Variety (Mar 1939)

Wednesday, March 8, 1939 PIGTURCd VARIETY DIREaORS' 3-YEAR DEALS Goldwyn Shelves Air-Crash Yam When Government AppUes Pressure Hollywood, March 7. Yielding purportedly to Govern- ment pressure, Sam Goldwyn dropped his plans to film 'Thirteen Go Flying,' based on the recent crash of the English amphibian, Cavalier, on service to Bermuda. It's claimed the picture would be damaging to aviation progress in this country. BrouKht In J. Boosevelt Washington, March 7. Quiet application of Federal pres- sure followed political and business displeasure over Samuel Goldwyn's plan to use the recent tragedy , in^ volvihg the British trans-Atlantic clipper Cavalier as cinematic in- spiration. Official n.g. on 'Thirteen Go Flying* was commiinciated via the Hays' organization. • Disclaiming any knowledge whether James Roosevelt, had been enlisted, George S. Messersmith, as- sistant secretary of State, Saturday (4) conceded he wrote Hays that the diplomatic wing of Government thinks it would be indiscreet to con- coct a film story based on the crash, in which several pasisengers and crew members lost their lives, while plane was en route from New York to Bermuda. Letter was a 'personal and informal' suggestion that Gold- wyn be asked to shelve his script Reported that State Department also 'Whispered to James Roosevelt, deli- cately suggesting that the President would be upset if the flicker ever reached the screen. . Federal intervention — which of- ficials deny can be construed as cen- sorship—was prompted by Pan American Airways, which is about to debut in the U.S.—European trade after bridging the Pacific. In Gov- ernment quarters. Pan American is regarded as an unofficial ambassador of the U.S. and a good-will builder. Anything which might undermine public confidence in oversees flying would not be relished by Govern- ment agencies any more than by the airline. Hays Office Denies Pressure The Hays' office in New York de- nied that any censorship clamps haid been exercised by the Motion Pic- ture Producers & Distributors Assn. at the behest of the state department, or the British Government. ' Any protests from the British Gov- ernment would be made to the pro- duction code administration office in Hollywood. As in other cases of this sort when a foreign government makes known its displeasure regard- ing a story that might reflect on its nationals, the Hays' office PCA ac- cepts such protests and forwards them to the company concerned. Then It is left entirely Up to the producer to decide whether or not he wants to go ahead with the picture la -question, risking loss of revenue In the foreign field. With the case -of 'Devil's Island' (WB) when French consuls protested both before and after the. picture was completed, fresh in mind, the trade was not surprised to learn of Gold- wyn's decision to withdraw plans to produce the flying boat yarn. War- ner Bros, lost two months' supply of film censorship certificates in France as a result of producing and releas- ing 'Devil's Island.' Rather than in- cur further displeasure of the French Government and loss of additional playing time certificates • in France, WB has withdrawn the picture from world distribution. No print had been shipped to foreign countries. 'Justice'Ahead cfW Hollywood, March 7. 'Justice Ran Last,' latest entry on ine Selznlck-International lot, is picked by studio handicappers to finish ahead of 'Gone With the Wind,' which is having trouble rounding the first tiurn. 'Last' is still in the paddock, beinR .^ripted by Martin Berkeley and □avid Lamsoa RUSH ON ETON M-G Sending Four Players to Eng- land For School Pic Hollywood, March 7. Metro will send abroad this sum- mer Mickey Rooney, Freddie Bar- tholomew, Billie Burke and Virgin-i Weidler for 'Yank at Eton.' John Considine, Jr., produces, and Norman Taurog is the likely choice for di- rector. Picture is slated to get underwaj' in London in July. PAR SETS DEAL ON LAUGHTON TRIO Paramount has closed a deal with Mayflower Pictures of London, head- ed by Erich Pommer and Charles Laughfon, for the distribution rights throughout the world, excepting the United Kingdom, of three pictures in which Laughton stars, two of them completed and a third yet to be made. Contract with the Pom- mer-Laughton company follows the results Par has obtained with 'Beach- comber,' which it took for the domes- tic market sev'eral months ago. Es- timated that this picture, starring Laughton and Elsa Lianchester (Mrs. Laughton), will do a'gross rental of around $1,000,000 in this country. . New ParrMayflower deal calls for the rights outside of England and possessions of 'St. Martin's Lane,' in which Laughton appears opposite Vivien Leigh; 'Jamaica Inn,' which lias Laughton and Maureen O'Hara, pnd the next Mayflower production, 'The Admirable Crichton,' in which Miss Lanchester will appear with Laughton. Production on last-men- tioned starts early this siunmer. Associated British, John Maxwell's company, has the rights to the May- flower pictures throughout the United Kingdom. THE WOMEN' READIES UNDER GEO. CUKOR Hollywood, March 7. George Cukor returned to the Metro lot to direct