Variety (Mar 1934)

Tuesdaj, March 6, 1934 PICTURES VARIETY SELLING SEEMS SURE Radio Board Ratilies Recent Shifts; McDonoi^h-Cooiier as Commuters Although, it was the intention of . R. McDonough to spend at least 'a, full year, on the Coast in his new «dtpacity as president o£ Radio Pic- ,tures, these plans have, undergone . change. Instead, Ben Kahane yriW stick on the Cosist and Mc- Elonough wilt split his time east and. west. ' This came to light with a Radio board meeting iii Kew York last Friday (2). At this gathering tor- mal ratiflcatioh was. givein the re- cent shifts in titular positions of. several Radio execs; The formal acceptance emphasize;^ complete c6ntrol of RKO executive opera- trona asi hc^d by M. H. AylesWorth- Ij'atter, as chairman of the Radio board, presided: at the meeting. The plan whereby Kahane mains in charge of Coast -opera- tions and McDonough splits his time betAveen both ends marks a reversal Of the company's plan which was considered more than a year ago. This was for Kahane to divide his time between Hollywood arid New York. McDoriiOugh will likely spend one month on the Coast for every two months or so in the east. .as a normal routine. cDonough Lingers East Mct>onough probably will not start west before a couple of weeks. He is to linger .for further consulta- tion with company heads in New York besides the iseries of board meetings due this week for the various RKO companies. "the RKO picture board, at the Friday: meeting, also confirmed the election of Ned .Depinet as presi^ (Continued on page 12)1 If Bondholders OK Deal Skouras Out of St. Louis By Compiafison Film, overseers axe purring Over the publicity g;iyen the Federal Trade Commission's report on top salaries and bonuseis of big business. The unveiling of incomes of key men in some 200 industries should create an impression , that film industry stipends aren't so paralyzing" when compared to steel, oil, etc.. At least, that's the way flicker offlcialis: feel at present. FOX BMUPTCY TRUSTEES DUE INN.Y. Nest Two Months jShould See Zoning and Clearance Set Up--Start Ball Roll- ing in May 50 FEWER FEATURES St. Louis, March 6. Deal has been made whereby the Ambassador, Missouri and Grand Central, theatres, operated by the Skouras Brothers, go to Allan L. Snyder, local business man. Means that the' Skouras Brothers will be' out of St. liouis theatre op- eration upon approval of the Sny- der arrangements by the court and bondholders.. Court approval is necessary because the houses are in receivership. Bondholders must also first okay the-matter, but no trouble ahtlcipated as the bondr holders' committee has signed the Snyder cjeal. ^The one open point looks - to be wbelHer Harry iECoplar or 'FaribHbn & Marco are included in the Snyr der arrangement. It is known thiat Kpplar made a bid for the three hoi^ses (fh his own behalf. Koplar ho)ds a . 20% operating interest, in Skouras theatre artairs locally, be- sides also being associated ith Panchon &; Marco here. Believed nqt iinllkely thiat all parties will ultimately line up in the final pic-, tare as associates. Plan goes .to. the bondholders Tuesday .(6). Skouras Bros, are the guarantors of the bonds on the three properti , including the ofr flee buildings, amountim? to $6,- 800,000. Los Angelas, March S. Charles P. Skouras and William H. Afoore, Jr., two of the three Fox- West Coast trustees in bankruptcy, are diie to arrive in New York to- day (Mon.) for conferences with Chase Bank and Pox Film execs that are expected to pave the way for ain..early discharge of the estate from bankruptcy. Trustees , will seek to induce the eastern majority creditors- of the coast circuit to approve the few remaining claims against the bank ruptcy, which aloiie stand In the vraLy of an early- reorganization of the defunct circuits Attorney William T. Powers of the P-WC legal staff, who has been specializing on realty arid leases, and Edward Zabel, circuit statl- ticiari, accompanied Skouras and Mooiv east, as did also P. R. Kent, F-WC v.p. in chalrge of real estate, who tendered his resIgnation-'lO days ago, but which to date has not beeii accepted by the operating trjustees. Due to the differences of opinion as to policies between Skouras Bros, and Kent, It Is ex- pected that all angles of the mixup will be discussed with Sidney R. Kent and other Fox Film .execs In New York. Well informed circles here profess to believe that the Fox-West Coast properties, when