Variety (Feb 1938)

Wednesday^ February 2, 1938 PICTURES VARIETY 25 lA Ambitions 4A^s (Continued from page 7) the other is a strong and active or- ganization. Rapid growth o< the Four A'$ within the last year, in- cluding., the gaining, of the SAG- studio .contract, the formation of the American Federation of Radio Art- ists, the entry of the Ainerican Guild of Musical Artists, and the notable organizing strides made . in all dir rections, are proof the Four A's has vitality, the exec helieyes. In his opitVion the current row within the Four A's ranks is also a sign of a healthy, growing body. Besides all the other reasons ad- vanced for. minimizing the chances of Browne's success in carrying out his threat, it is repeated that an okay of the IATSE head's dernanji by the AFL executive committee would be a wide-open invitation to the CIO to step into the picture and take over the entire actor ranks in pne swoop. ■\yh i I.e actors as a group might besi- tate about gmng" CIO, their tradi- tionai repugnance for a tie with.the stagehands would .make it highly improbable. that they could be brought under the lATSE wing, re- gardless of any AFL action, Prime .argument on the Four A's side of the question, however, re- mains the fact that the lATSE Is without re^presenitation. in the actor field. While the Four A's bias ad- mittedly done little more thah'scratch the surface of the .attor field through- out the country, it has an; estimated meoibership o.f between 25,000 and 30,000, and it has enjoyed unchal- lenged jurisdiction in the field for nearly 20 years. Sknll Practice lividence of the seriousness. with which Four A's, execs take the Browne threat is . seen in the con- tinued .presence. Of "Thomson in New York, Also in the continued, lengthy huddles and strategy conferences among heads of the various Four A's unions. With this sinister shadow lurking oh. the horizon,: however,- the Four A's has been active With its own con- cerns, squabbles and business. Ques- tion of nitery andyaude chorus juiris- diction, which was expected to be settled quickly last Friday (28), \struGk. a snag, and is now scheduled for disposal this Fridaiy (4). It had apparently been in. the bag. foi'. the American. Federation of Actors to be awarded the jurisdic- tion, disputed by Chbrus Equity Assn.. a subordinate group to Actors Equity Assn. Thomson is known, to have pushed the. AFA. claim against the bitter opposition of Equity and the mild resistance of AFRA. "While most .Four A's officials and even a few .Chorus Equity execs admitted privately that tlie. AFA. claim, was logical, personal reasons are believed to have held up the settlement. After first appearing before Equity council to argiie the AFA claims, Thomson brought charges against Chorus Equity with, the idea of ob- taining'the ruling In favor of AFA. t'riday's Four A's "sfcssiori developed into a tense scrap, however, with the lATSE angle being injected briefly into the arguments. That occurred when Philip Loeb, ■ brain-truster of the Equity forces and actively behind . the Chorus Equity cause, accused Ralph White- head, AFA executive-secretary, of conspiring with the lATSE to bring pressure against the Four A's. Charge was denied and at a session later that night Whitehead voted favor- ably on a resolution condemning the lATSE 'for domnnding actor juris- diction, when ar.d if such demand is made. Sinvilar ;solutiohs had pre- viously been approved by Equity council and the boards of AFRA. AGMA and SAG, AFA had not been ?iotitted of the action of the other groups, With, the nitery arid vaUde' juris- dictiotial matter hanging fife, ^ev-: cvA\ comparatively minor action.? were taken at last Monday's (31) session. Principal, one was the order by the Four A's- board that. AFA must turn over an 'undisclosed, sub- stantial amouh.t'.. to the Burlesque Artists Assn. Money* Was alleged to have been collected by AF*A in its outlawed drive to organize the bUrley field out of New York, Thqmsoii. a V. P.' . Other action by the board includ- ed the election Of Thoms6n as first vice-president of the Fou^ A's, re- placing Mrs. Dorothy Bryant, .who ..withdrew several