Variety (Jun 1936)

i ^yedneBda jr, June 3, .1936 A \'« I r > ,1 1 - ''I i ' / ;. ■ I ' ' i "*' i .u j •^1 Chicago, June, 2, —lalian & Katz may shortly operate the Nofthwest group ot theatres for Paramount, tahing over exeo charge ot houses now *efng run by J. J. FrledJ and Lester Lud- wlg. B. & K. chieftains have )nade an. offer to. Paramount headquarters to operate these houses strictly on a percentage basis. B, & K, states' that Chicago is the natural operat- ing center for the northwest ^"nd • that the' -Minnesota and' northwest group, could be handled better <^ut of Chicago, ttian as a separate unit oiit of'Minneapolis. In the sietup'submitted by B. &.IK. to New Tork both: Frledl and liijd- .wig* would, be.; retained .as. li)pal supervisors. . However, when Uud-' \v'lg wai In'town last weiek he Was ■unable to -cpritfeot a;n'y of the' B. •& IK.' ,txeoa; ' • *■ ^ • .■ • .;' < ' ' ' ■ ^ j ' ...Barney Balaban. ha.a been^.ai^Hed to be. lii the New Torlc.hon^e pjCtll^ies of ■.Pafamounf by todify (Tuesday) at the request of Joe Kennedy :who, ■iX ls.:understoodi- wishes to discuss the national situation with-Balaban; Specy Master to Decide in listty lynton' Case MacMuiray Male Top Iii Swarthouf s *Waltz* Hdllywood June 2. Fred MacMurray will play lead opposite Gladys SWarthout>ln Para- mount's 'Champagne Waltz,' In- stead of George' Raft, originally slated. Raft goes in studio's 'Play- boy,' , Henry ' Henlgson production^ wblc^ 'ls scheddle^' for' production same time as 'Waltz.' . .Hejiigson's next after Tlaybby* will, be 'Ea.sy Living,' with Jean Ar^uP; starred. . . :. PLANS NEW Cli'cillt Court of Appeals on Mon- 'day (I) denied-Loew-Metro's mo- tion to reverse decision In the case of Margaret.Ayer Barnes and. Ed- ward Sheldon,-who alleged plagla.- rism of their play, 'Dishonored Lady/ ■ by the-M-G film, 'Letty Lyntin.i' As the case' now stands, the Ped^r'al court must .'appoint a Qpeclal master . to-^decide" amount of money due aur. thors'. . !:• .^1 ■.• . • • "• '• • DefendantiS^ moved - lor the court I'toe direct the -Jower . body to ^Imlt plaintlff'si'recovery'to the llv S. and .'pps^^sionsi 'Alsso wa;nted case dis- missed agulhst, all: "defendants' out' tiie:M»G I>i8trlbutlng..Gorp.' Ifln&V ! wotion' •waa'tO;have:«ntirercks6 jdis- .vjnissejd oa erojand o)t being Tjeyond ijurisdtction: of ^ Federal oourtt^ P^rleii; Drl6coU{r&- Ra^tery, at- j tprjijeyftirfpr, plaintiffs, -Vrtll: vsupinit .upgA^- $.Q Federal ,;GOTtrt> ph" Junp' 10 ! foe 9,ppointment of^.the-master, V tT n^ ' , ' i'- ' ■' HARRY WB; AUGNS WITH JOSS ''•"'Haifry t5hatnas, brpther-ih-la-^.. pf 'the Wdni'ei^'Bros'., Vhd has fieen ''ilp^hitop''6f,'"ihe New'Ybrk nidtro- ^f pol'Ita'n-. 'hous^^ for' riiiie years, •'''htts-'TeslgHe'd to become 'associated r %it1i'*B. S:'Mds^ in'tfife oiJfe'rtlt'toh of tthe n6w Criterion whlcp, is expected '^ '><<i' be " ready for 'Opfehlng Augi 18. '' 'Jdha rnaa 'steps out; bf ' Warner's ■ inv- '■lDnediat6iy to join up with'M6s3(an^ 'latter'a asaPcialtes,^ ' Macon Amusement Co. ildt-meja .to operate the n6w Criterion; bL S< • ■ Mbflfe'.! brfes'Ident; will hive' !-Clial'na s ' fes vl):'dhd treasurer; Secretary!will ' " be Charles, fii-Moss Theitre' ls neaHjig c'ompletloji-on . thfe 'site;:Of •'the'-bid ^ Loew's - NesV • York in the ' heiairt of- Times " Sqiiare Policy will be first xun picturef^ iat a top of 9ffc., Ipges' scaled' to'<ii;25. ' Moss''Macon Co.