Variety (Dec 1937)

Wednesday, December 1, 1937 PICTURES VARIETY 27 / Ipain in Flames OK'd in Pennsy On Grounds It's a Current Newsreel Philadelphia, Nov. 30. iiv a lengthy decision of . wide im- portance to the entire film industry. Common. Pleas court last.Wednesday (24) ordered the State Boards of Cen- sors to approve *Spain in Flames,' Spanish propaganda picture which was nixed last^ March. Judge Louis E; Leviritha^ over- ruled "the censors on the basis that ihc film is a newsreel and thus not subject tb the? official .ovo: under Pennsy law. He said to suppress this film, of 'curi'ent events' wpuld^be ^ to suppress free spieech. He. held im- material the board's contehtiph that the pic is propaganda to encourage enlistrnent oiE American? in the Spaii- isiK Loyalist Army. Following terrific squawk from, radical groups at. the, censors' .Ijan, Gov.. Earle stepped in. He appointed a committee of 50 to view ^Flames' and decide whether it should be shown. The group's decish was never announced, but a short time later Earle himself .Viewed the film and upheld tbe censors. • Guv said pic Avas 'badly done' and •pure Communistic propagandia,' in addition to. fact ■ that it 'definitely asks for and encourages rectuiting of men 6f military eixpierienee.' "The Nation took him soundly; - the hurdles for his aiction. ; ^ .. Jiidg^ Levinthal's opinion upheld, the appeal of Jesse H. Holmes and Anne M, W; Pennypackeii", who hold exhib rights to tbe pic in Pennsy as memberi . of the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democr racy; • . Opinion .' 'Spain in Flames' is a film contain- ing cux-renf and timely, news';; :the court said, land thus is not within provision of censor law. : I'hei pic- torial part of the filni is ciertainly iiew's'* .Judge \ Levin thai wi-otis. 'and the current events of today are the history of tomorrow.' The sound track accohipanying.the film was alsp held to be news, arid therefore not censorable. 'Narration Ind subtitles,' Levinthal writes 'are even more essential to newsreels than are headlines and editorials to newspapers.' He declared cerrsdrship of the sound traick would nullify protection accoirded the picture itself, for with- out explanation and comment the picture would be devoid of meaning. Of the censors'- objection 'tb the words 'Fascism,' 'Italian' aiid the like, Judge. Levinthal write^'To forbid .the narrator, to tell his aUdence lliat the troops shown on the screen are Ital- ians or Fascist Moroccan rnercenaries is. in fact, to forbid the poi'trayal of what actually did occur. Our leg- . islature :has wisely exempted the newsreel from. all. interference.' The court also upheld the right of producers to include introductory re- marks and picture of actual past events directly associated with the subject at hand as essential to give a film proper educational value. 'The recent development,' th& Judge said, 'of pictures and. theatres devoted primarily to the display of newsreels attests theii-: importance as a medium, of jnformatibn, opinion and education.' Weill, That's One Way Theatre oWner in a small western Missouri town wrote to the William Morris office, ask- ing, for a Tex Rittier p.a, book- ing. Martin Wagner, in charge of one-nighters for the agency, remembered the burg from' a sticks tour some years, ago and, as a gag, inquired of the show- mani 'Your. .house is .up two, flights of stairs, how can Hitter get his horse, in the theatre?' ; T only want the cowboy:; star on the stage,' wrote back the .impresario, :'I'll usie the horse, as ;i lobby display.' AFGA, DUPONT'S NEW IMPROVED NEGATIVE New sensitive, high-speed negative stock which makes' possible certain types of night camera shooting has: benn placed on the market by Afga and similar . bne probably will be marketed by DuPont as soon as tests are completed or demand justifies it. Several nevysreels have tried Afga stock, with; most recent jresult'? tabbed satisfactory. ■ Appatehtly., the. night shooting negative; will be most: useful for newsreel cpniipanies since it vyill make possible rnore coverage at night and materially trim cost of such. Typical, instande is in news- reel pictures of election night crowds. Without some such high- speed paper, eiach news weekly com- pany .has to have a generator and lighting crew, which often means an expenditure of, $200. Still photographers have been end- ploying the special sensitive for sev- eral months, but first motion picture work , was; done only a . few weeks ago. Cashier M. C/s Her Own Op Lancaster, Pa.v Nov, 30.. 