Inside facts of stage and screen (September 27, 1930)

PAGE TWO INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN SEPT. 27, 1930 ‘LET US BE GAY’ DRAGS IN $42,900 SMART GROSS CAPTURED BY LOEW’S STATE The amazing gross of $42,- 900 was rung up by the cash registers of Loew’s State the- atre last week for engagement of Norma Shearer in “Let Us Be Gay.” This is perhaps a record for any house playing its regular bill without an add- ed attraction. At Paramount, “The Spoilers,” with stage show clicked off $30,000 for the cur- rent week, the takings having dropped off however towards the end of the run due to the Jewish holidays keeping some business away. “All’s Quiet on the Western Front” for its third week got $6900. It closes Tuesday to make way for “Madam Satan.” “Hell’s Angels” at Grauman’s Chinese in Hollywood got $13,700 with the added attraction of the Beverly Hillbillies, for which it is said a salary of $8000 was paid. This is the sixteenth week of the picture, which closes after next week. Carthay Circle, with Ann Hard- ing in “Holiday,” is holding up well with $12,500 for its sixth week. It has two more weeks to run. Pantages in Hollywood got $14,- 500 with “Blushing Brides,” and at the Boulevard, the same attraction drew $5100. Gloria Swanson in “What a Widow” drew $17,000 to the United Artists box office, which was some- what less than was expected of this picture. Warner Brothers Hollywood with Ann Harding in “The Girl of the Golden West” drew $24,000 for its first week, while the second week of “The Bad Man” at Down- town theatre collected $16,000. “'The Office Wife” with Dorothy Mackail now current is packing them. Egyptian with “For the Defence” got $6800. VAUDEVILLE ACTS PRACTICE STEPS AT WILLS SCHOOL Preparation of professonal vaude- vill acts for the legitimate theater and motion pictures s one of the outstanding features at the Wills studio of stage dancing in Holly- wood. Walter S. Willis, executive head of the school, points to the Lassiter brothers, acrobatic dan- cers, and the Candreva brothers, team which appeared at the Para- mount theater last week, as illus- trating the type of routines taught at his school. Will Rogers is coached in his rou- tines personally by Mr. Wills who recently made an airplane trip to New York City to assist the noted humorist in preparing the routine for his appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies. DIX TO DITTY Richard Dix is preparing to make his singing debut in talkies. His voice is to be but one of a multitude. He will sing in a dramatic scene of RKO’s “Cimarron.” REVIVES OLD ‘MELO’ Walter Futter’s next, “Curiosi- ties,” now in preparation at Co- lumbia Studios, is a revival of a serious meodrama produced 26 years ago, “Ruined,” or “Do Mar- ried Men Make the Best Hus- bands.” nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn n nnnnn FOX WEST COAST WILL OPEN PICTURE WITHOUT BILLBOARDS CLIFF WORK WILL MOVE RKO OFFICE TO MAKE SAVING ..Local offices of RKO cir- cuit, at present in Orpheum buffding, are to be moved to the RKO theatre building, reason being that the RKO owns the latter edifice and rent will consequently be con- siderably lower. With the arrival of Cliff Work, new division manager of RKO, it was announced that Alvin Popel succeeded Carl Walker as manager of the Orpheum. Popel was for- merly an executive with the Marks Brothers theatres in Chicago. Andy Hervy has been re- tained in charge of special ex- ploitation, and as previously announced, William Adler succeeds George Landy as press representative. CARTHAY OPENING DATE MOVED BACK “Just Imagine,” the Fox—De Sylva, Brown, and Henderson spe- cial production, which was sched- uled to open at the Carthay Circle theatre, October 7, will open at that house on October 10. The world premier showing of Raoul Walsh’s pioneer epic, “The Big Trail,” at the Chinese theatre, Hol- lywood, has been definitely set for October 2. SECOND LINE GOES ON THIRD BIG TRIP The “second line” of the Carla Torney girls will open October 9 in the “Way Back When Idea,” Fanchon and Marco attraction. This will be the third trip over the circuit for the 12 girls, who recently made a trip in the “Desert” and “Love School” Ideas. Ensemble was carefully chosen from 300 pupils of the Carla Torney school of dancing in Milwaukee. Miss Torney has tvvo lines work- ing the ::second line,” as it is called, being the “Vets,” with more shows to their credit. DERR IS PLANNING HEAVY PATHE YEAR With return of President E. B. Derr from New York, the Pathe Studios have launched a production period which promises to be one of the heaviest in its history. Within the next ten days four feature com- panies and three two-reel comedy suits will be engaged n active filrn- ing, while the story department is completing the scripts_ for as many more for production in the imme- diate future. MAX MILDER TOURS Max Milder, Central Sales Man- ager of Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., has left for an extended sales promotion trip that will erribrace nine exchanges. He will visit ex- changes at Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Fran- cisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Denver. IN