Variety (Mar 1941)

^ .: . 'Red'- Davis Hat dropped picture directing ibr special.government Job, ■trictly confldentialt which takes him tc^ \Alrica shortly. ■ " ■ Jack Newman, with the-John Woolf gales organization, has joined thie ,Bdyal Air Fbrcis/ Newman- was horn: ih. America, brought up in Australia, :iihd"i!r domiciled in England. 'Retarninr froni ah exhibiti^ test for the .Red Cross, Tbitl Newman; and Melbourne Inman, ace billiardii players! Involved In car smash, sus- taining cpncussioh and mlndr in- juries.. Toin Acnold'a pantomime,, headed by J^ck Buchanan, Fred Emney and Adele: Dixon, in Sheffield for four weeks, . goes on tour, staying fort- . night iriieabh town. .. . Eric Maschwltz'a 'New Faceii* tour- ing sticks siiice London blitz, returns to town in March with new Songs, ■etc.- ;. •■ . . . Marion Field; for many years Wiard- robe mistresis at Drury Lane theatre, killied by a bomb. She was .known as 'Happy Fanny* by thie; thousands, of stage folk she encpuntfered.- . Alfred . Zeltlin .has \ temporarily forsaken theatrical business, and is now supplying war material to thie Government.. Many T^^est End thisatres how be- ing used as business pftices. Mand . Allan, of. Salome fame. Joined the womeii'a army as . ah ffmbulance driver. Second Lient. John V, .Gillespie, second son of R, H. Gillespie, j oint managing, director of Moss fimpires, Is reported ..missing in the eastern campaign. Sir Seymour Hlcks>/ Alice Delysia and Victoria HoEtper oil to Egypt to entertain the troops. Ronald Squire has joined the Royal Air Force as'Flight Lieutenant. Mrs. George King has joined thie Auxiliary Transport Service,', Tommy Atkins, assistapt to Cissie Williams, booker for General Thea- tres .Corp;,;is in the Pioneer Corps. Leslie Grade Is now in.the Rpyal Air Force. Paul Stein's deal to make three pictures in Arnerica for Select At- traction is being held up. due to exit permit difliculties. . Novelist Ian Hay (Major General John Hay Beith) has riesigned from the War Office as Director of Public Relations. Many .London statues' Will be boarded up as protection against air attack if . metnbers of the public vol- unteer the; cost.- Sir John Martih- Harvey has opened a. fund for ■ the $200 necessary to defend Sir Henry. Itving from;the blitz.- Basil Dean . has been., appointed Advisor on "Eritertainnnents to the ■ Air Ministry. • Derek Farir, film juvenile, who gained attention in, United.; Artists 'Spellbound^' capping itwith recent leads iii pictures for. Columbia and Paramount, is now. in Royal Artil- lery. . Just another private, ■ Vic . Oliver off to. America^ in Au- itust, and claimis he will be back, having obtained special return per- mit, from Washington. War has caused such' terrific short- age of film studio space that a syn- dicate has been formed to promotte idea of building studio in Ireland; Helnrich Frankef, Interned for six tnonths,. released. Henry Sherek on actlvie service ■ as lieutenant on Staff of Army CPrps. • While awsy; his business being han- dled by Harry . Foster. He gave his acts a choice of three of the best agents. In :Lbndon, and they chose the Foster^' Agency. Mrs. . .Sanl Smith, who went to Canada with her two: children at the outbreak . of wAr, is returning to England. Great secrecy being . maintained anent Arthur Jarratt's departure' for. Hollywood,; ljut und:erstood is there op / special mission^ Jor the. Ministry^ of Information. . ■ . Jack' Livesey* who has been tour- ing in Avery Hopwood's oldie* 'High Temperature,' pulled out suddenly for military service,. ' William Moilison how bombed out of his fourth home^ . London, Feb. .15. ' .Busy wartime weekends, spent by show biz crowd can be gleaned from the agenda for liist weekend (8-9). Vivien Leigh v/as :iit one of the Saturday (8) troop concerts, on the Df ury Lane, stage, then scoPted to out-of-town Camps to make it three straight. Going : over