuoui  q. 

ROBINSON 


AOMERO 


ROCHESTER 


Tales  of 
Manhattan  * 


THOMAS  MITCHELL 
GAIL  PATRICK 
ROLAND  YOUNG 
JAMES  GLEASON 
GEORGE  SANDERS 
i.  CARROL  NAISH 
PAUL  ROBESON 
ETHEL  WATERS 


and  tUe. 


HALL  JOHNSON  CHOIR 


CONTINUOUS 
SHOWS  SATURDAY 


RIRLTO 


THEATRE 

1 

rfffj 

1 

MATINEES: 

(til  G)  40c-tSc-lIc  Inc.  Tex 
EVENINGS: 
(iftar  6)  Me-2Se-IIe 
.    Inc.  Tax 


Jack  Matlack  used  this  ad  on  a  world  premiere 

in  Medford,  Ore.,  where  he  is  exploitation  director  for  the 

Hunt  Theatres.  He  uses  the  reverse  only  for  the  signature  cut. 


TOMORROW! 

IBlSCflDSID^PflLflCE 


Prices  for  This  Great  Attraction 
44c.4o  1 
55c  to  6 

75c  *•  c-do 


/5c  t«  C14* 

U  r-.ee*  Ineli'J^ti 


68 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


October    3  1,     I  942 


Ex-Theatreman,  Now  in  Navy 
Is  Welcomed  by  Managers 


The  following  letter  from  a  former 
theatreman  now  serving  on  one  of 
Uncle  Sam's  newest  heavy  cruisers  was 
written  in  August  hut  pist  received: 

Editor,  Managers'  Round  Table: 

I  have  already  received  several  copies  of 
Motion  Picture  Herald  and  one  of  Better 
Theatres  and  I  want  you  to  know  that  it 
has  certainly  seemed  like  old  times  again 
to  wander  through  their  familiar  pages. 

When  I  enlisted  in  the  Navy  in  August, 
1941,  I  brought  to  a  close  some  mighty 
wonderful  opportunities  given  me  by  John 
Danz,  president  of  Sterling  theatres  in  Se- 
attle, Wash.  I  have  always  been  greatly 
desirous  of  learning  all  I  could  about  the 
theatre  business,  and  when  I  left  for  the 
Navy,  I  was  determined  to  continue  this 
search  for  information  and  material.  In 
other  words,  I  am  looking  forward  to  re- 
turning to  that  profession  when  this  is  all 
over,  and  so  I  want  to  be  as  well  up  on 
what's  going  on  as  I  possibly  can.  It  was 
with  this  thought  in  mind  that  I  subscribed 
to  your  publication  and  I  am  certainly  very 
pleased  with  the  information  that  it  con- 
tains, for  it  is  undoubtedly  the  finest  and 
most  complete  periodical  that  I  can  pos- 
sibly obtain. 

Since  beginning  my  cruise  in  the  Navy, 
I  have  taken  advantage  of  every  opportu- 
nity to  observe  everything  possible  in  the 
theatres  of  every  city  where  I  have  been. 
Needless  to  write,  I  have  learned  a  great 
deal  from  this  practical  observation  and 
study — all  of  which  I  am  hoping  some  day 
to  place  at  my  advantage. 

I  read  in  your  section  recently  of  the  fine 
spirit  shown  by  theatre  managers  to  service- 
men formerly  employed  in  theatres,  and  I 
could  well  appreciate  same,  for  I  have  been 


BIRTHDAYS 


October  3  1st 

Oscar  F.  Swanson 
Victor  Cornilliac 

November  1st 

John  G.  Townsend 
Dorothy  Flukes 
Andrew  Gorzo 
James  A.  Carey 

2nd 

Russell  M.  Gohue 
Alec  H.  Hurwitz 
H.  Douglas  Carpenter 
W.  Lee  Byers 
J.  S.  McNeill 
Carl  Bechdel 
John  J.  Cotter 
Robert  C.  Bowman 
Hinton  Newsome 

3rd 

Ben  Rosenberg 
Edward  R.  Golden 
Eddie  G.  Kane 
E.  V.  Dinerman 
Carmon  Phillips 
Lester  Kolste 
Milford  H.  Parker 


November  4th 

Edwin  J.  Adler 
Donald  Seasholtz 
Arnold  Stoltz 
Ray  O'Connell 
Brewster  Newton 

5th 

Charles  S.  Edwards 
Sydney  Gottlieb 
H.  Ash 

Alexander  Otto 
Al  Lippe 

Dominick  Lucente 
Harry  Neun 
Frank  Murphy 

6th 

William  Exton 
Leslie  Paine 
Raymond  Mellien 
George  L.  Peppier 
P.  E.  Fenelon 
Frank  Harrington 
August  A.  Wolf 
James  A.  Aaron 
Lionel  Hansher 
Frank  L.  Cronin 
E.  E.  Johnson 


very  pleased  with  the  wonderful  attitude  and 
the  warmth  with  which  I  was  received  by 
theatre  managers  wherever  I  have  intro- 
duced myself.  This,  I  know,  has  meant  a 
great  deal  to  the  servicemen.  On  several 
occasions  I  have  been  conducted  on  tours 
of  theatres  by  their  respective  managers. 
Unfortunately,  I  am  not  able  to  list  any  of 
the  theatres  where  I  have  received  such 
a  fine  welcome,  although  I  wish  they  could 
receive  some  kind  of  citation  for  their  un- 
heralded kindness  and  respect  to  former 
brothers  in  their  profession. 

Thanks  to  George  Brooks 

I  would,  however,  like  very  much  for  Mr. 
George  Brooks,  manager  of  the  largest  the. 
atre  owned  by  the  Consolidated  Amusement 
Company,  to  know  that  his  kindness  to  me 
shall  not  soon  be  forgotten.  Although  I 
was  with  Mr.  Brooks  but  a  short  time,  he 
gave  me  a  royal  reception  which  certainly 
warmed  my  heart.  Upon  inquiry,  I  learned 
that  he  is  very  popular  in  his  community, 
and  judging  from  his  congenial  courtesy 
to  his  patrons  during  our  interview,  I  do 
not  doubt  this  one  bit.  He  seemed  quite 
interested  in  what  I  had  to  say  concerning 
motion  picture  exhibiting  in  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington and  Southern  California ;  and  natu- 
rally, I  was  very  concerned  with  his  views, 
for  he  manages  the  largest  and  most  beau- 
tiful theatre  in  his  particular  city — and 
which,  incidentally,  is  considered  one  of  the 
outstanding  theatres  in  the  world. 

I  have  enjoyed  your  Round  Table  dis- 
cussions, for  they  seem  so  much  like  the 
managers'  meetings  that  I  attended  prior  to 
my  enlisting  in  the  service.  I  am  sure  that 
I  shall  continue  to  receive  this  enjoyment 
and  I  know  that  I  shall  be  fully  justified  in 
feeling  that  I  will  learn  much  from  Motion 
Picture  Herald  and  Better  Theatres. 

Incidentally,  the  ship's  motion  picture  pro- 
jectionist shares  my  enjoyment  in  the  ar- 
rival of  your  magazines,  for  since  he  was 
formerly  an  operator  in  Arizona  we  have 
been  able  to  enjoy  many  hours  of  discus- 
sions concerning  your  articles. 

(signed)  William  F.  Katzky 


Mel  Stephens,  Now  in  Dunnville 
Started  as  a  Spare  Usher 

Like  many  another  theatre  manager,  Mel 
R.  Stephens  started  as  a  spare  usher.  Mel 
is  a  Canadian  by  birth.  The  place  was 
Windsor,  Ontario,  and  the  date,  Jan.  19, 
1918. 

His  first  job  was  as  a  spare  usher  in  the 
old  Regent  theatre  in  Windsor.  Then  he 
moved  to  the  Empire  with  Ed  Lamourieux. 
There  he  served  as  relief  doorman,  head 
usher  and  stunt  man.  Then  he  went  back 
to  the  Regent  as  doorman  and  janitor  and 
later  became  assistant  manager. 

Art  Ducharme  as  manager  and  Mel  as 
assistant  manager  opened  the  New  Park 
theatre  in  Windsor.  A  year  later  Mel  left 
to  join  Twentieth  Century  theatres  as  man- 
ager of  the  Centre  theatre,  London.  From 
there  he  was  transferred  to  the  Granada  in 
Dunnville,  one  of  the  air  training  centres. 


MORE  SHOWMEN  MOVE 

FRANK  BICKERSTAFF,  city  manager 
for  Lucas  and  Jenkins  in  Athens,  Ga.,  has 
resigned  that  post  to  join  the  Navy  with 
rank  of  Ensign.  "Bick"  will  take  his  train- 
ing course  at  South  Boston. 

ROBERT  FOLEY,  operator  of  Rolla,  N. 
D.,  has  been  appointed  manager  of  the 
Pioneer  Theatres  of  Iowa  and  Howard 
Theatres  at  Jefferson,  la.,  replacing  Charles 
Marks,  resigned. 

REX  CORD,  formerly  manager  of  a  Cen- 
tral States  theatre,  at  Fremont,  Neb.,  has 
been  appointed  manager  of  the  Northwood 
theatre,  at  Northwood,  la. 

G.  H.  WATTS  has  purchased  the  Osage 
theatre,  Osage,  la.,  from  Ed  Mason. 

WILLIAM  GUTHRIE  has  purchased  the 
Dows  theatre,  Dows,  la.,  from  Howard 
Pollard. 

EARL  BRIER  has  closed  his  Milton  the- 
atre, at  Milton,  la.,  for  the  duration  and  has 
joined  the  Army  as  a  mechanic.  His  brother, 
Leslie,  who  has  assisted  in  the  theatre,  has 
been  called  for  radio  service. 

GLENN  FRANKE,  former  Round  Tabler 
Lobby  Laff  cartoonist  and  now  in  the  Army, 
has  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Technical 
Corporal  at  the  Army  Radio  School  at 
Omaha,  Neb. 

SAMUEL  BALTT  has  been  named  mana- 
ger of  the  Byrd  theatre,  in  Philadelphia. 

SIDNEY  BLOOMFIELD  is  now  manager 
of  the  Lennox  theatre,  in  Philadelphia. 


Ernest  Schwartz,  president  of  the  Cleve- 
land Motion  Picture  Exhibitors'  Association, 
was  a  visitor  to  New  York  last  week  and 
stopped  at  the  Round  Table  offices.  Mr. 
Schwartz,  an  attorney,  came  East  on  a 
legal  matter. 


October    3  1,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


the  great 
national  medium 
for  showmen 


CLASSIFIED 
ADVERTISING 

Ten  cents  per  word,  money-order  or  check  with  copy.  Count  initials,  box  number  and  address.  Minimum  insertion, 
$1.  Four  insertions  for  the  price  of  three.  Contract  rates  on  application.  No  borders  or  cuts.  Forms  close 
Mondays  at  5  P.M.  Publisher  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  copy.  Film  and  trailer  service  advertising  not 
accepted.  Classified  advertising  not  subject  to  agency  commission.  Address  correspondence,  copy  and  checks 
MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD,  Classified  Dept.,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York  City 


HELP  WANTED 


WANTED  FOR  THE  PANAMA  CANAL:  MO- 
tion  picture  operators,  with  at  least  3  years'  experience. 
Salary  $175  month.  Mast  be  capable  of  operating 
standard  35  mm  sound  motion  picture  equipment,  act 
as  chief  operator  and  make  repairs  ordinarily  expected 
of  a  chief  operator.  Musi  be  male  American  citizens, 
physically  sound,  and  preferably  under  43  years  of  age. 
Free  transportation  by  plane  from  Brownsville,  Texas, 
wages  beginning  date  of  departure  from  United  States; 
also  S3  per  diem  allowance  from  time  of  departure 
from  home  address  until  time  of  departure  from  States, 
and  railroad  transportation  from  home  to  Brownsville. 
Appointees  must  go  to  Isthmus  alone.  Bachelor  quar- 
ters at  reasonable  rates  available  upon  arrival.  For 
particulars  write  "CHIEF  OF  OFFICE.  The  Panama 
Canal,  Washington.  D.  C,"  giving  brief  statement  of 
training  and  experience. 

TEXAS  TOWN  OF  TEN  THOUSAND  WANTS 
good  artist,  one  that  can  use  air  brush  and  do  oil  and 
water  color  work.  Prefer  one  that  can  do  short  booth 
relief  if  necessary.  Answering  state  age,  draft  classi- 
fication, salary  expected.  BOX  1575,  MOTION  PIC- 
TURE HERALD.  

SALESMEN  WITH  FILM  OR  THEATRE  Ex- 
perience to  travel  in  protected  territory,  call  on  thea- 
tre managers  and  exhibitors.  Liberal  commission 
basis.  Must  have  car.  Possible  earnings  £75  to  S100 
weekly.  Give  background  and  experience  in  first  letter. 
BOX  1506.  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

PROJECTIONIST -ASSISTANT  MANAGER 
wanted  immediately  for  practically  new  600- seat  Daw 
Theatre  at  Tappahannock,  Va.  $25  weekly  plus  bonus 
to  start.  Prefer  family  man  or  draft  exempt.  Write 
full  details.    This  is  permanent  job. 


THEATRES 


WANT  TO  BUY,  LEASE  OR  RENT  THEATRES, 
running  or  closed,  equipped  or  otherwise,  located  any- 
where.   ROX  1555- A.  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

FOR  SALE:  THEATRES  IN  SEVERAL  STATES. 
BOX  1556-A,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

WANTED:  THEATRES  TO  LEASE  IN  VIRGINIA, 
West  Virginia,  North  Carolina.  BOX  1570,  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD.  

THEATRE— PROFITABLE,  MODERN.  WISCON- 
sin.  Must  sell  immediately.  Excellent  gross  and  net. 
Terms  to  responsible  party.  BOX  1372,  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD.  

THEATRE— MICHIGAN.  BEAUTIFUL,  MODERN 
house.  Proven  money  maker.  Lease  and  equipment. 
Some  terms.  Can  be  investigated  thoroughly.  BOX 
1573,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD.  

CHICAGO  THEATRE.  AIR  CONDITIONED.  AL- 
wavs  profitable.  Good  reason  for  selling.  Rigid  in- 
vestigation invited.  BOX  1574,  MOTION  PICTURE 
HERALD. 


USED  GENERAL 
EQUIPMENT 


SOME  THEATRE  CAN  USE  YOUR  OLD  EQUIP  - 
ment.  A  little  ad  here  will  reach  thousands  of  potential 
customers.  Only  ten  cents  a  word  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  have  to  sell.  Try  it  today.  MOTION 
PICTURE  HERALD.  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

THEATRE  CHAIRS  —  USED  —  LARGEST  STOCK 
in  the  middle  west.  Parts  for  all  makes.  We  also 
rebuild  your  chairs  without  interfering  with  the  opera- 
tion of  your  theatre.  CHICAGO  USED  CHAIR  MART, 
844  So.   Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago. 

WANT  TO  BUY  USED  BLOWER  WASHERS, 
Drives  motors.  Popcorn  machines,  Peanut  Roasters. 
WILLIAMS,  Box  838,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

COMPLETE     THEATRE     EQUIPMENT  AND 

chairs  for  500  seat  house.  Big  bargain  for  quick  sale. 
MOVIE  SUPPLY  COMPANY.  1318  South  Wabash, 

Chicago. 

FOR  SALE:  2  ROYAL  ZENITH  MODEL  A-35 
M.M.  200-ft.  sound  projectors.  Reasonable.  A.  LAN- 
DOW.  108  Beachway,  Keansburg,  N.  J. 

STAGE  LIGHTING  AT  TREMENDOUS  SACRI- 
fice  —  400  watt  sliding  dimmers,  $11.95;  1000  watt, 
$19.95;  Interlocking  dimmers,  all  sizes,  $29.95  :  400  watt 
Baby  spots,  *5.55;  50  ampere  Arcspots,  $33;  All  sizes 
G-40  Mogul  Prefocus  Lamps  to  2000  watt,  clear,  frosted 
and  tinted,  60%  discount.  S.  O.  S.  CINEMA  SUPPLY 
CORPORATION.  New  York. 

COMPLETE  GOOD-ALL  SOUND  EQUIPMENT 
for  Simplex  in  good  condition  $175,  two  Simplex  3-point 
pedestals  $25  each.  BUTLER  THEATRE,  Butler, 
Indiana. 

cushion:  CUSHIONS:  NEWLY  COVERED 
squab  box  spring  and  spring  edge.  Very  reasonable. 
Parts,  accessories  and  theatre  chairs.  ALLIED 
SEATING  CO..  INC.,  36-3$  West  13th  Street,  New 
York. 

WANTED:  USED  THEATRE  CHAIRS,  ALL 
types.  Send  full  description,  price.  Dealer.  BOX 
1577,  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

NEW  GENER4L 
EQUIPMENT 

16,000  THEATRES  GOT  THEIRS  —  IF  YOU 
didn't,  send  for  your  copy.  Closing  out  Star  Cinema 
Supply  stock.  Mammoth  bargain  bulletin.  S.  O.  S. 
CINEMA  SUPPLY  CORPORATION,  New  York. 

POSITION  WANTED 


OPERATOR-THEATRE  MANAGER  WANTS 
position  theatre  or  film  exchange  South  America — 
Mexico.  S.  J.  JENNINGS.  Dorm  No.  11,  Sanatorium, 
Texas. 

FORMER  THEATRE  OWNER  WANTS  POSITION 
theatre  manager  or  will  buy  or  rent  theatre.  JOHN 
FLAHERTY.  Danville.  Illinois. 


BOOKS 


MOTION  PICTURE  SOUND  ENGINEERING— 
547  pages;  illustrated;  covers  every  practical  method 
and  process  in  present-day  sound  engineering.  Leading 
engineers  explain  every  detail  of  apparatus  and  its  ar- 
rangement, with  diagrams,  tables,  charts  and  graphs. 
This  manual  comes  straight  from  the  workshops  of  the 
studios  in  Hollywood.  It  is  indispensable  to  everyone 
working  with  sound  equipment.  Price  S6.50  postpaid. 
QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

NEW  567  PAGE  BOOK  ON  AIR  CONDITIONING, 
by  Charles  A  Fuller,  authority  on  the  subject.  Avail- 
able for  theatre  owners  contemplating  engineering 
change*.  Book  is  cloth  bound  with  index  and  charts 
and  covers  every  branch  of  the  industry  as  well  as 
codes  and  ordinances  regulating  installation.  Order 
now  at  $4.00  a  copy  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP, 
Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

NOW  READY,  NEW  1942-43  MOTION  PICTURE 
ALMANAC.  Edited  by  Terry  Ramsaye.  The  indus- 
try's most  complete  "Who's  Who."  More  than  11,000 
biographies  and  over  1,100  pages,  chock  full  of  refer- 
ence information.  Everyone  in  the  motion  picture 
industry  should  have  a  copy.  Be  sure  to  send  in  your 
order  today.  $3.25  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP, Rockefeller  Center,  New  York. 

SOUND  TROUBLE  SHOOTING  CHARTS.  A 
handy  tool  in  the  booth.  Gives  the  answers  to  all 
questions  regarding  trouble  shooting  on  every  type  of 
sound  equipment.  $1.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOK- 
SHOP.   Rockefeller   Center,   New  York. 


BOOKKEEPING 
SYSTEM 


THEATRE  MANAGEMENT  RECORD  AND  TAX 
Register.  This  new  accounting  system  is  the  finest 
book  of  its  kind  ever  made  available  to  an  exhibitor. 
In  addition  to  being  complete  in  every  respect,  it  is 
simple — so  much  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
had  bookkeeping  experience  in  order  to  keep  an  ac- 
curate, complete  and  up-to-minute  record  of  the 
business  of  your  theatre.  The  introductory  price  is 
only  $2.00  postpaid.  QUIGLEY  BOOKSHOP,  Rocke- 
feller Center,  New  York. 


BUSINESS  BOOSTERS 


BINGO  CARDS.  DIE  CUT,  1  TO  100  OR  1  TO  75 
$2.00  per  thousand.  $17.50  for  10,000.  S.  Klous,  care 
of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD. 

MUST  SACRIFICE  -  3  MILLION  BINGO  CARDS. 
May  be  purchased  in  any  quantities.  Write  today  for 
samples  and  prices.  Be  sure  advise  how  many  yon 
can  purchase  at  one  time.  BOX  1569,  MOTION  PIC- 
TURE HERALD. 


PRESS  OT 
C.    J.    O'RRIEN.  Die. 
N"EW  YORK.   r.   S.  A. 


