Variety (Sep 1933)

Tuesdajf September 19, 193^ TDOORS VARIETY 55 Code Airs All Woes (Conitinued from page. 6) chnnce to. set together, and miake up their minds Jater. There were several other illus- trations of this, Lionel Atwill, for Instance, brought on by the Acadr emy; talking too early and record- ing the elctors' branch as being' un- isympathetic ^ith' that organiza- tion's attitude toward , some prin-. ciples of aiiti-star raiding. Over*-Enthusiastic 'Unions, as well, were at first a little ' Enthusiastic in their repre- . sentatioh. Studio cameramen were willing to cut wages in proportion to hours with the idea of more' men on the job, and scenic artists w;ere Boftening up on Sunday. It took WiUiaih Green to sotind the senti- ments of the American F«^deration. of :Iiabor ^ regards ia 34-hour 'week, withi salaries antedated to former l^pom times. ' Sidney R. Kent, the last speaker and one of the few to ad lib, also had a change to do some rectify- ing. The business hot only could' not function on Greeh'is terms but, Kent'added. the 136,000 stockholderts, -interested' in the major industr3r,_as wejl. as the ■ major interests them- selves, Wui'dV sustiiin too heavy' a dent in tiielr ' $176,000,000 gross rentals if exhibitor demands ;were miet. This, incidenfally, was the second time stockholders were men- tioned, B. K Kahane bringing them up . in his .attack on disrep-. utable agents upon whom he heaped responsibility for most of Holly- Woods' misery^ The RKO head aliso: reminded the Government of the' majors' money tk-oiibles. although both he and Kent, as , star speaicers for the. majors, dwelt upon the nriil- lionsi.' invested in the busineiss by 'the'majors, indirectly but efCective- ly emphasizing the current money difference between the Hays group and others. Rosenblatt Not Tough'' The deputy Commissioner early on'the first day evidenced an ability to shoot queistions, at least one of which the average witness could hot answer' for one or many reasons best known to the witness. The 800 in the audience got so that they "waited for the. interrogation which seemingly would disconcert or put the talker in a corner^. Many times there was raucous, laughter as" a result. Any number of indie exhibs after a siege of right, to buy went back to their hotels and said they could have answered when Rosenblatt re- quested anyone in the hearing to cite proof; 'But,' one of them re- marked, 'if we had gone , on record that we would pay' more money fbr pictures and the clause doesn't get in the code, the distributors would remember it and it would cost us money..' For .a man who, has been rated as 'tough,' Rosenblatt exhibited marvelous patience and under- standing throughout the three days. If anything, he allowed the average speaker plenty of rope, choking him off only when repeti* tlon was apparent to all of .the listeners. And when it was over Rosenblatt opened the floor to all, oven those who might' have forgot- ten to register. The Couldn't-Tellers Among those vho couldn't tell (many of whom said they would ,.amend_their briefs, or conduct_£ur- ther research with "an3weiv~to the deputy's highlight interrogation^ in n)ind), were: William \Elliott of the lATSE couldn't tell' Rosenblatt whether a man behind, every projector wOuld increase l>ooth costs 100%.The in-r dependent producers couidh't tell why all of the vyomen's clubs' repr sentatives didn't double fcatut-es. Representativeis, of the Screen Writers Guild couldn't: tell how to prevent idef<.s from being plagiarized. Hod carrier delegates couldn't tell how to have their class called scmi-professionnl. The Aeaderny couldn't tell why Equity hasn't a grea,ter actor membership in Holly\ypod. Nathan Burkan, with three clients, couldn't tell about the Fox-Warner master con- tract whereby the Brothers, it ha<l been charged by Allied Exhibitors, could throw out foreign product, =biit-the--indies-'had=tG-take=:iem,.irh£. poster people couldn't tell how to make the exhibitors buy ircotly even after the clause omitting defi- nition of the rental deal through the oxchanfcc was? omitted. The pottery men didn't tell why give- aways in theatres are not in opm- potition with store retailers. Ros- enblatt himself didn't toll why the open shop clavisp wa.