Variety (April 1932)

Tuesday. April 5, 1932 E D I T O R I A I. VARIETY 47 KiETY .l|toh«a W TABIBTI. Inc. TPJ™^ Bid Silverman. President ^fS'9 Mi 46t»i Street New York City SUBSCRIPTION:. -.1 ' ....(•' ' Foreign .VT f^^'riii^::''. • ■» cent. Vol. 10? iao No.v4 15 YEARS AGO ' (prom 'Variety' ; and 'Clipper' ) . Wliite Bats about washed \\p. All rtrlkes declared oft'and Mouhtford stated that the organization £a.ced bankruptcy. J^ouls Manii had a sketch on the brpKeum circuit, 'Some Warriors,' wlblch gave offense. .: Mann talked teck to his critics so ilartln Beck rubbed out the-remalrilng dates; .: " •Eddie Marshall, vaude' cartoonist, started a riot In a German reatau- raht In N. T. W Insisting on sing jngf-'America/ " . 'iBIUy Sunday \vas cortducfing re vival meetings In N. Y., but failed W hurt; the, theatres. ; Poison In the Binaller towns. , • Artcr'aft Pictures ga've a luncheon io Douglas Fairbanks,. who was atQUt to gO' west td make pictures for them. GuB Hill shut six shows on ac cdunt of the war. Season had about a month to go. Figured, that people ■would be too excited to go to shows, and Govt, had already started to uVge everyone! to save. Coney Is- land'was worried over this report It wbuld have to keep lights out. False alarm. .' - Ringling show opened In Chicago liay 9. May Wlrth was made the big' attraction in plkce the' late Lillian Leltzei, who had gone over to Barnum & Bailey. 'Stamp tax on N. Y. theatre tickets w&fl killed In the Leglislature. Same thing this year; without the stamp feature. ' State Rights bookers and pro diicers were talking about forming a' leftgue. Intended to keep iout wild- cat speculators who had the money to. open' ah exchange. but not. the knowledge to Tun the business Hurting returns.;. Never got beyojid conversations."' 50 YEARS AGO (From ^Clipper') Fire on the .Golden City, a Mis- sissippi river, boat, off. Memphis, resulted In the almost total loss of W. H. .Stowe's circus, headed for Its opening date. Stowe himself was among the trd who lost their lives. W. C. Coup bought ..from Guiteau, assassin of Pres. Garfield, the suit of clothes he wore at the time of the shooting and the clothes worn at his trial. .To be exhibited with the show. Suit was placed on a way model of the killer in the act of flrlng. . Julie Coventry, Stock actress in Troy, N. Y., lost effects in flre. Was given a benefit supported by local amateurs. Chlckering Hall, then at 5th ave- nne and 18th street, was one of the favorite halls for other th.in the- atrical shows. . ; Another of lesser ^Portance was Clarendon Haill, in East 13th street,, between 3rd and |th avenues. All amusements-were Mlow 35th street and most below 28th. Inside Stuff-Pictiires Shortened production schedules, on each picture for economy's sake mea,n nothing to Harold Lloyd. Comedian expects to consume thro, months' time on. 'Movie Crazy,' maybe longer. Hollywood -wouldn't be surprised it he took six months. / Stpry was six months in. preparation. With one month of fllmlng com- pleted already, there is not much negative in the can. Daily scienc schedule, for example, calls for 14 days on one-sequence aio^ • . Players are Hired by Lloyd for a guaranteed number of days. If necdeil after their niibst Important scene:*, Lloyd must wait till they are avail- able, He cannot afford to keep .his whole company on salary for the Picture's ruii, BO must take a chance on getting, them when they're not working elsewhere. It's a long gamble on some of his people. If retakes or added scenes are necessary. A. three or four days' vacation for the .whole company In the midst of prpductlbn is not unusual,. ; r ■ . Inside Stuff^Legit Pattl closed her American tour J»lth. evidence that tlie public liad become tired of her high prices, specs stuck with seats. Rebuilding the Aquarium Into the '-"terion theatre. Building dept. or- "ered a fire wall between the' stage ik. P^'oscenium. First time that 'his Wag Insisted upon. Xow man- "•^tory. . Catholic Orphan Asylum, In ap- preciation of past aid, gave $100 to we newly established Actors' Fund. Pund was in excess of ?31.000. ^Bartley Campbell's 'The White th» t. first production at ^ne Mth St. theatre. Clipper did "fV^ire for it. But It made a.lot "I money. . . Pure coincidence blocked a n^ah posing, as an Inventor of a three di- mension picture process fr£>m crashing a coast studio cashier's window