Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1929)

10 Motion Picture News December 7, 1929 An Insider's Outlook WILD speculation will follow closely on the heels of the latest Fox development. In the last few weeks, New York has been overflowing with stories about Fox and his financial condition. Ever since the bottom fell so completely out of the stockmarket, rumors — most of them ugly — have been circulating. But those stories concerned his personal situation almost entirely. Then came this and that about his various enterprises. On the one hand, an "insider" would tell you Fox had lost control of the institutions he had spent twenty years in erecting. One of the astounding commentaries on a complex and involved situation had it that the Fox companies were slated to crash with a resounding smack such as even this business had never heard. Bunk. Pure and simple. Here are some facts which are facts. Read them carefully, for when you finish, the real story will be yours : The Dope On Profits Fox Film Corporation will return a net profit of between $13,000,000 and $15,000,000 this year, an unprecedented earning power for that company. It is peak profit and more. Fox Theatres Corporation will end its fiscal year with a $3,000,000 net reposing in its treasury. Fox West Coast Theatres, under the competent hand of Harold B. Franklin, will earn about $4,000,000 this year. Fox Metropolitan Playhouses, Inc., the destinies of which are guided by Joe Leo, is using black ink in large dabs and writing down almost $70,000 a week in earnings. And, while the profits of these last, but none the less important subsidiaries will be included in the 1929 returns for the Fox major companies, it is significant to mention the strides they are making as proof positive that the Fox structure is founded substantially and well on solid foundations. And Those Fox Pictures Fox attractions are doing an unusual business. Box-office reports from key cities tell the story beyond argument. Pictures like "The Cock-Eyed World," "Sunnyside Up," "They Had To See Paris" and others on the current program are cutting a wide swath all over the Town Topics By Harry L. Reichenbach "The Industry's Roastmaster** FIRST EXHIBITOR: "Did anyone question my courage?" Second Exhibitor : "They didn't even mention it." * * * THE Saturday afternoon poker game at the club has settled down to the survival of the tightest. 1 PREDICT there will be a big break in the stock market several weeks ago. GOOD buy right now — good bye. * * * AN auditor at the Embassy complained that there was no plot in the pictures. * * * DEDICATED to the heroes of Wall Street— "The Taming of the Shrewd." * * * MARY DUNCAN is in New York. She was lost in the shuffle at Grand Central when her train arrived. The result was that Mac Murray, who was on the same train, stole all the publicity the next morning, being hooked-up with the "weather story" breaking icicles off the locomotive of the 20th Centurv. A nation. To dwell on this in detail would be like gilding the w. k. lily. What happened is merely this : Fox, accustomed to lightning-like moves, determined to acquire Loew's, Inc. Then Gaumont British, which oc cupies a spot in the British industry akin to Loew's in the United States. Deals of this nature required money — gobs of it. Fox made his arrangements but the financing was short-term. Then what the world at large held to be impossible happened. The stock market bit the dust. Those outstanding obligations had to be met, but money was tight. The result you can figure out for yourself. The difficulty is temporary. It has to be. There is too much at stake. Stuart and Otterson of the trusteeship committee know it. So does Fox. And, knowing it, it follows that what has to be done will be done. Fox Stays In Saddle The Fox name, its trade-mark value and its international ramifications in the motion picture scheme are too closely intertwined with the entire fabric of the industry for anything to happen to it. The leaders of the business, it is this forum's opinion, would be the first to tell you that. Furthermore, Fox is still in the saddle. And there he remains. It is important to make this as emphatic as possible. The voting stock of Fox Film is vested in the "B" stock of which 100,000 shares have been issued. A survey of the corporate set-up reveals that this block is owned entirely by Fox personally. There you have rather conclusive evidence of the way the wind is blowing. Sheehan And Grainger There will be much conferencing. Two Irishmen, both of them important in the annals of filmdom, are going to have far more to do than ever before. And that is saying a good deal. Their names? Sheehan and Grainger. Winnie has made a reputation and a record for himself that are the marvels of the West Coast. What Grainger has done to skyrocket Fox Film sales during the last three years is known to everybody who knows his picture business. These two men will figure even more largely in the future of the Fox enterprises. Never mind how, when or where. That's a story of the future. When what is to happen happens, remember this outlook tower told you so. K A N N Published weekly by Motion Picture News. Inc. Founded in September, 1913. Publication, Editorial and General Offices, 729 Sez'cnth Avenue, New Yo>v\ City. William A. Johnston. President and Publisher; E. J. Hudson. Vice-President; Maurice Kann, Editor; Raymond E. Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Paul M. Abbott, Manager of Equipment Advertising. Los Angeles Office: Hotel Roosevelt, Hollywood, Walter R. Greene, Western Representative. Chicago Office: 910 So. Michigan Avrnue* Phone: Harrison 2431. Harry E. Holquist, Central West Representative. Subscription Price: $3.00 per year in United States. Mexico and all U. S. Possessions. Canada, $5.00; Foreign, $10.00. Copyright, 1929, by Motion Picture News, Inc., in United States and Great Britain. Title registered in United States Patent Office and foreign countries. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, New York, N. Y., April 22, 1926, under Act of March 3, 1379.