Variety (Jul 1939)

VARIETY PICTURES WedaeidBf, Jnlj 5, 1939 ffway Theatres to Combat Stringent 'Ciean-Up Orders as Ininucal to B.O. vigorous protests are expected to be launched by Broadway theatre owners, aa well as other, business men, at a meeting to be held, ac- cording to plans, by the end of the week with the City Planning Com- mission oh steps that are being taken to lessen the lure of blllboard- ing, electric sign and other adver- tising in New York, notably on the Main StemI The meeting downtown with Hex Tugwell, former brain- truster in President Roosevelt's ad- ministration, and other members of the Planning Commlsh, may be held today (Wed.) or tomorrow (Thurs.). It was scheduled for a week ago but postponed. Principal objective behind what is said to be drastic plans to curb the use of signs, billboarding, ban- nering, etc. Is a move on the part of Tugwell and his commission to clean up the town by removing any- thing that iMrders on Coney Island atmosphere. It is feared in some quarters that some things may go altogether, such as billboarding, and that old laws on the books, openly violated for years, will be strictly enforced. These relate to the nine- foot marquees, valances, banners and the like. Theatre operators have been hold- ing a lot of meetings to consider the sKuation and a means of combating what is regarded as a revolutionary move tliat would aSect theatres in a serious manner all over the city. No official protest has l>een launched by the' theatres but the Broadway Association, of witich certain thea- tres are memliers, has written Tug- well taking exception to proposed changes in provisions relating to signs and billboards. Charging that what Is proposed would change the Great White Way Into the -Great Dark Way, ■ the Broadway Association is asking that hearings on Ihe matter be put over to the fall session of the City Plan- ning Commission In order to give taxpayers an opportunity to better familiarize themselves with' the tlireatened ichanges. NEPOTISM CHARCE IN PHULY PROJ. UNION Philadelphia, July 4. Internal strife racking the Projec- tionlsts^ local here was revealed last week by the odd spectacle of a mem- ber picketing the union's headquar- ters. PIcketer, who continues to do his tramp-tramp, carries an American flag and a sandwich board on which he charges that officials of the union play. favorites In handing out jobs; giving them to relatives whenever possible. Guy claims to be a member of the union for 20 years, but is on its sub- stitute list An odd angle is that de- spite his picketing, he is stiU being given two days' work a week, so he pickets only on a four-day-a-week basis. A larger Issue than the single picketer la Involved In the dissatis- faction, however. The beefing ele- ment consists of members of a for- mer independent union here, the Keystone Motion Picture Operators. They were about to get a CIO char- ter a couple years ago when the AFL local, 807, hurried^ made conces- sions to them to get them in. They were promised work to a minimum of $4230 a week. Now they claim they're not getting it—and nepotism, they charge, is a principle reason. A blowup is expected unless union of flcials succeed in pacifying the squawkers. Additlontd beefs are now being heard concerning the action of 307 in taking in the Camden local in a merger. It is claimed that there are now more men than -ever among whom the available work must be divided. Ak-Coididoiiiiig LO^ SL Lous Airdomes NEGRO NABE EXHIBS IN BATTLE OVER PIX Philadelphia, July 4 Damage suit is being pr^iared here by Milton and Isadore Borow- sky, operators of the Rex, against Million Dollar Productions, makers of films with Negro casts, and Mor- ris Wax, owner of the Royal and Pearl theatres! In a battle over bookings of M. D: P. film. Borowskys were denied an in- junction last week to prevent the Pearl from screening "Gang Smash- ers,' made by M. D. P. Judge Stauf- fer L. Oliver Indicated, however, that he felt Borowdcys had a just claim. He said he was refusing the restralner only because he thought Wax an Innocent third party and he didn't want to Injure him. Dam. age siiit against M. D. P. was sug- gested as the way out Iz Borowsky declared that he bought second-run rights to all M. D. P. pix six months ago, before any of the films were even coni- pleted. Since hen three have been made. Wax's Royal gets them on first-run. Borowsky said he- had left dates for booking them following the Royal showing, when he suddenly discovered the Pearl, a