Variety (Nov 1943)

Wednesday, November 3, 1943 PICTURES t Aid for 4th War Loan Drive in Jan. Washington, Nov. 2. ♦ reasiiiy. readying tor, the Fourth War Loun rive to.open some time in January, looks to show biz- for moro of the same 'and more of it.' lads are now being formulated and should be in shape for some kind of announcement to the radio and .film industries, within the next couple of. weeks. Ted Gamble, director of the War inance Division, will handle the 6 how again and reports here are that •efforts will be made, to borrow Loews- Oscar Doob once more : to handle the dim industry. Meantime. Gamble's office broke • loose, a survey today of estimated free advertising and publicity time and space from radio, newspapers. ..''magazines: outdoor advertising and 'other media, setting the dollar value al $30,000,000. It was. explained it was impossible to figure in dollars the contribution of pictures. Tentative figure set radio's con- tributionat $12,000,000, made up of 3i3B2 hours of time and 200.000 .'an- nouncement*: This based on a study made by-NAB. '"■'." This compared with an' estimated dollar value of $7,000,000 for the Second War Loan; Estimated adver- tising lineage for newspapers this time was . double , that of the. Second ■'War-Loan.- Value of the lineage was set- at $8,639,540 by the Advertising Checkihg Bureau .of New York, in contrast with $4;5G4.000 in the Sec- ond loan'. Value of free-newspaper publicity was $12,207,555, according to-the Treasury, as against $5:287,000 In the Second Drive. •"' • 'In the outdoor advertising indus- try.' said Treasury, 'a total of 220,000 poster panels and painted bullelings in more Dian 15:000 cities were given, to the Treasury- Department in the Third . War Loan, "at an estimated .;value of $1,600,000. • -■ 'During the Third Loan, 235 gen- eral magazines donated ads valued at $1,125,000; 530 business magazines donated war bond space valued at ' (Continued on page I'd) PICKFORD WANTS NO MISS0UTS ON'MISS' Mary Pick ford's deal for 'Junior Miss.' involving highest offer on rec- ord for. the film, rights to a play, which was reported, set earlier this Reason, has been stymied temporarily as a result of certain protective stipulations in thfe proposed contract which, the United Artists owner- member has been asking for. At- torneys 'representing Miss Pickord and the Jcrcnne '■'. Chodorov-Joseph Fields-Max Gordon interests, have been trying to iron but the single obstacle in the way of completing the deal, with the former reported unwilling to agree unless a satisfac- tory alternative is presented.- Miss Picktord offered either (1) $410,000 . outright for the, film nights to 'Miss;' or (2) .a payment of $355,- 000, plus 35% of the netprofits, the screen version' not to be released be- fore June 1944. Neither the price nor the release date are at issue. Red Cross Pic 1st For New H'wood Producer Sacramento. - Would Pictures, Inc., a producing company, filed papers here with Will- iam Foch as president. irst: picture 'ill .be 'Lady in Gray,' a musical - to be produced by Luis Alvarez in cooperation with the American Red Cross. Foch was 'a producer arid director, with UFA in Berlin before the war. Alvarez, once associated With Mary Picktord and Douglas Fairbanks, has recently been producing for Albatros Films in Buenos Aires and Inter- American Cinemas in Mexico. Com- 'pany is arranging, for a major re- lease outlet. 'MertoiT Back on Shelf Hollywood. Nov.. 2. Something went.- wrong with the idea of redlining 'Merton • of the Movies.' a high grosser when Holly- wood was in its adolescence. Story. diiMed off and re-poiished for production by Waller MacEwen al Paramount, has been.laid back, on the shelf, Indefinitely. David C". Selznick reportedly plans to produce 'Since You Went Away' as a three and one-half to four-hour saga In the 'Gone With the Wind' idiom. ■ A budget of $2,500,000 has been set for the film. SeUnick's.firsf in sev- eral years, with indications, that, the final "cost will be over $3,000,000. Sclv.nick. with United Artists, which ■will release, and bankers provide the financing. ( ■". From .accounts, some . 