The Bioscope (Jul-Sep 1931)

20 THE BIOSCOPE July 15, 1931 Exhibitor Production Combine and Sudfilm John Maxwell Inspires German Amalgamation Fighting Over Hays Code Some Flouting It Too (By Our Hollywood Representative, John Dee ) (By Our German Representative, Fritz Mann) In consequence of the process of rationalisation in the German film industry the surprising news emerges that Siidfilm and the D.L.S. (the production undertaking backed by the German exhibitors through their “ C.E.A.”) have arranged a tentative amalgamation. By this transaction the immediate difficulties of Sudfilm will be overcome. As I have already reported, John Maxwell, of British International, has been mainly responsible for clearing the situation confronting Sudfilm. Suburban Luxury Hall for A.B.C. Orpheum, Golders Green The Orpheum, Golders Green, one of the most luxurious houses in the Northern suburban area, has been acquired by Associated British Cinemas, who took control on Monday of last week. In accordance with their usual practice, A.B.C. are disposing of the orchestra and other staff changes are being introduced. G. Wilson Speakman, who has been general manager since the theatre opened last autumn, will, however, remain in control. A.B.C. have for a long time controlled Golders Green only other major cinema — the Lido. The Orpheum, which has a seating capacity of 3,000, was opened in October, 1930, under the control of a company styled the Finchley Theatre Co., Ltd., directors of which included Walter Bentley, H. Bickett, A. E. Fournier, Harold Lipson, W. F. Ewbank, Adney W. Gibbons and R. G. Turnbull. F. W. Blatch with Clifford Kemp Leeds Renters’ New Appointments Appointment of F. W. Blatch, formerly of Universal, as general sales manager and secretary is announced by Clifford Kemp Film Service, the Leeds renting house. While with Universal he was in charge of the accounts department at headquarters. Other appointments announced by Clifford Kemp include that of George Restall as representative in Sheffield and Lincolnshire, and Wilson Hesling in a similar capacity on the Yorkshire territory. At Newcastleon-Tvne, Clifford Symmons acts under Blatch as branch manager. The Clifford Kemp Film Service, founded by Clifford Kemp, covers Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Westmorland, Cumberland, Northumberland and Durham, and handles the product of a number of London houses. In addition to an interesting range of sound films, it also carries a varied selection of silent offerings. Producers are massing for a battle round Will Hays which bids fair to unseat that despotic gentleman. The casus belli is the famous Hays Code which lays down what Hollywood pictures shall not include and results in their being given an ex machina clean bill of health. (Forgive the Latin ; it is the ennobling Hays influence.) All members of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors’ Association — which means all the big studios and even includes Columbia — are pledged to obey the Code. The only reason why any of them do is that they think the others are doing so too. But the obedient ones have discovered that the others are coining money by disobedience. Will Hays abolished gangster pictures ; a studio at Burbank made several small fortunes by continuing to make them. Will Hays issued an ukase which clothed all motion picture nudes ; a studio at Culver City broke records by undraping them. Now the other producers don’t want a sterner code, more strictly enforced. They’d prefer the abolition of the office of Will Hays. New Foreign Version Wheezes Warners hope they have solved the multilingual problem with a new idea — the simplest. Straight “ talkies ” in the American language are being shipped to foreign parts with explanatory titles inserted. It is claimed for this super-brainwave that it has already been tried on Chinese audiences with complete success. No comment is made on the rumour that China’s greatest boxoffice success was an animated laundry-list. The other idea is just as serious. It emanates from Paramount, is labelled for Joinville and consists of a “ new type of international story ” to be called “ Nights of Port Said.” Each character will be of a different nationality and speak his own native tongue ; audiences of each different country will be able to follow the story via the speech of their countryman, and the rest will be credited to the well-known polyglot qualities of the Suez port. Screen credit for this idea is the property of Dimitri Kirsanoff. Here and There They are saying in Hollywood that the sudden and almost complete shut-down of the Radio studio is due to the withdrawal of the support of Wall Street. * * * Lupe Velez has found her metier. She is getting £900 a week in vaudeville for doing impersonations of Hollywood stars. * * * A studio for the production of Spanish " talkies ” is being built in Mexico City. * * * Sixty-four sets (a record number) are being built for Howard Hughes’ “ Scarface.” Hoover Moratorium Reactions Will Benefit Motion Picture Industry (By Ernest A. Rovelstad, Bioscope Representative in New York) Leaders of the motion picture industry in the United States see in the proposal of President Hoover for a year’s moratorium on world debts a direct benefit to the film trade, with the wave of buying enthusiasm in the security and commodity market of the world after the announcement as clear evidence of the trend. Sam Katz, vice-president of Paramount Publix, who through the Publix theatres has a close touch on the public pulse, says : — “ For the first time in six months, I believe I can strike a definite note of optimism in speaking of our business in the near future. All the signs seem to point in that direction, as a result of President Hoover’s proposal for debt relief. In every country of the world, Government heads, bankers, industrial leaders and economists are hailing President Hoover’s proposal as a sure step toward stabilisation in world trade and a cure for business depression.” Katz cited the fact that billions of dollars were added to open market values with the buying enthusiasm that followed the announcement of the plan, and added : — " Similar buying activity, with a corresponding increase in values, took place in practically every capital of the world. This recovery from the lethargy and timidity which has characterised buyers in the past year can only result in one thing — improved business conditions generally, from which our theatres will directly benefit.” Another Big U.S.A. Cinema Pool Five producer-controlled theatre circuits are the leading figures in deliberations looking toward a theatre pool which involves 35 cities and between 200 and 300 de luxe houses. The five circuits are R.K.O., Fox, Loew’s, Warner Brothers, and Publix. Book Publishers on the Look-out Book publishers are said to be getting together in secret conferences over a new form contract under which they would share in the proceeds on motion picture rights of published novels, their argument being that they have taken all the risks in publishing an author’s work. Heretofore, publishers have been paid on the sale of film rights only when they have negotiated the sale or otherwise stipulated such an agreement in the original contract with the author. New Synchronising System Christie Film Company is trying out a simplified method of synchronising foreign dialogue on original productions, in “ Meet the Wife.” The process, invented by a German, is controlled in the United States by Abe Meyer, who has his synchronising service located at the Metropolitan studios.