Variety (Jan 1937)

Wednesday* January 13^ 1937 ■ C T E S VARIETY IT One of the biggest 1937 .hangovers for the picture industry is the recent outbreak of litigation. R^al headache is wrapped up in the bundle of new, civil Actions instigated by 6xhibitbrs against major distributing companies; legal staffs working overtime as the cases continued to grow ip humbeir during recent Vreeks. ' Most of these suiiis are based oh the old complaint of unfair clearance Vor thai the exhibitor is riot giveh a fair deal in the matter picture availability. Majority Of them are brought iiiirider the aijti-trust acts. Neither parties to the suits likes theih. ven the complaining exhi itor thinks they are costly both ironi a mone^^ viewpoint and also from-the standpoint that they quite often take; him away from, his theatre business. After seeing 'A Doctor's Diary' print ofvwifiich has just arrived in. the «ast, Paramount people believe John Trent; former air pilot, worthy of a buUdup. This is Trent's first picture, made for Par release by B. P. Sehul|c«rg, who holds thie actor's cOritrac^^^ Schulbei-g discovered Trent in a unique manner while on a plane be- tween Lbs Angeles and New York, Seveirail women ori the airshi i ga-iga over the pilot,'suggested he'd be great," pictures, so Schiilberg asked him if he'd like to act, Trent declared he wouldn't, but later on, after some crashes, his wife wanted him to quit flying and he went to Schuiberg to see if the oflter still held good. It did. Basic patents heldl by A. Miirdock on the 16mm. camera^ acquired pome tinie ago by H.; L.; Qumbirier, former Los Angeles independent ex- Hi itpr, are the basis of . a new 16mmi camera just perfected. Giimbiner; with Gerry Fitzgerald, L. A> department store executive, and Mi. C. Leitner, engineer; have beierii working .on the invention for several years. It is ^claimed the.hew baihera ^ill function the same as a 35mm. machine, and thiit studio production costs can . he materially reduced by use of the new tji^e :equipmeht,for all preliminary shooting pa pictures. Film ^industry lobbyist crashed the Congressional gates. week. Prompting much itager-R^^ picture rep lounged agaiinst the back .rail while Piresideht Roosevelt was making; his annual address to joint session ' the Senate aiid HOuse, . Only other outsiders dn. the floiqir were xadio people i^^imn^ broadcasts of the speech, kids Jnembers arid House attaches. A Gipnttary to general belief,. fllrtiite ^did riot pose: as' .cameraman (they were ail cOnflried the gaUieries) but was invited inside by indiscreet . iawmaker, Quite a.ruckus, was .raised pri. the Coast recently when the California Prison, Board irivestigatted the filming p| certain prison scenes at Saa Qiientin without jpeririissiOn of Warden Court iSriiith; Studio haid allegedly takeri the film after offering a guard $250 weekly to act as techiiical advisi^r. Outcbriie was that Govi; Frank F. Merriam asserted that the oU ficials Would riot make a decisiori as to the . interior shots uriVil they ,had seen the compileted jaim. Summary, pf Federal Goriimunications Commission delving > Into Elec- trical Research Products, Inc^ history may never see daylight. Running short pf '.cash, cPirimish.. has shelved the . voluminous dpcuiftents on. which rpcent New' York hearings werie ba.sed ^nd. only record the stiil- uripublished .transcripts Unless Congress . loosens pursestri , commish probably never will be in position to .print the record for general dis tribution pr issue chronology of ERPI activities. Two-way winner is Vic'Shapiro, publicity boss for Major Productions, who erigin^ered successful gag in. contest for. bachelors to oome to HPlly. wood, arid visit Mae West. .He has now written a scenario titled 'The Farmer's Son,'which deals with the bachelor contest.. Additional clkim to fariie is that story is first of year to be registered with Screen Writers' ■Guild of Authors' League. Shapiro writ.es urider pen name of .Victpr Mansfield, his :$rst two names. - Federal expendittires'. for riiotiori pictures:.will remain the^ same, next yeaTj President Roosevelt's; 1938 budget estirijates showed last week. With the outlay for propaganda -beinE; cut in many departments, priricipal agen- cies spending, mpriey for production or lease of films were not sliced. Agriculttire Departmerit gets «$79,OpO, sariiie as this year, for production of educational reels, and Navy gets $80,000, unchanged, for rental of. pix for the fleet. X Early press day (Sunday) JEor yARlExy's -anniversary isstie resilte|l in some of the eistiriiates On picture grosses outside New York going awry, chiefly due to unexpected over the holiday stanza. .'After the Thin