Variety (Aug 1932)

.■ruesdty. Aggnrt 2. 1932 P I C T II B E S VAmTr S Kctwe ifr Hugs Loom for 0^ Majors as Radio kuiicli^ 0|wner iAGE OF flOPEPIW JYRKO Investigation bas been started >y Martin Becic" in New York 'through H. B. Franklin to deter-^ ^Ine If any part was played by the v^tadlo Picture^' studio in -the Joyce ^' Selznick agency's booking of {jtiupe Velez for 10 Publix stage .^eeks. probe by RKO la to ascertain If J. & S. played the Radio flira com- jBany against that studio's own '^tideTlUe afflUate. RKO, by offer- <?4ig two weeks' work for Miss Vejez IlLti Radio if she- accepted the Publix ,4ates. .RKO, Itself, made a stage offer '^o the screen a.ctreBB through the t^eber-Simon agency lii New Tork. 'i(<Tfigotiations were on for eight ^eeks through W-S, which holds Sn RKO agency "franchise, whein byce & Selznick swung the Publix ^eal. Weber-dimon complained' to the RKO booking department in the ^ast ' ■ V' Miss Vel^z opens for Publix next ^eek (5) in Boston. Heir stage sal- Mry Is $4,500. Mrs. Jessel Sez W; - Georgie hsists It's Reno and SettlemeBt Florence Courtney (Courtney Sis- ters), in private life Mrs. George Jessel, telephonlcaliy told 'Variety' she is not Reno-bound for a divorce but Is staying with her mother on Ltong Island; that she has no . In- tentions of accepting any settle- itient or again becoming ex-Mrs. Jessel.. ' .'She split from jessel twice be- fore and remarrried the Comedian AS many tinies. , ^ Holl3^ood, Aug. 1. Jessel reiterates here that Miss .Courtney accepted his cash settle- iueht and agreed to a" divorce. He opines that his wife may be dodg- ing publicity but that otherwise she has agreed to make the Reno hop. Jessel and Norma Talmadge are rehearsing their new routine here p'reparatory to opening at the Para- mount, N. T., Aug. 12 or 19 de- pendent on further holdovers of iHarry Richman there. Rrfnse Posing VV. t IV ,,7. Hollywood, Aug. 1, ..,,When Columbia was looking for /nale lead for .'Bitter Tea of Gen- le^irf^l Ten' stenogs on the lot were in- Tlted. to look , at the tests. Girls IVOted for Nils Asther wlio got the fCfSignment. ■ .'l Publicity department wanted to iplay up tlie idea so had the stenogs either round Asther and pose for publicity photographs. Girls went, ^humtts down on the Idea, noiie of t^em wanting to appear .in the pic- tures claiming the publicity not so li'ot for the buck home. mob who snigbt think they were ^oing better; than pounding typewriters. ,v,.Not dismayed, the . publicity de- l^artnient dispatched two men to .the. telephone, exchange located op- posite the ^studio to corral about 20- Wrls • to pose with Asther. ■ Studio figured the operators would get a kick ,out of being mugged with the actor. • First 60 to come out of the ex- change were canvassed. Idea was turned down by 48 of them; Dis- trusted publicity department gave Hp the Idea. 11 TBS. WITH FAS Hollywood," Aug. V ILloyd Sheldon becomes Para- toi'bunl's senior production executive point of service. He has a new «pn tract for one. year. '• 'Sheldon has been with the com- pany li years. « ■J. BABY MABIE TO METEO -Baby Rose Marie, child radio singer, has been taken by Metro for oiiie picture. Understood she's wanted for a •Jackie Cooper talker. Silk Pajamas/Berets On Sonth Sea Belles, AD Because of Dong .. . . Holljrwood, Aug. 1. Douglas Fairbanks' , expedition to Tahiti has turned those Hawaiian damsels into bathing beach fash- Ion ' plates.. ' Israel jackson, who operates a general,store over there. Is cleaning up. The Fairbanks party only ha:d one woman on location, but she showed the gate what America was iwear- Ing. After the^ film troupe the. native feraines Induced XTacobson to send to the States for silk pajamas and berets. ' '■ • Now the South Sea Isle beauties are disporting themselves In the new adiommeht