Inside facts of stage and screen (March 21, 1931)

Saturday, March 21, 1931 INSIDE FACTS OF STAGE AND SCREEN Page Three Wm. Fox Reported In Control of Columbia Lady Picture Player Takes Lad From Caliente—Also All the Dough “Is Ruth Weston’s option lias been taken up by Radio Pictures as a re- sult of her work in her first film, “The Woman Between.'' Jacques Lory and Arthur JTurni, French actors, have been signed for Radio Pictures’ French version of “The Woman Between," formerly called “Madame Julie.” Herbert Brenon has returned to work at the RKO studio after an extended illness. 'Marshall N'eilan is to direct Mack Sennett’s “Ex-Sweeties” for Edu- cational Ivor Noveiio, London and New York stage player, has been signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as writer and actor. Dorothy Appleby has been signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Richard Bennett, veteran stage star, and father of the Bennett Sis- ters, Constance and Joan, has been signed for a role in 'Marion Davies' “Five and Ten.” Jack Conway is to direct William Haines in M-G-M's "Dancing Part- rtf*rc >y Jane Talent, ingenue, has been signed by Radio Pictures for a part in the Richard Dix vehicle, "Big Brother,” RKO. Dorothy Peterson has been added to the cast of Radio Pictures’ “Trav- eling Husbands,” being directed by Paul Sloane. . Monte Katterjohn has been added to Columbia’s staff of scenario writers, and will start to work on an original story of New .York un- derworld life, tentatively entitled “The Gangster.” W. R. Burnett, author of “Little Caesar,” "Iron Man,” etc., has been engaged by Howard Hughes to work on the film treatment of “Scar- face,” underworld story which How- ard Hawks is preparing. Barney Gerard,eastern writer and producer, has arrived from New York to be associated with Ches- terfield Pictures at Tec Art. - Glenn Tryon started his sixth Educational-Christie comedy at Metropolitan Sound Studios ’ this week, under the direction of Har- old Beaudine. Betty Lorraine and .Vernon Dent have featured roles. Rudolph Elohtow, vice-president and general manager of Rogell Productions, Ltd., has returned to Hollywood after a trip to New York, having bought screen rights to Jack Lait’s “Gangster Girl.” TIL WITH GITS This is the story they currently tell at tlie Embassy Club and at other social spots when that time has conic when film celebrities tell their right names and producers sometimes admit how they made their first $1000. Our story, as the studio penmen say, opens Sn Agua Caliente, where all is bustle and excitement over the coming big handicap event of the year. Muddled in a corner, grim-lipped and with other attributes of Men- ace, are a syndicate of gamblers. Dialogue concerns prospects for a clean-up on the big event, and hist! Hollywood is the chosen spot for the harvest. Our Hero! In the group (put the spots on him, please) is a youth of hand- ; some appearance (the type we all j know who starts in bad company hut later wins the leading lady for ! a clinch fadeout). He is the chosen man for the firing line, for, with his intriguing eyes and chiselled lips, how could j any film star refuse to risk a few shekels on the “sure thing” he will tell her about? So he is given a j hefty wad, some $50,000 or so, and we — Next Sequence Fadeout and into a classy night spot of Hollywood. Here we dis- cover our youth, and in his com- pany is a lady whose name was once big in picture lights, and who is still an active habitue of Holly- wood’s inner circles. Our sequence develops a dawning love interest, and after the usual pash scenes, we discover her in his arms, and his chiseled .lips breathing words of undying love. Fade-in on a quiet wedding ceremony, and then a few shots of the couple escaping elop- ing-ward. A rapid cutback to Hollywood, this time in a hotel. Here we dis- cover other scouts from the syndi- cate,! hip pockets bulging with gats, and fire in their eyes. They don't love the boy any more, but man oh man, how thej r love all that syndi- cate money he and the film celeb are now spending in the pleasures of a honeymoon. • (Second episode to follow — may- be). Reuben Mainoulian lias signed a new directing contract to make pic- tures for Paramount. Richard Thorpe has been en- gaged by Chesterfield Pictures to direct “The Inside Story,” which goes into production soon at Tec- Art. PAT DENIES IT BUT NEW CONTRACT DUE Pat Casey is in town. His of- fices are at the Roosevelt, and there, according to Pat, he is do- ing nothing more vigorous than or- ganizing the annual NVA relief drive. But other sources say. and say' so emphatically that contradiction from Pat is taken with much salt, that one of Casey's real purposes here is to negotiate a new wage and working scale with the Sound Technicians, Pat acting in concert with William Berres as special rep- resentatives for the picture pro- ducers, The negotiations are understood to be well along, and progressing