<j ruled out. 'Mioie Wfre a number of Mid tells.' But most of them were from a group perspective; The Deputy told the assemblage that iaivorcing production front theatres, and bombing theatres, were up. to the Attorney General. Also, that the NSA was not deciding what con- stitutes conspiracy. Allied Exhib- itors askied Rosenblatt to instruct the Department of Justice to in- vestigate clearance and zoning as proposed in the "ihajor .companies' formula. Burkan said . the right-to-buy would be ruinous to the big the- atres. Many of.. thie indiie pro- ponents said the right-to-buy woiild RuUte more money, for every- body. Kent, with last word, re- minded that if there was any money In It distrit>utors would have grabbed the . idea, long ago. He observed that putting pictures oh the auction block would mean ndoney for the company . leading' in any particulai^ yeiu" but ruin for the others. He covered elimination at the Sanie time by stating the pro- duCe;r viewpoint as being .that the wheat and the chaff inUst be cond- b'iiwE^Tir^fder that ther-e be any; wheat at ail. VPhen the MPTpA, which is .bucking all jthe other in-, die exhibs qn^doubie-f^^ been conferrlni'^'a^^S^SeiW'^ die: mob while in Washington, in- sisting on the right to-.reject some of the lemons. Steuer . the Aflents Max steuer,, representing some actors and agents, had a strong speech against farming out taleht> but it was abbreviated when ROs-^ enblatt IpformM hJm^ that Kahane' reported it had crept'into the code by error.. Kahane himself admit-; ted that even if there f weren't any agents,, stars could still get tem- peramental. Incidentally, the facts as pre- sented in. the leading talk ;for double features made 'by. Eddie Gol- den were published in yAWEry sev.-- eral weeliB ag^o. > A w.eek before tbe hearing it was worded around Columbia) and I7ni- versal would bolt the Hays group on double' features and not force shorts 'With long pictures. This, was their pre-heai<ing understanding. But It was' not figured the. indies, minus the JflPH^OA, would lihe up the way they did. ACthally this didn't come aboiit until, last "Tuesday: Tlien Federated, the TOCC, allied withi their proxies decided to merge, at least for the Washington front. Labor, from the oiperators point of view,' was^ earlier opptised to doubles but the day William Green delivered, his speech, labor observed that the indies would be hurt.- Indie producer lobbyists take credit. for the big front, the. first time, ezhib factions havie ever smoked the pipe with, producers in their field. They finally, saw a common advantag;e.. Yhe Indi ' Good Job The indies did the best front job in the businessi With all of their caucusies and firebrands they , went through without , a hitch.. They didn't even charge tho MPTOA with being Haysian-niinded, al- though that was their conversation in the bedrooms. Will Hays had no picnic withi is own flock. There were, several long meetings and the General got so he forgot to shave. But except for Golumbiaand'Universal, whioh rode along with him on everything- else, the last niinute strategy . of , putting tfic presentation in. the; hands of lient and Kahane. deprived the open record of ^yhat had earlier loomed up as some nxajor in-sur- gencies. Harry. M. Warner got' up oh his feet once and was told to wait his turn by the deputy. .When that arrived, however, Warner and his lieutenants wore among those who delegated K&K to do the. finals. It wasn't so with, the Academy, howreyer, This was put in. a bad light at the start by the proposal in the producers' code that it handle considerable of tiie coast' arbitra- tion under the Blue Eagle. As the result it AVrts a perfect target for Equity, 'aFL, writers and others who claimed larger, memberships than the