Variety (Aug 1932)

VAXmtY ncTaRES Tuesdaf, August 2, 193^ Inside Stiilf-^Pictiires Recent salary cut at Metro bas developed Into a rather complicated bfCalr, requiring constdera1>te working out. The cut was not 100% at the. Culver City plant In the case, of all contract players and stars. Many bad.negotlated new deals prior to the cut, wlUi salaries In some in- stances being only eo% of what they had received In the past These people were paissed up In the choppiitg. Others, who had been called In by IjOuIs B. May<ir and asked to take the cut, found later that the comptroller's deiiartment hgured that It would .apply to the balance of thelir contracts. Some of the agi:eements haying three to four years to run. It placed the holdiers in a position whereby the etudto understood that the.same ratip of cut as goes Into effect for the present would remain In force during tlie balance of their contracts If dptions were taken up. These people let out a yelp and Mayer now is trying to straighten out the sltuittion by applying th^ shearing process for the current period only. Several contract players, Including Jackie Copper, refused the request of the studio to lessen their pay envelopes. In the Copper case, when tlie out was suggested, Mabel; Ccoper, inotijer of jrackie, tPld Mayer that not alone would they Insist oil the boy's sa,lary xetnaining the same, but thflit they wanted overage for the bpy'B per0onal appearance tour. ■: So the salary cut was forgotten and the other matter is being arbi- trated by the Academy conciliation committee. There were'seveital writ- ers oh a week-to-week basis who also declined to reduce their current earnings. Most oit tiiem are already off the payroll. Battle over product for meteopolltan Kew York, ^ fanning the past few weelgs between I«ew, .Skouras Brothers aiid BKO,- appears to be calm- ing. Heads of these theatre circuits have been folding-confabs and In- dications are that whatever dl8agreem.ehtB existed were Ironed out. f ; Upshot IS'that BKO turns oyer some of lt« purchaiied fllnu to X<pew. Phil Itelsman representing BKO has agreed to let Ixiew have some films : bought for RKO to allevlatei lidew film shortage in around 12 to 16 situations. Strained situation between the comiHanMs airose; soon after : RKO began negotiations with Skouras for a booldng pool In.NeW. Tork ^whereby RKO reached out for.a bigger buying ppwer. Lioew thereafter /^i^oved in and purchased the entire Warner program, haU of'which for- . merly went to JEIKO. .RKO was thus shoved in a pdcket fpr a, sofflcient. supply of new prpid- luict, but with the aid of ^it? added buying i>ower, gained through Skouras Brothers''circuit, managed to Acquire Fox's Uneiip tai full. Already havr ing Its own afBUated Radlo-Pathe product,, with the-additional purchases of tqrnlversal, Coiumbia.and htOt of. Par's prpgrsun, BKO emerged with a ppsalble 180 playing fllmis. Loew haying Its own affiliated Metro fUniB, besides "WB, also has half Of Par's and United Artists, or a possible total of 142 playable films. Under this condition Loew faced a probable shortage of product in New Xprk unless RKO was willing to .turn over spm'e of its purchased product, :IieadB, technical staff and aidaptprs on Faramounf s "Farewell to Arms* are all familiar with the lodale of the story, Italy's Lake Como. Adolph .Menjou was stationed there during the war as a member of the Amerl can Red Cross^ . Gary Cooper spent a mojith there: recuperating from his 'recent breakdown, Helen ..ilayes, with her. husband, Chsurles McArthur, Bpeikt the ^nuimer theris two years ago, Frank Boraage and his brother, ^[<ew4, latter ills assistant, were at Conto two years ago visiting t^ie blrthr place oic their, lather. Benjamin Olazer, associate producer, and Oliver H. F. Garrett, who did the adaptatloio, 1>oth have yacatlpned there, while Charles Orlssln, technical Erector, was the. commanding officer of E<meBt Hemilngway, the iluthor, while billeted at Xtake Como. The assistant technical director Dr. A. Jardlnl, was the 'docter from Cpmp' In the npvel whp pperated on tb) wound in .H<emlngway*8 knee. . . ' At times studio efficiency experts prove valuable In more ways than «ne., A girl sent tP.pne