Variety (Sep 1935)

VARmif Wednesdayt' SeplemBer ll, 1933f Amusements Reach New Top levels; ■ ■ N Nine New Peaks Marked Up in Sdrge IKE WEAR stock market held fltm yesterday' (Tuesday) In another 2,000,000- share day, ^ with important Indus- trials hitting new . highs. This up- 8urjB;e. pushed : several in amuse- inent .]ist to highest ground this year. These Included American seating, at 13%; Eastman Kodak, at 166, an advance of. 4 points for the day; Geneiar Electric, 34%; and WestinghOuse, at 76%. Badlo B. rallied more than a point to 64%, whllie Trans-Lux equalled Its pre- vious 1936 top at 3%. Picture com- pany issues were unchang€i4 to fractionally lower. A resumption of thti advance, led by industrlial favorites; jcarrled the Amusement Group to highest levels of the year in last week's stock mar- ket. Group went to about 36% and showed the remarkable advancie of 0.729 of a point as measured 6y the average for. 12 representative Issues. Low level was 33%. , Most pleasing feature of strength in amusements was that the Amuse-' ment Group went up on heayy vol- ume. More than 493,000 shares, changed hands lii this grpup, mak- ing highest volume of the yean Vast amount of trading naturally was in-Issues recently placed on the big board, but others also Joined in the activity. This; upsurge and Increased inter- est in picture &nd radio stocks found refleetion In 16 new ,1936-h^ghs for stocks arid nine new peaks for amusement liens. . Eastman Kodak common aqd. Westinghduse conimon were greatest gialners, latter being up ° points and Eiastman four points. Manner in which high-priced blue-chip stocks piished forward was heartening to tradera. With many leading Industrials foi'glng Into new high territory it was to be expected that the Dow-Jon^s Indus- trial .averagea would hit a hew peak for the year. New hlgti wasM83.36, Averaged' ilrili9h^d at-132.48, iip 4.69 points on t)ie .week. Rail and utility averages lagged in comparison, neither , group getting to high ground reached months ago. . Highest 1936 prices were reached by Aiherlcan Seating, 13%; East- man Kodak,-163%; Loew's common, 44%; Gidneral Electric, 34%; ;Madl- eon Square Garden, 10%; Paraf mount common, 11; Paramount first pfd., 98%1 .Pathe,"-7%; Radio;con> mon, 8; RKO,'4%; 'ZOth Century Fox c6nimbn;18%; :pfd., 27.%; War- ner Bros, corhmon, 6%r pfd., 44%, and Westlnghouse common, 76. Amusement . bonds which made new peaks were General Theatre Equipment Hens and certificates of deposit for same, both at 16; Par' amount-FamoUs-Lasky Os and cer' tlflcates of same, both 106; Para' mount-Publlx'6%s,'at 108, and cer- tificates at 107%; Paramount Plcr tures 6s at 96%; RKO debentures, 65, and Warner Bros, 6s,.at 82%c. Steady improvement in business as shown , by various trade indices together with optimistic view the street took of Roosevelt's statement that he :was. through 6&perlmeritfng (Continued on page '24) Yesterday's Prices . . Net Galeai- .. . Hlgli Low.tABt.ctage. 000 Col. Plot.. -OS^ eBV4 05% - % BOO Con. Pll . ■ •4% 4% 4% + H MO East. K.,MBO 132 IRO +4 24,20& Qep. El.-..*34% Sa>/t + % S,700 I.oew . . 44ik 48^ 49% 7,400 Par. new. 10% 10% 10V5 - % 6,700 • Do, 2<1 pf 12% 11% 11% 1,800 faae, new 6% 6% 6% —. 27,800 RCA 7% 7% 7% 4,000 Radio B.. »% eS «4% +1% 8,600 RKO ..... .8% 8% 8% ^, 1,200 20th Cen.. 18 17% 1714—% 9,900 w. B..... ev4 ovi evi - % CURB .700 Tech. .... 2014 10% 19% - % ,200 Trane-L .. 3V4 814 8V4 + % BONDS' tab.OOO Gen. ..10 15% 10 1,000 Loeiw .... 104% 104% 104% - % 5,000 Par-Bwy.. 61 .01 01 — % 08,000 Par, new. 00?4. 95% 05%- 14 6,000 RKO ...•..•05% 6414 05%+% 85,000 Wi B 82%. 81% 81% — % » New 1035 hlBh.' WAMPAS NO MORE Its Potency... Gone, P.A. Group to Lose Identity ip Masqui^rs Hollywood, Siept 10. ' The once potent Wampas will lose Its identity some time this week when the remaining jiiiembers merge with the Masquiers or with- draw fromi the atniiation, fecelVing an amount equal to the Masquers membership fee. With some $6,600 in the treasury cash ■ and dues payable, the amount will be turned over to the Masquers, to pay for the -.member- shlpsi Wampas. has suffered a gradual decline since thd forming of the Hays organization. Previous to that time, Wampas as an organization. studio and free lance press agents, dictated policies, was a regulatory body for the craft. With the fot^ndlng ,6f the Hays .organiza- tion, duties of' the Wampas; as an organization were usurped , and It became a mpre or ;|e^s impotent, so-, clal club,' an excuse for a weekly gathering 9f p.a.'Si Studlo*S: threes years.ago refused to cooperate with the Wampas on its annual selection, of Baby Stars,< the Wampas annual ballyhoo.