Inside facts of stage and screen (November 1, 1930)

PAGE SIX INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN NOV. 1. 1930 Published Every Saturday One Year $4.00 Foreign ------ $5.00 Advertising Rates on Application Established 1924 As a weekly publication: Entered as Second Class Matter, April 29, 1927, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. ‘WHY CHANGE EXECUTIVES?’ By TED PRICE, Showman-Analyst I find the series to be interesting and constructive, Very truly yours, JOSEPH I. SCHNITZER, President of RKO Studios i Published by Inside Facts Publishing Company, Inc. 800-801 Warner Bros. Downtown Bldg., Los Angeles, Calif. Telephone TUcker 7832 JACK JOSEPHS ARTHUR WM. GREEN JEAN ARMAND President and Editor Vice Pres, and Counsel General Manager Vol. XII Saturday, November 1, 1930 No. 18 KFI Reviewed OCT. 28 BY ART LA VOVE RADIO EDITOR Tuesday evening, 8 to 8:30, witnessed the second NBC coast broad- cast of the Violet Ray Music Box program originating from KFI and featuring Patrick and Marsh Violet Ray Dance Orchestra and General Petroleum Trio. Clever fade-in of automobile created illus'on of ma- chinery absorbing much lubr'cation and gasoline. Kenneth Carpenter, NBC announcer, followed. General Petroleum Trio was highlight. In the lead number, tenor crooner did well on chorus and refrain. Splendid sax and trumpet work by Violet Ray Orchestra. Program has the promise of a coast-to-coast feature and should be handled as such. F'rst number was “It Must Be True,’’ peppy new fox trot with tenor lead. Smooth flowing and with good blue notes. Kenneth Car- penter suavely announced “Sing Song G : rl.” Oriental note weaved into enchanting melody, carried off to perfection by trio, aided by orchestra. Good harmony and timing. Distinctly masculine with strong vo'ces. Violet Ray Orchestra followed directly with “Girl Friend of a Boy Friend of Mine.” Catchy tune with clever lines, which were missing, owing to absence of tenor lead. Tinkling music box melodies faded in, Kenneth Carpenter orating two minute plug for gasoline and oil. This boy has a voice that should sell anything. “If I Could Be With You” led resume of program. Popular tune and fast moving rythm. Tempo hurried tenor solo a b : t, but otherwise good. A clever bit of trumpet and drum work proved excellent. “Tonight,” a new and snappy fox trot by Jesse Stafford and Jean Rose, featuring General Petroleum Trio, followed. There is one fault with these programs. They should present more of the tr'o. “Sweet Jenny Lee” was next in line, a good dance piece played by orchestra. Program concluded with “Wedding of Birds,” pretty novelty number. The cleverness in wlrch announcements are handled with sound effects of motor and music box tinkling is a powerful sales factor enhanced by Kenneth Carpenter’s announcing. Lengthy sales plugs are avoided and the entire program has atmosphere of compactness and efficiency. AND THEIR ORCHES. TRA THREE GIRL FRIENDS EN TOUR HAWAIIAN ISLANDS JACK SPRIGG MUSICAL DIRECTOR R-K-O ORPHEUM SAN FRANCISCO WfY V DDTAD ORCHESTRA ▼t JI&jiLf XT IllwII CONDUCTOR NEW STATE THEATRE SYDNEY AUSTRALIA RETURNING TO THE U. S. A. IN OCTOBER TED HENKEL MUSICAL PRESENTATION CONDUCTOR AND DIRECTOR CIVIC THEATRE Auckland, New Zealand Pit Orchestra of 30 Stage Band of 20 HARRY VERNON "Vernonizing” “SONG OF THE FOOL” AT LOEW’S STATE, LOS ANGELES—NEXT WEEK and all the big bands are playing These Robbins Hits “You’re Simply Delish” ... “Just a Little Closer” .. . “Go Home and Tell Your Mother” . . . “Here Comes the Sun” ROBBINS MUSIC CORP. 799 SEVENTH AVE. NEW YORK CITY G ATE found himself in a dead end street, tie was on Holly- wood Highway and a huge wail, as impregi.aoie as Tradition ana Habit mooted turtner progress, l tie wan had been erected Dy ituie- oi-tnuiiiL) against tnose who. would SLorm tne cinema castie beyond, t-erie mamnonic growling emitted; laging wiuiiii was tne uauie tor Dcuer tancies. Jdodies lay sprawled grotesquely at tne base oi the wail, feebie weapons were strewn in the near vicinty. Some ot the bodies bore me noidmg grimly to lances ot nappy circumstance, lucky combina- tions and social prestige. Gate look- ed witn compassion at these valiant ■unguts. Tne rumbling within the wan grew to an ominous crescendo. More bodies hurtled lrom the ramparts oi tne castle. They were the i-eitanants of production. Vari- ously accoutred were mese. officers; iiamerdiers ot Wit, song, idea and uanoe. Among tnem a sprinkling oi relatives capar.sioned With con- tact. uate gianced up just in time to sidestep another hody. it catapulted trom tne wall in an accelerated parabola, throwing on goose p.mples ot a discredited rep, rutting the pavement with a ligm plop. It wasn't very heavy eitnei way from the ears. A closer glance revealed it to be Mr. Backer’s wite’s aiird cousin trom Oscaioosa. The body looked stupidly askance at Gate. STILL ANOTHER He s.desteped another