Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

.V o v ember 1 . 1930 M o t i o n P i c t it r e N ews 23 OUTLOOK said to have obtained options, which were subsequently dropped. If s a Business It seems that things had been going a little tough for him ; even though he was one of the big shots, his weekly salary running into three figures. And so, to tide him over, he made several touches from one of his subordinates. Then, evidently, a lapse of memory. The underling was up on the carpet and his chief told him it meant the gate. "Okay," was the substance of the subordinate's reply. "I'll take the rap, but the prexy is going to have the lowdown on the whole deal." Which was a horse of a different color. iWas the underling kept on the payroll? Don't be silly. Short Story And then there is the case of another who had been scheduled for a big step up the ladder. The Insiders told you about him some time ago. Only, he was caught chiseling on his expense account. The practice was confined to comparatively small sums, but chiseling it was and he was called on it. The promotion was off, but he was given opportunity to hold his job. through repayment of the chiseled dough. It was agreed upon, but the repayments were not forthcoming. As a result, the gate swung wide, and he walked right through it. Just a Freak The president of a certain company this week got a load of the early gross returns on the first week showings of Amos 'n' Andy. This company happens to have a picture which — the company head thinks — should have done the same sort of business, but didn't. So in came the sales manager — by request. "How about this and how about our own picture?" asked the boss. "Don't pay any attention to those figures. To begin with they're exaggerated. Secondly, the Amos 'n' Andy affair is a freak and freaks don't count," parried the sales manager. One of the erudite Insiders tried to discover since when "freak" was synonymous with "showmanship," but failed to get to first base. 'Twos Ever Thus Really a clever fellow. His job is to publicize, as well as to advertise, his circuit's houses in a territory not so far from New York, and he does it very well. Or so it appeared on the surface. But recently his assistant was transferred to another city. And New York wondered why it was that So-and-So was slipping. It didn't occur to the big town executives that perhaps the removal of the assistant from the scene offered the explanation. There you have one slant. But the selfsame individual is really in a bad way. What you already know is merely one reason. The other two are these : His copy is often off-color. So much so that several rnerry-to-dos have resulted at headquarters. His superiors have warned him to watch his step, but apparently home office mandates mean nothing. He has gone the way of much flesh ; hi-hat. Since his last promotion this foolish young man has made himself inaccessible. That's oke, except when the inaccessibility touches the wrong people. While matters stand as they are, it won't be long before something happens. That Big If SHOW business is just a series of funny guesses. Take, for instance, the case of Amos 'n' Andy. At the time of the Tiffany convention in Chicago last season it was reported the veteran radio aces had made overtures to the company for production of a picture. The matter is said to have been hot and cold for several days, with the blackface stars even offering to put up their own dough. However, the deal fell through and the next move was the signing of a contract with RKO. All of which leads to a Big If, and just what would have been the outcome had that .Chicago proposal been otherwise acted upon. Another slant. Paramount was hot after them. The deal was practically set, so the story goes, when RKO, sensing the box-office potentialities of the team, stepped in and exercised its prerogative, by virtue of its hook-up with National Broadcasting Co. That move caused nlenty of feeling between Paramount and RKO at a time when a merger deal was pending between the two firms. . RAIDING on personnel, banned by edict of the Hays organization, is being resorted to by the sales manager of one company to a" degree which may lead to a campaign of retaliation by the outfit made the target of the raids. So far, the sales manager who has taken the offensive has weaned away from the rival company a number of its branch managers, salesmen and bookers. At present, dickering is under way for others. The intensity of the raids, directed only against this one company, has given rise to a query as to the real purpose behind them. One angle has it that malice is inspiring the attack and the truth is that the tactics are undermining the morale of the offending sales chief's own force. The company attacked is declared planning reprisals which will give the offender something to think about. This was indicated when its sales manager called his "opposition" and warned him that if a battle was wanted, he could have it and how. "I've been in the racket too long not to know how to meet underhanded tactics," was the substance of the warning, "and if you want to go to bat on the issue, I'll shoot up your payroll 300 per cent." The warning so far has gone unheeded. The Insiders learn, and a real storm, therefore, may be brewing. The funny part of it all is that the Hays association, which always has frowned on raids of personnel either is unaware of or is winking at the practice recited in the case in point, and the sales manager attacked can't talk to the "opposition" about it for the reason that the latter now declines to answer his phone when the other calls. Gelt-Getters Two big business chiefs sat down weeks ago to work out details of a deal which would place vending machines in each of a certain chain's several hundred theatres. One executive represented the circuit and the other, of course, represented the equipment manufacturer. They fought for hours, each attempting to drive a hard bargain. The result was an iron-clad agreement with very few concessions for either outfit. One clause, however, was inserted upon suggestion of the chain head which, on the face of it, appeared trivial. It stipulated that instead of the usual caption, "Drop Penny Here," the wording above the change slot must read : "Drop Coins Here," and the hole enlarged from regulation penny size to hold nickels, dimes and quarters. This little twist will result in increasing the circuit's net from the machines by at least $25,000 yearly, and the reason, according to the genius who engineered it, may be explained in the public's carelessness in inserting silver coins, instead of copper, in slot machines. THE INSIDERS