Variety (Dec 1934)

Tuesday, December . 18, 1934 Variety t jiyV ■ Hpllywopd; Dec; 17, V f^iAfteSr V^^. Studio Labor ?qard tli^pught In Its decision on 12 comr plaints flled against Mascot pictures tot asserted violations of. minimum (W<ige scales' as set up by the Mo- tion Picture Code, the independent jproducing cortipany, through: Al Le- Vole, signed a compliance agreement to carry out all' provisions of the Code, to pay scale wages for specific .work henceforth an^d to eliminate pnictlce of having workers hired for one olasslflcation of work doublei up >0n something else that rates higher pr lower pay. ; - The Studio Labor Boards after lijearlng the' complaints against liascpt, brdeiced the latter . to make "restitution in severaTcases. . ' Claims Ignoranpp of Rules ^ Argument of -Levole, who acted itor' Nat Levlrte arid the compiany, was. that he did not uhderstancl that tyorkers hired for o ne type of joh dpuid not do work of another clas- ajflcatlon where the scale was dlffer- _ ent; ' ■ - ' In commenting on the compldints |l>eforo tlie Studio .Labor Board, Le- vole stated that only two of ^the 12 had to bp adjusted, and total amount ot flB.67 was paid to the complain-: iiiiXs in those two Instances. The (ilher 10 cOmpiaihtSi, he ~ asserted, ^freVe dropped by the board. v{$klthough .Mascot wt^^ to the .first independent to; be* haled .bi^oro the Studio Labor Board' on alleged wage scale vlpldtlons of code - rates, it is known that numerous of 'the small Indepetideht companies -Will hay:e cpmpIalhts^flIed-a,gainBt^ them by unions and other employe jgroups;';'J-■^• —^i-Cir«ftt^Rpund inii rO p- Evijerie*—^ The craft Organizations are start- ing an aggressive ciampaign to ob- tain, afhdavlts of menibers who were forced to accept, less thaii code scale figures. They are even gathering .:;affldavlta .of members' who are. .ap? proached. by the quickie producers to chisel on existing code rates, and who lose their Jobs when:they re- fuse to talk cutting prices. ' ;Wlth the Studio Labor Board, ap- :parehtly •. ready to take action against cpde wage violators, the unions, and other organizations are ready to: piish their complaints. If there .should be a sllp-up Ih any pro- ceedin gH whftrn fiTift nr iTinro grrtupn POSTPONE ON BRANDT Hearino on Newark Yelp Against ; WB Put Over by C.A. Due to Inability to get a full board together, the hearing of Har- ry Brandt's clalni of excessiVe. pro tection against his Broad- Street theatre, NeWark,. by -W Bros,, called for yesterday. (Monday) was postponed: by the Local Board of the Code Authority until Friday (21); Postponement was made over the Vlgotous protest of - Brandt> ,who charged that failure of 4he major distributor's representative^ In this case-Joe-Lee-of--Fox,-W-attehd-th& hearing was damaging his. Brandt'is, Interests. LOcal Board's secretary said that ah effort was made to get an aiternate bu.t there wasn't- suf ficlent time and the Rostpoheiherit wa s nece ssary, as Under the rules the board could not function with but .the presence of a major dls tribut.orls . representative. \ Brandt's complaint against War ners Is that his Broad St. theatre Is set back by a sp-diay protection ar- rangement between Warner the- atres and dlstrlbs; , : ^ Being Handleill^ ' LOs Angeles, Dec. 17. .. Prosecution of NRA cpde: vlplur tipns involving labor compla.ints, piclure ~and'"6tli^ trlct, will be handled through the California State Labor Bureau, ac- cording to a decision reached -last week between Charles H; Cunning- ham^ code compliance executive, and, Deputy Labor Commissioner Barker and the bureau's attorneys, Charles F. Lowy and Leo Schaumer, As yet no violations Involving pic- ture or theatre cases have been preparea for legal action, aitnough a num.^)er loom in the offlng, to- gether with many asserted viola- tions in ot.h<!r industries now in prepai^ation ior the courts. NRA is " relying on the State agency for its enforcement channel because Califprnia, through legis- lative act, has adopted the Na- tional Recovei-y " Act "as Its State code of fair practice,, . .Code lapses, complained -Of to NRA, will thus .be handled for adr Judication: or trial through the regular routine pMabor cases which is the State LabOr Bureau's special province. Instead of being taken di- rectly to local or Federal courts by the code administration : Instead the Lo<^ Zbning and Cleiurance Boards Will Give li it Ontie-pv^r- Lightly as Each Squawk I^bnish---K. C^^^ GfMieiit's Fliv Wai the ivinber-' NEW ARTICLE VI It's official that there will be no such thing: as a clearance and zon- ing schedule written into the revised film code. The thing Is out deiQiiite- ly and cbmpletelyl Instetad the CbdP Authorit y wil l feel wplcOm e t o consider any zoning and clearance squawk Individually and locally. Prom now on any mention of ischedules. in :spning and clearance gets the absent minded treatment from the C.A. ''TheTsimine;n4Te7d7^^^ that schedules based on price can- not be had legally. So, the master is