- Club went out and corralled 12 freelance players as Baby stars but lacking major studio co-operation the se- lections meant nothing. For the past two- years, membership has dwindled to a handful. < Merritt Crawford's Film .Alliance Advispiy B'd Film Alliance, headed' by Mcirrltt Grawfordj has already Itnied up flock of advisors In its production schenieS.^Among those interested are Herman' Shunilln, Albert Beln, John Gassner, Andte Sennwald Richard .Watts, Jr.; Thornton Dele- hanty, WiH'^™ Boehnel, Evelyn Gerstein, Otis Ferguson, WHUam Troy, G.' W. Pabst, Robert (Sess ner, John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz and George Sklar, all to act on the advisory board. "This list Includes Shelley Hamilton, v-p of the National Board of Revle^v Irving Browning. Is listed on the board of directors. Group la not only concerned with 16 mm. enthusiasts, but primarily iji standard 35 mm. films. Split Up Assignments Hollywood, Sept. 10. Assignments for Kenneth Mac gpwan at:Radio .before he Jumped over to 20th Century-Fox as a pro- ducer have been given to Zion Meyers land Dave < Hempsfead. Former gets • 'Two o'clock Cour age,' while . Hempstead' has been given 'Long Ago Ladies.' L. A. to N. Y. Louise Henry', Irene Lee. Jane Dixon. H. C. Potter.. George Halght. Addison Bailey. Ed Davis. Hari-y M. Warneir, Margo.' Frank Craven. Louis Weiss. Nat Dorfman. . Arthur "ShadurT' Alexandeiv Korda. • Sir Corinop Guthrie. Etlenne- Pallos, Marshall Nellan, Read Kendall. Gladys Swarthout. Wm Hays. Gertrude Nlesen, Gene Autry. Henry Armetta. Eddie Sutherland, Herbert Marshall, Nathan Biirkan. Maurice Silverbtone. Scotto On 'G a Minute' Hollywood, Sept, 10. Aubrey H. Scotto has been signed a,t Mascot by Al. Ijcroy to direct '$1,000 a Minute,' starring. Roger Pryor, ricttire, flr.«)t Miifrcot feature for Rei5ublic release, IS slated to shove off Sept. 17. "Vlnce Barnett promi- nently in. N. Y. to L. A. Pat Ballard. Marta Eggerth. John LcRoy Joh Jan Kiepurn. Bin RoblnsOn< Rlmone Slnion, •Dixie Dunbar. Abe Lastfogcl. David O.. Selznick. Jhhri E. Gtter.soh. Johnny, yreeri. • lienWe Waytoh. Universal Will Produce Qilbert-Bernard Shorts Hollywood, Sept. 10. Jj, Wolfe Gilbert and Felix Ber- nard have sold Universal three two- reel ideas and optioned for three more by the studio.: Sam Van Run- kel will produce. dilbert-Bernard team supply yarns and songs. First two will be 'The Cut In' and 'Quintuplets on Parade.' Fla. Coast Guard Steps Into News Battle of five newsreel compaules to obtain first prints of the hurri- cane r stricken Florida region and the S.S. Dixie, aground off the coast, as taken from a coast guard plane, reached a climax last week; when S. officials stepped in. Protests of Fox Movietone to the coast guard commandant in Washington that it was entitlfed to these shots proved unavalllhg* Result, was that Uni- versal, Pathe arid Metrotone were the .only companies to get these plane yiews^ first of stranded steamer and the Initial motion pic- tures of the storm havoc off the keys. Paramount got other plane shots. Universal) Metrotone. and - P;athe sent James Lyons, cameraman, by plane to Jacksonville Tuesday. Made remainder of journey to Miami over water-gutted highways by auto. "When coast guard plane "was or- dered on flight' over the hurricane-- swept keys country Wednesday to learn extent of damages and ascer-- taln It anybody had lived through the storm, Lyons was only camera- hian to.make trlp. He obtained jplc- tures of the Dixie and the desolate region* being the first' to see the wrecked Conservation Corps camp. Camera also shows wreokied train and mariner in which roadbed -was carried away. The. three companies representa- tions to the <!pa8t guard were -that they were solely entitled to the fllm becausei they alone made application for thiB' pictures. before the flight