Variety (Sep 1939)

Wednesday, September 27, 1939 PICTURES VARIETY 9 DISTRIB-EXHIBS' WAR CO-OP RFC s $600,000 and Felt & Co. s $1,000,000 Bankrolls to GN Insure Prod Funds for Indies Grand National has succeeded In obtaining a $200,000 Increase in loan (fom the Reconstruction Finance Corp, Total of $600,000 Is expected to be passed over later this weelc to comprise an operating fund for the firm. Felt & Co., Wall street bank- ers, will at the same time make available a $1,000,000 production fund. It was through the efforts of Irving Felt, who flew_to Washington with Earle Hammons^ GN prez, last Wednesday (?0), that the final de- tails were worked out Delay- in obtaining the RFC fund resulted from the desire of Ham- mons and Felt to get the increased Government backing and in details of conserving the money, so that it can be turned over for operation in a lump sum to the company. Origi- nal arrangement would have made possible a creditor grab which, it is feared, would have partially crippled the new setup before it actually got to work. Diversion of funds objected to would have consisted of distribution of $200,000 to owners of stock in GN before it wont through 77B re- organization a year and a half ago. The $200,000 figure was set earlier this year after an Inspection of as- sets and liabilities and is payable by present stockholders. The original company was known as Grand Na- tional Pictures, Inc., while the pres- ent one is Grand National Films, Inc. New plan arrived at with the RFC and Felt includes an agreement with the trustees for the stockholders of the first company, whereby, instead of getting their money In a lump, they will receive $50,000 at once, and similar amounts each six months, until paid oft. Hammons Kemalns Prex When the coin Is received, Ham- mons will continue as president, but two executive assistants have, al- ready been named. Announcement of their identity is pending. One will be stationed in New York to handle all details of sales and dis- tribution, while the other will be in Hollywood to oversee production. Company will 'for the time be- ing' do no producing itself. It will use its production fund to help finance indies whose product will be turned over to it It will stick strictly to low and medium cost pic- tures, claiming to have at least a dozen now available. In regards to Franklyn Warner's deal to turn over three of his Fine Arts pictures to RKO, it was said this will not affect his relationship with GN. Latter, In the past, has distribbed Warner's films, and would have had the three that went to RKO if there hadn't been such de- lay. Warner, in fact, may continue right on with RKO or some other major, while simultaneously pro- ducing for GN. Tliere will be no conflict, it was said, because the ma- jor product will be in a much more expensive bracket than that for GN, which win try to keep around $50,- 000 a pic as its average. GN backers look to have no trouble obtaining indie - produced films inasmuch as they will offer distribution without the producer having to face competition from the company's own studios. Changes in the GN corporate set- up will begin almost at once in an aim toward simplification. Majol move will be the consolidation of Educational and GN into onfe.firm. As it stands now. Educational is virtually a holding company for Grand National. Ante Up on 'Land's End' Hollywood, Sept. 20. Fine Arts hoisted the budget to $300,000 on 'Land's End,' its second Cosmocolor feature for RKO release. Of this sum $6S,o6o had been spent on script and preparation. Franklyn Warner, FA prexy, is sending camera crews to Florida and the Grand Canyon for backgrounds. No Tipoffs Now Washington, Sept. 28. For the first time since tha Government began ogling stock market operations of insiders, no report of sales, purchases, giftJ or exchanges of film paper showed up last week in the Se< curitles & Exchange Commission bi-weekly review. Doesn't mean none of tha ground floor occupants changed their positions, though, since tha law allows the filing of Amended' statements months later. SMALL MULLED STALLING 5 OF H1S6P1X Possibility of holding oft produc- tion of five of the six films he Is scheduled to do for United Artists release was under consideration by Edward Small until Monday (25). Under advisement was a plan for going ahead with 'Kit Carson,' which comes up next on the slate, and lay- ing off of the others until conditions abroad gave indication of whether or not the market would be favor- able. With most other producers going ahead, however, Small decided to follow suit. J. j. Mllstein, his east- ern rep, is leaving for the Coast to- night (Wednesday) for a confab on plans. Le Baron Would Make His N.Y. Visit More Vacation Than Biz ' Although having discussions with Barney Balaban, Stanton Griftls, Neil Agnew and Russell