The Film Daily (1935)

CRITICS SEE NO HARM FROM LEGION DRIVE (Continued from Page 1) initial query in the 1935 questionnaire, asking if film quality had been affected, 86 per cent said it had not, while only 14 per cent said it had. The second part of the question, regarding increase or decrease i' attendance, resulted in 65 per cen' reporting an increase, 5 per cent re porting a decrease, and 30 per cen reporting no change. Change in business conditions, rather than the influence of the Legion activity, was credited b? many critics as responsible for the change in attendance. In their extended remarks, some of the critics stated that the Legior campaign was largely conducted "in the headlines" and that, except for a few specific communities, its scope and influence were very minor. It is held, however, that inasmuch as Hollywood took it very seriously, the drive had a salutary effect in jacking up the screen just when it needed something of the kind. A summary of the critics' views on box-office prices will appear tomorrow. 26 2-Reel Musicals In New Vita. Lineup (Continued from Page 1) names, talent for the new Vitaphone subjects will include a number of players discovered and developed by the studio. The first of these shorts is the Ray Perkins Revue, an elaborate two-reeler, on which shooting has just been completed. Harland Dixon, for years a headline stage dancer and dance director, has been added to the studio staff by Sax. Writers and directors at the Brooklyn studio will remain the same as last season. While on his recent trip abroad, Sax visited the island of Capri and had many photographs taken and will use them in designing sets for a musical with Capri as its locale. The Vitaphone studio in Brooklyn plans the busiest season in its history, with pictures scheduled to be completed at the rate of two a week. $78,705 Net Loss By Pathe in Year (Continued from Page 1) that stockholders will be notified in 45 to 60 days that their stock may then be exchanged. Earnings of Du Pont Film Mfg. are reported continuing at a rate well ahead of present dividend payments. Pathe's Bound Brook lab processed 40,571,000 feet of film in 1934. THE -%£1 DAILY Monday, May 6, 1935 THE CRITICS' FORUM (Continued from Page 1) noon paper. When the daily press and the screen tie up tighter there will be fewer empty seats in the theaters." —LOWELL LAWRANCE, Kansas City Journal-Post. RAPS REPETITION "There's too much repetition of plots on the part of various producers. Too many of the same players are used in pictures which follow each other to the screen." —DEAN HUNT, Stamford, Conn., Advocate. DITTO FROM OPPOSITE COAST "The cycle scheme in which every studio makes the same sort of picture destroys very useful themes, and makes it difficult to vary the run of films. The same thing applies to actors. One sees the same actor in every theater in town for several weeks, and then he or she disappears." —GEO. C. WARREN, San Francisco Chronicle. CORRECT FEMININE TOUCH "Every picture that is made should have feminine supervision of its social, home and other purely feminine elements beyond that accorded to the production by a script girl. Get down to something approaching realism in big musicals. Who ever heard of a theater scene requiring a 40-acre lot for its enactment? Stop making such delightful little persons as Shirley Temple, for example, speak in the argot of the underworld." —NELSON B. BELL, Washington Post. MORE DIGNITY AND OTHER THINGS "With the continual increase in intelligent photoplay content, I should like to see a little more dignity of general production methods and behavior. Nothing stuffedshirt at all, but the simple knowledge that like the stage and literary mediums, the screen can qualify as an art. I don't expect the boys to let their hair grow long, but just to lay off a bit of the Hollywood clowning. None but the hardiest can avoid 'going Hollywood' in some form or another with so much of one pursuit crowded within so few square miles. My suggestion is this — let all creative workers — actors, directors, writers remain in Hollywood for no more than six months at a time. The other six months — at the point of a gun if necessary — let them explore the outside world, learn that the sun is not a studio arc-lamp and that there's more to a house than a false front and more to life than a scenarist's nightmare. I would like to see independent production get a better break — that is independent production in the upper brackets. The sort of thing that Hecht and MacArthur and Walter Wanger and others of their rebellious ilk are trying to do. In their work lies one remedy for the obvious over-production which remains a curse of the industry. I would like to see more attempts at film revivals. It seems to me a crying waste that