Variety (March 1932)

Tuesday, Marcb 1, 1932 P I CTO RES VARlEfY BACKERS NEED OR NO FILM Hollywood, Feb. 29. . Willi© Sergei Elaehstein and; his two assistants have been biting their flngrernalls for 10 days in Ijaredo, Texas, after, immigration authorities refused to let them Into the United. States, • Upton Sinclair and a group, of six wealthy Pasadena people, .Bisensteln's financial hack- ers, are using Washington influence to get his passports okayed. ; Lrocal Soviet colony is'in a state of excitement, ias are also the many people interested in the Soviet di- rector's work, Majorlty'of the back- .ers hav^'avoided publicity and are Iceseping quiet, but the other supr porters are crying that several pro- Arnericah organizations are behind the imniigratlon de'partmfen.t'ia bar- ring of Elsensteln. - No Continuity lEisensteiri was on his way back to Hollywood after more than a year in Mexico, fllihing a picture. The negative, around 200^000 feet so .far, is awaiting him at the Consoli- dated laboratory hei'e. There is no script, and no numbers of slates on the negative to indicate where Bcenea belong, Only the director himself will be able to cut the plc- ■'ture.--'; ' Sinclair and the Soviet megger's supporters wrote to six. liberal sen- ators asking, their aid in getting Elsensteln into the United States. Passport papers have been s^nt from Ijaredo to Washington for perusal by immigration heads, and it is believed Elseiistein will be al- lowed to enter the United States this. week. , . \.. ' ■ • ■ $75,000 Shot About f75,000 is tied up In the picture to date: Elsensteln wets re- called by his backers to start cut- ting on the negative he had. The ^director figured this as only one se- quence of his picture of Mexican life, and had in mind to film at leasjt double the amount already made to ,'complete the story. Besides the novelist, Mrs, K.. C. Gartz, wealthy Pasadena woman, is mentioned as one of the picture's financiers.. VALENTINO'S MILUON SHRINKS TO $130,000 Hollywood, Feb. 29i Albert and Maria Gugllenl, brother and sister of late Rudolph Valentino, have petitioned the court for a par- tial distribution of his estate, which iB still in litigation. Estate, which was once rated in excess of $1,000,000, has shrunk to 1130,000 and may be wiped out by income tax claims. Laemmle Sidestepping Germany Under Hider Hollywood, Feb. 29; Annual trip of Carl Laemmle, Sr., to Germany will probably be called off this year due to the ac- tivities of Adolph Hitler, .German political agitator's antl-semitic con , Evictions; . Laemmle, on his last visit to his native land, made It clear that he was not in sympathy with Hitler $190,000 Less Holly wood, Feb, 29.'. ' . W. R. Hearst has sold his yacht, requiring, a crew of 14 men, for .110,000, ' , Hearst bought the boat, second hand, some years ago for $200,000. MAMOULIAN^S MUSICAL With Chevalier-MacDonald .-^ Ac- tress May Return to Fox Jeanette MacDpnald made a sud- den departure from New York for the coast last Thursday (25), where she will start on her next picture with Cheyaller. Mamoulian will direct. It Ib a comedy with .music. Film is Miss MacDonald's flinal under her present iParamount con- tract, after .which shis miay pos- sibly go to Fox agalni to do 'Bitter Sweet,V .the Noel CoWard operetta. Fox is al^so reported to iiave broached the subject of the former stage star doing,'The Cat and the Fiddle' as her second of a three pic^ ture agreement. However, tliere is no ofllclal record of this cbnipany having purchased this Max Gor- don extra,vaganza. . i ~ Miss MiacDonald iis dlle in Paris In the fall for 'a.„stage revival of 'The Merry Widow' In French; SPIES, soaAL MOTHERWISE Perhaps no other sector is iso elaborately spy-systemed as Holly- wood under tlie present scheme of things. Broadwia.y columnists are each deputizing at least and up to. six . confidential coast contacts to slip them the latest dii-t. But the columnists aren't alone ehOouraglng the .social s.tool- pigieohs; Almost anybody of im.