Variety (Aug 1938)

WedneBday, August 3, 1938 PICTURES VARIETY -4- Wsting of the Iiadjr Esketh role In Louis Bromfield's 'The Rains Came' became, at. one and the same time, a bit of a headache and somewhat of a gag for 20th-F.ox due to the author's; penchant for B^actical joking., Constance Bennett, Kay Francis and Marlene Die- Wch each came to Darryl Zanuck with cables from Bromfield's Paris ritreat that the author had written the character with each in mind. None was wise to Bromfield's wire until Zanuck, in self-defense, had to expose it. ■ Miss Dietrich, who ia under commitment to 20th-Fox for two pic- tures, may yet inherit the part although no casting has been made. Nancy Kelly, legit recruit from 'Susan and God,' whom 20th-Fpx will push as a new discovery, most likely will get the 'Fern' role. Incidentally, this will be one of 20th's high-budget pictures, with Zanuck committed to tlie idea of a $2,000,000 production cost Parleys Between Co. Reps and Exhibitors to Coyer Trade Practices Starting: Pronto-^ Warners Still Mum on Joining Pact for UA on Selzmck Product; Whitney May Reopen RKO Deal Murray Silverstone, chairman of the United Artists executive commit- tee, has returned to New York atteir two weeks oh thB Coast without making a new distributing deal for Selznick-Iiiterhational product. after Dec. 1, when Current pact expires. No conferences were held in Holly- wood by. Silverstone . with either 'jock' Wliitney or David O. Selznick on possibility of renewing dis- tributing pact, although Silverstone primarily went to the Coast for that purpose.- • Only talk Silverstone had on posr sibility of a new tieup writh Selzniok was with Henry Ginsberg, , S-I gen- eral manager. Whitney came east 10 iija ago, and is' understood to have been disinclined to talk any new deal to UA at this time. S-I still has two: pictures to deliver to UA under its current distribution deal, with tight to . make one or two more- should; it so desire, providing UA gets distribution rights prior to Dec. 1. Under these conditions, Whitney is understood to feel there is no^ hurry to talk new pact He is also of the belief there might he a possibility of making, a deal elsewhere, with probability that while east he may reopen negotiations to merge or dis- tribute the S-I product through RKO, after. that company has emerged from 77b. BKO Merger Deal? Such a plan is still open to S-I, With Whitney, reported as favorably inclined toward a deal one way or another under this distribution set- up. Should merger be made, deal would place Selznick as head of RKO production. Pandro Borman, presently in command, has a clause in, his current contract which per- mits RKO on payment of a flat sum to vacate his present top spot at the sludio,. Also, it's possible Berrhan would step aside to produce with his own unit to enable his foriner chief, Selznick, to head the plant Should such a deal be made, S-I would finance its own productions With RKO charging a nominal per- "ilu ®* to cover distribution costs, with the percentage of terms under- stood to be practically on same slid- ing scale as the offer made to S^ by Metro last winter. .James Mulvey, vice-president and «ew York representative of the Mmuel Goldwyh Co., accompanied s»lverstone east. Selznick and Louis B. Mayer have Been working but final details on contract whereby Metro would re- l^"?*,'Gone With the Wind', for Selz- n'ck-International. Jock Whitney was scheduled to go to Saratoga yes- •f™*y, CEuesday),, where he will r.n.i confer with: Mayer, cur- rently en route there from the Coast, .nj expected to be closed by the «nd of this week. Hickey in Chi Hosp. bulfo «• , Chicago, Aug. 2. * "'ckey, who has. covered TJnivsr as. press agent for in rl.} ^""^ other companies, is eratiSn" ^^^^'^^ here for an op- 7'V"8 trouble again with his leg. Galston WB Starring Garfield Hollywood, Aug. 2. Warners is starring John Garfield in four pictures as rewird for his vork in 'Four Daughters.' Films are, 'Dust. Bfe. My Destiny,' 'Crime Is a Riacket,' 'Tough Angels,' and re- make of Richard Barthelmess' silent 'Patent Leather Kid.' Studio sealed Garfield while he was working in 'Golden. Boy' on Broadway. uA's$imooo WSl Up Wanger's Prod. Sked to 8 Obtaiirilng financing . of $1,500,000, Walter Wanger will enlarge his pro- ducing program for 1938-8d from the original five pielures schediiled, in- cluding 'Algiers,' currently . at the MusicHall, N. Y., to eight Money was made available to Wan- ger by United Artists, through which he. releases, following meetings in Hollywood