The Canadian Independent (Mar 15, 1938)

THE CANADIAN mum /SSUED FOR THE BENEFIT OF ual INDEPENDENT THEATRE OWNERS EAS eS SN _ An ill wind seems to be blowing the way of Hollywood Stars. At the present writing, Spencer Tracy and William Powell are both undergoing major surgical operations, Barbara Stanwyck is in the hospital with a nervous breakdown as a result of the court decision giving her exhusband the right of visiting their adopted daughter three times a week, and Martha Ray is said by her father to have retreated to a hospital to avoid being called as a witness’ in his action for support brought against her for his investment in her preparation for stage work. On top of that came the flood. 0 0 0) Kay Francis is soon to marry the count Raven Erik » Barnekow, whom she met at the Beverley Hills home of the Countess Di Frasso. Well, what did Francis expect, running with such a crowd? We only hope she doesn’t ‘take the count when her oriental type of beauty is scrutin. ized by’‘the goose-stepping heel-klickers of Hitler-land. 1) Oo 0 And now the regal Garbo and Maestro Stokowski are reported as celebrating their romance in a Roman villa. When genius meets genius, and they do not wither each other with the fires of their mutual scorn, it certainly calls for a Roman holiday. Oo oO oO Anna May Wong, Chinese actress, has_a system of weather prognostication and is making bets that swell her fund for relief for her war-torn native land. She won $30 from Robert Florey on a series of correct predictions and refuses to disclose her secret. It is just an old Oriental custom. ° “Cs, O Oo oO Anna detests anything Japanese since the invasion of her country and lately moved out of her house because certain windows overlooked a Japanese garden. Pie, Os O%.250 a Feeling against the Japanese is said to be running so _ high in Hollywood that the quaint little ladies of light love have had to change their names to Chinese-sounding ones to stem the tide of a vanishing trade. 0 0-0 Dorothy Lamour is saving pennies ever since her marriage to Herbie Kay, orchestra leader. She is gathering a nest-egg for the baby she hopes to have in time. The little minx certainly is penny-wise. She has probably calculated just how far away such an event is apt to be if the road must be bridged by pennies. 0 0. 0 John Barrymore describes his most embarrassing moment as the occasion when he was dancing with a girl in New York and she asked him if he danced. We wonder was his mind wandering or were his feet. o-oo © _ Bob Burns played the role of an Oklahoma politician so convincingly in “Tropic Holiday” that governor, E. W. Marland of Oklahoma, appointed him a Colonel on his staff. So from now on its Colonel Burns, if you please, -and let the quips fall where they will. O60 *-"6 Sylvia Sidney spends most of her time on her New Jersey chicken farm as she prefers it to the Hollywood scene. Come to think of it, there’s not so much difference. When eggs are laid in either place they are graded and marketed to a gullible public that swallows the one at breakfast and the other usually after dinner. DENT PATRONIZE THE ADVERTISERS WHO MAINTAIN (7. mana a, Quota Bill Goes To House Of Lords The present Film Quota Act expires on March 31, and production of British films has almost come to a halt pending the enactment of the new “White Paper”’ with its various ramifications and amendments that seems to have put the whole English industry in a_ dither and has caused so much criticism and dissatisfaction on the part of Americans. T he British industry blames most of its troubles on Hollywood, charging that the Americans deliberately discredit English films by producing “quota quickies’ to comply with the Quota Act; for bringing over complete sets of actors and technicians where they do intend to make a serious film in England, like “A Yank at Oxford,’”’ and above all, for deliberately blocking the distribution of British pictures in the United States. . Impartial observers of the opinion that the poor quality of English product has done the British film industry more harm than any of its alleged enemies. The new film quota bill was designed principally to stem the flow of royalties to the U.S. from England, estimated to be in the neighborhood of $30,000,000 per year. . The percentage of British films under the new quota has been reduced from 20 to 121% percent, but a rising scale has been arranged so that within ten years the wholesalers’ quota will rise from 15 to 30 percent, and the exhibitors’ quota will reach 25 percent. Also the quality of American British-made quota pictures will be quality-controlled by a required cost per feature of about $75,000. A further provision, that has aroused the resentment of American producers, is the loophole left in the Act that fails to guarantee the acceptance under the quota of a picture made in England even if the required budget is compiled with. The Board of Trade has the are _ Mar. 15, 1938 Warner Extends Network Time Warner Brothers, and the American Tobacco Co. have arranged to extend its time on the Red Network of the National Broadcasting Company by fifteen weeks. The previous broadcasting contract for the Warner-Lucky Strike program was nearing its close when the extension was negotiated. The “Your Hollywood Parade,, is one of the programs that exhibitors are protesting against as. offering the kind of free entertainment competition that independents find so devastating to theatre receipts. power to reject any picture for the quota market on advice of the film council. This provision subjects both American and British producers to the uncertainty of having pictures rejected even though the money is spent and the picture made as a quota picture. Films costing an extra amount of money over the minimum requirement, may count for two pictures under the quota. It is hoped that the Films Council of twenty-one will be the British version of: the Hays organiation, and will find ways of regulating the film industry in the exhibition field as well as the production field. It will also attempt to raise the standard of quality of British product and regulate the financing of the various British film enterprises. Genuine Claude Neon SIGNS MARQUEES INTERIOR LIGHTING MODERN DESIGNS Coast to Coast Service E. L. RUDDY C0. LIMITED 317 Spadina Avenue Toronto