Variety (Aug 1939)

18 VARIETY PICTURES Wednesday, August 30, 1939 War Jitters .Continued from page 1. an government in setting up restric-| managers' offices and spiel from the The Commonwealth placed stage news ot moment. tions. a ban oh all money going out of the country, forcing distributors to cairry on negotiations for its removal only N. Y. Not So Affected The European jitters did not af- fect New York's film theatre biz to any large extent over the week- through their regular banking chan- j end iso far as downtown and the nels. And even through this medium a maximum of 5,000 pounds, or about $25,000 per monf would b.e allowed out of the country. Another headache for foreign de- partments, whethei: or not war is de- clared, is the wide fluctuation in the pound sterling i- England and for numerous Biritish possessions. With a dip to $4.12 as measured in Ameri- can dollars, this means that dis- tributors would have to take, a beat- ing when their rental coin is trans- lated into U. S. currency. All type of entertainment abroad SuKers during war jitters. This was forcibly indicated dumg the Munich period when the boioffice slumped badly in key cities of England and France. With or without a declaration of war, picture company officials an- ticipate an irriproved attitude toward U. S. on the part of Japaiu Japan apparently has broken away from the Rome-Berlin axis and will be seeking improved commercial rela- tions with U. S., Englan a^d France. The recent U. S. notification to Japan that the commercial treaty between .the two countries was off caused pessimism among foreign depart- ments. However the surprise com- munazl pact last week improves the situation in Japan for distributors considerably. Spain is being counted on to re-, main neutral and American distribs are inclined to look at it as a market that would grow progressively stronger. The industry sees no comparison between the present threat of war and the world conflict because, in 1914 and even as late as 1917, Amer- ican companies were not active in countries outside the U, S. German, French, Italian and English produc- ers dominated what is described as the foreign market at that time, American distributors did . not de- velop their influence in -the foreign market on a large scale until the middle 1920's. larger nabe houses were concerned. A few theatres in outlying districts of the N. Y. area fell off Friday and slightly on Saturday. However, ma- jority of nabes in the metropolitan sector reported Sunday and Monday (27-28) as the best twbday petiod en- joyed in weeks. General reaction to newscasts sent Literal Fans out over, radio at frequent intervals was the same for prospective film patrons as it was with exhibitors— the first two days of war crisis bul- letins were okay but after that there was too much repetition and vague- ness.'. First splurge . of hour-to-hour shortwave pickups by radio stations attracted some attention Friday, be- ng helped by heavy rainfall which kept many indoors. The Saturday night war crisis news also caught ad- ditional ears easly in the evening, but regular cinema patrons tired of the constant guessing by radio ex- perts arid newshawks, and went out for their u.<;ual Saturday evening en- tertainment. Nabe- Ciirenia B.O. Ofl^, Stay Home Around Radio Imminence of war during the past week has badly battered attendance at neighborhood houses throughout the country as the anxious citizenry poked its ears into a radio or stood around in groups to discuss the po- tential holocaust. First runs and keys seem to have been less affected, with Broadway biz over the weekend first-rate.' Sunday .grosses in some nabes in the Greater New York area slid off, but not appreciably. This was despite the fact that weather con' ditions were generally good for theatre attendance. The record high chalked up by the New York Fair was credited by exhibitors with playing a. vital part on Sunday, Residents ot Farmingdale, L. I., are apparently taking the war crisis abroad very personally to heart. Sidney Jacobson's Strand theatre there, playing 'Juarez' on Sunday, experienced, comparatively, one of the worst days in its history. .Located an the coast, Farm-, ingdale is figured as a potential point for an initial attack on this country. It was the scene of an experimental army air aid black- out last year and the burghers aren't forgetting it as they stick close to their radios. other departments were cut to await developments in Poland. Fate of 'The Flying Deuces,' now in the editing stage, rests with Hit- ler, Chamberlain, et. al. Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy, co-stars, are nor- mally strong draws in Europe. Monday's Show Pieople Arrived in N.Y. Unnerved Jittery flock of show biz notables returned to the U. S. on Monday (28) after experiencing war pireparations abroad. Ship lights were doused all the way home, the Normandie zig- zagging across the sea-laries in fear of possible submarines; Among the passen gers we re _Sonja Henie who left~ for the Coast immediately to start her next film; George Ralt,/re- tiirning to Warners for 'Invisible Stripes' today; Roland Young, who will appear on the Maxwell House radio program, Sept. 7 in Hollywood. Capt. Colin Keith-Johnson is in to repeat the role of Capt. Stanhope for a revival of 'Journey's End,' which Leonard Sillman will launch at the Empire Sept. 18; Vic Orsattl, agent, who discussed talent deals with Harry Cohn in Europe; Charles C. Pettijohn, Sr. and Jr.; James Stewart, , who left for the Coast yesterday iTues.) to do 'Destry Rides Again'; Josef von Sternberg, who was to have directed a picture abroad but didn't; J. J, Milstein of Edward Small orKanization; Joseph A. McConvillc, Columbia Pictures foreign- manager; Jack McKeon, chairman of the board of Roxy Thea- tre; Steve Fitzgibbon and Russell Muth of Fox Movietone; Eddie Buzzell and Norman Krasna, both back pronto to Hollywood. Buzzell to tackle his next Metro film, the Cantor assignment. Poland Calls Kiepura Paris, Aug. 29. . Vacationing at Cap Antibe.<i, in the south of France, Jan Kie- pura, Polish tenor and star of the Metropolitan Opera, received n call to the colors from his native Poland; -He hurriedly trained Poland- ward, accompanied by his screen- actress wife, Marta Eggerth. Hysteria Disrupts London's Amus. Biz London, Aug. 29. Show biz in :the West End, as re- sult of the latest war hystcfria, is down even below the calamatous Not So 'Tuneful Bulletins on Screen Los Angeles, Aug. 29. Many theatres in this area are screening war bulletins between pictures. Also in the Frisco siqr tor. -J KNX is servicing M Fox-West Coast cinemas wjtn important developments. Lobby bulletins also are posted in some houses. where there was a drop-off in their business. That the fear of war in Europe is responsible for the major slide in b.o.s., cxhibs declare, is attested to by two facts: 1. Biz was showing something of an upward tilt. until the beginning of last week, when the war news broke over front pages. It started an immediate decline that grew rriore serious as the dispatches from abroad took on graver tones, 2. Kid trade has been normal or very near to it. It is the adult cus tomers who are staying away. Some houses have sought to com bat the punko attendance by put ting up one-sheets and valances an- nouncing ■ that patrons will be kept informed throughout the picture of pny important developments in Eu tope. They keep radios on in the H'wood Prod. Would Be Hit If Britishers Scram Hollywood, Aug. 29. With 75 actors, directors, writers and technicians subject to military -dnty-abToad;-practlcally wery stwdlo- in Hollywood would be hit by an outbreak in Europe. Prominent among the film colo- nists waiting for a call from England are Ray Milland, Gary Grant, Ray- mond Massey, Charles Laughton, David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Richard Greene, Brian Aherne, George Sanders, Boris Karloff, John Loder, Errol Flynn, Alfred Hitch- cock, Robert Stevenson, James Whale, W. L. Lipscomb and Michael Hogan. Sudden withdrawal of foreigners would scramble a lot of important productions now before the cam' eras or in preparation. Among them are 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois,' star- ring Massey; The Hunchback of Notre i3ame,' starring Laughton; 'Untamed,' toplining Milland; 'Dia- monds Are Dangerous,' featuring Loder; The Sea Hawk,' with Flynn; 'Raffles,' with Niven,.and 'Rebecca,' with Olivier starring arid Hitchcock directing. ■ War call would remove Herbert Wilcox as an RKO producer and postpone the 'Saint' series, in which Sanders plays the name role, British production units of Amer- ican films companies will keep on working until the actual outbreak ot war, iirider present plans ot Coast studio execs. Just now, it is a race between the producers and the armies. Warners has two features In work at Teddington, where Sam Sax is in charge. Richard- Thorpe is going ahead with the direction of Metro's 'Busman's Holiday,' starring Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sulli- van. Latter arrived in London Sat urday (26) and went to work yes- terday (Mon.). Harold Schuster is England-bound to supervise the film- ing of background footage for Uni- versal'S 'Tower of London,'currently in work here. Also, waiting developments are Alan Napier, cousin of Prime Min- ister Chamberlain, who recently fin- ished a role at Warners, and Flora Robson. who will rejoin her mother in London in case .of war. War Scare Blackouts Morros War scare caused Boris Morros to whittle down his production staff at General Service sludio.