Variety (Nov 1931)

^isitcy, Novenilier S, 1981 P f C T «l R E S VARIETY 5 No Persoimel Changes Looked^f^^ in Par-Pub Throi^h Chicago Group . Although generally believed to ■tear Immediate effect on the politl- ical setup of Paramount-Publlz per- eonnel, the addition of John Hertz, IWlUIam 'WrlBley, Jr., and Albert l^ker to that company's board ' ;iras not a privately maneuvered inove. The contrary anglei is that ;thl3. group strengthens the position pt the present Zukor. management. ' Negotiations or arrangements to bring the trio In was started some tnonths ago -with the big angle at the time being to briner' in flnan- ieiaUy independent minds as active advisors, into the Paramount or- Iganizatlon. The three men, pert of the original financial setup of the Baldban & Katz organization and etili large stockholders in Para-, mount were figured as such. Among the political moves in-' Volved was figuring replacements on the Par board if and when the three Chicagolies entered. This was fixed by having. .William Eng- lish elevated to the chairmanship of the Por board of directors, leav- ing the post of chairman of the llnance committee open for John Hertz. Latter's entrance into Par Is handed as a $trlctly downtown move with Zukor in a turn to strengthen the Par board outlook which up to the present included many of the company's employes and relatives of the higherups. From another angle shunting of the three men into active direction of policies .of Par marks the sec- ond big trend from the mld-westem city of that town's citizens be- coming strong connections in the film biz. Previously it was with Fox Film through ascendency of Horley L. Clarke to the presidency of that company. No Big Blocks It Is handed authoritatively that while the Chicago trio "may have purchased some Par stock in the open market they did not buy any- thing like blocks of stock and stand tor from the Broadway conception Of control of Par or its policies. . they ore also reported as bringing In no new capital, but rather to be actively engaged in guiding the Anancldl outlays of Par and with .iconsent of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., Par bankers. The placing of the three knen on the Par board Is aimed to have no direct effect or immediate turn on the destines of anyone in Par except the company as a whole. It is claimed. Hertz is known to have been long a friend of Sam Katzi Publix chieftain, but in the capacity of chairman of the Par finance board. Hertz will play no favorites with the personnel make •p of Par. Which may or may not ■ay Par's control stays as is. Among stock holdings held by the entire Hertz group may be shares handed by Par for purchase of the full interest of Balaban & Katz tinder a guaranty to buy back. Some Of this is known to be outstanding •yflth the Hertz folks. The buy back proposition is at $80 and similar as With other deals which Par had xnade within the last two years. Laskcr formerly was head of the IT. S. Shipping Board besides, one of the leading advertising men in the country. His ad agency is I/ord '& Logan & Grant. Wrigley has di- verse interests which runs from chewing gum manufacture, to own ing Catallna Island. Hertz Is the founder, of the Yellow Cab Com Pany, long Identified with the auto- wotlve industry and a director of the General Motors Corp. ' Qnebec Hasn't Shelved a Yank Film in 6 Months Quebec. Nov. 2. Acknowledged to bear the reputa- tion of the world's most censored town, this city hasnt shelved a olngli) American picture during the pa.'it six months. (Jii-'oei-. .IS well, Is the ouly'part ot the civil world which hns adopted tl>n Hays I'roduotlon Codp in toto. Milestone Goes UJL Lewis: Milestone hais entered into a contract with United Artists. It Is not a Tenewai with Howard Hughes. This sets definitely at rest the possibilities of Milestone Joining Radio with David Selziiick: Milestone is now in New York, De- tails of' the deal reported to have been . closed yesterday (Monday) are not known. Loeb May Take Stand This Week In Wm. Fox Suit William Fox lawyers have the op- portunity to examine Jacob W. Loeb this week as the Idtter's suit against , the. fornier film man is heard in the N. Y. Supreme Court. Loeb, who formerly headed, the vaude booking end fpr Fox's in- terests, claims a 13 percent partner- ship Inteirest in the latter's iioldings, sold to present controlling owners of Fox Film. Meantime^ William Fox has en- tered suit against Loeb in Nassau County Court claiming $600,000 due from the former booker on certain stock loans.' This is the difference between the quoted cost of 28,000 shares of Fox Theatres stock and the $26 per share which Fox paid Loeb under some, alleged lending proposition back in April or May 2; 1930. Fox Angle The Fox angle is that Loeb was to reclaim and repurchase the stock for the full amount re- ceived from Fox on Dec. 31, 1930, but failed to do so. When the al- leged stock deal was made. Fox Theatres was selling on the Curb at }6 per share. The deal is supposed to have been made shortly after Fox concluded his sale of interests to the present