Variety (Oct 1931)

VARIETY JPIC YVRES toesday, Ocbber 6, 1931 Fox May Dispose of AD Its Eastern JHouses, Incln^ Dduxers^ witb Gosing of Deal with Skouras ftros. Fox haa received bids for Its 38 upstate New York.houses from sepa- rate sources,' following: completion ot the Skouras deal' for .44, Fox. houses In ' Manhattan, the Bronx, Long Islojid and New Jersey with Fox sharing profits. The Skouras deal completed, last week' does not take In Paramount, actively. It Is an independent negotiation for the ' Skouras Brothers In which- Para- mount so far has not indicated de- sire to exercise a pairtnershlp privi- lege.' ^'^ • ^Skouras, however, remains as a Ibnlted' partner ot. Paramotint and retains his official position there as per . contract,'regaidless of the Fox deal Fox now has only the Roxy and the Brooklyn Fox :in New .Vork ter rltory, both deluxers. Skouras may take over the houses this week i>ending'the Ironing out of certain, details . .relative . to this manoeuver. In. any event the houses will change wet by Nov. 1. Harry Wfliodln, gen. mgr. of this sector for Fox under Harry Arthur, may re- main east but that's not certain as tentatively .he Is also scheduled to go west for Fox, later, and with Ar- thur:' Pre-Preview Hollyyrood columnist who "had Constance Bennett met by. . a croWd of 10,000 at Kew York while the actress was still on Uie high seas, can- take a back seat. Current number ot 'Motion . Pictures,'' fan ihag, has a re- view on Par's ; 'No One Man." Picture hasn't gone into pro- duction yet.—'Variety'a' HoUy- ■ mood Bulletin, Goldwyn and Hornblow Getting Ready to Sail Hollywood, Oct. 5.. ! Samuel. Goldwyn will probably so ieast early in November and Arthur Hornblow In December, -both meet- ing abroad for their usual winter siesta prior to resuming, production after the first of the year.- Joseph M. Schenck has no Inten- tion of taking charge of production standard of four productions per season. Goldwyn's obligations ot loyaltyi etc., to U. A. and Schenck personally Induced him to take bvei' the entire U. A. program. Goldwyn. is through with his own program'upon the cutting and edit- ing of 'Tonight Or Never' (Swan- -son), 'Greeks Had a Word for It' and "Arrowsmlth,* all of which arc still t|i the last stages of shooting. Cinelog for Travelogs Cinelog Corp. has been organized under a Vfev Ybrk state charter to produce travelogs and shorts. - . President is Lorenzo Del ^cclo, formerly with Paramount .1 Anns' Hands Ti^d . Los Angeles, Oct, 5. Injunction restraining William M. Arms from exhibiting Vitaphone shorts from his ballyhoo motor truck, issued last No'v'ember to the Vitaphone Corporation, is now permanent. Arms said he received 11 cut- down shorts and accompanying disks as compensation for plugging Warner Brothers theatres and pic- tures, Vitaphone Corp, disclaimed any obligation for deals with'War- ner theatres. Iagain'if he can help It, although It's no se£ret among thie Goldwyn tac tlon that they prefer that past houses come from a former national —• '' operator and also from a former Fox Film official, each negotiating separately. When ahd If a deal may be completed wlth^ther it will take Fox actively out of theatre opera- tion in the east except for the-Poll 14 houses in New England and one In Port Chestier, N, Y, now under direction of Herschel Stuart, gen^^ mgr. under Harry Arthur. Only Detuxera Left Other Fox houses remolnlng in the east besides ^the Roxy and the Brooklyn Fox are only the key city deluxers in Atlanta^ St. Louis, Phil- adelphia, Washington and Detroit. The Mldwcsco section under Harry Fitzgerald is being turned over to Fox-West Coast' for operation. As the-situation now stands, even these deluxers, except for the Roxy and the Brooklyn Fox, may go. At least two of the Bpbts. are being angled for by operators. They might' be the Skouras Brothers, althought that is not Icnown.. Fox may step out altogether from the St Louis and Detroit section as in- dicated by the fa;ct.that interest on the Fox Theatres' »6,400i00j0 Halsey- Stuart. bojids on these two houses due Oct; 1 is in detaut. Disposal of that issue is up to Halsey-Stuart and the bond h6lders with the position that Fox is willing to hold on to these spots it fixed charges can be reduced to a logical lousiness basis. Protection In the Skouras deal Fox Is pjjo- tected by a 26-year franchises for product, while the Skourascis also contract for Fanchon & Marco tal- ent. The deal while not necessitat- ing any big cash turnover, for im mediate consideration, runs to around $60,000,000 in rentals over that period,'the Skourases . leasing the spots outright from Fox Thea tres. All in all it marks practical com- pletion of the-Arthur' decentraliza tlon plan in the east where the aim has been Cor a more economical op crating sclicme on a, basis of inten- sified operation by local directing heads. For Fox Theatres it has brought a saving already of up- ' wards of $1,000,000 in overhead with negotiation ot the Skouras deal besides the possibility ot closing for the upstate Fox houses, protected by film franchises which .will save around $3,000,000 In overhead through tire Arthur plan, while still enjoying operating patronage al though not directly engaged thot way, since Fox shores in profits, Lodw's-RKO Position On the Skouras deal the ticklish angle l3 the