Variety (April 1933)

VARtETY ES Tufisday, April 4, 19:33 Zukor Left Free and Clear Side-Stepping Trusteeship Permits Fuller Attention to Active Companies Adolph Zukor, who has been co- receiver of Paramount Publlx dur- ing ItB equity receivership, will continue as chl.f executive of the company, watchlne all its Interests, Including the subsidiaries. While under the bankruptcy, the trustee of P-P is in complete charere, it Is felt certain that Zukor will be able to continue virtually as the top ex- ecutive without official embarrass- ment from the receiver. This be- lief, it is said, prompted Zukor to make the announcement through his newly retained personal attorney, David L. Podell, that he would not be a candidate for trustee. Zukor withdrawal as a candidate for trusteeship was predicated on the belief by Zukor that while most of the creditors wanted ZukoE as a trustee, it was felt he could better serve the interests of the estate and its creditors the other way. Claim is that 99% of the major creditors favored Zukor as a trustee, alone or in association with two other trustees. Zukor is president of the Par dis- tributing, production and folrei^n eubslds, not affected by : the P-P bankruptcy. In view ot the .un- filled presidency .over another. sut>- Bld, Publlx Theatres Corp., also not in receivership or bankruptcy, it is preaunteU he wilt assume that post as welL .. . - . Possibly before the end pf the week, Ziikor may visit the studio in Hollywood for a few weeks. mHAM HEADS PAR'S PUBUCITY AND ADV Radio Splitting 30 Films On 2 Season's Programs Hollywood, April 3. Total of 30 features are slated to be made by Radio between now and the mldle of June. Films, which are all to be made on the Radio lot, will be divided between this and next season's programs. Six productions going into work this week are 'Jamboree,' 'Rafter Romance,' 'Careless,' 'Ad Man,' 'Bed of Roses,' and 'Flying Legion.' All are on budgets averaging under 200.000. Studio purchased 'fioag^ to Heaven,' by Vina Delnior, paying $15,000; 'Hide in the Dark,' Francis Noyes Hart's 'Satevepdst' serial, and Edward P. Mbiitgoniery's Double Harness.' play. WB Selling Away from Itself a Meaiis to Keep Theatre Losses Down Robert' Gilhan'i became . director of advertising and publicity ' for Fariamount Publlx yfesterday (Moti- day) On the resignation of Arthur Mayer, who steps out to devote his time solely to the operation of the Rialto, N. Y. Theatre was turned over to Mayer by Paramount un- der a deal tentatively in operation for several "weeks, with Mayer meanwhile running the house. Wit^ Qilham's appointment to the P-P post, a home office adver- tising-publlciity cabinet is bein^ set up and; aihbng o.thers, will lii- elude John C. Flinn, who will w(>rk east and west on exploitation of unusual Paramount pictures. Af.t^ many years .{tWay from Par, Flinn last fall handled the New York and L. A. runs of Cecil B. DeMille's 'Sign of the Cross.' He was frequently reported as return- ing to Par advertising activities, permanently and was once men- tioned as Mayer's possible succes- sor. Flinn is now In New York. Other members of the h. o. ad cabinet headed by Gilham will be Bill Danziger, on advertising; Al Wilkie, on publicity, and James' Clark, in charge ot ad sales. As head of the P-P advertising post, Gilham will be in charge of the west coast studio department as well. He Is a Paramount man of years standing through acting as contact for Hanff-Metzger with Its Par-Publix account. When Par swung over to Lord & Thomas, Gilham moved into that agency to handle the account. Through his ad agency work, Gilham is as fa- miliar with the Publlx Theatres as with the picture end. In devoting his time to the oper- ation of the iRlalto, Mayer goes back to the iBeld from which he stepiied more than a year ago to head advertising for P-P. He was formei'ly a. divisional dii'ector over the middle west and is the last of the div. directors to quit P-P. Although it keeps its own Holly- wood and Warner olosed in New York,' operating the lone Strand, WB is selling considerable product away from itse'f. Angle with the Warners is that its