70 

OBITUARIES 

George  Armsby  Dies; 
Loew's  Director 

George  Newell  Armsby,  a  director  of  Loew's, 
Inc.,  and  of  the  Capitol  Theatre  Corporation 
for  many  years,  died  October  25th  at  Mount 
Sinai  Hosoital  following  an  operation.  He  was 
66. 

Mr.  Armsby,  a  banker,  was  born  in  Evanston, 
111.  He  was  a  director  of  many  corporations, 
including  several  aviation  companies.  He  was 
also  a  director  of  General  Outdoor  Advertising 
Company. 


Joyce  Madsen 

An  explosion  and  fire  in  the  projection  room 
of  the  Royal  theatre,  Bentonville,  Ark.,  cost  the 
life  of  Joyce  Madsen,  21,  and  serious  burns  to 
her  brother,  Lyle  Madsen,  operator.  Miss  Mad- 
sen was  in  the  booth  assisting  her  brother. 


Harry  Goodwin 

Harry  Goodwin,  62,  a  member  of  the  Avon 
Comedy  Four,  a  vaudeville  team  which  appeared 
in  America  and  Europe  from  1901  to  1922,  died 
October  24th  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  New  York. 


Laurent  Cormier 

Laurent  Cormier,  70,  motion  picture  projec- 
tionist who  retired  two  years  ago,  died  at  the 
Henry  Heywood  Memorial  Hospital  in  Gard- 
ner, Mass.,  October  23rd  after  a  long  illness. 
He  was  employed  15  years  at  the  Orpheum, 
Baldwinsville,  Mass.,  and  worked  in  other 
theatres. 


Basil  Gray 

Basil  Gray,  54,  business  agent  of  Local  22, 
Theatrical  Employees  Union,  and  well  known 
as  contact  man  for  the  Theatrical  Federation 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  died  of 
a  heart  attack  in  Seattle,  October  24th. 


Grant  Anson 

Grant  W.  Anson,  owner  of  the  Comet  thea- 
tre, New  York,  and  long  a  member  of  the 
Independent  Theatre  Owners  Association,  died 
October  24th. 


MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD 
Julius  Singer 

Julius  Singer,  who  was  an  associate  of  the 
late  Carl  Laemmle  in  the  early  days  of  the 
motion  picture  and  at  one  time  short  subjects 
sales  manager  for  Universal,  died  October  24th 
of  a  heart  attack  while  watching  a  motion  pic- 
ture in  the  Midtown  theatre,  New  York.  He 
was  62.  Funeral  services  were  held  Monday  at 
the  Park  West  Memorial  Chapel  in  New  York. 

Mr.  Singer  also  at  one  time  handled  Uni- 
versale non-theatrical  and  16mm.  departments. 
In  more  recent  years  he  had  been  manager  of 
the  Little  Carnegie  theatre,  New  York.  He  is 
survived  by  his  wife,  Mrs.  Sylvia  Singer. 


Frank  Reddy 

Frank  Reddy,  68,  a  member  of  the  New  York 
office  staff  of  the  Motion  Picture  Producers  and 
Distributors  of  America  since  1922,  died  on 
Thursday,  October  22nd.  Mr.  Reddy,  who  had 
been  in  poor  health  for  the  last  year,  was 
stricken  by  a  heart  attack  at  his  home  in  Jack- 
son Heights.  He  leaves  a  widow. 

Mr.  Reddy  was  hired  by  Will  H.  Hays  soon 
after  the  MPPDA  was  organized.  During  his 
20  years  service  there  he  knew,  and  could  name 
at  a  glance,  virtually  every  caller,  from  com- 
pany presidents  to  messenger  boys,  who  visited 
the  offices  at  28  West  44th  Street.  Mr.  Hays, 
and  members  of  the  MPPDA  staff,  attended 
the  funeral  services  Saturday,  at  Holy  Trinity 
Church,  on  West  82nd  Street.  New  York. 
Burial  was  in  Winchester,  Mass.,  Mr.  Reddy' s 
birthplace. 


Addie  Cherry 

Addie  Cherry,  83,  of  the  famous  Cherry  Sis- 
ters, died  at  Cedar  Rapids,  la.,  October  25th. 
Her  death  breaks  up  a  sister  act  renowned  on 
Broadway  for  40  years.  Originally  there  were 
four  sisters,  but  Addie  and  Effie  (who  is  now 
the  only  member  of  the  acting  team  living)  were 
the  headliners. 

Frequently  referred  to  as  "the  vegetable  sis- 
ters," they  started  their  career  in  Marion,  Iowa, 
and  were  presented  on  Broadway  by  Oscar 
Hammerstein,  who  put  a  net  up  on  the  stage  to 
catch  the  vegetables  and  other  objects  thrown. 


Ralph  Rainger 

Ralph  Rainger,  41,  Hollywood  song  writer, 
who  collaborated  with  Leo  Robin  in  composing 
many  song  hits,  was  among  the  12  persons 
killed  in  the  crash  of  a  transport  plane  near 
Palm  Springs,  Cal.,  October  23rd.  He  was  en 
route  to  New  York  from  the  coast,  after  com- 
pleting work  with  Mr.  Robin,  on  songs  for  the 
new  picture  "Coney  Island,"  at  the  Twentieth 
Century-Fox  studio. 


Mark  Margolies 

Mark  Margolies,  48,  former  owner  of  a  cir- 
cuit of  theatres,  died  at  his  home  in  Indianapo- 
lis October  21st.  Mr.  Margolies  was  with  Art- 
craft  Picture  Corporation  from  1914  to  1918 
and  during  the  next  two  years  was  studio  man- 
ager of  the  Robertson-Cole  Picture  Corpora- 
tion. He  directed  several  pictures,  including 
"The  Wonder  Man,"  "Lady  Vanity"  and  "Kis- 
met." He  was  a  special  representative  of  First 
National  Pictures  from  1920  to  1924. 


Jack  Quintan 

John  T.  (Jack)  Quinlan,  57,  newspaper  and 
theatre  man,  died  October  12th  in  Minneapolis 
after  a  long  illness.  After  newspaper  work  in 
San  Francisco,  Houston,  Tacoma  and  Seattle, 
Mr.  Quinlan  was  publicity  director  for  the  Pan- 
tages  vaudeville  circuit  and  later  manager  of 
Pantages'  and  Keith-Orpheum  theatres  in  Kan- 
sas City,  Memphis,  Houston  and  Minneapolis. 


B.  Danby  Darke 

B.  Danby  Darke,  86,  who  appeared  in  about 
100  silent  films  in  New  York  City  and  vicinity 
before  the  studios  moved  to  Hollywood,  died 
recently  in  Fall  River,  Mass.  He  appeared  in 
nictures  with  D.  W.  Griffith,  Richard  Bennett, 
May  Ellison  and  Herbert  Standing. 


October    3  1,     I  942 

IN  THE  COURTS 

Sue  20th-Fox,  National 
Over  Theatre  Operation 

Claiming  deprivation  of  their  theatres  through 
conspiracy,  Max  Motulsky,  Joseph  Luntz  and 
the  Lumo  Amusement  Corporation  this  week 
filed  a  $50,000  damage  suit  in  the  N.  Y.  supreme 
court  against  Twentieth  Century-Fox  Film 
Corporation,  National  Theatres  Corporation, 
Fox-Racine  Corporation,  and  officers  George 
W.  Blatchford  and  Harold  J.  Fitzgerald.  Op- 
eration of  the  Capitol  and  Uptown  theatres  of 
Racine,  Wis.,  plaintiffs'  houses,  was  taken  over 
by  the  defendants  under  an  agreement  made  in 
1935  in  which  50  per  cent  of  the  profits  was 
promised  to  the  plaintiffs. 

According  to  the  suit,  the  defendants  in  their 
operation  of  the  houses  favored  rival  theatres 
owned  by  them  so  that  the  plaintiffs'  theatres 
lost  out  on  clearance  and  run.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  this  alleged  violation,  it  is  said,  the 
Capitol  closed  down  and  the  Uptown  failed  to 
operate  profitably. 

Consolidated  Film 
Sued  by  Nu-Art 

Consolidated  Film  Industries,  Inc.,  was 
named  defendant  last  week  in  a  $50,000  breach 
of  contract  suit  filed  in  the  N.  Y.  supreme 
court  by  Nu-Art  Films,  Inc.,  distributor  of  16 
and  8  mm.  films.  According  to  the  complaint, 
the  plaintiff  conceived  the  idea  of  selling  8  mm. 
films  to  the  public  and  obtained  an  opinion 
from  Consolidated  that  the  idea  was  workable. 

It  is  claimed  that  a  contract  was  made  in 
March,  1941,  between  the  parties,  in  which 
Consolidated  agreed  to  sell  all  the  plaintiff's 
requirements  of  8  mm.  prints  to  the  extent  of 
16,000  reels.  Defendant  is  charged  .with  supply- 
ing out  of  focus  and  streaked  prints  and  with 
later  refusing  to  accept  further  print  orders. 


Name  Universal  in  Title  Case 

Title  infringement  was  charged  this  week 
against  Universal  Pictures  Company  and  Big 
"U"  Film  Exchanges,  Inc.,  in  a  suit  for  an 
inspection,  accounting  and  damages  filed  in  the 
Federal  court  by  Lloyd  Mayer,  newspaper 
writer.  The  plaintiff  claims  to  be  the  creator 
of  a  series  of  feature  stories  and  character 
sketches  titled  "Just  Between  Us  Girls,"  syn- 
dicated in  16  newspapers  and  many  magazines. 
Universal,  the  plaintiff  asserts,  has  unauthor- 
izedly  appropriated  the  title  for  a  film  which  it 
is  now  distributing. 


B.  &  K.  Sues  Chicago 

A  second  suit  was  filed  last  week  in  the  cir- 
cuit court,  Chicago,  by  Balaban  &  Katz  against 
the  City  of  Chicago,  the  Healy  Subway  Con- 
struction Company  and  the  Kenny  Construction 
Company,  asking  $32,000  in  damages  to  the 
Chicago  and  Roosevelt  theatres.  The  company 
asks  this  amount  in  payment  for  repair  work 
it  charged  was  necessary  before  boring  of  the 
new  Chicago  subway. 


Jolson-Hale  Suit  Settled 

Stipulation  settling  the  $100,000  damage  suit 
of  George  Hale  against  Al  Jolson  was  filed  in 
the  N.  Y.  supreme  court  last  week.  Mr.  Hale, 
as  producer  of  the  Jolson  Broadway  show, 
"Hold  on  to  Your  Hats,"  charged  Mr.  Jolson 
with  violating  a  contract  to  stay  with  the  show 
until  August,  1941,  by  walking  out  in  February. 
Mr.  Jolson  had  pleaded  ill  health  and  denied 
an  agreement  to  remain  until  August. 


General  Osborne  at  Pioneers 

General  Frederick  H.  Osborne,  Chief,  Special 
Service,  U.  S.  War  Department,  will  head  the 
list  of  guests  at  the  New  York  Picture  Pio- 
neers' Thanksgiving  Dinner,  at  the  Waldorf- 
Astoria,  Thursday  evening,  November  19th. 
General  Osborne  is  head  of  the  Morale  Division 
of  the  Army. 


WANTED 

Sales  Representatives 

Men  with  film  or  theatre 
background  to  contact  the- 
atre managers  and  exhibi- 
tors. Commission  basis. 
Part  or  full  time.  Must  have 
car.  State  background  and 
experience  in  first  letter. 

BOX  lOt 
Motion  Picture  Herald 
Rockefeller  Center,  N.  Y. 


October    3  1,  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 
SHOWMEN'S  REVIEWS 

 =i      .  >4-i  ■  !  :  :   •  _  „  „  ,  


Journey  for  Margaret 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 

The  War  a  la  "Mrs.  Miniver" 

In  the  way  that  "Mrs.  Miniver"  depicted  the 
effect  of  the  war  upon  the  people  of  England, 
so  does  "Journey  for  Margaret."  The  same  un- 
derstatement, the  reserve,  the  realism  and  the 
calmness,  the  directness  of  presentation  and 
the  plainness  of  performance  yield  the  same  ef- 
fectiveness. 

"Journey  for  Margaret"  cost  less  to  make  and 
takes  less  time  to  screen  than  "Airs.  Miniver," 
but  it  had  the  same  effect  upon  a  preview  audi- 
ence which  witnessed  it  in  the  same  studio  pro- 
jection room  in  Hollywood.  It  is  in  no  sense  a 
duplication  or  follow-up,  but  it  employs  the 
same  techniques  to  obtain  a  like  end 

Robert  Young  surpasses  himself  as  an  Ameri- 
can correspondent  stationed  in  London  during 
the  bombings,  one  of  which  injures  his  wife 
(Laraine  Day)  in  such  wise  as  to  thwart  im- 
pending motherhood.  He  stays  on  after  she  re- 
turns to  America  and  interests  himself  in  caring 
for  children  orphaned  by  the  bombers,  two  of 
whom  attach  themselves  to  him  emotionally.  He 
adopts  them  and  brings  them  to  America.  The 
manner  of  the  doing  of  these  things  distin- 
guishes them  beyond  the  promise  of  this  or  any 
synopsis. 

Producer  B.  P.  Fineman,  director  W.  S.  Van 
Dyke  II,  scenarists  David  Hertz  and  William 
Ludwig,  and  author  William  L.  White  share 
credit  enough  for  thrice  their  number. 

Previewed  at  tlte  studio  on  a  Friday  evening 
to  a  tradepress  and  professional  audience  which 
declared  its  gratification  unanimously.  Review- 
er's Rating:  Excellent. — William  R.  Weaver. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  79  min.  PCA 
No.  8109.  General  audience  classification. 

John  Davis  Robert  Young 

Nora  Davis    Laraine  Day 

Fay  Bainter,  Nigel  Bruce,  Margaret  O'Brien.  Wil- 
liam Severn,  Elizabeth  Risdon,  Doris  Lloyd,  Halliwell 
Hobbes,  HeatheT  Thatcher.  Jill  Esmond. 


Northwest  Rangers 

(  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 
Model  Action  Film 

This  melodrama  of  the  Northwest  could  serve 
as  a  model  for  producers  setting  out  to  pack 
into  an  hour,  without  spending  a  fortune,  a 
maximum  of  entertainment,  measuring  up  to  the 
standard  of  any  Grade  A  product  which  might 
accompany  it  on  a  program. 

The  story  by  Arthur  Caesar,  scripted  by  Gor- 
don Kahn  and  David  Lang,  has  freshness,  sus- 
pense and  point  enough  to  have  served  an  all- 
out,  all-star  production.  The  direction  by  Joe 
Newman  lacks  nothing  required  for  success  of 


Reviews 

This  department  deals  with 
new  product  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  exhibitor  who  is 
to  purvey  it  to  his  own  public. 


a  million-dollar  picture,  and  Samuel  Marz,  pro- 
ducer, spared  no  pains  he  might  have  taken 
with  a  venture  in  that  bracket. 

Only  in  the  marquee-names  department  and 
the  matter  of  running  time  does  the  enterprise 
indicate  the  destiny  in  exhibition  intended  for 
it,  and  the  people  whose  names  are  present 
give  performances  which  propel  them  on  their 
way  toward  the  top  as  attractors  of  trade. 

James  Craig  and  William  Lundigan  portray 
boys  reared  by  a  Northwest  Mounted  Police 
officer  following  the  death  of  their  parents  by 
Indian  massacre.  One  becomes  a  Mountie,  the 
other  a  gambler,  but  they  continue  their  boy- 
hood intimacy  through  incidents,  including  two 
murders,  which  culminate  in  the  death  of  one 
at  the  hands  of  the  other  in  pursuit  of  duty. 
The  relationship  adheres  to  the  line  of  plausi- 
bility without  deviation. 

Patricia  Dane,  providing  the  romantic  inter- 
est, sings  in  the  course  of  the  story  a  Ralph 
Freed-Earl  Brent  song,  "That  Good  for  Nothin' 
Alan  of  Mine,"  which  is  a  bit  modern  of  con- 
struction for  the  period  concerned,  but  a  catchy 
number  in  its  own  right. 

Previewed  at  the  Uptown  theatre,  Los  An- 
geles, to  a  Thursday  night  audience  drawn  by 
"Holiday  Inn"  and  "Pied  Piper,"  in  which  pro- 
gram company  the  relatively  low-budget  film 
gave  impressive  account  of  itself.  Reviewer's 
Rating:  Excellent.— W .  R.  W. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  64  min.  PCA 
No.  8167.  General  audience  classification. 

Blackie  Marshall  James  Craig 

James  Gardiner    William  Lundigan 

Patricia  Dane,  John  Carradine,  Jack  Holt,  Keenan 
Wynn,  Grant  Withers,  Darryl  Hickman,  Drew  Roddy. 


Gentleman  Jim 

(Warner  Bros.) 

The  Life  of  James  J.  Corbett 

An  entertaining  film  as  well  as  a  veritable 
history  of  prize  fighting  has  been  made  by 
Warner  Bros,  from  the  life  of  James  J.  Cor- 
bett, known  in  his  time  as  Gentleman  Jim. 
Smoothly  contrived  to  overcome  any  latent  ob- 
jection on  the  part  of  women  to  a  film  in  which 
prize  fighting  is  a  dominating  factor,  the  pic- 


ture has  the  requisite  amount  of  romance  and 
comedy  adroitly  mixed  with  the  boxing  matches. 

Errol  Flynn  has  the  title  role  and,  while  he 
performs  well,  he  is  always  Errol  Flynn.  The 
prizefight  scenes,  in  every  one  of  which  he 
takes  part,  are  well  staged  and  look  genuine. 
It  would  seem  that  either  Mr.  Flynn  is  an 
accomplished  boxer  or  he  took  lessons  before 
this  picture  started  from  which  he  seems  to 
have  profited. 

Other  important  roles  are  well  portrayed  by 
Alexis  Smith,  Alan  Hale,  Jack  Carson  and 
Ward  Bond,  the  latter  as  John  L.  Sullivan. 
John  Loder  seems  a  bit  out  of  place  with  his 
Oxonian  accent  but  his  performance  is  credit- 
able. 

The  sets  are  magnificent,  some  of  them  even 
rating  the  term  opulent.  The  rococo  designs 
of  the  Nineties  are  faithfully  reproduced 
throughout  and  the  costuming  too  is  well  done. 

As  a  story  the  picture  suffers  from  the  handi- 
caps of  any  biographical  film;  the  end  is  no 
surprise  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  no 
suspense  at  any  point.  But  this  factor  does  not 
seem  to  militate  against  the  entertainment 
values. 

Robert  Buckner  has  produced  from  a  screen- 
play by  Vincent  Lawrence  and  Horace  McCoy. 
Raoul  Walsh  directed. 

Reviewed  in  the  home  office  projection  room. 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Good — Bob  Wile.. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  1(M  min.  PCA 
No.  8440.    General  audience  classification. 

Gentleman  Jim  Corbett  Errol  Flynn 

Victoria  Ware  Alexis  Smith 

Walter  Lowrie  Jack  Carson 

Pat  Corbett  ■  Alan  Hale 

John  Loder,  William  Frawley,  Minor  Watson,  Ward 
Bond,  Madeleine  LeBeau,  Rhys  Williams,  Arthur 
Shields,  Dorothy  Vaughau,  James  Flavin,  Pat  Fla- 
herty, Wallis  Clark,  Marilyn  Phillips,  Art  Foster, 
Edwin  Stanley,  Henry  O'Hara.  Harry  Crocker,  Frank 
Mayo,  Carl  Harbough,  Fred  Kelsey,  Sammy  Stein. 


Whistling  in  Dixie 

( Metro-Goldwyn-M  ayer) 

The  Fox  Goes  South 

For  the  many  who  laughed  heartily  over' Whist- 
tling  in  the  Dark"  let  it  be  said  that  "The  Fox" 
and  company  are  continuing  their  peculiar  brand 
of  crime  detection  in  "Whistling  in  Dixie." 
There  is  more  than  a  suggestion  of  "Saint,'" 
"Falcon,"  et  ah,  in  the  new  adventures,  as  the 
the  theme  of  frustrated  nuptials  is  introduced 
and  the  situations  of  the  original  play  lose  their 
freshness  in  repetition.  But  the  final  brawl  in 
an  abandoned  arsenal,  with  Skelton  and  Ann 
Rutherford  holding  off  the  villains  until  troop- 
ers arrive  should  compensate  in  zany  comedy 
for  the  early  tedium. 