months ago as Chorus Equity, ej^ecutiye^-secretary. Board also granted a charter, to a group of aboiit 100 Italian actors in metropolitan New York. . Headec^ by Orio biamis, the thespers sought the naine of Italian Actors Equity for their outfit, but that bid was nixed lest it lead to confusion with Atitors Equity It was decided the name of the organization would be selected later : Considerable speculation was aroused by the absence of White- head from Monday's Four A's meet- ing. It had been anticipated that he. would attend, isince; the , matter of • the . AFA-BAA settlement was due for decision, He wjas said riot to have been at his office all day. Conflicting reports placed him in New York on secret AFA; rhattersi and put of town on an equally hush-' hush errand. However, with the A. F. of L. meeting in Miami and Bioff in ^ New York, rumors was rampant. Meanwhile, friction i between SAG and Equity, brought into the open by Thomson's recent^ blast at Loeb athd CJeorge Heller, appeared to have cooled. At Thomson's > appearanq^ before the Equity council, Btirgess Meredith, Equity head, was- reported to have acted as intermeidiary be- tween Thomson and the Loeb-Helier coimbinei It was stated that peace was eistabHshed. Wtndttst's Resijenatiori Despite its recent action in re- fusing to . appoint an assistant to Paul Dullzell; Equity treasurer and executtye-secretaryi.. council: nam^ Bretaighe Windust as aide tp M^rer dith, at the same $60 a week salary he had been giranted the previous week as organizer for Chorus Equity. Windust resigned both jobs yesterday (Tuesday) and was re-, placed by. Robert "i. Haines, who was also named a member of the. execu- tive committee. Windust was rer ported to have resigned to . take , out- side employment.; Equity council yesterday (Tues- day) appointed Loeb to the execu- tive committfre. It also voted to re- consider its previous approval of the committee report on the proposed Four A's Constitutional changes. .Re- port was returned to the committee for further study and will be re-, ported on at a special council meet- ing Feb. 10, Other action by the council at the session included a decision in the future to oppose all experimental groups Witti the exception of those sponsored by the American "Theatre Council and not ao approve any propositions which dp not call for fill Equity working conditions. . With the retirement of Windust from the Chorus Equity, picture, in- dications were, that the decks were cleared for AFA to take ovei: the nitery and vaude chorus jurisdic- tion, since Windust had been brought in to . handle the organiza- tional campaign in that field. Also, it was. learned, Harry .Sacher, whose appiointment as special attorney for Chorus Equity was believed to have pr bvoked the' explosion i n the'"Four." A's ranl<;s, was reported to have been eliminated, at least for the present, from Four A's affairs. Considered likely, however, that another atterhpt. will be made in the future to work Sacher into a po.st in one of the Four A's groups. Since he haS: for several yearis been the tactical advisor of the insurgent group, particularly in the confidence of Loeb, it is thought probable that an attempt may be made to obtain his appointmeiit. as Equity counsel. Paul "Tuvner, pre.sent ; occupant of that post, has . held it for many years. Before his injection into the Chorus Equity scene, Sacher was propo.sed as attorney for the New Yoirk local of AFFtA. He is already attorney for, the New York local, 802, American Federation .of Mu- sicians, aiid of a 'CiO traii-spoitation workers union. Coast. Stance Hollywood^ Fob, 1. Intereist. in studio labot' circles is now divided between the fight by^ International Aliiancb of Theatrical Stage Employee, to assume ..jurisdic-, tion over entire: film industry, arid the campaijiin by union business rep- resentatives to. promote more work Plans to block I ATSE control are being di.scus}?ed almo.st daily at se- cret huddles between tops in the iScreeri Actoi-s Guild. Screen Writers Guild and Screen Directors Guild; Screen Ptaywrights,' Inc., which Con-, trols block of l.'iO topflight writers, has adopted