revenue to the distribution department in rentals from competitive theatres Is more In long run than If same pictures were played in WB's Hollywood or Wai'ner houses in an attempt to add theatre profit to what goes to the distributing end. Experience In past has been that the Hollywood, with Us nut, and the Warner, an out-of- the-way house and whlte-elephant- |sh In previous performance, caused losses to be checked against rentals. Second Warner picture into Radio City Music HaU, 'The Keyhole,' is current, and 'Ebc-Lady' is a third sought by Radio City. Another sold away is current at the Rialto, 'Girl Missing,' while on Friday (7) Para- mount gets 'Mind Reader.' Previously this season, WB has sold away from itself to extent of two pictures for the Capitol and three for the old Roxy, taking the rentals as velvet against which no theatre losses axe checked. It also sold 'Grand Slam' to the Shuberts when latter took over op- eration of the Winter Garden on their own. Fox Fibnfs Reoi^anizatroii Plans All Set, May Be Announced Within Month —^Kent, Et Al. to Coast BEN DOVA You must come "ova" to see Ben Dova. who is held "ova" at Radio City (RKO Roxy) this week (March 31). Many thanks to L,eon Leonidoff. Direction MAX RICHARDS DEMBOWm. SPITZ RESIGNS Sam Dembow, Jr., becomes the directing head of theatre activities, with full powers, as a result of the sudden resignation of Leo Spitzl Wednesday (29), after a meeting, and iihmediately boarded a train for Chicago. Spitz unofficially stood between Dembow on the theatre end and Zukor as directing head of Paf- amount-^ublix, the parent company. Though Dembow has officially been in charge of operation and maintenance of theatres, servicing, etc., since Spitz was brought to New York a year ago, Spitz assumed virtual charge of administration matters as they concerned theatres and allied departments, such as real estate. With Dembow's powers exi>ected to widen, most likely he will con- tinue as v.p., which he has been for many years. The unfilled presidency of Publix, formerly held by Sam Katz and unreplaced, will probably Cooper-Carroll to Org. Big Key 25c Circuit A string of large seaters in key cities for pictures end stage presen- tations at 26c top, is the goal o£ A. J. Cooper and William Carroll, Ohio exhibitors who also operate the Hip- podrome, New York. Houses In Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Detroit are being con^- sidered. In each case, while thea- tre or theatres are not divulged, the negotiations are on for houses of major chains operating In these cities. In Chicago, where negotiations arei^ell under way. to take over the Stake-Lake from RKO, Cooper & Carroll may close for other clroult theatres with large capacities, pos- sibly with B&K, conoededly over- theatred. Another house in New York, in addition to the Hipp, is the May- fair, which has received Cooper & CSirroll's o-o. In Ohio C. &jC. are the successful, operators of a string of nlnie 10c theatres. theatre MaAagemeiit Co. Rendering Same Senrices as Publix The newly-created Theatre Man- agement Corp., in principle and purpose similar to Publlx Theatres Corp^ has begun functioning with all partners of Publix contributing to its support as a starter. At an early date It is expected that groups of Publix houses nov In receiver- ship will subscribe to the plan.. In- dividual receivers in most parts of the country have themselves agreed go to Zukor, w:ho also is president to take the home office service and ZEIDHAN'S 2 SPECIALS FOR U, UTTER BACKING Hollywood, April 3. Carl LaemmIe is negotiating with Ben Zeldman to makei four specials for Universal. Two pictures are to be 'March of Two Worlds' and a wild animal story. Universal wouId< finance the pro- ductions for Zeldman. Max Winslow Going Into Columbia Prod, on Coast Max Winslow of the Columbia Pictures' home-office directorate and a brother-in-law of Harry Cohn, will accompany the Col. prez back to Hollywood some time next week, and take up production du- ties at the studio. Winslow is leaving Irving Berlin, Inc., music publishers, of which he is a partner, to engage in the new film production activity. Cohn