Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1934)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Wednesday, December 5, 1934 Insiders' Outlook (Continued from page 2) Acuities than they have encountered from the criticism of the churches." What is this new menace? Hold on to yourself and continue : "The objectionable feature of some recent films is the Communistic character. "If motion pictures are to be used for Communistic propaganda, it will not be long before the American government will have to step in to censor and suppress such propaganda and directly to supervise the film companies responsible for it and see that they are conducted on a patriotic American basis." Periodically, Hearst editorially strikes out for Federal censorship. He seems committed to furthering the idea and the excuse seems to make little difference. Why? . . . T Homespun philosophy about theatre operation, furnished from the fount of common sense which seems to be Mrs. A. Baier's. She runs the suburban Lindbergh in Kaycee and is secretary of the I. T. O. of that city. The kernel of her analysis is as true as it is simple. She holds to the thought exhibitors would be far better off if they tended to their own business and worried less about other theatres and what they do. "The reason that so many exhibitors think they will be forced to close their doors if some downtown theatre goes on a price rampage or a, suburban competitor adopts an unfair trade practice is because they are obsessed with a 'fear complex.' If every suburban exhibitor would devote the time to going after business that he spends worrying about his competitor or trying to meddle in his affairs, he would have little to worry about." T What convinced Mrs. Baier was last week-end. Apprehensive over the way Loew's Midland was plugging its cut rates in large newspaper space, she decided to do some exploitation of her own. She sent 5,000 folders to her mailing list, advertising this week's shows. "Business picked up considerably, and I found I didn't have to worry about Loew's or any one else," Mrs. Baier concluded. "I am going to do some more advertising." And now to other matters. . . . T Metropolitan area operators are fuming, uselessly so far, over the recently enacted half-of-oneper-cent-of-the-gross tax. It runs into money, much money and what is creating the excitement is the claim the levy is discriminatory. No tax on profits is this, they say, but a tax on receipts, win, draw or lose. The latter MOTION PICTURE DAILY* HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW (Continued from page 4) Carr is good in the stereotyped role as lady friend number one. Clifford Healtherly contributes robust comedy as an elderly playboy. Monty Banks, who plays a comedy role, also competently directed. The film measures up to the average American product, having been made before by Warners with Warren William and Marion Marsh. Running time, 65 minutes. Production code seal No. 094. "A." "Sweet Adeline" ( Warners) Hollywood, Dec. 4. — Being a lavish musical spanning the SpanishAmerican War era, the plot outlines the rise of a beer garden singer (Irene Dunne) to stage affluence with love tribulations along the way. Reflecting the tempo of the hansom cab days, the film's feeling and mood blend with the charm and leisure of the period. Miss Dunne's beauty and refinement harmonize with the story. Hugh Herbert stands out as one af the screen's funniest comics with his rare drolleries rounded by pathos always uncorking laughter. Ned Sparks, too, contributes his exclusive, dry, wry humor for good reactions. Louis Calhern is the romantic heavy and Winnie Shaw the vamp heavy. Phil Regan sings well. Nydia Westman's comedy, Noah Beery's basso profundo and Joseph Cawthorn's antics round out the cast. Dorothy Dare warbles while looking okay. Mervyn Le Roy's usual bouncy direction in this keeps to the deliberate screen play adapted from Jerome Kern's and Oscar Hammerstein's book with the music by Kern. Sol Polito photographed well. The swing ensemble number with Miss Dunne trilling and Bobby Connolly's girls spinning is a thrilling, esthetic creation. The take in the key spots should be an indicator for the subsequent run results. Running time, 90 minutes. Production code seal No. 416. "G." seems to have it, by unanimous squawks. . . . Garbo continues to make swell copy. Witness the Universal Service cable — special, mind you — from Berlin of her quitting Hollywood next year to do a legit play in Stockholm. Maude Adams, for years, was mysterious as' to her movements, press interviews and the like. It worked and worked well, as anyone who knows his stage history at all appreciates. . . . KAN N Tucker Made Manager Atlanta, Dec. 4. — Ed Tucker, former assistant ad sales