'This,' said Evelyn Groff, cashier at the Hamilton theatre,, 'is an emergency call, let me have the Gen- eral Hospital.'. She was asking, as she ; pushed a ticket through the wicket; and rriade change, for ah. am- bulance to be sent to the Harniltoh in a rush. Her next call was to the manager. 'Mr. Thatcher,' she asked, 'can you send me a relief cashier? I've got to leave in a' minute.' ^Where are .you. going at this hour of the day?' Thatchei: wanted to know. ; To the hospital,' came the reply from the boxPffice, 'I've just gotten appendicitis and, the. ambulance is on. the way down.. : The girl was right. She's doing very nicely after an emergency op- eration. CONTRACTS Hollywood. Nov' 30. Warners snagged Virgil Irwin, Chicago ether ahnouncei', with an. optioned playing termer. Republic validated . Gloi't^ Rich's terpie option.- Arthur Gutmah dotted-lined ; at Metro for draniatic scoring. . Mickey Robney signatured new termer'at. Metrp. . . Myrha' Loy tied oit.Metro with,new ..contract..,; . Hal Roach grabbed Arnold .Bel> gJ^rd on a scripting termer, . Jerry Wald remains. at Warners under a scribbling term ticket.' Paul Hurst ticketed to player pact :'at.20th^F6x.- . : . : - Player option Of June Storey lifted by 20th-Fox. Metro -has dottedlined H. A. Gi'o- mn, author of '.The Citadel' and other best sellers, to. a scrib ticket. Dana Burnet hancocked Metro sci ipting pact. David fioehm rhoves into the Mel- -To-auetbr-ial-corpSi-;--^ ——- •. - - Playih.g . termer handed to .Joan ("astlfe, ex-screen moppet recently on tlie N. Y. stage, by 20th-Fox. Jack Dunn, Olympic skating ^liiimp, inked an -acting covenant at Pa.i'amount. v ■. . Zion, III., May Give In Chicago, Nov. 30. If and when Zion, 111., okays the introduction of motion pictures and bowling into its City,. Balaban & Katx-Great States intends to build the town's first theatre. Municipal referendum, oit motion pictures and bowling will. be held, in December elections, and it's understoPd that the townspeople are leaning towards a liberal viewpoint on these amuse-, ments. . . ' . ■' . Great States holds protection oyei' Zion, by way. 6t Waukegan. RKO RECALLS ALL ITS FIED EXPLOITEERS RKO has callfed-ia.flll its field men, dropping any further as.^ignments in exploitation of its current pictures, headed at the moment by 'Damisel in Distress.' Order went out Monday (29,);;" ' w;,: ■ ■. . ;. Company had a total of 24 mien oh the payroll as territorial exploiteerr and has been paying a higher salary than United Artists and other dis- tributors haying ' a representative group of men in the field. TO BAN BINGO STORY BUYS . 'HollyWood, ' Nov. 30, . .'Gehtleman's Geiitlcrhain,' origihal by Major Ronald- Bodley, snagiged by Universal; .. .Universal .purchastid 'Finders. Keepers,' mag. yarn by SuzartnC; De Haa.>5. Colony Pictures, grabbed 'The West Wa.kcs Up;' original, and adaptaUon by Mortimer Braus. 'Cone On, Coleville,' : Anierican magazine' story by Edwin Rutt and .Vernon Mackenzie, bPughl by .Nat Ro.ss for Metro.- . Metro acquired 'Double Trouble,' ori.t;inal by Bcrtrftnd Robinson and Arthur Pierson; also 'She of the Tnplc Chovrbh," by Sir Gilbert Par- -kei^^ ;.. --^—--^—^-'Z ....l^-JJ^—-,^.:. . 'Safety in Numbers,'.by Eve Golden and. Geyne Schenk, purchased by. 26th-Fox for Jones Family feature. E. B. Derr bought. 'Female Fugl- tiv>%.' Edward Hope' original,, for Crescent .Pictures. . Philadetlphi.a. Nov. 30. . Use of bingo games to hypo church funds was condemned last Thursday by ecclesiastic execs as 'unfair to local businessmen.' . Dr. F. A; Agar, secretary for the stewardship of the Northern Baptist; Convention criti- cized 'propositions offering church groups a percentage of profit in ex^ change for their cooperation.' ',Speaking befpre; the United, Stew-, ardship Council of aill churches, he advocated 'Christian church finance, with contributions voluntarily and spiritually inspired.' Camden's "Tabu Top Philadelphia, Nov. 30. Bingo was nixed completely in Camden, N. j., Saturday (27)—even in churches. • Religious institutions must find some pther source of rev- enue. Police Chief Arthur Colsey in- formed them. Pic hpuses, which make wide use of games, are also ihcliided in the ban, of course.. ' Supreme Court Justice Lloyd, in sweeping order* barred gambling of all sorts, from penny-a-punch chance boards, patronized by school kids, tp hprse racing. Owners of gambling devices were given 12 hours to get theni out of sight. Town was re- ported Saturday hite to have lid on tight—temporarily, at least. ;' Cracking Dowii in Lancitster; Lancaster, Pa., Nov; 30. .. Exhibitors in thesie parts voluably sighed with much relief this