-. pprtance in New York who wants the lowd.own on things In the film capital, It d^velOR?, has confidential Informants tipping 6ft., Columnists only want the dirt, births; etc.,' wltii the ne\yShDufids discoyerlhg that many ot their Broadway contacts have things pretty much under control, for other purposes. Result is that the Holly- wood tipsters are now keeping their ealrs to the ground for marital or other split-ups; jams, new family ari'lvals, etc., besides the tip-off. stuft on economic arid other condi- tions. . DeMiDe-Par? Hollywood; Feb. 29. Cecil De Mille left Saturday (27), for New York. It is reported he was suddenly called east for conference with Paramount heads. • Story says De Mille has arranged to produce one or more pictures for Paramount. Cecil peMillei, due in from the coast thiS"week, will enter legit pro- duction on Broadway, having. the scripts of two plays. The presenta- tions will be made in collabora- tion with Arch Selwyh. Last previous, participation here was during the run of 'The Squaw Man,' DeMIlle representing the fam- ily interest in the production. Nick Schenck's 2d Nick ; Schenck, V presldejit of Lpew's, anticipates being a father for the .«econd time pretty soon. . The Schencks have one child, a daugluer, now about three years old. WiTH^EAJl TO CAMERA Bob Benchlfey Is marking time in Tony s, he sez, until hearing from his Hollywood agent. AVritcr has a. couple of Coast, bids and is due to scram westward any hour. Bonc-hley was last With U. A. U Options Mix; Buying Up His Old Fox Stories Hollyvirood, Feb. 29. After viewing the first rushes of 'Destry Rides Again,' Tom Mix's flr.st for Universal, the studio exer- cised its option and signed him for six weisterns for next year, follow- ing the six ■already planned for cur- rent year's production. Mix's contract gives him the right to approve his stories and the stu dio Is in a. spot to find material, the actor turning down about every- thing the studio writers have of- fered,' Studio is partially solving the problem by buying from Fox the rigli'ts to some of the stiories Mix made .on that lot six. years ago. First purchase is 'Outlawa of Red River,' by Gerald Beaumont, which is costing U $4,000. , ' Demoted by Rumor ■ t_.- Hollywood, Feb. 29; .Reports that Watterson Rothacker waa to head several major fllni companies had been modified by the time be readied Hollywood to mere mention, of him as an associate executive. Rothacker commented: 'I'm hot even with any company, and already I've beein .4er. moted.' ■ ■ '■ Mpe Silver Jumps Off Mr. and Mrs. Moe Silver.are' now honc-yinooning in . soutliern waters, The "Warnfr executive, in oliarge ot WB thratres xve.«t of Pliil.adelphia and formerly on the ."Wost Coast, was married to Lily iSliadur of Los Angeles on Sunday (L'8-) at.- the Park Central hotel, New York. Anions thohe pre.«ent at the core mony wfre Jack Warner, Mr. and Mrs. Loon i>chlnslnger, Mr, .and Mrs Moe Mark and Harry' Cliurnus. OEIUCS LIKE FItM Hollywood, Feb. 29.. Ix>cal ministers are offering their services gratis for marriages of pic- ture celebs. Back of the offers to tie knots, for a piece of wedding calte is the urge for publicity, for film weddings always assure the of- ficiating parison a blurb - and . per- haps a picture in the news columns; Publicity-job-seeklhg clergj'ineh watch the society and picture col- umns for engagement annbunce- merits and then go After the. mar- riage business by telephonine:. the prospective bride or groom, offering to, tie thS knot for carfare. . Not unusual for a picture bride- to-be to get three and four such; phone; calls a day, the wisek before she goes into double harness. Will Rogers ()« Polo Hollywood, Feb. 29. "Will Rogers is the first to feel the effects of the producer slant on' polo. He has verbally agreedl with his bosses that he will omit polo while in productibn 5n; any of his pic- tures. ■• Fox execs got heated about dan- er to pi'oduction costs and sched- ule from horses when Joan Bennett fell and held up & production for months. Immediately afterwards Rogers cahie limping