The Film Daily (1929)

DAILY Monday, July 15, 192S| n> Radio Prepares Its Debut ni (.Continued from Page 1) tions of RCA extended in the communications field grasped almost at once the potential importance of its entrance into amusements. What had happened was this: b'ome months previously, RCA had purchased an approximate 11 per cent interest in FBO. Joseph P. Kennedy, then president of the latter company, had made the deal with David Sarnoff to whom motion pictures then were a far more new affair than they are today. Kennedy was also chairman of the board of Keith-Albee-Orpheum, a post which had come to him largely through his friendship with J. J. Murdock. KeithAlbee-Orpheum also owned stock in FBO. It was these interlocking factors which provided the nucleus around which RCA's bold entrance into the three major branches of the industry was conceived. The K-A-O stock held by Kennedy, Murdock and others was sufficient to swing control At FBO, Kennedy's stock, plus that held by Guy Currier, an attorney for the New York Central and General Electric, was added to others and it was a deal. But the move was not unexpected. RKO BUSY ON NEW SEASON PICTURES, JOUR IN WORK West Coast Bureau, THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — With "Street Girl" and "Side Street" completed and four others in work, Radio Pictures is actively under way on its program of 30 talkers for 1929-1930. Heading the list is "Rio Rita," now entering its fifth week. Bebe Daniels, John Boles, Bert Wheeler, Bob Woolsey and Dorothy Lee are in the cast. Luther Reed is directing. Richard Rosson is handling the pictorial direction and Frank Craven the dialogue direction of "The Very Idea" in which Craven, Allen Kearns, Hugh Trevor, Sally Blane play leads. Rod La Rocque is starred in "The Delightful Rogue" in which Rita Le Roy, Charles Byers, Fred Moorhouse, Harry Semels, Sam Blum and Ed Brady constitute the support. Lynn Shores is handling pictorial direction and A. Leslie Pearce the dialogue. Henry M. Hobart is supervising. "Tanned Legs" is now rounding out its first week of production. George B. Seitz is directing. The studio is under supervision of William Le Baron, vice-president in charge of production. He has been in motion pictures since 1919. At that time he was director general of Cosmopolitan Prod, for William Randolph Hearst, resigning the post of managing editor of Collier's Weekly.^ Under his supervision "Humoresque," "Beau Geste," "When Knighthood as witness the following editorial comment in THE FILM DAILY of October 8, 1928: "Assuming control of K-A-O and FBO is chewing ort a pretty good bite. To deny that the particular direction in which this powerful electrical organization moved caused a couple ot loud whistles would be in variance with the facts. However, on at least three instances and, mayhap more, this editorial typewriter has endeavored to expound to you the advisability of watching RCA and its activities as they concern motion pictures." RCA Gets Ready Radio stepped into the limelight at once. Conjecture was rite. What did it all mean and what was to come.'' This column at the time sized it up ■n the following tashion: "The gentlemen who pull the RCA strings have made u;> tneir minds that the time has arrived for their pet to take its seat in the councils of the mighty. Working via a business technique which is somewhat a.ien to the metnods so tondly pursued in the denizens ot the celluloid mighty, RCA deliberated long and plentifully before stepping in. "Then came the decision to go and before the realization had time to become general, the move is taken. And wnat uo you mid.' K-A-O with its strategically placed theaters reaching clear across the land is annexed • * " and FBO acquired as a nucleus for production and distribution oi sound pictures, the caviar of the motion picture menu. "Ihese steps, mind you, are the first of several. * * * As for FBO, the crystal ball reveals something that assumes this form: "An expansion and an added importance such as that organization has never enjoyed before." The step taken, it became necessary to reorganize. Keith-AlbeeOrpheum became Radio-Keith-Orpheum in the days that followed. FBO assumed RKO Productions as a monicker and Radio Pictures as an appropriate trade name. Over both, Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp. held sway. RKO, then, in one fell swoop, found itself sprawled at once over two of the three important angles of the motion picture triangle. Production and distribution were its forte; Radio-Keith-Orpheum supplied the theater outlets. Moves to fit the production company into the new mould were begun at once. Not an easy task. But, this was a new order of things. RKO, with RCAPhotophone facilities at its disposal, was ready to turn to an all-sound schedule yet the company found itself in the middle of a selling season with many commitments for silent pictures to fulfill. Setting the Stage The ensuing months were therefore devoted to plans for 1929-1930. In Hollywood, the stages were soundproofed. Here in New