Variety (Aug 1932)

Tne^dftyt August 23, 1932 PICTURES VARIETY HOUSES REMAIN Condemnation of the.5-6-6 bid for (Contractual uniformity became li^nlmous yesterday (Monday), <«rh6n Sidney R. 'Kent, who fought t« it fpr two yeara, declared that li ja'now obsolete as a fprmula. .M. A. Lilghtman, head at the MPTOA, the other leadlner prppo- li4nt for the 6-6-5, at the sam»tline conceded the hopelessness of at- te'ihptlne: to ' foster It against the Industry. -This means that all Indle groups, Including Allied, are agreed to an- other session at a conference table toK a new, contract deaK If all sides want uniformity they iean get it in a hurry, Kent believes. 3%ls time, however, Kent, as con- tract champion for the Indies, .will not participate In-the conferences. His duties as Fox president make It necessary for him to turn all gen- eral contract sesBlons over to his legal department. Not This Year With the past two years fh mind, tLightman is not countin'g upon reaching uniformity this season. He Is for taking the quickest way with individual companies that will make immediate 'concessions to the indies. So- far only Fox and Universal have definitely agreed to meet with him <on this platform. ■ .. Because., of.l.the. divergence. of bplnion within ranks, which, - it is pointed out, had much' to^do with the death of the 6-6-6, Llghtn;an has discarded all announced Inten- tfons of attempting to force the ma- jor distributors'. hand by calling a jbuylng strike. Distributors, through general iiehannels, question the need for an exhibitor conference wb^en the in iflustry practically every. year has «6t price and protection largely ac fording to trading ability. . jpistrlbs, according- to inside iBOurces, admit that, their Increase In rentals is largely ah 'asking price.' Whether it is paid or not. It is stated, depends mainly upon ^e trading acumen of the Individ- ual exhibitor, regardless of confer- iences and their outcome. Distrib- utors, in the final analysis, make no effort to disguise the fact that the smart indie b. o. proprietor prob- ably will receive the same scale of rentals which he paid last year. Beactton of distributors along these- lines has been largely pro yoked by the attitude of various Indle exhlb organizations, .chiefly the drive by thie Motion Picture (tFhisatre Owners of America, for ac- Oeptance, in part, at least, of the -6-5 contract pact. Steffes' Letter j. Minneapolis, Aug. 22. > In a letter to M. A. Llghtman, )tresldent of the MPTOA, W. A. IBteffes, president of Allied States, ituks that the Llghtman organiza- tion's board of dlrecfors join the iconference of Allied Readers at the jDohgress hotel, Chicago, 'to get to- gether on some constructive plan to keep the independent theatre own- j^a in business.' At the same time, S Ceffes suggests that Llghtman 'forget the 6-6-6 '(Contract,' holding that there are 'many more vital matters pressing for settlement. He also points out ;the illegality of the proposed bu'y- 'ers' strike and states that, 'with that thought in mind we nat'^raliy 'could not sanction such a move.' ■A Joint committee: comprising tep- xesentatlves of both Allied States ■and the vMotion Picture Theatre 'Owners could map out a program action, Steffes suggests. Metto^s Broadcast Hollywood, Aug. 22. Metro takes over the RKO-NBC Hollywood hour Sept. 1 to broadcast a program tied up with 'Prosperity.', ' Program ^'IH include Marie Dressier, Polly Moran and Jimmy Durante, with Donald Ogden Stew- 'art as m. c. BizIsUp Past and current* weeks' film theatre grosses in lAost all of the key cities evidence ' a marked improvement. Combination of better prod- uct and weather breaks. seem to be. the answer. Some records for 1932 have been set, and one or two all- time high's are being estab- lished, despite reduced scales, this week. • . CREDITORS HTE HUQIES PAYOFF Hollywood, Aug. 22. Group of creditors of Howard Hughes' Multicolor company, are preparing an .appeal to the ruling of James. R. Irving, referee in bank- ruptcy, which if. approved in U. S. District Court, would allow Hughes to repurchase the Multicolor plant for 1246,000. - These'creditors, organized as As- sociated Creditors' Protective Asso- ciation, will protest a proposed set- tlement under which Hughes would withdraw his Plalm of 11(600,003 against the company, buy back the plant and pay on approximate 25 cents on the dollar. - . Bill folders oppose the arrange- ment on the grounds that the 26% payoff is not in keeping, with de- velopments and recent purchases made by the producer. They also protest Hughes; claim, feeling that his investment in the Multicolor plant and equipment should not be counted as a debt It is also charged that the company has $60,000 In cash from recent work done at the plaht and collections from earlier work. , , Objectors whose, --lalms approxi- mate $120,000 are Smith and Aller, local Dupont agents; ' Wholesale Supply Co.; Bell and Howefl