Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

londay, February 5, 1934 ■ MOTION PICTURE DAILY Pickford Big Boston Draw With $39,000 Boston, Feb. 4. — Personal appearkce of Mary Pickford, coupled with ienty of publicity before and during •;r sojourn here, packed the Metroilitan during the week, with "All of •i.e" as the screen attraction. BoxSees groaned under a jump of 1,000 above average. The total was ,89,000. , "Our Mary" was not the only star screendom on the Boston boards, bwever, with Doris Kenyon at the KO Boston, where second honors •r the week were scored. "As Husinds Go" was the screen feature, the >mbination being good for $20,000. "Gallant Lady" at Loew's State and His Double Life" at RKO Keith's ere both above the average, the )rmer by $2,500 and the latter by 3.000. Total first run business was $112,00. Average is $95,000. Estimated takings for the week endig Jan. 25 : "AS HUSBANDS GO" (Fox) BOSTON— (2,900), 25c-50c, 7 days. Doris Lenyon on stage. Vaude. Gross: $30,000. Average, $16,000.) "CONVENTION CITY" (F.N.) "HIS DOUBLE LIFE" (Para.) FENWAY — (1,800), 30c-50c, 7 days. Gross: 3.000. (Average, $9,000.) "I AM SUZANNE" (Fox) KEITH'S — (3,500), 30c-50c, 7 days. Gross: IS.OOO. (Average, $16,000.) "GALLANT LADY" (U.A.) LOEW'S STATE— (3,700), 35c-50c, 7 days, 'aude. Gross: $18,500. (Average, $16,000.1 "ALL OF ME" (Para.) METROPOLITAN — (4,350), 30c-65c, 7 ays. Mary Pickford on stage with comiany in "The Church Mouse." Gross: 39,000 (Average, $28,000.) "CONVENTION CITY" (F.N.) "HIS DOUBLE LIFE" (Para.) PARAMOUNT— (1,800), 30c-50c, 7 days. >oss: $9,000. (Average, $9,000.) 'Gallant" Strong In Omaha, $7,500 Omaha, Feb. 4. — "Gallant Lady" it the Paramount took a par $7,500 or the best comparative showing of he week. "If I Were Free," with "Fifty Milion Frenchmen" on the Brandeis stage, was good for $6,500. "Bombay Mail," with "Cecil and Sally" on the ;tage at the World and "Sons of the Desert" and "Eight Girls in a Boat" it the Orpheum were slightly off. Total first run business was $26,500. \verage is $27,500. Estimated takings : Week Ending Jan. 24: "GALLANT LADY" (U.A.) PARAMOUNT— (2,900), 25c-35c-40c, 7 days. >oss: $7,500. (Average, $7,500.) Week Ending Jan. 25: "IF I WERE FREE" (Radio) BRANDEIS — (1.500), 25c-35c-60c, 7 days, stage: "Fifty Million Frenchmen." Gross: 56.500. (Average. $6,500.) "BOMBAY MAIL" (Univ.) WORLD— (2.200). 25c-35c, 7 days. Stage: 'Cecil & Sally." Gross: $5,000. (Average, 55,500.) Week Ending Jan. 26: "SONS OF THE DESERT" (M-G-M) "EIGHT GIRLS IN A BOAT" (Para.) ORPHEUM— (3.000), 25c-35c-40c, 8 days. Gross: $7,500. (Average, $8,000.) Change "Chan" Title Hollywood, Feb. 4. — Fox has changed the title of the Charlie Chan picture from "Chan's Challenge" to "Chan's Courage." Hollywood On Parade By BILL SWIGART Hollywood, Feb. 4. — This one is hard to believe, nevertheless it is so. Rudy Vallee's favorite crooner is Bing Crosby. He plays his records for hours on end. Lilian Harvey, who has been reported in Palm Springs at various times for the past six months, has yet to set eyes on the film colony's favorite winter resort. • Ever since the recent flood riled up the water in the Los Angeles reservoirs, Richard Dix has observed that "we are now all taking baths and then dusting off." • Next month will mark the 26th year since Col. William Selig established the first permanent studio in Los Angeles. That was the time when leading actors were paid as high as $30 per week. • Edwin Anthony Brown, who did "Whitey" in "Queer People," dedicated his latest book : "To my bootlegger, without whose assistance this book could not have been written." • In explaining the term "contingent fee" to Ernest Pagano, Buster Keaton said : "It means that if you lose the case, the lawyer gets nothing . . . and if you win the case, you get nothing." • Jeanie MacPherson has rounded out 20 years of service as a writer for C. B. De Mille by delivering her latest yarn, "Cleopatra" for the producer's next to be made for Paramount. • Florence Desmond writes from New York that the only autograph she has failed to get in her famous collection is that of Janet Gaynor. Jean Hersholt has just donated a large piece of mazuma to the Royal Museum of Art in Denmark. That's patriotism. • Caricaturing and burlesquing screen celebrities in cartoon reels has become so prolific and daring that the actors are beginning to squawk and may force the cartoon makers to get written permission and possible compensation in the future for the use of one of their most valuable assets. • A local independent leasing studio has changed its name, but hasn't fooled one of its ex-carpenters who sez — "What's de use of woiking for dat mob even if de name is changed. De checks bounce just the same. Dey repainted de joint to look like a Packard, but it's still a Chevrolet to me." • The calibre and quality of stories now being submitted to prospective directors for approval is evidenced in the case of Tay Garnett, who has read over 40 yarns up for production and is not sold on any one of them. Garnett either must be hard to please or the standard of present day material is much below par. • Jack Hays, producer of the "Baby Burlesk" comedies for Educational, who uses only youngsters between the ages of two and four, states