on the set a^ the result of a polo game and hob- bled through the rest of the pic- ture.; It was then that he was asked to give his promise to stay out of the game hereafter while his films are in the making. Holding up a Will Rogers* film, about the most costly of iiny made on the. Fox lot, is more, than a worry. Latest to take a spill.and; injuries waa Reginald Denny, but fortunately for Metro he was not then ill the midst of production. Jimmy GleasOn also limped for a week after getting a mallet smash. Others have been lesa seriously hurt. Ben Torpin Back , Hollywood, Feb. 29. . J. H. Nixon is organizing a pro- duction company to make a series of comedy shorts with. Ben Turpin and six features with Wallace McDonald features. Both players have been Inactive in pictures for some time. Turpin has spent the last four years in vaude while McDonald has been a sales exec for Multicolor. Contracts Hollywood, Feb. 29. Options picked up at Paramount put E. Lloyd Sheldon in his lith year on the lot as associate pro- ducer and give Miriam Hopkins an- other six mdriths on the contract list. ■ Universal hasT given Noah, Beery, Jr., a ticket for-a serial to be done within six months, with seven years of coupons attached. If the chapter work-out gets him the nod he'll be used for westerns. Hollywood Calms Down After Worst JOLSON AS HOBO Will Be Next Part—Asking Audi- ence On Screen Return Ben Hecht is writing the Al Jol- son original for U.A, . Jolson will do a hObo role., Comedian has been nightly ask- ing hia 'Wonder Bar' audiences whether or not they'd like to see him again in a picture and the evident enthusiasm is hastening production plans for the Jolson- Joe Schenck production for U.A. Film firm virtually paid off Jolson |600,000 in $30,000 weekly pay checks almost two years ago when, 'Sons o' Guns' was on the tapis as Jol- son's next. AGENT TALKING BIG AIR COIN ON COAST SCHULBERG SETS SPEAGITE Hollywood, Feb. 29. Chandler. Sprague, former I<'ox sc enario editor, who later turned his hand to direction, is bal&k on tlie .literary end again. He has been engaged by Para- mount as a rriemi)er of the editorial l;6ard oh 'B.- P, Schulberg's produc- tion staff. , SCREEN NOVICE'S FIEST Gloria Stuart, screen hoviiiate, whorn Universal signed after litiga- tion with Paramount, which ai.«<o tested her, goes to First National on loan for her first picture, '.Str«-et of ■\Vomon.' Los Angeles, Feb. 29. . Systematic steaming up of local old and new names for personal or radio appearances has been con- ducted of lia,te by Arthur S. Lyons, of the Lyons, and Lyons Agency of New TOrk. Lyons was out here with the promotional Sydney Coiien. Cohen is hot the eastern exhibitor of the same name. Lyons seems to have capitalized ia vague radio offer involving |175,- 000, as he said, for Mary PIckford. As customary with an unknown proposal from an unknown. Miss PIckford referred the airy air offer from Lyons to her counsellor, Dennis F. O'Brien in New York. Nothing furtiier was heard from the PIckford radio matter . In the east, but on tljis end Lyons per- mitted it to be is^iown he was deal- ing with a big radio proposition fOr Miss PIckford. Biz Boosts In making his approaches to names for stage or ether jobs, Lyons disregarded local agent con- nections and added hundreds or thousands to the regular, salaries. The increased salary offers brought Lyons some attention although he Is said to have submitted coast names through the Lyons and Lyons New York agency v/ithqut complete authorization. To date the only substantial bookings Lyons is known to have made out . here include Betty Compson with a Fanchon & Marco stage unit. He started, by offering Miss Compson at $2,600 a week, for eastern personal appear- an'^es and wound iip by placing her with the P. & M. show at $1,000 weekly. Others are Dot Mackaill and Edmund Lowe for personals. The Local Agents' Association has given the steaming up talctics of the New Yorker no attention as f9r as known, nor have its agents v.arned their talent of their names being