-■ has the• theatre under a long-term' lease frPm; thfe builders. Chevalier's Lond. Concert ; Wrpitg^ NumbQi^/ DuringJ-'the"; Gaumont-Brrash convention-14 j New Tpd^ * the companji? / tojpH Ita .^risitlng branch v^MaQ4gers up Vto the ^HoUjOTopa .rdblaurant for. .diii- • 'rier. * Wheh* 'the floor shoWs feature number went on, the G-B boys sent' out for cotton . ^pr, ear-stufflng purposes, i I i TftljB of'thtf nuoxber ia fBuy American.! UA PLANS 35 OR MOR£IN193y7 , ,. , ...... - _ ..- . osts(|Baps|f - Parajnount's program; for 1936-37 will not' i)n](y be' the-^'largest this cbmpa^;^ '-has eVer a.ttempted but may Yop the nuniher'inade by any producer-distributor In history. With deals that have heeh closed td release pictures of outside pro- ducers. Par win offer a lineup of 70 or more pictures, under plaiis. Committed under, contract td make four in Technicolor,, at least two in the tints will be nikde during the-, coming year, the other two probr ably. the following year. The 1936-37 lineup will include eight from Mauiiie Cohen, the sanie number from B. P. Schulberg under a. contract that is in negptiation, two from Richard Rowland, seven] from Ktafry Shei^nap'.-who .makes' the ' Westerns, and probably two frbhi '•Bph Hecht and Charlie Mac"-' Airthur,' made'' in the «iast; .This wouli .ifetLvei,'a balsmce of 43 to be t^jrnteli' but at the Par studio by Par itself.••'• • ; ' ' ■ "yniH the plant-able to tiroduce- 52, or an average-of Ofle -a-wreck, the year's 'program • could mount to 70, Which will, probabljr be the ap- ndunced-'flgure. This would top the prospectus .of 69 'pi6tures .prepared by' 26th ' Century-Pox.: ' '•With a, national convention for Par still -unset;., the. comparty Is holding- an, advance • pales 'ept-to- gether'in Chicago Friday and Sat- urday (5-6), presidfed over by Nell Agnew».and to..be attended by Joe ijnger ..aiidi Charjes Reagan, divi- sion mantigere, as, -VKell. as the 11 .dletrlpt .sales heads. .Instead of a national sales meet .later on, It is more probable ' that the district managers will hold regional confer- ences in- each of their zones. Par ..girpdptfrpftfjthe (^dmle'' office leaves ^or Chicago]today (Wed). ZUKOR, IE BARON TO tHi PAR SALES MEET • Hollywood* -June 2, Ortly . Paramount «tudIo execs-to attend-conipatiy'fl-sbleia meetirig for division arid district ■'ma.na'ge'rs in Chicago, Jtine- 5-^6; will' be Adolph Zukdr, • William LeBiron and Pro ducer Frank Lloyd;, Laiter •wrill stop off " at convention en route to Massachusetts to con- duct if search on 'Witch of Salem,' his first picture for Par, . :■ iFrom around t25 pictures last year and,. OTf, an^ average,! half of that numbei;, for many seasons; United Artists for 1936-37^111 hop into the wholesiile'class by turhlhg out 35; or niore* features; Its dlatrlbiitlon machine, one of the. cpiptUest in the. industry, is geared to easily nier- chandise a program of this jslze. Much KlghiBf terms 'than demanded by competitive majors In the past has been necessary to support, that machine. - Llne.up will Include seven from Sam.. Gpld-wyn ;. six ■. ;from Walter Wanger;. five from Plckford-Lasky; five) from Seiznlck Jntet'national; six froin Alexander .Korda, produced In .England; - three from.Pioneer; J.' H. Whitney's company, up to now with RKO; one to be made, by Charlie Chaplin wlttf Paulette Gdd-r dard startred; one frotn^ Doug Fair- banks, Sr., 'Marco Polo'; one from Reliance CLast of Mohicans') arid possibly one or two from the Dcug Fairbanks, Jr..