Variety (Jan 1935)

TTaesds^, January 1, 1935 pi X T O VARIETY 9f ilioiljr trailing. Checking over Go- lumbU'a llit of fe&tured people- will ■hoir » ranking yrith moat ol the taleat ot major company tleupa. •oina ot - whom. Columbia got ' on loan With -others from the free lance ■ileW.' " ■. ■< ■■■■Fox,;:. At Foz It was Wlir Rogers who tPPPCfd ths previous year's letider, ■ fahet" Qali^nor; with Batoia; tlpyd, on bli one ptc, rating third. 3hlrley Temple* the company's sensaiioh, Is fourth and getting stronger. ! War- -v^er-Buter-held-hls-owiirr'but^'^b^^ •Ide of 'these' the . company heu} noth- ing to gtva secoti.d thought to Ih the •tar group. JaihM Dunn and Loretta ToUiig top the feature list with the pos.- St;ar8 WILL ROGERS JANET GAYNOR HAROLD LLOYD SHIRLEY TEMPLE WARNER BAXTER JOHN BOLES SPENCER TRACY; GEORGE O'BRIEN tlLIAN HARVEY GLORIA SWANSON GEp- M. COHAN The featured coiiiingeht here was mostly on loan and free lancers, but of outstanding support quality and most helpful to carry over the prod- uct at the boxofllc^e. Many of these people were used for a number of pictures and their aild .In these, as well as In others they appeared In for other producers, was material. ..■ VVarhers.' Joe E. Brown may be hotkey cen- ter panic but hi^ads the Warner Ust oh draw power, .with his pull, very strong 111 the .smaller -cities and tOwnH--Ne»t comes James^aghfly: who'Crept-.tQ .the fbre.wlth his work In. 'ttere Comea "■ tlie " iNayy* "that paved the way for 'St. Louis Kid/ Caigney has always been: strong In New ■rork\ and ;\veak^^ south. 'ihere'iB a chance Tie may' Improve that southern tatlngy V v Al Jolson proved a big shot with his. single sock '■Wonderbar,'^ while tiift Dick Powell and Ruby ICeeler combination kept up a .faster. |>ace than the previous yiear- Kay lYaricls leadd tho. WB wb stars with Barbara Stanwyck, Rlchr ard Barthelmess, Leslie^ HdWard and Ruth Chattertoh following.. Special Hollywood, Deo. 81.. The prbduotlonal end of motlpTi picture industry now hu . a real cz£ur. It's WIU Hays' t^lo, but Says is a niedlaitpr; the new holder of the title—Joiseph .iL Breen—Is a czar, emperor and' dictator in one. . Gen eral Fbc h's famous lli ie, 'Th ey shaU not., pass,' hOw belongs to Breen. Breen currently' is tho^^' W dustry's shock troops and buffer be- tween the makers of motion pictures and the organized, antirplx cru- saders;-'■..-■. ■■;■■.,■'■.. -.. " .'■ •,■ With that power behind him and with grudging approval from the refoiining elements, Breen holds the balance of power In the Industry. When ^l^reen says. .|they ahali not pass'/aiid. picks off^thos^^^^ Hays of- WARNERS-FN JOE E. BflOWN JAMES CAGNEY AL JOLSON DICi< POWELL; RPBY KEELER ^PAUL MUNr EDW. G. ROBINSON CMSCMSHIP AT THE SOIIRGE^ flee certificates of approval he means it. ■-. .\ ; Repieatedly aaiylns 'no* lii a com- munity traditionaily yes-mah ; has m e.a n t ^'^ pei^ -with bensorship .b.bafdi. . In the first fpur. and. a; Half months since purity, seal Nb.' 1 was passed but, .160 pictures cleared all censor boards in the United States wllbi?.UtLa. ^.InglftijpiiLujdgurfiJLJUl dpllars'- ahd cent^, this meaiis at "least $l,00(r,p6o saved; oh ;lhbse cpstr ly attd troublesome eilmlnatlbhs and revamplngs: that .Used to follow a censor .bpard' turn-dowrt. Biz On the Upbeat^v ■ ;\ 'During the Same peirlbd theatres and circuits report the -best box of- fice business, since 1930; . Yet Holly- wood is stlil trylhg^h some spots to .chisel pist sbme ■ ot - the .verbbten .material. '' Coast By Jack ^dwards lios Angeles./Dec. .81. : Expanaioh of; Fox-West Coast operatlbn activities marked- the progress of exhibition in Southern fave or a picture for ^hich they do not want to wait. ■ ' With praeticaliy eve?:y.5-hbu in. the territory* outside of the down Of the jplctures reviewed by Breen and his cohorts^ 27 have' been re« fused seals on the. first Janiplng. la every case changes were niade,'in«. yplvingi.thei welting, of hew - scenes and retaking,' t>ut never without a fight..