Inside facts of stage and screen (May 3, 1930)

SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1930 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN PAGE THR ?/. - - • ■ ■■ ji Latin - Americans Threaten Talkie Reprisals ATTACK CASTILIAN DIALECT USE FOR There is a crisis today in Holly- wood, so far as Lafin-Americans are concerned, and by way of tak- ing active steps to combat it, an association has been formed under the banner of “Friends of Latin- America.” According to leaders among Latin-Americans here, in choice of Spanish dialects used in foreign language pictures Hollywood con- tinues to be guided by the advice of a little coterie of old country actors with whom the use of Cas- tilian speech is traditional, and who, they claim, represent the smallest possible minority of sup- porters of Spanish language films. The principle upon which the Friends of Latin-America propose to guide themselves is that if Hol- lywood insists on ignoring the dip- lomatic import of correct dialecting and the political effect upon the friendship of the numerous South American countries, then they will proceed to see what can be accom- plished in the direction of Holly- wood’s pocketbook. They have come to the conclu- sion that diminished financial re- turns will have a positive effect where appeals on the basis of friendship and diplomacy have failed. Accordingly, the Friends of Latin-America have been organ- ized to conduct a public opinion campaign in their native countries, and one of the means to attain this is the publication at intervals of a press sheet, the first one of which has been issued under the name of “Cine Parlante Espanol.” ^Through this means the Latin- America press and all public bodies in Spanish-speaking countries of North and South America are to be kept fully informed of the Hol- lywood situation, according to of- ficials of the association. The American Spanish-s'peaking countries revolted against Spain four hundred years ago, they as- sert, and during these four hun- dred years have built up their own idioms, modes of speech and cul- ture. Ninety per cent of the Span- ish language picture market lies in Latin-America, they claim, and even in Spain itself there are many regional differences of dialect. Such is the feeling against the influence in Hollywood of the Cas- tilian group that the first of the association’s press sheets asks: “Are we going to permit, under the subterfuge of presumably different languages, that the control of the greatest known social force should be in the hands of the detractors of Latin-America?” “It is our desire,” says another article, “to state outright that in the republics of Latin-America, like everywhere else, there are many localisms and provincialisms, but in every one of them the Spanish lan- guage is spoken and is written as correctly as in any province of Spain. It is true that the Latin- American does not pronounce the “z” nor the “c” as the Castilian (of Spain), but even in this there is absolute regularity and uniform- ity, since it is a common phenom- enon in all of these republics. “On the other hand, south of the United States there do not exist the many dialectical forms which are found in the Iberian peninsula (Spain), where, in addition to dia- lects, three independent languages co-exist with the Castilian. “If Latin-Americans are to con- sume 90 per cent of the Spanish films made in Hollywood, logic in- dicates that the producer should please them and not those impro- vised purists of the language from Hollywood.” THIS IS NEWEST VERSION OF THAT GAG Monte Carter, now directing for Pathe, has been called many things in his career as stage producer, director, actor and manager, but never Lon Chaney. Monte’s resemblance, or is it a resemblance, to the “Man of a Thousand Faces,” was first brought to light at the N. V. A. Benefit Show at the Shrine Auditorium Saturday night. An unidentified patron took Monte for Lon and asked him to autograph a program. Monte did, as Chaney, and netted a fiver for the benefit cause by doing so. It was a nice evening’s work but one thing is bother- ing Monte. Who was the unidentified patron? Don’t all answer at once. In-person Shows [Hold Up At B. 0. NEW FOX-W. C. VENICE HOUSE Fox-West Coast is to start im- mediate construction operations on a new class house for Venice, Calif., on the site of the former Kinney estate near Trolley way. The new house is due to open in September, and will feature Fan- chon and Marco Ideas and a Grandeur screen. The California, present Fox-West Coast house in Venice, will be closed. The statement made over KFI last Saturday night by an air “col- umnist” to the effect that pictures are cut after they leave the down- town houses, prior to presentation in the neighborhood and short run theatres, was laughed at this week both by film exchanges and by the exhibitors. The information purported to be an answer to someone who had asked why pictures in the neigh- borhood houses sometimes ap- peared to be jerky as to story. Many of the smaller theatres have only disk sound projection equipment, and it would be mani- festly impossible tt> cut the film and keep in synchronization with dialogue and sound. The only pos- sible cuts would be due to censor- ship. something very rare after the film’s general release, espe- cially in this part of the country, and no more likely to happen with the neighborhood house than with the first-run downtown theatre. Both distributors and exhibitors strongly deny any cutting, and de- clare it has not been indulged in as a practice for several years. warnePoDcy for FRESNO, May 1.