Variety (Aug 1932)

4 vAitarr r ICTH KEIS rTaesday, Angnst 30, I9M Sponsor dOQ-SeateE^ (Kl Csars m Show Biz Reckefelter participation as ac- tive and integral factors In the mo tloh picture IndUBtr;-, sbmettmeig ttn ticlpated but nev realized before, Is now a fact. The Roclcefellers are building a motion pioturei house in WllllamsburSr, Va., of 600 seats, . Williamsburg, once the . capital of the li. 1s., ie being restpred to its original Colonial design by the Rockefellers at a cost of several million dollars. . When the house Is completed, BKO will manage and operate. This is by request of the Rockefellers. The house Is expected to be com- pleted by New Tear's. Hitherto, the Rockefellers ha.ve been only on the brink of the biz,' coming into that' edge Indirectly , partly through: financial affiliations .with'certain banking Interests, and piartly through bulldlne .of. Upcke- feller Cehter In New Tork of which Radio City is a part. . The direct afflltatioa with .show biz on the Rockefeller Center end, however, .belongs to NBC and RKO. Latter. ' companies lease ' certain 'epa.ce In' that huge plot for radio studios, an pfiQcei building and two 'theatres. : Rockefellers. neither as ^landlords nor pjUi^erwise are afBllat- ed lib Hio operation of .these amuse- ment 'i : -.tions of Rockefeller Cen- ter. a:;.wt's strictly an RCA-NBC ite'in. HKO. Operation O^rily .Howcr/er, the Virginia undertaik- Ibg puts the Rockefellers directly. 4n the biz. "They are not only build- ing bat will own. the property. RKO will be restricted, so far as knOwta, Uo management and operation only. No lease la involved. What the ^ ppmpensatton arrangement is for 'Bko Itas not'been divulged. While -prob&biy a t>lillanthroplc Venture for the - Rockefellers; the WiUlamsbui^ venture looks to have potentlaUtles in th&t the famfly lhay build more theatres for the same or other rtosons: - Flnanciallj^ the Rockefellers have long had. an Indirect association '■with show- bia, first through the Squltiable Trust COh of New Tork, but more largely and recently through Chas9 which absorbed the 'ii:<i'uitfti)ie. < '' 'Chase, through its indirect flfnan- '.elal ;Inte]^eBt in Iioew's and more directly connected -with General Theatres and Fox, Is the largest sin- gle financial factor In show biz, having 9i .financial interest that runs around 9ioo,000,000 in the liidustry, iinoBtly. in Fox The president of Chase Is Wln- 'throp.W.- Aldrlch, brother-in-law of John D., Jr., and former chief of the Squitabte' Bank; . Aldrlch was given the-reins of Chase In the merger of the-two institutions. The curious picture that the - situation represents, puts the Rockefellenr, at least financially, ' Into close association with all the major theatre' operating companies except Warners and Paramount That's a big slice to be associated with even indirectly. Uow far this new Rockefeller in terest may deveop towards ac- tive parttcipatipn in the biz'Is open -Prom a show angle, however, the outlook Is' rife with anticipation. New Technique Hollywood, Aiig. 29. An indie producer Is using another method to cut produc- tion. On his latest picture he stalled the . cast^ technicians and director when It came time to pay off, telling them to re- turn the following day. ' When they came back they - discovered a stranger outside the ofnce, who Informed them the producer was unable to pay; but the stranger offered to buy their claims for from 26 to 60%. About half took the offer. Liater, they discovered the' stranger was the man who wias financing the producer. CAPRA'S 3 YCARS Resignt with Columbia—Never H«i Asked for Contract liollywood, Aug. 29. Frank Capra, director, wUl con- tinue with C<riumbia for anothe'r three years. New contract was agreed upon last week despite there being one year to 0O on the present arrangement. Capra has been with the studio five years and has had as many contracts, none of which be has ever requested. Studio has volun- tarily proffered the hew papers on each occasion. 