satisfactorily. First of the meetings was in New York five weeks ago. LEGIT CASTING HEAD Ben Ketchum has gone into the, office of Lichtig and Englander, Hollywood agents, as head of the legit casting department. Ketchum Was formerly a stock pjoducer, re- cently producing in the Middle West ADVANCE CAR OPENS The Barnes Circus advance car opened up this week, with several of the boys of the local Billposters' Union aboard, including the car manager, John Brassel, of Local 32. ERNER AND FISHER This duo offers a class of comedy eccentric dancing that makes them | show-stoppers wherever and whenever they appear. They have that dumb pan stuff down to a fare-ye-well, and if an audience isn’t near the hysteria point before they get through offering their wares it’s because the cus- tomers are blind. A great bet for talking pictures, Emer and Fisher have played with four Publix units, “Flying High,” “Vanity Fair,” “Jazz Butterflies” and “On With the Dance,” and with two Fanchon and Marco units, as well as in vaude. Currently they are appearing at the Paramount with the “On With the Dance” Publix unit. CALIFORNIA GOES TO VAUDE POLICY SAN DIEGO, March 20.—The California Theatre here has re- turned to a vaude policy, with five acts booked in for Saturday' and Sunday dates. The house, which was formerly a Bert Levey spot, is now in the Fox chain. The first vaude show, which played March 14 and 15, had Harry Holman and Billy Dooley for head- liners. The house is booked by Earl Reate of the Los Angeles Fanchon and Marco offices. CEBALLOS RE-SIGNED Larry Ceballos has signed a new contract with Fanchon and Marco. Ceballos, who was reported being sought again by Warner Brothers to ^produce stage entertainment which they intend to revive in one or both of their local houses, signed on better terms than his prior con- tract with F. and M., one item stating he is to have full charge of his own units. BUZZELL ON TRIP J. W, Buzzell. secretary of the lo- cal Labor Council, left Tuesday of this week for Sacramento, where he will work in behalf of several labor legislative matters. C. J. Haynes, of the Billposters' Union, is han- dling the office during- Buzzell’s ab- sence. TALKINETTES START Mantell’s Talkinettes, a new se- ries of pictures, has gone into pro- duction at the Fowler Studios, to be known as the A, D. W. Produc- tions. It is a marionette cast. The first to be known as “The Daze of ’49.” Ted White Is Rated As One of Ace Tenors Ted White, whose picture ap- pears on page one of this issue, :anks easily as one of the iore- nost tenors specializing In pop longs and ballads in this coun- try. He has won to this posi- tion not only' through his ace ligh vocalizing, but by reason of his ability to sing the soul of a song as well as the melody. This gift marks the line be- tween artist and craftsman, Ted White scoring in the former class. < He came to Los Angeles from the Willows Cafe, class night club in Reno. A big tim- er himself, his appeal reaches the same class of people in other fields. For the past year White has been a strong dial draw at RHJ, where he was featured soloist, winning an en- viable position as air entertainer de luxe. On March 30, Ted White opens with Gus Arnheim’s Or- chestra at the Hotel Ambassa- dor, Cocoanut Grove, where he is being billed in lights and lobby displays as featured vocal soloist. His many friends in pic- ture circles will welcome him at this spot. FERRIS HARTMANN SHOW DOESN’T MARCH Ferris Hartmann, whose last lo- cal effort was a floppo try for a musical comedy season at the Shrine Auditorium, opened a mu- sical show, "Honeymoon Isle,” in Pasadena last week. The show was run on the com- monwealth plan, the cast including 30 people. But two days was all it could last out, only $1200 coming into the box-office for this briefeued stanza. Then it disbanded. HANDLING NVA DRIVE Pat Casey, assisted by' Sam My- ers, is handling the annual N V A benefit drive for the Los Angeles territory' this year. They have opened offices in the Roosevelt Hotel. The NVA week will ;be April 4 to 11, with the big all-star benefit show to follow at the Shrine Auditorium, April 22. FOUNTAIN TRANSFERRED Lester Fountain, who was Fox West Coast city manager at San Diego, is now city' manager for P’ox at Long Beach. Fountain has been with the Fox organization for the last ten years. OF (Continued from Page 1) Care has been taken by' the sponsors to avoid conflict with any similar enterprise. The season comes between the closing of the Philharmonic and the opening of the Hollywood Bowl. Hearty en- dorsement and cooperation has been obtained from all leading civic organizations, and clergymen, who might object because of the con- flict of the concert hour with probably become an annual event, church services, have been con- tacted and won over. Name Leaders The picture studios have been particularly helpful, amongst other things throwing open their libraries of music. Warner