will be confined for th? next couple of days at his W.il(1<irf- Astorl.i apnrtment in New York with n minor illnpss whirli looltod llko .'ipr^ndiciiis fit first but Isn't quit* y-^i K'f'rious. PliUB'sNewN.Y.SclBp Publix theatres in New York have been grouped under a new corpora- tion, Netco Theatres, to tAke in around 16 houses, formerly known as Empire State Theatres and split up into two divisions, the Rochester and Hudson Valley divisions. George Walsh, operator ot these theatres, -will headquarter in New York. New theatre company is not to be confused with Publix-Netoco, which operates in New E<ngland. of the other P-P subsidiaries, in- cluding Par Distributing, Par Inter- national and Par Productions, Inc. Dembow, Zukor Direct In this way Dembow's operations over the theatre end will be direct with Zukor instead of Indirect, a.s while Spitz has been on the theatre floor in an^ unofficial advisory ca- pacity. Originally 'a Katz man,' Spitz later became an unofficial ad- visor to John Hertz on the theatres, real estate, rent adjustments, and other matters. He has been occupy- ing Katz's former deluxe offices in Publix headquarters. Although having had the support of Adolph Zukor since brought east by Katz to negotiate rent reduc- tions and readjustments, a few weeks ago he and Zukor began dis- agreeing over policies under the Zukor-Hilles receivershipi from in- side, with final blowoff coming sud- denly last Wednesday. His contract for one year at a reported salary of $100,000 is said to have had the con- tract guaranteed by deposit of se- curities. Spitz had an extensive law prac- tice in Chicago, to which he has re- turned. His clients include Balaban & Katz. While in Paramount bead- quarters in New York. Spitz fre- quently made week-end trips to keep in touch with his law activi- ties. It is admitted in Par circles that Spitz effected many economies for Publix under rent readjustment and other deals prior to the receiver- ship. His support from Zukor originally came as result of this. will petition the courts to okay the expenditure. With the official operation of Theatre Management Corp., Publlx Theatres becomes a corporation in name only. Among its assets are certain accounts receivable; liabili- ties include an item ot $4,816,733 owed Paramount Publlx, the parent company. While Publix Theatres Corp. has been popularly regarded as a holding company for Publix houses, actually the corporation does not control a single theatre propei-ty or lease. Publlx always functioned as an operating and servicing subsidiary, which is the same purpose of Theatre Manage- ment Co»T). Theatre Management setup, with partners and other so-cclled Pub- llx houses paying for i<k3 main- tenance, takes care of the payroll of home office Publlx personnel which has now been s>vitched to a Theatre Management i%\yro]I. Such partners as B. & K., Mike Shea's Buffalo Theatres, KIncey & Wllby and Mike Comerford now contribute to Theatre Management, which from the same Publix h.o. in New York is disseminating the same type of information, advertising iaid, booking co-operation and buying power as did Publix. Fiifanclal reorganization of Fox Film under Sid Kent, is under way and likely to be publicly announced within the next month, upon Its completion. In the meantime, Kent, accompanied by Spyros Skouras and other officials ot Fox, includ- ing legal counsel, left Sunday (2) for the coast. Party will confab on matters per- taining both to the studio and the Fox West Coast theatres. It Is probable that in the reconstruction plans under way Fox may shut down its studio for a couple ot weeks or. more. This, however. Is mostly conjecture and while talked about is not known to have been definitely decided. Fox company's new deal with the bankers has it sailing clear for the future. Bond Interest was met as due Saturday (1). Indication that this was to occur was handed Friday (31) when Mar- tin C. Ansorge, attorney for Ben- jamin Schellenberg. stockholder, withdrew the latter's petition for a receivership of the Fox company. Grounds for withdrawal were that such an action was to be nixed In view of the