Variety (Jan 1935)

Tuesday^ Jianuary 1,1935 PIC T ES VARIETY Thalberg-Katz Anchored at MG [Talk of Either One Replacing Cohen at Par Deenned Apple^Saucey ,; Hollywood, Pec. 31.;, RumorB. that Irylngr Thalberg -. or li^ulver City to Hollywood, to take riBtnei of Kmanuel Cohen at paramount, Is amualng to local In- Wders. Nei^^^ two have |)een approached; to take the top •pot at Paramount nor are they lit-^ tereated lii such a change, If sue- igesUons came in their direction to ■- make it. Thalberg> tiiough reported as un- haippy. ;at Metro on account ot fric- tion between studio executives" and himself, sits'in an unmolested spot on the lot since the departure of Kick Schehck for the east and Is not interested in any chanjges. His . current contract does not expire for ' three,'years^;- He is a vice-president of the cprti- pany, responslbie to no'one, as he 1b an equal partner with Louis B. ; ,Mayer -in operation of the produc- tion end, and, with the latter* cuts up a greater part.of the 20% profits of lioew's. Inc., which both' share with Ji Robert; Rubin on the New. ; Tork, end. .Thalberg informed Variett that . talk of him soing ahy.where.,at'..thl4 tlnie is Just manufactured', tliat he has a, contract and has been offered no Paramount proposition. ■ Katz; Not Concernod Sam Kktz; who recently came into, the Metro organization and has —ch ai Tiie uf ll . iH niak i ng uf l l ieir; mtt =:^ •icals, as wiell as bielng the. execu- tive Whip over , a number Of super- yisors* is also under long-term Gon- tiract to the company and '. has not had any offer from his alma mater. He says he left P'aramount two and %half years ago and is now going to devote his time to Metro labors •nd would not ba Interested lo any change,, regardless of how. attractive % proposition might be to rejoin '/Paramount.-. ; -In- the---meantirtiB7~Nlcholaa "~M.: 6chen<:k' hi!^.urtder_.consideration, a plan In New York whereby Ben Pi fichulberg, another P a r a m o u n t Crradua:te, wiU probably tie inducted Into the Metro ranks -as a producer. Schenck talked to Schulberg sev- eral times before, tiie later left for the Bahamas, and it is likely that after New Year/ something, may :« ventuate out of th e conferences >rith Schulberg going to'Culver ,City to make, a series of pictures for the lS|36-36-program. Studio executives, iiere have hot .partictpated:m any way in the negb- tlations with Schulberg, as it, is un- derstood they were opened by . Bob Rubin in New.York, while Schenck was out here, and with the latter's knowledge of what was going on. ' Understood here also-that there 1b no possibility of Schulberg -re- turnihg to the prpductlon reins of Apt go through^ but that likely a new unit proposition might be.made with him for the . new season, eitlter entirely financed by Paramount or -with—outside^—capital--from~Erpi- brought in by Schulberg^ who has Jiad.Bup.h a plan in ■ mind fpr the past six mpnths... HAYS IN HOLLYWOOD AFTER HUNTING TR ff Hollywood, Dec* 31 ; Huntlnf; at a ranch at. Hernandez, CaUf.. with his son. Will Haya re- turns here today, tp be here on a twp-weeks studio look-aii-ound and OPntact/ivlth prPdiicers.- Mris, Hays Joins him today, com- ing,, from New York by train Maurice McKehzle came with his Ohief froni the east and will stay _«ir6und these part s until . Hays re- "turnshome. MUTO COVERING WASH. y Irony Mufp has been transferred tQ. "Washington by the iHays office aihd his duties' in New York, at ■ headquarters, assumed by John B.oettinger, ex-Chicago Tribune's correspondent at the Capitol recent- ly brPCight into the M.P.P.D.A. A week ago Boettlhger joined the Bpepial cpinmlttee which look^ at Questionable pictures to feach; a final, decision after Vlncie Hart, Breen's eastern representative, has, taken a look. FREDDIE HALL Asking BREAI^iOintEVIEWS Because of the fear of squawks frpm the daily reviewers, the ^filni oompahles In New: Yprk are look- ing , askance at the request of Mordaunt Hall for special, previews 6n new pictures, that he miay com- ment Pn them .critically oyer the air. The former N. Y. TImea film critic started Dec. 24' on a 16-minute austaJnlng: feature on NBC from New York Monday' afternoons .at 4:30. . Hali's desire, according, to major film people. Is, to get screenings privately in advance sp that he can break with his ether review's ahead of the New York first run ppenlngs of the films. SEEMTHERD. . Stuart Webb, president of Pathe, is chairman pf thie board of First Division. HIb election came on Thursday (27). In thi=> trade ob- servers aee a future welding of Pathe and First D>ivlslon (Thomas) Presently Pathe is on. First Division through financing and Indirect rep resentatlon on operation, according to accounts. --Webb'a-entry-bn the F.D. board has; not been unexpi ected in the trade. The~rpafhe-First Dlvlsio.h aasdciation has been knOwn. in the trade for months. The