NORTHERN PREVIEW Raoul Walsh’s “The Big Trail,” and DeSylva, Brown and Hender- son's “Just Imagine” were pre- viewed last week in Oakland and San Jose, and were heralded by the press as important contribu- tions to the screen. BALLOTERS TO INCORPORATE Articles of incorporation for the National Stage and Screen Voters’ League have just been filed with the Corporation Commission, and an intensive membership drive is on, according to Charles Miller, ex- ecutive secretary and founder of the League. During the recent primary, it was estimated that the League influen- ced 16,000 to 18,000 votes. Present activity of the League is concentrated on seeing that all theatrical people, who are eligible. register for the coming election. There is no fee for membership, but the overhead is maintained by vol- untary donations of the members to carry on the extensive program. The league has endorsed can- didacy of James Rolph Jir. for gov- ernor and is solidly back of the de- feat program for the Daylight Sav- ings law threatened. A mass meeting of theatrical people will be called shortly under the auspices of the league to show a solid front against the measure. EXPERIMENT TO BE TRIED An experiment in playing a big first run movie without bill board advertising is being made here in Los Angeles by Fox West Coast theaters, with Harold B. Franklin and Frank Whitbeck back of the attempt. “Madam Satan,” Cecil B. De Mille, Metro-Gold^n-Mayer film, at Criterion, is the one chosen for the innovation. In a statement issued to the daily press, Whitbeck said: “This radical move in theatrical advertising was decided upon by Harold B. Franklin, president of Fox West Coast theatres. “Ever since the beginning of show business there have been bill- boards. P, T. Barnum started it, and no one has ever had the cour- age to break down the precedent until a few months ago. “Here in California many thought the experiment was a dangerous one because California is, essen- tially, an out-of-doofs country, and the billboards are well located. At the same time, the newspapers in California have circulations com- parable with any city in the Union. “With the playing of ‘Madam Satan,’ we found that those essen- tials necessary in advertising the attraction could best be exploited in the daily press. Consequently, the advertising appropriation for out-of-doors advertising will go into the newspapers and, I might add, if the experiment proves as success- ful as we think it will, it will be the beginning of a nation-wide concen- tration of theatrical advertising fot B'or West Coast Theatres attrac tions in the daily papers of every city in which we are represented with a theatre.” ROCK-A-BYE BABY WELCOME IS GIVEN EL PASO PLAYER EL PASO, Tex., Sept. 25.— When, Vivian McKenzie’s or- chestra struck up “Rock-a-bye Baby” at the Texas Grand the- ater, the audience knew why Dave Callis was so excited all through his role of Bob Holden in “Aloma of the South Seas.” Dave is a happy father, but it will be the middle of November before he sees his new daugh- ter. FOX WEST COAST MOVES MANAGERS ^Vanity Series^ In Big Openings “The Freshman’s Goat,” the first release in the new line-up of Edu- cational, gets the new Vaity series off to a flying start, with a long- run engagement at the McVicker’s theatre, Chicago, as well as an im- portant booking over ithe Loew New York Metropolitan theare cir- cuit. “Fried Chicken,” a new Terry- Toon, is also currently playing week engagements at the Fox the- atre, in St. Louis, and the Madison theatre, Detroit, both de luxe first- run houses. S. W. Hatch, sales manager for Educational, asserts that this ‘will be Educational’s biggest year. This, he claims, by virtue of the fact that a real demand has been created for good comedies in the best theatres of the country. De RAMEY SIGNED Pierre de Ramey is signed for “Sin Takes a Holiday,” Constance Bennet’s next picture for Pathe. Lobster Posters Still Catch Eye Lobster posters still in War- ner’s Downtown theatre lobby. George Weiss, manager, springs a new one for every picture. Latest “lobster” is one of “Office Wife,” showing girl seated, swinging limb and -wink- ing a wicked optic. She’s in front of a door marked “pri- vate,” to lend impression of office. Art work in Weiss’ lobby is particularly noticeable for_ its beauty. Every lobby card is a work of real art, well worth walking around the corner to see. RKO also out with a hot lobby. It looks like a 24 sheet, on each side of entranceway, but even casual inspectian -will reveal excellence of the work. The following changes have been made in the managers of the Fox W. C. circuit: George Christoffers has been transferred from the Fox Strand, Pasadena, to the Fox Florence, Pasadena, temporarily. M. H. Raffauf replaces Fred Mc- Spadden at the Fox Egyptian the- atre, San Liego. Fred McSpadden replaces George Thompson at the Fox North Park, San Diego. MOTHER DIES, BUT GIRL GIVES SONG Muriel Fountaine, prima donna with “Barnyard Scandals” at Para- mount, did a real “Laugh Clown Laugh,” when news came this week that her mother had died in the East. The plucky girl went on and did the act, without