George  Haight,  who  produced  both  films,  and 
S.  Sylvan  Simon,  who  directed  them,  have 
somewhat  less  material  to  work  with  this  time. 


Product  Digest  Section     98  I 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,    I  942 


a  lack  which  was  presumably  to  be  obscured  by 
the  addition  of  a  few  comedians.  Guy  Kibbee 
has  the  role  of  an  old  southern  judge,  whose 
suspicious  prowling  is  occasioned  by  his  embar- 
rassed affection  for  corn  liquor.  Lucien  Little- 
field  contributes  to  the  "atmosphere"  as  a  sher- 
iff's assistant,  of  Civil  War  vintage.  "Rags" 
Ragland  returns  as  Chester,  twin  brother  to 
Sylvester  of  the  former  film,  who  also  turns  up 
for  the  finale. 

Red  Skelton  and  Ann  Rutherford  go  South 
for  a  honeymoon  and  only  incidentally  to  help 
a  sorority  sister  in  distress.  The  distress  is 
suspected  murder  which  rapidly  turns  into  hid- 
den treasure,  and  the  wedding  never  does  come 
off — a  circumstance  which  promises  that  the 
pair  will  be  off  whistling  elsewhere  in  another 
season. 

Previewed  in  a  New  York  projection  room 
where  the  laughs  grew  as  the  picture  pro- 
gressed. Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — E.  A.  Cun- 
ningham. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  74  min.  PCA 
No.  8663.     General  audience  ciassincation. 

Wally  Benton  Red  Skelton 

Carol  Lambert  Ann  Rutherford 

George  Bancroft,  Guy  Kibbee,  Diana  Lewis,  Peter 
Whitney,  "Rags"  Ragland,  Celia  Travers,  Lucien 
Littlefield,  Louis  Mason,  Mark  Daniels,  Pierre  Wat.- 
kin,  Eotnmett  Vogan,  Hobart  Cavanaugh. 

Jungle  Siren 

(Producers  Releasing,  1941-1942) 
Ann  Corio  in  a  Sarong 

Ann  Corio,  formerly  of  the  burlesque  strip- 
tease circuit,  is  here  introduced  to  the  sarong. 
The  setting  for  her  second  picture  for  Pro- 
ducers is  Africa  and  the  theme,  although  an 
offshoot  of  the  war,  reminds  one  of  other  jun- 
gle romances. 

Miss  Corio  is  "Kuhlaya,"  a  white  girl 
brought  up  by  a  rum-soaked  doctor,  after  the 
death  of  her  missionary  parents.  She  is  all  over 
the  place,  looking  after  the  natives,  fighting  the 
African  "Quislings"  and  playing  guardian  an- 
gel to  a  couple  of  Americans  surveying  the 
land  for  a  Free  French  airport. 

These  activities  do  not  prevent  Miss  Corio 
from  becoming  enamored  of  one  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, Buster  Crabbe,  and  feeling  the  pangs  of 
jealousy  when  she  finds  him  in  the  arms  of  the 
wife  of  a  Nazi  agent. 

For  there  is  a  Nazi  agent  and  a  native  "Quiz- 
ling."  They  blunder  along  trying  to  get  rid  of 
the  Americans,  but  have  reckoned  poorly  the 
abilities  of  Miss  Corio. 

It  is  not  an  auspicious  offering  nor  has  it 
been  made  with  much  dramatic  punch.  All 
things  considered,  the  actors  do  a  fair  job  with 
the  material  they  had  to  work  with,  especially 
some  rather  corny  dialogue.  It  seems  there 
wasn't  any  gas  to  cook  with. 

Sigmund  Neufeld  produced  and  Sam  New- 
field  directed. 

Seen  at  the  RKO  58th  Street  on  New  York's 
east  side.  No  reaction  zvas  noted  in  the  sparsely 
filled  theatre.  However,  it  might  also  be  pointed 
out  that  zvhen  New  York's  first  daylight  air 
raid  test  occurred  in  the  middle  of  the  film,  no 
one  left  the  house. — Paul  C.  Mooney,  Jr. 

Release  date,  Aug.  14,  1942.  Running  time,  68  min. 
PCA  No.  8562.  General  audience  classification. 

Kuhlaya    Ann  Corio 

Capt.    Gary   Hart  Buster  Crabbe 

Evelyn  Wahl,  Paul  Bryar,  Mil  Kibbee,  Arno  Frey, 
Jess  Brooks,  Manart  Kippen,  James  Adamson,  Greco 
the  Chimpanzee. 

The  Spirit  of  Stanford 

(  Columbia  ) 
Football  Story 

Autumn  days  are  days  of  football,  even  in 
wartime,  and  here  is  another  football  picture 
for  the  sports  fans.  The  hero  of  the  picture  is 
Frankie  Albert,  a  bona  fide  college  football 
hero,  recently  graduated  from  Stanford.  The 
story  is  Albert's  four  years  at  "The  Farm,"  the 
affectionate  name  by  which  students  and  former 
students  refer  to  Stanford. 

There  is  quite  a  bit  of  football  to  this  pic- 


ture as  would  be  expected  and  it  follows,  with 
one  major  exception,  the  record  of  Stanford  for 
the  past  four  years.  That  exception  occurs  in 
Albert's  story  of  the  final  game  of  last  year, 
when  he  tells  a  couple  of  kids  how  Stanford, 
and  he  might  have  won  that  game.  Last  year 
Stanford  didn't  do  so  well.  But  the  two  pre- 
vious years,  the  years  of  the  introduction  there 
of  the  "T"  formation,  were  very  successful 
years  for  Stanford,  with  a  Rose  Bowl  victory 
in  1940  to  top  things. 

Along  with  the  football  there  is  a  mild  story 
of  Albert's  cockiness  when  he  first  arrived  at 
the  college  and  how  he  eventually  absorbed  the 
"spirit"  of  the  college.  Another  Stanford  im- 
mortal, Ernie  Nevers,  helps  him  to  see  the 
light.  Then  there  is  the  usual  college  romance 
woven  into  the  story. 

Above  and  beyond  anything  else,  however, 
it  is  a  football  picture  and  as  such  should  ap- 
peal in  a  mild  way  to  football  fans,_  but  it  ap- 
pears to  lack  the  dramatic  quality  to  interest 
others. 

Sam  White  produced  and  Charles  Barton 
directed. 

Seen  at  Loew's  Lexington  theatre,  Neiv 
York.  The  audience,  which  didn't  seem  to  be 
football-minded,  viezved  the  film  with  apathy. 
Reviewer's  Rating:  Fair. — P.  C.  M.,  Jr. 

Release  date,  Sept.  10,  1942.  Running  time,  73  min. 
PCA  No.  8634.  General  audience  classification. 

Frankie  Albert   Frankie  Albert 

Fay  Edwards    Marguerite  Chapman 

Matt  Willis,  Shirley  Patterson,  Kay  Harris,  Robert 
Stevens,  Lloyd  Bridges,  Forrest  Tucker,  Billy  Lech- 
ner,  Harold  Landon,  Volta  Boyer,  Ernie  Nevers. 


Well  Smile  Again 

(British  National — Anglo-American ) 

Comedy  with  Music 

With  war  and  its  more  dramatic  elements 
still  pursuing  the  entertainment-seeking  but 
war-satiated  picturehouse  patron  in  Britain,  the 
odds  are  long  that  this  unashamed  comedy  ex- 
travaganza, with  its  exploitation  of  the  star 
appeal  of  the  British  comics  Flanagan  and 
Allen,  will  give  the  "popular"  houses  something 
to  slake  their  thirsts.  War  does  not  enter  it — 
though  the  plot  has  a  spy  flavour — and  the 
broad  comedy  of  the  principals,  plus  some 
delectable  vocalism  and  an  occasional  opulence 
of  staging,  seem  elements  of  direct  and  easy 
audience  appeal — appeal  which  should  get  over 
a  raggedy  and  ineffective  story  and  script,  and 
a  directorial  touch  which  does  not  seem  at 
home.  Its  appeal  is  probably  exclusively  Brit- 
ish, and  at  that  to  the  less  critical  audiences, 
but  Flanagan  and  Allen  are  topline  favorites 
and  their  names  are  readily  exploitable  by  the 
showman. 

The  comedy  is  of  the  broadcast  variety,  and 
presents  the  benign  Bud,  one  of  Britain's  great- 
est drolls,  as  a  workshy  man-Friday  to  screen 
star  Chesney  Allen.  Their  adventures  in  mak- 
ing a  film  are  involved  with  a  spy  plot  and  it  is 
Bud  who  unmasks  the  deviltry — a  very  trans- 
parent and  unresourceful  business  with  "sig- 
nals" woven  into  film  negatives — and  gets  a 
job  as  a  star  himself.  It  is  the  Flanagan  and 
Allen  comedy  which  keeps  the  interest  when- 
ever it  appears;  Flanagan  crosstalking  in 
tongue  twisting  nonsense  with  Allen,  Flanagan 
with  a  beard  in  a  deliciously  absurd  waiter  act, 
Flanagan  playing  Juliet  to  his  partner's  re- 
hearsing Romeo,  and  the  two  singing,  as  they 
alone  can  sing,  a  most  tuneful  and  lilting  sen- 
timental number,  "We'll  Smile  Again." 

The  studio  setting,  and  the  outside-looking- 
in  element,  will  please  some  of  the  fans.  Mein- 
hart  Maur  appears  as  a  German  director  with 
a  Stromheim  cigarette  holder.  Phyllis  Stanley 
is  the  spy's  siren,  but  a  better  performance  is 
achieved  by  Peggv  Dexter  as  a  dumb  extra 
teaming  with  Bud,  and  in  reality  a  Secret 
Agent. 

The  settings  at  times  call  for  music  and  there 
are  at  least  two  excellently  treated  numbers 
movingly  sung  by  Gwen  Catlev,  "Tonight 
You're  Mine"  and  "Waltz  of  Delight." 


John  Baxter,  one  of  Britain's  best  directors, 
is  probably  not  at  his  easiest  in  this  brand  of 
broad  comedy  but  he  has  achieved  some  lively 
moments. 

A  trade  audience  laughed  frequently  and 
loudly  at  the  comedy  and  Miss  Catley's  songs 
were  applauded.  Though  there  was  criticism 
of  story  weakness,  particularly,  there  was  agree- 
ment about  the  film  having  appeal.  Reviewer's 
Rating  :  Good. — Aubrey  Flanagan 

Release  date  not  set.  Running  time,  93  mins.  Gen- 
eral audience  classification. 

Bob  Parker  Bud  Flanagan 

Gordon  Maxwell  Chesney  Allen 

Meinhart  Maur,  Phyllis  Stanley,  Peggy  Dexter,  Hor- 
ace Kenney,  Gordon  McLeod,  Alexander  Kardan,  Ju- 
lian Vedey,  Charles  Austin,  Edgar  Driver,  Hal  Gor- 
don, Harry  Herbert,  Gerhart  Kempinski,  Gwen  Cat- 
ley,  Billy  Mayerl,  Malcolmn  McEachern. 

The  Living  Ghost 

(  Monogram  ) 
Horror  Story 

Monogram's  "The  Living  Ghost"  is  a  horror 
story  whose  plot  deals  with  the  victimizing  of 
the  head  of  a  wealthy  family  who,  through  an 
operation,  is  made  insane.  James  Dunn  and 
Joan  Woodbury  are  featured,  support  being 
given  by  Paul  McVey,  Vera  Gordon,  Norman 
Willis,  J.  Farrell  MacDonald,  Minerva  Urecal, 
George  Eldridge,  Jan  Wiley,  Edna  Johnson, 
Danny  Beck,  Gus  Glassmire,  Lawrence  Grant, 
Howard  Banks,  J.  Arthur  Young,  Frances 
Richards  and  Harry  Depps. 

Dunn  is  a  private  investigator  who  is  called 
in  by  the  family  to  solve  the  disappearance  of 
the  head  of  the  household  and  his  subsequent 
return,  after  an  operation  which  affects  part  of 
his  brain. 

A.  W.  Hackel  produced  the  film  with  Wil- 
liam Beaudine  directing. 

Joseph  Hoffman  wrote  the  screenplay  from 
an  original  story  by  Howard  Dimsdale. 

Previewed  at  the  Vogue  theatre,  Hollyzvood, 
to  an  enthusiastic  audience  reception.  Review- 
er's Rating  :  Good. — V.  K. 

Release  date,  not  set.  Running  time,  61  min.  PCA 
No.  6843.  General  audience  classification. 
James  Dunn,  Joan  Woodbury,  Paul  McVey,  Vera 
Gordon,  Norman  Willis,  J.  Farrell  MacDonald,  Min- 
erva Urecal,  George  Eldridge,  Jan  Wiley,  Edna  John- 
son, Danny  Beck,  Gus  Glassmire,  Lawrence  Grant. 
Howard  Banks,  J.  Arthur  Young,  Frances  Richards 
and  Harry  Depps. 


FEATURE  SYNOPSES 


THE  EDGE  OF  DARKNESS 
(Warners) 

Norway,  Underground 

PRODUCER:  Henry  Blanke.  Directed  by  Lewis 
Milestone. 

PLAYERS:  Errol  Flynn,  Ann  Sheridan,  Walter 
Huston,  Nancy  Coleman,  Richard  Travis,  John  Beal. 

SYNOPSIS 

Nazi  troops  investigate  why  they  cannot  raise 
the  garrison  at  a  little  Norwegian  town  and 
find  it  a  shambles,  with  all  the  Nazis  there 
dead  and  evidences  of  a  terrific  struggle.  What 
had  happened  is  this : 

The  townspeople,  beaten  and  oppressed  by 
the  conquerors,  engage  in  an  active  sabotage 
campaign.  A  high  Nazi  agent  is  sent  from  Ber- 
lin to  quell  the  underground  movement.  A  Brit- 
ish submarine  brings  in  a  cache  of  arms,  but 
a  Quisling  reveals  the  plot. 

When  the  belongings  of  the  town's  school 
teacher  are  burnt  by  the  Nazis  and  he  is  bru- 
tally beaten,  the  Quisling  redeems  himself  by 
defending  him  and  is  shot  by  the  Nazis.  The 
climax  comes  when  the  people  revolt  after  the 
attack  upon  a  girl  by  the  Berlin  agent. 

Leaders  in  the  revolt  escape  to  the  hills  to 
continue  their  fight. 


982      Product  Digest  Section 


October    3  1.  1942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


ACTION  IN  THE  NORTH 

ATLANTIC 

(Warners) 

Sea  Drama 

PRODUCER:  Jerry  Wald.  Directed  by  Lloyd  Bacon. 

PLAYERS:  Humphrey  Bogart,  Julie  Bishop,  Ray- 
mond Massey,  Alan  Hale,  Ruth  Gordon,  Sam 
Levene,  Noah  Beery,  Jr. 

SYNOPSIS 

When  a  Nazi  submarine  machineguns  the 
crew  of  a  torpedoed  tanker  in  the  Caribbean, 
the  survivors — the  captain,  the  first  mate  and 
others — swear  vengeance.  They  sign  on  an- 
other boat,  a  freighter  in  a  Murmansk  bound 
convoy.  A  submarine  attacks  the  convoy,  and 
the  freighter  dodges  the  torpedo.  The  captain 
deliberately  takes  his  ship  off  course  to  lure 
the  sub  avray  from  the  convoy.  The  sub  follows 
but  loses  the  trail.  Nazi  dive  bombers  attack 
and  score  a  direct  hit  on  the  forward  deck. 
The  sub  reappears  and  scores  a  hit  with  a  tor- 
pedo. By  a  ruse,  the  ship  is  made  to  appear  as 
though  it  were  in  flames,  and  the  sub  approach- 
es, holding  its  fire.  When  it  surfaces,  the  boat 
rams  and  sinks  it. 


THE  TRAITOR  WITHIN 
(Republic) 

Drama 

PRODUCER:  Armand  Schaefer.  Directed  by  Frank 
McDonald. 

PLAYERS:  Donald  Barry,  Jean  Parker,  George 
Cleveland,  Bradley  Page,  Ralph  Morgan. 

SYNOPSIS 

Of  two  men  serving  in  World  War  I,  one 
took  credit  for  an  act  of  gallantry  on  the  part 
of  the  other  and  rose  to  civic  greatness  as  a 
hero.  The  daughter  of  the  other  man  uses  this 
information  to  blackmail  the  civic  leader  until 
her  husband  finds  it  out.  The  husband  goes  to 
the  blackmail  victim,  reimburses  him  and  leaves. 
The  leader  commits  suicide  and  his  widow  hides 
the  note  he  leaves  behind,  thus  placing  the 
blame  on  the  youth.  At  the  last  minute,  the 
young  man  is  saved  from  mob  action  by  the 
confession  of  the  widow. 

This  is  wTestern  star  Barry's  second  feature 
picture.  His  first  venture  outside  western  drama 
was  "Remember  Pearl  Harbor." 

FLIGHT  FOR  FREEDOM 
(RKO  Radio) 

Aviation  Drama 

PRODUCER:  David  Hempstead.  Directed  by  Lothar 
Mendes. 

PLAYERS:  Rosalind  Russell,  Fred  MacMurray,  Her- 
bert Marshall,  Eduardo  Cianelli,  Jack  Carr,  Matt 
McHugh. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  the  story  of  a  woman  flier  who  gave 
up  love  and  life  in  order  to  help  the  United 
States  Naw  photograph  Jap-held  islands  being 
fortified  in  violation  of  the  League  of  Nations 
mandates.  The  aviatrix,  torn  between  love  for 
a  flying  instructor  and  a  happy  go  lucky  flier, 
is  approached  by  the  Navy  as  she  is  embarking 
on  a  round  the  world  flight.  She  is  to  pretend 
that  she  is  having  trouble  with  her  plane  in 
mid-Pacific  in  order  that  Navy  planes,  flying 
over  the  Jap  isles  in  search  of  her,  might  pho- 
tograph the  installations.  Her  plot  discovered 
by  a  Jap  agent,  she  deliverately  sacrifices  her- 
self. A  prologue  and  an  epilogue  shows  Naw 
planes  bombing  the  Japs  after  Pearl  Harbor. 

It  has  been  bruited  about,  but  denied,  that  the 
story  parallels  the  life  of  Amelia  Earhart.  Miss 
Russell  and  MacMurray  appeared  together  in 
the  recently  successful  "Take  a  Letter,  Darling." 


BUCKSKIN  FRONTIER 
(Paramount) 

Outdoor  Special 

PRODUCER:  Harry  Sherman.  Directed  by  Lesley 
Selander. 

PLAYERS:  Richard  Dix,  Jane  Wyatt,  Lee  J.  Cobb, 
Albert  Dekker,  Max  Baer,  Victor  Jory,  Lola  Lane, 
Joe  Sawyer. 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  a  high  budget  outdoor  special  from 
Harry  Sherman,  expert  in  the  production  of 
outdoor  action  pictures.  The  chief  character, 
played  by  Dix,  is  a  builder  of  railroads  who 
fights  to  open  the  west  with  shiny  rails,  oppos- 
ing interests  who  wish  to  retain  the  wagon 
trails.  The  story  is  from  Henry  Sinclair 
Drago's  novel,  "Buckskin  Empire." 


SHERLOCK  HOLMES 
IN  WASHINGTON 
(Universal) 

Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  Howard  Benedict.  Directed  by  Roy 
William  Neill. 

PLAYERS:  Basil  Rathbone,  Nigel  Bruce,  Marjorie 
Lord,  Robert  Paige,  Don  Terry. 

SYNOPSIS 

Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle's  famous  character 
sets  foot  on  American  soil  for  the  first  time  on 
the  screen  here.  A  British  diplomat  and  a  Scot- 
land Yard  operative  are  traveling  to  Washing- 
ton with  microfilms  of  a  secret  treaty  and  the 
carrier  is  murdered  by  Nazi  agents.  Holmes  is 
called  in  to  solve  the  mystery  and  recover  th** 
films,  which  have  disappeared. 


HIGH  EXPLOSIVE 
(Paramount) 

Action  Melodrama 

PRODUCERS:  William  H.  Pine  and  William  C. 
Thomas.   Directed  by  Frank  McDonald. 
PLAYERS:  Chester  Morris,  Jean  Parker,  Barry  Sul- 
livan. 

SYNOPSIS 

Tenth  of  the  Pine-Thomas  action  pictures  for 
Paramount  release,  "High  Explosive,"  centers 
around  the  drivers  of  the  nitro-glycerine  trucks. 
The  film  was  previously  announced  as  "You 
Can't  Live  Forever."  The  workers  in  this  in- 
stance are  engaged  in  freighting  the  explosives 
to  munitions  factories,  giving  the  theme  a  topi- 
cal slant. 


