Variety (Mar 1936)

Wednesday, March 4,1936 PI c t ES VARIETY Unprogrammed Ted Healy-L B. Mayer Act at Studio Club Shindig; $3,500 Net liollywoodj. March 3. tudio .Club, wtiich had a 1 formal dinner dance Feb. 29. at the a Ambassador hotel, attended by 700, <H'including top studio execs, stars ■ and other studio employees, had one unprogrammed act which proved . ; the tallf of.the town the following: 1 v Sunday 'and at 'the studio on Mon- 'day. ' During introduction of acts and - entertainment, Ted Healy, as m.c, . : -clowned with acts and as Igor Gorin ' hit a high note In a folk song en- core, remarked, 'that's all I wanted .to know,' and 'said he would then : Blng a folk song and proceeded into a- mammy number. ':• Louis B. Mayer, flushed,' rah to •the front of the. .ripbin,; halted the 'proceeding's? and j .pushed 'Healy to the side. Healy' thinking it a gag carried off the incident With a smile, :i with majority-of mob as well as he ti .figuring it was a .gag on part of the Metro studio head. However, Healy '" v 'was ' later informed Mayer was "'burned at him and that he owed an apology. Just before the program ended Pete Smith, functioning as m.c. in a suave manner, started talking ' u 'fcbout a boy from Broadway who l.'i.'carne' to Hollywood for a, chance nsandtthen brought Healy before the mike. There was thunderous ap- 0-*%}iause.'for five minutes from the -lajKowd before Healy could talk. "With IfloMs overcoat and hat on Healy ad- dressed the crowd, 'I don't, feel I have done anything wrong. They told me I ought to apologize. I be- lieve, that Mr. Mayer is the one in the .wrong. I know that Metro is the biggest company and that Mr. Mayer is a power. I'm not afraid of anyone. I don't have to be, I can still make a dollar singing in bar- ,'rooms.' Then Healy went on to reiterate he. didn't fear anyone in- the business. Putting his apology up to the crowd; Healy stated, 'If you feel I owe an apology, I apologize.* Then with a smile, Healy called- to "Mayer's table arid said, 'Come, on, L. ^B., give me a'smile, doggone you;' Mayer' walked on the .floor shook hands with Healy and addressed the Metroites, 'Ted Healy is sup- posed to use his judgment at all times in his acts and. judgment. He was not to be used in making fun of M : auch a great voice as Gorin's or 1 J Allan Jones.' Mayer went on to say, 'When I i' 'hear a voice as great as Gorin's or * Jones'' I'm as much a. fan as anyone '-'■and: don't feel that such artists should le ridiculed even as an act.' Studio head then complimented members on their good behavior after which Healy went on singing his folk ..song. Affair was a financial success ^garnering around $3,500 net for the club. Ruth Roland's Can. Pic Quebec, March, 3. Dave Bruxermah, with Joe;Kru4ll- berg assisting, is directing a local pic with Ruth Roland 'in lead arid several local socialites in scenes. Shooting the past three Weeks, film •s now on last lap. •Temporary title is "From Nine to Nine* and is first of 12- to be put over by Associated Screen News for British quota here. Danny Ahearn Paroled Under a Heavy Guard Albany, March 3. A heavy guard accompanied Danny Ahearn, autnor and scenario writer, upon his departure last week from Great Meadow prison after having been paroled. He had been convicted of attempted grand lar- ceny. Ahearn is known especially •/.'for his book, 'How to Commit a Murder and Get Away "With It.' Ahearn was said to have been on ..■-..'the way to New York and eventu- al ally to Hollywood where he expects to write for Alms. Officials would no.t explain why policemen were guarding Ahearn, rbut it was learned measures were .taken to protect him from gang-- land vengeance. Ahearn landed in prison after he was convicted of attempting Il- legally to sell memberships in the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' I'nion lii New York. Second Suit in Par Airplane Crash, Pat Drew Asks $165,000 Angeles, March ' 3.. Chauncey D. (Pat) Drew, elec tric^an with - the Paramount crew that figured in plane crash near At- lanta, Mo., last. May, has filed suit against Transcontinental & "West ern Air, seeking $165,000 for loss of left leg and other! injuries. Complaint, second growing out of the crash, also asks leave to amend when damages, through loss of Salary, ^return of compensation be- ing paid Drew by Paramount, and other expenses; could be computed. Here's Sand in Your Eye, Deserts Greeting to Scribes on Location Plenty- of Headaches At- tached ; . to . Rounding Up 10 Stars Weekly for These Programs, What with Film Production Sched- ules, T&me for Radio Re- hearsals, Etc. PICKFORD-PARSONS HOPKINS' PIC WITH JR. FAIRBANKS IN LONDON Hollywood, March 3, Miriam Hopkins is understood to