block away, advertising <Gang Smashers.' It was on the momhig the pic was to open at the Pearl that Bbrowslcys sought the Injunction. Million Dollar Productions claims Its contracts with the Rex was not binding because it was not counter- signed by home <)ftlce officials, only by the district manager. Dispute between the Borowskys and Wax. is the pop-off of a long feud Both cater to colored clien- tele and recently have been running a price war. Negro-cast pix have been highly successful b.o. In the houses of both. Schlom Takes 'Higgins' Hollywood, July 4. ■ Herman Schlom has replaced Sol C. Stegel 'as pro^cier of Republic's 'Higgins'Family* series, first of which will be "Coyered Trailer.' . . Slegel Is busy -with two other pic- tures. St. Louis, July 4. The steady Installation of air-con ditlonlng apparatus In nabes here and In adjacent St Louis County Is slowly but surely putting - the air' domes and skydomes, tiiat once readied a total of 70 in this territory, out of business. Before sound shoved the silent pictures ii^o ob- livion this area abounded with out- door picture shows, as almost every house, except those in the downtown district, and all nabes, had an air- dome auxiliary. Statistics show that during the Bummer season there were more airdomes operating than regular theatees, as many of the lat- ter shuttered because electric fans were inadequate to cool the houses in compeUsb with the outdoor the- atres. The location of an alrdome along- side of a permanent picture house also afforded' a quick retreat to shelter In the event of riain. But more and more air-conditioning has beat airdomes to their knees. In the St Louis territory there are now but 11 operating and on gusty nighte, even with high fidelity sound equip- ment dialog Is difficult to follow. Airdomes operating this summer are the Ozark, KIrkwood and Pow- hattan In St Louis County, and the Florissant Pauline, Queens, Fairy, Princess, McNaIr, Pestelozzl, Armo and Arcade In the city. Next sum- mer the number will probably dwin- dle still more. Odd Fan Slant Oscar ]>vant on Information Please' has beeh known to rib Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on the radio program, in a more or less Innoci^ous manner, although oc- casionally the ad lib becomes ■ shade touchy. One repercussion was curious, and it came from a layman in San Francisco who had been Impressed with an in- terview given out by Jobn Gar- field when the latter first clicked in the Warner Bros, flhn, 'Four, Daughters'. Garfield was s<q>POsed to have patterned his character of the cynical pianist after Levant and this radio Ian took It too literal- ly by writing in, 'It certainly ill becomes you, who have been identified with Warner Bros, pic- t\ires, to constantly satirize M-G-M productions'. NW ALLIED MAY SHIFT TO NEW EWBODY From Clef to Oats Hollywood, July 4. Armand Schaefer Is assigned to the production of 'Wagons Westward,' the high-budget John Wayne starrer at Republic. Shobting starts as soon as Schaefer completes the musical, 'Jeepers Creepersl' NOW, AITOOETHEE Hollywood, July 4. Columbia goes musical'with 10 one- reel Community SIngtests for the 1939-40 program. Briefles, featuring familiar tunes, are under Hugh McCullom's production. First-film -will use songs by Carrie Jacobs Bond. Minneapolis, July 4, With the Northwest Allied States' annual convention a week off, notices of the July 11 meeting have gone out but otherwise no effort has been made to arouse any interest Some of the most Important mem- bers—the largest dues payers— have signified their intention of dropping out of the body. While W. A. Stef' fes says he no longer considers him- self president—his term having eX' pired—the notices of the convention went out from his office. Steffes as- serts he will not consider reelection and nobody else seems to want to tackle the job. In consequence, the organization's future continues very much in doubt If the organization is permitted to disband it is believed that efforts will be made to form another asso- ciation minus Allied' States' aflUIfr tlon, Independenta dissatisfied with Northwest Allied have been finding fault because it has spent too much time and money on national affairs and legislation. Including theatre divorcement and hasn't concerned itseU enough with local problems such as film costs, percentage pIC' tures and selling of nuw. They charge Steffes' policies have neces' sitated excessively high dues. On his part Steffes, serving with- out compensation, feels