owners of the Fox properties. Loeb, In suing on the 15 percent partnership claim, is given as fig-, urlng to collect some of the $18,- 000,000 selling price which Fox got from the Harley Clarke-Chase Bank Interests. The partnership arrange- ment is alleged by Loeb to date back to 1913. While it is admitted, and also is a matter of' record, that Loeb held a IS percent interest in ■certain Fox theatres, and which in terest he bought, these did not cover more than three or four houses. See Par Advertismg to L-T-L from Hanff-Metzger Lord, Thomas and Logan, will very likely. succeed Hanff-Metzger as'the national advertising medium for Paramount-Publix. Move is re- garded as obvious irith Lasker, head of L-T-L, joining the Para- mount directorate. Hanff-Metzger has been handling the Paramount advertising for around 10 years. Fettijohn on Stand Only person to take the stand and testify in the film industry side In the suit being brought against it by A. B. Momand, exhibit will be by Charles Pettljohn. Latter leaves for Oklahoma City Nov. 9 where con- spiracy charges, will be heard in Federal Court. DELAyS BETINEEN Radio-Pathe Merger Deciaon Unsetdes Coast Crowds Mwale Public Fancy Gain and Has Changed in Time Prior to Release — Aid to Fast Money Turnover CENSORS A FACTOR Many future features are to have their release dates quickened by at least five mopths. Quicker turnover of money , is one i^ason, but the .ma- jor purpose is the admission that the industry cannot forsee public opinion e'lte months ahead. Behind the move to place cycle pictures, or those in vogue and hav- ing to do with current eventSi on the screens of the country as soon as possible is tliat what the public likes today it may ignore tomorrow, That changing weather vane means considerable money to the Industry in lieu of the long ■wait between pro ductlon and hatlonal projection. - Purpose of the Hays code is also partly thwarted by this delay. This is brought about by the censors sharpening their shears movement to public likes and dislikes. On that very premise, It Is declared^ what Is deemed moral now may be Immoral tomorrow, and what la okayed on the political angles today may get the downward thumb a month or so later. New York's Sevan What precipitated the quick re- lease trend more than anything else was the recent order by the New York State's censor board that seven features be shelved In toto. This number Is more fpr its period than any other in the history of New York censorship. It Is stated. OX the seven only two actually have to do with gangsters, but in the other five there is a crime vein. Instance of the evil of protraction from studio to theatre is held up as most illuminating-In this New York action. All of the pictures ordered shelved were In production at a time when censors were favoring that type of materiaL Hays codlsts then carefully coded all seven and passed them as okay for public aa well as censor perusaL At the same time the Code, Itself, Is described as becoming more elastic and inclining toward immedi- ate public opinion. However, funda- mentally it Is claimed to remain the same. Academy Speeches Go On Air m Hookop Speeches made at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences In Los Angeles, night of Nov. 10, will be broadcast through a na- tional radio hook-up. Tiffany's Fnture Hollywood, Nov. 2. Tiffany hasn't decided yet whether it will continue turning out pictures after Dec. 25, when Its present pro- gram Is completed. Sam BlschoS, production head, has three to finish In 'Hotel Conti- nental,' starting Wednesday (4); Gentlemen of the Evening,' Nov. 18, and 'Wound Stripes,' Dec. 10. Bischoff has a flye-picture con- tract He has already made 'I^ft Over Ladles' and 'X Marks the Spot.' DICK ROWLAND AS FOX-CHASE LIAISON Hollywood, Nov. 2. Reported that the Chase bank will place a liaison representative In the Fox studio to supervise-budgets and production costs, with Dick Bow- land mentioned for the berth. Understanding is that Wlnfleld Sheehan has agreed to maintain a $200,000-1226,000 production budget average, assuring the Fox bajikers that worth while program product can be turned out at that figure. Rowland,' now east, may return shortly. Meantime, Ralph S. Harris, of Hughes, Schurman & Dwight, gen-< eral counsel for all the. ^ox com- panies, has returned to New York after looking over the Fox studio legal layout which was headed by Alfred T. Wright. Latter will re- sign, with the Fox legal staff ope- rating locally under orders from the Hughes firm out of New York. Fox directors have been advised to trim everything and keep pro- duction costs down. 'Bad Olrl,' with its under-$200,000 budget, was cited a good example of smash b.o. strength at minimum Inves'tment. Accused of Dog Ad Syracuse, N. Y., Nov. 2. With advertising presumably banned from films by agreement of major producers, RKO-Pathe's 'Consolation Marriage' Is under edi- torial fire here this week because of the incluialon of an unmistakable plug for Pratt's dog product. Picture, at Keith's, has . a dog show sequence which has all the earmarks of. having been planted to permit a huge Pratt banner to catch and hold the camera's eye. : Hard-to-Get World's Fair Okays Fanchon and Marco-Precedent Fox B'way Offices Move . Fo.