19 WB PLAYERS IN2T04PiX Eddk filler Figuring On Six Indies for Fox .. Hollywood,. Aug.. 29. . Bdmund Grainger, Fox associate prod^cer no^ on ah Indisfinite va- cation with pay, is waiting expira- tion, of his contract to enable him to -make Indejpehdent productions. Grainger contemplates making six pictures, which be expects to re-' lease thrpugh. Fox, starting^ in Jan- uary. , Grainger's father is J. R: Grain- ger, general sales hea4 for this company. Wmdjairiiiiers^ Long Rac^ Being Made Into Feature Hollywood, Aug. 29, Walter Putter is making a feature of the race pf IS windjammers be tween Atistrlolla a:hd Ehgland. AH boats left, Australia the same day ' loaded' with the-first shipments of season's grain. Winner made the trip in 103 days, beating the second boat by four hours. A.- J. Vllllers, novelist, and au thor of •Vanished Fleets,' a history of sailing vessels, photographed the trip. Hollywood, Aug. 29. First six pictures in production at Wamers-PN this season hiave 19 players appearing in two or more productions. In some cases doubling; between sets. Spencer Charters tops list by working In four different features. Sheila' Terry, Glenda Farrell, Gieorge P. Collins, Harry Holraan, William . Le^faire and John Wray are wortting in three apiece, while; Arthur Byron, Preston Foster, Guy Kibbee, Robert Warwick, DeWitt Jennings, Oscar Apfel. Jack XaRue, Roscoe Karr.s, Edward McNamara, Russell . Simpson, Charles Middle- on and Berton Churchill have two assignments each. . CoL Drops Voight Hollywood, Aug. 29. Hubert Voight, handllncr jphoto- graphic news material since re- lieve.d of the publicity reins, at Co- lumbia by Cliff Liewis, goes off that payrpll. Wednesday .(31) upon in-r structions of Harry Cohn from the yplght's duties will be divided among other, members of the staff. Yolght Is-the publicity man who spewed Daryl Zanuck, during an. argument, which brought about his depart,ure from the WB studio;, Ed Lowry Idea (Continued from page 2) larger the audience, and the greatet. tlte V campaign necessafy. :to. put a fiew^>xiame before'the public. I've played, long engagements in five dis- : ^Inctly. different types of cities—In every one I've used the methods that I know appeal to my type of audi- ence. Everywhere I've found fans who are naive, who lUce jaunty en tertainment and a warm feeling of personal friendliness.' After he returns from a Havana cruise, he's starting to work In earneist to soUdlfy widespread ad mirers. . He'll play more dates for Publfx, picking up an audience of pbem-wrlters and token-senders as he goes along.' With friends In ten towns firmly enrolled on hlsArisItlng list, he'll embark on his- own tour— maybifr a concert solo—maybe with a few good acts. That's .the ambition of 'Smiling Eddie; to capitalize his iaudlence appeal of. ifriend, buddy and boy from the. nelghborhobd-4-any neigh borhood he happens to be playing. OLYMPIC REEI5 FOR EUROPE BUT NOT U. S. Hollywood, Aug. 29. As a gesture to the Olympic Games committee,- Metrotone News Corp., has compiled three reels of the events which will be presented to the body, as a pictorial record. Through agreement the three- reeler cannot be publicly , released in this country. However, it Is un- derstpod, aftei* 90 days, it can. be re- leased in Europe, - As sho^n to the press, here, the reels seem to hold little appeal to foreign countries. With the exccp-. tlon of the. clips showing four for- eign winners, all o.ther. firsts are Amerlcani Conspicuous by their ab- sence. Is* the Japan^e team which ran away with the male swimming events, and the finals In equatatlon. Also missing: is the marathPn. ' Of th^ newsreels covering the games, Metrotone has the largest staff and coverage. During the event it turned out reels for 15 dif ferent countries. Most of the stuff shown in this special reel has al- ready been released . through the regular Hearst and Fox weekly edi- tions. ExIiilhOperator R Y. Union in War of letafiation On Their Own Hollywood, Aug. 29. CDiarleS Skouras, accompan- ied by Arch Bowles, Al Han- sen, Frank Newman, Rick Ricketson, Mike Rosenberg, and Charles Buckley, attorney, leave for New Tork,tomorr6w ■ (30). They will consult on sea-; son's film bookings. ' Skouras* idea is. to have his division managers decide and : pick the pictures for their ter- ritory with responsibility there- after on their owil shoulders. Animal Re-Issues As Balto (kite Ikt ^^^^ Baltimore, Aug.