Variety (June 1933)

Tuesday, June 6, 193S rICTttRES VARIETY 6^ Minn. House Rental^^ C^^^ $5,000 to $U30 Wkly for P-P Suhsid Minneapolis, June 5.. . An example of theatre rental de- fia,tion with a vengeance la that of the $2,000,000 4,200-seat Minnesota here. The. .Minn«rota Amuiseinent Co., one of the Publlx Northwest chains in receivership, has just s'icrned a 10-year lease for the house at a rental of approximately $1,730 a week, or 17% percent of the gross receipts. Paramount-Publix was - paying approximately $6,200 a week rental, including taxes and ih- Burarice.'during a three-year period up to jaist December^ The minimum rental specified in -the new Jtease Is just sufflcient to cover ground rent and' taxes and must be . paid whether or not the house Is open. In addition, the leis-! Bees must pay all Insuranee and re^ pair costs and'maintain the equip-^ xnent. Publix stipulate^ to. keep the house open a minimum of six ; months -a..year^ If the theatre is ; closed for more' than three months Irt" any Tear the-minimum -rental, jumps 25 %i Present plans are to reopen the house in the fall with ' a pit show policy and pictures at , 66c. top," [ Bonds to help defray the cost of' constructing the Minnesota theatre' were sold to local investors and they are holding the sack. The bonds are practically worthless'and without a market. Unless the per centage arrangement yields a sub stantial amount no Interest can be paid upon them. Paramount-Publix ceaseia jpaylng "rentaMast Becember^ . In the heyday of 1928 and 1929 prosperity the Minnesota was gross- ing from $35,000 to $45,000 a week. After the stock market crash tak Ings fell as low as $8,000 a week. Paramount-Pubiix continued paying reiit for more than a year after it closed, the house, the cost of car rylng the dark theatre having been approximately $6,200 a week. Announcement of the deal to bondholders does hot Inform them thftt-the new-lessee^-Is- the Minne sota Amusement Co.,: a Paramount- Publix subsidiary. The lessee has deposited. $20,000 ^n escrow, which becomes the lessor's property if the lease is terminated by reason of de fault on the lessee's part. More Reducti 'Taint Right Hollywood, June B. Paramount's home office wlri^d here that Theodore. Dreiser had seen a. print of 'Jennie Gerhardt' and had ^ okayed It.' Publicity department re-, layed the Info to B. P. Schul- berg,. who produced the pic- ture. 'My God,' said Schulberg, 'he must haVe seen the wrong verislort.'^- PAR TRUSTEES 1ST TO 0.0. It is stated that difflculty was eh countered in finding 'a responsible and experienced operator willing to _uhdertake any flxed rent or furnish any substantial guarantees;' It also Is announced that claims are being filed against the trustees in bank- ruptcy for Paramount-Publix for the amount of the rent for which it Is liable, that six months of under- lying charges, including ground rent aind. taxes, have accrued and that a.tt effort wlU be niade to oMaJn a tax reduction iand a lower ground r.ental. ..A group of local bankers and capitalists went ahead and built the theatre during the boom after F. & R., then in control 6f the Northwest theatre ■ situation, had turned down the proposltph. A deal was made with Paramount-Publix to lease the theatre and leading banks , here sold the bonds to the public. Arliss Starts for 20th Century Pix Sept. 1 Hollywood, June 6;. George Arliss has been signed by 20th Century P'Ictures. the Schenck- "Zanuck Organization; Arliss, now in liOndon,, win come here Sept. 1, to do his first film for that unit; -■==-^Hl3 formet-Gontraci-mtJLjWa^ Closed with 'Voltaire.' ROACH BACK TO COAST Hal Roach left for the Coast yes- terday .(Monday) after week-ending In New York with Arthur Loew. Roach arrived from Europe Thursday (1) on the Rex- Me had intended making a feature in Lori- don hut gave the idea up because of cfisting difficulties and the time It would have Involved, he said. While it. is presumed that sooner or later the trustees of. Paramount- Publix will, get into the production and distribution departments In some mannet or other, probably to control costs If they seem in need of control, so far there has been ho Interference whatever. Theatres through the parent com- pany, P-P and through the separate bankruptcy over Publlx Enterprises, come In for"first TCttehtltm-bexjaUse they toffer the greatest problem for trustees on both sides. Production will be the second, arm of P-P tp gain attention of trustees, It Is ex pected, with distribution, taking In the foreign department as Well, the last to feel the influence of the bankruptcy adjudicators. At peesent there, is no control of costs, disbursements or deals of the production and distributioh depart ments by the trustees. One of the questions-of-the jnomentJs whethex- the trustees of -Par, under bank- ruptcy law, can tell the studio what it shall pay for stories; or the dis trlbution department what its costs shall amount to. Technically, It Is pointed out the P-P assets In these two branches is in stock ownership, the distribution,, foreign and. pro duction corporations themselves be ing solvent. Studio Latter, Mebbe • Right now_.the.