Variety (Jan 1940)

32 PICTURES Tlnrlyfonrlh VARIETY Auni vorsary Wedncsda5., January 3, 1940 Cartoon Field Looks Lush To Metro, j Will turn Out Full Length Fantasy Flying Year Hollywood, Jan. 1. Meli'o is going into the super- cai toon field to cash in on the cur- rent popularity of animated inkings, as evinced by the heavy returns on the Paramount-Fleischer film, 'Gul- liver's Travels." Culver City plant's facilities for shooting cartoons is on par with the best, and its staff, in- cluding the Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising. is capable of handling cartoons of any size without much revision of the production setup. Studio execs have been mulling the cartoon idea ever since the ex- pensive 'Wizard of Oz' fell short of Walt Disney's 'Snow White.' Con- sensus is that 'bz' would have been more successful, both artistically and financially, if it had been made as a cartoon. Current short cartoon production under Fred Quimby is .well ahead of schedule, and a feature could be added without seriously disrupting the schedule. Studio is studying several fantasy subjects for the first big cartoon. WAR'S IF-MONEY ON ROACH'S STORY BUY Hollywood, Jan. 1. Hal Roach has taken another three-month option on the Kenneth Roberts novel, 'Captain Caution,' making a total of $10,000 advance payments against a total price of $30,000. He had already paid $5,000 for a first option, which expired Vast week. Angle of the deal is that if Roach takes up the contract he will not ac- quire complete rights to the story, but will get only a 10-year lease. Extension of t(>e option for another three months doesn't extend the ' lease period, however. At the con- clusion of the 10-year term, not only the rights, but also the actual prints of the Roach film, will revert to the author. Believed it is the first deal of the kind ever negotiated. Roach's idea in obtaining a re- newal of the option is to make some minor story changes in view of the war. Roberts consented to the re- newal on condition he has the okay on all changes. Deal was handled by H. N. Swanson. Hays Meeting Today Resumes Many Problems Numerous problems that require immediate attention are siippo.sed lo come before the adjourned session of the Mo»ion Picture Producers & Dis- tributors A.-ao. directors today (Wednesday). Revised budget for 1940 is understood lo be ready for submission and okay by the direc- torate, it now being reported about $200,000 less than in 1939 pr any of the three previous years. Legislative outlook also is to- be given a thorough going-over by the directorate, with special attention given the Neely bill and means tor preventing its passage. Next im- portant matter lo be considered, now reported, will be the foreign situa- tion and steps being taken to replace los-tes in the territory outside the domestic market. Various ways of stimulating busi- ness in this country and in foreign territories which may enjoy a trade boom as a result of the European war also may come before the session. More problems than ever are expected to come up for han- dling by the Hays organization during the coming year, extending ti-om production code matters to the biggest legislative problems. Past year probably will be re- niombered as the first year that the film business used airplane .service lo get executives to and fr;>m Europe, as well as to speed shipment of negative lo foreign accounts. Only the newsreels cniployed llie oceanic clipper ships, exlcn- sivcly, although Paramount riislicd a print of 'Gulliver's Travels' to England so that it could open in London last week. U. S. Orders Goulding j Out; Re-Entry Exam Hollywood, Jan. 1. 'Alf Goulding, film director for 27 years, was given 90 days to leave the United States and take an examina- tion for re-entry under a British or Australian quota. Goulding came to America in 1912 and lived here continuously except for a threeryear period in England. 1935-38. He came back on a three- month visitor's permit and declared he did not know it was a temporary document. Paramount Theatres Seen Exceeding Par Pictures' Earnings Paramount Theatre Corp and.sub- sidiaries will show earnings nearly as good as 1929 and 1934, according to latest year-end foreca.st in Wall Street. Some believe the net lake of the theatres will top the business shown by the parent film company. Paramount Pictures. Southern theatre partnerships or chains. Balaban & Katz and A, H. Blank, look like leaders in the upped income expected for 1939. Now be- lieved' that the only weak spot in. j the theatre setup will be Detroit where automobile labor troubles ! have hurt business. I Pickup of theatre business in the j final quarter has been particularly ; noticeable, and it seems sure of top- i ping the showing made by the pic- I ture distribution company which Is I expected to suffer a decline in the ilast three-month period. This would ! result from the losses sustained in the foreign market TERRY TURNER'S BIG CLAIMS ON RIPLEY Torry Turner llled suit Friday (29) in N. Y, supreme court against Rob- ert Ripley, Robert J. Hyland, John E. Gregory, Believe It or Not Oddi- torium. Inc., and International Oddi- ties, Inc., seeking $102,735 from the first four defendants, and $100,000 from the last. Turner claims breach of contract whereby he Was to share in the prollls of the venture. II is claimed that the defendants breached a contract made in May, 1938, whereby Turner secured a spot on . Broadway and 51st street in N. Y. for the location of the Odditor- ium, when in March, 1939, they took the place at KiOO Broadway, where the show is now going on. Turner a.sserls that he was promised 50% of everything the defendants re- ceived in the way of profits. Plainti is a p.a. and exploitation man, now with HKO Radio Pictures. FINAL QUARTER '39 EARNINGS WERE OFF DARRO'S PERSONALS Frankie Darro, Monogram player, begins a vaudeflim tour in Detroit at the Colonial Jan. 7. Tour will take him through several key cities of. the middlewest. SeizrJck