Variety (Dec 1929)

12 VARIETY P I C T U R E S Wednesday, December 11, 1929 Fox New Triumvirate (Continued from page 7) menced to fall due. These amounted to approximately 90 million dollars. Of this amount 50 millions was out- Btanding in the Lot-w purchase; 1? miUions on the British,-Gaumont deal, and.other matters of theatre purchases, including the many Greater New York indie picture houses bought by Fox last summer, besides the Poll New Engfland cir- cuit deal. Beyond tliese were com- mitments, for future theatre deals, estimated In gross at present to be around $30,000,000, .east, west and Bouth. Deals Going Through The pending theatre deals will all be promptly taken up, the com- mittee is quoted as having stat- ed. They are considered desirable and will be met on the dates no^ Bet as reported in "Variety" last week. Most of the deals are un-. derstood to be dated for closing by Jan. 15 next. While'the presient Fox flnanclng by its trio of trustees; is said to be temporary, the same committee will make it permanent. Mr. Stuart's- banking firm is reported a Fox creditor to tlie arnount of 42 nvil^ lions, represented by collateral. V.'esterri Electric has been reported In the past making adyancies to Pox. At the time pf the Fpx-Loew buy W. E. was said to have advancr ed William Fox 12 millions on his personal note. Financial Advice Mr. Fox's closest and most friendly buslnes"^ associates are not alone pleased that their chief, who con- tinues as president of the Fox com- panies, his seen the light in reliev- ing himself of the tremendous bur- den of the, entire Fox business, but that he has j),dded bankers at last for flnancla:! advice. Dui'lng all of the years Willla:m Fox has played a lone hand In business, it extended to financing. Whil^ all of the large show concerns, whether Indebted to bankers or not, at least bad bank- ers as advisers In financial matters, William Fox retained his solitary attitude of single independence, reaching his amazing growth not- withstanding to over 350 millions In assets, and probably would have still gone along single handed had It not been for "the breaks." The Fox reorganization climaxed efforts by William Fox to adjust his financial affairs, with reports wldeiy spreading commencing a few days before the trustee announce- ment came out. Previously, the re- ports had been confined to the big men of the Industry and the bank- ing groups downtown. Spreading • rumors were wild for the most part, but none got into print. The story of Hearst and Mayer buying lioew's for 100 millions be- came the strongest. This likely arose through Hearst, Mayer and Cecil DeMilie meeting on the Coast ■when the Fox rumor? first started with each proffering aid to William Fox, if desired, as did several other showmen of wealth. These offers were partially through good will to- ward Fox and siecurlty for the trade. No Outright Sale A new element among these proposltlohs was Howai'd Hughes, the Coast oil man» who is said to have, asked a chance to bid for the purchase of X.oew's without price set. William Fox Is said to have 'flatly turned all offers to buy any of his properties that meant an absolute sale. He maintained this stand against all proposals, with one said to have been an offer of 40 millions fcJ his West Coast the- atre circuit, that he had bought two years ago for 25 millions. Fox held this position to the very last minute. Jt is .said to have in- volved the 100.000 Class B Fox vot- t,;.ijig sha-res held by Fox. The out- come was the formation of the trustee board as a mutua.lly satis- factory plan. . . Fox purcha.SGcl his first block of Loew stoc.lc from the Nicholas Schenck group at ar.ound $125 a share. . Last week, with Loew's under. $50 In quotation, his loss would have been In the millions had he disposed of It at any price near th^^maWefr"'^^ Loew shares acquired from Schenck. Fox had thereafter bought 225,000 Loew shares • in the open market for actual control. This latter batch cbst liim from $75 down. Late in thw summer, wher^ Mr. Fox went to Wall Street to)p his hnanclng, requiring around 110 millions by Jan. 1, it was said the bankers replied that at the Fox stocks' market price of that time he was asking too much by about Lobby Parking Tags ' Holly wood,: Doe. 10. Roosevelt hotel plans is-' suing parking limit ■ ; to lounge lizards who o-)i':Te- gate in the lobby nJgU.iy.. A one hour limit will be in t'Vect if it goes thru. This goes for the ^ iarr»t : ur detectives who hang around the Blossom Room - to see who's with who. one-half. The .downtowners.