40 to. -50 mintiles of, th-. picture have already been completed. Selznick is pro- ducing, .directing'', and :scripting. scenario. ' credit : going to Jeffrey Daniels, narrjes of Selzrtlck's two youngsters. ". Exhibitor W. R. Frank Now Also Acting As Well as Film Producing Minneapolisi Nov. W. local independent theatre circuit owner; in from Hol- lywood where lie produced 'Di\ Paul Josef Goebbels: 'His Life and Loves,' says that he will continue, in film ■producing while retaining and oper- ating his theatre chain. He will make one picture a year and his next, one, On which work will start shortly, will : be a'musical. 'Springtime in Vienna'—pre-war'version. . Frank explains that he.lll divide his lime between Hollywood and Minn- eapolis. He has rented permanent offices in Hollywood at-General Serv- ice studios where 'Goebbels' was made: He says he has placed Alfred Zeisler, the film's director, under a long-time'contract. Claudia .Drake, Frank's 'discovery.'; who played the feminine lead was inked by him to a term pad. Although all hi-; previous film ex- perience had been as an independent state-right .distributor and exhibitor up .to.the time he dabbled in the pro- duction of 'All That Mpney Can.B.uy,' 'Syncopation' and.. 'Martin Eden,' Frank, anxious al the. age of 50 to .take-a. whirl at screen acting, decided to play. a small role in 'Goebbels.' His part comprised 12 lines, but he also appears in the (rajler. doing the •soiling'of the'film himself. 'G6ebbeis r is in the process Of cut- ting and editing, but; Frank hasn't wade any'.distribution' arrangements yet. The picture runs move than two hours and Frank, says ho'.l)'prob- ably roadshow it. 17-YEAR-OLD MEXICAN KID SLUGS MANAGER ; Oakland.' Nov. 2; Bert Callcy. manager of the Oak- land drplieum. was severely beaten by a '-17-year-old' Mexican who Was using abusive language to a candy counter girl. When Callcy inter- vened, boy set upon:him. Passing Shore PatroTto.ok.boy in charge and Callcy went to his office. Boy eluded- the S.P. and returned to the theatre, caught Cailey in the office and gave'' him a second beating before police were called. Catley has serious bruises and cuts arid a wrenched back, which wasn't helped b>*chronic ari'uiiis. U. S. Film Execs See Foreign Danger To Their Biz Several Years After War i|m, company execs i-epor.l; a shortage of suitable vehicles for some of the most Important femme dramatic stars on the Hollywood studio rosters owing- ta (he few mule stars available, which has resulted In an increased number of pictures with women In the (op roles. While several pf the majors hold the big- gest stock of story, material In many years, for some It's a record inven- tory—arid ' there b no apparent dearth of musical yarns—there is. from accounts-, a deficiency in mate- rial' for a number of the outstanding dramatic actresses. Paramount is one of the studios where story inventory is lower than usual. Understood that story • prop- erties on hand are around 33"'- below last year. With a large proportion of Par '.'production:' in the- light yc'iri. however, difficulty in casting avail- able femme stars is not as great as il would be otherwise. ' Metro and Warners are about the most heavily stocked companies, While SOIHtFox also has a large back^ log of material in'■ work, with some 39 stories in preparation. Warners has some 48 stories completed or in scenario preparation, with 14 addir tiorial yarns scheduled to be as- signed. Metro, with oyer 50 stories in preparation, though representing the biggest backlog of material for. the company, .is-confronted with a story problem due to the large nlimber of. femme' stars oh the studio list— Greer. Garson, Katharine Hepburn. Irene Dunne, Hcdy Lamarr. Lana Turner Irene Dunne, for one. has been fortunate so far since Metro was able to provide her with two ve- hicles. 