Norma Shearer in 'The Woman,' due to roll late this month. He recently withdrew as pilot of 'Gone With the Wind' at Selznick- International. Shooting was resumed on the latter after a week's halt, with Victor Fleming replacing Cukor. Brown's New M-G Deal; Piloting'Rains' at 20t]i Hollywood, March 7. Under his new deal with Metro, Clarence Brown works as director on two pictures and producer-di- rector on a third. Browii moved over to the 20th- Fox lot yesterday (Monday) to pilot 'When the Rains Came' before sterling his hew pact. It is only the second time Brown has worked off the Metro lot in 12 years. Mrs. Gable Files Melter Hollywood, March 7. Having completed legal six-weeks Nevada residence, the wife of Clark Gable flled suit for divorce in Las Vegas, Saturday (4). Her complaint charges desertion. E FOR ILL AIDES Pic Buy of Thila. Story' Kept Under Cover; May Involve Hepbnrn-Hughes ■I Pilots Will Have Say-So on . Scripts, Casts and Oversee Rough Cuts—^Aim at Elim- ination of' Associate Pror ducers PLAGIARISM OUT 80% GUILD SHOP Hollywood, March 7. A three-year' working agreement between producers and Screen Di- rectprs Guild will be inked this week.' Pact calls for substantial increases for assistent directors and unit man- agers and gives directors more say in preparation and editing of their pictures. - - Unit managers will get a minimum wage scale' of $150 a week under a separate contract to be signed with the major film companies. Another contract will be signed with SDG, providing for a weekly minimum of $137.50 for first-assistant directors. First assistants under contract will be paid a minimum of $125/ Second assistant directors, who work on an hourly basis, will be guaranteed a weekly minimum of $61.20. Hours did not figure in negotia- tions between the two groups, which reached an amicable settlement at 4 am. Friday (3) after an all-night session. Directors and first assist- ants are classified as professionals, with no regulations as tb hours. Sec- ond assistants, come under the new 44-hour wage law. Directors will be permitted to. sit in with writers in preparation of scripts, will bo given a voice in se- lection of casts and will be permitted a reasonable time to cut pictures. In firal analysis the directors probably will be allowed to supervise first rough cuts of pictures in order that the front office can get a clear pic- ture of what the director intended to produce. Gradual elimination of associate producers is the aim of Screen Di- rectors Guild, which technically will continue to represent both the assist- ants and unit managers. This was indicated several weeks ago, when the directors sterted signing con- tracts as producer-director, being re- sponsible only to the production de- partment and top studio executives. Draft Ready for .Ratification When the agreement ^yas reached vwk was turned over to Edwin. J. Loeb, counsel for producers, and Mabel Walker Willebrandt, attorney for SDG, to draft an accepteble con- tract Draft was practically com- pleted over the weekend, and tenta- tive membership meetings of the Guild and Association of Motion Pic- ture Producers have been scheduled for this week to ratify the agree- ments. Y. Frank Freeman, Al Lichtman and Pandro Berman handled negoti- ations for' the producers. E. J. Mannlx originally was on the com- mittee, but because of illness asked that Lichtman be substituted. The SDG negotiating committee was com- posed of Frank Capra, chairman; W. S. Van Dylte, Howard Hawks, Roland V. Leigh and Frank Lloyd. Assistant directors were represented by. Joseph McDonough, Hal Walker, Horace Hough, Harvey Starkey and Frank Shaw. Contracts provide for .80% Guild shops. Tentetive agreements have also been reached with the Society of Motion Picture Film Editors, Screen Set Designers and Script Clerks Guild. Details of these pacts will be ironed out this week at conferences between the negotiating committees and Pat Casey, producer-labor con- tact. Editors Will be reclassified to give film librarians a higher tating and automatic pay increase. Studio Utility Employes Local 724 has filed a demand with the produc- ers for a pay hike to 82V4c. an hour. Men now receive 75c. an hour, while Class B grips of International AlU- (Continued on page 34) Suit vs. Metro on 'Penthoose' Dis- missed In N. T. Suit of Robert Brister and Harry T. Bliven, ■ writers, against Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corp., and Metro Distributing (Torp., was dis- missed ' by Supreme Court Justice Charles B. McLaughlin in N. Y., Mon- day (6) on default . Plaintiffs had sought an injunction, damages and ah accounting of .profits of the Metro picture, 'Penthouse,' claiming it plagiarized the title of their play. WRITERS-PRODS. ON VERGE OF TRUCE Hollywood, March 7. At a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board today (Tues- day) on the complaint of the screen writers against the producers, Homer Mitchell, attorney representing the producers, stated the producers were ready to recognize the Screen Writers Guild as the exclusive bargaining agency for the writers and are will- ing to sit down and attempt to work out