and - Jacobson has sent to San Francisco for additional raiment. ^ ' WILL ROGERS' FOX 3 AT $100,000 PER FILM Hollywood, Aug. 1. Pox has given: Will Rogers a new contract for three pictures to be made in two yec^rs k't; 1(100,000 a picture; : Deal is effective following com- pletion of 'State Fair* on which special arrangement, for Rogers'wi&s made, local report being that Rog- ers Is In'Fair'without salary. -New contract Is at less money than Rogers drew pn biis last pic- ture. RADIO OUTBIDS M-G, U FOR LEE TRACY-$1,500 Hollywood, Aug. 1. Radio wins in the three-cornered flght with Metro and Universal for Lee Tracy, who will be spotted as the press agent In 'Phantom Fate,' the Harry Relchenbach story*. In September. Lupe Velez will have the feminine lead. Reported that Tracy will receive $1,600 weekly aa against the $650 Warners has been paying him. He is now working on the Columbitt lot Loan Brings Contract Hollywood, Aug. 1. Charles lAiighton, borrowed by Mietro from Paramount for 'Payment deferred' has been placed under contract by Paramount. Laiighton has not worked. In any Par pictures, having previously been loaned to Universal for 'Old Dark House.* Cautious Cohn . •. ,-.Hpllywobd, Aug, 1, Harr^l^ Cc^hq, has. been,, talk-.. Ing'. about ! heac^ing . for' N<9w Toric this week. But the Olym- pic games'are on. Cohi^' lilies athletics Jtiimself, . as do. also !the studio employ" ees, butproduptlon mUstgo on.. So the head man! of Colum- bia' is remaining to seie. that no tlme^'is lost, - JAMES R:(B)IRK DIES SjDDDENLY ON COAST Hollywood, Aug. 1, James Robert Quirk died here this morning (Mon.)-in Hollywood hospital after a five-day Illness of pneumonia, complicated with heart disease. Quirk came here June 1 to. fight the Alma Rut>ens case against 'Photoplay,! his fan magazine. Spending eight days on the wit- ness sta.nd was a terrible physical strain. He went to the Bohemian Grove, San Francisco, wherp he spent 10 days at the Revel, return- ing here July 2B.. Quirk suffered a heart attack talking with his wife (the- former May Allison) that afternoon and was rushed to the Hollywood hospi- tal where he suddenly expired this morning. Services will be held here August 4, burial uridetermined. ; Survived by widow, former May Allison,'^screen actress, also two. children, Frances Denton Quirk and Jean North Quirk, who are in camp in Maine. Quirk was city r editor of the WashlngtPn; 'Times-,' also managing editor - 'Popular- Mechanics ' Maga- zine,' then In : aldyertislng agency, buisiness in'Chicago and in 1915 be- cq,me the. editor and publisher of 'Photoplay.' ■ Qul.lrk .was bom. In Boston and was 4d years old. TairV LocatioD Hollywood, Aug. 1. Henry King, director, and Phillip Stong, author of 'State Fair' (Fox), leave here Aug. 16 with Janet Ckty- nor, Charles Fai-rell and Will Rog- ers for atmospheric background. . Scenes will be taken at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, la. Whitney Bolton to WB Whitney Bolton has been signed by Warner Bros, as a writer under a contract negotiated In New York by the .William Morris office. He leaves Saturday (6), for the Coast. Contract is for tiiree: months with the usual options. . > Bolton, dramatic critic on^he New. York .'Morning Telegraph,* re- cently wrote an original for Fox entitled, 'Apartment Hous& lioye.' To Be Themselves Hollywood, Aug. 2, Charles Rogers has added Tom Cha'rkey, Stanislaus . Zybsco, and Lew Magnolia, New Tork fight ref^ eree, to the cast of 'Ma,dison Square Garden.V Producer is. also negotiating to obtain 'Damon- Runyon to be hint- self-in the film. , STONE'S NEW MG DEAL. 3 YEARS, NO OPHONS Hollywood, Aug. 1, ' liewls Stone has possibly most iron-bound and continuous contract ever given to a player by any com- pany. His new deal made with Metro is for three years