—Slashing of admission prices and double bill- ing of feature pictures at the War- ner Brothers’ Theatre here threat- ens to bring down an embargo on the Warner product in this section. Competing theatre managers are up in arms against the recent 25 per cent cut in admissions and the double billing of pictures at the Warner house and state they will refuse to play the Warner product if this continues. Full page ads were splashed in the dailies announcing the cut in price and heavy exploitation was resorted to in an effort to bring to the Warner house the good business other theatres in the city are enjoying. The Fox Wilson, playing the Fanchon and Marco units and first run pictures, gives Warner the heaviest competition in this terri- tory. ‘DECENCY’ IS NOW CASTING “Decency,” to be produced by Franklyn Productions at the May- an Theatre, is now casting. Kath- erine Wilson and G. Patrick Col- lins are among those already chosen, with Harry Stafford stage manager. Opening date is tenta- tively set for May 26. MAYNARD RECOVERS Ken Maynard, western star, was forced to undergo an emergency operation for appendicitis, follow- ing an attack while enroute to Wilmington, where, with Mrs. Maynard, he was to start Sun- day on a pleasure trip to the Fiji Islands. He was reported, recover- ing nicely. PUS IE DEFINITE The Ferris Hartman Comic Op- era Company is proceeding apace with plans for its season of popu- lar-priced Victor Herbert opera to be given here during the coming summer. Productions will be presented at the Shrine Civic Auditorium, June 8 to September 29, and the first offering will be “The Fortune Teller.” In the cast will be F'erris Hart- man, Estaleah, prima donna; James Liddy, tenor; Earl Askam, bari- tone; Naomi Fielding, mezzo; Ro- land Woodruff, comedian, and Carla Laemmle, comedienne. An Albertina Rasch ballet and a vocal chorus will be in support. Hans Linne is musical director, with Robert Ryles handling stage direction. Louis B. Jacobs is gen- eral director. ‘THE OUTSIDER’ NOW LINING UP _ Noel Madison and Arthur Gre- ville Collins, producers of “Rope’s End” here recently, are endeavor- ing to line up a production of “The Outsider” for opening at the Belasco, June 1, the plan being to run it two weeks here and then take it to San Francisco. No cast- ing has been done as yet. HOLLYWOOD STMS BISSETT TEACHER OF DANCING TO MANY STARS Mack Bissett, premier dance director, shown on Page 1 of this issue instructing Shirley Mason in the art of tap danc- ing, has given instruction to many stellar lights of screen and stage, among them being Bessie Love, Mickey Daniels, Sylva Shore, Sid Grauman, Don Crabtree, William Hud- son, Leta Riddell (now with A1 K. Hall) and Danny Lantz. Bissett also produced “Plenty of Pep” in New York, and staged the dances for Marco for the “Romance” Idea to open at Loew’s State soon. The Bissett Studio of Stage Dancing is regarded by many as the leading school of its kind on the Pacific Coast. (Continued from Page l) PUBLIX SWINGS TO ACTS FOR S F SAN FRANCISCO’ Mav 1.— By a gradual process Publix is getting back to a stage show policy in its Paramount Theatre here, although it is considered doubtful if the road-show type of units will again-be a feature at this house. For the past few weeks the Paramount management has added several acts to the usual band and organ concerts, _ working them all in the pit. This week’s show is patterned along the minstrel idea, using the Sequoians, male quartette, with a black-faced singer and dancer and a hoofer, in addition to Don George’s orchestra and Har- old Ramsay at the organ. Alto- gether it totals approximately 28 minutes of entertainment, support- ing a first run picture with a comedy, news reels and other shorts. It’s all being brought about by the fact that theatre customers are getting wise to the fact that they’re getting for 35 cens at their district houses the same thing they pay 65 cents for at the downtown theatres. Accordingly, business in the suburbs has picked up while the downtown theatres have either •dropped off or else have been forced into a stage production. All of this is a part of the great reorganization in theatre policies that is forseen by those in execu- tive positions in the game. ST. LOUIS MUSICIANS BOOST STAGE ACTS The musicians’ union in St. Louis, Mo., is trying out the idea of distributing hand dodgers in the theatrical district reading as follows: “There are some theatres in this immediate neighborhood that give you a big stage show, including a large orchestra of Live Musicians that you can See and Hear play. Why not patronize them? It costs no more, and when these musicians get paid they spend their money in St. Louis.” The St. Louis Orpheum is how running stock with “Casey’s Plavers.” LONG BEACH STRAND GOES TO PROLOGUES Bud Murray has been signed to stage a series of prologues at the Strand Theatre, Long Beach, opening May 8. The bill com- prises a unit of the Bud Murray California Sunbeams, four vaude acts and a band headed by Joe GIRLS TOP ’EM ALL Dance schools that dot the Los Angeles landscape were long ago hailed by the more discerning crit- ical journals as responsible for building this theatrical center up as the dance capital of the show business. Only with the coming of the talkies and their attendant furore of Broadway epics, song - and- prance specials and