Variety (Sep 1938)

Wednesday, September 14, 1938 PICTURES VARIETY Chi Distribs Feel That the Indies Restraint Suit Will Open Up Long Closed Books, Disclose Profits, Etc. Chicago, Sept. 13. ile the exchanges are being rt of the independent theatre owners' restraint-of-tfade suit, the distributors are awaiting the suit ith considerable interest They 1 that, though they are named as the defendants by the exhibi- rs, they will ..come-put'-of the suit armed with enough information and Inside dope on the theatres to make up for most of the trouble and head- aches of the suit itself. . There is . no question that the at- torneys for the defense, in the com- ing suit by the exhibitors against Balaban & Katz and the distributors, will demand that the plaintiffs bring in- their books to prove that they have suffered, and are suffering, the financial, damage they allege in their bill of complaints. ■ Exchange men around here . have always been anxious to get a', first- hand squint at. the boxoffice receipts of the theatres in this territory. They have never had that privilege, since, the town has been closed to percentage flickers in all quarters; With the result that the distributors have been forced to deliver flickers on a straight rental basis, and rate no share in the receipts of the the- atresr- On that basis the exchanges have been able to gain ho direct info on .'the b.o. strength of theatres, and have been forced to rely strictly on guesses when it comes to setting up prices for film rentals to these nouses. Maybe Films Sold Toe tow? Maybe these prices have been Just and fair, state the exchanges. But QH the other hand, the revelations In the trial may show that the prices have been far under what the ex- changes feel the theatres should pay for product. And therefore, no mat- ter what the actual decision in the lawsuit itself, the exchange men be- lieve that they will win consider- able important knowledge when the books of the individual theatre own- ers are brought to light Exchanges are even looking to the suit as the wedge which will finally give them the opportunity to bring percentage flickers into the Chicago territory. Should the books in court reveal that the theatres have been getting product at a cheap price, the exchanges will insist on higher rentals next season. On their hand, the exhibitors will unquestionably battle any attempt to put through a real price boost, with the result that the exchanges feel that they will then settle for a num- ber of pictures on percentage. MG Not Renewing Krasna Hollywood, Sept' 13. Norman Krasna is not being im- pacted by Metro , as a producer. He is now on three months' vaca- tion in Europe after completing Three Loves Has. Nancy.' LOEW QUITS AS JOE L BROWN PRODUCER I WINNIE SHEEHAN'S SOLO FOR METRO LOOKS SET Hollywood, Sept. 13. W. R. Sheehan is dickering with Louis B. Mayer and Eddie Mannix to make one picture for Metro. Shee- han has his own story, 'Florian,' based on the fall of -the Austrian throne, with a horse as the central character. Deal is to be set by to night or tomorrow. Metro finances the picture under the proposed deal which may be ex tended to other films. Wm. Koenig-Melro Part Hollywood, Sept. 13. Metro on Monday (12) agreed to abrogation of William Koenig'S con- tract as. executive studio manager after 20 months on his five-year deal. Understood he will negotiate with two other major plants which have wanted him for similar spot. No financial consideration is in- volved in cancellation, although Koenig was draw 1 sssnn weekly tat the entire t- Hollywood, Sept. 15, David L. Loew disbanded his pro- duction unit with the completion, of the Joe E. Brown starrer, 'Flirting With Fate,' and is planning a long vacation in South America. As an independent, Loew made six Brown, starrers in the last two years, paying the comedian $100,000 a picture. He is considering several offers for the release of 'Flirting.' Joe E. Brown's athletic antics, on and off the screen, wound up with a double hernia operation, from which he is recovering. In The Gladiator,' Brown put on a rough-and-tumble bout with Man. Mountain Dean, and at recent benefits and public ap- pearances he had gone in heavily for comic acrobatics. ON 1-39 SELLING Exhiba Surprised That the Major Companies Aren't 'Playing Ball' on New Product Deals—Most Buy- ers Object to Repeating Last Year's Terms SOME DEALS SET Wall Si's Bullishness on Amus, Stocks Predicated on Current Drive; Estimate $125,000,000 Value Aside from the fact that the' nor- mal uptrend at the box office shortly will begin to be felt, Wall Street is Anding several factors on which to base an optimistic attitude towards picture company shares. Not the least of these is the $1,000,000 drive, with - financial experts figuring that the Movie Quiz contest is certain to improve the returns at. the theatres as well as the revenue on pictures Otterson Off Remake