Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1931)

46 MOTION PICTURE HERALD April 4 , 1931 Raw Stock Firm PRECEDENT Seek Dominance at All Film Plants AND PRACTICE ON THE STAGE (Continued from [>agc 13) new stocks, the Dupont special panchromatic and the Eastman supersensitive panchromatic. Movietone City and all Fox studios use Eastman negatives exclusiveh*. However, submerged under the cloak of diplomacy as they were, the reverberations of the war of the raw stock makers, were to be felt if not heard. The battle for dominance in the negative film field is raging through the studios, from Hollywood to Long Island City. Technical representatives of both concerns were heard in discussions of their product at the Academy meeting. J. Wesley Smith of Dupont said that the color sensitivity of his company's new panchromatic was of the same scale and range as in the standard panchromatic emulsion, but that from 40 to 60 per cent less light was required and that a considerably finer grain was achieved. This, he pointed out. thereby entailed no change in the coloring or type of sets used in the studios. Emory Huse, representing the Eastman interests, set forth that their filni had three times the sensitivity of the standard Eastman panchromatic film under tungsten incandescent lights and six times as much sensitivity under sunlight. He also claimed for his product less grain and high photographic quality, with an over-all increased speed for the full range of colors, giving torfal relations identical with the old standard panchromatic. Weeks of Movietone City, speaking for the actors, remarked that the new fast films caused less eye strain on the set and eliminated the intense heat from the lamps. John Nicholaus of the Metro laboratory reported that the new film added no laboratory problems in that it did not have to be handled in absolute darkness, requiring only a dimming of dark room light. L. E. Clarke of the technical staf¥ of RKO Pathe said that a survey had indicated that the electrical costs had not yet been reduced in four of the six studios using the new fast stock, yet, because a reduction of light had been achieved not by cutting the number of electricians and lamps but by the use of smaller bulbs. Cameramen at the meeting expressed approval of the new stock and reported on some extraordinary night photography under the normal night lighting of downtown Los Angeles. Two hundred members were in attendance at the meeting. Another session on the same subject is scheduled for an early date. The subject of negative stock is a heated one in Hollywood. Es+ima+e Publix Earnings Paramount Publix earnings for the first quarter of 1931 will be equal to $1.35 per share, Wall Street has estimated. This is considered favorable. Loew Estate $1,713,293 A reappraisal of Marcus Loew's estate showed a total of $1,713,293, chief item being $1,467,721 in securities. {Continued from page 29) which the contemporary stage made — and is making — was not in looking at sex as a fact of Hfe worth consideration but as the only subject worth deaHng with in the theatre. The movement toward the fieshpots started over a decade ago with the presentation of the bawd}' bedroom farces of "Getting Gertie's Garter" type. It fed the appetites of people who wanted to laugh and who did not care much where the laugh came from or where it went. It began with a joke and descended logically and inevitably season after season, and landed finally in the pit with "The Captive." Missing out any thought of morals the price paid has been appalling. In the time since the stage degenerated into a stamping ground for Priapus it has not uncovered a single worthwhile playwright, developed a first class actor, nor brought to light a cultured, broad visioned producer. It has succeeded not only in corrupting authors, efteminizing actors, and disheartening producers but also emasculating critics so completely that were the reviews of the play reports not accompanied with a byline it would be impossible to detect whether they had been written by men or women, or neither. Incidentally it has created an antagonism toward itself expressed in the movements for a censorship, it has broken the habit of playgoing with resultant loss of patronage for really good plays, and it has stirred an attitude of suspicion and mistrust on every side. The bitterest comment this writer has heard on the state of the Broadway stage was made to him last week not by a professional smut-hunter nor a fanatic reformer but by the proprietor of a speakeasy who said he spent two days trying to select a play to which he felt free to take his little daughter as a reward for standing at the head of her class at school. Surely the speaking stage can, and does, contain a field for observation by the producers of talking pictures. But it should be approached without any illusions as to its dangers. AAA One of the great money makers of the past two seasons is a piece called "Strictly Dishonorable." It was listed long and high by the ticket speculators and it played to capacity business for months in New York and in some cities on the road. Speaking personally it was the sloppiest trash, the mawkiest of sentimentality, and the most utterly vicious thing I have seen in many a long night not only for what it said and did but especially because of the inference it made possible. Baldly put it concerned the adventure of a country maiden who came to the city theoretically to be married, but really hoping to be seduced. She invites seduction by an egregious opera singer and the big scene exhibits her in a towering rage of disappointment when he refuses to be the party of the second part. The last act shows the pair on matrimony bent and the presumptive moral is that country maidens can start prairie fires and come out of the ensuing conflagration with a wedding ring. The play, an unqualified box office success, has been bought for production by Universal Pictures Corporation. But if anything is made of it other than a stenchy foulness the campaign for an increased belief in the possibility of miracles will receive a great impetus forward. When motion picture producers go to the theatre hunting for material to use in their business they should keep their fingers crossed. What made a New York holiday may prove a Hollywood holacaust and a Adverse Market Sends Picture Issues Downward (Continued jrom fage 18) Consolidated Film reacted to a new 1931 low. Over on the curb exchange, Loew's debenture rights acted in sympathy with the shares on the Big Board and sold oi¥ sharply, but on a very light turnover. Trans-Lux ran into a wave of profit-taking following a rise to new high ground and reacted, while National Screen Service showed a loss of more than two points in light trading. The decline in the common shares on the stock exchange had little effect on General Theatre preferred, which held around 28, while Fox Theatres A eased off a fraction. Columbia Pictures shares were inactive. In the low priced bracket Sentry Safety Control has turned over in fair quantities, but displayed little net change. The company is reported to have developed important sources of new income through an expansion program started last year and is said to be receiving sizable orders for a home talkie machine which it recently started manufacturing. Amusement issues tended lower in a generally unsettled bond market, the largest declines being recorded in the convertible descriptions, which naturally reacted with their relative stocks. Warners 6s led the decline in this division. Loew 6s, with warrants, and General Theatre 6s sold off sharply, while Paramount issues and Pathe 7s were steady against the trend. On the curb exchange American Seating 6s made their appearance for the first time in several weeks and came out on the tape at a net gain of more than two points. Stock Melons Cut by Firms Allied With Films Melons were cut this week by a number of companies associated with the motion picture industry, notably among them the following : Claude Neon, 40 per cent ; Consolidated Film preferred, 50 per cent ; K-A-0 seven per cent preferred, $1.75 quarterly; National Screen Service, 50 cents ; National Theatre Supply preferred, $1.75 quarterly; Orpheum, $2 quarterly ; Universal preferred, $2 quarterly. "Broadway sensation" develop into a motion picture theatre tragedy. "Strictly Dishonorable," which appears to have so completely displeased Mr. Fitzpatrick, also seems to have been one of the season's most ardently pursued pieces of stage material. Universal has had some remarkable bids for the play by Paramount as a vehicle for Maurice Chevalier and by Metro-Goldwvn-Mayer for Ramon Navarro. Alore than likely the play would have been sold hy Universal to one of the bidders at a greater immediate profit than is likely from production and distribution if it were not that it has been made a "leader" in the season's sales campaign. The picture version will not be released until the autumn, after the close of the stage runs. Meanwhile John Stahl has been assigned to the direction of the piece and the preparation of a treatment will be begun shortly.