manager at the local Fox exchange, has been advanced to manager. London, Dec. 4. — Charles Munroe, who accompanied S. R. Kent from New York, is en route to Sydney, Australia. Mayer Is Conferring Charles Mayer, former salesman in the Boston exchange and recently appointed assistant to Manager L. Prouse Knox at the Fox branch in Bombay, India, is in New York conferring with Clayton Sheehan before leaving to take over his new duties some time next month. He sails Dec. 14. Fox Buys "Farmer*' Fox has purchased "The Farmer Takes a Wife," current New York stage hit. Hollywood, Dec. 4. — Winfield Sheehan will produce "The Farmer Takes a Wife" with Janet Gaynor and Spencer Tracy. Bank Payoff Starts Spending in Detroit (Continued from page 1) spending part of the $65,000,000 First National Bank of Detroit payoff which is being distributed to over 650,000 depositors. In theatres for the past week, and promising to continue for some weeks to come, thousands upon thousands of dollars have gone through the ticket windows with capacity houses the rule for all sorts of shows. The "Follies" at the Cass Theatre had capacity houses the nine performances it played here. Prices for the attraction were $3 top. For "Tristan and Isolde" at the Masonic Auditorium there were more than enough customers to fill the 4,700 seats. The past week-end found most of the film houses doing a landoffice business. Employment in the motor car plants has picked up the past few weeks and is on a steady upgrade. Neighborhood house managers are very enthusiastic about the winter outlook. Col. Signs Carminati Hollywood, Dec. 4. — Tullio Carminati, who arrived here last week, has been signed by Columbia for one picture through the Joyce-Selznick office. Preliminary negotiations were started in the east and completed here, Carminati will make one for Fox after the Columbia deal, provided negotiations now pending are closed. The Fox deal is for a part in "Adios Argentine." Daniel M. Winkler, handling radio, vaudeville and personal appearances for Joyce-Selznick, plans to leave for the coast in two weeks. He arrived last week. Production Gains By Four Features (Continued from page 1) division a total of three working, 11 preparing and 20 in the cutting rooms. Paramount leads the field with seven features working, two preparing and four editing; M-G-M has six, one and nine ; Warners, six, one and eight ; Fox, three, three and five ; Columbia, three, one and six; Universal, three, one and three ; Goldwyn, one, zero and zero; Century, one, one and one; Radio, one, three and three; independents, five, four and five. The short subject division shows M-G-M has none in work, two preparing and three editing; Roach, zero, two and three ; Columbia, zero, one and five ; Radio, zero, one and five, while the independents have three, five and four. Sam Wood Has Plans For His Own Films (Continued from page 1) coast for New York several weeks ago and plans to resume negotiations when he returns next week. Wood is working on an adaptation of "The Melody Lingers On" and intends to fly to Hollywood Friday with Edward Small for the U.S. C.Notre Dame game on Saturday. While here Wood will line up writers for his future productions. He has a number of stories in mind, on two of which he has options, to take back with him. A deal with Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht for one picture fell through last week because of a play the producers are working on in addition to another picture they will put into work at the Eastern Service Studios shortly. If the deal materializes with Erpi, Wood intends to develop his own talent. He is dickering for a number of players here and may take them to the coast with him for picture build-ups. Texas Price-Fixing Suit Comes Up Today (Continued from page 1) Theatres, Inc. Glass seeks an injunction to stop alleged ruinous price fixing through a conspiracy of the defendants and major producing companies. At the first hearing, Dec. 1, in the Fourteenth District Court before Judge W. M. Taylor, defendants argued that the acts complained of constitute a phase of interstate commerce, over which local courts have no jurisdiction. The taking of depositions occupied the session Dec. 1, and the hearing was postponed to tomorrow. Action, Little Talk Wanted, Says Kelly San Francisco, Dec. 4. — "Foreign movie audiences want pictures that are high class but not high hat. Pictures that tell a down-to-earth story with a maximum of action and a minimum of dialogue are the most popular," said Arthur W. Kelly, vicepresident of United Artists in charge of foreign distribution on his arrival here today from Japan. He has been, on an eight-month tour of the world. He will leave here for New York by way of Hollywood, arriving in the east Dec. 10.