Idea; Just Distribing Frenchies; Brandt Deal J. E. Otterson and his Inter-Allied Films Co. have abandoned the origi- nal plan for remaking French-lan- guage pictures into English ver- sions in New York. Instead he will concentrate on the distribution of French-made production, with about 20 films tentatively set for the 1938- 39 season. Otterson group has 12 films under contract, of which three are re- garded as potentially good draw pictures. First pictures to play the Brandt circuit under deal set up with Otterson, which calls for sensi- ble spotting in certain types of houses, start some time this month. Initial booking is 'Borage,' with Charles Boyer. " Otterson has lined up deal where- by Harry Lachman will be his offi- cial representative in France. Lat- ter plans to make some pictures in France but will represent Otterson on future product in addition to this activity. Lachman. who. has en on the Coast recently, is expected in New York for confabs with Otter- son in about 10 days prior to shov- ing off for France. MACK SENNETT BACK, STAN LAUREL HIS STAR Expressing some surprise that dis tributors are not inclined to budgt on rental demands for the 1938-39 season, although there has been much delay and an exceptional amount of bickering, buyers have been expect- ing the situation would be eased somewhat'because of the U. S. anti- trust suit against theatre-owning ma- jors. .Criticizing distribs for their die-hard stance, the buyers take the position that the producer-distribs would be exercising foresight if .they tried to give the. theatres more of a break, in view of the Government's complaint In cases where the distribs are of- fering the same deals as written last year/ various buyers are not'satisfied to accept them. In most instances they want contracts that are. more in their favor and, aside from condi- tions this year as against last, cannot see why the distribs, notably those mentioned in the Government's suit, are-not jumping at the chance to prove they are easing up on the the- atres. Most buyers are reported feel- ing that the distribs,. regardless of how their product stacked up during 1937-38, are not entitled to 'the same bracketing and the same percentages or guarantees as last year. Instead of easing up, following the Government suit, the distribs are al- legedly as tough as ever and' less willing to compromise. Negotiations on buys in some cases have, carried over several months, with deals still not closed up. These instances are getting scarcer, however, as theatres must have supply and pictures must get their circulation. One of the deals which was all set, but how has been called off and negotiations are proceeding along an- other tack, concerns the sale of Paramount pictures to the Warner theatre chain. After mulling a deal on a basis where percentage would be determined by gross, in certain selected houses, with" percentages broken down into units of 1%, Par has decided it wants a deal along the same lines as with other circuits at set percentages. This knocks out the testing of the plan, worked out by Clayton Bond, general film buyer for WB, and looked upon with interest by others. Par started huddling with (Continued on page 21) DISTRIBS NOT RUSHING 'EM ON SELLING Minneapolis, Sept. 13. Some of the major companes here are adopting new selling tactics that have independent exhibitors worried and uneasy. Instead of 'rushing' the exhibitors, these companies have been giving them the 'absent treat- ment.' The .'effect on the exhibitors, apparently, has made them anxious about where they stand in re- gard to product. There's less talk now going the rounds regarding dic- tating to the companies what they'll pay for the product. Exchange managers in question in- sist they'll sell this- year at their terms,, instead of those of the ex-r hibitors. Regardless of such de- velopments in the industry as the theatre divorcement decision and the Government's filing of an anti- monopoly unit, the major distrib- utors here are not being 'swerved from' : lheir course.' Hollywood. Sept. 13. Mack Sennett is coming back to films as head of Sennett Pictures Corp., with Stan Laurel signed as the first star on his roster. Initial picture will be 'The Prob- lem Child.' with Laurel playing the part of a son of midget parents. Rest of the cast will be ot normal size. DE-FEMMING CORRIGAN RKO Shoos Off Dames While Flier Works On Pic Hays Due in N. Y. . Will Hays is expected in New York from the Coast the last of this week. One of the important meetings he is set to.attend will be the regular quarterly session of the Motion Pic- ture Producers & Distributors di- rectorate. Hollywood, Sept. 13. Douglas Corrigan, who flew to Ire- land alone, requires a. bulwark to protect him from the gals of Holly- wood. The protector is Roy Larsen, Of. RKO, who accompanied the flyer on his 'welcome home' tour across the country and hustled into Holly- wood