harid.s-olT policy, pre- ferring to await developments, be- fore taking, any action. Kenneth Thomson, executive .sec- retary pf SAG, rushed least 10 da.ys ago . when he learned demand for lATSE control would be made by George E. Browne.; IA president, at Miami sc'ssioii of the cxoculive coun- cil of the Ainerican Federation of Labor. He conferred with William Green, AFL president in Washing;ton, and then went to New York for ses- sions with Pat Casey, producers' la- bor contact, and executives of Asso- ciated Actors :& Artists of America. In the rneantime, Aubrey Blair, SAG business manager,, and ofTicefs of SDG and . SWG have been keep- ing a close. check on developments. Four new producer contracts were signed on Coast by lATSE past week as , prganization inaugurated ex- pansion driye throughout country. New signatories to working agree- rnents with lA are Concord, Aclven- ture Seriials, Ihternatibnal Films and Colonial Pictures. lA also sign^ up Hudson Dluminating Co. and Funk Radio. & Electric Go;, which; handles: transcriptions, . ; , ■ Screen Writers Guild, anticipating ai favorable decision from the Na- tional Labor Relations Board, has requested its members to furnish data On length of employment and earnings in past two years^ Irifor- matipn wilt be- used in formulating ai tentative code for collective bar- gaining with ;th(e producers. Ralph. Block is chairman of the code com- mittee. ; . Board of ^directors of Efcreen Play- wrights has voted to take: decLsiyc action of the failure of the Acad- amy of Motion Picture Arts & Sci- ences to include any members of SP On nominating, committeef in' writers division of annual' awards; . John Lee Mahin,, SP president, .has refused to disclose line of action, but said policy would be made public at next board meetinjg.. Since majority of nomination bal- lots have already been returned to Academy, SP will find it difficult to carry out a; reported policy of ignor- ing annual awards. Houser It Again iMerwin Houser, of RKO-Radio, has been. reelected president of the Screen Publicists- Guild, which is now trying to negotiate a working pact with" the, producers. Other of- ficers are Leslie Mason, of Warners, v.p.; Alanson Edwards, of Para- mount, sec., and Norman Rivkin, of Universal, treasurer. ^; Five employes of National Screen Service have been admitted to mem- bership in SPG, Campaign to promote more work in studios was inaugurated by Her- bert SorreU, business rep of Motion Picture Painters Local 44. Organiza- tion has placed $1,000 at disposal of executive board headed by Jack Holen, and asked all other film unions to cooperate. Recommendations for; abolition of overtime and policy of spreading work among entire membership of unions has already been recom- mended. Conference will be sought with producers this Week with the idea of soliciting their support in re- ducing unemployment in rarik.s of studio "locals. Request will be re- ferred to Pat Casey. RKO Situation a Puzzle (Continued from page .3) CONTRACTS • . Hollywood, Feb. 1. Peggy Morgan given term player deal by Warners; Katharine Brush pacted to do original story for Metro. Marie Blake awarded 12-mbnth ex- tension by Metro. Metro lifted Robert Whitney's option. Johit Ridgely's contract extended by Warners. Edgar Kennedy drew ojjlion lift from RKO. Eddie. Ward, Chet Forrest. Bob Wright and Sam Messenheimer, tuoe- smith.s, given, pact extejisions by Metro. V Walter Ferris stays on at 20lh-Fox under option pickup. . Edward Ti Lowe's producer con- tract renewed by Paramount. Six months' options on Mary Lane. Esther Brbdelet and Frances Leslie hoisted, by 20th-Fox. Warners-pacted, Gale Pai^e, radio ; the.sp,: on, term deal.: Samuer Goldwyn .tjaye Phil Baker .a contract fo'r.another year. j Qlive ; Cooper's scripting option lifted by Paramount: TITLE CHANGES Hollywood. Feb. I. ' Warners switched 'Girl.v on Pro- ' bation' to 'The Beloved Brat." ■ I Parariiount chianged: tag of 'High-' way Racketeers' to; "TipofT Girl.s.',. • 'Call the Mesquiteers' is .substitute for Republic's 'Desert .Trail.' Coronet's 'Pony Express' goes be- fore cameras as 'Tiail Blazei-.s.' ■"The Ship That Died' new tag for Metro's historical , mystery shoi t. 