Holman in the next two weeks, during his New York visit, William Le Baron, Para- mount's studio head under Y. Frank Freeman, will devote much time to a vacation. It's his first, trip to New York in three years. Being a stable- owner himself, he wants to see the races at Belmont as well as Broad- way shows and, it he can make it, the World Series. Budgets being pretty well agreed upon and 1939-40 production well under way, with Par being farther ahead on finished product at this time than In any prior year, there i.sn't .much that should involve Le- Baron in company conferences aside from the variations that are likely to ensue because of the war. Stock Players Hit By Studio Economy Wave Hollywood. Sept. 26. Slock players on major lots are feeling the brunt of war while mar- quee names are uneflected by the economy wave. Several lots have stripped down to a weck-by-week basis and others are pruning as fast as the slock contracts expire. Idea is to drop all pacted players whose services cannot be used to the fullest extent. SCHENCK'S MEX CHECKUP Hollywood, Sept. 26. Joseph M. Schenck planed to Mexico City to look over film mar- ket conditions south of the border. He will be away about three weeks. TO OFFSET [UROPE Cooperation Among: Thea- tres and Distributors oh Dating, Planning of Films, Etc.—No More Bad Book- ings Such as Three Adven- ture Films at the Same Time Recentljr on B'way MORE B.O. ACCORD In the hopes of offsetting losses from foreign markets, as result of the war, the distributors are look- ing to the exhibitors and all other branches for the 'fullest cooperation' in meeting the emergency as an all- encompassing industry matter. To this end it is expected that the distributors will make every effort to not only cooperate among them- selves in the dating, booking. and planning of film but prevail strong- ly upon the exhibitor to also lend a helping hand so that the present quality of product may be protected and, through that, the grosses of the theatres. In every way the distributors wiU attempt to wring more from their pictures through more careful spot- ting of product, through lengthened playing time, closer cooperation with the account .in putting every -film across for maximum returns, greater care in setting releases, etc. It is also likely that the distribu- tors will endeavor to get exhibs to put more pressure behind their pic- tures, particularly the bigger ones, through added exploitation effort, advertising, publicity, etc. The plea to the account will be to help the distrib fight the present emergency by making every picture count in any way that this can be accom- plished: Extended Dates Extended playing time everywhere will be sought'in order that the full- est amount of revenue may be ob- tain' "-om the run of every film, not ;hose of front-line import- ance. The longer a film will last the more, in the end, it will bring the distributor, to be poured back into future production. It has been hinted that even if a theatre makes only a small profit by holding over a film, that small profit in turn means a lot more for the distrib. When a picture goes off a run, it is a run that's not recoverable and the picture can't come back to try its luck all over agrin. In the staggering of pictures, so that those which are comparable in draught or similar in type are not fighting each other at the same time in given, situations, it has also been suggested that revenue may be pro- tected. Pointed to. was the simul- taneous showing recently on Broad- way of three African adventure pic- tures, 'Beau Geste' (Par), 'Four Feathers' (UA) and 'Stanley and Livingstone' (20th). This was called bad booking at the time and Is re- ferred to now as something that mustn't happen. For the Good of All In this connection, both the dis- tributors and the theatres would have to cooperate for the good of all. It is not improbable that the bookers in the exchanges may at- tempt to control the dating to avoid conflict In a cooperative move among (Continued on page 53) '39-40 Sales Spurt as Exhibs Figure They May Be in a Spot on Supply Or If B.O. Gets Bullish Suddenly 20th Execs* 10% Kept quiet are the 10% slashes which the 20th-Fox ex- ecutives have voluntarily de- creed for themselves during th« 'emergency' period. It applies only to the $50,000 per aimum up, both east and west. UA-B&K STILL HAVENTSET MDEAL Chicago, Sept. 26. Following reported inability on the part of United Artists to agree on a deal with Balaban Sc Katz in behalf of all its producers, despite lengthy negotiations, two of the major film- makers in the UA setup are said to have reached independent decisions to make their product available to B&K during the 1039-40 season. Their identity is not mentioned. Recently when the Music Hall, New York, and UA had a fuss over th: conditions relating to the buying o" 