Variety (Dec 1936)

WffdnesdBj, December 2i I93d VARIETY Wig a %reat ZaharolT Film JFbr World s No. 1 PolitkoShowM Hbiiy wbod, Dec. ,. WitH news of death of |Sir Basil Zaharoiff, international linunitions king,' rush is on . again to coiiisidei' fljtning of life of 20th; Century's nipst iiantaisfic; character. One enterpriisi- Ing agent contacted, all leading, pror diicers Friday afternoon (27), ^vithiii two hoUrs of .flash |of his passing, to offer hiog of him titled 'Merchant of Death.*- ' No character living or . dead has had more stories for the screen writ- teci about his life 'thaii the late Sir Eiasil. .A partial portraydl of him hit Br^adw^y in Sidney Kihgsley'$ 'Teh Million Ghbsts,' but closest Holly- ili^dod hds coihe. to attempting: his story was inclusion of ch'aract^i' of Ifiidih'. •bodsworth-,'..ohlir very d^tant resemblance. : JPaui Muni, :?dWard G. "Robinson* Edward: .Arnold;., John. Banrjroore, have all beeh very ahxloiis .to; play fum In flickers on' various'occaslohs;' iAfi studUos hiave time. and again coii- sideired one! . or oth6r of numerous biogsi and ne^r-biogs of him done by 'i^ribes both.here and abroad.- Possi- ble international ■ complications arid ppwdr of the ,6ld. wizard called off jdl t)rev4ous\>t>lans M ; film his career. Now, riow.^yer, 'Hollywood wag as- 'iterts that haying.'gloiri the 'great Ziegfelcf,' film: industry cahnoi over- look .the^ 'great . Zaharpfl.V iJnasjCT itibwmah Of ; "the wofld'^i politibal mm.- . Afteir.his master strbkie, the fOurV j^ear^run, bf the World W iucceis^ iirejit. to His head and he tried to |tage/!a jpne-man production, th^ Grecbi-Turkish ;Wialp. of 1920-;21. it .#33 the wbrst flQppo pf his career shd the costHi^st: To piSp; off the; nut, h«' hall to ;seU Monte ^arlo, which Tost had bought 10 yearis earlier. He la reputed to liave dropped $250,000*- 000 in .trying to bUclc'Kemal Pasha. . . Zahiatbff's main claim to fame was Ihtroductlbn-of showmanship meth- ods into modern niunitionis selling and putting gun business on a big- timift basis. His forte was booking, his product into opposition chains at the samp time, as when, opierating from Geneva, he supplied both Allies and Central Ppwets during World W^r. He was also adviser to Lloyd George, Minister; of Munitions' In Great Britain, arid. Sir ;Basil succeed- ed jin averting undramatic secbnd^act blackout in 1917, by making Allies hold out for' t%e spectacular' finale In 1018. ; . His passing, close 90 years of age (eikact age unknown), finally gave .news -mtiggs their chance to laugh last, .as his ^pet line, bn pre- vious occasions when his death had been erroneously ahnbunced- as an- nual summer slack story, .had been: •I will die when I get good and ready, and' when I do, it wph't be to please any damned reporter.' Saved by a Hair ;. HbilyA^rbod, pec. Upbn .completion of his part in Saihuel 'GoldWyn's ,'Beloved Enemy,'; Jerpme Cowan; New • York ; stage a.ctbri . .grew... a mustache- and went ..back to ijid the' producer adieu* befoVe de-. • parting fbr roadway.- When Gbldwyn lainjped the hirsute adornment he thouight so much of the mustache that he; signed him ;tb a, long term contract. Pact provides'that actor must retain the bbayer. He'll prob- ably go into Gbldwyn's .prpduc- , tipn of *Hurricarie.' '. on LOMBARD'S $150,000 PER PIC FOR 3 YEARS -. Holly wbod; tipidatirig three pictures an- nually at. $150,000 per. for three years, neW cbntract. waS: given Garble Lombard by Parariibunt. She gets top star bUling on all flickers. Deal calls for .mpr double w coin Miss Lombard was getting under her old pact. RKO's 43 Scribes Hollywood,.'Dec. li Told by. this Wil.l Ha^S office to make individual, deals with studios pn his .cpntcimplated radip s,eries for General Mil^ Paul ^ H^^ . ic- ture editor, of :Ne|wspaperj Enterprise Association, is ;plaiming tp g^^ the air after; flrst of the yeiar; Altltbugh most ot. the cominitments.:irom stu- dio execs have been _ verbal, he 'is cpnflderit that he .can ^ get the isame bkay .'