Maih' (Metro) at the Penn, -Pittsburgh, got $31,900, a new: record bigh for the house, with straight pictures. On the other handi 'Plainsmari' (Par) at the. Chicago, Chicago, estiriiated to do $55,000 last week, wound up with $39,()00. Indie writer, a Hollywood yet, insists on having his modest paycheck padded with extra eriioluments by way of a title, such as story editor, script supervisor, etc.,; as he moves frorii studio to studio in Hollywood. Riecently he consented to join a major organization . at no increase in salary, but on the iriduCement he would/be given some fictitious sub-exec billing. He is generally hUmored. February issue pf Modern. Screen, fan mag, medaliipns Cplumbia's 'Lost: Horizon' as the best picture of the pionth despite the fact that ihe film had not been' given , a press preview. Two months previously Red Book went overboard on-same picture as best of the month at that time, al- though it was only pairtially shot and nobody had seen much moire thain a few rushes.". Chicago Council for Freedom From Cerisorshrp, orijgi organized as result of municipal banning of 'tobacco Road' and ^Chjldrferi's Hour/ legit shows, now beginning to peer .into.the picture censorship, situation in C^hi* cago as a sort of sideline and as a .wed^e for greater poWer in: the legit biz. Are seeking ari Jrivestigiation'of; the salaries and setup ,of the. Chi flicker censor boards KEITH REINSTATED Equity Fine Revoked—Had Been Laid Up, III Suspension and fine of lari Keith from Equity" reybked arid he was re- instated after explaining why he did not; join the Screen Actors' Guild , as ordered. Actor explairied that he was ■ . hospital suffering, frorii a. broken back, sustained when stunt- ing on. a horse before the. camera arid did not receive notification, from Equity. .. Keith also stated he was but bf pictures fpir; eight months and . was at Ariri Arbor, Michr, last summer for legit apearance :ahd returned to the Coast; afteir the Guild situation had been disclbsed. There are; still 24 riienibers on the Coast who were suspended and fined $100, same fine tb apply each seasorti Ms ¥ Film Alone Help in By George Barr Brown . HoUywbod, Jiaii. 12. Gain in. popularity pf color phbto- graphs arid inbreased available pub- lication; ispace ,fpr: aU types Pf stiil photos has raised this phase Of mo- tion picture, prbduction to uriprece- dented importance in. the industry during 19364 The putlook for 1937; indicates ari. even. further iricrease, particularly .in; cblbr. ' The past yeai* has seen the major studios, and riiari; . of the more prpmirient independent .prpducers, install special colbr eqiiipnier^t in: their portrait gallbries and labora- tories, taking .advantage of the in- creasing outlets for color stills in the daily papers, Sunday sections, fan magaziries, and other jperiodicals goin^ in for- this t3rpe of rei)roduc- tion. Lobbies and displays are also demanding more. cQlor^ especially full-toned pojrtraits and shots ex- plbitirig: production ;yalue.. At the present stage, two processes are favored —-; the . Dufay' . riegatiye .process and the hand-tirited paper method.., Estiriiates show that color costs about 10; times as much as reg^ ular ,black - and White, the tint be ing than the negative process. According to several studio execu- tives, if color publicatibri contiriues to increase at the present rate, half .bf the stills mainly used for adver- tising, exploitatibn, publicity will be , made i ' color, While the riiajority bf the 'usual roUtirie prb- ductibriVset. pictures will continue in black and white.: Rush On Candids bemarid for. riiore pictures of all kiridsi particularly candid camera shots arid'miracle. eye photos, by the press and . publici -'is putting heavy calls upon the istudios for more phbtographs. This is also dUe to in- creased publication space. Mariy daily papers, devoting Several full pages to photos, consume thousands bf negatives and,prints, while some syndicates are-.serviced with as many .as 1S() prints from a single negative. N^ws magazines, as well as other l^pes of periodicals, want more and riipire, while , some bf the inags fill practically . all pages With, phbtbgraphs.. New publications, ap^ pearing ori. the ; Stand.s for the first time during. Id36, havb f Urther added, to putput, iarid upped size of numer-; oUs roto sections cohfie in for their share material., Raised on a cpmputed average cost of $1,200 per mbtiori picture, for stills,. Hollywood's important studios have isperit (Close to $^00,000 during 1936 arid expect to far exceed is figure for the coming-year. Average riiajor stUdib ,expended in the neigh- borhood Of $80,000 each for mai - tenaince pf