-29. - This territory has gone wild- anlpokal. consclou:'. Sa^ boiling has been' the.eiithUBlasm for the jungle films,, .and so niftick the grosses, that the exhibs are beginning to pull the old ones oft the shelf. 'Range,' old Far anlmaler, was last week plucked out of the vaults and. brushed off hurriedly. Other jungle epics, client r.nd sound, are getting calls. Silent ones are get- ting lecturers, the idea being taken from Frank Etuck's personals with 'Bring 'Em iBack.' . Exhibs haven't besn so excited about a cycle locally as the result of the strength of 'Congorllla' and -Back Alive,'in years, both of which pictures got hold-ovei' dates. Neighborhood houses particularly ai<e Interested In the animal cellu- loid because of the intense reaction from the children. Exhibs state they haven't, gotten such an influx of kids since the days of the old westerns. Many mothers have themselves gotten In touch with exhibs to hold-over the flicker. . These animal pictur(Bs having done much to build up a new good- .witl for the neigbs where mothers have been howling .that the films are getting too }iptcha fpr their kida io'see.; .'; . RKO Party Splits Los Angeles, Apg. 29. Harold B. Fi-anklln, after a confer- ence here, leaves by plane Wednes- day (31),. for Sah Francisco. He then goes to Denver and Omaha and arrives back in'New York, Sept B; to attend an RKO directors meet- ing. Sept 7.' Martin Beck goes tb San Fran- cisco but returns here Thursday (1). Bob Slsk and Phil Relsman \viH remain in D. A. another week. State, L. A., Going on The Air Nightly Sept. 2 tios Angeles, Aug.. 2'9. Loew's State la going on the air nightly 15 minutes over KMPC beglnnlnfj dept. 2 with the opening of 'niondlo of Follies' (M-G). * House will have a remote control ;titailon ami will endeavor to obtain studio personalities to appear In conjunction with the stage units. Fox May Only Have 2 Houses Left in Chi ■ Chicago. Aug. 29. Fox will probably dispose of its Commercial theatre to Harry Bala- bah. Negotiations are on. 'With this house changing hands Fox will have only the Terminal and Sherir dan left,ln this city. The Portage has Just been taken over . by Morris Kaplan. Schpen- stadt's obtained the Midwest a few wifieks ago. Crown reverted to the landlord who closed it. Monroe ia being operated by Sam Txin^. Harry Hartman Out Los Angeles, Aug: 29. Another Fox West Coast vet Yaan- agor, Harry Hartman, district su- pervisor at .Sah Diego, has been re- placed. . B, V. St<]rtevant,- formtt district mgr. ■ at-Intlianapolis^ for SUOara.s- Publix. substitutes. Publix Allowing 3 Wks. For ^Venus'at N: Y. Par Marlene Dietrich's 'Blonde 'Venus' (Par), goes IntP the Paramount, New York, Sept. 9, with a possible two or three weeks in mind. Publix had previously intended the film for the Rialto or Rlvoll. The Paramount has never held a film three weeks; Opportunity arises through turning over the Rlvoll to United Artists. • . Assistant Gets Director Spot After Sistronii'Pix Hollysvood, Aug. 29. On, strength of his work on 'Crocked Circle,' first William .SIs- trojn picture for World Wide, Lucky Humbcrstone- draws directing conr tract from Paramount. No aasisn- mont yet. ■ Hiimbonstonc, former assi.stant dir., had previously directed one for Tiffany. AnHNV OAcfs, MAA Ms R500 of mite Zombie' "White Zombie' receipts at United Artists, distributor of the film, have been tied up by attachment on be- half of the Music of America Art- ists, Inc., the American subsidiary of Campbell-ConneMy, English mu- sic publishers. M. A. A. alleges it advanced $7,500 to -Halperin Pro- ductioils. Inc., and Edward R. and Victor Halperin In 1929. Seeking to recover this mc:iey, 'Zombie' was attached at U. A., with the court to determine how much, oVer and' above moneys due other claimants, can .be.utilized to pay pfE. part of the inusic publishers' claimi .'Zombie' has been previously hy- pothecated by Amusement. Securl-^ ties Corp., a New York loan firm. Phil Goldstone, oh the Coast, also has a prior claim on any moneys diio the Halperin brothers from their independent production. . Campbell-Connelly's claim arises from a music-film deal whereby C-C would have the exclusive song pub- lishing rights to liot less than 12 songs. In six Halperin screen mu- sicals, for which rights $7,600 was paid In advance in California by Jimmy