Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1934)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Thursday, May 17, 1934 Public Bodies Being 'Used/ Says Schaefer (Continued from page 1) that compulsory block booking has gone, for the very simple reason that compulsion upon the exhibitor to show every picture that he rented has never existed." Charles C. Petti john, general counsel for the Hays office, indulged in biting sarcasm. Among other things he said: "If the industry or the art were ever to surrender to the demands that all pictures be produced down to the level of child intelligence, the organization of a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Adults would become pressingly necessary." Reviews Block Booking In reviewing the history of block bookings, Schaefer said it grew out of the "desperate need of the theatre owner for a week-in and week-out supply of pictures. "A break in the continuous operation of his theatre might mean commercial life or death to him, particularly in highly competitive territories," he continued. Later he described the system as simply a "wholesale system of offering a number of pictures as against the retail system." Courts have reviewed the system, he declared, and have decided it does not restrict an exhibitor's freedom of choice. In addition, he went on, the code confers the privilege of 10 per cent cancellation. "I defy any group or individual to offer the slightest proof," he went on, "that under this system of wholesale selling a good picture — good from your standpoint, the social standpoint — has ever been stopped from exhibition, or that any bad picture — bad, again, from the social standpoint — has ever been forced upon any exhibitor." Schaefer read a list of pictures most often cancelled, most of them those highly praised by social groups. "You are told that it's the little man, the individual exhibitor, who would be protected by the destruction of these industry practices," he continued. "The hypocrisy of such statements is evident from the slightest consideration." Retail selling, he declared, would pit the little fellow against the buying power of the big operator on every picture. Discusses "Better Pictures" Petti john covered much of the same ground traversed by Schaefer in his discussion of the advantages of wholesale selling, but made bitter remarks about what would happen if "the better picture movement in the United States is ever allowed to fall into the hands of professional fund-raisers, anti-movie orators or trade racketeers. "To jingle the tin cup before the public and weep crocodile tears over the alleged demand for the child audience for pictures which the cruel 'movie-barons' allegedly refuse to supply may be an effective technique of fund-raising for those whose real motive is the censorship of every form of news, artistic and literary expression. But better and better pictures can only be produced by progressively higher standards of public appreciation," Petti john declared. "Nothing could be more absurd than the proposition that the basic problem of better pictures lies in the method or manner by which the industry distributes its entertainment products or by which the exhibitor rents his pictures. Loans $50,000, 000; Losses Zero, Giannini's Balance (Continued from page 1) New York ultimately to turn the Bank of America into virtual banking headquarters for dealers in various forms of celluloid, happens to be a combination of hard-headed business man and sentimentalist. He travels far for friends and applies the brakes on others. He has a wide literary range from paper-back novels to the classics and spills phrases from the extremes of that range with equal ease. He talks the language of the man in the street, understands the roughnecks and converses with savants on the same footing. Plays Hunches in Men He thinks the genus banker rates pretty low on the ladder and, unlike most of his banking confreres, plays hunches in men He is often considerably more interested in how those who are, or would be, his customers, treat caddies on the links, secretaries in their businesses, and messenger boys in their offices than the front they affect when trying to borrow money. "It demonstrates what they really have on the ball," is Giannini's conclusion. He may appear to take chances in his loans, but trust "Doc" to know what he is about at every stage of the game. What has endeared him to those who know him — they are many and important — is the humanness of his demeanor, the understanding in his deliberations and the sportsmanship in his business conduct. To illustrate : Giannini recently celebrated his sixtieth birthday. That was the day on which a prospective borrower dropped in. He wanted only $300,000 and thought four and a half per cent interest was enough. "Doc" wanted six, but let a coin, flipped in the air, determine it. He won with the statement : "I can't lose today. It's my birthday." Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Nick Schenck, Sam Goldwyn, Joe Schnitzer and some others who do business with Giannini, and with whom Giannini does business, will tell you it's a pretty regular bird who will visit New York, find himself deluged with social obligations but take time out after dinner at Zucca's on West 48th St. to personally address 40 postcards to his vice-presidents and thereafter down the line to the man who shaves him and the Italian who shines his shoes every day. Giannini did it and probably won't feel comfortable that the story is told here for the first time. Ideas on Films Definite If you think "Doc" can't be downto-earth, you should hear him tell a snappy story. If you don't think he is conscious of what films might do and where they might go, you should hear him wax enthusiastic about the current trend toward classics. He regards the drift as one of the most encouraging signs on the industry's horizon, believes there