this' Single departriient. Advent of colpr, naturally, is \ip^ ping, costs, With some studios, paying experts as high as $250 for deliverT ing pne. negative :an<i one print using :biifay eqUipriierit arid quoting: prices.: of $50 a print, thereafter. These cbsts occUr in studios which, do not own. their color, cameras, ' wbich cpst $6,000r: StUdibs such as Warners,' Metro, Paramount and Universal are cblpr calnnera equipped and cost 'ofv operating is. cut' down, as their own expbrts do the phPtographing and lab WPrk> Qthers .are using priyate experts pri;special assigmrients. Hand-Tiiits Fiyored The harid-tirit process is favored highly by spnie prgariizalions. due to the coriiparative extremely low cost, These; shbts are specially pbsed .<and costumed for tinting and labbiratory charges bn therii are fair below those of the straight negative prbcess. ■Virith-Warners heading the list, of coritemplated equipment imiproye^. merits with a planhed $^i5;000 new plant, all ether stuidibs are consider^ irig! further: expansipri in. their still photograph .departments. ... Probably t^^ largest unit is at :Paramburit, with a personnel: con' sistinig of two portrait artists, two news phbtogs; candid camera expert, prie color phbtPgrapher arid the ^varying .rixmiber of unit men, cprdirig to niunber of' motion pic tUres in prbduction. Warriers tops with three portraiteurs. All seven major . studios , riiai in their laiboratoriesy which, include "re- touching and tinting , experts. These labbratbries turn, put black and white negatives at a cost bf firorii 65c. to $li depending uppri the individual studio's overhead charge. While most of the Independent prpduciers nP'akin^'Ulins for majpr releases have thieir siill work dorie by • their respective§,tUdios,. Wood- bury and the Archer; ](abQratories do riibst of the work of the straight Indies. . , : General Theatre .Equipment Gbrp.;:has p^id off loan from the Chase National bank amounting to nearly $2,000,000.. IJnderstandirig in Wall Strbet is that most bf . nipney used in clearing up the bbligation was se- cured through exercise bf subscription warrants . for . the' capita stock. Stock .warrants for mbre thatt 91,006 shares had been .exercised to pec..-30., '•■ ' Airplane Which crashbd near :Holly wood killirig 12 aboard was .the . ship that George A, Hirlimian rented for the air location trip fbir 'Park-Avenue. Logger.'. Pilots and. hostess, YvOhne Trego,/were on board and* the latter spoke lines. After .the tragedy these scenes were clipped, Hirliman sub- stituting several, scenes with Dixie McCoy, script girl. 'A Star is ,' Selznick-Internatiortal fstarxer for Fredric/March and Janet Gayrior, hks more than one point of similarity to 'What Price Hbliy- Wpod,' produced by Selzriick several years back at RKO-Radio, with Con- stance Bennett and Lowell Sherriian. Studi states same story ' not b.enig usea; Veteran ^writer, actor and irectpr, working with a novice scenarist on is first important job at a Goas^ major studio, refused screen credit 4Uhough the .latter admitted his collabbrator deserved 75%; of the laurels xor domg the ori inal story.. Just a gesture. Preferred shareholders United Artists .ITibatre C^ircuit • will: get ai $15 cash dividend plus new xommbrt stock. ;under thts comipariy's; proposed recapitalization plan. There', is ai Back dividend dUe. Pri the company's outstanding. 30,000 . shares of. .pre- ferred aritpuntirig to around $35 i>er share, and: the preferred share- holders prpbably will be asked to waive the balance due.. ,. Additiprially the preferred, share- holders; will ..be asked to take ..a re- duction in the interest rate' bri the preferred from $7 per share :to,$5 per share annually. .The cprt^mon stock of the' . company will be inr creased from 500,000 shares to 600,000 ;sharbs'under . the plan, which in ali' probability may be announced, in .the next fe'wr days, . Practical resUlt of the plan is that the company will have liquidated its back due dividend entirely, without increasing., the amburit of preierred shares outstanding, . For thb year ended Aug. 31, li936, the U. A, Theatre Circuit earned $167,845 net. The U, A; i.t controls Metro- politart PlayhbUses-(Fox..Met) ,whic circuit of apprbxiriiiately 85 theatres is^ divided into two sUbTOperating iflrms, l^he Randforce Circuit arid the Skbui;as Theatres Corp. Raridforce is operated by Sam' Ririzler andi Harry Frisch; Raridforce theatres are mostly/ in Brobklyn and Long: Island. George Skouras operates the remaindeif of the old Fbx Met the- atres, ' .'r The U. A. Theatre Circuit's -. capitalization, .plan basn't ariythirig to ,do with these-operations, or. the MetropiQlitan earnings., A^no.rig the tJ. A, Theatre Circuit houses is "in- cluded: the RivplI,. pri Broadway, be- si . de hUcers iri rhany .principal cities wljich houses iare operated by others br leased'to niiajor film firms. Altbgether the U. A. 