their vaude acts on Sundiay's ' (9) lineup were Adelaide .Hall, Jack Warner, Joan Winters, Johnnie Lockwpod .and Jack Hylton's aggregation at the Scala ; theatre's aftiernoon show for Troops and Defense Workers, Sol- diery: also drew Evelyn Dove, Scott and Whaley and Ken Johnson's dan- sapators for a seiisibn later in. the day. • [Ed Note: Ken Johnson,, nick- named 'Snakehips,' was among those killed this Week in the bombing of the Cafe de Paris; which also killed 19 others, including several members of his baiid and Martihus Paulsen, the nitery's proprietbr]. ■ ■ • A two-and-a-half-hour frolic for Volunteer Police oh Sunday, at the CJlpbe theatre, called Gabrlelle Brune, Stanley Lupino, Jack and Eddie Eden, Dorothy Dickson,. Wal- ter Crisham, Ronald Frankau. Suth- erland Felce, Constance Cumthings, John Clements and Judith Furse.. Latter three performers have a cute istunt; they've formed a harmony trip for these entertainments, warbling spirituals and plantation ditties with Clements strumming a uke. Evelyn Laye did a trek to Scot- land Sunday with a bunch of ; pla'y- ers, including Beatrice Lillie, occa- sion being Unveiling of Navy's ov^n theatre oh which: Miss Laye super- vised construction and equipment in between a. musical: show booking. Songstress is chief Ptganizer of en- tertainments for the Naval section. Goveriini<£nVf Emphasi* on I m p r oi V e d Prpdaction in All Phases of Activity « PossiUe Faictor in Rise—' . -Restrictions' on W e a, k i e Films Another Angle : / ■; PASSES PRE-WAR London, Feb; 15. ':Som;ething may. • yet; qome from blitzing of these shores, .at least where 'production standaird ahd^ in- cresised U.S. buy possibilities of British films are cohcerned. Cei"- tainly, /pictures ' turned ■ out since things got hot on this side have reg- istered . for American busiiiess. far niore consistently than ' pre-war product/- / ; '; ■ ^ Last six nionths have seen the fol- lowing features in~ fior; attention from the American end of the busi- ness: 'Gaislight' (British .NationiaDi 'Night Train' (GainsbPro), 'Pastor HaU' (Grand NationaDi 'Girl in the News' (Gaihsborp), 'Cotivoy' (Ealing Studios), and 'Contraband' (British National).;; True, these ;were made prior to the hefty air-raidings, but nonetheless under conditions of military draft and eqiiiipment - strictions. S Bright Possilibttles Going along how, to the U.S. are three bright , possibilities in 'Free- dom Radio' (Columbia), 'Quiet Wedr ding' (Par) and 'Spring Meeting' (Assoc< British); plus,.of course, the 'super' ^Major Barbara' from Gabriel Pascal. These were made uiider the severest bombing' handicaps, the first two named actually meeting with Injuries to members of studio crews, when plants were bombed. -Freedom Radio' rates as one of the best pix turned out on this side. . This upswing in quality could be due fo a variety of reasons. One might be ;a. resuU of focusing-attien- tion to the job in hand, , in line with national propaganda. Again, restric- tions oh weakie-. product through equipment control and restricted fldor space could mean a tightening of existing production. .' ' It's doubtful if budget angle has a lot to. do with the rise. Frozen coin regulations may have meant added buying pf British product, but it did not, in the majority: of peases, make the pictures. HOYTS ADDS 6 BLUMBERG, SEIDELMAN ATTEND PANAMA GONV. • Latih-American coinveritiph sched- uled by Universal for Panama,- April 2-6; will attract the attendance and active participation of Nate Blunti- b.erg, president, and Ji H. Seidelmjin; foreign: chief for the company. : The two executives,. accpiripaniPd by C. C- Marg6ft, U's Latin-American supervisor, arid ■ Fprtunat', Baronat, firm's foreign publicity chief, Will leave New York liate this rnohth to be in Panama fpi!' :pperiihg day's sessioi). ■, PaUadiuihoShow G^ts Biif Lohdoii Receiption ; . LondPiij: March 11, : 'Applesauce,', opening March 5^ at the Palladium, - was splendidly re- ceived by a capacity house. Show lacks- American sock acts and is too much Max Miller. Vera Lynn is' outstanding. in the ptoducr tion. Sydbey, March,11. . Hbyts circuit is taking over Shidfer-Dean's entire interest in Na- tional Theatres, giving Hdyts (20th- Fox. controlled) two additional the- atres;, here' and additional ones in Melbournie, Brisbane^ Hobart, . arid •Launcestbn;.