on Murray Silverstone's return from London. Top picture on the Wanger sked is 'Stage Coach,' budgeted at $1,500,000 Other films on the list are 'Trade Winds,' 'The Illusionist' and 'Water Carnival.' Additional pictures are still to be selected. Wan*er has an option on the services of Irving Cummings, who directed his 'Vogues of 1938," for one more picture. Monte Proser, in the east two months working on the campaign for 'Algiers,' left Friday (29) for Hollywood to discuss exploitation plans, on forthcoming Wanger pic- tures. INDUSTRY TO GO AHEAD Joe Schenck to Carlsbad With Lord Gasselrose , Joe Schenck, currently in Carls- bad, Czeehbslovakia, for the baths, returns in September. He's taken Lord Cassclrose, fea- ture comrnentator on the London Daily Mail, with him as his guest, Montgomery Su^s Los Angeles, Aug. 2., Suit to recover on unpaid notes was filed here by George N, Mont- gomery, indie film distributor, who So;d his All Star Features exchange to Jay M, , Sutton .p.id Albert A: Galston last December. Plaintiff asks 57,077.12 on unpaid notes, plus interest costs, $2,500 at- torney fees and further, sums ac- cruing from violation Of contract. Court ,was also asked: to set aside suit for rccision of contract re- cently brought' by Sutton and Although temporarily delayed In progress it was making, with vari- ous things coming up to interfere with, meetings, including . sales mat- ters, the committee . appointed to draft a trade practice plan to cover distribu'tbr-exhibitor , relations ex- pects to resume ^ conferences later this, week. Expressed hope of get- ting at. a skeletbn self-regulation framework as . quickly as pbssible, probably within a week br 10 days. 'This plan is expected tb embrace the various points covered inj the Motion. Picture Theatre Owner's of America proposals, as;well as others, and is certain tb bear in mind , the various cbmplaints raised by the Government's anti-trust suit against the.' eight major pcoducer-distribu- tors. As soon as a skeleton founda- tion fbi' a plan is built as a basis bn which to work, meetings will no doubt be held with representatives bf cbmpanies nbt included bn the present cbmmittee . and leading ex- hibitor leaders. tio Official 'Word From WB Reports that WB would not par- ticipate in any plati arrived at rep- resents an echo of a similar stand taken wlieh the MPTOA first brought forth its 10-point program, WB re- f'using to sit in at meetings, but to date Warners has nbt notified the industry committee oh. ,self-r«!gula' tion, headed by S. R. Kent, that, the company is counting itself out. Kent, chairman of the committee, returned Monday (1) from Maine. . Other Cbmmittee members. Bill Rbdgersi Ned E, Depihet' and Abe Mbntague, have been explbring a plan's structiire in the meantiipe, thbugh handicapped sbmewhat by Kent's absence and the iMmbshell brbught by the U^S. anti-trust suit Hbvyever, Nick Sthenck and Leb Spitz are alternate chairmen and Kent has been kept clbsely advised of all moves made while he's been away. • Even if it becomes official that WB is hesitant abbut. going along with other distributors on a program for self-regulation, the rest of the Indus try will, nbt drop plans. Prcsump tion is that when and if a satisfac tory plan is adopted to govern trade practices with exhibitors, WB will ultimately be willing to string along. PIC AHORNEYS STUDY TWO CONSENT DECREES Gov't's Resolutions and Failures of FTC's Trade ftactice Confere^^ '27 Kbrda to Deliver 5 Alexander Korda will pro- duce and United Artists will re- lease the total commitment of five pictures announced for 1938-39; It was reported that UA might reduce the Kbrda al- Ibtment for '38-'39 to three, while Walter Wanger's program is being upped frbm thre^e tb eight . : Kbrda has already finished three bf his •38-'39 ; pictures, •brums,' which has been sbld tb the Radib City Music -Hail; 'Prisbn Withbut Bars'-and 'Over the Moon.' He'is in productibn' . oh his fourth, 'Four Feathers,? and has scheduled 'Thief of, Bagdad' as his fifth. QUIZ OF METRO COAST EXECS WINDS UP Hbllywbod,, Aug. 2. Carrying with - him more than 1,000 pages of testimony from U Metro studio executives, to be used in stockholder suits brought against Loew's, Inc., in Y. supreme court Emil K.: Ellis trained east yesterday (M'onday). Witnesses' whb signed dbcuments were Edward Manhix, Mervyn Le- iRoy, Al Lichtman, Bernard Hymah,. Sam Katz, Hunt Strpmberg, Harry Rapf, Lawrence Weihgarteri, Ben Thau, Nicholas Nayfack and Louis B. Mayer. Latter affixed his signa- ture before going