Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1935)

10 MOTION PICTURE DAILY Friday, September 6, 1935 MOTION PICTURE DAILY* HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW "Cappy Ricks Returns" (Republic) Hollywood, Sept. 5. — Robert McWade builds sympathetic interest for Cappy in this picture, which rates as good average entertainment. Recalled from retirement when his hated business rival, Oscar Apfel, has his assistants, Lucien Littlefield and Kenneth Harlan, in a spot, McWade, with the' aid of Ray Walker, soon has the situation in hand. Apfel has jammed a bill through the legislature making McWade's shingle roofing illegal. With the time element against them, McWade and Walker rush through a referendum repealing the bill while constantly, fighting thugs, hired by Bradley Page, who destroy voters' signatures. Florine McKinney, as Apfel's daughter, first aids her father but switches when her romance with Walker develops. George Waggner, who adapted the Peter B. Kyne story, makes every dialogue line count for the advancement of the plot and Mack Wright's direction keeps the action moving rapidly. Comedy is plentifully provided by McWade's temper and by one sequence which features "Man Mountain" Dean. The production by Trem Carr is creditable from every angle and Harry Neumann's photography is good. The picture should please. No production code seal. Running time, 67 minutes. "G." 4 Purely Personal ► JOHN W. HICKS, Ed Rafferty, «J William Powers, William Rodgers, William A. Scully, Dave Levy, Charles Moses, Fred Schwartz, Hendry Randel, Charles Sonin, Charles Casanave and Morris Kutinsky, at the Astor; Arthur Lee, Jack Partington and Irving Lesser at the Tavern for lunch yesterday. • Leonard Picker, brother of Eugene of Loew's, is the proud daddy of a 6%-pound girl born Wednesday at the Beth Israel Hospital, Newark. Mother and baby are getting along fine while Leonard continues his legal work at Nathan Burkan's office. • Fanny Brice leaves today instead of tomorrow for the M-G-M studios, having changed her departure plans yesterday. When she arrives on the coast Miss Brice will play the role of herself in "The Great Ziegfeld." • Roxy, Pat Rooney, Helen Menken and Bernice Claire were among those who went personal appearance at Hearns yesterday when that department store launched its share-the-profits plan. • Ray Gross, cartoonist-inventor of novelty material, says he has developed a new group of inventions which are being used in a one-reel comedy at the Vitaphone studio. Edward Eielding heads the cast. • Spyros Skouras is being annoyed by an infected right foot, but not enough to prevent him from attending to business every day. His brother, George, yesterday was bothered by a toothache. • Louise Henry, who flew to New York a few days ago because of the illness of her father, has returned to the coast by plane for finishing scenes in "Remember Last Night." • Lewis Jacobs, editor of Experimental Cinema, is going to conduct a course in film writing at the Institute for Adult Education starting Sept. 24. • Louis Phillips of the Paramount legal department is en route to St. Louis where he will dig in for the fall court campaign. • Hal Horne will go to New Haven Monday to address the New Haven Advertising Club on "Humor in Advertising." • J. D. Trop has been appointed American representative of the Towa Shoji G. K. Co., Japanese distributing company. • William Thiele's and Edmund L. Hartmann's "Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day" has been acquired by Universal. Robert Benjamin returned from a one-day trip to the Hub yesterday. • I. E. Chadwick plans to leave for Hollywood today. RCA Sales, Service Forces End Meeting Camden, Sept. 5. — Sales and service representatives of RCA Photophone completed a two-day meeting here today. Approximately 100 from both divisions attended. E. M. Hartley, sales manager of RCA, presided, with Edward Auger, his assistant, also in the chair. E. T. Cunningham, president of RCA Manufacturing Co., of which Photophone is a division, greeted the delegates. F. B. Ostman told the meeting that the company's service contracts were more than double this time last year. Richard Turner explained the entrance of the company into the Trans-Lux rear projection and Sonotone hardof-hearing fields. The rear projection equipment is being leased, the Sonotone sold. A demonstration of the newly developed push-pull method of recording, designed to eliminate noise, . was held. Thomas F. Joyce spoke on company advertising. Representatives of allied departments discussed the work of their divisions. A dinner was held at the Tavistock Country Club, concluding yesterday's session. Burlesque Theatres Closed by a Strike Burlesque performers are on strike in New York