RHYTHM  PARADE 
(Monogram) 

Musical 

PRODUCER:  Lindsley  Parsons,  Sydney  Williams. 
Directed  by  Howard  Bretherton  and  Dave  Gould. 
PLAYERS:  Gale  Storm,  Robert  Lowery,  Margaret 
Dumont,  Chick  Chandler,  Cliff  Nazarro,  Nils  T. 
Granlund,  Mills  Brothers,  Candy  Candido,  Jan 
Wiley,  Sugar  Geise,  Jean  Foreman,  Ted  Fio  Rito 
and  his  orchestra,  Florentine  Gardens  Revue. 

SYNOPSIS 

Monogram's  most  ambitious  musical, 
"Rhythm  Parade,"  will  feature  the  entire  floor 
show  of  N.  T.  G.'s  entertainers  at  the  Florentine 
Gardens,  widely  known  Holb^vood  nightclub, 
along  with  Fio  Rito  and  his  orchestra,  and  the 
Four  Mills  Brothers.  The  story  deals  with 
the  efforts  of  a  show  girl  to  get  a  break  on 
Broadwa}".  Difficulties  are  placed  in  her  path 
by  her  eight  months  old  niece,  from  whom  she 
is  caring,  and  a  jealous  co-worker. 


TARZAN  TRIUMPHS 
(RKO) 

Nazis  Invade  Jungle 

PRODUCER:  Sol  Lesser.  Directed  by  William 
Thiele. 

PLAYERS:  Johnny  Weissmuller,  Frances  Gifford, 
John  Sheffield,  Sig   Ruman,  Martin  Kosleck. 

SYNOPSIS 

The  "Tarzan"  series  with  Weissmuller  in 
the  title  role  switches  from  M-G-M  to  RKO 
with  "Tarzan  Triumphs."  When  Nazis  invade 
the  jungle  empire  of  the  Edgar  Rice  Burroughs 
character,  he  calls  upon  his  friends  of  the  wild- 
erness to  aid  the  United  Nations  and  oust  the 
Germans.  Miss  Gifford  appears  in  place  of  the 
M-G-M  actress,  Maureen  O'Sullivan,  while 
John  Sheffield,  the  small  son  in  the  M-G-M 
series,  remains  in  that  role. 


NIGHT  PLANE  FROM 

CHUNGKING 

(Paramount) 

Melodrama  in  Asia 

PRODUCER:  Walter  MacEwen.  Directed  by  Ralph 
Murphy. 

PLAYERS:  Robert  Preston,  Ellen  Drew,  Stephen 
Geray,  Otto  Kruger,  Tamara  Geva,  Ernest  Dorian, 
Soo  Yung,  Sen  Yung. 

SYNOPSIS 

Jap  spies  and  raiders  rip  through  this  picture 
as  an  oddly  assorted  group  of  persons  journey 
from  Chungking,  capital  of  fighting  China,  to 
India.  Effect  of  their  respective  actions,  man- 
ners and  fronts  is  to  create  an  aura  of  distrust 
and  suspicion  about  the  passengers  on  the 
plane.  It  can  be  likened  to  a  "Grand  Hotel"  in 
the  air  over  China. 

QUIET,  PLEASE  — MURDER 
(20th  Century-Fox) 

Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  Ralph  Dietrich.  Directed  by  John 
Larkin. 

PLAYERS:  George  Sanders,  Richard  Denning,  Gail 
Patrick,  Lynne  Roberts,  Sidney  Blackmer. 

SYNOPSIS 

Theft  of  rare  books,  their  duplication  to 
cheat  unsuspecting  investors,  Nazi  agents,  gun- 
men, and  several  murders  are  among  the  com- 
plications in  "Quiet,  Please — Murder."  A  pri- 
vate detective  gets  on  the  trail  of  the  book 
thief  and  uncovers  the  plot  when  he  plays  ac- 
complice against  accomplice.  The  climax  takes 
place  in  the  library  when  several  murders  and 
thefts  of  more  valuable  books  are  attempted. 


ONE  DANGEROUS  NIGHT 
(Columbia) 

Crime  Melodrama 

PRODUCER:  David  Chatkin.  Directed  by  Michael 
Gordon. 

PLAYERS:  Warren  William,  Eric  Blore,  Warren 
Ashe,  Marguerite  Chapman,  Fred  Kelsey,  Thurston 
Hall. 

SYNOPSIS 

Another  in  the  Lone  Wolf  series,  this  has 
the  Michael  Lanyard  character  accused  of 
murdering  a  man  and  stealing  his  jewels.  Es- 
caping the  police  momentarily,  the  Lone  Wolf 
trails  three  women  who  have  been  blackmailed 
by  the  victim,  and.  in  spite  of  attempts  to  mur- 
der him,  uncovers  the  criminal. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  Columbia  has  dropped 
the  "Lone  Wolf  from  the  title.  presumaH- 
because  of  its  length. 


Product  Digest  Section  983 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,    I  942 


FEATURE 

SERVICE 

DATA 


To  aid  showmen  in  checking: 
Round  Table  Exploitation; 
Audience  Classification; 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating 


Are  Husbands  Necessary?  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Aug.  14,  '42,  p.  63 : 
Sept.  19,  '42,  p.  51. 


Feature  Service  Data  are 
indexed  in  The  Release 
Chart  starting  on  Page  987. 


Spirit  of  Stanford  (Col.) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  17,  '42,  p.  75. 


Crossroads  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  1,  '42,  p.  65 : 
Sept.  19,  '42,  p.  50. 


Desperate  Journey  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Aug.  15,  '42,  p.  63  : 
Oct.  3,  '42.  p.  66. 


Eagle  Squadron  (Univ.) 

Audience  Classification — -Adult 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— June  27,  '42,  p.  48; 
Aug.  8,  '42,  p.  56;  Aug.  15,  '42,  p.  62;  Aug.  22, 
'42,  p.  80 ;  Oct.  10,  '42,  p.  54. 


Flying  Tigers  (Rep.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  17,  '42,  p.  75. 


Gay  Sisters  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating— Class  B 

Round  Table  Exploitation— July  25,  '42,  p.  59 ; 

Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  62. 

Iceland  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decencv  Rating — Class  A-2 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  10,  '42;  p.  55. 

/  Married  An  Angel  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  76; 
Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  63. 

Juke  Girl  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— June  13,  '42,  p.  70; 
Aug.  8,  '42,  p.  56;  Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  74,  78;  Sept. 
19,  '42,  p.  46 ;  Oct.  3,  '42,  p.  70. 

Lady  in  a  Jam  (Univ.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — July  11,  '42,  p  47- 
Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  62. 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  24,  '42,  p.  72. 


Miss  Annie  Rooney  (UA) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — May  23,  '42,  p.  55 ; 
July  11,  '42,  p.  46 ;  Aug.  15,  '42,  p.  63 ;  Aug.  29, 
'42,  p,  66 ;  Sept.  5,  '42,  p.  60 ;  Sept.  26,  '42,  p.  62. 


My  Sister  Eileen  (Col.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  10,  '42,  p.  57: 
Oct.  24,  '42,  p.  72. 


Pardon  My  Sarong  (Univ.) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  10,  '42,  p.  57. 


Pied  Piper,  The  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification— General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating— Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  75 ; 
Sept.  26,  '42,  p.  63 ;  Oct.  17,  '42,  p.  75. 


Pride  of  the  Yankees  (RKO) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  8,  '42,  p.  56; 
Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  75 ;  Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  64,  67. 


Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — April  4,  '42,  p.  69 ; 
May  23,  '42,  p.  55 ;  June  13,  '42,  p.  65 ;  June  20, 
'42,  p.  56;  Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  75,  80;  Oct.  10,  '42, 
p.  54,  56. 

Rubber  Racketeers  (Mono.) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  10,  '42,  p.  54. 

Somewhere  Fll  Find  You  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating— Class  B 

Round  Table  Exploitation — Aug.  15,  '42,  p.  58; 

Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  62 ;  Sept.  19,  '42,  p.  46,  47,  50. 


LEGION  of  DECENCY  Ratings 

Class  A-l  Unobjectionable 

Class  A-2  Unobjectionable  for  Adults 

Class  B  Objectionable  in  Part 

Class  C  Condemned 


Springtime  in  the  Rockies  (20th-Fox) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decencv  Rating — Class  A-l 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  24,  '42,  p.  72. 


Take  a  Letter,  Darling  (Para.) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation — June  6,  '42,  p.  59 ; 
July  11,  '42,  p.  47;  Aug.  1,  '42,  p.  62;  Aug.  8, 
'42,  p.  57,  61 ;  Aug.  15,  '42,  p.  62 ;  Sept.  12,  '42, 
p.  55. 


Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure 
(MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — July  25,  '42,  p.  63 ; 
Sept.  12,  '42,  p.  52. 


They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  (Col.) 

Audience  Classification — Adult 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  B 

Round  Table  Exploitation— May  30,  '42,  p.  53 ; 

July  4,  '42,  p.  63 ;  July  25,  '42,  p.  58 ;  Aug.  29, 

'42,  p.  66;  Sept.  12,  '42,  p.  53;  Sept.  19,  '42, 

p.  51 ;  Oct.  24,  '42,  p.  75. 


Tortilla  Flat  (MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— May  23,  '42,  p.  54; 
June  13,  '42,  p.  68;  July  18,  '42,  p.  60;  Aug.  22, 
'42,  d.  76;  Aug.  29,  '42,  p.  66;  Sept.  19,  '42, 
p.  47. 


War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The 
(MGM) 

Audience  Classification — General 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 

Round  Table  Exploitation— Oct.  17,  '42,  p.  75. 


Wings  for  the  Eagle  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-2 
Round  Table  Exploitation— July  11,  '42,  p.  79; 
Aug.  22,  '42,  p.  79 ;  Oct.  17,  '42,  p.  76. 


Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  (WB) 

Audience  Classification — General 
Legion  of  Decency  Rating — Class  A-l 
Round  Table  Exploitation — June  6,  '42,  p.  56; 
June  13,  '42,  p.  69;  Aug.  1,  '42,  p.  65;  Aug.  22, 
'42,  p.  76;  Sept.  19,  '42,  p.  49,  50;  Oct.  3,  '42, 
p.  66. 


984    Product  Digest  Section 


October    3  1,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


FEATURES 

in  order  of  releases,  as  set, 
also  others  to  come 


COLUMBIA 

Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

4027  Counter  Espionage   Sep.  3,'42 

4022  The  Spirit  of  Stanford  Sep.  10/42 

4044  A  Man's  World  Sep.  I7,'42 

4032  Lucky  Legs   Oct.    I, '42 

  Riding  Through  Nevada  Oct.  I.*42 

4021  The  Daring  Young  Man  Oct.  8.'42 

 The  Lone  Prairie  Oct.  I5,'42 

 Smith   of   Minnesota  Oct.  15/42 

  The  Boogie  Man  Will  Get  You. Oct.  22/42 

....  Stand  By  All  Networks  Oct.  29/42 

  Boston  Blackie  Goes  HollywoodNov.  5/42 

  Laugh  Your  Blues  Away  Nov.  12/42 

  You  Were  Never  Lovelier  Nov.  19/42 

  Pardon  My  Gun  Nov.  19/42 

  Underground  Agent   Dec.  3/42 

 A  Night  to  Remember  Dec.  10/42 

 Junior  Army   Dec.  10/42 

 A  Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Dec.  17/42 

  Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn.. .Dec.  24/42 

 The  Desperados   Not  Set 

....  The    Cover    Girl  Not  Set 

  Law  of  the  Badlands  Not  Sat 

 The   Fighting   Buckaroo  Not  Set 

 Something  to  Shout  About. .  .Not  Set 

  Law  of  the  Northwest  Not  Set 

  How  Do  You  Do  Not  Set 

  Ride,    Mountie    Ride  Not  Set 

  City  Without  Men  Not  Set 

 Silver  City  Raiders  Not  Set 

  Hail  to  the  Rangers  Not  Set 

 One   Dangerous  Night  Not  Set 

  Merry  Go  Round  Not  Set 

  Power  of  the  Press  Not  Set 

  No  Place  for  a  Lady  Not  Set 

  Robinhood  of  the  Range  Not  Set 

  Outlaw  Busters   Not  Set 

  Murder  in  Times  Square  Not  Set 

MGM 

302  Tish   Sep.-Oet.  '42 

305  A  Yank  at  Eton  Sep.-Oct.  '42 

306  The  War  Against 

Mrs.   Hadley   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

307  Cairo   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

308  Seven  Sweethearts   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

304  Apache  Trail   Sep.-Oct  '42 

301  Somewhere  I'll  Find  You. .  .Sep.-Oct.  '42 

303  Panama  Hattie   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

312  For  Me  and  My  Gal  Sep.-Oct.  '42 

309  Eyes  in  the  Night  Sep.-Oct.  '42 

310  White  Cargo   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

311  Omaha  Trail   Sep.-Oct.  '42 

...  Andy  Hardy  Steps  Out  Not  Set 

. . .  Random  Harvest   Not  Set 

...  Reunion   Not  Set 

...  Journey  for  Margaret  Not  Set 

...  Whistling  in  Dixie  Not  Set 

  Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant.  Not  Set 

  Presenting  Lily  Mars  Not  Set 

  Lassie,  Come  Home  Not  Set 

  Keeper  of  the  Flame  Not  Set 

...  Tennessee  Johnson   Not  Set 

...  Northwest  Rangers   Not  Set 

...  Pilot  No.  5  Not  Set 

  Pacific  Task  Force  ..Not  Set 

...  Assignment  In  Brittany  Not  Set 

...  Cabin  in  the  Sky  Not  Set 

...  Du  Barry  Was  a  Lady  Not  Set 

 Three  Cheers  for  Julia  Not  Set 

...  The    Human   Comedy  Not  Set 

...  Nothing  Ventured   Not  Set 

..    Salute  to  the  Marines  Not  Set 

  Gentle  Annie  Not  Set 

MONOGRAM 

....  One  Thrilling  Night  June  5/42 

....  Isle  of  Missing  Men  Sept.  18/42 

....  Foreign  Agent   Oct.  9/42 

 Texas  to   Bataan  Oct.  16/42 

—  Criminal  Investigator   Oct.  23/42 

....  Bowery  at  Midnight  Oct  30/42 


frod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

....  West  of  the  Law  Nov.  2/42 

  War  Dogs   Nov.  13/42 

  'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge  Nov.  20/42 

....  The  Living  Ghost  Nov.  27/42 

 Trail  Riders   Dec.  4/42 

  Rhythm  Parade   Dee.  11/42 

  Beyond  the  Great  Divide  Dec.  18/42 

 Silver  Skates   Not  Set 

  Dead  Man's  Trail  Not  Set 

....  Little  Mobsters   Not  Set 


PARAMOUNT 

Block  I 

  Wake  Island   

  The  Major  and  the  Mnior. . 

  The  Glass  Key  

....  Wildcat   

  Priorities  on  Parade  

Block  2 

  Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  

  Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage 

Patch   

  Road  to  Morocco   

 Street  of  Chance  

....  The   Forest  Rangers   

Block  3 

 The  Avengers   

 Wrecking  Crew   

 The  Palm  Beach  Story  

  My  Heart  Belong  to  Daddy. 

  Lucky  Jordan   


....  Happy  a*  Lucky  Not  Sot 

  Great  Without  Glory  Not  Set 

  For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  Not  Set 

  Lady  Bodyguard   Not  Set 

  No  Time  for  Love  Not  Set 

  Missing  Men   Not  Set 

  Submarine  Alert   Not  Set 

  Star  Spangled  Rhythm  Not  Set 

  Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour. .  Not  Set 

  High   Explosive   Not  Set 

  Night  Plane  to  Chungking  Not  Set 

...  True  to  Life  Not  Set 

PRODUCERS  REL 
CORP. 

