Variety (Sep 1938)

VARIETY PICTURES Wednesday September 7, 1938 LESS THAN 2,000 PLAYERS WORK IN SEASON Average of Principals Stayt That Way Every Year- Necessary Interchange of Marquee Talent Among Studios Will Be Part of Reply to U. S. Suit Fewer than 2,000 screen actors, ex- cluding extra players, appear in ma- jor productions,in Hollywood studios in an entire season'6 group of fea- ture pictures. Some of the vagaries of acting, employing will be graphi- cally presented in answers to the Government's, anti-trust suit against the larger film companies. Players come and go through the years, but the totals are singularly consistent season after season. At- torneys for major companies are as- sembling data from their respective studios in order to answer that por- tion of the Gbvenmenfs complaint (pp's. 202 to 213, incl.) in which the charge is made that whereas the ma- jors lend and borrow screen talent, similar privileges are denied to in- dependent producers. Listings only of contract directors and players tre contained in the bill of complaint In the seven major studios cited; directors under term contracts for the season of 1937-38 are given as follows: Columbia, 12; 20th Century-Fox, 20; Metro, 20; Paramount, 13; RKO. 20; Universal, 14; and Warners, 22; total, 121. This compares with a total of -112 di- rectors under contract in 1838-37, and 124 in 1935-36. Government investigators also dug Into the lists of contract players in the same studios. For the production season just ended, 1937-38, the figures are Columbia, 53; 20th Century-Fox, 85; Metro, 90; Paramount, 96; RKO, 78; Universal, 11, and Warners 81; total, 554. The combined figure is considerably higher than in the pre- vious season C36-'37), when 401 con- tracted actors were listed, which, in turn, was slightly higher than the 1935-36 total of 393. Some pruning of contract lists was made during the past spring and summer, and, the current total is said to be closer to the 1936-37 figure. Hollywood's freelance field em- braces names of thousands of play- ers who, at various times, have acted in the theatre but never have ap- peared before the camera. Recent survey of call bureau lists shows ap- proximately 15,000 registered play- ers, of both sexes, who by stage and screen experience qualify for char- acter and supporting - bit parts in features. Actually not more than half the entire list has played in films in which they have received screen credit as cast members. These totals do not include registered extras, which far exceea in numbers the call bureau registrations. Delving into the records of a re- cent production season, typical of | the current conditions of actor em- f ployment in so far as the number of feature films produced for 12 months is concerned, some surprising data is uncovered. In art entire year only 1,200 supporting players from the call bureau freelance lists found places in one or more major Studio productions. Of, these only -1,040 ap- peared In two or more pictures, and 172 played in three or more. M Big Freelancers There are about 40 higher-bracket stars and featured players not un der exclusive studio contracts, but available for picture to picture as- signments. These two score, almost continually in demand, plus the free lance and the contract players, total about 1,800 as the full personnel com plement in a whole season's output of nearly 500 films from the major plants. Interchange of talent among major studios has been practiced more fre- quently since the. introduction of sound than in the previous days of silent films. The. reasons are obvious, as costing requirements have become intensified and the individual acting part much more Important in the ensemble, than in silent films. The complexities of casting for the out- put of any individual studio are so great that no single plant can cast its own productions from its contract lists. Interchange of acting talent is one of the highly developed functions of studio management. The demands to borrow far exceed the'desire to lend. At. the same time every pro- duction head is alert to the advan- tages of placing a younger and prom Marching Thru Georges ising player in an important, com- petitive picture when the opportu- nity arises. Good parts are the prov- ing ground for talent. Conspicuous as a recent example is the popular success achieved by Hedy Lamar'r in Walter Wahger's production, 