Variety (Sep 1933)

PICTVRES VARiETy CROP 32-33 Tided Tranips, Phoney Princes Sneak To Extra Raiiks as Pretense Exposed Hollywood,' severairyear^ alter the war, with most 6£" th^ small European ■tbiintries in the. throes of reVolu- tidiis, Hollywood became the Miecca ■1. ' 1 . ■ ... ■ for- scores of European hlii^ bloods, Russian princes, Austrian and Oer- man barons, Bulgarian counts, ■7?urklsK sultans, not to mention generals and admirals from cpun- trli^s unfamiliar to most people/ They flocked to Hollywood arid found , It possible to' earn a living in pictures. With the publicity value of titles ;,above par, many foreigners began knighting .arid decorating them- selves until Hollywood had enough ndbility to'start a Burke's Peerage 'of Its own.and enough phoriiey blue blood arid generals to start a pew empire In the hills of Malibu. II Haywire \'!^;*5Fhe queer royalty.; invaded pic- txit'^s with a mad ' rush, most of ■feliem. becoming, technical advisors on. pictures, with 'foreign locales, *rhel*" work ■was so .haywire that picture companies began t6 get protests frohl. foreign countries claming that stories and native cus- toms were all . wet and that HoUy- '■wood had. bett.ier get -wise to itself and And out just who their techni- cal lads w'ere. Investigations proved .that the phonies were riiostly smart lads who never got near the fringe of the subject matter on which they werie supposed, to be experts. Pre- tenders cost the studios a lot of money and priestige before they Voice up. .Today the fakeris.are still in Hol- lywood hanging onto thelf self- 'made titles, but mbst of them are reduced to the ranks of extras, •working when foreign types are * necessary. Worst offenders were the Rus- sians. Posing as being exiled by. the Bolsheviks, they received sym- pathy from Hollywood, which is a pushover for anything that smacks of royalty. A great, number of them existed without ■worl^Ing for months following the general -iexpose by claiming that the Bolsheviks and communists were persecuting them and that the charges of faking brought against them were born, of haitred of the titled clasd. Many picture people fell for this, saw that the strangers within tme cine ma gates were Well treated. Still Faki .Same mob are still around carry- ing-their titles, still insisting they are genuine. Occasionally one will ^et into the public prints by claim- ing his brother killed Rasputin, his father had seen the Czar and his family alive within the last two months or that Russia will Soon be rescued from its present govern- ment by a group of White Russians, always headed by himself, who are pianriing to lead a conquering army from Mexico or some other Latin country. Story is usually killed after the first edition When some editor remembers a similar yarn jt^^ing turned Jn previously. Phoney rpyallst sinks into oblivipri for ian- Qther year until he can get a fresh fei:eak With some new or forgotten yarn, about himself. Buck's White Cargo' .First consignment of film from Frank Buck for his second picture for RKO release, 'Wild Cargo,' reached New York last week from India. , .Though away some tlmie, heavy rains and other bad film weather li.as seriously delayed the expedi- tion's filming plans. Says $3,000, Means It Ijondon, Sept. 18. Jessie Matthews is being ap.- proached by sundry American film companies. The English comedienne ia asking $8,Q00 weekly or nothing, being al- ready fortunately established on this side. F r o dl u c e r s F r Ibl n t i cally Search lor New Talent to Pep B.O*8—Contests Used as Prospect Dragnet TEST ORGY CHEVALIER'S PAGNOL PIC IN FRANCE, THEN O.S. ■While abroadj with his sailing for Fi-ance scheduled Saturday (23) ou the 'He de France,' Maurice Chevalier will make, a picture base4 on a story by Marcel Pagnon, well known French diramatlst. -It Will be written around Chevalier's own life. ■ Signed by Mietro for one picture, ?Merry Widow,' Cheyaiier's future in this country remains unsettled. He may conie back to Par but agree- ment already reached, including figure for one more picture, hinges around, the story. Chevalier reaches New York Thursday (21), sailing two days later. He will remain in France until Jan. 1 to turn out the film over there. Mae Wesf s Gross of Free Ink Stuff Is a Present-Day EsldiiiQ Star M^G Delay Worries as 2 Comics Work 2 Films Hollywood, Sept. 18 On account pf casting difficulties Metro is having considerable trouble in shooting 'Hollywood Party' and 'Meet the Ba,rpn.' Jack Pearl and jlmihle Durante are in both pic- tures working simultaneously. Last week 'Meet the Baron,' Pearl's starring, picture, w;a3 held up for two days while two. comics worked in 'Hollywood Party' this week, latter picture being held up for five days so that tandem can work iri 'Baron.' Par's British Import 'raramoaut has signatured an other English gir]> Frances Dean, and has ordered her over, pronto. Miss Dean is now to .film biz She took a Par