The Film Daily (1934)

Intimate in Character Internationa! in Scope Independent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Sixteen Years Old CL. LXVI. NO. 6<S NEW yCCr, HCND/iy, /EPTEMDCP 17, 1934 <S CENTS negations Denied in Para.-Publix Stock Suit 10DE ASSESSMENT BASED ON GROSS IS LIKELY Jniversal Producing 12 in England, Says Carl Laemmle British International . . and a trip to Warner Bros. = By JACK ALICOATE = [Or NDON, ENG.— We found the British \ International studios at Elstree quite the xiest of the lot here. After a delight H luncheon with Alfred Dent at the Ivy °fhe Sardi's of London), we were on our f again to Elstree. Under the careful ervision of Production Manager Walter croft, we saw the studio from top to torn. BIP plans about 26 pictures for coming 12 months at an average cost jl)$150,000 each. This outfit also controls ' ut 200 theaters in the British Isles. the BIP studios we met just about the Sit colorful character in British produci activities. Joe Grossman, studio manr, wit extraordinary, confidant of kings princes, and as British as Piccadilly is. To visit London without seeing is to hold out on one's self one of best half hours one ever had. T T T i/E took a gang out to the Warner |* Bros, studio at Teddington-on-theImes. Genial and clever Irving Asher, who 1 charge, and his wife, the charming Laura Plante, now starring in a West End "[(I, were there to welcome us. The plant beautiful spot and is used exlively for the production of quota picj(S. The inevitable tea, of course. Why pn't some one tell them over here that i proper thing to serve at tea time is jif tea but cocktails? The plant is small i well equipped and with unlimited pos.Jtities for growing up. They are turn te K 'em out there at the rate of about ' 11 every two weeks. T T T "».'' r;t E censorship problem in England is : *jn the hands of a self-governing body lu n is plenty strict. Funny though it 1. seem, they are more exacting with -r sh than with American productions nhe theory that if the Americans want ■t'io aricature their lives before the British , sJfic, that is their business, but that kwthing in English films to be shown ;;'.,flish audiences must be strictly on the »::pnd-up. Regularly we see the "Adults ^)\ sign. Here, too, constantly they al their church opposition movement. Business Abroad Showing Improvement, "U" Chief Reports Twelve pictures are being made by Universal in England, primarily for the English-speaking market outside of the United States, and whether or not any of these are brought to this country depends upon their suitability, Carl Laem (Continued on Page 2) IVAN ASRAMSON DIES; FORMER INDEPENDENT Ivan Abramson, former independent producer, died Saturday in Mt. Sinai Hospital. Before entering film business in 1917, Abramson was a publisher of Jewish papers and a leader in Jewish theatricals. With his first company, Ivan Film Corp., in which William Randolph Hearst was a partner, Abramson wrote, di (Continued on Page 2) Lincoln Ten-Centers In For Admission Boost Lincoln, Neb.— T. B. Noble, Jr., of Westland Theaters and J. H. Cooper of Lincoln Theater Corp. are due here before the end of the month, when action on higher prices in the cheaper houses is to be considered. Dual bills at 10 cents are a sore spot here at present. New Coast Animated Studio West Coast Bur., THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Plans for opening an animated cartoon studio in Los Angeles, backed by New York and London capital, are reported near completion Major American and British release is planned by the new enterprise. U. S. TAKES HONORS AT VENICE FILM EXPO Venice — American winners at the second international cinema exposition here include: Katharine Hepburn and Wallace Beery, awarded gold medals for best actress and actor; Walt Disney, gold medal for best cartoon; Columbia's "It Happened One Night," most entertain (Continued on Page 2) Dual Bills Restricted In Grand Rapids Zoning Grand Rapids, Mich. — Zoning and clearance plan for this area, approved at a meeting last week, bars dual bills on Saturday and Sunday. It is planned to gradually eliminate all duals. First-runs charging 40 cents get 49 days' clearance; 35 cents, 42 days; 30 cents, 35 days. Second-runs at 25 cents and neighborhood houses at 20 cents get 21 days over 15-cent houses, while 10centers must wait six months after first-run. Para. Officials File Denials In Stock Repurchase Action Clyde Elliott to Make Far East Film for Col. Clyde E. Elliott, who directed "Bring 'Em Back Alive" and "Devil Tiger," leaves with a unit on Oct. 15 for Mongolia to produce and direct a picture for Columbia. Story is by Gordon Rigby. Cast will be native except for a prominent screen personality in the male lead. General denial of the allegations set forth by the Paramount-Publix trustees in the stock repurchase suit is made by past and present officers and directors of Paramount in answers filed in Federal Court. Those who had filed answers Saturday morning include Adolph Zukor, Sir William Wiseman, Jules Brulatour, Sam Katz, Gilbert W. Kahn, Felix (Continued on Page 2) Code Authority Expenses For Seven Months Below Budget Strong possibilities that the Code Authority may decide to adopt distributor grosses as the basis of code assessments instead of the plan used during the first half of the code year were reported Saturday. There is some dissension over this method of computing assessments among the distributing firms, however, it is understood. The Code Authority's financial (Continued on Page 2) ATTENDANCE HIGHER FOR FAMOUS PLAYERS Toronto — Famous Players Canadian, in reporting on its business for the past 12 months, states it has enjoyed a larger patronage than in any previous like period, almost in all parts of its entire territory, but particularly in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. It states that revenues and earnings have (Continued on Page 2) Gaumont-British Options Other Toeplitz Pictures London — In addition to having acquired the forthcoming production of "The Dictator," from Toeplitz Productions, Gaumont British has taken an option on future pictures by Toeplitz. "The Dictator," with Clive Brook and Madeline Carroll, (Continued on Page 2) $1,000,000 Columbia Deals Two product deals involving about $1,000,000 have been closed by Columbia, one with Fanchon & Marco calling for 25 pictures to play Warner's Downtown in Los Angeles, with other firstruns specified in F. & M. houses including San Francisco, Salt Lake City and St. Louis, and the other calling for 15 pictures at the Paramount, Los Angeles.