Variety (Oct 1933)

so VARIETY EDIT Tuesday, October 31^ 1935 ' *rrade. Mark: Registered POUNDED BT SIME SILVHRMAN TdbUshed' Weeldjr hr TABIETX, Inc. Id silverm(xn. PreBldeht IH Weet 46th Street - Now Tork'City SUBSCRIPTION Annual. < •.. .V. t)6 Foreign..... <. .1^ ingle Copies................ . .^15 gcnta Vol. 112 ..No, 8 HRA. Wt D6 OUR PART 15 YEARS AGO rom VKHteiY Sihd Clipper) ' Chicago Iks lodging and feeding, brothers who were hung up by^^hbuses. iilosect on account of the flu .ep.ideniic. Jessie- Bonstelle -.sUOGeeded John CtorniyeU as stagei" for W. A, rady. .Cromwell had • gone' into the army. .Gertrude Hoffman was doing a single, bhiy one on the stage, but she trouped 2& people, including 11 irtusioiahs,. stagehands, etc. Got $2,260, Inside Stuff^Pictures Secrecy in previewing Matx Brothers' «Dufck Soup' ,l(xaa been carried to the limit by the quartet in making sure no one fromi thfe studios would get a load of their pic. Thrice previewed,,the film has'been .Ioadedi In a car and taken to a designated spot. Tho^e interested bave been picked up at various locations in Hollywbpd, Ca,rs would proceed to where the film-car was. waiting, and from thit point aU would : go. to th^ theatr^ with only Groucho knowing in which house the ipic would be displayed. Only Hollywood preview "mis at the Westwood, where the- previewers walked In with a pic unannounced and askedi to have it rUij. Other, showings, were at Compton and Sah Diego. Although Nbrinan krasna was borrowed from Metro by Paramount for a week,, he did not add anything to 'Duck Soup, for which he was brought over. Following several previews, studio «xecs thought picture needed more material but never got around to telling Krasna what they wanted. Picture has since been trimmed by 46. mlns. iand situations switched aU around. Kalmar and Ruby who did the story, also worked on the re-editing. Inside Stuff^Lf^t Clare Kummer has been writing plays for 21 years, but for the past seven years Broadway hais. heatd, little fibout her,. Miss Kummer's.'Her Master's Voice' which opened at the Plymoijth, N. Y., last week, how- ever, br-ought her back in the style of -'Good Gracious Annabelle'. That :comedy was produced In ISllSi Previously th<e. authoress had collaborated with Sydney Rosenfelt In 'The Opera Ball', 1912, While her iirst writing star^ was a.3 a composer, 'Dearie', . puW in 1917 she wrote 'A Successful Calamity* In Which her uncle, William Gillette, starred. Next season there was 'Resduliig Angel', which flbRi)ed, and in 1918 there was 'Be Calmi Cameila*.: 'Rollo's Wild pat' came in 1920. Following season was- Miss p:.ummer!s most prolific, she,having seven plays produced Including 'The.Iiight .of. Ducksbxiry*. and ^The. Mountain Man'.. In. 1923 there, was a-musical version of •Anabelle', an , adaptation of 'Madanae Pompadour*, isi24, and 'pomerby'^ Past*, 192(5. . Since then Miss Kummer*s activities have principally, been writing for plctureis, iFox getting most Of the. product. Arthur Hppitlns produced several of her plays and.'Voice' ls nbw showing in his Plynibulh. Great deal of feeling: has sprung up between the ..Metro-Goldwyn-office A majority of .stock companies arp^nd the country, this fall have,hot and Balabain & Katz in . Chicago over the de-luxe run of 'Dinner a.t Eight' foiind.'th'e autiimn going altbgfettier,tp their likingi but .a few have sriug- which opened at the legit Apollo at $.i,BO at'two-a-day. It is known gled into theatres and feel reasonably comfortable and warm.. Among that B&K pf£ei:ed Metro the United Artists, .McVickers, .or Oriental on this minority few are. apparently .any better off than. Roland Edwards* almost.any basis for this picture. . But Metro a^-ddy showingi I New Jersey seems a hapjpy'bunting grounds fPr Edw^ He's tried . Recalled that B. & K. quite a few years agp rah. institutional copy the-state preyipusiy,. to more or 'iess. .success, and in Montclalr receipts in all dailies here against $2 plctureis, teliing the people; that.Jf they are reported'to bav6 been;particularly" satisfactory. Company has now would wait they could see them at tiie B.. & K. houses at populair prices, been- holding, forth about a nionth With, ■v^eekly, gtossesi ranging; arpiind. .Qilite noticeable .the way the. newspapers slighted the 'Dinner at $6,600 and $7;00.tt. 