-were reported to have suggested the Fox stocks' prions be sent up. About that period a drive smarted on'Fox Films that . ient. it over 100; The objective ,of the pool, was reported at 120. ■ ■ The Operators Winnie Sheehan has been with Fox almost since Its formation. He stands very high in the tivad<e as an executj-ve". The -entire ci-edlt of placing .the Fox .picture product ia the front line is given to isheehan, Who re-.created . the Fox studios on the Coast of his own initiative, Courtlandt Smith has been with I FOx for several years, moving there from the Will Hays office. He is responsible for the iJox Movietone News, an important factor in Fox's rise to prosperity. Jimmy . Grainger is th« general eale^ hfead for Fox. He sold Fox silent features in thie old days when no one el^e could. . With the im- provement of quality in Fox's pic- tures, going froni slljents to talkiers under the Sheehan hand, Grainger kept up his record breaking sales- manship. Fox's reorganization has occurred at the? height of FOx income and net profit.' Fox has never been more prosperous than at present. Its net for 1929 will likely reach $15,000,000, with its tlieatres doing buslngss and the rentals from its'films of remarkable weekly gross so far this season. Eaich of the two coniBiittees of threes for Fox remain mute. There is nothing to say is the an- s^ye^, beyond the public announce- ment, and no other announcement Is to follow that, it is stated. A Subject for Wide-Awake Managers. MABY and MABC^ABET 6IBB Anieric.-'s only native-born "Siamese" Twins '. Week Dec. 15—:Lawrence, Mass. E. A. Vinson in advance An ARTHUR KLEir*- TERRY turner ATTRACTION 1560-Broadway HoDywood Making The Same Way Merry Xmas It Peace Offerings Hollywood, Dec. 10- Another gag of Hollywood producers now 1$ to glye. pres- ents to players upori the sign- ing of contracts. One gal got a swanky road- ster. Another, newly wed, was given a suite of bedrOom fur- niture. Others have gotten less epenslve gifts. Systie.m has proved efflcient, as the players have listened to reason when they knew a present was in the offing. M^SounilMen $18,000 FOR "HALLELUJAH" Good in Providence—"Woman Woman" $11,000,. Okay to F N's Colored 10 . Hollywood, Dec, 10. First National will go heavy on color for its 1930 program. Plans already name 10 as all-color fea- tures. Current year's schedule has three all-color and seVen part color. Half of the new list, will be de- voted to musicals. No Pause at F N Hollywood, Dec, 10. • First National completes Its 1929 30 program of 36 features this week and immediately begins work on three new ones for the 1930-31 schedule. Heretofore, this studio's produc- tion year started around March, but from now on it will be geared to start around the flrst^of each year. • Providence, Dec. 10. (Drawing Population, 315,000) We^ither: Fair and Snow 'Some ifunny ups arid downs last week. "Rio Rita," being plugged sky-high at the Victory, fell down considerably on its fourth week but stays for. a fifth. Strand with "Most Immoral Lady," starring Leatrlce Joy, kind of lost out because Miss Joy was doing a personal all . week at the Albee "Hallelujah," at Loew's State, did fairly well. Estimates for Last Week Loew's State (3,500; 16-50)— "Hallelujah" (M-G). . Pretty neat support blil; feature plugged by Manager McCarthy with some un- usual tie-ups; and it helped; $18^000 all right for type of film. Strand (Ind) (2,000; 16-50)— "Most Immoral Lady" (FN). Might have done better if Leatrlce Joy hadn't been doing a personal at vaude-house nearby; pretty good at $11,000. . Majestic (Fay) (2,200; 15-50) "Mississippi Gambler" (U), and ♦'Broadway Scandals" (PoX). U fea tiire not so good here, but ^'Scandals' Increased house paOe for $10,800, okay. Victory (RKO) ; (1,600; 15-50)— "Rio Rita" (Radio) (4th week). Stays fifth week; unusually long run for this burg; - noticeable -drop; may be $9,000. Albee (RKO) (2,500; 15-60)— "Seven Faces" C^ox)', and Leatrlce Joy on stage. Brisk week for $12,- 5Q0. Fay's (Fay) (1,600; 15-50)—"Wom- an