constructive plans which the company and Its bankers had under way for reconstruction of the financial setup of the film com- pany. Federal Judge Knox assented and the receivership suit of Schel- lenberg's -fell by the wayside. An- sorge had previously conferred with' Kent, Foxs lawyers and U. S. Sen- ator D. O. Hastings, who Is receiver for General Theatres Equipment. Schellenberg is from Brookline, Mass.. and a holder of 200 shares of Fox stock. Ansorge's Legal Reservations Ansorge, as Schellenberg's Attor- ney, however, asked the right to continue certain litigation against Chase Bank and certain other de- fendants who orlsrinally were named as co-defendants to the receivership action. Fox was represented In court by Richard E. Dwlght and Otto Bl Koege), of Hughes, Schurman & Dwight, Fox Film's general counsel. It was not certain Monday (8) whether Spyros Skouras yf&,Q to continue through to the coast with Kent and the latter's party, as Skouras was expected to make a stopover In Milwaukee, and perhaps go on to the coast later on. Included In Kent's entourage were Sidney Towle and A. J> Michel, lat- ter comptroller of Fox West Coast. Towle has a similar post with Fox's film end. W, B. STUDIO WILL BE KEPT CLOSED TO JUNE 1 'Soviet' Off, Furthman Again on Columbia Lot Hollywood, April 3. Jtiles Fni tlinifin, loaned to Metro by Coliimbi.i to write 'Soviet,' is back on bis bumc lot. He is doing an original, 'Biddy,' for f'rank Capra direction. Caiir.i, also loaned to Metro to mop '."^ovitM.' )-oturnod earlier, with the work ol boUi going to nought ns '.Soviet" i;? back on the shelf. Ralston Fails in Effort For Labor Theft Charge Hollywood, April 3. Esther Ralston visited District At- torney Buron Fitts last Friday (31) in an effort to get him to consider grand theft of labor charges against I. £<. Chadwick, producer of 'Black Beauty,' on which she worked, and for which she alleges she hasn't been paid. Since the player ha.s already filed a Municipal court sui.t foi- $2,000 against the producer, who c'rosS- complained that Miss Ralston held 1 p his picture causing damage of a similar amount, the D. A.'s office told her to concentrate on the civil action. Mormon Story Based on Brigham Young, Par Idea Hollywood, April 3. Paramount is fiirting with the Idea of producing a spectacle simi- lar to 'The Covered Wagon' around the Mormons in Utah, and based on th« life of Brighnm Young. Studio has several writers submitting ideas. Most of the yarn will be written around Young's colonization accom- plishments, and continuing down to the present day. Two years ago, a picture based on Young's life was produced in Utah with capital raised in Salt Lake City. Production was never released. Hollywood April 3. Despite reports of an earlier re- opening, Warner studio, which closes Saturday (8), will not unshutter again until June 1. Five pictures now working finish this week and 'Fellow Prisoners,' wi'l wind up next week. While the plant is closed, writing department will work on next sea- son's stories. Three scribblers, Sheridan Gibney, Gene Markey and Katharyn Scola, went on the pay- roll today (3). Latter team will adapt 'Female.' Payday at the studio has been moved back from Wednesday to Saturday because of the continued difficulty of getting the cash on time. Saturday has been payday since the bank holiday. MacFarland at Rivoli James Hood MacFarland goes Into the Rivoli, N. Y., tomorrow (Wed- nesday), in charge of advertising and publicity. Robert Long, who's been in Riv, may go back Into the field for UA. Ohio Censor Goes On Colunibus. April 3. Gov. George White last week vetoed the bill providing for the re- mission of penalties on motion pic- ture exhibitors If they show an un- censored film through Jack of no- tification from the state board.. The house definitely sidetracked the measure when it was sent back to it. The governor stated that the bill would have drawn the teeth from the state's censorrfhlrl'law-and^- would leave the board practically powerless. Another bill. eMniln.Ttinir the cen- soislili) of news Yfc\p. has been passetl by the hon.-^ r.v<\ will rome up before the senate -hortly.