and a number of other cities — Paterson, Baltimore, Bfoston, Union City and Washington — and the theatres are dark. Houses affected here are the Apollo, Republic, Eltinge, W. Second St. ; People's, on the Bowery ; Gotham, on West 125th St., and the Irving Place. The walkout was called by the Burlesque Artists' Ass'n, an affiliate of Actors' Equity and the A. F. of L. Herbert K. Minsky, president of the Eastern Burlesque Managers' Ass'n, says the strikers refused arbitration. Thomas J. Phillips, union spokesman, says the performers wanted a return to the NRA guarantee of a day off in every 14, $22.50 minimum for the girls in stock and $25 on the road. Jersey Allied Men Talk Issues Today Allied of New Jersey's board of directors, nominating committee and officers will meet today with Sidney Samuelson to discuss administrative matters and leftover business from the Atlantic City convention. One of the topics expected to come up is the presidency. Samuelson has refused to continue in this post unless the organization gets down to business and keeps on its toes. The shore convention was adjourned two months to give the various committees sufficient time to show their support to the president. Juggle Chicago Bookings Chicago, Sept. 5. — Unable to get Joe E. Brown here to appear in person with the showing of "Bright Lights," Balaban & Katz juggled bookings and "Page Miss Glory" opened at the Chicago today. There was a heavy newspaper campaign in the Hearst paper. "Anna Karenina" follows "Steamboat 'Round the Bend" into the Roosevelt as a result of the changes and "Dark Angel" goes into the United Artists after an extended run of "China Seas." Without Stage Shows Philadelphia, Sept. 5. — The Earle and Fox begin their second week tomorrow without stage shows, as musicians and managers are still unable to reach an agreement. The first week has brought good grosses to both houses because of the wet Labor Day, which kept crowds in the city. Lasky's First in England Chicago, Sept. 5. — During his short stop between trains on his eastward trip today, Jesse L. Lasky said that he was on his way to London to make his first Pickford-Lasky production in the Korda studios in London. Nino Martini will be starred, he said. Short Subjects "Major Bowes Amateur Theatre of the Air, No. 1" (Biograph-RKO') This initial issue of Major Bowes' series of amateur radio performers makes a good, entertaining subject. With its ready-made audience of radio fans, it should rate special billing and attract extra business. Bowes himself and seven amateur radio acts are included. All are vocal or instrumental performers, but the reel is novel and rates as better than average short subject entertainment. Production Code Seal No. 0520. Running time, 17 mins. "G." "Johnny Green and His Orchestra" (Vitaphone) Something went wrong in the cutting of this "Melody Master." The various acts are thrown together regardless of sequence and order. While some of them are above average, the net result amounts to only a fair rating. Johnny Green is supposed to put some life into a sleepy mountain resort. He plays one number, then there is a hill billy trio, Majory Logan and Jimmie Farrell contributing their bits which somehow fail to click. Production Code Seal No. 0456. Running time, 9 mins. "G." "Time for Love" (Paramount) A new Fleischer cartoon in what is apparently a newly developed color process, this is an entertaining subject. The color provides surprising tints, which are in keeping with the fanciful nature of the subject. A male and female swan are love-making until a black rival appears to steal the sweetheart. When he mistreats her, the former lover comes to the rescue. Effective and entertaining. No production code seal. Running time, 7 mins. "G." "Lady in Red" ( Vitaphone) Leon Schlesinger does it again with a swell "Merrie Melody" in threecomponent Technicolor. In this number the cockroaches and flies make merry in their own insect fashion until an insidious parrot tries to capture the lady in red. The bird finds to his sorrow that the small creatures can give him a good dose of his own medicine and it doesn't take long before the parrot scampers off with a burning tail. The music, coupled with the intriguing antics of the pesky flies and roaches combine for a gay seven minutes of pleasing entertainment. Production Code Seal, No. 1064. Running time, 7 mins. "G." "Jolly Ol' London" (Van Beuren-RKO) A sightseeing tour of London in the company of the Easy Aces shouldn't be hard for theatre patrons to take. Glimpses of the city's world-renowned buildings and points of interest, with entertaining observations by the Aces as you go, make a brief but enjoyable "rubberneck" trip by celluloid. Production Code Seal No. 0568. Running time, 7 mins. "G."