Variety (Aug 1938)

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Wedoesday. Aogust 10, 1938 PICTURES VARIETY J THEPIXBIZ Executiyei Reported Skull- Practicing New Setups for Circuit Houses, When and If Diirorcement and/ or Uncle Sam's Edicts Compel Breaking the The- atres Away from the Pic- ture Companies FILMS NEED ADVERTISING Feeling of complete gratification which is spreading through the film industry arid meet- ing promotional efforts of sales managers arid advertising executives, Avho have volunteered to work in behalf of 'Motion Pictures Are \'!our Best Entertainment' drive, does not surprise showmen. fight, at the drop of a hat with anyone who questioned the claim. Film business in its early days won over to the function of exhibiting important live showmen of legitimate and vaudeville, by only one method—advertising. LOEW-RKO, Etc. With the excitement of the Govr ernmbht anti-trUst suit and the threat of theatre divorcement con- tained in this action, plus the North Daicota divorcement law, the picture industry presently. Is mUlllhg many plans relative to the future. Much depends on the fate of the North Dakota theatre divorcement: law, which picture companies are carry- ing to the U, S, Supreme Court, legally that may take 18 months for RKQ-Inring Tnist Co. RkO and Irving Trust Co., its trustee in the reorganization proceedings, have been joined as co-defendants in the Gov- ernment's anti-trust suit against ttte major picture companies. Although both were named In; the suit separately, the techni- cality of having them joined as co-defendants WaB ordered by Federal Judge J, Clancy, at the request of Lair.ar Hardy, U. S. attorney, who contended, that, as' the trust company had acted as trustee for RKO during the reorganization proceedings arid durlrig the time of the alleged; violations, both concerns should be joined. If some of the proponents of the campaign, which is timed to kick off the new season's attractive list of releases with a $1,000,000 splurge, are startled and amazed at the tina- nimity of cooperation which their efforts have created, it is because the industry for several years has thought far too much about its troubles, and far too little about their only cure—advertising. Showmanship is the art ,of artful advertis- ing, concentrated to the benefit of a specific attraction, or group of. attractions. Advertis- ing, is showmahship at work. , There never has been a substitute for its poterit wallop; no other method of digging up customers for entertainment has long succeeded to the ex- clusion of a:dvcrtising. Ask any of the early settlers. They will tell you that the film business started when show- ;men, with some reluctance at first, Avere iper^ suaded to take hold of the new plaything and profit by the lesson that where thousands could afford the $1.50 scale, iniHions would spend a dime. So important was the function of'advertis- ing in early picture days that the heads of companies insisted on approving all trade ad- vertising, lithographic display and pictorial copy. : Zukor, Loew arid Fox didn't write copy, biit they knew an ad when they saw one. Showmanship is something you feel. Enter- tainment is emotional escape. settlement, meaning that certain subjects now being discussed vvould not go into elTcct Until lata 1939. The divorcement phase in the sweep- ing Federal civil suit also figures. One report has it that in the not too'dlstant future (depending on de- velopments, naturally), the fllm com- panies will present to Attorney-Gen- eral Homer S. Cummings a brand new setup and division of the film and theatre, situation. That the pic- ture companies will divide and ab- solutely .get rid of their theatres by taking various theatre units or cir- cuits and making them into separate corporations. Understood that the gener.Mly approved or best thought of plan woUld be the issuance of tivo Kinds 6t stock, one for the picture coinpany and one for the thedtre corporation. It would be largely a matter o£ making theatre holdings into a new company. No banking, no bonds and no money would have to be raised in bringing this about. Though not one of the film or theatre companies actually has started drafting a plan, (Continued on page 48) PhUco's Strike May React Vs. Hal Roach's Ad Tieup Philadelphia, Aug. 9. Tieup between Hal Roach and Philco fbr exploitation of 'Topper Taltes a Trip,' which was reported In VARiETv; recently, will very prob- »oly end.up with a national union boycott of the film unless the gen- eral strike at Philco is settled before release of the flick. _Carl Bersing, of the United Radio, f-iectncal & Machine Workers, CIO, sa'o he is fairly certain the strike w"i have been settled before: the pic appears in October. If it isn't, he the Roach ballyhoo tieup w«h Philco will earn the studio the enmity ot labor. Idea of the exploitation is to tie p?.? !"?<^'o sequence in 'Topiser' with ^niieos new 'Mystery Control.' A paid advertisement is something rnore than a liope, wish or prayerful desire for pa- tronage at tlie boxoffice or film exchange. It is, rather, a convincing and irrefutable argu- ment that the jnan who has something to sell lipnestly believes in hiis prodiict and is willing to back lip his conviction with currenciy. And all the ingenuity of man ncyer lias conceived an instrumciit that will do as good a job as— advertising. Show business and the men—and women— \yho have made it great through the centuries have succeeded in direct proportion to their skill as advertisers. If everyone in America over the age of six knows who said 'there's one born every minute- it is because the nanie of P. T. Barnuin had more good American dol- lars (and they were real 100c dollars in those da.ys) spent 6n its exploitation than any other individual,, in and out of show business, of his time. Then many top executives became too busy to keep in intimate touch with their advertis- ing men. They began to-hire advertising agencies/ Show biz, since the firisf paid iadiriission, al- ways has been out in front of cpmmercial ad- vertising and selling in ideas, display