weelc as city authorities here and; in Yprk cracked down hard on bingo parties and raffles which have been nicking grind b.p.'s. ; ■When pblice discovered that kids were raiding cars, shoplifting and hocking schoor books and'Supplies iri addition to hoarding lunch rnohey in order to play bingo, they promptly slapped on; the lid in no'.uncertain manner. Several conriplaints from husbands that bingo was taking all of the family grocery budget and 'one actual case in which gambling \yas one of the factors in the* seeking of a divorce also directed the police in their action. Bingo had swung into a bigger business in this section this, year than ever before, with top prizes includ- ing such items as expense trips to Bermuda, new automobiles and paid- up life insurance policies. Most of the games were operated by clubs and; churches with the heayy money, on the club side. ' One prganization, American Legion here, was playing to as many as 800 and 1,000 people a night, using three floors of its home and running the games by p.a. system. One paper commenting, . on the police ' crackdown, pointed out that it has never been considered outside of good church ethics to hold such parties to raise funds. It traced the history of local churches ' tp .sh'ov> that practically all of those dating to Revolutionary time's had beeirt biiilt with rhoney secured on straight raffles and that the system employed resembled ,very closely the 'riuinbers racket' of today. . Reissues of Oldies Ridicule Film Art; Chaplin, Pickford Nix Past Pix, Others Can t Control International Touch Hollywood, Nov; 30. Makeup for Jeati Her.sholt, as Sonja Henie's 'father,' in 'Happy Ending,' ' lopk.s .very much' like ;Norway's greatest writer, Henrik Ibsen. Studio decided to let it stand at that and make it 20th"-Fox's international homage . to coup- . try that gave them Henie. GEORGIA'S TAX IDEAS ON CHAIN THEATRES Curtain had special session Atlanta,. Nov, 30. hardly rung up on of Georgia General Assembly last week before Repre- sentative Booth, of Barrow County, put a measure into legislative hop- per providing tax on theatres and theatre chains. Under provisions of bill individual theatres taxed $50 each. Chain theatres ire- .taxed, ,$50 for. first house and' $10 for each addi- tional theatre. This tax would be- gin at $50, tax on No, 2 house would be $60, No. 3 $70, and so on up to 16 theati-es, when rate would be a flat $200 for each theatre over 16 limit. Booth also introduced bill which would tax theatre tickets on sliding scale, starting at a Ic levy on a 10c admission' dticat and rising to 2c oh a ISc ticket, 3c oh a 20c ticket and up to 18c on a $1" pasteboard. Viola- tion would be a misdemeanor. Law- maker calculates this one will raise $1,500,000. ;■-... Griffith Circuit Pep Taik$ Managerial Ideas dk4ahbma City, Nov, 30. Griffith .Circuit houses, number- ing some 175 in Oklahoma, Texa.s and 'New Mexico, are. receiving a new personnel piromotionail setup that is keeping the boys on their toes. -■ Personnel manager C. B.. Akcrs Kas developed a What-to-Do-About-It book which; is given every employe in ev.^ry house and wherein exact duties are $et forth. Managers .and house men are given' courses of in- struction in what to do about those situatipns airising not covered by the book. Leading citizens of each town are called in to tell about their busi- ness at managerial meetings, which include all staff men at each house. Meetings are open forum.. Attorney.s explain how to. ayoid fraud and damage suits, etc. . Griffiths haying houses in three college towns are also picking bright young men, moving thein .to these houses and enabling them to go through school. : 20 Told in Cleve. ,; Cleveland. Nov. :iO. ; -About 20'bingo • cafes have fi>lded since police banned them a.i .?(.'im- blihg sppts, and 82 other nile .spots. \^hich discpntinued . the gattie- lare in dire traits; Dbspjle court rulirig.s against bingo' in two recent tc.sl cases, promoters are still ati.pnintiac t.P get the cpi*rt-ahd^numi)er game; legalized. ... Organized by Phillip A. Sollami, under tag. .of. Anuiseinent . Seekers Club, promoters hope to pijsh legis- lation through city ..council. IE film bank nites'.are legal, they ^ argue, why shouldn't binrto ijames. f which pay a certain peicetil:ii;e. to Gap, Cincy, Acquitted In Equal-Rights Suit . Ciricinnati, Nov. 30. It took a jury in Judge A. L. Lueb- ber's muoy court six minutes to ac- quit Norman Linz, manager of the RKO Capitol, of a charge of violating the equal rights law. Louise Stall- worth alleged that employees of the theatre re'ru,sed to admit, her becau.sei stie is a Negress ■\^hen: she. bought a . ticket Aug. 3;.. last. Defense, con- tended ';the . woman wa.s- refused ad- niiitan.ce aftdir she created a 'disturb^, ance in the lobby, and they feared she ' would annoy; patrons on the in- side. It was Ihw first to be tried, here under a new state law. HpUywood, Nov.llO. Industry wellwishcr.s. and thosp Who take the film seriously as an art are speaking among themselves ;of getting together in :a move to ban ridicule of old film.