'Algiers,' a United Artists release. Actress has been.under con- tract at the Metro studio for more than six months without an assign- ment Her initial Hollywood- role, therefore, was as a 'guest' player off the lot She returns to Metro a more valuable screen personality. It will be contended, no doubt, in the answers drafted by film com- panies to the. Government's suit, that the type of independent production. Other than for United Artists' re- lease, is unsuited to the tents , of higher-priced players. Some of the major stars at Metro, Par, Warners and -20th-Fox receive 'per picture compensation fair in excess of the entire budget for some independent productions.' Studios use various formulas for estimating the compensation to con- tract players who are loaned to. a competing plant- Most common prac- tice is a minimum .charge of four weeks'- salary, with three additional weeks' total as a bonus, to cover necessary retakes and -forced idle time. Another method is to charge the basic salary plus 25%. Any forced limitation of the pre- vailing customs of interchange of talent would necessitate, radical changes in the Holly wood procedure. Observers do not believe that act- ing: employment would be extended; rather, it is said, the. contract lists would be shortened and the free lance roster, already too crowded, wouid be extended to include, many names that now are under steady employment By JACK OSTEBMAN Last night we had a dream. We dreamt we were marching through Georges. The first one happened to be George Washington, daddy of this country and the guy who made the cherry tree famous long-before Harry Green did it as a sketch. He never told a lie, which today'would make him a swell' Dewey witness. Then came Arliss, who was chatting with Bernard Shaw, who said he was re-: writing the life of the late King George of England. Mary Aster's dairy fell in our .lap, and- -a. pic- ture of. George S. Kaufman fell out, toiling us his new play, The Fabulous Invalid,' looks like it will hit as well as George Herman (Babe) , Ruth before he dodged the Yankees for the Dodgers. Georges Carpentier told George White he couldn't go in the 'Scandals,' and George Jesse! called up his mom to tell her how grand the George Gershwin memorial con cert was. By this time (George M. Cohan told us we left out another famous George and that her first name is Grace. We awakened and mmediately called up George Jean Nathan to ask him if he could think of any other important Georges that we didn't march through.' N. Y. to L. A. Louis Armstrong. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Astaire. Bern Bernard. Ben Bernie. Marjorie Crosland. Deboy Dare. Mary Dees.' D. A. Doran. Mr. and Mrs. Gene Fowler. Susan Jackson. Arthur Loew. Christine Maple, 'Joe Moskowitz. J. Carroll Naish. Doris Parker. Irene Purcell. Ethel Remeyi AI and Jimmy Ri Ernest C. Rolls. Joseph M. Schenck. Norma Shearer. 0.0. McINTYRE SCREEN BIOG WITH NED SPARKS? Toronto, Sept. 6. After a fortnight of fishing in the Georgian Bay 'area with .Premier Hepburn and other Canadian biggies, Ned Sparks has left for Hollywood. First assignment may be the lead role in a picture based oh the life of O. O. Mclntyre which Warner Bros, will produce. . Prior to columnist's recent death, Sparks was repeatedly mistaken for Mclntyre. 20th Tail Spinning' Cleveland Air Show; Par Ties In on U TIES-IN WITH AIR PROGRAM ON MILLION L. A. to N. Y. Ken Asprey . " Marion L. Balderston. Whitney Bourne. Earl Carroll. June Collyer. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Curtis. George Dean. Stuart Erwin. . Sidney Howard. Henry Jaffe. Louis LoefTler. Nate Manhei Leona. Massey. Louis B. Mayer. Hal Moh.r. Moe. SiegeL Bob Sill. Paula Stone. Carol Stone. Mabel Todd. Spencer Tracy. Open Letter Dear Joe .Laurie, Jr.