- \y :; -;■ Snider-Dean chain was hooked,; up with Hoyts sdrrie years ago fpllow- irig the first breakaway of Hoyts from Greater Union, then kripw^i is Gerieral Theaters: When proposed revival; of .Clerieral; Theatres as a, booking cpmbinatioh, for both;Hpyts and Greilter Union, fiell through, the former naturally sought .more outlets in its theatre eypaiiision program. Sriider-peari will continue its own suburban ciniemas. It was it the iri- .sistence .of Snider-Dean that it be: ■ guaranteed profits no matter what 'the ramifications of the Hpytsr Greater Union. booking arrangement .might be that is considei'ed a ririajor reason for failure of the merger to succeed. ■:-: '.., Hoyts circuit this week:alsP takes over cPrii^jlete control of the Capitol • theatre, . Melbourne, 'fdrmerly Para- mount's show window irt that part of AUsfraljii, .With'this theatre go- ing to Hoyts, deal for G.V.T. to handle Par. prodiict exclusively, in Melbourne has itoUowei MIXING TRAGEDY AND lOY Crowd Awaiting Mex. Comedian' : Pushes Cop to. Oi^Ui. Under . Train . , Mex^^ ■ The a'rrivai of ;Cantinfla3, ace tra;mp comedian now on a road. tpUr,: at AjSluascalientes; central railroad and industriaV.tbwOr .caused a .trag-. edy;- 'OneJ of the. severail policemen holding back the crowd of Cantin- fias admirers at . the railroad station was pushed onto, the tracks; before the approaching train. :;Wheela of the engiriie decapitateid him. ; The comiic assisted station: em- ployees and. flitemen,to extricate the body. . y mmm. Braizil's new 8% tax oh U.S. film. cpin. remittances has been adjusted so Hi to ajpply only to .1940 re- mittances, instead of being retroac- tive to 1935, according to word re- .ceived in N.Y. this week. Remit- tances from Brazil. distribution cur- rently, are being made to tha' U.S.j with the proviso that 8% of this coin be held' In. escrow until an agreement Is: reached as tp what constitutes riiet Incpm^. These re- mittances were resumed Feb. 12 after being held up biy Brazil for several weeks. Arrangements, on terinporary coin remittances Is deemed satisfactory to both the; American distribs and the Brazil government. Brazil is contending that, money remitted to U.S. represents net pro- fit for the American distributors while U.S. distributors aver that it is not. For example out of $1,000, the company which figures its oper- ating overhead in Brazil, at 30% re- mits; $700" to N.Y. American film companies claim that this $700 is riot net profit biecaUse a percentage of production costs, expenses of the New York Pffice and other expendi- tures must be deducted before ar- riving at a true net profit. The Brazilian goverrimeht -wants to apply the 8% tax on the. $700 .re- mitted to N.Y. American distribu- tors contend this; is riot net profit and that only $500 to $600 should be covered by the new Brazil taxation.-' Present attitude of the Brazil gov- ernment in seeking ah amicable agreement; with American distribu- tors indicates that some sort of . a cPmpromise may i>« wprked o UA TALKS BRITISH DEAL fP|t^800,0qijf INDIE m . Lbnddri, Feb. 15.. .vHaridled; by Teddy, Cai?r. UA's di- rector here,, deal; is hieing discussed with 'indie producers to turn put - a schedule of British product for UA. UnderstoPd budgets are set. at $300,000 each and cover half a dozen pictures. ■:, •. • . ■ With aipproval ov6ir the : Weekend; in Eciiadpr and Costa Rica, Charles Chapkliri's;: 'The Grtiat Dictator' has been