...  Baby  Face  Morgan  Sep.  15/42 

...  Tomorrow  We  Live  Sep.  29/42 

...  City  of  Silent  Men  Oct.  12/42 

...  Secrets  of  a  Co-ed  Oct.  26/42 

...  The  Yanks  are  Coming  Nov.  9/42 

...  Miss  V  from  Moscow  Nov.  23/42 

...  Boss  of  Big  Town  Dec.  7/42 

...  Lady  from  Chungking  Dec.  21/42 

. . .  The  Shakedown   Jan.  4/43 

...  The  Payoff   Jan.  21/43 

...  Dead  Men  Walk  Feb.  10/43 

...  A  Night  for  Crime  Feb.  24/43 

...  Queen  of  Broadway  Not  Set 

RKO 

...The   Magnificent  Ambersons.  .July  10/42 

...  The  Big  Street  Sep.  4/42 

...  Mexican  Spitfire's   Elephant.  .Sep.  11/42 

...  Wings  and  the  Woman  Sep.  18/42 

...  Bandit   Ranger   Sep.  25/42 

...  Highways  by  Night  Oct.  2/42 

...  Here  We  Go  Again  Oct.  9/42 

...  Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder. Oct.  16/42 

...  Journey  into  Fear  Oct.  23/42 

...  The  Navy  Comes  Through  Oct.  30/42 

...  The  Falcon's  Brother  Nov.  6/42 

...  Seven  Days'  Leave  Nov.  13/42 

...  Army  Surgeon   Dec.  4/42 

...  Pride  of  the  Yankees  Not  Set 

...  Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon  Not  Set 

...  Ladles  Day   Not  Set 

...  Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz  Net  Set 

...  Cat  People   Not  Set 

...  Tarzan  Triumphs   Not  Set 

...  Bombardier   Not  Set 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

...  This  Land  Is  Mine  Not  Set 

...  Two  Weeks  to  Live  Not  Set 

...  The  Great  Gildersleeve  Not  Set 

...  They  Got  Me  Covered  Not  Set 

...  Flight  for  Freedom  Not  Set 

...  Hitler's  Children   Not  Set 

REPUBLIC 

201  HI,  Neighbor  July  27/42 

271  Sombrero  Kid   July  31/42 

202  The  Old  Homestead   Aug.  17/42 

261  Shadows  on  the  Sage  Aug.  24/42 

203  Youth  on  Parade  Oct.  24/42 

272  Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge  Oct.  27/42 

204  X  Marks  the  Spot  Nov.  4/42 

205  Johnny  Doughboy   Nov.  30/42 

206  Ice-Capades  Revue   Dec.  8/42 

...  Secrets  of  the  Underground ..  .Not  Set 

...  Heart  of  the  Golden  West  Not  Set 

...  The  Traitor  Within  Not  Set 

...  Riding  Down  the  Canyon  Not  Set 

...  Mountain  Rhythm   Not  Set 

...  Sundown   Kid   Not  Set 

...  London  Blackout  Murders  Not  Set 

20TH  CENTURY-FOX 

Block  I 

301  Footlight  Serenade   Aug.  1/42 

302  A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  Aug.  7/42 

303  Little  Tokyo,   U.S.A  Aug.  14/42 

304  The   Pied    Piper  Aug.  21/42 

305  Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe  Aug.  28/42 

Block  2 

308  Orchestra  Wives   Sep.  4/42 

311  Berlin  Correspondent   Sep.  11/42 

312  Careful,  Soft  Shoulders  Sep.  18/42 

310  Just   Off   Broadway  Sep.  25/42 

306  Iceland   Oct.  2/42 

Block  3 

313  Tales  of  Manhattan  Oct.  30/42 

Block  4 

309  Girl  Trouble   Oct.  9/42 

314  Manila  Calling   Oct.  16/42 

315  The   Man   in  the  Trunk  Oct.  23/42 

317  Springtime  in  the  Rockies. ..  Nov.  6/42 

Block  5 

318  That  Other  Woman  Nov.  13/42 

307  Thunder  Birds   Nov.  20/42 

319  The  Undying  Monster  Nov.  27/42 

320  The  Black  Swan  Dec.  4/42 

321  Dr.  Renault's  Secret  Dec.  11/42 

316  The  Young  Mr.  Pitt  Not  Set 

...  The  Ox-Bow  Incident  Not  Set 

...  China  Girl   Not  Set 

...  He  Hired  the  Boss  Not  Set 

...  My  Friend   Fllcka  Not  Set 

. . .  Crash  Dive   Not  Set 

...  Life  Begins  at  8:30  Not  Set 

. .  ■  The  Meanest  Man  in  the 

World  Not  Set 

...  Over  My  Dead  Body  Not  Set 

...  Quiet  Please,  Murder  Not  Set 

...  Dixie   Dugan   Not  Set 

...  Murder,  Murder  Everywhere..  .Not  Set 

...  Chetnik   Not  Set 

...  Coney  Island   Not  Set 

...  Margin  for  Error  Not  Set 

....  The  Immortal  Sergeant  Not  Set 

UNITED  ARTISTS 

...  Battle  Cry  of  China  Aug.  7/42 

...  The  Moon  and  Sixpense  Oct.  2/42 

...  The  Devil  with  Hitler  Oct  9/42 

...  One  of  Our  Aircraft  is  Missing.  Oct.  16/42 

...  Undercover  Man   Oct.  23/42 

...  I  Married  a  Witch  Oct.  30/42 

...  Silver  Queen   Nov.  13/42 

...  Fall   In   Nov.  20/42 


Prod.  Release 
No.         Title  Date 

. . .  Jacare   Nov.  27/42 

...  American  Empire   Dec.  11/42 

...  Lost  Canyon   Dec.  18/42 

...  In  Which  We  Serve  Dee.  25/42 

...  The  Crystal  Ball  Jan.  1/43 

...  The  Powers  Girl  Jan.  15/43 

...  McGuerins  from   Brooklyn ...  .Jan.  22/43 

...  Young  and  Willing  Jan.  29/43 

...  G-String  Murders   Feb.  12/43 

...  Stage  Door  Canteen  Feb.  26/43 

UNIVERSAL 

7010  Between  Us  Girls  Sep.  4/42 

7021  Givo  Out  Sisters  Sep.  11/42 

7035  Half  Way  to  Shanghai  Sep.  18/42 

7020  Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  

of  Terror   8»p.  18/42 

 Sin  Town   8ep.  25/42 

7071  Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas  . Sep.  25/42 

7022  Get  Hep  to  Love  Oct.  2/42 

7030  Destination  Unknown   Oct.  9/42 

7026  Moonlight  in  Havana  Oct  16/42 

...  The   Mummy's  Tomb  Oct.  23/42 

...  Night  Monster   Oct.  23/42 

  Arabian  Nights   Oct.  30/42 

. . .  Who  Done  It?  Nov.  6/42 

...  Nightmare   Nov.  13/42 

7072  Little  Joe  the  Wrangler  Nov.  13/42 

7028  Strictly  in  the  Groove  Nov.  20/42 

...  Pittsburgh   Nov.  27/42 

...  Eyes  of  the  Underworld  Not  Set 

  Forever  Yours   Not  Set 

 The  Great  Impersonation  Not  Set 

  Off  the  Beaten  Track  Not  Set 

7076  Raiders  of  San  Joaquin  Not  Set 

  On  the  Beam  Not  Set 

 Shadow  of  a  Doubt  Not  Set 

  Flesh  and  Fantasy  Not  Set 

7074  Tenting   Tonight  on   the  Old 

Camp  Ground   Not  Set 

7073  The  Old  Chisholm  Trail  Not  Set 

....  Sherlock  Holmes  In 

Washington   Not  Set 

  Passing  the  Buck  Not  Set 

  Corvettes  in  Action  Not  Set 

  White  Savage   Not  Set 

7075  Cheyenne  Roundup   Not  Set 

7077  The  Lone  Star  Trail  Not  Set 

...  When  Johnny  Comes  Home. ..  .Not  Set 
...  It  Ain't  Hay  Not  Set 

....  Frankenstein   Meets  the  Wolf 

Man   Not  Set 

WARNER  BROS. 

202  Across  the  Pacific  Sep.  5/4Z 

203  Busses  Roar   Sep.  19/42 

204  Desperate  Journey   Sep.  26/42 

207  You  Can't  Escape  Forever  Oct  10/42 

205  Secret  Enemies   Oct  17/42 

206  Now,  Voyager   Oct.  31/42 

208  The  Hidden  Hand  Nov.  7/42 

209  The  Hard  Way  Nov.  14/42 

210  George  Washington  Slept  Here. Nov.  28/42 
201  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy  Not  Set 

. .  Casablanca   Net  Set 

...  Gentleman  Jim   Not  Set 

...  Watch  on  the  Rhino  Not  Set 

..  Princes*  O'Rourk*   Net  Set 

..  Adventure*  of  Mark  Twali. . .Not  Sot 

...  Flying  Fortress   Not  Sot 

...  Arsenlo  and  Old  Lace  Net  Set 

...  Edge  of  Darkness  Not  Set 

  The  Mysterious  Doctor  Not  Set 

..  The  Desert  Song   Not  Set 

...  Air   Fore*   Not  8et 

..  The  Constant  Nymph   Not  Set 

...  Action  in  the  North  Atlantic. Not  Set 

...  Murder    on    Wheels  Not  Set 

...  Background  to   Danger  Not  Set 

...  One   More  Tomorrow  Not  Set 

...  Mission  to  Moscow  Not  Set 

...  The  Gorilla  Man  Not  Set 

...  Fory  Whacks   Not  Set 

...  Thank  Your  Lucky  Stars  Not  Set 


Product  Digest  Section  985 


MOTION    PICTURE    HERALD  October    31,  1942 

ADVANCE  SYNOPSES 

and  information 


THE  WATCH  ON  THE  RHINE 
(Warner  Bros.) 

War  Study 

PRODUCER:  Hal  B.  Wallis.  Directed  by  Herman 
Shumlin. 

PLAYERS:  Bette  Davis,  Paul  Lukas,  Geraldine  Fitz- 
gerald, Lucille  Watson. 

SYNOPSIS 

Lillian  Hellman's  stage  play,  which  had  a 
long  success  on  the  New  York  stage,  will  have 
none  of  its  anti-Nazi  points  dulled  in  translation 
to  the  screen.  Paul  Lukas,  who  went  from 
Hollywood  to  portray  the  Hitler-hating  Ger- 
man and  acquired  a  new  artistic  stature  in  do- 
ing so,  performs  the  same  role  in  the  film 
version. 


PRAIRIE  CHICKEN 
(UA-Roach) 

Streamlined  Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Glenn  Tryon.  Directed  by  Hal 
Roach,  Jr. 

PLAYERS:  Jimmy  Rogers,  Noah  Beery,  Jr 

SYNOPSIS 

This  is  the  third  in  the  Hal  Roach  series  of 
Western  streamliners.  In  it  the  venturesome 
cowboys  meet  up  with  a  group  of  10  college 
girls,  touring  the  West,  and  all  become  involved 
in  the  matter  of  preventing  a  crooked  foreman 
from  stealing  his  boss's  ranch.  It's  in  the  West- 
ern melodrama  format,  but  done  for  laughs. 


WRECKING  CREW 
(Paramount) 

Action  Drama 

PRODUCERS:  William  H.  Pine  and  William  C. 
Thomas.  Directed  by  Frank  McDonald. 
PLAYERS:   Richard   Arlen,  Chester  Morris,  Jean 
Parker,    Joseph    Sawyer,    Esther    Dale,  Alexander 
Granach,  Evelyn  Brent. 

SYNOPSIS 

Another  Pine  and  Thomas  action  story  cen- 
ters about  a  group  of  wreckers,  Richard  Arlen 
playing  the  foreman  and  Chester  Morris  the 
"jinx."  There's  a  girl  too  in  the  person  of  Jean 
Parker  who  adds  a  romantic  element  to  the  ri- 
valry between  the  two  men. 


HENRY  ALDRICH 
GETS  GLAMOUR 
(Paramount) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Walter  MacEwen.  Directed  by  Hugh 
Bennett. 

PLAYERS:  Jimmy  Lydon,  Charlie  Smith,  John  Litel, 
Olive  Blakeney,  Frances  Gifford,  Gail  Russell. 

SYNOPSIS 

"Henry"  returns  to  Centerville  after  a  visit 
to  Hollywood.  His  head  has  been  turned  by 
exposure  to  celebrities  and  he  involves  him- 
self and  his  family  in  various  social  embar- 
rassments. Everything  turns  out  well,  how- 
ever, but  only  after  near-serious  complications. 


LUCKY  JORDAN 
(Paramount) 

Drama 

PRODUCER:  Fred  Kohlmar.  Directed  by  Frank 
Tuttle. 

PLAYERS:  Alan  Ladd,  Helen  Walker,  Marie 
McDonald,  Carol  Hughes. 

SYNOPSIS 

A  racketeer  is  drafted  by  the  Army  and 
when  he  finds  that  he  cannot  buy  his  way  out, 
goes  A.  W.  O.  L.  While  on  the  "lam,"  he  be- 
comes innocently  involved  in  a  sabotage  plot 
and  brings  the  enemies  to  justice.  His  adven- 
tures make  him  realize  what  the  war  is  all 
about. 

TAXI,  MISTER 
(UA-Roach) 

Streamlined  Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Fred  Guiol.  Directed  by  Kurt  Neu- 
mann. 

PLAYERS:  William  Bendix,  Grace  Bradley,  Joe 
Sawyer,  Sheldon  Leonard,  Jack  Norton. 

SYNOPSIS 

For  the  third  in  his  series  of  Brooklyn 
streamliners,  Hal  Roach  takes  the  story  of  the 
taixcab  magnates  back  to  its  beginnings,  in 
1928,  showing  how  the  gentlemen  got  their 
start,  which  involved  conflicts  with  the  gang- 
sters of  the  period  and  the  outwitting  of  same. 


X  MARKS  THE  SPOT 
(Republic) 

Melodrama 

PRODUCER-DIRECTOR:  George  Sherman. 
PLAYERS:   Damian   O'Flynn,   Helen   Parrish,  Neil 
Hamilton,  Dick  Pureed,  Jack  LaRue,  Esther  Muir. 

SYNOPSIS 

At  least  four  murders  pepper  this  Republic 
melodrama  which  has  a  private  detective  em- 
bark on  a  search  for  the  killer  of  his  father, 
a  police  sergeant.  A  remote  control  juke-box 
system,  a  tire  stealing  ring  and  other  plot 
elements  give  the  picture  a  topical  air.  The 
killer  is  found  through  a  chain  of  blood- 
marked  incidents  leading  to  a  police  official. 

A  NIGHT  TO  REMEMBER 
(Columbia) 

Mystery-Farce 

PRODUCER:  Sam  Bischoff.  Directed  by  Richard 
Wallace. 

PLAYERS:  Loretta  Young,  Brian  Aherne,  Jeff  Don- 
nell,  Lee  Patrick,  Sidney  Toler,  Frank  Sully,  Blanche 
Yurka. 

SYNOPSIS 

Eerie  events  occur  after  a  young  couple 
moves  into  an  old,  dingy  apartment  in  Green- 
wich Village.  The  man,  a  writer,  is  accused 
of  murder  when  a  stranger  with  whom  he  had 


a  fight  the  previous  evening,  is  found  drowned 
in  the  bathroom  of  the  apartment.  Freed  of 
suspicion  by  the  police,  the  writer  with  much 
serio-comic  blundering  shows  that  other  oc- 
cupants of  the  building  apparently  are  being 
blackmailed  because  of  an  apparent  murder 
which  occurred  during  prohibition  days.  The 
culprit  is  shot  to  death  by  the  police. 

HE  HIRED  THE  BOSS 
(20th  Century-Fox) 

Comedy 

PRODUCER:  Sol  Wurtzel.  Directed  by  Thomas  Z. 
Loring. 

PLAYERS:  Stuart  Erwin,  Evelyn  Venable,  Vivian 
Blaine,  Hugh  Beaumont. 

SYNOPSIS 

Although  a  remake  of  a  former  Edward  Ev- 
erett Horton  vehicle,  the  story  of  this  picture 
has  been  changed  considerably.  After  being 
given  a  sending-off  party  before  his  induction  in 
the  Army,  Erwin  is  rejected  and  finds  that  he 
cannot  get  his  same  position  back.  In  order  to 
do  his  bit,  he  becomes  an  air  raid  warden,  and 
continues  his  efforts  to  get  back  his  job  as  well 
as  a  promised  raise.  The  climax  comes  during 
a  blackout. 


HOW  DO  YOU  DO? 
(Columbia) 

Farce 

PRODUCER:  Jack  Fier.  Directed  by  Charles 
Barton. 

PLAYERS:  Bert  Gordon,  Jinx  Falkenburg,  Douglass 
Drake,  Isabel  Elsom,  Roger  Clark. 

SYNOPSIS 

Second  of  the  Columbia  pictures  featuring 
Bert  Gordon,  the  "Mad  Russian"  of  the  radio, 
this  film  tells  of  the  efforts  of  a  society-con- 
scious woman,  snubbed  by  New  York's  "four 
hundred,"  in  entertaining  a  wealthy  western 
family  by  hiring  actors  and  actresses  to  pose 
as  important  persons  at  her  parties.  Her  aim  is 
to  wed  her  son  to  the  daughter  of  the  wealthy 
family.  Both  her  son  and  the  western  girl  are 
in  love  with  other  persons,  and  they  manage 
to  overcome  the  machinations  and  find  happi- 
ness in  their  own  ways. 


ON  THE  BEAM 
(Universal) 

Comedy,  with  Music 

PRODUCER:  Ken  Goldsmith.  Directed  by  Charles 
Lamont. 

PLAYERS:  Gloria  Jean,  Ian  Hunter,  Donald  O'Con- 
nor, Frieda  Inescort. 

SYNOPSIS 

A  triple  romantic  triangle  is  the  concoction 
dished  up  by  Universal  in  this  Gloria  Jean  ve- 
hicle. A  wealthy  New  York  widower,  with  two 
daughters,  is  sought  by  a  widow  with  a  son. 
A  worker  in  his  office  starts  a  romance  between 
her  niece  and  one  of  the  daughters.  The  widow 
attempts  to  start  a  romance  between  her  son 
and  another  of  the  daughters.  The  singing  by 
Gloria  Jean  is  incidental  to  the  story. 


986   Product  Digest  Section 


October    3  1,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


THE  RELEASE  CHART 

Index  to  Reviews,  Advance  Synopses  and 
Service  Data  in  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION 

Dot  (•)  before  the  title  indicates  1941-42  product.  All    page   numbers   on   this   chart   refer   to    pages   in  the 

Release  dates  and  running  time  are  furnished  as  soon  as  avail-  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  of  MOTION  PICTURE  HERALD, 

able.  Advance  dates  are  tentative  and  subject  to  change.  Short  Subject  Release  Chart  with  Synopsis  Index  can  be  found 

Consult  Service  Data  in  the  PRODUCT  DIGEST  SECTION  for  °"  pages  972-973. 

Legion  of  Decency  Rating,  Audience  Classification  and  Managers'  Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company 

Round  Table  Exploitation.  by  Company,  in  order  of  release,  on  page  985. 

<—  REVIEWED  -> 

M.  P.       Product  Advance  Service 

Prod.                                                                    Release         Running         Herald       Digest  Synopsis  Data 

Title                              Company     Number                Stars                                               Date             Time             Issue          Page          Page  Page 

•  ABOUT  Face                      UA-Roach  ...  William  Tracy-Joe  Sawyer  Apr.  17/42  43m  Apr.  1 8,42  612   

Across  the  Pacific                        WB  202  Humphrey  Bogart-Mary  Astor  Sept.  5,'42  98m  Aug.  22,'42  927  726 

Action  in  the  North  Atlantic         WB  ....  Humphrey  Bogart-Raymond  Massey  Not  Set  ....    ...  983  ... 

Adventures  of  Mark  Twain            WB  ....  Fredric  March-Alexis  Smith  Not  Set  ....    ...  936  ... 

•  Affairs  of  Martha,  The              MGM  245  Marsha  Hunt-Richard  Carlson  Aug.     '42  66m  May  23,'42  673  613  756 

(formerly  Once  Upon  a  Thursday) 

Air  Force  WB  ....  John  Garfield-Gig  Young  Not  Set  ....    ...  936  ... 

A-Haunting  We  Will  Go  20th-Fox  302  Laurel  and  Hardy  Aug.  7,'42  67m  July  1 1, '42  927   

•  Almost  Married  Univ.  6024  Robert  Paige-Jane  Frazee  May  22, '42  65m  Mar.  7,'42  554  ...  ... 

American  Empire  UA  ....  Richard  Dix-Leo  Carrillo  Dec.  I  I, '42  ....    ...  871  ... 

\ndy  Hardy  Steps  Out  MGM  ....  Mickey  Rooney-Lewis  Stone  Not  Set  ....    ...  796 

Apache  Trail  MGM  304  Lloyd  Nolan-Donna  Reed  Sept.-Oct.,'42  66m  June  27,'42  938  726 

Arabian  Nights  Univ.  ....  Sabu-Maria  Montez-Jon  Hall  Oct.  30,'42  ....    ...  872  ... 

•  Are  Husbands  Necessary?  Para.  4131  Ray  Milland-Betty  Field  Block  7  79m  June  13, '42  714  663  984 

Arizona  Stagecoach  Mono.  ....  The  Range  Busters  Sept.  4,'42  ....    ...  ...  ... 

Army  Surgeon  RKO  ..  .  James  Ellison-Jane  Wyatt  Dec.  4,'42  63m  Oct.  24,'42  969  701 

Arsenic  and  Old  Lace  WB  ....  Cary  Grant-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set  ....    ...  ...  ... 

•  Atlantic  Convoy  Col.  3045  John  Beal-Virginia  Field  July  2,'42  66m  July  1 1, '42  765  751 
Avengers,  The  (British)  Para.  ....  Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr                   Block  3  ....    ...  ...  ... 


BABY  Face  Morgan  PRC  317 

•  Bad  Men  of  the  Hills  Col.  3207 

•  Bambi  (color)  RKO   

Bandit  Ranger  RKO   

•  Bashful  Bachelor,  The  RKO  221 
Battle  Cry  of  China  (Reissue)        UA  .... 

(formerly  Kukan) 
Battle  for  Siberia  (Russian)      Artkino  .... 

•  Beachcomber,  The  Para.  4139 

•  Bells  of  Capistrano  Rep.  .... 
Berlin  Correspondent  20th-Fox  311 
Between  Us  Girls                        Univ.  .... 

(formerly  Love  and  Kisses,  Caroline) 
•Beyond  the  Blue  Horizon  (color)    Para.  4130 

•  Big  Shot,  The  WB  135 
Big  Street,  The  RKO 

•  Billy  the  Kid  in  Law  and  Order  PRC  261 
•Billy  the  Kid,  Sheriff  of 

Sage  Valley  PRC   

•  Billy  the  Kid's  Smoking  Guns  PRC  260 
Black  Swan,  The  (color)         20th-Fox  320 

•Blondie  for  Victory  Col.  3019 

Bombardier  RKO   

•Bombs  Over  Burma  PRC  208 

•  Boothill  Bandits  Mono. 
Boogie  Man  Will  Get  You,  The  Col. 
Boss  of  Big  Town  PRC 

•  Boss  of  Hangtown  Mesa  Univ. 
Boston  Blackie  Goes  Hollywood  Col. 
Bowery  at  Midnight  Mono. 

•  Bride  of  Buddha  Hoffberg 

(formerly  India  Speaks) 

•  Broadway  Univ.  6009 
Buckskin  Frontier  Para.  .... 
Busses  Roar  WB  203 


CAIRO  MGM 

Calaboose  UA  .... 

Call  of  the  Canyon  Rep.  131 

•  Calling  Dr.  Gillespie  MGM  247 

Careful,  Soft  Shoulder  20th-Fox  312 

Casablanca  WB  .... 