te.st in Bngland On spec find satisfied the Hollywood Itei?. To Star Loy Hollywood, Sept. 18 Metro has picked up Myrna Loy'd options for one more year. Intention is to star her. Dietrich Returning Marlene Dietrich, abroad vaca tionirig, is scheduled to return to New York Sept. 26 and after a few iys will leaVe ror'the7coast't sume With I»ar. She. sails on the 'Paris' tomorrow (20) ifrom Paris. Hollywood, Sept. 18. With the new season here major studios are .frantically searching for hew picture personalities, realizing that with the. exception of Mae West and Katharine Hepburn, past year has given little, in the way of names tb stimulate the box office. Producers feel that with the quota of stars now at a low ebb, new draw names. are necessary to pep up theatre business. Paramount with Miss West, Marx Brothers, Blng Crosby, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Chevalier as their top notchers have currently three searches on for new faces. Hunta are 'Search for Beauty' contest for both men ^nd wbm^n. a search for an 'Alice' for 'Alice in Wonderland' and an office talent hunt by two studio execs at present visiting eastern stock companies. Charles R. Rogers has an octet of girls here froim the east who are epritest winners for 'Bight Girls In a Boat.' Studio his a" number of young players under contract, none of whom has fulfilled Its hopes as niame possibilities.' Metro is also in the name hurit field. Money draWs are. Marie Dressier, Wallace Beery, Joan Crawford, Lee Tracy, (jreta Garbd, Marlon Da vies, the Barrjrmores, Clark Gable, Ramon Navarro. iirid Norma Shearer. Rest of the con- tract li^^t are supporting players Who mean Uttie at the box office unlejss part of a strpng cast. Big gest disappointment at. Metro has been Franchot Tone who has failed to fulfill the studio's enthusiasm about his possibilities* Need' Assi Radio's one big draw is Mlsa Hepburn. Constance Bennett, Ann Harding, Richard Dlx, Irene Dunne, the studio's top names all need as^ sl3tance -from production, story and supporting names to make a sizable impression at the boxoffice. Studio Is considering everyone submitted, hoping that it will get another Hepburn. Rest of Radio's contract list are regarded short on audierice appeal. Warners top name Is Joe E Brown. Though , not a. heavy draw in the metropolitan centers, he's a smallxcommunity sock. In jiddi tion to Brown, the studio is next to Metro in strong names, which (Continued on page 65) Hollywood, Sept. 15. Ray Wise, who played in Metro's. 'Eskimo,' is being considered for the top spot in 'Good Earth,' Wise, a former cameraman, is halt Jew- ish and half Eskimo. He played the lead in Igloo.' Soo Toung, Chinese actress. Is up for the femme lead in 'Earth,' being brought from Honolulu for the test'. 15-YR.-0LD IDA LUPINO $600, BABY LEROY $50 Hollywpod, Sept. 18.; Baby'Leroy, pic prodigy, has been legally certified as a contract actor with Paramount. Pictures in court apiHTOval secured last week. Baby Leroy, whose full name adds Wlne- brenner, Will be able-to boast, when he gets old enough to talk, that he was earriing $50 a week at tiie pres- ent age of one year arid four months, Of course, when he lays off between plx he only gets $15, But even with the inflation coming on, that'll be-^ something. •Other miners who had contracts with i>aramouht approved are Ida Lupino, 15, getting |600 per week; Toby Wing; 18, earning $110; Lona Andre, .18, starting at $75, and Grace Bradley, 19, who gets $150; LeROY TO FILM OWN PLAY FOR WARNERS Mervyn LeRoy has authored a play, 'Insincere City', which he will produce as a picture fpr WB, fol- lowing 'Wonder Bar', his next slated to get under way shortly. East on a vacation, LeRoy 'left Friday (15) for the Coaist to pre- pare for 'Wonder Bar*. Al Jolson will leave for the west in two weeks to start in the film. He will con- tinue, his broadcasting from Holly- wood while doing the picture. Par's Beaut8 Arriving First of Par's 'Search tot Beauty' contest winners started for Holly- wood Thursday (14), sailing from British South Africa. They are Lucille du Tolt and* Donald Tld- bury. They will a,rrlve in Holly- wood in five weeks. The winning mixed couples, from Australia and New Zealand are due iri'L. A., Oct. 7, on the S. S. Mont- erey. Chas. Vidor, Big Leaguer liollywood, Sept. 18. Charles VIdor. who recently made a picture for Monogram, becomes a major director, going to Paramount to meg a Lloyd Shelton production. U WANTS LANDI Hollywood, Sept. 18. Universal is trying to pbtaln Ellssa Land! for. the lead in 'Mme. Spy,' which Karl Freund will, direct under supervision of Edmund Grainger. rainger will also siipervi.se 'The American Scotland Yard,' with Ed mund-^^Lo.w .^-stanted.^,^^^ - .