Variety (Nov 1931)

>- Tuesday, November 3, 1931 P ICTU RES VARIETY 9 Film Critics Box Score AS OF NOVEMBER 1 Key to abbreviation!: PC (Pictures caught), R (right)r W (wrong)) O (no opinion expresaed), PCT (percentage). CHICAGO *Ellen Keene. tHa^el Flyhn. fFrancea Kurner. (This Score Based on D6 Pictures) NEW YORK WILLIAM BOEHNEL (World-Teleeram) 93 71 20 BLAND J0HANE80N (Mirror) 101 73 28 IRENE THIRER (News) 79 67 22 JULIA SHAWELL (Graphic) 105 70 24 REGINA CREWE (American) 96 62 29 ROSE PELSWICK (Journal) 61 32 13 THORNTON DELEHANTY (Post) ...... 86 63 26 JOHN 8. COHEN, JR. (Sun) 87 66 28 RICHARD WATTS, JR. (Her-Trlb) 66 36 . 28 MORDAUNT HALL (Times) 63 34 10 MARGARET TAZELAAR (HerrTrlb) .... 23 12 9 VARIETY (Combined) 110 86 26 (This Score Based on 110 Pictures) 0 0 11 6 6 6 3 1 19 .764 .728 .721 .666 .647 .630 .624 .610 .550 .540 .521 .779 Thalberg Orders Story Department Cot at M-G Hollywood, Nov. 2. Uetro's continued moves toward economy hit the writing force this week. iE>revlous policy of keeping iscrlbblers on the payroll 'between pictures' Is out, with intention here- after to drop the writers oa soon as tholr stints are finished. First off under the new arrange- ment are Sara T. Mason and Nor- man Huston, both of whom have been on the writing staff more than a year. A dozen or more drop offs are e;ipected during the coming week. Orders for salary saving in this direction come from Irving i:halberg. McCarthy Rejommg Fox ,!i)J. J. McCarthy returns to For in ati advisory capacity after the first .9if the year. ...McCarthy, veteran picture man. was previously with his company on the Coast and in the east. When KcCarthy resigned last spring to go abroad tor the summer he was in charge of material, both script and talent. In the east. His new position again takes him to Hollywood. Hoxie Wants In Hollywood, Nov. 2. iiJack Hoxie, onetime western star who has been trouping with the Robblns and 101 circuses four years, is back In town to try pic- tures again. Would promote his own quickie company. Lloyd's U';A. Space Hollywood, Nov. 2. Harold Lloyd has leased space at United Ai-tlHts studio ond moves ■oVer there within the week. Lloyd nad been on the Metropolitan (In- «p) lot for years. Kclo.isi of Lloyd pictures remains Willi Paramount. Correct Wedding Date Hollywood, Nov. 2. Correct wcdtllng date set for Coii.stanoe Bennett and the Marquis de la Kalaise is Nov. 2*, next. Corrnit.ny will ]yt nerrormotl in Holly'wii.iil. Gombin's Answer Hollywood, Nov. 2. Answering the personal suit of May Robson for $27,000 on a two picture contract for $30,000, iBer- man Gumbin, president of Liberty, states Miss Robson's original con- tract was with Liberty and not with him personally. Further, he points out, the contract called for Miss Robson's exclusive services, which she allegedly violated by making some stage appearances. . Futher argument by Gumbin is that there was a clause In the con- tract suspending it if productions were delayed by anything outside of the power of Liberty to control. Miss Robson's 'Mother's Millions,' claims Gumbin, proved no drawing power and it was therefore Impos- sible for him to raise money for Jier next two pictures. Mackaill for Nothing Hollywood, Nov. 2. The Embassy has an unofllcial and unemployed but almost consist- ent star attraction In Dorothy Mac- kaill ever since the opening Oct. 29 of Nell Miller. Latter Is' the FN, star's particular b.f. this season, and while Miss Mackaill was the offlcial 'guest star' at the opening, she has been up to the Embassy al- most nightly thereafter. Miller is a singer, opening with the Embassy Trio including Jay Could, Georgle Hickman and Phil Hannen. CoL Starts Associates Hollywood, Nov. 2. First assignments handed to James McGuinness and Ralph Block, new associate producers at Columbia, are-'Zeida Marsh', Charles G. Norrls novel for McGuinness. and Ursula Pnrrott's 'Love Affair' for Block. Dudley Nichols has been engaged to dialog and adapt the Norrls novel. Sarah Y. Mason, who left Metro last week: will adapt 'Love Affair'. Up on '31 Shorts Paramount winds up its . 