have broken up her South. American tour at Mexico City, to return to discuss .with Myron Selznlck the possibility of doing a picture with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., in London. Actress'has planed for New York, to discuss the matter with Samuel Goldwyn, for permission to make-the picture before' he sails for Europe. Goldwyn is,scheduled to sail today (Wednesday). HOLMAN BACK Harry, Holman arrived In. New York from abroad Monday (2) and left for Hollywood. He made a picture in London. Hollywood, March 3. Battle for picture names to ap- pear oh radio programs is at its height here. Currently with five programs weekly; using picture names every star In Hollywood is being »hust!ed by representatives of the .various advertisers for spots on their programs. ' Bing Crosby's Kraft Cheese hour, Al Jolsoh's Shell Chateau, Mary Pl'ckford's United Ice hour, Louella Parsons' 'Camp- bell's. Soup airing and the Lux pro- gram are the competitors' for .pic- tyre personalities. ■. In the case of the Kraft, Shell and Lux programs, latter emanating from New.. York, J. Walter Thomp- son' Co. handling the account, pays for all p.a.'a. Soup (Wallis Arm- strong) and Ice. (Donahue & Coe) airing expect the stars to appear gratis. Thompson, outfit has put a crimp" in the free 'talent to a certain extent by insisting that between the - time of signing the. contract with a star and their appearance on any Thompson account, they cannot appear in a gratis Bhow. Averaging around $2,000 for a first line star; plus. transportation if they are on for Lux, the ruling makes the stars hesitate about giving their talents away. Roundup Troubles It's no easy matter to get ah aver- age of 10 stars weekly for the-air. Problems are many, including stu- dio production schedules, material, type of program and availability of players.. It's all a headache for the program's contact . men.' In the case of both the Parsons and Plckford programs, all sorts of pressure Is brought, on the . players to get them- before the mike. Oppo- sition, between Miss Parsons and Miss Plckford ~ Is keen, with ' both (Continued on page 75) Ernie Orsatti Goes 10% St, Louis, March 3. Ernie Orsattl, outfielder for St. Louis Cardinals, has retired from baseball fpr good to assume.-duties as .v.p. of Orsattl & Co., theatrical agents, Hollywood, Cal. Last fall, after a so-so year due principally to Injuries, Orsattl . was . traded to Rochester in • International League. He arid his :brother, Prank, will conduct Hollywood business.; Ernie doubled for Buster keaton in many pics and is no novice in film/ and theatrical fields. Life on World Cruise Ship, Travelog In 5 Languages, by J. A. Fitzpatrick Jane Withers P.A.'ing In Chicago at $2,500 Chicago, March 3. Jane Withers, picture kid player, opens at the Balaban & Katz Ori- ental Friday (6) at a reported sal- ary of $2,500. Agent Harry Rogers Is now lin- ing up two additional weeks for the Coast youngster. REINHARDT HOLDS OFF NEXT WB PIC TILL FALL Hollywood, March 3. Following powwow with Jack L. Warner and Hal Wallis, Max Rein- hardt, reached decision to defer his next film for Warners until late fall. He plans to return to his theatre in Salzburg within a few weeks to re- main through the summer. Rcinhardt. with his wife, Ilclene Thimig, caused some concern to WB execs on day of his arrival here from .east by leaving train at Ana- heim, and motoring through the orange empire. Capetown, Feb. 6. James A. Fitzpatrick bas arrived here on a world cruise which he is taking to film two features for Metro. First will be In color, a full-length travel picture, with ac- companying narrative In. English, French, Italian, Spanish and Ger- man".' H.. M. WinUm, cameraman, and Fred Detmers, assistant, are handling the shooting. Other film, black and white, titled •AU the World's" a Stage,' will be a dramatic story depicting emotions and life on a world ship cruise. Wheeler Dryden; Daphne Warren- Wilson, Molra Lynd, Benjamin. D. Sharp and Charles Hone, who are scheduled for roles in this film, came in oh the boat with Fitz- patrick. Frank A. Goodliffe, cam- eraman, and Hall Roblllard, sound engineer, comprise technical crew for this unit. Percy Marmont, British film and stage actor, also reached here today to join the Fitzpatrick party on their cruise. He plans to make two features in the Far East. At the conclusion of his tour next June, Marmont plans to open in New York in a new play, 'Queen's Folly,' and to take the production to Lon- don later. Colored Paper Pans Connelly's Baltimore, March Etaltlmore Afro-American, nation's largest Negro newspaper, this week carries a story claiming Marc Con- nelly drew what the sheet describes as a 'color