Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1939)

OPTIONS — Columbia FRED KOHLMAR, associate producer, held for another term. — Metro ED KILROY given new acting contract. S. D. CRONIN signed as technical advisor on circus sequences for “A Day at the Circus.” He was manager of the A1 G. Barnes outfit for nine years. S. SYLVAN SIMON given new directorial contract. LENI LYNN given new acting contract. — Monogram JOSEPH ANTHONY ROACH joins writing staff to script the next Jack Randall western. Lindsley Parsons will produce and Spencer Bennett will direct. — Paramount MARY MARTIN, stage actress and singer, given option pickup. She arrives July 1 to take the feminine lead opposite Allan Jones in “Victor Herbert.” CECIL B. DEMILLE signs new four-year contract as producer-director. “Royal Canadian Mounted,” in Technicolor, will be his next film. MARGARET LOCKWOOD, English actress, held for one, possibly two more pictures. She was imported from London for a top role in Frank Lloyd's “Ruler of the Seas.” — RKO Radio HELEN FORTESCUE REYNOLDS given term acting contract. — 20th Century-Fox ANNE POWER, sister of Tyrone, joins writing department on term contract. CLARK ANDREWS signs writer-director contract, joining the Sol Wurtzel unit. He has been a radio producer and writer. — Universal LEWIS HOWARD and ROBERT STACK, screen newcomers, given term acting contracts. They will debut in “First Love,” next Deanna Durbin picture, which Joe Pasternak will produce. MARGUERITE TRICE, Little Theatre actress, given long-term contract. She makes her screen debut in “Bachelor’s Baby.” ANNE GWYNNE, Little Theatre player, given term acting deal. — Warner Bros. FRANK WILCOX, Little Theatre actor, given term contract. CRANE WILBUR, writer-director, given new term contract. CHARLES ROSHER, cameraman, held for another term. LEW SEILER, director, handed new term contract. A Brief Breathing Spell Seen in Labor T ussle A brief breathing spell, before plunging again into the hectic Hollywood labor tussle, seems to be the order of the day for the labor contract representatives of the producers association, Pat Casey and his lieutenant, Victor Clarke. Casey has not yet checked in from the east, although local Hays office spokesmen report he left New York several days ago on a leisurely westward trip. Clarke, who has been holding down the local fort in Casey’s extended absence, has been out of town for the past several days. A general picture of the Hollywood labor situation is expected to be presented to Casey when he returns to work, with Clarke, studio managers and production attorneys preparing to meet with the Hays labor chief in an effort to set a definite date for the annual producer-labor conferences concerning revisions in basic studio working agreements. Also to be subjected to Casey’s scrutiny is a survey conducted by the Pacific Coast Labor Bureau at the behest of the motion picture painters, in an effort to determine the advisability of adopting an industry-wide five-day working week. Next regular monthly meeting of the association has been set for July 3. The June meeting was canceled because several members could not be present. Garfield Treks to Mexico For " Juarez " Premiere John Garfield, Warner player, travels to Mexico City June 23 to attend the premiere there of “Juarez,” and continues on to Havana, Cuba, for a similar chore a few days later. Accompanied by his wife and Irving Rapper, studio dialogue director, he will return to Hollywood July 5. Frances Langford and her husband, Jon Hall, who is under contract to Samuel Goldwyn, have mapped out a seven-week personal appearance tour which will carry them through the east and south. They leave early in July. Dorothy Lamour has been set for a four-day appearance at the New York World’s Fair, beginning June 25. William Boyd, star of Harry Sherman’s “Hopalong Cassidy” westerns, pulled out for Des Moines for a one-stop p,a. there before beginning his latest picture. The Ritz Brothers have returned from an extended eastern p.a. trek and are preparing for their next 20th Century-Fox film assignment. Lupe Velez has returned from Chicago, having completed a four-week engagement in one of the Windy City’s night clubs. Supplementing the screening of “Beau Geste” at the Michigan Theatre in Detroit, Brian Donlevy, who has one of the leads in Paramount’s Gary Cooper starrer, will appear on the stage for a week of personals. Booking date has not been set yet. Evelyn Brent has been booked for a ten-week p.a. tour through the midwest. Republic has signed Robert North, formerly with Columbia, as an associate producer. He has received no assignment yet. Checking off the studio’s writing payroll were Gerald Geraghty and Doris Malloy, having completed their respective assignments. Harry Link, representative of the Feist music publishing organization, has joined M-G-M’s Culver City staff to handle publication and exploitation details of the music in “Wizard of Oz.” Victor-RCA will issue a special album of “Oz” records. Dmytryk to Direct Edward Dmytryk, former Paramount film editor, has been assigned to direct “The World Moves On” for the studio. His first directorial assignment was “Million Dollar Legs,” which he piloted when Director Nick Grinde was forced out by illness. A " Chan " to Leeds Twentieth Century-Fox has assigned Herbert I. Leeds to direct “The City of Darkness,” next in the “Charlie Chan” series. Picture hits the cameras July 6 as a Sol Wurtzel production. "Remember" to Leisen Next directorial assignment for Mitchell Leisen at Paramount will be “Remember the Night,” co-starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. SCRIPTERS — Edward Small LENORE COFFEE to “My Son, My Son,” the Howard Spring novel, in which Louis Hayward will be starred. — Monogram SCOTT DARLING to "Mr. Wong at Headquarters,” fourth in the sleuth series starring Boris Karloff. — Paramount WILLTAM R. LIPMAN and HORACE McCOY to “Texas Rangers Ride Again,” a sequel to “Texas Rangers.” —RKO Radio MORTON GRANT to “Wagon Train,” a George O'Brien western. MICHAEL HOGAN to “Marie Lloyd,” next Herbert Wilcox production. Hogan reports upon completing “The Invisible Man Returns” at Universal. — Universal LESTER COLE teamed with MICHAEL HOGAN on “The Invisible Man Returns.” ALEX GOTTLIEB to "They Can’t Hang Me,” a Crime Club mystery. — Warner Bros. PHILIP and JULIUS EPSTEIN to "Four Wives,” a sequel to “Four Daughters.” RICHARD MACAULEY and JERRY WALD to “The World Moves On,” which will star James Cagney. IVAN GOFF to “Episode,” slated to co-star Jeffrey Lynn and Priscilla Lane. Sociologist's Hollywood Probe Is Progressing “Excellent progress” in its avowed intention of placing Hollywood and its workers under the sociological-psychological miscroscope, as announced when headquarters were established here last February, is reported by Leo C. Rosten, director of the Motion Picture Research Project, operating under a grant from the Carnegie Institute. Rosten and a staff of six expect to remain here at least another eight months, the director reported, continuing their quizzings and probings into the complexities of the motion picture industry. Their findings will be incorporated in a book to be written by Rosten for publication some time in 1940. To date the surveys have covered the following fields: An analysis of the profits, salaries and dividends of studio workers, obtained through questionnaires sent producers, writers, directors and members of the various trade unions. An analysis of the content of the modern motion picture, based upon a study of the top 125 films released during the 193738 season. A study of production costs and a survey of foreign distribution markets; an investigation of the production code and the duties and activities of the Hays office. These factors are to be correlated and subjected to a psychological and sociological interpretation in Rosten’s forthcoming book. Rosten, a member of the Academy of Political and Social Science, is also noted as the author, under the pseudonym of Leonard Q. Ross, of “The Education of Hyman Kaplan,” a volume of short sketches. Metro Assigns Marin Metro has assigned Edwin L. Marin to direct “Henry Goes to Arizona,” featuring Frank Morgan and Virginia Weidler. 36 BOXOFFICE :: June 17, 1939