ahead of time. When. Corrigan signed a contract as technical advisor on a picture based on his life story, he insisted | , that he was not to be put on display during the term of the pact. Lar- | I sen's job is to see that the girl-shy i | aviator is not molested by femmes. ; i Corrigan arrived Saturday (10J at Long Beach for a welcoming party.'; : went to San Oicgo Sunday for an- : I other and starred in still another I yesterday (Monday)'in Los Angeles | Contract calls tor the screen play ! of his life story to be ready Sept. 10 | and the shooting to start shortly , after. When he completes his picture j job. the flyer will gel together with ; Ed Dohorty, who is assigned to write 1 the story in serial form for'Liberty, ' publication to start Nov. 5, Okla/s 2% Tax Figures Disclose Exhibs in '37-8 Grossed $8,364,176 Oklahoma City, Sept. 13. The 2% consumers sales, tax fig- ures at the state capital reveal that Oklahoma exhibitors grossed $8,364,- 176 and were, nicked by the state to the tune of $167,283.52 during the 12-month period from July 1, 1937, to June 30, 1938. This figure repre- sented 1.56% j." the entire sales tax collections ol the state during the fiscal year. Breakdown shows the following nipnth-by-month theatre sales tax. returns: July, 1937. $13,093.52; August, $13,- 584.02; September. $15,364.60: Octo- ber, $14,045.50: November, $13,964.37; Uecembe", $16,601.99;. January, 1938. $9,606:28: February, $18,057.48; March, ;$13.709.48; April, $14,059.06: May. | $12,920.60, and Junr $12,276.62. | Large discrepancies from month to ' month arc explained by the fact ex- | hibs may report monthly, or each two months. released between, now and the first of next year. Other factors that the Street is optimistic about, as regards amuse- ment shares, is that they feel, the picture companies no longer are con-, tent to go overboard on production budgets but will think twice before considering an outlay of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. They are not sure whether this is traceable to trimming of re- turns from the. foreign field, or be- cause: of economic conditions gener- ally in the last 12 months. Another factor is that smart finan- cial investors are not overlooking is that film distribution companies and theatre outlets will derive real bene- fit from the two expositions, New York and .San' Francisco, in 1939. Wall Street men are fully cognizant of what, this additional revenue means . 'from their experience with amusement stocks during the Chi- cago Great Lakes expositi One Wall Street statistician has figured out that the 'Greatest Pic- tures' campaign will mean $125,000,- 000 in the industry's till before the close of the year. This is predicated on the belief that about 25.000,000 people will enter the Quiz and that in: order to see 30 features, pre- requisite to insuring a fair chance at the prize money, this group will attend the picture theatres at least ,20 times in that perioU oh the possi- bility that >n some instances two contest pictures might be shown on the same program. Basing the income on an average admission of 25c for the entire na- tion, statistical expert arrives at these figures. He estimates that prize winners will pay out this average amount 500,000.000 times during the duration of the contest Wall Street, too. appreciates the fact that attendance automatically will hold up even after Jan. 1, 1939, if product manages to stay compara- bly as strong as that offering, during the film'year drive.'Whole campaign is based on the idea that pictures will be good enough to keep patrons coming back to the theatre, or actu- ally reacquiring the cinema habit in many instances. Trnflo Mnrlt lipclnrereil POI'NI>RI> HY SIM K MII.VKHM.AN I'ulillHllfil MVrkly l.y VAKIKTY.. Inr. Slil. Sllvnrniiin. I*i PHlilenl' 154 Wojir 4GHi Slrel'l. Npw York Clly SUHSCItlPTION Annual...... tC Foreign 17 Slnftle Copies. . '. 15 Tenia Vol. 132 IM No. 1 INDEX BEN GOETZ TO COAST WITH 'CITADEL' PRINT Ben Goet;;. Metro's chief of pro- duction in London, arrived Moiiday H2) bringing''with him a print of 'The Citadel,' Metro's British-made film, and flew to the Coast pronto to huddle With L. B. Mayer. en Thau, also of Metro's produc- tion executives. scheduled to ar- rive back in America next week. Goetz reported Metro's London production in full swing with five ready to go into work or in' prepara- tion. Bills Burlesque Chatter Concert Dance Exploitation 15 Years Age Film Booking Chart.- . Film Reviews. House Reviews Inside—Legit Inside—Music Inside—Pictures Inside— Radio ... International News. Jack Osfcrrhahv. ...... Joe Laurie. .Legitimate ........ Literati ' Music ...... New Acts..... News from the Dililie Nile Clubs. .. ...... .. Obituary Outdoors Pictures 'Radio R:idio Reviews....... Vaudeville 48 45 53 50 .40-12 21 ... 44 17 15 .46-47 51 40 23 24 13 2 6 .49-51 52 ..40-41 47 54 .43-14 54 55 2-23 .24-39 .;30-31 .43-45