Variety (Nov 1936)

varietv r I C ¥ ■ 11 E s I f." ■ Reviewers in 1st Quarter Ratings Howard Barnes, neWcoiirier, Is the top a^-ii tcUiiVg ypu^ gay among the film critic!? in the first quarterly box- Bdoi:p for the 1936^37 season. Parnes i.s new reviewer of the N; Y, Herald Tribiine, where he replaces ichard; Watts, Jr.; switclied to drama,critic of *hat; dAilyw starts right in where his predecessor left off, \Watts having led Hie parade several times. Barnes' score oif .6i6 is far ahead of -the field in either New York or Chi- cago, although based on a good deal fewer films than r-any of the other o'CFitics*" Another new name in the New : York fll^ ranks this time is lhat'of Archer Winsten, who replaced Thornton Delehantjr on the Post. By cbiilcidence .WiiiSten -and Barnes t»ught the same number of pictures, ^ 23* but Winsten muftcsd six as against Etorries! f bur^ "*rhxch puts Winsteh in the Nd. ' 6 iiiclie for^" t^^^^^ - Winsten*s pjredecessot in; *he spot, •Thornton DelehM Was the winnei- last, season; having nosed Watts out; Neither ;Barhes* nor Winsten's scores are to be considered reaUy indicate however, because of thft greater number of timies which their compe- titors h^d to face the flrlnst li in the Chicaiso isector there is prac- tically no chahge,.as usual, Doris Ar^ Vden (Eleanor. Keene) being at the head of tiie l^bp parade for the fl<tb V consecutiye year. It's getting to be 'habit,;.,' ■ : Jn Noi 2 V position m New ryork is Kate Camerpn of. the News, ."^whd has beeh cortsiistently among the ^ijp trio foi* several years." .To .be : iiOtcd' that he^ bt . .780 corn- par with' .712, which, put her" in third place'exactly a year ago and .76l; 'with 'Which she ei)ded up in sec- ond pla^e last seasbm Delehahty ■won last season .781, while at this timeyear ago h^ Wito leading ■-^itb'^74iv""r' r-r : rftifher Averar'e- ,s..;-. same. ratiti is .true almQsi all the .Way, With" all^^p^^^ critics callinit •eitt mprb correcfly th^ift^the did a ; j^etor ia^b^ ; Thus/the average score in ^tw:^ot% k ytetft agoi, Ibr all nine ciiucs,>:Wa«/>686; while now /jfirsf. quartier;V 'lis 745* In Chicago, this iim't Sbiv in CU<^0, a yeair ago, the average S(^re was ,668; noW it ' i VAiiinFx!fl combined^ jcore for this Vibst..qiuirteir ia»897, topping all bne^year ago, the rise beihg^^.;consist- eht with thci field. XJsuilparihtheti- cal 'hoie to the effect that Variety is ... k^ping its own b^^ ^tiil goes, ■\\,^>1.course. ,■■ ■ ' ^:. ■ 2-'- x>' Rbs^. PelsWlck of the 'Jburnal is ih the third; groove in New York, her ' :^beisit< poisitlbn Ift ye^ts,- ahd explain- - able lafgety by the fMi t ^he has less no opinion^;, than she hai had in the past. She led in that depart- ment last year,'and .does agajin, but only Witii seven, jas against five each for Regina Crewe and Bland Johane- spn. Notable that all .three are Hearst reviewers.. Miss JoHanesoh is now the hard- est worker among New York, critics, having displaced Regina' Crewe. Miss Crewe : for. years Caught hvore pictureis than any other film critic, but now has an assistant, Robert Gar-r land, phe of last year's drama re- viewers, i'v^;--,.-.. Curious that the piily tie,' pr ; neat* tie- in the current standings,; is for thif cellar ppsition, With Frank S. Nugient and WilUam • iBoehnei both scoring .682, although carrying it to the fourth dimension gives Nugent: a ilight edge. Nugent, incidehtally, is ilso'. actually: a neWcomer,. although )e got into last yeat's finail scbrie after he ; replaced the late Andre ^Sennwaild. Mftybe • ; PariSj Noy. . Etlc Vbn Stroheim 'had hin^'^ self a big spread under his own by-lihe in Le Journal here last -.week.