to be let alone.: It took a year or. more to figure the thing out but anyway It's finally figured. Exhibs and others may have spent time and. .nfioney: .to : dgraonstrate their knowledge of the> scheme of things in the film businps, and travelled long dlstaricies for that purpose to hear themselves talk be- fore the .C.A. in New York, but thkt's air they' accomplished; Eventually the schedule portion of zoning and clearance will proba- bly be thrown out of the code, via an appeal to delete the_co(le. j _ . " So far as can be gleaned the :COde Authority. privy council fljgured on this outcome anyway^ That's how OTme"-the"~aTnendiff6"ftt~to^fire~ebae' not i30 long ago to read as follows: 'A new subsection (c) to be added to Article VI, Part 1, Section 7: , '(c) Locfil Clearances and Zoning Boards, in addition to the pow;ers a,nd . dUtlea-Otherwise, provided r^^^ (Continued on: page 63) Rosy^s New BilUngr , : Washington, Dec. 17. Sol A, Rosenblatt, who . is. doubling as head of the NRA compliance staff and chief of Divlsibh Five, was igiyen a new mOhiker last week by the NRA board.: Instead of being 'Dlr rector of Field Admlhlstratlon,* Rosy nOw giofes under the tag 'Compliance ind Ehforceihent ■^Director.'■ Board explained hew label 'is more, deiscrlptive of ,the duties of'tite position.' Washlnt^ton, Dec. 17. Comproinise over changes in labor clauses .of the motion picture lab- oratory code was reached last week at a! conference of. trade leaders and Government offlclals/ Revised: com- pact Is expected to be approved some tliiie this week. \ Principal concession obtained by labor provides fpr reduction of time for night work. Under agreement negotiated by Deputy Administrator William P. . Earnsworth, 40-hour limits on day work Is continued but a 88-hpur maxiinum is applied to night work with employees getting, paid at the rate of 40 hours for. the shorter period. . Freund-MG Dickering ; . Hollywpiod,. Dec. 17. Metro : is negptlatihg with Karl Freund for a directorial contract; Camieraman-dlrectpr recently left Universal where he 'had - been for Ave years..' Fllmdom wilrrehdeir a picture of legal self-abhegatlpn at the pUblic hekrihg^ of the NRA on the ifllni code which is to be held on 'Wednesday (19) In the small ballroom of' the Wlllard Hotel, Washington, The niiovei Will be unprecedented.; Fllm- dom Mil ten., the Government,, that one of its own conceived code por- tions should be deleted from the code: because the clause IS illegal per se. ■ / ■ . This is Part 6v; bivlsion E, of Ar- ticle v. It pertalins to Interference by parties In negotiatipns for leas- ing, owning or-ojperating property in the. Him business. The cla:use pro- hibits such Interference,; 1 - Fllmdom's wlsemen who at«. tempted-so-zealpusly t07 make--the- fllm code provisions as exclusive as possible. In those early code- pro- paring, days, ^ have . suddenly, and after a year, found themselves trip- ping Over, their own shrewdness. There, are .other clauses..equally .as.- shrewd and as Impossible for the Industry to carry out under the code but these will riot come before the NRA ^t this coming hearing. Among such, rules is one permit- , ting premiums, and to which a" goodly portion of the industry Is opposed,, especially the major chains. . Zoning-Clearance Again ■ More important than any of these ipregolngis the proposal of the code to set up schedules of zoning and . clearance. Such schedules have not been set up but np request has been made td eliminate these prpvlsions from the code, . The code permits 10% canceila- tlon ot prograiiis ■ as purchased on certain grounds. A 20% cancella- tion is asked for ■ publicly by the MPTPA througlr—Ed—-Kuykendalr presldent; To achieve this extra percentage of cancellation, the code itLust be amended; But no amend- ment of this 10%. rule has. been sought so- far and will not come up at the. schedjiled NRA public .hear-. Ing on Wednesday (19). The eldera of the industry and fllmdom's; ehining legalltes whicii includes aniong Its former asso- ciates the' present cOdp compliance director apparently . figured too smartly when; making the code. What they attempted to do Was to apply • the-. Industry's principle of non-raiding of talent, to niatters of real property also. In the matfor nf find a quickie producer is a consist- ent chiseler With his crews and nO results can be obtained, there is a chance that certain of the unions win put up the ban whereby np : iQembers - pf the -organlzatiohs can accept Jobs with the guilty quickie -makers./' The I.T.p.A. will hold a meeting tOmprrow (^Vodhesday) tb consider -a^sol utloh of p r pteat ftgaliiat Llie liOew Circuit's sysiemv bf prbtectlOn now In effect in Greater New York. Jndles-clalm-that-uhder^thisVsystem they do not get pictures lor their houses until the Loew theatres, have played them, which: in some In- stances Is declared to have; iiecn more than, two months after the first run; Indies demand that the protection clauses be - amended so that they :will have an