Brothers-First National, Paramount, M-G-M, Fox and the others are mentioned in this respect. With this aid two men are now working on orches- 'rations for the 203 pieces. The programs will be broadcast, though over what system is not yet set. Each concert will be under con- ductorship of a name leader, though some will be comparatively new- comers to the coast, and there may be some duplication. One rumor has it that Alfred Hertz, of the San Francisco Symphony and in- augurator of the Bowl concerts here, may be the first. With the rapid return by popu- lar demand of in-the-flesh music, the income from these concerts is expected to give such a boost to the local musicians’ unemployment fund as to tide over the intervening period before a return of before- talkie normalcy. 4200 In Union The Los Angeles Musicians’ Un- ion No. 47 is the third largest in America, with a total of 4200 men. New York leads with 12.000, and Chicago is second with 8000. Of the 4200 in the local union, some 500 are estimated at the pres- ent time to have steady employ- ment; and 1900 work now and then. The rest are finding the going hard. Assisting Schumann - Heink in promoting the benefit are Mrs. Leila Atherton Irish, noted for her Hollywood Bowl activities; Donald Forker, general advertising man- ager for Union Oil, and others prominent in Southern California columns. SUCCEEDS DAILEY Sidney Schallman is in charge of the Bert Levey' bookings, suc- ceeding Ken Dailev, who resigned to go into the RKO booking of- fices. William Fox has quietly bought into control of Columbia Pictures and recently tried to swing into an alliance with Warner Brothers to fight Paramount, reports this week declared. However, it was stated, the pro- posed alliance fell through because of failure to get money which was expected from Tammany sources by contact with Mayor Jimmy Walker, who is now on the coast “for a vacation." A. C. Blumenthal, Fox’s right hand business man, and Harry Warner were said to have sent Jimmy Walker out here for the purpose of effecting the tie-in with Warner Brothers. On Spot But the Tammany bunch ground their axes for Walker as soon as he left New York, putting Fox and Warner on the spot for the funds they needed to battle against the Publix interests. Tammany’s grudge against Mayor Jimmy is because he is reputed to Itave threatened a party split, due to a political falling out with A1 Smith. And now, ' says the story, the Warners feel that any fight with Paramount would be a very foolish thing, and peace has been declared, first move being consummation of a contract whereby the W. B. Vita- phone shorts' will be played in practically all of the Publix houses. Clarke To Finance Other developments in the busi- ness end of pictures this week in- cluded a report that Harley- Clarke, Fox president and a big public util- ity man from Chicago, had himself undertaken to finance the $55,000,- 000 in outstanding, notes against Fox Films unless some other way is found. The notes are due next month. An additional $20,000,000 is needed for the Fox program, and Clarke is understood to have also undertaken to advance- this sum personally, if not forthcoming else- where. Clarke is rated to be worth well over $150,000,000. T IMY DE 1 MERGER West Coast -executives of both Educational and Tiffany were still uninformed this week as to the pro- posed Tiffany-Educational-World Wide merger. One rumor in circulation .was to the effect that Paramount might enter the deal with a releasing of- fer for the Tiffany product and pos- sibly fffr the Educational pictures as well, but this report was gen- erally considered just one of those Hollywood stories. Meantime both Tiffany and Edu- cational were absolutely quiet? with no production in progress at either spot, and executive offices closed. Insofar as Educational was con- cerned, it was the regular end-of- the-program shutdown, with re- opening of activity due about the first of Tune. At Tiffany it rvas just a plain shut-down pending' de- velopments. EVA WITH F. & M. Eva Mantell will open with Fan- rhon and Marco’s next vaude unit, in about two weeks. M-G-M REPORTED AS PLANNING BIG HOUSE M-G-M is planning construction of a $1,000,000 theatre in Havana, Cuba, according to word current here this week. It was stated that the tourist business in Havana is going to make that spot a strong competi- tive point for the major film com- panies, as the res.ort attractiveness of the city augments, and M-G-M is planning to put up a house that will give them the jump on all such com- petition. * TO PLAY VAUDE U Lew Goldberg, a Chicago agent who arrived in Los Angeles two weeks ago, has taken oyer the Mis- sion Theatre in Long Beach, and is spending $15,000 on improve- ments and renovation. He will play five acts of vaude for a full week, booking through the Bert Levey office’s. Goldberg has closed his Chicago offices, and is concen- trating all his attention or. his coast interests.