-Crlterlon Productions group. [While the minimum appears to be 35 for the season, under selective quota deals rWlth JBJngla^d, UA may also take for release pictures made in London., by. "Victdr SavlUe . and iBax. :Schachi s.uph addltionals pos- slbV running the total < output up .:UA, Js holding Its convention in Los Arigqiep, June ..30^ July ,1. and" 2 George.. J> Schaefer, - A. W^ Kelljr, .Harry . p. !,Buckley, Ivionroe Green th'a) I and, iiurray S^lverstone, .over he^re,from .London, pips" Harry .Gold ^rid ;:Piaul Lazarus,,!, div mgr% will be .aniong those, attending,; ,'Bmil jejisenl .. rjeprcsentlng:; !La's,ky-Pick- fprd; Jim. ,Mylyey,/eastern rep for Sam 'Gpldwyn, and Lowell Calvert Jock Whitney's eastern iBim ^repre- sentative, are also expected to. at- tentl; Greenthai will , go out in ad' varice of tlie others. " ■ pK^ladelpbiA, JuW.iJi • Leopold StokowskI and Phila- delphia Orchestra last Tuesday (26) in New York made recordings for •Big Broadcast of 1937.' Filming, scheduled to take place Thursday (28), was postponed and is now set for sorifie time this week; • . Pic appearance by sympn group brings-.undisclosed fee to Philadel- phia Orchestra Association, ii) ad- dition to men's jpay on regular; con- cert basis- anS .separate . deal, by Stoky^ Leader also is-contracted to direct music, for flicker version' of Carmen,' starring Gladys Swarthr out. :. - . _ London, May 24. Harry Foster has signed Maurice Chevalier to open in London in No- vember. • As the . Palladium will not be available, Foster intends^ to rejit a theatre in the West 23nd, and ^urr round Chevalier with a vaudeville unit, . ,,- ,s,- . ■ - , i • ^"Kep. Wf^uld Enjoin Autry • . Hollywood, June; 2, ' Hetlrlrig of Hepublfc Plbturea'Iploa for an injunction to keep '(ISene -.Autry out-of all pHasfes of-dhow ' bu.slneBS until ^ thje status bf | th<> /'western star Is" le'gally'^ defined; has '. l^een set for JUnie 8 in-Fedferal Cpurt, . .Restraining order remains, Iii .fef- fect.' J-, Bbjangles' S -Years 20th-Fox has handed Bill Robin son a; five-ysar. contract. It calls fo-»' three pictures a year, and starts h, the fall. Colored dancer up' to now has been engaged by the same firm on a picture-to-^picture basis. New deal was iset by the William Morris oflUce and Robinson's manager, Marty Forkins,. 'JIM' SCRIPT JAMMED AGAIN Hollywood, June 2. Metro's 'Plcadilly Jim' has been set back another 10 days on ac count of story' trouble.' ' r In the past year, 'half a dozen writers have turned- out ad--p*a- tlons. - DIONNES' $1,000,000 VIA 20TH-F0X DEALS ON ROGERS DRIVE — ' . , Hollywood, June 2. ^ Product conferences and budget !a'|pcatlon9fc{ii;ynJvers^Vs))i^^ pro. gram weto sei at series of confer* ences held at studio last week. Par^ tlcipatlng were J. Che^ver Cowdln, B. H. Cochran© and; other eastern execs with Coast production of- ficials. Cowdin, B. H. Cochrane, P, d. Cochrane and Judge. Wlllard McKay, who. ca.mp herp, Xasn Wv ak, pulled out for Ne-?? York with pro- ductlon activity slated ia ^et under way' shortly.'' Figured istuaio will havev three pictures. In-.prqductlon by middle of Jupe. and.dpul^lp that number during' July ariid'. August, This will "be'ajai'de from ■westei'ri pic* tat^B being made by sepairatc'vinltfl bn the let ' " ' - • Next picture'to gef under- way at Universal City 'will be 'ITeliawstone,' scheduled to staitt around' Jiine 10, As -viewed-on Coast,- policy'of new Universal ex«putlve setup is to hold aown prodUOtion. costs '^ to' -point where , they 4jan 'be taken" care of from' -weekly; income''■-from ex- changes, with no heavy 'Bhootlng contemplated-Until funds are^avall- able from seouritles shortly 'to be put on market^- - " .' Toronto, June 2, A ,..