Variety (Dec 1934)

Tiiesdajt December 25, 1934 ■» I C Y ■ RES VABarr B. 0. TAX '•^If; in' vloldtlon- of their duties as. f"<jllrectors, the . board members of General Theatres Equipme;nt, Inc., participated In a' syndicate, and Chaae Securities Corp., as a membier 'bf that syndlipate, made personal ::pr6flts iii transactions cncpnipasslhe: - the transfer arid exchaiige of stock between Fox ifUnni, Pox Theatres : Cor p. a nd GTE, then they should . be compelled by appropriate pro- ceedings to give them up. This is the ruling Justice^ fSamiiel Rosen- man, in the N.- T. Supreniie Court handed down last W^ednesday (19), in a case which he considered ap- _ patently, as jnot tlie. appropriate, pro-, needing for this purpose because He dismissed the complaint against all " thie ■ defendants/ / This" was; the" suit "tirdufeht by: three stockhoiderai of Pox F*Ilm against certain former officer.'}, former directors and; bank- ers of fox FilmI Judge; Roseman's ruling is among the: most important ..anade.' - •Tustice Rosenmian's decision was mnde oh the motion to dismiss by defense counsel, before defense testimony wis taken. ' .Plalntiinfs in the suit were James Cleary, Fanny Lurie and Gustave Oppenhelther,. all Btockholders ot, Pox Film. rOppenhelmer was an in- tervening plaintiff. As is the case :ln-.-such--st6ckholders' actions, the company, in this case Fox. Films, also is a nominal plaintiff suing it- . Defendants among others Included . Charles W. Higley, Qscar ii. Gubel- irian, W. ; R. Sheehani Cha,rles B. Stuart, Saul E. Rogers, Harley L. Clarke, Matthew C. Brush, William Fox, Arthur Li La Prentz, Safhuel _^Wr FoTjiycer Walter -Jt/^. H^r^^ B. R; Burn8i~ig"u rray Wi Dodge , Wil- tla m. w. Niyer, Wliliam Wi 'Watson, W. S. Ham- mpns, W. Ei. Green, Halsey; Stuart ife Co., Inc., Pox'Films Corp., Pox Theatres Corp., John P. Sherman and William Atkinson, as receivers . for Pox Theatres; General Theatres ilquipment. Inc., and U. S. Senator Daniel O. Hastings, as rieceived for OTE; Chase Securities and ChS'SC' National Bi&hkV Atkinson, since the filing ot the siiit, more than, a year ago, has resierh^d: " John" F.-Sher- '-mahr-since-has diedr WB Execs Leave ^ Hollywood; Pec. 2i. ^■ . Andy Smith and Jake Wilk of Warners hopped Friday't^) lor thi east lii brdei' to ^pehd '■ Xmas with their families. Harry M. Warner and Charles Elnfeld, who came west with the pair a week ago, remain over for anptiier two weeks;. Einfeld went to San Francisco to. spend 3Cmas-with frlendis and will return to the studio for further production conferences Wednes- day (26). A UNDER Oa. Suit had been on trial tor more than a weelc. Most of the plaintiffs* testimony wis through depositions. Among those who gave testimony at the trial was Murray Dbdge, f6rmer operating executive 6f Chase Securities. Olvahy, Eisner & Donnelly, and Attorney Harold Fierman, repre- sented the plaintifrs. There were a dozen or so lawyers iacting for var 1- JuBTdftfendaiitBr ; including ustlce Clarence J; Sliearh. 240,000 Shares Plaihtifts sought to recover from .defendants all the profits made by the. syndicate in 240,000 shares of ftock totalling around 94,000,000. addition t o claims for al - leged damages suffered by Fox Film is result of the issuance of its owh (Continued on page 55) USrOWOMKEDP -k: Hollywood, Dec. 24. f>i Carl Laemmle, Jr., arrived here today (Monday) from the east and iv:Conferred ininiedlateiy with his \ rather on studio setup, which may .bring chahges in ihe executive perr Morinel, especially among those who . attempted to pilace blame on him for studio conditions after he left ■ .-for; New. Tork, Junior will continue as general manager of the plant, With the elder t<aemmie keeping tab on production )nd Fred Meyer functioning •» ion between the Laemmlei. Washington, D«jc. 24; . Slight slump: of admissions dur- ing Nbvember Was Indicated last week In the Internal Revenue Bu- reau's monthly statemeitt of tax re- ceipts which showed Governmesnt taice ran well ahead of last year but slid, bieilow previous U. S. share of box office receipts In November amounted to $1,443,213, which was $212,622 more than the same month last year, but $63,279 under the October, 1934,. total. KATZ ON H-G TUNERS, CONSIDINE AS AIDE Hollywood, Dec. 24. Sam Katz Is taking over the mu- sical units at Metro and has John Consldlne, in assosiatlon with Ar- thur Feed and Herb Nacid Brown, ha:ndling the supervision of 'Brbad- way Melody of 193B.' Alex B. Aarons is sitting In as; production advisor. Jack McGbwan has come on from T^ew .Totk' td pirepat'e 'the script in collaboratioh-wlth Sid-Sllvera.