York, story material was bought for the new program. When word was flashed that "Rio Rita" had been purchased in the face of stiff competition, the industry realized with a rather startling suddenness that Radio meant business indeed. The period of preparation is now over. With the new season RKO makes its formal debut. The resources— financial and electrical — of RCA form an impressive foundation upon which the company stands. Coupled with its exhibition holdings Talent at the RKO Studio STARS and PLAYERS Don Alvarado, Gus Arnheim and His Ambassadors, Henry Armetta, John Boles, Olive Borden, Sally Blane, Charles Byer, Ed. Brady, Sam Blum, Fred Burns, Andre Beranger, Tyrone Brerton, Irving Bacon, Guy Buccola Jeanne De Bard, Heinie Conklin, Betty Compson, Frank Craven, Joseph Cawthorn, Richard Dix, Bebe Daniels, Emma Dunn, G. Fat Collins, James Eagle, Doris Eaton, Theodore Von Eltz, Morgan Farley, Ann Greenway, Roberta Gale. Hedda Hopper, Mildred Harris, Arthur Housman, Will Hopper, Al Hill, Johnny Harron, Helen Kaiser, Eddie Kane, Allen Kearns, Anderson Lawlor, Dorothy Lee, Ivan Lebedeff, Owen Moore, Matt Moore, Tom Moore, Bert Moorhouse, Ken Murray and His Gang, Raymond Murel, Walter MacNamara, Sam Nelson, Jack Oakie, Kathryn Perry, Rod La Rocque, Rita Le Roy, Nick De Ruiz, Eva Rosita, Harry Semels, Charles Stevens, Frank Sheridan, Ned Sparks, Leonard Simmons, Hugh Trevor, Olive Tell, Rudy Vallee, Bert Wheeler, Bob Woolsey and Dan Wolheim. DIRECTORS Herbert Brenon, Frank Craven, William J. Cowan, Bert Glennon, Henry Hobart, Richad Rosson, Luther Reed, Wesley Ruggles, Mai St. Clair, George B. Seitz and Lynn Shores. DlALOGUERS DIRECTORS Russell Mack, Leslie Pearce and Eugene Walter. AUTHORS George Abbott, Frank R. Adams, Guy Bolton, John Brownell, James Ashmore Creelman, Hyatt Daab, Vina Delmar, Herbert Fields, Pauline Forney, Maude Fulton, Ben Hecht, George Hull, William Le Baron, Charles MacArthur, Jane Murfin, Dudley Murphy, Ted Paramore, Harry Ruby, John Russe.l, Wallace Smith, Mai St. Clair, Fred Thompson, George Kibbe Turner, Eugene Walter, W. Carey Wonderly, G. Ranger Wormser and Lajos Zilahy. MUSICAL WRITERS Irving Caesar, Sidney Clare, Clifford Grey, Bert Kalmar, Oscar Levant, Joseph McCarthy, Leo Robbin, Harry Ruby, Harry Tierney and Vincent Youmans. Was in Flower" and others were made for Hearst. In 1924 he was associate producer for Paramount with Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan, Richard Dix and Herbert Brenon under his supervision. He has been with RKO since 1927. Louis A. Sarecky, for several years a ranking executive at RKO studios, has just been appointed associate producer and studio manager by Le Baron, succeeding Charles E. Sullivan. Luther A. Reed, William J. Cowan and Henry Hobart have also ranked as associated supervisors, with Reed now directing "Rio Rita" and being are the radio links in the National Broadcasting Company's nation-wide) chain, a factor fraught with farreaching potentialities as an influence on public tastes. In its distribution set-up, RKO has Joseph I. Schnitzer and Lee Marcus The fingers of both hands are numerically shy in computing their experience. All through the FBO days and now under the new aegis, Schnitzer has been a constructive, steady influence. His company's progress is his and the two are indivisable. Marcus, long the sales manager, is now executive vice-president, a post well earned through the years. Production reins are held hi steady hand by William Le Baron, editor, playwright and production expert. This is the trio that runs RKO with David Sarnoff, one of America's business leaders, lurking in a friendly background. At RKO, the advent of the company under RCA auspices is looked for eagerly and with no apprehension over the future. It is easy to understand why such stolid confidence prevails. KANN LE BARON HAS CHARGE OF LINE-UP FOR 1929-1930 considered for the direction of "Hit the Deck." James Ashmore Creelman, Jr., playwright and scenarist, has just been signed by Radio as a writing supervisor. He has been assigned the task of adapting and supervising "Hit the Deck" and "The Vagabond Lover." The musical staff is under supervision of Victor Barravalle, former ccuductor for such musical producers as Florenz Ziegfeld The singing chorus of 80 signed for Radio Pictures' musicals is under direction of Pietro Cimini, identified with the Chicago Grand Opera Co. The permanent stock dancing chorus is under direction of Pea|l Eaton, former dance directress for Broadway producers Among cameramen on the lot ar$ Leo Tover, who was with Herbert Brenon for several years and shot "Sorrell and Son" and "The Rescue"; Bob De Grasse, Harry Wild, Joe Biroc, Jack MacKenzie, Bob Martin, Nick Musuraca, Roy Eslick, Billy Marshall, Ed. Henderson and Robert Kurrle and others. On the staff of RCA Photophone recorders is H. A. Murphy, said to be the man who first broadcast a heartbeat from New York to Boston. A corps of RCA Photophone engineers is constantly at work on recording improvements under supervision of F. H. Townsend.