'White Cliffs of Dover' and 'A Guy. Named 'Joe.' Columbia also managed-to find a yarn for 'Miss Dunne—'Road' to Yesterday.' ri the whole.. however, difficulty, is re- ported inMining up sufTicienlma- terial for all the fenime stars avail- able to several' studios.. ,: For the Future Many or the vehicles :al. various studios, necessarily bought far in advance, are not suitable for person- nel available under wartime condi- tions, despite their intrinsic values. Thus, thou h 20th-Fox. Warners and Metro seripters are working .on a record number of vehicles many of these will not go into production this year. Hundreds of story properties at the major studios, 'now dormant owing to lack of male stars, extras arid the high costs involved In such product as costume pictures, provide a re- serve of incalculable value to be used when male stars return and the (Continued on page 1CJ Lewis Goes With Goetz . Hollywood. Nov. 2. David -Lewis.-■ who recently sighed as producer al ■ Paramount.■] moves into JnternalionarPrnduc'ii'ons ■ Dec. 1 in the same capacity''..'under general supervision of William Gootz.. Before-, he . takes oyer his new chores. Lewis goes to New York to look: over the Broadway : shows to find possible screen material; 'Bernadette' As Roadshow In N. Y., Mebbe Elsewhere . 'Song .Of Bernadette,' 20lh-Fox high-budgeter. will be roadshown. at least- in N. Y. and possibly else- where, (jnder, present plans. In this connection. 20th is discuss- ing.a deal with the Brandt circuit 16 lake over : the Globe. N. y:. for a twice-daily showing of the-film there under its own. auspices at an early dale. So far no date has been dis- cussed, though the picture is ready, nor has scale been indicated, but likely, to be either $1.05 or $2.20 top.' Globe is presently, operated by the Brandt ros... as a Ilisl-ruii on continuous policy. Scophony s New '.- Revolutionary Geyclopmeht. . in television, making possible an .in- crease-.'-in number of television broadcasting stations by 50'.' ..Was anr nounced.. yesterday (Tuesday) by Arthur Levey, president of the Sco- phony. Corp. of America. This de- velopment is a system utili/.in its new Skiatron inventions^ (if 'desired by regulatory 1 authorities after war ends), that make possible, the modifi- cation of present rigid tocTinological limitations oh number of telecasting stations. . -, ■ Along . with development. Scophony also was in the spotlight during the last 10 days: because of reported- negotiations by at least three major picture companies, to buy into that television organization. (Continued on page 16) - Labor Lack Jumps Film Prod. Costs 25%; Pool Started Charles W. Koerner. RKO v.p, in charge of studio production, staled last week in New York: that due to the manpower shortages film produc- tion costs are up around 25%. over last year, largely due to an increase of about 25% in shooting'time, He said that the studio's are pooling technicians and special equipment, such as triple-projectors, in.order to minimize delays as far as possible. Rk6 studio head said that the company policy under present con- ditions is to avoid taking on new in- dependent producers although taking care of those'already in the fold. He staled that. RKO was not suffering from, lack of stars because the studio was using -freelancers for the most part. Koerner contended that stars could always be Had if they- were presented with a suf- ficiently attractive vehicle. With the 1943-44-production sched- ule about completed. Koerner plans to start shooting the last thiee pic- lures on this program around Jan. 1. At the same time he will start: production on the 1944-45 schedule, beginning with 'Light Fantastic,' a (Continued on