'Using the gueSt star fori^^ Eight' picture o.utslde of the Hearst dailies.. wards breaks near the $3,000 mark, which Is why he will .agree that: maybe New Jersey has somethli^g- besides gppd roads. Opening up. pf dark theatres; .putting .on .free ;>icture. shQWSt.. cutting out all of the speeches dnd. jiust letting606-ft> trailer, do the actual campaigning may usher in a brand new-method'of electioneering. :It's Mbss ;^Hart whose 'Ohcis- In a Lifetime' brought him into t^^ way ^cenp as a cPllaboratbr v^ith George S^ Kaufnian, started in show Charlie Pettljohn's idea. He's, trying it out. in Harrison, N. X*. «U during busfriess as an office boy for Augustus^ Pitou. Latter produced Hart's the current week and Jack Allcoate is the victim- flrstt)lay in Chicago. It was called ♦The-Hpld-Up*, a flop. The 'Film Daily' publisher wants to be one of the viUage's aldermen. The playwright wrote the book -fPt .' ' .the. Mu^IC, Irving Berlin Hers put his case in Pettljohn's hands in a .locality where the Riepubircan <loing the score but It topk /As Thousands Cheer*, the current Music majority runs over 700 votes. Plus the free features, which are being ^'>^> N, T., success, to establish Hart as a satirist oh his own. Revvie donated by major Cpmpanles, Alicoate has been .assured by . bis manager A> Paul Keith succumbed to the influenza. No immediate family and his estate Went largely to E. F. Albee .and the Catholic church. ■ Some beftuests. to; Keith managers. there'll be plenty of personal appearances by Whoever, happens to be in ] from the. coast during the campalgnl Barnum & Bailey closed In Hous- ton and entrained ilor winter quar- ters. In many towns they were not ■ permitted to leave the cars at stops because of the flu scar6. Sta;ge crew of. 'Come Out of the Kitchen' becam^ alarmed at the epidemic precautions and quit - the show to return to New Tprk* It was^pnly 12 hours later when the troupe was ordered back, Mean wiiile grips , had quit, sp'they paid their own. fares from New. .Orleans, Silent verslphybf 'Little Wpmfln* was given its N. .t. premiere at the Strand. Not the hoped'•for clean-ui). Paran>ourit was . trying oiit the scheme, of placing. ' a. . writer . .with each ■ productipn unit.' Wrote the cbntlnulty. and then- struck by the director Until it wa^ .in the can, Benniie Zledman had tKp flu and ■*®oug-Fairbank:S»ea;ve-a~blood.-tran8-- fusion. In Chicago, Film players were turning to stock engagements because engage ments were slack on the coast Mostly second stringers and below, Musicians agreed 'to give three free . rehearsals before a show opened instead Pf twP, as previous ly. But If show didn't last fpur .(Continued on page 57) SOJ^A^AGOv Denman Thompson, was starring again in 'Joshua Whltcbmb,'. the predecessor of 'Old Homestead.' Anna Dickinson's .manager left her ; stranded in Detroit while he went east with the csi^h, She played masculine, characters and not very well,, but . her ^Hamlet' was good clean ftin,: too Berlin tunes. Par does not intend throwing Publix-Great States into a-partnership but may include it. for a .management, deal, either by itself or in con- iinctlon-with a proposed operating arrangement for B. & K. with Barney Balaban and associates. In that event J. J. Rubens would .be expected to figure. Though Great States is tied into the B&K circuit and 13 owned 100% by B&K, Rubens has been and continues as its opei-ator. Rubens was in New Tork last week but while, reported he would discuss po3sible partnership or man- agehient Pver Great States, on this trip, it was merely for .film deals. Prpductlon pf the Enjerllsh meller, 'Eight ', at the Hud'spn, New York, is backed in total by CPlumbia Pictures. Haory Cohn made the deal in. London last summer. A. C; Bliimentiial makes the presentatioii, first one Using bis aWn name. Arrangement^has Columbia'In on 50% of the shbw's pirpfitis and 76% Qf.>the picture profits. 