Variety (Dec 1931)

VARIETY Pi C T C S Tuesday, December 8, 1931 Visual Education By Tom Waller (FoiirtMnth ef;Mrle« of article* on., motion pFctiiiros In the claMroonT>) •■ V ' — - — — (Colleges and sohoole when writ- ing to this., oolumin; are requested to state in the[r !firet letter nature of the information re<|uested. '.Where the subject suggested has not' been previously covered, 'Variety' will investigate and . endeavor to make an article of the sanie.). One of the .largest publtshers of text books, > Oinn' & Co., concedes that Alms are bound to become a part of virtually all . educational curricula^ Instead ol fiearlng this and opposing It, thd text Industry will lei)d: every aid to the film In- dustry. . The publishers feel that Alms will enrich Inculcation of knowledge and prove a valuable. supplement to reading, matter. They have yet to be sold on di- rect correlaltlon of the film with the book. The film industry and edu- cators themselves have yet to prove, that picture' and book can go liand- In-hand, lessoh-fbr-lesson, during the school year. In the text book field competition Is claimed - by spokesmen, for the publishers even keener than among' picture companies. The same gam-; bles taken in the film .'industry con- front publishers with the schools. If one out of five' books submitted to the educational market is sue-, cessful then the publisher' Is sat^ Isfled. Publlsliers feel that pro- ducers entering a sphere new to them must be prep&red for a simi- lar percentage of flops. They can better afford to take the gamble,. becaXise where there ^ are 40 text book pulishers there is only a conri- paratlve handful of prbdncerd, and . where the prioducer figures . $1,600 is sufllcient for the average lesson' on film. It costs the publisher con- siderably over that' budget to. turn out a' new. book. Investigation by "Variety' of the text boolc field proves one thing. This is: Uninformed Miscellaneous producers have been sporadically contacting vari- ous of the publishers for the past 10 years. Only a part of the story has been told, and. the publishers have been left wary because of pic- ture spokesmen's haziness. Kven today publishers' haven't the com- plete plcttire of what the picture Industry Is striving for. As proof of this •Variety' was. told last week that its interviews with the pub- lishers imparted as much knowledge to them about concrete visual ac- tlvities the publishers disclosed to 'Variety' about their cwn field. It Is up to the picture industry to set at rest this impression, still current. In the publishing field: 'The film Industry Is doubtless sincere this time In Its attitude toward the classroom. But It does not understand educational prob- lems any more than the publishers understand picture problems, there- fore how can it make pictures that will solve them?* A question of that kind at tl}Is time clearly illustrates h.ow iTttle. to date the picture industry hns pro vided even knowledge of its actlvl ties, not to consider applied sales manship, to the text-book industry. The text-bboTt .puliliBhers'are «ig: erly awaiting to be sold. After an hour's exchange of infovmation, ex- ecutives for Glnh & Co. declared their organization would even con aider a financial hook-up with the company that can define . the pIc ture's place In the school, and show the way. Hlght now Ginn'a Is wll ling to open its shelye.i and le.t whatever producer coihca along at tempt the correlation of his pictures with the company's books. Declarations for the record from such publishers, should turn nced- for-loxt-book-co-operatlon talk Into action. At least, they MiQulil silence the po.iBimlBllc polltlclons in film- dom 'Who ai'c deciTlng. the chances of such a hook-up -on the ground that the publlshora \VouId regard pictures'as a cut-In. Fox's Preview Fox la.st week attempted what shaped up as tlie first concrete move to cement relations between the publishers and the visual subjects producers since sound entered.' A , representative of GInn's attended a preview of som6 shorts, Including several by one of this publisher'.