page 16> M. of TVs Short on Juve Delinquency, 1st of Kind March of. Time is pr'oriuci.iig a. sub- ject based on the juvenile delin- quency problem, which will, be one of the first of this- type to reach the screen. Governrnen! officials ijr recent months have, asked the film '.industry to help in combating the wave of juve -'• vandalis . attributed to war psycho.ii-i. -.'which • is sweeping ■ the country. '. . M.O.T. shVii-l i-i bcin ied for voleaM' shortly. UNUSUAL HONESTY ON THEATRE MARQUEES The Rialto, S:m Francisco, got iU picture in. the maga/inc section of the N; Y. Daily News. Sunday 131) be- cause of a >narqucc sign which rcaa: •Same Old "Stuff- 2 /'eolurps— One: Pipcrop Oiifl St'inkvrno: New.-, which gave the cut.three columns to. a depth of half a. page, carcicd a caption which read in ;parl. 'Confession is good for the .boxoflU:.'.' Theatre, according to'N. Y. records, is operated by Fox-Wc.sl Coast. : - The' marquee is reminiscent of the ad taken several years ago by a in id- western exhibitor warning his public that a' current picture he had booked was hp good. lie packed the hou-- . Actual fireworks in the post-war foreign niarket are' 'how. not being aniic-ipati'd by many U. S. film com- pany foreign department piric.ialt fin- several'years after the war ends. Byliof of numerous foreign exocu- t\\Vs. in N'. Y. is that I lie really (jrava danger will arise-'two' to four .years after peace is restored, when na- tionalism begins to .assert itself in dilVorent foreign lands: , Immediately . after the peace is. ■'siunaiurba. feeling is that there will be a terrific demand for all types of new sci-oen- produelions wild trip imiiir.es of American dislribulors iiauiraily gi-'.ting the bulk of play- dat'es bocause of 'their popiilai-iti'. 'Afler this initial yen for fresh piod- m'-l is appeased aiid the need for re- habililatinn' calls fOi additional rev- enue in 'm;ihy torcign lands, rosfric- ti.vc nicaSiiros and increase iii fia- lionalislic feeling in. native IHm' cir- c'lcr. will briny the .cuslomary cycle or'quotas: high taxes and subsidies. That's the belief in; American film .quarter*'. Campaign ulrcady is under way ■in the. trade.to class film on merit jusl -the same as the merit pf a motor car is the sole subsidy in the foreign market. Experience thus far with . quotas and other restrictions has shown- little improvement for tha native .picture industries-in countries . (Continued on page 411 \ PARAMOUNT'S LATINS BACK IN MANHATTAN LaliiiTAmerican managers of Para- mount have been converging on N Y for huddles with. John W. Hicks' Jr.. foreign sales chief, to discuss new developments in Latin-America ■as well as. setting sales policy on 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' S. E. 'Ted' Pierpont, company's manager , in Brazil, arrived in the U: S. Friday (29), being preceded several days earlier by Henry Gbr- . dOn t Par manager for Panama and Cenii-al America. John B. Nathan, mana ing . director for Argentina, Uruguay,. Paraguay and Chile, ar- rived in N.Y. about two weeks ago. Delinile date for A.. L. Pralchctf* arrival has not been set but ha likely will visit the homcoffico within the next 10 days. He han- dles South America, excepting 1 the countries handled by .Nathan Bnd Pierpoint, and other Latin-American countries. .'I'r.Klo Mnrk IK-KlBK-rr-il I 'i|-.\I>i:ij Ity (ilMK- SII,VKfl\lAN'. I'cil.llsli.-rl UVikly \,y V.\H|K'J'V. Inc. SHI' Sil.\'i'riuriii. I'l oHiiU-ur 1.51 WfMi Hill St.. Now Yorlt 10, N. • Kl.'JiS'jllli'TIO.V A >,n im I...... f 10 KorciKn. . . . . ;»ll Sinai-: Ci»|»ii:H . . . . . ... .SO CenlH Joe Schenck's Grippe Hollywood. Nov. 2. .foseph M. Sch.cnck.is a grippe vic- tim on his return from three week-: in Mexico City.' He won't .return., to hi.i duties at 20th-Fox for a few days. '•• : DAILY VAICIKTY (I'ulillNln.d In llfillywii'id by Uiu(>V. Vuriirly. ■ f.hl. i %\d a.yrai-—112 forclRn