harmfully peddled around and about in stage and radio book- ing offices. '.. Roadhouse Helping Draw On Palm Springs W*kends . Hollywood, Feb. 29. Unusually, heavy weekend crowds at Palm Springs at present are evidently being attracted there by a. new and popular roadhouse called The Dunes. . Place has been' opened by Lou arid Al Werthelmer and is located In a lonely clump of trees oh the desert with no hou.se within a mile. It'.s about eight miles from the .Springs. Hollywood. Feb. 29; The period of studio upheavals which kept Hollywood on edige since . early in November, are through and the hangover is on. Except for a minor upsettin.r here iand there, the panic of "Wholesale firings, salary, cuts, changes jn operating heads and general resulting low morale Is believed over. Picture people are beginning to look arOuhd and see who's who and where. The worst stormy era In Holly- wood history ended about the time of Edward R;. Tinker's departure for New York. Shortly before that Hiram S. Brown and a group of bankers and executives went east, calming things at Radio. This stu- dio and Fox were the centers of storm. Also Pathe, whose personnel and name are practically ■ eliml* nated. Can't Be Topped • Although Fox and Radio are still rumor-ridden, the excitement isn't nearly as great and the feeling is that all. the big changes have al- ready b^'en made. There will still be; alterations, and Important ones on these two lots, but nothing to compare with what has been going on. At least, Hollywood feels that nothing can equal the past few months. Finger has been pointing at Para- mount for some time as ia likely spot for a storm, but despite all the runiors Par has had few changes in personnel. Metro Js now rumbrless as far as big shakeups are concerned. War- ners ' Is fairly steady, as is Uni- versal, which has been the least affected by Hollywood's upheaval. Columbia is also set : to operate smoothly, after its executive changeover. United Artists is not exciting, anybody. This leaves only the indies to provide film earthquakes. Picture-wise have lulled them-' selves into the belief most of the , inner studio ch'angea are over.; They may be wrong, but they're right in thinking it will take quite an up- set to equal in excitement what has been going oh: inside the lots during the last few months, Metro Options 2 ■Jptions on Joan Crawford's con- tract with Metro, also; Robert Young, have been exercised for an- other year each. Renewal for Miss Crawford starts with 'Betty Lynton,' in whicli she will co-star with Robert- Mont- gomery, ready to go in. Young's becomes effective March 23. JAMES FATS OFF Hollywood, Feb, 29. . Jimmy Durante's. wife, Jean, Is ,ln the east to pay off the mortgage on the old homestead In Flushing, L. L ■■' Meanwhile, James has gone wild west by trying to get a lariat around, his nose. GARNETT A. W. 1. Like a pardon froni the governor (•■;im< ' Darryl Zanuck's okay for Tay Garnett to stick around New York for another week. Resulted in the director .sliopplng for a new ward- robe as his trunks had gone to the CoapL ■ , Ciarnetf'.ttarta 'S. S. Atlan«!c' im- mediately upon his arrival In Holly- wood. . Final tourhe.s. on the script treatment are being made mean- tiihfi. INDEX Bills 40 Burlesque ....^.;..« 63 Burlesque Routes......... ' 63 Chatter . •... ..^....... i-. 44-48 Editorial CO Exploitations ....17 Film House Reviews,.... 29 Foreign Filni News.. Foreign Show News...... 55 Inside—Legit C2 Inside--Pictureg ...i.;... 50 Insl'de^Radlo ...60 Legillmatc ..>..^....1..;.51-54.' t„epit Reviews.'....64 Letter List............... C2 I,itci'atl ........'.....• .i... 6C' Music • • . « f. »'m*tmm «. 67 Now Acts..... 28 News from the Dailies.... 42 ^Nlght Clubs.,. ;61 : Obituary: 63 : Outdoors .63 Jtadio.. ..^..•......••....t.58-^Q Radio Reports............ 60 Hports , .. ;,.........»... . 43 ■ Talking Shorts....*..,... 20 Pictures > 2-27 Picture JK.'vicw.s..20 'Tiino.s 5iquare. .41-43 Vaudeville i .>.■... ...i.«*;34739 A'aiule Hon.ie lU-viewa...* 28 I.WoriK-ns I'aKC 49