and Mitchel camera companies, and Roy Davldge Laboratory. Also stated that, the biggest outside cred iter, Eastman Film Co., has agreed to Join the appealing group. RKO ASKS KliNKEIT HEARING IN FED! COURT Because of diversity of (.itlzen- fchip. claiming that RKO Corp. is a Delaware company, Joe Plunkett's claim for almost ?25,000 in salary on a yiear's employnient contract •will pirobably he triad In .Federal Court. RKO asked for th6i chango in jurisdiction from the N. T. Su- prcme Court. . Abeles Green, for Pliuikett, may not contest in that the uncongected condition of the Federal court per- mits for a speedier trial whereas it was the intention to petition for a preferred trial, for Immedliale ad- judication, in the Supreme court. Plunkett was formijrly theatre operator for RKO. >Katz to Studio Sam Katz. left Saturday (20) for the Coast to supervise Par pro- duction. . His present stay In Hollywood may extend over several months. ", Akerson Back Nov. 10 George Akerson spent the past week-end with President Hoover in Washington. Akerson returns to Paramount Nov. 10. ' He has been granted a leave of absence from the company to serve the Republican, party .as its,eastern public relations head. DESERT Oil KEEP Circuiti No Longer Experi* menting with Tough Situ- ations—Pooling at About Limit—$2,500,000 Saving So Far on Losses—Figure 2,400 Chain Theatares Pay 50 Millions in Annual Rent GENERAL MOVE In a move to alleviate overaeatina and acc;ompli)ih a more. finaneial' ■olidification %h the theatre end; the major ehaihs have bbcoihe Commit- ted to a policy calling fpr abandon- ment' of all bad theatre unit*. Theae are situations which cannot be cured by pooling and where the baaic financial setups are such «• to prevent profitable operation on al- most any basis. * Move is not a mere threat. Per- sistent inquiry among company financial overseers reveals that this program Is universal among the cir- cuits and has already been launched. Where abandonment cannot be ac- complished, because of outright ownership; completie shutdown of the spots will be made. Some 600 circuit bbus^^ are thus spotted to "be permanently closed or abandoned. Bankers Sit In . All theatre chains are being over-, seered bytinan^lal mentors. Some have designated banking reps seateid In the home ofilces supervising all financial deals and realty 'setups. Meanwhile, the pooling ' arrange- ments which have been practised between the chains, and trhich "are still being negotiated in spots, look to have about reached their Ultimate possibilities short of actual merger 6f companies. The big chains, where they dp not own houses outright, usually con- trol by leaseholds through numerous minor; subsidiary companies. This Is where the circuits have their out. In most instances where the opera- tion can't pay, the subsidiary, as a whole, can be dropped without af- fecting the parent-company. Rents $2,SOO«000 Down . Inhere is an estlmiated 12,500,000 saving already charged against rent reductions on theatres and other real estate held-by the first-line companies. Major circuits combined look for a 26% yearly cut all told. Total annual theatre rentals as paid by the circuits is noted around |60,- 000,000 when all houses are open. That takes in about 2,400 theatres as owned~or controlled bv Publix, Loew, Warners,^ RKO and Von, While ho deffhite figures are to be had of actual rent, reductions so far acbleved.it may be deduced on authoritative estimates that the individual savings on a yearly basts so far in: rents are about as fol- lows: Piibliz |l|000,000 Warners ................. 600,000 Fox 600,000 RKO '. 300,000 LoeW's 200,000 The Loew figure Is explained by most Of that circuit's prbpertles be- ing owned outright. Outside lease- holds are comparatively few along- side those assumed by the ether majors. . RKO'd ultimate aim in rent re- ductloi^s is placed at'(600,000. War- ners and^'Ubllz hope for reductions oh theatre rents to total letween $3,000,000 and $4,000,000 each and Fox about $2,000,000. Majority of lease? held by the chains were acquired during the boom times of talkers and silents with rents far above what is now adjudged a reasonable status. Flavin Leaviea Paramount Hollywood, Aug. 22. Martin Flavin left Paramount's scenario department last Saturday (20).. ■ . Kent Opposes fl^her Rentals, TooFarl^ No Kidding Matter. Baltimore, Aug. 22. Town', just had its first taste of a bank run and the next day 'American Madness,' Colum-' bia's saga on. the subject, opened—and closed in two days. ' " ■ '■ ' SCHULBERG'S 8 Paramount, has outbid Fo.x. for B. P. Schulberg as an iitdependent producer. Under his agreement with Para- moiiht Schulberg will make eight features for ''32-'33 release. "These will be completely financisd by Para- mount,. Schulberg cutting in On a percentage. Negotiations with Fox fell through when Fox refused to meet the Para- mount offer,'sticking to its original idea pf