for 110,000 last •week. Man had a negative clip -which he claimed %as the only: existing proof of his process. Remarkable stereoscopic: values were apparent in the scrap of film itself. He asked the lO grand as a deposit on the; rights. , Grlfter first approached a Hollywood agent, who was Impressed by the looks of the film and arranged an Interview with a stud:^ official.. Officlar took one look at the film aind exclaimed, 'Marvelous. That's been torn from the film by Dr..Moosls.' The 'Inventbr' turned green and slipped out of the office, quietly. The coincidence had been that this particular studio was already negotiating with the:real Inventor of the depth.process. One of -the major' film companies couldn't understand how the stuff about Its new program -wa-s getting into the dailies. Eastern -heads were more than usually upset about it arid started blaming everybody Includ- ing most of the boys in the New York office. Biit the trail eventually led westward. . After' some more. or le^s intensive detective work they finally; found that one of their Coast head men .had been Iniblblng just enough to iobsen hid tongue and make him careless of who heard what he had to say. It got so. that they iev.eri suspected the conveyor of the news to the presses -v^as purposely enticing their exec :to a couple of pre-dinher cocktails/ However, thld never became ihore than a suspicion, as a few curt remarks, from the east put a sudden quietus on the informative studio chief. .;. In a cui,Tent report on the censor situation in Australia, American distributors are informed that it is becoming one of the mbst riig:Id' on the globe. Five pictures were rejected In tbto by Australia and two were or(^ered tb have all advertising, and' publicity matter . fir6t passed upon by the censors. Pictures rejected includtid.Wamers' 'Safe In Hell', and 'Under Klghteen'; Paramount's 'Ladles , of the Big House'; Unlver- sal's 'Sea Soldiers' Sweethearts' and Fox's '(Sbod Sport.' Ad copy on Metro's 'Strangers May Kiss' and Par^s 'Jekyll and Hyde' must be perused. In addition to these, court clerks can no longer be dialoged as saying 'so help,you God.' 'Frowsy' and 'lo'Usy' are also blacklisted. . Deal whereby Sol Lesser Joined with Talking Picture Epics In dis- trlbutipn did not Involve the transfer t)f rpuch money. TPE will continue, as before with the product It has been distributing, but will share 50% in the operation of Its exchanges from now on with Lesser'a Principal Distributors and similarly on the latter's prbfits. Lesser ■\ylll have charge of production, with his Principal. Producers the parent company of Principal Distributors. Frank Wilson, head of TPE, becomes a vice-president of the. Princiipal corporations. Lesser arrives" on the Coast this: week to begin production, remalnia there a fortnight and returns east to aid in the expansl<9n. of TPE exchanges and selling staffs. After less than a year as picture critic and chatterer for the London 'Sunday Express,' Cedrlc Belfrage has prompted himself a trip to Holly- wood; . ./Belf sailed on the Majestic March 23 and after two or three days In New Torli plans to proceed to the film capital. He will remain about three weeks in the town where weather , is always exceptional. This is believed only the second time a London daily, has sent a rep to California exclusively for picture copy. First bn the list was Iris Barry, who went over foi- the 'Mail' In 1928.. Belfrage has been over before, paying his own fare on two occasions when wbrklng as a free-lance fan mag scribbler. Indie exhlbs will have to make the first move to get uniform contract, arbitrAtloh and zoning back, .according, to the Hays office. More tha.n that, they will have to prove their sincerity in advance this time and show that the new bverture Is not just another bid for word Juggling. Haysites, In making their own stand clear, declare they are through traveling around the country.spreading the gospel of Industry uniformity In. smoke-heavy meeting hallg br hotel rooms. The M. P. T. O. A., which endorsed uniformity at its Washington convention, 'will hay© to lay Its cards on the table, along with the resolution, if it expects to get any^ where with the producers on the one-fbr-all basis. Erneist Lubitsch's new terms with Paramount are at a slight cut below the $125,000 a picture he was getting. On the new week-to-week basis