Variety (Dec 1928)

V7e esday, December 5, 1928 PICTURES VARIETY FBO Under R-K-O Going in For Qass Film P^^ Talker, Sound and ' '■^ — '■ —— '■ — —r- — '■ — - —. ■■ ■ .' : 16m. SOUND-PROJECTOR WILL SELL AROUND $250 ■ WiCh" .T-. i. -Schnitzel- as its over- seer, FBO is not only set for a change of name, but the most radi- cal reverse in production ppUcy of any producing: and distributing, com- pany in the industry. Cheap,prod- uct i.s completely out. From now on the subsidiary of Radi-Iseith-Or- pheu'm -will concentrate only on quality lines established by the hlg- gost companies. ' At a meeting today (Wednesday) the new ofncers and directorate, an- nounced officially yesterday after- noon, will decide on the first impor- tant moves under their regime. One of these will be the exp.endmg of around $500,0a0 in- renovating and further building, on the 15 acres oc- cupied by FBO for its Hollywood studio. Tills Dhase wiH include or- ders for the immediate construction of four souridproof .stagcg.pn thelbt. It will also witness the okay for William Le Baron, retained as vice president in cliafge of production, to go the iimit in securing under con- tract stars, directors and writers. FBO executives announced as re- . talned are C. G. Sullivan, vice-presi- . dent; C. J. Scollard, treasurer, and Thomas Dclehanty, secretary.. Ah exodus of Jos. P. Kennedy ap- pointees in lesser executive capaci- ties is expected, but those in the htime office feel certain that Schnit- zer will " continue the services o; • practically all members of "the old guard." The latter phrase they use to describe those who wer6 with the organization prior to Kennedy s entrance. v. , o Schnitzer, who broke into,the bus- iness in 1907 as riianager .of the .Des Moines branch of the Pittsburgh Calcium X.ight and Film Co.. has been with FBO since its inception.. Naming him as the operator of the company is genuinely regarded py old-timers in the company, as the most practical move that the banK- ' ers have made since they became interested in the industry. - Attention to Silents Despite radio interests, no all- taker program is contemplate^, ac- cording to Le Baron. Silent pictures will be given- important attention. Elimination of westerns and cheap mellers and comedies which made FBO successful as an indie producer will mark the most radical change. Where FBO under the Kennedy re-lme endeavored to economize by piece-mealing its stories and stellar roles, after wiping but departments which had previously existed. Le Baron will go after names. As pro- duction head Le Baron figures FBO can gain greater results by famil- iarizing those around him with the -company's policy- to the point where they will autotnatlcally. reflect It in their work. The impression that ReA's Pho- nofllm studios , were being estabT lished in New York with the intent of having its licensees concentrate their talker production In the east is denied by Le Baron, and dispelled hy plans which will probably .get un- derway immediately for soundproofs ing iTB.O's Hollywood stages. That FBO Is under the RCA con- trol carries no significance that li- censees on the coast will be able to use Its facilities or will be encour- aged to use them. Only FBO prod- uct will be sounded in its studios, Le Baron states. While FBO will concentrate pro- duction on the west coast, it was conceded by Le Baron that there • will be a certain quantity of this ■work accomplished in New York. Like .the plans of other short mak- ....^^.,er-s-to=-catGh=-flash-acts;-heEe..in^Xiler^ to save In time and expense, FBO will follow suit. Now that the . new regime in set. It is learned that there is to be none ' of the former' Inter-rclixtiohslilp which until how has exl.«ted between FIlO and Pathe. This, it waS'heard around the homo office, , was due to the position which J; P. Kennedy hold wlih both companies and \yhlch was not tf-rminated until the an- DeVry Puts F'arlor-Talker on Market—Claims Will Have Studio Sound Features Great Increase Based Upon 1,000 Wired Houses- Others to Follow with Suggestion Sound Market of Future May Resolve Itself Into Silent Film Normalcy of Past—For- mer Yearly Rental In- come $360,000,000 y p I Joe Kennedy as Money Himself and Olhers^^i^ FIRST RUNS DO IT First amateur sound synchronized outfit for use in the home has been announced by the DeVry Corp. Equipment • for the parlor talker|3 will retail for around $250. It is a DeVry 16m. projector mounted on the same bases with a phonograph turntable, a connecting shaft making them synchronous. An electric pick-up device carries , the sound from the phonograph record to 'a radio of independent loud- speaker. -The new machine will operate with any of the electrically reproduced phonograph records, but the company has declared that reg- ular releases of talking and singing 'films reproduced in the same syn- chronized, way as in the theatre; win be issued each month. This •probably means the sound shorts. It is reliably stated, that the at- tachment, by itself, will sell for about $125, DeVry's present Type G projector retailing for the same figure. jPathe Coast Heads ; Lbs Angeles, I>ec. 4. Joseph P. Kennedy, head of Pathe, has arranged with