body; an- other Leftanant had left, a director’s in-iaw. Uate had been watching this unwilling exodus for months, rie was keenly aware oi the cause. Critics and exhibitors had been complaining. The Leftenants in the iront line of production had been careless about handing out the rum ration. T hey had given the soldats too much sex brandy, gorgeous wardrobe gin, blaz.ng scenery cor- dial and triple action cognac for them to fight an efficient war against bad talkies. Denuded oi the novelty of sound, the razzberries of the old silent era were again leer- tng through. The outsiders were howling for scalps. The Leftanants were leaving, prematurely hairless. Gate stepped over the bodies; threaded his way through the lances now grown dull and tarnished from vain effort to regain the wall. He was sad because these good officers had held the front line for many years. Their armor was bright; polished by experience. It was wasteful to junk experience. Gate had an appointment with one of the Leftenants that was left. He entered the castle grounds through a private gate. LEFTY QUAKES He found his Leftenant quaking, his official vest buttons were vibrat- ing. “What’s up, old son?” asked Gate. “It’s the annual shake-up. Here’s your chance to revolutionize the in- dustry,” quivered the Leftenant. This one seems to be doing all right” commented Gate, looking around at the uncertaintv of status evident in everybody’s face. “This what?” queried Lefty. “Revolution.” Just then Mr. Backer, the big boss, appeared around a corner of Paul Whiteman, He glimpsed Lefty and bore down on him. “Well,” growled Backer, as he directed a fishy eye at the trembling officer. Lefty’s executive skin shook like a hula wardrobe. “Pardon me, Mr. Backer,” inter- rupted Gate, “but why are you giv- ing Lefty the air?” Backer shifted the barracula glare to Gate. NO PEP “He’s been aping hits, using rule- of-thumb methods, depending on the novelty of sound to get him by. Now that that’s worn off he can’t deliver the goods.” Backer's jaws clamped together tighter than the register at Central Casting. “But why fire him?*’ objected Gate. Backer squinted at the stranger. “Listen fella,” he growled. “Am I go ; ng to sit idly by and let these Leftenants of the articulate cinema do to it what the franchise holders did to burlesque? What the vaude- ville producers did to that vener- able old institution? Depending on lucky combinations and the star’s name to get them by? Am I going to let them ruin this business just because they happen to be the cus- todians of it?” 'But why fire them?” insisted Gate. “What is that? A new theme song?” There was a nasty gleam in Backer’s eye. Givu- A THOUGHT “No,” said Gate, ignoring the crack. “Beiore you unload these executives look over the replace- ments. What have they got for the iront line? Exactly what the lef- tenants had beiore they went in. Maybe these boys did muddle the advance with too much talk of the .mportance of sex, wardrobe, scen- ery and action, but they held the one. While they were holding ii they acquired something. They pned up experience. The replace- ments have nothing but ideas.” ' .but things nave come io a pretty pass,” said backer. "True enough, but you’re not go- ■ng to help any by changing execu- tives. Listen: When you were a rookie, a tyro, you made mistakes Dut you held the line. You hung on with both teeth and ten din> anger nails. On, yes they were Jirty. You were too busy with your „ra.n to think of a manicure. And you pulled a lot of bloomers—not the kind you’re thinking of now— out the amateurish kind, the blund- ers of inexperience and you held on.” “What of it?” grumbled Backer. EXPERIENCE, YES “When things went hay-wire, ■vould they have improved if youi joss had filled your chair with a raw replacement? Well, when you start looking lor executives from ihe ranks of replacements you’ll and them raw. They have ideas but no experience. There is no sub- stitute for experience.” "Something's got to be done,” rumbled bacxer. “Sure. Take the experience the Leftenants have acquired in hand- ling the materials of production ana .each them an exact knowledge oi the relative value of those ma- terials.” Backer scowled. “Let’s give the Leftenant the same consideration we would a competent but nervous and mistaken actor. Let’s take him off to one side and explain things,” pursued Gate. suspecting that this kibitzer had something in the conch besides sea- weed, Backer motioned for Gate and Leity to come into the private office. After toasting the good old constitution and wiping theii mouths off with the back of the only handkerchief nature provided, Gate spoke again. TWO THINGS “Now fella,” he said, with a feel- ing of oneness and a lot in commor with the Leftenant, “two things guide us infallibly in the production of anything saleable or useable Those two things are respectivelj and respectfully FUNDAMEN- TALS and RELATIVE