Academy, which that pr- ganization did not deny specifically. Mattel's were" nolT^'eTpe^d'^'wheTl" Rosenblatt inquired if the ACademy was a national organization, and got a hedging . rfjply. Same went for the central CJXsting Bureau when the Deputy Inquired if the cast as well as the west would be included; ant'l was toJd it fync- tionrd in th< west. S6r/io .of the .frnfillor laixn iihits were 'sounClCd ali^nK siriiilar linfs before Rosen- blatt reminded the codlsts that the NRA Is strictly national. As the hearings wore on a num- ber of general things became ap- parent. One, that Rosenblatt was mastering the most polite multi- tude of verbal sloushing matches ever staged in the business. Tiie rough' stuff waa all being routed back to the hotels along with what- ever need for new strategy each day de'veloped. And the place swarm.ed yith lobbyists. There was . <>ne eVen at the press table to. attempt to mlniniize the harsh points, hahding out only that ex 7, cerpt' froni Green's speech on pic- tures, beliig a lot better from the union standpoint than some; other industries. in 'Re the Moral Code The women were the only speak- ers to call the Hays moral codes by'-name, ..although they are Idein- tified in the exhib proposals. Tlie exhibs, from, what could be iieard, wanted' the'right to reject pictures that didn't meet with their public's idea of propriety. There wais , some talk about the code authority finally having this jpbi On the inatter of this code en- forcement body there is plenty to say. Almof^t all of the groups want to be represented' on it. That goes for labor and Equity as well ;a8 those right . In: the business. - And. frequently 'Rosenblatt -intei^ected in ~tlie3icfeco!:d;_Teference to the Au- tBSiit»'a,s--beingUixe-m edium to. set- tle this and thatj' alscLtbe .-.5?'!2*h?^^ that the Authority will - b6 The. codC watchdog and, .as such,, bound to. hand up reports or siiggestiohs for modifications or additions to what- ever finally gets thonigh, at the Government's beck and call: The Authority therefore gairded already as the wprkB.* Who. is actually going, to be in. it, or th*^ details of its workability; /weren't discussed during the op^n sessions. If all the representatives Who. want to "be. head icodists get. the job, the Authority every, time it meet^: will have to hire a hall, ;ahd repeat what's going on in .Washington now, only along 'ihterpretatiye' lines. NeUf Stars (Continued from page 3) include James Caerhey, Ruth,<6iiat terton,. Richard Barthelmess, Wii llaih . Powell, Kay .Fiunces,. lluby Keeler, Ed'ward 6. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck. Secondary names oh the Wanfitfr list are also attractive with Dick .Powell, Alan Jenkins, Margaret^ Lindsay, Ann DvoralK^ Guy Kibbee. and Alihe Mc Mahon all hayiilg good drawing po'wer. in supporting assignments. Universal has but two names/ Paul Lukas and Gloria Stuart. Lat ter has been steiadily climbing iand is Currently loaned to Sam Goldwyn and getting a strong ballyhoo in 'Roman Scandals.' Goldwyn. himself is. looking for one or two names, for his new sea- son. Twentieth Century, in addition to Ann Harding, Constance Ben- nett, George Arliss, Loretta Young and ^ George Bancroft, contracted, for a number of pictures, is tryipg to build a Stock company that will eventually mean dra.wing power. First to ^et consideration is Blos- soni Seeley, who Darryl Zanuck figures might be another Mae West. Kent's Orders ith a light star list, ^ has been bfdCfed' biy Sidney Kent to get to wPrk . on its supporting players with the view to making stars; Studio has Will Rogers, Ja'mes Dunn iand Sally ilers, Janet Giay- n.pr, Clara Bow, Warner Baxter; Spencer Tiracy and the sttii untried Lilian Harvey. Supporting play- ers are strong, but none of them ready to jump 'to stardom imme- diately, Kent will not grab or bor- row from other studios, feeling that the development of Heather Angel,; Preston Foster, Victor, Jory and other young players is the better system. Fox will