Campbell of the British company. No film musicals were produced and the money wasn't re- turned, is the claim. Abeles & Green arc acting for the plaintiff. With Local 306 Monday (29) aAi mitt|ng that. the Schwartz pLecuIQ has pulled away and. that Lee Oob^ will probably follow, eidilbitoi chieftains declared that it is to<| late for New Tork independents t^ compromise :with tbe' Kaplan ocw ganization and that tomorrow (8z^ night fully 400 of Its projectionists! will. be replace ii> the - booths of' over 75 active, theatres by operatorij from the rival \inion. Empire. The Kaplan unit yesterday aftN erndon called in its board of strab« egy and prepared for immediate waij on the Schwartz chain of 15 the^ atres .throughput Brooklyn, and part of Long island. Open air thex atres, all with free admissions, will be the chief means of retaliation! against Schwartz.. Local 306 execu>t tlves yestierday said . Schwartz, aftexj dealing exclusively with the unions: for 17 yeairs, had igone conipleteljF;. non-union,. ordering all card men^; including musicians and stagehands, out of those of his houses , where vaudeville is a policy. More For • Empire ] While exhibitors expressed conft«4 dence that other bhaihi^, includlng| the 20 theatres' operated by Mahha;t<< tan arid those xniri by Casey Be Whieeler, ]^iT Brothers aiid Silvers man, as Well' as many indlyidualsy will be among those entering thej new booth contract year'on Sept. 1 with Empire;'the Kaplan; organiza^ tlon believed Ka.nhattan at least; would stick' for dnpther year. Confidence that it will, win thd fight in the long .run, despite con^ tracts signed this week, was ex< pressed in the Kaplan camp. Thei fact that It has the backing of the An:crican Federation of Labor and all of the major company.circuits inl the Greater Nevv York-, territory, a» well as a new contract -with the most powerful local indie chain, the! 42 houses of Randforce (Frlsch ft'. RInsler),. is Ghi3fly responsible for this 306 attitude. Exhibitor declarations that th^ Kaplan ■■ unit'has ;Spent large- sums in 'policing* New York and that its expense .^tal exceeds ,25: times that of the Theatre Owners' Chamber ot Cu'mmerce, arc .scoffed at aroundj union headquarters. The 306 atti^ tude is that it will continue spend and that it will win. Although 30C during the next twol weeks will argue its motion to c6m^ pel film .comr'anles to service Ita| open air houses, unionists clalnf they, are assumed of many months*' supply of fer,tures .fi-bm foreigil[ companies. Two; of these now rent:* ing them old product at $5 and $10 rentals are Ar.iklno and General Talking Pictures. Ralph Out as Lesser Production Manaj^er Hollywood, Aug, 29. Edward J. Rati5h-ha3 resigned as production manager of Sol Lcsser's Principal Productions. Lessor,. no.Nv. lieadciuartcring at Futter .studios, .will move within next two \yecks to cither Pathe ot* Metropolitan, but will not start pro- ducing for si:c ^vcck.s. . • I-'irf^t filming will be his. serial, 'Tarzan.' o . Norwitz Pac^ Execution Is Still in Abeyance Although lawyers say they havei approved, and are through with, their end of the Horwitz-Hays zon< ing pact, cor.cemihg Cleveland ex-^ hibitors, there-yet remains the sub- ject of executing the agreement by; the circuits involved- ' ' Status of the matter is that WUhiri the next two weeks Loe^, Warners and RKO will, either execute or not execute the agreement. Simply, means thiit the circuitfs either will agree or disagree with the protect tlon interpretations' of their ' legal attaches as to-wh^t they should dd< AGENTWINS Beyer Gets Commiah in First Coit^>s . mission Asadomy Arbitration Hollywood, Aug. 29. First agentTclient dispute to be lieard by the Academy conciliation committee was decided in favor of the agent. Although previously all such cases were fought in court, percentage argument between Rich- ard Boleslaysky, director, and Charles Beyer,' agent, was handled. amlcabV arid paves the way for more cases of the type being nettled by Apadcmy arbitration. Bolcsiavsky, now. directing 'Ras- putin' : at M«^tro, contended that. Beyer did not obtain for him .his M-G cnsag.cment Conciliation "body ruled that inasmuch .is Eoyer held an e.KcUjElve agency contract he was entitled to commission. - -