Variety (Mar 1939)

VARIETY PICTURES Wednesday, March 8, 1939 Heedless of Cost to Industry, Politicians in Nine More States Ask Film Censoring This Year Despite the enormous cost of 'mu- nicipad and state censorship in the U. which has mounted steadily with uptrend in business since .1932 and increase in double features, eight states seek censorship at some type or other In current legislature sessions. Proposal in Missouri al- ready has been defeated. There already are six states with film censorship, with the cost sad- dled on the film industry, while 14 states have 31 cities in which there is some type of picture overseeing and clipping. Kansas,. Maryland, New York; Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia presently censor all enter- tainment pictures. Maryland, Ohio and Virginia even censor newsreels. It is not alone the cutting, but the various moral formulas and stand- ards governing the scissoring that are taking a heavy toll in entertain- ment value, the industry believes. Actually this means a loss in box- office dollars which the film business has no way of reckoning. Besides this monetary loss at the ^boxoifice window caused by hap- hazard trimming, each distributor has to foot a million-dollar bill an- nually in censorship fees to the six states alone. Added to this is the municipal censorship assessment, which ranges from a negligible amount per reel to $6 for each origi- nal negative of 2,000 feet and $2 for each duplicate print of same length, in Chicago. Los Angeles charges 25c for every reel exhibited. Following are the fees per 2,000- foot reel: State. Origi- Du- nal. plicate. Kansas $4 $4 Maryland 4 .2 New York ....... 6 4 Pennsylvania .... 4 4 Ohio 6 6 Virginia 4 2 State Standards Standard under which New York state operates, as fixed by law, are that no motion picture will be li- censed for exhibition' which may be classified, 'or any part thereof,' as obscene, indecent, immoral, inhu- man, sacrilegious, or which is of such a character that its exhibition would tend to corrupt morals or in- cite to crime. The state motion pic- ture commission was originally cre- ated by the legislature in 1021. It operates under the education depart- ment. Board of regents, which may pass on a rejected film on appeal, also is appointed by the regents on the riecommehdation of the conuniS' Bioner of education. In Virginia the three censors are appointed by the attorney-general, all having equal power. If only two members are censoring a film, the superintendent of public instruction may be called in to decide a dead lock. Besides being morally okay the picture? must not be inhuman, Appeal may be taken to the district court in the state. Same standards ' apply as to advertising on a<tfllrn. Besides the usual moral rules, Pennsylvania censors are told to ' disapprove any picture that is sacri' legious. Films must be reviewed by censors one w^^ before release date. Kansas has adopted additional standards which must be followed. These call for eliminations where any religious sect, or peculiar char- acteristics of any race, i^re ridiculed, Also, 'whenever possible,' barroom scenes and social drinking. Ohio's censorship law has been ' amended and changed so many times that it is a maze of rules, •Don'ts' and restrictions. Censorship L body operates under the industrial ■ commission and, after operating eX' ■ j?enses . are deducted, remaining, money goes to the director "of educa tion to boost Ohio's historical spots and natural resources. ' One require' ment is that censors pass only films which, in the judgment of the board, are of a moral, educational nature, or of amusing and harmless charac ter, Maryland has usual stipulations as to indecent, immoral and sacri- legious pictures. In Birmingham, the chief of police Is censor. Providence, R. I., has a police lieutenant in charge of cen- soring. The state of Illinois Is cluttered up with smaller cities and town;; each' having varying scissoring rul^s. President of the . village of Wllmette and three trustees are sup- posed to make films pure. Chicago New 'Blackwell's' Angle Albany, March 7. State Education Department officials claim that reports on the 'banning' of 'Blackwell's Island' (WB) by the motion picture di- vision were 100% wrong. They claim the facts to be 'Blackwell's Island' was not scheduled to be shown until March 29, but Warner Bros, made a last-minute decision to screen it at the Globe, N. Y,, be- ginning Feb. 25, after the French embassy strenuously , protested against the showing of 'Devil's Island.' A print was vmexpect- edly brought to th: MPD office that same morning, when Direc- tor Irwin Esmond happened to be away. Femme inspectors on duty refused to take any aciion in Esmond's absence. Monday (27) was set as the day for re- viewing the picture; it was okayed without reservation on that day. GN'S COIN HUNT MOVES TO CHI Hollywood, March 7. Grand National's financial scram- ble moves to Chicago this week, when Earle W. Hammons, prexy, and Jack Skirball, v.p., mingle with prospective bankroUers. Meanwhile, Hammons is working out a deal with Don Lieberman, Coronado Films, under which latter company will produce a second se- ies of sagebrushers for GN release. Zorina on Toes for WB Hollywood, March 7. Zofina gels the top role in the musical picture, 'On Your Toes,' slated to roll at Warners in five weeks. She closed last week in 'I Married an Angel' on Broadway. Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay are scripting. LA. WILL BLOW REVEHIE FOR CENSORS New Orleans, March 7. Influx of so-called ofl-color enter- tainment in a number of downtown fllr.