his main difficulty is not in finding talented kids, but in finding clever youngsters, who at the same time, have sensible parents. The fond mammas and pappas cause him to buy more as_pirins than any other production problem. • A stranger accosted Preston Foster in a New York elevator recently and requested his autograph. Foster accommodated and, upon doing so, was invited to visit the stranger the next time he happened to be in Baltimore. Foster did and found the autograph seeker was a publisher. It was a pleasant meeting and the actor is now constantly receiving first editions. • Survey of divorces among show folks for 1933 shows 29 decrees and 16 pending. This, of course, includes Los Angeles only and does not cover Las Vegas, Reno, Mexico and other divorce meccas. . . . That fight between Rudy Vallee's pooch and Pat Patterson's in the Fox studio commissary has resulted in a "No Dogs Allowed" sign at the entrance to the eatery. • One of the few honest cases of hero worship in Hollywood is felt by Bill Gargan for Leslie Howard. Gargan even named his new baby after Leslie. You remember that William's first big hit on the screen was his role with Leslie in "Animal Kingdom." It is interesting, then, to note that one of the few requests that Howard made of Radio on his next picture there, "Of Human Bondage," is that the cast include Gargan. • Norman Foster, who, by mutual consent lives apart from his wife, Claudette Colbert, thereby forming a modern Utopia of wedded life and getting along swell at it, is having a tough time getting his beach house painted. Every time he paints a door or some other part of the domicile red, Claudette shows up and demands he daub it with a dash of green. He's been working on the shack so long now that with similar interruptions, he's becoming color blind. • Oscar the Penguin, now working in his fifth picture, "No More Women" at Paramount, earns $125 a week, more than the average bit player makes. . . . Both Walt Disney and Edgar Allen Woolf used the motif of "The Big Bad Wolf" for their Christmas cards. While speaking of cards, David Wark Griffith rated tops for the most beautiful card received here in many moons, while the Bruce Cabots get credit for sending the most elaborate. ... In answer to many inquiries as to what Bill Haines is doing, it can be said at present, he is redecorating Joan Crawford's house for the third time. . . . Dick Powell is giving the rest of the Warner stars a headache because he receives more fan mail than any other on the lot. Jack Miller in Florida Chicago, Feb. 4. — Jack Miller of the Chicago Exhibitors' Ass'n. is taking a vacation at Miami. His case before Federal Judge Barnes will come up again on Feb. 17. "Carolina" Is Detroit High With $19,400 Detroit, Feb. 4. — "Carolina," grossing $19,400, was over average $4,400 at the Fox, proving the best bet in a week that was off due to zero weather in its early days. "Gallant Lady," which netted $11,100 at the United Artists, was the only other to beat par, being $1,100 above. Total for the week was $61,400, against an average of $77,000 and $66,300 the previous seven days. Estimated takings for the week ending Feb. 1 : "AGGIE APPLEBY" (Radio) "OLSEN'S BIG MOMENT" (Fox) DOWNTOWN— (2,750), 15c-40c, 7 days. Gross: $5,100. (Average, $10,000.) "DINNER AT EIGHT" (M-G-M) FISHER — (2,975)., 15c-40c, 7 days, 3rd week. Gross: $6,200. Average, $10,000. "CAROLINA" (Fox) FOX— (5,100), 15c-50c, 7 days. Stage: Mary Small, Vic Oliver, Stone & Vernon, Gordon, Reed & King. Gross: $19,400. (Average, $15,000. "ALL OF ME" (Para.) MICHIGAN— (4,100), 15c-50c, 7 days. Stage: Estelle Taylor, Emil Boreo. Gross: $15,300. (Average, $20,000.) "GALLANT LADY" (U. A.) UNITED ARTISTS— (2,070), 25c-50c, 7 days. Gross: $11,100. (Average, $10,000.) "BIG SHAKEDOWN" (F. N.) STATE— (3,000), 15c-50c, 7 days. Stage: Eddie Loughton, Eddie Lambert, Slim Timblin. Gross: $4,300. (Average, $12,000.) "Widows" Grosses ,500, Portland Portland, Feb. 4. — "Havana Widows," or "Gold Diggers in Havana" as re-named by the Broadway, brought in but $6,500, or only $500 over average. "Dinner at Eight" at United Artists came up to average and was held for a third week. "Right to Romance" at the Music Box drew $3,500, or $500 over average. First run totals were $22,500. Average is $21,000. Estimated takings for the week ending Jan. 19 : "HAVANA WIDOWS" (F. N.) BROADWAY— (1,912), 25c-35c-40c, 7 days. Gross: $6,500. (Average, $6,000) "THE RIGHT TO ROMANCE" (Radio) HAMR.ICK'S MUSIC BOX— (2,000), 25c35c-40c, 7 days. Gross: $3,500. (Average, $3,000) "LADY KILLER" (Warners) HAMRICK'S ORIENTAL — (2,040), 25c35c, 7 days. Gross: $2,500. (Average, $2,000) "AS HUSBANDS GO" (Fox) "GIRL WITHOUT A ROOM" (Para.) PARAMOUNT — (3,008), 25c-35c-40c, 7 days. Gross: $5,000. (Average, $5,000) "DINNER AT EIGHT" (M-G-M) UNITED ARTISTS— (945), 25c-35c-40c, 2nd week, 7 days. Gross: $5,000. (Average, $5,000) Sue Mid-States Combine Detroit, Feb. 4. — Julius and Anna Fischer, operating the Plaza, have filed suit against Mid-States Theatres, Inc., charging that the Plaza has been unable to obtain sufficient product, because Mid-States buys away from it for the East End, a Fred DeLodder house. M-G-M Holds Ted Healy Hollywood, Feb. 4. — M-G-M has signed Ted Healy to a new contract.