-^ ■ ■ -■-■■" \ V ■ Some of these fights have been tinged with: bitterness and. it ; haa . iissxLJbiWyfiLlQf^ walk out of one of the'se stormy conference* But. ■Breori '■ always : .wln'sr-and chaiigeis are made^^ ^ . : Industry had two particular out- standing, heavy^ grbssers during tha last few months,- but they didn't get to theatres tintii iafteiv .knockr'em-. dow-n-dragr^em-o'ut figiits -by Breen and -the .producers' over scenes anA dialog in, these .pictures! 'It would ruin . the picture,' the producer Screamed oh different occasions—^ but the tpning. do>yh~ process wais used as; Breen demahded and :/tha pictures went out and cleaned up. Breen and his stafE, in addition to . being censors, are also forced to bo a reading department adjunct to aU studlbs and in 'cases of qubstibnablo scenes arid sequences' must go l.lnto .story.' conference huddles to. dbvisai a. hew, treatment for the particular.: part of the film ..bbjpcted. tb.. Read Oh; McDufi / 'fe een - toda y colla b orates on n iera- Jame8.;Dunn Lo>'etta1ybunQ ... Alice Faye ■ Rudy Vallee Lew Ayos ■Wiajpniii' Qlaiiil •; Clialre Treypr : - ■ .. Helen Twelvetreee . Stepin Fetehit ' Mbna . Barrie ■-;'■■;■ -' ■•■ Sally Eilers . .. Rbchelle Hudson v ' Anita Lbuise- Tboi Brown -"'.■ "touiiie bressep He r bert Mundin . Neanspafka': - Una b'Conner Mitohttii -and Duraht' ; Harry Green . Henrietta Crosman Pat Paterson Ketti Gallian Hugh Williams ' Heather Angel Rosemary~ A~hrea Nioel Bruce : Ralph' Morga n ■ ■ ■•■yictor' Jbry..., ' Psflfly Wop*' Madeline .Carpoll Astrid AMwyn. , Kent Taylor . Irene. Bentley: Norman Foster BARBARA STANWYCK RICHARD BARTHELMESS LESLIE HOWARD RUTH CHATTERTON ■■yEATUEEU ■' -Joan-'.BI'ondell - . W arren-Wtl I ram - ' ■^.; California during 1934 with the final washup of 'the circuit's hahk- 'ruptcy's coming during the closing weeks of the year. P-'WG was rebr- srahlzed into :thb- l^atlonal Theatres Corp. but-it'll be iFox-WeSt Coast to G.lenda Farrell -4i ugh-^erbertr^ ralbillty- that Miss Toung- will- -hit . atar classlflcatlbn biefore this ;year . lii.pver. Alice Faye did nicely from the start with Lew Ayres, Mona Barrle, Sally Eilcra arid Warner 7—^landj—also-relassed—as—b.Or^lds.- --None- of—^the^brelgri-.-players =4m ported biy this company- registered as of any consequence! the past ■■■year^ "■ ■'"■ ^ ' .. 2^ Th« 20th Century organization : had- a smart star b.y. lineup which : . la headed/ by George Arllaa, with ^Wallace Beery In for a couple, and 2()TH-eENTURY GEORGE ARLiSS WALLACE BEERY RONALD COLMAN FREDRIC MARCH CONSTANCr BENNETT ANN HARDING LEE TRACY^ GEORGE BANCROFT ; FEATUEED ■ ■ Loretta Young ■ ; At i oiphe Menjou ': ; ' . Fay W ray , :Edna May Oliver Constance CMrnminge CI ive Brook Frances Deo • Paul Kelly . Arjine Judgei Gregory Ratbff; . C. Aubrey r^mith TullioCarminati Arthur Byron Ivan Lebedeff - Helen Jerome Eddy May Boley : Sally Blane: Janet Beedier Sterling Hbilowa/ .Etieinne Giradot . . George Regaii : ' Qeorges Renavant thbn: Itonald Colman . and Ff pdrlc* Georige Brent . Pat. O'Brien Ricardo Cortes . Ann Dvorak ' Adolphe Menjpu Aline MacMahon Bette Davis Allen Jenkins .Frank .McHugh Jean Muir . . -Patricia Ellis . . --Lyie Talbot Dolores Del Rio Verree Teasdalo ■ Mary Astpr Claire bodd Josephine Hutehinepn.: '—■ Donald Wpodar—7 Phil Regan Genevieve Tobjn ,—Gordon.