MPAA

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By JAMES M. JERAULD
New Clearances Spread
•THOSE shortened clearance setups are
spreading rapidly from Chicago to Minneapolis,
to Memphis to Philadelphia, to
the coast and elsewhere. Details vary in
various places and the methods of companies
are not the same, but the general
results are similar—faster playoffs.
Exhibitor reactions are a mixture of surprise,
pleasure and dismay. Two regional
Allied units have protested hotly that setting
up neighborhood first runs involves
bidding.
This is true, but what of it? Most city
exhibitors have been protesting for years
they have had to wait too long for films.
they get earlier rans. the price naturally
is higher, and, if some other exhibitor
wants the picture on the same run, the
man who offers the most gets it.
It's disturbing for the exhibitors who like
the status quo and know from experience
what they can afford to pay for films. Until
they have had experience with the new
system they must guess.
Nobody has ever been able to take the
chance element out of this business. It
begins with the story purchase and continues
until the last worn print has gone
into storage. If the new system gives more
exhibitors opportunities to get more pictures
when they want them in a fair competitive
struggle, with a better average of
profits, criticism of the change probably
will fade.
He's From the 'Sou-outh'
FLLIS ARNALL, president of the Society
of Independent Motion Picture Producers,
is from Gawja, suh, and he has a
bit of southern drawl, but further resemblance
to a gentleman from the land of
peaches and corn pone is not only not coincidental;
it's non-existent. He move too
fast.
Since he decided that those Anglo-
American conferences on quota and blocked
funds promised no good for independent
producers he has been popping up all over
the landscape.
"They're violating the Webb-Pomerene
law," he tells 'Washington department
heads and members of both branches of
Congress. If it's confusing on this side of
the Atlantic, it must be bewildering on the
other side.
How to get pictures into England and get
dollars out are the basic points at issue.
Talking Pictures in 1913
JI^NYBOUY around who remembers talking
pictures in 1913?
Up to last week this question could have
started an argument almost anywhere, because
the industry veterans will tell you
without stopping to take a deep breath that
talking pictures started in 1927. These are
the younger industry veterans.
Some of the old-timers have vague recollections
that Thomas A. Edison exhibited
a talking picture apparatus that connected
a projector booth to a graphophone located
behind the screen, but most of them think
If
this was a one-shot demonstration done
somewhere in New York. It was more than
that. On Sunday, May 15, the New York
Times reproduced a Palace Theatre ad published
in April 1913. In the middle of it
appears the words: "Edison's Talking
Moving Pictures, and second week by
popular request of Miss Orford and Her
Wonderful Elephants."
Ethel Barrynaore in a Richard Harding
Davis playlet took over the following week
—April 28.
Something Unusual
CTANLEY KRAMER, independent producer,
can claim an unusual distinction—especially
unusual in these days
when there is so much talk about the
troubles of the independents. He has two
pictures playing on Broadway— "Home
of the Brave" at the 'Victoria and "Champion"
at the Globe. Both are doing excellent
business.
Phillips Warms Up
\A7HEN H. I. Phillips, who conducts the
Sun Dial in the Sun, New York evening
paper, heard in March that Neil Agnew of
would re-
the Motion Picture Sales Corp.,
issue seven of Harold Lloyd's comedies he
devoted practically the entire column to his
reactions—all of which were warmly in
favor of the plan and a bit critical of the
present dearth of comedies.
Agnew has had the column reprinted for
distribution by the sales staff.
Phillips wound up his comments by
writing: "More fans are crying for the
return of the day when comedians were
artists and craftsmen, not muggers and
gangsters largely dependent on highpowered
press agents. And those famous
Lloyd comedies will help. So again I toss
my hat into the air over the news and wish
you lots of luck. Also why not some new
Lloyd comedies, or won't the Hollywood
moguls stand for genuine fun in current
scripts?"
See Television Linking
Coasts by End of 1950
NE'W YORK—The prediction that by the
end of 1950 some 12,000 miles of coaxial cable
will be, carrying television programs and
telephone messages from coast to coast was
made by the Bell Telephone Laboratories
during its celebration of the 20th anniversary
of the cable. The cables now carry three
television programs and 600 simultaneous telephone
calls each way between New York and
Chicago. 'When no television programs are
being sent, they can carry 1,800 telephone
conversations.
Credit for the invention is given to Lloyd
Espensohied and Herman A. Affel, Bell veterans.
The first cable was three inches In
diameter while the present one is about the
size of a lead pencil, very flexible and a
much more efficient carrier. They predicted
that it might be developed to the point where
it would be two to three times as capable of
handling wide bands of frequencies.
OLDEST EXHIBITOR
LARNED, KAS.—This Kansas town
claims the veteran of all exhibitors
John Schnack, owner of the Electric
Theatre—who has been exhibiting motion
pictures exclusively for 47 years.
The town helped him celebrate the anniversary
this month.
In 1901, a couple of itinerant showmen
came into town and rented the
Opera House for a picture show. Business
was so terrific that Schnack and
a friend decided to go into exhibition.
They invested in Edison Kinetoscope,
formed the Edison Exhibition Co. and
gave daily shows throughout the area,
starting in May 1902. Pour years later,
Schnack opened the Electric Theatre,
first in the old Opera House and later
in a new theatre, and has been exhibiting
ever since.
"Mind you," warns Schnack, "this is
not a success story. I have never had
more than one theatre. I have had continuous
opposition for 40 years and
about 40 different competitors. You
know what that means as far as making
money in a town of 4,000 is concerned.
I'm satisfied with my 400-seater
and I'm looking forward to celebrating
50 years in motion pictures in 1952."
'Two Hearts' to Dembow
NEW YORK—Sam Dembow jr.,
president
of Producei-s Service Corp., has been named
representative for "Two Hearts in Three
Quarter Time," which will be made in
Austria and distributed in the U.S. by United
Artists. Douglas Sirk will start shooting the
pictm-e in August. He is now in Vienna supervising
preliminary work.
RKO to Release 7 Disneys
NEW YORK— Seven Walt Disney one-reel
Technicolor cartoons will be released by RKO
during the summer months. Cun-ent release
is "Pluto's Sweater," to be followed by "Winter
Storage," featuring Donald Duck; "Bubble
Bee," featuring Pluto, the dog; "Honey
Harvest," another Donald Duck and "Tennis
Racquet," featuring Croofy.
24 BOXOFFICE May 28, 1949