he'll average about $225,000 annually for two pictures which-will prob- ably be. his limit per year despite the three picture arrangement with Par. ' Lut)itsch, pn the previous $125,000 per pic basis, averaged at least two a year although lie had an unusual: understanding whereby he was to supervise on a gratiiitous arrangement ■while making three pictures, a year as the actual director. It was this supervisory set-up; which brought Lubitsch into the actual m.egglng of 'One Hour With You.' Sudden darkening of the Astor, New York,' until .opening of 'Grand Hotel' (Metro) April 12, leaves Broadway for the tiiltie being without a single $2 picture. It's thie first time the Astor has darkened for more than a day between pictures since February, 1929, when M-G launched the first of the talker musicals, 'Broadway ^lelody.' Continuous grind of 165 . weoks Is . split up as follows: 'Broadway Melody,' 2"; 'Hollywood Bevue,' 19; 'Devil "May Care,' 6; 'Roguo Song,' 21; 'Big House,' 18; 'War Nurse,' 9; 'New Moon,' 6; 'Trader Horn,' 17; 'Free Soul,' 15.; 'Guardsman!,' 9; 'Champ,' 6, and 'Hell Divers,' 13, With a. circuit rejecting one pf the pictures on theiif linc-up from a major producing compahy; the Detroit manager for the distributors screened the picture for an opposltlbn manager. With the opp manager in the sci-ecnlng room the exchange hianager cialled the circuit .tha;t had fjrst choice and told them the oppo.sltion was looking at the picture. Clrctiit man then decided, to buy it after all. But the'opp manager Is now Insisting on a 30-day option on all pic- tures he is invited to view. RCA'Photophonc will announce as effootlvc about Way 1 an adjust- ment In its recording royalties. Photophone's reductlon.s have, not yet been settled, but will cut coats for Independents and short subject producers. • ' Marcus Heiman is more activa In the Erlanger office at present than :il any time since he. joined, preparing for next season. His investment in ;the legit enterprise is isiaid to be several millions. Heiman's buy Includes an interest In the two Erlanger theatres in Lo's Aiigeles; Erlahger-Grand, • Cincinnati;. Erlanger's, Buffalo; Erlanger's,. New York, and Erlanger's,-Atlanta, Latter house appears to be the biggest problem. Ifow attractions have gone south and there are too many picture houses In A.tlanta to attempt that Dollcy. Rent was defaulted and the bond- holders, all local, are trying to dp something about it. . ' Reported that the Cincinnati house has been offered to RKO, overture aijparently coming, from the estate of Charles P. Taft; although Erlanger's have a 99-year lease. The Erlanger office claims: the house has not been.- In the red this season but any advantageous deal would be welcome; That also applies to any of the other thea,tres mentioned but no knowl- edge of pending deals is admitted. . If. the Erlanger house In Cincy is dlisposed of, chances ate that that firm's attractions Svlll play the Shubert which has a larger capacity. . Erlanger's claini there arc other houses in that city which could acPom-" mbdate. their shows. Plans of pooling between Erlanger's arid the Shu- berts remains as Is. It. appears .the Shuberts would likb'to pobl in all stands where they ha-i-e no theatres but not where both circuits hav© 'hbiises. .' Heiman in addition to his theatre interests Is also in on Erlanger Pro» duct'Iohs, the show end of the estate. . ^ Winthrop Ames! ofllce denies that the players lia 'Left Bank' will have the privilege of wrecking the dressing rooms at the Little on the last night of the engagement and the New i'ork "Times' doesn't like the Idea either,;'' .'■'.' While the 'Times' takes possession pf the property May 1, there Is no Intention of razing the theatre at that time. Plans to niakc a new .en'- trarice to the publishing plant hkve been set back and It Is expected the Little will be. operated .as a 'theatre fpr anpther season. So, no . rough stuff on the final eve. One; show currently, on- Broadway" has a tieup with a spiritualist group. So much; so th.at before the play was produced the producer took the script to the head mystic for an okay and an opinion.. - After the approval the spiritualists came through with extensive plugs and sent them, broadcast. . Legit drift Is that .the majority of new producers springing up are'no actual help to the theatre situation. They operate., on the thinnest of shoestrings. ' . , Primary jndicatiPnis are that theatres are remaining as. distant ais pbsslble from .these ventures. Several recent showa remained unbooked to the last minute and were In danger of not opening at all. . Bobkera state darkness is preferable to these plays. 