^^^^ Studios Stooges for Agents? Minor Execs Said to Be Tipping Off on Agents' Talent Grabbing Chester Sutton III Hollywood, Sept. 18 Chester Sutton, manager pf Ma son theatre and former prominent Syracuse theatre manag'er. Is critic ally ill at his home here aufCeririg with heart disease. Hollywopdj Sept. Fearinig the possible inclusion of the Academy-Agents code in the NRA industry pact the big shot agents have recently been on ah unethical spree trying to steal one another's clients. Report is also that they, are being assisted in their' warfare by minor studio execs who are said to cut in ;On:-=^the^=ihelonn^ cutting-^f6r=_-^eyjery= steal deal put over. Client, stealing routine is to have atudio stooges tip off moneyed artists that they can be assured of bigger weekly checks . If they'll can- cel their existing contracts with tiieir agents, and go with the stooges' pals. As- such practices wlU be Illegal if the Academy code gets in the NRA, i>act the agents appear to have gone on a rampage of at- tempted client larceny In order to {,et in under the Wire. Exec. stoog'?a are also reported to be helping out their agent pals to keep clients on the studio payrolls. In Several cases lately where con-' tracts were about to be .terminated the studios hcxve' received numerous .teleRhc«xsL=i2sJl9^imni.ea££S>.a studios along the line of, *How soon will you be through with John Doakes? We are figuring on him for a term contract.' Latter Is the old p-sychbloglcai routine of trying to get a studio to re-sign a player on the theory that he must be good, otherwise the riyalsf wouldn't want him. Hollywood, Sept. 18. ignored by the press as an unimr portant film player up to five months ago, Mae West has smashed through to become the most pub- licized name in the business to- day. It's a record unequalled any other personality lents or talkers. 'She Done Him Wrong' slipped, out as a program release: last March. Because of the bank holiday, the pictur*: failed to create much excitement in the first ruiiSi Paramount had its fingers crossed when the picture bllli^d Mae West as star, with only one unimportant film part behind her. Indicative of th.e general presa attitude wag the Los ■ Angeles dailies' refusal to go for arrival in pictures of La West when she re- turned from the east in April to prepare for her next picture. Today papers from all parts <>t the world are begging for Mae West art and stories. Snooty mag- azines are going In a big Way for special . articles and art. . Inter-* viewers are standing in line to get stories. Women's 'magazines are. giving their readers every angle of the fashion trends of the >?0's» which were revived by Mae West in one picturer and commercial tle-up3 are being turned down every day, despite heavy offers of cash for the West endorsement. Even the news- reels are tryins to tiake advantage of the player's huge popularity by getting special clips of any kind. 185 Interviews She has had a total of 186 in- terviews with magazine and ne'vvrsr paper writers since she returned to Hollywood in April, During thi past two weeks .no less than 12 managing editors of first Une diallles have sent requests to Para- mount studio for iiirstorles ai^ &tt that can be furnished them on M?i« "V^est. . Life'story of the player is the popular line of the Writers at the moment. KEA recently prepared a three installment and Adela Rogers, St. John has been commlsBidned by 'Liberty' to write a aix-p4rt serial- ization of Ma:e West's life for im- mediate publication; 1,200 news- papers have already placed orders for another 'life story' which has been written in 16,000 words atid eight Installntients by Blake . Sle- Velgh of the Paramount publicity staff. 'True Confessions' will short- ly burst forth with another angle on the same theme. Jim Tully is lining up an article on her, requested by 'Vanity Fair;, 'Vogue* has one in the current Issue and 'Harper's Bazaar' is pursulngf the same line with stories and art, and a yarn on the playei? is due iA a coming Issue of 'Atoerlcan Mer- cury', _ 'Time' went fpr a page at' itlSe," and' 'Ll?e^T)f61ce dbwn a feyjr weeks ago to put a Mae West eatV toon on the ffont cover—the first time this periodical has recognized a film player in that nlantier. Hearst's 'Cosmopolitan' is hot i<> have Mae West Write a by-line novr elette. Lee Furman; president of Maicauley's,. Is here to get the player to put finishing tbuchies to her new book, 'How to Misbehave'. No Commerci Although the only commercial itle- up authorized by Mae West is on Lux soap, and at no remuneration, the. player has been bflEered a total of $28,000 to sponsor pr endorse va- rious articles. The list includes beer, beauty preparations, clothes, hats, bust developers and corsets,. Her weekly fan mail averaging 1,500 Is far ahead Of any other film personality. Five months Ago I'ara- mount ^.Star ted ._tp .>yg^^^> g: "P_ _;^vhett the fan msai was around 200 Weekly, which is considered good these days. •She Donie Him Wrong' has rolled up a gross of about $3,000,000 to date through wholesale repeat book- Ing.s. Paramount will go after per- centage deals for West's next, 'I'm No Angel',