Variety (Sep 1933)

2 PICTURES Tuesday, September 26, 1933 Hollywood, Sept, 25. ■^Ith the i?py,rce: b£ supply fop iiiereen latorics becoming more lim- ited daily, studios , are becominjg p^n^cky Qvex" the situation, and tvritefs Bpecializihe in origiiial stories are beeiimlne: to take heart. Magazines have for .the .pa$t year been cutting dbwh the number , of Btories printed. iA each is$ue. A good estample is the 'Saitux'day 'Eve- niiitr. Pdst,' , which, thrjeji -years ago was running from eight to 12 .short stories weekly. Current 'issues show-that the number of shorts has been cut to thi'ee iand four. .Inroads made by depresslbh oh their adver- tising gets the chieie blame for the curtailing of the mag. yjirn buying; Pulps Kicked HVd , Book publishers have, gohc through tyiro jeaiii years with the prospects that for the next yesir Is- Buing of new hovels will be. small. Pulp mags have: experienced same cutting as the classi mags* with only, those selling airplane, stories get- ting a. g'ood play. Mystery mags also have: had a rapid decline In sal^s in the past year. Studioii feel that within the year jitiost stories purciiased will , be originals, with studios .forced to gp to th9.t .field "for material. Purchas> of brigihal screen yarns • hai? been gi'aauaily mounting for the. past, six months,' w.ith. the -percent-, age nbxy abbut ,50-60. Last year it -was- almbsMm possible for a, Writer to.,peddle ail original yarn at:any. of the major lets. . Studios went strong for plays iast seasbn, but with that 'field also harrowed down to the bone- and - a iione-tbo-heavy legit season in the offling it is doubtful. if the stage will be able to supply moire thiah a'small percentage of. the yarns necessary to supply the coming season's demand. $l,00a Designer Russell iPiatterson^ the sce^jic di- tlst; is slated for 436 w4ieks' contract with. Pox in Hollywood commencing abour.pct. 25; when he will start to deisign the costumes and isceriery for the' jPbi Movietone Fbliles ^ind 'Mary, Queen'of Scots/ forthcoming productions. I*atterson reported: set ai $1,000 a week. Also privileged to db outside designing for legit produc- tlotts and h1$. usual publication, wbrk. COLLAPSE OF KEATON BREAKS UP VAP START , .Sept. Buster Keatoh coiiapsed 10 min- utes before his first iappearance Friday C22) at Charles Dbty's Hip- podrome, and-Was so ill that all of his shows on the opening day weri^ cancelled. .. .. . . , I Three doctors whb: were called-in diagnosed, his illness as 'nervous indigestion/ gave him emergency trektments and ordered him to bed, but. . said . that he might b? well enough to ai^pear following day, so theatre :<>fficials iarran$ed for nurse and bed In his dressing room. velyn Brent and Harry Ppx pinch-hittcd for Keaton. SaUy Eilers Balks Role, Now Its 'Jimmy & Claire' Hollywood,; . 26. __jlot liking her part in 'Jimmy and''?5a)Jy', Sally Eilers refused to start the -picture, due before, the. lenses today '25> and Claire Trevor, was thrown Into the breach. Last mimite owitch will necessi- tate a title change. Picture had been revamped and built up with three musical num-- bers which , were written last week by Sidney Ciaire and' Jay Gorney. They a,rc 'It's the Irish In Me\ •You're' My Thrill' and 'Eat Mars- dpn's JVIcat*. BOOTS iUALLORt A BRIDE? Hollywood, Septi 25. Reported from Tia Jua.na, Bbots Mallory and William Cagney, brother of James, married Sunday night. No confirmation. 'VIILA'S' DIRTY SPOTS Hollywood, Sept. 25. Jack La R.ue and Joseph Schild kraut being tossed up for the dirty work spbt in Metro's 'Viva Villa.' Donald Rijed .added. Id.the.xoster. INDEX ■JBills Chatter ................ Editorial Exploitation Film Reviews.......... Foreign News.......... House Reviews; Inside—^Legit Inside—.Music Inside—^Pictures: Inside—Rad io ..>...... Legitinriate . : i.-... .... Lfitter Li^^^ • • •> . Literati. New Acts............... News'from the D.tiliGS. ^•©bituarjH^-wvS^wr^^ Outdoors. Pictures Radio ........ Radio Reports. Talking Shorts Times Square. Vaudeville .... .60 4» ■62 50.. 21 .12-13 .52- .,44. 2 ...16- • «.•«««•«-«* • • • «. 4 < •'6 ■. 56 C3 57 45 48 58 . 6;3= .63 35 43 38 16 59 .48 Fox's Kidnap Yarn, Other Prods. Cliajry Hollywood, S^pt. 25< Though It's topical and good pic- ture, miiterial, major studios, with the. exception of Fox, have laid off stofies which have the snatch raicket for the theme. All fear that anything to do with snatching will bring censor frowns and may run afoul of the Hays organization. Fox will try-to get away with it in 'The Mad Game.' fcidnajpping, how- ever, is not the paramount idea of the pfctiire.. All studios have been flooded , with yarns based on the natibnally pub- licized kidnappings of the: past two mpn'tii£|, with practically every •free-lance writer taking a turn at a siiatch stbry. WILL MAHONEY The Cinisinnati 'Times Stat* said: '^iil Mahoney's • danfee. on the ■xylbphone Is, one of the best achievements seen in the theatre in a long time. His dancing Is. cause m itself for admiration, but.that tap dance on his Mahbheyphone is worthy of actual amazement." Direction KAtPH G. FARNUM Roosevelt Hotel, Hbllywood, Cai. Gojtumbus Hears WGAHi i^AItr Changing Hands Columbus, Sept. 25. Two important changes in the radio broadcast picture In this city ar'e reported about to take place. WCAH, .Columbia chain station, is expected tb be sold to local capital by the end, of this vfeek. . WAIU, first statibn in the city, is going - to one bf the newspapers, and allied' capital, according to re- ports,-and will then also become a link in the Ni3C chain. Doris KenyopV Ether Feeler, jpavors Pops Holiywobd, Sept. 25, . Doris Kenybn;. under an assumed name; has been Ringing . over KFI here.to feel out what kind of songs tiie . public Tvants from hef; type of voice. Misis Kehyon has been handling a sustaining prog:ram. under .the name , p,f Marget Taylor,. and from thie' respbnse has decided that she will in the future 4b semi-classical and pop warbling rativer than the hieavier ditties that she has done bh h?r concert tours; Likely that she'll step into the Shell hour, from San Francisco'soon for a broadcast or two. Other Majo^ hm Ban i»n SteDar Players Jeaa Mi^ Disc iChicago,' Sept, 26, Cbiumibla .phpnpgraph Is ma,kin'g a posthumous. Velease pt a Jean Malin record. Record was not orlglhally planned for the market but follow- ing the 'death of thiei .nite club eh-, tertaitner. ph the coast it 'Was' de- cided to sell 'em. However, Colum- bia is hot advertising the disc at all, but relying only bn. word-of-mouth fpi: sal^s.. Two-sided piatter has 'That's What's the, Matter With Me' on onb half a,nd 'I'd Rather Be Span 7 ish' on the other. Qnly clisc oif Its kind ever miade for distribution. WARNERS DESIRE MAX REINHARDT FOR H'WOOD 'Fledermaus' in Both Film, Stage Versions ■ V With ia, Brpadway legit produc- tion of 'Die Flederniaus' pending for .the next, month,. Gauniont- rit- idh is releasing its filmization of the operetta next week. Picture- is entitled 'Walt^ Time' and goes into- the Little Carnegie Playhouse, New York, Johann Strauss musical has. been very poular on the Continent ais a legit. Nervous but Artistic Hollywobil, Sept. 25» Despite her heing di'opped from 'Eight Girls in a Boat' becautse of hysterics, Jean Rpuverol, from Pas- kdena Community Players, has had option, picked up. Charles. Rojgers is optimistic of her" iutiire. Edw. 0. as Napoleon. Warners has closed