*" authors on sfeograpliy. The publlshei''s reviewer 'returned to her oflflce a^iazcd a{ what she liad seen. Not only are the subjects on geography, history and science in- structive, but they are entertaining as well, she reported to her superior in the presence of a . "Variety' re- porter. A subject on soiigs of for- eign countries impressed the young woman , aa a- decidedly wbrthwhlle novelty, one fhat the text books could never bring to the classroom.' ■ Another reaction-of this publisher reviewer to the handful of early- produced Fox shorts projected was that none of the shorts she saw lent itself to correlation with the text book. Rather, it supplemented the printed ivord in the study course. Particularly because of this re- action-the reviewer carried back to her.office the impression that visual educational subjects are suHed for assembly hall projection rather than' for IhdIVIdu&l classroom perusal. She noted that the' subjects were too general in coverage to jibe at any time with the pointed detail de- signed' for each lesson In the text- book! The woma.i.also expressed the doubt that If the subjects had con-' centrated: on detail 'coverage ithejr would be'as entertaining as' the ones which she saw. From a strictly educatloneU' vIewiAint, practically all of the pictures fe'vlewed, .she re- ported. Impressed her as elementary In background. Ifeverthelesq'this rey.lewer carried back ■ a message' which film -^pro- du'ccrs interested Jn 'the 'visual''field and the. all-lmi>ortant text-book publishers' collaboration, as well as co-operation, should capitalize.. The ground, at least, has been broken. One 6f the. biggest publishers is con- ylnced that some of the experimen- tatlye . Fox . pictures broaden and stimulate student interest "Why not tell the-publishers the rest of the story? hternatkmal IGmin. Co Organizmg ia New York The New York exchange of Inter- national 16mm Pictures, first sales, branch to be opened In a national distribution set up for narrow gauge product, backed by three large equipment manufacturers In the field, has 40 accounts on its books to date. Similar exchanges will be opened in Boston and Philadelphia within two weeks,' with .'others to follow in as short order as possible. Intentions are the organization of an even larger distribution structure than at fiirst anticipated. This 'will come in completion of details look- ing lb the installation in large stores throughout the country of depart- ments which -wUr handle talker ap- paratus, -parts, . raw films, etc., as well as.serve, aa a rental bureau, 'International, of which. Rudolf Mayer, brother of Loula B. Mayer (Metro), is .president, will build up its own isiiles forces put of exchanges to contact dealers as film accounts, whole procedure bn selling and physical distribution being, not un- like that of national 36 ''mm com- panies. Dr. Henry Knight Miller, editor and publisher of 'I^chology Slaga-; zlhe,'>is 'VlceTpresIdent of -InteFda tlonal. In charge of educational di- rection. Alfred M.. Hiltenberg, from the equipment field. Is also a v. p. whlle another is George Hoppert, in charge of publicity. Joshua Iievfn-'^la secretary of In ternatlonal. Maurice Schoenbaum, veteran ,16 mm. showman, heads the New York branch. L. A. to N. Y. Kdna May Oliver. Mr. arid Mrs. Morton Downey. Felix Fclet. Mrs. Conrud Nagel. Nick Sclienck. Charles 'Buddy* Rogers. Gene Raymond. "V\-1I1 Hays. I..<!on T><>onldofT. B. W. llammons. Mi', niul Mrs. Sam Ooldwyn. ir. M. Wnrnou, , WllUnm I'hinips. Nicholas Sehpnck. N. Y. to L. A. Kdgar AVallace. ' Edgar Allan Woolf. Arthur Kobcr. 1st Rims (m Broadway (Subject to Change) Week Pec. 11 Paramount —" "The Cheat* (Par). Roxy—'Good Sport' (Fox). Capitol — 'Flying High*. (Metro). • RIvoll—The Struggle' (UA) (io). Strand-^'Blonde Crazy' (WB) (2d wk). . ' Mayfair—Trankensteln' (.U>- (3d wk).. » . Winter Garden—'Her Mojes- ty, Love' (FN) (3d wk). Rialto—'Ben Hur* (Metro) <2d wk), ■ Hippodrome —'Secret Serv- ice' (Radio) (12). Week Dee. 18 Roxy—'Maker of Men' (Col). Capitol' — 'P r 1 v ate -Lives' (Metro), Rivoli—'Struggle' (UA) (2d> wk), ■;.'■•■-. ^ Strand—'Safe In Hell" (WB). Mayfair—'Frankenstein' (U) (Sdwk). Winter Garden—'Her Majes- ty, Love' (FN) (4th wk). . $2 Pictures .'the Champ' (MeU-o) (Astbr) Bth *k). 'Arrowsmith' (UA) Gaiety (7). 'Explorers (Criterion) (14). Fo. eigii'Films ' 'Operndoute' (Oreenbaum- Kmelka) (German) (Little Car- negie)'(6th wk). 'Kaiserliebchen' (Fox-Atlan- tis) (German) (Little Carnegie) (Bth wk), 'Im Geheimdienst'(Ufa) (Gor- nian) (Ufa-Cosmopolitan) (8d wk). ■ 'Struggle for Life' (Aiiikino) (Russian) (Cameo) (11). 