position of Lofcw's and IIKO. Loew's having domlnatod the eastern sector around New York enpeclully because of its stragetic theatre position and buying power plus a product agi;eement with rai-amount -ivhich made it logical for Par to refrain from buying or- building in llils'territory, ThoDgh Paramount will have no direct active voice In the Skouras Al Cohn, Script M.D. Hollywood, Oct. 5, Al Cohn at Fox has turned from straight writing assignments tem- porarily and is doctoring some of the studio's unbalanced scripts. In line with the Fox policy to have, all scripts thoroughly ready be fore production starts. Executive Attentioii for Submitted Stinries Now iGuaranteed by Studios A Plecksure Rochefster,' N. Y., Oct, 6.. Thft aldermen in Horncll de- cided . the .Majestic theatre should pay . more tax. Ordered an investigation of receipts and then-reduced the. tax $26 a year. The consistent tick and sound ot a dock deteiinln'es lt/9 value as a necessity in tbe .homej Just as'the manager of a theatre realizes the value of a consistent act that clicks with thef audience. YORK and KING Direction JENIE JACOBS . REEVES A LAMPORT . WB-METRO CLOSE TO AGREEMENT ON TERMS Warners -and Metro conferred nearly all-of the past week patching up their differences over Metro sales' terms. The likelihood is- that If not already settled the matter may be Ironed out to suit both com- ,panles shortly. Warner said Metro's terms were too high. That Is only one way as Metro, is closed for Warner product on the Loew circuit; Sales terms as given' are being negotiated between Felix Feist for Metro and Sam Morris tot Wiirners. : Deal -win include those situations where Metro did not previously sell to the opposition,' including chains such as Publlx which has an M-G franchise, Metro Is also tied up in numerous spots -with Indies. The .deal, now being -worked' out between Itetro and WB, is not in the nature of suggfesting peace fol- lowing a.'recently reported break. Had there been friction, Ixiew's doubtless would not have closed some time ago for the WB-PN pro- grams. Selznick and Radio? Radio Pictures Is reported dicker- ing with David Selznick over the Selznick - Milestone proposed in- dependent film productions. Selznick is said to have been un- able to reach an. agreeable under- standing In New York so far with distributors on the financing end. No details reported about the Radio negotiations, if any. ALL SHORTS IN ST. LOUIS C0ULDN7 MAKE OUT St. Louis, Oct; 6. After several months George Bowser has . decided there are not enough persons who care for . an all short program to make his Hollywood theatre ion. St. Charles street pay. He's-going to the fea- ture policy; '.' Bowser has leased the Embassy, which he will open about Oct. 16 with Metro's 2d runs.' 100 Yrs. Back mTenn; OBtrmlngham, Oct. 5. ' Attorney general' of Tennessee has warned the Knox Charities of KnoxviUe that it Sunday shows are continued at the Rialto, they will have an invitation to the hoosegow. The RIalto has been operating Sundays by the charitable organiza- tion with part.of the receipts turned over to charity. Paul B. White, head ot the Charities says that he win continue to operate on Sundays until his attorney tells him to stop. Chest Wants $200,000 Hollywood, Oct. 6. Studio employees are asked' to contribute $200,000 to the Commun- ity Chest this year, a 26-0 quota tilt Last year actual contributions came to $104,000. Winfleld Sheer haii, this year's chairman of the pic- ture division, . thinks increased studio activity will put workers In a, giving mood. Wash, on Again Hollywood, Oct B. Charles Forrester's production 6f 'George Washington' Is on again. Forrester claims he has another bankroll, and that he -will get started on the picture within the next two months. Picture has been on and off for the past year, with Forrester at one time handing out contracts ' to. Alan Crossland, di- rector, and Belle Bennett Both tossed up the tickets after weeks of stalling by Forrester. Radio Sells 4 Talkers to Other Circuit Houses on Broadway operation of the Fox houses pur chased, nevertheless by virtue of Skouras afniiatlon in other Par the atre projects it makes Par a logical overseer of the east. That goes right to the Atlantic Seabbaird and New England where Par has the majority of circuit houses, RKO formerly negotiated for seven of the Fox combo houses In and around New York, but pulled out after completing certain product deals with Paramount and Warners and through consent ot Loew's which held the option of Par prod- uct. Fox formerly got the 'Warner product and that Loew-RKO-War- ner deal slipped Fox Theatres re- liance only for Fox Film product. That makes a rub both ways, for: while it leaves the Skouras Brothers with only'Fo;: product In New York from the present outlook. It has loaded both Loew's and RKO with around 70 or so additional features for which neither RKO nor Loew's has siifflcleht outlet, making the product de.ol over-costly. Looks from that angle like the three now will get together and set- tle that angle before Skouras takes over the Fox houses or later. Radio Pictures and Indle film pro- ducers look to- benefit by the ap- parent .buying orgy on the part of certain circuits early' lii the season whlbh has made the affiliated the- atre positions of' the . Broadway houses precarious