Variety (Dec 1934)

TueBda^f December 18, 1934 r I C t M II E s VARIETT 2S erReoreaiiizatHHi Awaits OfncidU, S. ((wift Aiqir^ •^ Adoption of-the-Saenger- reo^eart" laatlpn'plan has b^en recommended by ; Special iilasier John B. Joyce ; and now. merely .awalta' "approval:-of. the U. S. District court T.) pror yldine no . snags occur meantime. This Is hardly expected folio wing chariges froni the- prljglrial: plan of more thali a, yeai; ago. ' One . of the ; knottiest. probiems cohfrontlr.e^ the! Par ttustees, the Saonger plan has reached Its pres- ent point /only after much travail, on the parts of ttie Saiaiiger people, their committees,, the banks and the Par trusteeis. A complicated 'condi- tion on claims alhd Indebtedness, many mortgages and, the Btjat^ of receivership whicK has existed over Saenger. Theatres arid Sabnger. . Realty, its .afflliate, since Ja:nuary, 1933, has made the reorgaipiizatlori of :tlil3 branch of jParamoun^ most difficult. , Under r the reorganization of Saenger, yirhich is to be followed- by- tiio isetiip of a' new .holding comr • pahy .^ in Delaware, E; V. Richards Is .to buy C0% .of irte capital stock of this now corporation for the sum of $26,o66> He also agrees to flhahce . the reorganizatioh : of Saenger by buying one half of three-year 6% noteS: of reorganlzjed Saenger to be Issued under the proposal on ad yances- to be made by the l*ar trustees up to $200,000.. ■R is to drop , a claimi he filed against Paraniouht for $20,271 for allegied breach of a personal service contract, becoming general manager: of the he.w Saenger. A board of directors wj »e set up, will elect a president, which is virtually certain t*) be Rlchat-ds, since the plan sets as salaries $600 a week; .for the general manager and presi- dent, plus one. assistant. The v. p. and treastirer, to be elected by the ijoard, will, be limited to $100 a week Vhlle a New Tork representative will be limited to the same amount' TTndet the plan, the stock Rich- ards is to buy for $25,000 will con- stitute 60% of the capital stock of thfe prop oseid holding, cpmpq^^ will^repfesent all 'bt the Class A shares. The other 80%, to be held by the Par trustees, \irill be the B stock. Trustees are to hold $1,600,- 00^ In flve-year 6% Income debent- ^ures. ■K^-'"{v-. Prpvitions A unique provision with respect :.to.-tlie- stock is Ihcbrpbrated- in tlie plan. After Jan. .1, 1936 the Pat- trustees may force Richards to fix a price at which he will sell his . 'A' stock or a price :at. which he will buy the :'B*: stobk^from: tKeihT In other '. words, he niust set a hg- Hire to sell tit which he Is. ready .to buy himself ^^lllay Put RainsT^ PiU^t Before 1^^ . ' . Hollywood, Dec. 17. New cbntralct .between, .tinlversal and Ciaudei Rains.'.Is expected tp be concluded' before" the actor leaves this weekend for New York pn a, vacatlbh which will also, taice -him for a quick trip to .his- home in IiOhd.Pn. ■ ■ ; Rains, whose -wirbric In ''Man Who Reclaimed His. Head' was well liked by stildlo aiid critics, Iq, driving east; ". :.::):■. ■.-■■■'; Wifl Send WB Pix Within five years, from that date the trii^tees: reserve .the_ rl^ht -to buy Richards' stock at 50% of the price he .sets or he must buy their B shares at: 166% of the price .set. After "five years, thp sale or • pur- chase iprlce set by thei trustees Is _to_b.eJ.OA%_ot_the--fleureUo-be^set ;by Richards. Should Richards re- fuse to set a price, the trustees in 7 aide, of five ■ years ,f rPrii the Jan. 1, 1936 date may buy his stock at $126,000, If It is after a five years lapse, they, are tP pay $26,6,000. ■ A part of the plari proposes the setup of . Arklamlss . Theatres, Irici, for -the; purpose of buying up Saenger clalrtis, with, the truistees to a^avince up to $60;000 In cash for this purpose for which trustees /are to get three-year 6 % notes. Arkla- mlss proposes tP compromise $260,- 807 in Saenger claims, for $36,029, .In return for advancing inoney to Arklamlss, fpr. ellmtnatibn of a: claim by Paramount against Saefn- ger: of $646,464 and fbr the capital stock of Saenger, the trustees are to receive the fbllowing: . All stock of the new Saenger company; (half of which they will turn around to sell to. Richards), all of the outstanding stock of