—pic- ture goes before the cameras around Feb. 1 Goqldin^ Produces, Directs M-G TIame^ Hollywood, Dec. 24. First assignment fo r Edmund TSmldihg as. 'a ^(^tro producer will be 'The Flame Within,' which he also directs. Picture gets going around Jan. 16 with a cast, inad'e up ntostly of stock plttyers. Due to, the illness of his wife, Groulding has been Inactive, his last plctuie at MG> b e ing ' Rip Tide.' Sid Kent West After The First of the Year Sidney R. Kent plans going to the Coast right after New Year's for a checkup on production and confer- ences..,' ■ ■ ■■. Wlrinie/ Sheehan considered re- maining (Bast over the holidays to go west with Kent but left Friday (21), accompanied by Oabe Toriie, studio publicity head. Siieehan catne east on legal matters. Sheehan Returns V/e%t W. R; Sheehan and Gabe Torke, head of Pox studio publicity, re- turned to the Coast over the week «nd. '. Sheehan o.b.'d "Farmer 'takes ft Wife' his first day in, play , haying been acquired bjr ^^ic for Jaiiet OaynoK ■ iO% Admisli Levy CoBsid- ered Certain to CoBtinue ^-Called PaiinleM Qnly IMief for llieiitre^ Likely iFrom Propo^ied : Fed-State Tax Pool VAINLESS' Waalilngton, Dec. 24. .. Coiltiriua:tlon Of the 10% 'tempo- rary' admisjslpns levy for at least another year wUI be recommended to Congriesa next mpnth. by a 'spe- cial House of Representatives eubr conimlttee. A study of the de- slrability-^ot—maklng-the-tariff—a permanent feature. ot the Federal rev(^nue system .will be launched next jrear. ■■ ■, ■ ■■■ Although the administration is determined to avoid new or boosted levies, continuation of the admish fee is certain. Prediction that the sub-committee will urge extension of ail 'miscellaneous' levies expir- ing this year was made last week by Chairman Samuel B. HUI, Dem., of Washington, Influential member of the potent Ways: and Mieans committee. Faced with continued deflcits and uncurtailed government spending. Congress cannot permit abolition of any of the nuisance taxes imposed In 1932 for only a. two-year period, It was indicated. The emergency gasoline tax, electric power tariff and nioro than a score of assorted Imposts will be extended until 1936 to avoid raising rates on corpora- tion and: personal Incomes.- Revenuera Studying Fear that the admldh levy may be made permanent was stirred up by announcement last week that a corps of revenue experts is study- ing—the question of overlapping taxes and of -bringing state and Federal revenue system? into better balance. The brain trusters will survey the entire field to determine what lines of business are most burdened with Federal, state, county and municipal imposts and to seek some way of preventing ex- cessive duplication. Federal government has favored an admissions tax for years, as was indicated by the reluctance with which ttie war-time impost was jtbandoned "during-the~boom-days; EnibraceU Hays on Coast Hollywood, Dec. 24. ' Will Hays slipped into town un- expectedly ' ahead of schedule last night (Sunday) accompanied by Will, Jr., Maurice MacKenzIe. and Mrs. MacKenzle. Hays and his son Immediately slipped north to a ranch for several days' shooting ere New Year's. He jetums here-next^nndny (.^1) and remains two weeks on morality survey,.etc. 11935 V Hollywood, t/tc. 24. Irving Thalberg has seven produc- tions scheduled for 1935 at Metro. Producer's first will be the remake of 'Her Cardboard Lover,' with Che- vajier starred. 'Mutiny on the Bounty' .and.lGhlna_S.ea:3.'_are. .ae.L.t.0, follow, with Beery-Gable-Montgom- ery in the former and Gable and Jean Harlow In the latter. Some time in March the untitled Marx Brothers' picture Is set to start with the first draft of the story by James K. McGuInness, Bert Kal- mar and Harry Ruby about com- plete. 'No More Ladies,' with Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery, and. E. H. Griffith directing, Is also on Tbalberg's schedule. : '.Good Earth," 'whTchTia"8~lre"esr-ln- lireparatidh for the. past year, will be a summer production. Thalberg has shelved the idea of making the picture with a Chinese cast, and will stick tp occidentals. 