Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1937)

14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD July 10, 1937 19 BURROUGHS STORIES (Continued from preceding page) Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Lillie, Inc., novel by Tishla Naomi, bought by Leo McCarey. Lost Horizons, play by Harry Segall, bought by MGM. Charles MacArthur will write the screen play. Mad King, The, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Meet the Duchess, original story by Dixie Willson, bought by Republic. Monster Man, The, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Moon Maid, The, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Murder in the Air, original story by Edward Lansing, bought by General. Nothing Sacred, original story by James Street, bought by Selznick-International' for release through United Artists. The screen play will be written by Ben Hecht. Outlaw of Torn, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Pellucidar, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Prince Charming of Podunk, original story by Edmund L. Hartmann, bought by Radio. Room Service, current Broadway hit by John P. Murray and Allen Boretz, bought bv Radio for $255,000. Secret Service Smith, series of novels and stories, numbering 17 in all, by Major R. T. M. Scott, bought by E. B. Derr. Crescent Pictures plans to get at least six features for this season out of the properties. Stage to Lordsburg, magazine story by Ernest Haycox, bought by John Ford. Substitute Prisoner, novel by Max Marcin, bought by General Pictures. Suez Canal Story Suez, original story dealing with the construction of the Suez Canal and the career of its engineer, Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, bought by Twentieth Century-Fox to star Simone Simon. Sweet Land of Liberty, play of the Federal Theatre Project by George Bradshaw and Joseph Bigelow, has been bought by Samuel Goldwyn for release through United Artists. The film will be a musical built around the original Federal Theatre Project. Tanor of Pellucidar, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal Productions. Two Well-Dressed Men, original story by Jack Neville, bought by Monogram. LTgly Duckling, original story by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, bought by MGM. Allan Jones, Judy Garland, Billie Burke and Frank Morgan have been assigned leading roles. Untitled Original, by Benny Rubin and Bert Granett, bought by Radio to star Wheeler and Woolsey. War Chief, The, original story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bought by Sol Lesser, head of Principal. White Rider, original operetta by Betty Laidlaw and Robert Lively, bought by Joe Rock in London. Release will be through Grand National in America. Without Warning, play by Spenser Zink, bought by Warners. Yellow Nightingale, original story by Herman Bahr of the Mississippi River showboat era, bought by Paramount to star Gladys Swarthout. John Boles and Adolph Menjou will appear in the two leading roles. ORIGINALS STILL MAIN SOURCE According to statistics compiled by Me tro-Goldwyn -Mayer, in 193 6 nearly 70 per cent of all motion picture stories were originals written by studio writers. In 193 5, these stories represented only 50 per cent of Hollywood's outlet. Novels seem to be falling off, the report also says, as a source of story supply for, whereas 142 were made into pictures in 1915, only 92 reached the screen in 193 6. Stage plays continue to hold their own since there was no decrease in the supply of plays and short stories for the screen. However, these still form only a minority among all material used. The MGM report concluded that in 193 6 no less than 371 original stories ivritten for the screen were produced. Paramount Suits Up for Settlement Conferences having an out-of-court settlement as their aim have been opened by the Paramount reorganization trustees in their two suits to recover alleged damages and losses from former officers and directors of the company. The trustees, whose action was started in 1934, charge losses of several million dollars resulting from excessive sums paid to company executives, socalled profits made by the defendants out of an employees' stock purchase plan, and fulfillment by the company of the agreements for stock repur Discussions were reported to be in the early stage, with no definite proposals made as yet. Indications pointed, however, to mutual desire between Root, Clark, Buckner & Ballantine, attorneys for the plaintiffs, and counsel for the 24 defendants that out-ofcourt settlement be made in preference to costly litigation. Defendants in the first action include Paramount's board of directors from 1927 to 1931. They are: Jules Brulatour, Harold B. Franklin, Daniel Frohman, Sam Katz, Sidney R. Kent, Ralph Kohn, Jesse L. Lasky, the estates of Elek J. Ludvigh, Maurice Newton, Sir William Wiseman, Herbert Wobber, Adolph and Eugene Zukor. Defendants charged with "unreasonable compensation" are Eugene Zukor and Messrs. Lasky, Kent, Katz and Kohn. Those who would be compelled to return profits — "actual or potential" — accruing from the employees' stock purchase plan are Felix M. Warburg, Jerome J. Hanauer, Gordon Leith, George W. Bovenizer, Lewis L. Strauss, Wiseman, and the estates of Otto M. Kahn and Mortimer L. Schiff. Germany, Italy Seen Continuing Congress Control by PIERRE AUTRE in Paris Continued control of the International Film Chamber by Germany and Italy and use of the group as an instrument for propaganda by the two countries seemed apparent at the annual meeting in Paris this week. Georges Lourau, vice-president of the French Cinema Confederation and manager of the French Films Sonores Tobis, was named president of the Chamber to succeed Oswald Lehnich, president of the Reichs Filmkammer. At the conclusion of Mr. Lourau's term the presidency will be given an Italian, thus destroying all hopes for changes in control from the hands of Germany, Italy and their supporters, which include all countries in Central Europe, even Poland. Before the Chamber convened it had been the hope that its complexion would change sufficiently to induce the United States and England to participate in its activities. The election of Mr. Lourau gave rise to the belief because of his position in the French branch of Tobis, that Germany would continue its leadership of the Chamber. Informal opinions were that France, Belgium and Luxembourg sought to gain control through the entrance of the United States and England. Besides the official delegates the majority of those attending the meetings were German, Italian and Central European. Luigi Freddi, Italian cinema chief, was present as a visitor. In addition to the French Confederation members who acted as hosts, 17 other nations were represented with the delegates divided as follows: Germany, 17; Italy, 12; Austria, 10; Belgium, 14; Czechoslovakia, three; Norway, four; Switzerland, two, and one each for Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Rumania, Japan and India. Neville Kearney, secretary of the Film Group of the Federation of British Industries, attended the meeting as a member of the authors' rights commission, the first session of which was attended also by Harold Smith, European representative of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, to whom the copyright situation is of interest. Fanchon and Marco Pool Four St. Louis Houses Nine theatres in St. Louis are involved in a pooling agreement made this week by Harry C. Arthur, executive operating head of Fanchon and Marco, with Bess Schulter and Alex Papand. The F and M's houses are Granada, Maplewood, Kingsland and Shaw while the Schulter-Papand units are the Avalon, Roxy, Whiteway, Columbia and Powhattan. Under the agreement, which gives F and M 47 theatres in the St. Louis territory, the F and M circuit will do the buying and will supervise operations.