-. houses is .causing a stir among organizations plugging better films, with result that Governor Richard Leche plans to call on the censor board, which has been inactive for years, to get busy. Censorship body was created by the late Senator Huey P. Long, but has done little for past three years. Group consists of Mrs. Marguerite Clark Williams, former star of silent film; Ellis C. Irwin, brother of Lou Irwin, agent, and John D. Klorer, local writer. After closing down on the show- ing of two sex pictures Saturday (4) at the Regent theatre and con- fiscating a lobby display of bill- boards of nude women, police ar- rested two men connected with the theatre and booked them on charges of violating law regarding display and exhibition of indecent pictures. Jailed were Edward Sonney, 31, operator of the theatre, and Earl Condon, assistant manager. 'a. Exhibs Get Breathing Spell as Censor Purge Continues; 16 More Out Philadelphia, March 7. Sixteen more employees of the Pennsylvania Board of Censors were dropped this week as the Republican organization continued its purge of holdover Democrats. Among the purgees were 10 inspectors and Miss Florence McCreesh, assistant censor and daughter of State Senator John McCreesh. Enforcement in the past week has been lax in the state due to the skeleton force. The Harrisburg of- fice was shuttered entirely Satur- day (4). A new board wias expected to be named soon by Governor Artliur H, James, but meanwhile exhibs are having a breathing spell, as the pic ganderers are giving their okay to virtually every film that comes along. Omaha Bans Daughter' On Screen, but Stage Phy Gets Green Light Omaha, March 7. 'Yes, My Darling Daughter' was given an even, break in censorship troubles here when the city welfare board banned the film version and then reversed its action by approving the stage version which opened yes- terday (Monday) at the. (Community Playhouse.. Later the film was okayed in expurgated from, though the date of its booking is now in- definite. Film was banned from the Bran- deis two days before its scheduled unveiling and the stage approval came two days ahead of the curtain. Welfare board committee members stated the stage play, with a minor elimination, would be permitted to go on because only season ticket holders are admitted and minors wouldn't see it. On the heels of the original ban het'e came approval of the film by three Harlah, la., ministers and mem- bers of the council 'without excep- tion,' 'Daughter' opened there Sun- day (5) for a three-day run after R. E. Brown, Harlan exhibitor, asked the ministers and council members to see the film. City coun- cil members previously had inti- mated that they intended to prevent the film from being shown. of peace or riots, or purport to rep- resent a hanging or burnirig of : human being: Council Bluffs, Iowa, has a board of 15 to go over pictures. Only two cities in Missouri, St. Joseph and Kansas City, are listed as having censors, while St. Louis, largest community in state, has none. The mayor of Oklahoma City is the ac credited censor. Heaping It On Censorship bills have been introduced in nine states this winter while 44 state legislatures are in session. A film censor measure in Missouri has already been defeated. In Delaware a bill has been introduced which would empower the judges of juvenile courts to pass on pictures to lie shown to persons under 18 years of age. A straight censorship measure is up in Iowa. Maryland, which already censors all films, will rule on a new meas- ure which would have the state approve films for children under 16 years of age, and also those for showing to adults only. Michigan has a straight censorship bill. ' South Carolina would regulate immoral and indecent shows, with Iriterprctatioh of the law, if the bill is passed, expected to take in pic- tures. Ohio has a bill that would abolish censorship. Another measure in that state would amend the present censorship law by curbing the power to reject because of political content of pictures. Both Oklahoma and West Virginia have proposals to establish censorship boards. An Oscar Award Should Go to Exhibs Of Those Tired Indie Pix/Sez Lefty By Joe Laurie, Jr. Coolacres, Cal., March 7. Dear Joe: Well, I see .where the picture people have awarded the ;gold Oscars to the .producers, actors, directors, writers and technicians who have made the most outstanding contributions to the motion pictures during 1938. I think it would be a good idea for them to give one of them Oscars to the exhibitor who found the most places to hide from his customers after running the pictures all year that didn't get the awards. They should also give a wooden Oscar, painted red, to the . folks that made the worst pictures of the year; they can come to my theatre to sec them free of charge, because I have to pay for them anyway. I guess by the. time 'Gone With the Wind' is released things will get good again all over the world. They sure are having plenty of trouble making it; it looks like the Authors League is rewriting it. If I ever get a chance to play it I am going to give out the book instead of dishes that week. Well, Lent is here and it starts the time of year when the theatres hand out slack-season passes. I found out another angle' that may be hurting the picture business. Nearly all the picture houses have beautiful girls in the boxoffice and a lot of guys just stand outside and look at thenv instead of going inside to see Hedy' LaMarr and Marlcne Deitrich. I think I'm going to put Aggie back in my boxoflice because when the cus< tomers look at her it makes 'em