Omits Holiday To Prep New UA Lineup Hollywood, Jan. 1. David O. Selznick is -taking a nio- torman's holiday on his three-month vacation, originally planned as a period of travel but now relegated to Hollywood, where he will prep his 1940-41 program, for United Artist.s. beginning May 1. First picture on the new slate is a starrer for Ingrid Bergman, cur- i rently in Sweden but due in Holly- I wood late this month. Selznick is working on two other pictures for I Vivien Leigh and Joan Fontaine. Earlier eslimalcs of final quarter 1939 earnings, made a month or two ago, have been revised downwards for picture companies by Wall Street experts in view of uncertain rev- enue in the foreign market. Fact that most film companies do not start receiving the bulk of their foreign rentals until six months after a pro- duction is released makes it nec- essary for distributors lo rearrange writeoffs to account for probable dip in foreign income. Thus a .ilrong showing in the do- mestic marUct by a picture corpora- tion may be wiped out by declines abroad in the final three months ot last year. One factor which may help major corporations having strong theatre affiliates is that theatre grosses have held up well during the last three or four moiilhs. WB Cuts to 36 For 1940-41; See This as Gen'l Cue Hollywood, Jan, 1, Warners plan 30 features for 1940. 41 and under this alignment, when Bryan. Foy returns to the studio Jan, 15 as an as.s'iriatc executive pro- ducer to Hal Wallis, he will handle the making ot 16. Wallis will do 20. This means producers who are as- signed to pictures will work under them. In elimination of 'B' product at Warners studio will make three grades of 'A,' first 12 skcddcd for 35% rental; next J2, 30'.-'o, and last 12, 25%. Reason for taking this burden from Wallis is that he han- dles virtually everything executive in making of all 'A' piclures, down to the cutting. Now he will just assian story, pro- ducer and director lo Foy. who takes up from there in his group, and Wal- • lis continues his general labor on the 20 he will boss. With Warncr.s culling feature product 25% for new season it is believed other''companies will make saine. Proportionate cut in the num- ber of features for the coming selling season, with low bracketed features dropped by most of them and re- placements ot 'A' piclures that will be, at least, double the budget of the former minimum costing product. • Pidgeon Goes Hula Hollywood, Jan. 1. 'It Happened in Kaloha,' Deanna Durbin starrer, rolled at Universal with Waller idgcon as a last- minute starter in the male lead, on loanout from Metro. Pidgeon became available when Republic suspended production of 'Dark Command' because of Claire Trevor's illness. JOHN LODGE BACK TO COMPLETE FRENCH PIC John Lodge sailed for France to finish work on a French film inter- rupted in September by the war. Pic, based on )ife of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was being shot in south of France. Shooting of .scenes of assa.^isination of Archduke, immediate cause of First World War, was broken up by be- ginning of second. Max OphuLs, former Viennese di- rector, was directing the film until war started. Then he joined Foreign Legion. He is being given a fur- lough to finish the picture. Lodge said. THE YEAR IN PICTURES (Continued from page 5) the home office when it brought Oscar Morgan up from Atlanta to handle all sales for the south. Over in RKO, Jules Levy resigned and A. W. Smith, Jr., took over the eastern division, with E. L. McEvoy going out to Cleveland to head a district in that territory under a realignment of the RKO field setup. Republic broke down its h.o. lineup to some extent and Jack Bellman shifted to Buffalo, whereas over in Monogram, Harry Thomas was added to the sales organization a couple months ago in supervision of the New York, Philadelphia and Washington territories. In the last twelve months no man in distribution has come forward with greater strides than William F. Rodgers, gan- ^ eral sales manager of Metro, who succeeded the late Felix F. Feist a few years ago. Rodgers first attracted attention when the distributors, at a hearing on the subsequently re- pealed North Dakota divorcement bill, were massing in de- fense of that measure. Since then he stepped importantly to the fore as a distributor and an industry leader through the work that he did on the trade practice code, as well as in nis method of dealing with exhibitors, large and small, far and wide. Distribution-reared men who have gone from film ped- dling to top exec posts at present include S. R. Kent, James R. Grainger. George J. Schaefer and Murray Silverstone. Another, Al Lichtman, probably one of the hardest hitting iaies managers the business has known, is assistant to Nich- olas M. Schenck of Metro. Theatre men at the top of their companies are Barney Balaban, Paramount, and Nate J. Blumberg. Universal. THE EXHIBITOR Retailer of what the producer makes, and the distributor sells him, the exhibitor occupies an interesting niche In the i.ndustry. He deals with the public and he takes the rap there. If he has a landlord, he may also take it on the chiti in that direction when the pictures he has bought are bad O;- he suffers the setbacks of local business stagnation, strikes, etc. V,. From the man in the soft leather chair, iii offices in the 'larger cities, guiding the destinies of theatres that are far from him, to the little exhibitor who can't even find a chair to'sit on, the problems are to a considerable extent not so variable. Each may operate in a different fashion but each operates with a view to buying film on which profit may be shown in line with the manner in which the merchandise is retailed to the public. Exhibitors are eternally wrestling with the distributors and at the same time fighting each other, whereas a policy of closer cooperation for mutual benefit might, in thJ long run, tend to better relations and harmony as well as lengthen the profits. One