-'.-; v,"'•-•v-' Says he doesn't kripw. why Hollywood 'kicked him out' but thuiks ihay be it Was because he was too expensive for the place. 1 BARRYHORE GIVES IN, JOIN^SOtEEN GUILD John Bariymbre joined the Screen Actors Guild, it was stated by Equity after being info,rihed:,by the latter that he would b(B required to do sO iii order to retain , good standing on the stage union's rplls. Lionel Bar- rymof e is said to be still holding out, along Witti" Alice Birady and others, oh the coast who do npt plan to re- turn to, the liyat fleldfcv*^; :: ■ \tobther coastite who. joined i$ itpsali ' Russelt beltet; IdiOwn ;tb pictures than the $tage^ \ iiijllywOed; l^pv: laine Bttf rie hnd John Barrymbre Were married Sutiday: (8); in Yumai Ariz. It's 4he:.fourth for the actor. Grbom gave his age as 55 and bri' ^ KEN MUflRAY and OSWALD RCA -Victor's latest recording sensations—recently released Victor record No. 25418, 'Maiha That Man's Here Again -r- 'Oh Teah' — an in- stantaneous hit. Abel Green, in •Variety,' said: 'filling the niche left open by Moran and ifack.'; : Broadcastlrig 'Lavish With Ken Murray' for Rlnso-Llfebuoy, CBS ta ITedneBiIay^ NQvemb^r 11', 1936 Bask and Rehash . JOE BiOctoW Maybe it^s a gppd thing-tiie Am.erican-Byitish film inerger didn't go- thrpugh after aUi . They'd have a fine time getting Gaumpnt-Bntish-Metrp-Goldwyn-Mayer* 20th Century-Fox & Schfehckf on one piece of ^ To the '.Bewne MOther-'in-laW gags were running quite dry, Old 'Irish Justice' had punctiirbd its bladdbr. Knock-knocks were just About ready to die, ■ ^fUere hie comes nbw* grew sadder and sadder. Plaiys upon Words made the audience hiss, " Customers yaWned iat the tyro detective: •WhP was that lady?' was startihg to miss, Punch lines and tag lines Were getting defective. Farmers' fair daughters were strictly taboo, Radio's humor just had to stay spotless. But thie best of the .clean bnes were mbstly p.u., So most ojf the scripts became largely bpn mot-lesS.. 'Ciobdbye, Sam' no longer drew laughter, . Brumb Dora retorts were laying large oeufts, •HoW high is up?' shook nary a rafter-rr-; A.gagTWlsft republic waS-losing its goofs. it waS toiigh on the |a^sters, ,this sophistication. And :iough; bn the comics Who had to be funhy^—^ Yes, the time had arrived , when a gag-wear^ nation Gave nothing but Bronx cheers tb everything punny. But thp§e who write g^igs are lucky indeed, Fbr jUst as they murdered the 'walking mole,' And for jokes to replace it werie sprely iii need-r-i- Alohg came the Literary Digest Poll! ilkGomne$$^^^^P^ as Holljrwood, Nov. 10; . "Tell It to the Marines' will be first picture^at Metro by J.. IC Mc- Guinhe;5s as a producer. I^e ; Trac^^^ Rpbert • Taylbr and JesbiiH^^ SAILINGS Decy 2 (New York to Liverpiopl) Virginia' Field (Queen Mary >• Nov. , II (New York to London) Ruby Lorraine (Aquitania). . 'Nov; 11 (New York to Xiondon), Mr« and Mrs. Louis Dreyfus, Mr. and Mrs. Jos*ph;Pulitzer, Francis C. Cop picus, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Levy, Dorothy thiOmpson, Percy Phillips, Count Raoul de -Roussy de. Sales, Rohert Lang, Thomas Ybarra, George Kameri,-. Pierrie ' Sandrini, Jacques Charlesi i Val P^^ Johnny Hines (Normahdie>. ■ Nov. 6 (N. Y, tp Naples), Will Hays (Cphte dl Sayoia). ' ^ Nov.: 4 '(London to N. Y,), Irene Brown (Nbrmandie); ss - Holljnyoodi Nov. Western Writers' Congress will have a three-day session, Nov. 13-15 inclusive, at the iiScottish Rite Audi- torium, Sah Francisco; A large group of Molly wood writers will at tend. They include ' Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Cobb; John Bright, Guy Ehdbre; BUd Schulberg, iola Brothers Shore,.