Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1940)

76 MOTION PICTURE HERALD March 30, 1940 RKO PLANS 61-66, RECORD NUMBER; 30 FROM UA TO COST 29 MILLIONS Helprin Is Production Assistant in New Korda American Company; Franklin Blank Productions Start RKO Radio will be committed to from 61 to 66 features for the 1940-41 season, the greatest number in its history. The company this season promised 52 features and six westerns. New season's product plans of United Artists, to include 30 features on a gross budget of $29,000,000, are among the most definite to be disclosed for 1940-41 to date. They were reported last weekend by Murray Silverstone, chief UA executive, on his return to New York from six weeks in Hollywood in conference with the various producers on the UA roster. The usual pre-seasonal swelling of independent production ranks this week brought four more to the Hollywood fold; Harold B. Franklin started on "The Villain Still Pursued Her"; Harry Webb made ready for six features with Rin Tin Tin, Jr.; Times Square Productions started, and Sigmund Neufeld Productions were formed to take over the defunct Producers Pictures Corporation. RKO Plans Set Harry Edington, in charge of RKO production; J. J. Nolan, studio executive; Lee Marcus, producer; S. Barret McCormick, advertising'and pubicity director: Perry Lieber, studio publicity manager, and other production executives concluded the RKO program planning Thursday in Hollywood. RKO's sales convention will be held in New York late in May. Twenty of the new season features will be made by outside producers. Of the remainder 20 will be "top budget" productions ; 20 will be made by the Lee Marcus "program picture" unit and six will be George O'Brien westerns. Among the "top budgets" will be two Carole Lombards, two Charles Laughtons, four Ginger Rogers, two Maureen O' Haras and two each to be directed and produced by Gregory LaCava, Leo McCarey and David Butler. Pictures from the "outside" will be two from Lee Garmes' Academv Productions, three "DrChristian" films from Stephens-Lang, two in Cosmocolor from Franklyn Warner's Fine Arts Productions, one "Lum and Abner" feature with options for two more from the Coslow-Votion Vocal Productions, two from Orson Welles, two from Herbert Wilcox, one or two from Harold Lloyd, three or four from the Gene Towne-Graham Baker The Play's the Thing Productions, at least one from Max GordonHarry Goetz, an undetermined number from Boris Morros, and an undetermined number from Harold Franklin, including "The Villain Still Pursued Her." United Artists' Plans United Artists will have 30 releases for the 1940-41 season. They will be made by 14 producers at a cost of $29,000,000, and Charles Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" will be the first release. The company, and other producers, must rely on the domestic market for more revenue, and the exhibitor must cooperate, Mr. Silverstone emphasized. On the new UA schedule, Mr. Silverstone said, there will be two David O. Selznick pic CALLS GENERATION "BALCONY CONSCIOUS" Twoprice houses, a variance of as much as 15 cents or 20 cents between seats on the main floor and in the balcony, will bring about an alarming situation, believes Bob Livingston of the Capitol, Lincoln, Neb. "This generation is getting so balcony conscious," he said, "most of them don't know what it's like not to look down at the screen. It's taking the show business back to the old days of the upstairs opera house." tures, and possibly a John Stahl for James Roosevelt's Globe Productions. The 30 pictures will be an increase of four to five over the current season. Mr. Silverstone noted 11 more pictures to be released by UA during the current season, among them "The Westerner," from Samuel Goldwyn. He called this "probably Goldwyn's finest production." Other spring releases will be "House Across the Bay," "My Son, My Son," "Rebecca," "1,000,000 B.C.," "Over the Moon," "Our Town," "Turn-about," and "South of Pago Pago." Korda's First Two in United States Morris Helprin is Alexander Korda's production assistant in a new American production company to make two pictures here, Mr. Korda announced in New York last week before leaving for the Coast. Mr. Helprin for four years has been American representative for the British producer. Mr. Korda will make plans for the new American pictures. He will go later, to England, to make two there. Final sequences of "The Thief of Bagdad," on UA's new season schedule, were being made in Hollywood this week. The picture was made mostly in England. Emanuel Silverstone, who also has been with Korda for a long time as an American representative, will help organize the American production unit. He remains Korda distribution chief. Franklin-Blank Starts The Franklin-Blank Productions, of Hollywood, are "shooting" "The Villain Still Pursued Her," which stars Anita Louise, Hugh Herbert, Buster Keaton, Richard Cromwell, Alan Mowbray, and Margaret Hamilton, and the director of which is Eddie Cline. Harold B. Franklin, former financial director of the "Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment" drive, is a principal of the producing company. Webb Signs Dog Harry Webb, who has produced, for Metropolitan Pictures, the last of a series of eight pictures with Bob Steele, "Pinto Canyon," last week signed Rin Tin Tin, Jr., on five year contract for six pictures per year. Form Times Square Productions James Moore, former talent director for RKO, and Max Kratz, and Walter O. Heinz have formed Times Square Productions, in Hollywood, for a series of 12 features, possibly to be released through a major. The company has bought rights to the "First Nighter" radio program. Loew-Lewin at Universal The newly organized David Loew-Albert Lewin producing unit,, will make its first picture "Flotsam" at the Universal Studios, it was learned late last week. The objective is to utilize the German street sets constructed for Universal's "The Road Back," because the Loew-Lewin picture has a German locale. The film is scheduled to begin work in early July. The two producers were to establish offices on the "U" lot this week. United Artists will release the picture. Monogram on Product President W. Ray Johnston of Monogram Pictures indicated on Monday that there would be small, if any, change in the annual Monogram lineup. The present season was announced at 30 features and 16 westerns. The number of pictures Monogram will produce in the new season is subject to a poll of franchise holders, which will be completed this week. Sears' Ad Sales Drive From March 31st to April 6th, will be the "Sears Ad Sales Week" for the Warner Brothers general sales manager and vicepresident, Gradwell L. Sears. There has been a shift at the Warner shorts subject department. Ira Genet becomes aide to Gordon Hollingshead, in charge of shorts production ; Charles Tedford has been shifted to the feature department ; Owen Crump, associated with the studio for about one year as a shorts writer, will handle stories for this department, and also work on shorts scripts. RKO in Sales Drive The RKO foreign department has begun a "Phil Reisman Treasure Chest Contest," based on billings among 27 contestants over the world. The contest runs 15 weeks. Principals in charge of the various territories competing in the drive honoring the general manager of the foreign department, are : Ralph Hanbury, United Kingdom; Ralph R. Doyle, Australia and New Zealand; Reginald Armour, Belgium, Bohemia-Moravia, Egypt, France, Holland, Portugal, Rumania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland ; Leon Britton, China, Dutch East Indies, India, Japan, Philippines, Straits Settlements ; Nat Liebeskind, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru ; Gus Schaefer, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad. Andy Smith, the company's eastern sales manager, still led this week in the "Smith Month" competition among field units. The Calgary exchange, headed by H. F. Taylor, topped all branches in the standing. RKO is reported negotiating with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne for their appearance in a one-team picture annually, for the next three years. Twentieth Century-Fox Convention Near Twentieth Century-Fox executives are converging on the East and Middle West, in preparation for the company's annual sales convention, on April 12th-14th, in Chicago. Sidney Kent, president, is scheduled to return soon from his Florida vacation. Darryl F. Zanuck, vice-president in charge of production, is expected in New York in early April, and later, at the convention. Joseph M. Schenck, chairman of the board, also may attend. Herman Wobber, general sales manager, who is now on the Coast, is expected to go from there, directly, to the convention. He will preside. Kent and Zanuck will speak.