is a place for pictures like "Jane Eyre," "David Copperfield," "The Scarlet Letter," "The Tale of Two Cities," "Resurrection" and "Du Barry," to pick a few which are on the way. If you don't think his vision goes beyond Hollywood and New York and recognizes the international aspects of this business, you* should listen to what he thinks about British production as it affects Hollywood : "I believe that after nearly a quarter of a century of practically absolute domination of the world motion picture industry it will be a good thing for Hollywood to look to its laurels. "I believe the discovery that new artistic interpretations and improvements are possible in film making production, and that new types of dramatic appeal will register with the public, may stimulate in Hollywood a new and well considered flow of creative spirit. Such discoveries seem to me to be in the nature of a liberal education. Such education, I feel certain, can be made use of not only by Hollywood, but by a great many other typically high-speed and self-concentrated American instituions." "Doc" was born in the San Francisco which produced Jack London, the Huntingtons and Spreckles, the Millses and other names that nestle high in the American roster of "dosomethings." As a kid, he was the leader of the Rock Rollers, a gang of kids who headquartered on Telegraph Hill, reduced to a split-second accuracy the time necessary for a stone to roll from hilltop to hillbottom and clip where it didn't hurt too much the then object of the gang's displeasure. Giannini used to achieve impact with rocks those days. Since then, he continues to hold on to his prowess, substituting verbal rocks for the other kind. His Earlier Days Just as there is nothing phoney about this different sort of banker, so is there nothing fake about his title. Giannini is called doctor because he is. He served in the Medical Corps during the Spanish-American War. When the earthquake tore much of San Francisco apart in '06, there was Giannini working to alleviate typhoid and smallpox sufferers. While his brother, A. P., had moved his gold into the country to return with it to 'Frisco after the 'quake and fire, A. H. was practicing medicine At 32, "Doc" joined his brother, then 36, and from that point on began the real rise of the House of Giannini in the world of American banking. It was no cinch. A. P. earlier had covered California by horse and buggy. He had entered the produce business with his father. The Italian ranchers and the farmers needed financial sustenance and A. P. gave it to them. As A. H. was inaugurating the first school saving drive in the state, A. P. had begun his penetration with branches of the Bank of Italy. Together the brothers joined in a spectacular fight to oust political footballery in San Francisco's municipal government and to aid in the election of Mayor Rolph. From that point on, the Bank of Italy leaped forward in bounds. From the Bank of Italy there developed the Bancitaly Corp., an investment trust which gave nationwide attention to diversified stock holdings. When the time was consid Theatre Man Aids in Lonely Night Arrest Detroit, May 16. — Hiding a police detective under a blanket in the rear of his auto, Anthony Lombardo, owner of the Chandler, last night drove to a lonely spot to keep a rendezvous with a man who, he alleged, had demanded $5,000 from him. The man was captured after he had been wounded by the detective. Two others were later arrested and all are being held on charges of extortion. Golden Leaves Monday Edward Golden, general sales manager of Monogram, leaves here Monday for Salt Lake City where he will preside over a regional sales conference May 26. From Salt Lake City Golden will go to Cincinnati to hold additional sales conferences starting June 2. A New York session will be held June 29. Batcheller Starts East Hollywood, May 16. — George K. Batcheller started for New York tonight further to line up next year's product for Chesterfield. ered propitious, it was "Doc" who went East to branch out, as A. P. remained behind to keep flourishing their interests on native soil. This was in 1919. "Doc" acquired the East River National. Then the Commercial Trust. All three he merged into what became known as the East River National. Later and in rapid order came acquisition of Italy Discount, Bay Ridge National, Old Colony, Perriera Bank, Sessa Bank and the Commercial Exchange. There probably wasn't an ounce of olive oil shipped from Italy to America which did not clear through the Giannini group by this time. Later came the merger of the above institutions into the Bank of America, purchased from a coterie of New York's "blue stockinged" bankers. Then formation of Transamerica as a subsidiary and, in 1929, purchase by Elisha Walker of the Transamerica stock which gave him control of the Bank of America. This was the period when "Doc" held court at Broadway and 41st St., when he was pretty much a one-man clearing house for matters film in New York. Back to California The dramatic proxy fight which followed is, of course, well known. Launched by the sale of the Bank of America to National City, the fight which ensued brought victory to the Gianninis, the return to them of the:r western banks and the emergence of Transamerica as the largest single stockholder in National City. Today, the Bank of America which jjj operates over 400 branches in over 200 California cities has its finger in agriculture, real estate, oil and films and is one of the significant factors in American banking. Today, Giannini, as chairman of its executive committee, is a friend of the picture business because it has never let him down even if it has shocked him from time to time. Man of power and discernment, respected by the topline names who know him, "Doc" has one remaining ambition : He wants to chuck it all, to hang out his shingle and minister to the medical needs of the poor.