Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1934)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Monday. October 15, 1934 MOTION PICTURE DAILY (Registered U. S. Patent Office) Vol. 36 October 15, 1934 No. 89 B Martin Quigley Editor-in-Chief and Publisher MAURICE KANN Editor JAMES A. CRON Advertising Manager Published daily except Sunday and holidays by Motion Picture Daily, Inc., subsidiary of Quigley Publications, Inc.. Martin Quigley, President; Colvin Brown, Vice-President and Treasurer. Publication Office: 1790 Broadway. New York. Telephone Circle 7-3100. Cable address "Uuigpubco, New York." All contents copyrighted 1934 by Motion Picture Daily, Inc. Address all correspondence to the New York Office. Other Quigley pub ligations: MOTION PICTURE HERALD. BETTER THEATRES, THE MOTION PICTURE ALMANAC and THE CHICAGOAN. ^ , .... T., Hollywood Bureau: Postal Union Life Building, Vine and Yucca Streets, Victor M. Shapiro, Manager; Chicago Bureau: 407 South Dearborn Street, Edwin S. Clifford, Manager; London Bureau: Remo House, 310 Regent St., London, W. 1. Bruce Allan, Representative. Cable address"Quigpubco, London"; Berlin Bureau: Berlin-Tempelhof, Kaiserin-Augustastrasse 28, Joachim K. Rutenberg, Representative: Paris Bureau: 19, Rue de la Cour-des Noues, Pierre Autre, Representative; Rome Bureau: Viale Gorizia, Vittorio Malpassuti. Representative; Sydney Bureau: 102 Sussex Street, Cliff Holt, Representative; Mexico City Bureau: Apartado 269. James Lockhart, Representative; Glasgow Bureau: 86 Dundrennan Koad, G. Holmes, Representative; Budapest Bureau: 3, Kaplar-u, Budapest, 11, Endre Hevesi, Representative; Moscow Bureau: Civtzev Vrazhek, N. 25, Apart. 146, Moscow, U. S. S. R., Bella Kashin, Representative. Cable address: Samrod, Moscow. Entered as second class matter, January 4, 1926, at the Post Office at New York City, N. Y., under Act of March 3, 1879 Subscription rates per year; $6 in the Americas, except Canada $15 and foreign $12. Single copies: 10 cents. Warner Plant Zooms Under a Peak Load Hollywood, Oct. 14. — Production at the Warner studio is being carried on at maximum speed with 11 of the company's sound stages in use. "Sweet Adeline," "Gold Diggers of 1935," "White Cockatoo," "The Right to Live" and "Sweet Music," all set for early future release, are now in work. "Eaglet" Franklin's 2nd "The Eaglet," a historical play to be staged here this season by Harold B. Franklin and Arch Selwyn, will be adapted for the screen and produced here as the second of a two-picture deal for Fox release. The first is "Gambling," with George M. Cohan. Eva LeGallienne and Ethel Barrymore, who head the cast in the stage production of "The Eaglet," will fill the same roles in the film version. Seattle House Reopens Seattle, Oct. 14. — John Hamrick has reopened the Orpheum. He spent $10,000 on remodeling which was handled by the Shearer equipment organization. Pictures and vaudeville will be the policy. Para, to Star D. Holt David Holt, seven-year-old prodigy of "You Belong to Me," will be starred by Paramount in a film to be made from "Born with Wings," a story purchased for him. Insiders' Outlook BILL FOX is either one up in the patent fight via American Tri-Ergon or a lot of important film men are needlessly worried. Already factually established is the story that several attorneys have had little sleep since the Supreme Court ruled it would not grant a review of the lower Federal courts on the issue at issue, so great has been the poring over legal tomes. Eddies and currents in the situation prevail over lack of authentic information as to Fox's next step. Reported over the week-end was a yarn he had already indicated to Erpi, RCA and their licensed producers and distributors that his annual rovalty had been fixed at $30,000,000, a sizeable sum even in the picture business. Not clear is why the licensees should be worried. Their contracts with the electrics contain a clause furnishing protection against patent onslaughts. . . . ▼ Hollywood's idea of something exciting : The arrival there of Ned Depinet and Herman Zohbel is followed immediately by a revived slant on the old fantasy that RKO will move distribution headquarters to the West Coast. Admittedly tentative as to decision, those who credit the yarn say there appears to be no doubt that a new office building now being rushed on that lot is to house fellows like Levy and Smith, not to slight Depinet. Don't let it throw you. . . . T The downtowners behind the picture business consider it bad enough that production is 3,000 miles removed from the executives that are supnosed to fashion the shots which Hollywood fires. The present system, at least, keeps the financiers in touch with what's goiner on even if the ways of the celluloid mighty are so often