■ ^ .wjtiti ' dbmahded by the .sponsor:' Producers' association declined to gO'.on .record as . approving .a broad- cast frpni; thie working..sets of stu- dios, l^e first time it was put in the middle .on the radio-exhibitor con- troversy. Although Harrison told the Haysites he had tacit approval from most , of the majors, they re- fused'to issue'3 blanket ..okay and put the. question up to the individual studio heads. ' Harrison's sop to the exhibs is that the show would' be, aired Ih- the morning so as .hot to conflict-with theatre attendance, arid that there would be. no adviance publicity on the stars he wbtild use -froi week to, week. Dramatists' Relationship to Filmi Looks Up, With the $l30,00(y'Stage Door* Bujr —Other Broadway Prop- erties for.Fihnai Q PIX B.R/S? SOPH GETS FEATURE SPOT IN MG moor HipllyTvoodj ;Dec, .^. RKO established a hew high for Writers on the lots last Week. Roster showed 43 scribes. Jory to England , : Sydney,, Nov. 3. laretice Badger^ director of «angle Riverv' is . also doing the snipping for Columbia.National,. to wmg the pic down to a runable Iqngth. Victor Jor,y, stsir of the pic, is now en route to Engiand to make a film «tere before, returning to Hollywood. Hollywood, Dec. 1. Sophie Tucker has beeh tagged at Metro. for ia featured cOnriedienne spot " roadway Melody of 1937-.' Others in support pf Eleanor Powell are Buddy Ebsen. Robert Wildhack, Sid Silvers, ■ Charles (Igor) Gorin, Geprge; Murphy, Judy Garland, George Tapps and Larry Adler; Song numbers are being readied ifbr musical by Arthur Freed and Nacib Herb Brbwn. - Sophi; Tucker, ;irig from lAindph around Jan.; , will :play> the Oriental, Chicago, wieek; of Jaii; ;8 as a single on hbr Way west With purchase by RKO-Sadib pf 'Stage Dopr„' Sam H. Harris^ George is. Kaufman-Edna Ferber play, for $130,.0b0 concluded during the .week,- the Dr-amatists* . Guild, is feeling mpre chipper' ,on' its' fight .with pic- ture . people andlegit- prbducers; :9neht the -;new ;contract.. Play Was the first one signatured;, under the new authbrs'' contract and also the first jplay on the . new, cpntract tP. ?ittract big. money, frbml^ Hollywood: RKO's Paridro Bermain bought 'jStage Dpot' 'for Katharine Hepburn. ' Wfilfers hdd argued that they, could not obtain big coin from Hollywood for their piays: when these plays' are fiixanced .by Hbllywoool. That was the ireasbh they gave- fOr changing the contract, When- 'stage Dbbf' was about to ' s6t for: production" by .Harris, Gieorge'S.'KaufmaU, a bitter leader in'; the authors' battle of last summer/ made the' absolute. stipula- tion that it miisf^not be'prbduced with a film bankroll'. ' Harris, agreed to this and: dug Up the coin else-^ where,s ' ^ While $130,000; has been , beaten several tiihes: in . fllmf purchases of .'stage;plays ther^' ha&.njaver been .h case' ahy.where hear that , large where an .amount .swas brought by a play financed by films. Nearest instance (Continued on jpage 14) EXTRA WINS SUIT FOR DAMAGES; W EYES' London. Nov. 2.3. 