with Emil Lud\yig to make his own adaptation of his life of Napoleon for screen purposes. Edwaird G.. Rbbin^ion will play the Little: Cbrpbral role. LudWig arrived from iiUrbpe on the S.S. Paris today (20) and will spend a. tveek in New York-before- gpijig'■west to begin the ad.T:ptation. Fried Aids Yost at Fox Hollywood, Sept. . Warry ried has i&«»ri' transferred to the coast .from Fox's eastern scenario departnient. He. Js at the Western avenue lot .handling de-. veloimiorit of .new story ideas under*' Robert Yost.. . ' Fried edited bulletin in New York. Marlene Dietrich is dub back.from her European visit on the Paris to- day (Tuesday) and will stay in New York three days before going on to the coast. Ocorge Painier Putnam, Par's story editor,, coming in from Europe on the .same boat and is supposedly dil.<5c\i,?,sinff a .story with her for her next produciiori. Fox's New 'Two Cities' Fox. is preparing to remake 'Tale of Two Cities' as a talker. Pox made a silent version some years back and has ordered tajiker adapta- .tion.>^ad^. - - - Mentioned as a ppsibility tiiat tiie picture will be done, in Eng;land, on the actuail ground story is.'spotted : An exile from Germany, Max Reinhardt. may. find a permanent haven in pictnre production^ in America. He is being (sought by Warner Bros.,- whp viriant. to bring Rtinhardt over froni Europe, Negptiatipns- the . farnbiisj German spectacle stager is to have him come over-"to .Work with Mer- vyn LeRby on 'Wonder, Bar' to get the feel of American film produc- tion. . —-— ]$bwIand-Brice have two more features at the Long Island planned for this winter,, one a musical -and the other t cir first straight talker. 'Singing Gondolier', original by Yip" Harburg, Sig Herzig and iBill Row- land, win be the musical; starting production aisout Nov. 1. Other is .'Ex-Judge', annnymoiisly written npyel. Mohte Brice will direct both. Stokowski to Compose B'more-Hepbum Music RKO has arranged for Leopold Stokowskl, conductor of the Phila- delphia Symphony, to write musical material for 'Break of Hearts,' in which RKO will team John Barry- more and Katherine Hepburn. Stokowski will go west early in October, when picture is slated to go into work. Riesenfeld's Brit. Call Hugb Riesenfeld has been called to London by Gaumont British to. •wrrite a musical score for 'The Wandering Jew,* being made there i>y Hagen-rTwickenham for Gau- mont release. icture will star Conrad Veldt. First time a musical director has been recruited across the coean for any pieture. Rogers^Baxter Co-Star Hollywood, Sept.. 25. Warner jBaxter 'will go into 'Da- vid Harum* at- Pox Tjn'-a- co^-istar basis ith Will. Rogers. First 1:.- stance in which Rogers will have another actbr equally billed. Looks, Not Talent, StOI Get Tests Sfuc]io> Execs Soon Chill Upon Sedng Newcbnier Gals Emoting Hollywood,. Sept 25. It's practically a pushover tb get a screen test for a girl yvho has looks, but for an actress who doesn't ippear so hot in. person or In a still picture, it remains as tough as ever. Agents, after the istudios to test newcomer femmes, find that expc^ will always fall for a pretty face. =Bven-=thougIv-;agents--aTiinltTtKe^^^ has ho experience, usual reply is 'never mind, we'll have a look at her anyway,' Dbzens of such tests are made,, whe^ gal has little prospect other than beauty, but after e.