to Woman" (Tiff), and vaude. House doing all right; excellent at $11,000. Znkor Soodies Employees Type of Wi Los Angeles, Dec. 10, M-G has sound crews operating in each district to. service all types pf equipment used by Its exhibitor^. Manufacturers of standard equip- ment service their installations, but tbis is first time that service has been offered for any make of wire. Including the bootlegs; Some 30 technicians, trained by Louis Edelman at tbe M-G studios,, are now in the field. Each crew is under the direction of a super- intendent of its distribution dis- trict, the Individuals ca;lling at ex- changes arid taking up current trouble cases involvlnig M-G cus- tomers; , Edelman personally works from the Coast studios. Mike Steinore and Stanley Ledwitz are his field men in G, A. Hlckey's western dis- trict. .XV. Edelman ' maintains contact with all the technicians, arid issues ex- , planatory bulletins to be handed projectionists with the talker film used. Men for the service crews were picked , by M-G district managers and sent to the Coast tor schooling. BTTSHING WESTEBN Holly>yood, Dec. 10. "Fighting Caravans," Zane Gray novel postponed by Paramount as a tan.er for Gary Cooper, Is to be rushed into production due to the heavy grosses of. "The "Virginian." ■ Picture was scheduled for work, several.. weeks agO but was put aside. Will now be made on a big- ger scale than at first anticipated. Coming Back East I), A, Durand and Sam Briskin, who departed for the Coast recent- ly, will return to New York in about four weeks to engage additional lejrit talent for Columbia, Before Briskin , and Durand left they placed a riun.oer of legit pro- ducers and playwrights under con- tract to Columbia for six months with options,' Pointing to the . good condition of Paramount despite the recent Wall street setback a;nd impressing the employees with the virtue of hav- ing faith, Adolph Zukor yesterday (Tuesday) addressed Paramount and Publix, workers in connection with the i4gular monthly meeting of the Par Pep Clwb. Mr. Zukor declared that when abroad the executives of the com- I'pany were burning midnight oil and worrying as much about the Para- mount employees as themselves. . The address was In the nature of soothing any worries on the part of employees who might have been nourishing fears, for the Par stock they hold. Mr. Zukor made his address a few minutes prior to going into the board room for the stockholders meeting. Pay m Advance Hollywood, Dec. 10. Forced to wipe out so many bad debts, film labs doing work for Indie producers out here have issued an order of pay in advance or else. SOUNDING "McFADDEN" Hollywood, Dec. 10. Edward Small is making "Mc- Fadden's Flats"* at Metropolitan studios, with Charlie Murray in the sam'> part he had when made silent by First National. Columbia will release this sound ^ersionr^.-^^^:^ .=^=^i--. ^^i=-=-^=^=-^ Roach IPasses Div. Hollywood, Dec. 10. Hal Roach studios passed the regular quarterly dividend on the preferred stock following a meet- ing of the board of directors. Roach, in a letter to stockholders, stated that owing to new and riiore rapid methods of amortizing picture costs since the advent of talking pic- tures, the company is unable to show sufllcient earnings to warrant a continuation of dividend pay- ments of 50 cerits.on the past quar- ter. . However, he says he expects divir dends will be resumed June 1, 1930. The stock, which has been- sell- ing as high as $24, was last quoted at around- $10 on the Los Angeles Stock Exchange. Roach, now en route to New York, will negotiate with M-G-M for ar- rangements to make four features yearly with Laurel and Hia,rdy. To accentuate his new policy, Roach has disposed of his polo out- fit. These accoutrements were worth $40,000. Lee Markus will leave "Now York Saturday (14). He's trying to get away, from skidding autos. In Bermuda's there's only bicycles, and Lee kno>vs a great bicycle story. About the boy who caine home on a bicycle and when his mother wanted to know where he had got- ten the bicycle—and then the story. Lee Markus' Vacation "Smilin' Through" In Spring Although United Ai'tists owned and controlled the screen rights to "SmiHn' Through," which Nprma Talmadge did around 1922, it has found It necessary to buy the dia- log rights for use as 4i talker, ' New version will be produced next spring, with no definite leads selected as yet.'