Inside facts of stage and screen (Aug 16, 1930)

ST^E SCREEN PRICE 10 CENTS Only Theatrical Newspaper on the Pacific Coast ESTABLISHED 1924 EDITED BY JACK JOSEPHS V^l VII Entered as Second Class Matter, April 29. 1927. at Post- Vol. All office. Los Angeles. Calif., under Act of March 3, 1879. ~Z \ A ^ . 1AOA Published Every Saturday at 800-801 Warner Bros. Down- 7 Saturday, August lO, 1»JU ^^wn Building. 401 west Seventh St.. Los Angeles. Calif. WARNER RROS. IN lEGlT FEWER, BEHER SONGS FOLLOW THEME DELUGE Fear has been spread in Hollywood that the musical comedy talking pictures have utterly collapsed, and in the future this form of entertain- ment would be abandoned as screen fare. A survey of the situation has proven tliat these fears are largely groundless, although there will not be the jobs available to the mass of sing- ing and dancing talent as here- tofore. Better songs, better sung, is the motto which most of the studios have adopted, and they are sacri- ficing quantity for quality. Almost all the popular songs, that have become record sellers during the past two years, were the result of being plugged thor- oughly in the pictures. Consterna- tion of the music dealers over the rumor that there might be a dearth of hits, due to fewer pic- ture numbers, has been proven groundless. During the past two years, most popular songs have been the re- sult of plugs, which the pictures have given them. Possibilities of this manner of advertising music so impressed producers that they straightway proceeded to acquire most of the large music publish- ing firms. Now that they have decided to do away with theme songs and musical comedies as screen fare, their problem is the fu- ture of the music firms which have become an incubus about their necks. Universal is offering extra money for stories which do not require musical settings. The U. do not control any publishing firms and of a consequence have been pay- ing big royalties for the use of the music in their pictures. "Resurrection," now being di- rected by Edwin Carewe with John Boles and Lupe Valez, and "See America Thrist" are the only pictures of their schedule that will have songs. According to John Jackson the new U. slogan is "Not a song in a carload." The Universal Music Publishing Co. will continue to operate, as it does not depend upon picture songs for its income. At Paramount, according to the publicity department, there will not be as much singing in their pictures as there has been in the past. In the new Buddy Rogers and Maurice Chevalier pictures, it will (Continued on Page 10) STUDIO ENTERS FIELD OF LEGIT TO STAGE FILM JAY BROWER **Pep's Bad Boy" MASTER OF CEREMONIES FOX EL CAPITAN SAN FRANCISCO PROPERTY SOLD SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14.— Personal property of Henry Duffy and Dale Winter was sold to an art dealer in a bankruptcy court auction in Duffy's Hillsborough home. Neither I>ufTy nor his wife were present at the sale, which drew in $6450. Through a deal now pending the furnishings of the Alcazar and President theatres, Duffy's equity in a Los Gatos ranch and the Hillsborough home will be disposed of this or next week. U. Shifts Execs BOUTELL IS BACK SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14.— In a sudden shifting of execu- tives Universal exchanges this promoted W. J. Heineman San Francisco branch man- to the divisional manager- G. E. Rosenwald stepped up from the divisional job to act as assistant to Harry Taylor, western sales director. Replacing Heineman as branch chief is W. P. Moran, who was formerly manager of the Okla- homa City exchange. week from ager ship. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14.— Bob Boutell, auditor for Fox West Coast, has returned from a vaca- tional jaunt to the Northwest. ISLEY VISITS MORAN SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14.— P. R. Isley, Oklahoma City the- atre circuit owner, was here last week visiting W. P. Moran, Uni- versal exchange manager. Intellig-entsia of show busi- ness is looking forward with considerable interest to the proposed experiment of the Warner Brothers recently an- nounced by which they will adapt for stage presentation a new naughtv farce by Jane Hinton en- titled "The Devil Was Sick." It vdll mark the first time that a strictly original movie will be prcsf nted on the legiti- mate stage after it has ap- peared upon the silver sheet. . Heretofore, it has been the cus- tom to provide screen material from worked over stage plays with the result that the screen versions, being able to tell the story with infinitely more vivid detail than the limitations of the stage per- mit, the business of the human theatres dropped immediately on the release of the films. Note- worthy among these are "The Des- ert Song," "The Jazz Singer," "The Vagabond King"- and many others. Betv.-een the lines of this an- nouncement is read by the "wise birds" the intention of the War- ners to enter definitely as produc- ers of stage plaj's with the idea of bringing back the legitimate the- atre even as they brought new life to the motion pictures by backing Vitaphone and a rebirth of the interest in sheet music by acquir- ing the Witmark music publishing business. The far-sightedness of the broth- ers is again read in this simple announcement that they are to reverse the usual order of making the stage production first and the talking picture afterwards. What the result of this effort will be is being widely discussed among the legitimate producers. Whether the picture will act as an advertising medium for the the- atre and induce the public to pay $2.50 to see a play with the pos- sible human cast after they have seen it for 60 cents in the movie palace is the question. Up to date they have failed to so respond. It may be that the Warners in- tend to take advantage of the popularity of their players and show the picture cast upon the stage, in which event it is pos- sible that they will succeed, as there is always a curiosity upon the part of the public to see their screen favorites in person. Here again, comes up the ques- tion of Equity, which will no doubt insistup on being consulted when it comes a matter of invading the (Continued on Page 2) YOU'LL SEE IT IN V .