super revues is this being recognized throughout the country. California chorus maids are the cream of the country’s youthful beauty, and many hours of inten- sive training in the dance acad- emies have developed a skilled pro- fessional stepping beauty that far outstrips the Broadway chorine. The daily newspapers have has- tened to chronicle this fact, capi- talizing for reader interest on the opportunity to present pictorializa- tions of the comely ladies, chosen for New York stage productions, increasingly noticeable of late. Latest evidence that Los An- geles is THE recognized center of dancing skill and beauty is a wire received from Earl Carroll by Le- roy Prinz, M-G-M dance director. It reads: “Hurry back stop Rehearsals for new “Vanities” starts in ten days stop not satisfied with pres ent supply of girls here bring as many of those California beauties as you can and tell girls you pick they need not be afraid of coming to New York stop this is no spec- ulation as they most definitely will be in the show stop it seems that all the beauty in the world has gone talkie.” RUBINI RETURNS Jan Rubini returned from his Australian tour last Saturday and brought with him a new wife in the person of Adele Crane, Austra- lian musical comedy star. They were married in Melbourne on No- vember 27, 1929. They will be in Los Angeles a couple of weeks and then leave for Philadelphia, where they are to open at the Stanley Theatre late in May. DANE-ARTHUR SIGN E’ START AT MAJESTIC Legitimate theatre boxoffices hold generally steady, seemingly unaffected by the causes of film boxoffice fluctuations. With only one legit house dark, and that the old Actor’s (Orange Grove), the situation for in-person drama is en- couraging. “The Student Prince” opened un- der the Albertson-Macloon banner at the Majestic, brought $6100 for the first four performances and is expected to gross $15,000 for the full week. No definite plans will be formed for a successor to the “Prince” until the extent of the local appetite for operetta revivals has been judged. The Civic Repertory Players at the Hollywood Music Box main- tained average with a gross of $4600 on the first week of “Imag- inary Invalid.” This production runs a second week, to be fol- lowed by “Going Home.” „ At the Egan Little Theatre, “For Cryin’ Out Loud” is doing a near-capacity business at a gross of $1100 for the week, and is to continue there indefinitely. Re- ports that Producer Brown was looking for a Hollywood house for the vehicle were denied by him this week. At the Vine Street, “Among the Married” opened with a first week’s gross of $5200. After three weeks this production is slated to move to San Francisco and then crash the East. At the Mayan the picture version of “Journey’s End” brought in $3800. Meanwhile “Decency” is casting, scheduled to open May 26 Fred Waring’s “Rah Rah Daze” at the Mason dropped back to its former normal with $8000. The sudden spurt of the previous week did not hold up, and while it is said . tentative closing notices are up, it is expected the show will carry on for several weeks yet. The Henry Duffy houses regis- tered their customary solid returns. “The Blue Ghost” at the President turned in $5800 for the opening week and is still going strong Fourth and last week of “Broken Dishes” at the El Capitan brought $5000. “Love ’Em and Leave ’Em opened there Sunday, and will be followed by Bert Lytell in “Broth ers. Second week of “Holiday ” with Dale Winter, at the Holly- wood Playhouse, grossed $4900. The Gorilla” is slated to open at this house May 10. The Figueroa Playhouse opened Hal Reid’s colored revue “Up And At ’Em” to fair prospects, and “June Moon” is playing the Be- lasco. “Strictly Dishonorable” opens May 4 at the Biltmore. Karl Dane and George K. Ar- thur, erstwhile silent screen come- dians, will be reunited for the talkers. Larry Darmour, producer of Ra- dio Pictures, R-K-O short sub- jects, has announced that contracts have been signed whereby Dane and Arthur will be co-starred in a series of two-reel talker comedies. Lewis R. Foster will direct the comedy team. FAZENDA WITH DARMOUR Louise Fazenda was signed Monday to appear in a series of comedies to be produced by Lar- ry Darmour and released by RKO. Tenner, on a weekly change of programs. The proposition calls for Joe Tenner putting another Bud Mur- ray unit in the Spreckles Theatre, San Diego, and the Marion Davies Theatre, San Francisco, after that. FOIIPRESEHTIS Clara Elliot, representative of the N. W. Ayers Company, handlers of some of the world’s largest advertising contracts and with whom. Fanchon and Marco have established a tieup, arrived in Los Angeles April 23 to start research work for a forthcoming “Idea” that will be built around woman’s dress from the stone age to the present day. Postal Telegraph is the second big business group with whom Fanchon and Marco have made a nation-wide tieup. For the forth- coming “City Service” Idea the back drop will be a gigantic postal telegram in complete detail. Open- ing scenes will feature chorines in postal costumes. KING ON LOCATTION Henry King, Inspiration Pictures producer-director, is at present busily engaged in filming the out- door sequences of “Eyes of the World,” the Harold Bell Wright novel which attained the tremen- dous circulation of 1,350,000 capies. King, with a company of 140 players and technicians, has locat- ed his camp in the Santa Ynez Canyon, thirty miles from the small city of Santa Barbara.