Piib- (Contlnued on page ei) . Sign Helisn Van Canrtp^ Hpllywbod, ;Dec. 17. .Holen Van Campen, otiheifwlae Helen Green,' New York news- paperwoman, has been given a writing cohtract at Fox. . . • First'assignment Is to develop an original ijlea. ; Warner ; Bros.' yesterday (Mon- day) was awaiting a report bh the extent of the fire damage to the Strand, N. T., meanwhllei prepiariiig to start negotlatlohs ,with other thbatres for the sale bt Its 'SWeet Adeline' ■ which was \to hiave come into , the. Strand Xmas. week. J De- cision tb sell 'Adeline,' If a buyer can be found fbi* a' hplldiay play- date, was reached when i>rellminary survey of the damage to the Strand Indicated that hpuse, at the earliest^ could not/ open, for: about three weeks. Major. Albert Warner yesterday (Monday) declared that an estimate of damaige, which may /reach the $100,000/marie, depending on Wjiat repairs are necessary to the ceiling, could not be accurately made Just yet. He added that It was doubted the, Warner would be reopened ais a substitute for. the Strand. Be- sldbs the fire: damage to the ceil- ing, the seats were :: water-gutted tp a marked degree. / / : ' r Wbrlc-of putting/up /scaif oldlrig'^^^^ the theatre started yesterday (Mon- day) for the purpose of testing the celling. If it requires only supier-. flclal repair, house will be reopened, in three weeks, Herman R. Maier, ^WB cohstructipn head, stated.. If repairs; are rather extensive .It will be later than that. Around' 1,000 seats were ruined and will have -to be/ replaced as a result, of fire and water damage; Maier said. Job . Bernhard, "VS^B's theatre op- erating chief, returns ifrom out of -town/todiay-(Tuesday)7Wireh reports on the Strand. are.. expected- as to how niuch repair woric will be necessai-y Warfieli S. F^ Yanks Its Ad, Reinstates m 24 San Francisco, Dec. 17; ' . Warfleld theatre here pulled its. advertising from the San Francisco iiiiews -aftbc:.CIaudeL Xiai}eUe, picture critic, in notIc<& on Oarbo's 'Painted VelV: panned Iti . ; After thinking It oyer, for 2i lT6urs,/the hbuse relnststted^ its reg-l ' ular copy In tlie News, nsion i n J? II les / Tallvs about, anialgamating t^e I.'T.p^A^ Allied and the M;P.T.Q.A:i into V a national brgahlzatioh . has chilled, and the I.T.p.A. Is making plans/to gb ahead bn its own.- Idea Is; to expand the l.T.O.A. Jntb a ha- tlbhal body* baisied. oii /Cbriig:ressibnal district lines, so that each dongres- 'sipnal district will have an exhib representatlye of the I.T.OIA- /Suggestion ; of set-up is said to have been made first by • Compli- ance " Director Sol A.; Rosenblatt some time ago. Charles C. O'iEtbiily is reported tb be; mulling an Invita- tion, to Jbin the I.T.O.A. In its ex- pansion program, and Harry Rrandt, president of the organization; is pliahiiing a toiir of the . country, to be made Shortly, for the purpose of lining up ' exhibs and local bbdies for the LT.OiAi / ' TWO L. A. PIC HOUSES SWING OVER TO UNION Los Angeles, Dec* 17. . Lelmert, de luxe nabe; operated by Dave Bershon In assoclatipn \vlth Fox w;est Coast, has firohe . union after being operated by unafflliated booth /help since: It opened: some years ago. - -Miiilon - Doll^^^ tdbWntbwlfii)"^ ^Iso shifted back to the union fold dur- ing the week. Harry: H. Popkin, who tbok over the houlse several months ago, eliminated the union projectlbnists and stage, hands,/but with a change In policy last week, In which stage shows were dropped, comes back Into the union fbld. And Attorneys Are Delaying Fox Baby Rose-Marie Set - ^ ^^^^^ W *Brqiadcasf / Hollywood, I)ec. /17., ■ Paramiount has engaged/ Baby Rose /Marie for . 'Big ~ Broaddast' which goes Into prbductloh Jan, 16. Youngster meanwhile will db two weelts, of personals opening at the Palace, Chlcalgo, Dec, 21, with.Proc- tor's Newark ./ fbllbwing. Tlience back to Hplly wood. ^' F- ^ ■ .: : Hearing/ of writ of review, by which / Marshall . 