was made. They infotriied the coast guard commandant that on this basis prints -were "Withheld from Paramount and Fox, With coast guard later a4mlttlng correctness Of claim made by PAthe, Universal and Metrotone. After beiri^ on duty for more than 4S hours in the storm and part of the time flying over the ocean and flooded region In the coast guard plane, Lyons collapsed shortly after phoning N. Y. fllm editors of scenes obtained. This and delays,iri ship- ping prevented negatives ifrom reacliing New York city until Fri- day (6) afternoon.' Result was that these reels did not hit Broadway houses . until Saturday morning. Paramount got into the houses same riiornlng with other plane views of ho^t '3'"<i storm. Universal, Pathe and Metrotone shot out these pictures by air ex- press Saturday (7) morning and caught boats for Europe .same day Importance'attached to bbtainlng these! films -was seen ■when It was repprteil In Industry circles that at least one of the two newsteel "^com panics wbuld deriiand an investiga- tion, of the affair bj^ the' house mill tary ways and means committee;. Inside Stuff-Pictures Falling to exercise transfer rights by Aug, 30, when isuch transfeij rights expired, many persons are holding, old Paraniount PubHx certlfl^i cates as well as warrants. Included among the investors are Par em^i ployes who bought the Old stock six. years ago and have been holding it ^Those who failed to exercise transfer rights by Aug. 80 state they paici no attention to notice calling their attention to this nedesslty becauae they received bo many notices under , the bankruptcy arid r-eorganlzation^ they stopped paying attention to them, only to wake up to<> late. While Warner ros. and RKO are having dlfflculty getting together, on a product, deal this year to cover the Greater New York area, with situation reducing Itself down to pressure from WB in selling away to RKO opposition theatres In some sections, an R:KO partrier, Mort Slriger, has signed for Warner pictures. • Singer's, deal covers Orpheum iiouses which he opei-ates in MinrieapoUs, New Orleans, Omaha, Davenport, and Cedar Rapids. Contract'-is' for Warners 100^, ' ' " As major-distributing company p clals. this week go Into confabs oiv possible adoptlori of a 2,000-foot reel, there Is considerable apparent re* sentment In some quarters o-ver the iEact Iha* this; Academy idea, was ap« proved In Hollywood by Coast offlcials.. Company chieftains clalriv: thai some of home offices -were not even consulted .before placing an okay on the larger reel. One compariy claims the whole scheme was ofUcially approved by their Hollywood representative before the N. Y. office wan advised. Doob's S,ec, Anna Elmer 1 of S,S. Dixie Survivors Anna D. Elmer, secre'^ary to Os cat Doob, Loew publicity chief, was on board the S. S. Dixie returning from a Canadian Rdckles vacation when it went on the Florida reefsi last week. She returned to N. Y, City .Saturday (7) with plenty of stories of hetolsm in the storm. Miss Elmer had been in Banff, Canada, and returned via Cali- fornia and New Orleans. REGAL GETS GOING Hollywood, Sept. 10 George Hlrllman is readying first of his scheduled eight Magriacolor fcaturies under the Regal Prbduc- tlons. label at Talisman studios, while negotiating major release for his product; Roger Whateiey has been as- signed to script the first yarn, 'The Rescuer,' a Foreign Legion Drama, Previewed and soundly panned by Coast critics, result" on a major studio's picture is being blamed on the director -who permitted his wife to sit on the set throughout the picture, change dialog, business, camera, setups and situation at will. Star of the fllm protested but got nowhere and was finally sold by this lady that she was giving the picture 'class.' Director's wife produced a single reeler which received acclaim from the arty mob. More spiace is being devoted to motion plctures by newspapers than ever before, and there is ari increasing demand for both, art photos arid copy on 'the part of the large dailies around the country. This Information was uncovered, at a meeting of the studio publicity committee of the Hayt^ organization by several studio press agents who had made recent swings through the midwest and cast for theli; companies. ..'