a pact with them. Mitchell told the Board the pro- ducers had appointed him, Mendel Silberberg, (George Cohen and Alfred Wright all attorneys, as a committee to work out a plan for a basic pact between SWG and the producers. This committee, in turn, had appoint- ed a subcommittee of producers to work with it, comprising Darryl F. Zanuck, Eddie Mannix and Hal Wal- lis. The producers' committee asked the Board to adjourn hearings for two weeks' to permit them to sit down and talk things over and that if this recess was granted they wi?re confident a satisfactory plan could be worked out. Adjournment 'was finally granted after a squabble with James Batten, who is conducting the hear- ings on behalf of the Labor Board, and who saw no reason for stalling things for another two weeks and didn't want to grant any such ad- journment He felt the whole 'thing could be worked put in a couple of days. DREIFUSS MOVES PROD. OF SHORTS TO N. Y. Arthur "Dreifuss, Friday (3), com- pleted plans for the transfer of his Coast producing organization, Musi- cal Shorts, to N. Y. The only mem- ber of the Coast staff to be retained is William C. Kent executive v.p., who, with Harry Engel, Lou Straus and Elizabeth Meyer, will comprise the N. Y. office. Dreifuss' first picture in the east will be shot week of March 20. Drei- fuss will direct and Nathaniel Shil- kret will score. It will be the third of a series of 19 shorts for Colum- bia release. Film rights to Philip Barry's 'The Philadelphia Story' have been sold . to an undisclosed purchaser. It is the first instance of a picture buy being consummated during a play's pre-Broadway tryout. Another 'unique' angle is that the deal is said to be on a percentage basis, appar- ently with a guarantee and heavy. advance payment involved. Although the identity of the pur- chaser is a closely guarded secret it is believed the film is intended as a vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, who plays the lead in the' Theatre Guild production currently at the National, Washington. - She bought back her contract from RKO some time ago and is not now tied to any studio. It is believed Howard Hughes may be the buyer of 'Story,' with the Idea of producing the picture on his own and starring Miss Hepburn. Neither Barry nor Miss Hepburn could be reached for. comment, while directors of the Theatre Guild and officials of the Dramatists Guild re- fused to confirm the sale. However, existence of the deal became known when representatives of a major studio sought to make a bid on the play, only to be told it had already been sold. Fact that the sale was consum- mated before 'Story' reached Broad- way is believed °to have occasioned several unprecedented problems. Producer's usual' 40% share of the film purchase price is predicated on a run of at least three' weeks in New York, or 75 performances out of town, and when the deal was about to be signed, the ■ Guild made in- quiries about its rights in the mat- ter. Reported the directors were told the organization would get its regular 40% of the film sale, the amount to be determined on a per- centage of the picture's profit. Percentage angle In pic buys of plays is one that is likely to become increasingly frequent, with the stu- • dios trying to cut down on extrava- I gant prices for legit properties. Un- ' der the percentage setup the pay- ments can be spread over a longer period and the bulk of the amount dependent on the film's boxoffice success. 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois,* which was sold by Robert E, Sher- wood last week to Max Gordon Plays and Pictures, Inc., was also a per- centage deal, but with the 'advance, and guarantee the price is expected to be about $275,000. Milestone's 'Mice* Deal Hollywood, March 7. Percentage deal, first of its kind to be negotiated, is in the works for Lewis Milestone to produce and di- rect the picture version of John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' for Hal Roach. If the contract goes through, it will call for Milestone, who holds an option on the. play, to get a share of all income from the film after fixed charges are paid. Steinbeck is also in for a share. 'Mice,' which won the New York Drama Critics' Circle prize last sea- son, was adapted by. Steinbeck from his own novel. ' It was produced by Sam H. Harris and directed by George S. Kaufman. Milestone ac- quired the screen rights only a few months .ago, as. the jplay- was gen- erally regarded as too outspoken for film adaptation. Jimmy Cagney Playing Purvis in G-Man Pic Hollywood, March 7. Jimmy Cagney gets the role of Melvin Purvis, G-man, in . Warners' 'John DlUiriger, Outlaw.* George Raft will play the title role. Picture rolls late this, month. LeMaire Holding Over In N. Y. for Talent Quest Rufus LeMaire, head of RKO's Coast talent division, who came into New York recently after helping on the 'Gateway to Hollywood' radio program campaign for new talent, plans remaining in the east about a week longer. He will be the chief talent execu- tive in'charge tomorrow (Thursday), when finals in the 'Gateway' drive arc held for the New York area at the Roosevelt hotel.