east late last week. Questioning of studio execs was along lines of company's history and activities of its bfficers since MGM bi'ganizied. Matter bf bbnuses paid tb executives was thbrbughly" aired by Ellis. Mayer's testimbny tbld bf his own position with company and that of Irving Thalberg. Los Angeles, Aug. 2. Anli-trust action filed recently in New York against eight major pic- ture companies has caused local film attorneys to study two consent de- crees entered in Federal Court here in 1930 and 1932 against Fox-Wcsl ■ Coast and 10 major distribution com- '■ panies, { In these cases, the dofendarits were ' permanently restrained from enter-; -ing into any agreements which shackled independent exhibs in fair ■ competition with major companies. ! Those named in the 1930 suit were Fox-West Coast Theatres; Vitasraph | Co,, of Cnlifornia; Par.imount Fn-. mous Lasky Corp'.; Metro-Coldwyn- j Mayer Distributing Corp.; Fox Film Corp.; Vitagraph, Inc.; Pathe Ex-1 change, Inc.,; First National Picture.';; I Universal Film Ex.chan,[;c; -United' Artists Corp.; Warner Bros. Pictures , and Harold B. Franklin. Suit in 19K ; was aimed at .seven defendants in , the earlier action. ; Cohen on Way Back From Survey for Atlas On Pic Proi m Italy Hollywobd, Aug. 2, Emanuel Cohen is due in New York today (Tuesdiiy) from survey he made in Italy for Floyd Odium on possibilities of production therfe for world market. It would be an. out for Atlas coin now held in Italy by that country's exchange restrictions. Included in the frozen capital tied Up by Italian restrictions is said to be General Motors' $23,000,000. Suit by the Department, bf Jus- tice against the major film com- panies, affiliates and subsidiaries, termed a civil anti-trust action, . brings into sharp relieif again tho accomiplishments, failures and ciues- tions taken up at . the Trade Prac- tice Conferences in New York in October,. 1927. Conference' was conducted by Abram F. Myers, then of the Federal Trade Commission and now chairman of board and general counsel of Allied States .As- sociation, assisted by M, Markham Flahnery, . director of trade prac- tice ■ conferences.' Many- ., issues , brought up , by the Department of Jiistice in' its summary bf proceed- ings against the majbr film busi- ness and reasbns for doing so were' tbuched bn. br definitely settled,, at this cbnforchce 11 years agb under the F.T.C. V On the questibn bf majbr cbm- panies, being, able to fill theatre programs from product taken ex- clusively from major companies, and. the pooling of assets, including stars and feature players, directors, sets;. scenes, etc., and not making them available to independent p^b- du<:ers, the 1927 Trade. Practice Conference had this to say: . Distributors Resolution - No. 1; That, the requirement by. any dis- tributor that an exhibitor, as a con- dition of being permitted to' pur- chase any picture of such dis- tribiitor shall , also purchase pictures of anbther distributbr, is an unfair trade practice, Prbdiicers Resblu- tibn No. 5: That the practice of a producer . lending an ' employee under contract to another producer, for an amount equal to the salary paid to the cotitract employee plus (Continued on,' page 8) Wartzel Slows Down Hollywood. Aug. 2. Sol M. Wurtzcl i.s so far advanced on his 28-pictu.i-c program for 1938-39 thai h(»; ha.s revised his .schedule, set- ling his final 10 for Scptcmbcr-to- Decembcr starts. .Twentieth-Fox executive producer has already ennnCrl six new sca.son pictures, and has four more in the cutting rooms and two in produc- tion.. Lahr Roars Ifollywood, Aug. 2'. Mcti-o is addinji a, lion to animals in ..'Wizard of Oz,' and putting Bert f,ahr in' skin. Actor shifU over from' ! .■-•i" ;i( Paramount; Trad* Mark Ri.KlHtered FOUNOED BT KIMB RTI.Vr:nMAN ruliilHhn) Wsrkly by V.IKIRTV, lac. - ,.SI(i Sllvnrman,. PreatdAnt ". tS4. Wcat iClh Stropt. Now York CKy , sun.scnii'TioN ': :Annunl.,,,.. }8 Porslsn 17 .Slnigla Cnplea IS Cent! Vol. 131 No. 8 INDEX Bills , 47 Chatter .... 53 Concert 42 Dansapation 40-41 E.vploitcition , 22 1.5 Years Ago. 44 Film Booki 17 Film Reviews 15 Forum 55 Hou.se Reviews 46 Inside—Legit 48 Inside—Pictures .......... 8 In.side—Radio 38 International News .,10-11 liCgilimate .... ,., ..48-51 Literati ,.., 52 ,Music ,.. ..,.40-12 News from the Dailies.... , 54 Nile Club.s ... ..4.'5-'l5 Nitcfy Reviews..... "l-I: Obituary ,';4 Outdoors 55 Prctures 2-22 Radio 23-39 Hadio—Tiiloi rinli-jn.ni .-... .26-27 Radio UeVicv.-s . .......... 2.i, , riadit)—-Sh v.viiKin.ship 39 Vaudeville .43-45