Box office digest (Dec 1938-Dec 1939)

4 THE BOX OFFICE DIGEST 1L Hc^Lu*, (JHES THE OSCE II IE IS TO WEEK SOT PAKTICUUliLY EXCITISI1 IS I’ll THE SEWS There is every indication that the turn of the New Tear will give the industry new life with a succession of road shows. . . . Already set are Zanuck’s ‘'The Blue Bird,” with Shirley Temple resplendent in Technicolor, Radio’s “Abe Lincoln in Illinois," and — of course — the billion dollar baby, “Gone With the Wind.” . . . The Highlighter likes the idea of roadshows coming back into the limelight. . . . The big campaigns, the national ballyhoo, make for increased “motion picture consciousness” that helps all ticket-selling. ... In The Highlighter’s opinion the benefits all along the line far counteract the drawback of delayed revenue from general selling. . . . But it takes a real picture and a real campaign to put a roadshow over for full effect nowadays. . . . We have allowed the public to get out of the habit; we have almost trained them to wait “just a few weeks longer and save a dollar” for the picture to break at the favored circuit house. IATSE Maneuvering Guilds Into A Ticklish Spot Wiley Bill Bioff’s handling of the request by the producers that the IATSE unions relinquish their recently won 10 per cent wage increase, is rapidly maneuvering the creative guilds — directing, writing, and acting — into a spot. . . . Recently the actors had to call upon the Herculean arms of Bioff to settle one of their own internal squabbles, and he did so, with due thanks expressed. . . . Now Bioff is in a spot to say, “Well, if the producers want us to sit around a table and compromise on a give and take basis, why pick on the technical workers? Why not get enough chairs to let all groups drawing payroll checks sit in at the confab?” . . . All of which sounds reasonable. . . . The Guilds utilize their strength through association with the AFL, when needed, which makes it pretty embarrassing to cross over to the other side of the street when Bioff approaches suggesting a chat. . . . Other reports along the labor front find the studio painters willing to mark time pending a general get-together, while the Film Editors Guild thumbs down a union with the IATSE groups. . . . Having other things on his mind just now, Bioff hasn’t brought his whip out for use on the editors. Is George Schaefer Due For The Last W ell es Laugh? Wonder what truth there is in the underground report that the boys have been snickering prematurely at George Schaefer, prexy of Radio, because of his blanket commitment for heavy production dough to Orson Welles as a one-man army — producer, author, director, and writer. . . . There are those in New York who whisper that heavy private capital is backing Welles, spending every nickle that 4 Features "Going Up" Was Now 1. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington COL 1 52 1 63 2. Hollywood Cavalcade ..FOX .155.. . 158 3. U-Boat 29 COL 97 100 4. Pack Up Your Troubles FOX 80 .... 82 will be spent, and that the oidy responsibility canny George is taking is for the distribution— at the usual terms. . . . Sounds reasonable, when one considers the years of film trading on the George Schaefer record. . . . W hat a box office sound there is in that Hollywood Reporter story that Frank Capra and Robert Riskin are dickering for a Ronald Colman starring appearance as their first independently made picture. . . . Roll out the plush carpet, boys, for the ticket buyers. . . . Monogram reports a modest profit — but a profit — for the first six months of 1939. Ray Johnston and his boys are doing an efficient job — East and West — going their own way on an even keel, and without too much worrying about the bigger fellows and their colossal headaches. Ballyhoo Booming On The Atlantic Coast Front The East certainly got its share of showmanship last week, with 20th Century-Fox covering upper New York like a November blizzard for "Drums Along The Mohawk.” and W arners turning staid Philadelphia into a county fair carnival for “Elizabeth and Essex.” . . . Governors, mayors, sheriffs and plain ordinary cops were a dime a dozen for both stunts, though Zanuck must be reported one up on the Warner freres, since he didn’t stop with a single city event, but took in a handful covering the entire Mohawk Valley. . . . Nice publicity break for Towne and Baker in that corking Dionne quintuplet short when Alexander W oollcott presents the youngsters with copies of “Swiss Family Robinson.” . . . Louella Parsons embarking on a six week personal appearance tour, accompanied by a group of young stars. . . . Louella has more courage than most column 8 Features "Going Dc n wn Was Now 1. The Real Glory UA 129 115 2. Jamaica Inn PAR 112 101 3. Eternally Yours UA. 103 100 4. Intermezzo UA 98 95 5. On Your Toes AVAR 102 .. 87 6. Blackmail ..MGM 91 87 7. Angels Face Their Faces WAR 83 80 8. The Witness Vanishes. UNIV . 77, 74 ists. . . . W hy worry about the headaches of the picture business, when the New York W orld s Fair can shrug its shoulders nonchalantly while reporting a twenty-three million dollar loss. . . . The rumors tell us that David Butler has a winner in his Kay Kyser picture, “That's right — You're Wrong.” . . . Lew Landers, one of the up and coming young directors, returns to the Universal fold to do “Honeymoon Deferred."’ .... Norman Foster. no slouch of an actor, who carved himself a niche as a director this past year, wi nds up his 20thF ox contract. Ben Goetz To The Side-Lines Until Health Recovered Ben Goetz, who set something of an alltime record as a production chief for MGM in Great Britain, guiding three productions through for a 1000% hatting average in the Hit League, turned down a tempting offer to take an executive berth at the Culver City plant, preferring to heed the medicos who tell him that he needs a few months rest in the desert to recuperate fully from the operation which laid him low immediately on his return from London. . . . Ben is one of the industry’s really capable big shots, and with it all, one of the most popular, so here’s rooting for a speedy return to the business desk. . . . You’ve got to hand it to Earl Hammons for doggedness. . . He’s still plugging away at that job of putting Grand National back in circulation, and he has weathered about everything from bunions to a world war. . . . Sounds like the makings of another Zanuck epic in the purchase by 20th CenturyFox of Zane Grey’s last novel. “Western Union." . . . And what a whale of a set-up for exploitation cooperation. . . . Orson Welles has discovered some good things in Hollywood, commissioning Herman Mankiewicz to do several dramatizations for his ether series, which the MGM ace will turn out while recovering from the ether of his recent hospital sojourn. . . . Sam Goldwyn is rolling on location with “The W esterner.” next William Wyler subject which shapes up big with Gary Cooper for the marquee. . . . This is the opus formerly known as “The Outlaw,” and later “Yinegaroon." . . . Twentieth show a twenty-nine week profit of over three million. ... Off a hit from the previous period, but no bad, boys and girls, not bad. . . . Dore Schary, one of the screen’s top writing craftsmen, and young enough to make safe the prophecy of bigger things to come, renews his contract at MGM. . . .W liich shows that with all the talk of retrenchment here and retrenchment there, the boys who have the goods to deliver can still find a I Continued on Page 5)