Webb aiigle brings in the llkelihbod that Pathe will bP back in film production, ishortly, through First Division; and secondly, F. D., hitherto a ' distribution company, will itself^becpme an importan t pro ducliig llnk lri the trade. Harry H. Thomas IS president of First Division, alsP its biggest in dividual stockholder. Kxpansion of the company has brought about aeV«ral shlftB wt,thln the firm; m the. past moiittis. Most recently, Amos Hiatt waa named by Thomas: aa his aBsistant. William Fiske,. one of the new personalities in the company, la still. abi%ad, where he and his family havp made their home for several years, but he is expected to r et urn ahortlv. I n the meantime, Nlc]|;iola8 S. Ludihg ton, who has been named president of the First Division producing sub sldlary, Jeft for. the CPast Thursday •(27;)-to,-develpp-the-flrra-3~pTPduetlon' pla;ns. John Curtis, y.-p. in charge of production, will leave Jan. -6. by plane-to Join Ludington. Al Fried lander, in charge of advertising aiid publicity, leaves for 'Hollywood around the tniddle of January. All will make prptracted stays on the Coiast. Frledlander will work on dis- tribution while on thp Coast,: includ- ing the 'March of Time' series. Aa for Pathe, that. cpmpa.ny's re.- oi-ganizattpn plan is .slated for an- other .alrlngeartrjn^March The company; haa been granted court leave to hold a special meeting of stpckhplders ■ under ; the" statutes permittihg acceptance of the plan by. two-thirds of stockholders pres ent rather than two-thirda of all the sharehbldiers; le' Projv Combo May Stay as Unit ■ Hollywood, Dec. 31. jesae Lasky, who produced 'White Parade' for Fox with Irving Cum mlhgs a,a director and Rlan Jamea and Lasky, Jr., as authors, is work- ing out ai three-picture deal for Fox to retain the same cpmbo, , . . Jameis and young Lasicy are cur- rently in New York getting material for a new film. Slated, to leave New York Jab. t. Md. Nixes Vroken Li?es' Baltimore, Dec. 31. Maryland state cenaor board last week completely banned 'Broken Lives,' Indtp Majestic release. In nixing showing of the flipk any- where : in. the state. Censor; board handed down decision worded ' in ciustomary way that 'Lives' la 'inde- cent, Immoral, and tends^ in the J udgmen t-of--the—boardp^o corrupt morals and Incitp crime.' . Majestic Pictures, Inc^ appealed the action of the censors; filing pro- ceedings in the Balto City Coiirt last Friday (28)i Presiding, Judge, Al- bert S. J. Owens, ordered the cen- sors to answer suit by Wednesday (2), and set next Friday (4) as date for appeial's hearing. 'Lives' is the flrat flick barred by censors in eight months, or since before the inception of the Catholic campaign: for cleaner fllma. NalARLYRKQ FINANCE REORG Waniers 750G Prelmi 'Dream' UA TAKES 'BATTLE' Also. Covenants With Garganoff: for ■■■■■ Future Pix There, are. RKO Inaldera who. are skeptical about the possibility of an early financial reorganization of that company because! it Is their belleT^^ that' t he company la Bailing along okay ais la. No reorganization plan is known to be on tap. So far there have been only talks about re- organization among certain groups. RKQ will probably show a loss for the year 1934. However, this loss is estimated to b e conside rably: under the company's loaa for the year 1933, which was around $4,387,000. : ' < Strong adya.nce In Incbme will be shown by the Kelth-Albee-Orpheiim group of RKO theatrea. It ia prob-: able that these KAO houses will wind up in 1934 with about an even break. In 1933 they showed a loss of around 1600,000. It la accounted that RKO'a out- lying, theatrea have shown greater comparative Improvement during the year than those In metropolitan feTT^YorlcrtBrrltory. ,: ,. -. :. So far no actual reorganization plaiia at . hand. The company lia still under Section 77B of the new Corpprate Bankruptcy Act Irving Trust Co. is trustee. Same bank was ^receiver for the company and filed its final report aa receiver last •Thursday (27) In the Federal court, for the six months^nded June^ 30; 1934. ;;; Repprt shows that the total claims against the receivership es- tate (aa dlatlngulshed from the claims which may be on file against the company under Sec. 77B) have amounted to 136,766,416. Of this amount, $29,544,365.66 la based on claims arising from rent guarantees or direct leases. There were 84 claims filed against the receivership estate. United Artists has closed with Leop Garganoff for American dis- tribution of 'The Battle,' French- made English language film starring Charles Boyer and Merle Oberon. French producer recently shpwed the film at the Criterion, N. Y., for three weeks, -with the dlstrib deal resulting. U. A. has the film for $46,000 against a- percentage; Will be retltled 'Thunder in the East." Deal carries with it a clause to also handle Garganoff's future pro- ductions. 