Variety (Mar 1936)

VARIETY P I C T E $ Wednesday, March 4, 1936 Wild Charges Fly—Church Joins Film Biz—Neely Bill Affords Myers Free Latitude — Pettijohn, R. H. Cochrane,; Kent in Washington for Industry Washington, March 3. Screams of independent exhibitors and' civic leader a. last week min- gjled with trumpet blasts from, the Hollywood 'big eight,' ,aa. block; hooking-alternately wis' built up and; torn down before the; Neely sub- cbmmittee of,' the Senate: Interstate 1 jdbmm'ejr'Cf? Committee. '.' ., \ "Renouncing block booking.as,main reason Why objectionable pictures flh'd . their way. into communities Vfhich:. <not want them, members; .Of Allied .'States Association testt- fled that «xhibs' scorned- certain Maej West -films and would be only top •. gjad'tp cooperate, with uplift groups Jh Shoeing' gpdd ^pictures',, if eel^c- j tipn^were left up to them. _ - ; ^Industry . representatives; ,includ-i ing; Sidney ;R; .Kent, president of 20th Century-Fox, ;;and', Robert \Hv Cochrane, Universal v.p'., . were equally Insistent that when\ exhibi- tors: j&tdf to. /goj^vjpictu^ are talWn^' ! m terms of box office : •'rather,than,niprals. . • Senate 'hearing's;' rushed to ? , f - ; elusion Ftfday.'night <29) after; tVp. .flag's pf/niprhhig.aAd'^ j sforis, will', he .itolipWed by.', repeatj performance '. . the •■• House side,'• March 9. Neely-Pettengili - anti- bloolt booking' bill, joint ^measure sponsored by Senator Neely of West Virginia and Representative Pet- tengili' of Indiana, must be put through' its paces before, the. Pet-, tinglll subcommittee of the . House Interstate Commerce Committee be- fpre matter can be dropped or made into: law.. - : Church Allies with Pi r Minor sensation was created two "days before hearings, started in Washington, when Catholic' Church joined hands with its one-time arch? eriemy;;'Holly wood*. ■in. spirited defence,; oi block fcbbking; Bish'pp's committee of the Region of Decency issued' a stated meht condemning the Neely bill, and skying .that the Legion 'sees in the legislative measure, not a means: of securing a wholesome screen, but rather a -grave danger of political tehsprshlp,' ' : . Catholic spokesmen went on to #ay that. there would be: danger of political. appointees -interpreting the provisions of the. law so as^to. set up xnorfLl -standards Pf the industry, and that 'there would be danger, also of these appointees being Influenced by political pressure in their in- - - tetpr etatlons.* Parade ' of witnesses during " the first day's hearings consisted mainly of leaders'of civic and women's or- ganisations, " Abraham F:"" Myers, general, counsel, and. his Allied States associates. Dr. Stephen P. Cabot, honorary president of > Motion Picture. .Re- search 'Council, made, the- j pre? liminary Address *. before 'the Senate groutf, charging that 'while : the • in- dustry has " accepted responsibility' In. matters . relating to better films 'they haye not lived up to., it.'' Per ferring- to. films as 'a school of man-" ners'. for-; modern children, (Cabot produced. letters and , statements of psychologists and experts Jto illus- trate' 'vast: hajm* done to kids who attend f " pictures/ of the' gangsters end sexy type. Assuring ) Senate solons that 'ex- hibitors are forced to show second rate pictures because, block booking system gives them no leeway for outside, buying of better films, Cabot said passage of the-Neely bill would 'open the field to independent and experimental production' and would encour a ob Independent producers to make pictures. 'We . believe this bill will restore free competition and in the long run that would be a real help to art. We believe it'will remove the femstantly threatening danger .of this-powerful Industry in Hollywood dictating its will as to what com- munities 3,000 miles away shall see,' the Research Council head declared. Cabot' admitted, however, that there had been a 'tremendous im- provemeht ,> in the class pf pictures produced, as compared with those of 1927, _.. Myers' Charges ^lock' booking and blind selling fare, the proper subjects of regula- tory legislation because they permit (Continued on page 64) 'FAUNTY' PREMIERE AT WARM SPRINGS, GA. Hollywood, March 3, World premiere of David-0..Selz- nlck's fLittle. Lord Fauntleroy.'