Boxoffice-March.20.1948

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ST. JOHN
CJale of books of tickets as birthday and marriage
anniversary §ifts is being promoted
in Sacksville, N. B.. by Denis Murpliy, manager
of tiie Vogue and Imperial theatres . . .
Charlie Staples, owner-manager of the Queen
in St. Stephen, N. B., put on an outstanding
promotional campaign for the short, "Border
Without Bayonets." He aimed his promotional
material at people living on both sides
of the international line, and drew patronage
from both Charlotte county, N. B., and Washington
county, Me. Some of the footage was
shot in St. Stephen and neighboring Calais,
Me.
Theatre attendance in St. John has been hit
by a shutdown of the local dry dock and ship
repair plant. Reduced employment in the
Halifax shipyards, due to the shortage of
steel, has hurt theatre business in that port
city . , . The Famous Family club of Halifax
will sponsor an Eastertide party for boys and
girls in the shelters for orphaned and deserted
children. A penny sale was held to raise
funds for the party. Dorothy Creighton is
president of the club and Mrs. Freeman Skinner
and Miss P. Connors were in charge of
the penny sale. Mrs. Skinner is the wife of
. the Orpheus manager Garrick in
Halifax closed for remodeling.
If a big pulp and newsprint project for
Charlotte county goes through to fruition,
establishment of a motion picture theatre
there is likely to follow. Lepreaux Is said to
have the inside track on the project.
Gazette Finds Tax Deal
'Agreeable Compromise'
MONTREAL—Montreal Gazette comments
as follows on the settlement of the motion
picture issue between the United States and
Britain:
"The United Kingdom government, once
more, has yielded to popular demand over
doctrinaire opinion in withdrawing the highly
controversial 75 per cent duty on U.S. film
earnings in Britain. The tax, imposed last
August, was calculated to save some $68,000,-
000 annually.
"From the first it was generally unpopular.
Pi-otests from film addicts in the U.K. were
loud and long. For Clark Gable and Lana
Turner are no less part of the life of Houndsditch
than of Hoboken, of Leeds than of
Louisville.
"Further, it was an impractical tax. The
Briti.sh film industry has achieved a deserved
reputation for high quality films. Even by
lowering that production standard it was not
possible adequately to supply British cinemas
without U.S. films. Moreover, the tax crippled
both the U.S. and the British film industries.
Hollywood discovered to its surprise
and dismay that its real profits came
from British exhibition of its product, not
the U.S. distribution.
"Both sides, therefore, were early in a
mood to compromise. And by compromise
the strain has now been eased to the mutual
benefit of both. The new agreement, providing
for nomal import of U.S. films to Britain,
is effective from June 14. For the first two
of the four years for which it runs. U.S. producers
may take home $17 millions of their
earnings plus an amount equal to British
film earnings in the U.S."
$225,000 Wage Dividend
Is Distributed by Kodak
MONTREAL—Canadian Kodak Co., Ltd.,
distributed its largest wage dividend last
week. A sum of $225,000 went to 1,280 employes
as compared with $153,000 paid to 1,175
employes a year ago. George Eastman established
this plan in 1912 and since then the
total wage dividend has been $3,000,000, and
in the world at large $89,100,000. Kodak
bases its wage dividend on the- dividends declared
in the preceding year on the common
stock of the parent company, Eastman Kodak
Co. of Rochester, N. Y., and it is calculated
on individual earnings over a five-year pe-
CALGARY
V M. Leach, operator of the Strand and
Variety theatres here as an associate of
the Famous Players circuit, reports that newsound
equipment is due soon for the Strand
Equipment at the Strand will be put in the
Empress Theatre, now dark, in preparation
for its reopening next fall. Leach leaves this
month for the east, where he will call on
theatre seat factories.
Continued heavy snow and dangerous deep
drifts held film salesmen close to home again
last week. A few made train trips to nearby
cities. Railroads, like all other transport
this month, have been off
schedule.