'Battle' was Garganbff's first film and .U. A. wants an option on all his future films for world dls-. trlbution. Clause in the 'Battle' deal is only a temporary , a more complete deal along this line to be figured out- ... Garganoff...sailed back . to . Paris Saturday (29) immediately after signaturing papers. (MWFORD^lAY Hollywood, Dec. 31. Bobby Crawford expects to close on Wednesday a deal with Metro whereby he will become head of the studio's music department. He will not only reprganlze the musical eet- up but will, serve as unit producer on musicals Under the Sam Katz dynasty. During the past week Crawford has had half a dozen ses- sions with Mayer, Mannlx and Katz, and now the deal hangs largely on the producing latitude he; will be given. . , .. . \, .... If the deal' goes throtigii, Craw- ford will give up his active inter- est in the Crawford Music Com- ptny, with Rocco Vocco handling the entire business. Conditions of the agreement provide that Robblns will continue to publish Metro film tunes and that Crawford may con- tinue to handle various spng writers under personal contract to him and by him placed in different atudios This Includes Gprdon and. Revel, now at Paramount. ROUBEN MAMOULIAN Director pf :''Porgy,'' VMarcp'8 Millions,'' ''Wings Over Europe" and other productions on the stage. Director of ^'Applau3e,""City Streets,""Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Love M« Tonight," "Song of,Songs,""Queen Christina" and "We Live Again" on the screen. as Reiiihardt Hollywood, Dec. 31. Expense Pf $760,000 has been run up at Warners on sets and prelimi- naries for 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' with actual shooting still afar off, it was revealed In the liti- gation seeking to compel Max Rein- hardt to quit Hollywood and pro- duce an operetta in London. Rein- hardt licked the injunction thing, but in. doing . so had to introduce data dealing with his Warners ob- ligation; this baring the huge cost already charged to the Shake- spearean spectacle, with only a few ballet scenes lensed so i?ar. Effort of the . Habel producing concern of Paris to enjoin Rein- hardt from going ahead with . tiia production of 'Dream' until.an as- serted prior commitment in London had been fulfilled filvved in Superior Court here when Judge Emmet Wil- son dissolved a temporary restrain- ing order which had kept Relnhardt off the set for ten days. . . Court .not only^^ untlisd: the tempo-, rary hobble', but denied a plea for permanent injunction, coupled with -a--complalnt7 demandinBr"'Rei^^ be compelled to appear in London In January for staging of Strauss' 'Die Fledermaus.' Ruling was that plaintiffs Habel and A. W. Haendler had' themselves breached the con- tract for a London production in at- tempting-alterfttlon-of-the-orlglnal- pact by cutting Relnhardt'a guaran- tee of 150,000 francs and 7% of gross to 100,000 francs and 6%. Court held additionally that a sec- ond ihatallment of 50,000 francs had not been paid and Relnhardt, when sighing with Warners, was not ob- ligated 6 the Habel ticket F&M Deal Proffered deal by Haendler to F&M whereby he sought to interest them in European production, with himself as impresario, was! bared In an affidavit by A. Ronald "Button, Reinhardt's counseirXflTdavlfslit'eT" Haendler, as assignee for Habel, was seeking a means of recouping 25,000 franca expended on 'Fleder- maus' preparations;, also^ that he was loath to law Relnhardt if he could make some other profitable alliance. Deal with F&M fell through after , preliminary discus- Blona; F&M not wishlnlg to be hooked into Relnhardt litigation. ' Relnhardt an hour after hla court win Wednesday (26), waa back at hla "Dream': preparation chores. PAR GJM: URGES REORG'S OK Appeal tp haaten the cpmpany re- organization for the company's owii . best Interesta, aa well as for credit- ors was made by George J. Sciiaefer, general manager of Paramou n t when testifyiniff at the hearing be- gun Thursday (27) on Par's reor- ganization plan, which was held before Federal Judge Coxe.. Hearing adjourned on Friday, following day, until the afternoon of Jan. 10. Which may indicate that final ac- ; ~ ppptnnre of thpi Par renrcnnlzation ' Is still some weeks off but stainda a chance still to get okayed by the first of February. It is expected that additional testimony and arguments addition- ally will be heard on the adjourned date. The past hearing has been Intended exclusively fdr_the_offer ot. .... formal proof, as required T)y law, from the plan's propprients^ - Others who. testified Included Austin Keough, Par's general coun- sel; Y. Frank Freeman, .Par thea- tre head; Walter Cokell, Par treas- urer, and Fred Mbrhardt; Par's gen- eral auditor. Sid Kent Due Jan. 3 Hollywood, Dec. 31. Sidney Kent, who was expected here for New Year's, will not arrive: until Thursday (3). Detained in New York by tonsil trouble. ;■