- takes place ■' tomorrow • <4) at Wairm Springs/ Ga., being given 'for bene- fit ' of. the .Bp youngsters in in'stitu> tiori, sponsored by. President Roose- velt.. . ■'. u.. If sufficiently' recovered from his cold, • Freddie Bartholomew,, who plays title role, may go 'from New York to W^rhx Springs for the opening. M. C. Cooper Due Back. to Start on 'Goster' . Hollywood,:-March 3.— Expected ' to tetum to thevCoast after European trip early this mbnthi Merlant C. 7 Cooper will re- sume executive' spot at. Pioneer, putting into jprodubtibn 'Life-of Cus- ter/ lh .coipi^.Wii^; J i ohn Fprd direct- ing. ' "' ; ' , An- untitled story about.New York life is also. awaiting consideration by Cooper. '>.\S>> ; - ' : ' ■'" Levy Ba^ j«i Coast 'HoHywp.od,rMarcb 3. Jules Levy, RKO sales manager, got in Saturday (29) from Hono- lulu and remains on .the Coast for week; -! v '•■ * •.. Will hold -discussions- with studio heads fin forthcoming product be- fore returning ..east. Metro's 'Have a Heart* Suit Los Angeles, March"3i J. Pratt Irby has, filed suit, against Metro in which he seeks $20,000 and a;n injunction; against studio's fur* ther use of the title 'Have- rHeart.' Complaint, asserts'. MQ used; title On a pic featuring Jean Parker and James Dunn in 1934- and - alleged Irby's assignor, Joseph W. Dubraks, invented the name. Pay for Pic Extras On Call for Hollywood, March 3. 11m extras, are now drawing pay for delays, ^heii canW to studids for fittings. Business managers of major lots, at meeting with Pat Casey, adopted., measure whereby time for any' ; co*sturrie >; fitting shall ^er limited to one and phe-ha^t hdurd from time of reporting.- ••*'.->, I ISxtras jalsmisisef wlthitf one and pne-half Tibiirs ftj^er belng^a^d Tviii be given carfare.. Extras detafned more: than an hour and a half on fittings will be paid on basis of one- quarter, of agreed daily wage for each two hours or-fraction-thereof.; L. A: to n; y. Jerry' Copper. Harry M..Warner..., Andrew Smith. .Giradwell Sears.., I..'.jiosepfi ^Bernha,rd. , .Mlriangv Hopkins,.. • Grantland- Rice. ;. John Zarift. . Leo Justin. - ! ' Howard Pietz. Mary Pic'kfordV Lynn Farhbl. Bill. Kuser.. \ - Marlon Parsonnett, Ned Wplfl RosalieStewart? George Browhe. .; Josephine Hutchinson. Spyros Skouras.- William Powers. Xlxh 'p&ylftsori. ' Irving; Betry. Stepin Fetchlt. Gil Pratt. Lou Anger. .-•Winifred Shaw.- ': .'Meivilie ; Baker. : M: • H. 5 Ayreswbttti.- Bef'na'rd Newmiiin. Bichard : A'. Rowland. ' Lynn Far'nol; , Ed Xlpersbn. Sammy. Holtzmap. Ned- Depinet. N, Y. TO L. A. Gene Raymond. Sigmund Romberg. Jack Cohn. '* Bob Colder. . Jeffrey Berperd. Jimmy Campbell. Leo Flanders. Frank Lawton. Monfcy obtained from sale of $15,000,000 issue .of Loew/s^ Inc., 3%% linking fund' deben;tJuV.e8 1st. to ,be ijsed %o\ reiinb^r^e company's treasury for-advances made^itb '^ubsiaiaries fpr. retiring .debt'And preferred .^stock and to add to Loew working capital. This is tp be done after $7,972,600 is employed in the redemption on April i of the present Loew 6% bonds. The, new, small-interest bearing. Loew - bonds are subject to redemption ahead of maturity' date and also .'are entitled to benefit of semi-annual sinking fund, starting May 15 this year. This will retire at least $760,000 of the. principal amount each year. ' - Through agreement between Fox-West Coast Theatres and United Artists/Distributing Corp.,-' Los Angeles break oh Charlie. Chaplin's •Modern Times' is advanced three days ahead Of the customary .14 days' clearance, as set up in the .F-WC protection, sheet, which conforms to the late NRA schedule. Under agreement, downtown, first .run of '.Times' will conclude Wednesday (6) afer .its. week at the United Artists, .fol- lowing-two weeks.at'Loew's State (day-date vfith Chinese in Hollywood) 'ii»d'g6e^'-into--eirduIt'8 .