Variety (Oct 1937)

'Wednesday, October 6, 1937 PICTURES VARIETY NEW U.S. STANCE ON QUOTA Silverstone and Kprda Coming t Over to Consummate Goldwyn-UA Deal; Talk Foreign Fdm Merger London, Oct. 5. Murray Silverstone, United Artists chieftain ini Europe, with Alexander Korda are sailing for America next Wednesday (13), probably accom- panied by David Rose, to consum- niate the United Artists - Samuel Goldwyn deal. Understood that re- quired amount for lifting the op- tions from Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks^ is available. That means around $6,000,- 000 at least, and maybe more. Korda is understood planning a vacation of six weeks, which prob- ably Is meant to Infer that he will remain abroad for a month or more. .Whlie Korda is in the States, his oiitfit here, it is xmderstood, will get one of those efficiency going-oyers, spurred by his financial backers and apparently preparatory to laurjiching the bigger Gbldwyh-Korda purpose. Hereabout there Is talk of a con- solidation whereby United Artists and an American film company will be amalgamated. This must be in reference to an RKO-UA merger, such as has been consistently. indi- cated. -Under the circumstances the Mer- vyn Leroy angle in the Goldwyn- Korda situation appears to be one of those things, although not alto- gether impossible. However, it is too early to figure what may occur ultimately since it is now confirmed that whatever con- clusions will be reached,- these will be in the United States where, of course, time and conditions may have effect one way or another on the situation. Option for control of •U.A, expires Dec. 1. Wanger to Discuss Home's Contract Wlule East; Bush Out Extension. of Hal Home's associa- tion, as production executive with Walter Wanger, upon the expiration of the present agreement between the parties, in December, probably will be discussed during Wanger's stay in New York. Home has been ■with Wanger for around a year and the option for extending his services is exercisable this week, according to understanding; Wanger is due to arrive east today (Wed.). Rodi}ey Bush, personal represen- tative for Wanger in New York, is understood leaving him. There is no indication that a successor will be appointed. » - Wanger was to h^ve come. east early this week but "he postponed his trip in order to meet George J. Schaefer, United Artists distribution chief, who is now on the Coast for general company confabs. George J, Schaefer and Monroe Greenthal left for the Coast during the past week, crossing the Dave Selznick-Walter Wanger parties v^hich were eastbound at the time. Wanger flew in Friday (1), while Selznick and his group trained in Monday (4). Schaefer took the train west Thursday (30), while Greenthal flew out the day following, both to l<iok over finished and unfinished Pfpduct, discuss sales plans, adver- tising, etc. Plan to stay only one week. _ The day Schaefer left for the west J^tnanuel Silverstone, Alexander •Korda's sales representative in this country, started out on a tour of UA exchanges in the middle west. Benny Rubin's Play tj.p^'^'jy Rubin has written a comedy u ti f-^ ^v®'^ S6 Humble,' which w-^r on the rounds this week, vvuuam Morris office is handling for the RKO scriptist-producer. Publicity Poison Hollywood, Oct. 5. Los Angeles suburban exhibs are nursing a peeve against an eccentric film comedienne who, up to the time of her. recent divorce proceedings, has been a surefire draw. Notoriety at- tending court action is showing its effect at the wickets, where exhibs claim the turnover has been slim enough without ex- traneous annoyances; One house manager reported that 50 women turned away from the theatre upon learning from the cashier that the gal in question' is in the picture. Another the- atre nearby counted 26 wornen who refused to attend for the same reason. A few miles away a' house that is generally a pushover for the actress first yanked her name from the marquee and then closed out the picture after three days. BlAY AND MAIN ST. LIKE SAME PK-HAYS In a forecast of 1937-38 produc- tion issued this week Will Hays, president of the Motion Picture Pro- ducers and Distributors of America, held that apparently Main Street and Broadway are alike insofar as appreciation of motion pictures is concerned. Hays, who recently re- turned from a summer sojourn in Hollywood, pointed out that 'distin- guished films of a character hereto- fore considered class entertainment are helping vastly to raise the stand- ard of so-called mass entertainment. . Current productions for the 1937- 38 season will be featured by an un- precedented number of truly dis- tinguished entertainment films, ac- cording to Hays. 