The Film Daily (1935)

I SAC) I3DWA Y match Intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Seventeen Years Old FDAILY VOL. 68 NO. 81 NEW YORK, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1935 TEN CENTS Indictments Are Expected from Probe of Fox Met. CHARGEjJVT COUNSEjTRIED TO INFLAME JURY Supervisor Posts Are Eliminated by Darryl F. Zanuck Viewing . . . the passing parade By DON CARLE GILLETTE ■ K I UMBER of players taken away from ' ^ Hollywood by Broadway stage producers this season will probably set a record, and the same goes for American enlistments by Brtish studios and the amount of film talent that is being corralled by the radio for weekly or more frequent broadcasts. Although, except in the case of radio, the screen personalities thus being acquired do not include many important star names, the situation emphasizes once more the existing dearth of headline talent — and that the stage, screen and radio have not been doing an awful lot about it except to keep taking people away from each other. This has created a condition where many of the outstanding star names are being worked almost to death, while performers with reputations of lesser magnitude, despite their ample talents, often are neglected. • LJOOKING up somewhere with this same ' ' situation is the alarmingly increasing tendency among studios to not only use a good portion of their same contract players in almost every picture, but to cast them successively in almost identical type roles. It is causing a monotony in film fare that certainly will have no beneficial results. There is no reason why a heavy character must be a villain in every picture, or why a good butler must buttle throughout his screen career; and, figuratively speaking, a little more extensive use of whiskers and other makeup by character actors to give themselves an occasionally different appearance would be welcomed by a lot of fans. • KIOW that Hollywood has a Shakespeare ' ^ cycle well under way, the British studios have awakened to the fact that, as the Bard was a product of their country, they are in a better position than Hollywood to do justice to his works. So they are planning to go about it. As another instance of where Hollywood stands in relation to the movie-making world when it comes to leading the way in any new direction, this is worthy of at least passing notice. Associate Producers Take Their Place in New 20th-Fox Setup West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Under a new producing system effected by Darryl F. Zanuck, vice-president in charge of production for 20th Century-Fox, the office of supervisor has been eliminated in favor of a group of associate producers, with each at the helm of a working unit and having wider power and greater responsibility over the making of individual pictures. Heading the new set-up is William (Continued on Page 4) DECISION RESERVED ON SAM KATZ CLAIM Federal Judge Coxe yesterday reserved decision on exceptions made by counsel for Sam Katz against the report of Special Master John E. Joyce recommending that Katz's sal{Continued on Page 2) GB Studio Unit Aiding Production in Australia London — A GB production unit including Miles Mander, director; J. 0. C. Orton, scenarist, and T. Conachie, cameraman, has gone to Australia to assist in making the first feature to be produced at the new National Studios in Pagewood, Sydney. The picture is intended for world-wide distribution. Ethiopian Casualty First American casualty in the ItaloEthiopian war is Capt. Ariel Varges, ace Hearst Metrotone cameraman. Though badly hurt in a hysterical demonstration by Negro troops just after Emperor Haile Selassie had delivered his mobilization proclamation on the steps of the Imperial Palace according to an INS dispatch yesterday Capt. Varges returned to work. DUALS AND GIVEAWAYS RUN WILD IN ST. LOUIS St. Louis — In addition to nearly all of the 80 theaters in this territory being on double-feature policy, about 40 per cent of the houses are now using chance games, with the number increasing all the time, according to exchange managers. Exhibs to Assist State In Wis. Playdate Action Milwaukee — Independent Theaters Protective Ass'n of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan is expected to assist the attorney-general's office at the hearing to be held this month in District Court here on the action brought by major distributors contesting the constitutionality of Wisconsin's new law banning preferred playdates. The exhib unit, which supported the bill in the 1935 legislature, holds its first annual convention Oct. 22-23 at the Hotel Plankington here. Sabath's Fox Met. Probe Report Is Going to U.S. Attorney Soon Korda Finishes First; Five Others in Work London — Alexander Korda has completed his first London Films production of the new season, has five others before the cameras, and one more nearing the production (.Continued on Page 1) By EDWARD HARRISON Results of a lengthy investigation by the Sabath Congressional Committee of Fox Metropolitan Playhouses, Inc., and its reorganization will be laid before U. S. Attorney Francis H. Adams in a day or two, it was said yesterday by Murray (Continued on Page 4) Stressing of "Wealth" of Defendants in St. Louis Trial Arouses Attys. By ARTHUR EDDY St. Louis — Repeatedly charging that statements by Russell Hardy, special assistant to the attorney-general, were made with the purpose of prejudicing and inflaming the jury against the defendants, counsel for Warners, Paramount and RKO yesterday vainly moved for mistrial in the criminal conspiracy action in progress in Federal Court here. The application which Judge George H. Moore denied occurred after defense attorneys had time and time again taken exceptions to assertions principally in regard to the assets and (Continued on Page 6) SCHULBERG-GERING IN STAGE VENTURE Schulberg-Gering Stage Productions, Inc., has been formed by B. P. Schulberg and Marion Gering. Their first legit offering, "Tapestry in Gray," by Martin Flavin, featuring Elissa Landi, is due to open late in December. Vitaphone Will Produce "Palooka" Shorts Series "Joe Palooka", the Ham Fisher comic strip which formed the basis of a feature released by United Artists last season, will be brought to the screen again in a series of Vitaphone two-reelers produced by Sam Sax at the Brooklyn studios. Shemp Howard will play the role of Palooka's manager, with Lloyd French directing. Annoying Dave Rubinoff, the musical maestro, says that in the New York broadcasting studios, the microphones stand in front of you all the time, but out in Hollywood, they've got the darn things trained so that they follow you around.