The Film Daily (1930)

THE ■Z&>^ DAILV Monday, September 8 Timely Topics A Digest of Current Opinion II € Solo Writers the New Vogue "[DEVELOPMENT of a satisfactory procedure in creating material for the audible screen has been slow. The policy of assigning several writers to the progressive stages in working out vehicles has not been successful. The motion picture writers who have survived the test of dialogue and the stage writers who have learned how to write in terms of motion are few — but outstanding. A new creative era in story preparation is necessarily at hand. I believe that with rare exception, the successful material of the future will be the work of a solo writer. A number of directors would be fatal to the interpretation of a story. Multiplicity of writing talent is just as destructive in the develI ai 9 ctorv. I agree ty may >ry but tt expert iges are to be made they must be made by the writer himself or herself, not by a "fresh" personality with a new viewpoint on the story. A sincere, forthright basis is essential to every screen production. Too much collaborative activity produces a confusion in the story structure that no amount of editorial supervision can cure. During the experimental period we have been going through it has been necessary for producers to put playwrights with untried screen writers — that is, writers untried in the new form — and out of this experimentation have come a group of workers who have formed a highly able coterie promising high standards for the audible screen. — Lenore J. Coffee TEN YEARS AGO TO-DAY IN Jack Callicott leaves management of Kinema, Los Angeles, after a row with Sol Lesser. Briton N. Busch resigns as president of Republic Distributing Corp. L. J. Selznick now in complete charge. Along The Rialto with Phil M. Daly COR THE opening of Gloria Swanson's "What a Widow!" at the Rialto after the "Animal Crackers" run, Warren Nolan, an alumnus of Notre Dame, is trying to sell Knute Rockne the idea of loaning his famous football team to take the star into the theater you may recall that at the premiere of "The Trespasser," Gloria was almost mobbed, on entering, and fainted inside the lobby but we don't think even a football flying wedge can stop the Broadway mobs from mauling the star however, if they disguise la belle Gloria as a football, a fake pass and then a neat drop kick ought to land her safely inside here's a new stunt that ought to crash the sport pages, at least * * * * DUBE GOLDBERG has injected a brand new note into trade advertising copy for his Fox mirthquake, "Soup to Nuts," he has made a drawing for ad copy showing a Laughometer in operation, that records two laughs a minute for the run of the show by actual count at Great Neck the pix scored 176 laughs, and a total of 209 at Portchester, according to Fox publicity and, crossing their fingers, they swear this is exclusive of the laffs from the house start and assembled publicity men W. A. Rothschild, formerly of Paramount New York stude, who has been directing pix in Europe, is planning going to the Coast * * * * F)OROTHY MACKAILL, who arrives on the Olympic tomorrow, got her start through Marshall Neilan at the old Biograph studio in a picture starring Wesley Ruggles Mort Blumenstock has directed a Paramount short subject, "Cuckoo," at the Longisle stude written by Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, which traces the origin of many popular songs based on the "cuckoo" motif it should make a swell trailer for Arkayo's feature, "The Cuckoos'' Harvey & Jaediker, the new advertising outfit, are hitting their stride, turning out everything from broadsides to column cuts * * * * TiERT ADLER may think he was getting away with something, greeting those 20 New York "Graphic" beauty winners on their arrival at Grand Central from their trip to the Coast for Fanchon & Marco stage training we spotted him in the midst of the beauties, making gay quips and whatnot but when he spotted us, his manner suddenly became very businesslike James Francis Clemenger, former trade paper man and radio announcer, is busy with the Stanley Recording studios Dom Margillo, chemist at Paramount Newsreel lab, has one of the finest collection of rare volumes in Greenwich Village he even loans 'em to his friends, like Roy Fuller of "Picture Play" provided they read 'em in his library. * * *" * CAMUEL GOLDWYN claims the first radio exploitation record, it being a recorded radio dramatization of scenes from "Raffles" it is acted out by radio actors, and being featured by stations everywhere as part of the regular program Hortense Schorr of Columbia publicity was helping us watch the dirigible Los Angeles when it flew over the city on Friday, and naively remarked that it was an arranged exploitation for "Dirigible" and we just as naively sez: "Yezyez, of course" Snooping round the home offices for news Saturday morn reveals rows of empty desks everywhere don't these officials know that the summer holidays are over? must we carry on this industry by ourselves? * * * * "W7ARNERS' studio has inaugurated a new system in filming "Fifty Million Frenchmen" they have a Number 1 company and a Number 2 company working under different directors, Lloyd Bacon and Ray Enright well, it probably needs two directors to handle fifty million Frenchmen Constance Cummings, a young Seattle miss who is entirely new to the screen, has been given the lead opposite Ronald Colman in his next ..tough break, eh? Ruth Chatterton was persuaded by Emil Jannings to do her first screen role and what a picker he turned out to be Fred Niblo, Joonior, son of the director, was married in Hollywood Saturday to Patricia Henrv, former Trenton, N. J., debutante and John Garrick and Harriet Bennett also just have been spliced EXPLOITETTES A Clearing House for Tabloid Exploitation Ideas © Two Women's Columns Hooked to "Romance" ' r AYING off the news column for a moment, Floyd Maxwel put his plug in on the women' columns of two pages in Port land, Ore. In one of these th conductor was permitted to sen two tickets to "Romance" to a! who took out marriage license during the week. The other col umn conductor went to the othe end of the line and offered tw seats to the Fox Broadway to a who had been married fifty years Both plugged the picture to th limit to give value to their offers — Epes W. Sargenl * * * RCA-Victor in Radio Tie-Up QNE of the new model RCA Victor 32's has been in eluded in the party sequencef of "Danger Lights." The Vic tor name-plate flashes complete ly over the screen, fading into long shot of the complete cabi net, that fades into the actua party in progress. In 'all th Victor radio is on the screen fo almost 30 seconds with the com plete attention of the audienc focussed upon it. Victor is a. set to take advantage of this tie up. RKO houses are to receiv one of the latest model mai chines together with a complet record service. Dealers are be ing asked by Victor to cooper ate in every way with the re lease of the picture so that th maximum possible audienc may see the show. — Radi MANY HAPPY RETURNS Best wishes and congratulations an extended by THE FILM DAIL? to the following members of the in dustry, who are celebrating theii birthdays : Sept. 8 Howard Dietz Jack Adams Ruth Elder May McAvoy J