Arthur Silverstone, recently appointed
Canadian manager of 20th-Fox, stopped off
here for two days on his first transcontinental
tour of the Donimion. He said he was
pleasantly sui priced to find on the way west
that business came up to last season. He announced
that Sir Alexander Korda's product,
which 20th-Fox will distribute, will be exhibited
in all units of the Famous Players
circuit.
Another general manager here from
Toronto on a visit was Charlie Chaplin of
United Artists. His chief worry seemed to be
arranging the second run of "Henry V." He
was certain this picture would take some
selling to folk in the prairies.
Alf Shackleford, manager of the Capitol
and Roxy theatres in Lethbridge, is now
on his second year as president of the
Lethbridge and District Exhibition and
Rodeo Ass'n. Shackleford is also on his fifth
term as alderman in Lethbridge.
'Each Dawn I Die' Theme
Causes Youth to Repent
Vancouver—The films' message that
crime does not pay struck a telling blow
here last week. A conscience-stricken '
youth gave away or threw away $670 of
stolen money after seeing "Each Dawn
I Die" at the Paradise Theatre.
He was carrying his loot when he entered
the theatre and after seeing the
picture he dropped $590 of it on the floor.
On leaving the theatre he handed the
other $80 to Johnny Jones, doorman, saying
he had found it in the theatre. Reggie
Trish, janitor, subsequently discovered
the money on the floor and the youth
was arrested by police.
MONTREAL
Qeorge Garetakos, president
and managing
director of United Amusement Corp., left
for a four-week vacation in Florida. A rest
was recommended by his physician . . . Filmrow
extended best wishes to Wilfred Mainville
when he recently opened the Rose in
Ste. Therse . Foucault is leaving
Empire-Universal, where she is French
stenographer, to join the Abbott Laboratories
in St. Laurent.
Exhibitors in town included P. Boumansour
of the Royal, Louiseville, and Adrien
Lapierre of the Capitol, Beauharnois . . . Warner
Bros, has set "My Wild Irish Rose" at the
Capitol Easter week . Becomes
Electra," released through RKO, starts
April 12 at His Majesty's . and
Soul" played thi-ee weeks at the Capitol, first
picture to do so since "The Lost Weekend"
in 1945.
Harry Kaufman, eastern division manager
of Cardinal Films, was in Toronto on his way
to visit western branches . Eloi Cormier,
salesman for Peerless Film, returned from
Moncton, where he attended his father's
funeral . . T. J. Gould of Toronto, general
sales manager of MGM, visited the local office.
Asked if she planned to go to Hollywood,
Barbara Ann Scott, Canada's world champion
figure skater, replied, "I like going to the
movies but I don't know about acting in
them" . . . Prints of the Gaumont-British
one reeler on the royal wedding have been
purchased by the Daughters of the Empire
and will be played on the National Film
board circuit throughout the Dominion.
Maurice Chevalier will be presented in eight
performances at the Plateau hall April 14
to 22 . . . The Mount Royal put on a program
featuring the "Sweet Singers of Israel" and a
Yiddish picture, "Kol Nidre," with English
subtitles . . . "Henry V" had a one-day
presentation at the Verdun Palace. Special
arrangements were made for attendance by
students.
Television to Be Speeded
By Change in Electricity
TORONTO—Television here is "just aroimd
the corner," now that the Ontario government
has decided to switch from 25-cycle to
60-cycle power, according to the chief engineer
of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
First two centers to benefit will be Montreal
and Toronto.
"We welcome the change," he declared. "It
is a boon to us because we have been forced
to buy special equipment for the 25-cycle centers.
With only a small amount of that
equipment manufactured, cost has been high.
We will now buy standard equipment and
thus cut costs. He said the expense of the
changeover will be only minor as most CBC
outlets are already on 60-cycle power.
He did not think conversion of present
standard television sets would be completely
satisfactory. "It would be much better to
buy new television sets," he said.
Write 'Ice' Music Score
Musical score for Film Classics' "Blonde
Ice" will be written by Juan Duval and Victor
Graniodos.
102 BOXOFTICE :: March 20, 1948