'Theatres seeksto postpone the sale bit Fox-"West Coast Theatres bankrupt eistate to Na- tional Theatres fpr apprpxlma,tely $17,000,000 until a/Federal court suit involving the F-"WC' trustees shall have been decided, /was slated for hearing before IT. S. Dlst. Judge Wlillain P, Janies today (Monday). Plea for review, filed by Attbrriey Jiiles Goldstone, was certified up. to Federal Court together with a state- ment by Referee in Bankruptcy Earl E. Moss Justifying his challenged aflirmatlon of the sale over two weeks ago. Action ;by Marshall Tlieatres^^ was ithe only hitch In acceptance pit pur- chase bid,, wliich assures creditors iOOc, on the, dollar, and Is being at- tempted by Marshall Theatres as- sertedly to give latter time to pros- ecute an anti-trust conspiracy com- plaint against ttnited Artists and F-'W'G trusitees in. oonhectlbn with first run-prodUct-difflculties:^Ebr the- San Francisco Orpheum. Hearing before Federal Judge James Is expected to consume sev- eral days; because ibgal contentions are of/ah Involved nature and lacic legal precedent.; O'Melveny, TuUer & Meyers represent the F.-WC trus- .tees.-: ■:/ / • The fire broke put around 6:30 p.na./Friday ./night CMJ.:starting in the engineering rbbm. ." Hbtise was emjptied ahd an operatbr who wais triappeid slid to safety: on a cable outside the theatre but was'sent-to the hospital suffering from shock and exha ustio n.. It was b eli eved th e ventilating system sucked In sparks from a bonfire which boys had built in one of the alleys. Damage. Is covered by insurance.' / 'Flirtation Walk' was oh the sec- ond day of its third week when the ■fire .occurred,'. The . sanie night, Friday (14)/iare broke out In the; booth of the/ War-r ner, Hoboken, N. J., and tKe house w as. omptlcd. , Aftor. two - Jipura the show .wais/ resumed,. with damagb repbrted to have been slight, ; : -Between, attbrneys /and the dpwnf town hbtehoiders' cpnunlttee; the Fox Metropolitan theatre reprganl- zatlon has become/a/yery/ naucit muddled business. . In thie meantime the nbtehblden^ committee are supposed to meet to- day: (Tuesday) ' to conislder a final. setup on/the.pla,n. // / // There Is active outside competi- tion for control of the operating management; of the circuit; This Is linked;^ seemingly . to a possible change/of owriershlp.of the company assets. Wiriiers Is said to be In- volved. / SI Fablian has been men- tioned .as a possible/ choice of Operator,. /;■■•/■ :./ / . . 'Added to /these conjectures,' Tlfe. inside the trade as well as but^ Is the probable / split-up pf • tlie note- holders' / committee; : "The latest; prbposed Pox i^fet reorganization plan does not/ shpw the " name' of Joseph Dixon,/ of the firm :pf Graham &' Parsons. : This leaves a -committee--ofr^fbur—6nly- standing. : ■These are ErheiSt :Nivcir and Alvln Schlbsser, of, Halsey,' Stuart; Max Hbrwitz,' of Haligarten; and Wil- liam Greve,. of .Allied .Qwhers; Tlie: Haisey, Stuart reprbsehtatloii ;is the largest.-,/■ :-,v' /"/;:: /However, It has been inferred by some: that even the Haisey,; Stuart (Continued oh page" 61) CTOAWAYSON B(K1AGAIN IN DENVER . / / iJenyer, Dec. 17. Giveaways are fast conilng back; . in. .- D enver. ■ . Apparently gi ven knockout blpWs /by; both the code and the city ordinances, giveaways have; boiihded td the fore, 14 the atres iglyihg either preihiums with admissions or are conducting dra.W:^/ Ingis to determine the/winners. Several; theatres were prdbred to: stop grocery nigiits, bank nights, cash, iiights, etc., and those, against whom . tlie ())^rs ; were; issued are bbeying them. Spme who ma;do the complaints ; aire conducting / glveaw:ays, with some of the piyn-; ers wild did ;iipt sign the code try- - Although; the fees as allbwed by Federal Judge Goddard to the; Pair trustees aiid latter's counsel, the Root: firm, may be below expecta- tions. It Is possible for the trustees dind cbunsel to / enhance these amounts they will receive ultimately as-final from /Paramount, through being d.ontlnued/In chargb of pend Ing suits, even after rebrganlzatiohs. The reorganizatipn plan allows tor/this; eventuality. Under ihe plain, presently pending suits arising put of tiie Par ba,nicruptcy stay under -e ontrbl of the Par truste i&s /and not . / Had the trustees and th^ir coun- sel .persisted successfully in their plans for :the trial of the Issues In thiese cases, Par ^reorganization _cpuld..haye. been Irideflnltely:_put_pft.