line' in casting his . play, 'Green Pastures,' for a Warner pic. Paper says this 'has . greatly in- censed the entire theatrical fra- ternity of Harlem.' The 'color line/ in the Afro's vernacular, means that Connelly has . chosen only very dark complected actors for screen version of 'Pastures'; with the paper bluntly announcing 'Pullman porters arid, stevedores get. leads.' . Connelly is taken to task because It is charged many Negro actors are Idle, while cast of 'Pastures' is de- scribed as non-pro. Because they were light-hued, many who were In stage production are not in the film, paper asserts,. The late Rich- ard,'Harrison (the original 'De Lawd'), would not be in pic were he alive, the paper opines. Reason fpr Connelly picking very dark Negroes for roles is that he doesn't want 'erii to black up. The Afro alleges that because he was too light, Charles Winter Wood, who assumed lead in stage show after Harrison's death, is not in the film; ditto George Randol, the Pharaoh on the stage; Daniel Haynes, who played Adam, and others. The Afro claims that colored ac- tors are referring to the forthcom- ing film as 'The Black Pastures.' Hollywood, March 3. 20th Century-Fox wanted th« press to get a good look at th« California desert transformed into an Arabian cominurilty for 'Under Two Flags'^ so it sent out an Invita- tion to 25 trade, dally and fan mag writers to be its guests laBt week- end, and the press was entertained. Harry Brand, 20th-Fox public re- lationser, made some swell arrange- ments. Brand can usually fix most things but is; at a loss in handling the weather. Here he was double- crossed. 100%. Press party left Hollywood at 6 p.hi, Saturday, ar- rived dri the location next rriornir..; to be greeted, not by Ronald Col- man, Claudette Colbert and "Victor" McLaglen, but'by one' of the worst sandstorms that the desert has been able . to whip up in many a day. Eyen Death "Valley Scotty stuck in- doors with his feet in the stove. . .Twenty gents and five femmes of of fourth estate, sat around th« •camp, soon found their eyes, mouths^ ears and -noses filled with sand. One grand old gal became hysterir cal and. had to be sent back to Los Angeles by car. Remainder of the brave band of newshounds stuck It out. Back to Calexlco they came to . the comfort a modern hotel which soon ran out of hot water because the mob all jumped in tubs at the same time. That night, most of the scriveners went over to Mexican, on the Mexican side for a glimpse of life in the raw. Next morning the' lads and lassies took a vote; decided riot to travel back the .37 niiles to the sand dunes, but back to Los Angeles Instead,' so they loaded themselves on the bus for home' and fog,'but ho sand. Sidriey Skolsky. didn't make th» trip. -Someone told hlrri there wer« Indians in the neighborhood* GOLDWYN'S $165,000 FOR 'DEAD END' RIGHTS Film rights to 'Dead End,' legit hit, via the sealed bid routine went to Samuel Goldwyn. It's the first time picture rights have been sold in this manner. Price paid Norman Bel Geddes reportedly $165,000. This is $5,000 more than Goldwyn paid for 'Dods worth,' Sinclair Lewis >novel, which brought $160,000. Every major film producer bid for the legit hit. The S1G5,000 price by Goldwyn Is the second highest for screen rights to any show; novel or story. High is 'Broadway,' bought by Universal for $240,000. Second highest bidder for rights was Warner Bros., with a reported offer of $110,000. Perelmans' (Film) 'Divorce' Hollywood, March 3. Paramount has assigned S. J. and Laura Perelman to do the treat- ment on. 'Diyorce.' Al Lewis produces. rade Mark Registered FOUNDED SI MB SILVERMAN Published Weekly by VARIETY, lue. Sid Silverman, President 164 West 46th Street, New Tork City WB Blowing Up 'Bubble' Hollywood, March 3. Script of 'The Mississippi Bubble,' Robert Lord's version of early American .financial wizardry, la be- ing written by F. Hugh Herbert. Errol Flynn set for top spot by Warners who will produce, with Lord supervising. INDEX Advance Production Chart 35 Bills ..... ^ Chatter ........ .76-77 Concert .........•••»•«•• 72 Exploitation ............. 33 15 and 50 Years Ago.....* H Film Reviews.•■• ...»•-»• -.26-27 House Reviews...........30-31 Inside—-Legit .,.....«.»•« 70 Inslde-^Muslc ........... 61 Inside—Pictures • International Film News. .24-25 International Show News. 73 Legitimate .............. 66-71 Literati : 74. Music * 58-61 New Acts.......... « 62 News from the Dallies... 78 Nlte Clubs.. 60-61 Obituary • 79 Outdoors 79 Pictures 2-47 Radio ...48-57 Radio—New Business.... 54 Radio—Reports 62 Radio—Showmanship ..« 54 Times Square 76 Short Subjects ., 27 Units •.••••*•••••»•••••« 62 Vaudeville ......62-64 Women , 76