<:. Publicity layout did a complete blackout and Music publishers in this coun- try have already felt the effects of the European war scare. They are in receipt of letters and ca- bles from foreign publishing agents advising them that, be- cause of the unsettled situation, the European pubs have had to —put- oft publication. of-Amer-ican- songs who.se ■ local" rights they" have obtained this summer. These communications did not give any new possible date of publication. American pubs anticipate that the royalty statements for the current quarter from foreign af- filiates will be the worst in many years. This includes not only current tunes, but well-estab- lished standard catalogs. sequences of the nearly completed film to Hollywood. U. S. Acts Cancel A number ot American nets, gripped by the war fever, have can- celled or postponed opienings. Vcioz and Yolanda (due to sail from New York ' tomorrow, Wednesday)- have cabled to Martinus Pciulsen, operator of the Cafe de Paris, that they would not open there Sept. 11, as contracted. Poulsen has replied that he 'will hold them to their con- tract." Harry Richman's later date for the Cafe has also been cancelled^ Poulsen saying he would also hold him to the pact.. Grosvenor House booking, by Music Corp. of America, ot the Juvclys arid Bob Neller has also been cancelled. Ruth Etting, due to open at the Holborn Empire, Sept. 18, with a flock of other Gen- eral Theatre Corp. dates to follow, instead grabbed a slow U. S. boat back to America last week, along with many.other American stage and screen performers.' Ray Venturas band, .set for GTC dates, to open Sept. 11 for five weeks, cancelled and the mae.stro re- turned to France to enlist in the French mobilization drive. Herman Stein, of MCA, has been hurriedly seeking to dispatch troupes of U. S. girls, scattered in Italy, Paris, Havre and London, back to America. The radio, exhibition at the Olympia is reported to be losing $10,000 daily, and even it the tak- ings improve the loss is seen as ap- proximating $75,000 despite the ad- dition of several acts. NEWSREELS ALL SET IF WAR COMES Many American Acts In Spot on Foreign Dates Despite the imminence ot war in Eiu-ope, American acts over there are continuing to fulfill vaude and nitery commitments. Other turns, slated to sail for dates a broads have deferred openings while they watch dhd' wait. --With--European-manage«-^FK.^HRg--o^fe^^ 'Munich' period of last September. A number of niteries are scheduled to fold momentarily, with others keeping open, though taking terrific losses, with the hope that a solution will be reached on the situation. Legit and picture theatres are also taking it on the chin. London's ace nitery, the London Casino, has already posted a pro- visional closing notice for Saturday (2). Even such stage hits as 'Black and Blue,' 'Band Waggon' , and The Women' are on the verge ot shut- tering. 'Mice and Men,' featuring Claire Luce, who was in the orig- inal production of the play in New York, quit suddenly Saturday (26), after grossing only $3,000 on the week. The players have been told to stand by and indications are that show will open should conditions become rriore settled. up objections to the deferments and attempted cancellations, so far as i.s known no acts have actually refused to fill their European engagements, which, in some cases, were made months ago. Fortunately there are neither a large number ot acts in Europe nor booked for appearances there. Be- cause ot difficulties in getting cash out of some countries, and the gen- erally unsettled conditions, for the past year, most acts now prefer to remain on this side of the Atlantic. Veloz and Yolanda, who were to sail today (Wednesday), for an eight- week engagement at the Cafe . de Paris, Londori, postponed their open- ing a week. If the situation seema clearer by that time they will sail next Tuesday (5). Complete cancel- lation will be attempted if the war clouds are still too black then. Three' Sailors, who were skedded to leave today (Wednesday) were still undecided late yesterday after- noon as to whether they would go or not. They were considering wait- ing until next Wednesday, or later if necessary. They are to open at the Holborn Empire, London; on Sept. 25. Other acts set to go abroad next month, but whose pl.ons are now in doubt are Ray and Trent, Lois Har- per and igtuart Morgan Dancers. They are inked into the Scala, Ber^ Newsreels were poised for the shot (his week which will send into ac- tion abroad crews whose work has been in the course o qui"t prepara- tion for more than a year. If flying boats and other means of rapid communication are not discOn-^. tinued in the