'The industry is beginning to reap what has been sowed by years of educational effort, by the production of pathfinding pictures and by con- stantly adding to the variety of en- tertainment themes,' he said. 'A sense of highest showmanship marks many of the outstanding films of the new season.' HAYS ORG. MEET OCT. 14 DEPENDS ON PIX EXECS Fall quarterly meeting of directors for the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors association now is scheduled for Oct. 14. Though, this is the tentative date, actual confab will depend on whether leading di- rectors, now in Hollywood or in Europe, will be able to get back to New York in time. One report expected to be laid be- fore the directorate will be that on visual education and results accom- plished to date. Autograph Worth Having Hollywood, Oct. 5. P. A. Chase, Warner Bros, studio complrpller, celebrated his 25th an- niversary with the company last week. He started with the old Warner & Gobel exchange in New York and the first week signed three pay checks, those of H. M. Warner, Major Albert Warner, and himself. These days, his autograph appears on around 3,500 checks every week. T TO MIKE BIIIT. PIX m Instead of Treating Quota Films as a Gag, American Producers Now Feel That by Judicious Bolstering 'of B. O. Values They Can Produce a Picture Ac- ceptable for the Entire Anglo-American Market Columbia's Dramatists Guild Deal To BankroO B way Plays Is First Schism in United Hollywood Front LONDON POWWOWS Converging of high executives as well as foreign distribution man- agers on England in the last month or so with expected vastly increased production by U. S.- companies in Great Britain is held in' the industry to be caused by ari entirely new ap- proach by American" production- distribution companies to the quota law. Fact that Metro has started producing, has announced elaborate plans, and is making rapid strides towards a production setup in Eng- land, has caused other U. S. com- panies to take notice and often to follow suit. While definite plans on actual pic- tures planned by .American produ- cers or their subsid companies op- erating in England are not set thus far, there is every indication that the present move towards hiked pro- duction means that the major com- panies are regarding the English quota law and proposed new one in an entirely different economic Ught. . All signs point to American pro- ducers actually making the bulk of the films necessary to come within the quota. In the past, the quota regulations were complied with by purchasing English-made features of a sort for as low as $15,000. Often these were put into the vault and never shown. Seldom was an at- tempt made by U. S. companies to bring these to this country for ex- hibition because of obvious cheap production values and otheir flaws. New slant on the situation is that as long as money must be paid, there would be a 50-50 chance to .come out ahead in actual revenue if they made features in England, obtained. (Continued on page 62) McCarthy's Stand-in Hollywood, Oct. 5. Latest quip is that Edgar Bergen couldn't find Charlie McCarthy the first day he went to. work for Sam Goldwyn, So they asked Sid Skolsky to stand in for him. GOLDWYN ALSO HAS LEGIT PROD. YEN Samuel Goldwyn may enter legit production ranks this season with scripts being sought for that purpose. Film' magnate is not bound by the agreement between other major companies not to finance stage shows because of provisions in the Drama- tists Guild contract distasteful to Hollywood. Other film producers in the United Artists group similarly are not bound but they have not in- dicated interest in legit presenta- tions. Goldwyn has been toying with the idea of producing a legiter for some time. Understood his interest has been revived in that direction be- cause planning to produce more big feature pictures and counting on the stage to furnish at least part of the needed material. LeRoy's U Bid Reported Hollywood, Oct. 5. Trade now hears that certain Uni- versal insiders have been trying to persuade Mervin LeRoy to become associated with that studio in an ex- ecutive capacity. Conditions reported as permitting LeRoy to write his own ticket. Universal Home Office Consternation Over 110 Letouts; Execs to Coast The axe of the payroll-chopping woodsmen in Universal fell heavily on the heads of home office em- ployees Friday (1), when a total of 110, some with the company up to as long as 25 years. Were given their notice. With the notices came hysteria and a condition of unrest and uncertainty ambng others. Numerous other letouts have been rumored, but given no official notice. Various