-Westcott- Philip Reed Henry O'Neill Margaret Lihdeay: Robert Barrat Ro se Alexand er iKTaxine^Pyle- Dorothy Treo mention can be niade of Bette. Dayls whP, although a featured -player, caused a distinct atlr off -the home lot "via 'Of Huriliari Bpndagb' " Which she did for Radio. ■ , WarnersT^eatured: group:: are ' al! standbys, - Joan BlOndoU heading this division. ' Warren William has a close runher-up with Olerida Far reli' and ;Hugh Herbert advancing, -as 'also Pat w O'Brien; -This -<:om- pany has probably the miost obn slstept group of feature draw, play' erS, due to their steady usP in prac tlcally all production.; On the other hahd; some argue .WB is usirig them too much. ;United. Artists':--; ■•■;:■■■• ■ : ynlted Artists , showed V tight liheup with Sam Gpldwyn,: its b'niy. DNITED ARTISTS EDDIE CANTOR ANNASTEN the trade here fpr a, long time. Only two hew .theatres -were erected in tills tPrritbry during the past 1^2 months with .actual con- struction: of a third started recently, and l>elng rushed for' :Cbmpletlon around Ja n. 1. 6. .. ~Gpefati65"^ini'"scdr(F6f^ ent nabe. picture houses .passed to F^'We—operatlon--^contrbt-ltt :1934; including the major'portion of four minor circuits. Circuit ;cxpansion started with the taking oyer of the Fairfax; fromi Gus Metzgier,. with plans projected for a hew venture in association wUh'the one-time in- die chief, in the thickly populated Wllshlre district: , Iieimert> de\ luxe nab4;Jwas: taken byer front Dave Berahon/.while the Larchmont waa: acquired from Mark -Hansenr-wHo still-retairia a'number of riabe housea In the: territory. Bpy. Hunt also disposed of: his- house in Riverside to P-'WO. y; Minor circuits acquired, either in full, or In part, included the Carlton and^Rlvoll from the Graf jBrothera-- the Western and Airoyp from M. Y. Herond and associates; the Sta-^ dlum;-BI<;PortaI,'Apbllo^-Carmel-ond- the Paramount (HpUywood) from the' Hollywbbd West Coast The- atres, arid six of the seven Southern California . hpuses operated for a juimher pfiyears-by^ Pacifl^-^lNatlbnal- 'Th'eatres^,-most of--whlc!h~are~lpcated in San piego. V : • New theatres constructed were the El Mlro. In Santa Monica, by Fred Miller, pnertime operator of the de luxe nabe, Carthay Circle, and the 'west's only drlve-in-plcture- theatre, how operated, by Guy ^0uthwa1te7r~ Unde r c onstructlon-iis a 760-seater on the eastern fringe of Hollywood, to be operated by -Herman-Lie'vi?lS-a3-a sUbsequent-TUn house. ...Ready to , get: going Is a l, 2b0-sea ter . for ^aw&Td Sheehan and Earl Sinks oh Holly wood .Biyd On the horizon ai^e the .Metzger- F-WC acer ; a new venture by Abe and Mike Gore, also In the Wllshirc territory; and Indle houses in Alta dena, suburb of Pasadeha, and brie In Glendale. ^ , ' . Rebuilding After: Tremiblor Quite.a number of picture houses, demolished or partially •wrecked during the Long Beach earthquake of rieariy two years ago, have been town flrst de. luxers, resonlng t?r "double bill's largi^ly' throughout the past year, ahbther old-time tradl- tlori of the tii^atre, the second eye- nlrig; perfbrmance. has' : virtually passed into the discard. Inability to run two cibmplete shows, due to; over-length of the : average . .pro- grams, haia brougiit about a com- plete new setup as regards theatre attendance/ ' No longer . do patrons rush'to catch either the early 7' p.m. show, or hold .back until the 9:15 "OTxroird-Tterformaiicert^nowTthey-staTt: coming any time betweeri 7:30 and 8^50; satisfied ;they will; see both of the advertised features, and; still certain tb be at. home at' a ireasoh- ably early hour,> ;; ■ '■ '■ J^ Code Curbs Racketeering . With the exception of bank night, which fpr a time threatened to make important^lnroads, racketeering was .mostly :>vaahed. up-.through code prohibitionr^T^he.