event of a holocaust, reels have plans laid to get their film into American theatrrs within 54 hours of the time they are shot. In- dicative of the new speed were the clips which went into exhibition on Monday after being shot at the end of last week and transported to America by air. Only minor shifts In staff will be needed to cover the war unle.ss it develops very quickly on a wide scale on many fronts. . At the mo- ment, Paramount is the only one plarining to send additional camera- men abroad. It has tentatively booked passage for Ned Buddy arid Arthur Menken oh the Clipper plane leaving New York today (Wednes- day). Menken is a vet in filming battle scenes, He covered both the civil war in Spain and the Sino-Japnnese conflict for Par. In both he was captured and held prisoner. Truman Talley, head of Fox Movietone, said no hew alignment will be required for his outfit.. It is following out plans detailed when he was in Europe at the time of the previous crisis. Pathe reported it has all foreign spots well-covered through tieups with foreign repre- sentatives, which is also true of Met- rotone. Universal has always main- tained a comprehensive staff abroad. Newsreel offlcials are confident of getting sweeping coverage during early stages ot any outbreak. Uofl of them have reservists or other mil- itary reps, who would !be permitted to go near the front in line of offi- cial duty. March of Time has several crews now operating around the potential war zones. Richard de-Rochemont, who repre.sents Time in London and Paris, has been in Warsaw with • crew for the past two weeks. An- tain with others in France and the Near East. were swept along with -the latest war crisis. Picture production is virtually at a .standstill. Lack ot trained men, caused by the call to the colors in the government's mobilization push, in fact has left the entire entertain- ment industry high and dry. Supervision ot newsreels has been taken over by the War Department, while another effect ot the war hys- teria has been the postponement, for 10 days at least, of tfie~first Cannes International Film Festival, which had been scheduled to get under w.iy Friday (1). Premier Daladier has imposed • strict censorship of the press, which look effect Sunday (27). . Picture production is expected to , - reach a complete standstill, with"'"' e^^Iy in October, those films in work being finished, I Among turns currently on the but future production plans have other side are the Gertrude Hoffman been abandoned, at least tempo- Dancers, Willie West and McGinty, rarily. Same applies to stage shows. Suspend Quota It has been unofficially reported here, from a government source, that in the event of war the British quota would be suspended, with theatres using American product almost en- tirely. It's believed that the little British production that there might be would consist of propaganda films. Suspension of the quota, it's be- lieved, would have repercus.<;ions in that possibility is seen that agita- tion would arire for the permanent abolition thereof. In the proce.ss of making 'The Thief of Bjadad.' Alex- ander Korda would transfer the final Barr and Estes and Hadreas. They opened Monday at the Hippodrome, Brighton, England, prior to debuting at the Palladium, London, in two weeks. Billy Bissett. Engli.sh maestro, who has been in Canada visiting rela- tives, sailed today (Wedne.sday) from N. Y. to open Sept. 11 at the Cafe de Paris, London, per schedule. ParlK Badly Hit Paris, Aug. 29, Evacuatibn from the French capi- tal of' thousands ot persons has proved a broadside blow to .sh<iw biz here, as all forms of the industry Australian Trade Off Canberra, Aug. 29.' European war crisis again is bla.^t- ing theatre trade here, with the fed- eral'government here reported get- ting ready to spend $128,000,000 on defense. In New South Wales, there's a proposal to increase taxintion to S8c weekly for workers whose basic wage is $1.6 . weekly. Theatre managers claim this new tax will ruin suburban trade. Australians were hit hard by the higher Uix levied when the Czecho- Slovakian crisis arose because of ar- rangements for an extensive defense program, but increases were not as high then as now proposed. ' The entertainment field is expect- ed to feel a big part ot the taxes, with American film distributors probably being hit also by the pro- gram. Additional outlay for defense was forecast about six months ago. Ad- ditional coin will come from taxe.s on theatre admissions and increased import charges, among other .'Oiirccs of revenue. Trade throughout the Common- wea'lth has been oft for picture exhi- hitor.s. Ace films, usually good' for five wcek.s, have been yanked after two weeks. Nabes also have suf- fered, dc.'.pitc strong duals.