'Cecil Rhodes;' with Ciiarles Laughton, and 'Marie Antoinette,' with Norma Shearer; will not get under way until fall. Tax experts ' contend this fee is simple and Inexpensive for the gov- ernment to collect, and dependable as .a steady source of income... Con-, sequentiy It appears likely the new study will result in recommenda- tlops that the box office charge be contihued in operation indefinitely. Hope that the amusement indus- try may be relieved of some of its ■ (Continued-on page-28) - - - RIVKIN TALENT SCOUT FOR ROACH IN EAST Hollywood, Dec. 24. Joe Rivkln, New York agent, goes with Hal Roach as talent scout and eastern contact for the studio. Deal was made in New York by Henry Ginsberg, general manager for Roach. Before opening offices In New York Rivkln will come here around Jan. 7 for a studio look- around. • -— " ••■ • Report N. L Retirement to Join 'sShow Biz Royal Bank (Can,) Washington, Dec. 24. Desirability of sweeping code changes or of abandonment of the film competition agreement will be aired early In January as Federal ', authorities get down to brass tacks on the future of the National Re- covery program. With details of future legislation still under cover, S. CJlay Williams, chairman of the National Industrial Recovery Board, last week revealed plaTi fnr pytpna<v«> hparlnpa on All matters of major policy and im- plied complete change In operating procedure of the NRA. No definite date has been set for taking up questions of Interest to the fllrh in- dustry. ■ Definite assurance that Congress will be asked to make permanent the basic labor features of the tem- . porary N.I.R.A. was forthcoming from tiVe Whltis House last^^ as President Roosevelt received an ap- peal from organized labor for a one- year extension . of the Recovery statute. This was the first authentic dis- closure of the Administration's frame of mind, despite frequent rumors as to the nature of a new permanent law which will be recom- mended by the White House. . Preparing for drastic changes in the underlying philosophy of the NRA, Williams said that the board which—succeeded—Gen;—^Hugh—S. Johnson will initiate a,: series of open discussions which at first glance appear to be a reipetltlpn of the acrimonious Darrow Board in- quiry of last Spring. The scope of, the hearings will run from price fixing tp employment conditions. Price control and price fixing was designated as the topic for the first hearing which will open Jan. 9. While the film Industry has no particular-interest In^iitiire -Govern-- ment price policies, it is generally believed that the ultimate decision on this question will be a reliable indication of the attitude which the Government will adopt toward future : efforts to bring . about 'planned economy*^ through stringent industry regulation. Subsequent policy hearings, the Board said, will take up general lo bor and employment questions, the plight of small business enter- prises, and methods of code en- -i«reement^and--Hd«rti^ Another Version of Darrow B'd The film Industry' undoubtedly will participate in all of these mat- (Cbhtiriued 6n~pageT27) M-6 Selling Shorts in Chi Though Features Still Remain Stalled Toronto, Dec. 24. , Authoritative observers see N. L. Nathanson as retiring from active show business In Canada, to go into the banking business here and in Eng;land. Understood that the Par showman has an offer from the Holts of the Royal Bank, of Canada which. is all set. New activity will take Nathanson also put of any possible operating hookup with the Paramount com- pany in New Tork. His name had been mentioned variously as a pos- sible home office executive for Par upon reorganiisatlon of that firm. . Likely that J. J. Fitsglbbpns may succeed Nathansoh as over-all op- erating ezeo of Famous Players Cjanadlan, upoe Mathaoson retlrlns. Nathanson's interest . In Regal Films, Ltd., Canadian Is not. men- tioned In current talk, and WhethW the Canadian showman means to dispose of such interest can't be detailed. Nathanson has been a leading figure In . the tiieatre. iarid film business for years. He Is cred- ited greatly with having developed the" F. P. Canadian ; theatres and more recently, since he has taken charge again of the circuit, :the Canadian branch of Par theatres are stated to have Jumped ahead perceptibly. Nathanson anu. the Holts, of the Royal Bank, are known to be very friendly. Andrew, the younger Holt, It Is stated will be actively asso- ciated with Nathanson in the new Ventura, ' Chicago, Dec. 24. Despite the general Indle exhlb stand against Metro features this season, the bovs are nurchastng M-G shorts. : Since the exhlb burnup is purely against Metro's percentage and preferred playing time policy, tha theatres havo no objection to buy- ing the flat-rental two and one reelers. HARBURG'S HRST U PROD., 'SHOW BOAF Hollywood, Dec. 24, ; First. production for K. Y,; Har- burg, Universal's new musical pro- ducer, will be 'Show Boat.' Picture was originally planned as a Frank Borzage production : but director jumped over to Warners. James Whale has been assigned to direct. Production is slated to start shortly after Jan. 1 when Harburg returns from New York. '