$250,000 . cO?)tract ,'from 20th, Century^^oi for-'lijrl'e- feature' fi])gis: to be riiadtS by'the fend of 1938 was the present handed the Dlonne quins on their second birthday, according .to ;Hon. Divld Crdll,- minister of welfate- and deputy- guarddah for .King:Edward 'VIII;of the-five baby fllstersi By the; :-end i :df. 1938 the qUins'v .bank ibalanc6= will'total i$88D,i- 000, said- Croll, . but Is. expeotea to re.ach.a miUlon as the advance pay. ment of,. $250,000^ will .-be .supple- ipented ,by;. another.- 20th Century Fox- payment .oi $60,000 within two years, plus 10,% of the net proceeds of the-three pictures. , I7nderstpod that the new, contract ISi a direct outcpme ..of the strict adherence to conditions., and the cordial relations existing between 20th-Fox and the government in the filming of 'The Country. Poctor,' for which the Dlonne youngsters re- ceived $50,000. Should any. of the children die.before 1938, there will -~be no change in the $250,000 pay- off plus pei'centage but the $50,000 payment will be forfeited. All Dionne. sequences will be filmed in the nursery. arid Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe wi:i continue to. supervise all slght-and-sound operations. The babies' health Vfl]l remain,the first 'consideration, said Croll. Returns made "by phone and- mail up to yesterday (Tuesday) indicate the gross on the Will Rogers Memo- rial drive, which lasted for a week and elided Thursday (28J„ will rfeach, :$30O,00O4^ -' This Is about double the amount requlried' for opferatipn -of the Rogers (NVA) Memorial sana- torium at Saranac Lake, N. T. Besides' the audience collections, which were staged in -2,404 theatres, all ualng the drive's special film trailer, 2,200. theatres 'Subscribed tp meinbecshipa' at from- $i0 tO|*$S6, according to capacity'; .'Member- ship* subscriptions amounted to $24,800. Of the 2,404 theatres using the Collection -method, 1,493 :were cjr.- cult-owned and operated .and .the rest Indi^p^ndent It was the largest number .'.ever to participate in a drive of this kind. ' ' Last collection for • the.-Saranac Lako r institution, run , <under. i the NVA name only without the Will Rogers nam© connection,' grossed $118,000.*' That- was In 'i92'4; In 1935, instead ot collections,- theatre? contributed!-10% of . on^,;day's re ceipts, from which the NVA Fund realized only ;$57,00.0. ' . ; It's .expected that, with the drive ove;r, admijilstratipn of the, San un- der the new setup and'through the arrangement made wltli. the Rogers Memorial Commission, will be established, by the end of tjils month Supervision . will be -vested With a coriimittee , cpmiprising. members of the present Rogers boai'd and /NVA Fund theatre circuit executive from the sjioiw business. ■ , ^>rLeslie"'-JR. I'Tho.mpflon of RKO chairniari ' of last • week's drlvp, • is trying to steam up the San super, intendent's post for former Sena tor J. Henry ^Walters, Waiters, was one of the old Keith pfficis bunch. Which 'previously ran' the l^VA aloifg 'V^ith 'the- Saii. Ariptljer' 'deal being englneei'ed by Thon^jtsbn is the opening of the S'r-. to