^^obert Tasker and Edwin . Justus Mayer. Upbn Sinclair Will be the plriricipal ^eaker. Bright will read a collective paper on screen writing; composed of ideas expresesd by Robert TasHer, ,Sann brnitz and Gordon Kahn. Various 'movie papers' will be read at the roundtable discussion by Endore. Schulberg will read a paper, 'Mojibn Pictxires ahd'the Left Critics'; Shore Will read a paper, ^Rise: and Fall of the Screen Writers' Guild,' and Lucita Sqiiier .will read a paper, 'Soviet. Moyiesi' This is the sorcallied ' group from HpllyWbod. BOLAND AND HERBERT TEAM AS WB COMICS Last C^U.f«r DiDBer iMackie McLeanj upi in SL Johns, N. B„ claims the title of world's cham. pibn eating actor. At one sitting Mackie packed away of bread, ,tih of deviled ham, large can of beans, : six pound of butter, one poiind of sugar. , . i L But this pillar knows a couple of gUys Who would make Mackie look like he's on a dieti if the LoeW time ever opens up agai loaf ahd. half bf coffee, c;n«|. UNDER NEW MG DEAL Hpllywoodr Nov. Robert Taylor's new term eontract With .ivretrb will .run intp. more than Ij^ODO.OOO; if exercised in full. Beitorted that he starts at $2,000 Weekly with the stipend graduating fo |5,000 oh the final stretch; CpftA'S CHABACTES LEAD Nov. (Coria Witherspoon has been bpr- YoWed .from Metro by.20th-Fpx for Icaiured charaipter lead in 'On the 'Jkvenuc^.^ u<Ca<it toppers are Dick Powell and! ifatdeielhe C?.rrolI.. * ARRIVALS Milly Montii Lee Ephraim, Anita Dorfman, Elsa Maxwell, Marc . Con- nelly, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Miller, Princess Natalie Paley, Lew -Ayres,. Albert Spalding, Robert- Casadesus, Robert Jardellier; Michel Deiiard, Clifford C. Fischer, Henri Varna, ii:ene Brown, Molly Picon, Simon Barer, Grace Bradley, Bette Davis, Whitney Bourne. L. A. to N. Y. Frank Albertsbn. Clarence Brown. Eddie Cantor. Ruth CJhatterton. Deanna Durbih« Gregory Gaye. Bob Goldstein. Benny; Hpltzman. Ray Jones. Al Lichtman. Cliff McDougal. Oscar OldkhoW. Harry Parke. Jack Sherrill. Hubert Voight. immy Walli N. Y. to L. A. Irene. Dunne. Sflly Filers. Dr. A. H. iannini.' ■ Mose Gumble. Olivi de Havilland. Jerry Horwi Carl Laemmle, Jr. Kenyon Nicholson. Bill Pierce. Mary Pickford. Hal .Roach.. Charles^: Robihspn. Charlei R. Rogers. Randolph Scott. Ham Beall. Hollywood, Nov, Mary Boland 'and Hugh Herbert will be teamed by Warners in 'The Fun Life.' Yarn, original by . George Bricker, will be a Bryan Fby pro.; duction. Morris Markey i^t Metro Hollywood, Nov. Meiyo has signed Morris Markey, fetafi Writer on the New Yorker mag, to a term, scribbling contract. He ariives here next week to work With James K. McGui A4<I v£l^ctioii Gags President Roosevelt may bal- ance the budget this year by selling Maine and Vermont to Ci^nada. Repuhlicans fear that Presir : dent .Roosevelt may ask for • recount in Vermont, But Landon isn't the only one that took. a whacking * the election,. Literary Digest poll has been used tor gag purposes by evexy comic, radio and stage, for the past week. Mere men- . tion of the poll, with or without an accompanying joke, is good for a laugh. Hollywood, Nov. , Only offer Gov. Landon has got from show biz, so , ac- cording to Palace layoffs around Hollywood and Vine, is a blues, number