Variety (May 1932)

'6 VARIETY PICT C S fuesday, May 3, 1935 Double Features StiD Spoil Market; Stars and S. A. Hopes for New^^I^^ Hollywood, May.2.. Two-reel comedy prodiiders ad- mlt that they have to unearth a line of appeal for their coihlnEr year's product other than slapstick or straight coniedy situations or. dialog. With the double feature tills so ; firmly entrenched, they see little opportunity to mu|scle into pro^ grams unless the shorts have ex- ceptlonarmerlt or pulling power. Educational's aim for Increased spotting In programs will be by a star system of shortSi E. W. Hami- mons, now here, is endeavoring to line up a number of comics for several series, with names suffl- clently attractive to have a, theatre drawing power. Hal Roach's experiment for added pulling power ■will be through sex appeal. With the exception of the Our Gia,ngs, all comedies from thlia lot during the nt>w year will be he^yy on atmosphere arid situations- Involving girls easy to look at. This lot has lined up 180 candi- dates for the s. a. Jobs and will pick a dozen or nipre frbm the list to go on conti'act. It's somewhat of .a reversion to the Sennett bath- ing beautjr Idea, although the Roach scheme is not wholly to depend on the gam show. Unlike the old Sennett Ideaj the femme pulchritude will be brought into the, film stories logically. Prob- lem has now been put ,in the laps of the studio's scenarld writers to ■work the s. a. plan into all their gags and situations for stories com- ing up. TAX SETBACK N. Y. rState Scores . Costly Point Over Fox Films : Albany, N. T,, Ma:y 2. In a ruling of the court of ap- peals last week, the Fox Flirii Corp. must include its holdings and for- eign corporation in Its state tax re- port.. The appellate division for- merly ruled that the holdings and. cori)oratlons were not to. be iii- cluded. It was charged by the. state tax commission that the' film compiany' had created the realty corporation In order to evade tax payments. The petltlonei: contended that the corporation and foreign subsidiaries were not liable to report under the! state tax law. film Shortage Causes B&K Loop to Allied Board Meets h Clu; to C ampaign For Brookhart ^f.. Chicago, May 2. Directors of the Allied States VF^nlzatioH: met herd last week, lome of the 16 territorial leadet^ conTetilng under the guidance of Abram Myers, the Allied counsel, Including Al Steffes, H. M. Rlchey, .Sidney Samuelson, Nathan Tawltz, Herman Bluril and Aaron Saper- stela. It was a sliort session, and was nialnly a follow-up meeting on the national convention held last month in: Detroit. Big subject up for discussion was the plan to gather full backing of the Brookhart bill now going the rounds iii Congress. Claim by Al- lied is that they plan to make their stand against block booking a matter of public discussion in the hopes of getting the picture-going public to take sides in any wrangle between the exhibitors and dls trlbutors. • Stated that the scheme is to be based ' on a publicity campaign, which Is to cost 'up to $10,000,' both the dallies and the screens of the Allied theatres to be used In the proclaimed plan. Understood that Allied in its ad campaign proposes to make the claim that the reason such and such, theatres are running double features and weak pictures Is because, the distribs Insist on selling so many: films to the exhibs in a batch that the theatre has nd chance to pick out the best product for the customers. Allied locally has already started Its identification campaign to In form the public that there Is an Al lied organization of Indle exhibs And as soon as the ti'easury . re coups from Its present depleted condition they plan to go ahead with this newspaper and billboard spread. Sign Writers Settle Strike for 10% Slash After a iatrike lasting nearly a month, the chains have forced the New York Sign Writers, L>ocal 230, to a 10% cut in their basic scale Under the settlement, the men will receive $13.23 a day. lor a five-day week, as against $14.70, last year*s scale, whlcl* the ..union wanted on renewal. Contract for one year, with all men to return to