as. to product supply. As a result Radio benefits by having four pictures sold to out- side circuits this month and away from RKO. Two ot. these; 'Smart Woman' and 'Friends and .Lovers,' go to the Roxy, ''Woman' on Friday (9), Other week of Oct. 23, A third Radio' picture, 'Gay - Diplomat,' Is scheduled tor Warners week of Oct; 23. Fourth is 'Woman Between' tor Broadwiiy Paramount With date not yet settled. . Tho situation; apparently arose through Loew's and RKO dividing the Warner, and Paramount product between them this season. For RKO this meant an overload one way or the other of Its own aAlliated Radio product and for Loew's it's Metro product' Together it means' something like 70 pictures, extra for both. Warner product hitherto has gone to Fox but somehow sold a'way from Fox this season. The Roxy thus .heading for some support annually to outside product and away from Fox Film for cer- tain weeks as per custom bought currently from Radio as did War- ners. One House Short The situation is Just aa keen that way tor iparamount which already has spotted one indie made, 'Mad Parade,' at the Broadway Para- mount, and lately was compelled to shunt 'American Tragedy' earlier than expected from its special run at. tho Crltferion Into the Paramount Radio pictures- usually, get their first showings on Broadway at tho Maytalr but with RKO having taken on both Warners a:nd Paramount product besides its afflllatcd films from RKO-Pathb, Radio finds Itsell compelled to sell away and appar- ently successful, as Indicated, Previously RKO had two Broad- way houses to clear its talkers through. Now it has but one, May- fair. The other, Globe, is return- ing, to legit The RKO theatre dept. consented to Radio's outside book ings on Broadway, Hollywoodi Oct, 6. Opportunity for writers to protesi that their: stories rarely get read on submission except by underpaid readers, is fast being removed, witii major studies putting in a system, forcing reading'of all stories by as-, soclate producers. System was Involved by Para-, mo'iint, whore it is reported 62 stories Were bought during the Idet year through the process, . Fox, Metro and' Radio are now ■ putting. Ill this method, after having called on Paramount men -to show thcfm, how it's done. Synopses Book's Under the Paramount arrange-^ ment all stories submitted are re-, duced to synop&es by readers, these being mimeographed In the form of a book and sent to all directors and ' execs, Every Monday Be«s a nev;; «;rop, and by Friday every .aesoci'^ ate producer is expected to turn iik, a written report on each story. Re-> port is' to eliminate the ducking' process. Idea was evolved by XMwIh Mon^ tagne, scenario editor, iand his .as- sistant, Dt^vld Letris. Latter has. been borrowed recently by other studios to assist In 'Installation of the scheme. Phinkett East After Raffling Studio Calm; Realigns Coast Tune Hollywood, Oct, B,_' An anticipated month's stay bfe^ coming unnecessairy through Jo- seph E. Plunkett cleaning up hii work here quickly, the general manager of RKO Theatres returrtli to New York with his wife the eiitt of this week. While'here-the past . two weeks Plunkett has 'been sit- ting In on Radio- aind RKO-Path© production matters, lending, his ex- . pert boxofflce opinions on forth- coming product ' ■ ■ ". Rumors ot impending changes in the Radio Pictures stiidlo spread from the start although there was no such purpose In Plunkett's cur- rent visit. Execs were telling each other at golf that certain things might come to pass. Plunkett came but also to confer with Cliff Work, local RKb division manager, on change of policy. He okiayefl the, RKO, L. A., for an eight-act policy; stage band for the Orpheum, "Frisco, and a possible- similar policy for the local Orph. At tho studio, where Plunkett has been fairly familiar with the setup, his opinion on boxofflce and stories seemed regarded as valuable. Jo- seph I.'' Schnltzer also Invited Plunkett to give Pep Talks to the Radio studio personnel. Plunkett It is understood refused to go Into that sort of thing, dis- claiming, responsibility, excepting that as'the RKO's responsible the- atre . operating head he'had some positive ideas on the type of pic- tures wanted. .'Asked How and Why Plunkett did ask a lot of ques- tions on why and how certain things, happen on the Radio lot Impressed with. the . first. two reels of 'Frankenstein' (U) which James Whale directed, Plunkett wanted to know why Whale who had been on the loose so long wasn't signed by Radio. Also queried about Hope Williams, known In a limited sense on Broadway and. unknown gon- erally, being engaged tor Radio stardom. Miss Williams' dimcultlcs with 'Pent House' culminated in John Howard Lawson, who wrote the story, leaving for the east in a huff following an argument with Gregory LaCava who was to have directed. Meantime Miss Williams, laying oft on Radio's salary, must be back on Broadway next month, with no story ready., foj her. Law.son is also duo back on a three-a-ycar writing contract. Plunkett's boxofflce slant figured in 'Are These Our Children?' with its tragic ending. Special trailers at supplementary previews invited audience votes on whether to re- tain the hanging finish or swltcl? It to a 20-year or lite .sentence. Plunkett had In mind the 'Ameri- can Tragedy' boxofflce reaction.