ef the Ceast publicity departmiBnts frcm the \. Kew .Tprk office fp\md her career ending abruptly when efficiency men ;. -lhadvertenUy ran into a news leak Pn the lot. ifaterlal had been ap- pearing in Eastern papers reflecting on studio methods and personnel. Sludlo could not trace the source. One night an efficiency man saw a bulky envelope marked 'air mail,' addressed tp a New York newspaper man. On account of Its weight the envelop^ was brought to the studio, publicity chief wiio disclaimed know- ledge of its contents. -He opened It, fpUnd a number pf photographs as y well as-articled by the girl, which were quite scurrilous and referred to studio heads, and executives as being Incompetent, etc Next day the ; 'girl had a ticket east. According' to the remarks of indie exhibitor leaders, they regard the Exclusive run' sales idea as a gag and a come-on for higher rentals next season.' CerUiIn distributors who frowned wh^n 'the policy appeared to be gaining serious consideration now also agree with the Indies, that It was -~^9l, novel sales camp^ilgn. Tliese dlstribs state their regret Is that they, didn't think of It first. ." ' That 'exclusive* will never come on any scale to'ca.use national con ; vern is expressed by many indies. They assert that the companies can't ^do it on a wide scale, because tiiere would be too miuch readjustment of ' contracts and that the average first run couldn't stand up tinder the ■ burden. Ist Runs on Broadway (Subject to Change) Week Aug. 9 ParamounC—'aunty as Hell' (Par), Capitol — 'Skyscraper Soulq* (Metro). Strand—'Doctor X' CWB) (4). May.faii»-r'Amerlcan alcadness' (Col). ; Rialto — 'Man . Called' Back' (Tiff) (2d week). Riveli—'White Zombie' (UA) (2d week). Winter Garden — 'Congprilla' (Fpx) (Sd week). Week Aug. Paramount —'Devil and the Deep* (Par). Capitol—'Downstairs* -(ISet^ ro). Strand—Doctor (WB) (2d week). Mayf air—'American Madness' XCol) (2d wejek).. . . Rialto—'Horsefeathers*'(Par)' (10). . Rivpli—'White Zombie' (UA) 8d week).. : ■, ' Winter Garden —'Hollywood Speaks' (Col) (11). - $2. Pictures 'Grand' HoteP (Metro) (As- ter) (16th week). Ho Briefly rewritian eictracts from 'VarietyV .Hollywood Bulletin, printed each Friday in Hollywood, and placed ae • wrapper upon tlie rejgulait weekly 'Variety.* The Bulletin does net circulate otiier than en the Pacifie Slope. News from the Dailies in Los Anoelea wiil be-found in tliat cuetomaral department. " .. ' V . ■ - ..• - : —^— Olympie Interference PaiBt week was shot as far asl studio work waa ooncerned due to| entertaining of Olympic contestants! and (Borrespondents. Each lot alsoi sent stars to San Franciscp for thqi Shrine convention. REISSDES IN GERMANY AS PROD. STANDS STDX Berlin, July 23. The cinematic situation here con- tinues critical, with the need of new pictures to fill the theatres. With declining releasee; reissues tp a- very large' extent in first, rtins and large theatries In. Berlin, as well as tbi'pughout Germany, are In vogue/' ■. Hpw^ver, the reissue practice has. prpved to be. a financial succesc. Prpducticn for. the coming season is still slow, as the future is uncer- tain. Financing becomes increas- ingly difficult U'tf Rewrites John Huston rewriting and dlaw ; oging •Hunchback of Notre Damet at U. 'Invisible Man' gets new; adaptation by Richard Schayer. Track for Arcadia Voters of Arcadia, Calif., .passed an brdlnanoe okaying estieibiishment of' race track on the Lucky Bald'< win ranch by a two-to-one majors Ity. Another track already started at El Monte. ' War Department has clamped lid on Coast regiments giving femmct film stars honorary titles. one of the cars rolling down a.hiU, driving off under its owii power withr out repair,: : ■ It's probably the most iaxtehsive plug Under any tie-up and more dis- tinctly advertising than anything since commercial shorts were ruled off screens. ' ■ One. of the mocft ;unusual. laborrexhlbitor setups eidsts .in Baltimore, where the operators .and \e:«;h(bitors are tied in together in an Operators & Managers. Unlpn. Both the unien and the MPTO pf Md. (Allied prganizatlon .liead^.:by Herman Bliim) are housed together aAd main- tain Jpln^ club, roomq. ;Most pecxillar ia that the operators' business