mysterious to banking eyes. It seems a pretty safe conclusion to draw that administration, which includes distribution which embraces much and frequent contact with national circuit heads, will remain snuggling close to the money-bags since the moneybags want it that way. . . . ▼ Truman Talley, Laurence Stallings and Pedro de Cordoba combine their respective producing, writing and declamatory abilities in what Fox is about to release as "The First World War." Its title tells its grim and authentic story. True to its intent, the picture, touching too lightly on the causes of the World War, but heavily on the conflict itself, is powerful because of its very truth, unrelenting and terrible as it is. Not pleasant entertainment, if entertainment at all, but a document of historic value aimed at sober heads and thinking minds. "The First World War" deserves to be played widely. It rates. . . . ▼ Breaths, belonging to bodies identified definitely with M-G-M officials, suspended their normal operations at the "The Merry Widow" opening Thursday night. The jitters also came near having an inning of their own when, at 10 o'clock, Andre Sennwald, film critic of the New York Times who is rapidly making a name for himself so good are his analyses and his scrivening, walked out on the picture. It looked as if the Lubitsch film which sent Metro into six figures would get a panning Friday morning. Home-office bigwigs, therefore, were surprised, pleasantly of course, when Sennwald handed it plenty. The lowdown is he had a bulldog edition to catch. And did. . . . KANN Eastman New Year's High on Big Board High Low Close Columbia Pictures, vtc 38J4 3854 3854 Consolidated Film Industries 354 3JA 3V2 Consolidated Film Industries, pfd 14% 14% 14% Eastman Kodak 103 W2'4 103 Fox Film "A" 13 13 13 f.oew's Trie 30% 30 3054 Loew's Tnc, pfd 93y2 93% 9354 Paramount Publix, cts 4:4 3% 4 Pathe Exchange 1% 154 1$£ RKO 2?4 2% 254 Warner Bros 5JA 5 5 Technicolor Lone Curb Issue Net Change % % + % 54 Net Sales 10) 100 200 900 300 3,600 100 5.2-0 6CK) 400 1,703 Technicolor High Low Close Change Sale* .13 13 13 200 Paramount Publix Bonds Off Half High Low Close General Theatre Equipment 6s '40 654 654 654 Keith, B. F. 6s '46 6V/S 61 '4 61 53 T.oew's 6s '41. ww deb rights 10254 10254 102^ Paramount Bmadwav 5'/s '51 40 40 40 Paramount Publix 5'4s '50 5854 5854 58'/$ Warner Bros. 6s '39, wd 6054 60 6054 Net Change % + 'A + !A 54 + 54 Sales 1 1 8 5 9 9 < Purely Personal ► FELIX FEIST, who sailed for * Honolulu on Saturday, with a stopover at Los Angeles planned, is looking forward to a couple of days there with Felix, Jr., and the latter's family. George J. Schaefer's health hasn't been of the best lately. In and out of bed with a cold, he's back to his almost dawn-to-midnight working schedule down Paramount way. Arthur W. Stebbins has abandoned any plans he may have had for a European trip and plans to stay in New York indefinitely. Charles S. Belden and Frederick Stephani collaborated on "AH His Geese Are Swans." Columbia has just purchased it. Leo Birinski's yarn, "Tornado," has been purchased by Fox. It is an original. Film Leaders Flock To Variety Banquet Pittsburgh, Oct. 14. — Leading members of the industry from all over the country were among those who attended the annual Variety Club banquet at the William Penn Hotel tonight. The affair, one of the big events of the year, drew a crowd of more than 1,000. A large number of home-office executives journeyed from New York for the function. Bill Rodgers of M-G-M was one of the New York sales executives who made the hop to Pittsburgh. G-B Renewswith Waxman Gaumont British has closed a term contract with A. P. Waxman under terms of which he continues as advertising counsel in charge of publicity, advertising and exploitation of the company and its product in this country. Waxman's original contract was for a five-week deal. As a result, he is closing his publicity office and will confine all activities to Gaumont British. He will, however, continue to serve as advertising consultant to Harold B. Franklin. G-B Appoints Two More George W. Weeks, general sales manager of Gaumont British, has appointed W. G. Carmichael, formerly of Paramount and Warners, to his sales staff in Atlanta. J. S. Carsacallen, formerly of M-G-M and Fox, has been appointed to the Charlotte staff. G-B Luncheon Today A luncheon in honor of Nova Pilbeam, Jack Hulbert, Robert Flaherty qnd Berthold Viertel will be given by Gaumont British at the WaldorfAstoria this noon. "Little Friend," starring Miss Pilbeam, will be screened later. /. M. Schenck Sails Joseph M. Schenck left for London on the Majestic early Saturday morning. The trip will be a short one. Plunkett in London London, Oct. 14. — Joe Plunkett is here from the States, via Canada.