. Pool-Hooper's Lab Hollywood, Dec. 10, Leonard Pool and Bud Hooper, of Sari_ .FranciscQ, hjiye .estaj>llshe_d _.a new film laboratory in the buildirig recently vacated by Smith and Aller, distributors for du Pont film. It is being operated as the Aflant Laboratories, catering to general production work. U Buys Erskine's "Sincerity" U has purchased John Erskine's novel, "Sincerity." No production plans set. Hollywood, Dec. 10. T^he• maderto-order. weather .busi- ness, golrig on In the picture stu- dios these many years, Is beginning to creep over Hollywood itselt' Watfchlng how the studios put oh a pretty good tornado at the puU of a switch, touch off a thunder- storm as easy- as you please, stage such a blizzard that yo.u clap, your . hands together to Ward Oft frost- bite and stir up a raging typhoon In a duck pond, Hollywood decided to end its own slightly monotonous balniiness : While it is all Very well , to be . able to advertise "summer all the year," at Christmas tii^^that has its drawbacks:, How <3^'^ a town get all hef Up about Xmas when . It's too pleasant to wear a top- . coat?. How can It start, its Xmas shopping early enough to pile up • nice sizeable grosses for the stores . with no fiurry of snow to remind the citizens it's time .to buy? All the hints of Yuletlde; . advevtlslrig are easily forgotten; ■wrhen the cli- mate spells July 4th» When a jper- Son is hit In the faice^ hy sOm« sno# and has. to brush .it . off, that la xmas, . Just as no ■ one was . ever born In New Yoi'k, so nobody was ever born in Hollywood. The throngs that people the Hollywood bunga- low courts and sleep on the Murphy beds of. its apartment houises learned their Tuletide Way Down East-qr in Idd-oh! Hollywood hafif growri slightly so- phlsticated by the presence of the picture Industry, •with stage chil- dren able to take care of themselves at the age of three. Hollywood la not a stickler for reality. Effect is important. If the studios can create-climate regardless of geography, then if snow In Hollywood will help busi- ness, let there be snow. Hollywood Boulevard, when it goes to all the trouble of putting on a Xmas snowfall for its snow-hungry citizenry, gets all dressed up and . even changes Its name. Before Xmas, the Boulevard Is cheerily called "Santa Claus Lane." Such Xmas carryings-on one never did see! . Xmas Arrives A hundred tall Xmas trees, in green wooden^ boxes with painted Santa Clauses,/, line the nille-loniB -lane. -Bach tree Is lighted wltK 76 globes. The shop windows are hung with garlands, wreaths, bells, and lots of tinsel. On the night of the formal opening of the Hollywood Yuietlde shopping season all of Santa Claus Lane was ablate with flood lights. The citizenry, trained to rush to the source of lights at night, quickly assembled along the Boulevard. 1 Faintly from the distance came the tinkling sound of sleigh bells. Audience was breathlessj till at last a fat jolly Santa Claus. driving a sleigh drawn by two actual relnr deer, cariie down the thoroughfara And then, miracle of miracles, a gentle snow began to fall, accom- panied by the far-off sound of an airplane motor. ^ "Snow! It must be Xmas! shouted the watchers. Pulling their collars up around their eai's they dashed into the nearast shop or home. The kindly old Hollywood Boule- vard Association, which takes care of the seasonal outbursts of Holly- wood Blvd., had; planned 'with Otto K. Olesori to give this Xmas party. Olesori provided the trees, the flood and the search lights, and by load- ing two airplanes with 2.0<I0 lbs* [each of bleached com flakes, pro- vided the snow. Some grumblers . among the by- standers objected to being peltea with corn flakes dropped from dizzy airplanes, but most of the people had a very nice time, and weM home brushing corn flakes. off their hats as they rerininisced about tna Blizzard" in New York in 1888. Chan Sprague Directing -^oUywoodf-Decr-J-O.^ Chandler Sprague's firi?t director- ial effort for Fox will be "The Solia Gold Article;" Richard Conn<>ll shori story. Sprague is now adapting it. Fejos' "Holfnicidc Squad" Hollywood, pec. lO-. Paul Ffrjos win direct Tnivcr-sai* "The Homicide Squad," Y.i-n HeclJt* i yarn. \