\ccs have one look at her in the projection room, their ardor cools, Recently a 10-percenter was pestered by friends to get a test for a society femme Visiting frbm Chicago. He showed phbtpgr.aphs. of her to- execs at a certain studio, and they went Into raves. Skin Deifrp Talent coach spent a day with the girl shpviring her how to read lines, and then studio took another day filming her^ In the cqpX air_ of the ppojeclion room, the girl's screen antics made execs wonder why 'they ever wasted time on lier. . When the*agent has a prospect with plenty of talent,-but lacking in looks in .her street appearance, he has to talk himself out of wind to get attention. Even then he won't be given the time allotted on test of a good looking newcomer with a maybe. 1 win expression. Hollywobd, Sept; 25. Looks now as. If all studios will fClTpw the Warner Brothers' le^de ind bain thie .loaning of contract players, to one. .another. Indications are that the practice wijl be dropped generally^ even though the NRA code does nbt con- tain, a cltluse banning It. Academy aqtbirs, of course, aire demanding it, however.".. Claimed to have .been forced into the bbrrowlr and loianing (System because of. a scarcity of name sup- ports, no bne now has a good word for the scheme. BoitoWers claim that those on other company's contract lists dct hl-hat, refuse .to co-operate..jin ex- ploitation scheihes and tie-iiijs and are generally , hard' to handle be- cause they owe hp allegiance to the ^ particular cbmpahy. for -vyhlch they are then working. Step-Child Treatment Correspbndihgiy the lenders pout because they say their contractees are treated like £!tep-c lildren on other l.pts ahd suffer in prestige and popularity beciause the borrowing company does not co-operate with the- plaverg in gettihg them pub-, .liclty breaks. ' System has beeh in vogue for long time, ' even though every one pans the scheme. Player pawns shifted, froni one lot to another don't like it because they say if they -Weren^t. Ibaned^t-hey might-go-^fish-— i Freelance actors say it's the buhk, . because it keeps them out bf jobs: that they otherwise niight get. Prpducers don't like it because they s&y that they are. helping to popu- larize a- rival's possession. Jess Striith Passes Up ; Craven's 'Gratitude^ Hollywood; Sept. 25. Option that he held on the screen, rights to Frank Craven's 'That's. Gra;titude' was not taken, up by Jess Smith, who .was going to. produce it in- New York for Universal ror lease. William Morris office has. the. script on the market agiai Gloria's Bernhardt Hollywood, Sept. 25. Gloria Swanson will make 'Divine Salrah' for Ji J; Schnltzer land Sani» uel.Zierler of Screen Artists. Based on the life of Sarah Bern- hardt. No* release set. Director^ Boss Disagree^>i Hollywood, Septr-^. Disagreements with Carl Laenimle Jr. has taken Robprt. Wyler off megaphone on. 'By Candlelight.' James Whale is. replacing him. Picture had been in work ten day.s. BEBEEIET TEiSTING Busby Berkeley, Wrarner ilancp staiger, arrived in New .York iSuh- day (24). by plane from the Coast :—BerkBley-win test 2?"^frs al'tHe'' Vita, Brooklyn} istudlb. SAILINGS Sept, 30 (New York to Paris) kr. and Mrs.. Barney Glazer (Conte di Savoia>.!. Sept. 29 (New York to London), Johnny Green (Majestic). Sept. 28 (London to New York), Marie Paull' (Mrs. , Al .Samuels) CManhattan). >; . Sept, 27 (Loiidon to New York), Harris Twins and Loretta (Lafay- ette). ■ Sept, 23 (New York to Paris) Maurice Chevalier, Carl Laemmle, Sr.,. Jifay Ruppa, I'rank Joyce,. Erik Charrel, Charles Laiighton, W. R. Wilkersbn, William .Dewart (He d'e France). Sept. 23 (N^w York to London), Oscar Hammersteiri arid family ((Sebrgic),. Sept, 23 (New York to Lbpdon), ■Mr.,a nd:.Mrs._P.et er-JbIigginfl,--:Frf>.nk- Dixon (Majestic), Sept. 20 (New York to Paris) Charles Bickford,. Bob Kane, Louis Hasselmans, Don Alvarado. (Champ- plain). Sept. 20 (London to 'ork), Francis Dean (Olymiiic). Sept. 20 (London to Now York), B, P. Rohulberg, Sylvia S.sclnoy, Mai-lcno T)jct.iMoli. f; (ir,i;<^ I'aliher Putn.ain, ^^mil' udwig (Pm-iH;,