Variety (May 1934)

4 VARIETY r I C T II R E S TaeBda^f Mmj 29, 1934 See 3d ReMi;. as Rcvr. Fues ; ShoaU Be OlCd by FaO Irving Trust's third repdrt, ■wrhlch 8l>ows that. RKO's financial. has cohslderabiy Im from an operating stand looks to indicate early reor- ganization b£ that outfit.. ^Jtgorgani zatlon' plans will likely get under way. thii3 summer for completion in the fall. RKO's' recelv6rship is about 16 months ol i preisently, and with this anniversary Col.. William Donovan's law Arm, counsel, for the receiyera as well as. the Irving Trust, is ready to, partake of partial fees for its. jservicies amounting aggrefealely to $225,000. Bank gets around $100,000 of this figure when okayed by the court. Total claims filed against the esr. tate were $35,413,733.11, of which amount 17 clalma have been with- drawn. The withdrawn clainis rep- resent $2,031,441,19, This total is out.sldie of $16,239,708.76 represented in funded indebtedness of RKO, presumably the RCA holdings in tl»e company and by order of the court these security holders hav6 been exempted from filing these claimis. The receivers' report does .hot in- dicate the - identity oit' the security holders thus" exeinpted. Summary of Claiins. A revi$ed summary of . the claims as filed by the receivers follow:. Contingent iclaims = based upon, rent guarantees and direct lieia&es, $29,4«3,217.U1.. ■• . ' Contingent claims based Hipoii guaranties of financial obligationB and direct obligations of RKO,-$4,- 525,114,40, Claims founded on alleged breach, of contract, $814,123,46; I Claimi^ for goods and commercial services Tendered', $25,769.78; Claims for other services tendered such as legal, banking, etc;, $106,-. 101.(64. Income tax claims, $259,763.23.! Miscellaneous claims, $119,644. Former Federal Judge Thomas D, Thatcher is special master in cer- tain claimL ■ situations, appointed to consider: testimony among, others to the cl9.im of Rockefeller Center, Inc., which amounts roughly to •$12,000",- 000. So far he has not made any report on his findings- In the matter. Additionally all claims disallowed by the receivers have been referred to Judge Thatcher, gearings al> ready have been held on claims amounting to $11,928,457.27. Aftermath The month of gruelling days . and. nights devoted by picture ^meh last fall to this NRA bat- tlegrouhd Is believed to be ex- acting its toll in" the physical cbnditibn of more than one man who was concerned In the Washington endurance contest. Protracted vacations of ex- ecutives is seen as having been brought on by the hectic and endless conferences while the Eagle waai being born. PREDICTED J. M. Ridge Back To ERPI; Glennon Succeeds at Gen. Hollywood, May 28. J. Mi Ridge has resigned as operr ating" head of the General Service Studios to return to the ERPI or- gaiSizatlon, from which-he came six months ago. T. Keith. Glennon, vice-president and general managfsr, who was, in Charge during Ridge's recent three weeks' absence In New York, will continue to operate the Studio. Ridge's spot .with SRPI in the Ne-w York home office will be in the general sales department. Accom- panied by his wife. Ridge .will spend a vacation motoring back to New York. Recognition of the Paramoujit stock uiider a reoriganlzation of the company out of bankruptcy Is pre-, dieted from Informed Inner circles. Additionally,, the shareholders' pre- tesctive committee, headed, by^ Dun- can A. Holtnes, .aiid Including bankers, believes that there Is no doubt but that the comlhpn stock outstanding'will be favored in spme manner or other. The question with the sharehold- ers committee, voice of which will soon speak fpr a large block of the stock,. Is whether or not the Initial gesture toward recognition of .the common securities ' will be ac- ceptable. To date a total of 1,500,000 shares of .3,300,000 which are outstanding, haa been deposited with the Com- mittee and Its counsel. Cook, Nathan & ' Lehman. This is close to .a majority. Although the stock is scattered and In a lot'of hands, the committee Is hopeful of soon 'rounding' up enough additional shares' to constitute a majority, thus grlving the protective group a powerful voice In reorganization. Within a w-eek :or two the com- mittee proposes to meet for discus- sion of plans and >wbatever. steps are thought advisable In advance of a reorganization draft and posi^ tive knowledge as to what is going to be done about the common stock. Committee does not expect that a tentative draft of reorganization measures can be worked out by Kuhn, Loeb for some time and until all facts and flgnires have been gathered together, a Job that Is now being, undertaken. ; In view of the. Improved condi- tion of Paramount and the likeli- hood of a basis for reorganization that will be more favorable to creditors than in the average bank- ruptcy. It Is now believed certain the stock will not be left out in the cold. The fact. thiBCt' ihaTiy of Para nlount's own employees bought the stock on the installment plan when it was $62 a share, also is expected to figure In Its favor. Some are still paying off to banks on the stock they .bought, Col's 48^ IncL 8 Westenis Columbia is dropping its action features this year in favor of eight westerns, under decision reached by Harry Colin and others prior to the prez's plane departure Thursday (24) for the Coast. Col will make 40 features, plus -the-^westernsr^for-^1934^35.