'Elizabeth von Oesterelch' (Gottschalk) (German). (.TBu- ropa) (10); Hollywood Briefly rewritten extracts from "Variety's*' Hollywood Bulletv<, printtf each Friday in Hollywood, and placed as a wrapper upon the regultf weekly "Variety," ' . ~ The'Bulletin docs net circulate other than on the Pacific Slot)e. . >: . News from the Dailies In Los'Angeles will bs found in that customary department. McKinney's $79 Florlne McKInhey's Paramount contract Is' lip for court approval this week. The 18-ycar-oId girl gets 176 for six months and options over.'sevenyeairs't.o 1.750.. Heeht Staging. Harold Hecht, N, Y. dance direc- tor, staging the colored musicial backed by Rodney Pantnges and Harold Morehouse, In place, of Billy Grant. Dec. 27 la the penciled opening, and .they want the Mayan tlicatre. Cecil'B. DeMllIe got In from New York Sunday (6). U's 'Speak' Story 'Night Club',*- speak drama by Alan Rlvkln and PIncus J. 'Wblfson, Is on the. Universal sked. Probably with Mae' Clarke. .'Cleah.News Film Muckless newspaper film prom- ised by. 'Universal In 'Ambition,' with the hero dying for his sheet- Russell Mack to direct. . Gullette's Advance. . Nedra Gullette, 18, arrlve<l on the coast for Universal with over half her contract paid,' In advance. Ticket's 10 weeks at |175, and $l,0t.Q was advanced in New York. fjluhden Stays Fox., ' Herbert Munden, comic in Fox's 'Circumstances,' kept on 'the studio payroll. May go In 'Silent 'Witness.' Radio's Par Loaneas Irving Pichel is the' third Para- mount personage to be loaned over the feiice to: Radio recently. Pichel directs 'State's Attornej^ , (John Barrymore) dialog. Previous far- mees: Norman T.aurog and Herman Mankicwicz. Union and S-C Scrap Spreads To Upper B'way Battle between^ the Springer- Cocalis Chrcuit in New York and the operators' union. Local No. 306, 'With the independent chain fighting back by duplicating every move made by 306, promises to be even more bitter than the pi'evious scrap between 0(;hs and the operators. Charges are being hurled back and forth In strong language, 306 claiming that the indies are using strong-arm men aa pickets, but ad mitting that so far there has beeit no violence. Springer-Cocalis last week met the union's idea of free show^, used as a' le/er in the Ochs* fight, by giving a free show for children at the, S-C Pelham house In the Bronx. Tbe S-C chain la also figuring bii' slmllar ' free perform- ances 'In 'Its other hbuses. . Meanwhile, 306, which first at- tacked the chain's nine houses in the Bronx, started picketing at the Symphony and keystone on upper Broadway in. Manhattan last week. Five additional .S-C houses on Broadway above 72nd street will likely be the target this week with four in Brooklyn to fbllbw by the first: of the year. . During the past week 306' brought In a non-union Indlb firm in Brook- lyn, the F. & S. Amusement Co. Firm operates the Tl'ffany and has been ' radical in its resistance against 306. DeForest Factory Dark M. A. Schlessinger has darkened hlS' DeForest Phonofllm factory in NiKW York. Some 40 people. Includ- ing executives, were dismissed. Among the let-outs is Frank Rogers, general sales chief. EEISU4N BETUBNS Phil Relsman; general sales man ,ager of Universal, returned Friday (4) after a swing around the com- pany's northern exchangoi^. Odd Jobs. Plea Bids- for odd jobs fixing doorbells and trimming Christmas trees is being made by the local' Brother- hood of Electi-ical Workers on be- half of jobless studio Juicemen. Selzniek's Own N. G. . -No partiality in Dave Selzniek's story NG'Ing. His own idea for a yam suggested by the lives of Otto H. Kahn. and Al Smith he had worked out, then nixed. . .Rogers Heads East Charles 'Buddy* Rogers on his way east for any possible legit, ra- dio or band offers, He didn't care for 'Dance Palace,' wblch was to be a post-contract job at Par. Lynton' for Crawford "Letty Lynton,' English novel by Mrs.. Belloc-Lowndes, bought by Metro for Joan Crawford. Wanda Tuchock and Edith Fitzgerald on Uie picturlzation. Bern Bernard, RKO booker, is scouting in the Pacific northwest for Indle houses to book. Slam Scouters A. A; Kline, play\vrlght and film writer, is sailing for Slam and far east points In search of screen ma- terial, with a major studio reported backing. ITarry Schenck bound for same vicinity for a film financed by the Prince of Slam. Cagney-'Blondell Team Wai-ners Is. keeping Joan BlondcU and James Cagney as a team,''hav- Ing replaced Dorothy Mackalll with Miss BlondGll iii 'Roar of the Crowd,' Eric Linden borrowed from Radio for a part.' . Ginsberg Roach V. P. Taking over routine duties han- dled by Hal Roach, Henry Ginsberg steps in as