of the most prominent chain operators in the industry not-so long ago expressed the view that he wished he could establish more friendliness and contact with the little exhibitor in competition with him. Exhibitor organizations have sought that, too, but though the prob- lems are many which should provide common ground for all theatre operators, the tendency is rather to pull apart than to hang together. A dog-eat-dog formula prevails too much of the time instead. Then there is the exhibitor who engages in exhib politics, trading on his activities in that connection in a selfish de- termination to get the edge on his brethren in dealings with the distributors. Very often the mere fact that he enjoys the privilege of an avenue of expression against the di.s- tribulors, the producers or the entire industry, brings con- cessions to his door. On the Neely bill, exhibitor opinion is divided, the same as it as on the trade practice code; or continues to be con- cerning arbitration; the question of radio competition; and other matters affecting the theatre one way or another. The one point on which all Him accounts appear to be in accord concerns the high rentals distributors demand from them, iince they all want to make more money by. buying their product cheaper. They may feel just as justified in resist- ing the present-day prices of Aim as the distributors feel Inat are warranted in getting a better return on the invest- ments they have made. This fight will never be. settled. Percentage contracts and designation of preferred play- ing lime are the bane of many an exhibitor, and when checkers come around to sea what kind of business is be- ing done—just in case—there is open resentment not infre- quently. To illustrate the attitude, one of the leading sales managers tells the story of the account that bought hi.s company's product on percentage and, after the first picture under the contract had been played, he came.'running to the exchange to raise a howl. He fumed that when he boiight the pictures he was led to understand he wouldn't l>e checked—and was he mad! . • ' It hardly pays to check some of the picture.s, on the other hand, and that's where the exhib gets stuck, whether }iU deal is on percentage or flat. Quite a number ot contracts have been closed during the past summer and tall on a fiat basis all the way including important ciEcuits; . SulU Against Indie Chains. • Powerful buying power,, meantime,- is under attacK with the Government having filed anti-trust suits against the Schine Bros,. Griffith and the Crescent choin in the south. Olhers are threatened, action of the Government indicating that, jiist as chains of the producers enjoy great advantage.^: :n buying power and other ways, ia.its opinion so have in- dependently-controlled circuits dominated their territories 'ipd their opposition. Duals are spreading, giveaways continue apace and price- warring here and there attests to the'struggle that is being ■■"lade by theatres in competilion with each other. The mat- or of taxation continues to affect all, and there is a move- ment afoot to lift the 40c minimum under the Federal tax statutes, so that admission scale.s nvay be Increased where practical. But the industry is not very sanguine of results in that direction. Meantime, grosses are not showing the strength they .-sliouid in view of the high quality of product being delivered, and account is being seriously taken of the inroads made by the oiiposition, including radio, sports, the open country, elc. In exhibitor opinion, it may be that the picture business Is Keared too high and that the returns expected of pictures, regardless of how fine they are, have gone entirely out of proportion to the potentialities of the market as it stands to- day. The best apple pie in the world, it costing a dollar, cannot become profitable product becau.se it has to bring back more than the buck it cost. And that can't be done. The theatre operators of the country are not adverse to .Giving the maximum of playing time to the picture that Is entitled to it, since they make money at the same time the distributor does; but the average does not like to gamble loo close to the quick, with the result some films are pulled whereas they could extend further on a run. And once gone on a run, they can't come back to work the mine a lifHe longer. Exhibitors who have bought their product in advance for a.I entire year also point to the fact that it they are going lo give additional dates lo certain pictures, that additional lime must be taken away from olhers. They also complain that while they would be willing lo granfcxlra time to the more deserving pictures, the distrlbs will make no conces- :<ions to them on the 'pups' that are waiting to be picked up and must be played. Some ot the majors were even tough ;is nails in-making concessions or adjustmenis on the '38-39 pictures, it is claimed" .Bad Spacing Bad spacing ot pictures is another blame that is laid al Ihe door of the producer-distributors, with men of the lliea- Ire believing that the grosses aren't higher than they are because stars and other film personalities are being seen loo often—as well as heard on the air. Ijoans of stars has partly caused the release too clo'-se to- gether of pictures in which they play, result being that very often a star is 6n first-run in a new ftlm while a prior ve- hicle is still in release, playing the subscquents. There has been considerable construction in the theatre Iield during the past year, together with face-lifting, air- cooling installation, etc., but activity has been light in con- nection with change of control covering important circuits. The U. S. suit against the majors has greatly rcstriclcd ex- p.msion among the producer-distributors but a few lhcatrc> 'lave been dropped here and there by these chains. Despite his troubles, his complaints and his woes. Ihe c.x- hibitor plunges into 1040 the same as he did in 1939. ins'another year to him.