^^—■ - r:^. 4 ALICE FAYE EAST Hollywood, May 28. Getting . a four-week layoff from 'her Fox contract, Alice Faye left" here Saturday <26) for New York, after finishing work In 'She f^earned. About Sailors.' Player is expected to do a guest artist two -xyeeks with Rudy Vallee and band In New York before re- turning lo the Coast. Ed Marin's Initialer Hollywood, May 28. Fii-st for Edwin L.. Marin at Metro under his new directing deal \yill be 'All Good Americans.' Film, based on the Laura and S. J, Perelman story wHi be produced by Lucien Hubbard; BICHABD WALLACE ABROAD Hollywood, May 28. Richard Wallace leaves today for Scotland to film background foot- age for Fox's proposed film 'Marl- ^''nM^l^.^i.^^^.^^^ Director will pick up a camera- man in Eng:Iand to make the neces- sary scenes. BADIO CITY niCEEIl Hollywood, May 28. Wallace Sullivan Is writing the scenario 'for Radio's 'Radio City Revels*^ which will be based on the activities at Radio City. Production will be handled by H. N. Swanson. Col. Rubens Again Com. On Joliet's P.&F. Board Jollet, III.. May 28. Col. L. M. Rubens, president of the Royal Theatre contpany here, has been appointed a member of the police and . lire board ot this City. Col. Rubens had previously fierved oh the commission, from 1923 to 1931. WB's 38G Net f or 6 Months as 3f MOEon loss in '33 Warner Brothers repbrts'a net op- erating profit after all chargefe ot $38,865 for 26 weeks ended February 24, 1934,. This compares with a loss of $3,442,326.96 for the correBpondIng period In 1933. Net profit before amiortizatlon and other charges was $3,639,161. Company has credited $906,016 to its deficit account as representing profit on the redemption of funded indebtedness, adjustment of IncomiB tax reseryes of prior years and profit oh isale' ot capital assets. There -was charged against the deficit ac-' count of $476,818.80,; representing ap- propriation authorized by the board of dhqectors In respect of In-^est- ments and advances to affiliated companies. Company's consolidated balance sheet as of February 24 shows total current assets of $16,661,166. .Flerure Includes cash of $3,463,436. Current liabilities total $12,782,622.87. BRITISH 'COPPERFIELD' PROD. IDEA DROPPED London, May 21. idea of M6M producing 'David Copperfield' In England was quickly dissipated on the arrival of David Selznlck, George Cukor and Howard Estabrook In London. They are re- crultlibg sonie of the cast here, but most of the pliayers will be selected from' HoUYnrood's fingjish colony. Selznick Is having . Innumerable photogtaphis taken of locations which will bei reproduced on the Holly- wood-lot'. Fox-H'wood Lot Cleans Up '34 Sited of 26 Pk Hollywood, May 28. Fox Hollywood atudlo completed its current year's program Friday (26) with the closing of 'She Learned About Sailors.' It's the first studio here to wash .up. the 1938-84 schedule. After a week's lull, lot jstarts on 'Judge Priest,' Will Rogers. picture, for the new program. . This- studio, run by Sol Wurtzel and John Stone apart from the Fox ■ Westwood lot, has made 21 features and. five Span- ish pictures this year. Seventeen features and six to eight Spanishers have been lined up for next year. PEG&T'S FQWPEB Albany, M^^y 28. The Secretary of State has granted a business;, charter to Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Inc.^, to deal In cosmetics. The Incorporators, beside Miss Joyce, are Charles P. Sakin iand Isi-. dore H. Mandel, both of S47 Fifth avenue. New York. Patke Ties Chi Fair on Exclusive . . » Free News Deal; 2-Reel Pli^ Set Happy Holiday If it'o a nice day this Wedneti- day (80) that rumbling nblae will he the Fox conyentloneera.. Company picked the holiday ^ on which to launch its annual Conclave In New York and what with -the horses running: at Belmont, the ball sames, and all those golf courses—rthe Foxites wish you a happy Memorial Pay with thunder showers. PAR^SII-SII SETTUiraTW Appears, likely that present ne.^- gotlatlons between the Paramount trusteed, and the Blectrlcal Research Products, Inc.. (Erpl), for settlement of the latter's claim ot. $1,900,000 against Par will be ironed out on a part-cash basis and that Paramount will get as a concesslptt a sub- stantial reduction in its future ser- vice Charge fees on talker - equip-, nient in the theati;es and at the.istu- dlo. Unofficial IncLUlry would indicate that Par Is inclined to otter ttipi 50% In cash as a settlement flgiire, with Erpl also giving Par a 60% cnt In weekly service charges. That alone would save Far something around $16,000 to $20,000 w;eekly» ac- cording to estimate.. V No deal is .closed, but the whole thing has been more .or jess under persistent consideration by parties Involved for several months. In connection with this Erpl claim, Austin. C.. Keough, general counsel for Par, spent several weeks on the Coast,'While oither I^ar. execs concentrated at home .on other phases of the Erpl tie-In with Para- mount. Settlement of the Erpl claim would vitiate Eirpl's position on one of the creditor committees but would have no effect oh the trustees' position, although C. E. Richardson, one of the three trustees, is