6ther indication is the attitude of agents who make iip effort to cast for these ishowis. Reason is that the salaries offered are so low the resultant commlsslphs. would be negligible^ Welter of new managers has reawakened much of the talk against tliese production? which offer $16 and $26 salaries to performers normally getting $200 or. more'; Billy Rose credits his circusy p.a., Ned Alvord, who Is ahead of XSrazy Quilt,' with enough of the success of the revue on-the road so. that he'd almost like to .make It a co-starring arrangement to include Fannie Brice,' Phil Baker, Ted Healy and Alvord. That is. If it would hblp at the boxoffice. Alvord's trail blazing; is rebognlzed In the trade as haying done much for 'Quilt' financially.. Youhg trlo conippsed of Sidney Harmon, Shep Trsiube and Walter Hart, .which first come Into pronilnence with 'Precedent* In the Village, is now .entirely split up and functioning Individually. Hart Is rehearsing 'Merry Go Round' for the Provincetown Playhouse,; Traube Is co-producing, a Jane Cowl show with-Arch Selwyn, and. Harmon opened 'Bloodstream' at the Times Square Wednesday (30). Looks as though tab dramas are. cold for present. Jlmmlc Cobper, who started rehearsing 'Blue Ghost' tab, ha.s laid off the cpmpahy and gone on a three months*, vacash. Producer says the only booliings he " could get were, light and will wait until next fall. Paramount \yas. thinking about doing 'Lyslstrata' several weeks ago, but this too, has cooled. Seats for the Boulevard, Jackson Heights, Skburas* theatre on the sub- way circuit, are now sbid at nine other Skouras houses on Long Island. Stunt is new for the subway circuit, and started last week. Towns with the. houses acting as additional box offices for the Boule- vard are Flushing, Forest Hills, Great Neck, Wbodslde, Astoria (2), Corona, Jackson Heights, Glen Cove. Buffalo newspapermen, like elephants and Indians, never forget. When Abrier Blodget, in advance of Ethel Barrymore, reached that town he was confronted by inquiring reporters who wanted to know why La. Barrymore's return? She had promised publicly two years ago that she would never play this town again due to her cold receptibn. Blodget dodged as best he could. Equity theatre ticket agency has passed but at the corner of Broadway and 47th street.. Agency was backed by the late Joe Leblang. Said to have operated In the red from the start about five years ago. Agency has been merged with the hotel Piccadilly branch of the Broad- way ticket agency. Equity's personnel being retained. The Leblang estat<j :has taken over the costly lease bn the 47th street corner. Leopold Marchand, who wrote. 'We Are No Longer Children,' witnessed the premiere at the Booth last week thereafter:working with the adapters in making changes. Marchand stoppied over on his way to Paris from Hollywood where he had charge of the French versions of the Maurice Chevalier pictures. He will return to the Cpast next fall. Lora Baxter and Ilka Chase, of 'The Animal Kingdom,' are actress- authors figuring in plays produced on Broadway. Miss Baxter collab- orated In the writing, of 'Black Tower.' Miss Chase collaborated on the adaptation of 'We Are No Longer Children,' current at the Bopth. Leslie Howard, lead In 'Kingdom,', staged the latter play. .Since the two recent stickups of the Selwyn and Longacrc all New York legit theatres have safeguarded approaches to the inside of box- offices. Either doors arc kept looked at all tirncs or special metal grillea have l)cen installed. • •' ,In the stock presC'nta.tion, of 'Newr Moon,*, at the Boston opora house, .a German .<ionff bas been interpolated. It is 'Das Lied 1st Au.**,' sung by William O'Neal. Book of the play is based oh a French historical, inci- dent. Nuinber was soloed by O'Neal last summer in 'Shoot the Works.' Two girl a.s.sistant boxoffice treasurers have been shuffled, out In the numerous changes in th« Shubert organization. They have, been re- placed by Loc Shubert'.s private secretary and the Beoretary to David Finestonc. Changes, occurred at the .Shubert and imperial.