membSri^ df the d'perators and stago'\harids' unlbuis. ' "Thdmpsori hferidlei the" unions for RKO. ' Rubin a Syracuse U. Trustee Syracuse, N, Y., June 2. J. Robert Rubin, vifte-president and general counsel of Loew'a, Inc., and Metro, was elected to the board of trustees ot Syracuse University, his allrta mater/ by the university alumni, meeting here in" conjunc- tion with the 65th commencement ■Universal exfecutlves, ' infcludlng R. H. Cochrariei-j, Che'eveir' CoVdin,. P. D. Cochrane and "Wlliard Mc- ICay, * have rPtut-hed' 'ftorii ' Holly- , wood, ■ ' ' Went to the Coast td Arrange final details for . season's product line-up which will be "arihounced at the annual convention at the Astor hotel, N. Y., 'starting June 15. Laemde^s Nepbew;^ Bemheim, Leayes il After 22 Years .Hollywood, June 2. 'Julius Bernhelm, nephew of Carl (£|iem'mle,.is last^f .the/lattter/s-rela- ': to l4»ty6'' t|$;'Uiplv^si(l '^fbduc- ilSitp foiaw.^i|SI^,inpieIm-.tendiered his resignation yesterday. (Monday) •ajter beingi-withj the company since r ^ ^ . stariediv'with cppifi^ny a-'' a sia.lesman. in Mlnheapolis. In 1921 he was, brought: to UnlvjBrsal City aS atn as'slatantl director--and a year l^Tft wa'ai malSd -general) manager, holding that 'post .two years. He then became assistant to Laemmle for several years, after which he was made associate producer, hold- ing .that position until-ihifi reslgna- tlpnv - .1 . ' ir.:l'''> . .Bernheim-.leave.s next -week. for 6, fpur-month European -Javntf 'return- ing to Hollywood then tor J'e-enter the picture-biz. -.i!! . . _ r- DE SYIVA, 20tF0X IN DICKER ON NEW DEAL - LPs. Angeles, - June \* Theatre patrons - in' Los "Angeles area gave up close to '$30,000 for Will- Rogers Memorial Fund last week, on basis of incomplete re turns. • • Fox West Coast houses in South em California territory registered better than $12,000, with the, Los Angeles acers of circuit accounting for more than $3,500 of this sum. Warner, houses hereabouts upped fund for another $4,000, with minor circuit and Independent tlieatre col- lections making up balance. Orpheum theatre .(L. A.) topped, entire territory with $1,:9'0S tossed into the baskets during seven days of collecting. Paramount, with col' lections Of $1,897 ran second. Chinese topped F-WC collection with $1,076,.; while Warners' Holly- wood bettered $1,100. • ' ■ . • 'Hollywoodv June 2. --'•Deal Is ori between 20th-aPox and BUddy.'De Sylva ifor renewal-Of pro-^ ducer's contract although''"present ticket has xmtil'September to go. De Sylva still has three to- make, Including 'Sing, Baby, Sin&;' cur- rently In. production. ■■<•'.'"■ Dancer Sells Pic Yarn Hollywood, June 2.- ■ •Million Dollar Profile,' orIginq,l by Muriel'Scheok, dancer in Metro's- 'The Great Zlegfeld,' has' been i)ur* chased by Radio Screen Playwrights, Inc'd Sacramento, Juno 2. Screen Playwrights, Iric, filed ar- ticles of incorporation with, the sec-, retary of state here on Monday (!)• Accepta.nce' is likely after the franchise tax division in"vestlgates tax exemption on rio-prorit state- ment. lOVETT ON OWN ' • Hollywood, June 2. George Lovett.-resigned a-s office manager for Myron Selznlck to go on his own In business management field. i, , "He leaves' Selznlck organization aipoh return of Al Johnson who has been handling firm's -busi-hes-s in London. Johnson and Harry Ham are en route to- England while MV* ron Selznlck Is-dye to ret-urn-irpm abroad -Aug.'l. •1