Cat  People  RKO   

China  Girl  20th-Fox   


Mary  Carlisle-Richard  Cromwell 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

Disney  Feature  Cartoon 

Tim  Holt 

Lum  and  Abner 

Chinese  Feature 

Barbara  Miasnikova-Lev  Sverdlin 
Charles  Laughton 
Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 
Dana  Andrews-Virginia  Gilmore 
Diana  Barrymore-Robert  Cummings 

Dorothy  Lamour-Richard  Denning 
Humphrey  Bogart-lrene  Manning 
Henry  Fonda-Lucille  Ball 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 


Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Buster  Crabbe-Al  St.  John 
Tyrone  Power-Maureen  O'Hara 
Penny  Singleton-Arthur  Lake 
Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott-Anne 
Anna  May  Wong-N.  Madison 
Corrigan-King-Terhune 
Boris  Karloff-Peter  Lorre 
John  Litel-Florence  Rice 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Chester  Morris-Richard  Lane 
Bela  Lugosi-John  Archer 
R.  Halliburton  Travelogue 

George  Raft-Pat  O'Brien 
Richard  Dix-Jane  Wyatt 
Richard  Travis-Julie  Bishop 


Jeanette  MacDonald-Robert  Young 
Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr. 
Gene  Autry-Smiley  Burnette 
Lionel  Barrymore-Philip  Dorn 
Virginia  Bruce-James  Ellison 
Humphrey  Bogart-lngrid  Bergman 
Simone  Simon-Tom  Conway 
George  Montgomery-Gene  Tierney 


Sept.  I5,'42 

65  m 

July  25/42 

903 

Aug.  13/42 

69m 

Oct.  24/42 

970 

Aug.  21, '42 

70m 

May  30/42 

685 

947 

Sept.  25/42 

Apr.  24/42 

77m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

487 

795 

Aug.  7/42 

61m 

July  5/41 

840 

Aug.  26/42 

90m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Reissue 

89m 

Nov.  26/38 

911 

Sept.  15/42 

73m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

Sept.  1 1/42 

70m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

797 

Sept.  4/42 

89m 

Aug.  29/42 

890 

772 

Block  6 

76m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

947 

June  13/42 

80m 

June  6/42 

714 

648 

756 

Sept.  4/42 

87m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

701 

Aug.  2 1/42 

58m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

Oct.  2/42 
May  29/42 
Dec.  4/42 
Aug.  6/42 
Shirley  Not  Set 
June  5/42 
Apr.  24/42 
Oct.  22/42 
Dec.  7/42 
Aug.  21/42 
Nov.  5/42 
Oct.  30/42 
Apr.  22/42 


May  8/42 
Not  Set 
Sept.  19/42 


Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Not  Set 
Aug.  5/42 
Aug.,  '42 
Sept.  18/42 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 


58m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

648 

85m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

855 

70m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

772 

912 

65m 

July  18/42 

781 

648 

58m 

613 

66m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

64m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

58m 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

794 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

75m 

May  13/33 

634 

91m 

May  9/42 

645 

983 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

903 

101m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

71m 

Aug.  22/42 

938 

800 

84m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

69  m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

756 


947 


873 


936 
962 
872 


Product  Digest  Section 


987 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,    I  942 


Title  Company 

City  of  Silent  Men  PRC 

•Come  On,  Danger  RKO 

Commandos  Strike  at  Dawn  Col. 

Constant  Nymph,  The  WB 

•Corpse  Vanishes,  The  Mono, 

Corvettes  in  Action  Univ. 

Counter  Espionage  Col. 

Cover  Girl,  The  (color)  Col. 

Crash  Dive  (color)  20th-Fox 

Criminal  Investigator  Mono. 

•Crossroads  MGM 

Crystal  Ball,  The  UA 

•Cyclone  Kid,  The  Rep. 


Prod. 
Number 

308 
285 


4027 


244 
177 


Release 

Stars  Date 

Frank  Alperson-June  Lang  Oct.  12, '42 

Tim  Holt  June  5,'42 

Paul  Muni-Lillian  Gish  Dec.  24,'42 
Charles  Boyer-Joan  Fontaine  Not  Set 

Bela  Lugosi  May  8,'42 
Patric  Knowles-Dick  Foran  Not  Set 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Sept.  3,'42 
Jinx  Falkenberg-Rita  Hayworth  Not  Set 

Tyrone  Power-Anne  Baxter  Not  Set 

Robert  Lowery-Jan  Wiley  Oct.  23,'42 

William  Powell-Hedy  Lamarr  July,  '42 

Paulette  Goddard-Ray  Milland  Jan.   I, '43 

Don  "Red"  Barry  May  3 1 .'42 


Running 
Time 

64m 
58m 


63  m 
72m 

84m 
56m 


r—  REVIEWED  s 

M.  P.       Product  Advance  Service 

Herald       Digest  Synopsis  Data 

Issue  Page  Page 


Sept.  12/42 
Dec.  3,'4I 


Apr.  18/42 
Oct.  i6,'42 

June  27742 
Aug. 15742 


898 

407 


611 

945 

737 
840 


387 
962 


871 

962 

663 
960 
701 


Pag' 


984 


•DANGER  in  the  Pacific  Univ. 
Daring  Young  Man,  The  Col. 
Day  Will  Dawn  (British)  Soskin-Gen'l 
Deep  in  the  Heart  of  Texas  Univ. 
Desert  Song,  The  (color)  WB 
Desperados,  The  (color)  Col. 

•Desperate Chance  for  Ellery  Queen  Col. 
Desperate  Journey  WB 
Destination  Unknown  Univ. 
Devil  with  Hitler,  The  UA-Roach 

•Devil's  Trail,  The  Col. 

•Dr.  Broadway  Para. 
Dr.  Gillespie's  New  Assistant  MGM 
Dr.  Renault's  Secret  20th-Fox 

•  Down  Rio  Grande  Way  Col. 

•  Down  Texas  Way  Mono. 

•  Drums  of  the  Congo  Univ. 

•  EAGLE  Squadron  Univ. 
Edge  of  Darkness  WB 

•  Enemy  Agents  Meet  Ellery  Queen  Col. 
•Escape  from  Crime  WB 
•Escape  from  Hong  Kong  Univ. 

Eyes  in  the  Night  MGM 
Eyes  of  the  Underworld  Univ. 


6056        Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 
4021         Joe  E.  Brown-Margaret  Chapman 
Ralph  Richardson-Deborah  Kerr 
Johnny  Mack  Brown 
Dennis  Morgan-Irene  Manning 
Randolph  Scott-Glenn  Ford 
3032        William  Gargan-Margaret  Lindsay 
204        Errol  Flynn-Ronald  Reagan 
7030        Irene  Hervey-William  Gargan 
....         Alan  Mowbray-M.  Woodworth 
3214        Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 
4128        Macdonald  Carey-Jean  Phillips 
....         Lionel  Barrymore-Van  Johnson 
321         Lynn  Roberts-John  Shepperd 
3205        Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 
....        Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 
6040        Stuart  Erwin-Ona  Munson 

....  Robert  Stack-Diana  Barrymore 

....  Errol  Flynn-Ann  Sheridan 

3038  Margaret  Lindsay-William  Gargan 

137  Julie  Bishop-Richard  Travis 

6054  Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo-A.  Devine 

309  Edward  Arnold-Ann  Harding 

....  Richard  Dix-Lon  Chaney,  Jr. 


July  I0,'42 

61m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

Oct.  8,'42 

871 

Not  Set 

98m 

May  23/42 

673 

Sept.  25,'42 

62m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

Not  Set 

872 

Not  Set 

871 

May  7,"42 

70m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Sept.  26,'42 

107m 

Aug.  22/42 

915 

Oct.  9,"42 

61m 

Oct.  3/42 

946 

9i2 

Oct.  9,'42 

45  m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

May  14/42 

61m 

715 

Block  6 

67m 

May  9/42 

646 

527 

Not  Set 

Dec.  1 1/42 

58m 

Dec.  17/42 

959 

936 

Apr.  23/42 

57m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

May  22/42 

57m 

June  6/42 

698 

648 

July  17/42 

61m 

July  25/42 

794 

Not  Set 

109m 

June  20/42 

725 

635 

Not  Set 

982 

July  30/42 

64m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

July  25/42 

60m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

May  15/42 

60m 

May  16/42 

662 

Sept.-Oct.,"42 

79m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

797 

Not  Set 

61m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

984 


873 


984 


•  FALCON  Takes  Over  RKO 
Falcon's  Brother,  The  RKO 
Fall  In  UA-Roach 

•  Fighting  Bill  Fargo  Univ. 
Find,  Fix  and  Strike  (British) 

Ealing-ABFD 

•Fingers  at  the  Window  MGM 
First  of  the  Few,  The  Howard-Gen'l 
(British) 

Flesh  and  Fantasy  Univ. 
Flight  for  Freedom  RKO 

•  Flight  Lieutenant  Col. 
Flying  Fortress  (British)  WB 

•  Flying  Tigers  Rep. 
Footlight  Serenade  20th-Fox 
Foreign  Agent  Mono. 
Foreman  Went  to  France 

(British)  Ealing-UA 
Forest  Rangers,  The  (color)  Para. 
Forever  Yours  Univ. 
For  Me  and  My  Gal  MGM 
For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  (color)  Para. 
•Friendly  Enemies  UA 
•Frontier  Marshal  Along  the 

Sundown  Trail  PRC 
•Frontier  Marshal  in  Prairie  Pals  PRC 


227        George  Sanders-Lynn  Bari  May  29/42 

....         George  Sanders-Jane  Randolph  Nov.  6/42 

....         William  Tracy-Jean  Porter  Nov.  20/42 

6065        Johnny  Mack  Brown  Apr.  17/42 

War  Documentary  Not  Set 

232        Lew  Ayres-Laraine  Day  Apr.  '42 

Leslie  Howard-David  Niven  Not  Set 

Charles  Boyer-Barbara  Stanwyck  Not  Set 

Rosalind  Russell-Fred  MacMurray  Not  Set 

3012        Pat  O'Brien-Glenn  Ford  July  9/42 

Richard  Green-Carla  Lehmann  Not  Set 

John  Wayne-Anna  Lee  Oct.  8/42 

301        John  Payne-Betty  Grable  Aug.  1/42 

John  Shelton-Gail  Storm  Oct.  9/42 

Constance  Cumming-Tommy  Trinder  Not  Set 

Fred  MacMurray-Paulette  Goddard  Block  2 

Deanna  Durbin-Edmond  O'Brien  Not  Set 

312        Judy  Garland-George  Murphy  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Gary  Cooper-lngrid  Bergman  Not  Set 

....        Charles  Winninger-Charles  Ruggles  June  26/42 

  Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis  Oct.  19/42 

255        Bill  (Radio)  Boyd-Art  Davis  Sept.  4/42 


63m 

May  9/42 

646 

635 

63  m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

871 

796 

57m 

May  23/42 

674 

364 

37m 

Sept.  12/42 

898 

80m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

526 

1  18m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

983 

78m 

June  27/42 

751 

68m 

June  27/42 

914 

102m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

80m 

July  11/42 

915 

715 

64m 

Sept.  19/42 

911 

90m 

May  2/42 

634 

87m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

936 

104m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

751 

855 

95m 

June  27/42 

738 

726 

60m 


947 

984 
873 


756 


•  GAY  Sisters,  The 

WB 

138 

Barbara  Stanwyck-George  Brent 

Aug.  1/42 

108m 

June  6/42 

697 

663 

•  General  Died  at  Dawn,  The 

Para. 

4140 

Gary  Cooper-Madeleine  Carroll 

Reissue 

93  m 

Sept.  12/36 

911 

Gentleman  Jim 

WB 

Errol  Flynn-Alexis  Smith 

Not  Set 

104m 

Oct.  31/42 

981 

936 

George  Washington  Slept  Here  WB 

210 

Jack  Benny-Ann  Sheridan 

Nov.  28/42 

93  m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

871 

Get  Hep  to  Love 

Univ. 

Jane  Frazee-Robert  Paige 

Oct.  2/42 

77m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

•  Girl  from  Alaska,  The 

Rep. 

117 

Ray  Middleton-Jean  Parker 

Apr.  16/42 

75m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

Girl  Trouble 

20th-Fox 

309 

Don  Ameche-Joan  Bennett 

Oct.  9/42 

82m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

855 

•Give  Out,  Sisters 

Univ. 

7021 

Andrews  Sisters-Richard  Davies 

Sept.  11/42 

65m 

Sept.  5/42 

889 

Glass  Key,  The 

Para. 

Brian  Donlevy-Veronica  Lake-Alan 

Ladd       Block  1 

85m 

Aug.  29/42 

914 

•Gold  Rush,  The 

UA 

Chaplin  —  Words  and  Music 

Apr.  17/42 

72m 

Mar.  7/42 

551 

Goose  Steps  Out,  The 

Ealing-UA 

Will  Hay 

Not  Set 

78m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

(British) 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

•Grand  Central  Murder 

MGM 

237 

Van  Heflin-Patricia  Dane 

May,  '42 

72m 

Great  Impersonation,  The 

Univ. 

Ralph  Bellamy-Evelyn  Ankers 

Not  Set 

912 

•Great  Man's  Lady,  The 

Para. 

4121 

Barbara  Stanwyck-Joel  McCrea 

Block  5 

90m 

Mar.  21/42 

561 

396 

Great  Without  Glory 

Para. 

Joel  McCrea-Betty  Field 

Not  Set 

912 

HALF  Way  to  Shanghai 

Univ. 

7035 

Irene  Hervey-Kent  Taylor 

Sept.  18/42 

62m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

984 


795 

756 
795 


988     Product  Digest  Section 


October    3  1,     I  942 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


REVIEWED 


Tit  It  Company 

Happy  Go  Lucky  (color)  Para. 

Hard  Way,  The  WB 

Ho  Hired  the  Boss  20th-Fox 

•  Hello  Annapolis  Col. 
Henry  Aldrich,  Editor  Para. 
Henry  Aldrich  Gets  Glamour  Para. 

•Hwiry  and  Dizzy  Para. 

•Her  Cardboard  Lover  MGM 

Here  We  Go  Again  RKO 

Hidden  Hand,  The  WB 

High  Explosive  Para. 

Highways  by  Night  RKO 

•  Hillbilly  Blitzkrieg  Mono. 
Hil  Neighbor  Rep. 

•  Holiday  Inn  Para. 

•  Home  in  Wyomin'  Rep. 
How  Do  You  Do?  Col. 


M.  P. 

Product 

Advance 

Prod. 

Release 

Running 

Herald 

Digest 

synopsis 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Mary  Martin-Dick  Powell-Rudy  Vallee 

Not  Set 

797 

209 

Ida  Lupino-Dennis  Morgan 

Nov.  I4,'42 

97m 

Sept.  I9,'42 

923 

796 

Stuart  Erwin-Evelyn  Venable 

Not  Set 

986 

3037 

Jean  Parker-Tom  Brown 

Apr.  23.'42 

62  m 

Aug.  I,'42 

810 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  2 

72m 

Oct.  3,'42 

934 

663 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Not  Set 

986 

4125 

Jimmy  Lydon-Charlie  Smith 

Block  5 

71m 

Mar.  21, '42 

563 

443 

241 

Norma  Shearer-Robert  Taylor 

June  '42 

90m 

May  30/42 

686 

648 

Fibber  McGee-Edgar  Bergen-"Charlie' 

Oct.  9/42 

76m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

208 

Craig  Stevens-Elizabeth  Fraser 

Nov.  7,'42 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker 

Not  Set 

983 

Richard  Carlson-Jane  Randolph 

Oct.  2,'42 

63m 

Aug.  8/42 

938 

715 

Edgar  Kennedy-Bud  Duncan 

Aug.  I4,'42 

63m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

794 

201 

Lulubelle  &  Scotty-Jean  Parker 

July  27,'42 

72m 

July  25/42 

927 

772 

4134 

Bing  Crosby-Fred  Astaire 

Block  7 

101m 

June  13/42 

713 

663 

146 

G.  Autry-S.  Burnette 

Apr.  20,'42 

67m 

May  2/42 

633 

Jinx  Falkenberg-Bert  Gordon 

Not  Set 

986 

Service 
Data 
Page 


795 


947 


ICE-CAPADES  Revue 

Rep. 

206 

Iceland 

20th-Fox 

306 

•  1  Live  on  Danger 

Para. 

4135 

•  1  Married  an  Angel 

MGM 

238 

1  Married  a  Witch 

UA 

•  In  Old  California 

Rep. 

103 

•  Inside  the  Law 

PRC 

218 

In  the  Rear  of  the  Enemy 

(Russian) 

Artkino 

•  In  This  Our  Life 

WB 

132 

•  Invaders,  The  (British) 

Col. 

3101 

•  Invisible  Agent 

Univ. 

6049 

In  Which  We  Serve 

(British)  Two 

Cities-UA 

Isle  of  Missing  Men 

Mono. 

•It  Happened  in  Flatbush 

20th-Fox 

248 

•1  Was  Framed 

WB 

130 

Jerry  Colonna-Vera  Vague 
Sonja  Henie-John  Payne 
Chester  Morris-Jean  Parker 
Nelson  Eddy-Jeanette  MacDonald 
Fredric  March-Veronica  Lake 
John  Wayne-Binnie  Barnes 
Wallace  Ford 

War  Documentary 

Bette  Davis-Olivia  De  Havilland 

Howard-Massey-Olivier 

llona  Massey-Jon  Hall 

Noel  Coward-Bernard  Miles 
John  Howard-Gilbert  Roland 
Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 
Michael  Ames-Julie  Bishop 


Dec.  8/42 

797 

Oct.  2/42 

79m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

984 

Block  7 

73m 

June  13/42 

713 

June  '42 

83m 

May  23/42 

673 

507 

984 

Oct.  30/42 

78m 

Oct.  24/42 

969 

797 

May  31/42 

88m 

June  6/42 

698 

756 

May  8/42 

97m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

613 

Oct.  9/42 

59m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

May  16/42 

97m 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 

597 

947 

Apr.  15/42 

104m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

795 

July  31/42 

79m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

Dec.  25/42 

1 13m 

Oct.  17/42 

957 

Sept.  18/42 

67m 

Aug.  15/42 

927 

772 

June  5/42 

80m 

May  30/42 

686 

674 

947 

Apr.  25/42 

61m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

574 

JACARE 

UA 

Animal  feature 

Nov.  27/42 

•  Jackass  Mail 

MGM 

243 

Wallace  Beery-Marjorie  Main 

July  "42 

80m 

June  20/42 

726 

715 

947 

•  Joan  of  Ozark 

Rep. 

104 

Judy  Conova-Joe  E.  Brown 

Aug.  1/42 

80m 

July  25/42 

793 

Johnny  Doughboy 

Rep. 

205 

Jane  Withers-Patrick  Brook 

Nov.  30/42 

971 

Journey  for  Margaret 

MGM 

Robert  Young-Laraine  Day 

Not  Set 

79m 

Oct.  31/42 

981 

912 

Journey  Into  Fear 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Del  Rio 

Oct.  23/42 

69m 

Aug.  8/42 

903 

796 

•  Juke  Girl 

WB 

133 

Ann  Sheridan-Ronald  Reagan 

May  30/42 

90m 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 

597 

464 

984 

•  Jungle  Siren 

PRC 

203 

Ann  Corio-Buster  Crabbe 

Aug.  14/42 

68m 

Oct.  3 1/42 

982 

947 

Junior  Army 

Col. 

Freddie  Bartholomew-Billy  Halop 

Dec.  10/42 

Just  Off  Broadway 

20th-Fox 

310 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

Sept.  25/42 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

797 

KEEPER  of  the  Flame 

MGM 

Spencer  Tracy-Katharine  Hepburn 

Not  Set 

936 

•  Kid  Glove  Killer 

MGM 

230 

Van  Heflin-Marsha  Hunt 

Apr.  '42 

74m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

495 

873 

•  King  of  the  Stallions 

Mono. 

Chief  Thundercloud-David  O'Brien 

Sept.  1 1/42 

63m 

Aug.  29/42 

870 

800 

•  Kings  Row 

WB 

120 

Ann  Sheridan-Robert  Cummings 

Apr.  18/42 

130m 

Dec.  27/41 

429 

320 

705 

LADIES'  DAY 

RKO 

Lupe  Velez-Eddie  Albert-Max  Baer 

Not  Set 

962 

Lady  Bodyguard 

Para. 

Eddie  Albert-Anne  Shirley 

Not  Set 

946 

Lady  from  Chungking 

PRC 

Anna  May  Wong-Harold  Huber 

Dec.  21/42 

•  Lady  Gangster 

WB 

134 

Faye  Emerson-Julie  Bishop 

June  6/42 

62m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

574 

•  Lady  in  a  Jam 

Univ. 

6008 

Irene  Dunne-Patric  Knowles 

June  19/42 

83m 

July  4/42 

749 

613 

984 

•  Land  of  the  Open  Range 

RKO 

284 

Tim  Holt 

Apr.  17/42 

60m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

•  Larceny,  Inc. 

WB 

131 

Edward  G.  Robinson-Jane  Wyman 

May  2/42 

95m 

Mar.  7/42 

538 

795 

Laugh  Your  Blues  Away 

Col. 

Bert  Gordon-Margaret  Lindsay 

Nov.  12/42 

Let  the  People  Sing  (British) 

Anglo 

Alastair  Sim-Fred  Emney 

Not  Set 

l66m 

Apr.  11/42 

599 

•  Let's  Get  Tough 

Mono. 