—Anent your criticism, of : yourself, which is one way-of getting a good notice, let me tell you we resent that crack about Osterman being in the night club class. We are a member of the fourth estate and expect to reach the fifth one shortly. As far as you being called an actor, and holding an Equity card, allow me to inform that Equity is holding our card on account of owing them a smart 300. Don't know anybody with enough dough to go to Fire Island, which is where you went after your route of one consecutive week. Heard you did a swell job, however, but" you know how. rumors are. Hoping this finds, you in another theatre and with best wishes, from one mugg to another, we remai , etoJ It Happened Last Week: Charlie McCarthy , getting top bi - ing at the Rivoli and doing swell in 'Letter of Introduction,' with Adolphe Menjou doing a .fine job as the drunken ham. See what you started, Ferber and Kaufman, when you wrote that pari- in 'Dinner at Eight'? Backstage at Hippodrome watching them construct for Jai-Alai arid think- ing of the girls who used to go in the water and come up dry.... the. late Charles Dillingham and the Burnside productions.. .the Hipp/marches on. The crowds on the street Sunday night—all Broadway needed was a merry-go-round and a scenic railway, and the set would have been perfect Right around the corner from the Hihes trial you can buy all the num- bers you want; they're going like hot cakes. Well, why not? This whole affair is probably a publicity stunt for the game. Add 'now-it-can-be-told* — Jimmie Cagney was elevator boy at"the NVA club. Wonder how the sophisticates, Har- old Arlen and Yip Harburg's nursery rhymes are in forthcoming *Wi rd of Oz.' Arid Lennie Hayton remarks, The -corn is always taller in the other fellow's band!' Cleveland, Sept. 6. Twelve cameramen and staff of three executives were, sent to Cleve- land last week by 20th Century-Fox to shoot scenes of national ,air races at Cleveland Airport, which will fur- nish background for aviation yarn tagged Tail Spi .' Alice Faye and Richard Greene mentioned as tenta- tive leads. Crew spent eight days here work- ing under James Tinling, director; Ben Wurtzel and Fred Spencer, as- sistant director. Latter was one of the Forest City's richer young blades before going celluloid. Five of the technicians flew in Saturday (3) at start of races to give the. scene: a final o.b. .For a double-check, they staged a race of their own when the' meet closed, just in case some of the actual races didn't come up to screen par.- Twentieth-Fox is reported to have paid $15,000 to Henderson Bros., who promoted annual event, lor exclusive feature film rights. Understanding was reached with cameramen for major" newsreel companies that they wouldn't steal or crab special scenes for Tail Spin.' Airport officials virtually did som. ersaults trying to accommodate Hol- ly wood.crew, hoping they would give Cleveland and races a better break than Metro- did -last year. Metro sent even a bigger troupe, paid some- thing like $18,000 for rights, and shot miles of film of champ aviators for Test Pilot' What-happened back in' the studio nobody has yet flggered out Nearly every authentic shot was dumped, only a half-minute scene of the 1937 races here being shown. Rest of the Clark Gable aerial stunts were dubbed in from old newsreels or faked on the Coast. ith cool, favorable weather over holidays, three-day. aviation' classic was expected to pass last season's at- tendance mark of 250,204. Gross ot $300,000 was hit by '37 edition, and 'SB's out-of-town advance sale was 40% better; Prize money was in- creased to $102,750, while races were made longer and more hazardous. Hendersons are still fighting U. S. Treasury Department's edict that they should pay 10% amusement tax on all tickets, claiming it was. a nbn profit air event organized for educa tional purposes. It's the first Federal action ever taken to tax races, ac- cording to J. D. Wright, attorney for co-sponsoring Thompson ' Products. Wright now in Washington for ofr ftcial hearing on question, but threat- ens to get injunction restraining col- lection of taxes if they are upheld by Treasury. A direct hookup between pictures and radio will revolve around Uni- versal's forthcoming film, 'I Stole a Million,' which is based an the law- less career of a 50-year-old' western guerilla, Roy Gardner, just but of Alcatraz. U paid Gardner $5,500 for his life , story and all rights. - Philip Morris' radio program, which features a '.Thrill of the Week' sequence, will periodically point up a-n excerpt from Gardner's, crime career, tieihg It in directly with the U fll .