'Bells' ^is Putside -the provisions of the Dramatists' Guild because it was British-.written without American adaptation. Usual procedure stip« ulates open bidding for picture rights tP-plays/. James Dale, in 'The Green Bay Tree', almost stojpiped the show's'open* ing. British actor was dissatisfied with his part after studying a cbuple weeks arid supposedly -Couldn't get' alpng with Jed Harris, the producer,- He suddenly decided to quit ■while the play was' in rehearsal, bought Bihnie (JBilUe) Barnes, who plays Kathryn Howard In 'Henry VHI'. I himself , a tlcicet to Europe'and .one week befpre the opening started to is due over here on a film-contract. It will be T^laa Barnes* second, coast | sail..- Harris practically dragged hlin off the boat, with everything fixed jaunt. became lost In the shuffle. Her perfprmahce, and the photography, in I •Henry'is responsible for the suddenly revived interest. Cast Pf 'Double Door' at .-the Rltz, N. T., is on percentage with the- ■the 'Billie' is understood a thrbwback to Miss Barnes' vaudeville days players reported receiving two and three times .their regular salaries. In England, she having appi.eared over there with Tex McLeod. became effective when she went legit. Binnie German film trade papers jumped, heartily on that code thing for films: They haye beeH following developments carefully and when announced that General Johnson, or Rbsenblatt, or spmebpdy, was against payment of high salaries to stars, it became the big headline x>f the week In Berlin Papers gave Pres. Rooseyelt eredTt for the.'idea, pointing out that even America Is getting tired of paying salaries that are too' high to' film stars, The sharing arrangement permits-a.-low pperating- nUt,' but the show has. average'd five fijgurbl grosses sihoe op.ehlng.. Potter. & Haight, new prpducihg duo,' have 'Dp6r'% George Haight of the firm- will -bet it sticks Into warm weather. Sam Harris.-says he'll never again have-a Broadway mob on hand for one of his openings, as a result of the! newspaper treatment handed but to 'Let 'Em Eat Cake.' According to Harris, the audience was mostly Broadwayltfes and had come intp the theatre with ready-made hatchetsf. thereby followiiig^Germahyfs e^^ says, first nights fpr his shows will go to critics plus of stars were lowered. paying iaudl^hce; the receipts going to charity. Night' is liable to precipitate another controversy over the title. Latter was first used in a vaude sketch done by Conroy and Le Maire and was written by Conroy and Harry Hayward. In 1910 sketch and title were sold tp Walter Perclval, who played it thrpughout'the country and in. England until 1915. Perclval holds he has rights to the title through copyright and registration In Washington. Katharine Hepburn' is how rated topnotch for fan magazine' covers Fan mags long, ago discovered that certain femitne stars were news stand aids to sales. Greta Garbo in particular was long considered aces for the. front. Only.. difficulty is that the inag^ want to have the atten- tion-grabbing star exclusively for the week or month of . publication. Charles Hopkins ha s lost possession of. the 300-seater on 49th street, JN, X., Dearing his name: ir^Si"temOTly° TOlle d- th e P unch^-and'-Judyr- Hopkins was once reputed to' be a millionaire. Failure to pay $12,000 In taxes put it on the auction block. publicity being sent. Put by the: Paramount studio press department about them So they tiow have the 'highers up' permission - to scissor all blurb copy. Sanie goes, for stills. MGM will launch a campaign to have .the name of Culver City changed to Metro-City, figuring on publicity even .if the stunt does a floppo. Both the MGM and Roach studios are-In Culyer City, .With Hal Roach Male stars seldom are given the color front by the fans' sheets. Oddly I advancing the. idea.that the hame change might be put over,- sP.that the enough, although the bulk pf their circulation Is among yoimg -women | town wlil then designate Itself, as the honie'of MGM. pictures, and girls, male pictures have been found n.s.g. by the bl'urb'journals. _ Though, all major studios are hot on. stories pt. the, late OO's and. bio- Curreht vogue in fllm:stories is for iad'y spjf plots^^^^^ Ctirrehtly *53^dam^ yarns written around fanious figures, pplltical and otherwise. Spy' is in work at Universal. Constance Bennett's last for Radio was thfey are all shying,from Tammany yarns despite their color and adapta '■VVitlwut Glory'and Marlon Davles'next will be'Operator espionage tale. . Fox. is • releasing a British picture, '1 Was a Spy', in December. Upholding the male fortiflcatlbn plan-^stealers is Leslie Howard, -who will do 'British Agent' for Warners. Se-ven. circuses still but: the last week in Oct. Mostly In the sbutlW 'Cliiiper' changed its layout, with correspondence segregated by states^ Also added a. route list; the iirst. Metropolitan operia. house vi^as opened Oct. 22. Opening bill was 'Fdust,' with Nilsson; Campaninl, Scalchi, Del Puente and Novara. ^Sorne-,=iiltiijigm.-MJhe^^ being too subdued. No flash, d.ol. Mapleson was at the Academy of Music and had enjoined several artists and William Parry, stage manager, from joining the Met. Tony. Pastor was back fpr his New York season. May and Flo Irwin wore still there; but Lillian Russell was now a coniic opera star. He booked specialties by the week, (Continued on page 67) 'Preferred List', Radio's shbrt,. baSed bh Ferdinand Pecora's finance inyestigatioii,. has been taken oft tlie RKO -releslse list. Eitecs ,say that the-reason is that 'due to the unsettled condition of the Cpuntry the I •cpmpany .does not want , to embarrass anyone at this tlm'e.' Pecora is running tor district attorney of N. T. oh the McKee ticket, and RKO has ducked pic to aybld. political entanglements. Metro changed 'Bombshell' to 'Blonde.BPimbsheir, when it .was learned women, were passing lip the plC believing it,a war yarn- N. T. oxcc^ ordered; . " Loe-w's'State in L. A. made the change opening . '' •■• ..'• — ~ —^ Payoff on that Winchell-Jolson sockfest sometime ago. was that Wi ohell visited a dentist the day after the scrap to have his brrdgewpr tightened. Mpiar mender .had been Jolson's dentist for several and thanked Al for sending, him a customer. Greatest variance in grosses.foi: an opening day that the Paramount, San Francisco, has experienced, ■vi'-as in the.past two weeks. First stanza, 'The Way to Love', Chevalier picture, did $1,100 on its opening day. Next -w-eek Mae West In 'I'm No Angel', ith the house open 20 hours, did $8,3«0. .That; M. H. Aylesworth is the only ifllm- icompahy president whp isii't drawing a salary somehow get oh the recoi'd during the-high picture salary scare in Washington. Ayleswortji's ebmpensation .con.es frpm NBC. He was drafted for the RKO job; Ace Berry, ex-RKO div. manager, and npw operating theati'es in Ramon Novarro is going into the stage end of the biz in England next I Indianapolis for Paramount,, understood to have been offered the may- summer. It's going to be all Novarro. Besides writing the play he also | oralty nornlnation by both the Democratic .and Republican pai-tles. will direct star, produce and finance it. Another Story.' Proposed play is called 'It's A showman who once iield the mayoralty post in Indianapolis'is Irv- ing Shank. Delayed production on Universal's 'Counsellor ttt Law* set the studio back $20,000 on Its deal with John Barrymore. Actor weht into the pic- ture for two weeks at $50,000, plus $6,000 a day over the original peribd. Services of the actor were required for eight and two-thirds extra days. E. M.. Glucksman'a (Mentone) short, 'Little Broadcast', becomes 'On the Air and Off' because Paramount also prpduced a radio-name short with the same title, ahd obviously a contrast to Par's feature! production, 'Big Broadcast'. Hays office ruled for Par. win Rogers closed the Hollywood Writers' ClUb dinner tendered in I Mae Murray's divorce from Prince David M'dlvahi in Los Angeles honpr of Emll Lu/dwlg, Jack Warner and Edward G. RPbinson, and waived all claims to alimony and signed a property settlement providing stole it. for'a $5,000 trust fund for their son, Koran, age six. Dinner was third in a line of successful tributes to those whom the writers think have done something worthy of. note: - ' | Consolidated Labs is reported Interested In the old Blograph studio, Bronx, N.- Yi.