space arid ballyhoo. Billboards were originated by showmen, not soap manufacturers.' A strong theatrical press- functioned long before Women's Wear or The Iron Age. His tory of show business is in the advertising columns of its press; not in gratis paragraphs in daily newspapers. But tlie advertising agency brought to films the subtle art of 'service.' Translated into show terriis, it rrieans that letter \trriting arid Colored pamphlets tried, to do the work of smashing dpuble-truck bangs, which told ex hibitors that a picture was great, ^yhy it was dpiiig business arid hpw every theatre cpuld duplicate the first run sellout. And the bigger Barrium's show became through his genius as business organizer, the greater its audiences became, because of his life-lpng policy of meeting increased invest- ment with increased advertising budget. Only a part of Barnum's message was aimed at the' public. Its dominant job was to in- fuse his own unparalleled organization with the conviction that they were working for the Greatest Show on Earth, and were ready to Gfebrge J, Schaefer and those who are mem bers of his committee are getting the thrill of their business lives because 'Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment' drive is headed to sure success. There is np reaspn why the elation should die down at the end of the campaign. The bond that is holding together independent and affiliated showmen in a common and mutual purpose is indestructible. It is the one link that is as indigerious :o show business as pre varication about boxoffice receipts. It is advertising, Fresh Coin Spurs U to Tee Up 11 Pixin9Weeks Hollywood, Aug. 9. Backed by a Iresh banlcr.oU, Cliff Work, Universal , production chief, announced starting dates for 11 new pictures during August, September and the first week in October. 'Second of collegiate series, 'Swing That Cheer,' gets the gun today (Tues;). Other starting dates arc: Aug; iO, 'The Last Express"; Aiig. 15, 'Service De Luxe' (screen debut of Vincent Price), 'The Storm' and 'Adam's Evening'; Aug. 22, 'The Sun Never Sets'; Alig. 29, 'Exposed'; Sept. 6, 'Destry Rides Again'; Sept; 15, 'Buck Rogers' and an untitled Boy Scout serial; Oct. 1; .'Rio,' starring Danielle. Darrieux; Oct. .3, 'Three Smart. Girls Grow Up,' starring De- anna Durbin. W. C. Fields joins U with a .con- tract to make two pictures with his own unit for the 1938-.39 schedule. Lester Cowan is his producer. First picture will be based on Field's orig- inal, 'You Can't Cheat an Honest Man.' George Marion, Jr.,-doing the screenplay. It gets Ihe gun Sept. 15. Howard's LeRoy Script Sidney Howard left Sunday (7) for the Coast to do the screenplay from .William Faulkner's novel, 'Unvan- quished,' for Mervyn' LeRby. Metro will release it. Playwright had been at hiis Tyringham, Mass., farm. Upon h'S return, Howard Is ex- pected to resume work on a legil play for the Playwrights Producing Co. WOBBER'S SWING OVER ALL 20TH EXCHANGES Preparatory to making a lour of all . 26lh-Fpx exchanije.s, Herman Wobber left for San Francisco. Sun- day (7), from which after a brief .sfa.Y he will start'on his swin;4 ol the 20lh branches in connection with the S. R. Kent sales driveVwhich extends Aug. j4 throiiijh to thi! end uf De- cember. , Wobber is expected back in New York some time in Scpl'imbcr, prob- ably toward the end of the mnoth, the three iBills 'Sussman, Kupper and Cc'hring) being in control. Dietrich May Do One Pic In France for $120,000; Theme Woos Int'I Trade Fred Wise Sues Lucas-Jenkins . Atlanta, Aug. 9i Savannah Theatre Co., owned by. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wise, on Satur- day (G) filed suit in Federal court for $054,000 damage against Lucas & . Jenkins, .Inc., alleging the. de- fendants ruined a prosperous the- atre business througli violaition of anti-trust laws. Arthur Lucas and William K. Jenkins, operators of the Georgia cinema chain, were named individually . as defendants^ . along with nine major pic producing and distributing companies. Petition was filed by attorney John I. Kelley and alleges that L. 8e J. about Jan, 1 entered into coii- .•spiracy with the defendant pro- ducers and distributors',to monopo- lize aiid attempt to monopolize the picture theatre business in the cities of . Savannah, , Macon, Augusta, Gainesville, Athiens, Barncsville and' other towns, Savannah Theatre Co. prior ;to this time had operated Savannah theatre successfully, for 14 years, petition states, building up biz that 'in normal years :realized a gross earning of as miich as '$90,000 per annum.' . P I a i n t i t f alleges . 'conspiracy' ^ through contracts Which made tt impossible for the . Savannah the-, atre to obtain. sufHcient ■ first class film to maintain its biz and re^ duced plaintiffs gross by more than $40,000 per year for last four years, In . addition, company avers it suffered an estimated $40,000 loss through depreciation in the value Of the . property . and a $13,500. shrinkage' in the value of . equip- ment. Plaintiff figures its actual dam- age at $218,000 and claims, under terms of trust laws; thrice this -fig- ure, plus costs. Paris, Aug. 9. Marlcne Dietrich Is dickering :to make a French picture here for Fbr- rester-Parant Films. The $120,000 to be paid her would be something of a local record,: but the Idea i.s to in- tersper.se the proposed Montmarlrc nitery theme with many British, Americiih and German references. Purpo.se is to woo the international market in this manner. It's akin to 'La Grande Illusion,' wherein Eric von .Stroheim is one of the features, along with Jean G bin and - ilo Parlo. The ciiaraclcrs arc heard spcakjriK French, Crcrmari and Eng- li. 'i, as fits the ,situation. 1. K. CASE STEICKEN L, R. Ca.sc. ansi.-itant sccrctar.v- trea-surcr of Sclznick-lntcrnaiio.nal, wa.> ru.shed to a ho.spital in BroolMj'n la.st Friday suffering from gallljlad- dcr. ailment. He wna tr.Tn.ifcrrcd to a N. Y, hos- pital .Monday '8). Trad* Hark ReBlaferea FdUNDRD n7 EIMB SILVERMAN robllshed IVeckIr by VABIETE, lac Sid SUverman, Presldtnt tG4 Weal 4Ctb Streat. Nsw Tork City