Vice-pres. as well as gen- eral manager of Roach studio. Ben- jamin Shlpman, by his own request becomes business manager and legal counsel Instead of g. m. L. A. French becomes asst. g, m, Harold B. Franklin left for Kan- SM City on a week's once-ovor of the seven Hughes-Franklin theatres In that territory. . ^ Blllle Burke closes Dec. 12 in Son Bernardino with 'Vinegar 'i'ree.' making 24 weeks In the west. Lou wlawcll. who handled play's route, trying to arrange lUm o/Ier.s for tlip actress. - B*rrymoro .ln Politico ' . WtfShlngton politlcar story is- **' be cooked up for Lionel Barrynidrt by-Stephen Dickens, English writer just hired by .Metro. John Barry.' more's next at Radio is also about politics.. . . Harold Lloyd sticks on the Metro, politan leasing lot pro tern. He was considering the UA sfudlo for back- ground of his Hollywood film, but that Idea's In abeyance. Collier's Forgery Charge . Buster Collier, sued by the holder of d $16,000 note allegedly given Clarence Rashall three years ago Has filed answer uharglng.'the note a forgery. , . Faking Pachys Metro make-up men hod to Jn- crease the size of the ears and tuska of'20 .elephants being used In Tar-' zan' when it was discovered ani- mals were the - Asiatic variety In-- stead of African .as heeded. There' are no African trained elephants in the United States.. Steell Steeli Steell William Wyler is ofit 'Steel' foir the' sefc'ond time, and Eddie Cahn Is on the much' orphaned story for the^ third time as director. But Unl-. versal sez Cahn Is only temporarily on it. . Wong Back in Spot Anna May Wong goes to Hon<i« lulu for 'the Icglt 'On the. Spot,'., which she did In lAindon, Now Yoii and Los Angeles. Miss Wong Just I'eleased by Paramount. Peggy Shannon,'t>aramount player,' Is being tested by Universal tor 'Cobblestones,' prizefiglit yarn. Claude S. 'Tlnk' Humphreys, for- merly In charige. of the W.. V./Mi.^^ booking floor In Chicago, is'hera, with his family for the winter. Jose Bohr, Spanish thespIan-pro«'' ducen and his wife are Saf/eltM^ bound to fill a two weeks'-vaad*'.' date. Mexico City Is next for an^-- other two 'wcisks, and then possib* - ly South America. Davies' Double Alfredo Codona has been hired by Metro for six weeks to double for. 'Slarlon Davies In trapeze Work of' 'Polly of the Circus,' Cpdpna W RIngllng's aerial, ace". ; Baker's' Rest After leaving Columbia for lack of a story to work on, C. Graham Baker will resume his spot as sce- nario editor shortly. deneh Ads $48 Names of Douglas Fairbanks Mary PIckford and Norma. Shearer ^ oh Iron benches on Hollywood blvdj were the cbnreon to sell more'of them to publlcIty-lovlng ' fllin celebs: at $48 edch. Bench-mak^ are circularizing colony's stars to pay for them, and in a hurry as 'available corners along the boule- vard' are limited.' Popul.ice will park on them while waiting for a street car. v Hollywood Arrivals' . ' New arrivals in Hollywood last- week, were Donald Meek for Fox'a 'After Tomorrow'; "Tyrono Power for Paramount's 'Miracle Man'; Em- . gar Wallace and Gene Fowler to Radio to WTlte, and Tallulah Bank--' head. to Par for a picture. Watters Bankrupt George Daniel Watters, writer. Is bankrupt, listing $26,206 in debts and $2,210 in assets. Richard B. Eyber, beach amusement' operator, was another new bankrupt. H» owed $16,468 and has only bis clothes as assets. , Fox Fijm -Delays' . Production of 'She Wanted a Mil- lionaire' is delayed dt Pox waiting for Spencer Traccy and .lohn Bly- stone. Who directs, to finish other ns-tlgnmcnts. ^Saloniy Jano' another delayed starter.. HftI Rodch has ofllrlally banned the Word 'shorts' because some of hlH product ran over two reels, 'Comrdh's' is heroafter standard. U Puffs 'Morgue,' i Big reception of Frankenstein' de-. elded Universal on adding $10,000 moro Worth of sensational stuff for- 'Murders in the Ruo Morsiie,' an- other spine cooler. Ndvis at Par Donald Novis, Atwater Kent prize winner and Cocounut Grove singer, gets under tho recording mike Pai-amount as a juv In 'One HpW, With You' with Maurice Ch.cvaU*t, and Jeanctte MacDonald. Robert Floi'oy, Unlv.ci'.siil's rntlnK ga'sp expert (adaption oC 'Ki-ankcn' .stoln' and direction of 'Murders W tho Rue Morgue'), does both wmine and mogKlng on 'Invisible Mao- 11. G. Wolls alory. John Ford has gone isl:i)i.l unlH spring. He went to IJonolulii. tor a month a month ago, and lii.s fS?"' Just got word he's out for thr wl": tcr. Delays that MPtro dlrlinr f<"' » picture..