manager «nd the ezhibs* labOr negotiator arei one- and the same man. Hairy Cluster. • Both sides are evidently satisfied with the arrangement and Cluster, In the recent outburst of exhibitor-operator squabbles throughout the country, Baltimore was one town where, things -yrere peaceful. "What is considered the biggest. front page break a picture has ever had in Pittsburgh took place last week when the biggest gangland kill- ing In the town!? hlstbty brpke the same day that 'Scarface' ppened at the'Penii. . Film get under way at 10 a. m. and three hours later Imperted gtm men swppped dPwn upon a cpflee shpp wiping put three ef the Volpe brothers, John, James and Arthur, allegeid leaders of the booze racket In this district. / The Penn immediately euperiinposed 'Scarface' plugs over dally head* lines and got them oni the streets. Free lance writers who concoct original stories have an average in- vestment of from |26 to |100 in research work and. preparation before tl^ey are able to turn .in-a. first rough draft. This expense is mostly for books bearing , on the subject on which they are working. Then there is stenographic werk which dees net cpme within the prpvlnce pf studip payment. . ' These writers never ask studies' tP get the bppks they r^equlre for re- search work as they feel it might tip off where they get their ideas. One free lance writer, after selling a studio an. idea for a story, spent $80 at the book stores fpr research material. Baltimore's picture lineup for the coming season is becoming concrete, Few changes from .laBt season's arrangement. Town's indie vaudfilmer. Hippodrome, will take Radio and Pathe first run 100%. Will also use Pathe News after having gone through the present season with fox. Straight filcker New enters into its second year of a fi ve-year Fox franchise, while the Century and Stanley will get the 'WB-FN, Metro, Paramount and United Artists choice. Other first runs are Keith's, which will likely pick up Columbia and Universal again, while the Rivoll will ccntinue its present sppt-boeklng week-tp-week arrangement. Little chance pf' Chester Erskin going wrdng pn his initial soIp direc- torial assignment, 'The New Tcrker,* starring Al Jplsoni Erskin Is working along the Lewis Milestone system, with the latter on this U:A. set every day to see that matters run smoothly. As assistant? Erskin has Nate Watts and Lonnle D'Orsay, both of whom have aided Milestone for several years. Also,'he has what Is known as the Milestone chart with which to work. . The chart has a sketch of each scene to be shot, showing the position of the people, as well as their movements, and with , the dialog checked alongside of the figures so . that no deviation is made. Refusing to permit foreign newspaper correspondents on the Coast lot, and turning them down on all requests for story, material for thie past Bi?( months, Fox now finds Itself in a ticklish position In its attempt to obtain British coverage for exploitationon 'Cavalcade.' In the pa^t week studio has attempted to make peace with the better known English writers, most of whom: have refused tp visit the let, er write anything abput this Npel Cpwaxd piece which Is being prpduced with an eye tp^^rds extensive exhlbltipn in Great Britain as a film. Cold shoulder attitude to foreign correspondents wais instigated by the New Tork office which desired to contrpl all publicity outside of the United States. Impenetrable reticence in the Chicago Balaban and Katz organization Burrounde the incident of Barney Balaban; In swimming. It seems, at least, tiiat he did go swimming. . r It was in the lake, there were waves and a boat providing an unex plained element of danger. At this point an executive of B & K, stand- ing by, dove in to save Balaban. It was an act of heroism but not entirely necesearyl according to one story. Maybe, to make the . story sound better, It was added that haying jumped in with all his clptbes Pn the executive-hero was not Weally situated and needed a little help himself. Anyhow, much chuckling oyer the incident, but nobody seems tP know if Barney had been In genuine danger or not* • Undent tie-up for give-away of a Plymouth automobUe the Skouras' Audubon, New