>: Demand has grown for experienced advertislng-ptibliolty-exploltation men with the arrival of the new show season.. A number of meri have been or are being put to work on roadshow engagements of pictures and as special explolteers on new films on regular release. Par Is using some 09 'Crusades,' while Columbia has put on a bunch for 'She Married Ht!^ Boss' dates. United Artists Is also contributing to' the employment cit advance mien. ' ~" ''" Los Angeles city proper, which for past several months has had leiss than half a dozen straight single bill' first run houses, recently had 12 first runs soloing. Two of total United Artists and Egyptian, «£l» contlnu<|d first run of Fox's 'Steamboat 'Round the Bend.' Other houses sploing are Chinese, "Warners Hollywood, Piantagcs, Four Star, Para- mount, Loew's State, Warner's Downtown, .HKO Hlllstreet, Filmarte and Grand International, latter two housing foreign plx. Walkout of Rlan James on his Gaumont- rltlsh contract was on the advice of Martin Gang, his attorney, upon arrival of the contract Which was iaald not to be In accordance with original negotiations. Contract, while it stipulated 30 weeks- at $1,600 weekly, gave GB the right to cancel at flie end of any •week a;nd also called for James to make personal appearances and write ad copy. Latter two Items were not In the original deal. It Is claimed. Several financial houses last week awakened to the possibilities of amuseriient stocks; as a result of the Labor Day week Broadway grosses. This Is the time of the year that many amusement issues begin re- flecting the uptrend In box office receipts of the winter riionths. Some brokerage establishments are preparing pamphlets covering the situation with a few riiaking specific recommendations. Figuring to cash in on-any prestige Michael-Bartlett may garner -wheiv replacing Frank. Parker on ..the-Jack Benny Jello air program, starting Sept. 29, Fanchon & Marco is setting back play dates of 'She Married^ Her Boss' (Col), in both Los Angeles and San Francisco until .sometime: in October. Bartlett is one of the leads in the pic and F&M, fwith Co- lumbia agreeing, wants to get full value of any breaks. Report Is that Paramount has spent around $20,000 redecoratirig John Otterson's suite-of offices on the ninth floor of the Paramount building, N, Y. ■ • '" Aniong items Installed in the suite is a kitchen. At preserit most of the. cifflce space in Otterson's suite, which occupies around a half floor. Is unoccupied. Afraid he might be misquoted by piny niewspaper men on arrival from Europe Monday. (9), Jan Kiepura, Polish actor over here for Paramount,', instructed Par to bring a couple stenographers along on this cutter n^eet-''. Ing him. He wanted the shorthand writers so they could take down, everything. ^ - ■ — Loew's State, the Paramount and the Lyceum (legit) In New York are making'use of the opening now available across the Criterion block, since the latter house and' the old :Ne'w York theatre are torn down, by hang-. % Ing valances and large cloth' streamers on their properties adjacent to. ' the (jriterlon-New York lot. Flock of picture names in Callfprnia are miffed at a star who man- ages to get the cream of publicity on charitable affairs, but when the event rolls around the star is never to be found. Other players have been showing up to do their bit but they are now qualifying their acceptance with the proviso 'I'll show up if you do.' Los Angeles territory subsequent run house|^rili'e threatened with.va shortage of feature'product breaks, during next few Aveeks, due to current holdover of thrfee pictures being day-dated In-total of six houses. ' Sit-, uation expectied to continue, more or. less, during season due to the three Los Angeles day-date pools, on sik of the local nine flr.st runs. Graham McNamee, called to Unlversal's lab after midnight Frldajr (C) to do the newsreel commentation on the Florida hui'Hcane, became .so hoarse that he finally gave up on one scene. Clip Is in but no chatter from McNamee. ^ While burlesque houses were closed a few "days la.st week because of, the strike, arid absence of legit shows, Pox Brooklyn held the distinction o'f being the only hou.se in Brooklyn with stage show.