put up for sale, will be hid in by the Chase Bank interests, probably^fpr around $13,- 000,000, the valuation tentatively set by the recently appointed board of appraiseris, named by- Samuel W. McNabb, referee in bankruptcy. Chase bank, with Fox Films and Wesco as the majority creds, are seen as the logical buyers of the bankrupt estate, with those inter- ests "then delermiriihgtufure~6p tiori policies of . the several hundred houses inyolved. Skouras party expects to be away 10 days or two weeks. Another late selling, season is now definitely indicated in major circles for i934-'35 jproduct the week-end it was. ofRcially figuried companies as a whole have yet to deliver final 20% of the product isoid for 'SS-'iJ^ before they can enter the'new season. While no dates for sale^ conven- tions haVe been ofhcially announced it is heard that most .of the com- panies) including some of the lead- ing Independents, are setting their ppw-Wows with salesmen for late spring, probably in May and the first of June. A late selling season. It Is de- clared, will also give the NRA a break since within the next two months the grieater part of the country should be zoned according to the code. For a time ■ it looked that just the opposite policy would prevail, at least for several of the majors. Indie producers were worried whe^ scouts reported to New York that some contacting for the new season is now taking place with the larger (Continued on page 69) HOTCHA SCENES OK, HAYS NIX OVERRULED SIpch Quits M-G ert Bloch has resigned as east- St pry^dlto^ tb' go into legit produS^ibni, but will" flrit write an original for Anna Sten. /ISIoch showed Sam Goldwyn an oiitline, and now has to amplify. He'll do in .New York. <INo one yet nanried to replace Bloch .It Metro. Julie Ilearn, his assiatanl, Is currently in charge. PAR MOGULS MULL PIX IN LA QUINTA SIESTA Hollywood, March 5. .Paramount producers and execu- tives hied themselves to La Quinta Friday (2) for a conference to line up atbries and material for pictures to be made fOr the 1934-35 season. Cmanuel Cohen, production head, presided at the confabs. Later he will take the preliminary layout to N. Y. tor conferences with sales execs of the company^ Hollywood, March, 6. Although the Hays office refused to pass Fox's musical, 'Bottoms Up,' on account of certa.In scenes; the picture win be released as is, fol lowing an Impartial jury of pro- ducers viewing, the picture and re^ versing the Hays Verdict. Jury in- cluded Emanuel Cohen and Jack Warner. They were called In to sit on judgment when Fox execs pro- tested, the local Hays order to elim- inate some sections. ■ Trio decided that while a couple of song and dance numbers w^re a little warm that the picture as a whole was clean and should not be changed. Report RCA Resistance to Any Fox-RKO Weld; Kent Presumed Key as Talk Becomes Negative De Sylva and Par? Hollywood, March Buddy DeSyiva was. at La. Quinta over the weekend and likely that he talked a prbposltibn of making a couple of musicals for Paramount for its 1934-35 program With Entanuel Cohen while there. DpSylVa's contract with Fox was completed with the .rijaklng of 'Bot- toms Up/ AMPA TO HGHT STAR CRITIC SYSTEM Agitation against *the star or any other form of rating pictures,- which has flared up from time to time without resultant relief sought from publishers, is on the fire again via the Association of Motion Picture Advertisers which is. going to bat on the matter. Ben Atwell, of Columbia, is chair- man of a committee to - investigate the star rating thing fronq. all a:hgles. Committee will make a poll of theatres and, if possible,, readers as a means of proving to publishers that the star or similar means of grading pictures should be elimin- ated. New move through the AMPA is Irispired by Columbia, with Lou Goldberg of that company's adver- tising department proposing it. Complaint of Col is that the N. Y. Daily News gave its 'Shadows of Sing Sing' three stars, whereas the company cannot get dates on this one, while only 2% stars were ac- corded its best seller of last year, 'Lady for a I>ay,' and its current release, 'It Happened One Night.' In agitating against star or other forms , of rating film, the AMiPA committee will attempt to prove that this sort of grading kills reader Interes.ti Contention in adva,nce of a poll is that where'a picture gets only one or two stars, or. Is rated as fair or poor, the reviews them- selves are