'Mary Celeste." . Pammount changed Hopalong Cassidy's 'Deputy Sheriff' to 'Bar '20 Justice.' 'The Marriage' Business" goes as re - lease tag for HkO's 'It Couldn't H:jp- pcn Again,' authority " over Keith-Albee-Or- pheuhn, chief theatre subsidiary of RKO. Therefore, it is more than likely that; Spitz will not name a successor to Nate Blufnberg for the time being. aiouid Irving; Trust make J. R. Mct>onough president f RKO's pic- ture end. Spitz may stay on to gov- ern the theatre, end. McDonoiigh. in any event. Would not. have any. au- thority over . KAO. because pf the Mceb>n people j attitude. Sb far as the studio end goes, it is understood that McDonough's au- thority will be .only nominal there, owing to the faict that Pandro Ber- mart and bther studio: officials will rvm that end of it actively. Sb far as M. H. Aylesworth gbes, he has dented having ary designs on RKO. , , , Chief supporters of Mcponbugh now are the Irving Ti-ust Cp, and its counsel. Col. William Donovan, RCA. arid Peter Rathvon, broker with the Atlas Corp. Rathvon at one time Was in line for the presidency or the chairman- •ship/ However, the trustee, to ap- pease Depinet, may offer the latter the chairmanship, if Mclbbriough igets the presidency. In that event, Depinet will run the picture end. But -the sitiiation . is more complicated because the trus- tee, also, has tried tb' get Spitz to agree to McDonough, also offering the. chairmanship, with full execu- tive pbwers, tb Spitz. Spitz -is un-, derstood to have turned that pro- posal down cold, apd without coin- ment. ■ New Trusteet . Floyd Odluni probably Will be the. one most involved if anything hap- pens to that ItKO situation. And opinion is spreading among creditors and in banking circles, as. well as through the trade, that a change in trustee might also eventuate. There has been such talk evien iri Rockefel- ler, circles. Were it. to occur that the Irving Tru.st Co. should resign, as trustee, there are creditors who might rec- ommend that Charles E. Richardson be named the bank's successor. This will no doubt be news even to Richardson. He is a former vice president of the Chase Bank and; a former treas- urer of Fox. He was a trustee: of Paramount and helped reorganize that company.. But there are none who can speak authoritatively as to the poissible oiit- come of the RKO ' situatiori,'at" the present lime, None cari foretell what the court might say br do regarding a ))ossible request to change the trustee. That is a serious step. And so the RKO situation is one of tho.se quandaries wherein Odium first must find himself. After inducing Leo Spitz to take the presidency, control still was un- der the trustee,. \who never ceased to control-operations. Certain of the- truslec'.s advisers who have had much influence on the situation have been ex-officials of the company. And the.se. iikewisc may have eriter- tained possible prejudices. The' company's theatre end i,s suc- ce.ssful. I^co Spitz has had the say- .so there. Now it begins tb look as if not only will RKO have to change its re- organization plan considerably, but, additionally, the reorganization may 1>L' delayed by a year or more on ac- count, of coridition.s, in, the firm and on the outside. " N'<> .Studio Jitters ; Hollywood, Feb. 1. . RKO' sludib .persbrincl is ]e.«>,s jit- i'jry Over, the f:\test. shakcup that would brin.si J. R. McDonbugh back to the ■ president's chair, replacing Leo. Spitz, than .over any previous: turn^ over in the executive ranks in re- cent years.. Feeling here is that the new proxy cannot disturb present production set-up. which has Patidv- BtM-man in command of. 