istraight, without options during the period, and calls for 40 weeks each year. There will be yearly increases, how- ever; in salary, ; Deal was handled by Freddie Fralick, Who has managed Stone's affairs for the past 12 years. FROM PICSHN DIRECTOR TO BIG LEAGUE MEGGER ; Hollywood, Aiig. li ^. George Stevens, engaged to direct only the football sequences on -'All America' (U), will'direct the entire picture. RUssell Mack, who was'to have handled dialog and dramiatlc sequences win be given another assignment. Mack megged U'a - 'Spirit' of. •Notre Dame.' . -, " f -. Buddy Rogers May Be In Mary Pickfcnid's Next 'Buddy Rogers say.s he^l make a picture again, soon. Doesn't know for whom or won't say. May be the next Pickford pic. Rogers is under NBC manage- ment heading a band -at the hotel Pennsylvania, N. Y. He is also slated, for a week at the:Capitol (lioew), Aug. 18» PSOSFEBOUS VISIT' - Hollywood, Aug-. 1, , Veronica Balfe,'l9, niece of Cedric' Gibbons art director at Metro, has been accepted by Radio for its stock company. Miss iSalfe was. merely, visiting here for the Olympic games. . - . HoliywQpd, Aug. I. With virtually all^'major studios carrying a tie-in with a local radlo> station, indications are that a con- certed effort will be made by the picture companies to utilize their air connections to the fullest, now that the ice has been broken by the Radio-NBC iseries. Only drawback is exhibitor pro- test. But this, , it is stated, can be overcome if the programs are of the: Radio studio ' type, answering M.' H. Aylesworth's urge to build entertainment and forget the star name thing. Aylesworth Is testing out Ub theory that radio can be used to work for the theatre interests, in- stead of against them, and if bis Radio studio experiment proves this, then all majors will go^heavy for the air, it ■ Is conjectured. Few Produeera Use Air Although every major studio> with the exception of Metro, has a local btatlon carrying its name, the air is seldom used except for aa occasional 'perspnal apt>earance,' and these have been growing feweir and fewer through the yelps from, exhibitors that whenever ia picturb star name is on the air, theatre box offlces suffer the same night. As it stands ; now the air adyiar-' tlslhg. is .mostly of an Institutlonat nature as in the case of iECNX, with its periodic announcement that ihla is 'the Paramount- Picture StudlP.* Skme - with -KF-WB,- Wa;mer station and ICMTR, the United Artist tie-, in. Par and KNX Interested . Since the Radio-NBCJ 'intension tp -build.' prestige for the ptudlo and plugs for pictures by-putting on prpgrams that entertain, by purr ppsely ignoring - names. Paramount and have been in a huddle to find how best It can follow the Radio step and get results from the air, without. incurring exhlbltbn^ enmity. United Artists. an4 Warners .are' also watching the ' RadiP . expert.-' ment and will Institute' programs of their own, if the NBC test prove* effective. Metro is expected, to avail itselC of Ayles worth'is' offer to jjet in ^ oH. the weekly broadcasts' frbqt th» Radio studlps, Irviiig" Thalberg IH reported sold on the idea, with « possibility that some type of rept resentaiton from the lot wlll.be oa( Pne. of the early air programs. Radio's Biollywood on the Atr program Is being switched on th« NBC. program from: Saturday nooa' to Thursday nights from; 8 t» 8:1M^ starting Aug. 4. Change is being made to get th«i progi<am back east at a more resM sonable hour. Co-Starring Mont0omery ^ Hollywood, Aug; 1. Robert Montgomery, will-' be co* starred opposite Tallulah Banbheal in 'Tinfoil' by MetrP. Empty Seais and Percent€ige By Tom Mix Hollywood, July 30. American life has been a heap of changes durln' the past 18 months. Due to existjtn' conditipns, we been goln* through what financial writers