not read. Sta,r system of the Chi Tribune was finally knocked out after a sur- vey of theatres and readers Im- pressed publishers that this loss of reader interest was true. Balaban & Katz was instrumental in the fight against stars on that front. both coasts regarding ity of the Fox-RKO merger, most of it negative. Main resistance to such has been indicated as coming frorii RCA quarters. The RCA invest- menf in RKO. on the books, runs to around $16,060,000. This thay be 50% or. 60% above the market value of RCA's current interest In RKO* SLTi^ many figure thiat RCA wouldn't let this • investment pass out of reach at a loss if It could be pre- ve.nted. At the same, time, and also on the RCA angle, comes the question as to who would dominate the opera- tion of such a combo. RCA domi- nates RKO and It has been said that'it would not be inclined to sur- render .Its Influence- over Its.;'plc- ture and theatre subsidiary, it is generally supposed , that R. Kent will be the last word on such a merger. That's through and with, the Chase, Bank besides his position as president of Fox. Re- organizatiori 6f Fox was effected with Chase's aid under Kent'el guidance. Kent- has not given any official oplnibri in the riiatter and it is believed unlikely that Chase would proceed towards this meld if Kent disapproved'the move des-- plte that Chase controls the Fox stock. Reports! are that Kent re* mains cool to .the idea. Has Been Discuii«ecl« That Rockefeller reps have dis- cussed a Fox-RKO merger Is known. Also thai the subject has been broached at Chase a,nd with RCA. Officials of both companies (Continued on page 12) SELZNICE'S CRAWFORD Hollywood, March Metro .will star Joan Crawford in 'Sacred and Profane Love.' Film will be based on the play of thait title, an adaptation from Arnold Bennett's novel 'Back of Carlotta.' David O. Selznick will produce. Russian Princess Wins $125,000 In London on Metro Libel Action , March 5. Metro lost the decision in the libel suit filed here against the company by Princess Irina on 'Ras- putin arid the Empress.' Princess was awarded 25,000 pounds, or a bit over $125,000. It's understood to be about the top. libel award ever handed, out here. Film company will undoubt- edly appeal. Princess Irina is the daughter of Grand Duke Alexander ahd the wife of Pfinc6^YSUlS5pbflf, mittedly, among others, killed Ras- putin. She sued because she claims the film in one sequence libeled her. In New York it is believed Metro will pep up exploitation on the film over here to take advantage of the publicity. RKO's Quintet Hollywood, March 5. RKO takes a production spurt within the next two weeks, with five new pix set in production by Mirch 19. Quintet .ire 'Alien Corn,' Edward H. .Grimth directing: and Kenneth MacGowan producing; 'Down to Their Last Yacht,' Paul Sloaiie meggiiiff, Lou Brock producing: -Green =Mansions;^'Pandro--;Berman producing and Ernest Schoedsack directing; 'Cockeyed Cavaliers' for Wheeler and • Woolsey, with Mark SandrJch at the meg and Lou Brock supervising; and 'Groat American Harem,' aLso uTider Brpok'n produc- tion wing, with William f^f'itcr di- recting. .-- — Par Studio May Go All-Unit; 5 Or 6 Producers Hollywood, March # B. With Paramount giving William E, LeBaron a new contract for next year. Indications are that this stu- dio will go on unit production ba- sis, with five or six producers handling entire output. LeBaron's contract calls, for 1® pictures on the 1934-'3B program. He will have a complete production setup Including supervisors, direc- tors and writers along with several stars, including Mae West. He Is being, financed by Paramount, the- same as B. P. Schulberg, and will be given his own building in which to house his staff. Understood that. In addition to a flat Slim for each picture, reported to be around $15,000, LeBaron will draw 16% of the net proflts on his films. Deals with other producers and on a similar basis, were reported , being discussed over the weekend by Emanuel Cohen and his produc- tion cabinet at their session in La Quinta. Regarded as probable that this same deal will be made with Al Lewis and that Schulberg will ob- tain a renewal of his contract., Levy's Western Confab Jules Lev.-; IKQ ..sales chief, left Saturday (3) for a brief filzlng-up visit to the Coast. While in L. A.,, Levy will hold a worlds of .sales i:if!i tw, at which dls- tribut'ir (ifli' lalM from all exchanges wc-si <>i' D'-nver will be present.