'A' prorluc' and Loo Mai-cu.s generali.s.simo of the, B division. That's bccau.st, McDon^ OLi';h may fnvo only nominal au'.'Jior- ity. if any,, here, • Fueling of security- by lot's de- partmental heads due to the fact that Berrrian and Marcus were .set fol- lowing conferences participated in l)y Spit.7, Andrew Chri.stian.scn, ho.'id fif Irvitr; Trust Go.'s re- coivcriship dcparlmont, and Floyd bdlurri, cliief of Atlas Corp.. which hold.s ,'in option to, take over c'vn- trol Of the producing-dislributing cbncern. Irving Trust, it is pointed out here, has .always championed McDonough, who also has the sup- port of David SarnofT. Radio Cor- poration Of America bos.s. First word, to Ve^ch studio of change from Spitz tb McDonough came last Thursday (Jan. 27 ► when Berman summoned the various de- partment heads to; his office and in- formed them of his own status and that of Marcus. McDonough. It is. said, plans to headquarter in New York, spending from two to three,Weeks out of each quartef at the studio. :■ His current visit here will be to confer with P^si-.Tiari^ On plant' eration, with the likelihobd that the pair will discuss plans for install- ing an executive stud'o manager, who would work with Rerriian on business matters. Berman plans, to make 12 'A■ pictures during the; year, with the possibility that he will personally make six iind shift the balance orito Edward, Kaufman.,' 'B' product under Maircus' wing will have Cliff Beid. Bbb Sisk, William Sistrom and, Beriiie Fineman producers. Booners (Continued from page;5) going to Manhattan ,showgir1s and filfritown extras. Warners; after years Of maintain- ing both N. Y. and Burbank test studios, has shuttered the former, finding it cheaper to ship eastern a.s- pirants to the Coast for testing. Most of the. uncovering is done by Maxwell Arnow, executive in charge of talent; Steve Trilling, casting di- rector, and Solly Biano, an authority oh both musical and dramatic tim- ber. RKO's slashing has been the most drastic yet instituted/with nation- wide scouting almost, completely eliminated froni plans for the im-- mediate future. During the casting period for 'Radio City Revels,' studi was testing from four to six persons weekly in New York, with an. aver- age of bne a day in .Hollywood. Besides calling a halt to jjcrjutirig, the new order of things does away with the stock company, the playing roster carrying only stellar and outstanding character personalities. .Phil Fried- man, in charge of talent for the past year, checks off the lot Feb. 1. 2OU1-F0X Slits D»wn the Middle Approximately LSO nepphyte tests will be nriade during 1938 by 20th- Fox, as contrasted, to 300 for 1937, Lew Schreiber, supervising all the 20th organization's talent, wilT con- tinue one scout on tour r the year around, ■ prie :' woi'king' Europe "with headquarters in London, and three covering the N. Y.. area. If he gets 10 contractces out of tt>e I.IO tests, Schreiber will be satisfied, he says. Selznick - Internalidnal, a big spender for 19:{7 .scouting, has al- ready toned down. During a sintjle three-month whirl of the country, .participated in by Charles Richard.s, casting director; George Ciikor, who will direct 'Gone with the Wind"; William H. Wright, David .Sclznick's chief production a.ssistant, and Nev- ille Ray. 600 candidates ff)r the Scarlett O'H.-ira and other. 'Wind' parts rounded up on collc^'o cum- puses, high schools,and in liltis the- atres, Were iritervic^wod. Trip in- cluded almost every town of more than 20.000 in U. S., with Only two youn.'isters; Winning barlhs. They arc Tommy Kolly, Bronx moppel, who has the lead ill /Advaritiii-es of Toni Sawyer,' and Ann Gilli.s, who was found in ,a. cigiir box theatre in New Roehcllc. Scarlett still, beng sought. Besides, it was more of art ex7l6itati.on junket than anything el;e..,- ' Sam Goldwyn and Walt.»r Wan. or, producin.g for Utiited ' ArUsis. d's-, patch one of their - production a ides to :New York and Chica'p twic:v a year, with look-sees giyeri.lajiit casls, radio and riitery entcrtaixier.;. Mono- gram .dovoles rriosl of its: searching ofTorts to the' Federal, T.;:'.';itre: Fr.jj- ect h'xuso;; .hsrc. and. Jn . the c'slL Republic scouts 11 ttle tiieaires on fps from its exchange mana'.u'rs-and e.t- hth i t-) rs. i I a 1 R')ach ha s disco 111' riuid scouti.n'i eiVlirely, depCMidin:; oti bor- ro.win.c; from other studios t.o oblai new material. .'ith Fire in Six IVI<ainths . SpartanbiM'g. .S. C., Feb, 1. r'.ilinolto, top C-'lu'ster, S. C.. hou.se, •ri')ii.<^Iy fiiiin;i(;-d h.v fl-mi'>s in fifth m;- C'-iJ-oliM.-i-; tliir.'ili-\» iir". within , six months. ■.