- The reprgahlzatlpii people -wanted to overcome this possible stumbling bibck aiid so allowed the Suits even after reorganization tb lie withlri; the supervision of the trustees. / '; Lawyers generally t)llniced wheh/it .was revealbd . that Federal Judge 'Gfoddard had allowed the Root firm; only $175,000, although the flrm/had applied for interim allowances of $300,000. ITu r th e r cohst e rhatloh ing to g6t those who did to file against them, // ' Harry Huffman has resumed; his ; ekly/Ford^glve away In -hls-etght-^ theatres. ; His case was decided . against hlm-by ^helocalxode-board,/- and Is up on appeal/ Huffman /says ; that If the Code Authority orders him to stop he Intends going Into Federal court and asldng for f.n thjunctiori. Huffman says It ;in-- -cceased-buslness-ln-hls-eight houses— from two to three times that other- wise expected, considering the p.;c- tures; they were showing; Bbtli ills, heighbbrhbod houses and thlVn- / run downtown house had stariclouC^. The Riybil, a i5c houoe with; a i stage dhow: Is glyliig a tUrlcey ct, I every siiow, and is pffcrlhg an ^ Auburn:/ sedan , to be drawn / foiv iGhrlstniias .Eve.; "Tiie Alpfno givoi $S.o; Satu r day nlfehttt; ilie Bide;: MONO CLOSES FOR YEAR WITH 14 OUT OF 20 IN !■ ;. Hollywood, Dec. 17. Finishing 'Mystery Man' Satur- day (22), Monogram will take a production siesta until: after the holidays, 'Hoosler Schoolmaster' ex- pected to start around first of year. With completion of 'Man,''. com- pany will have finished 14 of Its slate of 20 for the year. Trem Carr, production head of Mono, Is - planning to hop cast the early. part of January. Conferences with W. Ray Johnston oh Mono production layout for the 1936-36 season prior* to the company's sales otMurMtioii her* next Mareli. the new company, subject to the court's approval, of course. Included In such suits among others is the bonus suit against bfficers and di- rectors and bankers of the old com- .pany, besides the suit against offi- cers and directors of the old com- pany on the much mentioned stock repurchase guarantees. These suits involve alleged claims fpr millions. Final determination of thbse ac-; tlons could consume many months and take many months additionally for preparation. Consequently fees should be proportionately larger. Thus' both trustees and counsel have the opportunity of enlarging possible final fees out of the Par case. This leeway was provided by the reorganization people in order not to Jeopardize tiie speedy reor- ganization of the company. Other- wise reorganization could have -been stalled Indefinitely unless It could be had without prejudice to any: ac- tion* vbleh may bt pending. . broke loose among lawyers and oth ers ■ when It was shown that the trustees' Interim fees as ailowed amount to $32,500 each, rathbr than the $100,000 each applied for. Trus- tees so concerned are Charles E. Richardson, Eugene Leake and Charles D. Hilles. ; Judge Goddard pointed out that trustees and their counsel in such situations are in a: position.of public trust, being in effect senil-public officers. -/:■■:■■•/■/ His action may guide the applica- tion of fees which must .be made some time in the future by the trus- tiees in bankruptcy and counsel for the latter in the RKO company situ- ation. Irving Trust Is tru.stee in that, situation. / ; - ■. Undoubtedly in view of Judge Goddard's ruling lawyers will moVe with great deliberation when apply- ing for fees in suchk Instances, in the future, as well as receivers and truBteeg. ■ ' has a grocery night; the Jewel hna gift night; - the Santa Fe lias gro- cery, and cookie night; the. Wrich- • ington Park has currency nl/^lit, and the Webber givea cutlery tp the women three nlghta a weclc. Several months ago the city at- torney discovered giveaways oZ niiy sort were in violation' of city •ordi- nances and amusement llconHCs, and ordered thorn stopped.. Later tiia ordinance was ropoaied, and givo- riways started again... . / ,: Caroiinas Favor 'Em ;,'•; (the-C.arpl(nniip have.^^ot,^d■ l^^^ cjf premium, shbws. ^j'This vote in North and. South Carolina is tlie first pioblsclte on ^preniliiniB; so 'far taken in any territory tiridei' the; code. .In thu.s re-.fuf-inj?/to eliminate;. iirehiiiims, .North Caro- lina may prove ti:.'' ;ir".cbh lights pf tlie/ film :1jusin^:)s .i-.V tho't: f:ii'?rtlon. Xumbcr . of exhibitors; in .^.'ortb Carolina is given aa around 300.