William Sistrom. general manager, to remain with company upon expiration of hi9 present contract Jan. 1, as contact with New York. Benjamin Glazer is to be the pro diiction contact with the eastern offices, while Paiil Bern arid Ralph Block will continue to function as the production heads at the studio Griffith's U. Av Talker Los Angeles, Doc. 4 After surmounting all difficulties In recording sound at the newly- completed sound stages at United Artists' studio, D. W. Griffith started work on recording the dialog in his latest U. A. picture, "Masquerade," with Lupe Velez, WilHam Boyd and Jetta Goudal doing most of the talk ing. U. A. has temporarily abandoned the idea of making a sound picture with Mme. Schumann-Helnk. This was scheduled as the next Griffith picture but will be replaced wt^h "Darling of the Gods," which Joseph M. Schenck has owned for some time. ' / Hitchy as Pre-Release M. C. for M-G-M Talkers Cleveland, Dec 4. Raymond Hitchcock is going on the film talker route. H6 has a contract with M-G-M to act as m. c for Metro's talking feature pictures M-G-M's idea is Said to be for HItciicock to Introduce each Metro picture In a talking film prolog. Hitchcock In silent pictures did not click. His drawl and wisecracks are his chief stage assets. OFFICIAL 0. 0. Los Angeles, Dec. 4. Hon. Walter Marks', chairman of thr"K"oyar^Cr6rm«issioff and appointed by the Australian govornment to make a world In- vestigation Of picture production, is in Hollywood. Marks- Is making the . customary lour Of the studios. On a basis of only 1,000 theatres equipped for talking pictures by the beginning of 1929, film rehtals for the picture industry .will reach a new peak, iii the neighborhood of $600,000,000, an increase of approj^i- mately 66 per cent over an average business of $360,000,000 annually, during the coming year. - This, .new high .seems, asaured through the prices being paid, for individual talking pictures, 300 and ■400 per cent higher .than for silent, while the use Of talkers In place of. silent pictures consistently for the 52 weeks of 1929 Is also regarded as set with owners of wired theatres, now • or future, throughout the country clamoring fpr dialog pic- tures and holding up playdates on silent product to make way for theae.. ' . . ■ Amonc the first l.pOO houses to be wired are mostly first runs in key cities where the highest rentals are obtained in the ordinary course, and the negative cost of $160,000,- 000 annually, in silent production, la written off Where formerly the average cost of films runs slightly over $3,000 per week; per theatre in this group, the renUls being.con- tracted for on talkers are on an average of $8,000 per theatre week- ly, with an available outlet totalr ling $400,000,000 annually in re- turns. ■ Writing Off Costa Including the foreign market salea revenue obtainable is approxi- mately $640,000,000, foreign sales possibilities having dropped $50,- 000,000, as compared with the aver- age annual sales of the past few years. , ', j At the present rate of wiring ana the returns from talking pictures the Investment in equipment, com-: puted at over one-third of a bil- lion dollars, will , be written off within 18 months. In one Instance a chain operator finds that in- creased grosses resulting from talkers will make it posaible for him to write off an investment at sev- eral million dollars within a year, arid convenieritly. As the number of wired hou.ses. increases with a maxinium claimed of 10,000 American houses suaceptl- ble for the-'Avire, there miy be the added amourit of rentals, propor- tionately. Provided the Increased talking product by that time shall not have shaved down rentals on all sound and dialog fllttis through competition. The market may then become the duplicate of what the silent field has been. Weary of Touches . Los Angeles, Doc. 4. At eyes hcikht on -tlio. door g;iv.ing entrance to his inner of- fice a: director ; has posted a "Notice" : printed In 24-ppint type and reading as. follows;.. "I Do Not Loan Money— because I havi^ been a fool long enough. I have . loaned tbou- .sands to so-caUod friends .who never pay a penny back. .So don't rush in—shake my . hand —ask how I feel—when you only expect to niakc a quick touch—because I am no longer Anybody's Santa Claus. "It is no . fault of mine if you owe the landlord, laundry-, man, grocer, tailor and . finance company for your car." . Kansas City, Dec. 4. Globe, first wired house here, which led the novelty of sound pictures several months before any other house was able to use them, is also the first to cast them aside, at least for awhile. ' - ■ „ ■This week saw the return of tne Loie Bridge musical stock for a run and the return to the screen of the silents. • . House cleaned UP with "The Slng- In- Fool,""LIon and the Mouse and one or two others, but when unable to get outstanding names suffered. Goolidges' Slants on Talking Film Programs Staiuritori, Va., Dec. 4. Showing of Fox Movietone sub- jects for the. President and Mrs. Coolldg© during their Thanksgiv- ing vacation here, had some odd twists..' . ; During the filming of Chic Sale in "Marching On," the White House canines were included in the party