^Vllshire -<40o ib&bey::ii : '<lay9 : 'Uiter. • George J. Schaefer, new y.p. and general sales manager of United Arjtists,.,chose this' deal 'in preference tp several others reportedly made him* in.'additlbn to standing a' good chance of. returning to Par •'with ^ddlphJZukor said to favor thaK .' ,iiad pff6r$ irpm> both. Metro and the proposed new Cowdln-Rogers "Interests in 'JUniv^rs'aK Latte^ wapted Schaefer to dome in as general manager and understood that he was Vav'erlner-between this and the one. he^-accepted .in-UA.- Metro wanted Schaefer in ■ ' ,*' Construction work lagged last .week pn-the. new .Criterion, 1,500 seater, on the old New YorkVCrlUrion site, on ■ Brpadway between 44th to 46th streets.. Non-sirriv'al pi final steel girders. wa.s the reason. Block long sign,. whilcK- will 'he' a, Wrigley ad; is 76% s completed- and Will be lighted long before the theatre Is completed. Sign r itself is covered with 'special tarpaulins as soon as bolted in place. •Hoase, is slated for pccup.an.cy..in May, lease to B.' s. Moss. Landing only one-art student-with ability as ah animator after trying out 50 aspirants from 1,700 who responded tp advelrtrsement, Walt Disney Is launching extensive drive in eastern fields. From- ads placed in eastern dailies, producer figures' on' large'crpp of students 'and i? adding 12 class- rooms'to 15'already; in o>pcration';at his Coast. studios. Candidates ac^ cepted go info school tinker 'sniail salary for period of time. Those that make grade go on the Disney animating staff, International Photographer, on front cover of February Issue, 'iised photo of Mary Pickford,, Jesse Lasky and other execs on United Artists set Of unrt's- 'Onei B^h^y'>Afte^|^p1bn. , '-In background of. group Merrltt Gerstad, chief lenser on the "picture, ' was blocked outl Gamerarnai , i t *ap- parentlyr unpopular-with- union mag. because of his attitude durtng' t 'i9S8 strike. " Universal lineup for "Buclc Jones for current season will provide? Idr player's screen appearance. 23 times in more than 4,000 picture houses, playing the 15-chapter serial, 'The Phantom 'JClller,' plUs eighit western features,' In'which'he will be.Starred. This ..will^tpp all previous: highs for any picture player's playdates during, a single season. Valley of Death sequences in : Warners' 'Charge of the Light Brigade,' .will be biggest outdoor sets called for by. any picture, -with Director Michael Curtiz, and other WB execs now scouting locations near Inde- pendence, Cal., and In Arizona. "Outdoor scenes w'ill provide work for 3,000 'extras, plus 697 in the Light Brigade charges. Hollywood big time agent is sort of embarrassed and reluctant to ask favors for his clients from some of the studio big boys,, due to his falling down on picking winning nags at Santa Anita during closing weeks pf the' meet. In early season he. rated successful handicapper and cut studio execs In on his pickings. By MIKE WEAR Optiml&fic ' attitude t o w a^t* d s Roosevelt's, new .tax proposals and ;reflectiPn of warlike preparations abroad pushed stock market higher yesterday (Tuesday) in increased tr&dihg. Amusement sector "was in van. pft this forward drive. Although new highs' we're few, substantial gains, were recorded by many: Big- gest advances were made by. Uni- versal pfd., up 5% . points to new peak; Eastman Kodak, up 4%' v t° riew top; Radio ,B, up '3% near prer vioUB h'ifeh; Radio common, an , ad-, vance. of 1%; General, Electric; up nearly a point; Westlnghouse," si.' total gain of 2^; and Universal common up VA to 10. General Theatre bonds pushed ahead to new high territory at 27%. Paramount Pix liens climbed 1% points and Warner Bros, obligations advanced a point Columbia Pic- tures? common, dipped 2 points, to hew low at 37. Technicolor sagged from its recently established peak. Street was inclined. to view ad- ministration's new tax setup as forcing industrial companies to dis- burse all its extra earnings, making Eor increased dividends. After two-day healthy shake-out ip the middle of last week, the stock market rallied smartly Mon- day (2) to show substantial gains all along the line. Amusembnt Group; undoubtedly as well Hituated as many other representative groups, Yesterday's Prices* < Sales, < iOO 400 . 