Ipkayied by 15 of the 20 Latin American natlorisj .Walter '-Gould, United Artists fdreign manager; di^^ cldised; yesterday (Tuesday); ; Re- quests for; approval are plendirig or; have not yet been niade in the five other\ic!Ouritries.' Film has already opened in eight of th^ Latin republics) Including Mexico, Cpsta:; Rica, Panama, 'Ven- ezuela, Cuba, Chilej .Uruguay , and Ecuador. One of nations which gave its okay with the least ,trouble-|-t6; the surprise of m^ny cohcerneid-:^ was. Chile. Southern: part of that. cdun,try IS: said to he 'moi*e Germah than CJerrinany,'- yet the picture has played twp towns in ; the; re'gion; Valdlvia and Cpncepciori, without a hint of trouble. . Argentina is at the moriient oh the questionable list. ; Nod . was , given.; 'Dictator'; tp: play the capital city, Buenos Aires, . where. It had orig- inally been; banned.- Stipulation was,, however,: that 'certain eliminations mijst be hiade, Qeutd said. . Chap- lin, in the belief that the deinands Were beyond justlficatloh and would ruin the flilm,. has withheld his okay>; Further mediation on;, the problem w now under way. ;: , Countries in which opening dates have ieither been set or. the film at; least approved arie Guatemala (opens March.,. 18), Salvador, Honduras^,: Nicaragua^ Colombia arid . Bollvisu Possibility of trouble Is foreseen. In Brazil, Which leans heavily toward the totalitarian cduhtries, . and : UA has not even made application there for an okay, on the film. In Peru, application Is pending;,. . although there, too,, tough sledding would hot be unanticipated. : Lesser : Outlets:. '. ; .- Several pther countries have not been approached yet,>biit not be<' cause of any expected difficulties, merely because thiey iare small arid ordinarily get last runs.^ These In- clude Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Haiti; Gould has used an .entirely differ- ent i distribiitiori technique; on the film .in Latin America.than was. used . by yA!s domestic sales department, and apparently with better results. He uses what he calls a 'splash opening' technique: instead of put- ting the film in one house and hop- ing for a run of 20 weeks or some- thing equally phenomenal, he puts it; in three oi: four houses .slmul- taneously and milks everything pos- sible out Pf it as quickly as p6s- ' sible, (Chaplin fllriis in the past habitually have opened tremend- ously and then kind of petered out. This is the fifth Chaplin picture Gould has. sold and he's taking ad- vantage Pf what he knows to be their characteristics. : . Gould , has obtained, his 'splash openings' even in such remote spots as the Dutch Eai>t Indies, where in Sprobaya 'Dictator' opened in four hQu.ses. and in ;Batavia .it opened ih three, ■ Natan Indicted yichy,' March.lli : Befnai'd Natari arid, 'eight..others have been indicted , in Paris :;arid or- dered held fpr ; trial on- charges :growirig Put of the! bankruptcy pro- i:eedings involving the f'athe-Natan Film Co., according to: word received here. Defendants are charged with complicity, abuse of confidence and embezzlement. More than 100,000,- 000; firancs allegedly, is involved r in the eriibezzlement charges. .Defendants probably will- go to trial next month,. DEDTSCB BACKS mM WITH CLIVE BROOK . London, Feb, 15. . Stanley Haynes, producer; Cavid. Maclean," "director, ; . and,. Roriald Ncame,. cameraman who workied oh the filming of 'Majbr Barbara' for Gabriel Pascal, have coriibined their talents for producirig a film on their own.^ ^- ■.■■'■.'';'■; . it will be flrianced ,by Oscar Deutsch;, and; Cli.ve Brook will hav« the. featured.-rule. Wihijer, Mex Actor, Dies Of Aiitp Crash Injuries . Miguel Wimer, 55,: Mexican stage, pic and radio peirformiir,: died in Mexico. City. March 3 from; Iniiiries .suffered .in an automobile accident. Burial in Mexico City. : Survivirig ar.6 his mPther, s sister, a widow and two childreai