'The - compsihy knew-the dangers of the lighting and; with the object of making a good picture,- was pre-, pared to risk - temporary damage to the e^yes of the pierfonhers/ said Justice Porter; giving judgiiient of $635 and costs; to Peggyv Crawford, film extra, against Criterion Films. Miss Crawford sued for damages for injury^ tP her eyes while play- ing in a crowd scene for.-The Ama- teur Gentleman.' Justice also ruled that the danger of - klei^ eyes was not generally knbwn to film players, ais claimed by the defendants, and particularly was not knpwn tP extras, whp did not realizie they were exposing them- selves to the risk of agpnizihg pain and temporary blindness.'. Gunther Krampf, cameraman, was jointly siied with the cbmpanyi but Justice Porter ruled him oiit of the action as not being responsible: There was no negligence on his .part, he said. nsion, to Liiie Fdrmiiig Holly.wpod, Dec. 1. . Practically every . available •male actor Hollywood , ^is seeking , part in the Samuel. Goldwyh production of 'Hurri- Thpse . who fill certain . top' spots will jgo to, the Sbuth Seas for fpur'ihonths oh full pay. ItECiNA'PIC King^s Heam' Hollywood, Dec, 1, rienry King, back .from a Ha- waiian; vacation, Wiii direct 'Sev- entfi"^Heayen' at 26th-Fox. .King*s last picture was 'Lloyds of Lbridbji,' Cast ihcludes Simon Simon, James Stewart, Don Ameche, GregV ory Ratoff, J, Edward Bt-pmberg and John Qualen. Mark Kelly jipining Col.? Hollywood, Dec. 1. Mark Kelly, currehtly scripting at RKO, is expected tP sign a Wriliiig cbntract at Gblurnbia shortly. Last yarn at RKO will be an titled original for j;Qe Pennei' tid Pai'kyakarkas. EiiisdoViyfidoBiir Lined up V ^^''^91 Hbllywood; Dec. 1. ing in on the reaction from C. DeMirie's 'The laihsman.' Harry Sherman i going to produce 'Buffalo Bill.' with Jimmy ElliEon in the name spot... Ellispn played ^'Buf- falo Bill' in 'Piainsmah.' Courtney Riley Cooper Will; scri ; production set for Spring. • Metro last week, ree^istered the title '■Victoria .Retina' .a;t;'the;.Haya;;office but.: hash!^t the fights ;.tQ the legit play, bf. .that.--name,-'ripr arivOptipn on it. Metro is-the third film"'company to; register. the',' title,'^' ith; Sjelznick-In- ternatiohal' tindeirstbod first iti line. ••, .Gilbett Miller: play, -current.-in New York with Heieh,, Hayes star- ripg. .caiii>pt be^.dpne as a. filiin fpr>;the time bedqg; becaMsei-ihe Diiklft of Goh- naught is still alive-in jSngland;He, is avdiirect descendent .Qf ;;Qiieen '''yic- tpria . and^ Play, c^nnpt possibly ; 1)0 filmed any where in the 'world during his lifetime.. . Metro's idea in registering the, title, is explained as being largely a. ges- ture to show the company is- inter- ested in the story if and when, whether frpni the legit, play or some other source. . If. the. time, ever clearis fpr the subject matter, contpany fig- ures it would like, to be in.' the ground floor. Hays • oiffice- rules ' on^ the ^subject- are that if somei one wants .to> make a fllim of some title already regis-: tered by-Mme/bne; else.^. t^ latter, must .bow out unless', able to shbv/ definite plaiis of proceeding. WR RUSHING LUCIANO YARN FOR BEFTE DAVIS Leailie Howard's Next Holly.wbbd; Dec. , : Leslie Howard and Qlivia de Hay-: Hand _ robably will top, 'Love Derby,' which is being readied as an A production to be handled by Bryan Foy at Warndrs under Joe May'i?: dircctioni It vvill'^be May's second American picture. Cririe Wilbur is screien- playitigi. Hollywood, Dec :. Warners appears to be -ahead of other major studios, in .the prepara- tion of stories based on the Luciahp vice investigation case in New York. 