Publix Opinion (Aug 31, 1929)

PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF AUGUST 3lst, 1929 JKOR PEAKS me ee ot MAGNIFICENT TRIBUTE! MR. LA SPIRIT REFLECTED IN PARAMOUNT STUDIOS (Reprinted from VARIETY by Permission) Every day in the year approximately 2,450 persons are busy behind the scenes at the two Paramount studios in New York and Hollywood making Paramount Pictures. The public sees and knows but few of these yet each one is essential in the production of a Publix B. & K. theatres in Chicago used this for Trailer copy. WILL IRWIN VARIETY by Permission) old; and the work is done that he was ver, he beholds a field of ameni unfits them for thai second stage, when siege and fruition demand stable organization. Zu glittering -Variety, America’s foremost theatrical journal last week devoted over two hundred pages to the tremen inly; and + Og See ‘i : ; PERHOEe kor made the transition painlessly; showed himself equally able as an organizer and an administrator. His abilities, indeed, seem marvelously fluid. Good Picker A successful administrator, Zukor has, of course, his skill in| picking men, his art in managing them. He likes longterm service. | He will reach out and grab a| star actor as quickly as any man-| ager; for what a star can do he| has already learned from that} screen which is the only test. He! is slower in selecting an executive; | He keeps his prospect under observation for some time— as he| did, for example, in the case of Sam Katz. For “what a man does! today he will do next Monday,”’ he says. Once employed, Zukor likes to keep him for life. Im |}managing men, he conceals the iron under the velvet glove. Now and then in face of utter stupidity treachery, his old temper breaks forth. The intelligeht and efficient he manages in such way jas not to let them know that they are being managed. “I have worked with him for 15 years,”’ says one of his ve terans, “and I’ve made many serious mistakes. Never yet has Zukor reproved me. Only when the crisis is over, and I realize as well as anyone what I've done, he glides into my of fice and says, ‘Next time do it ee WO Soe ea The contradictory mixture of humility with confidence and overveering ambition derived probably : ; tied in the early, obscure years of “6 | childhood—an inferiority complex jeompounded of his obscure, unhappy origin, his smalless of stature, his shadowing by a brilliant brother whose powers blossomed earlier. Such an implanted trait, developing its abnormal protective mechanism, runs in dous achievement of Paramount Famous. Lasky pictures and to Publix Theatres. In this issue Variety says “Publix is the Flower of the Moving Picture industry. It comprises the most effective group of theatres in the world and is accorded the highest public acclaim” and Variety adds “this mighty chain of Publix Theatres gives patrons the utmost in entertainment and brings comfort, beauty and healthful atmosphere to over twenty-five million people each week. principles—of his business, or politics of life. In such discussion, he looses eloquence, an epigrammatic faculty almost poetic at times and even a sly, perceptive MURIOT . s wes 5 A turbulent sparkling river, with rapids, lapping waves on the shore, whirling eddies. It seems to the eye that these manifes|tations of power contain the power itself. They do not. Underneath, unseen motive power of these strik picture. Each one is a specialist in his line from the hand property man, who takes care of the little details of the set, to the director. The extremely complicated problem of co-ordinating the various elements of the production organizations is directly in the hands of Jesse L. Lasky, first vice-president in charge of production for the Paramount-Fa mous Lasky Corporation, and| his chief aides, Walter Wanger, general manager of production, B. P. Schulberg, general manager of the Paramount studio in Hollywood, and James R. Cowan, general manager of the eastern studio. Mr. Lasky, who began making pictures in an old barn in Hollywood in 1913 when he and C. B. DeMille produced “The Squaw Man,” is considered one of the best production minds in the motion picture industry.. Mr. Lasky always has been a pioneer. He was one of the first men from the | Coast —_San Francisco where he} was born—to go to Alaska and at | |the time of the earliest gold rush | |\was one of the first hundred men | to reach Nome. This desire to ful pictures. A company might have the best star available in a good story and have it directed by a first class director, but if the cameraman, electricians and other technicians on the picture were not up to their job nothing more than a mediocre effort would be the result on the screen. Technical perfection always has been one of the outstanding features of Paramount pictures. They have a smoothness and clear-cut form that is the direct result of the complete co-operation between the creative group of studio workers and the technical group. After New People The production department is constantly in search of new people both in the creative and technical field. Several years ago when the company wanted new faces on the screen a school for young players was established at the Long Island studio and out of this school Paramount got Charles “Buddy” Rogers, one of its outstanding stars today. Others who graduated from this school are making good with other compa ing manifestations, runs the cur-|+raye] uncharted courses has been | nies. rent—puissant, quiet, undisturbed. |. So on the surface of the business which Adolph Zukor founded jone of the guiding forces in the production of Paramount Pictures. | Never satisfied to follow a set pro| When sound came to motion pictures the production depart move and flash blazingly display, | ram, Mr. Lasky and his producshallow, glittering advertising, tion forces always have led the tinsel decoration. But 1 haa oe into new fields and to new neath, motive-power of all, 48! types of pictures. run for 15 years the deep, placid| from some knot of consciousness | consciousness of this man. from the volume, “The House That Shadows Built,’’ published by Doubleday Doran Company. ELSIE JANIS TO SUPERVISE BIG FEATURE some able spirits into arrogance; | as witness the comparatively mediocre Mussolini and the genius Napoleon. Zukor has avoided this defect of his qualities, and the cause, probably lies partly in his steely will and partly in the character of his intelligence. Observing