departments were cut to shreds in the swoop which greatly minimized the size of the home office U payroll, cuts meaning a sav- ing of somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 a week. Sales, account- ing, foreign, printing, publicity^ ad- vertising and other departments in U were affected by the chopping. The only adjunct of U that was not touched was the newsreel. While majority of the 110 dropped were employed in accounting, cleri- cal and other work, among those who felt the pinch of hard times for beleaguered U were Sam Sedran, of the accessory^ department; William Kramer of the contract-playdate di- vision; J., V. Ward, of the printing department; J. Albert Hirsch, ad- vertising manager (succeeded by his ex-aide, Lou Pollock); Al Nathan, in charge of press books; George Cochrane, brother of R. H., presi- dent of U, who has had charge of film testing in the ea^t; Beulah Liv- ingstone, publicity features, and Murray Spector, foreign department. Kramer has already made arrange- ments on another connection, reports being that he will join the Schine circuit in upstate New York. Ward had been with U 25 years. Prior to receiving the notices Fri- day (1), U forces were in a panic- stricken state and the day before had sought word from Cochrane on the matter. Sentiment had de- veloped-strongly in favor of joining the Bookkeepers, Stenographers and Accountants Union, an affiliate of the CIO, which.has been attempting to organize picture workers and Cochrane had been advised of this. The U president is quoted as having indicated that he would be willing to meet with a committee on the matter of joining up with the CIO. That's as far as it went. A group of U employees held a meeting, how- ever, Monday (,4J about joining the CIO union. The letouts occurred coincident with the departure for the west, also Friday il), of Charles R. Rogers, v.-pi; in charge of production, who had been reported figuring in fric- tion with Cochrane and J. Chcever Cowdin, but who returned to the Coast with forces declared to have been coordinated. First outright break in Holly- wood's united front against the Dra* matists Guild exploded last week with Columbia Pictures' announce- ment that it would immediately be- gin backing Broadway production, denerally expected that the other studios will follow suit, either grad- ually or in a rush. Coast moguls had stuck to their giins, nominally at least, for the last year. In his announcement of policy shift, Harry Cohn, Columbia prez, declared his studio will no longer submit to dictation from Metro, Paramount and Warners in the mat- ter. Other. companies have been quietly backing legit production from the beginning, the Columbia head stated, adding that the practice has been unfair to the smaller stu- dios. Fact that the Broadway pro- ducers put on plays all last year under the new contract Indicates it isn't so bad, Cohn observed. Understood Columbia's idea in getting back into legit piroduction is not only to hypo the value of plays as future film fodder, but to use Broadway for the development of talent. Studio indicated it will im- mediately sign a Dramatists ' Guild contract. D. A. Doran will head the Columbia legit production de- partment and expects to put plays on the stajjs as soon as possible, though nothing is definitely set. After his announcement, Cohn was sought all day by Metro and Warner, execs, but could not be reached. Ho left for the Coast the next night (30), accompanied by Nate Spingold. Doran remained in New York. Al- though officials of all the other ma- jors declared their studios will con- tinue to boycott the Dramatist Guild contract, the expectation is that the producer ranks, already waver- ing toward overt entry into the Broadway picture, will shortly aban- don the hold-off stand. Dramatist Guild pact, which pre- cipitated the Hollywood withdrawal, (Continued on page 21) Trade Mark KeRlstered POrTNDED PY KIMD SILVERMAN I'ubllHhed Weekly by VARIETY, Inc. Sid Silverman, Fresldent IS4 Wear 4niti Street. New Tork City SUBSCRIPTION Atinnnl. St Foreign »7 Single Copies 15 Cents Vol. 128 120 No: 4 INDEX Advance Production Chart. 19 Bills 54 Burlesque 47-49 Chatter gi Concert , 59 Dance Tours..., 47 Exploitation . 27 15 Years Ago............ 51 Film Booking Chart 17 Film Reviews .12-13 Girl's Eye View. 23 House Reviews 52-53 Inside—Legit ; 57 Inside—Pictures 13 Inside—Radio .". ' 40 International News....... 15 Joe Laurie, Jr. 48 Legitimate 55-58 Literati CO Music , 45-47 New Acts 53 News from the Dailies..., 62 Nite Clubs 48-51 Obituary 62 Outdoors 63 Pictures 2-28 Radio .29-44 Radio Reviews 32-33 Radio Showmanship.. 34 Sports 59 Units 53 Vaudeville 48-51