a photoplay which may have cost between a half to a million dollars is viewed as finished after one trip over the circuit." —HENRY T. MURDOCK, Philadelphia Evening Ledger. STORY TELLING TECHNIQUE "Directors should follow story-telling technique in making pictures. European touches in direction don't register any more. Movie writers and directors should be forced to spend three months a year in Kansas in order to keep their perspective." — S. W. WOOLFORD, San Antonio Post. THEATER AS COMMUNITY FORCE "To survive the growing influence of radio, exhibitors must make every effort to project his theater into the very life of the community. Make it a Town Hall, open to morning meetings of civic groups. Invite school orchestras, dance groups and choral organizations to appear on the stage. If the house has an organ, dust it off, give it a coat of paint and use it to end the feature, news and shorts with a bang." GARRETT C. GETHING, Jackson, Mich., Tribune. Dime Chain Letters Hurting Theater Biz OPPOSED TO OPULENCE "From a stockholder's point of view I certainly would object to the lavishing of funds on the production of spectacle films. I do not have access to box office receipts so cannot tell whether or not they pay their way, but I have my doubts. It is apparent, when viewing these films, that an effort has been made to keep them historically accurate. Yet, I have been present at the showing of certain pictures along this line when a scene was so overdone as to bring about laughter from the audience and hence a loss of interest in the film. I do not believe that the general run of movie patrons are especially interested in pictures of this sort, although the regular habitues take their pictures as they come." —LESTER SMITH, Boston New Bureau. MISLEADING BALLYHOO "This thing of calling a punk bit of tripe a 'super colossal picture of the ages' (Continued from Page 1) j is gagging the public. If it is a simple little love story, why not call it that? It is of dimes ultimately. Exhibitors are surprising how many persons want to see a simple little love story. And titles. Many complaining that thousands of folks a decent person has remained out of a show because it was labeled in flaming bills who ordinarily would be attending as 'Love's Purple Passion' when the picture was perfectly innocent." movies are staying at home to copy — MAURICE CARTER TULL, Kokomo, Ind., Tribune-Dispatch. off these letters. (To Be Continued) $15,000,000 SUIT m AGAINST ELECTRIC!? ,r ■ W (Continued from Page 1) 1 1> Vatner, states that the producing companies "aided and abetted wilfully and knowingly" in the conspiracy to prevent the sale of Royal Amplitone equipment through the tying-in agreements with Erpi under which the producers agreed to use only Western Electric equipment for recording and reproduction of talking pictures. Ask $72,661 for Services In Saenger Reorganization (Continued from Page 1) Eugene W. Leake, Paramount trustees, for reimbusement of expenses in connection with reorganization, $5,000; Rudolf S. Hecht as reorganization manager for Saenger committee, $4,800; same, Saenger realty committees, $2,700; Rosen, Kammer, Wolf and Farrar, for services as trustee's counsel, both companies $10,000; McCloskey and Benedict, counsel for Saenger Realty committees, $2,000; Hibernia National Bank as trustee and depositary for Saenger Theaters and Saenger Realty bonds, $15,750; Arthur B. Hammond, legal services for petitioning creditors, $1,000; Montgomery and Montgomery, past and future services as debtor's counsel, $1,000, and various smaller claims. Unions Meet to Further Eastern Production Move Representatives of 12 unions connected with the motion picture industry will meet today at the office of Sol J. Scoppa, business manager of Local 669, film technicians, o draft a resolution urging the Central Trades and Labor Council, representing 1,500,000 union employes in New York City, to act to enlist Mayor P. H. La Guardia's support in increasing film production in the metropolitan area. The moment is deemed propitious for such a move because of the tax legislation furore on the coast and the hope is that Mayor La Guardia will call leading film producers into conference with him to learn what concessions they desire to expand eastern production. According to Scoppa, the unions which have accepted invitations to attend the meeting Monday include the American Federation of Actors, United Scenic Artists, American Federation of Musicians, Brotherhood of Carpenters, Transfer Teamsters, Local 306, motion picture studio mechanics, cameramen, wardrobe attendants and the association of assistant directors. (I Louis Jay Cline Buys Play ^ Louis Jay Cline has just bought a new play by Irving Strouse entitled "Stand By," on the reading of the first act.