York, combination. Is running oft an advertising reel for Plymouth on every show. It's preceded by. .a sale? talk from^ B. B. Hutchinson, chairman of Plymouth board, and follows with a test of Politics In the film industry are resolving themselves into definite party lines. Following Will Hays* avowed Republicanism and Paramount gralnting George' Akerson leave to handle Hoover publicity, two movc|S for the Democratia are now on the record. Hays' chief counsel, Charlie Pettljohn, spent all last Thursday (28) in Albany conferring with cipv^ Rposevelt. Whether Pettljohn will actively Join the Roosevelt bandw;agoh is npt yet settled. Announcement alsp miade that Frank Walker," attorney long Identified with the' Comerford theatre InteTOsts, has been made treasurer of the National Democratic Committee. \ ■Bring 'Em Back Alive*.cost just a bit over $92,600 to turn out Includ ing book rights and entire expense of the expiedition which was in the Malay istates for six months. When the first 60,000 feet of film was sent from the Jungle to Van Beuren, latter was disinclined to go further with the project. Buck appealed to his agent George T. Bye, In New 'Tork, to have Van Beur<^ supply him with transportation back to America. This-^was done, and when the troupe landed In New York the entire expenditure, without recording or syncing, totaled $41^000. Ebcpedltloti Included only Buck, his wife, two cameramen and tilyde Elliott, the director. Buck was not paid any salary for his'Work, bfeing in on a percentage. Sufficient footage left over from 'Alive' to supply material for liost In the Maylayan Jungle,' w,bich Van Beuren Is releasing as a serial through Radio. Buck gives Jesse J. Goldburg credit for getting his work on the screen To place himself oh record, he sent the film man a copy of his book with the inscription on the fiy leaf reiodlnir: 'To Jesse.Goldburg who first saw (Continued on page 41) Dudley Nichols writing . an orig-4 inal .at Fox. Suean Flemtna's Termer Susan Fleming gets a Parainounli termer as result of her work in Million Dollar Legs.' 'Rapture' for Cravfford j^^.V Metre shapliO^ .-id^f Riipture.^ Polan Banks* nosMI, as a Joari Cfawfordt starren Ctarfence Browtt may direct it. Walker Resigns Refusing to take a salary cut* H.; M. Walker, Roach dialog direct tor, resigned. Court for Cruze Case Legal fight between James CruEfli and Tiffany, over extending time o^i Cruze's contract to supply four pictures, and Tiffany's claim thatJ he padded bills by |60,000, has .gone* from' seven ihonths^ arbitration tot trial In Superlcr Court. Jap on 'Butterfly' Paramount hired Mlchlo Ito, Jap^ anese dancer, to wprk on adapta-i tlpn and act as technical director for 'Madame Butterfly.' Ginger , at Fox Ginger Rogers at Fox In Check GlrL* 'Ha« Team Stays at U Off adaptation of 'Only Yesteiv day* after a ir.onth's work, Kubed Olassmon and John Bright bor- rowed from Wamers, will werk out the balance pf their time at Uni^ versal writing an priginal. Jesael-Talmadge Tour Gtoprge Jessel flew back tc New York Aug. 1 and Norma Talml^gd leaves by train Aug. 6 to join nlni in a six weeks tour of Publis houses opening Aug. 12 at the Par^ amount, N. Y. Writers Dropped Metro dropped William Anthony McGuire and Mercede de Costal frpm the writing staff. . Unusual Radlp mpvlng up producticn pC ■Little Orphan Annie' to Aug. 8 be- cause script is ready ahead o£ schedule. Preston Foster borrowed froni Warners and Ralph Graves fronri Metro, for Unlversal's 'All America."^ First of the Junior Durkin series for J. G. Bachman being written by Dorothy: Yost. • Praskins Returns Difficulty between Leonard Pras^ kins and Metro has been straights ened with writer returning to thei lot to work on "Flesh' for Wallacoi Beery. Walked when studio took him off the yam'two weeks ago. Chas/ Ray Given Lead Charles Ray replaced by Paul Kelly In 'Girl from Calgary Mono- gram. Ray goes into 'The Wayne Murder- Case' which L B. Chadwicic will produce for same firm. Gable and Hayes . Practically set that Clark Gabl«t will be bracketed with Helen Hayear' (Continued on page 36) L. A. toN. Y Mike Marco. Norma, Talinadge. George Jessel. Fred Randall. Sam Katz. N. Y. to L. A. Whitney Bolton. 1