betraying a sign of emotion until the last curtain. She left immediately by plane for the East, when assured that the management was content with the short notice. LOIS IN “BASQUERIE' Lois Moran has been selected for the leading faminine role in “Bas- querie,” in which Warner Baxter will play the lead. Chandler Sprague will direct. Start of pro- duction will be at an early date. TRIO ON ‘YANKEE’ Three well-known writers will prepare the script for “The Con- necticut Yankee,” Warner film. They are Emmett Flynn, Hayden Talbot and Harlan Thompson. FOX GETS O’BRIEN George O’Brien, who rode to screen fame in his first motion pic- ture, “The Iron Horse,” has signed a new long term contract with the Fox Film Corporation. T. & D. IN DEAL T. & D., Jr., circuit of theatres in Northern California, has closed with Warner Brothers for their en- tire season’s product, according to sales announcements. This circuit owns more than twenty theatres. ‘ALOHA’ CAST DONE A1 Rogell has completed his cast for “Aloha” with Raquel Torres, Alan Hale, Robert Edeson, Thel- ma Todd, Robert Ellis, T. Roy Barnes, Donald Reed and Otis Harlan. LEGIT FAVOR IS DISPLAYED AT BILTMORE Popularity of the legit stage ■was demonstrated by the Bilt- more business with “The Dis- honorable Lady,” starring Katharine Cornell, which just came to a close, scoring $19,000 for its second week. With a cast and star appearing in a show with popular appeal, the crowds attracted to the box office demonstrated that it is always a good season for a good show. “Death Takes A Holiday,” a fan- tasy, is the attraction scheduled to open October 3. El Capitan in Hollywood took $6000 for the fourth and closing week of “The Poor Nut,” and Charlotte Greenwood and johnny Arthur opened in “Parlor, Bedroom and Bath” last Sunday to absolute capacity, and the promise is that a long distance and high gross record will be strung up. Dorothy Mackaye at the Vine St. playing in “Cup of Sugar,” attract- ed $5800 for its third week, with indications that it will continue for three or more weeks further. Hollywood Playhouse, sho-mng Francis X. Bushman and Aileen Pringle in “Thin Ice” got but $2500 for the first four days. The play is not attracting, and will be taken off at the end of the week. The Belasco is closing with “It’s a Wise Child.” Pauline Frederick in “Her Crimson Hour” follows. The opening bill of the RKO regime at the Mason has not yet been announced, and the house will remain dark until late in October, All other legit houses are dark. LAUGHUN NAMED TO STAGE SHOWS FOR SAM LAZARUS Jack Laughlin has just placed his name to a contract -with the Laz- arus-Vinicoff theatres, comprising the Million Dollar here and the Strand in Long Beach, whereby he will produce a weekly stage show for these theatres. The presentations will be billed Jack Laughlin’s “Creations,” and later will be sent to the American theatre in Portland and the Bijou in Seattle. Intermediate dates to break the jump are being negoti- ated for. Laughlin made a name for him- self here as the producer for Grau- man when he had the Mi’hon Dol- lar, and afterwards at the Carthay Circle, where he staged practically all of the presentations there up to the time Fox took over the house. SMITH IN RCA JOB Charles J. Ross, executive vice- president of RCA Photophone, Inc., has announced advancement of J. O. Smith to the position of man- ager of its newly created Royalty Administration Department. NEW FILM HOUSE Victoria Theatre in Burbank will be opened October 15 by Ben Har- ris. The house will be devoted to pictures, as well as being a spot for the breaking in of big acts. ACADEMY SPEAKER WILL TOUR The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just an- nounced its board of directors is sending Clinton Wunder, executive manager, on a speaking tour through the middle west from No- vember 9 to December 1. Mr. Wunder has been speaking for the past ten years on motion pictures throughout the United States. He will address especially arranged meetings in the following cities: Denver, Kansas City, Mil- waukee, St. Paul, Madison, Wiss., St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati and other points to be determined. Invitations for these addresses have been received from groups combining religious leaders, educa- tors, clubs and women’s organiza- tions in these cities. Mr. Wunder will speak as a representative of the academy and will tell the story of the achievements of the screen in matters of art and science, as recorded in the activities of the academy since its origin three years ago. He will take with him a talking picture especially prepared, record- ing brief addresses by academy of- ficers and members, showing the winners of the awards of 1930, whose names will be determined by the balloting of the academy mem- bership withn the next month. The trip is a good will tour, in- tended to develop public apprecia- tion of the contribution of creative artists of the motion picture pro- fession. Actors, technicians, writers, pro- ducers and directors compose the five branches of the academy mem- bership who are banded together to develop and improve the art and science aspects of pictures.