in 'one' for a amateur program. Vox popplnr A Mucg Ever since a radio vox pppper frOm WOR popped in on a Variety mugg a couple of weeks ago, it's gotten to be a habit. Members of the Vamet^ staff no longer have any privacy, so great is the demand fbr their servic^ as stooges in inipromptu radio interviews. The latest outrage occurred the other da>, just as one of the muggs was about to sit down to dinnei* at home. Here's what happened: (Knock, Knock) Variety Mugg: It's probably that ROlls Royce salesman , (Openg door.) ■■ " Man at Door: Good eVeni . I'm Jerry Grepser from NBC. We're go* ing thrpugh the. building for interviews. (Waves-a mike in front of th« mugg's kisser to prove it,) Would you care, to be popped? • Mugg: Huh? Grepser: That's splendid of you. (Mooches in.) Now, would you mind telling the radio audience your name? Mugg: Huh? Grepser: Your name-——name. Mugg: Oh, my monicker?' Brewster Fi Just call me. Fing.: the way I sign my reviews—Fi Grepser: Your reviews? Well, well, isn't that interesting. You are S critic? . ■ Mugg: Grepserr A critic, a connoisseur of talent. Mugg: NaW, I Write reviews. Grepser: For. What publication? Mugg: Huh?. Grepser: I mean for what rag? Mugg: That's better. For Variety. Cirepsef : 'Ah; -a journalist. Mugg: Huh? Grepser: Alt. right, now let's test your knowledge for the edification ■ of the radio audience. The image, of what animal Was used to conquer Troy, ■ and who used, it? . Mugg: It was an animal aU right, but it wasn't Troy, It was Out on the Pan time. The animal Was one of Powers* Elephants. Grepser: Are you familiar with the classics? Mugg: Sure. The time" somebody asked an actor Who was limping how he hurt his fi\>t, and he said he kicked his agent in the heart. That was a classic.. / Grepser: Are you versed in Greek literature? Mugg: You mean coffee pot .menus? . Grepser: No, I rnean such things as the writings Of Spphoeles, Aristophanes and Aeschylus. ' ,Mugg: Huh? ;: Grepser: This is very DO you mind if I rest my feet on the piano?. Mugg: That's the logical place, in't it? Mrs. Mugg (burning):" What kind of company arie you keeping now- adays, Brewster? Don't the punk know enough to take off his shoes when he enters a friend's house? Grepiseir: That's the little wife, I presume. QUai , iisn't she? Mugg: Quaint, hell. She's herts. Mrs. Mugg: If you did a bbck dance on your shoulder )>lades in one of Tishman & O'Neal's flash acts for 12 years, you'd be quaint yoUrself. Grepser: I wonder if you would care to say a Word or twb to the radi audience, Mrs. Fingle? Mrs. Mugg: Sure. Scram! Grepser: What a delightful sense of humor. Mrs. Fingle, miliar with Napoleon? Mrs. ;Mugg: Fresh guy, eh? Grepser: Let's see if Mr; Fingle is informed on that subject, Mr. Fingle, would you mind telling the radio audience the name of the greiat general who was sent to a certain island to die, as well as the name of the island? Mugg: ; The guy Was General Pisanp, the isharpshooter, and the joint was Henderson's at Coney Island. He diedi at the opening but Watf better the second show,- Grepser (Easing out before it's too late): This has been Indeed a pleas-* . ure. I'm sure the radio audience has enjoyed every moment of it. Thanks ■ so much, Mr, and. Mi's. Fingle, Au revoir! Mugg: Huh? Last week at the Met the Ballet Russe introduced a new one—a male strip tease. But ifis jiist a fad that can't last. What if a male stripper does doUse the brassiere? Audiences ire 'bbuhd to find oiif Sooner ■ br'late'r that thtif^'i^ nothing' iii it. 4