equal chance with the Locw sub.sequent runs. . A stockholders' battle that may have repercussions In court looms up for the extraordinary meeting, of :pathe. Inc., scheduled for March 4, 1936, by order 6t N. T. Supreme Court Juetic« Cotlllo. : A- growing group, of stockholders,' backed by heavy legal artillery, is planning to oppose a phase of the rjBorganlza- tion plan which:the present board of directors Is deslroUs of putting through. This phase is the clause which authorizes the new corpora-^ tion toissue cpllateral secured notes llniited to the aggreierate' principal ampunt of |4,oop,OQO, the security for which is to be the assets of the cor- poration.; ■'-■ ~Opponeijts-to: thV^siaiTclaim this loan prpvlslon' weakens the new fitiancial structure as contemplated and Jeopardizes the interests of gen- eral stockholders! by virtue of the fact that it becomes a prior lien ion the assets of the company. This position. It; is claimed, does not work to the best advantage^of holders of 8 % preferred stock and the Class A preference stock because, Ih the event of liquidation,, their: rights are Impaired through the obligation of covering the collateral note issue first. At present the Class A pret-: orence- stock occUpiies a preferential position oh; liquidation,, 'which amounts to $60 per ^hare in cks'e of involuntary liquidation and $75 per share in case of .voluntary ilqulda- ,tlpn.- ■■;■ \'' What th« opposltioB woati, snd win put up a stiff: fight for. Is to maintain Its priority rights without impairment. . It claims; that if the company needs; refinancing the stockholders, should be given an op- portunity to participate In order to protect their, holdings, and in this respect it points oiit that there Is no : prpvisIon. In: the. reorganlzatipn plan to give them rights to subr scrlbie to the loan Issue. .As; ther plan now; stands, they claim, the 14,000,000 loan Issue can be given to any individual or group of In- dividuals that the board of directors wants tpi this servjng to deprive the stockholders of iheir priority posi tlon in the , event of liquidation, without an opportunity of protect-; thfft^ih'g-tirenrs«ives.~~ ■ - In the piatter of aissets, opposi-: tion avers that Pathe's ownership of 49% of Dupont Film, listed in the company's comparative consolidated balance sheet at .$4,000,000, is actu- ally worth arOuiid $8,000,000, and the question is asked what would happen to it in the .event that the. company defaulted at spnie later date on the collateral secured notes; The bupoht; stock Is the company'is principal asset. The opposing stockholders claim that the company has no right to deprive them of protective rights vested in them by the class of stock they hold, and they are preparing to carry their fight to the highest court in the everit, that the matter cannot be threshed out at the March raeetlns. the property clause, the fllm. law- yers and the trade's savants were treading on the possible rights of third parties. Thus the clause may be unconstitutional. It is more than likely , that there win be no pbjection .t'o the deletion of this clause especially since those who framed it are now themselves appealing that It should be elimi- nated. The clause serves no con- structive purpose as part of the code. ■ ;;\ .. There are ; other amendments which are being sought and which have to do with granting the Code Authority the right to extend for itself the time limit for consldera- tipn - o f^a p pealB-a t.th e conri usloB-og— Activity in the Bureau and almost daily conferences between Cunningham and :.is aides and Deputy "Barker's staff Indicate that the Blue Eagle's talons are being sharpened for vigoi'ous action! WARNERITES WEST ; Warner exec group left for the Coast Friday (14), to be gone until -after the first of the year. Periodic studio huddle on production. Mr. and Mrs. Harry M. Warner, Andy Smith, Jake Wllk and Mc. and .Mrs. S.; Chftrlos Elnfeld comprised the departing contingent Congested Music Hall Giyes 'Gables' to Roxy Released by the Music Hall, N. T., which has first call under Its con- tract. Radio's' '. 'Anne of ' Green Gables' has been sold to the Roxy. It goes in Christmas week (21) on a two weeks' commitment. Although released out of town, picture has been held up in New York while the -Music Hair was making up its mind due' to product Jam. . such hearings. . Under the amend- ments sought, the Code Authority is 3e£klng_to_ hax.e_the . privilege-of granting itself an additional 30-day limit, or 45 days in all, if necessary to consider decisions It may want to make. Such extensions as are sought may provide an open season for stalling on decisions but more than nicely the extensions are asked for be- cause experience during the past' year indicates the Code Authority should be given more time for such purposes. ;, . Wallace at Fox ^ Hollywood, Dec. 17. Richard Wallace, going to Fox to direct one,' will d6 /Day: Never Came,' Vina .Deimar Story. ; Tarn Is being scripted by Bartlett Cormack. '' ■',.