viewing the picture; At one spot several dogs bark in the story. It was a cue for the real mutts and the film had to b© stopped until they were lead from the room. Another was a statement from Mr. ^ Coolldge of the. value of the George Bernard Shaw and King George shots for posterity, while still another was Mrs. Coolldge humming the theme song of on^ of the pictures shown the first night of the visit throughout the. remain- der of their entire stay. Jo.spph P.. Kennedy to date has ■ .made money for many, including hiniself, in the show business. Kennedy's own cpmpany. F1>0, was a million in the rod when ho took hold of it. Just before Radlp- Kclth-Orpheum (R-K-:0) tOok FBO . over with Keith's, FBO stock was at 15. K-K-O took it in at around 35 a share. Keith's was at 16 when ICenncdy bought the . E. F. Albee stock. Keith's wont in to Il-K-O at around 36 or more, according to the holders, as the ICeiUrs or R-K-O is now around 45. ■ .Keith's, before RrK-O lJot it; held • 150,000 shares of Pathe common, at. around 3 and estimated as worth- less. Kennedy adyisipd l\olding the, Pathe, which, the Keith people wanted to turn back for .some finan- cial reiasOn. Later in the aunimef, Kennedy sold Keith's Pathe block for nearly $1,000,000. With that - money he Induced Keith's ..to buy 40,000 shares of FBO at .15. Be- tween the two Keith's profited al- most two millions, double that clr- cult's operating loss up to Sept. 1" . : for this year. Pathe common. IS now at abput .l2. - - ; ... . Kennedy's Profit • Kennedy for himself held ah op- tion on 75,000 shares of Keith's (KelthrAlbee-Orpheum) at 21. If Kennedy has so far sold it, price obtained is not reported, but could not have been under 36, and probr ably nearer 45. if sold|. He also h^ld control of FBO, which by that tlriie.(last summer) had turned over from the red to the black under his direction. Probably the only Keith or pr- pheum stockholder who sold at 21 when the Keith stock was at around 16, was E. F. Alb6e. Albee held slightly over 200,000 shares and re- ceived $4,500,000 for them, his stock carrying the operating control of K-A-O. ' , Remaining under Kennedy's di- rection Is Pathe, now also In the black, having shown a. net profit last month of $70,000, after having been heavily In the red. In the summer the Pathe bankers pledged an advance of $1,000,000 to Pathe as required. So far but $75,000 has been used, the first time that oyer happened In Wall Street. Kennedy was Interested In Keith's for five months, with Pathe a little longer, and with FBO about two years. ; . It la said that he will remain In the show business for a .spell, hay- ing other Interests In view, along with John J. Murdock, his- close friend and business aissoclate. Ken- nedy by training, experience arid In.qtinct Is a banker. He may again, turn to that field. But while in the show - business, Joe Kennedy has made money for himself and for all Of those associated with, him, along with the -stork holders of the vari- ous companies lie has been direct- ing, other than Albee. The opinion in vaudeville Is that Albee, by sell- ing when he did and passing the Keith's control, saved the entire amount hp received in exchange for hla ..stock. ... nounccment of his resignation from FBO was officially made. Zukor Orders "Wolf" To Be All-Talker Lbs Angeles, Dec. 4. Adolph Zukor dipped his finger in the production broth, when, after .seeing, at th6 Paramount studio, "The Wolf of Wall. Street," as a 50 per cent, talker he gave the word to rai.se It to 100. No delay was In- volved through wait for dialog, a-s Doris Anderson, when a.sHlpned to It, had written it as an all-talker. -=--As-Miss--Ander3on al.'<o-wiis..=the. author as well as Jhe adapter of tho story, she will be th<i first writer .to get s<;reen credit for original, adap- tation and'di.alog, • ' ■ Ilowland V. Leo directs .silont and .sound vers:..n.s. Under the shift to all dialog .seven players will .talk, v,-lillf> li.vlnnova, R Russian, will yinK "Lov-vT.Mkc .My H'-art." ii. P. Flnf-tnan h producer. Rbyce on "Follies . Los Angeles,. Dec. 4. With arrival, here of Edward Rpyce, Charles Judcls has been taken away from, task of. Pt.aglng. the "Movietone Follies" for-Fox. For time being Judcl.s is being u.sed for roles,in pictures. "NOAH" AT $2 IN CHI ' Chicago, Dec. 4. "Voah's Ark," ,. Wid Vltaphone vpfclal, is ..slated' for one of the ■i^ h\i.lK!rt..hoJiHPH-a.ftidCj>iLW "Twice dally ,1s the proposi'dy <--r-hemc. Revnes With Glazer Los An'C'-lf.'Si i^'-'^- :■ Maurice. Tlevnes U-hvh .M-O-M this wfC'k to hcrorii" a-- !■'■'in'- <" JJ.'.rnf-y Glaz'T, I'a<'i'- I I"" • h'.-ad. I Town's Board Demands Theatre Be Opened Toronto, Dec, 4. The annual situation of .the board I of trade appealing for a picture theatre Is reported from Ft. Wil- liam, Ont Cltls'.en.i say Famous Players, while owning three houses In the town, operate none. ^ „ii„ The board of trade ha.s formally demandod by resolution that, the Orrheiim ho opened and operated by FX*. Stage Director's^ Film Los Angeles, Dec. 4. "Tho Dummy," P:iramount's all- ...,!;<,.r (liif ete.-'l by Robert -Milton, Is ,.„r..i-:-t. .1 .-.ri'V rn.'a.snre.s CnnO' foot. i-rrU ill I.M-r,,.. of the l--erc.'n, nvik-