<; as degrading to the art 'and injufiou!; tp the in- dustry; . Custom; started with synched or commentaried ■ reissues of pre-wat films. No one has ever objected to harmless fun gotten from outdated styles of old. newsreels' or .even.. scehery-chewing of actor.s in .some of the cMiest film tittPmpts. ;Biit time travels so fast, and films improve so rapidly that a bare 10 ; years is how enough to make an. old film seem: like something out of the .uriciviiized prehistoric past. Spj many living stars, sonrie ojE- them still in pix, are already avaiilable for the funmaking of the; commentators?. Mary Pickford is known to have bought up all aivailable prints pf her old .features, to avoid just ^such prp- cedure. . . . Chaplin has ' done the same whenever, possible, but number of prints of his early shorts (on which all rights had gotten away from him) are still On market here and abroad. They come out now either in dubbed version, with dialog that he doesn't care for, or with commentaries that poke fun at. what; seems ridiculous, but is simply butrhoded technique, of early film days. Chaplin has done all in his power to.stop: this practice, but can't put end tp . it. Fearing repetition, of; such injurious dubbing, he has flatly refused all legitimaite ofllers vvhich have been made for re-releasing his old pix, features' and shorts alike. Official statement of studio is that even most recent films 'will not be re-released, that if any of them ever are, it will only be when Chaplin has synched them himself and made; sure it's all on the up.-and-up. .Garbling Garbp Most vicious and painful example of tampering with silent film for the amusement of the yokels is Euro- pean-made 'Streets ; of Sorrow,' di- rected by G. W. Pabst, which first made Garbo a star. Original version (made iii 1923) ' had Asta Nielsen as top player, - with Garbo in second lead. But by the .time filni got over here in 1926-27, it had been recut to make Garbo .the lead, with Nielsen , practically eliminated. At that time, film, which had heavy sex ;angles due to depressed condi- tions of post-war Vienna which/it depicted, had. been arranged with subtitles as 'expose of prostitution,' and ^yas ishown in midwestern houses, on alternate days for men and; women only, with sex talk by Dr. M. Sayle Taylor, since. become famous as ''Voice of Experience' the airways. Recently reissued by indie outfit, film is currently showing at Cri- terion, Los Angele.s, bootleg. house featuring indie 'Children of Loneli- ness,' film on Lesbianism. 'Streets of Sorrow' runs to four reels, with dialog and commentary dubbed in. Not only does commentator poke copious fun at film, but actors are made to speak in various dialects, foreign accents and humorous v6ice.s. Net result is general .hilarity, at expense of first-rate actors, giving what at the time were top perform- ances (according to standards of th moment). Most heartbreaking to.in- dustry and to cinema art addicts in that film -vyas great box office draw and considered epoch-making in its time. ■ V. Garbo, as usual, refused any com- ment on the incident. G. 'W, Pabst, whos.e directorial career was first ais- sured by this film, is 'isomewhere in Europe,' unavailable for; cproment. Matter is beyond control of Hays office or any other outfit, as film - is showing in five-and-ten hpuses and other bootleg joints which don't give a whpop for Production Code; okay or anything else, except legal, censojf * ship. ■ city and olate, be in same category. Under propo.sed bill nitery owners Would pay $10 liceri.se fee to city, $1 to state, in addition, to 6% of gross income to be equally divided; between .state and city. trea.suries; To slop abu.ses, the bill. also would forbid afternoon games and window advertising, ,besides banning jack- pot:s or, dnpr prizes and enforcing 6 l<) 12 p. m. hours in all .•<i)ol3. Neb. Banko Appeal Lincoln; Nov. 30. . Bank nighl"atlo.i'ney.s a.sked retit?ar- ing of the Fox-Beatrice ThiMlr.i.i Corp. case, which was found a Ipi- tery violation. S'".preme court agrci'd .with di.stricf court dcci.sion oyer M.iontli <ig').