continue to hunt ypung taleiit with possibilities, hop- ing that out of the thousands tested yearly by the major studps it will be able to corrail one or. tvifo who iriight have the stuff of which stars are made, Fair's Weather Break Chicago, Sept. 18. With the World's Fair and the impQtus it has. given to all business., a statement on weather conditionis should bo given plenty pt credit. Out of 90 some oid days :0f World's Fair business there have been exactly two days that ha'ven't been ideal for the .fair. Although there -Were days Which looked as if they would affect the attendance, the nights turned out good. CIRC IN DIXI£ RinglinQ'-BB ahd Hagenbeck ih Yet .Unplayed Southeast Birmingham, Sept. 18. With the Rihgling big ishow heading into this section reports are the show will hot close as early as originally exi)ected, Show booked her0 Oct. 6 with practically all of the Southeast yet unplayed ai3 show nioves in here from Arkansas and Louisianai. Hagenbeck-Wallace is also ih the cotton country coming down from Indiana, West Virginia and "Ten- nessee. Business lis. good ..with this outfit with dateiB in the northern part of Dixie putting them on straw most nights. Of the two the Wal- Tace show~1probably showing more biacR^filC"than^:he-big.JahQ^K^■H^ ing ;;those 75 cars of the. Rihgling show is a bit expensive. The larger show will '.probably go through October swinging through Georgia, the Carjlinas and Florida and then, into quarters. The Hagen- beCk show will probably close- 'be- fore the big show in spite of the business it is doing. Stickup Man Fatally Wounded by LA. Cop Los Angeles; Sept. 18. Jack . Keating, 30, died at General hospital Suhday (17) from a bullet wound received in a gun fight with a . policeman while Keating and a companion attempted to hold up the Gaiety, downtov/n burlesque house, late Saturday night. , . Policeman entered theatre as Keating and his friend; John M. Farley, who was apprehended, were holding the house treasurer under their guns. Both policenieh were wounded in the ensuing bullet ex- change and are. in a serious condi- tioh at the hospital. Texas Fair Town Takes Chi Expo Tip on Names Dallas. Sept; 38. Plan of Chi's show houses getting names 'in person' is to be tried here during the State Fair Oct. 7-22. Mentioned are: palace, D.ive Ru- binoff, guest conductor and violin- ist, and Will Rogers in . Bull' On the screen; Majestic, Texas Gui- nan and her girls, and a top pict; Melba, Jesse' and Helen Crawford at two consoles, and 'The Power and the Glory' oh the screen. Meanwhile the fair wiii splurge with three five-day shows, 'Bitter Sweet', 'Nina Rbsa', and 'Floro- do.ra', all. ShUbert productions, to replace its usual straight 15-day show. Fair officials' here; believ-. ing strong: downtown attractions helpful to tlicni. pleased \yith the theatrical roundup. So. Sea Circus' 15 Wk& Chicago, Sept, 18. B. K.- Fernandez in totvn last, week getting, additional acts for his South Seas circus, which opens in Hawaii Oct. 8. Show ill have 14 acts playing 15 weeks in the trop- ical islands withr possibility of ad^ ditional time in the Philippines, ^Japan and China- Tiroupe saiils froni Los Angeles Sept. 29. TWo .turno picked up in the Charles Zemater office were the Hodgini Family and^.the Three 'Maciedon Brothers, Dynamite Prices San PYancisco, Sept. 18. William Wagrtpn and Marco open the Orphcym PYlday (22), the first picture tc be 'Headline Shooters,* with other Universal and RKO's to follow. Prices will be 25 and 40c. 'jrhis Is expected to dynamite Pthor theatres thiit have consist- ently upheld admisHlons. Burlesque Placements Chicago, Seiit. 