activity not lat^r than yesterday ■ (Monday) Settlement wad reached late Wed nesday night (27). . Chicago, May 2. Coming sooner ■ than expected, Fiiblix-B. & K. Is closing the Roose- velt, run house in the loop, Wednes-. day (4), due to shortage of product. Unable to get any kind of break on first run pictures, other than independents, Roosevelt, In the past, has been compelled to take second releases from other downtown houses, principally the B. & K. ac9 Chlci^go. Consistently dipping In the red, the Roosevelt has been a headache for the circui': for a long time.' . B. & K. tried to peddle' the house ofiC time and again during the past year, prefierably to a /Commercial concern which would guarantee, to raze the site for a non-shbwbusi- ness project, but tbere were no tak- ers. Original offer made by Marshall Field for the theatre guaranteed B. K. about an even break on its investment for the first 20 years, and a profitable rental thereafter. Roosevelt ^ is estimated to ' have stood B. & K. over $1,000,000, own- ing the 1;heatre outright and hold- ing a 99-year land lease on the property. With the Roosevelt folding up. It Is expected that other, though less Important neighborhooa spots, will get the axe next, although nothing definitely has been done as yet, Modifications of price scalei^ and hartges in policies wlU be tried out the grade 'B' and 'C houses as a "esuscitating jneasure. Ist Runs on Broadway (Subject to Change) Week May 6 Paramount—'The 'World and the Flesh' (Par). R 6 x,y — !Young America' (Fo;c). CapitplH''I'etty Lynton* Me- tro) (2hd week). Rivoli—'Mlracl^ Man* (Par) (3rd week). ' Strand—'Strange I^ov6 of Molly Louvaln' (FN). . W i nt e r Garden—^Mouth- piece' (WB) (3rd Week). Mayfaii^'State's Attorney' (RKO) (5). Rialto—'Strange Case of Clara Deane' (Par) (5). Week. May 12 ,Paramount—'Sinners. In the Sun' (Par). R o X y — Toung America' (Fox) (2nd week). . 'Night Court' (Metro). Winter Garden—'Mouthpiece* (WB) (4th week). ' Rialto — 'Strange Case of Clara Deane' (Par) (2nd week.) ■ : $2 Pictures 'Grand Hotel' (Metro) (As- ter) (4th week). 'Symphony of Six Million' (Radio) (Gaiety) (4th week). Foreign Fijms : 'Liebeskommando* , (Super- film) (German) (Eurppa)! (2nd 'Ein* Prinjt Verliebt Sich'. (Terra) (German) . (Hlnden- berg) (2nd week). . ' 'Trapeze' (H^moniel); (Ger- man) (Little Carnegie) (2). - 'Soil la. Thirsty' (Amkiho) (Russian) (Cameo) (B). 'Tu Seras DucheBse' (Par) (French) (6th Ave.) (6). liAAT BRIAN'S ENGLISH BID Hollywood, May 2. Mary Brian, now working in Warners* 'Blessed Event,' has under consideration a nice oiCfer from'' an English studio. Sho has hot yet cabled her ac- ceptance but looks as though she will inake the jump. N. Yv to L. A. Leslie Banks. Dolores Casey. Helen Coburn. H. B. Franklin. - William Gargan. John W.'Hicks. Arthur Klein. Vivian Mathews. Leo Morrison. Jack Pegier. Mary Pickford. Sidney Salkow. Joe Seldelman. Jack Fear. \ Victor McLaglen. ' Al Rackln. ■ Sonya Levlen. Frank Borzage. ' L. A. to N. Y. Joseph Johnson. W. C. Michel. D, E. Mclntlre. Chi dub Women s Preview Plan May Eloninate Censor Board Briefly rewritten extracts frtim "Variety's". Hollywood Bulletin, printad each Friday in Hollywood, and placed aa a wrapper upon the regulap weakly '^Variety The Bulletin does not circulate other than on the Patiific Slope. Newt from the Dail,ies in Los Angoloo will be found in that customary department..' Fox's. Now VVriters Bernard-Schubert ahd Lynn Star- ling added to Fox writing staff, with former on 'The First Year' and lat- ter on an original. Ayres in Mall Story Stairrihg Lew Ayres, 'Mall Goes Through' will be directed by. John Ford for XThlversaK' Story replaces 'Shanghai -Interlude' on the-U pro- grani.. -, Cahn Draws 'Exile' Next directorial. assignment at Universal, for Eddie "Cahn is .'Exile Express.' story of the deportee ti-ains. Cahn going to San Fran- cisco, from where the train leaves, for material. Lester Cohen work- ing on the story. Carroll at U Richard Carroll, former.Pox scen- ario head, working on a political story for Universal. ' Irma Bermudez, last in the Pathe music