-studio_Is_uslng_Its own discretion In buying. Though a few story purchases lately have run higher than average, there has been no dispute. In foreign and distrib limbs of Par all activities are being carried exactly as they were prior to the bankruptcy. The probable ': first steipa to be tkkeri by trustees of Piar so. fiir ad production is concerned, will come In the sale of rights to stories and the rights in negs. > These rights, however, may be In the name of the parent company, Paramount-PubUx, and take in properties bought be- fore producing and distribution went into subslds of their own. With both prod and distrib arms solvent corporations, contracts Mn- der bankruptcy laws are h^ld as inviolate. If the P-P trustees do not directly exercise control over production iknd distribution, either in Whole or part, they will .to some extent do so in- directly through George J. . Schaefer as g, m. for the trustees. While Schaefer's g. m. powers are not expected to, disturb distribution personnel, It Is regarded as possible his g. m.'lng over the studio may result In some changes, there, but ribTS^ffnllfe^ndicatlTOr-Wf^atiy-^iSTretp Industry's Talker* Discuss ing Tooling' Picture Busi hess f or« General Cood— Matter of Washington's Concurrence and Many Other Obstacles Levien Pioneering Hollywood, June 5. - Fox has taken up another six months' option on Sonya Levien. She is oldest writer in point of servjce on the lot, and one of the few scenarists In Hollywood to have held over from the silent days in continuous service. BETTER FOR DIVIDENDS A «iani pool of all production and distribution into one or two financial and regulatory basi , with a die- , cftmrtiefcibh nUmed by the gbyernment in tupervitionr is how under wide discussion in major circles as'a more effective Und cer^ tain industry platforjn to. submit to Washington^ than a trade practice formula. lihder such operaitlon,' the ma,- -chlhei^ of-which could be set up by the^governm ent without Isacrifldng showmansHlp or dtilllngr coittpetltloh,- the plan, from the perspective of current speakers, should not only be a boon to the industry, but the picture Investing' public ,a3 well. Where leaders declare film dividends today are 'hot even on the horizon, they believe an earning Impetus would be bound to come if present miscellaneous stocks were scrambled, and exchanged for certificates issued under such a set-up. By 'pool' proponents do hot mean 'mer ger' In the actuia isense of the word. CompaiileH-would-continue as physical entities except that their resources- .WoUld.- be . pooled and bonuses extended those which showed the greatest initiative. In other words, proponents hold their Idea virtually amounts to making Aims a government subsidy. As such, they maintain, exhibition would be taken care of autom^'tlcally. There are now several Inter- pretations of Roosevelt's uttei* ances about waiving the anti-trust 4aws-dxirlng the national industry emergency. And this week, all spokesmen In the industry concede that only with the enactment of th(e Roosevelt regulatory, measure ci^n filmdom determine finally and legally whether it can merge, even tempo rarily, and how far It can code. ing -Measure By Thursday .(8) film contact men at Washington - expect that the Roosevelt measure will have been authorizedby _.hothu_heuse8__and ready for the President's signature; Whether It will be In the same wording as presented "by Roosevelt is roundly doubted, the belief being that between now and then the senate will have ofitered several amendments. Where proponents of'the pool Idea currently believe .that .the..govern- ment does not want any industry 'to explode in its face,' as one,spokes man. describes It,: and that It: inay look with favor upon the relief dis- cussed for pictures, industry contact, men who have studied all thie Wa^hinsttoh moves have a different impression.- In their mind Roose- velt, when he .Introduced his mea- sure before Congress slightly over a week ago, made it clear that he wanted fair competition, but that he was not advocating elasticity of the anti-trust laws for the purpose of making it easy for consolidations. . While agreeing the "heroic method,' as the pool plan Is .being referred to. Is basically sound and probably agreeable to all of the com- panies, these contact spokesmen state frankly that they don't believe it has a chance with Washington. Li ited Salaries Th«'"contactors:-al8o-declare^tlia.t= If the government were expected to adsume any financial responsibility for the.picture industry a new plank would probably also have to be In- serted in the present Reconstruction Finance Cprporatlpn. Films, accord- ing to, an unofficial although never completely-tested belief in the busi- ness,: are not among those.industries with governmental borrowing ca- pacity. If pictures were to gain the sUp- stem Old Script Sales, Set Rentals Sausages Hollywood^ June S; Midwest popularity contest winner was being shown around the set at a major stu- dio. . Press: Introduced her , to an exec, and told the latter that* although the girl bad worked three years <as,ti .book.- keeper In a sausage, factory, she had never seen sausages made. .. 