that he hasn't had proper support and cO' operation from many of his mem' bers, including the present malcon- tents. The job as leader involves plenty of grief and hard work, con- sumes much time and necessitates unpleasant fights with the film dis- tributors. In return, there's not only no pay, but not much appreciation. In Minneapolis, Northwest Allied has been batUlng successfully to prevent further theatre construction. Fully a dozen applicants desiring to build new houses have been blocked thus far. Without the united front tiiat an organization is able to put up, Steffes doubta whether theatre interesta. can continue to prevent the additional competition. All present signs point to a scant attendance at the convention which was postponed once because of in- sufficient exhibitor representation. NOT SO EASY TO GET PI^Y TAX COIN BACK Philadelphia, July 4. Theatre circuits, which thought they were all set to get their tax coin back when the Pennsy supreme court a couple of weeks ago Invalidated the chain-store tax bill, learned this week It's not going to be that easy. That the circuits are entiUed to the return of whatever they paid in compliance with the measure, passed in 1937, was announced by Attohiey- General' Claude T. Reno immediately after the court decision. It 'has been revealed, however, that the legisla- ture must make an appropriation to -cover'this refund—and It won't meet in regular session again for almost two years. Warner Bros., which got an imme- diate injunction against payment of the tax,' is -said to have saved about $25,000 a year. ; Lefty Meets Anolliar find of hg&A, Or a Bacl[4o-tIie-S(Nl Move Tint Fails By Joe Laurie^ Jr. New York, July 4. Dear 'Vic; This is the time of year when nearly everybody gets a yen to go out In the country, buy a farm and get back to the earth. Actors are especially suckers for this and spend April, May and June looking at the ads of •Farms For Sale' that are more fiowery than the hotcakes Mother Howard used to make. Our friends, The Hlllys, a couple of great performers, have been writing to an agent about a place and last Sunday they Insisted that me and Aggie should jump In their car to take a look at the place In Jersey. Well, Aggie and 'me figgered it would be a nice place to' spend the day, because we really like the country, in the daytime. So we hops In with 'em and after three hours of ridlnj; we finally land at this real- estate agenta sucker-trap. He looked-at us with eyes that shined like a deceased trout He had a mustache that had a slight sneer, and in short he looked like a broken set of dishes. He first made the Hillys sign a paper saying that he gets the commission no matter who sells the place to them. HUly, who hasn't seen anything that looked like a contract since vaudeville pasised out, grabbed a pen and signed. He was so eager you'd think it was foi: a week at the Palace. Then the guy jumped in the car and told us that the place was just a little outta town, but he didn't say what town, because we drove for a half hour before we got there. Well, we gets to a lonesome spot and with a lying look in his eye he sez, 'Stop, here's the place,' ain't it swell?' So far all we could see. was a lot of bushes and trees. But we got In'the spirit, of the thing and sed, 'Gee, this Is a nice spot' Then the guy sez, 'You'll have plenty of seclusion here, you will not be bothered.' Just then Aggie gave a left hook to a mosquito that was as fat as Galento. The dead mosquito falling to the ground made such a racket that even -the agent had to turn his head. He looked klnda extra silly when he saw the dead mosquito and sed, 'You may be. bothered by a few mosquitoes In the daytime but at night they have lights on the road and, as you know, all mosquitoes go for lights. The road is so far away they won't bother you, which U an advantage of having the road so far away.' And with that he takes us over some cow-cards to see the house. Tixe house looked like one of them Hoover-village mansions—^the.time they built 'em with old cigar and piano boxes with big hunks of cardboard on the roof to keep the rain out. This place is over. 200 years old,' sez Flsheyes. Mrs. Billy's VnlBerable Well, it looked older to me, but Hilly's wife goes niuts about It being.so old. 'How wonderful they built them in those days.' 'Much better wood than they use today.' 