-bank—night—coh-^ troversy bontlnues to; rage. ' Pre-: .querit cease arid desist Orders, uri- d<^^ periiUy- bf flihi; s'Usp^fnsibri, re- sulted In haltlng a number of the money giveaways. I3xhifas, general - ly, are bitterly opposed to the bank night ban, claiming it is orie of the best : business stimulators the In- dustry has KhbWh livyears,■but^attl'-- t u de of - this ;c 0 de AU thbrlty appears to be coriciusive that wliere It Is -definitely-proven tha t it is In-direct competition to another theatre, ;the practice comes; under the unfair trade practice and must be elimi- nated. ■' ■' r- —^Indierexhibsr^enerallyt^^ it pretty tough duririirtii^ 'year," any number pf them just managing to hang on, ^facing a shutdown or com- plete ruin any week. Absence of ;a fair zoning and clearance schedule, after hiore thiain a year of code, op erationr-^has-been—thev-particular thorn with the Indies. Anticipating several montihfisi ago that zoning a.n< cleararice would'be indeflh[ltely held up'. Fox West Cbast prepared a so called protection' sheiet/ undier which films than any dozen writers in HoN lywobd arid gets; none of the glory —nor even screen credit..; His boar^d reads ; stories, .bought pr recbm- . hieridod for filming: that neyter sea . tlght of day aifd-r.erraB~aS"mafay. a*"'" six . scripts bri ;each story reaching ;. celluioid- : The ■scripts read average threer arid flye-elghths for each film made. Ho>y^evsr, 90% of the pic- tures made rieedv only one. reviewing, for Breen tb slap on a purity seal. Jt!s^he nther 10%,;that causa tha.;,. headaches both for the studios and the Hays office.; 'Suggested changes are made, picture jsV reviewed again* perhaps more changes. .Some ara .., r.uii off up to fpiir and five times before they are filially: approved. Outside of: those occasional ;flare- ups by producers, when Breen sayfl 'no' arid ..sjjjSlps to his guns. Holly- : wood hasn't, been changed any "by the sapblloirig. The; belief that v "Erbiiyt^od'wouid^biny^ bF allowed la niake namby-pamby stories hasn't materialized.. Pictures, .have Estill got, guts—but there's a; little flnease ta the presentation of the Innards. 'writers. have .had tP be a Ilttla smarter In. getfirig over .scenes and situations that might have been e.asi!erL,h.ut. mbre crudely told.ln;tho. . pre-purity era. Directors, likewise^ have had to bp more Ingenious In transferring these to cellu- loid/^;'^" '■ -,:''^■■■;-■'; - If: unable; to get over with that necessary flnesee and ' smartness, Breen ; niembers of his; board show 'em the way. '.y-: rebuilt, prominent among them the F-WC Imperial, restored at a cost pf-;approxlmately- $10.0;000; film boys, based on a price clear- ance, have-baen. acqulredaL: Some .in dies, under the F-WC setup, are faring better In the matter of pro tectlon than they would have done had .the 2-c schedule as drafted been set up here, but mostly the unaf- filiated theatre men are walling loudly.. -■ - . '■'/.,■■. One thing that the film cpae .did bring to this territory was" a gen- eral boost In bbx Office prices, all the: way alprig the line. -Virtually iaU of the lOo.; and 15c.' houses' that • flopd e d' . ' the . tbrr l t p ry - during . the -A.cpmpany'flhishe^^^ a picture and Breen says 'no.' . Film liad a couple of crooks getting away with verl- tablP murder and then leaving on a- boat for Europe, with the swag and;assurahce of happy days on tha Riviera.. 