The Film Daily (1931)

Sunday, April 19, 1931 Timely Topics A Digest of Current Opinion — c— A Word About Manpower QNE of the pet words of the picture business is "manpower." A circuit buys a number of houses. The cry is raised: "Where will they get the manpower?" Production plans are enlarged. The same question of manpower crops up. To hear the discussions, one might imagine that manpower was the important problem. Yet many of the home offices, the studios and the circuit theaters continue to be packed with relatives of the big bosses, most of whom do not feel the spur of necessity to give the best that is in them. More and more this is getting to be a business in which "whom" you know is of far greater importance than "what" you know. When economic pressure squeezes, the bosses cut a few dollars here, a few hundreds there, fire some more stenographers— and raise their own salaries in appreciation of their cleverness. That is not developing manpower. It is putting a premium on pull. Circuits are taken over on the 50-50 basis. Friction develops The partners are bought out. More real manpower is lost, for the partners are generally shrewd showmen who often show up the relatives. They can make better buys; they can advertise more adroitly; they can deal better with the unions. But they are far too independent for the yesmen in the home office, so they are bought out and manpower is destroyed. Not even the new move toward local direction can replace the lost partners. Other chain enterprises seek men who have a financial interest in their stores. Every big business seeks for its board of directors men whose own fortunes are tied to the enterprise. It is only in the picture business that progress is being made backward. — Jay Emanuel, "The Exhibitor" About 75,000 people are employed in the production of motion pictures. • • • GET AN eyeful of our new kolyum-head, girls and boys there's more to it than meets the eye you probably think it shows Mussolini taking us on a personally conducted gondola tour of Venice but a moment's thought will show that you're wrong Mussolini always has one hand raised above his head and his mouth is always open this illustration strikes a New Note in modern film advertising it recognizes the Age of Racketeering in which we live that gent with the bandanna handkerchief wrapped around his bean is our bodyguard, Giuseppe loaned to us by Al Capone we tipped you off the other day that Al is about to break into the MidWest theater game here is the proof we're on the Inside already they're tak in' us for a ride in a gondola the building silhouette in the background is merely atmosphere let your imagination be your guide mebbe it's Hollerword or a De Mille set or Broadway after a Spring rain anyway you figure it, you can see it's all wet your kol umist is posing in a high hat symbolical of the Big Shots in the biz with a blank poker face tells nothing nothing to tell the Modern Sphinx with a telescope peering into the Future looking Wise saying nothing Perfect Picture Psychology and not forgetting the kidding atmosphere that saturates and permeates this kolyum like a boll weevil blight let's tip you off to the Li'l Joker that doggone gondola ain't goin' Anywhere it's Anchored to a typewriter and so is Yours Untruly let's go, Giuseppe! keep paddling the gondola around in a circle as Usual. • • • ALL YOU advertising and art fellers can get the latest slants on Modern Typography in the current issue of "Commercial Art" it contains a splendid article about the work of Albert Schiller, the typographical pioneering art. director of Advertising Agencies' Service Co the creator of a new school of styles and traditions in commercial type material Doug Fairbanks reached Bombay after a hunting trip with 180 suits presented by various maharajas it's a good thing he didn't visit Mahatma Gandhi, or that poor guy would be walking around without his loin cloth oh, these souvenir hunters! • • • REMEMBER WHEN the Paramount organizashe saw its inception in a li'l 2 by 4 office in the old Heidelberg building at 42nd St. and Broadway? that was before the days of Jesse Lasky when Mister Zukor and Mister Schulberg were selling stock in the Famous All-Star Pictures and they burned up the then film world with "Queen Elizabeth and when Mister Zukor went out to lunch, Mister Schulberg had to get up from his desk to let him out that's the reason why today there is plenty of space available at the Paramount home ossif and at the Coast studio these gentlemen learned at that early date that it's bad to cramp any feller's style that's why Paramount has the rep of giving its men plenty of leeway oh, well, it makes a good story, anyway In addition to the names already announced for the radio banquet to be given over WMAC Sunday night at 9:30 to Harry Reichenbach, there will be Walter Winchell, Fred Allen, Jimmie Durante and Ethel Norris Harry Hershfield is the master of ceremonies and the air time is being donated by Donald Flamm • • • THOSE A.M.P.A.'s have called off the proposed party at the Empey Club due to lack of enthusiasm or Dough same thing Hortense Schorr over at Colum l>y-aye has done a sweet publicity job on the newspaper campaign on "Dirigible" we know, because when we visited Hortense, she was so tired and happy she couldn't even talk and when a press gal can't Talk thus endeth the first trip in our Parked Gondola Birthday Cake for Lobby Display Jy[AXAGER E. E. Whitaker celebrated the 4th anniversary of Publix-Carolina, Charlotte, in a big way. A local bakery cooperated by donating a hundredpound birthday cake. This cake was placed in the lobby one week in advance. To instill further interest in the birthday cake, a weight guessing contest was staged with the result of over 8000 people filling out the specially-printed slips. These slips also had copy giving credit to the bakery for the cake donation. — Carolina, Charlotte, N. C. * * * Hat-Designing Contest Helps Put Over "Illicit" ]y[ANAGER Charles O'Donnell of the Publix-Paramount, Baton Rouge, La., sold a local millinery the idea of a hat-designing contest which helped considerably in publicizing "Illicit." The millinery store offered a $10 hat to the girl or woman submitting the most original hat design; the Paramount kicked in with guest tickets— a two weeks and a one weeks pass for second and third prize winners. And one guest ticket each to see "Illicit" to the next twenty winners. — Paramount, Baton Rouge, La. Many Happy Returns « « « » » » Best wishes and congratulations are extended by THE FILM DAILY to the following members of the industry, who are celebrating their birthdays: April 18-19 Glen Allvine Frank King Marion Douglas Vondell Darr Frank Leigh George O'Brien Constance Talmadge Lina Basquette Al Ferguson Bernard Kearney Pauline Neff Herbert Wilcox Dr. William Axt