values.” Backer interrupted. There was a note of patience in his voice. He had developed patience and lost many a shoe shine keeping theorist: out front under his feet. “You guy: and your fundamentals and relative values. Do you know anything about the practical application o. those things?” Gate's answer was under the trig- ger: “If you separate one blonde gold d'gger from one meal ticke does it equal one mad mad mama?” Liking a snappy come back onci in a while, Backer warmed to Gate and decided to find out more about him. “I have been intermittently an noyed by various breeds of pests,’ said he. “The efficiency expert, tht artmonger, the inspiration peddler gag men, bootleggers, idea toters and song writers. What species are you? I don’t recognize your stripes.” As there are only two animals which wear stripes and one has four feet and being able to take his gags or leave ’em, Gate passed the inference. QUALITY “I’m neither species or breed. I’m just like yourself in this problem of keeping up the quality of the merchandise we are selling in the form of entertainment. I’ve been looking for the answer to all this confusion regarding what the pub- lic wants and the limit of what is possible to give them. I got a mtie closer to tne answer than you did, because I’ve been concentrating on the thing 14 hours a day for 15 years without being annoyed by theme song birds, movie critics and constructive diagnosticians. In other words my concentration has not been detoured a minute.” “I can see you haven’t been travel- ing the Hollywood highway.” ‘ No sir, I traveled a direct line. I found a lot of illusions, old hab- its, venerable practices, conceptions and theories supported by say-so, tradition and reputation. They were on the loose. Most of them were n the air because that was the only atmosphere they could exist in. I saddled two ponies callen Concen- tration and Perseverence and even- tually corralled the whole passel of .hem. Then I took them apart to >ee what kept them together and pigeon holed each one according to its relative value.” GETS HIS NUMBER “Now I recognize you,” exclaim- ad Backer. “You are a cousin of that guy Einstein. You’re a relativist.” Said Gate, modest like: “There ire only five guys who understand Einstein. Four speak French, Ger- nan Italian and Greek. The fifth s from New York and I don’t un- ierstand any of those foreign langu- ages.” That answer seemed to satisfy Backer so Gate carried on. "As I was saying before the draft lit me, I got the relative value of those illusions appraised and labeled. Then I went alter the elements of ■torj' construction, production, ex- ploitation and audience reaction and letermined their relative values. I made myself keenly alert to their iresence, absence and influence •vhen the audience hit the night air. When I discovered certain elements jiven more importance in the pic- ure than they deserved, I felt it at he box office. The result? The ilm salesman collected his bills with >rass knuckles and I paid off my >rojectionist in uppercuts. Funda- uentally something was wrong.” SEX COMES IN “Fundamentals,” quizzed Backer, ‘where do they come in?” “Sex, as you know is a necessary dement of good box office produc- ion. Therefore sex is fundamental o it. That’s where it comes in.” “It’s a sure-fire money maker,” aid Backer, firmly. “One of the lay professions, des- ending from antiquity but, like the rther elements: wardrobe, scenery, lialogue and gags, it has a certain alue, no more, no less. It has no mown or fixed value for the box office until it is placed in relation -O other elements. Then it imme- diately takes on a known value; that is it’s relative value. Is that clear?” “Yes,” grunted Backer. He was t little disappointed. “How do you know it is? Maybe I’m just handing you another theory?” “Is that so?” snapped Backer. “Perseverence is an element. I sup- pose it has no known or fixed value .’hen it is placed next to work or objective?” Backer was getting sarcastic and vise at the same time, so Gate step- ped on it. INTO THE LAB “Well, in that case,” said he, speaking in the patois of the eigh- eenth amendment, “we will take he elements of good box office into he laboratory and prove that they re as amenable to direction as the angibles of any applied science.” Backer leaned forward. “Do that now scene again. I didn’t get your drift.” Gate repeated: We will take hem into the laboratory and prove ‘hey are as amenable to direction as the tangibles of any applied science.” “Which,” said Backer, setti- ng back, “supports all the mud guards of a wise crack.” “Meaning that I am vague and elusive or in other words trying to slip across a fast one?” “Which,” replied Backer, “is so close to the thought it looks like they are married.” “Alluding to that word ‘tangi- bles?’” “You ketch on real quick,” re- plied the Big Boss, “and you’re not bad at holding out. Just give me (Continued on Page 7)