1931 short.s Nov. 15 at Aslorla.- Four remain to be made, Johnny Burke doing two and Ethel Merm.m and Rudy Vallee one each. Shorts production at the Long Is- land lot win be resumed around April 1. LEAD N. Y.-CIII E- 'Telegram* Reviewer, at . .764, One of Few Men to - Blaze Trail-^Formier Leaders Stay in Froibt— Miss Arden, Chi Times,' Rates at .754 HIGHER RATINGS For the first lap of the fifth e«a- aon of Variety's compilation of film critic scores, from June 1 to Nov. 1, Dorii Arden, Chicago 'Times,' and Willian Boehriel, New York 'World- Telegram,' lead the field, repeating the positions they held for the tire previous year to last May. ' Boehnel is one of the few maa- cijiine reviewers to ever head the procession, and is the only writer among the leaders whose estimates of screen values are not fixed in his column by the 'star* system, a de- vfce which appears to give the. fol' lowers of that method ah edge. Both In Chicago and New York the first four. places are slightly changed, but the same writers are placed close to the order of the last all-season rating, the widest varia- tion being Mae Tlnee, Chicago 'Trib- une,' who fails back from No. 2 in her group to No. 6, next to - last, while Clark Rodenbach, Chicago 'News,' moves up from No. 5 to No. 2. In the New Tprk rating Julia Shawell, 'Graphic' advances from ninth place In the summary of last May, covering the whole season, to No. 6 for the early period of the new season, while John S. Cohen, Jr., 'Sun/ drops back three posi- tions from No. 5 to No. 8. Few Changes Paralleling the new compilation and that of last spring, it appears that most of the relationships re- (Contlnued on page 6) . Featnre Shunp Leaves Its Mark on Extras Hollywood, Nov. 2. Features in production stayed under the 30 mark last week. Ex- tras did not do so well, either, with the dally average 765 working. While this Is above the average for most of this year. It was the lowest week of September and October. Feature production may climb back to 40 this weeic, as 17 pictures are on the studio schedules for starting. Tuesday was a. good day for the mob, 1,048 of them drawing pay- checks. Largest set that day. and the day before was 166 Chinese called oiit for Von Sternberg's 'Shanghai Express.' Biggest set Wednesday and Thursday was 125 used by AI Green at the depot of 'Union Depot.' Novello Doubling Hollywood, Nov. 2. Ivor Novello, long. . with. Metro, lingers there but under a new con- tract. He will hereafter perform as an actor and a writer. 'The Truth Game,' which he co- authored, has been purchased by Metro, and will i>e done as a Rob- ert Montgomery starrer. RETAIN SEISNEB Holfywood, Nov. 2. Option under Cliavies F. Relsher's contract with. Metro, soon'up, is be- ing exercised by the studio. New. terms will' be for one year from Nov. 25. Drawl on Loan Hollywood, Nov. 2, • Cirady Sutton, southern boy In Roach's 'Boy l|'rlend' series, will go on loan to Paramount. Par wants that drawl in 'Goo.se Hangs High.' Equity Says Picture and B way rom $100 Weekly to Mansion and Pool U. A. Resomes AprO 1 Hollywood, Nov. 2. United Artists' studio is due to re- open and resume production around April 1 with the next Eddie Cantor picture. , * Samuel Goldwyn goes east Imme- diately after the Acadeody dinner Nov. 10. PAR. UUNCHES NEW SYSTEM ONMATERIAL Departmental wheel, of which D. A. Doran Is the hub, with spokes representing; aub-executl'ves who are responsible directly to him for coverage "of assigned talent-story channels, and with Paramount's production ' department holding Doran" to account for everything In the material-artist line, became effective yesterday (Monday). With it Doran brought in Merrltt Hul- burd,. associate editor of 'Saturday Evening Post' and made other as- signments in lining up his depart- ment. Hulburd