department, In; charge of tunes at Columbia, replacing Leslyn MaoDoiiald, who igoes demostio with a wedding. Par Edits Quota Julian Johftson editing 'Service for Ladles,' English quota, remake! of Paramount's old silent. Leslie How- ard starred. New title is 'Reserved for Ladles.': Roach Reopens RoiEich studio reopened May 2 with production on the new Laurel and Hardy feature, to be c6-dlreoted by George Marshall and' Ray McCarey. Greenwood III Because of Charlotte Greenwood's illness, cast of 'Alarm Clock,' now at the Alcazar, San Francisco, received their notice, effective May 7. ?eri Bard revamping 'Hit the .Air,' radio revue at the Music Box, which opened TMay 2iS. r WB Shorts on Coast Warner shorts department will make six Technicolor shorts here during the shutdown of the Flatbush studio. First started today with Roy Mack directing and LeeMoran and Charles Kaley featured. Sam Saxe in charge. Unit remains here isix weeks. , / Economy When : Bob Steele, and a western company went to Lake He.met for summer exteriors it snowed, and script workers got busy writing In snow sequences. Script finished, company prepared to start and foiihd.lt snowing too hard to photo- graph. Outfit returned to the. studio while the script was changed back. Winchetl Refuses Part Walter Wlnchell, recuperating, at the .Santa Barbara Biltmore, turned down the offer of the lead in Colum- bia's columnist film.. Wlnchell, ac- companied by his wife iand two chil- dren, may remain In S. B. three months. Merkel's Luck Luck broke right for Una Merkel, who came out of a tonsil operation without a voice and recovered It in time to be cast in the most talkative part ' in Metro's 'Read-Headed Woman.' Chicago; May .2. • After, all these years; the local distributors Land exhibs have finally gotten together with the IlUnols Federation of Women's Club on a solid plan of reviewing and spotting pictures for adult and kid patron- age. Working directly with, the film Board of : Trade, the Allied organi- zation and the MPTOA, the club women have appointed a committee to preview pictures and to choose those which are suitable for vari- ous type audiences. . Already one step has. been tak- en by the universal adoption lo- cally by all neighborhood theatres of a fs^mlly i\Ight, which Is Friday, on which day nopink permit or 'adults only' films wlir be shown. This takes In not only tho indies but also the Publix-B. & K. arid Warner. Brothers houses. With the co-operation of the vari- ous dlstrlb and exhibitor gi'oups, the Club Women have chosen a pre- view committee to view all flicks in the loop and prepare a bulletin to be distributed to housewives throughout the state. Price of this bulletin service is 60c. Under the -preview system the committee will not dissect of cen- sor films, since the Federation has flatly taken a stand against censor- ship, but . instead will be a guide, plan telling the housewives whether the program Is isultable for general consumption, children or strictly adults. It is believed by Insiders that this committee spells the death of the local censor board, led by Mrs. ElCle Zigler, who. has acquired a reputa- tion both inside and outside the Industry for her arbitrary decisions and her ruthless slashing of bellu- loid. The Federation of Club women Is kndwii to be antagonistic to the present censorship plan with lis cuts and 'adults only' rulings. It Is believed that the Federation will shortly petition Mayor Cermak to do. away with the censor board as being against the best interests of both the community and the pic- ture industry, and will recommend the a,doptlon of the committee sys- tem of recommchdatlon as the substitute for the thoughtless arid wanton methods of the Zlgler-con- troiled censor board. Arledge Fox H. O. Though John Arledge's Fox term- er expired while he was in 'Huddle' at Metro, he's being held over for 'Week End Husband' at Fox, Peg Entwhistle here from N. Y. for the Ingenife part in 'Merry Mrs.. Hope' for Belasco & Ciirran. • Stein's Last ; . Last picture fOr Paul Stein to di- rect under his Pathe contract will be/Deported,' with Zita Johapn, at Radio. Stein