'Four Feathers,' which was finally sold to the Capitol instead, David O. Selznick is understood to have come forward and, on his own, arranged for the availability to the Hall of his picture, 'Intermezzo.' It opens next Thursday (5). The situation with B&K appears to suggest some parallel. UA offered BScK a deal for 1939-40, based on what it is offering for the new sea- son. Offering resistance to the deal offered, B&K is said to have shown UA its books for 1938, and In turn proposed a deal it believed was equi- table. UA is understood to have turned this down and to have ap- proached the Essanness circuit, op- erating the Woods downtown, as well as Aaron Jones, who has the Oriental. In both cases no deals resulted with these independents, and two of the UA producers intervened with a view to assuring first-run outlet for their product here with B&K. L. J. Schlaifer, UA's western di- vision manager, who has been here, leaves today (Tues.) for New York. Marked activity during the past two weeks in sales on the 1939-40 product is reported, with distribu- tors said to be starting to tell ex- hibitors that they can't have any more new season's pictures unless they sign a contract Fear that this may mean blank screens is bringing the lagging accounts around fast Virtually all 1938-39 product is on release and the last of that season's films are getting into the subsequent runs, while meantime '39-40 product is well under way and, in order to keep operating, exhibitors are pick- ing up the new pictures contingent upon deals that are in negotiation. Effect of warning or threatening such accounts that they can't pick up additional '39-40 pictures, while continuing to stall on a contract is understood to be producing startling anxiety on the part of the dilatory accounts to sit down for the closing' of a deal. The real reason for exhibitors stalling so long on '39-40 deals, in the opinion of one distributor, is that they have nothing to lose by waiting until the llth hour. In addition to looking for bargf.Tlng advantages by being hard to get, the presump- 1 tion is strong that numerous ac- counts want to play out the old sea- son's stuff to see if there aren't soma 'tail-enders' on which adjustments may serve as an argument At the same time, the exhibitor who delays on his deals, meantime being per- mitted to book initial releases of the new season, is enabled to get a line on how the distributor is starting off a fresh year. That also might give him some kind of a bargaining angle or, if the pictures are above a given company's standard, a better clue as to whether he should sign up for the terms that were laid be- fore him months ago. War's Hypo In addition to the fact '39-40 re- leases are now well under way, for some companies such as 20th-Fox having been rolling for nearly two months now, selling is adjudged to have quickened as a result of the war and what it may mean. Whila theatre operators are hopeful of a (Continued on page 20) GOL STARTS WARTIME CUP; DECKER DEPARTS Hollywood, Sept. 20. Columbia Pictures has started Its personnel reorganization to put stu- dio on wartime economy basis. First of exec staff to check off lot is Harry Decker, who has had super- vision over all sagebrushcrs for the Irving Brlskln unit Approximately 40, principally ani- mators, have been lopped off lot's Screen Gem Cartoon unit. Outfit generally carries 200 workers. Hays Meeting Today Will Deal Principally With European Situash The European war and Its effect on the Industry Is expected to be the principal topic for discussion at the quarterly directors' meeting of the Motion Picture Producers & Dis- tributors Asso. today (Wed.). Will Hays, who has been on the Coast for several weeks, arrived back in New York Monday (25) to be present for the session. The Hays' director meeting Is the first to be held since the June gather- ing. Indications yesterday were that there would be a quorum present for the session which gets under way In the afternoon, t Gross Own Producer Hollywood, Sept 28. New production company has been formed by Edward Gross, former production executive for Sol Lesser and David L. Loew. Jules (^Idstein is bankrolling. Trada Mark Reglstcreil POUNDED BT SIME SILVERMAN Fubliahril Weekly bj VARIETY, tat. „ Sid .Silverman, President 15^4 Weat 4Cth Str eet, New York City SUBSCRIPTION A,'""'a1 »10 Forelen »I1 SInBle Copies 26 Cents Vol. 138 c^g^" No. 3 INDEX Bills 46-47 Burlesque 55 Chatter 54 Dance Bands 37-40 15 Years Ago 42 Film Booking Chart 16 Film Reviews 12 Film Showmanship 8 House Reviews 44-45 International News 7 Inside—Bands 40 Inside—Legit .50 Inside—Music .40 Inside—Radio 35 Legitimate .48-52 Literati 53 Music 37-40 New Acts 47 Night Clubs 41-43 Obituary 55 Outdoors 55 Pictures 2-22 Radio 23-36 Radio Reviews 28 Sports >......, 53 Unit Reviews. 43 Vaudeville 41-43