'Tell her around here . awhile,' y^M the invita- tion.: Bondholders of the old Roxy will Pirotest the petition of Harry G. Kosch, for an additional fee of $10,000 for the brief period he acted as receiver in foreclosure on thei the- atre. Kosch's petition is filed with the Federal Court and comes up be- fore Judge Francis Caflfey* June 13, Rbxy-^heatre "other along with' matters. Koach already has received $5,000, which may have been paid on ac count or In settlement of his claims as receiver in Equity. The bondholders' protest Is to . be made known through counsel, ac cording to Indications. Represent ing them is Attorney Carlos Israels, of the law Arm of White & Case. Whether Israels, already has been apprised of the bondholders' senti ment in th9 matter. Isn't known. Judge Caflfey Is to determine whether the present receivership is to continue, among other things. Indications are that it will continue, if comparative reports as submitted of Kosch's administration as re- ceiver and the present 'receiver, -Hwardrr^ullma-n, iare_4QLhsldered Counsel for the receivership Is Proskauer, Rose JSc Paskus. An auditing fee, of something bvier $&,000, to-the firm of. Barro.Wf_Wadej^ Guthrie & Co., Is also sought. The reports submitted by Re- ceiver Cullman would Indicate that a greater loss Is to be suistained to the house just through fixed charges than If It were kept running. Cullman Is a Commissioner of the New Tork Port A'uthprlty,. presently in Washington, to discuss the^ .J^a tional Industry Recovery ill with Government people. He also is v. p. of the Cullman"' Rrbs. .tobacco firm, and. a director of the Coun.ty .Trust Company^ port of the RFC, the.contactors de- clare, the. industry would also have to comply with government regula- tions which Say that salaries to executives In federal borrowing companies , Shan not' exceed $17,500 per year. Passage Seems Certai Where over the week-end filmdom feared for the passage of Roose- velt's industry regulatory measure all doubt was eliminated Monday (5) iafternoon" when ./ord--reached New Tork that Washington is cer- tain the Presidents codlstic legisla- =1 ;ioniwilljr.e.ach. JJie .enact^j^^ before the end of this week7 According to picture contacts at i;he capital the senate committee was reported to regret Its Friday action in extracting the teeth of the measure, chiefly the license stipulation. At its own request, which film men interpret as indi- cating certain passage for the greater part of the original matter, the committee called back Its rcr port for re-cohsideratlon. Major filmdom has authorized weighty catalogs and albums as media through which to publicise, economies In set rentals and bar>- gains in old stories. The books ar« regarded as the materialization o£ two economic aspects discuissed over a month ago at the Industry's round table get-together in Hollywood. Until the book idea wks hit uppnt producers were at a loss as how to effect their story exchange under- standing. Conferences were held at= which stories were named and of- fers were made. But, conferees i»Ow reveal, the suspicions of the owner were always al^oused wh6n a bid was made. There was the impres- sion that If the other fellow realty- did want i^ there must be a reason. As the result the pr|ce wehjt iip un- til the bidder lost patience. No Telephone Figvf«s Then the catalog policy began tb mature. iBut discussions disclosed that It would he a . meaningless ex- ' ,pens.e if every producer used tele- ' phone . figures' and Tadde'd to IH© original cost bf "€he~8t6ry"1the tima; Of the various adapters who had. tried their hand at bringing it to' the Screen unsuccessfully. Finally It was agreed that once a producer listed a «tory he'would^ have to go throughVon the deal. It , was also authorized that figures tn. the book will Just be the asklfiir price, that the final terms wilt tie subject to bargaining. The malik; point in this ' stipulatioii,. .howeveTas Is that the prpducer, once Commijtr^ Jted^jdlLhave-_to^ sell, regardless o^; the circumstances, if" toe "ftrdd^if; should be eager enough to ascend i|Ui.' high as the asking figure In the cat;^. alog. The set catalog Is designed more elaborate proportions^, Ever/' producer when makliig' a set ayall? " able will subhilt; a still photograpli' of It with descriptive matter and .di- mensions on the back. This still will-be sent to all major prbducers' who will add It to the, albuni beinig instituted for that purjpiose. .- Establishing a .rental rate for; sets has been voted put of the qiies- -' tipn unless a percentage, according to age, Is achieved. Under the ek<t istent arrangement bargaining will be resorted to. Ckdn Oustiiig^ WE Sound in Protest of i^rpeliial tii^^ Birmingham, June 6. In protest to leasing equipment Instead of selling outright, R. B. Wilby, head of the Wilby houses thrbugjhout the southeast^ is In;- Stalling, new RCA isound'in the, Ritz' here and having Western Electricj' equipment removed. Wilby organ-' IzatlOH is contemplatlhg removing' all W.E. equipment in houses tOf<' tailing arpund 108 in the southeast* Apart from the dislike to never having anything to show for the money, since W.E. does not sell equipment and merely leases. It, Wilby officials don't like the.Idea of having to pay for the-so-called' service .fee for an. engineer to pass through town, drop in fpr a few mlputes and then go his way. Hoodoo Off 'Yesterday'? Looks an Ea^ $500,000 Hollywood, June 5. , "^JPhn=^'Stahl'3-long--delayed^Only=.^ Yesterday,' which has had a dozen postponements, is scheduled to get under way tomorrow (0) at Uni- versal. Pic was first to start over three months ago, but the U shut- down, money and cast troubles, started-the iserles of delays. ^ 'Only Yesterday' will likely go over $500,000 on. negative cost. Add- ed to the cast are Hugh Enfield and Franklin Pangborn.