just returned from six months in Europe, where he went aftfer an argument over ^lary cuts. Hays office no care for Para- mount's title, 'Merrily -We Go to Hell,' asking for a change. : Podelty's FoJt Cut Embargo declared by Fox pub- licity department on information in- tended for export is applied to writers who work for both Ameri- can and foreign papers. Donovan Pedelty wtis told to reslgq his Eng- lish connections if he wanted iiny studio data {or his domestic work. Brandt's Finishes Deals Joe Brandt, former Columbia proxy, arrived here Saturday to line lip. additional independent product. Brandt's plan is to finance five producers to make four pic- tures each. William Sistrom is lined up. as one of the five. Walsh Ges 'Bugle' First assignment for Raoul Walsh at Metro is 'Bugle Sounds.' Hans Kraly and Johii Goodrich are doing the latest adaptation on the yarn. Cast so far are Wallace Beery arid Clark Gable. RbgoHs' Writers : . P. J.. Wolfson and Allen ^ilvkln, both wltK five-year contracts at Universal, reialgned last week to become Charles R. Rogers'- entire writing' staff. They' started work immediately on. 'Madison Square Garden' and '70,000 Witnesses;' Rosen Can't Collect When Albert Gran went^through bankruptcy he admitted In a letter that ho owed Al Rosen, a.gent, agent,"'<3,B00, and intended to pay* Rosen later sued. Last week Judge Stafford ruled that Rosen couldn't , collect. Ex-Laundry Legit . Quiil 'n* Buskin, little theatre, opened Wednesday with 'The Mad Seeress' by A. J. Karnopp. The- atre is a former laundry, Sid Mlntz is directing. Durante-Keaton Team Jimmy Durante arrived from the east to go Into 'Speak Easily' at Metro with Buster Keaton. Studio intends teaming the pair perma- nently.. Bennett Stays When Richard Bennett changed bis mind and decided not to take a vacation to Japan, he went back Into 'Sporting Widow' at Para- mount Originally replaced by George Barbier. U's Convention. Junket J. L. Schlalfer, Universal general sales manager, and T. B. Gomers- all, division manager, joining stu- dio execs here on their conven- tion jiinket. Both- Laemmles and Stanley Bergerman accompanied the pair to Sah Francisco for the western meet. Elder Laennmle goes with them to the Chicago and New York conventions. Rosenberg's New Spot Jack Rosenberg, former exploiter for Loew's State, left for Portland and Seattle in charge of the north- west for Sol Losser'a Principal Dis- tributors. .'Floradora' Suit Waits . Trial of the $360,000 infringement suit against Metro over 'Floradora' was continued until fall, the plaint- iffs ..wanting to send abroad for depositions. Sfen's Quick English . Various fcnime characters in EolCslay.sky's 'Wdy of a Lancer' are being rolled Into one. Whether Anna Sten gets to play It depends on how much English she learns in .m intensive two-week course. Rothaker's Cold Watterson Rqthacker appeared at Radio studio Friday (29) after four days in Hollywood. A cold had kept him home. Kent Leaves May 10 Sidney R. Kent is here until May 10. New Fox chief makes another coast trip the first part of June. • 'Lizzie' Co-op Biist Co-operative 'Lysistrata' disband- ed after eight performances at the Egari.. Truman Curtis Is reorgan- izing the dramatic group for other productions. Freedman's Indie Deal Sam Freednmn is out as a super- visor at Universal. He Will proba- bly line up with Harry Sherman in an Independent production deal. ; 'U's New Rental Stages _ TWO new sound stages. will be constructed by Universal at a cost of $50,000 each for the use of Charles Rogerf- and Other indle producers having headquarters at U. Studio is putting up a strong bid for the indle producers' busi- ness. Metro's Quiet Spell •Prosperity' finished at Metro Saturday, leaving the studio in- active for se-veral days. 'Red Head- ed "Woman,' next on the schedule, (Continued on page 40) Extras Eat Hollywood, May 2. After; five weeks of mob drouglit the extras did pretty gdod last week with the dally average 1.081. Friday was the big day for the mob, paychecks . going to 1,880. Frank Capra used 804 of them at Columbia on the closing set of 'Faith.'