Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

The Leading Dally _ Newspaper ^the^i Motiorifl Picture Industry MOTION PICTURE DAILY Alert, Intelligent and Faith fur Service to the Industry in All Branches VOL. 35. NO. 73 NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1934 TEN CENTS Feature Cut jfa Forgetting Isle Of 16 Likely About a Strange South Sea Land Where the Next Season Exhibitor Can Barely Whisper and The Public Is Voiceless Monogram and U. A. May Drop Eight and Six Production cuts of 16 features are indicated in tentative plans of nine companies for the 1934-35 season. The largest individual cut proposed, eight, may be by Monogram. Fox and Universal may drop two each, making the total for the former 52 and for the latter 40. United Artists may lop off six, leaving the lineup at 30. This makes a total of 18, but there is talk of a two-picture boost by M-G-M. If this program prevails, the company totals will be as follows : Colum(Continued on page 7) Expect No Changes In Monogram Setup No changes in the executive personnel of Monogram are expected at the annual meeting, to be held April 4 in Atlantic City in conjunction with the three-day convention of company franchise holders. The elections will precede the usual business and the following setup will in all probability be continued without change : W. Ray Johnston, president ; Trem Carr, vicepresident in charge of distribution ; Norton Ritchey, vice-president in charge of foreign distribution ; Peter {Continued on page 6) Shea Rallies, Hopes To Be Out on Easter Buffalo, March 28. — Rallying with characteristic fighting vigor, Michael Shea, head of the Shea theatres in the Buffalo area, apparently can be expected to celebrate his 75th birthday Easter Sunday by getting outdoors again. If the weather is sufficiently mild and his recovery proceeds at its present rate, Shea is expected to attend Easter mass at St. Joseph's New Cathedral. Poisoning released in his system following the recent extraction of several teeth nearly resulted fatally for the old showman, who observed his golden jubilee as a theatre operator last year. Ohio Governor Asks 3% General Sale Tax Columbus, March 28. — In an effort to stir the Legislature out of its deadlock on his taxation program, Gov(Continued on page 7) By MARTIN QUIGLEY THE Hollywood production situation continues essentially unchanged. In face of the recent times and conditions which have so radically altered industrial affairs generally, this assertion may be regarded as another tribute — -or rather criticism — to that world-unique institution which is the Hollywood production colony. It is more than a little startling to observe against the changed and changing affairs of the day that Hollywood continues, serene and aloof, committed jealously to those same old customs, practices and viewpoints which have made it what it is. Accustomed to the physical shock of earthquake, it has come to regard threat of any other kind of shake-up as merely rumor which murmurs impotently beyond the mountains. An accurate survey of underlying conditions of any one of the recent years reflects almost precisely the conditions of this year. An analysis of the current situation amounts almost completely to a repetition of what has been found and what has been observed previously. The dominant personnel remains virtually unchanged — and its procedure continues in essence and form just what it has been. The political ring continues to be reminiscent of the Tammany Hall that was. The question persists as to the whys and wherefores of the agents' levy of a tax of a few millions of dollars a year on the industry, and those who are in a position to answer remain either strangely silent or adroitly evasive. Meanwhile the agents' system, which is the greatest single factor in the extravagances of production — screwing up scales of compensation to ridiculous heights through the scheme of social-political manipulation — has become as indigenous to Hollywood as cactus to the desert. Each of the agents who count is a satellite who revolves about in the warming {Continued on page 4) See Tri-State Meet as Guide TotheMPTOA Memphis, March 28. — Sessions of the semi-annual convention of the M.P.T.O. of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee here Sunday and Monday at the Chisca Hotel are expected to provide a sort of focal point of preparation for the national convention in Los Angeles April 10-12. Executives of M.P.T.O.A. and branches of the industry have been busy on preparations for the coast convention, but the tri-state gathering here will provide the first chance for exhibitors actually in the field to take much of a hand in the proceedings. For the first time in years a closed session for exhibitors only is planned, and showmen will have ample opportunity to get everything off their chests. Taxation, code matters, the (.Continued on page 2) Code Boards Set to Start In Key Spots Code boards are set for action in Washington, Buffalo and New Orleans as soon as secretaries are approved by the Code Authority. First official meetings and swearing in of members have been arranged at preliminary joint meetings. Memphis boards are to hold their first joint meeting this week. Washington, March 28. — Grievance and clearance and zoning boards for the Washington exchange territory met yesterday for the first time, appointing a chairman and drafting a roll from which Code Authority will select secretaries. The grievance board consists of Herman Blum, of Baltimore, chairman; Robert Smeltzer, Sam A. (.Continued on page 6) "C. A." Confers MondayWith Review Board Those to Attend Hearing To Be Picked Then Washington, March 28. — Amicable settlement of the controversy between the National Recovery Review Board and Campi over the calling of the latter to Washington tomorrow despite the fact it was to meet in New York to take up important questions was reached today over the long-distance telephone. The members of the authority were excused from appearing tomorrow with the understanding that representatives would come to Washington Monday to confer with Lowell Mason, counsel for the board, as to what members of Campi and what sales managers would be heard, with the (Continued on page 6) May Decide Today Size of N. Y. Board Code Authority will be presented two plans for the clearance and zoning board in New York. One will call for the required six members as specified in the code and the second will ask for an enlarged board of 12. Approval of one is expected by the authority today in addition to setups in Boston, Minneapolis, Portland and Philadelphia. While some members of the au(Continued on page 6) "Code First" Ruling Held Spreading Work An NRA ruling by Division Administrator Sol A. Rosenblatt holding that the labor provisions of the code take precedence over all agreements permits exhibitors to "spread" work among an increased number of employes in order to comply with the maximum working hours established by the code without increasing payrolls, Motion Picture Herald will say today. The ruling provides that where labor (Continued on page 6) Kuykendall Asserts Code Will Succeed Oklahoma City, March 28. — Ed Kuykendall came here last night with a group of M.P.T.O. men who had attended the Dallas convention and (Continued on page 6)