six features and a drawing account repprted much-smaller than th'at made by Par. Ace Paramount attraction for Schulberg is' said to have 'been the possibility of bis rejoining the stu- dio' in a regulat capacity. Probably the first Schulberg piur- ambuht production 'will be 'All My Love,' dlreoted/i)y Stephen. Roberts and starring Sylvia Sidney. ' 'Sigii^at$^^ • Or DelHiiie Most Pay AH Overage :' Hollywood, Aug. 22. Cecil DeMllle's -contract -ifrlth Piaur-' amount .on 'Sign of the Cross' pro- vides for a maximum cost of $600^- OOO but with the proviso tbat De- Mllle personally pay all costs above that amount. . Result is that DeJIIIte is slicing the salaries of the cast with many taking only 26% of <:heir announced salaries Jor the honor of being dis- covered by DeMille. Indications are that if the direc- tor comes within the 42 day shoot- ing schedule with the picture he will be" under the bitdget. - NAME R. C. THEATRES Radio City Music Hall Is Stage Houser-Roxy Is Film Site Official name deslgnatiops for Radio City's two theatres will be: RadlP City Muslo Hall and- the Roxy. Latter (3,000 seats) Is the straight picture house, and the for- mer (6,800. seats), as the name im- plies, will hold, the stage extrava- ganzias. Original title candidate on the big house was International Music Hall. RKCf and Fpx have reached, an agreement whereby, the present Rpxy theatre may retain its name until mid-October. It's a compli- mentary gesture by S. L. Rothafel and RKO in not handicapping the big house by forcing a name change at the reopening (20). New title for this Seventh Aye. 6,200-seater is apt to bei the Forum. Putnam-Engel East Hollywood, Aug. 22. . George Palmer Putnam, Para- mount story executive, accompanied by his son, David, leaves here to- morrow (Tuesday) by air for New York. V Also making the trip It Joe Engel, former general manager for Caddo. Sidney R, It^nt, president of Fox, condemns general highei^ rentals, ^ying that program product should be lower than last year, opposes aa an industry* policy the experiment of .releasing all highlight pictures at. the beginning of a new. season, and negates all thought of exclusive - runs ever becoming a popular sales' formulcu - . ' / In Kent's estimation IncrciaBed rentals should be confined solely to '32-'33 pictures Of definite boxpfflce superiority. He also thinks there should be a rental scale starting at 16% over last year's prices and not exceeding 26%. On the other hand, the ordinary program picture j^hduld sell tor lesis than a yeir. ago, Kent decliares. . On Indle Producer* A theory, active ih many piarta of the Industry, that indle produc* tion groups eventually will make up tVie actual production end of the business, and that major producers, will function as financiers and'.dls-^ tributors, was abruptly spiked \tj Kent with this reasoning:' Producerrdlstributors will, always, produce the ntajor part of their owa schedules. The only , excuse tpt affiliating with Independent pi:<>« dudeifs. is to obtain the beat f^iq. productioii..mlnds. It, AnL-Qxecutlyp^ in the personnel of a iBtudlo cafx show more power in nn Independent- capacity, then it is Just a natter ot chauglng. his iijob tp get tho most from htm. • • .' ; t • Kent opines that, di^tributpr• shpuld always .have a^j^. plciures tn . the hple for the. entire. r^leastB year*, Shpwingr all key pictures at the tte*. ginning «t a seaspn s^ts. tpp fast & :° pace fpr .(^ny 4istrjibutpr tP hope tH fpUpw during the remaining; 10 mpnths, declares the Fck head. After a thptpugh'study pC the .ex- clusive run policy fircm all aqgleiii,. Kent new seels it only .from the slant of the i^t-bdiicer 'whp special^ izes' in a iew high quality teattitdi yearly. Fpr the majpr. CPhtrlbotbr tP the screen Kent predicts it iHU never becpm'e. praiCtlcable; that jye64 duce^a whP pater tp the 'masses must cpntinue tP dp sp pr ielse X!^» vise the pplicies pf their entli^e or« ganlzatipns. New Proddctibii Peak Hpllywpod, Auer. 22. . Pictures' prpductlpn has hit a new high, with 48 films In making at nine studios. An additional 31 ate In preparation. Topping all companies la Pata- mount with nine ip work. Ne^ line are Radio with eilght; Metro, six; Fox, Columbia, WB-FN, 'fly* each; United Artlsjts 4qd tTnlversal, three each; Tiffany, Metropolitan; one each. Cohen Roiqr Rep Sidney Cohen, fprmer exhibitor leader and theatre operator, has been appointed representative of the first mortgage bondholders on the Ro^y operation. Cohen will sit in on house opera* tion as consultant to the bond- holders; Casey Moves West Pat Casey will leave New York this week for Hollywood. He'll stay on the Coast for k month on general union business for the studios, and then come east again. ' Kent West Sept. 5 Sidney R. Kent, Fox head, is npt scheduled tP go to the Coast until. Sept. 5. ' Date is tentative, however, since Kent will leave sooner If duties here are completed before that tltna.