want to go in-and see Merle Oberon. WB Makes a Dunce Out of a Giiy Those patriotic ^horts of Warner Bros, are really swell and. causing a lot of favorable comment, besides making guys read their history books again. It's great for a guy like me that wasn't much on history in school, in fact I wasn't much on school and when I see these shorts about the history of our country I feel like putting on a dunce cap. There's lots of things it shows that I never knew before. But I will say one thing for Aggie's brother, Abner—he knows.' the names of everybody that signed the Declaration of Independence, the dates of all the big battles; he can name all the States in four and a half minutes. That's the kind of a guy he is. And when he pulls all that know-it-all stuff' on. me, Aggie Iboks at him so proudly that it makes me sick. Isn't it funny, even when a guy is a bum and he pulls something that you didn't have the time, or the In- clination to learn, his family looks up to him like he was a college pro- fessor or somethin' and they start feeling sorry for him not getting the breaks, etc., and make excuses for him being a bum. Well, Aggie never had any education and to her a guy that can name the Presidents is bigger than a guy that can do a buck routine. 'What gets me mad at Abner is that he has a way of making you feel like a perfect stranger in your own home. He takes a walk before break- fast—from his bedroom to the dining room. His favorite perfume Is liver and bacon. And what makes things worse is-he is a bathroom hound; he grabs the morning paper and disappears. He walks around town grin- ning at everybody; in fact he is grinning so much that the enamel on his front teeth havp become weatherbeaten. But as I told you before. Junior likes him because he plays with him for hours, and he whittles little boats for him outta peach stones. He claims he was a sailor once. In fact you can't talk about anything that he wasn't or any place he weren't To hear him tell it he has been everywhere, and as far as I am concerned he should have stayed there. Harry Conn, the radio writer, stopped oft here long enough to tell me about a certain guy who took a test in Hollywood and when the studio saw it it was his photograph finish. Harry has a new radio idea he told me about that he is going to spring soon, and boy it's a pip. Give our best to the boys on the Main Stem, and as Bugs Baer once said, 'I hope they're busier than a bird dog in a pigeon pie.' Sez Your Pal, L.c/ti/. Scissorlne Hurts Mont'l B.O. Montreal, March ;7. Declining grosses at local picture, houses are attributed in part to se- vere scissoring of product by the Board of Censors of the Province of Quebec. Reports are that 11 films are currently tied up by the censors here, while eliminations have virtually ruined a considerable number of films this season, 'Idiot's Delight' (M-G) was slashed here and film stayed only one week. That's - unusual for a Shearer film in her home town. Censors were reported rejecting product from practically every ma- jor exchange last week, though probably reconsidering on these ^ „ _ _ "films where requested eliminations bars pictures', which'tend to breach are made. 'Danshter' Hit by Pnlpit Wilmington, Del., March 7. The much-buffetted 'Yes, My Darl ing Daughter' (WB), took- another wallop from the pulpit Sunday (5) from Rt. Rev. Monsignor John J. Dougherty, of the Wilmington di ocese, in his sermon, at St. Peter's Cathedral. Monsignor Dougherty pointed out that the film was con- demned by the New York Board of Censors and the National. Legion, of Decency. 'Therefore,' he said, 'Catholics who took the pledge to uphold the Le- gion of Decency's stand toward ob- jectionable pictures are ' violating that pledge if they attend it.' More Tnne to Fight Boston, March 7, Latest twist to the peculiarities of Massachusetts censorship is the de- cision «.on Russian-made 'Professor Mamlock' (Nazi persecution expose). 'Mamlock' is okay for weekday showings, but thumbs down for Sun^ days. Would tend, to 'incite to riot' on the Sabbath, according to the state censors. City censor okayed it for any day. Irving Starr Seeks New Crune Clubber Setup Hollywood, March 7. Irving Starr is negotiating a new deal for production and release of his Crime Club series at the com- pletion of .Ijis current ..cp.ntract with Universal; Pact is not likely to be renewed, owiiig to disagreement on production policy. Starr has made eight Crime Club- bers for Universal and owes two more, 'Metropolitan-Police' and 'They Can't Hang Me'. U's Underwood Athletes Hollywood, March 7. Unlyersal's writing staff went up to'36 with the signing of Paul Jerico, the: highest mark in a year. All but three, are on one-picture deals. Three regulars are Bruce Manning, Felix Jackson and Charles Grayson. N. Y. EXHIBS' DRIVE TO ABOLISH CENSORS Another push for elimination of censorship in New York state has 400 theatre owners in the metropoli- tan N. Y. district, at a meeting last- week, demanding abolition of the N..Y. Slate Soard of (Sensors. Con- census is that for the minor work performed by the board in recent years, since the industry started cleaning up films through its- own. Production Code Administration, the financial tax burden imposed on the distributor, the exhibitor and the public is not warranted. N. Y. State censors in 1938 made approximately 752 deletions in prints which cost $350,000 in fees. BACETASD DBAMA Hollywood, March 7. Ben Plvar's first production under his seven-picture deal with Univer- sal is 'In Old California,' slated to roll early next month. Richard Arlen and Andy Devine head the cast