'How quaint' She spiUs all this stuff while Aggie and me just exchange a half a dozen looks, but don't say nothin'. So we goes into the house and it snielt like a Youngstown audience after the fourth show. The floors were kinda bent and the walls were so thin a mosquito could kick a hole In 'em. No plumbing and the spring was an overnight jump from the house. The roof had more holes in it than a boxfull of ticketa for a flop show. The agent just kept kinda pointing a fast-finger at these things and sed, 'Oh a few dollars wlU fix this all up.' "Hie Hillys all this time had their eyes half shut and picturing what they would do to the place—red shutters, white paint awnings, lawns, gardens. You see they've been reading magazines that tell you what can be done with old places, so I didn't say nothin' and just let 'em puff on their marywannas. "Then Hilly came outta the trance and sed, 'Where's the trout stream you sed was on the place?' So the guy lighta up his eyes with a 1-watt lamp and sez, 'I'm saving that for last it's back of the house.* With that he takes us through a lot of poison ivy and shows us a stream about three feet wide with water not even an inch high In It Very weak water; it could hardly run, it just trickled. I couldn't stand it any longer so I sed,' 'You mean to say there's trout in that stream?' And before the guy could answer Aggie sez, 'Why a sardine laying fiat on Ita side would have a hard time covering himself with water In that steeam.' Well, the guy didn't like that but didn't say nothin' except 'I've caught trout In tiiere.' Well, you can't answer that without calling the guy a liar which I didnt want to do and spoil the whole day. 'We ain't had much rain lately, and when we do you can dam this place up and youll have a iwimmin' pool; it won't cost over a few dollars; why you can do it yoursell' I had to laugh at that when he sed that to Hilly, who is so weak he couldn't even lift a gag. Hilly was In a dream and he sed, 'Sure, I could do it myselt' Then he pulled me aside and sed, 'Ltfty, what do you think of the place, ain't it swell?' I sed, 'Personally, Hilly, me and Aggie would rather have a flat in the Fiery Forties with a windowbox that had maybe a potato plant or somethin'.like that In it' He gave ma a look and sez, 'Gee, don't you ever want to get away from those lousy actors, noisy streets and the hot city?' I said 'No' so loud the agent thought it was the 4th of July and somebody shot off a giant cracker. Well, they finaUy told the agent that they'd let tiim know after arguing with the guy for a half hour about the price. The agent looked like a disappointed owl but he tried to put volume In his goodbye to us. On the way back Aggie and me didn't crack at all while the Hillys were talking how they Would fix up the place. They had a herd of cows,. 1,000 chickens, horses, hay, wheat cabbages and everything growing when I said, 'Gee, Hilly, that will take a lot of dough, I didn't know you hold that klnda money.' Then he said, 'We ain't got a dime In the world right now but if vaudeville eVer comes back and I get a few weeks 111 put the now but if vaudeville ever comes back and I ge a few weeks I'll put the dough down for that little place and I'll never have to worry again the rest of my life.' Aggie gave 'em both one of her Aggte specials, 'It's a good thing you ahi't got a dime. I think the guy would have taken It for that joint' We're not talking to the Hilly's, it was them that stopped. Hoping this finds you and our business doing well, Sez N Your Pal, Le/tU. P. S.—LeRoy Hadley of San Antonio sez, Toverty is not a crime, but that isn't a reason so many people are poor.* 'Stranger' to Del Ruth Hollywood, July 4. . Ro^ Del Ruth takes over direction of 'Here Am I a Stranger' at 20th- Fox, slated to resume work next Monday (10) after a six-week lay- 0^ owing to injuries to Richard Greene, star ot the piece. William Seiter^ original director, pilots 'AUegheny Frontier' at RKO. BBOWS 2D V PIC Hollywood, July 4. Johnny Mack Brown starts this week on the second of his seven star- rers for Universal with John Wray as producer-director. Bob. Baker and Fuzzy Knight con- tinue in supporting roles. Herbert's Daughter To Tech Advise on Par Pk Hollywood, July 4. Victor Herbert's daughter, Ella, has been signed by Paramount as technical advisor on the film based on her father's musical career'. Picture goes into production early next month' with Allan Jones and Mary Martin' co-starring. Col's Wild Hosser . Hollywood, July 4. Irving Briskin is preparing 'Kongs,' tale of a wild stallion, for production at Columbia. Harold Shumate Is screenpla>;ing own original.