'But .ypu. can't do that,* iSreen tells the producers.; ; 'You cari't make crlriie popular, the -crooks must, be - puhlshed.' .v A few days-later the pfoducer de- livers an amendment to the scrlRt_ in the form of- a sectuence whereby , the; crooks' are caught iihd sS^ to;'" jail.- -Sets - Irivoived and-cast-ne(?es---7- sary for the new scenes would ien- tail around $5,000,' . 'Why not do if this way?' suggests Brpen. 'Jiist ;one;,3riiail: scene of a poilcei chief sitting at, a desk;; He • prdcus a telegram, sent to Scotland Yard to rtieet the;boat when It docks; at Southampton arid fade youir;pic- ture on that line/ $5,000 Shrunk to $135 That was done. Crime wM pun- ished. The reformers were satis-. producer, having Eddie Cantbi> and Anha Sten.; '• ■;■;■, Independents - Quite a few of the independent companies, such 6.9, Mpnogram, Mascot, Liberty, ; Invincible ; arid Chesterfield, used varlbus freelance stars and players oh'the year, but hone of these companies are or- ganized with contract people who can be classified. Radio Terms Briton Hollywood, Dec. 81. John Wood, English actor, has been given a term : contract by liadior" ' '7 ■ Additions during the; year; bt'.ought the total seating capacity of pic houses in the Southern California are;, to -well'oyer'" the 400,000 mark, rbrihglng the ratioI'lip to about orie seat for every four and a half per-. Soris resident in the territory.'; . Past" season .•\yltneased -practibally a complete passing of the one-time neighborhood clientele,, which has long beeri the nabe exhib's patron- age malristay. . Reason for the pass- ing is 'a.scribed to the 'widespread uise of autos during the past few" years, with virtually, eyerybbdy on wheels, and distance between the- atres riieanlrig little, patronage no Ipnerer Is restricted to—Immediate neighborhoods, and Southern Call- fornlans think nothing of driving 15. to 30 miles or more to see a spreea early p.prtlon of the year have given y,"ji,y to a 25c. minilT>i"n. with ;Fox- "TV'esf Coasl.~ana"Tcatirhp"Ihder>e)id-- erit.6 In the vang.uard of tills upward .tilt,: ;increased tarirfs haye bbpstbd V.-iyc] .weekly gi-pssgs apnrp.xlriiate- ly ■ |50,'06.b;' playing,'~a.s' lt':-dbes, to" around 1,000,000 patrons every seven day- ' -y-'x. ' ^'-'W ' y ) :; Indies Spilt Three Ways . Pa-st:season witnessed a splitup in the-runks'of local Independents with three separate organizations now in the fl(3lcl. First breakaway from the. long-established Independent Thea- tre Owners of Southern California, was by-a group of indies affiliated with Fox-West Cbast,.'who' organ- ized: the Theatre Owners Chamber of cbmnierce, since changed to.. the Theatre Owners Association of S. G. About midsummer, ■\vhpii' c'oiiditi.o'ns ; (CPhtlhued iah page 4(1) fig d. IL cuHL the sCudlb $135 instead of $5.000.. .i__O.n.e_c.0-mi).any..c.a.ughtJln. the.pjits. ity drive with a lot of hotcha pic- tures that drew cbridemnatloh rat- ing from the campaigners today of- fers no pr-oblem tp the. Hays office. A telegram from the chief tin hat In the home .office to the studio read; 'if Jpe ;Breeri7 tellsi ypu' t^^ change a picture yoU do what, he tolla you- It any one falls to do this—and this goes ^or my brother —he's fired.' 'But all etudips are not such a cinch. That'-s -^yhere ; Breen has to go into action and fight the cajolery and throats sonietimcs witii strong: language, at tinics that would make a Bllllngsg.ate fishmonger blush. It may . sound paradoxical, but Hollywood. Is turning but cleaner picUin'S because of Joe Breen'a prp- 'I'i'i'niiy.'"" ■■""■■ ■-■ --—:•■- -- -.v