Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1934)

4 MOTION PICTURE DAILY Thunday, March 29, 1934 The Forgetting Isle (Continued from page 1) and profitable effulgence of his executive chief. Unless being elected somehow to the charmed circle, any person professing to be an agent in Hollywood is most grievously out of luck. He might with much better chance of success seek to walk into the Senate Chamber in executive session and rest himself in the president's chair. T Hollywood continues to develop and improve its already amazing skill in the technic of making motion pictures, it is very seldom that one of the principal studios issues a really poorly produced subject. It is true that there is no dearth of poor attractions, but these subjects are poor attractions not because they are in any sense poorly produced but rather because the great initial mistake of selecting the wrong kind of subject matter has been made, and after this has been entered upon, no conceivable amount of technical skill will save the resultant picture. A great problem of production — and probably the greatest — is concerned with the selection of the wrong kinds of subject matter or with the wrong treatment of subject matter which might otherwise be acceptable. Unquestionably a great influence in this state of affairs is the breach which has existed for several years between the studios and the theatres. At one time in the history of the industry exhibitors were depended upon as the main source of information and guidance as to what the public wanted and how it wanted it. But the old order has changed. The exhibitor is the forgotten man of Hollywood. The exhibitor is regarded largely as an incidental and rather unimportant cog in a machine which is supposed automatically to bring the product of the studios to the attention of the public. The exhibitor is not supposed to know what the public wants and he is certainly not expected to have the temerity to tell the producer that what is being made is perhaps not what the public wants. If he comes to Hollywood and does not happen to control most of the theatres in at least several states he is fortunate to receive a visitor's pass to a studio. T If Hollywood were an island located at some remote point far out in the Pacific some of the conditions obtaining there would not be so difficult to understand. There is an attitude of self-sufficiency that challenges belief. The manifest reaction of public opinion in various quarters to much of the current product is not only not realized in Hollywood, but vigorously denied. The brilliant sunlight of California, apparently, blinds Hollywood to everything save only that which it wishes to see. And anything which it does not see — or think of first — is not supposed to exist. In quite a matter of fact way Hollywood assumes and insists that its business is the production of adult entertainment and adult entertainment only. It is true that an occasional bid for juvenile entertainment is made, but this happens infrequently and only then in a condescending manner. It would seem that there should exist in Hollywood some exact knowledge of the force which youth represents in motion picture theatre patronage — not only as to its own numerical strength but also as to the influence which it exerts upon adult attendance. It should be known and realized in Hollywood that unless the patronage of youth is kept and unless parents continue to favor the motion picture theatre as a place of amusement for youth the industry in its present scope and importance cannot exist. It seems difficult for Hollywood to understand the essential nature of the motion picture business : That it is a commercial enterprise seeking to provide for virtually the whole public, at a low cost per person, a form of theatrical entertainment. That the people of Hollywood should seek to appear important in the eyes of Hollywood is readily understandable. This aspiration as such is simply a manifestation of community consciousness and in such a solidly knit community as Hollywood it is altogether natural that its people should incline toward catering to each other's tastes, the objective being to impress one's neighbor. It may well be that the automobile manufacturers in Detroit have in their laboratories certain radical departures in the form of motor cars, but these, if there are any, are not the items of automotive merchandise which they put on the floors of the showrooms. Hollywood product, however, is very largely given a character. which by no stretch of the imagination could be regarded as having been arrived at after consulting the customers' wishes. The results of this, of course, is that while modern businesses generally leave no stone unturned in their effort to give the market what it wants, we find important groups of motion picture customers ready to go to law in order to escape being given what they most emphatically insist they do not want. But Hollywood likes that sort of stuff. It is in the air. It is what impresses the other fellow — in Hollywood. Hence, it is in the pictures, largely because it is what Hollywood wants. It insures the provincial compliment. T The business of writing for talking motion pictures is practically an untried experiment. It is true that there is no denial of the supposed importance of the writer in motion picture production. It is also true that there has been imported to Hollywood a small army of the highest paid literary workers in the history of the world. But their efforts, except in rare instances, are not permitted to reach the screen in any recognizable form. The efforts must squeeze as best they can through the bottle-neck of the executive high command. Writers, for the first time since men and women have been engaged in the art of letters, are being schooled to function in platoons. A story conference in many instances is an intense debate, apparently genuine, but in reality is expected only to conclude with an agreement with what the executive has previously decided. There is only one explanation of why so many good writers in Hollywood are becoming hacks. The scale of compensation is so high that they have persuaded themselves that they are no longer writers but businessmen. Despite the regrettable lack of the many readjustments so long awaited in Hollywood and probably by virtue of the years of experience in motion picture production, together with that tremendous concentration of talent which has been effected there, the product situation is not critical — at least no more so than it has been for a long time. One exception to this which may be emphatically registered during the months ahead is objectionable treatment and material which continue to color the product. In the output for the latter part of this season and the early months of the coming season there are a considerable number of produced or planned attractions which promise to rank well up with the best the screen has yet afforded. Milwaukee's Ushers Given 40-Hour Week Milwaukee, March 28. — Ushers are not guaranteed a 40-hour week under an agreement reached with exhibitors, but where they are employed 40 hours they are receiving $12.50 per week which represents a compromise between the $10.00 per week minimum under the theatre code and the $15.00 minimum formerly received under the president's blanket re-employment agreement. Ushers employed for less than 40 hours are receiving a prorata scale at the $12.50 per week rate. There is no distinction being made by local exhibitors between union and non-union ushers. With the settlement this week of labor differences between the operators union and the Pastime and Legion theatres, local neighborhood houses for the first time are 100 per cent unionized. Radio Show for Roxy "Footlight Echoes," a radio program produced by Station WOR, will be presented at the Roxy April 3 as part of its regular program. The show goes on at 7:30 P. M. and is not a sponsored program. Jack Arthur, Veronica Wiggins, Allen Lee Reiser and the Crusaders will appear. P.-P. Rent Claim Denied A rent claim of $48,714 filed against Paramount Publix by Ann Jardis, landlord of the Philadelphia Paramount exchange building, was disallowed by Referee Henry K. Davis yesterday. May Delay "Villa" Debut Although M-G-M has announced April 6 as the opening date for "Viva Villa" at the Criterion on a two-aday policy, premiere of the picture may be set back a few days. If s Col. Ferguson Now It's Colonel "Billy" Ferguson now. The M-G-M exploitation head yesterday received his official title from Governor Ruby Laffoon in Kentucky. If Ferguson is elected to the presidency of the Ampa, it will be the first time in the history of the business that a colonel will head the publicity and advertising association. Franklin May Go Abroad Harold B. Franklin, who returns from the coast Saturday, may accompany Arch Selwyn, theatrical producer, to London late next week to discuss proposed American productions of current British plays. Orders 20 Truth Tables The New York Film Board of Trade has ordered 20 tables for the Ampa Naked Truth Dinner to be held at the Astor on April 21. Stars Lined Up for M. P. Club's Party A number of stars have been lined up for the opening of the M. P. Club bar on Saturday, April 14. Among those who have agreed to attend are Gloria Swanson, Hope Hampton, Nikita Balieff and Gladys Glad. The bar festivities are set to get underway at 4 o'clock. Starting at 7 :30 in the evening there will be a dinner dance with stage and screen figures furnishing entertainment. The committee in charge of the program includes : Jack Cohn, chairman; Boris Morros, William Ferguson, Louis K. Sidney, Major Edward Bowes, Si Seadler, William Brandt. Ed Alperson and Arnold Van Leer. S.&C. Take B'klyn House Springer & Cocalis have taken the Garden, Brooklyn.