'Marked Woinan/ starring Bette Davis, is scheduled to start within a, week. Parannount also is rolling a Lu- ciano aliigle script fie .• Willis-Kent lis shopting. an ' 'Smashing- the ViCe-Tru.s(t.' Upon connpleti 'Marked WP"" man,' Miss Davis, will make 'The Changeling,' which "Tpm Reed . is scripting from;;Do/i Byrne's .prig.^ Janie Bryan will get spot in 'Changer ling' at the request Of Miss-Davis, who saw the actress Wprk: a; .\ ittle thieatre heire. Patlie Prodiicing Short To Bally N; Y. World Fair World's ". Inc. engaged the cpml-necoial. depar-tment- bf.- Father News to produce a short to hatp in raisinij fund.s for New "York City's 1939 Fair. Release will be early^next, year and faii;'.s press department hopes to keep it;in circulation until 193?.: rederick yilman, Jr. of Pathe is in charge of. production, .Scale modelS: of the .itiodcrnistiC buildings, and. miniature srets are al- ready under con.struction. 'Cfrbvier Whalen and Ha.rviiy Gibson- 111 ap- pear in the short. ■ Equity 'decided to 'put teeth' into ;its rule ;requiririg all members ;of the legit stage going Hblly wood to join the' Screen .Actors' ,;GUiid. Resiilt was council's action last week ib hot only suspending 23- meihbers tibw ori the Coast irtdiefinitely but fihihg each ,$10D. Same fine, is to apply each season they, hold Off. How ;EqUity expects to. collect the fines is not certain, council, aidrnittins that it can be done only if and wh^n the : suspended! pepple reenter the legit field. However no such .actipn against 'so large group has ever beeii taken-by the actors association; excispt during strike, timbs. ' Defiance ,.pf the rul^ is MU ' lo'-iMLvd stirred up the/^quity leaders, Und^^^ stbbd that npt Ohe^ of 'those' sus- pended offered to explain their', i: sons- directly to Equity;.-but Libhet Pairymore; was quoted nevei:~havirig received notiflcation^he ■ throws ■ the jnail aWay,' .it - is ,;said> wftile AUc^ Brady said she wouldn't be.tpld;by anybody, Wallace .Beery was . . added starter in the isuspended ,Jlock. He. has been paying dues to::Equity for: many years despite ho indlcatiph .of returning to the stage' wherVbei had unimportant assignments. However no. cxceptipn was madje because if .was stated that Beery* was pn the verge bf coming east for a stage- show;, nptlbhg ago but was-detained^ by studio commitments; ; f The^ fiped ^and isusp6i\ded people iii pidditibix tp Miss. ;Brady,: i3arrympr4 .aind Jteery are: Dorothy Lee; J'ack Oakie/ 'Ro1>ert' Warwick^ " Arthur Aylesworthi Harvey Clarke, Al Hil4- James Burtis;, Eric Llndei^^ Lucien Littlefleld, Cecil Cunningham, James McDonald, William V. Mong, Eliia-^ beth Allen, Ian iteithi £dwin Max-r' well, Nat Pendleton^ Marion Schil* ling. Harry. W.orth^aJld. Frank Sully. Only holdout who joined and waS; reinstated was Rosalind. Russell. Trade ;Mark ItAKKitei'ed POU.NL>BI> BY HlMB HH.VIoicMAri, rmWM\*ii tVrfkly l>y i/tttlKtV. Inc. Sjd Sllyeriri.Hti.^ .I'reslrlen* 164 'New Vwrli CUy SirB.SCIllKTION. Anrtual..... to rr»reign.:.|7 SIhftlft •Oot)l.el».":,'. ,,'..'.. .. .16 Ceoft 120 No. 12 INDEX Advance ills Burlesque Exploitation 15 Years Film Reviews...,,..,.: House Reviews,...,..., Iiiside—Legj-; . Inside—Pictures Inside—Radio ...,... Internat'.oral Ncv/s.;,.., itirnate .,.;., .....,, Music New 'NeW,s^ front) the bailic.s. •Njte Clubs....... Obituary Outdoqis Pictures, Radio , . ...,. Radio—Reports .....,.. Radio-r-Shov/ni,-nshI Tirnes Sq uaVe.......... Short Subjects.......... Sports Units Vaudeville 33 CO 70 60 22 55 18 5d 52 ,14-15 ,6 J-05 07 70 71 2-3» „. 09 1« 09 5». .35-58