1,000 ' 13,000 : -3;70O 7,000 1,600 1,100 101,000 : 12,000 -16,600 3,000 1 15.C0O 11.400 2,000 $03,flOO 2,000 5,000 5,000 -84,000 1,000 23,000 High Co!. Plot.. 37 Oon^ Film East. K...167V& Gen. El..; 40'^ Loewr ...... 49%. Paramount 10% Do, 2d pt 11 Pa the .... 8% '•RCA ...... 13%' Radio B.. 04%' RKO...... 8% 20th-Fox.. 82V4 W. 3..... 13% • • CURB: Tech. .... 81%. Trans-L .. 414 BONDS' Gen.' Th..»27% Keith v.,.. DO Loow ..,..103 Par-B'wdy 50% Paramount W)W RKO 75% W. B°.04 Net Low.fcast.chge.- . .80% 30% + % 0% 0%' 165. 167 +4% 30% 40% 4- % 40 49%+%, 10 10% + % 10% ,11 4-, .% 7% 7% + % 13% +1%> 04% +3% 8%.+ % 32 . + %■ 13% + % 12% 01% 8% 31% 12% 27 27 96 •• 00 + 102%f02%. i3G%+% 80% 90% +1% 75% 75%>- % 93 04 +1 • New 1030 high. staged a strong comeback after two weeks of reactionary tendencies. With several issues pushing into new high territory, the group fin- ished with a gain of 0.875 of a point as measured by the averages. Close was at 43%. Amusement Group high was 44'A while low mark for 12 representative stocks wai"virtu- ally a duplicate of the previous week's figure of 4134..As with other sections of the market, volume dropped considerably, only 296,100 shares changing hands in this group. Strength In Universal pfd., Tech- nicolor and both issues of Twentieth Century-Fox carried through to the (Continued on page 30) r Collections this year for California State Unemployment Insurance Fund from extras and their employers, to be .made through Central Cast- ing bureau, Is expected to be in excess of $36,500. -Figures based on $2,500,000 paid out last year for mob-work. Of total assessment, employ- ers wiir pay $25,000. and players $11,600. Federal government couldn't see' an attempt of Fox West Coast to make a lower tax . Return on seven of it* non-operating subsidiary com- panies, with result that.capitai stock tax liens were slapped on the seven corporations in U. S. district court' at tos Angeles. " Liens total • slightly more than $2,400, companies named being subsids, all located in, California, ^New two-way amplification system: for theatres, invented .by Douglas Shearer, Metro spuhd eh^ef, has been' adopted by Radio Corp; of Amer- ica. Shearer, currently is. negotiating !With Electrical-Research Products, Inc., to construct, and distribute the ;apparatus. Loew's theatres, and affiliates will install system- ! ' ' ' ' . Harry . Warren and Al Dubin, . doing songs for 'Hearts Divided" it Warner's, have completed their 69th film tune sinfie. Starting, as a'-team less than three years ago. In- addition they have, knocked^ put six songs which have not been used In films. Warren has 'written the melody ; : of 84 songs, while Dubin,did lyrics for, 96 accepted numbers.. -■ 'Green Pastures,' just, completed at Warners, finished up in appro'xi- mateiy 176,000 feet; This will be cut to 10,000 ft. for intended 100 min- utes' showing. George Amy gets cutting task. Official billing for film will read: Directed by Marc Connolly- and William Keighley. Old time film, fave, in dire need, .was tipped off to job. by friends. She called ac the studio but flatly rejected the offer-.because the. part wasn't exactly what she thought it should be. "Femme is missing meals rather tl n climb off her pedestal. Script formula at" Paramount has been changed after many y£ars, dialog and action now being incorporated' in one form, same as those Used for stage plays. Heretofore, and in most studios, picture scripts are split, with dialog on- one side and action on the othor, Split system was invented when sound pictures came in, Production of filmusicals last year by RKO showed an increase of 10% over the previous twelvemonth, it is revealed in figures compiled by Carl Dreher, head of studio's sound department. Statistics .show that 37% of the company's pictures carried tunes. He said indications pointed to an even greater'increase this year. , Mary Pickford curls, mysteriously reported, missing from motion pic- ture exhibit at the San Diego exposition during closing days of the fair last fall> have just as .mysteriously returned,. : with no,one seemingly able (Continued on page 23)