will be Doran's offlcial assistant, taking on contact with writers but more speciflcally will devote his time to development of material and scenarists. . Catherine Swan has been placed, in charge of contact with legit and its actors, meaning she will be Par's offlcial play reviewer. Maurice Han- line, former associate editor for Horace L. Liveright, takes on cov- erage of all publishers and will be held responsible for everything in that Held. Richard Halllday, for- merly with 'Liberty,' becomes Par's direct .contact with talent and story agencies. Each of these members Viil report daily to Doran, and twice weekly Doran will report to the Par edi- torial board, of which A. M. Botpford is chairman. The board Is to meet dally with Jesse L. Lasky, Harry Goetz and Emanuel Cohen, whom it must Anally sell on all deals. The setup under Doran, as spe- ciflcally distinct from the editorial boardi has been discussed within Par for several weeks prior to being ofllciully set in. motion. Elissa Landi Returning London, Nov. 2. Elisaa Landi has a. cable . saying Fox has a good story ready for her and want her back on the lot pronto. Miss Landi and her mother sail Nov; 11. MORE BERLIN TIME Berlin, Oct. 26. The Scela concern which had. a booking arrangement with the Ufa as well OS important New York, London and Paris variety shows, has enlarged this by an agreement with the . largest .Italian variety theatre, Odeon In Milan. As the flrst result, the 22 Ingenues were obtained for the Odeon. The ScuIo-N'aUonai at Copen- hagen h.is also been included in time controlled by Scala. NIBBLING ON 'CAT' Jlelro and Fox are considering the Jerome Kern-Otto Harbacli muslc.Tl, .'Cat and the Fiddle,' now current at the Globe. Max fiordon is the prinlu'-cr ot Hi-- opi^retl.T. Equity believes the day of reckon- ing for show business, legitimate as well as films, is close at hand. Con- ceding that Hollywood right now will be successful in levelling film salaries to the Broadway basis. Equity believes that Broadway should do some standardizing of Its own. Bargaining for actors among pro- ducers Is as prevalent In the East as in the West, the only dtfterence being that east they move In hun- dreds while on the Coast It has been tliousands. Blaming the epidemic of sophls- tica.ted plays largely for the ourrent slump In legit, Equity sees Broad- way tis no immediate haven tor actors on the Coast after Holly- ' wood gets its paring underway. Un- til the theatre goes back to the fanciful and gets away from the real It will realize none of its former power. In fact, Eqiiityites add, Broadway . should - design Its play material, along the same lines ob- served by fllm producers who cater to the masses nationally. . ' High salaries. Induced by pro- ducer bidding, has distorted the perspective of the average actor, it is conceded by Equity. Happy, at $100 a week he suddenly flnds him- self getting $500 after accepting various quiclc. offers In his native field. Then the fllm producer steps in and before he realizes it the same actor is the owner of a Holly- wood palace, swimming pool and the usual accessories. All of which, - reminds' Equity, Is no fault of the actor but economically unsound practice in both fields ot enter- tainment. Competitive bidding for services, Equityltes analyze it, finds Broadway today paying an aotor Ave times what he himself flgured he was worth, and Hollywood mul- tiplying that same calculation by five and even 10. Mad on Salaries Hollywood,' In the opinion ot Equity, has gone mad on the acting (Continued on page 6) U's Bow Offer Hollywood, Nov. 2. Clara Bow Is being sought by Universal for the lead in 'Winnie O'Wynn and the Wolves.' Adapta- tion is being made with the red- headed ranch girl In mlhd. Report Is U wants to take th» star on loan from Sam Rork, who has a picture to make with her, thus giving Rork some operating expenses. U previously wanted Bow for the. lead In 'Impatient Maiden.*