18. Milt Schuster office last week placed the following performers: Megg Lexing into the Empire, To- ledo; Jean Saffer for the-. Great Beyond at the World's Fair; Billie Bicd to Bijou, Philadelphia; Dixie Dixon and Rexine' Whalen into the Grand, Peoria. ,. Irving Place, New "rork, got Ruth Willson and Marion LaMarr; World's Fair Girls in Cellophane drew Babe Reynolds, Elsie Miller, while. Freeman and. Bert, Spark Plug George, Bobby Burns, Billy Bumps, Mack & Tanya, Bobby Vail, Jeannette Lane, Carrie. Finnell and Esta Aija went into the Empress' in Cincinnati, Hirsch^s Union Troubles Minneapolis, In the matter of posting advance salaries, the stage hands' union here has . altered' i€s demand that Hiarry Hirscii of the Gayety post two weeks' salaries a« a preliminary to reopening with stock burlesque. No^y it insists only on a single week in advance. Hirsch is unv/illing to meet this requirement and also says he can- not meet the salary and personnel demands of the imion. 'Accordingly, the stock burlesque season Is still off. ■ Exempts Circuses Lcbanpn, Pa., Sept. 18. Circus and .show/company parades -are-ffp€cirically-^cxcftifip,tcd=ijj^^ Htrlctiorts Impo.sed in aT new street parade or street incoting.ordinance just passed at the instance of Mayor John K. Scliropp himself. The or- . dinancc carries a penalty of not more than $25 In fine or 30 days in jail, or both, for violations. Circusej? a. taxed otherwise, and therefore 'ipfrd in the new Jneasure. BtlBLET. tS AKBQN Akron, 6;, Sept. 18. Burlesque, missing froih Main street under that'-namiB at. least, for two years, is rdue to ''stage ia cotne- bai k soon in its original hon^e. A Youhgstown I m. p.r e s a r i o tliinks Civic theatre, dark since last fan, is nicely spot and is negotiating for tli.e house. Hainid Booked Toronto, Septi 1.8. It. 'wias George Hamid and not Phil Worth, who boolied the show at the Canadian National expo, ported. Stunfstert Bumped London, Canada, Septi 1^. Two daredevil riders and sharp- shooters b^^led to appear slb stunt motorcycle riders 11 the Western Fair here staged kn unbilied .dress rehearsal early this morning when; their car turned over on No, 2 hlgh' way, while a trailer on the ma* chine in. which was riding the 'wife of one of the performers broke loose and i)lunged off the higiiway, later landing upon a front lawn of a rural residence. iOriver of the Car Was. John Crooks of 1121 Gordon street, Hol- lywood, Cal.., •while with him was Putt Mossman of Deposit, N. Y. Mrs, Mossman was sleeping in the trailer at . the tinie of the accident. None of the three suffered serious injury. Traffic Officer Howard Jack- main said he was told that. Crooks had falleh asleep at the wheel of the machine. CIRCUSES Hagenbeck-Wallace For Current Week (Weeh Sept. 18> Sept. 18, Aiihville-. 10, dastonla; '20, Hlgb Point; 21. Burlingtsn; 22, Goldsbpro; 23, WIlmlinKton; 25, Cbarleaton. Ringling Bros.- . & B. Sept. 18, Hhrevcportj 10, L«nKvlewt 20, I>(iira(i;-2lT Ft.-Wortll^.22, Waco; 23, Aus- tin. CARNIVALS For Current Week (Week Sept. 18) n. ft B..: ■ WUKeeboro, Bach, O. 3.: Watklne, Badger & Klnkt Pinno, Bar Brown:. Rpssellville. Barker, J. ti,: Ava, Barlow Big City: Table Grove. Jleckmah & Gerirty: Tulna, .Oklu. Bee, K. H.:'Dickson, TeniV: Bendlxen Jfldwny AttrS.: Montevideo. BlR Stater Crockettf . Bloom's Gold Medal: North JuOson. Buck. O. C;: Mirieola, N. Y. Bunt's Greater: Woodruff. DodHon's World Fair: Lawrcnc^burg. Kdwardfl, J. B., Attrs.t Mll|er«bur(;. JCvangellnc: Ilu^ro. Golden Valley: prestonburg, Ky. , Grc.Tter American; Manchester. Greenland Kxpo.: Jackson. ' Grub.ergfi, Max,- FamouM:. Marlon. llappyland: Allegan; HnmeK A wnilarfiB: Ennls, KrauMC Greater: .Ilutherfdrdton.. T.>ande.t, J,': Uurlinglon. I>ang, Dce: Mt. VVrnon. licwip, Art: Fall Itfver, Mn.is. McKfirlaJifl, Kd.: AVasahaohle. Magic City: Town CrfTk. ^^Mcti-oiiplllsm; CamlHa. Ga. Mlglily SheO'sT'Cy Mra\vi57TTTC.'inokTr'VjST- Model Shows of America: JtnoxvIJIe, MotUat. C.irhlval Co,; "VVofHlrldge. * Roid firfliter: F.-odii ii'k.sbiirg, ■ IlobPrtw & HoJwrts: Uunganon, lloland Ex]io : I'carl>;biirg. .St. r.^ul8 Shows: Ii|tt«neld.' »ix. .T. M;irry: LoulRvlllo. Ky. .Smith's H. Jj.: Lrxington, V.'v; f-Vii's Ivib<Tty: O.vlikosh, 'rhotriiiN, Dug., Altrs.: MUIcr. Warnor UroH.: Mt. PJcasnnt, 'Texiip. 'WphI'h W. IC. Motorized.-.SlrouU. Wi'ntfi'B Hxrio.: Wa.»hlngt<in. ■Woik, R. .if.; BarneHboro.