'Theatre Circuit pf itself and butside of Metropolitari PlayhbUses,; covers an estiinated 60 theatres, around 35 Of which are on the Coast under F-WC^ operation (20th Centufy-Skouras), * Joseph M. Schenck, chairman ■ of the board of 20th Century-Fox, Is president of United Artists. Theatre Circuit . , Demismd for first run irigs i the_'lUmes SqUare , ithin a radius; of 10 blocks,, has reached peak which, in the opinion of op- ei:atbrs, wiB eventually; riiean the eliminaitibn of sbri\e 'hpusesi These, it is held, will fall by -the wayside because Pf inability to sUstain them- iselves: in a catch-as-catch-can fight. for prbduct. ■ Whether theatres are to continue in first pr secortd runs—or mix both,; as some do—it is irievitable that some of them, whichever .the .vic- tims,- cannot permariently wbather the odds, they are striiggling against in .the face bf' present. difficulties. The quest for first: run pictures has finally become sib frenzied that al^ riiost any iudependent picture has. chance to shoot for Broadway play- dates of a calibre better thari ever before in history. • Were it hot for' the fact that dur- ing the past year there have been a large; nUmber of holdovers Pf fir^t runs in the larger houses, many a- Week: would have seen theatres: of lesser importance Unable to fill firist- cUn playdates; Playirig second runs 'ife'np easier siric(6 isoriiething bf a monopoly pri . second runs is mairi- 'i&iried. by .a few circuit buyers; Mixing:./Em. in Qaalers The riiercharidisirig of picture? in the Broadway zone by a varied group bf-bperatbrs has developed to the ppint where now a tPtal bf 10 .theatres are .regularly buyirig first runs, while nibre than a. half'dozen others gettirig pictures first crack as occa;Siorials. Sbmetiriies the' occasibnials will have two-pictures first rUri, but generally.it's as cbm- pany with a second run oh. double bills. Situation has reached the stats Whepe any feature of eveiv fa re* mptely passable character is cbri* sidered. ia addition to the AstPry which now* roadshows pictures, new prbdr uct is demanded regularly by the Music Hall, Capitol, Roxy,- Para-, mount, Rivoli;. Strand,, Rialto, Cri- terion arid Globe. Thi? is a total of 10 new fbatures week in and week out, althpugh if the Crit goes back to .duals, it . will mean .one mbre .to fill that house's deriiands! Oyer and above this heayy demand bri the dis^; tributors, there; being pnly eight majors, other hoUses are coristaritly trying tp bbok first rUns. ' : An .occasidnal; which recently has been .spotting a first run with a sec- ond bn duals With^corisiderable rejE!u- larity, is the RKO Palace. Mean^ time, because of the .demand for first run playdates. Eighth avenue spots such as the Tivoli, Arena,. CplUmbus and Times,' which in the pastplay;ed numierous first runs bri the year, are now reduced to a small minimum. This is also trUe of the old Stariley; and with first Tuns scarcer and scarcer, Loew's Mayfair, which re- placed that circuit's old Nev; York, is entirely second ruri. The old New Ybrk theatre and roof .frequeritly found enoUgh first ruri product around to cbuple up twp new. ones at a time." Loew bccasiorially gets one for the giegfeld. The prospects for second: run poli- cies in the Times Square fight are even l^ss inviti ' RKQ.arid Loew's» .with/ heavy buying power arid sec* ond run' conutiitmerits to Harry; Brandt, of the Globe, with ;his large chain, makes it virtually impossiblii fbr ari i ie to go secbrid run with any degree of success. Loew's h^s its. State and Mayfair as slecprid runSj which all .distributors favbr, while RkO is fortified with the JPalace. Owiri'g to his buying, power, Brandt is'irt the position where he cah get ah edige Oh: first . :as ,well a$ secbrid runs. GRACE MOOBE'S FLANS . Grace Moore coriies eaistward Jan. 25;. At present she is resting at Tri'' angle Ranch,. ' , Her appearances at: the Metrppblitan Opera; N. Y., are being ire^ch'edul^d. She airs over. General Motors hour; on Feb." U Flaps *Wing»' Holly wood; Jah; 12. Preparatioris. afef. being, riiade at Universal to put *Wirigs Over Hono-. lulu' inio production. Isabel, pawn arid Boyce De Gaw scripted. Potter will; iirect. Ray Millahd, Jane Wyatt and Wil- liam Gargan'Will be toppers. FAY BAINTEE'S FAR FIC it'ay Bainter has gone to the Cbast to appear in "the Years Are .Sb Long,':,. Paranipunt feature ' Starring Victor Mopre. She is slated to take the place fori- mcriy assigned to Aline MacMahon.