call 'a period of mental an' valuable readjustments.' . While I ain't supposed to be ridr In' herd on the motion picture In- dustiy, ah'. I have no official stand- In* around the brandln* peiis,. still, bein* curious, Fd like to pull Tony up for a few minutes an' Inquire If the motion picture makers know about these new aii' present, day conditions . aii'; what they're a do- in' to' meet If?. Qr, are they' still a rcadln' tombstones in the motion picture cemetery for Inspiration an* encouragement? A lonir time ago these writln' fellers agreed tha^t amusements comprised an ess'ential Industry Just as necessary to public welfare as buildln' houses or buyln' shoes, clothin' an' groceries. Published reports by the government's De- partment of Commerce, . show a. 33% falUn" off in the volume of purchased necessities, but figures show the theatre, ain't gettin' any- where near its proportionate share —in fact, fallin' far behind—why? Empty Seats Could it be that the present day public ain't satisfied with the gen- eral run of pictures offered? You hear a lot these days about empty theatre seats but very little on how to fill 'em- The day after a bank failure out here, I had to go back twice to get a seat to see 'The Champ,' an' me an' my family had to get in line an' wait for half an hpur to.see 'Mln an' . Bill'—we repeated the experi- ence When -they was a Showirt* •Hell. Divers'. an' a few others — no. empty seats. • 'But they had^he appeal,', isays the picture makers. Sure,' they, had It—all over the country—an' about here, I'd lilice to get up an' ask these gentlemen what effort they've made, to an- alyze this .'appeal' that so .pleajses present day thieatre patrons. An' Is the Industry profltin' by It? Or, are the/ goin* along in the same old. way, givih' the public what they, the picture makers, think Is best, for .'em? 'You; pays your money an' you takes your choice,'., but not when you go to the picture house—you take what the wise gen- tliemen of Hollywood gives you—■ but that don't make you like It or come again. The only new idea that's come along lately is JT'he Strange Inter- lude,' where they're photographin' your thoughts an' tellin' 'em out loud — 'out of the sound-track speaketh the mind,' or somcthln' like that. The general i<Jea of the story ain't new an' it atn't strange. Elinor Glyn slipped that one over a long time ago In 'Three Weeks,' where she had a young lady an* a gent named Paul cavorttn' around in a way not quite laid down by Hoyle or the United States statutes therein made an' provided. But the way of handiln' the picture Is new, an' the work Miss Norma Shearer e|oes In 'Strange Interlude', Is mighty, fine, but won't make any money. I'm applaudln' Mr. Thal- berg fojr havln' the nerve In glvln' the public somethin' new —^ he's a bird that'll never be ruled off for not tryln'. Luxury, Yarns Just now, in these days of the- short bankroll, ■ the fan- magazines an' newspapers are-filled with In- terestln'. accounts of the high: pres- sure pleasures of the well-to-do, or near-weil-to-do-, . picture folks- producer, player an' star. Ah' the public is allowed to enjoy In what Odd Mclntyre would call 'vicarious fashion,' the elaborate beach, yacht- in' an' house parties of the cinema elect. Yet I'm a wonderln' if these luxury yarns are helplhg to fill empty theatre seats?—mebbe so. Wliat kind of pictures are they a makiri' to ihe.et present-day an' changed conditions and demands? Does the picture maker ' figure that Ma, in her hiade-ovcr hat, ah' Pa, a wcarln' his last summer suit, enjoy goin' to a neighborhood or downtown theatre to see a picture depictln' girls wiio ain't no better than they should be, an who by reason of such ways of livin, are enjoyin' luxuries even surpaesin' those enjoyed by Dodge City (Continued on page 23)