He is one-half of a good reporter. He goes through the world with his eyes open, an acute collector of facts, human sidelights, even gossip. Remember’ that when he decided seriously to enter moving, picture exhibition, he studied the business in every aspect. But this acquisitive accumulation does not come forth in oral or written expression. Exeept in rare moments of relaxation, he avoids reminiscence. By a habit which has grown on him he states any old transaction of his complex career in its simplest, lowest terms. That vital struggle for control between production and distribution, for example —-ask him about it and he will answer, probably something like | Blsie Janis, affectionately known as “Sweetheart of the A. E. F.,” American musical comedy and vaudeville star, has been signed “to contribute material ideas and talent and to supervise production” of an unusual Paramount feature now in preparation. | Mr. Lasky refused to divulge the ltitle or plans for the picture allthough he hinted that it will be lq gsuper-talking, singing and dancing production with every |star and featured player lunder contract to Paramount in |Hast and West Coast studios tak| ing part.” | The story is being written in Hollywood now and actual filming |will start within a month. The 'full resources of company’s writling, acting, directorial and techni|cal departments will be placed be|hind the picture; each director and writer contributing his or her ishare to the preparation plans. | Every idea with an entertainment | possibility will be given consider| ation. TRENCH HELPS B. O. Manager John Harmon secured 200 sacks of sawdust and a load of dirt to build a trench in front His mind is a crucible into which loads raw ore of oboe raws it out pure ; and then he wields that ion, odieey is inarticulate. Able they care to express never are. However, talks most easily and naturon abstractions and general .|of the Publix Strand Theatre, Knoxville, Tenn., to exploit “‘Behind the German Lines.” On top of the trench were placed all of the paraphernalia that is usually used in warfare, in mess kits, cups, mirrors and knives, which were furnished by the Salvage Stores and greatly aided to create the effectiveness of the display. Note— This excerpt is printed| Production Personnel The problem of production personnel is twofold. It deals with creative talent and technical workfers. In the first class are writers, actors, directors, supervisors, scenic artistS and designers, cameramen and fashion creators. A vast army. of carpenters, electricians, mechanics, property men, painters, and laborers make up the second group. Added to these is the sound recording department, members of which fall into both classes. A list of the dif| ferent departments in the Paramount studios includes the:-following: Actors, associate producers, assistant directors, camera department, cutters, directors, casting department, scenario department, title and printing department, architects, carpenters, electrical construction department, engineering department, laborers, mechanical department, nursery, plaster shop, prop handling, prop making, scenic department, set dressing department, special effects department, sound recording department, stage electricians, transportation department, character wardrobe, modern wardrobe, accounting and timekeeping department, estimating department, general office, janitors, medical department, music department, publicity department, restaurants, secretaries and stenographers, watchmen, laboratory, laboratory machine shop. Paramount has more than 100 actors under contract. .In its scenario. department there are 80 writers and dialogue experts. Thirty directors are constantly busy in the two studios preparing, filming and editing pictures. These men, and in some instances women, have scores of assistants who help in the enormous amount of detail that is necessary in the making of a motion picture.. While the people in front of the camera are of great importance to the public it is the large number of technicians never seen on the screen that makes it possible for a company to produce success ment was faced with the problem of getting players who could speak | lines and of testing the players | they already had for their ability to talk. As a result of this new condition in the production of | pictures Paramount has introduced many new faces to the screen. Such notable players as Moran | and Mack, Ruth Chaiterton, Jeanne Eagels, Dennis King, Gertrude Lawrence, Helen Morgan, Hal Skelly, Kay Francis, Eddie | Cantor, Walter Huston, Claudette Colbert, Mary Eaton, Jeannette | MacDonald, Lillian Roth and Maurice Chevalier were added to the roster of picture stars which in|cluded Richard Arlen, George Bancroft, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Nancy Carroll, Gary Cooper, Charles Rogers and William | Powell. | New directors came into the picture with sound. George Abbott, Rouben Mamoulian, John Cromwell, Basil Dean, Robert Milton and others took their places with Ernst Lubitsch, Victor Schertzinger, Frank Tuttle, Joseph Von Sternberg, Edward Sytherland and others who have been making pictures for years. Executives Dialog was not the only thing t be considered in making die) 5 thee tures. Music immediately became an important factor in the motion picture studio. To meet this demand a music department was organized in, both the east and west studios arid now 45 composers, arrangers. directors and musicians are employed to give original music as well as to adapt the old familiar tunes for use in Paramount pictures. Morris Press heads the eastern department and Nathaniel Finston is at the | head of the west coast department. The executive personnel at the Paramount west coast studios includes the following: Albert A. Kaufman, assistant to Mr. Lasky, M. C. Levee, executive manager; David O. Selznick, assistant to Mr. Schulberg; associate producers, B. P. Fineman, Hector Turnbull, Louis D. Lighton, J. G. Bachman, BF, Seidman, and B. Lloyd Sneldon: Sam Jaffe. production manager; Henry Herzbrunn, legal representative; A. C, Martin, studio comptroller: Julian Johnson, head of editing and title department, Edward Montague, ediahr eecat ke ae ee story de ead, and Geoffr lock, scenario editor. eee At the Paramount studio in Lon Island Monta Bell is associate aren ducer;. John Fingerlin, executive manager; Ernest head of titl soy dopanit ind W liad Sankt studio comptroller, maa.