-c's. officoa at--1778 Broadway, used for the story and talent de- partment for some lime, ore mov- In.? tills week. Thoy will double into the general filTlr'-^ on 10th avenue. Chicago, Nov. 2. After turning down every pub- licity stunt and plug offered in con- nection with Chicago's world's fair in '33 the Century of Progress com- mittee okayed a tleup between Fan- chon & Marco, Balaban & Katz and the Chicago American. F&M 'has permission to put out a 'World's Fair' Idea with 16 chorus girls and three principal acts to be recruited locally In an amateur contest. Fair, committee has said no. to every stunt professional or other- wise up to now. Recently NBC tried, to make a deal, but nothing doing. Other promotions proffered to the comniitiee had strings at- tached to them inasmuch as the promoters tried to get the fair peo- ple to finance. In putting over the F&M deal Herman Black, publisher of the American, was most instrumental through his being on the fair com- mittee. B&K angle is throujh its playing the F&M stage shows. F&M has guaranteed the oppor- tunity contest winners a 40-wcek tour with a starting trip to Efolly- wood, where the unit will bo pro- duced. Minimum salaries for the girls will be 5-10 a week each, while the. principals will receive $100 '.-i week, whflliei- sinq:fr.«. dani^Ts oj- nmsif-ilans. Hollywood, Nov. 2. Studio morale at Radio and Path* ' is now unsettled due to the Impend- ing combination of the two. plants. Everybody is worried over their jobs. Mental upset followed formed Radio- confirmation of the merger with the entire personnel riow an- ticipating a minimizing of man power. ./ Pathe offices will move to the Radio lot within four to six weeks when five pictures, now In production at Paths, will be completed. No new features will be started over there. A committee of five will act on matters affecting both Btudios, this executive quintet consisting of Selz- - nick, Schnitzer, Rogers, LeBaron and Harry Joe Brown. The various departments are expected to be merged a short. time after Pathe reaches the Radio studio when the question of who stays and who goes will be decided. ■ All Radio executives and associ- ate producers, except William Le- baron, received contract cancella-.- tlons by way of their 60-day clauses.. This does not affect play- ers, directors or writers. Activity here is in abeyance awaiting the arrival of Selznlck Thursday (6), except for the prep- aration of three pictures 'Girl Crazy,' 'Bird of Paradise* and 'Frontier.' 'Hullabaloo' has been knocked off the program perma- nently. Following new production eetup in Radio and RKO Fathe looking to the e-venttial combination of the two companies, with David O. Selz- nlck, former Paramount studio ex- ecutive. In what Is considered th* top production post for both com- panies, decision will be made within a week or 10 days on the number of' pictures each of the two RKO con- trolled studios will make. Whether there will'be an Increase in the number of talkers scheduled for this season or a decrease, with latter be- lieved having odds, Is something that win be decided following con- ferences between J.'L Schnitzer, Lee Marcus, David O. Selznlck and Charles R. Rogers. Radio this sea- son scheduled 36 pictures, while Pattie scheduled 20, with latter add- ing series of six westerns. Selznlck, who left Monday (2) for the Coast will immediately prepare to step Into the post of executiv« vice-president of Radio Pictures. As such Selznlck will not only hold the reins on production generally for both studios but to an extent figure in the business management and administration of the two plants. It is understood that pre- liminary work In welding all de- partments has already been accom- plished in New York. Coming into RKO. as an executive automatically ends the. Independent production venture on which Selz- nlck, in New York: several months, has been -working. The pictures as contemplated by Selznlck,- first in association with Lewis Milestone, numbering six, will not be brought into the RKO picture In any way. Selznlck declares those proposed by him will bi9 dropped enthrely, al- though he (Selznlck) will personally supervise several productions : for Radio and perhaps a few for Fathe. -At present, says Selznlck, It is the intent to allow Rogers, now as a vice president of both Radio, and Pathe, to personally supervise all the Pathe picture-making himself. Any personal supervision of Fathe product by Selznlck Is thus only a thought at present. Selznlck has two v. p. titles under his induction .into the RKO ranks.. He is v. p. .of both Radio and RKo' Pathe buf with the added 'in charfto ot production' behind only the. Radio end. A.s executive v. p. thdt convoys autli.orily under schnit- zer over both producing units nnd their respective execs, super- visors, etc. TTntil la.it summer Selznlck was fxpriitivc .-issistant to B. P. Schul- (Cunllniicd from page C3)