East  Side  Kids 

May  29/42 

62m 

May  16/42 

662 

648 

Life  Begins  at  8:30 

20th-Fox 

Monty  Woolley-lda  Lupino 

Not  Set 

962 

Little  Joe,  the  Wrangler 

Univ. 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

Nov.  13/42 

Little  Tokyo,  U.S.A. 

20th-Fox 

303 

Preston  Foster-Brenda  Joyce 

Aug.  14/42 

64m' 

July  1 1  ,'42 

938 

Living  Ghost,  The 

Mono. 

James  Dunn-Joan  Woodbury 

Nov.  27/42 

61m 

Oct.  31/42 

982 

Lone  Prairie,  The 

Col. 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

Oct.  15/42 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Border  Roundup  PRC 

266 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John 

Sept.  18/42 

•  Lone  Rider  in  Texas  Justice 

PRC 

265 

George  Houston-Al  St.  John 

June  21/42 

60m 

Loves  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  The 

20th-Fox 

305 

John  Sheppard-Linda  Darnell 

Aug.  28/42 

67m 

July  1 1/42 

914 

751 

Lucky  Jordan 

Para. 

Alan  Ladd-Helen  Walker 

Block  3 

986 

Lucky  Legs 

Col. 

4032 

Jinx  Falkenburg-Kay  Harris 

Oct.  1/42 

797 

•Lure  of  the  Islands 

Mono. 

Margie  Hart-Robert  Lowery 

July  3/42 

61m 

800 

•  MAD  Martindales,  The 

20th-Fox 

245 

Jane  Withers-Alan  Mowbray 

May  15/42 

65m 

Apr.  18/42 

622 

•  Mad  Monster,  The 

PRC 

209 

Johnny  Downs-Anne  Nagel 

May  15/42 

79m 

June  6/42 

699 

613 

Magnificent  Ambersons,  The 

RKO 

Joseph  Cotten-Dolores  Costello 

July  10/42 

88m 

July  4/42 

938 

507 

947 

•  Magnificent  Dope,  The 

20th-Fox 

249 

Henry  Fonda-Don  Ameche-Lynn  Bari 

Jun.  12/42 

84m 

May  30/42 

686 

677 

873 

•  Maisie  Gets  Her  Man 

MGM 

240 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton 

June  '42 

86m 

May  30/42 

687 

648 

756 

Major  and  the  Minor,  The 

Para. 

Ginger  Rogers-Ray  Milland 

Block  1 

100m 

Aug.  29/42 

927 

984 

•  Male  Animal,  The 

WB 

126 

Henry  Fonda-Olivia  de  Havilland 

Apr.  4/42 

101m 

Mar.  7/42 

537 

464 

795 

Man  in  the  Trunk,  The 

20th-Fox 

315 

Lynne  Roberts-George  Holmes 

Oct.  23/42 

71m 

Sept.  19/42 

91  1 

855 

Manila  Callinq 

20th-Fox 

314 

Lloyd  Nolan-Carole  Landis 

Oct.  16/42 

81m 

Sept.  19/42 

91 1 

871 

•  Man  Who  Wouldn't  Die,  The 

20th-Fox 

243 

Lloyd  Nolan-Marjorie  Weaver 

May  1/42 

65  m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Man's  World,  A 

Col. 

4044 

M.  Chapman-Wm.  Wright 

Sept.  17/42 

Product  Digest  Section  989 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October  3 


I  942 


Title 


Company 


Meanest  Man  in  the  World  20th-Fox 

•  Mayor  of  44th  St.  RKO 

•  Meet  the  Mob  Mono. 

(formerly  So's  Your  Aunt  Emma) 

•Meet  the  Stewarts  Col. 

•  Men  of  San  Quentin  PRC 
•Men  of  Texas  Univ. 

Mexican  Spitfire's  Elephant  RKO 

•  Mexican  Spitfire  Sees  a  Ghost  RKO 
•Miss  Annie  Rooney  UA 

Miss  V  from  Moscow  PRC 

•Mississippi  Gambler  Univ. 

•  Mokey  MGM 
Moonlight  in  Havana  Univ. 

•Moonlight  Masquerade  Rep. 

•  Moon  Tide  20th-Fox 
Moon  and  Sixpence,  The  UA 
Moscow  Strikes  Back  (Russian)  Rep. 

•  Mrs.  Miniver  MGM 
Mrs.  Wiggs  of  the  Cabbage  Patch  Para. 
Mummy's  Tomb,  The  Univ. 
Murder,  Murder  Everywhere  20th-Fox 
Murder  on  Wheels  WB 

•  My  Favorite  Blonde  Para. 

•  My  Favorite  Spy  RKO 
My  Friend  Flicka  (color)  20th-Fox 

•  My  Gal  Sal  (color)  20th-Fox 
My  Heart  Belongs  to  Daddy  Para. 

•My  Sister  Eileen  Col. 

Mysterious  Doctor,  The  WB 


Prod.  Release 

Number                Stars  Date 

....  Jack  Benny-Priscilla  Lane  Not  Set 

224  George  Murphy-Anne  Shirley  May  1 5, '42 

....  Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor  Apr.  I7,'42 

3014  William  Holden-Frances  Dee  May28,'42 

201  J.  Anthony  Hughes-Geo.  Breakston  May  22, '42 

6010  Robert  Stack-Ann  Gwynne  July   3, '42 

....  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  Sept.  I  I, '42 

230  Lupe  Velez-Leon  Errol  June  26,'42 
....  Shirley  Temple-W.  Gargan  May  29,'42 
....  Lola  Lane-Noel  Madison  Nov.  23, '42 
6034  Kent  Taylor-Frances  Langford  Apr.  1 7, '42 

231  Dan  Dailey,  Jr. -Donna  Reed  Apr... '42 
....  Allan  Jones-Jane  Frazee  Oct.  I6,'42 

120  Betty  Kean-Eddie  Foy,  Jr.  June  I0,"42 

247  Jean  Gabin-lda  Lupino-Claude  Rains     May  29,'42 

....  George  Sanders-Herbert  Marshall  Oct.   2, '42 

....  Documentary  Aug.  1 5, '42 

260  Greer  Garson-Walter  Pidgeon  Not  Set 

....  Fay  Bainter-Carolyn  Lee  Block  2 

  Dick  Foran-Elyse  Knox  Oct.  23, '42 

....  Lloyd  Nolan-Heather  Angel  Not  Set 

....  Richard  Travis-Eleanor  Parker  Not  Set 

4123  Bob  Hope-Madeleine  Carroll  Block  5 

228  Kay  Kyser-Ellen  Drew  June  12, '42 

....  Roddy  McDowall-Preston  Foster  Not  Set 

244  Rita  Hayworth-V.  Mature  May  8,'42 

  Richard  Carlson-M.  O'Driscoll  Block  3 

....  Rosalind  Russell-Brian  Aherne  Sept.  30, '42 

....  Eleanor  Parker-John  Loder  Not  Set 


Running 


r~  REVIEWED  — . 
M.  P.       Product  Advance 
Herald       Digest  Synopsis 


Service 
Data 


Time 

Issue 

Page 

Page 

Page 

962 

86m 

Mar.  21, '42 

563 

487 

62  m 

Apr.  25, '42 

622 

574 

73  m 

May  23,'42 

674 

705 

78m 

Apr.  I8,'42 

610 

82m 

July  1 1  ,'42 

766 

773 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

915 

69m 

May  9,"42 

646 

635 

873 

85m 

May  30,'42 

686 

677 

984 

60m 

Apr.  I8,'42 

611 

88m 

Mar.28,'42 

574 

62  m 

Oct.  I7,'42 

959 

67m 

June  27,'42 

738 

701 

94m 

Apr.  18, '42 

609 

947 

89m 

Sept.  I2,'42 

912 

55m 

Aug.  I5,"42 

840 

133m 

May  I6,'42 

661 

527 

947 

80m 

Oct.  3,'42 

934 

663 

61m 

Oct.  1 7,'42 

970 

78m 

Mar.  21, '42 

561 

542 

756 

86m 

May  9,'42 

646 

635 

873 

962 

103m 

Apr.  18/42 

609 

947 

871 

96m 

Sept.  19/42 

909 

772 

984 

NAVY  Comes  Through,  The 

RKO 

•Native  Land 

Frontier 

'Neath  Brooklyn  Bridge 

Mono. 

Next  of  Kin,  The  (British)  Ealing-UA 

Nightmare 

Univ. 

Night  for  Crime,  A 

PRC 

•Night  in  New  Orleans 

Para. 

4127 

Night  Monster 

Univ. 

Night  Plane  from  Chungking 

Para. 

Night  to  Remember,  A 

Col. 

Northwest  Rangers 

MGM 

•  Not  a  Ladies  Man 

Col. 

3042 

No  Time  for  Love 

Para. 

Now,  Voyager 

WB 

206 

OFF  the  Beaten  Track 

Univ. 

Old  Homestead,  The 

Rep. 

202 

Omaha  Trail 

MGM 

311 

(formerly  Ox  Train) 

On  The  Beam 

Univ. 

Once  Upon  a  Honeymoon 

RKO 

One  Dangerous  Night 

Col. 

One  of  Our  Aircraft  Is  Missing 

(British) 

UA 

One  Thrilling  Night 

Mono. 

(formerly  Do  Not  Disturb) 

Orchestra  Wives 

20th-Fox 

308 

•  Orders  from  Tokyo 

Almo 

Outlaws  of  Pine  Ridge 

Rep. 

•  Overland  to  Deadwood 

Col. 

3208 

Over  My  Dead  Body 

20th-Fox 

Ox-Bow  Incident,  The 

20th-Fox 

Ox  Train 

MGM 

(now  Omaha  Trail) 

•  PACIFIC  Rendezvous 

MGM 

239 

Pacific  Task  Force 

MGM 

(formerly  Clear  for  Action 

) 

Palm  Beach  Story,  The 

Para. 

Panama  Hattie 

MGM 

303 

•Panther's  Claw,  The 

PRC 

217 

•Parachute  Nurse 

Col. 

3044 

Pardon  My  Gun 

Col. 

•Pardon  My  Sarong 

Univ. 

•Phantom  Killer 

Mono. 

•Phantom  Plainsmen 

Rep. 

167 

Pied  Piper,  The 

20th-Fox 

304 

Pilot  No.  5 

MGM 

•  Pierre  of  the  Plains 

MGM 

246 

Pittsburgh 

Univ. 

•Police  Bullets 

Mono. 

•Postman  Didn't  Ring,  The 

20th-Fox 

252 

•Powder  Town 

RKO 

226 

Power  of  God,  The 

St.  Rts. 

Prairie  Chicken  UA-Roach 

•Prairie  Gunsmoke 

Col. 

3215 

Pat  O'Brien-Randolph  Scott  Oct.  30/42 

Documentary  on  Labor  May  11/42 

East  Side  Kids  Nov.  20/42 

Basil  Sydney-Nova  Pilbeam  Not  Set 

Diana  Barrymore-Brian  Donlevy  Nov.  13/42 

Glenda  Farrell-Lyle  Talbot  Feb.  24/43 

Preston  Foster-Patricia  Morison  Block  6 

Irene  Hervey-Bela  Lugosi  Oct.  23/42 

Robert  Preston-Ellen  Drew  Not  Set 

Loretta  Young-Brian  Aherne  Dec.  10/42 

James  Craig-Patricia  Dane  Not  Set 

Paul  Kelly-Fay  Wray  May  14/42 

Claudette  Colbert-Fred  MacMurray  Not  Set 

Bette  Davis-Paul  Henreid  Oct.  31/42 

Ritz  Brothers-Carol  Bruce  Not  Set 

Weaver  Bros,  and  Elviry  Aug.  17/42 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Gloria  Jean-Ian  Hunter  Not  Set 

Ginger  Rogers-Cary  Grant  Not  Set 

Warren  William-Eric  Blore  Not  Set 

Godfrey  Tearle-Eric  Portman  Oct.  16/42 

John  Beal-Wanda  McKay  June  5/42 

George  Montgomery-Ann  Rutherford    Sept.  4/42 

Danielle  Darrieux-Anton  Walbrook  Not  Set 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick  Not  Set 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden  Sept.  25/42 

Milton  Berle-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set 

Henry  Fonda-Mary  Beth  Hughes  Not  Set 

James  Craig-Dean  Jagger  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Lee  Bowman-Jean  Rogers  June  '42 

Charles  Laughton-Robert  Taylor  Not  Set 

Claudette  Colbert-Joel  McCrea  Block  3 

Ann  Sothern-Red  Skelton  Sept.-Oct.,'42 

Sidney  Blackmer-Lynn  Starr  Apr.  17/42 

Kay  Harris-M.  Chapman  Jun«  18/42 

Charles  Starrett-Alma  Carroll  Nov.  19/42 

Abbott  &  Costello-Virginia  Bruce  Aug.  7/42 

Dick  Purcell-Joan  Woodbury  Oct.  2/42 

Three  Mesquiteers  June  16/42 

Monty  Woolley-Roddy  McDowall  Aug.  21/42 

Franchot  Tone-Marsha  Hunt  Not  Set 

John  Carroll-Ruth  Hussey  Aug.  '42 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford  Nov.  27/42 

John  Archer-Joan  Marsh  Sept.  25/42 

Richard  Travis-Brenda  Joyce  July  3/42 

Victor  McLaglen-Edmond  O'Brien  June  19/42 

John  Barclay-Thomas  Louden  Not  Set 

Jimmy  Rogers-Noah  Beery,  Jr.  Not  Set 

Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter  July  16/42 


I  10m 
69m 

97m 
80m 


76m 


81m 

Oct.  17/42 

957 

715 

80m 

May  16/42 

662 

64m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

100m 

June  6/42 

698 

78m 

Aug.  1/42 

903 

75m 

May  9/42 

647 

635 

73  m 

Oct.  24/42 

970 

983 

986 

64m 

Oct.  31/42 

981 

960 

60m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

855 

1  17m 

Aug.  22/42 

902 

794 

67m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

855 

61m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

796 

Apr.  1 1  ,'42 
July  4/42 

Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  1/42 


903 
914 

927 
810 


May  23/42  673 


986 
855 

983 


662 
797 


872 
796 

648 
871 

663 


79m 

July  25/42 

915 

396 

70m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

63m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

701 

84m 

Aug.  8/42 

825 

61m 

Aug.  22/42 

854 

65m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

87m 

July  1 1/42 

903 

751 

971 

66m 

June  20/42 

725 

715 

60m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

800 

69m 

May  30/42 

687 

79m 

May  9/42 

647 

58m 

Oct.  24/42 

970 

986 

56m 

947 


947 


947 

984 
984 


990     Product  Digest  Section 


October    3  1,    I  942 


MOTION    PICTU  RE  HERALD 


-  REVIEWED  —v 

M.  P.       Product    Advance  Service 


Prod. 

7?  J/WWfW  o 
I\H ft  ftl  Ft  X 

Herald 

Digest 

o  y  ftU  yi  tt 

Data 

rule 

Number 

Stars 

Date 

Page 

Pate 

Presenting  Lily  Mars 

MGM 

Judy  Garland-George  Murphy 

Not  Set 

962 

Pride  of  the  Yankees,  The 

RKO 

Gary  Cooper-Teresa  Wright 

Not  Set 

120m 

July  18/42 

915 

984 

Princess  O'Rourke 

WB 

Prtsc ilia  Lane-Robert  Cummings 

Not  Set 

962 

Priorities  on  Parade 

Para. 

Ann  Miller-Jerry  Colonna 

Block  1 

79m 

Aug.  1/42 

914 

•  Prison  Girls 

PRC 

219 

Rose  nobart-bidney  Blackmer 

May  29, '42 

63m 

Sept.  26/42 

923 

648 

(formerly  Gallant  Lady) 

•  Prisoner  of  Japan 

PRC 

204 

Alan  Baxter-Gertrude  Michael 

July  22,'42 

64m 

July  4/42 

750 

715 

947 

•  Private  Buckaroo 

Univ. 

6011 

Andrews  Sisters-Dick  Foran 

June  I2,'42 

68m 

June  6/42 

699 

QUIET  Please,  Murder 

20th-Fox 

Gail  Patrick-George  Sanders 

Not  Set 

983 

RANDOM  Harvest 

MGM 

Ronald  Colman-Greer  Garson 

Not  Set 

796 

•  Reap  the  Wild  Wind  (color)  Para. 

4137 

Ray  Milland-Paulette  Goddard 

Special 

124m 

Mar.  21/42 

574 

408 

984 

Red  River  Robin  Hood 

RKO 

Tim  Holt 

Not  Set 

57m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

•  Red  Tanks 

Arkino 

A.  Kulakov-V.  Chebur 

June  5, '42 

64m 

June  1 3/42 

713 

•  Remember  Pearl  Harbor 

Rep. 

134 

Fay  McKenzie-Don  Barry 

May  1 1,'42 

76m 

May  16/42 

662 

795 

Reunion 

MGM 

Joan  Crawford-Philip  Dorn-John  Wayne      Not  Set 

872 

Rhythm  Parade 

Mono. 

Gale  Storm-Robert  Lowery 

Dec.  1 1,'42 

983 

•  Riders  of  the  Northland 

Col. 

3206 

Charles  Starrett-Russell  Hayden 

June  I8,'42 

58m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

677 

•  Riders  of  the  West 

Mono. 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Aug.  21/42 

60m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

800 

Riding  Through  Nevada 

Col. 

Charles  Starrett-Shirley  Patterson 

Oct.  I,'42 

•Rio  Rita 

MGM 

233 

Abbott  and  Costello 

Apr.  '42 

91m 

Mar.  14/42 

549 

795 

Road  to  Morocco 

Para. 

Bob  Hope-Bing  Crosby-Dorothy  Lamour       Block  2 

83m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

872 

•  Rolling  Down  the  Great  Divide  PRC 

253 

Rill    f  Purlin  1  Rnu/J 
Dill    \  IxaQIO  j  Dvya 

Anr   24  '42 

60m 

635 

•  Romance  on  the  Range 

Rep. 

156 

iwy    ivuuoi  9     w o  uvy      i  i □  y u j 

Mav  18  '42 

63m 

June  6/42 

697 

•Rubber  Racketeers 

Mono. 

Ra^daIIa    H  i  I  ri      n  -  R  I  c  M  re\  t\  l.nrltn 
l\(JL.Ilt?lH5    1  1  U  OU)  11    Ixl  l>9 1  U  D  VuFTd£ 

Jun«  26  '42 

67m 

June  27/42 

751 

984 

•  SABOTAGE  Squad 

Col. 

3046 

Bruce  Bennett-Kay  Harris 

Aug.  27,"42 

64m 

Aug.  8/42 

827 

772 

•  Saboteur 

Univ. 

6047 

Robert  Cummings-Priscilla  Lane 

Apr.  24,'42 

108m 

Apr.  25/42 

634 

508 

947 

Salute  John  Citizen  (British)  Bt .-Anglo-Am. 

Edward  Rigby-Stanley  Holloway 

Not  Set 

96m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

•  Scattergood  Rides  High 

RKO 

223 

Guy  Kibbee-Dorothy  Moore 

May  8,'42 

66m 

Mar.  21/42 

562 

542 

Scattergood  Survives  a  Murder  RKO 

Guy  Kibbee-Margaret  Hayes 

Oct.  16/42 

66m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

912 

Secret  Enemies 

WB 

205 

Craig  Stevens-Faye  Emerson 

Oct.  17/42 

59m 

Aug.  22/42 

914 

Secret  Mission  (British)  Hellman-Gen'l 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

94m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

Secrets  of  a  Co-Ed 

PRC 

309 

Otto  Kruger-Tina  Thayer 

Oct.  26/42 

67m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Seven  Days  Leave 

RKO 

Lucille  Ball-Victor  Mature 

Nov.  13/42 

87m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

872 

Seven  Miles  from  Alcatraz 

RKO 

James  Craig-Bonita  Granville 

Not  Set 

962 

Seven  Sweethearts 

MGM 

Van  Heflin-Kathryn  Grayson 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

98  m 

Aug.  15/42 

902 

947 

Shadow  of  a  Doubt 

Univ. 

Teresa  Wright-Joseph  Cotten 

Not  Set 

936 

Shadows  on  the  Sage 

Rep. 

261 

Three  Mesquiteers 

Aug.  24/42 

Sherlock  Holmes  and  the  Voice  of 

Terror 

Univ. 

7020 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce 

Sept.  18/42 

65m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

Sherlock  Holmes  Fights  Back 

Univ. 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce 

Not  Set 

855 

Sherlock  Holmes  in  Washin 

gton  Univ. 