-And just before 'I Stole a Million' is ready for release, the ciggie show will reprise some of the highlights. Philip Morris show is on a CBS national hookup. To further cement the hookup, the now famed 'Johnny;' who 'pages' Philip Morris on the air, will do a page-boy bit in the U film. In the annals of present-day U. S. crime, Gardner is rated the modern Jesse James. Is encounters with pos authorities for robbing the mails, etc., has had hi in and'out of Federal penitentiaries many times, His last Alcatraz bit dates from 1921. John Bright and Robert Tasker au- thored the U script from Gardner's original. FILM-RADIOANGLES TO $10,000 MISS. RACE St Louis, Sept. 6. A race up the Mississippi from New Orleans to the local port next spring, between the Delta Queen of Stockton, Cal., and the City of St Louis, owned by Commodore Ed- ward C. Koenig for a side t of $10,000, ill revive memories of the historic contest between the steam- boats Robert E. Lee arid the Natchez, It already has film and radio peo- ple interested for sponsorship. The owners of the Delta Queen-want the race in California as an -attrac- tion for. the San Francisco Expo- sition, but Commodore Koenig coun- tered with the proposal that if the Queen was victorious, everyone would;want to see the boat anyway. The Queen will be powered by oil and the City of St. Louis by coal. Commodore Koenig said it will cost, him between $50,000 and $75,000 to rerondition his craft, which formerly was the harbor boat of the city, for the race and he expects to use 500 tons of coal which will cost another $5,000. Commodore Koenig has also agreed to pay 50% of the insurance costs of transporting the Queen to New Orleans for the race. The City of St. Louis, Commodore Koenig said, will carry a crew of 60 and about 40 passengers, including news- paper men, film folk, photographers, radio gabbers, etc. It has not been, learned here what the Queen will do to accommodate those interested in the contest. The Robert E: Lee's record of hours and 20 minutes made in the 70s is certain to be shattered in the forthcoming race. •SHADOW CAST Hollywood, Sspt. 6. 'Shadow Valley,' .first In the new George O'Brien group of westerns for RKO, starts Sept. 15 with Dave Howard directing. Other News of Interest to Films Lee Tracy clicks in London's 'Idiot's Delight'.....,. Pager 11 Tom Mix scores in London Page 11 Eddie Cantor's'small studio ideas. . Page 29 Radio reviews of 'Good News', Jim Ameche, Olivia de Hayir land, Grace George-W. A. Brady, Teddy Hart, Lou Parker. .Page 30 Radio battli ' television in England ; Page 34 Suit over w White's" whistle... .Page 39 WB vs. Par on 'Says My Heart song........... :..Page 39 Vaudeville again trying to 'revive' •, :.Page 43 George Jessel to do 'Our Town' with Jed Harris i ...Page 49 Tying. In with the National air races at Cleveland, Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day (3-4-5), Paramount was represented by two ships in the competition. Stunt was conceived as a plug for 'Men With Wings? fall re- lease. Par studio sent 'Edward Churchill on to Cleveland on . the stunt One of the planes was called 'Men With Wings,' This is strictly a newsreel and ex- ploitation stunt, differing from 20th's feature production idea. ARRIVALS William S. Paley, Joseph Herge- sheimer, Alfred J. McCosker, Andre Kosteianetz, Lily Pons, Sylvia Sid- ney, Luther Adler, Paulo Lbngpne, Lillian Emerson, Morris Carnovsky, Roman Bohnen, Art: Smith, Phoebe Brand, Sanford Meslner, Mady Christians, Sir Harold Harmsworth. Carmel Snow, Norman Marshall.' Maurice Schwartz, Mr- and Mrs. Ar-'. thur 'Bugs' Baer, Raymond Massey. Joseph M. Schenck, Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Bull, Peter Mathew, Ru? ddlph Ganz, Isaac F. Marcossbn, Robert Morley. Alfred de Liagre, Jr., Betty Allen, Paul Stanton, George M. Cohan, Herbert Graf. SAILINGS Oct 12 (Los Angeles to Sydney), Bernice Claire, Maryon Dale, George Dbbbs, Helene. Denizon, Jack Arthur, Fred Hatper, Katheryn Crawfor (Monterey). Sept. 15 (London to New York), Bert Wheeler, Ernie Dillon (He de France). Sept 14 (Los Angeles to Sydney), ■Irene Furcell, Mary Dees, Christine Maple, Marjorie Crosland, ' the! Remey (Mariposa). Sept. 8 (New York to Lon Dorothy Alt (Queen Mary). Sept. 7 (London to New York) Ben Goetz, Gilbert Miller, Sonja Henie, Alexander Korda. Archie Mayo (Normandie). Sept. 4 (New York to London), Chester Hale, Nick Long, Jr.. Vera Hall, Marion Daniels, Jeanne Ross. Johnny Gaynor (Champlain). Aug. 30 (New York to London;, Sherman K. Ellis'(Europa). . Sept. 20 (London to New Yorki, London Casino Revue, Eddie Fisner (Degrasse). • Sept. 15 (London to New \orK'. Mr. and Mrs. Clifford C. Fischer, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lartiguc (lie f e France).