generally'coh- jiidered to have been spoiurored for his post through BJrpi; Mono Names Sdilom as Mgr. to Aid Robt. Welsh Hollywood, May 28.. . Monogram has engaged Herman Schlom as production manager and assistant to Robert E. Welsh. Lat- ter steps into the pOst of executive producer for the company Thurs- day (1) with the departure of Lou Ostrow to Universal, where he pro- duces a series- of features. SChlom has been head of the Uhl- -versal leasing, department for sev- eral yeiaius and a T^eteran oh that lot A successor Is slated to be se- lected this week. Alfred Stem, who .has been an assistant director and in various other jobs on the Universal-lot-for several years, has been appointed head of the leasing department. Schlom starts his new Job at Mono- gram today (Monday), Pic Producers Won t Talk to News Services on Off-Color Outbursts Hollywood, May 28. -=-News=aervices^attemptlDg_Jo_jEet interviews from producers on the recent growth of religious cam- paigning against Hollywood on the off-color angle, iare meeting with a general refusal from the film makers to talk. Reporters endeavoring to giet statements, ans-werlhg the numer- ous outbursts of indignation from pulpit and lecture platforms, have been told to take the matter up with Will Hays in New York, as the pflnclal spokesman for the Industry. FBED S. METER IMPSOVES ^ r=^=^=^Hollywood After five and a half Weeks In Cedars of Lebanon hospital, Fred 6. Meyer of Milwaukee, secretary of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America, is convalescing from, a major operation. Stricken during the closing hours of the MPTOA convention here In April,, for several weeks his condi- tion was critical. Hopes to go home in three weeks. Chicago, May 28; RKd-Paihe has made a deal with the World's Fair for an exclusive two-way tie-up. Bold through Jack OS8erma,n, chief of the local RKO excha^e. th^ World's Pair' will use the Pa^e News for ' nightly showing on a islgantic screen hung above the middle lagoon. The dally news flashes will be free. Pleinty of howUne a^mong tiie va^ rlous -hewsreel companies all an- gling for that Fair In but Patlie sold strictly on an exclusive basis. Rival companies have subtly threatened reprisals about cutting down on the Fair plugging in their films. But Paths had one big selling ar- gument. That was the two-reel film on the Fair last year which was played through most of tlie the^itres In the United States and many cities all over the world with proof that It -was a box office wi ner. Claim that the two-reel story of the Fair sent plenty of visitors to Chicago last year. And the reel company Is promising the Fair that they will make and release another two-reel exposition of this year's festival and have it on the screens before August rolls around. Rotj, N. Y,, hyoived in ^uit as a Prelimiqary To Reorganization Continental .Bank as trustee on the first mortgage began pioceed- Ings to prove said mortgages Mon- day (28) against the Roxy theatre, N. Y. Action is routine in fore- closure proceeding alrea'dy pending and preliminary *- the reorganiza- tion, and althoug h'here were ob- jections by the Chase Bank as trustee-undsr the second -mortgage on the property, looks like every- body will get together In the final showdown. The Chase Banlt contention is that the Roxy name, as carried by the theatre, is conditioned , by the second mortgage and not the first mortgage. First mortgage, originally amounting to |4,2gq,000, was essen- tially a cdhstructloh mortgage and made, before the thea<tre began op- erating. Junior and the senior security holders may work on a reorganiza- tion plan together. This looks to be the plan as submitted through downtown bankers, and In which a L. Rothafel (Roxy), Herbert Lu- bin arid Harry Q. Kosch, formerly a recelyer of the theatre, are Involved. The bankers are ready with iiieir $1,80(1,000 cash to supersede the present first mortgage and Roxy to .operate the theatre for the new company. .Question mostly Involved still Is how much salary Roxy will personally draw. Bankers' are hold- ing out for $600 plus a portion of the new stock for Roxy, but latter may get $760. Lubln will also get a salary but that's likely to be coii- dltloned so that It will not come about tintll after the 6% on the $1,300,000 is paid, plus Interest on the second. mortgage. This, second mortgage will likely be the present second mortgage iihd for which bCndhoIders will receive new bonds at = par value. The new stock will likely go to the junior security holders plus thia new first mortgage holders. Lubih as promoter of the deal will prob- ably get a slice of new stock i payment So far no deal has been signed. In the meantime, Recelveir Howard S. Cullman has filed a report show- ing: that the theatre earned a net of $52,518.79 before fixed charges .for the past 25 weeks iis compared to an operating loss of $56,325.70 for the corresponding period the year before. Pullman's .term aa^ receiver , ex-* plres';jijin¥ iS^ KiiiVtliis terihTm^^^ extended because the reorganization plan, even after approved, may take some months to work- out. Cull^ man became receiver' after Harry O. Kosch resigned. IT WANTS LAUaHTON Hollywood, May 28. Universal Is negotiating with Charles Laughtoa for the lead im 'Sutter's (3old.'