Basil  Rathbone-Nigel  Bruce 

Not  Set 

983 

•  She's  in  the  Army 

Mono. 

Veda  Ann  Borg-Lyle  Talbot 

May  15/42 

63  m 

June  20/42 

726 

648 

•Ship  Ahoy 

MGM 

235 

Eleanor  Powell-Red  Skelton 

May  '42 

95m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

574 

947 

•  Ships  With  Wings  (British) 

UA 

John  Clements-Leslie  Banks 

May  15/42 

91m 

Dec.  20/41 

686 

795 

•Silver  Bullet 

Univ. 

6066 

Johnny  Mack  Brown 

June  12/42 

56m 

Aug.  8/42 

826 

726 

Silver  Queen 

UA 

George  Brent-Priscilla  Lane 

Nov.  13/42 

936 

Sin  Town 

Univ. 

Constance  Bennett-Brod  Crawford 

Sept.  25/42 

73m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

898 

•  Smart  Alecks 

Mono. 

East  Side  Kids 

Aug.  7/42 

66m 

June  27/42 

738 

947 

Smith  of  Minnesota 

Col. 

Bruce  Smith-Arline  Judge 

Oct.  15/42 

66m 

Oct.  17/42 

959 

797 

Soliga  Solberg  (Swedish) 

Scandia 

Edvard  Persson 

Sept.  12/42 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Sombrero  Kid,  The 

Rep. 

27  i 

Don  Barry-Lynn  Merrick 

July  31/42 

56m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

796 

Something  to  Shout  About 

Col. 

Don  Ameche-Jack  Oakie-Janet  Blair 

Not  Set 

Somewhere  I'll  Find  You 

MGM 

301 

Clark  Gable-Lane  Turner 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

107m 

Aug.  8/42 

902 

726 

984 

•Song  of  the  Lagoon 

UA-Roach 

Marjorie  Woodworth-George  Givot 

May  22/42 

•  Sons  of  the  Pioneers 

Rep. 

157 

Roy  Rogers-"Gabby"  Hayes 

July  2/42 

61m 

Aug.  1/42 

810 

•  SOS  Coast  Guard 

Rep. 

123 

Bela  Lugosi-Ralph  Byrd 

Apr.  16/42 

69m 

Apr.  18/42 

61 1 

•So's  Your  Aunt  Emma 

Mono. 

Zasu  Pitts-Roger  Pryor 

Apr.  17/42 

62m 

Apr.  25/42 

622 

574 

Spirit  of  Stanford,  The 

Col. 

4022 

Frankie  Albert-Marguerite  Chapman 

Sept.  10/42 

78  m 

Oct.  31/42 

982 

796 

984 

•  Spoilers,  The 

Univ. 

6048 

Marlene  Dietrich-John  Wayne 

May  8/42 

87m 

Apr.  18,42 

609 

873 

Spring  Song  (Russian) 

Artkino 

Nikolai  Kunovalov-Ludmila  Tzelikovskaya  Sept.  1 1  ,'42 

74m 

Sept.  19/42 

910 

Springtime  in  the  Rockies 

[color) 

20th-Fox 

317 

Betty  Grable-John  Payne 

Nov.  6/42 

91m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

855 

984 

•  Spy  Ship 

WB 

139 

Craig  Stevens-Irene  Manning 

Aug.  15/42 

62  m 

June  6/42 

698 

687 

Stand  By,  All  Networks 

Col. 

John  Beal-Florence  Rice 

Oct.  29/42 

797 

Star  Spangled  Rhythm 

Para. 

Betty  Hutton-Eddie  Bracken-Victor  Moore    Not  Set 

855 

•Stardust  on  the  Sage 

Para. 

Gene  Autry-S.  Burnette 

May  25/42 

65  m 

May  30/42 

687 

•Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Rx 

Univ. 

6036 

Lionel  Atwill-Anne  Gwynne 

Apr.  17/42 

66  m 

Apr.  4/42 

586 

705 

Street  of  Chapce 

Para. 

Burgess  Meredith-Claire  Trevor 

Block  2 

74m 

Oct.  3/42 

933 

871 

Strictly  in  the  Groove 

Univ. 

Leon  Errol-Mary  Healey 

Nov.  20/42 

60m 

July  4/42 

914 

Submarine  Alert 

Para. 

Richard  Arlen-Wendy  Barrie 

Not  Set 

772 

•Submarine  Raider 

Col. 

3043 

John  Howard-M.  Chapman 

June  4/42 

64m 

June  27/42 

738 

701 

•Suicide  Squadron  (British) 

Rep. 

1 19 

Anton  Walbrook-Sally  Gray 

Apr.  20/42 

83m 

July  12/41 

622 

705 

•Sunday  Punch 

MGM 

234 

William  Lundigan-Jean  Rogers 

May,'42 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

61 1 

•Sunset  Serenade 

Rep. 

Roy  Rogers 

Sept.  14/42 

58m 

Sept.  12/42 

897 

•Sweater  Girl 

Para. 

4129 

Eddie  Bracken-June  Preisser 

Block  6 

77m 

May  9/42 

647 

527 

•Sweetheart  of  the  Fleet 

Col. 

3027 

Joan  Davis-Jinx  Falkenburg 

May  21/42 

65m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

677 

873 

•Syncopation 

RKO 

226 

Adolphe  Menjou-Jackie  Cooper 

May  22/42 

88m 

May  9/42 

645 

487 

795 

•TAKE  a  Letter,  Darling 

Para. 

4126 

Rosalind  Russeil-F.  MacMurray 

Block  6 

93m 

May  9/42 

645 

635 

984 

Take  My  Life 

Toddy 

Harlem  Tuff  Kids 

Not  Set 

77m 

July  1 1/42 

767 

Tales  of  Manhattan 

20th-Fox 

313 

C.  Boyer-R.  Hayworth-G.  Rogers 

Oct.  30/42 

!  18m 

Aug.  8/42 

927 

706 

947 

Talk  About  Jacqueline 

(British)  Excelsior-Metro 

Hugh  Williams-Carla  Lehmann 

Not  Set 

84m 

Aug.  15/42 

840 

Product  Digest  Section     99 1 


MOTION    PICTURE  HERALD 


October    3  1,    I  942 


REVIEWED  ■ 


Title  Company 

•  Talk  of  the  Town  Col. 
•Tarzan's  New  York  Adventure  MGM 

Tarzan  Triumphs  RKO 
Taxi  Mister  UA-Roach 
Tennessee  Johnson  MGM 

•  Ten  Gentlemen  from  West  Point  20th-Fox 
Texas  to  Bataan  Mono. 

•Texas  Trouble  Shooters  Mono. 

That  Other  Woman  20th-Fox 
•There's  One  Born  Every  Minute  Univ. 
•They  All  Kissed  the  Bride  Col. 

They  Flew  Alone  (British)  RKO 
(now  Wings  and  the  Woman) 

They  Got  Me  Covered  Goldwyn 

•  They  Raid  by  Night  PRC 
•This  Above  All  20th-Fox 
•This  Gun  for  Hire  Para. 

This  Is  the  Enemy  Artkino 
Those  Kids  from  Ttfwn  (British)  Anglo 

•  Three  Wise  Brides  Mono. 

•  Thru  Different  Eyes  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Birds  (color)  20th-Fox 
Thunder  Rock  (British)  Charter-Metro 

•Thundering   Hoofs  RKO 

•  Timber  Univ. 
Tish  MGM 

•Tombstone  Para. 

Tomorrow  We  Live  PRC 

•Top  Sergeant  Univ. 

Tornado  in  the  Saddle  Col. 

•  Tortilla  Flat  MGM 
•Tough  as  They  Come  Univ. 

Traitor  Within,  The  Rep. 

•True  to  the  Army  Para. 

•Tumbleweed  Trail  PRC 

•  Tuttles  of  Tahiti  RKO 
•Twin  Beds  UA 


UNCENSORED  (British)  Gains.-Gen'l 
Undercover  Man 
Underground  Agent 
Undying  Monster,  The 
•United  We  Stand 
Unpublished  Story  (British) 


►  VENGEANCE  of  the  West 


UA 
Col. 
20th-Fox 
20th-Fox 
Col. 

Col. 


WAKE  Island  Para. 
War  Against  Mrs.  Hadley,  The  MGM 
War  Dogs  Mono. 
Watch  on  the  Rhine  WB 

We'll  Smile  Again  (British) 

Brit.  Nat'l-Anglo 


•  Westward,  Hoi 
West  of  the  Law 

•  Where  Trails  End 
•Whispering  Ghosts 

Whistling  in  Dixie 
White  Cargo 
Who  Done  It? 

•  Who  Is  Hope  Schuyler? 

•  Wife  Takes  a  Flyer,  The 
Wildcat 

Wings  and  the  Woman 
(formerly  They  Flew  Alone) 
•Wings  for  the  Eagle 
World  at  War 
Wrecking  Crew 

X  Marks  the  Spot 

YANK  at  Eton,  A 
Yankee  Doodle  Dandy 

•  Yank  in  Libya,  A 
Yanks  Are  Coming,  The 
You  Can't  Escape  Forever 

•You're  Telling  Me 

You  Were  Never  Lovelier 

Young  and  Willing 

Young  Mr.  Pitt  (British) 

Youth  on  Parade 
•Yukon  Patrol 


Rep. 
Mono. 
Mono. 
20th-Fox 
MGM 
MGM 
Univ. 
20th-Fox 
Col. 
Para. 
RKO 

WB 
WAC 
Para. 

Rep. 

MGM 
WB 
PRC 
PRC 
WB 
Univ. 
Col. 
UA 
20th-Fox 
Rep. 
Rep. 


Prod. 
Number 

3001 
242 


251 


318 
6043 
3006 


212 
253 
4124 


250 

307 

286 
6057 

4132 
307 
6055 

236 
6019 

4122 
254 
222 


4140 

3  i  9 
254 


3216 


166 

246 

310 

242 
3011 

136 


201 
220 

207 
6041 


316 
124 


Release 

Stars  Date 

Cary  Grant-Jean  Arthur-R.  Colman  Aug.  20,'42 
Johnny  Weissmuller-Maureen  O'Sullivan  June, '42 
Johnny  Weissmuller-Frances  Gifford  Not  Set 

William  Bendix-Grace  Bradley  Not  Set 

Van  Heflin-Ruth  Hussey  Not  Set 

Maureen  O'Hara-Geo.  Montgomery  June  26/42 

King-Sharpe-Terhune  Oct.  1 6,'42 

Range  Busters  June  12, '42 

Virginia  Gilmore-James  Ellison  Nov.  13, '42 

Hugh  Herbert-Guy  Kibbee  June  26, '42 

Joan  Crawford-Melvyn  Douglas  June  1 1  ,'42 
Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton  Not  Set 


Running 


M.  P. 

Herald 


Product 
Digest 


Advance  Service 
Synopsis  Date 


Bob  Hope-Dorothy  Lamour 
Lyle  Talbot-June  Duprez 
Tyrone  Power-Joan  Fontaine 
Veronica  Lake-Robert  Preston 
Russian  Documentary 
Percy  Marmont-Marie  O'Neill 
Nova  Pilbeam-Michael  Wilding 
Frank  Craven-Mary  Howard 
John  Sutton-Gene  Tierney 
Michael  Redgrave-Barbara  Mullen 
Tim  Holt 

Leo  Carrillo-Andy  Devine 

Marjorie  Main-Lee  Bowman 

Richard  Dix-Frances  Gifford 

Jean  Parker-Ricardo  Cortez 

Don  Terry-Leo  Carrillo 

Russell  Hayden-Bob  Wills 

Spencer  Tracy-Hedy  Lamarr 

Billy  Halop-Bernard  Punsley 

Don  Barry-Jean  Parker 

Judy  Canova-Allan  Jones-Ann  Miller 

Bill  Boyd-Art  Davis-Lee  Powell 

Charles  Laughton-Jon  Hall 

George  Brent-Joan  Bennett 

Eric  Portman-F.  Culley 

William  Boyd-Andy  Clyde 
Bruce  Bennett-Leslie  Brooks 
James  Ellison-Heather  Angel 
News  Documentary 
Richard  Greene-Miles  Malleson 


Bill  Elliott-Tex  Ritter 

Brian  Donlevy-Robert  Preston 
Fay  Bainter-Edward  Arnold 
Billy  Lee-Addison  Richards 
Bette  Davis-Paul  Lucas 

Bud  Flanagan-Chesney  Allen 

Steele-Tyler-Davis 

Buck  Jones-Tim  McCoy 

Tom  Keene 

Brenda  Joyce-Milton  Berle 
Red  Skelton-Ann  Rutherford 
Hedy  Lamarr-Walter  Pidgeon 
Abbott  &  Costello 
Sheila  Ryan-Joseph  Allen,  Jr. 
Joan  Bennett-Franchot  Tone 
Richard  Arlen-Arline  Judge 
Anna  Neagle-R.  Newton 

Ann  Sheridan-Dennis  Morgan 
Documentary 

Richard  Arlen-Chester  Morris 


Not  Set 
June  26,'42 
July  24,"42 
Block  5 
Not  Set 
Not  Set 
Apr.  I5,'42 
June  I9,'42 
Nov.  20,'42 
Not  Set 
July  24,'42 
Aug.  I4,'42 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Block  7 
Sept.  29/42 
June  12/42 
Dec.  17/42 
May/42 
June  5/42 
Not  Set 
Block  5 
July  10/42 
May  1/42 
Apr.  24/42 

Not  Set 

Oct.  23/42 
Dec.  3/42 
Nov.  27/42 
July  10/42 
Not  Set 

Sept.  3/42 

Block  I 
Sept.-Oct.,'42 
Nov.  13/42 
Not  Set 


204        Damian  O'Flynn-Helen  Parrish 


Mickey  Rooney-Edmund  Gwenn 
James  Cagney-Joan  Leslie 
H.  B.  Warner-Joan  Woodbury 
Maxie  Rosenbloom-Mary  Healy 
George  Brent-Brenda  Marshall 
Hugh  Herbert-Anne  Gwynne 
Fred  Astaire-Rita  Hayworth 
William  Holden-Susan  Hayward 
Robert  Morley-Robert  Donat 
John  Hubbard-Martha  O'Driscoll 
Allen  Lane-Lita  Conway 


Time 

Issue 

Page 

1 18m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

71m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

103m 

May  30/42 

685 

56m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

55m 

75m 

Oct.  17/42 

960 

60m 

86m 

June  6/42 

697 

94m 

May  2/42 

838 

78m 
86m 
63  m 


Aug.  15/42 
Aug.  8/42 
Oct.  10/42 


902 
902 
946 


Page 

701 
575 
983 
986 
946 
677 

699 

936 


872 


772 
797 

986 


Page 

947 
984 


795 


984 


72m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

1  10m 

May  16/42 

661 

947 

80m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

563 

527 

947 

74m 

July  11/42 

766 

75m 

May  2/42 

633 

635 

OjiTi 

Mau  3ft  MO 

m  ay  3u, 

OoO 

78m 

Oct.  17/42 

958 

796 

1  Mm 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

61m 

Dec.  13/41 

407 

387 

60m 

Aug.  15/42 

839 

83m 

July  25/42 

938 

772 

947 

79m 

June  13/42 

714 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

64m 

Sept.  26/42 

922 

105m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

984 

61m 

July  4/42 

750 

508 

983 

76m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

527 

873 

57m 

91m 

Mar.  2 1/42 

562 

947 

84m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

442 

873 

100m 

Aug.  1/42 

809 

68m 

May  9/42 

647 

60m 

Oct.  17/42 

970 

936 

70m 

June  27/42 

738 

947 

91m 

Apr.  1 1/42 

598 

947 
984 


Not  Set 

93m 

Oct.  3 1  ,'42 

982 

Apr.  24/42 

56m 

May  2/42 

633 

Nov.  2/42 

May  1/42 

55m 

635 

May  22/42 

75m 

Apr.  18/42 

610 

Not  Set 

74m 

Oct.  31/42 

981 

946 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

89m 

Sept.  19/42 

923 

871 

Nov.  6/42 

971 

Apr.  17/42 

57m 

Mar.  14/42 

551 

Apr.  30/42 

86m 

Apr.  25/42 

621 

613 

756 

Block  1 

73m 

Aug.  29/42 

938 

Sept.  18/42 

94m 

May  2/42 

903 

July  18/42 

83m 

June  6/42 

697 

687 

984 

Sept.  18/42 

66m 

Sept.  5/42 

890 

Block  3 

986 

Nov.  4/42 

986 

Sept.-Oct.,'42 

87m 

Aug.  15/42 

915 

726 

947 

Not  Set 

126m 

June  6/42 

903 

674 

984 

July  24/42 

67m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

772 

Nov.  9/42 

65m 

Oct.  3/42 

935 

Oct.  10/42 

77m 

Sept.  26/42 

921 

898 

May  1/42 

60m 

508 

590 

Nov.  19/42 

97m 

Oct.  10/42 

945 

796 

Jan.  29/43 

663 

Not  Set 

103m 

July  4/42 

914 

Oct.  24/42 

75m 

Oct.  3/42 

934 

Apr.  30/42 

66m 

May  9/42 

647 

Feature  Product  including  Coming  Attractions,  listed  Company  by  Company, 

in  Order  of  Release  on  page  985. 


992     Product  Digest  Section 


s 


P.K.C. 


COtD 

with 


'One 


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top 


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dep 


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,BO* 


OFFlCE 


from 


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Ho 


den*  P'^ 


W  "  ■    ^  \<>  COttXe      MOTION  ■ 

auction  — W      ^  |ND£PENDEnt 

„  tor  c°sn* 
„tfso  sleeps  0  Grade  "er 

Fd  «  REPORT 

"'Se  tess\ona\ 
tfW  sn°°  ^e  smartness  or  * 

lean  *orn^AlLY  vAr.*ty 

^  "  u    best  offers 

to  bear  the 


PICTURE 


HERALD 


It's  major  league  calibre  in  every  department  ...  is  the  consensus  on 
"CO-ED"  .  .  .  with  OTTO  KRUGER  and  TINA  THAYER  giving  the  top  per- 
formances of  their  careers.  A  story  of  flaming  youth  in  its  most  dangerous 
phases  ...  A  doting  father  ...  a  pampered  co-ed  .  .  .  Romance  under 
cover .  .  .  Murder! 


I  DIAMA  D€l  VjiJii 
|WKS!Uhoy?  0 


She  played  the  danger  game  with 
the  Nazis  .  .  .  matched  wits  with  the 
dreaded  Gestapo  in  Paris  . . .  with  her 
life  the  forfeit  if  she  lost!  .  .  .  It's  front- 
page drama  .  .  .  and  timely! 


OS  COW 


NOEL  MADISON 
HOWARD  BANKS 

Produced  by  GEO.  M.  MERRICK 
Directed  by  ALBERT  HERMAN 

AM    M  A  U  PPOnilTTIOM 


BOSS  of  BIG  TOWN 

JOHN  LITEL  •  FLORENCE  RICE  •  H.  B.  WARNER 

Produced  by  JACK  SCHWARZ  •  Directed  by  ARTHUR  DREIFUSS 
LEON  FROMKESS  in  Charge  of  Production 


These  are  fighting  times. ..all  over 
the  world. ..on  battle-fronts... even 
in  theatres  •  The  best  blood  of  the 
nation  ...  is  marching  uniformed 
past  your  Box  Office  •  The  flags 
are  flying  .  .  .  the  bands  are  playing  .  .  .  and  you 
are  trying  to  sell  AMUSEMENT! 

Everybody  is  thinking  war,  War,  WAR. ..and  you're 
wondering  how  you  can  sellTICKETS,Tickets,tickets! 

The  only  little  competition  you've  got,  besides 
your  regular  daily  nuisances,  is  THE  WORLD'S 
BIGGEST  WAR! 

Then  get  into  the  fight!  •  You're  a  god-send  to 
these  war-harried  people  •  You're  selling  Enter- 
tainment .  .  .  Relaxation  .  .  .  Brother,  if  you  only 
knew  it,  you  are  selling  the  nation— ITS  MORALE! 

Then  sell  it! . .  .  and  with  your  biggest  gun!  •  Get 
all  set  for  Action ...  on  Billboards ...  in  your  Lobby 
.  .  .  on  your  Screen  .  .  .  Marquee  •  Shoot  a  few 
quarters  and  dimes  in  that  old  ADVERTISING 
gun  •  You'll  be  surprised,  Brother,  at  the  Boom, 
Boom  ...  in  your  bank  report!